Chapter XII

THE GENERAL ELECTION OF 1885—RANDOLPH AT THE INDIA OFFICE—DRUMMOND
WOLFF’S MISSION

FOR the next four months I was busy carrying on the work of my candidature in Camberwell, over the details of which I shall pass lightly. The constituency was a new one, having only just been created by the Redistribution Bill, and it was politically a chaos. My chief supporters were men of no position, character, or intelligence, the most active of my committee being a sweating tailor; and I had to create everything in the way of organization, and educate the voters from the first A B C of instruction on public matters. This was an advantage and a disadvantage; on the one hand there was little prejudice to overcome, and on the other extreme difficulty in getting the voters to take any interest in the matters they were called upon to decide. I began with very small meetings to very degraded audiences, sometimes in rooms obtained for the purpose, but oftener mounted on a wagon in the streets, where I found that nothing much short of pure socialism would be listened to. The division was supposed to be strongly Radical, but as time went on my Tory democracy became popular, at least in the streets; and, as will be seen, I very nearly succeeded in winning the election. Had I been properly supported from the Conservative head-quarters I have no doubt I should have succeeded altogether. But the declarations I felt bound to make in favour of Irish Home Rule, joined to the fact of my Roman Catholic status, told against me, and in the end I was defeated, but by only one hundred and sixty-two votes. I will give only such extracts from my journal as take my candidature out of the ordinary rut of commonplace experience. My journal was too hastily written at this time of stress to have much interest apart from the election.

“_27th July._—There is something exceedingly absurd in this electioneering business; one hundred frowsy fellows in a stuffy schoolroom talking nonsense to each other about things they none of them understand, or care about a straw. It is an experience, however, like another, and we must go through it if we are to achieve anything of large importance in the world. Yet it is a terrible come-down after the politics of the golden East, or even of an Arab tribe.

“_28th July._—I have been in trepidation the last few days, for the report of the Mahdi’s death seems confirmed. Went to see Lothian, who has just been staying at Hatfield. He complains that Lord Salisbury is less free spoken on affairs now than when he was out of office, but he gathers from what he heard that there is no danger at all of a new campaign. A reconciliation will be effected with Turkey, but no further alliance will be entered into for the defence of Persia or Afghanistan. ‘Lord Salisbury,’ Lothian said, ‘still holds to his old illusion of believing the Russian advance to be geographically impossible. He still looks at the map and calls it a great way from the Caspian to the Persian Gulf.’ Talking of past events, he told me that when the news came of the fall of Khartoum Hartington actually resigned office, and was out of office three days; he would not resume his position until the absurd determination of advancing still on Khartoum was agreed to. This is curious. [I believe it is also true that the pretence made by Gladstone of fighting Russia over the Penjdeh incident was nothing more than a manœuvre to persuade Hartington to agree to an evacuation of the Soudan.]

“_29th July._—Wolff, whom I met at the Carlton Club, talked pretty freely about his plans in Egypt. ‘I wish I knew,’ he said, ‘how to set up an independent Government at Dongola.’ I said, ‘You had much better leave it to the Mahdi.’ They will end by doing this.

“To Crabbet with Nebbi Ullah, who is going back shortly to India to start a newspaper. He, like all the rest, has become spoilt by his English life. Jemal-ed-Din and I have done our best to persuade him to purge himself of it by making the pilgrimage and never to put on European dress again. But he has not the backbone for this. Indians who have lived in England are taken by our life and ways, and find it difficult to return. They generally fall in love with some English woman and abandon the ways of their people. I spoke strongly to him, but it will be of no use. ‘If a man,’ said Jemal-ed-Din, ‘wishes to do good to himself, nothing is easier. But if he wishes to do good to his country he must deny himself.’ ‘I do not wish to be a martyr,’ said Nebbi Ullah, ‘I wish to keep my English clothes and be able to ride and play lawn- tennis and get refreshment at refreshment rooms when I travel.’ I said, ‘You may put on your best English clothes and go to church if you like on Sundays, the English in India will not receive you, and you will lose all influence with your fellow countrymen.’

“_30th July._—Wolff came to James Street as agreed at half-past ten. Before he saw Jemal-ed-Din I had a talk with him on the general question of Egypt, the Soudan, and Turkey. With regard to Egypt he told me they would have to keep on Tewfik for the present, and that Lord Salisbury could not be got as yet to consent to Arabi’s recall. In the Soudan they had no idea of any new expedition, Turkish or English. They had rather make peace with the Soudanese, but had some idea of setting up an independent government at Dongola. They were resolved to renew the alliance with the Sultan. The points Wolff principally discussed with Jemal-ed-Din were as to a possible acknowledgement by the Mahdi of the Sultan’s Caliphate. This Jemal-ed-Din declared to be impossible, either for the Mahdi or his successors, but they might be got to accept each other, as the Ottoman Sultan and the Sultan of Morocco had done, if Egypt were evacuated by the English and a legal Mohammedan Government restored there. There would then be no danger from the Soudanese. The Mahdist movement was religious and the Ulema of Cairo would not permit him to invade Egypt. There ensued a long discussion about the evacuation, Wolff declaring that Bismarck had announced in writing to the Foreign Office that he should approve the French entering Egypt if we abandoned it. The French would never allow Turkish troops, and it must be occupied somehow. So it would be by the French. This the Seyyid refused to believe, as he knew from Ferry and others in France that nothing of the sort would happen. In the end, however, it was agreed between Wolff and the Seyyid that, if England consented to fix a date for evacuation, an arrangement with the Sultan might be come to. There followed the Slave Trade question in the Soudan. Jemal-ed-Din said it was impossible to stop the capture of idolatrous tribes in Central Africa, but the seizure and sale of Abyssinians might be prevented by the Mahdi. He could arrange that matter and commercial relations with England and Egypt. It would not be difficult to get the Sultan to consent to reasonable arrangements for Egypt, and Jemal-ed-Din would go if necessary to Constantinople—this was my suggestion—nor would it be difficult to get the Sultan to propose Arabi’s return. Wolff, however, said distinctly that nothing definite could be settled till after the elections. His present mission was to feel the ground and prepare for a policy. The elections would decide whether it could be carried out. Their talk lasted an hour and a half.

