Ilium, city of my love !
warlike home of powers above !
Four times 'twas on the threshold stayed,
Four times the armour clashed and brayed ;
Yet on we press with passion blind,
All forethought blotted from our mind,
Till the dread monster we instal
Within the temple's tower-built wall."



226 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-

Mr Lowe, not to be outdone, replied once
more —

There is happily one common ground left to me
and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and that is
the Second Book of the xEneid of Virgil. My
right hon. friend, like the moth which has singed
its wings in the candle, has returned again to the
poor old Trojan horse, and I shall, with the per-
mission of the House, give them one more excerpt
from the history of that noble beast, first promising
that I shall then turn him out to grass. The
passage contains a description not only of the
invading army of which we have heard so much,
but also a slight sketch of its general —

" Ardims armatos rnediis in moeuibus aclstans
Fundit equus, victorque Sinon incendia miscet
Insultans : portis alii bipatentibus adsunt,
Millia quot magnis nunquam venere Mycenis." 1

The attitude of Mr Gladstone to the House
of Commons at this time was, to say the

1 In other words —

" The fatal horse pours forth the human tide,
Insulting Sinon flings his firebrands wide,
The gates are burst, the ancient rampart falls,
And swarming millions climb its crumbling walls."



1874.] "INSULTING SINON." 227

least, not conciliatory, and the term " in-
sulting Sinon " was generally accepted as a
personal allusion to the leader of the House,
the general of the invading army. But, as
luck would have it, there was in the House
at the time a Mr Synan, the member for
Limerick County, and to his name, through
no fault of his own, became attached the
opprobrious epithet.

The second reading; of the bill was carried
on the 27th April by the narrow majority
of 5 (318 to 313), the Government having
promised, before going into Committee, to
lay their scheme for redistribution before
the House.

The question of the extension of the fran-
chise was only a part of the great subject of
parliamentary reform with which the other
and not less important question of the redis-
tribution of seats has always been associated.
It was so in the great Reform Act of 1832 ;
in the various bills introduced, by Lord



228 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-

Jolm Russell in 1852, by Lord Aberdeen in
1854, by Lord Derby in 1859, by Lord
Palmerston in 1860, and again in 1884,
when the latest extension of the franchise
was granted.

Mr Gladstone accordingly introduced his
Redistribution Bill on May 7, and the
struggle on the two bills continued during
May and June, until the Government was
beaten on June 18 by a majority of 11, or
315 to 304, on Lord Dunkellin's amendment
to substitute rating for rental.

On the following day Lord Russell and
Mr Gladstone announced that in conse-
quence of the vote the Government had
communicated with the Queen at Balmoral,
and that Parliament would be adjourned
till the following Monday, June 25 ; and on
June 26 they announced that the Govern-
ment had resigned, and that the Queen
had accepted their resignation.

After negotiations with the Adullamites-



1874.] A SAD CHANGE. 229

and some of the Whigs, Lord Derby formed
an entirely Conservative administration ;
and on July 3 I received from him the
following letter : —

I have had much pleasure in submitting to the
Queen your appointment to your former office of
Judge-Advocate, of which her Majesty has been
pleased to signify her approval. — Yours faithfully,

Derby.

On July 6 we went to Windsor ; but the
ceremony of swearing in was sadly changed
from the bright scene of April 6, 1858.
Then the Sovereign held her Council in a
grand room, seated at the head of the table,
with all her councillors on either side : now
we were received in a small ante-room with
one window — the Queen standing with her
back to it, the Prince of Wales on her right,
and three councillors to make a quorum.
Each individual came in for a moment, knelt
down and kissed the hand of his Sovereign,
then backed out with all possible speed.



230 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-

On July 7 I issued my address, and on
Wednesday, July 11, I was re-elected for
the sixth time without any opposition.
My supporters at Durham were anxious to
express their confidence in Lord Derby's
Government and their satisfaction in my
reappointment, and made arrangements for
a great dinner in my honour, which took
place on January 15, 1867. It is described
in a letter to my mother : —

Jan. 16, 1867.

I know you will rejoice to hear that all went
off as well as possible. Such snow I never saw in
my life, yet not more than twenty people (if so
many) fell off. I believe we dined exactly 239
(250 being laid for). People came from all parts
of the county. Two or three carriages with four
horses from Sunderland. The Duke of Marlborough
made an excellent speech.

