Very few Viceroys of Ireland have been Cabinet ministers, and it is, indeed, surprising how any statesman can be expected to act as king in Ireland and as an exponent of his party's policy in Downing Street; but the fact that viceroys do not often sit in the Cabinet does not remove the political aspect of the post. The unwritten law seems to be that while a Tory occupant of the Viceregal Lodge may be as partisan as he wishes, no Lord-Lieutenant chosen by a Liberal premier must open his mouth on the political questions of the day. It is easy to account for this. Unionism superficially means this, at any rate—that the party believes in loyalty to the Crown and the Constitution, while the other side can only retort by declaring that a readjustment of the Constitution would not affect the indissolubility of the Crown.

Nationalists and the Castle

Then, Nationalists are by training and instinct suspicious of the Castle. Irishmen are seldom cowards, but it is only necessary to bring a charge of sycophancy against an Irishman to make him forswear the Castle and all its works. It is, in his opinion, the greatest insult you can offer him. You may question the honour of his ancestors, doubt his honour, or even deride his alleged sense of humour—all these things will leave him cold; but hint that he wants a job, sneer at him because you imagine he is hankering after the fleshpots of Castle Yard or the messes of the Viceregal Lodge, and then take steps to insure your safety. This weapon has proved most effective in the hands of Nationalist writers and journalists, though it has not always succeeded in preventing men holding Nationalist opinions from serving their country on the bench or in the administration of the Government of the land.

English ministers possess more patronage than the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and jobbery is ever rampant in London; but the business of the metropolis is not stopped in order that the multitude may hold up their hands in horror at the action of the jobbers. Happily, England's strength is not in its Civil Service. In Ireland it is different, and whereas the ambition of every family was to have a priest amongst its sons, now a Civil Servant within its ranks is considered more desirable. And the Lord-Lieutenant, as Chief Patron, is the natural prey of the eager, and hopeful, and the disappointed.

Not since the mayoralty of T. D. Sullivan in 1886—during Lord Aberdeen's previous term of office—has the Mansion House in Dawson Street known the presence of a viceroy. Successive Lord Mayors of Dublin have held aloof from the Government—some from conviction, the majority frightened by the bogie of sycophancy. Amateur politicians continue to practise the art of debate on the floors and in the galleries of the City Hall, and their brethren in a more sophisticated manner demonstrated their statesmanlike qualities in Westminster; while the Lord-Lieutenant, the symbol of England's despotic rule, mingles with the aristocratic and official sets, which are mainly Tory. In fact, the Nationalists are afraid to indicate loyalty by accepting the hospitality of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and, curiously enough, the extreme Unionists adopt precisely the same course when a Liberal Government is in power.

Welcoming the Lord-Lieutenant

Lord Aberdeen made his state entry on February 3, 1906. Only veterans could recall the doings of the Lord-Lieutenant of 1886, but Lord and Lady Aberdeen's names were household words, as they had been no strangers to Ireland during these twenty years, but had identified themselves with much work for the benefit of her industries and welfare, and in many ways the new viceroy and his wife received a sympathetic welcome. They were anxious to mark their term of office by social reform, and to keep the office as far removed from party politics as possible.

Two notable deputations waited on the viceroy at Dublin Castle within a fortnight of his arrival. One consisted of the survivors of the extraordinary popular demonstration that had escorted Lord and Lady Aberdeen out of Dublin in 1886. On that occasion the Lord Mayor of Dublin and members of the Corporation had headed the procession, which was intended to show the affection of the Home Rule party for the Home Rule viceroy. The survivors now read an address of welcome to the Lord-Lieutenant, and as all addresses to the viceroy are carefully subedited, Lord Aberdeen was able to listen to the compliments this particular one contained, and reply in set terms indicating his desire to work in sympathy with all parties in Ireland. Twenty years earlier a different reply might have been possible, but during the interval between the first and second Aberdeen reigns the Tory party had stolen much of the Liberal thunder, and the deputation represented something as Victorian as an antimacassar.

The second deputation was from the City of Belfast, and expressed devotion and loyalty to the throne and to the king's representative. In other words, it was a grim reminder to Lord Aberdeen that the Unionists had their eye on him, and that it behoved him not to air his Home Rule opinions during his viceroyalty. There is an unwritten law that all Lord-Lieutenants of Ireland must be non-political in thought and word, if not in deed, and the rule is always applied with rigour in the case of a Liberal viceroy. To this and all other addresses of welcome it was easy to return a speech of thanks, and Lord Aberdeen promised to visit Belfast at the first available opportunity—a promise which was soon fulfilled, and resulted in many subsequent visits to the northern capital, where Lord and Lady Aberdeen have always been accorded a hearty welcome.

Lord Aberdeen in Rome