Chapter XXI: Epilogue: Mount Pisgah

It is stated that the historian, Lecky, O.M. (I assisted at the operation of his receiving the Order of Merit) gave more thought and time to the book of his last years, “The Map of Life,” than to any other of all his works, and it is said that for three years he kept on revising the last of its chapters.

The book was derided to me by a literary friend of great eminence as being “The Pap of Life!” I read its last chapters with great avidity. If for nothing else, the book is worthy of immortality for the reason that it so emphasises those great words of Dryden as being appropriate to the close of a busied life--

“Not Heaven itself upon the past has Power,
What has been has been, and I have had my hour.”

Whenever (as I often do) I pass Dryden’s bust in Westminster Abbey I invariably thank him for those lines.

Mr. Lecky urges his readers to leave the active scenes of life in good time and not to “Lag superfluous on the Stage” (I believe Mr. Gladstone recommended this also, but didn’t do it!).

To illustrate Mr. Lecky we have that great and splendid Trio of Translation to Heaven at the very zenith of their powers. Elijah was hurrying along (that great, hairy, weird old man) so that Elisha could hardly keep pace with him, and he is suddenly caught up in a Chariot of Fire to Heaven! I ask, “Was not Nelson’s leaving this earth quite a similar glorious departure?”

“Partial firing continued until 4.30 p.m. when a victory having
been reported to Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson, K.B., and
Commander-in-Chief, he THEN died of his Wound.”

Moses (with whom I am now more particularly concerned) also left this life in a similar glorious way, for God was his companion when his Spirit left this Earth, and it markedly is recorded of Moses that--

“His eye was not dim,
Nor his natural force abated!”

Mr. Lecky doesn’t quote my three men above. I consider them superior to Noah, Daniel and Job, who are the three named in Scripture as being so dear to the pious man. Ezekiel, chapter xiv., verse 14.

I reiterate that the advice of the derided Lecky seems to me excellent, to leave active life at one’s zenith, and thus anticipate senility.

The Archbishop of Seville is a lovely story by Cervantes. All Spain came to hear him preach. Indeed he had to preach every day, the crowds were so great, and he said to his faithful Secretary: “Tell me when you notice me waning, for a man never knows it himself.” The Secretary did so, and the Archbishop gave him the sack! Yes! The Archbishop had passed the Rubicon, and this dismissal was the proof. Having this fear, I left Office on my birthday in 1910, though for a few short months in 1914 I enjoyed the “dusky hues of glorious war,” and exceedingly delighted myself in those seven months in arranging a new Armada against Germany of 612 vessels, and in sending Admiral von Spee and all his ships to the bottom of the sea.

The following much-prized lines were sent me on the Annihilation of Admiral von Spee’s Squadron off the Falkland Islands on December 8th, 1914. He had sunk Admiral Cradock’s Squadron five weeks before. The “Dreadnought” Battle Cruisers, “Inflexible” and “Invincible,” sent to sink von Spee, made a passage of 14,000 miles without a hitch and arrived just a few hours before von Spee. It was a timely arrangement:--

From the President of Magdalen College, Oxford, Sir Herbert Warren (Professor of Poetry).

Merserat Ex-spe Spem, rediit spes, mergitur Ex-spes.

“Von Spee sent the ‘Good Hope’ to the bottom: hope revived; he is
sunk himself, without hope.”

From Mr. Godley, the Public Orator at Oxford University.

Hoc tibi Piscator Patria debet opus.

“Your country owes this exploit to you, O Fisher!”

But that Great Providence, that shapes our course, rough hew it how we will, ordained my departure from the conduct of the War. Amongst the masses of regretful letters at my departure I choose one from an Admiral then 88 years old, who satisfies the great Dr. Weir Mitchell’s dictum of the clear brain becoming clearer with age. This Admiral annexed a Continent for England, abounding in riches in New Guinea; but he got no thanks; and England gave away his gift. But his name lives there. I conclude with his letter:--

DEAR OLD FISHER,

It is marvellous how all variations of our lives are unravelled by
Divine Inspiration that cannot err.

