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W. T. Stead's History of the Mystery and the Jameson Raid*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2014

Joseph O. Baylen
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Extract

Most historians of the Jameson Raid and Rhodes's most recent biographer draw attention to the significance of W. T. Stead's semi-fictional account of the Raid, The History of the Mystery, in deeply implicating Joseph Chamberlain and the Colonial Office in the intrigues which led to Jameson's disastrous foray. There still remains the question as to how Stead came to write his story. It is possible to reconstruct the origins and setting of Stead's work from his papers and those of his associates, especially among the Rhodes group. Of these papers, the most important is a private memorandum of thirteen pages entitled “The History of the Mystery” which Stead, anticipating a controversy surrounding the publication of the book, dictated on November 26, 1896 “to put on record … the salient factors connected with its genesis.” Yet, the story must be understood in the context of Stead's personality and his relationships with Rhodes, Chamberlain, and Rhodes's solicitor, Bouchier F. Hawksley.

Stead, son of a Congregationalist manse, distinguished himself as a bold and highly skilled editor of the Darlington Northern Echo and of the Pall Mall Gazette, who used sensationalism as a powerful instrument to influence Government policy. As a devout Nonconformist, Stead's work was marked by a moral fervor which often made him appear more “a revivalist preacher” than a journalist. Tenacious in his convictions and sometimes vindictive and lacking in judgment, Stead was idealistic, generous, and intensely loyal in friendship.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of British Studies , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , November 1964 , pp. 104 - 132
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference of British Studies 1964

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Footnotes

*

Research for this study and a forthcoming biography of W. T. Stead was made possible by a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and a grant-in-aid from the American Council of Learned Societies. J. O. B.

References

1. Lockhart, J. G. and Woodhouse, C. M., Cecil Rhodes. The Colossus of South Africa (New York, 1963), pp. 363–65Google Scholar.

2. [W. T. Stead], ’Memorandum of ‘The History of the Mystery.’ Nov. 26, 1896.” Stead Papers, hereafter cited as “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” I am indebted to Miss Estelle W. Stead and Mr. W. K. Stead for permission to study and use the Stead Papers.

3. On the life and career of W. T. Stead (1849-1912), see Whyte, Frederic, Life of W. T. Stead (London, 1925)Google Scholar; Stead, Estelle W., My Father. Personal and Spiritual Reminiscences (London, 1913)Google Scholar; Scott, J. W. Robertson, The Life and Death of a Newspaper; An Account of the … Editors of the ‘Pall Mall Gazette’ (London, 1952), pp. 72–259Google Scholar; Baylen, Joseph O., “W. T. Stead and the Boer War: The Irony of Idealism,” C.H.R., XL (1959), 304–14Google Scholar; “W. T. Stead, Apologist for Imperial Russia, 1870-1880,” Gazette: International Journal of the Science of the Press, VI (1950), 281–97Google Scholar; Stead, W. T., “Government by Journalism,” Contemporary Review, XLIX (1886), 653–74Google Scholar.

4. On the Stead-Rhodes friendship, aspects and interpretations of their relationship, and Stead's work in creating a favorable public image of Rhodes, see Lockhart and Woodhouse, Cecil Rhodes, passim; Baylen, , “W. T. Stead and the Boer War: The Irony of Idealism,” C.H.R., XL (1959), 304–09Google Scholar; Stead, W. T., The Last Will and Testament of Cecil John Rhodes (London, 1902)Google Scholar, passim; Stead's letters to Rhodes, 1889-1902, in the Rhodes Papers, Rhodes House, Oxford; Stead's leaders in the Pall Mall Gazette, May 29, June 11, and Nov. 1, 1889; Whyte, , Life of W. T. Stead, II, 269ffGoogle Scholar; Millin, Sarah Gertrude, Rhodes (London, 1952), pp. 21–22, 171–72, 213Google Scholar; Pakenham, Elizabeth, Jameson's Raid (London, 1960), p. 24Google Scholar.

5. See Wilson, A. J., An Open Letter to Mr. W. T. Stead on His Friendship for Cecil J. Rhodes (London, 1902), pp. 2–8Google Scholar; The Profligate Waste of Imperialism (London, 1905), p. 7Google Scholar. As late as 1904, John Burns reminded Stead: “You and Rhodes [were] the real authors of this bad business ….” John Burns to Stead. June 15, 1904. John Burns Papers, BM, Add. MSS., 46288; Cronwright-Schreiner, S. C., The Life of Olive Schreiner (London, 1924), pp. 181–82Google Scholar.

