The times., 1898-09-01

Wiihelmina Helena Paulina Marie last
princess of the House of Orange. Nassau,
was eighteen years old yesterday In
Holland a woman is not of age until she
| is twenty-three. = but an exception has
| been made in the case of the queen, be-
cause she is a queen, and her country
| requires her services.
The House of Orange is one of the most
famous in Europe, and also one of the
most liberal and enlightened of royal fam
lilies. There have been but three kings
/ of the Netherlands all named William,
/ but their ancestors the Princes of Or
ange. descendants OF William of Nassau,
the champion of Dutch political and re-
! lisious liberties in he sixteenth century.
held the office of Stakeholder without in
terruption. except from 1851 to 1872, and
personally conducted all the affairs of
foreign policy and military admnistra-
ton It was William of Orange who
freed the Netherlands from the Spanish
| yoke and no royal family in Europe has
produced men of equal ability 10 these
princes. They have been alike, emf
nent In government war, and diplomacy.
The first William of Orange was assassi-
mated at Delft in 1888. His sons were Mau-
rice. the most eminent soldier of his
| time. VINO died in 1875, and Frederick Hen
| rv who until his death in 1647 during
| the Thirty Years War, raised his coun-
try to the highes; pitch of prosperity and
| mower. The great-grandson of William of
Orange was King William III Of England
i ireland. and Scotland. These were Stadt-
| holders. or executive presidents, and
! cantains general OF the Seven United
! Provinces-nameIy Holland, Zealand, Ut
recht, Friesland Groningen. Gelderland.
and Oyeryssel In the nineteenth centu-
| ~ William III was a distinguished sol
| dier. whose victory over the French at
Ouatre Bras facilitated hat of Wellington
at Waterloo. Candor compels US to ad-
NIT that William III. the father of VIII
helmina was not an ornament to the fam
ily. He was reasonably well-behaved aft
er his marriage 10 his first wife, Sophia.
daughter of the king of Wurtemburg. un-
til he succeeded to the throne on the
| death of his father, and came into
fortune of a hundred million forms. Then
he broke loose entirely, and scandaiiZed
the sober Dutch people and all his rela-
tfves bv one of the wildest and most
dissolute careers that ever disgraced the
! name of a king The story of his second
marriage, which took place some time aft
er the death of his first wife. is rather
remarkable one. After he hau wasted
his substance in riotous living in all the
CAV capitals he fell in love. honestly
and sincerely. The object OF bis ahec-
ton was Princess Helen of Waldeck-Pyr-
mont, now the widowed Duchess OF aipa-
nv. She was forty years younger than
the king. radiant beauty. She laughed
| him 10 scorn.
iris related that he overheard a CONVEX
sation between Princess Helen and her
| younger sister, Emma In which the latter
reproachfuily exclaimed: Il should never
refuse TO become Queen"
The shaft found a vulnerable spot in
/ the scared heart of the old roue monarch.
He looked upon the younger sister, and
found her to be as beautiful as Princess
Helen. True to her word, she accepted
William became Queen of Holland. and
year later Wilhelmina was born. The
devotion of the young wife to her nus
band during his years of Illness and semi
insanity, and her subsequent devotion to
the child Queen are known to the world
Some apprehension has been felt by the
| Dutch people from the fact that Queen
} Emma is German.
The people of Holland therefore think
It is natural that she should have spe-
cial liking for Germany. and they fear
that she may influence her daughter to
lings who are under Emperor Williams
thumb 1t was once gossiped that she
| and the German Emperor had in view the
Crown Prince Frecerick, who is now six
teen years of age.
The Hollanders have an idea that the
German nation is always reaching out to
; absorb the Netherlands. since it is
through Holland that the river Rhine
finally reaches the sea
In order to avoid any appearance of
| favoring the Germans, Wilhelmina has
| been brought up with as little knowl-
! edge of the German language and the ex-
| cellences of the nation as was possible.
1t is quite likely that German is the only
: language of Europe that she cannot
| speak French, English, Spanish and
, italian she uses fuently.
Her first governness was a French
woman Mile. Siotard, and she spoke en-
tirely in the French language till she was
four years old Miss Winter. an English
lady, then replaced Mile. Siotard, and Il
comical little story is told of this English
| goyerness.
AS a punishment she once ordered the
girl queen to draw a large map of Eu-
rope. Wilhelmina did so but when the
map appeared Holland was extended
way out into the German Ocean, so that
it was as big Prussia, while Great
1 Britain was little black speck or two
this bit of mischief, Wilhelmina real
ly very fond of her governess, and her
present liking for England is probably
| due to this influence. She says that
when she marries, which she has no in
tention of doing till she is suited, she
shall select an Englishman.
Some of the stories that are told of the
little queens childhood show how strict
ly and how simply she was brought up
She had a great number of dolls ano
; after any court ceremony in which She
!, took part she was wont to put them
through the same performance. To then
| she also recited her lessons every day
One afternoon one of the dolls would moi
: ] sit up quite to please her, and after plac
n ing it as she wanted 1t she shook her fin.
Y ger threateningly and said: BE careful
+ now, or l will make you a princess and
then you will have to sit up and smile
; at the people whenever you go out unit
your poor head aches and your back is