Chapter III: Part 3

“_Nihil intactum reliquit, nihil tetigit quod_”--I cannot say, “_non ornavit_,” but “_non conturbavit_.” The foreign policy of the noble Earl, as far as the principle of non-intervention is concerned, may be summed up in two homely but expressive words--“meddle” and “muddle.” During the whole course of his diplomatic correspondence, wherever he has interfered--and he has interfered everywhere--he has been lecturing, scolding, blustering, and retreating. Seriously--for though there may be something ludicrous about it, the matter is of too great importance to be treated only in a light and jocular manner--I cannot but feel as an Englishman that I am lowered and humiliated in my own estimation, and in that of other nations, by the result of the noble Earl’s administration of foreign affairs. Thanks to the noble Earl and the present Government, we have at this moment not one single friend in Europe, and, more than that, this country, the chief fault of which was that it went too direct and straightforward at what it aimed, which never gave a promise without the intention of performing, which never threatened without a full determination of striking, which never made a demand without being prepared to enforce it, this country is now in such a position, that its menaces are disregarded, its magniloquent language is ridiculed, and its remonstrances are treated with contemptuous indifference by the small as well as by the great Powers of the Continent. With regard to the policy of keeping up a good understanding with France, there is hardly a single question in which Her Majesty’s Ministers have not thwarted the policy of the Emperor. From the Mexican expedition it had withdrawn, and it had not supported the Emperor’s policy in relation to the Confederate States of America. It had also declined the Emperor’s proposition of a Congress.

ATTITUDE OF ENGLAND TOWARDS THE AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN ATTACK ON DENMARK (1864).

=Source.=--_Ashley’s Life of Viscount Palmerston_, vol. ii., pp. 249–251. (Richard Bentley and Son.)

LETTER FROM LORD PALMERSTON TO LORD J. RUSSELL.

94, PICCADILLY,
_May 1, 1864_.

MY DEAR RUSSELL,

I felt so little satisfied with the decision of the Cabinet on Saturday, that I determined to make a notch off my own bat, and accordingly I wrote this morning to Apponyi, asking him to come here and give me half an hour’s conversation. He came accordingly. I said I wished to have some friendly and unreserved conversation with him, not as between an English Minister, and the Austrian Ambassador, but as between Palmerston and Apponyi, that what I was going to say related to serious matters; but I begged that nothing I might say should be looked upon as a threat, but only as a frank explanation between friends on matters which might lead to disagreements, and with regard to which, unless timely explanation were given as to possible consequences of certain things, a reproach might afterwards be made that timely explanation might have averted disagreeable results. I said that we have from the beginning taken a deep interest in favour of Denmark--not from family ties, which have little influence on English policy, and sometimes act unfavourably--but, first, that we have thought from the beginning that Denmark has been harshly and unjustly treated; and, secondly, we deem the integrity and independence of the State, which commands the entrance to the Baltic, objects of interest to England. That we abstained from taking the field in defence of Denmark for many reasons--from the season of the year; from the smallness of our army, and the great risk of failure in a struggle with all Germany by land. That with regard to operations by sea, the positions would be reversed: we are strong, Germany is weak; and the German ports in the Baltic, North Sea, and Adriatic would be greatly at our command. Speaking for myself personally, and for nobody else, I must frankly tell him that, if an Austrian squadron were to pass along our coasts and ports, and go into the Baltic to help in any way the German operations against Denmark, I should look upon it as an affront and insult to England. That I could not, and would not stand such a thing; and that, unless in such case a superior British squadron were to follow, with such orders for acting as the case might require, I would not continue to hold my present position; and such a case would probably lead to collision--that is, war; and in my opinion Germany, and especially Austria, would be the sufferer in such a war. I should deeply regret such a result, because it is the wish of England to be well with Austria; but I am confident that I should be borne out by public opinion. I again begged that he would not consider this communication as a threat, but simply as a friendly reminder of consequences which might follow a possible course of action.

Apponyi having listened with great attention to what I said, replied that the considerations which I had pointed out were not new to his mind; that they had been forcibly dwelt upon, among other persons, by the King of the Belgians. That he was quite aware that, if the Austrian ships entered the Baltic, an English squadron would follow them; that in all probability one of two things would happen--either that the Austrian squadron would be destroyed, or that it would be compelled by orders from the English Admiral, to leave the Baltic. Thus they would run the risk of a catastrophe or a humiliation, and they did not wish for either. That, therefore, whatever may have been said by Rechberg in his note, we might be sure that the Austrian squadron will not enter the Baltic. This is satisfactory as far as Apponyi may be considered the organ of the Austrian Government; but I think we ought to have something more positive in writing than we have got.

I shall state to the Cabinet to-morrow the substance of my conversation with Apponyi.

Yours sincerely,
PALMERSTON.

LAYING OF THE ATLANTIC CABLE: SCENE IN IRELAND (1865).

=Source.=--_The Brighton Herald_, July 29, 1865.

The _Great Eastern_ left Valentia on Sunday afternoon on her voyage across the Atlantic.

