New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-04-24
LESE Majestic.
A MEDIAEVAL CRIME

A MED1AEVAL CRIME
Ny first experience Of the penalties ATTENDING
the crime of lese nlaieste occurred when Wa
about ten years Of age. We we've spending the
summer at some German baths where young Prime
William the present Emperor OF Germany was
then staying. suppose it was due 10 the a-ocis-
tons OF my mothers family with the royal house
of Prussia and her own former connection with
the Court of Berlin that my brother and myself
were selected paymates for the eight-year-old
Prince We used 10 quarrel good deal, chiefly
in CONSEQUENCE of the Princes insistance that "
playing at soldiers he should always act az officer
and we merely the rank and file. During TIE
course OF one OF these almost daily quarrls
was unfortunate enough to apostrophize the future
Emperor a a liar. This shocked my mothers
sentiments Of loyalty and devotion To thc
lIohenzollern family in such measure That she
felt it incumbent upon her TO TAXI me nome ~
once. and to lock me up suppcrleS In my roon
until the next day al noontime, when was taken
10 the villa inhabited by the Prince. and made 70
ask his pardon for my rudcness or as shouh %
tempted 10 describe il now, for my lese maleste
Were | or any one else to-day 10 repeat that
epithet OF liar" in connection with Emperor
William either in his presence or IN the hearing
of any one OF his loyal subjects IL would invoivs
an imprisonment not of twenty hours IN COM
Portable bedroom, but detention ranging from
minimum Of two months to a maximum OF five
Years in n gloomy Jail This IL the penalty
prescribed by the Code for the crime Of lese
majestic. The code, however, does not define
what lese majestic really H. That is matter
which is left 10 the discretion of often overzealoW
| officials
Lcse maicste is a crime of which, fortunately.
but little il known in America. On the other
| side of the Atlantic il, however, plays very
| important rolc-nevet more So perhaps, than now
| I'm Germany and Austria, where hundreds or pco-
| pie have been sentenced ~ various terms OF IN
generation for having spoken disrespectfully OF
the sovereign
On March last servant girl. just seventeen
! years of age was sentenced AT Dresden 10 three
months imprisonment for lcsc majestic the latnr
having consisted in speaking disre'pecfuiIy OF
| Emperor William.
4 short time afterward lady at Prague was
Likewise condemned 10 three months imprisonment
for having spoken Unexpectedly Of the Imperial
family the disrcspcct consisting in a remark when
she made during some public ceremony 10 tho
effect that Archdnke Frederick, who was present,
was n hubscher Kcrl, which literally translated
means "a pretty fellow In this case, however,
the family Of the culprt had the means necessary
to defray the cost of an appeal against the sentence.
which was finally quashcd by the Supreme Court
|, Of the Empire at Vienna
An equally preposterous case was that OF the
Editor of the "Potsdamer Zeitung,' who shortly
after the accession Of Emperor William was
charged with lese majestic for having said in his
newspaper that the young monarch had been seen
in an "einspanner7 or one-horse cab In making
the statement the object of the editor had been
10 give an illustration Of Williams democratic
WAYS or rather of those which the Germans would
have wished him 10 have inherited from his Ia
! | mentcd father The authorities, however, heid
that the paragraph calculated 10 bring rdlcnie
upon the sovereign, and accordingly the editor was
sontenccd by the tribunal at Potsdam 20 either
| Imprisonment or to a fine, / forget which 10
therefore follows that if any one should eaten
sight Of the German Emperor in one-horse con-
ccrn he would do we'll TO keep it dark ana not
mention il 10 any one lest lie should incur dire
penalties and loss of liberty. lie can save NM
self however, from all these dangers by en-
e broidering on the true facts, and adding an
Z, imaginary horse Ia the equipage in which he mas
seen the Emperor 1t would he an eNaggeraion'
nm, il would preserve the speaker from the p'rll
Of jail.
M less than nine persons are now undergoing
Il Imprisonment for having remained seated at pub
> lie banquets when the German Emperor's health
d was being drunk the charge against them in each
cas-, being that of Ma eStats Beledlgung or fss
. majestic.
All these sentences nave q SDIt OF '"a
j. or about theu. and are unsuited and out of keep
ing with civilization so enlightened as 'ha' Oh inc
l closin, decade of the nineteenth century. They
serve TO recall 10 mind the case OF Queen
" Cbrstina- Of Sweden. and Of her Grand CHAMBER
:, lain the Marluis Monaldeschi. which browning
- o eloouenty describes in his beautiful poem en-
,i,led Christina and MonaldcschL' The queen,
lie only daughter and heress o. King nus'aVu rs
10 ,dol,hus the heir of the Thirty Years War had
centred all her confidence, all her Affection upon
NJ tho Narauis who owed everything 10 her' anu
IN vrbon she trusted implicitly. In an eVil hou'
lc go ,Le Nar1uis she discovered that he had given
" is bcart 10 a young Roman lady OF noble fanny
ID and that he was wont in the letters whch nc
~ addressed 10 his Roman namorata 10 hoi' up ~.
v ,I,od Ouoen 10 the ridicule and contempt o.
If her rival. -, .,os,o a,
Id This in Christmas eyes was leSe majestic OF
,p 49,. oros.es, Kind and the punishment which
- no,od ont 20 the falthlcss Marquis was OF
10 ,orrihle character 1t occurred az the 'ha'ea"
ro,,,irebcau where she was staying nv inc
,ic and which had been placed at her uA'
no,al by the French King. Summonlhe 'ne '','
mis- 70 her presence in the "alerie ae ''''s, '".
5i>playcd To his Mortified gaze whole pahue o.
ro,,cr. which he had addressed 10 his lady love
30 AZ Rome. and which she, the Queen h"d n'er'
ut ceoted. Only priest Father lie BEL ana 'hr'e
rs of her Swedish male attendants WIZ p
10 during the interview The dcnourment OF whcr
nd na,,.r;, described IS follows putting the verdi
M in the mouth OF Christina:
re
,r Friends. my four.
he Nou Priest confess MINI
bt | | have Judged the cuprt there
-, r~rcntc my .enttEcei Care
"a Tor mo- mall such towards wearl -.
bn ! hone Priest Then absOlvc and bless MIMI
H., | Tnw'you three stab thick and lasL
Nv Deen and deeper Dead al last
=, Thanks fricnds-Fathcr. thanks Aghast'
lal,ttr. ~, a