“Lunched with Meynell and Cox, editors of the ‘Weekly Register’ and ‘Tablet.’ They will go with me to-night to a meeting at Camberwell. Cox is to see Cardinal Manning and get a message of approval from him. Meynell told me among other things that Colonel Butler, his brother-in- law, could give evidence that the bombardment of Alexandria was forced on by Beauchamp Seymour, that they had tried to bribe the Egyptians to fire the first shot, or something of the sort. Egmont Hake was there and promised to give a lecture on Gordon at Camberwell in the interests of my candidature. Meynell tells me that Lord Salisbury has engaged Hake to lecture in all the large towns in England preparatory to the elections. Lord Salisbury is to pay the expenses.

“_4th Aug._—Randolph, whom I met at the Carlton Club, has promised that Lewisham and Folkestone shall support me at a meeting at Camberwell, as the working men insist upon having a lord—‘no M.P.s for us’ they say. Drummond Wolff talked to me again about Jemal-ed-Din going to Constantinople. ‘He is too stiff in his ideas, however,’ he said, ‘about the Mahdi not accepting the Sultan’s Caliphate.’ Wolff will send for Jemal-ed-Din if he wants him, and will communicate with me through Randolph, with whom, he tells me, he shall have a private cipher—a new feature, this, in our diplomacy. Gregory, who called to-day, says that Wolff told him he should explain to Tewfik that he had acted in the matter of the massacres on wrong information, and that he considered him a very honest man.

“_5th Aug._—I have read over my Electoral Address to McCarthy as far as it relates to Ireland, and he highly approves it, suggesting only that I should put in the words ‘Representatives of the Irish Nation,’ so as to show that I accepted the Irish Parliamentary Party as being the real national leaders. This I was quite willing to do. He assured me of the Irish support at Camberwell; they all meant to vote with the Tories. He warned me not to pay attention to anything they might say about being indifferent to both parties. It was the _mot d’ordre_ just now to say this, but the elections would prove which way their predilections turned. Drummond Wolff has telegraphed from Portsmouth, asking once more to see Jemal-ed-Din.

“_6th Aug._—Up to London early with Jemal-ed-Din, and had another long talk with him and Drummond Wolff. Wolff is quite favourable to a Turco- Perso-Afghan alliance, but says he shall not be able to talk of this with the Sultan, except incidentally, as that would be the ambassador’s business, but shall have to keep to Egypt. He was very anxious to know how an accord could be made between the Sultan and the Mahdi. Would the Mahdi acknowledge the Caliphate? Jemal-ed-Din said it would not be necessary to decide or even raise that point just yet. The thing the Sultan would really care for was a fixing of a limit of time for the English occupation. Wolff said that that could be done; and that what would be proposed would be that the Sultan should co-operate in the establishment of a permanent order of things preparatory to English evacuation. On this Jemal-ed-Din said that all could be satisfactorily arranged, and that it mattered little whether it was Turkish or English troops which would compose the _ad interim_ garrison. Next there was a good deal of talk as to whether Jemal-ed-Din should go to Constantinople while Wolff was there, the principal point being as to whether the Sultan would understand it rightly. Jemal-ed-Din said that the Sultan knew him only as an enemy of English policy, and, unless Wolff explained the position, he would fancy Jemal-ed-Din had come to Constantinople to counteract Wolff. Wolff, however, said that it would be difficult for him to protect Jemal-ed-Din, or seem to have anything to do with him. There was the question, too, of money, but I offered to advance the Seyyid any money that might be wanted so that no inconvenient questions should be raised. Wolff explained that he should not tell Lord Salisbury anything about the Seyyid or his arrangements with me. ‘The reason I am sent,’ he said, ‘is that I am ready to take responsibilities of this sort on my shoulders which other men might refuse. I shall have a cipher with Randolph, and if I want the Seyyid, or have anything else to tell you, it will be through him.’ He told us, however, again very distinctly, that he did not expect to be able to settle anything definitely till after the elections. The French were very adverse to Turkish troops going to Egypt, and Bismarck would give no firm support till after the elections.

“We also talked about the recall of Arabi, and Jemal-ed-Din said it would be quite easy to get the Sultan to propose it, two words from him would effect that. I repeated this to Wolff, after he had left my house, at the Carlton Club, but he said: ‘It would never do to raise the question of Arabi yet; after the elections we may do it, but not now.’ Lord Salisbury requires educating to that as to other things.

“To a meeting at Camberwell with Napier, Meynell, and Lady Colin Campbell. Randolph sent down Lord Folkestone and Sir Henry Fletcher, as members of the Government, to support me with a message to the effect that my presence in Parliament was necessary to the party and they must get me elected.

“_7th Aug._—Mr. Cotton,[127] of the Indian Civil Service, came to breakfast. He is a very enlightened man, and one with whom one can talk openly. Speaking of the late Durbar, he said that the Amir Abd-el- Rahman’s unwillingness to allow English troops into Afghanistan came like a clap of thunder on Lord Dufferin, who, with the rest of the officials, was under the idea that the Afghans loved us and sought our help.

“Randolph made his statement on the Indian Budget last night in a very masterly speech; but he attacked Lord Ripon in it, as I thought, most foolishly. I met him at the Carlton Club, and told him I was sorry he had done it. And he said it was quite necessary on party grounds in view of the election. But he felt sure native opinion in India would be satisfied with his promise of inquiry into the Indian Government. Drummond Wolff was also at the Club, and we talked again about Jemal-ed- Din’s visit to Constantinople. His last words were that he would write or telegraph to Randolph, who would communicate his ideas to me.

“Lunched with Button and Sidney Herbert. Button’s candidature is going badly at Clapham, and his brother’s at Southwark has, after all, broken down completely. Now he says the people all say I shall get in for Camberwell.

“_9th Aug._—To Windsor with the Wagrams, and called on the Ponsonbys, who showed us over the Castle, including the Queen’s private rooms. The long gallery in which she walks is full of interesting pictures. The series of daubs by Winterhalter of royal marriages and christenings are daubs certainly, but already interesting through time. I don’t think we were intended to go into the Queen’s bedroom, but I looked in and was very nearly locked in by the housekeeper for my curiosity. She had already turned the key, and thoughts of the Tower and a trial for high treason crossed my mind, but fortunately I was remembered and released.

