William Harcourt

“ Wealth in the real sense being indifferent to him, small honours beneath his consideration, and overpowering enthusiasm for the greater ideals foreign to his nature, what remained as the motive power sufficing to propel the vast bulk of this political galleon through the cross-currents of over thirty years of varied navigation? The answer would seem to be sheer love of the game of politics. Sir William Harcourt delighted in political warfare almost as an end in itself. It would be unjust, no doubt, to style him a pure opportunist. ”

“ Sir William Harcourt, rose to pulverise Torydom and put an end to the Government and everything in general, when the Speaker rose and said that the question before the House was whether black sticking-plaster could be used in public hospitals.
"Oh, that's right, he wants putting down; too much of the grand Old Bailey style. Make yer fortune in plush and knee breeches as a prize flunkey; platform stuff won't do for us. What are you?" I feel smaller! ”

“ Although James professed Harcourt's indifference in the matter, Harcourt and James were both, as a fact, for Hartington. Harcourt had conceived a strong feeling against Fawcett immediately before this, in January, for trying to keep Mr. Gladstone as the leader, a course to which Harcourt was bitterly opposed....'
In these years Sir William Harcourt, then a widower devoted to his one boy, stood nearer to Sir Charles than any other of his English friends. Dilke wrote to him: "How little credit you get for your heart! How few people know you have one!" ”

“ Mr. Gladstone, Lord Haldane, Mr. Birrell, Lord Spencer, Lord Rosebery, the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Morley, Arthur Balfour, Sir Alfred Lyall and Admiral Maxse; and I was delighted to see Sir William Harcourt. When he came into my room, he observed my hunting-crops hanging on the wall from a rack, and said:
"I am glad to see those whips! Asquith will be able to beat you if you play fast and loose with him. That little tight mouth of his convinces me he has the capacity to do it. ”

“ Gladstone, Mr. Morley, and Lord Rosebery each in their way got where Sir William Harcourt could never quite reach. He rather resembled, in fact, that kind of actor who is just a little too stagey for the stage, and is never more theatrical than when his heart is wholly in a part.
But the most stagey actor may have a very real human side, and Sir William Harcourt, so generally credited with a cynical outlook on public affairs, was in his family and social relations the most large-hearted and genuine of men. ”

“ Labouchere described him (approvingly) as a “squeezable Christian,” and therefore fitter for a Party leader than a “conscientious atheist” like Mr. John Morley. So well endowed and so little handicapped, he should have been sure of the best that politics could give. Yet the latter part of his life was embittered by the sense of failure, and failure of a kind which has no compensations. For Sir William Harcourt was not one of those happily constituted people who can enjoy the sunshine as well as another, and yet get a quiet pleasure out of a rainy day. ”

“ Sir William Harcourt: "The Right Hon. Gentleman probably means one jot or tittle."
Old Morality: "In accordance with my habit, Sir, I meant what I said. As I was saying, when perhaps somewhat unnecessarily interrupted by the Right Hon. Gentleman, I do not abate one tit or jottle of my desire to perform my duty where duty is doo; but since our friend the Working Man has declared in favour of a labouring day confined to Eight Hours, we must needs follow him." ”

“ The fact that you have not lately heard or read speeches by Sir William Harcourt is no evidence that the treble disability under which you unhappily labour is increasing. There is a well known case, cited in Littleton upon Coke, where a man was not able to see the Spanish fleet "because it is not yet in sight." For analogous reason you have not lately heard anything of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. ”

“ Arnold-Forster, the new Secretary of State for War, one of the most serious speakers in the House, has a rather thin voice and a rapid utterance, but he articulates well and reaches his audience in a clear, direct manner.
Sir Wm. Harcourt
[Listen]
Sir William Harcourt is one of few left belonging to the old school. There is the traditional Parliamentary style—a studied form of oratory—deliberate, lofty, and impressive; the manner that is followed at a considerable distance by some of the younger men. ”

“ He married, first, in 1859, Thérèse (d. 1863) , daughter of Mr T. H. Lister, by whom he had one son, Lewis Vernon Harcourt (b. 1863) , afterwards first commissioner of works both in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman’s 1905 ministry (included in the cabinet in 1907) and in Mr Asquith’s cabinet (1908) ; and secondly, in 1876, Elizabeth, widow of Mr T. Ives and daughter of Mr. J. L. Motley, the historian, by whom he had another son, Robert (b. 1878) .
Sir William Harcourt was one of the great parliamentary figures of the Gladstonian Liberal period. ”

