The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-02-27
DU KE OF SOMERSET
ANAK OF THE HOUSE

clevcrcst OF the wearers of the straw.
berry leaves, has been frequent CON
trihutor to the Pail Mall Magazine, has
composed number OF very successful
songs, and like her husband. rides.
drves. hunts and shoots we'll. The
one sorrow or this sngularly we'll
matched couple, who not long ago
celebrated their silver wedding, !s
that thoy have no children, owing to
which the dukedom Will pass at the
dukes death to his brother.
Gabriel Harotaux. member Of the
Academy Of France Will De remem-
bered in this country. not only as hav-
Ing served several terms Minister
OF Foreign Affairs OF France. but also
as having headed the special mission
which was sent to the United States
4 couple OF years ago TO represent
France at the Lake Champla!n Ter
centennial memorial celebration. on
which occasion ne spent several weeks
In visiting the various points of intercs:
In America The news OF his unex pected
and sudden marriage to the wealthy and
widowed Nine Lambert. daughter of
the late CoInte dc Ia Eoissier. will
therefore. excite certain amount or
| interest here. Moreover. it will serve
to rocall tho romance of his first mar
riaSc.
Some years go, at a time when he
was generally considered the most
suitable man for the presidency OF
the republic, he suddenly did some
thing which. while it furnished stril1-
Ing evidence of his goodness of heart,
was considered at the time TO ruin
him as presidential candidate. lie.
'as in the present Instance, suddenly
aud without any warning to his
friends. contracted marriage. his
wife on TINT occasion being Mile. Vic
torlnc Mcyadelic. the mother of his
two children, then in their teens. The
wedding, which took place in a quiet
village near Nantes, was for the pur-
pose OF iegttimizins his offspring. and
although his friends dcplored tho mar
riagc the ruin of his presidential
possibilities. Yet they could not burt
applaud the generous motives by
which he prompted in Offering
this tardy PREPARATION TO his children
ami 10 their mother.
The prestige of the republic had sur
fercd so much during tho presidency
of jules Grsvy. from the fact that he
had married Nine. Grevy, who had
been his cook, only when their daugh-
ter. now the wife of Daniel Wilson,
had attained her womanhood. that the
French madc mp their mind that tho
presidential chair should never again
be hllcd by a man whose wife had
becoming his wife.
It was for this rca son that I.eonie
Leon, tho devoted woman who was
The ESeria OF Gambctta. persisted TO
tho last in\ refusing to we'd him. talk
ing the ground that II would wreck
his prospects or becoming president OF
the republic. lie repeatedly urged her
10 marry him. especially during the
latter part Of his lifen but was al
nd
following one OF these demands on his
part. that. cNclaiminE that she was an
obstacle to his political success. she
snatchcd a pistol and endcavored to
kill herself. Gambctta in seeking to
wrcst the weapon from her. received
the wound which brought abou, his
premature death a couple OF days
later.
Like this E@eria or Gambctta Mile.
Nictorinc Mcyadcllc refused for many
years To we'd Gabriel Hanotaux. lest
she should injurc his political future
and his presidential possibilities
thereby: and it the marriage was so
Ions delayed the fault was hcrs rather
than his own, and she finally yielded
to his entreltie, and to those OF her
children with the utmost reluctance
There are n large number of similar
Instances OF devotion and OF unsclnsh
abncEation on the part of women in
the private lives of French statesmen:
condition Of affairs arising largely
from the fact that so many leading
men of the Third Republic in France
suddenly spranS into prominence and
achieved fame almost in night and
were unwilling to abandon tho women
who had been their hclpmatcs in the
days of their obscurity and poverty
The action OF the women in declining
to icgitimize their position by means
of marriage. lest they should !njure the
prospects of those TO whom they had
given their hearts may not have been
quite in accord with the views OF
strict morality. bat was admirable in
the way of devotion: just as meri-
torious as the conduct Of the men in
declining to cut themselves adrift
from the companions of their days of
poverty.
Nine Gabriel Hano;aux survived
the marriage only two years and died
in the arms OF her husband and child
rem, happy in the consciousness Of
having been his lawful wife and OF
having leSi;imized her offspring and
of nevertheless leaving him with the
prospects o. his succession to the
presidency Of the republic unimpaircd
since her death had the effect of re-
moving the only obstacle that could
have possibly existed TO his eligibility
to the chief magistracy.
After his mourning, fIanotaux en-
tered public life once more, with the
additional prestige of having done
the right thing by his wife and child
rem. at what appeared at the time to
be The sacrifice of HIS entire future
political career. 1t may be hoped that
his new marriage Will be as happy in
every respect as The first one. and that
he may find an equal amount OF devo-
in, II
la Boissierc, widow OF NJ. Lambert
as he did in Nictorine AIcYai.ilc