Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1875 — THE ECCENTRICITIES OF AN AGED DANDY. [ARTICLE]

THE ECCENTRICITIES OF AN AGED DANDY.

There are but few persons who have resided in Paris for any length of time who 'do not remember the late Duke of Brunswick. whose follies, eccentricities and diamonds made him the talk of all Europe. A small volume, recently published in Paris, gives some strange and new details about this royal oddity. The Duke was born in 1804. He was the first child born to his parents, the Prince Frederick William, son and heir to the reigning Duke of Brunswick, and the Princess Marie Wilhelmina of Baden, sister of the then Empress of Russia and to the Queen of Sweden. The Duke’s youth, was a stormy and an adventurous one. His grandfather was killed at the battle of Jena, being blinded by a ball which put out both of his eyes, and he was borne from the field only to die a few days later of his wounds; and the ducal family were driven from their dominions. His father fell at the battle of Waterloo, and the young and throneless Duke was consigned to the guardianship of Ids uncle by marriage, George IV. The negotiations of Prince Metternich restored our hero to the throne of his fathers when he was nineteen years old. Two years later he contracted, while in England, a morganatic union with a young English lady of great beauty, Lady Charlotte Colville. ’The only ■child of this uidon, the Countess de Cirrey, was that daughter with whom he afterward had such a long and scandalous lawsuit. On the 7th of September, 1830, the revofution broke out which drove the adventurous Prince from his throne, and thereafter began the wandering, eccentric life which ended at Geneva a few years ago. According to his French biographer the Duke had a great influence in conferring upon France the doubtful blessing of the late Empire. One d?ty while Prince Louis Napoleon was a prisoner at Ham there came to him a messenger, bringing with him a paper which he presented to the Princg tor his signature. The Prince signed it and the man departed, leaving behind him as the price of that signature a package containing 800,000 francs—the golden key which was to unlock for the captive his prison doors. This man was M. Smith, Chief Treasurer to the Duke of Brunswick, and the paper was a treaty by which the two crownless exiles pledged themselves, the one to re-establish the Duke upon his throne, and to form, if possible, a united Germany, and the other to aid Prince Louis to gain his uncle’s crown. After the coup d'etat the Duke installed himself permanently in Paris. He purchased on the Rue Beaujon, near the Arc de Triomphe, the hotel which had formerly belonged to Lola Montez. There he

caused to be erected the huge and curious structure which, with its rose-colored walls and profuse gilding, seemed the very realization of a palace in a fairy tale. Into this marvelous building but few persons were allowed to penetrate. To effect a surreptitious entrance was almost an impossibility. The walls surrounding the house were of immense height and were covered by gilded spikes, with all of which an electric apparatus was so con•nepted that if one of them were touched a chime of electric bells was instantly set in motion. To gain entrance the would-be visitor must come provided with a password, a letter of introduction, or some potent or unmistakable reason for being admitted. Once within the walls he was introduced into an elevator lined with blue satin, which bore him gently to the ante-chamber of tlie Duke’s apartments. The bedroom of this eccentric gentleman was made entirely of iron—walls, ceiling and floor alike. It was, in fact, an immense iron cage, wherein the ex-sovereign, thanks to a dozen complicated pieces of machinery, could bid defiance to the thieves, and assassins, the fear of which poisoned his existehce. At one side of this apartment, and only to .be opened with its secret key, was a closet containing the gigantic strong-box, wherein was deposited his marvelous collection of diamonds. The strong-box, in itself a marvel of mechanism, was suspended by Tour chains in the cavity which it occupied, beneath which was a well dug deep beneath the foundations of the hotel, so that the Duke had but to press a spring to cause his treasure chest to disappear from view. Besides which, the closet was so constructed that, had anyone unacquainted with the secret lock essayed to open it, he would have received the discharge of a number of concealed gun-barrels arranged like a mitrailleuse. In his coffer tlie Duke kept hot only his diamonds but his bank-notes,his pajiers and his ingots of gold, manydf which, to escape from prying ing eyes and fingers, he caused to be disguised as cakes of chocolate. In that iron