“ The wife was getting breakfast ready.
“You are our morning star, Mr. William. You always shine before sunrise,” said Mrs. Adler, laughing at her own fancy, as she wiped her fingers and shook hands with him; but the next instant she saw his woebegone face, and hastened to exclaim:
“Something has happened to you, Mr. William! What is it? Can Adler or I do anything for you?”
“You are right, my friend. I have had very bad news. My mother is ill, perhaps dying. I am called to her bedside,” Harcourt replied. ”

“ All the brooding in the present and future cannot alter the past. Say to yourself that you could not help what happened; and you really could not, you poor boy! Say to yourself it was kismet—and it was kismet, William Harcourt. Say that to yourself, and 295then dismiss the matter at once and forever from your mind.”
“As if I could!” sighed the young man.
“Why not? The case is closed and forgotten, except by you and me. The coroner’s jury decided that Nathan Yelverton committed suicide, and all the world believed in the truth of that verdict—except you and me. ”

“ It is good news, my dear Roma. William Harcourt is found.”
CHAPTER II
A MAN OF WOE To return to Will Harcourt, and that fifteenth of November, when, at midnight, he disappeared from the Isle of Storms.
The earth was as heavily burdened with sorrow that night as all nights. There were men and women and children starving, freezing, perishing, in garrets, in cellars, and in the streets; there were men and women and children watching the dying faces of their best beloved; there were human beings languishing in prisons, hospitals, lunatic asylums ”

“ William will be home,” said the seamstress, as she lighted her kerosene lamp, stood it on the mantelpiece, took her kettle and went to the water spigot to fill it.
When she had done this and was returning along the passage she met Harcourt at the top of the stairs, with a small paper bag in his hands.
“Oh, Mr. William,” she said, “I want you, if you please, to come and take tea with us.”
“‘Us,’ Annie? ‘Us’ has a very pleasant sound. Yes, I will, thank you. And here are some cutlets I bought to cook for the child. Will you take them to add to our tea?” ”

“ The Drama of Sinn Fein, by SHAW DESMOND. A new and pretty complete history.
The Life of Sir William Harcourt, by A. G. GARDINER. Harcourt was born before Victoria ascended the throne and he outlived her; Mr. Gardiner brings unusual talents to what becomes less a biography of one man than a portrayal of an era.
Memoirs of the Empress Eugenie, by COMTE FLEURY. Here likewise the historical interest is as strong as the biographical. ”

“ I mean by a straightforward advertisement in the advertising columns for information respecting the whereabouts of William Everard Harcourt, late of Lone Lodge, West Virginia, who left his home on the Isle of Storms, coast of Maryland, on the fifteenth of last November, and has not been heard from since, and offering a large reward for intelligence that shall lead to the discovery of his fate. ”

“ William; but suppose Lady won’t have her?”
“I cannot suppose anything of the sort in the case of this lady and child; but even in the improbable event you suggest I should be able to place the little one in good hands,” said Harcourt, thinking of the benevolent and prosperous Wynthrops, as he turned to go.
“Mr. William!” said Annie, calling him back.
“Well, Annie?”
“You’ll have no call to get anything or to worry over the fire, just as you are going on a long journey. I will have breakfast ready by the time you come back from Adler’s.” ”

“ HARCOURT, SIMON HARCOURT, 1st Viscount (c. 1661–1727) , lord chancellor of England, only son of Sir Philip Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, by his first wife, Anne, daughter of Sir William Waller, was born about 1661 at Stanton Harcourt, and was educated at a school at Shilton, Oxfordshire, and at Pembroke College, Oxford. He was called to the bar in 1683, and soon afterwards was appointed recorder of Abingdon, which borough he represented as a Tory in parliament from 1690 to 1705. In 1701 he was nominated by the Commons to conduct the impeachment of Lord Somers ”

