Sixty Years a Queen Part 31

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_By F. Frith & Co., Reigate._

OSBORNE HOUSE.

Built by Her Majesty in 1840, largely from designs by H.R.H. The Prince Consort. It is surrounded by a park of about 2,000 acres. The Queen's apartments are in the wing to the right of the picture.]

CHAPTER XV.

1879-1881.

The Condition of Egypt--Mr. Goschen's Commission--Ismail's _Coup d'etat_--His Deposition by the Sultan--Establishment of the Dual Control--The First Midlothian Campaign--Commercial and Agricultural Depression--Sudden Dissolution of Parliament--Lord Derby joins the Liberals--Second Midlothian Campaign--Great Liberal Victory--Mr. Gladstone's Second Administration--Charles Stuart Parnell and the Irish Home Rule Party--War with Afghanistan--Battle of Maiwand--General Roberts's March--Defeat of Ayub Khan and Evacuation of Cabul and Candahar--Revolt of the Transvaal--Battles of Laing's Nek and Majuba Hill--Establishment of the Boer Republic--Weakness of the Conservative Opposition--The Fourth Party--Irish Affairs--Boycotting--A New Coercion Bill--The Irish Land Bill--Resignation of the Duke of Argyll--Death of Lord Beaconsfield--Military Revolt in Egypt--Bombardment of Alexandria--Expedition against Arabi--Battles of Ka.s.sa.s.sin and Tel-el-Kebir--Overthrow of Arabi.

[Sidenote: The Condition of Egypt.]

The position and condition of Egypt had grown to be a matter of anxiety to the Powers of Western Europe, owing to events which it is only possible to recapitulate here in the briefest terms. Ruled by the Khedive as an autonomous State, Egypt was also technically a province of the Ottoman Empire and paid an annual tribute of 695,792 to the Sultan of Turkey. But the creation of the Suez Ca.n.a.l, the investment of European capital therein, and the importance to maritime nations of that highway, rendered the good government of Egypt a subject of international concern. The Khedive, Ismail Pasha, actuated, no doubt, in part, by a resolve to develop the resources of his country, but also by aims of personal indulgence and aggrandis.e.m.e.nt, had launched into schemes of such scale and cost that the Egyptian Treasury was virtually bankrupt in 1877. A Commission of Inquiry, presided over by Mr. Goschen, resulted in the appointment of Mr. Rivers Wilson and M. de Blignieres, representing Great Britain and France respectively, as Members of the Khedive's Cabinet. The plan failed to work smoothly; the Khedive became leader of the Opposition to his own Government, and in February 1879 he was compelled to submit to conditions imposed by the Cabinets of Great Britain and France, excluding him from Cabinet Councils, appointing his son Tewfik President of the Council, and vesting in the English and French Ministers absolute power of veto upon all measures. Ismail Pasha accepted these conditions, but on April 7 he suddenly dismissed the Cabinet and appointed one entirely composed of natives of Egypt. On June 26, in consequence of representations from the Governments of Germany, Austria, Great Britain, France, and Russia, the Sultan deposed Ismail and created his son Tewfik Khedive in his place. A new scheme of government was adopted, whereby Tewfik appointed his own Cabinet, and the dual control of Great Britain and France was established by the appointment of two Controllers, Mr. Baring (now Lord Revelstoke) and M.

de Blignieres, with full powers to regulate expenditure, with seats in the Cabinet, not removable except by their own Governments, and with power to appoint and dismiss all subordinate officials. By the close of 1879 the credit of Egypt, which had been apparently hopelessly shattered by Ismail's decree in May 1876, suspending payment and unifying the general debt, was restored by the liquidation of all debts due by the State.

This, then, was the state of affairs in Egypt towards the close of Lord Beaconsfield's last Administration. The country had been redeemed from insolvency by the joint action of Great Britain and France, the arbitrary action of her rulers had been put under control, and her internal affairs had been started on such a footing as should protect the people from oppression and grievous taxation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _H. M. Sinclair._} {_From the Royal Collection._

OLD OSBORNE HOUSE (1833).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Sydney P. Hall._} {_From the Royal Collection._

THE MARRIAGE OF H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT AND PRINCESS LOUISE MARGARET OF PRUSSIA AT ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR, March 13, 1879.

