Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

10 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

[No title]

LONDON COBBESPONDENOE. |

SEVERE GALE.

BURNING OF THE BRITISH MONARCH.

rHE EPIDEMIC OF INFLUENZA.

PETROLEUM SHIP ON FIRE-

DEATH OF EMPRESS AUGUSTA.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

DEATH OF EMPRESS AUGUSTA. Influenza has claimed another illustrious victim. The Empress Augusta died of inflammation of the lungs, following an attack of influenza, at half-past four on Tuesday afternoon, at the age of 78. All hopes of saving her life were abandoned at an early hour on Tuesday morning. Her grandson, the Emperor, and the Empress Augusta Victoria, and all the Royal princes who were in Berlin, assembled at her bedside. The hoisting of the Imperial Standard half-mast high on the Palace announced the sad news to the dense and sympathetic crowds outside the Palace. The Empress Frederick and her daughters left Rome on Wednesday for Berlin. The news of her Majesty's death was received everywhere with great regret, even in Paris, where her love of French litera- ture and her efforts to soften the lot of the con- quered after the great war of 1870, were known and appreciated. Marie Louise Augusta Catherine, German Empress, Queen of Prussia, and Duchess of Saxony, whose de- mise is recorded above, was born on the 30th of Sep- tember, 1811. She was the eldest daughter of the late Grand Duke Charles Frederick of Saxe-Weimar, who died in the summer of 1853, and of the Grand Duchess Marie Paulovna of Russia, a daughter of the murdered Czar, Paul Petrovich I., and was nearly seven years the senior of her brother, the reigning Grand Duke Charles Alexander. Before she had com- pleted her 18th year, being at that time equally renowned throughout Europe for her beauty and her piety, she espoused Prince William of Prussia, the beir presumptive to the Prussian throne and one of the handsomest men of his day. His Royal High- ness was the second son of Frederick William III., and his elder brother, the Crown Prince of Prussia (after- wards Frederick William IV.), was also a man of splendid physique, whose early marriage, however, had hitherto proved childless, and was considered likely to remain so. Prince William's union to the Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar was the result of family arrangements, prompted by reasons of State rather than of mutual inclination. It was celebrated with extraordinary pomp on June 11, 1829, at Berlin; and a tournament was held in honour of the youthful bride, upon whom the soubri- quet of The White Rose had been bestowed by German chivalry of that period. Amongst the knights who for three days held the lists on her be. half against all comers was her stately husband, the gallant Prince William, who 31 years later succeeded to his brother's crown, subsequently became German Emperor, and died, at the great age of 90, to be fol- lowed to the grave two years afterwards by the august lady who so long shared his throne. Only two children were born of the marriage: the German Crown Prince, afterwards Frederick III., Emperor and King, our Princess Royal's consort, and the Princess Louise, wedded at the age of 17 to the reigning Grand Duke of Baden; The late Empress, like the lamented Russian Czarina Marie Alexandrovna, her niece by marriage, devoted the greater portion of her life to works of charity and benevolence, and was deeply, though unob- trusively, religious. She was the patroness of schools, hospitals, refuges for the homeless poor, soup kitchens, and philanthrophic institutions without number in every part of the Prussian realm, and gave her per- sonal attention, as well as her pecuniary support, most freely and generously to all sorts of charitable undertakings. Her loss will be deeply felt throughout Germany, more especially by the poorer classes, to whom she was a faithful friend and judicious pro- tectress. The daily life of the Empress during the last few years was very regular, and in some respects even monotonous. When she was in Berlin she daily took an hour's drive through the Thiergarten to the Bellevue Castle, where she alighted, and walked for about a quarter of an hour in an enclosed part of th) park, which was laid out as a garden and surrounded by high hedges of firs. On her return she receive.' people of rank or representatives of charitable institu- tions. In the even ns? only a few persons were with her, and thers was either reading or music, and by nine all was quiet. The greater part of the year she was away from Berlin-Baden Baden, Ccblenz, or the Castle of Babelsberg being her favourite resi- 1 dences. At Coblenz, from the time when she was Princess of Prussia, she devoted all her time to charit- able institutions without distinction of rank or con- fession, and therefore she was most popular in the Rhineland. Eight grandchildren and nine great- grandchildren in the reigning Hou?°s of Prussia, Baden, and Sweden mourn her loss. The remains of the late Empress Augusta have been embalmed, and Professors von Werner and Plockhorst have taken sketches of the mortuary chamber for pictorial enlargement. On Thursday night, after a second religious service, the body was to be removed to the Palace Chapel. From there it will be taken to the mausoleum at Chariottenburg. The Prince of Wales, the Cezarowitch, and the Prince of Naples may, as well as the Empress Frederick, attend the funeral. It was rumoured on Wednesday that Prince Bismarck would go to Berlin, but as he did not attend the funerals even of the Emperors William and Frederick it is not likely that he will risk a long journey at this time of the year. The Emperor has received messages of condolence from all parts of the world, including one from the Queen. Tho Queen has been pleased to command that the Court shall be in mourning for four weeks from Wednesday for her late Imperial Majesty the Empress- Queen Augusta of Germany and Prussia, The Court mourning, therefore, which would have terminated on Thursday, the 23rd inst., will be prolonged to Wednesday, Feb. 5. The Court will change the mourning for her late Imperial Majesty on Wednesday, the 22r.d inst. -U'

ENGLAND AND PORTUGAL.

DESTRUCTION OF A THEATRE,

IOVERWHELMED BY AN AVALANCHE.