1870-1880.
The Franco-German War--Russia seizes her Opportunity--The Irish
University Bill--Defeat and Resignation of Ministers--Mr.
Gladstone resumes Office--Dissolution of
Parliament--Conservative Victory--The Ashanti War--Mr.
Disraeli's Third Administration--Mr. Gladstone Retires from the
Leadership--Annexation of the Fiji Islands--Purchase of Suez
Canal Shares--Visit of the Prince of Wales to India--The Queen's
New Title--Threatening Action of Russia--The Bulgarian
Massacres--Disraeli becomes Earl of Beaconsfield--The
Russo-Turkish War--Great Britain Prepares to Defend
Constantinople--Secession of Lord Carnarvon and Lord Derby--The
"Jingo" Party--The Berlin Congress and Treaty--"Peace with
Honour"--Massacre at Cabul--War with Afghanistan--The Zulu
War--Disaster of Isandhlana.
[Sidenote: The Franco-German War.]
[Sidenote: Russia Seizes her Opportunity.]
The hurricane which, breaking over Western Europe in the summer of 1870,
had swept away the Imperial Dynasty of France before the close of the
year, was not felt in Great Britain with any alarming effect. Nothing
occurred seriously to endanger her neutrality; she was enjoying a period
of commercial prosperity strangely in contrast to the savage strife
beyond the sea, until a sudden and ominous act on the part of the
Russian Government redoubled the anxious vigilance of Her Majesty's
Government. The Treaty of Paris had established the neutrality of the
Black Sea, throwing open its waters to the mercantile marine of all
nations, and interdicting them to the flag of war, "either of the Powers
possessing its coasts, or of any other Power." By this provision Russia
now proclaimed she would no longer be bound. She could not have chosen a
better opportunity for her own purpose. The Western Alliance was
dislocated; two of the signatories to the Treaty of Paris were engaged
in mortal strife; a third--Austria--could not be expected to take action
independently of Prussia; was it incumbent on Great Britain--the fourth
Power--to vindicate, single-handed, the sanctity of the treaty? Few
responsible people could be found to contemplate seriously such a
course; yet it was peculiarly galling to the national pride to have to
acquiesce in the action of Russia. Lord Granville proposed a conference
of the Powers to be held in London, and the proposal was accepted. The
Conference met on January 17, 1872, and solemnly proceeded to abrogate
that which they were in no position to maintain--the neutralisation of
the Black Sea. Reflection on the situation of Europe at that time can
lead to no other conclusion but that Great Britain was sagaciously
steered without loss of honour through a very difficult channel; but
none the less unfavourable to the Government was the impression created
at the time, that the country had suffered a degree of humiliation in
permitting a treaty which had cost her so dear to be torn up.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Hughes & Mullins, Ryde._
HER MAJESTY WITH THE PRINCESS BEATRICE.
April 1871.]
[Sidenote: The Irish University Bill.]
[Sidenote: Defeat and Resignation of Ministers.]
But Mr. Gladstone, full of serious purpose, was blind to the symptoms of
failing prestige--indifferent to the warning conveyed by loss of
successive seats at by-elections. He had dealt with two limbs of the
upas-tree; there remained the third--that of Irish education, and he
bared his arms to attack it. On February 13 he introduced a Bill dealing
with the Irish Universities. It was a masterly measure, a scheme of
extraordinary complexity, dealing with a very complicated and
unsatisfactory state of things. It is not necessary to examine its
details at this time; it is, perhaps, enough to say that the Prime
Minister's plan was one that, while it offended and alarmed every
one deriving benefit from the existing state of things, failed
to satisfy any of the religious bodies--Protestant, Catholic, or
Nonconformist--which desired a change. Disraeli's words spoken on the
second reading came home to many hearts on both sides of the House. "You
have now had four years of it," he said. "You have despoiled churches;
you have threatened every corporation and endowment in the country. You
have examined into everybody's affairs. You have criticised every
profession and vexed every trade. No one is certain of his property, and
nobody knows what duties he may have to perform to-morrow. I believe
that the people of this country have had enough of confiscation." The
Bill was rejected by a majority of three votes, and Mr. Gladstone
resigned office; but, on the Queen sending for Mr. Disraeli, he declined
to form "a weak and discredited Administration," and the Government
resumed its functions.
