Farewell the Trumpets

by Jan Morris

  Five Field Marshals, four Prime Ministers, an Admiral of the Fleet and a Marshal of the Royal Air Force were among the pallbearers when the coffin, draped with the flags of the Cinque Ports and of the Spencer-Churchill family, was carried up the great steps into the cathedral. A hundred nations were represented there, and twenty of them had once been ruled from this very capital. A bugle played the Last Post in the Whispering Gallery, another answered with Reveille from the west door, and after the funeral service they took the coffin down to the River Thames. There, as the pipers played ‘The Flowers of the Forest’, six tall guardsmen, their cold sad faces straining with the weight, carried it on board a river launch: and away up the London river it sailed towards Westminster, escorted by black police boats. ‘Rule Britannia’ sounded from the shore, fighter aircraft flew overhead, farewell guns fired from the Tower of London, and as the little flotilla disappeared upstream, watched by the great mourning crowd below the cathedral, all the cranes on the riverside wharves were dipped in salute. Everyone knew what was happening, even the enemies of Empire. ‘The true old times were dead, when every morning brought a noble chance, and every chance a noble knight.’

  In the afternoon they put the old statesman’s body reverently on a train, for he was to be buried in the family churchyard in Oxfordshire: and so as dusk fell, with white steam flying from the engine’s funnel, and a hiss of its pistons through the meadows, it carried him sadly home again, to the green country heart of England.

  1 Reaching me at the newly rebuilt Shepheard’s Hotel, Cairo, where I lay in bed with flu, and where the kind Egyptian servants offered me their condolences as though I had suffered a personal loss. Indeed, like most Britons then, I felt I had.

  1 Where the rules had been adapted to local conditions—they played fifty-nine a side.

  2 And the sherry barons of Jerez still went pig-sticking in the Cota Doñana, having been introduced to the sport by Anglo-Indians from Gibraltar.

  3 Especially the Cayman Islands. In 1953 they possessed one bank, and their population of 7,500 people produced an annual Government revenue of less than £200,000. Twenty years later their population had doubled, their annual revenue was £3½ million, they were host to 5,000 companies and 138 banks, they had their own airline and one Telex machine to every 200 inhabitants. Adaptability!

  1 The first comes from a memorial at Wagon Hill, outside Ladysmith; the second is from the famous memorial to the 14th Army at Kohima, and is an English version of Leonidas’ message from Thermopylae in 480 BC—Go‚ tell the Spartans, thou who passest by‚/That here obedient to their laws we lie.

  Envoi

  IS that the truth? Is that how it was? It is my truth. It is how Queen Victoria’s Empire seemed in retrospect, to one British citizen in the decades after its dissolution. Its emotions are coloured by mine, its scenes are heightened or diminished by my vision, its characters, inevitably, are partly my creation. If it is not invariably true in the fact, it is certainly true in the imagination.

  It has taken me ten years to write the trilogy, and I add this epilogue now in the same beloved corner of Wales where I started the work in 1966. During that time everyone’s view of the imperial idea has shifted. Some people have come to think, as Goethe did, that injustice is preferable to disorder after all, while others have recognized for the first time that there was cruelty to the conception even in its kindest forms. For myself, when I began to write the book I thought I was describing something definitive in human history, but I have ended it seeing the imperial story in gentler but nobler terms, as a flicker of the divine progress.

  In Canada one day, looking through old newspapers for relevant material, I came across a report of a lecture given in Chantaqua, Alberta, on a June evening in 1928. The lecturer was a Mr Walter J. Millard, and he was talking to a women’s club on ‘The Relation of Energy to Human Progress’. Preceded in the evening’s entertainment by baritone solos and child-impersonations from Miss Jensen, he had chosen to discuss the British Empire as an archetype of historical energy, and at first sight his talk seemed to me an imperialist address in the old convention of duty, privilege and far-flung responsibility. When I read on, though, I found that Mr Millard saw the Empire primarily not as an agency of development, law and constructive order, but as an instrument of personal redemption. It represented above all, he said, ‘the privilege of every man to find his scrap of truth and apply it to the advantage not of himself, but humanity’. There, he thought, lay the truest power of the enterprise.

