1887-1897.
Adoption of the Closure by the House of Commons--The Queen's
Jubilee--Thanksgiving Service in Westminster Abbey--The Imperial
Institute--"Parnellism and Crime"--Appointment of Special
Commission of Judges--Their Report--Fall of Parnell--Disruption
of the Irish Party--Deaths of Parnell and W. H. Smith--The
Baring Crisis--The Local Government Bill--Establishment of
County Councils--Free Education--Death of the Duke of
Clarence--General Election--Mr. Gladstone's Fourth Midlothian
Campaign--The Newcastle Programme--Victory of Home Rulers--The
Second Home Rule Bill--Its Rejection by the Lords--Parish
Councils and Employers' Liability Acts--Mr. Gladstone Resigns
the Leadership--Lord Rosebery becomes Prime Minister--Disunion
of Ministerialists--Defeat and Resignation of the
Government--Lord Salisbury's Third Administration--General
Election--Unionist Triumph--The Eastern Question--Massacres in
Armenia--Lord Rosebery Resigns the Leadership--Trouble in the
Transvaal--Dr. Jameson's Raid--The German Emperor's Message--The
Venezuelan Dispute--President Cleveland's Message.
The session of 1887 was an exceedingly laborious one in the House of
Commons. The debate on the Address, prolonged by all the arts of
obstruction to inordinate length, furnished a convincing argument that
further changes in the rules of procedure were indispensable if the
House were to retain any control whatever over its own business, and
these rules, including that regulating the application of the closure,
were remodelled and adopted after long and heated discussion.
[Sidenote: The Queen's Jubilee.]
[Sidenote: Thanksgiving Service in Westminster Abbey.]
In pleasing contrast to the heat and rancour of proceedings within the
walls of Parliament were those organised throughout the country to
celebrate the completion of the fiftieth year of Queen Victoria's reign.
The weather throughout the summer months was of exceptional splendour,
as if to give emphasis to the popular term "Queen's weather." London lay
for weeks under a cloudless sky, and no day in the year was more perfect
than Jubilee Day, June 21. On that morning the Queen went in procession
from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey to attend a thanksgiving
service, accompanied by a number of European monarchs, princes, and
distinguished persons, as well as by many Indian potentates, gorgeously
attired in many-coloured silks and jewels. Temporary galleries, fitted
up in the abbey church, afforded seats for peers and members of
Parliament and officers of the Army, Navy, and Civil Service, and, as
the wearing of uniforms was obligatory, the display of bright colour was
such as may very seldom be seen in Great Britain. The coronation chair
was set on a daïs covered with red cloth, between the sacrarium and the
choir, and here the Queen took her seat with the robes of state placed
on her shoulders while the service, which lasted just an hour, was
performed.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by F. Frith & Co._
THE JUBILEE PROCESSION PASSING DOWN REGENT STREET.
The escort of Princes in the foreground: the Indian escort immediately
precedes the Royal Carriage.]
[Sidenote: The Imperial Institute.]
It would be impossible, within reasonable limits, even to mention the
various schemes started, institutions founded, or funds set on foot to
commemorate the Royal Jubilee of 1887. Of these the most conspicuous
outwardly has taken the form of that pile of architecture in South
Kensington, known as the Imperial Institute, in the foundation,
permanent organisation, and direction of which the Prince of Wales has
taken as energetic a part as his father had done in the temporary
Exhibition of 1851.
[Illustration: _T. S. C. Crowther._}
THE JUBILEE SERVICE IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY, June 21, 1887.
The most conspicuous figures on the Queen's right are the Prince of
Wales and the Crown Prince of Germany (afterwards the Emperor
Frederick), and to her left the Crown Princess and the Princess of
Wales.]
[Sidenote: "Parnellism and Crime."]
[Sidenote: Appointment of Special Commission of Judges.]
