The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-03-09

OF men and things is reputed to be generally
correct, and tempered in remarkable de-
gree by circumspection. Without much re-
gard for the feelings of others, he yet knows
how to fiatter and dissimulate when it pays
In this way he has always managed to be
popular with all classes. To the army he
has given the time that other princes give to
the drawing-room and the court; and has
submitted to its dreary discipline with
readiness not to be expected of q prince OF
the blood.
His private life will not, perhaps stand
comparison with that of his father His
wife, described as a namby-pamby princess,
has never inspired in him the wholesome re-
spect that the daughter of Queen Victoria
has inspired in the breast of his father IL
will be his misfortune that. as Emperor of
Germany, he will not be able to have at his
side an able and resolute empress, like the
woman who now, for brief period, will
share the honor with her dying husband.
These are some Of the characteristics Of
Prince William as they are estimated by
those who are apparently most anxious to
present his virtues and his faults in favor
able light.
But it has been stated with every appear
ance of truth that physically he is almost
wreck. In recent letter from Berlin that
was given high confidence on this side of the
water it is asserted that his hold upon life is
most precarious. He is said in this letter to
be suffering from the same peculiar disease
which carried off the predecessor of Kaiser,
William. after rendering him completely in
I,,.; he In 81 Of bic yaiCp The
alleged malady.consists of a never ending
succession of assesses in that part OF the
ear situated between the tympanum and the
base of the brain. The technical name is
otitis media, and the danger is ever present
of meningitis and Inflammation of the brain
setting in. The poor lads ears are said to
be in constant state of suppuration. Ey-
cry remedy has been tried in vain, and there
seems to be little hope of preventing the
disease from ultimately affecting the brain.
His general health is also said to be bad;
and, fact of which there is little doubt is
that his left arm is almost useless, having
been withered since his birth.
But the characters Of Princes are often
Judged by those about them. Charles XII,
of Sweden, has shown that the most boyish
and Indifferent of heirs apparent, may become
a ruler of unusual energy and capacity, al
most on the turning of hand; and William,
of Orange, has demonstrated that consnmp-
tive body may sustain a mind destined to
dominate in the politics and wars Of Europe
during most eventful epoch. Perhaps the
most expressive thing that could be said of
Prince William is that he is a dark horse"
Some other circumstances besides the mis-
fortunes to the heirs of the throne and the
grief over the dying emperor make this an UNI
pleasant day in Berlin and Germany. Prin-
cess Victoria, wife of the dying successor of
Emperor William, is on far from good terms
with the leaders of the German people. Bis
marck is her sworn enemy, and the annoy
ances which she has suffered at the German
court have been such that sometimes she had
meditated leaving it for time. Very UNI
justly the partisans of Bismarck have attri-
buted the hopeless condition of their favor
tie Unser Fritz to her persistence in having
him attended by the English specialist, Sir
Morell Mackenzie. Sir Morcll does not go to
Berlin for fear of being mobbed; but it is
not probable that in this. hour any disrespect
is meditated against the Princess Victoria.
Her position, perplexed as she is no doubt
by the momentous affairs of state about her,
by the unchivalrous dislike Of her husbands
countrymen, above all by the prospect OF
speedy parting with that husband, only
show that the lot of princesses is not always
pleasant, and that troubles are inevitable in
every station.