4/J
MARGOT ASQUITH
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
VOLUMES THREE AND FOUR
WITH TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS
AND NUMEROUS REPRODUCTIONS OF
LETTERS AND DRAWINGS
'Les chiens aboyent, la caravane passe."
MARGOT ASQUITH
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
VOLUME FOUR
NEW ^Sr YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1922,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
'-'
06?
MARGOT ASQUITH: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY, VOLUME FOUR, i
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS OF
VOLUME FOUR
CHAPTER I
PAGE
EVE OP THE GREAT WAR — ASQUITII WARNS EMPIRE OP WAR,
JULY 29, 1914 — VISIT TO THE GERMAN EMBASSY — KITCHENER
AS MARGOT KNEW HIM — WAR DECLARED AUG. 4 .... 11
CHAPTER II
SCENES IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS — GRAVE NEWS FROM FRANCE
— KITCHENER THE AUTOCRAT — ORDERS TO SIR JOHN FRENCH
— VISIT TO BELGIAN FRONT 72
CHAPTER III
INFLUENCE OF THE PRESS — MAHGOT SHUNNED AS PRO-GERMAN —
THE COALITION; LLOYD GEORGE AND SHELLS — DUPLICITY OF
SIR JOHN FRENCH — PORTRAIT OF LORD READING .... 106
CHAPTER IV
CABINET INTRIGUES — PRESSURE ON THE PREMIER — ASQUITH RE-
SIGNS; LLOYD GEORGE SUCCEEDS HIM — EPISODE AT A TEA-
PARTY; HARSH TREATMENT OF ALIENS 132
CHAPTER V
GERMAN PEACE OVERTURES — LORD LANSDOWNE'S LETTER — THE
MAURICE LETTER — FOCH AS GENERALISSIMO — HOUSE OF COM-
MONS DEBATE ON MAURICE CHARGE 147
CHAPTER VI
ARMISTICE DAY IN LONDON — SCENE AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE
AND ST. PAUL'S — PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT WILSON — THE
KHAKI ELECTIONS AND DEFEAT OF THE LIBERALS .... 173
EPILOGUE
AFTERMATH OF THE WAR 202
INDEX
COMPLETE INDEX OF VOLUMES ONE TO FOUE INCLUSIVE . . . 915
[v]
ILLUSTRATIONS OF
VOLUME FOUR
PRINCESS BIBESCO, WIFE OF THE RUMANIAN MINISTER AT WASH-
INGTON Frontispiece
PAGE
VISCOUNT GREY OF FALLODON 16
LETTER TO MRS. ASQUITH FROM MR. JOHN REDMOND .... 25
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WINSTON CHURCHILL 32
LETTER TO MRS. ASQUITH FROM LORD KITCHENER, 19 AUGUST,
1914 35
LETTER TO MRS. ASQUITH FROM LORD FISHER, 6 SEPTEMBER, 1909 38
LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER FROM LORD KITCHENER, 14 APRIL, 1915 46
LORD MORLEY 48
LETTER TO MRS. ASQUITH FROM VISCOUNT MORLEY, 9 AUGUST, 1914 51
LORD READING 80
MRS. ASQUITH 96
THE PRIME MINISTER AND SIR JOHN FRENCH AT G. H. Q.,
FRANCE, 1914 112
MR. ASQUITH AND His SON ANTHONY AT "THE WHARF" . . 128
MARSHAL FOCH 160
PRESIDENT WILSON 192
MRS. ASQUITH AND HER GBANDBABY, PRISCILLA BIBESCO . . . 208
[vii]
MARGOT ASQUITH
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
MARGOT ASQUITH
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER I
EVE OF THE GREAT WAR — ASQUITH WARNS EMPIRE
OF WAR, JULY 29, 1914 — VISIT TO THE GERMAN
EMBASSY — KITCHENER — WAR DECLARED AU-
GUST 4
10 Downing Street, July, 1914.
IT is not my purpose to write a history of the
war; or of any of the campaign, either in its
successes or failures. These have been fully dealt
with by most of the great Generals and many com-
petent amateurs. But from my diaries and notes
taken often on the same day I shall give a true
and simple account of what I saw and heard from
August the 4th, 1914, until we left Downing Street
in December, 1916.
The London season of 1914 had been a disap-
pointing one for me, and not an amusing one for
Elizabeth, and as I was anxious that she should
have a little fun I sent her alone on the 25th of
MARGOT ASQUITH
July to stay with Mrs. George Keppel, who had
taken a house in Holland.
Alice Keppel is a woman of almost historical
interest, not only from her friendship with King
Edward, but from her happy personality, and her
knowledge of society and of the men of the day.
She is a plucky woman of fashion; human, adven-
turous, and gay, who in spite of doing what she
liked all her life, has never made an enemy. Her
native wit and wits cover a certain lack of culture,
but her desire to please has never diminished her
sincerity.
When we had to leave Downing Street without
a roof over our heads in 1916 — as our house in
Cavendish Square was let to Lady Cunard — she
put her own bedroom and sitting-room at my dis-
posal and insisted upon living on an upper storey
herself.
To be a Liberal in high society is rare: indeed I
often wonder in what society they are to be found.
I do not meet them among golfers, soldiers, sailors,
or servants; nor have I seen much Liberalism in
the Church, the Court, or the City ; but Alice Kep-
pel was born in Scotland and has remained a true
Liberal.
[12]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
King Edward asked me once if I had ever known
a woman of kinder or sweeter nature than hers,
and I could truthfully answer that I had not.
When Elizabeth went to Holland on the 25th
(July) Foreign affairs were not causing uneasiness
to any of the people that I had seen. But a feeling
of apprehension made me telegraph to her a few
days after her departure to tell her to return. She
arrived on the 1st of August accompanied by Lord
Castlerosse and other young men who had been
summoned to join their regiments. She told me
she would never have been allowed to travel had
she not dined early and in a serge dress, and that
no one in Holland felt the slightest anxiety over
the European situation.
Some weeks after she had been with me, I re-
ceived the following letter from Alice Keppel,
which I have kept and shall always value.
"Margot dearest — you must get stronger; the
time is coming when we shall all have to keep a stiff
upper lip. Your heart is too large; you feel other
people's sorrows as much as your own, but the grit
you have always had is ever there. I think you are
right when you say that there has been a lack of
[18]
MARGOT ASQUITH
feeling in the last few years. What struck me was
the want of real gaiety about everything; but au
fond I feel the British people are as sensible and
straight-thinking as they ever were, and believe we
shall come out of this better and stronger.* Eliza-
beth's visit has been a real joy; she is a delightful
childx only 17! with such a quick bright brain and
a heart of gold. We all — including servants —
loved her, and her wish to help in every way in
the house I found charming. When the war news
grew black all she said was '/ miist go back or
Mother will row over for me !' You have a darling
girl, Margot, clever — and better than that — loving,
unselfish and good.
"Your always affec.
"ALICE K."
The apprehension I felt was shared by no one in
London society, and as late as the 29th (July),
when the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord
D'Abernon were lunching in Downing Street, they
were amazed when I told them I had stopped my
* (I had mentioned in my letter of thanks to her the cruelties of
the Suffragettes, and the indifference shown over the drowning of a
friend of ours at a supper party on the Thames; also a general lack
of reverence among the young intellectuals that had been growing up
in England and wondered if there was not some better reason to
account for the situation.)
[14]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
sister Lucy going to paint in France, and had tele-
graphed for Elizabeth to return from Holland.
What had frightened me was that, on Monday
the 27th, Sir Edward Grey announced in the
House that he had made a proposal to Germany,
France, and Italy, to hold a Conference with Great
Britain, but that, although France and Italy had
accepted, no reply had been received from Ger-
many.
July 29th, 1914.
The strain of waiting for foreign telegrams with
the fear of war haunting my brain had taken away
all my vitality, and on Wednesday the 29th I went
to rest before dinner earlier than usual ; but I could
not sleep. I lay awake listening to the hooting of
horns, screams of trains, the cries of street traffic
as if they had been muffled drums heard through
thick muslin.
At 7.30 p.m. the door opened and Henry came
into my bedroom. I saw at once by the gravity of
his face that something had happened : he generally
walks up and down when talking, but he stood
quite still.
I sat up and we looked at each other.
[15]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"I have sent the precautionary telegram to every
part of the Empire," he said, "informing all the
Government Offices — Naval, Military, Trade and
Foreign — that they must prepare for war. We
have been considering this for the last two years at
the Committee of Defence, and it has never been
done before ; for over an hour and a half we worked,
and the last telegram was sent oif at 3.30 this after-
noon. We have arranged to see the representa-
tives of the Press daily, so as to tell them what they
may, and what they may not publish."
Deeply moved, and thrilled with excitement, I
observed the emotion in his face and said:
"Has it come to this!" At which he nodded
without speaking, and after kissing me left the
room.
Thursday, July 30thf 1914.
The next day I went to the Speaker's Gallery,
full of apprehension.
The House of Commons seemed unfamiliar; yet
how well I knew it! The smiling policeman and
rapid lift; the courteous servants, noiseless doors;
and the ugly, pretty, stupid, clever, West End
ladies' faces. The suppressed chatter, dingy air,
[16]
Photo by Harris Agency
DISCOUNT GHEY OF FALLODEJT
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
frugal teas, and cheerless light of the Speaker's
Gallery — all these I knew and loved, "but they
seemed changed for me that afternoon.
The position of affairs following on the Austrian
note to Servia had developed with alarming rapid-
ity. Mr. Bonar Law and Sir Edward Carson had
seen my husband in the morning, and they had
parted in complete agreement over the gravity of
the situation.
It was impossible for Henry to move his Irish
Amending Bill, which had been awaited with pas-
sionate excitement and was to have taken place
that day.
<
I went to the Prime Minister's room on my ar-
rival at the House, but, seeing Dillon and Red-
mond waiting outside his door, I remained in the
passage.
Before going into the Gallery, Henry and I met
for a moment alone, and I asked him if things were
really so alarming. To which he replied:
"Yes, I'm afraid they are: our fellows don't all
agree with me about the situation, but times are too
serious for any personal consideration and whether
X or Z do or do not resign matters little
[17]
MARGOT ASQUITH
to me, as long as Crewe and Grey are there : I don't
intend to be caught napping."
I remember vaguely the frigid acknowledgments
of some of the Ulster aristocracy and a withdrawal
of skirts as I took my seat in the closely packed
Gallery and watched my husband with throbbing
pulses as he rose to his feet.
"I do not propose to make the motion which
stands in my name," he said, "but by the indulgence
of the House I should like to give the reason. We
meet to-day under conditions of gravity which are
almost unparalleled in the experience of every one
of us. The issues of peace and war are hanging in
the balance, and with them the risk of a catastrophe
of which it is impossible to measure either the
dimensions or the effects. In these circumstances
it is of vital importance in the interests of the whole
world that this country, which has no interest of
its own directly at stake, should present a united
front, and be able to speak and act with the author-
ity of an undivided nation. If we were to proceed
to-day with the first Order on the paper, we should
inevitably, unless the Debate was conducted in an
artificial tone, be involved in acute controversy in
regard to domestic differences whose importance
[18]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
to ourselves no one in any quarter of the House is
disposed to disparage. I need not say more than
that such a use of our time at such a moment might
have injurious effects on the international situation.
I have had the advantage of consultation with the
Leader of the Opposition, who, I know, shares to
the full the view which I have expressed. We
therefore propose to put off for the present the
consideration of the Second Reading of the
Amending Bill — of course without prejudice to
its future — in the hope that, by a postponement of
the discussion, the patriotism of all parties will con-
tribute what lies in our power, if not to avert, at
least to circumscribe the calamities which threaten
the world."
When he sat down there was a look of bewilder-
ment amounting to awe upon every member's face.
I got up to go, but the fashionable females crowded
round me, pressing close and asking questions.
"Good Heavens! Margot!" they said, "what can
this mean? Don't you realise the Irish will be
fighting each other this very night? How fearfully
dangerous! What does it mean?"
The Orange aristocracy, who had been engaged
in strenuous preparations for their civil war and
[19]
MARGOT ASQUITH
had neither bowed nor spoken to me for months
past, joined in the questioning. Looking at them
without listening and answering as if in a dream,
I said:
"We are on the verge of a European War."
July 3l8t} 1914.
The next day, Friday the 31st, while I was
breakfasting in bed, my husband came to see me.
Having heard in a general way that things were
going a little better, I looked anxiously at his face ;
but he said that he himself had given up all hope,
and left the room.
After a long Cabinet he lunched at the Admi-
ralty, and went to Buckingham Palace, where he
remained for over an hour with the King.
He arrived late at the House, having been kept
by an interview with business men in the City.
"They are the greatest ninnies I have ever had to
tackle," he said, "I found them all in a state of
funk, like old women chattering over tea in a
Cathedral town."
He left me and hurried into the House to make
the following statement :
[20]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
"We have heard, not from St. Petersburg, but
from Germany, that Russia has proclaimed a gen-
eral mobilisation of her army and her fleet; and
that, in consequence of this, martial law was to be
proclaimed for Germany. We understand this to
mean that mobilisation will follow in Germany, if
the Russian mobilisation is general and is proceeded
with. In these circumstances I should prefer not
to answer any questions until Monday."
I could see that, in spite of Henry's marvellously
calm temper and even spirits, he was deeply
anxious.
There are certain sorts of men who in times of
crisis wonder what they themselves can get out of
the situation; and could I but write frankly of the
conduct of, not only one or two of the Colleagues,
but of other men in the early days of the war, it
would be interesting, in view of the stories current
at the time, and the nonsense that has been invented
since. But the sorrows of those early days, and the
tragic events which led up to the war are too fresh
in my heart for me to chronicle gossip.
Conversation at dinner in Downing Street that
night was difficult, and whatever topic was started
was immediately dropped. When we had finished,
[21]
MARGOT ASQUITH
Henry went down to the Cabinet room and Sir
Edward Grey joined us in the drawing-room. We
sat and talked in a disjointed way, all sitting in a
circle.
I watched Grey's handsome face and felt the
healing freshness of his simple and convinced per-
sonality. He is a man who "thinks to scale," as
Lord Moulton once said to me of Rufus Reading,
and obliges one to reconstruct the meaning of the
word Genius.
In the middle of our languid talk, messengers
came in with piles of Foreign Office boxes and
he jumped up and left the room.
Mr. Montagu (Financial Secretary to the Treas-
ury) came in, and, after exchanging a few words,
he seized me by the arm and said in a violent
whisper :
"We ought to mobilise to-morrow and declare it!
I wish X and Z could be crushed for ever!
their influence is most pernicious : would you believe
it they are all against any form of action !"
"How about McKenna?" I asked; to which he
replied :
"Oh! he's splendid! Most loyal, and in perfect
[22]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
agreement with the Prime Minister. X is mad
not to see that we must mobilise at once I"
"Don't fret!" I said calmly, "neither X nor
Z will have the smallest influence over Henry;
his mind, alas ! has been made up from the first and
no one will be able to change it now."
August 1st, 1914.
On Saturday the 1st we read in the papers that
Germany had declared war upon Russia.
The Beckendorff s * dined with us that night and
we had a lively altercation. He said that it was not
the Kaiser but his War Party that had prompted
the Germans to make this move. I disagreed, as
I could not but think that the Kaiser, being the
big figure in Germany, was unlikely to be influ-
enced by his son or by any person or Party. I
added impulsively that I was glad that we could
act together as a nation independent of every other
country, which was not very tactful, but I could
not help thinking how much I would have disliked
any alliance with a country as misgoverned as Rus-
sia, and remembered in that connection the saying
that "Britons never, never will be Slavs!"
We were still worried over the Irish question,
* Count Beckendorff, the late Russian Ambassador.
[23]
MARGOT ASQUITH
and after dinner I wrote a line to Mr. Redmond
telling him that he had the opportunity of his life
of setting an unforgettable example to the Carson-
ites if he would go to the House of Commons on
the Monday and in a great speech offer all his
soldiers to the Government; or, if he preferred it,
write and offer them to the King. It appeared
to me that it would be a dramatic thing to do at
such a moment, and might strengthen the claim of
Ireland upon the gratitude of the British people.
On Sunday morning, August the 2nd, he replied
to me in the following letter :
"Private. «lg WYNNSTAY GARDENS,
"KENSINGTON.
"DEAR MRS. ASQUITH,
"I received your letter late last night. I am very
grateful to you for it. I hope to see the Prime
Minister to-morrow before the House meets if only
for a few moments, and I hope I may be able to
follow your advice.
"With sincere sympathy,
"I am, Very truly yours,
"Sunday, "J" E' REDMOND-
"2nd Aug., 1914."
[24]
18, WYNNSTAY GARDENS,
KENSINGTON;
[25]
MARGOT ASQUITH
After reading this I went with Elizabeth to the
Communion Service at St. Paul's. It was a relief
to see the children sitting as usual on the steps
playing with the strutting pigeons, and as I walked
out of the baking sunlight into the cool Cathedral
my mind felt at rest.
I dropped Elizabeth at 10 Downing Street on
my return and went across the Horse Guards to
Carlton House Terrace to ask if I could see the
Lichnowskys.*
It was the habit of the Germans to choose men
of honour for their Ambassadors in London, and
to appoint as first secretaries men versed in political
intrigue capable of keeping the Kaiser informed of
every facet of our domestic policy.
Prince Lichnowsky followed the footsteps of his
predecessor, Count Metternich, and was a sincere
and honest man. He had a pointed head, a peevish
voice, and bad manners with servants. He com-
bined in his personal appearance a look of race and
a Goya picture. His wife was a handsome woman
of talents and character, who from perversity, lack
of vanity, and love of caprice, had allowed her
figure to get fat; a condition that always preju-
* Prince Lichnowsky was the German Ambassador.
[26]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
dices me. But in Princess Lichnowsky I found so
much nature, affection and enterprise that, in spite
of black socks, white boots and crazy tiaras, I could
not but admire her. She detested the influence of
the Prussian Court ; and the Kaiser — to whom her
husband had always been loyal — was a forbidden
subject between them.
When the Prince first arrived in London, he told
me that, on the occasion of his appointment as Brit-
ish Ambassador, he had said to the Kaiser that if
he intended making trouble in England he had got
hold of the wrong man. On hearing this, I asked
if he thought there was much feeling against us
in Germany; at which he assured me with perfect
sincerity that the relations between the two coun-
tries were excellent; that there was a great deal of
exaggeration in the talk, and that he himself had
never observed any ill-feeling, but added with an
innocent smile :
"Our Kaiser is a man of impulse."
That Sunday morning I found Princess Lich-
nowsky lying on a green sofa with a Dachshund
by her side ; her eyes starved and swollen from cry-
ing, and her husband, walking up and down the
room, was wringing his hands. On seeing me he
[27]
MARGOT ASQUITH
caught me by the arm and said in a hoarse, high
voice:
"Oh! say there is surely not going to be war!"
(he pronounced war as if it rhymed with far).
"Dear Mrs. Asquith, can nothing be done to pre-
vent it!"
I sat down on the sofa and putting my arms
round Mechtilde Lichnowsky we burst into tears.
She got up and pointing out of the window to the
sky and green trees said with impulse:
"To think that we should bring such sorrow on
innocent happy people! Have I not always
loathed the Kaiser and his brutes of friends I One
thousand times I have said the same, and I will
never cross his threshold again."
Prince Lichnowsky sat down beside us in great
agitation :
"But I do not understand what has happened!
What is it all about?" he asked.
To which I replied:
"I can only imagine the evil genius of your
Kaiser . . ." at this the Prince interrupted me:
"He is ill-informed — impulsive, and must be
mad! he never listens, or believes one word of what
I say; he answers none of my telegrams."
[28]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I told him that Count Metternich had been
treated in precisely the same manner; Mechtilde
Lichnowsky adding with bitterness:
"Ah! that brutal hard war party of ours makes
men fiends !"
I remained for a few moments doing what I
could to console them but felt powerless, and when
I said good-bye to the Ambassador tears were run-
ning down his cheeks.
Mr. Montagu dined with us that night. Though
gloomy and depressed he was less excited than he
had been on the previous Friday.
"Till last night," he said, "I had hoped against
hope that we might have been able to keep out of
this war, but my hopes have vanished. All the men
I've seen feel like me except X , who is in-
triguing with that scoundrel Z . I asked the
Attorney-General yesterday what was going to
be said upon specie in the House to-morrow, and
he answered:
" 'Don't worry ! none of us can say at this mo-
ment what resignations the Prime Minister may or
may not have in his hands at to-morrow's Cabinet.' '
Feeling profoundly indignant I thought of say-
ing:
[29]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"All right! You can warn these men that noth-
ing will affect my husband ; he will form a Coalition
with the other side and then they will be done for" ;
but, as there was no one whose judgment I particu-
larly valued on the Opposition benches, I refrained,
and contented myself by asking if he really thought
X and Z would resign at the next day's
Cabinet. We were interrupted by O coming
into the room, and, not having seen him for some
days and knowing that he knew the inner workings
of X 's mind, I asked him if it was really true
that X was intriguing with the Pacifists, to
which O replied:
"He has always loathed militarism, as you know,
since the days of the Boer War, and has an inferior
crowd round him, but, until he knows how much
backing he will have in the country, I doubt if he
will commit himself."
'August 3rd, 1914.
After what Mr. Montague and others had told
me I felt full of anxiety when I woke up on the
Monday morning (the 3rd of August, 1914), and,
thinking over the two Ministers most likely to re-
[30]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
sign, I wondered what line Henry would take in
the Cabinet.
It is always interesting to speculate on the mo-
tives that move men, and after considerable experi-
ence I have come to the conclusion that self-love
or self -consciousness of some kind lies at the root
of most resignations. At every stage in life men
are to be found on the point of resigning. They
start in the nursery, and continue in the servants'
hall. We are all familiar with such phrases as:
"Oh! very well then, I shan't play!" or:
"In that case, ma'am, I had perhaps better go."
Unselfcentred people do not suffer from the
same temptations : they are simple and disengaged,
willing to help and ready to combine or stand aside.
Threatening to resign is a mild form of blackmail
equally common to both sexes.
We had men of every persuasion in our Govern-
ment, Jews, Celts and Nonconformists. I have
never understood why anyone should be proud of
having either Jewish or Celtic blood in his veins.
I have had, and still have, devoted friends among
the Jews, but have often been painfully reminded
of the saying, "A Jew is round your neck, at your
feet, but never by your side" ; Celtic blood is usually
[31]
MARGOT ASQUITH
accompanied by excited brains and a reckless tem-
perament, and is always an excuse for exaggera-
tion. When not whining or wheedling, the Celt is
usually in a state of bluff or funk, and can always
wind himself up to the kind of rhetoric that no
housemaid can resist.
Nor can I say that the Nonconformist con-
science has never disappointed me. At one time it
was the backbone of this country, nobly presented
as it has always been by the Manchester Guardian;
but the Government policy in Ireland of an Eye
for an Eye, or two teeth for one, dignified by the
name of "Official Reprisals," stirred little indigna-
tion in the breasts of the Nonconformists or their
Press; and the men I know who claim to have it
to-day are maidenly, mulish and dusty.
There has been much misrepresentation about
our Party entering into the war ; nor can I tell the
whole truth about it, but there are a few general
observations which I can make here as appropri-
ately as in any other part of this volume.
The Liberal Party has always hated Force, and
love of Peace is what their opponents most dislike
in them.
It is not easy for any Prime Minister to commit
[32]
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WINSTON CHUHCH1I.I.
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
his Party to a war on foreign soil with an unknown
foe, but it was lucky for this country that the Lib-
erals were in power in 1914, as men might have been
suspicious of acquiescing in such a terrible decision
at the dictation of a Jingo Government.
War being, as John Hay said, "The most Futile
and Ferocious of all human follies," no one can
be blamed for hesitating to enter into it. But as so
much political capital has been made out of the
winning of the Great War it is only fair that people
should know what actually happened. If any of
the myths are still believed, I am in a position to
dispel them, and I can only say that, despite the
wavering of some of the Colleagues, neither Sir
Edward Grey, Mr. Herbert Samuel, Mr. Run-
ciman, Mr. McKenna, or Lord Crewe showed the
smallest hesitation, and my husband made up his
mind from the first day that we were bound in
honour to fight. His faith was as great as the fears
of a few of his Colleagues were shallow, and his
heart was fixed.
In Proverbs xxix, verse 18, it says: "Where there
is no vision the people perish," and I have some-
times wondered what would have happened if
Henry had not sent the Precautionary telegrams
[33]
MARGOT ASQUITH
as early as the 29th of July, 1914, and followed
them by speeches which inspired the whole British
Empire.
What was the position of our Army in the year
1914? Thanks to Lord Haldane, Mr. Balfour,
Sir Maurice Hankey and my husband we had an
Expeditionary Force not large enough to fight half
Europe — because no minister would remain in
power for a week who attempted to keep an army
for such event — but more perfectly trained and
equipped than any body of men that ever left our
shores. And they could have been backed by an
even larger army had the Territorials been made
use of, but Lord Kitchener did not care for other
men's schemes and had not been long enough in this
country to know what had been happening. He
was a lovable man of great ability, but he had a
moderate understanding.
