New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-11-22
AN EXTINCT PEERAGE.
With Something That Li0es and Is
Better than a Unique Biography.
London. November IL


.n.-e title remains as the heritage Of the prac-
,icaf and self-sustatning scheme Of philanthropy
nth which he was identified: and his fame is
secure when poor mems clubs on the lines OF
she Routon houses are multiplied at home and
.broas and attract investors money by the
,,-on,ise OF q regular dividend Of per cent for
.hsreholders. The first Rowton House was
tunt at vauxhaH for 10000 which Lord
Eowton himself advanced: and when its COM
-,e-csal success was established. limited COM
nary was formed with share capital which
vas eventually enlarged TO $4,000 his own
holdings amounting 10 one-seTenth OF the en-
ere stock without altering in any essential
details the original plans the directors built
,cu- additional Row ton houses al Kings Cross,
Newington Butts. Hammersmith and White
chanel and offered accommodations for S.I93
badgers While the dividends on ordinary shares
have recently fallen to per cent in consequence
~ unexpected expenditures. the financial results
have been highly satisfactory. A sixth Rowton
House liz the northwestern district Of the metroP-
CTS IS already projected. and others are likely
70 Re constructed. since the profits from the
sve now IN operation leave q margin for inter
ssr payments on the capital required for new
structures. Like the Mills hotels in New-York.
-sa Rou-ton houses have been accepted as
model accommodations for poor men OF a su-
re-ior class who co not wish 10 be regarded as
objects OF charity. There are now similar poor
mems hotels in Birmingham d Liverpool under
-he control of limited companies: and at Poplar
ana Al HUI the municipal authorities have
closely initiated the buildings IN their model
l55gfnc houses. In Milan and Berlin there are
-vorkmen's homes modelled after the RoWton
houses. and similar undertakings are planned
n s.. Petersburg, Vienna and ether continental
cities.
LORD RoVton had other claims upon pubic
-erenl brance than those based upon this prac-
,icaI method OF enabling the decent poor 10
work out their own salvation under sanitary.
conditions and in an environment OF comfort
Re vas the most sympathetic and influential
.svise- Of Lord Beaconsheld during q prolonged
-s-ios Of poiticaI activity and the original type
.. the private secretary 10 the Prime Minister. as
that -ne~curial parsonage is now known 10 liter
s-ure and TO the stage. The acquaintance OF the
two men. whose relations became as tender as
those OF father and son. began at a country
house vzbe~e NJ DisraeH looked on while Mr..
Nrorrsgu CORY amused the young people on
q rainy day by arranging charades, singing
ro--,c songs and dancing hornpipes. The legend
,hat the offer OF the post Of private secretary
.sne from the silent statesman's shrewd OBJ
.e-varion Of the young farceUTs success IN en-
gva-i-p a dull country house party cannot be
,.ronciled with the Duchess Of Clevelano's repu-
-a+io- for vivacity ana Wit. for she is said to
have been the hostess; and II is more probable
that M Disraeu was Influenced by friendship
To- the Young mans father. The relationship
was Of a most intimate nature. and Justl1ed
Lord Beacousdeld's pleasantly that the private
secretary was more powerful than the Prime
Minister. since he could open or close the door
FOR callers. For fifteen years Nj Montagu
CORY protected his chief from intriguers and
I'll ~ a ~
sentative party in touch with their leader. Lord
ReaconsfeId was the inscrutabIe man Of mys-
terry broodirz IL silence over his destiny and
remaining apart from his Cabinet associates;
and the private secretary interpreted his polit-
zeal purposes 10 bewildered groups in the lobbies
OF Parliament and kept sensitive and irascihle
followers in good humor- Never was political
peeraee earned by more devoted personal service
than Lord Rowton's; and II was followed by an
act Of confidence almost UNI lralleled in public
ufe-the bequest OF the statesman's papers and
correspondent with absolute discretion over
their publication
This involves a consideration Of another claim
10 remembrance quite as important as the func-
tons Of an ideal private secretary This was
Lord Rowton's reticence and self-restraint- He
had the materlal for a unique biography OF
Lord Beaconsfeld. but. apart from classifying
and numbering the letters. he left the work IN
done. Few men with his taste for literature.
politics and society could have resisted the
temptation Of writing the biography Of the
Queens favorite Prime Minister; and II he had
undertaken the work it would have been with
the certainty Of success, for he had keen wit
and an effective literary style, and he had been
admitted behind the veil and knew what was in
the heart OF the solitary. silent, inscTutab4s
statesman. The explanation usually given by
his friends for his self-resJraint is that Queen
Victoria had strongly urged that nothing should
be published during her lifetime, and that when
her death released him from his promise his
health was impaired and his sight had failed.
Possibly Lord Rosebery's sarcasms respecting
the melancholy fate Of great men whose lives are
written BY their industrious private secretaries
deferred him for he was sensitive 10 ridicuIe
and most modest IN his estimates Of his own
abilities. lie may have shrunk, moreover from
reviewing in detail his fifteen years OF constant
oompanlouship with a statesman TO whom he
vas closely attached. Whatever may have been
the most plausible explanation for his inactivity
his friends viii always regret that the biography
was not written by the only man who knew Lord
Beacousaeld as he was-without the mask be-
fore she face and the Oriental air Of mystery
and fatalisu.
Literary preoccupatioE would have interfered
seriously with the development Of Lord Row
tons plans Tor anneIiorating the lot OF the poor
without impairing their self-respect- as a
nephew Of the great Lord ShaftesbUry he had
iR his veins the blood OF a genuine phiI-nth-o-
pist and social favorite as he was in the English
country houses, his heart was in the cause Of the
regeneration and recovery Of the decent poor.
Retlcent respecting his great imperialist. the
SOC q his icolatry and hero worship, he was al
ways ready 10 talk about the Rowton houses
AID the benefits which were conferred upon the