The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-06-16
Kings in Business.

| From the days when the Electorate
was raised to the rank of kingdom
the royal family of Prussia has al
ways treated the work of being q
king as very serious piece of bust
ness. 1t has pronounced that the
first duty of a king is to fight, to
learn the trade of war, and to know
by rough practical experience the
duties ola soldier His second duty
is to know the secrets of economical
administration, to take care of land
and money, and to be a decent man
OF business. The world is looked on
in Prussia as a hard place, i'll which
even the king, to hold his own, must
know how to push and save. Partly
from the exhibition of these quail
ties, and partly from the lingering
traditions of a patriarchal society,
the royal family of Prussia has al
ways been extremely popular. In
the course of time, and from vari-
ETY. of causes, of which the example
OF Prussia was not the least power
full, the Prussian conception of roy
atty and it's relation to the people has
become almost universal throughout
Europe. In these days soverei GINS
are, with very few exceptions, care
fully trained, hard working, and re-
ally liked and respected. 1t is aston
ishing, considering how few sover-
eigns there are and how completely
their position is dependent on their
birth, that there should be at
the present time so many sover-
eigns who are in one way or another
especially eminent The Queen, the
German emperor, the emperor of
Austria and the king of Italy aresall
remarkable instances of rulers who
are proficienIs in the difficult are of
ruling exactly as those whom they
rule wish them to rule. The king of
the Belgians is one of the best educa-
ted men of his day, and as a scientif-
ic geOgrapher has reputation with
which professional experts might be
content. The king ofPortugal chal-
lenges criticism or commands admi-
ration by translating one play of
Shakespeare after another into Port
uguese. The king of Sweden yen-
lures on original composition, and
has just published "FlOwers from his
Journal" The late Gar, whatever
may have been his shortcomings,
had at least tried great experiments
for the good of his people. Even
the young king of Spain, whose do
nestle educational advantages were |
not very great, has shown a firm
ness, passing almost into audacity, |
at what he considered to be a criti-
cal moment in his short reign. This |
invention of hard working royalty is
quite modern, and is one of the best |
of modern inventions. 1t can not |
fail to have powerful effect on the |
political history ofEurope. Democ-
racy is at once checked and repre-
sented by the sovereign when king
works in his sphere very much. as |
the humblest laborer works in his.
Whatever envy, too, royalty might |
excite must be in some degree abated |
by the discovery that the life of a
king grows more and more every |
day to be life,not of pleasure, but of |
toll. Unfortunately, 1t has lately |
been shown to be a life of constant |
exposure to the attacks of assassins
but attempts at assassination have
at least the salutary effect, not only !
of awakening popular enthusiasm
for the intended victims, but of Civ
ing occasion to admire the consist
ency with which royalty takes the
chance of personal danger as part of
its days work, and, therefore,, not
deserving of any special considera-
Enthusiastically Revieto.