General Wauchope

by F.S.A. Scot. William Baird

CHAPTER VII

THE MIDLOTHIAN CAMPAIGN

'A Scot of the Scots,' General Wauchope was a man of many parts. Great in arms, he was equally great in the arts of peace; and in the political world, strangely enough, he carved out for himself a reputation quite unique. Though his countrymen were naturally proud of his distinguished services as a soldier, they knew him also, it has been well said, as the man who by pertinacious pluck and sweet conciliation brought down Mr. Gladstone's majority in the county of Midlothian. Liberal politicians both in England and Scotland will not have forgotten the horrified astonishment with which they read the figures of the poll in that county at the General Election of 1892.

Mr. Gladstone had been returned for the metropolitan county of Scotland in 1880, after his great campaign, by a small majority against the present Duke of Buccleuch, at that time Earl of Dalkeith. That was under the old and restricted franchise. In 1885, when the miners and farm hands had largely through his influence obtained votes, he defeated Sir Charles Dalrymple—a man respected by all who knew him, and by many who did not—by two to one, and something over. Nobody thought any more about Midlothian. It was regarded as Mr. Gladstone's stronghold, and the Liberals went to sleep in the comfortable assurance that the seat was theirs so long as he lived. Nor were their slumbers disturbed by the unopposed election of July 1886, when throughout the country the Liberal party suffered a serious defeat consequent upon Mr. Gladstone's attempt, as Prime Minister, to pass what was popularly known as the Home Rule Bill for Ireland. Mr. Gladstone retained his seat, but was obliged to resign his position as First Lord of the Treasury; and the Home Rule Bill in course of the next six years, under the administration of Lord Salisbury, became practically a thing of the past. During that time remarkable changes were effected in the constituency. In Edinburgh the Conservative party had rallied. Its leaders did not lack courage, even under the most hopeless circumstances, and they resolved to bring forward one whose determination and courage had been well tried, though in an entirely different field. At a meeting of the Midlothian Liberal Unionist Association in Edinburgh on the 18th November 1889, the proposal of the committee to adopt Colonel Wauchope of Niddrie as their representative was unanimously carried.

Opposes Mr. Gladstone

It was admitted on all hands that his acceptance of such a proposal involved the undertaking of a very hard task: one speaker at the meeting even going so far as to say that 'while he did not anticipate they were to win the county, he was sure that if Colonel Wauchope led this forlorn hope, it would not be an inglorious defeat.'

Notwithstanding the rather doubtful prospects of success which his supporters gave, Wauchope's reply was characteristic of the man. He accepted the honour and the responsibility all the more readily, it would appear, that it was accompanied by difficulties. After thanking the meeting for asking him to come forward at the next election, he said he should be more than human if he did not feel deeply gratified. If he had been an orator, or if he had been a man engaged in public affairs, he would not have been surprised. But though he was an utterly untried man, he would do his best to try and serve, he should not say their interests, but the interests of the cause which they had all at heart. He was sure they would rally round the old flag—the flag of the Union. It spoke well for the future of Unionism throughout the land; and their native county of Midlothian had in this respect shown a good example to the rest of the country. They must never lose sight of the fact that this battle that was going on now was not a battle only in Midlothian, but it was a battle 'all along the line,' from Land's End to John o' Groats. They were only a mere part of that fight; and if it were a 'forlorn hope' here, it was of the greatest advantage to the great cause that they made a good 'forlorn hope' of it! He felt the responsibility very much to play the part of leader to them when they might so easily have got a better one. 'However,' he said, 'the choice is with you. I did not seek it, but shall do my best to come to the end of the business in a proper way.' Here it will be seen there was both boldness and modesty, confidence in the cause he was to champion, and self-reliance, without overrating his ability for the hazard. His opposition to Irish Home Rule and the possible disintegration of the Empire made him fearless, even to the extent of daring to oppose in person the great commander-in-chief of the Home Rule army.

