The realities of the Battle of the Atlantic were brought home very vividly to us. We hope sincerely that for both Captain Richards and Mr. Martin the luck will continue to hold in their comings and goings up and down the salt seas.
FAMOUS OLD PETERITES.-VII. SIR WILLIAM GEORGE VERNON HARCOURT. There is, unfortunately, very little information at my disposal regarding Sir William Harcourt's life at St. Peter's School. We do know, however, that he attended the school under the Headmastership of Stephen Creyke, who was at the school from 1827-1838. William Harcourt lived then at Bishopthorpe, and at the age of six he began to ride three miles into York to be a day boy at St. Peter's. The only other information I have about his schooldays concerns a story about the narrow escape from death that he had in one of the mock elections held yearly at the school. Conservative opinions apparently ran strong, and it seems that the Conservative element scented in Sir William a future Radical leader, and so they took it into their heads to hang him in sport. This was duly carried out, and had it not been for Thomas Richardson, the second master, the whole affair may have had a tragic ending. On leaving St. Peter's Sir William went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with first-class honours in the Classical Tripos in 1851, and in 1854 he was called to the Bar. He quickly made his mark in London Society as a brilliant talker. He contributed largely to the " Saturday Review," and in 1862 wrote some famous letters to " The Times " under the name of " Historicus." In these he opposed the recognition of the Southern. States as belligerents in the American Civil War. In 1868 he sat in Parliament as Liberal Member for Oxford and maintained this position until 1880, when he held a seat for Derby and later West Monmouthshire. He was appointed Solicitor-General and knighted in 1873. In 1892 he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer in Mr. Gladstone's Government and held this post until 1895. It was in this capacity that his main importance lies, for he scored the only Parliamentary success for his party during its period of office. Money was needed for the Navy, as the Spencer building programme had to be paid for. Though he put a penny on the income tax, 6d. a gallon on spirits and 6d. a gallon on beer, even more drastic measures 27
