Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-10-21

The Family Adhered to the Fortune
Of King James II.
Paris. Oct. Il. Marshal M|acAlahou
died at 10 o'clock this morning. at the
chateau LaE'oret on the river Loire,
He was able to take food till yester-
day. During the night his strength
gradually declined until the end came
peacefully. Members of the family
were ut the bedside,
But little has been heard of Marshal
MacNIlhon since he retired from the
presidency on January 30, 1879. II was
said at the time that when he got
home to his own house in the Rue de
B-eIlechaSSe. and he had read the ac-
count Of his upset in the evening pa
pers, he had the first sound nights
rest he had enjoyed since his accession
to the station IN life to which nature
and habit had fitted him; a certain
grace and even yradeur gathered round
his retreat. lie lad left the palace
where he had dwGlJ as lord of French
taxes with clean hands. Afterward he
returned to his life Of other days
hunting, shooting and travelling. Round
his table he gathered many Of his old
companions in arms, to whom the new
government had showed decided hos
tility, and became content to be a
simple spectator of the struggles of
the newborn republic, while his wife
returned to her priedieu and her works
of charity, with no regret for her past
grandeur and no wish to he called
from her poverty to a life that had
been at all times distasteful TO her
simple habits.
1t wa with surprise and sorrow
that Paris saw soon after his retirement
from the presidency large printed
posters announcing hat a part of the
very home Of the old general, the mag
nidceut hotel in the Rue de Bellechasse.
was to be sold at auction. Immense
yellow posters covered the walls of
the mansion, announcing Il sale of half
the extensive property at a reserve
price Of 100000 francs. The beautiful
grounds surrounding the hotel We're
D III hll=AA Win AAAAAAhF oiEhiANNNA'f 'N'
the saloons, halls and galleries, rich
with paintings, statuary, furniture Of
every age, from the days of Henry ~.
down to the present time. and other
evidences OF Il liberal taste, had a
crowd of eager visitors. The house
was the ancient hotel of the Due Do
Castries, minister of war under Louis
XVI. 1t was sacked by the mob in
/ 1879, the minister having been accused
of bringing the kings troops to Paris
to massacre the people. Mime. Mac
Mahon, who is still alive, has the title
of duchess Of Castrles.
The MacMahons were always a fight
ing race, and the name Is prominent
in French military annals, sharing In
glory and in disaster. Cue of his an
ccstors was ut Waterloo, and "A Story Is
told of the time when the battle was
lost and il WAS necessary TO make a des-
pcrate effort to cover the retreat of
me shattered army. Charge, keep
charging. boys MacMahon shouted to
the tnIrd quiraSsiels. Marshal, SAID
the colonel, we are SO cut up IL Is GER
tain death for us to charge; you know
ill.," Embrace me, my friend, was
MacMahon's only reply; and then the
two gaIIunt soldiers led forward the
regiment which made those three terri
bic charges that are recorded among
the great deeds o. the French army.
only 100 men of its number remained,
ana Of these All but eight are wounded
A recent biogrupher, speaking of
Marshal MacMahOn's Irish descent,
says that ne was a direct descendant Of
BRAN Boru, the famous Irish king
WHO CONQUERED the Danes at ClOntart.
/ lie then goes on. There is much 70
nance connected with the story Of the
settlement Of the Irish MacAlahons IN
France. Away back in the seventeenth
century, it is told, n Terence Mae
Mahon was a retainer of the famous
house Of Sarslield. lie owned o farm
at LeadmOre, county Clare, which had
belonged to his ancestors for many
years. But he was fallen in fortune,
and was glad to serve the great Sars-
fields. He hal q son named Terence,
and this son married Anne Clarke, a
waiting maid who had served the
Castmmaines and had been brought to
Ireland by Lord |TyrConnell. This
couple went back to LeadmOre to live.
OF all their children only one, John,
lived tc grow up, and as a companion
for him they adopted a nephew, John
Baptist MacNfahon
These two lads were sent to France
to be educated as physicians. They
got Oh uncommonly web and after
graduation wore appointed to fine posi-
lions in the public military service.
Lord Tycounel was their friend and
patron and helped them nightly John
went with Lord TyrcOnuel 70 Berlin.
where the latter was French ambassa-
dor aud the former physician 20 the
embassy. There he spent twenty years
and was a close friend Of Noltaire.
He left one son, Patrick MacAlahon,
who won the favor Of Napoleon Bona
Tarte. and was librarian @ the Facul-
- ~ Ma.gf.iua iu Paris for mlnV wears.