Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-11-28
LIFE WAS A BURDEN.
STARTLING ROLL OF SUICIDES OF
MODERN ROYALTY.
The Late Guar Claimed That self Drstrue-
tion Was Not Forbidden by Divine Law.
why Life Has No Charms to Royal
Blood-Many Cases Cited
Ispecial Corrcsronalcncc.l

BERLIN, Nov. la-Not the least sad
katurc Of the Tnalady TO which the late
car succumbCd was he constant drCad on
the part OF his family and physicians that
he might destroy himself in one Of the FIRE
quent parOxysms of agony and despair
that marked the progress Of his painful
disease. for they were aware that the
emperor entertained peculiar ideas on the
subject of suicide \ deeply religious and
dcyOut Christian. he always stOutly n
serted that there was not n single word in
the whole Bible from the book of Genesis
TO that OF Revelation which could b. taken
to imply that suicide i forbidden, and he
further added that. as self destruction was
a common practice among the ancicnts, If
il had bCcn contrary to divine law IL
would a>>urCylly have been condemned by
Moses in the first place and nj n later Pc
Rod by Christ Processing such doctrines
as these, aNarc that the disease from
which he was suffering was incnrablc, and
that the extension of his life could only
tend to prOlOng in a corresponding dcgree
his own intulCrAblc sufTcrincs- the terrible
strain to which the mental and physical
strength 0f those nCarcst and dearcst to
him was subjected and the disOreaniza
tiOn of the government cnfailCd by the alb
scnCc Of any hand at the helm, IL must be
confessed that he had much TO tempt him
to seize upon the first opportunity TO put
himself ont of his misery.
Nor would his suicide have been alto
gcthCr without pCCcdcnt in the annals of
modern royalty There are ut least dozen
members Of rCigninG families who are Of
1cially admitted to have destroyed them
selves. while 2O or 30 more are known 10
have taken their own lives, although their
death has t,cn attributed TO natural
causes. IL WAS impossible, however, To put
forward any such plea rs the latter in the
case of King Louis Of Bavaria who eight
years ago, driven To desperation by the &c
ton of his relatives and ministers in plac-
ing him under restraint on the score OF in
sanity, drowned himself in Lake StarhCIn-
berg dragging with him into wa;cry
grave the elderly physician intrustcd with
the medical charge Of the sovereign.
Another monarch whose death is like
wise recognized by his government to have
been self inflicted was the late Sultan Alb
dul-Aziz of Turkey, who, having secured
possession of a pair OF those dsggcrlikc
and ConCavc bladcd scissors that are TO be
found in every Levantinc bazaar, literally
Iarrictl himself with thrusts, no less than
- wounds bring found on his body. 10
great was the shock which this tragedy
created upon the mind of his favOritc
nephew and successor, sultan Murad, that
he lost his reason within thrce months
after ascending the throne and had TO be
depOscd and placed under restraint
Although ut first there was n disposition
on the part of the authorities TO deny that
the Austrian crown prince committed
suicide, yet Emperor Francis Joseph him
self insisted that no conccalment should
be made of the fact. rightly Judging that
any attempt at secrecy would merely give
| rise to stories even moro painful than the
true circumstances of the tragedy As in
the case of King Louis OF Bavaria. the self
| destruction of Crown Prince Rudolph was
preceded 10y murder, the victim in his case
being his inamurata, the Baroness Marie
EetZcra-
Yet another royal suicide which it was
impossible to conceal was that of Prince
Gactan of Bourbon, brother of the ex-
| king of Naples and son law of old Queen
| isabella of spain. Married to the laItcr's
| eldest daughter, that Princess Isabella
who has played 81 conspicuous part in
| the history 81 Spain during the last 20
years, he developed within n couple of
years after his marriage the dreadful dis
ease of epilepsy, which is moro or less
| hereditary in his branch of the family. 1t
was during 4 fit that he cut his throat
with n razor in the presence of his wife
while staying ut Geneva for the sake Of
his health.
Finally there was the suicide in the
| Tuilcrics palace Of that BOnaparte prince,
| n nephew OF Napoleon Ill. who used to so
by the name OG Count Cammcrata. and
who blew his brains out owing to- his in
ability to pay liabilities incurred al the
card table. and which his relatives had rC
| fused to assist him To settle Nor should
1 omit mention of the suicide of the step
| father of Queen Marguerite Of Italy. the
second husband of the dOwagcr Duchess
| of Genoa He bore the name Of the Mar
| quis Rapollo, had been her chamberlain
| during the lifetime of her first husband,
the younger brother Of King Victor Elm.
manuel. and married her a couple Of years
after the dukes death and just n few
weeks prior TO the birth of Queen MarEue-
| rites stepbruthcr. who would otherwise
have been illegitimatc-
Besides these officially admitted CaS4'> of
| self destruction On the part of royalty
| there an, many others which AZ, mon or
less known in court and official ciplCs.
| though perhaps hidden Iu the ordinary
public Thus QuC,n NictOria's youngest
| son, PrinCc l.cOpold. duke nj Albany. u
| known la have inflicted such fright full
wounds uTssr him>.lG with a pair of >ri>
sors in n fit ~ epilepsy which pp'cCNlCd mas
| sudden dCIth-hc was at the club ~
| Cannes thrr, hours prCviOusly-that il l.
| not certain whether his demise was du" L"
the injury Ur l.. Ihc disease
Duke Eugene II wurttcmhcrg, wEo-.
| Wife, Ru~-lan grand duchess. IL n Si>rCr
- Queen Olga ri t;rCCCC, j. knOEn tn have
| shot hius~clf through the heart In order tn
avoid the di>GraC'fTil Consequences of a
/ terrible scandal in which he had become
| involved at Dusseldorf. and the same story
| is current nj Brussels and Paris with ~
gard to- the otherwise unacCuuntahly sud
| den demise OF tho late Prince Baldwin of
| Flanders. nephew and heir 10 the throne
of King Leopold Of Belgium Gar Mich
olas is popularity believed to have poisoned
| himself in despair at the rCvcrscs sustained
by his troops in the Crimcan war, and the
/ demise Of his elder brother and prcdcccs-
sor. Alexander l. Is likewise attributed to
| self administered poison.
Many other cases might be cited The
only wonder * that they arc not mOre
| numerous than they really arc, for when
| one takes into consideration the many
| dreadful ailments tn which modern royalty
i is subject. =anccr D,ing hereditary in the
| reigning houses of Prussia, Russia, Hol-
land and SaSony, epilepsy and insanity in
those of Austria, Bavaria, Spain, Portugal
| and England, with n faint of that horrible
disease known rs the kings evil polluting
the blood in every royal and imperial vein,
it is surprising that they should not ono
and all seek relief from such n heritage OF
woe In death by their own hands
GKnRGE +. wKsr