Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-02-15
FOREIGN CHAT,
Alfonso of Spain Getting
Ready to be King.
The Eagle in ItaIy.--Some Abduc
ton Stories.
Why England Does not Encourage Mis-
sionaries in India.

King Alfonso of Spain has for the
first time talsen part in a cabinet coun-
ell at Madrid. his mother being anxious
that he should from henceforth be with
her whenever, as regent, she presiues
over the deliberations of the council OF
ministers, so that he may accustom
himself to the business of state prep
aratory to his assumption Of the reins
of government on his sixteenth BIRTH
day. in May next On that day he
comes Of age, and the Queen, whose
regency will have ceased, will no longer
have any place at the council board OF
the Spanish government.
Count GolouchOwski, minister Of for
eign affairs and of the imperial house of
Austria Hungary, is in dire disgrace
with the Emperor and likely to make
way ere long for a successor, for 1t
would appear that he was among the
most interested of the spectators of the
game Of cards at the Jockey Club the
other day at which such an enormous
sum of money, considerably over mil
lion dollars, was lost by Count Potocki
within the space of a couple of hours.
Gambling is forbidden both by the law
and by the rules of the club, and it Is
held at court that the presence of Count
Golouchowski was particularly repre-
hensible, especially in view of the fact
that the club premises are Crown prop
erty. of which he, as minister of the
imperial house, has supervision and
control.
Emperor William, like the present
Pope, longs for the reunion of Chris
tan churches. Whereas the hopes of
Leo XIII. are restricted to the various
branches of the Catholic and Greek
rite, Emperor William is bent on the re-
union of all the various Protestant
churches in, Germany. Indeed, at
Gotha the other day he publicly de-
clared that THIS was one of the great
aims Of his life. There are very many
different Protestant sects in Germany.
and even the Lutherans have been
divided for the past hundred years into
a number of widely divergent denomi-
nations, which it will prove task of
almost insuperable difficulty to unite.
Incidentally, I may call attention to
the Rev. DR.. Dryander, far and away
the most distinguished divine Of the
state lutheran church, who is the
spiritual adviser of the Emperor, the
Empress, and of their children, the
principal court chaplain, the rector OF
the cathedral at Berlin, and the bishop.
or general superintendent Of the Metro
politan See Of Brandenburg. He has
won the confidence of the Emperor by
his breadth of view, his absolute indie
pendence. and his tact: for, without
tact, court chaplain, no matter how
able and strong in character. is liable
to become source of more harm than
of good.
He has especially distinguished HIM
self in the preparation of the sons Of
the Emperor for their confirmation, and
while giving them, on the one hand,
thoroughly to understand that in the
sight of Providence all lads were equal,
he has impressed upon them that by
reason of their being Prussian princes,
they were burdened with a far greater
weight of responsibility than other
boys, and that their behavior should al
ways be ordered in such a manner as to
serve for an example to those around
them. His address to the crown prince
on the occasion of his confirmation, de-
livered in the presence of the entire
court at Berlin, of the Emperor Of Aus
tria, and of other monarchs who had
Travelled to the so-called Athens-on-the-
Spree for the occasion, will be recalled
as one of the most remarkably appro-
pirate and eloquent addresses ever
made by any German divine, winding
up with the exhortation: BE man
unspoilt by praise, unembittered by
calumny and evil free from all weak
ness where steadfastness of purpose is
required, and equally careful to refrain
from obstinacy, resulting from a re-
luctance to admit that you have made a
mistake" ..
Incidentally may mention that the
naval estimates of the German Empire
for the new year contain provisions for
chaplains Of the Roman Catholic creed
on board German men-of-war. Until
now only Lutheran chaplains have been
allowed for. This is an innovation
which may be ascribed to the growing
tolerance of the Kaiser in religious
matters.
Lord Roberts unpopular actions in
issuing an order doing away with the
use of steel shoulder chains in the
cavalry serves to recall their origin.
They are due to Maj. Gen. Sir George
Luck, one of the principal British COM
manderS in India In one of the