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and
Imperial concerns. Even while advocating the creation of parliaments for Britain and the Empire as a whole, Oliver was deeply critical of British democracy. He expressed these feelings in private, such as a letter he wrote during World War I that said, "…Democracy is not going to win this war or any other – if we win, it will be because the spirit of the small remnant who hate and despise democracy and all its works will save the country in spite of its democratic government." His attitude led him to play a part in the fall of the Asquith government later in the war as a member of the so-called
265:. In 1916 the Asquith government finally introduced conscription. Asquith fell from power in December 1916 and was replaced by Lloyd George, whereupon the new government carried out further measures in an attempt to make a stronger military effort in the war. Since not all of these men were Round Table members, some historians argue that the activities of the Monday Night Cabal were not Round Table-related, while others see them as part of a larger pattern of attempts by the Round Table to influence political events from behind-the-scenes.
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230:. Like Oliver, a number of Round Table members, most notably Lord Milner, also distrusted British democracy, and they began to look for ways to replace Asquith with someone who shared their ideas. They especially pressed for "national service," or conscription, to replace Britain’s volunteer army, a position Oliver had held even before war with Germany broke out.
98:, saying that: "… the union of the British race, the firm and effective federation of our people in all quarters of the earth, appears to me to be of such transcendent importance as a matter of both morals and of politics, that if the achievement of it required a sacrifice instead of a gain, I should be prepared to make it.
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using the pseudonym "Pacificus". These articles, which first appeared in May 1910, outlined his federalist ideas, especially his proposal for the establishment of separate parliaments in the United
Kingdom to deal with purely local issues, while a supreme parliament would be responsible for national
145:
Oliver's biography of
Hamilton was also influential in the United States. Oliver had interpreted the Hamilton–Jefferson rivalry as a conflict between two ideologies and types of statesmanship: the one based on reality, the other duped by illusion; the one commanding, the other led by circumstances;
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Following World War I, Oliver reduced his political activities, though he remained a member of the Round Table and continued writing books and essays. He was particularly disappointed by the political settlement reached with
Ireland, which ran counter to his desire for a federalized system for
214:, where most of the planning was completed, and once the Round Table was established, he maintained a "keen" interest in its affairs for the rest of his life. A member of the movement’s central committee, or "Moot," he helped to edit
210:, the Kindergarten held a series of meetings to establish the Round Table movement, having as its immediate goal the federation of the British Empire. Oliver also attended the meetings, most notably at
74:. Oliver practiced law for three years, but he abandoned this career because he wanted to marry his first cousin Katharine Augusta McLaren. He joined the linen drapery firm of
108:, which used the example set by the federalists of the early United States to argue for a federal arrangement for the British Empire. The book came to the attention of Lord
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in
Jedburgh which he gave to the town. Katharine Augusta Oliver opened the house in 1930. Oliver died on 3 June 1934 at Edgerston and was buried in the local churchyard.
34:, was a prominent Scottish political writer and businessman who advocated tariff reform and imperial union for the British Empire. He played an important role in the
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202:, in 1906, and most of its members returned to England in 1909 when it became clear that British South Africa would be unified. Led by Lord Milner,
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After World War I broke out in 1914, Oliver and many of his friends in the Round Table felt frustrated by the policies of Prime
Minister
422:
Patrick M. Kirkwood, “Alexander
Hamilton and the Early Republic in Edwardian Imperial Thought”, Britain and the World 12.1 (2019), 28-50
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member, Oliver expressed his political leanings in a series of books, pamphlets, and newspaper articles. In one of his first pamphlets,
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The term is used by A.M. Gollin in his study of Lord Milner. Another Round Table scholar, J.E. Kendle, uses the term "ginger group."
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Each Monday night a group of these and other men met to discuss strategies for deposing
Asquith. The main members included: Oliver,
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which enabled him to marry. He became a partner in 1904. The company was extraordinarily successful and he was a rich man by 1914.
