Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-15

presidency of the Scottish LdDeraI AS
ISOLATION. He was close lreno OF LIZ .le
Quently visited him ct Mar Lodge.
Wife His Third Cousin.
A point about the Duke Of Fife which
seems to have escaped the newspapers
is that he married his third cousin.
Elizabeth Fitzclarence. the grandmother
of the Duke Of Fife. was the first cousin
of Queen Victoria. She was q daughter
of the Duke Of Clarence, afterwards
King William ~. She married the Earl
of Enrol. Thus the late King Edward
and the Earl Of Fife, the late duEes
father. were second cousins. and the
daughter of the first and the son of the
second were married. At the time OF the
marriage there was great exc!tement
among people who were worried ABOUT
the succession.
These anxious souls resented the pros
,pect-always rather distant - of being
ruled over by. the Macduff. The dukes
ancestry was not considered ioity
enough for the position. The excite
ment grew when the future King George
and his brother went to sea in the same
ship, and it was seriously suggested that
this was a risky proceeding IL was
even said that the princess ought TO ap-
dicate'--a ridiculous use OF the word Tor
abdication was quite Impossible under
the circumstances, or under any ctrcum-
stances. indeed. for, strictly speaking. 1t
Is impossible for British sovereign to
abdicate.
Queen Victoria Is known to have
strongly opposed the match at first. but
the Prince of Wales, who was, OF course,
the very close friend of the earl, as he
then was. had his way. The 1ntrodnc-
ton of the Duke of Fife into the circle
of royalties provided nice problems for
the officials who manage matters OF pre-,
cedence at court The Duke of Fife and
the Duke of Argyll (who married Pf4n-
cess Louise, Victoria's daughte) could
not. of course, be diVloeo from tiell
wives at court when the royalties stand
in a row at either side of the throne.
They were given places at the eAtreme
ends of the row. The same sort OF an
ficulty arose under Queen Victoria about
her two cousins, Prince Edward or BAKE
Weimar and Count Gleichsn.
The great point was whether they
should be allowed to enter the royal
"closet"--the room behind the throne III
which the royalties gather before enter,
ing the throneroom, where the king ana
queen receive the obeisance of the peo-
pie. The Duke of Fife always carried
himself with discretion and independence
in his difficult position.
John Burns Keeping Silence.
A standing head in the newspapers
nowadays is John Burns Silence" and
no one can account for this famous talk
ers reticence ON matters of public inter-
est. His voice has not been heard IN
parliament nor in his constituency Tor
months, and he is combining himself
strictly to the business of his offce at
the local government board.
Everybody knows John Burns. He mas
made such a noise that, whether We nave
feared about what he said or not, We
have begun to need the roar Of the
gets accustomed to the steady roar OF
the falling water and needs 1t as a
sedative. Dreaming In the present worid
of illusion. We have found the same
quality in the steady roar OF John burns
falling stream OF words.
John Burns came to London with q
bristling beard. a bustling manner and a
burly voice. He dressed the complete
cloth, and set it steadily ''agin' the gov
eminent. At first London did not like
him. With the big voice and militant
manner, he also clutched big stick, ana
tried to thunp the national head with
it. Then London put him into gaol.
1.-The curious thing about putting man
Into prison politically is that when he Is
let out people like him better and begin
to understand him. Besides. they hnd
him frigRtfully interesting. The flower
| of Mayfair, its pick and pride, journeyed
| to the Old Bailey, and loaded loathsome
Indicators with gifts and caresses in the
days Of the Tobyman.
| Burns. however. was not malefactor
| A bit difficult in the early days, certainly,
| but, then, we all are difficult when the hot
blood of youth is in US By and by John
adopted London and began to clean 1t UP
| with a mixture of hot air and action.
And then he began to make speeches.
| One New Year eve John BURNS looked
upon London and said: 1T is big
place. very big place. but not bigger
than my colossal voice. will wash It
of
Bismarck, looking on London in the same
manner, once said: What city to
| sackr' Since then Burns has always
been shouting.
Thousand Speeches a Year.
WHITAKER states that between tine
end of 1880 and 1900 John Burns deliv-
! cred 1O.9J3 speeches-eXactly three day.
allowing for the extra day. in the leap
years. 1t also states that none OF these
speeches lasted less than three hours.
Thus one gets the grand total Of 32,s59
hours of good, solid. honest talking in
remembered that this means nine hours
| of oratorical effort each day. ~,
The figures for the next ten years have
not been compiled. as with the elevation
of honest john to cabinet rank his OPP
portunities increased. and the statistician
apparently lost his way and did not get
/ back to Mr.. Whitaker. Such a sus-
tanned effort means a steady noise. Apart
from the quality of the matter. the
mere quantity made a stirring roll OF
sound. Englishmen began to get used
to the storm and fury, then to tolerate
it with a manner generally indugent
and, finally. to look for it. They set
Their watches and the seasons by John
Burns. and determined the state Of their
health by the effect of his headlines
Newspapers were made mp to meet the
| needs OF John Burns speeches. John
Burns trounces the house of lords. John
Burns. curses the capitalistic press, Johr
Burns pokes fun at the brewers. and
so on The contents of the three speeches
determined the gossip of the day.
And row suddenly John Burns has
dried up and people miss him. Further
ii is suspected that he Is not quite in
harmony with his fellow members Of
the government. but no amount of prod
ding by the tory press can move Burns
to make any eXplanat iOn or to speak or
TOPICS of the day
| King of 'seryia's Visit. -.
The projected state visit of the King Of
Servia to London is creating a good dea
of discussion in court and diplomatic cir.
cles. We are gravely Informed that King
Peter is cons dering his decision In thu
l.