The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1883-09-26
THEPRNCEss CHARLOTTE
BY JOHN 5. 9. ABBOTT.

I
9 January, 1896, was received wit
e national exultation Four month
e after her birth her royal parent
. who had long been utterly estrang
, ed from each other, finally and an
{ grily separated. Charlotte remain
; ed with her mother. Her education
was superintended with the utmos
care. But all her early years wer
embittered by the discord in tn
j family.
One stormy night she fed alone
with hat and shawl, from her ia
theirs surveillance, and taking 1
hackney coach, sought refuge in bel
mothers bosom. She developed
beauty of person, and great amiabili
ty Of character, and became the lido
OF the British nation.
On the 9Th of January, 1914
Charlotte attained the age of eigh-
teen. By the constitution of En-
gland she had reached her majority
and was capable of ascending the
throne. Her grandfather, King
George Ill, was in the chamber OF
a lunatic Her father was prince
regent The allied sovereigns, hav-
ing crushed the French Empire,
made a triumphal visit to London.
Leopold, a younger son of the duke
] OF Saxe-COburg, accompanied them,
as the invited member of the house
hold of a British lord. His family
was one of the most ancient in Eu-
rope. He was highly educated, ex-
traordinarily handsome, and in
character and manners one of the
most attractive and lovable of men.
He soon became the lover of
Charlotte, and his love was fondly
returned. One of the ladies of hon
or of the princess objected that he
was not rich.
ale is so poor" she said. "Why
all his dominions will be hardly
larger than 4 country parish"
so much the better" the prin-
cess replied. "He will have the
more time to attend to me-"
The marriage was celebrated with
great splendor, on the 2d of May,
1916. The bride and bridegroom
took possession of the beautiful
palace of ClaremOnt, which was
TO be their home until tho death of
George ", who was a worn-out
debauchee, should summon Charlotte
to the throne of England
In a few months it was announced
that the princess was soon to be-
come a mother. Throughout the
whole kingdom the people waited,
with anxious expectation, the birth
Of a child, upon whose brow would
legitimately descend the crown of
England.
When the expected hour of pain
and peril came, the frail body of
Charlotte was found unequal to the
trial. Her sufferings were dreadful.
After giving birth to a lifeless child
she passed in to convulsions and
died. 1t was the 25th of November,
1917. Charlotte was then twenty
one years of age.
The death OF this princess, so sud
den, so unexpected, and blighting
prospects so brilliant, created a pro-
found impression throug out the
whole Christian world. The nation
with the shameless pro-
fiigacy of the prince regent, were
anticipating, with great joy, the
hour when the crown would be
transferred to the brow of the uni
versally beloved Charlotte.
Leopold was utterly Frustrated,
and rendered almost insane by the
dreadful blow. With unutterable
agony he watched her as convul-
sions shook her frame, and the pal
lor of death spread over her beauti-
fnl countenance. And when the
words "She is dead, fell upon his
ear, be seemed bewildered and
delirious in the magnitude of his
woe. For three hours his mental
anguish was such that it was feared
that his reason would be permanent
ly dethrOned
1t was with difficulty that his
friends could induce him TO be led
away from the precious remains
He gathered around him all the
which would recall her
most wildly to his memory. For
hours he sat in silence, lost in pain
ful thought, by the side of her bon
net and her cloak, which she had
hung with her own hands upon
screen in the parlor on her return
from her last ramble. The night |
after her death he sat through all
the silent hours by the side of the
corpse
Once during the night, with tot
tering footsteps, he approached her
coffin, removed the coronet and the |
cushion, and with gushing tears,
and every nerve quivering with |
emotion, gazed long and silently |
upon the pale features, now cold in |
death, which he had so tenderly |
loved Then, reading the inscrip |
ton, he lost all self-control, and |
throwing himself upon the coffin.
his whole frame became convulsed
with uncomfortable sobbings. /
The burial hour presented one of
the most solemn and tragic scenes
ever witnessed. It adds greatly to
the impressiveness of state funerals
that they are conducted in the night,
and by torch-light. The night was
very dark and gloomy, with gather
ng clouds and moaning winds,
when the remains Of Charlotte were
borne to the tomb. The tolling Of
funeral bells, the dirge-like notes of
he muffied drums, the solemn re-
luiems from the most artistic bands,
The flaming torches Illuminating the
scene with almost supernatural
glare, the waving plumes, the hearse,
-ich in the drapery Of woe, the long
procession of mourning-c carriages,
and the measured tread of the sol