656 



OBITUARIES, FOREIGN". 



fame" (1867), and "Le Fellah " (1868). In 1868 

 he joined the newly started " Gaulois," and in 

 1869 the " Soir." He was arrested by the Ger- 

 man authorities in 1872, on his estate in Lor- 

 raine, because in a newspaper article he had 

 boasted of having shot a Prussian sentry, but 

 was released by order of Prince Bismarck. Aft- 

 er the war he founded the " XlXeme Siecle " 

 in conjunction with Francisque Sarcey. In 

 1884 he was elected an Academician. He left 

 a widow and eight children. 



Abt, Iran/, a German composer, born in 

 Eilenburg, Dec. 22, 1819 ; died in Wiesbaden, 

 April 2, 1885. He was educated for the min- 

 istry. Adopting the musical profession, he 

 became conductor of choral societies at Zu- 

 rich, where he composed many part-songs. In 

 1855 he was appointed conductor of the Bruns- 

 wick Opera-House. He was a prolific com- 

 poser of songs that pleased the popular ear 

 by reason of their easy melody. 



Alexander Karageorgeviteh, Prince, of Servia, 

 born in 1815 ; died in Temesvar, May 3, 1885. 

 He was the son of Karageorg, the liberator of 

 Servia, who was murdered in 1817, and he and 

 his family pursued with their hatred the Obre- 

 novitch family because Milos Obrenovitch was 

 supposed to have instigated the murder of his 

 father. In 1842, when Michael Obrenovitch 

 was dethroned, he became Prince of Servia 

 and reigned until the Russian party restored 

 Prince Michael. When the latter was mur- 

 dered in 1868, Alexander Karageorgevitch was 

 accused of instigating the deed. His extradi- 

 tion was refused by the Austrian Government, 

 but he was tried at Pesth and sentenced to 

 eight years' imprisonment. He was pardoned 

 by the Emperor, and lived in retirement. 



Alfonso XII, King of Spain, born in Madrid, 

 Nov. 28, 1857; died at El Pardo, a royal resi- 

 dence six miles from Madrid, Nov. 25, 1885. 

 He was the eldest son of the ex-Queen Isa- 

 bella II, and was expelled from Spain with 

 his mother, whose subjects deposed her in 

 1868. He accompanied her to Paris, where he 

 resided with her for two years, when he was 

 sent to the Theresianum, or Nobleman's Acad- 

 emy, at Vienna. There he remained three 

 months, when the ex-Queen determined to ab- 

 dicate formally in her son's favor. His edu- 

 cation was continued in France and England 

 until near the close of 1874. During the in- 

 terregnum that followed Isabella's expulsion, 

 Amadeus, second son of Victor Emanuel and 

 Duke of Aosta, accepted the crown of Spain. 

 He soon became unpopular, and his reign was 

 brief. Repeated insurrections and attempts 

 at assassination followed his accession to the 

 throne, and on Feb. 11, 1873, he abdicated 

 and returned to Italy, having reigned two 

 years and two months. After nearly two years 

 of anarchy and republican rule under Figue- 

 ras, Oastelar, and Serrano, the Prince of As- 

 turias, as he was then styled, was on Dec. 29, 

 1874, proclaimed King of Spain at Valencia, 

 by Gen. Martinez Campos. A few days later, 



Alfonso left France, and landed at Barcelona, 

 Jan. 5, 1875. The army at once declared tor 

 him, and he assumed command. His first 

 movements against the Carlists were unsuc- 

 cessful ; but he gradually succeeded in improv- 

 ing his position, in winning to his side the 

 various parties, and in harmonizing the con- 

 flicting interests of his followers. He succeeded 

 in the spring of 1876 in attacking Don Carles 

 with a greatly superior force, and in gaining a 

 signal victory. The insurrection was soon com- 

 pletely quelled, and Don Carlos sailed for Eng- 

 land, never to return. The war being ended, 

 the young King entered Madrid in triumph,' 

 March 20, 1876. Eight days later, there was 

 laid before the Cortes a new Constitution, 

 which was passed in July. One of the chief 

 changes made by this Constitution was the 

 recognition of the right of private worship on 

 the part of non-Catholics. Soon after the close 

 of the Carlist war, Alfonso invited the ex- 

 Queen to Spain, who was received by her son 

 at Santander in July, and in October quietly 

 entered Madrid. The young King's reign was, 

 on the whole, peaceful ; good order generally 

 prevailed, and the Cabinet changes were not 

 especially frequent. The Government had a 

 strong support in the Cortes, and during his 

 reign the Cuban insurrection was brought to a 

 close. Many reforms were also brought about. 

 Early in 1877 a decree of general amnesty to 

 the Carlists was issued, and in the following 

 year the King married his cousin, the Princess 

 Maria de las Mercedes (born June 24, 1860), 

 youngest daughter of the Duke of Montpensier. 

 The ex-Queen Isabella was opposed to the mar- 

 riage, and, finding that she could not prevent 

 it, she took up her residence in Paris, where 

 she associated with Don Carlos. The latter 

 was ordered to leave France. Isabella was at 

 the same time informed that she must not re- 

 turn to Spain, and her pension was stopped. 

 Six months after her marriage, in January, 

 1878, the young and popular Queen died. On 

 Nov. 29, 1879, Alfonso married the Arch- 

 duchess Maria Christina of Austria, who had 

 been a playmate of his while at the Royal Col- 

 lege at Vienna. A month later an attempt 

 was made to assassinate the young King and 

 his bride. An attempt to kill the King had 

 also been made in October, 1878. Both of 

 the assassins were executed. In September. 

 1883, he attended the unveiling of a statue of 

 " Germania keeping her Watch on the Rhine," 

 and was commissioned colonel in a Lilian 

 regiment by the Emperor William. On his 

 return home through Paris, a crowd gathered 

 around Alfonso's carriage, hissed him, and 

 cried out, "Down with the Uhlan King!' 

 President Grevy made a suitable apology. 

 With singular courage and faithfulness the 

 Spanish King visited the plague-stricken dis- 

 tricts of his kingdom during the cholera pesti- 

 lence of 1885. He had been in delicate health 

 for some months; but knowledge of the fact 

 was not made public, and his death, of con- 



