Show J I i Christian IX Aged King of Denmark Is Dead I Icht of Uemmark Christian IX king of Denmark dean of the crowned heads of Europe father fath-er of King George of Greece of Queen Alexandra of England and of the dowager Empress Maria Feodor ovna of Russia grandfather of the czar of Itussla and of King Haalcon of Norway Nor-way and related by blood or by mnr fringe to most of the European rulers died with startling suddenness In the Amallcnborg palace at Copenhagen i Jan 20 In the eightyeighth year of his life and the fortjthird year of his reign Frederick VIII was proclaimed king of Denmark next day In Amallenborg square In front of the palace Was a Notable Ruler King Christian for nearly half a century cen-tury was one of the notable monarchs of Europe In spite of the fact that his kingdom was one of the smallest But ails relationship to no many of the great rulers of the continent gave him an Influence In old world powers wielded by but few men No European monarch excepting perhaps Victoria counted more relatives rela-tives In the royal families of Europe King Christians eldest daughter Is queen of England Ills second daughter daugh-ter was czarina of Russia and the mother of tho present czar His third laughter Is duchess of Cumberland VI f 4 11I1 4 III I h1J Il If C t The Late Icing 1 Christian and heir to the throne of Hanover His eldest son succeeds him on tho throne of Denmark His second son Is king of Greece One of his grandsons Is czar of Russia a second king of Norway Nor-way and a third lord commissioner of Crete King Christian was not a hereditary ruler of Denmark Ho was an elected king and ascended the throne execrated exe-crated by tho Danish people In tact he was mobbed an hour after he was proclaimed king and stoned on the streets of Copenhagen Christian IX was the fourth son of Duke William of SchleswlgHolstein SondorburgGlicksborg and was born on April 8 1818 Ho was the son of poor parents and with his family was Inured to poverty during all of the years of his life until ho ascended the throne He was educated as n i soldier and until ho ascended the throne was an officer In the Danish army In those earlier years of his career Christian and his wife lived in an old house In Amnlln street in Copenhagen He had a small country place five miles out of Copenhagen His pay as an army officer was his only Income and his family always knew the pinch of actual hard times His wife and daughters did tho housework and made their own clothes It was in these days that the young prince of Wales now Edward VII of England chose Christians daughter Alexandra for his wife She was then 19 years old A few years later Christians Chris-tians second daughter Marie was betrothed be-trothed to tho cznrowltz of Russia With these royal betrothals the fortunes for-tunes of Christian began to mend but even then ho continued to reside at the little vlllngo of Bernstorff flvo miles out of Copenhagen In 1SG3 the poor captain of Infantry with scarcely nn hours warning found himself transported from a bumble bum-ble dwelling to a palace his cavalry sword changed into a scepter and his officers cap for a rrown Early In Novcmocr of that year old King Frederick VII of Denmark died and without heirsthe last of his house It developed upon the Danish parliament to elect a new king To the surprise of tie Danish people parliaments par-liaments choice loll on Christian duke of Gllcksborg Christian himself was equally surprised The kings tactics were to remain perfectly quiet to make no manifesto no attempt to win popularity for the moment but to remain shut up In his palace and let the storm blow over This line of conduct met with success suc-cess and after brawling about the streets of Cppenhagen for a few days the mob settled down by degrees and began to wonder whether after all It might not be perhaps advisable to see what the new king might be worth before be-fore condemning him The earlier part of Christians reign was filled with troubles Simultaneously Simultane-ously with hlo accession rival claimants claim-ants arose for the duchies of Schles wlgHolsteln which had been part of tho possessions of King Frederick VII of Denmark The extinction of his dynasty it was asserted and the substitution sub-stitution of a new one bad entirely altered the rights of succession In theso provinces After diplomatic wrangles which closed In an appeal to arms Prussia Austria and Germany Ger-many all took a hand in the fight and tho first of these countries succeeding In taking from little Denmark tha three duchies of Holstein Schleswig and Lauenberg and attaching them to her own dominions After this loss of onethird of tho kingdom Internal troubles arose in that portion of his dominions which I still remained to King Christian King and parliament could never agree a characteristic that both retained almost al-most to the day of the kings death But In spite of the bickerings with his parliament Christian became to bo universally loved by the Danish people peo-ple His democracy his simple tastes his personal character and his family all combined to make him happy There was not a black sheep in his family Never a scandal shocked the Danish people The kings sons and daughters led simple lives until they were married and when they married generally It was to ascend a throne King Christian was a familiar figure In the streets of Copenhagen Ho went everywhere without a guard oran or-an of tho fuss and trappings of royalty royal-ty Dressed as an ordinary citizen of the middle class ho visited the markets mar-kets wandered through the parks stopped on the sidewalk to chat with acquaintances or watched the erection erec-tion of new buildings Frequently ho would be seen at a table of one of the outdoor cafes drinking a glass of beer and eating a black bread sandwich He rode on a street car oftener than he did in a royal carriage |