The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-12-21
JUVENILE
SOVEREIGNS.
The Little Rulers Of Holland,
Spain and Seryia.
A Review Of the Situation in Eurou,-Ths
Psrils to Which the Balkan Rulers
Are Exposed.

moment Dy mere cnuuren. and II all the per-
sistent rnmors concerning the ill-health of
Emperor William and Dom Carlos have any
foundation it is possible that the number OF
infant sovereigns will shortly be augmented
by a nine-year-old Kaiser OF Germany and a
four-year-old King of Portugal 1t is there
fore quite possible that on the occasion of
the next congress of crowned heads in Eu-
rope the anointed of the Lord will be at
tended by their nurses in lieu of Chancel-
l0rs or Prime Ministers, and that the festiy.
tiles in honor of the meeting will take the
form OF reviewing dolls instead Of soldiers.
writes the Paris correspondent of the New
York Tribune. Their conferences will be
devoted to the discussion of candies. and
they will toast one another in bumpers of
pap.
While this reductio ad absurdan may
call forth smile, the latter will quickly
make way for lock of extreme gravity
when one remembers how vast are the
interests which center on the precarious
lives of these royal children. In the case
of the little Queen of the Netherlands, as in
those of tbs baby King of Spain and of the
boy monarch of Seryia, the happiness and
welfare Of their respective subjects and the
tranquility and peace of Europe are staked
upon their existence. For the death of any
one of the three before the attainment of
their majority would result in certain chaos
at home and in probable war both within
and beyond the frontier. A painful feature
of the situation is to be found in the fact
that although the majority of people are
thus impelled by considerations OF self
interest to express wishes and to offer
up prayers for the continued safety and
health OF
THE INFANT sovEREIGNs,
Yet there are many who yearn and hope for
their death. Several dastardly attempts
have already been made at Belgrade to take
the life of young King Alexander Of Servia
In Spain both the CarlistS and Republicans
made no attempt to disguise their disap-
pointment when the little King began to
recover from his severe illness year ago,
and they make no pretense of concealing
their conviction that they have every thing
to gain by his departure for another world
With regard to the Netherlands, the disap-
result III the accession to the throne of the
wife Of the reigniBg Grand Duke of
SAKE Weimar. and Holland. with all its
enormous trade and magnificent colo
MES, would become to all intents and
purposes German province, endowed
with about as much autonomy and indie
pendence as cities of Hamburg and Bremen
1t is doubtful, however, whether the popu-
laton will submit 10 German domination
without q struggle for the maintenance of
their liberties, and although the Dutch
'SchutterS" or militiamen are scarcely a
match for the trained armies OF the German
Emperor, yet the victories of the Beers over
the English in South Africa, and the mag
nifcent resistance which has been offered to
almost every foreign invasion of the Neither
lands. furnish grounds for belief that they
would not surrender without making big
nd arxr GUh in daft ~ fhnfr
political and material interests.
Although little Queen Wilhelmina is ex-
eeedingly frail and delicate. and, like the
majority of Albinos, suffers greatly from
anamia, yet the Germans are determined to
TAKE NO CHANCES,
And to secure themselves against the i'm
probable eventuality of the girl living to the
ject in view, the Court of Berlin has ar
ranged with the Regent of Holland, who is a
German Princess, for a match between her
daughter, the little Queen, and the second
son of Prince Albert of Prussia. The lad
is about Is years of age. and instead of be-
ing educated ike the other members of his
family in Germany, is passing his boyhood
at The Hague, where he resides per-
manently in a house purchased for his
use. He attends Dutch schools, receives
his military training from Dutch officers,
and is being fitted in every conceivable man
ner for the somewhat delicate and difficult
position Of a King Consort of the Neither
lands. 1t was the knowledge of this pro-
jected alliance that so embittered the last
year of old King Williams life and which
converted his love and gratitude for Queen
Emma into feelings of intense luminosity.
For, Dutchman to the very core, he hated
and feared the Germans, of whose covetouS
designs he was perfectly aware. He could
not bear the thought of his kingdom falling
under the sway of the Hohenzullern Empe-
nd ri N loct do hic IoA,
sumed the form OF maniac rawlings and rail.
ings against Germany and everything and
everybody connected herewith, including
his own wife.
While the infant sovereigns of Spain and
the Netherlands are jealousy tended by
mothers who, INDEPENDENTLY of their feel
ings OF maternal devotion, are impelled to
particular watchfulness by the knowledge
that the death of their children would be at
once followed by loss of rank, wealth and
power, and by probable expulsion from
the country, the poor little King of Serya
is passing his boyhood in solitude. No
mother is permitted to smooth his pillow, to
greet him with affection in the morning and
To KISS HIM GOOD NIGHT.
He Is left alone TO face the dangers which
surround him, and they are many in num-
Der. His fathers predecessor on the throne
of Servia was murdered in cold blood by the
karaseorgewitcy pretenders, who are as
eager for the crown to-day as they were
then. and who have even far more to gain
now by the death Of Alexander than by the
assassination OF MlOSn, twenty-five years
ago. Moreover. the kidnapping of Prince
Alexander of Bulgaria in the middle of the
night from his palace by Russian emissarieS
affords another demonstration of the perils
to which Balkan rulers are exposed.
The domestic troubles which led to his
parents divorce and to his fathers abdica-
ton in his favor have resulted in his being
debarred from seeing his mother, except on
rare occasions, notwithstanding the ia t
that she resides within hundred yards OF
his palace gates. Every effort is made by
her enemies in general and by her husband
in particular to influence the lad against
her. and only the other day he was induced
by his father to write her a letter in which
he declares that he will break off all rela-
tons with her If she persists in submitting
to Parliament the disputed question as to
legality of the divorce which Milan, by inn
proper methods, secured against her.
Queen Natalie's reply to her child. to whom
she is devotedly attached. is worthy Of
being placed on record. 1t runs thus:
would give much if you had not
written that letter, my boy. But as know
who made you write it l excuse you. For
twelve years l taught you TO love your
father, and to honor him, and concealed the
misery of my life from you. Had King
Milan seen the situation clearly, he would
have doue as much for me. This must show
you how different are your parents charac-
tiers. If appeal to the Skuptchina,
merely make use Of my good right. If you
fulfill your threat you will lose the respect
OF your people and of the whole civilized
world. Kings are expected to have hearts
say, He has no heart for his mother-he
will have no heart for ne -