The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-01-02
RANDOLPH CHURCHILL.
The ROYAL Scandal Connected With Bis
Collapse. ,

seoret-An Ineid mt at Windsor
Castle-churehill an Altered Man
From That Time-A Slave to Nor
phine.
From the Philadelphia Press.
Friends and foes alike will gr.eve over
the mental collapse Of Lord Randolph
Churchill, whose recent eccentricitles and
irri,ab.lity of The nerves have degener-
ated into complete imbecillty and idiocy,
the result OF softening Of the brain.
1t IS but ten years ago that Lord Ran
dolph was at the very top Of the political
tree the most conspicuous and popular
statesman in England. He had everything
in his favor, an ancient and Mustrious
name famous Throughout the civilized
world, and II not wealth. at any rate an
ample income which permitted him to
maintain one Of the most perfectly ap-
pointed houses in London; he had a lovely
and charming American wife IN the daugh-
ter of Leonard Jerome Of New York.
bright children to whom he was passion
ately devoted, and in favor of the SOW
ere'gn and Of his fellow countrymen.
It was impossible to take up a newspaper
without seeing his name IN almost every
column. or a comic journal without his
carieaturc staring one in the face. He
formed the theme Of almost all the toplcal
songs sun at the music halls and occu-
pied not only a seat in the cabinet. but
also the proud position Of leader of the
British House Of Commons.
Lord Randolph possessed a fine place at
Newmarket and successful racing stable
and was certainly in those days the
Engl!shman who held the highest place
and the warmest corner in the heart Of
John Bull.
Suddenly, in the very hey-day of his
power. fame and popular.ty-lt was while
ne was staying on visit to the queen at
Nlndsor-something happened, something
came TO his ears which altered the whole
tenor OF his l-fe and constituted the start
ing point of that gradual decline which
has now eliminated In his id.ocy.
what 1t was is known only to a few
with any degree OF certainty, and those
nave, ike Lord Randolph himself, kept
the matter a profound secret, from mo-
ives OF patriotism, aye, and of loyalty as
We'll OF course, there are many stories
upon the subject extant, all of which unite
IN one particular, namely, that they lay
the cause of Lord Randolph's astounding
coup detat at the door of royalty.
Whatever the blow was-and II may be
a generation before the truth of the whole
story Is fully known--it came with crush
| ing force, and all that / can say. for my
part, is that, whatever It was, it was
brought to the knowledge of Lord Ran
dolph one evening after dinner during his
stay at Windsor castle.
Lady Randolph and himself had dined
with the queen as usual, at $50, and had
shown manifest pleasure at the marked
graciousness with which they were treated
| by the queen. Both We're in excellent spir-
it's during the repast, and there was no
premonition Of anything untoward.
Yet on the following morning Lord and
Lady Churchill left the castle before
breakfast, and without waiting TO be con-
veyed to the station In royal carriages, and
/ prior to leaving Lord Randolph had writ
ten on nOtepaper bearing the queens
cipher and the Windsor castle heading
very curt letters to Lord Salisbury and to
the queen herself resigning his seat in the
cabinet, his chanceliorship of the ex-
chequer and his leadership of the House
Of Commons.
II is impossible to describe the sensation
| caused by this coup de'etat. The queen
was indignant at the gross discourtesy
with which she considered herself to have
been treated, and Lord Salisbury, too, was
greatly enraged, since it upset all his cal
culations and gave a great shock to his
administration, of which Lord Randolph
was far and away the most popular mem
Der.
From that time forth, Lord Randolph
was an altered man and forever seemed
laboring either under intense nervous eX-
element, or under fits OF depression and
dependency. He was forced to resort to
opiates to procure sleep and rest, and as
time went on, this developed into an abuse
and he became a slave to the morphine
habit He went IN for horse-racing on a
scale far beyond his former establishment
He went out to South Africa and spent
months in exploring Mashonaland; he
embarked in business In the city; tried
everything in fact to occupy his mind and
divert his thoughts and to cure both mind
and body.
But it was all without avail and last
summer after a most deplorable scene in
the House OF Commons where he spoke
in such n manner as to lead to the i'm
preston that he was very drunk he was
sent off by his family on trip round the
world, under the care of his American
wife, whatever estrangement there may
have been between them having been
ended.
Lord Randolph's passage through New
York. Bar Harbor, ottawa and Vancouver
was marked by eccentric utterances and
still more eccentric actions At Yokohama
the public dinner organized by the English
Tories resident there had to be aban-
doned, In consequence of the state of his
health, and when finally he reached Bonn
bay, his condition became such that II was
necessary to place him under restraint,
and 1t is under the care of a physician
that he has been brought home to England
to die.
No one could have foreseen this 10 years
ago, and everybody spoke Of him as des-
tined to become prime minister Of Eng
land, and to succeed Lord Salisbury in the
chieftanship Of the Tory party. There
was no more brilliant debater in the
House. and not only was he a statesman
of great resource, having the ms and outs
Of the intricate British government sys-
TEN at his fingers ends. but he was never
at fault always ready for the fray and
ever ready to find the weak spot in the
armor of the opponent.
There was no one in the House Of Com
mons who possessed to a greater degree
the faculty of getting what 1t usually
known as rise out Of Mr.. Gladstone
and from the readiness and aptness with.
which Lord Randolph was on hand at all
times to controvert the arguments Of the
Grand Old Man" with apt quotations
from his zpeecheS of n decade or tuyo