New-York tribune., 1908-01-27
AMERICAN FAvoR1rE OF A KING.

Renroach of the possession of tainted money IS
always disagreeable. But accusation of this
kind is downright inolerane when there is no foun-
dation il; that TO say. when the person
against whom il is aimed has enjoyed pos
session Of the property. II is for this reason thar
NJ de- Bir6 the we'll known Partisan clubman and
representative Of one of the old houses of Breton
aristocracy. with a mansion in the Faubours st
Gcrmain and a chateau the Atlantic coast, has
brought a suit for sIander against Frederick Loe,
author of the somewhat scurTious work entitled
La Fete Imperiale" of which i believe English
translation has lately been issued. The first edi-
ton this work. of which copious extracts have
been published the foreign papers on both sides
of the Atlantic declare that Nine. Musard, the ia
vorite of the late King Holland, left her death
a sum of 100000 francs NJ. de Bire De
Bires lawyers at once instituted legal proceedings.
which the publishers of the book and its author
endeavored to avert by eliminating the plaintiffs
name. and asserting that Nine. Nusard bequeathed
the sum in question to one of her relatives. De
Bire and his lawyers insisted that this, far from
making things any better, the contrary aggra-
waited the offense, since il implied that NJ de Birt
was a relative of the notorious Nine Musard,
whereas there had never been any ties of kinsman-
ship or friendship between him and the woman,
with whom he had been acquainted. The
courts accepted his view of the case. and mulcted
the publishers and author in damages.
Nine. Musard an American woman hail
ing from a small Ohio town, where she was known
d
Belgian pianist or bandmaster. found her there,
married her. brought her TO Paris and while he
engaged in professional capacity at Baden
Baden managed to throw her into the way Of the
Dutch monarch IS such way to completely
fascinate him. For many years her relations with
the late King were of a fragrant and shameless
description They We're brought TO a close through
MIME Musard's betrayal OF her royal lovers nego-
tiations with Napoleon III for the sale Of his
grand duchy of I-uxemburg 20 France in 1851 il
mite Wbp MuSdrd sold
secret for money. or whether she merely revealed
i fn a moment of indiscretion 10 the Marquise de
Pafva a woman of the same class as herself. and
who died the lawful wife of the German noble
man who is now, Prince Henelel Of Donnersn1a rex.
Tie rrlsrquise was acting the time one of Bis
inarck's secret agents in the French capital for
vyardfue to Berlin the condolences which she mad
obtained in her boudoir and her alcove
ATme Musard's indiscretion brought France and
Germany to The brink OF war. Bismarck declaring
that = conclusion OF the sale would be treated as
. casls beIli while the King of Holland and Napo-
Ieo, we're equally determined TO carry through the
deal Hostilitics only averted through the in
tervention of England and Russia, who induced
The rival governments to submit the problem 10 a
conference Of the great powers. which took place
IN London the latter part OF 1855.
After that the Dutch King refused to have any
thing more to do with his American charmer
uckilv for herself she able to dispense with
au,- further cenerosities on his part for IN 'he
earlier days of their intimacy he had presented
her with a whole bundle of American deeds an"
e,ocks which placed her in possession OF great
wealth since the stocks consisted of railroad bones
"a shares in prosperous oil companies, while the
5eeds were for lands in Pennsylvania when hdd
le,-aloped into oil fields She did not, ho"eNei'
-, - lang to enjoy this fortune. and, losing
totb her sight and her reason. died before many
~s we're past in a lunatic asylum, the remnants
% b.r foTtune-that is 30 say. what had peeil ie''
- those of her parasites who had taken auNa
y t.r innru.ties to plumber her TO their
,,s. content-gofng 20 her American kihsioik
-. ,tf,out some litigation on the part oi the r'l
- ~ tho anniable NJ. Musard who had ploieo
q ~. nay OF tho altar into fame, or iniamy' ac-
heI pS .bo Uav which one chooses to look at
the matter.