River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1886-02-11
THE MEMOIRS.


nature, position. and education, a
gentleman. with some pleasant notions
of equality derived from residence
in the Swiss and American Republics.
found his Majesty urbane and
communicative. Complimenting him
upon the success of his Algerian policy
and of the French arms in Africa, he
remarked. loosely, that the French
people were mere children, with a pas
sion for military glory. They require,
he said '.du chatiment aujourd hui,
and DIES bon-bons domain. Finding
that had been in India. he spoke Of a
visit he had received from IN Am
bassador of the King of Dude, one Col.
Dubois &c Jancigny. who had brought
him Observation-Disclosures letter,
some Indian shawlS and ivory curios.
I had heard of the affair when at
Calcutta, for Jancigny showed me
superb service of SeyreS porcelain
which the French King had given him
for the Indian sovereign, but which |
do not believe that hollow-hearted
ruifian ever saw. Dubois de j. was a
modern Olivier lie Dain. lie had been
the Dude Kings barber and confidant
"A circumstance with which Louis
Philippe was unacquainted. The
French monarch was amused when !
mentioned the fact, and drew
parallel between himself and Louis
One. ''Apres tout, said the King,
lit is very natural that a sovereign
shall be on good terms with his shaver.
for .cettc homme la tweaks the Kings
nose with his finger and thumb and
tiounts a razor in daily proximity 10 his
carotid artery
The bonhomie of Louis Philippe was
very acceptable, but did not appear
extraordinary to those who were ac-
ouainted with the lessons of humility
he had learnt in the early days of his
adversely At Reichenau, in Switzer-
land. in 1898. ne was a teacher in a
small school, passing as Monsieur
Chabourd Latour. He taught French,
Latin, even English, geography, and
arithmetic, for the modest pittance of
/ 800 francs per annum; and might
have lived and died ike another
Dionysius the Second of Syracuse, who
kept a school in COrinth, when he had
been exiled, had not his fathers death
paved the way for his ultimate return
to France, after more vicissitudes and
some years passed in poverty in the
United States of America.
The next sovereign de factO it was
my privilege to know was Louis Napo-
leon, the hero of Boulogne, Strasbourg.
and Sedan. happened, on my return
from India in 1913, to fall III at Suez
with man who was a veritable type
of the free lance, and to whom | had
rendered slight service in Calcutta
some years previously. He had been a
Captain in a volunteer corps at Sierra
Leone: afterwards Major in the scrv-
ice of Isabella Secunde when her sue
cession to the Spanish throne was dis
puted; and, his rowing spirit and mill
tary prOclivIties taking him to India, he
called on me Tor assistance in obtaining
a command in the service of Runieet
Sing. the ruler of the Puniaub. a slight
personal acquaintance with Sir Claude
Wade, the British Envoy, justified me
in giving the free lance (Steinbach by
name), a letter of Introduction, which
led to him being placed at the head Of
a brigade of infantry, which he COM
manded for some years, got paid in
Cashmere shawls, and returned to Eng
land. introduced by him into a queer
Bohemian circle after | had engaged
rooms in Regent street, London, ! was
soon on terms of intimacy with num-
Der of men of the same class, who had
served in certain irregular forces in
Spain. Poland, Greece. Italy, Germany,
South America, and in fact, wherever
there had been some political eilcryeS-
cence. All had or assumed titles, mil
itary or noble (the commissions and
patents entcndus); and there were
ladies among them whose husbands
were-well, ncycrinquired. The prin-
cipal rendezvous of these extraordinary
soldiers oil fortune was the house Of a
uptative Countess in Half-Moon street,
Piccadillv. Music. cards, confab. and
Waiting formed the delices of these
soirees. Among the visitors of the
Countess was the Prince Louis Napo-
leon. | was attracted to him one even
inc by the part he took in "A controversy
respecting the merits of Rachel, the
great tragic actress, who was then
PLAYING a round of her best characters
at the st. James theatre, under the
auspices of MIR. Mitchell. the librarian
of Bond street. Count D'Orsay, who
had dropped in, pronounced her wo-
man of genius. A German baron
stoutlv denied her claim to originality.
Prince Napoleon laid it down Is a rule
that genus was another word for spon-
tancitv, whereas Rachels acting was
the effect of study. meditation. and
practice. Edmund Kean and Mrs. Sid
donS rarely played the same characters
/ in precisely the same manner-some
new development of their authors in
+ tention would manifest itself; but
Rachel always made the same points,
adapted the same gestures at each per-
+ Torrance. Her talent was phenOme-
nal. but true genius was wanting.
Walking home late one night with
F the prince. we stopped opposit, the
Marble Arch in Piccadilly, that he
might light his cigar. having done
which. he remarked what pain 1t gave
/ him to reflect that the day would come
when, as emperor of the French, he
would have II be in London sacking
the city, for England and France were
sure to be again at war. replied that,
/ if il gave him pain. he need not attempt
il. ..But. said he, ''C'est mon destin
impossible de revitert" Those Bon
apartes always professed themselves
. fatalists. vet their destiny was often
/ thwarted BY circumstances.
/ In 1913 when the Chartists endeav-
ored to get up = revolt, and the mid
! die classes of London received rolling
F pins from the magistrates and were
sworn in as special constables, il was
my lot to patrol the streets with the
refugee prince. for we lived in the same