6. See Stead's frank history of his relations with Chamberlain in Stead, William T., “The Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, British Secretary of State for Colonies,” Pilgrim, V (1902), 6–9Google Scholar. Also his polemic against Chamberlain in Stead, W. T., The Truth About the War. Told in Plain Answers to Straight Questions (London, [1900]), 4 pp.Google Scholar

7. Cf. Cook, E. T.'s “Recollections,” Travels in London by the Late Charles Morley, ed. Collins, J. P. (London, 1916), p. 14Google Scholar.

8. See W. W. Headley's remarks in Scott, Robertson, Life and Death of a Newspaper, pp. 226–27Google Scholar.

9. Stead, , “The Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain,” Pilgrim, V (1902), 7–9Google Scholar. When, in 1891, Stead made an attempt to “bury the hatchet” by offering to support part of Chamberlain's domestic programme, Chamberlain curtly spurned his overture. See Stead to Chamberlain, Apr. 13, 1891. Joseph Chamberlain Papers, Birmingham University Library. Several months before the Jameson Raid, Stead seemed to relent somewhat and informed Rhodes that since Chamberlain seemed to be adopting Rhodes's Imperial “formula,” it might be wise to establish a close working relationship with the Colonial Secretary. Stead to Rhodes, July 26, 1895. (I am indebted to the Warden and Librarian of Rhodes House for their co-operation in facilitating my study of the Rhodes Papers.) Yet, on the eve of the Jameson Raid, Stead published as a Review of Reviews Christmas Annual a satire on the political career of Chamberlain which emphasized his power and position as the most hated member of Salisbury's Unionist Government. Cf. Stead, W. T., Blastus, The King's Chamberlain (London, 1895)Google Scholar.

10. Marais, J. S., The Fall of Kruger's Republic (Oxford, 1961), pp. 92–93Google Scholar and note; Van der Poel, Jean, The Jameson Raid (London, 1951), p. 155Google Scholar.

11. Review of Reviews, XIII (1896), 6Google Scholar; Stead, W. T., “Dr. Jim of Berlin,” Westminster Gazette, Jan. 6, 1896Google Scholar.

12. Stead to Lady Warwick, Jan. 6, 1896. Countess Warwick, , Life's Ebb and Flow (London, 1929), p. 121Google Scholar.

13. Chamberlain's advice to Rhodes was rendered in a letter to Brett intended for the eyes of Rhodes. Brett showed it to both Rhodes and Stead. Chamberlain to Reginald Brett, Feb. 1, 1896. Lord Esher Papers. [My italics.] I am grateful to the third viscount Esher for permission to study and cite this and other letters in this paper from the Esher Papers.

14. Review of Reviews, XIII (1896), 107Google Scholar. [My italics.]

15. [W. T. Stead], “Character Sketch. Cecil Rhodes of Africa,” Ibid., 117ff.

16. See “Mr. Rhodes and His Defenders,” Spectator, LXXVI (1896), 263–65Google Scholar; Literary Digest, XIII (1896), 153Google Scholar. Even Stead's eldest son, William, warned him that in his zeal to save Rhodes he had obscured “the ethical ideas” against which Rhodes had sinned. See “William Stead, Junior,” Westminster Review, CLXIX (1908), 249–50Google Scholar.

17. Stead, , “Character Sketch. Cecil Rhodes of Africa,” Review of Reviews, XIII (1896), 134Google Scholar.

18. Stead, “Memo. Hist, of Mystery.” Rhodes saw Brett on the same day and repeated to Brett “substantially what he said to Stead.” Journal of Lord Esher, Feb. 5, 1896. Esher Papers.

19. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 156Google Scholar. See also Garvin, J. L., The Life of Joseph Chamberlain (London, 1932- ), III, 108–09Google Scholar.

20. Drus, Ethel, “A Report on the Papers of Joseph Chamberlain relating to the Jameson Raid and the Inquiry,” Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, XXV (1952), 38–39Google Scholar, hereafter cited as “Jameson Raid.”

