THE MIDLOTHIAN CAMPAIGN
'A Scot of the Scots,' General Wauchope was a man of many parts.
Great in arms, he was equally great in the arts of peace; and in the
political world, strangely enough, he carved out for himself a
reputation quite unique. Though his countrymen were naturally proud
of his distinguished services as a soldier, they knew him also, it
has been well said, as the man who by pertinacious pluck and sweet
conciliation brought down Mr. Gladstone's majority in the county of
Midlothian. Liberal politicians both in England and Scotland will
not have forgotten the horrified astonishment with which they read
the figures of the poll in that county at the General Election of
1892.
Mr. Gladstone had been returned for the metropolitan county of
Scotland in 1880, after his great campaign, by a small majority
against the present Duke of Buccleuch, at that time Earl of Dalkeith.
That was under the old and restricted franchise. In 1885, when the
miners and farm hands had largely through his influence obtained
votes, he defeated Sir Charles Dalrymple--a man respected by all who
knew him, and by many who did not--by two to one, and something over.
Nobody thought any more about Midlothian. It was regarded as Mr.
Gladstone's {110} stronghold, and the Liberals went to sleep in the
comfortable assurance that the seat was theirs so long as he lived.
Nor were their slumbers disturbed by the unopposed election of July
1886, when throughout the country the Liberal party suffered a
serious defeat consequent upon Mr. Gladstone's attempt, as Prime
Minister, to pass what was popularly known as the Home Rule Bill for
Ireland. Mr. Gladstone retained his seat, but was obliged to resign
his position as First Lord of the Treasury; and the Home Rule Bill in
course of the next six years, under the administration of Lord
Salisbury, became practically a thing of the past. During that time
remarkable changes were effected in the constituency. In Edinburgh
the Conservative party had rallied. Its leaders did not lack
courage, even under the most hopeless circumstances, and they
resolved to bring forward one whose determination and courage had
been well tried, though in an entirely different field. At a meeting
of the Midlothian Liberal Unionist Association in Edinburgh on the
18th November 1889, the proposal of the committee to adopt Colonel
Wauchope of Niddrie as their representative was unanimously carried.
[Sidenote: Opposes Mr. Gladstone]
It was admitted on all hands that his acceptance of such a proposal
involved the undertaking of a very hard task: one speaker at the
meeting even going so far as to say that 'while he did not anticipate
they were to win the county, he was sure that if Colonel Wauchope led
this forlorn hope, it would not be an inglorious defeat.'
Notwithstanding the rather doubtful prospects of success which his
supporters gave, Wauchope's reply was characteristic of the man. He
accepted the honour and the responsibility all the more readily, it
would appear, that it was accompanied by difficulties. After
thanking the meeting for asking him to come forward at the next
election, {111} he said he should be more than human if he did not
feel deeply gratified. If he had been an orator, or if he had been a
man engaged in public affairs, he would not have been surprised. But
though he was an utterly untried man, he would do his best to try and
serve, he should not say their interests, but the interests of the
cause which they had all at heart. He was sure they would rally
round the old flag--the flag of the Union. It spoke well for the
future of Unionism throughout the land; and their native county of
Midlothian had in this respect shown a good example to the rest of
the country. They must never lose sight of the fact that this battle
that was going on now was not a battle only in Midlothian, but it was
a battle 'all along the line,' from Land's End to John o' Groats.
They were only a mere part of that fight; and if it were a 'forlorn
hope' here, it was of the greatest advantage to the great cause that
they made a good 'forlorn hope' of it! He felt the responsibility
very much to play the part of leader to them when they might so
easily have got a better one. 'However,' he said, 'the choice is
with you. I did not seek it, but shall do my best to come to the end
of the business in a proper way.' Here it will be seen there was
both boldness and modesty, confidence in the cause he was to
champion, and self-reliance, without overrating his ability for the
hazard. His opposition to Irish Home Rule and the possible
disintegration of the Empire made him fearless, even to the extent of
daring to oppose in person the great commander-in-chief of the Home
Rule army.
