New-York tribune., 1910-05-08

was the chief actor, brings that vivid per-
sonality once again vividly to mind. In
deed. 1t is never long absent from the
general memory. He has left mark on
! the public life Of this country which will
last as long as anything lasts. And he
has left portrait of himself in the
| memory of all who really knew him.
Besides which. he has left a son who
| does not allow us long TO forget his
| existence or his relation to the affairs
of the moment. A great authority was
quoted quite lately as saying. Winston
is an abler man even than his father"
| asked him whether he said it No.
said cleverer. not ADLER" which seemed a
very just distinction.
I have not really much 10 add to the
account of Lord Randolph which l wrote
for these columns in January, 1895. upon
| his death. 1 adhere to all / then said.
The estimate seems to me fair, if not
complete. The years that have passed
| fame. If anything. they add to it. And
for this reason: His conception Of fhe
| political future of his country was a
| true conception. To him the year 1884,
with its revolutionary enlargement of
the suffrage, was the turning point of
modern English history. The middle
classes vacated the throne they had oc-
cupied since 1882 The working classes
succeeded to their inheritance. Their
power has steadily grown: They are two
thirds of the electorate to-day They have.
it is true, but forty out Of GO members
of Parliament, but these figures are In
no respect representative of their real
authority. They and the Irish Nation
alists hold the balance OF power in the
House of Commons. They returned
fewer members to the House this year
than in 1906. but that was because of an
ARRANGEMENT between them and the
Liberals-for value received. And no
man doubts that the power Of the Labor
party will hereafter increase and not
decrease For the first time in the his
tory of England they openly proclaim
their purpose TO legislate and TO 1nflu-
ence legislation in the interest Of
single class and not in the interest OF
all classes and Of the country as
majority. But the day when a majority
takes no account of the minority, or
thinks minority has no rights which
the majority is bound to respect, Is a
black day in the history Of any country
But this, in substance If not In detail,
Is what Lord Randolph foresaw and an
nounced; and he was the only man TO
foresee it. He did not disdain, as Mr.
Gladstone did, TO look ahead, to form to
himself some conception of what the
future of England was to be with this
rising tide of Democracy. His concep-
ton. as l said, was a true conception,
and the political genius Of the man was
never more clearly visible than in this
forecast, and in the means he proposed
to himself and to his party for dealing
with situation absolutely new.
Lord Randolph's hartford speech IN
1856 will therefore remain monument
TO his sagacity. It was speech which
NAV be read to-day with profit and ad-
miration. So may that at Birmingham,
of which Trust the People is the motto
1 will go farther. If 1 wanted body
of political doctrine to put into the hands
of an American student of English poll
tics would as soon offer him Lord Ran
dolph's speeches as ny other. There Is
no complete collection, but there are the
two volumes edited by Mr.. Louis Jen-
nings and published by Messrs. Long
mans in 1888 They cover a period of
only nine years. 1SSO-'Ss. but they are
handbook TO the political life OF Eng
land for a generation. Lord Randolph
had this rare merit-rare in this coun-
trv-he dealt habitualIy with principles,
and his treatment Of political questions
was not empirical. but scientific. And be
was absolutely fearless.
He was fearless alike in public and
private. and he looked his own fortunes
IN the face whether they presented
themselves to him with the promise OF
good or of ILL., He knew he was
doomed man. He cast his own horo-
scope shortly before he flung that fatal
card upon the table which lost him the
game in his long contest with Lord
Salisbury. He said:
Il shall be five years in office or In
opposition. Then shall be five years
Prime Minister. Then shall die"
And he was right as TO the length OF
his life, though perVerse fate and his
| one fatal miscalculation, Il forgot Co
! schen." falsified the rest Of his predic-
| ton.
| MANY of these matters l used to near
Lord Randolph discuss in private, and
even now l suppose they must remain
/ private. though the impression his talks
! left may fairly be described L listened
/ 70 his views on Finance-long before ne
was Finance Minister-through nearly
I the whole of long summer afternoon.
We were at Cliveden. That beautiful
nossession had not then passed into MT.
| Astor's hands. It still belonged to the
Duke of Westminster and had been lent
bv him 10 the Duchess Of Marlborough,
widow Of that seventh Duke OF MARI
borough who was ViCeroy of Ireland,
and Lord Randolph'S mother The
duchess was a woman who may always
he adduced in support of the theory that
qualities of mind and character descend
from mother to son. She was8 woman
of great natural shrewdness and force.
with an insight into the true nature OF
such things as interested her; and the
one thing that interested her above all
others was her second son. Lord Ran
| dolph.
V..a