The morning call., 1891-01-24
DUKE, nrILEIoNAIRE AND SUICIDE.

The suicide Of the richest man in England,
and perhaps, in view of the stable nature of
his property, the richest man in the world. IS
an event OF no common interest. Men who
have reached their Seventy-frst year. and
who are in the enjoyment of all that
wealth, rank and power can beStow, do not
often shoot themselves through the heart.
Yet this is what Francis Russell, Duke
of Bedford aud owner of the best part
OF Belgravia. is said to have done. No rea-
son is assigned for the act. The Coroner's
jury declare that he took his life In fit of
insanity produced by pneumonia. But the
verdict is not believed to be the truth. Pneu-
m0nia does not cause insanity, and in the
| stage when it threatens to become fatal it
| generally produces inSenSibilitv By per-
| emptory orders left by the deceased, his body
was cremated Immediately after death, and
no post norton can be held. 1t looks as
| though the event might conceal mystery.
The late Duke. who was the ninth Duke
of Bedford, had held the title for eighteen
V aTS. His immediate predecessor was that
William Russell who was the elder brother
of Earl Russell, better known by the name
of Lord John Russell. William, eighth
Duke of Bedford, WAS a man of no common
ability. and was an authority in Whis coun-
tary struggles which preceded aud followed
thu Crimean war he was offered the Pre-
miership by the Queen, but he always de-
clined, preferrins the quiet of private life
to the turmoil in which his brother John de-
lighted. He vas, however, constantly con
suited by Lord John and by Palmerston,
and his counsel was generally held to be
sound. Francis, the ninth Duke. is not
known 10 have displayed political ability.
He devoted himself CHIEFLY to the collection
of his rents and to the Investment of his
surplus income. which was enormous.
The Russell family, upon which the Bed
ford title was bestowed nine generations
ago, were of different stuff. They believed
less in glory and mora in land. Al the time
of the reformation they became stout Pro-
testauts, and received as their reward fat
abbey lands, which they have ever since
held by the law of entail. One of these
lands comprises the heart OF the city of
London; others cover some OF the most
valuable suburbs. They are forbidden by
law to ALLEVIATE these properties; all are
based on ninety -nine-year leases, which, so
far as the lessee is concerned, is about as
good as a fee simple But ninety nine
years, though they are beyond the common
| span of human life, come to an end at last,
and then the land, with all the improve
ments thereon, reyerts to the heir Of the
lessor. Thus, Su h families rs the Bedf0rds
and the WeStminSters grow in wealth with
out any exertIon Of intellect at more
rapid rate tran the most acute and diligent
hnancier. Riches roll in to them while they
are sleeping Photographers tell US that the
late Duke had an income of a million ster-
ling or thereabouts No one but his stew
,l,D -
most experienced real estate agent would
shrink from endeavoring to estimate the
value Of fifty or n hundred acres of land in
the heart Of the greatest city in the world.
1t world be like calculating stellar distances
Nothing is certain but that The new Duke of
Bedford, who has been somewhat known
As the Marquis of TaviStock. will have a
much larger income than he can spend, and
that some day some agrarian movement
Will distribute his property among the law
less people of England