USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > Loretto > Souvenir of Loretto centenary, October 10, 1899 : 1799-1899 ,Saint Michael's Catholic Church > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01226 6133
GENEALOGY 974.802 L88S
1799 1899
SOUVENIR OF LORETTO CENTENARY
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OCTOBER 10 1899
CRESSON. PA .: SWOPE BROS .. PRINTERS.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/souveniroflorett00kitt
PREFACE.
1
HE following work is simply what its title indicates,-a Souvenir of the Centenary of this parish, the oldest in Western Pennsylvania. It makes no pretence to originality, but is merely a compilation of papers, facts, names and dates, which show forth the progress made during the century just closed, and furnish valuable and interesting data for the future historian of the church in this diocese. Even as a compilation it is far from perfect, for its matter was collected and arranged during the hours that could be spared from a busy pastoral life: and many items, well worthy of being recorded, have been passed without notice, and others, herein noted, have been inadequately treated. Such as it is, how- ever, it is offered to the public in the hope that whatever measure of success it may meet with may stimulate other pastors to diligently gather, and to preserve in permanent and easily accessible form, the records of their respective parishes, and to collect the fragments of parochial history, lest they be forever lost. Such work will be appreciated in future years.
The compiler desires to express here his lasting grati- tude to the contributors of various papers included in this Souvenir: to Mr. John J. McCormick, of Wilmore, and to the Pittsburg Catholic, for valuable historical and biographical notes; and to Rev. Regis Canevin, Rector of St. Paul's Cath- edral, Pittsburg, and Rev. Brother Angelus, Superior of the
IV
Franciscan Brothers, Loretto, for timely and appreciated .assistance on the occasion of the celebration of our Centenary. FERDINAND KITTELL.
St. Michael's Church. Loretto. Pa.
December 1, 1599.
NOTE .-. On page 76 it is stated that "the whole popula- tion of the parish ...... numbers 1234 souls." A more care- ful revision of the returns of the Consus taken on August 15th, brings the total number up to 1326.
The "Memoranda of Rev. M. W. Gibson," page 79, were written in his old age from memory, which failed him when he stated that he was appointed pastor of Worcester, Mass., in 1843. It was not until the spring of the following year that he left Loretto, for his baptisms and marriages are re- corded in his own handwriting all through the year 1843, down to February 21, 1844.
CONTENTS.
PART FIRST.
-
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF FATHER GALLITZIN 1 LOCAL HISTORICAL NOTES
First Settlement on the Alleghenies 27
Inscription on Tombstone of Capt. Michael McGuire 31
Captain Richard McGuire 31
Other Pioneers 32
Father Gallitzin 33
Father Gallitzin at Wilmore 38
The Wilmore Family 39
Extracts from Father Callitzin's Letters 40
His Chief Persecutor Retracts 43
He is a Total Abstainer 45 .
He Endeavors to have Loretto made an Episcopal See His Opinion of Mendicant Friars, and His Defence of Father MeGirr
48
He is Empowered by Act of Assembly to Resume His Family Surname 53
Captain McGuire's Company 53
Father Gallitzin's Life in Peril 54
His Death and Funeral 57
His Monument 59
Mission at Loretto, 1851 60
Visit of Monsignor Bedini, the Papal Nunzio . 62
Dedication of the Brick Church 64
Collapse of Church Floor 66
Pastors and Assistants since 1840 66
Index of Parish Records, 1800-1896 69
The Borough of Loretto 71
Act Incorporating the Borough 72
Supplement to the above 75
Loretto Notes . .
76
Memoranda of Rev. M. W. Gibson 79
Dates in Local History 88
7.1
PART SECOND.
MATRIMONIAL AND BAPTISMAL RECORDS OF FATHER GALLITZIN . . .
93
REGISTER OF DEATHS, 1793-1899 165
. . . OLD INSCRIPTIONS ON HEADSTONES IN LORETTO CEM- ETERY ·
201
TWO INTERESTING DOCUMENTS, 1794-1795 206
PASCHAL COMMUNIONS, 1810 207
PASCHAL CONFESSIONS, 1811 210 .
