Arizona republican., 1900-07-22
FOREIGN NOTES
 AND COMMENT

Owing to the disturbances in China. the death of Ii Lien Yin. the most in- fluential dignitary of the court of Pe- kin. which took place about six or eight weeks ago. has attracted little or no attention, either in this country or in Europe. And yet it is doubtful whether there has been any more powerful man in the Celestial empire during the last twenty years than this eXtraordlnary individual, who. while invested Wth the title of grand eunuch to the dowaSer empress. was not only her faVorlte' put likewise her master. His influence over her was unbounded, and it is no secret at Pekin that she sought his advice, and followed his directions in almost every particular He made use or his power over her to levy tribute and blackmail on every one. from the inn perial princes down to the lowest man. darin. who wished to obtain any favor of the grand old woman of China, and he is stated to have left a fortune of no less than $50. 900. 900 in specie, besides the most magnificent collection in the world of old Chinese and Japanese bonzes, porcelain and jade. In addi- tion to this, he owned entire streets in Pekin, besides banks, mercantile enter prises. and, above all, pawnshops great and small,- in various portions of the Chinese Empire. He was believed to be in the pay of Russia, and in political circles in Europe the predominant in fiuence which the Russian minister un- doubtedly enjoyed until last spring at the court of Pekin was justly ascribed to the fact that the grand eunuch had been won over to Muscovite interests.
 
 The marriage which has just taken place in London between Lady Evelyn Wellesley and the Honorable Robert James was celebrated on the anniver- sary of the battle cf Waterloo, an eX- tremely appropriate date in view of the fact that the bride is the daughter Of the present Duke of Wellington. and a reat-grandchild, therefore, of the famous general who won the victory of Waterloo. MT. James, although the son of a peer, is in trade, being in a coal business at Newcastle, which yields him very handsome income. Like his father Lord Northbourne, young Rob- ert James is not merely a liberal, but a radical of the advanced type. and IutltllllEl NllI OL uGIliONI e-NlS and popular movements. It was on this account that Lady Evelyn's father the new Duke of Wellington, who is an ultra-Troy, at first declined to give his consent to the match, but ulti- mately monetary considerations pre- vailed, and in view of the very hand some settlements that not only Lord Northbourne. but likewise Robert James himself, offered to make upon Lady Evelyn. the duke gave way. and the marriage has taken place.
 The family of which Lord North bourne is chief formerly bore the pa tronymic of Head and figured promi- nently in the county history of Berk- shire. during the reign of King Henry VIII. The name was transformed into James, when William Head succeeded 15O years 2 go -tn- the great estates of his John James, last male heir of the ancient Berkshire family of James. and from that time forth the Heads, have borne the name of James in lieu of their former patronymic. The fam fly has possessed baronetcy since the beginning of the last century. while a peerage was conferred upon the father of the present Lord Northbourne about twenty years ago.
 
 hear that the Duke of Norfolk, who has just been invalided home from South Africa, narrowly escaped being shot at the very moment when he was thrown from his horse and fractured his thigh. A British sentry, observing a heavy-faced, swarthy- bearded, and rather ungainly looking stranger riding along on back, took it for granted that he was Boer, and first of all challenged and then fired at him, the bullet infiicting a flesh wound on the horse, which caused it to rear in such a fashion as to throw its rider heavily. It was only when the sentry rushed up to the prostrate nobleman in order SC cure his prisoner that he discovered that he had narrowly escaped killing the premier peer of the British empire. The appeal to the courts in London in behalf of the mother and sisters of the late Lord Kensington, who was killed the other day in battle in South Africa, for authorization to the effect of some temporary arrangement in con- nectiO1 with his vast estates, serves ono, r1re to call attention to the eX- tent to which the English aristocracy has 'ffe-ed by the Boer war; for not olly are hoth of the executors appoint ed by Lord Kensington at the front in South Africa, one of them, the Earl of Londford, being severely wounded and the other Capt. Ferguson, of the Life Guards. being dangerously i'll with ty- phoid fever, but his eldest brother and successor in the possession of the peer age and estates-that is to say, the new