IN THE WORLD AND WHIRL OF LONDON.

Evening Star, Issue 14689, 5 October 1911, Page 3

IN THE WORLD AND WHIRL OF LONDON.

PASSING NOTES. [By SIR HENRY LUCY-1 [Copyright] k Party Wrecker—Mr Chamberlain's Aor>levemcnts—W.S. Gilbert's ForFvtfr—Soma Others—A Historic came of Chess. Reform Crab, Pali Mail Mr Chamberlain, though dead as far as bodily participation in the parliamcntery arena is concerned, yet speaketh. The figurehead of the last defiance of the Commons by the Lords was tho Earl of Halabury. The leading spirit was tho boyish, Imistarous Lord "Wtlloughby do Broke. It was Mr Chamberlain's interposition at a critical moment that kept the movement alive and urged it forward with increasing strength. At a time when even Peers least amenable to reason were hesitating in view of the responsibility of swamping the House of Lords with a minimum of 300 recruits, a message was seirt forth from Birmingham urginc them to press forward. They took the advice, and though, thanks to Lord Rosebery, tho .A rt-hbishop of Canterbury, and a sufficient number of prelate*-, and Unionist Peers, final calamity ■was narrowly averted, tho consequence upon the condition and prospects of the Unionist party its such as a generous adversary may deplore. They are split in j twain, and" tho bitterness of tho enmity | between tho two sections is of the kind possible only in the ense of severed friends. It is difficult to find a parallel for Mr Chamberlain's public career in its variety, its masterfulness, and its supreme personal success. In one particular phfise it is absolutely unequalled. In political life at Home and abroad it is not uncommon for a great party to suffer by the defection of a single member of exceptional capacity. In his forced retirement Mr Chamberlain carries with him the more or less proud reflection that he has iu his day wrecked in turn the two historic political parties into which the nation is divided. The one to which he attached himself when he abandoned his errlier position as the risen hope of stem relentless Radicalism, has twice suffered wreckage, and once narrowly escaped it at his hands. In 1903. when he amazed the world by unfurling the Protection flag and insisting on nailing it. to tho Unionist mast, ho dealt the party a blow from which it has not yet recovered. Two years ago, he egged on "the hesitating Peers to tho act ot political suicide invoiced in throwing out the Budget, an act that, inevitably, irresistibly led to the final smashing of their power as tho predominant partner in the legislative machine. Now he has been chiefly responsible for j whelming the. hapless party in the condi- I lion of civil war, which deprives it of hope ■ and opportunity of boating the ancient j enemy. This accumulation of disaster at the hands of a-.i alien ally is a high price to pay for the original service of breaking up the Liberal party in 1886, sending it into the- wilderness of Opposition °to wander, with one brief re-entry to the Promised Land, for a period of 19 years. ! To other claims to distinction Sir W. S. j Gilbert added that of having amassed the largest fortune achieved by dramatists in modem times. The valueof his estate is declared at a trifle under £112.000. Probably had Henry Irving died 20 rear.-; earlier than the date which saw irreparable ; loss befall the British stage, he might have bequeathed an equal earn. But he was a man who might bo counted rich only as long as money rolled into his coffers as it did in the hey-day of his actor managements of tho Lyceum Theatio and his triumphal progresses through the United States. He was by nature one of the most lavishly generous men ever born, and the comparative shortness of money that hampered his last years was chiefly regretted by him because it left him less to give away. Sir Arthur Sullivan, Gilbert's musical collaborator in the plays that made the Savoy Theatre famous, left behind him only half as much, the precise sum being £54,527. Another London theatre manager long since drifted into obscurity ind ! death was John Hollingshead, of the Gaiety Theatre. At one period of his management he was, as he in later life and other circumstances recalled with pleased reflection, the possessor of £90,000. It somehow melted away, and '• Honest John." as he was called in recognition of his habitually uncompromising speech, died in comparative poverty.

Gilbert was quite another sort of man. On genius of a dramatist was grafted the acumen of a man of business. It was this latter quality that led to the break-up of the famous trio that brought new life to the London stage. Whilst Sullivan composed the music and (Gilbert wrote the play, D'Oyley Carte undertook all the. business arrangements. Arthur Sullivan, a sweet-natured man. who, incapable of wrong-doing himself, thought malversation was equally impossible in others, accepted D'Oyley Carte's balance-sheet without question and his quarterly share of the profits with pleasure. Gilbert took another view of his duty, and the unpleasantness following upon his pertinacious inquiries as to the disposition of odd pence led to the breaking-up of the copartnership, a proceeding financially disastrous to all three. Having made his "pile," Gilbert characteristically withdrew from the risks of business, setting himself up as a country gentleman with a much-cherished seat on the magisterial bench at a distance not to remote from London. Through the season he was a diligent diner-out, coming to town in his motor car, and greatly enjoying the drive home in the coolness of a summer evening. It happened that I met him at dinner three times in the 10 days preceding the tragedy of his death. The last time was at the Thackeray centenary dinnergiven by the Benchers'of the Middle Temple in their ancient halt. He was looking forward with almost boyish delight to a trip in the Mooltan for the Coronation naval review at Spithead. When the Mooltan started on the trip Gilbert's cabin was empty, and he in his grave. Access to the garden from the dining voom at Xo. 10 Downing Street, of which I wrote the other week, Is gained by steps loading from a terrace- flanking tho window. Twenty-six years ago this terrace staged a historic seem'. .Russia was on. the move, presumably bound for Constantinople. Profound sensation had l».-c:i created by an edict embodying thf miliii.-i and calling out the reserves. On a dav in the early spring of 1885 the Cabinet met in Downing Street to consider the grave state of affairs. A despatch from Lord Stratford de Radcliff, theu British Minister at Constantinople, was momentarily expected. As the. course of deliberations most torn upon its purport, it was no use continuing them till the message arrived. Accordingly the council formally broke up, and members strolled out on to the terrace. As the fateful message still tarried on the way. Lord Granville. Foreign Secretary, suggested to Mr Forster that they should wile away the time by a game of chess. A board was produced and the game went forward, some of the Ministers looking on, others standing in S-oups conversing. A cleric in the Scotch ffice, which overlooks the terraco and garden of 2*o. 10, finding the time hang heavy on his hands, sketched the 6cene. The drawing subsequently came into the possession of the late Sir Wemyss Reid, ■who showed it to me and told the story. One recognised in the company Gladstone, "Williain Harcourt, Lord Granville. ,Hartington, Forster, Childers,' Lord KimbeTley, Lord Selboroe, Earl Spencer, and Mr Chamberlain. The last "i 3 the only survivor.