[I can find no letters or notes on the re-
mainder of the session, except the following
account of the new Judo;e Advocate's first



1874.] BALMORAL. 231



interview with the Queen at Osborne, and
his first visit to Balmoral : — ]

Aug. 6, 1866.

I had a very pleasant day at Osborne, and a
most agreeable interview with her Majesty, who
was the picture of health. She took her seat and
I mine, and we proceeded to business, and I could
not believe that seven years had passed since we
had had our last tete-a-tete.

Balmoral Castle, Sept. 13.

Arrived here about 5.30 yesterday, am lodged
in very pretty apartments in the gardener's cottage,
the Castle being quite full. Unfortunately I did
not dine with the Queen : she invites people about
twice a-week, but the Household dine in the real
dining-room, where I dined, and the drawing-room
is never used. I have a pretty sitting-room with
photographs of Swiss views and a portrait of
Princess Christian and of the eldest son of the
Princess of Prussia. It is a very cold place, and
I am thankful for fires both in bed- and sitting-
room. The Queen was very gracious, and I have
had rather a long interview. This is a charming
country and a very pretty place. The Castle
small for the Queen of England.



232 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-



There are not, unfortunately, any notes by
my father on the Reform Bill of 1867, and
there are few allusions to it in letters ; but I
find these comments on Mr Disraeli's speech
introducing the Resolutions, February 12,
1867:—

I think the position of the Government improved
by last night. Of course there are plenty of adverse
criticisms, and it is easy to find fault ; but I am
not so much disposed to be severe on Dizzy's
speech. The object is to gain time, and every week
strengthens the Government : it does not delay the
settlement, and I quite think that there is a chance
of the Resolutions proving the basis of a measure
which will pass, and if so, will be a credit to the
Government. At any rate, Gladstone was puzzled
how to meet it, and the House seem disposed to let
us settle it.

The demonstration of yesterday was a very poor
affair, both as regards numbers and organisation,
compared to that of December 3. On December 3
I went through St James's Park and mixed amongst
the crowds, and when I saw the orderly and respect-
ful demeanour of the men who were there, I could
not but draw in my mind a striking contrast be-



1874.] REFORM BILL OF '67. 233



tween those crowds and the angry mobs whom
thirty-five years ago, when a schoolboy at West-
minster, I saw assembled in Palace Yard, to intimi-
date the Parliament of that day. Why is this ? I
believe it is because there are no very great and
real grievances, because there is no longer that
alienation of classes, because there is in this country
a great sympathy between rich and poor. I utterly
repudiate the idea that the Liberal party are en-
titled to claim a monopoly of interest in the working
classes.

On April 8 the Keform Bill went into
Committee. Mr Coleridge (afterwards Lord
Coleridge) had given notice of an instruction
with regard to rating, the greater part of
which was withdrawn.

April 9.

We have not had such a scene since the memor-
able 21st of May 1858 — a scene never to be for-
gotten. I had always predicted that the affair
would blow up somehow in some way, and expected
the d&iioiiment to come about Thursday ; but I had
no expectation of so sudden a collapse. The morti-
fication to Gladstone must be most bitter. I do
trust now that there is a prospect of comparative



234 IN THE HOUSE. [186(5-

peace during the session, so that we may pass our
Eeform Bill, arid that we may have another autumn
in which to enjoy office ; but I don't calculate on
anything.

On April 11 and 12 came the great struggle
on household suffrage and the compound
householder, and the Government proposal
was carried on April 12 by 310 to 289.

April 13.

Our decisive victory last night makes me a happy
man. 1 was sorry when Monday's motion went off
without a division. It is now clear that if we had
21 majority last night, it would have been 50 on
Coleridge's motion ; so I think we are safe from a
dissolution. After all the anxiety of Wednesday
and Thursday, to-day is such a relief. On Thurs-
day we were sure to be beaten, and I had written
my address to my constituents.

On July 22 the Eeform Bill was introduced
into the House of Lords.

July 23, 1867.