[Sidenote: The First Midlothian Campaign.]

The bridegroom, attended by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh, waits at the altar; Her Majesty, with the Princess Beatrice, and the Princess of Wales with her children, are included in the Royal group. The bride is escorted by the Crown Prince of Germany on her right, and her father, Prince Frederick Charles, on her left. The foremost figures on the left are the King and Queen of the Belgians; next them are Prince William (now the German Emperor) and his mother, the Princess Royal, and to her left Princess Frederick Charles, mother of the bride.]

Meanwhile the course of domestic politics in Great Britain claimed the immediate attention of statesmen. On November 24, 1879, Mr. Gladstone, once more the actual, though not the nominal, leader of the Opposition, started from Liverpool on a memorable tour. The Earl of Dalkeith was then member for Midlothian. He was the eldest son of the Duke of Buccleuch, at that time the most notable Scottish peer, of immense influence north of the Tweed and leader of the Conservative Party in the North. Mr. Gladstone had conceived the chivalrous idea of doing battle with this doughty chief on his own ground. The first "Midlothian Campaign" lasted till December 5, and it took the country by storm. The failure of the City of Glasgow Bank in the previous year had not only brought disaster to thousands of persons in the North, but it had emphasised in a peculiar manner the end of a period of prosperity.

Agriculture, especially, began to feel the full effects of foreign compet.i.tion; farmers, whose rents had been gradually increasing as the value of land rose with favourable markets, now found it impossible to meet their obligations out of income. There was the usual tendency to lay the blame of individual misfortune on the Government, and Mr.

Gladstone, though his attacks on the policy of the Cabinet were based princ.i.p.ally on their foreign policy, which he denounced as aggressive, evoked an immense amount of sympathy and encouragement from those who listened to him or read his speeches.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _G. Richmond, R.A._} {_From the "Life of Archbishop Tait," by permission of Messrs. Macmillan._

ARCHIBALD C. TAIT,

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY,

1811-1882.

Was of Presbyterian descent. Went to Balliol College, Oxford, in 1830, and was one of the four Tutors who publicly protested against Newman's "Tract XC." (see page 42). Head Master of Rugby, 1842; Dean of Carlisle, 1850; Bishop of London, 1856; Archbishop of Canterbury, 1868.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph by H. H. Hay Cameron._

BENJAMIN JOWETT, D.D.,

MASTER OF BALLIOL,

1817-1893.

Educated at St. Paul's School, he went to Balliol College, Oxford, in 1835 as scholar; became a Fellow in 1838; Tutor in 1842; Regius Professor of Greek, 1855; Master, 1870; Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1882. He was one of the authors of "Essays and Reviews"

(1861) and a leader in University reform. His influence upon modern thought has been very great.]

[Sidenote: Sudden Dissolution of Parliament.]

Ministers had still a year more to exist before an appeal to the country should be necessary, and all was going quietly in Parliament, when, on March 8, people were taken by surprise on hearing it announced that the dissolution was to take place at once, and a manifesto from the Prime Minister, in the form of a letter to the Duke of Marlborough, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was published in the newspapers, setting forth the imminence of trouble from Irish sedition, and calling on the nation to be on its guard.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A CARDING ROOM AT MESSRS. J. AND P. COATS'S FERGUSLIE MILLS.

These works, originated in 1826 in a small factory employing a score of operatives, now give employment to about 5,000, and cover between fifty and sixty acres. The sewing machine--itself an invention of the period covered by these pages--has enormously increased the demand for thread.

The total imports of cotton into the United Kingdom, which were 592,000,000 lbs. in 1840, had grown to 1,757,042,672 lbs. during 1895.]

[Sidenote: Second Midlothian Campaign.]

