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MEMORIES AND ADVENTURES
book before the public. I hope that some relaxation in his attitude towards us in his paper may have been due to a fuller comprehension of our case, and a realization of the fact that a nation does not make great sacrifi ces extending over years for an
ignoble cause. One other incident in connection with the Norwegian edition is pleasant for me to recall. I had prefaced each
Continental version with a special foreword, designed to arrest
the attention of the particular people whom I was addressing.
In this case, when the book was going to press in Christiania,
the preface had not arrived from the translator (the accomplished Madame Brockmann), and as she lived a hundred miles
off, with all the passes blocked by a phenomenal snow-storm, it
looked as if it must be omitted. Finally, however, my short address to the Scandinavian people was heliographed across from
snow-peak to snow-peak, and so found its way to the book.
There was one other language into which the book needed
to be translated, and that was the Welsh, for the vernacular
press of the Principality was almost entirely pro-Boer, and the
Welsh people had the most distorted information as to the
cause for which their fellow-countrymen fought so bravely in
the fi eld. The translation was done by Mr. W. Evans, and some
10,000 copies were printed for distribution through the agency
of the Cardiff “Western Mail.” This fi nished our labours. Our
total output was 300,000 of the British edition, about 50,000
in Canada and the United States, 20,000 in Germany, 20,000
in France, 5,000 in Holland, 10,000 in Wales, 8,000 in Hungary, 5,000 in Norway and Sweden, 3,500 in Portugal, 10,000 in
Spain, 5,000 in Italy, and 5,000 in Russia. There were editions
in Tamil and Kanarese, the numbers of which I do not know.
251
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
In all, I have seen twenty different presentments of my little
book. The total sum at our disposal amounted to about £5,000,
of which, speaking roughly, half came from subscriptions and
the other half was earned by the book itself.
It was not long before we had the most gratifying evidence
of the success of these efforts. There was a rapid and marked
change in the tone of the whole Continental press, which may
have been a coincidence, but was certainly a pleasing one. In
the case of many important organs of public opinion there
could, however, be no question of coincidence, as the arguments advanced in the booklet and the facts quoted were cited
in their leading articles as having modifi ed their former antiBritish views. This was the case with the “Tagblatt” of Vienna,
whose London representative, Dr. Maurice Ernst, helped me
in every way to approach the Austrian public. So it was also
with the “National Zeitung” in Berlin, the “Indépendance
Belge” in Brussels, and many others. In the greater number of
cases, however, it was unreasonable to suppose that a journal
would publicly eat its own words, and the best result for which
we could hope was that which we often attained, an altered
and less acrimonious tone.
Mr. Reginald Smith and I now found ourselves in the very
pleasant position of having accomplished our work so far as
we could do it, and yet of having in hand a considerable sum
of money. What were we to do with it? To return it to subscribers was impossible, and indeed at least half of it would have
to be returned to ourselves since it had been earned by the
sale of the book. I felt that the subscribers had given me a free
252
MEMORIES AND ADVENTURES
hand with the money, to use it to the best of my judgment for
national aims.
Our fi rst expense was in immediate connection with the
object in view, for we endeavoured to supplement the effect
of the booklet by circulating a large number of an excellent
Austrian work, “Recht and Unrecht im Burenkrieg,” by Dr.
Ferdinand Hirz. Six hundred of these were distributed where
they might do most good.
Our next move was to purchase half a dozen very handsome gold cigarette cases. On the back of each was engraved,
“From Friends in England to a Friend of England.” These were
distributed to a few of those who had stood most staunchly by
us. One went to the eminent French publicist, Monsieur Yves
Guyot, a second to Monsieur Talichet of Lausanne, a third to
Mr. Sumichrast, and a fourth to Professor Naville. By a happy
coincidence the latter gentleman happened to be in this country at the time, and I had the pleasure of slipping the small
souvenir into his hand as he put on his overcoat in the hall of
the Athenaeum Club. I have seldom seen anyone look more
surprised.
There remained a considerable sum, and Mr. Reginald
Smith shared my opinion that we should fi nd some permanent use for it, and that this use should bring benefi t to natives of South Africa. We therefore forwarded £1,000 to Edinburgh University, to be so invested as to give a return of £40
a year, which should be devoted to the South African student
who acquitted himself with most distinction. There are many
Afrikander students at Edinburgh, and we imagined that we
had hit upon a pleasing common interest for Boer and for Brit-
253
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
on; but I confess that I was rather amazed when at the end of
the fi rst year I received a letter from a student expressing his
confi dence that he would win the bursary, and adding that
there could be no question as to his eligibility, as he was a fullblooded Zulu.
