The Italy of the Italians Author:Helen Zimmern Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: existence since her childhood, and though part of her education was given to her outside the rocky fastnesses of her home and amid Russian Court circles, as she ... more »had been destined for the Czar, she nevertheless had acquired all the civic virtues that distinguish her family. A fine musician on the violin, a lover of art and poetry, she writes a little herself in her native Servian tongue. A good walker, rider, and sportswoman, tall, and physically strong, she reveals in every action and movement her chaste, proud, mountain ancestry. The couple met first at the Venice Exhibition of 1895, and at once the Prince of Naples determined that Elena of Montenegro should be his bride. When opposition was made by Crispi for political reasons, he told his parents that if he did not marry Elena he would marry no other princess. Fortunately, King Humbert overbore the Minister's objections by declaring that he approved of the choice and that the Princess was the descendant of a brave race that had fought for liberty. " The house of Montenegro," he said, " like my own house, is synonymous with liberty." In October, 1896, the marriage was solemnized in Rome after the Princess had formally abjured the Greek Catholic faith in favour of the Roman Catholic form. Since that time she has been her husband's right hand and comfort. But all she does is done quietly, unobtrusively. Both husband and wife avoid all show and pomp whenever this is possible. Indeed, Italians complain that they lead too quiet and retired a life, and do not receive or show themselves enough. When passing through a city they continually request that the money that would have been spent in entertaining them should be given to the poor instead. For their charity is boundless. Indeed, the Queen's chief interest, outside of her family...« less