“No one can ‘hustle’ Providence.”
(That’s one of your sayings!)
Think of Moses!

“He was the truest warrior that ever buckled sword.
He the most gifted Poet that ever breathed a word:
And never Earth’s Philosopher traced with his golden pen,
On the Deathless Page, truths half so sage as he wrote down
for men;
Yet no man knows his sepulchre, and no man saw it e’er,
For the Angels of God up-turned the sod and laid the Dead Man
there.”

Moses saved his people. He prepared them for the conquest in which
he was to take no part. He was the meekest man on earth, yet he
could be the most ruthless!

Doubtless you saved England at the Falkland Islands.

Doubtless you prepared our Fleet for this war! (Nothing to boast
of! You the clay in the hands of the Potter!) And it seems likely
that some Joshua will reap what you have sown! Yet history will
put it right.

“O lonely grave in Moab’s land! O dark Beth-Peor’s hill!
Speak to these curious hearts of ours and teach them to be still!”

Ever faithfully yours,
(Signed) J. MORESBY.

FOOTNOTES

[1] “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark.”--_Phil._ iii. 13, 14.

[2] Sir Julian Corbett, the author of the wonderful “Seven Years’ War,” wrote to me in past vituperative years as follows:

“Yesterday I was asked if it were _really_ true that you (Sir John Fisher) had sold the country to Germany! I was able to assure the questioner that the report was at least exaggerated. It is often my fortune to be able to quiet minds that have been seriously disturbed by the unprecedented slanders that have been the reward of your unprecedented work.”

[3] See letters at end of this chapter.

[4] On hearing of von Tirpitz’s dismissal I perpetrated the following letter, which a newspaper contrived to print in one of its editions. I can’t say why, but it didn’t appear any more, nor was it copied by any other paper!

DEAR OLD TIRPS,

We are both in the same boat! What a time we’ve been colleagues,
old boy! However, we did you in the eye over the Battle Cruisers
and I know you’ve said you’ll never forgive me for it when bang
went the “Blucher” and von Spee and all his host!

Cheer up, old chap! Say “Resurgam”! You’re the one German sailor
who understands War! Kill your enemy without being killed yourself.
_I don’t blame you for the submarine business._ I’d have done the
same myself, only our idiots in England wouldn’t believe it when I
told ’em!

Well! So long!

Yours till hell freezes, FISHER. 29/3/16.

I say! Are you sure if you had tripped out with your whole High
Sea Fleet before the Russian ice thawed and brought over those
half-a-million soldiers from Hamburg to frighten our old women that
you could have got back un-Jellicoed?

R.S.V.P.

[5] “A Naval Lieutenant, 1914–1918,” by Etienne, 1919, pp. 48 _et seq._

[6] _Note._--These are the names of the three first great Battle Cruisers of the Dreadnought type.

[7] On January 2, 1915, Russia asked for a demonstration against the Turks in order to relieve the pressure they were putting on the Russian forces in the Caucasus. Next day the War Office cabled a promise, through the Foreign Office, that this should be done. Before he sent the cable Lord Kitchener wrote to Mr. Churchill: “The only place that a demonstration might have some effect in stopping reinforcements going East would be the Dardanelles.”

[8] “The dramatic scene which followed may one day furnish material for the greatest historical picture of the war. Lord Fisher sat and listened to the men who knew nothing about it and heard one after another pass opinion in favour of a venture to which he was opposed. He rose abruptly from the table and made as if to leave the room.

“The tall figure of Lord Kitchener rose and followed him. The two stood by the window for some time in conversation and then both took their seats again. In Lord Fisher’s own words: ‘I reluctantly gave in to Lord Kitchener and resumed my seat.’

“Mr. Asquith saw that drama enacted, and Mr. Asquith knew that it arose out of Lord Fisher’s opposition to the scheme under discussion. But he allowed his colleagues on the Council to reach their conclusions without drawing from the expert his opinion for their guidance. The monstrous decision was therefore taken without it. But they all knew it--such a scene could not occur without everyone knowing the cause.”

