Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 254, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 October 1911 — GUPID IS WEAK WHEN POLITICS ARE INVOLVED [ARTICLE]

GUPID IS WEAK WHEN POLITICS ARE INVOLVED

Story of a Royal Courtship Published After Many Years. - HEARTS ALWAYS TRUE Berlin—(Special)—The touching story of the romantic attachment of the Emperor William I for Princess Eliza Radziwlll when he was a young man and she a girl, and of the obstacle* that arose to. prevent their union is related in detail in a book just written by Dr. Bruno Honnlg. The stern necessities of politics cast a cloud oter these two young lovers and compelled Prince Wiliam, as he then was, to desert the girl he loved, to contract a union based on prudence Instead of personal inclination. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, Prussia had absorbed a portion of the ancient kingdom of Poland and was engaged in the difficult task, still only imperfectly accomplished, of assimilating the conquered Poles, who regarded their Gerpian masters with repiignance. The hopes of Prussia in those days were largely centered in Prince Antony Radziwill, one of the Polish magnates who accepted Prussian supremacy over his' native land in a friendly spirit and married Princess Louise, a niece of Frederic the Great, after which he was appointed viceroy of Prussian Poland with his seat of government at Posen. His real home, however, was in Berlin and it was here that his daughter, Princess Eliza, who as Hohenzollern on the maternal side, associated freely with the Prussian royal family, met Prince William, the second son of the reigning King Frederic William HI. Prince William and Princess Eliza grew up from childhood together and it Was not until 1820, when he was 23 and she three years younger, that toHr friendship ripened into love. Tlie first words oY love spoken were at i picnic to the forest* around Berlin at which Prince Anthony and jjjrtnceSß RadziWill and the King'* remaining children, the Crown Prince, PriUflo Charles and. Princess Alexanayjrwere also present. “Dear, deai wrote little Princess Eliza to her friend, Countess Stosch, “how happy, how supremely happy I was out in th* *oods with William.’’ > During the nett tWo years, the young couple saw one another constantly but a shadow had fallen across their happiness, owing to the degree of difference in their respective ranks, which constituted a bar to their marriage. When Princess Eliza’s mother, a Hohenzollern princess, married Prince Radziwill, her inferior in birthright, she descended to his ranks and their children were not royal princes and princesses but merely the descendants of a Polish noble family, with royal blood In their veins. A marriage between Prince William and Princess Eliza would thus have been a morganatic union and the right of their children to inherit the Prussian throne would, according to the “house tows” of the Hohenzollern dynasty, have been open to doubt. The question was raised whether Princess Eliza could not be raised to the rank of ‘‘royad bigness” either by the King of Prussia or by the Czar, and the two lovers went through an anxious time, which extended into several year! while this matter remained undecided. There were long periods of ration, due to Prince William's duties In different parts of the country, and after a reunion following one.of them. Princess Eliza wrote to her friend: — “It was a sad and sorrowful time, but we found consolation in’our love. We understand each other perfectly; there is no doubt, no uncertainty. The evening before his departure for Teplitz William spent at our house. We sat In the garden till midnight and we were able to talk alone there without attracting any attention. We talked only as brother and sister but he spoke to me so earnestly, so beautifully, without any hint of selfish love that I could, not repress my tears. Inthls short time he has become dearer to me than ever before and I am determined that whatever may happen I will remain faithful to him and keep the love for him tn my heart.” After thia the young lovers’ hopes again ran high. The question of Princess Eliza's elevation to royal rank whs being investigated, and in Berlin an engagement was - already spoken of. Then, however, the blow fell. One day the King visited Princess Eliza’s family in Silesia. “My knees trembled beneath me,” she wrote to her friend, “as the King approached me, gave me his hand, and embraced me as usual.” The day passed, the evening meal was eaten, and still the King spoke no word on the subject which was canning Princess Eliza’s heart to beat so painfully beneath her white dress. Finally the King took his departure after kissing Eliza and pressing her hand in silence. As the King left the room, Princess Eliza burst Into tears. The Crown Prince and Prince Carl, who were both present, pressed her hand in silent sympathy, and there is no doubt that the .whole royal family Mt keenly for the young princess. Then followed three years of total visit Illa lady love. He was eWMBIw alt Med to accompany a homo rooming Russian grqnd ducal pair as far as dwm<iMoM<« Home mfnd. Ilh toto. we,”;• After thros ' of uadtow MtarAr lovers. FW dccM