The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-12-22

same as abroad. He never was at peace
with the officers of his court, he kept his
family in continual turmoil, and when
his death finally came, in the twenty
first year of his reign, his Kingdom
deemed themselves well rid of their
brilliantly mad' monarch.
While Frederick William. father of
Frederick the Great, can not be said to
have been a confirmed lunatic, he was
undoubtedly of deformed mind. This
was apparent in the closing years of his
life. He became cynical and hypochon-
driacal. His mind ran almost contin-
ually on the subject of religion, and he
forbade his family to converse on any
other topic. He seemed to enjoy nothing
else SO we'll as Furnishing his children. The
young Prince and his eldest sister were
tiogg9d upon the slightest provocat,o on.
They were compelled to eat and drink
unwholesome or nauseous articles. and
the King frequently afforded himself
diversion by splitting in their dishes
while at table. His brutality toward the
youthful Frederick at length arrived at
such pitch that one morning he seized
him by the collar as he entered his bed
chamber, and beat him with his cane in
the cruelest manner until forced to de-
sist fram sheer exhaustion. The Prin-
cess, too, did not escape corporal pun
ishment. and the old tyrant often struck
her with his crutch, upon one occasion
knocking her down and trampling her
under foot. These irregularities were
continued for several years, ending only
with the death of Frederick Will am, in
174O.
In more recent times the case of
George III. is too familiar to all readers
to require any explanation. In India
the royal dynasty has become
so weakened that they may be
denominated race of imbecile princes.
This deformity of mind is sometimes
natural and sometimes is produced by
dissipation. AS an example we may
cite the experience of an English En-.
bassador to one of the Indian courts.
On his arrival at the palace of the
sovereign the envoy was conducted
through long suite Of magnificent
apartments, lined by officers clad in the
grandest apparel, to sort of reception
room of still more costly description
than those he had already traversed. IN
a short time two persons of high rank
entered, and were followed by anumber
of slaves bearing litter covered with
rich silks and cashmere shaWls of i'm
mense value.
On the couch reposed the King-a
mere human form, devoid of the power
Of motion. The litter was deposited on
the floor, and one of the officers, rails
ing the head of the apparently lifeless
Prince and replacing his lolling tongue
in his mouth, poured a few drops Of a
black liquid down his throat. After
repeating this operation three or
four times the medicine began to
take effect, and the King began to
evince consciousness. He raised
himself into sitting posture, and, after
looking about for some minutes, was
ready to receive the fore'g n ambassador
and transact business. The Englishman
afterward learned that the monarch was
a victim of the terrible opium habit, and
that for twenty hours out Of every
twenty-four he was as helpless as when
l
he had been carried into the reception
room. The case Of King Theebaw is of
such recent date that it is familiar to
all. The mania of this King was in the
direction of cruelty. He put all his
relatives to death in order to insure his
own stability on the throne. He buried
hundreds of his subjects alive in order
to appease certain irritated spirits that
threatened him with affiiction. Five
hundred victims were at one time, un-
der his decree, offered as bpitiary to
the gods. Yet, during ting VI 56petration
of these outrages, the peopl were too
week to rebel against their l1natic mon
arch, and suffered their pa ngs of terror
in silent despair. Glenn z. Wagner, IN
Cincinnati Enquirer.