New-York tribune., 1911-01-07
THE IMPOSTOR
A Gallery Of Entertaining Por-
traits.
FAMOUS IMPOsTORS BY Bran s,oker.
Illustrated svu, pp. Ae The sturgis n
Walton Company

FAMOUS IMPOsTORS BY Bran Stoker.
Illustrated svu, pp. $50 The SturgiS y
Walton Company.
Mr.. Stoker has written an entertaining
and informing book on a subject which,
ss no observes IN his preface. could be
made 90 yield many more volumes besides
this one He does not concern himself
with the ethical aspect ~ imposture for
, many purposes. but confines himself 10 n
statement ~ the facts IN each case so far
as he has been able 20 collect them from
various sources.
Tho volume opens with the cases OF
some OF the many pretenders 10 thrones
or at least to royal birth. who have
come near success-Perkin warbeck. the
/ pseudo Sebastian OF Portugal, the many
/ Olive. who claimed legitimate descent
/ from the Duke Of Cumberland, brother
Of George III. and included In her for
gcries a marriage certificate between
that monarch when still Prince Of wales
and tho Fair Quakeress: and. finally.
one Of the Russian preten9ers. Stephen
Mali. who passed himself or I'm Monte
negro as the murdered Czar. Peter III Of
| Russia A man of Great gifts, he won
the leadership OF the little principslisy.
and governed IL wisely. Denounced by
Catharine the Great. he was imprisoned.
but the Montenegrins' need Of his strong
hand In an impending war with Turkey
was so great that he was liberated at the
suggestion OF the Russian representative
and reinstated as regent. which post he
held until his assassination IN 1874 st the
instigation of the Turks In the case Of
the pseudo DsuphinS Mr.. Stoker stops
with the first Naundorft. the original
pretender. but this case is an exceptional
/ one. because this claim has become hered-
itary. the present generation Of Naun-
DORIS having only recently taken legal
steps 20 procure the recognition Of their
/ French citizenship, which. If granted,
would involve a tacit official recognition
/ OF their claimed Bourbon descent on
I the other hand. new evidence oontru has
/ Just come TO light. in the shape Of a let
l
the Dauphin's sister. denouncing the
original Naundorr as an impostor.
In the case OF trio Of magicians.
/ Paracelsus. CaslioHtro and Mesmer, Mr..
stoker points out that we must distin-
suish between deliberate impostors and.
as in the case OF Paracelsus earnest
scientific investigators who. all innocent,
/ had unfounded accusations of imposture
! brought against them by the ignorance
7 and superstition Of their contemporaries.
women. burned by thousands, who were
charged with witchcraft The worst i'm
I postor I'm the book. by the way. n Great
ure 90 whom the author does such Jus
tice as can be done with the resources
of denunciatory English, is Matthew
Hopkins. the witch finder" who earned
a living by discovering witches for a
fixed fee. One is glad 20 know that he
was ultimately tortured as others had
/ been tortured through him. and hanged.
/ Mr. Stoker, by the way, identifies Gag
| liostro with Joseph Balsamo. a point
/ upon which doubt has been thrown re-
Gently by Mr. w. r II. Trowbridge, in
his life Of that magician" The inclu-
sion Of the Wandering Jew as an i'm
postor who never even existed is ingen-
ious but in reality ne belongs TO the field
Of legend. The many women who have
disguised themselves as men. the better
90 be able 20 fend for themselves In vari-
Gus walks Of life, cannot be called i'm
posters They were simply masqueraders.
/ The case Of Mile. de Maupin, made IA
nous by Gautier, is an exceptional
one and the Chevalier DION has Justice
| done 70 him here John Law and the
| Tichborne claimant are not forgotten.
/ The strangest story of all in this book
OF many strange careers is. however, re-
/ tained for the end. In The Bisley Boy
/ Mr. Stoker tells an amazing tradition
which he has unearthed In old Bis
| ley. in Buckinghamshire, the childhood
home Of Queen Elizabeth. According 10
| this tale. locally believed in but hitherto
unknown to England at large. Elizabeth
I died early in childhood boy being sub
stituted by those in charge OF her, who
may well have dreaded the anger of
Henry VIII had the truth been confessed
TO him Mr.. Stoker reviews the tradition
at length in the light Of history and con-
temporary documentary evidence, and
offers an ingenious theory to the effect
that even If the substitution really took
place 1t only resulted in placing on the
| throne of England another descendant of