  At once, as I read these words, I found my own views clarified, for I too had lately come to view the Empire less in historical than in redemptory terms. I had been groping around Teilhard de Chardin’s notion of ‘in-furling’—that infinitely slow and spasmodic movement towards the unity of mankind. Teilhard saw love and knowledge as the twin impulses of that progress: Mr Millard, posthumously addressing me from the Calgary Herald, finally persuaded me that the British Empire too was a ripple in some cosmic urge to reconciliation. That ‘scrap of truth’ was all! The arrogance of the Empire, its greed and its brutality was energy gone to waste: but the good in the adventure, the courage, the idealism, the diligence had contributed their quota of truth towards the universal fulfilment.

  ‘Are we to complain’, wrote Nehru of the Empire, ‘of the cyclone that uproots us and hurls us about, or the cold wind that makes us shiver? The British … represented mighty forces which they themselves hardly realized.’ The wind dies, and is forgotten, but some of the seeds it blows about will be fertile in the end. Whenever I go to evensong in a cathedral of the old Empire, Lahore or Singapore, Auckland or Kingston, it always seems to end with the same last hymn. I am not a Christian really, but it never fails to move me. Often they sing it as the choir and clergy leave their stalls, and an old black verger, perhaps, precedes the Dean down the chancel, while the front-row ladies prepare their gloves for departure, or flowered and white-socked children of the Caribbean sing all the more lustily because supper is near. Night is falling through the slatted windows, jasmine, or magnolia, or tobacco flower hangs upon the air, clumsy black insects flounder about the dust-dimmed lights, or evade the whirring fan-blades.

  The hymn was written in 1870 by John Ellerton, and was set to music by Clement C. Scholefield: and just as it ends those distant services upon a mingled note of gratitude and resignation, so I will quote its familiar words now to end my book, remembering equally all those whose lives may seem to have been wasted in the imperial cause, those who died to create the Empire and those who sacrificed themselves to end it:

  So be it, LORD; Thy Throne shall never,

  Like earth’s proud empires, pass away;

  Thy Kingdom stands, and grows for ever,

  Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.

  1978

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  The faults of this book are all mine, but a number of indulgent friends and colleagues vetted particular chapters and passages for me. Occasionally I was ungrateful enough to disregard their advice, but still I owe my heartfelt thanks to Colonel A. J. Barker, Professor C. J. Beckett, Mr David Dilks, General Anthony Farrar-Hockley, Sir Laurence Grafftey-Smith, Mr Kenneth Griffiths, Mrs Elspeth Huxley, Professor Robert Rhodes James, Mr Alistair Lamb, Mr Philip Mason, Miss Elizabeth Monroe and Sir Ronald Wingate. Finally Mr Donald Simpson, librarian of the Royal Commonwealth Society, drew upon his unrivalled knowledge of the Empire as a whole and most generously read the whole book in proof.

  Mr Denys Baker drew all the maps; my friend and agent Julian Bach arranged nearly all the necessary journeys; the editors of The Times and Encounter (London), Horizon and Rolling Stone (New York) helped me with relevant commissions; for their loving and amused encouragement throughout this long endeavour I am indebted, now as always, to my family—Elizabeth, Mark, Henry, Twm and Susan Morris.

  Index

  Abadan, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Abdulillah, Crown Prince, 1, 2n.

  Abdullah, Emir, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

&nbs
p; Aden, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8‚ 9‚ 10

  Afghans, 1, 2, 3

  Africa, 1, 2, 3, 4‚ 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 British possessions in, 1, 2, 3

  ‘Scramble for’, 1

  South-West, 1, 2

  Ahmedabad, 1

  Alexander of Tunis, Field Marshal Earl, 1n.

  Alexandria, 1, 2

  Allahabad, 1

  Allenby, General (Viscount) Edmund, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Amara, 1, 2, 3

  Amery, Leopold, 1, 2, 3

  Amin, Qasim, 1

  Amman, 1, 2, 3

  Amritsar, massacre of, 1, 2, 3

  Anglo-Tibetan Convention, 1

  Anzacs, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

  Apartheid, 1, 2

  Arab Bureau, 1, 2

  Arab League, 1, 2

  Arab Legion, 1, 2

  Arabia, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

  Arabs, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 Palestinian, 1

  Arnold, Matthew, 1

  Asgard, 1, 2n.

