The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-08-15
2 BY La MAR0UIsE DE FoNTENof.
w IHAT is known as private act
M OF Parliament" has Just been
w nasSed by the nntionnl laRlsla :

M OF Parliament" has Just been
w passed by the national leglsla-
ture, under The title IAN ect TO remove
doubts as 10 the nationality OF Richard
MaXimilian. Baron Acton. and his Is
sue" The peer concerned is the pres
| ent Lord Acton, who Is a lord in wait
| ing TO King George. as he was TO Ed
ward VII. and nrst secretary OF the
| British legation at the Hngue. That
such AN act of Parliament should have
become necessary is due to the fact
that Lord Acton's father. and paternal
grandfather and great grandfather
ana great-s eut-grandfather. had all
been born abroad. and that the wives
OF these forbears were all with one ex-
ception foreigners.
! One Of these ancestors. namely. Sir
John Acton, sixth baronet OF the line.
! was prime minister OF the King OF
Naples at the beginning OF the nine
! teenth century. and commander in
chief of the Seapolitan army and navy
so that his English citizenship was. 10
say the least, a matter OF some doubt.
! The present Lord Acton has been vot-
I ing in the upper chamber for the gov
eminent. If 1t could be shown that, By
virtue OF his foreign birth and foreign
ancestry, there was Jaw in his Brit
! ish citizenship much trouble would re-
suit since all the votes that he has
cast would be invalidatcd. while he
himself would be liable to q heavy fine
for each time that he had voted Tina;
is why the matter has now been set :
tied in favor OF Lord Acton by what
Is known as private act of Parlia-
ment
Lord Acton's father was one OF The
closest and most valued friends OF
Andrew Carnegie, and at the time OF
HIS death had Just completed the by
no means easy task of forming the
private library Of the Scotch AmcrI d.
can multi-million sire at Skibo Castle.
; There were 10000 volumes to be select .
ed. and the money which Carnegie as
signed for the purpose amounted TO
$4,000. The Laird of Skibo could
certainly not have found any one bet
! ter qualified TO undertake the task.
For the late Lord Acton was one of the
most learned, and in every sense Of
the word intellectual members of the
upper house OF Great Britain's Parlia-
ment. He was regius professor o.;
history at the University OF Cambridge
and the late Mr.. Gladstone. who was
no mean Judge. was won't to declare
| that of all the persons he had ever
met, Lord Acton was the one whose
learning covered the widest range. and
. whose sources of knowledge We're the
most extraordinarily extensive.
The Actions are one OF the Oldest
Shropshire families. figured prominent
ly in the reign of Edward III. and re-
ceived their baronrtcy from Charles l.
They have always had foreign afiilia .
tions. John Acton was admiral in
chief of the imperial German navy in
the Adriatic I'm the eighteenth CEN
tnry.' Joseph was lieutenant general
Of the Neapolitan army. Charles was
commodore of the Ncapolitan navy
William. Ferdinand and Emeric were
all vice -admirals of the Italian navy
and their younger brother. Gustave, i
commodore in the same service, two
of them serving. in turn, rs Italian
Minister'S of Marine. Their only sister
Is now Dona Laura Minghetti, who. af-
ter lifting the late Earl Granville mar
ried the late Sicilian PRINCE Campo
rcnle. and after his death the Italian
premier, the late Marco Minghetti. She
had two children by her first marriage
one of them is Princess Buelow. wife
of the former Chancellor of the German
Empire. The other is Senator Prin 20
Camporeale, married to the daughter
of John Binney. of Boston, Mass, and
divorced wife of Thomas Kingsland. Of
New York.
With regard to the Sir John Acton
who was sixth baronet of the line, and
whom l describe above as having
played SO important a role at Naples,
as Premier, at the beginning OF the
nineteenth century. and who fg-
ured SO prominently in connec-
tion with Admiral Lord Nelson,
Queen Caroline of Naples, and the
English ambassadress, Emma, Lady
Hamilton. ho was succeeded in his
baronetcy by his eldest son, Ferdinand
his second sen. Charles. becoming q
cardinal, and. in his turn. Prime Mir
lister of the Kingdom of Naples Sir
Ferdinand married the only daughter
and hoiress OF the last Duke of Dali
berg, and died Ave years later, his
widow thereupon marrying the late
Earl Granville, who intrusted the edu-
cation OF his young stepson, Sir John
Acton. first OF all to Cardinal Wiseman,
and afterwards to the celebrated Pro-
fessor DR. DollinGer. at Munich. DR..
Dollinger was the founder OF the de-
nomination known as the Old Catho-
lies. and his pupil. Sir John Acton, be-
came imbued with his views, and dis
a L. n. y