SOME ROYAL APPARITIONS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16963, 27 March 1917, Page 6

SOME ROYAL APPARITIONS

By Reginald B. Sγan, in Chambers's Journal. There are few Royal families in Europe winch have not at one time or another been visited by supernatural beings or experienced weird occurrences. Just, as, it is alleged, the banshee is attached to certain ancient families in Ireland, so are apparitions attached to some of the Royal Houses of lUiropo. Ono of the most notable of these is the White Lady of the Hohenzollerna, who has appeared before the death of members of that fa-mily for several centuries. It is stated that quito lately this spectre has been seen again—portending disaster to the piesent family. Tho White Lady dates back to the fifteenth century, and is said to be the ghost of Lady Bertha von Rosenberg, who was born in Bohemia in the year 1425. Her father was Ulrich von Rosenberg, a Governor of Bohemia and commander-in-chief of the Roman Catholic troops against ' tho Hussites; ,-ind her mother was Catherine of Wurtemberg. Lady Bertha died at the end of the fifteenth century after an unhappy life. Her portrait is to be seen in several of the old Bohemian castles, and she is represented as wearing a white drat>? with a white veil, and it is in this costume that the spectre appears. Those who have seen tho White Lady have stated that there was nothing terrifying about the apparition, which had a sad, gentle face and calm, stately mien. She appeals before the doomed members of her family for the ■purpose of warning them to reflect and repent before their passing into the next world. Her first appearance occurred some hundreds of years ago at the Castle of Neuhaus, in Bohemia, a castle which she herself had built during the first years of her widowhood. The apparition was then frequently seen looking out of the window of an empty turret-room. Although she had been seen so often, only twice has she been known to speak. In December, 1728, she appeared in the palace at Berlin, and acclaimed in a loud, clear voice, '' Veni, judica vivos et mortuos! Judicium mihi adhuc euperest"; which, being interpreted, is, " Come, judge ye the quick and the dead! I wait for judgment." On another occasion she appeared in the Castle of Neuhaus, and spoke to a certain princess. This lady was in her bedroom trying on a- dress before a mirror, and turned to her maid, asking what the time was, when suddenly the White Lady appeared from behind a screen and said, "Zefin uhr ist es, ihr Liebchen " ("It is 10 o'clock, your dearest Highness "). The princess fell ill soon after, and died 10 days later. The apparition has frequently been seen in the Castles of Bayreuth, Berlin, and Karlsruhe; alfo at the ugly, many-windowed Palace of Mannheim. On one occasion the Abn Prau (as she was called) appeared by the dying-bed of the Margravine Amelia of Baden, mother of the wife of Alexander I of Russia, in one of the great rooms of the ancient Palace of Bruch?al. She was then seen kneeling in aii attitude of prayer by the bed. A Scottish gentleman who was residing at Karlsruhe before the war, and was acquainted with members of the House of Baden, states that he "can guarantee the genuineness of the appearance of the White Lady at the MaTkgrafliche Palace at Karlsruhe, as he has had positive evidence." He also personally , visited the Mannheim Palace to question those grown grey in the service of the Grand Duchess ' Stephanie, but was unable io obtain conclusive evidence, though he was told of the appearance of the Ahti Frau there.

