Chapter I: Preface

It would be unfair both to the reader and to the subject of this memoir to let this book go forth without a word of introduction. The lot of Henry Labouchere, who was born in the reign of William IV. and lived to see George V. on the throne, was cast during a period of European development as important, perhaps, as any that modern history records. For certainly the most significant, if not the most salient, fact in the history of modern Europe is that democratisation of England which, in spite of many set-backs and obstacles, has at length been, in principle at all events, definitely achieved. To-day we are all democrats, Tories and Radicals alike. In that process, the full significance of which has still to unfold itself, Mr. Labouchere played a striking and original part. It was not always a successful one, but it was always played honestly, daringly, and, above all, characteristically. Although a convinced, and in spite of himself, if one may say so, even an enthusiastic Radical, no politician was ever less of a party man. His loyalty was given to principles, not men, and some of his bitterest attacks both in Parliament and in the press were reserved for Radical Ministries that, according to his lights, were untrue to their profession. He was also, what is not so common in politics, a thoroughly disinterested man. He sought neither office nor honour. Circumstances placed him beyond the need of money, and just as no personal feelings could ever blind him to political shortcomings in his leaders, so the strongest and most vehemently expressed disapproval of his opponents {vi} frequently went with a marked attachment to their persons, and the strange thing is that he succeeded in convincing both sides of the House of the genuineness of this emotionally disinterested attitude.

The opinions of Englishmen are rarely disinterested, and it should never be forgotten that Henry Labouchere was, in fact, a Frenchman. French by birth, he remained, to the day of his death, French in his method of formation of opinion, in his outlook on life, in the peculiar quality of his wit. It was this that enabled, or rather obliged, him to take that curiously detached view of English ideals which was at times so disconcerting even to those who thought that they understood him. Ideals, he held, were only entitled to respect when translated into material currency. "How much £ s. d. does he believe in what he says?" he would ask concerning some fervid prophet. And if convinced that the requisite materialisation had occurred, he would accept the prophet as one more strange and amusing phenomenon in a strange and amusing universe. It would have never occurred to him that because the prophet was sincere he was right. That was a matter for reason. He once observed to me, in his whimsical way, of a colleague, that the mere denial of the existence of God did not entitle a man's opinion to be taken without scrutiny on matters of greater importance. No "mere" Englishman could have said that. That essential foreignness rendered him hard of comprehension even to those who sympathised with his aims. For instance, he was a Radical, as sincere and convinced a Radical as the late Mr. Stead, but in a very different way. His Radicalism was based on Reason. It represented Reason applied to that particular department of human affairs called Politics, and so applied, one may add, in spite of the irrationality of most of the men called Radical politicians. English Radicalism, on the other hand, rests mainly on humanitarian sentimentalism. The _religion du clocher_ of feudal England has been largely replaced by a rival cult, the {vii} hysterical excesses of which found in him a scathing critic. He did not resent the hereditary principle in government because it was unjust, but because it was absurd, and when he fought some concrete instance of injustice, as he was constantly doing, the emotional aspect of the case made little, if any, appeal to him. He disliked injustice on rational and, as it were, æsthetic grounds. He had no passionate love of virtue, public or private; he thought it, on the whole, a sound investment, but then even sound investments sometimes go wrong. In his personal outlook on things he was as completely non-religious as a man could be. He was not anti-religious. He fully recognised the utility of religious belief in others, perhaps even in society at large, and he based this recognition not so much on the hardness of men's hearts as on the thickness of their heads. But personally he, Henry Labouchere, took no interest whatever in the matter. In philosophy he was a strict agnostic, owning Hume, for whom he had the greatest admiration, and the Kant of the _Critique of Pure Reason_, as his masters. And he was remarkably well read in the works of those philosophers.

He was constitutionally suspicious of strong feelings or enthusiasm of any kind. All sensible people smoked, he used to say, in order to protect themselves against such disturbing factors. He loathed every kind of humbug. He did not, however, disdain it as a weapon. During the General Election of 1905 the Tories made a party cry of Tariff Reform; he calmly observed one day, throwing down his paper: "Well, of course I think we are right, but whether we are or not, we've got all the bunkum on our side."