During this year a series of events took their rise out of the
publication in the _Times_ of a number of articles headed "Parnellism
and Crime," in which Mr. Parnell and his colleagues were charged with
active complicity in the long prevalence of outrage and terrorism in
Ireland. The _facsimile_ of a letter, purporting to be written by
Parnell, was published on April 18, containing the following sentence,
referring to the Phoenix Park murders:--"Though I regret the accident
of Lord F. Cavendish's death, I cannot refuse to admit that Burke
got no more than his deserts." This letter was repudiated by Parnell
in his place in the House of Commons; but the Government resisted a
motion to the effect that the _Times_, in publishing these articles,
had been guilty of breach of privilege. Mr. Gladstone then moved for
a Select Committee to enquire into the truth of the charges, but this
also was refused by the Government. The request for a Select Committee
was renewed in the following year by Mr. Parnell, in order to enquire
into the authenticity of certain letters produced in an action for
libel brought against the proprietors of the _Times_ by Mr. O'Donnell,
one of Mr. Parnell's followers. Mr. W. H. Smith stated, in reply (July
12), that, in the opinion of the Government, a Select Committee of the
House of Commons was not a suitable tribunal to try charges arising
out of the action of political parties, but that the Government were
willing to appoint a Special Commission of Judges to enquire into the
whole allegations. Unfortunately, the debates on the Bill necessary
to constitute this Commission were excessively heated. The fact, an
infelicitous one, it must be allowed, that the Attorney-General, a
member of the Government, had acted as leading counsel for the _Times_
in the late trial, gave colour to the unfounded charge that the
Government had been acting all along in collusion with the _Times_.
[Illustration: _S. T. Dadd._} {_From Photographs by Russell & Sons,
Baker Street._
THE OPENING OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE BY HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, May 10,
1893: THE ROYAL PROCESSION.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by F. Frith & Co._
THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE.]
[Illustration: _L. Tuxen._} {_From the Royal Collection, by permission
of Mr. Mendoza, St. James's Gallery, King Street, St. James's, owner of
the copyright._
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN AND THE ROYAL FAMILY. PAINTED ON THE OCCASION OF
HER MAJESTY'S JUBILEE IN 1887.
1. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.
2. The Prince of Wales.
3. The Princess of Wales.
4. Prince Albert Victor.
5. Prince George of Wales.
6. Princess Louise of Wales.
7. Princess Victoria of Wales.
8. Princess Maud of Wales.
9. Crown Princess of Germany.
10. Crown Prince of Germany.
11. Prince William of Prussia.
12. Princess William of Prussia.
13. Prince Frederick William of Prussia.
14. The Hereditary Princess of Saxe-Meiningen.
15. The Hered. Prince of Saxe-Meiningen.
16. Princess Theodore of Saxe-Meiningen.
17. Prince Henry of Prussia.
18. Princess Irene of Hesse.
19. Princess Victoria of Prussia.
20. Princess Sophie of Prussia.
21. Princess Margaret of Prussia.
22. The Grand Duke of Hesse.
23. Princess Louis of Battenberg.
24. Prince Louis of Battenberg.
25. Princess Alice of Battenberg.
26. The Grand Duchess Eliza of Russia.
27. The Grand Duke Serge of Russia.
28. The Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse.
29. Princess Alix of Hesse.
30. The Duke of Edinburgh.
31. The Duchess of Edinburgh.
32. Prince Alfred of Edinburgh.
33. Princess Marie of Edinburgh.
34. Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh.
35. Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh.
36. Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh.
37. Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein,
Princess Helena of Great Britain and Ireland.
38. Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.
39. Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein.
40. Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein.
41. Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.
42. Princess Louise of Schleswig-Holstein.
43. Princess Louise, Marchioness of Lorne.
44. The Marquis of Lorne.
45. The Duke of Connaught.
46. The Duchess of Connaught.
47. Princess Margaret of Connaught.
48. Prince Arthur of Connaught.
49. Princess Victoria Beatrice Patricia of Connaught.
50. The Duchess of Albany.
51. Princess Alice of Albany.
52. Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany.
