Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-05-27

| soon even Holborn and the city Will have
| as brand new an appearance as Mr.. Veneer
! ing would have it. The quaint old house in
| Portugal street known as the Old Curiosity
| Shop is now marked for destruction and
will soon be demolished by the housebreak-
| ers 1t is believed to be the house that
Dickens had in mind when he described the
| home of Little Nell and her grandfather.
There are many mean buildings in London
with no historic associations which could
| be destroyed without regret, but 1t is sad
to find all the old literary and historic
landmarks being rapidly 'i.nproved' off
the face of the earth
The AustraIian League
People here have taken the Inauguration
Of the new Australian commonwealth par
lament with much complaisance and given
little notice to it, ever like the English,
careless of what is not near them. No one
seems to think care about it, and least
of all to regard this joining OF colonies as
the making Of new nation. On the con-
tnent the thinkers see further
A foreigner of some note who has had
a long connection with the diplomatic ser
vice, speaking of the Australian common
wealth, assures me that continental diplo-
mats do not view without misgivings the
inauguration Of a new Anglo-SaxOn IA
ton which, notwithstanding its connection
with England. will be practically a repub-
lie. While Australia was q series Of colo
mics other countries could deal with the
island continent through Great Brit ain,
but the questions that arose were of minor
Importance. With the growth Of Australia
| under one government many new questions
directly affecting foreign nations might
arise, and Australia it is anticipated. VIII
become in the southern Pacific What the
American republic is in the northern hemi-
sphere.
There seems to be an idea that the pro-
gressive Australians will pursue an indie
pendent policy and adopt a Monroe doctrine
Of their own, which might be inconvenient
to foreign countries. The knowledge, too,
that two great nations-Australia and Can
ada-are now closely allied to Great Brit
ain is not pleasant thing for England's
continental friends to contemplate. The
time may not be far distant when Austria
liza and Canada will make their influence
felt in the councils Of the nations.
Costly to BE Bishop of London.
The bishop of London is beginning to
find out what the honor costs. The ac-
counts beginning to come in upon the new
ly installed bishop in connection with his
appointment are little startling to a plain
man. The total strictly composed of fees
dating back to times immemorial, exceeds
400. Some Of the items are quaint in their
precision of pence. For example, the new
bishop is called upon by the board of green
cloth to pay homage fees amounting to
t15. %. These go ,ntO the pockets of the
heralds and earl marshal. There are other
fees payable to the vicar general, amount
ing to f31.O.1O. The cathedral choir pocket
&c 17.4-bellringers having ten guineas di-
vided among them. Perhaps one of the
oldest items in the long bill is a fee of Ella
paid to the vicar of the parish of ST. Paul's
upon the bishop taking his seat in the
house Of lords.
Chance to Get an English Heiress.
At time when Englishmen are captur-
ing so many Of our American girls why
would it not be a good scheme for some
of our American young men to turn the ia
bles and make matters even? In case any
eligible care to follow this idea may men,
ton that on Monday the Hon. Violet
Monckton. the only daughter of Viscount
Galway. came of age, and that she is an
heiress in her own right. On attaining her
majority Miss Monckton came into the en-
joyment Of an income of something like
$4,000 year, which is. L understand, de-
rived from her maternal grandfather, Mr.
Ellis Costing, who was very wealthy
man. With her fortune Miss Monckton has
charming property-BuSbridge, in Surrey
There is nice house on the estate and,
as it is within convenient distance of town,
it is intended to have Saturday to Monday
parties there during the season. or at least
until July, when Lady Galway and Miss
Monckton will probably go to Homburg
I believe the young lady is heart free so
here is good chance for the best man
L. H. MOORE.