In his personal relations with others he was very sociable and courteous, retaining even in old age the fine manners of an earlier generation. He was immensely kind-hearted, and suffered fools, if not gladly, at least with politeness and equanimity. His love for children is well known. There was nothing he enjoyed more than giving children's parties, {viii} and on these occasions would take any amount of personal trouble to ensure the pleasure of his little friends. My earliest recollection of him is, as a child of eight or so, sitting on his knee drinking in the most fascinating and horrible tales of the Siege of Paris, which he would tell me by the hour. And almost my last recollection is of his interest in a Christmas tree prepared for my own children on the very day on which he took to his bed for the last time.

These traits make up a character more familiar in France than elsewhere. In his political ideas he resembled Clémenceau more nearly than any English statesman, and in general habit of mind he was a direct descendant of Voltaire. In character he was more like Fontenelle. He had Fontenelle's moral scepticism, his personal confidence in reason qualified by his distrust of most people's reasoning powers, and his profound sense of the dangers of enthusiasm. People called him a cynic; and, if that somewhat vague term denotes one who attempts to discount the emotional factor in judgment, who endeavours to see the bare facts in as dry and objective a light as possible, a cynic he was. But he was a kind-hearted, even an affectionate cynic. It was not easy to win his regard, but, if you succeeded in winning it, you were sure of it. His own feelings he never expressed; this was not because he had none, but because of the exaggerated _pudeur_ which he felt on the subject of the emotions. There was something both ridiculous and indecent to his mind in even the most restrained exhibition of affection. Briefly, he may be said to have worn a fig-leaf over his heart.

A word or two as to the method and scope of this book. In order to give a full and detailed account of the whole of Labouchere's career, it would have been necessary to write at least a dozen volumes; some sort of selection imposed itself. I have endeavoured to concentrate my own (and I hope my readers') attention on Labouchere himself. There is a danger which lurks for the biographer of a public man lest the environment of his hero--the narrative of the events {ix} in which he played a part--should hang too loosely to his figure. There is also the danger that the frame, so to speak, should not be given its due value in the portrait. In order to appreciate the part played in public affairs by an individual, it is necessary to understand what is going on. As this book has been written for the general public, I have felt it desirable to retell certain episodes in modern politics, in which Mr. Labouchere played an important part, in greater detail than would have been necessary had I been writing for politicians. In such retelling I claim no originality. I have followed standard authorities, and the point of view of my narrative has been, to a great extent, that of Mr. Labouchere himself, although, when I have come to the conclusion that that point of view was mistaken, I have not hesitated to say so. In this way I hope that the reader may be enabled to see the inevitability of much of Labouchere's political action, which at the time, looked at piecemeal, may have appeared gratuitously mischievous.

I feel I ought to call the reader's attention to the fact that if Mr. Labouchere's many-sided life is considered as a whole, his political proceedings represent but a small part of his activity. He had lived an average lifetime before he seriously took up political work, and genuine as his principles undoubtedly were, still politics were never really more to him than a means of self-expression and, it must be said, amusement. He loved watching the spectacle of life, and he came to find in the game of politics a sort of concentrated version of life as a whole. This feeling, the strongest perhaps that he possessed, combined with a passion to enter as an effective cause into the spectacle he loved, was responsible for his political incarnation. And he had a certain half-perverse, half-childish love of mischief which he was not always at pains to restrain, and which found in the intrigues of parties and groups abundant scope for exercise. It could not have found so much scope elsewhere, and was the motive power of much of his political action, particularly towards {x} the end of his time in Parliament. After his retirement indeed, when politics had literally become nothing but a game to him, he would watch the cards as they fell with complete detachment from party views: "I wish I was entering politics now as a young Tory blood," was a frequent comment on public events during his last years.

Of course, he had his own way of putting things, which was not that of other people, and this brings me to the part in life as to which both friends and foes are agreed that he achieved complete success. Whatever else he was or was not, everybody is agreed that he was the greatest English wit since Sheridan. His gently modulated voice had a good deal to do with his conversational success, and the bland quiet manner with which the most startling remarks would be accompanied gave them weight, if not point. Still, even in cold print many of his sayings and appreciations will live as long as men laugh from intellectual motives. "I do not mind Mr. Gladstone always having an ace up his sleeve, but I do object to his always saying that Providence put it there," is a dictum which will not soon be forgotten. That observation, gently drawled out one evening in the lobby of the House of Commons, is a specimen of hundreds. I am persuaded that originally he had no intention of being witty, but supposed his quips and paradoxes to represent the bare facts expressed with the greatest economy of language. It is certain that no one was more surprised than he at the entertainment people found in the _Letters of a Besieged Resident_. He soon discovered his reputation for wit and deliberately made use of it, both as a shield and as a weapon of defence. It also served another purpose. There was a strong tendency to indolence in him that was gratified by his success in turning off awkward or puzzling questions with some witty or irrelevant remark. If this analysis is correct, it throws light on the nature of his wit, which consisted largely in a naïve and shameless revelation of the _Secret de Polichinelle_. For he said what every one thought but didn't {xi} dare say. The originality of his mind really consisted in the complete absence in his case of those conventional superstructures which imprison most of us. When he replied to some one who asked him if he liked Mme. X----, "Oh yes, I like her well enough, but I shouldn't mind if she dropped down dead in front of me on the carpet," he was only saying what many of us think but would never dream of saying even to ourselves of some of our friends.

