Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-08
ORLEANS ON DECK AGAIN..
Continued From Ninth Page.


but talks as if he possessed the wisdom
of patriarch. In some things he is not
unlike Emperor William of Germany,
and If placed in a position of power he
could be counted upon doing things in a
manner equally eccentric.
He has an income of $500, 900 year, and
most of it has been spent since ms
fathers death in subsidiZing purchasable
newspapers in France to keep alive the
royalst agitation. Nearly all these pa
pers are those which circulate in the ru-
raj districts, and they are CHOSEN WIN
the purpose of tanning into flame the
peasant. When the time comes for the
Duke of Orleans to make his attempt he
hopes to have at his back a vast army
Of the peasantry of France, as we'll as
all the aristocrats of the old regime.
Work of the Royalsts
The duke has hundreds of arstocratic
agents constantly at work in his behalI
IN France Nearly every man and
woman of the nobility longs for re- re-,
pewal of the times when their titles VIII
= count for something and not be the
empty honors they are today. For many
Years the officials of the republic regard
ed these noblemen with suspicion, put OF
late they have relaxed all vigilance, as
the time of danger was regarded as past
when the Count OF Paris dled but tne
-royalist clique is as strong TO-DAY as ever.
II has never given up hope, and the pres
for the cause of the Bourbons since 1871,
when the empire of Napoleon Ill Went
down with crash.
A Make Believe Court
Since his fathers death the young duke
has lived in London, where ne maintains
a house almost on kingly scale. he
keeps up an absurd show of court lie ana
is surrounded by number OF impoveI,
ished French aristocrats VINO DOW ana
snrana 70 him as IL he were really their
In this he differs from his father, who
was never hysterical in his pretenslons
to the throne. Whatever his faults may
have been, the Count or Farls neo new al on
Tended good taste, but accepted al
troubles and misfortunes with gentle
manly philosophy. Moreover, he was a
democrat If any visitor approached
him with hat off and with show OF ser
viIity the count would say: please put
m your hat" Then he would talk with
him in a pleasant. easy way, with never
n show of kingly pretensions.
Rut while this very democracy showed
his good hard sense to the rest OF the
world it was displeasing to some OF the
French nobility, who accused the count
Of faint heartedness and lukewarmness In
his desire to mount the throne. They can
certainly make no charge. based on SINH
lar grounds against the present pre-
tender.
Engaged Again.
Several times the duke has been re-
ported as engaged to be married. These
have all been proven untrue. The same
ors~ not be said of his reputation as gal
t. He has figured in innumerable
.ndals At. one time the name oil
me. Melba, the opera singer, was asso'
aied with him in an unkind way. NOW
is said that he Is to marry the
widowed Duchess of Aosta very frolic-
some lady, who, since the death OF the
duke. has been a source of anxiety to hel
royai relatives. Her stepson, the young
Duke of Aosta, less than year ago mar
ried Princess Helene, sister of the Duke
of orleans, so If the latter marries th'
dowager duchess he will become the nus
band Of his sister, -step mother-in-law.
But aside from mixing the family rela
tionships. such an alliance would nave
strong political effect The duchess wa'
the Princess Laetftia Bonaparte, and, OF
course, is allied to the Bonapartist pre-
tenders to the French throne Primes
Victor Bonaparte, the head of TINS
branch of pretenders, long ago relin'
uuished all hope of ever sitting on the
throne, and it looks as if the hatche