[Illustration: _Sir J. Tenniel._} {_From "Punch."_
CRITICS.
Mr. Gladstone: "H'm, flippant!"
Mr. Disraeli: "Ha, prosy!"
Mr. Disraeli's "Lothair" and Mr. Gladstone's "Juventus Mundi" appeared
almost simultaneously in 1870.]
[Sidenote: General Election.]
Ministers were in an unenviable position. The increasing bitterness of
parties had brought about a disregard of those unwritten laws which had
contributed so much in the past to the amenity of public life and to
earning for the House of Commons the character of being "the best club
in London." There were bitter dissensions among Ministers themselves, of
which Lord Ripon and Mr. Childers gave evidence by leaving the Cabinet.
In four years the Conservatives had gained fifteen seats in
by-elections, against which Ministerialists could only set two captured
from the enemy. Still, the Government could reckon on a majority of
ninety in the House of Commons, and no one dreamt of their appealing to
the country while all the omens remained adverse. Nevertheless, Mr.
Gladstone startled everybody by issuing a manifesto, in January 1874,
announcing the dissolution of Parliament. Never did a politician play
more completely into his opponent's hands, though the Conservatives went
to the polls full of misgiving about the effect of the new-fangled
Ballot. The result proved that their fears were unfounded. The followers
of Mr. Disraeli in the new Parliament outnumbered those of Mr. Gladstone
by half a hundred.
[Illustration: _N. Chevalier._} {_From the Royal Collection._
THE PROCESSION ON THE OCCASION OF THE THANKSGIVING SERVICE AT ST. PAUL'S
FOR THE RECOVERY OF H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES PASSING LUDGATE CIRCUS,
February 1872.
His Royal Highness had been seized with typhoid fever in November 1871,
and for several days in the early part of December his life was
despaired of. Her Majesty and the other members of the Royal Family were
twice summoned to Sandringham, where he was being nursed by the Princess
of Wales and Princess Alice of Hesse.]
[Sidenote: The Ashanti War.]
The closing months of Mr. Gladstone's Administration were marked by a
short war on the Gold Coast, arising out of a dispute with Koffee
Calcalli, King of Ashanti, who had claimed a tribute formerly paid to
him by the Dutch for some territory which they sold to Great Britain in
1872. Failing to obtain acknowledgment of his claim, the King of Ashanti
attacked the Fantis, a tribe under British protection, and it became
necessary to chastise him. The difficulty of doing so lay, not in the
character of the people of Ashanti, for, though brave and warlike, they
could not stand before modern arms of precision, but in the nature of
the climate and the difficulty of transport. The campaign had to be
limited to the cool season; it was entrusted to Sir Garnet Wolseley, who
well sustained the reputation he had earned in the Red River Expedition
in 1870. The Expedition left England on September 12, 1873, and returned
on March 21, 1874, having in the interval captured and destroyed
Coomassie, the capital, brought the King to terms, and laid a perpetual
interdict on the hideous human sacrifices which formed one of his most
cherished institutions. The Ashanti warriors defended their forest
roads gallantly, and the British loss was heavy in proportion to the
numbers engaged. The total cost of this Expedition was reckoned at a
little short of one million sterling.
[Illustration: _Orlando Norrie_} {_From the Royal Collection._
THE ASHANTI WAR: THE 42ND HIGHLANDERS CROSSING THE OMDALI.]
[Sidenote: Mr. Disraeli's Third Administration.]
The new Ministry was formed with unexampled celerity. Mr. Gladstone,
accepting the verdict of the country, did not attempt to meet the new
Parliament, but resigned on February 18, 1874. Three days later the
Queen had approved of the names submitted to her by Mr. Disraeli for all
the offices in the Government, both in the Cabinet and outside it. Lord
Salisbury, sometimes known then as "the terrible Marquis," and Lord
Carnarvon, both of whom had seceded in 1867 on the question of the
franchise, resumed their former seats at the India and Colonial Offices
respectively. The Liberal party were languishing in that political
anæmia which follows on overwhelming defeat, when they received an
additional blow in the retirement of Mr. Gladstone from the leadership.
