Meese Send-Off--Fit for a Czar

--The clouds of controversy that have swirled around Edwin Meese III in recent months parted briefly as the outgoing attorney general bade farewell to Justice Department employees and called his troubled tenure as the nation’s top law enforcement officer a “memorable and happy period of time.” None of the speakers at the ceremony mentioned Meese’s legal difficulties or claims by two former Justice Department officials that morale within the department had plummeted under Meese’s stewardship. Instead, a parade of deputies and aides talked about Meese’s professional accomplishments and many recounted personal--and sometimes emotional--stories about him. Justice Department spokesman Patrick S. Korten told the assembly that his boss was “the pre-eminent example of one who never succumbed to the dark side of Washington.” Along with the requisite plaques and other souvenirs, Meese received a tomahawk with a peace pipe, an inoperative hand grenade and a cap supposedly designed for a czar. Meese, 56, announced July 5 he was leaving office after 3 1/2 years of service, hours after independent counsel James C. McKay concluded, after a 14-month investigation into Meese’s financial dealings, that criminal prosecution was unwarranted. He will leave office later this month.

--Queen Mother Elizabeth celebrated her 88th birthday in the traditional manner, with a serenade from a bagpiper and cheers from an admiring crowd outside her London home. The “Queen Mum,” as she is affectionately called, spent more than 15 minutes collecting armfuls of flowers and homemade cards from dozens of children who were allowed through wooden police barriers, then stopped to chat with well-wishers. She had a celebration lunch with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, and other members of the royal family, who are anxiously waiting for Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, to give birth to her first child. The baby, due this month, will be the Queen Mother’s fifth great-grandchild.

--British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, meanwhile, got a considerably chillier reception in Sydney, Australia, as gay rights activists and supporters of the Irish Republican Army jeered as she entered the Powerhouse Museum for a brief visit. Thatcher, whose trip marks the 200th anniversary of European settlement of Australia, has attracted protesters several times during her visit. Gay rights activists were protesting a new British law prohibiting the publication of homosexual literature.