The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1875-11-25


enter the y French sseryice..I 9Iu Ibis
younger days myatstber2 bad served
extensively Nnder man y princes, and
had found in IeverR qthes military
service spirit of honor governing
tho conduct. Of the. officers. Here oh:
ly hei found ruA6an manners and uni;
yersal rapaeity. = He could not draw
his sword in company with such men;
nor in such q cause. But at length
under the pressure Of necessity, be
accepted, Cor, rather bought with an
immense bribe) the place of a com.
missary to the+ French forces in Italy.
With this one resource, eventually
he succeeded in making good the
whole Of his public claims upon the
Italian states. These vast sums he
remitted through various channels,
to England, where he became propri-
etor in the funds to an immense
amount. 1ncautiously, however,
something Of this transpired; and
the result was doubly unfortunate !;
for, while his intentions were thus
made known as finally pointing to
England, which, of itself, made him
an object Of hatred and suspicion it
also diminished his means of bribery.
These considerations, along with an
other, made SOME French: officers Of
high rank and influence the bitter
enemies of my father: My mother,
whom he had married when holding
. brigadier-generalss commission in
the Austrian service, was,' by birth
and By religion q Jewess. She was
Of :exapisite: beauty: !bs and had; been
sought in ;:Morgenatic marriage by
az archdqke Of the Austrian family;
. bit 9he bad: relied .HPotn upon q ath this, Plea,
that hers M yes the purest. and q enobblest
blood amongst a h;al ! Jewish families lis s.
that her family traced themselves, ms by
tradition and . vast series: Of attesta-
tions under the hards of the Jewish
high priests, to the :Maccabees, and
to the royal houses of .Jud@a; and
that for her it would be a degrada-
ton to accept even of a sovereign
prince on the terms of such marriage.
This was no vain pretension Of osten-
tatious vanity. It was one which
had been admitted as valid for time
immemorial in Pennsylvania and ad-
jacent countries, where my mothers
family were rich and honored, and
took their seat amongst the dignita-
ries of the land. The French off
cersI have alluded to, without ca
pacity for anything so digni6ed as
deep passion, but merely in pursuit
of a vagrant fancy that would, OF.
the next day, have given place to
another equally: aeeting, had dared
to insult my mother with proposals
the most ~licen.ious,- proposals as
much below her rank and birth, as.
attany zate,',' they +, would have been
below her dignity and her puri-
ty.2s These she had communicated to
my father, who bitterly resented; the
chains of subordination which tied
up his hands from avenging his inju-
ries. Still bis eye told a tale which
his superiors could brook as little as
they could the disdainful neglect Of
his wife. More than one had been
concerned in the injuries Of my ia
ther and mother; more than one were
interested in obtaining revenge
Things could be done in German
towns, and by favor Of old Germah
laws or usages, which even III
Franco could not have been tolera-
ted. This my fathers enemies we'll
knew, but this my father also knew;
and he endeavored: to lay down his
Office of commissary. That, however,
was a favor which he could
not obtain. He was compeH-
ed to serve on the German campaign
then commencing; and on the subse
quent one Of Frledland and Eylau.
Here he was caught in some one g Of
the snares laid for him first trepan-
ned into an act which violated some
rule of the service and then provok-
edinto breach ofsdiscipline against
the general officer who had thu us tre-
panned him. Now was the long
sought opportunity gained, and in:
that very, quarter E;ef. Germany best:
fitted for improving: it 81 Ny father
;xas:thrown'into prison in your city,
subjected to the atrooious oppression
.of your jailer. and the more detesta-.
bic oppression. Of your local laws.
The. charges against =, him were
brought even to affect his life and he
was humbled into suing for permis
sion to send for his wife and children.
Already, to his proud spirit, it was
punishment enough that he should
be reduced to sue for favor to one Of
his bitterest foes. But it was no part
of their plan to refuse that. By way
of expediting my mothers arrival,
a military courier, with every facili.
ty for the journey, was forwarded to
her without delay. My mother, her
two daughters, and myself were then
residing in Venice. I had, through
the aid Of my fathers connections in
Austria, been appointed in the impe-
rial service, and hc!t!,a l:;gh commits:
sion for my age. BIZ: on my fathers
marching northward with: the French