Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1922-11-29
HIS QRY'S
nYSTE RIES
"WHO WAS PAMELA?"

MAYHEM in going through Mont
w martre tourists are taken through
the famous cemetery in that portion
of Paris, they usually pause for
moment as they pass modest head
stone bearing the single word Pam
ela," particularly since those which
surround it are literally covered with
facts and figures concerning the his
tory of the persons who lie, buried
there.
"Who was Pamela" ask the tourists,
turning inquiringly to the guide. And
that parsonage merely shrugs his
shoulders, smiles and replies: '"That,
monsieur, Is what the world would
like to know-for here is the grave Of
a remarkable woman, the idol of royal
ty, the toast Of France. But who she
was or where she came from are
questions that have never been
answered.
Pamela" continues the guide, with
that quick grasp of historical data
which is common to those who direct
twas the name given to the beautiful
child brought from England to be the
| playmate of the little ones in the
palace Of the Due de Chartres later
the Duke of Orleans. Golden haired,
bue-eyed, veritable sprite, the little
| girl won all hearts, in spite of the fact
that there was very evidently a. dark
mystery about her origin. There were
some at court who shook their heads
! and shrugged their shoulders mean
ingly when, as she grew up, the girl
called Pamela began to make con-
quests which were more and more
| widespread But the secrecy which
| popularity in the slightest. She was
| the inspiration of countless poets, the
| cause of scores of duels and when her
| heart was finally won by the Irish
| Lord Edward Fitz Gerald, son of the
| Duke of Leinster, there We're many
| who left Paris because they could not
| bear to see her married to another.
! 1.-THE announcement Of her approach
ing marriage to Lord Edward brought
from London the same question which
Paris had been asking for many years:
Who is Pamela? and in the marriage
contract, still to be seen at Tourney,
the bride is described as 'Stephanie
| Caroline Anne Simms' known as
| Pamela native of London, daughter
of william Berkele and Mary Simms'
"But this does not, by any means
| dispel the mystery surrounding this
| most charming Of creatures, for the
| governess of the household Of the Due
de Charities maintained that she was
the daughter of British nobility, while
the Masonic Magazine, in the issue
which appeared within month after
her marriage, declared that she was
the daughter of the duke Of Orleans
himself. Moore, in his Life of Lord
| Edward Fitz Gerald, leans to this the
Dry, stating that the mother Of Pam
ella was none other than the govern
! ess in the dukes family who took such
u marked interest in the girl.
But no matter. These are only
rumors-reports, founded only on Cos
sip. History which Is vague in the ex-
IRENE about the origin of the beautiful
Pamela Is only too explicit as to her
adventures after her marriage. Lord
Edward Fitz Gerald became prominent
in Irish politics and, like Sir Roger
Easement more than century later,
decided to cast his lot with the French
against England. Accordingly, he
crossed the channel and arranged for
a French invasion of Ireland, only to
be betrayed and hunted, with price
Of a thousand pounds upon his head.
| Those who were searching for him
kept a close watch upon his wife and
Lord Edward was finally captured in
the apartments of the lovely Pamela
who sold her Jewels and everything she
possessed in vain attempt to bride
his jailers. The Irish lord lived only
short time afterward, dying as a re-
suit of wounds which he received when
he was captured, and Pamela re-
turned to Paris where she lived unpl
her death at the age Of fifty-seven.
Even then, this woman of mystery is
described as admired and sought after;
brilliant in society, remarkable for her
loneliness Of fancy and play Of wit
a creature born to win all hearts.
Here lies what is left of her. inferred
under the single word that cloaked her
true identity.
"Who was Pamela? That, mon
sieur, is question that will probably
not be truly answered until the Day Of
Judgment"