James Harden-Hickey (born James Aloysius Harden, December 8, 1854 – February 9, 1898) was a Franco-American author, newspaper

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

list,

adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

and self-proclaimed Prince of Trinidad, reigning as James I.

Early life

James Aloysius Harden was born in San Francisco on December 8, 1854. To avoid the violent city still in the madness of the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

, James' French mother took him to live in Paris, which was then an Empire under the rule of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

. The nephew of

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

left his mark on James by making France a wild, flamboyant stage for ornate theatrical displays and public works, and mystifying ceremonies. As a child, James was fascinated with the French court and all of its glamor and pomp. Also, because of the lively brilliance of the live theater, he acquired a lifelong liking of adventure. During boyhood he was taught in Belgium by the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s and later studied law at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. He entered the French

military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

, Saint-Cyr, at 19. In 1875, he graduated with high marks. Shortly thereafter, his father died. Three years later, Harden-Hickey married the Countess de Saint-Pery and fathered two children. By then he had mastered French, was accounted a master

swordsman Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to a ...

and began writing novels.

Literary career

On November 10, 1878, Harden-Hickey first published the newspaper ''Triboulet'', named for a jester of

King Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the t ...

, eight years after Napoleon's fall from power. Though popular, the strongly anti-republican stand of this paper involved Harden-Hickey in no fewer than a dozen

s, several dozen lawsuits and numerous fines. Sadly for Harden-Hickey and his fellow

royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

, their funds were exhausted by 1887. As of 1880, he had 11 novels published. Two of the novels are borrowed from ''

Michael Strogoff ''Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar'' (french: Michel Strogoff) is a novel written by Jules Verne in 1876. Critic Leonard S. Davidow, considers it one of Verne's best books. Davidow wrote, "Jules Verne has written no better book than thi ...

'' by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

and another is based on ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'' by

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best know ...

. His novels praise the virtues of monarchies and are anti-democratic. James was made a baron of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

(which legally ceased to exist in 1806) for his strong defense of the church in his works and in practice. His novels include the following, all published under the pen name Saint Patrice: *''Un Amour Vendeen'' *''Lettres d'un Yankee'' *''Merveilleuses Adventures de Nabuchodonosor Nosebreaker'' *''Un Amour dans le Monde'' *''Memoirs d'un Gommeux'' Sometime after, James Harden-Hickey divorced his first wife and renounced Catholicism; he acquired an interest in

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

. This was a turning point in his life, and he took the opportunity to travel around the world, staying a year in India, learning

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and studying the philosophy of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

. He returned to Paris and met Annie Harper Flagler, daughter of John Haldane Flagler, head of a successful pipe company and one of

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

's partners in the steel business. They were married at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York on March 17 (St. Patrick's Day), 1891. He lived with and off the Flaglers in New York for two years. Traveling to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

before his marriage, his crew made a stop in the South Atlantic. Harden-Hickey noticed that the tiny island of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

in the South Atlantic Ocean had never been claimed by any country and was, legally, "

res nullius ''Res nullius'' is a doctrine.Johnston. The International Law of Fisheries. 1987p 309 The expression "res nullius" (lit: ''nobody's thing'') is a Latin term derived from private Roman law whereby ''res'' (an object in the legal sense, anything ...

". He claimed the island and proclaimed himself James I, Prince of Trinidad. He wanted an independent state with himself as

military dictator A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

, and later in 1893, he got just that.

As Prince James I of Trinidad

The now-James I was given attention – most of it negative and derogatory – by various nations and news organizations when he started selling Principality of Trinidad government bonds, opened an office in New York City and began making secretarial appointments, such as

M. le Comte de la Boissiere ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of respec ...

as his Secretary of State. Trinidad was seized by Great Britain, however, in 1895 as a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

cable-relay station, and James I was forced to surrender it to them, leaving him with only a homemade crown, and a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

. While the Brazilians and British were threatening war over their respective claims, James I was forgotten, although he had the prior claim of sovereignty. Appeals to the United States to act as a mediator did nothing for his cause when US Secretary of State

John Milton Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln, Hay's highest office was Un ...

released his letter appealing for American mediation to the press, opening James I to harsh ridicule in the popular press. After the British invaded "his"

island in 1895, James I designed a plan to invade England from Ireland and even asked the wealthy

Henry Flagler Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founde ...

to finance his invasion plan, but Flagler demured, and denied his request. James I then tried to raise money by selling his ranch in Mexico but failed to assemble enough funds to continue operating. Although somewhat apocryphal, there is evidence to suggest that during this time, James I was approached by a certain

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

named Ralston J. Markowe with a plan in 1895 to make him the King of Hawai'i (per

Richard Harding Davis Richard Harding Davis (April 18, 1864 – April 11, 1916) was an American journalist and writer of fiction and drama, known foremost as the first American war correspondent to cover the Spanish–American War, the Second Boer War, and the First ...

, but any such plans as may have existed never came to fruition.)

Later years

Over the next two years, Harden-Hickey fell into deep depression. His vision for his island was easily realizable, and it had become the core of his existence, but, despite the validity of his claim on Trinidad and his seriousness at realizing his dream, he received little real support, only receiving such from his family and friends; and after all of his attempts at restoring his claim had failed, the world laughed at him for even trying. In truth, his only public support came from the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', which gave him some praise and compassion. He gave the managing editor and a reporter for the ''Times'' the Order of Trinidad for their understanding of his passion. James Harden-Hickey had written a book titled '' Euthanasia: The Aesthetics of Suicide'', showing that suicide was a powerful art form and "a privilege." He wrote that life wasn't so important or even worth living if one was to suffer, and stated clearly that "it is of greater moment to live well than to live long, and that often it is living well not to live long." Destitute and depressed, he lived up to his ideology by living and dying as a strong proponent of suicide: Harden-Hickey took an overdose of morphine on February 9, 1898, in an El Paso, Texas hotel when he could not sell his Mexican ranch that he acquired while living with the Flaglers. Found among his effects were a suicide note to his wife and his memorabilia from his glory days with him, including his hand-made crown. Coat of arms of the Principality of Trinidad

Coat of arms of the Principality of Trinidad

References

External links

*, by

from Project Gutenberg. A biographical sketch of Harden-Hickey published in 1906. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harden-Hickey, James Writers from San Francisco Micronational leaders 1858 births 1898 deaths Heads of state of former countries Heads of state of states with limited recognition American people of French descent École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni 19th-century monarchs in South America Drug-related suicides in Texas American expatriates in France American writers in French 19th-century American writers 1890s suicides Self-proclaimed monarchy