At this time he was home from Gibraltar for a short furlough, and with evidently no expectation of taking any prominent part in politics; and so, his term of leave of absence having nearly expired, he was unable to follow up his nomination by any active movement. He accordingly returned to Gibraltar on 4th December. In January following he got, however, a further leave of absence from 29th January till 31st May, during which time he took full advantage of the opportunity. Though there was no near prospect of an election, he at once set about his canvass with all the characteristic energy of his nature, devoting all his spare time to addressing meetings of the electors in the various villages and parishes of the county. This preliminary canter over, he rejoined his regiment at Gibraltar in June 1890, leaving politics all behind him, and entering with fresh zest into his military duties.

Canvass of the Electors

The Liberal press of the country, as a rule, treated Colonel Wauchope's candidature with the utmost indifference, if not with contempt, regarding it as a foregone conclusion that it would end in nothing. Indeed, his splendid audacity provoked the Radical party to mirth, and even in Unionist circles there was much shaking of heads. On all hands, by political friends and foes alike, every consideration and deference was shown, and he was listened to generally in respectful silence, rarely with open opposition; but his claims were not considered serious enough to work out to a conclusion that would at all affect Mr. Gladstone's position as the sitting member. Was Mr. Gladstone not the first statesman of the day, and the most brilliant Chancellor of the Exchequer of the century?—a man who, it has been wittily said, 'could apply all the resources of a burnished rhetoric to the illustration of figures; who could make pippins and cheese interesting, and tea serious; who could sweep the widest horizon of the financial future and yet stop to bestow the minutest attention on the microcosm of penny stamps and post horses.' To oppose such a man seemed madness. The feeling was, however, more of pity that a good man should waste his energies on a hopeless effort, than any fear of danger to the Liberal cause. The following, as the expression of a Liberal editor, may be taken as a fair specimen of the general feeling at the time:—'The answer to the question of the Scotsman, "Where is the candidate for Midlothian?" has at last been answered. Colonel Wauchope is a good and a brave man, and one almost regrets that he should have been prevailed upon to lead a forlorn hope. Almost all that was said of Sir Charles Dalrymple when he contested the county, may be said of the Laird of Niddrie. His heart is in the right place. He is justly held in much esteem as a landlord and county gentleman, as well as for his gallant services to his country. Sir Charles is, however, more of and perhaps a better politician, and where HE failed, Colonel Wauchope can have little chance of success.'

These pessimistic effusions had no more effect upon Wauchope than water on a duck's back. He had given his word, the die was cast, and deliberately and systematically he carried out his resolution. Beginning at his own village of New Craighall—chiefly inhabited by the miners belonging to the coal-pits on his estate—he commenced his campaign in the schoolroom on 10th February 1890, his friend and neighbour Sir Charles Dalrymple acting as chairman. In the course of his speech, Sir Charles referred to the difficult task Colonel Wauchope had undertaken, but was of opinion that his experience in the army had taught him not to shrink from a task because it was difficult. Indeed, he thought that to Colonel Wauchope a task of difficulty was more attractive than an easy one. He was above all things plain-spoken and thorough, and if he made statements on public questions, they might be sure that he would not have to answer them or explain them away at a subsequent period.

It is not necessary we should follow his footsteps throughout the county on this first round of addresses to the electors, or of his second round the following year, when he again returned from Gibraltar, and finally in 1892 when the general election took place. His personal canvass too of nearly fifteen thousand electors was a remarkable experience, and was conducted by him with much tact.

Electioneering difficulties

It is needless to say these repeated appearances proved an excellent training for him in the art of public speaking. He addressed the electors on all subjects of public importance from Home Rule as the all-absorbing question of the day, to questions of Imperial and local interest. It must be admitted his early speeches bore the unmistakable signs of the amateur in platform oratory, and when too hard pressed by a pertinacious heckler he had sometimes to admit he was nonplussed, but that he would give the embarrassing question his full attention, and express his opinion on it when he had formed it. This want of experience told heavily against him, and frequently he had difficulty in getting a hearing, or in being able clearly to express his views on some of the topics dealt with. But a breakdown did not put him very much out; he always managed to please his audience before he was done, with some happy remark given with the utmost good-nature. His utterances, sometimes diffuse and incoherent at first, very soon grew in confidence as well as in clearness, and before the election was over there were few public speakers better able to command the attention of a large audience than Andrew Gilbert Wauchope of Niddrie.

