The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-09-14
THE PRINCESS
OF SHOA.
She Wore the Crown of the Queen
of Sheba on Her Wedding Day.
Modern Coronets Pale in the Historical Spleen
dor OF Her Disdem-It Has Been Treas
ured by Ethiopian Kings.

"GUT of the mirage OF the mighty East,
ASby in these latter days, the crown of the
SH1a Queen Of Sheba sparkles, mystic.
wonderful, like the aureole of sunset on
mountain peak. In this feveIish nineteenth
century it has been truly said we travel eX-
press, only obtaining glimpses Of some OBJ
jects passed, and wholly obliyious of others.
Was not the pace of the good year 1889 more
giddy and precipitous than the course of
many preceding ones; events, pageants. and
the crowding of eager multitudes to some
given goal, thronging fast in startling and
confused fashion?
Let us imagine that the swift train OF life
has swept US down to the brink Of the Med
iterranean Sea, margin Of curvng inlet,
rocky promontOry, and lovely olive trees,
all yelled in the purple haze Of heat. Be
yond is the gateway of waters, liquid pearl
and molten silver in the rosy reflections of
the waning day, while the sun. great ball
of fire, rests on the horizon brink for a mo-
ment, then plunges suddenly out of sight.
Here is the strand Of Italy, and over yonder
lies Africa. Thought traverses that lumin-
Gus pathway to the East, and through the
mists OF distance there CLEANS on an aston
iShed world vision of the crown of the
Queen of Sheba in this paragraph Of Euro
pean journals:
son the occasion of her marriage with the
son of King John of Abyssinia, the daugh-
ter of the King of Shea wore the historical
crown Of the Queen of Sheba, which has
been treasured by the Ethiopian kings for
twenty-five centuries"
Here is fact calculated to render the
most careless being meditative. Well may
the train of life check headlong rush for
ward, and halt beside the Mediterranean
wave, while the bewidered passenger gazes
across the intervening sea toward the east.
Well may the most charming Of modern
brides, complacent in her new estate, de-
mand, with sudden frown of rivalry:
who is the Princess Of Shoa"
We may be sure that the Princess of Shoa
would return such challenge with haughti-
est mien.
Who are these modern brides in COMPARE
son with me?"
If she touched the diadem on her brow, in
triumph, all the doleful brides in Christen-
dom might hang their heads in p0uting
silence. She is the Rose of Sharon 10 the
garden of womanhood. and the snowdrops,
violets and lilies of modest maidenhood
droop before the splendor of her pretensions.
Letltia Bonaparte, welded to the Duke of
Aosta, in Turin, wore the crown of Queen
Hortense. What claim of
HISTORICAL VALUE
Has the crown of poor Queen Hortense in
comparison with that OF the famous first
lady traveller OF antiquity, Saba, or Makeda.
daughters of noble houses indulge i'm the
within of yelling their fair features in the
filmy lace once worn by other generations .
of causing the gems brought back by cru
sailing ancestors TO sparkle on neck and
wrist; of spending their honeymoon in an
cent castles replete with historical assOcia-
tons of several centuries. What are crusade
ing knights rallyiDg in defense of the HOLY
Sepulcher In comparison with that rOyal
dame who once set forth from her remote
dominionswisscorted by large suite of
cayallersAand soldiers, decked with gold and
gems, tY visit solomon Surely the Queen
of ShsSa established fashion of foreign
travel universally initiated by the royal per
sonages of our day, whose chief delight ap-
pears to consist in journeying to France, Italy
or st. Petersburg. We are not told what
King Solomon thought OF the matter, but his
pOllteness as polished gentleman must have
been equal to the occasion. No doubt he adj
mired the courage and energy of the Queen
of Sheba, for there were no special trains in
her time. Nay, in all succeeding generations
does she not arouse chivalrous feeling In
the breast of mankind?
We are told that an American bride DOS
sesses the interesting relic, the wedding-rine
of Martin Luther and Catherine Won Bora,
Consider how this modern bauble pales be-
fore the immense age of the circlet inclosipg
the brow of the young Princess of Shoa.
What manner OF girl was the Princess OF
Sloa, pausing there on the golden horizon,
decked with the diadem of her remarkable
ancestress of Sheba? The poetical sentiment
of interest, which envelops the bride of all
lands. her veil, undoubtedly lends a
charm to the relic worn. Youth, blooming
and radiant. bears the crown which would
prove dull emblem of power in museum
collections, unearthed by the Archaeological
with much learned discourse Does She
nourish the stubborn pride of the beautiful
daughter of Cubic, who welded the power
full fheodorep Does she possess the grace
and amiability of the Princess Toroueche Z