The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1897-05-13
THE KING OF GREECE.
ASCeNDED THE THRONE WHEN !
eOY OF SEVENTEEN YEARS.

/
cate and Allow Prince Constantinos I.
Reign Instead-The Second Son, saiio,
George, q Strong Character.
Three and thirty years ago n pic
turesque scene was enacted in the
Danish capital. A deputatiop OF
Greeks-we ought to call them Hell
lenes, but we do not-a deputation OF
Greeks demanded an audience oi
Frederick VII. the old King of Den
mark, and asked leave to offer theil
country's crown to his great-nephew
George of Schieswig. Holstein. Fol
reply the monarch turned to the hand
some STRIPPING who stood expectant by
and bade him take his place beside
him on the dais. saluting him as his
brother sovereign. -Four months
passed, and the youth of seventeen
was proclaimed King at Athens, Eng
land, France and Russia being HE
sponsors. Boy in years though he
might be. the impatient Greeks as
serted he was man enough for them
and before the end of the month they
declared him of age, finally placing the
reins Of government in his hands on
the last day Of October, 1868. Four
teen days more were then told off, and
the aged Frederick died, leaving his
own throne free for King Christian
the father of the new Greek King,
| this forming perhaps the solitary in.
stance of a son being an older sover.
eign than his parent.
Having watched him carefully
through the first four years OF his
reign. Russia, by a clever stroke OF
policy, which caused some stir at the
time, secured the young monarch's
hand for one of ber Grandduchesses,
Olga Constantinovana. her family con.
sidering that the imperial brides
value was greatly increased by the
fact that she was only fifteen years OF
age at the time of her marriage. King
George, who did everything early In
life, became father when he was
only twenty-five, and within eleven
months his little bride had presented
him with a second son, the magnifi.
cent young giant George, hero of the
present hour. The gift Of n series of
stalwart Princes was hailed with as
much satisfaction as the Ionian Is.
lands, that other present which the
Prince from the north bestowed upon
his new subjects. Their King was
Lutheran, a foreigner, and not skilled
in their native tongue; but his boys
were born on the soil, and there was q
promise that not only should they be
Orthodox. but that the first lisping OF
their baby mouths should be Greek.
In consideration Of this, as time
passed they almost, never quite, con-
sented to forgive their sovereign for
being a stranger. They have de.
manded that he should abdicate In ia.
vor of his son a score Of times in as
many years, 1t is true; still, when he
replied that he would do 80 with
pleasure, but that it would be to the
/ detriment Of all concerned, they have
gone home in peace, consenting to put
up for little longer with the man
who has increased the area Of their
country by one-third and won for them
leading place among the secondary
Powers of Europe.
Should the King abdicate his sue.
cessor would of course be the Duke Of
Sparta, more commonly known in
Athens as Prince Constantinos. Many
people, not perhaps excluding the
Grown Prince himself, would prefer
the Athleticos Prinkyes, George.
However, even Greece, who passes her
i,,n
hardly venture on such an innovation
as that Moreover, you cannot be
both Nelson and a King, and sailor
George means to be Nelson, find Ma
poleon where he may. In alluding TO
preference for the younger brother
1t is by no means insinuated that the
Crown Prince is unpopular. He is ad-
mired, liked and respected, as he we'll
deserves. but he is somewhat silent
and retiring.
King George, true constitutional
sovereign. wants to follow rather than
to lead his people, but he will not fol-
low to their destruction. AS has hap
pened before, he will pull his team up
on the edge Of the precipice-if they
"'iA ASS hfhbs hS SLOWu IluGe, lar
sighted, level-headed and wary, is one
degree more cautious than his father,
and will advise keeping little, just
little, further away from the abyss.
Prince George. who is neither Greek
nor Russian. but an ancient Viking,
pure and simple, looks impa tiently at
his seniors and tugs at the lace on his
sleeve. yearning as did his forbears to
seize on some Normandy or some An
glia or to take his Long Serpent up
any and every navigable river within
his reach, and what, he would say, is
beyond the reach of a man with
stout heart and a strong arm? Prince
Nicholas and Prince Andreas ask only
to be allowed to go wherever George
VIII take them.-Pall Mall Gazette,
Effective Lubrtcauts,