At this time he was home from Gibraltar for a short furlough, and
with evidently no expectation of taking any prominent part in
politics; and so, his term of leave of absence having nearly expired,
he was unable to follow up {112} his nomination by any active
movement. He accordingly returned to Gibraltar on 4th December. In
January following he got, however, a further leave of absence from
29th January till 31st May, during which time he took full advantage
of the opportunity. Though there was no near prospect of an
election, he at once set about his canvass with all the
characteristic energy of his nature, devoting all his spare time to
addressing meetings of the electors in the various villages and
parishes of the county. This preliminary canter over, he rejoined
his regiment at Gibraltar in June 1890, leaving politics all behind
him, and entering with fresh zest into his military duties.
[Sidenote: Canvass of the Electors]
The Liberal press of the country, as a rule, treated Colonel
Wauchope's candidature with the utmost indifference, if not with
contempt, regarding it as a foregone conclusion that it would end in
nothing. Indeed, his splendid audacity provoked the Radical party to
mirth, and even in Unionist circles there was much shaking of heads.
On all hands, by political friends and foes alike, every
consideration and deference was shown, and he was listened to
generally in respectful silence, rarely with open opposition; but his
claims were not considered serious enough to work out to a conclusion
that would at all affect Mr. Gladstone's position as the sitting
member. Was Mr. Gladstone not the first statesman of the day, and
the most brilliant Chancellor of the Exchequer of the century?--a man
who, it has been wittily said, 'could apply all the resources of a
burnished rhetoric to the illustration of figures; who could make
pippins and cheese interesting, and tea serious; who could sweep the
widest horizon of the financial future and yet stop to bestow the
minutest attention on the microcosm of penny stamps and post horses.'
To oppose such a man seemed madness. The feeling was, {113} however,
more of pity that a good man should waste his energies on a hopeless
effort, than any fear of danger to the Liberal cause. The following,
as the expression of a Liberal editor, may be taken as a fair
specimen of the general feeling at the time:--'The answer to the
question of the Scotsman, "Where is the candidate for Midlothian?"
has at last been answered. Colonel Wauchope is a good and a brave
man, and one almost regrets that he should have been prevailed upon
to lead a forlorn hope. Almost all that was said of Sir Charles
Dalrymple when he contested the county, may be said of the Laird of
Niddrie. His heart is in the right place. He is justly held in much
esteem as a landlord and county gentleman, as well as for his gallant
services to his country. Sir Charles is, however, more of and
perhaps a better politician, and where HE failed, Colonel Wauchope
can have little chance of success.'
These pessimistic effusions had no more effect upon Wauchope than
water on a duck's back. He had given his word, the die was cast, and
deliberately and systematically he carried out his resolution.
Beginning at his own village of New Craighall--chiefly inhabited by
the miners belonging to the coal-pits on his estate--he commenced his
campaign in the schoolroom on 10th February 1890, his friend and
neighbour Sir Charles Dalrymple acting as chairman. In the course of
his speech, Sir Charles referred to the difficult task Colonel
Wauchope had undertaken, but was of opinion that his experience in
the army had taught him not to shrink from a task because it was
difficult. Indeed, he thought that to Colonel Wauchope a task of
difficulty was more attractive than an easy one. He was above all
things plain-spoken and thorough, and if he made statements on public
questions, they might be sure {114} that he would not have to answer
them or explain them away at a subsequent period.
It is not necessary we should follow his footsteps throughout the
county on this first round of addresses to the electors, or of his
second round the following year, when he again returned from
Gibraltar, and finally in 1892 when the general election took place.
His personal canvass too of nearly fifteen thousand electors was a
remarkable experience, and was conducted by him with much tact.
[Sidenote: Electioneering difficulties]
It is needless to say these repeated appearances proved an excellent
training for him in the art of public speaking. He addressed the
electors on all subjects of public importance from Home Rule as the
all-absorbing question of the day, to questions of Imperial and local
interest. It must be admitted his early speeches bore the
unmistakable signs of the amateur in platform oratory, and when too
hard pressed by a pertinacious heckler he had sometimes to admit he
was nonplussed, but that he would give the embarrassing question his
full attention, and express his opinion on it when he had formed it.