The fund, however, was by no means exhausted, and we
were able to make contributions to the Civilian Rifl eman’s
movement, to the Union Jack Club, to the Indian famine, to
the Japanese nursing, to the Irish old soldiers’ institute, to the
fund for distressed Boers, and to many other deserving objects.
These donations varied from fi fty guineas to ten. Finally we
were left with a residuum which amounted to £309 Os. 4d. Mr.
Reginald Smith and I sat in solemn conclave over this sum,
and discussed how it might best be used for the needs of the
Empire. The fourpence presented no diffi culty, for we worked
it off upon the crossing sweeper outside, who had helped to relieve Delhi. Nine pounds went in tobacco for the Chelsea veterans at Christmas. There remained the good round sum of
£300. We bethought us of the saying that the safety of the Empire might depend upon a single shot from a twelve-inch gun,
and we devoted the whole amount to a magnifi cent cup, to
be shot for by the various ships of the Channel Squadron, the
winner to hold it for a single year. The stand of the cup was
from the oak timbers of the Victory, and the trophy itself was
a splendid one in solid silver gilt. By the kind and judicious cooperation of Admiral Sir Percy Scott, the Inspector of Target
Practice, through whose hands the trophy passed to the Senior
Admiral afl oat, Sir Arthur Wilson, V.C., in command of the
Channel Squadron, all diffi culties were overcome and the cup
254
MEMORIES AND ADVENTURES
was shot for that year, and has since produced, I am told, great
emulation among the various crews. Our one condition was
that it should not be retained in the mess-room, but should be
put out on the deck where the winning bluejackets could continually see it. I learn that the “Exmouth” came into Plymouth
Harbour with the cup on the top of her fore turret.
The one abiding impression left upon my mind by the
whole episode is that our Government does not use publicity enough in stating and defending its own case. If a private
individual could by spending £3,000 and putting in a month’s
work make a marked impression upon the public opinion of
the world, what could be done by a really rich and intelligent
organization? But the fi rst requisite is that you should honestly have a just cause to state. Who is there outside England
who really knows the repeated and honest efforts made by us
to settle the eternal Irish question and hold the scales fair between rival Irishmen? We certainly do, as a great Frenchman
said, “defend ourselves very badly.” If we let cases go by default
how can we imagine that the verdict can be in our favour?
CHAPTER XX
MY POLITICAL ADVENTURES
Central Edinburgh – A Knock-out – The Border Burghs –
Tariff Reform – Heckling – Interpolations – Defeat – Refl ections.
I HAVE twice stood for Parliament, though if anyone were
to ask me my real reasons for doing so I should fi nd it diffi cult
to give them an intelligible answer. It certainly was from no
burning desire to join that august assembly, for in each case
I deliberately contested seats which every expert considered
to be impossible, and though on one occasion I very nearly
proved the experts to be wrong, my action is none the less
a sign that I had no great wish to be at the head of the poll, for
other and easier seats had been offered me. In the case of Central Edinburgh, for which I stood in the 1900 election, there
may have been some sentimental call, for it was the section of
the city where I was educated and where much of my boyhood
was spent. It was said to be the premier Radical stronghold of
Scotland, and to carry it would be a fi ne exploit, for though
I was a good deal of a Radical myself in many ways, I knew
that it would be a national disgrace and possibly an imperial
disaster if we did not carry the Boer War to complete success,
and that was the real issue before the electors.
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MEMORIES AND ADVENTURES
I believe that Providence one way or another gets a man’s
full powers out of him, but that it is essential that the man
himself should co-operate to the extent of putting himself in
the way of achievement. Give yourself the chance always. If it is
so fated, you will win through. If your path lies elsewhere, then
you have got your sign through your failure. But do not put
yourself in the position later in life of looking back and saying,
“Perhaps I might have had a career there had I tried.” Deep in
my bones I felt that I was on earth for some big purpose, and
it was only by trying that I could tell that the purpose was not
political, though I could never imagine myself as fettered to
a party or as thinking that all virtues lay with one set of men.
My political work was not wasted. I stood in the two most
heckling constituencies in Scotland, and through that odious
and much-abused custom I gained a coolness on the platform
and a disregard for interruption and clamour, which have
stood me in good stead since. Indeed, I hold that it was to fashion me more perfectly for my ultimate work that I was twice
passed through this furnace. I remember that once at Hawick
my soldier brother came to see how I was getting on, and was
struck by the effect which I had upon my audience. “It would
be strange, Arthur,” said he, “if your real career should prove
to be political and not literary.” “It will be neither. It will be
religious,” said I. Then we looked at each other in surprise
and both burst out laughing. The answer seemed quite absurd and pointless, for no remote possibility of such a thing
suggested itself. It was a curious example of that unconscious
power of prophecy which is latent within us.
