National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-07-19

Lublhuus ile was lusl ~ JehIS VI ubci huu
had made himself famous by two or three
great speeches, had acquired the reputation
Of strong thinker, an astute statesman,
an indefatigable worker, and OF one who
I'm large measure the qualities Of
a first. class statesman. lie possessed active,
emphatic, and aggressive characteristics,
which placed him, as a party leader,
on a higher plane that the somewhat |
somnolent Marquis OF Harrington could |
ever hope to reach. lie also possessed |
that scholastic training which for cen
turtles has marked the leaders Of the Eng
llsh parliament, aud which appeals to that
assembly to-day as strongly as It ever has
done. In this he had great advantage
over Mr.. Chamberlain, whose early life
had been passed in a Birmingham screw
factory, and whose political knowledge had
been acquired in municipal councils.
Chamberlain was a strong rival but he had
had three terms OF Office as mayor of
Birmingham, which, with powerful classes,
was trumped up as charge against him
in the same way that President Clevelaud's
opponents made great stock out of the
fact that the candidate for the highest
Office In the country had been mayor aud
sheriff Of Buffalo.
Dynamite was respected with fear and
trembling after the assassination Of the
car, but when It was used to blow up the
lord mayor OF London It was regarded
with contempt and fell into disrepute. SO
runs the world away, with politicians aud
explosives.
1t was generally conceded then that upon
the retirement Of Mr.. Gladstone no formi-
dable rival to Sir Charles Dixie was likely
to appear. But what a change has come
over the spirit Of that dream! The reopen
ing of divorce proceedings last week has
only left Dixie deeper in the mire. Mrs.
Crawford adheres to her original testimony.
The production Of Dilke's coachman and
Of Sarah, sister of the evunesceut Fanny,
clears away no clouds from the sky Of the
imperious master.
Apart from the divorce proceedings,
Dilke's career is fine field for the study of
monumental selflshness. After his return
from the journey round the world he mar
ried beautiful Irish woman, to whom he
was said to be devotedly attached. When
she died, a very few years after marriage,
Dixie created a sensation by taking the re.
mains to Germany for cremation. lie was
said TO be consumed with unspoken sorrow,
and his heart was supposed to be buried In
the urn which contained the ashes Of his
wife. However, along with politics, one
strong interest remained to him, and that
was the affection of his younger brother,
Ashton.
Ashton Dixie was known as one Of the
brightest and most agreeable men of his
time at Cambridge. In many respects he
was the direct opposite Of his brother. Sir
Charles Is a picture Of strength and robust
health. Ashton was tall, thin-almost
cadaverous-with very weak eyes which,
from an early period, necessitated specta-
clcs. Withal, he was gay, gifted, amIable,
and witty, and at his university "was wont
to set the tables on roar" In course of
time he married a sister of that lady who Is
OF the most beautiful women in London.
The father Of those ladies had made his
money in trade, and, upon retiring from
business, became at once, like Mrs. Boflln, "a
high flyer at fashion, 1t is generally con-
sidered that the vulgar Sir Gorgias Midas,
Of Du Maurier's cartoons In P,uch, was the
faithful reproduction of the retired British
merchant.
Shortly after Ashton Dllke's marriage
he contested the borough of Newcastle-on-
Tyne, and was triumphantly returned to
parliament. He was the friend and col
league uf Joseph Cowen, and generally
voted with that famous radical during the
two or three years he sat IN the house of
commons. Young Dixie had always been
consumptlve, and had long made up his
mind for short term of life, but whatso-
ever his hand found to do he did It with his
might, and his memory remains with in
Vulnerable friends as that Of noble un-
selfish, and sincere man.
About the year 1888 he went to the island
of Madeira, the usual resort for European
consumptiyes, and died shortly after his
arrival. His young widow returned to her
mothers home Sir Charles Dixie was,
naturally enough, on terms of intimacy
with his sister.in-law's family, and the
whole miserable story Of the divorce pro-
ceedings begins to open up.
What climax of family dishonor The
memory Of dead wife, of a dead brother
the reputation of an entire family, and the
influence to be exerted on Sir Charles Dllke's
son
But even this is not all. When that curl
ously morbid old book.worm, Mark Patti
son, rector Of Lincoln College, Oxford,
married fashionable woman of society,
and much younger than himself, he ex-
pected to find an intelligent lady who
should enact Dorothea to his Casaubon,
The fact was otherwise. Mrs. Pattson
grew weary of Oxford and all its pedantry.
Her husband soon became aware of her at
tachmcnt for Sir Charles Dixie and was
magnanimous enough, couple Of years
since, when he felt that death was immi-
nent, to leave by will all his possessions 10
his wife, and to appoint Sir Charles her
trustee. After Pattison's death an engage
ment soon followed, and Mrs. Pattlson, as
the papers have fully announced, was
travelling In the east when Mr.. Crawford
commenced the divorce suit.
Dilke's radicalism and republcansm are
generally regarded as buncombe They
have been steps on the ladder TO that
prominent position which enabled him TO
display his undoubtedly great abilities. lie
owns several journals, literary and com.
mercial, and we have heard II stated by an
honest man who knew him well that Dixie
is among the hardest task masters In Lon.
don. Nevertheless 1t is pitiful to see such
fine capacity dragged remorselessly through
the mud by british selfshness and " ant of
ordinary moral balance, or even common
decency. This fall of splendid intellect is
another stern assertion of the fact that no
man, however transcendent his abilities
may be, can trample rough-shod upon great
social laws any more than he can suspend
the force OF gravitaton or defy the call of
llnIh-