[9] It must be emphasised here, as well as in regard to Lord Kitchener’s statement to the War Council dated May 14th, 1915, that Lord Fisher considered that it would be both improper and unseemly for him to enter into an altercation either at the War Council or elsewhere with his chief Mr. Churchill, the First Lord. Silence or resignation was the right course.

[10] This was the Armada of 612 vessels authorised by Mr. Lloyd George as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[11] At my entreaty a far better man went, Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, G.C.B. He is a splendid seaman and he devised a splendid scheme.

[12] This was written in December, 1908, and our Fleet and ships were always dogged in the war by them.

[13] There are statues of Franklin and of Robert Falconer Scott in Waterloo Place; but neither of these displayed his heroism in naval action. They were each peaceable seekers--but what on earth good accrues from going to the North and South Poles I never could understand--no one is going there when they can go to Monte Carlo!

[14] In the following selections, words between square brackets are not part of the original letters.

[15] N.B.--These very motor boats here described sank two battleships of the Bolshevists only the other day. _See_ Chapter IV.--F. 21/9/19.

[16] _Then after this came the 15-inch gun; then the 18-inch gun, actually used at sea in the War; and then the 20-inch gun, ready to be built and go into the “Incomparable” of 40,000 tons and 40 knots speed, on May 22nd, 1915--F._ 21/9/19.

[17] “The New Teaching,” edited by John Adams. Hodder and Stoughton.

[18] This shows how badly advised the Navy was by the India Office, _as under 3 feet was vital_, and the order was given accordingly.

[19] Eighteen days going through Departments.

[20] Mr. Yarrow had technical charge of the whole business and was the sole designer--and there was no paper work whatever.

[21] All this action on the same day.

[22] All the rest of the required action taken in 4 days.

Index

A

Abdul Hamid,55;
the Pope and, 91 _et seq._, 204, 205

Aboukir Bay, French Fleet in, 161

Adalbert, Prince, 230

Adams, John, editor of “The New Teaching,” 251 _n._

Admiralty clerks and the Naval War Staff, 102 _et seq._

Aircraft, 124 _et seq._

Alcester, Lord, 140

Alexandra, Queen, 12, 20, 198, 238

Alfonso, King, 237–238, 258

Americans, 221 _et seq._

Anderson, Mr. J. W. S., 111

Angell, Mr. Norman, 126, 211

Arbuthnot, Sir R., 60

Arnold-Forster, Rt. Hon. H. O., 169–171, 179

Asquith, Rt. Hon. H. H., 42, 50, 58, 59, 70, 74, 196, 199

B

Bacon, Admiral Sir Reginald, 104, 128

Baddeley, Mr. V. W., 111

Balfour, Rt. Hon. A. J., 36, 64, 82, 182, 210

Barnaby, Sir Nathaniel, 253, 255;
letter to Lord Fisher, 256–257

Barnardo, Dr., 160

Bartolomé, Admiral Sir Charles de, 104, 270

Battenberg, Prince Louis of, 168

Beatty, Lord, 37, 40, 121

Beilby, Sir George, 116

Beit, Mr., 4, 33, 34, 182

Benbow, Admiral, 163

Bernstorff, Count von, 210

Bieberstein, Marschall von, 204, 205

Birdwood, General Sir William R., 82

Bismarck, Prince, 229

“Blücher,” sinking of the, 149–150

Booth, General, 160

Borden, Rt. Hon. Sir R. L., 218

Botha, General, 136, 263

Boys, Admiral, 168

Bridgeman, Admiral Sir Francis, 246, 247

Bridgman, Mr., 92

Bright, John, 23, 100, 223, 225–227, 256

Bristol, Marquis of, 258

Brock, Commander, at Zeebrugge, 50

Bryce, Lord, 205

Buckle, Mr., 181

Bulwer, Sir Henry, _see_ Dalling, Lord

Byron, Lord, 92, 102

C

Caillaux, M., 209

Caldwell, Major-General Sir Charles, 83, 84

Callaghan, Admiral Sir George A., 37, 39

Campbell-Bannerman, Sir H., 42, 176, 182, 183, 256

Canning, Sir Stratford, 95

Carden, Admiral Sir Sackville H., 79, 82

Cartagena, 237–239

Cavendish, Lady Frederick, 260

Cawley, Lord, 56

Cervantes, 282–283

Chalmers, Dr., 153

Choate, Mr., 17

Churchill, Mr. Winston, 36, 41, 50, 52, 55–59, 63, 64, 66, 67, 71–73,
81, 124, 127, 183, 196, 198, 206, 207, 212–214, 246