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Britain and the World (Magazine), “Alexander
Hamilton and the Early Republic in Edwardian Imperial Thought”, 12 March 2019
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in 1916, and pressed for "home rule all round" to resolve the political conflict between
Britain and Irish nationalists.
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142:, another friend of the Kindergarten, believed that Oliver had "a real and enduring influence on political thought."
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351:"Oliver, Frederick Scott (1864–1934), draper and polemicist | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography".
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asserted, "The book had probably more influence than any other political book of the decade." Novelist
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101:"The desire for union, the grand Federal Idea, comes first, and a long way first among my motives."
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Oliver was born on 20 February 1864 to Catherine McLaren and John Scott Oliver. His grandfather was
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during the latter half of World War I, and contributed his own anonymous articles.
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hailed it as "one of the noblest biographies in our language". According to
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Internet Archive (please sign up to view footnote and reference sources):
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701:"The Anvil of War: Letters between F.S. Oliver and His Brother 1914–1918"
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Proconsul in Politics: A study of Lord Milner in opposition and in power
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The Anvil of War: Letters Between F.S. Oliver and His Brother, 1914-1918
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The Anvil of War: Letters between F.S. Oliver and His Brother 1914–1918
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became the Bible of the young men of Milner’s Kindergarten." In 1934
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474:(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998), pp. 333–334.
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The Anglo-American Establishment: From Rhodes to Cliveden
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188:"Milner’s Kindergarten" and the Round Table movement
435:(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1975), 129.
357:(online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004.
274:Britain and Ireland. In 1916 he bought a house at
173:Oliver also wrote numerous political articles for
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38:, collaborated in the downfall of Prime Minister
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42:'s wartime government and its replacement by
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58:. His father was a merchant and he attended
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30:(20 February 1864 – 3 June 1934), known as
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278:near Jedburgh and in 1926 he retired from
619:(New York: Books In Focus, 1981), 140–41.
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104:In 1906 Oliver published the biography
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82:Major writings and political thought
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536:(New York: Macmillan, 1964), 247.
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124:of 1899–1902. According to
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838:Scottish political writers
64:Trinity College, Cambridge
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751:Quigley, Carroll (1981).
606:Kendle, Round Table, 183.
222:The "Monday Night Cabal"
843:Scottish businesspeople
743:"Proconsul in Politics"
216:The Round Table Journal
76:Debenham & Freebody
783:Frederick Scott Oliver
746:. New York: MacMillan.
363:10.1093/ref:odnb/35305
28:Frederick Scott Oliver
789:Works by F. S. Oliver
470:Merrill D. Peterson,
313:The Endless Adventure
269:Later years and death
259:Leander Starr Jameson
199:Milner's Kindergarten
114:Milner's Kindergarten
785:at Wikimedia Commons
724:Peterson, Merrill D.
704:. London: MacMillan.
383:Stephen Gwynn, ed.,
282:. In 1928 he bought
251:General Henry Wilson
112:and the members of "
60:Edinburgh University
36:Round Table movement
96:Imperial Federation
88:Unionist Party (UK)
297:Alexander Hamilton
284:Queen Mary's House
263:David Lloyd George
194:Alexander Hamilton
181:Monday Night Cabal
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62:. He then went to
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373:required.)
21:See also:
652:19 August
503:, p. 343.
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329:Footnotes
280:Debenhams
276:Edgerston
175:The Times
135:The Times
126:Leo Amery
804:(Canada)
740:(1964).
726:(1960).
712:(1975).
698:(1936).
593:Kendle,
571:, 17–18.
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520:, 18–19.
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457:Kendle,
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122:Boer War
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580:Gwynn,
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409:Gwynn,
396:Gwynn,
597:, 183.
461:, 125.
448:, 126.
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261:, and
206:, and
158:, and
632:, 28.
630:Anvil
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582:Anvil
569:Anvil
558:, 63.
518:Anvil
413:, 13.
411:Anvil
398:Anvil
764:Link
681:Link
673:Link
654:2018
400:, 8.
324:1936
316:1930
308:1915
300:1906
154:and
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