53. Princess Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg.
54. Prince Henry of Battenberg.
55. Prince Alexander Albert of Battenberg.]
[Sidenote: Their Report.]
The Commission consisted of Sir James Hannen, Sir J. C. Day, and Sir A.
L. Smith. Once more the Attorney-General appeared as leading counsel for
the _Times_, and from the outset the enquiry had all the appearance of a
Ministerial impeachment of certain Irish members. The exposure of the
atrocious character of Pigott, one of the chief witnesses relied on by
the _Times_, and his subsequent suicide, caused that part of the charge
which depended on the authenticity of certain letters attributed to
Parnell to be abandoned. The judgment of the Commission was not
delivered until February 13, 1890. While exonerating the Irish members
from some of the heaviest charges made against them by the _Times_, and
pronouncing the _facsimile_ letter to be a forgery, it was to the
effect, _inter alia_, that (1) they had joined a conspiracy to promote
by coercion and intimidation an agrarian agitation against the payment
of rent, in order to expel "the English garrison" of landlords from
Ireland; (2) that they had disseminated newspapers tending to incite to
the commission of crime; (3) that although some of the respondents did
express _bonâ fide_ disapproval of crime and outrage, they all persisted
in the system of intimidation which led to crime, with knowledge of its
effect; (4) that they made payments to procure the escape of criminals
from justice and to compensate persons injured in the commission of
crime, and (5) that they invited and obtained assistance and
subscriptions from known advocates of crime and dynamite.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Russell & Sons._
THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, WITH HIS TRAIN-BEARER.]
On the whole, the prestige of the Government was greatly compromised by
its connection with this great trial, and the _Times_ paid £5,000
solatium to Mr. Parnell on account of the libel. Parliament was
prorogued early, on August 12, 1890, in order to meet again before
Christmas to take up the Irish Land Bill and the Tithes Bill, which had
been sacrificed for want of time. The prospects of a discredited
Government in meeting an exhilarated Opposition were far from
auspicious, but an unexpected event in the interval altered the whole
scene. A divorce suit was brought against Mr. Parnell by Captain O'Shea,
formerly one of his party in Parliament, but latterly known to have
departed from his allegiance, and the co-respondent in the suit allowed
judgment to go against him without offering any defence.
[Sidenote: Fall of Parnell.]
In no other country, perhaps, has the private misconduct of a public man
such fatal effect on his career as in Great Britain, where flagrant
immorality proved against a statesman puts an immediate end to his
reputation and influence. Parnell fell; Parnell, who for sixteen years
had led the Irish Party with unswerving will and undisputed authority;
Parnell, whose sagacious leadership had brought the vision of Home Rule
to the very brink of accomplishment. Mr. Gladstone wrote that, in his
opinion, Mr. Parnell's "continuance at the present moment in the
leadership would be productive of consequences disastrous in the highest
degree to the cause of Ireland." The ecclesiastical authorities in
Ireland pronounced against him, and the weight of priestly authority in
the political affairs of that country can hardly be overestimated. The
Irish Party in Parliament was divided. The majority of forty-five,
henceforth known as Anti-Parnellites, renounced their old chief at a
stormy meeting in Committee Room 15 of the House of Commons; but the
minority of twenty-six remained staunch. The crisis saved the
Government.
[Illustration: _G. F. Watts._} {_Photographed by F. Hollyer._
LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A., 1830-1896.
Frederick Leighton was born at Scarborough. Painter, sculptor, musician,
and polished orator, he will long be remembered as the ideal President
of the Royal Academy. The portrait represents him in his robes as D. C.
L.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Russell & Sons._
SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, P.R.A., 1829-1896.
