I may be wrong, but I can’t recall anyone else mining these diaries for the light or darkness they throw on John Redmond, John Dillon. T.P.O’Connor and Joe Devlin of the Irish Parliamentary Party, nor on Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera, whom Scott met, nor the reflection they cast on himself.
Scott was intimate with all the British movers and shakers for many decades, including when they were mishandling Ireland and the world.
Scott was editor of the Manchester Guardian from 1872 to 1929 and its owner from 1907 until his death in 1932. In addition he was a Liberal MP from 1895 to 1906, and like his friend Lloyd George opposed Britain’s involvement in the Boer (2nd South African) War. Thus both were estranged from the Liberal Imperialists, Lord Rosebery and Herbert Asquith, who supported that war and favoured war with Germany.
In 1962, thirty years after Scott’s death, an edited selection of his Diaries from 1911 to 1928 was published by Trevor Wilson. I hope that the snippets I quote from time to time will encourage some readers to do their own research on the topics raised.
C.P. Scott took as the motto for his paper – “COMMENTS ARE FREE BUT FACTS ARE SACRED.”
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