Sixty Years a Queen Part 37

[Sidenote: Free Education.]

Free education was given a place in the Government programme of 1891, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Goschen, was able to produce a surplus of 2,000,000 in his Budget--just about the sum estimated as the cost of remitting school fees out of the public funds; half of it was taken in order to render elementary education free from September 1 following.

[Sidenote: Death of the Duke of Clarence.]

The mysterious epidemic which, for want of a more precise term, is known by the Italian one of influenza, carried off a very large number of persons in the winter and spring months of 1892, 1893, and 1894. Of these the most distinguished by position was the Duke of Clarence, eldest son of the Prince of Wales, and consequently ultimate heir to the throne of Great Britain. He died on January 14, 1892, shortly before the date fixed for his marriage with the Princess May of Teck.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Baron H. von Angeli._} {_From the Royal Collection, by permission of the Artist._

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, 1890.]

[Sidenote: Mr. Gladstone's Fourth Midlothian Campaign.]

The summer of 1892 was a period of great political agitation, in preparation for the General Election, which was fixed to take place in July. Mr. Gladstone, notwithstanding his fourscore and two years, set out with no manifestation of failing vigour on his fourth Midlothian campaign. The object nearest to his heart was clearly the concession of Home Rule to Ireland; but there was put forward also on behalf of the Gladstonian Liberal party a scheme of general social legislation, known as the Newcastle Programme, containing a long list of measures, some of them of a very drastic nature, calculated to attract the support of the labouring cla.s.ses. The indifference felt by the bulk of English and Scottish electors to the establishment of an Irish parliament was overborne by the hopes excited among disestablishers, prohibitionists, eight-hours'-day men, land-law reformers, and other enthusiasts, and their votes went to secure the victory for the cause of Home Rule. The Unionists, who had entered office in 1886 with a majority of 116 in the House of Commons, had suffered so many losses by defection and in by-elections that they could only reckon a majority of sixty-six when Parliament was dissolved. This was changed by the general election, into a minority of forty, which was the exact figure by which was carried, when Parliament re-a.s.sembled in August, a vote of no confidence in Lord Salisbury's Administration, after which Mr. Gladstone proceeded to form his fourth and last Cabinet.

[Sidenote: The Second Home Rule Bill.]

On February 13, 1893, the Prime Minister proceeded to fulfil his chief pledge to the electorate by introducing his second Home Rule Bill. Mr.

Gladstone's speech lasted two hours and a quarter, a marvellous performance for an octogenarian; and although he failed to excite the same enthusiasm among his followers as was so remarkable on the former occasion, the Bill eventually pa.s.sed the second reading by 347 votes against 304. But the opposition in Committee was so vigorous and sustained, that the Government resolved to force the Bill through by applying the closure at fixed dates to groups of clauses, so that the whole Bill should be through Committee by the end of July; and this was effected, after animated resistance had been offered to what was denounced as the "gag."

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Russell & Sons, Baker Street._

THE ALBERT MEMORIAL CHAPEL, WINDSOR, ON THE OCCASION OF THE FUNERAL OF H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CLARENCE, January 1892.

The Duke's coffin stands between the tomb of the Prince Consort at the further end and that of the Duke of Albany (who died in 1884) at this end of the Chapel.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Hughes & Mullins, Ryde._

BRINGING HOME THE BODY OF H.R.H. PRINCE HENRY OF BATTENBERG.

Prince Henry had volunteered for the Expedition to Cooma.s.sie in the autumn of 1895; he was taken ill with fever on the march and died on his way home. He was buried in Whippingham Church, near Osborne, February 4, 1896. The picture represents the transference of the body from H.M.S.

_Blenheim_ to the Royal Yacht _Alberta_.]

[Sidenote: Its Rejection by the Lords.]

[Sidenote: Mr. Gladstone Resigns the Leaders.h.i.+p.]

