Note 119 — Chapter XXI · THE REIGN OF JINGOISM.

Nobody gave a more vivid picture of the divided state of the nation at this time than Mr. Trevelyan, who had been one of the most active of those who forced Mr. Gladstone to withdraw his Resolutions. Speaking at Galashiels on the 10th of December he said, the desire to fight “is almost universal amongst idlers, and gossips, fashionable aspirants, and the habitual frequenters of the London burlesques and music-halls. The determination to keep at peace is almost universal among the great mass of the population which produces the wealth of this country, and which makes us respected and powerful among nations. My experience is that the division is not, as is generally described, one of class, but of personal habits and character. If you meet a man who does an honest stroke of work on every week-day, whether he be manufacturer, or artisan, or tradesman, or barrister, it is ten to one that he wishes his country to leave this quarrel to be fought out by those whom it concerns. If you meet a man who amuses himself for fifteen hours out of the twenty-four, and sleeps the rest, it is ninety-nine to one but he thinks we should send an ultimatum to Russia as soon as she crosses the Balkans, and that he regards Lord Beaconsfield as a second Chatham, who is robbed of his opportunities by his more timid colleagues.” It ought to be said that the Liberals had also their “idlers” and sentimental crochet-mongers, who were eager to join Russia in fighting the “anti-human” Turk, and who had the advantage of Mr. Gladstone’s personal leadership. Of course the partisans of Lord Beaconsfield vied with the partisans of Mr. Gladstone in pouring forth contempt on the English people, for their sordid determination to tie the restless and mischief-making hands of these two enterprising politicians.