Birmingham age-herald., 1895-07-01
II. R. HIS gUpERsTiT1oN.
Last of Party of Four For Whom Vio-
 lent Death Was Prophesied.

 ,- A few months before the young prince imperial of France started for South Af- riea, whence he never returned, he paid a visit of five days to the Duke of Hamilton at Hamilton palace, in Scotland, his fei= low guests being Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria and the Prince of Wales, and it was during that stay, by tho bye, that tho Frencn prince won the admiration or all present, and especially of Albert Ed ward, by vaulting to tho bare back of an unbridlod and unbroken stallion colt in ono of the duko's paddocks and tearing round and round tho field with him, keep ing lis seat like 8 centaur.
 Z But the most memorable event of that visit was meeting of tho Duke of Hamil ton and the three princes of the blood with an old crone, who might havo been, judg ing from her appearance, a sister of the witches of Macbeth, and who, as it subse guently turned cut. had been ovicted from her hovel by tho duke's factor for nonpay mont of rent, quite possibly without tho knowledge of his grace, although it was he that the crone held responsible for her misery.
 Tho duke did not know this at the time, nor do I believe that he was acquainted
  antry of being witch, for he was very seldom at Hamilton palace. However, tho appearance of the old creature excited re- mark on the part of the prince imperial, who immediately drew the attention of his companions to the probability of the witches of Macbeth having been fashioned to her image.
 ;, This led the Archdukc Rudolph, who olx hit cttrarcti9ionG fn that they should follow the example of tho Shakespoarean thane and have their fortunes told. To all four she predicted violent death, and that, too, within giv- en period, giving a number of details both with regard to the past and tho future of the princes and of the duke.
 All four affected to laugh away the pre- dictions and to treat them as mere maun- derings of an irresponsible old hag. But a gloom settled upon each ono of them, the party breaking up on the following day, and all four travelled south with faces, manner and conversation that showed that there was Q weight upon their minds.
 A few months afterward the prince i'm perial sailed for Zululand, where he per ished in tho manner so frequently de- scribed his wounds all in front and moro tllttH ~ III nuLlDtl3 DCdliIS lh CiOddOho tribute to the splendid fight which single handed he made against an overwhelming force of native warriors after being de- serted by his English companions Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria met his fate at Meyerling in a manner so horrible that tho true circumstances of tho case have, as far as possible, been shrouded in mystery, the official statement, however, admitting that his death was due to violence.
 The Duke of Hamilton now lies dead with bullet through his brain, and the only remaining one of that party of four, the Prince of Wales, is at present asking himself how long it will be before he, too meets the fate foretold to him by the old Scotch witch, prediction which has been the principal cause of his repeatedly ex- pressed assurance that he would never as- cend the throne and that his mother would outlive him.-Marquise de Fontenoy in New York Recorder