CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM T.Stanton Date Due 1 1 , (^3S> Cornell University Library D 363.P76 Sovereigns and courts of Europe, 3 1924 027 804 404 The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027804404 THE SOVEREIGNS AND COURTS OF EUROPE. i -* THE SULTAN OF TURKEY. THE SOVEREIGNS COURTS OF EUROPE "POLITIKOS" WITH PORTRAITS T FISHER UNWIN PATERNOSTER SQUARE MDCCCXCI A- ^5(05-1 PKEFACE. HISTORY has ceased to be written in the names of kings and princes. Historians have learnt to recognize that it is the people who make history ; that the narrative of the world's progress must consist of the story of the march of the nations, not of the biography of one individual, even though that individual be the leader of the same people. Unless the leader be followed, he leadeth in vain, and however tyrannicai and oppressive the rule of a monarch, experience has proved that the victory rests with the majority, even though that victory be slow and delayed. That every people has the government it deserves is a dictum most emphatically true. The new historical method, there- fore, strives to present the thoughts, aspirations, and deeds of the nations, and only that portion of the rulers' lives and characters which reflect and influence these. Every era has its prominent men, who, with the 1* vi PBEFACE. government, though not infrequently in opposition to it, help towards the march of events. The Victorian era in England is in itself a striking illustration of the way in which men of every grade combine in diversity of action to make a great epoch. " The divinity that doth hedge a king" is but little regarded in these post-revolutionary days, when the deeds of men are weighed in the same balances and judged by"the same standards. Still, so long as kings remain, they niust have a certain measure of influence upon their peoples and surroundings. Nor can the measure of this influence be defined by the letter of constitutions. Personal character and traditions exert a sway, conscious or unconscious. Hence, while men have learnt to recognize that history includes the masses, and does not mean merely the deeds or misdeeds of a few persons placed by the accident of birth in a certain marked position, kings still continue, and must continue for a while, to play a part in the making of the history of their times. It is with the- view of enabling the general public better to know the men who hold the reins of office, and hence better to appreciate the course of modern politics, that the following chapters have been written. This series of biographies of reigning sovereigns endeavours to present, besides biographies, chapters of contemporary history. They have been carefully prepared from special and PBEFACE. v« authoritative sources, arid while speaking with the reserve due to individual privacy, also strive to speak with the fulness truth requires for the proper under- standing of character. Of these sovereigns of Europe, it will generally be found to their honour, especially among the younger generation, that they are penetrated with the gravity of their responsibilities, and strive to do their duty according to their lights, even though some of these lights are but dim. CONTENTS. PAGE THE SULTAN OF TURKEY . . .3 THE CZAR OP RUSSIA .... 27 THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA . . . .67 WILLIAM II., EMPEROR OF GERMANY . . 107 THE KING OF ITALY ..... 165 THE KING OF SPAIN ..... 193 THE REIGNING FAMILY OF PORTUGAL . . .221 GEORGE I., KING OF THE HELLENES . . 241 THE KING OF HOLLAND ..... 259 THE KING OF THE BELGIANS . . . 271 THE ROYAL FAMILY OF DENMARK . . . 289 X CONTENTS. PAGE THE KING OF SWEDEN . . • . ou i THE EOYAIi COUPLE OF EOUMANIA . • ■ ^"^' THE KING OF SEBVIA . . . • 351 THE KING OF SAXONY . . . • • 369 THE MINOB GBEMAN SOVEEEIGNS . . 377 QUEEN VICTOEIA OF ENGLAND .... 393 LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. THE SULTAN OF TUEKEY THE CZAE OF EUSSIA THE KINO OF AUSTEIA THE EMPEEOE OF GBEMANY THE KING OP ITALY THE KING OF POETUGAL THE KING OF GEEECB THE KING OF HOLLAND THE KING OF THE BELGIANS THE KING OF DENMAEK THE KING OF SWEDEN . THE QUEEN OF EOUMANIA THE KING OF EOUMANIA Fac Fl- ontispiece ing pag~ - 27 )) 67 3J 107 165 JJ ■) 221 241 )) 259 3) 271 1 1 289 307 )» 327 M 341 THE SULTAN OF TURKEY. THE SULTAN OF TURKEY. ON Whit-Sunday, 1876, there occurred in a fair palace overlooking the Bosphorus one of those romantic tragedies which are but too common in the history of the Crescent. What happened exactly will perchance never be known, since truth and news are as carefully hushed up in Turkey as they are propagated in more civilized lands, and the mystery may never be solved whether Abdul Aziz committed suicide or was assas- sinated. The probabilities, however, all point to foul play. A palace plot is no uncommon thing in the Ottoman Empire, and in the history of its rulers. Certain it is that the ex- Sultan was found dead in his room, with a mortal gash in his arm, five days after he had been deposed, on the plea of insanity, to make way for his nephew, Sultan Mourad V. That the monarch was broken in health and mind is beyond question, and that hence he was not able to resist with sufficient energy the Muscovite pressure brought to bear upon him, which threatened to degrade Turkey into the position of a Kussian province. That he was mad enough to commit suicide is far from proved. But his 4 THE SULTAN OF TUBKET. deposition was a political necessity, and hence insanity- was used as a plea to make the act plausible to the world at large. It was hoped that Mourad would prove a wiser ruler. He had not been many weeks upon the throne when it became evident that he, too, was a man unable to meet the heavy strain which had to be borne by a Turkish sovereign in those difQcult times. The ministers therefore resolved that this ruler, too, must be ~ deposed, and with the consent of the Sheik-ul-Islam, the spiritual head of the Faith, Sultan Mourad also was quietly uncrowned. It was then decided in Council to offer the vacant throne to the younger brother of Mourad — Abdul Hamid — with the request that in the interests of the Empire he would assume the throne of Turkey, and be girt with the sword of Othman. The offer was by no means welcome to the man to whom it was made. Abdul Hamid had lived for years in retirement ; he was not ambitious, and he had no desire to exchange his seclusion for a crown of thorns. He urged that his brother should be accorded a further trial, that his in- capacity to rule should be further proved. When at last this was placed beyond doubt, reluctantly he yielded to the appeal made to him, and on the 31st of August, 1876, ascended the throne of his fathers to become one of the best sovereigns that had for long ruled the Empire of the Crescent. Abdul Hamid, whose name means Servant of the Praiseworthy, was born in 1842, the son of a Circassian, who died shortly after the birth of her babe. The child's TVBKET. 5 education was consequently entrusted to another wife of A.bdul Medjid, herself childless. She was a wise, upright woman, who devoted herself with love to the motherless boy, and who guarded him with the most tender, judicious care. His first master was the Court mollah, Mustafa Efendi, and his later tutor Kemal Efendi, the latter a man of European culture, who gave him a good Oriental education, combined with Occidental ideas. The boy learnt Arabic and Persian, and studied history and geography with zeal and interest. But in all Em'opean languages, and above all in French, he made little progress, so that even to-day he understands them but indifferently, and does not speak them at all. It is this that renders intercourse with Europeans so diffi- cult with him. From his babyhood he evinced signs of a weakly constitution, and was noted for his timidity and shyness. But all the more remarkable were his thoughtful bearing and his shrewdness of perception and comprehension. Never having known a mother's love, a mother's caressing care, rarely noticed by his father, he led almost from his childhood a retired life, keeping apart from all recreations. As a youth, too, he never joined in amusements, and was so careful of his means that when he ascended the throne he had amassed a capital of 60,000 Turkish pounds. In 1868 he travelled in Europe, in the company of his uncle, the then Sultan Abdul Aziz. According to his own showing, his sojourns in Paris, London, and Vienna, helped greatly to enlarge his mental vision and to increase his 6 TBE SULTAN OF TTJ'BKEY. knowledge. On his return to Constantinople he was fired with a desire to fill up the lacuna in his education, and set himself to reading industriously. He also occupied himself much with music. As before, he avoided all social recreations, and did not even hunt or shoot, that common pastime of princes. When the palace revolution occurred that ended in the violent death of Abdul Aziz, he was profoundly moved and impressed, and when his brother Mourad ascended the throne Abdul Hamid was the first to lay his obedient homage at his feet. It was not until Mourad had been declared weak of intellect, and that he himself was called upon to take his place, that Abdul Hamid revealed all the force of character that lay within him. Per- chance he himself was unconscious of it, and that it needed circumstances to call it forth. For hardly in power, this quiet, studious recluse suddenly showed an energy that surprised even those who knew him most intimately. He had been called to govern in a dark moment of Turkish history. The State had recently declared her- self bankrupt, the finances were in a state of chaos ; Eussian agents were busy in every town and village stirring up the natives to rebellion by means of fair promises and clinking gold ; Servia had declared war on Turkey, the army was disorganized and discontented, because unpaid. The Sultan met all these difficulties with a cool judgment, a diplomacy, that amazed Europe and displeased greatly the ruler on the banks of the Neva, TUBKEY. 7 who certainly did not desire to see Turkey recover from her position of European sick man. Great self-control, great patience, did Abdul Hamid show, and also great astuteness. He recognized the power that his chief minister, Midhat Pasha, held in hand, and he feigned for a period an entire submission to his will and to that of other influential ministers, while all the time carefully laying his own schemes and preparing to govern his country in accordance with his own ideas. In April, 1877, Czar Alexander II. at last declared open war on Turkey in place of the secret one he had been carrying on for some time. His purpose, to quote his own words, was to give expression " to the intense anxiety felt by the whole Russian nation to effect an amelioration in the position of the Christians in the East." How the Czar managed to be so well acquainted with the intensest feelings of his subjects, seeing that the expression of popular opinion in Eussia is gagged on press and platform, does not appear ; but in any case, he considered himself obliged, in view of " the haughty obstinacy of Turkey," to draw the sword ; and he ended his marvellous declaration by invoking the blessing of Heaven upon his army, called out to fight in so holy a cause. How valiantly the Ottomans fought, how gallantly they defended their country, is matter of history ; and though the Turks were often beaten, so too were the Russians. Finally, in March, 1878, was signed the famous Treaty of San Stefano, a treaty so grasping on 8 THE SULTAN OF TURKEY. the part of Eussia that the moment its provisions were known in Europe it was manifest, from the excitement it created, that the other Powers would never permit it to be carried into effect. In consequence the famous Berlin Congress was summoned. The result of this Congress, as all the world knows, was the practical tearing up of the Treaty of San Stefano. Lord Beaconsfield returned to London emit- ting the famous phrase, " Peace with honour " ; the Kussians went back to St. Petersburg to scheme further pretexts for interfering in the affairs of the Sublime Porte, and the Turkish representatives got home to Constantinople in time to assist at those councils whose end was revivification and reform. For, the war over, Abdul Hamid showed his hand. He now felt that he was indeed firmly seated upon his throne, and his resolve was to restore prosperity and happiness to his distracted kingdom. But the first thing of all to do was to punish sternly the king-maker, the disturber of the internal peace. The Constitution drawn up by Midhat Pasha, to which the Sultan had been forced to give his consent, was revoked, Abdul Hamid rightly apprehending that the people on whom it had been thrust had not yet reached that phase of political development in which alone constitutions of any kind are workable. And, moreover, ready-made constitutions, constitutions that have not come naturally into being, are rarely of much value. After all, government is a question of cHmate and ethnology; and no fair-minded thinker can TVBKEY. 9 doubt, seeing the present low state of general culture in Turkey, and the absolute inaptitude for self-government, that direct rule remains for the Turks the best mode of government for the present. And the more so if this rule is wisely exercised. That Abdul Hamid was severely criticized for his step goes without saying. In Europe especially arose the cry that he was crushing the dawning freedom of his country, that he was pursuing a policy of reaction and obscurantism. It marks the Sultan's intellectual superiority that he so clearly saw through forms to facts, that he recognized that even well-meant innovations may be hurtful if premature, and that he continued his course unhindered by adverse criticism and by the counsels of candid foreign friends, themselves ignorant of the affairs of Turkey, of its internal state, its needs, its tastes. Undaunted, he pursued his path, showing great personal courage. At the same time the dread of a counter revolution did not let him rest; and as time went on, and he found himself deceived in some of his dearest hopes, deceived above all in the persons in whom he had put trust, whom he had raised to eminence, he began more and more to retreat personally from public life, though never abandoning State affairs. The Palace of Yildiz, a little outside Constantinople, grew to be his favourite residence ; and he now rarely quits that spot. An eye-witness of Abdul Hamid's conduct at the end of the first month of his reign wrote as follows : "In all matters of public importance the personal 10 THE SULTAN OF TUBEEY. views of the Sultan Hamid have exercised a most de- cisive influence, and this influence is growing every day ; but it is altogether of a different kind from that of his predecessors. It is not that capricious interference, the result of momentary whims and covert advice or in- fluence, but it is a systematic effort on the Sultan's part to master the affairs of State by seeking for information, and on the strength of this forming his judgment. . . . According to the etiquette of centuries, the Sultan came as little into contact with his ministers socially as with the rest of the world. The present Sultan has broken through the barriers of this isolation. He allows them to be seated in his presence and discusses affairs in council. He has already spoken earnestly of his strong wish to encourage trade and industry, to open agri- cultural schools, and to introduce model farms. In his choice of officers to attend about his person he has specially selected those who have received a European education and have become conversant not only with the languages but with the leading ideas of the civilized countries of Europe." His wishes in respect of internal reforms have all been carried into effect. The first thing to do was to put the finances straight, for these were simply in con- fusion. As has been well said, never since Necker seized the purse-strings of revolutionary France, had an appa- rently more hopeless outlook to be faced by mortal financier. The official inquiry instituted at the request of the Sultan revealed a state of corruption and dis- TURKEY. 11 honesty which had assumed proportions surpassing all that even an Oriental country can show in the matter of peculation and trickery. A more enlightened financial policy was at once inaugurated, to whose wisdom and merit the improved state of Turkish finances and of the whole condition of the empire now bears witness. The next thing to do was to put down brigandage, one of the greatest curses of the Turkish empire, affording a lucrative if irregular method of gaining a livelihood to thousands, and exercising a rule of pressure and terror- ism over all dutiful subjects. In this matter, too, Abdul Hamid showed that he had a resolute hand and decided views ; and the good results achieved already make themselves manifest. The work of exterminating brigan- dage goes on vigorously, to the decided advantage of Turkish finances and Turkish prosperity. Nor are these the only marked improvements that have taken place since Abdul Hamid came into power. Under his personal initiative the school system has been much enlarged and perfected, and not only for males, but also for females, the schools for the latter especially being under the direct patronage of the Sultan, who is truly interested in the welfare and progress of his female subjects. The strides made in women's education under his reign are little short of marvellous. Among other changes, primary education has been made obligatory, and each commune must possess a school where children are taught gratuitously, and where instruction does not consist merely in the reading of the Koran, as in former 12 THE SULTAN OF TUBKEY. times, but where more useful and more modern attain- ments can be acquired. It is perhaps needless to say that in initiating this reform Abdul Hamid has had to encounter much active and latent opposition, and that the latter, especially in the country districts and those remote from the capital, often hinders the more rapid spread of his good work. It is exceedingly difficult to impose reforms upon the Turk, who, after all, it must never be forgotten, is an Asiatic and a Mussulman. The press, too, has been taken under the Sultan's pro- tection, and though one could scarely look for press freedom in an Oriental land, yet by Imperial command all the most important literary and scientific works of Europe are issued in translations from the Government printing office, a practice that would not have been tolerated under previous reigns. But one of Abdul Hamid' s constant cares is to raise the intellectual status of his subjects. Nor do Abdul Hamid's reforms stop here. The army had also to be reorganized and better disciplined ; and from the Sultan devoting himself to this with the same energy that he had shown in other departments, the result is that the military system of the land is now far from despicable ; indeed, is so good as to have won praises from that great authority on all that is soldierly, the Emperor William II. Further, the railroad system has been much extended, and new lines are be con- structed in Asia. And in all these matters it must never be forgotten TUBKEY. 13 that Abdul Hamid himself is the active and reforming force, his ministers being merely subordinate officers who carry out his behests and directions, often belonging them- selves to the old Turkish retrograde faction. And this is the Sultan's misfortune : while Abdul Hamid is thus sincerely enthusiastic for the welfare of his people, he is not seconded by his subordinates, who have neither his zeal nor his uprightness ; so that in the interior the advance in culture and civilization is not yet so marked as nearer to the Sultan's direct supervision. That he himself is a humane sovereign is beyond doubt ; nor is he in anywise responsible for the atrocities that but too often occur in his dominions, and shock the feelings of Europe. Thus it is a fact that he has not signed more than one death warrant since his accession. Indeed, capital punishment has been practically abolished by him, for it is he in person who has to decide the fate of criminals. It is beyond doubt that Turkey, whatever its short- comings — and these no doubt are great — has also suffered much from misrepresentation. All that occurs there reaches the outside world in a distorted shape ; the good is depreciated, the evil is exaggerated. Indeed, the common notion seems to be, " Can any good thing come oat of Turkey ? " Thus it is always assumed without question that a Sultan gives himself up to luxurious and licentious living, and does not trouble himself with the affairs of the State. That the present Sultan is a serious man, whose entire energy and ability are devoted 14 THE SULTAN OF TVBKEY. to the affairs of government, the reforms he has instituted prove. That his private life resembles much more that of an English gentleman than the popular idea of an Oriental prince, is familiar to all who reside at Con- stantinople. Among other financial reforms, he has consistently discouraged the expenditure on the harem. He himself is practically a monogamist, and has no more legal wives than four, the number obligatory upon a Sultan, and to none does he show special favour. That his harem is nevertheless largely populated arises from the customs of his land and of his dynasty. He personally would be glad enough to be rid of his three , hundred brevet spouses, who merely cost him money, and often are the causes of those palace revolutions too common in Oriental lands. But, as we all know, the force of custom is not so easily broken. Thus, on his birthday, and on twenty other days in the year the Sultan invariably receives from his adopted mother the present of a beautiful slave, and this young lady has forthwith to be transferred to his establishment in the capacity of harem dame, with a household of her own, consisting of at least four eunuchs and six female servants, to say nothing of horses, carriages, and grooms. Multiply the number of these establishments by three hundred, and it ceases to be astonishing that the expenditure on the Sultan's Civil List should amount to ^1^4,000,000 sterling a year. A large item in this sum represents the dowers which the Sultan pays to his slaves when he marries them to favourite officials. About one hundred are TURKEY. 15 married from the palace amiually, and each of them is entitled to receive iJ10,000. Unfortunately, the bride- groom who takes a wife from the Sultan's hands must at his earliest convenience make a present of a slave to keep the staff of the Imperial seraglio up to its proper figure. The Sultan — those who know him affirm — loathes the whole thing ; but there are too many vested interests engaged in keeping the Imperial harem supplied with wives, and if the Sultan were to cashier his entire female establishment, he would certainly be deposed or murdered. Sir William White is said to have advised his Majesty to reduce his establishment by not filling up vacancies, but this is not easy, seeing that every Cabinet Minister and Pasha of note looks to passing his daughter through the Sultan's harem as a simple means of securing her a marriage portion, with the title of " valide," which may be construed as princess. That so huge a household must cost much is self- evident, and yet Abdul Hamid does his best to check reckless expenditure. Still, it is estimated that over six thousand persons are fed daily at his Dolma Bagtche Palace when he is there. Perhaps this is another reason why he prefers the smaller Yildiz Kiosk. One who is well informed gives a graphic picture of the Sultan's house- keeping. He admits that it is clear that there is good executive ability in the management of this enormous household, for there is scarcely ever a jar or hitch, even under the impulse of the most untimely demands. Every different department is under the control of a 16 THE SULTAN OF TVBKBY. person who is directly responsible for that, and he has a corps of servants and slaves under his orders, who obey him only, and he is subject to the Treasurer of the Household. Women have no voice whatever in the management of anything in any department. Their sole occupation is to wait upon their respective mis- tresses, or to serve the Sultan in some specified capacity; and the labour about the palace is so sub-divided that no one works very hard except the Lord High Chamber- lain and Treasurer of the Household. The Chamberlain is mostly occupied in administering to the wants and caprices of the Sultan, and is in almost constant attendance upon him ; so the Treasurer of the Household has the burden of the housekeeping on his burly shoulders. He has an organized force of buyers, who are each charged with the purchase of certain sup- plies for their individual departments, each having his helpers, servants, and slaves. One man is charged with the duty of supplying all the fish, and as to furnish fish for six thousand persons is no light undertaking in a place where there are no great markets such as there are in all other large cities, he must have about twenty men to scorn- the various small markets and buy of the fishermen, and each of these men has two others to carry the fish they buy. The palace requires about ten tons of fish a week. There are nearly eighteen thousand pounds of bread eaten daily, for the Turks are large bread eaters, and this is all baked in the enormous ovens situated at some TURKEY. 17 distance from the palace. The kitchens are detached from all the palaces and kiosks. It requires a large force of bakers to hake the bread and another to bring it to the palace, and another force of buyers who purchase the flour and fuel. The bringing of the most of the wood and charcoal is done by camels, who carry it on their backs. The rest comes in caiques. The Turkish bread is baked in large loaves, and is light, moist, and sweet — delicious bread in every way, particularly that which is made of rye. The food for the Sultan is prepared by one man and his aids, and none others touch it. It is cooked in silver vessels, and when done each kettle is sealed by a slip of paper and a stamp, and this is broken in the presence of the Sultan by the High Chamberlain, who takes one spoonful of each separate kettle before the Sultan tastes it. This is to prevent the Sultan from being poisoned. The food is almost always served up to the Sultan in the same vessels in which it was cooked, and these are often of gold, but when of baser metal the kettle is set into a rich golden bell-shaped holder, the handle of which is held by a slave while the Sultan eats. Each kettle is a course, and is served with bread and a kind of pancake, which is held on a golden tray by another slave. It requires just twice as many slaves as there are courses to serve the Sultan's dinner. He usually sits on a divan near a window, which looks over the Bosphorus, and takes his ease in a loose pembazar and gegelik with his sleeves turned up. After he has eaten all he wants, 3 18 TEE SULTAN OF TVBKEY. the Sultan takes his coffee and his chibouk and hes back in an ecstasy of enjoyment and quiet reverie which he calls taking his kief. Woe to him who comes to disturb it! The Sultan never uses a plate. He takes all his food direct from the little kettles, and never uses a table and rarely a knife or fork. A spoon, his bread, pan- cake, or fingers are far handier. The whole household is at liberty to take meals where it suits him or her best, and thus every one is served with a small tray, with a spoon and a great chunk of bread. The higher officers only get the pancakes. Nearly one ton of rice per day is required for the inevitable pillaf, sis hundred pounds of sugar, as much coffee, to say nothing of the other groceries, fruit, vege- tables, and meat. Eice, mutton and bread form the greater part of the fare for the majority of Turks, together with fish, sweetmeats, confectionery, nuts, and dried and fresh fruits. That there is enormous waste and extravagance in the kitchens is obvious, and it is said that enough is thrown away daily to maintain a hundred families ; but such waste is perhaps not confined to a Turkish royal house- hold, and might also be found in kitchens nearer home. The surplus is gathered up by the beggars, with whom Constantinople abounds, and what still remains is eaten by the scavenger dogs. All the water for the Sultan's use, and the drinldng water for all the household, is brought in barrels from TUBKEY. VA two pretty streams at different places in the Bosphorus, towards the Black Sea. Another one of the Lord Cham- berlain's functions is to see that a horse is kept in con- stant readiness, and also a carriage night and day, in case the Padishah should want to change his residence, as he often does, at a moment's notice. Yet with all this traditional machinery of expense around him, the master of it leads the simplest life. Abdul Hamid gets up early. His toilet does not detain him long ; indeed, it might detain him longer according to European codes. Dressed, he at once devotes himself to recite the prescribed prayers, after which he drinks a cup of black coffee, and instantly afterwards begins to smoke cigarettes, a pastime that he continues all day almost without intermission, for he is an ardent smoker. Breakfast ended, he arranges family affairs when these require his attention, as is most always the case with so large a family and of such varied ages and needs. This done, he quits the harem and goes into the selamlik. Here he receives the reports concerning court affairs. Towards ten o'clock his court secretary^nd chief digni- taries appear, bearing the day's despatches and reports. These handed in, the Sultan seats himself on a sofa with on his right these documents, and on his left a pile of Turkish newspapers and extracts from the European press, translated into Turkish for his benefit by a trans- lation bureau specially appointed to that end. His lunch, which follows the despatch of this business, is most simple — little meat, a fair amount of vegetables. 20 THE SULTAN OF TUBKEY. The meal ended, he will take a walk in the park or row in a little boat upon one of the lakes it encloses, always accompanied by a chamberlain or some high dignitary. After taking two hours' exercise in the air, he returns to his sitting-rooms, wherehe holds an open reception, or else presides over some committee meeting. An hour or two before sunset he once more goes out to walk. His dinner is as simple as his lunch. His favourite food is pillaf, sweets, and a very little meat. He never touches spirituous liquors, in due obedience to the commands of the Prophet, but he drinks large quantities of sherbet and eats a great deal of ice-cream. Dinner over, he will receive company in the selamlik, or he will retire into the harem, where his daughters play and sing to him. He himself on these occasions will often seat him- self at the piano, an instrument he plays fairly well. For painting, for the fine arts in general, he has no taste. His women, too, find him very cold ; but he is devoted to his children, and also much attached to all the members of his family. In appearance he is of medium height, rather short than tall, well-proportioned in his person, and carrying bravely the weight of his onerous duties, though there are also moments when an old and careworn look comes across his face, and when he almost personifies the apathy we so generally connect with the Turkish character. His beard, cut into a slight point, is black, so are his hair and eyes. The latter are tender in expression, but also penetrating, and he looks his visitors full in the face. TURKEY. 21 with a scrutiny that seems to read their thoughts. What destroys the pleasant first impression made by these eyes is the constant look of uneasiness in them. The fact is, Abdul Hamid does not feel himself safe even in his own palace. He does not suspect any person in particular, but he is on his guard against every one. He knows too well that palace conspiracies are of every-day occurrence in the life of an Oriental sovereign, and he cannot forget the tragic events that led to his own eleva- tion to the throne. Whether he need truly be thus timorous is a question. Few Padishahs have been so beloved by their subjects as he. Indeed, he is to them quite a new type of Sultan, and they do not fail to appreciate the novelty. Here is a man who does not pass his days in his harem, toying with his slaves. Here is a man who takes a real interest in the welfare of his people, who, far from following the example of his predecessors, and leaving the reins of government in the hands of some clever courtiers, insists on seeing and judging all for himself, down to the minutest particulars. Indeed, it may be affirmed that he exaggerates this practice, with the result that a deplorable delay often occurs in the execution of public business, because the Sultan lacks time to attend to everything at once. Personally, he is most benevolent and kind-hearted, and scarcely a month passes that he does not contribute some large sum out of his private purse to alleviate suffering among his subjects, irrespective of race or religion. Quite recently he made a spontaneous gift of 22 TBE SULTAN OF TTJBKEY. 250,000 piastres in aid of the preparatory schools in the isle of Crete. On one occasion he converted the greater portion of his plate and jewellery into cash for the use of the State Treasury; at another he cut down the number of his personal servants in order to devote the funds to the service of deserving charity. He spends with as little cost to his subjects as possible, and his Civil List, for a Turkish Sultan, is modest in the extreme. His character may be summed up as having for its dominant note an extreme caution. Hence, perhaps, the source of his constant mistrust and frequent inde- cisions; and hence, perhaps, the reason why he dis- charges all business matters himself. It is well that to this extreme caution is added a real intelligence, so that he is capable of coping with all the questions of home and foreign policy, the sociological problems con- cerning religion, education, and what not else that pass through his hands. Fortunate, too, that he is endowed with an unusual faculty for work. In manner he is exceedingly polite, especially in his treatment of European ladies. Indeed, he understands the rare art of making himself beloved by all with whom he comes in contact. His language, which is very carefully chosen, is somewhat slow and monotonous in tone, but he can rouse himself to great fire when any theme excites his enthusiasm or his feelings. In religious matters he is no fanatic ; indeed, he rather leans to freethoughti Still, he always demonstrates himself as enthusiastically TVBKEY. 23 Pan-Islamite ; but this may be the result of well-calcu- lated political astuteness. Hence he associates much with the Mussulman clergy, dervishes, and mollahs, and is lavish in gifts to them ; as, indeed, his hand is always open to give. He likes to play the part of Maecenas, and bestow handsome presents on all his European visitors, especially if they be men distin- guished in art or letters. European princesses and the wives of ambassadors can also tell tales of his generosity in this respect. If we would sum up the nature of his government we might with truth designate him as a liberal sovereign, bearing in mind, of course, that liberty in the Occidental sense is unknown in Turkey. But Abdul Hamid has understood how to adapt his really fundamentally liberal ideas to the local, political, and ethnological conditions of his realm. While apparently a stern despot, he is really XDaternal and well-intentioned. Whatever be the sins of Turkey, her present sovereign, Abdul Hamid II., is a kind, benevolent ruler, whose every inspiration is for the good and welfare of his subjects. The unrest, the discontent that certainly exists in parts of the huge, disjointed empire can, as a rule, be traced to emissaries from without, whose aim is to attack the interests of England, and to further the designs of " the divine figure from the north." Undoubtedly, the last war helped to loosen yet further the bands that hold to- gether the jumbled population, just as it helped to give the finishing touch to its already shattered finances. 24 THE SULTAN OF TUBEEY. If Turkey can be saved from complete disruption — aiad those who should know best doubt if this seemingly inevitable evolutionary process can be arrested — it will be due in large measure to the enlightened government of her present Sultan, under whose reign it has made rapid and vigorous strides in the path of recovery and reform. What she requires now above all is that his life should be spared, and that she may enjoy the bles- sings of peace in order to recuperate her strength and her finances. How precariously matters stand for the Ottoman Empire no one better appreciates than Abdul Hamid himself. Hence his nervous anxiety to be left a neutral in all European complications. As far as inner revolts are concerned he may rest easy : his throne is safe ; and all the stories that reach the West about family conspiracies, and a desire to depose him and restore his brother Mourad, are pure inventions, not to mention the fact that Mourad is really weak of intellect, and that the other members of the family are all devoted to Abdul Hamid. THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. THE CZAK OF RUSSIA. THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. ON the 24th of April, 1865, the Eussian Imperial family was plunged into mourning, for on that day there died at Nice the Crown Prince Nicolai Alexandrowitch, after a painful illness, due to the effects of an unintentional blow inflicted by the present Czar in the course of some rough horseplay. This Czarewitch, a handsome, refined-looking man, had gained, thanks to his talents and personal charms, the love of his people, a people intensely, one might almost say fanatically, devoted to its royal house, which it looks on as semi-divine. It had been anticipated that this heir, who held enlightened modern views, would realize during his reign the hopes of progress so long caressed in Eussia. And now a fatal blow, dealt by his own brother's hand, had laid him low on the very eve of his marriage, for he had been already betrothed with all form to Princess Dagmar, the brightest, prettiest, most charming of clever old Queen Louise of Denmark's three daughters. The news of his illness had brought her to Nice, and here she tended like a sister of charity the man whs loved her truly, and whom she loved in return. Nicolai's brother, Alexander Alexandrowitch, 28 THE EMPEBOB OF BU8SIA. was also often by that bedside, devoured hj remorse, deeply distressed at the certain loss of his elder brother, whom he adored and admired. It was a few hours ere the demise that the dying man turned to his brother and promised wife and spoke his last wishes. Was it his purpose to testify his regard for his brother — to compensate his bride for, at least, the loss of a crown ? Who can tell ? "I leave to you, Alexander Alexandrowitch," he said, " the heavy but glorious succession to the Eussian throne ; but I should like to add to it, also, a legacy more precious still, which will help you to bear its burden." So saying, he took the hand of the Princess Dagmar and placed it in that of Prince Alexander. "Marry her ; it is my dying request and wish. And you, my dear bride, your destiny will be accomplished all the same ; you will be Empress of Eussia." And thus it was. Eighteen months after the death of the Czarewitch, his brother and successor, Alexander Alexandrowitch, married Marie Sophie Frederique Dagmar, Princess of Denmark, who, in becoming Cezarewna and Grand Duchess of Eussia, had to renounce her Protestant faith and her familiar bap- tismal name to figure instead as Marie Peodorowna,* the Eussian rites admitting of no Christian name that does not appear among the nomenclature of its saints. But Princess Dagmar was too true a woman, and had too sincerely loved her first betrothed, easily to accept * Marie, daughter of Feodor, BUS 81 A. 29 the substitution he had imposed with his last breath. The mere title of Empress was not enough to allure her or console her. It was only after long months of mourning that she at last consented to obey his desires. That she did not forget her first love is proved by the fact that one day, unexpectedly finding herself before a portrait of the dead Czarewitch, which had been pur- posely and maliciously put into her path, she fainted with emotion. Nor could her husband feel hurt at this touching fidelity, for was it not a guarantee the more for the affection his wife had sworn to him, and which from that hour to this forms the happiness of their two lives ? For it was no easy crown Princess Dagmar was called to wear. Was it some inkling of the difficult fate in store for her that made her, on the morning of her departure from her father's palace, draw from her finger a diamond ring and scratch on the window-pane of her little simple bedroom, "My beloved Fredensborg, farewell ! " But whatever the Princess may have thought, the world holds that she has benefited by the change, for the present Czar is a nobler and more sterling character than his brother. As a woman the Empress has every reason to be content. No breath of scandal or intrigue has every clo.uded her marital relations ; it is impossible to find anywhere a more affectionate and devoted couple than the Emperor and Empress of Eussia. Indeed, it is said laughingly at St. Petersburg that the Emperor is the only Kussian who is faithful to his wife. 30 TEE EMPBBOB OF BUS 81 A. Alexander Alexandrowitch was born at St. Petersburg in the Winter Palace, March 10, 1845, the second son of Alexander II. by his first wife. For reasons not quite apparent he was sHghted by both father and mother, so that his infancy and youth were sad. His education proceeded upon strictly military lines, as is customary for the younger sons of the Imperial house, and he him- self often expressed his pleasure to think that he was not the heir. " I am the loustic of the family," he would say; "I have no need to learn." Destined by education to be an officer of the Guards, not dreaming of any other fate than to enjoy existence, guiltless of all scientific instruction, of even the acquaintance with foreign tongues so requisite in his exalted position, having none of the needful knowledge for governing, his position was, indeed, rendered difficult, when, at the age of twenty, he found himself suddenly, by his brother's death, heir presumptive to the Imperial crown of all the Eussias. He had till then held himself much aloof from the Court. A man of uncompromising honesty, he made no effort to hide his indignation at the immorality and corruption rife there both among his relations and their surroundings. He was thoroughly out of touch with the regime, the tone that then pre- vailed, and, notwithstanding all her coldness towards him, he was further deeply shocked by the neglect to which his mother was subjected. When a few weeks after her demise (1880) her husband legitimized his union with the ' Princess Dolgorowky, the relations BUS8IA. 31 between father and son became more strained than ever. The next year (March 13, 1881) occurred the tragedy on the Newsky Canal that mm-dered Czar Alexander II., and his son found himself upon the throne sooner than he had feared. No one better than he grasped the difficulties of his position and his inadequacy to fill it, for the virtues of a private citizen, all of which he owns, are but too often in contradiction with certain qualities required of a monarch. Hence he was possessed at first with an extreme timidity, which, joined to the native reserve and mistrust of his character, was not calculated to facilitate matters, or to render him immediately popular. Indeed, with ail his good qualities, Alexander III. is not and cannot be a popular idol. Already on the death of his brother, the force of circumstances had obliged him to put his hand without delay to his new duties, to interest himself in everything, to conquer his natural inclination for a merry, idle life. Putting aside false shame, he admitted his ignorance, and became once more a schoolboy to fill up the lacuns of his early education. Above all, he set about learning the science of government, for the serious side of his nature made him at once take seriously the duties that would devolve upon him. Brought up among young officers, who had already begun the reaction against German sympathies, the Czarewitch had embraced these views. His marriage \ 32 THE EMPEBOB OF BUSSIA. with a Princess of Denmark, the hereditary enemy of Prussia, had further fomented these antipathies. The Czarewitch was therefore soon pointed out as a zealous partizan of the national and Slavonic cause, such as it was preached by Katkoff and his friends. These views often provoked severe conflicts between the Emperor and his heir presumptive, the one indolent and laisser fai7'e, the other desirous to be respectful and conciliating, but withal easily roused to anger, and hot-headed. When the Franco-German war broke out, the Czarewitch, together with all " young Eussia," took part for France, and thus, once again, he was in acute opposition to the views of his father, an ardent admirer of his uncle, the King of Prussia. It not unfrequently happened that the Czarewitch left the dinner-table as the Emperor pro- posed a toast to the success of the Prussian arms. In the end, however, the disorders of the Commune shook his sympathy for France and for liberal ideas. He separated from his Slavophile and Gallophile friends, saying, with a sigh, " It is thither such ideas lead." Yet, notwithstanding the scant sympathy between father and son, Alexander III. felt deeply the disaster that ended his parent's life. Not being a man of the mould of his forefather Nicholas, who would have beaten down Nihilism by the energy of his acts and the terror of his look and word, is it astonishing that he could not overcome the emotions aroused by the horrible deed, and that hence, during the first year of his reign, he lived BUS SI A. 33 in almost complete retirement at his favourite country seat of Gatschina, near St. Petersburg, with his dear faithful wife and little children as sole companions? But the people grumbled, and muttered " Coward ! " when the Emperor made a rare appearance at St. Petersburg, followed and surrounded by a strong guard. It was further whispered that he wore chain armour under his uniform. Certainly, people were not per- mitted to approach him freely, as had been the case with his father. Nor was it evidently quite needless thus to surround himself with precautions, for various Nihilist tentatives to blow up Gatschina, to murder now the Crown Prince, now the whole Imperial family, were not calculated to reassure a nervous and mistrustful spirit, inclined towards all the hereditary melancholy of the Eomanoffs. It was only gradually, and after some while, that the Imperial family re-occupied the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg, and recommenced those brilliant fetes in which the Empress shines supreme. Marie Peodoro- witch loves dancing, elegance, and gaiety to an excess that often draws down on her the reproach of serious spirits. The heaviness of her dressmaker's bills, the costliness of her stuffs, the length of her trains even, provoke occasional remarks from her husband, who loves economy, and wishes his wife to set a good example in curbing the almost Oriental love of luxurious dress that prevails among the female portion of his subjects. But the Empress heeds his wishes little in 34 THE EMPEBOB OF BUSSIA. this respect. Nor can she resign herself to the ravages of time and grow old with grace. Cosmetics and artificial aids to beauty are too much employed by the once simple Dagmar, who made and cut her own and her sisters' little cotton frocks. And it is to please this taste for gaiety in the wife he loves, that the Emperor tries to second her in her pleasure, though he prefers a retired life ; and often, after having for form's sake made a brief appearance at some fete where his wife dances madly, he will retire into his cabinet with some favourite general and discuss grave themes. Those who have not witnessed a Court fete in Eussia cannot imagine the gorgeousness and pomp that pre- vails. Oriental and almost barbaric in its crudity of colour and its overlading of ornament. Great variety, too, is produced by the many national costumes, stiff with gold and silver embroidery. The ceremonial that obtains is autocratic in its rigidity of etiquette. In all official Court ceremonies the ladies have to wear an adaptation of the national costume of the Eussian Boyardes, consisting of a diadem crown with precious stones, to which is attached a long soft veil of white tulle, a low-necked dress with wide-hanging sleeves, and a long train of velvet embroidered with gold, which opens in front over a petticoat of white satin worked in silver. Those ladies who hold no official rank at Court may choose the colours of their costume according to their fancy, but the maids of honour, to the number of two to three hundred, wear their train and diadem in RUSSIA. 