The National tribune., 1898-04-21

| fmlippe Joseph, OF Orleans, was heir APP
parent to the Dukedom of Orleans. He
afterwards became philippe Egalite" of
the French revolution.
The eldest son of this couple, born in
1913, was bright little boy of five years at
the time when Paul Jones was a guest of
the family. He afterward became Louis
Philippe, Citizen King of France from 1880
to 1S4S.
In 1878 the Due de Chartres, who had
been trained for the Navy, was Vice-Ad-
mlral and second in command of the Brest
fleet under the great Admiral, the Count d.
Orvlliers.
The Duke was VIGOROUSLY dissolute and
profiigate, but withal he was exceedingly
gentle in his domestic relations and ex-
cessively proud of his magnificent wife,
then easily the most popular leader of
, French society, and. next to the Queen
herself, the most influential woman in
France.
The Duchess overlooked or condoned
the excuses of her sailor husband. She
was older than he; he being "a and she 20
) when they were married, in 1771.
AN oPPORTUNE MEETING.
AS fortune would have it, the Duo was
the man of all men whose friendship was
just at that moment needfUl to the destiny
of Pari jones. His first meeting with
; Jones occurred at dinner On beard d Or
vlliers's flagship, La EauThire Eoyale, IN
Brest Reads, Feb. IA, 1878, the day after
r the French fleet had recognized and sa-
luted the Stars and Stripes tor the FIRST
time in European port!
At this dinner, full of the fate of the
struggling Colonies, Jones saw and graSped
his opportunity.
He quickly saw that while he must by
all means make a good impression on
Admiral d. Orvilliers, he must wholly cap
ture the DUO de Charities. How well he
improved his opportunity may be Judged
by the fact that the next day he dlned
ashore at the Charities cottage in the deck
| uordn tom In
say, and no one was at table but the DUO
and Duchesse de Chartres, their eldest
boy, Louis Philippe, the Admiral, Count
d Orvilliers, and the guest OF honor, Paul
Jones.
At this dinner was his first meeting
with the Duchesse. She had read some
little mention of his previous exploits in
the Alfred and the Providence, but was
not prepared to view him as a hero. She
let him know that she had heard OF his
| exploits on the American coast.
| The Duke, who had taken fancy to
Jones from the start, introduced him to
the Duchess as "my shipmate," and she
received him at once in the same spirit
Mary of Orleans was then about 80 years
Cd, and in the prime of the splendid
b.~uty she had inherited from her famous
| great grandmother &c MOntespan. Her
virtues, as remarkable as her loneliness
must have been the gift Of destiny, as
there was nothing in the history. OF her
| ancestors, male or female, to indicate |
heredity in that respect.
At this dinner Jones, with consummate |
| tact, led the conversation toward the ex-
plcits of the Duchess's grandfather, Ad- |
| miral de Toulouse, and the battle OF Malaga. |
| in 1904
| This was favoTite subject with the |
Duchess, and Jones astonished her by |
his familiarity with the details of that
sanguinary but indecisive action which,
however, then was, ard still is, the most
! creditable to the French of all their sea
fights against the English.
The result of Jones's diplomacy on this
occasion was cordial invitation from
Duke and Duchess to make their house
his home whenever he might be ashore,
and gained for him powerful support and
patronage without which his future sue
cesses might have been impossible
From that time until the Ranger sailed
on her memorable cruise in the Irish Sea,
Jones was a frequent guest at the ChaI-
tres cottage. When he was about to sail,
probably on the occasion of his last visit
before sailing, the Duchess presented him
with costly watch OF the Louis QuIn2e
period, having her own miniature enameled
on the dial. When she gave it to him she
said:
Captain, ] am sure this watch will
never time the moment OF defeat"
at will not Madam" he replied, $50
long as | may live to see its lace and
yoursr'
The acquaintance Eegun under such
tanned with new fervOr when Jones re-
turned to Brest with British ship of
superior force as the trophy of his skill and
valor If the Due and Duchesse de Char
banished now, and they bid the gallant
Yankee Captain to consider himself a MEM
Der of their household.
RICHEST WOMAN IN FRANCE.
The Duchesse de Charities was not only
the ablest and lovcliest, but Just about
this time, also the richest woman in
France. She had lately inherited, in her
own right the enormous estates OF the
Ducal houses OF Toulouse and Bourbon
Penthievre, the incomes OF which were not |
less than forty to fifty thousand louis |
d'ors (rom SEQ eco to s250,CC0) year-an
almost fabulous sum for those days. The
Duke was also very rich, Being heir az
parent to the vast revenues of the Duchy
of Orleans, a large share Of which he
already enjoyed
One Of the favOrite diversions of the
Duchess during these days was TO as s
semble large parties of Children and take
them, with her own two little boys, Louis !
Philippe and Montpensier, aboard the {
Drake, which she would describe to them {
as a ship taken from their hereditary
enemy, and give them a lively account Of !
the battle. Then she would take them on {
board the Ranger, where she would intro '
duce them to the Yankee sailors. IL
On these occasions she would invariably {
|
gold louis dor (s4.75); and for some time
her bounty was their only pocket money. (
Finding that they were in want of under y
clothing, she ordered the chief storekeeper !
of the dock-yard to supply them and look /
to her for reimbursement. She ordered her r
steward to see that the crew of the Ranger y
should enjoy chicken-dinner every Sun +
day as long as they remained in Brest,
and she bestowed many other similar | I
attentions that only a good woman would $
think of. =
Once a barefooted apprenticeship, the ;
and smallest member OF the .
Rangers crew, attracted the attention of =
the Duchess. She remarked to Capt. I
Jones that this was very small child To | !,
be on board ship of war. Jones who | J.
was fond of the boy, said: 81 assure you,
he lis one Of my best and bravest !,
men. His conduct in the late action with !.
the Drake called for honorable mention of !.
his name in the dispatches"
The Duchess said that if she could q
speak English she would like TO talk to the \
little fellow
At this Jones said to the boy, batting
him on the head: Johnny, faites vos l
hommages a Madame la Duchesse." =
Johnny. pay your homage to Madame the 2
\
The boy stepped briskly forward, with a /
profound bow, saying "Je prize, Altesse | n
Royale Phonneur de vous baser lie main" Z
q beg your Royal Highness, the honor of |
kissing your handy n