Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-05-30

I:1nay excite the ridicule of old world cities
& fiud -. Augustine. Florida celebrating with
pride its three huri ca th anniversary BY their
standards is ce calmly not much age to brag Of.
Four lives OF reasonable length would span tbs
period; and 81. Augustine ranks a. our Oldest
city. The thought i truly a notifying one to
all Americans vino yearn for ancestors
And yet the new world Is not so very new,
and was only called So by human cOncett. 1t
was not new even in the time of Columbus, for
tie Norsemeri mad discovered it ages before.
And they found the continent full OF people.
How they got here and when, nobody knows.
If mankind comes from one pair of ancestors,
perhaps the original Anne rican pair were waited
across the ocean on the wings of angels much as
Eliza crossed ON the piniOns Of her brothers in
Andersen story of the Wild Swans. BE that
a. il m.jy. they got here. and that long time
aS,D for America has even that pledge of ariSto-
cratic descent.-ruins The buried cities of Yu-
cstan have a. respectable an antiquity as any
IL the alleged old world As to their age ex-
perts differ. Mr.. Ay1nt regards them as only
tCdatins by u few triting thousands of years
tue cOmmvnly received date OF the birth of
Adam. Will. pr. lie PlougeOn's figures are geo.
logical. And not to speak of extinct families
there are doubtless natives of this country on
the plains today who, if they only knew it.
could reckon back an ancestry through one
generation of muSwumpS after another which
would pat 10 shame the heraldries of Virginia
Boston, Europe or Asia.
Moreover, the history of this country has been
written in the rocks, and il is a very ancient
one. Our fossils are as proGisiOus as uncouth
and have aS hard names a. any in the world
Nor are all our oldest families vet extinct
livery time We consume six feIIow-mortals on
the haIi-Suell We destroy life which can boast
OF a descent beside which all human pride is
vanity Itself And To come right down to facts
we are all old, born old; for we are dust and
American dust is probably a. old as Eurorean.
There Is no evidence to show that one side of
the globe cooled oil before tine osher.
The dispatches indicate that peaceful settle
ment u the Anslo-I;lSsian difficulty j now As
sured. The main features OF the work of GelfIn-
ftistIUn of the Afghan boundary have. beep
finally fixed. and the boundary commission
VIII arrange the details. By the terms Of the
agreement both MaruchalI and ZuIfi.ar remain
IN TIE possession of the aneCr. The London
-Es5-s considers the amfcable conclusion of the
dispute IS the browning triumph of Ny Glad
stones career and compliments him as carry
ing 10 the task "a combination OF the highest
qualities which go to make up the complex gift
OF craftsmanship This Will hardly he the
Judgment of impartial observers of the dfpIo-
matte struggle which has been going on SO long
"e''eeH the Two great nations. At nearly every
point England has yielded 20 the demands of
Ru>sia. and if the report of the final adjustment
now given Is correct. the British government
has entirely ignored the Heujdeh affair which
was the initial cause OF the difficulty Russia
has apparently yielded little or nothing. Her
explanation of Gen. KomarofI-s action stands
as accepted by England, who thus discredits the
reports made by her own officers. Penideh re-
mains a RUSSIAN possession, and the cars
forces are not recalled from the positions they
have occupied. Thus the advantages seem to
be altogetheron the side of Russia, and the only
object gained by Mr. Gladstone has been the
avoidance of immediate hostilities. This is not
the first time that peace has been assured by
the telegraph, only to be followed the next day
by complications in the terms, and so the pres
ent announcement may be received with some
diStrust until it shall bear the stamp of official
confirmation.