35 scarlet velvet, and on their shoulder the initials of the Empress in diamonds on a blue ribbon. Each one of the Grand Duchesses has her especial colour fixed for her by rule, and which must be worn by ladies of her Court ; and the etiquette is so strict on this point that even the slightest deviation in nuance provokes a serious reprimand. These costumes d'honnear are a grave expense, representing a sum of one to two thousand roubles, and are often handed down from one generation to another. And if the ordinary Court festivals admit of such luxury, are submitted to such rigid etiquette, what is the splendour of public ceremonies ? Among these, during the present reign, the coronation of the Emperor in the mother city of Holy Kussia, on the 27th May, 1883, has been the greatest ; a marvel- lous phantasmagoria, where all the traditional treasures of the Muscovite Empire, all the wealth and brilliant colours of Asia, were displayed to do honour to a day solemn above all others. Very visible was the emotion of Alexander III., seated on his little white horse, his faithful companion in the Turkish War, as he entered triumphantly into Moscow, the people shouting frantically, and the fifteen hundred bells of the city filling the air with their brazen harmony. On arriving at the Kremlin Square seven thousand chosen voices, accompanied by a monster orchestra, intoned the grand national hymn, the Prayer for the Czar. " I truly felt, as I heard the strains," said the Emperor, " that I was 36 THE EMPEBOB OF RUSSIA. wedding my people." Behind him followed the Czarina, clad in a cloak of silver, and seated in a golden coach, accompanied by the tiny Grand Duchess Xenia, whose baby hand threw kisses to the soldiers and the crowd. Careful observers noted that Marie Peodorowna's face wore a look of anxious tenderness as her eyes followed her husband, who was traversing the crowd, and truly fervent may have been her prayer for his safety as they both knelt, according to usage, in the celebrated sanctuary of our Lady of Iverskoi, which they passed on their triumphal route. The same ceremonial of alighting and kneeling to pray was repeated before the venerated Rosto of the Saviour, where every passer-by is expected to uncover before the image of Christ, which, according to tradition, arrested an invasion of barbarians. It is said that when Napoleon I. entered Moscow, he determined to brave the established rule, but as he passed with covered head under the sacred arch a gust of wind carried off his hat, so that he was forced to pass bare-headed before the sacred image. Great were the hopes and fears that revolved round this important day in Eussia. Intensely superstitious as are its people, they saw presages of all kinds in various incidents that occurred. Thus, the day was rainy— a bad sign ; but each time the Imperial couple traversed the Kremlin Square, as they passed from one cathedral to another, the sun broke through the clouds as thoughto salute them on their passage, while during the great banquet that followed the coronation one of RUSSIA. 37 the Kremlin pigeons — the bird held sacred in Eussia as an emblem of the Holy Ghost — came flying through a window of the great hall, and, after whirling about in bewilderment above the gilded crowd, alighted on the Imperial dais, beside the two-headed eagle. "Wisdom and sweetness beside might and force," said the people. But, although everything went off so well, the Imperial family were relieved when, at the end of the two brilliant and exciting days of the entry into Moscow and the crowning, the Emperor regained his private apartments safe and sound, and could remit to his treasurer the crown of diamonds and the ancient heavy sceptre of Holy Eussia, surmounted by the famous Orloff diamond, the largest in Europe. After all these court fetes, with their fairy splendour, their solemnity, came the turn of the people. Among other popular festivities was a banquet where five hundred thousand individuals each received, in presence of their sovereign, a basket containing a large meat patty, a sweet dish, a bag of bonbons, and a goblet engraved with the arms of the Czar. In the latter they were to drink the beer that flowed in rivers. It is only in Eussia, where space is not lacking, that similar fetes can possibly be conceived or carried out without either disorder or crowding. Eight days after, on the same immense ground, was held the great military review, where all the regiments of the Eussian army were represented ; and those who have seen these splendid Eussian troops — with their suppleness,' their discipline, S8 THE E MPS BOB OF BUS 81 A. their force of resistance— feel assured they would not prove wanting in the hour of battle. " Hail to you, my children ! " cried the Emperor, as his eye surveyed the scene. "We will do all we can to content your Majesty," rephod the soldiers, in chorus. Then began the defile, which, for the splendour of accoutrement, the variety of national types and uniforms, has not its equal in Europe. Here were the Preobrajensky, the first regiment, formed by Peter the Great, and recruited among his childhood friends ; the Sememowsky, all blue-eyed ; the Paulowsky, with nez retro usses, the favourite regiment of Paul I., decked with large golden mitres lined with red ; here, too, the infantry of the line, the artillery galloping past with a noise of thunder ; while last of all, in a cloud of dust, arrived the Cavaliers of the Guard on their superb steeds, and wearing their winged casques. They halted dead before the Emperor and Empress, and then divided to give jplace to the Blue and Gold Guards of the Empress, to the Grenadiers and Lancers, the Eed Hussars of the Emperor, and many others, more than we can name, not to forget the fiery Cossacks on their 'mettlesome little ponies, who carried off the prime honours of the day, ending the fete with their marvellous equestrian games and feats. Military discipline has improved much under Alexander HI. A soldier himself, he knew where lay the strength and weakness of his army. For example, BU8SIA. 39 he exacts that the young officers should become the instructors of their men, not only in matters connected ■with the service, but in the arts of reading and writing. Tkus these brilliant youths are no longer useful merely for balls, but are also of active service to their country. We repeat, whoever has not seen Eussian fetes, of wliatever nature, can form no idea of their sumptuous- ness, which recalls the marvels of the Arabian Nights, and which has, at the same time, a touching and patriarchal character. The sentiments of religion and of submission to authority are profoundly rooted in the hearts of the Eussian people ; their love for their God and for their Czar, who to them is the representative of God on earth, are for them almost identical. On their part the present Emperor and Empress are un- assuming in their private life and habits, full of kindliness for their people, among whom they love to mingle without pomp or entourage. A thousand traits of their familiarity are related, and of the childlike simplicity with which the populace falls down in the dust to kiss the traces left by the Imperial carriage. They call their sovereigns Batouschka and Matouschka, which mean little father and little mother. They admire the monarch with his martial bearing, his herculean strength and muscle, his eyes that look straight and clear, the expression of regal goodwill that at moments lights up his somewhat too placid face. The charming Empress, vivacious, good, and graceful, gains all hearts by her sweet smile, exercising a 40 THE EMPEBOB OF BUS SI A. / fascination in which the woman triumphs over ths sovereign. A Pole, whose nationahty ensures his goal faith, once said, " If the enemies of the Czar knew me Czarina, they would not have the courage to make ha- weep." In this huge empire, containing so maiy discontented subjects, no word is ever spoken against the Empress. She carefully keeps outside of politici ; indeed, the Emperor does not confide them to hfr knowledge, but she shares his German antipathies arid his liking for Prance. While remaining Danish, ska has known how to become Eussian besides, and to embrace Eussian interests, and such public influence as she has over her husband is always exerted for good. She is a tender and anxious helpmate to him in his difficult position, who never leaves his side, accompanies him on all his journeys, shows no weakly fears of the charged mine ever under their feet, and keeps up his spirits by her own buoyancy of temperament. Like her mother, she often visits the public schools ; but as her visits, unlike her mother's, are always announced beforehand, the girls are prepared to answer the questions her Majesty will put to them in French, and which are almost always the same. The ceremony ends by giving the pupils a three-days' holiday in the name of the Emperor. A great number of charitable institu- tions are under her protection, and wherever and whenever there are hearts that suffer they turn hope- fully to Marie Peodorowna. Her role in this great empire is to console, to enliven, and to make herself BUS8IA. 41 loved. A brilliant woman of the world, who likes to shine and to amuse herself, the Czarina is neither light- minded nor frivolous. She is, above all, a good wife, a good mother, and a true friend. She has tried hard to conciliate the hearts of her husband's family, with almost all of whom he is on bad terms. He is too up- right, too conscientious and straightforward to tolerate the frequently crooked ways and somewhat Oriental notions of honour of his relations. We have said that the court fetes, beloved and encouraged by the Empress, are brilliant in the extreme, and yet it is said that they are less splendid than under the former reign. The present Emperor is economical and discourages useless expenditure. He is said to have inherited this trait from his mother, who, though charitable to the poor, was too parsimonious for a sovereign. Alexander III. has reduced by a third all the allowances of the Imperial family, has diminished and even abolished the innumerable heavy pension and favour lists with which his house is weighted, and which, during former reigns, had attained the proportion of a huge system of abuse and exploitation by the rich and squandering upper class at the expense of the poor and hard-working taxpayer. And undoubtedly the Emperor has done well in this, though those whose means have been thus straightened are naturally loud in their laments. The chief to complain have been his brothers, who love good living and gay society. Nor must it be overlooked that the Emperor began by 42 THE EMPEBOB OF BUS8IA. setting a good example, reducing his own private budget and cutting down useless expenses in bis household; and almost incredible tales are told of what useless expenses may mean in a Eussian and an Imperial household. Thus, in the days of Nicholas, the Empress, having a cold, once demanded a tallow-candle — to apply to her nose that homely remedy. None was to be found in all the palace ; but in order that a similar lack might not recur, it was decreed that forty pounds of tallow -candles should henceforth be bought monthly. Whether bought or no does not appear, but until this, reign the item figured in the Imperial household ex- penses. It is told of the present Czar that he often goes out alone early in the morning to inform himself of the real price of provisions in order to check the accounts laid before him. He never loses an opportunity of asking what some homely domestic item costs. One of Alexander III.'s salient characteristics is his rigid honesty, his hatred of the malversation practised, under previous reigns, by Government employes, great and small, malpractices that in his father's time attained enormous proportions and excited public indignation. Mistrustful of those interested influences which had caused the misfortunes of his father, Alexander III. has known how to surround himself with men irreproachable on this score, but who, unfortunately, on the other hand, do not permit that any truths, any requirements of modern times, not in conformity with their own ideas or in harmony with the Emperor's views, should come to his knowledge. BUS SI A. 43 Few persons have any idea how conscientiously the Emperor of Eussia works, of the care with which he examines every paper submitted to him for signature. Yet this very care, this very attention to items, is cunningly utilized to their own ends by his surroundings and his ministers. These latter encourage him to absorb himself in the examination of petty Government details, while depriving him of the conduct of more important concerns. For Alexander — himself a straight- forward man, incapable of double dealings, not only by natural disposition, but also by smallness of brain — never suspects when he is played upon. A sort of Chinese wall separates the monarch from all those who could transmit to him the thoughts and wishes of his people, who could instruct him as to the reforms they have a right to demand, for the internal administration of Eussia is an evil that cries aloud to Heaven. Therefore, though he has the most earnest desire to be a good monarch, full of the mission to which he firmly believes he has been specially called by God, conscious of such responsibilities as he has realized, only afraid of doing that which seems to him to be wrong, little is to be hoped for Eussia under the regime of the present Emperor, whose absolutist leanings, whose narrow- mindedness, and consequent self-sufficiency, close to him all the quarters whence he could obtain informa- tion. He could have learnt a lesson from his great- uncle, William I. of Germany, who — not a great man either — knew how to surround himself with great minds, 44 THE EMPEBOB OF BU88IA. and to allow them free action. Aware of his want of perspicacity regarding men, Alexander III. shrinks from mixing with them. He is afraid lest some word would escape his mouth which might be turned against him by indiscreet reporters. He tries to do his duty to the best of his ability, but this ability is, un- happily, much circumscribed — -a fact of which he is dimly aware, but of course cannot estimate to its full extent. It is unfortunate, therefore, that he insists on directing in person the internal and external policy of the empire. Of course, not even he could do without a helper. He required a careful, intelligent co-worker, au fait with all a Czar has the right to ignore, aiding him by his memory and good sense, and able, if need be, to give him advice, but at the same time not aspiring to improve this advice nor to attempt to influence his master. This co-worker and chief in- terpreter of Alexander's thoughts in the matter of foreign policy is found in M. de Giers, a coadjutor with whom his employer is entirely satisfied. The bearer of a German name, M. de Giers is an excellent Eussian patriot, and, though the Emperor knows it not, he does exercise influence over him, if only by keeping in check the over-preponderance of the Slavonic party, whose chief is M. Pobedonostzew, proc- tor of the Holy Synod, and former tutor to the Emperor — a man in whom he confides. M. Pobedonostzew does not lack intelligence, but his mind is of the narrowest ; he is a fanatic and a reactionary, whose ideal is that BUS SI A. 45 Russia should become again what she was in the days of Peter the Great. He would draw an impassable barrier between her and Europe. Individuality, independence, he holds in detestation. According to him, all good Russians should spend their days crossing themselves before the sacred images and bowing before the Czar. It has been said of him that he is a Slav Philip II. Happily for Russia, the headstrong nature of the Czar prevents his succumbing entirely to this man's influence. Alexander likes to make up his own mind, and the very fact that M. de Pobedonostzew presents him with con- clusions cut and dried weakens his power to sway his Imperial master. The Emperor does not arrive at decisions quickly ; but when he does, like all limited in- telligences, he holds to them with tenacity, and, even though circumstances may have changed meanwhile, no power on earth can induce him to relinquish them. Incapable of taking other than short views, it is this which makes him to a certain extent dangerous to Europe, for he might bring himself to imagine war was a necessity, and then declared it would be. To see the Emperor to the best advantage, he must be seen in the bosom of his family. Indeed, whatever he may think of his divine mission, nature cut him out for a simple bourgeois. Both he and his wife are never happier than when they can leave all State cares behind them, throw off the yoke of etiquette, and live for their children at Gatschina, at Peterhof, or, best of all, in Denmark, in which country the Czar unbends in a 46 THE EMPEMOB OF BUSSIA. manner never seen elsewhere. There is not so great a romp as he among all his nephews and nieces ; he is master of all the childish revels. To these Princes and Princesses the autocrat of all the Eussias is simply " Uncle Sasba," and cries of " Uncle Sasha ! Uncle Sasha ! " resound all over the place. A favourite pastime of his is to stand in midst the merry throng and challenge them to pull him down. But they never succeed, either separately or united. The Czar has most wonderful strength of muscle. He can bend a horse-shoe by mere force of hand. Once while in Denmark, when a conjurer was showing his skill, the Czar offered to produce a specimen of his own abilities : he took a pack of cards and tore them through with the greatest ease. At Gatschina he loves to go fishing with a harpoon by torchlight. Like Mr. Gladstone, he is fond of felling trees, but, unlike that gentleman, he equally enjoys sawing them into lengths. The Czar has five children, three sons and two daughters. The Empress has her daughters much with her, and has not even a so-called governess for them. Her own personal attendant and her lady of honour serve also for them. In part, this springs from the Emperor's love for simplicity of life, but in part also that they try to surround themselves with as few people as possible, so that as little as may be concerning their private life should transpire to the outer world, of whom they are— and not without good reason — much afraid. The Empress superintends in person the education of the BUS 81 A. 47 two little Grand Duchesses, Xenie and Olga, aged re- spectivelj' fourteen and six. The Emperor in his leisure moments tries to do the same for his boys. Especially he loves to give them music and dancing lessons, for he thinks himself a great musician, and has a predilection for the cornet-a-piston. One day a minister, busy read- ing to him an important document, beheld the Czar vanish suddenly to intone in the adjoining room a rhapsody on his favourite instrument. "Excuse me," he said, returning after half an hour, " but I had so lovely an inspiration." He takes care, however, that they should also have better instruction than he can give them, remembering how his own education was ne- glected, and how disastrous this has been for him. His eldest son is his especial care, but the Czarewitch seems to have little aptitude for study, and rarely satisfies his masters, either by his private conduct or by his applica- tion. Nor has he in his person any of the fine bearing of the Eomanoffs. He is pallid, frail, and nervous, and great anxiety is felt concerning his health. Indeed, it is whispered that he is epileptic, and, apropos of this, a trait is told of the Czar's vehemence of disposition, which he is not always able to hold in check. Once, when the alarming epileptic symptoms had recurred, the Emperor, resolved to know at all costs the full truth about his son's health, summoned a council of all the most cele- brated doctors in the empire. None among them, how- ever, had the courage to reveal the true state of things. Only a German jjrofessor from Dorpat spoke openly. 48 THE EMPEBOB OF RUSSIA. stating as his opinion that the Grand Duke was seriously ill, and that, in short, it was a case of decided epilepsy. The Emperor when he heard these words refused to believe them, and, furious at the thought that such a terrible disease could be imputed to the son of a Czar of all the Eussias, forgetting himself and his dignity, beat within an inch of his life the hapless doctor who had been too outspoken and too little a courtier. The tale may be exaggerated, but there is no doubt that the Emperor is subject to attacks of uncontrolled fury. Even the Empress herself has to suffer under them. It was such an attack that gave rise to the story which went the round of Europe that he had killed one of his aides-de-camp. The following is the correct version. It was at the time that great Nihilist excite- ment prevailed, and in the Imperial household plots and sinister attempts were beheld in reality and in imagina- tion. Now the aides-de-camp are forbidden to smoke in the Emperor's ante-chamber when on duty. It happened that after dinner one of the gentlemen, finding the time long, lighted a cigarette. Alexander came up unex- pectedly at that moment, and seeing a spark and smoke in the dim light of the falling day, without stopping to consider the innocent cause of these phenomena, think- ing himself the object of a Nihilist outrage, feU upon the ofScer, shaking him with fury, the frightened aide-de- camp meanwhile crying aloud for help. A moment, of course, suf&ced to clear up the matter, and the officer soon recovered from the effects of the Emperor's angry BUSSIA. 49 violence. Still, the world reported him dead, and the Emperor heard of this. He therefore took occasion on their next public meeting to address his so-called victim with, "Mon cher, how do you find yourself since I have killed you ? " Like his grandfather Nicholas, from whom he inherits this tendency to rage, he is often sorry afterwards, and tries to make good his errors. A favourite pastime of the Emperor's is the theatre, and in connection with this a fact recently occurred which is yet another proof of Alexander's tenacity in having his wishes carried out. A new opera by Eubin- stein, " The Merchant of Kalaschinkow," had been prohibited by the ecclesiastical censorship, although the Emperor had accorded permission for its performance. The theatrical manager complained to the Czar, who was greatly annoyed that the censorship had acted without informing him. He resolved to judge for himself, and caused the opera to be played for him alone ; and, finding nothing objectionable, notwithstanding the ecclesiastical veto, commanded its public representation. It may be that this opera found special favour in the Czar's eyes because its music has, beyond all else written by Eubinstein, a truly Slav character, for Alexander is loud in his boasts of loving and admiring only what is Eussian. He highly values the national artist Bogolu- boff, who is his peintre en titre, as well as the Hungarian Zichy, who is his personal friend, and often accompanies him on his journeys, for the Emperor has a certain love for the arts and artistic things. 50 THE MMPEBOB OF BUSSIA. Well it is for the Emperor that he is so happy in his domestic life, for from his relations— be they brothers, uncles, or cousins— he derives Kttle pleasure. Indeed, with his eldest brothers, Wladimir and Alexis, his rela- tions are most strained, and the Czar makes no pretence of concealing his sentiments towards them. He thoroughly disapproves of their mode of life, their con- duct, and the people with whom they associate. What further particularly offended him was their failure to return to Eussia on hearing of the horrible railway disaster at Borki. The catastrophe had been so terrible, and the destruction of the Emperor, the Empress, and their children so narrowly averted, that it was only natural to suppose that the Czar's brothers would hasten to his side for the purpose of congratulating him on his providential escape. The Czar considers his brothers as the first among his subjects, and that they above all must not neglect the honour and consideration to which he holds himself entitled. Indeed, the Imperial house- hold statute exacts that each member of the family owes to the reigning monarch, as chief of the House, and as autocrat, " entire respect, submission, obedience, and subjection." They, however, preferred to remain at Paris, and none of the Czar's relatives were present at St. Petersburg to take part in the unparalleled display of loyal enthusiasm which attended the popular welcome- home of the Imperial party after the accident. The Grand Duke Wladimir is married to a Princess of Mecklenburg, a beautiful, clever, but unscrupulous RUSSIA. 51 woman. She has proved the first Princess who, marrying a Eussian Grand Duke, has evaded the law that obliges these ladies to embrace the Greek faith. On her arrival at the frontier she was met, as is the custom, by a pope, who sprinkled her with holy water. She re- coiled in horror, asking if by this act she was made to enter the Eussian Church by force, for she would not be forced, but would only cede to convictions formed after studying the Greek dogma. It seems that these con- victions have never come to her, and she has remained a Protestant in defiance of the Imperial household law. This lady is popularly regarded at St. Petersburg as a secret agent of Prince Bismarck. She tries to ingratiate herself with the Empress by giving many balls. It is she who has introduced the game of roulette into St. Petersburg salons, for which she has been much criticized. Over her husband she exerts great influence, and em- ploys it to inflame the ambition of Wladimir, who thinks himself the first personage of the empire. Both husband and wife are jealous of the Emperor and Empress. Wladimir had been the favourite of his mother, who thought to prophesy when one day she announced, after the death of her first-born, " It is Wladimir who will be Emperor, not Alexander." For the good of Eussia, it is well that this so-called prophecy has not been fulfilled. Wladimir is intelligent, good-looking, but a man of low tastes and no moral elevation. The Empress has a preference for the society of her sister-in-law, Elizabeth, Princess of Hesse, daughter of 52 THE EMPEBOB OF BUS 81 A. the late Princess Alice of England, and wife of the Grand Duke Sergius, a charming young woman, devoid of social influence, but whose amiability wins her all hearts. She is not happy in her union with the most unpopular of the Emperor's brothers — a coarse, brutal character. It is said that Alexander has often remon- strated with Sergius on the savage way he maltreats his wife, and the Grand Duke deeply resents these reproofs. The Grand Duke Alexis, the sailor-prince of Eussia, is a gay cavalier in great favour with the ladies. He was much talked about some while ago in connection with a liaison — some say a marriage — with Mdlle. Jukowski, daughter of the Eussian poet, and maid of honour to the late Empress. A son was born of this union. After a while the affair was hushed up, and the lady, provided with a large dowry from the Imperial coffers, was married to Baron Worrmann, a retired Saxon officer. As yet Grand Duke Alexis is unmarried, but it is said he hopes to wed the Princess Helene of Orleans. The fifth brother of the Emperor, Grand Duke Paul, is a perma- nent invalid, and rarely at St. Petersburg. His future marriage with his cousin, the Princess Alexandra of Greece, has been greeted with sympathy in Eussia. The only sister of the Czar is the Grand Duchess Marie, Duchess of Edinburgh. She much resembles her elder brother in disposition, having his uprightness, his narrow views, his almost physical horror of a lie. Neither good-looking nor gracious, of inexpressible BUSSIA. 53 hauteur of manner, she has not known how to make herself popular in England, but those who know her in her small circle of intimates esteem her. The Emperor's three uncles, Constantine, Michael, and Nicholas, have almost vanished from court circles since this reign, and have lost all influence. Constan- tine is ex-vice King of Poland, where he and his wife made themselves cordially detested. Under the former reign he was ever at the head of the opposition faction. He, together with his brother Nicholas, disgraced their position by the gross scandals in which they were implicated at the close of the Tukish War, when they were shown to have been the recipients of enormous bribes from fraudulent army contractors. Grand Duke Constantine's wife is a Princess of Altenburg, once celebrated for her beauty and her amorous intrigues. She now lives in absolute solitude in the lugubrious Marble Palace, where she tries by works of charity to console herself for her failures in life, her disappoint- ments as wife and mother. For, though mother of the charming Queen of Greece, she is also mother to the notorious Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinowitch, the blackest sheep in the black Eomanoff family, the hero of the adventures of Fanny Lear, an American demi-mon- iluinc, for whose sake he stole his mother's jewels and robbed the Imperial chapel of its valuables. He is exiled from Eussia, holding a post as chief of a regiment in Turkestan. Banishment would not seem to have improved his character. It seems that even in the arid 54 THE EMPEBOB OF BUSSIA. desert the Grand Duke, no matter at what cost of suffering to his soldiers, insists on having his daily bath. One day of intense heat, when the poor men for lack of water were dying by scores, an officer repre- sented the case to the Grand Duke, who had just taken his bath, asking if the soldiers might at least drink the water, now that his Imperial Highness had finished his ablutions. As sole reply, the Grand Duke gave a kick to the tub, and the precious liquid was lost in the sand. Grand Duke Michael, married to a Princess of Baden, is the only one of the Czar's uncles who is above re- proach. The worthy coiiple, however, always live in the Caucasus, where they have made themselves beloved. A favourite Imperial residence is the castle of Spala, in Poland, where Alexander III. usually spends the month of September to enjoy the shooting. But this palace has yet another attraction, for close by is the little parish whose Eoman Catholic priest, Ludovic Zmudowski, is an old and devoted friend of the Czar's, whose acquaintance he had made while hunting in these parts as Grand Duke, and for whom he conceived a real affection. Indeed, he often came here for the sole purpose of conversing with his friend' — so often, truly, that the late Emperor, Alexander II., fearing the influ- ence of a Polish priest over his son, forbade these visits. But once in power himself, Alexander III. made every effort to persuade his friend to come to St. Petersburg, and when he absolutely and repeatedly refused — not wishing to quit his humble parish for the great world — BUS SI A. 55 the Emperor built himself this castle of Spala, where he can enjoy his friend's society and forget State cares and ceremonial. This priest is a good, simple-minded man, of some intelligence, energetic, and fond of action, who in his youth had seen the world. It is to this man that the Czar confides his secret cares and joys, with him that he confers without reserve. It is known that Zmu- dowski makes use of his influence to solicit favours for his poor, hut is he also the political counsellor of the monarch ? Does he hope to obtain some day conces- sions in favour of Poland ? He loves France and detests the Germans. Does he help to augment this bias in Alexander III.? The chief friends and companions of the Emperor, General Tcherevine and Count Daschkoff, are equally Eussophile, Francophile, and Gallophobe. It cannot be denied or overlooked that Slavophile leanings accentuate themselves more and more in Eussia,, and are encouraged by both Emperor and Empress, though with prudent reserve on account of their positions. It is chiefly hitherto exerted against German emigration. The country is overrun with these strangers, who have pene- trated into all departments, yet have never identified themselves with the people among whom they live, and whom they too openly despise because of their inferior education. Kussians on their part accuse the German Socialists of having been the first in Eussia to sow the seeds of discontent and revolt against authority. In reality, it is an antipathy of race which the German- 56 THE BMPEROlt OF BUSSIA. loving Alexander II. could not overcome, and which threatens any day to become a cause of European carnage. Happily, an aggressive policy is not in favour with the present Czar, who is a man of peace and prudence. It is to be regretted, however, that in their zeal to russify Eussia the Czar's advisers insist on forcing the Eussian religion upon the people's con- sciences in those districts that have ever been Catholic or Protestant, such as Poland and the Baltic Provinces. The former are accustomed to oppression, to the latter it is new ; and this may drive them into the arms of Germany. Curiously enough, this mistaken policy is not pursued in the newly-acquired Asiatic possessions. Here the people are allowed to retain all their privileges and the free exercise of their religions. The Govern- ment has even gone the length of restoring ruined mosques or building new ones where these were lacking. Trade is encouraged, works of irrigation are founded, railways are built, sterile tracts are rendered fertile. Hence in these lands the name of the " White Czar " is blessed among the peoples, who under him taste of security, freedom, and juster rule than under their former masters. Another fanatical Slavophile in the immediate vicinity of the Czar was the late Count Tolstoi, who was Minister of the Interior. Also of upright nature, energetic, full of his duty towards God and the nation, going straight to the goal he fixed for himself without flinching, the great aim of his life was to stem German preponderance, BUSSIA. 57 to make the Greek religion triumphant, and to cause Eussia to Uve on her own resources. To him is due indirectly the great increase of Nihilist views among the students, to whom he made himself hateful while Minister of Public Instruction. His successor, M. Dournovo, distinctly continues the policy of his pre- decessor. All his acts, too, are imbued with the spirit of resistance to modern ideas which Count Tolstoi personified. He is, in fact, his political executor. Still, modern ideas cannot be wholly excluded even from Holy Eussia, notwithstanding censorship of the press, tampering with private letters, espionage of all sorts and kinds. Nor does the Emperor himself wish to restrict education ; he only wishes that its results should lead to given conclusions, and this is not possible. As the homely proverb has it, " You can lead a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink." Slavo- phile and retrograde thinkers cannot be made to order. During the present reign primary schools have increased in number in St. Petersburg from sixteen to two hundred and fifty, and they are beginning to penetrate even to the villages. One of the first acts of Alexander's reign was to destroy in part the work on which his father based his claim to national gratitude — i.e., the liberation of the serfs. He declared that the Government would not continue to buy Tip the land for the peasants, as had been done since their liberation, affirming that the peasants abused this privilege to satisfy their own 58 THE EMPEROB OF BUS8IA. avidity, and that, further, it too much impoverished the proprietors. Instead, he has founded a Mortgage Bank, out of which the State furnishes the nobles, at little cost, with tbe means of keeping up and cultivating their lands, for since work is free it becomes daily more costly even in Eussia, whose peasants emigrate in numbers to Asia. Yet another bank, also under State protection, supplies the peasants with facilities for paying their rent and buying ground. Manufacture, too, has been encouraged under this reign, and has taken great strides, and the inexhaustible mineral wealth of Eussia is at last being turned to some account. Still, much remains to be done in Holy Eussia, and the accident at Borki, which has opened the eyes of the Czar to the careless — not to say dishonest — administra- tion of his railways, may make him perceive that in other departments also there is much that halts. This railway accident, which some persons tried to convert into a Nihilist attempt, but which was un- doubtedly a bo7id fide case of gross mismanagement, seems likely to have important results for the land. It has certainly immensely increased the popularity of the sovereigns, who, hurt themselves, behaved with ad- mirable fortitude and self-denial in aiding those more severely injured. For once etiquette broke down, and master and servants were men and women together. There were twenty-one dead and thirty-six wounded on this occasion from an accident, the mere result of jobbery and bad workmanship on the one hand, and RUSSIA. 59 servile adulation of the Czar on the other, no one having the courage to tell him that on this hit of the line the train must not go at the full speed he always demands. When the shock occurred, the Empress, with a scream of despair that rang in the ears of those that heard it for many a long day, cried out in French, " Oil sont vies six ? " meaning her husband and five children, while the Grand Duchess Xenia, thinking it must be a Nihilist attack, called out, " Do not kill me, do not kill me," and ran for protection to an officer. Among the dead were many of the Czarina's favourite attendants, for whom she has never ceased to mourn. She herself received a deep y/ound on her arm, a fork having run into it, for the Imperial party were at table at the time. This wound has left behind it a nervous trembling of the arm, while the accident itself proved to have given her nervous system a severer shock than at first appeared, when she bore up so bravely. A sad period of nervous prostration followed, and some feared for her the fate of her sister Thyra. This terrible malady has, however, been averted ; the Empress's naturally good health and high spirits have reasserted themselves, and, whenever occasion offers, she dances as madly as ever, and continues to hold receptions and/eies. A loss to the Emperor, at Borki, was that of his pet dog Mahzutcha, a Siberian long-haired greyhound, which always slept at his bedfoot, and was his constant com- panion in his study. When audiences lasted longer 60 THE EMFEBOB OF BUS 81 A. than pleased the Czar, or Mahzutcha, she had the habit, on a sign from her master, of pulUng at the coat-tails of the importunate visitor. Among the few objects not smashed to atoms in the Imperial carriage was a picture of the Saviour. The Emiperor's superstitious nature at once beheld in this a sign. He had the picture repro- duced in gold, together with his own and his wife's initials, and presented a copy to each person present at Borki. His superstition has been further nourished by his almost miraculous escape. He regarded it as an indication that the Almighty visibly protects him, and since that day he no longer fears Nihilist attacks, and has abandoned almost all the precautions with which he used to surround himself. And the populace, yet more ignorant and superstitious, are a hundred times surer still, seeing in the escape at Borki yet another demon- stration of the truth of their favourite saying, " God loves the Czar." Russia, and especially ignorant peasant Russia, adores its Emperor. The Moujik figures to himself his Imperial master with head surrounded by a golden nimbus, clad in flowing gown, with three fingers raised in benediction, and seated upon a throne of rubies, side by side with the Trinity. When they see the Czar and Czarina in flesh and blood it is often at first a shock to them. But all Russia does not consist of benighted Moujiks. This vast empire is also full of discontented subjects, who crave reforms and insist that they will have them. What Russia needs, however, is not a constitution, it is BU88IA. 61 not ripe for that, but a different system of administra- tion. The Eussians themselves do not know precisely what they do want, nor what they lack ; but they are advancing and developing daily. The people begin to feel their power as an entity in the State, begin to comprehend that they have the right to be something else than a parcel of ignorant boors, who blindly obey and blindly worship. From the day of Alexander III.'s accession all eyes turned hopefully to him. The late Emperor had made himself most unpopular, especially during the last year of his reign.; it was hoped his son would inaugurate a new era. And certainly no Czars of late have taken so serious a view of their part, or have been filled with a sense of responsibility and moral obligation towards their God and their subjects, as the present Emperor. He knows that he was called to the throne by dynamite, that he lives and reigns under its constant menace ; but he does his duty unappalled, goes about his work unperturbed, though aware that it is but too probable that his father's fate may be his also, for his ideas run counter to modern aspirations and desires. He cannot, on that account, however, modify or alter them ; he believes them to be the right and true ones, and his subjects must accept them so long as he holds the reins. The most kindly and imassuming of men in private life, in public matters his mind is that of an insufferable autocrat. His ideal is Peter the Great, he would wish to restore those times. 62 THE EMPEBOB OF BUSSIA. The petty interferences which he encourages are carried even into private life. Thus no man can alter even his house front without special permission of the Czar. As he cannot be either omniscient or ubiquitous the ob- vious result is that important matters are often settled without his cognisance, while he is busy with puerilities. It is he, too, that encourages strict and absurd censorship of the press. He objects, for example, to expressions like '■' the machine moves freely." The word " freely " has to be erased, as suggestive of revolutionary ideas. Added to all this there is also something quixotic in his character, which makes him think it dishonest to take long views and to calculate probabilities. Neither will he listen to the counsels of expediency. When any particular act seems to him clearly wrong, he will not do it, be it ever so convenient. He is level-headed, con- scientious, healthy of mind and body, but no genius. Had he more initiative, larger, broader views, and a little more confidence in himself — for this autocrat, strange to say, is the most diffident of men — he might prove a great ruler for Russia. But to be this many prejudices, personal and public, would have to be vanquished, many ancient traditions must be set aside, many things established for centuries overturned. Will Alexander have the courage, the will, the inspiration to carry out all that is asked, hoped of him? Will he find en- lightened advisers able to aid him? That is the question. The desire to act for the good of the people is not wanting ; but can such desires overcome natural RUSSIA. 