CONFIRMATION, 1811 216
. NOTES ON FATHER GALLITZIN 219
COPY OF AN OLD DEED, 1800 231
CURIOUS NOTICES 232 .
FATHER GALLITZIN'S APPEAL FOR ASSISTANCE, 1827 232
HIS ACCOUNT WITH JOSEPH ITEL, POSTMASTER 234
. THE MURDER OF BETSY HOLDER 235
CHURCH REGISTER FROM 1841 236 287 OFFICIATING PRIESTS, 1799-1899 .
MARRIAGES AND BAPTISMS, 1799-1899 241
MINUTES OF CHURCH MANAGERS, 1844-47 242
LAST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO THE MONUMENT, 1847 243
BUILDING COMMITTEE OF BRICK CHURCH, 1847 . 245
SUBSCRIPTION TO BRICK CHURCH, 1847 .
246
SUBSCRIPTION FOR COMPLETION OF CHURCH, 1853 249
EXPENSES OF BRICK CHURCH, 1849-54 . .
250
252 ITEMS FROM CHURCH ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1848 -69 ·
EXPENSES OF CHURCH WELL 254 255 COLLECTION FOR CHURCH WELL .
MEMORANDUM OF R. SCANLAN, CONTRACTOR 255 CARROLLTOWN AND VICINITY 257
THE FRANCISCAN BROTHERS IN LORETTO 259
THE SISTERS OF MERCY IN LORETTO 266 REMINISCENCES OF FATHER LEMKE 270 .
PART THIRD.
CENSUS OF ST. MICHAEL'S PARISH, LORETTO, AUGUST 15, 1899. NAMES OF THE PARISHIONERS .
291
THE CENTENARY, OCTOBER 10, 1899. 309
. ERECTION OF THE STATUE 316
ARRIVAL OF MONSIGNOR MARTINELLI 317
THE CEREMONIES OF THE DAY 320 .
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION AND CONFIRMATION 321
. PONTIFICAL HIGH MASS. SERMON BY VERY REV. FATHER BUSH, V. G. 323 .
The UNVEILING OF THE STATUE 329
LETTERS OF REGRET
. 330
ADDRESS OF REV. FERDINAND KITTELL . 335
LETTER OF MR. AND MRS. C. M. SCHWAB DONATING NEW CHURCH 337
ADDRESS OF MR. C. M. SCHWAB 337
ADDRESS OF ARCHBISHOP IRELAND 339
ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR STONE . 352
THE PAPAL BENEDICTION 354
NOTES ON THE CENTENARY 355
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Rev. M. W. Gibson 78
Rev. Andrew P. Gibbs 81
Rev. 1I. P. Gallagher 82
Rev. William Pollard 83
Rev. Michael J. Mitchell 85
Rev. Pollard McC. Morgan 86
Rev. H. Seymour Bowen 87
Most Rev. Mgr. Martinelli, Apostolic Delegate 358
Rt. Rev. R. Phelan, D. D. 359
Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D. D. 363
Charles M. Schwab 363
Very Rev. E. A. Bush, V. G. 368
Rev. Martin Ryan 369
Rev. Ferdinand Kittell 369
Rev. William Kittell 371
Rev. R. C. Christy 372
VII
.
.
LX
Rev. Henry Mellngh 374
Rev. Thomas MeEnrne 375
Rev. Hildebert P. Connery 376
Rev. C. O. Rosensteel 377
Rev. Thomas W. Rosensteel 379
Rev. JJohn C. McAteer 380
Rev. Francis C. Noel
381 382
Rev. George W. Kaylor
Rev. P. H. Lemke . 32
Rev. M. W. Gibson 48
The Tomb of Father Gallitzin 59
Rev. H. P. Gallagher .
64
St. Michael's Church, 1899 65
Rev. Jos. A. Gallagher . 80.
William A. McGuire 81
Rev. William Pollard 96
Rev. T. S. Reynolds 112
Rev. M. J. Mitchell 128
Very Rev. E. A. Bush, V. G. 144
160
Rev. Ferdinand Kittell
176
Father Gallitzin's NOTICE
192
St. Michael's Pastoral Residence
208
Father Gallitzin's APPEAL 220
Subscriptions to Appeal 221
223
The Dever Homestead . 224 .
