The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-01-12
LORD SALISBURY
AMI HIS STEPMOTHER
washington P0stJ


It is improbable that Lord Salisbury
will profess any exaggerated SOrTuN
for the dea,h OF the DOwager Countess
of Derby, which mas just taken place
She was his stepmothar, but it is doubt
full whether he or any OF his chl4uren
Will go into mourning for her sake.
A sister OF Lord SaCkvIlle, who pre-
coded Lord PauncefUte as British en-
voy at Washington, she married as her
first husband the late Lord Salisbury
father Of the present prime minister
and is generally understood 10 have
contributed in no small measure to the
bad blood which prevailed between she
Old marquis and his children by his for
mer WIFE Indeed, II was the antagOn-
ism thus engendered which led the
present prime minister to leave his Ia
theirs house and take to newspaper
writing tor a living.
There is no doubt therefore, that
Lord Salisbury regarded mis- stepmOtner
as responsible for all the hardsbips
ard miseries of his early years of man
mood. Even during the lifetime of the
late Lord salisbury, the name of the
late Earl of Derby was known as one
Of her most devoted admirers, and when
two years after her Iirst husbands
death. the widowed marchioness mar
ried Che Earl of Derby. the present
Lord Salisbury Indignation knew no
bounds.
Indeed. the nature of the relations
which existed between the late Earl of
Derby, the Countess Of Derby, and the
present Lord Salisbury is best shown
by the fact that some twenty years
ago the present premier, during the
course Of d speech in the house of lords,
drew d comparison between his step
mothers husband the late Lord Derby,
and the ignOble Titus oates, the most
infamous and degraded of all traitors
and informers in the pages of English
history, and whose name is To this day
an object Of eXeCTatiOu.
Lord SalisDUry's bitterness extends
to his haIf-brothers, the children of his
father by the lale Countess of Derby.
And 1 remember that when Lord Sack
vile Cecil. on of these half-brOtners
Of Lord Salisbury, died d few years
ago, neither the premier nor any of his
five grown-UD sons attended the flu
neral, sent wreathes, or messages of
sympathy. Lord Salisbury. indeed,
spending the day in celebrating the an
niversary of his own birth az Hatfield
with the customary rejOiCings-
The late Countess of Derby was one
of the most brilliant and gifted women
of her day, and possessed in particular
the most eXquisitely mOdulated voice,
the tones of which when once heard
could never he forgotten Indeed she
was so clever and remarkable that no
one could ever understand her marry
ing such a man q the late Lord Derby,
the most unpopular and wrong headed
peer of his day, who was generally 5e-
lieved to be afflicted with kleptOmania.
According to the stories current about
him ne was removed from Elton for an
offense which could only he excused
on the ground of this peculiar form of
affection and on being taken by his
father to be lectUred for the OmenSe by
the bishop Of London. he is stated to
have ayailed himself of the opportunity
To despOH that right reverend father of
his gold timepiece. He was likewise
stated to have been subject to such eN-
traordinary fits of absence of mind that
on one occasion he impaired cabinet
secrets TO d friend belonging to the OPP
position under the impression that MS
companion was one Of his ministerial
colleagues.
Perhaps one of the most Characters
tic stories told of this peer, who. by his
unfortunate connections with the
TransvaaI. may be said To have been
the original cause of the present san
culinary war i'm South Africa was one
which describes the manner in which
he proposed the health of the queen al
an official banquet while secretary OF
state for the colonies.
Gentlemen" he exclaimed, Il rise To
propose .hc inevitable toast. The work
ing Of our constitution depends upon
the manner in which those who acquire
powers under il take care not TO push
their privileges to lengths which might
become dangerous. We have to Zoe
thankful. therefore. that we have such
d sovereign as the queen, who mas
never been unreasonable If we had
such a creature on the throne as George
l. a monarch so silly and dissipated as
Z George II. an utter blaCkguaTd like
/ George ", or even well-meaniug, bu
entirely stupid persons such as George
III and William ". / think. gentlemen
we should have had very rough times
( Gentlemen. / propose the queen
OF course. this speech concerning hel
grandfather and two unCleS wa:
brought to the queens ears, and the re-
suit was that Lord Derby became still
more unpopular at court than he hat
been previously, royal i'll viii extend
/ ing TO his wife.