TRAGEDIES OF ROYALTY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 395, 2 January 1909, Page 3

TRAGEDIES OF ROYALTY.

VICTIMS OF JEALOUSY, INTRICUE, / AND CRIME. BY LADY VIOLET GREVILLE. Tragedies! ' The whole of the history of Royal houses is full of tragedy. ' Girl-p'rin-cesses, treated as pawns ill the game of politics, sent away sometimes almost as babies, into a . foreign land; handed over to the tender - mercies of cruel husbands, unfeeling mothers, indifferent Courts, married against their will, coerced, flung about from one. suitor to another like mere, chattels...: ■ The story of princesses is steeped in pathos and misery. One of the most romantic and saddest of medieval tragedies was that of Blanche de Bourbon, sister of, the Queen of France, espoused for State reasons when only fifteen, .a beautiful, slender, pathotic.young figure, to Don Pedro the; Cruel, King of Castile: She had passed a/happy childhood in, , sunny Provence,. in the old fortress of Narbonne by the sea, but the fame ,of her wicked spouse, who was said to fear neither God nor man, had already reached her young ears, and when informed of her intended marriage, she flung herself on her .bed and lay there for three days, speechless and weeping. / _ However, a father's word was law in those times, and 'the' shrinking girl was fprcedf to acquiesce.' The King himself did not come; to claim her K but his brother, Don Fadique, a very handsome, fair-headed gentleman, soft of manner, and manly of bearing, was sent to represent him., - . _ .... , When Blanche beheld him, her sympathy went out.':to ; him, at once.;. Here, was a man after-her own'heart; attired in the. splendid, robes of liis Order, for, he was Grand Master of Santiago, gracious, kindly, and splendH.: She was married.to him by proxy, learnt to trust' and love him,; and , spent a. few happy days in his company, during 7 the jonrney'to Talladolid,'where she was to meet, her husband the ;King._ There in the' gloomy city, in the old Gothic palace, she sat trembling, fearing with an agonising fear her terrible husband, who on his/part had' only unwillingly and with the worst of grace accepted the briae ; imposed on him for political reasons by his Prime Ministor. ... ' \ Floutod, Neglected, Insulted. 1 ■ At-.their first meeting he scarcely spoke to her, stared rudely at her piteous- white face .under the. crown of jewels,, and turned away angrily. He was in the worst of tempers all that day,-and not deigning to seem interested in the-splendid scene before him, the tournament, the; jousting,, the valiant knights, or his brother's prowess. Perhaps he noted Blanche's: admiring, gaze fixed on Don ;Fadique, ' perhaps with the jealous suspicion of. a .Spaniard,-, he divined.-the. reason of- her 'terror, ,- suffice it, .'from -that, moment, he; flouted, neglected,: and! insulted her. . : -■ .'Scarcely-was the" .wedding 'feast' at an : end; than lie sent for his Prime Minister,' Cardinal ;■ Albuquerque,': and • him that he 'would,;have to 4p with the wife: he had'procured : him,..- ''Besides, sko loves my brother," he added viciously-; In his unreasoning fury, the King was-im'-, possible; to . guide, Albuquerque's arguments'; were -Vain, ■ he was 'dismissed, and; Don Pedro, • after;.a,mock' trial for. her, supposed infidelity,., sent' the innocent Blanche off with. a' strong: escort as prisoner to the fortress of Talavera-la-Beina, not far- from .ToledoV Then, .with studied cruelty, Don Pedro lured-'his brother back to Seville, and while seated'' on. the Caliph's throne in the Alcazar, • accused him' of'treason, and ordered'his'guards-, to arrest him.V.' '. 1 1;"- ■' : Don Fadique drew-his sword and defended himself bravely, but, lib:was overmastered and 'hacked; to 1 ; death in the presence' of-his. ,brijthor' and,'of';his vengeful /mistress Donna Maria'.di Padilla. > ■ • After a time.Blanche escapcd .'from her prison, and took.sanctuary atloledo, whore another brother of Don Pedro ;had raised the standard ..of revolt.. But Pedro was thestronger;: lie re-took .Toledo, 1 -' and. poor Blanche, seized, just when' she' had believed herself within, sight \of freedom, was hurried fnr: awav : to the .Castle of, Xerxes. ' There, she.remained,' thin,: pale,- and changed, bowed; in' figure, her. hair . sprinkled with .grey, though;, a girl - only: jh years, - dreading; yet welcoming, .death, , . , , • Enter the Executioner. : One day a hideous , figure appeared at the door, completely, .shrouded in black, no ,features \ visible,'.oven, bis eyes v '.'only looked through harrow slits of. drapery; in one hand 1 he , bora -a; torch',, iii his other, something hidden.ijndor his cloak. - : ''■/ : . ■ Blanche shrieked:-,wildly. .'-It'.is,the- oxeeu-!-tion'er(... .The priest who : accompanies him, exhorts her to be calm. "I am but eighteen,".