New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-30

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lie 'ook no pains to oonciiate or to win over
people lie was himself He talked on a great
variety OF matters, but chose the topic because 1t
interested him not in order to interest others.
| III that ne resembled Mr.. Gladstone. who was
! never known to make the least attempt to
adapt himself to the company but expected the
| company to adapt itself to him; 1t generally
/ ala. His talk-Lord Rand ,lphs. not Mr.. Glad
| stones-was series of scntillations. have
heard him In all sorts Of companies and circum-
! stances. lf II were mere politics, he con-
| tent sometimes with mere precision and author
| lily; Keeping his mind as II were. in harness and
| strictly considering the question before him or
the point on which he sought to convert others
| III he was opposed he sometimes became i'm
patient. though often the impatience
seemed to be intellectual He had a scorn Of
| sluggish minds nor did he always give himself
! the trouble conceal II. Conventionaties never
meant much to him. He simply put them aside
| yet such his natural dignity and such his
| aristocratic training that his outbursts seldom
| gave offence. Careless Of giving offence he
| might be, but he did rot give 1t wfully unless
provoked In the manner tone Of his
| opponent he detected sneer. An affectation
of superiority.
| For example. he known to discuss
| the question of Civil Service appointments in
| little group or men Wnlcn lncludeu the eminent
Liberal Unionist sometimes known as the Auto
| crat of the Midlands of which Birmingham Is
the political If not the geographical centre Lord
| Randolph had lately returned from his tour in
India. He inveighed against the state Of the
| Indian Civil Service. Mr. Chamberlain defended
| IT from that Radical and perhaps pedantic point
of view to which knowledge Of logarithms
seems sufficient proof Of capacity for public life
| You must see the men at work. retorted Lord
| Randolph Il have seen them. There good
| men, but the average Is not good. The old sys-
| TEN was better" 1.-The old system?' quered Mr..
| Chamberlain-"a system Of Jobs and nepotisIn?"
| Well" answered this descendant Of the great
| Duke Of Marlborough. Il suppose they did Job,
but the men they put In gentlemen.
| Whereas now'-and there came a brief pause
now we get men from Birmingham and God
knows where
| That illustrates one Of his moods and not the
| most attractive. Like most Englishmen. he was
| at his best either host in his London house or
| and this is the more frequen,-in house In the
| country whether his own or another's. His Lon
| don dinners were celebrated; his dinners OF
| men; form Of entertainment for which most
| men care less than for those which are mixed
| But Lord Randolph was no ordinary host nor
were his guests ordinary. Dull men he would not
| have: not at any rate, those whom he himself
| found dull There was time when at the house
| in Connaught Place Mr.. Balfour was the most
| constant guest, coming and going as he liked, as
| If he were one o. the family. Sir Henry Drum
mond Wolff another intimate, and never
| ceased TO be an intimate except from absence. To
| attempt n catalogue would be to make roiicai
| Of the men and women most ilustrious In Eng
| land I mentioned one Of these festivals above
There was another which became celebrated as
| the dinner OF deadly enemies. Ii pleased Lord
| Randolph and his American wife 10 pair on the
| deadly enemies. TO speak. at table The eX-
| neriment was a wonderful success. 1t al
most literally true that each man or woman
found himself or herself confronted with some
other between whom and themselves there was
feud / abstain from indicating these hostities
| but I may say that among the guests were the
Prince and Princess Of Wales. Mr. and Mrs. Glad
stone and Mr.. and Mrs ChauDcey Depew. No
| anlmosities between these. at any rate. II the
| situation had been ia. more perilous, the host
| and hostess would have saved 1t. But these ad-
| ventures never be frequent.
I pass from such topics The last years are
| those which leave. II not the deepest the most
recent impressions the years when the light
was falling and the end near. HIS Journey round
the world was begun In defiance Of his physicians
| orders They wanted him to go 10 Norway. lie
| was implacablc 10 medical opinion and came 10
| New-York. whence Mr. Depew. by some kindly
| diplomacy and with much railway contrivance
| for his comfort and an uninterrupted Journey.
| dispatched him to Bar Harbor. From the time he
| left that spot the record OF his life one Of
annoyance, rapidly falling power. increasing men
tai disturbances. and incessant anxiety to.his ad
m!rable wife. No need to dwell that. any
| more than on the part Of his career which
| spent on the Turf or other distractions from
| the WEAKNESS OF inactivity. The Randolph Of his
| prime Is the his friends will always prefer
to remember; the gifted. gallant. generous soul,
| with his high notions Of lfe his irrepresslble in
divduality, his great services and the incompara-
| bic interest which attended him. You might like
or dislike him: Indifferent you could not be. You
had often criticise and dissent: you had almost
always.t admire. and you could never forget
For many years used to pass his door
| mornings and sometimes went in. He sat in a
large room on the ground floor a library. plainly
a working room. elegant wlthal. and furnished
with a luxurious convenience which most work
| ing men might envy. There bookcases
writing-tables-one on which might be spread
| out at once the material for a dozen speeches or
| TOPICS He always had secretary with him.
! sometimes two; often friend who had looked
| in On his way TO the city; most probably hnan-
| cial magnate. There he read and thought and
| wrote with the ordered landscape Of Hyde Park
| stretching away before his windows: a view Of
| singular loneliness and extent In the heart Of
| great city. He worked like slave. ! know the
popular notion is otherwise. but IT is untrue and
| unjust Such political authority and prestige
| as he had acquired DO not come To an idle man.
| I spoke Of his rapidity. distinguished lawyer
| has an anecdote on that point Lord Randolph
was asked to appear as a witness against Mr..
\ m scheme
| beneath Hyde Park starting from the Marble
Arch. which Lord Randolph's house faced He
attended at the hour named. 'Of course, am
against the scheme" he ssii to this lawyer. but
| T know nothing about the plan or the details.
~ood xvitpass Won must give mo