The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-03

been In Mr.. GLADsToNE's third Admin
istration, was Chancellor OF the Ex-
chequer, had by far the strongest claim
TO succeed him. and can hardly he
blamed for resenting deeply the selection
Of Lord RosEBERY. 1t ID we'll known
that there was good deal Of friction
between the new official head Of the Lib
erals and tho leader OF the party in the
House OF Commons. The latter post
Sir WILLIAM continued TO retain until
1903, when, owing largely to the dissatis-
faction expressed at his concurrence
in the majority report Of the committee
appointed in 1897 to investigate the
Jameson raid he gave way TO Sir HENRY
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. During the
Khaki" general election of 1900. he sup
ported vigorously the official Liberal
programme announced by Lord SPENCER
and Sir H. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. as
distinguished from that Of the Imper-
ialist Liberals who followed Lord ROSE
Berry and Mr.. AsQuITH. 1t Is supposed
that, although n years old, he retained
sufficient physical strength TO take high
II not the principal place in the Liberal
Government believed to be approaching,
until recently he declared his intention
Of retiring definitely from public life.
Yet, during the session Of Parliament
which has just ended. and after his pur-
pose to retire had been made known, he
denounced Mr.. CHAMBERLAIN's project
~ Mt nj 60 II ~, ov>anoE xuhich
equalled in vigor any that he had ever
delivered.
Sir WILLIAM HARcoURT was proud
of his descent from the Earls HARCouRT,
and from Archbishop VERNON Of York,
who assumed the name Of HARcoURT
after the extinction of the Earldom; but
as the second son OF an Oxfordshire
squire, he seems to have received but
little assistance from his family in his
career at the bar or in his attempts to
enter political life, the first of which was
unsuccessful. He did not, like Lord
JOHN RUSSELL, have a family borough
waiting for him, nor did he, like Mr..
GLADSTONE secure one, Immediately
after leaving the university, at the hands
Of great noble. His success, whether
academic, literary, professional or par
liamentary, was self-won. Perhaps it
was consciousness of this fact which
impaired certain arrogance to his de-
meanor toward members of the House
Of Commons who, as he knew, had COM
manded adventurous aids that he had
lacked. To self-made men, on the other
hand, he could show himself singularly
considerable, sympathetic and gracious.
No modest and sensitive young man
ever had occasion to dread the Boanerges
of the House. Enemies he undoubtedly
had, for he feared nobody. least of all
those in high places. but on the other
hand, he had many friends who re-
garded him with positive affection. There |
is reason to believe that his acquiescence
in the unsatisfactory report on the |
Jameson raid was due to his unwilling
ness to open an inquiry which might |
subject to odium and danger certain per-
sons for whom ne felt very warm re-
gard. His conduct in that matter was
not judicial, and not a few of his previous !
admirers held that he should have been |
guided by duty instead OF sympathy.
No one that ever heard him will deny |
that Sir WILLIAM HARcoURT was a
memorable figure in the House Of Com
mons, worthy to rank with the very
best debaters who in the nineteenth
century upheld the reputation of the
British Parliament,