“_13th Aug._—Crabbet. To Newbuildings to spend the day, which, like all the rest of this summer, was heavenly. Coming home I found an important communication from Churchill enclosing a deciphered telegram from Wolff, saying that he wants the Seyyid to join him at Constantinople. The Seyyid has been in great force here for the last ten days, and has given us most valuable information about the past history of his own and other countries. ‘Nadir Shah,’ he says, ‘was the son of a tradesman in Kelaat. He rose against the Afghan rule, and, having driven the Afghans out of Persia, conquered Afghanistan and Upper India. It was he who gave Arab horses to the Turcomans, the breed they now possess.’ [We had staying with us my cousin, Arthur Chandler, an Oxford divine, who has since become a colonial bishop, and I arranged that they should have a dispute together on the fundamental grounds of religion. This was carried on in very indifferent French but with much spirit by the Seyyid, who certainly got the best of the argument.]

“_14th Aug._—To London with the Seyyid. I went at once to the India Office, where I found Randolph very dull and tired with the end of the Session, which is to-day. He will be off, however, to Scotland to- morrow. I told him the Seyyid would start at once, but that he insisted Wolff should give the Sultan a hint directly or indirectly that he had ceased to be an enemy of England; also that he hoped Wolff would not open negotiations till he arrived, or attempt to treat the Egyptian question separately from that of the Mohammedan alliance. Randolph with his usual quickness seized the points at once, and wrote a telegram to Wolff something as follows: ‘Jemal-ed-Din starts for Constantinople on Sunday. He says, however, he is known to the Sultan only as the enemy of England, and it would be necessary to give the Sultan a hint that he is now our friend. He hopes also that you will not enter on the Egyptian question with the Sultan separately from the larger question of a Mohammedan alliance. With regard to this last he believes he can be of great service to you.’

“I also saw Ibrahim and wish I had seen him before, for he is a great support to me with the Seyyid, and is bolder than he is. I am for their starting together at once, and not waiting for an answer from Wolff. One never knows what changes of mind may take place, and the ball is at our foot now and we must play with courage. My fear is lest Wolff should be scared by the telegram which the Seyyid insisted on. If I had had my way, he should have started without conditions; Wolff could not refuse him protection when he arrived. But we shall see.

“Down again to Crabbet for the night, and for a meeting of the Primrose League at the Worth School. Young Montefiore was put in the chair, to practise him for a Parliamentary candidature in London. He had learnt his little opening speech by heart and recited it nicely. My own speech dealt principally with the possibility of peasant proprietorship. It gave satisfaction to the Radicals at the end of the room.

“_15th Aug._—There is a telegram from Pesth, saying that Wolff has delayed his departure till Tuesday. This will give Jemal-ed-Din time to join him there, and they will go on by the same train. Ibrahim is to go as far as Varna and there wait further orders. To London for this purpose. Parliament was adjourned yesterday and London is empty. To my horror I found a letter in James Street from Moore, Randolph’s secretary, enclosing a telegram from Wolff—just what I expected—to say he had changed his mind about Jemal-ed-Din; he had better not start till he telegraphed again from Constantinople. I went first to Moore at the India Office and talked the matter over, and he agreed with me that it seemed a pity the Seyyid should not start, and that we might telegraph that it was too late to stop him. But he would not do anything without Randolph’s order. So I went on to Connaught Place and saw Randolph. He has been ill with a slight congestion of the lungs, but says that he is better to-day, and we discussed the point fully. But I could not persuade him to let me send the Seyyid, so the whole thing is off. The tiresome part of it is that it is just at starting that Jemal-ed-Din would have been of most use. But there is no help. The Seyyid’s ticket and Ibrahim’s were already taken, and I had given them £100 for their journey, all for nothing. [I have always been of opinion that Wolff’s change of mind on this occasion cost him the success of his mission, and that its ultimate failure was due to his having commenced it on the common lines of English diplomacy without that moral support which Seyyid Jemal-ed-Din could have given him both at Constantinople and elsewhere with the secret societies.]

“_17th Aug._—My birthday of forty-five, which I spent pleasantly enough with the children and Anne. Mrs. Sellwood[128] and Cowie had tea with me. Mrs. Sellwood told me the history of my father’s death, how she had disliked the hounds coming to Crabbet, and how they had howled, and how he had caught cold cub hunting and died. Thus the day passed.

“When I look at my life, I see that it is still progressing, and while there is progress there is happiness. I look forward to Parliament as the beginning of a new phase. I shall be Cabinet Minister in five years’ time; head of my party, perhaps, in ten. But shall I get in? I think it is in my fate. [I feel some shame in transcribing these vain-glorious words, but they had more justification at the moment they were written than they can possibly seem to have now. At that date Randolph Churchill was certainly the coming man in English public life, and my position with him was one which, if I had succeeded in obtaining a seat in the House of Commons, would have made me one of his most trusted lieutenants. I may say more: I exercised over him a very considerable influence, precisely in the direction in which he needed most support. I think I could have prevented him from making some of the larger mistakes he made, and which eventually caused his ruin. I have sometimes thought that I could even have maintained him faithful to Irish Home Rule, and that together we might have persuaded Lord Salisbury to adopt it as the Tory policy. It would have saved the Tories their present disaster at the hands of the Irish party. My defeat left Churchill without any adviser in the ways of political virtue.]

“_18th Aug._—The Prince of Wales has sent me a message through Lady C. congratulating me on my standing for Parliament.

“_19th Aug._—Down to Brocket, where Auberon Herbert, his wife and children are staying with Henry Cowper. Etty Fane is here, grown to be a very pretty and clever girl after one London season. Of all people I like Henry Cowper best as companion. He represents the Whig tradition in its most attractive form, that of the cultured politician of a hundred years ago, partly humane, partly sceptical, full of dignity and profoundly immoral. He told me innumerable stories connected with Brocket. It was outside the park at Brocket, on the high road, that Lady Caroline Lamb and her husband were riding when they met Lord Byron’s funeral, and she fell straightway off her horse. There is a portrait of Lady Melbourne here, as a young woman, which is charming.

“_20th Aug._—After luncheon we went to Hatfield, Herbert and I on foot, Henry and his niece, Miss Fane, in a pony chaise. On the way we discussed social questions, on which Herbert has very distinct and original ideas. He is against all State intervention, either against drink or prostitution, believing in free trade in both as the best cure; he is against State education, rates, or any kind of taxes, which should all be voluntary. He trusts to a kind of natural selection to bring about improvements with as little interference as may be by Government.