On the Saturday the operation of laying the shore-end of the cable was successfully performed, though not without considerable risk. Not only had the cable to be landed, but quite a mile in excess was to be hauled on the shore from the _Caroline_, a tender of the _Great Eastern_, to pass up the cliff and across a couple of fields which led to the Telegraph House, and gave communication through the land lines to London. But no sooner was the first end of the cable seen near the shore than a wild “Hooroo” arose from those on land who saw it coming. With a contagion, characteristic of the people, the enthusiasm passed rapidly downwards from those on the cliffs to the groups on the winding path, and thence, like a current of electricity, into the cable-boats themselves, the crews of which joined in the shouting, and seeing the end so near the land, and concluding their work well done, at once proceeded to heave the massive rope into the sea. From boat to boat the first bad example was followed by all until, to the dismay of the cablemen, who could not gain a hearing amid the continued cheers, every fathom up to the stern of the _Caroline_ was thrown overboard.

The result of this touching enthusiasm was that every foot had to be underrun preparatory to the whole operation beginning _de novo_. It took some time to effect this, during which, it is but fair to say, the Irish were silent and dispirited enough, and in reply to the admonitions of the Knight of Kerry, promised to refrain from cheering till at least all was done--a promise which they kept faithfully. When the cable had been underrun, hauled into the boats again, and the shore end really began to come on land and was stowed away in gigantic circles at the foot of the cliff, the scene was one of real animation. Numbers of men were in the water up to their waists or shoulders, easing the cable over the rocks, while along the steep path up the cliffs was a close row of figures, men and boys, of every rank, from the well-to-do farmer down to the poorest cottier, all pulling at the cable with a will, and as if in atonement for their first fault of enthusiasm, obeying with silent and almost childlike docility every signal made by Mr. Glass or Mr. Canning as to when they were to haul or to slack away. Above them and dangerously near the edges of the heights was a fringe of eager lookers-on, while the slopes beyond were dotted with bright groups of the county gentry who had ridden or driven in to see the “landing.” By 12 o’clock the cable was well up the groove, which had been cut in the face of the cliff for its reception, and from this point the work of carrying the massive coils across the meadows to the Receiving House beyond was soon accomplished, and at a little before one o’clock, the end taken over roads, hedges, and ditches was safely housed in the _sanctum sanctorum_--the testing-room. Here the batteries were at once applied and showed both conductivity and insulation to the last fathom in the hold of the _Caroline_ absolutely perfect.

On Sunday the delicate task of splicing the end of the deep sea cable on board the _Great Eastern_ to the shore end, laid the day before by the _Caroline_, was performed on board the latter vessel. The joint was then immersed in cold water for testing, and the signals proving perfect, the last protection of hemp and outside wire was added and the joint sunk again into the sea that its perfectness as to conductivity and insulation might be ascertained from the extreme end of the whole length of the cable on board the _Great Eastern_. It was past four o’clock when the last of these tests was concluded. By that time the _Great Eastern_, which had always kept moving her paddles at intervals, had forged ahead of the _Caroline_ some two or three miles, paying out the cable slowly as she went on, and leaving the latter vessel the only float by which one portion of the wire was kept above water. The instant, however, the flags went down, the last fastenings which held it to the _Caroline_ were cast adrift, and with a great splash the final joint of the Atlantic Telegraph and the first thirty miles or so of its length went slowly down into the blue water and were out of sight.

The _Great Eastern_ fired two guns from her bows at 5.30 to mark the commencement of her journey, and Sir Robert Peel, mounting to the little quarter-deck of the _Hawk_, marked time, while three small but earnest cheers were given by the select company on board to the success of the great enterprise. In return came back a swelling hearty roar from all on the cable ship, as with the last salute of waving hats and caps and handkerchiefs, the tender dropped astern leaving the _Great Eastern_ dipping slowly but steadily ahead at the rate of about six knots an hour. As long as signs could be made, or hats waved, the vessel was anxiously watched; but she soon hid herself in her own smoke, and when the _Hawk_ neared the Irish coast a mere brown cloud in the horizon was all that showed where the greatest ship in the world was steaming away to endeavour to accomplish the realisation of an idea even more important than that which she herself embodies. May she be successful! Several telegrams of a satisfactory character have been received. We give the latest.

“_Thursday morning._

The _Great Eastern_ telegraphs that 300 miles were paid out at
5.30 a.m. to-day, and that 300 miles were run at 9.50 a.m.

All is going well.

The signals are perfect.”

THE FENIAN CONSPIRACY (1865).

=Source.=--_Annual Register_, 1865; _English History_, pp. 172–174.

The new conspiracy, commonly known by the name of “Fenian,” was only another development of that deep-seated disaffection and alienation from England which had been in past times the source of so many crimes and outrages, so many secret societies and smouldering insurrections, which had made coercive laws and a standing garrison the indispensable instruments of government in Ireland. The conspiracy which was this year brought to light, but was happily checked before it arrived at any outbreak, was larger in extent, more daring in its objects and, in some respects, more formidable in nature than any similar movement of late years. Of the name by which it was distinguished, various explanations have been given, but the most probable is that it was derived from Fionn, a celebrated chieftain who lived before the conversion of Ireland to Christianity, and who is the same as the hero of Macpherson, Fingal. By the modern Irish this individual is styled Finn Mac Cool. The Fenians were the men or people of Finn. They formed in the period above mentioned a sort of standing militia or warlike caste, whose office it was to protect the country from aggression, and support the power of the kings, in return for which service they received a certain allotment of land and other privileges. The leaders of the present movement, no doubt, saw an advantage in connecting their party with the historical and traditionary glories of Ireland. But whatever may have been the origin of the name, the thing itself was simply a scheme of rebellion against the English Government, organised in the United States, having its centre of rule and administration there, and intended to combine the numerous Irish settlers in that country, men for the most part bitterly hostile to English rule, with the disaffected in various parts in Ireland, in a great effort to throw off by force the yoke of the British Crown, and to take the whole power and property of the island into their own hands....

