97° 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



Becemher 1, 1913. 



the change about to occur in my own 

 circumstances was in i88o, the year in 

 which I left the editorship of the 

 ■"Northern Echo." . . . "On New 

 Year's Day, i88o, it was forcibly im- 

 pressed upon my mind that I was to 

 leave Darlington in the course of that 

 year. I remember on the ist of 

 January meeting a journalistic confrere 

 ■on my way from Darlington station to 

 the ' Northern Echo ' office. After 

 Avishing him a Happy New Year, I said. 

 ' This IS the last New Year's Day I shall 

 ever spend m Darlington. I shall leave 

 the " Northern Echo " this year.' My 

 friend looked at me in some amazement, 

 and said, ' And where are you going 

 to?' 'To London,' I replied, 'because 

 it is the only place which could tempt 

 me from my present position, which is 

 very comfortable, and where I have per- 

 fect freedom to say my say.' ' But,' 

 said my friend, somewhat dubiously, 

 ' what paper are you going to ?' '1 have 

 no idea in the world,' I said, ' neither 

 do I know a single London paper which 

 would offer me a position upon its staff, 

 of any kind, let alone one on which 1 

 should have any liberty of utterance. 

 I see no prospect of any opening any- 

 where. But I know for certain that 

 before this year is out, I shall be on the 

 staff of a London paper.' ' Come,' said 

 my friend, ' this is superstition, and with 

 a wife and family I hope }'Ou will do 

 nothing rashly.' ' You need have no fear 

 as to that,' I said, ' 1 shall not seek any 

 position elsewhere : it will have to come 

 to me if I have to go to it. I am not 

 cfoino- to throw myself out of a berth 

 until I know where my next place is to 

 be. Humanly speaking, I see no chance 

 of my leaving Darlington, yet I have 

 no more doubt than of my own exist- 

 ence that 1 shall be gone this time next 

 year.' We parted." 



The general election soon came upon 

 us, and when the time came for renew- 

 ing my engagement on the " Northern 

 Echo," I had no option but to renew my 

 contract, and bind myself to remain at 

 Darlington until July, i88i. Although 

 I signed the contract, when the day ar- 

 rived on which I had either to give 

 notice or renew my engagement, I could 

 .not shake from me the conviction that 



I was destined to leave Darlington at 

 least six months before m}' engagement 

 expired. 



THE " P.M.G." 



At that time the " Pall Mall Gazette " 

 was edited by Mr. Greenwood, and was, 

 of all the papers in the land, the most 

 anti-pathetic to the princiiiles upon 

 which I had conducted the " Northern 

 Echo." The possibilit}- of my becom- 

 ing assistant editor to tiie editor of the 

 " Pall Mall Gazette," seemed at the time 

 about as remote as that of the Moderator 

 of the Free Church of Scotland receiv- 

 ing a Cardinal's hat from the Pope of 

 Rome. Nevertheless, no sooner had Mr. 

 Gladstone been seated in power than Mr. 

 George Smith handed over the " Pall 

 Mall Gazette " to his son-in-law, Mr. 

 Henry Yates Thompson. Mr. Green- 

 wood departed to found and edit the 

 " St. James' Gazette," and Mr. Morley 

 (now Lord Morley) became editor. 

 Even then 1 never dreamed of going to 

 the " Pall Mall Gazette." 



Two other North-country editors 

 and 1. thinking that Mr. Morley was left 

 in rather a difficulty by the secession of 

 several of the " Pall Mall " staff, agreed 

 to send up occasional contributions, 

 soley for the purpose of enabling Mr. 

 Morley to get through the temporary 

 difficulty in which he was placed by 

 being suddenly summoned to edit a 

 dailv paper under such circumstances. 

 Midsummer had hardly passed before 

 Mr. Thompson came down to Darling- 

 ton and offered me the assistant editor- 

 ship. The proprietor of the " Northern 

 Echo " kindly waived his right to my 

 services in deference to the request of 

 Mr. Morley. As a result I left the 

 "Northern Echo" in September, i88o, 

 and my presentiment was fulfilled. 



At the time when it was first im- 

 pressed upon my mind, no living being 

 probably anticipated the possibility of 

 such a change occurring in the " Pall 

 Mall Gazette " as would render it pos- 

 sible for me to become assistant editor, 

 so that the presentiment could in no 

 way have been due to any possible cal- 

 culation of chances on my part. 



PREMONITION RE LORD MORLEY. 



My second premonition was equally 

 as clear as my first, and without any 



