Part 12 (2/2)
Suddenly, as I looked upon the scene from the steps of the club, I saw the crowd fall back on either hand, opening a narrow lane through it
Along this lane, with bent head, caton, brother of one of thein Carlton House Terrace to his home at Devonshi+re House No one ventured to speak to him, but every hat was lifted in token of silent syht Years afterwards I heard from Sir William Harcourt himself an account of how the news first reached London There was a big Ministerial dinner party, if I rehtly, at Lord Northbrook's; Mr Gladstone was there, and so was Sir William Harcourt, then Home Secretary Dinner was nearly over when Mr
(now Sir) Howard Vincent, who at that tih post at Scotland Yard, arrived and demanded an immediate intervieith the Hora been stopped by the authorities in Dublin It was decided, after a consultation, that nothing was to be said until the ladies had left the dinner table, and that then the neas to be broken to Mr Gladstone, who, apart froedy, had the additional one of a close relationshi+p with Lady Frederick Cavendish Mr Gladstone, though deeply moved, was then, as always, master of his emotions, and it was he who at once went to Carlton House Terrace to break the dreadful tidings to his niece, Mrs
Gladstone acco hiht for any of us who had heard the news before retiring to rest The next day was such a Sunday as I never remember to have seen in London before or since The newspapers spread the tidings far and wide In nu to church They turned aside in scores, and hurried down to Pall Mall to learn the latest particulars of a tragedy that was instantly recognised as being one that affected the nation as a whole
Froht the fine hall of the Reform Club was croith members, and with friends who cae thing happened Mr Forster, the man whose life the villains who struck down Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr Burke had chiefly sought, and who had passed through perils so terrible that even now the recollection of theed at once by a host ofaway fro me by the arm, led me to one of the seats in the hall Instantly, and as it seereat crowd of azing ondering and sympathetic eyes upon the man who had escaped so cruel a fate
I remember the first words that Forster spoke to me ”They may say what they like,” he said, ”but it is Mr Parnell who has done this He is the man who sowed the seed of which this is the fruit” And then he talked of the victientle, kindly, honourable in all the relations of life, and of Burke, ”the most loyal man,” he declared, ”who ever served the Crown” Indeed, at the moment he seemed to feel the death of poor Burke more acutely than that of Lord Frederick, and he was full of the idea that if he himself had been in Ireland the lives of both would have been saved ”I shall go back to Ireland,” he said toaffairs, and I shall tell Mr Gladstone that I a Street, and saw Mr Gladstone--who, unlikeHe nanieous; but it was not accepted The bitterness of party passion which had been aroused by the events that culnation had not yet sufficiently subsided to render such a step possible, and Forster, to ret, was not per that unfailing fearlessness in the face of danger which was one of hisday the adjournment of the House of Commons was rief and e out, and he told the following story to a party in which there o St Ja of the House this afternoon, when I saw Mr Gladstone walking in front of me For the first time in my life I felt sorry for the fellow, for I knehat a terrible blow this affair must have been to hi in his speech this afternoon, at all events The fellow really felt what he said' Can you conceive, then,to the top of the steps at the Duke of York's colu to an abandoned woman?”
A lady as present at the dinner-party, and as a great adht it her duty to write to hiainst him She did not mention the name of her informant, but merely stated the facts that had been reported to her
She received an immediate reply, on a postcard It was as follows:--”The presence of ---- was not unperceived on the occasion to which you refer; but the conversation he has reported to you was not of the nature he iined, and possibly desired” The voice of slander often pursued Mr
Gladstone, but the reply which he gave to this particular accusation was recognised, even by his eneh his life Mr Gladstone was filled with pity for the outcasts of the streets, and whenever he could hold out a helping hand to them he did so with a fearlessness that was characteristic of his courage--the courage of the pure in heart
I itation, in which I and other persons were concerned at the time, that had a certain connection, not with the Phoenix Park murders, but with the events that led up to them Two of Mr Chamberlain's brothers had been nominated as candidates for the Reform Club It was, perhaps, unfortunate for the of 1882, when there was much hostility towards Mr Chamberlain himself on the part ofin order to drive Mr
Forster out of the Cabinet At all events, the two candidates were black-balled, and great was the ferhaeous insult not only to Mr Chamberlain himself, but to that section of the Liberal party to which he then belonged ”The good people of Birham are simply furious,” wrote Mr Chamberlain to his friend, Mr Peter Rylands, MP, ”and they even talk ofassertion, but really Mr Chaha of his brothers in such a fashi+on as almost to warrant the expectation that Pall Mall would be invaded, and the Reform Club sacked, if it did not repent in dust and ashes of the affront it had offered to the leader of Bir less would suit Mr Chamberlain and his friends, as an atonement for the misdeeds of the club, than such an alteration in the rules as would deprive thecandidates by transferring elections froe to a special election co of the club at which a resolution to this effect was proposed by Lord Hartington Thewas held only a couple of days before the Phoenix Park tragedy It was largely attended, and uished persons were present ”I saw the whole Cabinet crowded into the glass and bottle roo of the scene afterwards Sala his, for, provoked by a speech fro as an odious and ungentlemanly practice, Sala delivered himself of an impassioned oration in which he asserted that there was no right lishht to black-ball anyone he pleased at a club election I re assertion, but judging by the cheers, it was the essayist, rather than the earl, who had the syton's resolution was carried by a small majority, and a ballot of the whole club was demanded, to settle the question finally When this ballot took place, it was seen that the feeling of the club as a whole was distinctly adverse to the proposed change of rules, and Lord Hartington's resolution was rejected by a large majority The rejection was due in part, at least, to the feeling which Mr Cha the moderate Liberals
Shortly afterwards, Mr Chaned his membershi+p of the club, and the question of an alteration of the rules fell to the ground
