ANECDOTES OF ROYAL PERSONAGES.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 8, Issue 28, 5 April 1907, Page 8

ANECDOTES OF ROYAL PERSONAGES.

Louis XL, of France, was so fearful o' death that, as often as it came into hu physician's head to threaten iiir.i will; death, he put money into his hands to pacify him; and his physician is ?aid to have get 55,000 crowns from him in five months

Constantinh the Great, in order to reclaim a miser, took a lance, and marked out a space of ground of the size of the human body, and said to him, " Add heap to heap, accumulate riches upon riches, extend the bounds of your possessions, conquer the whole world, and in a Ksw days such a spot as this will be all you will have." It is remembered as one of the liberal axioms ofGeorge 111. that " no British subject is by necessity excluded from the peerage." Consistently with this sentiment, he once checked a man of high rank, who lamented that a very good speaker in the court of Aldermen was 08' a mean trade, by saying, " What signifios a man's trade ? A man of any honest trade may make himself respectable if he will." Henry IV., of Franoo, was standing one day with some of his courtiers at the en trance of a village, and a poor man passing by bowed down to the very ground ; and the king, with great condescension, returned his salutation just in the same manner. At this one of his attendants ventured to express his surprise, when the monarch finely replied to him—" Would you have your king exceeded in politeness by one of the lowest of his subjects ?" Peter the Great made a law, in 1722, that if any nobleman boat or ill-treated his slaves, lie should be looked upon as insane, and a guardian should be appointed to take care of his person and of his estate. Peter once struck his gardener, who, being a man of great sensibility, took to his bed, and died in a few days. The Czar, hearing of this, exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, "Alas! I have ;ivilized my own subjects: I have conquered other nations : yet I have not been able to civilise or to conquer myself." ' ' ' .When Edward IV. declared war against Louis XL of France he addressed his Parliament in an able speech, which concluded with the following impressive words:— " But I detain you too long by my speech from action. I see the clouds of dire revenge gathered in your hearts, and the lightning of fury break from your eyes, which bodes thunder against our enemy ; •let us therefore lose no time, but suddenly and severely scourge this perjured court to a severe repentance, and regain honour to our nation, and his kingdom to our crown." Oliver Millard, apopular and energetic preacher of the reign of Louis XL, attacked the vices of the court in his sermons, and did not spare even the king himself, who, taking offence at it, sent the priest word that if he did not change his tone, he would have him thrown into the Seine. "The king," replied Oliver, "is the master, to do what he pleases ; but tell him that I shall reach Paradise by water sooner than he will with his post-horses." (The establishment of travelling post was instituted by Louis XL) The bold answer at once amused and intimidated the king, for he let the priest continue to preach as he pleased, and what he pleased, _ When a prince of the blood royal of France disgraced himself, by committing robbery and murder in the street of Paris. Louis XV. would not grant apardon, though eagerly solicited to do so by a deputation from the Parliament of Paris, who tried him and suspended their sentence until the royal pleasure should be known. "My lords and counsellors," said the king, "return to your chamber of justice, ana promulgate your decree." " Consider," said the first president, " that the unhappy prince has your majesty's blood in his veins." " Yes," said the king, " but the blood has become impure, and justice demands that it should be let out; nor would I spare my own son for a crime, for which 1 should be bound to condemn the meanest of my subjects." The prince was executed on the scaffold in the court ol the Grand Chatelet on the 12th of Aug., 1729 One of the favourites of King Henry V., when Prince of Wales, having been indicted for some misdemeanour, was condemned, nothwithstanding all the interest he could make in his favour; and the Prince was so incensed at the issue of the trial that he struck the judge on the bench. This magistrate, whose name was Sir William Gascoign, acted'with a spirit becoming his character. He instantly ordered the Prince to be committed to prison ;and young Henry, sensible by this time of the insult he had offered to the laws of his country, suffered himself to be quietly conducted to gaol by the officers of justice. The king, Henry IV., who was an excellent judge of mankind, was no sooner informed of this transaction, than he cried out, in a transport of joy, " Happy Is the king who has a magistrate possessed of courage to execute the laws, and still more happy in having a son who will submit to such chastisement." ,ss ! ■'■'<'■ ■?,'■'{' vfC 'V Philip the Third,'of Spain, was gravely seated by a fireside, Where the firemaker of his court had kindled so great a quantity of wood that the monarch was nearly suffocated with heat, and his grandeur would not suffer him to rise from the chair, and the domestic!-: could not presume to enter the apartment, because it was against the etiquette. At length the Marquis de Posa appeared, and the king ordered him to damp the fires ; but he excused himself, alleging that he was forbidden by the etiquette to perform such a function, for which the Duke d'Usseda ought to be called upon, as it was his business. The Marquis departed, the lire burned with increasing fierceness, and the king endured it rather than derogate from his dignity; but his blood was heated to such a degree that an erysipelas of the head appeared next clay, which, succeeded by a violent fever, carried him off in 1621, in the twenty-fourth yearol his age. -, A . RELATIVE HEIGHT AND WEIGHT OF MEN. It is well that all persons should know what the normal weight of man really is. The following shows the relative height and weight of individuals measuring 5 feet and upwards:— 5 feet r inch should be 120 lb.; 5 feet v: inches should be 126 lb.; 5 feet 3 inches jihould be 133 lb.; 5 feet 4 inches, should be 136 lb.; 5 feet 5 inches should be i.)2 lb.; 5 feet G inches should be 145 lb.; 5 feet 7 inches should be 148 lb.; 5 feet 8 inches should be 155 lb.; 5 feet 9 inches should be 162 lb.; 5 feet 10 inches should be 160 lb.; 5 feet 11 inches should be 174 lb.; 6 feet should be 178 lb. MEDICINAL VALUE OF LEMONS. To get the better of the bilious system without blue pills or quinine take the juice of one, two, or three lemons, as appetite craves, in as much water as makes it pleasant to drink without sugar, before going to bed. In the morning, on rising, at least half-an-hour before breakfast, take the juice of one lemon in a goblet of water. This will clear the system of humour and bile wit h efficiency, without any of the weakening effects of calomel. People should not irritate the stomach by eating lemons clear; the powerful acid of the juice, which is always most corrosive, invariably produces inflammation after a while, but properly diluted, so that it does not burn or draw the throat, it does itsmedical work without harm, and, when the stomach is clear of food, has abundant opportunity to work ovjr tlw system thorough^,

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