Evening star., 1922-02-12


and never entertained a distinct body
of it. Their activities centered for
the most part about the Secretary of
State and that delightful portion of
society composed of former public
men. ex-ambassadors. cabinet Off
cials and winter residents retired
from business or professional life In
other cities. Congress seemed re-
mote from the foreign corps. except
the members of those committees
charged with the relations affecting
alien lands. 1t may have been slyly
whispered that the events connected
with the league of nations showed to
foreign offices that their envoys in
Washington would be wise to learn
something of the legislative bodies
and to mingle more freely. II Europe
and the. orient were ever to under
stand the underlying philosophy OF
the people Of the United States
Whatever the reason for the depar-
ture, it promises to be a delightful
fete and thoroughly enjoyable. The
British ambassador and Lady Geddes.
moreover. are proffering hospitality
in return for the numerous courte-
sizes shown them not only by indi-
vidqal senators and MEMBERS OF the
lower house, but by, the Congress
sional Club. and no doubt their ex-
ample will be PROMPTLY followed at other
embassies and legations.
The same changing viewpoint is
evident in Paris. Time was when the
President of France. his cabinet and
luminaries of the legislative cham,
bers were negligible in comparison
to the honor of mingling in the world
of fashion, which flowed in and out
of the Faubourg st. Honore. Now
the denizens of the ancient abode of
aristocracy are working to restore
their devastated land, some in busi-
public offices, who have become part
of the government machinery Of the
French republic. None pay the same
attention to the fvivols as in the days
before 1914. The President Of France
and Nine. Miilerand are. as they
should be, the most important figures
in Paris in the social sense as well
as officially. and invitations to the
levees at the Elyses Palace, the White
House of Paris, are eagerly sought by
the permanent residents and curious
tourists alike. All brilliant affairs
are. as in this capital and in London.
given for charity and it would be a
courageous woman. indeed. who at
tempted for mere social prestige to
give lavish dinners or dances or to
spend any large sum on such vain
display. The leaders OF the two
French chambers also are popular
and give official fetes. as the program
goes in Washington. and their courte-
sizes are accepted with the same def
erence that was formerly paid only
to hosts bearing the great historic
names of the Bourbon nobility.
A visitor whose name recalls many
pleasant memories is the Hon. Kath-
ieen Morton, youngest daughter of
Lord Grantley and of his late wife,
who was Miss Mary Mcvickar. This
lady. who died some years ago. was
the daughter Of Commodore William
H. McVickar, founder and first presi-
dent of the New York Yacht Club.
1t was in pursuit Of yacht matters
that Commodore McVickar took his
daughter to London some twenty-five
years ago, and here she met Lord
Grantley. Miss Norton is the great
granddaughter Of the we'll known
ton-a granddaughter Of Richard
Brinsley Sheridan--who figured most
romantically as having engaged the
affections Of Lord Melbourne, Queen
Victoria's first prime minister and
told most sloriously in 'Diana OF the
Crossways" and under a very thinly
veiled set of characters in Pickwick
Papers. Eardell vs.. Pickwick. The
Grantleys are from Yorkshire and
have been mobiles since the days of
clan. Fletcher Grantley. was reward
ed for important services rendered
the crown when he was presiding
officer of the house of commons.
Miss Norton has many relatives in
.urely tour through I Washington,
Baltimore and the south about mardi
gras time. Another Grantley figured
in lurid romance Of Robert Hichens,
the grandfather Of the present guest
in this country. who married a peas
ant girl in the isle Of Capri and lived
In utter seclusion. This Lord Grant
ley. son of the poetess, was an inti-
mate Of that Algernon Sartoris who
married Nellie Grant, and it was
while on visit to the humble cot
tage in Capri that the son-in-law Of
the hero President of the United States
died.
Many Americans who knew Brus-
sells during the last days of King
Leopold and who were so Hospitality
entertained by the Princess Clemen-
have been renewing ties of friend
ship with that lady, now Princess
Louis Napoleon. residing with her
husband and two children in the Eng
lish home Of the late ex-Empress
Eugene. This splendid domain is
near Farnsborough in Hants. and was
used during the four years of the war
as hospital for invalid officers The
property was left by Eugenie to
Louis Napoleon. the pretender of the
Bonapartists. The mansion was re-
modelled from a sixteenth century
manor house and Is surrounded by
rich acres of strawberries, raspber-
ries and currants, besides grain land
and pasturage, which makes it practi-
cally self-supporting. Wear the viii
lage Eugene erected a handsome
stone church. where the mausoleums
1,@ I~ -
bodies Of her husband. Napoleon III.
Emperor Of France. and her son, the
prince imperial, killed in the Zulu
wars. Prince Louis Napoleon and his
family are compelled by the terms
Of their inheritance to pass at least
tate and to keep the church in the
most Immaculate repair. Princess
Clementine is handsome woman in
the early thirties. and the children
are Louis Napoleon, aged ten, and
Princess Clothilde, who is seven.
had their portraits painted by Sir
John Lavery.
A clever English writer has been
citing the ages of prominent public
men in every country Of the world
and has reached the conclusion that,
except in his own. few officials are
being appointed who have begun to
travel west on the hill Of life. Eng
land recently astounded the world by
appointing as lord chief justice a man
who is eighty-two years of age. The
house of lords being hereditary
body. one of the few remaining in
the world. shows several octogenari-
ans and a few nonogenarians. But
with the radiant exception of Clemen-
ceau, the eminent men on the conti-
nent do not in many instances count
even seventy years. still less eighty
or ninety. The recently elected
Roman pontiff, Piux xI, is younger
than his three recent predecessors,
and strong claim In his favor SEEM
ed to be that he had always enjoyed