The Memoirs of Admiral Lord Beresford
purse. He had great ability. I have often seen him stalk into the
House in the middle of a debate, receive a sheaf of notes from his
secretary, Mr. O'Brien, with whom he would hold a whispered
consultation, then rise and deliver a masterly speech. He sat with me
on the committee of the Army Discipline Bill; speaking seldom, but
always to the point.
Lord Randolph Churchill entered Parliament at the same time as myself;
and he was always a great personal friend of mine.
Although we were opposed in politics, the other four Waterford members
were on excellent terms with the only anti-Home Ruler in the five.
There were Dick Power, F. H. O'Donnell, J. Delahunty, and Purcell
O'Gorman, who weighed twenty-eight stone or so; and they all came to my
wedding. Another Waterford man was Mr. Sexton. As a boy, he
manifested so brilliant a talent for oratory, that he was sent into
Parliament, where, as everyone knows, he speedily made his mark. I
remember, too, The O'Gorman Mahon, who, if I am not mistaken, fought
the last formal duel in this country.
When I entered Parliament the automobile torpedo was a comparatively
recent invention. Mr Whitehead had begun his experiments in 1864;
after four years' work and at the cost of £40,000, he produced the
formidable engine of war known as the Whitehead torpedo, the type from
which all subsequent improvements have been evolved. I have heard it
stated that the British Government could have bought the invention
right out for £60,000. Whitehead invented the device of using
hydrostatic pressure to regulate the depth of the immersion of the
torpedo, and employed compressed air {142} as its motive power. The
new weapon was adopted by the British Navy and by other naval powers.
In the year 1876 the type in use was the 14-in., length 14 ft. 6 in.,
weight 525 lbs.
In my view, the capabilities of the new weapon had not been fully
appreciated; that opinion may or may not have been justified; but I
considered it to be my duty publicly to insist upon the importance of
the torpedo in naval warfare. I spoke on the subject both inside the
House of Commons and on the platform, and was so fortunate as to win
the approval of _The Times_.
The Admiralty, however, were deeply affronted. The First Lord, Mr.
George Ward Hunt, informed me that the Board took great exception to my
speaking in the House upon naval subjects, and desired me to understand
that I must choose between the career of a sailor and that of a
politician. My reply was that I considered the request to be a breach
of privilege. Mr. Ward Hunt admitted the point; but argued that the
employment in the House of Commons of my knowledge of the Service was
prejudicial to discipline. He was of course right in so far as the
conditions did undoubtedly afford opportunities for prejudicing
discipline; but as there was no regulation forbidding a naval officer
to sit in Parliament, a dual position which had been frequently held by
members of the Board of Admiralty, the responsibility rested upon the
individual.
However, it was not a case for argument; and I appealed directly to Mr.
Disraeli, telling him that I regarded the request of the Admiralty as a
breach of privilege; that I had no intention of relinquishing my naval
career; and that I had entered Parliament solely in the interests of
the Service. Disraeli listened with his customary sardonic gravity.
"What," he asked, "do you intend to do?"
I said that if the matter were pressed to a conclusion, I should resign
my seat, in which event Waterford would very probably be captured by a
hot Home Ruler.
"My dear boy," said Disraeli, in his deliberate way, "I {143} am quite
sure that you will do nothing heroic. I," he added,--"I will see the
Secretariat."
And that was the last I heard of the affair.
Among other Service matters in which I did what I could in the House of
Commons to obtain reforms, were the training of the personnel, the more
rapid promotion of officers, promotion from the lower deck to officers'
rank, and the necessity for building fast cruisers to protect the trade
routes. I advocated more time being spent by the men upon gunnery
training, and less upon polishing bright-work; and brought forward a
motion to stop the men of the Fleet "doing 'orses" (as they called
hauling carts laden with stores about the dockyard), instead of being
trained in their proper work. These subjects no longer possess any
interest save in so far as the circumstances resemble those of the
present day. But I find recurring to-day many of the difficulties of
thirty or forty years ago.
At that time the Admiralty had abolished the short service system under
which highly efficient seamen were recruited direct from the mercantile
marine, and the Board had become responsible for the whole supply and
training of men for the Fleet. But the Admiralty had neglected to
constitute an efficient system of training. A very large proportion of
men were employed at sea upon duties which precluded them from
receiving war training of any kind; another large contingent was kept
idle in hulks and receiving ships while waiting to be drafted into
sea-going vessels. The suggestion was that barracks should be erected
for their accommodation and provided with attached vessels; and that a
complete system of training should be organised; so that every man upon
going to sea in a ship of war should be acquainted with his duties.
Commander Noel (now Admiral of the Fleet Sir Gerard H. U. Noel, K.C.B.,
K.C.M.G.) kindly sent to me a most valuable memorandum upon the
subject, in which he presented an admirable scheme of organisation, the
principles of which were afterwards carried into execution. Of late
years those principles have been {144} infringed; but the exigencies of
the Service will compel the authorities to return to the essential
conditions laid down by Sir Gerard Noel, whose authority is entitled to
the greatest respect. I also received a sagacious letter on the same
subject from Commodore John Wilson, under whom I afterwards served as
commander in the _Thunderer_, indicating the necessity of framing a
scheme of organisation to come into force as soon as the barracks were
completed.
