My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosleyhumbugs, whited sepulchres in the old biblical phrase, whose private lives sharplycontradicted their public standards, with the result that a dual morality, and aconsequent anxiety neurosis, produced a hysteria which was a danger to the nation'sbusiness. We must guard against a reversion to Puritanism whose denial of natureproduced these personal catastrophes as well as the present repulsive orgy of licence,from which happily the mass of the English people are still free, and aim in the futureat producing a new kind of man in statesmanship, who has been adumbrated in thehighest prototypes of the past; men of calm and balanced character, of freedom yet ofself-control, of discriminating taste rather than of inhibition. This is why I deal brieflywith topics which could not be justified entirely by any amusement they may cause,for the jokes are in a sense too tragic and the personal issues involved are too bitter. Itis necessary to blow the lid off humbug so that new values and new men may emerge.I am far from suggesting that the present position of Britain is due to the sexualrepression of its Prime Ministers, for A. J. P. Taylor probably underestimated when hewrote that six relatively recent Prime Ministers had committed adultery. Yet an acutedifference between public protestations and private standards, and the consequenthabit of humbug, can be an underlying cause of disaster, particularly whenaccompanied by a way of life which is in conflict with nature itself. Basic charactercan undoubtedly survive all life's vicissitudes if it be strong enough. Yet weakness ofcharacter can be aggravated by experience, just as the weak body further deterioratesin wrong living. Character can best be judged by the way men handle situations of allkinds.MacDonald's conduct in private affairs was all too similar to his action in publicaffairs. It is to illustrate this point that I follow briefly this by-way of history.MacDonald in this sphere was a strange case. He was at that time most handsome, asold men go, with good features, fine hair and a superb voice which was his greatestasset on the platform and in Parliament. Possibly the reason why he became leaderrather than the crippled Snowden was that he was so much better looking. F.E. oncesaid to me that in England no man gets far at the bar or in politics unless he is goodlooking, since the English care about looks. This is not altogether true, I have knownsome very ugly men who have been a success in politics, but there is something in itand MacDonald owed much to his physical appearance. Allied to these looks was avery sentimental temperament. Many comical tales used to be told about him. A manwho journeyed in the lower ranges of the Himalayas with him and lived in the nextroom of a chalet with a fine view, told us that MacDonald came out in the morning,just before the sun was rising, and throwing wide his arms exclaimed in his rollingScottish voice: 'The day belongs to the world, but the dawn belongs to me'. Suchstories made him rather a joke to the younger generation, as they were supported byhis obvious vanity and emotional character.MacDonald was in principle a moral man of Puritan antecedent and instinct; incompany with many of his colleagues, he would regard a love affair as a fall fromgrace rather than a fulfilment of life. Yet strangely enough the wittiest thing he eversaid to me indicated a wider view of these matters. An old man, who was a wellknownsupporter and a large subscriber to the party, became involved in a scandalousdivorce case. I said to MacDonald, in the lobby: 'This may do some harm'. 'Not at all,'he replied. 'If the old chap was your age, the public would be indignant because theywould know he had enjoyed it; but at his age they know it wouldn't give him much201 of 424