Summer Residence of C. M. Schwab ·
224
Father Gallitzin's Account with Joseph Itel 228
After Mass 240
The Oldest House in Loretto 240
The Loretto Jail 256
St. Francis' College 259
The Children's Home. Front View 266
The Children's Home.
Side View
269
The Village of Munster 272 .
Rear View of Church Buildings 272
First Meeting of Father Lemke and Father Gallitzin 278
The Parrish Homestead 279
.
Angustino Hott 392
FATHER GALLIMAN'S WILL 393
THE STORM FAMILY RECORD 395 THE NEW CHURCH . . 397
MEMBERSHIP OF BRANCH III. C. M. B. A. 400
MEMBERSHIP OF LORETTO COUNCIL, Y. M. I. 403
CHURCH OFFICERS
405
ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Statue Unveiled 1
Rev. D. A. Gallitzin 16
Julia Morgan Harding 26
Rev. Francis Hertzog 383
Brother Lawrence O'Donnell, O. S. F. 384
Adam Rudolph . 385
386
Mrs. Cooper, -- Mrs. McConnell
389
Thomas Wills 390
Arthur Comerford
390
Mrs. Veronica Freidhoff
391
Mrs. John Elder
396
Philip Dever
392
Rev. M. Ryan .
Recommendation of Charles Carroll of Carrollton .
.
Joseph Null · . 388
Mrs. Susan Gallagher
x
Group of Church Workers 288 Hon. James J. Thomas 289 Loretto Road Station 304 The Old Church, Chapel and Pastoral Residence 308 Chapel and Residence, 1899 313
O. E. Wilkinson
314
The Main Street of Loretto . .
315
Arrival of the Base of the Statue
316
View at Midday, October 10
319
Interior of St. Michael's Church 320
The Procession from Immergrün 328 .
The Statue Veiled
329
Gift of the New Church 336
Archbishop Ireland
338
. Archbishop Ireland Delivering His Address 34-4
Governor Stone
352
Monsignor Martinelli, the Apostolic Delegate 358
Bishop Phelan
360
Bishop Curtis 862 .
C. M. Schwab
364
St. Paul's Cathedral Choir
368
Rev. William Kittell
372
Rev. R. C. Christy
378
The Old Loretto Postoffice
373
Rev. Henry MeHugh
874
Rev. Thomas McEnrue
376
Rev. H. P. Connery . 377
Rev. C. O. Rosensteel 378
Rev. T. W. Rosensteel 380
Rev. J. C. MeAteer
381
Rev. F. C. Noel 382 Rev. Geo. W. Kaylor 383
Rev. Francis Hertzog . 384 Brother Lawrence O'Donnell 385
Adam Rudolph and Joseph Null 386
Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. McConnell 388 Mrs. Susan Gallagher 359 Thomas Wills 390
XI
Arthur Comerford .
391
Mrs. Veronica Freidhoff 391
Philip Dever Augustine Hott 393 392 . The Altar Boys 401
The Choir
402
The Church Committee
404
. The New Church.
·
CHURCH
THE STATUE UNVEILED.
PAROCHIAL HALL
SOUVENIR OF
Loretto Centenary.
PART FIRST.
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF REV. DEMETRIUS AUGUSTINE GALLITZ- IN, PRINCE, PRIEST, AND PIONEER MISSIONARY OF THE ALLEGHENIES. (CONTRIBUTED BY JULIA MORGAN HARDING.)
INCE the twelfth of October, 1492, when Columbus planted the cross for the first time on the shores of a new world, many strong souls have found there a life work, have endured torture and priva- tion, and have lost their lives in their self-imposed efforts to convert the Aborigines and to administer the rites of the Church to the hardy pioneers who had first opened a way through the American wilderness. To Francis Park- man we are indebted for a brilliant narrative of the exper- iences of the Jesuits in Canada and the lake region, and of the short-lived Catholic colonies on the southern Atlantic coast. The, noble Las Casas, the splendid figure of Mar-
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quette, the many times martyred Jogues, are themes well calculated to arouse the most eloquent of American histor- ians; but their strange environment has perhaps added some- what to the remarkable interest and reverence with whieli we approach the story of their adventures, their sufferings and alas! their failures.
