Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-10-07
A TALE OF TWO SISTERS.
THE FATAL FOLLY OF BLINDED
LOVE.
Jeremy BenIham's Wards-Mated
With a Brute and Welded 10 a
HOgue-Like Mother, Like Daugh-
ter-A Pseudo BarOneI's Daring
Game-A Strange. Weird story of
Real Life That Would Beggar
the Resources of Fiction.
Phfladelphia Teleqrnph Rome Letter

Nearly twenty-five years ago l met in
Naples my old Washington friends, Mr.. and
Mrs. Robert Dale Owen. Dale Owen was then
the diplomatic representative of our govern
ment near the Court of Naples. King
Bomba was reigning. Dale Owen was a re-
markable man. / had known him and his
father, owen OF Lanark, intimately In
Washington In 1856; they advocated the
same advanced views Fanny Wright preach
ed; but then they were men, not women;
and free love has always been q mascu-
line privilege. Moreover in 1S45 we
were beginning to expand as a
nation, and were more familiar with
the license OF the outside world so
Owen Of Lanark, especially was quite the
fashion In intelligent Washington society
In that day, aud very agreeable, charming
old gentleman he was. When met Dale
Owen in Naples twenty odd years ago, he
had gone over to Sphitism, and was writing
his curious book, Footsteps on the
Boundary of Another World" Hume or
Home, the great High Priest then of the
Faith or No Faith, visited Dale Owen that
season in Naples. King Bomba's brother.
Prince Luigi, who was also Spiritist, used
TO attend the interesting seances In the
salon of the American Minister, and some
very remarkable feats of hocus-pocus |
witnessed. used to listen to chapters of
Footsteps" hot from the anvil,
and remember those months l
spent In Naples as among the most
interesting Of my life. Bryant, the
poet, and many other distinguished
Americans and Europeans, Angelini, the
sculptor, DR.. Lardner, and the like, were
the friends of Dale Owen and his very clever
and good wife. All these persons met with
under the most favorable influences, for the
Owens, husband aud wife, were the best
people in the world for drawing out of their
associates all they had of intelligence, and
were always ready to contribute their own
generous sum. Dale Owen, Mrs Owen, and
used to have long talks during our after
noon drives and walks to Pausilippo, or IN
der the beautiful trees OF Cape di Monte,
and from them l heard many an interesting
history of the celebrated people they had
met The following account of Frances
and Sylvia Wright they gave me, which ro
mantle story had been recalled to me by the
death of Sir William Guthrie at Siena, eleven
years ago, and the curious will case now
before the Paris tribunal
Frances and Sylvia Wright, who were left
orphans at an early age, were of gentle
birth, and had large fortunes. They were
wards OF the distinguished philosopher
Jeremy Bentham, who had them educated
according to his own peculiar crotchets, and
very eccentric women he made OF them;
they fitted into no social map, no domestic
form. Frances had a strong, masculine
mind and character; she took to the manly
rearing Bsntham gave her. Dale Owen first
met them at LaGraDge, where a remarkable
set OF young persons were assemble ed around
its celebrated master, General de Lafayette; ;
AIRY Scheffer, the great painter, was one of
the set. Dale Owen lost his boy heart to
Sylvia Wrisht, who was a marvel of beauty;
aud AIRY Schtffer fell hopelessly in love
with General de Lafsyette's granddaughter,
Mathilde. Dale Owen said Scheffer always
put Mathilde de Lafay yette's face in his pic
lures.
