WITH MR. LLOYD GEORGE DURING HIS PREMIERSHIP
“... And which of us,” he said, smiling at me over the breakfast table, “which of us do you wish to see?”
I murmured that I did not understand—er....
“A friend of yours writing in the press,” he explained drily, “has been good enough to find in me a second Jekyll and Hyde. Very well. With which of us do you wish to talk—Lloyd Jekyll or Hyde George?”
“Which,” I asked cautiously, “is which?”
“Both,” he replied, “are Me. Your friend misconceives the situation. He attributes all my political mistakes and failures to Hyde; and the successes I attain to Jekyll. But the truth is that between them they have always pulled me this way and that; and most of my actions are a compromise between their conflicting injunctions. Hyde is still the shrewd Welsh solicitor, who sharpened his wits from morning to night, that Jekyll might have his opportunity. Jekyll is still the idealist who dreamt in his youth of Welsh Home Rule; who upheld the Boers in his middle age because of the nobility of their struggle against overwhelming odds; and now in the fullness of maturity has conferred upon Ireland the freedom she has sought for centuries.”
“But——” I interjected.
He waved me aside. An inspiration had mastered him.
“The clouds of despair,” he chanted, “were gathered over our heads. They menaced our security, they threatened our national safety. No avenue of peace has been left unexplored.... The helmsman stands stark and firm, on the crosstrees. The ship of State lurches perilously on the ocean. The captain cons the passage with anxious eyes, the binnacle clasped in his hand, his belaying-pin beside him. Mountainous billows tower above us. The hour is dark. The time is nigh. Shipwreck, despite all our efforts, appears inevitable.... But faith, like a little child, steals in with the dawn; and the splendour of the sunlight, bursting upon the immemorial hills, floods the valleys with limpid rapture, and bathes all nature in joy unspeakable. The sheep frolic around the homestead. The housewife plies her needle with diligent care. And the ship of State, with its lonely pilot, worn but triumphant on the forecastle, glides in safety into the appointed harbour——”
“This,” I protested, “is not an Eisteddfodd,” but he ignored me.
“The tempest,” he continued, “the tempest will abate; the watchers will come down upon the shore with gladness in their hearts; and thegolden glory of my native hills will shine in the souls of men, leading them upward, and ever toward the light.”
A galvanic sweep of the arms brought this whirlwind of speech to a conclusion. A dish of eggs and bacon abruptly clattered on the floor. He pushed the muffins towards me, and refilled his teacup.
“Hyde has been trying to persuade me for some time,” he began, leaning forward confidentially, “to go to the country on the Irish issue. A far stronger rallying cry than ‘Hang the Kaiser!’ and ‘Search their pockets!’ Better even than the ‘Land fit for heroes’ and the ‘Bulging corn-bins.’ It would have been quite easy, you know, to break off negotiations on the question of allegiance. From the point of view of expediency there was a lot to be said for it. It might have swept the country. But Jekyll refused. I think he was right.
“All the same, Hyde’s a shrewd fellow. He sees in a flash what can be turned to good account. He prides himself on knowing what the public wants; and he makes me give it to them. My speech just now, for instance, would have been immensely successful in the House of Commons.... It—er—it didn’t seem to appeal to you.”
“It reminded me,” I replied, “if I may sayso without offence, of your Christmas message to theLloyd George Liberal Magazine.”
“Ah!” he exclaimed, “another of Hyde’s activities. You read the magazine, then?”
“Not often,” I answered.
“I am afraid,” he said, “I am afraid you found my message wanting in literary flavour.”
“On the contrary, I should say its flavour was almost too pronounced.”
He smiled ruefully.
“Well,” he said, “you may be right—though personally I thought one or two passages rather fine. But, of course, Hyde ... the truth is, the fellow has an unerring flair for political situations; and he’s always bringing forward these highly flavoured sentiments and fathering them on to me, on the plea that they’re what the public wants. And the worst of it is, he’s right. The public likes that kind of thing.”
“Not the intelligent public,” I remonstrated.
