xii POLITICAL LIFE 311 



The dissolution came suddenly on the well-remem- 

 bered " Cordite " vote in July, and as no successor to 

 myself could be found at the moment, I was obliged 

 to stand again. My opponent was the Queen's son-in- 

 law, the Marquis of Lome. For two years he had 

 assiduously nursed the constituency. His engaging 

 manners and his high position naturally favoured the 

 Conservative cause in a constituency which, though 

 Radical, was not unappreciative of the attentions of a 

 Marquis. A domestic occurrence told against me, for 

 the marriage of my elder daughter to Mr. Charles 

 Mallet (now, 1906, one of the two Liberal members for 

 Plymouth) had long been fixed for the nth of July, 

 and the election took place on the I3th. Obliged 

 to be present at the wedding in London and at 

 the reception in the- afternoon, I hurried back to 

 Manchester by the five o'clock train, arrived there in 

 pouring rain at ten o'clock, and visited a number of 

 the committee rooms, but, of course, was unable to 

 attend the meetings which had been held earlier in the 

 evening. The next day being the last before the poll, 

 no public meetings were held, all efforts being devoted 

 to the preparation for the next day's fight. The 

 Marquis and I were on excellent terms. I was 

 defeated by seventy-six votes, and thus my Parlia- 

 mentary career came to an end ; for though frequently 

 pressed to re-enter Parliament, both by my former 

 colleagues and others, I felt that I had had enough. 



I was touched and gratified to receive the following 

 address from the Liberal Association of South Manches- 

 ter on the occasion of my retiring from political life : 



To Sir HENRY ENFIELD ROSCOE, Knight, 

 B.A., Ph.D., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., &c. 



Upon the conclusion of the ten years during which you 

 have served as Member of Parliament for the South Division 