box was ipclosed all that life held forhlm of interest or love. He was as much-afraid of assassins as Syvas of thieves, and surrounded his life th as many precautions as he did his jffealth. He never employed a cook, never jihrtaking at home of any food except a .cup of chocolate, which he prepared himself by the aid of a spirit lamp. The milk for this chocolate was brought to him direct from thecountry in a locked silver can, one key of which never left him, and the other was deposited with the farmer who supplied him, precautions which did not hinder him from insisting that his valet should always taste the first spoonful of the beverage when prepared. He always took his dinner at one of the great restaurants of the Boulevard, preferring usually the Maison d’Or. Once, when he was detained in the house by some slight indisposition, the Marquis de Planty, who was then his physician, scolded him fpr eating nothing but sweets when at home.' But he could not persuade the Duke to have a steak or a chop prepared for himself in his oWn house; he was forced to go out, to have the meal cooked himself, and to bring it to his royal patient', who exacted from him a solemn oath that he never lost sight of the eatables for a moment. Reassured on this point, the Duke made short work of his dinner, which he declared to have been the best he had ever eaten. He was, however, nothing of a gourmand, eating little, and never drinking wine, which had been forbidden to him in his youth by his physician, his usual beverage being ordinary beer. He was extravagantly fond, however, of fruits, ices', preserves and bonbons, of which he partook on all occasions without much regard to ceremony. Sometimes his magnificent carriage, with its four splendid horses, would be seen drawn up before the door of a fruiterer’s shop, while the proprietor of the equipage, seated therein, was engaged in devouring piles of peaches or of grapes, which were brought to him from the shop. At other times, when taking ices at Tortoni’s, he would pay largely for the privilege of going down into the kitchen and eating the ice-cream direct from the freezer. His great delight was to enter a confectioner’s shop and to eat as long and as much as he liked from the various piles of bonbons and crystallized fruits, leaving behind him on his departure two or three gold-pieces to pay for his depredations. He passed nearly his whole time in the house. He remained in bed, where he read, wrote and received his intimate friends, till about four o’clock in the afternoon, after which his toilet always took up an immense time, so Jhat during a great part of the year he never saw the sun. The excessive care which he took of his person and the artificial character of his make-up are matters of public notoriety. He painted his face, or caused it to be painted, with all the minuteness and artistic finish that might be bestowed upon - a water-cokir drawing. His beard, on the culture of which he bestowed much time, was combed, perfumed and dyed daily. As to his wigs, he possessed them by dozens; and in respect to these wigs and his manner of using them an amusing story is told. A celebrated dame of the demimonde being presented to the Duke at the opera one evening, expressed to him an ardent desire to inspect the wonders of the fairy place of which she had heard so much. The Duke gallantly promised that she should have that pleasure that very evening, after the opera. Accordingly, when the performance was over he escorted her to his' hotel, took her up-Stairs by means of the satin-lined elevator, and introduced her into a dimlylighted room, where he left her under the pretext of ordering more lamps. The lady waited some minutes for his return, and finally, becoming impatient, she began to look about her to discover where she was. To her amazement, she saw in one corner Of the room a head which stared at her with motionless and glassy eyes. She rushed in terror to the door, but found that it was fastened on the outside. , A second glance around the ‘dimly-lighted apartment revealed the fact that she was surrounded by heads, not five, or ten, or twenty, but thirty, all of which bore a ghastly likeness to the Duke himself. Her persistent shrieks at last brought to her assistance a lackey, who opened the door and released her. This mysterious apartment was simply the room where the Duke kept his wigs, and the heads were wax models of his own countenance, each differing slightly in coloring or in the arrangement of the hair. Each day the Duke made choice of the particular wig and style of visage which he wished to assume, and his valet was charged with the task of reproducing the color of the wax model upon his features.

His dress was always extremely elegant, though sometimes very eccentric. He delighted in embroidered dressing-gowns and in magnificent uniforms. Among his servants was numbered for years a magnificent negro, black as jet, and of colossal stature, who, attired in the Mameluke costume of the very richest materials, covered with embroideries and blazing with diamonds, was always on guard in the ante-chamber of the Duke’s palace, or else waited for him in the vestibule of any house in which he went as a guest. Some one once asked this magnificent attendant concerning the duties of his post. “I’m for looks and not for use,” he made answer, showing his snowy teeth. One night at a ball given by Prince Jerome Bonaparte the Duke’s carriage was delayed for a few moments. The negro came forward to announce its arrival, and immediately he was surrounded by a number of the guests, who were curious to see this splendid specimen of servitude, whereupon the Duke, in his impatience, cried out: “ Selim, clear the way there! Draw your saber, and cut me down some hall a dozen of these imnortinant nrmif nx/m .. . _ . p”->« v.vwiuiup ; - _ Imagine the effect of this outburst in the midst of a crowd composed of the most elegant ladles and the highest dignitaries of the new Empire! If there was anything on earth that the Duke loved better than diamonds it was a lawsuit. He would go to law about the merest trifle or the most insignificant sum. Once he sued a washerwoman about a bill of seven francs. A single watch, which he sent to a jeweler to be repaired, and of which the back was formed of a single ruby, was in itself the subject of twelve lawsuits. The erection of his hotel on the Rue Beaujon furnished occasion for ten more! He said hitnself, just before he died, that he had squandered millions in that way, and that justice was a lottery. As to his diamonds, he consecrated fabulous sums to the formation of his «ollection, which speedily became celebrated throughout Europe. Among the most remarkable of the trinkets which he possessed was a pair of epaulets, formed, not of gold thread, but of magnificent yellow diamonds from Brazil. They were valued at $200,000 each, and were exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1855, watched day and night by four policemen, who took turns in mounting guard over

