AN ITALIAN "PEABODY."

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 290, 28 March 1877, Page 4

AN ITALIAN "PEABODY."

A Ctonoes© paper gives the following KepapMeal sketch of the late Doke of Caftterisy whos« widow lately made a present of l ß oe%ooO francs to the Pope:— Born of on© of the noblest Genoese famtH«s> and inheriting great 41 CaJHiera, fey his marriage with the Marches* Maria,, the heiress of the famous liajaaaji houso of Brignole-Sale, became €ftffljjrTO life noted for Kb riches tbronghOt»t the Italian Peninsula. Shortly after tkmt ih& At Gallieras quitted Genoa to settle in Paris. There- they posajed many years in the easercbe of rigid «CQSD«&y--a» economy the more remarkable, OS tft© finks was; welt known to* be «onatats,tly increasing hb already enormous wealth by brilliant financial operations. Need wo say that ttnelier these eircttmttances the absentee nobleman was recked throughout Italy as mean, avaricious, and wnpatriotiel Bttt r undismayed by tM»general obloquy, and with a marvellous tenacity of purpose, the duke held on his course without revealing the grand JWttie<J|* ho was slowly maturing. It was bMbHB he was seventy-two years of age Km* less than a twelvemonth ago—that h* ffnna aside alii disguise, and declared to the Municipal Con no ill of Genoa that his solo object in thns accumulating wealth had been to enable turn to bestow on his birth-place; great and bating fcene'il'. This aiuiotineement was accompanied by the gift of twenty millions of francs fL860,.00d), to be expended on the improvement of the Port of Genoa. In addition to- the LBOOO, WO devoted to the harbour works, the duke, at a cost of IiSMDvOOO sterling, has presented Genoa with model lodging-houses, arranged and managed on the English system. Not. content, however, with having done so well for his native town, lie had expressed hb deliberate intuition of expending 24,000,000' francs (LLitJOvOOO) more «n wwvlts of public utility. Had he lived to do this, one-third, (or L2.WH>,WX» »f his gigantic fortune would have 1) erv given over to patriotic purposes, still leaving 14,©00,.tHM ! > for his wife and son. His tnantte seems to have fallen on worthy shoulders. The widow dnrh. ss has announced her intention of following her husband's example, and proposes to spend Jj600,000 in building and endowing in Genoa an hospital for the reception of "(K) patients. Two years ago this lady succeeded, as last survivor of tier family, to the celebrated E'alazzo flosso-, so well known to travellers in Genoa for its magnificent collection of pictures. To the city of Genoa she has presented this spten«tui heritage. From this it will lie seen that magnificent as is this tady's don-turn to the Pope, it is by no means the largest of her charities.