The Fenian Society had its chiefs, its officers, both civil and military, its common funds and financial agencies, its secret oaths, passwords, and emblems, its laws and penalties, its stores of concealed arms and weapons, its nightly drills and trainings of men, its correspondents and agents in various quarters, its accredited journals, and even its popular songs and ballads, all designed to extend its influence and to gain adherents from various quarters, not excepting the soldiers in the British army, and the warders in the gaols.... By their vain parade, their boastful language, and the unseemly squabbles among their rival factions, the Fenian leaders in America exposed their association to no little ridicule and contempt.... There was one feature in this form of disaffection which distinguished it in a marked manner from preceding combinations. Most of the plots and fraternities which have for some time back menaced the peace of Ireland have had more or less of a theological character. They have been animated by a fierce hostility to the Protestant Church and its partisans, while they have professed submission and respect to the Roman Catholic faith and priesthood. But the Fenian movement made no such profession. It did not seek any countenance from the spiritual authorities of the popular creed, nor any aid from religious zeal and fanaticism. On the contrary its members openly proclaimed their enmity to the Romish hierarchy and priesthood, including them as well as all holders of political power, and all owners of property, of whatever creed in their denunciations, as the enemies of the nation, who were to be swept away and destroyed.

THE FENIAN CONSPIRACY: GENERAL PLEDGE OF THE FENIAN BROTHERHOOD (1865).

=Source.=--_Annual Register_, 1865; _English History_, p. 183.

“I, ... solemnly pledge my sacred word of honour, as a truthful and honest man, that I will labour with earnest zeal for the liberation of Ireland from the yoke of England, and for the establishment of a free and independent Government on the Irish soil; that I will implicitly obey the commands of my superior officers in the Fenian Brotherhood; that I will faithfully discharge my duties of membership as laid down in the constitution and by-laws thereof; that I will do my utmost to promote feelings of love, harmony, and kindly forbearance among all Irishmen; and that I will foster, defend, and propagate the aforesaid Fenian Brotherhood, to the utmost of my power.”

DEATH OF LORD PALMERSTON (1865).

=Source.=--_The Times_, October 19, 1865, p. 8.

One of the most popular statesmen, one of the kindliest gentlemen, and one of the truest Englishmen that ever filled the office of Premier is to-day lost to the country. The news of Lord Palmerston’s death will be received in every home throughout these islands, from the palace to the cottage, with a feeling like that of personal bereavement. There is not a province in our vast colonial empire, and there are few civilised nations in the world, which will hear without an emotion of regret that Lord Palmerston no longer guides the policy of England. Never again will that familiar voice be heard in the councils of Europe, or in the British Senate, of which he almost seemed a part, never again will that native gaiety of spirits enliven the social circle in which he loved to move. The death of no other subject could have left such a void in the hearts of his countrymen, for no other has been identified so long or so closely with our national life....

His name will not be remembered in connection with the triumph of a grand cause, nor was his life devoted to the development of a single idea, and yet he was a great man unless that title be confined by an arbitrary limitation to a prescribed class of moral and intellectual virtues.... In familiarity with the labyrinthine complications of modern European diplomacy he excelled all living politicians, both at home and abroad. In the art of distinguishing the prevailing current of public opinion, in readiness of tact, in versatility of mind and humour, in the masterly ease with which he handled the reins of Government, and in the general felicity of his political temperament, he had no rival in his own generation. To these gifts, however, he added an unwearied application to duty, which would itself have earned him a high position in the State.

The secret and source of his great popularity was his boundless sympathy with all classes of his countrymen. He was a truly large-hearted man, and moved among men and women of every rank as one of themselves.

THE CAVE OF ADULLAM: SPEECH OF MR. BRIGHT ON THE FIRST READING OF THE REFORM BILL OF 1866.

=Source.=--_The Times_, March 14, 1866.

Why, Sir, the right hon. gentleman below me (Mr. Horsman) who said a little against the Government, and a little against this Bill, last night made an attack upon so humble an individual as I am. He is the first member of this new party who expressed by his actions his great grief. He retired into what may be called his political Cave of Adullam, to which he invited everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was discontented. He has long been anxious to found a party in this House, and there is scarcely a member at this end of the House who is able to address us with effect, or to take much part in our debates whom he has not tried to bring over to his party and his cabal. At last he has succeeded in hooking the right hon. gentleman, the member for Calne (Mr. Lowe). I know it was the opinion many years ago of a member of the Cabinet that two men could make a party; and a party formed of two men so amiable, so genial as both of those right hon. gentlemen, we may hope to see for the first time in Parliament a party perfectly harmonious and distinguished by a mutual and an unbroken trust. But there is one great difficulty in the way. It is very much like the case of the Scotch terrier which was so covered with hair that you could not tell which was head and which was tail. Sir, the right hon. gentleman, the member for Calne, told us that he had had some peculiar election experiences....

