Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
65 quotes
“My appearance in such a proud posture is owing to the support I have received from my friends of the working classes. In the words of a paraphrase of Horace, the Scottish working man is "a stubborn chiel, As hot as ginger and as true as steel.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1868 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech from the window of his hotel, where he had been carried shoulder-high after his election for Stirling Burghs (c. 7 December 1868), quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman,…
“Now, Sir, even supposing—which many may doubt—that it is advisable to supplement at the University the religious training which is better received at home, and at an earlier period of life, I venture to submit that this so-called "religious education" has no substantial value.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1869 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Universities Tests Bill (29 June 1869)
“In general, we, who are in favour of compulsory education, are told that it is impracticable...because it is opposed by the general feeling of Scotland. Now, I can assure the House that that is not the case. As far as my experience goes, I believe our countrymen in the North are far too shrewd to be misled by any fear of the horrors attendant on compulsory education, and the interference which it is supposed to create with the liberty of the subject.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1869 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Scottish Parochial Schools Bill (27 July 1869)
“The United Presbyterian Church was a purely voluntary association; and with regard to the Free Church, there was some doubt as to what was the real cause of the Disruption of 1843. In his opinion, the Free Church went out on the higher ground of spiritual independence, and that patronage was only the overt occasion of the Disruption.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1874 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Scottish Church Patronage Bill (13 July 1874)
“The evils attending the traffic in offices had been well known in past times; Parliament, in its wisdom, had raised barriers against them; and the present House was asked to pull these barriers down, and to renounce the principle which hitherto had governed the public service of England, Naval, Military, and Civil—the principle that men entered the service not that the poor man might make gain, nor that the rich man might indulge his fancy, but in order that rich and poor alike might do their duty.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1875 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Bill to legalise money payments for regimental exchanges (22 February 1875)
“He was entirely in favour of minimizing public-houses. He thought too many facilities for drinking existed in Scotland; but at the same time he thought they ought to be judged and dealt with by local authorities—at any rate, this House should not, without hesitation and inquiry, commit itself to an arbitrary rule of this kind.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Scottish Temperance Bill (14 March 1877)
“Liberal politics meant the politics of common-sense.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1884 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Spectator (17 February 1884), pp. 223-224, quoted in John Wilson, C.B.: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1973), p. 230
“My recent connection with the Government of Ireland has only served to increase my appreciation of the difficulties to be met by those who administer the affairs of that country. I am desirous of seeing at the earliest possible moment a large extension of local self-government in Ireland; but I would give no countenance to the scheme of those who seek to injure this country, as they would assuredly ruin their own, by separation under one name or another.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1885 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Election address (c. 15 October 1885), quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, G.C.B. Vol. I (1923), p. 89
“Mr. Gladstone has shown us in many cases how his high authority, his knowledge of affairs, his firm grasp of principles, his marvellous mastery of details can subdue difficulties and guide us out of a labyrinth from which it might seem hopeless to seek an issue. Let us rejoice that his bodily force is not yet seriously abated, and let us hope that in the coming Parliament to which he himself has summoned the fresh energy of the newly enfranchised electors, he may add yet this signal service to those he has already rendered to his country.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1885 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Stirling (23 October 1885), quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, G.C.B. Vol. I (1923), p. 89
“It is not too much to say that the fact that the responsible Government of the Queen has proposed to Parliament the establishment of a statutory Parliament in Ireland, with full control of Irish affairs, is the gravest and most startling event in the political life of any man among us.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1886 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Irish Home Rule Bill (13 May 1886)
“[W]e must give to the Irish people, in one form or another, the self-government they desire.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1886 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Irish Home Rule Bill (13 May 1886)
“Is there any man in the House who would think of sending an Army Corps on the Continent to engage in a Continental war with one of the great European nations? Such a possibility I dismiss from my mind altogether. What we want our Army for is to garrison India and the Colonies, to defend the shores of this country, and to supply those small special expeditions which are from time to time sent out to the small wars, in which, unfortunately, we are often engaged.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1893 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (9 March 1893)
