Part 6 (2/2)

EDITOR OF THE _LEEDS MERCURY_

For Good Resolutions--Provincial Journalism in the 'Seventies-- Recollections of the Franco-German War--The Loss of the _Captain_ and its Consequences toDown at Leeds--Acquaintance with Monckton Milnes--Visits to Fryston--Lord Houghton's Chivalry--His Talk--His Skill in Judging Men--Stories about George Venables--Lord Houghton's Regard for Religious Observances

In April, 1870, there came to me most unexpectedly the offer of the editorshi+p of the _Leeds Mercury_ It caes know, at a time when my whole life was unsettled by the bereavement which had made me a lonely, restlesscharacter After little more than two years of the life of a journalist in London, the prospect was held out to nised position on the Press as chief of one of the principal provincial dailies The position meant increased remuneration, freedom from the anxieties of miscellaneous work, and the possession of influence of no ordinary kind Allsuch an offer, especially since it had coe Yet for a time I was more inclined to refuse than to accept the proposal I loved London, and the freedom of its literary life, and I knew by experience how sharp was the contrast between the social life of the capital and that of a provincial town like Leeds Besides, London drew ly than ever as the scene of those short years of married happiness which had now come to an end So, for a time, I wavered as to the acceptance of the new position offered to me, and it was only under the sharp pressure of friends and relatives that I at last wrote to my old friend, Mr

Frederick Baines, and accepted the editorshi+p of the _Mercury_

No one not a member of the Baines family had edited the journal since it became the property of the first Edward Baines, so that it was a new departure inin placing the editorshi+p in my hands The cause of the vacancy which I undertook to fill was a rather curious one Mr Tom Baines, who had been editor since his father, Edward Baines, entered Parliaious body known as Plyh character, he had deliberately associated hiarded the affairs of the world as being outside the scope of a Christian's duties He found it impossible to combine attention to the e the thoughts of a newspaper editor, with the Bible readings and sermons upon spiritual truth to which he specially desired to devote himself It was a sore trouble to his excellent father when Mr Tom Baines decided that the life of a journalist and that of a Plymouth Brother were not consistent; but, with that noble respect for all conscientious convictions which distinguished Edward Baines both in public and in private, he bowed to his son's decision, and regretfully acquiesced in his retirement from a post that he had filled with eminent distinction

So it came about that on May 15th, 1870, I found e of the duties of the important post to which I had been called I do not think that I had any conception at that time of the real importance of that post, or of the heavy responsibilities attaching to it I was barely eight-and-twenty, and hitherto the bent of my inclination had been towards literature rather than political journalisht, was that of a successful writer of fiction Though a sincere and convinced Liberal, I had always possessed an unfortunate capacity for seeing the defects and blunders ofdistaste for the doctrine which finds expression in the phrase, ”My party, right or wrong”

Besides, I was then, as I still aly attracted towards different personalities There were men on the Conservative side of the House of Coarded with deep respect and estee on the Liberal benches, who like contempt

Upon the whole, therefore, I did not feel so reat political journal as ht have been expected, and it ith considerable trepidation, and many doubts as to my own capacity, that I made that fateful journey to Leeds I rehts as the train flew northwards The death of my wife had sobered me, and all youthful levity seerave I spent the four hours of the railway journey in ood resolutions as to my conduct in my new position

The resolution which impressed itself most forcibly upon my mind was a determination not to make any enemies I could honestly say that I had made none so far in the course of my life If my circle of acquaintances was but a narrow one, it consisted wholly of persons ere truly my friends In my innocence I believed that in the public position I was about to take this pleasant condition of things ht be continued I would be fair, just, and courteous to everybody, I resolved; and thus I should pass through life as one of those fortunate oodwill I can s of that illusion which awaited ical sense of surprise and disappoint what I conceived to be my duty, in a public matter hich I had to deal, I hadnoith long years of experience behind me, I may be allowed to bear my testimony to the fact that it is impossible for a public man in this country to deal honestly with the many controversial questions that politicians have to handle without finding that, in the course of his life, hewhat it is, it seems ireat questions without at ti offence to others, who may be just as honest and conscientious as himself It would, of course, be ridiculous to say that the test of a man's worth as a politician, whether in Parliament or the editorial chair, is the number of his enemies; but I am convinced that a public man who has absolutely no enemies must be a person who has deliberately shi+rked his duties and stifled his conscience