Some hard things were said about one who thus abandoned his party at the
lowest ebb of their fortunes, and uncomplimentary contrasts were drawn
between him and Disraeli, who had cheered his followers by his constant
presence in adversity which seemed irredeemable. After some months of
indecision, during which the Liberal leadership was administered by a
kind of _junta_, the Marquis of Hartington assumed the thankless task of
leading the deserted and dispirited Opposition, an office made all the
more difficult by the occasional raids upon the debates made by Mr.
Gladstone as often as some subject which specially interested him turned
up, such as the Public Worship Bill, and the Bill abolishing patronage
in the Church of Scotland.
[Illustration: _Orlando Norrie_} {_From the Royal Collection._
THE ASHANTI WAR: THE ENTRY INTO COOMASSIE, February 4, 1874.]
[Illustration: _N. Chevalier._} {_From the Royal Collection._
MARRIAGE OF H.R.H. THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH AND THE GRAND-DUCHESS MARIE OF
RUSSIA AT THE WINTER PALACE, ST. PETERSBURG, January 23, 1874.
View of the interior of the chapel of the Winter Palace. The bride and
bridegroom are standing before the altar, and over them the Metropolitan
of St. Petersburg elevates the cross. The Emperor and Empress of Russia
stand together against the great piers supporting the dome, and near
them are the Czarewitch with his wife, the Princess Dagmar, and the
Princess of Wales, her sister. In the foreground are the Prince of Wales
and the Crown Prince of Prussia, and among others present are the Crown
Princess of Prussia, the Crown Prince of Denmark, Prince Arthur, the
Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and a long train of Grand Dukes and
Nobles.]
[Sidenote: Annexation of the Fiji Islands.]
Mr. Disraeli was not new to office, but he found himself in power for
the first time. With a good working majority behind him in the House of
Commons, a helpless Opposition before him, and a surplus of six millions
at the Treasury, the natural question in everybody's mouth was "What
will he do with it?" There were still many of his own party who
mistrusted his love of display and his magnificent conception of empire
as likely to impel him along some hazardous course of conquest abroad or
legislation at home, but their apprehensions were soon allayed. In
leading the House, Disraeli exchanged his formidable gifts of invective
for a manner and speech conciliatory to men of all parties. The domestic
programme of the Government for the sessions of 1874 and 1875 was
unambitious but useful, and the only extension of British dominion
abroad was the peaceful annexation of the Fiji Islands at the request of
King Cakobau and his council.
[Illustration: _Hon. John Collier._} {_By permission of the Linnean
Society._
CHARLES R. DARWIN, LL.D., 1809-1882.
Naturalist. Born at Shrewsbury; educated there and at Edinburgh and
Cambridge. His researches into the "Origin of Species," "The Descent of
Man," &c., have revolutionized modern ideas on these subjects.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph by Mayall, Piccadilly._
PROFESSOR SIR RICHARD OWEN, 1804-1892.
Naturalist, and one of the greatest authorities on comparative anatomy
and osteology. First Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of
Surgeons (1836), and first Superintendent (1856-1883) of the Natural
History Department of the British Museum, now housed in the building
here shown, in the arrangement of which he was greatly interested. It
was said of him that he could describe any animal from a single bone.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Valentine & Sons, Dundee._
THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, SOUTH KENSINGTON.
Built in 1873-1880 from designs by Mr. Alfred Waterhouse, R.A., at a
cost of £352,000.]
[Sidenote: Suez Canal Shares.]
