The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-08-22
ROYAL VISITORS.


esting guest for the United States, a
two occasions, entertained a reigning
sovereign Kalakaua was the first ac-
tial King the great Republic ever saw
and the democratic Dom Pedro was the
second and last. Scions of royalty have
often wandered among the Yankees
| Joseph Bonaparte, ex-King of STaln.
spent many years in New Jersey after
the downfall of the first French empire
His young brother, Jerome, afterwards
King of Westphalia, married Miss Pat
terson of Baltimore while visiting there
The Duke of Orleans. afterwards King
Louis Philippe, was in American exile,
and so was Louis Napoleon, afterwards
Emperor of the French. Most notable
| of all our princely guests was the pres
| ent King of Great Britain and Ireland
who was a visitor just, before the Civil
War. During the rebellion two of the
Bourbon princes of France, one of them
the pretender to the throne, served on
| the staff of General Mcclellan. No
member of a sovereign family came
again until the seventies, when the
Grand Duke Alexis visited the Atlantic
coast. There was a long wait after
that, save for the presence of Kalakaua
and Dom Pedro, which was terminated
| in 1892 by the coming of the Infanta
| Eulalie, aunt of the King of Spain.
Since then the Count of Flanders, heir
apparent to the Belgian throne, has
been in the land and there are rumors
| that his father. the reigning sovereign
may follow.
Doubtless all soyereigns, particularly
those of Europe. feel an intense per-
! sonal curiosity about the United States
which, in so short a time, has risen to
the dignity of a first-class power and
may, in fifty years more, "bestride this
narrow world like a Colossus" The
Kaiser, for instance, would like nothing
! better than to focus his penetrating
mind upon the secrets of American
progress Doubtless the Gar would en-
Joy the sights and scenes of a republic
which, since its earliest days, has been
friend of the Russian Empire. But
there is a curious obstacle in the path
Reigning sovereigns cannot look to-
wards the United States without the
apprehension that, If they should visit
it, their dignity might be affronted.
There is no one of sufficient rank, as
they say, to receive and entertain them.
The President is a commoner; there are
no houses of princely or ducal standing
in which they could be entertained;
they might have to be the guests of no.
tel-keepers. Kalakaua, once a postof
fee clerk, cared nothing at the time of
his first American tour, for regal state,
and waved all difficult points of Ell
quette Dom Pedro was a democrat on
throne But rulers like King Ed
ward, William II, Francis Joseph and
Victor Emmanuel are punctilious to a
degree which is almost Incompetent
sible to people who are accustomed to
see the President of the United States
on his democratic rounds, shaking
hands with his fellow countrymen and
not afraid to eat or sleep in any honest |
mans home. Probably as things are
most Of the inquisitive sovereigns of
Europe will confine their studies of the
United States to books and photo
graphs
AS for Chulalongkorn II, King of
Siam, he is more anxious to make |
friends than to stand on his dignity. |
He went to Europe, not long ago, and |
was coolly snubbed, especially by the
French. He knows that his kingdom
is a Naboth's vineyard which powerful
land -grabbers want, and he hopes to
find some people who will stand be- |
tween himself and them So if he
comes he will not be squeamish as to
whom shall get between the wind and
his nobility. Eastern potentate though
he is, he will probably try while here
to be one of the boys.