§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (VISCOUNT HALIFAX)My Lords, before we enter upon the business of to-day I think it will be in accordance with the general desire of your Lordships that we should join the other House in paying a tribute to the memory of that distinguished sailor and member of your Lordships' House, Earl Jellicoe, whose death has deprived the country of a great public servant. Within the sphere of human judgment the place that men occupy in history will always depend largely upon the calibre of the times in which their lot is cast, and upon the place in them which they are called by circumstances to take. And it is of the nature of great events to communicate their own character to those of which they are at once the test and the opportunity.
Upon the shoulders of Lord Jellicoe, called in August, 1914, to fill the post of first Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, rested the full weight of the nation's destiny. Nor was there anything more than plain truth in the dramatic phrase by which Mr. Churchill has, once for all, epitomized both the loneliness and the magnitude of that burden of responsibility: "Jellicoe was the only man on either side who could lose the war in an afternoon." Yet, bearing a load so heavy, where a single mistake might be irretrievable, Lord Jellicoe went about his task calm, steadfast and undaunted, and was content in accordance with his inner faith to leave the rest in other and higher hands. And, perhaps, because for this reason they felt some special power to belong to their Commander, his subordinates of all ranks gave him loyal and ungrudging service. His own bearing of great responsibilities inspired the Grand Fleet from highest to lowest with confidence in the successful issue of their operations. The trust between him and his Command was indeed the great secret of his strength. The battle of Jutland was not a resounding triumph like Trafalgar, but its fruit was a 219 victory none the less complete because it was not spectacular. Lord Jellicoe so handled his Fleet that when the German Admiral broke off the battle, control of the seas, upon which the safety of these islands and the whole outcome of the War rested, remained with the Grand Fleet unchallenged, until at length the surrender of the German Fleet in 1918 set the seal of victory upon the work of Lord Jellicoe, and of those united under him in that loyal and self-sacrificing co-operation which the brotherhood of sea-service pre-eminently demands. The country owes it primarily to Lord Jellicoe that, when he had exchanged the command of the Grand Fleet for the Board of Admiralty, means were found of dealing with the last menace from the sea, the submarine.
Lord Jellicoe, as your Lordships yourselves will remember him in this House, was a man of great simplicity. Concerned only to do his duty, and quite unaffected by any smaller consideration, for him publicity and popular acclaim had no appeal, nor was he careful to make defence against detractors. But with the passage of years this quality of reserve has only increased the stature of his reputation. A sailor before all things, of sailor stock, he spent most of his life afloat, and when the time came for him to leave the ships he loved, and the life of the sea which he understood so well, he continued to devote himself to the public service. The people of New Zealand will ever remember him with affection (greatly helped as he was in his work there by Lady Jellicoe) as one who represented His Majesty with exceptional understanding of the people and problems of that Dominion. Nor, when he laid down that office, did Lord Jellicoe retire, as he might well have claimed to do, to well-earned leisure. Instead he continued to devote himself to his fellow-country-men and, in particular as President of the British Legion, to the interests of all those who had in their several stations been his comrades in the War. Compelled by ill-health to retire from the Presidency, he continued active in their service up to the moment of his death. My Lords, a great sea captain, who earned the respect of friend and foe alike, a great leader and commander of men, has left us. We lament his loss to-day; but for all time men of his race will not forget the example of a life 220 which they will delight to honour, and strive to make the model of their own.
§ LORD SNELLMy Lords, my noble friends desire through me to associate themselves with the tribute which the noble Viscount the Leader of the House has paid to the memory of the late Lord Jellicoe. My own acquaintance with naval history and with the special experience of those whose business takes them upon the great waters gives me no sort of claim to speak of the place which Lord Jellicoe is destined to occupy among the many great seamen in our nation's proud story. But it may perhaps be permissible for a landsman like myself to venture an opinion that, at the most critical moment in her long story, upon Admiral Jellicoe perhaps more than upon any of the many gallant men who served her during the Great War the safety and the dear freedom of our land depended.
If in that hour of supreme crisis he had failed, all that life means to us might have been lost. Because he remained calm and steadfast all was safe. We scarcely dare imagine what the cost to us and to civilisation would have been if in him impetuous haste had taken the place of quiet deliberation, if in the sudden commotion of a great and crucial battle he had risked in an adventurous gamble the Fleet which he commanded. The whole course of our history might have been altered, our power for good in the councils of men perhaps destroyed for ever. By his command over himself, as well as of the great ships that did his will, he preserved the integrity and the honour of our land and so far as our historic liberties depended upon the command of the sea he made it possible for us, I trust for ever, to walk the earth as free men. We desire most sympathetically to support the tribute which the Leader of the House has paid.
VISCOUNT MERSEYMy Lords, in the absence of the noble Marquess who generally speaks from these Benches I should like to support what has been said. The only reason why I am speaking is that Lord Jellicoe was an old personal friend of mine. I think I first knew him thirty-five years ago in the abortive expedition for the relief of Peking. He was then our Chief of Staff, and as I was attached to that expedition I had the invaluable experience of 221 working with him. In fact, in our retreat we used to share the inside of one saddle as a pillow. He was severely wounded in that expedition, and both before and after his wound I remember quite clearly the qualities that impressed themselves upon me at any rate, and I fancy upon the whole expedition. As the noble Viscount the Leader of the House has said, one had complete confidence in him. He was tough, wiry and resourceful. One felt with him that no battle would be lost.
Afterwards I remember dining with him one or two nights before the late War broke out when he had in his pocket, I understand, his commission to take command of the Grand Fleet. I believe the only thing that made him repine about that was the idea that he was superseding his predecessor. He was, as the noble Viscount, Lord Halifax, has said, a man; he was extremely quiet and modest; in fact, if I may make the comparison, he was, like both the noble Lords who have just spoken, a man who thought a good deal more than he spoke. A religious man, a man of indomitable courage, a firm friend, he was a tower of strength to anyone who had anything to do with him. He was not only a great sailor but he was a really great Englishman, of that type of character which our race, I believe, always has, and always will respect and venerate.