But towards the end of 1875 there came the occasion for the display of
some spirit, in which may be traced the beginning of reaction against
the "Little Britain" school of politicians. When a singular opportunity
presented itself of strengthening our communications with the East,
Disraeli fearlessly seized it. The Suez Canal had been open since 1869,
and Great Britain, though she was the Power which made most use of it,
had no pecuniary interest in it. The funds necessary for the work had
been subscribed almost entirely by the Egyptian Government and by
private speculators in France. Of the 400,000 original shares, the
Khedive of Egypt held 176,000; but the Khedive's expenditure had been
for years far beyond his revenues, and his shares were thrown upon the
market in 1875. Disraeli was struck by the proposition advanced by Mr.
Greenwood, a journalist of some note, that these shares should be bought
by the British Government, and the purchase was completed on November
25, the price paid being £4,000,000. Sir Stafford Northcote, on whom
fell the duty of asking Parliament for the money, was opposed to his
chief's policy in this matter, and must have felt some misgiving in
repelling the attacks made upon it by the Liberals, but he did so
effectively. Mr. Gladstone emerged from his retirement to fling himself
into the debate, and declared that to spend the national funds in such
an object was "an unprecedented thing";--"So is the Canal!" retorted
Northcote. It is only just to Disraeli's statesmanship to notice what an
excellent investment, in a monetary sense, was made for Great Britain by
the purchase of these shares. The original sum of four millions has been
entirely paid off out of income derived from the shares, which, for a
number of years, have been paying from 17 to 21 per cent. The shares
purchased have risen in value from four to eighteen millions, and the
proportion of British tonnage to the whole tonnage of all nations using
the Canal is 75 per cent. It would, however, be claiming too much for
Disraeli's commercial acumen to suppose that he realised what should
become the ultimate monetary value of these shares. What he perceived
was the importance of Great Britain acquiring a voice in the management
of the new and dominant highway to India. The public had received
recently the means of estimating the stupendous responsibility resting
on the shoulders of those charged with the administration of British
India. The results of the first census ever taken there were published
in 1875, showing the total population of the British dominion in India
to consist of twenty-three distinct nationalities, amounting to
190,563,048 souls--nearly five times that of the United Kingdom. This
did much to dispel an idea dimly present in the minds even of educated
persons, that the Queen's Indian subjects consisted of one dusky race,
speaking one language and divided into two religions--Mahomedan and
Hindoo.
[Sidenote: The Prince of Wales Visits India.]
[Sidenote: The Queen's New Title.]
It was a congenial duty for the Prime Minister, entertaining these lofty
views of the burden and glory of empire, to ask the House of Commons to
vote £142,000 to defray the expenses of a visit about to be paid by the
Prince of Wales to India. His Royal Highness had already visited the
principal Colonies, but the customs of Oriental Courts, the ceremony and
display considered indispensable, and, above all, the necessity for
exchanging costly presents with the various Princes, rendered the
expenses far beyond what any ordinary tour would involve. The money was
cheerfully voted, for the public approved of the energy shown by the
heir to the Crown in acquiring a personal acquaintance with all parts of
the British Empire. There was less unanimity in the reception of the
next important proposal of the Government, made after the Prince's
return from India in 1876, namely, to supply such addition to the titles
of the Sovereign as had been rendered appropriate by her assumption, in
1858, of the direct government of India.
[Illustration: _A. Stuart Worthy._} {_By permission of Messrs. Graves._
H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES, K.G.]
[Illustration: _G. F. Watts, R.A._} {_In the National Portrait Gallery._
EDWARD ROBERT, FIRST EARL OF LYTTON,
1831-1891.
Only son of Lord Lytton, the novelist. Viceroy of India, 1876-1880;
Ambassador to France, 1887-1891. Known in literature as "Owen
Meredith."]
[Sidenote: The Bulgarian Massacres.]
[Sidenote: The Russo-Turkish War.]
