Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1865-12-21
100 From tia Albany Evening Journal.
ssThe Love Life OF Dr. Aane.' -


the noted sisters connected with the So
called ..spiritual" knocking IN Rochester
it was Immediately denied as !" canard Z !
md ga calunny," apparently by instiga-
ton Of relatives, who were interested IN the
memory of the deceased. Then came an
assertion that the fact would shortly be
established by sufficient evidence. Now
that evidence is furnished, in the form OF a
considerable volume. published by Carleton,
Of New York, called 8 The Love Life Of
DR.. Kane"
This volume consists mainly of fervid
amatory epistles, tied together oy slender
comments, and coupled with narrative of
the circumstances that prompted their pres
entation in this public form. These are
briefly stated thus: The Doctor met Mar
garet in Philadelphia, as q splrit-rapping
medium, when she was only fifteen, and
while be was engaged in preparation for his
last voyage to the Polar regions. ltwas a
case of love at first sight. Struck by the
remarkable beauty of the girl, and by her
apparent artlessness and innocence, he
sought an acquaintance which ct once RI
pended into mutual intimacy. Having no
sympathy with the peculiar, and, as he
termed it. "ambiguous life she was lead
ing, he early advised her to abandon it,
and having secured her consent to do SO,
proposed to her an engagement, conditioned
upon her endeavor to obtain suitable edu-
cation. and upon his successful return from
the hazardous venture he was about to make.
Under his auspices, she was placed in q
private school in Philadelphia.
When DIR. Kane returned in 1855, the low
ers were to have been married. But his
relatives opposed, on account Of the sob
scure" origin of the girl and she released
him. He sought her again, however, and
the engagement was renewed upon condition
that it should be kept secret until the pub
lication of the Doctors report. In 1856,
an illness initiated in the Arctic region be-
came developed, and his physicians order
ed him to Europe. Before going he was
secretly married 10 Miss Fox. When he
died, he left her FIVE thousand dollars, in
private trust.
Statements discreditable to Margaret
we're circulated; DR.. Kane's book appeared,
and produced an immense income, and the
widow sued for dover, in orcer to secure
her rights. One hundred and thirty four
letters from the Doctor became embodied in
her memoir. 1t is alleged thai IL order to
prevent the PRONUNCIATION of these an ar
rengement was made with the family, which
has since been violated, and that the failure
to carry out the terms Of compromise made
it necessary for Mrs. Kane to take the pa.
pers from the hands Of q trustee, and give
them to the world.
SO far as the case Of the plaintiff is con-
cerned, it seems to be abundartly estab-
lished We can see no reason to doubt, in
view of the facts presented, that she was
legal wife, and that she has been very
wrongfully prosecuted. An undeveioped
trusting girl, she put herself in the hands
of noble man, who loftily designed to
bring her intelligence and her social quail
ties up to his Standard and then to couple
her destiny with his own. His untimely
fate prevented the fulfillment of this, as Of
other great designs that occupied his mind.
But when death stared him in the face, he
did all he could. He gave her his name.
He gave her the right to claim the privi
leges which resulted from their espousals,
and from the fact that for years she was
his and he was hers. This fact ought 10
have been recognized and admitted. There
is something puerile and disgusting to the
American mind, in the attempt to ostracise
helpless grl,-even to heap obloquy upon
her,-because she was not born in the
charmed circle of a certain class.
But there is an element which will give
this book more palatable flavor to the
gourmand public. It gratifes the appetite
for knowledge Of the inside life OF great
men. We see the actors upon the stage;
we watch them in their llade-up habits; we
look upon their studied parts-but that is
nothing to satisfy. What are they behind
the scenes, in the green room, in the famil-
ial and upconstrained conduct of their daily
lives? Did Napoleon desert the palace of
the Tuileries to hold chit, chat with
flower girl? Did the Duke Of Wellington
have back door admission to castellated
halls" that less favored subj cts would be
proud to enter in front? Did Lord Palmer
stou wait long years for Lady Cowper, when
she was another mans wife? Upon such
pregnant questions often hinges an intensi-
ty Of interest that the fortunes Of Empires
fail t. excite.
We find here, certainly food enough for
this temperament. 4 man whose fame was
in everybody's mouth; who has crossed his
knees under Queens mahogany who was
on familiar terms with Presidents and Sc
majors; who stood before audiences num-
bered by thousands; whose deeds were
the wonder of continents, met simple girl,
sitting at window in room which all
were free to enter. and engaged in a
mountebank enterprise. Instantly the
hearts affections of his imperial nature
were enthralled. He became the slave of q
passion he could not master. The man who
faced Arctic winters without a tremor-who
looked unblanched upon dangers the men.
ton of which appalled, millions-gazed into
the face Of little black. eyed miss of fifteen,
and instantly acknowledged his sovereign.
And row we see the all-potent power of
that mysterious passion the world calls love.
Here is heart flaming from the tip of q
pen--a soul unburdened in the pages of
manuscript We find that the great man,
strong in everything else, was weak in this
The new attachment Of his life was its one
absorbing ambition and yet he dared not
acknowledge it. He felt that he could not
be happy without its object, but dreaded to
encounter the rage of relatives and the
scorn of foolish world. He was proud of
his own fame and position; but accounted
all worthless unless g lutte" smiled. He
summoned her to give proof of nobility and
dignity of character; then proposed Gland
estine meetings, at the improperly of which
even she revoited. He undertook to break
the intimacy which held them with a spell;
but when Maggie treated him with indiffer
ence, lent all the energies Of his ardent ma
ture to win her back again. He was
ashamed to introduce her to his relatives;
yet rode openly with her, declared to others
that she should be his wife, and when be
thought she smiled on those whom he dis
liked, gave vent to his jealous rage in BIAS
phernies. At one hour he was talking
learned philosophy with the President; the
next he was writing sentimental and ex-
aora r,nofru IN Is To rlinr PAT - Ha ha ct.