Born at Southampton; exhibited his first picture in 1846, and in 1848
became a member of the "Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood" with Rossetti,
Holman Hunt, F. Madox Brown, and others. Elected President of the Royal
Academy on the death of Lord Leighton, he survived him only six months.]
[Sidenote: Deaths of Parnell and W. H. Smith.]
Parnell died on October 6, 1891. On the same day the Queen lost one of
her most devoted servants, and the House of Commons its leader, in the
person of William Henry Smith, whose health had broken down under the
strain of constant attention to the ever-increasing work of Parliament.
Added to this anxiety came the financial crisis brought about by the
failure, in November 1890, of the great house of the Barings to meet
their enormous liability of £22,000,000. The stability of the whole of
British finance was threatened, but the Governors of the Bank of England
came to the rescue, undertaking the liquidation of the concern and
opening a guarantee fund, which was subscribed readily, and thus the
disaster was averted.
[Sidenote: County Councils.]
The two measures by which Lord Salisbury's second Administration will
remain distinguished in the memory of most people were immediate and
exceedingly far-reaching in their effect; that, namely, which
revolutionised the whole system of local government by the creation of
County Councils, and that which rendered elementary education free of
payment of school fees. Of the first of these measures, Mr. Ritchie,
President of the Local Government Board, was the author, and it was
produced during the session of 1888. Member though he was of a
Conservative Cabinet, the most ardent Radical could not complain that
Mr. Ritchie had not dealt with ancient institutions in a sweeping
manner. The levying of county rates, the maintenance of roads and
bridges, asylums, the conduct of registrations, and nearly all the
duties hitherto reposed in country gentlemen in their capacity of
members of Quarter Sessions, were transferred to purely elective
councils chosen by the ratepayers. London, as defined by the Metropolis
Management Act, was constituted a county, and the old Metropolitan Board
of Works ceased to exist.
[Sidenote: Free Education.]
Free education was given a place in the Government programme of 1891,
and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Goschen, was able to produce a
surplus of £2,000,000 in his Budget--just about the sum estimated as the
cost of remitting school fees out of the public funds; half of it was
taken in order to render elementary education free from September 1
following.
[Sidenote: Death of the Duke of Clarence.]
The mysterious epidemic which, for want of a more precise term, is known
by the Italian one of influenza, carried off a very large number of
persons in the winter and spring months of 1892, 1893, and 1894. Of
these the most distinguished by position was the Duke of Clarence,
eldest son of the Prince of Wales, and consequently ultimate heir to the
throne of Great Britain. He died on January 14, 1892, shortly before the
date fixed for his marriage with the Princess May of Teck.
[Illustration: _Baron H. von Angeli._} {_From the Royal Collection, by
permission of the Artist._
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, 1890.]
[Sidenote: Mr. Gladstone's Fourth Midlothian Campaign.]
The summer of 1892 was a period of great political agitation, in
preparation for the General Election, which was fixed to take place in
July. Mr. Gladstone, notwithstanding his fourscore and two years, set
out with no manifestation of failing vigour on his fourth Midlothian
campaign. The object nearest to his heart was clearly the concession of
Home Rule to Ireland; but there was put forward also on behalf of the
Gladstonian Liberal party a scheme of general social legislation, known
as the Newcastle Programme, containing a long list of measures, some of
them of a very drastic nature, calculated to attract the support of the
labouring classes. The indifference felt by the bulk of English and
Scottish electors to the establishment of an Irish parliament was
overborne by the hopes excited among disestablishers, prohibitionists,
eight-hours'-day men, land-law reformers, and other enthusiasts, and
their votes went to secure the victory for the cause of Home Rule. The
Unionists, who had entered office in 1886 with a majority of 116 in the
House of Commons, had suffered so many losses by defection and in
by-elections that they could only reckon a majority of sixty-six when
Parliament was dissolved. This was changed by the general election,
into a minority of forty, which was the exact figure by which was
carried, when Parliament re-assembled in August, a vote of no confidence
in Lord Salisbury's Administration, after which Mr. Gladstone proceeded
to form his fourth and last Cabinet.