“Hatfield is quite the most perfect thing I have seen, there being none of those great waste places common in most parks. We drove home all together in the pony carriage. I am glad to have been here at Brocket, as it has cleared my ideas on certain points very misty to me; not that I altogether agree with Herbert, for anarchism is certainly outside the range of practical politics, but his views are large and elevated and do one good.

“_22nd Aug._—To London for Stead’s social demonstration. The procession was entirely of the rag-tag and bobtail, with banners of the most curious devices: one represented the Minotaur, a princely personage in a blue uniform, and his victim; another a van full of middle-aged females, labelled ‘Protection for Girls.’ Also there were political badges; one banner stated that its bearer had refused taxes because he had no vote; and there were socialistic and temperance vans, with ‘John Bright’ and ‘Sir Wilfrid Lawson Associations.’ In the Park I went the round of the platforms, each with male and female speakers, and was fortunate enough to hear Stead speak. This he did well, with a good deal of dramatic action, but a certain self consciousness which occasionally marred the effect. Besides the regular platform speakers, there were volunteer orators, who held forth to groups on the ground. One I listened to attacked Randolph fiercely through his brother Blandford, with whose history the speaker professed to be well acquainted. The best speech I heard, however, was from a democratic socialist; he hit the demonstration hard when he expostulated against all parties in the state, and especially against the Radical capitalists. Samuel Morley, he said, had subscribed £2,000 for the protection of girls, but when had he ever given £5 to a girl of the 5,000 in his own factories to save her from perdition? It was the capitalists who were the cause of all crime and misery, and who ground the faces of the poor. What we wanted was not social reform, but social revolution. And he took his hat and showed on its brim how a revolution should be made. When the poor, he said, have got the rich under them they will know how to keep them there. I could not help cheering.

“_27th Aug._—A note from Moore asking me to come and see him. Randolph had told him to read me an extract from a letter of Wolff’s. It was to the effect that he was in such a delicate position in regard to his mission that he dared not appear to know Jemal-ed-Din. Jemal-ed-Din, he said, was opposed to the Sultan’s Caliphate in the Soudan, and if he acknowledged him as a friend, the Sultan might think that he had some design on his spiritual pretensions. For this reason he dared not mention his name. This is all nonsense. The question of the Sultan’s Caliphate need never be raised, and Jemal-ed-Din is not known as its opponent. On the contrary his newspaper was always loud on the Sultan’s rights. The Seyyid, however, declined to go to Constantinople without some acknowledgement from Wolff, because he says it would ruin his influence everywhere if the Sultan were to shut the door in his face. But I am to see Randolph to-morrow.

“_28th Aug._—At half-past one I called on Randolph at the India Office; he is looking fagged and ill, and is still obliged to stay in town, but talks of going to Scotland next week. I feel convinced he will not live two years, or will be obliged to give up public life. We talked over the Jemal-ed-Din affair, but as Jemal-ed-Din refuses to go to Constantinople without Wolff’s support, and as Wolff refuses to commit himself with Jemal-ed-Din, we agreed the matter must remain so. Then we talked about Olivier Pain, and I told Randolph the whole story, and how Hartington had denied the proclamation issued by Wolseley offering £50 for him, dead or alive. This delighted him, and he offered to send my letter about it to Lord Salisbury at Dieppe, and I gave it to him. Lastly, I told him I had heard things were going badly at Hyderabad, and asked him to write to the Nizam and warn him. But he said that to do so would be against all rules, and that he could only communicate through the Government of India. He told me, however, but as an absolute secret, that he had already written to Lord Dufferin to suggest that Cordery should be removed from Hyderabad. I then asked him to get Moore sent there, Colonel Moore, who is now with the Duke of Connaught, and he seemed to like the idea. Poor Randolph! I fear that the attainment of his ambition, like the wasps with the honey-pot, will be his death.

“Lady Gregory sends me a sonnet on the Mahdi’s death, which is very good.

“_3rd Sept._—Last night I made my declaration about Ireland. It is the first public declaration made, since Parnell’s speech, in favour of Home Rule.

“_4th Sept._—Ibrahim Bey has received a letter from Ismaïl Jowdat once more pressing him to come and see the Sultan. It has been decided he shall go. The Sultan has heard of Jemal-ed-Din having seen one of the Ministers, and has sent for Ibrahim to find out what it is all about. He wants Jemal-ed-Din too, but the Seyyid says he will wait till the Sultan sends for him. For Ibrahim there will be no danger, and I will put him in communication with Wolff and let Randolph know.

“_6th Sept._—Ibrahim left last night for Constantinople. Jemal-ed-Din will stay on in London.

“_12th Sept._—Lord Salisbury has answered my letter as to my being allowed to return to Egypt with great politeness. He says he thinks it can be arranged. George Wyndham has come back from the wars, I am glad to say, with a sound skin.

“_15th Sept._—Went to the ‘Pall Mall’ office and saw Milner,[129] the acting editor in Stead’s place, about a letter I had written for them but wished to withdraw, and explained to him how the case stood. He agreed with me that it might be well to defer the publication, and admitted that I was fully justified in withdrawing the letter under the circumstances in which Stead was placed. He tells me that from the first he did not approve of Stead’s “revelations.” He was very amiable about it all. I like Milner.

“_16th Sept._—Mr. Tebbutt from St. Ives is here, at Crabbet, and I took him to Newbuildings, to talk over the question of establishing small holders there on small rents. But, though a strong Liberal, he does not advise it; thinks it will not answer.

“_19th Sept._—Gladstone has published a manifesto, and I have been writing to him protesting against his repetition of the plea of _honour_ in excuse of the bombardment of Alexandria. George Wyndham is just back from Cyprus and the Soudan. He spoke with great admiration of the Arabs.

“_20th Sept._—There has been a revolution in Roumelia. This is Russian doing in answer to Wolff’s mission, or rather in anticipation of the elections here. Jemal-ed-Din always said they would make a move two months before the elections, and here it is. My feeling is that it is useless attempting to retain any part of Europe for the Turks except just the city of Constantinople. I am certain Lord Salisbury will do nothing to protect them anywhere out of Asia Minor.

“_21st Sept._—I have written to Mr. Gladstone proposing to meet him on a platform and discuss the question of Egypt with him as a ‘question of honour.’

“_22nd Sept._—William Morris was arrested two days ago at a socialist trial for hissing the magistrate, and I have written to congratulate him.