A good deal that is dull and inaccurate has been
published about him, but, whether from too much
or too little admiration, the Kitchener that I knew
has not been truly presented to the world.
In spite of a striking appearance his frank desert
eye was misleading. A fine figure of commanding
height, added to an address both autocratic and
[34]
WAR, OFFICE,
WHITEN ALL.
6.W.
6L&-ir-tA^ ~
/t>
_
[36]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
abrupt, conveyed to strangers the not altogether
true impression that Lord Kitchener was a man
of high moral courage and inexorable will. Be this
as it may, no one who dominated the public mind
and captured the private services of as many good
men in the manner he did could be other than re-
markable ; and, apart from being a recruiting agent
of incalculable value, whose steadfast stare was
seen on every hoarding, Lord Kitchener was a man
of genius.
When he was appointed to the War Office in
1914, I was one of the few people who regretted it.
I had known him from girlhood, and, while recog-
nising his charm, was aware of his limitations. In
spite of warnings from my husband and Mr. Mc-
Kenna, who was then Home Secretary, he under-
took at the outbreak of war more than one man
could easily accomplish, and he had neither the tem-
perament nor training for team work.
His life had been largely spent among coloured
races who, when not overpowered, were generally
outwitted by him, and being a natural diplomatist
he was inclined to suspect his fellow-men.
With the exception of my husband, for whom he
had an affection amounting to reverence, Lord
[37]
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[89]
[40]
'POSTSCRIPT TO A LETTER TO ME FROM LORD FISHER ASKING ME TO
GO AND SEE THE WIRELESS WORKING AT THE ADMIRALTY
IN 1914"
[41]
MARGOT ASQUITH
Kitchener could not get on with his colleagues, but
the myth cannot be sustained that he would have
been more successful had he worked with a stronger
Cabinet.
Who were the men he had to work with in the
Great War? They are all alive, well known, and
puzzle nobody.
Is Sir Edward Carson a man of evasive person-
ality who ever shirked conflict? Is Mr. Balfour's
mind muddled, or Mr. McKenna's mystical? Has
Mr. Churchill a horror of big undertakings? and
does Sir William Robertson lack resolution?
Could anyone accuse Sir Edward Grey of vacil-
lating conviction? or the late Lord Fisher of want
of courage? Did Mr. Bonar Law fear the future?
or the present Prime Minister intrigue against the
High Command? Surely not: the truth is that the
awe he inspired in the East he was unable to im-
press upon a Western Cabinet, and the real
tragedy of Lord Kitchener was that none of his
colleagues were afraid of him.
He belonged to an earlier generation, before self-
determination had come into fashion, and being
accustomed to subject races would never have rec-
ognised the legitimate desire for independence
[42]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
either in Ireland, Egypt or India, and he opened
his career with two incalculable blunders: he ig-
nored the Territorial Force, and muddled the Irish.
Great Britain has always held the theory that
Freedom is the heritage of man and not to be
granted or withheld according to this might, but
this has never been put into practice in Ireland and
we have doled out in unequal measure a special
brand of Freedom for that country which has
earned us its lasting suspicion.
There was a great opportunity at the outbreak
of war of treating the Irish as citizens instead of
as outlaws, but their desire to recruit in the same
regiments and divisions, and take their priests with
them did not appeal to Lord Kitchener.
I begged him with all the eloquence I could com-
mand when he came to tea with me one afternoon
in Downing Street, to let the Irish have their
priests, but he remained obdurate and their desire
to fight was snubbed and never returned.
Upon one matter Lord Kitchener's judgment
amounted to genius. No ordinary man would have
foreseen that had we attempted to apply Conscrip-
tion a day earlier than we did we should have
checked the enthusiasm that brought masses of men
[48]
MARGOT ASQUITH
of their own free will into our army ; that industrial
troubles must have broken out all over the country,
and that we should have transported sulky soldiers
to France instead of men inspired by a great faith.
In this he showed moral imagination of a rare
order. He was also perfectly straight over the
munition controversy, showing character and in-
dependence when the Press and the gossips started
their campaign in the country to get rid of him
and my husband.
So much nonsense has been written and believed
over the shell controversy that it would be plough-
ing the sands — to quote an expression of my hus-
band's— to re-open it; the prejudiced would not be
converted, and all the men who count know the
truth to-day. I will only say that shells cannot be
produced by a wave of the wand or any amount of
commands, and that the same complaint was being
raised by every army in Europe.
In this connection I will repeat what Lord
French said to me, on Friday, July the 2nd, 1915,
after the formation of the first Coalition.
"You must not be depressed, Mrs. Asquith," Sir
John French said to me, "all armies are in want
[44]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
of munitions. We found a letter on a dead Ger-
man officer, written to his wife, in which he says,
'we are doing no good in this line ; we are infernally
badly led and have not enough munitions.' '
At the outbreak of war in August, 1914, a con-
tract was signed with America for twenty-nine mil-
lion rounds of ammunition — a bold order consid-
ering not only people in high society, but every
General and Admiral we saw thought the war
would be over in a few months — but the indecision
at Headquarters in France as to the kind of shell
they most wanted, and the delay in carrying out
the orders in America, made the position of both
the factories and the Prime Minister almost un-
bearable.
It would have been easy for my husband to have
told the public at the time of the many letters he
had received both from Lord French and Lord
Kitchener,* on the perfect adequacy of our daily
increasing supply of shells, but he refused against
all the entreaties of his friends throughout the
whole intrigue of the Press and other persons to
defend himself at the expense of the High Com-
* Secret
[45]
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WHITEHALL.
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[47]
MARGOT ASQUITH
mand. This earned him the warm private grati-
tude both of Lord Kitchener and Sir John French.
But it was shown in an unequal degree by them in
public, and I doubt if any man could recover his
reputation after ascribing the early failures of the
war to a dead enemy or a living friend.
Nothing that happened from August, 1914, till
December, 1916, disproved the truth of the saying:
"La guerre est trop serieuse pour la laisser aux
militaires" and through the burden of the mistakes
of both business men and the Generals was heavy
at the time, and hurt us subsequently, my husband
never regretted bearing it.
The tragedy of Lord Kitchener was in the man-
ner of his death more than its occurrence. He died
before the criticisms of his colleagues were known
to the public — after he had had a great personal
triumph in the House of Commons ; and to us who
knew and loved him he will always be an heroic
figure.
The two Ministers in the Cabinet whose motives
for resigning were unimpeachable, and indeed to
their credit, were Lord Morley and Mr. John
Burns. I publish their letters :
[48]
LOHD MOHI.ET
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
"August 4th, 1914.
"MY DEAB, ASQUITH,
"Your letter shakes me terribly. It goes to my
very core. In spite of temporary moments of dif-
ference, my feelings for you have been cordial, deep
and close, from your earliest public days. The idea
of severing these affectionate associations has been
far the most poignant element in the stress of the
last four days. But I cannot conceal from myself
that we — I and the leading men of the Cabinet —
do not mean the same thing in the foreign policy
of the moment. To bind ourselves to France is at
the same time to bind ourselves to Russia, and to
whatever demands may be made by Russia or
France. With this cardinal difference between us,
how can I honourably or usefully sit in a cabinet
day after day, discussing military and diplomatic
details, in carrying forward a policy that I think a
mistake? Again, I say divided counsels are a mis-
take.
"I am more distressed in making this reply to
your generous and most moving appeal than I have
ever been in writing any letter of all my life.
"Ever yours,
"MORLEY."
[49]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"August 9th, 1914.
"FLOWERMEAD,
"PRINCES ROAD,
"WIMBLEDON PARK,
"S. W.
"DEAR MRS. ASQUITH,
"The severance has been a sore affliction, but do
be sure — if you care — that, so far as I am con-
cerned, no wound is left, hardly a scratch. To-
morrow we start for Skibo (the owner of which
has for the moment joined the Jingo persuasion).
There I find a little yacht, a library collection by
Acton, the most charming hostess in the world (ask
Rosebery), and relays of American company, who
are as good as if one were abroad. I have a chance,
too, of a week with the heads of the Scotch Uni-
versities! What say you to all that?
"Why do you tax me with a squeamish con-
science? It was not conscience at all, but common
sense. What use should I be in the Council of
War, into which unhappy circumstances have
transformed the Cabinet ?
"I've run my course and kept the faith. That's
enough.
"Give my cordial salutations to the Prime Min-
[50]
FLOWERMEAO
PRINCES ROAD.
WIMBLEDON PARK,
S.W,
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[52]
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«'•*«"
MARGOT ASQUITH
ister. He has done me two or three personal kind-
nesses that I shall never forget. I wish we could
have gone on together.
"As for you, your kindness has been unbounded,
and I shall be, until my dwindling days come to an
end, always
"Your affectionate friend,
"MORLEY."
"LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD,
"WHITEHALL, S.W.,
"Aug. I7th, 1914.
"DEAR MRS. ASQUITH,
"Many thanks for your kindly letter, the senti-
ments of which I reciprocate.
"I am in the suburbs and disinclined, at least for
the present, to give you any impressions of what
transpired on August 4th (remember Quatre Sep-
tembre).
"What happened then is of less consequence now
than what will happen next week. We are very
busy here. I am engaged in hunting our relief
works and have been successful in getting sufficient
for at least 20,000 men for five months, capable of
further extension as necessity compels.
[54]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
"We are confronted with all the philanthropic
mischief of the social butterflies and sentimental
busybodies. Lady Bountiful competing with Lady
Prodigal for the smiles of the poor and the bibulous
cheers of the loafers in distributing other people's
money at the cost of the character of all the poor.
"But we are sitting on their heads, as the cabman
would say, and after a fortnight's firmness getting
our own way with them.
"Our eight years' experience at L.G.B., the few
but splendid people we got round us, and the ex-
cellent civil servants will pull us through this awful
ordeal in London.
"I never worked harder in my life than during
the past months, but there never was a soul more
at ease nor a happier spirit than I am, with no re-
sentment but only a noble pity for those who suc-
cumb to the diseased ambition of writing their
diaries in red instead of black. The sadness, bad-
ness and madness of it all fills one with a merciful
condolence rather than a glazing wrath, but the
wrath will come.
"The sun here is warm, the common bright and
green, the sheep are browsing in a field across the
[55]
MARGOT ASQUITH
way, and the temper and behaviour of the people
in the streets superb.
"But in Belgium the serried ranks of soldiers are
waiting to be mown down in swathes by the deadly
scythe founded by angry statesmen, and wielded by
the men of war for the errors of the diplomats who
have blundered, and at the cost of the people who
have trusted, and the millions who will suffer. By
the way, it was almost worth having a war to get
rid of the suffragettes.
"With all good wishes,
"Yours ever,
"JOHN BURNS/'
I had no opportunity of asking my husband on
the morning of the 3rd (August, 1914) about the
resignations as I never saw him before I went to
the House of Commons.
Our Foreign Minister was to make his historic
speech, and when I arrived the House was crowded.
Sir Edward Grey rose and said :
* "Last week I stated that we were working for
peace not only for this country, but to preserve the
peace of Europe. To-day's events move so rapidly
* I have only had space for a short transcript of this great speech.
[56]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
that it is exceedingly difficult to state with accuracy
the actual state of affairs, but it is clear that the
peace of Europe cannot be preserved.
"Before I proceed to state the position of His
Majesty's Government, I would like to clear the
ground so that the House may know exactly under
what obligations the Government can be said to be
in coming to a decision on the matter. First of all,
let me say that we have consistently worked with
a single mind, and all the earnestness in our power,
to preserve peace. But we have failed because
there has been little time, and a disposition — at any
rate in some quarters — to force things to an issue,
the result of which is that the policy of peace, as
far as the Great Powers are concerned, is in dan-
ger. I do not want to dwell on that, or say where
the blame seems to us to lie, because I would like
the House to approach the crisis in which we now
are from the point of view of British interests, Brit-
ish honour and British obligations, free from all
passion. The French Fleet is now in the Mediter-
ranean, and the Northern and Western coasts of
France undefended. It has been concentrated
there because of the confidence and friendship
which has existed between our two countries. My
[57]
MARGOT ASQUITH
own feeling is that if a foreign fleet engaged in a
war which France had not sought, and in which
she had not been the aggressor, came down the
English Channel and bombarded and battered the
undefended coasts of France, we could not stand
aside and see this going on practically within our
sight, with folded arms!
"I want to look at the matter without sentiment,
and from the point of view of British interests, and
it is on that that I am going to justify what I say
to the House. If we say nothing at this moment,
what is France to do with her Fleet in the Medi-
terranean? If she leaves it there, with no statement
from us, she leaves her Northern and Western
coasts at the mercy of a German fleet coming down
the Channel, to do as it pleases in a war which is a
war of life and death between them. If we say
nothing, it may be that the French Fleet is with-
drawn from the Mediterranean. We are in the
presence of a European conflagration ; can any-
body set limits to the consequences that may arise
out of it? Let us assume that we stand aside in
an attitude of neutrality, saying: 'No, we cannot
undertake and engage to help either party in this
conflict.' Let us suppose the French Fleet is with-
[58]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
drawn from the Mediterranean, and let us assume
that the consequences make it necessary at a sudden
moment, in defence of vital British interests, we
should go to war :
"Nobody can say that in the course of the next
few weeks there is any particular trade route, the
keeping open of which may not be vital to this
country. We feel strongly that France was en-
titled to know — and to know at once! whether or
not, in the event of attack upon her unprotected
Northern and Western Coasts, she could depend
upon British support. In these compelling circum-
stances, yesterday afternoon, I gave the French
Ambassador the following statement:
' 'I am authorised to give an assurance that, if
the German Fleet comes into the Channel or
through the North Sea to undertake hostile opera-
tions against the French coasts, the British Fleet
will give all the protecion in its power. This assur-
ance is, of course, subject to the policy of His
Majesty's Government receiving the support of
Parliament, and must not be taken as binding His
Majesty's Government to take any action until the
above contingency of action by the German Fleet
takes place.'
[59]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"I read that to the House, not as a declaration
of war on our part, but as binding us to take ag-
gressive action should that contingency arise.
"Things move hurriedly from hour to hour.
French news comes in, which I cannot give in any
formal way, but I understand that the German
Government would be prepared, if we would
pledge ourselves to neutrality, to agree that its fleet
would not attack the Northern coast of France. I
have only heard that shortly before I came to the
House, but it is too narrow an engagement for us.
And, Sir, there is the more serious consideration —
the question of the neutrality of Belgium."
(We had read in the morning papers that Ger-
man troops had marched into the Grand Duchy
of Luxembourg. )
"Before I reached the House I was informed
that the following telegram had been received from
the King of the Belgians by our King George:
' 'Remembering the numerous proofs of Your
Majesty's friendship and that of your predecessors,
and the friendly attitude of England in 1870, and
the proof of friendship she has just given us again,
I make a supreme appeal to the Diplomatic inter-
[60]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
vention of Your Majesty's Government to safe-
guard the integrity of Belgium.'
"We have vital interests in the independence of
Belgium. If she is compelled to submit to her neu-
trality being violated, the situation is clear. Even
if by agreement she admitted the violation of her
neutrality, she could only do so under duresse. The
one desire of the Smaller States is that they should
be left alone and independent. The one thing they
fear is, I think, not so much that their integrity
but that their independence should be interfered
with. If, in this war which is before Europe, the
neutrality of one of those countries is violated, and
no action be taken to resent it, at the end of the
war, whatsoever the integrity may be, the inde-
pendence will be gone. It may be said, I suppose,
that we might stand aside, husband our strength,
and, whatever happened in the course of this war,
at the end of it intervene with effect to put things
right; but for us, with a powerful Fleet, which we
believe able to protect our commerce, our shores,
and our interests, we shall suffer but little more
if we engage in war than if we stand aside.
"We are going to suffer terribly in either case.
Foreign trade is going to stop, not because the
[61]
MARGOT ASQUITH
routes are closed, but because there is no trade at
the other end. Continental nations with all their
populations, energies, and wealth, engaged in a
desperate struggle, cannot carry on the trade with
us that they are carrying on in times of peace. I
do not believe for a moment that at the end of this
war, even if we stood aside, we should be in a posi-
tion to use our force decisively to undo what had
happened, or prevent the whole of the West of
Europe falling under the domination of a single
Power, and I am quite sure that our moral position
would be such as to have lost us all respect.
"There is but one way in which we could make
certain at the present moment of keeping outside
this War, and that would be to issue a proclama-
tion of unconditional neutrality. We cannot do
that.
"The most awful responsibility is resting upon
the Government in deciding what to advise. We
have disclosed the issue and made clear to the
House, I trust, that should the situation develop
we will face it. How hard, how persistently, and
how earnestly we strove for peace last week, the
House will see from the papers that will be put
before it; but that is over. If, as seems probable,
[62]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
we are forced to take our stand upoa the issues
that I have put before the House, then I believe
when the country realises what is at stake, and the
magnitude of the impending dangers, we shall be
supported throughout, not only by the House of
Commons, but by the determination, the courage,
and the endurance of the whole country."
Sir Edward Grey sat down in a hurricane of ap-
plause and the news of his statement instantly
spread all over London.
When we returned to Downing Street the crowd
was so great that extra police had to be brought
from Scotland Yard to clear the way for our motor.
I looked at the excited cheerers, and from the
happy expression on their faces you might have
supposed that they welcomed the war.
I have met with men who loved stamps, and
stones, and snakes, but I could not imagine any
man loving war.
Too exhausted to think I lay sleepless in bed.
Bursts of cheering broke like rockets in a silent
sky, and I listened to snatches of "God Save the
King" shouted in front of the Palace all through
the night.
• • • < • • •
[63]
MARGOT ASQUITH
Tuesday, August 4thf 1914.
Downing Street was full of anxious and excited
people as we motored to the House of Commons
the next day, August 4th: some stared, some
cheered, and some lifted their hats in silence.
I sat breathless with my face glued to the grille
of the gallery when my husband rose to announce
that an ultimatum had been sent to Germany. He
said:
"In conformity with the statement of policy
made here by my right hon. friend, the Foreign
Secretary, yesterday, a telegram was early this
morning sent by him to our Ambassador in Berlin.
It was to this effect:
'The King of the Belgians has made an appeal
to His Majesty the King for diplomatic interven-
tion on behalf of Belgium. His Majesty's Gov-
ernment are also informed that the German Gov-
ernment has delivered to the Belgian Government
a Note proposing friendly neutrality entailing free
passage through Belgian territoiy and promising
to maintain the independence and integrity of the
Kingdom and its possessions, at the conclusion of
peace, threatening in case of refusal to treat Bel-
gium as an enemy. We also understand that
[64]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Belgium has categorically refused this as a flagrant
violation of the law of nations. His Majesty's
Government are bound to protest against this vio-
lation of a Treaty to which Germany is a party
in common with themselves, and must request an
assurance that the demand made upon Belgium
may not be proceeded with, and that her neutrality
will be respected by Germany. You should ask
for an immediate reply.'
"We received this morning from our Minister at
Brussels the following telegram :
" 'German Minister has this morning addressed
Note to the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs
stating that as Belgian Government have declined
the well-intended proposals submitted to them by
the Imperial Government, the latter will, deeply
to their regret, be compelled to carry out, if neces-
sary by force of arms, the measures considered in-
dispensable in view of the French menaces.'
"Simultaneously — almost immediately after-
wards— we received from the Belgian Legation
here in London the following telegram :
" 'General staff announces that territory has been
violated at Gemmenich (near Aix-la-Chapelle).'
"Subsequent information tends to show that the
[65]
MARGOT ASQUITH
German force has penetrated still further into Bel-
gian territory. We also received this morning from
the German Ambassador here the telegram sent to
him by the German Foreign Secretary, and com-
municated by the Ambassador to us. It is in these
terms :
' 'Please dispel any mistrust that may subsist
on the part of the British Government with regard
to our intentions by repeating most positively for-
mal assurance that, even in the case of armed con-
flict with Belgium, Germany will under no pretence
whatever annex Belgian territory. Sincerity of
this declaration is borne out by the fact that we
solemnly pledged our word to Holland strictly to
respect her neutrality. It is obvious that we could
not profitably annex Belgic territory without mak-
ing, at the same time, territorial acquisitions at ex-
pense of Holland. Please impress upon Sir E.
Grey that German Army could not be exposed
to French attack across Belgium, which was
planned according to absolutely unimpeachable in-
formation. Germany had consequently to disre-
gard Belgic neutrality, it being for her a question
of life or death to prevent French advance.' '
[66]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Henry paused after this and then said in a slow,
loud voice:
"I have to add on behalf of His Majesty's Gov-
ernment: We cannot regard this as in any sense a
satisfactory communication. We have, in reply to
it, repeated the request we made last week to the
German Government, that they should give us the
same assurance in regard to Belgian neutrality as
was given to us and to Belgium by France last
week. We have asked that a reply to that request,
and a satisfactory answer to the telegram of this
morning — which I have read to the House — should
be given before midnight."
I looked at the House, which was packed from
gallery to floor while my husband was speaking,
and through misty eyes the heads of the listening
members appeared to me as if bowed in prayer.
"A satisfactory answer before midnight . . "
These fateful and terrible words were greeted by
wave upon wave of cheering, which continued and
increased as Henry rose and walked slowly down
the floor of the House.
Few understood why he went down to the Bar,
and when he turned and faced the Speaker, excite-
ment knew no bounds.
[67]
MARGOT ASQUITH
I quote from Hansard :
"THE PRIME MINISTER at the Bar acquainted
the House that he had a message from His
Majesty, signed by His Majesty's own hand, and
he presented the same to the House, and it was
read by Mr. Speaker (all the Members of the
House being uncovered), and it is as followeth:
" 'GEORGE R.I.— The present state of public
affairs in Europe constituting in the opinion of His
Majesty a case of great emergency within the mean-
ing of the Acts of Parliament in that behalf, His
Majesty deems it proper to provide additional
means for the Military Service, and therefore, in
pursuance of these Acts, His Majesty has thought
it right to communicate to the House of Commons
that His Majesty is, by proclamation, about to
order that the Army Reserve shall be called out on
permanent service, that soldiers who would other-
wise be entitled, in pursuance of the terms of their
enlistment, to be transferred to the Reserve shall
continue in Army Service for such period, not ex-
ceeding the period for which they might be required
to serve if they were transferred to the Reserve
[68]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
and called out for permanent service as to His
Majesty may seem expedient, and that such direc-
tions as may seem necessary may be given for em-
bodying the Territorial Force and for making such
special arrangements as may be proper with regard
to units or individuals whose services may be re-
quired in other than a military capacity.' '
When the Speaker had finished reading the
King's message all the members poured out of the
House, and I went down to the Prime Minister's
room.
Henry looked grave and gave me John Morley's
letter of resignation, saying:
"I shall miss him very much; he is one of the
most distinguished men living."
For some time we did not speak. I left the win-
dow and stood behind his chair:
"So it is all up?" I said.
He answered without looking at me:
"Yes, it's all up."
I sat down beside him with a feeling of numb-
ness in my limbs and absently watched through the
half -open door the backs of moving men. A secre-
[69]
MARGOT ASQUITH
tary came in with Foreign Office Boxes, he put
them down and went out of the room.
Henry sat at his writing-table leaning back with
a pen in his hand. . . . What was he thinking of ?
. . . His sons? . . . My son was too young to
fight; would they all have to fight? ... I got up
and leant my head against his : we could not speak
for tears.
When I arrived in Downing Street I went to
bed.
How did it ... how could it have happened?
What were we all like five days ago? We were
talking about Ireland and civil war; civil war!
People were angry but not serious; and now the
sound of real war waved like wireless round our
heads and the whole world was listening.
I looked at the children asleep after dinner be-
fore joining Henry in the Cabinet room. Lord
Crewe and Sir Edward Grey were already there
and we sat smoking cigarettes in silence ; some went
out, others came in ; nothing was said.
The clock on the mantelpiece hammered out the
hour, and when the last beat of midnight hammered
it was as silent as dawn.
[TO]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
We were at War.
I left to go to bed, and, as I was pausing at the
foot of the staircase, I saw Winston Churchill with
a happy face striding towards the double doors of
the Cabinet room.
[71]
CHAPTER II
SCENES IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS — GRAVE NEWS
FROM FRANCE KITCHENER THE AUTOCRAT-
ORDERS TO SIR JOHN FRENCH — VISIT TO BELGIAN
FRONT
10 Downing Street, August 6th, 1914.
ON the morning of the 6th of August my hus-
band had it announced in the papers that
Lord Kitchener had become Secretary of State for
War, and in the afternoon I went to the House of
Commons to hear him move his Motion for a vote
of credit of £100,000,000. I will quote some of his
speech.
