The Washington herald., 1913-02-16
Rome AMAZED At PROPOSITION
MADE VATICAN BY Count BONI
Tale Of Trading Religious Concessions IN China for Annu
ment Of Church Marriage to Anna Gould Sounds
Preposterous, But Is Being Listened to.

speciaI csb,e 70 Ths- wsahinstoa' Heald
/ Rome, Feb. 1S.-As was told exclusively
but briefly in The Washington Herald.
Count Boni de Castellane Ii here, again
seeking the annulment OF his REM ious
marriage to Anna Gould. now fne wire
of his cousin. the Duke de Tahyrand'
who accompanied her to her sisters
wedding In New York recently.
Count de Castellane is employing
lever SO extraordinary that Rome Is
amazed, and Is making promises 30 re-
markabIe to the Vatican to attain his
wish that they must be related in greater
detail.
That the count Is a special envoy from
the Chinese Republic to the Vatican IL
the constant and wide report both In
religious and lay circles here. and the
count makes no effort to deny It. A
such the count. II 10 said. stands ready
10 negotiate with the Holy See con-
vention that would give great privileges
to Catholic missionaries in China and
30 facilitate the conversation to Catholic
ism Of millions OF Chinese.
Remarkable Romance.
But even more remarkable. almost fan
tastic, Is the explanation Of de Castel-
lanes appearance at the Vatican as the
Chinese Republics representative. Sew
eral years ago, or SO the story runs.
the count became interested in an i'm
poyerished young Chinaman, who was
studying at the Sarbonne in Paris.
The student sought a position that
would enable him to support himself and
at the same time allow him to pursue
his studies.
The young Oriental was very proud.
and de Castellane engaged his as his
private secretary. a position he filled
until he was summoned to China
This poor student was none other than
Sun Vat Sen, who did more than any
other man to incite the revolution in
China. and who was the new republics
provisional president. He has never ceas-
ed to correspond with Count Boni de
Castellane.
When his once secretary rose to pow
er. the count gained from the grateful
Sun Vat Sen his special mission to the
Vatican that he might be able to offer
a superb quid pro quo in the annulment
Of his marriage. However, strange Is
this seemingly well founded report. it
Is certain that Count Boni visited Card
inal Merry Del Val on Tuesday and
again on Friday. and on both occasions
had a long conversation withe Papal
Secretary of State.
Hints at the Reason why.
Back of de Casteilane's attempts to
annul his marriage, II is said. Is his
desire to marry a wealthy American
woman whose exact identity Is shrouded
in mystery. although Roman society
hints that there is a coincidence in the
fact that the counts stay in Rome last
year was simultaneous with that of J.
P. Morgan.
The Vatican's decision last year was
directly against annuling de Castellane's
marriage. The prelates Of the Rota Tri-
bunal held that the fact that Anna Gould
was not a communicant Of the Catholic
Church at the time Of the religious
marriage would not affect its validity.
II was supposed then that the count
would make no further effort to break
his martial chains for the decision Of
the Rota is very rarely reversed by the
superior tribunal OF the Segnatura-
But he reappeared. persistently seeking
the privilege Of remsrrying without vio-
lating the letter of the laws of the
church and offering in return for 1t the