The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-08-16

| " with the American and against the
Eapoleonio view OF the situation in
Mexico; and I 90 not know that Il would DO
surprising to ind that they had moved their
kinsman at Brussels to take NO Q position Of
decided antaeonism to the ambitions and as-
pirations OF his sister. Be that a. II may. when
the Empress Charlotte landed at Brsst to ind
there An official Welcome from the sovereign
! OF the French empire. she found there no VOL
como at ALL ofnciai or personal on behalf Of her
brother. the sovereign Of Belgium. Not even
member OF tho royal household had been de-
putsd to meet this Belgian princess. . sovsr-
eign lady BY her marriage. coming back to
Europe In sore extremity Of personal and OF
political distresa. Such slight as this from
such quarter and at such time. must Of It.
self have cruelty wounded . proud and
sensitive woman, bssst with anxieties so
formidable. But this WAS not all The father
OF the Empress and Of her brother tho reign.
ina King Of the Belgians. Leopold Of Coburg.had
died In 1865. Despite tho fstuous stories told
OF him In the apocryphal memoirs OF Caroline
Bauer. leopold ]. was . very shrewd and .
very able man. In the course Of his not very
long life OF rs years he oontrlved not only to
marry one heirsss Of the English throne. the
Princess Charlotte. daughter OF George w..
but to retain after her death so much influence
with the family OF her cousin and successor In
the Inheritance. the Princess Victoria. A. en-
sblsd him to secure the hand Of chat young
lady for his cousin. Prince Albert. Accepting
the throne Of BELGIUM In 1881. he married -
his second wife princess Of the royal house
OF France, to whose only daughter. By the WAY.
he gave the name OF his nrst spouse.
Throuehout bis reign at Brussels from 1881
to 1865 he maintained the closest relations
both with Paris and with London: protected
the Independence OF the Belgian people rode
VIGOROUSLY without blow through the rsvo-
lutionary storm Of 1s4s which blew down the
dynasty OF his French fsthsr.in- law; sxsrtsd
. silent steady. and potent pressure ON the
Affairs OF England. and with oil this built up
for himself out Of . patrimony originally By
NO means splendid for prince. one Of the
most substantial private fortunes Of his Tina
Something more than the testimony OF Caro-
limo Bauer will b. needed to prove that such
. man spent his time at q cottage orn6e In the
Regents Park "dr!zzline" gold lace with an
unsuccessful German aotressl When Leopold
!. died. In 1865. his fortune. Il was naturally
enough supposed. would DO mainly divided
between his two children. King Leopold
H.. his successor. and the Empress Of Mexico.
In the millions thus dsvolving upon her the
Empress saw. a. she supposed. . providentiAl
windfall which would enable her to give imms-
diats and most important material aid to
tho tottering cause OF her husband. She
made up her mind, when the news Of her
fathers death reached her In Mexico. to pro-
seed to Europe take possession Of her great
Inheritance. and apply It ALL with . woman's
unhesitating energy and devotion. to the re-
organization Of the imperial cause. The DOS
session Of It she felt sure would siren Rthen her
also In her appeal to Napoleon for an extern
sion Of the term Of tho French Intervention.
What must her feelings then have been whom
she was met at Brsst By . communication
which informed her that the control OF her for.
tune was In the hands Of her brother. KiAg
Leopold IL. and that he had fully made up his
mind that she should not DO allowed to divert
It to tho object she had at heartl
Worn out with tho long sea voyage. and sx-
hausted By the strain under which she had
lived for months before her departure from
Vera Cruz. the unhappy lady was unable to re-
sst this unexpected blow. She broke down
completely under It. and though she regained
sufficient control Of herself to proceed In day
or two to Paris. she was never really herself
again. No third party was present during her
subsequent interview at the Tuilleries with
Napoleon. until violent access OF the frenzy
into which she had been thrown at Brsst COM
pelled tbs French sovereign to summon medi.
cal assist anoe but during tho much moro pain.
full paroxysms Of the attack. under which the
reason Of the Empress utterly broke down at
the Vatican. her dsnunciatlons Of her brother
were fearful In their bitterness and violence.
1t would be beside my present purpose to On.
ter here into any question - to the motives
which led leopold IL to take the course which
DO took In 1855 a. to tho fortune Of his sister.
and obvious justin cations OF It will occur
TO any Intelligent reader. But there can be lit
tie doubt that the way In which It was taken
was the detsrmininR cause OF the collapse Of
her mental faculties. It was, psrh APPS, .
tSnl hak la
months OF the imperial experiment in 1867.
including the siege Of Qusretsro. the treaohery
OF Lopez. and tho final death of her husband
with Mejia and Miramon on the Cerro do las
Campa1as. tho world was . blank to this I'M
fortunate princess. Her country people In
Austria, who arc both loyal and sympathetic,
felt this instinctivsly. I was at 6alzburg In
the summer of 1857. during those closing
episodes OF the Mexican adventure. and saw
the shops there filled with photographs Of .
picture painted BY an artist Of Vienna, In
which the death OF Macmillan was depicted
on ono side OF the canvas. while on the other
side you saw tho Empress kneeling In prayer
behind . veil which angels wore tendsrly
holding up between her and the tragedy. The
people bought thousands OF these. and often
saw Groups OF peasants. women and young
girls OF ths Tyrol. weeping over them.
From Italy the Empress was removed 10
Niramsr. the beautiful homo near Trieste In
which she had lived with her husband before
There surrounded BY her flowers and her
birds. in tho midst of scenes associated with her
past happiness. and carefully tended By faith
full old servants and By the German physicians
who had been attached to her household In
Mexico. she Was gradually though slowly. re-
covering tho equilibrium OF her mind. when .
dsputatlon came TO Vienna from her brother