The Washington herald., 1913-03-01

have good reason to believe that Mr..
AsQuith will retire before the close of
1913 as British Prime Minister. 1t will
be interesting. therefore, to recall the
conditions under which, many OF his pre-
decessors have laid down the burden Of
Office. which proved too heavy for their
shoulders.
In 1874, Mr.. Gladstone announced his
intention to leave the arena of politics
for the more reposeful atmosphere Of
private iife At the age of sixty-five, he
said. and after forty-two years Of a
Iaborious public life. Il think that I am
entitled to retire on the present oppor-
tunity. This retiremnet is dictated to me
by my personal views as to the best
method of spending the closing years Of
my life" He little dreamed at that time,
when he fancied himself too weary and
old for his great position, that he
would still be discharging its onerous
duties nearly twenty years later, when
nearing his eighty-fifth birthday.
Mr.. Asquith is a young man, as Eng
lish Premiers go. He is but one year
older than Mr.. Gladstone was when first
he assumed the office Lord Palmerston
did not consider himself too old to un-
dertake the British premiership for the
first time at seventy: Sir Campbell-Ban-
herman, at sixty nine; Lord Grey, at
and Disracli Lord Beacons-
field. at sixty-two. These statesmen
still had vigor enough to direct the Brit
ish empire for an aggregate period of
twenty mine years. OF English Prime
Ministers during the last two centuries,
no fewer than six have worn their hsr-
ness in the seventies. Two. Lord Palm
erston and Mr.. Gladstone. laid it aside
at the. advanced age of eighty-one and
eighty-four. respectively: and seven. in
Guiding Palmerston, died in office.
That there must he something singu-
larly conducive to longevity In the life
Of a premier, in spite of all its labors
and anxieties. is proved by the fact that.
Of thirty -four Prime Ministers Of the
Crown who have died during the last two
centuries. no fewer than thirteen have
survived the seventies. and six into the
eighties. three of the latter counting :sl
years among them. Hence. Mr.. Asquith,
at sixty, comparatively speaking. is but
a boy among prime ministers.
But in spite of these remarkable sur
yivals the cares of high Office have prov
ed too great for many of Its holders.
seven of whom have died in harness,
while others, including the Earls OF
sfield. Portland. and Liverpool.
were broken in health when they resign
ed Probably it was bearing this in
mind that Gladstone. as he walked along
Street to form his last govern
meut. said pathetically to a friend.
This is a tragedy at my time of life.
George Canning was a comparatively
strong man Of fifty-seven when, IN
april, 1877, ne succeeded Lord Liverpool,
who had been struck down by par
iIysis: but only four months later he
vas lying inferred in Westminster ADJ
bey having drawn his last breath III
he same room In which Fox had died
.wenty-one years earlier. His brief ten
are of office was embittered by a contest
With the House of Lords conducted with
much personal acrimony. Of which Can
hing. an amabie and sensitive man. mad
o bear the brunt At the end of the
short session he left the House, a broken
nan. to die a month later at the Duke
II Devonshire's villa, At Chiswtck.
Twenty-one years earlier William Pitt
.Iosed his brilliant but brief career.
worm out by the anxieties OF the first
SapoIeonic wars Ii was time of
loom and anxiety for England when
Napoleon was ravaeng Europe with hre
nd sword. and the fate OF his own
ountry hung perilously in the balance
When the news of the victory Of Auster-
itz. which made the Corsicsn master
4 Europe. reached Pitt At Bath. whittier
e had retired to recuperate, II proved
mortal blow to the great statesman. ,
ie travelled back 10 his home, on Put |
ey Heath. so weak that the journey |
three days As he entered the |
ouse and saw map of Europe which |
ung on the wall he exclaimed: Roll |
hat map up: it will not he wanted |
ow" A week later he died. whispering |
nth his last breath the historic words: !
Oh. my country. How love my coun-
ry,''
The great Pitt was only forty-seven at |
is demise. But it was not the cares of
tate that killed him, after nineteen |
ears Of service as Prime Minister He |
'as too fond of his bottle. which pas
ion, or disease. sapped his life blood
Palmerston was twenty
nree years short of his first Premier
nip tenure at the age when Pitt had
IN mis- course Wonderful tales are
Did OF the vitality of this statesman,
'ho, almost to the time of his death,
Dde to the. Derby races each year, gal
,ping onto the Downs as fresh and
ager as a youth. In 1865 the weather
as so bad that. to his disgust, he had
, make the journey in a barouche; and.
5 he saw the French horse Gladiator
,rge to the front, he said jokingly to
lend: 81 shall not live the year through
1
tier he was dead. his writing table lit
,red with the papers on which he had
cen busily engaged a few hours earlier |
Spencer Perceval was Prime Minister
hen he fell to mad Bellingham's bull
t AS he entered the lobby Of the House
Commons, in May. 1sl2. and Sir Rob-
It Peel had been but four years out
Office when. one June day in 1850, he
as flung to death from his horse near
yde Park Corner.
1t would be a difficult thing to go on
cord which of the two Houses Of the
ritish Parliament has the biggest
owlers.' or wags. and still more diff
lit to pick the honorable or right hon
able member to whom belongs the first
ace in this respect during recent years |
ut for simple effectiveness il Is my be-
ef. Lord Balfour of Burleigh, would
: hard TO beat. when once he said in
lie House of Lords: The noble lord
lakes his head and I am glad to hearI
Another noble lord" during a debate
Indian affairs. exclaimed: Talk of
lis as loan to India! 1t is a fiea-bite
the ocean,,
Still it stands to reason that Che Il
ouse of Commons is more prolific in .
iantity. If not in quality, in its stock
'howlers' than the lords. seeing that
has so many more members and SO ,
any more opportunities. Capt Craig.
e f1re-eatfng Ulster man, brewed this
atorical stew:
The naked sword is drawn for the
sht. and never again will the black
noke Of the Nationalist tar-barrels
lit on the home rule wind to darken
e hearts of Englishmen.