21. Van der Poel, , Marais, , Jameson Raid, p. 159Google Scholar; Fall of Kruger's Republic, p. 111.

22. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 156Google Scholar; Garvin, , Life of Joseph Chamberlain, III, 109Google Scholar.

23. Cf. Marais, , Fall of Kruger's Republic, p. 120Google Scholar.

24. Stead, “Memo. Hist, of Mystery.” See also Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 158Google Scholar.

25. Review of Reviews, XIII (1896), 197Google Scholar. [My italics.]

26. [W. T. Stead], “Cecil Rhodes of Africa,” Ibid., XIII (1896), 363-64. Stead's anti-Boer stand in 1896 recalls his earlier demands that Britain “shoot them down” if necessary to end the Boers' defiance of Britain in South Africa. Pall Mall Gazette, Aug. 18, Sep. 6 and 24, 1884.

27. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” Hawksley later regretted that Stead had taken his advice. Hawksley to Stead, Mar. 16, 1897. Stead Papers.

28. Stead, “Memo. Hist, of Mystery.”

29. Ibid.

30. Review of Reviews, XIII (1896), 295Google Scholar.

31. F. Edmund Garrett to Agnes Garrett, Apr. 15, [1896]. F. E. Garrett Letters, BM, Add. MSS., 45929. See also Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 171Google Scholar.

32. Review of Reviews, XIII (1896), 386, 388Google Scholar.

33. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, pp. 171–72Google Scholar. See also Fairfield to Hawksley, May 18 and June 1, 1896. Copies in Chamberlain Papers.

34. Hawksley to Stead, July 1, 1896, and copy of telegram from Hawksley to Rhodes, June 28, 1896. Stead Papers. See also Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 172Google Scholar; Garvin, , Life of Joseph Chamberlain, III, 109–10Google Scholar.

35. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 172Google Scholar; Garvin, , Life of Joseph Chamberlain, III, 109–10Google Scholar; Spender, J. A., New Lamps and Ancient Lights (London, 1940), p. 32Google Scholar; [W. T. Stead], “Memorandum, Interview with Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Oct. 26, 1899.” Stead Papers, hereafter cited as “Memo. C-B Interview.”

36. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 173Google Scholar; Garvin, , Life of Joseph Chamberlain, III, 114–15Google Scholar.

37. Review of Reviews, XIV (1896), 7Google Scholar. [My italics.]

38. Ibid.

39. Cf. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, pp. 172, 178Google Scholar.

40. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” See also Hawksley to Fairfield, Aug. 20, 1896. Chamberlain Papers.

41. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery”; Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 182Google Scholar.

42. Rhodes had resigned as Managing Director of the Chartered Company in compliance with Chamberlain's request. Lockhart, and Woodhouse, , Cecil Rhodes, p. 346Google Scholar; Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 182Google Scholar.

43. Cf. Hawksley to Fairfield, Aug. 20 and 22, 1896. Chamberlain Papers.

44. Review of Reviews, XIV (1896), 106–07Google Scholar.

45. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.”

46. Stead, William T., The Scandal of the South African Committee. A Plain Narrative for Plain Men (London, 1899), p. 44Google Scholar.

47. Garrett to Stead, Aug. 12, 1896. Stead Papers; Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.”

48. Stead, , Scandal of the South African Committee, p. 44Google Scholar.

49. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.”

50. Hawksley to Fairfield, Aug. 20 and 23, 1896; Chamberlain to Fairfield, Aug. 22 and 23, 1896. Chamberlain Papers. See also Garvin, , Life of Joseph Chamberlain, III, 114–15Google Scholar; Drus, , “Jameson Raid,” Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, XXV (1952), 39Google Scholar.

51. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” See also Stead to Herbert Stead, Dec. 18, 1896. The Rev. F. Herbert Stead Papers. I am grateful to Miss M. Theodora Stead for the use of her father's papers.

52. On Stead's friendship with Garrett and aspects of Garrett's career, see the accounts of their Pall Mall colleagues, SirCook, Edward T., Scott, J. W. Robertson, and Spender, J. A. in Cook, E. T., Edmund Garrett. A Memoir (London, 1909), pp. 15–21Google Scholaret passim; Scott, J. W. Robertson, ‘We’ and Me; Memories of Our Eminent Editors I Worked With (London, 1956), pp. 93ffGoogle Scholar; Scott, Robertson, Life and Death of a Newspaper, pp. 81, 175–76, 221Google Scholaret passim; Baylen, , “W. T. Stead and the Boer War: The Irony of Idealism,” C.H.R., XL (1959), 312–13Google Scholar.

