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5TH ARCHIBALD PHILIP PRIMROSE ROSEBERY

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 734 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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5TH See also:

ARCHIBALD See also:PHILIP See also:PRIMROSE See also:ROSEBERY  See also:EARL OF (1847- ), See also:British statesman, See also:born in See also:London on the 7th of May 1847, was the See also:grandson and successor to the See also:title of See also:Archibald See also:John See also:Primrose, 4th earl of See also:Rosebery (1783-1868), a representative peer of See also:Scotland, who was in 1828 created a peer of the See also:United See also:Kingdom as See also:Baron Rosebery, and was an active supporter of the Reform See also:Bill . The Scottish earldom was first conferred in 1703 upon the 4th earl's See also:great-grandfather, Archibald Primrose of Dalmeny (1664-1723), a staunch Whig and a See also:commissioner for the See also:Union . The 5th earl's See also:mother was See also:Catherine See also:Lucy See also:Wilhelmina, only daughter of See also:Philip See also:Henry, 4th Earl See also:Stanhope; she was thus a See also:sister of Earl Stanhope, the historian, and a niece of See also:Lady Hester Stanhope, who was the niece of See also:William See also:Pitt . A celebrated beauty, a maid of See also:honour and bridesmaid of See also:Queen See also:Victoria, she married, on the loth of See also:December 1843, Archibald, See also:Lord Dalmeny (18o9-1851), member for the See also:Stirling Burghs, who became a lord of the See also:admiralty under See also:Melbourne . After his See also:death she became the wife of Harry See also:George See also:Vane, 4th See also:duke of See also:Cleveland, and diefi in 1901 . The See also:young Lord Dalmeny was educated at See also:Brighton and at See also:Eton, where he had as slightly junior contemporaries Mr A . J . See also:Balfour and Lord See also:Randolph See also:Churchill . He was described by the most brilliant Eton See also:tutor of his See also:day, William See also:Johnson See also:Cory (author of lonica), as a " portentously See also:wise youth, not, how-ever, deficient in fun." He added that Dalmeny " desired the See also:palm without the dust." In 1866 he matriculated at See also:Christ See also:Church, See also:Oxford, but went down in 1868, by the See also:request of the See also:dean, rather than abandon the See also:possession of a small racing See also:stud . In the same See also:year he succeeded to the earldom and to the See also:family estates . In See also:February 1871 he seconded the Address in the See also:House of Lords; a more See also:original effort followed in See also:November 1871, when he delivered a remarkable See also:essay on the Union of Scotland and See also:England at the See also:Edinburgh Philosophical Institution . Three years later he was elected See also:president of the Social See also:Science See also:Congress at See also:Glasgow, where, on the 3oth of See also:September, he gave a striking address upon the See also:discovery of means for raising the See also:condition of the working class as the " true leverage of See also:empire." In the meantime he travelled in the See also:south of See also:Europe and in See also:North See also:America .

On his return he acquired an See also:

English See also:country house called The Durdans, See also:Epsom, which he largely rebuilt and adorned with some of the finest See also:turf portraits of George See also:Stubbs . Following the example, as he declared, of See also:Oliver See also:Cromwell (for whom he showed an admiration in other respects—culminating in 'goo in the erection of a statue outside See also:Westminster See also:Hall, which was not appreciated either by the Irish Nationalist party or by others among his See also:political associates), he took a See also:pride in owning racehorses, and afterwards won the See also:Derby three times, in 1894, 1895 and 1905 . He was the first See also:man to enjoy the distinction of winning the Derby while See also:prime See also:minister; but though this was popular enough among many classes, it did not please the Liberal Non-conformists so much, who considered a racehorse a See also:mere gambling-See also:machine . On the 2oth of See also:March 1878 Lord Rosebery married Hannah, only See also:child of Baron See also:Meyer Amschel de See also:Rothschild, of Mentmore, Bucks . The newly married couple took a See also:lease of See also:Lansdowne House, which for several years was a See also:salon for the Liberal party and a centre of hospitality for a much wider circle . Though impeded in his political career by his exclusion from the House of See also:Commons, Lord Rosebery's reputation as a social reformer and orator was steadily growing . In 1878 he was elected Lord See also:Rector of See also:Aberdeen and in 1880 of Edinburgh University, where he gave an eloquent address upon Patriotism . In 188o he entertained Mr See also:Gladstone at Dalmeny, and during the " See also:Mid See also:Lothian See also:campaign " he had much to do with the See also:stage-management of the demonstrations . As was shown later, he imported into his view of politics a warm sentiment and an imaginative outlook; and he was an enthusiastic student of Lord See also:Beaconsfield's political novels, more particularly of Sybil, after the heroine in which he named one of his daughters . In See also:August 1881 he became under-secretary at the See also:Home See also:Office, his immediate See also:chief being See also:Sir William See also:Harcourt . His See also:work was practically confined to the direction of the Scottish See also:department of the Office . A clamour was nevertheless raised in regard to the incompatibility of the under-secretaryship with a position in the House of Lords, and Lord Rosebery resigned the See also:post in See also:June 1883 .