Now, the constituency which the right hon. gentleman represents nominally consists of 174 members, seven of whom are working men, but his real constituency is a member of the other House of Parliament who could have sent here his butler or his groom. Sir, I think that in one sense, looking on the right hon. gentleman as an intellectual gladiator in this House, we are much indebted to the Marquis of Lansdowne that he did not do that. I have said that I wanted to explain the particulars of this Bill, and to appeal to the good sense and the patriotism of the gentlemen opposite not lightly to reject it. I ask them not to take the disparaging description of their countrymen which has been offered to the House by the member for Calne, and the hon. member for Salisbury, who, I presume, from their association at the Antipodes, seem to take only a Botany Bay view of this subject, and of the character of the great bulk of their fellow-countrymen. Why, the right hon. gentleman said on one night, when I was not here, that I, even in the matter of the cattle plague, set class against class. I ask any man in this House: Is it possible to do a thing that is more perilous than that which is done by the right hon. gentleman and his Australian colleague, the member for Salisbury, viz., to make it appear that there is a gulf which shall not be passed by legislation, between the highest, the most powerful and the most numerous portion of the middle class, and the great body of the working people who are really the very heart of this great country? Now, is it not inconceivably better to show trust in the people, for of all the follies, all the crimes which individuals commit, that of constant distrust of their fellow-subjects, of all the citizens of their country, is about the wildest and the most foolish.

SUCCESSFUL LAYING OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE (1866).

=Source.=--_Annual Register_, 1866; _Chronicle_, pp. 102, 103.

_July 27._--This evening at about 5 o’clock English time, the cable was completed between Europe and America. Conversations had been carried on throughout the day, until word was sent to Valentia to cease signalling as they were about to make the splice with the shore end at Trinity Bay. This was effected soon after dusk. One of the earliest messages transmitted by the cable was the following:

FROM THE QUEEN, OSBORNE, TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
WASHINGTON.

“The Queen congratulates the President on the successful
completion of an undertaking which she hopes may serve as an
additional bond of union between the United States and England.”

The President replied as follows:

FROM ANDREW JOHNSON, THE EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, TO HER
MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND
IRELAND.

_July 30, 11.30 a.m._

“The President of the United States acknowledges with profound
gratification the receipt of Her Majesty’s despatch, and
cordially reciprocates the hope that the cable that now unites
the eastern and western hemispheres may serve to strengthen and
perpetuate peace and amity between the Government of England and
the Republic of the United States.”

President Johnson’s reply to the Queen occupied only one hour and nine minutes in its transit from Newfoundland to Osborne.

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE WAS SENT BY THE EARL OF CARNARVON TO
VISCOUNT MONK, OTTAWA, CANADA.

“I am commanded by the Queen to convey to the Governor-General
of her North-American Provinces Her Majesty’s congratulations on
the completion of the Atlantic telegraph and the strengthening
thereby of the unity of the British Empire.

Her Majesty includes her ancient colony of Newfoundland in these
congratulations to all her faithful subjects.”

CARNARVON.

_July 28, 1866._

GREAT REFORM DEMONSTRATION AT MANCHESTER (1866).

=Source.=--_Annual Register_, 1866; _Chronicle_, p. 137.

This afternoon a meeting, supposed to be larger than any hitherto assembled in England, was held at Manchester. During the morning many local divisions marched into the town from the various populous districts around, carrying flags inscribed with the words “Nation Reform Union,” and proceeded to the square called Campfield, a centre surrounded by ten acres, in which six platforms were erected. Notwithstanding the torrents of rain which continued throughout the day, the numbers assembled were estimated by the reporters both of the local and of the London Press at between 100,000 and 200,000 persons. At each of the above sections three resolutions were carried, namely:

1. That this meeting protests against the perpetuation of class government to the exclusion of the great majority of the people from the franchise; refuses to allow itself to be made an instrument to further the means of contending parties or the selfish interests of any class; and pledges itself to adopt all means of organising and agitating for the only just basis of representation--registered residential manhood suffrage and the ballot.

2. That this meeting rejoices in the formation of the northern department of the Reform League, and pledges its support to the executive council in the organisation of branches throughout the North of England, and hereby declares its confidence in Mr. Edmund Beales, and the executive of the Reform League in London.

3. That this meeting tenders its warmest and most grateful thanks to Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, John Bright, Esq., John Stuart Mill, Esq., and all friends of Reform, who, throughout the late discussions in Parliament, vindicated the character and protected the rights of the people; and further, expresses confidence in the honesty and ability of Mr. John Bright to champion the people’s cause in Parliament during the coming Parliamentary struggle.

At the evening meeting in the Free Trade Hall, the following resolution was carried by acclamation:

“That this meeting, while recording its indignation at the insults offered in Parliament and by the Press to the working classes and their advocates, calls on the people of this country to allow themselves no longer to be trifled with by an oligarchic few, and to rally round those men who have upheld their cause.”

ATTEMPTED FENIAN RAID AT CHESTER (1867).

=Source.=--_The Illustrated Times_, February 16, 1867.

Much alarm has been caused this week by an apprehended raid of Fenians upon the ancient city. The following summary is obtained from Mr. Fenwick, the chief constable of Chester.

