The Washington herald., 1912-11-23
Foreign Gossip.

"Attache" (Springfield, Ill.) desires 10
know 'lf Prince Max Llchnowsky, the
new German Ambassador TO the Court OF
81. James, really is Of royal descent" J"
He Is not But his wife is. And thereby,
as the saying is, hangs a tale. Princess
IIchnowslxy, who was married 10 the
prince in August. 1904, was Countess
MechtiIde-Arco, Of the Zinneberg branch
OF the numerous House of Arco. She is
the third daughter of Coun: Maximilian
Arco. Zinneberg and his wife, Baroness
Olga Won werther, for many years was
German Ambassador at Constantinople.
There is quite a bit of romance con-
nected with the history of the Arco
Zinnebergs They are the direct de-
scendants OF Emperor Franz l and his
Empress, the famed Maria Theresa OF
Austria, vino suffered humiliation and
defeat at the hands Of Frederick the
Great in the seven-years war Tor the
province OF Silesia, to-day one OF the
brightest Jewels in the Prussian crown.
For reasons of state" the great EN-
press granddaughter, Archduchess Leo
poldine, of Austria, Este. in 1875. was
made to wed the elector. Karl Theodore,
of Bavaria, as his second wife. She was
but eighteen years of age, while the
bridegroom had passed his seventeen
milestone. The aged electors first union
with Princess Elizabeth Won der Pfaiz
Cthe Palatinate), had been childless,
while the number of his illegitimate
offspring was extraordinarily large, even
for those days of lax court morals.
But the hope that the youthful arch
duchess would present Bavaria with an
heir was not FULFILLED, and upon the death
of Karl Theodore in 1893, the electorate
fell to the Zweibrucken branch OF the
wittelsbach dynasty. True, the young
wife at the time. was in a delicate con-
ditIon, but she was honest enough to
notify the heir presumptive, the Palatine
Max Joseph Zweibrucken 0ater, during
the Napoleonic times, proclaimed the first
King Of Bavaria) that the father of the
posthumous child she bore under her
heart was not her husband. Five years
later, in 1904, she married her master of
ceremonies and court chamberlain, Count
Ludwig ArcO. She lived up to the mid
die OF the last century, dying in lSS from
shock. as the result of a runaway acci-
dent when she was thrown from her
carriage Old residents Of Munich TO this
day well remember the countless arch
duchess, who with advancing years had
become extremely misery.
Prince Lichnowsky. the new Ambassa-
dor. is not the schoOled diplomat that his
predecessor in London, Baron Marschall
Won Bieberstein had been. In fact, the
Kaiser would find it difficult to discover
one among his present foreign repre-
sentatives. But the prince is grand
seigneur and brings to London the
weight and influence of a distinguished
name among the great of the world, and
a big fortune. His ancestor, Joseph Won
WosChnetz. in 1891. having married an
heiress. who brought him as her dowry
the valuable estate OF Lichnow. near
Jaegerndorf in Silesia Cthe latter the
scene OF one of Frederick the Greats
battles in the seven years war;. called
himself thenceforth LiChnOwsky.
The prince. like a number of German IN
magnates. is a subject OF more than one
state. He resides part of the year at
KucheIina in the Prussian province Of
Silesia, and some months at Castle
Graetz in Austrian Silesia- KuChelna Is
an entailed estate OF $3.50 hectars. The
dominion OF Graetz is but half as large.
The princely title is of Prussian origin,
being bestowed upon Count Johann Karl
Lichnowsky, noble of Woschuetz by
Frederick the Great in 1T73.
Having served as an officer of the
Prussian Hussar Guards, the new Am
bassador wears the uniform of the
Kaiser's most favored regiment, because
as crown prince he was its commander
Emperor William has remained loyal to
the memory of this troop and never has
lost sight of the officers who served
with him, placing some Of them in the
way of brilliaD careers. His then
regimental aid, Herr Won Chelius, though
still comparatively young in years, is
general in the immediate encourage Of
the monarch. Another, Herr Won Treut-
Ter, is privy councillor, eXcellenCy, and
Prussan envoy at Munich.
The King of Spain has bought the home
of Cervantes at ValIadolid as a perma-
nent memorial of the famous novelist
The Hispano-American Society. of New
York. is to build a library and museum
contribution to the memory q the great
Spanish humorist and as further evil
dence of the desire to cement the entente
COrdiaie between the two countries.
1t is within three years Of the terCCn-
tenary of Cervantes death. He was
born in l547 and died in 1916. Like Homer,
seven cities contended for the honor Of
being his birthplace: but the town of
Alcala de Henares. in CASTLE. has long
ago proved her claim. Spaniards may
well commemorate Ccrvantes. He was
chara cteristic of all that Spain may look
back upon with pride. her military PROV
Mohammedanism. and the romantic side
of life and letters. Miguel de Cervantes-
Saavedra was a cOurtier, soldier. a pa
trIot. a poet. and a novelist. He lost his
left hand in the naval battle of LapantO,
which broke the spell of Turkish irwin
Cibility on the high seas. and it is
curious fact that of all who took part in
that glorious fight the only one to be
universally remembered is the private
,,-l,g 81 hoe hoo lrrn
affeCtionateIy as Eel Nance de LepantO.'
Notwithstanding his bravery, Cervantes
did not receive promotion in the army,
and devoted himself to literary labors.
Here he was in his element, and his i'm
mortal Don QuiNote." born in the
dreary dungeon of Algiers, made him i'm
mortal Byron's well-known saying that
'Cervantes laughed out the chivalry of
Spain" is only a half truth. Cervantes
was himself the embodiment of all chiv-