The Washington herald., 1913-08-19


The British Sovereisn's consent. which
has been gladly given" 10 the forthcom-
ing marriage OF Arthur Of connausht and
the Duchess of Fife. has been necessary
from the earliest times In England. Henry
VII made it high treVon for any man
to marry . near relative Of the King
without the royal license. while James
imprisoned his cousin. Lady Arabella
Stuart. for marrying william Seymour
But It was George III who. angered' by
the marriage Of his son. the Duke of
Cumberland. to Mrs Horton, made his
perogative the law of the land by the
royal marriage act Of III. Under this
statute the King has the right to veto
the marriage. not only of his children
or grandchildren, but also of his brothers,
sisters. uncles. aunts. and their descend
ents. up to any number of generations.
But there 10 one saving clause of which
Prince Arthur Of Connaught could have
avaiied himself in the event of the Kings
disapproval. 1t is that. being more than
twenty-five years Of age. the Prince could
give twelve months notice to the privy
Council and both Houses OF Parliament,
and. II they raised no objection. the mar
riage would be valid without the Sow
ereign's consent.
A curious history is that of the motto
Of the Order of the Bath. Of which re-
Gently I had a good deal to say on the
occasion of the dedication of the chapel
The original badge, which was supposed
to have been derived from King Arthur.
sented three garlands twisted together.
emblematic of the Holy Trinity. The mot
to was "Tria numina juncta in uno"
(three godheads Joined in one), the ortho-
doxy of which is open to question. James
secularized the motto by leaving out
the "numina." SO that the "three Joined
in one" might be interpreted as the three
Kingdoms lregns), Of England, Scotland.
and ireland. The Shamrock was added to
the Rose and Thistle in 1909 after the
union.
The titles OF the different orders Of
knighthood are all OF a most high and
mighty description. The Garter Is most
noble;' the Thistle most ancient and
most noble" and st. Patrick most H.
lustrious'' The Knights of the Bath
should have been called most religious"
considering the proverbiai proximity OF
cleanliness and godliness. Their oficial
description Is most honorable" The
Star of India Is ''the most exalted" 81.
Michael and st. George Is 'the most dis
tinguished," the Order of the Indian En-
pire the most eminent"
None of them seem a fitting appella-
tion for a modest man II was for those
that King Edward founded the Order Of
Merit.
That the British dominions should have
=, in ka.
heart of London Is a worthy ambition
that will appeal to everyone. Australia
is leading the way with a splendid build
ing of which the King has laid the foun-
cation stone. This stands at the eastern
corner Of AIdwych. looking toward the
city and docks beyond, where the ships
sail for the land of the Southern Cross
and whence her produce is brought. This
VIII adjoin the building which the State
of Victoria already has erected as her
London headquarters.
But there is being put forward a still
more ambitious scheme, having for its
object the concentration of all dominion
eovernments' offlces under one roof In
the center OF London, and the promo
tion of Inter-imperial trade. The pro-
rosal is that of Earl Grey and a strik-
ing contradiction TO the belief that Brit
ish former Governors General usually be-
come back numbers. His latest enterprise
is one of the finest proofs of his devotion
to his native country. He has conceived
the idea OF erecting a building in tAe
center of London which will serve as tie
headquarters of the self-governing do
rninions. and as a permanent exhibition
of their resources and their trade.
He has obtained from the London
County Council the option for three
wears on the island site between AldwN ch
and the Strand. two and a half acIes
in extent On the east is to be the new
building OF the Australian Commcu-
wealth. of which the King laid the
last week II is the finest
site in London. and the scheme. carried
out on the lines conceived by Lord Grey,
will make Dominion House a center OF
practical service to the dominions and to
the mother country.
The main objects of Dominion House
are TO enable the governments of the
dominions. and Of their
various states and provinces. to corcen-
trite on one central site their Offices.
now widely distributed in different rarts
of London, TO focus the attention Of tie
home consumer effectively and impress
sIvely on the products OF the dominion
cversea.
With the new Commonwealth building
and with this vast scheme which Eari
Grey has put forward. there is every
rope that this fine site in the Strand
will be occupied by buildings that vii.
be an acquisition to London and
source OF pride and profit to the British
dominions.
The Earl of Levan has devised an ef-
fective means Of saving his estate from
depletion by Inheritance taxes In 1895
he paid an inheritance tax of $3.50, 900
on an estate of $500, 0o0. The vast amount
so impressed him that he undertook to
prevent tine draining Of the estate from