New-York tribune., 1912-03-31

lating to the royal family. would not
hear Of their staying for any length of
time In so dangerous a place as Paris
and insisted upon their being placed
under the care Of a private tutor Of the
name Of Professor lime. who had been
formerly acquainted with her husband,
the Prince ConsCrt, who was one Of the
professors Of English literature at the
University of Heidelberg. There the
princes sUent several terribly dreary
months in villa, too far distant from
the city of Heidelberg 10 admit Of their
participating in any Of the pleasures Of
life there even had the professor been
willing, and the only good that II did
was to give them smattering Of Ger
man. but no real knowledge Of French.
King George and Queen Mary are
thoroughly determined that their eldest
boy, the future King, shall not be sub
jccted To any such disadvantages, and
that is why they have called upon the
services of the Marquis and the Mar
uuise de Rrereuil whose mission it Will
be not only TO give the royal lad the
hest French accent and mode OF eX-
uression but also 90 impart to him that
sort OF indeecribable finish Of the homme
du monde-that is TO say. of the pol
ished. high bred high principled men
Of the world. in the best sense of the
word.
I have known the Marquis de Breteuil
since 1878. when | was constantly
brought into contact with him through
the then Prince Of Wales. | have no
particular affection for him and consider
him a somewhat selfish man, devoid OF
real generosity, too much on his guard
IN avoid any mistake TO be absolutely
genuine in his actions or his manner.
But. all things considered. | cannot i'm
agine anything more fortunate for the
Young Prince of Wales than the action
of King George and Queen Mary in Sc
lecting De Breteuil as their sons men
tor. For one thing, he Will lose that
terrible shyness and self-consciousncss
10 which English people are so prone, no
matter whether scion Of a reigning house
or peasant. Naturally. a young fellow
at the age Of seventeen is never at his
best when suffering from shyncss. and
it may be taken for certain that he will
he absolutely cured thereof when hc IS
restored by the marquis and marquise
TO his parents in the fall.
The marquis. as everybody knows, is
married to Lita. one Of the daughters
of the late Commodore Garner. of the
New York Yacht club, who pershod in
many years ago. Unlike SO many other
foreign noblemen who have married
American heiresses. De Brcteuil has
shown no disposition whatever to sqGan-
der the fortune OF his wife. on the con
tiary. he has the reputation Of being
able to make q dollar. or even a franc
g. extremely far, and has figured with
success in many financial enterprises
his taste for the latter being possibly
due TO tho fact that he is matcrnaIIy Il.
grandson Of that celebrated Hebrew
banker and statesman. AChile Fould
who played SO important role through
out the reign Of Napoleon III. both IS
tnlel DndnCler OF the empire, ana as Inc
most powerful II the latters ministers.
in conclusion, 1t may he stated that
the action Of King George and Queen
Mary in intrusting so delicate mission
as the administration of the finishing
touches in the training of their first
born. of the future ruler Of the vast
British Empire, TO the Marquis de Bre-
! teuil and to his American wife. goes far
10 disprove the allegations so freely
made by a certain set in London about
the Queens alleged prejudices against
Americans: and it may be recalled that
when Queen Mary first parted from the
young prince she Confded him to Cap
! tain the Hon. II. l.. Wood. ID. 5. O., Of
the Osborne Naval College. whose wife
also is an American, the widow OF
| Colonel Nickerson, /. s. a.
! EX-ATTACHF.