The Fenians have recently organised in New York a band of fifty, whose special mission it is to proceed to England and Ireland and endeavour to resuscitate the dying brotherhood. These men are understood to have arrived in England. Fifteen of them are stationed in the metropolis, and there form a Directory. Eight of them are ex-officers of the American army.... A meeting was called for Sunday at Liverpool, and it was then resolved to attack Chester Castle the following day, seize the arms deposited there, cut the telegraph wires, tear up the rails, and make good their escape by rail to Holyhead, and trust to fortune to get across to Ireland. It was also understood that they would attack the banks and jewellers’ shops. It was also given out freely at the meeting why Chester Castle was selected. Up to midnight on Sunday Chester was not protected by more than half a dozen soldiers on guard at the Castle, and twice as many unarmed policemen in the city. Under their protection were no less than 9,000 stand of arms, 4,000 swords, and 900,000 rounds of ammunition, in addition to powder in bulk. There were also stored in another part of the Castle 900 stand of arms belonging to the militia; and in a small building in the city were 200 stand of arms belonging to the volunteers. It was stated that the whole force stationed at the Castle was one company of the 54th Regiment, and that they were disaffected. The first intimation received in Chester of the intended raid was at 12.30 a.m. by Mr. Fenwick from Superintendent Ryde of Liverpool, and was to the effect that an ex-officer of the American army, who produced his commission as an officer in the Fenian service, had revealed the whole plot to them. Prompt measures were taken and the commandant telegraphed to Manchester for reinforcements. Mr. Fenwick next went to the station and gave instructions for the trains to be watched as they arrived. At 2.30 a batch of thirty fellows arrived from Liverpool, and were evidently under the command of an officer. They marched up and down the platform by twos and threes, and at length took possession of the first-class refreshment room. They were soon followed by further detachments of from thirty to sixty from Liverpool, and some from Manchester, all of similar appearance. These dispersed quietly into the town. Early in the morning the volunteers were called out. They were sworn in as special constables. By the assistance of the police at Liverpool and Manchester, the Chester police were kept apprised of the different departures of suspected bodies of men. At three o’clock it was ascertained that over five hundred of these men had arrived, and that a number of their officers had been in Chester over night. Early in the afternoon the strangers became much bolder and assembled in threatening bodies. Fortunately at this time a company of the 54th Regiment arrived from Manchester, and the police are strongly inclined to think that this fact saved the Castle from an attack early in the evening. Affairs went very quietly up to four o’clock, when a train from Manchester and Stalybridge brought a reinforcement of four hundred in one batch. Later on forty men arrived from Halifax and seventy from Leeds. Shortly after five it was ascertained that the Fenians numbered from 1,400 to 1,500. A number of men who were supposed to be their leaders collected at a house where the police had been informed they would meet for orders.

Spies and scouts had been sent out among the Fenians early in the day, but found them extremely reticent, and could get no clue from them. At 6 p.m. these scouts brought information that the men were forming in column on the Liverpool and other principal roads.

Captain Smith, the county chief constable, had drafted a body of the county constabulary into the Castle to assist the military. A copy of the following anonymous letter sent to the chief of the Liverpool police was received by Major Fenwick in the evening, and coincided singularly with the information already in his possession:

DEAR SIR,

You could do your country much service, as at present there are
600 men in Chester, to be increased by night to 700, to take
the arms and ammunition of the garrison; and as the garrison is
disaffected, it is supposed they will do it with little loss.
They are to leave Birkenhead by every train from the first in the
morning. All to be there by seven at the latest. They leave in
numbers of from thirty to sixty in every train.

At night the Mayor convened a public meeting, which was most earnest; and over 500 citizens were sworn in as special constables, and paraded the town in large bodies throughout the night. It was deemed desirable to call out the yeomanry, and for that purpose the permission of Earl Grosvenor and Lord de Tabley was telegraphed for. Earl Grosvenor replied that he would come down by the night mail, and accordingly he and Lord Richard Grosvenor arrived in Chester at 12.48 on Tuesday morning and remained with the magistrates through the night.

Before leaving London, Earl Grosvenor communicated with the Commander-in-Chief, who at once telegraphed that he had ordered a battalion of Guards by special train to Chester. During the night the Fenians evidently came to the conclusion that the preparations were too much for them, and as the night advanced, parties of tens and twenties were seen leaving, on foot, for Warrington and other neighbouring towns.

Although all danger of any serious attempt had died away after the town’s meeting, the police were kept on duty, as many suspicious characters were still to be seen in the streets. About nine o’clock on Tuesday morning two haversacks with green bands and a quantity of ball cartridges of private make were discovered on a piece of vacant land close to the railway-station.

REFORM BILL: THREE-CORNERED CONSTITUENCIES (1867).

=Source.=--Leader’s _Life of the Right Hon. J. A. Roebuck, M.P._, pp. 313–315. (By permission.) (London: Edward Arnold, 1897.)

After the Bill, turned inside out by Liberal effort, and presenting as an Act scarcely any possible resemblance to its original shape, had established household suffrage, Mr. Roebuck at Sheffield further explained and justified his course by saying:

“I made a resolution with myself that, having got Lord Derby into power, we would, if it were possible, screw out of him a real reform of Parliament. It always appeared to me that the Whigs never could carry a second Reform Bill. I stated so in 1859. I was hooted and yelled at in this very town because I so stated. Then came Lord Derby again, and then I recollected my old determination. ‘If ever a Reform Bill is carried,’ I said to myself, ‘it will be by those men, and so sure as they bring it in, I will support them.’ I steadily supported that Bill, and what has been the result? We have got a more Liberal Bill than ever Whig proposed. We have got a Bill that has frightened, I believe, the very persons who proposed it. It has not frightened me. I believe we shall now find what the people of England really mean. I have great confidence in the right-heartedness of my own countrymen. I have no dread of the future.... We have got a great deal more good out of the Tory administration than out of anybody else. This Reform Bill is before us. We have now to work it.... I am sure there can be no harm to England while we have a free Press, a free people; but with that Press and constant inter-communication of thought, it will render the passing of the Reform Bill one of the greatest boons ever conferred upon the people of this country.”

