The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-12-02


concerned in causing men to appreci-
ate the full legal and fiscal RESPONSE
bilities OF their moral shortcomings.
The cable dispatches. in announcing
the birth OF twins TO the wife OF the
multi millionaire Lord Howard de
Walden, ground landlord OF a consider
able portion Of the British metropolis.
says that twins are extremely rare
In the British aristocracy.' This state
ment should be modified. for I can
cite quite a number OF cases. Thus,
the Marquis of Linllthgow, head OF
that house OF Hope which has 30 many
matrimonial Affiliations In the United
States. is the happy father Of twin
sons. and the next heir 10 the Earl OF
Durham. and to his extremely valuable
estates. representing a rent roll OF
over half a million OF dollars. is his
twin brother. Colonel, the Hon. Fred
erIck Lambton, who by arriving in the
world just a couple of minutes late.
has been obliged 10 content himself
until now with a mere pittance OF
$4,000 year. The Earl OF Cldncarty
has twin sons By his nrst wife, the late
Lady Clancarty. who prior TO her mar
riage was known Oh the vaudeville
stage as Belle Billion The Dowager
Countess of Lytton. and her twin sis
ter, the widowed Lady Loeb, bore such
a startling resemblance to one another
when they were young girls. that their
respective hences were unable to dis
tinguish between them. and all sorts OF
amusing and somewhat embarrassing
ccntretemps occurred.
Twins, moreover. are particularly
numerous in the case Of those mar
riages of the British aristocracy which
are described as International Thus.
Minnie Lady Psget. daughter of the
late Mrs. Paran Stevens. of New York,
presented her husband General Sir
Arthur Paget, now commanding the
army in Ireland, with a brace of twin
sens in 1883, much, Il Is said, to her
husbands resentment Then there was
the late Consuelo. Duchess of Man
chester. daughter Of Mrs. Antonio
yznaga. OF New York. She had twin
daughters who grew up into beautiful
girls. but both succumbed TO consump-
ton. Lady Grey Egerton. daughter of
the late Major J. Wayne Cuyler, L. 5
A.. and who since her divorce has mar
ried again. this time to one OF her
countrymen. Richard McCreery. OF New
York, has also, by her first union twin
sons, the elder OF whom will inherit
his fathers baronetcy. and there are
at least a dozen other instances that
] could cite OF marriages between
foreign noblemen and American girls
which have been blessed with twins.
Where twins are exceedingly rare
is among the reigning houses of Eu-
rope; and in modern times the only
instances OF twins that l can remem-
Der are the brace OF twins who figure
in the large family of the Kaiser's
sister Marguerite. married to Prince
Frederick Charles, OF Hesse Fortu-
nately their prospects of succession to
the throne of Hesse have been rem
dered remote by the birth OF two or
three sons to the reigning Grand Duke
of Hesse. Otherwise questions would
lie raised by many learned jurists.
both in Germany and abroad, as 70
which OF the brothers of the senior
brace of twins was really entitled TO
! the succession.
| Thus. the ancient laws OF Europe
which still remain in full force in
| spain. and which are based upon some
Of the decisions Of the councils OF the
Roman Catholic Church. held in re-
mote times. insist that In the case OF
twins it is the second of the infants
20 make its appearance in the world
that must be regarded as the older.
These are people who ascribe the
phenomenal rarity OF twins in the
reigning houses of the Old World. to
the danger OF controversies OF this
kind upon the subject of the seniority.
One may search so vainly the annals
CT the various dynasties for twins, that
enc ends by recalling the popular le-
gend according TO which, when twins
were born to a royal house, one of the
two was always put out OF the way.
" n
the succession. Ii IS this quite COM
mon belief. entertained at any rate
formerly, that undoubtedly led to the
story according to which the famous
and mysterious prisoner OF the iron
mask in the Rastille was a twin
brother OF King Louis XIV. OF France
Copyright. 1912. by the Brentwood
Company