Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 July 1878 — Anecdotes of Victor Emmanuel. [ARTICLE]

Anecdotes of Victor Emmanuel.

After the first fervent outburst of affectionate reminiscences which succeeded the death of Victor Emmanuel the Italians began patiently to gather up all the details of his life, and the result is now given in enduring form. One of these histories, made by an inhabitant ot the Valley d’Aosta, recounts many anecdotes of his life among the simple mountaineers of that region. They illustrate the amiable character of the King, and the readiness with which he dispensed with court eeremohies wherever the cares of State permitted him to escape from them. One year, during the life of the Queen, he went thither with her and with his children. While he was standing one morning at the door of the house in which they were staying a peasant woman arrived with a basket of eggs. The King helped her lift the basket from her head, and gave her a piece of money which was more than equal to the value of the eggs. But still the woman did not appear satisfied, and said that before returning she would be glad to see the King. “ But lam the King.” “ Never!” said the woman, injher mountain patois, and with a burst of laughter. “Do you think I will believe that a beautiful woman like the Queen would marry such an ugly man as you?” The King laughed and went in to relate the anecdote. The rough mountaineers, a proud and heroic stock, who, notwithstanding their loyalty, preserved their independence, sometimes addressed him with as much freedom as if he had been one of themselves. “ Pay attention, you stupid creature,” said a guide to him one day when the King crossed a perilous place on the mountain pass without sufficient care. But the King laughed and. took no offense. Another time some of the inhabitants, knowing that the King would pass a certain place, waited there in order to give a petition into his own hands. They thought that, as the priest always went last in the procession, the King would do so also, and let him pass on, giving their petition into the hands of the dog-keeper, who was gayly dressed in livery. They did not know for some time of the mistake they had made, but the following year, when the King passed that way, they gathered around him and begged him to drink from their flask of wine. The King drank, and the flask is now preserved in some cabin as a precious relies— Rome Cor. N. Y. Evening Post.