This want of experience told heavily against him, and frequently he
had difficulty in getting a hearing, or in being able clearly to
express his views on some of the topics dealt with. But a breakdown
did not put him very much out; he always managed to please his
audience before he was done, with some happy remark given with the
utmost good-nature. His utterances, sometimes diffuse and incoherent
at first, very soon grew in confidence as well as in clearness, and
before the election was over there were few public speakers better
able to command the attention of a large audience than Andrew Gilbert
Wauchope of Niddrie.
As he progressed in fluency of utterance he grew in popularity. The
householders of the middle class {115} certainly showed no sympathy
for his claims, and almost closed their doors in his face. They were
Gladstonian to a man. But, notwithstanding this, the Colonel
gradually acquired a hold upon the industrial and agricultural
workmen. He had, as they said, 'a way with him.' He talked to them
in every village about politics and about their own lives. He never
indulged in personal abuse of Mr. Gladstone--on the contrary, when he
did refer to him it was always with the utmost respect, as one or two
of his speeches before us testify. As a rule, the working classes
are not slow to recognise a gentleman, and they soon found the
Colonel was one to the back-bone; one who had a human heart and could
do a kind deed. At a meeting in the early part of the campaign, a
mining village had crowded its men into a hall to hear the man who
dared to oppose Mr. Gladstone. The meeting was very noisy, and
ill-disposed to listen--so much so that a speech was impossible.
When things were becoming serious, a smart-looking working man,
apparently in the thirties, stepped on to the platform amidst the
hubbub, much to the Colonel's surprise. Nobody knew what was coming,
and the singularity of the proceeding secured silence, in which the
unexpected orator spoke to the following effect:--'I dinna ken very
much about politics, but I was wounded at Tel-el-Kebir, and a man
came up to me as I lay on the ground, and after giving me a drink
from his water-bottle carried me back to a place of safety. That man
is on the platform to-night, and that's the man I'm gaen to vote
for.' The effect was electrical; the Colonel was not only listened
to, he was cheered to the echo, and the incident made a deep
impression on many present.
Frequently, of course, he had to stand a good deal of interruption
and good-natured chaff, but he was generally {116} ready with a happy
retort. 'Does your mother know you're out?' was shouted to him from
the back part of a hall one night in the middle of his speech by a
roisterous opponent. 'Oh yes,' quietly replied the Colonel
parenthetically, 'but she will very soon know that I am in!'
[Sidenote: Tramping the constituencies]
Another questioner, evidently thinking he had a poser, put it to the
candidate: 'If war breaks out, will you be able to represent the
county?' to which he returned the laconic and crushing reply: 'My
man, if war breaks out, I'll be there'--an answer which at once
evoked a ringing cheer and turned the meeting largely in his favour.
Of course he did not convert all the miners to his way of thinking,
but he managed to retain their esteem all the same. 'I like ye,
Colonel, but I canna vote for ye,' said a conscientious miner to him
one day, and doubtless the Colonel appreciated his humble political
opponent all the more for his genuine frankness. Few who were
present at his first political meeting in New Craighall schoolroom
will readily forget the difficulty he had in getting through with the
subject of land values. After wandering over half the Continent for
practical illustrations, he at length lost the thread of his
discourse, and got into a hopeless maze. For a minute or two he
stood speechless, while his face became quite florid, as he fiercely
pounded his left hand with his fist in his own characteristic
fashion. A happy inspiration came at last. Turning his back upon
the audience, he suddenly seized one of the newspaper reporters
sitting near, and commanded him to stand up. 'What have you got down
there? Read it!' With some difficulty the reporter obeyed. 'That's
not what I want to say at all. Put it out. We can't have that go
into the papers; put it down this way,' and then he proceeded to tell
him what he meant to say.
{117}
'I was miserably beaten,' he remarked next day to a friend; 'but I've
determined to master politics, and I'll do it.' How he did it every
one knows. With a volume of Gladstone's speeches in his pocket, he
tramped the constituencies, and on the eve of the election, at a
meeting of seventeen hundred persons in the Corn Exchange of
Dalkeith, which was even honoured by the presence of cabinet
ministers, the speech of the evening was admitted to be that made by
Colonel Wauchope.