The record of such work for religion does not, however, end with the last "Relation" of the Jesuit Fathers, and from their day to the present time it has been carried forward with quito as much self-sacrifice, and quite as much burning zeal, as that of the pioneer priests of New France. The workers have been for the most part unknown to the world in general, but here and there in the annals of both Church and State are preserved instances of heroic devotion and deeds of con- secrated labor which shine forth through the gathering mist of years, and, like "yon little candle, " still shed their beams upon n naughty world.
Directly in the line of this succession stands the figure of a missionary priest in a backwoods settlement in Pennsyl- vania, whose quiet life was one of persistent accomplishment in the face of serious and trying obstacles, and of unfaltering devotion to an humble work for which he relinquished a princely inheritance and a brilliant career and separated him- self forever from home and kindred.
When Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin was born at The Hague on December 22, 1770, he was welcomed as the heir to a Russian family whose pedigree was longer and nobler than that of the imperial Romanoffs; a family which had produced great generals, great statesmen, and at least one martyr in the cause of religion, and which had always held positions of importance at the Russian Court. The father of Demetrius was Prince Dmitri Alexeivich Gallitzin, at one time in high favor with the Empress Catherine, and the friend of Diderot, Voltaire, and D'Alembert, with whom he was intimate during a long residence in Paris, as Russian Ambassador. In 1768 he married the Countess Amalia von Schmettau, a sister of the Prussian Field-Marshal von Schmettau, a soldier of great celebrity in his day, and shortly afterwards went to The
LORETTO CENTENARY.
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Hague, where he lived many years and represented the Rus- sian Government. It was a period when society in the capi- tals of Europe had reached an unprecedented pitch of splen- dor and extravagance, and the Princess Amalia was plunged into a life of excitement in one of the most brilliant courts. She is described as beautiful, gracious and eager for knowl- edge, intellectual in her tastes, of a most enthusiastic tem- perament and a strong character. Though in her heart she longed for a higher life her buoyant spirits led her into the gay world, where she was so much admired that she was called "The Star of Holland."
But the brilliant and beautiful princess soon grew weary of an empty round of pleasure, and her long concealed desire to abandon it and to devote herself to her own education and that of her two children was so strengthened and encouraged by Diderot, that she finally obtained her husband's consent to her withdrawal to a simple but charmingly situated residence between The Hague and Scheveningen, which she named "Nithuys," (not at home) where for some years she led an al- . most ideal life. The children were trained in accordance with plans which for that day were unusually scientific, and though severe, were calculated to develop in them firmness, decision and healthy constitutions. Her own studies were incessant and carried her into the regions of the most ad- vaneed philosophies of the age. In her retirement she was songht by her husband's distinguished friends, and around her was a little circle which represented all that was bestand brightest in Holland.
But the lonely tranquil years at Nithuys came to an end when, after mature consideration and the consent of the prince, she removed to Muenster, at that time at the height of its fame as a University town, in order to give her son every educational advantage the world could offer. In the quaint old city many happy years were passed and agreeable as well as more sincere friendships were formed.
The story of the influences which worked a great change in the princess' character and led her into the Roman Catho- lie Church is of peculiar interest, but must only be touched
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lightly in this brief sketch of her son, who, when he was sev- enteen years of age, was confirmed in the Catholic Church, and took the name of Augustine to please his mother, who was an intense admirer of the great Bishop of Hippona, and whose own devotion and maternal love were strikingly simi- lar to those of Monica.