On the question of the three-cornered constituencies, Mr. Roebuck subsequently explained his course in the following letter:

TO A CONSTITUENT.

19, ASHLEY PLACE, S.W.

The story of the three members’ constituencies is a simple one
and can soon be told. Many attempts to stop and destroy the
Reform Bill were made under the guise of liberality. The project
respecting the three members was one of them. It was thought
that Mr. Disraeli had got to the length of his tether, that
his party would go no further, and that if at this time they
could be induced to recalcitrate, the Liberals who had hitherto
supported the Government must vote with the real enemies of the
Bill, that the Government would be put into a minority, must
go out, and that the Bill would then be defeated. Mr. Disraeli
said in the debate that the Government could not accede to the
proposal, and that the defeat of the Government in the motion
would seriously endanger the Bill. We knew what this meant--viz.,
that his party could not be induced to go further in the way of
concession. Seeing this we said: “We will not throw away the
good we have attained for the purpose of adding six members to
large constituencies, and taking away six from small ones. This
benefit, if it should be desired, can easily be obtained from the
new Parliament when it meets. In the meantime we will insure the
Bill.” We voted for the Government, put them into a majority,
and saved the Bill. But Mr. Disraeli, upon consulting his party
again, found that they deemed the trouble of the contest a
greater evil than yielding the point, and they yielded so far as
four members were concerned. I complained of this, and strove for
Sheffield; but I was told that the party of Mr. Disraeli would
go no further than four members, and so, according to my own
expression, Sheffield was left out in the cold. This is the plain
history of the case. It is a story that could be told of many
other similar attempts to defeat the Bill, which attempts were
defeated by our steady determination to carry the Bill, spite of
calumny, spite of threats, spite of abuse. The Bill is now law,
and is law because a number of Liberals were more far-sighted,
ay, and more disinterested, than those who called themselves
leaders of the Liberal party.

ABYSSINIAN CAPTIVES (1867).

=Source.=--_The Times_, July 9, 1867.

LETTER RECEIVED BY MRS. STERN FROM HER HUSBAND, ONE OF THE CAPTIVES IN ABYSSINIA.

MAGDALA,
_May 1, 1867_.

Another month has passed since I wrote to you, a month like all the rest in this miserable prison life, full of anxious care and wearisome inactivity. Sometimes I squat down and try to beguile the tedious hours by writing sketches of sermons, and by diffusing on closely written pages the varied incidents of our painful captivity.... In our immediate neighbourhood matters have not mended much since my last. The King is still pursuing his work of devastation in the provinces that are subject to his doubtful sway. The rebels, too, with the disaffected peasantry for their allies, are doing their utmost to resent the cruelties of their lately owned ruler and acknowledged chief. The ruthless ferocity of the King has exhausted the patience of the most timid and servile, and all appear now to be animated by one deep and ardent passion--viz., the overthrow of the tyrant. The army he once had at his behest is scattered in bands of rebels all over the country; and as he can never recruit again his incredibly diminished hordes, he will be forced to make this Amba his last asylum and tomb, or, followed by a few faithful adherents and the most valuable captives, seek a home in the marshy jungles and entangled feverish villages of the lowlands. Whatever the issue of the contest may be, our prospects, humanly speaking, are anything but bright. We have friends near and around us, but in this land cupidity and avarice dissolve every bond, even the most tender and sacred; and after all that has transpired, the pettiest and most contemptible chieftain, if he gets us into his power, may think that by retaining in his clutches a few defenceless Europeans he will make his fortune.... About a fortnight ago all the European employés, with the exception of two old men, were, together with their wives and children and their property, with Mrs. Rosenthal and Mrs. Flad, seized. The motives which prompted His Majesty to adopt such measures of severity towards individuals who have always been most subservient and obsequious to his whims is still a mystery. The King brought various trumpery charges against them, which they repelled with energy. Their property has been partially restored to them, but they are confined in Debra Tabir, where they are guarded, but not chained. It is said that the report of Mr. Flad’s returning without the artisans, etc., furnished the ostensible cause for their imprisonment. This outburst of unprovoked resentment augurs nothing auspicious for us, and probably our position, as the majority of us expected, will not be enhanced by Mr. Flad’s return. Negotiations and delays might have averted the storm, but now as it seems looming nearer and nearer, we say, “Thy will be done.” You and all interested in our liberation, notwithstanding all that has been written from hence, must have been grievously deceived about the character of the King. Presents with another man might have effected our deliverance, but King Theodorus, though not loath to accept the one, wants the hostages as well--a security, as he imagines, for ever-increasing concessions.

