Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-06-20
4 FALLING HOUSE.
rae Dikke Of 1HanaiItan ANA the Wan.
~ ing FOrturses Of Ems FaEaiIy.
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times.
Our Italian correspondent in his last let
ter tells curious, miserable story about a
young lady who is in the present generation,
the only daughter eta semi royal historic
house, the Princess of Monaco. y The recent
annals of her family have certainly been Of
a melancholy and humiliating char
acter. The Princess grandfather,
The tenth { Duke of Hamilton,
married daughter of the celebrated Beck
ford of Fonthill, author Of 'EVathek.n The
Duke was a man of AIMING pride and self
importance; and it is recorded that, when
the intended marriage Of the Queen with
the late Prince COnsort was announced, his
Grace, in acknowledging the announcement
Of the event, which was forwarded to him,
intimated that he thought that Her Majesty
might have looked nearer home, which
was understood to be his mode of signify
ing thai be would himself have been
the most appropriate father-in-law for
Queen Victoria. Eaten up with vanity, he
objected to bis son marrying a lady of
charming disposition, to whom he was deep
ly attached, because she was not of the
highest rank-although she did, curiously
enough, subsequently, marry a duke; so his
son ultimately married the youngest daugh-
ter Of the Grand Duke OF Baden, which
brought very great satisfaction TO the fool
ish old father-in-law, insomuch as his
daughter-in-law thus gained recognition
abroad as royalty, although at the English
court she occupied only sort Of uncomfort-
able Semi-royaI position. -..
The tenth Duke, whose principal oecupa-
ton in life had for some years been prepa-
l. oh
clude the placing Of his body, embalmed by
methods fo- which he sent to Egypt, in an
enormous black marble mausoleum speci-
ally erected for the accommodation of his
precious corpse, died in 1852. Two years
before that event the decline of his proud
family commenced. His only daughter had
married the late Duke of Newcastle when
she was eighteen-the marriage being no
doubt brought about by the desire of her
family to secure so desirable match. In
1850 this lady, having then family of sew
eral children, misconducted herself in a
manner which obliged her husband to seek
a divorce. .-r Ha-
From that time the whole of her family
have, with one exception, gone wrong
Her eldest son is bankrupt, another be-
came mixed up with persons of the worst
character, and to this hour it is considered
by many very doubtful whether the an
nouncement of his death, followed by q
funeral, of which details were given in pa
pers, was not in truth a mere ruse
to escape the penalty of his misdemean-
ors. A third son misbehayed him
self in his profession, had to
leave it, and has also been through the
bankruptcy court. The daughter married
a drunkard whose mind gave way through
the habits be had contracted. So much for
the tenth Duke of Hamilton's daughter
and her children. To turn to the son. His
wife had no taste for country life, and pre-.
ferred the atmosphere of continental courts,
where her pretensions to real rank gained
full admission. So they abandoned the
princely homes in England and
Scotland, where they drew 500, 900 year,
to live principally at Paris. The ex-Em-
peror being the Duchess first cousin, re-
ceiVed her With the utmost enpreSSnlent,
and indeed, her Grace was of no little use
in giving tone to the Imperial Court, which,
being entirely ignored by the FsuboTg, was
at one time sadly in need Of the presence
Of ladies whose rank and position were IN
exceptiOnable.
Some ten ye rs ago London and Paris
were startled 10 learn that the Duke of
Hamilton had died suddenly in the latter
capital. The details soon followed. He
had been supping at the Maison Doree,
and had been challenged by a friend to
see which of them could carry the
greatest number of petitS UerreS. IN
leaving the house he fell, struck
his head, and within a few hours the eleV-
enth Duke of Hamilton and Brandon lay
dead. An imperial frigate carried his body
to Scotland for burial In the mausOleum
which his father had erected, and his son,
then a youth of eighteen, reigned in his
stead.
And fine reign his has been. Hamilton
House in London, after passing into the
hands of one of the most noted turfmen af
the day, was sold to the son Of a successful
iron master. The same gentleman, so know
ing In horsefesh, and in those who think
that they, too, know about it, rules in Ham
ilton palace, and his presence there is
almost calculated to bring the grand
old Duke out of the H{ausoleum to
haunt the ..bQrsaYp usurpeF. The
Dukes only brother was a few weeks ago
in the throes Of insolvency, and his unfOr-
tunate sister is, as we read yesterday, tly-
ing to seek q refuge for her child from its
father, whom she breads; all because her
mother preferred making her the wife of
wretched princeling of trunps-y petty
State, mainly subsisting on the ruined for
tEnCs o. gamblers, to seeing her the wife Of
some honest-heatted Scottish gentleman.