Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1900-05-08
KINGS AS PRISONERS.
RULERS WHO HAVE FALLEN IN.
TO ENGLAND'S HANDS.
How Britain Treats Her Royal Cap
tives, of Whom She Has Had Several
Within a Very Few Years-Genera1
Cronje at St. Helena.

tives, of Whom She Has Had Several
Within a Very Few Years-Genera1
Cronje at st. Helena.
An insight may be gained as to treat
ment In store for leaders Of the Boer
republics who may suffer defeat and
fail to escape into either German or
Portuguese territory by comparison
with that of princes and kings held
captive heretofore by the British gov
ernment. In 1S49 when the State of
Maharajah Dhuleep Singh was finally
annexed to the Indian empire, that
pOtentate was requested" to take up
his residence In England-the induce
ment Of a ready compliance being
added by the promise of a yearly In
come of $24O,OOO, with nothing at ali
as an alternative. Dhuleep Singh wise
ly acQuiesced, purchased the fine es-
tate of Brandon in Norfolk, upon which
he resided for many years as wealthy
English country gentleman.
Though during this period the ma
harajah frequently expressed the de-
sire to revisit his native country, pro-
Tossing the utmost loyalty to the en-
press queen, yet he was never permit
ted to travel east of the isthmus of
Suez. In this case the bond seems to
have descended upon the heads Of his
children, for while his sons have en-
tered the British army and one Of
them, Prince Victor, recently married
the daughter of the Earl of Coventry,
yet they have never been allowed to
set eyes on the land over which their
ancestors ruled.
Approaching Calcutta on the left
bank of the HULL River at Garden
Beach the visitor will have pointed out
the fine palace Of the late Valid Ali,
King Of Oudh. There from 1856 until
a recent date this prince was held in
semi-captivity upon an annual allow
ance of 100000, the only proviso as to
his freedom of action being that he
should not leave the vicinity Of Calcut-
ia. The King of Oudh, true to those
prodigal hereditary instincts which
brought about his downfall, not only
managed to expend this large sum, but
in the keeping of snake mounds,
menageries and other costly forms of
amusement dear to the oriental mind
was obliged to draw frequently upon
the imperial treasury for further
amounts. The generosity and leniency
with which he was thus treated was
probably due to the fact that he offered
no armed resistance to his own deposit
ton. Blazing with jewels and seated
in smart equipage, with servants in
royal iveries, the King of Oudh was
often a conspicuous figure on the Cal
cutta maidan-the famous park where
the society of the Indian capital takes
an outing after the heat Of the day has
passed.
Far different was the fate Of the poor
old Bahadur Shah, last Of the Great
he was tried for high treason and sent
as state prisoner to Rangoon. There,
in small hut, the only nneal descend
ant Of Shah Jehan and Aurangzeb
passed the remainder of his days, un-
noticed and upon a mere pittance. AS,
however, both of his sons were slaugh-
tered and a less culpable rebel leader,
Tantia Topi, was executed, he may
have thought himself fortunate to es-
cape with his life.
Near Colombo, in Ceylon. England
still holds in light durance Arabi
Pasha and his colleagues of the Egyp-
tian rebellion of 1882. While Arab has
not ceased to bemoan his fate and use
lessly petition the British government
for permission to return to Egypt, yet,
considering the nature of his offense,
and that he was sentenced to death, his
lot cannot be considered burdensOme.
Provided with an income sufficient for
his wants, pleasant residence, permis-
sion accorded him to receive visitors
and a considerable measure of freedom
within the district, he would undoubt-
edly have been worse of had his sue
cessful enemies been his own race and
religion.
OF minor potentates England has at
present one African. being confined to
the limits Of that island in the South
Atlantic made famous as the prison of
the great Napoleon, and another even
the far less desirable residence Of Cape
Coast Castle. For several years Cete-
wayo, king Of the Zulus, was held an
prisoner at Ghowe, near the
scene of the present military operations
in Natal, where he died before the
promise of restoration to his throne
was carried into effect.-St. Louis
Globe e-Democrat.