The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-07-22

considered many degrees beneath the m.
The union of the Emperor hims IF with the
poorest daughter of the most insignificant
Of the five hundred barors of the Holy
Roman Empire was held to be perfectly
legitimate, comforting 'he rights of succes-
SION upon all the offspring Of such alliance;
while but step bel w the alliance became
mo- ganatic. Tie children OF morganatic
marriages could receive at the utmost the
sIlOdial property of the father, but were
not allowed to bea- his name, nor under
any circumstances succeed TO the hOnors,
titles, dignities and hereditary possessions
of the family. tn III Is still the law on the
subject, acknowledged as binding by all
the princes Of Germany, although it was
slightly modified at the Congress of Vien-
ma, and was, more recently, broken
th Ough in one very notable instance. AT.
ter the suicide of the Holy Roman EN-
pi-e and its galvanio resurrection under
the present form of the Germanic COnfed-
Grafton, the five score Of formerly inde-
pendent princes who we're mediaiiz d, {"
or made subject t" other sovereisns. OBJ
tanned as a special privilege the right of
being It'll cOn>i l-r. e5enburtig, together
with all their faini les, in matrimonial mat
ter. Acc 'rdingly as the law now stands,
all the sovereign princes If Germany may
ma ry into any + the noble families be :.
longing to t:.is formerly independent class
and secure to tn ir children the right If
success iW, viii having wide choice to
themselves. But pr cti .ally this right is
very seldom, ii ever, made use or, and the
great privilege conferred upon the poor
"mediatiz ID "princ 8, and for which t.ey
fmgl very hard at the Congress of Vien-
ma, "a, remained dead letter. Their
daughters a,e quite ready tn marry kings
and emperms; but the kings themselves
are not. They seem to prefer in all cases
to marry either an undeniable princess, or
under adverse riicuin tances, and should
their tasti so lead them, a milliner or an
actress. TIE mediun of mediatized I"
alliances is 6uding apparently no favor
with German princes, their motto bsing
"AM Caesar, Gut mntiuS." ''-'" '-f.' ..
Before concluding this sui ject of NOR
ganatic marriages, it il necessa' y to cay
something of the breach of the p.incely
code OF laws just alluded to, which is not
without political importance. The last of
the Legitimate" line of the house OF Zah-
rirgen, rulers of the Grand Dnchy of Ba-
den, died in 1880, and the country was ON
the point of being taken possession OF by
the King of Bavaria, the next collateral
heir, when claimant TO the throne ap-
peared in the person of Prince Leopold.
offspring of InOrganaiic union between
nunnI h,Ho Nho rl.A, E~nIap,nex ~r,hD al
in 1918 and Madam Geyersberg. Prince
Leopold quietly took possession of the
government, without entering into any di-
plomatic explanations on the difference
of mprganatic or other marriages; but,
instead of it, proclaimed a very liberal
charter for Baden, which gave the highest
satisfaction throughout the country. In
the meanwhile, however, the Diet at
Frankiort, ON the proposition of Austria
and Prussia, had ordered an execution i"
in the Grand Duchy, and Bavarian troops
strode in forced marches towards Ca Is
ruhe and Freiburg A conflict eeemed
imminent, for the people of Baden were
determined, to man, to take the part of
their illegItimate ruler, when just at
the nick of time, there occurred the Rev.
olntion in france of July, 1880, with its
echo in most of the smaller States of Ger
many. The fate of the rul of Brnns-
wick made the crowned hea',s of the Con-
federation tremble for their own safety,
and the threatened execution" was post
pOned for the moment. 1t proved post
pOnement sine die, for it has not been
forthcoming yet, although mo ganatic Le-
opold has gone to his fathers, aud the race
Of "ilegitimAte" sovereigns has been per-
petuate.l by two OF the SONS Of the usur-
per. This has been the most serious breach
hitherto male in the matrimonial code of
the great family of German sovereigns,
and, to Judge ty some very recent facts,
it almost seems ~ if the case il to be made
q precedent for further neglect Of the law
The present claimant to the Duchy Of
H"lstein, Prince Frederick of Sshleswi.-
Hol>tein -o0ndenburg- Augu stenburg. lis
well known t" be the offspring of NOR
ganatlc marriage, notwithst anding which
TACT he is o zen y backed by the maj rity of
Ge m sove igns ~ the Only legitimate
heir OF H"lstein. It seems probable,
therefore, that the oil fiction Of morgan
at alliances ces-sonetimes called cleft
handed marriage" though for no cause
diDval fctions.