The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1880-09-26

IrtCkA NI s-VVWtN''s
Of History what rostcrity VIII
Read.
LoSpoS, September :, 1880.
The same sort of obscuiity which has al ]
ways envcopcd the birthplace and parentagc of Nell
Gwynnc seems to he settling down upon those Of
Adelaide Nelson. Humanity Is 50 interlocked In Its
varying interests that the fact of gentleman having
an amour with dark-eyed pebeian girl long years |
ago becomes matter of vital moment to q set OF |
people who had nothing to do with the dead romance,
and who do not know the amorous gentenan's name
and who never saw the dark. eyed rclciap girl The
ease Of Adelaide Nelson presents this curious feature;
that II may he utter destruction to the usefulness OF
book Of reference which has hitherto been considered
standard that the birthplace and date NJ birth of
this tavorite artist have been msslated In It,
In charles Pascoe's "promatic List he speaks
of Adelaide Nelson rs having been born In &c Sara-
gossa Of mixed pareutage In 1850" Al these state
mcnts have been proved erroneous for, according to
the unimpeacbabc authority Of the registry of births
for the Leeds North District, the lady known TO the
world MS 'i.illan Adelaide Nelson born on the
III of March. 1913. nj No. 35 81. Petersburg Square.
Tho entry gives her name as Elizabeth Ann Brown.
MIR. Pasc"c, anxious To preserve the reputation Tor
accuracy at his book. hascns to explain that Misc
Nelson told him what he Inserted In his biography OF
her, and an Historian get no better Information
than that derived from FIRST hand. Through the vaii-
nus lights now SHED upon the subject the sad truth
becomes apparent that Lillian Adelaide Neilson--or,
to speak OF her 10y her real name, Elizabeth Ann
Brown-ncver knew her father; nor could she. any
more than You or l. reader, know of her own knowl-
edge where she was born. Tho most honorably con-
celved o only know Of that fact from what Is told
MS by others The basket. maker Of Leeds who mar
rie The mother Of The beautiful girl was not the
| father Of Adelaide Nelson: he was only her step
father. Asa school girl she went by tho nickname
Of the ''The Spanish Glr ~ AMI her own belief or
desire to convey the belief that SHE was Spanish, WAS
great that she failed To mention her origin MS
Spanish to any one with whom sho was at oil int-
| mate.
"Do you not think 1t oid,' she sail to mr--n"'
| once hut many timcs-''tiat my father should have
| been clergyman, and that should have married
| the son Of u clcrgyman?'
| She told me her mother was Spanisl, lady. and
that her father an English Clergyman, had married
her In spain. MIR. Iaboucherc, NJ. r., and editor Of
the Truth says that Nelson was of GYPSY parcntagc,
and, having run away from the tribe got TO London.
and slept for several nights In the open parks for lack
OF better shelter She may have gone through this
" n ss a "s a n er say s i" "Io
was of prvatlon and temptation. hut 50 terrihlc
that she could bear Ia speak Of those days At any
length. Those we'll fed mnralists who comment on
| her lifo--ih. class Mrs. Browning speaks Of:
"Good Christians who sit stu In easy chairs. aud
damn the general world for standing up, should re-
| member what u girl-amcrc cd-of such exquisite
beauty, needing the very requisites of HE, would he
exposed to In any large community, or indeed any
| small one, where wealth and proigacy abound. But
whatever the history Of that period II should not be
forgotten that never through II all di Adelaide
Nelson swerve from her high ambition to become u
shakesperean actress. This IL fact all the more re-
makable because openings to play the legitimate were
then, and are now very diiicult to obtain while the
path to burlesue and uniniclcctun eye serving
Is broad and easy one TO any very young woman of
very great beauty who Is inclined toward the stage
Honor to Adelaide Nelson that SHE never yielded up
her charms to furnish public enjoyment To the Crutch
and Toothpick Brigade IN lnilssgnc and song and.
dance business. but lived I" entlra great masses Of
people of the highest Intellectual cabo Us juliet or
Rosalind or Viola
The Inference would now seen, TO lie that II really
Miss Nelson had Spanish blood In her veins she de
rived II, not from her mother, the present Mrs.
Brown, wife or widow Of the Leeds basket maker,
who occupied cellar In Briggae MS workshop, y
but from her father, the unknown progcnitor through
whose careless me'lInmslp this lovely creature saw
the light. Are not here all the elements Of strange
ronaice? Fancy this father. a sort OF weekday
Faust not Sunday one. Ike Gcotie's -a student OF
lfe's philosophy who crrs through lack Of power &c
resist the delights Of youthbut more carelcss rake
who holds the same Hight code OF morality that Zola's
people do. and considers this matter one which NJ
ing one OF great audience assembled to do homage
to the lovely artist. the hark-cyed sweet giri wlolI
by u chain Of incidents lie learns that THIS w. hl
child. bone Of his bone, flesh of his flesh Wonl'
the voice Of nature speak IN him? Well that M
doubtcdly would depend on his social position. Ih,
voice Of nature spoke In the maternal bosom OF Lad!
p"llock when she saw poor 10, but the requirement
OF her standing long kept II husliei.
