THE WORLD'S ROYAL SAILORS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2527, 20 August 1902, Page 66

THE WORLD'S ROYAL SAILORS.

"Prom time immemorial those who 'go down to the sea ill ships ' have always commanded to a very marked extent the goodwill and the interest of the public. We are disposed to ascribe to them in an exceptional degree all those qualities that appeal to the imagination, such as daring, calmness in the fact of danger, fertility of resource, frank honesty and manliness in the best sense of the word (says "ExAttache"). There is a sort of undefinable flavour of romance about the seafaring profession which, coupled with the freedom from affectation and conventional cant for which, its members are di-stixi£uish.ecL con-

tributes to render those princes of the blood who become sailors the most popular scions of the reigning houses to which they belong.

Prince Henry of Prussia is a case in point. Wholesome in appearance as he is healthy in mind, modest, unassuming, and clean lived, he occupies a particularly warm spot in the hearts of his countrymen, and is the Hohenzollem for ■whom they entertain the largest amount of sympathy, regard, and affection. This is due in part to his personal qualities, but largely also to the popularity of the profession -which he has adopted — a popularity which leads nowadays almost every iu!er in Europe to send to sea one or more of the members of his dynasty with the object of increasing the hold of the latter upon the goodwill and loyalty of the people.

The list of Royal sailors is an interesting one. For in almost every instance they have shown themselves men of nioie character and more virility than the other princes of their house. Thus Queen Margherita's brother, Thomas, Duke of Genoa, who was educated at the famous English College of Harrow before entering the Italian navy, of which he is now the lanking officer, has carried the flag of his country to the uttermost parts of the earth, and has done more than any of his fellow citizens to make the nanie of the new kingdom of United Italy both known and respected abroad. The Duke is such a typical sailor, and conveys such an impression of honesty, sincerity, and of being incapable of anything underhanded or mean, that he is an ideal man for such missions of friendship.

Italy's other sailor Prince, the Duke of the Abruzzi, has achieved so much fame as an Arctic explorer that it is needless to make more than passing reference here to his name. He was the first to make the ascent of Mount St. Elias, which until he achieved that feat was considered inaccessible, while if the Italian flag flies to-day at a point nearer the North Pole than that of any other nation it is because this j*oung Duke planted it there. He enjoys the singular distinction of being not only a Prince of the reigning house of Italy, but likewise ?» Spanish Infant. For he was born in Madrid only a few days before his father, the late Amadeus, Duke of Aosta, abdicated the crown of Spain in disgust and shook the dust of the country from off his feet.

The sailor members of the reigning house of Russia have each of them made their mark. Grand Duke Alexander Michaelowitch, married to the eldest sister of the present Czar, has just completed the translation of the whole of Captain Malian's works into Russian. He has the reputation of being one of the most progressive and liberal-minded officers of the Russian navy, and those who have the interests of the Muscovite Empire at heait hope for much from his close intimacy with his brother-in-law, the Czar. Grand Duke Alexis, the brother of the late Emperor, is the Lord High Admiral of the Czar's navy. He is popular both at home and abroad, and the fact that he has been the hero of several sensati<f£ial romances has not in any "way served to diminish the sympathetic interest with which he is everywhere regarded. The Grand Duke C'onttantine Nieolaiwitch, his uncle, who preceded hini in the office of Lord High Admiral of the Russian navy, was far and away the most brilliant, witty, and clever Prince that the House of Romanoff has ever produced. His bon mots and his sarcasm were famous throughout Eourope, and he had the most amusing and original way that I hive ever known of disconcerting bores and of cutting them short without any appearance of discourtesy. He accomplished this by means of his eyeglass or monocle, which hung from his neck by an almost invisible elastic cord. As soon as ever his interlocutor had embarked in some long-'w hided speech, he would quietly give the elastic an imperceptible twitch, which had the effect of sending the glass bounding up to his eye, where it lemained fixed without any apparent effort or action on his part. He would then gaze fixedly through the eyeglass at the unfortunate speaker, just as though nothing had happened. The effect of this little manojuvre was generally to completely disconcert the' visitor, whose utterances were cut short, not only by the manner in which the eyeglass appeared to fly up to the Grand Duke's eye of its own accord, but also by the fact that his Imperial Highness seemed totally unmoved thereby.

Grand Duke Constantine's daughter is now Queen of Greece, and she enjoys the unique distinction of being the only admiral

in petticoats, the late Czar having conferred upon her this rank in the Russian navy in recognition of her kindness to Russian sailors, of her fondness for everything pertaining to the sea, and of her remarkable knowledge of practical seamanship. Her husband, King George, is likewise a sailor by profession, and was serving as a midshipman in the English navy when elected to the Throne of Greece. Indeed, he was mastheaded by way of punishment for some piece of mischief of which he had rendered himself guilty when the delegates of the Greek Legislature came on board to lay their crown at his feet.

King Oscar of Sweden is a sailor, or, rather, was one until he ascended the throne. Oscar is pi'obably the most, accomplished, as weli as the most majestic, of all Old World monarchs of the present time. Besides being a great traveller, he is an author, a poet, a dramatist, an artist, and a composer. Indeed, most of the Church n.usic now used in Sweden is of his composition. Add to this that he possesses a remarkable knowledge of histoiy, of Oriental lore, of chemistry, astronomy, and other branches of science, that he is a clever and successful business man, that he stands 6ft 3in in his stockings, and that he wears on his breast several medals, conferred upon him prior to his succession to the throne, for saving lives at the v i'isk of his own, and you have a monarch well worthy in every respect of occupying the throne of the Vikings of the heroic days of the Sagas. Denmark has two sailor princes — namely, Prince Waldemar, son of King Christian, and Prince Charles, who is married to the youngest daughter of King Edward VII. The two most notable sailors of the Imperial House of Austria have been Archduke Ferdinand, who assumed the name of Maximilian on bsing elected to the throne of Mexico, and who was shot at Queretaro in 1867, while the other has been Archduke John, who, having passed at Trieste the examination necessary to secure his papers as a licensed skipper, disappeared from sight some ten years ago while rounding Cape Horn on his ship, no one knowing to this day exactly whether he is alive or dead. Indeed, his aged mother, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, who died four years ago, was firmly convinced to the last that "John Orth,' the name which he had assumed on abandoning rank and title to marry an actress, was still alive, and would reappear some day to claim his own and to resume both his rank and his titles.

The present Prince of Wales was educated as a sailor, and owes the greater part of his popularity, as well as the public confidence which lie enjoys, to the fact that he is identified in the minds of his future subjects with the seafaring profession. His ueclc, Alfred, who died as reigning Duke of Coburg. was likewise brought up at sea, while Queen Victoria's immediate predecessor on the throne. William IV, figures in histoiy as "England's Sailor King."