[Sidenote: The Second Home Rule Bill.]
On February 13, 1893, the Prime Minister proceeded to fulfil his chief
pledge to the electorate by introducing his second Home Rule Bill. Mr.
Gladstone's speech lasted two hours and a quarter, a marvellous
performance for an octogenarian; and although he failed to excite the
same enthusiasm among his followers as was so remarkable on the former
occasion, the Bill eventually passed the second reading by 347 votes
against 304. But the opposition in Committee was so vigorous and
sustained, that the Government resolved to force the Bill through by
applying the closure at fixed dates to groups of clauses, so that the
whole Bill should be through Committee by the end of July; and this was
effected, after animated resistance had been offered to what was
denounced as the "gag."
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Russell & Sons, Baker Street._
THE ALBERT MEMORIAL CHAPEL, WINDSOR, ON THE OCCASION OF THE FUNERAL OF
H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CLARENCE, January 1892.
The Duke's coffin stands between the tomb of the Prince Consort at the
further end and that of the Duke of Albany (who died in 1884) at this
end of the Chapel.]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Hughes & Mullins, Ryde._
BRINGING HOME THE BODY OF H.R.H. PRINCE HENRY OF BATTENBERG.
Prince Henry had volunteered for the Expedition to Coomassie in the
autumn of 1895; he was taken ill with fever on the march and died on his
way home. He was buried in Whippingham Church, near Osborne, February 4,
1896. The picture represents the transference of the body from H.M.S.
_Blenheim_ to the Royal Yacht _Alberta_.]
[Sidenote: Its Rejection by the Lords.]
[Sidenote: Mr. Gladstone Resigns the Leadership.]
It was September before the measure reached the Upper House, whence it
was thrown out by the unprecedented proportion of 419 to 14 votes. Among
the majority were numbered no less than sixty-two peers whom the Queen
had created on Mr. Gladstone's own recommendation. The attention of the
Ministerial party was then directed to stirring up popular indignation
against the House of Lords on account of their resistance to the popular
will. But it has to be confessed that this appeal evoked remarkably
little response. On the other hand, considerable impatience was
manifested on the part of many supporters of the Government at the
general election, on account of the neglect to carry out the multiform
promises contained in the Newcastle programme. Accordingly, Parliament
was summoned together for a winter session in November in order to
consider the Parish Councils and Employers' Liability Bills. These
important measures, which went through the successive stages to
completion in the course of 1894, remain the principal achievement of
Mr. Gladstone's last year in the public service. Early in 1894 his
withdrawal from active politics was announced; the leadership of the
House of Commons devolved upon Sir William Harcourt, and, although Mr.
Gladstone did not resign his seat for Midlothian, he brought to a close
a period of sixty-two years' attendance in the House of Commons. His
last utterance from the Treasury Bench was a vehement denunciation of
the action of the House of Lords in dealing with the Bills last referred
to.
[Illustration: _R. Ponsonby Staples._} {_By permission of Messrs. Graves
& Co., Pall Mall._
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS: MR. GLADSTONE INTRODUCING THE HOME RULE BILL,
February 13, 1893.
Mr. Gladstone stands at the table: on the seat behind him are Mr. John
Morley, Sir W. Harcourt, Mr. Marjoribanks (now Lord Tweedmouth), Mr.
Mundella and Sir C. Russell (Lord Russell), and Mr. Herbert Gladstone
sits in the "gangway." Mr. Asquith can be seen between Mr. Gladstone and
the clerk at the table. On the front Opposition bench, beginning at the
further end, are: Sir E. Clarke, Sir R. Webster (leaning forward), Mr.
Goschen, Mr. Balfour, Lord Randolph Churchill, and Mr. Edward Carson.]