All this involved, of course, active exertion, as well as
concentration of thought and study, and the very servants in the
house could see he was absorbed in thought as he never had been
before. Even his walks about the grounds were less frequent than
before, for the things that used formerly to interest him were passed
unheeded by, as with face to the ground he appeared to be thinking
out some problem or composing a speech. In his room piles of papers
littered the floor, and the preparations for speeches must have been
enormous for one not accustomed to this kind of work. One night he
had sat up late preparing a speech, making cuttings and pasting them
together to be ready for reference. In order that they might be
properly dried, he left them on the fender overnight, and when the
girl came in in the morning to put on the fire, thinking it was a lot
of wastepaper she used it for that purpose. Of course the Colonel
made inquiries about his papers, and for some time there was great
consternation among the servants when it was known what had happened,
and the admission had to be made that they had been destroyed. It
was very different with him, however. He laughed the matter over,
and told the poor girl never to mind, as it was more than likely it
would end in smoke at any rate!
{118}
By the end of March 1891 Colonel Wauchope had a second time visited
the whole of the constituency, or, as a Radical paper put it, 'had
been overhauling the preserves of the Grand Old Man,' but admitting
frankly, at the same time, that 'he seemed everywhere to be received
with marked attention and respect.'
[Sidenote: An eventful night]
One of the largest of these meetings, held in Dalkeith on 31st
January, gave him an opportunity of twitting the Liberals upon their
alliance with Mr. Parnell, and upon the exposure made to the country
by his having a bag of lime thrown in his face, 'not by an alien
Saxon, but by a Paddy belonging to the soil, in the county of
Kilkenny, in the very midst of dear old Ireland.' The great issue,
he said, now before the country has been wonderfully cleared up, and
he strongly believed that if the people of this country could have
the truth put before them, there would be no more talk of Home
Rule--referring, of course, to the scandal connected with the Irish
leader's temporary retirement from political life by recent exposures
in the Divorce Court.
These peregrinations through the county brought Colonel Wauchope in
contact with all classes of people. The very reporters, whose duty
it was to follow him and report his speeches, he made friends of, and
by all who had dealings with him he was regarded as the most genial
and generous-minded of political candidates. As one of them said,
'he was affability itself, and gave the impression of regarding the
reporters as his personal friends.' One of these gentlemen has given
us the following graphic account of an electioneering visit to one of
the outlying parishes in the county:--
Once in the course of one of his Midlothian tours we had something in
the nature of adventure. He was to address an {119} evening meeting
at Heriot, and arrangements were duly made for the stopping of an
outgoing express which left the Waverley Station about six o'clock,
as well as for the stopping of the Pullman express in order to bring
him back to Edinburgh. The arrangement was so beautifully fine that
it failed disastrously. To begin with, the departure of the outgoing
train was delayed for over twenty minutes awaiting a Glasgow
connection, and, to make matters worse, the fact that the village of
Heriot is about two miles distant from the railway station had been
totally disregarded--if, indeed, it was known. The result was that
the candidate, his agent, and the writer alighted at Heriot Station
just about the time that the meeting was announced to begin. There
was nothing for it but walking. In a drenching rain the three of us
set out for the meeting-place. When we had accomplished a
considerable part of the journey we were overtaken by a light country
van. The driver on having our plight explained to him, readily gave
us a 'lift,' and in this way we reached Heriot about the time we
ought to have been leaving it in order to catch the train that was
being stopped for the express purpose of picking us up. The
audience, it was evident, was not quite in the best of humour at
having been kept waiting so long; but the explanation of the Colonel,
and his candid, honest attitude won the hearts of his audience, and
he had an excellent reception. A passage in his speech on that
occasion is worth recalling in the light of the event over which all
Scotland to-day mourns. 'People state,' he said, 'that I am a
warlike candidate; but, gentlemen, I have twice or thrice been shot
in the body already, and I declare to you I have no great desire to
be shot again.' At the close of the meeting we set out on the return
trudge to Heriot, painfully aware of the fact that the last train had
gone, and not knowing in the least how or where we were going to pass
the night. In the course of our march, I remember, the Colonel
turned to me and said seriously, 'I hope you don't get into any