63 shortcomings of intellect ? The future alone can solve the question. Meanwhile, even such as he is, a long life must be wished for him, for it is greatly to be feared that his son will not attain the moral or intellectual level of the father. THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA. THE EMPEEOK OF AUSTRIA. (From a Pltotograph by Kollar Karoly.] THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA. IN the placid provincial garrison town of Olmiitz, in Morayia, not far from the dreaded fortress of Spiel- berg, made for ever famous in Silvio Pellico's narrative, there reigned, in the early winter of 1848, a most un- usual excitement. For it was here that the Emperor Ferdinand, all the Imperial family, the Court, and the high dignitaries of Austria had suddenly pitched their tents after their igno- minious flight from Vienna, at that time in the hands of an insurgent populace, who loudly clamoured for a constitution to replace the traditionary Austrian auto- cratic Government. It is true that after a stout resistance the capital was at length retaken, but it was evident to all concerned that the inhabitants had only yielded to overwhelming force, and that discontent with the tyrannical Prime Minister, Prince Metternicli, and with the amiable but weak-minded Sovereign Ferdinand, was therewith by no means allayed. The assemblage of nations over which the Hapsburgs ruled, seemed to have grown tired of them. 68 THE EMPEBOB OF AUSTBIA. Long and serious and secret were the discussions held on this subject in the bosom of the Imperial family. They had begun in those dreadful March days, the days that saw the dismissal and hasty departure of Prince Metlernich, who had to seek refuge on hospitable Eng- lish soil to escape from the hands of those who hated him throughout the length and breadth of Europe. These March days put an end for ever to the famous " system" — a gust of storm wind had carried it away. New men, young men, were required for the new situa- tion. Since the 13th of that dreadful month it had pretty well been decided in private Imperial conclave that the eldest son of Archduke Charles Francis should succeed his uncle. But of this decision only about six . people knew, and among these was neither the young Archduke himself nor. Metternich, for forty years the repository of all State secrets. In a letter addressed to him in London, Archduchess . Sophia, mother of Francis Joseph, says (March 23, 1848) :— " Poor Franzi was my one consolation in our distress. In the midst of our troubles I blessed heaven for having given him to me such as he is ! His courage, his firm- ness, his downright mode of thought and action might almost give us hopes that God will yet open up a future for him, since He has gifted him with the necessary qualities." We feel through this letter an echo of the intimate conversations held at this time in the Vienna Hofburg. AUSTRIA. 69 The old Chancellor's reply to the Archduchess's letter is worthy of note. Once again he explains his policy, but at the same time condemns all political systems, and makes this strange avowal : — " I was born a socialist, in the true sense of the word; I have always looked on politics as a luxury compared with social dangers, and it is not my fault if I have received but little support in the direction which my mind follows, and which my actions have followed." Prince Metternich, Chancellor of his Apostolic Majesty, a socialist ! It was, indeed, well for him that he had passed the Austrian frontier ere proclaiming such opinions, or the police might have made it hot for him. Still, no doubt, there was a notable difference between Prinbe Metternich's socialism and that of Proudhon. However that may be, the old Chancellor had not been informed of the abdication ideas of the Emperor. Ferdinand. Besides, it was urged, by the few persons in the secret, that the time for carrying them into effect had not yet come. It was needful still to pass through all the various phases of that terrible year before the moment seemed ripe. One morning — it was December 2, 1848, a dismal winter's day — the unwonted movement in the streets of Olmiitz appeared yet greater than before. Since seven o'clock, when it was barely daylight, carriages and coaches of all kinds had been rumbling over the paving- stones towards the Episcopal Palace, where the fugitives 70 TBE EMPEBOB OF AUSTBIA. lodged, vehicles that contained ministers, ambassadors. Court dignitaries in gala dress. The streets were patrolled by regiments in full-dress uniform bearing in their shakos a branch of greenery, always a sign of rejoicing in the Austrian army. There could be neither ball nor banquet at this early hour. What did it all mean ? asked the wondering inhabitants. Nor could the dignitaries themselves, when interrogated, reply. They could only point to a letter summoning them to appear in gala at eight o'clock precisely in the Episcopal Throne Eoom. Here they saw nothing but a heavy dais, beneath which stood two armchairs embroidered with the Hapsburg arms, and at their feet a black wooden chair and a little table strewn with papers. A young man, afterwards the famous Baron Hiibner, stood be- side it, trying quill pens and making order among the documents. What was this mystery ? Even the nearest relations of the Emperor were in ignorance. Not a soul except the initiated even suspected the truth. " What are we doing here ? " asked one of the Arch- dukes of the Minister of War. " Your Highness will learn in a moment," was the cautious reply. And indeed, while he spoke, the great doors that led to the private apartments were thrown wide open, and there entered, with all state pomp, the Emperor, the Empress, the eldest brother and sister-in-law, the nephews and State functionaries, many in number. A close observer AVSTBIA. 71 might have remarked that the eldest nephew, a tall lad just eighteen, looking even more elegant than usual in his uniform as colonel of dragoons, had a face of extreme pallor that morning. Ferdinand, too, looked agitated ; but he had long been ailing, and late events had been too much for his slender strength. The Sovereigns took their seat, the Archdukes and Duchesses grouped around them. Prince Schwarzenberg now advanced and put into the Emperor's hands a sealed packet. Ferdinand broke it with a trembling hand, and then read, in a low but firm and distinct voice, a brief decisive declaration, to the effect that he had taken the irrevocable decision of renouncing his crown in favour of his well-beloved nephew, his Serene Highness the Archduke Francis Joseph. It was done. The veil of the great mystery, so care- fully shielded for seven long months, had fallen. But never had secret been so well kept. Intense surprise greeted the short address. There now followed various formalities, among them; the renunciation of all rights to the throne by the Arch- . duke Francis Charles, the young heir's father, who had the first right to succeed his childless brother, but who, even more weak and easy-going than his brother, was still less fitted to guide the reins of the Austrian State at a difficult moment of its history. Nor could anything have rendered this kindly, simple person more miserable than the idea of being forced to give up his quiet burgher existence. 72 TEE EMPEBOB OF AU8TBIA. All the great personages present now signed the charter that recorded the solemn deed. Then the new Emperor, tears in his eyes, knelt down at the feet of Ferdinand, as though to implore his blessing and his pardon for taking his place. Soon after, the family quitted the Throne Eoom, and the new-made Emperor at once mounted his horse to review the troops drawn up outside. Thus he inaugurated his career as Sovereign. Meanwhile the late Emperor and Empress set out in a modest travelling carriage for Prague, where, beloved by all their surroundings, they lived quietly and happily until their death. Ferdinand resigned the crown at the age of fifty-five — the same at which his great ancestor Charles V. retired to the Convent of St. Just. On the day following the ceremony of abdication, Fer- dinand's successor had to receive a deputation fi-om the Parliament which was then sitting at Kremsier, and reply to the welcoming speech of the president, the Polish Dr. Smolka, who still holds that office. It appears that the speech which he then made at Olmiitz was very long. The young Emperor listened without flinching, but showed emotion in his reply. His voice trembled, he had difficulty in finding his words. How- ever, little by little, he gained assurance, and the end of his speech was given with firmness and energy. In a moment this Sovereign of eighteen had taken definite possession of his throne ; hardly on the throne he had begun to reign, and for forty years he has continued so to do. AUSTBIA. 73 On the same 3rd December, the accession of the Emperor Joseph was solemnly proclaimed with sound of trumpet in all the cities of the empire that were not in the hands of the Eevolution. Strange, indeed, does it sound in our days of telegraphs to learn that the news took thirty-six hours to reach Vienna. The people greeted the tidings with cries of " Long live Francis Joseph I., the constitutional Emperor ! " thus with one word striking the keynote of the whole situation. Truly the task set before this newly-made Emperor of eighteen was no sinecure. The crown of Austria, one of the finest on earth, had been easy to wear until the days of March, 1848 ; till then a word, a look, had been a command to forty million faithful souls. Now all was different. Francis Joseph did not take a light crown upon his head. He was called on to rule a dissatisfied people, a people that could no longer be kept down either gently or forcibly ; a people that claimed its human rights, its privileges to choose its governors, and to be ruled in accordance with more modern views. Well might he say, " Farewell, my youth ! " as he took on his shoulders the burdens of such a government. And this youth had been a tranquilly happy one, well suited to the eminently retiring nature of the man. Francis Joseph was born, August 18, 1830, at Laxenburg, some nine miles to the south of Vienna, in an Imperial residence which Francis I., inspired by reminiscences of Sir Walter Scott and Anne Eadcliffe, had built strictly on the lines of a baronial castle of the 74 THE EMPEEOB OF AUSTBIA. middle ages. Conscientious imitation even went so far as to instal in a tower a figure which, by means of a spring, rattled its chains and uttered plaintive sounds. Franzi, as he was called by his family, was his grand- father's great pet. Like the young Duke of Eeichstadt, he, too, played for hours in the monarch's cabinet, while the latter was busy with State afifairs, which he sometimes interrupted to have a hearty romp with the little boy. A scene out of this childhood was painted by Peter Pendi, and hangs to this day in the Imperial apart- ments. It was Franzi's fourth birthday, and he was happily playing in the gardens of Laxenburg, in com- pany with grandpapa, Francis I., with the toys the day had brought. By chance his eye fell on a soldier keep- ing guard. The child looked at him fixedly, and stopped his play. Suddenly the little Prince asked, " Is it not true, grandpapa, that this sentry is very poor?" " Why do you think that, my child ? " " Because he has to go on duty." " My child," replied the Emperor, " every one, rich or poor, has to go on his duty. Princes, too, must take their turn. But this man is poor. Go and give him this bank-note." The Prince needed no second bidding, he ran up to the soldier on duty, and, holding out the bank-note, said joyfully, " Here, poor man, my grandfather sends you this." AU8TBIA. 75 The orders to sentries are stringent ; the soldier shook his head to show that he could not take it. Prince Franzi j)ut his finger in his mouth in great disappoint- ment, and looked from his grandfather to the soldier and back again. The old Emperor enjoyed the scene. " Eun along, Franzi, and put it in his cartouch box." But, alas ! it was too high up, so the Emperor came near, and, lifting up his grandson, with the assistance of the Empress, they managed between them to drop the bank-note into the cartouch box. " Now the soldier will be no longer poor, grandpapa ! " said the child, delighted with his first deed of charity. When Franzi was five, death deprived him of this grandfatherly petting. At six years of age his serious education began, shared later by his three brothers, the unfortunate Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, and the Archdukes Charles Louis and Louis Victor. The mother, a Bavarian Princess, of virile intelligence and noble soul, herself superintended the children's bringing up. The principles on which the Austrian Archdukes are all educated was laid down as a family law by the wise Emperor Joseph II. His words run: " Every burgher can say that if his son turns out well he will prove useful to the State, and if he turns out badly he. can do it no harm, since he will get no post or office. An Arch- duke, a royal heir, however, is not in that position. As he will one day hold the highest office, that of ruler of a State, it is no longer a question whether he will turn out well ; but he must turn out well, because every 76 THE EMPEBOB OF AUSTBIA. detail of business which he does not learn sufficiently, concerning which he does not imbibe sound views, and towards whose execution his body and soul are not tempered, is baneful and hurtful to the general weal." In the choice of tutors for the young Prince the mother had been careful rather that they should be good Catholics than well instructed in their various branches of tuition. The result was that the Emperor and his brother Maximilian regretted in after years that much of their instruction, especially in the departments of physics and history, was so inadequate that only later private study enabled them to make up the lacunsB in the latter study, which is of such importance to royalty. Everything that had artistic bearing was also too much neglected ; and yet it was just for this that Prince Francis Joseph had the most pronounced taste, as his sketches made during a trip to Italy prove. He had also a great liking for the natural sciences, such as chemistry and botany, but none of these tastes were much encouraged. In languages, however, the Prince received excellent instruction. Kt an early age he could speak and read fluently the eight languages which are used in the polyglot Austrian Empire, to which, of course, French and the classical languages had afterwards to be added. These royal children were subjected to a stern dis- cipline — too stern, perhaps — leaving little room for play and innocent recreation. It crushed the joyousness of AUSTBIA. 77 youth out of at least one of them. Prince Franzi is described at thirteen as a silent lad, reticent almost to brusqueness, and painfully shy. He was nervous, too, and so fearful, for example, of horses, that he wept bitter tears each time he had to bestride one. For his military studies he at first showed neither aptitude nor inclination. Fortunately his military tutor was a man of rare and real ability, who had not been chosen merely for his unimpeachable orthodoxy. Colonel Hauslab elaborated a most careful plan of instruction by which the young Archduke had to serve in the same way as all other recruits in each branch of the service ; his theory being that he who would command must also know all the minutest details of the services. And the colonel was successful with his pupil, only, unfortunately, this plan required time to carrj' it out, and the events of 1848 intervened ere the scheme was completed. Had it been accomplished, who can tell whether the course of events might not have taken a different turn in 1859 and 1866 ? When the imperial scholar had attained the age of sixteen a tutor of a different stamp was given him. He was neither priest nor soldier, and yet the wiliest plotter, the greatest strategist contemporary Europe knew, for it was Prince Metternich who was to initiate him into diplomatic business, though circumstances, the pressure of public opinion, and awakened national self-conscious- ness, never permitted the Emperor to put into practice the lessons received. 78 THE EMPEBOB OF AV8TBIA. ■ In 1847 the Archduke Francis Joseph made his first appearance in public as the Emperor's deputy to instal the Governor of Pest. The national Magyar movement in Hungary was then in its first fever heat of excitement, and patriots attached special value to the use of the Hungarian language in official acts, instead of German or Latin, till then employed. But no Archduke had hitherto taken the trouble to learn their speech. What was their joy, then, when Francis Joseph addressed them in purest Magyar ! They sprang from their seats, they shouted " Eljen ! " till they were hoarse, they drew their swords and swung them after traditional Hungarian fashion as a sign of joy. And when, some months later, Hungary was in full revolt against the Emperor, a deputy arose, and, reminding the assembly of the young Archduke who had enchanted Magyar hearts by his Magyar speech, proposed that this youth should be elected future King of Hungary. The deputy who made this speech, which was ap- plauded to the echo, was no other than Lajos Kossuth. And the speech found an echo in Austrian breasts during the March days of '48, with the result that, while the rest of the imperial family were often publicly insulted, the young Archduke met with respect everywhere. Thus trained, arid under such auspices. Archduke Francis Joseph ascended the throne, a sober lad, who was aware to the full of the greatness of his responsi- biUties. This is proved by the motto -he chose for his own. It runs, " Viribus unitis," for he recognized that AUSTBIA. 79 it needed all united forces to weld again into a whole this distracted, discontented, heterogeneous Austrian Empire. The old decaying Austria had to die, it was no longer suited to its time ; but a new strong sapling must spring from the ancient trunk, and to see that this should come about was the Emperor's duty. And he soon showed himself not only strong and disposed to rule with a high hand, but also genial and lovable. Thus the people were j)leased that on his ac- cession he assumed his two names, Francis and Joseph, reminding the nation of its two most popular monarchs, Joseph II., whose memory lives unweakened in his people's hearts, and who believed that only under another Joseph could Austria once more be happy ; and Franz, the husband of Marie Theresia, the people's friend, who, for all his misfortunes and losses, had yet made Austria great. It is true that some wiseacres shook their heads over this decision, regarding it as a weak and almost despairing bid for popularity. It was some months ere Francis Joseph could enter his capital, which had been seized and sacked. When he did arrive it was silently and almost incognito. He took up his residence at once in the castle of Schon- brunn, famous for its memories of Marie Theresia, of Marie Antoinette, of Napoleon, and the Duke of Eeich- stadt. When the news leaked out it spread like wild- fire, and all the Viennese, that essentially pleasure-loving folk, were anxious to see the new Emperor of eighteen, whose portrait they had often beheld, but of whose 80 THE EMPEBOB OF AUSTBIA. person they had taken very httle notice, as he rode among his brothers in the leafy Prater. But Francis Joseph made these pleasure-lovers under- stand from the first that his motto was business, .not enjoyment, and all his reign long he has accorded them few of those occasions for public festivities which are dear to their hearts as hfe's blood. He set to work immediately, and indeed there was much to put in order, for the kingdom was all in pieces, and even sections of the army proved disloyal. Winter and summer, at five daily did the Emperor leave his couch in the first years of his reign, using the early hours to continue his studies. Then he worked, held audiences, received ministers. A short walk, a rapid ride, and a visit to the theatre were his only recreations. He threw himself with ardour into his duties, surprising his ministers by his industry and energy. " For matters of business," said Prince Swarzenberg, " I can always gain admission to the Emperor, no matter what the hour may be." It is difficult to realize nowadays the peculiarly diffi- cult task that awaited Francis Joseph ; and Ferdinand was right when, descending from the throne, he said, " Austria needs a young, robust monarch." It needed all the physical strength and elasticity of youth to cope with the problems presented to Austria's Emperor, and it is greatly to Francis Joseph's credit that he has, on the whole, acquitted himself so well of his most thorny AUSTBIA. 81 task, a result largely due to his personal character. There is perhaps no European country where the pro- blems of government are so difficult as in Austria, and in some respects they have grown even more difficult of late years. The personal responsibility of the sovereign is greater than ever. The Emperor has not only to tread the well-marked path prescribed by duty and by law for a constitutional monarch. He has to exercise, as an individual, a regulating, moderating, and domi- nating influence over the two co-equal sovereignties of the Cisleithan and Transleithan States, complicated in each case by the recognized or unrecognized pretensions of races struggling for " autonomy," and drifting into " Parliamentarism." Anxious and laborious duties these, since the position of the Empire in Europe and the character of its component parts cause its very existence to depend on internal unity and diplomatic skill. A stern task, a complex problem truly ; and, though no doubt he made mistakes, being but mortal, on the whole the world will agree that Francis Joseph appre- hended it in all its sternness. He saw that the position of his country was probably unique in Europe, and that Parliamentarism, Constitutionalism, were terms that must be changed and modified according to the nature and idiosyncrasies of his widely differing subjects. Adap- tability and self-effacement were the two great charac- teristics these circumstances required from him, and rigidly did Francis Joseph carry them out in his own person. The result is that at this day the true personal 82 THE EMPEBOB OF AUSTBIA. character of the Austrian sovereign is what no one, not even a diplomatist, professes to understand. Indeed, diplomatists frankly admit that his character perplexes them, and his own ministers do not profess to understand it. He has managed to escape the Argus eyes of even the newspaper special correspondents ; no one has ever attempted seriously to analyse his character. Actual as well as nominal master of eighteen European States, the image of the man himself stands in shadow, so far hidden in the gloom as to be personally unrecognizable, and this by his own voluntary wish and will. And yet he is no mere lay figure ; those who think this are greatly mistaken. Doubtless he is not a great man of the first category, for in that case he could not have smothered his individuality, no matter how hard he tried. But neither is he a small one, for self-repres- sion and self-effacement at the command of duty are not the gifts of petty natures. The smaller a nature the more self-satisfied, the more filled with an idea of its own importance. Comte Paul Vasili has no doubt well grasped the situation when he writes as follows: "For the sake of his people he sacrificed all his tastes. Born to govern brilliantly, he loved the pomp of Courts, show, fine armies. He would have liked in great wars to have himself led the charges at the head of a brilliant staff. Political circumstances forced him to become a consti- tutional king in a Federal Empire, which defeat doubly wounded his national pride. AU8TBIA. 83 " Then, with an adaptability which has often been taken for indecision, he renounced personal power ; not, however, without sorrow and a sharp struggle with himself. All that he had looked forward to was crum- bling away. Instead of being the successor of Maria Theresia, of carrying out the traditional policy, he had to content himself with a Constitutional Monarchy, under which the ministers are responsible, to become a mere bureaucrat without initiative. He accepted the position as a duty. From five o'clock in the morning on, the Emperor signs the documents placed before him ; he discusses them with his Ministers, but without animation. He reads a few newspapers, runs through a revue cle la presse, compiled daily for his use at the office of the Cisleithan Press, which keeps him informed of the exigencies of public opinion, always paternally taken into account by him. He is also very popular at Vienna, as in the different Austrian provinces. The Emperor goes to bed early, and his sobriety is proverbial. He takes his breakfast hurriedly at a corner of his desk. " He never oversteps the privileges which he has accepted. It is only at the chase that he becomes himself, free to exert his energy and strength, employ- ing his strategy against an innocent quarry, following it up till conquered. " Occasionally, as in the coronation at Pesth, his nature shows itself. The Hungarians, who are so magnificent, so regal, so proud of their fetes, saw how grand a figure the Emperor Francis Joseph might cut. 84 THE BMP E BOB OF AUSTBIA. "Austria is full of contradictions, and the Emperor is the victim. The countries bordering on the east, which require show, with the Poles, the Hungarians, the Slavs, the very town of Vienna, which adores fetes, elegance, luxury, are not satisfied with the Emperor. They would like him to be more personal, more repre- sentative, more of an Emperor ; and at the same time these small peoples, tied to tradition, to their customs, with a horror of centralization, unwilling to be governed uniformly, are irritated at the least pressure from the State. Now, the Austro-Hungarian State can only be represented by the Emperor, since the only bond of union between interests of the different provinces is centred in the dynasty of the Hapsburgs ; and since 1848 — especially since 1867^all direct power is refused to him from whom they expect the exercise of direct power. The Parliamentary system has never been accepted in Austro-Hungary ; there is no longer room for a Csesar. We must be logical, and give Francis Joseph credit for not having resisted the modern current ; but, at the same time, we must not find fault with him for having withdrawn himself from the crowd, and for remaining the vague' symbol which his people insist on his being. " All who approach him recognize that Francis Joseph is a good man. He is charitable, but he exercises his charity as discreetly as he governs. He leaves his left hand in ignorance of what his right hand does. How can the crowd be expected to appreciate benefits whose AVSTBIA. 85 origin is concealed when it has so little gratitude for known benefactors ? . . . " The circumstances which we have described, have detached Francis Joseph from the personal interest which he would have taken in politics had he governed absolutely. Military questions alone animate him ; he follows them with the greatest solicitude. A scrupu- lously constitutional monarch in all things, he has, however, refused to surrender the army to the hazards of parliamentarism. Outside the army Francis Joseph's opinion is that which predominates in his kingdom. This explains the shufflings which have characterized his reign. . . . " He is, in short, what he has described himself, if the saying attributed to him by Count Andrassy be correct : ' I am thankful that those who have been con- demned to death for treason have not all been executed, for I afterwards was able to make them my prime ministers.' " Indeed it is this impassibility that is the source and secret of Francis Joseph's strength, and explains the apparent riddle of his character. Neither as a young man nor as an old one has he ever been carried away by emotion, and he has that rare gift, that even Prince Bismarck might envy him — he knows how to wait, to wait calmly and with dignity. Some men in his position stand revealed by their history, but as has been well remarked, the history of Francis Joseph baf9.es ordinary 86 THE EMPEBOB OF AUSTBIA. comprehenBion by its unexpectedness. He has been the unluckiest of sovereigns, and one of the most successful ; the most detested and the best obeyed. Indeed, after forty-one years of reign, it is worthy of note that defeat, against which few dynastic reputations can stand, has been powerless to affect the regard of his subjects for Francis Joseph. Their loyalty has become only the more sympathetic. A note of tender- ness has been infused into it. The fact probably is, that Francis Joseph was originally a proud and rather headstrong man, not cruel, but indifferent to suffering, and intent, like most of his predecessors, on attaining his will by force. Called to fill the throne in a difficult juncture of European history, he understood that his absolute instincts must be restrained, and that his haughtiness — the haughtiness of this semi- Spanish house, which claims to represent Charlemagne — must be controlled and take a new direction. In his case it had been to think, above all, of the great heritage entrusted to him by his ancestors, and to see that this, at all events, be not diminished. Forty years of terribly severe training have made of Francis Joseph as accomplished a diplo- matist as his powers will permit him to be. These powers do not allow him to see far, or to recognize facts needing imagination to reveal them, or to appeal to masses of men with immediate success, but within these limitations they are really great. No wise person will hastily say that the Emperor of Austria is unwise ; AUSTRIA. 87 and yet he has committed actions that would admit of that interpretation. An authoritative person has pointed out that from the day when, as a boy of eighteen, Francis Joseph was ordered by the family council to dethrone his uncle, since otherwise all hope for the House was lost, down to the present moment, he has never succeeded in any great undertaking, and yet he is ten times as powerful, as popular, and as much respected as he was then. Beaten in battle after battle, flung out of kingdom after kingdom, tricked successfully by Frenchman, Italian, and German, his vast army follows him with hearty obedience; he has g9.ined, not lost, in European position, and there is not a diplomatist in the world who, when Austria wants anything, has not a secret doubt whether, in the end, Austria will not be found tranquilly enjoying the secure possession of the object which seemed so unattainable. With half his dominions in insurrection in 1848, the Emperor was in 1850 their absolute and rather cruel lord. Beaten in 1860 by France ; beaten in 1866 by Prussia ; driven in the former year out of Lombardy, and in the latter out of Germany ; obliged, in 1848, to beg alms from Eussia, and in 1867 to yield to the Magyars, he sits, in 1890, as great a monarch as ever, with as many subjects, a greater army, larger revenues, and a far more secure position, the first of the great alliance on which the future of Europe hangs ; but still, in comparison with his rivals, scarcely known. He has never won a great battle, but he is a great 8S THE EM'PEBOB OF AUSTBIA. military power ; he has failed repeatedly in diplomacy, and he has acquired grand provinces without drawiilg a sword or firing a shot. He has fired on his own capital, and is the only sovereign in Europe who dare lounge about it ; he has ruthlessly oppressed half his subjects, and has won them back so thoroughly that loyalty to his person is the cement of his many kingdoms. He has shown fierce ambition at every turn, and he is regarded as the one ruler who may be trusted not to use any successes he may gain to further schemes of aggrandisement. Men who should know, and who are rarely mistaken, say that he is not an able State • charioteer ; but he drives, and has driven for years, eighteen horses abreast, and they all go on the course he dictates, and he stands all the while quite tranquil, and not perceptibly touching the reins. From his accession to the present day, the history of the Emperor of Austria's life is to be sought and found in the history of Austria. He has lived and lives but for his public duties. The first thing he had to do was to pacify the revolted States. This done, the spirit of reaction once more awoke, and the constitution accorded in 1848 was revoke>i in 1851 — a mistake that was to end in the exclusiob of Austria from the Germanic Confederation ; for Prussia and its adhei:ents saw that the moment was favourable for playing that trump card which enabled them to realize, sooner than they dared hope, the programme that triumphed on the eve of Sadowa. AUSTBIA. 89 In August, 1853, the Emperor made his customary journey to Ischl, there to keep his birthday in domestic privacy. On this occasion, his mother, the Archduchess Sophia, gave a small ball, for Francis Joseph and his brothers much enjoyed dancing, being in this respect true children of Vienna. Among the guests then at Ischl was the Duchess Louise of Bavaria, with her two elder daughters, Helene and Elizabeth. Francis Joseph desired that they, too, should be asked to the family party. The Duchess accepted for herself and Princess Helena, but refused for Princess Elizabeth, on the plea that she was not yet out, and that, further, they had brought no dress in which she could appear. But the Emperor, who had already been charmed by a brief view of his young cousin, insisted, and would take no excuse, saying, in his simple, good-natured way, that the simplest of dresses, with a coloured rose in her hair, would suffice to make his pretty cousin Queen of the Feast. Upon this the mother yielded, the pretty cousin went to the dance, with the result that she became, not only queen of the feast, but queen of Francis Joseph's heart, and future Empress of Austria. It is related that the Emperor danced almost exclusively with her all the evening, which naturally attracted attention. Towards midnight tea was served. During this pause the Emperor and Princess approached a table on which lay a huge album containing a collec- tion of pictures of the various national costumes to be found in the eighteen States of Austria. The Emperor 90 THE EMPEBOB OF AUSTBIA. turned over its pages showing them to his pretty partner. " They are my subjects," he said. " Say one word, and you shall equally reign over them." The Princess, who, it must be remembered, had known the Emperor already as a child, in lieu of any answer, placed her hand in the hand he held out towards her. "Later," he said, "I will give you your betrothal bouquet." And, indeed, during the cotillion Francis Joseph presented his future wife with a magnificent bouquet of those curious soft white Alpine flowers, the Edelweiss, which he had gathered himself in his intrepid rambles among the hills. Next day, at ten o'clock, an Imperial carriage already stood at the door of the hotel where the Duchess of Maximilian was staying. " Is the Princess Elizabeth up ? " the Emperor asked of the man in waiting. "Yes, sire, but she is dressing." " No matter, I will go to the duchess." And then and there he asked for Princess Elizabeth's hand. Half an hour after the whole Imperial family present in Ischl assembled in the little parish church, and here, to the strains of Haydn's popular national hymn, the betrothal of the Emperor of Austria with Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria was celebrated with all solemnity. The news, of course, spread through the little watering ATJSTBIA. 91 place like lightning, and the same evening all the hotels and villas were illuminated. Francis Joseph has indeed chosen well in the matter of his wife, who has proved herself in all respects suited to his taste and ideas. She, like him, loves retirement and solitude, and shares his passion for riding and hunting. How devoted to the latter sport her repeated visits to England and Ireland during the hunting season has often proved. The daughter of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, a plain bourgeois, addicted to literary pursuits, and loving retirement, she had been carefully reared, with her three sisters and only brother, in one of those romantic mountain castles with which Bavaria is dotted. This brother, the Arch- duke Theodore, who has since become a famous oculist, had brought, together with the father, an atmosphere of culture and love of study into the house. It was a patriarchal environment from which Princess Elizabeth went forth, one in which there was no love for meretri- cious pomp. In April, 1854, Princess Elizabeth made her State entry into her future husband's dominions. She came by way of the Danube to Linz. Those who were present say it was a pretty sight to behold the lovely maiden of seventeen standing on the deck of the gaily-flagged steamer, ready to greet her Imperial lover, who stood awaiting her at the landing-stage. Francis Joseph could hardly wait till the boat was made fast. He sprang across the open space and pressed his bride to <« TEE EMPEBOB OF AUSTBIA. his heart in presence of all the people. That night the Princess passed with her parents in the castle of Schonbrunn. Next day she made her triumphal entry into Vienna, in a State chariot drawn by eight milk- white horses, all caparisoned with gold-embroidered trappings of heavy red velvet. She herself wore a dress of pink satin, covered with white lace, and in her hair a wreath of red and white roses, above which rose a diadem of diamonds. She was the youngest as well as the most beautiful Empress that had ever borne the sceptre of the House of Hapsburg, and this procession was one of the most magnificent spectacles ever seen in Vienna, that city of spectacular effects. Not less striking was the marriage ceremony in the church, twenty-four hours later. The Court church of the Augustines glittered with the lights of tens of thousands of wax tapers ; the treasures of Golconda, all the colours of the rainbow, seemed showered down in the multitude of precious stones and jewellery in which the Court ladies, the sword-begirt magnates, and the heavily-decorated dignitaries of the Empire sparkled. When the bride, led by her mother and mother-in-law, appeared in the church, she seemed a mass of white velvet embroidered in gold. The fair face was pale and set as marble, but nothing of pride or hauteur was there; only the look of a true woman in the most crucial hour of her young life. Later, when the newly-made Empress appeared in the Throne Eoom, leaning on the arm of her husband, to receive the homage of her lieges, the AUSTBIA. 93 rosy colour had come back into her cheeks, but the happy, pure light still shone in her beautiful eyes. As for the Emperor, no one, it is recorded, had ever seen him look so happy, nor unbend so much as in that hour that first saw him with his young bride at his side. Since her marriage it may be said of the Empress Elizabeth, as of fortunate natures, that she has no history. The union so romantically entered upon proved a happy one, and when in the days of their common sorrow, bowed down at the tragic end of their only son, the Emperor Francis Joseph addressed a few words to his faithful servant. Dr. von Smolka, he raised to his wife a monument that will cause her to live in history more nobly than if she had been commemorated in stone or bronze. He said : " How much I owe in these days of bitterness to my dearly beloved wife, the Empress, and what a great support she has proved to me, I cannot describe. How can I be sufficiently grateful that such a helpmeet has been given me ? Tell this to every one. The more you spread it, the more will I thank you ! " Outside court circles few people know the Empress Elizabeth. Many Viennese liave not even seen her, which is a loss for them, for Elizabeth of Bavaria was very lovely, and has preserved into middle age many remains of youthful charms. She believes in Diane de Poitiers' elixir for perpetual youth — the morning dew. An intrepid horsewoman, she is often in her saddle at dawn, scouring the royal parks. Indeed, it is as a 94 THE EMPEROB OF AUSTBIA. horsewoman, a bold huntress, a lover of dogs, that her Majesty is noted throughout Europe. It is all the more surprising, therefore, that this intrepid amazon was never taught to ride till she was twenty, and already a mother. For the rest, she has a virtue rare in a woman who shares a throne, of never meddling with politics. Indeed, she openly admits that she neither cares for politics nor understands them, a remark which, when made on one occasion to Jokai, the Hungarian novelist, and member of the Anti-Imperial faction, elicited from him the remark, "It is the highest politics to win the heart of a countryman, and that is what your Majesty knows well how to do." But if the Empress keeps away from politics, she loves, on the other hand, to rule her Court, and here the Emperor leaves her a free hand, allowing his wife the same independence in their home as he allows his ministers in the cabinet. Of Court life there is, perhaps, less in Austria than in any other European capital. Both sovereigns love retire- ment, and only do what is strictly necessary in the way of entertaining, giving an occasional dinner and two balls, at which, however, no ladies who have not sixteen quarterings of nobility are allowed to be present. One of these balls is known as the " Court Ball," to which go the Corps Diplomatique, and all those who have the right of presentation. The other is called the " Ball at the Court," to which go only those invited by the Em- peror and Empress. When the Emperor is thus dragged out of his shell he goes through his functions in a AV8TB1A. 95 dreamy, uninterested way, very different from the eagerness with which he stalks a deer or shoots a capercailzie, only obtainable at sunrise, or the ardour with which he throws himself into dreary details of business. The descendants of the sixteen children of Marie Theresia, and of the seventeen of Leopold II., have surrounded the Austrian Court with a crowd of Arch- dukes and duchesses. The Court is, therefore, a most aristocratic one, into which no outsider penetrates. The present Emperor of Austria is not obliged to say, like his forefather, Joseph II., that in order to have the society of his peers, he must go into the Capuchin crypt. It is difficult to imagine a court and courtiers dis- sociated from their chief, yet such is the case at Vienna. The Emperor lives much alone, and his life is one of great simplicity. He rises early all the year round, and often he is surprised by his personal attendants sitting at his writing-table by four in the morning; and between the hour of rising and that of going to bed, usually at ten o'clock, lies a day of harder work than that of the tillers of the soil, relieved only by some reading. He has a wonderful memory, which is, of course, of great service to him in his public duties ; but he achieves more by hard work and painstaking. His scrupulously- regulated life also provides him with the necessary time for all his duties, even on days when he has to speak with from one hundred to a hundred and fifty persons. 96 THE BMPEBOB OF AUSTBIA. as is not seldom the case. He passes from a council of war to one of the audiences which he gives twice a week to the poorest of his subjects who have anything to ask, and he is always self-possessed, attentive, and patient. As there is no apparent hurry in his movements, so there is no haste in his words or his resolutions. So- called popular movements never carry him along with them. If there be a public outcry against any of&eial, for instance, one may be quite sure that the Emperor will not seem to notice it. Yet, if the outcry prove to be justified, he will act in accordance with it. As regards petitions preferred to him by individuals, when once a case has been fairly made out for the Emperor's mercy or bounty, the applicant, however humble, may rest assured that what he has asked will be granted. When work is done the Emperor thinks over the questions and decisions of the day. Should he, in consequence, have further light upon a subject, he does not hesitate to alter his opinion. This has laid him open to the charge of vacillation, which is scarcely just. He is rather careful and cautious, fully aware of how much depends upon his personal decision, and afraid to exercise it unwisely. " The Emperor has once more hit the nail upon the head," is a remark that has become proverbial among those who work with and under him. Four children have sprung from the Imperial union. The firstborn, a Princess, died at the age of two ; the second, the Princess Gisela, is now married to Prince AVSTBIA. 97 Leopold of Bavaria. It was not until 1858 that an heir came, the "Eudi," so ardently beloved by all the peoples of the composite Austrian Empire, and upon whom they built such high hopes for the old house of Hapsburg dynasty. Prince Eudolph early showed a great taste for litera- ture and the fine arts, while showing also his parent's love for field sports. In the army he took little interest, preferring " the more refined pleasures of travel or reading. He was also an excellent ornithologist, an active naturalist, an elegant writer, and these refined and educated tastes, added to the social charms, made him beloved by all who came in contact with him. He was, beyond all doubt, the most modern-minded of all Crown Princes, the most fit to deal with modern con- ditions, the most in harmony with these changed modes of thought. Archduke Eudolph was to his father's subjects a sort of hero of romance ; his tall figure, his well-cut face, his soft blue eyes, his fair moustache shading the ugly Hapsburg mouth, were familiar throughout the Empire. He had the strongest love and admiration for his father, although his sentiments were, perhaps, mixed with a little fear, for the relations between a Crown Prince and his father are controlled by a number of stiff-backed persons, and subjected to laws of etiquette against which gushing natures like Archduke Eudolph rebel. No heir apparent to a throne, however, had a kinder father than he. 8 88 THE EMPEBOB OF AU8TBIA. From his earliest youth he was fond of writing ; his literary tastes he has inherited from his mother, and was quite young when his first work was published. He has left considerable literary remains behind him, part printed, part yet in manuscript. It was in 1884 that he first conceived the idea of the monumental serial work, " Austro - Hungary in Word and Picture," to which he subsequently became one of the most active con- tributors, presiding in person over the sittings of the editorial staff. Only a month before his own death, lamenting the demise of a member of this staff, the Prince said, " Whose turn next, I wonder ? " even hinting that it might be his own. Indeed, for some time before his suicide his ideas had dwelt much on the theme of death, which had a ghastly attraction for him. It is said, though this probably is not the whole truth, that the bitter disappointment of having no son, nor the hope of obtaining an heir, weakened his interest in life. In 1881 Crown Prince Eudolf was married to Princess Stephanie, daughter of the King of the Belgians, a Princess known for her gaiety, her charms of mind and body ; a favourite with court and people. By her the Prince had an only daughter, the little Archduchess Elizabeth, whom Salic law debars from the throne. Why the marriage was not happy it is difficult to know, but the fact remains. Already during their engagement sinister whispers were abroad, and, after the marriage, news came from Vienna from time to time bringing to AUSTRIA. 