An apparition called the Red Man has been connected with the rulers of France for ages. This Red Man is said to have always appeared before any great calamity to France, and: before the death of the kings. It is an historical, fact that the apparition visited Henry IV on the night before ho was assassinated, and appeared to Louis XVI immediately prior to the outbreak of the French Revolution, also to certain members of the Imperial family before the Franco-Prussian war. Just before he was murdered President Carnot saw the Red Man, and took it as a warning of disaster or death; and, though every precaution was taken, he was unable to avert the tragedy. Na-poleon saw the apparition several times, and appears to have been quite intimate with it. The best-known instance occurred on January •1, 1814, early in the morning. Napoleon had shut himself up in his cabinet, ordering Count Mole, the Councillor of State, to remain in the next room, and to stop anybody from troubling him whilst he was at his work. Shortly after his retirement a tall man dressed all in red appeared to Mole, and stated that bo wished to speak to the Emperor. The Count replied that it was not possible, and ordered him away. The Red Man, however, refused to go. "Tell the Emperor that it is the Red Man who desires to speak to him, and he will admit me," he said; and, awed by the imperious manner and commanding tone of the stranae personage, the Count reluctantly obeyed, and with much trepidation approached Bonaparte. " Let him in," said the Emperor sternly. Very curious to know what this mysterious interview could mean, Count Mole listened at the door, and overheard the following conversation. The Red Man said : " This is the third time of my ap-' pearing to you. The first time we met was in Egypt, at the battle of Wagram, when I gave you full warning, and granted you four years in which to make a general peace. I told you then that if you did not obey me in this particular I wouid withdraw my assistance and protection from you. You have' not obeyed me; so I have come for the last tinie to warn you that there are but three months in which to complete tho execution of γ-our designs or to comply with the proposals of peace which are offered bv the Allies. If you do not achieve the one, or accede to the other your downfall will follow speedily; so' bear in mind what I say." Napoleon expostulated vehemently, 'pleading that he could not possibly regain all he had lost m so short a space of time, or make terms on anything like honourable or satisfactory conditions. The Red Man was inexorable. "Do as you please," he said. 'I am not to be moved by entreaties or otherwise. I have given you my last word, and now I go." He moved to the door, the Emperor following him and begging him to be more reasonable; but the apparition left abruptly without another word. Napoleon, appearing greatly distressed, then retired into his sanctum, and remained theTe for the rest of the day. Three months later the Emperor abdicated. Count Montholon relates that Napo.eon, when on his deathbed, told him that he had been warned of his approaching end by this same strange being. It is also alleged that Josephine appeared to Napoleon shortly before his death, and informed him that he would soon be with her.

It is not generally known that the ghost of Napoleon appeared to his mother, Madame Letitia, just after his death at St. Helena ■; but such was indeed the case, and the incident is Tecorded in Mrs Fraser's work, published a few years ' A Diplomatist's Wife in Many Lands." Madame Letitia, generally; known in France as Madame Mere, was the last to bid Napoleon farewell on his embarkinofor St. Helena, his "Adieu, ma mere!'* being answered by her Italian " Addio, figlio mio!" About six years after that last pathetic parting Madame Mere was sitting one morning j n the drawing room of the Palazzo Buonaparte (it was May 6, 1821), when the man-servant announced a visitor who wished to see Madame Mere alone, and _ immediately, as he had come with the important news of the exiled Emperor. She at once gave orders for his admission to her nresence, and the stranger was accordingly ushered in. He was wrapped in a voluminous cloak, and had his hat drawn low down over his eyes; but on entering the room and as the servant withdrew, he removed his hat and drew back the cloak, which partly concealed his face, and revealed himself as none other than the Groat Napoleon, her dearly beloved son. Madame Mere uttered a cry of amazement and joy, and stepped forward to greet him warmly, as she thought he had somehow managed to escape from St. Helena, and had come straight to her to ask for shelter before proceeding to France. But the awful chill of contact with forces of the Unseen fell upon her, and she stopped as though suddenly paralysed, unable to move farther or speak, as the being before her regarded her with poignant solemnity, and said Bravely, "May the fifth, eighteen hun-

dred and twenty-one—to-day I" Ho then stepped slowly back and retreated through the door behind him, letting fall the heavy portiere- as ho did so. Recovering her self-control, Madame Mere rushed from the drawing room into the apartment beyond but found it empty. She then hastened into the hall, where a man-servant was seated outside the room, according to custom. "Where is the gentleman who has just gone ont?" slio cried. " Excellentisima Signora Mad re," replied the man, "no one has passed since I conducted the gentleman to your presence, and I have been here all the time." It was not till six weeks later—such were the delays of those times—that the news of the death of the Emperor arrivod from St 1001 * He hacl died at 6 P- ni - Mav 5, 1821, and his spectre appeared to Madame Mere the following morning at 11 o'clock. In this case three servants saw the ghost besides Madame Mere—the hall-porter, who admitted him at the front door; a footman who was in the hall, and who offered to take his hat and cloak; and the servant who ushered him into Madame Mere's presence. But none saw him leave though they were at their pasts all the time

