LORD ROSEBERY'S FAILURE. T HE defeat of the Radical party, which
is probably more complete than they are yet aware, has been_ due to many causes; but among them the first has been the failure of their chosen chief. That failure has been to all men, and especially his opponents, a source of acute surprise. Lord Rosebery was received as Premier in March, 1894, throughout the country with a chorus of welcome which extended to both the great parties, and which indeed was broken only by a whispered doubt from the Irish Home-rulers, and-some sullen criticism from those who believe that every Peer is, by the accident of birth, disqualified for leading a democracy. He was young, rich, and full of life ; he had won the favour alike of the country and the Court as Foreign Secretary ; he was supposed, from his record as a London County Councilor, to have a special aptitude for managing men of extreme views ; and he was a finished debater of the type Englishmen like best, one of the men who, like Lord North or Melbourne or Palmerston, could flavour sound sense with a humour palatable alike to the masses and to the men of society. It was supposed that he would rule his Cabinet very easily by his tact, that he would sway the electors by humorously persuasive speeches ; and that he would introduce Radical measures sensible enough to induce the average Briton, who at heart is never either Radical or Tory, to permit them to pass. It was asserted, too,that he had reached power at the psychological moment, that the country had grown weary of Mr. Gladstone's ethical prepossessions, and that a man of the world, simply by being a man of the world, would as Premier be specially attractive. The country is moral to the core when it bethinks itself ; but it has fits of weariness in which the Palmerston type is most acceptable to it, and a Premier who had been a good Fcreign Secretary, was a shrewd, humorous debater, and might win the race for the Derby, found his path for the moment particularly smooth. Except on the racing-field, Lord Rosebery has disappointed all these expectations. He has not managed his Cabinet so as to give himself a free hand, or to conciliate all its members. He has not achieved any conspicuous success in foreign affairs, except, indeed, in beating down the half- hearted mutiny of the Khedive, a feat which, though most difficult and important, did not greatly strike the public, who thought it almost a matter of course. His peculiar talent in speech-making, though it is quite real, and in the Commons would give him great influence, has hardly helped his Government in the least, while his faculty as man of the world, who could be all things to all men, has even told against him. It made him too ready to conciliate the groups and yield to pressures which, in the popular judgment, ought to have been resisted. It induced him to conceal his convictions when he had any, and to treat all men, even mutineers, as if they were or might be helping on the machine. As he was not successful in politics, even his triumphs with Ladas ' and 'Sir Visto ' counted little in his favour, for Englishmen only pardon frivolity in the very strong. In them it is " a human trait," but in the weak or unsuccessful it is " a regrettable defect " to be pardoned in consideration of this, that, or the other. Gradually the rather thin halo which had gathered round Lord Rosebery's head died away, and the great body of the people with their sure, though slow, criticism, came to perceive the fatal want which, when once he was at the head of affairs, impaired or destroyed the value of his considerable powers.
Lord Rosebery lacks political nerve ; and this, not from any defect of temperament, but from a failure in intelli- gence. He is a man of the world who does not understand the true disposition of the community. Like a man of the world he recognises that as things now are " the People" must, when determined, be obeyed ; but he regards that immense entity as a sovereign who must be persuaded like a personal King, or cajoled, or "managed," or, in the last resort, evaded, but never openly defied. He does not compre- hend the instinctive humility of Demos, his knowledge of his own incapacities, his wish to be led or guided towards the goal which he desires to reach. The people is exactly like an army which knows the enemy and the general situation, but to defeat the enemy and escape from the situation in a triumphant way desires a Commander-in- Chief, clear instructions, peremptory orders, and a dis- cipline which may even involve death. The people respect a man who acts like Mr. Fowler. Mr. Fowler had no par- ticular hold on the country, his appointment as Secretary for India was regarded as rather absurd, and he cer- tainly had no special knowledge to qualify him for a task which might appal even a man of genius. But Mr. Fowler had judgment and a will, and no aristocratic feeling that the people was an irresistible power with unknown thoughts and uncertain impulses. Having made up his mind, he announced it, and on three separate occasions defied a majority in the House of Commons, rising on each occasion higher and higher in official repute, and in the favour of his countrymen, until he reached the point at which he could and would, after a triumphant entry into Chitral, have rejected the dangerous policy of annexing that State to our own dominions. Lord Rosebery could not do that. He saw, with his natural keenness in detecting the essence of a situation, that Ireland could not have Home- rule till England was persuaded of the justice of her claim. He revealed that opinion to the country in a phrase so felicitous that it reached every mind interested in politics, and acted as a. search - light acts in a dark harbour ; and then he explained his own epigram away. He had, as he misconceived the position, unintentionally affronted the majority. In reality, he had made a majority for himself at a blow. We do not hesitate to say that if Lord Rosebery had absolutely refused to withdraw or explain his expression about " the predominant partner," had allowed the Irish to shriek as their way is, had let any colleague who objected depart in peace, and had gone forward resolutely in the strength of his own ideas, the Irish would have fallen into rank behind him, a new body of voters would have risen in England to support him, and he would even have brought the cause of Home-rule miles nearer to the compromise for which he probably wished. The effect on his own reputation, as it then stood, would have been a consolidating one. The country would have said, ' Here is a Radical who, seeing facts, states facts, and who knows his own mind, and will lead without misgivings,' and would either have followed him, or, declining to follow, would have regarded him as a great reserve force for another day. Lord Rosebery bent and shrunk not before the people, but before his own idea of the people, and from that moment the public confidence in him ebbed away. He repeated nearly the same tactics in his assault on the House of Peers, leaving in his first speech the impression that he would act at once, and then when the country did not respond, postponing the grand resolution which ultimately he was obliged to abandon without even drawing it up. The people did not accuse him of vacilla- tion, or of indolence, or even of infirmity of purpose, but of something more fatal still, of a wish to be led instead of leading, of deciding to march or retreat only when pushed or pulled from behind. There is no dignity and no charm in that attitude, and so completely did reverence disappear from the Premiership that for months on end Lord Rosebery was apparently forgotten. Any Minister occupied more space in newspaper leaders than he did. Sir William Harcourt—who, though often only an advocate, always, whether as advocate or principal, knows what he means—pushed broad-shouldered through the crowd, the public regard fixed itself on him as the only leader visible, and the reputation of Lord Rosebery as a man competent to govern an Empire, sank to zero. He was not, it was said regretfully, strong enough for the place. It must not be forgotten, of course, that he had singular ill-luck, that he followed a man who had accustomed the country to strenuous and even despotic leading, that he did not form his own Cabinet, that he was out of sympathy with his own leader in the Commons, that he had accepted a pro- gramme for which personally he did not care one jot, and that latterly his health broke down ; but still it was none of these causes which ruined him, but a weakness in his own brain. He misconceived the demo- cracy as a ruler wanting compliances, instead of a ruler wanting clear guidance as to the way to get his purposes carried out. The people wish for general sympathy with their mood at the time ; but that being conceded, they desire their leader to lead, to put his foot down and keep it there, and if he only bows and scrapes, they regard him as of no account. Lord Rosebery is not a contemptible man by any means, but one of great and varied ability, quite enough to make a considerable Premier ; but at the present moment, after having enjoyed a magnificent chance, he is politically despised, beccuse no man is sure that, after he has pointed out the road, he will not within five minutes send his forces in a different direction. He does not want nerve to fight his enemies, but he does want nerve to be himself,—that is, in our judgment, the secret of Lord Rosebery's failure.
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