99 the royal parents sad confidences regarding the princely menage. The Archduchess complained of being aban- doned, asked for leave to return to her mother, sued for divorce. Later, this petition for divorce was endorsed also by the Prince. But their demands had no effect. The rigid Catholicism of both the Belgian and Austrian parents would not listen to such a measure of human mercy. Eeconciliations were again and again patched up in vain, when suddenly, on January 31, 1889, the whole world was startled with the intelligence that Crown Prince Eudolph of Austria lay dead at his shooting castle of Mayerling. Official announcements could not hide the truth, and it soon leaked out that the Prince had committed suicide, together with the Baroness Marie Vetsera — the girl for Avhose sake he implored divorce, or, failing it, for permission to renounce his heritage and live with her in strict retirement. The exact details of this double death will probably never be known, or, at least, not for many years to come. Such, then, was the end of one on whom had been built hopes so high, and which his talents had justified to the full — a tragic end, full of lessons, full of warnings. The youngest offspring of the Imperial Austrian couple is the Archduchess Marie Valerie, ten years the junior of her brother. She also possesses literary gifts, and has published poems that betray genuine feeling. After much domestic opposition, she is now the bride of 100 TEE EMPEBOB OF AUSTBIA. her cousin, Archduke Franz Salvator, a love-match of which her parents at first would not hear. We have said that the biography of Francis Joseph must be sought in the history of his Empire. Only on two occasions during his reigia has he departed from the rule of avoiding all public manifestations, and of keep- ing his person in the background. The first was in 1867, when he and the Empress were crowned King and Queen of Hungary. The Emperor, mounted on a white horse, galloped up the hill that surmounts Budapest, and cut the air with Matthias Corvin's sword to the north, south, east, and west, to mark that he had taken possession of St. Stephen's crown, that henceforth Hungary had an independent King and Parliament, and was merely a federal portion of the Austrian Empire. Curious that while this fete was proceeding, while all was joy and acclamation, three thousand miles away the Emperor's unhappy brother was at that moment being led to execution. Maximilian of Mexico was shot by his own subjects as Francis Joseph of Austria was greeted Apostolic King of the Magyars. In 1879, the Austrian Imperial couple celebrated their silver wedding. On this occasion Vienna organized a most splendid procession, that rivalled the pageants arranged by Eubens in the palmy days of the Nether- lands. The period chosen was that of the Emperor's great ancestor, Charles V. The whole was planned and executed upon a scale of grandeur and wealth AUSTRIA. 101 indescribable. It proved one of the most splendid fetes ever given in Vienna, which will, no doubt, never again see a public festival during Francis Joseph's reign. That pleasure-loving capital hoped, but hoped in vain, to celebrate with equal splendour the fortieth anniversary of the Sovereign's accession, which fell on December 2, 1888. But Francis Joseph had early- made it known that he requested his subjects to abstain from any manifestation of rejoicing. He was well aware, he said, of the loyalty of his people, and he thanked them from his heart for their good intentions, but if they wished to please him they would abstain from all useless expenses, from all empty addresses, from everything that had no real or permanent value, and would instead devote the sums they would thus have spent to works of charity, or to promote art, science, industry ; in fact, to any object for the general weal. And so sincere was he in this respect that to avoid the smallest publicity, he retired to Miramar, the lovely castle on the Adriatic, where he spent the day in the strictest seclusion, with no company but that of his wife and his thoughts, many of which may have been sad enough. But he cannot have passed it without some gladness also, for at least he has the satisfaction of knowing that for forty years he has honestly tried to do his duty — a fact to which the love his forty million subjects bear him testifies. And that they carried out his request was proved by the daily 102 THE EMPEBOB OF AU8TBIA. paper, which continued for weeks to publish the lists of subscribers to the various charitable works founded and suggested afresh in memory of December 2, 1848-88. It was a dark, a dangerous hour in Hapsburg history when Francis Joseph took the reins of Government into his imperial hands. The old Austrian Empire was cracking to its foundations. It was a corpse of a Government, but not a State, an object of contempt. And yet the worst that was then apprehended fell far short of what actually did happen. The events that followed would certainly have left an xmpopular Emperor discredited and helpless. It has been a remarkable sign of Francis Joseph's power that out of every national disaster he has found elements for reconsti- tuting national prosperity. Adversity has been a school in which he has been for ever learning with profit ; and to-day, after over forty years of a reign overfall of troubles and anxieties, he finds himself clothed with more real authority than any of his predecessors possessed. He rules with a Hght hand, but his supremacy is unquestionable. Austrians would be indeed ungrateful if they forgot their debt to a nature which has enabled a born, bred, and crowned despot to educate himself into a model constitutional sovereign. And this result would have been impossible but for the possession by the Emperor of remarkable gifts of character and intelligence ; he is a good man, animated by high moral courage. His subjects, who sincerely love him, have a well-founded conviction that circum- AV STRIA. 103 stances are responsible for his failures, and not he — that the calamitous issues of Magenta, Solferino, and Badowa are not to be imputed to their Emperor-king. They lamented them as much on his account as on their own. They regarded him as the principal victim, whom it was their foremost duty to guard against the temptation to reproach himself for the calamity. This personal devotion to the Emperor has been a most important agent in the extrication of his dominions from an extraordinary and exceptional succession of ordeals and afflictions. By it the shock of catastrophes has been softened, and a series of deadly pitfalls have been securely passed. Will his successor be able to guide these realms free from the jeopardy that ever threatens them ? Who can tell ? Had Crown Prince Eudolph lived, no doubt his popularity would have equalled that of his father : but of the present heir little is known. At best he has not been early trained to a position entailing as heavy a burden of responsibilities, and requiring so rare a combination of qualities as any the world has to offer. Prince Francis Ferdinand is the son of Francis Joseph's brother, Charles Louis, a devoted and somewhat bigoted adherent of Mother Church. In these principles bis children too have been reared. All Francis Ferdinand's tutors were Ultramontanes, members of that party which led Austria to Sadowa. But in the instability of human things who can say whether he will ever sit 104 THE EMPEBOB OF AVSTBIA. upon the throne that now seems to await him ? Happily, Francis Joseph, notwithstanding his melan- choly temperament and constitutional delicacy, remains upright as an oak, and his strong sense of duty will make him feel that this is not the moment to yield to personal inclination, and to abdicate or retire. All who wish well to Austro-Hungary, that curious complex monarchy, so needful for keeping the balance of European powers, can but hope that the day when it may be needful to speak seriously of his successor is far distant. The Emperor Francis Joseph is perhaps the most tragic figure among the living sovereigns of the world. His romantic history, his lifelong devotion to the duties of his position, and his patient submission to its trials and its burdens, his overwhelming sorrows, and his noble endurance, have endeared him to all his subjects, and extorted the admiration as well as the compassion of the civilized world. WILLIAM II., EMPEROR OF GERMANY. THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY. (After a Photograph Inj J. C, Schaarwilchter, Photographer to the Emperor.) WILLIAM II., EMPEROR OF GERMANY. IN the latter days of January, 1859, Berlin was on tiptoe of expectation. The Princess Frederick William was about to give birth to a child, and for Prussia, where the Salic law still obtains, the sex of that child was a matter of vital importance. As is usual at the birth of royal scions, one hundred and one guns announce the birth of a prince, twenty-one that of a princess. In these days, therefore, whenever and wherever firing was heard in Berlin — and when is it not heard in that military capital ? — people steadily began to count the discharges. On the morning of the 27th a shoemaker's boy heard cannon firing. At once he set to work to count one, two, three, up to nineteen, then the guns stopped. " What, not even a girl ! " he exclaimed, in disgust, unaware that he had merely listened to artillery practice. But a little later, at four in the afternoon, the cannons boomed and thundered so that all Berlin could hear their hundred and one reports, and from the palace chapel bells resounded the chimes, "Praise the Lord, the mighty King of Hosts." 108 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. William I., then acting Eegent for his deranged brother, Frederick William IV., heard the cannon also while busy in the Foreign Office. He jumped into the first cab that crossed his path, too impatient to wait for his carriage, and hurried to his son's abode. As he entered the courtyard Field-Marshal Wrangel left the house. " Your Excellency, how is it ? " demanded the eager populace of its favourite general. " Children," he answered, " all is well ; it is as fine and sturdy a recruit as we could wish." Thus William II. — for it was he whose advent had caused this commotion— was from his birth dedicated to the army — as indeed, for the matter of that, is every Prussian prince and every Prussian citizen, for, as Mirabeau well remarked, " War is the national industry of Prussia." Prussia is not a country that has an army, but an army that has a country. And yet Prince William of Prussia was near being excluded from a military career — perhaps even from the throne, if that be true which the Court party industriously tried to circulate at the time of the Emperor Frederick's illness, namely, that according to Hohenzollern family law no member who was infirm in mind or body might succeed to the throne. The Princess Frederick William had a difficult and dan- gerous confinement ; an accident happened which might . have cost her her life. She was to be attended by Dr. Martin, as well as by her own household doctor. GEBMANT. 109 About 8 a.m. the latter wrote to Dr. Martin to say his services were required immediately, but the servant to whom the letter was entrusted, instead of taking it, put it into the post ; the consequence was it never reached Dr. Martin till after 1 p.m., and when he arrived at the palace he found it was too late to do what ought to have been done hours before. For some time the Princess's life was despaired of, and when the child was born a slight injury was inflicted on the left arm, which appeared withered from below the elbow. Time, science, and a strenuous determination on the Prince's own part to conquer this defect, have mini- mised the inconveniences of this imperfection, and only on close examination is it possible to perceive that the present German Emperor has not the equal use of both his arms. Little incidents like that of his dropping his helmet at the feet of the Pope alone recall that he has not equal strength in his right and left hands. This defect, trifling though it is, has had, however, a very marked influence upon the Emperor's character, as well as on his mode of thought. To this those who know him well ascribe his pronounced dislike to all that is English, though his mother was English in heart and by birth, and his father, too, professed great admiration for the freer political institutions of Great Britain, and had "become much anglicised, for English doctors and nurses had, at Queen Victoria's wish, attended the birth of this her first grandchild, and 110 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OP GEBMANT. nothing can persuade the present Emperor but that clumsiness on their part was the cause of the physical ' weakness which embitters his life. Neither could any moral suasion move him. Dogged obstinacy is the keynote of his character, and is its mainspring for good as well as for evil. Nor is this quality to be wondered at if we examine his ancestry. He is the offspring on the one hand of that family in whom hereditary energy is apt to turn into stubborn- ness, and on the other of the Hohenzollerns, in whom self-will and self-esteem are prominent features — features only redeemed from unamiability by a dash of idealism, a strenuous sense of rectitude and honour. It is this that has made the Hohenzollerns great, this that has made them feared and respected, this that has caused an obscure Pomeranian family to subjugate the whole of Germany, and to take upon its shoulders what was once the Holy Eoman Empire. The present Emperor of Germany is born on the paternal side of a family characteristically and tradi- tionally national, a successful race, enriching and elevating itself with astonishing rapidity, though at times by methods which do not perhaps bear too close an examination, and lacking the art to endear itself to the nations around it. His grandfather had done much by sheer dint of living beyond the appointed space of man to convert himself from a despised and insignificant person into a picturesque and remarkable figure, for part of which — not to say almost all — the GERMANY. Ill events of his reign and the sudden rise of his country into a dominating and imperial power, as well as the group of great statesmen and generals which he had the good fortune to gather round him, had to answer. His son Frederick William, with his genial and gracious manner, his native kindness of look and word, his real sentiment, was to a certain extent a spurious plant that did not take after its kind, and of which his own family did not know what to make. His son was again to prove true to tradition ; in him atavism speedily pronounced itself. It may be said that from his birth the little William gave evidence of one of those strongly pronounced individualities which no outward circum- stances seem able to alter or to mould, and which are wholly unaffected by even the mightiest outer influences — a curious crystallized unit which maintained itself intact throughout all phases of its development, in all the natural metamorphosis of the human being. This innate resistance to transmutation made itself felt quite young, and surprised the observer in this very pretty, almost girlish-looking, boy, whose delicacy was heightened to weakness through the awkward impotence of his left arm. But the slightest attempt to exert pressure from without at once provoked a firm opposi- tion. Naturally, the etiquette that rules in princely families, and is especially rigid in Prussia, made it easy to form the outer life and behaviour of this scion into prescribed forms, and to force upon him habits, and even accomplishments that were naturally distasteful to 112 WILLTAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. him ; as, for example, politeness of speech and bearing, knightly exercises, and the learning of foreign tongues. All these it was possible to impose on him, since neither physical nor intellectual resources were lacking, and since the need of obedience to outer discipline was quickly recognized as an inevitable necessity by the cool reflective faculties. Here he was helped by the eagerness to do his duty that is a heritage of his Prussian ancestors. But while it was a comparatively easy task to impose upon Prince William these external qualities, it was more hard to obtain a hold upon his inner nature, and to bend its evolution into a given groove. This stubborn nature resented intensely the mere discipline of thinking. Eoyal children suffer much from the superabundance of impressions and emotions that pour in upon them from all sides, and this is apt to produce the pernicious result of a certain desultoriness of thought and a precocious weariness of pleasure. It has been justly remarked that to conquer this disastrous lack of power of concentration is ever the most important task of the tutor of princes. This office was specially onerous in the case of so intractable a nature. Only the greatest severity and the energetic co-operation of all concurring authorities were able to conquer this mute intuitive resistance, until the hour struck' when perception was awakened. Then his own will came to the rescue, after which all difficulties were overcome. But even then, while doing what was required of him, the inner nature of the GEBMANY. 113 Prince remained untouched and uninfluenced, develop- ing in its own manner, modified and directed by outer influences, but never fundamentally changed or diversi- fied. From his mother he has inherited a portion of her pronounced love for the fine arts, her ability of pictorial execution ; from his liberal bourgeois father an interest for other classes than the merely aristocratic, though in his case it has never approached the father's freedom from class prejudices and from the Hohenzollern tendency to overbearing. Prom his earliest tutor he has imbibed a love of discussion, yet not one of these supreme authorities could give the child, the boy, or the youth the full impress of their character. There were moments when it seemed as though this was the case, and many false hopes were based on such passing phases, much bitter disappointment was aroused when it was once more made evident that this obstinate nature remained in change unchanged. This curious human being sucked the nutriment needful for its development from everything that came into its way, but resolutely refused to assimilate aught that it instinctively rejected as useless to the growth of its peculiar organism. We have, however, anticipated a little, and must return to March 5th, 1859, when the baptism of the new-born boy took place with great pomp in the Eoyal Palace of Berlin, emperors and kings, princes and archdukes, queens, princesses, archduchesses and duchesses standing sponsors to this new-born scion of the stalwart house of Hohenzollern, who received at 9 114 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. this ceremony the names of Frederick William Victor Albert. Of his babyhood is told this anecdote. He was nine months old when a deputation of burghers waited on his father, and the Crown Prince, to give them pleasure, presented to them his child. One of the assembly gave it his watch to play with, which the little Prince grasped tightly and could not be induced to resign. "You see," said the Crown Prince, in one of his merry moods, moods natural to his temperament, but that grew rarer as time went on, " you see, what a real Hohenzollern gets into his grasp, he never lets go of." From the first his parents, though still so young, felt the solemn nature of the great task laid upon them of educating this child aright for the high station that promised to await him, though in those days it was' no higher than that of liing of Prussia. The Princess, a worthy daughter of her father — of whom, indeed, she was the favourite — had been reared in his strenuous views as to the duties of royalty, the solemn obligations with regard to their children's education, and with these she also imbued her husband, who was devoted to her, and willingly let himself be led to higher wisdom by her wise hand. The couple in those days lived like two quiet burghers, having but a few rooms in a tower of the Castle of Babelsberg, near Potsdam, or in a wing of the Berlin Castle. Their modest establishment, their simplicity of living, their high mode of thinking, their keen GEBMANY. 115 intellectual interests, were the wonder, the stock theme of talk, the derision of one-half of Berlin, and the admiration of the other. Not till their little son was born was a house of their own assigned to them. After this event they went to live at the New Palace of Potsdam, rechristened during the brief reign of the Emperor Frederick Friedrichslu:on, in memory of his great ancestor Frederick the Great, who had built this vast, pretentious pile at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in order to prove to his enemies that war had not exhausted his pecuniary resources, and that if need be he could go to war again. On the cupola that crowns the centre of this roccoco building are enthroned three female genii. Popular tradition assigns them as Frederick's three mortal enemies — the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, Elizabeth of Eussia, and the notorious Madame de Pompadour. Over the cornice is placed the Prussian eagle, with the audacious motto, " Nee soli cedit." To this palace, to this suburb of Berlin, distant from it some half hour by rail, and containing in its small area the only sheets of water, the only woods and scenic features the arid Berlin sand- wastes can produce, there came to live, early in 1859, the little family of Prince Frederick William of Prussia. He himself loved Potsdam, as all his ancestors had done, and had a special liking for this huge house, with its two hundred rooms, its quaint theatre, its reminis- cences of the greatest of Prussia's kings, its spurious pictures of the Bolognese and Venetian school, for in 116 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. this block he had himself first seen the light of day. It was here, too, that he had conceived his admiration for his great ancestor, so that one of his first acts was to see that every memory of him should remain intact. Thus, for example, the workroom of the " Old Fritz,"* as the Ber liners ever called this sovereign. Little Prince William grew up in this atmosphere of enthusiasm for his great forefather. No wonder he caught the infection also, no wonder that his highest ideal and aim is to be a second Frederick the Great. But it is not so easy to be " Old Fritz " at the end of the nineteenth century as in the middle of the eighteenth; other elements of character are required by the changed moral conditions, the manners and modes of thought of the barrack-room have been replaced by more refined and nobler aims ; there is something higher and finer in the world than mere brute force. As founder of a kingdom, Frederick the Great deserves all praise; as an example to be followed in order to maintain that kingdom, there are other chords to be touched. The Emperor Frederick's admiration for Frederick the Great was for the founder of his dynasty, his son's is for the military despot, the man who ground his heel remorselessly upon whatever came in his path. These are two very divergent matters. Still, this hero-worship was one of the few interests father and son had in common in later life, when their views and ideals had * " Our Fritz " was the name the Prussians gave to the Emperor Frederick after the war of 1870. GEBMANY. 117 grown widely apart, and it is pleasant to learn that among the last gifts exchanged between Berlin and San Eemo that sad Christmas of 1887 were some relics of " Old Fritz," unearthed by his yomig descendant. In the New Palace of Potsdam, therefore, amid these memories of Prussia's first glory, was passed the child- hood of Prince William, and of his brothers and sisters, for the Princess Frederick William followed her mother's example, and the house filled rapidly with little people. To rear these little ones carefully, to make them strong in mind and body, was the Princess's one care and consideration. After much careful thought and dis- cussion between the father and mother, it was resolved to aim very high, and to try by every meacs available to attain the goal. The native and inherited seriousness of both parents made this task comparatively easy. It was also resolved between them — to the no small scandal of the grandfather, who clung with adamantine force to old tradition — that in the case of these royal children class traditions should, above all, be broken down, that they should have as far as possible a simple burgher training, and that the civil element should equalize, if not preponderate, over the military — until then alone held in esteem in the Prussian royal house. The purpose of the parents was that their children should profit by the mistakes made in their own educa- tion, and no mistake seemed to them so great, so fatal for a ruler who should comprehend all classes of his people, as the rigid and artificial • isolation in which 118 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. royal people are usually reared. Subversive ideas truly, and which were to draw down upon those who promulgated them — and especially upon the mother, the more defenceless person — an amount of malevolent criticism, a wilful and baseless misconstruction of her views, an ungenerous treatment that has not had the decency to be repressed even by her sorrow and her irreparable privation. A Frenchman once seriously discussed the problem whether a German could have esprit. It might seriously be discussed whether the German nature is capable of chivalry. Fortunately, however, the odium of such treatment generally re- bounds upon those who set it in motion, and there' can be no doubt that Time, that great adjuster of wrongs, will place the Empress Frederick's character in its true light before posterity. Whether she would, bowed down by sorrow and tempered by grief, have the combative powers left to recommence her work is perhaps doubtful, but in the early days of which we are treating she and her husband were full of youth, strength, hope, and enthusiasm, and they set to work with good will and happiness at the labour of educating their babies for the State and for humanity. The nursery and all that pertained to it was the mother's province, and she looked after it— not like a princess, but like a good burgher's wife, introducing into her household many of the customs of her native land. The Princess Frederick WilHam and her nursery soon became a favourite theme for GERMANY. 119 picture and talk. A governess was assigned to Prince William, who watched over him till his sixth year, after which his education was entirely entrusted to Dr. Hinz- peter (son of the man who had filled the same office for the Emperor Frederick), who remained with him till his majority, and under whose direction the other tutors worked. Very special care was bestowed on the body as well as the mind of the royal children, in accordance with the mother's English ideas, that they might be also physically able to meet the demands made on them by their high station. To this day there exists in the park of Friedrichskron a large space • specially railed off as a playground, and here, in the early sixties, could be seen Princess William and Henry and Princess Charlotte * enjoying themselves, and being as dirty, as wild, and as merry as they pleased, in company with a group of children from the neigh- bourhood, selected from among all classes of the population. Gymnastics were especially favoured, and under the watchful eye of an old marine the boys clambered up tall scaffoldings and imitative masts planted in the arid sand. The wastes of ground around the palace had also not escaped the notice of the intelligent Princess. She amused her leisure with landscape gardening, after the pattern of her father, and entirely metamorphosed this space. She also encouraged her children to follow this healthy pastime, giving them each their little domain, in which they 'i= Now Princess of Saxe Meinigen, 120 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMAN7. might plant strawberries, currants, and gooseberries — and, what was better still, eat them to their hearts' content when they were ripe. The Emperor William may sometimes even now think of the little feasts he gave from his own garden produce, of the merry games played under the oaks and limes with his companions, now his subjects, when he and his brother Henry built fortresses of mud and sand and stormed them ; in short, of all the quiet peace and true domestic happiness that was ever found at " Crown Princes," as the Berliners familiarly designated the family. A few amusing anecdotes of his early childhood have been preserved, one of which we give here. Like many small children. Prince William had a great dislike to being washed, and above all to the English daily cold bath. He often contrived to escape from the servants unwashed and to slip out into the garden, when he invariably sought out the nearest sentry box, for it flattered his baby pride, and pleased his already strong taste for soldiers, to see the sentinel present arms. One morning, however, when the Prince had scamped his bath and scrubbing and found himself upon the terrace in eager expectation of the happiness of seeing the tall grenadier face and present arms, what was his dismay when the sentry quietly con- tinued his patrol, just as if no prince were present. This was a catastrophe that had never happened before. Bathed in tears of rage and disappointment he rushed back into the palace and straight into his father's GEBMANY. 121 study. " Why what has happened, my boy ? " tenderly asked the parent, when he saw the child's disturbed mien. Sobbing bitterly, the child told how the sentry had not presented arms as usual, although he had gone quite close up to him, so that he must have seen him, and yet the soldier did just as though he were not there. " Eeally," said the father, "that seems strange; just come a little nearer." Then looking at the boy all around, he quietly said, after a pause, " The sentry did his duty not to present arms to you." More astonished than ever, the Prince asked, " But why, papa?" "No soldier presents arms to an un- washed prince," said the father, quietly, and turned away to resume his work, taking no further notice of his son. Amazed, the boy stood rooted to the spot. But after a moment he roused himself and seemed to comprehend. In an instant he was back in his bedroom and begged as eagerly to be washed as before he had resisted the process. Of course the whole scene was a plot of the father's, who had counted on his little son's love for this pastime in order to cure him of his repugnance to his tub. Among the items on the educational programme of the young princes was rowing upon one of the Potsdam lakes. For this purpose during the summer months a detachment of sailors were told off to serve the royal pleasure boats, anchored at this spot. A light bark was placed at the special disposal of Prince William, 122 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANT. called the Cuckoo. It was in the early autumn of 1866, the Prince Frederick William was in the field conducting the campaign against Austria, and the children were left to the sole care of their mother. Prince William was then a fair boy of some seven years. By maternal orders he was sent down to the lake regularly every morning at an early hour to row for a while on the water. The smallest and lightest of the. sailors was selected to accompany him and teach him the technique of the art. One day the prince arrived earlier than usual. The sailor, who had just been tarring, was still in his working clothes, liberally smirched with the blackness. When the little prince saw him in this attire, and smelt the piercing odour, he roundly declared that nothing would induce him to row now or in future with such a dirty man. The sailor, a true Prussian and a countryman, forgot his respect on hearing the child's animadversions, and came out with some anything but polite or gentle observations. The prince's tutor, who had listened to the scene, then turned to the child. "Prince," he said, "you are gravely unjust to this man in reproving him for his dirty clothes. In doing his duty as a sailor he cannot, when tarring, have regard to his dress. In touching a tar-brush, spots are inevitable. Your remark was too hasty and therefore unjust ; I feel sure you already are sorry that you let yourself be carried away to insult needlessly a faithful, dutiful sailor of the king's navy." On hearing this the prince at once GEBMANT. 123 held out his hand to the man. At this moment it happened that the Princess Frederick William drove past. Seeing her eldest hand-in-hand with this sailor, she asked what had occurred, and on hearing the incident, at once enforced yet more strongly on the boy the wrong of which he had been guilty. So good, so just and honest, so in some senses unprincely an education ought indeed to bear good fruit. He certainly was as a child what is called " a pickle." To this an anecdote told by Frith bears witness. This artist had been appointed by Queen Victoria to paint the marriage of the Prince of Wales. It was in 1863. The painter writes in his diary of the time, "As to Prince William of Prussia, of all the little Turks, he is one of the worst, and how I am to get a likeness of him, I don't know." The picture was ten feet long, "Uncle Albert's marriage" the child called it, and to keep him quiet Frith had portioned off one of the lower corners, about a foot square, which was lent to the young prince, to paint a picture on. He was also given brushes and paints, but told to keep strictly in his boundary. The artist was working quietly at his own part of the picture when he was roused by an exclamation of alarm from the lady in charge of the prince, who cried, " Look at his face ! What has he been doing to it ? " It appeared on examination that the boy had simply been wiping his brushes upon it, for it was streaked with vermilion, blue, and other 124 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOR OF GEBMANY. pigments. " What is to be done ? " cried the distressed lady. " If the Princess should see him, she would " " Oh," interrupted Frith, " I can easily remove the paint." And so saying, he put some turpentine on a clean rag and effectively wiped off the colour ; or rather was doing so, when he was stopped by violent screams from the young gentleman, accompanied by a severe cuff from his fist. The turpentine had found some little spot or scratch on his face, and was no doubt giving him great pain. He tore from the artist, after administering to him a vigorous parting kick, and took refuge under a large table, where he yelled at the top of his voice till he was tired, his governess all the while in terror lest he should be heard. Nor did he ever forgive Frith his remedial efforts, or the in- voluntary injury he did him ; and this is characteristic of him, and perchance explains why he and Bismarck, who also never forgets or forgives an injury, have so much in common. From that day forward he took a malicious pleasure in tormenting Frith by sitting as badly as he possibly could, so much so that the painter absolutely failed in producing anything re- sembling a likeness to him in the picture. Into the early youth of Prince William there fell the three mighty wars which made Prussia strong and Ger- many a nation — the Danish, the Austrian, and the French. They inflamed the imagination of the boy with a love of military glory, of which he only saw the pomp and tin-trumpet splendour, whereas his father had beheld GERMANY. 125 its terrors and horrors too close to love them. That this father was the central hero of all this clashing, flashing, dazzling romance yet further excited the young prince, who was all alive to the military enthusiasm that surged around him, but blind to the anxious sorrow- worn looks of his mother, to his father's grave or solemn mien when war was the theme of discourse. And especially did he get carried away by the military intoxication that took possession of all Germany in 1870-71. With ardour he studied the history of his native land and of his land's arch-enemy, the geography of France and Germany, the military situation, the state of the army and navy of both countries. He shed tears of rage at the thought that he was too young to take part in these days of his country's glory, and the laurels of this campaign do not let him rest to this day, anxious to measure himself also with the hated foe, and to earn for himself military renown. When, in March, 1871, grandfather and father returned to Berlin crowned with victory, the youngest soldier in the Prussian army, namely Prince William, then but twelve, could not be held back from going in person to the railway station that he might be the first to greet the heroes. And in the national festivities that followed, little Prince William was always to the fore, there was no keeping him quiet and attentive to his studies in those days. We can understand that this martial ardour gave food for anxious thought to the earnest parents, who looked at life through no rose-coloured spectacles, had 126 WILLIAM II., EMPEROR OF GERMANY. no illusions, were not blinded by powder smoke. While still in the field, on January 27th, 1871, the then Crown Prince wrote in his diary : " To-day is my son William's thirteenth birthday. May he become a strong, loyal, faithful, and sincere man, a true German, and keep him- self free from prejudices. It is enough to frighten one to think what hopes already rest on the head of this boy, and how we are responsible for the direction which we may give to his education. This education encounters so many difficulties owing to family considerations and the circumstances of the Berlin Court." After his return, this subject of their son's education was once more the theme of grave deliberation between father and mother. They finally decided, to the no small dismay of the grandfather, who was rooted to tradition and etiquette, that their boy should go to a common public school, and receive not only the same education as his future subjects, but should sit on the same school benches. It is easy to imagine the holy hands upraised in pious horror at this decision. Why such a thing was unheard of in the annals of royal houses ever since the foundation of the world. But " Crown Princes " were firm and not easily daunted when once they recognized a measure as right and wise, and though the Crown Prince' proved all his life how well he knew how to practise self-repression, and to bear himself with dignity against all the enforced, accidental, and intentional difficulties that stood in the way of his difficult secondary position, where his children were con- GEBMANY. 127 cerned he evinced the energy that was native to him. Prince "William was therefore prepared for entering a gymnasium, and in 1873 passed, with some distinction, the preliminary examination at the Berlin gymnasium of Joachimsthal, being classed for the upper-third form. But here, again, "Crown Princes" did the unexpected, unconventional. They decided against letting their boy go to the Berlin institution. Nor was he even to go to the Potsdam gymnasium, proposed as a substitute. Their aim was to place him as far as possible from the Court and Court life, from the flippant, military, and Chauvinistic atmosphere of Berlin, so that the Prince should be surrounded only by an academic atmosphere, and should, if possible, become completely absorbed in his studies. To this end the gymnasium of Cassel was chosen, a town only lately incorporated into the Prussian dominion, in which, therefore, Prussian traditions did not yet obtain, where there could not as yet be an exaggerated reverence for the family of their conquerors. Moreover, the director of this institution was reputed a wise and careful tutor, and a man free from servility and time-serving. Indeed, when this man. Dr. Vogt, was asked if he would admit the princes to his school, he replied with characteristic frankness, " I regard the wish of these parents as a command," he said, " but I require from the future pupil of my institution the strictest observance of its duties, the most entire respect for its rules and regime, as I require from all others, and I can admit of 128 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. no distinctions." This was just what the royal parents desired. They had found a man after their own heart. When all was settled, however, Prince William did not at once take his place on the school benches. His parents wanted him to wait till his brother Henry was far enough advanced to accompany him. It was there- fore not till the autumn of 1874 that the two young princes entered the Lyceum Fridericianum of Cassel. Before going. Prince William was confirmed. This is a solemn ceremony in the German branch of the Protestant church, the candidate having to present a written pro- fession of faith, drawn up by himself. These documents are carefully kept in the Prussian royal family, which always celebrates religious fetes with a pomp which is imposing in its simplicity. Prince William's, which he read with a firm voice, was well composed, and showed a comprehension of theological difficulties. In the course of his speech the young Prince said (underlining his words, as is his custom to this day), "I know that difficult duties await me in life," and added that his courage would be stimulated by them, and not cast down. His mode of delivery, his matter earned him the praises of the august assembly who had collected in the Priedenskirche of Potsdam to witness the ceremony, the church in which the Emperor Frederick now sleeps his eternal sleep. Almost at once after this important ceremony the two princes left for Cassel. This little town, situated in the former duchy of Hesse, lies in a pleasant undulating GBRMANY. 129 district, with some pretentions to natural beauties. It was at once decided that the two princes should live in winter in the former palace of the town, but in summer at the neighbouring castle of Wilhelmshohe, which had so lately housed as State prisoner the ex-Emperor of the French. This was done to gratify Prince William's taste for natural surroundings and every form of out- door and field sport. Their retinue was small and modest in all its appointments, and study, real earnest study, was enforced by precept and example. And, indeed, both the lads proved themselves industrious and willing scholars. Dr. Wiese, Prussian Inspector of Schools, who in 1875 visited Cassel, has left on record his impression of the royal pupil. He writes : " In appearance and deport- ment I found no difference between him and his school- fellows, and his whole behaviour was modest and unassuming. The first lesson at which I was present in the Lower First was Thucydides. It had already surprised me to find this most difficult of all the Greek prose writers who are read in our schools in a class of which the scholars, as was the case with the Prince himself, had been but lately transferred from the Second ; but my astonishment increased when I observed that the teacher, omitting the historical portions, had immediately fixed on .one of the inter- woven speeches, which are omitted even in the Upper First on account of their difficulty. Towards the end of the lesson I began to speak, and asked the Prince if he 10 180 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. had already read other Greek historians. He named Xenophon. To my question whether he could indicate any difference between Thucydides and Xenophon, he answered, smihng, ' Oh, yes ; I could understand Xeno- phon, but I can't Thucydides.' . . He failed in none of my searching questions. . . . The Director praised his willing submission to all the rules of the school, and his easy intercourse with his schoolfellows, although he could with great tact repel any undue familiarity. His honest diligence was also praised by hia teacher; perhaps none of his schoolfellows were so severely accustomed to so exact and conscientious a division and use of their time. Faithfulness to duty — the virtue of the HohenzoUerns — was an ornament of his youth. This severe learning alternated with corporeal exercises, walks, and exploring -excursions. Especially on the Wednesday and Saturday half-holidays the Prince might be seen tramping the country, accompanied by a selection of his fellow-scholars. Winter was his favourite season. No weather daimted him, no matter how bad. If it was a half-holiday. Prince William might be encountered tramping over the heavy ground, covered up to his knees with the red-clay soil of West- phalia, and busy either with his surveying-rod, his botany-box, or his geological hammer. He would often come in wet to the skin, but only the more energetic and contented if he had conquered some physical difficulty. Thus while at Cassel he not only learned to swim, but to become expert in that art — no mean feat when it is OEBMANY. 