With regard to the promotion of officers and men, the state of things
nearly forty years ago finds a parallel to-day. Then, as now, a very
large proportion of officers, from the rank of commander downwards,
cannot hope to be promoted. It was then suggested that the retiring
allowance should be increased. It is true that in 1873 Mr. Goschen, by
granting an increased retiring allowance for a limited period, had done
his best to effect a temporary relief. But the permanent reform, which
is more necessary now than ever before, still awaits achievement. In
the meantime the discontent to which I drew attention in 1875, is by no
means less detrimental than it was. The whole difficulty, as usual, is
financial. Government after Government, of what political complexion
soever, refuse to pay the Services properly. The condition of affairs
is a national disgrace.
At that time, too, the Fleet was highly deficient in cruisers; and, in
consequence, the sea-borne trade of the country was exposed to great
danger in the event of war, as I explained to the House of Commons. In
later years the requisite ships were provided; only, in a moment of
retrograde impulse, to be abolished. After a period of insecurity and
uneasiness, the cruiser force is once more being slowly increased.
In later years my political opponents found great solace at elections
in saying that I had objected to the abolition of flogging in the Navy.
The question arose in my first Parliament. What I actually did--as a
reference to Hansard will confirm--was to point out that in many cases
they were the best men, the men who had the pluck to get {145} into a
row. High-tempered, full of exuberance, they were flogged for offences
against discipline, and whereas a flogging was soon over and done with,
the alternative proposed would break a man's heart in prison and
deprive the Navy of valuable services. Which, then, was the more
humane course? To-day, the circumstances and conditions have changed.
Discipline is better, and flogging, thank goodness, is abolished.
But when the matter was under discussion, a certain ex-naval officer
assembled a public meeting, at which he attacked me with great
vehemence and impassioned eloquence. He was interrupted by an old
fellow at the back of the hall, who, refusing to be silenced, was asked
to speak from the platform. He did. He gave the meeting a dose of
lower-deck phraseology, hot and strong; and told the audience they were
not to believe a word they had heard concerning myself; that he had
been shipmates both with the speaker of the evening and with myself.
He devoted some complimentary remarks to me, "but," says he, "as for
the other, he flogged every man in the ship three or four times."
Whereupon the audience rose in its wrath and drove my opponent from the
platform.
Mr. Disraeli asked me to survey the three battleships building for
Turkey and the one battleship building for Chile, and to give him my
opinion as to whether or not they were worth buying. Disraeli said he
preferred to ask me rather than the Admiralty, as I could, if
necessary, speak on the matter in Parliament. "And," said Disraeli, in
his pontifical way, "I like young brains." I advised the purchase of
the ships; and purchased they were, being added to the British Navy
under the names of _Superb_, _Belleisle_, _Orion_ and _Neptune_.
In those days I owned a bull-dog of marked personality. He never
fought unless he were attacked; but his favourite recreation was to
rush at full speed, head down, at every dog bigger than himself. The
instant he caught sight of a big dog, he shot away like a projectile
discharged from a gun; nothing stopped or turned him; and the
unsuspecting object {146} of the manifestation would go down like a
ninepin. Then, unless he were detained by reprisals, Butcher would
return to his master with the air of a dog who knew his duty and who
had done it. At that time the streets of London were haunted by
Italian image-venders, who carried the Twelve Apostles and other sacred
statuettes neatly arranged upon a board, which the merchant balanced on
his head. One of those pious venders was walking directly in the
headlong path of Butcher, who flashed between his legs. Down came the
Apostles, who were dashed to fragments, for which I had to pay about
£12 to the pedlar of saints.
When my dog thought I wanted a hansom, he used to scramble into it,
jump upon the seat, and sit there panting with his tongue hanging out.
He performed this feat one day when an old gentleman, without noticing
him, had hailed a hansom. The old gentleman, climbing slowly into the
cab, suddenly saw the dog on the seat, and was so startled that he
tumbled backwards and knocked his head on the pavement.
In 1876, having passed in torpedo work in the _Vernon_, I applied for
the appointment of second in command in a big snip, holding then, as I
hold now, that every officer who hopes to obtain flag rank should gain
experience in detailed routine work and in handling and organising men,
which can only be acquired as first lieutenant or commander. The
second in command of a man-of-war gains invaluable experience. He must
always look ahead in order to _prevent_ things occurring which would
cause confusion or discomfort. He has literally not one minute to
himself in the day; thinking ahead, waylaying the wishes of his
captain, and providing not only for what _will_ occur but for what
_may_ occur, and being ready to encounter the constant unforeseen
emergencies inseparable from life at sea in a man-of-war.