'In speaking on the night of Friday, December 18th, at Chelsea, I declared that we ought not to allow ourselves to be driven either forward or backward from the principles that we had put forward with regard to Ireland, and that our course should be to continue to propose the measures which we had previously proposed without reference to the Parnellite support of Conservative candidates. The scheme which I had put forward at the General Election was the one to which I adhered. If it had been generally adopted when first suggested, it would have received very large support in Ireland.'
He then quotes from the report of his speech this sentence: 'We are told that now it is too late, but for my part I should not be inclined to recede from it because it does not meet with general support.'
On this Chamberlain wrote:
'December 19th, 1885.
'My Dear Dilke,
'The papers this morning seem to show that I have succeeded in avoiding any kind of conflict with you. Your own speech was most judicious. What a mess Mr. G. has made of it! What will be the end of it all? Why the d—— could he not wait till Parnell had quarrelled with the Tories? I fancy that a large number, perhaps the majority, of Liberals will support any scheme of Mr. G.'s, but I doubt if the country will endorse it. The Tories, if they are wise, will throw everything else aside and go for the "Empire in danger," dissolving at the earliest possible opportunity. The Liberals would be divided and distracted, and I think we shall be beaten into a cocked hat. Our game—yours and mine—is to avoid definite committal for the moment. Circumstances change every hour. Harcourt is coming to me on Saturday and Sunday.'
'On the next day Chamberlain sent me a copy of a letter to him from
Mr. Gladstone:
'"December 18th, 1885.
'"My Dear Chamberlain,
'"I thank you very much for your references to me in your speech
last night.