¹⁰¹⁷ The following day, Churchill suggested to Salisbury that Lord Wolseley should succeed Carnarvon as Lord Lieutenant (Churchill to Salisbury, 2 January 1886: CP, TNA, PRO 30/6/55, fos 165–166). Churchill had also discussed with Carnarvon the possibility of the latter writing a paragraph in the Queen's Speech on Ireland. Carnarvon, on reflection, wrote to Churchill, ‘I doubt, with my ideas of policy, I am the best person to compose the paragraph’ (Carnarvon to Churchill, 3 January 1886: CP, TNA, PRO 30/6/55, fo. 173).

¹⁰¹⁸ Sir Patrick Joseph Keenan (1826–1894), Resident Commissioner of National Education, Ireland.

¹⁰¹⁹ ‘The retirement of Lord Carnarvon’, Evening Standard, 13 January 1886, p. 8.

¹⁰²⁰ The Cabinet had met on 12 January with Carnarvon in Ireland. Parliament assembled on 15 January and adjourned until 20 January.

¹⁰²¹ Cranbrook had received a letter from Salisbury in the morning, offering him the Lord Lieutenancy, but turned it down (A.E. Gathorne-Hardy, Gathorne Hardy, First Earl of Cranbrook: a memoir, 2 vols (London, 1910), II, pp. 253–254). Churchill sent Salisbury next day further suggestions for filling the post, including Cranbrook, ‘W. H. Smith and (please don't be too shocked), myself’ (Churchill to Salisbury, 16 January 1886: Hatfield House Papers, 3M/E).

¹⁰²² See Carnarvon's lengthy letter to Salisbury, written after the Cabinet meeting: Hatfield House Papers, 3M/E.

¹⁰²³ Hart Dyke had informed Salisbury after the Cabinet meeting on 16 January ‘that he did not want to go on as Irish Secretary – Carnarvon had never let him know anything that was going on’ (Salisbury to W.H. Smith, 16 January 1886: Hambleden Papers, PS9/104).

¹⁰²⁴ Lady Spencer, wife of the previous Liberal Lord Lieutenant, commented to her husband on the situation, ‘It is curious to read all the papers and see how completely it [the Government] allowed that the attempts to govern without a Coercion Bill have failed. There never was so disastrous a policy’ (Lady Spencer to Lord Spencer, 20 January 1886: Spencer Papers).

¹⁰²⁵ Carnarvon left by night train to Dublin.

¹⁰²⁶ Salisbury stated, ‘It is impossible to exaggerate the care, benevolence, the tact, the skill which my noble Friend [the Earl of Carnarvon] brought to bear on the task of executing the message of reconciliation of which he announced in this House that he was the bearer’ (Hansard, CCCII, 21 January 1886, col. 66).

¹⁰²⁷ Ibid., Gladstone, cols 100–120, Parnell, cols 151–160.

¹⁰²⁸ CP, BL 60762, fo. 132.

¹⁰²⁹ Carnarvon wrote immediately to Smith, remarking on the latter's ‘great self-sacrifice’ in accepting the post and offered to discuss matters with him (Carnarvon to W.H. Smith, 22 January 1886: Hambleden Papers, PS9/114). Smith crossed over to Ireland on 23 January (W.H. Smith to Carnarvon, 22 January 1886: CP, TNA, PRO 30/6/53, fo. 231). Cranbrook filled Smith's position at the War Office.

¹⁰³⁰ One leader writer commented on Carnarvon's impending departure, ‘Beyond doubt, more regret is felt for his departure than pleasure was experienced for his incoming [. . .]. The character of his Government was greatly affected by his own personality. But he was handicapped too heavily to allow of his doing any substantial or memorable good’ (Freeman's Journal, 25 January 1886, p. 4).

¹⁰³¹ John Monroe (1839–1899), Solicitor-General for Ireland (1885), Judge of the Land Court (1885–1895).

