judgments. She was very ambitious for her husband, more so than he
was for himself. It is characteristic of his genial, good-humoured,
rather easy-going temperament that at one time his ambition was the
Speakership. In controversy he would probably have been almost content
to state his opinion or make his protest and then go off to his
reading or travelling abroad or hunting up bargains in old furniture
(of which he was a connoisseur). It was generally considered that
it was his wife who kept him up to battle pitch. Yet it is almost
a paradox that she could never reconcile herself to the extent to
which the political life she did so much to encourage kept him away
from her and away from home. She felt this so strongly that in the
early days of her long illness there were not wanting people who
believed her ill-health to be assumed as a pretext for keeping Sir
Henry with her. It would probably be juster to believe that it was
the beginnings of ill-health and the consequent sense of dependence
which made the common-sense view of the necessities of the situation
harder to achieve. Certain it was that she seldom seemed to realise
how very severe a tax it might be on a man, who had been hard at work
in a contentious atmosphere all day and all the evening, to sit up by
a sick-bed or break his sleep to soothe an invalid. Yet by a curious
contradiction if there was ever any occasion when Sir Henry was tempted
to leave politics altogether, or there was some possibility that he
might be defeated by a rival in the contest for leadership, no one was
more stubborn than his wife in the determination that he should suffer
no such thing.
The winter of 1905 saw the fall of the Conservative party and a Liberal
triumph assured. But the Liberals were by no means united in a desire
for Sir Henry’s leadership. It was doubted whether he would accept
office when Mr. Balfour resigned, and many thought he would have
been wiser to force the Conservatives to dissolve Parliament. Lady
Campbell-Bannerman never wavered in pressing her husband to respond
to the invitation of the King to form a government, with or without
the support of those who might have preferred a Liberal Imperialist
Prime Minister. After Sir Henry had kissed hands there were many who
urged his retirement to the House of Lords. They were supported by
those who were anxious about the unity of the party, and who found
some of the right wing determined to refuse office except under this
condition. It was even approved by some of Sir Henry’s faithful
followers. They had seen his difficulties as leader of the Opposition
against an overbearing Conservative majority, and failed to foresee the
completeness of his ascendancy in the new House of Commons. Definite
suggestions were made in responsible quarters to the Liberal Press that
this course should be presented to their readers as a desirable step.
One great Liberal newspaper was so perplexed by these recommendations
that a special messenger was sent late at night to Sir Henry asking
him if this really represented his own personal wishes. A reply was
received scribbled on the letter of inquiry urging the paper to use
every argument possible against the proposed policy. The hour was late,
the Prime Minister had been disturbed in his sleep, and there was only
just time to get the appropriate articles written before the paper went
to Press.
The story runs that Sir Henry had been conducting negotiations on
this subject all the afternoon and evening. As has been said, he was
of an easy-going disposition, with no particular taste for domination
or prominence for its own sake. He was, moreover, tired, no longer
young, and anxious about his wife’s health--all of them inducements to
indifference. It was agreed that he should go home to dine and talk
it over with his wife, who had just arrived from Scotland. Had the
negotiators been wise they would have clinched their bargain then.
The Sir Henry who returned to them after dinner was a very different
person. It is said that he came into the room crying, “No surrender!”
and nothing would induce him to contemplate the course they pressed.
When once he did make up his mind they knew it was no good arguing.
They were conscious that behind his decision was the determination of a
more implacable and more immovable personality than his own, and they
were obliged to give way. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman became leader
of the House of Commons, and led his party in the New Parliament with
immense success.
