New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-15
HEIRS APPARENT.
THE ELDEST SONS OF MONARCHS DO NoI
LIVE TO ASCEND IHE THRONE.

ITO the Editor Of The TIL ~ e
Sir: The ffteth anniversary OF the o'r'h VI
the Prince of Wales Monday last, which So"
so aptly described in your editorial columns do
denoting his escape from the Roaring foiuee'
gives rise TO reflections on the uncommon length
of time between reigns in Great britain 90 i'ns
indeed that the genial master of Marlborough
uouse has given ND all idea-he is too dutiful and
good a son TO permit me 10 use the word hope -
of over ascending to the throne of his mother.
| H. is q matter of current gossip, both among Ills
encourage and in cubland, that with true sport
| inc instinct he has taken odds on the GER
| taintv of his predeceasing the Queen. True, inc
latter is twenty years his senior but whereas size
has all her life long considered IL her IoreinoSO
duty to the Nation to take the UTMOST care VI
| her health the Prince can scarcely DE eaiu "
have been so-well, let lis term 1t consciehoious'
on the score of his physical condition. NO greater
contrast can possibly be imagined than that Ut
tween the methodical, precise and unemotiohai en-
| istence of the mother and the hard living Oh oie
son. By hard living ! do not mean prohisacS'
Hard living in the Of the Prince Oh wares
| has consisted of too much restlessness anu '''r
absence of an adequate amount OF repoee ci'hei
for the body or the mind. lie is forever on '''r
20: and indeed the only man who has ever oeeh
known 70 succeed in firing him out is his nephew
the present Emperor Of Germany ms lhoruin"0
activity Of the Prince, together with his custom
of making four and frequently hvc heaVv anu
hearty meals during the course of the twenty
four hours has ended by impairing his remarkably
strong constitution and to-day the Prlncc IS ac-
cordinp to insurance phraseoOgy far worse
risk than his august mother
| Should the Prince in accordance with hls own
rremonition and that of many OF his 1eiiow'
countrymen die before the Queen, ne Will Dub
share the strange fate which seems to overtakc
nearly all the eldcst-b born sons OF European
monarchs. 1t is quite rare when crown passes
from father TO eldest son. Usually IL Is elther
some younger brother of the latter or even
more distant relative who succeeds to the throne
There is scarcely single Royal or Imperial Louise
mentioned in the Almanach de Gotha that has
| NOT within the memory of the present genera
tion. furnished examples Of this strange blight
which appears to rest upon eldest sons. Barely
| tbree wears have elapsed since the day when the
news was flashed from one end of the world TO
the other that the Crown Prince OF
| Austria had met with violent DEATH
| The King of the Belgians, too, has seen dis
only son. the young Duke of Brabant, borne to
an untimely grave; and when King William OF
Holland after numerous false alarms, finally de-
cided, last spring, TO take bis departure Tor
another world. his corpse was laid in the royal
William. Prince of Orange, and Prince Alexander.
Should the sarcophagus which contains the body
CT the latter by the way, be opened by the
archaeoogists and antquarians of future ages for
| the purpose Of investigatira lis contents in the
same manner that We are accustomed to explore
the sepuchres Of the Egyptian Pharoahs, doubts
may possibly arise as TO the identity OF the occll
pant of the tomb For Alexander was inferred
not in male, but in female attire, and is l be-
lieve the only adult Prince who has ever been
buried in quilted petticoat of orangecolored satin
1t was mind warped as the body that led
Prince Alexander to adopt this peculiar kind Of
petticoats in lieu of the ordinary garments Of our
sex during the last few years of his life; and be-
fore he expired he extOrted promise from his
father and from his other relatives that he should
be buried in them.
The Prince Of Orange his elder brother, who
had died few years previously, did not inherit
to the same degree the faint of insanity which
had been brought into the Royal House of Nassau
by his grandmother, Queen Anne, daughter
of the maniac Gar Paul. lie was a man
of considerable mental ability, whose life
might have been far happier, and above all,
more respectable, had it not been for the
political ntrigues OF Napoleon III. All the pre-
| minarieS had been negotiated for the marriage
| of the Prince to Princess Mary OF Great Britain
| NOW Duchess Of Teck), and William left the Hague
for London for the purpose of presenting himself
to the bride who had been selected for him, and
to Queen Victoria Unfortunately. instead of
going direct from Holland to England. he travelled
via Paris Napoleon III eagerly availed himself
of this opportunity to Illustrate the matrimonial
projects of the Dutch and British Courts. being
strongly opposed TO the idea of permitting Holland
To fall once more within the sphere Of English
| influence Accordingly he caused every conceiy-
| able temptation TO be placed in the way Of the
young Prince for the purpose Of keeping him at
Paris. Meanwhile Princess Mary and her illus
trious relatives were anxiously awaiting him in
London. Days and even weeks pass I'd without
! the Princes showing the slightest intention Of
| leaving the banks OF the Seine; and when, in
| addition TO this unloverlike behavior. Princess
! Mary and Queen Victoria received purposely en-
aggregated and highly coloied reports of Prince
Williams designations at Paris. they lost no time
in breaking OF the match. So strong. however
was the hold which the pleasures and gayeties OF
Boulevard life had obtained upon the Prince that
he received the news of the rupture of his engage
ment with feelings of relief rather than of grief |;
aud having further scrupes TO restrain him.
threw hisnclf headlonR into the wild whirl Of
la vie PariSienne." Indeed. the remainder Of his
existence may be said TO have been spent in the
! French metropolis whore he continued until
! the day of his death TO remain ~ source Of much
profit and also of much anxiety TO the French
The present Emperor of Russia is only the
second son of the late Gar The elder son OF
| the latter died seven-and-twenty years ago at
! Nice from the results, il is said, OF blow in
| hicted in rough horse-play by one Of his younger
| brothers Had Nicolas AleAandrowitch survived
his father and succeeded to The throne instead OF
would probably be far happier. For Nicolas was
the reverse of Alexander in every particular lie
was AS broad and liberal in all his ideas as MS
younger brother is bigoted and narrow-minded.