“_23rd Sept._—A letter has arrived from Ibrahim giving an account of himself. He is staying with Jowdat, has been to the Palace, and is to see the Sultan after Beiram. They are only angry with him for not coming before. The Sultan is sending a man to Jemal-ed-Din for consultation.

“_24th Sept._—Talked the whole question of Roumelia over with Jemal-ed- Din, and we are agreed that it is not Russia but Austria that has encouraged the movement at this moment. I told the Seyyid it was useless trying to save European Turkey for the Sultan; Lord Salisbury would not dare guarantee it. He does not like this, but seems to think me right all the same. There is a memorandum of Gordon’s of 1880 recommending the partition of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt to England, Syria to France, Armenia to Russia, and European Turkey to independent Christian States. Jemal-ed-Din thinks Wolff must have had a hand in the Roumelian movement. I don’t.

“I have been asked to deliver the inaugural address at the Tyneside lectures at Newcastle on 1st October. I have chosen for my subject ‘Egyptian Aggression, an answer to the Plea of Honour.’

“_25th Sept._—Chamberlain has been down in South London speaking. Of his three proposals, taxing the rich, free schools, and dividing the land I do not greatly quarrel with any.

“_28th Sept._—Munif Pasha is in London and has seen the Seyyid. He wants to see Churchill. I have written about it.

“_30th Sept._—A great Tory demonstration at Crabbet held in a large tent in the Park. Sir Walter Bartelot, Gregory, M.P., and Grantham spoke. I was chairman. Bartelot is a really good speaker.

“Mr. Gladstone has answered my letter. He declines meeting me in Midlothian and blames me for my action in Egypt.

“_3rd Oct._—The Hugh Wyndhams, the two Hardinges, and the Wentworths are here (at Crabbet). I had a good deal of talk with Hardinge about Egyptian diplomacy. He was with Dufferin in Egypt after the war.

“_6th Oct._—Ferid Bey has written to ask to see me, and he came to luncheon to-day. Jemal-ed-Din was there, and, as long as he was present, Ferid dealt only with generalities; but, luncheon over, we went upstairs and, after much beating about the bush, he disclosed to me his real object. The state of things, he told me, at Constantinople was hopeless, and the discontent so general that important events might be looked for. The empire was crumbling to pieces, and not only the empire but the Turkish nation too would perish if nothing was done to save it. There were therefore people who thought, and he himself was one, that the only safety lay in an attempt to restore the constitutional scheme of Midhat, and to take the absolute power out of the Sultan’s hands. The present Sultan was incapable of action, and yet he had absorbed all power to himself, and the government was carried on by a gigantic system of espionage, which alone hindered a revolt. A revolt, however, might now be expected, and the power might be put into the hands of some capable general acting for the nation, while the Sultan might be deposed in favour of some other person, a member of his family or another—he would not commit himself to say exactly whom. What made men hesitate was only this: that they feared a disturbance of any sort at Constantinople would be taken as a pretext by Russia for military intervention. Bismarck, he told me, would oppose all idea of constitutional government, but he thought Lord Salisbury might not be opposed to it. He wanted me to find out whether the English Government would allow Russian intervention, and whether a change of Sultan would be acceptable to them. Abdul Hamid might throw himself into Russian hands and ask protection against his people. Would the English Government countenance a revolution? He asked whether I thought it any good his consulting any one out of office, Sir Henry Elliot for instance. I told him I thought Sir Henry Elliot would be very little good with Lord Salisbury, but that if he liked I would speak to Churchill about it. Wolff’s mission was at a standstill because it was impossible to deal with the present Sultan, and perhaps they might be willing to find a government with which they could deal. He begged me to do this, only urging caution as the idea might be frustrated if the English Government took it badly; also as regards himself that I should not divulge his part in the affair. ‘The state of espionage is such,’ he said, ‘at Constantinople that the son is spy on the father, the brother on the brother, and though I know every man of note there, there are not two I would trust as I do in talking with you.’ I told him he need fear nothing on either head, that I would tell Churchill the position only if I found they were at a standstill in their negotiations, and that I would be silent as to himself. I asked him whether Musurus, the ambassador, knew of this. ‘How should he?’ he said. ‘Musurus is a traitor.’ He also forbade me to speak of it to Jemal-ed-Din, who was imprudent and also a poor man, who might some day be tempted by necessity. I have arranged with Moore to see Randolph to- morrow.

“_7th Oct._—At twelve saw Randolph at the India Office, and finding things as I supposed at a standstill with Wolff, told him what I had heard. I, of course, did not say who had told me, only that it was a person of high position, in no way connected with Jemal-ed-Din or any other of my friends. He answered most decidedly that there was not the remotest danger of Russia being allowed to intervene, and seemed quite disposed to look favourably on the idea of a change of _régime_ at Constantinople as favourable to the prospects of an arrangement. He promised me absolute secrecy about it, and told me something of Wolff’s progress. Wolff had come to the conclusion that it was very necessary to take the Arab party at Constantinople into account, and was surprised that Ibrahim had not been to see him yet. I said he had probably been forbidden by the Sultan; and to-day a letter came from Ibrahim saying he had sent in a full report of his doings in England to the Sultan, and about myself among the rest. But the Sultan had forgotten all about Wolff and England and everything but Roumelia. Randolph also promised to send Gorst down to support me at Camberwell, and asked me to speak with him at a meeting on Indian social reform at the Mansion House. Yesterday a letter had come from Lord Salisbury telling me that the Egyptian Government decidedly refused to allow my return to Cairo, and Randolph encouraged me to insist. I had undertaken not to meddle with political questions or projects during my stay. Randolph is looking better, and is very hearty and pleasant. He is the most agreeable and least pedantic of official men; office has not spoilt him, nor will it.

“Tea at Lady Gregory’s, where I met Kinglake.

“_8th Oct._—A long talk with Jemal-ed-Din about prospects at Constantinople and about the Caliphate. He is for the Mahdi or the Mahdi’s successor taking the Sultan’s place, or the Sherif Own, or the Imam of Sanaa—any of these he thought might now take the lead. But Constantinople must remain the seat of the Caliphate, as Arabia or Africa would be mere places of exile. Amongst other things, he told me that it was he himself who had suggested to the Sherif el Huseyn to claim the Caliphate, but El Huseyn had said it was impossible without armed support, and the Arabs could never unite except in the name of religion. Now, Jemal-ed-Din is very anxious to be away again to the East. He will not go, he says, to Constantinople unless the Sultan sends for him, and we have agreed that if I do not win my election at Camberwell we will go together to the Imam of Sanaa in Yemen and raise the standard of the Caliphate, as I intended to do four years ago. I asked him whether he thought the Sultan had had El Huseyn assassinated; and he said, ‘No, but perhaps some pasha had it done.’