"I do not propose to traverse the ground which
was covered by my right hon. friend the Foreign
Secretary. He stated the ground upon which with
the utmost reluctance His Majesty's Government
have been compelled to put this country in a state
of war with what for many years and indeed in
generations past has been a friendly Power. If I
am asked what we are fighting for I reply in two
[72]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
sentences. In the first place to fulfil a solemn
international obligation, which no self-respecting
man could possibly have repudiated. Secondly, we
are fighting to vindicate the principle that, in
these days, when force seems to be the dominant
influence in the development of mankind, we are
not to be crushed by the arbitrary will of an over-
mastering Power. I do not believe any nation ever
entered into a great controversy with a clearer con-
science. With a full conviction, not only of the
wisdom and justice, but of the obligations which
lay upon us to challenge this great issue, we are
entering into the struggle. Let us now make sure
that all the resources, not only of this United King-
dom, but of the vast Empire of which it is the cen-
tre, shall be thrown into the scale, and it is with
that object that I am now about to ask this Com-
mittee to give the Government a Vote of Credit
of £100,000,000. I am asking also in my character
of Secretary of State for War — a position which I
held until this morning — for a Supplementary Es-
timate for men for the Army. Glad as I should
have been to continue the work of that Office, it
would not be fair to the Army, or just to the coun-
try, that any Minister should divide his attention
[73]
MARGOT ASQUITH
between that department and another, still less that
the First Minister of the Crown, who is ultimately
responsible for the whole policy of the Cabinet,
should give perfunctory attention to the affairs of
our Army in a great war. I am glad to say that a
distinguished soldier has at my request stepped into
the breach, and I am certain he will have with him
the complete confidence of all parties and all
opinions.
"I am asking on his behalf for the Army power
to increase the number of men of all ranks, in addi-
tion to the number already voted, by no less than
500,000. I am certain the Committee will not re-
fuse its sanction, for we are encouraged to ask for
it not only by our own sense of the gravity and the
necessities of the case, but by the knowledge that
India is prepared to send us certainly two divisions,
and that every one of our self-governing Domin-
ions spontaneously, and unasked, has already ten-
dered every help they can afford to the Empire in
a moment of need. The Mother Country must set
the example, while she responds with gratitude and
affection to those filial overtures from the outlying
members of her family.
"Sir, I will say no more. This is not an occasion
[74]
PRINCESS BIBESCO, WIFE OF THE RUMANIAN
MINISTER AT WASHINGTON
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
for controversial discussion. In all that I have said
I have not gone beyond the strict bounds of truth.
It is not my purpose to inflame feeling, to indulge
in rhetoric or to excite international animosities.
The occasion is far too grave for that. We have
a great duty to perform, a great trust to fulfil, and
confidently we believe that Parliament and the
country will enable us to do it."
When Henry resumed his seat the whole House
roared with applause and everyone was moved. I
found myself speculating on when he could have
prepared any of this speech (of which I have given
but a short transcript) . I knew he had been work-
ing most of the night as I had found him writing
at two that morning. He told me afterwards that
he had neither written nor prepared a single line
of it.
On leaving the House I met my dear old friend,
Lord Chaplin, who asked me if he could drive me to
10 Downing Street.
"I am proud, my dear, to be seen with you," he
said, with that fine courtesy with which we are all
familiar. "If anyone had told me that any Prime
Minister could have come to this House and asked
for a vote of credit of a hundred million pounds
[75]
MARGOT ASQUITH
and got a unanimous vote, I should have said the
thing was impossible. I'm not saying it because I
am an old pal, but, my dear Mrs. Asquith, I think
— and I am not the only one — that your husband is
the most remarkable man living. He and Grey
have started this war in a memorable way."
August 9th, 1914.
On the 9th the King's Message to the Army and
Lord Kitchener's advice were published : —
"MESSAGE FROM THE KING.
"CROWN BLOCK.
"BUCKINGHAM PALACE.
"You are leaving home to fight for the safety
and honour of my Empire.
"Belgium, whose country we are pledged to de-
fend, has been attacked, and France is about to be
invaded by the same powerful foe.
"I have implicit confidence in you, my soldiers.
Duty is your watchword, and I know your duty
will be nobly done.
"I shall follow your every movement with deep-
est interest and mark with eager satisfaction your
[76]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
daily progress; indeed, your welfare will never be
absent from my thoughts.
"I pray God to bless you and guard you and
bring you back victorious.
"GEORGE, R.I.
"9th August, 1914."
"LORD KITCHENER'S ADVICE
"THE TRUE CHARACTER OF A BRITISH SOLDIER
"The following instructions have been issued by
Lord Kitchener to every soldier in the Expedition-
ary Army, to be kept in his Active Service Pay
Book:—
"You are ordered abroad as a soldier of the King
to help our French comrades against the invasion
of a common enemy. You have to perform a task
which will need your courage, your energy, your
patience. Remember that the honour of the British
Army depends on your individual conduct.
"It will be your duty not only to set an example
of discipline and perfect steadiness under fire, but
also to maintain the most friendly relations with
those whom you are helping in this struggle. The
operations in which you are engaged will, for the
[77]
MARGOT ASQUITH
most part, take place in a friendly country, and you
can do your own country no better service than in
showing yourself in France and Belgium in the true
character of a British soldier.
"Be invariably courteous, considerate and kind.
Never do anything likely to injure or destroy prop-
erty, and always look upon looting as a disgraceful
act. You are sure to meet with a welcome and to
be trusted; your conduct must justify that welcome
and that trust.
"Your duty cannot be done unless your health is
sound. So keep constantly on your guard against
any excesses. In this new experience you may find
temptations both in wine and women. You must
entirely resist both temptations, and while treating
all women with perfect courtesy, you should avoid
any intimacy.
"Do your duty bravely,
"Fear God,
"Honour the King.
"KITCHENER,
"Field-Marshal."
I might have been reading an old Memoir of some
great soldier had this appeared on any printed page
[78]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
a week before, but in the short five days since the
Declaration of War, one's mind had got attuned,
and whatever you read or heard could not affect it.
In the course of that afternoon, I was summoned
to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen ; she asked
me to sit with her upon a Committee to settle what
needlework should be done to help our soldiers, and
I went to our first meeting on the 10th.
August I0th, 1914.
A fine room was crowded with ladies of every
shade of opinion, sitting round a large table ; Peer-
esses and Commoners, journalists' wives and Min-
isters' wives, and an animated discussion took place
on what form of needlework we should start all
over the country. I suggested it would not be
popular to do anything that would compete with
the shops, and said I would undertake to make
surgical shirts.
Lady Lansdowne sat on my right, and Princess
Mary on my left, and next to her sat the Queen.
Everyone was brave and cheerful but I felt hor-
ribly depressed, and after listening to a great many
suggestions, some trivial, and some important, I
[79]
MARGOT ASQUITH
returned to Downing Street where I had an ap-
pointment to say good-bye to Sir John French.
I found him waiting for me on my arrival and
we had a long and memorable conversation. I
asked him to give me any trifle that would remind
me to pray for him, and I gave him a small silver
gilt saint which he put in his pocket.
I travelled north that night to join my little
son on the Moray Firth. Before leaving for the
train I talked to Henry in his dressing room.
I found him reading "Our Mutual Friend." He
told me he was going to read all the Dickens
novels, as they removed his thoughts if only for
a short time from Colleagues and Allies, and we
went on to discuss his Cabinet.
In reading my diary to-day, in which I record
the whole of this conversation, I am struck by the
insight he showed upon that occasion about the
men who were working both for and against us, in
and out of the Cabinet, and could almost wish he
had been less patient with some of the Colleagues
he criticised. When I alluded to the recognised
brilliance of two of them, he said:
"I could do with less cleverness: and should
feel no anxiety if I had a few more Crewes and
[80]
/
LORD HEADING
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Greys. In public politics as in private life, char-
acter is better than brains, and loyalty more valu-
able than either; but," he added, "I shall have to
work with the material that has been given to me!
Dictatorships generally end in disaster."
I received the following letter forwarded from
10 Downing Street, when I was in Scotland:
"94 LANCASTER GATE, W.
"August I0th, 1914.
"My DEAR MRS. ASQUITH,
"I have cut the A.D.C. General badges off my
horsecloth and enclose them. It is the sort of thing
you said — in your great kindness of heart — you
would like. I am not going to say 'Good-bye' but
'Au revoir.' Thank you a thousand times for your
kind and affectionate friendship.
"Yours,
"J. D. P. FRENCH."
Henry wrote to me daily while I was in Scotland.
The following are quotations from his letters :
'"August Ylih, 1914. The Turk threatens to give
trouble in Egypt and elsewhere, and the Germans
are doing all they can to get hold of him. Winston
is quite prepared to send a swarm of flotillas into
[81]
MARGOT ASQUITH
the Dardanelles to torpedo the 'Goeben' if neces-
sary. Three of our Divisions are now in their
positions at the Front, south of Maubeuge, and the
other two will soon be with them. French has ar-
rived at his headquarters.
''August ISth, 1914. The curtain is lifted to-day
and people begin to realise what an extraordinary
thing has been done during the last ten days. The
poor old War Office, which has been a by-word
for inefficiency, has proved itself more than up-
to-date : for which the credit is mainly due to Hal-
dane and the Committee of Defence. The Navy,
too, has been admirable: not a single torpedo has
slipped through either end of the channel.
"I am disgusted with the optimism of the Press
and other people, believing all the nonsense about
great Belgian victories and the Germans already
demoralised and starving or committing suicide.
All that has gone on so far — except at Liege — is
a mere affair of outposts, and it looks to-day as if
the Germans were going to occupy Brussels. The
splendid thing the Belgians have done is to stop
them on their road and throw out the whole of
their time-table. Our force is by this time for the
[82]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
most part in its proper place. I met Jules Cam-
bon at the French Embassy to-day. He says the
Kaiser, who is vaniteuw et poseur, was overborne
by the militarists and Bismarckian reactionaries,
also by jealousy of the Crown Prince. He has a
poor opinion of Bethmann Hollweg fun homme
tres mediocre — en meme temps bourgeois et cour-
tisan — combinaison mauvcdse.' He told Jagow at
their last interview that the Germans would be
beaten — conquered as Napoleon was, by fles deux
Puissances intangibles' — England and Russia.
"19£& August, 1914. Kitchener thinks the Ger-
mans are going in for a large enveloping movement
which will enable them to have a dash at the French
positions between Lille and Maubeuge. He is very
good on these things, and predicted this a week ago,
when all the French officers declared it was impos-
sible. He is very useful in Council on his own and
kindred topics and most pleasant to work with."
Not liking to be separated long from my hus-
band I left Anthony and travelled from Scotland
to London on the 23rd of August.
I will quote from my diary of the events which
followed.
[83]
MARGOT ASQUITH
August 24>th, 1914.
"On August 24th, Henry came into my room
looking very grave: he read me Sir John French's
telegram and added:
' 'Bad news, the Germans have taken Namur.
We've been driven back with the French. Terrible
fighting since Saturday. We shall have an awful
list of casualties. I cannot understand how Namur
can have fallen if it's as strongly fortified as we
are told. The position now is very serious, I must
go and see K., and then we have our Cabinet.'
"The news came as a thunderclap to me: it
seemed terrible to think that the first time our fresh,
wonderful troops were in battle they should have
had to retreat. Henry told me K. had cursed and
sworn when he read the telegram and that he
(Henry) much feared the French had been out-
generalled and wondered if our Army had been
cut off.
"General Sir John Cowans, who lunched with
us, said:
" 'I expect we've lost about 6,000 men all told —
if so it's very good.'
"Appalled by his statement I asked if this would
be considered good, to which he replied:
[84]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
" * Ah ! Mrs. Asquith, the losses in this war will
be tremendous for everyone. I am afraid the
French have been too dashing or wrong in their
strategy.'
"Knowing from Headquarters that our Army
had been forced to retreat we waited all the after-
noon to hear whether our men had been cut off.
"After an interrupted dinner, for which we did
not dress, Henry and all of us sat in his sitting-
room upstairs like people in a Maeterlinck play,
saying either trivial things or nothing at all.
(Henry and I, Arthur Asquith, the Harcourts,
my dear friend Ernley Blackwell,* Sir Eric Drum-
mond and the other Secretaries.)
"Cabinet Minister after Cabinet Minister walked
in unannounced, and with anxious faces asked if
there had been any further telegrams.
"Eric Drummond, who had left us to make en-
quiries, returned:
1 'They say, Sir,' he said, 'a despatch has arrived
and is being deciphered in the War Office.'
"On hearing this Henry left us and went down
to the Cabinet room. I followed him and stood at
the top of the stair watching anxious Ministers,
» Sir Ernley Blackwell (Home Office).
[85]
MARGOT ASQUITH
and groups of officials waiting and talking in the
corridor, while Eric ran back to the War Office. I
joined Henry, whom I found alone; I sat in silence
while he ran through a mass of papers.
"Eric Drummond told us on his return that the
deciphered message had gone to Lord Kitchener,
but that no one knew where he was, or what was
in the telegram. At this Henry looked furiously
angry: the door opened and various officials came
into the room.
"Everyone spoke at the same time:
" 'Why was a bed and bath put into the War
Office if K. doesn't sleep there?'
" 'I hear he was dining with Arthur Balfour,'
someone said, at which someone else exclaimed:
" 'I doubt if he or anyone else could keep Arthur
up after 11 o'clock.'
"A voice of more authority suggested that as
Lady Wantage had lent Kitchener her house we
should telephone to him there ; at which Eric Drum-
mond went into the other room and took up the
telephone, some of us following:
"'Hullo!! . . . Hullo!!! . . . I am the Prime
Minister's Secretary. Who are you? . . . Yes . . .
yes . . . the butler? ... all right . . . tell Lord
[86]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Kitchener the Prime Minister wants to see the mes-
sage from General French At Once. Hullo!!!
. . . Hullo!!!! Do you hear? . . . At once. . . .
What??? ... Oh!! Damn! he's not the butler,
and he's gone away.'
"Henry was still alone and in a state of exaspera-
tion when I returned to him. He rang the bell and
said:
'Tell them to find Lord Kitchener at once; this
mustn't happen again — I must have the despatch
at once; do you hear?'
"Messengers and secretaries went off in all direc-
tions, while we waited in silence for what seemed
an eternity.
"The door opened at last and Sir William Tyr-
rell rushed in, hot and breathless, with the telegram :
' 'Loss of over 2,000 men. Fighting since Sat-
urday the 22nd, but all in line again.'
"The communications were still open, and the
British Army had not been cut off! Thank God!
"It was 4 a.m. when we went to bed."
{End of Diary Quotation]
»•••••
Motoring with Henry on the afternoon of the
27th, I saw on a street poster — "300,000 Germans
[87]
MARGOT ASQUITH
against our men," and asked him if this were pos-
sible:
"Yes," he said: "they are three to one, if not
more, against our poor fellows."
On the next poster I read :
"Indians come to help;" and when I asked if
this was true he said:
"It was decided at the Cabinet yesterday, al-
though Lord Roberts * was not at all keen about
it : our native troops that were going to Egypt will
now land at Marseilles as we think we must have
every man in France."
On our return from the motor drive I found
every one furious with Kitchener. They told me
that one of our officers had come back that morn-
ing from the front suffering from a slight wound
and had asked to see Lord Kitchener. The latter
enquired whether he had come from General
French, and hearing that he had not, said:
"Then arrest him!"
* In connection with this, Lady Roberts wrote to the Sunday Times
(where some of the account was published) casting a doubt on my
accuracy, suggesting that it conveyed a wrong impression of her
father's love for, and belief in, the Indian Army. I do not think my
husband or any ether man ever doubted the devotion Lord Roberts
had for India or the Army. He may have been mistaken about Lord
Roberta's views, but I can only quote what he said to me, and the
above account of our conversation he has verified from personal
notes taken at the time.
[88]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
It was an interesting sidelight on K.'s methods,
but as we had been fighting from the 22nd till the
27th of August, and knew none of the names of
our dead or wounded, it seemed both autocratic
and foolish not to get all possible information, and
from anyone we could.
We spent the week-end of August the 30th at
my brother Frank's place, Lympne, in Kent.
We had had no news from Sir John French and
a telegram we received from the President of the
French Republic filled us with apprehension; this
was followed by a long message from Lord Kitch-
ener of such a confidential character that on re-
ceiving it we motored up to London on Sunday
night, arriving in Downing Street at two in the
morning.
At the Cabinet meeting next day my husband
took a momentous decision in which the honour of
England was involved, and if this advice had been
disregarded he would have resigned.
Lord Kitchener was sent on a secret mission to
France to tell Sir John French that our army was
not to move away from Paris, and to persuade
him to take the offensive as soon as possible.
[89]
MARGOT ASQUITH
September 3rd, 1914.
On the 3rd of September, Henry came into my
bedroom :
"Nothing can be more serious than our position,"
he said, "indeed the whole situation at the front.
The French Government has left Paris and gone
to Bordeaux."
On the 8th I copied this telegram from our Am-
bassador * in Paris, which Henry showed me for
my Diary:
"Sept. Sth, 1914, Secret.
"BORDEAUX.
"French Minister at Bucharest has been in-
formed secretly that German Kaiser has written
to King of Roumania ; that from report of German
General, German troops will have crushed Franco-
British Forces in 20 days — he will then leave
500,000 German troops in occupation of France
and will turn his attention to Russia."
I will end this chapter by quoting an account
out of my diary of the only visit I paid to the Front
in the Great War.
• •••••
•Sir Francis Bertie.
[90]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
December, 1914.
"Henry and I went to Hackwood to stay with
Lord Curzon to meet the Queen of the Belgians
and her children.
"After dinner when I told her I thought the war
would certainly last over two years, she was amazed
and I could see she did not think it would be half
as long.
"She asked me to go and stay with her in Belgium
and see the fighting Front.
December 10th, 1914.
"There was a handsome Scotchman staying in
the house, Major Gordon, secretary to the Duke
of Wellington, with whom I made friends and on
hearing of her Majesty's invitation, he said he
would accompany me; so on the 10th of December,
1914, we started off together.
"I spent an uncomfortable night at the Lord
Warden, and at 7 a.m. the next day, Major Gor-
don and I crossed over to Dunkirk in the Admiralty
ship, Princess Victoria. I was too sick to see any-
thing on the journey; but the captain told me that
floating mines anc1 fear of German submarines ac-
[91]
MARGOT ASQUITH
counted for our serpentine route, and our arrival
being delayed by over an hour.
"It was Arctic cold whea we arrived, but I
wore sensible clothes: leather breeches and coat, a
jersey over my blouse, a short serge skirt, a Belgian
soldier's black forage-cap and a spotted fur over-
coat. All very ugly but business-like.
"We took untold time to pass through the locks
into Dunkirk Harbour. There we were met by a
private chauffeur and the best Benz motor I have
ever driven in, both smooth and powerful. Our
Belgian drove us at a shattering pace on sheer and
slippery roads.
"Major Gordon was more than resourceful and
kind: quite unfussy, and thinking of everything
beforehand.
"We drove straight from the Harbour to Milly
Sutherland's * Hospital.
"There among the wounded I saw Arab, Indian
and Moor soldiers lying in silence side by side. The
distant expression of their mysterious eyes filled
me with a profound pity, nor could they speak any
understandable language to their nurses or doctors.
"After leaving the Hospital we went on to the
* Lady Millicent Hawes.
[92]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Headquarters of the Belgian Army where we were
met by General Tom Bridges, 'the heart and soul,'
as we were told, of the Belgian Army and in many
ways a remarkable man.
"He gave us our passwords and passports for
the next two days. 'Antoine' from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.,
and 'Cassel' from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
La Panne, Belgium,
December, 1914.
"We had a repelling meal in a dirty restaurant
at Furnes before arriving at King Albert's Head-
quarters.
"It was 4 o'clock and in drenching rain when
we reached La Panne. The King's household re-
ceived me with courtesy and cordiality in a brick
and wooden house built on the sand dunes by the
sea. The villa was like a lodging-house at Little-
stone — pegs for hats and coats in a tiny hall, with
a straight short wooden stair and no carpets. It
was bald, and low, and could only put up seven
people: two menservants, one housemaid, a cook
and ourselves.
"Comtesse Caraman-Chimay, the Queen's lady-
in-waiting, is a delightful woman with fine man-
[93]
MARGOT ASQUITH
ners, and a great deal of nature and kindness. The
Master of the Horse, M. Davreux — a cavalry offi-
cer in the Household — helped the servants to bring
my things upstairs into a hideous bedroom, where
I was glad enough to retire.
"We messed in the kitchen. The only other sit-
ting-room in the house was a warm, open-fired
smoking-room, where we sat after dinner. I was
relieved not to have to walk in the rain 200 yards
to dine with the King on the night of my arrival,
as I was too tired to move.
"We dined early in fur coats, skirts and shirts;
and all went to bed at 9.15 after an interesting
general conversation upon the war and various other
topics.
"My bald bedroom had neither curtains, blinds,
nor shutters, and I put on a jersey over my night-
gown. On one side the windows looked on to a
sort of sand railway, covered with trucks and scat-
tered villas, and the other on to the sea. Telephone
and telegraph wires connected all the villas together
and glass doors opened out on to brick paths; the
whole place was sunny but bleak, and exposed to
every gale.
"Luckily for me it was a glorious day when I
[94]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
woke; and I shall not easily forget the beauty of
the beach in the early morning. I saw nothing but
stretches of yellow sand, and shallow ice-white
lines of flat waves, so far out that no tide looked
as if it could ever bring them any closer.
"Detachments of mounted soldiers of every na-
tionality and every colour were coming and going
on the beach, and an occasional aeroplane floated
like a gull upon the air. Troops of Moors (Gou-
miers, as they call them) rode past in twos and
twos, mounted on white and grey arabs, tatooing
odd instruments with long brown fingers. Though
picturesque on the beach, they looked as if they
might be ineffectual in battle.
"At 1.30 on December the 12th, the Belgian
Commander accompanied me across the brick paths
through the sand dunes to the King's villa. My
coat was taken off by two footmen in black, and I
was shown into the sitting-room, where I found a
tall fair man studying a map, and leaning over a
low mantelpiece. He turned round and shook
hands, and we sat down and began to talk. I
thought to myself :
" 'You are extraordinarily like your King,' but
I have often observed that Court people take on the
[95]
MARGOT ASQUITH
look of their Kings and Queens, imitation being
the sincerest form of flattery.
"It was not till he congratulated me on having
a remarkable husband, and alluded in touching
terms to Henry's speech on him and the sorrows
of Belgium that I suspected who he was. I in-
stantly got up and curtsied to the ground, at which
he smiled rather sadly, and, the Queen interrupting
us, we all went into the dining-room.
"We had an excellent lunch of soup, roast beef,
potatoes, and a sweet flavoured with coffee.
"I found the King easy and delightful; both
wise, uncomplaining, and real. He has no swag-
ger, and is keen and interested in many things. I
told him I had bought several photographs of him
to sign for me to take back to England, but they
all had dark hair. He said it was clever of the
photographer to give him any hair at all, as he was
getting balder daily, and felt that everything about
him was both dark and bald.
"He told me, among other things, that the Ger-
mans had trained off to Germany all his wife's
clothes and underclothes, and all his own wine,
adding:
" 'As I drink nothing, this is no loss to me, but
[96]
Photo by Hoppt
MRS. ASQUITH
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
it is strange for any soldier to steal a woman's
clothes.'
"After lunch M. Davreux, Major Gordon and I
motored to the Belgian trenches and on to Pervyse
Station. We passed a dead horse lying in a pool
of blood and heard the first big guns I had ever
heard in my life; the sound of which excited and
moved me to the heart. Aeroplanes gathered like
birds overhead in a pale and streaky sky.
"We passed a convoy of men with straggling
winter trees upon their bent backs going to hide
the artillery. For miles round the country was
inundated with sea-water; and the roads, where
they were not pave, were swamps of deep and cling-
ing mud. The fields were full of deep holes, and
looked like solitaire boards. The houses had been
smashed and gutted and were without inhabitants ;
only a few soldiers could be seen smoking or cook-
ing in the deserted doorways. Every church was
littered with bits of bombs, and debris of stained
glass, twisted ribbons of molten lead, and broken
arms of the outstretched Christ.
"Major Gordon had brought a wooden cross with
him to put on the grave of the Duke of Rich-
mond's son, and I had taken one out at the request
[97]
MARGOT ASQUITH
of Lord and Lady Lansdowne to put on their boy's
grave at Ypres, where we ultimately arrived.
"The Ypres cemetery will haunt me for ever.
No hospital of wounded or dying men could have
given me a greater insight into the waste of War
than that dripping, gaunt and crowded church-
yard. There were broken bits of wood stuck in the
grass at the head of hundreds of huddled graves,
with English names scrawled upon them in pencil.
Where the names had been washed off, forage caps
were hanging, and they were all placed one against
the other as closely as possible. I saw a Tommy
digging, and said:
'Who is that grave for?' He answered without
stopping or looking at me :
"Tor the next . . .'
"Two English officers, holding their caps in their
hands, were standing talking by the side of an open
grave, and single soldiers were dotted about all
over the cemetery.
"Major Gordon, who had borrowed a spade,
asked me if I would help him by holding the cross
upright, which I was only too glad to do till we had
finished.
"All the time I was standing in the high wet
[98]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
grass I thought of the Lansdownes and my heart
went out to them.
"Suddenly a fusillade of guns burst upon our
ears. It seemed as if some of the shells might hit
us at any moment, they were so near and loud.
Aeroplanes circled over our heads, and every soldier
in the cemetery put on his cap and rushed away.
"An excited Belgian officer, with a few other
men, ran up to me and pointing to a high mound,
said would I not like to see the German guns, as
one could only die once.
