What kind of a People do they think we are? - Winston Churchill

125-100-75-50 YEARS AGO125 Years Ago:Autumn 1876 • Age 1"I Have the Crownof England in My Pocket"Safe in the care of his nanny, Mrs.Everest, infant Winston was blissfullyunaware of the tempest swirlingaround him. His father, Lord RandolphChurchill, was reaping that autumn theharvest he had sown in the spring. Theproblem had arisen when Lord Blandford,Randolph's older brother and heirto the Dukedom, became involved inan illicit affair with Lady Aylesford—whose husband, like Lord Randolph,was a close friend of the Prince ofWales. Lord Aylesford had been travelingwith the Prince in India when theinfidelity was disclosed to him in a letterfrom his wayward wife.A public divorce was threatened byLord Aylesford and Lord Randolph unwiselyintervened on his brother's behalf.As Winston's son Randolph laterwrote: "Accordingly [Lord Randolph]took upon himself to call on thePrincess of Wales. He was accompaniedby a young newly created peer, Lord Alington.They pointed out to thePrincess that it would be undesirablefor divorce proceedings to be institutedand they asked her to tell the Prince tostop Aylesford continuing with his divorceplans. At the same time, LordRandolph let it be widely known thathe had in his possession certain letterswhich the Prince of Wales had writtento Lady Aylesford; and Sir CharlesMichael McMenaminLord Randolph Churchill in 1876Dilke recollected that he said: 'I havethe Crown of England in my pocket.'"The Prince was incensed to hear ofLord Randolph's visit to his wife, and ofwhat Celia Sandys accurately characterizesin her biography of her grandfather'schildhood as "barely disguisedblackmail." The royal displeasure wasoccasioned, in part, because the Prince'sletters demonstrated that her dalliancewith Blandford was not the first instanceof infidelity by Lady Aylesford,i.e., the Prince had preceded Lord Randolph'sbrother.In the event, Prime Minister Disraeliwas asked to intervene, and persuadedLord Randolph's father, theDuke of Marlborough, to become theViceroy of Ireland. Lord Randolph leftwith him as his unpaid private secretary,an assignment which effected the exileof Winston's parents from Court andSociety for over three years.100 Years Ago:Autumn 1901 • Age 26"A Particularly Interestingand Rather Amiable Figure"Acentury ago Churchill was huntingstags in Scotland with the Kingwho, a quarter century earlier, had ostracizedhis father. He spent most ofNovember and early December huntingand shooting as well. In between, hegave a series of speeches highly criticalof the government's prosecution of thewar in South Africa.On 4 October he criticized thegovernment's offer of amnesty for Boerswho had surrendered by 15 September.By that time, the British had defeatedthe Boer armies in set piece battles andoccupied their capital towns. But, asChurchill observed, "[I]t was one thingto defeat the Boer armies and quite anotherto conquer the Boer people." NoBoers had surrendered by 15 September,exposing the government toridicule and abuse in European newspapers;"...what disquiets me, for it is ofserious and alarming import, is that theGovernment in August should haveknown so little of the real situation inSouth Africa," Churchill said.Churchill attempted to absolve thegovernment of some of its responsibility,blaming instead the miliary counselthey were receiving: "All war is a prolongedmuddle, and when a Governmentembarks on war it has to put itselfin a great degree into the hands of itsmilitary advisers. And these military adviserssometimes give very peculiar andcontradictory advice."In November, Churchill received aletter from the popular science fictionwriter and socialist, H.G. Wells, whoselatest book Churchill had criticized."That you should find my estimate ofthe rapidity of development excessive,"FINEST HOUR 112/32