The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04
SOME r BOOKS.
'Ehe Tragedy Of Lord Randolph Church,

collectively entitled Lord Randolph Churchill,
by WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL, NJ. p
Macmillans), II Ia difficult for a son to
write a biography Of his father, but Mr.,
Churchill has performed the task at once
with filial devotion and with admirable
tact. The materials at his disposal we're
ample. II seems that in the spring of
1so3 Lord Randolph Churchill, feeling that
he had slender expect atoms Of long life,
placed all his papers, private and official,
under a trust deed. which committed them
at his death. which occurred two years later,
TO the charge Of two of his intimate political
friends. Viscount Curaon NOW Ia ri Howe)
and Mr.. Ernest Beckett now Lord Grim
Z thorpe). As his son tells us in a preface,
he made n practice of preserving almost
every letter he received, The nu nber of
documents filled eleven tin boxes Of con-
siderable size. Subject to the conditions
prescribed in the trust deed with regard to
matters affecting the India Office or the
Foreign Ofice-conditions which have been
observed-these papers were placed In
the authors hands by his fathers literary
executors in July, 1902, in order that he
might write a full account of Lord Ran
dolph's life and work. We learn that Sir
Michael Hicks-Beach Chaving consulted
with the late Lord Salisbury and Lord
(. Roeebery both expressed the opinion that
the story Of Lord Randolph's life may
now be recounted without improperly
toward individuals or the public, His son
IL evidently right in thinking that 1t was
high time to do SO. Lord Randolph's part
In national affairs is not to be measured
by long years of Office No great legis-
lation stands in his name upon the statute
book. He was IL Chancellor Of the Elk
nhnrnar Without , I,,Jnot n laalar of tha
House Of Commons but for a single session,
a victor without the spoils. The author
comedies that no tangible or enduring
monument-unless it be the Burma province
exists of his labors; and the great and de-
cisive force which, by popularizing it, he
exerted upon the Conservative and Unionist
party might be imperfectly comprehended
by a later generation unless 1t were ex-
planned and confirmed by the evidence of
those who came in contact or collision with
his imperious and vivifying personality.
Mr.. Churchill recognizes that for a thing
40 commonly attempted political biography
is hard to write. The authors own style
and ideas must throughout he subordinated
to the necessity Of embracing in the text
those documentary proofs upon which the
story depends. Letters. memoranda and
extracts from speeches which inevitably
and rightly interrupt the sequence of his
recital must be pieced together upon some
consistent and harmonious plan. The
biographer has thought it his duty, he adds.
$50 far as possible to assemble once and for
all the whole body Of historical evidence
required for the understanding OF Lord
Randolph Churchill's career. Scarcely any
thing OF material consequences has been
omitted, and such omissions as have been
II 100000 -.o -aalA Co. okl1r,' ,alaa --I
not his own. Scarcely any statement OF
Importance lacks documentary proof.
There is nothing more to tell. Wherever
practicable I have endeavored to employ
his own words in the narration, and the
public Is now in a position to pronounce a
complete, II not a final, judgment"
Elsewhere we are reminded that in one
respect the experience OF the subject OF
this biography was anomalous He who
recounts the story Of an English statesman
lie often able to conduct his hero prosper
ously through the recognized educational
experiences and to install him at an early
age In some small office. whence his pro-
motion in due course is assured. 1t Ia
otherwise with the life OF Lord Randolph
Churchill. mo smooth path OF patronage
was open to him. No glittering wheels Of
royal favor aided and accelerated his jour
ney. Whatever power he acquired was
grudgingly conceded and hastily snatched
away. Like Disraeli. he had to fight every
mile in all his marches" The present
narrative aims to explain In almost me-
chanical detail the steps and the forces
by which Lord Randolph rose to the eKer-
else of great personal authority, as well as
the converse process by which he declined.
A son naturally has been led to deal more
~ IA -. rAI- - l. - 800 NL&-
with his private life. II we except the first
two chapters and the last, the whole Of these
two volumes is devoted to an account of
only ten years-those from 1880 to 1900
and not less than half Of the works COM
pass is concerned with the succession Of
political crises which disturbed the years
1885 and 1885. The author acknowledges
that the epoch is brief, but he submits that
90 crowded is it with incidents and acct
dents, so full of insights and sideli ghts upOn
the workings of party and constitution al
machinery in recent times that il deserves
the closest examination
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill
was born in London on February 10, 1S49.
His father, then Lord Blandford, was the
eldest son of the sixth Duke of Marlborough
by his first wife, Lady Jane Stewart, daugh-
ter Of the eighth Earl OF Galloway. The
Marques of Blandford, who was TO be the
seventh Duke, had married in ls43 the
Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane, eldest
daughter of the third Marquess Of Lon
donderry, by whom he had five sons and
six daughters. OF the cons three died in
infancy; the elder Of the survivors ulti-
mately became the eighth Duke, and the
younger is the subiecto of this narrative.
In the lifetime of the sixth Duke Of MARI
borough Lord Blandford lived at Hen
eington House, an unpretentious building
outside the circumference of the Blen-
helm Park wall and about half a mile from
the palace. Here the boy Randolph grew
UP with his brother and sister, and when
lin 1857 his father succeeded TO the duke
lA.a tLa.t LII rnaund into tho M In 90 ukich