Yesterday was quite an historic night, and very
interesting to me. Thirty-five years had passed



1874.] A HISTORIC NIGHT. 235

since I had been present in the House of Lords on
the second reading of a Reform Bill. The contrast
was very remarkable. The old plain building with
no ornament but the tapestry of the Armada was
gone, and there was a splendid, highly decorated
medieval hall. The leaders of the two opposite
parties, Lord Derby and Lord Eussell, had been
members of the same Cabinet in 1832, and were
ranged on opposite sides in 1867. The two great
surviving gladiators of that day, the Whig Lord
Chancellor Lord Brougham, and a Tory Bishop,
Henry of Exeter, were " conspicuous by their
absence." There was a Dnke of Wellington — not
the Duke: he came to vote for the bill. Lord
Grey, too, was there ; but he was a very different
man from the fine noble-looking Prime Minister of
'32, and, curiously enough, he came against the bill :
so he and the Duke of Wellington had changed
places. There was a Lord Eldon — not old Lord
Eldon, but his great - grandson ; there was Lord
Ellenborough, an uncompromising opponent of the
bill of '67 as he had been of that of '32 ; and Lord
Shaftesbury, who as Lord Ashley had fought the
last great contested election against the bill of '32,
came to oppose the bill of '67. The same opin-
ions as Lord Carnarvon had held in '32 were ably



236 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-

maintained by his grandson in '67. Royal dukes
were not so many : there was a Prince of Wales
and a Duke of Cambridge ; but the Dukes of
Cumberland, Sussex, and Gloucester had no repre-
sentatives. Close to me on the steps of the Throne
were two prominent members of the Legisla-
ture who in '32 had been prominent members
of the Oxford Debating Society : Mr Gladstone
the Tory orator of '32 become the Eadical of
'67, and Mr Lowe the Eadical of '32 become
the ultra- Conservative of '67. Outside, Palace
Yard was tranquil and deserted ; inside, the de-
bate was languid, save when a few enthusiastic
Tory peeresses cheered Lord Carnarvon. I don't
think that the debate sustained the character of
the assembly.

The Judge Advocate's time was fully
occupied with his parliamentary and official
duties, which may account for my not
finding many such graphic letters. The
Fenian movement w T as giving him con-
siderable anxiety all through 1867 and
1868, and his letters are nearly all short;
but the following letters, written from



1874.] AN ACCIDENT. 237

Osborne and Balmoral, are not without
interest : —

Feb. 12, 1867.

I had such a pleasant visit to Osborne, quite
like old times. The Queen saw me in the drawing-
room, and before she came in I heard the children
in the next room making such an uproar ! Her
Majesty proceeded at once to inquire all about
the railway accident. She was so kind, asked so
many questions, hoped Mrs Mowbray had not
been much alarmed, and I told her all the story
in detail. She was in high spirits, and looking
so bright and animated.

The accident alluded to had taken place
a few days previously. We were on our
way from Reading to Brighton in a through
carriage by the South-Eastern Railway. At
Chilworth station our carriage was detached
for some reason, and the station being; on
an incline, the carriage started and ran back.
The guard fortunately stuck to the carriage,
and just managed to turn us on to the other
line at some points before a pilot engine



238 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-

came down the line we had left, which would
inevitably have made an end to us !

Balmoral, Oct. 6.

I have arrived here in the midst of winter,
but I am happy to say that I am lodged in the
Castle itself. An immense deal of snow fell
yesterday, but to-day only the hills are covered, —
Lochnagar, the high hill or mountain, about 3800
feet high, looks as white as Mont Blanc, the others
less distinctly white. But it is dreary to see oats
uncut and almost green laid low by the snow, and
there is a fringe of snow along the road, so that
it is thorough December ! Church was at 12, and
was very full. I sat in the pew close behind the
Queen and all the Eoyal Family. This is likely
to be the last visit I shall pay to Balmoral, as
her Majesty has herself suggested that she does
not wish to give me the trouble of coming so far.
1 am invited to dine to-night.

October 7.

I had a remarkably pleasant dinner last night.
We were 7 at a round table. I was next the
Princess Louise. She began in a very pleasant
way reminding me of our first introduction in



1874.] A DINNER AT MANCHESTER. 239

Lady Augusta Stanley's rooms at Osborne. There
was a great deal of free chat all round. The
Queen in great spirits. She never seems to forget
our railway accident, for she made me tell the
Princesses about it.

Lord Derby and her Majesty's Ministers
were entertained at the Free Trade Hall at
Manchester on October 17, 1867 : —

All went oft' very well at Manchester. It was a
splendid affair. There were ten tables in the body
of the hall holding about 840, and there were three
tables deep along the platform holding about 20
each. The tickets were 2 guineas each. The
gallery was filled on one side by ladies, and on the
other by a number of working men, and some
gentlemen who had paid 10s. 6d. each for admis-
sion. I suppose there were 1000 or nearly so in
the galleries. It was extremely enthusiastic. They
had distributed the guests along the three tables on
the platform, and by some lucky accident I found
myself only one removed from Lord Derby, with
Lord Shrewsbury between us. They gave me the
toast of " The Ladies," but it was too late to make
a speech.