"As Major Gordon had left me to go to a further
cemetery, I was glad enough to accompany them.
"Frightfully excited and almost deafened by
the Crack! Crack!! Crack!!! Boom!! Boom!!!
I tore up to the top of the hill with the officer hold-
ing my elbow.
"Had it not been for a faint haze over the land-
scape I could have seen everything distinctly. Thin
white lines of smoke, like poplars in a row, stood
out against the horizon, and I saw the flash of
every German gun. My companion said that if
the shells had been coming our way they would have
gone over our heads; the German troops, he ex-
plained, must have come on unknown to them in
[99]
MARGOT ASQUITH
the night, and he added he did not think that either
the Belgians, the British, or the French knew at all
what they were up to.
"A French officer, looking furious, arrived pant-
ing up the hill and coming up to me said I was to
go down immediately and remain under the shelter
of the Hospital walls. Two Belgian soldiers who
had joined us, asked me if I was not afraid to
stand in the open so close to the German guns.
I said not more than they were, at which we all
smiled and shrugged our shoulders ; and the French
officer took me down the hill to the Hospital quad-
rangle, where I waited for Major Gordon.
"The clatter of the guns was making every pane
in every window shiver and rattle till I thought
they must all break, and sitting in our motor, writ-
ing my diary, I felt how much I should have hated
righting.
"A French sentry after eyeing me for some time,
came up and presented me with his stomach-belt
of blue cashmere. I thanked him warmly and gave
him six boxes of Woodbine cigarettes, of which
I had brought an enormous quantity. A Belgian
Tommy, on seeing this, took off his white belt and
[100]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
presented it to me with a salute which moved me
very much.
"I began to think Major Gordon must be killed,
as he had been away for over an hour. The sun
was high and when he returned his face was bathed
in perspiration. He told me he had put the Duke
of Richmond's cross on his son's grave in a ceme-
tery so close to the German lines that he thought
every moment would have been his last, and after
munching a few biscuits, we started off on our
journey south.
"On our way to Merville we stopped at Major
Gordon's brother-in-law's house, a cottage at the
side of the road. It was pitch dark and we had tea
with him in the kitchen, lit by one dim oil lamp.
"We had not been at the table more than a few
minutes when a loud sound, like the hissing of an
engine, made the whole cottage rock and sway.
"I felt genuinely frightened and wondered what
the children were doing at home.
"An aide-de-camp dashed out of the room and
came back scarlet in the face.
* 'If you please, sir,' he said, saluting: 'four Jack
Johnsons have dropped thirty yards from the door.'
[101]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"General Nicholson jumped up white as a sheet
and said to his brother-in-law:
" 'Great God, what will the Prime Minister say?
I've let you in, my dear Gordon! . . . but I assure
you, Mrs. Asquith, we've not had a shell or a shot
here for weeks past. . . . '
"I reassured him as to his fears of my personal
safety and asked him why the Germans wasted
ammunition on such a desolate, inundated spot, to
which he replied :
' 'Pure accident! But let me tell you, if there
had been no water, not a brick in this cottage would
have remained above ground, and neither you nor
I would have had an eye-lash left! . . . Now, Dopp,
give us the tea.'
"After leaving our host we pursued our journey
and arrived at Merville, where I was the only
woman among 20 men who sat down to dinner
that night with General Sir Henry Rawlinson.
"It is always a surprise to an amateur why Gen-
erals and Ministers have such large staffs, and I
have often wondered if they are kept for orna-
ment, companionship, or use; but expect it is an
unconscious form of vanity. All the time my hus-
band was Prime Minister he never took a secretary
[102]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
away with him either at home or abroad, but in old
days I have known idle and rich young men travel
with a loader, a valet, a secretary, a coiffeur and a
chiropodist.
"Sir Henry and I knew each other hunting in
Leicestershire and he received us with cordial hos-
pitality. He not only gave us an excellent dinner
— which was very welcome as, except for tea and
biscuits, we had had nothing to eat since the early
morning — but he gave up his own bedroom and
bath to me, an act of courtesy for which I shall
ever be grateful.
"I was glad to observe how popular my chaperon,
Major Gordon, was wherever we went — nor was I
surprised, as a better looking, better hearted, more
capable and devoted person I have seldom met.
"We left Merville on December the 14th, 1914,
at 7.30 in the morning, and arrived at Havre that
night. "On looking at the boisterous choppy sea I
made up my mind that nothing would induce me to
spend twelve hours upon it, so after a peaceful night
we motored back to Boulogne.
"At 7 a.m. the next morning we left, and got
back the same night to London."
[End of Diary Quotation]
[103]
MARGOT ASQUITH
As this book is not a history of the war, I do
not propose to write chronologically of the cam-
paign, but will end this chapter with a quotation
from my diary written on the last day of 1914.
December 31st, 1914.
"Although this is the last day of the year 1914,
will any of us have the heart to talk of a happy
New one to-morrow. When I opened my Bible to-
night my eye rested on this text :
'Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the
sea! for the devil is come down with you having
great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but
a short time.' — Rev. xii, 12.
"This is an accurate description of what is hap-
pening to-day in this frightful war, with its aero-
planes, submarines, poison gas, grave-digging
bombs, and general massacre and mutilation. But
are we sure that it is only for a short time? or that
the devil was not among us before? No people
have ever so far departed from the Spirit of
Christ as the Germans of to-day, but we ourselves
had been moving somewhat in the same direction.
"Before the war we had our Frightfulness.
"We observed tepid, passionless young people ex-
[104]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
ercising fine intellects in a manner more impover-
ishing than enriching to their natures: artists in-
dulging in meaningless portraiture of confused
limbs ; women qualifying for Political responsibility
by blowing up gardens, burning down churches,
and threatening the lives of innocent women and
children in low letters — not only threatening — but
attacking them with sticks, stones, axes and dog-
whips. We saw old friends insulting and cutting
each other over politics ; great soldiers intriguing to
put the Army against the Government; great law-
yers defying the law; and finally, pleasure people
watching a man they loved drown, while incapable
of either feeling or showing mourning for him.
"When we curse the 'Frightfulness' of the Ger-
mans we had better remember our own.
"War will ever be an enigma in my spiritual
contemplation; but if the same patience, self -sur-
render, devotion, fortitude, and faith could inspire
men in life as in Death, there would be no more
wars.
"The devil is undoubtedly among us to-day, and
we must not infer that because God is good He is
good-natured."
[End of Diary Quotation]
[105]
CHAPTER III
INFLUENCE OF THE PRESS — MRS. ASQUITH SHUNNED
AS PRO-GERMAN — THE COALITION — LLOYD
GEORGE AND SHELLS — DUPLICITY OF SIR JOHN
FRENCH — PORTRAIT OF LORD READING
I CANNOT avoid writing, however perfuncto-
rily, of some of the events which led not only
to the resignation of my husband, but to the down-
fall of a Party which had smashed the Unionists in
1906 by the biggest majority ever known, which
had won three successive General Elections, and
which had been led for a longer period than any
in our political history by the same Prime Minister.
This is a matter of such delicacy that for ob-
vious reasons I shall not always be able to give
the names of those chiefly concerned, nor shall I
deal in any great detail with the matter.
There is a common saying that public opinion
is usually right, backed by the proverb, "There is
no smoke without fire"; but judging by my own
experience, I can only say I have found the re-
[106]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
verse to be true: there is always a great deal of
smoke and very little fire.
Since the days of Pilate, the populace shout for
the wrong man and you need only observe the
transitoriness of fashion or of fame to see how little
public opinion is worthy of consideration.
It would almost seem as if there was a floating
fabric of evil playing perpetually over crowds,
instigating anonymous and threatening letters;
starting rumours; casting doubts; spreading what
appeals to the lowest instincts of the credulous and
ill-informed, and scattering from a busy mint falsej
coins to the People and the Press.
I do not think there was any particular dislike
for Christ among the people who shouted, "Give
us Barabbas!" and some of them adored Him; but
if you listen closely you will hear men and women
joining each other all through life saying: "Give
us Barrabas!" and you will be fortunate if you meet
even a dozen people in life who hold and express
an independent view. It suits the average human
being to believe the worst, and thinking on things
of good report gives them no sort of pleasure.
Bacon says:
[107]
MARGOT ASQUITH
" 'Tis not the lie that passeth through the mind,
but the lie that sinketh that doth the harm."
In times of great physical and moral strain, or
intense mental excitement, trifles become portents.
In the year 1915 the recurring failures of our
Offensive, and want of proper co-ordination in the
General Staff, provoked adverse criticism of the
conduct of the war. The silence so conspicuous in
1914 had disappeared, and the patience of the
public was ebbing.
It was at this moment that the lie that sinketh
was spread.
"Wait and see" — a phrase originally uttered as
a threat by my husband in the House of Commons,
was taken up by a group of influential newspapers,
and quoted upon every occasion as meaning apathy
and delay. It is not difficult to perceive the preju-
dice this created in the minds of men and women
whose brothers, sons and lovers were being killed
in a conflict that touched our shores; and it gave
a great opening to ambitious men who fancied
that if they were in the position of Prime Minister
things would be very different.
In years of War the Press if it desires to inflame
the rabble-rousers has powers which it possesses
[108]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
at no other time, and in criticising the patriotism,
one must make allowances for the disappointment
of Correspondents who were not only severely cen-
sored at home, but were forbidden to go to the
Front. The irritation this produced was shown*}
by a stream of abuse, and a deliberate desire to
alarm the public at the expense of the Prime
Minister.
It is an easy matter to frighten people. By
gazing at a chimney pot you can collect a crowd
in a street; by shouting "Fire!" you can kill people
in a theatre; and if twenty or thirty papers write
daily that the War Office is incompetent, the For-
eign Office misled, and the Prime Minister asleep,
they will be believed.
A certain air of authority was given to this
abuse, as these papers having received private in-
formation of cabinet decisions before the decisions
could reach any of the Allies, were able to announce
that they had forestalled the Prime Minister and to
congratulate themselves on hastening up his "wait
and see" methods. So persistently was this cam-
paign pursued, that several donkeys wrote signed
letters to the Times praising it for its God-like pre-
science. I also had my social and political enemies,
F109]
MARGOT ASQUITH
and will quote what I wrote in my diary at that
time:
"The D ss of W and others continue
spreading amazing lies about me and mine: they
would be grotesque if they were not so vile.
"Elizabeth is in turn engaged to a German Ad-
miral, or a German General; Henry has shares in
Krupps; I 'feed Prussian prisoners with every
dainty and comestible,' and play lawn tennis with
them at Donnington Hall — a place whose very
whereabouts is unknown to me.
"These private fabrications are not only circu-
lated but believed, and had it not been for my re-
ceiving £l,000 for a libel action which I took in the
Law Courts against the Globe Newspaper, the
whole of our thoughtful Press would have pub-
lished them. As it is, they mutter incantations
about the 'Hidden Hand,' 'Apathy in high places,'
etc., and like Pilate, 'willing to content the people,'
Barabbas is released.
"I am told by John Morley and other students
of History, that no greater campaign of calumny
was ever conducted against one man than that
which has been, and is being, conducted against
my husband to-day. When I point out with indig-
[110]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
nation that someone in the cabinet is betraying
secrets, I am counselled to keep calm. Henry is as
indifferent to the Press as St. Paul's Cathedral is
to midges, but I confess that I am not! and I only
hope the man responsible for giving information to
Lord N will be heavily punished: God may
forgive him; I never can."
[End of Diary Quotation]
As Lord Kitchener, Sir Edward Grey and my <
husband were the most powerful men in the Gov-
ernment, they were the chief victims of this abuse, -i
Had they been as sensitive to the papers as Lord
Rosebery, Lord Derby, or Lord Curzon, some ef-
fort might have been made to stop the divulgence
of Cabinet secrets, but they were harassed with
work, and only thinking of how to keep the Allies
together and win the war.
We should never have been told to love our
neighbours in the Bible had it not been a matter
of difficulty: and although it is probable that if we
could have given more information and with greater
rapidity of what was happening at the Front, we
should have satisfied people at home, it was im-
possible to let the public into our confidence when
MARGOT ASQUITH
working with Allies as different from ourselves as
Ahe French, the Russians, and the Italians. Violent
quarrels in what is called "the Silent Service," in-
trigue in the Army, and disloyalty at home, obliged
^us to form the Coalition of 1915.
Men's minds were distraught, their nerves shat-
tered, and their hearts broken by the tragic events
that were taking place close to our shores, rumours
of which were received on the same day, and the
patriotism and reserve shown at the outbreak of
war were gradually evaporating.
_ A Coalition may suit other nations but it does
'not suit Great Britain. The Parliamentary groups
which govern France and other countries do not
lend themselves to stability, and we have lived to
see the failure of trying to govern men either by
Autocracy or Bureaucracy.
In England we have evolved for ourselves from
long political experience the system of Party Gov-
ernment by a corporate conscience which we not
only understand, but which has been the envy of
the world. The esprit de corps which is essential
in a Cabinet presents no attractions to a Coalition,
and ours was conspicuously lacking in it.
[112]
TUB PRIME MINISTER AND SIB JOHN FBENCif AT U.H.U., FRANCE, 1914
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
10 Downing Street, July, 1915.
Intrigue of every kind arose, due to the impa-
tience of the frightened, the credulity of the fools,
and the ambition of our friends.
Some men and women not only like but live
upon Gossip. With a smile of welcome they proffer
you one hand while concealing a stiletto in the
other, and without knowing it the whole tenor of
their talk is bearing false "witness against their
neighbours. These are they who sin against the
Holy Ghost.
My husband, although an excellent judge of men
and events, despised suspicion, and abhorred in-
trigue.
I read the following sentence somewhere:
"Suspicions are like bats amongst birds, they
ever fly by twilight"; and it was not until the 1st
of July, 1915, that I realised there was a deliberate 7
attempt being made by the Press and certain per-
sons to entangle the Prime Minister in a mis- i
chievous personal controversy.
On the 1st of July, 1915, a friend of Mr. Lloyd
George's and a member of Parliament moved a
resolution in the House that it would be expedient
that all powers exercised by the Ordnance Depart-
[113]
MARGOT ASQUITH
ment of the War Office — under the control of Gen-
eral von Donop — in respect of the supply of muni-
tions of war should be transferred to the new Minis-
try of Munitions then under the command of Mr.
Lloyd George.
In the course of a violent attack upon the Gov-
ernment he said that :
"By its scandalous neglect of the most elemen-
tary considerations of warfare and its innumerable
blunders it had seriously endangered the security
of the country"; and wound up a virulent speech
with:
"The history of the Ordnance Department is
failure in the past, chaos in the present and hope-
lessness for the future. We demand that the new
Ministry should assume all the power of this De-
partment in regard to the supply of munitions
and that the Ordnance Department should be
robbed of every vestige of its authority."
The Times, being the only paper to publish a
verbatim report the next morning, must have been
given that speech before it was delivered, and the
I author dined with Mr. Lloyd George on the night
of the attack.
Private Members being commissioned to defame
[114]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
the Prime Minister, in conjunction with a group of
hostile papers, was not only a new form of propa-
ganda in our political history, but if sufficiently
indulged in would bring all Parliamentary Gov-
ernment to an end.
July 5th, 1914.
A few days later (on the 5th of July) Lord
Haldane made a speech warmly defending Gen-
eral von Donop from the inaccurate and unjustifi-
able abuse which had been showered upon him. He
observed that it is not in accordance with British
ideas of fair play to attack a Civil Servant who
from the nature of his position is unable to defend
himself; and pointed out that the Committee ap-
pointed as recently as October to look into the
matter of shells had not only gone thoroughly into
the matter, but included Mr. Lloyd George him-
self, and ended by saying:
"Had the order for shells then given by the Gov-
ernment been carried out, we should have had a
very large surplus to-day."
This speech nettled the pioneers and was
promptly answered. On the 8th, Mr. Lloyd George
issued a statement to the papers in which he said: —
[115]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"Lord Haldane's version of what took place some
months ago at a Committee of the Cabinet on
Arms is incomplete and in some material respects
inaccurate. At the proper time it will be necessary
to go more fully into the matter, though Mr. Lloyd
George hopes that he will not be driven to do so
at this stage. But he would like to point out that
the very fact of this conflict of memory having
arisen shows the unwisdom of these partial and un-
authorised disclosures of the decisions of highly
confidential Committees of the Cabinet."
Here Mr. Lloyd George was right. Nothing of
a confidential nature should ever be disclosed, either
in public or in private, and whoever flattered the
Press by giving away Cabinet Secrets at that time
showed personal treachery of a kind fortunately
rare in British politics; but he was wrong about
Lord Haldane's memory.
I wrote to congratulate Haldane on his courage,
and in his answer, which I received the same day
(the 8th of July, 1915), he ended:
"So long as I have breath in my body officers who
are misrepresented in public and are unable to de-
fend themselves shall not be attacked with im-
punity."
[116]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
On the 10th he came to see me and said:
"X and Co. are out to smash the Prime ]
Minister, but Grey and I intend to stand on each I
side of him to protect him from such baseness."
A few days before this Lord French had sent a
message to ask if he could see me. We had not met
since the formation of the Coalition, and as the
whole cruel campaign about the shells had arisen
from someone at his Headquarters falsifying the
truth by supplying the Press with misleading in-
formation, I was not at all anxious to meet him;
but it takes me longer than most people either to
suspect or to drop old friends, so I gave way.
Confronted by my questions, Lord French
blandly denied all knowledge of the shell affair, but
he appeared dejected and confused, and after a
painful interview we parted.
Haunted by his look of misery and knowing
what he must be suffering over the war, I wrote him
a letter to wish him "God-speed," and this is his
answer:
[117]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"HEADQUARTERS,
"BRITISH ARMY,
"FRANCE,
"July 13th, 1915.
"My DEAR MRS. ASQUITH,
"I am sending one line by F. Guest to thank you
for the very kind letter I got from you before I left
England the other day. It was so nice and kind of
you to let me see you, and I loved having a talk
with you although you gave me a terrible 'Damn-
ing!' We were delighted to have the Prime Min-
ister with us again. Please write me a line when
you have time.
"Yours always sincerely,
"J. D. P. FRENCH."
This was followed up by several letters of such
gratitude and affection to my husband and myself,
that although I was puzzled, my suspicions were
allayed.
It needs a mean nature to think of yourself when
events of such tragic importance were taking place
all over the world, and none of us was allowed
to know at the time what Henry felt about the
daily attacks upon himself. Through all those silent
[118]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
nights and waiting mornings, with the recurring
news of failure, and the anxiety as to the fate of
his own sons, he showed an evenness of mind and
sweetness of nature rare even in the most courage-
ous. (Lord Kitchener said in his farewell inter-
view with the King: "I have never seen Asquith*]
rattled: he is the best of the lot.")
My husband shook himself like a dog getting out
of dirty water over the X episode, and the
papers continued, adding to their personal abuse,
glowing praises of Mr. Lloyd George. This was
so noticeable that even the Morning Post, a paper
that has never concealed its loathing of the name
of "Asquith," wrote in the last week of July, 1915:
"There are certain political intrigues directed to
the replacing of Mr. Asquith by some other poli-
tician, the origin and purpose of which are obscure ;
we will frankly confess that, while we are not
numbered among the admirers of the Prime Min-
ister, we would not think it any gain to see King
Stork in the place of King Log."
In quoting this I do not mean to imply that
Henry was popular with the Unionist Party, but —
difficult as it is to believe to-day — nor was the
present Prime Minister.
[119]
MARGOT ASQUITH
Col. Lockwood,* a genuine Conservative of the
highest type, wrote in answer to a letter of mine:
"Did I not tell you how all would some day
recognise how great a man your P.M. was? While
I listened to his speech in the House of Commons
the other day I wondered if some saw the light at
last.
"Yours ever, dear kind friend,
"MARK LOCKWOOD."
10 Downing Street, August 3rd, 1915.
The night before the first anniversary of the
war, the 3rd of August, 1915, Lord Kitchener, Mr.
Bonar Law, Mr. Winston Churchill, my sister
Lucy and Lord D'Abernon dined with me; my hus-
band and Elizabeth were to arrive the next day
from the country.
Having heard of the death of Billy Grenfell,t
I felt like cancelling all engagements, but fearing
this would inconvenience my guests, I went down
to dinner with a heavy heart.
In less than six months Lord and Lady Des-
borough had lost their two sons; young men of 25
* Lord Lambourne.
•fThe Hon. William Grenfeil.
[120]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
and 28, who combined all that life can give of
courage, brains and good feeling, and I could
hardly think of them without tears.
I would like to write of these and others that I
loved who were killed in the war; Charles Lister,
John Manners, Edward Horner, George Vernon,
Eustace Crawley and Rupert Brooke, but the list
of the dead that I cared for, and the parents I
mourned with would be too long to put in any
single volume.
While discussing the Grenfell brothers with Lord
Kitchener at dinner that night, I said with impulse
that I thought faith should be rewarded in this
world by more knowledge, and that I longed for
one glimpse of God's purpose — if only a gleam
of hope as to our sure immortality. The expres-
sion on Lord Kitchener's face was one of puzzled
kindness, and he handed me the port. To hide my
emotion he turned abruptly to the table and, chang-
ing the subject, said we had only ourselves to thank
for the failures in the war.
"The Germans attack us and we wait to counter-
attack them. This is madness ;" he said : "You must
do it at once, while your enemy is exhausted, or if
you can't, you should reform your plans with de-
[121]
MARGOT ASQUITH
liberation and slowly; but to wait, and then coun-
ter-attack impulsively, is to court disaster."
Mr. Churchill asked him which he would rather
have under his command, English, French or Ger-
man troops: he said that after the English he
thought the Germans were the best soldiers: Win-
ston said he thought the French were superior; to
this Lord Kitchener — who had fought in the
Franco-Prussian War — demurred, but both he and
the whole company were agreed that in attack the
French Army had not a rival in the world.
We went on to discuss what form the Memorial
Service for the anniversary of the war at St. Paul's
Cathedral should take on the next day. Lord
Kitchener said: —
"The clergy are the most conservative, tiresome,
unimaginative men to deal with that I have ever
come across ; I suggested all sorts of things to them :
proper hymns like 'Eternal Father Strong to Save,'
and 'Onward Christian Soldiers,' but they would
not listen to me: I want this service to be a great
recruiting occasion. The Archbishop could, in ai
short sermon, stir up the whole congregation, which ]
would be a far better way of doing things than al|/
this intrigue about Conscription."
[122]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I was surprised to find that Lord Kitchener not
only disliked intrigue but was averse to Conscrip-
tion.
I am not going to write about the difficulties
with the Colleagues and the Country over Con-
scription, but in this connection I would like to
say that Mr. Walter Long,* although a strong
Tory, showed us a loyalty all that time which
neither my husband or I will ever forget.
August 4*th, 1914.
The next day (August 4th) my husband, my
sister Lucy, my son Anthony and I went to St.
Paul's Cathedral. In spite of soldiers, sailors, Min-
isters, Ambassadors, the crowd and the King, it
was a disappointing service, and a great occasion
missed. "Rock of Ages" was taken at different
paces by the choir and the congregation, the
prayers were long, and the music meagre.
My thoughts scattered as I listened to the ser-
mon, and I wondered if the ways of man were not
as mysterious as those of God.
We were watching little States bargaining over
land and begging for money. Labour quarrels and
* Lord Long, of Trowbridge.
[123]
MARGOT ASQUITH
employers' profits; an English-speaking nation
"Too proud to fight"; and the only contribution
of a great Church, the canonisation of Charles I —
I thought of the Fighting and the Dead ; of Julian
and Billy Grenf ell ; of Lord Kitchener handing me
the port; and came to the conclusion that if it is
hard to believe in God, it is no easier to believe in
man.
Before I left London for Scotland in the late
autumn of 1915, and after a painful political Ses-
sion, I received a charming letter, dated August
20th, 1915, from Mr. Bonar Law in answer to one
from me, in which I asked him if nothing could be
done to prevent Cabinet secrets being published
in the Press, which I said was not only doing my
husband and the Cabinet incalculable mischief, but
hampering the conduct of the war.
"I am strongly of opinion," he wrote, "that the
Times should not be allowed to go on day by day
discrediting the Government in a way which most
certainly is damaging the country in the prosecu-
tion of the war. There was an opportunity of
raising the question in the cabinet to-day and I
pressed it as much as I could. It was decided that
[124]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Carson and the Lord Chancellor should look into
the question, and I hope that it will be dealt with."
The matter, however, never was dealt with.
10 Downing Street, July, 1916.
On the 5th of July, I received a letter from
Raymond Asquith,* written from outside the
Ypres salient, that curious strategic position that —
whether from British obstinacy or foreign pressure
I do not know — our Army occupied at such tragic
cost and for so long a time.
"July 5th, 1916.
"DEAREST M ARGOT,
"I was delighted to get your excellent letter with
its capital news that Puff has got his scholarship;
he will enjoy Winchester much more than Summer-
fields. What you say of the snobbery of some
soldiers is appallingly true! If you look at any
list of honours, it's always the same story. The
Dukes are proved to be the bravest men of all, and
after them the Marquesses. We've been having
stirring times these last months. We were rushed
up in motor-buses in the middle of our rest as an
* Raymond Asquith, 3rd Grenadier Guards.
