her and before she had put her foot in the stirrup. It dashed off at
top speed, running several squares through the residence district of
the city, and then turned into a business street, where it rushed madly
into a hack. The hackman, however, had seen it coming, and realizing
that he could not get out of its way, he stood up, and throwing his
arm around the rider's waist, he lifted her from the saddle as the
horse crashed into the hack, partly demolishing it, and fell. A great
crowd witnessed the rescue, and cheered lustily for the courageous
old hackman. When Mattie Ould was recognized, however, the enthusiasm
assumed a more substantial form, and the hands of many men went
generously into their pockets. He was never forgotten, and as long as
Mattie Ould lived she provided for him and his family, some of the many
who had loved her keeping up the good work after she was gone.
Though she was the object of the ardent devotion of many men, she did
not marry until she had passed her twenty-fifth year. It was rumored
that she was engaged to a friend of her father's, a man many years her
senior, and the indignation with which her father received the news
of her marriage to Oliver Schoolcraft substantiated in many minds the
report of the former engagement.
Her marriage occurred at the end of the summer of 1876, which she
had spent with her grandmother at the White Sulphur Springs. Thither
Schoolcraft, one of the wealthiest of the younger set of men who
adorned Richmond life, had followed her, taking with him his own
valuable horses and traps, with which adjuncts he was ever at her
disposal. They drove over to Salem one day, and were quietly married
there that evening, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John A. McCall; one
of Miss Ould's brothers and several of her friends witnessing the
ceremony. As no preparation had been made for her marriage, she wore,
instead of the conventional white satin, a simple gown of white
organdy, set off with bands of black velvet.
[Illustration: Mary Triplett
(Mrs. Philip Haxall)
From photograph by Roseti]
She was never more bewitchingly lovely than she was that night, and
so impressed herself indelibly on the minds of all who gathered about
her, some of whom were but little children. Being asked to sing in
the course of the evening, she complied with her usual graciousness,
for part of the charm of her manner lay not only in her readiness to
contribute to the pleasure of others, but in the absolute enjoyment she
evinced in so doing. She made her own selection, and sang the little
song that was then in favor with her, "Under the Daisies." It was
singularly prophetic, for just as the daisies of another spring were
putting forth their bloom the sweet voice, whose vibrations had rung so
many glad echoes from the world, lapsed forever into silence.
Schoolcraft took her to Richmond the day following their marriage,
where her father insisted upon having the ceremony performed again,
owing to some technicality of the law to the effect that a marriage
license should be obtained at the usual place of residence of the
bride. Though the spirit of comradeship had existed to an unusual
degree between this father and daughter, he never forgave her until it
was too late for that forgiveness to be any comfort to her.
She lived, after her marriage, in an elegant suite of rooms, built over
Schoolcraft's handsomely equipped stables. When some one twitted her
about the peculiar location of her new abode, she replied, with her
unfailing readiness, that she was not the first person who had lived in
a stable, and quoted a precedent that no Christian could gainsay.
One morning, in the spring following her marriage, Richmond was
appalled by the report which, in the course of a few hours had spread
over the entire city, that Mattie Ould was dying. The world was so
full of her and all she did and said, that it was not credible that her
beguiling presence was passing from it. A silent depression and a sense
of personal loss settled upon the people in every walk of life.
Richmond had never beheld such a sight as Mattie Ould's funeral. Old
St. Paul's Church and the Square opposite were thronged, the streets
all along the route to the cemetery were lined, and even the hills of
beautiful Hollywood were black with people. The entire population of
the city was there, many, who were too poor to ride, walking, for she
had brightened all their lives, and she belonged to them all.
She lies all through the spring and summer beneath a bed of daisies,
and near her sleeps the infant whose life closed her own. In the
memory of the people of the South she is yet a living presence, whose
words, wise and droll, are repeated, ever with a keen relish for their
pungency, for she touched all things with that true wit which is
"Nature to advantage dressed,
What oft before was thought,
But ne'er so well expressed."
