The Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt, was much exercised by the position of things in Liverpool, and telegraphed to me enquiring how many troops were available in Liverpool. I replied fifty, of whom twenty-five were raw recruits. Next morning the General in command at York called at the Town Hall, and stated that he had been instructed to send 2,000 infantry, and two squadrons of cavalry, and wished me to arrange for their accommodation. He startled me by adding, "I should like to send you a Gatling gun; they are grand things for clearing the streets." I felt this was getting serious. I assured him that we did not apprehend any grave trouble, or disturbances, and if it was known that I had consented to a Gatling gun being sent for the purpose he mentioned, I should make myself most unpopular, and that I hoped that the troops would be sent down gradually so as not to cause alarm. We arranged to place some of the troops at Rupert Lane, and some in volunteer drillsheds, but several hundred had to be quartered in the guard ship on the Mersey. All this was carried out so quietly that no notice of it appeared in the newspapers. We were congratulating ourselves upon the success of our scheme, when I received a note from Lord Chief Justice Coleridge, then presiding at the assizes, requiring my presence at St. George's Hall. I immediately obeyed the summons, and was ushered into the judge's private room. The Chief Justice at once stated that he was informed that a large number of troops had been brought into the town, without his sanction as the Judge of Assize. In vain I pleaded my ignorance that his Lordship's permission was necessary, that the troops had not been requisitioned by me, but had been sent by orders of the Home Secretary. His Lordship was much annoyed and said I ought to have known that a Judge of Assize was the Queen's representative, and no troops could be moved during an assize without the judge's sanction. His anger was however short-lived; he came to dine with me at the Town Hall the same evening, and made a capital speech, as he always did, and the morning's episode was not again mentioned. Things in Liverpool continued very unsettled and anxious, and to add to the difficulty a strike began. We were obliged to show the troops; the cavalry paraded the line of docks for two or three days, producing an excellent effect.