STRANGE MAN

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 32, 8 February 1932, Page 16

STRANGE MAN

LORD ROSEBERY

DQUBJS ABOUT OFFICE

RELATIVE'S IWITiAIT

The "Life" of the late Kail of Roseberj, written bj his son in law, the. Marquis of Crowe, has been published, writes a member of the Rosebery family in the London "Daily Tclpgraplu"

Lord Grewc■ shows how Rosoberv's bnth was attended b-s i ,jood turj with unusually copious gifts to bestow in: tellcc*-, position, wealth, oi itorjj and I would add that slie did not desert him m death, since she poi formed the final service of giving him a biographer of unique qualifications for his task, of which not the least was in intimate personal knowledge demed trom close aelationship

And \et in some \\aj these \ olumcb arc not v\hollj satistjiug, ptrhups bo cause it ia yet too soou to publish aiifo •which ■would really bring the man i* ho was on to the cin\as Lord Grewc appeirl) to be conscious 01 possible on this scoie, foi ha sajs "It is i hopeless task to fi\ in cold print any impression of his personal ch-um " It should some daj bo possible tor cold print to produce i more huniau picture. The biography )^ largely and pro perlv, indeed, lncMtabij, devoted to Eosebery'a political- life, a life to which :t is soon apparent that he believed himseli: to have an a\e-sioj His soarchings of heart, doubts, and hcsit mcics, whonevpr the question o± his taking ofhco arose, a o even now mysterious, and must hava been a conJ wderable trial tv hi c-lloagaos, aud particularly to Mi Gladstone The most loniarkable c\amplc -was when the Lib mils camp into pry crn 1392 He -very nearly letused to take ofiice, and, in fact, the issue was oven more doubtful than -would appear lien the "Lite" 'Iho following extracts fiom letteTß Tiutten by a rcl-itive at the time are of interest -when compaied with thoso now published anj wi^h his oivn mem oraiidum: NOT AGKEED. 13th August I vveut louud bj BerKcle> sqjj.ro this morning and found Roseberj alone I did not extract much as to his utor -view -with Mr G, bdt I ga+hcred he hid by no means agreed to take office Ho said "I have rot cnauged my mind I nevei change uy mnd I have thought it out foi tvo \ears If I do not go now I shall nevor get fice from a life I loathe " I s-'d that I did not see how he cou'd go row With any degree of honoklotu I f]ro^o him to Wcrloo (on the e-venmg ot the lith)—he was going to tho Durdacs—and en the way I told him I did not tt.nk he eoulj retire with honour. Ho said no one had eier suggested such a th.sg before, and that it was a new idea to l^m, that it stjng him to the quick, and i,+oget] er it had a tremendous effect. Ment^ioie, 14Ji August Bueklo came at 11 to sec Roseberj, nnd I kept cut of the -v Jiv The situation ipirairs tho sacp, I, cu^h we talked till mida.ght about it I i-iJe no tur ther improsaion, is. t hpr Jcot gjouad, tii mv Bugg^stxon of "co s-^ cc" had some vhat laded. It i- &,r -ua, to leihse '■he '*t *-c> ci n.^-d n*- eh can persist n\ vch ?n lEsanc euarse, dit la difficult to a-gje -v/^h ? i e-i- mous "gwoai nSw-^-^Ltly c * fc^td by sense ct p-bLc di.*-^ Tt is c'-ar thc-s is no pol tical mo'ive He is v-,*h h.s col loagaes oa dorses^e caite-s, r=J raeog Tiise3 that ia fore gn poLcj be could md would b6 s^prc-^e in the Cibiaet. I have myoelf no fiou1 t 1. s c_u t otive is a marked d^ntaste for tho ■* crid, and a certain d strust of hiaaelt ejgeadered by tho socluoiou of the last tvo years VACILLATION. loth August To rosume where I left off jesterday. "We walkedMo Leighton and back, the subject not being mentioned On our return at seven R found a long letter from Buckle imploring him to take office. I did not read it This had a good effect, and aftei moie talk at dinnei he vrote a shoit note to Tlr G sa ing that it the ofliee was stnl -vacant he would accept Ihs ho kept, siying he would not clecide until this morn 3ng —whctLer or not he would give it to me to take to Carlton Gardens . This morning he had again slipped back into the b^ugh I said little, reserving myself till -we got to Berkeley Square. Then more argament, but at last he had consented to give me the note, on conditions I was pointing out that it might not be possible for mo to iulfil th=se when a no+e came from Mr. Glad 'tone saying he was just starting foi Osborne, and rot Inning heard from him tad decided, he hoped rightly, to suamit Ro3ebery's name to the Qucea, as he knew she strongly wished it. I think Rosebery was very angry. He asked me to wat while ho went out alone to reflect He came back by twelve and said, "It is too late now to write " I urged tint he should tele graph so as to relievo Mr Gladstone of anxiety, and possiUe embarrassment Ha ccl,U not make up his mind, but allowed me to call at Cailton Gardens and say, not from h'm bjt trom mj-jolf, that I hoped it would be all light Also I was to to,I L Ifjrr Iton to go and see him I proceeded accoidmgl\ I mspiied E H to get R to telegraph if ho could, but not to press him too much as in let on on his part would mean consent by silonce, and this, though not grace ful, would be sufficient lie now writes that a telegram has gen'o to Osborne PLEA OF ILL HEALTH E-oseberj 's conJuc f eeitainlj lajs linn open to the clmge of egoi«m, if only because he could leaie the Pnme Mm ister m the awkward position ol having to s^oni f h s >ume for the first da^s office ot Toicign becie'-aiy with oat L,*ie ass-rtiyce that he would accept it But it is onlj fair to s'y that sub sequent events pro%e that his plea of ill heil fii vias a genuine cic "Wien jj ofi"e he saftucd tembly fiom insomnia, and would ottm dine lound London it night, a carnage boing alwajs ready and liable to be sum moned it a moment's notice In addi lion, there was 1 is distaste toi polities I his distaste probiblj due to several ' auses Ho hid manj conflicting in tcicsts, literature, tl c t_rf, society His i\as a case ot the seed aov v hi good soil, but tho tares spring ng up and ihoking it Perhaps fie s*rongc t ica'-ou ot all was his extreme sensitiveness, the poll tieian, as a stat^man is called until he is dead, must be prepared to face cnticism, and otton uiuair criticism, and ono of the gitts Roseberj's good fairy omitted i thick skin Hp could strike a shrewd Mot\, indeed, his -nit was apt to be unk nd\y, but re ceiling one -was another matter. Ho eniojod the good things of hfo and pomp and circumstance more than^ he might have cared to admit. In tho countiy he would drive out with postil lions, the ostensible leason \iw that ion\crsation m the carriage should not lie ovcrhcaid Was this tho only rea son? I Lord Crewe mentions that at thu Coronation of King George V. Rosebeo ' lollcctcd t_ht, Laildoni o± Midlothiaii