[125]
MARGOT ASQUITH
emergency measure to relieve the Canadians after
their counter-attack at Hooge. We took over what
was in effect a battlefield and an untidy one at
that. Mined trenches, confluent craters, bodies and
bits of bodies, woods turned into a wilderness of
stubby blackened stumps and a stink of death and
corruption which was supernaturally beastly. The
Canadians fought extremely well and are brave
and enterprising, but they are deficient in system
and routine. No troops can be first rate unless
they are punished for small faults and get their
meals with regularity. The Canadians are fre-
quently famished and never rebuked, whereas the
Brigade of Guards are gorged and d d the
whole time. We stayed among the smells for a
week.
"I had a narrow escape one night. I had taken
a man with me to inspect the barbed wire in front
of our trench and when we were 40 yards out we
found ourselves suddenly illuminated by the glare
of % dozen German rockets. We bobbed down
behind a lump of earth and the next moment a bomb
burst a yard away; I was spattered all over but
not hurt.
"We have 10 more days to get through these
[126]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
two lines before we can change our linen or take
our boots off; sixteen days without undressing is
excessive in my opinion, but I suppose P
S knows best.
"Love to you and Father."
This was the last letter I ever had from him.
When the Parliament of 1916 broke up in sum-
mer, we went to a house at Bognor lent us for 6
weeks by a new and dear friend of ours, Sir Arthur
Du Cros.
We had invited a mixed party for our last week-
end; Lord Reading, Sir Ernest Cassel, his niece,
Anna Jenkins, Lord Charles Montagu, Lord Basil
Blackwood, Sir Arthur Du Cros, my cousin, Nan
Tennant and Mr. Massingham of The Nation; but
some of them threw us over, and as far as I can re-
member, Sir Ernest Cassel, his niece (my friend,
Anna Jenkins) and Lord Reading, were our only
guests.
Sir Ernest Cassel was a man of natural authority,
who from humble beginnings became a financier of
wealth and importance. He had no small talk
and disliked gossip; he was dignified, autocratic
[127]
MARGOT ASQUITH
and wise; with a power of loving those he cared
for which 1 find rare. In spite of the sufferings
that our contemptible spy-hunters caused him dur-
ing the War, no one was ever more loyal or gen-
erous to the country of his adoption.
He and I had many mutual friends, among them
the present Viceroy of India.
Rufus Reading is one of the best fellows that
ever lived. He has no trace of hardness, and though
ambitious is never selfish. By race a Jew, he is
British to the core, neither touchy, restless or sus-
picious, but combines wisdom with caution and has
the laugh of an English schoolboy. What attracts
me in him is his untireable capacity for simple en-
joyment, his gravity and insight, and a critical
faculty that never cuts. Although an admiring
friend of the present Prime Minister, he has al-
ways been grateful for the affection and friendship
my husband showed him over the Marconi incident,
nor has he ever neglected to prove this gratitude.
He has consulted Henry throughout his career and
their friendship cannot lessen now.
After leaving Bognor we returned to the Wharf
for the remainder of the holidays.
F1281
MR. ASQUITH AXD HIS SOX AXTHOXY AT "THE WHARF"
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
The Wharf, September, 1916.
I will here quote from my diary.
"On Sunday, September the 17th, we were en-
tertaining a week-end party, which included Gen-
eral and Florry Bridges, Lady Tree, Nan Tennant,
Bogie Harris, Arnold Ward, and Sir John Cowans.
While we were playing tennis in the afternoon my
husband went for a drive with my cousin, Nan
Tennant. He looked well, and had been delighted
with his visit to the front and all he saw of the
improvement in our organisation there: the tanks
and the troops as well as the guns. Our Offensive"\
for the time being was going amazingly well. The J
French were fighting magnificently, the House of
Commons was shut, the Cabinet more united, and
from what we heard on good authority the Germans
more discouraged. Henry told us about Raymond,
whom he had seen at Tricourt on the 6th ( Septem-
ber, 1916).
"As it was my little son's last Sunday before
going back to Winchester I told him he might run
across from the Barn in his pyjamas after dinner
and sit with us while the men were in the dining-
room.
"While we were playing games Clouder, our
[129]
MARGOT ASQUITH
servant — of whom Elizabeth said, 'He makes per-
fect ladies of us all' — came in to say that I was
wanted.
"I left the room, and the moment I took up the
telephone I said to myself, 'Raymond is killed.'
"With the receiver in my hand, I asked what it
was, and if the news was bad.
"Our secretary, Davies, answered, 'Terrible, ter-
rible news. Raymond was shot dead on the 15th.
Haig writes full of sympathy, but no details. The
Guards were in and he was shot leading his men
the moment he had gone over the parapet.'
"I put back the receiver and sat down. I heard
Elizabeth's delicious laugh, and a hum of talk and
smell of cigars came down the passage from the
dining-room.
"I went back into the sitting-room.
' 'Raymond is dead,' I said, 'he was shot leading
his men over the top on Friday.'
"Puffin got up from his game and hanging his
head took my hand ; Elizabeth burst into tears, for
though she had not seen Raymond since her re-
turn from Munich she was devoted to him. Maud
Tree and Florry Bridges suggested I should put
off telling Henry the terrible news as he was happy.
[130]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I walked away with the two children and rang the
bell:
" 'Tell the Prime Minister to come and speak to
me,' I said to the servant.
"Leaving the children, I paused at the end of
the dining-room passage; Henry opened the door
and we stood facing each other. He saw my thin
wet face, and while he put his arm round me I said :
'Terrible, terrible news.'
"At this he stopped me and said :
" 'I know. . . . I've known it. ... Raymond is
dead/
"He put his hands over his face and we walked
into an empty room and sat down in silence."
[End of Diary Quotation]
[131]
CHAPTER IV
CABINET INTRIGUES — PRESSURE ON THE PREMIER —
ASQUITH RESIGNS; LLOYD GEORGE SUCCEEDS
HIM — EPISODE AT A TEA-PARTY ; HARSH TREAT-
MENT OF ALIENS
10 Downing Street, December, 1916.
I HAVE outlined the beginning of the intrigue*]
which led to my husband's resignation; but.)
although I have kept a careful and precise record
of all that happened in the last months and weeks
of the year 1916 it is not my purpose to quote the
conversations or correspondence either public or
private that led up to the final event. Had it not
been that we are threatened with the publication of
several memoirs upon the subject I would not have
referred to it at all. The anonymous volumes
which have already appeared are negligible; as it
is safe to assume when an author is ashamed to re-
veal his name, the book is either written in the
servants' hall, or by prejudiced and confused eaves-
droppers.
[132]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
After Lord Kitchener's death in June a recon-
struction of the Cabinet became inevitable, and
when I heard who had succeeded him at the War
Office, I wrote in my Diary:
"We are out: it can only be a question of 1
time now when we shall have to leave Downing/
Street."
My opinion was shared by none of Henry's sec-
retaries, and some of his family abjured me for
them.
The trackless progress of intrigue interests peo-
ple of different characters in varying degrees. To
men like my husband, Lord Grey, Lord Buckmas-
ter, or Lord Crewe, no one but the boldest or
silliest would mention the subject, and the confi-
dential few to whom I spoke met my fears with
surprise tempered by disapproval. I felt a sense
of acute isolation in those last months in Downing
Street, while I observed what was going on as
clearly as you see fish in a bowl.
In a book, entitled "The Pomp of Power," which
I have just received, I find a wholly erroneous ac-
count of what occurred in December, 1916. On
page 155, I read:
[133]
MARGOT ASQUITH
December 3rd, 1916.
"Asquith came back on Sunday; and that after-
noon the Unionist members of the Government
wrote him that they resigned if Lloyd George did.
In fact, they did send in their resignations, but
withdrew them when Asquith replied that the mat-
ter raised by Lloyd George was not settled."
None of Mr. Asquith's colleagues resigned; nor
did a single member of them write to him. No one
was more surprised than his Unionist colleagues
when they were summoned to a meeting suddenly
and unexpectedly called on Sunday, the 3rd of
December — to which Lord Lansdowne was not in-
vited. We were subsequently told that the writ-
ten'decision taken at that meeting was torn up on
its way to 10 Downing Street, and all that we re-
ceived was a verbal message to the effect that some
of the colleagues wished the Prime Minister to
resign.
Given sufficient reason you will always find a
high standard of honour among certain kinds of
thieves, and personal ambition, after Love, is the
strongest motive in life.
To bring off a big thing with success, you must
not only be highly prepared and choose your mo-
[134]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
ment, but you must be certain of your men, and
nothing interested me more in those Autumn
manoeuvres than speculating upon the rewards
promised, and the motives that moved the men who
were engaged upon them.
To-day I can write with calm of these events,
but at the time of their occurrence I was shocked
and wounded by the meanness, ingratitude and
lack of loyalty shown to a man who in all the years
he had been Prime Minister had disproved these
qualities in a high degree.
Mr. Lloyd George could never have formed his
Government in the December of 1916, had Mr.
Balfour or the Labour leaders refused to join it.
It is at least probable that neither Lord Curzon,
Lord Robert Cecil, Mr. Walter Long or Mr. Aus-
ten Chamberlain would have served under the pres-
ent Prime Minister if their old chief had stood out
at that moment, and I doubt if Mr. Bonar Law or
Lord Carson even with the assistance of a large
body of the Press, could have succeeded in the task.
To transfer the allegiance of the majority of the
Parliamentary Labour Party from one combina-
tion to another was easier of achievement after the
promises made than I had supposed, and Mr. Bal-
[135]
MARGOT ASQUITH
four acquiesced. After this defection it would have ~|
been difficult, if not impossible, for my husband j
to cany on the Government.
The situation of our soldiers fighting abroad was
too anxious for him to contemplate fighting for him-
self at home, and on the 5th, after consultation with
other colleagues, he sent the King his resignation.
To a man of Henry's type, the knowledge of what
others were suffering would always preclude him
from thinking of himself, nor is it a topic he can
ever be accused of dwelling upon. It is certain that
one Prime Minister could not have retained office
throughout the whole period of the War, and as
long as a war is won, it matters little to the right
sort of Commander who claims the credit for it.
My husband fell on the battlefield surrounded
by civilians and soldiers whom he had fought for,
and saved ; some of whom owed him not only their
reputations and careers, but their very existence.
Only a handful of faithful men remained by his side
to see whether he was killed or wounded, and on
the 7th of December, Mr. Lloyd George became
Prime Minister.
Among the many amusing and pathetic letters
we received at that time, was the following, from
[136]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
one of our Junior Liberal Whips. It was dated
December 8th, 1916; and ended:
"I am going to continue to work in the little
post to which you so kindly appointed me in 1915.
Mr. George has expressed the wish that I and
others should carry on.
"You are my Party Leader, and I believe and
hope that we shall have the honour of again serv-
ing under your supreme command. I feel rather
like Judas Iscariot must have done."
Two days after this we went to Walmer Castle
where my husband was taken ill, and he never re-
turned to Downing Street.
Walmer Castle,
December I2th, 1916.
While watching the ships out of the windows
at Walmer Castle on the evening of the 12th of
December, a servant told me that I was wanted
on the telephone to speak to someone at the War
Office. I took up the receiver and listened to the
following:
"Take a pencil, and write this for our dear Prime
Minister: 'Germany together with her Allies con-
scious of her responsibility before God, their own
[137]
MARGOT ASQUITH
nation and humanity, have proposed this morning
to the hostile Powers, Peace negotiations.' '
I recognised the voice of our friend, Evelyn Fitz-
gerald. He ended by saying:
"Tell our beloved Prime Minister that Jack
Cowans wished him to know this ; we are all think-
ing of him at the War Office I can tell you! I
can't bear to hear he is ill. Give him our love
please."
I got up and walked down the passage to
Henry's room.
As the Doctor had warned me that he was not
to be bothered by letters or conversation, I hesi-
tated after opening his door :
"Come in," he said, "you don't disturb me."
I found him lying in bed wide awake, and his
room was dark.
I went to the window and read out loud the first
German Peace Proposal.
When I had finished, he sat up and said :
"How I wish I could believe that someone would
have the wits to keep this door ajar."
• •••••
After the amazing fables purposely spread and
foolishly believed, that my husband's conduct of the
[138]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
first two years of war was too slack ever to win it,
it is instructive to remember that it was under his
Administration that the Germans first prayed for
Peace. General Ludendorff confesses that by De-
cember, 1916, the Germans had lost the war.
In Volume I of his War Memoirs he writes of
the situation at the end of 1916:
"We could not contemplate an offensive our-
selves, having to keep our reserves available for
defence. There was no hope of a collapse of any
of the Entente Powers. If the war lasted, our
defeat seemed inevitable. Economically we were
in a highly unfavourable position for a war of ex-
haustion. At home our strength was badly shaken.
Questions of the supply of food-stuffs caused great
anxiety and so, too, did questions of ' moral/ We
were not undermining the spirits of the enemy
populations with starvation, blockades and propa-
ganda. The future looked dark, and our only com-
fort was to be found in defying a superior enemy
and that our line was everywhere beyond our
frontiers."
• •••••
[139]
MARGOT ASQUITH
An Episode — 1917.
It might have been thought that War, with its
weeping nights and solitary mornings, would have
silenced rumour; that the fearing and faint at
home would have been infected by the radiant
and courageous abroad, and that such unknown hu-
man sufferings as the world went through in 1914
would have made men kind ; but it was not so.
From the first day the cry went up that we were
to "hunt out the Germans in our midst," and you
had only to suggest that the person you disliked
for reasons either social or political had German
blood or German sympathies and a witch-hunt was
started as cruel and persistent as any in the 14th
century.
Our treatment of aliens was worse than that of
any of the Allies. We crushed their business,
ruined their homes, boycotted their families and
drove their wives into asylums. Not a voice was
raised from Christian pulpits; but Prelates were
photographed on gun-carriages chatting to sol-
diers on the glories of battle.
Whatever other wars accomplished for other peo-
ple, ours did not make us good.
A minor Minister was hounded out of public life
[140]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
because his wife had gone to see the soldier son of
an old German friend of hers, who was imprisoned
here, an action which stirred Mayfair to its foun-
dations.
There are many fine texts on the subjects, but
no sermon was preached upon them.
In chapter 26th of Matthew it says :
"For I was an-hungered, and ye gave me meat:
I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stran-
ger, and ye took me in:
"Naked, and ye clothed me, I was sick, and ye
visited me, I was in prison, and ye came unto
me. . . .
"Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me."
While the New Testament was forgotten, the
newspapers were devoured, and women collected
round tea-tables, crying out against the Minister's
wife with as much vigour as the Jews shouted for
Barabbas. I hardly knew the guilty lady by sight,
but was taken on about the affair one afternoon
at a fashionable tea-party.
FERST LADY (challenging me on my entrance
[141]
MARGOT ASQUITH
into the room) : "Well, Margot. I suppose you've
heard of this disgraceful affair?"
"What affair?" said I.
SECOND LADY: "Mrs. L H whose hus-
band is in our Foreign Office, has been to see a
Hun soldier in prison!"
I replied : "Really ! Did she go to see him regu-
larly?"
SAME LADY: "Oh, I don't say that! but quite
often enough! Someone told me she went three
times last year."
"Was he a friend of hers?" I asked.
THIRD LADY (in horror-stricken voice) : "Why,
most certainly he was! Not only the boy, but I
believe his mother also. Can you imagine any
woman being a friend of a German? Or going to
see the brutes! It's really too disgusting! While
all our poor boys are being slaughtered."
FOURTH LADY: "It makes one's blood boil!
What I say is, our sons will have died in vain if
we ever forgive or befriend a Hun again."
There was a pause after this, broken by the first
lady:
"Well, Margot, you say nothing: I strongly sus-
pect you think she was right!"
[1*2]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
"Not at all!" I answered. "She" was quite
wrong; I think Mrs. L. H. ought to have gone far
oftener to the prison. It was the least she could
have done if she was a friend of the boy's mother."
• •••••
One day in 1916 while I was serving tea to
wounded Tommies at a party given by Lady Gar-
vagh, which I did once a week, my hostess — the
kindest of women — irrelevantly introduced me at
one of the long tables. She said to the soldiers,
stretching her arm in a gesture of welcome over
the hot water urn:
"I am sure you will be glad to meet Mrs. Asquith
— the wife of our Prime Minister you know — who
has so kindly come ..."
At this I stopped her, and said to the men :
"I think it very kind of you to let me come
here and give you tea at this concert. I can't sing,
or act, or do anything amusing, and I'm sure some-
one else ought to have been in my place to-day."
A typical West End lady at my elbow — also
pouring out tea — interrupted me with emphasis;
and looking at the soldiers said :
"I am sure we are glad to meet Mrs. Asquith; it
will give you an opportunity of telling her how
[143]
MARGOT ASQUITH
you British soldiers were treated in the German
camps and prisons; very different from the way
we treat the German prisoners here!!"
Suspecting nothing, and full of sympathy, I
said:
"Ah! yes, from what I hear you have all suffered
Hell! What terrible people the Germans seem to
have become! I can hardly bear to think of their
cruelty!"
I had scarcely finished my sentence when I saw
the lady's eye gleam, and in an acid voice she said
to a charming-looking Tommy, upon whom I was
waiting:
"Yes, indeed! All of you were as ill-treated in
Germany as their prisoners are pampered here.
Perhaps Mrs. Asquith should be informed a little
about Donnington Hall."
"I suddenly recognised the John Bull touch, and
was reinforced in my conviction by the look of acute
observation on the face of the soldier ; I said rather
coldly to her:
"You may be right, but how do you know? I
have never visited a German soldier in my Kfe, nor
seen Donnington Hall; I don't even know where
it is."
[144]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
The Tommy, instinctively feeling by my voice
that the temperature was rising, looked at the lady
quietly :
"Would you have us treat the German prisoners
like they treated us, miss?" he said. "/ think your
prisoner is your guest."
The lady, drawing her head up like a goose on
a green, walked majestically away.
*«••••
No one who had neither lover, brother, son or
husband in the trenches can have any idea of the
agony of the early years of the war; and when a
lady of foreign birth, too flippant to feel, and too
noisy to pray, posed before the public, and pan-
dered to the Press by saying on a platform that
she had constantly been to 10 Downing Street on
matters of vital importance during the war, and
had felt horrified at the indifference exhibited by the
Asquiths, she was not merely improvising, but dis-
playing the kind of cruelty which is the exclusive
property of women. No man would have said
that of a family who had had one son killed,
another shell-shocked, and the third maimed for
life.
[145]
MARGOT ASQUITH
Alfred de Musset writes:
"Quoi! tu n'as pas d'etoile et tu vas sur la mer!
Au combat sans musique, au voyage sans livre!
Quoi! tu n'as pas d'amour et tu paries de vivre!"
CHAPTER V
GERMAN PEACE OVERTURES — LORD LANSDOWNE'g
LETTER — THE MAURICE LETTER — FOCH AS
GENERALISSIMO — HOUSE OF COMMONS DEBATE
ON MAURICE CHARGE
20 Cavendish Square, 1917.
IN the autumn of 1917 I received a visit from
one of our footmen who was home upon leave.
When I heard of his death a few weeks later I felt
profoundly sad: he was not only a friend of mine,
but I was haunted by the memory of our last con-
versation. After asking him several questions
about the progress of the war he said:
"If you saw as many Germans as we do, you
would know that none of them expect to break
through to the coast. Is there anyone in England
who thinks we are going to push the enemy back
to Berlin, Ma'am?"
His question was unanswerable, and it became
clearer to me every day that the war could only
end in one of three ways: Victory on the Battle-
fields; Conference; or Revolution. No sane man
could imagine our Army pushing the Germans back
[147]
MARGOT ASQUITH
to Berlin, and only an insane one could want
Revolution.
When my footman said "Good-bye," he told me
with bitterness how much he and his brother sol-
diers loathed the war: how they neither wanted to
kill, or be killed; and implied that he would be
only one more corpse to heighten the heap in the
interval, before anyone of sufficient courage would
come forward to suggest a temporary truce.
One morning shortly after this on the 29th of
November my husband called me into his library.
Professor Gilbert Murray, Lord Charles Mon-
tagu and Lord Lansdowne were coming to lunch
at 20 Cavendish Square and it was past one o'clock.
I found him walking up and down. He put the
"Daily Telegraph into my hands saying:
"I would like you to read this quickly before
Lansdowne arrives."
I sat down and read the following memorable
letter addressed to the Editor and dated November
29th, 1917:
"Sin,*
"We are now in the fourth year of the most
dreadful war the world has known ; a war in which,
* This is a curtailed edition of Lord Lansdowne's letter.
[148]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
as Sir W. Robertson has lately informed us, 'the
killed alone can be counted by the million, while
the total number of men engaged amounts to nearly
twenty-four millions.' Ministers continue to tell
us that they scan the horizon in vain for the pros-
pect of a lasting peace.
"But those who believe that the wanton pro-
longation of the war would be a crime, differing
only in degree from that of the criminals who pro-
voked it, may be excused if they, too, scan the
horizon anxiously in the hope of discovering there
indications that the outlook may after all not be
so hopeless as is supposed.
"The obstacles are indeed formidable enough.
It is pointed out with force that, while we have
not hesitated to put forward a general description
of our war aims, the enemy have, though repeat-
edly challenged, refused to formulate theirs, and
have limited themselves to vague and apparently
insincere professions of readiness to negotiate
with us.
"What are we fighting for? To beat the Ger-
mans? Certainly. But that is not an end in itself.
We want to inflict signal defeat upon the Central
Powers, not out of vindictiveness, but in the hope
[149]
MARGOT ASQUITH
of saving the world from a recurrence of the calam-
ity which has befallen this generation.
"What, then, is it we want when the war is
over ? I know of no better formula than that made
by Mr. Asquith in the speeches which he has from
time to time delivered. He has repeatedly told his
hearers that we are waging war in order to obtain
reparation and security. In the way of repara-
tion much can be accomplished, but the utmost
effort to make good the ravages of this war must
fall short and will fail to undo the grievous wrong
which has been done to humanity. To end the war
honourably would be a great achievement; to pre-
vent the same curse falling upon our children would
be a greater achievement still.
"This is our avowed aim, and the magnitude of
the issue cannot be exaggerated. For, just as this
war has been more dreadful than any in history,
so we may be sure would the next be even more
dreadful than this. The prostitution of science
for the purpose of pure destruction is not likely
to stop short. Most of us, however, believe that
it should be possible to secure posterity against the
repetition of such an outrage as that of 1914. If
the Powers will, under a solemn pact, bind them-
[150]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
selves to submit future disputes to Arbitration;
if they will undertake to outlaw, politically and
economically, any one of their number which re-
fuses to enter into such a pact, or to use their
joint military and naval forces for the purpose
of coercing a Power which breaks away from the
rest, they will have travelled far along the road
which leads to security.
"We are not going to lose this war, but its pro-
longation will spell ruin for the civilised world,
and an infinite addition to the load of human suf-
fering which already weighs upon it.
"In my belief, if the war is to be brought to a
close in time to avert a world-wide catastrophe, it
will be brought to a close because on both sides
the people of the countries involved realise that
it has already lasted too long.
"There can be no question that this feeling pre-
vails extensively in Germany, Austria and Turkey.
We know beyond doubt that the economic pressure
in those countries far exceeds any to which we are
subject here. Ministers inform us in their speeches
of 'constant efforts' on the part of the Central
Powers to 'initiate peace talk.' (Sir Eric Geddes
at the Mansion House, November 9.)
[151]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"If the peace talk is not more articulate, and
has not been so precise as to enable His Majesty's
Government to treat it seriously, the explanation is
probably to be found in the fact, first, that Ger-
man despotism does not tolerate independent ex-
pressions of opinion, and second, that the German
Government has contrived, probably with success,
to misrepresent the aims of the Allies, which are
supposed to include the destruction of Germany.
"An immense stimulus would probably be given
to the peace party in Germany if it were under-
stood :
"1. That we do not desire the annihilation of
Germany as a Great Power;
"2. That, except as a legitimate war measure,
we have no desire to deny to Germany her place
among the great commercial communities of the
world ;
"3. That we are prepared, when the war is over,
to examine in concert with other Powers the group
of international problems, some of them of recent
origin, which are connected with the question of
'the freedom of the seas' ;
"4. We are prepared to enter into an inter-
national pact under which ample opportunities
[152}
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
would be afforded for the settlement of interna-
tional disputes by peaceful means.
"That an attempt should be made to bring about
the kind of pact suggested is, I believe, common
ground to all the Belligerents, and probably to all
the Neutral Powers.
"If it be once established that there are no in-
surmountable difficulties in the way of agreement
upon these points the political horizon might per-
haps be scanned with better hope by those who
pray, but can hardly at this moment venture to
expect, that the New Year may bring us a last-
ing and honourable Peace.
"I am, Sir,
"Your obedient servant,
"LANSDOWNE."
LANSDOWNE HOUSE,
November 2Sth, 1917.
When I had finished, Henry said:
"This is an excellent and sensible letter which
will make a great to-do! It is unfortunately ill-
timed, but this it would be always called, whether
he had published it when we were winning or los-
[153]
MARGOT ASQUITH
ing. I am glad Lansdowne has had the courage
to write it."
