EUROPEAN QUEENS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6090, 29 January 1898, Page 2

EUROPEAN QUEENS.

BRILLIANT SETTINGS THAT COVERED UNHAPPY HEARTS. (Detroit Free Press.) "As happy as a queen !" How keenly do we realize the incongruity of this timeworn and rather pleasant expression when reading of some of the earlier European queens. What tragic histories were recorded in their sad, hopeless hearts when they bowed as the most abject of slaves to the decrees and customs, perhaps centuries old, of their royal race, and to the cold, pompous etiquette of their courts. How they must have longed for the free, happy, simple life of the common-born of the earth in their lonely and sombre magnificence. There are few stcries more sadly interesting than that of the wife of Charles 11. of Spain, Marie Louise, niece of Louis XIV., and granddaughter of Charles I. of England, a fair girl forced to marry a man whom she had never seen, but whom she knew too well as most repulsive in appearance and with mental qualities little above idiocy. Like all unhappy princesses of France doomed to marry Spanish kings, she regarded her destiny with dread and aversion . Transformed from the gay court and intellectual life of France, the youg creatures were immured in the sombre and monotonous palace-life of Spain. Marie Louise made more than one pathetic appeal to her uncle to save her from such a fate, but all in vain. She was married by proxy at Fontainebleau and then escorted to the Spanish frontier where the sad hearted bride was to meet her couriers. Charles 11, in his impatience to see the young queen went to meet her at Quintanapalla, a wretched village of a few peasant huts, and he decided to have the marriage take place there. Marie Louise saw him arrive from the balcony of the hovel where she was resting. Prepared as she was, she was SHOCKED AT THE SIGHT. Charles II was born in the days of his father's deepest humiliation, and when the cadaverous, proud, but gentle hearted monarch was in a dying state. His appearance is thus described by an English ambassador: "The king's ankles and knees swell, his eyes bag, the lids are as red as scarlet/and the rest of his face is a greenish-yellow ; the whole crown of his head bald." This was the man who rushed up the steps leading to the room in which sat the miserable and trembling Louise. After her solemn entry into Madrid, the young queen' began the life she was destined to lead to the end of her brief existence ; a life combining the jealous seclusion of the harem, the lugubrious monotony of the cloister and the iron tyranny of Spanish etiquette. The gloomy, desolate palace at Madrid was a sorry contrast to her former free, happy life. The unfortunate queen found small comfort in the company of the king, who adored her; if the- devotion of an idiot was worth anything, no woman ever had more of such. Her married life lasted ten years, and after her sndden and tragic death by cholera, the king sank deeper and deeper into a melancholy lethargy. Not long after her death, the strange longing came, upon him, so distinctive of the last days of nearly every member of the Austrian house of Spain. He, the last decrepit relic of a great race, would descend into their mausoleum, and by the light of torches all the coffins in the dark vault of the Pantheon were opened for him in order. When the coffin of Marie Louise was opened, and he saw the form and still charming features of her who had brightened his dark life and brain for awhile, tears streamed from his eyes and he fell with outstretched arms on the bier, crying : " Before a year is passed I will come and join you." Surely this visit of the last descendant of the house of Austria to the Panthecn, this king stealing in and out among the coffins, is one of the most pathetic in history. It was the last review of the whole departed grandeur of their race— the fiery . courage of Charles the Bold, the imperious spirit of Charles V., and THE SCHEMING BRAIN OF PHILIP 11. ENDED HERE. Nor was the life of Queen Marie, who married Charles VII. of France, of the happiest. The young- queen had an affectionate and versatile character and bore a great love for the king, but amid the pomp .and magnificence of their court life she carried a heavy heart. ■ Her brother's wife had brought to the court among her maids of honour a young and beautiful girl of some seventeen years named Agnes Sorel. With he"r beauty she had the sweetest spirit and " her eloquence was so much beyond that of other women that she was looked upon as a prodigy." Her wonderful intelligence and grace of conversation as much as her beauty won for Agnes Sorel the favour of Charles VII, a man easily moved in his thoughts and intentions, taking up and leaving his favourites with a strange facility. Besides being influenced by certain women, the king was politic and gave preference sometimes to one and sometimes to another, according to the forces they brought to snpport his cause. Agues won and held the king's admiration by her gaiety, her laughing, merry moods and her polished conversation ; besides