Clark, Mr. Champ, 202

Clarke, Sir George, 16, 165, 169, 173, 179, 196

Clemenceau, M., 209

Corbett, Sir Julian, 2 _n._, 101

Cornwallis, Admiral, 163

Cradock, Admiral, 135, 136, 283

Crease, Captain, 104

Cromer, Lord, 56, 60, 70, 76, 94

Cromwell, Oliver, 107, 278

D

Dalling, Lord, 265, 277

“Daniell cell,” the, 140

Daniels, Mr. Josephus, 225

Dardanelles, the, 49 _et seq._

Denbigh, Lord, 10

Depew, Mr. Chauncey, 224

Dilke, Sir Charles, 16

Disraeli, 25, 101

Dogger Bank incident, the, 65, 71, 94

Dryden, 281

Dumanoir, Admiral, 162

Dundonald, Lord, 146, 163

E

Ellison, General Sir C., 165, 166

Empress Marie, 198

Esher, Lord, 5, 12;
letter to Lord Fisher, 13, 33, 34;
Lord Fisher’s letters to, 165 _et seq._

F

Falkenhayn, General von, 97

Fisher, Mr. Andrew, 61, 69

Fitzgerald, Admiral, 263

Flint, Mr., 110

Franklin, Benjamin, 163 n

Frederick the Great, 34

French, Lord, 57, 58, 69, 169, 172–174, 188

G

Gard, Mr., 122

Gardiner, Mr. A. G., 53

Garibaldi, visit of, to the “Warrior,” 150

Garvin, Mr. J. L., 187

German Emperor on Lord Fisher, 33, 182

Girouard, Sir E. P. C., 166

Gladstone, Mr., 41, 42, 244, 259, 260, 261, 282

Gladstone, Mrs., 260

Godley, Mr., 283

Goschen, Viscount, 107, 139

Grand Duke Nicholas, 52, 79

Granville, Lord, 205

Greene, Sir Graham, 111

Grey, Lord, 18, 96, 189, 190, 205

Grierson, General, 172

Guazzo, Steven, 35

H

Haddock, Commodore, 144, 145

Haig, Lord, 172

Haldane, Lord, 102, 104, 106, 209

Hall, Admiral Sir S. S., 269–271

Hall, Admiral W. H., 103

Hall, Rear-Admiral Sir William Reginald, 85

Hamilton, Sir Ian, 83, 215

Hamilton, Lady, 158

Hamilton, Lord George, 242, 243, 244

Hankey, Sir Maurice, 58, 64, 74, 194

Hanotaux, M., 187

Harcourt, Sir William Vernon, 186, 216

Hawke, Admiral Lord, 163

Hawthorne, 115

Henderson, Admiral Sir Reginald, 105 _n._

Henderson, Mr. Arthur, 47

Hertz German submarine mine the, 130, 151

Hertzog, General, 136

Hildyard, General, 169

Hindenburg, Field-Marshal von, 74, 106

Hood, Admiral Sir Horace, 104

Hood, Admiral Viscount, 60, 163

Hornby, Admiral Sir Geoffrey Phipps, 65–66, 71, 93, 228

House, Colonel, 45

Howe, Admiral, 163

Hush Hush ships, 98–101, 243, 258

I

Inge, Dean, 61

Ingenohl, Admiral von, 32

Inglefield, Admiral Sir Frederick S., 168

Ismay, Mr. 145

Isvolsky, M., 182, 187, 233

J

Jackson, Admiral Sir Henry B., 40

Jellicoe, Lord, 30, 31, 36–40, 64, 74, 105, 208–210, 270

Johnson, Abraham, 148–149

Jones, Commodore Oliver, 146

K

Kelly-Kenny, General, 174

Kelvin, Lord, 143, 193, 251 _et seq._

Kerr, Lord Walter, 140

Key, Sir Cooper, 143

Kiamil Pasha, 93, 95, 239

Kiel Canal, the, 19, 130, 131

Kiderlen-Waechter, von, 204

Kiernan, John, 147–148

King Edward, 1 _et seq._;
letter from author to, 3–4;
his tact, 5–7, 25, 51, 113, 117, 184, 186, 187, 191, 192, 198–199,
203, 207, 211, 225, 226, 232, 234, 236, 237, 260