The country neither realised the magnitude of the crisis, nor did it perceive grounds for relying more on the Conservatives to deal with it than on the Liberals. The Opposition was greatly strengthened at this juncture by the accession of Lord Derby to the Liberal Party, and the veteran Gladstone, forgetting his resolution, six years before, to spend the rest of his years in retirement, went forth exulting on his second Midlothian Campaign. The walls of the Tory Jericho of the North went down before the blast of his trumpet; the Buccleuch was defeated; only nine Conservatives were returned from Scotland. The Irish vote, an important element in all the great towns, went solid for the Liberals in obedience to Parnell's order "to vote against Benjamin Disraeli as they should vote against the enemy of their country and their race." Instead of the majority of fifty which they counted in the old Parliament, the Conservatives returned to the new one in a minority of forty-six.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From the Collection of_} {_C. Wentworth Wa.s.s, Esq._

ROYAL PLATES: SPECIMENS OF SERVICES MADE FOR HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.

1. Royal Worcester Plate, emblazoned with the Royal Arms, border of light blue and gold. 2. Royal Worcester Plate, with openwork border, gilt, and having turquoise panels. Enamelled by Thomas Bott. Exhibited at the International Exhibition of 1862. 3. Plate, richly gilt, ornamented with the Royal Crown and the Arms of the City of London. Used by Her Majesty at the Civic Banquet celebrating her Accession, 1837.]

There was much speculation as to whom the Queen would send for to form a Ministry. Lord Granville and Lord Hartington were the nominal leaders of the victorious party in either House, but the victory was due to Mr.

Gladstone's crusades--everybody agreed in that. On April 22 Her Majesty sent for Lord Hartington; next day he and Lord Granville were received to an audience, and thereafter all doubts were set at rest by Mr.

Gladstone receiving the Royal commands.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From the Collection of_} {_C. Wentworth Wa.s.s, Esq._

ROYAL DESSERT PLATES.

4. From a Service made for the Prince of Wales shortly before his marriage. It has the Prince's initials in gold, entwined with the Princess's in flowers. 5. From a Service made for the Duke of Edinburgh on his marriage. Turquoise and gold border, with painted panels. 6. From a Service made for the Duke of Albany on his marriage. Turquoise, with monogram, birds and flowers painted in white.]

[Sidenote: Irish Home Rule.]

After the Fenian movement, partly owing to vigorous measures on the part of the Executive and partly to dissension among its own leaders, had collapsed, Irish disaffection to British rule took the form of a const.i.tutional agitation for the establishment of a separate Legislature for Ireland. "Home Rule for Ireland" became the watchword and goal of a determined group of members of Parliament, acting under Mr. Isaac b.u.t.t, an able and successful lawyer and powerful speaker, who began political life as a Conservative. This third party acted together throughout the Parliament of 1874-80. It was practically the creation of Mr. b.u.t.t, but it soon carried its aims far beyond what he considered legitimate, and adopted methods of obstructing Parliamentary business, against which he protested in vain. A stronger man than b.u.t.t came to the front in the person of a Protestant Irish landlord, Charles Stuart Parnell, one of the most remarkable figures in recent political life. Though not gifted with the native richness of rhetoric which distinguishes so many of his countrymen, Parnell quickly acquired an ascendancy in the Home Rule party in virtue of his genius for strategy, his resolute will, and a kind of hauteur which lifted him above petty jealousy and interference.

From the first he discerned that the true way to attain Home Rule, if it might be attained at all, was to maintain scrupulous independence of both Conservatives and Liberals, to raise every possible obstruction in the way of legislation, and, in short, to render the Irish party so intolerable to all Governments, that Home Rule should be granted as the only means of getting out of an impossible situation. In 1878 a debate took place on the circ.u.mstances of the murder of the Earl of Leitrim, and b.u.t.t was obliged to dissociate himself from all sympathy with the sentiments expressed by some of his colleagues, and he resigned the leadership in favour of Parnell. After the General Election the Home Rulers in Parliament numbered sixty, perfect in discipline and devotion to their new chief.

[Sidenote: War with Afghanistan.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _G. D. Giles._} {_By permission of Mr. T. Turner, Carlton Galleries, Pall Mall, owner of the Copyright._

SAVING THE GUNS AT MAIWAND.