Churchill, Randolph Henry Spencer, Lord, 1849-1895
Sir Henry Wolff set to work at once. He looked for his models to the
Orange Society which was influential in his constituency of Portsmouth,
and to the numerous benefit societies--Foresters, Oddfellows, Good
Templars, and the like--with which he was acquainted. He saw how popular
the badges, grades, and honorary distinctions of these bodies were with
the working classes who supported them. He resolved that the Primrose
League should be inferior to none of these in the variety of its regalia
or the magniloquence of its titles. He discussed all this at length with
Lord Randolph Churchill from day to day; but it was not until the autumn
that anyone else was admitted to their councils. During October and
November the first practical steps were taken. Lord Randolph Churchill,
Sir John Gorst, Sir Henry Wolff, and Sir Alfred Slade met together to
form ‘a new political society which should embrace all classes and all
creeds except atheists and enemies of the British nation.’ All four were
members of the Council of the National Union. They had exceptional
knowledge of the state of Conservative organisations. They saw quite
clearly the failure of the existing Conservative and Constitutional
Associations to suit the popular taste or to succeed in joining all
classes together in defence of the essential doctrines of Toryism. The
constitution of the League, its objects and its machinery were settled
even in detail at meetings held during these two months. Specimen badges
were made. The declaration to be signed by every member of the League
was drawn up by Sir John Gorst in the following terms: ‘I declare, on my
honour and faith, that I will devote my best ability to the _Maintenance
of Religion_, of the _Estates of the Realm_ and of the _Imperial
Ascendency of the British Empire_, and that, consistently with my
allegiance to the Sovereign of these Realms, I will promote with
discretion and fidelity the above objects, being those of the Primrose
League.’ Finally on November 17, in the card-room of the Carlton Club,
these four gentlemen resolved themselves into the Ruling Council of the
League with power to add to their number.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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