¹⁰³² Smith told his wife, Emily, ‘I am here, very cordially and hospitably entertained by Lady Carnarvon who seems delighted at the chance of receiving me’ (W.H. Smith to Emily Smith, 24 January 1886: Hambleden Papers, A/1064). Carnarvon, for his part, had stated to Salisbury, ‘I think Smith's appointment a very good one’ (Carnarvon to Salisbury, 22 January 1886: Hatfield House Papers, 3M/E).

¹⁰³³ The Times, 26 January 1886, p. 5.

¹⁰³⁴ Arthur MacMorrough Kavanagh (1831–1889), Con. MP for Co. Wexford (1866–1868) and for Co. Carlow (1868–1880), Lord Lieutenant of Co. Carlow (1880–1889).

¹⁰³⁵ Smith was sent to prepare a report on the need for a Coercion Act, in contrast to Carnarvon's attempt to rule by ordinary law. Smith believed that further legislation was necessary (see Douglas, W.H. Smith, p. 204). Smith had informed his wife, ‘The Carnarvons are very kind and do all they can to make things pleasant for me, but it is dreary work and would be unendurable if it were not necessary’ (W.H. Smith to Emily Smith, 25 January 1886: Hambleden Papers, A/1065).

¹⁰³⁶ On 26 January, Hicks Beach gave notice in the Commons that Smith would introduce a Coercion Bill ‘for the purpose of suppressing the National League’ on 28 January, to be followed by an enlarged Land Purchase Bill. The same day, Jesse Collings (1831–1920), Radical MP for Ipswich (1880–1886), introduced an amendment on the subject of ‘three acres and a cow’, on which the Government were beaten by 330 to 252 votes (Fourth night of the debate on the Queen's Speech: Hansard, CCCII, 26 January 1886, Hicks Beach, cols 525–529). See also J. Collings and J.L. Green, Life of the Right Hon. Jesse Collings (London, 1920), pp. 182–191.

¹⁰³⁷ ‘Cabinet unanimously resolved to resign: am communicating now to the Queen, she is very reluctant to accept’ (Salisbury to Carnarvon, 27 January 1886: CP, BL 60762, fo. 133). Carnarvon replied, ‘Many thanks for your telegram. I anticipated the decision and have no doubt that it is quite right’ (Carnarvon to Salisbury, 27 January 1886: CP, TNA, PRO 30/6/55, fo. 235).

¹⁰³⁸ Prince Wilhelm August Eduard (1823–1902) served in the British Army for fifty years and commanded forces in Ireland.

¹⁰³⁹ Lady Maria Elizabeth Ailesbury, widow of the 1st Marquess of Ailesbury.

¹⁰⁴⁰ William Wentworth Fitzwilliam (1748–1833), 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam (1756), Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1795), recalled after three months because of his support for Roman Catholic emancipation.

¹⁰⁴¹ ‘The departure of Lord Carnarvon’, Freeman's Journal, 29 January 1886, p. 5.

¹⁰⁴² Christopher Talbot Redington, Commissioner on Poor Relief and mining royalties and education.

¹⁰⁴³ John Pentland Mahaffy, Professor of Ancient History, Dublin since 1869.

¹⁰⁴⁴ Sir Jacob Astley (1579–1652), Royalist, major-general in the king's army, and later imprisoned.

¹⁰⁴⁵ William S. Forster, Carnarvon's solicitor.

¹⁰⁴⁶ In a speech to his Paddington constituents on 13 February, Churchill claimed that, on the eve of the meeting of Parliament in January, ‘that most estimable and nobleman, Lord Carnarvon, threw up the Government of Ireland’ (The Times, 15 February 1886, p. 10).

¹⁰⁴⁷ The letter quoted another letter sent by Churchill to an Irish priest claiming that Carnarvon had stated ‘that the Conservative leaders had in November 1885 honestly made up their minds to try what they could to introduce Home Rule in Ireland’ (Daily News, 4 March 1886, p. 5).

¹⁰⁴⁸ Maintenance of Social Order (Ireland), committee stage: Hansard, CCCII, 4 March 1886, cols 1919–1998.