[Sidenote: Lord Rosebery becomes Prime Minister.]
The removal of such a puissant personality from their head could not but
have a serious effect on the Ministerial array, composed as it was of
such Old Liberals as had embraced Home Rule out of confidence in Mr.
Gladstone, New Liberals of an extremely Democratic type under the
nominal lead of Mr. Labouchere, the Labour representatives, Parnellites
and Anti-Parnellites (the last-named being further split into sections
at war among themselves). On no single subject were these various groups
united save in a desire to get Home Rule out of the way. Home Rule,
indeed, had been disposed of, but not in the only way to satisfy its
advocates. The difficulty of the situation was intensified by the
successor to Mr. Gladstone chosen by Her Majesty. In sending for her
Foreign Minister, the Earl of Rosebery, she was acting, doubtless, on
the advice of Mr. Gladstone himself, but in the choice of a peer there
was abundant cause of dissatisfaction to most of the Ministerialists in
the House of Commons, who had placed the "mending or ending"--preferably
the ending--of the House of Lords in the forefront of their programme.
Besides, it was considered by very many that Sir William Harcourt had
done more to earn the leadership of the party than Lord Rosebery, and it
soon became apparent, not only that this appointment was a cause of
further disunion in the Home Rule ranks, but that Lord Rosebery and Sir
William Harcourt were far from cordial in their official relations. On
June 21, 1895, a listless debate was in progress on the Army Estimates,
the House was far less than half full, when Mr. Brodrick moved a
reduction of £100 in the salary of the Secretary for War, Mr.
Campbell-Bannerman, in order to call attention to the alleged deficiency
in the stores of small-arms ammunition. Mr. Campbell-Bannerman offered
his personal assurance that the amount in store was adequate, but the
Opposition declined to accept it in view of the official figures laid
before the House. A division was called; there was nothing to indicate
the critical nature of it till Mr. Ellis, the chief Ministerial Whip, to
whom the Clerk at the Table had handed the paper automatically, passed
it on to Mr. Douglas, the chief Opposition Whip, when it was found that
the Government were in a minority of eight--132 votes to 125.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Hughes & Mullins, Ryde._
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, January, 1893.]
[Sidenote: Lord Salisbury's Third Administration.]
A mishap like this might have passed without immediate effect on the
fortunes of the Government, had it not been that the form of the
amendment carried was one reflecting on the departmental administration
of one of the Secretaries of State. Lord Rosebery tendered his
resignation, and the Queen sent for Lord Salisbury, who commenced at
once to form his third Administration. The Liberal Unionist contingent,
with the Duke of Devonshire as their chief, elected to maintain their
organisation independent of their Conservative allies; but the Ministry
was formed by a coalition of the two wings of the Unionist party. They
approached the general election in July with such confidence of success
as very rarely can be entertained under a system of household suffrage;
but the result far exceeded their most sanguine calculations. Sir
William Harcourt lost his seat for Derby on the first day's polling, the
prelude of such discomfiture as has scarcely any parallel in the history
of a political party. Reckoning the Gladstonian or Home Rule majority in
the previous Parliament at forty-three, it was converted at the polls of
1895 into an Unionist majority of 152. The new Ministry, in entering
office, found domestic affairs in a very tranquil state; but troubles
had been gathering for some time, endangering the peaceful relations of
Great Britain with several foreign Powers, which called for the exercise
of all Lord Salisbury's experience and foresight in undertaking once
more the administration of foreign affairs.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Hughes & Mullins, Ryde._
HER MAJESTY WITH HER GREAT-GRANDSON PRINCE EDWARD OF YORK, THIRD IN THE
DIRECT LINE OF SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE.]
[Illustration: _L. Tuxen._} {_From the Royal Collection, by permission
of Mr. Mendoza, St. James's Gallery, King Street, St. James's,
proprietor of the copyright._
THE MARRIAGE OF T.R.H. THE DUKE OF YORK AND PRINCESS VICTORIA MARY (MAY)
OF TECK, AT THE CHAPEL ROYAL, ST. JAMES'S, July 6, 1893.