It was September before the measure reached the Upper House, whence it was thrown out by the unprecedented proportion of 419 to 14 votes. Among the majority were numbered no less than sixty-two peers whom the Queen had created on Mr. Gladstone's own recommendation. The attention of the Ministerial party was then directed to stirring up popular indignation against the House of Lords on account of their resistance to the popular will. But it has to be confessed that this appeal evoked remarkably little response. On the other hand, considerable impatience was manifested on the part of many supporters of the Government at the general election, on account of the neglect to carry out the multiform promises contained in the Newcastle programme. Accordingly, Parliament was summoned together for a winter session in November in order to consider the Parish Councils and Employers' Liability Bills. These important measures, which went through the successive stages to completion in the course of 1894, remain the princ.i.p.al achievement of Mr. Gladstone's last year in the public service. Early in 1894 his withdrawal from active politics was announced; the leaders.h.i.+p of the House of Commons devolved upon Sir William Harcourt, and, although Mr.

Gladstone did not resign his seat for Midlothian, he brought to a close a period of sixty-two years' attendance in the House of Commons. His last utterance from the Treasury Bench was a vehement denunciation of the action of the House of Lords in dealing with the Bills last referred to.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _R. Ponsonby Staples._} {_By permission of Messrs. Graves & Co., Pall Mall._

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS: MR. GLADSTONE INTRODUCING THE HOME RULE BILL, February 13, 1893.

Mr. Gladstone stands at the table: on the seat behind him are Mr. John Morley, Sir W. Harcourt, Mr. Marjoribanks (now Lord Tweedmouth), Mr.

Mundella and Sir C. Russell (Lord Russell), and Mr. Herbert Gladstone sits in the "gangway." Mr. Asquith can be seen between Mr. Gladstone and the clerk at the table. On the front Opposition bench, beginning at the further end, are: Sir E. Clarke, Sir R. Webster (leaning forward), Mr.

Goschen, Mr. Balfour, Lord Randolph Churchill, and Mr. Edward Carson.]

[Sidenote: Lord Rosebery becomes Prime Minister.]

The removal of such a puissant personality from their head could not but have a serious effect on the Ministerial array, composed as it was of such Old Liberals as had embraced Home Rule out of confidence in Mr.

Gladstone, New Liberals of an extremely Democratic type under the nominal lead of Mr. Labouchere, the Labour representatives, Parnellites and Anti-Parnellites (the last-named being further split into sections at war among themselves). On no single subject were these various groups united save in a desire to get Home Rule out of the way. Home Rule, indeed, had been disposed of, but not in the only way to satisfy its advocates. The difficulty of the situation was intensified by the successor to Mr. Gladstone chosen by Her Majesty. In sending for her Foreign Minister, the Earl of Rosebery, she was acting, doubtless, on the advice of Mr. Gladstone himself, but in the choice of a peer there was abundant cause of dissatisfaction to most of the Ministerialists in the House of Commons, who had placed the "mending or ending"--preferably the ending--of the House of Lords in the forefront of their programme.

Besides, it was considered by very many that Sir William Harcourt had done more to earn the leaders.h.i.+p of the party than Lord Rosebery, and it soon became apparent, not only that this appointment was a cause of further disunion in the Home Rule ranks, but that Lord Rosebery and Sir William Harcourt were far from cordial in their official relations. On June 21, 1895, a listless debate was in progress on the Army Estimates, the House was far less than half full, when Mr. Brodrick moved a reduction of 100 in the salary of the Secretary for War, Mr.

Campbell-Bannerman, in order to call attention to the alleged deficiency in the stores of small-arms ammunition. Mr. Campbell-Bannerman offered his personal a.s.surance that the amount in store was adequate, but the Opposition declined to accept it in view of the official figures laid before the House. A division was called; there was nothing to indicate the critical nature of it till Mr. Ellis, the chief Ministerial Whip, to whom the Clerk at the Table had handed the paper automatically, pa.s.sed it on to Mr. Douglas, the chief Opposition Whip, when it was found that the Government were in a minority of eight--132 votes to 125.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Hughes & Mullins, Ryde._

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, January, 1893.]