lest some carpet-bagger should take the title. He.also assumed the titles of Viscount Mentmore and Baron Epsom, presumably for the samo reason. It might seem that the reason was scarcely adequate, and, in factj that it was rather.petty.■ , . ' ■ ' JUDGE OP-WINE. .Rosobery was, a fine judge of wino, had a first rate cell ir, and a strong head, which enabled him to enjoj with out anj outivard or untoward cflecls quantities which fc-w could ha\c con sumed Shortlj alter he succeeded to the title a friend wab staving vitu him at Dalmouj Ho decided to investigate tho cellar,, and'the butler, with candle, was summoned bonie vcrj satistactoi-j port and sherrj s\ere tound, and t^o bottles of each t\htc deciutcd for din nor Thej were disposed ot, Rosebcrj doing bis Ja>r share, nnd ho then went out to shoot duck. History docs not relate what casuiltics were suffered by tho duck, but.at least none is recorded among koepors or dogs When tetiremeut from actuc politicj was complete, he liked to con\e> tho impression that ho knew nothing ot what was going on In the autunm or 1921 the present water was seeing him, and, by...wa!y''of making conversation, ventured'to as3uine that he was follow ing with interest the political situatiou —it was -just before the General Llee tion "Oh, no," he replied, "I noiei read tho papers, I do not know what is go ng oj Phev tell mo someone call ed Bald • in is tho leader ot the Consei \atve Partv —who is he?" No doubt tho question was asked in tho tp rit ol' the inquiry from the Bonch as to the ulentiU of Connie Gil Christ,, yet it containod more than a germ of seriojs comment Mr Bald win had but recently anived in the front rank, ajl his passage thither h id begn so free tiom the limelight that ho was eoniparativelv littlo known "A PIRTY BUSINESS." Though English party politics were tabu ("politics," he said, "are a dirtj business"), world politics wero an ac ccptablo subject for discussion Anj thing Napoleonic attracted his interest, and he frankly admired Mussolini lliis book establishes Rosebeiy's great capacity i'or and inherent sense of politics Proot of this is abundant, but I would refer especially to tfie long series of letters and memoranda uldrcssed to the Queen in which he justifies his policy with regard to the House ot Lords and Ins own conduct generally In mattei and style they a • first rate As was inevitable foi any Libeial Pi line Minister, he had to faeo Royal disapproval, and m so doing displayed irmness and dignity not witnout hum our,' which in itself• had been some: thing of a stumbling block lhe Queen's comment upon a speech made by him shortly boiore the torniationVof: the-6toveIrrimbht(fin'. 1892—"Almost cominunistie"-—was ominous of storm 3to come Lord Crewe gives no more than an indication of tho con tents of the sppech, which appears to have boen mainly in support ot Home Rule It was quite enough to e^tiacl what was no doubt one ot the strongest words of disfavour m tLe Rojal voea bulary.

But when all 13 said these volumes leave an impression 01 trnstration Good soed had boen sown on good ground, jet tho harvest -«aB all too meagre.