JENNIE JEROME
(LADY RANDOLPH CHURCHILL)
To-day, when there are so many American women adorning high places
and filling more or less leading _rôles_ in British society, it is
difficult to realize that only a little more than a quarter of a
century ago there was a strong movement afoot, among certain leaders
of that society, to exclude their fair transatlantic cousins from
London drawing-rooms. As to the oft-recurring Anglo-American marriage,
while there are yet many people who look askance upon any sort of an
international alliance, that prejudice that frowned so ominously upon
it some years ago has wonderfully abated on both sides of the water.
The Queen herself recently confessed that she had regarded it at one
time as rather a hazardous experiment, but realizing that, with her
broad education and elastic temperament, the American girl adapts
herself to a new environment with a facility which would scarcely be
possible to the less flexible English girl, Her Majesty's apprehensions
have been gradually allayed.
One of the first American women before whom these later-day barriers
of social prejudice gave way was Miss Jennie Jerome, of New York. As
the wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, and ably championed by his mother
the Duchess of Marlborough, she penetrated the innermost recesses of
British society, opening the way more than any other woman to the
position her countrywomen occupy there at the end of the century, and
holding herself a place second to that of no other American woman in
Europe.
The admiration she attracted as a young girl, the wonderful part she
played in the life of her husband and is at present playing in the
lives of her sons, the unusual influence she has undeniably exercised
in English politics, the intimate contact into which the events of
her life have from time to time thrown her with the crowned heads of
Europe,--the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Germany, and the Queen of
England,--have all tended to give her a unique place in the history
of the latter days of the Victorian era. In England there is no woman
below the royal family whose name and personality are so generally
known as Lady Randolph Churchill's.
Her prominent identification with the Primrose League has carried
her fame into the colonies and into India. Many people in Russia
and Germany follow her career with keen interest, the press of both
countries bringing her frequently before the public, and even in
self-centred France the women of the aristocracy, in imitation of her
political achievements, have from time to time essayed to "jouer la
Lady Randolph Churchill."
She is the eldest of three daughters of the late Mr. Leonard Jerome,
and was born in Brooklyn, on the 9th of January, 1854. There and in New
York she passed her early childhood.
Her mother was a woman of independent fortune and her father an
enterprising and successful man of affairs. He was the founder, in New
York, of the Jockey Club, and his name figures conspicuously in the
annals of the turf of both England and America, he having been one
of its active patrons in the former country, whose racing system he
introduced into America.
His family migrated to Paris when his eldest daughter was in her
eleventh year, and there his children grew up and were educated. Miss
Jennie Jerome's artistic and musical gifts were carefully trained, and
she has been considered ever since she made her _entrée_ into English
society as one of its most accomplished pianists. Her name appears
frequently on the programmes of concerts given in behalf of charity,
and is always a powerful drawing card, for she plays with a clearness
and delicacy of touch rarely attained by an amateur.
France was at the height of its glories under the second empire when
the Jeromes took up their residence in Paris. The court, presided
over by one of the most beautiful women who ever wore a diadem, was
characterized by almost unprecedented magnificence. Paris then, as now,
led the world in all matters of personal adornment, and one feature
in that _régime_ of luxuriant display, inaugurated by the Empress, is
still felt to-day in every quarter of the globe where women make any
pretence of following fashions in dress. She never permitted any woman
to appear twice in her presence in the same gown. As a result, there
dates from her brief era of leadership an extravagance in woman's dress
that was before undreamed of, and which has had the effect of raising
the details of a toilet from a subordinate to a ruling position among
women in fashionable life, with a loss of much that gave a truer beauty
to existence under a system when the sparkle of a woman's mind was of
greater value than the flash of her jewels.
