THE LONGING FOR KINGSHIP.
HAS any male being ever reached manhood without the longing for kingship having attacked him in some form or other ? As surely as there is a period of would-be pirateship, there is a period when every normal and healthy boy ponders upon the possibility of going into some savage country, getting made King, and then conquering the parts adjacent. It sounds so easy to take out "a good supply" of the best repeating-rifles, join one side or other in a tribal war, and after having gained a victory, to get treated with semi-divine honours, and made Chief. By seventeen or eighteen, most boys have lived down the desire for rule and adventure; but there remains a distinct per-centage of men who never really give up the dream, and who, if made to confess the absolute truth, would have to admit that they still cherish the longing for kingship. They are doubtless aware that they will never get the chance of fulfilling their desire, but still they believe the chance does exist, and that if only they bad luck and the opportunity, they could make themselves Kings. If all the counting-houses in the Oity, all the chambers in Lincoln's Inn and the Temple, and all the regimental messes could be put to the question, we expect the world would be surprised at the number of kingship " cranks " who would be brought to light. Mr. Rudyard Kipling, in one of the most powerful stories he has yet written, has described this longing when it has reached an acute stage, and taken possession of a somewhat crazy mind. In his story, "The Man who would be a King," he shows us an example of the desire put into operation by a middle-aged man and his friend, and the tragic results that therefrom ensued. M. Daudet, in his last and final instalment of the Tartarin epic, has dealt, though from the ridiculous side, with the same aspiration ; for Tartarin, though only a Governor in name, is an Emperor in thought and deed. Both students of human nature recognise bow deeply the longing for kingship is implanted in the human mind.
A writer in the August number of Macmillan, Mr. A. R. Hope Moncreiff, comes forward with a story from real life, which is like a sort of combination of Mr. Rudyard Kipling's and 3f. Daudet's romances. He gives an account of a certain M. Aurelius Antony de Tounens, of Perigeux, who, inspired by the longing we have described, founded a Kingdom in Araucania. If he did not succeed quite as well as Mr. Rudyard Kipling's hero, he was quite as good at a State paper as Tartarin. M. de Tounens, like a true Frenchman, ehose his Kingdom on abstract grounds. Its position was arrived at by a logical process perfect of its kind. In 1858— the period of M. de Tounens' activity—there existed on the borders of Chili a body of Indians who had never been sub- dued by the Spaniards. This tribe, or rather group of tribes, named the Araucanian Indians, were a fierce and hardy race, numbering many thousands, and there can be little doubt that the French adventurer's supposition that they only wanted a leader to make them exceedingly powerful, was perfectly correct. M. de Tounens left France in 1858, but did not take possession of the Kingdom he had allotted to himself for two years, during which time he remained in Coquimbo learning Spanish. As soon, however, as he had made the acquaintance of an Araucanian chief named Magnil, he began to make serious preparations for his adventure, one of which was to present his first adherent with a grand piano. Magnil doubtless accepted the gift with pleasure, but did not apparently regard it as a musical instrument, for he took out the keys and wires, and used the case as a bed for himself and his wife. In 1860, M. de Tounens crossed the Araucanian frontier, but only to be met with the news of Magnil's death. Most men would have been disheartened by these tidings. Not so the would-be King. He at once began to treat—through an interpreter—with other chiefs, and very soon considered it opportune to publish a Royal edict which began in the following style :—" We, Prince Orllie- Antoine de Tounens, considering that Araucania is inde- pendent of any other State, that it is divided into tribes, and that a Central Government is demanded in both the public and private interest," &c. The document then proceeds to decree that "a constitutional and hereditary Monarchy is founded in Araucania ; Prince Orllie-Antoine de Tounens is named King ; " that "in case of the King leaving no descendants, his heirs shall be taken from the other lines of his family, according to the order which shall be ultimately established by a Royal ordinance ;" that "until the great bodies of State be constituted, the Royal ordinances shall have the force of law ; " and finally, that "our Minister Secretary of State is charged with these presents." The whole document is described in truly Royal style as "done in Araucania, 17th November, 1860," is signed " Orllie-Antoine I. By the King ; " and is countersigned by "the Minister Secretary of State for the Department of Justice, F. Desfontaine." True to the genius of his race, " Orllie-Antoine I." proceeded to de- cree a formal Constitution, in which such points as the Civil List, martial law, and "the right of reporting Parliamentary debates in Araucania," are severally dealt with. It is also characteristic that, three days after his paper accession to the paper throne of Araucania, he declares that he has been chosen King of Patagonia, "that race having expressed a wish to enjoy the benefits of con- stitutional government." There is something deliciously Napoleonic in thus first making a coup d'état in the interest