It was a great triumph, but, like most human triumphs, spiced with
bitterness. It was not that a few people who should have known better
thought it clever and smart to gibe at the quiet, elderly Scotch
couple. Lady Campbell-Bannerman was a dying woman, and those near her
knew it. For twenty years she had struggled with a disease of which
the end was certain from the beginning, and the end was now near. She
dragged herself from her sick-bed to be present at the first reception
given by Sir Henry at Downing Street, and stood by his side. She was
unfashionably dressed, and, as a consequence of her illness, terribly
stout, and for many the outstanding memory of the evening was Sir
Henry’s manifest anxiety and preoccupation about her. All through the
year 1906 she got steadily worse, her sufferings increased by the
unusual heat. It was hoped that the change to Marienbad might do her
good. She liked the place, and had visited it regularly for twenty-five
consecutive years. She knew herself unfit to travel, but insisted on
going, because “Henry would get no holiday if I don’t go. It is not
sufficient change to go anywhere in Scotland or England” (a remark many
harassed politicians can echo). She stood the journey well, and it was
hoped the change might do her good. But the improvement was only a
flicker. She died on 30th August. The preliminary funeral ceremony took
place at Marienbad, and was attended by many notable people, including
a representative of King Edward VII. The King was at Marienbad at
the time, and made all the arrangements for the service his personal
concern. There had always been a warm friendship between him and
Sir Henry, a circumstance perhaps equally perplexing to the “unco”
patriotic among the satellites of the one and the “unco guid” among
the followers of the other. But Lady Campbell-Bannerman’s body, as
befitted one who was Scotch in every fibre of her being, was taken to
her home in Scotland and buried in Meigle kirkyard.
Courage, staunchness, humour--these are the three things that stand out
in the recollections of one who knew her well (there were not many who
did). During her last years, “even to her accepted friends,” is the
testimony, “she was singularly silent and reserved, generally leaving
all the talking to her husband, while she herself sat listening, her
steady blue-grey eyes quietly observing the speaker, and gaining for
herself the reputation of being a dull, heavy woman. I often wished
that the people who so apostrophised her could have seen her a few
moments afterwards, those same quiet eyes sparkling with humour,
and those singularly silent lips making remarks showing a mental
activity which very ill suggested a dull, heavy woman.” The same
observer mentions her reminiscences of long journeys taken in early
days--“delightful to listen to, as recalled by her in her even, low,
sweet voice,” on account of her “sense of humour and her splendid
memory.” She adds: “She had a wonderful knowledge of human nature,
the more striking considering how little she really mixed and rubbed
shoulders with her fellow-creatures.”
Nowadays, when the rights of small nations are the proclaimed
preoccupation of both the Old World and the New, it is interesting to
record Lady Campbell-Bannerman’s firm conviction of their value in the
international atmosphere, creating, “through their determined endeavour
to remain independent, a healthy, stimulating effect on the world and
life in general”--a conviction cherished by her at a date when it
was anything but fashionable. Another observer, a man, confesses to
having been at first “put off” by her appearance--to which allusion
has already been made--and being caused to forget it by an “impression
of a very sensible and even powerful intelligence.” Many, it has to be
confessed, never saw through the unattractive appearance. Mr. T. P.
O’Connor noticed unfavourably the “nervous, fluttering eyelids” and
“nervous, fluttering manner.”
Lady Campbell-Bannerman was as marked in her preferences and dislikes
of places as of people. She enjoyed being abroad, as has been said.
She was devoted to Scotland, and especially to Belmont, the Scottish
castle Sir Henry had inherited. She entered with zest into every
detail of the functions of a châtelaine, superintending the garden and
orchard with great thoroughness. She spent great care and pains over
the decoration, which was in the French manner, the doors being copied
from the palace at Versailles. Her London table was always provided
with flowers from Belmont, and even her London laundry done there. For
London itself she had no affection, and for Downing Street an active
dislike. After her death it was found that before going to Marienbad
she had cleared Downing Street of all her personal belongings and sent
them to Scotland.
It has been said, “Happy the woman that has no history.” It was
never more than a half-truth, and in the face of a career like Lady
Campbell-Bannerman’s it has an ironic sound. But for her long illness
it can hardly be doubted that she would have used her very remarkable
gifts in a way that would have left her personal impress on her
generation. Hampered and exhausted by suffering, she was yet able to
affect passing events by reason of the immense influence she exercised
on her husband, who took no action without consulting her. It may
perhaps be mentioned here that the rumours of his remarriage after
her death, maliciously circulated at the time, never had the least
foundation. On the contrary, he never recovered his loss, and only
survived her by little more than a year.
L. M.
INDEX
[_No reference is made in this Index to the wives of the Prime
Ministers in the chapters specially devoted to them._]
Abercromby, Lady Mary, 87.
