Ernest Ii

ERNEST II., duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1818-1893) , was born at Coburg on June 21, 1818, the eldest son of Duke Ernest I., whom he succeeded in 1844. His own character and the influence of the king of the Belgians made him one of the most liberal princes in Germany. He was able to bring to a satisfactory con clusion disputes with the Coburg estates. In 1848 he anticipated the demands of the people of Gotha for a reform, and in 1852 in troduced a new constitution by which the administration of his two duchies was assimilated in many points. His greatest services to Germany were performed during the years of reaction after almost alone among the German princes he remained faithful to the Liberal and National ideals, and he allowed his dominions to be used as an asylum by the writers and politicians who had to leave Prussia and Saxony. The marriage of his niece, the English princess Victoria with Frederick, the heir to the Prussian throne, caused the Conservative party to look with increased sus picion on the Coburg influence. After 1860 he became the chief patron and protector of the National Verein, and allowed his court to become the centre of the rising national agitation. In 1862 he agreed that in war his troops should be placed under the command of the king of Prussia. The democratic leanings of the Coburg court, which were shared by the crown prince Frederick, were a serious embarrassment to Bismarck. The opposition was accentuated when the duke allowed his dominions to be used as the headquarters of the agitation in favour of Frederick, duke of Augustenburg, who claimed the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, and it was at this time that Bismarck is reported to have said that if Frederick the Great had been alive the duke would have been in the fortress of Spandau. In 1863 he was present at the Fiirstentag in Frankfort, and from this time was in more frequent communi cation with the Austrian court, where his cousin Alexander, Count Mensdorff, was minister. But in 1866 he at once placed his troops at the disposition of Prussia ; Bismarck had in an important letter explained to him his policy and tactics. The Hanoverian army, in its attempt to march south and join the Bavarians, had to pass through Thuringia, and the battle of Langensalza was fought in the immediate neighbourhood of Gotha. His troops took part in the battle, which ended in the rout of the Prussians, the duke, who was not present during the fight, in vain attempting to stop it.

With the year

1866 the political role which Ernest had played ended, but he quoted with great satisfaction the words used in 1871 by the emperor William at Versailles, that "to him in no small degree was due the establishment of the empire." He was a man of varied tastes, a good musician—he composed several operas and songs—and a keen sportsman. He died at Reinhards brunn on Aug. 22, 1893. In 1842 the duke married Alexandrine, daughter of the grandduke of Baden; there were no children by this marriage and the succession to Saxe-Coburg-Gotha passed therefore to the children of his younger brother Albert, the British prince consort, whose marriage contract precluded him from suc ceeding to the dukedom ; the duchy came therefore to his second son, Alfred, duke of Edinburgh (1844-190o). See ALBANY, DUKES OF ; SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA.

Duke Ernest published his memoirs, Aus meinem Leben and aus meiner Zeit (3 vols., 1887-89, Eng. trans. by P. Andreae, 1888-90).

See

also Sir T. Martin, Life of H.R.H. the Prince Consort (1875 8o) ; Hon. C. Grey, Early Years of the Prince Consort (1867) ; A. Ohorn, Herzog Ernst II., ein Lebensbild (Leipzig, 1894) ; and E. Tem peltey, Herzog Ernst von Koburg and das Jahr 1866 (1898).