Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1864-04-16
TALES AND SKETCHES.
ROMANCE OF A KINGS LIFE.
THE LATE MoNARH OF DNMARK.

The late monarch of Denmark was born
| October 6, 1908, twelve months after the
| bombardmcnt of Copenhagen by the British
| fleet, Mt the time when the crown Of Deu-
mark did not seem to be worth many years
purchase. His father, too, was but the
! cousin of the reigning king, who had tro
daughters, and being only forty years Of
age, had hopes of still possessing male of
spring. Under these circumstances, the
! prospects of young Prince Frederick appear
ed to be not particularly brilliant; and his
father being proud though singularly un-
ostentatious man, he was left almost entirely
to himself, and permitted to grow up
among peasants, sailors and soldiers, from
whom he imbibed strongly democratic
tastes
When only four years Of age great mis-
| fortune bcfcl the poor boy. His parents.
after several years of unhappiness were sep
! arated by divorce. which dccreed that he
should be torn from his atlectionate mother
and be left under the care of strangcrs.-
Among strangers, accordingly, he grew up,
the father being so entirely engrosscd by
| political AFFAIRS in the course of which the
! crown of Norway was placed on his head for
four short months, as almost to forget the
J existence of his son.
\ new marriage, which gave Frederick a
step mother, estrangled the parental feeling
still more, and the young prince was glad
enough when, at the age of sixteen, he was
permitted to leave Denmark on travels
! through Europe, nomically To complete his
| education, in reality to begin it. He duly
! made the then customary t0ur dc I Eitrp1t,
| and then settled down for several years at
| Geneva.
Here, in the country of Jean Jaqucs Rous-
, seau, he imbibcd ultra-repuLlican principles.
/ for the reception of which his previous
! training, or absence of training had already
well fitted him.
With these ideas Prince Frederick went
back to Denmark at the age of twenty
| Things meanwhile, had changed at the
Danish court in regard to the succession to
the throne The reignng King, now sixty
years old, had given up all hope of having
male offspring, and Frcdericks father,
| Prince Christian, couson OF the monarch,
! had become heir-apparent to the crown. The
aged King was anxious to marry off his two
| daughters. the eldest past thirty, and no
suitcr coming from abroad. he offered them
to the only disposable male relations at
| home-the one the young man just returned
| from Geneva, and the other his unclcs,
Prince Ferdinand. The young republican
Prince would tain have declined the honor
of being united to n Kings daughter; but a
! refusal was not permitted to him, and my
orders of his father and the King he was
married. under strong military escort, to his
cousin. Princess Wilbe'mina on the 1st of
Novimber, 1928. Frederick took from the
first n strong dislike to his wife. which was
| greatly increased in time by her naughty
| disposition, utterly foreign to his own hab-
| its. Before long he left his royal spouse al
together, taking refuge ut mansion distant
/ from the capital, among his old friends and
, humble companions.
He here made the acquaintance, for the
! first time, of Louise Rasmussen. a sprightly
/ little damscl of l6, the daughter of a poor
! tradcsman, but with some education and
more mother wit Such society was alto
gether more to his tastes than that of the
stiff court of Copenhagen. at which he did
not make his appearance for II long time.
BY royal decree of September 10, 1887, he
| was banished to the fortress of FredericiS,
in Jutland. Old soldier and sailor friends
| were not allowed on visit To Fredericis. and
cccn little Louise Rasmussen could not find
her way to the fortress. but with many tears.
or the order of her parents, set out on q
journey TO Paris, where she became an orna-
ment TO the corps de bailet. a few days after
ishment, decree of divorce between him
and Princess Wilhcllmina was issued at Co
penhagcn.
The death of the King and the ascension
of his father to the throne released Prince
Frederick from prison at the end of little
more than two years. and he was then ap-
pointed Governor of the Island of Funen. =
But being inclined to fall again into his old
ways of living, his royal father soon after
insisted that he should marry once more,
and after some negotiations, Princess Caro-
line, of Mecklcnburg- -Strelitz, was chosen to
be the second wife. IN the full bloom of
youth, very pretty, and highly accomplished
it was hoped she would wcan Prince Frede-
rick from his low-bon companions, and
bring him back to Court and to a scene Of
his Crown princely duties But this the
young Princess signally failed to do. Frede-
rick, although he acknowledged her to be
prettier, thought her as proud as his first
wife, and before long absentcd himself more
than ever from the Court and his new home.
What, probably, greatly contributed to this
enlargement was an accidental meeting
with an old friend of his youth, Louise Mas
mussen. Poor Louise had seen hard times
since she left Denmark for France. Though
an ornament for some years of the Paris
corps Oe Odttet, sHc was soon sutlNtu on tnc
appearance of greater ornaments, and had
to content herself with becoming a member
of u wandering troupe of actors, Gissemna-
ting dramatic art through the little towns
of Germany, Hungary, and Bohemia. The
speculation with its hardships and miseros,
proved very unsatisfactory in u pecuniary
sense, and Louise Rasmussen was glad to
drop off the stage of destitute ianoyerian
village, and to proceed on foot 10 Hamburg.
The wealthy merchant city gave her new
friends among whom she sojourned for
another couple Of years, and returned TO Co
penhagen.
Getting to the dangerous boundary OF
thirty Miss Rasmussen now resolved 10 be-
come steady, and accordingly settled down
as millinery and dressmaker, working for
the shops and for any procurable private
customers. One evening, coming home late
from her work, sh2 VAS arrested-at least
this Is the Copenhagen story-by the sight
Of lire, and with wonted energy ranged
herself among the human chain OF assistants
whose hands passed the pals OF water ifom
the canal 10 the hre engine. hhe had not
been there long when she perceived that q
gentleman opposite, busy In handing pals,
stared very hard At her, as II trying 10 re.
eOgnixe An aequaintance, She recognized
hlm a. once; it MAS Ills Royal iiighness,
fnnes fIedsnek, heir " the throne Of Den