King William, 229

Kitchener, Lord, 50, 52, 57, 59, 65, 67, 74, 79, 80, 83, 104, 105,
176, 198, 199, 241

Knollys, Sir Francis, 3, 20, 21, 171, 193

Knox, Mr. Philander, 205

Kruger, Paul, 169

Kuropatkin, M., 187

L

Labouchere, Mr. Henry, 265–267

Lambert, Mr. George, 267

Lansdowne, Lord, 82

Latimer, Bishop, 120

Law, Mr. Bonar, 82

Learmonth, Admiral, 132

Lecky, Rt. Hon. W. E. H., 281, 282

Leishman, Mr. John G. A., American Ambassador to Germany, 204, 205

Lincoln, Abraham, 261, 262

Lister, Lord, 250

Lloyd George, Mr., 55, 56, 59, 81 _n._, 131, 186, 204, 213, 215–217,
223

Loubet, President, 12, 236

Ludendorff, General von, 32, 97, 106

Lyttelton, Sir N., 65

M

McClintock, Admiral Sir Leopold, 143

McCrea, Mr., 222

Macgregor, Sir Evan, 111

McKenna, Mr. Reginald, 41, 43, 44, 62, 186, 193–197, 199–201, 206, 207

McKenna, Mrs. Reginald, 43

Mackenzie, Sir Thomas, 61–62, 70

Macnamara, Dr. T. J., 42, 44

Madden, Admiral Sir Charles, 104

Magee, Archbishop, 151

Mahan, Admiral, 5, 37, 187, 216

Maxim, Sir Hiram, 227, 228, 250

Maxse, Mr. Leo, 182

Maxwell, General, 172

Mears, Sir Grimwood, Secretary to the Dardanelles Commission, 61

Merchant Navy, the, 119–120

Milne, Mr., 139

Mitchell, Dr. Weir, 284

Moltke, Field-Marshal Count, 229, 230, 276

Moresby, Admiral J., letter to Lord Fisher, 284–285

Morgenthau, Mr. H., 84

Morley, Lord, 216, 262

Munro, General Sir Charles, 85

Murray, Mr. George, 199

Murray, Sir Oswyn, 111

N

Naples, Queen of, 158

Napoleon, 18, 44, 162, 201

Naval War Staffs and Admiralty clerks, 102 _et seq._

Nelson, 18, 25–27, 51, 66, 105, 107, 109, 111, 117, 142, 147, 158
_et seq._

Nicholson, Field-Marshal Lord, 65, 85

Nicholson, Mr. W. F., 103

Northbrook, Lord, 156, 157, 244, 245

O

O’Connell, Daniel, 260

Oldenburg, Grand Duke of, 229, 232

Olga, Grand Duchess, 231, 232;
letter to Lord Fisher, 233–234

Oliver, Admiral Sir Henry, 104

Orde, Sir John, 244

Orloff, Prince, 2, 234

P

Palmerston, Lord, 203

Parker, Sir Hyde, 66

Parsons, Sir Charles, 249

Pepys, Samuel, 111

Perrin, Mr. W. G., 111

Petersen, Mr., 119

Phillips, Mr. J. F., 111

Pitt, Mr., 18, 36, 203

Plumer, General, 32, 172, 174

Pohl, Admiral von, 29 _et seq._

Pohl, Frau von, 30–32, 105

Polsonare family, the, 152

Pope, the, and Abdul Hamid, 91 _et seq._

Probyn, Sir Dighton, 20

Q

Queen Alexandra, 12, 20, 198, 238

Queen Victoria, 156, 157

R

Rawlinson, Sir Henry, 119

Redesdale, Lord, letter to Lord Fisher, 14

Reich, Herr von, on “Dreadnoughts,” 14 _et seq._

Reid, Sir George, 199

Reval, 231 _et seq._

Rhodes, Cecil, 34, 35

Richmond, Captain, 104

Ridley, Bishop, 120

Roberts, Lord, 53, 183

Roch, Mr. W. F., 62

Rodney, Admiral, 163

Roon, Count von, 229

Roosevelt, Mr., 23

Rosebery, Lord, 27, 44, 49, 55, 138, 158, 162, 248