240 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-

I can find no letters or notes by my father
on the remainder of the session. On Febru-
ary 25, 1868, Lord Derby's resignation was
announced, and Mr Disraeli became Prime
Minister. He wrote to my father : —

Private. 10 Downing Street, March 3, 186S.

Dear Mowbray, — I hope you will do me the
favour of filling in the new Administration the
office which you held under the Government of
Lord Derby. Our great friend much wishes that
we should all keep together. — Yours very faith-
fully, B. Disraeli.

Pressure of work kept my father from writing
many letters at this time ; and of the desperate
fight on the Resolutions on the Irish Church
I can find no account.

He describes the Queen's first garden-party
to his mother thus : —

June 22, 1868.

The garden-party has been a great success. We
mustered on the lawn of Buckingham Palace at
4.30, the gentlemen looking so odd in their evening
coats and morning waistcoats and trousers ! The



1874.] QUEEN'S GARDEN-PARTY. 241

Queen walked up and down through the lines at
5 o'clock, and then sat down surrounded by the
Eoyal Family, while the band played and the
Tyrolese minstrels sang. After that we walked
about the gardens: there were tents with refresh-
ments and several barges on the lake, and the
Queen's boatmen in their scarlet liveries looked very
well. We came away at 7.30, and I came to the
House and find I have lost two or three divisions.

I find a list of votes of members in office,
session 1867-68, on the 25th of July : —

Number of Government divisions, 120 —

117, Cave, Right Hon. S.,

113, Mowbray, Eight Hon. J. R,,

heading the list. Possibly " Mowbray,
Eight Hon. J. E.," would have headed the
list, as he always wished to do, but for the
divisions lost by the Palace garden-party.

A contest for Durham, the first since his
original election, w T as impending, and on
June 29 he issued an address to "The old
and new Electors of the City of Durham,"

Q



242 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-

stating his intention of coming forward once
more to claim their suffrages ; but before
the time arrived for him to do so, circum-
stances had altered, and he had decided to
relinquish the seat which he had held for
sixteen years, and to fight for the repre-
sentation of his own University. He felt
the honour of the call, but left his old
seat with regret. For some months Sir
William Heathcote's health had been fail-
ing, and when he decided to retire from
Parliament, the chairman of Mr Hardy's
committee in 1865, who had organised the
victory over Mr Gladstone, seemed the most
fitting person to sit as Mr Hardy's colleague
in 18G8. In October a committee was
formed in Oxford with Archdeacon Clerke
as Chairman ; and H. L. Mansell, D.D.,
R. Mitchell, D.D., and H. Wall, M.A., as
Vice-Chairmen. There was a committee in
London also, of which the Chairman was
the Marquis of Hamilton, now Duke of



1874.] M.P. FOR OXFORD UNIVERSITY. 243

Abercorn ; and the Vice -Chairmen were
Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach, Bart, M.P., Hon.
W. Brodrick, now Lord Midleton, and Rev.
R. Gregory, now Dean of St Paul's. On
October 19 the parting address to Durham
was issued and the contest began — a con-
test referred to by the ' Times ' in October
22 as " second only to the interest of Mr
Gladstone's Lancashire election." It lasted
until November 11, when Sir Roundell
Palmer retired from it, and on November
18 Mr Gathorne Hardy and Mr Mowbray
were returned as burgesses. Sir Roundell
Palmer was a formidable opponent, and the
daily letters to my grandmother, written
during the contest, reflect the fluctuations
of hopes and fears from day to day.
On November 11, Sir Roundell Palmer
retired.

Oct. 8.

Nothing new from Oxford to-day. Things ad-
vanced a little yesterday. Heathcote is to be asked



244 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-

to withdraw his resignation. This is not likely, I
fear, to be the case : if he does not, the party will
fight. Ch. Ch. wishes to have a man, and considers
the choice lies between Sir M. Beach and myself.
Michael Beach says he is too young and will not
stand, but will be my Vice-Chairman, and work as
hard as possible.

Oct. 10.

Things are ripening fast. The murder is out in
five papers, and on Monday I am prepared to find
myself denounced as an ignoramus everywhere.
Of course it becomes a very anxious moment, and
it may make or mar my political life. I have told
the Prime Minister the pros and cons : he says if
they wish you to fight and you think you can win
you must stand.

