New-York tribune., 1908-11-01

vtction was subsequently quashed by the court
OF appeal. on the ground Of a technical error IN
the procedure. In the case Of fourth OF the
great powers of Europe. not long ago its lead
ing statesman who WIS regarded by his coun-
trynen as the counterpart OF Bismarck, a Won
derfuily able and imperious man. rendered him
self guilty of bigamy, for which he suffered in
dictnlent and a merely brief political eclipse in
order 10 wed his nlegitimate child's mother.
iadv of stormy antecedents. whose maiden
name is still to be found on the police registers
OF her native city.
The late Prince Gortchakoff, who died as
Chancellor Of the Russian Empire, was re-
nowned, even IN his old age. one OF the most
sinister profigates of his day, whose life was
characterized by altogether cynical disregard
for tbs most elementary principles of propriety,
while Alberti tho Danish statesman, who has
fust been thrust into Jail for wrecking, not one.
but several Of the savings banks of his country.
reducing some fifteen thousand petty farmer
and peasant families to dire ruin, able to
maintain himself at the head of the government
as Minister Of Justice for more than a decade, IN
spite Of all sorts Of domestic scandals, including
his own divorce and his subsequent marriage TO
q divorcee. Few. indeed Of the leading states
men OF Continental Europe in the last ten years
oan boast OF unimpeachable private life, free
from imputations. and in some cases OF convic-
NAV be described as offences against hearth and
home. Would they have passed muster in the
limited States? My nearly quarter OF CEN
turv OF experience Of American affairs convinces
me that their antecedents would have been abso-
Iutely fatal to any chance Of their success on
this side OF the ocean.
II have invariably referred above to Europe
with the prefix Of Continental it is because in
Great Britain nowadays much the same quail
hcations are exacted Of statesmen in the
United States. striking evidence thereof being
furnished by the sensational wreck of the career
Of Charles Stewart ParHelI when at it's climax
and on the very threshold Of victory. 1t is prob
able that had 1t not been for his sudden disap-
pearance from the political arena Ireland would
be enjoying to-day that Home Rule which has
been the goal of her most ardent aspirations for
more than a hundred years. But when, after
winning over Gladstone and the entire Liberal
party of the United Kingdom to his views. Par
nell seemed on the eve of reaping the fruits of
his wonderfully brilliant generalshp and OF the
arduous labors of his lieutenants. charges of
prohigacy were not only brought against him
but likewise Judicially proved
Both his Irish adherents. Protestants as well
Catholics. as we'll as his numerous English
that who was unable to order his own
private life was ipso facto disqualified from
any attempt to regulate the existence OF others
Subjected to not only wholesale desertIon but
also the most cruel boycott, he forced into
oblivion. lonely death releasing him not long
afterward from existence which had become
intolerable: and so the promising realIza
tion of the prospects OF Home Rule were doomed
once moro to delay which has already existad
for near a score of years. and which NAV last
considerably longer. There is no doubt that -
Parnelrs followers had been willing TO cIosa
their e.es to his romance with Mrs. O'Sbea
Erin would to-day be enjoying autonomy Tb,
Irish preferred 10 sacrifice the latter 10 a c,,os
ton of moral principle.
In another instance which occurred about the
same tline' not an Irish politician, but an Eng
lish statesman of worldwide celebrity was
driven out of public life by the reve,attor -,
analogous departure from ths strict na.h =,