“Ferid Bey came at twelve, and I told him of the answer I had received from Churchill, and that I felt very sure our Government would not be much displeased with a change of _régime_ at Constantinople. At the same time I told him I thought it would be useless to kick against the union of Roumelia and Bulgaria. This had been part of his plan. He was of a different opinion, and said if they could only get free of the present hindrance in the Sultan’s apathy they were quite ready to carry the war to the Danube, Turkey’s true frontier. I asked him if they were ready to fight Russia alone, and he said ‘Yes.’ I told him, ‘If so, go on, I have nothing to say; but you must not count on assistance from Lord Salisbury, or any other English Minister; public opinion in England would not allow it.’ He told me that, without actually deposing Abdul Hamid, they might put pressure on him to force him to constitutional courses and a defence of the Empire. I think, nevertheless, he will discourage his friends from their plan.[130]

“_9th Oct._—Lord Salisbury has pronounced himself in an admirable speech in Wales. It will do the Party good, for it is straightforward and strong.

“_11th Oct._—I came to Newcastle last night, and made my promised speech at the theatre to about three thousand people, explaining to them the intrigues which had brought on the Egyptian War. It is the most important speech I have ever made, and it lasted two hours. Though most of the audience were devoted admirers of Gladstone, I succeeded in carrying them with me, and it was altogether a great success. What a difference between these north country men and the miserable Camberwell rabble! I am ashamed of my late electioneering; it is a degrading business.

“_12th Oct._—Back to London. Drummond Wolff’s mission is announced as having succeeded; the Sultan is to send a commissioner with Wolff to Egypt. I expect Ibrahim Bey has been instrumental in bringing this about. I hear no more of the threatened revolt at Constantinople. Lord Salisbury writes to tell me he has forced the Egyptian Government to receive me in Egypt.

“The old Cashmiri, Abd-el-Rasul, called and showed me a letter from Zebehr Pasha at Gibraltar and a correspondence he had had with Lord Granville, and I promised to ask Churchill to intercede. Also two Indian delegates with a letter from Ragunath Rao.

“Down to dine and sleep at Milford (my cousin Robert Webb’s house in Surrey), and found them all in a barn hearing young Brodrick[131] orating on Church and State. One cannot escape meetings anywhere now. It was an absurd business: Bob in the chair, young Brodrick deadly dull; the crowd cutting their country jokes, and from time to time outside the bellow of a cow, which set all the meeting off in roars.

“_13th Oct._—Back to London. Saw Randolph at the India Office at three, and told him of the success of the Newcastle meeting. He approves of my going on to another at Edinburgh if it can be arranged. Also he agrees to see Rama Swami and the other Indian delegates, who called on me a day or two ago to ask my assistance at the India Office. He has asked me to bring them to him on Thursday. Moore’s face was a picture when he told him of this decision, but in his light-hearted way Randolph would hear of no objection, and so it is settled. Then I laid before him a letter I had received from Calcutta, about a native woman ravished on a steamer—the Webb case—and he sent Moore to look it up. Lastly, I asked him to intercede for the release of Zebehr Pasha at Gibraltar. This, too, he promised to see to, and said he thought it could easily be managed. There had already been talk of releasing Zebehr, because the Colonial Office and the War Office could not agree which was to pay the expense of keeping him. But Egerton had objected at Cairo—this he told me confidentially. Randolph is looking decidedly better than he did, and nothing could be nicer than our relations at present. He volunteered the information that the Austrian and Russian Governments were both backing up the Sultan to claim his rights in Roumelia.

“A letter came to-day from Lord Salisbury, saying that I should go to the Foreign Office and arrange with Pauncefote[132] the details of my affairs in Egypt; and I did so. Pauncefote was exceedingly polite to me, and I spoke pretty frankly to him about Baring and Granville in relation to my exclusion from Egypt. It is a great triumph to have forced this matter on the Foreign Office, and to be at last invited back to the official sanctum after all our quarrels. I met Frank Villiers[133] later at the club, and laughed about it with him. Rivers Wilson made a third with us, and we had a grand discussion about the advantage of truth- telling in politics. They would neither of them hear of it; but I said: ‘Look at me, if I had not made it a rule to speak the exact truth and have no secrets where should I be to-day? I have been engaged for the last four years in every kind of intrigue and yet my name stands clear.’ They laughed at this. Rivers is still bitter about Arabi, but we drove home together, good friends as of old.

“_15th Oct._—After luncheon at the Morrises, I took the three delegates to the India Office, giving them a good sermon first about the folly it would be for them to hoist a Radical flag here in England. Anyhow, I think Randolph has converted them, for he was quite charming to them, putting them at their ease at once. There was nobody present but ourselves, and the face of the office messenger when he showed us in was even more comic than Moore’s had been two days ago. The expression on it was exactly that of the old steward’s in the ‘Mariage à la Mode.’ Mon Mohun Ghose did most of the talking; he asked Randolph about the Parliamentary inquiry into the Government of India and what subjects it would include. Randolph said it would depend on them to make it a useful one; they must send over their very best men to give evidence, and take care they were absolutely accurate about their facts, as there were plenty of old-fashioned people who did not want existing things disturbed, and who would pick holes where they could. He said Siva Prasad had informed him that a royal order to come to England would override caste difficulties, and that the Benares divines would decide it in this sense. But Chandar Varkar objected to this, that Benares could not lay down the law for the whole of India; still he hoped it might have some effect. Mon Mohun Ghose wanted to know whether the inquiry would include the judicial system, as that was what was giving rise just now to most ill feeling. And Randolph said that if it depended on him it should. His colleagues had been most amiable about this inquiry, and if the Conservatives were in office the inquiry would be a full and impartial one. He was against members of the Government sitting on it, but those should be chosen who had most title to consider Indian affairs, independent men of all parties. He should support the inquiry, whether he was in office or not. The inquiry would also include the revenue question, and Rama Swami explained to him the enhancement of the land revenue grievance. He begged them to address him again on any special points they required to make known connected with their respective Presidencies, and at the end of three quarters of an hour they went away highly delighted. He told me, at leaving, that I might publish the result, and I have sent a few lines to the Press Association, epitomizing the interview. The delegates will also telegraph to India. This is a great move, and will do excellent work in every way.

