The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-06-18
Paul Kruger.

received the other day letter t'
to prove that Mr.. Kruger rs OF tn
royal of England. and might. und'
cumstances which we must all hope ..ty
never happen, become n claimant " tho
British throne, says London Truth. The
writer founded his argument on the al
legged descent OF Mr.. Kruger from Bob
Ray, who was descended from Edwar1
III OF England. This has led another soc
nsalogist. writing from the Celtic
Fringe" to send me an elaborate table
showing that King Edward traces his dee
scent from Dermot McMurrogh. Kins of
Leinster. Dermot McMurrogh. Az every
schoolboy knows married his daughteg
Eva TO Richard Earl OF Pembroke. from
whom was descended Robert the Bruce
aud the Stuart Kings OF Scotland ane
England. This may be interesting. but,
as the Cambridge wrangler said OF the
"Ilisd." I do not quite see what 10
proves. unless II be that King Edward
VII has claim 10 the allegiance or Irish.
men which Mr.. Kruger can never aspire
TO.
Some years ago I had little passage
at arms with a gentleman who was pre-
pared 10 prove tho royal descent Of al.
most any man In the street for q payment
OF 8l0 down. When / hinted some doubt
Of his bona fides. he called upon me ana
showed, by a fairly plausible argument,
that almost every body has royal blood In
remember, on the one hand. that you had
two grandfathers and two grandmothers,
eight ancestors in the previous genera
ticn. sixteen In the generation before that
and 50 on. and. OH the other that as you
go back the population or tho country de-
creases-at the time OF tho Conquest II
was probably not tenth OF what IL Is
now-you can easily see that the present
inhabitants OF these islands could not all
be supplied with ancestors unless the
same people We're used over and over
again Each ancestor must, In fact. do
duty for so many descendants, that the
probability is that we all OF US have
great many of them In common. That Is
why the majority OF people have royal
progen!tors somewhere in the dim vista
OF the past l expect therefore, that IL
we came to look into IL. we should find a
great many men In the street with quite
as good claims 10 the English crown as
Mr.. X.
While writing this, ] remember a curl
Gus illustration OF tho ramiflcations OF
genealogies. A friend OF mine once told
mo that In q Dorsetshire village near him,
there was family OF agricultural labor
ers bearing the name of Percy, and claim
ing kinshlp with the Duke Of Northum-
berland. They had a traditional record OF
their descent from somo Percy who had
settled IN Wessex many generations ago.
My friend has a portrait OF the very last
descendant or THIS line OF Tercys-dn I'M
posing looking old yokel In smock frock
and tall hat worthy OF Mr. Kruger HIM
self. There are other cases OF aristocrauo
families ending In line OF agricultural
laborers. and in Wessex too. The geneal-
ogy OF the D'Urberville family In Mr..
Hardy's Tess" Is. / believe. founded on
fact.
All this ia quite new 70 me, and may
possibly be TO my readers-at any rate.
on this side Of the Tweed. We Sassenachs,
who have no history before the COMPARE
lively modern date OF Hengist and Horst,
are deplorably ignorant OF the antiquity
OF the Celtic Fringe. After all, the story
OF the invasion OF Spain by Malcolm, or.
in the spelling OF the period Malcham the
Moahite, and his "brither Scots" and tho
birth OF the first MacAlpine. the grand
son OF King Solomon. is an affair OF yes
terday besides the family history OF the
MacPhersons:
Phairson had a son
Who married Noah's daughter,
And nearly spoilt the Flood
BY drinking up the water.
Which he would have done
J. at least. believe it
Had the mixture been
Only half Glenlicet.