LIFE OF MR. RAIKES, L A.TE POSTMASTER- GENERAL.* A READER

of many biographies is wont after a time to classify them roughly under two heads,—those that are written by near relatives, and those that are not. The latter, generally being of a more or less critical character, invite criticism in their turn; the former are, as a rule, not only uncritical, but also disarm all outside criticism. The Life of the late Postmaster-General belongs to the first class. It is

inevitable that the memory of such a man should assume rather greater proportions in the eyes of his son than in those of the outer world. Nevertheless, though one may fail to find the same interest in, or recognise all the importance which the biographer attributes to, the life-work of his father,

there is still reason to appreciate this filial sketch of a strong and interesting character. Mr. Henry Cecil Raikes was

undoubtedly, as his son says, a man of more than average ability, but the measure of his success in his public life will hardly seem to have fallen short of his deserts. Still, his intimate friends were of that opinion; and his biographer here attributes his partial want of success to two principal causes, the lack of a sufficiently large private income, and a sturdy independence of spirit, which made him a confirmed enemy of that "compromise" that is the breath of govern- ment to-day :—

"There is no reason to suppose that the latter day leaders of the Conservative party failed to appreciate Mr. Raikes' abilities and the untiring service he rendered to the cause. Nevertheless, although when in power they offered him posts of dignity and

public importance, they unnaturally, from their own point of view—preferred to bestow places, the possession of which would enable their holders' influence to make itself really felt in the inner circle of the Ministry, upon men of more flexible disposition than the subject of this memoir."

To our mind such a reason for the non-attainment of Cabinet rank by a man of Mr. Raikes's talent and services is in itself a fairly sufficient one. A Minister must consider the difficulties of his 'colleagues as well as his own, and Mr.

Raikes, when he once recognised a course as right and just, was rather wont to forget all other considerations. That same temper, however, helped in some respects to make him an admirable public servant in face of difficulties. The period of his tenure of the Post Office was rather a stormy one, but he held on to what he considered the right course with a really fine courage and persistency, in spite of a rather lukewarm support on the part of his friends, and his conduct has since been fully vindic4ted. He may have been disappointed in not obtaining a leading part in the counsels of his party, but at any rate he was not thereby disposed to underestimate the importance of the post that he did hold, or the value of the services he rendered in it. In a speech delivered at the time of the Penny Post Jubilee he thus described the functions of the Postmaster-General :—

" Talk of armies ! Why, the number of officers I have just mentioned to you, and of whom I may say I am for the time the Commander-in-Chief, are more numerous than any regular forces which the Secretary of State for War can show within the compass of Her Majesty's dominions. The fleets over which the Postmaster-General exercises control are faster, better found, and more efficient than any which obey the bidding of the First Lord of the Admiralty. Talk of the Foreign Office ! or the Colonial Office ! Why half the work of those departments is what we make for them, and in which we have to assist them."

In the midst of the heavy work which was imposed on him by the Government service, and the business labours which he voluntarily undertook for the sake of his own income, Mr. Raikes still found time for a more literary use of his pen, and was the author of some political skits, among other things, which testified to a genuine literary talent and a good sense of humour. Presumably, however, it was not Mr. Raikes

0 The Life and Leiters of Henry Cecil Bathes: By Henry of. John Raikes. London : Macmillan and Co. 1106.1

who was the author of the poetical and rather cruel in- junction to Mr. Peter Rylande which is quoted in this volume :—

" Mr. Rylands had many solid qualities, but he was not an inspiring speaker, and on one occasion in the House, when he was on his legs and appeared likely to remain there for some time, this was brought home to him in a somewhat unkind manner. As he proceeded with his indictment of the Government a slip of paper began to travel along the benches, and in its course aroused a good deal of merriment. At length it reached the orator, and on looking at it he was confronted with the following doggerel:

Preposterous Peter, prithee cut it short ; That Dizzy doeth what he didn't ought We know. Yet life were sweeter,

Which gave ten Dizz3-6 and dispensed with Peter.'

The cruel part of it was that the effusion emanated from his own side of the House."

For Disraeli he had a genuine admiration and esteem; but one story that he told of his great chief seems, to us at least, rather difficult to believe, though the biographer finds it "sufficiently credible to be true." On the occasion of hie

famous speech at the Free-trade Hall in Manchester, in 1873. Mr. Disraeli is said to have requested a confidential friend to

procure him, if possible, three bottles of white brandy. The commission was fulfilled with some difficulty ; only two bottles of such a brandy were to be found in all the town, and the owner had to be informed of their destination before he could be induced to give them up :—

" But the strangest part of the story is yet to come. The two bottles were duly conveyed to the Hall, and placed under the table; and Mr. Disraeli gave his friend strict injunctions to keep the tumbler which stood upon it constantly replenished with brandy and water in equal quantities, while he was speaking. These instructions were carefully carried out, but after some little time had elapsed, Mr. Disraeli half turned and whispered, Stronger ! make it stronger ! ' This he continued to repeat at intervals, until, towards the close of his very lengthy address, the friend was perforce driven iato supplying him with the neat spirit, which, owing to its colour, was indistinguishable from water by those sitting around. And at the conclusion of the speech both bottles were empty !"

A more credible and more amusing story in connection with Disraeli is one which Mr. Raikes used to tell at his own expense. He had conceived the idea of buying a certain picture at a public auction and presenting it to Disraeli, and to this end he had invoked successfully the sympathy and assistance of some of his colleagues. Unfortunately the picture had already been sold before his arrival on the scene, and still more unfortunately he took a well-known picture.

dealer into his confidence as to the ultimate destination of the gicture if it could be secured. The dealer took the most kindly interest in the affair, and by his mediation the obdurate buyer was at last induced to relinquish his purchase for more than six times the sum he had paid for it, The picture was presented to Disraeli; but months afterwards Mr. Raikes received an enigmatical letter from the dealer, telling him of another possible purchaser of the canvas, and suggesting that he, Mr. Raikes, might make as good a bargain as the dealer himself had done. Thus he learnt for the first time that not only was the kind dealer and the obdurate buyer one and the same person, but also that his own explanation of his reasons for acquiring the picture had been regarded as a mere device to get it cheap. It is a pleasant story, and not the less so in that it argues a certain honest and candid simplicity on the part of the victim who

told it. Indeed, one might imagine that it was in no small measure this quality of direct and simple candour that endeared Mr. Raikes to political friends and foes alike, and prevented public enmity in his case from ever developing into private animosity. It is noteworthy that he was always the best of friends with the leaders of the Liberal party,—

even with Mr. Gladstone, who had once in more early days been goaded into declaring that he was "the most impudent young man in England"; and that though he never feared to speak his mind freely about his own leaders, his plain- speaking never estranged their sympathy.

And yet few public men of the same time have succeeded in raising a more violent storm of obloquy against themselves

than the late Postmaster-General. For a short space he really seemed to be one of the beet-hated men in London, and his struggle with the Post Office employ& was embittered by the most violent and baseless attacks upon the honesty of his motives. The storm was not of long duration, and he lived to see his actions more than justified by subsequent results, Still, the strain of the combat and the heavy work which necessarily fell upon him ultimately killed him at his post ; for if ever a man worked himself to death in the public service, it was Mr. Raikes. We do not think his country was ever actually ungrateful to him in his lifetime—however harsh public criticism of his actions may have sometimes seemed —and we are sure that it will welcome this tribute to his memory, paid by his own son.