The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1930-09-19
HISTORY'S
MYST ERlES
The Lost Ambassador

w last century, 1t became neces-
| sary to transmit certain papers OF
great diplomatic Importance from the
Court of st. James to that Of the
Emperor Francis of Austrla--docu-
ments which urged Austria to declare
war against NapoleOn-the man
chosen for this delicate mission was
young diplomat named Benjamin
Bathurst, son of Lord Bishop Bathurst
Of Norwich.
Young Bathurst had been In the
service Of the foreign Office for several
years and had always showed himself
to be as dependable as he was fear
less and his journey to Vienna was
made practically without incident.
While he was still at the Austrian
capital there occurred the famous bat
tie OF Wagram, followed by an armis-
tice and peace highly favorable to the
NapOleonic forces. Bathurst, however,
was informed In no mild terms that
he had incurred the displeasure of the
French emperor by reason of his ex-
plot In reaching the Austrian court In
that nation into the conflict and. when
he started on his return trip to Lon
don, he purposely took an indirect
route leading through Trieste and
Malta In order to escape the vengeance
OF Bonaparte. In addition, he trav-
eled under the incognito Of Herr
Koch, travelling merchant" and his
attendants as well as himself were
heavily armed.
Nothing occurred until Bathurst ar
rived at Perlburg, on the road to Ham,
burg, where the party stopped at
noon. His secretary and his valet re-
ported later that the young diplomat
had been absolutely fearless during
the Journey and did not appear to be
In the least troubled by the dangers
through which he had passed un-
scathed. AS Bathurst sat at dinner In
the Inn Of the White Swan, however,
the maid who was serving him saw
him glance up suddenly and, as she
later phrased 1t, "Turn white as
ghost and shake as II he had been
stricken with the palsy" Wheeling
around, she caught fieeting glimpse
OF mans back, moving rapidly away
from the window-but that was all.
Immediate search Of the premises was
made, without result. No suspicious
characters had been seen and no
strangers had been reported, save the
usual MONDAY arrivals at the inn.
After finishing his dinner, Bathurst
Informed his secretary that he would
alter his plans and remain at the inn
overnight, pressing On toward Ham
burg In the morning. Then he went
to the commandant OF the army post
nearby and stating that he had rea-
son to believe that his life was In
danger, requested an armed guard
around the inn at night. Soldiers
were accordingly detailed az an addi-
tional protection and Gordon of them
was thrown about the inn at sunset.
About two hours later Bathurst
stepped outside the door Of the inn
but not outside the circles Of armed
guards-to make certain that his
horses were ready to continue their
Journey on the following day. Accord
ing to the accounts of those present
at the time the Englishman could not
have gone more than five steps with
out being visible to some Of the SOL
diery. But, despite all the precau-
tions, he disappeared as completely as
IL the earth had opened and swal-
lowed him!
Some fifteen minutes later, alarmed
by his masters failure to return,
Bathurst's valet started In search of
him, only to find that the young Dip
iOmat had never even reached the
stables behind the inn, nor did the
most thorough search Of the surround
ing country bring any clue to light
until, nearly month later, two peas
ants In search Of firewood came across
q pair Of trousers such as Bathurst
had worn, concealed In the forest
some two miles distant. The trousers
were stained with blood and, in one
OF the pockets, was a half-written let
ter to Mrs. Bathurst, informing her
that certain Count d'Entraigues, a
French spy, had been seen nearby and
that Bathurst himself feared that he
might never return to England alive.
Was d'Enraigues the man whom
Bathurst had seen through the win
dow Of the inn1 The supposition ap-
pears to be likely, but, even granting
that 1t were, how did the Frenchman
succeed In capturing Bathurst under
the very eyes OF his own men and the
armed guards? Also, what disposition
was made OF the Englishman's body.
for the river was dragged and the
country searched for miles around
without locating another clue. How
ever, In tearing down a house near
the inn nearly forty years later, the
skeleton Of man was found buried
under the floor, but this was never
and the disappearance of
Benjamin Bathurst remains one of
the mysteries OF the, Napoleonic wars
particularly since the Count dEn-
traigues was murdered q short time |
after Bathurst vanished.
Ia by the wheeLer Syndfoato,