[Sidenote: Lord Salisbury's Third Administration.]

A mishap like this might have pa.s.sed without immediate effect on the fortunes of the Government, had it not been that the form of the amendment carried was one reflecting on the departmental administration of one of the Secretaries of State. Lord Rosebery tendered his resignation, and the Queen sent for Lord Salisbury, who commenced at once to form his third Administration. The Liberal Unionist contingent, with the Duke of Devons.h.i.+re as their chief, elected to maintain their organisation independent of their Conservative allies; but the Ministry was formed by a coalition of the two wings of the Unionist party. They approached the general election in July with such confidence of success as very rarely can be entertained under a system of household suffrage; but the result far exceeded their most sanguine calculations. Sir William Harcourt lost his seat for Derby on the first day's polling, the prelude of such discomfiture as has scarcely any parallel in the history of a political party. Reckoning the Gladstonian or Home Rule majority in the previous Parliament at forty-three, it was converted at the polls of 1895 into an Unionist majority of 152. The new Ministry, in entering office, found domestic affairs in a very tranquil state; but troubles had been gathering for some time, endangering the peaceful relations of Great Britain with several foreign Powers, which called for the exercise of all Lord Salisbury's experience and foresight in undertaking once more the administration of foreign affairs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Hughes & Mullins, Ryde._

HER MAJESTY WITH HER GREAT-GRANDSON PRINCE EDWARD OF YORK, THIRD IN THE DIRECT LINE OF SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _L. Tuxen._} {_From the Royal Collection, by permission of Mr. Mendoza, St. James's Gallery, King Street, St. James's, proprietor of the copyright._

THE MARRIAGE OF T.R.H. THE DUKE OF YORK AND PRINCESS VICTORIA MARY (MAY) OF TECK, AT THE CHAPEL ROYAL, ST. JAMES'S, July 6, 1893.

Next the bridegroom is his father, the Prince of Wales, and the tall figure of the King of Denmark is seen between him and the Princess of Wales. Her Majesty the Queen has on her right the young Prince Alexander of Battenberg and his mother the Princess Henry; and behind her Majesty's chair are Prince Henry of Battenberg and the Duke of Cambridge. Following the line to the right from the Duke, we see the d.u.c.h.ess of Fife, the Grand Duke of Hesse, the Duke of Fife, Prince Waldemar of Denmark, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Prince Philip of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the Lord Steward, Lord Chamberlain, and other officials. The first two bridesmaids are the Princesses Victoria and Maud of Wales, then Princesses Victoria Melitia of Edinburgh and Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, and behind them Princesses Alexandra of Edinburgh and Victoria Patricia of Connaught, and on the extreme right of the picture, Princesses Beatrice of Edinburgh and Margaret of Connaught. The Princesses Victoria Eugenie and Alex of Battenberg are nearest the spectator, and seated in front is the d.u.c.h.ess of Teck. In the foreground to the left stands the Czarewitch--now Czar of Russia--with Princess Louis of Battenberg seated on his right, and Princess Henry of Prussia to his left. Before him are seated the Grand Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Immediately behind the bride's head is seen the Duke of Edinburgh; next him, towards the left of the picture, the d.u.c.h.ess of Edinburgh and the Duke of Connaught; and towards the right the d.u.c.h.ess of Connaught and Prince Christian (next the Prince of Wales). Archbishop Benson of Canterbury performs the ceremony, the Bishop of Rochester stands behind him, and nearer the foreground, between the Archbishop and the Czar, are the Duke of Teck and two of his sons; the third son, Prince Alexander George, is seen just behind the Czar's shoulder. On the extreme left is Prince Henry of Prussia, and next him Prince Louis of Battenberg, and the Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal.]