the, crystal case which contained this treasure. TheSe epaulets gave rise one evening to a curious ■ and comical scene. It was at a ball given by the Count de Nieqwerkerke. The Duke, in the uniform of a Brunswickian General, was blazing with diamonds, and had on the famous epaulets. A lady, passing by, remarked to the person who accompanied her: “ Only look at those epaulets, made of topazes!” “Topazes, madam!” cried the Duke, ' indignant at the insult offered to his jewels; “they are diamonds —the finest yellow diamonds of Brazil. Look well at them if you never saw any before.” Thus adjured, the lady, nothing loth, examined minutely the dazzling epaulets; then she passed to the orders that the Duke wore and so prolonged her inspection that she attracted a number of other lady spectators, and the Duke was soon surrounded by a crowd of ladies, all admiring his gorgeous gems and causing him to resemble very much a Palais Royal window with its throng of gazers. He never forgot nor forgave the broken promise of Napoleon 111. to reinstate him on his paternal throne. One day, being present at some scientific experiments shown before that sovereign on reducing diamonds to vapor, the Emperor offered, laughing, to sacrifice all his diamonds to the cause of science if the Duke would do as much.

“Ah, sire!" made answer the Duke, with a meaning glance, “1 am only a poor exile and am forced to be economical. Were I ever to have the happiness of mounting a throne as your Majesty has done I would promise to be more generous—and I keep my promises.” His daughter’s conversion to Catholicism seemed to arouse in his breast a terrible enmity against her. Up to that time he had treated her as became his acknowledged child, but afterward whatever heart he possessed seemed closed against her. When she married the Count de Cirrey, though he gave his consent to the alliance, he was only represented at the ceremony by one of his chamberlains. Prayers, entreaties and finally long years of lit'gation were exhausted in the effort to make him provide for her and for her childrep., but in vain. An adverse decision of tlie French tribunal in this question drove him from his fairy palace on the Rue Beauion to Geneva. No particle of his immense wealth was bequeathed to the Countess. He at first intended to leave his whole fortune to the Prince Imperial, and a will to that effect was actually drawn up. When the war with Prussia was declared the Duke, then once more installed in Paris, hastened to remind Louis Napoleon of the old compact between them, and claimed from him in advance, as the conqueror of Germany, the fulfillment of his ancient-.

promise. But a few weeks later the Duke was forced to fly with his diamonds from -before the advancing legions of the Prussians. He took refuge anew in Geneva, and there, in March, 1871, he drew up the new will, which constituted the city of Geneva his sole heir. On the 18th of August, 1873, he was engaged in a game of chess quite late in the afternoon; suddenly he arose, and saying to his adversary: “Do not cheat me," he passed into the next room. These were his last words. When his attendants, surprised that he did not return, went to seek him, they found him in the agonies of death, and in a few moments he expired. Thus ended that strange, heartless, eccentric, useless life whose commencement had been surrounded with such a halo of romance and chivalry. It was this sudden death that preserved to the city of Geneva the inheritance of the eccentric old voluptuary, who had scandalized its Calvinistic walls by his manners for three years past. Having carelessly thrown some water from a tumbler out of a window, it had drenched a passer-by, who forthwith threatened the Duke with legal proceedings. Furious at the threat, he resolved to tear up his will, to return to Paris and to turn his back on ungrateful Geneva forever. He would restore his rosy Parisian palace which had been sadly damaged during the Commune; he would go back to the delights of his Parisian life. His lawyer and his steward had been sent for and preparations for his departure had already been begun. But, before he could make ready, he was summoned to depart on a long journey, and one which knows no return. His undestroyed will bequeathed his treasures to the city wherein he breathed his last, and Charles, Duke of Brunswick, degenerate descendant of the heroes of Jena and of Waterloo, took his place amid the faded figures of a forgotten past.