Mr. Chamberlain has written a very weighty letter to Mr.
Evelyn Ashley on the Round Table Conference, which confirms the view we have just taken. It is true, he says, that Mr. Morley and Sir William Harcourt have always represented that it was his letter to the Baptist which broke off the negotia- tions; but he is quite unable to believe this himself, partly because there was nothing in it that would have justified such a course, and next, because long after that letter had appeared, Sir William Harcourt spoke of the reunion of the Liberal Party quite hopefully. The truth Mr. Chamberlain believes to be that Mr. Gladstone found himself under the necessity of writing a memorandum on the points of agreement arranged at the Conference, and found it a very difficult task. It was delayed from time to time. Sir William Harcourt would not send Mr. Chamberlain any authoritative exposition of the views of the Liberal leader on the results of the Conference, and at last Mr. Gladstone was very glad to use the letter to the Baptist as an excuse for suspending the negotiations. In reality, no doubt, Mr. Parnell was in command of the situation, and Mr. Parnell was not prepared to give way.
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