Mrs. Jerome, a woman of wealth and taste, easily acquired a position
of distinction in the fashionable life of the French capital at that
time. Her eldest daughter meanwhile grew up with a reputation for
great beauty, her fame increasing as the unusual gifts of her bright
mind unfolded themselves. She was one of that group of clever and
beautiful young girls with whom the Emperor and Empress from time to
time surrounded the little Prince Imperial, and she participated at
Compiègne in the memorable celebration of one of the few birthday
anniversaries which fate accorded him.
The Franco-Prussian war drove the Jeromes across the channel. They
tarried in England during the days that marked the fall of the
empire and the uprising of the Communards with their awful deeds of
devastation. The summer of 1873 they passed at Cowes.
Miss Jennie Jerome was then in her twentieth year, tall, slender, with
a thoughtful countenance denoting both talent and character in its
broad brow and square chin. Her mouth was grave and sweet, while her
great dark eyes, that are yet the most striking feature of her face,
her purple black hair, and her clear olive skin gave her a distinctive
place among the blonde daughters of England. Always a striking figure
in their midst, the contrast was perhaps never more marked than upon
the occasion of the marriage of Princess Louise of Wales to the Earl of
Fife, when the blonde type of the British women was so much in evidence
in the demi-toilettes commanded by the Queen, and when Lady Randolph
Churchill's brunette coloring was so well set off by her yellow satin
gown, with a diamond star twinkling above her brow against her black
hair.
Though the nomadic tendency of Americans frequently leads them abroad,
where they mingle for awhile in the life of various European capitals,
there were fewer American women at that time forming a permanent part
of foreign society, and one so gifted mentally and physically as was
Miss Jerome soon became a noted figure. She attracted everywhere the
most evident admiration, never impairing the effect her appearance
produced by the least manifestation of vanity.
To the Isle of Wight also that summer there betook himself a young
English nobleman, the second son of the sixth Duke of Marlborough.
But three years out of college, where he had not been distinguished
as a student, but rather for the irresistible attractiveness of his
personality and for the enjoyment he extracted from existence, there
was little in Lord Randolph Churchill's life in the summer of 1873
that foreshadowed the greatness he was destined to attain. Restless,
ambitious, full of energy, with no specific object upon which to expend
it, he hesitated between a diplomatic and a military career, and
meanwhile, since taking his degree in 1871, he had travelled over the
whole of Europe.
He was already an idol to his mother, towards whom he ever showed that
thoughtfulness that is the acme of gallantry. He had much of her dash
and spirit, and she entered sympathetically into all the events of his
life; he on his side never failing to report to her immediately, either
in person or by message, all his successes. When he met Jennie Jerome,
and for the first time the future assumed a tangible and very beautiful
form, he confided in his mother and at once solicited her interest in
the young American girl.
To Miss Jerome's mother, however, Lord Randolph Churchill, a younger
son, with no particularly bright prospects in life, did not appeal
as a desirable match. She returned to Paris with her daughters. Lord
Randolph followed, and there at the British Embassy, in January, 1874,
he was married to Miss Jerome.
[Illustration: Jennie Jerome
(Lady Randolph Churchill)
From photograph by Van der Weyde]
With an ambition and talent equal to his own, she entered completely
into his desire to make for himself a place of distinction in life. The
dissolution of Parliament early in the year of his marriage offered the
opportunity for a political career. He began at home, in the borough of
Woodstock, in which Blenheim Palace, where he had been born twenty-five
years before, is situated, and secured his election to a seat in the
House of Commons without being asked any questions as to his political
creed, which, it was taken for granted, was identical with that of his
family.
Like his wife's father, he took an active interest in matters
pertaining to the turf, owning several famous race-horses and capturing
during the course of his life some notable prizes. His first speech
in Parliament was to call the attention of the first Commissioner of
Public Works to the hard and dusty condition of Rotten Row, and to ask
that it be put in better shape, without delay, for both horses and
their riders.