He and his wife utilized the See also:

interval to make a trip See also:round the See also:world, being most warmly received in See also:Australia, and returning by way of See also:India . At the See also:close of 1884 he resumed office as first commissioner of See also:works with a seat in the See also:cabinet, and his adherence carried with it a distinct See also:accession of strength to the Liberal See also:ministry, which was much discredited by the tragedy attached to the See also:fate of See also:Gordon . The attitude of the See also:government on the Afghan question and generally in regard to See also:Russia was held by many to have been perceptibly stiffened owing to Lord Rosebery's See also:influence . In June 1885 the Liberal See also:administration See also:broke up, but Lord See also:Salisbury's ministry, which succeeded, was beaten See also:early in February 1886, and when Mr Gladstone adopted Home See also:Rule, . Lord Rosebery threw in his See also:lot with the old See also:leader, and was made secretary of See also:state for See also:foreign affairs during the brief Liberal ministry which followed . He rather distinguished himself in the See also:Lucia See also:Bay negotiations then being carried on with See also:Germany . If See also:Busch is to be believed, See also:Prince See also:Bismarck's view was that Lord Rosebery had " quite mesmerized " See also:Count See also:Herbert Bismarck; and the latter, from his See also:father's standpoint, conceded too much to Lord Rosebery, who proved himself to be, in Bismarck's See also:language, " very See also:sharp." His views on foreign policy differed materially from those of See also:Granville and Gladstone . His mind was dwelling constantly upon the political See also:legacy of the two Pitts; he was a reader of Sir John See also:Seeley; he had him-self visited the colonies; had predicted that a See also:war would not, as was commonly said, disintegrate the empire, but rather the See also:reverse; had magnified the importance of taking colonial See also:opinion; and had always been a convinced See also:advocate of some See also:form of Imperial Federation . He was already taunted with being an Imperialist, but his See also:independent attitude won public approval . See also:Cambridge gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1888; in See also:January 1889 he was elected a member of the first See also:county See also:council of London, and on the 12th of February he was elected chairman of that See also:body by 104 votes to 17 . The tact, assiduity and dignity with which he guided the deliberations of the council made him exceedingly popular with its members . In the See also:spring of 1890 he presided over the Co-operative Congress, but with a view to the impending political campaign he found it necessary to resign the chairmanship of the county council in June .

In November of this year, however, Lady Rosebery died, and he withdrew for a See also:

