126 Unionist Meeting at Lansdowne House [1906 



Morgan on Haeckel's philosophy, which interests me, because Haeckel's 

 is precisely the argument I made out for myself forty-five years ago 

 when I was at Frankfort; as a boy of twenty-one, asserting the eternity 

 of matter and the natural origin of mind as an ' accident ' of matter 

 in the metaphysical sense of the word ' accident,' and the consequent 

 lack of any necessity of an eternal creative mind. I wrote a paper, 

 which I have still, dated 1861, giving this argument briefly. I wrote 

 it in answer to a paper shown me by Count Usedom asserting that 

 God could be discovered in Nature, and I developed it later in my 

 correspondence with Dr. Meynell, published anonymously in seventy- 

 six, under the title, ' Proteus and Amadeus.' In 1861 Haeckel had, I 

 believe, published nothing. This is curious. 



' 13^ Feb. — George looked in and gave me the latest political 

 news. On Thursday they are to have a party meeting at Lansdowne 

 House, where three resolutions will be proposed and voted on, the first 

 two unimportant, the third to raise the Tariff question in an aggressive 

 form. George is beginning, he says, to lean towards Protection, which 

 probably indicates that Balfour also leans that way. 



' igth Feb. — George was with me for an hour and a half yesterday, 

 confiding to me his political secrets. He has been constantly with 

 Arthur Balfour during the last week, and is not at all satisfied with 

 Arthur's present attitude. George knows more than Arthur of public 

 opinion, and sees that his vacillations have done him harm. He 

 described to me the meeting at Lansdowne House, where Balfour 

 accepted Chamberlain's programme. Chamberlain spoke first, then 

 came the Duke of Devonshire, who had read the correspondence with 

 Chamberlain as he came up to London in the train. He declared 

 himself in accord with every part of the Unionist creed except Tariff 

 Reform, remaining a Free Trader. At the end of all Hugh Cecil 

 spoke, his speech short but excellent, showing great courage. He 

 asked whether as a Conservative Free Trader he would be allowed 

 to stand as a Conservative at the elections, without having a Tariff 

 Reformer started against him. He put the case well and with humour, 

 and made the meeting laugh, and he was listened to. Arthur gave him 

 no certain answer. As to Ireland, Arthur has gone right round to 

 the extremists again, coercion and all the rest, with Walter Long as 

 his prophet. George's own relations with Long are curious. During 

 the whole of his tenure of the Irish Office Long was one of his 

 steadiest supporters, indeed admirers. They were very intimate, ard 

 Long professed to take George as his guide and master in Irish affairs. 

 They are still quite cordial, calling each other by their Christian names, 

 but George has told him that during the coming session he means to 

 take his own line about Ireland, and that Long must answer for him- 

 self if the late Government there is attacked. He tells me in great 



