Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-03
IN THE COURTS OF EUROPE.
Behind the Scenes With the Nobility of
 the Old World.

| l the Old World.
 Marquise de Fontenoy in Philadelphia l Press.
 1 It is not alone at Berlin that the ac- | tion of the constitutional advisors and l cabinet ministers of the sovereign are obstructed by iutrigues on the part of 1 members of the household of the mon- l arch and of the court, who have form d l themselves into a caverilla for the pur- l pose, but also at Rome. | Two years ago Prime Minister Crispi l compelled King Humbert to dismiss from | the office of minister of the household | Count Ratazzi, on the ground that he l was doing his best to counteract the min- | lsterial policy, and unduly interfering in 1 the affairs of state. tfta Tt The king and queen parted with the count with great reluctance, ands as an illustration of the regret which they felt | 1t may be said that, although he has | ceased to occupy any official position at | court he nevertheless remains entrusted | with all the private and personal inter- 1 estS of their majesties.
 Moreover, the king declined to appoint l any one definitely to succeed to the office | left vacant by his removal and merely designated Gen. Ponzio Vagli, his prin- | cipaf aid-de-camp and head of the mili- l tary household to temporarily take charge of his duties.
 And now Crispi's successor as prime iiiihiSlcl, lnt Qe 1tuQln1, mas put forward the demand that the general shall in his turn be dismissed on the ground that he is intriguing with Crispi | to counteract the policy of the present ad- ministration. The general is a typical Piedmontese, that is to say, precise, con | scientious and reserved in his manner and he Is about the very last man that one would ever have imagined capable of taking part in a political intrigue of any kind whatsoever. It must be borne in mind, however that the general is above all things sol dier, and that as such he is heart and soul with Crispi in his opposition to the practically unconditional withdrawal of Italy from Abyssinia without any at- tempt being made to repair the disastrous defeat inflicted upon the Italian army at the battle of Abou Carina. e1a Maj. Crabbe, who has just been figuring in London as the defendant in breach of promise action, brought against him by Miss Mabel Duncan an actress now appearing at Dalys theater, in "The Geisha," is a member of one of the oldest county families of Hampshire, the Crabbe country seat, Glen Eyre, near Southamp- ton, being one of the show places of the district.
 The major formerly served in the Third and Eighth Hussars, and on leav- ing the army joined the militia battalion of the Royal Irish regiment. As usual, the damages claimed are $50,000. that be-
 
 ing from the London Gayety theater es- inmates the value of her blighted affec- tions. In order to realize the terrible strain imposed by Sir William Harcourts so- called death duties, which excited so much resentment among the land-own- ing class of Great Britain last year, it may be mentioned that most of the ter ritorial magnates who through the death of their father or of other near relatives have recently into nocspyStnp Of tha family property, have been compelled by the burden thus imposed upon them to close up their county houses, and to let their shooting to the highest bidder. Thus, when a few months ago the Mar quis of Bath succeeded to the entailed estates of his father, he was forced by the death duties. which he had to pay on his fathers will to close up Longlene and to lease all the sporting privileges of the estate to a city merchant, and now it is announced that the new Lord Sa- vile Clusband of that pretty Mrs. Hor- ace Helyar who with her first husband was connected with the English embas- sy at Washington in the days of Lord Sackville), will have to close Rufford Ab- bey, one of the most beautiful country seats in the Dukeries," the duties in this case amounting to nearly $1,000,000. While they are so exceptionally heavy in this instance is in the first place be- cause the new Lord Saville is merely the nephew instead of the son of the testa- tor, and secondly because of the inn | mense and extremely valuable art col lection gathered together by the late Lord, who was famous connoisseur. Each of his pictures each of his pieces one cannot help plying to certain eX- perts, and on every separate piece suc- cession duty has to be paid.
 lit will readily be seen what a heavy charge this is upon any inheritance. and one cannot help pitying to certain ex- tent the great landowners and county families. For they are debarred by the laws of entail from getting rid of any of their treasures in which they have only a life interest and yet at their death their estate is Sharged with succession duties thereon.
 If the property happens to change hands more than once in year, the es- tate is, of course, charged with just double the amount of duty, and the Duke of Devonshire, and other opponents of the death duties, cannot be accused of any exaggeration waen they declared in parliament and from the platform that the duties in question: unless altered, will ultimately result in the ruin of every old family in England.
 It is understood that during the forth coming session the Salisbury govern
 ment will bring forward a measure modi- flying the death duties as now constitut- ed and will restrict them merely to the so-called personal estato," exempting therefrom all entailed property and such things as art treasures
 The late Lord Saville, by the by, was the last of the three illegitimate sons of the eighth earl of Scarborough, who all three have furnished striking illustra- ton of the fact that illegitmacy' of birth is no such bar to social status and suc- cess in England, as it is on the Continent. It is to this defect, however, in their an- cestry that the names of none of the three brothers, nor yet of the present peer figure in the peerage on the pages devoted to the earls of Scarborough, who are the heads of the ilustrious and an- cient house of Saville.
 Peerages are even sometimes conferred upon illegitimate sons, the late Lord Sa- vile. who was raised to the house of lords at the close of his diplomatic ca eer. being case in point. The late Lord Leconfeld. whose son is married to the sister of Lord Rosebery. was likewise illegitimate, being a natural son of one of the lords of Egremont, and at least a dozeS other similar cases could be found in tlf4 peerage.
 Nor yet does illegitimacy affect the po- sition of women, and constitutes no bar to their presentation at court as is done
 on this continent This is proved by the