Goodbye to All That

In the House of Commons one afternoon last week, question time had just ended. Members began sauntering away from the crowded government front bench below the gangway. Among the last to leave were two former Prime Ministers of Britain. Venerable, 89-year-old Winston Churchill rose slowly, made a few tottering steps. Instantly, the other ex-Prime Minister, grey-haired Harold Macmillan, was at his side, putting a steadying hand beneath Churchill's arm. Macmillan, now 70 and barely recovered from a serious prostate operation last fall, no longer carries himself with the ramrod posture of a Guardsman. Together, the elder statesmen walked slowly beneath Churchill Arch and into the members' lobby: two great national figures moving into the sunset glow of history.

Comedy's End. Churchill has already announced that he will officially retire from politics when this Parliament is dissolved. Last week, at his Sussex home of Birch Grove, Harold Macmillan came to the same decision. "One doesn't want to hang around," he explained to newsmen and photographers. "I don't think it's very dignified. When the curtain falls, the best thing an actor can do is to go away." As the press conference broke up, Macmillan turned to his wife, Lady Dorothy, said, "La commedia e finita." He had boldly played the game of politics for 40 years--23 on the front bench, 17 in office, and seven as Prime Minister (the longest continuous rule since Asquith resigned in 1916).

Macmillan's departure coincides with a low point in the fortunes of his Conservative Party. Yet most of the goals Macmillan set himself on entering 10 Downing Street were resoundingly achieved. Since succeeding luckless Anthony Eden after the 1956 disaster of Suez, Macmillan has aimed at 1) recementing the Anglo-American alliance, 2) easing the cold war, 3) freeing the African continent, and 4) obtaining Britain's entry into the European Common Market.

The first objective was the easiest, but the others were skillfully sought. Macmillan's personal initiative in going to Moscow set moving the machinery that eventually resulted in the test ban treaty. His "winds of change" attitude toward emerging African nationalism helped bring about the troubled birth of independence in Africa. Even the failure at Brussels, due solely to Charles de Gaulle's intransigent opposition to Britain's Common Market membership, may well be redeemed in the long run.

Oilless Flame. As politician, Macmillan made many enemies, for he was ruthless, Machiavellian and completely cold blooded in pursuit of his policies. But as a great parliamentarian, an unswerving patriot, and a man of courage, vision and humor, he will be long remembered. For the future, Macmillan intends to devote some of his time to his family's publishing house and hopes to commit at least "a few thoughts" to paper. He can also feel confident that his years in the political vineyards will be royally rewarded, either with an earldom or by being dubbed a Knight of the Garter, or both.

In departing the political scene, Macmillan remains true to his deep sense of history, and also to the promise he made two years ago at a party conference when, quoting Shakespeare, he said, "I do not intend to live after my flame lacks oil, to be the snuff of younger spirits."

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