The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-12-27


been the creature OF political accidents,
without which lie never would have been
where he Is.
When these lucky accidents happen
in q regular series, however. al through 4
public man ) career, IL IS only reasonable
and fair 70 give him the credit OF making
the most OF them for MS cOuntry's benefit,
even # tnev are not themselves attrlhuta-
bic 10 his foresight and resolution. What
unsuccessful men call luck n others
Will generally he foEnd 70 consist OF good
Judgment TO discern an opportunity COM
oined with courage 10 seize u 81 the rEhs
moment. That Is decidedly the case WIKI
Lord Du1fer.n. he always goes where ne
- most necessary. and, beng there, ne
makes the very most OF the situation.
When in I.79 he exchanged the position Of
governor genera. OF Canada tor the seem
Ing.v far inferior one OF au ba=sadoF 90 81
Petersburg, many people wondered what
* ali meant. PGncA, however, lad an al
Ilira5le cartoon hIch expLa. ned with two
words IL Vas called changing guard, F"
and represented two sentTies, Lord Angus
tus Lotus the retiring am oassador, and
Lord UutferiR, in the bitter February snow
OF ST. Petersburg. crossing mUskets and
giving one another the watchword- That
watchwo-d was british interests" and
we'll that sentry kept II. To MIN mainly
is due the success OF Lord Beaconsdeld' :
frontier and peace with honor"
Again, when he went as ambassador 70
CoustanEinop.e, q place which any sec
onG-rate diplomat might nj, what hap
pened?
The accident" Of Arab Pasha's rebel
lion N Egypt happened Lord DGIferln
went TO Egypt with unrestricted powers,
ing ont of that chaotic business, OF q basis
which has 80 far proved iInmovable, ont
he managed 10 reconcile the sultan 10 an
arrangement which practically made
Egypt q province Of the British empire
instead OF province OF TEe Ottoman
empire.
Yet again. when ne went 10 he viceroy
Of India, what happened? Another ''acci-
dent" Things came 10 Z crisis IN the
domlnious OF that crazy sot, King Thee
baw, of Burmah. and Lord DuteTln, with
out any ado. removed TheebaY from the
throne, a if he had been q king on q chess
board. consigned him 10 luxurious but
safe custody in a palace prison IN India,
and added Burmal. with It's lpUN1-gl1 peo-
pie. its vast territory and its boundless
wealth, 10 the possessions OF the Empress
Victoria. Never was such 9 conquest
made with so small an expenditure Of
blood or money, o. with 50 much ueneut 10
the conquered. BUVmah, from beng IN 4
state OF utter ruin, Is now q prosperous
nation of slaves, are ROW tree people.
The native name Of Ineebay's kingdom -
Ava. and that is Why Lord DuteTla, when
the nOnOrs of his exploit were awarded 10
HIM three years ago, assumed the some
what singular title OF Marquis OF BurferIn
and Ava. II IS the only instance IN mod
ern times. az ali events. OF o British noble
man taking his title from the name Of a
whole kingdom, instead Of the name OF q
county. town, or an estate. But then, II
IS The only instance in modern times IN
which il has fallen 20 the lot OF I British
subject 70 add kingdom 10 the empire.
Ii seemed . great step down when the
famous ylcerOy, the cOnquerOr of Burnan,
with the coronet Of his marquisate Of Ava
not yet fitted 70 his brows, went as ambas-
sador 20 Rome. But there once more an
accident" happened of the kind which IS
always happening TO him. The triple al
liz nee had been formed, with the cordial
approval of England, for the maintenance
of the peace Of Europe against the designs
of Russia and the restlessness OF France.
But the triple alliance was not secure. and
could not be secure as . permanent thing,
without Great Britain being in il one way
or another. Italy was the weak point, be-
cause Ital Y was q maritime country, ex-
posed 10 the moral strength Of
France. Great Britain could hold
no dealings with Germany or
AUSTIN, lSG1A>S are CbuAA-
mental and military powers, with which
Great Britain mas nothing 70 do. 1t was
agreed on all sides that Great Britain must
touch the triple alliance somewhere, and
that the only possible point OF contact was
Italy. Lord Salisbury gave Lord Dufferin
the word, and the thing was done. IL IS
Just as well understood THAI Great Britain
VIII work with Italy on the sea, for the
peaceful purposes Of the triple alliance, as
II there were a treaty 70 that effect; and
the French are probably not sorry that Is
SO Their relations with Italy have been
improving ever since Lord DuffeEiu made
the triple alliance a solid reality.
Looking back over his career, and bear
ing in mind that he IS stI.l in the prime OF
lire, as British statesmen go, one cannot
help wondering what further accidents"
are in store Tor him. He has Just been
made lord warden Of the Cirque ports.
though at present being st Rome. the Iirst
time that high and ancient dignity has
been conferred on . nonresident: and il
may be taken for certain that Lord Sails
bury has not done such . COuspiCuOuSly
unusual thing just for q freak. He never
does anything out Of sheer cusseduess:
and We shall surely see the meaning
OF this before long. The lord
warden OF the CinQise ports has
hitherto always been minister
high II Office, or else some very great man
" 'AR 44ts7 As~4NA ONCE, S'4CN
as the Duke Of Wellington. The late Will
lam Henry Smith was the only commoner
that ever held It; but then he was Iirst
lord Of the treasury. The supposition IS
that Lord Dufferin vii succeed Lord Sal
lsbury Is secretary OF state for foreign af-
fairs, post for which he IS better fitted
than any other man-eXCept Lord Sails
bury. But those who are IN the habit Of
looking Tor the unexpected viii not be
taken unprepared if something much more
surprising than that happens
Gong oy the maxim that "A woman IS
as old Is she looks, and man Is Is old as
he feels" Lord DuHerin is still quite
young. He still has that North American
Indian cast Of cOuntenanCe. not at all IN
like what used 70 be considered the Yam
kee type-the Uncle sam type, IN fact
hatchet-;aced. with long hair brushed
PACK. and fashion OF beard closely re-
lated 20 goatee. His hair and beard are
grizzled, but he stands IS straight as a
ranrod and looks everyone be speaks 10
iuiI IN the eyes, with that firm gaze that
always made everybody feel safe and easy
with him. He has q large family and is 4
model father, friend and companion to
every member OF his domestic. as well As
OF has social circle. He is a sentimental
creature, with good deal Of Sheridan's
emotional quality, but never a man lived
VINO had more Of hat poor Sherry
totally lacked, namely, balance.
EDWARD WAKEFIELD