Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-07-07
The Romance Of Royalty.

The young Empress of Austria and her hus-
band are first cousins, the Archduchess Sophie
and the Duchess Louise of Bavaria being
sisters. Never, perhaps, have five sisters had
such brilliant fortunes, as the family to which
these princesses belong. 1t is more like fairy
tale than real history. Daughters of Maximil
ian Joseph, King of Bavaria, by his second
wife, Caroline Baden, every one of the FIVE
eithera queen or the motherof kings or queens.
And, to crown the marvel, two pair of them
are twins. OF the elder pair of twins, one is
Queen of Prussia the other, mother of the
future King of Saxony. Of the second pair of
twins, one is Queen of Saxony, and the other
is the Archduchess Sophie, mother of the pre-
sent Emperor of Austria. The second daugh-
ter Of the fifth princess of this fortunate house
is now Empress of Austria, while her eldest
daughter is said to be betrothed to the heredi-
tary Grand Duke of Tuscany. The rise of the
Coburgs themselves pales before the brilliant
alliances achieved by five daughters, by Sec
ond marriage, Of third rate German poten-
tate who had large family by his first wife.
Of the daughters by the first wife, one was mar
ried to Eugene Beauharnois, and another was
the fourth wife of Francis l. Of Austria. So
that every one of the seven daughters has
either had her own brow encircled with dia-
dem, or may look forward to seeing it grace
some one Of her immediate descendants. One
Of their brothers sons is King of Bavaria, and
| another is King of Greece.
When we consider that it is not much above
seventy years since the eector of Palatine sue
ceeded to the throne of Bavaria-not seventy
since he was confirmed on it, the family must be
confessed to have prospered The Guelphs, the
Holstein.G ottops, Lorraine-Hapsburgs, the Co
4 Co IF
tune. In our account of the fairy fortunes oil
the Seven Bavarian princesses, last week, We
entirely forgot to include the children of one
of them, the vice queen of Italy, one of Eu
gene Beauharnois Of her five children, one
is the present Queen of Sweden, another was
King (consort) of Portugal, being the first hus
band of the late Queen Dona Maria III. anG
third is Empress Dowager of Brazil, having
| been married to her brothers fatherin-law, thu
| Emperor Don Pedro /. The diademed de
| scendants of Macmillan Joseph himself made
| king by Napoleon's favor in l805) therefore
| stand thus: embarrassing of Bavaria, ex
| Empress of Austria, ex-Vice Queen of Italy
| Queen of Prussia, Queen Of Saxony. Crane
children-King of Bavaria, King of Greece
Emperor Of Austria, (by one daughter,l En-
press of Austria, (by another daughter,) Queer
Of Sweden, King (consort) of Portugal, ex
Empress Of Brazil, (future) King of Saxony
Grand Duchess Of Hesse, Duchess Of Modena
| (future) Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Prett
well for one family in two generations. Bava
ria even now aspires to become the third Ger
man power of the first rank, rivaling Austria
| and Prussia, but it is not easy to see where sh
sto acquire sufficient territory. She was oblige'
| to restore to Austria most of what Napoleon
| gave her. Our readers must not suppose tina
inquiries of this kind are trivial or uninstruc
tive. From the disuse of many of the NOR
sanguinary resources of State policy and tn
vastly increased facilities for constant inter
| course between court and court, Europe is fall
ing more and more into the power Of half
dozen dynasties, all intimately connected, an
however they may rival or try to Dust eac
other, all playing into each others hands.