The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1905-02-24
RISE OF MoNARcHs.
How Some of Them Gained Their
Lofty Places.


being by the accession Of King Peter,
are merely the continuance of a strug-
gle between swine-herds. Both the
founder Of the present dynasty, Kara
george, and of the late dynasty, Hi
Josh Obrenovitch, before their entry
into the realm of high politics, minis
tered to the needs of the humble per-
ker, and that only SO recently as the
beginning of the last century.
Somewhat more distinguished but
by no means august is the lineage of
the King Of Sweden, Oscar II. His
line goes no further back than 1918,
to Marshal Bernadotte, one of Ma
poleon's henchmen, who was jumped
into the Swedish throne by his mas
ter on the dethronement of Gustavus
~.
The throne of Bulgaria is, of course,
of modern origin. Only in 1887 did
the present Prince, Ferdinand of Co
burg, ascend the throne on the abdi-
cation Of Alexander Of Hesse, both
entire foreigners to Bulgaria.
King Leopold of Belgium is an adj
mirable and popular monarch, but his
royal line only. comes down from 1881,
when his father, Prince Of Saxe-Co-
burg, was nominated King of the new
ly formed State of Belgium.
Newer still is the origin of the royal
family of Greece, as ouly IN 1868 did
the present dynasty assume power,
-ry,rJ,o,,+ boyi1o ovvor bod tho rom N+-
est political connection with their
subjects. The present King George of
Greece is the first king of his race
and is the son Of the King of Den
mark. In 1863 the Greeks were with
out a monarch, and almost unanimous
1y elected for the post Prince Alfred
of Great Britain, the late Duke of
Saxe-Cobrrg. The position was not,
however, selected for him by his all
gust parents, and so the throne
passed over to the then Prince George
of SchlesWig- Holstein.
For an empire that dates back far
before the Christian era, whose civil
1ization is thousands of years older
than our own, the Chinese dynasty
are little more than modern upstairs.
For the Using family, who hold sway
at present, only came into power in
1913, and were, from the Chinese
mandarin point Of view, vulgar usurp-
ers of Tartar origin.
The royal family of Italy must also
be included in list of newly made
place-holders. Their tenure Of the
crown of united Italy dates from 1861,
when Victor Emmanuel H., King of
Sardinia, assumed it, Prior to that
Victor was the king only of small
territory, which, i'll turn, his ancestor
had secured by exchange for Sicily,
of which he was previously king. Be-
fore that Victor Amadeus was mere
ly Duke of Savoy. The rise of the
Savoy family from obscure dukedom
to the crown of one Of the great pow
ers is one of the phenomena of his
tory, and appeals greatly to the ina
gination.
When it was announced that Queen
Wilhelmina of Holland would marry
Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-S chwerin
opinion generally regarded it as an
act of condescension on the part of
her majesty. The German princely
family, on their part, regarded it as
no small condescension for one of
their stock to unite himself with SO
comparatively modern a royal family
as that Of Holland For, while the
Mecklenbu.gs trace their descent to
Genseric the Vandal, who rayaged the
Western Empire in the fifth century,
the Dutch royal family of Orange only
assumed the title of King and royal
rank in. 1915. Before that the Orange
position was that Of stakeholder, a
kind of presidential Office only.
Much is heard of the glories of the
Hohenzollern family, of which Will
~. TT - +bo Drovoi1iDp ornament