The Washington weekly post., 1900-11-20
STOLEN SECRET OF
FRENCH FIELD GUN.

I am loath to attach any credence T.
the statement. published on both sides ol
the Atlantic. according to which Gea
| Horace Porter. American Ambassador al
| Paris, has had any share whatsoever IN
| obtaining the secrets In connection with
| the designs OF the new French field gun.
Ambassadors and the members Of their
! stan are virtually the guests OF the goy-
ernment and OF the nations 10 which
/ they are accredited. In monarchical coun-
/ tries they are to such an extent part and
/ parcel OF the sOvereign's court th1t they
are subject to all its rules. and compelled
10 comply with all its regulations, even
| 70 TIE extent Of donning court mourning
| whenever ordered by the monarch To
| take advantage OF the hospitality which
! they thus enjoy in order 10 filch the Sc
/ crets OF their hosts cannot be excused on
| an% conceivable plea, not even on that of
| patriotism
| Prince Munster, the German Ambassa-
| dor a Paris, as soon as he learned,
through the Dreyfus scandal, that the
| military attaches OF his mission had been
in the habit Of bribing French staff Off
/ GERS Of the Esterhazy type to place them
| in possession of French war department
secrets, at once insisted upon their re-
| call, declaring that II was ridiculous to
/ imagine that he would be able TO fulfil
/ MS duties as Ambassador il il were be-
| lieVed for moment that he was the
man TO approve or even to close his eyes
10 such a dishOnorabe betrayal Of hos
! pitality- Prince Munster was perfectly
| right. For it stands TO reason that you
cannot accord the privileges OF friend
ship and of an hOnored and valued guest
to man whom you know is endeavOring
70 bribe your servants to flch your con-
fidential correspondence and TO betray
your family secrets
The sole and only object of an Ambas-
sador Is TO foster and develop the friend
| Hest relations between the country which
he represents and the country TO which
he is accredited. 1t naturally follows that
| an ambassador who is placed under sus-
| picion must be Immediately recalled. and
! more cautious Ambassador appointed.
1t IS singularly unfortunate, under any
circumstances. that this scandal should
have arisen at the very moment when the
Dreyfus affair was being 70 such an ex-
tent forgotten; that both Austria and
Italy within the last few weeks nominat-
ed officers to act as military attaches to
their embassies in Paris for the first time
since the recall of their military attaches
at the time of the court-martial of Capt
Dreyfus, at Rennes.
1t may possibly be recalled. too. that this
is not the first occasion that charges of
this kind have been brought against the
United States Embassy at Paris. and that
some eight years ago the military at
tache. Capt Borup, was withdrawn at
the demand of the French government
from his position as military attache for
having. in compliance with the orders of
the War Department at Washington, OBJ
tanned possession of one of the secrets of
the French War Department.
Chillingham Castle, the magnificent
NorthumbeI land country seat of Lord
and Lady rankerville, so celebrated for
its herd of fierce, white wild cattle. the
only herd of the kind in the United King
dam, is no longer in the market, and, in
spite of its having been extensively ad-
vertised for rent in American newspapers,
has been at length leased by an English
millionaire Sir Andrew Noble who, for
merIy an artillery officer, has for a num-
Der of years past been the vice president
ard virtual chief of the great Armstrong
iron WORKS, ship-building yards, and ord
nance factories.
Lord and Lady Tankerville will in fu-
ture, when in Northumberland, take up
their residence in a small house in the
neighborhOOd. They deserve a good deal
of credit for letting the grand old place,
since the money which they economize
in this way is destined for religious and
charitable purposes. Lord Tankerville
only succeeded to the earldom and estates
last year, on the death Of his father. I'm
til that time he had borne the name of
Lord Bennett, under which style he had
not only become we'll known in this coun-
try as a frequent visitor, bEt likewise
married an American wife. Miss Van
Marter, of Tacoma, whose acquaintance
he had made while she was engaged, like
himself, in evangelistic work in the slums
of Chicago and New York, where, after
their marriage, they were accustomed to
hold open-air religious services. both the
lord and his lady possessing glorious
voices Lord Bennett was not always an
evangelist; in fact. the crop Of wild oats
which he soWed in his youth was unusu-
ally large and fruitful. so much so that 1t
necessitated his quitting the army, which
he had joined on resigning his commission
as a sub-lieutenant in the navy.
Sir Charles Norton Eliot. who spent so
many years at Washington as secretary
of the British Embassy, and who was
knighted a short time ago as reward for
his services in connection with the Sa-
moan question. has just been appointed
diplomatic agent and consul general at
Zanzibar, a post that carries with it not
only handsome allowances and prerOga-
tives, but likewise a salary Of $4,000 a
year. He is a particular faVorite of Lord
Rosebery, who first spotted him when he
carried everything before him at oxford
in the shape of prizes and hOnors, and
who Invited him TO join the diplomatic
service Sir Charles, who combines a
nrofound knowledge of Sanskrit with a
mastery of the Finnish language. besides
heing able TO converse huently in Rus
sian. Turkish, Syriac Arabic, and half a
dozen other languages, has only been
about sixteen years in the diplomatic
service Hence his promotion must be re-
earded as rapid as il has been well de-
served. ] may add that in addition to his
regular post he has been employed on a
number OF special missions. which have
carried him all over the world. He be-
longs to a junior branch of that ancient
Devon family OF which the Earl of ST.
Germans is the chief.
Archaeological excavations and explora-
tions are now being carried on in Italy
with altogether new and unprecedented
yigor. Neither King HumbeTt nor his IA
tner. Victor Emmanuel. were in the least
de-ree interested in such matters. and IL
,hey subscribed any money toward re-
search of this kind il was solely from
sense % duty. The new King OF Italy,
however, possesses not only wide archie
oIogical culture. but likewise keeniy de-
veloped tastes in this direction, and spent
an entire day last week inspecting the i'm
portant discoveries which have just been
made on the site OF the ancient Forum at
Rome. where the rostrum Of Caesar has
been uuearthed, and has arranged for a
yery liberal increase Of the crowned grant
for work Of this kind
Monza Is being dIsmantled, and vii!
cease from henceforth to constitute a
royal residence for the reiSning family CT