Sylvia Wright also went to America
She was no orator, but quite as Quixotic as
her sister. She bought a large tract of land
in the then Far West, and hoped to help
humanity by some impossible snd grand
agricultural scheme. The Owens said that
she was an accomplished, elegant woman,
and very romantic; fond of the refinement
| and luxuries of life, but possessed with a
| desire to remake the world according to the
| Community pattern. Her solitary Western
| life naturally created morbid, exalted
state Of feeling. One stormy night she was
| told that the chief of her farm
hands was down with a fever. She
went to his cabin, found him de-
| lirious, and nursed him faithfully several
He was great, handsome, coarse animal,
without education, decent breeding, or good
morals; Notwithstanding all this, the refin-
| ed, beautiful gentlewOman, Sylvia Wright
| fell madly in love with this human beast
She married himl Ofcourse he treated her
| like brute. 1t was the old story Of "Ti-
tania" and Bottom" with her. After few
months she awakened from the horrid spell,
and loathed her miserable mate; fed from
IN hor cfefa
adored her, and died of heartbreak and NOR
tifcatiOn, leaving baby daughter. Here
ended Dale Owens story.
Frances Wright married a Frenchman
named d'Arusmont. She adopte her sis
ter's child and called her Sylvia d'Arusmont
This girl inherited the large fortune of her
mother and aunt. After the death OF her
adopted parents Sylvia d'Arusmont wished
a superintendent or manager of her large
| estate in the western part of the United
| States. She was recommended to finan-
| cial agent In Paris, shrewd Partisan, Eu-
| gene Picault. Plcault was the son Of hum
tle shopkeepers of the Temple quarter, an
active, intelligent man, bold and daring.
| He left the narrow sphere of his birth,
launched out into hazardous speculations,
and was one OF those unscrupulOus men in
whose hands rests the DEVILS gift-even dry
leaves turn to gold After looking into the
MademoiSelle d'ArusmOnt's affairs, be of
fered to go as superintendent to America,
and soon gained complete control over
her and her fortune. Sylvia d'Arusmont,
like her mother, fell a victim to
mad love. Picault had a wife ard
daughter. He sent the wife back to Paris.
where she lived in poverty many years. The
daughter remained in America. Her father
had her educated a. a modest boarding
school, and then turned her adrift to earn
her living. Iu the meantime his wife and
daughter lost sight and knowledge of him.
He changed his name to Sir William Guth-
rie, married the heiress, and added her name
to the Guthrie. For several years the false
Sir William and Lady Guthrie led a sump-
tuous life; visited European cities and gay
resorts; imposed themselves upon society,"
society never inquiries closely into the ante
cedents of great wealth; 1t agrees with Yes
pasiar, "Money never smells bad" At last
they died, leaving three children. Pfcault,
alias Guthrie, had accumulated a large for
tune Of his own by his ever lucky specula-
tions. After his death the first Nine. Picault
turned up; she succeeded last year in hav-
ing her husbands second marriage declared
an act OF bigamY by the Tribunal OF the
Seine, and his vast estate was taken posses
sion of by the court to be distributed to the
lawful heirs. Nine. Picault's daughter
clme over from the United States and put
in her claims. AS her mother had not seen
her for twenty years, the poor girl had no
little trouble to establish her identity She
succeeded, however, and the court allowed
her hundred francs a month until the set
tlement of her fathers estate. Margaret
Plcault has been supporting herself in Paris
by giving lessons in English and on the
pianofOrte. Naturally this heiress of at
least million has grown rapidly to con-
sciousness of her rights. She is tired of
hard work, of "patient waiting on the
laws delay" and the petty month
ly allowance of one hundred francs.
On che 2lst Of this July her notary applied
in her name to the Paris Tribunal for an
allowance proportionste to her real fortune.
This request will probably be decided In her
favor. Here my utterly improbable chain
Of actual facts ends, and proves how much
stronger than fiction many times is truth. It
remains now to be seen how long the man
Picault's fortune will last. Undoubtedly a
great deal has gone back to the original
state of dry leaves during these eleven years
OF patient waiting by the heirs. II ever the
legitimate wife and daughter receive even a
moderate share of this wealth it is to be
hoped they will not fall prey to human
sharks and sharpers like the disreputable
old Picault, alias Sir William Guthrie, 'sBrit-
ish subject"