Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-05-08

NJ
who was younger brother of King Will |
liam II. of the Netherlands and an |
uncle therefore of the late king of |
Holland. The crown princess of
Denmark has family of no less than |
eight children. and also some grand |
children, every one of whom would |
have rights to the Dutch throne |
through their mother Then comes
Prince Frederick of the Netherlands
other daughter. Marie. who is married
to the prince of WED, and her chill
dren, and lastly. the descendants of
Prince Frederick of the Netherlands
sister, Marianne. who married the late
Prince Albert of Prussia. and whose
son, the present Prince Albert of
Prussia, is now occupying the throne
of the duchy of Brunswick as Regent.
From this it will be seen that, al
though Queen Wilhelmina of Holland
has no children, yet that there is no
lack of heirs to the Dutch throne. ac-
cording to the terms of the national
constitution of the Netherlands of
Aug. "a. 1915, and of Oct. IA. 1S48. In
fact, the rights of Emperor William
to the throne are so remote that it is
not necessary to take them into seri-
Gus consideration, although he is like
ly to prove an important factor in the
question of the Dutch succession Cw-
ing to the circumstance that al the
heirs enumerated above are German
princes and princesses, looking to him
as their de facto if not de jure sue
rain and as their guide, counselor,
and protector. Moreover, Emperor
William as the recognized head OF the
house of Orange takes his posi-
ton as such seriously, and considers
that it gives him the right to exercise
his will and to enforce his views in all
matters relating to the family of
! Orange-Nassau, in which the success
| sion to the throne of Holland is
vested.
| In order to explain the position of
! the kaiser in the matter as prince OF
| Orange it is necessary to refer briefly
to bit of ancient history concerning
which, strangely enough, little is found
in ordinary works Of reference at the
| disposal of the student In the first
place, the title of prince of Orange
which most people imagine to be OF
! entirely Dutch origin, and to constitute
| the Netherlands counterpart of the
| English dignity of prince of Wales
! that is to say, an attribute of the cid
est son and heir of the king or queen
regnant of Holland. is altogether
| French. Situated in what is now the
| department of the Vaucluse, Orange
was formerly an Independent princi
pality.
! In the year 1857 on the death OF
| Prince Philibert without issue
| Orange became the inheritance of his
only sister, wife Of the prince of Mas
sau. From that time forth the heads
of the Nassau family assumed the title
of prince of Orange, and continued tC
retain it after becoming possessed OF
the sovereignty of the Netherlands as
| hereditary Stockholders. The first OF
these Stockholders was William I. OF
| Nassau and prince of Orange. He was
succeeded by his three sons in turn,
only the third of whom, Frederick
Henry, left any children Frederick
Henry's offspring included a son. who
| followed him as William H., and an
| eldest daughter. Louise by name, who
| married the electOr of Brandenburg
known in history as the "GrosSer
Kurfurst,' and from whom the present
X &c -, Il
| rect line. William II. died, leaving
one son, who, after marrying the
daughter of the last of the Stuart
kings of England, became ruler of
Great Britain and of the Netherlands
under the name Of William III Dying
| childless, his rights of sovereignty to
the principally of Orange and to the
StadthOidership Of the Netherlands
should, in accordance with the
statutes of the house of Orange-Nas-
sau, as we'll as with the national laws
Of both Holland and Orange, have
gone to his aunt, that is to say, to
William IFS sister, Princess Louise of
Brandenburg, and on her death to her
eldest son, Frederick l., king of Prus-
isa
William Ill, however, who detested
his Prussian aunt, Princess Louise,
and hated still more her son, King
Frederick of Prussia, made a will of
his own, arbitrarily setting aside all
the provisions and laws made by his
predecessors, and bequeathed his
rights to the hereditary stakeholder
ship Of Holland, as we'll as to the prin-
cipality of Orange, to a distant and ex-
cedingly remote kinsman of the name
of Count John of Nassau, descended
from count of Nassau who had been
chief of the Nassau family long before
it Inherited the principally of Orange
or had become possessed of the stadt-
holdership of the Netherlands. Al
struggle for the succession ensued, of
which France took advantage to take
forcible possession of Orange. The
entire imbroglio was brought to a |
close by the treaty of Utrecht, which, |
thanks far more to diplomatic in |
trigue and to political influence than !
to right or equity, awarded the stadt- !
Of the Netherlands to |
Prince John of Nassau, ancestor of
Queen Wilhe1mina, permitted France
to retain possession of Orange, and
recognized the rights, or, rather, the
of the king of Prussia by &C
cording to him in the way of compen-
sation not only all the possessions of
the house of Orange east of the Rhine
but likewise the right of bearing the
title Of prince of Orange and the arms
Of the latter without any of the