53. Garrett to Stead, Aug. 12, 1896. Stead Papers. Whyte published only bare excerpts of this letter. Cf. Whyte, , Life of Stead, II, 94–95Google Scholar.

54. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, pp. 181–82Google Scholar; Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” See also Hole, Hugh Marshall, The Jameson Raid (London, 1930), pp. 156–57Google Scholar.

55. Hawksley to Fairfield, Oct. 10, 1896. Chamberlain Papers.

56. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” See also Hawksley to Stead, Sep. 22, 1896. Stead Papers.

57. Cf. Willoughby to Buller, Sep. 1, 1896. “Report of the Committee of Enquiry,” Blue Book No. 311 (London, 1897)Google Scholar, Q. 5616; Hole, , Jameson Raid, pp. 157–58Google Scholar; Lockhart, and Woodhouse, , Cecil Rhodes, p. 347Google Scholar. Meade, in the Colonial Office, admitted that “It is … probably true that the officers were told what Sir J. W. says, but, if so, they were misled by a false statement made with the object of overcoming their scruples.” Sir R. A. Meade to Lansdowne, Sep. 3, 1896. Copy in Chamberlain Papers.

58. See Stead to Hawksley, Jan. 27, 1897. Rhodes Papers, C 11.1.

59. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” Although the correspondence which Stead mentioned could not be found in either the Stead or the Balfour Papers, it is discussed in great detail in Stead's letter to Hawksley, Jan. 27, 1897. Rhodes Papers, C. 11.1.

60. Cf. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 182Google Scholar; Garvin, , Life of Joseph Chamberlain, III, 114–16Google Scholar. See also Hawksley to Fairfield, Aug. 20 & Oct. 10, 1896; Fairfield to Lord Selborne, Oct. [?], 1896; Selborne to Fairfield, Oct. 12, 1896; Meade to Chamberlain, Oct. 14, 1896; Chamberlain to Meade, Oct. 24, 1896; Memorandum by Fairfield, Oct. 27, 1896. Chamberlain Papers.

61. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 183Google Scholar.

62. Hawksley to Stead, Sep. 22, 1896. Stead Papers. Stead was more than ever convinced that it was necessary “to break the effect of the exposure, which [was] certain to come next spring.” Stead to Lady Aberdeen, Sep. 17, 1896. The Aberdeen Papers, Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa.

63. Stead later told Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman that in 1896 “the Rhodesian [sic] camp was divided into two. There was one section ready to lie at any cost. The other section said that they would not give Joe away, but they could not lie ….” Stead, “Memo. C-B Interview.”

64. Lockhart, and Woodhouse, , Cecil Rhodes, pp. 346–47, 359, 361Google Scholar; Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 187Google Scholar.

65. It is interesting to note that Grey, in urging on Chamberlain the necessity for an understanding with Rhodes to avoid the production of the cables, wrote that “the publication of these miserable cables would do him good, not harm.” Grey to Chamberlain, Aug. 20, 1896. Chamberlain Papers; see also Garvin, , Life of Joseph Chamberlain, III, 115Google Scholar; Lockhart, and Woodhouse, , Cecil Rhodes, p. 347Google Scholar.

66. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” Later, when both Stead and Hawksley were blamed for the publication of the story, Stead wrote: “Your share in it was limited almost entirely to eliminating or modifying statements … which you considered detrimental to the interests of Rhodes …. I have to thank you for aiding me with your counsel and support.” Stead to Hawksley, Jan. 27, 1897. Rhodes Papers, C. 11.1.

67. On Stead and Flora Shaw and her role in the events leading to the Raid and its subsequent investigation by the Select Committee of Enquiry, see Bell, E. Moberly, Flora Shaw (Lady Lugard, D.B.E.) (London, 1947), pp. 48ff, 70, 77–78ff, 91–92ffGoogle Scholar; Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, pp. 25, 52–53, 55ff, 75ff, 219–20Google Scholaret passim; Marais, , Fall of Kruger's Republic, pp. 75–76, 86n, 92ff, 146Google Scholar; Pakenham, , Jameson's Raid, pp. 150–52, 208ff, 268ff, 288-90ff, 300–11Google Scholar.

