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“Consultations Invited"
Mr. Punch: "Won't you step in here? There's an old lady who's very anxious to tell your fortune."
Lord R-s-b-ry: "Yes, I know. But--er--I never show my hand!"
Archibald
Philip Primrose, the 5th earl of Rosebery, served briefly as
prime minister of Great Britain (1894-1895) and leader of the Liberal
Party until October 1896. His
support for the British Empire and the Boer War (1899-1902) led to
tensions with others in his party.
However, in late 1903, newspapers in Britain and the United
States, including Harper’s Weekly, began to report that
Rosebery and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the new Liberal leader and
former opponent of the Boer War were “becoming allies once more.”
When this cartoon was published
in the fall of 1904, speculation was swirling about the political future
of Lord Rosebery. With the Liberals expected to win the next election, would he
be offered a cabinet post, and would he accept it? A British journalist commented in Harper’s Weekly:
“There is not a man in England who can answer these questions
… I am not sure that Lord Rosebery himself could answer them.”
The featured cartoon reflects
that uncertainty. Punch, a symbol of Great Britain, asks Rosebery to step
inside the home of Mrs. Liberal Party, who is eager to read his
political fortune. Rosebery
declines the invitation, refusing to address the matter.
In fact, the touted reunion between Rosebery and
Campbell-Bannerman did not take place, despite efforts by supporters of
both men. In late 1905,
Rosebery’s declared opposition to home rule for Ireland resulted in
the final breach with the Liberals, who won a landslide election the
next year under the new prime minister, Campbell-Bannerman.
Lord Rosebery was born on May
7, 1847 in London, and attended Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, although
not taking a degree at the latter.
His father had died when he was four, but he did not assume the
earldom and control of the family’s extensive estates in Scotland
until his 21st birthday in 1868.
He took a keen interest in Liberal politics, but exclusion from the House of Commons, as a hereditary peer, initially hindered his political career In 1879-1880, Rosebery worked for the reelection of William Gladstone, the former prime minister (1868-1874). He served in Gladstone’s second administration (1880-1885) as an
undersecretary of state in the Home Office (August 1881-June 1883) in
charge of Scottish affairs, and as lord privy seal (March-June 1885), a
cabinet level position carrying no specific responsibilities.
In Gladstone’s third (February-July 1886) and fourth
(1892-1894) ministries, Rosebery served as secretary of state for
foreign affairs, although his avid imperialist views increasingly
clashed with the prime minister’s policies.
In 1894, for example, Gladstone wanted Britain to withdraw from
Uganda, but Rosebery declared a British protectorate there.
In early March 1894,
Gladstone’s opposition to increased naval appropriations caused his
government to fall, and Rosebery, who had backed the measure, was asked
to form a ministry. Adamant
resistance to Liberal legislation in the House of Lords resulted in the
defeat of Rosebery’s political agenda, except for passage of the
government’s annual budget. The
new prime minister was also troubled by dissension within his own party,
even within the cabinet. When
the Liberals lost control of the House of Commons in late June 1895,
Rosebery resigned as prime minister, relieved to be rid of the difficult
situation. On October 8,
1896, he resigned as head of the Liberal Party.
In retirement, Rosebery wrote
popular biographies of Napoleon, Lord Randolph Churchill (a Conservative
member of parliament and father of Prime Minister Winston Churchill),
Sir William Pitt (a former prime minister), and others.
Rosebery also kept a stable of champion racehorses.
He died on May 21, 1929.
Robert C. Kennedy
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