Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-05-12
THE SPANISH HOUSE OF ALBA.
Its Strain of Stuart Blood and EN-
press Eugenie's Connection With Il.


press Eusenie's Connection With II.
There is curious history recalled
By the recent death of the duchess of
alba at Paris. She was the niece by
marriage of eX-Empress Eugene, who,
coing to Paris in the last hours of
eSs:nceEs Ma5hilde BonapaTte, two
months ago, had remained there since
. take care of her niece. The Ouch,
ess of Alba had literary gifts, and
from the archives of the families OF
Fecnan-Nunez cher OWN and Alba she
made important publications. At the
time of the Christopher Columbus
ouadrocentenary she issued book
containing a selection of documents,
state papers and letters, a dozen in
the handwriting of Columbus of much
historical value. Some years later
she put forth "A Catalog of the Col
lectionS of the Liria Palace" the Alba
residence at Madrid. 1T is far from
being a mere catalog," says the Mar.
quise de Fontenoy in the New York
Tribune:-
On the contrary it is an erudite ana
careful selection of some 500 docu-
ments, covering a period extending
from the 18th century until the middle
of the 18th, which, brought forth foI
the first time after having lain so long
concealed in the Liria palace, shed
new and valuable light on the history
not alone of Spain. but also of Amer
lea. In the case of each document the
duchess added notes giving informa
ton as to the personages and facts
mentioned in the document, many of
which are reproduced in facsimile by
means of photogravure.
The dukes of Alba and Berwick are
descended from the son of James II
of England and his mistress Arabella
Churchill, who was sister of the first
duke of Marlborough, and by her re-
lation to James made that great sol
dier's fortune. This Stuart king. the
only one of his family who never was
loved-remember what Charles II said
when his brother expressed anxiety
as to his life, Never fear, James. they
will never kill me to make you king,"
gave his natural son the title of duke
of Berwick (besides others) but Ber-
wick was attainted in 1895, his honors
forfeited, and although the title is re-
tanned in the Almanach de Gotha, for
his heirs, it mas no place in the Eng.
fish peerages. The king of France
created him duke of Fitzjames, and
the king of Spain created him the
duke of Liria and Xerica. His eldest
son retained the title of duke of Ber-
wick along with the Spanish titles,
and the younger the French title of
duke of Fitzjames, which his descend
ant of today, the sixth duke, has very
little to sustain. Through the mar
rage of the fifth duke of Berwick with
the only daughter and sole heir of the
! 18th duke of Alba came the elder
Spanish title, now borne in conjunc
ton with that of Berwick.
The mother of the late duke of Alba
was the sister of Empress Eugene
and the present duke of Alba. son Of
the duchess who has just died Ii
therefore her granddaughter, while his
! younger brother, who, at her request
has assumed the title and name o.
Count Montijo, the patronymic of Eu
! genie and her sister, is understood tC
be the chosen heir of the ex-empress
This is what is called romance; it is
surely an interesting history. An,
other matter of interest is that the
two young men are great-greatgrand
sons of William Kirkpatrick, an Irish
commercial traveller for grocer's firms
who afterward undertook to build up
for himself Scottish ancestry from
the Kirkpatricks of Closeburn, in or
der to secure the marriage of the
count of Montiio to his daughter the
beautiful Miss Kirkpatrick. who was
Eugenie's mother, and, like William
Kirkpatrick himself, an adventurer by
nature. These are few Of the things
told by the Marquise de Fontenoy in
the New York Tribune.