Aberdeen, Lord, 59, 86, 186.
-- Lady, 206.
Acland, Sir Henry, 192.
_Ada Reis_, 41.
Adelaide, Queen, 166.
Ainslie, General, 45.
Albert, Prince Consort, 57, 170.
Alderson, Lord, 218.
Almack’s, 102.
Althorp, 3.
Amberley, Lord, 96.
-- Lady, 92.
Ashley, Lord, 106, 183.
-- Wilfrid W., 124.
Bedford, Duke of, 113.
Belmont Castle, 246.
Berry, Miss, 66.
Bessborough, Lord, 1, 5.
Bismarck, 66.
Brabazon, Lady, 163.
Bradenham, 132, 133, 148.
Braybrooke, Lord, 156.
Breadalbane House, 128.
Broadlands, 111.
Brocket Hall, 17, 22, 32, 40, 101, 129.
Brooke, Sir Richard, 163.
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 201.
Bruce, Sir Charles, 234.
Brydone, Patrick, 63.
Buccleuch, Duke of, 71.
-- Duchess of, 66.
Bulwer, E. G. L., 29, 31 etc., 104, 140.
-- Rosina, 35, 131, 136.
Bunsen, 170.
-- Baroness, 78.
Byron, Lord, 8 etc., 26, 40.
-- Lady, 7, 16.
Cambridge, Duke of, 159, 166, 167, 236.
-- Duchess of, 166.
-- House, 120.
Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry, 235, 237, 238, 241, 243.
Carnarvon, Lord, 225.
Castlereagh, Lady, 103.
Cavendish, Lady Frederick, 209.
Cavour, 87, 88.
Cecil, Lord Edward, 232.
Chalon, A. E., 155.
“Chapel of Ease,” The, 212.
Chartist demonstration, 81.
Charleville, Lady, 35.
Chatham, Earl of, 156.
Chorley Wood, 75.
Cobden, 122.
Cork, Lady, 35.
Cowper, fifth Earl, 101, 107.
-- Lady, 3, 7, 102, 105, 107.
-- Lady Emily, 106.
-- Lady Frances, 106.
Crimean War, 85.
Davy, Sir Humphry, 52.
Dawson, Geo., 155.
Deepdene, 141.
Derby (Lord Stanley), Lord, 170, 174, 221.
de Rothschild, Lady, 144.
-- Sir A., 144, 145.
-- Baroness J., 146.
de Tabley, Lord, 173.
Devonshire, Duke of, 7.
-- Georgiana, Duchess of, 1.
Dickens, 80, 142.
-- _David Copperfield_, 81.
Disraeli, 39, 97, 109, 111, 134, 135, 141, 142, 149.
-- _Coningsby_, 147, 155.
-- _Sybil_, 104, 121, 144.
Disraeli, _Tancred_, 145, 147.
D’Orsay, Count, 132.
Doyle, Sir F., 162.
Drayton, 55, 56 etc.
Duncannon, Lord, 123.
Ecclesiastical Titles Act, 117.
Edward VII., H.M. King, 177, 210, 244.
Emsdorf, Battle of, 45.
Erroll, Earl of, 76.
Esterhazy, Princess, 103.
Eugénie, Empress, 90, 140.
Evans, John, 131.
Fasque, 165, 183.
_Fatal Passion, The_, 39.
Fleming, Wilmington, 37.
Floyd, Anna, Lady, 51.
-- Henry, 47, 49.
-- Gen. Sir J., 44, 47 etc.
-- Rebecca, Lady, 47.
Foster, Lady Elizabeth, 6.
Franco-German War, 91.
Frederick William IV., 170.
-- Empress, 177.
Fry, Elizabeth, 170, 201.
Fuller, Miranda, Lady, 52.
Garbarino, Marchese, 90.
Garibaldi, 89.
Gaskell, Milnes, 161.
George V., H.M. King, 210.
Gladstone, W. E., 97, 120, 152, 153, 160, 161, 179, 182, 192, 208.
-- Budget (1853), 85.
-- Golden Wedding, 207.
-- Agnes, 177, 178, 179.
-- Catherine, 185, 187.
-- H. N., 188.
