"THE WOMAN WHO CHANGED THE MAP OF EUROPE."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 265, 18 March 1911, Page 10

"THE WOMAN WHO CHANGED THE MAP OF EUROPE."

KING AND SINGER. The recent deposition of King .Manuel of Portugal and the events of the young King's life which led up to it bring, says the "Literary Digest," back most vividly the story of Elise Hensler, the American girl who married a. king and became the Countess Edla. Fifty years ago she lived in Springlield, .Mass., and her father was a very insignificant tailor. The tailor's daughter, however, married Don Ferdinand of Portugal, a great-grandfather of

King Manuel. One reads that: The Honslers were humble people and lived simply. The daughters, Elise and Louise, were well received here and were

I given a good education, especially Elise, : who had quite a remarkable voice. [ Signor Guidi, an Italian, at the time a well-known teacher of the voice, took an interest in Elise, and it was when Signor Guidi went to Boston that the Henslers went there, largely through his influence. He believed that Elise had a future as a singer, and wished her to be where he could continue teaching her. Ulise Hensler, after her removal with her family to Boston, continued her studies. She was perseverent in hor work anil progressed so well that she not only appeared in concerts in the large cities of this country, but also in Europe, where she sang before Royalty. It was while singing at Lisbon, several years after the death of Queen Maria, that King Ferdinand heard her voice and felt the attraction that led him to marry her. Ferdinand was the titular King of Portugal, having been the second husband of Queen Maria 11. of Portugal. Ferdinand married Maria in 1836, when he was twenty. The Queen died in 1863, and he was regent during the minority of his son, Pedro V., who was the father of the assassinated King Carlos, and grandfather of the deposed King Manuel. The regency ended in 1855, 'and on June 10, 1889, he married Miss Hensler.

When the European Powers decided the time had come to restore Spain to a monarchy, following the overthrow of the short Republic, which existed from 1873 to 1875, considerable pressure was brought to bear upon Ferdinand to induce him to accept the vacant throne. But his wife could never be Queen of Spain, and it is possible that this fact alone induced him to refuse.

The absolute refusal on his part to accept the throne of Spain, with all the pomp and splendor of royalty, in exchange for the romantic life that he was living with his morganatic wife, had farreaching consequences. The complications and jealousies on the attempt to find a King acceptable to all the Powers helped to bring on the Franco-Prussian war, and Alsace and Lorraine went back to Germany, whence they had been wrested by Napoleon Bonaparte. In consequence of these peculiar historical facts, which geographically practically hanged all western Europe, Elise Hensler, Countess Edla, became famous throughout the world as "the woman who changed the map of Europe." During the life of the King they lived in the beautiful castle of Cintra. It is eertam that their life was above reproach In 1886 the King died, and after that the Countess lived in retirement in a cottage near the eastle.

Some of her Springfield schoolmates are still hvmg, for she was one of the early pupils of Ariel Parish in the high school, which stood on the site of the present police buildings in Court-street liie name appears in a catalogue of the alumni issued in 1857, properly spelled Wise though she was known to her schoolmates as Eliza, If she is still I'vmg, she is about seventy-four yaars