As he progressed in fluency of utterance he grew in popularity. The householders of the middle class certainly showed no sympathy for his claims, and almost closed their doors in his face. They were Gladstonian to a man. But, notwithstanding this, the Colonel gradually acquired a hold upon the industrial and agricultural workmen. He had, as they said, 'a way with him.' He talked to them in every village about politics and about their own lives. He never indulged in personal abuse of Mr. Gladstone—on the contrary, when he did refer to him it was always with the utmost respect, as one or two of his speeches before us testify. As a rule, the working classes are not slow to recognise a gentleman, and they soon found the Colonel was one to the back-bone; one who had a human heart and could do a kind deed. At a meeting in the early part of the campaign, a mining village had crowded its men into a hall to hear the man who dared to oppose Mr. Gladstone. The meeting was very noisy, and ill-disposed to listen—so much so that a speech was impossible. When things were becoming serious, a smart-looking working man, apparently in the thirties, stepped on to the platform amidst the hubbub, much to the Colonel's surprise. Nobody knew what was coming, and the singularity of the proceeding secured silence, in which the unexpected orator spoke to the following effect:—'I dinna ken very much about politics, but I was wounded at Tel-el-Kebir, and a man came up to me as I lay on the ground, and after giving me a drink from his water-bottle carried me back to a place of safety. That man is on the platform to-night, and that's the man I'm gaen to vote for.' The effect was electrical; the Colonel was not only listened to, he was cheered to the echo, and the incident made a deep impression on many present.

Frequently, of course, he had to stand a good deal of interruption and good-natured chaff, but he was generally ready with a happy retort. 'Does your mother know you're out?' was shouted to him from the back part of a hall one night in the middle of his speech by a roisterous opponent. 'Oh yes,' quietly replied the Colonel parenthetically, 'but she will very soon know that I am in!'

Tramping the constituencies

Another questioner, evidently thinking he had a poser, put it to the candidate: 'If war breaks out, will you be able to represent the county?' to which he returned the laconic and crushing reply: 'My man, if war breaks out, I'll be there'—an answer which at once evoked a ringing cheer and turned the meeting largely in his favour. Of course he did not convert all the miners to his way of thinking, but he managed to retain their esteem all the same. 'I like ye, Colonel, but I canna vote for ye,' said a conscientious miner to him one day, and doubtless the Colonel appreciated his humble political opponent all the more for his genuine frankness. Few who were present at his first political meeting in New Craighall schoolroom will readily forget the difficulty he had in getting through with the subject of land values. After wandering over half the Continent for practical illustrations, he at length lost the thread of his discourse, and got into a hopeless maze. For a minute or two he stood speechless, while his face became quite florid, as he fiercely pounded his left hand with his fist in his own characteristic fashion. A happy inspiration came at last. Turning his back upon the audience, he suddenly seized one of the newspaper reporters sitting near, and commanded him to stand up. 'What have you got down there? Read it!' With some difficulty the reporter obeyed. 'That's not what I want to say at all. Put it out. We can't have that go into the papers; put it down this way,' and then he proceeded to tell him what he meant to say.

'I was miserably beaten,' he remarked next day to a friend; 'but I've determined to master politics, and I'll do it.' How he did it every one knows. With a volume of Gladstone's speeches in his pocket, he tramped the constituencies, and on the eve of the election, at a meeting of seventeen hundred persons in the Corn Exchange of Dalkeith, which was even honoured by the presence of cabinet ministers, the speech of the evening was admitted to be that made by Colonel Wauchope.

