Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-03-26
AN UNHAPPY WIFE.

The Miserable Life Led by the Grar d
Duchess Elizabeth, Queen Victoria's
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES to Brother
of the Gar, who Treats Her on the
Same Principle that Russia Does
Conquered Province-The English Peo-
pie Greatly Aroused by the Appeal OF
the Father Behalf of His Daughter.
LONDON. March 22.-Deep indigna-
ton is expressed among all classes OF
Englishmen in regard to the reports
current as to the treatment OF the Grand
Duchess Elijah beth, granddaughter OF
Queen Victoria. by her husband, the
Grand Duke Sergius, of Russia, brother
of the ear. 1t is now well understood
that the ears motive for. appointing
his brother to be governor of Moscow
was not, as officially stated, to give him
a mark of esteem, but to remove the
grand duchess from the foreign society
OF st. Petersburg where her maltreat-
ment by her imperial family
has already caused an interna-
tional scandal. The reports as to the
abuse to which the lady has been sub
jected are not mere gossip, but come
from high and Trustworthy sources, and
nobody in England has any doubt of
tLieL ne grand duke Is SiINl "
be really attached to his wife, but he
treats her on the same principle that
Russia treats a conquered province or
state. Having annexed her by mar
riage, he has claimed that she must be-
come Russian altogether, even to the
abandonment of the religion in which
she was born and educated. With
this coercion treatment characterized
as brutal has been tried upon
her: when she desired to
attend English services she found
no carriage to take her, and
the grand duke on such occasions has
shown a displeasure in ways that a
Russian or Tartar, whether high or low,
very well understand. There is no
allegation openly made of physical
violence, but rumors even to that effect
are current. The young princess. now
but 81 years old and only twenty when
she was married, appealed for divorce
to her father, the Grand Duke Louis of
Hesse, and to her grandmother, Queen
Victoria. The queen, dreading scandal,
appears to have advised her to comply
with her husbands wishes as to religion.
Officially the queen was simply stated
10 nave Seut neT blessing TO ncr grand
daughter, about to be converted to the
Russian church. The Grand Duke
Louis, however, took a different view
of matters. He was indignant, and
openly protested against his daughter
being coerced as to her religious profess
sion, and wanted to bring her home.
Then ensued correspondence between
the father and the grandmother, the
former urging, the latter deprecating
interference: bnt before anything
could be done, the Russian imperial
family, apprehensive of the disgrace
that would attach to them
should the grand duchess leave
her husband, made the official an
nouncement of her conversion, and
then speedily followed the decree APP
pointing Sergius governor of Moscow
and removing him and his wife to that
interior Russian city, far from the
glimpses of England and Germany that
may occasionally be caught at st. Pc
tersburg. 1t is not at all certain that
the end is yet. The Grand Duke Louis
is thoroughly aroused. 1t is he who
has, through the Times and other news
papers, appealed from Queen Victoria to
the English people in behalf of his
daughter, and whatever the result may
be, he has certainly succeeded in excit-
ing a strong public sentiment.