_May 2._

I just add a line to my letter of yesterday, as it is doubtful whether the opportunity for writing will not before many days have elapsed become exceedingly difficult, if not utterly impossible. The return of Mr. Flad, the disappointment of the King in not obtaining the requested accession to his white victims, and the consciousness that neither intrigue nor cunning will avail him to extort fresh concessions from the British Government, or the generosity of the British Christians, all, I believe, combine to bring before long our melancholy and doleful history to a crisis. Every day, nay, every hour, we expect to be transferred to the common prison, and to get hand-chains again. Only a week ago upwards of 200 prisoners, among whom are many persons of high rank, were ordered to be executed. This indiscriminate massacre, which has probably been prompted by the want of guards to protect them, indicates no improvement in the tyrant’s temper. We fear that wilful, wicked misrepresentations, and cruel, unpardonable selfishness united in concealing the true state of our position and the well-known designs of the King....

HENRY A. STERN.

DISRAELI’S “MAUNDY THURSDAY” LETTER (1868).

=Source.=--_The Times_, April 14, 1868.

_The following letter, addressed to the Rev. Arthur Baker, was sent to the “Times” for publication_:

HUGHENDEN MANOR,
_Maundy Thursday, 1868_.

REVEREND SIR,

I have just received your letter, in which, as one of my constituents, you justify your right to ask for some explanation of my alleged assertion that the High Church Ritualists had been long in secret combination, and were now in open confederacy with Irish Romanists for the destruction of the union between Church and State....

You are under a misapprehension if you suppose that I intended to cast any slur upon the High Church party. I have the highest respect for the High Church party; I believe there is no body of men in this country to which we have been more indebted, from the days of Queen Anne to the days of Queen Victoria, for the maintenance of the orthodox faith, the rights of the Crown, and the liberties of the people.

In saying this I have no wish to intimate that the obligations of the country to the other great party in the Church are not equally significant. I have never looked upon the existence of parties in the Church as a calamity; I look upon them as a necessity, and as a beneficent necessity. They are the natural and inevitable consequences of the mild and liberal principles of our ecclesiastical polity, and of the varying and opposite elements of the human mind and character.

When I spoke, I referred to an extreme faction in the Church, of very modern date, that does not conceal its ambition to destroy the connection between Church and State, and which I have reason to believe has been for some time in secret combination, and is now in open confederacy, with the Irish Romanists for the purpose.

The Liberation Society, with its shallow and short-sighted fanaticism, is a mere instrument in the hands of this confederacy, and will probably be the first victim of the spiritual despotism the Liberation Society is now blindly working to establish.

As I hold that the dissolution of the union between Church and State will cause permanently a greater revolution in this country than foreign conquest, I shall use my utmost energies to defeat these fatal machinations.

Believe me, Rev. Sir, your faithful member and servant,

B. DISRAELI.

THE REV. ARTHUR BAKER, A.M.,
RECTOR OF ADDINGTON.

ABYSSINIAN WAR: CAPTURE OF MAGDALA (1868).

=Source.=--_The Times_, April 28, 1868.

DESPATCHES FROM THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF (SIR ROBERT NAPIER).

_Without date._

1. An Engagement took place before Magdala on Good Friday between our troops and the army of Theodore, in which the latter was defeated with heavy loss.

Casualties on our side--Captain Roberts, fourth Foot, wounded in the arm, and fifteen rank and file wounded.

No one killed.

On the two following days Theodore sent into our camp every European that he had in his power, both captives and employés.

Theodore has not yet surrendered himself, according to my demand. He has been given twenty-four hours to decide. The King’s troops are completely demoralised.

ROBERT NAPIER.

_April 14._

2. Theodore’s army much disheartened by the severe losses of the 10th instant.

A portion of the chiefs surrendered the most formidable position of Shilasse(?), and many thousand fighting men laid down their arms.

Theodore retired to Magdala with all who remained faithful.

Magdala taken by assault on the 13th under cover of Armstrong steel guns, eight-inch mortars, and rocket battery.

Ascent to gates most formidable. Theodore killed, defending to the last; our loss small.

Army will return immediately. About--guns and mortars taken.

ROBERT NAPIER.

DESPATCHES FROM “TIMES” SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.

_April 12._

King Theodore attacked the First Brigade near Magdala on Good Friday, but was repulsed with heavy loss--about 500 men being killed.... Darkness stopped the pursuit.

The enemy left their wounded on the field. On Saturday King Theodore sent in a flag of truce and offered to treat for unconditional surrender of the English prisoners. The captives have joined the camp.

It is believed the remaining Europeans will be surrendered.

The Abyssinian troops are utterly disheartened.

Theodore has attempted suicide.

_April 14._

Magdala was stormed yesterday. Theodore was deserted by nearly all his army, but made a desperate resistance with a few devoted followers.

Theodore killed himself with his pistol as the British troops approached him.

The British loss was about ten men wounded....

DESPATCH FROM SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF “NEW YORK HERALD.”

MAGDALA,
_April 13_.

The truce ended this morning. King Theodore had not surrendered. Fallas Fellasse(?) Islange had surrendered at once without fighting. Theodore had retreated to Magdala. He planted five guns at the base of the ascent. When General Napier came in sight, the King opened fire. The English replied with ten-pounder Armstrong guns, and seven-pounder rockets. The King left his guns, barricaded the sally-ports, and opened with musketry. He gave no signs of surrendering. The bombardment lasted three hours. An assault was then ordered. The fortress was carried after vigorous resistance. The Abyssinian loss, is 68 killed and 200 wounded. The English loss is 15 wounded, rank and file. King Theodore was found dead, shot in the head. His body was recognized by the Europeans who had been released. Some say he was killed in battle, and others that he committed suicide. His two sons have been taken prisoners. The fortress presents many evidences of barbaric splendour. Among the trophies taken are 4 gold crowns, 20,000 dollars, 1,000 silver plates, many jewels and other articles, 5,000 stands of arms, 28 pieces of artillery, 10,000 shields and 10,000 spears. The European prisoners [numbering 60 men, women, and children] will depart for the sea-coast to-morrow. The army will depart immediately.

