Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1903 — DEATH OF SALISBURY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DEATH OF SALISBURY.

England’* Prime Minister Finn Away at a Rips Old Ace. - Lord Robert Cecil, the Marquis of Salisbury, died Saturday at Hatfield, in s the house where be was born and where he had spent his long and busy life;" where another Lord Cecil entertained the beautiful Queen Elizabeth in the i£xteenth century; he, too, being England's prime minister: The late marquis was the fourth one of his race to rule the affairs of the British ‘empire from that honorable post in the shadow of the throne. The marquis was born Feb. 3, 1830, and was educated at Christ’s College, graduating in 1849. Four years later he t,of)k his seat in Parliament and for the past fifty years has been a figure in British politics. For thirty-five years he was a statesman of cabinet rank, and for the past quarter of a century the greatest figure in the world politics, with an experience in the affairs of nations unequalled by any of bis contemporaries. To his knowledge and diplomacy is due' the general success of Great Britain in disputes of the past thirty years, and to his judgment its comparative freedom from war. He married young and entirely against his father’s wishes; then being partially disinherited, for years his life wps almost a bread and butter struggle. Long nights in the house were succeeded by busy mornings at the desk, writing for magazines the articles which maintained his modest establishment. Great Britain has reason to thank those early strenuous days in the education of her premier. They taught him his own strength, and in thie contest of will with his father, he learned self-reliance. The first important recognition of his ability came in his appointment in 1800, to the post of Secretary of State for India. Two years later he became the Marquis of Salisbury, upon the death of his father. The next year saw him elected the chancellor of Oxford University, and in 1874 he was made secretary for India. In IS7G he took his place among the world’s greatest diplomats, when at the close es the war between Turkey and Servia, he was sent as special ambassador to the Sublime Forte to arrange the difference between Turkey and Russia. At the conference of the powers in Constantinople he represented Great Britain and was accounted the leader of the con-

vention. In 1878.*he accompanied Lord lleaeonsfiehl (Benjamin Disraeli), ('he former premier, to the Berlin congress, and for his conspicuous service there he was awarded the order of the. Garter upon his return to England, and shortly afterwards he was appointed secretary for foreign affairs. In this capacity he proved one of the strongest and most judiciousministers Great Britain ever produced.’ Jlis retirement from the foreign office in Npvember, 1900( was a severe blow to Britisli prestige abroa'd and to the Conservative party at home, at whose head ho had been since 1881. Ilis political enemies were as numerous as his personal friends were few. He warred with Gladstone unceasingly during the later years of the “Grand Old Man’s” life, and one time brought do-wn the wrath of Parliament upon his head for his lijgoniess of tongue against his rival whom the people cherished, as they hated Salisbury. Salisbury’s contempt for public opiiiira and for opinions of his fellow statesmen was his most marked personal trait. He not only delighted in making unuecc*sary and biting remarks, but he loved to rub verbal salt into the so.re spots for days afterward- - .

LORD SALISBURY.