It is a commonplace of moralists to say that human nature is full of contradictions. A subtler critic of man than the mere moralist would add that much of men's time is spent in smoothing out, or, at all events, conciliating, these contradictions. We choose a possible type of humanity--Aristotle, or some other Greek, gave an exhaustive list of them--and see ourselves in the part we have selected. According to our imaginative power and our strength of will we succeed more or less in playing that part at least for social purposes. Years pass and the mask grows to the face, as in the case of Mr. Beerbohm's _Happy Hypocrite_, and our friends and acquaintances cease in time to distinguish between our pose and our character. But there are moments when the mask cracks and close observers have their surprises.

Mr. Labouchere gave up early in life any consecutive attempt to make himself appear different to his real nature. A fragment of an early diary which I have utilised does indeed discuss the possibilities of success to the writer, and criticises, in scathing terms, achievements up-to-date. But this document, interesting and amusing as it is, is itself but a piece of boyish introspectiveness. In point of fact he was a terribly sincere person, partly from pride and partly from indolence. Had he been willing to condescend to insincerity, he would have been too lazy to do so for long. Here, then, was an additional stumbling-block. It is easy enough to understand a pose, or even a succession of poses, but a person who says neither more nor less than exactly what he means, {xii} and means exactly what he says, not because he thinks he ought to do so, or wishes to be understood as doing so, but because so, and not otherwise, his nature spontaneously expresses itself, is, in our present social state, almost unintelligible. What saved him under these circumstances from becoming a "prophet" was the pliability of intelligence that enabled him to understand other people and the sense of humour that enabled him to enjoy them.

I have selected from the voluminous correspondence put at my disposal only those letters which throw most light on Mr. Labouchere's state of mind and the part he played in political events with which he was connected.

I have to thank my many relatives and friends who have allowed me to make use of their letters from Mr. Labouchere, and also my cousin, M. Georges Labouchère, for communicating the result of his researches on the life of my great-grandfather. Among old friends of Mr. Labouchere, who have given me personal reminiscences of him, I have especially to thank Mrs. Emily Crawford, Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, Lord Welby, Sir Audley Gosling, and Mr. Robert Bennett, the editor of _Truth_, whose help has been invaluable in the narrative of Mr. Labouchere's founding of _Truth_ and of its subsequent fortunes. Most of all, my thanks are due to Mr. Thomas Hart Davies, without whose constant sympathy and assistance this biography could not have been written.

ALGAR L. THOROLD.

12 CATHERINE STREET, WESTMINSTER.
August 15, 1913.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

THE LABOUCHERE FAMILY

The Huguenots of Orthez--Youth of Pierre-César--Exile--The Dutch counting-house--A double ruff and a bid for a bride--Napoleon and peace--Fouché--The French agent---Ouvrard--The wrath of Cæsar--The French loan--Residence in England--Lord Taunton--Mr. John Labouchere

CHAPTER II

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

(1831-1853)

Birth of Henry Labouchere--Early education--His first _mot_--Eton days--The young pugilist--The toper--Views on fagging--Trinity College, Cambridge--Insubordination--Suspension--His defence--He lives at a London tavern--Severe judgment of himself--Travels with a bear-leader--Wiesbaden--Voyage to Mexico--Gambling and good resolutions--Letter to his tutor

CHAPTER III

TRAVELS AND DIPLOMACY

(1853-1864)

