Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1885-08-29
"P0OR CARL0TTA!


but surely rcturning-ICable Gis.
patch.
Surely the most mourniul of all the
sad stories OF modern history is that
OF Cariotta the daughter OF that Leo.
pOld of Belgium, whom the great Ma
poleon described as the finest man hc
had ever seen" This same Leopold
went to Paris in 1873. after the bat
tie of Waterloo. In 1916 he was we'd
ded to Carlotta. only daughter of
George ". OF England, and in Novem-
ber, 1917, both his wife and child,
the latter new born, were buried.
In August. 1899. after the revolution
which had separated Holland from
Belgium and given Leopold IL crown,
he married Louise Maria second
daughter of Louis Philippe, the ''Citi-
! zen King of the French. The fruit of
this union were Leopold, now King OF
the Belgians; Philippe, Count OF Elan
derS, and the unfortunate CarlOtta.
The mother Of Carlotta died when the
latter was but 10 years old, and the
child had an early tuition in the hol-
low quality of European rtlife,
without any safeguard but such rs
could he supplied by hired governesses.
A writer of the time immediately sue
ceeding he great tragedy of her life un-
consciously gives an idea OF her early
misery. when he says cher association
with her superiors in age was so con-
stant that she seems never to have en-
loved the ordinary liSht-heartedness
and playfulness OF childhood Poor
girl. this was but preparation for
the SORROWS to come-sorrows that
have had no parallel since the world
has agreed to discard the aX and glib
bet in dealing with women.
The poor young Princess grew In
favor and in praise till. i'll 1867. when
but IL years old, she was married to
! MaXimilian, younger brother OF Fran
els Joseph, Emperor of Austria. The
marriage was one OF those customary
among the T. F's of Europe, just as
their small imtators used to attempt
to make mere territorial marriages in
Virginia. The poor Girl, no doubt,
loved her young husband. Her subse-
quent conduct showed how deep, how
absorbing, how unfortunate that love
was in its results. f
| MaXimilian was a sailor by profess
ion, a philosophic inquirer by choice.
lie commanded several scientific
expeditions and has written and
published some volumes that are
still treated with respect by the sci.
cntiiic world. It was this peculiarly
liberal bent of mind that excited Ca
YOURS hostility to MaXimilian. The
great Italian saw in the Austrian Prince
deadly foe to Italian political free
dom. Austria, Mt that time, had COM
plete control of Nenetia and Lombar-
dy and, by marriage connections and
religious bonds, really governed Naples
and Rome. With liberal Prince like
MaXimilian to represent Austrian
ideas, the task of the Italian LiberatOr
would have been greatly increased. lie
did not want a Maximilian around his
quarters. and said, "Maximilian is the
, only adversary fear, because he rep,
presents the only principle that can
ever enchain our Italian cause.
All the time from 1857 to 1868,
! Maximilian and Carlotta dwelt, rs in
an Eden, at the palace of Miramar, on
the east coast of the tdriatiC. 1t seems
, that their life there was perfect
! idyll; love and literature supplying
: its rhythmic tones. Art in all shapes;
| music. sculptor, painting, words-all
combined to make their brief six years
of happiness one of those delightful epl-
sodes. the mere reading of which isug
ccsts happiness and love to all man.
Kind. But'thc temper came. Maxi
milan was ambitious of worldly re-
nown: he knew the sweets OF acquisi
ton aS II scholar; he was brave, q
, sailor and Hapsburg. An empire
was offered him. The tinsel Emperor
of IL great nation, the fellow who i'll
herited name without Il particle o
. blood-right to the inheritance; the
. smaller Napoleon, before whom the
, ! Singc Tigres knceled for few years
, gave vent to one of his grandlloquen'
, DEGREES. He would ''create a l.atiI
empire in the West, to redress the bal
/. ance OF the East" Plagiarist, even il
A his orotund phrase. he blinded men:
a eyes to his folly, and MaximiliaI
I was seduced into becoming his instru
9 mcnt.
= Poor Carlotta, the faithful wife anC
! brave woman. followed her Austrian
! husband to Mexico, where the new EN-
q pire was to be founded and maintained
|, The scheme was skillfully contrived
. Napoleon the Little had money AM
q prestige enough, pending the civil wa
: III the United States, TO buy up paI
ty in Mexico. They were called apal
! ty, but were really a lot of stock-iob
. bers and Spectators, who, with heart
. absolutely cold rs to humanity orpa
!. triotism. sought to make a profit on
q OF Mexican bonds, to say nothing Q
= Mexican blood. They went to Mira
- mar. and III the name of Mexico o.
= fered throne and fealty to the naples
!, prince.
g Through one OF those miracles {
4 blindness. which sometimes effects tn
= best educated men, Macmillan swa
n lowed the bait. Napoleon iii. no
% only needed a new Latin empire in tn
J western world but heprestige which
! political alliance with the Hapsbure
y would give him. Maximilian becan
his tool, and the faithful Carlotta TO
lowed her lord. But the imperial pa
n Ito use the phraseology OF the Englis
court journals) had not been man
a weeks in Mexico before the wife. wit
=: true wifely instinct, saw and unde
VI stood the false position in which 81
l. and Maximilian were placed. Carlott
oi from babyhood, had been noted for
OF peculiar 'Sympathetic quality whiC