All this involved, of course, active exertion, as well as concentration of thought and study, and the very servants in the house could see he was absorbed in thought as he never had been before. Even his walks about the grounds were less frequent than before, for the things that used formerly to interest him were passed unheeded by, as with face to the ground he appeared to be thinking out some problem or composing a speech. In his room piles of papers littered the floor, and the preparations for speeches must have been enormous for one not accustomed to this kind of work. One night he had sat up late preparing a speech, making cuttings and pasting them together to be ready for reference. In order that they might be properly dried, he left them on the fender overnight, and when the girl came in in the morning to put on the fire, thinking it was a lot of wastepaper she used it for that purpose. Of course the Colonel made inquiries about his papers, and for some time there was great consternation among the servants when it was known what had happened, and the admission had to be made that they had been destroyed. It was very different with him, however. He laughed the matter over, and told the poor girl never to mind, as it was more than likely it would end in smoke at any rate!

By the end of March 1891 Colonel Wauchope had a second time visited the whole of the constituency, or, as a Radical paper put it, 'had been overhauling the preserves of the Grand Old Man,' but admitting frankly, at the same time, that 'he seemed everywhere to be received with marked attention and respect.'

An eventful night

One of the largest of these meetings, held in Dalkeith on 31st January, gave him an opportunity of twitting the Liberals upon their alliance with Mr. Parnell, and upon the exposure made to the country by his having a bag of lime thrown in his face, 'not by an alien Saxon, but by a Paddy belonging to the soil, in the county of Kilkenny, in the very midst of dear old Ireland.' The great issue, he said, now before the country has been wonderfully cleared up, and he strongly believed that if the people of this country could have the truth put before them, there would be no more talk of Home Rule—referring, of course, to the scandal connected with the Irish leader's temporary retirement from political life by recent exposures in the Divorce Court.

These peregrinations through the county brought Colonel Wauchope in contact with all classes of people. The very reporters, whose duty it was to follow him and report his speeches, he made friends of, and by all who had dealings with him he was regarded as the most genial and generous-minded of political candidates. As one of them said, 'he was affability itself, and gave the impression of regarding the reporters as his personal friends.' One of these gentlemen has given us the following graphic account of an electioneering visit to one of the outlying parishes in the county:—

Once in the course of one of his Midlothian tours we had something in the nature of adventure. He was to address an evening meeting at Heriot, and arrangements were duly made for the stopping of an outgoing express which left the Waverley Station about six o'clock, as well as for the stopping of the Pullman express in order to bring him back to Edinburgh. The arrangement was so beautifully fine that it failed disastrously. To begin with, the departure of the outgoing train was delayed for over twenty minutes awaiting a Glasgow connection, and, to make matters worse, the fact that the village of Heriot is about two miles distant from the railway station had been totally disregarded—if, indeed, it was known. The result was that the candidate, his agent, and the writer alighted at Heriot Station just about the time that the meeting was announced to begin. There was nothing for it but walking. In a drenching rain the three of us set out for the meeting-place. When we had accomplished a considerable part of the journey we were overtaken by a light country van. The driver on having our plight explained to him, readily gave us a 'lift,' and in this way we reached Heriot about the time we ought to have been leaving it in order to catch the train that was being stopped for the express purpose of picking us up. The audience, it was evident, was not quite in the best of humour at having been kept waiting so long; but the explanation of the Colonel, and his candid, honest attitude won the hearts of his audience, and he had an excellent reception. A passage in his speech on that occasion is worth recalling in the light of the event over which all Scotland to-day mourns. 'People state,' he said, 'that I am a warlike candidate; but, gentlemen, I have twice or thrice been shot in the body already, and I declare to you I have no great desire to be shot again.' At the close of the meeting we set out on the return trudge to Heriot, painfully aware of the fact that the last train had gone, and not knowing in the least how or where we were going to pass the night. In the course of our march, I remember, the Colonel turned to me and said seriously, 'I hope you don't get into any bother over this?' I assured him that he need have no anxiety on that score. 'Because,' he added, 'I'll sign any certificate you like.' The remark was quite like him. It reflected at once the soldier and the considerate gentleman. Well, when we got to the railway station, we found that the train that was to have picked us up, had passed quite an hour previously. The stationmaster, I remember, took in the situation sympathetically at a glance. If he was not a sturdy Unionist he must have been one of the General's numerous admirers. 'There is nothing for it,' said he, 'but to walk up the line to Falahill, where we may have a chance of getting a pilot engine to run you down at least to Dalkeith.' Accordingly the stationmaster lit a lamp, and the four of us started to walk up the line in the dark, wet night. When we reached Falahill we learned with intense relief that a spare engine was at that very moment pushing up a goods train from Eskbank. The train arrived at the signal-box in the course of a very few minutes, and in the course of a few minutes more the Colonel, his agent, and myself had mounted the spare engine. The engine-driver was a brick. He drove us down the hill like the wind—tender first, by the way. We alighted from the engine at the point where the Dalkeith section debouches from the main line, and after the chilling effect of our rough ride, at once started off at a smart pace to walk to Dalkeith Station. We reached Dalkeith exactly at ten minutes to ten o'clock. There were thus ten minutes left to us in which to obtain a much-needed refreshment, and we needed little persuasion to visit an adjoining inn for the purpose. We caught the last train from Dalkeith, and were in the Waverley Station about half-past ten o'clock. Many a time afterwards was that eventful evening recalled by all three.