There are more I0Iuis of resemblance than one be
tween Nell Gwynne and Adelaide Nelson. Nellie
birth and parentage are matters of doubt, though on
would think person who became SO prominent cou
easily have been traced In her day. and her exic
origin 'als Down to i E"T'rTys annals was , III II
while the Cathedral town of Hereford takes pride II
showing to strangers small cot wherein, II insists
e the portrait 81 Nell Gwynnc, the property ol tn
: Queen. on exhibition at Hampton Court, talway
G viewed with great Interest by Americans, the stat.
r ment is oinclay made that Nell was born In poo
thoroughfare, vet In existence In Loro called Goa
alley, near Drury Lane; SO here are three vaiyin
statements
9 After Charles II had elevated Nellie to all the ma
= teria privileges of queen, she yet received many
n sly snub from those court who dared not openl
offend her. For instance, some foreign prince woul
IS die; n French royal duke, German grandec
/, Straightway half the court ladies' would appear 1
| m rIiip V. pI
Is brother, nephew cousin. Only Nell had no 'swell
i relations To go IN mourning for. one day they !,
i ceived news that the Emperor of China was dead.
% an hour after Nell made her appearances heavil
: swatl'ed In weeds of woe. When asked 10 explai
u have been sort Of Lotta) hid her face behind III
u handkerchief and said that she was the daughter
&c the Emperor Of China, the she had never mentione
| II before.
Like Neilsou--who left II thousand pounds to I'll
:. newspaper critic who first wrote her np-NeG wyni
~ WAS very generous. The poor people of her ia
d adoTed her for her bcnefactions 10 hem aud she aoi
re- of all the absolute Courtot Charles was UNIVERSAL
ID her carrlag. tho signal for cheers, though othe
W members Of the conrt-even the King-were hoote a
IF sometimes attacked. Though sle has been dust f
centuries the bouniics by Nellie sII Hours
rs with more than their pristine vgor Great hospital
p relief funds, thousand schemes to benei't the 10
" class whence she sprung, are to-day enjoyed IN oi
to don by countless thousands Of poor people, thanks
dear little Nellie Chllls and Company.
/. The GoIdsmiths, as II was the fashion To call anke
IN those days-thc solid financial house which si
exists. and which, until the removal Of Temple Ia
in which their ancestors transacted financial AHA
before the ,aysof Charles II-carry away with them
their now premises the very chair Nell Gwynne W
accustomed to sit In when sie went Ia their rooms 0y
Temple liar 10 consult with them about tho dispos
Of her moneys In various charities.
have permitted myself To 20 back Ia by cones
this way, only because Of tho resemblance viii,
n, exists between the career OF aconicmporaneo''s NJ
y" and ono whom the lassag. Of time has now male
mere abstraction Of history, almost fable oi IL, w
m the gods Of mythology, but also because OF the decide
penclant which readers Of to-day show for tho rn'di
If hIatn 4 gkpl IN ell a MffUnTI
=" this summer what people were reading most, IN
tory, ~ he answered. Motley, Prescott, and Macanl
he are selling by tho hundreds OF thousands both
~, hut happy is the historian who shall faithfully Il
liz pct The epoch of this our day for the erusal Of tho
'os living picture is spread before him. which he Ii
but Ia honestly copy to show To posterity tho me
amazingly interesting era the world has ever soc
a. Manners and CUSTOMS furniture. dress tho popul
70. izng Of itself of royalty, the enrichment OF itself
nj the great middle class, tho iniermarrago Of bio
AZ and bullion, the daughter Of soapboer wearing
strawberry leaed coronei Of duchess, tho downl
Of the once potent the son Of twenty oarls digging
" gold In the creyices Of the Sierras, the uprising
native genius from the dregs the daughter Of sui
al vague and thoughtless spanlard uninsrncel, not
ne dramatic stock winning fortune oi 1000 600 m
IT. years In America by playing Shnkeserean chaacte
so and then dying In Paris and being sent To the MorG
nd In u hamper, an aged Engliswoman- Crmsus mari
re- ing poor American boy for his nusiache-gr
cr Heaven was ever such hurry burly seen The III
from which Madame de soyigno CLEANED her episoli
raj harvest was q narrow one, lnw Icll-boarng aG
Of court life at the most, compared 10 the very riot
uxuriance which two worlds offer g. the hist
i'm ographcr to-day. know full well that am eayl
Ing to my heirs and assigns not tho cool palien POLISH
To- uninlpassioned phraseology which VIII serve for
vim the marble and ndesiructihle pago of history.
IN series of nervous notes on which accuracy and
all gaDce may he built, for they arc taken down, po
10 paid. and sent across an ocean-ke Puck's yis
ST. the anipod with return tickot-orc tho leyatl
SO eau swim a League
w. Gambetta ana the TrOys.
NJ Gambetta, after the fatigues of