50 Land Bill Difficulties t 10 *^ 



now in the Cabinet by Arthur Balfour and the Tories. It is opposed 

 by the Liberal Unionists. Chamberlain has held an ominous silence 

 since his return from South Africa. I should not be surprised if at the 

 last moment he should join Rosebery in betraying the bill. I was con- 

 gratulating George on his having so far conciliated everybody. ' Wait 

 a little,' he said, ' there will be opposition enough presently.' 



" I went home at once and sent off a copy of George's memorandum to 

 Redmond, changing only George's ' I's ' into ' We's,' as if by any chance 

 it should fall into wrong hands it would be less personally compromis- 

 ing. I could not get any answer from George about the King's visit. 



" yth April. — Lunched with Victor and Pamela Lytton in their new 

 house in Queen Anne's Gate. They have made it very pretty, and are 

 expecting very shortly a son and heir. Victor goes almost daily to 

 listen to the debates in the House of Commons, feeling cut off from a 

 political career by being in the Lords. He is looking older and his 

 face has grown longer. I see in him a certain likeness now to his 

 grandfather, the novelist. 



" gth April. — To ' Homewood ' to see Edith Lytton in her new 

 cottage. She took me over Knebworth, which is not at all changed 

 since last I was there some fifteen years ago — in the autumn of 1887, 

 when I had been campaigning in Ireland, and went down there to intro- 

 duce George Wyndham to Lytton. The house is a perplexing combina- 

 tion of good and bad taste — true brtc-d-brac and sham — I am afraid 

 mostly sham. What it wants is whitewash and white paint. But 

 Edith was shocked at my saying so. Her own cottage is nice, the work 

 of her son-in-law Lutyens. 



" 20th April. — I have been in bed with influenza, my fever taking 

 the form of my puzzling myself with the clauses of George's Bill and 

 the Dublin Convention. 



" 25^/1 April. — On Thursday, 23rd, John Redmond came to see me 

 and gave me an account of how he had managed the Convention at 

 Dublin. Davitt had given much trouble at first, but had come to 

 terms when he found the Convention so much against him. Sexton 

 was still a considerable danger, as he was clean against the bill, and 

 if he insisted on returning to Parliament might make things very 

 difficult, as he was the only financier they had among them. But when 

 the question of his re-entering Parliament was moved at the Conven- 

 tion there was such strong opposition that it had been with difficulty 

 Redmond had been able to prevent an open quarrel. Sexton was ' a 

 queer fellow,' but of immense ability. He and the Archbishop, and 

 Davitt and, if they could get him, John Dillon, when he returned from 

 Egypt, would make a very strong combination. He thought I should 

 do well to see Dillon on his arrival in London, and tell him what the 

 dangers were. ' Dillon,' he said, ' has great confidence in your opinion.' 