“_18th Oct._—An ultimatum has been sent by Lord Dufferin to King Thebaw of Burmah. There is a long _communiqué_ in the ‘Observer’ showing how rich Burmah is, and the wickedness of Thebaw; this has decided me to write to Churchill and ask explanations. He is unfortunately out of town. [This ultimatum led to the iniquitous annexation of Upper Burmah.]

“Delivered an address in the evening at Islington Hall, Frederic Harrison in the chair, on ‘Reform in Foreign Policy.’ [This was an appeal against secrecy and other evils in Foreign Affairs.]

“_20th Oct._—Randolph telegraphs he has been to my house, and is sorry to miss me. He is just leaving for Lynn, but refers me to Moore. I travelled up from Crabbet with Frederick Locker, who says it will be unfair if I succeed in Parliament, seeing that I lived idly and amused myself for forty years, and that I have succeeded too as a poet.

“A meeting at the Mansion House for Lady Dufferin’s Indian Female Doctors’ Fund, for which Randolph had invited me to speak. I was put up to second Sir Richard Temple; the Anglo-Indians will be very angry at this. There has been a great row about the Indian delegates, who have been sat upon by their Radical friends here for having promised to support me at a meeting in Camberwell, and they are frightened out of their wits. The Radicals say they won’t allow them to have anything to do with a Conservative candidate.

“_21st Oct._—Saw Moore at the India Office, who spoke frankly enough about Burmah. He said that the India Office had been opposed to intervention for a long while, that Bernard, the Resident, especially had opposed it, but now saw its necessity, that great commercial pressure had been put on the Calcutta Government to take action, and that perhaps Lord Dufferin was not sorry for so good an excuse at last to settle the matter. ‘An important point,’ Moore said (and he thought it would convince me), ‘was that _it would pay_.’ I told him this was precisely the point which disturbed me. I asked him with whom the responsibility rested. And he said, entirely with Lord Dufferin; he has had _carte blanche_ given him in the matter. I said I hoped they would not imitate the late Government by starting military operations without declaration of war, and suggested they might wait till Parliament met. He told me no papers had been published during the last two years. At leaving he said: ‘I think you may make your mind comfortable as to there being as much justice and reason in the case as there ever is in cases of the kind.’ I shall attend the Peace and Arbitration Committee to- morrow.

“In the evening we had a grand meeting of the Indian Delegates at Oakley Hall. We got Jemal-ed-Din to deliver a discourse in Arabic, which no soul in the room understood, but which was much applauded. Another followed in Persian from Mirza Bakir; and Rama Swami and Chandar Varkar spoke also. [It shows the absurdity of London audiences that this was by far the most successful meeting we had during the canvass.]

“_24th Oct._—Dinner with Hancock and a nest of Radicals at the Reform Club. I found them all less liberal than I am, especially about Ireland.

“_25th Oct._—To Hammersmith, where I found Morris laid up with the gout. He thought things were going wonderfully well for his ideas, and only hoped the Whigs would not get in with any large majority. He was inclined to vote for the Tories, but all voting was against socialistic principles.

“_28th Oct._—Wrote a letter to the ‘Times,’ in protest against the Burmese War, but shall keep it a day or two to see how Lord Salisbury answers my appeal to him for the recall of Arabi.

“_1st Nov._—Called on Lady C. yesterday, who said the Prince of Wales had told her they were discussing the question of recalling Arabi at the Foreign Office.

“Also saw Cardinal Manning. He was sitting very feeble in his arm-chair, before the fire, with a book screen behind him. It would make a fine picture. Truly, the only old age worth having is the old age of religion. He talked to me about Urquhart, who, he said, had made great efforts to enlist him among his disciples—‘a man of great personal charm and genius, but mentally not quite sound’; also about Gladstone, ‘who has gone altogether off the track.’ I told him I had hopes about Arabi’s return under Lord Salisbury but none whatever under Gladstone, he was too obstinate. ‘He was always like that,’ the Cardinal said, ‘the most obstinate man in the world; he never would admit he had ever made a mistake. To understand Gladstone you must remember he is a Scotchman on his father’s and mother’s side, only by accident an Englishman, born at Liverpool.’

“_2nd Nov._—Randolph writes that Lord Salisbury will certainly not give me an encouraging reply about Arabi: ‘Even if he was disposed, as I should be, to favour your views, he would not dare take such a step on the eve of the election.’ This is bad.

“Jemal-ed-Din, who had been mysteriously absent for two or three days from James Street, turned up again this morning. He had left the house in consequence of a noisy disturbance that occurred in his room on Thursday between two of his Oriental friends, Wahbi Bey and Abd-el- Rasul; they seem to have quarrelled over politics or religion and ended by beating each other over the heads with umbrellas. I had to beg them both to leave the house, and the Seyyid followed them. One must draw the line somewhere, and I have now suggested to the Seyyid that he should take up his quarters elsewhere; he has been three months with me in the house, the full term of Arab hospitality. [N.B.—This was the last I saw of the good Seyyid that year; he took huff at my treatment of his friends, and still more at the disappointment he had had in connection with Drummond Wolff’s mission, and he left England a few days later in anger against everything English and, shaking its dust from his feet, went away to Moscow, where he joined himself with Katkoff, the well- known Panslavist leader in a campaign against the British Empire. From Russia he moved on to Persia and Afghanistan with the same object, and, after much preaching and much persecution from the governments of all these countries, drifted back at last to Constantinople, where I found him many years later established in the precincts of the Yildiz Palace, half pensioner, half prisoner of the Sultan. He died of cancer there, some think of poison, in 1902, nursed, as I have heard, for sole attendant, by a Christian servant. Jemal-ed-Din was a man of genius whose teaching exercised an influence hardly to be overrated on the Mohammedan reform movement of the last thirty years. I feel highly honoured at his having lived three months under my roof in England; but he was a wild man, wholly Asiatic and not easily tamed to European ways. An account of my subsequent visit to him at Constantinople will be given in its place.]

