The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-09-17
ROYAL CRANKS.
Scmi-Insane Monarcl,s Worse Than Luna
tics.

had talk II few evenings since with
Clemenceau, DIR. Ball, the Forbes-Win-
slow of Paris, and some other physiolo-
gists about y0Ir theory that n mad king
is the best kind of a monarch for his
subjects, writes Paris correspondent of
London Truth. They agree with you.
But they said it is not often that q
nation could get n monarch whom it is
possible To class rs Il lunatic from the
first hour of his reign, like Otto, the
present king of Bavaria. What is
dangerous is gradual run down from
weakness of mind to madness. In a
descent of that kind George ILL., lost
America, and committed England to
her long war against revolutionary
France and to the Irish policy Which the
grand old man is now trying to undo.
Philip H.. il is now shown, was in u
state of scmi-lunacy when he became
the grand champion of orthodoxy
against heresy and fitted out the Arma-
da. Mary Tudor's sanguinary policy
toward her heritical subjects is now ex-
planned by condition of ncurosis, the
germs of which came to her from Cath
crime of Aragon, sister of Joanna the
Insane. If Mary had lived little
longer, she would probably have been
locked up by Philip. as her aunt had
been, and died in Il state of dementia.
Emperor Paurs semi-insanity was pre-
vented, by the couriers who murdered
him, from developing into full-blown
madness. But he contrivcd, in the
short ,Nnrinl Hurin.r which hn
the throne, TO do a lot of mischief
Charles XII. found Sweden strong
state, but owing to the bee that was in
his bonnet. he left it incurably crippled
and so far as his Livonian and Finland
provinces went, at the mercy of Russia.
He PROFESSIONALLY had military genius.
but he was Individually crank" as
the Americans say, in everything else.
What saved Bavaria from utter ruin
under Ludwig III. was the aversion in
which he held politics and administra-
tive business, and his passion for art
He never troubled himself about
government SO long rs he was able to
pay for his artistic freaks. Spain,
through semi-lunacy of her Hapsburg
kings-from Philip III. to Charles IL
descended from the rank of q iirst-class
nation To the miserable condition in
which she was in the time of Louis Qua
torze Had they been whole daft, like
Joanna, men of ability might have
governed in mis- name.
have n theory that no human being
is good enough to be allowed impunity,
and that wealth and power with ire
sponsibility tend to make men mad.
There are certainly few monarchs now
who, politically speaking, are all
powerful, but courtiers treat them rs if
they were, and their palaces remove all
checks from the exercise of their will,
however irrational or evil it may be-
The late king of Prussia became insane
in lS4S, but he was permitted to govern
for eleven yea& after. The naturally
affectioGate disposition of Queen ISa-
bella being allowed to run riot by the
impunity her situation gave her led her
to invent certain texts of the Koran,
and then live according to them. 1t is
impossible to read all the correspond
ence. about Caroline of Naples and her
numerous paramOurs without regarding
her us semi-lunatic, much more
dangerous than if she were wholly de-
mcnted The semi-mad in private life
should be left alone. The chances are
that they will never stand in need OF
the Straight-waistcOat, and will he able
to manage their own little affairs fairly
well