“I have said that in my opinion at the present time, as to the main fabric of our Army system, the truest courage and the best reforming wisdom lies in leaving well alone.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1895 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (15 March 1895)
“I am enough son of my country and have enough of the Shorter Catechism still sticking about my inside to do my best when a thing comes straight to me.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to John Ellis shortly before he became leader of the Liberal Party (c. January 1899), quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, G.C.B. Vol. I (1923), p. 216
“I am well aware—no one is better aware—that I am poorly equipped for the duties of that position in comparison with some distinguished men who have gone before me; but there is one thing in which I will yield to none of them—namely, in my devotion to the Liberal party and my faithful adherence to Liberal principles.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the Reform Club to the meeting of Liberal members of the House of Commons, where Campbell-Bannerman was selected leader of the Liberal Party (6 February 1899), quoted in The Times (7 February 1899), p. 10
“I declare in the strongest terms that I am, above all things, a loyal son of the House of Commons, and that I place before all interests, even the interest of the great historic party to which I am proud to belong, the maintenance and the advancement of the name and fame and power of the great Assembly to which we all belong.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the Reform Club to the meeting of Liberal members of the House of Commons, where Campbell-Bannerman was selected leader of the Liberal Party (6 February 1899), quoted in The Times (7 February 1899), p. 10
“The greatest of British interests is peace.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the Circus, Anlaby Road, Hull (8 March 1899), quoted in The Times (9 March 1899), p. 6
“As to war itself, a direct preparation for actual hostilities, I must only repeat here what I have said elsewhere, that from the beginning of this story to the end of it I can see nothing whatever which furnishes a case for armed intervention... [A] war in South Africa—a war with one of the independent States in South Africa—would be one of the direst calamities that could occur.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (28 July 1899)
“Liberal Domestic Policy”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) said by 1908 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Excerpts from a leader’s speech Campbell-Bannerman delivered in Hull in 1899”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) said by 1908 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To my mind, the dominant point of the situation is not South Africa, where we can and must win, but the critical and dangerous state of our position in Europe. I believe the Opposition can do inestimable service to the country in producing a better state of things relatively to Europe. But, to bring that about, it is absolutely essential that we should dissociate ourselves from the Raid and Chamberlainism.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter (c. January 1900), quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, G.C.B. Vol. I (1923), p. 275
“I am half-surprised to find that as I go on I get more and more confirmed in the old advanced Liberal principles, economic, social, & political, with which I entered Parliament 30 years ago.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to John Spencer (19 February 1900), quoted in John Wilson, C.B.: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1973), p. 326
“I have never uttered a pro-Boer word: I have been anti-Joe but never pro-Kruger.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Herbert Gladstone (1 June 1900), quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, G.C.B. Vol. I (1923), p. 279
“The proper way to lead the Boers into harmony with us and restore contentment and prosperity to the whole community was to leave them alone as far as possible—to leave them with their old form of government, with their own ways, with their own machinery of government—in order that the burgher, when he went about his daily life, should discern as little as possible the difference between that which happened to him as a British subject and that which happened to him when he was the subject of an independent State.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Kilmarnock during the general election campaign (11 October 1900), quoted in The Times (12 October 1900), p. 9
“I confess that the thing which concerns me most is to find that Chamberlainism pays with our Country men. They worship a forcible man and a clever man, and if his methods are vulgar, dishonourable, unfair, they only smile and approve. The lowering of the standard of public life is a far worse evil, because more permanent, than toryism, jingoism, or any other heresy; panem et circenses: money spent in the country, flags to wave, bluster to shout for—that is the object: let right and honour and freedom go and be hanged! The commencement de siècle morals, apparently!”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Lord Ripon after the Liberals were defeated in the general election (29 October 1900), quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, G.C.B. Vol. I (1923), p. 298
“All that he said about the clean state and efficiency was an affront to Liberalism & was pure claptrap – Efficiency as a watchword! Who is against it? This is all a mere réchauffé of Mr. Sydney Webb who is evidently the chief instructor of the whole faction.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1901 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Herbert Gladstone on Lord Rosebery's speech advocating national efficiency collectivism (18 December 1901), quoted in John Wilson, C.B.: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1973), p. 371