In the spring of this same year (1891), when political parties in Midlothian were busy preparing for the possibility of a general election occurring in the following year, a portion of Colonel Wauchope's regiment was ordered home from Gibraltar, and he was posted to the Second Battalion to be stationed at Belfast. This transference made him now second in command, with the rank of Senior Major of the Black Watch. He did not therefore require to go back to Gibraltar again, but served the greater part of this and the following year, first in Belfast and afterwards in Limerick.

Third tour of Midlothian

In January 1892 Colonel Wauchope began his third tour of Midlothian, carrying it on with energy for the next three months. Still the dogged determination to do well and thoroughly what he had undertaken is patent in all the steps of his progress. The 'forlorn hope' was now looking more hopeful, and his opponents were beginning to take alarm. At one meeting it had been insinuated that Mr. Gladstone being an old man of eighty-two, he was only working with a view to ultimately taking the great statesman's place. He repudiated the idea with all the eloquence he could command. 'It had been said that he was waiting to step into dead men's shoes. That, he thought, was striking a bit below the belt. He certainly could look any man in Midlothian straight in the face—ay, into his very eye—and say that he was waiting to fill no dead man's shoes. He was telling the truth, and nothing but the truth, when he said he hoped Mr. Gladstone might live for many years. He knew that a greater statesman than Mr. Gladstone perhaps never lived in this country; but, despite that, he was sorry to say he could not agree with his policy. Indeed, the more he admired Mr. Gladstone's genius, and the more wonderful he considered all that he had done, the more deeply and the more profoundly did he regret the course he had pursued in regard to the Irish Home Rule question. There was no doubt that the greatest men had made the greatest mistakes.' Home Rule he characterised in another speech as 'Federalism that would completely change the character of the Government of the United Kingdom,' and 'he could not help feeling it was a measure which would never be sanctioned by the people of this country.'

As a counteractive to the Colonel's prolonged canvass, a great Liberal demonstration took place in Edinburgh on 29th March, when, in addition to the great statesman himself, Lord Carrington, Governor of New South Wales, appeared.

Parliament was dissolved three months after, on 25th June, and immediately the electoral battle was waged with greater intensity. Mr. Gladstone came down to Edinburgh on the 30th June to begin a tour of the county, and the eyes of the whole country were turned upon Midlothian and the fate of the great leader of the Liberal party. Charmed with the flow of eloquence, crowded audiences hung upon his lips, and, no doubt, led away with the popular enthusiasm with which he was on all hands greeted, Mr. Gladstone's supporters overlooked the influence that had silently but surely been working against his return, and were incredulous as to the possibility of defeat, while a too confident committee were thought to have relaxed their efforts. One Radical writer had no hesitation in saying, that 'as to the result of the election, no one seems to have any doubt. It is fully admitted that Colonel Wauchope is in many respects an admirable candidate, but to compare him with Mr. Gladstone is looked upon by the latter gentleman's followers as almost ludicrous!'

