The Washington herald., 1907-07-07

at Vienna. whence the outer world de-
Fives most Of It's alleged information OF
current events in Russia, duly cooked 10
meet the requirements Of those rings OF
spectators on the stock exchanges OF
! Continental Europe who live on the ups
and downs OF Muscovite funds. we re-
ceive the intelligence that the Car has
become a convert 10 Christian Science.
and that he has accorded his spiritual
allegiance to Mrs EDDY at Concord.
/ n II. There Is probably about as much
truth in this story as in that circulated
some time ago, 20 the effect that the
Emperor was completely under the inilu-
ence Of a French spiritualist by the
name Of Philippe, whose counsels are
alleged 10 have been in a measure re-
sponsble for Russias disastrous war
with Japan.
/ Still II cannot be denied that sovereigns
of the Old World, endowed by tradition
/ and by their environment with a more or
/ less pronounced belief in the sacred char
acter OF their Office and In the semi
divinity Of certain OF their attributes. are
more prone 10 extremes in matters re-
/ lating to conscience and TO faith than
ordinary l-~-vday citizens No matter
| how modern and sensible they may be In
other respects. they all remain In
/ measure imbued with that spirit which
prompted the little dying Dauphin OF
| France to respond TO the exhortations OF
/ HIS spiritual adviser with the exclama-
tion; But one thing consoles me, Mon
sieur rAbbe. and that is that up there
in Paradise with the stars / shall still
/ be the Dauphln. ! know that the good
/ God is my cousin. and cannot fail to
/ treat me according 10 my rank.
! Although two centuries have passed
away since then, the rulers OF the earth.
as well as the princes and princesses Of
/ the blood. If they do not openly describe
/ themselves as the first cousins Of the
Almighty. are yet firmly convinced that
/ the clay out Of which they are fashioned
/ is Of a quality vastly superior to that
/ employed for the composition Of the ordi-
nary human creature. Notwithstanding
all the Spartan rigor and severity to
which they are, according TO their biog-
/ raphers. subjected In their youth. for the
purpose of dispelling any exaggerated
pride Of birth and station. they nearly all
/ Of them imagine that the rights and privi-
/ leges which they enjoy above their fell
/ l9w-Inen are Of divine origin. Some Of
/ them have sufficient tact and good sense
/ to conceal these sentiments. and to realize
I that they are not in keeping with the
spirit Of the age. Others. on the contrary,
/ do not attempt 10 disguise them and be-
/ come IN consequence, responsible for an
/ aCcelerati0n in the growth Of democracy
/ on the part Of the people among whom
/ their lot is cast This Will explain how
difficult # is for a crowned head or a
! scion OF any Of the reignlng houses TO
] take what people here would look upon
as normal view Of the current trend Of
/ thought on religious subjects
Sometimes they 60 TO one extrem~. and
/ sometimes % the other. Thus the Bar
! oness Won Krudener. after an extremely
giddy youth, turned suddenly 10 evan
/ gelism Of a mystic character and was
able to obtain so great an influence, Of a
purely religious kind, over Alexander I Of
| Russia that for several years he was en-
/ tirely subject to her sway. She lmbued
/ him with the conviction that he was Sc
! lected by Providence. through her instru-
/ mentality, to arrest the growth Of those
! revolutionary doctrines which had been
/ responsible for so much war and blood
| shed at the close Of the eighteenth CEN
/ tury, and in this way she had no difficulty
! In persuading him to organize in accord
] f1v. I
/ the so-called Holy Alliance, for the pur-
/ pose Of combating the policy Of the United
/ States and all American interests and
/ Ideas Uncle Sans response TO the Holy
| Alliance was the proclamation of the
/ Monroe doctrine. for which Nine Krude-
/ ner was thus indirectly responsible. Curl
| ously enough, the baroness, who had been
/ so bitter in her animosity against this
/ country, denouncing Il as being a hot-bed
| Of revolution, developed later on into an
/ enthusiastic champion Of the insurrec-
! ton Of Greece against the rule OF the Sui
/ tan. This led to a quarrel between herself
/ and Alexander, and TO her banishment
! and disgrace, Tor he had been taught by
/ her TO regard himself as the principal
! agent Of the Almighty for the suppression
| Of revolution Of every kind against con-
stituted authority.
/ Sometimes monarchs 20 to the other
/ extreme. Fifteen years ago King Oscar
Of Sweden startled his brother sovereiens
/ by proclaiming his belief in the Darwinian
| theory Of evolution, and expressed him
| self as content 10 accept the doctrine that
| our ancestors were not angels, but mon
/ keys He gave utterance to these sentl-
ments in discussing the great German
/ Prof Virchow's views about the gorilla,
/ declining to accept the theory that the
animal in question was descended from
man, representing the most degenerate
/ form Of the latter, and insisted that the
/ tendency Of mankind is. on the contrary.
/ Of an upward nature. OF course, this
| created CONSERVATION at most Of the Old
/ World courts, since IL was at variance
/ with the ideas expressed by most sover-
/ eigns regarding the seu!-divine origin of
| their royalty, and was also calculated 10
/ destroy their reverence for their ances-
/ tors as saints. For what becomes of St
| Louis. the canonized ancestor Of the
/ House Of Bourbon: ST. Vladimir the sim
| ilarly canonized forbear of the Cars Of
4 Russia; St Stephen. the pious King Of
/ Hungary, and all those other canonlzed
| founders Of the reigning houses. II the
Darwinian theory accepted by King Oscar
| is the correct one, and the dynasties in
| question are originally descended from
monkeys?
Some years later King Oscar, who is
universally recognized as the most INTEL
/ lectural, learned, and sensible of Old World
rulers, Joined the cult of theosophy, and
| biossomed forth as a full-hedged adherent
Of the doctrines Of which the late Nine.
| Blavatsky was one Of the most celebrated
| exponents. Theosophy is a philosophy
rather than religion. and among other
of its features is the doctrine Of relncar-
nation again and again in human bodies