The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-12-05

respect due to Il prlncely lady not his, sub
.iect. Naturally, therefore, the dislike OF
Talleyrand's niece to the Emperor soon
grew into hate, famed as the sentiment
was by the cutting sarcasms OF the arch.
diplomatist, in which he freely INDUCED in
her presence. Added to this was the sin
gular influence which Talleyrand exercised
over q number of ladies of the highest
rank, and which, reacting on the young
Princess of Courland, made her the devo-
ted adherent of his vast political schemes.
THE DOWNFALL OF NAPOLEON.
In the middle OF March, 1914, well
known Swiss gentleman, Caesar la Harpe,
had long interview with Princess Doro-
thea, which was followed by his departure
for the invading army, and his meeting
with an old pupil, no less parsonage than
Gar Alexander. On the 31st Of the same
month the Gar held his solemn entry into
Paris, and went straight to the Hotel
Talleyrand, where he took up his residence
A few hours after, there issued from the
mansion of the great diplomatist dOcu-
ment by which the crown of France was
transferred from the head of Napoleon |.
to that of the Count of Province, atlas
Louis XVIII. It was in the drawing-roOm
of Princess Dorothea that the paper fatal
to the Napoleonic dynasty was signed by
Prince Schwarzenberg and the rulers of
Russia and Prussia
TALLEYRAND's DEATHBED.
Princess Dorothea accompanied Talley-
rand to the Congress of Vienna, and not a
little contributed, in that brilliant assem-
blage of princes and ambassadors, to the
successes Of the great diplomatist. Re-
turned to France, she obtained separa-
ton from her husband, and thenceforth
devoted herself to the duties devolving
upon her as the presiding genius of her
uncle's household. Twenty years thus
spent ended by giving her complete ascend
ency over the mind of the Prince, and a
mastery over his will such as no one pos
sessed before When Talleyrand was lying
on his deathbed, as full of skepticism as
ever, she insisted that he should become
reconciled to the Holy Mother Church.
He smiled in answer: " l have never been
in hurry, yet always arrived in time. +"
But the Princess would allow no more
jests, and forthwith introduced Able Du-
panloup, a Jealous missionary of the
Church, since then deservedly promoted to
episcopal duties. Ta,leyrand, helpless like
child under the burning gaze of his niece,
repeated every word dictated by the able,
and on the morning of the Goth of May,
1888, with trembling hands, already in the
agony of death, signed a paper by which
he confessed himself true Christian and
faithful son of the Catholic Apostolic
Church. When, few days after, his last
will and testament was opened, it was
found that Talleyrand had left the great
bulk of his fortune, amounting to twenty
millions of francs, to his beloved niece,
Princess Dorothea. ga man living in
falsehood, yet not what you can call false
man," says Thomas Carlyle, summing up
his character.
THE PRINCESS IN LOVE IN ADVANCED YEARS.
By singular freak of nature and cir
cumstances, Princess Dorothea, having
devoted the morning of her life to diplo-
matte intrigue, was fated to give the ev-
ening to the passion of love. BY the
death of her elder sister, she became, in
1915, sovereign owner of the Duchy of
Sagan, a mediatized principality Of about
a hundred square miles, with some fifty
thousand inhabitants, situated in Lower
Silesia. Thereupon the Princess left
France and settled at the old Schloss o.
Sagan, magnificent palace, surrounded
by vast gardens, build by Wallenstein, and
fitted up with all the pomp and splendor
of royal residence. In the course ofthe
due visits Of congratulation paid by the
feudal lords of the neighborhood, Prince
Felix of Lchnowsky made his appearance
the head of an old noble family, possessing
large landed estates in Austrian and Prus-
sian Silesia, and celebrated for the genial
ity of its members for several generations.
A tall, fine and eminently handsome
man, with halo of romance around him,
Felix of Lichnowsky made q deep impress
sion on the Princess. She invited him to
stray at her Schloss, and before long she
declared herself, without hesitation, deep
ly and madly in love with him. Notwith-
standing the difference of age, the Princess
being fifty-three and Prince Felix but
thirty-one, he professed to reciprocate her
feelings, and agreed to take up his abode
at Sagan. The union of hearts was soon
drawn still closer by union of budgets.
Prince Felix directed all his creditors to
apply at the Schloss of Sagan for payment,
and the Princess was too much in love not
to take the hint thus given, and paid bills
to the amount of very nearly the legacy
left her by her great uncle.
Prince Felix entered the Prussian House
of Lords in 1S47, and achieved consider
able success as one Of the leaders of the
Conservative party. Unhappily, through
the influence of the Duchess of Segan, he
was chosen the following year into the Ma
tional Parliament at Frankfort, where,
with his Prussian-lord feelings still unal-
tered, he found himself in the ranks of the
ultra Conservatives. There was local
instruction at Frankfort on September
IS, 1913, in the progress of which Prince
Felix, in company with a friend, took a
ride through the suburbs. Near the vii
lage of Bornheim he was attacked by a
furious mob, torn from his horse, and while
trying to escape, shot through the breast.
When the fatal news reached the Schloss
of Segan, the Princess locked herself up
in her room, refusing all sustenance and
expressing her determination to follow her