The Phoenix Park tragedy confirht, and the rest of the Governard to Irish policy In Yorkshi+re we felt keenly on the subject, and in the _Leeds Mercury_ I lost no opportunity of vindicating my friend from the attacks which a section of the advanced Radicals, who claimed Mr
Chamberlain as their leader,about a strained state of the relations between myself and the official leaders of the Liberal party Leeds had given the Governnal victory in the General Election of 1880 It was felt in the Cabinet to be a serious thing that the _Leeds Mercury_, and with it no inconsiderable section of the Liberal electors, regarded Mr Forster's supersession with indignation, and by some influential member of the Government a proposal was made to crush the _Mercury_, and prove that it did not really represent Liberal opinion in Leeds, by convening aof the Liberal association for the purpose of expressing confidence in the Irish policy of the Ministry It was an absurd device, and it failed, as it deserved to do Although ere very angry at the treatment which Mr Forster had received, ere perfectly loyal to Liberal principles and to the leadershi+p of Mr Gladstone There was no need, therefore, to ask us to testify to our confidence in Ministers But theMr Forster fro his defenders into open conteht that they would acco of Liberal electors in Leeds which should prove to the world that the editor of the _Leeds Mercury_ represented nobody but himself in his championshi+p of Forster's cause
They put pressure upon the association to su, which was duly held It turned out to be a demonstration in favour of Forster rather than the Government, and the attempt to crush independence of opinion in the Liberal ranks was thus signally foiled I do not knoho the member of the Cabinet as responsible for this manoeuvre, but whoever he may have been--and I have ratulate hiy For a tiree of coldness between myself and my Liberal friends on the executive of the Liberal association Sir Jaether so har up a united party in Leeds that this partial breach between us was rather painful Happily it did not last long I stood to my own opinions, and for the future our local Liberal leaders were content that, whilst supporting theree my absolute independence on those questions on which I took a line of my own No further attempts were made, I need scarcely add, to intis in Leeds, nor do I think I suffered in the long run in the estimation of friends from whom I then differed, by the steps I took to vindicate my character, both as a responsible journalist and as an independent critic of public affairs
Naturally I was drawn closer to Forster by the fact that I was thus constituted his representative and champion in the Press, and I becahtful but unpretentious residence on the banks of the Wharfe at Burley It was on nation that an incident took place which touchedwith his and my old friend, Canon Jackson, of Leeds, in the library after breakfast Forster, of whose blunt manner I have already spoken, came into the roo, and was apparently somewhat troubled Suddenly he turned to Jackson and asked hione Forster closed the door behind him, took another turn up and down the apart with evident difficulty, said toyou knohat I feel with regard to all that you have done for me When nobody else dared to say a word inthat terrible time in Ireland, you were always ready to defend ues left me absolutely alone; they left me to take my oay, just as if I had been the Czar of Russia I was attacked, as you know, both in England and Ireland, by the papers and public men of all parties I knew I had very powerful ene I did, and none of ues defended me You can never knohat a comfort it was to me at that time to know that I had one staunch friend in the Press, and that the dear old _Leeds Mercury_ would always judge me fairly and try to make the public see the truth God bless you!”
I do not knohether he or I was the more deeplyfrom a man who, as a rule, stubbornly concealed the sensitiveness of his nature and the war exterior I do not pretend to have deserved what he said, but the words he uttered sank into otten Henceforth the censures of a caucus and the sneers of those superior critics who derided me as the victim of an absurd prejudice in favour of a states to me
CHAPTER XV
THE FIRST LIBERAL IMPERIALIST
Forster a Pioneer of Liberal Ie--His Unfortunate Manner--His Hoainst Forster's Life--Reaction in his Favour--Forster and Lord Hartington--The Former's Grief for Gordon--Forster and Lord Rosebery--Mr
Stead and the _Pall Mall Gazette_--His Responsibility for the Gordon Ilio
I should like to dwell upon my visits to Forster at his own home at Wharfeside, and to describe the frank, wholesome talk which I had there on many different occasions with the master of the house; but the talk was private, I made no notes of it at the time, and it is better that I should make no attempt to recall it now This, however, I will say, in justice to Forster hi all my intercourse with hiive expression to an unworthy sentiment
No public man of his day was more cruelly misunderstood by his conte the followers of Mr Chaht to have known better, that Forster was not even a genuine Liberal He was supposed to be a trinoble jealousies were attributed to him I know, not only from many repeated conversations with him, but froenuine was his faith in Liberal principles, how exalted and far-extended his belief in the application and development of those principles He was the firsthoreatness of its Imperial duties and responsibilities It was he who, in the days when he was a discarded Minister, sowed the seed which is now bringing forth fruit in the shape of that unity of the Empire for which others, who careat flourish of tru the credit
The reat trimmer” was the most absolutely fearlessto e to the residents in the counties was first being broached in Parlia the measure to Ireland
No other statesested such a step, whilst Lord Hartington had openly denounced it I implored him to leave such a measure, which was certain to be unpopular with that section of the party which had been most favourable to hih already for Ireland,” I said ”Let soainst this stone wall” ”Who else will do it?” he replied ”The thing is right, and it must be done As for your stone wall, I have never been afraid of being the first ed jealousy of theon his heels, I can only say that I never heard a syllable froainst him Always frank and outspoken, he was at the saues and his rivals Rancour he never cherished, and he could forgive those who had injured him far more freely than most men I have known
I have spoken of his ain and again he offended ht into contact with hiard of the mere niceties of deportment I have heard him denounced as ”a heartless ruffian” by someone who had suffered from an apparent lack of courtesy on his part