The Life of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles W. Dilke, Volume 2

Produced by Charles Franks, David King
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
XLV. BEGINNING OF THE HOME RULE SPLIT (DECEMBER, 1885, TO FEBRUARY, 1886)
SIR CHARLES W. DILKE IN THE YEAR 1908 From a drawing by W. Strang.
MRS. MARK PATTISON From a photograph taken about 1878.
SIR THOMAS WENTWORTH, 1ST BARON WENTWORTH (DIED MARCH 3RD, 1550-51) From a painting ascribed to Theodore Bernardi.
BISMARCK From a photograph given by him to Sir Charles W. Dilke.
SIR CHARLES W. DILKE ROWING From a photograph reproduced by permission of the Daily Mirror .
DOCKETT EDDY From photographs.
PYRFORD ROUGH From photographs.
LADY DILKE IN THE YEAR 1903 From a photograph by Thomson.
The interval between the Sessions of 1883 and 1884 was critical for the question of electoral reform which interested Liberals beyond all other questions, but involved the risk of bringing dissensions in the Cabinet to the point of open rupture. As the months went by, Mr. Chamberlain and Lord Hartington used less and less concealment of their differences, while it was well known to all the Cabinet that the alliance between Chamberlain and Dilke was complete and unconditional. Whoever broke with Chamberlain broke with Dilke. Fortunately a certain bond of personal sympathy, in spite of divergent views, existed between Lord Hartington and Sir Charles Dilke, and this bond largely helped to hold Mr. Gladstone's Government together.