South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-01-23

later on 20 rule Win an iron hand.
and whose political fortune she was
20 follow. until ne died full Of hon
ors. and riches. which, together
with his titles OF duke Of Dino and
duke of Valenoay. he left absolute
~ 10 her and 20 her children.
The duchess was certainly a po-
litical power during the restoration,
and the reign OF Louis Philippe, and
her salon proved on several Occa-
sions a formidable rival 10 that OF
the famous Princess Lieven. during
the first half Of the last century.
converted to the Catholic faith,
more from motives of policy than
for any other reason, and it was
thanks TO her efforts. seconded by
those OF her only daughter Pauline,
that Prince Talleyrand was induced
at last 10 make his peace with the
church, and 20 sign the famous re-
traction, without which ne would
probably not have been awarded
religious burial This death bed
conversion of the famous diplomat
greatly added to the social influence
of Madame de Dino. but neverthe-
less her position in Paris, and espe-
cially in that select circle of Paris
ian society called the Fauborg St.
German, lost something of its i'm
pOrtance after the disappearance of
Talleyrand, when she found that
she was better appreciated in Ber-
in Oh "a
and where she was persona grata
with the royal family. She there
fore dropped her title of Duchess of
Dino, to take that Of Duchess de
Sagan, and she queened it in the
castle Of that name, which was a
splendid residence, where she kept
a kind of court, and where she fl
nally died in 1862, after as adven-
turOus an existence as woman
could have
Her only daughter by her unfor-
tunate marriage with Count Ed
mond de Perigord-that Pauline,
who is so often mentioned in all the
writings and memOurs relating to
Prince Talleyrand-was married
when quite young to the Marquis de
Castellane, the descendant of one Of
the oldest families in France. whose
coat of arms is 10 be found amidst
those that ornament the walls of the
Crusade hall in the castle of Yer
sailles The Castellanes boosted of
an alliance with Madame de Sc
vigne. whose great granddaughter
Pauline de Simiane married into
their family Some French news
papers have said that il was Ma
dame de Sevigne's daughter who
had allied herself with a Castellane,
but this is not correct. AS every
one familiar with the celebrated
French lads correspondence knows,
that daughter was married 10 Count
de Geignan, whose family name
was Adhemar. Their daughter,
Pauline, third. only child surviving
out of a family of seven, became
Countess of Simiane, and it was the
latter's daughter who was ultimate
" TO become an ancestress of the
late Marquis de Castellane. 1t is
also an error to say that the title of
the latter has ever been contested,
or that his grandfather. the famous
Marshal de Castellane, had appro-
priated for himself the family pa
pers of an extinct branch of the Cas-
tellane family. The fact is, that the
father of the marshal married as
his second wife the window of that
Duke de la Rochefoucauld who was
killed by the infuriated mob dur
1 ing the French revolution. She was
/ horn a Princess of Rohan, which is
sufficient proof that such a misap-
prehension of a title could never
have happened, because at that
/ time the French aristocracy was
very particular in regard to its al
/ liances, and a Duchess de la Richie
/ foucauld would never have consent
ed 10 become the wife of a man
about whose birth there could exist
any doubt. on the contrary, il was
! that same Marshal de Csstellane
who brought a lawsuit against the
Castellane Norantes. another branch
of the family in which he contested
their right TO the title of marquis,
suit which. by the way, was not
settled in his favor.
Who Has the Papers?
To come back to the diary and
papers of the prince of Talleyrand:
These were either left to the Ouch
| ess de Dino or else appropriated by
her. but she decided against their
being published until 100 years
should elapse after the death of the
great statesman. Feeling, however,
that these records of a most inter-
esting life ought not to go out of
France, she gave them in her life
time to her daughter, the Marquise
Pauline de Castellane, who was al
ready widowed. with injunctions
that she oppose herself TO any dis
closure as TO their contents. This
the marquise did, and she in turn
inserted strict clauses in her own
Will in regard 10 these family relics.
directing that they should never be
taken out of the safe in which she
had put them i'm her castle of
RochecOtte near Tours.
At present people are wondering
i to whom these papers have passed,
/ whether they will bencafortg, hove