The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-10-01
GIVE RIGHT TO WOMEN
TO PROPOSE MARRIAGE

queen Wtlhelminc OF Holland has not
as yet taken the general public into
her confidence about the matter, 1t is
wen known In court circles at Tho
Hasue ana In Germany. that 1t was
she who proposed marriage to Duke
Henry OF Mecklenburg- Schwerln
In duo course the reigning Grand
Duchess or Luxembourg may be relied
upon to follow the example set to
her by those two Queens. Nineteen
years old. In full control of the reins
OF government OF her grand duchy, and
very independent OF It's Parliament,
which Is almost wholly amcnable to
| her wishes, she may be relied upon TO
brook no contradiction, either on the
part OF her ministers OF state or OF
her widowed mother. who, since she
| brought her regency to a close, on the
young grand duchess attaining her
majority year ago. has been some.
what releSated to the background
! The grand duchess. moreover. Is very
self -willed and inpatient, and her poo
pie. as we'll as her relatives. are
trembling with fear, lest she should DO
led by inexpericncc and infatuatior to
lose her heart to some one unworthy
of her affection. While she might over
ride the restrictions of Luxembourg law.
restricting her choice OF consort to
IL prince Of the blood, she would sacri-
| flee the bulk OF her enormous fortune.
that of the House of Orange Nassau
held under German law. If she were to
| contract mesalliance. She is quite
level headed enough To know the value
Of money. all the more as this fortune,
/ one OF the largest ir Europe. was tho
! subject during the lifetime of her faith
| Ell. of sensational law suit in the
German courts brought by Count
Nuremberg. the morganatic son of the
late Prince Nicholas OF Nassau.
| This practically eliminates the pos
-t1 -
a rank inferior to her own. But still
there are 4 number of black sheep and
ne'er do wells among the scions of tho
I rcigning houses Of Europe. and among
! the mediatized families which retain the
right to mate with royalty on foot
ing of equality, to create misgivinRs.
| 1t is to be hoped that she may escape
in safety the snares OF any admirers
of this kind.
! One thing is certain. namely, that IL
| this measure now before the Swedish
| Legislature, authorizing women to pro-
pose marriage, becomes law. and is
afterwards adopted by other countries,
1t will entirely modify the existing
/ social system. For one thing, 1t will
! tend to diminish celibacv in re-
markable degree. and to arrest the di-
mini shirg birth rate resulting there
! from.
Even the cleverest and most wide
awake men are apt to be swaycd by
the delicate nattery of even the home
| Hest of women. and If the latter, hav-
ing once found mans weak point.
namely, his more or less concealed
vanity. then presses upon him an offer
| OF marriage, he will be well-nigh pow
| erless to resist The only thing is
that the dread of thus falling a prey
to feminine wiles. may cause men to
avoid the society of the fair sex. AS
a general rale. law follows I'm the wake
OF custom In this instance. in Swe-
den at any rate, 1t is sought to origi-
nate n custom by means OF the law
While 1t Is widely believed In this
country that Commodore Perrys visit
TO Japan near threc-score years ago,
constituted tho first link between the
| Western Hemisphere and the Land OF
the Rising Sun (save for some few
Japanese fishermen whose junks were
stranded OH the Alaskan and even
Californian shores. after having been
swept past the Alcutian Islands by
what is now known as the Japan Cur
| rent) discoveries have been lately made
! ut the Vatican. tending to show. not
only that the first Japanese embas sy
to the Pope at Rome. In 1914, reached
Italy via Mexico, and from thence
across the Atlantic, but also that there
had been 1T the time. for some years
previously, n considerable amount OF
co, across the Pacific
The ambassador in question was
named HaSckura, and with his mission
he spent the greater part Of 1913 in
Mexico. travelling thence. via Spain, to
Rome, where ne was received with
great distinction by Pope Paul v III
fact. this Pontif caused Il very re-
markablc oil portrait to be painted OF
Hasekura, which hung for many years
in the Palace Borghese. and Is now at
the Vatican.
! The embassy was dispatched, not by
| the Shotgun. hut by Date Masamine,
Daimio OF Sendai, and the most power
full Of all the great feudal mobiles and
petty sovcrcgns OF Japan. He prided
himself on having established COM
mcrcial relations between Japan and
Mexico. and japanese ships were In the
habit Of visiting many points of the
Pacific Coast of Northern and Central
America in those days.
When Hasekura returned from Rome
he found his Daimio dead. and that an
antiforeign policy had been adopted
by the Shotgun, Jeyasu. who broke off
all intercourse with foreign countries,
including Mexico and converted Japan
into a hermit empire. as which it re-
manned, shut off from the outer world.
until Commodore Pcrry's arrival In
1853 Nor was Ambassador Hasekura
allowed even to land, until he had
solcmnly adjured the Christianity to
which he had been converted at Rome.
being baptized by Pope Paul V. in
person.
Lady Warwick seems determined to
ALLEVIATE the little remaining good Will
of her caste Both she and her hus-
band have always shown Il consider
able reluctance to permit students OF
history to examine the riches con
tained in the imminent room of War
wick Castle. In the shape OF archives
of the various families that have
owned that stately pile during the
past five or six hundred years. Other
great mobiles have been far mere liberal
in this respect, especially tho Dukes
OF Devonshire, of Northumberland. OF
Argyll, etc, who have thus enabled
the illumination of many OF the dark
est recesSes of English and Scottish
history.
In refusing to follow their example.
Lady Warwick allowed it to be under
stood that she herself was compiling
4. .,l,t,