Omaha daily bee., 1903-06-14
Lord LansdOwne's See-Saw Career

his position is always morn - ~ sugs
jected, Lord Lansdowne gave his name a.
Fitzmaurice, the family name of the LAnS-
downes being Petty-F Itzmaurice.
The farmer and his wife welcomed them
with true Manitoba hospitality. and in
sisted upon their staying for the night, as
the storm did not abate. Lady Lansdowne
helped to get tea ready and do the evening
chores while her husband listened
gravely and respectfully to the farmers
views on what the government of Canada
ought to do and ought not to do. They do
clared afterwards that II was the most en-
joyable evening they spent while they
were in Canada.
THE old farmer said Lord Lansdowne,
in a lecture on Canada which he gave at
Dover, England, some years afterwards,
had a clearer head for politics than most
of the statesmen and diplomatists 1 nave
met"
Lord Lansdowne was the twelfth OF tho
statesmen to whom the conduct of foreign
affairs was entrusted during the reign of
the late Queen Victoria, and he bids fair
to achieve as big a reputation as any OF
his predecessors. He has a high sense of
public duty and untiring industry. He
works harder than any of his clerks. often
sitting at his desk until dawn waiting i'm
portant dispatches to King Edwards am
bassadors, which he does not care to en-
trust to the most confidential assistant.
His mistaken courage, moral as well as
physical. is another important qualification
for his high office. He is not afraid to
make up his mind on a big question-or
have 1t made up for him by his clever
wife-and to stand by It, whatever the risk.
The wind of popular clamor does not move
him an inch. That was shown plainly
enough by his contempt for the storm OF
abuse heaped upon him in the earlier
stages OF the South African war.
The British foreign office has been noted
for generations for it's hospitality. The
foreign Office parties are leading features
of London's social life, and rank second
60 no other diplomatic functions in Europe.
They have been presided over by some of
the most charming and accomplished
women of the Victorian era, among Lady
Lansdowne's predecessors having been Lady
Palmerston, Lady Granville, Lady John
Russell and Lady Salisbury. After the
death of Lady Salisbury these parties
languished, but now they have been re-
vived with more than their old ~splendor by
Lady Lansdowne. The social qualities
which made her an ideal "Vicereine'' In
cAioN INV AAibl" IN AhAihili lV III bOON
stead now, and she has stepped into the
place left vacant by Lady Salisbury as
leader of the most intellectual and aristo-
cratic set In English society.
Lord Lansdowne holds no fewer than
fourteen titles. He is once a marquis,
thrice a viscount, thrice an earl, four times
a baron and four times a knight as K G.,
G. c.. s. l., G. c. I. e. and G. C. M. c.
honors bestowed by Queen Victoria for his
successes in the difficult art of colonial
government. AS Baron OF Kerry he holds
a title dating back to 1851. 1t was con-
ferred on one of his ancestors for as
sisting in ~Strongbow's conquest of Ire
land. Since then a long line of illustrious
F~itzmaurices have gained title after title,
estate after estate, in reward for their ser
vices as statesmen and soldiers.
The present head of. the family might
we'll have chosen to rest upon the laurels
of his ancestors. So far as strangers can
judge, he has no ambition; he merely feels,
as Lord Salisbury felt. that 1t is the duty
of a man in his position to give his life
and his talents to the service of his coun-
try. That is the aristocratic spirit by which
the British empire is mainly governed,
even in these democratic days. II is a
bond between Lord Lansdowne and his
former chief, and explains why the latter
gave him another and better chance to
make good" after his failure as war min
lister.