The times., 1899-06-01
THE HOUSE OF D'ARCOS.
The IIiustrious Ancestry of the New
Spanish Minister.

aristocracy. His ancestors were famous
people a century before Columbus was
born; in fact, the family is one of the most
ancient in Europe. In the National Mu-
scum one may see a geographical globe.
made in Germany about the year 145S.
which. for obvious reasons, has no Amer
lea on it at all, but only blank OF blue
| ocean instead. All the provinces and prin-
cipal towns Of Spain. however, are care
fully delneated on this interesting sphere,
which is OF large size, and one of the
cities shown is Cadiz which. by the way,
was given by royal grant to forebear of
Don Jose's. for his good and loyal SER
vices in the war against the Moors.''
| Thus 1t viii be seen that the new Span
| ish Minister is parsonage provided by
| birthright with a background of hoary
antiquity. The oldest American families
are mere mushrooms compared with his
ancient line, and the supplementary titles
/ he enjoys are so numerous that he is able
| TO take only few of them with him when
! he goes out in society. For example, he
| is Marquis of Zahara, as well as Marquis
of Cadiz. and Incidentally is obliged to
uphold the dignity of Count of Coasarez.
In the course OF so many centuries Don
Jose was Obliged to accumulate quite
\ large number OF ancestors, and to one OF
these in 1859. the town of ARGOS given
by the King of Spain, which explains how
| the family title of due d'Arcos originated.
With Cadiz for a city property and
ARGOS for a country place, the family of
the new Spanish Minister felt itself pretty
adequately provided for territorially; but,
unfortunately, there came a time, in 1873
| one year after the discovery of America
| when their most Catholic Majesties, Ferdi-
nand and Isabella, decided that they re-
quired the seaport of Cadiz in their busi-
ness. This business was the trade with
the East Indies, which part of the world
| had then newly doomed up, not merely
| in a geographical but also in a commercial
| sense. There was resisting the royal
demand, and so the then due d'Arcos gave
| up the title deeds to the property, receiv-
| ing in exchange a new collection Of titles
and other equivalents.
| Few ancient families are without at least
| one censured ancestor. and to this rule
| the noble line of ARGOS is no exception.
| 1t is recorded in history that In 1916 Don
| Rodrigue Pons de Leon, due d'Arcos, was
sent by the King of Spain to govern Naples
as Viceroy. This was exceedingly rough
! on Naples as is proved by his record
while acting in that administrative capac-
| ity. However, it may not have been SO
| much his fault as that of his Government
which at that time needed money very
badly to carry on wars with France and
| Portugal.
His course of procedure finally provoked
rebellion in 1647. which quickly as
sumed most formidable proportions. The
uprising was headed by a fisherman,
named Manzanielio, and was so far sue
| cessful that the Viceroy was finally COM
PEELED to yield and grant all the demands
| of the reyolutionists, including equal
| rights for the people and the nobility and
| the abolition of the excessive taxes. I'm
| happily Manzaniello, elated by his sue
| cess lost his head, as it turned out in
more senses than one. reaction. clev-
| erly engineered by the duke set in, and
| the upshot of it was that the fisherman's
| head was cut off and carried to the vice
regal palace, amid the applause of the
very populace of which not long before
| he had been the idol
! Quite naturally, their family being SO ia
nous, wealthy, and conspicuous, the men
| of the dArcos name have been prominent
in public life, generation after generation.
| Thus it came about that Don Jose Bru-
netti. while as yet lacking the ducal title,
entered the diplomatic service of his Gov
| ernment. He was appointed diplomatic
| supernumerary" in the Foreign Office ct
Madrid in 1852, and two years later was
| sent as attache TO the Spanish Legation
\. at Vienna After nIling yariousf other mi
nor diplomatic posts in Europe he was
made First Secretary of the Spanish Le-
cation at Washington In 1876. Since then
he has been Minister Resident at Caracas
and Monteyideo, Minister Plenipotentiary
| TO Mexico, holding this last office from
| 1894 until recently. His appointment to
Washington, of course, is promotion.
1t SO happened at the time when Count
Brunetti, as he was known. became First
| Secretary Of the Spanish Legation at
on xxTplNf ffaraa
beautiful and charming girl had been new
| ly introduced TO the society of the Capital
| Her name was Virginia Woodbury. Low
cry. and she was the only daughter of
Archibald Lowery, a conspicuous Wash
ingtonian, who enjoyed through inherit
! ance the possession of large means. Miss
| Lowery's mother was herself daughter
of one of New Hampshires most famous
men, Levi Woodbury., who was a member
of Jackson's Cabinet and at the time of
his death Justice of the Supreme Court
| Thus her social position was the highest
possible. and from Brunetti's point of view
| she was eminently eligible as wife.
However, there was never any question
OF finance or expediency in the attachment
| which grew up between the young people
They loved each other, and all Washing
ton knew of it. Indeed, it was the prettiest
romance known to the National Capital in
that generation. 1t was a case of true
love that runs not smoothly else it would
have possessed comparatively little interest
for outsiders. The parents of the girl did
not want her to marry a foreigner and
neither she nor Count Brunetti was willing
TO run counter to their wishes Don Jose
waited nineteen years for the lady of his
choice. and he was absent. too. most of
the time. though he came to Washington
from foreign parts whenever he could
manage it. Meanwhile he was getting
ahead n the diplomatic service of his
country. Eventually. Mrs Lowery, the
mother, to whom Virginia was devoted
died, and, her father consenting to the
union, she was married in the summer of
1895 to the man of her choice. The we'd
ding took place in New London. Conn.
where the Lowerys owned cottage. and
was celebrated in a very quiet way, only
few friends of the family being present
Count Brunett at that time was Minister
TO Mexico, and he came all the way from
the City of Mexico to claim his bride
A pretty episode. was it not? Washington
society has never known anything more
charming. Brunetti was not due d'Arcos
then; the title came with the death of his
father two years later. He took his bride
to the City of Mexico. and thence, later
on, to Spain. a change of government
bringing about his recall from the land of
Montezuma. Now, after so long an absence,
save for occasional visits. he returns TO this
Capital, where he and his wife will be re-
ceived with open arms. She was always a
favorite here and he was most popular in
drawing rooms and in the clubs Besides.
people feel that something more than or
binary poiiteness is due TO the first come
representative of a gallant, il defeated, ma :
tion.
The due d'Arcos is fifty-five years of age
tall, dark. handsome, with clear-cut fea-
l. Il