68. Stead to Lady Aberdeen, Sep. 17, 1896. Aberdeen Papers.

69. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” [My italics.] For Jameson's published version of the Raid, see Aston, P. E. (ed.), The Raid on the Transvaal by Dr. Jameson (London, n.d.), pp. 165–207Google Scholar.

70. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.”

71. Ibid. See also Hawksley to Stead, Sep. 22, 1896. Stead Papers.

72. [Stead, W. T.], “The History of the Mystery. In Advance of the Select Committee,” Review of Reviews, XIV (1896), 372Google Scholar.

73. Hawksley to Fairfield, Oct. 10, 1896. Chamberlain Papers.

74. Chamberlain to Grey, Oct. 13, 1896; Chamberlain to Meade, Oct. 24, 1896. Copies in Chamberlain Papers. See also Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 189Google Scholar; Drus, , “Jameson Raid,” Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, XXV (1952), 56Google Scholar.

75. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” Similarly, Stead was also aware of Harris's ability to distort and prevaricate. See Stead to A. R. Fairfield, June 8, 1897. Copy in Chamberlain Papers. On the character of Harris, see Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 55Google Scholar; Cecil, Viscount Chelwood, All the Way (London, 1949), p. 62Google Scholar.

76. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.”

77. Fairfield was personally acquainted with Stead who admired him as an honest man. For brief estimates of the character of Fairfield (1848-1897), see Pakenham, , Jameson's Raid, p. 149Google Scholar; Stead, , Scandal of the South African Committee, p. 26Google Scholar; Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 72Google Scholar. I am also grateful to Fairfield's niece, Dr. Letitia Fairfield, for a very perceptive portrait of her uncle and some unknown details of his career. Dr. Letitia Fairfield to J. O. Baylen, Feb. 25, 1962.

78. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, pp. 189–90, 195Google Scholar. See also Fairfield to Sir Graham Bower, Oct. 31, 1896. Sir Graham Bower Letters, 1895-1925. Rhodes House Microfilm MSS. Afr. 162; Memorandum by Fairfield, Oct. 27, 1896. Chamberlain Papers. Three years later, Stead declared that Fairfield, upon seeing the proofs of The History of the Mystery, had raised no objection to its publication because “Fairfield … held that everything would of necessity come out.” Stead, , Scandal of the South African Committee, p. 44Google Scholar.

79. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” To Balfour, Stead wrote confidently of his hope that the tale might save the situation and “break the force of the exposure by setting forth the facts in their proper perspective, [so] as to prevent what [could] … be a national humiliation.” Stead to Balfour, Nov. 4, 1896. Copy in Stead Papers.

80. Harris to Stead, [Oct. 30, 1896]. Ibid. In this direction, see also Lockhart, and Woodhouse, , Cecil Rhodes, p. 303Google Scholar.

81. Harris to Stead, [Nov. [?], 1896]. Stead Papers.

82. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” See also Stead to Hawksley, Jan. 27, 1897. Rhodes Papers, C 11.1.

83. Brett, however, urged Stead to overcome Fairfield's reluctance to pass on the proofs to Chamberlain by sending them directly to the Colonial Secretary. Brett to Stead, Nov. 16, 1896. Stead Papers.

84. Milner to Stead, Nov. 16, 1896. Ibid.

85. Thus, with further information from Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, a leader of the Uitlander “reformers” in the Transvaal, Stead amended part of the story relating to what had occurred in Johannesburg and, as a result of Hawksley's interview with Willoughby, completely revised the chapter dealing with Jameson's invasion of the Transvaal which he had previously based upon the published report of an American physician. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” The American physician's narrative which Stead used was Bigelow, Poultney's “White Man's Africa. Part I—Jameson's Raid,” Harper's Magazine, XCIII (1896), 813–22Google Scholar.

86. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” On the article inspired by Jameson, see Fort, G. Seymour, “The True Motive and Reason of Dr. Jameson's Raid,” Nineteenth Century, XXXIX (1896), 873–80Google Scholar.

87. Garrett to Stead, Nov. 4, 1896. Stead Papers.

88. Garrett to Stead, Dec. 9, 1896. Ibid.

89. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.”

