The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-08
AMODERN CHEVAlIERD'EON
FOR SEVENTY YEARS MILE. DE
LANCE CONCEALED ms SEX.
MasqueraLed ms Woman Among the No
bllity of France-Pensioned and Aided
by Napoleon and the Bourbons-The
Secret Discovered After His Death.
From the Rcrue de Paris.

bllity OF France-PenstOned ANA Aided
by Napoleon and the Bourbons-The
Secret Discovered After His Death.
From the Rcrm de Paris
The Countess Dash wrote as follows in describ
ing, in her Memoirs Of Other People" visit to
Versailles in 1924, and the old servants Of the
Crown, mobiles who had returned from exile ruined
by the Revolution and then had lodgings In
the palace which had been unoccupicd from
October. 1880. until the Restoration:
Among others. / noticed very singular per
sonage whose history has never been cleared up
and whose death cast glamour Of mystery and
mclodrama over the story Of her life. She was
an old maiden lady. demoiselle de S''''' the
daughter OF an cxiled noblcman, had herself been
driven from France by the Revolution, and had
returned to lead a life of poverty and privation
No one ever visited her. She lived alone and did
her own housework; rose at daybreak to procure
water, food and whatever she required for her
daily needs In the afternoon she made her toilet
and paid sundry visits which were tolerated be-
cause Of her social rank and her poverty She
had masculine voice, the manners Of a grenadicr
and the walk Of gendarmc; it was even said that
she shaved She used snuff copiously as the
traces Of it, on her hugo nose showed"
This strange person was Mile Hcnricttc Genny
Savalettc dc l.angc Her portrait as painted by
Countess Dash, is amusing, but not entirely cor
rect, for the latter does not state that after made
moiselle's death at Versailles In 1858 she was
discovered TO have been man. Besides when
Mile. dc Langc came to lodge in the palace Of
Versailles in 1924 she was not ar old woman nor
was her personal appearance then such as the
Countess describes.
Many have searched for the key 10 the secret
of Mile de Lange's existence. Mauroy. In his
compilation, lie Curicux," cites the following
nf 80, frn,,, tha Q
Of the parish Of St Roch. Paris, dated May L.
$780,
"Augustin Charles Theophilc, born this day.
a natural son Of NJ Paul Charles Pierre Sava-
lete de Langc. one Of the curators Of tho Royal
Treasury. captain in the battalion OF the district
of st. Roch Of the National Guard, aide camp:
and of Gencvievc Louise HAIRY, n minor living in
the Rue de Richclicu near St Guillaumes Court"
This cannot be the birth certificate Of the mys-
terious Mile de LANCE, for. If she was born in
1890 she would hardly have received the following
note found among the papers of the dcccdcnt Of
Versailles:
9Th DAY OF MEssnoR, YEAR XII.
June 81 1904
ITO Mddem0isele jenny Sdr1iette al Paris:
Il did not dare, my charming friend TO return
your veil this morning. II goes back to you
covered with kisses which wish that | could give
in person to her whom love-
The note contains request for meeting with
tho writer on the same evening, at 8 o'clock in
neghboring street, and ends thus:
Farewell, my kind friend, cannot writc more
l embrace and love you j. D.
The date which Mile de LANCE always gave
as that OF her birth 1886 is probably the true one
ami she would have lrcn Is in 1901 old enough
To have received and appreciated tho above note.
II Is not possible that she could have stolen the
note from genuine Mile de Langc, for, twenty
years afterward she received similar missiyos
which can be proved 70 have been sent TO this man
maslueraling az a woman. From 1872 10 1883
her manner OF life was known. and open and can
be established by irrcutabc documents and
proofs
1t is possible that a natural child OF Count Paul
Savalette de LANCE. whose birth was kept secret,
might have been brought up in some obscure
village where his sex disguised the better to
conceal his existence; that at a given time, tho
friends of Count Paul might have been informed
OF his existence and supposed him to BE- a girl;
that, having lived a lie for Yeats, he continued
to do in order to eScap, military CONSUMPTION,
and to preserve ani profit by the friendships and
acquaintanceJ which he made as gil but
would have lost had he mcde his true sex known.
Whatever his motive. he played his part as a
woman for more than seventy years with infinite
assuranc,
In 1912 Mademoiselle de LANCE was in Paris
befrended BY Nine de Bourbon, and probably in
the lattcrs employ. On Feb 20 1872 she received
| the following note from the ehb de Ia Myr,:
Il have just received. Madcmoscllc, a very
nattering letter concerning yourself which shall
be happy to show to you Il you will call upon me
at noon. Your departure is h,rI for March 8
You are requested 10 provide ynursclf with hats
aud dresses to the amount Of 200 or 800 francs
which am instructed 70 pay to you DO not buy
any body linen, or skirts, nor nightgowns; they
In the following March Nine dc Bourbon wrote
| 70 her at chateau Of SommcSnil that every thing
to return at once, and promising To pay her the
| same salary as before
Mile l-angc returned to Paris in July From
thenceforth this fantastic parsonage lived by her
wits and the aid oi powerful friends Onaial
records, found among her papers after her death,
showed that in 1872 she received q small pension
| from Napoleon l.. through what Influence is IN
known Forty years aftcrward, when Prince
| Napoleon became President Of the Republic, Il
| friend. Mrs Butler. Wrote from Brentwood TO her:
Il often think Of you and hope that the President
will increase you, pension, Is Louis Bonap@rtc
| for you will cause him TO remember YOU,
=, Mile. de lhnge,s pension ended with the First
| Xviii and Charles X all OF The same tenor
therein she said that her father NJ Savalctte de
ManganviIle had been dead for many years
that they had advanced large sums To- the Comte
d'Arois. aiterwaId Charles Y. and To Louis XVI
personally. in all. over six mil ions Of francs:
| that these transactions had caused the arrest Of
her father and grandfather during the Terror
| and caused their ruin: that on their release they
| had demanded payment OF the above sums from
| the Government Of the Republic, which had paid
portion Of their claims in assignats, deprecated
| currency and hence her relatives had died PENN
| leas In truth when her grandfather was bcr
ated his sequesrnted estates were restored to him.
| and her reputed father died holding salar!ed
| post in the National Treasury al Paris
| In 1914 the Comic d'ArtVts sent her 800 francs
| on condition that sac should 20 into convent
| She complied with this condition, and chose the
| Abbaye, aux Bots In 1915 she received 600
francs from tho duchess of AnEoI enc: from time
| 10 time between 1914 and 1882 she enjoyed sundry
small pensions, granted in consideration Of her
| condition and the former services Of her family"
| In 1920 she left her convent, bctrothcd 10 NJ
| lie Frotter de Lczevcrnr She was then 81
years old. Having by this means set at rest Ger