The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-07-30
By La sLARaUIsE DE FoNrENoY.
r r UNGARIANS besides be,ne noted

4 patriotism, are likewise re-
nowned for their quickness of
| temper. their readiness to take ofrense,
una their tendency to quarrel on the
ieast provocation. Conspicuous among
'hem In this respect Is tho great house
OF Asterhazy. whose estates extend
over an area superior to that of Ire
iand' and who are perhaps tho most
oisputatlous of all the great houses OF
tue Magyar aristocracy. Fortunately
r rner quarrels are for the most part
ana hn II l draw attention to the fact
,'ere' II is because the recent destruc.
Of ON c by hre Of the grand old Castle
Count Charles Esterhazy, the owner of
eae castle, to the effect that 1t was
set on nre by his relatives, with whom
t ne 10 az daggers drawn. while they on
tshe'r Side accuse him OF arson. In or
ger TO understand these charges. it is
necessary to explain that the Castle
e cd o oseRn, formed part of the entail
-. vas RfGpSer.y OF the house Of Esterha1y.
was indeed. next TO Totis, its most
precious possession. and has been re-
Gently the subject of no end of It'll
s nar. owing to tho insistence on the
asterhazy family that Count Charles
nad forfeited his rights to the entail
cd property through his mesalliance.
70 the public. and especially to the
,s OF history. the burning of
the castle is great loss. through the
obstruction OF the wonderful library.
Whlch mas been in process OF forma ton
Tor centuries. the priceless collection
Oh pictures, the unrivaled museum OF
ancient armor and of arms. and in
particular the collections OF relics of
Empress Maria Theresa, and OF the first
Emperor Napoleon. Not even the gal
iery formed by Prince Victor Napo-
leon at Brussels. OF objects belonging
founder n Ia
nected with the latter's career. could
equal that at the Esterhazy Castle Of
G use, srna., 1t wa, was formed by that Count
place in the regard Of the first Napo-
leon that the Emperor, through him.
made definite offer to the Prince
Nlcolas Esterhazy who was then the
Sead OF the house. of the crown of St.
eiined to be King OF Hungary. save by
the election of his fellow mobiles, which
ne knew would be out OF the question,
owing to the jealousies among them.
crown at the hands of Napoleon, feel
Ing, probably too. that no gift from a
man whom he regarded as Corsican
advehturer could add to the prestige
claims descent from Queen Esther of
the Old Testament. and also from the
Hun monarch. Attila. through Paul
dEsteras, who Is on record as having
been baptized In 906.
The EsterhaZys have always been
magnates. that is to say. great no.
bles of Hungary. since the dawn of
Magyar history In addition TO which
they have been barons of the Holy
Roman Empire since the twelfth CEN
tury, counts since the sixteenth CEN
fury, and were created princes OF the
empire. with the right of petty SOW
ereienty. In the seventeenth century,
and as such had a seat in the Diet OF
the Empire. To this day the prince
ly branch OF the Esterhazy family re-
tains, as mediatized. the right OF mat
Ing with the regning houses of Eu-
rope on footing of equality.
Every page of the history of Hun
gary. and In only slightly lesser de-
gree that of Austria, contains mention
OF the name of Esterhazy. Thus. a
paul Esterhazy, OF Gaiantha, bore him
against the Turks that he obtained
from the Emperor at Vienna the right
or coining money and OF comforting
titles of nobility in Hungary Another
particular favorite of Empress Maria
Theresa: but a favorite in the right
sense of the word. For her one OBJ
ject was to see him we'll married. and
him. wife in tho person OF Princess
Pauline Staremberg. a little later the
princess eloped with Count Schulem-
berg, and took up her residence with
Lucerne. The Austrian envoy at
Berne. in switzerland. was shocked.
and caused proceedings to be insti-
tuted against the gay Lothario. The
SWISS court condemned him TO death.
Tor infraction OF the seventh COM
But Count Estcrhazy inter
vened. saying that he could not be
grateful to Count Schulem-
berg for. having rid him of She devil
by clipping with her. and eventually
the CulDrit WAS DardOned
1t was Prince Paul Esterhazy who
played so great role in diplomacy in
the early part Of the nineteenth CEN
tury. being a favorite lieutenant of the
great Prince Metternich and coll
league OF the equally famous Prince
Talbeyrdnd. On one occasion. when
visiting the first Earl of Leicester. at
Holkham, in Norfolk the peer. whose
locks were larger than those OF any
one else in the United Kingdom
pointed to several large fields crowd
ed with sheep and remarked that
there were 1000 of them there by
a curious coincidence" quietly re-
Joined the prince. Il have exactly that
number of shepherds in my employ"
1t was this prince, too. who, married
to Lady Sarah Villiers the loyeliest
daughter of that celebrated beauty,
the Countess Of Jersey, on state oc-
casions wore his costume of Hungar-
ian magnate. so covered with magnifi-
cent diamonds that it was stated to
cost him thousands of dollars each
time he donned it, owing to the Jewels
that dropped off or were injured The
aigrette OF his kalpak, or cap. alone,
was adorned by over 5000 brilliants.
The present head of the house is
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