90. George Wyndham to Stead, Nov. 23, 1896. Stead Papers.

91. Cf. Mrs. W. T. Stead to Henry Stead, Nov. 28, 1896; William Stead, Jr. to Henry Stead, Nov. 28, 1896. Henry Stead Papers. I am indebted to Mrs. A. Herbert for permission to study and use the papers of her father, Henry Stead.

92. [W. T. Stead], “Memorandum for Mr. Hawksley of Report of Interview between Blastus and George Wyndham on … the 24th [Nov.], at the Colonial Office rendered to W. T. Stead … on … the 25th [Nov.] by Dr. Harris” and Stead's conversation with Harris on Nov. 26, 1896. Stead Papers. Harris offered £1,000 to Stead in the form of a “wager” that the cables would be suppressed on the elimination of the offending chapter which Stead indignantly rejected as a bribe. Stead's son, Henry, later recalled that when The History of the Mystery was in press, “one or two [individuals] did not hesitate to suggest adequate recompense [to Stead] if the book did not appear.” Stead, Henry, “My Father: W. T. Stead, II,” Review of Reviews for Australia, XLII (1913), 358Google Scholar.

93. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.” On the publication of the book, Stead drew attention to the deletion in a short “Nota Bene!” attached to copies of the book which explained that certain passages were blacked out “to satisfy the scruples of [an] informant, in order to conceal … Secrets … from the eye of the public.” He said that although he regretted “the necessity for thus heightening the mystery at the expense of the history,” he was comforted by the thought that “perhaps, after all, the process may not be without its compensations.” [Leaflet,] “Nota Bene!” ([London, 1896])Google Scholar. Yet, a few years later, he wrote: “I consented to black out every passage in which any reference to cables … occurred … against my better judgment.” Stead, , Scandal of the South African Committee, p. 44Google Scholar.

94. [W. T. Stead], “Memorandum of Understanding arrived at after Conversation with Dr. Rutherfoord Harris, Nov. 25, 1896.” Stead Papers; also Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery”; Mrs. W. T. Stead to Henry Stead, Nov. 27, 1896. Henry Stead Papers.

95. Stead to Lady Aberdeen, Nov. 28, 1896. Aberdeen Papers; W. T. Stead, Jr. to Henry Stead, Nov. 28, 1896. Henry Stead Papers.

96. Review of Reviews, XIV (1896), 461;Google Scholar[Leaflet,] Preliminary Announcement. The History of the Mystery (London, 1896), 2 pp.Google Scholar

97. Hawksley to Stead, Nov. 27 and 28, 1896. Stead Papers; Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery”; “Bouchier F. Hawksley,” Review of Reviews, LI (1916), 15–16Google Scholar. Not long after the publication of the book, Stead confided to Lady Aberdeen that “The passages blacked out had much better have remained in.” Stead to Lady Aberdeen, Dec. 14, 1896. Aberdeen Papers.

98. Rhodes to Maguire, Nov. 28, 1896. Rhodes Papers, B. 98.

99. Rhodes to Maguire, Dec. 2, 1896. Copy in Stead Papers.

100. Hawksley to Stead, Dec. 3, 1896; Hawksley to Earl Grey [for Rhodes], Dec. 4, 1896. Copy, ibid. On the following day, Hawksley wrote to Stead: “You will see from the enclosed copy of my reply to Rhodes's cable that I still adhere to the book and don't shirk responsibility.” Hawksley to Stead, Dec. 5, 1896. Ibid.

101. This was the result of the large number of persons to whom Stead had shown proofs of the book. Cf. Nov. 24, 1896, Sir Edward Hamilton Diaries, Sep. 14, 1896 — March 1, 1897. Sir Edward Hamilton Papers, BM, Add. MSS., 48670, Vol. XLI; Henry Labouchere to Austen Chamberlain, Dec. 1 [1896]. Chamberlain Papers; Lockhart, and Woodhouse, , Cecil Rhodes, p. 364Google Scholar.

102. [W. T. Stead], “Memorandum of Interview with Mr. Labouchere,” Dec. 2, 1896. Stead Papers.

103. Stead to Lady Aberdeen, Dec. 14, 1896. Aberdeen Papers; [W. T. Stead], “Memorandum of Interview with Prince of Wales, Dec. 8, 1896.” Stead Papers; Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery”; Whyte, , Life of W. T. Stead, II, 107–09Google Scholar. Concerning his conversation with the Prince of Wales, Stead wrote a friend: “I talked to him as if he were my brother.” Stead to Mme. Olga Novikov, Jan. 26, 1897. Olga Novikov Collection, Bodleian Library.

104. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.”

105. Stead, W. T., The History of the Mystery; or the Skeleton in Blaster's Cupboard (London, 1896), 134 pp.Google Scholar; Garrett to Stead, June 3, 1897. Stead Papers.

106. The leaflet, “Nota Bene!”, attached to copies of The History of the Mystery, referred to pp. 63-74 of the book. See also Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, pp. 190–91Google Scholar; Woodhouse, C. M., “The Missing Telegrams and the Jameson Raid. Part One,” History To-Day, XII (1962), 396Google Scholar.

107. “Mr. Stead's Mystery,” Spectator, LXXVII (1896) 848Google Scholar; “Did Mr. Chamberlain Wink? An Interview with Mr. Stead,” Westminster Gazette, Dec. 11, 1896Google Scholar.

108. Cf. Walker, Eric A., W. P. Schreiner. A South African (London, 1937), 85–86Google Scholar; Westminster Gazette, Dec. 14, 1896. “It is difficult to see,” mused Sir Edward Hamilton, “whether [the book] is intended to be in defence of Chamberlain or of Rhodes.” Dec. 20, 1896, Sir Edward Hamilton Diaries, BM, Add. MSS., 48670, Vol. XLI.

109. “Did Mr. Chamberlain Wink?” Westminster Gazette, Dec. 11, 1896Google Scholar; Stead's letter to the Editor, Dec. 12, 1896. Ibid., Dec. 12, 1896 [My italics.] To Lady Aberdeen, Stead explained that he aimed to suggest explanations which would minimize the effect of the production of evidence of Chamberlain's complicity. Stead to Lady Aberdeen, Dec. 14, 1896. Aberdeen Papers.

110. “Mr. Stead's Mystery,” Spectator, LXXVII (1896), 848–49Google Scholar.

111. See Woodhouse, C. M., “The ‘Missing Telegrams’ and the Jameson Raid. Part Two,” History To-Day, XII (1962), 514Google Scholar.

112. [Garrett, F. E.], “The Secret of Blastus. As Told by Mr. Stead. An Atlantic Snake Story,” Cape Times, Dec. 9, 1896Google Scholar.

113. [Garrett, F. E.], “Which is the Truth? A Case of Rival Historians,” Cape Times, Dec. 9, 1896Google Scholar.

114. Garrett, Edmund and Edwards, E. J., The Story of a South African Crisis; Being the Truth about the Jameson Raid and Johannesburg Revolt of 1896, Told with the Assistance of the Leading Actors in the Drama (London, 1897), pp. xi–xxivGoogle Scholar.

115. “More Light on the Raid. The Story from Capetown,” Times, Dec. 29, 1896Google Scholar; “Another Version. Mr. Garrett's Story of the Raid,” Daily Chronicle, Dec. 29, 1896Google Scholar.

116. Cf. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 193Google Scholar; Pakenham, , Jameson's Raid, p. 254Google Scholar; Lockhart, and Woodhouse, , Cecil Rhodes, p. 364Google Scholar. That Stead's History of the Mystery and Garrett's articles of Dec. 9 in the Cape Times were major considerations to the Colonial Office in preparing for Chamberlain's meeting with Rhodes and Chamberlain's defence before the Select Committee, see the Colonial Office Memorandum, Jan. 19, 1897. Chamberlain Papers. Following the publication of Stead's book, Sir William Harcourt, a member of the Select Committee, asked the Committee's Chairman to request the Eastern Telegraph Company to produce the cables. Hawksley to Stead, Jan. 24, 1897. Stead Papers; Stead to Hawksley, Jan. 25, 1897. Rhodes Papers, C. 11.1.

117. Review of Reviews, XV (1897), 3–4Google Scholar.

118. Hawksley to Stead, Dec. 31, 1896 and Jan. 15, 1897. Stead Papers.

119. [Stead, W. T.], “The Earlier Policy of Mr. Chamberlain in South Africa,” Review of Reviews, XV (1897), 10–11Google Scholar.

120. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, pp. 194, 196Google Scholar; Pakenham, , Jameson's Raid, p. 254Google Scholar; Garvin, , Life of Joseph Chamberlain, III, 116Google Scholar. Sir Graham Bower was convinced that all hope of “burking” the Select Committee was abandoned after “the publication of … Stead's history of the mystery [sic].” Sir Graham Bower to Sir Montagu Ommanney, May 11, 1906. Sir Graham Bower Letters, Rhodes House MSS. Afr. 162.

121. Cf. Review of Reviews, XV (1897), 3Google Scholar; Millin, , Rhodes, pp. 316–17Google Scholar; Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 196Google Scholar; Garvin, , Life of Joseph Chamberlain, III, 116Google Scholar.

122. Cf. Hawksley to Stead, Jan. 15, 1897. Stead Papers; Stead to Hawksley, Jan. 22, 1897. Rhodes Papers, C. 11.1.

123. “Wyndham declares this is the consequence of my not having consented to … induce you to stop the book altogether.” Hawksley to Stead, Jan. 24, 1897. Stead Papers. In another letter, Hawksley related Chamberlain's alleged condemnation of Rhodes to the Prince of Wales and the efforts of Stead's friend, Lady Warwick, to counteract Chamberlain's intrigues. Hawksley to Stead, Jan. 25, 1897. Ibid.; see also Stead to Hawksley, Jan. 25, 1897. Rhodes Papers, C. 11.1.

124. Lord Selborne's memorandum of the interview as quoted by Garvin, , Life of Joseph Chamberlain, III, 117–18Google Scholar.

125. Hawksley to Rhodes, Jan. 28, 1897. Rhodes Papers, C. 11.1; Hawksley to Stead, Jan. 26, 1897. Stead Papers.

126. Stead to Hawksley, Jan. 27, 1897. Stead Papers. Two days later, Stead asked his son to prepare to send copies of the book to all Members of Parliament, editors, and correspondents of the provincial papers in London. Stead to Henry Stead, Jan. 29, 1897. Henry Stead Papers.

127. Stead to Hawksley, Jan. 27, 1897. Rhodes Papers, C. 11.1.

128. Hawksley to Stead, telegram and letter, June 28, 1897. Stead Papers; Stead to Hawksley, Jan. 29, 1897. Rhodes Papers, C. 11.1; Hawksley to Stead, Feb. 1, 1897. Stead Papers.

129. Cf. Stead to Henry Stead, Jan. 29, 1897. Henry Stead Papers; Stead, , Scandal of the South African Committee, p. 45Google Scholar.

130. Cf. Stead's letter to the Editor, The Northern Whig, Mar. 18, 1897; Hawksley to Stead, Feb. 22, Mar. 16 and 17, & April 5, 10, & 30, 1897. Stead Papers.

131. [Stead, W. T.], “‘Hushed Up! Hushed Up!’ or The Scandal at Westminster,” Review of Reviews, XV (1897), 546–50Google Scholar; Literary Digest, XV (1897), 264Google Scholar. On the reaction to Stead's move, see Lord Selborne to Milner, June [?], 1897. Milner Papers, New College, Oxford. (I am grateful to the Warden and Fellows of New College for their assent to study the Milner Papers.); Stead to James Bryce, June 1, 1897. James Bryce Papers, Bodleian Library.

132. Cf. Stead, Scandal of the South African Committee, passim; Stead, , The Truth about the War, pp. 1–4Google Scholar; Stead, W. T., “‘Afraid of God!’ Why W. T. Stead Opposes the War,” Stop-the-War Committee Leaflet No. 3. (London, 1900), pp. 1–2Google Scholar; Stead, W. T., Joseph Chamberlain. Conspirator or Statesman? (London, 1899)Google Scholar.

133. Baylen, , “W. T. Stead and the Boer War: The Irony of Idealism,” C.H.R., XL (1959), 308–14Google Scholar. On Stead's work as “the most effective of Liberal propagandists” during the Boer War, see Galbraith, John S., “Pamphlet Campaign on the Boer War,” J.M.H., XXIV (1952), 119Google Scholar and note.

134. Stead, “Memo. Hist. of Mystery.”

135. Stead, Estelle W., My Father, p. 272Google Scholar.

136. Van der Poel, , Jameson Raid, p. 262Google Scholar. See also Gooch, G. P., “Victorian Memories. XI. The South African War,” Contemporary Review, CXC (1956), 88Google Scholar.