  Ashanti, the, 1, 2, 3

  Asquith, Herbert, (Earl), 1, 2, 3, 4

  Asquith, Herbert, 1

  Assyrian Levies, 1

  Aswan Dam, 1

  Atlantic Charter, 1

  Attlee, Clement, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Aung San, 1, 2n., 3

  Austin, Alfred, 1, 2

  Australia, 1, 2, 3, 4n., 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18‚ 19, 20 troops in Boer War, 1, 2

  troops in First World War, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  troops in Second World War, 1, 2, 3

  Austria-Hungary, 1

  Aylmer, General Sir Fenton, 1, 2

  Baden-Powell, Col. Robert, 1, 2, 3

  Baganda, the, 1

  Baghdad, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10‚ 11

  Bahamas, 1

  Bahrein, 1

  Bailey, Bill, 1

  Baker‚ Sir Benjamin, 1n.

  Baker, Sir Herbert, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Baldwin, Stanley, 1

  Balfour, Arthur, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

  Banting, Frederick, 1

  Barbados, 1

  Basra, 1, 2

  Bates, Daisy, 1

  Beatty, (Admiral Earl) David, 1n., 2

  Beaverbrook, Lord, 1

  Bedouin, 1

  Beersheba, 1

  Belgium, 1, 2

  Belgrave, Charles, 1

  Belize, 1

  Bell, Charles, 1

  Bell, Gertrude, 1, 2

  Bengal, 1‚ 2

  Bermuda, 1

  Bessant, Annie, 1

  Bessborough, Lord, 1

  Besse, Anton, 1

  Bethlehem, 1

  Bevin, Ernest, 1, 2

  Birkenhead, Earl of (F. E. Smith), 1

  Birrell, Augustine, 1, 2, 3

  Bismarck, Otto von, 1

  Blackburne, Sir Kenneth, 1

  Blériot, Louis, 1

  Bloemfontein, 1‚ 2, 3, 4

  Blunt, Lady Anne, 1

  Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen, 1, 2, 3

  Boer War, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Empire forces in, 1

  foreign support for Boers, 1

  Boers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12‚ 13n., 14‚ 15

  Bombay, 1, 2

  Boustead, Hugh, 1

  Borden, Sir Robert, 1

  Borges, Jorge Luis, 1

  Borneo, 1

  Bose, Subhas Chandra, 1, 2

  Botha, Louis, 1, 2

  Boxer riots, 1

  Boyle, Harry, 1

  Brazzaville, 1

  Bridges, Robert, 1

  British Army, 1, 2‚ 3, 4, 5, 6, 7‚ 8, 9, 10 Irish in, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  British Broadcasting Company/Corporation, 1, 2, 3

  British Commonwealth of Nations, 1‚ 2‚ 3, 4, 5

  British Empire Exhibition, 1

  British Empire League, 1

  British Empire Union, 1

  British Guiana, 1

  British Honduras, 1

  Brodrick, St John, 1, 2, 3

  Brooke, Charles, 1

  Brooke, Rupert, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Brooke-Stopford, Mrs, 1

  Broomfield, Robert, 1, 2

  Bruce, Charles, 1

  Bruce, Stanley, 1

  Brunei, 1

  Buchan, John, 1

  Buller, General Sir Redvers, 1, 2, 3‚ 4‚ 5

  Burma, 1n., 2, 3, 4‚ 5‚ 6‚ 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

  Burne-Jones, Lady, 1

  Burns, Sir Alan, 1

  Burns, J. D., 1

  Bustamante, Alexander, 1

  Butler, General Sir William, 1

  Butt, Clara, 1

  Cairo, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5‚ 6

  Calgary, 1

  Campbell-Bannerman, Henry, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Campbell-Johnson, Alan, 1

  Canberra, 1

  Canada, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 troops in Boer War, 1

  troops in First World War, 1

  troops in Second World War, 1, 2

  Candler, Edmund, 1, 2

  Cape Colony, 1, 2

  Cape Town, 1

  Cardington, 1, 2, 3

  Carson, Sir Edward, 1, 2, 3n.

  Casement, Sir Roger, 1, 2, 3, 4n.

