In social circles Lord Carnarvon's popularity never waned. He was supposed to be that contradiction in terms, 'a Tory Home Ruler,' but he was only a high-minded gentleman who made a genuine attempt to deal with the Irish problem. It was yet another instance of a viceroy risking peace and popularity by trying to be impartial. One of his opponents in Dublin expressed amazement that he should 'bother his head about Home Rule when he had the viceroyalty and a beautiful wife.' It is not to his discredit that he failed, and it must be remembered that he paid a price for his interest in Ireland. The General Election placed Mr. Gladstone in power with the aid of the Nationalists, but Gladstone soon committed political suicide, and Lord Salisbury returned for a six years' lease of power. He did not invite Lord Carnarvon to join his Cabinet, and at fifty-five the earl passed from the political stage. All he gained by his brief association with Ireland was the degree of LL.D. from Dublin University, when he replied to the Public Orator's congratulations with an elegant Latin speech that amazed the dons by reason of its splendour and faultlessness. Lord Carnarvon died in 1890, only fifty-nine, but with a generous record of work in the public service behind him. Never a party hack nor a slave to political shibboleths, always an individualist and a thinker, it was scarcely a fault if his good nature led him into an unfortunate attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable. He came to Ireland with no previous experience of the country and its people, and so he judged them by the standard applied to average men and women. We have been told by an authority that the Celtic temperament is destructive, and not constructive, and the facts of history confirm him. Lord Carnarvon forgot this, and therefore laid himself open to the charge that he was surrendering to Parnellism and reform by crime, and at the same time leading the Tory party to destruction. But political catch-phrases are usually the work of the unthinking and the illogical, and the only mistake he made was the common one of being a little too much in advance of his time. The Tory party has travelled many Irish miles since the day an Irish viceroy and Parnell exchanged their opinions in a London drawing-room.
The Earl of Aberdeen
The General Election of 1885 swept Liberalism out of Ireland, and gave the House of Commons eighty-six Nationalists, the remainder of the Irish members representing the opinions of the Unionist and Conservative party. Mr. Gladstone had to solve the problem created by the indecisive election, and as he finally decided to cast in his lot with the Home Rulers, he formed a Government—his third—and appointed the Earl of Aberdeen Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, Mr. John Morley—now Viscount Morley—entering the Cabinet for the first time as Chief Secretary.
Lord Aberdeen was born on August 3, 1847, and in 1870 succeeded to the earldom—the seventh to hold the title. Associated from his earliest days with the great Liberal statesman, he had always enjoyed his friendship and confidence. It was to Lord and Lady Aberdeen's London residence in the eighties—Dollis Hill, near Willesden—that Mr. Gladstone went to seek repose after giving up his London house, recording in his diary that he felt too timid at seventy-seven to think of acquiring another London home. When in 1894 he resigned the premiership, it was at Dollis Hill that he spent a few days in rest and quiet. Ever a stanch and discriminating friend, Mr. Gladstone was delighted to bestow the viceroyalty upon Lord Aberdeen, and accordingly, on February 10, 1886, he was sworn in at Dublin Castle.
It is almost impossible to write of contemporaries without revealing traces of prejudice or partiality. Lord Aberdeen's Liberalism was moulded by Mr. Gladstone, who was his political mentor; and Lady Aberdeen, his clever and energetic wife, has always displayed a masculine knowledge of politics and politicians. She was a Miss Ishbel Marjoribanks before her marriage in 1877, and from all accounts seems to have been a Home Ruler before Mr. Gladstone's conversion. When she entered Dublin in 1886 as the viceroy's wife she was under thirty, but already had achieved considerable fame as a determined politician, a philanthropist who had initiated common-sense methods in dealings with the grave problems of ill-health and poverty, and a loyal friend. She entered with zest into the social pleasures of Ireland's capital, and practised the arts of the vice-queen which she has since brought to perfection in Canada and in Dublin.
Their hospitality was generous, their popularity boundless. The chosen of Gladstone could not but be an idol with the masses. Until coached by their suspicious chieftains, the rank and file of Nationalism idolized the viceroy and his wife. The Lord Mayor of Dublin and the leading citizens voiced the opinions of the people, and the 'Union of Hearts' appeared to be accomplished. At last Liberalism seemed to have won the allegiance of the Irish.
The influence of Lady Aberdeen was considerable, and she helped to earn success for the viceregal party. An ardent politician, she never made the mistake of subordinating the hostess to the politician, and at her functions all classes and creeds met. It may be necessary here to state that the story which has been in circulation some years, describing how Lady Aberdeen was informed by the late Lord Morris that 'herself and the waiters, bedad!' were the only Home Rulers in the room, is a wicked and malicious lie. The alleged incident never took place, for Lady Aberdeen is not in the habit of introducing politics during dinner-parties and canvassing for opinions when entertaining. Lord Morris was the author of many witty sayings, and he does not require the aid of the unscrupulous to perpetuate his memory. His sayings will live without the help of that type of person who delights in associating persons of eminence with their jokes, well aware that because of their position they are compelled to ignore their slanderers.
While history was being made with startling rapidity in England, Lord Aberdeen continued to carry out the duties of his exalted office. But the Liberal party was by now smashed to atoms. Mr. Gladstone was acting like a broken and disappointed man, and the life of the ministry threatened at any time to cease. It was merely a question of time for the Tory party and the rebellious Liberals to amalgamate and turn out the Gladstone Government.
On July 20, 1886, Mr. Gladstone resigned, and Lord and Lady Aberdeen left Ireland, and it was now the turn of the Tory-Liberal-Unionist coalition to show what they could do in Ireland—the land of opportunities of which no one seemed capable of taking advantage. Lord Salisbury had already stated his views with characteristic bluntness. During the debate on the Home Rule Bill of 1886 he forgot that he had not a reputation for humour, and informed his audience that the Irish were like the Hottentots, incapable of governing themselves, while he suggested that the best plan for Ireland would be the application for twenty years of a stringent Coercion Act. The question of the Imperial contribution towards the setting up of a Parliament in Dublin he touched upon lightly by suggesting that the money would be better employed in aiding the emigration of a million Irishmen.
This was the statesman who was given the opportunity of putting into practice his theories of Irish administration. There was some curiosity as to the new viceroy, and when Lord Salisbury chose the Marquis of Londonderry the nervous felt more relieved. The premier had selected a safe rather than a brilliant Lord-Lieutenant, and one who was capable of perpetrating as few blunders as any of his Tory contemporaries. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach emphasized the new importance of the Irish Secretaryship by accepting it, and, as he had been Chancellor of the Exchequer in the previous Salisbury Cabinet, his action was regarded as a generous one. It was a remarkable innovation to send a tried statesman to Dublin, for it had been the custom for many years to utilize the position as a sort of preparatory school for the Cabinet. It was Sir Michael's second attempt, but this was only a half-hearted one. Two Royal Commissions were appointed—one to report on the land question, the other to examine into the material resources of the country. Lord Cowper, an ex-viceroy, presided over the first. Lord Salisbury was, indeed, making a worthy attempt to effect the political salvation of the Hottentots by Act of Parliament.