The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-11-12
EUROPEAN RULERS.
There Were Kings Who Reigned
Over Seventy Years.
Rulers Who Exercised q Lasting In
huencc Over Their Country.

1t has been often asserted that lonu
reigns are In themselves conducive To ths
| consolidation and developments of the
power and resources of nations. On such
point tho dry appeal TO chronology must
be misleading We are on safer ground in
acknowledging that the majority of ex-
ceptionally long reigns have at least coin
cided with periods Of national prosperity
and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. On the other hand.
rude and unsettled times have been gener-
ally associated with short reigns, but here.
In cause and effect are too delicately poised
to allow the historic balance TO be struck
with sure hand. The three Danish kings
OF England reigned only % years altogeth-
er. During the Saxon period 1877 lOl7)
10 kings ruled, whose average was less
than l3 years. Between S43 and 1853 the
reigns Of "a Scottish kings show an aver
age OF only 13 years. But William the
Lion ruled over Scotland for 40 years. He
was followed by his son, Alexander III.
who reigned 30 years, TO whom succeeded
Alexander III, with a reign Of 36 years.
A period of l2O years was thus covered by
the reigns OF three sovereigns
Charlemagne, the great consoldator of
the French monarchy, ruled for AZ years,
and Louis TX for A. Both rcigns, how.
ever, were greatly exceeded by that of
Louis XIV, who occupied the throne from
1913 to l7l5. This lengthy reign of 72
years Is regarded as the most brilliant In
French annals, and the court seems to
have exercised a kind of fascination over
the whole OF Europe. did you think I
was immortal?" asked the king upon his
deathbed. A few hours afterward the first
gentleman of the bed chamber threw open
tho widow and cried, lie roi est mortr'
three times He then broke his wand of
oihce, and, taking fresh one exclaimed,
"Niye le roi!' The ceremony was not to
be repeated for another 80 years, that be-
Ing the length of the reign of Louis XIV,
Louis XlV's great grandson and successor.
Ihus two successive monarchs reigned for
the extraordinary period of 13l years. 1t
Is remarkable that Of A kings of France,
from the accession of Charlemagne in 76s
to the death Of Louis XIV in 17l5, these
the nrst and last namcd-were the only
TWO who lived for more than 20 years.
The former division of Spain into so
many separate Kingdoms renders some of
It's chronology little obscure, but there il
sufficient evidence TO justify the boast Of
the spaniards concerning the prolonged |
relgns or many OF their sovereigns. James
l, king OF Aragon, ruled from 1918 to 1876, |
period OF 63 years while Pedro w, also |
OF Aragon, and John III of Aragon and |
Navarro reigned respectively for 81 and 54 |
years From the time of Ferdinand of |
Aragon, under whom In 1879 Spain was
consolidated intC.one monarchy, to the
neath OF Ferdinand VII, in 1859, eight
kings ruled whose reigns averaged 35
years. Alfonso l occupied the throne of
Portugal from 11l2 to 1885, a reign of 73 !
years, and his memory is greatly venerated
1y the Portuguese, who.reg him as the
ounder OF their independence and consti-
utionol government. John i, who mar
led daughter Of our John OF Gaunt
eigned for so years, and three other kings
4 Portugal occupied tho throne for the
eyeral l-,riods OF 43, "a and 46 years.
The reigns of several of the kings of
tussia have been considerably longer than
shat has been called the European aver
sc "a some~hat unsts BILE quantity. based
pom such shifting and unsatisfactory data
$ TO have little practical value. Freder-
TX William, the great elector, tho founder
the Prussian military POWER, and who
realty increased aud husbanded her re-
'urces, rcigned for AS years, from 164o TO
5ss. The reign of Frederick the Great
l740-l7S6) extended TO as years. and was
srtainly the most important in the an
als of the Kingdom. Frederick William
II reigned for period of 43 years ,1797.
sio). turning 10 Germany, we find that
frederick ~, surnamod the Pacific. of
10 house OF Austria, occupied the throne
ON l440 to 1893, period of b3 years.
hile tho reign Of Leopold l covered AZ
'ars, from 1868 20 1905. The average
iration of the Ieigns of SO German en-, ,
'rors who ruled between 500 and 1885. ,
Guiding tie two above mentioned, was .
years.
In the history Of Russia the Ionges. |,
Ign is that OF Peter the Great esq -l725). :
llch extended to 43 years 1t was of
Us monarch rule and character that Vol !
ire made the memorable summary: "He =
30 "a polish To his people and was him
4 savage He taught them the art of !,
lf, Of which ho was himself Ignorant !;
ON the sight of small boat on the rjy- :
MosSwa he created "a powerful fleet. .
IUu n1rnScrf an uApert shipwright, sail
pilot and commander. He changed tho
inners, customs and laws OF tho Rus.
MS and lives In their memory as tho
her OF his country. y The Empross y
thorino IL, also great rnlor, reignod =
years As czars Of Muscovy, Ivan III, e
hrst to adopt the title, reigned 43 ID
'rs GsO2-l605), and Ivan " 81 years =,
39-l5SD, the rule OF the latter, although .
named the Terrible marking a great Il
'ance in the civilization of the nation. >,
'U James Gazette ci