New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-08-22
THE QUEER DUKE or BRUNSWICK.
From An The Year Round.

This strange being was the nephew of the I'M
fortunate Queen Caroline ana OF ueorse w , mnH
trouble. He was driven from his duchy ny the
Revolution, and thencefOrward making one or the
hand of the dethroned set up business after the
Monte Christie fashion, being remarkable for da;
monds uniforms Eastern dressing gowns, and
wigs Of the most Respondent brown. FOR apou9
iye-and-tw years Europe was To be entertained
with his singular and eccentric proceedings Be
ina rejected by his own duchy, and consldered
dignity il not o. unsOund mind, the duke took pos
session of the ducal property in the state, when
gave occasion to constant appeals Tor justice to inc
British, Parliament the French Courts. and other
tribunals, who all declined TO interfere. nj.
In 1851 he left England suddenly TOT FaIis
choosing as an eccentric mode OF conveyance Jlr;
Green's balloon the Nassau, in which ne assembled
from yauxhall. He arrived IN pars with M ms
enormous baggage some chests of which were reas-
onably detained at the cust0m-house owing 10 tne
suspicious circumstance OF their containing uni
forms. which caused great exclteulent. Aiter Tue
coup detat our duke established himself IN tne
Champs Eysees. at Lola MOntess Hotel, which
ne gradually transformed into sort or Eastern
palace full of extraordinary caprlces ana deydces
gold and decorations which adorned his bedroom
everything was of iron, to guard against assass-
nati0n-aoor ceiling and door-so that 1t was IN
fact an iron cage in which this unhappy sultan
Law down to rest. The various portions were IN
trusted TO different sets OF workmen, so that the
whole combination was a secret IN tne wall
was contriyed q recess opened by key which was
always attached to his person, where was hung Dy
chains an enormous Golfer which.a touch allowed 10
very foundations of the hotel. Here were stored
his bonds Jewels. and golden tablets, some OF wmch
were cast in the shape of chocolate slabs
The whole house was as gorgeous as money ana
extravaganza could make it. Forty horses were in
the stables and as many servants waited on him.
The visitor. after innumerabe precautions, was
seated In a rich chair, which carried him aott TO
the upper floors which, in the days before lfts .
were familiar was consderedl something out or
the fairy tales But the old idea OF being poisoned
clunQ to him, the very milk arriving from the
country under locks and bolts. His regular dinner
he partook of not at home, but at the cafes and
restaurants. , ,
wears the spectacle of this strange duke became
familiar He was always carefully painted and
bewig9ed for the day ana tie story ran that ne
had n room full of waXen images or his own race,
tinted in different fashions, according TO which he
would color his own. A" Nubian slave" always
attended him. One night. at party gwen by
Prince Jerome, the duke, impatient at not being
able to get through the crowd of empire magnlf-
icoes who blocked the way, called out hercely TO
his black Make "a passage for me. Use your
sword
Ills grand passions were lawsuits and DIAMONDS
He went to law with O washerwOman for a bill OF
seven francs He went to law with his architects,
uphOlsterers gardeners, His rage for jewe,s was
extraordi pary and when he appeared on some
great gala bearing all his treasures ne was sight
To ace He wore two epaulets of large yellow dla-
monds each worth forty thousand pounds, while
his chest was incrusted with dozen jewelled
orders from the Golden Fleece to the Lion and
Sun.