Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

TRAGIC EMPRESS.
60 Years an Insane Widow.
With the death, which took --lace in,
Brussels of the ex-Empress Charlotte.'
of Mexico,, at the. age of 86, one of the
most tragic futures of nineteenth century
history passes from the stage (writes The'
Daily Mail). - ' '
Pnncees Charlotte, only daughter of
Leopold I., 'King of the Belgians, was a
beautiful and brilliant girl of 17— she was
born on June 7, 1840— wLen in July. 1857,
she married the Archduke Maximilian,
brother of the Emperor of Austria. The
match was a real love one, and the first
few years of the marriage were ideally
happy. The Emperor gave his brother
the Governorship of the then Austrian
province of Lombardy, but after two years
removed him from the post, partly on ac
count of Lis extravangance and partly, on
account of his too Liberal political
opinions. The young couple then retired
to their palace of Miramar, on the Adria
tic, where they would probably have Te-.
mained peacefully for the remainder of
their lives had '.the Archduke not been
offered the Crown, of Mexico. ? The ac
ceptance of the offer was due to the am-,
bitions urgiwrs of his wife end the per
suasions of Napoleon III.. wLo had sent
an -army to Mexico to gain a footing 'in'
the country and tn collect the debt owed
by Mexico to France.
Desperate Position.
The young, couple, who had previously
made a triumphant .progress: tbrougli
the court* 'of Europe,, landed at Vera
Cruz on May 28. 1864, and # the new
Emperor immediately found himBelf in a
difficult position. The' Mexicans did not
understand the strict etiquette of a Court,
and the reforms he tried to inaugurate
were never carried through.
His hold on much of 'the country was
?iVver even nominal, and rebellions broke
out with increasing frequency. But
when, under pressure from the United
States, Napoleon III. promised #to re
move all the French troops during 1866
and 1S67, the position became 'desperate
The Empress Charlotte, who, although
charitable, had shown herself unbending
and intrepid — her husband called her
'the better man of the two'— left for
Europe in 1808 to intercede for1 Kelp with
Napoleon III. But Napoleon Da. had
no intention of mixing any further ' in
the affairs of Mexico.* He put off seeing
the Empress as long as he could,- and when
he'did-see her could only inform her that
no French- troops, could remain an Mexi
can soil, and no further help could . be
rendered. ' » . . '
Before falling into a dead, faint, the
luckless woman was overheard by her
lady-in-waiting, (the Countess del Barrio)
to shout at the Emperor:— 'I ought never
to have forgotten what I am and what
you are. fought not to have forgotten
that there 'is Bourbon blood in my vein*,
and ' I shonld not have disgraced rny
descent' so far as to lower myself before
a Bonaparte, and' to have been' led away
by an adventurer.' On recovering from
her faint she already began to show rigrix
of unbalance. When the Empress Euge
nie offered her a glass of water, fine if
said to have cried out, 'Away! Away!
Poison! Murder!'' Leaving Paris, the
Empress hurried to Rome to intercede
with the King of Italy and the I'opp.
The King, received her kindly.' but J could
do nothing, and the Pope could only ofi-r
spiritual consolation. ???....
At the Pope's Head. '
At the Vatican she showed unmistakable
signs of insanity. She insisted on', appear
ing at her audience with the Pope in a hat
instead of the customary veil. The Pontiff
was at breakfast, and she dipped her finger
into his cup of chocolate, remarking, At
any rate, this can't lie' poisoned.' 8he
then seized a diBh of pastry and flung it
at his head. It is said that she insisted on
spending the night in the Vatican, and
that beds had to be hastily put up for her
and her lady-in-waiting in the library. She
was now hopelessly mad, and, after a short
stay, at Miramar, was removed to a castle
outside Brussels, which was fitted up for
her by her brother. Here she remained,
quietly insane, for the rest of her long life.
Even the Germans during the war respec
ted her seclusion and left her in peace.
Fortunately for herself, she never knew
the terrible fate .that awaited her hus
band. A few months after she went mad
he was captured by the Mexican insur.
(rents and was shot at Queretaro on June
19. 1867* He was only 34.
$