Great Imperialist

Of an undefined malady, aggravated by congestion of the lungs, requiring the attendance of an urologist, George Nathaniel Curzon, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Earl of Kedleston, Viscount Scarsdale, Baron Ravensdale, Lord President of The Council, died last week in his London residence on Carlton House Terrace in the 67th year of his life.

At the beginning of the month, Lord Curzon went to Cambridge and, while dressing for a public dinner, collapsed. All his immediate engagements were canceled and he was removed to London, where he underwent a serious operation. His condition remained serious and with little improvement for about a week, when he took a turn for the worse, dying at 5:35 a.m. on the 15th day of his fatal malady.

During his illness, he repeatedly asked for his favorite newspaper; but the doctors, fearing to let him see the unfavorable bulletins which they had issued, did not accede to his demand. Finally, on the eve of his death, a morning newspaper* consented to halt its presses and print a single copy of a special edition, called by the British press "the bedside edition," wherein was described his "great improvement" and the certainty of his early convalescence--but all in vain; the "bedside edition" was hardly wet with its ink before Lord Curzon had expired. It was a considerate and sporting gesture.

The death of Lord Curzon removes from British public life a great imperialist, great in name and great in ability. As plain George Curzon he went to Eton where Esher, Minto, Balfour, the Beresfords, Midleton, Rosebery--all men who have left their mark on the pages of Britain's recent history--were closing the chapters of their Eton life. From Eton he went to Oxford's scholar college, Balliol, where like Lord Oxford and Asquith, he carved a brilliant academic career.

Having traveled far and wide on the continent, he went, after his Oxford days were over, to explore Central Asia. His visits to Persia, Siam, the Pamirs, Indo-China and Korea were not the fitful visits of a tourist, but the premeditated acts of a scholar who traveled to discover and store a fund of knowledge that books could not give him.

On his return to England, he received--like several of the then rising generation--his political apprenticeship as assistant private secretary to the great Lord Salisbury. Once embarked upon a career of statescraft, he rose rapidly and held many of the more important cabinet positions. He did not become Prime Minister for the all-important reason that, since Lord Salisbury's third term of office (1895-1902), no British Premier has been a member of the House of Lords, and it now seems to be an established custom that Premiers must henceforth be members of the House of Commons.

George Curzon at Eton and Oxford was noted for a bluntness of speech and an arrogance of manner that won him few close friends; but those he won were those that understood him and could appreciate the inner qualities of a remarkable character. As he tobogganed down the easy road of his life and grew just as easily to fame, not many of his enemies could refuse to admit the brilliance of his intellect. He was learned in an exceptional degree, courageous in his opinions and could do three ordinary men's work with comparative ease and great enthusiasm.

Probably History will set down his term of office as Viceroy of India (1899-1905) as the greatest episode of his career. He created a new Northwest frontier province, introduced extensive schemes of irrigation, reformed the entire administrative functions of Government, worked assiduously to broaden the educational system of the country. Under Lloyd George, he was Foreign Secretary in the most momentous period of Europe's history; but, as Mr. George was largely his own Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon had to keep much in the background. Under Bonar Law and later in Mr. Baldwin's first administration, he was Foreign Secretary in the full sense, but there was no notable change in Britain's foreign policy and Lord Curzon's long term in that office was distinguished by a lack of cordiality abroad which was partly the outcome of his pragmatic utterances.

His faults were grave and they were faults of both mood and tense. In his childhood, he had suffered an incurable injury to his back which doubtless accounted for much of his irascibility. On the other hand, he was often tactless to a degree, pompous in his bearing, quick to give and take offense and often almost boorish in his treatment of inferiors. His passion was imperialism and no toe, no matter to whom it belonged, escaped his heel if its owner got in the way of his policy. Few men were a match for him in withering invective; none surpassed him. He was a statesman of the old Victorian school, which had much to commend it but which is now something of an anachronism.

Lord Curzon married first Mary Leiter, daughter of Levi Z. Leiter of Washington, D.C.; a widower, he married Grace Hinds, daughter of the late ]. Monroe Hinds, onetime U. S. Minister to Brazil, widow of Alfred Duggan of Buenos Aires. The marquisate and earldom now become extinct. Richard Nathaniel Curzon, nephew, succeeds by "special remainder" to the Viscounty of Scarsdale. Lady Mary Irene Curzon, eldest daughter, and granddaughter of Levi Z. Leiter, becomes, also by special remainder, Baroness of Ravensdale in her own right.

*The paper was said to be The Daily Graphic, daily illustrated paper equivalent to U. S. gum-chewers' sheetlets. Lord Curzon was, however, particularly fond of The Morning Post, owned by the Duke of Northumberland, and possibly it was this paper which printed the special edition.