[Sidenote: The Eastern Question.]

The Eastern question had pa.s.sed once more into an acute stage. The incorrigible vices of the Government of Turkey had led to a series of horrible ma.s.sacres of the Christian subjects of the Sultan in Armenia.

Sympathy with the sufferers was readily aroused in this country; Mr.

Gladstone, though no longer in Parliament, responded to appeals made to him by various individuals, and wrote a number of letters, in which, though at first he was careful to use no expression to increase Lord Salisbury's difficulties, he gradually glided into his accustomed vehemence, and indicated his desire that England should take vengeance on the "a.s.sa.s.sin of Europe," single-handed, if need be. In the course of 1896 he appeared on a public platform in Liverpool, and supported this view with great energy. This precipitated a further calamity on the Liberal party, for, in the course of 1896, Lord Rosebery announced that he differed so strongly from the views expressed by Mr. Gladstone, and was, besides, so sensible of the want of cordiality in the support given to him by some of his followers, that he felt compelled to resign his leaders.h.i.+p. It would be premature to attempt more than brief allusion to events which are still in progress. The insurrection of the Cretan subjects of the Porte, the invasion of the island by Greece, and the war which ensued between Turkey and Greece, in which the latter so quickly collapsed, have proved, thus far, to be disturbances severely localised by means of the Concert established among the Great Powers, who, while resolved to compel the Sultan's Government to administer his realm with humanity and even justice, have resisted the attempt made by the Greeks to wrest away part of his territory by violence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Sir J. Tenniel._} {_From "Punch."_

WHO SAID "ATROCITIES"?]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph by Russell & Sons._}

THE STATE DINING-ROOM AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE.

The tables set for the wedding breakfast of Princess Maud of Wales.

Princess Maud, youngest daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales, was married to Prince Carl, second son of the Crown Prince of Denmark, July 22, 1896.]

[Sidenote: Trouble in the Transvaal.]

The affairs of the Transvaal rose into prominent notice towards the close of 1895. Commercial enterprise had for some time been actively directed towards South Africa, notably by the British South Africa Company, at the head of which was Mr. Cecil Rhodes, the Premier of the Cape Colony, who had been sworn a member of Her Majesty's Privy Council.

Miners and settlers in general poured into the Transvaal to the number of 60,000, converting the quiet village of Johannesburg into a large and busy town. The Transvaal Government viewed this movement with no favour; the industry of the Boer population was chiefly a pastoral one, and President Kruger steadily refused to comply with the claim of the new-comers to rights of citizens.h.i.+p. The Uitlanders, as the new settlers were called, numbered three to one of the native Boers, and were paying nine-tenths of the taxation: meetings, summoned to protest against the action of the President and Volksraad, were prohibited; a deaf ear was turned to all pet.i.tions for redress, and, at last, a movement was started to obtain by compulsion what was refused by law. A force of all arms, commanded by Dr. Jameson, and comprising several officers in the British service, invaded the Transvaal in the expectation of a concerted rising in Johannesburg. This did not take place: after a smart encounter with the Boers, the English force surrendered on January 1, 1896. The princ.i.p.al officers were put on their trial under the Foreign Enlistment Act, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, and, in some instances, to forfeiture of their commissions. The claim for indemnity put forward by the Government of the South African Republic has not yet been settled. A Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to investigate the origin and conduct of what has become known as the "Johannesburg movement," and its enquiry is still proceeding. Perhaps the most important result of the Transvaal raid will prove to be the insight suddenly afforded into the true sentiments of the German Government towards Great Britain. The numerous bonds uniting the German and British Courts, added to the racial sympathies existing between the two nations, had given rise to the belief that the policy of Germany was more friendly towards Great Britain than that of some of the other great Powers. This belief was rudely dispelled by a message from the German Emperor to President Kruger encouraging him in resistance in any dispute that might arise with the British Government.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

A. Major White.