“_4th Nov._—There is a telegram from Cairo to-day which threatens a new expedition against Dongola. I don’t like a speech Randolph has made on the subject; he also talks nonsense about fighting for new markets in connection with the Burmese quarrel. I don’t know what to do; one party is as bad as the other. Lord Salisbury spoke last night at the Victoria Hall (where I was present on the platform as one of his chief supporters), and among other crudities he proposed this remedy of new markets as a relief for the depression of trade. What nonsense it is when men talk of ‘creating’ wealth by trade. English trade with Oriental nations means only the transference of Oriental money into English pockets; trade creates nothing, and one might parody the French axiom and say, _Le commerce c’est le vol_. Lord Salisbury’s speech was a poor affair; he does not come out well on occasions like these, having no sympathy whatever with the people and being unable to pretend it. He was evidently aware of his false position, and blundered on from one mistake to another; even in form he was bad, and it was only towards the end of his speech that he attained to anything approaching eloquence. Most of it was a House of Lords reply to his fellow lords, Granville and Hartington, about whom the South Londoners care less than for the man in the moon. A few good hits he made, and his audience were quite prepared to applaud anything, but it fell flat enough considering how great an occasion it was. The rest of the proceedings were poor, but mercifully curtailed, as his lordship was anxious to get home to Hatfield.

“_5th Nov._—Guy Fawkes’ Day, the guy this year being King Thebaw, a sad- looking black monarch in a turban. This Burmese War is of a piece with all these wars: hungry commercial speculators making contracts with a dishonest prince, European intrigues, British remonstrances, official interference, tales to the prince’s discredit, his subjects praying for British intervention, threats from Calcutta, appeal of the prince to his people, who strangely take his side in the quarrel, ultimatum issued, arrival of fleet, massacre of Europeans, bombardment, slaughter of natives, triumph of British arms, annexation of territory, pay, prize money, pensions, peerages all round, and so _da capo_.

“_6th Nov._—Sent my letter about Burmah to the ‘Times,’ after calling at the India Office to see if Randolph had any further explanation to make, but he is out of town. He has stupidly, as I think, identified himself with Lord Dufferin’s policy of war. But I cannot keep silent on an occasion of this kind.

“_11th Nov._—We have decided to have a large meeting at Camberwell in favour of Arabi’s recall to Egypt, and I went to see Randolph to ask him about it and other things. He made a first-rate speech the other day at Manchester, but looks fagged and several years older than when he took office. I talked to him first about the Soudan, and asked him if anything had been done in the way of negotiations. And he said that Mukhtar, the Ottoman commissioner, and Wolff were going to do what they could to pacificate; that already something had been begun; that Wolff quite understood the necessity of dealing through Arab channels; that he had discovered that if the Sultan was influenced by anybody it was by the Arab Sheykhs, and, finally, that Mukhtar was the man Wolff himself had wished for, and that all would be done that could be done. All the same, there was imminent prospect of more fighting. I told him of the papers I had sent in to Lord Salisbury, and of the meeting we are getting up for the recall of Arabi. And he highly approved. He said: ‘I am doing all I can with Lord Salisbury to get him to recall Arabi. But his prejudices are strong and I shall be glad to have support from outside.’ About the Burmese war I said that I hoped he did not disapprove of my letter to the ‘Times,’ but I was obliged to write it, as I could not afford not to be true to my principles, which were to me what her virtue is to a woman. He said he thought it quite right, and hoped I should pull my election through.”[134]

This proved to be my last talk with Churchill on our familiar and intimate footing as political allies. In another fortnight the elections had been fought and lost and won; then came Gladstone’s unexpected pronouncement in favour of Home Rule, and we followed different paths, and I saw Churchill no more that year, or at all as friends politically.

To end the story of the Camberwell election briefly: on the 12th November I finally declared for Home Rule in its full sense, avowing my intention in so many words of supporting Parnell in his demand for an Irish Parliament. I felt bound to do this, but I believe it cost me my election. All the last fortnight was occupied in heavy work, of which my wife, with her maid Cowie and my private secretary Hope, an excellent young man, took the lion’s share, and I was helped by many personal friends from outside, notably by the Meynells and Pollens, and by an excellent old-fashioned Radical banker from St. Ives, Mr. Tebbutt, who came on principle to canvass for me because of my views on foreign policy, and the Rev. Hugh Chapman of St. Luke’s, now chaplain to the Savoy. But their devoted labours proved of no avail, and I lost the election by 162 votes out of 6,112 votes polled.

THE END.

NOTE ABOUT THE MAHDI’S DEATH

THE policy finally decided on by Lord Salisbury in July, 1885, of completing the evacuation of the Soudan and leaving it to “stew in its own juice” till such time as it could be reconquered in English interests, was a Macchiavellian one, and resulted successfully from the point of view of imperial ambition. The decision was come to simultaneously with Mohammed Ahmed’s death, which I thought at the time, and still think, was not wholly a natural one. His death was due, according to the official account, to small-pox, but there were too many interests engaged at Cairo and Constantinople just then not to make it extremely probable that there was another agency at work to procure a solution so simple and so timely. The Mahdi’s was a great personality, commanding unbounded respect in the Soudan, and inspiring the religious hopes of Mohammedan Egypt as that of a possible deliverer from Christian domination, while beyond Egypt it had become a rival influence obnoxious to the Ottoman Caliphate. There are too many examples of such deaths procured for political ends in the time of Sultan Abdul Hamid and of the Khedivate to make the suspicion in the present instance unreasonable; and it must be remembered that with the Drummond Wolff mission a new opportunity was presenting itself at Constantinople, to which the life of the Mahdi was a chief obstacle. Be this as it may, it is certain that the blow dealt by Mohammed Ahmed’s death was fatal to the future of the Soudan as that of a permanently powerful theocracy. The Khalifa Abdallah el Taishi, who succeeded him in supreme rule, was a man wholly inferior intellectually and politically to his master, and under him religious enthusiasm waned and tribal rivalries took the place of a united front against the enemy, while also the wisdom was lacking for the conclusion of an effective peace on lines of commercial intercourse with Egypt. There was always the excuse at Cairo that the Khalifa was impracticable to treat with. The story, however, of the reconquest of Khartoum twelve years later is beyond the scope of the present volume, as is any appreciation of the actual condition of the Soudan under English rule, and I leave both reluctantly for another occasion.

W. S. B.

APPENDICES