My first step on entering on my duties as editor of the _Mercury_ was to e in the editor's hours My predecessor had been in the habit of writing his leader in the middle of the day, and it was very seldom that he was to be seen in the office after four o'clock in the afternoon In common with all, or nearly all, the editors of the provincial dailies of his time, he never attempted to write upon late news It was the fashi+on then for the provincial editor to wait until he had ascertained the opinions of the London daily papers upon current questions before he ventured to express his own It was a delightful system so far as the ease and comfort of the provincial editor were concerned To be able to finish the labours of the day in the early hours of the afternoon was an ideal state of things from the personal point of view Fortunately I did not yield to the teime_ My experience in London had made me acquainted with the interiors of the offices of er oppressed with a provincial reverence for London editors as beings elt apart I saw no reason why I should not express my own views upon the questions hich I had to deal, instead of waiting to pen a mere reflection of the views of other persons So, almost from the first day of my editorshi+p, I went to the office late, and wrote upon some subject that was absolutely fresh

Barely three weeks had passed before I was able to make a distinct impression upon the readers of the _Mercury_ as a result of this changed systeht of June 9th, 1870 I had finishedto leave the office, when a telegraht to me with the sad announcement of the death of Charles dickens My old leader was instantly thrown aside, and, sitting down, I wrote out of a full heart of the irreparable loss which English literature and the Englisheneration had suffered No reat i, for the death of dickens was one of those events that touch the heart of the nation, and everybody was anxious to read any comments upon it The impression made by my article was deepened by the fact that no other provincial paper had co topic Froained the ear of my readers, and Leeds, which, not unnaturally, had taken coldly to an to open its heart and extend its sympathies to the new and unknown editor All this sounds like sheer egotism; but as to the fact that, withupon the latest topics in the provincial daily press first becaeneral, there can be no dispute, and as it is a fact of interest in the history of the Press, I have dwelt upon it at this length

Very soon the attention of newspaper readers all over the world was absorbed by one engrossing topic--the great war between France and Ger days were not uninteresting There have been no such days since in athering with startling suddenness, few persons in this country believed that as possible

It was incredible, they held, that two civilised nations should fight over such a question as the candidature for the Spanish throne All the orthodox authorities were furiously angry with those journals that pointed out the real dangers of the situation, and the difficulty of arresting two great nations like France and Prussia when they had once begun to approach each other with the language of ht into my room one of thewas to protest against the alar could have been better than the i air of authority hich he informed lish Government nor any other well-infor even remotely possible I felt very uncohted by the air of my visitor I could see, too, that Mr

Frederick Baines, though thoroughly loyal to me, was also ih authority on which this gentleman spoke, just three days later as declared

Never in my time has the world looked on at a dra in its excitement as that of the Franco-German War We have had wars since then which have affected this country more nearly, and have, of course, stirred deeper emotions in our breasts, than this war between France and Germany; but as a dralishle was unsurpassed and unapproached The reat and numerous, the field of operations was so near and so familiar, and the political upheaval so terrible and so complete, that we onlookers were kept in a state of perpetual, alle lasted

Of course, the newspapers were full of the war froements for special correspondents and news from the front were more co drama swiftly advanced fro catastrophe at Sedan, the civilised world had eyes and ears for nothing else Barely seven weeks elapsed between the declaration of war and the surrender of the E those seven weeks, public opinion in this country seeerents; but after the collapse of the I round in favour of France That wholesome human sentiainst the strong acted upon us, and drew our syiven us credit for this fact, but have continually reproached us for not having espoused their side in a quarrel hich we had absolutely no concern On the other hand, the Germans have never openly resented our sympathy with France in her day of immeasurable otten it

It was after Sedan, when it became evident that Paris was about to be invested by the victorious troops, that the war entered upon a new phase

At first nobody believed in a possible siege of Paris, any e of London I remember one of the sub-editors of the _Leeds Mercury_, who happened to take the Prussian side in the quarrel, bursting into my room one day in a furious passion to denounce the conduct of those wretched French down the woods outside the city barriers in order to prevent their affording shelter to the enemy My friend had once visited Paris, and had been struck by the beauty of these woods Apparently he thought that, even for their own salvation, the French had no right to disfigure scenes of beauty that had delighted the eyes of sentimental tourists