The young Prince had been well prepared for the part he was to play in the great world, from which, as the heir to a princely name and fortune and the nephew of a great gener- al, he had much to expect. His education, as far as book learning was concerned, was unusually broad for the times, and in all manly sports, especially in that of horsemanship, he easily excelled. He was rather tall and slight, his air was high-bred and reticent, his figure lithe, his eyes dark and brilliant. His mother's training had developed in him a shy- ness and restraint, and, in spite of her absorbing devotion, he was not at ease or even frank in her presence. Possibly this may be explained by a certain dreamy and sensitive note in his nature which she failed to understand, and by a timid reserve which grew out of the childish awe which her impe- rious and forceful character had early inspired.
The time arrived when the future of the young Prince Demetrius should be determined; but the unsettled state of Europe made all plans uncertain and any decision difficult to form. It had long been his father's intention to place him in the way of a military career, and in his twenty-first year the appointment of aide-de-camp to the Austrian General von Lillien was secured for him. He was about to take his com- mand when the order was issued that no foreigners should hold commissions in either the Austrian or Prussian army, and there seemed to be no other military career opened to him save in Russia. While considering the advisability of sending the young Prince to that country, General von Schmettau suggested that it might be of great advantage to remove him from Europe for a period, for the terrible uncer- tainty and the threatened collapse of old existing institu- tions made a successful career most doubtful; and more- over might exert a deteriorating influence on a character
LORETTO CENTENARY.
5
which his nearest friends persisted in thinking was still un- formed.
The elder Prince, while at The Hague, had formed a friendship and had conceived a profound admiration for John Adams who had there represented the United States. The prince was a broad-minded man, deeply interested in the American experiment, and when the theme was broached that Demetrius should travel for two years in the New World he at once expressed approval, feeling, as he said, that in the existing revolutionary state of Europe his son would be no- where under such calm and well ordered influence as that of his friend, John Adams, and the President, George Washing- ton, for whom he entertained a great respect. The plan was discussed from every point of view, though Demetrius him- self seems not to have been especially consulted; and the final arrangement placed the young man under the care of a trav- eling companion, a young priest, Rev. Felix Brosius, who was about entering on a missionary career in the United States. His father instructed him carefully in all that he knew of American affairs, and his mother procured for him froni the Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim a letter of introduction to Bishi- op Carroll of Baltimore, a brother of the Signer, who she trusted would keep him firm in his religion, and would have over him a fatherly care. It was the decision of the prince and the general that Demetrius should lay aside his princely title and estate, and should travel in America under the un- pretentious name of Mr. Schmet, an abbreviation of von Schiettau. This was in accordance with the custom of the times and relieved him from the expense of a retinue and the inconvenience of constantly living in a state befitting his rank; and, more than all, would, in the opinion of his mother, pre- vent his being spoiled by adulation. At the last moment it was with sudden, swift-coming regret and sad premonitions that this Spartan Monica accompanied her son to the pier from which he was to sail. He, too, was overwhelmed with direful presentiments. His timid, long controlled nature could scarcely endure the impending relaxation of the stern, though well intentioned, rule under which he had. hitherto
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lived; he was afraid of the sea, of the strange lands and peo- ple, of everything, and most of all, of himself. He implored his mother to let him stay; and when his eyes quailed under her flashing gaze and indignant acensation of cowardice he was so overcome with varied emotions that he lost his bal- ance and fell backward into the ocean. Being an expert swimmer he was soon rescued and having thus, as it were, emerged from a sea of doubt, indifference and inexperience, he entered upon a new life and into a new world.
On the twenty-eighth day of October, 1792, Prince Demet- rius Angustine Gallitzin arrived in Baltimore, the most im- portant town in the first Catholic colony in the United States, and the headquarters of the Catholic Church in America. Accompanied by his friend Brosius, he presented his letter to Bishop Carroll, whose kindness and cordial welcome made the young Russian feel instantly at home.
The stately, aristocratic ecclesiastic, whose life was given to the work of organizing the Church in the United States, found that it was out of the question to allow Prince Demet- rius to accompany Brosius to his mission, and equally impos- sible to permit the latter to travel, as the princess had ex- pected, with her son. So for some time Demetrius re- mained in Baltimore, showing no inclination to make use of the letters of introduction to prominent families in other cities with which Bishop Carroll had provided him. There was plenty of time, he said. For the first time in his life he was his own guide, free from the dominion of the strong minds of his mother and her advisors, and from the keenly critical observation in whose focus he had always lived. The fierce light of love and ambition which beat upon him had blinded the eyes of those who most cared for him, and had only refracted the manifestation of his true character, making his very strength appear weakness.