During the first six almost silent years of his Parliamentary career,
while he was studying the men and measures he subsequently arraigned
with so much brilliancy, his young wife was adapting herself to the
social life of his country, whose events are as well established as
those of its political life. In a dutiful way which gives it a dignity
not possible in a country whose social usages admit of more caprice,
every one lives up to the well-appointed order in which, beginning with
the first drawing-room in the early spring, the various functions of
each season follow one another.
While there may be more refreshment and enthusiasm in the novelty which
American society admits of, it lacks that stability that emanates from
the very sameness with which one English year follows in the footsteps
of another, and that sense of ancient respectability which rises from
the consciousness of participating in the same pleasures from youth to
old age in which one's fathers similarly participated in their time.
Lady Randolph Churchill easily overcame the prejudices which existed
in the minds of some English women against all American women. Young
as she was, there was a commanding quality in her very presence which
vanquished that narrowness that harbors petty dislike on a basis of
nationality.
Both of her sisters married in England, one to Moreton Frewen and the
other to the only son of Sir John Leslie, Bart., of Glaslough Monaghan.
Her two sons were born, the first, Winston Spencer Churchill, on the
30th of November, 1874, and the younger, John Winston Churchill, in
February, 1880.
Between the duties of her home and those of a social nature, which her
position in the world entailed upon her, the first period of her life
in England passed. From 1880, however, dated the dramatic period of
Lord Randolph Churchill's career, in which his wife bore so conspicuous
a part. He rose to the leadership of that small section of the House
known as the "Fourth Party," which, coming forward as an evidence of
the vigor yet possessed by the Conservatives, succeeded in June, 1885,
in overthrowing the Gladstonian ministry. He was frequently compared to
Disraeli, and many people prophesied for him a similar career.
In 1883, in connection with Sir H. Drummond Wolf, Lord Randolph
Churchill founded, in the interests of the Conservative party, that
powerful organization, the Primrose League. In a membership to-day of
over one and a half million, with Knights, Dames, and Associates, Lady
Randolph Churchill stands number twelve upon its rolls. The kingdom and
empire of Great Britain are dotted with its Habitations.
With its development there began a new phase of Lady Churchill's life.
She became from that moment thoroughly an Englishwoman, identifying
herself closely with her husband's public life and interests, aiding
him not only with the popularity she had already attained, but with
the remarkable sagacity she displayed in reference to all political
questions. With the qualities that rendered her more charming as a
woman she combined those most valuable in a man. Ambitious, intrepid,
discreet, she was yet graceful, tactful, wise, and witty. She became
at once a force among the members of the League, and, besides being
much in demand at the social events at its various Habitations, she
endeavored continually to impress upon its members the influence each
might exercise in behalf of "that party which is pledged to support all
that is dear to England, Religion, Law, Order, and Unity of the Empire."
In her character of Dame of the Primrose League she has participated
in so many electioneering contests that she is almost as well known
in England as any man in public life. When her husband, in 1885,
attacked the seat held by Mr. John Bright for Birmingham, seconded by
the Duchess of Marlborough, she canvassed the constituency for him.
Never before had women gone thus among the workingmen of Birmingham,
entering the factories as well as their homes, and addressing them both
collectively and individually. Though they made much havoc in the ranks
of Radicalism and greatly diminished his votes, they did not succeed in
defeating "the tribune of the people."
Lady Churchill is a rousing speaker, and, with her great beauty and
magnetism, evoked immense enthusiasm, her carriage being frequently
surrounded and followed for some distance by cheering crowds. In South
Paddington her efforts told with better effect, Lord Churchill securing
the election in that district.
With the accession to office of Lord Salisbury's government, Lord
Churchill went into the Cabinet as Secretary of State for India,--the
real head of affairs of the far-away empire where the power is
represented by a governor-general. During his brief tenure of that
office his wife was decorated with the imperial order of the Crown of
India, which has so recently been bestowed upon another American woman
in the person of the present governor-general's wife.
