The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-08-28

views
Anne. however. having lost her chill
dren, and. entertaining a most cordial
dislike of that distant Hanoverian cousin
who was to succeed her. turned a deaf
ear to these proposals. and gradually
people grew 10 forget that there Fad
ever been such a thing as British En-
peror. To what an extent Il passed out
Of remembrance is shown by the fact
that when Lord Beaconsheld proclaimed
Queen Victoria Empress Of India, neither
he. nor any one else. apparently. recalled
the fact that her predecessors on the
throne had been Emperors and Empress
es, and It was universally taken for
granted that the imperial dignity that
she had assumed was brand-new one
In fact the caricatures Of the day pre-
scented comparisons between the ancient
kingly crown Of England and the wholly
new imperial crown with which the Queen
had become invested as Empress Of India;
and il is known that while this vener-
able sovereign, 50 sagacious IN other mat
tiers, showed an almost clSldish salts
faction in being promoted TO the rank
OF Empress. yet that she was keenly
mortified by the newness OF her imperial
dignity and by the fact that it was re-
sTicted to the Indian portion OF her do
minions.
Grateful as she was 20 BeaconsheId
for securing the passage Of an act Of
Parliament investing her with the new
I imperial crown OF India. her obligations
TO him would have been a hundredfold
Nrr-n cra huH he tel 81 ,1ar~~
| into English history. and. after discover
ing in its pages that the Anglo-saxon
rulers Of England. as well as their Nor
man. Plantagenet and Tudor successors.
were all possessed Of the imperial dig
nifty. had merely contented himself with
the revival Of this ancient title OF the
English sovereigns. and had thus invested
her with an ir4periaI crown. which would
not have been the newest, but the oldest
in Europe
For the imperial crowns now IN exist
enee are relatively modern. That Of the
German Emperor only dates from the
year 1870. and is OF a much more honor
ary character than that Of George Y
would be. For William II Is Kaiser. as
/ president Of a confederation Of sovereign
states, and their rulers. who are willing
1 10 recognize him as their most powerful
I ally. absolutely decline 10 acknowledge
/ him as suzerain. and openly resent any
! thing that they can construe as an as
sumption on his part in that direction.
King Georges suzerainty. nay more. his
! personal sovereignty. is, on the other
the length and breadth Of the immense
British empire, which embraces a. quar-
! ter OF the area Of the known earth, and a
/ afth Of the entire human race.
! The Austrian empire as now consti-
I tuted dates only from 1906. It has moth
I ing In common with the former Holy
RoFan empire Of Germany. which was
brought 20 an end by Napoleon. and an
obstacle was placed in the way OF its
revival. by the Emperors OF Austria, in
a litte-know cause. which the late Prince
! Bismarck inserted in the treaty OF peace
OF Nlkolsburg. after the close OF the war
/ OF 1856, binding down the rulers Of Aus
tria never TO Eesume the title Of En-
peror OF Germany, or 10 attempt 20 ex-
/ ercise suzerainty oyer any German states
Il is perfectly tr4e that the crown OF
4 Charlemange. formerly used 10 crown
the Emperors Of Germany, Is preserved
among the regalia OF the Austrian i'm
( perial house at Vienna But no Austrian
Emperor would ever dream OF having
/ himself crowned Herewith. Indeed. It's
use for such a purpose would be regard
ed at Berlin as so grave an affront, as
70 almost constitute a casus beIH.
The rulers Of Russia have been En-
/ perors only since 1870 when Vassln as
sumed that title, his predecessors having
/ been known as Great Dukes Of AIuscovy.
/ II is a mistake TO believe that there IS
any relation between the Roman word
/ Caesar" and the title Of Car The
latter IS an old slavonic word, the true
! translation Of which is either lord or
prince"
]
I