“I don’t know what you mean by that. If you mean theintelligentsia, they don’t count politically.... Suppose my Government fell, what would happen? There’d be a General Election—in which I’m afraid Hyde George would come to the front—which I might lose. Another Government would replace me—perhaps Edward Grey and Bob Cecil. And then? One of two things. Either they’d carry on in thesame quiet, undistinguished and often shifty manner, as I do, balancing one interest against another, and being satisfied with the occasional inch of progress that one makes from time to time; or they’d launch out in an ambitious way, and the conflicting interests of modern society would crush them in six months.”
“Surely,” I said, “government in accordance with principle——”
“The fundamental principle of Government,” he interrupted, “is reputed to be the consent of the governed. But one is not always dealing with first principles; and for practical purposes one of the most indispensable things is the goodwill of the Press. The Press is controlled by capital interests. That is a consideration. The organisation of Labour is another consideration—powerful, though less powerful than formerly. There is the Entente with France to maintain, without going so far to maintain it as will offend large numbers of people here. There is an understanding to keep with America, and an Alliance to modify with Japan. There is a part to be played in the League of Nations, and that must often inevitably conflict with the cordiality of this country’s relations with certain countries, that are doing us no harm but are misconducting their relations with other countries—instances abound. There is the question of raising revenue—whois to contribute; in what proportions; how? Every decision you make on any detail of these subjects, is going to hit somebody hard in the pocket, perhaps turn him out of employment.... And you talk of principles like a professor of mathematics considering the functions of π. I get so tired of this unpractical nonsense. That’s why I can’t get on with Bob Cecil. It’s a thousand pities; for if only he’d recognise these things and take his head out of the clouds, he’d be invaluable at the Foreign Office.... But to hear him talk, anyone would think, not only that my Government was a set of ill-balanced, self-seeking opportunists, inaccessible to any consideration except their own profit, but that what he calls honest government was as simple as beggar-my-neighbour.”
“You know, sir,” I interjected deferentially, “some people can’t help feeling that a little more adherence to principle in dealing with Ireland would have saved——”
“My dear young friend,” he said in a pitying tone, “have you ever studied the Irish question divorced from the rhodomontade of Ulster, and the hysteria of the South? If you have, you’ll see that there’s right—a lot of it—on both sides. It would have been easy enough to apply a catchpenny solution to Ireland—that’s what we’ve been doing for generations, as each successivecrisis occurred. Any twopenny Tory demagogue can denounce me for not giving Ireland another taste of Cromwell. But can you see British troops engaged in the process? Any paltry crank can storm at my want of faith in not giving them a Republic long ago; but can you see this country acquiescing in the Balkanisation of the British Isles? And can you see the outside world welcoming the creation of another small State in Europe?... You’ve got to come to solutions slowly in these matters; and the only principle that counts, is the preservation of the Commonwealth of Nations to which we belong.”
“And have you preserved that by your settlement?” I asked him.
“It depends,” he said gravely, “on the spirit in which it is carried out. If neither party in Ireland can agree, and if they will not be reconciled to us, then we have achieved nothing. But if,” his voice grew in volume, “if there is a purpose in life; and if great trust breeds great trust, as I believe; and if faith and hope are more than words to humanity, and direct our thoughts and inspire our bravest acts; then, surely, this work will endure.”
He raised his hand, solemnly.
“Sir,” I said, “I have travelled much in our Empire. The Dominions are my second home.Are they to be Dominions still? Or, if they claim it, are they to become Free States also?”
“It is a Dominion status,” he replied. “The name does not matter.”
“Are you sure?”
“The real tie,” he answered, “must be one of loyalty and love. It is a small matter how the thing is called: and if those qualities are absent you will not better it by the name of Dominion....
“And now,” he said, “I’ve talked long enough. I’ve a Cabinet Council and an interview with the Foreign Secretary to get through before lunch; and there are three confounded deputations which Hyde insists on my seeing personally. So you must go.”
Wherewith he disappeared through one of the multitude of doors surrounding his breakfast-room.