Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-12-20
THE ROYAL RIGHT.
LINEAGE OF EUROPEAN MON.
 ARcHs RANKS LOW.
Dynasties of Recent Origin Are th' Understanding and Prestige
 of Several Sover-
eigns.

1 eigns.
 | True aristocrats have rather cynica way of speaking of royalty. In spite ol
 their high political position, the ma l jority of the crowned heads of Europe take by no means high rank in the matter of lineage.
 In fact, with the utmost respect to it, il 1 is said, most of Europe's reigning sov' ereigns owe their lofty position, not tc rights of descent, but to good luck anc their own efforts.
 The dynastic troubles of the kingdom of servia, settled for the time being by the accession of King Peter, are merely the continuance of a struggle between swineheTds.
 Both the founder of the present dy. nasty, Karageorge, and of the late dynasty Milosh Obrenovitch ,beforethefl entry into the realm of high politics ministered to the needs of the humble porker, and that only so recently as the l beginning of the last century. Somewhat more distinguished, but by 1 no means august, is the lineage of the 1 king of Sweden, Oscar IT. His line goes no further back than 1918, to Marsha, Bernadotte, one of NapoIeon's hench- men, who was jumped into the Swedish throne by his master, on tho dethrone Inent of Gustavus w. The princely throne of Bulgaria is, o1 course, of intensely modern origin Only in 1887 did the present prince, Fer dinand of Coburg, ascend the throne on the abdication of Alexander of Hesse- both entire foreigners to Bulgaria King Leopold of Belgium is an admir-. able and popular monarch, but hisroyal line only comes down from 1881, when his father, prince of Saxe- Coburg, was nominated king of the newly formed state of Belgium
 Newer still is the origin of the royal family of Greece, as only in 1863 did the present dynasty assume political pow CT, without having ever had the re- motest political connection with their subjects. The present King George o1 Greece is the first king of his race, and is the son of the king of Denmark.
 In 1863 the Greeks were without a monarch. and almost unanimously elected for the post Prince Alfred oi Great Britain, the late duke of Saxe- Coburg, The position was not, how. ever, selected for him by his august parents and so the throne passed sover to the then Prince George of Schles. wig EEoIstein.
 For an empire that dates back far before the Christian era, whose civ ilization is thousands of years older than our own, the Chinese dynasty are little more than modern upstarts For the TSing family, who hold sway at present, only came into power in 1643. and were from the Chinese mandarin point of view vulgar usurpers of Tar tar origin.
 When it was announced that Queen WiIhelmina of Holland would marry Duke Henry Of Mecklenburg Schwerin. opinion generally regarded it as an act of condescension on the part of her ma jesty.
 The German princely family, on theil | part, regarded it as no small condescen- sion for one of their stock to unite him. self with so comparatively modern a royal family as that
 For while the MeckIenburgs trace their descent to Genseric the Yahdal, who ravaged the western empire in the fifth century, the Dutch royal family of Orange only assumed the title ot king and royal rank in 1915. Before that, the Orange position was that ot stadtholder, kind of presidential of 6ce only.
 The royal family of Italy must also be included in a list of newly made place holders Their tenure of the crown of united Italy dates from 1861, when Vic- tor Emmanuel H., .king, cf Sardinia, as- gumed 1t.
 Prior to that Victor was the king only of a small territory, which in turn his ancestors had secured by exchange for Sicily, of which he was previously king Before that Victor Amadeus was merely duke of Savoy. The rise of the Savoy family from obscure dukedom to the crown of one of the great powers is one of the phenomena of history, and ap- peals greatly to the imagination.
 Much is heard of the glories of the HohenzoIlern family, of which William IT. ia the prevailing ornament, but only in 1701 did the family attain kingly rank, having previously held the obscure po- sition of Margreayes of Brandenburg, obtained originally by purchase in the fifteenth century.
 As everyone knows, the Hohenzollerns only rose to imperial rank as German emperors, after the war with France In 1871. It is, of course, to their credit that they so raised themselves in the world, but is is only fair to say that the major ity of obscure princes of Germany could give them points in the matter of lineage,
 Double Murder In 4Alabama.
 SELMA, Ala, Dec. 2o.-News has reached here of double murder at 1 McWilliaHns, in Wilcox county. The