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vol. title: Miscellaneous Scraps from January 1st 1878 vol. period: 1875-1878 pages in vol.: 153 |
The Adventures of a Princess
The name of Prince Suvaroff is not only one of the greatest in Russia, but is a perfectly familiar one throughout the civilized world. The present head of the house is a gentleman about 75 years of age, a general aide-de-camp of the Czar and his most intimate personal friend. The family was never particularly rich, but the Crown was always most liberal toward its members, and habits of reckless extravagance were thus encouraged among them. The old General has always been heavily in debt, but managed to maintain a fair reputation for probity in money transactions. The case of his son, a young officer of the Guards, was a different one. He had scarcely reached the rank of lieutenant when he had exhausted all his credit, and notwithstanding frequent donations from his father and from the Czar, he was constantly pursued by his creditors.
For the sake of escaping from such an annoying position, he married a very rich girl, daughter of the well-known millionaire, Bazilevsky. Like the Günzburgs and the Garfunkels, Bazilevsky made his fortune in the fermage, an operation which consisted in buying from the Government the right of levying the excise on whiskey through certain portions of the country. When the fermage system was abolished, Bazilevsky invested his already immense fortune in Siberian gold mines, and is said to have increased it ten-fold. His lavishness became the wonder of Europe, and his Parisian mansion, now the home of the ex-Queen Isabella, was considered, some years ago, to be the handsomest private dwelling of that city.
The daughter of this rich plebeian was handsome, her dowry amounted to millions, and the young Prince Suvaroff was most happy to secure her hand. For a few years the young couple were an obiect of wonder and admiration in all the capitals of Europe.
All at once a dark cloud came upon them. One day, when they were at St. Petersburg, all the diamonds of the young Princess suddenly disappeared from her dressing room. An inquiry was made by the police, and led to the unpleasant discovery that the husband was the person who had abstracted and pawned them. A violent family scene took place, but with the aid of the old Prince and the old Bazilevsky, things were so arranged that the pawnbroker surrendered the jewels on receipt of some cash and some well endorsed promissory notes.
The diamonds were but a few weeks at home when the young Prince, being again hard up for pocket money, repeated the pawning experiment. This time the scandal became public, and the angry Czar expelled the young Prince from the Guards and sent him to fight the Circassians in the Caucasus.
The Princess left Russia, took up her abode in Paris, and was for a number of years, together with Princess Rimsky-Korssakoff, the great lioness of Paris, of Nice, Monaco, Trouville, and any other place where the fast and fashionable world happened to be congregating. Her life, since her separation from her husband, seems to have been a romance in the style of Arsène Houssaye, and had, according to the Paris correspondent of the London Truth, the following denouement:
I have endeavored to convey to you one of the French meanings attached to the phrase, un homme aimable. A better example than Marc Antony occurs to me. He is a chapman and commission agent, named Delalage, who last summer scraped an acquaintance with the Princess Suvaroff at Aix. She being short of money for her hotel bill, asked him to lend her 12,000 francs, and mentioned to him the hours when she was at home. He called on her, and was not received as amiably as he expected, though he comported himself with the reserve and delicacy which a man who had, under the circumstances related, become the creditor of so great a lady, owed to her. His only object in visiting her was to assure her that his purse was at her service. The Princess, in a few days, quitted Aix, and went to Lausanne, when M. Delalage again met her. He asked for the 12,000 francs. She wrote to him to apologize for non-payment, and alleged that her affairs had been deranged by the war. Other correspondence and another loan followed. Promise of gracious civility was given in the Princess's manner before she drew the money; but when Delalage renewed his calls, the servants were instructed to treat him as an importunate dun. Finally, the Princess emigrated to America. M. Delalage wrote to her mother, the rich Madame Bazilevsky, who resides at St. Petersburg in winter, and at Orienbaum in summer. No answer being returned, he brought his grievance before the Civil Tribunal. The letters the illustrious debtor wrote at Lausanne were read in court. This small vengeance was the only satisfaction the amiable M. Delalage obtained. “Où il n’y a rien, le Roi perd ses droits.” The smart Princess had made over all her seizable property in France to a relative, in the enjoyment of her confidence.
The Princess is now at the Windsor Hotel, in this city. She has gone comparatively little into society, although her friends have pressed her to do so. At the Charity Ball she engaged one of the proscenium boxes and made every preparation for coming, but was prevented by a sudden attack of illness. At the Liederkranz masquerade at the Academy of Music her magnificent diamonds attracted general attention. Her friends deny the report of her separation from her husband, and say that the latter is still with the army in Turkey. The statements in regard to her financial difficulties in France are also contradicted.
The Princess is about 40 years of age, and of commanding presence. Her complexion is a pale blonde. She lives very quietly at the Windsor, and though frequently invited to mingle more in the social life of upper tendom, has so far confined her visits to her intimate friends. She does not expect to remain in America more than a few weeks longer, and would have sailed for home sooner but for the tempestuous weather. The Princess is accompanied by her nephew, the Count Kalouvrat.