Next the bridegroom is his father, the Prince of Wales, and the tall
figure of the King of Denmark is seen between him and the Princess of
Wales. Her Majesty the Queen has on her right the young Prince Alexander
of Battenberg and his mother the Princess Henry; and behind her
Majesty's chair are Prince Henry of Battenberg and the Duke of
Cambridge. Following the line to the right from the Duke, we see the
Duchess of Fife, the Grand Duke of Hesse, the Duke of Fife, Prince
Waldemar of Denmark, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Prince Philip of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the Lord Steward, Lord Chamberlain, and other
officials. The first two bridesmaids are the Princesses Victoria and
Maud of Wales, then Princesses Victoria Melitia of Edinburgh and
Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, and behind them Princesses Alexandra of
Edinburgh and Victoria Patricia of Connaught, and on the extreme right
of the picture, Princesses Beatrice of Edinburgh and Margaret of
Connaught. The Princesses Victoria Eugenie and Alex of Battenberg are
nearest the spectator, and seated in front is the Duchess of Teck. In
the foreground to the left stands the Czarewitch--now Czar of
Russia--with Princess Louis of Battenberg seated on his right, and
Princess Henry of Prussia to his left. Before him are seated the Grand
Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Immediately behind the bride's
head is seen the Duke of Edinburgh; next him, towards the left of the
picture, the Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke of Connaught; and towards
the right the Duchess of Connaught and Prince Christian (next the Prince
of Wales). Archbishop Benson of Canterbury performs the ceremony, the
Bishop of Rochester stands behind him, and nearer the foreground,
between the Archbishop and the Czar, are the Duke of Teck and two of his
sons; the third son, Prince Alexander George, is seen just behind the
Czar's shoulder. On the extreme left is Prince Henry of Prussia, and
next him Prince Louis of Battenberg, and the Sub-Dean of the Chapels
Royal.]
[Sidenote: The Eastern Question.]
The Eastern question had passed once more into an acute stage. The
incorrigible vices of the Government of Turkey had led to a series of
horrible massacres of the Christian subjects of the Sultan in Armenia.
Sympathy with the sufferers was readily aroused in this country; Mr.
Gladstone, though no longer in Parliament, responded to appeals made to
him by various individuals, and wrote a number of letters, in which,
though at first he was careful to use no expression to increase Lord
Salisbury's difficulties, he gradually glided into his accustomed
vehemence, and indicated his desire that England should take vengeance
on the "Assassin of Europe," single-handed, if need be. In the course of
1896 he appeared on a public platform in Liverpool, and supported this
view with great energy. This precipitated a further calamity on the
Liberal party, for, in the course of 1896, Lord Rosebery announced that
he differed so strongly from the views expressed by Mr. Gladstone, and
was, besides, so sensible of the want of cordiality in the support given
to him by some of his followers, that he felt compelled to resign his
leadership. It would be premature to attempt more than brief allusion to
events which are still in progress. The insurrection of the Cretan
subjects of the Porte, the invasion of the island by Greece, and the war
which ensued between Turkey and Greece, in which the latter so quickly
collapsed, have proved, thus far, to be disturbances severely localised
by means of the Concert established among the Great Powers, who, while
resolved to compel the Sultan's Government to administer his realm with
humanity and even justice, have resisted the attempt made by the Greeks
to wrest away part of his territory by violence.
[Illustration: _Sir J. Tenniel._} {_From "Punch."_
WHO SAID "ATROCITIES"?]
[Illustration: _From a Photograph by Russell & Sons._}
THE STATE DINING-ROOM AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE.
The tables set for the wedding breakfast of Princess Maud of Wales.
Princess Maud, youngest daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales,
was married to Prince Carl, second son of the Crown Prince of Denmark,
July 22, 1896.]
