Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-08-07
THE PRINCESS ISABEAU.
a strange ANA Ourious Cnso.

1ANa1H
London Daily News, June lSth.l
The Princess de Beauveau-C raon has
just failed in a fresh attempt to obtain
legal permission to shut up her daughter
lsabeau. This lady, a descendant of
Richard Ceur de Lion, is one of those
characters, SC annoying to their respec.
tive families, who persistently decline to
live like other people. When such so.
clal irreconcilables happen to be the
owners Of very large fortunes it is Oh
served that their kinsfolk are always mar.
ticularly anxious to prove that their be-.
havior is Inconsistent with sanity. Now
the wealth of the Princess Isabeau
amounts to a fabulous number of mil.
lions of francs, and ever her advocates
cannot say that she is coRtent to exist
IN that sphere Of society where Prov
denee has placed her. She might be one
OF the most brilliant and courted Of wo.
men, for she has great talent, as well as
great wealth, and she does, in point OF
taet, live in a rather poor way at Cour-
beVOie, where she ia much in the comma
pany of a certain NJ. Stube. Stube is a
working wheelwright by trade, and in his
idle hours ana spare moments what is
called a Spiritualist. 1t is impossible to
say, without full evidence, what are the
precise gifts of M. Stube. He may have
the power Of being elongated like a teles-
cope, q sweet boon greatly priced by the
faithful Of his queer creed; or his accom-.
plishment may be limited to floating in
the air, or to producing knocks of various
degrees of intensity. Whether be DOS
sesses these charms or not is not much
to the purpose. De is probably endowed
with the strange, and quite real and i'm.
portant force, which enables some per-
sonalities to attract and dominate others.
History is full of instances Of this gift,
and it would be easy to name living men
who certainly exercise q personal inhu.
ence which is generally the companion
OF unusual beliefs and opinions. 1t is
possible that Stube is, so far as the
Princess Isabesu is concerned, one ofthe
people who are sometimes magnetic for
want Of a better name. She finds her
happiness in being near him, aud if she
chooses to give up society and luxury to
1--we with the man of her choice, it does
not follow that she is a lunatic and unfit
to take charge of her own affairs. This
is the view which the Paris tribunal took
eight year ago, when the Princess
gained her cause by simply demonstra.
ting her sanity in open court. For a
suspected person to prove his or her own
soundness Of mind is o VIGOROUSLY diff
cult thing, but the Princess came we'll
out Of the ordeal. She explained the
facts which had made her life desolate,
and caused her to shun ordinary society
and the home of her mother. After a
temperate speech, she, being then a wo-
in the prime of life, turned to the
counsel of the opposite party and silenc.
ed him. II can understand, sir" she
said, that an honorable man, who knew
nothing of myself or of my character,
might adopt the cause Of my mother. |
do not understand how, after having seen
me, and heard my defense, you can per-
sist in demanding a verdict against me-"
And in point of fact the advocate did not
succeed in proving his case In the trial
which has just ended the Princess lisa.
beau seems to have been even more elo-
quent, and not less successful, than in
tbat which took place eight years ago.
In these eight years she had apparently
added an interest in what is called Spir-
itualism, aud an excessive fondness for.
domestic animals, to her previous dislike
Of society. She attends the ministra,
tons of NJ. Stube, and she keeps a small
menagrie. 1t was not very difficult for
her advocate, NJ. Gartineau, to prove
that neither the study Of the less under
stood mental and moral conditions of
men, nor that OF domestic natural his.
tory, is Inconsistent with a sound mind.