The Washington herald., 1911-08-24

A comedy quite of the Gilbert and
Sullivan order has attended the as
cent Of Lord Curzon of Kedleston on
the peerage ladder. until now an earidom
has been conferred upon him as re-
suit Of the coronation. The new earl
is the son Of peer, and he 10 the only
living member Of the aristocracy who
has risen above his own father in the
upper house. have had occasion
once before to mention that the motto Of
the family Of the former India viceroy
Is "Curzon holds what Curzon held"
But 1t has been paraphrased in London
club circles into: "Curzon gets what
Curzon wants" No doubt, he gets 1t,
though perhaps not always as speedily
as he would like to.
Lord Curzon is a scion of.very old Brit
ish nobility, the first Curzon having been
summoned to Parliament as Lord Harry
ingworth in 1903. Ever since the Curzons
have played notable parts in British
history. They have split into different
branches, those best known being the
Lords of Zouchey, Of Haryingworth, OF
Howe, and of Scarsdale. The latter.
the father of the Lord Curzon of this
sketch, is parson, ard recently cele-
brated his eightieth birthday.
AS far back as 1164 Derbyshire Curzon
william de Ferrers, and not the least
august Of the family is George Nathaniel
Curzon, eldest son and heir to the Rev.
Nathaniel Curzon, fourth Baron OF Scars
dale, of Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire.
Thirteen years ago Lord Curzon, then
the Hon. Nathaniel Curzon, was made
viceroy of India and offered a peerage.
The tenure Of the viceroyalty being five
years. and Mrs. Curzon being then under
forty years Of age. he foresaw a dis
tinguished career as a statesman, with
possibility of the premiership. upon his
return to England. He had. by the way,
already achieved ministerial rank before
being appointed to Calcutta But en-
noblement in the ordinary way would
have cut off his chances of ever return
ing to the Commons, as a peer of the
United Kingdom-the only kind of peer
age nowadays created-is not allowed to
sit in the lower chamber. So Lord Cur
zon hit upon a good idea. He got the
heralds to make him an Irish peer.
Now, an Irish peer, though he may not
sit for an Irish constituency, may repre-
sent any constituency in England or
Wales, The heralds must have wanted
a lot OF persuading, for no Irish peerage
had been created since Col. McClntock
ago. But Mr. Curzon had a persuasive
eloquence of his own, and the heralds
consented. So the Honorable Nat" went
out East as an Irish peer, and, parlia-
mentarily, a Commoner.
But that anomaly had a curious re-
suit. When the patent had been made
out, and his lordship had kissed the
sovereign's hand and had been duly ga
Zetted, Queen Victoria developed nat
ural curiosity to know why the young
viceroy desired to be made an Irish peer
She supposed It was to placate the Irish,
but she learned that it had been done
to permit Jru Curzon 10 recommence
his career in the House of Commons on
terminating his term of office in India.
The Queen was indignant. Her ulti-
matum was that no man who had rep
resented her in India should wish to
enter the House of Commons.
That was what may be called ''one in
the eye' for the new viceroy. for, while
the purpose of his artful idea of being
made an Irish peer was now voided by
the words of the Queen, his Irish coro-
net had the dual modification of not CIV
ing him a seat in the upper chamber.
However, as some one IN Calcutta re-
minded his lordship. all ex-viceroys OF
India receive a seat in the Lords on
returning to England. so Lord Curzon.
though disappointed in his hope of ever
being premier. still foresaw a notable
career at home. and proceeded TO do his
best in our Eastern empire. Five years
passed. Lord Curzon came home. He
had been a great pro-consuL But he got
no step in the peerage from his own
party He was, however, sent back to
India for a further term as viceroy, and
was satisfied He hadn't been out many
months before he and Kitchener were
at loggerheads, and Lord CurZon chuck
ed his job
By that time the Radicals were in
power But that did not matter TO Lord
Curzon. He had been viceroy twice, and
his promotion to an earldom. or, at any
rate to an official baronetcy with a seat