Meanwhile, the Eastern Question had burst out again. Insurrections in
the Turkish provinces of Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro had been
suppressed by the Porte with that ferocity so characteristic of Turkish
misrule; Russia had begun moving troops towards the Danube, and a large
section of the English public avowed sympathy with her, or with any
other Power that would put an end to the sickening brutalities in
Bulgaria. Mr. Gladstone threw Homer and theology to the winds, and the
country rang with his denunciations of "the unspeakable Turk." Those who
accuse Disraeli of undue solicitude for popularity should study the
course he steered in the storm that was raging round him. But before it
came to its height, he had spoken his last words in the House of
Commons. On August 11, 1876, Mr. Evelyn Ashley charged the Government
with negligence and the British Ambassador at Constantinople with
mischievous and dilatory tactics, in their dealings with the Porte and
their toleration of massacres. Disraeli replied in one of the most
effective speeches he ever delivered, concluding with the words: "What
our duty is at this critical moment is to maintain the Empire of
England. Nor will we ever agree to any step, though it may obtain for a
moment comparative quiet and a false prosperity, that hazards the
existence of that Empire." Next morning the Prime Minister's place on
the Treasury Bench was filled by Sir Stafford Northcote; a well-kept
secret was revealed; Mr. Disraeli, on whose health the stress of forty
years of active Parliamentary life had told with serious effect, had
accepted a peerage, and gone to the House of Lords as Earl of
Beaconsfield. Not, however, to escape responsibility. Throughout that
autumn and winter the Government was vehemently denounced in the country
for their toleration of Turkish misdeeds, but Lord Beaconsfield remained
firm in his resolution to refrain from embarrassing the Porte or
countenancing the designs of Russia. Before Parliament met, cooler
counsels had begun to prevail, and when the Czar declared war against
the Sultan, on April 24, the Bulgarian atrocities faded out of sight,
and British sympathy flowed out towards the weaker combatant. The
gallantry of Osman Pasha's troops, his double victory over the Russians
at Plevna in July, and the heroic defence of the Shipka Pass, brought
our old Crimean allies into high favour; but it was when the tide of
victory had turned, when the Turkish armies had been crushed under the
resistless preponderance of the Northern Power, when Russia was at the
gates of Constantinople, and the Porte forced to accept an armistice,
sent a Circular Note to the Great Powers, and a special appeal to Great
Britain, praying for help in her extremity, that the policy of
Beaconsfield was brought to the test.
[Illustration: _Val. C. Prinsep, R.A._} {_From the Royal Collection.
Reproduced from Photographs by Mr. Hollyer, by permission of the
Artist._
THE IMPERIAL DURBAR AT DELHI, January 1, 1877: PROCLAMATION OF HER
MAJESTY AS EMPRESS OF INDIA.
The Viceroy (Lord Lytton) is seated on the dais, with Lady and the Hon.
Miss Lytton behind him, and surrounded by his Secretaries and
Aides-de-Camp. Major Burns, Chief Herald, stands on the steps, and a
group of heralds occupies the centre. In the circle, amongst the native
Princes, sit Sir R. H. Davies (Lieut-Governor of the Punjab, immediately
to the left of the Chief Herald, and Sir R. Temple, Lieut-Governor of
Bengal), and the Duke of Buckingham (Governor of Madras) to his right.
The two native Princesses are the Begum of Bhopal and the Rana of
Dholepore; of the latter only the head is seen, on the extreme right.]
[Sidenote: Secession of Lord Carnarvon and Lord Derby.]
Parliament was summoned hastily on January 17, 1878, and Northcote gave
notice that a Vote of Credit for £6,000,000 would be moved for
immediately, for the Cabinet had decided to defend the Sultan's capital
against the Czar. The British fleet was ordered, on January 15, to enter
the Dardanelles, a step which caused the instant resignation by Lord
Carnarvon of his seat in the Cabinet, followed a couple of months later,
by that of a far more important Minister--the Foreign Secretary. To send
warships into the Dardanelles would have been an empty menace unless it
had been supported by corresponding preparation of land forces, but
calling out the Army Reserve, the occupation of Cyprus by a British
force, and the dispatch of 7,000 Indian troops to the Mediterranean,
proved too much for the nerves of Lord Derby; he resigned his office,
and two years later severed his connection with the Conservative party
and accepted office in Mr. Gladstone's Second Administration.