¹⁰⁴⁹ The note began, ‘An esteemed Conservative correspondent of high rank, who has rendered distinguished service to the State, sends this lugubrious account of the political position and prospects’ (Pall Mall Gazette, 22 March 1886, p. 3).

¹⁰⁵⁰ Government of Ireland Bill, first reading. For Gladstone's speech, see Hansard, CCCIV, 8 April 1886, cols 1036–1085. Lasting three and a half hours, it set out an ambitious programme for settling the Irish problem. The imperial parliament at Westminster would deal with foreign policy, defence, customs and excise, and religious institutions, with concessions to Ireland on certain matters (see P. Magnus, Gladstone: a biography (London, 1963), pp. 353–354). Edward Hamilton called it ‘the most notable day probably in the annals of the present Houses of Parliament [. . .]. My first impression drawn from a sort of pulse-feeling of the House is that though the Bill may be and probably will be read a second time, it will be scotched and killed in Committee or undergo a most radical amendment’ (Bahlman, III, p. 34).

¹⁰⁵¹ Sir George Otto Trevelyan (1838–1928), Lib. MP for Tynemouth (1865–1868), for Hawick (1868–1886), and for Glasgow, Bridgtown division (1887–1897), Chief Secretary for Ireland (1882–1884), Chancellor, Duchy of Lancaster (1884–1885), Secretary of State for Scotland (1886, 1892–1895). For his speech, see Hansard, CCCIV, 8 April 1886, cols 1114–1124.

¹⁰⁵² After four nights of debate, the Government of Ireland Bill completed its first reading in the Commons.

¹⁰⁵³ Carnarvon replied to Harrowby that there were ‘some very important and serious property questions on hand which no one can deal with but myself to attend to in England. This will I hope enable me to tide over in silence (which I quite recognise to be the best thing) the time between my return and the 2nd reading of the Bill in the H. of C.’ (Carnarvon to Harrowby, 24 April 1886: Harrowby Papers, 2nd series, lii, fos 166–167).

¹⁰⁵⁴ Since 30 April.

¹⁰⁵⁵ Capt. John Foster George Ross-of-Bladensburg (1848–1926). He had wide experience of Ireland, having served Forster, Spencer, and Carnarvon as private secretary. Secretary to two missions to the Holy See in 1887.

¹⁰⁵⁶ Percy Greg (1836–1889), contributor to the Manchester Guardian, the Standard, and the Saturday Review, author of History of the United States from the foundation of Virginia to the Reconstruction of the Union, 2 vols (London, 1887).

¹⁰⁵⁷ Sir Henry Hoyle Howorth (1842–1923), Con. MP for Salford South (1886–1892).

¹⁰⁵⁸ See L.P. Curtis, Coercion and Conciliation in Ireland, 1880–1892: a study in Conservative Unionism (Princeton, NJ, 1963), pp. 42–43.

¹⁰⁵⁹ Sir Frederick Orridge Macmillan (1851–1935), publisher and son of the founder of the firm, Daniel Macmillan.

¹⁰⁶⁰ Gladstone had introduced the second reading of the Government of Ireland Bill on 10 May, which did little to cheer his supporters. At the beginning of May, it was calculated that 119 Liberals would vote against the second reading (see J. Morley, The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, 3 vols (London, 1903), III, p. 332). A meeting was called by Hartington at Devonshire House on 14 May in protest against the proposed scheme for Ireland (see Cooke and Vincent, The Governing Passion, p. 421).

¹⁰⁶¹ Salisbury's speech was to the National Union of Conservative Associations at St James's Hall (The Times, 17 May 1886, p. 6).

¹⁰⁶² See Douglas, W.H. Smith, p. 209.

¹⁰⁶³ A phrase used by Salisbury at the meeting on 15 May. As his daughter commented, ‘For the next half-dozen years it would be safe to say that there was not one Liberal meeting in ten at which some speaker did not repeat the assertion that Lord Salisbury had declared Irishmen to be on a level with Hottentots’ (Cecil, III, p. 209).

