New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-11-20
DIPLOMATIC BY-PLAY.

The Duke of Cumberand's remuneration of
his claims to the throne of Hanover Is n Gu
rious bit of by-play in the diplomacy Of Eu-
rope. Of all tho wandering heirs of royalty
on the Continent, his titles to n crown were
the clearest, his connections by marriage the
most influential, his expectations the most
promiscuous and inflated, and his chances of
rcgainlng his high estate the nimsicst. Him
self royal prince OF England and a great
grandson of George Ill, his father was robbed
of a crown to winch his right by blood was
iucontestable. Few royal houses could boast
of a longer lineage, for when George Y. was
driven into exile and his realm was annexed
to Prussia, his family had retained undisputed
possession of the throne for more than five
hundred years. The Dukes wife is priD-
cess of the Danish line, and although her
dowry is inconslderable, she is closely con-
nected with the reiGning houses in England,
Russia and Greece. The father when in
exile squandered n large share of his fortune
In reckless speculntions, but the son has a
tolerably good income. Some of the Hohen-
zollerns, the Crown Prince for one. have
openly favored a partial compensation for the
private estates belonging TO the Guelphs which
were conhscated when their crown was wrcsted
from them. The Duke is. moreover, next
heir to the aged Duke of Brunswick, and will
have an undeniable priority when the success
sion is determined. Yet in spite of blue
blood, his wifes relations, and his great ex-
pectauons, this inoffensiye young man, while
waiting for a royal establishment to turn up,
had great trouble in going 20 housekeeping.
The niggardly Danish legislators were ex-
tremely close and disputatious when n dowry
was asked for the Sea Kings daughter and
when the bridal pair were passing through
Germany on their wedding-trip they were
followed 10y Prussian spies, while Bismarck
menaced them with the forfeiture of their
claim to the Guelph fund and the Brunswick
succession. A year has gone by. daughter
has been born to them. and the Duke Is more
doclle and domestic than be was when the
wedding journey began. He has consented to
renounce all pretensiOns TO the Crown of Han
over, and, like his father before him, has been
created proprietor of an Austrian regiment
and granted the opportunity of settling down
under favorable circumstances near Vienna.
Henceforth be will be content to lead an easy
life and to make the most Of an income that
has been increased, perchance, 10y settlements
royalty as fancies unsubstantial as OpheIia's
dreams.
1t seems almost farcical, this remuneration
of pretensions to throne which the Young
Duke had not the slightest chance of regain
ing, yet it has been one of the objective
points of Bsmarck's foreign policy, and he is
not n statesman who amuses himself bv
knocking down men of pith. Ii there was
ever a lost cause in human history it is that
of Hanoverian nationality. The follies and
business of that fantastic monarch. George
", served to disgust his subjects. and the
downfall of his dynasty and the absorption of
the ancient kingdom into the German En-
pire were accepted with equanImty. The
Dukes aspirations were not supported by the
secret intrigues of an influential party whose
sympathies were enlisted in the cause of M
tional independence. The Hanoverians had
come to regard the dethronement of their
monarch a proceeding that was necessary
and useful. albeit exceedingly irregular. Err
nest Augustus had as slender chance of
reigning in his fathers place as the ghost of
James V. has of supplanting Victoria. Yet
Bismarck has made the formal abandonment