New-York tribune., 1911-03-26
Anglo-American Memories
The LATE DUKE OF DevoNsHlRE.
oCory-lsht. 1911. George W. smancyl


britain and Ireland into fragments. He
ilSteneo but never for a moment was
his conviction shaken. Against that
rock the floods of Mr.. Gladstone's eIo-
Qucncc bea: in vain
IN the subjects we considered at Devon
SHIRE House I was good deal interested.
nut While this talk lasted / was at least
as much interested in the man with
whom l~talked. His sincerity Of char
acter I knew-everybody knew: but what
he showed now was above all things a
sincerity of mind. He had an intel
lectual honesty, comparable to his hon
esty Of nature. The arts of debate he
put aside. There was nothing parlia-
mentary in his method. The arts of the
advocate no diydained. There was moth
ing either in his method or in the man
himself which you could call forensic.
He opened his mind 10 you with perfect
franknesS. The tricks of the Socratic
dialogue wero not his. He had not. per-
haps, the subtlety which that process
requires. hut he certainly had prefer
ence for simplicity and loyalty which
made it impossible to him TO Il traps
for an opponent or to contrive sn am
bush for an enemy. He met you. If at
all in the open field. on even terms.
That IS what he had done all his life;
life crowded with public and private
interests; temptations of ono kind or
another lying in. wait for him at every
step. Not once had he Welded. Not once
had he swerved from the straight, hard
limo of truth and honor and honorable
conduct. The bronze statue Of him in
Whitehall is not more erect, unbending,
self-poised than was he. You would
know II afar off if only from the up
springing carriage Of head; unconscious
in Harrington himself. but patrician.
lie was no more afraid 10 defend his
own interests than those of the state:
when the two happened 10 coincide. He
resisted Harcourts Death Duties in 1891
on both grounds He gave Chatsworth
a $ an illustration. The dukes Of Devon
shire had kept UP that place partly for
the public, partly for the tenants and
neighbors. as we'll as for themselves.
They had put great share of their rev.
enue back into the land. They had
given yearly great sums. Said Lord
Harrington then. in substance:
you cannot have it both ways. II
YOU exact from us by law what VIC have
given of our free will We shall obey the
law. but We shall no longer have the
means to bestow in charity what VIC
have bestowed heretofore; or what the
law now takes from US
:. lie was much criticised The Radicals
ragged. after their manner But who does
not now see that he was right? The
PEOPLE who own no land and wish to
make land bear al it's own burdens and
theirs besides. do not see and Will not
see. The dukes of Devonshire own con-
siderable Irish property, Lismore Said
the late duke do not know whether he
over said il publicly:
Il have had the figures examined.
Within recent period We have spent on
Lsmore for the benefit Of the tenants
"a 900 (S170.oo0 more than We have re-
ceived from it in rent"
Even with that. I suppose the single
takers and other socialists would not be
content. They want the whole. no man
knows what the end will be-
our talk did not then turn on these
matters. but my memories of other talks
and Of Lord Harrington as a steadfast
advocate Of the rights OF all classes arc
many. and ! choose out Of them such as
seem 10 me best to paint The man.
The American tourist who has seen
Chatsworth has probably brought away
with him the impression that It Is all
state apartments. only that part Of the
house Is shown. They are Of great and
jmpressing splendor. but those parts OF
the house I'm which the family live,
though still splendid, are delightful and
bomelikc. The library contains treasures
known the world over. The morning
room is panelled with Titians. and was
going to say Van Dykes. but have for
gotten. The bedrooms are. or were,
coually magnificent and primitive. There
were M bells. but a servant I'm livery
orders. The dining room is Of great
size and beauty. The most beautiful
thing 7 ever saw in it was the light
on the face Of the late Dukes father as
we sat at lunch. and Lord Harrington
arrived unexpectedly, having ridden over
from Hardwick Hall. where he then
lived Never between father and son
was there a more perfect relation than
between these two. Lord Harrington
onca broke through his reserve TO say To
me:
7 o,ce everything to my father; every
thing"
From a man whose emotions easily
round their way out. that might not have
meant much From him ii meant pre-
ciselv what he said; and n" said il as if
the obligation were one he was bound
"a acknowledge. The burden Of graft
trdo to his father would not be borne
forever IN silence.
IT. as Mr.. Price Collier says, Ameri-
90 ns do not like Englishmen, they surely
would not have liked Lord Harrington.
TIC had in the highest degree those Eng
,ieb traits which Americans, some Amer
leans think un-American: the not wear
ing his heart on his sleeve, the absence
of effuslveness. Of self-assertion, of
syagger in any kind. / have used some
super!atives in sketching him, but ] dis
miss all have said as inadequate; per-
hans because of the superlatives. They
always betray you. They VIII not DO the
work they are meant to. To Lord Hart