Oct. 11.

They meet to-morrow to nominate me, but few
men are up and there is a great want of organisa-
tion. On the other hand Palmer's friends are at
work, and have announced that they will nominate
him. I have always doubted whether he would
stand : if he does I believe he will win. But if I
could make a respectable fight and he became Lord
Chancellor, I might still be member for the Uni-
versity at some distant day.



1874.] HOPES AND FEARS. 245

Oct. 17.
Things look very well. A Loudon Committee
with 130 good names at the end of six days! — more
than half the number of Hardy's after six weeks. A
good many supporters who were Gladstonians in
1865, and no desertions of any note. The ' Times '
was very civil yesterday.

Oct. 20.
I am surprised at my own prospects. I don't
want to be too sanguine, but I hope what I hear
from so many quarters may prove to be true.
There is no disunion in our ranks, in spite of their
efforts to disparage me as compared with Eoundell
Palmer. It seems to fail, and we only lose some of
the Wykehamists and neutralise others. People
are working with a heart and a spirit which really
surprise me and tend to keep me happy. Still, the
battle has yet to be fought, and we must be pre-
pared for defeat as well as victory. In truth, the
prize is so much beyond my desserts that I cannot
fancy it is at all within my grasp.

Oct. 23.

The returns are coming in slowly, and my Oxford
Committee are alarmed, but I see no reason to be
discouraged. Unfortunately I can't be chairman
of my own Committee ! I am in a fix between



246 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-

High and Low Church and all their inquiries.
Pusey has declared his neutrality : he has broken
with Palmer and Gladstone, but cannot make up
his mind to go with me.

Nov. 6.
There is no doubt a general impression that
Palmer is to be beaten, and it seems to prevail
among some members of his Committee. If I
could reach on Wednesday the number which
Hardy had one week before the poll began, I should
consider myself safe. There was bitter feeling
against Gladstone. There is none against Palmer,
and I expect a close run and an exciting time.

Nov. 10.

We had a pleasant Lord Mayor's dinner yester-
day, notwithstanding that we do not expect to see
another. Dizzy was happy and jocular : he was
remarkably well received by all the company.
My only anxiety now is the transmission of the
voting - papers. Their organisation for sending
them out is so much better than ours, and I know
so well the importance and the difficulty of the
affair. I mention it that you may not feel dis-
heartened if Roundell Palmer should lead the poll
the first day or two.



1874.] SIR ROUNDELL PALMER RETIRES. 247

November 12.

The paper will have informed you of the joyous
news which " the morrow of S. Martin," henceforth
a memorable day in the household calendar, has
brought to the M.P. elect ! I did not expect it
to-day, although on Monday I was prepared for
it ; but I thought they had made their arrange-
ments for going to the poll. And now arises the
serious thought which has been pressing on me
for many days past, how very much the honour
is beyond anything that I could venture to dream
of, and how serious the responsibility which will
devolve on me in my new sphere of action. I only
hope and pray that as God has been pleased to call
me to such a post, He may give me grace and strength
to do my duty to the Church and University.

[By the retirement of Sir Roundell Palmer
my father's return became unopposed ; and
it is a remarkable fact that in forty -six
years of Parliamentary life, including eleven
general elections and two re - elections on
taking office, he had to go only once to
the poll at a contest — on his first entry
into Parliament in 1853.]



248 IN THE HOUSE. [1866-

November 30.

We have been calling on Sir Eoundell Palmer's
daughters, and there has been a pleasant little
interchange of amiable sentiments between the
ladies. The Ch. Ch. bells have rung merrily in
honour of the new Ch. Ch. burgess, — they say
the first time since the days of Sir E. Inglis.
Gladstone, although a Ch. Ch. man, did not come
in as a Ch. Ch. member. We have been at the
Union, and have had the old journals down and
looked at those which were kept by the rt. honble.
member for Greenwich when he was secretary
as well as by Mr Cornish when he was secretary.

When once the contest was over there
were no longer supporters and opponents
— only constituents. With Sir Roundell
Palmer he resumed his old friendship, and
on March 10, 1869, he writes: —

Coming out with Walpole we met Eoundell
Palmer. He first passed me without speaking,
then seemed to recollect himself and said, " Oh,
Mowbray, I don't think we have met since" —
shook hands warmly and kindly, and moved off
rapidly.



1874.] FRIENDSHIP WITH LORD SELBORNE. 249

In connection with the contest, it is pleas-
ant to recall that the last speech which my