The result was nevertheless looked forward to with the utmost interest. Speculation ran high; and while the odds were certainly in favour of Mr. Gladstone, an element of uncertainty was daily growing as the polling-day drew near, which only whetted public curiosity the more.

Getting into a funk

It was even said that the Colonel himself, in view of his rapidly increasing popularity, was beginning to be apprehensive that he was actually to be elected—a result he neither expected nor greatly wished. 'I am getting into a funk,' he remarked—whether seriously or not we cannot tell—when his agents told him he was likely to win the seat from Mr. Gladstone. 'You know, I don't want to go into Parliament; I want to be Commander of the Black Watch.' He had stood forward when asked as the champion of his party. He had opposed what he considered the errors of the Liberals. He would have none of Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule policy. He was opposed to the Disestablishment of the Church of Scotland. He was against the enforcement of an eight hours limit of labour as an infringement of individual liberty, while he held that the foreign policy of the country under Liberal Governments had not always commanded public confidence. For three years he had earnestly and well enunciated the principles for which he contended, but as to turning Mr. Gladstone out of his seat at last, we can well believe that he shrank from the bare possibility of it as the day of the poll approached.

The Midlothian election took place on the 12th July. Out of a constituency of 13,134, no less than 11,000 tendered their votes—or 84 per cent. of the total. It must be borne in mind that a large number of the returns throughout the country had already been made, and these in many cases showed in favour of the Liberal cause. Indeed, Lord Salisbury's majority in the House of Commons had disappeared, and each day brought additions to the Liberal majority. The party was naturally elated, and so far as Midlothian was concerned it was confidently predicted that Mr. Gladstone's majority would not be less than 2500. The result of the poll was made known next day at the Edinburgh County Buildings before an immense concourse of people. It was one of the biggest surprises Mr. Gladstone's supporters encountered during the General Election, so far certainly as Scotland was concerned. The counting of the votes was completed about a quarter to one o'clock, and an unofficial intimation of the result soon found its way outside. It put Mr. Gladstone's majority at 673. There was a crowd of some thousands in number on the street in front of the court-house, and the announcement that Mr. Gladstone's majority had been reduced below 700 gave rise to a scene of extraordinary excitement. The crowd surged up to the door to hear the figures, and as the cry 'Gladstone in by 700' was passed from one to another, a roar of astonishment, we are told, went up from a thousand throats. The noise brought hundreds of more excited politicians flocking to the scene. Town Council committee men and young men from the adjoining Parliament House of every shade of politics hurried up to join the excited throng. Blank dismay took hold of every Gladstonian countenance. Some of them could nor restrain themselves, and the most convenient object on which to vent their indignation was apparently the Church of Scotland, which came in for no little share of abuse as the cause of it all.

Result of the poll

When it is recalled that in 1885 Mr. Gladstone had been elected by a majority of 4631, and that in the following year his return was not opposed, the figures of 1892 very well justified Colonel Wauchope's daring. These were, for Mr. Gladstone 5845, and for the Colonel 5150—a majority for the former of 690. In other words, Mr. Gladstone had lost 2000 votes, and Colonel Wauchope had polled nearly 2000 more than had been recorded for Sir Charles Dalrymple in 1885. Neither of the candidates happened to be at the County Buildings when the declaration of the poll was made, so that after the first surprise was over the crowd dispersed. It had been the intention to have at once sent a telegram to Mr. Gladstone, who was residing with Lord Rosebery at Dalmeny, but it is said that so great was the perplexity among his supporters, that the telegram though made out was not despatched till later on, for, like the crowd outside, the people in the corridors refused for a time to credit the figures. Colonel Wauchope had a most enthusiastic reception accorded to him at his committee rooms in Princes Street, and on being called upon for a speech, said he would not make a speech, because he felt it to be true that it was the committee of Midlothian that had won this victory. It was, he repeated, the committee; it was the men who had stood by their guns at the committee rooms, the men who had assiduously and earnestly worked for the cause—a duty he feared not always of the most agreeable kind. But they had done their work well, and it was to them that they owed this great victory—because it was a victory—that would resound throughout the length and breadth of the land. 'It is true, I have been the standard-bearer in this fight, and I hope I have borne the standard not without discredit to myself. But it is very little that a standard-bearer can do if he is not supported by an army on the right and an army on the left of him, and I am here to acknowledge that I have been supported, and well supported, by a noble army both on my right and on my left. We have fought a good fight, and a straight fight, and we have proved that the heart of Midlothian beats sound enough.'