“We have in all things three great enemies: (1) devotion to material prosperity, national and individual; (2) love of sport and gambling in all forms; (3) apathy.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1902 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to A. Crowe (10 May 1902), quoted in Frank Trentmann, Free Trade Nation: Commerce, Consumption, and Civil Society in Modern Britain (2008), p. 63
“We are keenly in sympathy with the representatives of Labour. We have too few of them in the House of Commons. ...The Liberal party, high and low, have discovered, if they ever forgot it, that the real road to success...lies in adhering to the old principles of the party.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1903 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to Liberals in Belmont (2 January 1903), quoted in John Wilson, C.B.: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1973), p. 394
“I may be a Liberal and I may be a party man and I may be a Parliament man, but I am something before it all—I am a Scot, a Scot of Scots, not an Anglofied Scot, not even that other variety and combination to which we often owe much—a Scotofied Anglo. I am a Scotland Scot, and I trust I know something of my countrymen and understand their feelings, their prejudices, their weaknesses, which I share. That I believe is a great bond, if you will allow me to say so, between you and me.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1904 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to a dinner of the Scottish Liberal Club in Edinburgh (4 November 1904), quoted in The Times (5 November 1904), p. 12
“We want two things. We want relief from the pressure of excessive taxation, and at the same time we want money to meet our own domestic needs at home, which have been too long starved and neglected owing to the demands on the taxpayer for military purposes abroad.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1905 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the Albert Hall, London (21 December 1905), quoted in The Times (22 December 1905), p. 7
“For ten years they [the Conservative Party] have been supported by an immense majority in the House of Commons. ... The period over which we are looking back presents itself to me, I confess, as a well-nigh unbroken expanse of mismanagement; of legislation conducted for the benefit of privileged classes and powerful interests; of wars and adventures abroad hastily embarked upon and recklessly pursued. The legacy which they have bequeathed to their successors...is in the main a legacy of embarrassment, an accumulation of public mischief appalling in its extent and ramifications.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Election Address, quoted in The Times (8 January 1906), p. 8
“Ten years ago the incoming Conservative Government found the national finances in good order. .... What do we find to-day? Expenditure and indebtedness have been piled up, the income-tax stands at a shilling, war taxes are continued in peace time, the national credit is impaired, and a heavy depreciation has taken place in securities of every description. You only have to look around to see the result. Industry is burdened, enterprise is restricted, workmen are thrown out of employment, and the poorer classes are straitened still further in their circumstances.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Election Address, quoted in The Times (8 January 1906), p. 8
“I hold that protection is not only bad economy, but that it is an agency at once immoral and oppressive, based as it is and must be on the exploitation of the community in the interest of favoured trades and financial groups. I hold it to be a corrupting system, because honesty and purity of administration must be driven to the wall if once the principle of taxes for revenue be departed from in favour of the other principle, which I conceive to be of the essence of protection—that, namely, of taxes for private beneficiaries.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Election Address, quoted in The Times (8 January 1906), p. 8
“The bonds of mutual understanding and esteem are strengthening between the peoples, and the time is approaching when nothing can hold back from them the knowledge that it is they who are the victims of war and militarism; that war in its tawdry triumphs scatters the fruits of their labour, breaks down the paths of progress, and turns the fire of constructive energy into a destroying force.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the opening of the 14th Inter-Parliamentary Conference in the Royal Gallery of Westminster Palace (23 July 1906), quoted in The Times (24 July 1906), p. 3
“[W]e who base our confidence and our hopes on the Parliamentary system—New institutions have often a disturbed, if not a stormy youth. The Duma will revive in one form or another. We can say with all sincerity, “The Duma is dead; long live the Duma.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the opening of the 14th Inter-Parliamentary Conference in the Royal Gallery of Westminster Palace (23 July 1906), quoted in The Times (24 July 1906), p. 3
“[O]ur aim is...to secure a national and not a denominational system, public and not sectarian, on the general basis of a common Christianity instead of a sectional Christianity, to make our educational system the handmaid of the community and not the handmaid of any church or sect, and to prevent the common schools of the country, which are maintained out of the public purse, from being provided and worked with two doors...one bringing in the poor little children from the streets, and the other ushering them into a particular church.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Education Bill (20 December 1906)
“We are not extreme revolutionaries, although we do not shrink from formidable changes... We are not foes of property, but we are anxious to see property more righteously apportioned. If that is effected, property will be safer than it is.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech on land reform to a national land and housing demonstration in London (20 April 1907), quoted in The Times (22 April 1907), p. 18