257
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
I had hardly landed from South Africa when I fl ung myself into the Edinburgh contest. Mr. Cranston, later Sir Robert
Cranston, a well-known citizen, was my chairman. When I arrived a small meeting was held, and I, a weary man, listened
while it was gravely debated, with much weighing of pros and
cons, what my view was to be on each of the vital questions.
Finally it was all settled to their satisfaction and written down,
preparatory to forming the election address. I had listened
with some amusement, and when it was all over I said: “Gentlemen, may I ask who is going to honour these promises that you
are making?” “Why, you, of course,” said they. “Then I think it
would be better if I made them,” said I, and, crumpling up their
document, I picked up a pen and wrote out my own views and
my own address. It was well received and would have won the
election against enormous odds – some thousands of votes at
the last trial – were it not for a very unexpected intervention.
Those who remember the election will bear me out that it
was an exciting affair. My opponent was a Mr. Brown, a member of Nelson’s publishing fi rm, which had large works in the
constituency. I was fresh from the scene of war and overfl owing with zeal to help the army, so I spared myself in no way.
I spoke from barrels in the street or any other pedestal I could
fi nd, holding many wayside meetings besides my big meetings
in the evening, which were always crowded and uproarious.
There was nothing which I could have done and did not do.
My opponent was not formidable, but I had against me an
overwhelming party machine with its registered lists, and record of unbroken victory. It was no light matter to change the
vote of a Scotsman, and many of them would as soon think
258
MEMORIES AND ADVENTURES
of changing their religion. One serious mischance occurred.
I was determined to do and say nothing which I did not heartily mean, and this united Ireland, North and South, for the fi rst
time in history. The Irish vote was considerable, so that this
was important. The South quarrelled with me because, though
I favoured some devolution, I was not yet converted to Home
Rule. The North was angry because I was in favour of a Catholic University for Dublin. So I had no votes from Ireland.
When I went down to hold a meeting in a hall in the Cowgate,
which is the Irish quarter, I was told that it had been arranged
to break my platform up. This seems to have been true, but
fortunately I got on good human terms with my audience, and
indeed moved some of them to tears, by telling them of the
meeting between the two battalions of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers at Ladysmith. So it happened that when a sinister-looking
fi gure, a local horse-slaughterer, appeared on the edge of the
stage, he was received in silence. He moved slowly across and
said something about free speech. I felt that if I or my people
were violent there would be a riot, so I simply said: “Trot along,
sonny, trot along!” He did trot along and disappeared on the
other side of the stage. After the transit of this sinister star, and
my temporary eclipse, all went well to the end.
As the day of the election approached, it became more and
more evident that I was getting dangerous, but I was knocked
out – fortunately for myself, as I now discern – by a curious
interference. There was an Evangelical fanatic named Plimmer living at Dunfermline who thought it his special mission
in life to keep Roman Catholic candidates out of Parliament.
Therefore at the eleventh hour, the very night before the vot-
259
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
ing, the whole district was placarded with big sheets to say that
I was a Roman Catholic, that I had been educated by Jesuits,
and in fact that my whole candidature was an attack upon
Kirk and Covenant and Lesser Catechism and everything dear
to the Scottish heart. It was very cleverly done, and of course
this fanatic alone could not have paid the expenses, though
I cannot believe that Mr. Brown knew anything of the matter.
My unhappy supporters saw crowds of workmen reading these
absurd placards and calling out, “I’ve done with him!” As it was
I very narrowly missed the seat, being only beaten by a few
hundred votes. The question of an appeal came along, but the
thing was so clever that it really was diffi cult to handle, since
it was true enough that I had been educated by Jesuits and
yet absurdly untrue that this education infl uenced my present
frame of mind. Therefore we had to leave it alone.
Looking back, I am inclined to look upon Mr. Plimmer as
one of the great benefactors of my life. He altered the points at
the last moment and prevented me from being shunted on to
a side-line which would perhaps have taken me to a dead end.
I could never have been a party man, and there seems no place
under our system for anyone else. At the moment I was a little
sore, and I wrote a letter to the “Scotsman” which defi ned my
religious position as it was then, and caused, I believe, no little
comment. I had the following letter from Sir John Boraston,
who was the party organizer. The fi rst sentence refers to the
possibility of lodging a legal protest.
6 GREAT GEORGE STREET,
WESTMINSTER, LONDON, S.W.
October 18, 1900.
260
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