UNFORTUNATE PRINCESSES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2650, 28 December 1904, Page 71

UNFORTUNATE PRINCESSES.

The enforced incarceration of th Prin cess Louise of Coburg, and her recenc flight, recalls that of a former princess of that house, whose fate resembles in some measure that of the present Princess, though of a far more terrible nature. The unfortunate Princess Anna of Coburg was the daughter of the Elector Augustus of Saxony, and until her marriage, at the age of 19, with Duke Kasimir of Saxe Coburg, spent a happy girlhood at the brilliant Court of Dresden. She soon discovered that her life was not to be a happy one, her husband's continual absences on amusements of all kinds, and his consequent estrangement, together with the sudden death of her father, tending to increase the sadness of her lonel-y hours. The Duke, after experiencing vari« ous pecuniary losses, discovered an a'chemist, named Scoto. whom he installed in his palace, and from whom he hoped to learn the art of making gold. So great was his affection for, and) confidence in, this old man, that_he treated him with the greatest tenderness, and forced his wife to do so, too ; while at the very time ihe Duke kept his own father a prisoner in Wiener Neustadt. Gaining the full confidence of the Princess, the alchemist promised to restore to her her husband's iove, and in the end endeavoured to induce her to escape with

him. This she scornfully refused to do, wihar-eupon he formed another plan, in which vne gay cavalier andi equerry, Uirich yon Liechtenstein, was to play a pait. Under Scoto's guidance, Liechtenstein was supposed to have stolen some valuable jewellery belonging to the Duchess. The news was promptly brought to his master by Scoto himseit, who improved tne occasion by telling of the frequent visits paiH by the handsome equerry to the lady of the house. The Duke, who had already appropriated some of his wife's jewels to pay his most pressing debts, was infuriated at these tidings, and, without the slighted investigation as to the truth of tu.e matter, caused both his wife and Liechtenstein to be imprisoned for life. The latter was incarcerat-edi in the town prison, where he remained) 36 years, and the Duchess was put in chains and driven from the fortress of Coburg to Eisenach, tlirough the Thuringerwald, in the depth of winter. A year later, King Christian IV of Denmark saw her and resolved to set hei free ; but, in order to frustrate his plans, she was brought back to Coburg and immured in the Castle of Kallenburg. Two months later a new prison was found for her, and she was taken to -the . Convent of Sonnefeld, where she was locked up in tin sacristy, with • not even a glimpse of tno sky to cheer her solitude. Several attempts were made to release her, arid she was onct> more brought to Coburg. Among her i woud-be rescuers was Archduke Max oi Austria-, who offered fcer his heart and hand while planning means for her escaj-e-. Meanwhile, Duke ICasimir had marmxJ Margaret of Brunswick, and in order to put his first wife to scorn, he caused coins to be issued showing himself and Margaret; on one* side, and the unhappy Princess, in prison garb, on the other.* Princess Anna spent her time- in working Gobelin tapestry, in which art she excelled. When her silk was used up she took the long threads of her beautiful hair to supply the want, and with it embroidered a jpetition for mercy on her tearstained handkerchief, which she afterwards threw into the Duke's carriage as she knelt in the dust of the courtyard. x>ut 'ter humiliation only called forth his contempt : and after spending 20 jegxs in prison, she died broken-hearted.