of law and order, and then annexing something "at the desire of the inhabitants." After thus placing two crowns on his head, " Orllie-Antoine I." left his dominions for a time, in order the more easily to communicate with Europe, whence he expected help as soon as the news of his accession had been received. Unfortunately, however, his countrymen would not take him seriously, and the King of Araucania had to return to his dominions without the expected succour. Arrived there, be set himself to accomplish the con- genial task of getting his election ratified. As often happens in such cases, poor Orllie-Antoine's grave tom- fooleries greatly impressed and delighted the Indians, and he soon came to be regarded as a person of almost supernatural powers. They believed, too, that he would lead them to the destruction of their enemies, the Chilians. The tribesmen, we are told, moved by wonder and warlike joy, "galloped, wheeling and whooping round the offered deliverer, and willingly received his gaudy standard as a sign of taking up the hatchet against their ancient enemy. Some of them, it appears, looked on him as having come from the skies ; but their barbarous exhibitions of faith and loyalty were not enough for Orllie-Antoine, whose first lesson in constitutional government was to instruct them not to address his sacred person without uncovering their heads, or saluting with the right hand if, as well might be, a dutiful subject had no hat to take off. There seems no doubt that they received and treated him as an extraordinary being, worthy of all confidence, his avatar having already been announced by the deceased chief, Magnil." One of the prods verbaux drawn up by the King to put on record proceedings, which apparently took place among the warriors of one of two tribes, is worth quoting. It is so right royal in phraseology that we can hardly forbear our admiration :—" To-day, 27th December, 1861, the electors of the tribe of Quicheregua united in general assembly at their ordinary place of meeting, two kilometres from the house of the Cacique Millavil, under the presidency of this chief. After deliberation, the said electors have elected and proclaimed me King of Araucania and Patagonia in the terms indicated. Done in Araucania, the above day, month, and year (signed), ORLLIE-ANTOINE I." The King's next business was to select a capital, and this he at once did, intending to take up his abode there forthwith, and, we presume, to erect a palace. Un- fortunately, however, on the very day on which he set out for his capital—January 5th, 1862—M. de Tounens was captured by the Chilian police. He had reigned for little more than a week. Into the story of his imprisonment, of his return to France, of his subsequent attempt to regain his dominions, and of his determined efforts to comport himself like any other roi en exil while residing in France, we cannot enter here. Suffice it to say that "the man who would be a King," and who actually was one for some five days, "died penniless and miserable in a hospital at Bordeaux." Yet, in spite of the miseries endured by the poor King of Araucania and Pata- gonia during his later years, we do not doubt but that, on the whole, be was happy. He had the true " Tartarin " tempera- ment, and as long as he could issue edicts and draw up Constitutions, he was content. Even the imminent fear of death did not take away his delight in the drama he was enacting. When lying in a Chilian prison, and fully expecting to be shot as the instigator of rebellion, he gravely exercised the powers which he had given himself under his own Con- stitution, and made a will settling the succession to his Kingdom. We are told that, being a bachelor, be bequeathed the Kingdom to his father, then to his eldest brother, then to this brother's son, failing all of whom or their male pos- terity, to "our well-beloved niece, Lida-Jeanne de Tounens and her descendants in perpetuity." But in case of her line also failing, he was mindful to provide for the successive devolution of the crown on his second, third, fourth and fifth brothers, or after them on his three sisters, male heirs always taking precedence over female ones, though the Salle Law was rejected. It is impossible to doubt that poor, half- crazy M. de Tounens felt himself as much a King as Louis XIV., or any monarch that ever lived. After he assumed his paper diadem, he seems never once to have forgotten himself, but maintained under every trial and privation the utmost dignity of demeanour. In the eyes of almost every other human being on the face of the earth, he was a mad impostor. In his own, always a King.
As the earth gets better known and more thoroughly 'developed, the opportunities afforded to the would-be Kings of the world grow fewer and fewer. Still, there remains a considerable portion still sufficiently unappropriated, and for at least one more generation we may look for followers of " Orllie-Antoine L" Probably the best chance now remaining exists in East Africa. If any man rich enough to fit out a Tarty of some twenty Europeans, and able to smuggle a large .supply of arms and ammunition, were able to make a start in the country lately crossed by Dr. Peters, he might go far. He _should first get into the high country on the eastern frontier -of the Masai, and there establish a station, well protected by Maxim guns, as a basis of operation. Next, he should endeavour to recruit Masai warriors and to form an efficient army of black troops. This accomplished, there is no absolute reason why he should not invade Masailand itself, and make himself chief of that great tribe. No doubt there would be great difficulties to be encountered,—such, for instance, as the Masai's contempt for white men; still, plenty of arms and ammunition would do much. Again, Borneo and New Guinea contain some chances ; and lastly, there is still a good field for operations in the upper valley of the Amazon. We expect, however, that any adventurer, to succeed, will have to be rich enough to buy large supplies. But then, adventures are the last things rich men attempt except in the way of sport. They infinitely prefer shelter from the ills of life to sove- reignty. The needier classes will no doubt go on producing 'men who will attempt to put their aspirations into practice ; but we can hardly expect that they will win any greater 'success than that achieved by M. de Tounens.
Previous page