bother over this?' I assured him that he need have no anxiety on
that score. 'Because,' he added, 'I'll sign any certificate you
like.' The remark was quite like him. It reflected at once the
soldier and the considerate gentleman. Well, when we {120} got to
the railway station, we found that the train that was to have picked
us up, had passed quite an hour previously. The stationmaster, I
remember, took in the situation sympathetically at a glance. If he
was not a sturdy Unionist he must have been one of the General's
numerous admirers. 'There is nothing for it,' said he, 'but to walk
up the line to Falahill, where we may have a chance of getting a
pilot engine to run you down at least to Dalkeith.' Accordingly the
stationmaster lit a lamp, and the four of us started to walk up the
line in the dark, wet night. When we reached Falahill we learned
with intense relief that a spare engine was at that very moment
pushing up a goods train from Eskbank. The train arrived at the
signal-box in the course of a very few minutes, and in the course of
a few minutes more the Colonel, his agent, and myself had mounted the
spare engine. The engine-driver was a brick. He drove us down the
hill like the wind--tender first, by the way. We alighted from the
engine at the point where the Dalkeith section debouches from the
main line, and after the chilling effect of our rough ride, at once
started off at a smart pace to walk to Dalkeith Station. We reached
Dalkeith exactly at ten minutes to ten o'clock. There were thus ten
minutes left to us in which to obtain a much-needed refreshment, and
we needed little persuasion to visit an adjoining inn for the
purpose. We caught the last train from Dalkeith, and were in the
Waverley Station about half-past ten o'clock. Many a time afterwards
was that eventful evening recalled by all three.
In the spring of this same year (1891), when political parties in
Midlothian were busy preparing for the possibility of a general
election occurring in the following year, a portion of Colonel
Wauchope's regiment was ordered home from Gibraltar, and he was
posted to the Second Battalion to be stationed at Belfast. This
transference made him now second in command, with the rank of Senior
Major of the Black Watch. He did not therefore require to go back to
Gibraltar again, but served the {121} greater part of this and the
following year, first in Belfast and afterwards in Limerick.
[Sidenote: Third tour of Midlothian]
In January 1892 Colonel Wauchope began his third tour of Midlothian,
carrying it on with energy for the next three months. Still the
dogged determination to do well and thoroughly what he had undertaken
is patent in all the steps of his progress. The 'forlorn hope' was
now looking more hopeful, and his opponents were beginning to take
alarm. At one meeting it had been insinuated that Mr. Gladstone
being an old man of eighty-two, he was only working with a view to
ultimately taking the great statesman's place. He repudiated the
idea with all the eloquence he could command. 'It had been said that
he was waiting to step into dead men's shoes. That, he thought, was
striking a bit below the belt. He certainly could look any man in
Midlothian straight in the face--ay, into his very eye--and say that
he was waiting to fill no dead man's shoes. He was telling the
truth, and nothing but the truth, when he said he hoped Mr. Gladstone
might live for many years. He knew that a greater statesman than Mr.
Gladstone perhaps never lived in this country; but, despite that, he
was sorry to say he could not agree with his policy. Indeed, the
more he admired Mr. Gladstone's genius, and the more wonderful he
considered all that he had done, the more deeply and the more
profoundly did he regret the course he had pursued in regard to the
Irish Home Rule question. There was no doubt that the greatest men
had made the greatest mistakes.' Home Rule he characterised in
another speech as 'Federalism that would completely change the
character of the Government of the United Kingdom,' and 'he could not
help feeling it was a measure which would never be sanctioned by the
people of this country.'
{122}
As a counteractive to the Colonel's prolonged canvass, a great
Liberal demonstration took place in Edinburgh on 29th March, when, in
addition to the great statesman himself, Lord Carrington, Governor of
New South Wales, appeared.
Parliament was dissolved three months after, on 25th June, and
immediately the electoral battle was waged with greater intensity.
Mr. Gladstone came down to Edinburgh on the 30th June to begin a tour
of the county, and the eyes of the whole country were turned upon
Midlothian and the fate of the great leader of the Liberal party.
Charmed with the flow of eloquence, crowded audiences hung upon his
lips, and, no doubt, led away with the popular enthusiasm with which
he was on all hands greeted, Mr. Gladstone's supporters overlooked
the influence that had silently but surely been working against his
return, and were incredulous as to the possibility of defeat, while a
too confident committee were thought to have relaxed their efforts.
