Evening star., 1923-07-26
BY THE MARaUisE DE FoNTENOY.

BY THE MARQUISE DE FoNTENOY.
OF seventy four by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, at Lambeth Palace, in
London, to Miss Jane Findlay, who was
decorated not long ago by King George
| with the Order of the British Empire
| for her services as director of Scottish
savings, is not without an American in
| terest. For Lord Dunedin was at one
time a frequent visitor to the United
States. but under another name. name
! ly, that Of Andrew Graham Murray,
which he bore prior TO his elevation to
the peerage.
On those occasions--he spent several
seasons at Newport, r. I.-he was ac-
companied by his wife, who died last
year, a sister of Sir Archibald Edmon-
stone, who will be remembered as the
brother of the Hon. Mrs. George KEEP
pei and as the father of young Lieut..
Archibald Edmonstone of the 9th Lane
ers. who married the daughter OF the
| late Marshall Field the other day in
/ London.
! Lord Dunedin. who can claim descent
| from Princess Mary of Scotland, daugh-
ter of King Robert III, belongs to the
! ancient house of Graham of Balbowan.
! his people hailing from Perthshire, and
| he inherited a large fortune from his
! father, the late Thomas Graham Muir
ray, who was the senior partner OF the
great Edinburgh firm of lawyers, Todd.
| Murray & Jameson. He was the cham,
pion racquet player at Harrow and
| played in the university cricket eleven
at Cambridge.
| His country seat is Stenton, a beauti-
| full place in Perthshire, near Dunkeld, on
\ the most picturesque portion of the Tay.
! nearly opposite Murchly Castle. and he
sat in the Balfour cabinet as secretary
! for Scotland. Today he is the keeper
! of the great seal of Scotland and one
| of the $4,000 year lords ultimate ap-
peal. having been in turn lord justice
| general of Scotland and president of her
court of sessions. Clever, tactful, with
q remarkable fund of sound common
| sense and knowledge of the world, he
! Of character. who, in spite of that, or
| rather l should say because of that.
| has always been q particular favorite
| at court especially with Edward VII
| and with the present king.
| x * X X
| Perhaps an illustration of the es-
TEEN in which he is held may be
| gathered from the fact that he was
unanimously elected to the chairman
ship of the joint parliamentary COM
mission of investigation into the al
legged scandals relating to the dis
tribution of peerages. baronetcies
and knighthoods by the various sue
cessive government administrations
1 on recognition of "political'N services
! which oft took the form of large
monetary contributions to the cleo
toral campaign funds of the political
\ party in power.
! These honors are nominally be-
slowed by the crown, but only on the
recommendation of the prime minis
| ter of the day. There is no premier
that has not been obliged TO lend
himself. more or less openly, to the
practise.
| Great pressure was brought by
| parliament, by the public press and,
| especially, by popular Glamour, to
| secure, through this Joint Legislative
commission, an exposure of some of
| the most notorious and unpleasant
! transactions of this kind. But Lord
| Dunedin and the other members of
! the commission who included the
! the most respected figures in the
| public life of Great Britain, realized
| that once these honors had been be-
slowed by the sovereign at the re-
/ quest and on the nomination OF the
| government of the day, the honors
could not be Cancelled by law. or in
any other way revoked without
gravely impairing the prestige and
| the authority of the crown.
SO the commission, under the guild
ance of Lord Dunedin, contented IT.
self with devising laws for the pun
| ishment, by fine and imprisonment,
| of those political agents whose main
business had been to offer titles in
return for subscriptions to the elec-
| toral funds of the rival political
| parties and to secure future revision.
| by a small committee of the privy
| council, of the recommendations
| made by the government to the mon
arch for the bestowal of titular hon.
| ors.
| y y X X
| Field Marshal, the Earl Haig, K.
| T, is now, for the first time, inau-
! gurating his occupancy of the coun-
| try seat and estate of Bemersyde,
which was presented to him some
eighteen months ago, as a gift from
his fellow countrymen in recognition
of his services as generalissimo of
(, the British armies in the great war.
| the fact that ii was a national trib-
ute being emphasized by the circum-
| stances that the money needed for
| the purchase of the property was
raised by popular subscription.