292 THE CECILS
own way, without attempting to guide them. " He himself," says Lord Robert Cecil, 1 " was very averse to collaboration, and it was natural for him to think that his colleagues would equally dislike it. He did his own work best when left entirely to himself. He had no fear of respon- sibility, and it only hindered him to have to explain to others the reasons of his actions. The plan which suited him best he assumed to be the best for others also." But although the result of this defect in administration was a certain lack of cohesion in the policy of the Government, its success as a whole was remark- able.
In the domain of foreign policy, Lord Salisbury set the seal to his previous achievements, and for many years before his death he was recognised as the first statesman in Europe. Through these eventful years he threw the whole of his immense influence into the scale on the side of peace and in favour of arbitration, and his record is one of which he might well be proud.
He took office at a critical moment. The massacres in Armenia had roused public opinion to such a pitch of horror that, in view of the obstructive attitude of Russia, and the indifference of the other Powers to anything but their own interests, it seems to be clear that Lord Kimberley had decided to apply coercion to the Sultan unaided, and that war was, in fact, imminent. But although Lord Salisbury was a " sincere
1 Monthly Review, October, 1903.
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