The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-03-10
UNPLEASANT TOPICS.


The Hereditary Taint In the HohenzoIIern
Blood, and Its Origin.
NEW YORK. March "a London dispatch to
the Times says ''To-day's events raise to fever
heat Continental interests the query how long
the Crown Prince will live. Here in England
this anxiety is swallowed mp temporarily in re-
joicing that the English Princess. who is best
beloved of her whole race and who made such
a splendid and resolute fight against the whole
Berlin court ring to keep her husband alive. has
trium Pied. She will be Empress of Germany
now. at least for time and no German in
trigues. not even il given the whole weight of
her sons influence, rob her of her rank. her
dover. and her share in the crown estates
Naturally. Englishmen are delighted with this,
and it IS hard not to sympathize with them. It
is recalled now that Bismarck who was already
the chief man in Prussia in 1858, strenuously
opposed the marriage of the Crown Prince with
the English Princess. saying that he was against
any blood alliance with those scrofulous Guelphs.
The existing situation is q strange retributive
comment on that utterance. Scrofula, or that
worse allied disease. with which so many royal
strains of blood are contaminated, lays q heavy
hand on the Hohenzollerns at San Reno and
Berlin alike; but the faint has not come from
England. A fact which has been privately
known here for some months may now properly
be mentioned. The present aged Empress of
Germany, mother Of the Crown Prince, has
been q victim TO herditary scrofula. or a cog
nate malady, for many years She got it from
her mother, Marie Pauowna, who was daugn-
ter of the crazy Gear Paul, one of the most
thoroughly diseased men of his generation. All
of Paul's daughters transmitted the faint to
their descendants. One of them, Annie
Paulowna, was mother of the present King of
Holland. and the recent death of both his sons
and the extinction of his male line attributed
TO this In the male ROmanof line the same
malady caused tbs death of the Czaro witch, who |
was the elder brother of the present Car, and |
now renders it very doubtful if the present |
youthful Czaro witch will ever reach manhood |
In the Hohenzolern case, not only is the Grown |
Prince suffering from this hereditary faint but |
his son William. who in few weeks months |
viii be Emperor. is hereditarily deaf, aud was |
born with mere shapeless ball of flesh where |
the right hand ought to be. The Crown Princes |
only sister is the grand Duchess of Baden, and |
of her sons, one died last month and the |
other IS III at Cannes and not expected to recov-
er, both from scrofuous Developments. The
malady can, in truth, be traced all through the
Almanac Gotha among descendants of the Gar
Paul The disease only showed itself in the
Empress Augusta when she had advanced in
life, since when sne has worn high dresses and
frequently was not visible to the public for
months at . time"
VIctoria's Petulaut and Imparious Manner.
Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa, the wife of
Frederick II, and consequently the Empress of
Germany is a daughter of Queen Victoria of
England, and was born November q, 1910. She
was marrid January %, 1858. The first ac-
quaintance of the young couple dates back to
the year 1851, when the Crown Prince, then
young man of twenty, visiting the London
Worlds Fair He was fascinated by the vouth-
full graces of Victoria. and compared her to one
OF the saints in painting by Titan. Much was
done by the families of both the young people
to strengthen their kindred feeling and the
seeds thus sown were allowed to spring I'D dur
ing the prolonged military service OF the Grown
Prince in Potsdam- Breslau. In 1855 he with
the consent of his parents. repaired to Eng
Of tbs PpDes.. TsquTssed the hand
was granted with the proviso that she should
not De told until she bad grown older, but the
true romantic style the Prince offered himself |
TO her during walk the towering
heather of a Scotch hillside, but the wedding
was put of until she Princess had attained her |
seventeenth year. They married in St.
James's Chapel, London and after spending a
few days at Windsor, proceeded to Berlin The |
Princess is one the most gifted of the English
royal family, and was early trained in political |
measures by the Prince Consort, who allowed
her TO read much of his diplomatic CORRESPOND
ence. Apart from this she had the services of
the most thorough masters. the whole making
her education even more complete than would
De supposed: but, apart from her pollticaI
knowledge, she has decidedly domestic char
Aeter, and her house is one of unity aud hsppi-
ness.
royalty as bride, at the age of seventeen, was
the beginning of series of domestic SQUALLS
that have set the HohenzolIerns st skies and
ssvens- She arrived imbued with the tyrannc-
MI selfish exclusiveness of her mother, ready
tor absolute conjuRal despotism. and with a
British uuwillinRness TO adapt herself to any
habits and customs not her own The Emper.
or, her father in-law. petted and INDUCED her
but curbed her temper and resisted her exae.
toms At n gala concert given in honor of the
newly married Queen of Portugal the Princess
Victoria for the nrst time, had to relinauish
her bridal post OF horor on the sovereign's
right Unable TO hide her vexation shs
wrenched her long train from the hands of
the pages in attendance who were about to Law
Il across the back Of her seat according to ell
3uette, and flung 1t with crashing sweep of |
velvet and gold embroidery around her feet
her father.in-iaw held up reproving finger
aud shook his head at the petulant woman but
with so benevolent q look that he coaxed hack
smile to the poutiDg lips. He also put stop to
certain exieenees OF the Young wife which inter
.ered with what the monarch considered nubltc |
iufy, such as teleeraphing three or four times
p one afternoon TO the Prince Royal to hurry
back from review ar maneuver at Poisdam be-
'ause she wanted him. be also prohibited some
ndecorous vagaries, attempted only as trials of
'owsr. such compelling her husband to give
er his arm while visiting on foot, late at plight.
he booths OF the Christmas fair on the Castle ]
qnAre at Berlin. I
In the palace of the Prince Imperial exaspera- q
ion increased daily. The Prince Imperial grew
id in inaction. His father was too Jealous of i
s power TO allow his son the slightest share in .
be ruling OF the empire. or the management OF s
ltA VI uA4AHaf3 dudlIS. 6uJ the causes OF the
mutual dislike were complex The authority of
he head OF the family is a sacred principle with
be Hohenzollerns. and may be pushed 10 its ex-
remeas limit Al the age of fifty the late COW
reign VAS sill! Prince ROYAL. and although the
eignine sovereign was only his brother. ne and
LES wife were forced 20 submit 20 the caprlces
nd often silly rules of the tnen King In their
Urn the Emperor and Empress exercised their
uthorty over the Prince and Princess | /
imperial with almost inconreivable strict i
cess. The Prince Imperial could not | a
ahke move nor spend of c
loneys without consulting his father ana ne
1as made to realize his dependence keeny The y
'Flncess Imperial could even engage a maid | y
I honor for herself, a goVerness for her s
AuGhters; could not trayel. even, without the b