“I rise to move, "That, in order to give effect to the will of the people as expressed by their elected representatives, it is necessary that the power of the other House to alter or reject Bills passed by this House should be so restricted by law as to secure that within the limits of a single Parliament the final decision of the Commons shall prevail.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (24 June 1907)
“Scotsmen...had played a not inglorious part in the work which they were destined to share of creating a common Empire and building up a united Britain... [T]he two countries [Scotland and England] had seen the growth of relations of mutual interest, mutual respect, and mutual understanding; and whoever tested the combination by its results in any field of thought or action or effort in learning, in literature, in statesmanship, in commerce, in the arts of peace or on the battlefield, must acknowledge that it had been a mighty combination, exercising a profound effect for good upon the world.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the Synod Hall, Edinburgh, upon receiving the freedom of the city (30 October 1907), quoted in The Times (31 October 1907), p. 6
“If people should say of me that I tried always to go straight there is perhaps no credit to me in that. It may have been mere indolence. The straight road always seemed to me the easiest.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) said by 1908 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to a friend on his death bed, quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, G.C.B. Vol. II (1923), p. 407
“There are many who croak that the decadence of the Empire has commenced. I am no believer in anything of that sort. If the glory of this country is founded on foreign aggression, if it is supported by military force, if it be dependent on our power of extorting unwilling allegiance from members of our race in distant quarters of the globe—if all this is to be glory that is to attach to a Christian nation like this—if this is the glory, I rejoice that it is passing away. I am not sneering at all at the past history of our country, I am aware that in the past we have acted according to the spirit of the age and we have shown ourselves equal to any other nation. But let us not revert to that state of things; let us not go back instead of forward. Let us rather show other nations a more excellent way; let us set ourselves to encourage a brotherly, friendly, generous spirit among the nations, and at home let us apply ourselves to the reduction of that jealousy and distrust which at present exist, and to the promotion of a more friendly spirit among all classes; and let us above all attack the tremendous task that we have before us in the conquering of the monster of ignorance and vice which exists amongst us.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1868 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Stirling Burghs after the declaration of the poll of the by-election in which Campbell-Bannerman was the unsuccessful candidate (30 April 1868), quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Ca…
“I know that I possess the sympathy and the goodwill of the working-classes of the Burghs. I say I know it. Not that I hope for it—I say I have it. And there has been nothing that has occurred during the last six months which has belied that conviction. Wherever I have gone I have been received with the greatest kindness and hearty goodwill, and in every part of the constituency the general public have crowned me with honours which I have done nothing to deserve. All that I want from you is to afford me the opportunity of deserving this honour. Entrust your Parliamentary interests to me. I promise to devote myself to your service and to show by my conduct that I reciprocate the great sympathy, kindness, and confidence which you have placed in me.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1868 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Stirling Burghs during the general election campaign (c. November 1868), quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, G.C.B. Vol. I (1923), p. 29
“This is not, I say, a sectarian question, it is a national question; it is not a question of aggrandizing or denuding any individual sect, it is a question of raising the efficiency of the Universities as national instruments of education; and I firmly believe that the infusion of new blood, which will result from the adoption of this policy, will speedily bring their teaching organization into greater harmony with the times... We wish to see the Universities thrown altogether open to the nation; and thus, while the nation derives the full benefit of the high traditional position of those great institutions, my hope is, that the freer and fuller life of the nation will in turn react on the Universities, and render them better qualified to fill their high position.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1869 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Universities Tests Bill (29 June 1869)
“There would be, in fact, in Scotland, when this Bill received its full development, a purely and entirely denominational system of education. There was only one solution of the difficulty, and that was this—the State should cease to undertake the religious education of children. The Scottish people were, perhaps, more than any other imbued with the spirit of religion; there was no country where religious and moral training was more highly prized... In that country it would, therefore, be perfectly safe to leave religious instruction to voluntary effort... If they had, instead of adopting a course of compromise, adhered to their own principles, and thrown themselves on the loyal support of their own party, they would not only have carried their Bill, but—what was of far more importance—they would have laid down sound lines upon which, by common consent, might have been built a national system of education for each of the three divisions of the kingdom.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1871 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Scottish Education Bill (27 February 1871)