[Illustration: _Sir J. Tenniel._
[_From "Punch."_
THE PAS-DE-DEUX,
From the Scène de Triumph in the Grand Anglo Turkish Ballet d'Action,
executed by the Earl of Beaconsfield and the Marquis of Salisbury.]
The resolute attitude of the Queen's Government found an echo in the
country, and the chorus of a popular music hall ditty supplied a
nickname, the exact equivalent of the French term _chauviniste_.
Everybody at this day understands what is meant by the "Jingo party" or
the "Jingo policy," though perhaps the origin of the phrase may come to
be forgotten. It is found in the lines shouted by enthusiastic audiences
in the early months of 1878:
"We don't want to fight, but, by Jingo! if we do,
We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too."
[Sidenote: The Berlin Congress and Treaty.]
It was the policy of England in a nutshell, and it had its effect
abroad. The Russians had suffered heavily in the war: they were in no
spirit to renew it with a powerful, wealthy, and fresh enemy. They
agreed not to occupy Gallipoli, provided the English fleet withdrew from
the Sea of Marmora. Both nations were disposed to accept Prince
Bismarck's proffered mediation, and it was agreed to submit the Treaty
of San Stefano to a Congress of the Powers at Berlin. This famous
Congress, at which Great Britain was represented by her Prime Minister
and Foreign Secretary--Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Salisbury--effected a
re-arrangement of the Danubian provinces, a rectification of the
frontier of Greece, the cession to Russia of Batoum and Kars, with that
part of Bessarabia which had been taken from her by the Treaty of Paris,
and the occupation by Great Britain of the island of Cyprus, coupled
with an obligation to defend Turkey in the possession of her Asiatic
dominions. If it was not a settlement containing the elements of
durability, nor conveying much direct advantage to Great Britain, at
least it prohibited that which Great Britain was determined not to
allow--the handing over to Russia of the key of the Mediterranean, the
highway to India--and Beaconsfield was entitled to claim, as he did on
his return before a rapturous crowd in Downing Street, that Her
Majesty's Plenipotentiaries had succeeded in securing "Peace with
Honour."
[Illustration: _Sir J. E. Millais, Bart., P.R.A._} {_By permission of
the Garrick Club._
SIR HENRY IRVING.
Henry Irving was born at Keinton, near Glastonbury, in 1838. He made his
first appearance on the stage at Sunderland in 1856. His connection with
the Lyceum dates from 1866, and his management of that theatre from
December 1878. He was knighted in 1895.]
[Sidenote: Massacre at Cabul.]
But terrible news arrived before the close of the year. History--the
disastrous history of 1841--repeated itself with extraordinary
exactness. Sir Louis Cavagnari had been sent as envoy to Cabul early in
1878 to watch and, if possible, counteract the effect of the persistent
advance of Russia towards the frontier of British India. He was lodged
with a small escort, in comfortable, but defenceless, quarters in the
Bala Hissar or citadel of Cabul. The Amir Yakoob soon began to show
impatience at the presence of the British in his capital. He was in
difficulties also with his own troops, who were clamorous for arrears of
pay. On September 3 a riotous mob collected in front of the British
Embassy; blows were struck and shots fired, and soon Cavagnari and his
household were closely besieged. He had with him a secretary, a surgeon,
and Lieutenant Hamilton, commanding the escort of twenty-six troopers
and fifty men of the corps of Guides. These made a brave defence, but
at last the buildings were set on fire, and the envoy and every soul
with him perished in the flames. The Amir represented to the Viceroy
that this was the result of a mutiny against his own authority, and this
seems to have been the case; he was powerless to prevent what perhaps he
did not greatly deplore. Not the less necessary was it to exact
punishment for the massacre. General Stewart, who had just evacuated
Candahar under provisions of the recent treaty, re-occupied it; General
Baker advanced by the Shutar Gardan and seized Kushi. On October 6
General Roberts (now Lord Roberts), acting in concert with General
Baker, defeated a large force of Ghilzais, with artillery, on the
heights of Chardeh, and then fought his way to Cabul, which he entered
on the 12th.