¹⁰⁶⁴ Lord James Arthur Butler (1849–1943), State Steward in Carnarvon's household in Ireland.

¹⁰⁶⁵ Oceana, or England and her Colonies, went through two editions on its publication in 1886. It was an account of the Australasian colonies, which Froude had visited in the winter of 1884–1885.

¹⁰⁶⁶ ‘The Tory offer to the Parnellites’, Pall Mall Gazette, 9 June 1886, p. 9. It stated, ‘There is no doubt, I believe, that Lord Carnarvon did express some sort of sympathy with the Home Rule movement, but how far he was authorised to commit his colleagues is another question. There is good reason to believe that he, as well as Lord Randolph Churchill and Mr. W.H. Smith, advised the Cabinet to adopt Home Rule policy.’ The paper followed Parnell's revelation on 7 June, during the twelfth day of debate on the second reading of the Government of Ireland Bill, that a senior Conservative minister had offered him home rule. Shortly after one o'clock on the morning of 8 June, the Government were defeated by 311 to 341 votes. See W.C. Lubenow, Parliamentary Politics and the Home Rule Crisis: the British House of Commons in 1886 (Oxford, 1988), pp. 250–253.

¹⁰⁶⁷ ‘[Parnell's statement] reflects too much on me – and indeed on all members of the Cabinet – to allow me to remain silent’ (Carnarvon to Salisbury, 9 June 1886: Hatfield House Papers, 3M/E).

¹⁰⁶⁸ ‘Who Was It?’, Daily News, 10 June 1886, p. 5.

¹⁰⁶⁹ Sir John Eldon Gorst (1835–1916), Con. MP for Chatham (1875–1892), member of the Fourth Party (1880–1884), Solicitor-General (1885). For his views on Ireland, see R. Hunter, A Life of Sir John Eldon Gorst, 1835–1916: Disraeli's awkward disciple (London, 2001), pp. 182–183.

¹⁰⁷⁰ Ashbourne wrote to Carnarvon the previous day also urging him not to speak ‘on the eve possibly of a general election [. . .]. Statements in public from you [. . .] would to some extent involve saying what your own general views were, and would also be regarded in some quarters as provocative’ (Ashbourne to Carnarvon, 9 June 1886: CP, BL 60857, fos 114–115).

¹⁰⁷¹ The Government of Ireland Bill. The Earl of Carnarvon and Mr. Parnell. Personal Statement: Hansard, CCCVI, 10 June 1886, cols 1256–1260. Parliament was dissolved that day.

¹⁰⁷² Isaac Newton Wallop (1825–1906), 5th Earl of Portsmouth (1854), married Carnarvon's sister, Eveline (1885).

¹⁰⁷³ Carnarvon told Harrowby, ‘I never doubted the wisdom of my course. As you know, though, it was a disagreeable one to follow in the teeth of remonstrances and opposition from some of my old colleagues. But it was necessary for my own honour, and I am convinced was quite as much a gain to them as it could be to me’ (Carnarvon to Harrowby, 11 June 1886: Harrowby Papers, 2nd series, lii, fos 168–169).

¹⁰⁷⁴ The leader in the paper stated, ‘The clear honour, the chivalrous assumption of responsibility, the ingenuousness and fearlessness, the simplicity of purpose and policy – all in short, which we look to find in a member of our historic aristocracy – stand revealed throughout this admirable deliverance in the most brilliant and striking relief’ (Daily Telegraph, 11 June 1886, p. 5).

¹⁰⁷⁵ Parnell repeated his claim of Carnarvon's offer of home rule at their interview (The Times, 12 June 1886, p. 10). Carnarvon's robust reply was printed in The Times, 14 June 1886, p. 10.

¹⁰⁷⁶ Salisbury's cool reply began, ‘I must protest most earnestly against your making any statement of what passed between yourself and me when we were Cabinet ministers together upon official business.’ It ended, ‘we must leave what has been said where it is’ (Salisbury to Carnarvon, 19 June 1886: CP, BL 60760, fo. 97).