The result of this Midlothian election was admitted on all hands, and by none more so than the Liberals themselves, as 'a grievous surprise,' 'an eye-opener,' 'a severe lesson.' It was realised now that after all Colonel Wauchope's candidature had not been quite the 'forlorn hope' they had at first predicted it to be. As one of the party papers afterwards remarked, 'They had been taught the lesson that it does not do to depend too much upon the individuality of any one, however eminent, to carry a seat.... The advanced party was caught napping.' ... 'It is,' they said, 'most astonishing to find how well Colonel Wauchope is respected in the constituency now, and how much he has improved in his treatment of political questions. The outspoken and transparent honesty of his character has made him troops of friends in all quarters, and the attention with which he was received both by friends and opponents at the various polling-booths must have been gratifying to the gallant Colonel himself in no ordinary degree, as well as encouraging alike to him and his supporters to try conclusions again.'

Seldom has a defeat been reckoned so much of a victory. Those of the 'forlorn hope' were amazed, for what at first appeared so hopeless had come within the region of possibility. Wauchope's name was on every lip and at the point of every pen. The Midlothian election startled the political world, and sobered the joy of Liberals; for even the return of a majority of members to Parliament, sufficient with the aid of the Irish Nationalists to turn out the Conservative Government of Lord Salisbury and to place Mr. Gladstone in office, was, in the estimation of many of that great statesman's admirers, scarcely compensation enough for such a downcome.

Corn Exchange banquet

Immediately after the election, on the 18th July, Colonel Wauchope was entertained to a house dinner by the Scottish Conservative Club, at which Sir Charles Dalrymple presided. The Unionists of Midlothian also recognised Colonel Wauchope's efforts and the sacrifices he had made in the contest by a grand banquet given in his honour in the Corn Exchange, one of the largest halls in Edinburgh, on the 20th August. Beautifully decorated for the occasion, and filled as it was by over a thousand of the leading men of the party, and a large number of ladies in the galleries, the banquet was a spectacle of remarkable brilliancy and beauty.

The meeting was presided over by the Duke of Buccleuch, who, in proposing their guest's health, congratulated the company upon the occasion which had brought so many of them together as representatives of every parish in the county, after a fight in which the interest of the whole country had been centred—a fight which was looked upon a short time ago as a forlorn hope—a fight with one of the most powerful men in the kingdom—one who came down here, you may say, as the idol of the people. 'It is unusual,' said his Grace, 'to celebrate a defeat; I will not call it that. I cannot call it a victory, but I will call it a very great success. It has been a success that has astonished ourselves, but it has done more than that—it has created consternation among our opponents. A few more, or, I would say, one more success of this kind, will not only be a victory, but a very great one. For a majority of 4631 to have been reduced on this last occasion to 690 is no small thing to have been accomplished. It has been accomplished by two causes, or, I might say, three perhaps. One was a first-class candidate; the second was hard-working constituents; the third—a very important one—was a good cause.' His Grace then referred to the Colonel's family as holding an honoured place in the history of Midlothian for nearly six hundred years, and to his own good qualities as a soldier who had fought hard for his country's honour, and faithfully served his Queen.

