Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-21
GOSSIP FROM LONDON
Proclamation of Eisteddfod
in Temple Gardens.
THE SACRED LOGAN STONE
Brought From Wales to Assist in
Function.
MISS JEAN REDS WEDDING
Will Be the Most Splendid in Many
Years-Some of the Presents
Already Received.
THE SACRED LOGAN STONE
MISS JEAN REDS WEDDING
eciaI COrreSnondence OF The Star.

LONDON, June ID. 1908.
Many Americans are acquainted with
the curious ceremonies of the great fes-
tival Of the Fist eddfod, which is held
every year in Wales, and have attended
the open-air song feast connected with 1t.
Carmen Sylvia. the poet Queen of Rou-
mania. is high priestess of the Eistedd-
fod and has sung her poems at its func-
tons. The proclamation Of the Eistedd-
fod was made this week in the gardens
of the temple. the abode of lawyers in
London where the archdruid and his at
tendants, robed in white. went through
the ceremony with all due decorum. The
sacred Logan stone was brought from
Wales for the purpose.
The archdruid made a brave figure as
he stood upon the Logan stone in his
white bruidical robes with wreath Of
oak leaves round his brow. while the
cerulean blue of the bards and the
neophytes green of the oVates harmo-
nized with the cloudless sky and the
tracery of the plane leaves overhead. lie
irreverent alien may have felt that the
ceremony lacked historical complete
ness in the absence of a sacrificial ele-
ment. and may have desired the presence
of the temple porter in wicker basket
upon the Logan stone. The Welshmep
were however. undiSturbed by such
alien thoughts. and followed the proceed
ings with the religious solemnity which is
their due. The offerings of the horn were
faithfully observed. and a unanimous cry
of ''HeddwCh' from a thousand Welsh
threats answered the usual interrogative
of the archdruid. lis there peace?" After
all. as Elfed remarked in his felictous in
augural address. they were merely re-
they temporarily evacuated under pres
sure from the Saxon barbarians few
centuries ago.
An Interesting Incident.
was most impressed by the aplomb
with which the chief performers wore
their strange robes. No one looked self
conscious. and those who in turn stood
on the little oblong stone spoke and ges-
ticulated as though they were on a hill
side in the presence of Welsh sheep in
stead of in the gardens of the inner
temple. under the cold. forensic eyes of
English barristers regarding them from
their windows. The archdruid had a
chairmanlike way of adjusting his pince-
druidcal functions with antique grace
To me and other outsiders the critical
point was the incident where a quiet
lady with a black toque appeared very
carefully bearing an enormous gilded
horn, which she offered to the archdruId,
who slipped from it and returned 1t to her
1t was curious to see that the faces of
the modern druids did not appear out of
place in their archaic robes. Even the
poets, robed in blue, were only proudly
grave.
The spectacle made me think what
pity 1t Is that English poets do not wear
blue. A vision of Mr.. Alfred Austin. Lord
Alfred Douglas and Mr.. Kiplins. march
ing alone in suits of that heavenly hue.
arose. The Druid poets. one saw at once.
were the real thing. The crowd around
me spoke for most of the time in Welsh.
The majority were women. About the
men there was something oddly familiar.
but as two-thirds Of the milkmen In Lon
don and a fourth Of the statesmen in me
Oxford street diapers shops are Welsh
men. that was perhaps not so very ex-
traordinary.
Another Female Slip.
The liberal party seems to be particular
ly unfortunate in some of its female
friends. Only little time ago the rela-
tons between England and Germany be-
came rather strained. and an English
cabinet minister's position became inse-
cure through the indiscretion of a lady
who was intrusted with a secret. Every
body knows that the cry "Cherchez la
femme" when the matter OF the kaiser.s
naval estimates" letter to Lord Tweed
mouth was rousing the country had a con-
siderable stratum of justice beneath it.
And Lord Tweedmouth. who, by the way,
is now very i'll. has suffered the penalty
for his too great faith by being pro
NOTED downward
Now, however, another liberal lady,
one Of far greater influence and position
than the heroine OF the kaiser-Tweed-
mouth bubble, has been talking in
discreetly in spite of the warning moral
that was contained i'll the explosion over
the former affair. This lady is reported
TO have said over a 'conhdential' dinner
table that the lord chancellor would "have
to co. The wish may have been father
Cor mother) to the thought. and the indis-
cretion may have been calculated. At any
rate, since his translation to the WOOL
sack the erstwhile fighting radical, Bob
Reid, now Lord Lorsburn. has Shown
what some of the more advanced of his
party regard as too great a concern for
tory susceptibilities to please the fire.
brands.
Especially in the matter of appointments
to the magistracy do they regard him
with diStrust, for instead Of filling the
benches of the country with radicals the
lord chancellor. in his desire to secure as
j. P.'s the men best fitted by education.
social status and their private life for
these honorable posts. has appointed
many conservatives; and, in spite OF rad
ical protests. goes on doing so. The Ques-
ton now Is VIII Lord Loreburn be
thrown to the radical pack. which hun
gers for him? At any rate, the great
liberal lady's "lapsus linguae" has raised
a pretty quarrel in the radical camp.
Anxiety About Lord Kitchener's Flu
ture.
There is no doubt that Lord kitchener's
future is becoming a great anxiety to the
authorities. determined effort. I I'M
derstand, is being made to keep him away
from the war office and. indeed. from this
country for as long as possible. There
can be no doubt. of course, among those
who know the nature Of the two men
that he and Sir William Nicholson could
not agree if they were both placed side
by side at the war Office. as each is a
man of very masterful temperament. i'm
patient of opposition. and Arm believer
in his own military omnipotence.
The latest suggestion is that he shall be
appointed governor of one of the Aus
tralian colonies, which becomes vacant
next year. and this. there is good ground
10 xn,jlI 0hoh hov