Lord Churchill stood at this time at the very head of his party,
and when a few months after resigning the office as Secretary of
State for India he again went into the Cabinet as Chancellor of the
Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons, being at the time but
thirty-seven years of age, there seemed opening to him a future of
almost unprecedented brilliancy. More than ever was it said that he
was treading in the footsteps of Lord Beaconsfield, to whom he had
been so often compared, and the Prime Ministership seemed almost
within his reach. His name was on every tongue, and when he appeared
in public places accompanied by his wife, whose tall, slender figure
and clear-eyed, interested face were as well known as his own, he was
frequently greeted with outbursts of applause. When she drove in Hyde
Park her carriage was frequently followed, and she was pointed out with
the most enthusiastic admiration.
Not only in England, but accompanying her husband to Russia and
Germany, she excited in both of those countries a similar sentiment,
there being among the people an eager desire to see the beautiful
American who was so much admired by the court circles.
Attractive as she was under all circumstances, she never more admirably
reflected the fine qualities of her character than on that day when
her husband rose amidst the absolute silence of the House of Commons
to give his reasons for withdrawing from the Cabinet. Absorbed in
him, she followed intently his every word and gesture, though aware
beforehand of every syllable he would utter. With perfect self-control
she revealed nothing either of regret, disappointment, or any sentiment
upon which a guess at his plans for the future might be hazarded.
Socially her life ran in much the same channel. So great was her
beauty and so many were her talents that, though her husband gradually
withdrew from public life, she was continually in the public eye, being
constantly in demand to open fairs, distribute prizes, and take part in
concerts. In March, 1888, she went to Clydebank to christen the "City
of New York," at that time one of the most remarkable vessels that
had been built. During the following summer she opened an electrical
exhibit at Birmingham, and a few days later conferred the annual awards
at Malvern College, her husband accompanying her and making addresses
upon both occasions. About this time also she made her first appearance
as a _literata_ in an article on the social life of Russia, based on
the observations she had made while in St. Petersburg with her husband.
Well informed, keenly observant, clever, and witty, she entered the
lists without handicap, and her position to-day in the world of letters
is at least unique. The most costly quarterly in existence, now
entering upon its second year, is owned and edited by her.
In 1891, when he was but forty-two years old, Lord Randolph Churchill
came suddenly face to face with the beginning of the end of his
remarkable and crowded life. The utter physical collapse that followed,
terminating in death in January, 1895, threw light upon much that had
seemed inexplicable in the latter days of his public career.
Accompanied by his wife, he journeyed around the world in quest of the
health which he was destined never to find. They passed through New
York, Lady Churchill's first home, but made no stay, hastening across
the continent to San Francisco. In Egypt, realizing how futile had been
the long days and nights of travel and exile, he begged to be taken
home to pass there the last few hours that yet remained to him.
From all who saw them they evoked pity and admiration,--pity for the
man, stricken and doomed, in the very prime of his days and with
the highest place among the statesmen of his time almost within his
grasp, and admiration for the wife who, aglow with beauty, spirit, and
ambition, manifested for him during those months of tragic gloom, in
which his life closed, all the devotion and admiration which the most
successful moments of his life, when he stood on the very pinnacle of
fame, had called forth from her gratified heart.
The untimely disappearance from the world of a man whose magnetic
nature had made him a leader of men and an idol of all classes of
society appealed powerfully to public feeling. The tolling of the
funeral bell from St. George's, in Hanover Square, a little after noon
on the 24th of January, 1895, announced his death.
Though she took no part in the doings of the world for some time after
her husband's death, Lady Randolph Churchill did not drop from its
memory, nor is she in any degree less interesting to-day than she was
as the wife of an eminent statesman. Her musical gifts and tastes
gradually drew her from the seclusion of her early widowhood, and she
reappeared in public first at concerts and at the opera, still dressing
in black.