possessing these qualities, she was the youngest and fairest in court. She had a keen sense of the services she hai rendered the king by awakening him from his apathy as regards State affairs; she advised and encouraged him, and, indeed, inspired all the energy which the young king displayed. When the taxes were not paid and the states general only gave subsidies on very hard conditions, it was Agnos Sorel who eugageel her friend, Jacques Coeur, to make heavy advances to the extent of 10,000,000 crowns to recover Normandy BY FORCE OF AEMS. The king presented a castle with aE its appurtenances to Agnes Sorel, naming the place " Manoir de Beaute." Agnes took the name honcef orfch of " Dame de Beaute," It was to this castle that Charles came to regain courage in the midst of the sadiioss and discouragements of his reign. Her vigorous resolution and firm judgment impelled the king towards strong and courageous measures. She came into his life at a period when the situation was most gloomy, and it is not much wonder that her strong, fine character won his confidence and eventually his deepest love. It is not known precisely when the king first loved thi3 girl ; their interviews have remained a mystery. Not lonj, since in the ruins of the, Castle of Chinon were shown the subterranean* vaults that lent their shadows to these secret interviews. The most persevering enemy of Agnes Sorel was the son of Charles VII. So intense became his hatred of her that she in time exiled herself from the court to reside at the "Manoir de Beaute," whore she died in 1449. Her body was carried with great pomp and ceremony to the College Church of Notre Dame; her heart was taken to the Abbey of Jumiege. So ended the eventful and interesting Me of the girl who left her simple village horns for the magnificence and circumstance and glitter of the Parisian court. The happiest daya of Marie Antoinette were passed at Little Trianon. When playing the part of' a dairymaid at her little farm, the Queen exclaimed ." God be praised. I .am no longer a sovereign." At this time the affairs of tuo nation were becoming more tumultuous; the people who wexe starving in the streets had REACHED THE P IT CH OF INDIGNATION AND FORT. O "a w * . h ? ye no bvead iQ Pari s>" the y Sues." US S6ek th 6 baker »* Ver " A little company of them travelled five fiDoSfi+ot^ - S k^ne 3S , and in re*^^^™**e™ tbeman In 1790, the royal family left Trianon

and traversed Paris amid insults and threats. As the mob crowded about them, Marie Antoinette appealed to them : " See, see, we are stifling." "We will stifle you in another -way," cried the maddened rabble. " Why do you insult me ?" asked the queen of a young woman, bolder than the rest. " You have caused the misfortunes of a nation," replied the enthusiast. Marie Antoinette began in a storm her life which was to end amid a violent eruption. When she wedded Louis XVI. she was the most beautiful princess in the world, "tall, slender and graceful — a true daughter of the Tyrol." At that time she was the idol of those who destroyed her. The last days of the beautiful Queen were spent in that horrible prison, the Concisrgerie. Under the pretext of giving her sonreone to whom she could make known her wants, they sent a spy to watch over the unhappy woman. He was a cunning knave, Barassin by name, a thief and murderer by profession, who had spent fourteen years in irona in prison. Such was the hone3t personage who acted as valet-de-chainbre to the Queen of France. Some days before her death the functionary was removed and a gendarme stationed in her room as a sentinel, who watched day and night at her side, and from whom she was not separated, even at night when asleep, upon her bed of rags, except by A MISERABLE TATTERED SCREEN. To this end the daughter of theEoman Emperor had come, before whom all Europe had bent the knee, upon whom every honour had been lavished, and for whom the world's treasures had been opened. October 14, 1793, her trial began ; she was accused of having plundered the French nation, of having engaged in criminal correspondence with foreign powers, of having aided in the flight of her husband, and of contriving recent massacres which had been perpetrated in different parts of France. The jury, after deliberating- about an hour, returned the verdict — " guilty." On Wednesday, October 16, this unfortunate victim of popular fury was conducted to the spot where Louis had previously suffered. The people who crowded the streets as she passed exhibited neither pity nor compunction, and she met her fate with utmost composure. The brilliant, pedantic, eccentric and selfish woman, Christina, proved not the great Queen whom Gustavus Adolphus hoped to leave as his successor to the crown of Sweden. It had been blazoned abroad that the youthful Queen was the most learned Princess in Europe, if not the most accomplished woman of her times. But the hardy Swedish nation, who had been proud of the military ascendancy which their country under Gustavus Adolphus had achieved in Europe, cared little or nothing for learning. There was at that time not a