The newspapers, when it becae of Paris was, after all, destined to take place, had to adopt measures to secure correspondents ere prepared to endure the hardshi+ps of that siege in order to furnish information to the British public The most famous of these correspondents was Mr Labouchere, who furnished the _Daily Neith the ed resident On behalf of the _Leeds Mercury_ I engaged the services of another well-known journalist to act as our representative during the siege This gentleman very naturally required a considerable su the investment He had written one or two ade, and I cheerfully sent him the amount for which he asked He received it just before the Prussian lines closed round Paris, and I do not reain The letters which it is to be presumed he wrote to the _Leeds Mercury_ never reached that journal

When the investan, and Paris was cut off from the outer world, we onlookers with the strip of sea between had certain visible signs of the reality of the siege offered to us in our very e of the _Tins Day after day, for weeks at a stretch, the whole of that page was occupied by es from the French outside Paris to their friends and relatives within the walls At first English readers were puzzled by this phenomenon The investment of the city was very strict, and it was difficult to understand how the newspaper could be sled inside the barriers; but presently the truth was e of the _Tieon post which connected the outside world with Paris during its long beleaguerraphed on a raph was printed was carried into Paris by a pigeon, a raph, and the es it contained were copied by Post Office officials, and forwarded to their different destinations Such a postal service was, I ienious

Another sign of the siege of Paris was presented during those bright autumn days by the appearance of Piccadilly, especially on a Sunday afternoon I generally spent Sunday in London, and during that autu on a Sunday in Piccadilly, I noticed more than once that theon the northern side of the street were Frenchion of Honour They were chiefly Imperialists, for whoime_, and they had flocked to London literally in thousands, so that the great West End thoroughfare resounded at tiue

One feature of that autunificence of the displays of the aurora borealis I never saw such fine auroras before or since

Night after night the sky was lighted up by the brilliantly coloured shafts of quivering flaar should have associated the pheno enacted so near to our shores The ard it as an omen They honestly believed that they saw in the heavens the reflection of the glare fro Paris

I did not settle down todrew me back to London, and I told the proprietors of the _Mercury_ that I did not mean to retain my post after the war caood fortune cah it arose out of a deplorable calamity The _Captain_, the experins that erously unsound, capsized in the Bay of Biscay, and sank with nearly every soul on board, including her designer, Captain Coles hireat newspaper discussion about the _Captain_, and the _Tiainst the Admiralty authorities and in favour of Captain Coles On theon which the news of the disaster was announced, the _Ti article maintained that the catastrophe was in no sense due to the instability of the shi+p, and urged that another _Captain_ should be forthwith built The _Leeds Mercury_, on the other hand, took what I regarded as the commonsense view, and insisted that for the future the opinions of the trained experts of the Admiralty should be preferred to those of irresponsible enthusiasts, even though they happened to be, like Captain Cowper Coles, enius

Mr Edward Baines, like most old journalists, had a profound respect for the wisdom of the _Times_, and he was very much disturbed when he found that the _Leeds Mercury_ took a directly opposite view of the disaster to that of ”the leading journal” He expressed to ret that I had expressed ly, and evidently felt that what the _Ti day the _Tied its position, adn of the _Captain_ must have been at fault, recalled the fact that the catastrophe had been foreseen by the highest authorities, and protested against the building of anysurprising in this change of front, for the first views of the paper had been obviously inconsistent with the facts and with commonsense But Mr Baines was irasped the essential truth before the _Tierated the merit of his editor in the matter, came to the conclusion that I had become indispensable to the paper, and would not rest until I had entered into a new and binding agreement with hireatly to lish shi+p led toto London as a literary free lance, and toin Leeds as permanent editor of the _Mercury_ Gradually reeable to me I made friends ere kind to an to feel the power, as well as the responsibility, ofthat, even in connection with the local affairs of a great community, a man can render services to his fellow citizens quite as ier platform of public life

It was at the close of 1870 that I first made the personal acquaintance of a man to whom I was afterwards to be deeply and permanently indebted