He went on to say that though he had never had
the faintest doubt — nor had he now — as to our ulti-
mate Victory, he thought the war was likely to
end on the same spot where it had begun, and that
if the minds of men could only see far enough,
they would treat Lansdowne's ideas with respect.
At that moment we were interrupted by a serv-
ant announcing lunch.
After greeting my guests I looked at Lord Lans-
downe and said to myself: "Here is a man of high
honour and estate, who though a Unionist with
most of his former colleagues in Office, has re-
volted against the 'Dog-fight' speeches, the heart-
less swagger and inefficiency of the men who are
governing us."
I told him during lunch what Henry had thought
of his letter, at which he said:
"I am much relieved by what you say. As you
know, long ago I said — and you agreed — that some
Nation would have to speak first. If we all wait
for the right moment we shall certainly wait for
ever. With the collapse of Italy, and Russia in
a state of Revolution, it is, of course, a bad time
[154]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
to speak, but as I shall be cursed by everyone, a
little more or less matters nothing. I agree with
your husband; neither the Allies nor the Germans
will push their Victory into the enemy's country,
and the war will end where it began."
I told him what my footman had said, and
added :
"It seems savagely cruel, and of doubtful wis-
dom, to pile up corpses for a delayed Conference."
Mr. Bonar Law, Lord Carson and every news-
paper vied with the other next day in vilifying
Lord Lansdowne, and London was seen at its
worst. He was the "Bolo," the "Shirker," and the
"Funk." The gutter Press published photographs
of Lansdowne House bracketed with irrelevant pic-
tures of slums and starving children; nor was it
outsiders alone who heaped infamy upon him, mem-
bers of his own family publicly repudiated him.
I was interested to observe that this abuse was
not universal in Mayfair, and some of our high
Society had the courage to praise Lord Lans-
downe, though in lowered voices. General Grant
and other Commanders, home on leave, informed
me that many of our best soldiers here and abroad,
[155]
MARGOT ASQUITH
not only agreed with the letter, but wished it had
been written months before.
In saying this I do not mean that Lord Lans-
downe or any of his admirers thought that Germany
would win the war. I personally never met anyone
who thought that — although I was told after the
Armistice the names of a few who did — but many
of the men whose judgment I valued foresaw, with
singular accuracy, how little there is to be gained
by a long war, even to the victors. Large for-
tunes, however, were being accumulated and it is
surprising how easily non-combatants get acclima-
tised to Death.
The Maurice Debate — 1917.
The year 1918 opened by the enemy announc-
ing their great Spring Offensive. This was ad-
vertised with such boldness and persistence
throughout the entire German Press that many
people did not believe in it. As public opinion
is seldom right this would not have mattered, but
in spite of many warnings from my husband and
soldiers of eminence, the Government were equally
short-sighted, and refused to do in time what they
were afterwards compelled to do when it was al-
[156]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
most too late: bring back to France troops which
they had allowed to be dispersed in distant
theatres.
The Versailles Conference, an assemblage of
Nations, who while imposing in appearance were
powerless in reality, had served the purpose of tak-
ing the eye off. After much talk in a Babel of
languages, great decisions were taken behind the
backs of our General Staff, and the British public
knew little of what was going on. The desire to
create an impression of success, and what is called
strike the enemy in his weakest spot, and the Prime
Minister's military and political manoeuvres at that
time must have lost us the war had it not been for
an unforeseen incident.
On the 21st of March, Mr. Bonar Law made the
following statement in the House of Commons:
"I may tell the House that this attack had been
launched on the very part of our line which we
were informed would be attacked by the enemy if
an attack were undertaken at all. Only three days
ago we received information at the Cabinet from
Headquarters in France that they had definitely
come to the conclusion that an attack was going to
be launched immediately. ... I do feel justified
[157]
MARGOT ASQUITH
in saying that as it has not come as a surprise, and
as those responsible for our forces have foreseen,
and have throughout believed that, if such an at-
tack came, we should be well able to meet it, noth-
ing that has happened gives us in this country
any cause whatever for additional anxiety."
This speech, emphasizing the fact that the attack
had come where it had been expected, coupled with
the information daily repeated, that the British
Army had never been stronger or better equipped,
made the rumours of our military disasters on the
Western Front unbelievable; and when the news
of the enemy's deep penetration into our lines was
confirmed, and we learnt that at the very time Mr.
Bonar Law was speaking our soldiers were suffer-
ing the greatest military defeat ever inflicted on the
British Army, every one was bewildered or out-
raged.
We were informed that between the 22nd of
March and 1st of April the Germans had in a series
of amazing successes, advanced their battle line
forty miles, and at the urgent request of Lord
Haig and Lord Milner the Supreme Command of
all the Allied forces had been taken over by Mar-
shal Foch.
[158]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Unity of command under a generalissimo was not
a new idea. It had been seriously considered and
rejected on sufficient grounds by my husband, Lord
Kitchener, the Allied Staffs and — after the failure
of Nivelle — by Mr. Lloyd George; but the tragic
happenings in the Spring of 1918 converted men
upon the spot, and the views of the Easternites un-
derwent a convulsive, tardy, but wholesome change.
The appointment of the great French soldier
restored confidence and was received with univer-
sal acclamation; but the situation remained anx-
ious, and the conflict continued between those who
believed in triumph in the East, and those who fore-
saw the danger on the West.
Reviewing the situation now, it seems incredible
that anyone could have been as wanting in sense
as to believe that striking the Turk was killing the
German, but the moral purpose of the conflict had
degenerated, and spectacular effects to cheer the
faint-hearted and bamboozle the public were the
order of the day.
Nothing throughout the war betrayed the value
of men's judgment, or the quality of their charac-
ters more than the opinions they held as to the rela-
tive dangers that lay in the East or in the West.
[159]
MARGOT ASQUITH
There was only one great strategic conception
in the war, and that was the Dardanelles ; once that
had failed, it was obvious to Sir William Robert-
son, Sir Frederick Maurice and Sir Douglas Haig
that we had to stonewall the West, and that every
side-show was a drain upon our resources.
On the 23rd of March, 1918, the Kaiser's tele-
gram to his wife was published :
"Pleased to be able to tell you that by the Grace
of God the Battles at Moully, Cambrai, St. Quen-
tin, and La Fere have been won. The Lord has
gloriously aided. May He further help.
"WlLHELM."
Someone said that the Kaiser's telegram re-
minded him of a parody on his grandfather's
(King William of Prussia) messages to his consort
during the 1870 Campaign: —
"By right Divine, my dear Augusta
We've had another awful buster,
Ten thousand Frenchmen sent below
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow."
In spite of a bombardment of questions put daily
by Liberals in the House of Commons as to the
[160]
MARSHAL FOCH
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
fighting strength upon our dangerously extended
line, the country was kept in complete ignorance,
and it was not until the 9th of April that Mr.
Lloyd George made a statement in the House
which satisfied the ignorant but terrified the Army.
Referring to the series of set-backs we had had,
and defending his policy in the East, the Prime
Minister said:
"What was the position at the beginning of the
battles? Notwithstanding the heavy casualties in
1917 the Army in France was considerably stronger
on the 1st * of January, 1918, than on the 1st of
January, 1917."
Further on in the same speech he told us that we
had only one white Division in Egypt, and only
three in Palestine.
May 7th, 1918.
On the 7th of May the man who had held the
position of the greatest responsibility throughout
the war, that of Director of Military Operations —
General Sir Frederick Maurice — published his
famous letter in all the London papers categorically
* Hansard, Vol. 104, No. 24, page 1, 328.
[161]
MARGOT ASQUITH
denying the accuracy of the Prime Minister's state-
ments.
Nothing since the Lansdowne letter showed as
much courage as this, and everyone in London who
knew anything about the matter was in a state of
indignant perturbation. Telling the truth is al-
ways unpopular and usually regarded as a blunder,
but sacrificing half your income and the whole of
your career for it, was looked upon as a crime, and
we watched with interest the bluster of our thought-
ful Press, and the Chinese antics of the Govern-
ment.
Some of the newspapers said the letter was
"prompted by the personal pettiness of Mr. As-
quith," and others affirmed that Sir Frederick
Maurice was an intriguer and a Pacifist.
I did not know General Maurice by sight until
the year 1920, and neither my husband nor anyone
connected with us had any conversation with him
about the events which led up to and followed the
publication of his letter.
Three years later, in 1922, General Maurice told
me that the only person he had approached at that
time was Lord Salisbury. In the course of a con-
versation about his letter he said:
[162]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
"I may have been foolishly punctilious, Mrs. As-
quith, as far as my own interests were concerned,
but I decided that I must act entirely alone, first
because I would not give away confidential infor-
mation, and secondly because I felt I could not ask
anyone to share the responsibility of advising me
in a matter which so vitally affected my future. I
went over to France in the middle of April, 1918,
and I there heard that Mr. Lloyd George's state-
ments of April 9th had produced consternation and
were regarded as a direct attack upon Haig. On
my return I consulted Lord Salisbury, because I
regarded him as a man of the highest honour rep-
resenting a large body of the best Conservative
opinion in the country, and one who would advise
me without Party passion and in the best interest
of the Army. I told him what I had heard in
France, and the fears I had as to what would hap-
pen in our Army there if the policy of throwing
the blame for what had happened on to the soldiers
was continued. I told Lord Salisbury no secrets
and I only sent him a copy of my letter on the
same day as I sent it to the Press. The decision
to write the letter was made by me without con-
sultation with anyone because I could not give any-
[163]
MARGOT ASQUITH
one the full facts. I wrote it to prevent the crime
of sacking Haig after a false case had been trumped
up against him. I did not believe that we could
win if we didn't fight clean."
Had the affair not been so alarming, we would
have been more than amused by the hysterical com-
ments made and written at the time. The views
of the fashionable female in moments of national
crisis seldom disappoint one, and when a Tory lady
who was in the habit of ejaculating "Cad!" in the
middle of Mr. Lloyd George's speeches in the
Speaker's gallery said to me on the afternoon of
the day the Maurice letter appeared, that every
French and British soldier adored Lloyd George,
and would resent what Sir Frederick had written,
adding that she hoped he would be shot as a traitor,
I knew where I was.
Sir William and Lady Robertson lunched with
us on the 7th, and I had a talk with him before
going down to the House of Commons. I asked
him what he imagined would be the effect of Sir
Frederick Maurice's letter upon the public, to
which he replied :
"Every word of Maurice's letter is not only true
but unanswerable, Mrs. Asquith, and if the British
[164]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
people are as clear-sighted, courageous and loyal
as my fine friend, they will stand by him to a man ;
but it is not the fashion of the present Government
to be loyal to the soldiers or to anyone else."
"Well," I said, "whenever the debate takes place
in the House my husband will stand by him if he is
the only man in the Division lobby!" to which Sir
William answered:
"The red herring that will be drawn across the
scent is always the same, my dear lady; and will
be repeated in the House of Commons. 'Out to
win the War' is a taking cry, and has not only
hoodwinked the public but done grave injustice to
your husband. What I say is: show me the men
who are out to lose it; the only ones I know are
X and his friends, and unless they are watched
they will certainly succeed."
I asked him if he thought a full and accurate
report of our military failures of March and April
would ever be permitted to see the light of day, to
which he gave a guarded reply.
After lunch we drove to the House of Commons,
and in an answer to a question put by my husband,
pointing out the gravity of the charges made by
Sir Frederick Maurice, Mr. Bonar Law, looking
[165]
MARGOT ASQUITH
pained and deprecatory, and speaking for the
Prime Minister — who did not appear — suggested
there should be an Inquiry, and gave the 9th as
a day for the Debate.
It is interesting to speculate at this time of day
what would have happened had Sir William Rob-
ertson been Chief of Staff in the Spring of that
year, but a series of acrobatic feats during the early
weeks of February — in which it would be difficult
to say which of the men in high places came out
the worst — had succeeded in putting Sir Henry
Wilson in his place, while retaining the services
of Lord Derby at the War Office.
When it was announced on February 19th that
Sir William Robertson had been transferred to the
Eastern Command as a reward for his long serv-
ices, I heard shouts in the House of Commons of
"Boy Scouts!" "Kent Coast!" etc. Nor was the
British public any happier when a few days later
the campaign was opened to get rid of Sir Douglas
Haig.
During all this time not a murmur of criticism
against either the methods or policy of the Govern-
ment was permitted ; and my husband gave serious
offence by saying in a public speech that he was
[166]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
accused of breaking every Commandment when-
ever he made the mildest protest, except that sub-
section of the Tenth, which forbade him to covet his
neighbour's ass.
The anti-Haig campaign began well, but col-
lapsed with the alarm produced by the Maurice
letter, and the Government was shaking in its shoes.
No. 20 Cavendish Square was beseiged by men
of all kinds, and every shade of opinion. Union-
ists, to whom the name of Asquith was anathema,
poured in as well as retired Officers, Peers, Jour-
nalists, Editors and Commoners, to implore my
husband to stand by the soldiers and save England.
The Editor of the best written of all our Tory
papers, a complete stranger, and a man who had
genuinely believed every fable about Henry, called
upon me.
After a generous apology for some of the non-
sense his paper had published, we entered into a
long political conversation, and I was struck by
his transparent simplicity and the honesty of his
purpose. It is difficult to understand why even
gentlemen journalists are so ill-informed, and there
is something pathetic in going through life imagin-
[167]
MARGOT ASQUITH
ing you are leading public opinion when you are
merely following it.
Mr. G said if my husband could but stand
by our soldiers he would not only save us from
defeat in the War, but it would be a decision which
he would never regret; and added that he was in
close touch with Unionists of every description, and
felt sure they would back him to a man in both
Houses. He spoke in the highest terms of Sir Wil-
liam Robertson, going as far as to suggest he might
become Prime Minister of the country if my hus-
band would only serve under him. I said I did
not think Sir William had any wish to occupy this
position, but assured him that my husband had not
the slightest intention of deserting either Sir Fred-
erick Maurice or our soldiers, whether he was, or
whether he was not, backed by the great Unionist
Party.
When Henry and I were alone he told me he
had seen Lord Salisbury among others that morn-
ing, and found him deeply exercised. I said that
his influence in the Lords, and the men of honour
in the Commons — Sir Frederick Banbury, Lord
Robert Cecil, Lord Henry Bentinck and other
Unionists of repute, were certain to vote with us,
[166]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
as there was no chance of our having a large enough
majority to turn the Government out; and that by
now most people must have discovered the price
our unhappy soldiers were paying for the reckless
gambles of the Cabinet. To this he replied that if
the Unionist Party in either House had as much
courage or independence as I attributed to them,
they would not have been led by the nose for such
a long time, and ended by making me a bet, that
when the moment arrived, not one of them would
stick to his guns either in the House of Lords or
the House of Commons.
Between the 7th and the 9th, the Cabinet at the
instigation of Mr. Balfour, changed its mind, and
the Inquiry — which they had themselves suggested
— was turned into a vote of censure. It was the
only chance they had of protecting themselves from
criticism, and the patriotic drum of showing the
enemy a united front was easy and cheap to beat.
No one ever gauged the value of the late House
of Commons or of the present one with more cyn-
ical precision than Mr. Lloyd George, and he was
bound to succeed once he realised the negligible
moral fibre of the majority of his supporters.
In spite of the confidence some of the better in-
[169]
MARGOT ASQUITH
formed had in my husband's reluctance to give
away the sources of his information * the Govern-
ment was terrified. They knew that without quot-
ing his authority he would be expressing the well-
known and considered opinion of the High Com-
mand, and feared that when he had finished speak-
ing he might be backed by some eloquent and un-
suspected man of character in the House. In con-
sequence, anything and everything was promised to
Members upon either side who would support them
in the Division Lobby on the day of the Debate.
May 9th, 1918.
It is never easy, and often ineffectual to fire
small arms at guns of position; but when I went
down to the House of Commons on the 9th of May,
recollecting what had been said to me by indig-
nant Unionists and other brave men, I felt con-
vinced that Henry had underrated not only the
moral courage but the common sense of the House,
and that although it had sometimes turned a blind
eye upon much that was dishonourable and untrue,
it was awake and in earnest that day, and would
stand loyally by our soldiers to repudiate the men-
* We received many private letters from the Front expressing the
deepest anxiety over the situation.
[170]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
acing and disastrous side-shows conducted from 10
Downing Street.
Upon my arrival I found my husband's room full
of his devoted supporters.
As it was the first time since leaving Downing
Street that he had censured the Government, many
of them were anxious he should withdraw his mo-
tion, begging him not to give so cheap a triumph
to his Opponents. They pointed out with truth
that the huge majority which would be whipped
up against him would be misunderstood, and might
discourage Liberals all over the country. His an-
swer was simple, nor could he be induced to alter it.
"I will not throw over Maurice, or any other
soldier in this war ; and if I am the only man I shall
register my vote against the Government to-day."
The debate was not well managed, and the force
of Henry's opening speech was fatally diminished
by his inability to give away the sources of his in-
formation. The result was a foregone conclusion.
Fear, promises, and assiduous whipping gave the
Government a large majority.
The satisfaction of having done the right thing
was enhanced to my husband when in scanning the
Division lists he observed to me that with the excep-
[171]
MARGOT ASQUITH
tion of our dear friend, Aubrey Herbert,* the men
I had believed in had all deserted.
I have sometimes wondered what would have
happened if any man that afternoon had had the
brains or the courage to wind up the Maurice de-
bate with words like these :
"The angel of Death has been abroad through-
out the land; you may almost hear the flapping of
His wings. There is no one ... to sprinkle with
blood the lintel and the sideposts of our doors, that
He may spare and pass on; He takes His victims
from the castle of the noble, the mansion of the
wealthy, and the cottage of the poor and lowly, and
it is on behalf of all these classes that I make this
solemn appeal. Even if I were alone, if my voice
were the solitary one raised amid the din of arms
and the clamour of a venal Press, I should have
the consolation I have to-night, and which I trust
will be mine to the last moment of my existence, the
priceless consolation, that no word of mine has
tended to promote the squandering of my country's
treasure or the spilling of one single drop of my
country's blood."
* Col. The Hon. Aubrey Herbert.
[172]
CHAPTER VI
ARMISTICE DAY IN LONDON — SCENE AT BUCKINGHAM
PALACE AND ST. PAUL'S — PORTRAIT OF PRESI-
DENT WILSON — THE KHAKI ELECTIONS AND
DEFEAT OF THE LIBERALS
20 Cavendish Square,
Sunday, November Wth, 1918.
WHEN my daughter Elizabeth ran into my
bedroom at midnight in her nightgown on
the 10th of November, 1918, to tell me that the war
was over, I felt as numb as an old piano with broken
notes in it. The strain of four years — waiting and
watching, opening and reading telegrams upon
matters of life and death, and the recurring news
of failure at the Front had blunted all my recep-
tive powers, and what she said did not seem to
penetrate me.
A young man from the War Office had rung her
up to tell her that the Germans had signed the
Armistice. I put on my dressing-gown and took
her into her father's room, where we found him
reading. Being far too excited to go to bed, we
[173]
MARGOT ASQUITH
sat together talking over the probable terms of
Peace till far into the morning.
November Hth, 1918.
After drinking my tea at 6 o'clock the next day
(Monday) and feeling too tired to write my diary,
I lay awake reviewing the past and chronicling in
my mind the many events that had taken place since
we had left Downing Street.
The door suddenly opened and my husband came
into the room to say that what we had heard and
discussed in the middle of the night was inaccurate,
as the Germans had not signed after all. I felt no
surprise, but he had hardly shut the door before
the bell of my telephone started ringing, and taking
up the receiver I recognised the voice of my Ameri-
can friend, Mr. Paul Cravath:
"The Germans signed the Armistice at 5.30 this
morning and the War is over," he said.
I ran downstairs and gave orders for as many
flags as could be bought, for the house, the roof,
and the motor; and wrote three telegrams. The
first was to the King, the second to Queen Alexan-
dra, and the third to General Sir John Cowans;
[174]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I took them into my husband's room and we signed
them: "Henry Margot Asquith."
While reading the newspapers, odd noises from
the streets broke upon my ears. Faint sounds of
unfinished music; a medley of guns, maroons,
cheering, and voices shouting "The British Grena-
diers," and "God Save the King." I looked out
of the window and saw elderly nurses in uniform,
and stray men and women clasping each other
round the waist, laughing and dancing in the centre
of the street.
It was a brilliant day and the sky was light.
Henry and I felt it our duty to attend the cre-
mation of a relation, and motored to Golders Green
immediately after breakfast. I had never been there
before, and was struck by the bleakness of the cere-
mony.
Just as Railway Stations are man without God,
so is the Cremation a funeral without a landscape.
A button is pressed and an elaborate kind of cas-
ket— if less clumsy quite as costly as a coffin — dis-
appears upon runners through the wall, and your
mind, which should be bowed over the silence and
inevitability of Death — as interpreted by the fine
Burial Service — is alive and quickened by curiosity
[175]
MARGOT ASQUITH
over the mechanism of the folding doors, and the
subsequent consignment of the casket.
Nothing, however, could affect us seriously that
morning. The whole thoughts of the scanty con-
gregation were either circulating round the signa-
tories of the Armistice, or centred on some name-
less grave in France.
When we returned from Hampstead we could
see the progress that the great news had made.
Flags, big and little, of every colour and nation-
ality were flying from roofs, balconies and win-
dows. The men who were putting them up were
waving their caps at each other from the top of
high ladders, and conventional pedestrians were
whistling or dancing breakdowns on the pavement ;
a more spontaneous outbreak of simple gaiety could
hardly have been imagined, and I have sometimes
wondered if any of the Allies on that day gave way
to such harmless explosions of innocent joy.
We arrived at No. 20 and found that our
thoughtful butler,* with praiseworthy patriotism,
had smothered the house in flags; even the Welsh
harp could be seen fluttering greenly from the win-
dow of Henry's library.
*Mr. Clouder.
[176]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I was told that in a short time it would be im-
possible to move in the streets except upon foot,
as they were already jammed with waggons, trol-
lies, motor-cars and coster-carts; and that the
queues outside the shops which sold flags were of
such a length as to block the passage of any
passers-by. On hearing this I jumped into the
motor and told our chauffeur to drive down the
main streets so that I might see the crowd. It was
a wonderful sight, and more like a foreign carni-
val than what we are accustomed to in this country.
Heavy motor lorries were flying backwards and
forwards stacked with munition workers ; males and
females in brilliant colours were standing on each
other's shoulders yelling and waving flags or shak-
ing tambourines at one another. Everyone was
nailing up some sort of decoration, or quizzing his
neighbour. No one intended to work that day,
nor could they He expected to when the whole world
was rejoicing.
On my return home I found my husband stand-
ing in the front hall holding a telegram. He put
his arm round my shoulder, and, side by side, we
read:
[177]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"I thank you both with all my heart. I look
back with gratitude to your wise counsel and calm
resolve in the days when great issues had to be de-
cided resulting in our entry into the war, which
now, thank God, has been brought to an end.
"GEORGE, R.I."
We looked at each other with tears in our eyes.
I opened two other telegrams addressed to my-
self, one from Queen Alexandra, and the other
from my little son.
"In the great rejoicing which we share with you
and the people all over our Empire, we do not for-
get your husband to-day.
"ALEXANDRA."
"Blessings and love, my darling mother. Do you
know this from Euripides: 'The things that must
be are so strangely great 1'
"ANTHONY."
After lunch we motored to the House of Com-
mons to hear the terms of the Armistice read by
Mr. Lloyd George.
Thinking the Speaker's Gallery would be
crowded I went alone, but to my surprise it was
[178]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
almost empty and I wished profoundly that I had
taken Elizabeth, as I enjoy nothing to the same
degree without her or Anthony, and on such an
occasion could have wished they had both been
with me.
The grille of the Gallery having been removed
I was able to put my elbows on the rail and watch
excited members rushing through the glass doors
into the House.
The Prime Minister and my husband received a
great ovation upon their entry, and every man was
moved when Mr. Lloyd George rose to read the
terms of the Armistice.
The French Army, led by their victorious Gen-
erals, was to march into Germany and occupy
both the banks of the Rhine, while our soldiers were
to guard over Berlin and other towns of impor-
tance. The entire German Navy was to sail into
Rosyth between the lines of our men-of-war ranged
up upon either side. We would watch from decks
cleared for action battleships that had seldom left
the Kiel Canal, thick with barnacles, and stripped
of paint, slowly sail into harbour with all our guns
pointing at them; and every soldier was to sur-
render his sword upon every Front.
[179]
MARGOT ASQUITH
I pressed my forehead into my hands and a wave
of emotion moved across my heart. To the average
individual the terms that we had listened to were
what had been expected; but I could only conjec-
ture with compassion what they must mean to a
proud race who, until 1914, had everything that
industry and science could achieve, and had main-
tained a conflict for four years, in which they ex-
pected not only to beat France, but half Europe;
and not for the first time I felt I was in a position
to obey the High Command that tells us to extend
mercy with judgment.
A thanksgiving service in Westminster had been
improvised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and
when the Prime Minister finished speaking we all
walked across Parliament Square to St. Mar-
garet's.
