In moving a vote of confidence in Mr. Curzon I predicted that he would one day be Prime Minister, he so greatly impressed me with his intellectual power and great eloquence.
Mr. Curzon made a splendid and most active candidate. He addressed meetings in every village in the division, every speech was carefully thought out and prepared, and his industry was remarkable. When he stayed, as he frequently did, at "Ramleh," he retired to his room after breakfast and we did not see him again until dinner-time; he had been engaged all day working at his speech. He had the gift of taking pains. We won the election only by a majority of 460. Mr. Curzon remained our member for thirteen years, until he was appointed Viceroy of India. We fought three contests, winning each with an increased majority, until at the last election, in 1895, Mr. Curzon's majority was 804. His opponent, then Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland, was formerly a Conservative, and as such stood for Colchester. He was made a baronet by the Liberals, and came and fought Southport as a Radical. When he stood for Colchester as a Conservative he had made abundant use of Mr. Curzon's speeches at Southport, delivering them as his own, and we did not fail to make capital of this amusing episode when he stood as a Radical for Southport.
Lady Naylor-Leyland was a beautiful American woman, one of the society beauties of the day, and she created a sensation as she drove about in an open carriage all decked with roses. But Mrs. Curzon was equally attractive; she was a bride, and had most charming and winning manners, and her presence on our platforms was a great help. It was my duty as chairman to escort her to our meetings, and I remember almost the last words she said to me on leaving Southport were, "Sir William, I shall always think of you getting me through crowds." Mr. Curzon occupied a furnished house at Southport during the election, and I stayed part of the time with them; and shall never forget Mrs. Curzon's gracious manner and her loving devotion to her husband. Alas for him and his great career, she died too soon. She gave her life, I fear, that she might support her husband in the splendid discharge of his duties in India.
Lord Curzon has gone into the House of Lords, where he will, I have no doubt, render great and distinguished service to the country; but had Lady Curzon lived I feel he would have entered the more congenial atmosphere of the Commons, and my prophecy that he would one day be Prime Minister would have been fulfilled.
The following incident proves the one great secret of Lord Curzon's success in life has been his remarkable industry. He made a journey to Persia, and wrote a book which is to-day the standard work on Persia. He was anxious to make an index, which he could have had done for him for a small expenditure, but he preferred to do it himself in his own way, and for this purpose he remained in rooms at Croydon for a month hard at work, and I believe I was the only person who knew his address.
The value of Lord Curzon's work in India cannot very well be overstated. Travelling through India some two years after his return home, we found everywhere the impress of his remarkable industry and thoughtfulness.
One day when visiting the cutcherry of a far distant province, we found the entire system of correspondence had been personally revised by the late Viceroy. On another occasion, the engineer of a coal mine to whom I was talking told me that the Viceroy visited his mine and personally interested himself in obtaining improved traffic facilities on the railway. On another day, when visiting a palace at Delhi, we found a number of Italians restoring the mosaics; they informed us they were still in the pay of Lord and Lady Curzon. I could go on enumerating instances of his activity and his abiding interest in India. In the restoration of the old landmarks and monuments in India, Lord Curzon has done a work which for generations to come will make his name memorable.
After Lord Curzon retired from Southport we had another election; this time Lord Skelmersdale, now the Earl of Lathom, was our candidate, and Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland our opponent. The fight was a severe one. We missed the great personality of Mr. Curzon, and although Lord Skelmersdale was an industrious candidate, and was very ably assisted by Lady Skelmersdale, we lost the election. After this I retired from the chairmanship of the division, and was presented by the Southport Conservative Association with a handsome silver bowl.
I congratulated myself as a political leader that I was able to accomplish the conversion of the two largest landowners in the Southport Division, Mr. Weld-Blundell, of Ince Hall, and Colonel Blundell, of Crosby Hall. They had been for generations Liberal, and in the 1868 election Mr. Gladstone stayed with Mr. Weld-Blundell; but in 1886, on the Home Rule for Ireland question, they both supported Mr. Curzon, held meetings for us in their villages, and on the day of the election Colonel Blundell rode down to the poll at the head of his tenants. These, however, did not all vote for us. They had always voted Liberal and did not know why they should change because the squire had done so.