period from public business . In 1891 he made some brief See also:continental visits, one to See also:Madrid, and in See also:October he saw through the See also:press his little monograph upon William Pitt, in the Twelve English Statesmen See also:Series, of which it may be said that it competes in See also:interest with See also:Viscount See also:Morley's See also:Walpole . In January 1892, upon a new See also:election, he again for a few months became chairman of the county council . It was already recognized that in him the country possessed not only a public man of exceptionally attractive See also:personality, but one whose See also:literary tastes were combined with a See also:gift for expression which was at once original and fluent . In October the Garter was conferred upon him by Queen Victoria . Meanwhile, in August, upon the return of Gladstone to See also:power, he was induced with some difficulty (for he was suffering at the See also:time from See also:insomnia) to resume his position as foreign minister . His See also:acceptance was construed as a See also:security against the suspicion of weakness abroad which the Liberal party had incurred by their foreign policy during the 'eighties . He strongly opposed the evacuation of See also:Egypt; he insisted upon the exclusive See also:control by Great See also:Britain of the Upper See also:Nile Valley, and also upon the retention of See also:Uganda . In 1893 the question of See also:Siam came near to causing serious trouble with See also:France, but by the exercise of a See also:combination of firmness and forbearance on Lord Rosebery's See also:part the crisis was averted, and the lines were laid down for pre-serving Siam, if possible, as a buffer state between the English and See also:French frontiers in Indo-See also:China . In the spring of 1895 he was clear-sighted enough to refuse to join the See also:anti-See also:Japanese See also:League of Russia, France and Germany at the end of the China-See also:Japan War . Lord Rosebery's See also:personal popularity had been increased at home by his successful intervention in the See also:coal strike of December 1893, and when in March 1894 the resignation of Gladstone was announced, his selection by Queen Victoria for the premiership was welcomed by the public at large and by the See also:majority of his own party . On all hands he was then considered dignus imperio—it was only as the new administration went to pieces that See also:people began to add nisi imperasset .

The conditions he had to See also:

face were by no means hopeful . The Liberal majority of 44 was already dwindling away, and the malcontents, who considered ' that Sir William Harcourt should have been the prime minister, or who were perpetually intriguing against aleader who did not satisfy their See also:idea of Radicalism, made Lord Rosebery's personal position no easy one . A systematic policy of detraction was pursued by the small See also:section of the See also:Radical party who objected to a peer premier as such, and a great See also:deal of adverse See also:criticism was also aroused by a speech in which the prime minister, taunted for not again bringing forward a Home Rule measure, insisted upon the truism that the See also:conversion of England, the " predominant partner," was a necessary condition of success . The support of the Irish Nationalists was by no means secure . Lord Rosebery's foreign policy, moreover, was too Tory for his Radical followers; he insisted upon " continuity of policy in foreign affairs," which meant carrying on the Conservative policy and not upsetting it . The premier was thought to have shown a restlessness and a rawness at the See also:touch of censure which did not increase his reputation for reserve power or strength, but this was undoubtedly due in large measure to the recrudescence of the insomnia from which he had suffered in 1891 . The government effected little . In Mr See also:Asquith's phrase, it was " ploughing the sands." The See also:Parish See also:Councils See also:Act was only passed by compromising with the Opposition . See also:Local See also:Veto and Disestablishment of the Welsh Church were put in the forefront of the party See also:programme, but the government was already to all appearances See also:riding for a fall, when on the 24th of June 1895 it was beaten upon an adverse See also:vote in the Commons in regard to a question of the See also:supply and reserve of small arms See also:ammunition . The See also:general election which followed after Lord Salisbury had formed his new ministry was remarkable for the undisciplined state of the Liberal party . At the Eighty See also:Club and the See also:Albert Hall Lord Rosebery advised them to concentrate upon the reform of the House of Lords, that See also:assembly being, as he said, a foremost obstacle to the passing of legislation on the lines of the See also:Newcastle programme; but he was unable to suggest in what direction it should be reformed . Sir William Harcourt and Mr John Morley, on the other See also:hand, concentrated respectively upon Local See also:Option and Home Rule .