As I was alone I had to fight my way through
the crowd, and had it not been for a policeman who
reco.gnised me, I could never have got into the
church.
After taking my seat, I observed that all the
Peers and the Commons were placed in the centre
of St. Margaret's, and the women in the side aisles.
The Archbishop read a simple service in moving
[180]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
tones, and the whole congregation joined in singing
"O God our help in ages past."
I thought of the chapter in Isaiah where it says:
"And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
and the sons of the Alien shall be your plowmen
and your vine-dressers.
"For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery
for burnt offering; and I will direct their work
in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant
with them."
I found my mind straying to the terms of the
Armistice, and wondered whether the Germans also
were saying their prayers ; and if so to what God ;
the God of Peace? or the God of War?
When I returned to 20 Cavendish Square, my
beautiful nieces,* Laura Lovat and Diana Capel,
were waiting to have tea with me. They described
how they had spent several hours of the morning
outside Buckingham Palace, where a crowd had
collected the moment the maroons informed the
people that the war was over. They said that
everyone in London, rich and poor, fashionable
and obscure, was standing and shouting for the
King, and many of the spectators had tears in their
*Lady Lovat and the Hon. Mrs. Capel.
[181]
MARGOT ASQUITH
eyes; that when they left, the crowd was greater
than when they arrived, and was accumulating
every minute.
I told them that as I was engaged to go and
see Lord Stamfordham I would have to leave them,
and we parted after tea.
It was dark and wet when I arrived at the Pal-
ace, and the courtyard so packed with people that
I had to get out of the motor and walk.
The King and Queen were sitting on a balcony
exposed to the rain, and two dazzling stage reflec-
tors illuminated their faces. The people below
were shouting hymns or patriotic songs and "God
save the King" was being played on every kind of
instrument. The W.A.A.C.'s and the W.R.N.'s
were parading in close formation in the outer yard,
and when I stopped to look up at the King, their
Commander-in-Chief , with the rudeness habitual to
women in crowds, hustled me unceremoniously out
of the way.
The King was in khaki, a uniform which he had
worn since the first day of the War — and the Queen
was dressed in pretty light colours with diamonds
and pearls round her neck. She has at all times
[182]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
a lively, lovely smile, and the public «were cheering
two very happy people that day.
Finding myself pushed about by female agricul-
turists, female soldiers and female police, I took
refuge from the rain with the King of Portugal,
who was standing in the Palace doorway.
After a little conversation with him, a servant
showed me into Lord Stamfordham's room.
Knowing that to many, and very specially
to him the end of the War could not mean the end
of mourning, I embraced him on both cheeks and
after congratulating him on the love and service
he had rendered to his King, we sat down unable
to speak for emotion.
After a pause he told me that during their Maj-
esties' drive in the afternoon the poorest of the
poor had clung to their carriage and by special
request of the King had not been interfered with
by the police. He said that nothing could have ex-
ceeded the enthusiasm of all his Majesty's subjects.
As boxes, telegrams and people came in and out
while we were talking, and my friend looked ex-
hausted, I left him.
The rain had not stopped when I walked out of
the Palace, and the King and Queen were still bow-
[183]
MARGOT ASQUITH
ing on the balcony; (I was informed afterwards
that they did not leave it till after midnight, except
for their meals and their drive).
November I2th, 1918.
On the following day we went to the General
Thanksgiving Service in St. Paul's Cathedral.
Thoroughly exhausted, my thoughts strayed, and
I was reminded of the American Ambassador's con-
versation with Elizabeth when, after a similar
service had taken place the year before, upon the
entry of America into the war (April 6th, 1917),
my daughter had called at the American Embassy.
Mr. Page was not only one of the wisest but one
of the best of men. His lanky, dislocated figure
was easily recognised, and the pathos, humour, and
gestures of his face had gained him the confidence
and delight of us all.
He will ever remain a hero in the minds of my
countrymen, as we cannot but regard the illness
which ended with his death as having been brought
about by the continued efforts he made to bring his
President and his people into the war.
Being a very great friend of ours, a few days
after we heard that America had come in, my
[184]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
daughter Elizabeth went to see him. She was
shocked by his appearance. Excitement and ap-
prehension had protected him like a scaffolding, but
when the strain was removed, the shakiness of the
structure was revealed, and she saw without know-
ing it a doomed man standing in front of her.
"Dearest Mr. Page," she said, "y°u look ill; you
can see me any day, but send me away now, as I
love you far too much to tire you." To which he
answered :
"My dear, it isn't talking to you that tires me;
but I have received the Representatives of ten
American Associations to-day, each of which has
asked for a speech to be delivered in the Albert
Hall. I said to them:
' 'Gentlemen, we're under the very serious temp-
tation of making fools of ourselves. It is a tempta-
tion that we shall probably not resist, therefore it
appears to me that a service in St. Paul's Cathedral
would give us less opportunity than any other form
of public ceremony.' '
While my memory was straying upon this and
other matters the service came to an end and we
all hustled out of the Cathedral.
We had been invited to lunch with the King, an
[185]
MARGOT ASQUITH
order we were proud to accept as we wanted to
thank him in person for his telegram of the day
Before, and after leaving St. Paul's we motored
Straight to the Palace.
There was no sign of fatigue in their Majesties'
faces when they greeted us, and the devotion shown
by their subjects the day before had put them both
in the highest spirits.
After kissing the Queen's hand, I said to her:
"You ought to be a very proud woman to-day,
Ma'am, when all over Europe such sorrows are
happening to Monarchs and Rulers, to feel how
much you and His Majesty are loved by a free
and happy people."
I was touched to see her eyes fill with tears. The
King took my hand in both of his, and said with
ihat directness and simplicity which are peculiarly
his own:
"No man, Mrs. Asquith, ever had a better or
wiser friend than I had, and have in your husband."
November, 1918.
A few days later, Henry seconded the address
of congratulation to the King, which was moved by
Mr. Lloyd George in the House of Commons.
[186]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
It was a great occasion, and one which he took
advantage of in a noble speech. Rising after Mr.
George had sat down, he said :
"I am sure that the whole House will desire to
associate itself with the admirable words in which
my right hon. friend has moved this address, and
with the terms of the address itself. When history
comes to tell the tale of these four years, it will
recount a story, the like of which is not to be found
in any epic in any literature. It is and will re-
main by itself as a record of everything Humanity
can dare or endure — of the extremes of possible
heroism and, we must add, of possible baseness, and
above and beyond all, the slow moving but in the
end irresistible power of a great Ideal.
"The old world has been laid waste. Principali-
ties and Powers, to all appearances inviolable and
invincible, which seem to dominate a large part of
the families of mankind, lie in the dust. All things
have become new.
"In this great and cleansing purging it has been
the privilege of our country to play her part — a
part worthy of a people who have learned them-
selves beforehand the lesson to practise the exam-
ple of ordered Freedom. The time has not come
[187]
MARGOT ASQUITH
to distribute praise between those who, in civil life
and naval and military action, have won this great
victory, but as my right honourable friend has well
said, we can anticipate that task by rendering at
once a heartfelt, unstinted tribute to the occupant
of the Throne.
"I had the privilege to be Prime Minister when
His Majesty ascended the Throne, and I continued
to hold that office until more than two years had
passed of the progress of the War. There is no
one who can bear testimony — first hand testimony
— more authentic or more heartfelt than I do to the
splendid example which His Majesty has set in
time of peace, as well as in time of war, in the dis-
charge of every one, day by day, of the responsible
duties which fall to the Sovereign of this Empire.
In the crash of thrones, built, some of them, on
unrighteousness, propped up in other cases by a
brittle framework of convention, the Throne of this
country stands unshaken, broad-based on the peo-
ple's will. It has been reinforced to a degree which
it is impossible to measure, a living example of our
Sovereign and his gracious Consort, who have al-
ways felt and shown by their life and by their
[188]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
conduct that they are there not to be ministered
unto, but to minister.
"As the right hon. gentleman said, monarchies
in these days are held, if they continue to be held,
not by the shadowy claim of any so-called Divine
Right, not, as has been the case with the Haps-
burgs and Hohenzollerns, by any power of dividing
and dominating popular forces and popular will,
not by pedigree and not by traditions ; they are held
and can only be held, by the highest form of pub-
lic service ; by understanding, by sympathy with the
common lot and by devotion to the common weal.
There are some lines of one of our old poets which
are perhaps worth recalling, as they sum up and
express the feelings of many of us to-day:
" 'The glories of our blood and State,
Are shadows, not substantial things.
There is no armour against fate,
Death lays his icy hand on kings.' '
"And at the end of these fine lines he adds what
we in these testing times in Great Britain have seen
and proved to be the secret and the safeguard of
our Monarchy:
" 'Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.' '
[189]
MARGOT ASQUITH
The General Election of 1918.
After the signing of the Armistice it seemed a
strange moment for anyone to think of himself,
and when I heard it rumoured that there was to be
an Election, I did not believe it.
The defeated Party is apt to describe the Gen-
eral Election as an outrage; but I do not think
anyone to-day would say the Khaki Elections of
December, 1918, had been other than a great po-
litical crime.
The chief blame of this outrageous "Coupon"
Election will be ascribed in history to Mr. Lloyd
George. It broke the historic Liberal Party to
pieces just at the moment when Liberalism, and
especially British Liberalism, was most needed at
Versailles. From this assassination and the Coali-
tion Government formed by it, have resulted most
of the evils of the four years which have followed,
Of the Prime Minister, the drowsiest summer owl
might have observed that throughout the long
period of his public service both his strength and his
weakness lay in his having no policy. Neither his
personal charm, infinite persuasiveness, the quick
changes of an agile mind or his eloquent speeches
on the British aristocracy had captivated the con-
[190]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
fidence of the Conservative Party, and the Leader *
of the Diehards, in a spasm of courage, wrote a fine
letter to the Morning Post, saying there was some-
thing wrong with their Augean Stables and he
thought that they should be purified. Neverthe-
less, a few days later, at a time when every moment
was vital, and Peace was the Prayer of an ex-
hausted Europe, he and the whole of his Party
acquiesced in the coup of the coupon and we did
what no other Ally thought of doing, we had a
General Election within two months of the Armi-
stice when men's minds were confused with the
coming of the peace, and the flower of the nation
was still abroad.
The French and British people encouraged by
the patriotic cries of "Hang the Kaiser! and make
the Germans pay" modestly followed by "the man
who won the war" — were convinced that Germany
was to be crushed, and it was not until afterwards
that they discovered the enemy was the Liberal
Party.
Saturday, December 28th> 1918.
I will quote from my diary what I wrote of the
last day of the 1918 Elections.
* The Marquis of Salisbury.
[191]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"This fateful day for us opened by Henry, Gil-
bert Murray and Edward Grey going on a Depu-
tation to convey to President Wilson the admira-
tion they felt for his great Idea involved in the
League of Nations.
"They started at 10.30 in the morning and when
their interview was over, my husband and I mo-
tored through the decorated streets to attend the
Guildhall, where a great company had been invited
to see the Freedom of the City of London conferred
upon the American President.
"We received a warm reception as we walked
through the aisle of people up to the platform, and
watched a ceremony with which we were all familiar.
"I sat next to Lord Cave, a kind and sensible
man who had been strong enough when he was
Home Secretary to oppose the meanest and most
cowardly of all the Government stunts — turning
men and women of German name out of this coun-
try, even when their sons had fought and died for us.
"In a short talk before the company was seated,
he spoke with contempt of the methods of the Gov-
ernment, but in this he is not peculiar, as I never
met a Tory who praised them. Every eye was
upon President Wilson who was seated next to his
[192]
PRESIDENT WILSOX
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
wife on a vast gold chair in the centre of the plat-
form.
"I examined his lanky face, egotistical, slightly
sensual mouth, and charming if too frequent smile,
and noted the refinement of his brow and nostrils.
"He made an excellent though rather uninspir-
ing speech, but disliking oratory of the rose and
sky type and the long pauses of the highly pre-
pared, I admired the President's penetrating calm.
Each sentence was perfect in structure, and he
might have sat down after any one of them. He
spoke in a voice which everyone could hear, nor
did he indulge in a quotable peroration.
"When I was praising this speech, in the inter-
val between the Freedom of the City and the Man-
sion House luncheon, Mr. Davis * said to me :
" * Yes, Mrs. Asquith, I agree ; Wilson doesn't
pull many feathers out of the Eagle's tail.'
"At this moment Henry came up and introduced
me to the President, with whom I had a short but
memorable conversation. I found him easy to talk
to and much quicker than most of the famous
Americans I have met.
"He told me that he had only got to express a
*Mr. Davis succeeded Mr. Page as American Ambassador.
[193]
MARGOT ASQUITH
sound opinion in a common-sense manner, and he
was at once accused of being both unpractical and
a dreamer; that obviously to prepare for another
war was less practical than to prepare for Peace.
"When I was talking to him I wondered why he
was so much disliked, and if he would not have
had a larger following in his own country had he
made a moral protest or pronouncement of some
sort over Belgium in the early days of the war.
The League of Nations, in which lie our best hopes,
might have been less hated if it had been proposed
by a man of indignation; whereas now it jars on
America, enfuriates France, confuses Italy, and is
suspected in England.
"People say: 'It's all very well, Wilson hasn't
suffered in the War! He can dictate with his cool
head and colder heart that a League of Nations,
which includes Germany, will give us a Peace that
we all want, or ought to want. But we'll never
stand that! Germany must be made to suffer all
and more than she has made others suffer. We
must bring this home to her in every way, from
generation to generation. We won't let America
save Germany from the consequences of her de-
[194]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
feat, or deprive us and the Allies of the consequences
of our victory.*
"The mistaken part of this reasoning is that there
is no 'Victory' ; and the revengeful Peace for which
men clamour means a return to old rivalries, and
the subsequent preparation for War. As the Ger-
mans are the most orderly, scientific and hard-
working of the European races they will ultimately
suffer less than the Allies, and to what good pur-
pose can be the perpetuation of Hate.
"I am only interested in the President inasmuch
as he wants to rebuild a dying world instead of
inflicting fresh wounds, and it matters little what
instrument is used if it can fulfil this purpose.
"War should be made, if not inevitable by a
League of Nations, at least as difficult as possible.
The public in France and America seem to think
this is Idealism, which in the minds of the common-
place is another word for ridiculous.
"It is sad to think that the men who fought the
War are not likely to have a voice in the Peace,
and those who stay at home are generally the Jin-
goes who want to make War a going concern.
"When Henry gave South Africa its Constitu-
tion, many of my friends, not only the Tories —
[19S]
MARGOT ASQUITH
who, to quote Disraeli, have always been the stupid
party — but men on our own side, said:
" 'Surely, surely, Margot! ! after having beaten
the Boers you are not going to give them back their
Freedom! Is your husband insane! Have all our
lovers, sons and husbands died in vain?'
"According to Man, our dead always die in vain
if we listen to Christ's teaching. But we don't;
we listen to the Clergy, and are seldom disap-
pointed with the provinciality of the Christ that
they parody.
"President Wilson is trying to emulate the fa-
mous saying of the 18th century:
" 'Christianity has been tried and failed, the Re-
ligion of Christ remains to be tried.'
"The Republican Party in America stands for
many things with which I am out of sympathy, but
I cannot believe their dislike of the President is
entirely political. From what I hear he is an Ego-
tist; uncertain in his personal relations because he
is not grateful ; and a man who trusts few and those
mostly his inferiors.
"This last is what really counts: men who like
their inferiors seldom achieve high purposes.
Nevertheless, President Wilson will go down to
[196]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
History as having produced the only Great Idea
in the War, and after listening to one of the finest
speeches that I ever heard in my life at the Mansion
House lunch, I said to myself:
" 'What is there that this man could not do, if
his moral stature was comparable to his intellectual
expression?'
"When he had finished speaking — knowing as I
did that the Election returns might be out at any
moment — I felt an apprehensive but burning curi-
osity to know what had happened. I was about to
ask a waiter behind me if he could find out some of
the figures, when I heard a man say:
" 'Herbert Samuel, McKinnon Wood, and Run-
ciman are out.'
"We left the dining-room and made our way
down to the crowded front door. People waiting
for their motors were standing in groups discussing
the Election returns.
" 'McKenna is beat; Montagu is in by over
9,000,' was whispered from mouth to mouth while
the men thrust their arms into their coat sleeves
changing their cigars from hand to hand in the
process, and asking for their motors.
[197]
MARGOT ASQUITH
"The news spread; man after man of ours was
out.
'Were we all beaten? . . . whom could I ask?
. . . who would tell me?' Henry crushed up
against me and said calmly:
' 'I see our footman.'
"Lady Cave pushed up and took my arm; I
suppose I looked pale as she said:
'You are a brave woman, don't turn a hair!
the thing can't last! it's a disgrace! a fraud, and
a sham.'
"Among the crush in the large open doorway,
waiting for his motor, I perceived Rufus Read-
ing, looking snow white. Did he know, or did he
not know if Henry was beaten? . . . perhaps they
all knew.
"I was jammed up against my husband and had
no idea what he had heard.
"I looked at him out of the corner of my eye-
lids; he was standing a little in front of me, but
not a sign of any kind could be seen on his face.
A man pushed up to us and said :
" 'Never you mind ! the Elections have been
fought on gigantic lies; no one could tell the truth,
[198]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
but it will come out some day, and I hope they
will all be severely punished !'
" 'Who are you?' I asked vaguely.
" 'I've written on the Morning Post for 15
years,' the man answered. 'I'm a hot Liberal and
believe in Asquith. He's the only man who ought
to be on the Peace Conference. You stick to it!
and make him stick, for if he is not put on the
Conference this country is lost. God bless you.'
"He slipped away — and after two kind squeezes
from the Caves, and a lift of the hat from Rufus,
we drove away in our motor, leaning back silent
and exhausted.
"I saw as if in a trance the cheering crowds,
eager faces, mounted police, and swaying people,
while we shot down the streets with our minds set
and stunned. Not one word did we say till we got
near home; then Henry broke the silence:
" 'I only hope,' he said, 'that / have not got in;
with all the others out this would be the last straw.'
" *I expect we're all out,' I said : 'they are sure
to have sent us the figures to Cavendish Square
from the Whip's Office, aren't they? or do you sup-
pose they've sent them to the Wharf?'
[199]
MARGOT ASQUITH
'We're certain to get the figures,' Henry an-
swered.
"The motor slowed down; we had arrived. I
jumped out and ran through the open door in front
of Henry; I found the odd man labelling our lug-
gage piled up in the hall. Not a note or a mes-
sage of any kind was to be seen.
"Henry went into his library, and I rang up 21
Abingdon Street on the telephone in my boudoir.
' 'Not got in all the returns yet? . . . Yes? . . .
All our Whips out? ... Yea? . . . East Fife?
Yes? . . . Asquith beat!' What?? BEAT??
Thank God, Thank God! !' I said and looking up
I saw Maud Tree * standing behind me. Cover-
ing her face with her hands she burst into tears
and said:
" 'Oh! I can't bear it! ! darling, darling Margot!
. . . It's NOT true ! !'
"Still holding the receiver, I said:
" 'Yes? Go on— Yes . . . Yes . . .'
"Henry came in and Maud left the room.
"'I'm out, am I?' said he; 'ask by how much;
tell them to give us the figures will you?'
* Lady Tree.
[200]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
" 'Give me the East Fife figures,- I said, and
taking a pencil wrote:
"Asquith 6994— Sprott 8996."
[End of Diary Quotation]
[201]
EPILOGUE
IT was difficult to believe that the war was over.
The hearts of the nation and even the minds
had got accustomed to it, and I never realized be-
fore how easy it is for men's minds to form bad
habits. Few of us live up to the blessings we are
accustomed to, and it is rare to preserve freshness
of outlook in daily life.
The men who started by saying the war would
be over in a few months — and these included nearly
all our Admirals, Generals and business men —
ended by believing it would go on for ever, and
took it as an insult if you dared to suggest it had
already lasted too long. You were a Pacifist or a
pro-German if you did not share their enthusiastic
desire to march into Berlin.
I observed the sensibilities of my acquaintance
visibly thicken during the Great War, and even
to-day you will meet men and women in France,
Belgium and England who say that the Armistice
came too soon.
One can never guess who the people will be that
[202]
think war wicked, that think it folly, or think it
noble.
Women of no imagination but a certain fancy
call it "glorious"; old men in Club windows say
it is "inevitable"; and the young ones who stay at
home boast that nothing but overwhelming Victory
will ever satisfy their sense of honour. But to quote
my dear friend, Mr. Maguire * :
"It is easy to be a bloodhound on the hearth."
People say the same thing about the inevitability
of war as they said about the inevitability of duel-
ling and with possibly as little reason. War is not
glorious; it is futile and bestial. The training for
it forces men to obey with wooden precision com-
mands not only muddled and murderous, but which
are against all their intelligence; nor can anyone
believe to-day, that there is such a thing as Vic-
tory. I will go a step further and say with con-
fidence, that whatever war may have done for the
dead, it has not improved the living. The cranks
are crankier, the gamblers more extravagant, the
back-biters more spiteful, the rich more alarmed,
the poor more restless, the clergy more confused,
and the Government more corrupt.
•Mr. Rochfort Maguire.
[203]
MARGOT ASQUITH
With the signing of the Armistice all thoughts
turned to the Peace Treaty and the infinite com-
plications it was likely to present to the three prin-
cipal figures concerned.
Mr. Lloyd George's proved genius for handling
men had not given him the time or opportunity
necessary for studying foreign affairs; nor had he
ever been a great traveller. The French language
is at all times difficult for an Englishman, and In-
ternational Law was not the strong point either of
the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, Mr.
Wilson, or Monsieur Clemenceau. Reading or
writing letters, the latter had often said to me, was
an occupation that bored him. Geographical fron-
tiers want either knowledge or study, and no Amer-
ican President, however eloquent, is qualified by his
position to know much about European affairs.
Nor was the vital problem of Finance a subject
that either one or other of the three professed to
know anything at all about.
When it was rumoured that neither our Foreign
Office, War Office, nor Admiralty was to be repre-
sented at Versailles, we were interested to guess
who the personnel would be; and when it was
known that no one versed in International Law or
[204]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Finance had been approached, men of every Party
and opinion besieged our house begging my hus-
band to go to Paris. They said he must overlook
all personal feeling and in such an emergency offer
his services to his country: that, having been Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, with an unrivalled knowl-
edge of Law, and leader of one of the great polit-
ical Parties, he had every right to be there as his
counsel would prove invaluable in drawing up the
Treaty of Peace.
All sorts of stories were current. Some said that
for reasons of a private character, Mr. Asquith re-
fused to discuss politics with Mr. Lloyd George,
and that at such a moment to think of oneself
showed a pettiness inconceivable in a man of his
quality.
These stories spread to the House of Commons
and my husband told me that it had been repeated
to him — with what accuracy he did not know —
that Mr. Lloyd George had said that, in the event
of any misfortune happening, Mr. Asquith would
be largely responsible, as he had never taken the
trouble to talk to him about the present situation.
On hearing this, my husband spoke to one of the
Prime Minister's many henchmen and said he was
[205]
MARGOT ASQUITH
ready and willing, should Mr. Lloyd George desire
it, to speak to him at any time; and shortly after
this — before the General Election of December,
1918 — Henry was asked to go to the Prime Min-
ister's room in the House of Commons.
Upon his return he told me what had occurred.
He had been received with a friendliness that
amounted to enthusiasm and asked where he stood.
Mr. Lloyd George then said,
"I understand you don't wish to take a post
under the Government."
To which my husband answered that that was
so; and added that the only service he thought he
could render the Government, would be if he were
to go to Versailles, as from what he knew both of
President Wilson and M. Clemenceau he was
pretty sure they knew little of International Law
or Finance, and that these two problems would be
found all important in view of fixing future
Frontiers and the havoc the war was likely to
create in all the Foreign Exchanges.
At this Mr. Lloyd George looked a little con-
fused. He was walking up and down the room,
and in knocking up against a chair, a pile of loose
books were thrown upon the ground. Hastily
[206]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
looking at his watch and stooping down to pick up
the books, he said he would consider my husband's
proposal. Nothing more was said; the interview
was over and my husband never heard another
word upon the matter.
If the men who had fought the war had made
the Peace, the name by which they were christened
might have been appropriate; but as it turned out,
a more fantastic misnomer for President Wilson
and the representatives of the other Allies could
hardly have been conceived than the "Big Four."
Victory puts a greater strain on the behaviour
of Nations and individuals than Failure; and you
can take the measure of both, according to the way
in which they bear it.
No British Prime Minister ever went abroad ac-
companied by wiser advisers than Mr. Lloyd
George when he left England to make the Peace.
He took, among others, a young man of genius
in Mr. Maynard Keynes, every word of whose
writing has come true. But the minds were loose,
the ears deaf, and the heads swollen of those to
whom he was talking, and the worst instead of the
best qualities were developed at Versailles, and seen
as clearly as flags flown from ships.
[207]
MARGOT ASQUITH
If any of the "Big Four" hjul had a vestige of
greatness the world would not have witnessed the
exhibition of Greed, Grab and Intrigue that re-
duced the Peace Conference to a Thieves' Kitchen.
