Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-18
Published Book to Show That the Poet
Was a Scoundrel.
CAREER OF LORD EDGEM0NT
Served in Many Humble Positions Be-
fore He Succeeded to the
Peerage.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

LONDON. September %, 1906.
The other day the Earl of Lovelace fell
dead from heart disease on the veranda of
his beautiful mansion near Ripley, in the
county of Surrey forty fifty miles from
London. He was a sonless widower, seven
ty-seven years old. that the titles and es-
tates pass to his half-brother, Capt. King
Noel. of his majestys army, now on the re-
tired list. The earl was man of remarka-
Die traits. eccentric habits and most distin-
guished ancestry. He was descended direct
from King Henry II by Lady Catherine Grey
Among other ancestors were John Locke.
metaphy sician and philosopher and author OF
a volume entitled Locke on the Understand
ing that has brought distress into the lives
of college students for a century and half.
Peter King, who was lord chancellor for
many years in the early part of the eight
zenith century, was another of his forefa-
theirs. But perhaps the best known IN the
long list was Lord Byron. whose daughter,
Lady Wentworth, usually known as Ada
Byron. was his mother. Ada Byron was the
only child of the poet. who deserted her
mother when she was only month old and
never saw her afterward Nevertheless, he
frequently mentioned her with affectionate
membranes and dedicated to her 'Chlide
Harold" perhaps the greatest of his poems,
in these extraordinary lines:
Is thy face like thy mothers, my fair childi
When last 1 saw thy young blue eyes they smiled
And then parted not as now We part,
But with hope
That is what a person addicted to slang
would call hot air. and they are certain
" queer lines for father to write about
child he deserted in infancy. but we must
remember that Byron was not a rational
being.
Shocked the Country.
The late Earl Lovelace created one of the
greatest sensations ever experienced by the
literary world many years ago, and shocked
the sensibilites of the aristocracy of Eng
land who are usually loyal to their own
sinners and keep their skeletons locked up
in cupboards as securely as possible. He
published a book to prove that his grand
father was an infamous scoundrel, and was
eminently successful. In 1862 Harriet
Beecher Stowe charged that Lord Byron
abused his wife in a brutal and inhuman
manner, and declared that she lived a life
of martyrdom until he deserted her and
went to live with another woman
in Italy. Until Mrs. Stowe made
this attack 1t was universally under
stood that his separation from his wife was
due to the eccentricities of genius, to the
restless habits of most amiable and
charming man who fell in love with every
body and caused everybody to fall In love
with him. profound sensation was Gre
ated. A battalion of defenders arose in
rious parts of the earth and fought valiant
ly in defense of the poet reputation. When
the controversy was hottest 1t was an
nounced that Lord Lovelace, the grandson
of Byron, had discovered documentary evil
dence from the family records which would
be published in book form, and, very nat
urally, everybody expected that he would
vindicate the honor of the family.
The book was entitled "Astarte: A Frag-
ment of Truth Concerning George Gordon
Byron Sixth Lord Byron. Recorded by His
Grandson. Ralph Mibanke, Earl of Love-
lace" and when 1t appeared the admirers
of the poet and his army of defenders and
indeed the whole reading world, We're shock
ed beyond expression. By presenting copies
of private letters of the most domestic and
confidential character the Earl of Lovelace
demonstrated that the statements of Mrs
Stowe concerning his grandfather were not
only correct, but that she did not tell one
tenth of the story He proved that Byron
was unworthy of respect as husband or
a father or man, and was a person of
most contemplate character.
1t was entirely unnecessary publica-
ton; it exposed family skeletons of the
most revolving type. and disclosed secrets
which should have been sacredly preserved
until they were forgotten. What impelled
Lord Lovelace to eternally blast the reputa-
tion of the most famous man of his family
was never explained. The book naturally
provoked a hurricane of protests and re-
monstrances, and Lord Lovelace retreated
from the storm to his beautiful ancestral
seat called Ockham Park where he has
since lived as a recluse.
An Accomplished Deaf Mute.
peerage. however and some very interest
ing characters. One of the most charming
personalities is the Baron of Ardwck
Arthur Henderson Fairbairn, of the County
of Lancaster, who is deaf mute Notwith-
standing his affiiction, he is a man of i'm
pressive appearance, learning, physical
vitality and a keen sense of humor. He is
a great sportsman, has one of the finest
strings of hunters in England goes to India
and Africa to shoot big game, is president
of cricket club, foot ball club, golf
club and an anglers association. He has
one of the finest libraries in England and a
collection of curios which he has picked up
In his travels all over the world Twice has
ne visited the United States, and is familiar
with all of the most interesting parts of
that country, having spent several months
shooting in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
He is also engaged in several lines of phil
anthropic work, naturally giving the great
est amount of attention to the Royal Asso-
citation in Aid of the Deaf and Dumb. In
this capacity he has done a great deal to
improve the educational possibilities of
deaf mutes, and has been able to secure
many members of that class employment.
There is a reunion OF deaf mutes in London
every year. over which he presides. and the
conference always closes with a dinner al
the Holborn restaurant, which is attended
by the greatest men in the country.
A Career of Vicissitudes.
The Earl of Edgemont. who has long
string of other titles. being also viscount
Percival, Baron Perceval Baron Arden,
Baron Lowell and Baron Holland all at one
and the same time, was for several years a
paid member of the London fire department,
and the father of the Countess of Edgemont
is caterer in the West End of London.
The earl. whose baptismal name Is Angus
tus Arthur Perceval, is the son of an uncle
of his predecessor, who chat is, the uncle),
becoming too disreputable for the comfort
of the family, was shipped off to New Zea-
land and compelled to remain there on a
small allowance under fictitious name,
until he drank himself to death. His son,
the present earl, was born at little town
called Papanni. in 1856, and, without any
knowledge of his noble connections, wher.
sixteen or seventeen years old shipped as
a sailor before the mast. Becoming tired of
the sea. and having married a girl in
bake shop, who has made him an excellent
wife, he applied for an appointment in the
metropolitan fire brigade, and after exami-
nation received it. He served at various
stations in London from 1881 TO 1887, when
he resigned to become a doorkeeper and
porter at the new town hall In Chelsea, one
OF the parishes of London. Sir Eyre Massey
Shaw, then chief of the fire department,
gave him letter of recommends ton, read
ing:
s.Drripv the nariod af his service the CON-