Colonel Wauchope's reply was at once modest, vigorous, and humorous, but our space will not permit us to give it in its entirety. In his most light-hearted bantering manner he referred to the consternation of their Liberal opponents on hearing that Mr. Gladstone had only been returned by a majority of 690. 'They said it must be a blunder; there must be something wrong; a "one" dropped out from before the "six"; it was absurd; the figure will be at least 1690.' 'Ah, but they looked, and they better looked, but there was no number "one" before the "six." The fact was this, my friends, that Mr. Gladstone's majority was down 4000, and so the news had to travel to Dalmeny, where, I fancy, it was not received with great cordiality!' After complimenting the committee for the manner in which they had all exerted themselves, and a graceful acknowledgment to the ladies who had also assisted, he concluded by thanking his supporters for the great kindness he had experienced, and the great honour they had done him, and sat down amid a perfect storm of applause, the large audience once more rising to their feet, cheering to the echo.

One of the other speakers—Mr. Martin, manager of the works at New Craighall—mentioned that the miners of Niddrie, who had supported the Colonel with loyal devotion, were going to work on till they had returned him as member for Midlothian. And as an evidence of their admiration, on the 17th December they also in their own humble way honoured him with a banquet. It was given in the schoolroom of the village, and about a hundred and fifty warm sympathisers were present, presided over by Mr. Martin. It was in every way a demonstration creditable to the gratitude of the men for many acts of kindness shown to them in the past, and a manifestation of their personal esteem, which the Colonel was not slow to recognise and appreciate.

Wauchope and Gladstone

A noteworthy feature of this contest between Colonel Wauchope and Mr. Gladstone was the entire absence of personal animosity. Both candidates treated each other, as they were entitled to do, with the utmost respect. This is not always so in the heat of political warfare. But Wauchope had the good sense to avoid any reference to his opponent, and for long Mr. Gladstone did not condescend to reply to any strictures upon his policy. When Wauchope had decided to become a candidate for Midlothian, he went to Sir Robert Biddulph, afterwards Governor of Gibraltar, and told him he would have to canvass regularly until the next general election. Sir Robert's advice was wise:—'I told him,' said he, 'that he should never make any personal attack on Gladstone, nor ever mention his name in his public speeches. I said, "Gladstone is so strong a man, and so powerful a speaker, that he can tear you to pieces. You should not, therefore, give him the least opening for attacking you, but just act as if no such man existed." Some time after,' continues Sir Robert, 'he reminded me of that advice, and said he had scrupulously acted upon it, so much so that Mr. Gladstone had never attacked him, and had even spoken of him as a worthy and estimable man!'

Notwithstanding his military duties, of which he was far from being forgetful, amid all the political excitement of 1892, Colonel Wauchope, encouraged by the enthusiasm of his friends, and still determined to uphold what he considered Constitutional principles, though, at the same time, conscious of his own deficiencies, continued his candidature for some time in view of the possibility of another election soon. Writing from Limerick Barracks on 28th July 1892 to a friend in Dalkeith who had sent him some complimentary verses on the recent election, he says:—'Many thanks for your kind letter. It is such that repay me for any little trouble I may have taken in the good old cause. No one feels more than I do how unfit I am in many ways for the position of candidate. For instance, during next month we are to be at field manoeuvres, and I am tied by the leg during that time. But Midlothian deals very tenderly with all my wants—very much, I take it, that I am one of themselves.'

It was his strong opinion that the Liberal policy of the time was to prove disastrous to the best interests of his country which made him so keen an opponent of Mr. Gladstone. Against that great statesman he had not the slightest personal feeling. Speaking to a friend afterwards who was congratulating him upon his having so nearly been returned to Parliament, he said, 'I never expected to win the seat, but I wanted to hash their batteries!' Before long it became apparent, however, that it would be a needless waste of energy to continue the struggle; and, besides this, other duties supervened, and Colonel Wauchope saw fit to withdraw altogether from politics for a season.