Phoenix-squares

The Liberals were quarrelling among themselves, and the result was an overwhelming defeat . In Opposition Lord Rosebery was now at a serious disadvantage as See also:

head of a See also:parliamentary party; for in any See also:case he could not rally them as a loyally followed leader in the House of Commons might have done . But his followers were not all loyal, and his rivals in leadership were themselves in the House of Commons . Added to this there was still in the background the See also:veteran statesman to whom Liberalism owed an -unequalled See also:obligation . When the " Armenian atrocities " became a burning question in the country in 1896, and Mr Gladstone himself emerged from his retirement to advocate intervention, Lord Rosebery's difficulties had taken their final form . He declined to support this demand at the See also:risk of a See also:European war, and on the 8th of October 1896 he announced to the Liberal See also:whip, Mr See also:Thomas See also:Ellis, his resignation of the Liberal leadership . On the following day he made a farewell speech at the Empire See also:Theatre, Edinburgh, to over four thousand people, and for some time he held aloof from party politics, " ploughing his furrow alone," as he afterwards phrased it . In 1898, on the death of Mr Gladstone, he paid a See also:noble and eloquent See also:tribute in the House of Lords to the See also:life and public services of his old leader . He was a See also:pall-See also:bearer at his funeral on the 28th of May, as he had previously been at the burials of See also:Tennyson and See also:Millais . His influence in the country was still a strong one on personal grounds, and he came forward now and again to give expression independently to popular feeling . In the autumn of 1898 he gave valuable support to the attitude taken up by Lord Salisbury upon the See also:Fashoda question . He was indeed See also:bound by consistency to withstand what his own government, by the words of Sir See also:Edward See also:Grey, had declared would be an unfriendly act on the part of France .

Again, after Mr See also:

Kruger's See also:ultimatum in October 1899, Lord Rosebery spoke upon the See also:necessity of the nation closing its ranks and supporting the government in the See also:prosecution of war in South See also:Africa . After See also:Nicholson's Nek he reiterated the See also:resolution of the country " to see this thing through." Nevertheless, in a See also:letter to See also:Captain Lambton, an unsuccessful Liberal See also:candidate for Newcastle, in September 'goo, he condemned the general conduct of affairs by Lord Salisbury's government, while in several speeches in the House of Lords he strongly urged the necessity of See also:army reform . Since his See also:abandonment of the leadership in 1896, the lack of coherence in the Liberal party had become more and more See also:manifest . The war had brought to the front a See also:pro-See also:Boer section, who seemed gradually to be compromising the whole party, and had apparently succeeded in winning the support of Sir Henry See also:Campbell-Bannerman, the leader in the House of Commons . Lord Rosebery maintained for the most part a See also:sphinx-like seclusion, but in See also:July 190r he at last came forward strongly as the See also:champion of the Liberal Imperialist section . In deference to the wishes of supporters such as Mr Asquith, Sir Henry See also:Fowler and Sir Edward Grey he determined to " put his views into the See also:common stock " at a representative See also:meeting of Liberals held at See also:Chesterfield in December 1901 . There he advised the Liberal party that " its See also:slate must be cleaned," and, as he subsequently explained, this cleansing must involve the elimination of Home Rule for See also:Ireland . His See also:appeal for " See also:spade work " resulted in the formation of the Liberal League, inside the Liberal Opposition; and what Lord Rosebery himself described as his " definite separation " from Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's " See also:tabernacle " took See also:place . This announcement, however, was no sooner made than it was explained away by the supporters of both, and early in 1902 Lord Rosebery spoke at the See also:National Liberal Club in a way which indicated that an understanding might still be arrived at . But though Mr Asquith and Sir Edward Grey adhered to the Liberal League, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman retained the See also:loyalty of the majority of the Liberal party, and Lord See also:Spencer threw his See also:weight on the same See also:side; and in a speech at the Liberal League See also:dinner on the 31st of July Lord Rosebery had to admit that their principles had not yet prevailed, and that, until they did, a reconciliation between the two wings of the party would be impossible . In January 1903 he addressed a Liberal meeting at See also:Plymouth, and appeared to be attempting to concentrate Opposition criticism upon the points in the government policy which did not involve the Imperialist difference; and in discussing War Office reform he advocated the See also:appointment of Lord See also:Kitchener as secretary of state for war . When Mr See also:Chamberlain started his new fiscal programme, combining See also:Tariff Reform with Colonial Preference, Lord Rosebery at first seemed inclined to treat it as non-political, and on the 19th of May 1903 he declared in an address to the See also:Burnley Chamber of See also: