New-York tribune., 1900-07-31
HUMBERT AND HIS son.
TRAITS OF The MURDERED KING or
ITALY AND HIS SUCCESSOR.

sovereign should De laid low by the hand OF
assassin need excite no surprise. 1t is the
death which Humbert had all along expected. to
which he had been repeatedly exposef and for
which he in all probability would have ex-
pressed his preference had he been permitted
to make his choice. For Humbert was above
everything else a soldier-the only monarch in
Christendom bearing his body the scar OF a
wound received In battle-and such would
naturally prefer a quick and virtually painless
end by means of a bullet in the heart to a slow
and lingering death from any one Of the all
ments with which he was afflicted.
Humbert was absolutely fearless, his gal
lantry on the battlefield OF Custozza In 1866
having redeemed in the eyes of his countrymen
the crushing defeat sustained by italian arms
at the hands of Austria on that occasion. In
deed, had it not been for some OF the veteran
generals Of his father, General Bixio in par
ticular, who realized the value to Italy OF the
life of the heir to the throne, he would
doubtedly have been killed. For they were
obliged to carry him off the battlefield by main
force.
HUMBERTs LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE.
Humbert shared with King Oscar Of Sweden
and with the Queen Dowager of Portugal the
distinction OF wearing on his breast medal for
saving human life. and it conferred upon
him by the Parliamentary Commission charged
with the examination and determination OF the
annual award OF the order for civil valor. The
circumstances under which he won this medal.
which he priced more highly than any Of his
other decorations, were follows: A house in
the course of being built and almost completed
in one of the newer quarters of Rome had col
lapsed burying a number of laborers In it's
ruins. Humbert. hearing of the accident,
FASTENED TO the scene and took charge Of the
work of rescuing the entombed men. Although
the danger Of a fresh fali in the ruins was con-
siderable. the King the first to descend
rckety ladder into the cellar whence the muf-
fled cry of the buried men could be heard, and
when he had CROPPED his way to the poor fellows
he remained with them, encouraging and COM
forting them until IL possible TO move them.
One man, whose head and shoulders above
the debris but whose legs held fast by
heavy beams, which 1t took hours to remove,
was especially sustained by the Kings steady
courage. Humbert sat by the side of his poor
half buried subject, holding him by the hand,
wipng the moisture from his brow, administer
ing to him both wine and comfort, and decn-
Ing to leave him until he had been extricated
from his plight To another poor fellow who
feeby tried to thank him he lay
stretcher with a crushed foot the King said:
Don't talk now, it will make you worse You
will soon be all right again" The only moment
in which he seemed to think of anything about
the around him when he ordered a
message to be sent to the Queen. who was wait
ing for him for luncheon informing her that he
would be detained and that there was no cause
for anxiety
Indeed, wherever any catastrophe had occurred
cntang loss of life or injury II was always
King Humbert who was the first on the scene,
offering assistance and comfort and directing the
work Of rescue, while few can forget his mem
orable meeting with the Cardinal Archbishop of
Naples at the bedside of the cholera stricken
patients in the great hospital of that city during
the terrible epidemic of Asiatic cholera some ten
years ago. 7es
1t was entirely contrary to the wishes of the
King that any steps were taken to protect him
from assassins, although in 1878, shortly after
his accession to the throne. he had been deluged
with the blood Of his Prime Minister, who, see
ing knife aimed at his sovereigns heart while
driving through the streets of Naples with him,
had thrust his body before that Of Humbert,
receiving in his own breast the blow intended
for his monarch. 1t was not. however until the
assassination Of President Carnot that any pre-
cautions were adopted TO shield him from sim
liar fate, and from that time forth the King was
shadowed wherever he went by hercuIean ex-
sergeant Of Carabienieri, a Piedmontese like His
Majesty, who was forever on the watch and
who at night slept a couch drawn across the
threshold OF the Kings private apartment.
That Humbert should in spite OF this protec-
tion have been laid low by the bullet OF an as
sassin shows once more how utterly useless are
all the safeguards devised for the preservation
OF the rulers OF the world and how idle 1t is to
struggle to avert fate
A DEMOCRATIC SOVEREIGN
That Humbert should have been laid low by a
man Of the people seems as inexcusable and as
rexplicable as the assassination of the blame
less Empress of Austria whose entire life was
spent in doing good, and who was justly entitled
to look on herself being without a single en-
emy in the world. For Humbert was the most
democratic of all the crowned heads of the Old
World, a friend of the masses rather than of
the classes, and always more at ease with the
former than with the latter. Indeed ne showed
such prediction for the common people that
he used to be nicknamed the King of the Mar
mots," which may be automatically translated
the King of the hurdy- -gurdy players" and
while he was invariably reserved distant and on
his dignity with members of the aristocracy the
oordiality which he displayed in his intercourse
with the peasants, the working classes the COM
mon sailors. etc, showed that he felt more at
home in their society than In tYiat of the great
mobiles and patricians. In fact II is difficult TO
understand what good the masses-the assassin
was one of the masses-could hope to accom-
plish by the death of this, from popular point
of view, most meritorious of all monarchs He
ruled in strict accordance with the terms OF the
constitution; his generosity and financial integ-
rity surpassed that of every other sovereign
modern or ancient, since he not only paid his
fathers colossal debts and surrendered a consid-
cradle portion of his civil list the Treasury in
order 10 diminish the burden Of taxation on his