'warning in an anonymous letter of threats against her life by "persons of rank," wrote to Harcourt to say she did not see who could be meant "unless it were Lord Randolph Churchill"!'
Elsewhere Sir Charles noted:
'The only subjects upon which the Prince of Wales agreed with any Liberals were (1) detestation of Randolph Churchill; (2) the government of London. But then, as I personally, although assailed by Randolph Churchill and not then on speaking terms in consequence, did not dislike him, there remained only the government of London, and the topic became well worn between us, for we had found by experience that it was the only one upon which we could safely talk.'
III.
One correspondent, the length of whose letters was 'fabulous,' was Sir
Robert Morier, then Minister at Lisbon, 'an old friend.'
'He had more brains than all the other Foreign Office servants put together (excepting Lord Lyons and 'old White' and Lord Odo Russell), but, although "impossible" in a small place, he was afterwards a success at St. Petersburg…. He used to send ultimatums to any weak Government to which he was despatched, and he used to treat the Foreign Office almost as badly, for he was the only Minister given to swearing at the Office in despatches.'
Comment on this is afforded by a note of Lord Granville's to Sir Charles in 1884, when the Embassy at Constantinople was vacant: "The Turks had been behaving so badly, we should send Morier, to pay them out." Sir Charles's respect for his friend's 'immense ability' led to his taking great trouble in dealing with Sir Robert Morier's difficulties, put before him in a voluminous correspondence, both private and public, and in return he received 'a veritable testimonial on February 22nd, 1881: "You have done the right thing at exactly the right moment, and this is to me so utterly new a phenomenon in official life that it fills me with admiration and delight."' He had previously noted a letter in which, describing himself as "a shipwrecked diplomat on the rocks of Lisbon," Morier wrote:
"To have for once in my life received help, co-operation, and encouragement in a public work from a man in the Office, instead of the cuffs and snubs I am used to, is so altogether new a sensation that you must excuse my being gushing."
In an earlier letter of the same year there is complaint of the "utter absence of co-operation" between the Foreign Office at home and its servants abroad:
"You who are still a human being and able to see things from the general home point of view, will be over-weighted by two such bureaucrats as —— and —— ."