single printing press in Swedfin, or a, bookseller's shop even in Stockholm. They were not slow to discover that their Queen, though reputed a classic scholar and able to discourse fluently on theology and philosophy, was as incapable of wisely governing her country as the singularities of conduct she displayed proved her to be incapable of governing her3elf. There was a fascination in her lively, intelligent and earnest conversation that might have won confidence, but she soon convinced her subjects by her waywardness, restlessness of mind, and want of steadiness of purpose, that no reliance could be placed in her, and that, uncertain as the wind, she was to be trusted only for just what the mood of the moment was worth. The coronation of Christina took place in the cathedral of Upsala with such magnificence as the simple Swedes had never i before witnessed or dreamed of. The arrangements for the ceremony were planned by the Queen, herself, with no regard for expense. Her senators murmured at the cost, owning to the almost bankrupt state of the exchequer, but with an imperious air, the young woman REFUSED TO HAVE ONE JOT OF HER PROGRAMME DIMINISHED. She won the dislike of the Swedes by proclaiming her aversion to them, and by the lack of interest she showed in the affairs of State. She cared not to govern at all, and the admonitions and advice of her chancellor, Oxenstierne, bored . ber excessively ; yet she appreciated the fidelity of this able statesman and left the troublesome and distasteful matters of State entirely to him. To console herself for her uncongenial surroundings, Christina determined to become the patroness of learning, she invited to her Court the most distinguished virtuosi and learned men of her day s her ambition was to preside over the most brilliant Court in Europe as well as the most learned one. Famous singers, dancers, and actors were invited to enliven the Court with their presence. Among the flatterers and favourites of Christina who swayed her by humouring her follies, was Count Magnus de la Gardie. whom she sent on a special embassy to Paris, and caused such costly arrangements to be made that Oxenstiorne thought it right to remonstrate with her. The finances were greatly embarrassed by the continuance of war and such prodigality was unheard of. Besides the large sum he was to receive for the expenses of his embassy, she conferred upon her favourite a grant of crown lands that provided him a great income. De la Gardie afterwards offended her so deeply that she instantly banished him for ever from her court. She had long tired of being Queen, and as a profound secret, told the ambassador of her intended abdication. He endeavoured to persuade her from it but she replied that it were better for Sweden to have a king- and that she have THE FREEDOM OP PRIVATE LIFE. Christina arranged the ceremony of her abdication, which took place in the cathedral of Upsala in June, 1654. Arrayed in a white dress and the royal robes of purple velvet, with the crown on her head, the Queen stood on a dais under a canopy. She desired that some one would step forward and take the crown from her head. No one was willing. She repeated this request many times, and at last commanded Baron Sfceiuburg to do it. He obeyed and placed the crown on a cushion. Her attendants, at her command, then divested her of her robes, and she turned and bowed to the Prince, wished him success in the management of the kingdom and withdrew. The following day she left Upsala, exclaiming. "At last I am free and out of Sweden, where I hope never to return." , . . „, The following year she abjured the Lutheran faith, and by this act, more than by all the follies of her reign, alienated the affections of the Swedes She had turned aside every principle that Gustavus Adolphus had followed; she had now cast off their religion and they never forgave The freedom of private life which she had so longed for did not bring her the contentment and enjoyment she had expected. Thoughtless prodigality involved her in pecuniary difficulties, and a vivid regret for the regal state which she had cast aside often "betrayed itself. In 1660 the death of Charles Gustavus induced her to return to Sweden with the view of resuming her crown, but the Swedes gave her no°favourable reception and refused to confirm her revenues until she had signed a formal act of renunciation to all claim to the throne. She thought it prudent to return to Borne, and there her salons were frequented by the learned men of all coun tries who visited Italy. Her indiscreet language having caused Alexander VII. to remonstrate with her. Christina was so deeply offended that she again turned her steps towards Sweden. So stringent and mortifying were the conditions of her residence in Sweden, sent her by the senators, that she indignantly rejected them and returned to Borne. There the unhappy ex-Queen in self-imposed exile remained until 1689. where she died alone and unmourned at the age of sixtythree. p W. Strangtc and Co.'s registered brand "Excelsior" clothing for boys, youths and area—is cheapest and best.