This sudden relaxation left him open and sensitive to new impressions, and new thoughts came crowding into his mind. The freedom and the peace of the New World life, its simplicity and quiet, were mediums through which his soul looked out and saw a new purpose, a different career from
LORETTO CENTENARY.
7
that to which his family had destined him. All at once his way was illuminated, and he could no longer remain in doubt of the fact that his duty and his desire were one. Ho says himself of his decision to give up his travels and to adopt the priestly vocation, that he was led to it because, the unex- pected and incredible progress of the Jacobins; the subver- sion of social order and religion, and the dreadful convulsions in all the countries of Europe on one side, compared with the tranquil, peaceable and happy situation of the United States, together with some consideration on the vanity of wordly grandeur and preferment, caused him to renounce his schemes of pride and ambition and to embrace the clerical profession for the benefit of the American mission.
Bishop Carroll was unfeignedly embarrassed by Demet- rius' resolve to abandon the life planned out for him by his parents, and to renounce his high position and estate in Rus- sia, where an exalted military appointment awaited him and where the almost royal rank of his family opened to him hon- ors, favors, and distinctions; and it was known to all con- cerned in the matter that by the law of the Empire Demet- rius would be disinherited the moment he entered the priest- hood. The Bishop wrote to the princess, telling her of her son's unalterable resolve, and at twenty years of age De- metrius Gallitzin, born to a life of ease and wealth, entered the Sulpician Seminary in Baltimore, and chose a life of toil, privation and self-denial for his own. As soon as the strange news reached his friends in Europe echoes of the storm of disappointment and reproach began to assail him, and letter after letter arrived begging him to reconsider what his fam- ily felt to be a rash and ill-considered step which he would soon regret having taken. To his mother to whom Prince Demetrius had ever seemed strangely lacking in force and character, and who had no confidence in his consistency of spirit, came the fear that her son was unconsciously deceiv- ing himself, that he had no true vocation, that he would be in- competent and ever unworthy to fill so great an office; she dreaded the effect of the news upon his father who she knew would be bitterly disappointed and even unreasonably angry;
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and it was many months before his own letters and those of his superior and the Bishop convinced her of the profound strength of his convictions and of his purpose, wherenpon she rejoiced over his perseverance and was assured that his vo- cation was real.
To the prince his father, to General von Schmettau his uncle, conrtiers and men of the great world, Demetrins' choice seemed naccountable and hateful; for in it they saw forever buried the splendor of the family and their ambition for its further distinction at the imperial court. It took some time for the progress of events to change Prince Gallitzin's outlook and his opinion of court life and court favors and to enable him to see the wisdom of a step which forever removed his son from the ingratitude and uncertainties of a worldly life at a court, where religion and high principles counted for naught.
While stormy, reproachful, beseeching letters were pass- ing back and forth over the Atlantic, in those days a much wider ocean than in these, Demetrius' life in the Seminary was beautiful and strenuous in his effort to overcome his faults and weaknesses, and it is of interest to read that Bishop Car- roll insisted upon his giving much time to the study of Amer- ican geography, history and forms of government. He joined the society of St. Sulpice, evidenced great piety and sanctity and many signs of steadiness of purpose; and was finally or- dained a priest on one of the spring Ember Days, March 18, 1795, a little less than three years from the time of his leav- ing Europe.
Thus was fulfilled the desire expressed by the young Prince when in his seventeenth year he was confirmed in the Catholic Church and declared his wish to become a priest. At that time his father wasindignant and his mother distrust- ful; and in the story of his life nothing seems more remark- able than the complete misunderstanding as to his funda- mental character which existed in the mind of the Princess Amalia, that brilliant and devoted parent, and her consequent attitude toward him. To her he was thoughtless, volatile, cowardly, light of purpose and yet obstinate as only people so limited can be. The knowledge of his true nature, his tre-
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