" Right and wrong are in the nature of things. They are not words and phrases. They are in the nature of things, and if you transgress the laws laid down, imposed by the nature of things, depend upon it you will pay the penalty ." JOHN MORLEY. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK AND LONDON The Knickerbocker Press 1921 COPYRIGHT, 1921 BY G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS Printed in the United States of America...

America and England have worked and fought together and have brought to a successful conclusion the great war in defence of civilization against a military imperialism which was threatening to dominate the world. They have now responsibilities together in connection with the measures needed to assure the continued peace of the world and to secure, particularly for the smaller states and for communities not in a position to become independent nations, the protection of their liberties, to which t

Let me say that I hope I have not betrayed any confidences in these sketches. Public men must expect criticism, and no criticism is so good for them, and therefore for the State, as criticism of character; but their position is difficult, and they may justly complain when those to whom they have spoken in the candour of private conversation make use of such confidences for a public purpose. If here and there I have in any degree approached this offence, let me urge two excuses. First, inspired b

Born, Manchester, 1863; son of the late Wm. George, Master of the Hope Street Unitarian Schools, Liverpool. Educated in a Welsh Church School and under tutors. By profession a solicitor. President of the Board of Trade, 1905-8; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1908-15; Minister of Munitions, 1915-16; Secretary for War, 1916; Prime Minister, 1916-20. RT. HON. DAVID LLOYD GEORGE DRYDEN. If you think about it, no one since Napoleon has appeared on the earth who attracts so universal an interest as Mr.

Born, 1849. Educ.: Rugby and Oxford; in Foreign Office, 1870-74; Secretary to Earl Granville, 1872-74; Embassy at Berlin, 1874-76; at Pekin, 1876-78; Chargé, Athens, 1884-85; Teheran, 1885-88; Consul-General, Budapest, 1888-93; Embassy, Constantinople, 1894; Minister, Morocco, 1895-1904; Ambassador, Madrid, 1904-5; Ambassador, Russia, 1905-10; Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 1910-16. Author of the History of the German Constitution , 1873. LORD CARNOCK "Usually the greatest boasters are the

Born, 1841; entered Navy, 1854; took part in 1860 in the Capture of Canton and the Peiho Forts; Crimean War, 1855; China War, 1859-60; Egyptian War and Bombardment of Alexandria, 1882; Lord of the Admiralty, 1892-97; Commander-in-Chief, North American Station, 1897-99; Mediterranean Station, 1899-02; Commander-in-Chief, 1903-1904; 1st Sea Lord, 1904-10; 1914-15; died, 1920. BARON FISHER "Look for a tough wedge for a tough log." PUBLIUS SYRUS. No man I have met ever gave me so authentic a feeling

Born at Morley, Yorkshire, 1852. Educ.: City of London School; Balliol College, Oxford; gained 1st class, Lit. Hum. 1874; Barrister Lincoln's Inn, 1876; Q. C. 1890; Home Sec'y, 1892-95; Ecclesiastical Commissioner, 1892-95; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1905-8; Sec'y for War, 1914; 1st Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister, 1908-16; LL.D. Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cambridge, Leeds, St. Andrews, and Bristol. RT. HON. HERBERT HENRY ASQUITH "Not to mention loss of time, the tone of their feelings is low

Born, 1865, in Dublin. Educ.: in Trade Schools; trained as a book-seller, and worked in the establishment of George Newnes; LL.D., Rochester Univ., U.S.A.; Proprietor of the London Times, Daily Mail , and a number of other journals; Cr. Bart. in 1904; Viscount, 1917; Chairman of the British War Mission to the United States, 1917; Director of the Aerial Transport Committee, 1917; Director of Propaganda in Enemy Countries, 1918. LORD NORTHCLIFFE " ... We cannot say that they have a great nature, o

Born in Scotland 1848; s. of Jas. M. Balfour and Lady Blanche Cecil; nephew of the late Marquis of Salisbury and therefore 1st cousin to the present Marquis, Lord Robert Cecil, and Lord Hugh Cecil. Educ.: Eton and Trinity Coll., Cambridge; LL.D. Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Cambridge, Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Sheffield, Columbia (New York); D.C.L. Oxford. M.P. for Hertford, 1874-85; Private Sec'y to his uncle, the late Marquis of Salisbury, 1878-80; served on Missi