[Illustration: _W. Parrott._} {_From a Lithograph._
WATERLOO BRIDGE AND THE NORTHERN BANK OF THE THAMES IN 1840.
This bank is now occupied by the Victoria Embankment and Charing Cross
Station.]
All this time Yakoob Khan had been making friendly professions, and
remained with the British field force during its operations. But there
was reason to suspect his complicity in the massacre; he tendered his
abdication to General Roberts, and was sent as a State prisoner to
India. Then followed painful scenes in Cabul, the assassins of
Cavagnari's party being hunted out and many of them publicly hanged. The
townspeople remained sullen: the Afghan warriors left Cabul and
collected at Ghazni, where an aged Mollah was preaching a holy war. By
the beginning of December the whole country was under arms, burning to
reenact the scenes of 1842. But they had a different man from General
Elphinstone to deal with in General Roberts. He continued to receive
reinforcements from India, and made such good use of them that, after
much hard fighting, the insurgent tribes under Mohamed Jan were
completely dispersed.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_By F. Frith & Co., Reigate._
THE ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE,
Begun in 1868 and opened in 1882 by Her Majesty, were designed by G. E.
Street, R.A. The cost of the buildings was about £700,000, and of the
land upon which they stand £1,453,000. The Clock-tower and the "Griffin"
in the middle of the road mark the site of Temple Bar.]
[Illustration: _From an Engraving._}
TEMPLE BAR IN 1837.
This, the western gate of the City of London, was built by Sir
Christopher Wren in 1670. Above it, on iron spikes, used to be displayed
the heads and limbs of executed traitors. Up to 1851 it was the custom
to close the gates when the Sovereign was to enter the City in State,
until a herald had knocked upon them with his bâton, when the
procession, after some parley, was admitted. The Bar was removed in
1878.]
But there were many claimants to the throne of the Amir. Among these was
Abdurrahman, who lived in Turkestan, subsidised and protected by Russia.
This prince appeared in Northern Afghanistan in March 1880, and a
formidable rising took place in support of his claim. On April 19
General Stewart encountered a force, about 15,000 strong, at Ahmed Kel,
and a fierce encounter took place. For some time it seemed as if the
furious onslaught of the Afghans must prevail; the British infantry were
driven back; it was only by means of his artillery that Stewart saved
the day and the enemy was routed in the end.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Lawrence, Dublin._
SACKVILLE STREET, DUBLIN, IN 1897.
In the foreground is the statue, by Foley, of Daniel O'Connell; beyond
the bridge is the monument of Sir John Gray, and, seen just behind it,
the General Post Office. In the distance is the Nelson Column.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Valentine & Sons, Dundee._
PRINCES STREET, EDINBURGH, IN 1897.
The Scott Monument was erected in 1840-1844 from designs by George Kemp;
the statue is by Steele. Between it and the Castle are seen the Royal
Institution (built in 1836) and the National Gallery (1850-1858).]
[Sidenote: The Zulu War.]
[Sidenote: Disaster of Isandhlana.]
In this position affairs in Afghanistan must be left, in order to trace
the momentous course of events at home, which wrought a remarkable
change on the character and object of the war. But before reverting to
the fortunes of the Beaconsfield Ministry, it is necessary to make
mention of another and more lamentable war which took place in another
quarter of the globe simultaneously with the Afghan Campaign. The River
Tugela formed the boundary between the British Colony of Natal and the
territory of the Zulus, the most powerful nationality in South Africa.