“ As Harcourt's wife, Lady Waldegrave first exhibited her rare capacity as a leader and hostess of society. Of her conduct to Harcourt, Sir William Gregory wrote in his ‘Autobiography:’ ‘She was an excellent wife to him, and neither during her life with him nor previously was there ever a whisper of disparagement to her character. No great lady held her head higher or more rigorously ruled her society. Her home was always gay, and her parties at Nuneham were the liveliest of the time ”

“ WARING, WILLIAM (1610–1679) , jesuit, who was best known in England by the assumed name of Harcourt, although he was at times known as Barrow, was born in Lancashire in 1610, and educated in the English College at St. Omer. He entered the Society of Jesus at Watten in 1632, and after completing his studies at Liège he was sent to the English mission in 1644. ”

“ But in politics the things which seem most obviously unreasonable are precisely the things which are done for the most serious reasons, and there were grave reasons indeed against a Harcourt Premiership. Sir William was endowed with a temperament which sometimes made it hard for men to work with him, and might well have made it impossible for men to work under him. ”

“ The Earls of Harcourt were descended from Bernard, "the Dane," who was chief counselor and second in command to Rollo or Rolf in his invasion of Neustria, 875, and received for his services a chateau ("Harcourt") near Brionne in France. Robert de Harcourt attended William the Conqueror to the Conquest of England. "Harcourt" is notably a name of "high life."
Harden, or Hardin. Walter Hardin, a true Norman name.
Hardin. Ben Hardin, the great Kentucky lawyer, on one occasion when traveling the circuit breakfasted with his kinsman, Major Barbour, a prominent citizen of a pious community. Mrs. ”

“ Harcourt ranks with the few men who could talk as brilliantly as they could write. He was an indefatigable worker, and his speeches, which were monuments of closely reasoned arguments, teeming with facts and illuminated by witty epigrams, were generally most diligently prepared and delivered by the aid of copious notes. He was at his best, however, when suddenly called upon to debate, and was never so happy as when he was fighting a hopeless battle against overwhelming odds. ”

“ Wynthrop’s sitting-room.
He found the three tall, fair women employed as they had been on his first call.
They all left work and made him welcome to the fireside.
“How did you find the dear mother?” inquired the elder lady.
“Not so well as I had been led to expect,” said Harcourt with a sigh.
“But, indeed, beyond the weakness of her limbs, due to her one single malady, she has good health. She never suffers in mind or body. She has a good appetite, fine spirits, and she enjoys life oven more than we do, I fancy. Think of that, Mr. Harcourt.” ”

“ What he thought and felt is truer than all that you and I and a score like us ever did or ever will do. The creations of janius are the landmarks of humanity; and well for us is it that we have such to guide us!”
“All this may be very fine,” said Harcourt, contemptuously, “but give me the sentiments of a living man, or one that has lived, in preference to all the imaginary characters that have ever adorned a story.”
“Just as I suppose that you'd say that a soldier in the Blues, or some big, hulking corporal in the Guards, is a finer model of the human form than ever Praxiteles chiselled.” ”

“ You had better come in, and let me get you a cup of tea, and after you have taken it you will feel better able to tackle with a damp room and a cold hearth. Come in, now. Why not? Are we not all brethren and sisters?”
“Oh! my dear Annie, you are really too good for this world,” said Harcourt, very stupidly, it must be admitted, for he even thought so himself, yet in perfect good faith. ”

“ Come, what is your trouble?” demanded Harcourt, setting the stranger down upon a large box, placing himself at his side, and passing his arm around the man’s waist, the better to protect him from himself.
“Trouble!” cried the other. “Trouble enough! Illness all autumn. No work. Wife and children freezing, starving, in a cellar. No food for two days. Everything pawned but just enough clothes to cover our nakedness. Trouble, indeed!”
“Good Heaven! good Heaven! It is incredible! ‘In a whole city full!’” exclaimed Harcourt, quoting Hood. “Come with me. The stores are not all closed yet. ”

“ She sank down on the solitary chair beside the bed, and holding the waiter of breakfast in her lap, said:
“Now sit up and take this, while I get a good look at you.”
Again, with a feeble smile, Harcourt obeyed her, took the offered cup from her hand, and while he eagerly quaffed the fragrant coffee, which he found so grateful to his parched throat and fainting frame, she regarded him with the eyes of experience.
“Yes, young man,” she said gravely and tenderly, “you have seen trouble—plenty of trouble, but that is the lot of human beings. ”