Born, 1846; entered Army, 1866; Colonel, 1899; Burmah Campaign, 1891; Viscount, 1914; Baron, 1914; Earl, 1914; Sec'y for War, 1914; died, 1917. LORD KITCHENER "I never knew a man so fixed upon doing what he considered his duty." —CROKER PAPERS. Soon after he had taken his chair at the War Office, Lord Kitchener received a call from Mr. Lloyd George. The politician had come to urge the appointment of denominational chaplains for all the various sects represented in the British Army. Lord Kitchene

Born, 1864. Educ.: at Eton and Oxford. Private Secretary to his father, the late Marquis of Salisbury, 1886-88; called to the Bar, 1887; M.P. for East Marylebone, 1906-10; for Hitchin Division of Herts, 1912; Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 1915-16; Assistant Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 1918; Manager of Blockade, 1916-18. Author of Principles of Commercial Law and Our National Church . LORD ROBERT CECIL "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." —EMERSON. If a novelist take fo

The Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill (Leonard Spencer) son of Lord Randolph Churchill. Born, 1874. Educ: Harrow and Sandhurst. Entered army in 1895; served with Spanish Forces in Cuba, 1895; in operations in India, 1897-98; on the Nile and at the Battle of Khartoum, 1899; was given the Khartoum Medal in that year; Correspondent of the Morning Post in South Africa, 1899-1900; taken prisoner and escaped, 1900; in long series of actions including Spion Kop, Pieters, and capture of Pretoria; M.P. Oldham,

The Rt. Hon. Richard Burdon Haldane was born in 1856. Graduate of Edinburgh University; Professor of Philosophy, St. Andrew's University; Barrister, 1879; Q.C., 1890; created 1st Viscount, 1911; M.P. from Haddingtonshire, 1885-1911; Sec'y for War, 1905-12; Rector of Edinburgh Univ.; Chancellor, Univ. of Bristol; Author of various philosophical works. RT. HON. RICHARD BURDON HALDANE "He is Attic in the sense that he has no bombast, and does not strive after affect, and that he can speak interesti

First Baron, 1916. Born, in Aberdare, Wales, 1856; died, 1919. Educated with tutors, and later at Caius College, Cambridge; Scholar also, of Jesus; President South Wales Liberal Federation, 1893-97; M.P. for Merthyr, 1888-1910; for Cardiff, 1910; Food Controller, 1917-1919. LORD RHONDDA "Whereof what better witness can ye expect I should produce than one of your own now sitting in Parliament." —MILTON. In the Merry Passages and Jests of old Sir Nicholas Lestrange record is made of the following

Born, 1865. Head of firm of Andrew Weir and Co. shipowners of Glasgow, Surveyor General of Supplies, 1917-19; Minister of Munitions, 1919. LORD INVERFORTH "Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people." —DR. JOHNSON. We are keeping up Voltaire's idea of our English character. Instead of only admirals, however, we are now hanging all sorts and descriptions of our public servants, but whether to encourage the others or to pay off a grudge, who shall determine? L

Born 1851, Lancashire. Educ.: Bolton Church Institute; Chairman of Lever Bros., Port Sunlight; High Sheriff, Lancaster, 1917. LORD LEVERHULME "Dullness is so much stronger than genius because there is so much more of it, and it is better organized and more naturally cohesive inter se. So the Arctic volcano can do nothing against Arctic ice." —SAMUEL BUTLER. The reader may properly wonder to find the figure of Lord Leverhulme brought before the mirrors of Downing Street. But let me explain why I

"While the advances made by objective science and its industrial applications are palpable and undeniable all around us, it is a matter of doubt and dispute if our social and moral advance towards happiness and virtue has been great or any." —MARK PATTISON. After all, a nation gets the politics that it deserves. The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings. If the tone of public life is a low one it is because the tone of society is not a high one. The remedy, then, is

By the Author of With Portraits "The Gentleman with a Duster" who so mercilessly and brilliantly clarified the mirrors of Downing Street, now turns his attention to English Society—and what a drubbing it gets. Perhaps the sorriest victims to fall under his cleanser are Col. Repington and Margot Asquith. His name for the latter will surely stick—"The Grandmother of the Flapper." But society at large is not spared, and there can be no question as to the sincerity of the author. The Spectator , rea

"Presents us with a most beautiful picture of William and Catherine Gladstone's life." " A Gentleman with a Duster ." "The record this book gives us is from the pen of a loving daughter and one qualified for this labor of love from intimate personal knowledge." New Haven Journal-Courier . "The essence of mid-Victorianism at its very best."— Newark Evening News . "An exquisite portrait of a fine old lady, true helpmate and grande dame of the Victorian era." N.Y. Evening Globe . "Remarkable word p