New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-03-02

rant Es,I me transmission OF detailed report to Milan.
rands connected with his mistresss private affairs
Uader date Of October 81 1880 the tireless scribe
mo dogged her steps complains of the eccentric
it is his duty H to s Particularly aoes he
time in issun op aen de noses S No
nIrng her salons with a Heterogeneous crowd,
sought safety on the hospitabe soil OF the Swiss
he ean B S5 T5 w
me me suoveTsive political element, gave great UNI
philosophy of whose statecraft detail played so i'm
RO.aht Z; part recognized the dangerous frehrand
a II iI9placabe personal enemy-might become II
heresy.
This heresy the princess maintained and
acted upon to the disgust Of the Austrian au-
thorities, until Italian independence was as
sured. Now and again her property was Sc
questrated. to be restored and sequestrated
again She went into exile in Paris and,
though her wealthy relatives made her more
than comfortable, she would not relinquish the
picturesque pose of the political martyr.
Legend has it that over the door of the squalid
apartment she secured on the top floor of a
modest house in a poor neiGhborhood she
caused to be placed this inscription, La Prin
cesse Malheureuse'-a far fetched play of words
on her married name. Ostentatiously
she painted fans and glass for livelihood, in
Variably informing purchasers that It was
owing TO the harsh cruelty Of the Austrian
usurper that she was reduced to such straits"
Theirs, it is said was one Of the enthusiastic
admirers of the lovely exile and would upon
occasion climb the dingy stairs to cook an
omelet on her charcoal fire Kind old Lafay-
cite tried 10 reconcile her with her husband
Presently, when the proceedings against her for
treason were abandoned and her property
stored, she transferred herself to a magnificent
residence in the City of Light and in apart
ments hung with sombre velvet, embroidered
with silver stars, or in white silk and silver
she received the worlds of fashion and of lit
erature. The woman who wrote under the
name of Daniel Stern" described her with the
twist of sarcastic envy In the Words as pale
thin 10 emaciation, with eyes of fame, and
cultivating the aspect of a spectre or a phan-
tom. and added Readily also, for the sake os
effect. she gave credence to certain rumors
which put in her hands the cup and dagger of
the Borgia." The exile at this time had a
theological craze. and Daniel Stern let's US
know that Visitors usually surprised the
princess at her devotions in her private oratory
where under the yellow shafts of light falling
through Gothic stained glass; between dusty
folios. a skull at her feet she knelt at her
piicdicu, lost in meditation" One result of this
pose was the production of a formidable
work on the formation OF the Christian Dogma
"a work of which Sainte-Beuve spoke amiably
but which made mark on her generation. It
IS in her political writings that the native force
OF her intellect appeared. It during this
period in Paris that Heine fell mady In love
with the Italian. Before 1 knew you" he
wrote, II imagined that persons like you en-
dowed with all the projections OF body and
mind existed only in fairy tales or in the
dreams of poets" Alfred de Musset adored her
until her disdain stung his vanity to hatred.
and he y,r.l,li
which was thoroughly discredltable to the poet
It is recorded that in 1916 the princess sought
Louis Napoleon IN London and unfolded TO
that poverty stricken young man. just escaped
from the fortress of Ham, her schemes for
the liberation OF Italy. AT the conclusion Of
the interview" says author, the amb-
tious exile. whose opportunity was now so near,
grasping the hands OF his eloquent inte-locutor
exclaimed with unusual warmth: Princess. let
me first arrange matters in France. then l VIII
think OF Italy" Two years later Milan burst
into flame Of rebellion and the princess hast
ened to Naples. where she gathered for service
in Lombardy motley company OF volunteers.
In an article contributed TO the Revue des
DeuX Mondes" she described this episode:
Hardly had the news OF my proJec, become noised
abroad than had occasion TO learn how great and
cause excsd IN NP ToI wsa of al 9oca
6S a1d G9m 2 10 beg me to conduct them 70 LON
eeded my sailing my house was never empty ten
thousand Neapoltans were ready 10 follow me; but
my steamer could carry but two hundred passen-
gers. consented therefore TO accept that num-
per. ana the Ittle column was instantly completed.
Rarely has a whole population been 10 awake
unexpectedly from long lethaTgy, aroused by the
sO!e incentives OF war and devotion. Among the
volunteers mo following 10 IOmbardv
abandoning by stealth the paternal roof thew in
sisted on accompanying me. carrying in their
poChets Dut Few coins Others. employees in mod
est circunstan"es. exchanged without regret the
positions on which they depended for a livelihood
Tor the hardships of camp lie.
Those who would read the disastrous story OF
Italy's struggle for freedom at that period will
find 1t told picturesquey II briefly in Mr. White,
houses pages. Whatever help she could give
OF purse and pen and tongue Christina offered !
Throughout all her efforts then and afterWard /
ran, II must be confessed. that element OF melo- /
drama which sets tinsel frame round the por> |
trait OF 4 patriot Full Of curious episodes was |
the rest Of her life. The finding Of a mans |
corpse in her palace near Milan after she had |
fled to the Orient In 1S49 has never been ex-
planned. Strange. too that attack upon /
her by discharged servant, whose stabs in the /
neck left her TO grow into old age with the once
proudly carried head stinly bowed upon her |
breast. She died ri slxty-three, still romantic |
heroine. whose last thoughts were of politics. |
and whose eccentricities may possibly be par |
doned in the light of the fact that she was a |
lifelong sufferer from epilepsy.