Travels in Mexico--In love--The Chippeway Indians--In New York--His American sympathies--His views on American education--On American diplomats--On American girls--Becomes attaché at Washington--Mr. Crampton--Gambling again--The Irish patriot--Views on diplomatic negotiations--At Munich--Stockholm--Frankfort--Bismarck at Frankfort--Similarity of their opinions {xiv} about diplomacy--His popularity at Frankfort--Petersburg--In love again--His opinion of Russians--Anecdotes--Dresden--Economical family at Marburg--Republic of Parana--Revolution in Florence--Constantinople--His stories about Lord Dalling--Close of diplomatic career--Mrs. Crawford's estimate of his character and remarks on his diplomatic career--_Memoir of Henry Labouchere_, by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt

CHAPTER IV

PARLIAMENTARY AMBITIONS

(1866-1869)

Why men enter Parliament--New Windsor--His agreement with Sir Henry Hoare--Imprudent choice of agents--Election--Is unseated on petition--Repartee before Special Commission--His line of defence in the _Times_--Another letter on the subject--His maiden Speech--Reminiscences of the Windsor election--Anecdote about Lord Taunton--Becomes member for Middlesex--His speeches in the House--General Election of 1868--Lord George Hamilton--His quarrel with Lord Enfield--The _Times_ on the quarrel--Nomination of candidates--Conservative rowdies--the poll--Dignified speech--Absurd reminiscence--Henry Irving at Brentford--General Election of 1874--Is defeated at Nottingham

CHAPTER V

JOURNALISM AND THE STAGE

(1864-1880)

His connection with the _Daily News_--He buys a share--Manager of the Queen's Theatre--_Time and the Hour_--_Dearer than Life_--Contretemps--Financial loss--Poor opinion of artists--A Bohemian--His knowledge of London--Edmund Yates tells how he came on the staff of the _World_--His city articles--Trial of Abbott at the Guild Hall--A calculator--Labouchere and Grenville Murray--He leaves the staff of the _World_--Journey with Mr. Bellew--Adventure with Dumas père--With Dumas fils--His visit to Newgate--Sensations as a man about to be hanged--Remarks about the Claimant--Immense popularity of _Truth_--The Lying Club in Co. Durham

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CHAPTER VI

THE BESIEGED RESIDENT

(September, 1870-February, 1871)

He replaces Mr. Crawford as correspondent--Mrs. Crawford's impressions of him--Chaos at the Post Office--Immediate events leading up to the siege--His account of how the news of Sedan was received in Paris--The Prussians at Versailles--How he got his letters to London--Ennui--Letter to his mother--Theatrical behaviour of the Parisians--Further letters to his mother--His wardrobe--His hat--The _Gaulois_--New Year's address to the Prussians--His opinion of French journalists--His estimate of General Trochu--Meals during the siege--Castor and Pollux--Another letter to his mother--The leg of mutton and the sentimental Prussian soldier--His departure from Paris--How he behaved when under fire

CHAPTER VII

LABOUCHERE AND BRADLAUGH

The General Election of 1880--The "Radical" colleague--A faithful constituency--Mr. Bradlaugh and the oath--A House divided against itself--Labouchere's views on religion--His support of Bradlaugh--Unscrupulous use of the _affaire_ Bradlaugh by the Opposition--Victory of Mr. Bradlaugh--His upright character and final popularity in the House--Mr. Gladstone's tribute--Mr. Labouchere on his colleague--The parallel of Wilkes

CHAPTER VIII

LABOUCHERE AND IRELAND

(1880-1883)

Ireland in 1880--The Land League--Outrages--Lord Cowper and Mr. Forster demand suppression of Habeas Corpus--Mr. Gladstone's hesitation--He yields under threat of Lord Cowper's resignation--Introduction by Forster of Bills for the Protection of Life and Property in Ireland, January, 1881--Labouchere's Irish views--Not at first a Home Ruler--Labouchere criticises Forster's measure in the House--The arrest of Parnell--His liberation--The "understanding" with Mr. Gladstone--Murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke--Renewed coercion opposed by Mr. Labouchere--He negotiates between the Government and Irish {xvi} leaders in order to modify the Coercion Bill--Correspondence with Mr. Chamberlain--Interviews with Mr. Parnell--Identity of his Irish policy with that of Mr. Chamberlain