They might have taken for the sermon that they
preached, the text out of Isaiah:
"Yea they are greedy dogs which can never have
enough, and they are shepherds that can never un-
derstand; they all look to their own way, everyone
for his gain from his quarter." *
Two of the Nations that signed the Peace should
hesitate before criticising France either for her pol-
icy at Versailles, or for her prejudices to-day.
America came into the war late and suffered the
least. Great Britain is geographically so placed as
to be in no danger from Germany (unless aero-
planes make much greater strides than they have
yet done), and after her demands upon the enemy
it would have been fatal for the prestige of any
French Government to have asked for less.
Neither of these countries can realize the nameless
horrors, the losses in men, money, and material
from which the French suffered by having the ag-
• Isaiah 56, v. 11.
[208]
MRS. ASQUITH AND HER ORAKDBABY, PRISCFLLA BIBESCO
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
gressor on their soil; aggravated as they were by
the bitter memories of 1870.
Their military preparations before 1914 were not
of such an alarming character as to make a single
German believe that their intention was to attack
them ; and the unnecessary brutalities of the enemy
outside the exigencies of war — the deliberate laying
waste of orchards, factories and farms, after they
knew that they were defeated — will be hard for
Frenchmen ever to forgive. It is in consequence
of these brutalities that the natural but futile de-
sire to profit at the enemy's expense is pursuing
the nations of the world to-day.
The Coupon claptrap in our khaki election of
"Hang the Kaiser!" and "make the Germans pay
the whole cost of the war," was quite as likely to
deceive France as England. And when one re-
members the effect it produced upon our own peo-
ple, it is obvious that the French were more than
justified in believing that their unexcitable Ally
meant business ; and being roused at last to a proper
sense of their misfortunes was prepared to back
them to the last man in the Ruhr, and on the Rhine.
I have spoken to many thoughtful men, and am
[209]
MARGOT ASQUITH
convinced that the Confidence Trick in the Gen-
eral Election of 1918 was played with even greater
success upon the French than upon the British pub-
lic, and you have only to look at the state of things
in this country to see the results not only of the
Election promises but of the mischievous decisions
taken in consequence of them at a Treaty of
Peace which everyone to-day is clamouring to
change.
The Kaiser is not hanged; the German pockets
have not been searched; the "land fit for heroes to
live in" threatens to deport men by emigration not
in thousands, but in hundreds of thousands; mil-
lions of unemployed tramp the streets; the "Safe-
guarding of Industries Act" — which could be more
accurately called, "For the Prevention of the re-
covery of foreign Exchanges" — has not only in-
creased the price of necessary articles, but hurts
Lancashire and hampers scientific research ; and the
Coalition Candidates at every by-election vie with
each other in disclaiming all connection with the
Government.
It was the duty of the "Big Four" to help France
instead of tempting her; to check the ambitions of
[210]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
little nations instead of inflaming them; and above
everything else, to make Peace.
The men who criticise Liberals for being lovers
of Peace are called Loyalists, and believe in force.
If their counsel had prevailed in the past we should
have lost South Africa ; in listening to them we see
what Reprisals have made of Ireland, and if we
are not careful we shall lose our good name all the
world over.
Were these critics teachable, they would know
that if you are sufficiently prepared for war you
will certainly get it; and if they doubt the truth
of this, they will find no better object lesson than
in the failure of a people like the Germans, who
after long and scientific preparation were equipped
in 1914 not only to conquer France, but the larger
part of Europe.
No Minister could remain in Office in this coun-
try if he suggested that outside our Navy we should
keep an Army large enough to fight a foreign
power, while ensuring sufficient trade to pay for
both.
It was the duty of the "Big Four" to impress
upon the world after such a catastrophe, that the
[211]
MARGOT ASQUITH
only means by which we — or any other nation —
could be saved, was by the co-operation of the vic-
tors and the vanquished alike, and to guide them
into the paths of Peace.
The Conference darkened the waters like the cut-
tle fish; and the British people, led by their Prime
Minister, acquiesced in the decisions of Versailles
with less excuse than any of the other countries
and are blushing for it now.
Mr. Spender writes in a fine leading article:
"After three years of Peace it is brought home
to practical men that nearly everything the Allies
have attempted to do to their late enemies has been
hurtful to themselves. Nothing less than a com-
plete revision undertaken in a new spirit will bury
old feuds and work for co-operation against dan-
gers which threaten all Europe."
The spirit of war is the spirit of conquest or re-
venge, and both war and the preparation for it
blur Vision as weeds choke growth. It is not in
the interests of the enemy, but in the interests of
France, of England, and of Europe that the Peace
is universally damned to-day.
Ever since the birth of Christ crowds clamour
for the wrong person. If we had been nobly led
[212]
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
into a clean Peace — to quote my* husband — the
American people might have backed the League
of Nations; but we joined in the clamour for Ba-
rabbas. The League was difficult to shout, and
wanted both Love and Faith to understand. The
President, dazed by the deftness of the Paris
Treaty, and diverted by the shouts of the crowd,
lost sight of the silent Christ. He paused to dis-
tinguish the names, and while he was listening his
health broke, and he was repudiated by his own
people.
»•••••
If Germany is not sufficiently punished for hav-
ing equipped a vast army for an unprovoked war,
the mills of God grind exceeding slow. It was
pride in their progress that hardened the hearts
and turned the heads of our enemy. Let the Allies
be careful lest love of themselves, or fear of the
future, does not turn theirs also.
There is only one antidote to vanity after Vic-
tory, and that is to remember God.
"In the days when the keepers of the house shall
tremble and the strong men shall bow themselves
. . . when they shall be afraid of that which is
[213]
MARGOT ASQUITH
High, and fears shall be in the way. . . . For God
shall bring every work into judgment, with every
secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be
evil."
THE END.
[214]
INDEX
Aclaud, Arthur Ill, 111.
Albert, King IV, 60, 95.
Alexandra, Queen I, 117-8; III, 204; IV, 178.
Alington, Dr Ill, 65.
Archer, Fred I, 198, 201.
Argyll, Duke of II, 75-6.
Armistice, the IV, 173.
Arnold, Matthew I, 206; II, 74.
Ascham, Roger Ill, 39.
Asquith, Anthony II, 230; III, 49, 58; V,
178.
Asquith, Arthur II, 226-7.
Asquith, Cyril II, 211-3.
Asquith, Elizabeth Ill, 41.
Asquith, Mrs. Helen II, 233-4.
Asquith, Herbert Henry I, 156-7, 210, 234, 237, 252;
II, 113, 116, 119, 191-6, 235-
6, 261; III, 132, 137-
148, 180, 195, 224.
Asquith, Herbert, Jr II, 224.
Asquith, Joseph Dixon II, 91.
Asquith, Mrs. Joseph II, 91-2.
Asquith, Mrs. Margot, character
sketches written by herself .... II, 77-9, 265-73.
Asquith, Raymond II, 215-8; IV, 125, 130.
Asquith, Violet. See Carter, Lady
Bonham.
Austin, Alfred II, 61; III, 20.
Aylesbury, Dowager Marchioness of . I, 74.
[215]
INDEX
Baker, Harold II, 222.
Balfour, Right Hon. A. J I, 28, 251, 256-62; II, 117,
122, 271; III, 42, 76,
85, 193; IV, 135, 169.
Balfour, Lady Blanche I, 263.
Balfour, Lady Frances II, 75; III, 197, 210.
Balfour, Gerald Ill, 88.
Balfour, Lord, of Burleigh Ill, 187.
Banbury, Sir Frederick IV, 168.
Barlow, Sir Thomas Ill, 145.
Battersea, Lord II, 194.
Beach, Sir Michael Hicks- Ill, 80.
Beaufort, Duke of I, 135-8.
Beckendorff, Count IV, 23.
Beckendorff, Countess Ill, 207.
Belloc, Hilaire Ill, 127.
Bentinck, Lord Henry Ill, 217; IV, 168.
Bertie, Sir Francis IV, 90.
Bibesco, Princes I, 20.
Big Four IV, 207.
Birkenhead, Lord Ill, 216.
Birrell, Augustine II, 134.
Blackwell, Sir Ernley IV, 85.
Blackwood, Lord Basil IV, 127.
Blavatsky, Madame I, 212-3.
Blunt, Wilfrid I, 30.
Bo, Mrs II, 150-7.
Boer War Ill, 74.
Bohemian Society II, 195.
Bonar Law, Andrew IV, 155, 157, 165.
Border people and Southern English . I, 50.
Botha, General Ill, 26.
Bowen, Lord II, 126-7.
Bridges, Florry IV, 129.
Bridges, General Tom IV, 93.
Brodrick, St John. See Midleton,
Earl of.
Bryan, W. J I, 914.
[216]
INDEX
Buccleuch, Duchess of Ill, 206.
Burke, Mr., murder of I, 203.
Burne-Jones' Legend of the Briar
Rose Ill, 30.
Burns, Rt. Hon. John Ill, 189, 198; IV, 48, 54.
Burns, Robert I, 35.
Business man I, 33.
Buxton, Francis I, 189.
C
Campbell-Bannennan, Sir Henry . . I, 252-5; III, 74, 94-111,
130-132, 145.
Cambon, Jules IV, 83.
Canterbury, Archbishop of. See
Davidson, Randall T.
Capel, Hon. Diana IV, 181.
Caraman-Chimay, Comtesse . . . . IV, 93.
Carlyle, Jane Welsh II, 48.
Carlyle, Thomas Ill, 154.
Carnegie, Andrew II, 74.
Carson, Sir Edward IV, 17.
Carter, Lady Bonham II, 213-5; III, 43, 160.
Cassel, Sir Ernest Ill, 33, 199; IV, 127.
Castlerosse, Lord IV, 13.
Cave, Lady IV, 198.
Cave, Lord IV, 192.
Cavendish, Lord Frederick, murder of I, 203.
Cecil, Lord Hugh I, 237; III, 80, 189, 210.
Cecil, Lord Robert I, 237; IV, 168.
Chalmers, Sir Robert Ill, 173.
Chamberlain, Joseph I, 218-9, 237-8; III, 16, 27,
75, 81, 116, 191.
Chaplin, Lord IV, 75.
Chaplin, Mrs I, 141, 143.
Church of England I, 242.
Churchill, Lady Randolph I, 131.
Churchill, Lord Randolph I, 126-30, 208; II, 198;
III, 18, 92.
Churchill, Winston Ill, 84, 201; IV, 71, 122.
[217]
INDEX
Clarke, Lady II, 16.
Clifford's Factory I, 108-16.
Clouder, Mr IV, 176.
Coalition Ill, 175.
Cobden I, 231.
Collingwood Ill, 168.
Connaught, Duke of Ill, 204.
Conservative Party I, 204.
Coquelin I, 245-6.
Country Conversations I, 233.
Cowans, General Sir John IV, 84.
Cravath, Paul IV, 174.
Crewe, Marchioness of ..*... II, 89.
Crewe, Marquis of Ill, 201; IV, 70.
Cromer, Lord Ill, 187.
Crouch, Mr II, 200.
Cunard, Gordon II, 132.
Cunard, Lady IV, 12.
Curaon, Lord II, 14-23; III, 42.
Cust, Harry HI, 85.
D
D'Abernon, Lord I, 30; III, 80, 116; IV, 14.
"Daily Chronicle" II, 258.
Dalhousie, Earl of I, 231.
Davidson, Randall T. Archbishop of
Canterbury II, 101; III, 42, 94, 131;
IV, 14.
Davis, John W IV, 193.
Davitt, Michael Ill, 37.
Davreux, M IV, 97.
de Broke, Lord Willoughby .... Ill, 188.
Desborough, Lord and Lady .... II, 36-7; III, 120.
Devonshire, Duchess of I, 117, 209-17.
Devonshire, Duke of I, 132-3, 214, 233; III, 92.
Dilke, Sir Charles I, 148, 218-9.
Disestablishment II, 121.
Disraeli, Benjamin Ill, SO.
Downing Street, No. 10 Ill, 149-153.
Dresden I, 161 el teq.
[218]
INDEX
Drummond, Sir Eric IV, 85.*
Du Cros, Sir Arthur IV, 127.
Dudley, Countess of I, 118; III, 26.
Duff, Thomas Gordon I, 13.
Duff, Pauline Gordon Ill, 67.
Duncan, Dr. Matthews I, 97.
E
Earlet, Lionel Ill, 153.
Edward VII I, 121-2, 125, 130-2; III,
163, 180, 196-208.
Elcho, Lord II, 31.
Elgin, Lord Ill, 97.
Elibank, Master of Ill, 209-214.
Eyton, Canon I, 181-2.
F
Farquhar, Lord Ill, 83.
Fawkes, Admiral Ill, 169.
Finance Bill Ill, 173.
Fisher, Lord Ill, 29; IV, 41.
Fitzgerald, Evelyn IV, 138.
Fitzmaurice, Lord Edmund .... Ill, 181.
Flower, Peter II, 132, 137-90.
Foch, Ferdinand IV, 158.
Fortescue, Seymour Ill, 165.
Free-Fooders Ill, 80.
Free Trade I, 241.
Frederick, Sir Charles Ill, 160.
French, Lord IV, 44, 80, 117.
G
Games I, 74, 77; II, 18.
Garvagh, Lady IV, 143.
Geddes, Sir Eric IV, 151.
General Election of 1918 IV, 190.
George IV I, 227; III, 163, 182; IV,
60, 68, 76, 178.
[219]
INDEX
George V I, 122.
German "spies" I, 160.
Gibbs, A Ill, 121.
Gladstone, Lord I, 19.
Gladstone, Herbert Ill, 85, 10T.
Gladstone, William Ewart I, 105-6, 219-35; II, 80,
118, 193, 204, 232.
Glen I, 46-8.
Gordon, General Charles G II, 126-7.
Gordon, Major IV, 91.
Glenconner, Lord I, 14, 19-20.
Goschen I, 231; II, 259.
Graf Von I, 170-3.
Graham, Peter I, 54.
Granard, Countess of II, 90.
Granby, Marchioness of Ill, 72.
Great War IV, 42 it »tq.
Greatness, elements of II, 101.
Green, Thomas Hill I, 81-2.
Green, Mrs. T. H II, 127.
Grenfell, Hon. William IV, 120.
Grey, Lady Jane Ill, 39.
Grey of Fallodon, Viscount .... II, 128, 223-4; III, 56, 97,
110-112, 161, 177, 199,
216; IV, 15, 22.
Grimthorpe, Lord Ill, 85.
Grosvenor, Countess of I, 133.
H
Haig, Sir Douglas IV, 166.
Haldane, Lord I, 28; II, 254-5; III, 96;
IV, 115.
Haldane, Mrs I, 57.
Halifax, Lord Ill, 126.
Hamilton, Mr. and Mrs. Charles . . . Ill, 196.
Hamlyn, Mrs II, 135-6.
Hankey, Sir Maurice IV, 34.
Harcourt, Lady Ill, 42.
Harcourt, Sir William I, 252; II, 256-9; III, 74.
£220]
INDEX
Hardinge, Lord Charles Ill, 196.
Hartington, Lord. See Devonshire,
Duke of.
Hawes, Lady IV, 93.
Hay, John IV, 33.
Herbert, Col. The Hon. Aubrey . . . IV, 172.
Heseltine, Mr I, 28.
Hicks-Beach, Sir Michael Ill, 89.
Hill, Henry II, 160-1.
Hirsch, Baron I, 191-202.
Hirsch, Lucien I, 193.
Hood, Acland Ill, 214.
Home Rule. See Ireland.
Horner, Lady II, 42; III, 196.
House of Lords I, 241.
Huxley, T. H II, 123-7.
I
Ireland: Home Rule question .... I, 203-7, 232; II, 116.
Islington, Lady Anne Ill, 198.
Islington, Lord Ill, 80, 85, 116.
J
James, Henry II, 70-73.
James, Lord, of Hereford Ill, 92.
Jameson Raid . ' Ill, 15.
Jameson, Sir Starr Ill, 25.
Jenkins, Anna IV, 127.
Jeune, Lady I, 116.
Jowett, Dr. Benjamin I, 81; II, ch. II pomm.
K
Keppel, Hon. Mrs. George II, 90; III, 161; IV, 12.
Keynes, Maynard IV, 207.
Khaki Election Ill, 75; IV, 190.
Kilbracken, Lord Ill, 132, 137.
[221]
INDEX
Kimberley, Lord I, 232.
Kitchener, Lord Ill, 25, 197; IV, 34-43, 48,
72, 77, 86, 119, 121.
Knollys, Lord Ill, 105, 196, 209-212.
Kriiger, Paul Ill, 15.
Kiihlman I, 206.
L
Lamburne, Lord Ill, 217; IV, 190.
Langtry, Mrs I, 117.
Lansdowne, Lady IV, 79, 98.
Lansdowne, Lord Ill, 183; IV, 97, 148.
Law, A. Bonar I, 33; IV, 17, 124.
Lawson, Cecil I, 24.
League of Nations IV, 192.
Leconfield, Lady II, 111.
Leviathan Ill, 169.
Lewis, Lady Ill, 203.
Lewis, Sam II, 177.
Licensing Bill Ill, 171.
Lichnowsky, Prince and Princess . . IV, 26.
Liddell, A. G. C I, 39, 45, 59, 63.
Lindsay, Mr Ill, 200.
Lister, Hon. Reginald Ill, 111.
Lloyd George, David Ill, 195; IV, 113, 115, 119,
134, 161, 178, 186, 207.
Londesborough, Countess of . . . . Ill, 166.
Londonderry, Lady II, 38-41.
Long, Lord Walter Ill, 88; IV, 123.
Loreburn, Lord Ill, 97, 126.
Lovat, Lady Laura IV, 181.
Lowther, Lady Ill, 161.
Lowther, Sir Gerald Ill, 161.
Ludlow, Lady Ill, 203.
Ludendorff, General IV, 139.
Lyall, Sir Alfred II, 124-5.
Lymington, Lord I, 78.
Lyttleton, Alfred I, 77-89; III, 88.
Lyttleton, Mrs. Alfred (Laura) ... I, 53, 59-107.
[222]
INDEX
M
Mach, Fran von I, 159 «t seq.
McKenna, Mrs II, 90; III, 166.
McKenna, Rt. Hon. Reginald .... Ill, 166.
Maguire, Rochfort IV, 203.
Mallet, Sir Louis Ill, 111.
Manners, Charty Ill, 42.
Manners, Con Ill, 42.
Manners, Lord and Lady II, 131-6.
Manners, Lucy Ill, 42.
Marsh, Catherine II, 95.
Mary, Princess IV, 79.
Mary, Queen of Scots II, 230.
Massingham, Henry W II, 258; IV, 127.
Maurice affair IV, 156.
Maurice, General Sir Frederick . . . IV, 162.
Maybrick, Mrs II, 238-42.
Meiklejohn, Roderick Ill, 197.
Mennecy, Mdlle. de I, 144 et teq.
Mensdorff, Count Ill, 161.
Meredith, George II, 61, 67.
Metternich, Count IV, 26.
Midleton, Earl of II, 26-9, 262; III, 75.
Mill, John Stuart Ill, 154.
Miller, Sir William I, 184-91.
Milner, Viscount Ill, 28, 42, 93, 124, 188.
Money-making I, 33.
Montgomery, Sir Graham I, 70-1.
Montagu, Edward IV, 22, 29.
Montagu, Lord Charles IV, 127.
Morison, Mary I, 59.
Morley, Lord I, 222; II, 73-5, 232-3, 257-
61; III, 64, 85, 132,
154, 161; IV, 48.
Moulton, Lord IV, 22.
Musset, Alfred de IV, 146.
N
Napier, Hon. Mark ....... I, 28, 42.
Nettleship, Richard L II, 114.
[223]
INDEX
Newman, Cardinal II, 113.
Nicholson, General IV, 109.
Nightingale, Florence II, 104-7, 119.
Norfolk, Duke of Ill, 205.
O
Oliphant, General Ill, 84.
Oliphant, Laurence II, 138.
P
Page, Walter IV, 184.
Parkinson, Sir Thomas Ill, 34.
Parliament Bill Ill, 215.
Parmoor, Lord Ill, 217.
Parnell, Charles S I, 231.
"Peggy Bedford" public house ... I, 112-5.
Pembroke, Earl and Countess of ... I, 30; II, 29-33.
Pentland, Lord Ill, 109.
Phoenix Park Murders I, 203.
Planchette I, 211.
Positivism I, 264-6.
Prayer written by Lady Blanche Bal-
four I, 263.
Protection I, 241.
R
Rawlinson, General Sir Henry . . . IV, 102.
Rayleigh, Evelyn Ill, 88.
Reay, Lord and Lady Ill, 20.
Reading, Lord IV, 22, 128, 199.
Redmond, John IV, 24.
Religion, Jowett on II, 121-2.
Rhodes, Cecil Ill, 16, 27.
Ribblesdale, Lady I, 15, 43.
Ribblesdale, Lord I, 28-30.
Richmond, Duke of IV, 97.
Ridley, Lord Ill, 122.
[224]
INDEX
Ridley, Nathalie Ill, 191.
Ripon, Marchioness of Ill, 161.
"Robert Elsmere" II, 107, 110, 112.
Roberts, Lord IV, 88.
Robertson, Lady IV, 164.
Robertson, Lord Ill, 92.
Robertson, Sir William IV, 164, 166.
Robinson, owner of Robinson's gold
mines Ill, 20.
Roosevelt, Theodore Ill, 94.
Rosebery, Earl and Countess of . . I, 28, 244, 247-52; II, 111,
198; III, 142, 187.
Rothschild, Lord I, 14.
Rothschilds, Leo Ill, 123.
Ruggles-Brise II, 261.
Russell, Lord Chief Justice Ill, 26.
Russo-Japanese War Ill, 82.
S
Sabbath, Scottish I, 57.
"Safeguarding of Industries Act" . . IV, 210.
Salisbury, Marquis of I, 126-9, 210, 236-43; III,
19, 89; IV, 163, 191.
Sassoon, Aline Ill, 178.
Saunders, Mr., Secretary to Mr. Bal-
four Ill, 77.
Saunderson, Colonel I, 74.
Savile, Lady Ill, 161.
Scott, Alexander I, 215.
Scottish people I, 50.
Selbourne, Earl of I, 124.
Simpson, Sir James I, 42.
Smith, Mrs. Graham I, 15.
Souls, The II, Ch. I.
Several, Marquis of I, 92; III, 161.
South African Constitution Ill, 131.
Spencer, Lord Ill, 96, 181.
Spender, Alfred Ill, HI.
Spender, Harold IV, 212.
[225]
INDEX
Spiritualism I, 312.
Spy mania I, 160.
Stamfordham, Lord IV, 182.
Stephen, James K II, 58-9.
Stoner, Harry Ill, 165.
Stubbs, Bishop I, 230.
Symonds, J. A II, 38-41, 60-70.
T
Tadema, Sir Alma I, 75.
Tariff Reformers, the Ill, 29.
Taylor, Jerusha II, 251.
Tennant, Sir Charles I, 20-35.
Tennant, Lady I, 35-45.
Tennant, Francis I, 18.
Tennant, Right Hon. H. J I, 17.
Tennant, John Ill, 67.
Tennant, Nan IV, 127.
Tennant family I, Ch. I.
Tennyson, Lionel II, 44, 81.
Tennyson, Lord II, 45, 54.
"Thunderer" I, 183.
"Titanic" I, 157.
Togo, Admiral Ill, 83.
Toilet, Miss I, 233.
Traquair Kirk I, 57.
Tree, Lady Maude IV, 129, 130, 200
Tubb I, 15.
Tyrell, Sir William IV, 87.
V
Vaughan, Kate I, 246.
Versailles Conference IV, 157.
Veto Bill Ill, 222-225.
Victoria, Princess Ill, 162.
Victoria, Queen I, 211; II, 256; HI, 45.
Vivian, Hon. Violet Ill, 166.
Voltaire I, 122.
von Danop, General IV, 114.
[226]
INDEX
W *
Walker, Frederick . . , I, 24.
Wallace, Sir Donald Ill, 21, 24.
Walter, Arthur I, 174-6.
Walter, Catherine I, 35.
Ward, Mrs. Humphry II, 107, 110, 111.
Warwick, Countess of Ill, 16.
Waterford, Lady Ill, 25.
Webb, Edward Ill, 42.
Webb, Godfrey I, 62; II, 24-5, 77; III, 42.
Welldon, Mr II, 111.
Wemyss and March, Earl of .... I, 30.
Wemyss, Countess of II, 88-9.
Wenlock, Lady Ill, 34.
West, Mrs. George Ill, 201.
West, Sir Algernon II, 24.
Whitman, Phoebe I, 112-16.
Wilhelm, Kaiser Ill, 204; IV, 160.
Willans family II, 191.
William, King of Prussia IV, 160.
Williams, Dr Ill, 65, 67.
Williams, Sir John II, 251-2; III, 33,
Williams, John E II, 191.
Wilson, J. M. . . II, 111.
Wilson, Woodrow IV, 192-196.
Windsor Castle Ill, 159-160.
Winsloe family I, 35.
Wormwood Scrubs II, 237.
Wood, Inspector II, 161-2.
Wyndham, George II, 22.
Y
York, Archbishop of . , Ill, 187.
[227]
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