The St. Johns herald., 1889-09-05
Some of the azaIadies That Affect Royal

 Ecne of the 1zaIadies Tlat Affect Royal
 Families.
 4 quick, uneasy denial has been made by authority in Vienna Of re- port that the Empress Elizabeth is i'll and deranged. Sinilar reports con- corning her husband. the Emperor Francis Joseph, have also been denied. But there is an impression that in both cases the runlors are correct. The unfortunate pair have had enough to deprive them of health. and even of reason in the deplorable death of their son and heir, and in the scandals of his life that were then made the subject of public com- ment.
 Insanity in royal families is, how ever, becoming so common that some thing more than a special cause for it may be looked for. Rudolph was not the first Austrian Prince who became crazy. There have been many mad Hapsburgs. Hohenzolierns. Romanoffs and Gue,phs. The actual King of Bavaria has for years been a lunatic. and so was his b other, whom he suc- ceeded. The King of Holland. who is dying, has long been more or less of Q maniac and latterly has been an inn beetle. There are and have been manlacs in the royal family of Belgium, and the list might easily be extended. Among the causes Of this tendency to mental alienation in royal lines intermacriage is prominent. This is a cause either Of imbecility or madness. recognized by physiolo- glsts among people Of all ranks. It is more frequent in the royal rank be- cause the number of p1rtjs allowed by law or etiquette is limited; a Prince of one crazy family has often wed Princess of another. and the chances of transmitting feeble intellect to off spring are thus continually aug mented.
 Physical maladies are also among the results of the frequent intermar- riages in royal families. Scrofula, which often affects the mind injurious ly, is promoted by the conjugaI union of cousins or other relatives. and nearly all the older reigning fami les of Europe have scrofulCus maladies, developing sometimes in cancers, lameness. consumption and other mat- adies. The healthiest royal families are those of modern origin, like the Swedish, which began in Bonaparte's times, and the Bonapartes themselves, who, though not Over-UI8e. are ct least not maniacs or inva!ids. But the great Napoleon son by hl8 Austrian wife was weak in body and mlnd, in- heriting some of the tendency that has appeared among the Haps5urgs of th.s time in Vienna Had he lived to be the father of children they would probably have inherited that tendency in an Increased degree.
 These arc physiological points only. but they show that ghe limited matri- monial field for royalty leads to i'm pairment of body and mlnd The Princes brought up in luxury, idle ness and selfish indulgence are apt to become feeble intellectually and physically, and when enc Of them succeeds to a throne and has the burden of State affairs thrown upon him, he $ not likely to be able to endure the labor CT to withstand the shocks to which he is as liable as any humble man. Francis Joseph and his wife we apparently a8 healthy as most people, but tho catastrophe of Rudolph's $ death was crushing, and there is no improbability in the re- ports of their mental and phy condition which are so strcnuously denied. The poorest pair of peasants among their subjects might have been as much grieved by @ similar affiic- ton, but they could have borne it moro patiently and bravely. They are not descended from lcng line Of intermarrying relatives; they have had no notorious and shameful scan- da,s in their family; they have not been worried by State affairs and heavy responsibilities, and they are Of a sturdy stock that can endure the heaviest blows of misfortune without damage to their mental or bodily health. h.-Philadelphia Bulletin.