New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-03
THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE.
HIS PLACE IN HIS COCNTRY-IIIS RELA-
TIONS TO THE STATE, TO HIS FAMILY,
TO HIS TENANTS; WITH SOME TRAITS
OF HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER


lie man may he useful TO his country as well by
holding aloof from politics as by devoting himsel
directly to the service of the State. Never has
the Duke taken much share in the business oil
political life but never has there been period III
his long career when he was not remarkable Tor
public spirit and for the wise conduct OF great
affairs. NOtoriety counts for SO much In these
days that il can do no harm If we remind our
selves at intervas-the intervals are apt to DE
]ong-that the private station also is post of
honor.
Yet il is in truth hardly possible TO speak Of the
station of Duke of Devonshire private
There are Dukes and Dukes. This was the great
est of all We may think what we like of titles
and Of rank. but we must take things as they are
No judgment formed otherwise than with strict
reference TO the facts they are is worth a straw.
The facts are that in this country title and rank
still confer many advantages. Perhaps in no
class are they more generally respected than in
those classes where they do not exist; and by
none more than by those who in public decry
them There is but single sphere in life in
which they impose, or may impose, "A serious dis
ability on their pOssessor. and that is in politics.
Lord Rosebcry whose ambition is boundless,
has been deploring in his Pitt" the grim humor
of the English constitution which cXiles Peer
from the House Of Commons the governing body
OF the country. We shall see presently what the
effect OF this grim humor is in Lord IIartington's
case. But the late Duke is instance in the
opposite direction; one that even Lord Rosebcry
might prOftaby consider. The Duke had abilities
which would have given him a great place in
public life had he thought his duty required him
to take up that burden. None was mere spacious,
hone had sounder Judgment of affairs and OF
men, Orator he not. but oratory is
h9t, In the last resort, the gift most essential
W TIE government Of kingdom. There
nave been orators who were statesmen and many
more statesmen, including nearly all the greatest.
who were not orators. Not always has the world
held that the conduct Of public affairs from the
platform, even though it lie the platform of
railway station, is the best conduct. The power
of making the worse appear the better reason may
bring him who Possesses il TO great place, and the
State to its lowest ebb of fortune
will quote what have heard indirectly-and
only because ! heard it indircctly-Lord Harting
IONS tribute to his father Lord Harrington said he
had never known any other whose Judgment
great matters was 50 sure. or whose counsel
in difficult political crisis was so wcghty. He
added that for whatever he himself had done in
public life he owed more TO his father than TO
all other influences put together. | can only give
Nat as hearsay, but believe II represents what
Lord harrington said and thought II is
testimony which cannot be rated too high. The
relations between these two men, father and son,
are known to have been OF the closest The
Dukes afectiOnate pride in his sons success
not less because be himself had followed
different path. | suppose the most democratic Of
us may admit that even Duke is human and
that like the jew he hath senses, affections, pas
sions, In the latter years Of his life calamiticS
had come 10 him a son had been murdered by
the assassirs of Phoenix Park another dying only
last year who had been in many things as q
staff to his old age. Lord harrington alone was
left he and one daughter. Nobody, says a friend
to the family, would doubt how much he was
TO his father who had seen the fathers face
light up when the son came into the room, or had
heard him break through his reserve to speak of
his
Pathetic indeed in later years-pathetic and
sympathetic-was the figure Of the Duke as he
sat at the head of the long table in the great din
in9-room at Chasworth. His grave strong face,
the crown of white hair which fell carelesslv over
the high. broad forehead. the eyes alive and
a!ight with fire that seemed still Young, the
dignity, the beautiful, quiet distinction Of
ner. the stamp of intellect on the features, the
hearing which had all the courtesy of an earlier
century and was not the less stately for the bent
head and the slight stoop-all these traits gave
10 him the air of of the portraits by Titan
Van Dycli which hung hard by. lie
alert in mind as ever his faculties clear, his
Judgment firm and sober and sound His sim
plicity that of the grand scigneur. and 50
bis genuneness; never in his life had he
felt called upon 10 seem to be something he was
not.
1t need not be supposed that any dislike TO new
ideas hostility TO the modern spirit Withdrew
the Duke of DcyonSbirc from politics. Twice he
proved the contrary, and each time one of the
greatest questions which have divided this King
dom. lie Was member for the University Of Cam
bridge, one of the most conservative Of con
stituencies, from 1929 TO 1891, and his speech
for the Reform Bill cost him his seat. In 1869
he-a great Irish landlord one Of those monsters
Of whom Mr.. Divitt would sweep away every
trace from Ireland and clsewhere-spOke in the
House of Lords for the discsablishmcnt Of the
Irish Church. lie was o Whg in the best sense
"a member of great family which for generations
had rtcn Wing when to DE Wing to be
everything that was most liberal in English
politics.
The liberalism of the Cavcndishcs goes back
st least 10 the sixteenth century; a respectable
antiquity in itself The liberalism Of that pcrot
meant liberalism in religious matters. ard the
chief founder of the fortunes OF the family was
that William Cavendish who Of Henry
the Eighth's commissioners for receiving the sur
render of religious houses Like the Russells. the
Cavendshcs received not only surrcnders but
lands Tie Earl Of Devonshire who afterward
became the first Duke was well-knOwn opponent
Of the Court after the Restoration; stanch
Protestant when Romansm had become the fash
ion and the road to favor; a friend of Lord
William Russell for whom he had the courage
10 appear as "a witness AT that sad trial: a prime
MAYER in the Revolution of i6SS one of the seven
sinners of tie paper inviting the Prince OF Orange
over from Holland, aud the first nobleman who
Appeared in arms OH his landing. King William
rewarded him handsomely III 1894 with
;hc Marquisate of harrington. and the
Dnkedom of Deyonshire. On the same