The Washington herald., 1912-08-16

NO less person than the Spanieh for'
eign Minister speaks of the reported
asreement Of Don Antonio Of Bourbon
and the Infanta Eulalia to sue Jointly
for q divorce as pilot balloon" Tbs
Spaniards would not mind the Infanta
being divorced or divorcing abroad. Nor
would the King. who would be glad to
see her settle down with a rich husband,
though hes were bourgeois or one en-
nobled by the Pope.
Patents Of nobility were made 80 cheap
by the first Queen Christina and later by
Queen Isabella that those granted by the
Pope had a sort Of relative value In
Spanish eyes.
The best course, It seems, to the cabinet
at Madrid. would be to let the King. his
aunt. and her husband get their divorce
abroad. and then condone the ofYense just
as he did forgive her son for marrying
Protestant princess tof Coburg). who
declined to embrace the Catholic faith.
The infanta and her liege lord. the
Duke Antonio de Montpensier. went to
live In Paris when the Boulangtst agita-
tion seemed to threaten the French Re-
public, and open q way to the throne to
the Comte de Paris. Duke Antonio at
the same time was anxious to look after
his old sweetheart. the Duchesse de Gal
liera,' who had many millions, but did not
know what to do with her wealth. and
had placed the ''parterre Of her fine
palace tnow the Austrian Embassy at
the disposal Of the Comte and Comtesse
de Paris, with a magnificent park as
playground for their children.
The young Montpensiers settled in an
other noble residence on the Boulevard
AAo .N.-Nx
arena for bullfghts was one of the
attractions OF the Universal Exhibition
at Paris in 1889. This called out the
latent taste for the fancy that has since
prevailed in Don Antonio for the class
OF people he fell In with at the bodegas
proximate to the arena. and some time
later the news circulated OF domestic in
felicity In the young Montpensier men
age. 1t was only too true. Antonio
spoke OF the rhetorical imitation of his
wife's speeches as boring him. He pre-
fered the sprightliness of the maids Of
Sevilla whom he met with his friends Of
the fancy. Perhaps in the absolute he
was right But all Is unfortunately rela-
tive in real life.
Eventually the menaRe broke up. The
De Paris family drew all the Montpensier
fortune to themselves, a painful fact the
1nfanta Eulalia never foresaw. She
found countenance, support and a roof
at the Palais de Castillo. and no kind
OF restraint but that which she placed
upon herself. The Due de Montpensier
cut off supplies from his son and then
disinherited him. so that he had moth
ing but the Boulogne estate attached
to the ducal Galliera title With his
habits and debts of long standing this
resource soon became dipped"
A correctional police affair in the last
decade threw some light on his ways
and means for tidiIss over monetary diff
hculties rich woman, Nine. Gugen-
helm. once the admired and extremely
pretty Marie la Manach. assaulted him
in the Rue de la Paix. breaking the stem
of her umbrella on the back of his neck.
He had her up before the correctional
tribunal The umbrella. with its broken
stem, was on the table before the bench
as material evidence. doctor attended
to prove the seriousness OF the wound
II inflicted.
First-class counsel was engaged by the
Montpensiers and the court listened
with only half-conceaIead amusement. in
ficting the lightest sentence under the
law upon the il-used widow. who pub
licly recited the grievance that prompt
ed her to assault the scion of royalty
whose loud boastings had besmirched
her honor.
There is sad contradiction and yet col
luSon in the present divorce fight. The
infanta protests that her national pride,
her descent from the great Hapsburger.
Charles V. binds her too fast to glorious
Spain to have ever thought OF getting
in France as a means TO
divorce. Duke Antonio calmly pricks
her somewhat inflated assertion by de-
claring that the entire plan OF freeing
themselves from the marriage bond
comes from her. He never dreamed OF
this mode OF securing relief until few
weeks ago in an interview which she
requested with him. and in the course of
which she explained IT. He took II up.
and sent a legal friend. deputy. to NJ.
Poincare. This done he applied for
French naturalization. Contrary to
what the papers saw. he does not think
of marrying Carmelita or any one else.
but cannot say what he might do IL
freed A divorce suit would be merely
formal in consequence of his long sepa-
ration from the infanta.
There is no reason why he might not
make a brilliant match IL divorced.
Think of all the misses and widows in
the possession of huge fortunes who
would jump at an offer OF marriage
from the grandson Of A King Of Spain
and of a King Of France. He is three
years younger than Prince Victor Ma
poeon. and has a fine physique.
Winston Churchill having kissed the
Plarney stone during his recent visit to
Ireland. Captious Britishers are asking
what the First Lord of the Admiralty
will do next. According to tradition he
who kisses the magic stone of the ia
NOUS Blarney Castle is endowed with
the power of blarney. To blarney means
TO humbug people with wheedling talk
so as to gain a desired end by fattery
and compliment. II was Samuel Lover
who wrote OF the famous stone:
Like a magnet its influence such is
That attraction it gives all it touches;
II you kiss II. they
From that blessed day
You may kiss whom yon rlcase with your blaruey.
In order to kiss the Blarney stone the
of Blarney Castle. situated about five
miles to the northwest of Cork The
Castle" is little more than a square
Elements. and the stone Is Just under the
1t is. however. SO many feet down the
tower that those who wish to kiss the
stone must be held by the heels and
lowered from the parapet till the face
reaches the kissing level. II is not an
easy task: but Sir James Long took a
tight grip of the heels of Mr.. Winston
Churchill, ami he duly kissed the famous
relic.
There is some local dispute regarding
the position Of the stone, but the one