The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-02-05
RISE OF MONARCHS
Row Some Of Them Gained The(
Lofty Places.

Lofty FlACeA.
The dynastic troubles of the kingdorla
Of Servia, settled for the time being by
the accession of King Peter, are merela
the continuance Of struggle between
swineherds. Both the founder of the
present dynasty. Karageorge. and d
the late dynasty, Hilosh Obrenovitcn.
before their entry into the realm o.
high politics ministered t. Ole needs
Of the humble porker. and 3slae only
80 recently as the beginning of the su6
century.
Somewhat more distinguished, bu0oy
no means august. is the lineage Of the
king Of Sweden, Oscar H. His line
goes no further back than 1918. d.
Marshal Bernadotte. one of Nnpoleon'e
henchmen. who was jumped into th&
Swedish throne by his master on the
dethronement Of Gustavus ~
The throne Of Bulgaria is. Of coursG
Of modern origin. Only in 1887 die
the present prince Ferdinand of %
burg, ascend the throne on the abdicn-
ton Of Alexander Of Hesse. both entire
foreigners to Bulgaria.
King Leopold of Belgium is al al
mirable and popular monarch. but his
royal line only comes down from 1881
when his father. prince Of SAKE
Coburg. was nominated king Of the
newly formed state of Belgium.
Newer still is the origin of the roya@
family Of Greece. as only in 1868 did
the present dynasty assume powesa
without having ever had the remotest
political connection with their subjects.
The present King George of Greece Is
the first king Of his race ane is the
son Of the king Of Denmark. In 1868
the Greeks We're without Il monarch
and almost unanimously elected for the
post Prince Alfred OF sireat Britain.
the last Duke of Saxe-Coburg. The
position was not. however. selected for
him by his august parents. and 50 the
throne passed over the then Prince
George OF Sleswick- Holsten
For an empire that dates back far be-
fore the Christian err. whose civiliza-
ton is thousands eff years elder than
our own. the Chinese dynasty Is little
more than a modern upstart. for tho
Using family, who mold sway atPres-
ent, only came into power in 1643 and
were. from the Chinese mandarin point
Of view. vulgar usurpers of Tartar ORR
gin.
The royal family Of Italy must also
1~a al, I1r1 to-, tot ~1f y1xv
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 a small territory.
which in turn his ancestor had secured
by exchange for Sicily. Of which he
was previously king. Before that Vic
tor Amadeus was merely Duke Of Sa-
voy. The rise Of the Savoy family
from obscure dukedom to the crown Of
one Of the great powers Is one OF the
phenomena Of history and appeals
greatly to the Imagination.
When it was announced that Queen
Wilhelmina of Holland would marry
Duke Henry Of Mecklenburg-S chwerin
opinion generally regarded it as IN net
Of condescension OH the part Of her
majesty. The German princcly family.
In their part. regarded it rs no small
condescension for one of their stock to
unite himself with SO conn ara lively
modern a royal f.,i.l..y, as that of Hoi-
land. for. while. the M:cklenhurgs
trace their descent to Genseric the VAN
dial. who ravaged the western empire
in the fifth century. tho Dutc!, royal
family of Orange only assumed the IT,
tie of king and royal 70 nix In 1916. Be-
fore that the Orange position was that
OF stadt holder. kind of presidential
office only.
Much is heard of the glories Of the
Hohenzollern family. of which William
II. is the prevailing ornament. but only
in 1901 did the family attain kingiy
rank. having previously held the OBJ
scure position Of margraves Of Bran
denburg. obtained originally by pur.
chase in the fifteenth century. AS every.
body knows. the Hohenzollerns only
rose to imperial rank as German em.
perors after the war with France in
1871. 1t is Of course only to the credit
Of the Hohenzolierns that they have 80
raised themselves in the world and are.
therefore. self made monarchs, but 1t
Is only fair TO say that the majority of
the obscure princes Of Germany coulO
give them points in the matter Of line
Weekly.