One Radical writer had no hesitation in saying, that 'as to the
result of the election, no one seems to have any doubt. It is fully
admitted that Colonel Wauchope is in many respects an admirable
candidate, but to compare him with Mr. Gladstone is looked upon by
the latter gentleman's followers as almost ludicrous!'
The result was nevertheless looked forward to with the utmost
interest. Speculation ran high; and while the odds were certainly in
favour of Mr. Gladstone, an element of uncertainty was daily growing
as the polling-day drew near, which only whetted public curiosity the
more.
[Sidenote: Getting into a funk]
It was even said that the Colonel himself, in view of his rapidly
increasing popularity, was beginning to be apprehensive that he was
actually to be elected--a result he {123} neither expected nor
greatly wished. 'I am getting into a funk,' he remarked--whether
seriously or not we cannot tell--when his agents told him he was
likely to win the seat from Mr. Gladstone. 'You know, I don't want
to go into Parliament; I want to be Commander of the Black Watch.'
He had stood forward when asked as the champion of his party. He had
opposed what he considered the errors of the Liberals. He would have
none of Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule policy. He was opposed to the
Disestablishment of the Church of Scotland. He was against the
enforcement of an eight hours limit of labour as an infringement of
individual liberty, while he held that the foreign policy of the
country under Liberal Governments had not always commanded public
confidence. For three years he had earnestly and well enunciated the
principles for which he contended, but as to turning Mr. Gladstone
out of his seat at last, we can well believe that he shrank from the
bare possibility of it as the day of the poll approached.
The Midlothian election took place on the 12th July. Out of a
constituency of 13,134, no less than 11,000 tendered their votes--or
84 per cent. of the total. It must be borne in mind that a large
number of the returns throughout the country had already been made,
and these in many cases showed in favour of the Liberal cause.
Indeed, Lord Salisbury's majority in the House of Commons had
disappeared, and each day brought additions to the Liberal majority.
The party was naturally elated, and so far as Midlothian was
concerned it was confidently predicted that Mr. Gladstone's majority
would not be less than 2500. The result of the poll was made known
next day at the Edinburgh County Buildings before an immense
concourse of people. It was one of the biggest {124} surprises Mr.
Gladstone's supporters encountered during the General Election, so
far certainly as Scotland was concerned. The counting of the votes
was completed about a quarter to one o'clock, and an unofficial
intimation of the result soon found its way outside. It put Mr.
Gladstone's majority at 673. There was a crowd of some thousands in
number on the street in front of the court-house, and the
announcement that Mr. Gladstone's majority had been reduced below 700
gave rise to a scene of extraordinary excitement. The crowd surged
up to the door to hear the figures, and as the cry 'Gladstone in by
700' was passed from one to another, a roar of astonishment, we are
told, went up from a thousand throats. The noise brought hundreds of
more excited politicians flocking to the scene. Town Council
committee men and young men from the adjoining Parliament House of
every shade of politics hurried up to join the excited throng. Blank
dismay took hold of every Gladstonian countenance. Some of them
could nor restrain themselves, and the most convenient object on
which to vent their indignation was apparently the Church of
Scotland, which came in for no little share of abuse as the cause of
it all.
[Sidenote: Result of the poll]
When it is recalled that in 1885 Mr. Gladstone had been elected by a
majority of 4631, and that in the following year his return was not
opposed, the figures of 1892 very well justified Colonel Wauchope's
daring. These were, for Mr. Gladstone 5845, and for the Colonel
5150--a majority for the former of 690. In other words, Mr.
Gladstone had lost 2000 votes, and Colonel Wauchope had polled nearly
2000 more than had been recorded for Sir Charles Dalrymple in 1885.
