[Note 66], [p. 288].—In 1879 the people of England were confronted with problems which a long succession of good harvests had caused them to forget. The failure of four successive crops had brought about unexampled distress. The cry for protection was revived, and in the spring of 1879 was brought in various forms before Parliament. Lord Beaconsfield, the Prime-Minister, in a succession of quite remarkable speeches, took the ground that “the country had settled the question in another generation,” and that the distress was not to be relieved by a return to the former policy. Among other interesting things shown by the Prime-Minister, was the fact that the loss to the nation from bad harvests had been in four years not less than about 80,000,000 pounds sterling.—Beaconsfield’s “Speeches,” i., 327.
[Note 67], [p. 289].—Mr. Gladstone’s praise of Mr. Playfair’s qualifications was not extravagant. Playfair first became eminent as a chemist, having been a successful student under Liebig at Giessen, and subsequently Professor of Chemistry in the Royal Institution at Manchester and in the University of Edinburgh. In 1844 he was appointed chairman of a commission to examine into the sanitary condition of English towns, and in 1851 was sent by the government into the manufacturing districts to prepare a classification of the various objects of industry. At the World’s Exposition he was placed in charge of the department of jurors, and so well did he perform his work that at the next World’s Exposition, in 1862, he was entrusted with the selection of the jurors, some six hundred in number, to be drawn from the most eminent men of all countries. In 1874 he prepared the elaborate scheme for the reorganization of the English civil service, a work which he was well fitted to perform by reason of his labors in 1873–4 as Postmaster-General. During his visit to the United States he delivered an important address in Boston on the civil service in England as compared with that in the United States.
[Note 68], [p. 293].—The development of Manitoba has quite justified the predictions of Beaconsfield, which Mr. Gladstone seemed to make light of.
[Note 69], [p. 297].—In the second Mid-Lothian speech, Mr. Gladstone had spoken at length on the tenure of land and the land laws. Among other statements, he said concerning the law of entail and settlement: “I believe that you view that law with disapproval, as being itself one of the most serious restraints upon the effective prosecution of the agriculture of the country. Gentlemen, I need not dwell upon that matter. I heartily agree with you on the point at issue. I am for the alteration of that law. I disapprove of it on economic grounds. I disapprove of it on social and moral grounds. I disapprove of the relation which it creates between father and son. I disapprove of the manner in which it makes provision for the interests of children to be born. Was there ever in the history of legislation a stranger expedient? * * * The law of England is wiser than the Almighty; it improves upon Divine Providence.”—Gladstone, “Speeches in Scotland,” 83.
[Note 70], [p. 306].—In the preceding April, Lord Bateman had moved in Parliament “That, this House fully recognizing the benefits which would result to the community if a system of free trade were universally adopted, it is expedient, in all future commercial negotiations with other countries, to advocate a policy of reciprocity between all inter-trading nations.” The policy was opposed by Lord Beaconsfield, because, as he said, he was convinced it was “a proposition which can lead to no public benefit.” Lord Salisbury, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in the course of the summer appeared to favor it.
[Note 71], [p. 315].—The first census of Great Britain was taken in 1801, when the population was found to be as follows: England, 8,331,434; Wales, 541,546; Scotland, 1,599,068; army and navy, 470,598; total in Great Britain, 10,942,646. The first census in Ireland was taken in 1813, but the returns were so imperfect as to be valueless. In 1821 Ireland had a population of 6,801,827.—Porter, “Progress of the Nation,” 8.
[Note 72], [p. 327].—The events alluded to in this and in following passages may be thus summarized. The war between Russia and Turkey terminated in the treaty of San Stefano, in the spring of 1878. Turkey had been overwhelmed by the war, and was now practically reduced to a cipher by the treaty. In the opinion of the English Government, Lord Beaconsfield being then in power, the interests of England in the eastern Mediterranean were imperilled by this aggrandizement of Russia. Russia was required by the British Government to submit the treaty of San Stefano to a European Congress. This Russia at first declined to do, whereupon the English Government at once moved an address requesting the Queen to call out the Reserves. This vigorous measure was at once followed by the still more decisive step of bringing up a division of the British army in India to the island of Malta. The right of the crown to employ Indian troops in European war was questioned, and gave rise to animated debate; but the measure was at least successful on diplomatic grounds. Russia at once lowered her pretensions, and arrangements were soon made for a General Congress at Berlin, in June of 1878, where the interests of Great Britain were represented by Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Salisbury. The result of the Congress was a modification of the treaty of San Stefano, by which the independence of Turkey was once more restored, and the dependent provinces were put on a substantial footing. The outcome was regarded as a great diplomatic triumph of Lord Beaconsfield. The agreement between Lord Salisbury and Count Schouvaloff is treated more fully later in the speech.
[Note 73], [p. 332].—This statement, while substantially correct, is a little misleading. The provinces alluded to were all more or less dependent on Turkey, and England was at no time quite willing to adopt a military policy in their defence. Neither was any other government of Europe, excepting Russia, and Russia was willing simply because it opened the way for her own advance toward the south.
[Note 74], [p. 335].—In 1877, Lord Derby had resigned the post of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and had been succeeded by Lord Salisbury.
[Note 75], [p. 337].—The “needless and mischievous armaments” were the calling out of the Reserves, and the bringing to Malta of the Indian army. Mr. Gladstone’s adjectives can only mean that in his opinion the Berlin Treaty was not desirable, since without the military movements the treaty would have been impossible. The statement of the orator as to the agreement between Salisbury and Schouvaloff is not quite correct. There was no pretence to making a treaty or settling any question whatever, but simply an understanding as to what England demanded, and what she desired to submit to a Congress. After this conference, which Mr. Gladstone criticises with so much severity, Count Schouvaloff went to St. Petersburg, pausing at Berlin for an interview with Prince Bismarck. At St. Petersburg he appears to have convinced the Czar that nothing short of a submission of the question at issue to a General Congress would satisfy England. Soon after the Count’s return to London, the Prussian Government invited the powers to a Congress at Berlin; and Russia not only accepted the invitation, but agreed to submit to the powers, all the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano. During the whole of these negotiations English public opinion was wrought up to the most intense excitement and anxiety. The course of the government was assailed and defended with the utmost vigor, everybody supposing, meanwhile, that peace or war between the two great nations hung upon the issue. In the “Ann. Reg. for 1878,” all the official papers are given, and on pp. 40–64 is to be found an abstract of the discussions in Parliament.