“[T]here is and has been this popular feeling in Ireland extending gradually and steadily against our rule; and it is this spirit which constitutes the difficulty of government in Ireland. Let not the House think that it has anything whatever to do with crime and disorder... [N]o strengthening of legal powers, no exercise of law, whether exceptional or ordinary, can operate in check of a growing national feeling such as this. If you try to check it you will probably do nothing but exasperate it and make it stronger. And when, in addition to all this, on looking closely into what the object of this national sentiment is, we find that there is nothing in it mischievous or unreasonable, and that the object it has in view—which is the self-government of Ireland—is one which is in conformity with equity, reason, and common sense, I say we are called upon to go a step further, and, when we find our difficulty arising from this source, we ought to try whether by yielding to the wishes of the Irish people we may not take the shortest way to bring quiet and good government to that country.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1886 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Irish Home Rule Bill (13 May 1886)
“My own conviction is that it is only by local parliaments & local executives in each of the three kingdoms that we can settle H[ome] R[ule] at all... [M]y experience is that everywhere I go the body of a meeting favours Scotch H.R. ... It is not a doctrine imposed on the people by us for our purposes: it is a genuine growth of popular opinion... Scotch Home Rule involves English H. Rule; and that not one in a thousand Englishmen has ever grasped the idea of having a local Parlt. as apart from the common Imperial Parlt., so that Scotch Home Rule must wait until the sluggish mind of John Bull is educated up to that point. Nothing rash, but nothing discouraging, is therefore, I think, what ought to be our motto.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1889 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Donald Crawford (1889), quoted in John Wilson, C.B.: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1973), pp. 155-156
“What do we mean by this Liberalism of which we talk? … I should say it means the acknowledgement in practical life of the truth that men are best governed who govern themselves; that the general sense of mankind, if left alone, will make for righteousness; that artificial privileges and restraints upon freedom, so far as they are not required in the interests of the community, are hurtful; and that the laws, while, of course, they cannot equalise conditions, can, at least, avoid aggravating inequalities, and ought to have for their object the securing to every man the best chance he can have of a good and useful life.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1898 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Liberal Magazine (January 1898), p. 530, quoted in John Wilson, C.B.: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1973), p. 232
“Now, what is the position of us Liberals with regard to the government of Ireland? ... We have a constitutional demand to which you and I as Democrats cannot refuse to listen. We have a desire for self government which you and I as Liberals must see to be the basis of good order and prosperity. We have a recognition of the patriotic feeling of nationality of which we and those who have gone before us have been the champions again and again, and we see the supremacy of the Imperial power and Parliament fully maintained. Why, gentlemen, how then can we, as long as we use the name of Liberal—how can we abandon, as they invite us to do, our Irish policy? We will remain true to the Irish people as long as the Irish people are true to themselves.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the Circus, Anlaby Road, Hull (8 March 1899), quoted in The Times (9 March 1899), p. 6
“If an Imperialist means a man who would maintain at the highest pitch the power by land and sea of the Empire, who would secure perfect safety for these islands from hostile attack, but who is not content to confine his view to these islands; who would preserve the territorial integrity and interests of the Empire; who would guard our rights of trade either within the Empire or beyond its bounds; and who would strengthen by every means in his power the ties that bind us to our kinsmen in every quarter of the globe—if that is to be an Imperialist, then, ladies and gentlemen, there is not a man here, there is not a man in this great Liberal meeting, who is not as unflinching an Imperialist as those who have the word always on their lips. We are not afraid of the responsibilities of Empire, we are proud to be the guardians of the heritage handed down by our fathers, nay, we do not shrink from adding to it if duty or honour compels us; but we abjure the vulgar and bastard Imperialism of irritation, and provocation, and aggression, of clever tricks and manoeuvres against neighbours, and of grabbing everything even if we have no use for it ourselves.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the Circus, Anlaby Road, Hull (8 March 1899), quoted in The Times (9 March 1899), p. 6
“Mine is "Common-sense Imperialism." I should be much surprised if it were not found that I belong to the largest congregation of all who worship at that shrine. We have in this country an overflowing population, and we are bound to find for their industrial energy ever fresh and fresh fields and outlets. We, therefore, cannot do a work more patriotic and more conducive to the happiness of our own people at home than by developing the resources of the Empire, by securing our trade rights, and by cultivating close, cordial and active relations with all the members of the British family scattered throughout the world. There is ample room here for all our activity, and for my part I grudge to see any of that activity diverted to the acquisition—sometimes it may be inevitable—to the acquisition of new dominions which may bring us glory, but which very often is rather a burden than a source of advantage for many years.”
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Birmingham (24 November 1899), quoted in J. A. Spender, The Life of The Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, G.C.B. Vol. I (1923), pp. 257-258