131 borne in mind how he is handicapped by his lame arm. Skating, cricket, and croquet also found in him an ardent votary. In all things his life was submitted to rigid regime, and this was the case also with Sunday, kept in accordance with German Protestant traditions as a day of stern abstinence from ordinary occupations. Attendance at divine service was obligatory, and was never missed. He was, however, allowed to ride or drive in State on that day, and to receive guests at his table — usually the dignitaries of the little town. Sunday evening was the Prince's favourite portion of that day. Then a number of his schoolfellows came to his house as guests, and it was usual to read German classics together. Sometimes charades were also per- mitted, or tableaux vivants. The holding these little festivities was the only thing that distinguished the Princes from their comrades, but it was, of course, j)ractically impossible for them to forget that they were princes of the reigning house, or for their schoolfellows to ignore it. For example, when from time to time the parents came to see their boys — unexpectedly, often, it is true, and always without ceremony — what a flutter they created ! And with what almost fetish respect did the school receive the silken banner sent by the Crown Princess for the fete of Sedan, which Prince William in person carried triumphantly through all the streets of Cassel at the head of a cortege of his schoolfellows. Although the parents were sincere in their wish to promote equality between the boys and their comrades, 132 WILLIAM IL, EMFEBOB OF GEBMANT. and the director was sincere and conscientious in treating them as pupils on the same footing as his other scholars, yet for all that, this education in common could only impress upon the princes the fact, borne in on them by a hundred and one trifles, of the distance that separated them from their fellows. Prince William in particular, as the sentry incident proves, was early penetrated with the idea of his exalted station, and at Cassel it was remarked how, while seemingly charming with his comrades, he really held them far from him. Never for once did he appear to forget that he was a prince — a being, to his own mind, apart from the common herd. And yet he no doubt honestly tried to make himself one of them, but the native haughtiness was rooted too deep, and had lasted too many genera- tions. Thus it is related by one of his schoolfellows that he never excluded himself from any of their general actions, even when these were of a refractory character. For example, it had been resolved at head-quarters, contrary to all tradition, that henceforth certain marks on the school cap, which distinguished the upper and lower classes, should be abandoned. Incensed at this, all the boys determined that they would appear at school next day not in the regulation cap. Prince William duly put in an appearance wearing a tall hat. Before leaving the gymnasium he had, like all the other boys, to go through his abiturienten examination, that dies ira of the German schoolboy which marks for QBEMANY. 133 him not only the close of childhood, bvit is the terrible day which irrevocably fixefs his fate. For unless they qualify at this examination, all the learned professions are closed to them, and three years' military drill instead of one is their doom. No wonder this is an anxious fort- night for the boy who is leaving (abiturierit) . Prince William went through his week of papers and week of viva voce, together with his class-fellows, and received the qualification of " sufficient," the lowest of the three standards required, which run sufficient, good, and excellent. Among the seventeen who were up for examination he was classed as the tenth. This was in January, 1877. It was a great pleasure to him that at the distribution of three medals left by a former rector of the school for donation to the three most industrious and worthy abiturienten of the year, one was accorded to him. Doubtless he owed this honour a little also to his station, but that he did not think so is proved by his words when thanking the director. " You cannot think what pleasure you give me in bestowing this medal on me. For it happens that I know I have deserved it. I have honestly tried to do all that lay in my power." The prescribed formula of quitting the gymnasium re- quires each scholar to state what profession he proposes to embrace. Prince William assigned as his " State- craft and Law." The examination ended, he hastened to Berlin, for in two days from his dismissal from school there awaited him an important function that should close an era of 134 WILLIAM 11, EUPEBOB, OF OEEMANT. 1 his life, for January 27th, 1817, was his eighteenth birthday, which constituted his majority. The event was celebrated as a festival throughout the length and breadth of Germany. By birthright the princes of the house of Hohenzollern are entitled to receive the order of the Black Eagle, the highest German decoration. ' On this day Prince William received the solemn investiture. The order of the Black Eagle of Prussia was instituted by the first king of Prussia on the day of his coronation. ' ' The eagle,'' said Frederick I. in the charter of foundation, " with one of its claws holds a crown of laurels, with the other a thunderbolt. Above its head we have written our device : Suum cuique. The crown signifies the justice of reward ; the thunderbolt, the justice of punishment; the Suum cuique, the absolute impartiality with which we will reward each and every one according to their deserts. But that is not all. The eagle, as is well known, always flies towards the sun : it aims at nothing small or low. These qualities are a symbol, by which we are reminded, we and our knights, that we must elevate our hopes and our confi.dence towards the Most High God alone. The Suum cuique reminds us that we must not only give to man what is man's, but to the Most High what belongs to Him, and to God what comes from God. We must join together, above all else, to fulfil this duty towards God, the first duty which we enjoin on our knights." The Emperor William I., who was, perhaps, the best informed man in Europe on matters relating to orders OEBMANY. 135 of knighthood, delighted in these souvenirs of an age of chivalry. He was most particular about the strict observance of the provisions of their statutes, and pre- sided over their ceremonies with all his natural dignity. On the 27th of January, 1877, the Emperor, preceded by the Crown Prince and by the princes, followed by the Knights of the Order belonging to the princely houses of Germany, by the knights having a seat in the chapter, by Ministers, &e., made his entry into the Hall of the Knights. Helmet on head, and wearing the red velvet cloak of the Order, he seated himself on the throne and commanded the master of the ceremonies to introduce Prince William. The Prince entered, accompanied by his father and Prince Albrecht, his great-uncle, and advanced to the steps of the throne. The Emperor ordered the form of oath to be read. Each knight must swear " to lead a virtuous Christian life, agreeable to God and men of honour, and to encourage others to lead the same ; to maintain at all times and places the true Christian religion ; to protect the poor and forsaken, widows and orphans, and all who suffer violence and injustice ; to defend the royal family and the royal prerogative ; and to preserve everywhere peace, unity, and good morals." In reply to the Emperor's question, whether he would swear to fulfil these chivalrous duties, the Prince, mounting the steps of the throne and placing his hand on the book of statutes, answered, " Yes, I swear it." He returned to his place to receive from his father and 136 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. Prince Albrecht the cloak of the Order. Then he again mounted the steps of the throne and knelt before the Emperor, who, bending forward, placed the collar on his neck, and, raising him, embraced him three times. Before this ceremony the Prince had received the English Order of the Garter as a birthday gift from his royal grandmamma of England. Ordinary schoolboys would now have been permitted a little rest before resuming study, but not so this prince, whom his parents worked hard in order to harden him for the fatigues of his onerous station. It was now needful to initiate him into the special branches of training requisite for a ruler, and for a Prussian Prince this training, in first rank, deals with a military education. In point of fact. Prince William, after the custom of his house, was ranked as a member of the army from his tenth year, but actually he only entered it after attaining his majority. A week after his birthday the Emperor "William pre- sented his grandson to his military superiors. .. The old Emperor, who had just celebrated the seventieth anniversary of his entrance into the army, made one of those short and precise but admirable speeches for which he was remarkable, addressing himself first to his son and afterwards to his officers. " You know from history that the kings of Prussia, while fulfilling the other duties of government, have always devoted their principal attention to the army. The Great Elector by his heroism set an example to his troops which has not been surpassed. Frederick I. well knew, GERMANY. 137 wLen he assumed the crown that he would have to defend that daring action ; but he also knew that his tried troops would make that easy for him. Frederick William I., in this same garrison (Potsdam) which you are about to join, and which has been called the cradle of the Prussian army, laid the foundation of our military organization by the severe discipline which he instituted for both officers and soldiers. . . . His inspiration is still with us. Frederick the Great with his military genius made of these troops the kernel of that army whose battles have rendered him immortal. Frederick William II. had to deal with a new school of tactics, and the army did not leave the lists without laurels. My royal father encountered the same enemy, and a terrible disaster befell the country and the army. But then, putting aside all that was antiquated and out of date, he reorganized the army and founded it on love of country and the sentiment of honour. And he won successes which will shine in the annals of the Prussian army to the end of all time. My brother. King Frederick William IV., who was so severely tried, looked with satisfaction on the army which remained faithful to him in his troubles. " In this state I found the army. " If ever a government was visibly led by Providence it was that of the last few years. And it is the army which, through its pluck and constancy, has carried Prussia to that position which she now holds. The corps of Guards to which you belong, and the regiment 138 WILLIAM IL, EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. which you join to'- day, have contributed to our successes in the most brilliant manner. The medals which I wear are the public expression of my everlasting recognition of the devotion with which the army has won victory after victory. You have arrived at youth in a great period, and you have in your father an honourable example of the art of conducting war and battles. Biit^ you will find, in the service which you are enteriilg, things apparently trifling, and which will surprise' yoii.' Note well that in the service nothing is insignificant. Each stone used to build an army must be modelled with precision if the building is to be good and sound." - Then turning to the officers — consisting of the Captain of the Sixth Company of the First Eegiment of Foot Guards, to which the Prince was attached ; the Com-' mandant of the Second Battalion, the Colonel of the' Eegiment, the General commanding the First Division' of Foot Guards, the General commanding the Corps- of Guards — the Emperor said : • . . ■: "I entrust my grandson to you that each of you may' do what lies in your several departments of military education, towards making him a worthy successor of- his ancestors." And again, speaking to his grandson, "Now go! and do your duty as it will be taught you. May God bless you ! "' The same morning the Crown Prince took him to Potsdam to introduce him to the 6th Company, to which Prince William belonged. As a French writer has well observed in surveying the GEBMANT. 139 life of the Prince up to this date — " Consider," he writes, " this succession of ceremonies, the examination on leaving college, and the solemn coming of age ; the medal given to the hardworking rhetorician, and the Order placed on the Prince's neck within the space 6f two days ; then a week later his entry into the army with the injunction to neglect no detail of the service. Consider his grandfather's speech passing in review all their glories from the remote ages down to the 'day when, the young man is about to accept the responsibilities of the future. Let us not forget the intimacy ^ with God in the fete of confirmation. What a mixture of thereal and the ideal, of the past and the present ! " A prince thus brought up does not belong altogetlier to the civilization of the century now drawing -to a close. He is certainly capable of making use of its forces, less capable of understanding its spirit. God, chivalry, his ancestors have raised him. They have strengthened in him the power of command. They have, made him superior to us — a superiority which has its dangers, for there are among the depths of the masses who know neither God, nor chivalry, nor ancestors, volcanoes which are working up." From the day of bis formal entry into the^ a:rmy the Prince took up his abode in the Castle of Potsdam, serving precisely like any other lieutenant, for in military -matters the Prussians know no favour. From babyhood he had been accustomed to rise early, so that each working day might be as long as possible. It was noted 140 WILLIAM II, EMPEBOB OF GERMANY. that, he was ever the first at his post. His military service discharged, there was no rest for this youth. He then had to attend lectures by eminent officers of the War School, selected to instruct him in the science of war. Only Saturday evening was allowed as a holiday. Then Prince William would hasten to Berlin to spend Sunday with his parents, brothers, and sisters. On Monday morning, however, early dawn always found him punctually back at his post. That the mental atmosphere of Prussian officers in which he now found himself was congenial to Prince William will readily be understood. Nevertheless, he did not let himself be subjugated entirely by their ideas. Their antipathy to the navy was especially distasteful to him. The German navy was just then beginning to work itself up to some position, and the army, unac- customed hitherto to brook a rival, resented its pre- tensions. Prince William had a special liking for the new service, whose value and importance to the new- born kingdom he rightly recognized, and he went so far as to hold public lectures before his military comrades on the theme of a fleet, trying to prove to them its equaUty and its value. In the autumn of 1877 the Prince was sent to the University of Bonn to complete his humanistic studies. Here he remained two years, following a very varied course of studies, drawn up by the Crown Prince and Minister Falk, and approved by the Emperor. He followed the courses of philosophy, physics, and GEBMANY. 141 cliemistry, of the history of the Eeformation, and of the nineteenth century, of modern German literature, ancient art and the history of art, of Eoman juris- prudence and the history of German jurisprudence, of penal law and procedure, administrative law, inter- national law, political economy, n.nd financial science, He attended the lectures with Prussian punctuality. It is not known which study he preferred, but no doubt he extracted profit from all, after the manner of his mind, ready to draw to itself that mental nutriment which it finds needful to it. He also entered thoroughly into the life of the students, where he found much to attract him, for he loved, after the manner of German youths, those rather boisterous assemblies where singing, shouting, drinking, and laughing are the order of the day, or rather night. Nor was he at all insensible to the attractions of the fair sex — quite the contrary. While at Bonn he gave a somewhat childish evidence of his hatred for all that pertains to his national arch-enemy France, anathe- matizing champagne, a drink which indeed is never allowed to appear on his table, and encouraging his fellow-students to imbibe the sparkling produce of their native Ehine. The Student Corps, with their customs of a past age, their uniforms, their military habits, attracted him. He was a member of one of the most celebrated corps in the German Universities, the Borussia. None surpassed him in performing the rites of beer drinking. 142 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. He approves of the students' duels, in which young men cut one another's cheeks open without cause, because they learn not to fear the sight of blood. Courageous as he is, he must have regretted not carrying away some scar as a souvenir of the University. He has preserved his white cap and the black and white ribbon, the colours of the Corps and of the Hohenzollerns. He has been a regular attendant at the annual dinner at Berlin of the old members of the Borussia, where they sing in chorus : " Es hhe die Borussia ! Hurrah ! Hoch ! " and where he gave ardent toasts finishing with the Borussia vivat, crescat, Jioreat.' He went to Bonn to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Corps, whose history he traced in his speech. " The Borussia of Bonn," he said, " has shown throughout its history its devotion to the Prussian fatherland. As in the army the First Eegiment of Guards has been selected to introduce the Hohenzollern Princes to the traditions of our army, so also the Corps of the Borusses of Bonn has been selected to receive during th'eir studies the Princes of our royal family, as well as the sons of the principal princely houses of Germany. This honour accorded to the Corps shows that they have found and followed the right spirit, den richtiyen Geist. The Corps wear the colours of our House of Hohenzollern, of our country of Prussia. Strangers have said that these colours are not bright enough, that they are too plain. They suit the plain history of our Prussian country, which has passed aEBMANT. 143 through rough times, and which by a plain effort won the position which she holds to-day. The Iron Cross, too, the grandest symbol of our great struggles, bears these plain colours. May the devotion to duty which our fathers showed under these colours be transmitted to the young members of the Corps, and may each of them do his duty with devotion and fidelity ! " These words show plainly that the German Uni- versities are very hotbeds of German patriotism, and that the spirit nursed in them for nearly a century has spread through the nation, preparing it for unity. This spirit of patriotism, to-day more ardent than ever, preserves the accomplished work. It glorifies the battles of yesterday. It looks forward to, one might almost say desires, the battles of to-morrow. It was while at Bonn that Prince William knit yet more closely that really fraternal friendship which existed between him and the late Crown Prince Eudolph of Austria. The Emperor Frederick had also sought and found his youthful friendship in a Crown Prince, but he had selected the Prince of Savoy, now King Humbert, and his whole heart was wrapped up in that friend's fair land. In 1879 the Prince's university studies ended. He was then twenty-one. It now behoved him to consecrate himself to his military duties, and to make his appren- ticeship in his political duties. As before, he was worked very hard, and he threw himself with ardour into all martial affairs and administratiye details. It 144 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANY. was clear that he was burning to take his place in active life, and that he did not understand, like his father, how to hold himself in an attitude of unobtrusive self- repression. And yet the old Emperor V/illiam, though he was devoted to his eldest grandson, with whom he had far more in common than with his son, would allow no person to aid or support him even in the most trivial representative duties. No less a person than Prince Bismarck initiated him into the mysteries of the Foreign Office, and from that instruction sprang the devoted worship which the old Emperor William felt for his Chancellor. He also grew attached to his son, Count Herbert Bismarck. Prince Bismarck returned the young man's regard with sincerity. He was anxiously desirous for his welfare, and in those days, above all, was preoccupied with the question of settling him wisely in life, for he recognized that, with the Prince's peculiar nature, the choice of a wife was a matter of no small moment for him. The ■Chancellor was also desirous that this time no foreign influence should penetrate into the Prussian Court. He had had enough, and more than even he could deal with, in the pronounced individuality of the English Princess. Conscious of her noble origin, devoted to her fatherland, and not to be cowed or subdued, she had at times given Prince Bismarck no little trouble. Prince William's wife should be a German, so the Chancellor resolved, and with this he inculcated his royal master, who was ever ready to listen to his faithful servant's ideas. She GEBMANY. 145 should also be of princely, but not of sovereign, origin, of no marked character, rather a good, malleable, healthy girl, not too intelligent, and with no ideals or ideas of her own. Such girls, of course, exist by the score, and it needed no Diogenes' lantern wherewith to seek her. She was selected in the person of the Princess Augusta Victoria, daughter of the Duke of Schleswig- Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, whose titles were larger than his estates, for of these he had been deprived all his life — a life spent in urging claims to which every government lent a deaf ear, as such petty States no longer fitted into the changed political con- ditions of Europe. It was in 1879 that Prince William accepted an invitation to shoot on the Silesian estate where the Duke lived in strict privacy, and here he first saw his future wife. Ere his death, which occurred soon after, Duke Frederick had the satisfaction of know- ing that his daughter might one day be Empress of Germany. On June 2, 1880, the engagement of Prince William was publicly announced with great pomp in Berlin. The union was viewed with satisfaction by the people, it having been well impressed on them by speeches and through the press that this new member of the imperial house was a German in every sense of the word — sprung from German stock, German in appearance, German in manners and customs. Since the reawakening of national self-consciousness in Germany with the events of 1870, no eulogy is sweeter to German ears than to 11 146 WILLIAM II., BMPEHOR OF GEBMANY. designate a person or thing as " quite German." And the Princess 'is truly the typical German young woman, and this, no doubt, is her chief attraction to Prince William. For he, too, strives above all else to be German, though of course a German of the Prussian type. He will not permit the least foreign custom, whether English or French. That he should not love France is easy to understand, but his dislike of foreign matters extends also to England, whose dominion, he maintains, was too great at his father's hearth. He was displeased at the authority his mother held in the house, and did not hesitate to express his displeasure with not always the most gentle or most chivalrous frankness, and he was determined in his person to return to the traditions of his family and marry a simple German lady, content to be nothing but a woman and a mother. It was not uncommon to hear the wits of Berlin making fun of the young Princess, who, they said, could only make sweets and jams. The Prince declared that he preferred in a woman the talent of making sweets to an aptitude for discussing a Constitution, and the majority of his countrymen, jealously tenacious of male pre- ponderance and authority, fully agree with him. That is why a superior upper servant is the ideal German woman of real life and romance. On Sunday, February 27, 1881, the marriage of the young couple was celebrated at Berlin with great pomp in the presence of royalties without number. The day before, the Princess, in accordance with one GERMANY. 147 of the old Hohenzollern family customs, dear to her husband, was formally conducted into the town beside her mother-in-law in a carriage drawn by eight horses, and escorted by the Guards and Dragoons. The marriage ceremony commenced by the coronation of the Princess. A Court councillor, escorted by an officer and two guardsmen, brought the crown from the Palace treasury, and presented it, on a velvet cushion, to the Empress Augusta, who placed it on the head of her daughter-in-law, thus raising her to the rank of a Prussian Princess. The exchange of rings was marked by an artillery salute. The Court then repaired to the gala dinner, and the evening wound up with a torchlight dance executed by their Excel- lencies the Ministers. It is related, and it is to the Prince's credit, that he remained on duty at Potsdam up to the last moment. He came to Berlin with his company, which was under orders as a guard of honour, the day before the ceremony. On the very morning of his wedding day he returned to Potsdam to decorate the sergeant-major with his own hands. The following days were taken up by fetes, leveet,, addresses, the presentation of gifts from the different corporations and provinces of the Empire. After all these fetes there followed domestic tran- quillity, and the public hardly ever heard the name of the Princess William mentioned, except just inci- dentallv as that of a careful and affectionate wife. 148 WILLIAM IL, BMPEBOB, OF GEBMAN7. In September of this year the Prince passed an ex- cellent military examination, in the presence of his royal grandfather. That he succeeded so well was a matter not only of pleasure to his relations, but of sur- prise. It had been universally held by competent authorities that no young man had ever entered the Prussian army so little physically fitted to turn out a brilliant and smart cavalry ofSeer. Indeed, had he been an ordinary mortal, his physical weakness would have caused him to have been exempted from the need to serve. With his usual great self-command and energy the Prince had resolved that his lame arm should not stand in his way. He was proud, when conducting his regiment of hussars before the eyes of his grandfather, sharply critical in all military matters, he earned from him a meed of just and serious praise. And he was even prouder when his reticent redoubtable grand-uncle, the famous Eed Prince, muttered, almost in a tone of apology, " Upon my word, you have done well ; I never would have believed it." Justly proud, too, for the praise thus obtained was the due meed for a rare self-control — a rare triumph of mind over matter. The residence assigned to the young couple was the so-called Marble Palace of Potsdam, a pile not far distant from the home of the bridegroom's childhood. Here, on May 7, 1882, was born the present heir to the German throne. " Papa," cried the Prince to his father, the Crown Prince, who was impatiently pacing the gardens under GEBMANY. 149 the Princess William's windows. " Papa, papa, a boy ! " The joy of the new-made father at the sex of the child was boundless, and he insisted on riding over to Berlin to deliver the news in person to his grand- father. Almost immediately there was disseminated through- out all Germany the well-known picture representing the old Emperor seated, holding the child on his knees, his head bent towards him ; standing on the right the Crown Prince, upright, strong, calm, the very picture of a happy grandfather, and young Prince William stiffer than his father, with a bold, honest face. Under- neath, the proud legend : Vier Kaiser ! which implied so much : the glory of the past, the solidity of the present, the security of the future. This first-born now already wears the hussar uniform, and returns the soldiers' salutes like an old officer. He has four brothers — Eitel-Frederick, born in 1883 ; Adalbert, born in 1884 ; Augustus, born in 1887 ; and Oscar, born in September, 1888. The Emperor WiUiam II. said one day, thinking, perchance, of future wars : "It is better to have plenty of boys, one may lose some." The private life of the Prince, so long as he was Prince, was of the simplest kind, and this simplicity is continued to this day in private, though in public he has shown a love for pomp and show that is entirely out of keeping with the traditions of his ancestors, whose economy, approaching parsimoniousness, was 150 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMAN7. proverbial. Although so short a time upon the one, he has already asked for an addition to his civil list— an unheard-of circumstance in the 5ohenzollern family. This is the plan of his daily life, given by an intimate. Very early rising is the order of the day. The Empress William always breakfasts alone with her husband, and even if he has to be on active service at early dawn, she never fails to appear. Lunch is an unknown meal ; as a foreign custom it is abhorred by the Emperor. He clings to the burgher midday dinner at one o'clock, and clings to it so strenuously that even Court dinners are now held at this most inconvenient hour. French cookery and French names upon the menu card are both equally forbidden. At five the family partake of tea, and after an early and frugal supper, the couple retire to rest at about the hour their grandmamma of England rises from her dinner table. In the afternoon they often walk, drive, or row together, in company with their boys, to whom the Emperor is devoted. When the Emperor is from home, the Empress devotes herself to the various charitable societies she has founded or patronises, and iii the evening assembles ladies around her to help her in sewing for her poor. Like her husband, she is fond of music, especially of the music of Wagner, whose patriotic and Teutonic tendencies are obviously in harmony with the Emperor's mode of thought. She has not, however, his artistic gifts. The Emperor William has inherited some of liis mother's talent, and paints very fairly. Marine subjects GEBMANY. 151 are his favourites, as indeed he is fond of all that bears upon the navy, sharing in this respect the enthusiasms of his brother Henry, to whom he is fondly devoted. Indeed, this curiously composite nature possesses a great capacity for deep affection, as well as a great capacity for reverence. This latter quality came into play in his relations with his grandfather and for a long while also with Prince Bismarck. True Prussian that he is, he is of course free from the slightest dash of romanticism or idealism, and sees only the concrete aspects of an idea. One of the marked characteristics of the Emperor is a great fluency of speech — a fatal fluency some might call it, seeing that some of his public addresses since he came to the front have not always been characterized by moderation of judgment or good taste, nor can he always repress his native headstrongness. There is a little tendency too towards hyperbole and bombastic fustian, but no doubt these are the faults of youth and inexperience, which time and circumstances will teach him to modify. The fact that he never prepares his speeches beforehand may have something to answer for in this respect. The Emperor has given great attention to languages, and can speak Eussian fluently. He is the first king of Prussia who has taken the trouble to learn that language. The very fact that the heir to the German Empire, amidst his pressing military and other duties, should of his own will, after his marriage, have added 152 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOn OF GEBMANY. Eussian to the English, French, and Italian which he had been taught as a lad, gives some hint of the strength of purpose of the man's character. Hitherto all the talk between the allied families of the Komanoffs and Hohenzollerns has been carried on in German. The young Emperor William has thrice already visited Eussia. After his first return home he deter- mined to make himself master of the language of his neighbours, and a Eussian teacher used to go daily to Potsdam. When Prince Bismarck heard of it he was delighted. " That is right," said he, " it will be good for Germany." At his second visit to St. Petersburg the Eussians were indignant against Germany on account of the Bulgarian troubles. The Tzar, however, invited the young Prussian Prince to be present at the manceuvres, and here he won the hearts of the Eussians by speaking to the officers and soldiers in their own beloved tongue. The Emperor William was charmed at the success of this mission. " In a few hours," said he, " my grandson has finished up an affair which had dragged on for months ! " But administration and diplomacy were extras, the ordinary day's work was the regiment. On September 16, 188], after the manceuvres in Holstein, Prince William was promoted Major in the Potsdam Eegiment of Hussars. He took the same rank in the First Eegiment of Field Artillery. Always precise in fulfilling the smallest duty, he wished to be something more than merely (to use a favourite ex- GEBMANY. 153 pression of his) a good trooper. He studied his trade scientifically in its historical development. One day, at Potsdam, he gave a lecture on the theory and practice of Eoman tactics, illustrating it with examples on plans. An expert of the school of war could not have done it better. How well he kept and still keeps order in the army, innumerable anecdotes testify. He is not an easy master to serve. He does not spare himself, and he will not see his officers do otherwise. He sets his face rigidly against gentling or luxurious habits, and once offered to resign his command rather than rescind a sentence he had passed on one of his men found guilty of high play. His standard is high and Spartan. On Christmas Eve, 1887, the last that was to see him Prince, while distributing the usual presents to the regiment, he spoke of the sadness and anxiety of the moment, of the illness of his father, whom he called "one of our greatest generals." He asked for their prayers for the return to health of "this high Seigneur." " This is a moment to think on the ancient device which we bear on our heads: 'With God for King and country,' but above all 'With God!' . . . May God, who has always helped our army, dwell with us for the King and the country ! . . . You belong to the great army, to the great family of which the King is father. You are here in your little family, the regiment. I wish, as far as possible, to replace your natural family. That is why I have prepared for your Christmas, like a father for 154 WILLIAM II., MMPEBOB OF GERMANY. his children. I hand you these presents while wishing you a happy New Year. May you be throughout the year faithful and good hussars, and never forget that His Majesty the Emperor holds as the three pillars of the army — courage, the sentiment of honour, and obedience. To express this sentiment let us shout to- gether : ' Long live His Majesty the Emperor and King, our most gracious Commander-in-Chief.' " Such speeches repeated and commented upon have gained for the Prince the reputation of being before everything a soldier. The Emperor has lately manifested a new side of his character. There exists in Berlin a society which attempts to reconcile the poor with their lot by giving them alms and good advice. The intention is praise- worthy, but it runs the risk of" being misinterpreted. Besides, the religion of the " Town Mission " takes a political turn, and wages war against Liberalism as if it were a form of irreligion. The apostle of this work is a clergyman, who is want- ing in two of the principal Christian virtues — charity towards his opponents, and modesty. One of the principal personages in the society is General Walder- see, Count Moltke's successor. He is married to an American, a daughter of General Lee, who is very zealous in the work undertaken by this little " Salvation Army." Madame Waldersee is connected with the family of the Empress through a former marriage with an Augustenburg. She enjoys the affection of the aEBMANT. 155 Empress, who is very religious, and the two famiUes are on terms of intimacy. Indeed, the General, out- side military circles, is chiefly notable on account of this American wife. Lord Dufferin once remarked that the importation of American ladies as the wives of European diplomatists was one of the most subtle means by which the New World was subjugating the Old, that there is hardly a capital of Europe that does not boast an American woman as one of its chief ornaments, and that some day the Old World will have to put a heavy protective tariff on this import of American heiresses. It is certain that the Emperor William, quite unsusceptible hitherto to the intellectual influence of any woman, has been much influenced by Countess Waldersee, and above all she has attracted him to give active support to the " Mission." One evening a meeting of notables from all parts of Germany was held at General Waldersee's, with a view to raising funds for the "Mission." The General opened the meeting. He explained the character of this enterprise, which was committed to no party, adding, however, that the "Mission", proposed to propagate the sentiment of fidelity to the King, and the spirit of patriotism. After which Prince William said: " The only way of protecting the throne and the altar against the tendencies of an anarchist and infidel party, is to reclaim the masses to Christianity and the church, and by that means to respect for authority and love of the monarchy." 156 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMAN7. This speech made a great impression. Pastor Stoecker thanked the Prince and Princess Wilham for having " boldly worked for the kingdom of God," ex- pressing himself in terms of considerable familiarity towards both the Almighty and the Prince. This little incident widened yet further the breach between Prince William and his parents. They were of the party supreme in Berlin, where "the kingdom of Grod," as proclaimed by Stoecker, the Jew baiter, the propagator of intolerance, is regarded with suspicion. Berlin, the town of intelligence, the town in all the world where there are the fewest churches and the fewest professing Christians, abov^ all resents this man's pretensions. The Berliners will bow before the throne as much as you like, but not before the altar. A man devoted to the Chancellor, hot against the progressionists, one of those who counted the days the Emperor Frederick still had to live, said : " If Prince William takes the Pastor Stoecker into his confidence, no one will bow to him in the streets of Berlin." Since his accession his zeal for the " Mission " has not abated, but his friendship with Stoecker has been less pronounced. One of the few acts of the Emperor Frederick's brief reign was to remove this man from his post of Court chaplain; and the present Emperor has in his turn been obliged once or twice to reprove him in consequence of his publicly boasting of the support which he counted on froro, the Empress. Meantime this was how the Prince prepared himself GEBMANY. 157 for his role of third German Emperor. To learn civil administration he worked for a winter with the Presi- dent of the Province of Brandenburg, studying local and provincial government. He took a seat in a district Diet and a provincial Diet. He made reports, and took part in the discussions. The representa- tives of the Province of Brandenburg, that cradle of monarchy, testified their recognition of the honour done them. In thanking them he praised their patriotism and their invincible attachment to his family through good and evil days : " Happen what may, the Branden- burgians will never separate from us, nor we from the Brandenburgians." The Prince is quick and intelligent, and he thoroughly took in the affairs which were discussed before him. But this civil and political education occupied a very small place in his life. Doubtless both he and his family thought he had plenty of time before him. To all appearance he would be, like his father, long an heir. When the death of William, and the illness of Frederick III., brought him near the throne, he felt the necessity of completing this education. The mission of teaching polities to this Emperor of the morrow was entrusted to a distinguished politician, a ci-devant Liberal, who was to give him three lessons a week. But before the pupil could avail himself of these lessons, he was already called on to become the arbiter of his nation's politics. In June, 1888, died that noble father, a martyr to a 158 WILLIAM II., EMPBBOB OF aEBMANY. remorseless disease, haviBg followed his own aged sire all too quickly to the tomb. Eagerly the son picked up the reins of government, after which his fingers had long been itching, and since tbat date the incalculable individuality for the German Emperor, his restless activity, his volte faces, his im- petuosity, his boundless self-confidence, his vaulting ambition, his autocratic ways, have been the theme of wonder, comment, and criticism. The early months of his reign certainly did not help to ingratiate him with a non-German public. They were characterized by a series of scandals, acts of want of consideration to Frederick's widow and Frederick's memory, which if not actually instigated by the Emperor, were more or less countenanced and fomented by him. It was evident that his sudden accession to power had excited a tem- perament naturally mettlesome, and that he had not yet learnt to deal in a spirit of dignified calm with the multitude of new sensations and impressions that poured in on him from all sides. Even now, after two years of government, it seems too early to decide what nature of ruler William 11. will prove to Germany, but one thing appears certain, and that is, that it is his wish to be a personal ruler, who intends to give expression to his positive will and positive views. This was remarked in his first speech from the throne, where he substituted the pronoun I for the traditional we. During his brief reign he has certainly already displayed an energy and a passion GERMANY. 159 for work which has almost a fevered character, and which has made those about him alarmed lest he should be overtaxing his strength ; but Count Douglas, one of his favourites and confidants, has publicly assured the world that it need have no fears on this score, for that his methodical habits enable him to get through much labour. That he is a gifted young sovereign, the world is almost beginning to be inclined to believe, though the multiplicity of tasks attempted by him, the Gordian knots he tries to untie, the Augean stables he attempts to cleanse, and all in a brief moment, frighten the prudent. He is either a great genius or a great danger for the world, and even though he be as gifted as his admirers proclaim, he has not yet proved that he can afford to dispense with the check imposed by the prudence and longer experience of older and less impetuous men. His brusque dismissal of Prince Bismarck bewildered even his partisans, and gave his critics no little right to accuse him of ingratitude towards an old tried servant, even though he was a servant-master. The man who for thirty-six years managed the House of Holieuzollern, and created modern Germany from out . the chaos in which the numberless small states existed, merited at least a more deHcate treatment at the hand of the youngest and least experienced of his three masters, even if delicacy and regard for others had never been a dis- tinguishing feature of the servant's character. Even 160 WILLIAM II., EMPEBOB OF GEBMANT. if, as it appears, the aims and aspirations of the Emperor had become incompatible -with the poUtical methods of his Chancellor, and that consequently a separation was inevitable, this separation should have been managed with less eclat. But clearly the Emperor William II. does not shirk publicity for good or evil. His psychology is certainly a curious study, and Europe watches with some astonishment, and no little anxiety, the acts and deeds of the« son of Frederick III. It cannot yet understand the abnormal mixture of contradictory qualities exhibited by his conduct, his insatiable activity, combined with a marked tendency to reverie, almost to mysticism, his extraordinary taste for military affairs, his autocracy, and, on the other hand, the passionate initiative he has taken in humani- tarian and social reforms, of which the realization seems totally irreconcilable with the existence of an autocratic and military State. The only point in his character that seems to stand out clearly is the determination to carry out his will and to break down all resistance, no matter of what kind. "What will he do next?" people ask, for the public has had too many surprises not to expect fresh ones. One can but hope that they will be of a happy nature, and will not interfere with the tranquillity of the world. Certain it is that it is with William IL, and with him alone, that Germany and Europe have to deal. An inexperienced hand is guiding the govern- GEBMANY. 