¹⁰⁷⁷ Gladstone had left London for Scotland on 17 June for his Midlothian campaign. He delivered speeches at Edinburgh on 18 and 21 June and at Glasgow on 22 June. Parliament was dissolved on 10 June and the general election was to begin on 11 July. For the second Edinburgh speech, see The Times, 22 June 1886, p. 10.

¹⁰⁷⁸ Carnarvon to Salisbury, 23 June 1886 (copy): CP, BL 60760, fos 98–100; most of the text is reproduced in Hardinge, III, pp. 227–229.

¹⁰⁷⁹ Salisbury replied on 27 June, ‘I must have expressed myself very ill if I appeared to imply that you were seeking to transfer your own responsibility to me or anyone else.’ See Cecil, III, pp. 161–162; Salisbury to Carnarvon, 27 June 1886: CP, BL 60760, fos 101–104.

¹⁰⁸⁰ Salisbury wrote, ‘I still shrink from the statement of anything that has gone on in Cabinet. In fact I could not do so without the Queen's permission’ (Salisbury to Carnarvon, 29 June 1886: CP, BL 60760, fo. 105). The letter was accompanied by a memorandum that Salisbury had drawn up the previous day, giving an account of his involvement in the Parnell–Carnarvon meeting and denying that Carnarvon had resigned over differences with the Cabinet on Irish policy. Carnarvon discussed the memorandum at the meeting and endorsed it ‘Copy of Lord Salisbury's memo. Sent by him to me, with some alterations and suggestions made by me to him when we met on 29 June. He adopted them and made his speech the same evening having regard to them.’ The original memorandum is at Hatfield, with a copy in CP, BL 60760, fos 108–111.

¹⁰⁸¹ In Salisbury's speech at the annual dinner of the Constitutional Union the previous evening, defending Carnarvon's actions, he stated, ‘I defy Mr. Parnell to advance the slightest proof for the slanderous assertions he has made’ (The Times, 30 June 1886, p. 14).

¹⁰⁸² An item in The Times the same day, headed ‘The Conservative Ministry and Mr Parnell’, p. 15, included mention of a letter received by Carnarvon from Walter Money, a leading member of the Conservatives in South Berkshire, supporting Carnarvon's actions in his dealings with Parnell.

¹⁰⁸³ There were thirty-three unopposed seats and one contested one declared (The Times, 2 July 1886, p. 5).

¹⁰⁸⁴ Gladstone complained that a letter appearing in the Daily News on 29 June was probably inspired by Carnarvon and that it claimed that ‘I have construed your speech in the House of Lords [on 10 June] “into an acceptance of my Irish legislation.” It discourteously goes on to allege that I have done this “for electioneering purposes”’ (Gladstone to Carnarvon, 5 July 1886: CP, BL 60773, fos 34–35, and The Times, 6 July 1886, p. 5; see also Hardinge, III, pp. 230–231). In The Times of the previous day, Carnarvon had rebutted similar claims in a letter of 29 June from Gladstone to ‘Mr. Tait’, but it is unclear whether he was referring to the same letter: The Times, 5 July 1886, p. 8.

¹⁰⁸⁵ The letter was published in The Times, 8 July 1886, p. 12.

¹⁰⁸⁶ After receiving Gladstone's letter of 8 July, with neither man conceding ground, Carnarvon replied, ‘I agree with you that there can be no advantage in prolonging this correspondence’ (Carnarvon to Gladstone, 11 July 1886: Gladstone Papers, BL 44498, fo. 179).

¹⁰⁸⁷ At the general election, 316 Conservatives were returned, 77 Liberal Unionists, 192 Liberals, and 85 Home Rulers, an overall Unionist majority of 116.

¹⁰⁸⁸ Four days later, Carnarvon decided not to proceed with the plan, on two grounds: ‘First, I doubt if people are generally ready for any considerations on Irish policy except those of the Government – and next I also doubt if it would be fair to the Government to anticipate their programme by any suggestion from one who had recently been their colleague’ (Carnarvon to Howorth, 29 July 1886 (copy): CP, BL 60775, fo. 116).