Japanese Miracle Workers
Among the arrivals yesterday on the steamship City of Peking were two priests from the interior of Japan, claiming to be endowed with miraculous power. They are on their way to the Paris Exposition with a party of their countrymen, conducted by two English gentlemen who have for several years resided in Japan. A reporter interviewed these gentlemen last evening. They told him that the priests are religious enthusiasts, who profess, through the power of faith and by the medium of prayer, to be enabled to do the most remarkable things—such as are recorded in the Christian gospels as in the power of the followers of Jesus—referring to those passages which speak of their being able to remove mountains, and to swallow deadly poisons without harm. One of the miraculous things that these priests are able to do is to walk with naked feet over the edges of swords ground to the keenness of a razor, and also over a bed of live coals. They never attempt this without a formal and fervent appeal to their divinity for protection, and they assert most positively that it would be imposible for them to perform the works they do without divine interference in their behalf. They intend to exhibit these remarkable powers in Paris during their stay, and will challenge the devotees of the Christian or any other faith to do the things that they do. In answer to an inquiry whether they would exhibit their powers in this country, the gentlemen said that such was not their intention.
The Souvoroff Outrage
The New York Times of this morning says: Detective Thompson, of the Central Office, to whom has been intrusted the case of blackmail in which the Princess Souvoroff, of Russia, figures so prominently, up to last night had not succeeded in obtaining a definite clue to the guilty person. Last night the Princess sent the appended letter, written and signed by herself in English, to the editor of the paper in which the offensive publication was made. Count Kalouvrat, her nephew, personally carried the letter to the editor, and refused to deliver it until the editor signed a receipt for it. The letter, after considerable parley, was accepted and a receipt signed for it, which the Count carried to the Princess. The following is a literal copy of the Princess’ letter:
“Feb. 26, 1878.—Sir: I am just after reading an infamous article in your paper entitled “The Adventures of a Princess,” which not only attacks my private life, but also the honorable name I possess. It is my duty to defend my father-in-law’s name. He is a respectable gentleman, honored by every one in his own country. I also defend the name of my husband, from whom I am not separated, and with whose authority I came abroad on account of my health. I am astonished that you took the responsibility to publish such an outrageous article on a lady foreigner, whose thought was that she would be hospitably treated in America, as all foreigners are treated in her country. As to your … of any emigration. I beg you to understand that I love my country, or would emigrate from it, and also have … honourable a name to do so. In recapitulating every odious line of this article, I am reminded of a letter I lately received from an individual signing himself Pierre de Mokizski, and who threatened to write some outrageous articles against me in a New York paper, should I not let him have the sum of $25. I regret that this individual, whose business is of a most cowardly character, should have chosen your paper as a battlefield to attack a lady foreigner in.
“Hoping, sir, that you will publish this letter in your paper, I remain, yours, respectfully,
Mr. Waite, of the Windsor Hotel, is very indignant over the affair, and has taken steps for the most thorough investigation, and will spare no pains to secure the arrest and punishment of the person who has so annoyed the Princess. The Count Kalouvrat, acting for the Princess, went to the Fifty-seventh street Police Court yesterday for the purpose of obtaining, if possible, a warrant for the arrest of the publishers of the offensive article. He was informed that a warrant could not be issued in the case. Upon subsequent legal advice, the Princess resolved upon an entirely different course and one that will be rigidly pursued, and which will tend to make the case not only celebrated but also of international importance. The black-mail having been attempted through the post office, the offence comes within the jurisdiction of the National Government. The person principally attacked in the publication was the Princess’ father-in-law, Prince Souvoroff. He was charged with being an extravagant gambler, a creditor not only of his Government but of most of his acquaintances. His son, the younger Prince Souvoroff, the Princess’ husband, was charged with the same offences as those imputed to his father, with the additional one of robbing his wife of $10,000 worth of diamonds twice to pay gambling debts, and for which it was alleged he was discharged from his position in the army and exiled to Circassia. The elder Prince Souvoroff is Inspector-General of all the Russian Infantry, and chief aide-de-camp to the Czar. The charges made against him, if not true, are libelous in the extreme, because they allege offences for which, according to the laws of Russia, he should be …pelled from office and punished. …des, they ca… serious … the …or’s Government, and imply a… form …ficial corruption. The younger Prince is …de-de-camp to the Czar also, and the charges against him being even more serious than those against his father, his retention in the Russian service in the event of their truth, is a still worse reflection upon the Imperial Government. The attention of the Russian Government will be called to the publication, and effort made through it to have the United States Government take the matter up, the black-mail having been carried on through the United States Post Office.
The Princess Souvoroff is utterly crushed by the affair. When a reporter called upon her last evening she was in tears. Her room was in confusion, incident to preparation for a long journey. The Princess said she had made up her mind to terminate her visit to this country and return home. She had intended to remain here some time, and travel extensively for her health, which is very poor; but she regarded her treatment as so outrageous that she had settled up her affairs, taken passage in the Cunard steamship Scythia, and would sail for Europe this morning at 11 o’clock. The Princess said that she did not care for herself, but for her father-in-law’s good name.
Mlle. Anna Michelini, the Princess’s traveling companion, said: “I think there never was anything so mean as this. The Princess came here under orders from her physicians. She is alone, without her husband, and on that account, being a woman, should be entitled to respectful consideration, without regard to her rank or noble house. But she has hardly entered the country before her father-in-law and husband are assailed in a scandalous manner. The Princess is in poor health, but this has utterly shattered her spirits. She feels that she has been degraded because she has been dragged into publicity and compelled to make explanations. The Princess dreads traveling on the sea at this season of the year. She seems to have a presentment of a dangerous voyage, but she will go through anything to escape a country whose hospitality is so outrageous. It is a shame.”
(See Two pages)
Editor's notes