The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1851-07-31

children, one of whom is now an English peer
On the death of Lord Newburgh, she succeeded
to a handsome jointure, but of this she after
wards forfeited greater part on her marriage
with Russian nobleman, the Baron de Stern
berg. With him she lived for several years in
great style, in ST Petersburg. A ron was there
born to her, who, while yet young, accompanied
her to Italy before the death of Chiappini,
whom she still regarded as her father. This
man, before his death, addressed a letter to her,
which altered her whole destiny, and troubled
the remainder of her days.
This letter, supposing it to be real revealed
to the Baroness de Sternberg the secret of her
birth. 1t ran as follows: -
"AIy LADY, am near the term of my
earthly existence, and now, for the first time,
unfold the following secret, which very init
mately concerns you. On the day that you
were born, my wife gave birth to son. Your
mother, who is long dead, was a stranger to
me. A proposal to exchange my boy for you
was laid before me, and, after repeated solici-
tations, 1 was prevailed on to consult my
worldly interests, (for the terms were highly
advantageous You became a member of my
family, while my son was received into that of
the other party. Heaven, perceive, has made
up for my faults you have been raised to q
condition superior to your fathers, though his
rank also was noble; and therefore L leave the
world with some peace of mind. Keep this by
you, as a testimony that was not altogether
deaf to the voice of conscience. In entreating
you to pardon my crime, beseech you to con-
- in1 hot
never know what is now incapable of remedy.
This letter will be forwarded to you after my
death.
(Signed) LAURENT CHIAPPINI''
This epistle was forwarded to her by the
sons of Chiappini; though it is said they kept
back some papers which might have been of
great use to her in recovering the lost traces Of
her parentage.
Words (says NJ. Mchaud) can hardly express
the effect produced by such discovery on the
mind of Marie Stella. Gifted with great energy
and lofty sentiments: she passed at once from
position which ha:d been excessively humiliating
to higher rank. Not a jailer, but a great lord,
is her father, But who is the great lord? I'm
patieDt to fathom this mystery-unwilling to
believe, with the jailer, that the past evil adj
Ilitted of no remedy, she made inquiries, and
sought evidence in every quarter. Her efforts
procured her the knowledge that her father was
the Count de Joinville, a French nobleman,
whose rank and fortune she was ignorant of.
To learn all the truth on the subject, she set
out in the beginning of the year 1923 for
France, accompanied by her youngest child,
Edward, son of Baron Sternberg. She found
! her way to the village of Joinv lille, of which
her father had held the lordship. Here she
learned that Joinville had been part of the pat
rimony of the House of Orleans, and that the
/ duke, who persisted on the scaffold in 1893, had
sometimes travelled under that title. She next
visited Paris, and there made several vain eff
| forts to reach him who had succeeded to the
title and wealth of that powerful family She
| consulted many men of business, and became
the dupe of sharpers and police officers, who
received much money from her by way of pay
ment, and robbed her of good deal more.
| When her means failed, she had recourse to an
artfce, which, considering her position and
! difficulties, was certainly very exeusable. She
made known, through the public journals, that
the Baroness de Steraberg was in possession of
a secret in which the heirs of the Count dc
Joinville were much interested. Louis Philippe
was not long in hearing of this; his c6vetous
disposition already rejoiced in the hope of some
addition to his immense possessions. He ac-
cordingly communi Gated with the baroness
through his natural uncle, the old Able of st.
Phar, who thought that possibly he too might
derive some worldly benefit from the adventure;
but when the royal duke and his associate found
that the secret referred to restitution, and not
augmentation, the gates of the Palace Roya
were herm etically closed against the baroness
She made great efforts, but, as she was stran
| ger in Paris, and all her motions were watched
| by the police-then nothing better than the
| slaves of Louis Philippe-she became once
more the prey of those designing men, with
whom Paris sWarms, who were probably the
agents of him whose interest it was above al
to overthrow her pretensions. A distinguished
writer, whose name she does not give, but
whom, from her description, we readily iden
| tify yainly endeavored to make interest for hel
with the Duchess of Angouleme After being
duped and plundered thus, she was obliged tC
return and renew her search in Italy. She
returned from Italy, after an absence of seve
raj months, armed with fresh and importan
evidence, and, above all, with a judgment pro
nounced by the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Fa
enza, On the 29th of May, 1924, which fixed