DISESTABLISHMENT OF THE IRISH CHURCH (1868).

=Source.=--_Speeches of John Bright_, edited by J. E. Thorold Rogers, pp. 219, 220. (Macmillan and Co., 1869.)

SPEECH ON MR. GLADSTONE’S RESOLUTIONS FOR DISESTABLISHING THE IRISH CHURCH.

Now I challenge any hon. gentleman on the other side to deny this: that out of half a million Episcopalians in Ireland there are many--there are some in the Irish nobility, some landed proprietors, some magistrates, even some of the clergy, a great many Irishmen--who believe at this moment that it is of the very first importance that the proposition of the right hon. gentleman, the Member for South Lancashire, should be carried. I am not going to overstate my case. I do not say that all of them are of that opinion. Of that half-million say that one-fourth--I will state no number--but of this I am quite certain, that there is an influential, a considerable, and, as I believe, a wise minority, who are in favour of distinct and decided action on the part of Parliament with regard to this question. But if you ask the whole Roman Catholic population of Ireland, be they nobles, or landed proprietors, or merchants, or farmers, or labourers--the whole number of the Catholic population in Ireland being, I suppose, eight or nine times the number of Episcopalians--these are probably, without exception, of opinion that it would be greatly advantageous and just to their country if the proposition submitted on this side of the House should receive the sanction of Parliament. Now, if some Protestants and all Catholics are agreed that we should remove this Church, what would happen if Ireland were 1,000 miles away and we were discussing it as we might discuss the same state of affairs in Canada? If we were to have in Canada and in Australia all this disloyalty among the Roman Catholic population owing to the existence of a State Church there, the House would be unanimous that the State Church in those Colonies should be abolished, and that perfect freedom in religion should be given.

But there is a fear in the mind of the right hon. gentleman the Home Secretary that the malady which would exist in Ireland might cross the Channel and appear in England; that, in fact, the disorder of Voluntaryism, as he deems it, in Ireland, like any other contagious disorder, might cross the Channel by force of the west wind, lodging first in Scotland, and then crossing the Tweed and coming south to England. I think the right hon. gentleman went so far as to say that he was so much in favour of religious equality that if you went so far as to disestablish the Church in Ireland, he would recommend the same policy for England. Now, with regard to that, I will give you an anecdote which has reference to Scotland. Some years ago I had the pleasure of spending some days in Scotland at the house of the late Earl of Aberdeen after he had ceased to be Prime Minister. He was talking of the disruption of the Church of Scotland, and he said that nothing in the course of his public life had given him so much pain as the disruption and the establishment of the Free Church in that country; but he said he had lived long enough to discover that it was one of the greatest blessings that had ever come to Scotland. He said that they had a vast increase in the number of churches, a corresponding increase in the number of manses or ministers’ houses, and that schools had increased, also, to an extraordinary extent; that there had been imparted to the Established Church a vitality and energy which it had not known for a long period; and that education, morality, and religion had received a great advancement in Scotland in consequence of that change. Therefore, after all, it is not the most dreadful thing in the world--not so bad as a great earthquake--or as many other things that have happened. I am not quite sure that the Scottish people themselves may not some day ask you--if you do not yourselves introduce and pass it without their asking--to allow their State Church to be disestablished.

I met only the other day a most intelligent gentleman from the north of Scotland, and he told me that the minister of the church he frequented had £250 a year from the Establishment Funds, which he thought very much too little, and he felt certain that if the Establishment were abolished and the Church made into a Free Church, the salary of the minister would be immediately advanced to at least £500 a year. That is a very good argument for the ministers, and we shall see, by-and-by, if the conversion of Scotland proceeds much further, that you may be asked to disestablish their Church.

THE IRISH CHURCH BILL: CRITICAL DAYS (1869).

=Source.=--Morley’s _Life of Gladstone_, vol. ii., pp. 273–276. (Macmillan and Co.)

On July 16, the Bill, restored substantially to its first shape, was again back on the table of the Lords, and shipwreck seemed for five days to be inevitable. On July 20, at eleven o’clock, by a majority of 175 to 93, the Lords once more excluded from the preamble the words that the Commons had placed and replaced there, in order to declare the policy of Parliament on matters ecclesiastical in Ireland. This involved a meaning which Mr. Gladstone declared that no power on earth could induce the Commons to accept. The crisis was of unsurpassed anxiety for the Prime Minister. He has left his own record of its phases:

_Saturday, July 17._--By desire of the Cabinet I went to Windsor in the afternoon and represented to H. M. what it was in our power to do--namely, although we had done all we could do upon the merits, yet, for the sake of peace and of the House of Lords, [we were willing] (_a_) to make some one further pecuniary concession to the Church of sensible though not very large amount; (_b_) to make a further concession as to curates, slight in itself; (_c_) to amend the residue clause so as to give to Parliament the future control, and to be content with simply declaring the principle on which the property should be distributed....

The further pecuniary concession we were prepared to recommend would be some £170,000 or £180,000.