The San Francisco call., 1897-03-28
SOME AMERICANS ABROAD.
ny AN Elk ArTACEzE.

than the Chinese, ana are, moIeos o1s ~ - =
imbued with the conviction tnst .ney
clever enough to be able TO oispense ~ .s...r
eign advice even in matters relating 20 ioreisn
sciences. arts and manufactures that they con-
sign as far as possible to oblivion the names
of those who assisted them In emerging iion.
their former chrysaiis stage into their Preseus
state of gay and giddy butterhydom. sno "ho
served them as nurses and mentors when cast
ing aside the swaddling clothes in wnicn
mummylike they had been envelopeo ior
thousands OF years they first attemt tteu
falteringly to walk according 10 Wes.eln
fashion, and in the paths OF our CIVILIZATION.
That is why one hears so little noWaoays y.
the Ameriea an General Williams to whom tne
present financial organization of Japan Is
mainly due, and who succeeded (without Pc
cuniary benefit for himselD In negouatlns
abroad per cent loan for the Japanese
Government at time when owing 10 INC
prejudices against the land OF the Rising onn'
and the disbelief in the permanency OF scr iouo-
ness of It's Western innovation 10 or IL per
cent would not have appeared to De an excess
siye interest 10 demand.
Moreover, if the Japanese troops shoWeo
themselves to such advantage In their ias1
war with China, it was in q part at any rate
due to the teachings and advice of another
American, General Legendre, who was all
powerful in Japanese military matters al
Toxic in the early seventies, and the foreign
coadjutor and adviser of General Saigo in his
victorious campaign against Formosa In
1874
OF an entirely different order, less reputable
but equally powerful. If not more SO, was the
role played In Holland and in Paris by the
famous Nine Musard, an American lady, a ma
tive OF Pennsylvania, who until year or two
before her death was justly regarded in Eu-
r0T fbo nf nld 10
land. 1t was thanks to her and to her alone
that the war between France and Germany OF
1870 did not break out three years previously
in connection with the Luxembourg contro-
versy. King william was in 1867 on the point
of disposing OF his grand duchy of Luxembourg
to France, prompted thereto by his hatred OF
Prussia and his friendship for Napoleon III.
Luxembourg was at the time garriscned by
Prussian troops, this by virtue Of q former
military convention, dating from the time
when the grand duchy formed part OF the
German "Bund" or confederation. Had
this sale OF Luxembourg to France been COM
pleted-King William and Emperor Napoleon
did not propose to let any one know of it m
til 1t was announced as an accomplished fact
war would have inevitably ensued between
France and Prussia. For on the one hand Ma
poleon would have gone too far to retreat with
outa loss of prestige dangerous to the existence
and solidity of his throne, while on the other
hand Prussia would assuredly have declined
to withdraw, without bloody struggle, her
troops from fortress of such immense strategi-
cal Importance as was Luxemburg in those
days, in order to hand 1t over to power with
which it was certain sooner or later to be at
war. By some means or other the dissolute
and drunken Prince of Orange then living at
Paris, obtained an inkling of what was going
on. Sober enough to realize the imprudence,
from Dutch point of view, OF what was going
to take place, and sufficiently sensible to per-
ceive that it must inevitably land France and
Prussia in a war with one another-a war
which. would interfere sadly with his life of
pleasure on the banks of the Seine; aware
too, that his father, with whom he was at dag
gers drawn. would merely drive him from his
presence with curses If he attempted to remon-
strate with him about the matter, hastened
TO Nine. Musard and appealed to her to use
her influence with the King to withdraw from
the deal before it was too late. This she en-
deavored to do; but finding that. in spite of
all her arguments. the King remained irreso-
lutte, and fearing lest, unbeknown to
her, he would carry through his pro-
ject, she warned the celebrated Nine.
Pavia (afterward Countess Henckel Won Dom
nersmark) of VIII at was on the cards. and before
many hours had elapsed Count Bismarck had
been placed in possession of all the facts of the
case Had Prussia been prepared at that mo-
ment for war with France Bismarck would
have said nothing, but have awai ted events.
But Prussia was not ready. She had not then
completed her military conventions with the
southern States of Germany, so the Count
caused the Prussian ambassador at Berlin to
notify the French Government that If the sale
was carried into effect it would be regarded at
Berlin as a casus belli. The French Cabinet,
which had until then been in complete igno-
rance of the whole matter-1or Napoleon was
very secretive-brought Bismarck's mess age
to the Emperor's notice, and the ultimate re-
suit of the affair was that a conference of the
great powers was summoned in London to de-
wise an agreement, according to the terms of
which the Prussian garrison at Luxembourg
was Withdrawn, the Notifications RACED to the
ground and the neutrality of the grand duchy
assured under terms which precluded the
possibility of its ever becoming the
property of either France or Ger
many. / may add that had Bismarck
notified the Emperor instead of his Minister
of Foreign Affairs Of his objections to the
deal, the whole thing would have been hushed.
up without anybody knowing anything
about it. But, as it was, the affair became
public through the indiscretion of the Off.
cials of the Quai d'Orsay, and the important
part played by Mme Musard became known.
William OF Holland intervened to prevent the
sale of Luxemburg in 1867 nothing could
have prevented the war between France and
Germany breaking out then and there.
Without making more than passing refer
ence to the fact that couple of American
gentlemen had acquired so much influence
over the late King of Wurtemberg as to
bring about Ministerial crisis in 1888, and
very nearly the deposition of the King, the
difficulty being oaly settled by the exile of
the two foreigners from the country, would
draw attention to the role played not
merely in English society, but also
In British political life, by Lady Ran
dolph Churchill, a New York girl to whom
her brilliant husband owed so much of his
success as a statesman: to William Waldorf
Astor, who, by judc.ous use OF mis- wealth
and of the journalistic properties which he
has acquired, is becoming one of the powers
with which English Parliamentary parties
have to reckon; to the Countess Gianotti and
the Princess Brancaccio, both of them Ameri-
cen women who through Queen Marguerite,
whose ladies-in-waiting they are, and through
their husbands, who are among the principal
dignitaries of the Italian court, exercise much
Influence over King HumberI and last, but
by no means least, to DR.. Thomas Evans at
Paris, who during his forty years OF profess
sional attendance upon the teeth of European
roy atty, has, to my personal KNOWLEDGE been
intrusted with many q confidential message
and delicate negotiation, being often asked by
one reigning family to repeat what he had
heard to other patients OF sovereign rank while
holding them at the mercy of his skillful for
ceps. There are so many things that cannot
be transmitted through the ordinary official
and diplomatic channels. and yet which have