The ghost attached to the Imperial family of Russia appears in the form of a double"—that is, the royal personage doomed to die sees his or her own spectre either walking about the rooms of the palace or seated on the throne, looking generally "as real as life." It is related" that the Empress Catherine, shortly before her death, was sitting reading in her boudoir, when one of her ladies-in-waiting came to tell her in a breathless voice that a very strange thing had happened. They had seen a figure exactly like the Empress enter the state room, and were greatly mystified, as they knew her Majesty could not possibly be in that part of the palace at that time. The Empress turned pale, as she knew what such an apparition signified ; but, showing no outward fear, she I lowed her attendant to the state room, there beheld, seated on the throne a female figure the exact counterpart of Passing; the group of exicted and awe-stricken domestics, she boldly advanced towards the mysterious being, and, addressing it, demanded to know who it was that dared to intrude thus. The figure remained motionless and silent; so the Empress turned to her guards, who were close behind, and ordered them to fire at it. j They had no sooner done so than the apparition vanished. The Empress died about 10 days later. *J 1 ™ S re P° r " ted tnafc «ne of the palaces of the Romanoffs has several ghosts one of which is that of 'the Emperor Paul who was assassinated. An English lady who was resident in the palace as a governess shortly before the present war declares that she saw one of these apparitions One afternoon she had returned from a walk, and was sitting f n her room before the fire, resting, when she heard a hollow ?°i l i S L- on lookm S round perceived a tall, thin young man, clad in a green uniform, regarding her intently, as though he wanted to speak, and was" unable to do so. His expression was very sad and melancholy. _ On seeing that it was noticed, the apparition advanced toward her, and, as the lady shrank back in fear, seemed to pass right through the fireplace and vanish. On another occasion the same figure appeared to her in the corridor one afternoon as she was going to her apartments. This time the lady was not in the least alarmed, the apparition twice opened its mouth as though desiring to say something, but was unable to utter a word. Its expression was gentle and very mournful, and betokened a soul in sorrow which was seeking for aid. On the lady saying, "Is there anything I can do for vou?" the figure vanished. A gentleman at the Legation to whom she related this strange experience informed her that he had always heard that the palace had several ghosts, and stated that the apparition she had seen was evidently that of the Emperor Paul.

I It is a matter of history that Charles I 1 was visited by the ghost' of Lord Straf--1 ford, who warned him of impending defeat, disaster, and tragic death. It is said that at Charles's coronation there was not enough purple in the country to make the Royal robes, so they were made of white. It was afterwards remembered that white was symbolical of misfortune, since heretics were usually arrayed in it for their execution. Another significant omen in connection with the tragic fate of the unfortunate monarch occurred when Bernini was exhibiting a statue of the king which he had just completed. It was placed on a pedestal in the Royal gardens, and Charles was looking at it, when a hawk carrying a partridge it had iui=t killed flew close overhead, and some blood fell on the statue in such a way that it trickled round the neck. The incident was recalled when the king was beheaded at Whitehall,

Queen Elizabeth was warned of; her death bv the apparition of her own double. The ghost of George 111. it is alleged, was often seen at Windsor Castle. Ghosts of royalties have also been seen at Hampton Court and the Tower of London.

The Empress of Austria had a warning of her death on the nieht nreceding the tragedy at Geneva in 1898. She was awakened in the night by the bright moonbeams which filled her room, and saw in the moonlight the face of a woman weeping bitterly. She took this apparition as a portent of impending disaster. On that fateful morning, Czateray. who went into the Empress's room, as usual, to ask how she had slept, found her Imperial mistress looking pale and sad. "I have had such a strange experience," said Eliza beth. "I was awakened in the middle of the night, and saw the apparition of a woman standing near me, who was weeping. I fear it is a presentment of misfortune, and danger is imminent. ,, A few ■hours later Lucchini stabbed her to death on the side pf the lake, as she was about to embark on a steamer. ; '.

King Ferdinand of Bulgaria is said to be haunted by the ghost of his late Minister. Count Stambulofl. This apparition has been seen by his side sometimes when he was driving, and frequently when he was walking. On one occasion Ferdinand vi?ited a certain princess, and it was noticed that both she and her lady-in-waiting seemed much perturbed. It transpired later that both saw a man " who looked like a corpse" standing beside the King. A epurtier who had known Stambuloff. and heard the description of the apparition from the lady-in-waiting, stated that it was undoubtedly the dead statesman.

Two kings of Denmark of olden times are paid to " revisit the nalo glimpses of the moon " in much the same way as Hamlet's father. Abel, who reigned several cenhiries ago, and murdered his brother, still haunts the wood of Poole near S'.eswig; and the old Scandinavian kins;, VaHemar IV. is said to appear at times in the great forest of Gurre, near Elsinore.