is no longer in the first bloom of youth.

The present queen, Helena of Montenegro, is beginning to enjoy the same
popularity, and there is every reason to believe that her reign will
continue, in a most worthy way, the traditions left by her predecessor.
The conditions attending the marriage of the heir apparent when he was
yet the Prince of Naples were such indeed as to win the sympathy and
approval of the whole nation. Before this marriage, Crispi, the Italian
premier, had tried to arrange for the young prince a match which might
have some political significance, and to this end he collected the
photographs of all the eligible princesses of Europe, put them together
in a beautiful album, and told his young master to look them over and
select a wife for himself. The prince gazed at them with but languid
interest, however, for these royal maidens were, most of them, strangers
to him; he finally announced to the astonished minister that he did not
intend to marry until he found a woman he loved! In this resolution he
was not to be shaken, and the Princess Helena, whom he made his wife, he
saw for the first time at the czar's coronation ceremonies at Moscow,
and it was a simple case of love at first sight. Such simplicity and
sincerity as are apparent in this real affection of the king and queen
for each other cannot fail to have a widespread influence.

The modern Italian woman is not an easy person to describe, as it would
be difficult to find one who might serve as a type for all the rest. In
general, it may be said that they are not so well educated as the women
in many other countries, and that so long as a woman is devout, and at
the same time domestic in her tastes, she is considered to possess the
most essential requisites of character and attainment. The women of the
peasant class work in the fields with the men; in the towns and cities
women help in their husbands' shops, as in France, and while they may
not always possess the energy and business skill which characterize the
French women, they are at least no more indolent and easy-going than
their male companions. The women of the nobility are often less educated
than their plebeian sisters, and for the most part lead a very narrow
and petty existence, which produces little but vanity and selfishness
and discontent. There are exceptions, however, and here and there may be
seen a gentlewoman who has studied and travelled, and made herself not
only a social but