Neither of the candidates happened to be at the County Buildings when
the declaration of the poll was made, so that after the first
surprise {125} was over the crowd dispersed. It had been the
intention to have at once sent a telegram to Mr. Gladstone, who was
residing with Lord Rosebery at Dalmeny, but it is said that so great
was the perplexity among his supporters, that the telegram though
made out was not despatched till later on, for, like the crowd
outside, the people in the corridors refused for a time to credit the
figures. Colonel Wauchope had a most enthusiastic reception accorded
to him at his committee rooms in Princes Street, and on being called
upon for a speech, said he would not make a speech, because he felt
it to be true that it was the committee of Midlothian that had won
this victory. It was, he repeated, the committee; it was the men who
had stood by their guns at the committee rooms, the men who had
assiduously and earnestly worked for the cause--a duty he feared not
always of the most agreeable kind. But they had done their work
well, and it was to them that they owed this great victory--because
it was a victory--that would resound throughout the length and
breadth of the land. 'It is true, I have been the standard-bearer in
this fight, and I hope I have borne the standard not without
discredit to myself. But it is very little that a standard-bearer
can do if he is not supported by an army on the right and an army on
the left of him, and I am here to acknowledge that I have been
supported, and well supported, by a noble army both on my right and
on my left. We have fought a good fight, and a straight fight, and
we have proved that the heart of Midlothian beats sound enough.'
The result of this Midlothian election was admitted on all hands, and
by none more so than the Liberals themselves, as 'a grievous
surprise,' 'an eye-opener,' 'a severe lesson.' It was realised now
that after all Colonel Wauchope's candidature had not been quite the
'forlorn {126} hope' they had at first predicted it to be. As one of
the party papers afterwards remarked, 'They had been taught the
lesson that it does not do to depend too much upon the individuality
of any one, however eminent, to carry a seat.... The advanced party
was caught napping.' ... 'It is,' they said, 'most astonishing to
find how well Colonel Wauchope is respected in the constituency now,
and how much he has improved in his treatment of political questions.
The outspoken and transparent honesty of his character has made him
troops of friends in all quarters, and the attention with which he
was received both by friends and opponents at the various
polling-booths must have been gratifying to the gallant Colonel
himself in no ordinary degree, as well as encouraging alike to him
and his supporters to try conclusions again.'
Seldom has a defeat been reckoned so much of a victory. Those of the
'forlorn hope' were amazed, for what at first appeared so hopeless
had come within the region of possibility. Wauchope's name was on
every lip and at the point of every pen. The Midlothian election
startled the political world, and sobered the joy of Liberals; for
even the return of a majority of members to Parliament, sufficient
with the aid of the Irish Nationalists to turn out the Conservative
Government of Lord Salisbury and to place Mr. Gladstone in office,
was, in the estimation of many of that great statesman's admirers,
scarcely compensation enough for such a downcome.
[Sidenote: Corn Exchange banquet]
Immediately after the election, on the 18th July, Colonel Wauchope
was entertained to a house dinner by the Scottish Conservative Club,
at which Sir Charles Dalrymple presided. The Unionists of Midlothian
also recognised Colonel Wauchope's efforts and the sacrifices he had
made in the contest by a grand banquet given {127} in his honour in
the Corn Exchange, one of the largest halls in Edinburgh, on the 20th
August. Beautifully decorated for the occasion, and filled as it was
by over a thousand of the leading men of the party, and a large
number of ladies in the galleries, the banquet was a spectacle of
remarkable brilliancy and beauty.
The meeting was presided over by the Duke of Buccleuch, who, in
proposing their guest's health, congratulated the company upon the
occasion which had brought so many of them together as
representatives of every parish in the county, after a fight in which
the interest of the whole country had been centred--a fight which was
looked upon a short time ago as a forlorn hope--a fight with one of
the most powerful men in the kingdom--one who came down here, you may
say, as the idol of the people. 'It is unusual,' said his Grace, 'to
celebrate a defeat; I will not call it that. I cannot call it a
victory, but I will call it a very great success. It has been a
success that has astonished ourselves, but it has done more than
that--it has created consternation among our opponents. A few more,
or, I would say, one more success of this kind, will not only be a
victory, but a very great one. For a majority of 4631 to have been
reduced on this last occasion to 690 is no small thing to have been
accomplished. It has been accomplished by two causes, or, I might
say, three perhaps. One was a first-class candidate; the second was
hard-working constituents; the third--a very important one--was a
good cause.' His Grace then referred to the Colonel's family as
holding an honoured place in the history of Midlothian for nearly six
hundred years, and to his own good qualities as a soldier who had
fought hard for his country's honour, and faithfully served his Queen.
