The Irish standard., 1896-01-18
Sad rlental Wreck of the Once
Bright And Happy Ex-Em-
press of Mexico.
Weeping And Prematurely Old
- .,s n..,.r ..,., ..-,. ..as%S
She Still Thinks She is s.
Ruler.
Robbed of Reason, Fortune, Title
And a Throne She Is I'm =
conscious of 1t.

+ "Poor Carlotta, am glad that she is
spared the knowledge of my sufferings''
These were among the last words Ut
tered by the Emperor MaXimilian, OF
Mexico, before he was led to the execl;-
tion by JaureZ. Six months before hs
had learned that the end Of his wifes
mission to France in his behalf had been
failure and insanity. EEe rayed, he
walked the floor of palace and tent, be-
lieving that if he were with her in the
! tranquil gardens of Miramir. near Triste,
where the first happy years of their mar
ried life had been passed, that the light
of reason would again shine in her eyes,
But the meshes OF fate whicl he had
helped to weave were closing around
!. him. He could not escape without aban.
| doning his royal generals When the
rllmor came that his wife was dead ne
seemed suddenly to lose his hold on life,
and then followed that remarkable ex'
ample OF fortitude and death betfttina
his thousand years of Hapsbulg ances
try, says the Chicago Times Herald.
Carlotta was not dead but in one sense
Macmillan pictures of the two were Of
fered for sale in Mexico representing the
ex-emperor at the execution, and the en-
press kneeling in prayer veil between
them held up by nerciful angels. The
| veil of insanity was indeed between he'
| and knowledge OF her husbands fate
and it has never been lifted. How mach
happier had she been to have shared his
martyrdom; his was but the speeding OF
a bullet; hers a generation Of torture
! The life of poor Carlottat is s]owil,
drawing to close in her castle prison al
I4aeken near Brussels. Since August !
| 1895, not member Of the imperial
family of Belgium has yentured ir TO he1
presence, fearing q recurrence OF the ter-
rible scene of that date, when she at
tackled her brothers, and the consequent
prostration of the unhappy sister OF Leo
pold H.
For thirty years now not ray Of light
has entered that clouded brain. For he1
time has stood still. She lives constant
]y in the mental agony of the last year
of strlggle--that of 1866, since which ey'
erything has ended for everybody else
concerned She will sit for hours hotd-
| ing the portrait of her young husband.
so long ago the victim Of Mexican VEN
geance as to be well nigh forgotten. She
calls upon him to win all the crowns OF
the earth She pleads Of her brother
her inheritance to further her husbandf
! hopeless cause; she pleads with Napcl
con I'LL for troops tc go TO his assistance
and then with the pope to save her from
| her enemies She will listen again, Tor
the thousandrh time, TO the last letter
of Macmillan, and comprehend not
word of it. She will order her baggage
-,.>1 -, f<
| for the return journey, and in an hour
forget all about it; after these fits OF ex
citement lying on couch in stup0r o.
exhaustion. -.... ..,,.
Thus closes one of the strangest. sad =
dest tales Of the deaths of kings and
queens told in any generation. Stranger
still, that it enters intimately into the
history OF the United States. The whole
| sad tragedy was the direct result OF the
ambition of Napoleon Ill. and the en- /
forcement Of the Monroe doctrine by this
country. ..s...g, .s- e..s
Forty years ago Princess Charlotte o.
Belgium was the belle Of the court cir'@5
cles of Europe. Her father, a prince oii
Sake Coburg had been placed by ths
powers on the newly created thrownoi
Belgium before her birth, and had ac-fs
cumulated a private fortune, in colonial
development of $50 900 900, Of which the
only daughter was to haye $4,000, ,0oO,5
Her mother had been a daughter OF \
Louis Philippe, and her fathers first y
wife a daughter of George W., the. Prin-
cess Charlotte who he had mou1ned SO III
that the child of the second marriage waa
named for her. Leopold I. was cousin
of the prirce eonsort, and had brought
about the marriage between him and
Queen Victoria. From her earliest youth
the Pincess Charlotte Of Belgium was g
constant visitor to London, and was efl-6
ucated with the Princess Victoria, now
the Empress Frederick, and Princess
Alice. duchess Of Hessee, mother OF the
present czarina of Russia. There was
even talk of marriage between he:. and
the prince of Wales, vino was near her
own age. gf.55.49.si
She was in London in the summer ofa
1855. the most ma gnifcent season 0fVic-5
torias long reign. It was the summer I
of the return Of the heroes OF the Crtmea, Il
during which the sovereign and her
court, surrounded by the generals, re-.6;,
viewed the victorious army IN Hyds@5
Park. All England was in London and 4
on the streets. The Princess Charlotte
was in. the royal carriage with the queen queen &
Wales, flushed and delighted With the
splendor OF the scene. All eyes were
turned on the charming girl, and many
were the specuIatiOns on the chance zsOf Il
her wedding the heir Of England, 5$Ssy
II The next year She married the ATcas$$ss
duke Maximillian of Austria 5brpth
the Emperor Francis Joseph, and.
to live In regal splendor at Mifamlr.,sa
l.easrle near Trieste Her husband sWas.aas g
brave soldier, cultivated and handsome 4; I;
and absolutely devoted to his young
IL ~