  Cayman Islands, 1

  Cecil, Lord Edward, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Ceylon, 1, 2, 3

  Chamberlain, Joseph, 1, 2, 3, 4‚ 5, 6

  Chamberlain, Neville, 1

  Chamberlain, Field Marshal Sir Neville, 1

  Chanak, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Channel Islands, 1

  Chiang Kai-shek, 1, 2

  Childe-Pemberton, Major, 1

  Childers, Erskine, 1, 2, 3n.

  Chilembwe, John, 1

  China, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

  Chitral, 1n., 2

  Chumbi Valley, 1, 2

  Churchill (Sir) Winston, 1, 2, 3‚ 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18‚ 19, 20, 21‚ 22, 23‚ 24, 25, 26, 27‚ 28, 29, 30, 31‚ 32‚ 33

  Clarke, Tom, 1

  Clydevalley, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6n.

  Collins, Michael, 1

  Colonial Development Act, 1

  Colonial Development Corporation, 1, 2

  Colonial Office, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Colville, General Sir Henry, 1

  Congo, Belgian, 1 River, 1

  Connolly, James, 1, 2

  Constantinople, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Corfu, 1

  Courtauld, Augustine, 1

  Cowan, Admiral Sir Walter, 1

  Cox, Percy, 1, 2, 3

  Creech-Jones, Arthur, 1

  Crete, 1

  Cromer, Evelyn Baring, Earl, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Cronje, General Piet, 1, 2

  Ctesiphon, 1, 2

  Curtin, John, 1

  Curtis, Lionel, 1, 2

  Curzon of Kedleston, George, Marquis, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

  Cyprus, 1, 2, 3, 4‚ 5‚ 6‚ enosis, 1‚ 2

  Dalai Lama, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Dalton, Hugh, 1

  Damascus, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Dandi, 1, 2, 3n.

  Dardanelles, 1, 2, 3

  De la Rey, General Kroos, 1

  De Valera, Eamon, 1n.

  De Wiart, General Carton, 1

  Delamere, Lord, 1, 2, 3

  Delcassé, Theophile, 1

  Delhi, 1, 2n.

  Dickinson, Lowes, 1

  Diver, Maud, 1

  Dixie, Lady Florence, 1

  Djibouti, 1

  Dobbie, Sir William, 1

  Doyle, Arthur Conan, 1

  Dreyfus Affair, 1

  Dublin, 1, 2

  Dufferin and Ava, Marquis of, 1n.

  Duffy, Sir Charles, 1

  Dundonald, General the Earl of, 1, 2

  Dunkirk, 1

  Dyer, Brigadier-General Reginald, 1, 2, 3

  Eden, Sir Anthony, 1, 2

  Edward VII, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Egypt‚ 1, 2‚ 3‚ 4‚ 5‚ 6‚ 7‚ 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16‚ 17, 18‚ 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 Khedive of, 1, 2

  Elgar, (Sir) Edward, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
/>   Elizabeth II, 1

  Empire Airship Scheme, 1, 2, 3

  Empire Day, 1

  Empire Movement, 1

  Entente Cordiale, 1

  Ethiopia, 1

  Evans, James, 1

  Everest, Mount, 1, 2

  Fairbridge, Kingsley, 1n.

  Falkland Islands, 1, 2

  Farouk, King, 1, 2

  Fashoda ‘Incident’, 1, 2

  Feisal, Emir, 1, 2, 3

  Feisal II, King, 1, 2

  Fianna na h’Eireann, 1

  Fiji‚ 1

  First World War, 1, 2, 3 Dardanelles, 1

  Gallipoli, 1

  Mesopotamia, 1

  Palestine and Syria, 1, 2

  Fisher, H. A. L., 1

  Fisher, Admiral Sir John, 1, 2, 3n., 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

  Forster, E. M., 1

  France, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Empire, 1, 2, 3

  at Fashoda, 1

  Navy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Free Trade, 1, 2

  Freeman, Ralph, 1, 2

  Furse, Major Ralph, 1, 2

  Gaelic Athletic Association, 1

  Gaelic League, 1

  Gallipoli, 1, 2, 3

  Gambia, The, 1, 2, 3

  Gandhi, Mahatma, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6‚ 7, 8‚ 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Salt March, 1, 2, 3

  Gaza, 1, 2, 3