DUST OF THE PAST

Taranaki Daily News, 30 September 1933, Page 1 (Supplement)

DUST OF THE PAST

UNUSUAL KINGS

(By

“Historlcus.”)

Paul I, Emperor of Russia, who was bom on October 1, 1754, cannot be numbered among the world’s great monarchs, but he finds a place in these anniver* saries because his eccentricities add an interest to an otherwise unentertaining reign. Paul was not the first Czar of Russia whose eccentricities hesitated on the border line of insanity. He was the son of Catherine II and Peter 111, who was almost an idiot himself, and who, incidentally, was strangled in bed by two of Catherine’s friends. Not much of a start in life this ! His mother detested him, and banished him from the Court, so it is hot surprising that when he eventually succeeded her he endeavoured to undo all that she had accomplished. The throne to which Paul had been called was no bed of roses, and the half-deranged mind of Paul was certainly not capable of managing the task. Eccentricities began early to display themselves. In a musical farce they would have been the the conceptions of a genius, but real, life rather rubbed the edge off their funny side. A whim which caused no little surprise was the imperial prohibition of wearing round hats. Any person who apeared thus covered were to have them knocked off their heads. History says that occasioned some disgraceful scenes. History never did look at things from the humorous point of view. It must have been as thrilling as the final scenes of an Eton and Harrow cricket match and ten times as funny. This was by no means the only incomprehensible edict. There were plenty more like it to keep St. Petersburg from losing interest in life. In fact, as a youthful account expresses it “he did so many strange things, that at last some of his ministers murdered him, when he was fortysix years old!” « # * # On October 1, 1207, Henry 111 was born. It has been written in history “that seldom had the character of a sovereign had a more important bearing on the events of his reign than Henry’s had on his.” Strangely enough it was not by strength of rule, martial combat, or wise administration. The beneficial results of his kingship arose from the follies and weaknesses of his character. His misrule aroused the barons, and his lack of moral courage gave the opportunity for the successors of the barons who had forced the Great Charter from his father at Runnymede to reassert the national liberties in such enduring form that the greatest of his successors was never able entirely to overthrow them. The great figure of the reign was Simon de Montfort, the man who gave to English freedom its second and most lasting shape. Historians generally agree that he was one of the greatest generals and politicians of his age, and many believe that the idea of representative government ripened under his hand, and that he was one of the first to see the uses'and the glories to which it would ultimately grow. While the House of Commons was not actually planned by him, representative institutions were undoubtedly helped forward. It is not strange that a weak reign should produce a strong champion of liberty, but it is a little unusual that that upholder of English freedom should have been a Frenchman. e#« # ■ Richard 111 was born on October 2, 1452, He was not exactly a king that we can look back upon with any great degree of pride. Had he lived as an ordinary citizen in these days it is not improbable that his finger prints would have been carefully pigeon-holed at Scotland Yard. Even considering the age in which he lived and his nearness to the crown, it is difficult to find excuses for him. Many historians have done their best, but, the fact remains, that Crookback lives as a twisted man with a twisted, unscrupulous, nature. Courage, energy, and ability he possessed; unfortunately they were all devoted to selfish and unprincipled aims. Perhaps the most interesting side of his life revolves around the various murders of which tradition accuses him. It is a goodly list! The justice of the accusations has been discussed long enough; it is sufficient to say that to have been mixed up in so many requires a lot of explanation. The murder of the young princes in the tower is perhaps the most diabolical act with which Richard is credited. Modern historians have called in question this story as being one of the stories invented by men after his death to please the court of Henry VII. But the bodies of two children were discovered buried in one coffin in 1674, when workmen were digging down the stTJs which led from the King’s lodging to '(.the chapel in the Tower. What is mon I all those said to be concerned in the dreadful deed were afterwards especially patronised by Richard. It is said that one universal cry of horror went through the kingdom when the news was published, and, from that hour, instead of saving him, the knowledge of the cruel deed repelled all hearts against him. Like chickens, evil deeds have a nasty habit of coming home to roost! In one way or another we are all sufferers from the vicissitudes of life, but it is only reserved to the few to be a King one day and plain Mr. Smith running for cover the next. Louis Philippe, King of the French, certainly had his share of the ups and downs of human existence. He was born on October 6, 1773, to high estate, son of Philippe Egalite, Duke of Orleans. Troublesome times, however, were ahead for France. Titles were to. fall from veneration, and their holders to become fugitives, or food for the guillotine. Real trouble commenced for Louis Philippe in 1793 when he was forced to flee over the Austrian border, and commence a period of twenty years of wandering in the wilderness of the world, .learning what it meant to be an ordinary mortal without money. Napoleon’s fall saw him back in Paris; the second Restoration restored to him his vast estates; the revolution of 1830 placed him on the throne of France. For seventeen years he reigned, and then, once again, was compelled to leave his native country in a hurry, as plain Mr. Smith, on an English ship. Alison says of him:—“the vicissitudes of his life had exceeded everything that romance had figured, or imagination could have conceived .....successively a young prince basking in the sunshine of rank and opulence at Paris, a soldier combatting under the tricolour flag at Valmy, a schoolmaster instructing his humble scholars in Switzerland, a fugitive in misery in America, a sovereign on the throne of France.” Truly a crowded existence.