The Washington herald., 1911-05-23
SAD HOMECOMING
FOR A GRAND DUKE

IranQ Luxe Wlllam AIexauoeF OI LUZ
emburg rules over q small but exceed
ingly lovely country to the northeast OF
France in the foothills Of the Vosges, but
the unfortunate ruler has not seen his
domain for many years, being unable 70
leave Bavaria all this time. owing to
incurable paralyis. The other day his
loyal subjects celebrated his ffty-ninth
birthday anniversary. but q sad fets 1t
was. As there Is positively no help for
the grand duke, he has asked to be taken
back to his native land. and shortly he
Is to be removed from Munich to Col
marsberg Castle.
The sadness of the people Of Luxem-
burg Is increased by the fact that there
Is no male successor to the throne. The
eldest daughter. the hereditary Grand
duchess Marie Adelaide Therese Wilhel-
mine. now seventeen years Of age. may
marry Bavarian prince. 1t has been
rumored repeatedly that her choice would
fall upon one of the Hohenzollern princes,
and nothing would please the Kaiser
more. but having spent all her life thus
far In Bavaria her little serene highness
no doubt has been enmeshed by the wiles
OF handsome scion Of the house OF
Wittelsbach. Just tho same Luxemburg's
fate appears to be sealed. There Is no
further chance Of any male heir to the
direct succession Of the house Of Nassau.
and the beautiful little mountain strong
hold. one of the finest strategic points
between Germany and France. soon will
will become another "Reichsland" or part
and parcel of the German empire.
As far back as 1859 history mentions
the house Of Nassau, whose founder.
Rutbert Count de Zuthpen, married Err
mentrud Won Hammerstein. who was
heiress to all the possessions OF her
family situated In the River Lam district.
comprising the former Duchy Of Hesse
Nassau, annexed by Prussia In 1866. and
Luxemburg. The present line OF rulers
are direct descendants Of Walram. Count
OF Nassau. Idstein. Wiesbaden, and Well
bourg. who died in 1883. When the pres
cnt grand duke found that his illness
was incurable he insisted that the pow
ers should recognize his eldest daughter
as ruler Of Luxemburg. establishing the
female succession. but it appears that the
little grand duchess herself frustrated
this design.
In the course of tho investigation Of
the Kolhapur conspiracy case. It has come
to light only recently how narrow an
escape Lord Curzon had from assassina-
ton at the time of the Delhi durbar.
And were it not for the wanton murder
of Mr.. Noel Williamson on the northern
border Of India. the Curzon episode nev-
er might have become known.
From Nepal to the east Of Bekhir and
the great Indian desert Of Bikanir, over
more than 1000 miles Of territory, Lord
Curzon was followed by assassins, who
were prevented from accomplishing his
death only by a chain OF fortuitous cir
cumstances. That Lord Curzon had a
most remarkable escape there can be no
doubt. The determination with which the
murder of Mr.. Jackson, the crown COL
lector of Lasik, was accomplished about
a year ago. when he was shot dead in a
native theater before hundreds OF ma
tives and several of his own countrymen,
showed how implacable the Indian as
sassin Is when he is selected as the in
strument Of q secret society for the fell
work of murder.
No Camorrist nor any Mafia society
can boast Of a more effectual control of
its members to do its dastardly bidding
than the Hindustanee's thirst for wen
geance upon the British oppressors." The
unfortunate Mr.. Williamson actually met
his death within the confines Of British
India, just as quite number of other
distinguished Anglo-Indian officials were
done TO death by native assassins when
they were no longer on strictly Indian
land Had the Deccani fanatics succeeded
In bringing Lord Curzon's career in India
to fatal termination. he would not have
been the first governor general to be muir
dered by natives.
"a ha Eo II
of Mayo was killed during his visit, as
governor general, to the Andaman islands.
There is a strong penal settlement in the
Andamans, and Lord Mayo was paying
visit to the more than 5000 convicts
then imprisoned there. The earl, sur
rounded by officials and an armed guard
of police, had been up Mount Harriet to
gaze at the splendors Of the setting sun.
The vice regal party remained some time
at the crest. enthralled by the magnifi-
cence Of the sight, when suddenly the
light failed and night descended. Lord
Mayo descended the hill by torchlight
with what seemed an impenetrable body
guard of armed men.
On reaching the jetty. however, the
vice regal party found that their boat
had not arrived. While all were await
ing the arrival of the tender. Lord Mayo.
in momentary forgetfulness Of any dam
his protectors only a few PAGES behind.
Before a hand could be raised to save
him he was in the grasp of Shere Ali
and in a few moments he lay dying in
the shallow waters Of Andaman shore.
Fortunately. no such tragedy has oc-
CURED to any representative of the Brit
ish government in India since that fate
full day, but Lord Curzon's successor in
the viceroyalty, the Earl of Mimic. had
one or two narrow escapes. the most
alarming Of which was the blowing up of
the train in which 1t had been expected
that the governor general was travelling.
Lord Mayo, however, was not the first
Anglo-Indian governor general to be muir
dered by natives outside of the confines
Of British India. There was Sir William
Hay Macnaughton, governor Of Bombay,
who never reigned in the western prest-
dency. He was one Of the distinguished
officials who advised Lord Auckland to
undertake the Afghan war In 1S41. His
accomplishments as an Oriental linguist
had brought him into prominence. and
after Shah Soojah's first success Sir
William was created a baronet and left
in charge Of the British interests at Ka-