161 ment of a great Empire in a moment of great crisis. This is cause enough to make the thoughtful anxious. Wmiam II. has been compared more than once to Frederick the Great, and certainly one of the first labours of that king was to dismiss all the old servants of his father. But none of these servants bore the name and character of Bismarck. If, as is possible, the young Emperor does not falsify the great hopes he has aroused in his fatherland, and emulates in peace and war his great ancestor, it is indubitable that for the present he chiefly resembles him in one thing, and that is youthful impetuosity. The future alone will show how he will develop, how his position will affect his character, and what bearing his character will have upon the welfare of his own . land and of Europe. It is certain that he has, in a well-pronounced degree, the Hohenzollern self-belief in a divinely appointed mission, and he is perhaps the only younger sovereign now sitting upon a civilized throne who sincerely believes that he sits there by the grace of God. The result of such ideas held in the late nineteenth century, time alone can show. 12 THE KING OF ITALY. THE KING OF ITALY. [From a. Plwtograpli, hij Vkmelli. THE KING OF ITALY. THEEE have probably been few monarchs whose death called forth such spontaneous demonstrations of real loyal affection, who have been sorrowed for so sincerely by all their subjects, as Victor Emanuel, the first King of Liberated Italy. It was not merely that in him the young kingdom lost the chivalrous sovereign who had learnt to make himself and his people loved and respected throughout the whole European continent ; with him perished also the visible embodi- ment of the making of their beloved land, of the expul- sion of the justly-detested straniero (stranger). With his demise the romance of the nation's youth, so to speak, came to an end; with him expired the era of enthusiasm, of ebullition, of creation. It now behoved the nation to set in order the house it had so nobly re- conquered as its own. It became needful to justify before the other peoples the Italian claim that she would and could act for herself {fara da se). An era of prose, of hard, strenuous work, of self-abnegation, must follow on lyric enthusiasm and the flash and glitter of patriotic war. It was a task no less difficult than that conducted 166 THE KING OF ITALY. to s6 glorious an issue by Victor Emanuel which awaited his son and successor, and of its full gravity he was doubtless aware when, in those early days of January, 1878, Umberto (late Prince of Piedmont, now second King of Italy) issued his brief but heartfelt proclamation to his new subjects. He told them how he should be mindful of the grand example his father had set him of devotion to Italy, love of progress, and faith in Liberal institutions — a faith that has ever been the pride of the ancient knightly House of Savoy, from which the Italian kings spring. " My sole ambition," he concluded, " will be to deserve the love of my people." And when, some days after, the people assembled beneath the balconies of the Quirinal and hailed him King with great enthusiasm, while the news of similar demonstra- tions reached him from all the provinces, Umberto, deeply moved, embraced the Prince of Naples, saying, " My son, I swear to you to live in suchwise, that at my death you may be proclaimed King with similar devotion." And it is beyond dispute that Umberto has maintained the promise made in that solemn moment. Umberto is beloved of his people, and if not popular in the same manner as his father, there is no difference in degree. He has proved himself no unworthy descendant of the proud House of Savoy, whence he has sprung. Umberto I., second King of Italy, was born at Turin, March 14, 1844, on the anniversary of the same day that had given birth to his father, Victor Emanuel. His ITALY. 167 mother was Maria Adelaide, daughter of Archduke Eanieri, then Viceroy of Lombardy and Venice. Thus in the veins of Italy's King runs some of the hated Austrian blood — the blood of that cruel oppressor of Italian soil of whom, happily, all vestige has vanished from the fair peninsula. The Princess was a very sweet and charming woman, and an excellent wife and mother, who watched with tender care over the education of her children, being herself their teacher, ever present at their studies, their recreations, their meals. In educating them she followed the principles of the House of Savoy, which requires its sons to be robust and courageous. Ancestry-worship is a family characteristic of the Savoy family, and its children have always been nourish6d upon the traditions of its ancestral heroes, and taught that they ought to endeavour to resemble them to the best of their ability. Their family motto runs, " Fear and Savoy have never met." Early in 1855, when Umberto was but eleven years old, he and his brothers and sisters were deprived of her gentle guiding hand. Queen Adelaide was carried off by an early death, leaving behind her a void that was never filled. Her children were now left to the exclusive care of their father and of strangers. Both did their duty, but the strangers were always strangers, and the father was in the very thick and hurry of the liberation of the peninsula, and could not look after his children. But they saw enough of him to become imbued with his ardour, his honourable ambition, his devotion to his 168 THE KING OF ITALY. native land ; and the great historic events that rapidly succeeded each other in those years could not fail to leave their impress upon their young and ardent minds. While Umberto and his beloved brother Amedeo prose- cuted their literary and scientific studies, they longed for the hour to strike when they too could consecrate their youthful fire and love of country to their country's cause They had early been inspired by their father with enthu- siasm for Italy's liberation, and as quite lads he had initiated them into military and political life. In 1859, while still but a boy, Umberto was to be found beside his father on those battlefields which decided the future fate of Italy. He was also sent very little later on political missions of the greatest conse- quence. It was he who took a leading part in the reorganization of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and July, 1862, saw him in Naples and Palermo, amid a population celebrating with fetes and joy their recon- quered liberty. A little before the outbreak of the war with Austria, the Prince of Piedmont went to Paris to sound the French Government as to its sentiments con- cerning the alliance, then actually concluded, between Italy and Prussia. Action soon followed upon negotia- tions. The moment came in 1866, when, on one June day at dawn, the Italian army put itself in motion, and the first shots were exchanged at two extreme points at the same moment — that is, before Villafranca, between the division led by Prince Umberto and the Austrian cavalry ITALY. 169 regiment led by General Pubz, and under Peschiera at Monte Croce, where fought also Prince Amedeo, and where he received not only his baptism of fire, but also his first wound. From this time forward Umberto was always in the field with his troops when occasion required; and occasion required it right often in those stirring times. And one of his first acts — to his honour be it told — was to declare that he renounced his stipend as a general, not desiring, he said, to add a further burden to the budget of his heavily burdened country. At Custozza, Nino Bixio was only just in time to save him from inevitable danger, so fearlessly had he exposed himself to the enemy. " I shall never forgive you for not letting me manage this affair alone," was the first impetuous answer given by the Prince, after the general had pointed out to him the risk he had run. It was not till he was twenty-four that a bride was chosen for Umberto. Heirs-apparent are not usually allowed to remain unwedded so long, but it so happened that death had carried off the wife destined for him, a young Hapsburg Archduchess. In 1868, however, Victor Emanuel grew uneasy at this single state of his heir, whose younger brother was already provided with a wife. He one day told his Prime Minister, General Menabrea, that he absolutely must find a wife for Umberto. To this peremptory command the soldier quietly remarked that she was already found ; there was wanting only the will of his Majesty and the consent o^' 170 THE KING OF ITALY. the Prince. The lady on whom the general had fixed was the Princess Margherita, daughter of the Duke of Genoa, the brave brother of Victor Emanuel, whom consumption had too early borne away from his family and fatherland. She had been carefully educated, according to her father's dying instructions, in patria, for he had a great faith in early impressions, and wished his children to love their country as he and his brother did. She was at the time a lovely girl of eighteen, delicately fair, with eyes of a deeper blue than usually accompanies a blonde complexion, and a smile of be- witching sweetness. Indeed, Margherita's smile has become famous. It is always ready in answer to the loyal and affectionate feelings of her people, and goes staight to the hearts of the Italians, to whom she has endeared herself in an extraordinary degree. When Victor Emanuel first heard this suggestion he was sur- prised. He had never thought of his niece in this light. He asked the general to tell him something about the qualities of the Princess, and what had suggested the idea to him. Menabrea then related to him a number of anecdotes illustrating the Princess's noble disposition, strength of character, and delicacy of feeling, and enlarged on the advantage of securing this charming daughter of Savoy to the Italian nation before she was carried off by the Prince of Eoumania, who was about to offer her his hand. All he heard greatly pleased the King, and, striking the table with his fist, as he often did when excited, exclaimed, " Bravo ! From all you ITALY. 171 have related I recognize in her the Savoy blood. Now that you have told me so many nice things about my niece I will go and assure myself of it personally." No sooner said than done, he set out for Turin at once, and arrived unexpectedly at the palace of the Duchess of Genoa. His conversation with the Princess satisfied him that her charms had not been overrated. The marriage was therefore arranged, and was celebrated in April, 1868, at Turin, with great pomp, in presence of the whole royal family. An ugly incident, however, marred the harmony of the proceeding. The officiating priest, the Bishop of Savona, whether by accident or design — more probably the latter, as the Catholic clergy lose no opportunity of flaunting their pretended ignor- ance of the march of modern Italian events — referred in his address to the wound the bridegroom had received in his first action in the field. It was Amedeo who had been wounded, not Umberto, and the latter looked deeply mortified, as he had to allow this allusion and the unctuous laudation with which it was accompanied to pass unrefuted over his head. It was during one of the balls held in honour of these nuptials that the late Emperor Frederick of Germany conceived his sentimental adoration for Queen Mar- gherita. A piece of her dress being torn and annoying her as she danced, the Prince drew from his pocket a " housewife," extracted a pair of scissors, cut off the offending bit, pinned up the rent, and finally carried off the rag as a trophy. As is known, he loved Italy sin- 172 THE KING OF ITALY. cerely, and never lost an opportunity of going there and' visiting his good friends Margherita and Umberto. To one of his own daughters the Queen of Italy stood god- mother, and she bears her name. At the time of his marriage the Prince of Piedmont can scarcely be said to have been popular. For one thing he was overshadowed by his father's great popu- larity and that parent's bonhomie and general pleasant ways, of which he did not possess a trace. Moreover, the Prince had earned for himself the reputation of a gay character, and though this is by no means held a reproach in Italy, where manners and morals are lax, still, what in his father — no model of the domestic virtues — was willingly overlooked, was criticized rather sharply in Umberto's case. He was, of course, as yet untried in public life, and had still to gain a title to the gratitude and forbearance of the nation. His manners, moreover, were not conciliatory. Being of a reserved and undemonstrative nature, he had no aptitude for exchanging the small attentions which the Italians call moine, and which go a long way in winning their affections. Consequently, he was popular only so far as that he was his father's son and a Savoy Prince, and that he had proved himself a true soldier in the campaign of 1866. Bat this was enough to call forth great rejoicings on the occasion of his marriage, and to sustain the hope that when the time came to act he would prove himself a worthy successor of the great founder of Italian independence. That hope has ITALY. 173 been justified. Umberto has shown himself a man of excellent sense, tact, and good feeling ; and he has gradually and quietly grown into the heart of the nation, where he now reigns supreme. Victor Emanuel was very fond of his heir. " I know Umberto," he said once ; " he is an excellent youth ; he has good sense and a good heart. He will do well." One of his Ministers relates the following anecdote. Eeturning from Milan, where he had an interview with the Prince, he repeated the conversation to the King in all its particulars, even to some expressions of affection which the young man had used in speaking of his father. The King listened with pleased atteution. Just then a letter was handed to him, which proved to be from his son. When he had read, he turned to the Minister with visible emotion, and said, "You are right. I wish you to read this letter ; you will see how Umberto writes to me. In my family no one knows how to feign, much less when they are twenty years old. You are right in what you tell me." Subsequent events have proved how unfeigned, how profound, was Umberto's affection for his father, and it is satisfactory to know that they understood one another. On the occasion of the Crown Prince's marriage Victor Emanuel instituted the order of the Corona d'ltalia, which is accorded for merit of whatever kind. After making a triumphal tour through the chief Italian cities — excluding, of course, Eome — the bride and bride- groom settled down to live quietly at Turin. A year 174 THE KING OF ITALY. and a half later, at a time when Victor Emanuel's life hung on a thread, was born to them their heir and only child, also named Victor Emanuel, after his grandfather, to whom was accorded the title of Prince of Naples, from the place of his birth. AVhen Rome became Italian, the Prince and Princess of Piedmont also moved thither to live in the Quirinal, and it was then that the young Princess gradually so conquered her father-in-law's good graces that she acquired great influence over him, causing him to con- form a little more than he was wont to do the con- ventionalities and usages of society. It was a difficult position the Princess was called on to fill. Countess Mirafiore, Victor Emanuel's morganatic wife, claimed to rule the house and take her place in society as wife. As a woman not only not of royal birth, but entirely of the people, this was clearly out of the question ; nor ■ could such an insult be put upon the proud old Eoman nobility. These, on the other hand, demanded that their King should hold some sort of Court, and a Court without a woman to preside over it is an im- possibility. Victor Emanuel himself was wont to quote the words of Henry of Navarre — " A Court without a Queen is like a springtime without flowers." But it was not till after Victor Emanuel's death that Margherita took her full place at the Court, and part of the enthusiasm felt by the Italian people for their Queen may be traced to the fact that she is the first Queen this land has known, and it is beyond question that her ITALY. 175 grace, her beauty, make her fill the post with a charm that captivates all beholders. One of Umberto's first acts on ascending the throne earned for him well-merited praise. As is well known, Victor Emanuel was most extravagant, not so much in the gratification of his private tastes — which, except for women and horses, were simple — as because his charities, his open-handedness, knew no bounds. It was found on his death that his debts were very con- siderable, and it was proposed in Parliament, in the first enthusiasm after his loss, that the State should pay these. To this, however, Umberto opposed a firm negative, declaring that his father's debts were his, and that he should undertake the liquidation. And instantly he set about reducing all needless expenditure in the various palaces, selling a number of superfluous horses and restricting outlays in every mode possible ; and this, helped by an able major-domo, he carried through so successfully that not only has he paid his father's debts and pensioned his father's numerous dependents, but he has always a good sum in hand on which he can draw to subscribe towards any national charity or disaster, or to encourage art and science, whenever it lies in his power. The only person given to extrava- gance at the present Court is perhaps the Queen, who shares the feeling of her countrywomen in having an inordinate love for dress — a matter in which she un- fortunately sets her subjects a bad example, encouraging them yet further to dress beyond their means. For 176 THE KING OF ITALY. Queen Margherita gives the tone in these matters to Italian society, and it is to be deplored that her in- fluence is not exerted in the direction of greater simplicity, as well as of intellectual enlightenment. But Queen Margherita is a Catholic, and a daughter of the House of Savoy — ever noted for clerical leanings— and she cannot reconcile herself to the feud that exists between the monarchy and the church. She has at various times attempted concihations which have drawn down on her some reproach, and have caused her to lose in some quarters a little of her high favour. A point, however, on which all are unanimous in her praise, is that of her personal morality. Whatever may have to be said about her husband, against her own^onjugal fidelity no one has ever dared to breathe a word, or has been able to do so ; and that is saying much for Italy, where pure reputations in men and women are not easily believed in. Not even in the most vile and fire-spitting Eepublican newspaper has there ever been recounted any tale that could cast a doubt on the Queen's honour — and these papers in Italy are not chary of lies. Beyond a question, Mar- gherita of Savoy has a high conception of her duties as Queen, wife, and mother ; and, above all, she, like her husband, has close at heart the glory, the good repute, of that ancient House of Savoy, to which they both belong, and which they feel (and rightly) has been ennobled yet more by the aggrandisement of Italy, by all that Italy has suffered, won, and done under its banner. ITALY. 177 It was a great shock to both sovereigns when, a year after his accession, an attempt was made on the King's Hfe, while making his solemn entry into Naples, by a cook called Passanante. He was driving in an open carriage with the Queen and Benedetto Cairoli, then Prime Minister. The latter, sitting opposite, and see- ing the attack, managed so skilfully that the stroke glanced away from the monarch and wounded him instead. The indignation of the whole nation proved how much beloved Umberto had already made himself during his brief tenure of office ; and the receptions the royal couple met with after, both in Eome and Naples, were the more remarkable as at that moment the anarchist international movement was specially rife in Italy. Indeed, this dastardly attack did much to quench it. As for the culprit, after long discussions as to his mental state he was condemned to death, but the clemency of King Umberto changed this verdict into hard labour for life, a clemency that was the more noted at the time, as almost contemporaneously, for a similar attempt, Moncasi had been executed at Madrid. Passanante has since been transferred from his prison to a lunatic asylum. The Passanante incident had unfortunately rather a sad epilogue. The Queen, who at the time was in weak health, caused greatly by mental trouble, was so un- nerved by the event that she fell into a state of nervous prostration which lasted some months, and seriously alarmed the court. She saw an evil augury in the act, 13 178 THE KING OF ITALY. and kept repeating constantly, " The poetry of the House of Savoy is ended." Happily time restored her to health, but for many years she was not strong. As a ruler Umber to has every year given more satis- faction to his people as he has gained in insight and judgment. His father, founder of the Italian monarchy, had chosen his Ministers from out the Moderate party until two years before his death, when he gave the government into the hands of the Left. The Moderate party had for their opponents Garibaldi and Mazzini, who had immense influence over the masses. Victor Emanuel, as is well known, found himself several times at odds with Garibaldi, whose impetuous nature and unphilosophical brain could not comprehend the require- ments of diplomacy. He had even seen himself obliged to arrest and imprison him after the illegal attempts of Aspromonte and Mentana. As for Mazzini, he was kept out of Italy during the whole reign of King Victor Emanuel under penalty of death, although on several occasions the King and the republican agitator ex- changed letters, and sometimes even acted in concert. For these reasons Victor Emanuel, notwithstanding his great prestige, could sometimes hear himself hissed by the crowd. This has never happened to his son Umberto, who, having always ruled with the Left and the Eadicals in conformity, however, always with the wishes of the Chamber, has provoked at times the quiet murmurs of the Conservatives, but has always had the accla- mations of the multitude. He may boast of being the ITALY. 179 only man generally respected in Italy. In studying the acts of his life, one sees in him a king who would have the noble ambition to do doughty deeds like to his father, and who has the same loyalty towards the Constitution of his land. He is a man who, in cir- cumstances demanding heroism, would be a hero, and be so without artifice or claptrap, simply and naturally, because his nature is truly good and heroic. In fact, his character might be summed up in the word " Courage ! " Not even among his ancestors were there any more dominated by their family motto, "Avanti Savoia." 'When during the cholera epidemic he fear- lessly visited the worst cases, the dirtiest slums, he was amazed extremely to find his conduct lauded. Again and again he repeated, almost impatiently, " I have done nothing but my duty." In every disaster that happens in his country the King is the first on the spot, aiding not only with his purse but with his person, inspiring by his example, his intrepidity. It may almost be said of him that he has been born too late. Our century does not lend itself to heroic deeds ; it asks other qualities from its sovereigns. Italy is a poor country, impoverished also by the crises it has had to pass through in order to effect its unity. It has, besides, many provinces which civilization has hardly reached, and where education is but commencing its labours. Such a land has need of rest, of quiet work, of wise and prudent adminis- trators ; has need of statesmen of superior intelligence 180 TEE KING OF ITALY. and acumen. Now, as regards intelligence, King Umberto cannot be put at a high level. Louis Philippe used to say, " All tell me I ought to do my duty ; but the difficulty does not consist in doing my duty, but in knowing what this duty is." Like his confrere^ Umberto is most sincerely anxious to do his duty, but he is continually tormented by uncertainty. He solves a situation by following closely the sentiment given by the passing votes of the Chamber, and in accordance with the solicitations of his Ministers, who are naturally more inclined to favour the temporary interests of theii' own party rather than the permanent interests of tke State. It is said that he is always enthusiastic about the Prime Minister in office ; he was so for Cau'oli, for Depretis; he is so for Crispi. The persons who ap- proach him for the first time are struck with his language, for he bursts out with the most astonishinglf : free judgments on what is happening in national and international politics. But this frankness of speech, most undiplomatic and unroyal, covers the timidity of a man who is not very sure of his own judgments, De Zerbi, an Italian writer, once called Umberto, Athelstan the Unready. As a result of his thirst for heroic deeds, Italy is perhaps indebted for her hapless African policy and wars, where she has been carried into adventures beyond her strength to conduct or carry through. One of the King's indubitable merits is to know how to deal with the masses, and how always on such occasions to find the right word to say, a word ITALY. 181 that goes straight to the heart of his warm-natured Italian subjects, and which causes the noblest chords of patriotism to vibrate. And this comes about because he himself is a man of heart, a sincere patriot, and because the glories and sorrows of the Italian nation for the past forty years are also the glories and the sorrows of his family. Like his forbears, he has no political philosophy, no book-learning ; but this want is compensated for by a straightness of vision, and a rare good sense. A Savoyard, a Piedmontese, he hates phraseology and empty speech, and exaggerated in- flated phrases. He must often suffer, no doubt, under the wordy exuberance of his Neapolitan subjects, who love him nevertheless, and whom he loves in return. As a boy, Umberto was extremely thin — as the princes of his house are wont to be — and as a young man he was delicate, having abused the pleasures of life. He modelled his manners on those of his father, but he had not his father's robust fibre, which allowed him to carry both pleasure and work to excess. In the course of years he has grown stouter and stronger, but he has aged prematurely. For some few years past he has been quite bald. At one time he smoked to excess ; but one day, his doctors having prescribed abstention from tobacco, he completely renounced the habit. It is re- counted that when the advice was given that he should give up smoking for a time, he answered, "On my kingly honour I will never smoke again." And he has kept his word. Without leading the mountaineer's life 182 THE KING OF ITALY. affected by his father, his greatest pleasure consists in passing whole weeks under canvas in the mountains of the valley of Aosta, stalking the chamois, eating the same hard fare as the peasants. Like Victor Emanuel, Umberto loves an open-air life and exercises that fatigue the body. He rises at early dawu, and defies all weathers with indifference. Even when dressed in civilian costume he does not hesitate to allow a heavy downpour to wet him to the skin rather than raise an umbrella, nor does he shrink from standing for hours, if need be, under the scorching rays of the sun on the occasion of some popular /efe, mocking at those who seek shade and shelter. This carelessness to excesses of weather is one of the characteristic notes of the royal house of Italy. He can in no sense be called an aristocratic monarch; indeed, a democratic king would be the title that describes him best, were this epithet not almost a con- tradiction in terms. Of the beauty of Queen Margherita all the world has heard. Without having perfect features, she has been and still is beautiful, thanks to the delicacy of her com- plexion, the grace of her outlines, the sweetness of her expression. Early in life she, too, was very delicate, and so thin as j,o be almost transparent ; but in the course of years she has grown stouter, and now may be said to be too stout for beauty. Her German mother was care- ful to give the daughter a thorough education, superior to that enjoyed in those days by Italian women. Queen Margherita knows both German and Italian literature ITALY. 183 well, is fond of music, and sings herself with taste and feeling. She has a pronounced affection for the German school of melody, but she also appreciates the Italian. She is fond of the society of men of thought and letters, and at her intimate evening teas may be met some of the leading men of the land, who drop in to chat away an hour without ceremony. Indeed, the absence of cere- mony, destructive to all reasonable intercourse, is a distinctive and charming feature of the Italian Court life. Among those whom the Queen loved to receive was the late Minister Minghetti, a simple gentlemanly burgher, who was well versed in questions of art and letters. Another of her well-liked habitues is Bonghi, the states- man and man of letters ; also Professor Villari, sena- tor and historian. She has even known how to gain over to her Italy's greatest living poet, Giosue Carducci, who began life as a rabid republican and hater of royalty. To the amazement of all his friends, Carducci one day published an ode written to the Queen, one of his most beautiful, too, in which he expressed sentiments of loyalty and admiration which no courtier could have surpassed. This act made the poet lose much ground with his republican friends, but he did not therefore diminish his cultus for the Queen, who often sees him and discusses with him on literary themes. Eecently, on the occasion of the inauguration of a new scheme of municipal elections throughout the kingdom, Carducci happened to find himself for some days head of the 184 THE KING OF ITALY. Bologna municipality. His first act was to send a tele- gram to the Queen in the name of this municipality. Indeed, a sentimental cultus for the Queen, their first Queen, is widespread among the Italians, and her name, Margherita (Daisy), is symbolized in many ways, and the daisy emblem occurs in every form of festive decora- tion. Her own favourite emblem is the pearl, of which she wears strings upon strings around her neck, so that by her rows of pearls the Queen can always be recognized if by no other sign. And yearly this row of pearls grows richer, for the King, who shares the Queen's half barbarian love of precious stones, adds annually a string to the precious necklet, until it now descends far below her waist, and has really lost some of its elegant and decorative character. Malicious tongues whisper that the Queen so clings to this adornment because it hides a tendency to goitre with which she is afflicted, in common with many Savoyards. A very cordial friendship exists between King and Queen ; and the former relies much on his wife's judg- ment, which is frequently clear and sound. Some pretty anecdotes are told of their domestic life. Thus the Queen was anxious that her husband should follow the example of his father, and the fashion common among elderly Piedmontese officers, and dye his hair, which has become quite white. Her pleadings were in vain. Um- berto's is an honest nature, that does not love these subterfuges. Seeing petition was in vain, the Queen had recourse to stratagem. She caused a quantity ITALY. 185 ol fine hair-dye to be sent from Paris and put in the King's dressing-room, together with directions for its use, making, however, no allusion to the subject. The King, too, said nothing, though he could not fail to have seen the pigments. Now the Queen has a large white poodle of which she is very fond. What was her horror, a few days later, to see her pet come running into her room with his candid locks of the deepest black hue ! King Umberto had expended the dyes upon the poodle. From that day forth the sub- ject of hair-dyeing was dropped between the royal couple. On yet another occasion the husband gave the wife one of those quiet rebuffs into which enters a sense of humour, and which are on that account less hard to bear. It appears that Umberto once asked one of the Queen's secretaries what would be an accept- able Christmas present for her Majesty. This gentle- man, a truer friend than courtier, had the courage to suggest to the King that the Queen had a large number of unpaid milliners' and dressmakers' bills. The King took the hint, and begged that they should all be given to him. On Christmas morning Umberto placed all these bills, receipted, under the Queen's table-napkin. There was no other present besides. It is said that she took the hint, and has been less extravagant since. Both the King and Queen are fon(J of petty gossip, and on their informal receptions — held on Sunday evening, to which all may drop in who have the entree to their house — it is quite strange to hear them always asking 186 THE KING OF ITALY. after the local news, and to see how well they are posted up in all the latest scandals. In this, too, they could set a better example, for Italian society is far too much inclined to gossip and dealing with personalities. Eome is, of course, the usual residence of the sove- reigns ; but when Parliament is not sitting Monza, near Milan, is one of their favourite residences. The Queen also much affects both Naples and Venice, and of late years has developed a taste for mountain climbing, and often visits the districts around Aosta and Cadore, Titian's country. She is an excellent walker and an intrepid climber, and herein she sets a good example to her female subjects, who are usually indolent in these respects. Some considerable time, however, is always given to Monza, and this because, as the sove- reigns themselves say, they can enjoy greater liberty there than anywhere else. The Lombard population is naturally considerate and not inclined to trouble the royal family by undesired importunities, to which must be added that the ladies of the Milanese aristocracy are not well inclined to the Queen, whom they reproach with making few advances to them, and with loving them but little. It really seems that on the side of the Queen there is a want of cordiality towards the Milanese ladies ; something in their tone and bearing is antipathetic to her. This brings it about that at Monza she only sees her real intimates ; and is not therefore obliged to hold receptions. And even when royal personages stop at Monza the visit has always something of an intimate and ITALY. 187 private character. During their stay here the royal couple frequently invite their friends either to meals or to stop a few days with them, these friends being persons chosen from all social classes — deputies, senators, high functionaries, literary men, and artists. The hospitahty is regal, and yet simple. The guests are met at the station by a royal carriage, which again reconducts them on their departure, a set of rooms and a servant are placed at their disposal, and the rules of the house are put before them. The first of these rules, which must be kept, is the luncheon hour of eleven, except on Sundays, when it is twelve, on account of the High Mass, which the whole royal family, their visitors, and servants all attend in the artistically decorated private chapel of the Palace, a chapel which is, however, generously thrown open to all the villagers, who are thus enabled to gaze their sweet fill upon their sovereigns; for the Italian King and Queen do not shrink from the gaze of their faithful subjects. If no royalties are present, the King gives his arm to the Queen to lead her in to luncheon, while the Prince of Naples gives his to the lady highest in dignity. After the meal, if fine, the whole company retire into the garden beside the lake. The Queen will take up her fancy work and chat with some guests in one group ; the King, standing, will entertain ajjother set in a separate circle. Or sometimes he takes them to row upon the water. After an hour, the Queen giving the signal, the company retire to the house and 188 THE KING OF ITALY. their own apartments until the time for driving out shall have come. If wet, the company remain together in the same way in one of the large reception-rooms. But whether out of doors or in, the two groups around the King and around the Queen never blend. The Queen's private sitting-room betrays her various tastes and interests. Books in many languages and on varied subjects not only fill the bookcases, but strew the chairs and tables, showing they are really used ; stacks of music abound ; fancy-work, finished and in course of making, meets the eye at every turn — for the Queen puts to good use the few hours she can call her own — and her quick intelligence and tenacious memory allow her to make the most of her reading. In the afternoon drives the neighbourhood of Monza is ranged, and not only its beautiful sides, but also its flatter and less attractive districts, so that the natives have every chance of beholding their sovereigns several times at least during their sojourn among them. If wet, walks in the park are proposed, but these the royal family have often to take alone under their umbrellas, their household and guests being less hardy and less indifferent to the weather. At five, in the large entrance-hall, afternoon tea is served. This meal is partaken of without ceremony. No servants appear; one of the maids-of-honour pours out the tea, the gentlemen-in-waiting hand the sandwiches and cakes. After an hour's general and animated talk, the Queen once more retires until the late dinner -hour. After this ITALY. 189 meal all the ladies remain with the Queen, working, talking, making vocal and instrumental music, while the men follow the King and the Crown Prince into an adjoining room, where they talk, smoke, and play billiards — which game, besides chess and draughts, is the only one allowed in the establishment. Games of hazard are honourably excluded. A little after mid- night the Queen rises to retire, after greeting each guest individually, and so ends a day at Monza, which resembles, on the whole, the days spent elsewhere by the, sovereigns, except that here they have fewer social and public functions to attend. Of the Prince of Naples little is known as yet, except that he adores his parents, and especially his mother, and is adored by her in return. She has nurtured him in the best traditions of his house, and one anecdote in especial about this has become a favourite theme for poetry and picture throughout Italy. Having gone to visit Palermo in company with her boy, it came about that on the return journey to Naples a great storm arose, and the commander feared for the safety of his precious freight. He consulted with the officers as to whether they had not best put back. It was decided to lay the matter before the Queen and abide by her decision. She happened to have in her hand a paper. Eapidly, without further hesitation, she wrote on it the words, " Sempre avanti Savoia," passing it on to the captain. Pretty stories are told of him — how in his childhood 190 THE KING OF ITALY. he saved up his pocket-money in order to buy her trinkets. He is a shy, retiring youth, who has de- veloped late, but of whose heart and intelligence all who know him speak highly. Like his father, he is frank of speech, and often narrates tales of the home life. Here is one. The King, in contrast to the Queen, is quite inartistic in his tastes, and, above all, has no ear for music. Of late the Queen has found it needful to wear glasses in order to read. These glasses annoy the King, who, when he sees them going up, says at once, " Margherita, put down those glasses." " Mama did not obey," says the Prince. " Then papa said, ' Margherita, if you don't take off those glasses, I shall sing.' And mama has such a dread of papa's false notes that she obeys at once to save herself from that torment." His tutors praise his application; his military teachers his zeal and strict fidelity to duty. In appearance he resembles his mother, and like her he has the peculiarity of being short-legged, which makes him look when seated taller than he really is. Since his late journey to various European and Eastern Courts he has de- veloped more independence, and is also drawn more to the fore. There is every reason to hope and think that he will prove no unworthy scion of that most ancient and honourable house of Savoy from which he has sprung, and that when his time comes he too will do his duty as Italy's King. THE KING OF SPAIN. THE KING OF SPAIN. NO European country has had during the last half- century a more disturbed history than Spain, that kingdom once so proud, strong, and influential in the councils of Europe, and now of so little political moment, so left behind in the march of progress. Will it and its baby monarch adyance together step by step to majority ? Who can tell ? It is certain that the land has been in a state of fermentation for many years. It saw itself constrained to depose Queen Isabella, whose life was a scandal even in a country not over squeamish on questions of morality. It could not settle down under the well-intentioned but timid and exotic rule of the foreigner Amedeo of Italy. It became after his enforced resignation the prey of rival factions. Government suc- ceeding Government with bewildering rapidity — Ee- publicans. Federalists, Constitutionalists, Carlists, and Alfonsists, all struggling for mastery. In the end the Alfonsists triumphed, and in December, 1874, Alfonso, son of Queen Isabella, in whose favour she was induced to abdicate, ascended the tottering 14 194 THE KING OF SPAIN. throne ; the Bourbons thus returning in his person after six years of exile. No easy post awaited this monarch of seventeen summers, called away from his mother's Christmas festivities to rule a distracted country, torn by civil war, the prey of factions. The one great legislative event of his reign was the passing of a new Constitution, a measure which annulled nearly all the benefits for progress gained by means of the previous revolutions, and which was and remains the bete noire of liberal Spain. It once more placed a Spaniard's liberty in the hands of the Government and, worse still, of the priests. Hardly was this measure passed, when there arose the important political question of the King's marriage. His choice fell on his cousin Princess Mercedes, daughter of the Duke of Montpensier. But to this choice great family opposition was made. Queen Isabella hated her brother-in-law, and feared the influence of Mercedes upon Alfonso. But the young King was firm, and the story of his passion and the obstacles he had to over- come recall those of Eomeo and Juliet, the Capulets and the Montagues. Alas ! this marriage, which was a true love match, and offered every prospect of a happy union and of a beneficial influence upon the King's life, was dissolved all too soon by the Queen's death five months after the ceremony, in June, 1878. This death was a terrible blow to the King, and one from which he recovered with difficulty, and it was a bitter pill to him that almost immediately the question SPAIN. 195 of his re-marriage had to be urged upon him, State reasons making it imperative. And it was urged with the more insistance that Alfonso's health, always delicate, began to show signs of that general breaking up of the system which led to his early death. Ministers took stock of the marriageable daughters of royal Europe and their choice fell upon a princess of the House of Hapsburg, a race pleasing to Queen Isabella and the Jesuits. The first meeting of the betrothed took place at Arcachon. When Alfonso entered the room of the villa in which his fiancee awaited him, his eyes fell on a fine portrait of Mercedes standing on her table. In- voluntarily he drew nearer, and as he gazed on the beloved features a soft voice, half-choked with emotion, murmured at his side, " My dearest wish is to resemble her in all things, for if I must succeed her, I dare not hope to replace her." The King did not answer, but the next morning she received a note, written in warm and heartfelt words, in which he told her that she had wrought a miracle, touched a hidden chord he had believed silent for ever- more, and that if she consented, their union would be as much one of love as his former one. This young Archduchess who had thus understood how to touch her future husband's heart is the daughter of the Princess Elizabeth, who has always been considered the most charming of the Austrian Archduchesses. The princess is a woman well advanced in years, and has been twice married to Austrian Archdukes and twice 196 THE KING OF SPAIN. widowed. A special favourite with the Emperor, she embellishes the whole family life of the Hapsburgs by her wit, her physical charms, preserved even into mature middle age, and her social talents. Her children seem to have inherited some of her originality and force of character. Thus, her eldest son insisted upon making a love marriage, espousing in 1878 a daughter of the Duke of Croy, a marriage without precedent in Austrian royal annals, and which caused not a little flutter, as the Prince insisted that the union should be treated as an equal one, and his wife regarded as Archduchess. It is his sister who is the present Queen Eegent of Spain. The Princess was but twenty-one when she left Vienna to unite herself to Alfonso, and had, therefore, lacked time to take any important place in Austrian society. Nevertheless, it was felt by the Viennese Court that an attractive figure departed with the Archduchess Christina, who harboured a good heart, open to noble sentiments under a pleasing exterior. Not that the Queen of Spain inherits her mother's beauty ; she is rather charming, with great distinction and chic in gait and mien. The Archduchess Elizabeth is a tall com- manding figure with a head of the Maria Theresa type ; her daughter, on the contrary, is but of middle height, fair, and gentle. At the time of her marriage her diffident bearing and look led none to suppose that she possessed a tittle of the energy that distinguishes her mother and renders her so attractive. As a young girl at Vienna the Archduchess Christina interested herself SPAIN. 