{128}
Colonel Wauchope's reply was at once modest, vigorous, and humorous,
but our space will not permit us to give it in its entirety. In his
most light-hearted bantering manner he referred to the consternation
of their Liberal opponents on hearing that Mr. Gladstone had only
been returned by a majority of 690. 'They said it must be a blunder;
there must be something wrong; a "one" dropped out from before the
"six"; it was absurd; the figure will be at least 1690.' 'Ah, but
they looked, and they better looked, but there was no number "one"
before the "six." The fact was this, my friends, that Mr.
Gladstone's majority was down 4000, and so the news had to travel to
Dalmeny, where, I fancy, it was not received with great cordiality!'
After complimenting the committee for the manner in which they had
all exerted themselves, and a graceful acknowledgment to the ladies
who had also assisted, he concluded by thanking his supporters for
the great kindness he had experienced, and the great honour they had
done him, and sat down amid a perfect storm of applause, the large
audience once more rising to their feet, cheering to the echo.
One of the other speakers--Mr. Martin, manager of the works at New
Craighall--mentioned that the miners of Niddrie, who had supported
the Colonel with loyal devotion, were going to work on till they had
returned him as member for Midlothian. And as an evidence of their
admiration, on the 17th December they also in their own humble way
honoured him with a banquet. It was given in the schoolroom of the
village, and about a hundred and fifty warm sympathisers were
present, presided over by Mr. Martin. It was in every way a
demonstration creditable to the gratitude of the men for many acts of
kindness shown to them in the past, and a manifestation of {129}
their personal esteem, which the Colonel was not slow to recognise
and appreciate.
[Sidenote: Wauchope and Gladstone]
A noteworthy feature of this contest between Colonel Wauchope and Mr.
Gladstone was the entire absence of personal animosity. Both
candidates treated each other, as they were entitled to do, with the
utmost respect. This is not always so in the heat of political
warfare. But Wauchope had the good sense to avoid any reference to
his opponent, and for long Mr. Gladstone did not condescend to reply
to any strictures upon his policy. When Wauchope had decided to
become a candidate for Midlothian, he went to Sir Robert Biddulph,
afterwards Governor of Gibraltar, and told him he would have to
canvass regularly until the next general election. Sir Robert's
advice was wise:--'I told him,' said he, 'that he should never make
any personal attack on Gladstone, nor ever mention his name in his
public speeches. I said, "Gladstone is so strong a man, and so
powerful a speaker, that he can tear you to pieces. You should not,
therefore, give him the least opening for attacking you, but just act
as if no such man existed." Some time after,' continues Sir Robert,
'he reminded me of that advice, and said he had scrupulously acted
upon it, so much so that Mr. Gladstone had never attacked him, and
had even spoken of him as a worthy and estimable man!'
Notwithstanding his military duties, of which he was far from being
forgetful, amid all the political excitement of 1892, Colonel
Wauchope, encouraged by the enthusiasm of his friends, and still
determined to uphold what he considered Constitutional principles,
though, at the same time, conscious of his own deficiencies,
continued his candidature for some time in view of the possibility of
another election soon. Writing from Limerick Barracks {130} on 28th
July 1892 to a friend in Dalkeith who had sent him some complimentary
verses on the recent election, he says:--'Many thanks for your kind
letter. It is such that repay me for any little trouble I may have
taken in the good old cause. No one feels more than I do how unfit I
am in many ways for the position of candidate. For instance, during
next month we are to be at field manoeuvres, and I am tied by the leg
during that time. But Midlothian deals very tenderly with all my
wants--very much, I take it, that I am one of themselves.'
It was his strong opinion that the Liberal policy of the time was to
prove disastrous to the best interests of his country which made him
so keen an opponent of Mr. Gladstone. Against that great statesman
he had not the slightest personal feeling. Speaking to a friend
afterwards who was congratulating him upon his having so nearly been
returned to Parliament, he said, 'I never expected to win the seat,
_but I wanted to hash their batteries_!' Before long it became
apparent, however, that it would be a needless waste of energy to
continue the struggle; and, besides this, other duties supervened,
and Colonel Wauchope saw fit to withdraw altogether from politics for
a season.
{131}