-- Helen, 187.
-- Jessie, 178.
-- Lord, 188.
-- Mary, 187.
-- Stephen, 178, 184.
-- Wm., 177, 178, 181.
-- W. G. C., 193.
-- W. H., 193.
_Glenarvon_, 19, 38.
Glynne, Sir John, 157.
-- Sir Stephen (eighth Bart.), 156, 158.
-- Sir Stephen (ninth Bart.), 160-1, 192.
-- Lady, 156.
Goddard, Dr., 35.
Godwin, W., 22, 25.
Gower, Lord R., 153.
_Graham Hamilton_, 40.
Grenville, George, 156.
-- Lord, 156.
-- T., 169.
Greville, Charles, 119.
Grote, Mrs., 166.
Guizot, 123, 166, 185.
Harcourt, Sir Wm., 153.
Hardinge, Lord, 139.
Harrison, Frederic, 95.
Hawarden Castle, 157-8, 193, 199.
Hawtrey, Dr., 168.
Hayward, Abraham, 128.
Heathcote, Lady, 12.
Herbert, Lord, 46.
Herkomer, Sir H., 207.
Hobhouse, J. C., 36.
Holl, F., 207.
Holland, Lady, 74, 115, 123.
-- House, 66, 74.
House of Charity, the, 194.
-- of Lords, 94.
Houseless Poor Act (1864), 194.
Hughenden, 137, 148.
Humboldt, 66.
Ireland, 82.
-- Coercion Bill (1846), 75.
-- Disestablishment, 129.
-- Policy, 94.
Italy, Victor Emmanuel of, 89.
Jarnacs, M. and Mme, 185, 186.
Jeffrey, Lord, 74.
Jersey, Lord, 56, 61, 181.
-- Lady, 7, 101, 129, 167.
Jocelyn, Lord, 113.
-- Lady, 114.
Keate, Dr., 168.
Lamb, George, 22.
-- William. See Melbourne, second Visct.
Liddon, Dr., 231.
Lieven, Princess, 103, 106.
Lister, Lady Theresa, 161.
-- Miss, 68, 70.
Liszt, 160.
London, distress in (1844), 183.
-- Hospital, 195.
Louis-Philippe, 55, 83.
Lulworth Castle, 52.
Lyndhurst, Lord, 167.
Lyttelton, Lord, 162, 163, 188.
-- Lady, 188.
-- Sarah, Lady, 176.
Manners, Lord and Lady J., 153.
Manning, Cardinal, 182.
Marienbad, 244.
Medwin’s _Conversations with Byron_, 36.
Melbourne, first Visct., 99.
-- first Viscountess, 5, 7, 16, 28.
-- second Visct. (Wm. Lamb), 1, 6, 7, 27, 34, 66, 115.
-- defeat of (1841), 72.
-- House, 7, 9, 21, 101.
Mendicity Society, 173.
Milnes, Monckton, 119.
Minto, second Earl of, 63, 66, 67.
-- House, 64, 71.
Moore, T., 9, 40, 108.
Morgan, Sir C., 2.
-- Lady, 2, 18, 21, 27.
Murray, John, 21, 41.
Napoleon III., 82, 90, 140.
Nathan, Isaac, 36, 42.
Neville, Hon. George, 158.
Newport Market Refuge, 195.
-- Army Training School, 195.
Nicholas I., 184.
North Pole, expedition to (1773), 44.
O’Connor, T. P., 246.
Opie, Mrs., 218.
Palgrave, Francis, 219.
Palgraves, the, 219.
Palmerston, Lord, 58, 68, 105, 123, 126, 181.
-- death of, 127.
-- resignation of, 118.
Palmerston, Lady, 7, 78.
Panshanger, 7, 125.
Papal Bull (1850), 117.
Paper Duties Bill, 113.
Parnell Commission, 205.
Peel, Eliza, 56.
-- General, 225.
-- Georgiana, Lady, 93.
-- Julia, 55, 56.
-- Lord, 56.
-- Sir Robert, 52, 55, 58, 141, 161, 167, 172, 173, 176, 182, 185, 186.
-- William, 61.
Pembroke, Lord, 46.
Pembroke Lodge, 77.