CHAPTER IX

LABOUCHERE AND MR. GLADSTONE'S EGYPTIAN POLICY

Mr. Gladstone and Egypt--A legacy from Disraeli--Cyprus and the Berlin Congress--The "Comedy of the Liars"--The Anglo-French Condominium--Ismail--Nubar and Sir Rivers Wilson--Sir Evelyn Baring--Deposition of Ismail--Khedive Tewfik--Revolt--Arabi Pasha--Mr. Wilfrid Blunt--Labouchere and Egypt--Labouchere drops his burden of Egyptian bonds--A letter to Sir Charles Dilke--Labouchere and military occupation--The Egyptian Government and the debt--The champions of Arabi--Speeches in the House--The Soudan--General Gordon--Correspondence between Labouchere and Chamberlain; between Labouchere and Mr. Blunt--Letters from Arabi to Mr. Labouchere--A later letter to Mr. Blunt

CHAPTER X

HENRY LABOUCHERE'S RADICALISM

Labouchere's political attitude--His faith in Chamberlain--Despair at Chamberlain's secession--His article in the _Fortnightly_, 1884--The Radical creed--The House of Lords and the Crown--The Church--The Land Laws--The Royal Family--Female suffrage--Whigs more to be detested than Tories

CHAPTER XI

IN OPPOSITION

(June, 1885-December, 1885)

Sir Henry Lucy on Labouchere--"The friendly broker"--Lord Salisbury's First Administration--Irish and Tories--Labouchere, Healy, and Chamberlain--The General Election--The Midlothian manifesto--A letter from Mr. Davitt--From Mr. Parnell and Lord Randolph Churchill--Letters from Mr. Healy--Labouchere's letter to the _Times_ about Home Rule--Correspondence between Mr. Labouchere and Mr. Chamberlain

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CHAPTER XII

THE SPLIT IN THE LIBERAL PARTY

Legislators in correspondence--Further letters from Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Healy--Resignation of Mr. Chamberlain--Labouchere's efforts to reconcile Mr. Chamberlain with the Cabinet--His disappointment

CHAPTER XIII

SOME CONSEQUENCES OF BALFOUR's COERCION POLICY

Lord Salisbury's Second Administration--The new Coercion Bill--"Parnellism and Crime"--The facsimile letter--Mr. Healy on the condition of Ireland--Radical demonstration in Hyde Park--Mr. Labouchere on a waggon--He goes to Michelstown--The famous meeting--He describes the meeting in the House--Lord Randolph Churchill's criticism--_Truth_ on the Michelstown murders--More incriminating letters--Mr. Labouchere enters the lists--The Parnell Commission--Correspondence with Pigott--First interview--Correspondence with Irishmen in America--Letter from Patrick Egan--Letters from Parnell--Pigott and the Attorney-General

CHAPTER XIV

COLLAPSE OF PIGOTT

Lord Russell's cross-examination of Pigott--The disappearance of Pigott--His confession to Mr. Labouchere--Mr. Lewis returns the confession--The Commission hears from Pigott--He sends the confession, under cover, to Mr. Shannon--The confession read out in court--Mr. Labouchere in the witness-box--Mr. Sala describes the scene at 24 Grosvenor Gardens--Pigott's end--Mr. Labouchere's compassion for his orphans--Letter from Dr. Walsh--Mr. Labouchere and Primrose dames--Trying to hoax Labby

CHAPTER XV

MR. LABOUCHERE NOT INCLUDED IN THE CABINET

Speeches on the Triple Alliance--He is not in the Cabinet--Queen Victoria's objection to the editor of _Truth_--Mr. Gladstone's correspondence with Mr. Labouchere--The indignation of Northampton--Mr. Labouchere's desire to be appointed Ambassador at Washington--Another disappointment for him

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CHAPTER XVI

THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA

The Jameson Raid and the South African War--Mr. Labouchere on the Jameson Raid Commission

CHAPTER XVII

LABOUCHERE AND SOCIALISM

Mr. Labouchere on Socialism--Discussion with Mr. Hyndman

CHAPTER XVIII

MR. LABOUCHERE AS A JOURNALIST

Mr. Labouchere as Journalist and Litigant--Narrative of _Truth_

CHAPTER XIX

THE CLOSING YEARS

Retirement from Parliament--Farewell to Electors--Some correspondence--Last days

INDEX

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ILLUSTRATIONS

RIGHT HON. HENRY LABOUCHERE, P.C. ... Frontispiece

From a photograph by Messrs. Brogi of Florence, taken in 1905 at Villa Cristina, Florence.

FACSIMILE LETTER SENT BY BALLOON POST

THE LIFE OF

HENRY LABOUCHERE

{1}

THE LIFE OF LABOUCHERE