¹⁰⁸⁹ Salisbury to Carnarvon, 25 July 1886: CP, BL 60760, fos 112–113; Cecil, III, 311–312.

¹⁰⁹⁰ Algernon Keith-Falconer (1852–1910), 9th Earl of Kintore (1880), Conservative Whip in the Lords (1885–1889).

¹⁰⁹¹ Salisbury saw Hartington on 23 July and refused all ideas of a coalition. At a further meeting the following morning, Salisbury offered him the premiership, but this was also turned down. See B. Holland, The Life of Spencer Compton, Eighth Duke of Devonshire, 2 vols (London, 1911), II, pp. 169–171. In his letter of 25 July, Salisbury confided in Carnarvon, ‘I have tried hard to induce Hartington to take the Prime Minister's place, but he has definitely refused and I have therefore kissed hands today. I think I ought to write to you before I write to anyone else to explain the peculiar position I am in.’

¹⁰⁹² An account of the meeting was later given by a senior Conservative MP who attended: Sir J. Mowbray, Seventy Years at Westminster (Edinburgh and London, 1900), pp. 305–306.

¹⁰⁹³ Carnarvon wrote to Salisbury, ‘I am much obliged to you for your frank and friendly letter. I fully understand the position and appreciate all that you say. I could render you real help in the present circumstances by joining your Cabinet, but as I said today at the Carlton you have my best wishes and may count on any support that I can give’ (Carnarvon to Salisbury, 27 July 1886: Hatfield House Papers, 3M/E).

¹⁰⁹⁴ The Times, 29 July 1886, p. 9. Hicks Beach had been leader of the Conservatives in the Commons since June 1885, in succession to Northcote. On 25 July 1886, he wrote to Salisbury stating that he wished to be relieved of the post. He was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland. Churchill, at the age of thirty-six, became Leader of the House and Chancellor of the Exchequer.

¹⁰⁹⁵ Henry Matthews (1826–1913), Con. MP for Dungarvan (1868–1874) and for Birmingham East (1886–1895). He was the first Catholic cabinet minister since the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829.

¹⁰⁹⁶ Sir George Russell (1828–1898), 4th Baronet Russell (1883), Con. MP for Wokingham (1885–1898).

¹⁰⁹⁷ The new Parliament met on 5 August. In the debate on the Queen's Speech, Carnarvon defended his Irish policy: Hansard, CCCVIII, 19 August 1886, cols 51–55.

¹⁰⁹⁸ For Carnarvon's full speech, see ibid., cols 55–79.

¹⁰⁹⁹ The identity of this person is not known.

¹¹⁰⁰ ‘Resignation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’, The Times, 23 December 1886, p. 9. Churchill had delivered the notice of resignation to the offices of The Times in the interval of a theatre visit (see R.F. Foster, Lord Randolph Churchill: a political life (Oxford, 1981), p. 309).

¹¹⁰¹ Churchill dined with the Jeunes on 26 December. A full account of Churchill's views are described in Susan Jeune's autobiography, Memories of Fifty Years (London, 1909), pp. 274–275.

¹¹⁰² The immediate cause of Churchill's resignation were the estimates submitted by spending departments, which he considered to be excessive. Smith at the War Office and George Hamilton at the Admiralty were the two main culprits. For a detailed personal account of the immediate events leading to Churchill's resignation, see Lord G.F. Hamilton, Parliamentary Reminiscences and Reflections, vol. 2: 1886–1906 (London, 1922), pp. 48–53. As Smith wrote in a letter to Cranbrook, ‘The real truth is I think that it is not possible for him [Churchill] to yield his opinion or mould it so as to co-operate with his Colleagues. He must rule & my estimates have only been a pretext’ (W.H. Smith to Cranbrook, 24 December 1886: Cranbrook Papers, HA3 T501/260).

¹¹⁰³ ‘The resignation of Lord Randolph Churchill: special Cabinet meeting today at the Foreign Office’, Pall Mall Gazette, 28 December 1886, p. 8.