Persigny, 112.
Petersham, 83.
Pitt, William, 186.
Political secrets, 165.
-- standards, 86.
Poyntz, Louisa, 4.
-- Stephen, 3.
Punctuality, 212.
Ribblesdale, Lord, 69, 84.
Richardson, Miss, 35.
Richmond, 180.
Rideout, J. C., 45.
Ripon, Lord and Lady, 170, 175.
Rogers, Samuel, 9, 66, 80, 107, 171, 180.
Rosebery, Lord, 181, 209.
-- Lady, 231.
Russell, Earl, 59, 67, 68, 84, 119, 172.
-- on Italy, 87.
-- Prime Minister, 89.
-- resignation of (1855), 86.
Russell, Hon. Rollo, 93.
-- Lady Agatha, 84.
-- Lady John, 84, 172.
-- Lady Victoria, 67.
-- Mr., 32.
Rutland, Duke of, 210.
Salisbury (Lord Robert Cecil), Marquis of, 221, 224.
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duke of, 178.
Sheridan, 8.
Shiel, 183.
Sketchley, Rev. M., 48.
Snaresbrook Convalescent Home, 196.
South African War, 238.
Spence, Miss, 35.
Spencer, first Earl, 1.
-- Herbert, 95.
-- Lady, 3.
Sutherland, Duchess of, 171.
Tait, Dr., 231.
Tankerville, Lady, 101, 129.
Taylor, Sir Henry, 98.
-- Tom, 127.
“Temple of Peace,” The, 212.
Tennyson, 92.
Thackeray, 80.
_Times_, the, 117, 147.
Torlonia, Duchess of, 55.
Tyndall, Prof., 231.
Unpunctuality, 122, 125.
_Vathek_, 17.
Victoria, H.M. Queen, 57, 60, 92, 137, 143, 152, 166, 181, 184.
Villa Garbarius, 90.
Viney, Sir James, 131.
Walmer Castle, 126.
Walsh, Miss, 19.
Ward, Mrs. Humphry, 39.
Wellington, Duke of, 78, 103, 166, 167, 171, 174, 176, 184.
Westmoreland, Lady, 9.
White, Miss Lydia, 35.
Willoughby, Lady, 101, 103, 129.
Wilson, Sir R., 53.
Wolseley, Lord, 237.
Women in politics, 201.
Woolbeding, 141.
Wyndham, Lewis, 131, 132.
PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB LTD., EDINBURGH
FOOTNOTES
[1] Lady Caroline Lamb died in 1828, and Lord Melbourne became Prime
Minister in 1835.
[2] The second Lady Aberdeen died in 1833, and Lord Aberdeen became
Prime Minister in 1852.
[3] Lady Rosebery died in 1890, and Lord Rosebery became Prime Minister
in 1894.
[4] Her husband was William Lamb, afterwards Lord Melbourne. He was
Prime Minister in 1834 and 1836-41.
[5] See p. 101.
[6] Lord Melbourne died 24th November 1848.
[7] See p. 40.
[8] The correspondence is printed in C. Kegan Paul’s _Life of William
Godwin_.
[9] She told Lady Morgan she loved him chiefly because he stood by her
when no one else did.
[10] Lady Melton in _Dr. Lindsay_; Lady Clara in _Lionel Hastings_;
Lady Bellenden in _Greville_.
[11] 2nd August 1826.
[12] Disraeli describes Lady Caroline as Lady Monteagle in _Venetia_,
and Mrs. Humphry Ward very skilfully uses Lady Caroline’s career as the
motive of her novel, _The Marriage of William Ashe_.
[13] Printed in A. H. Markham’s _Northward Ho!_, 1879.
[14] He was under eight years old, and Miranda herself was barely nine.
[15] But his fatherly affection leads him to say, in regard to writing
to him, “Write bad rather than not write at all.”
[16] Fuller died in 1841. His wife survived him until 23rd September
1869.
[17] He did not succeed to the Baronetcy until 1830.
[18] From lines by Mrs. Abdy, appended to an engraving of Lawrence’s
portrait of Lady Peel.
[19] Louis-Philippe and Queen Amélie.