[Sidenote: Trouble in the Transvaal.]
The affairs of the Transvaal rose into prominent notice towards the
close of 1895. Commercial enterprise had for some time been actively
directed towards South Africa, notably by the British South Africa
Company, at the head of which was Mr. Cecil Rhodes, the Premier of the
Cape Colony, who had been sworn a member of Her Majesty's Privy Council.
Miners and settlers in general poured into the Transvaal to the number
of 60,000, converting the quiet village of Johannesburg into a large and
busy town. The Transvaal Government viewed this movement with no favour;
the industry of the Boer population was chiefly a pastoral one, and
President Krüger steadily refused to comply with the claim of the
new-comers to rights of citizenship. The Uitlanders, as the new settlers
were called, numbered three to one of the native Boers, and were paying
nine-tenths of the taxation: meetings, summoned to protest against the
action of the President and Volksraad, were prohibited; a deaf ear was
turned to all petitions for redress, and, at last, a movement was
started to obtain by compulsion what was refused by law. A force of all
arms, commanded by Dr. Jameson, and comprising several officers in the
British service, invaded the Transvaal in the expectation of a concerted
rising in Johannesburg. This did not take place: after a smart encounter
with the Boers, the English force surrendered on January 1, 1896. The
principal officers were put on their trial under the Foreign Enlistment
Act, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, and, in some
instances, to forfeiture of their commissions. The claim for indemnity
put forward by the Government of the South African Republic has not yet
been settled. A Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed
to investigate the origin and conduct of what has become known as the
"Johannesburg movement," and its enquiry is still proceeding. Perhaps
the most important result of the Transvaal raid will prove to be the
insight suddenly afforded into the true sentiments of the German
Government towards Great Britain. The numerous bonds uniting the German
and British Courts, added to the racial sympathies existing between the
two nations, had given rise to the belief that the policy of Germany was
more friendly towards Great Britain than that of some of the other great
Powers. This belief was rudely dispelled by a message from the German
Emperor to President Krüger encouraging him in resistance in any dispute
that might arise with the British Government.
[Illustration:
A. Major White.
B. Dr. Jameson.
C. Capt. Coventry.
D. Sir J. Willoughby.
_R. Caton Woodville._} {_By permission of the Artist, and of Messrs.
Graves, publishers of the Photogravure._
DR. JAMESON'S RAID: THE LAST STAND OF THE INVADERS, NEAR KRUGERSDORP,
January 2, 1896.]
[Sidenote: The Venezuelan Dispute.]
While the trouble with the Transvaal was still pending, there came a
still more formidable surprise from a quarter whence it was little
expected. A controversy between Great Britain and the insignificant
South American Republic of Venezuela had been dragging its course for
many years on the subject of a disputed frontier between the latter
country and British Guiana. Suddenly, on December 17, President
Cleveland startled the world by a message to Congress declaring that the
action of the British Government in this matter was an infringement of
the Monroe doctrine; that it was the duty of Congress to resist the
infringement of that doctrine, and that a Commission should be appointed
by the Executive to examine and report on the rights of the case. Then,
continued the President, it would be "the duty of the United States to
resist by every means in its power, as a wilful aggression upon its
rights and interests, the appropriation by Great Britain of any lands
which, after investigation, may be determined of right to belong to
Venezuela."
This was open menace, and it required the utmost forbearance on the part
of the British Cabinet to avoid precipitating a conflict. Finally, the
question of the Venezuelan Frontier was referred to arbitration, and
diplomacy seems in a fair way to earn one of its best merited triumphs.
[Illustration: _Chevalier de Martino._} {_From the Royal Collection._
THREE GENERATIONS AFLOAT.
To the right is the Queen's steam yacht _Victoria and Albert_; in the
centre the Prince of Wales's _Britannia_; and to the left the German
Emperor's _Meteor_.]