- she' cries, - '.'and-' I am about to die, a virgin as I have, lived. The crown which' was put on my head was one of sorrow. I hope to find a-better in another world;" ' .. After this appeal -she-' bowed her head) -and the executioner strangled her with a : bowstnng.'' ' ; Thus -'ended the short and unhappy life of Blanche .of Bourbon. louth.was no; guarantee.'of immunity: in those 'days. , Sweet .and gentle "Lady Jane Grey,' murmuring sbftly, the - words of her. Greek Testament, placid: and, resigned; laid her.head:on.the..;block-in the Tower.-:yard. Even Anne.Boleyn expiated her; brief, reign of happiness'rindei; the executioner's axe. To be a; Queen meant to be exposed to greater misery,; and; greater dahjger than fell to the lot of other women. .--. ! The wife' of George I of Great Britain, the beautiful ' Sohpiß. ; Dorothea,'- married young against'her 'will, to' a man-who systematically neglected -' ill-used 'her,': when ! tired : of | loneliness and,misery,' turned-to tlie one man ' who adored her, the handsome and attrac- - jtive .'Count.-Konigsmarck.,, ; She. has left us the legacy, of hei' passionate for ' Queens even - are human, and must feel .the' ordinary emotions of womankind. : ' r . The: letters tell of her wonderful love, ber faithfulness, and her dbspair. vßetrayed by spies, , her .lover was treacherously murdered, a'nid - she. expiated lier sin i with thirty-two '•years ~of. captivity ' in the "dreary solitude of Ahlden; Castle, a :longer .and: more'' rigorous': imprisonment,than,that of,Mary.Stuarfa.-, She' was a victim. of' ; Court' intrigues' at., a. time, when ; morals were' universally:: lax,: and her husband's -'.mistresses flaunted 1 their presence ppenly. Beautiful, imprudent, andunfortunate, . she .became the mother- of George land of :the Queen of. Prussia. \ Napoleon's inccnstanoy. ; Josephine, the charming breole, the wife of i the great Napoleon, had her life .tragedy, too. Murders were not: so' common in her day, divorces and. banishment took their •-place. Her history,, however, full of , the •surprises' and dramatic incidents, was as, romantic as any medieval , story. When a beautiful young girl: she was married to the yicomte-;de Beauhirnais; who was executed in the prisons of the French Revolution. . She herself, with Madame Tallien,' famous for her beauty, and Madame Daiguillon, was cellfin the Convent of the Carmes, where the massacres; ofthe priests took place j beside her "lay-the airless and dismal dungeon of General Hoche, in frijnt;. of . her'.window the garden ..where: . the priests: were hacked to death. . On, the wall she', has. left a passionate ode • to " .liberty scrawled and signfed by "Josephine." The. one sonly real love, of the . great .'conqueror,,NapoleonJ'fsacrificed' her ha'ppmoss and his to the'supposed advantage of his Empire.'. ; Josephine, [the v charmer, the wife of his heart,- the woman to whom be had writteh the most ardent phd .fiery of love-letters.'-to whom he had pardoned.all the little',follies,, faults, and 'extravagancies •' of- the ''spoilt adored-one, who Was always amiable' always affectionate,. who|_had been crowned • beside, him, and shared, jris glory and his splendour, . this-twoman, 'after a thousand scenes of',despair 'arid regrot, of warm reproaches, and tender assurances, he divorced for. the Grand Duchess pf Austria!, It was said of tlio two, "Napoleon gains (the battles).: Josephine wins the hearts." Anel it was: in her/heart, her i amour propre, and her feminine desire for love, that ner -life'made, shipwreck. . . Broken Lives. '- -■ • Coming : nearer.jto our own days, we may romember.' the* stately 1 Empress of Austria/ with her blue'ej'®, her splendid,figure, her masses of auburn hair, so luxuriant that they weighed down: hen small classical head, so full of life and energy! such a rider, such' a glorious woman—Struck down suddenly by the assaßsiii's kniforhk ;80n, Crown Prince RiidoluK dying by. Ma own hand beside the ,

lovely 'girl he adored-so madly, and leaving no explanation of the terrible deed, no message, to the living, a mystery of horror, even, now scarcely unravelled. The tragedy of tho miserable King and Queen of Servia, with : its ■ accessoriesof' medieval barbarity, the 'corpses' of the King and Queen being thrown out into the street; like that of Jesebel, for the dogs,to lick their bloody all the accompanying circumstances of brutality and horror, which made such an impression at-the time on the minds of lawabiding people. Finally,'the long-drawn-out urihappiness of the aged ex-Empress Eugenie,: the beauty of one of 'the; most brilliant Courts of Europe, her hurried'flight'from Paris,'her decadence from Royalty, her widowhood, and the melancholy tragedy of the Prince Imperial's death,enough to. break' any woman's heart, one would fancy, and yet she livess, a poetic, dignified figure in her old age. Tragedies, indeed, they fill the lives of,royalty, they stamp it with the mark of suffering,'they raise the, ordinal? woman to the rank of martyr, they idealise a memory through " centuries,' they 6reate a legend, they form a crowd of .undying glory to the feeble, the erring, and-the unhappy. ' ' \