[20] In June 1831 Mrs. Bulwer Lytton heard a ragged newspaper boy cry:
“Good news for the poor! Great and glorious speech of His Most Gracious
Majesty William the Fourth! The Reform Bill will pass. Then you’ll have
your beef and mutton for a penny a pound. And then you’ll be as fine as
peacocks for a mere trifle. To say nothing of ale at a penny a quart.”
[21] The Mintos belonged to the Scottish Presbyterian Church.
[22] Afterwards Lord Amberley.
[23] Lady Georgiana Peel.
[24] Known to later generations as Willis’s Rooms.
[25] In 1814.
[26] The poem appears in _Weeds and Wildflowers_, by E. G. L. B., a
volume privately printed at Paris in 1826.
[27] 1881.
[28] In 1860.
[29] It is now at Broadlands. Although the background is unfinished it
is a fine and characteristic piece of work.
[30] 3rd September 1847.
[31] Now the Naval and Military Club.
[32] 21st January 1868.
[33] 1868.
[34] 29th July 1837.
[35] Another time she writes of Disraeli as “our political pet.”
[36] Now 29 Park Lane.
[37] Afterwards Emperor Napoleon III.
[38] An allusion to the passing by the Commons of the Jews’ Oaths of
Abjuration Bill on 3rd July.
[39] Of the Rothschilds.
[40] An allusion to the Whitebait Dinner at Greenwich.
[41] Anthony de Rothschild had been created a Baronet at the New Year.
[42] Wife of Baron James de Rothschild, founder of the Rothschild firm
in Paris.
[43] Worth Park, Sussex, the seat of Mrs. Montefiore, Lady de
Rothschild’s mother.
[44] The well-known business house of Messrs. Rothschild in the City of
London.
[45] The late Lord Rothschild.
[46] In 1867.
[47] Cf. Lord Ronald Gower, _Reminiscences_.
[48] 24th January 1873.
[49] 9th January 1873.
[50] Headmaster of Eton.
[51] Queen Victoria.
[52] The Lord Chancellor.
[53] See p. 56.
[54] A picture showing an unusual side of the stern disciplinarian. He
was sixty-eight.
[55] Mr. Gladstone was Vice-President of the Board of Trade and Master
of the Mint.
[56] By Samuel Warren.
[57] The Right Hon. Thomas Grenville (1755-1846), politician and
book collector. His bequest of books to the British Museum forms the
Grenville Library.
[58] Minister for War and the Colonies. Afterwards Lord Derby, and
Prime Minister in 1852, 1858, and 1866.
[59] Frederick William IV.
[60] With whom Mrs. Gladstone soon formed a lasting friendship.
[61] The Duke of Sutherland’s London house, now the London Museum.
[62] 16th June 1842.
[63] She was appointed to the office in 1842, and held it until 1851.
[64] The Princess Royal, afterwards Empress Frederick of Germany.
[65] Her sister, Lady Lyttelton.
[66] Born 18th October 1842. Afterwards Mrs. Wickham.
[67] Born 1844.
[68] Born 1845.
[69] He had gone to London on the 16th.
[70] Nicholas I.
[71] Now Lord Gladstone.
[72] He visited and made notes concerning 5530 churches in England and
Wales. _Notes on the Churches of Kent_, by Sir Stephen Glynne, Bart.,
1877.
[73] 29th July 1864.
[74] Mr. Gladstone died three weeks after the letter was received.
[75] They consisted chiefly of boys whose father or mother had died in
the London Hospital.
[76] Cf. her “Cry of the Children,” first printed in _Blackwood’s
Magazine_, August 1843.
[77] 26th November 1879.
[78] Afterwards Edward VII.
[79] Now George V.
[80] The surname Bannerman was taken when her husband inherited, under
his uncle’s will in 1872, a considerable fortune and the Castle Belmont
property in Forfar.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not
changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Index not systematically checked for proper alphabetization or correct
page references, but the following discrepancies were found: the index
reference to “D’Orsay, Count, 132” was misprinted as “133” and has
been changed here; “Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duke of” appears in the index,
but the name does not appear anywhere else; and the index reference to
“Villa Garbarius” is printed as “Villa Garbarino” on page 90.