Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-01

late John Lothrop Motley, the historian and
former American minister to Great Britain,
was with him
When Sir William went to bed last night
he seemed fairly well. though he had been
suffering from slight chill. This morn
ing when he was called he replied cheerily:
I'm short time " Later a servant entered
the room and found Sir William lying dead
on his bed. His son, Lewis Vernon-Har-
court, member OF parliament for the Ros-
sendale division of Lancashire, was hastily
summoned from London.
Among all classes in the United Kingdom,
regardless of party, the unexpected news
caused a sensation and genuine regret
The somewhat pathetic announcement in
March last of his intended retirement had
prepared the public for Sir Williams event
ual disappearnIe from the active arena or
political strife, but there had been no
whisper that his stalWart constitution had
been radically impaired by nearly forty
years of fierce parliamentary strife.
Praise From an Opponent.
The evening edition of the Standard, one
of the deceased's most bitter opponents,
aptly and generously says:
with the late liberal leader there has
passed away one of the last of those titanic
figures bound up with the most brilliant
traditions of the house of commons. There
are but a few left of those eminent states
men who received their political training at
the hands of Gladstone and Disraeli. The
coincidence of his death with the intended
withdrawal of the distinguished statesman
into well-earned repose after a career Of
hard work and political activity gives added
pathos to the event"
In a similar vein the Pail Mall Gazette,
out and out conservative in its views, pays
a tribute to one of the most striking fig
ures of the political arena" while the lib
eral afternoon newspapers deplore the loss
sustained by their party.
The hospitality displayed by Sir VIM. Yer
nOn-Harcourt and his wife to the Iatter's
fellow countrymen and the interest they
took in all American questions have been
proVerblal in England for many years.
Sir William George Granville Vernon-Har-
court was born in 1927 being the second son
of the late Rev. William Harcourt of Nune-
ham Park, Oxfordshire, and grandson of
the late Archbishop of York. He was edu-
Gated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and
graduated there in honors in 1881. Three
years later he was called to the bar at the
Inner Temple, and in 1886 became a queens
counsel. He was elected professor of in
ternational law at Cambridge University in
1893, and was member of the royal COM
mission for amending the neutrality laws.
In November 1873 he was appointed solici-
tor general. being knighted on his appoint
ment, and held this office until the resigna-
Ioli Vi MT. biduStoneS ministry IN 1874.
Sir William represented Oxford in the
liberal interest from 1868 to 1880. but when
he accepted office in the cabinet and
offered himself for a new election he was
defeated by the conservative candidate.
Within few days, however, he was return
ed to parliament for Derby, Mr. Plimsoll
resignlng his seat for him. Sir Williams
second wife, to whom he was married in
1876, was daughter of the late j. L. Mot
ley of the United States.
From 1880 to 1885 Sir William servd in the
cabinet as home secretary. and in 1886 be-
came chancellor of the exchequer