Rothschild, Lord, 244

Rousseau, M., 187

Rozhdestvensky, Admiral, 107

Runciman, Mr. Walter, 44

Russia, Emperor of, 191, 251

S

St. Vincent, Lord, 181

Salisbury, Lord, 94, 204

Sampson, Admiral, 225

Samuel, Mr. Herbert, 42

Samuel, Sir Marcus, 116

Sanders, Marshal Liman von, 85, 97

Scapa Flow, 31

Schreiner, Mr. G. A., 84

Schwab, Mr., 270

Schwartzhoff, Gross von, 105, 106, 212

Scott, Mr. Robert Falconer, 163 _n._

Scott, Sir Percy, 248, 249

Seely, General, 216

Selborne, Lord, 170, 245, 246

Shipbuilding, new, inaugurated by Lord Fisher, 86 _et seq._

Sinclair, Commodore Hugh Paget, 267

Slade, General F. G., 174, 175

Smith, Sir F. E., 183

Smith, Sir Thomas, 250

Smith-Dorrien, General, 169, 172, 174

Some Personalities, 242 _et seq._

Southey, 249

Special Missions, some, 229 et seq.

Spee, Admiral von, 36, 78, 135, 136, 283

Spencer, Lord, 242, 244, 245

Stead, Mr. W. T., 35, 170, 171, 197, 249, 262, 263, 264

Stolypin, M., 187, 231, 236–237

Stopford, Sir F., 172

Submarines, Lord Fisher’s Memorandum on, 88–90

Swift, Dean, 276

T

Taft, Mr., 202

Tall, Isaac, 151

Taylor, Bishop Jeremy, 114

Tennyson-D’Eyncourt, Sir Eustace, 257–259

Thomas, Mr. Holt, 125, 126

Thompson, Mr., 224

Thomson, Sir William, _see_ Kelvin, Lord

Tirpitz, Admiral von, 16, 29 _et seq._, 97, 184

Togo, Admiral, 107

Treves, Sir Frederick, 249–251

Troubridge, Sir Thomas, 155, 161

Tryon, Sir George, 146

Tweedmouth, Lord, 5

Tyrwhitt, Sir Reginald Yorke, 170

V

Villa Vieja, Marquis de, 233

W

Walker, Sir Charles, 111

Warburton, Eliot, 27

War Council Meetings, Lord Fisher’s notes of his special intervention
at, 78 _et seq._

Ward, Sir Joseph, 193

Warren, Sir Herbert, 283

Washington, George, 223, 226

Watts, Dr., 114

Watts, Sir Philip, 187, 257–259

Weymouth, Admiral, 122

White, Mr. Arnold, 263

White, Sir William, 95

Wilmot, Admiral Sir S. Eardley, letter to Lord Fisher, 129

Wilson, Mr. A. K., 199, 206

Wilson, Sir Arthur, 102, 183, 194, 195, 197, 200, 246, 247

Wilson, Mr. Havelock, 119–120

Wilson, President, 202, 222

Wolff, Sir Drummond, 277

Woolward, Captain Robert, 144

Y

Yarrow, Sir Alfred, 116, 268 _et seq._

Yelverton, Sir Hastings, 231

Z

Zeebrugge, 50, 58, 75, 79, 81, 119

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Transcriber’s Notes

Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced.

Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs. In versions of this eBook that support hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to the corresponding illustrations.

The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.

Footnotes, originally at the bottoms of pages, have been renumbered and gathered together just before the index.

Page 38: “my dead Friend” was printed that way.