New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-30
ADUCHESS OF GREAT GIFTS.
HOW THE GALLERA MILLIONS WE'RE re-
TURNED TO THE PEOPLE


fho" ~ Paris. December IA.
The death of the late Duchess de 1aihera Is
a.. o,,ent Of the day which most stlrs society, tne
r.l;gious world, and the poor OF the WIN
ACCOMPLISHMENTS in which the Duchess resiueu'
Madame de Galiera was born 70 the lands, the
.oloces the villas. the art treasures. and the
a.hor accumulated wealth OF three of the richest
families in North Italy. She inherited from theih
6ne brains and public spirit From her mobher,
Sales Of Savoy, she derived the tenderness OF
beart which distinguished S. Francis de sales
Her carly life was spent at the courts OF VIENNA
81 Petersburg Paris and London, TO wmch
her father was successfully named amoassaoor
90 tb. KING Of Sardinia, whom he represented
on a special embassy at the Coronation OF queen
victoria The grandmother Of the Duchess on
,be Maternal SIDE the Marchesa de Brgnolc raj
lied carly in the century TO the French Revolu-
,son and became the head of the French party
AZ Genoa. She was a warm admirer of Napoleon,
who let her act the part Of plain speaker IN
rscard 70 him. after he became Emperor, and
,vas clad 70 induce her to enter the household
~ Maria Louisa as its grand mistress. The
Duchess Of Gallicra was married so long ago as
1928 TO a cousin of her own, man OF vast
wealth also, and imbued with the keen trading
spirits which distinguished the Lombards and the
Genoese. He developed under stimulus OF the
railway fever that took hold of the continent
Of Europe into one of the kcenest ana hardest
headed SPECTATORS of his time as the MARQUIS
de Ferrari, his father, had also done before MN
when Napoleon's wars opened field to army
contractors There never was more INSCRIPTIONS
victualler and clothicr of troops than the said
MARQUIS. who escaped being shot by the downfall
Of Bonaparte.
The late Duke de Galliera died leaving a for
time the personally Of which was computed at
$4,000, 600 1t was the largest fortune in
Europe for there were along with this sum moth
ing less than a tract of land in what is now the
most fashionable Quarter of Paris viz, the neigh
borhood of the Trocadero Then there were real
estates in the Rue dArtong in the Faubourg
ST. German. in the environs Of Paris, at Genoa
and its envrons, at Milan and its cnvirons; at
Bologna and its environs and a very large estate
in Austria. Neither the Duke nor his wife be-
longed to any party, and were singulsrly free for
persons of their rank and wealth from preiudces
lie made it point, as a fisher for great railway
and other concessions, to keep Oh good terms with
de facto Governments. Brought up in diplomacy
and in fastchanging period, she recognized power
wherever she found it existed, and she never
priced il so highly when it was manifested in
cerebral power 1t was her delight to surround
of fine hearts and intellects NJ Theirs was one
Of her best friends She vase intimate with the
late Duchess d'Orleans whom she venerated, al
though that royal body was her junior. and for
her sake wanted to be a second mother 10 the
Comte de Paris and his family. She also held
in high esteem Queen Marie Amele, but thought
her too much the politician in feeling. The
Duchess of Orleans she thought must have de-
scended from a higher sphere to this world to
undergo q period of Christening trial, because she
was homesick for heaven" A similar
friendship sprang up between her and thc Empress
Frederick, whom she has named her executor
It began when the Empress as Crown Princess
was staying at beautiful but relaxing Pegli, on
the Facing East Riviera, near Genoa. Voltri,
where the Burgnole built villa which was
transmitted to the Duchess, is close to Pegh. Nor
IS the distance great from Voltri TO San Reno,
where Madame de Galhera witnessed the sorrows
of the German Crown Prince and his wife, who
as Emperor and Empress were both to wear
crown Of thorns.
The Duchess de Galliera was small. 1t might
be said that grace was in all her movements,
Heaven in her eye, in every action dignity and
love- But the dignity was of the quiet self
possessed kind that young girl acquires filing
great position from the time she leaves the
nursery and used to appear in public promenadcs
in finely appointed equipage There was don't
know what in the face which showed that if
sorrow had passed over her soul no dark passion
had thrown shadow there. She was very
sweet, very tender and though she had all her
life been in the great world, among tricky
courtiers diplomatists, politicians and the sharp
est spectators, not only without guile, but
suggested innocence There was hardly q wrin-
Ill A..
advanced age.
She was very clever, as well very elevated
IN feeling Whatever she did was done with
ease. The Duchess spoke four languages-Ital-
ian, German, French and English-one as well
as the other, and all with fuency and idiomatic
purity. She was too much the idealist to care
greatly for art as more than a secondary thing
Her taste was true and chaste. She dressed in
snowy colors when young, most Italian women
naturally do; but in her widowhood she wore
quantity of black blonde lace on her head and
shoulders, and sometimes at dinners or reeep-
lions frightened up her black silk or velvet cor
sage (which was always high with necklace
OF seven rows of black diamonds
have spoken of the Duchess as being clever
She had a superior mind and one that was MANY
sided and open. 1t was also an independent
o"N, "ii' "oi N"'HoHo PieV never III any degree
limited It's freedom. She had no desire TO shine
in the world. and if French law had allowed her
would have spent her millions anonymously But
it forced her to make donation deeds whenever
She wanted TO give away an important sum for no
matter what purpose, and so the thing got out
and was talked Of No act of generosity got
into the papers without bringing upon her host of
impostors and beggars. This did not discourage
her, and She created a charitable ministry ,yhoso
mission it was TO relieve the wretched and in
quire into cases of distress reported TO her
IN begging letters. Thirty-twO million
dollars was deliberately decided away Not
more than million dollars Of personality
remained TO her at the time Of her DEATH
and she calmly made up her mind to finish