Land disputes between the Zulus and the Dutch Boers of the Transvaal
Republic had been brewing for many years, and at last hostilities broke
out between them. The Boers were badly beaten by a young Zulu chief
called Sikukuni, and both sides appealed to the British Government to
intervene. Sir Theophilus Shepstone was sent into the Transvaal to
adjudicate between them, and sought to solve the problem by annexing the
whole territory, not without the consent of the Republican leaders, the
disputed land being handed over to the Zulus. This settlement might have
proved effective but for the outrageous behaviour of Cetchwayo, King of
the Zulus, who suddenly developed a most violent temper, probably
arising from a growing taste for British rum. Even then, had matters
been left in the hands of Sir Henry Bulwer, the Governor of Natal,
matters might have been maintained on a friendly footing. Unfortunately,
Sir Bartle Frere, the Queen's High Commissioner in South Africa, saw
grounds for apprehension in the immense force maintained by Cetchwayo on
the frontier, and began moving troops from Cape Colony into Natal. He
endeavoured to exact guarantees from the Zulu king of an extremely
onerous nature, fixing January 11, 1879, as the limit for their
acceptance. Sir Bartle Frere's action can only be justified by the
supposition that war was, sooner or later, inevitable, a belief which
neither Sir Henry Bulwer nor the Colonial Office entertained. Cetchwayo
allowed the prescribed day to pass without complying with the High
Commissioner's demands. On the very next day British troops under Lord
Chelmsford invaded Zululand, the force advancing in three columns, under
Colonel Glyn, Colonel Pearson, and Colonel Durnford. Colonel Durnford's
column occupied a camp at Isandhlana on January 21; and the following
day, being attacked by about 20,000 Zulus, were almost annihilated. The
1st Battalion of the 24th Foot was destroyed, thirty officers and 500
men being slain. Colonel Durnford and Colonel Pulleine were killed, and
immense quantities of stores fell into the hands of the enemy. It was a
terrible retribution for having underrated the resources and numbers of
the enemy and for imperfectly reconnoitring his position. A similar
disaster very nearly befell Colonel Pearson's column. On the day after
the tragedy at Isandhlana he was beleaguered at the mission station of
Ekowe. For more than two months his little garrison of 1,200 held out
against incessant assaults by immense numbers of Zulus, till, in the
last days of March, provisions had run dangerously low. On April 1 Lord
Chelmsford, having received reinforcements from England, advanced with
4,000 British troops and 2,000 friendly natives, defeated the besiegers,
and raised the siege.
The invasion of Zululand had now assumed the proportions of a great
campaign. About 20,000 British and 4,500 Colonial troops were in the
field. The Government, dissatisfied with Lord Chelmsford's initial want
of success and subsequent hesitation, sent out Sir Garnet Wolseley to
supersede him. But before he arrived a decisive victory had been fought
on July 4, whereby the power of the Zulus was hopelessly broken. Lord
Chelmsford's reputation, endangered at Isandhlana, was redeemed at
Ulundi, just as Lord Gough's disaster at Chilianwalla had been repaired
at Goojerat before Sir Charles Napier came to supersede him.
The native chiefs now crowded in to make submission. Cetchwayo was a
fugitive with a handful of followers, and a force of cavalry scoured the
country in pursuit of him, till, on August 28, the war was brought to an
end by the capture of the unhappy king by Lord Gifford's party. It had
cost Great Britain dearly in lives and money; one of the most tragic
incidents in it was the death of Prince Napoleon, eldest son of the late
Emperor of the French, who served on Lord Chelmsford's staff as a
volunteer. He was slain on June 2, when employed on surveying duty,
having ridden into an ambush of Zulus.
[Illustration: _Lady Butler._} {_From the Royal Collection. Reproduced
by permission of the Artist._
RORKE'S DRIFT.
This post was held by Lieut. Chard, R.E., and Lieut. Bromhead with
eighty men of the 24th Regiment. Having heard of the disaster at
Isandhlana, they hastily improvised defences of bags and biscuit-tins,
and were almost immediately attacked by about 4,000 Zulus. During the
night the enemy six times obtained a foothold within the defences, and
even burnt the hospital; but they were again and again repulsed at the
bayonet's point. In the morning, when the little garrison was relieved,
351 Zulus lay dead around the entrenchments.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_By F. Frith & Co., Reigate._
OSBORNE HOUSE.
Built by Her Majesty in 1840, largely from designs by H.R.H. The Prince
Consort. It is surrounded by a park of about 2,000 acres. The Queen's
apartments are in the wing to the right of the picture.]