197 much in the Pine Arts, and especially in music. There was no great representation at the Opera, no concert at ■which she did not appear, accompanied by her mother. But in pubHc Hfe she took no part, and was only seen on the most official occasions, when the presence of the. whole royal family was indispensable. She dearly loved retirement. This and her general refinement of manner made her a great favourite with the Emperor, and he and all the family were much grieved at her departure. The departure of the Archduchess from Vienna to join her affianced husband in Spain, where the marriage ceremony took place, was most sad. All the Archdukes and duchesses were present ; they embraced her tenderly and waved her last farewells. The Emperor could not await the departure of the train : his emotion was too much for him. As for the bride herself, her eyes were red with tears, and only sadness was to be read upon her face. Had she perchance a presentiment of the hard destiny that awaited her ? And that makes it doubtful whether to her can be applied the famous saying, " Tu, felix Austria, nube." The marriage was celebrated with much pomp at the old sanctuary of Atocha, the King meeting his bride as soon as she touched Spanish soil. For some while after her arrival at Madrid it seemed uncertain what place the Queen would take in the Spanish Court and in Spanish hearts. For her subjects she had one great defect : she was not a Spaniard — an unpardon- able sin in the eyes of this proud people, who still fondly 198 TBE KING OF SPAIN. imagine that they are the first nation in the world, and remain subhmely unconscious of the fact that their rdle in Continental politics has been effaced, that they have been left centuries behind in culture, and that even more than Turkey, if possible, they are in the affairs of Europe a quantite negligeable. They still fancy themselves of the importance they once had in the days of Charles V. and Isabella the Catholic. It is difficult to decide whether this attitude, based upon crass ignorance, be more pitiable or more ludicrous. Coming from a Court mediaeval enough in tone, but yet not quite so far behind as that of Castile, Queen Christina seemed too much a woman of to-day to satisfy her courtiers devoted to the traditions of a fossil past. Another fault she had in their eyes ; she was not communicative. In a land where all are expansive, Queen Christina never spoke of her inmost thoughts and feelings, enfolding herself in a dignified reserve that these expansive lighter southern natures could not understand, and hence could not pardon. They held her reticence to be conceit and hauteur ; and, them- selves the proudest of peoples, were deeply offended at the fact that another should possess their cherished vice. Truly difficult for the young Queen were the first years of her married life, nor did she find much support in her husband, whose easy-going nature and frail health made him anything but a strong helpmate. For example, the Spaniards desired that their Queen should SPAIN. 199 speak their stately language with purity, and Queen Christina took all possible pains to learn it. But naturally she had a German accent, that ugliest of accents in a Latin tongue. The King, instead of helping her, enhanced her difficulties. From the moment of her arrival it amused him to mislead her about the meaning of words, telling her the exact opposite of their sense, and then laughing heartily at the effect produced when she, in perfect good faith, employed them in public. He was not unkind at heart, and he was sincerely attached to her, but he was mischievous and fond of fun, and callous or unconscious of the effect his jokes often had upon their victims. Thus the life of the young Queen at Madrid was a little sad and isolated. She had no intimates, and she was of a character too serious to prove a very acceptable member of the intimate circle round her husband. Her notions of decorum were too rigid to allow her to adapt herself easily to the gay and unconventional Spanish character. As Queen-Consort, she carefully refrained from taking a share in politics, and this the Spaniards acknowledged to her credit. She was allowed to be a good wife and tender mother, and yet the Austrian royal lady was not popular with her subjects. They had no complaints to make against her except that most hopelessly irremediable of all complaints — that her temperament and theirs were essentially different. They did not fail, however, to pay a tribute of admi- ration to her admirable coolness in face of the pistol of 200 THE KING OF SPAIN Francisco Otorio, aimed at her and her husband with a precision that made their narrow escape from death almost a miracle. Her behaviour showed she possessed a high spirit. For the rest she was nothing to them but a superbly-dressed figure on festal occasions, and when in the country a sovereign leading a quiet and homely life. The King meanwhile, however, had learnt to appreciate more and more her true value. On every anniversary of their wedding-day he gave her a bracelet set with single stones. The last came with this note: "My soldiers bear in golden stripes on their sleeves the number of their campaigns : I want to see on your arm the record of the years of happiness you have given me." This was but a few days before that fatal November 25, 1885, when Alfonso at last succumbed to the con- sumption that had long tormented him, and Queen Christina found herself a widow with two little girls, one of whom was at one pronounced interim Queen of Spain until it was seen whether the child with whom the Queen was then pregnant would prove a male. It was a situation for which history had until then pre- sented no parallel. A difficult, perilous moment, too, in the life of the young Archduchess ; unpopular, out of health, regent for a girl-heir, in a land where only males are held of value, in a country racked with discontented factions, and with a more popular male pretender foster- ing dissensions. Could a frail, youthful woman steer SPAIN. 201 clear of all these difficulties and preserve the throne for herself and her children ? Few persons in Europe, remembering the fate of Prince Amedeo of Italy, thought it possible, and not many would have ventured to pre- dict that this woman's hands would long hold the reins of power. The adherents of Don Carlos acquired fresh hopes ; Don Carlos himself felt confident of his success. But, as is often the case in life, the unexpected, un- foreseen occurred. Queen Christina, so self-effacing, almost the mere conventional figure of a Queen-Consort, suddenly showed herself possessed of regal qualities. The day of sorrow revealed her in a new light. Thrown by the death of her husband into a position of great and manifold difficulties, the daughter of the Hapsburgs proved herself nobly fitted for the role she was called upon to fill. The courage and self-devotion she displayed when, in the early days of her widowhood and on the eve of her confinement, she personally visited the districts devas- tated by a hurricane, and with her own hands distributed relief to the sufferers, won her subjects' sympathy and gratitude. Later on she showed yet greater nerve when a young officer forgot himself so far as to speak disrespectfully of her. The insolence was perhaps part only of the arrogant demeanour the Spanish nobles are apt to display towards their rulers when they happen to be of foreign race. Such behaviour as this had led Amedeo to abdicate. Queen Christina checked the 202 THE KING OF SPAIN. insolence at once by ordering the offender into prison and keeping him there until he was prepared to apolo- gize, and to vow he had meant nothing of what he had said. An instance of her kindheartedness, united to firm- ness, was shown when the writer Del Silvio had to be banished on account of the publication of treason- able articles. His wife, left behind in great misery, entreated his pardon from the Queen, a request which was granted. When Del Silvio presented himself before the royal lady to thank her, she asked him, in the course of conversation, how many children he had. " Six," was the reply. " That is too many," said the Eegent ; " share with me." And forthwith the Queen gave orders that three of the author's daughters should be educated in one of the royal colleges at her expense. Thus things went on until, on May 17, 1886, six months after his father's death, there was born to Queen Christina and the Spaniards a prince, the much-desired boy, who from the moment of his birth deposed his sister, and was monarch of Spain. This event greatly delighted the whole peninsula. Here, then, was a legitimate sovereign — a male, and one whose tender years made it an absolute certainty that he would keep outside intrigues, while the rectitude his mother had displayed during her brief regency made it almost as certain that she would continue on the same lines until his majority, which by the SPAIN. 203 Constitution is fixed at sixteen. All Spaniards resolved to accept the present state of things, and await the development of events. They were weary of civil wars and disorders, of the misery and poverty these bring in their train. It was in the Palace of Pardo, there where his father died, that Alfonso XIII. saw the light of day. Who knows what strange caprice made Queen Christina choose for this event this gloomy abode ? For the Palacio del Pardo, situated twelve kilometres (TJ miles) distant from Madrid, is a sombre prison-like residence, surrounded by a thick wood, in its turn enclosed by a high brick wall measuring eighty kilometres in circuit (50 miles). In the palace itself, that May morning of the baby's birth was a busy one. All the Grandees of the peninsula were gathered together in the Queen's bed- chamber when it was known that the Queen was in labour, anxiously waiting to learn the sex of the child, and availing themselves of their traditional privileges to be present at the event. Others less privileged had assembled in an ante-room, ambassadors, statesmen, lords and ladies-in-waiting, dignitaries of all sorts and kinds. At one o'clock a door was at length thrown open and Senor Sagasta, the Prime Minister, stepped in. He carried a silver salver, on which rested a velvet cushion covered with lace, and on this airy substance reposed a small red scrap of humanity, the much-desired male, his Most Catholic 204 THE KING OF SPAIN. Majesty, the King of Spain "by the Grace of God and the Constitution of Monarchy," who was here for the first time presented by his Prime Minister mth. all form to his nobles and subjects. The monarch did not like the ceremony at all, and his first public utterances were lusty but not melodious. The ceremony over, he was at last handed over to his head nurse, Eaymunda. This woman was an Asturian, in accordance with the law that obliges all nurses of the royal family to be chosen from this wild province : perhaps because they are a specially healthy and loyal people. This choice of a nurse had been an anxious matter. The next was the choice of a name for the infant King. His mother desired that he should be called Alfonso, after his father, but to this great opposi- tion was made. The late King had been Alfonso XII., this child would therefore be Alfonso XIII., and the Spaniards have all the Latin superstitious dread of that number. Many other names from the royal annals were proposed instead, but nearly all of them, like Ferdinand, Philip, Charles, were associated with bad qualities, cruelty and oppression. Queen Christina was firm, and in due time his baby Majesty was christened Alfonso. The ceremony, one of great pomp, was performed by the Archbishop of Toledo, with water specially brought from the Eiver Jordan. The Pope, one of the godfathers, had sent a magnificent christen- ing dress to his " well beloved son," but Queen SPAIN. 205 Christina, with a woman's fondness for association, preferred that her boy should be carried to the font in the long lace robe and scarlet goldTfringed sash his father had worn at his own baptism, twenty-nine years before. Though she had now, in a measure, conquered her unpopularity with her subjects, yet Queen Christina's task had not grown less onerous since her son's birth. What could be more difficult than to rear aright a child who in long clothes already reigned as absolute monarch over seventeen millions of subjects ? If it is hard to bring up a Crown Prince wisely, to save him from the evil effects of courtier adulation, false servility, distorted views of life, how much harder to educate a King, and a Spanish King withal, hedged in by all manner of ridiculous etiquette ! How earnestly the Queen Eegent regards her duties, how tearfully, religiously she strives to fulfil them, her private letters to Vienna prove. Her one aim and desire is to bring up "the child," as she tenderly calls him, to be good, to be unspoilt, to be high-minded and patriotic. The policy she sketched for herself is indicated in the words she one day addressed to a captain-general, pointing to the cradle of the sleeping monarch, then a few months old: "My devotion to the interests of my child and my own virtue will be my shield and my guarantee of success in this, my adopted country, and in the sixteen long years that separate me from my boy's majority." 206 THE KING OF SPAIN. And verily she is earning the first-fruits of that policy in the general esteem of her son's subjects. On every occasion Queen Christina has shown herself possessed of unusual political intelligence, a sense of what is due to herself as Eegent for a son who, accord- ing to the national law, is King from the moment of his birth. It is this that distinguishes Alfonso's minority from that of all other European sovereigns. His mother has lent herself with unexceptional in- telligence and rare national devotion to the require- ments of the situation. While the King can say that he reigns but does not govern, she governs but does not reign, and her influence is supreme in the politics of a country hotly divided into inimical parties. But all these factions seem to have lost some of their fierceness, their animosity in presence of the fair young head, the pretty winning child-ways of Alfonso XIII. and his mother, who, notwithstanding her somewhat Austrian stiffness of bearing, shows herself possessed of a gentle and tender nature. In the midst of grandeur, she cares for simple things. She grieved at being forbidden, as Queen of Spain, to nurse her children. She delights in working for the little ones. Many tiny garments in the baby King's layette were made by her hand. Her womanly love of children, as well as acts like the following, have helped to gain her Spanish hearts. A while ago the Syndic of Madrid announced to the Queen that the name of Alfonso had been registered that day SPAIN. 207 among the births for the thousandth time since the death of her husband. Deeply moved by this testimony of the sympathy of her people, Queen Christina sent the thousandth child, the son of a clerk, a complete layette — a silver cup, a case with knife, fork, and spoon, and a savings-box containing, besides a handsome nest-egg, a paper, on which was written with her own hand, " To the thousandth Alfonso, from a woman whom two Alfonsos have made happy." Such deeds combined with the straightness of the Queen's political vision, the romance of her position as the widowed mother of a baby-king, are winning for Christina of Spain the love of her subjects. The peasant children already care for the lady whose proud bearing repels the aristocracy. Pretty stories abound among the rustic population that not unfrequently the Queen visits incognita the outlying cottages, bringing toys to the healthy children who can play, and various comforts to the sick, who especially appeal to her. As a mother, Queen Christina is careful and con- scientious. The royal children are strictly brought up and educated, under her own eyes, by Spanish and foreign governesses. The Princess of the Asturias and the Infanta Maria Theresa are bright, pretty girls of eight and six years old. They already speak French, German, and English besides their native tongue. The Infanta Maria Theresa is the cleverest, but less docile, and more delicate than her sister. The Queen does not allow them to be spoilt, though the stately etiquette of 208 THE KING OF SPAIN. the Bourbon Court obliges the attendants and courtiers to treat them with a singular attention difficult to distinguish from servility. Of Queen Christina's determination of character Stuart Cumberland, the famous " thought-reader," gives an account in his book, " A Thought-reader's Thoughts." He writes : " I have experimented with many women of note — empresses, queens, princesses, great authoresses, artists, singers, actresses, travellers — most of them women of known strong character, but for downright concentration of thought and determinedness of purpose I have scarcely met the equal of the Queen-Eegeat (Madrid). The seance in the Palacio Eeal, to which I have already briefly referred, was of more than ordinary interest, for the ' subjects ' with whom I operated offered the widest psychological contrasts. Two of the most extraordinary experiments I did that day were performed with the Queen-Eegent and the Comtesse de Paris. "With the Queen the experiment was as follows : Her Majesty had heard that I was able by my process of thought- reading to enact an imaginary murder- scene contem- plated by a person acting as my subject, and she asked me if I would give her an illustration of this character. But every one seemed to be timorous about it, and the experiment ran the risk of not being tried for lack of a suitable subject. ' What ! ' said her Majesty, springing to her feet, ' can no one commit a murder ? I will ! ' and she seized an antique paper-knife shaped like a dagger, and assumed an intensely dramatic attitude. At that SPAIN. 209 moment I took her Majesty by the hand, and I felt her whole frame thrill with suppressed excitement. Her eyes were fixed and bright, and her lips drawn firmly together, and I was much impressed with the tragic force she displayed. Then came the experiment. I was blindfolded, and, taking the dagger in my right hand, I moved across the salon, holding her Majesty with the left hand. Presently we paused opposite a lady of the household who was reclining on a sofa. Quickly bending forward, the Queen's left hand was about her throat, and the ivory knife flashed in the light ; then down it came full in the breast of the victim. A faint scream of genuine alarm from the lady, a tightening of the Queen's grasp for a moment, followed by a deep breath, and all was over. Then with a rapid twist our hands parted, and the knife was sent clattering across the room ; and, lifting my blindfold, I saw her Majesty standing before me, radiant with delight at the success of the experiment. The whole thing had been most dramatically thought out and artistically executed, and all that was strong and determined in Her Majesty came out in that moment." Such, then, is the woman in whose hands lies the immediate future of Spain, which she is guiding with a skill and rectitude that contrasts favourably with the Spanish female governorship of former days. And very different is the attitude of the natives from that presented to Queen Isabella, whose reign was but another trial for that sorely tried land, which, first under Alfonso XII., 15 210 THE KINO OF SPAIN. and now under Queen Christina, is reviving a little from its long years of trouble and mismanagement. The Queen certainly has no easy part to play ; and chief among other difficulties is the question of the education of her son. The Clerical party will not be satisfied unless the child gets a purely Catholic educa- tion ; the Liberals desire that he should have an all- round training. The one party insists that he should be surrounded by persons of all shades of thought ; the other would banish from his household any person only remotely suspected of heresy, or related, however distantly, to a heretic. Another difficulty is the question of bull-fights. The Queen objects to her baby-boy witnessing these bloody spectacles. The Spaniards, on the other hand, demand that the King should grace their gala day and their national amusements by his presence. By keeping him away his mother has offended many ardent Eoyalists, who contend that by such measures she is strengthening the Eepublican party. There is still a long, long minority to be passed through, during which the Queen's difficulties can but increase. And how about the child who will, in all human probability, guide the later course of Spain? Of the character of an infant three years old little can be known ; but it would seem as if he had inherited some of his father's merry temper, for the tiny fellow is lively and talkative, though at moments an expres- sion strangely grave and far-away comes over the little face, perchance the effect of the loneliness in SPAIN. 2U which naturally he must be reared, for a King of Spain can have no playmates, since he can only associate with his equals. Even from his sisters the Uttle monarch is to a certain extent separated. From the time of his birth, little Alfonso was provided with a separate, household, civil and military, a number of officials, and a distinct suite of rooms. As to his appearance, he is not exactly a pretty child, but has a winning little countenance. It is quite curious to note the resemblance that exists between the little blonde King whose curls are as yet so sparse that he seems almost bald, and his ancestor Charles IV. Though not stout or strongly built in body or limbs, he gives the impression of fair health. His features are delicate, and rather pronounced for a child, his nose has already the Hapsburg aquiline bend, his little mouth reveals firmness, his eye is bright and full of fire. The strict Court etiquette which permits that no one but his nurse and governess may touch the sacred person of the sovereign might some day lead to grave disaster, and may often occasion the baby needless suffering, a^ the following anecdote shows : A swing had been fixed in one of the King's rooms. When his baby Majesty was put into it for the first ' time he was frightened and began to cry. An attendant who was standing near rushed forward and lifted the ! child out of the swing, little thinking he would be ( punished for his humane kindness. He was at once 212 THE KING OF SPAIN. dismissed. He had touched the sacred person of an anointed King. Fortunately Queen Christina, who, although she had to yield to Spanish Court etiquette, is too sensible not to recognize its frequent absurdity, found the man another post in the palace. The King's favourite toy is a rocking-horse. He has, of course, one of the most expensive and beautiful that can be made. It is covered with the real hide of an Andalusian pony, and the saddle, stirrups, and other trappings are of the same pattern as those used in Andalusia. One of the most charming of the many pictures painted of the young King is that by Professor Koppaig, which represents him seated on this horse. If the King of Spain has a worry, it is the per- sistency with which, since the hour of his birth, painters, sculptors, and photographers persist in repro- ducing his features, representing him in every attitude conceivable and inconceivable, till the child finds sitting still a torment. Perhaps no one has been more often reproduced in a brief lifetime than Alfonso XIII. The child's life is arranged by his mother in as simple and healthy a manner as is compatible with rigid etiquette and his exailted station. Every morning, as soon as his toilet is completed he goes to the Queen, who is always eager to greet " the child." Sometimes he is present at the morning visits paid to her by the ministers or members of the royal family, listening with indifference or with merry laughter to the discussion of difficult State problems, SPAIN. 213 or to the narration of how his grandmother Isabella is misconducting herself, how the Duke of Mont- pensier so long as he lived would persist in visiting Spain, and so forth. Often during these conversations he will tap impatiently upon the table with his tiny fingers, for he is of a highly-strung temperament, and, like all susceptible people, is easily bored. He gave an instance of this at a high church function, at which were present all the Court, the authorities, and the nobility. His baby Majesty occupied, as is customary, the first place on the Gospel side of the altar. He sat upon the knees of his nurse, dressed in pure white, a coquettish white Spanish hat upon his fair little head. A learned bishop had been hold- ing forth for over an hour amid the general silence, and his Majesty, the baby, had been as good and patient as possible. But as the orator meandered on and on, and there seemed no end to his flow of platitudes, the tiny King could bear it no longer. Suddenly, to the surprise and no doubt secret amuse- ment and relief of the courtiers, he pulled off his cap, threw it on the ground, and cast a furious look at the interminable talker. History telleth not whether the bishop, on this evident sign of the royal impatience, brought his discourse to a speedy end. His Majesty is certainly self-willed and easily angered, and at times it is only needful to ask him to do a thing in order for him to do the exact opposite. When his mother finds him in these disobedient 214 THE KING OF SPAIN. moods she pretends to cry and leave Mm alone. This stratagem always succeeded, until one day before his dangerous illness. He really let her leave him, and, turning to his adored Eaymunda, calmly remarked, " She did well to go, for I should not have given in." The Queen is very strict with him, and no naughti- ness goes unpunished. Thus one day he was rude to his English governess. That day he was not allowed to be present at his favourite pastime, the changing of the guard in the grand saloon. The King has a tender and faithful friend, who even during his illness never left him. This is his black Angora cat Perrito. The child adores him, and insists on having him always by him, even taking him out for a drive. Perrito may be seen in the royal carriage, reclining on a splendid velvet cushion, embroidered for his special benefit by one of the Court ladies with the arms of Spain. It is a curious sight, which it must need Spanish gravity to bear without a smile, to see the King hold official receptions at his palace. Here, upon the throne of Ferdinand the Catholic and Charles V., sits an Asturian peasant woman holding upon her knees the little scrap of humanity that represents to the Spaniards their ruler and arbiter. On his right stands the Queen Eegent, the Infantas, a few steps lower the grandees with covered heads, lower yet on each side the ladies and gentlemen of the Court, then lower still the piilitary, ecclesiastical, and civil dignitaries, the corps SPAIN. 215 diplomatique, the Cortes, the Senate — in a word, all the high functionaries of State. And all file in order of rank and merit before this little monarch, kissing the baby hand with solemn reverence, while the baby himself is often shouting with impatience or laughing merrily but scarcely politely at some of the quaint figures that defile before him. Poor baby ! these State ceremonies are a cruel trial to the patience of a lively child of three. Not seldom he falls off to sleep before these ceremonies, which Spanish etiquette prolongs more than is common, are even half ended. There is a story told that he once invited a stiff old Court dignitary to play at horses with him, much to every- body's amusement. It is a fact that when the nobles assembled to celebrate his second birthday, Alfonso amused himself by climbing up and down the steps of his throne. Shade of Ferdinand the Catholic ! Do not the pranks of your descendant make you turn in your royal tomb ? The little King goes out a great deal, and of this he is very fond. His carriage is simple, and he drives without outriders or pomp, only a groom riding beside the door. Every afternoon, when the weather is fine, the royal carriage may be seen in the environs and public parks of Madrid. At five in winter and six in summer his baby Majesty returns to his palace, where he dines in state at a separate table from his mother, and with his separate suite and attendants. He has already learnt to salute his subjects in the street, and he does it in 216 TEB KING OF SPAIN. such a pretty, engaging way as to win all their hearts. He adores military music, and when he hears the people shout " Viva ! " to him he claps his little hands and shouts in return. It was a sad moment in the life of his little Majesty when it was proposed to separate him from his beloved wet-nurse, Eaymunda. He would not hear of it, and cried bitterly, and the woman, who loves him devotedly, cried too. At last her peasant astuteness hit upon an expedient. She taught him to say, "Nurse must stay; I command it. I wish her to stay." Before the whole Court, to the surprise of all present, the little boy slowly and gravely one day pronounced these words, after which there was nothing for it ; the nurse had to stay, for what a King of Spain desires must be done, and this was his Most Catholic Majesty's first public command. But, though the nurse stays on, Alfonso has passed out of her exclusive care into the charge of a Madame Tacon, who will superintend his education as she superintended that of his late father. Of course he does not yet do any book-learning, but he is already being trained to speak several languages^that needful regal accomplish- ment. It was in January, 1890, that the little monarch was taken so dangerously ill that his life was entirely despaired of, and several times it was rumoured that he was dead. He recovered, thanks to the surpassing devotion and care of his mother, who nursed him with a devotion rare even in maternal annals. Meantime, SPAIN. 217 by a strange freak of fate, there died in Italy Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of Aosta, ex-King of Spain. It seemed as though Death had resolved to take unto himself a Spanish, king, and, failing the child, took the elder man. During the King's illness many pretty anecdotes circulated about him. It seems he has a passion for his toys, and in every lucid moment he asked about them, wished to know if they were safe, if he could see them. Nor were his thoughts wholly selfish. It seems he has a good memory for faces, and is an acute observer. Daily, when he goes out for his drive, he notices all the people he meets in the street. Among these a lame beggar child attracted his special sympathy ; whether it was community of age that drew them together, or his pity for the infant that limped after his carriage soliciting alms — certainly she always received from him the most abundant coppers. He would make the wet-nurse get down to pick them up for her, and look back towards her long after the carriage had driven on. One day, during his illness, when free of fever and being fed, he suddenly said — " What will the lame girl be doing now, mamma ? Will she be eating like I am ? " " She will be eating more than you do now," replied the Queen, "but she will eat dry bread like the poor." His baby Majesty was silent a while, and stopped eating his soup ; then — " Why do you not send something to the lame girl ? " The Queen did not answer, but his Majesty insisted, 218 THE KING OF SPAIN. " Mamma, if I were you, I would send those sweets to the lame girl — see, those," and he pointed to some on a table. That night, when his delirium recommenced, he kept repeating, "Eemember, remember the sweets for the lame child." If this anecdote furnishes a just picture of Alfonso XIII.'s character, it must be sweet indeed, and does credit to his mother's training. If he lives to grow up, and if he grows up a good man, a wise ruler, unspoilt, untainted by the perilous, difficult position in which he has found himself from his birth, this will be due beyond question to the rare devotion and wisdom of his mother, to whom he is the very apple of her eye. So much can be said for this baby King — he has already in his brief reign quieted many discontents, rendered less acrimonious many party feelings ; his pretty childish ways, his tender infant fingers, have softened many difficulties, untied many a Gordian knot. And what Madrid swore to its widowed Queen beside the corpse of her dead husband — to be faithful and true to her in his place— the Spanish people, with few excep- tions, have loyally and sincerely fulfilled. THE REIGNING FAMILY OF PORTUGAL. ..V/'' THE IvING OF POKTUGAL. (From a Photofiraph by A. Bobone.] THE REIGNING FAMILY OF PORTUGAL. IN Portuguese annals the date of December 1st, 1640, is known as that of " the glorious revo],ution against the Spanish usurper," a revolution which placed upon the throne of Portugal that Duke of Braganza who ascended it under the name, of Dom Joao IV. For sixty long years had the country groaned under its Spanish masters. It was a period of humiliation deep and galling, following as it did upon the catastrophe on African soil that deprived the land of its independence. Little wonder, therefore, that when the favourable moment came to reassert themselves the people turned as with one accord to the Princes of the House of Braganza as their saviours. This noUe family is one of the oldest and most powerful in Europe, of vast wealth and great merit. Probably no country can show such another house privileged at all times to take almost royal rank. The Kings of Spain had long watched these dukes with anxiety, in view of their great and unusual privileges, feeling dimly that they were too important and powerful to remain vassals for ever. It was quite natural that the Portuguese should turn to 222 THB BMiamNG FAMILY OF POBTUGAL. their family for deliverance from the heavy Spanish yoke. The history of this revolution that ended the Spanish domination in Portugal is romantic. A given day and hour had been secretly appointed for action. It was a cold winter's morning when one by one the actors in the conspiracy gathered together silently outside the palace, where no suspicion of their design was harboured. At nine precisely the assembled nobles entered the gates of the viceregal abode, felled the guards, and, carrying all opposition before them, slew the Prime Minister of the Duchess of Mantua, then Spanish Eegent. " Liberty, liberty ! " shouted one of the noble con- spirators from the palace balcony to the assembled people below. "Liberty! Long live Dom Joao lY! The Duke of Braganza is our legitimate king ! " And the crowd echoed the cry of " Liberty ! " from thousands of throats. Like lightning the insurrec- tionary movement spread throughout the provinces; there was no hesitation on the part of the people, no resistance worth naming on the part of the enemy. The Spanish dominion that seemed so firmly rooted vanished as though touched by an enchanter's wand, and the downtrodden Portuguese uprose again firm and intrepid as in their palmiest days. From that time forward December 1st is celebrated in Portugal with enthusiasm, and from that date the Braganzas have held its sovereignty. POBTUGAL. 223 The late King, Dom Luis I., ascended its throne in 1861, in consequence of the untimely death of his brother, Dom Pedro V. The history of this accession is a tragedy. Dom Pedro was the eldest son of that Queen Maria da Gloria who became sovereign as a mere child, and whose helplessness and charms moved the pity of all Europe. He himself was but eighteen when called on to rule, but he won his subjects' love at once by his grave demeanour and solicitude for their welfare — a love that culminated in very worship after he had shown heroic virtues and rare abnegation in moments of national danger, yellow fever succeeding cholera in decimating the land shortly after he had come into power. Wherever the epidemics raged most there was seen the youthful form of the King, and no persuasion could keep him away. "My post," he used to say, "is where the hand of sickness weighs heaviest, and where the sickle of death mows the flower of my people. My place is close to the suffering and the sorrowful ; it is for this that I am king." The city of Lisbon, considering that the King had in those sad days proved himself its greatest citizen, unanimously voted him a medal, and the Humanitarian Society of Oporto likewise conferred on him one of the decorations it grants but to the highest of all merits. These two insignia were ever of all his orders those most prized by the King, for he had won them by his own deeds. 224 THE BE ZONING FAMILY OF POBTVGAL. In 1856 the young King married the youthful Priacess Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. A year later, after a few days' illness, she was laid in her grave. The nation grieved with its sovereign, whose sorrow was deep and heartfelt. Touching are the words in which he thanked them for their sympathy. " During the four years of my reign," he wrote, " my people and I have been .companions in misfortune. My conscience tells me that I never abandoned them in theii- trials. To-day, when I myself need comfort, they in their turn do not abandon me. I find my consolation in my religion, which bids me believe and hope, and in my people's tears as they mingle with mine." The image of this lost wife was never effaced from Dom Pedro's memory, and his grief no doubt helped to sap his strength, which was still further taxed when, in 1861, he insisted upon making a -tour through all his provinces, visiting all the unhealthy districts that he might judge of their needs with his own eyes. When he returned to Lisbon in the autumn, fatigued and ener- vated, he found his brothers Fernando and Augusto stricken with malignant fever. Nothing could keep him from their bedsides. The tragedy that followed is familiar to all : the elder prince died, the second was long at death's door, and survived almost by a miracle, and had not yet turned the corner of recovery when the King, low in body and mind, also caught the infection, and expired within four days. The grief of the land was sincere and poignant. It is said by those who witnessed PORTUGAL. 22S it that never was seen such a sight as that in Lisbon the night the monarch lay dying. Eich and poor flocked into the churches and prayed earnestly to God to pre- serve the precious life of him who was to them father and brother. The bells tolled without ceasing. Every one 5vas unnerved; the only calm spirit in the midst of this consternation was the King's. He rejoiced that for him the hour of liberation from the trammels of the flesh had struck. Scarcely had he passed away than his remaining brothers, Luis and Joao, arrived in Lisbon, hastily sum- moned thither by the dire news of the royal sickness. Dom Luis was on board the ship Bartolomeo Diaz, of which he was commandant, when his brother expired, and he learnt the news first by being suddenly addressed as " your Majesty " by the official who came to bring him the intelligence. The first action he was called upon to do was to listen to his subjects' prayer that he would not take up his abode in the gloomy palace of the Necessidades, which they held was certainly accursed. He consequently chose Belem as his residence. He had not been there six weeks ere Dom Joao, who had caught the prevalent infection at once on his arrival at Lisbon, also expired, despite of every care and attention. The people now rose up in tumult, thinking that male- volence had been at work. And it took long to calm them and to prove that the malignant spirits were none other but bad drainage, unwholesome conditions, and 16 '226 TBB BEIGNING FAMILY OF POBTUGAL. the bad constitution inherited from their progenitors by the Portuguese royal family. It was amid such gloom that the late departed ruler became " King of Portugal and the Algarves, within and beyond the seas, in Africa Lord of Guinea, and of the navigation and commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and the Indies," as the official phrase has it. Born in 1838, he had received the same careful education as his brothers, and early gave signs of the love of study that distinguished him. A year after Hs accession he married Maria Pia, second daughter of King Victor Emanuel of Italy, who at the time of her marriage was but fifteen years old. The union proved a happy one, and the course of their life was tranquil. The King, though he did not gain the worship of his people like his royal brother, was yet well beloved, and they were satisfied with his reign, during whose course Portugal has seen many internal changes — changes in the direction of modern progress that have perchance been pressed upon it even a little too rapidly for its comprehension and absorption, and which of late show threatening signs of the inevitable reaction induced by a too violent mutation of conditions. A student by nature, the health of the King in his later years precluded him from taking a very active part in public affairs ; but the Government, which is representative (Cortes), like all Parliaments, marched of itself without his intervention. What he loved best were literary and artistic pursuits. He was fond, too, of the society of POUTUGAL. 227 artists, who were sympathetic to his naturally gay temperament. Though he has written nothing original, he spent much time over literary work, and translated — and very well too — various foreign authors, his hest work being translations of the "Merchant of Venice," "Othello," and "Hamlet." In personal appearance he rather resembled some jolly Dutch sea-captain. His manners were unaffected and easy, his tastes advanced and simple, and he did all he could to counteract the rigid Spanish etiquette that did not harmonize with his own liberal ideas. He was not a great monarch, but neither was it a great people over whom he was called on to rule. He was the modest sovereign of a modest country that has had a great past, but is now no longer one of the makers of history. It has been truly remarked that the history of Portugal is as the history of a family rich in tradition, poor in facts, inspired by the memory of the past, and painfully hampered by the present endeavour to achieve more than its means will allow. The late King was one of the great majority of whom audiences are generally ' composed. It was by a mere accident of birth that he was called upon to figure on the stage. Under the circumstances, he played his part with great credit. He had the great advantage of falling upon peaceful times, and his temperament was suited to them. For his own part, he would have liked to have been the admiral of a great modern fleet, and he looked with envy upon the navies of other nations, never having 228 TSB BBtaNlNa FAMILY Of PORTUGAL. succeeded in endowing his own land with adequate warships. But his love for all marine matters was rather that of a student, or doctrinaire, than that of a practical sailor. He adored the great silences, the wide horizons of the ocean, its musical murmurs, its dream- inviting undulations. Very popular is the Queen-Dowager, who has secured the affections of a people singularly warm-hearted and attached to its royal house. In person she is tall, elegant of bearing, with a mixture of reserve, grace of manner, and bonhomie that recalls her hunter father. Like him, too, she is intelligent, but not loquacious, and her monosyllabic incisive remarks cause her to be feared by timid persons, who feel themselves silenced by these curt replies. She likes rather to hear others talk, and frequently addresses her surroundings with that most perplexing and silencing of observations, " Tell me something amusing." Nor does she fail to resemble her father in other respects. Like Victor Emanuel, Queen Maria Pia is an intrepid rider, a passionate votary of shooting and all kinds of sport — a taste in which the King concurred. Unable, however, to gratify it always to its full extent, the Queen, when in villeggiatura at the watering-place of Caldas, amuses herself with the harmless practice of aiming with a rifle out of a high window at earthenware bottles floating in the sea, and placed there for that purpose. It is said that it is not often that she misses her unstable mark. POBTUGAL. 229 But for all these mannish tastes she is a Queen and a woman. She dresses with taste and elegance, her jewels are among the most costly of any ruler's, and her household is ruled with an etiquette that proves that she never forgets her rank, even if it pleases her at times to disguise it. This she does most frequently when bound upon some of those errands of mercy for which she is famed, and which have gained her the name of "Angel of Charity." Philanthropy is with her as much a passion as hunting, music, or painting. She is at the head of all Portuguese charitable estab- lishments, which she directs in person, even to the minutest details. Always to the fore if any disaster occurs, any appeals are made to the public purse, she does not confine her charitable exertions to public calamities only. Endless are the anecdotes told of her good deeds. Many and many a time will she quit the palace at some early morning hour, unaccompanied, simply dressed in black ; and none of the household dare ask whither goes her Majesty, for all know she is bound on some secret errand of mercy. Once when a civic guard, recognizing her and seeing her enter one of the lowest quarters of Lisbon, followed her to watch over her safety, she sternly forbade him to divulge what he had seen, or to unmask her anonymity. In all cases of distress brought under her notice she desires, if possible, to judge for herself, and behold with her own eyes. It is no uncommon sight to see her on quitting the 230 THE BEIONING FAMILY OF POBTUQAL. cathedral after mornicg mass surrounded by a crowd of poor people, who kneel as she passes, kiss the hem of her dress, or present her some petition. These she invariably takes in her own hand and reads on her return home. The life led by the late King and his Queen was, Kke that of most royal personages, highly methodical. The Queen rose early, and breakfasted on a simple cup of chocolate at seven, after which she at once set to work, directing her correspondence, reading some of the newest publications, or attending to her philanthropic institu- tions. At midday was the general lunch, which was partaken of in company with the King and royal house- hold. At two o'clock when in Lisbon the Queen received at the Palace of Ajuda, when she showed herself most accessible, and was ever ready to converse with her visi- tors, especially on charitable or artistic themes. At four o'clock she went out driving either in the town or the lovely environs of Lisbon. Most often she visited Mafra, which may be called the Versailles of Lisbon. Here she was able to gratify some of her sportswoman tastes- shooting, rowing, or driving four-in-hand. By eight o'clock she was back in the palace for dinner, after which she frequently went to the theatre. The Queen-Dowager plays the piano and sings with taste, and her water- colour paintings are graceful. Quite recently she painted a charming fan for the Queen of Italy, repre- senting the pier at Lisbon and the tower of Belem. She is passionately fond of flowers, especially of maiden- POBTUOAL. 231 hair ferns and lilies of the valley, of which basketfuls have always to adorn her private apartments. The King, too, loved flowers ; and the grounds about the Palace of Ajuda resemble a botanical garden more than a private one. But better than flowers he loved birds, and his aviaries are stocked with native and foreign specimens, which were his pets and his delight. This palace of Ajuda, which uprises on one of the amphitheatrieal hills that dominate the panorama of the Tagus, is exquisitely placed in an incomparably beautiful situation. The palace itself is a massive edifice re- sembling a convent or a fortress, relieved from severity solely by its beautiful gardens. In the early days of Queen Maria Pia's residence here she was often dull, for the dominant element at the Court consisted of elderly persons, and the tone was also very homely and bourgeois, offending the more refined and artistic tastes of the Savoy Princess. But by and by she moulded it to her wish. Less retiring by nature than the King, she loved society, though she did not care for big receptions. She encouraged petits comites, when music, informal dancing, and talk formed the entertainments of the evening. She directed these little reunions with the tact and skill of a good hostess and a grande dame. Unlike most royal receptions, those held under her auspices were not dull. After the King's health declined so seriously it was the Queen who tended him, and who proved herself the best assistant to the doctors, In a word, she is in all respects a superior 282 THE BEiaNING FAMILY OF POBTUGAL. woman. The recollections that abide with her in these days of her sorrow must be fragrant still. Two sons are the fruit of this royal union. The eldest, Don Carlos, Duke of Braganza, since King of Portugal, was born in 1863. He, too, like his maternal grandfather, is a mighty hunter. Until called to the throne most of his time was spent at Villa Vicosa, the ancient residence of the Dukes of Braganza, whose vast adjoining estates permitted him to gratify to the full his love of sport. He was educated at Oporto by Portuguese professors, and only after his education was supposed to be ended, travelled throughout Europe. His great forte is languages, of which he knows an infinite number. It is said of him that he is good and kind-hearted, but by no means clever, nor distinguished for any salient traits. No anecdotes about him circulate in society or among the people. He remains as yet for them rather an unknown quantity. Time alone can show what manner of ruler he will make. His ,dehut haB been unfortunate, but the Anglo-Portuguese conflict can not be said to have been brought about by his fault. At the same time had he had great powers and energy they would no doubt have manifested them- selves at that critical moment. In 1886 he married the Princess Amelie, eldest daughter of the Comte de Paris. The story of this manage de convenance, Which has, however, turned out one of love, is told thus. The heir to Portugal, much spoilt by his adoring parents, POMTUGAL. 233 and with no small belief in himself and his own im- portance, declared that nothing would induce him to marry any one but a fairy-tale princess — that is, she must be pretty, rich, and good. Various Austrian Archduchesses were trotted out, but none fulfilled all these conditions. The Comtesse de la Ferronaye, an astute Frenchwoman, saw a chance of pleasing every- body all round. Sending for a large photograph of the Princess Amelie d'Orleans, she placed it in her drawing- room ; the next time the young duke called, he fell, so goes the story, straight into the trap, and inquired re- proachfully why this young lady had not been mentioned. A flying visit to Paris followed, and the Franco-Portuguese marriage was the result. The reception accorded to the bride on her public entry into Lisbon was something equally touching and imposing. All the splendour of the ancient days when Portugal took high rank among nations, glorious in her brave discoverers and learned men, seemed revived for the nonce in the magnificent processions that filed through the streets, gorgeous pageants whose pictu- resqueness was enhanced by the beauty of the town of Lisbon itself, that masterpiece of the great Minister of Joseph L, the Marquis of Pombal, who caused it to uprise more lovely than ever from the ruins occasioned by the ' great earthquake of 1755 that laid it low. Like Eome, this city too is built on seven hills, and its beauty has been the theme of poets and painters. A quaint German legend tells how a certain knight of Jerusalem desired to 234 TEE BEIGNING FAMILY OF POBTUGAL. behold in a magic mirror the most beautiful city of Europe. At his desire there uprose before his gaze, in all its beauty, Lisbon the Great, as it was called in those days. And even now, though no longer the emporium of Eastern trade, no longer the wealthy busy centre, Lisbon still retains her natural charms. Her feet are still laved by the waters of the Tagus, Cintra is still framed in foliage and moss, its granite rocks still robed in the emerald green of feathery ferns ; above her head, like a regal mantle, is still spread a sky of deep limpid blue. To Lisbon the Orleans Princess was tenderly welcomed, and it is pleasant to know that she has fulfilled the fond expectations her advent awoke in Portuguese breasts. Her young daughter-in-law is also a special favourite with the Dowager Queen. Indeed, the Portuguese royal family are very united and affectionate. The new Queen is good-looking, taller than Maria Pia, and finer featured. Her colouring is high, like that of her brother the Duke of Orleans, the State prisoner of the French Eepublic. Her hair, like his, is fair and abundant, her figure is a trifle heavy. Always good- tempered and gay, passionately fond of amusement, of society, Queen Amelie has that worldly souplesse which Queen Maria Pia lacked. She can chatter with every- body, and always finds the right word to say. But she has not her mother-in-law's intellect, and will not be able to guide her husband with wise political counsels as she did. She has, however, great influence over PORTUGAL. 235 him, and is always at his side ; even in his study she is present embroidering or drawing while he works at affairs of State. Before the young couple had ended their honeymoon the Duke of Braganza was called upon to serve his apprenticeship as ruler during the temporary absence of his father, who had left for reasons of health. He acquitted himself of his task in such a manner that the Portuguese were well satisfied, and trust that now Dom Carlos is called upon to succeed^his sire his government will be one of peace and sound administration. An heir is also already provided for. The rejoicings throughout the land at the birth of this first child were great, the late King giving in its honour a series of State banquets, on which occasion there figured on the table that far-famed service of plate, well known to amateurs, which is of such rare workmanship and of such costly material that it is seldom removed from the strong rooms in which it is safeguarded. It was in November, 1889, that Dom Luis succumbed at last to the malady that had long consumed him. A strange [fatality seems to will that the House of Braganza should die always two at a time ; while the King was dying so was his brother Augustus, and the one expired but a few days before the other. Queen Maria ^Pia was with both at the last. Scarcely had the King died than she called her eldest born to the bedside of the defunct. " I desire,".she said, " that you should be a King like your father, just and loyal, and I bless you." 236 THE BEIGNING FAMILY OF POBTUGAL. So saying she kissed him on the right cheek. The new King Carlos adores his mother, and regards her always as his sovereign and his best State councillor. When, eight days after the funeral of Dom Luis, Dom Carlos received the diplomatic body, Maria Pia and Queen Amelie assisted at the ceremony. It was the custom during Dom Luis' lifetime that the Queen was seated between the King and the Crown Prince, who hence sat on the left. This day also King Carlos, as a good son, desired to sit on the left, and leave to his mother the post of honour. It was Maria Pia who, taking him by the hand, placed him on the right, and he duly obeyed. The formal coronation of the new King on December 28th of last year was a magnificent pageant, though for the King and Queen the pleasure of the ceremony must have been considerably marred by the fact that both were suffering from a severe attack of the influenza epidemic that has roged throughout Europe. The enthusiasm which prevailed among the people must, however, have made ample amends for any incon- venience suffered by the King and Queen in carrying out their resolve not to postpone the ceremony. The gorgeous procession from the palace to the Houses of Parliament, which formed the first act of the magnificent pageant, was watched by vast crowds, while inside the chamber was gathered an assembly composed of the representatives of the principal foreign Powers, and of all the chief personages of the realm. Holding the POBTVGAZ. 237 sceptre in one hand, and resting the other on the Bible, surmounted by a crucifix, the King swore to uphold the Catholic religion, and to maintain the Constitution. Immediately the heralds proclaimed the formal accession of their " high and puissant Sovereign," and hailed " his most faithful Majesty " as King of Portugal. The Coronation oath having been thus taken before the representatives of his people, Dom Carlos proceeded to hear the customary Te Deum, and to receive the con- gratulations of his loyal city of Lisbon. In the meantime, strange and awful fatality that seems to hover over the House of Braganza, death had once more been active, striking down quite suddenly the lately exiled Empress of Brazil, aunt to the young sovereign. Such this royal family of Portugal, of whom the Queen-Dowager is certainly the most picturesque and prominent member ; good, kind, homely persons, who, as far as their personal characters are concerned, will never disturb the peace of Europe, but who, all of them, strive to do their duty in that exalted station of life to which they have been called. GEORGE I., KING OF THE HELLENES. c^v - ysP^^rr^^.^.fr THE KING OF GREECE. (From a Photograph by the London Stereoscopic Company.) GEORGE I., KING OF THE HELLENES. OOTOBEE 30, 1888, was a day celebrated with rejoicing throughout the length and breadth of the little kingdom of Greece, for on that day George I. celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his accession to the Hellenic throne. It is strange to note that this occurrence took place exactly a fortnight before his father, the King of Denmark, completed the same number of years of reign, this being probably the first time in history that a son is an older sovereign than his father. But King George did not inherit his throne, as is the usual custom — he obtained it by election; and that he has succeeded in retaining it for a quarter of a century is doubtless due to the fact that he inherits much of his mother's cleverness and adaptability to cir- cumstances, and also that he has taken to heart the fact that the role of a modern monarch is that the occu- pant of a throne ad interim. Only as he regards his mission and duties in that- light can the ruler of any civilized country in this late nineteenth century hope to keep possession of his crown and his influence over his subjects. 17 , 242 GEOBGE I., KING OF THE HELLENES. When Prince George of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonder- burg-Gliicksburg played with his brothers and sisters in the park of Jugenheim, and shared the frugal home of his royal parents, he no doubt little imagined that a throne would ever be his. But the family of Christian, King of Denmark, have been most lucky from a worldly point of view. It was in 1862 that the Greeks, after deposing their Bavarian King Otto, who had grown hateful to them because of his extravagances and follies, looked all round Europe in search of a prince able and willing to sit on their throne. This throne, it must be admitted, offered few temptations. The newly- founded kingdom of Greece, whose liberation from Turkish bondage had roused such lyric enthusiasm throughout all Europe, failed to fulfil at first the ardent hopes of its poets and lovers, hopes mainly influenced, there is little doubt, by the traditions of old Greek glory and classic fame. But the modern Greeks were no longer the lofty-minded Athenians, the rigid Lace- demonians — they had become a mongrel race, dead to their best instincts ; and when once the land was freed from the Ottoman yoke, its admirers had to note with pain that the chiefs who had liberated the country by their arms were little better than pirates and bandits ; that Greece was a prey to factions — republican, monarchic, aristocratic — of • conflicting interests, and was beset with adventurers. The Bavarian Prince, who had come a minor into the land, could make no headway against all these disorders. Nor was he himself a highly GREECE. 243 capable head. It was, therefore, not astonishing that his people, always more or less in a state of revolt, should have deposed him. But whom to select instead ? that was the question ; for Otto was childless. Besides, the Greeks had had enough of the romantic Bavarian royal family ; excel- lent kings to figure in opera boufe or to satisfy the merely spectacular demands formerly made on sovereigns, but incapable of threading the mazes of modern perplexi- ties. England was naturally looked to as one of the guarantee states, and the second son of Queen Victoria (Prince Alfred) was chosen by popular consent. But Queen Victoria declined with thanks the doubtful position for her sailor prince. To whom to offer it instead ? It was a puzzle, truly, for the post refused by the English prince appeared but a sorry gift to offer to another of equal rank. It was needful rather to look among the small fry for one who might be willing to risk the doubtful position upon the principle that he had all to gain and nothing to lose. This was how the choice came to fall upon the second son of the "Protocol Prince," the heir-apparent of the crown of Denmark ; and he not only accepted the offer, but has had the skill to keep his place for five-and-twenty years. It was in June, 1863, that a deputation of Greeks waited upon the King of Denmark, asking to be allowed to offer the crown of their land to his great nephew. The old King notified his official acceptance of the offer 244 GEOBGE I., KING OF THE HELLENES. by telling Prince George to mount the steps of the throne whereon he was seated, saluting him as his peer, and as King of the Hellenes. Prince George was not yet eighteen when he was thus chosen to rule the land of which he did not even know the language. Notwithstanding these two grave draw- backs, the National Assembly, remembering the disas- trous regency during the reign of Otto, who also ascended the throne a minor, declared that he should be regarded as major from the day of his arrival in Greece. On the 30th of October, 1863, the newly-made king landed at the Piraeus. " My strength lies in the love of my people," was the. device he chose for himself. In his first proclamation he promised to concentrate all his efforts towards making Greece " a model for the eastern Eurqpean kingdoms." And he has been true to his word; efforts have not been lacking, and the progress made towards civilization in this quarter of a century is immense. The task was no easy one. The people showed their turbulent temperament from the first. Thus King George's arrival was celebrated by his subjects in the chief cities of his kingdom by street fights between his opponents and adherents, which neither the police nor the military could pacify. The country was entirely disorganized, the treasury drained. Fortunately for King George he did not arrive quite empty handed. England, at the instigation of Mr. Gladstone, had pre- sented him with the Ionian Isles, an annexation long GREECE. 245 desired by the Greeks, and in which they beheld not only the accomplishment of a cherished wish, but a pledge for the future. And in this they have not been deceived. After a quarter of a century's reign, the domains of George I. have almost doubled in extent, and Greece no longer occupies the last place among the states of Europe. It is now larger than Holland and Belgium united. It is curious here to note the contrast between the reigns of the father and the son, called to be kings within a few days of one another. Christian's jubilee found him in possession of a third less territory than when he came into power; George's found him with almost as much again. Fickle fortune has all through this space of years been favourable to the son and unfavourable to the father. The former has succeeded in consolidating his power, the latter has been involved in ceaseless Parliamentary conflicts that have paralyzed the development of the country and harmed his popu- larity. "While the father's predilections were always with the Conservatives, King George ascendisig the throne sought aid from the Eadicals to help him to make order amid the confusion left by Otto of Bavaria. He soon showed of what stuff he was made. Arrived in the land a stranger and a mere stripling, he had brought with him no friends nor attendants save one, a certain Count Sponeck, who was to him an intimate adviser. Of this man the Greeks were at once jealous. What could he know, they said, of 246 GEORGE I., KING OP TEE HELLENES. the customs and the needs of Greece? And they thought to see in his counsels a tendency inimical to their ' aspirations. Hardly had the King noticed this than he gave way to it. Young, friendless, in- experienced, alone, he nevertheless sent back to Den- mark his one old home friend. The act gained for him the gratitude and respect of his people. And it was but an indication of the course the King has since rigidly followed. He has kept scrupulously within the limits of the fundamental pact made with the nation, of which the Greeks are supremely jealous. King George possesses aud practises all the virtues of a constitutional sovereign, strictly subordinating his actions to the will of the National Assembly. This Assembly, it is worth noting, did not exactly exist when the King ascended the throne. The Greeks were at that moment busy manufacturing a constitution. Young and ardent deputies were charged with the task. France and the Parliamentary monarchy of July were studied as models ; historical sequence was more thought of than the momentary needs of Greece. The discussion dragged and dragged, and no end seemed in view. At last the young King took matters into his own hands. He sent a royal mandate begging the commissioners to bring their deliberations to an end. This act of energy produced a good effect both upon the embryo Parliament and the Greeks. And in very deed the constitution was voted within a month after— GBEECE. 247 a constitution based upon the most liberal models to be found on either side of the Atlantic. Indeed, it has surpassed them all in Eadicalism, having no second chamber. To this brand-new Constitution the King as well as his subjects had to serve their apprenticeship. It was no easy task, especially to the sovereign ; and many difficult moments had to be overcome, when both throne and constitution seemed in danger. The revolt of Crete, anxious to escape from Ottoman rule and to be reunited to its Hellenic brethren, added to the royal difficulties, King George espousing with ardour the national cause. European diplomacy inter- vened with its tenderness for Turkish susceptibilities, and hindered the success of the Cretan cause ; but the incident had made the Greeks feel themselves again a nation, had given them renewed self-confidence, and also a yet greater regard for their monarch. A happy incident diverted their thoughts for a while from their Cretan disappointment. In November, 1867, King George brought home as his bride the Grand Duchess Olga of Eussia, daughter of the Grand Duke Constantine. That their Protestant King should have espoused a daughter of the true Church, and moreover by his marriage have allied himself to the powerful Eussians, the enemy of the Greek hereditary enemy, the Turk, was a source of universal satisfaction. And this joy was enhanced when, the following July, salvos of artillery announced the birth of a prince, thus 248 GEORGE I., RING OF TEE HELLENES. securing the dynastic- succession. Here, for the first time, after centuries of trials and disorders, was a prince born to the Greeks who would one day be their king, and who was a Greek by birth, religion, and education. Six brothers and sisters have followed ia the train of Prince Constantine ; there seems no fear, therefore, of the Greek throne being bereft of heirs. And the marriage of this eldest prince is a further subject of satisfaction to the Greeks, for by allying himself to the sister of the Emperor of Germany he has drawn Greece within the orbit of the Triple Alliance, which it trusts will prove of moral and material guarantee for its future. An ugly moment for the young Greek kingdom, and its position in the eyes of civilized Europe, arose in 1869, when the brigandage it had till then failed to suppress came into flagrant view. A band of thieves had captured on the plains of Marathon two English tourists, and a member of the English and of the Italian legation. Profiting by the high social standing of their prisoners, the brigands asked not only a heavy ransom, but amnesty for their offence. When this was very properly refused, to the horror of Europe, and almost within sight of the Greek gendarmes, the brigands murdered their captives. A cry of indignation rang through the whole continent. It was a thunderbolt also for the Greeks — it was their honour that was at stake. What, after thirty years of liberty, were they still unable to guarantee safety to any tourists GBEECE. 249 who happened to visit their classic land ? The country was thoroughly aroused at last to this national dis- grace of brigandage, and really energetic measures were taken in consequence, with the result that the era of these robber chieftains is now ended, and people can travel as safely in Greece as in other parts of Southern Europe ; for this general indignation enabled the Chamber to vote not only Draconian measures against brigands, but to obtain extended concessions for the construction of telegraphs, roads, and other needful adjuncts to civilization. Indirectly, too, this murder induced Europe to permit Greece to make at last those territorial acquisitions which niake it less easy than formerly for malefactors to reach the Turkish frontier, and thus find themselves outside the reign of Greek law. In this matter of finally suppressing the brigandage, which under the Turkish dominion had been organized as a protest against tyranny. King George showed him- self most active. Activity, in very fact, is the keynoite to the King's character. He is a great worker. Even in winter he is to be found in his study at an early hour. Indeed, early rising would seem to be a royal virtue. Monarchs perhaps, best grasp the value of those undisturbed morning hours. In summer, twice a week, indepen- dently of his ministers, the King receives all the persons who, passing through Athens, have asked for the favour of an audience. These visitors generally find him stand- 250 GEOBGE I., KING OF THE HELLENES. ing beside a little table piled with papers and documents, in a room which is the last of the three ground-floor rooms of the palace which are set aside for his private cabinets. These rooms are richly decorated with pic- tures, bronzes, marbles, and costly objects of art. But besides these there are also hung on the walls portraits of all the great Hellenes who have helped to make modern Greece. This is a delicate compliment on the part of the King to his native visitors, and one they never fail to appreciate ; for the King himself is essen- tially a modern man, though he possesses all due love and respect for his nation's great and glorious past. But modern literature, modern art, the marvellous scientific discoveries of our century, have a rare attraction for him, as also has modern history. He has a most extensive knowledge of international politics. Those who come in contact with King George testify to his frank, amiable manners. He puts his visitors at their ease, and permits them to talk unrestrainedly. He loves discussion and straightforward speech. He does not forbid contradiction. Hence it is possible for his visitors to hold true converse with him, a matter not common in interviews with royal persons, who like their dicta to be accepted as though infallible. In this wise the King learns much, and knows what is occurring, what is thought in the large world outside the narrow little circle in which royalty moves. He also likes to inspect Government works with his own eyes, going to visit harbours, barracks, roads, and GBEECB. 251 buildings unexpectedly and on foot, accompanied by but one or two gentlemen. His programme for his reign is, of the interior, progress ; for the exterior, liberation for the Greek peoples still under a strange yoke. The latter part of his task has of course to be carried out with tact and delicacy, so as not to wound international suscep- tibilities and jealousies. But the King has been astute and skilful as he has been patriotic. At the Congress of Berlin he understood so well how to make the claims of the Hellenes respected that much of Epirus and Thessaly was restored to its true owners, and at the end of twenty-five years he can proudly point out to his subjects how he has augmented their land by a third, without shedding their blood to obtain this result. Indeed, the management of external politics is the King's strong point, and, thanks to his personal wisdom and his excellent family connections, he is generally most successful in all he undertakes in this line. Internal politics he meddles with less, leaving these to the Chamber, as is indeed right and proper he should do, seeing he is a constitutional sovereign. His subjects appreciate and respect him, but he cannot be exactly called popular. The Greeks never forget that he is not one of them — that he was, so to speak, forced upon them. The same applies to the Queen, though she has the merit her husband lacks, that she is of their own faith. An intelligent and superior-minded woman, she has been a true helper to her husband. Her exemplary conduct 252 GEORGE I., KING OF THE HELLENES. as wife and mother has indeed won for her the esteem of even those of her subjects who are opposed to the whole system of royalty and all that is connected with it. " Ine kali nikokira," they say, as they see her driie past in the' streets, which means, " She is a good house- wife." Her appearance has a great eharm ; she is not pretty, but remarkably graceful, has a brilliant white complexion, and looks far younger than her years. A slight aspect of melancholy but enhances her personal attractions. Under her patronage are most of the charitable institutions, many of these being of her own foundation, notable among them a model hospital. During the Eusso-Turkish War she established a course of ambu- lance lessons for women, and attended them herself, in order that she too might learn how to tend the wounded. Indeed, she was among the most assiduous of the learners. Her open-handedness is almost pro- verbial. In this also she is supported by the King. Both are ever ready to give to charities, and solemnise every public occasion with gifts to the poor. And yet they are not rich. The King's civil list is but 550,000fr. a year. But he understands so well how to manipulate it that he manages on this narrow sum to fulfil with becoming dignity the requirements of his station. His house is well-appointed, he has good horses, his table is sumptuous, and does not suggest the Spartan black broth. Like his father, he is fond of outdoor exercise and of GREECE. 253 sport. He is a good shot and whip, an indefatigable swimmer, and a devotee of anghng. In the Gulf of Chalcis he has a little palace, whither he often retires to fish. His hunting-seat is Satoi, an hour's distance from Athens. But it is at Corfu, where he has his summer residence, that he is able to live entirely according to his tastes — a lovely domain in an en- chanting spot. Here he and the Queen are able to live that free existence devoid of etiquette which pleases them both. The King turns farmer, and the Queen becomes a musician and a painter. It is flower-painting that is her forte, and she may be met in the gardens at Corfu copying from Nature many of the lovely plants that bloom in that enchanted isle. She arranges her floral pictures with much skill, and these graceful bouquets, signed " Olga," would easily find a market were their author obliged to work for her daily bread. Happy hours of relaxation are those for the King and Queen. Their official life at Athens is a very busy one, and of necessity very worldly. In winter the palace doors are constantly thrown open for receptions, dinners, balls, and skating festivals — for the King has caused a skating-rink to be erected in a long gallery, where the inhabitants of a land in which snow seldom falls can enjoy in mock fashion the pleasures that ice affords. The theatre plays no part in fashionable Athenian life, for Greece, strange to say, produces no actors. New Year's Day and March 25th — the 264 GEOBaE I., KING OF THE HELLENES. date commemorative of the proclamation of Hellenic independence — are high festivals at Court and among the people. Easter and Christmas, too, are great occasions. The King and Queen have each their own private chapels in the palace, but at Christmas they make an exception, and go together with their children to the cathedral to attend the service. During Passion week, too, the King goes to the Greek church, and, surrounded with great pomp by all his Court in full gala costume, listens to the sermon on the Passion. Also the night preceding Easter Day it is customary for the sovereign to pass long hours in the cathedral. As soon as day dawns the cannons boom to celebrate the Eesur- rection, and the archbishop presents a symbolic red egg to the monarch, who duly crosses himself, Greek fashion, and reverently kisses the hand of the prelate. King George goes through all these ceremonies with an amiable grace, which allows his people to forget that they are for him but empty ceremonies, for he has remained a Lutheran at heart as well as by pro- fession. Certainly King George of Greece, notwithstanding the circumscribed sphere in which he reigns, is far from the least among European sovereigns, thanks to his efficient personal qualities. Modest though it may be, yet among the galaxy of crowned heads he has a certain influence on account of his alliances and by the bearing he has known how to give to his Greeks, whose importance grows steadily day by, day. Notwithstanding the diffi- GREECE. 255 culties of many kinds which the young kingdom has encountered, and which it still must traverse before its internal organization attains to the height of modern requirements ; notwithstanding the disorders and diffi- culties of which the East is the theatre, the land may with good reason be satisfied with the results of the balance it can draw at the close of the first period of King George's reign. It finds Greece aggrandized and its throne established. And what has been accomplished up to the present is of good augury for the future. With extended commerce, an increasing national industry, much waste land re- claimed, a canal cut through the Isthmus of Corinth which opens new modes of internal communication, railways, roads and telegraphs intersecting land till then cut off from all intercourse, Greece is now one of the first among the secondary Powers of Europe. And the merit of this is in chief part due to its Danish prince. King George. And that which perforce he has had to leave undone the Greeks hope that his son will accomplish. Prince Constantine, Duke of Sparta, the Crown Prince, is a really popular personage in Athens and all Greece. " He is a Greek," they say, and they are apt to add, "He will manage it," which means, being interpreted, he will get us Greece, and, if possible, also Constanti- nople. Time alone can show whether these hopes be capable of realization, but they indicate the nature of Greek national ideals. 256 GEOBGE I., KING OF THE HELLENES. Taken as a whole, perhaps, however, there is no European land and scarcely a capital where the royal family plays a less conspicuous part than in Greece and Athens. THE KING OF HOLLAND. 18 ^v "sB^-*'*^ ' ^^r^^^'^r THE KING OF HOLLAND. {From a Flwtograph by Wullrabe.) THE KING OF HOLLAND. THERE is perhaps no more comic incident in all history — indeed it savours rather of opera houfe than of serious story — than that which occurred on May 1, 1889, in the little kingdom of Holland. For some months previously its ruler had lain dying, bul- letins as to his sinking condition were daily issued to all Europe, the most eminent physicians had pronounced him beyond hope, his necrology lay ready for print in every newspaper office of the world, and all details as to the succession were arranged. This succession was to fall on the little Princess Wilhelmina, the only surviving child of the King, in whose favour the Dutch Constitution had been revised two years previously. But since the small Grand Duchy of Luxemburg is under the Salic law, this onerous possession could not pass into the little girl's hands, but falls instead to Duke Adolf of Nassau, the nearest male agnate of the House of Orange and Nassau, a relationship that dates back to the thirteenth century. Seeing the desperate state of the King, the new Dutch regents thought it became them to call upon this Duke to enter upon his future estates provisionally as Eegent, but with the assurance, as all thought, of 260 THE KING OF HOLLAND. being in a few hours, at most days, its sovereign. Duke Adolf, himself but a few months the junior of the dying monarch, hastened to obey the summons. He certainly did not display too much tact in his act of taking posses- sion, and he spoke with an assurance, destined to prove too assured, of his future government. May Day was fixed for the formal ceremony of installation. On the eve of that day, to every one's astonishment, the King ot Holland upraised himself from what all held his death- bed, and with a clearness of thought which none expected from a brain authoritatively pronounced as paralysed stated that so long as he breathed the reins of power should not pass out of his hands, and that Duke Adolf of Nassau might return whence he had come. The event caused no little amusement throughout Europe and much mortification to the Duke, who had to return crestfallen to his villa on the Ehine, his dream of being a reigning sovereign once more demolished. The Prussians had deprived him of his hereditary little State of Nassau, and now a veritable resurrection from the dead deprived him of a realm of which he already, bo ran his public declaration to his hoped-for subjects, felt himself a citizen in heart and soul. He permitted some very ill-judged criticisms of the event to appear in papers friendly to him, remarks that evinced all too clearly his keen annoyance at the sorry figure he had cut. Mean- time the King of Holland no doubt laughed in his sleeve at the discomfiture of his disappointed successor. SOLLANb. 261 The whole affair inevitably reminds us of the scene in which Prince Hal all too hastily puts on his head his father's crown, deeming him dead. " Is he so hasty that he doth suppose my sleep my death ? " asks the sick monarch, and when he taunts the Prince with the famous saying, " Thy wish was father to that thought," the would-be heir can find, like Adolf of Nassau, no better answer than " I never thought to hear you speak again." Certainly no one but Charles V. ever cared to attend his own obsequies or survive his own death. Perhaps this episode of his death being too soon discounted is the first time the King of Holland has won the sym- pathies of Europe, for he was not a popular figure, and did not deserve to be. He was of the old type of sovereigns, now fast dying out, who did not take a serious view of their office, but regarded their exalted station as an aid towards obtaining the maximum of pleasure and amusement out of life. At the same time, while desirous of having all personal freedom possible, the King, it is fair to add, did not deny it to his sub- jects. He was a strictly constitutional ruler, liberal in his ideas, and desirous to do all he could for the welfare of his subjects, provided their desires did not clash with his own, which happily they never did. While probably no single Dutchman would have chosen the handsome King, William IH., for his son- in-law, or have cared to throw him into contact with his womenkind, as a ruler he was not exactly undesir- 262 TBE KING OF SOLLAND. able. As Edmonds de Amicis has well said : " The country is au fond Eepublican, and its monarchy is a sort of presidency without the least monarchical pomp. The King of Holland is looked upon almost more as a stadtholder than as a King. There is in him that which a Spanish Eepublican said of the Duke of Aosta, ' the least quantity of King possible.' " William's qualities were such as specially to appeal to a people who are by nature staunch Eepublicans, and who look on a King, qua King, as a State figurehead barely worth the expense of an annual coat of paint. The King detested all forms and ceremonies, spoke his mind to all the world, was " hail fellow well met " with every class of the community, rather pre- ferred low to good company, and had further the great and rare virtue of being parsimonious with the money of the State while very prodigal with his own. According to an article of the Dutch Constitution of 1848, " the King orders his home as best he likes." This was interpreted in unexpected guise by William III., who, while running about Europe with cheres amks, reduced his civil list from a million florins to six hun- dred and fifty thousand. Certainly at that price the Dutch did not pay dearly for their sovereign, who has been not inaptly termed un jocrisse de V amour, and who will take his place in the amorous regal history of this cen- tury between Victor Emanuel and Charles XV. of Sweden. Women have been the arbiters of William's life, for good or evil, from his cradle. His mother was the first Holland. 263 of these determining influences, and since then, young or old. Prince of Orange or King of Holland, he has never been quite free from the tutelage, charm, or obsession of the petticoat, and often and often he has made himself ridiculous, as the nickname of jocrisse proves. WiUiam III,, King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange and Nassau, and Grand Duke of Luxemburg, was born February 19, 1817, the son of King William II. and his wife. Queen Anne, daughter of Czar Paul of Eussia. This Princess was the subject of various matri- monial projects. Intended first for one of the spoilt children of Europe, a Prince of Saxe-Coburg, she was, after Tilsit, destined for Napoleon I. This plan fell through, and instead the Duke of Berry was substituted. This, too, failing, thanks to Talleyrand, the Grand Duchess had to content herself with the heir to the Dutch throne, which she ascended with him twenty-four years after their marriage. Of this union William III. was the eldest male issue, and since two living genera- tions separated him from the throne he did not apply himself with great ardour to learning the art of govern- ing. Nor did he excel in study generally, for great intelligence was never his strong point. For only one thing did he show a pronounced taste, and that was music, into which he threw himself with real ardour, even taking singing-lessons from Malibran. And this love for music remained with him all his life, and from his own purse he founded a Conservatoire for Holland, 264 TEE KING OF HOLLAND. and gave during the course of his reign really notable raxjaical fetes at his palace. At twenty-two it was thought needful to marry him, and choice fell upon the Princess Sophia of Wurtem- berg, one year his junior. That this marriage proved ill-suited is a matter universally known. It is perhaps a little less obvious why it should have been so unhappy, and the reason must be sought for entirely in the coarse nature of the King. It is true that Queen Sophia was not beautiful, but she was attractive and singularly charming, and her intelligence was rare. Unlike her spouse she took a keen interest in politics, had a fine taste for literature, and was desirous to make the Hague a centre of intellectual influences. Incompatibility of tastes and manners made themselves felt at once, and the Prince more and more frequented low society, and while still cultivating his taste for music cultivated it with an increased attachment for the songstresses who produced it. Gradually his affaires galantes became the talk of Europe, and one of them has become embodied in Alexandre Dumas Jils famous romance of " L' Affaire Clemenceau." The King who abandons his kingdom to visit Iza incognito at Paris for the space of a day and a night, and then returns to his kingdom to reign, is no other than the King of the Netherlands. Nor was this by any means his only notorious connection. There were others famous and familiar, not only to the Boulevards, but to all the continent. And when Louis Napoleon made SOLLAND. 266 himself Emperor and surrounded ■ tiimself with a court of shady moraUty, the star of the cocotse was in the ascendant. William of Holland came to be regarded as the " bad boy " of a set not too scrupulous as to morality, and was said almost to rival his brother sovereign of Belgium in his knowledge of the sinful ways of London and Paris. The ill-assorted union had dragged on for ten years, when in 1849 William succeeded to his father's throne, where stern duties awaited him. He despatched them all with ascertain conscientiousness, but his change of station made no difference in his domestic relations. Indeed, it made things rather worse than better for the poor wife. Every courtier — as is the wont of courtiers — ^naturally desired to stand well with the ruler. There were formed factions for the King and factions for the Queen — the partizans of the latter in the minority, it is true, but much the most reputable members of the Court. Discord among these rival parties waged sharp and keen for som6 years. At last their ardour cooled, and while the Queen kept the respect and esteem of all the Court, questions of interest gradually brought over all in appearance to her husband's side. It was a sad Hfe that was led by Queen Sophia. Well for her that she found so much in literature to comfort her. In 1877, regretted by her people, if not by her liege lord, she was released by death. But scarcely was she dead than there occurred a strange phenomenon. Whether in consequence of his wife's death, or whether 266 TnE KING- OF HOLLAND. by coincidence merely, William of Holland suddenly awoke to the wisdom of the advice as to men " taking in sail" at a certain age. All in a moment he became a model monarch and man. He further contemplated the wisdom of re-marrying, for the two sons Queen Sophia had borne him could scarcely be counted on as heirs. The eldest, the Prince of Orange, Prince Citron as he was called on the Boulevards, had but too faithfully trodden in his father's gallant footsteps, and had at twenty- five worn out his constitution ; the youngest was rickety in the highest degree. The royal choice fell upon Princess Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, and loud and long was the European pity expressed for this young girl of twenty about to make a May and December marriage. But contrary to all expectation the marriage turned out well, and Queen Emma appears to have been happy with the sexagenarian spouse, over whom she obtained great influence. They were wedded in 1879, and soon after the event the Prince of Orange died in voluntary exile at Paris after a miserable career of public and private scandal. He was followed five years after by his brother, who had been a lifelong invalid. As consolation for these losses there had been born to the couple in the meantime a little princess, Wnhelmina, who is the apple of her aged father's eye, and upon whose tender head will descend the crown of the Netherlands. Of the character of such a mere child nothing can as yet be said. Queen Emma strives by her education to Holland. 267 make the little Princess strong and self-reliant, to fashion her, as she calls it, into a King. All that is known of the Princess's tastes is that she has a perfect passion for outdoor amusements of all kinds. She loves driving, and skilfully handles a team of six ponies which she drives in a little carriage two abreast. A pretty merry little child, who will no doubt win the hearts of her stolid and steady-going Dutch subjects, as her mother has done before her. Nor has she any enemies to dread, unless perchance the Germans, whom it might please some day to remove her from her little ocean-rescued kingdom in order to obtain a larger sea- board for themselves. Her sex would then prove to her disadvantage, for the worshippers of blood and iron would make little scruple of sweeping away a throne possessed by a woman. But that day happily has not yet dawned. The whirligig of time and the events that follow in its train may work changes in the ponderous German Empire caused by a revolt of even that patient people against the crushing burdens of militaryism. In any case, Holland still stands safe on her watery founda- tion, and in material progress she has certainly advanced under the forty years' reign of William III., a reign that has witnessed a revival of Dutch trade and fostered two great engineering enterprises, the draining of the Zuyder Zee and the desiccation of the Sea of Haarlem. On the 23rd of November the long illness from which the King of Holland had been suffering came to a peaceful end at the Castle of Loo, and by his death 268 THE KING OP S0LLAN3. the male line of the house of Nassau-Orange has become extinct. The Duchy of Luxembourg has passed into the hands of the deposed Duke of Nassau, and the little Princess Wilhelmina has become Queen of the Nether- lands which, until her majority in 1898, will be ruled for her by her mother, Queen Emma, as Eegent. This change of government is not likely to have any influ- ence over the peaceful course of events in that small kingdom. THE KING OF THE BELGIANS. ^