THE LATE ARCHDUKE

Grey River Argus, 3 July 1914, Page 2

THE LATE ARCHDUKE

illS CAREER AND CHARACTER

A STRONG CONSERVATIVE

The, Archduke Francis .Ferdinand was son of the late Archduke Karl Ludwig-, a brother of the present Emperor, and Princess Annuziata. daughter of the late King iFerdinand 11. of Naples. Ho was born in 1.863, a^d married on July ist, iqoo, the Countess Soph;e Chotek (Duchess of Hohenberff), having duly renounced the rig-hi of his future children to sucput; ißpjsnY jo sauoaiji aqj 01 pwo Hungary. The following sketch of the career and character- of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand appeared in the "Westminster Gazetiee" some four years- ago: I remember (said the writer) stand ■iiijr as one of the big- crowd which gathered on the Pest side of the Chain Bridge, Budapest to do honour to Bulgaria's ruling prince last year. It was an average crowd of Magyars. Beside me stood a stalwart Magyar and his wjfe, from the provinces who, thinkng >I, as a townsman* w,as in the know, curiously, enquired who^ that pale-looking officer was seated in, one of the State carriages. I replied, "It's your future King." With a look of profound disappointment and surprise, thp pair vouchsafed me not another word, but quietly wormed their way out of tho crowd and dsapn^arcd. ft was a very simple episode, but it illustrated how little Francis Ferdinand is known in Hungary. In the Dual Monarchy the future monarch is an unkown quantity. It is only during the last three or four years that, the aged Emperor King has allowed Francis Ferdinand to dabble in politics, but immediately the ! onportunitv came he besran to leave ! his impress upon the policy of Aus tr a -Hungary. Ne was born some forty-six years a«?o. the eldest son of the Archduke Carl Ludwig. Gratz has stored vp many memories of the sick lv, drooping youth, for the bulk of his early .years were spent there. He ''oukl not have been more than seven or eight years of age when his mother <lied, but his father fortunately prefer red to have a wife near him, and so married Maria Theresa, of Braganza. Ferdinand's real mother however, was Annunziata of the Two Sicilies. The influences of his early trainng have never been obliterated, and 11 the boy one saw the man. From his mother he inherited a mania for confession, and from his father a simulativie tendency. That he was not exactly spoilt by his monastic companions was seen when he entered the Army, where he did his utmost o perpetuate that reckless levity of conduct that has characterised the Hapsburgs. It was, however, the tragedy of Meyerling, th,o brief outlines only of which are known, that somewhat unexpected 'v gave Francis Ferdinand his chance. The death of Rudolph was a serious blow to the Dual Mosarchy. A direct successor to the throne had been cruelly snatched away. The loss • '•o Hungary was immense. Rudolph >.vas the first prince of the ruling house who had been systematically trained o become a. good constitutional Hun n-arian King, for he knew Hungary tnd the .Hungarians thoroughly. A .uccessor, however, had to be found, md as Francis Joseph was afraid — hecnuso of his views — to instal the Archduk? Carl Ludwig : n the vacant olacr, the son, Francis iFerdinand, was -hosen .in his stead. This/was in his twenty-sixth year. Seriousness .in full measure then fell ,s a mantle upon him. It was a criica I , moment for the new heir appar •nv,.and nothing but character could ,;\ve situation. He was disliked and .listrusted alike by the Court and the people, *o much so that success appeared impossible. Socially, the posi/ ion was almost unbearable; but Francis Ferdinand gazed beyond "pre sent discontents," and calmly viewed the political possibilities Fate had pre N?nted him with. (From this moment a political clumsiness beset him — a clumsiness born of a hatred of const:*tuionalism. Those in power, both Ministers and princes, did their utmost "xi reduce the political angularities •f the new heir-apparent, but Francis Ferdinand persisted in going his own way. It was then thought that a woman mieht hope to succeed where the wiles of "mere man" had failed. Yea, more t the duty of the future monarch •i marry. One can imagine Francis^; Ferdinand genuine love. :It was a. love ingenuity of the Emperor and his Ministers in this direction. Little did they realise how ambitiously stubborn vhe man was they wore trying to coerce "He would choose his own wife or have none." This as uttered as a kind of ultimatum. Despite his visits > foreign Courts, and his extended ■ :our round the world, the lady of his hoice was not found until the Arch duchess Isabella, in perhaps weaving ; web for one of loftier rank, gave *iim an opportunity of meeting her lady-in-waiting, the Countess Sophie Chotek, and the rest was soon known. None thought her beautiful 1 ; all knew that she was beyond her first youth; but, like Dragar of Servia, she pos?i\ised a wonderful voice, which soon unconsciously awakened within Francis Ferdinand genuine love. It as a Jove marriage, and it has proved a happy one. ; Vainly did the State protest, for a marriage of this order was to the nroud Hapsburgs inconceivable. What did.it mean? It meant a morganatic marriage in Austria. But what did this mean? Simply that, if Francis iFerdii

naikl came to,. the throne his wife though legally Queen of Hungary, could not be Empress of . Austria, and her son, therefore would be legally able to rule only in Hungary. It was a bitter pill for the aged Emperor to .swallow. Francis Ferdinand swore away— amid solemn sacred rites — all claims 'his wife or children might hope for from the House of Hapsburg. _„ AN EARNEST AND STUDIOUS PRINCE. Like most English estimates of Fran cis Ferdinand, the foregoing character sketches are not kindly. The following appreciation from "The Times," written when the Archduke 1 visited Lon don last year, gives a pleasanter impressiriri: "The Archduke -Francis Ferdinand is of an intense, impulsive nature. He 's in every respect a vigorous personal ity. In him the warm blood of his motheT. the Archduchess Maria Annunziataj daughter of King Ferdinand 11., of the Two Sicilies, -has never belied its southern quality. Though his education was mainly Austrian, and was, up too the moment of his unex pected succession to the Heir-Apparent ship after the tragedy of Mayerling, in January, 1889 scarcely calculated to fit him for his present position, ne has striven manfully and success fully to broaden and deepen his know ledge.. Save in military matters, his education, in the larger sense of the term, may be said to have begun at the age of twenty-six. By dint of application he has since mastered the Bo hemian and the Magyar languages, and acquired extensive knowledge of law, history, administration, and constitutional government. 111-health compelled him in the early nineties to take a voyage -round the w.orld on an Austro Hungarian cruiser the Kaiserin Elisa beth, during which .he visited Egypt, India, Australia, China, Japan, Canada and the United* States, availing himself of numerous opportunities to prove his skill as a crack shot, and de veloping, incidentally, that keen and statesmanlike interest in naval affairs 'hat has prompted his efforts to> bring the -excellent Austro-Hungarian Navy up to the highest technical and tactical standard. The Archduke Francis Ferdinand© must be regarded as the creator of the Austro-Hungarian dread noughts. British taxpayers may feel qualified admiration for the effects of his work upon their own pockets, but Englishmen in general will hardly refuse a tribute of admiration to a Prince who follows unswervingly a great pur pose and realises it. "After returning 'from his voyage i^und the world the. Archduke came to England to thank Queen Victoria in person for the hospitlaity he had received in the British Dominions; and visited, in succession several European Courts ; but, up to the time of his mat rage with the Countess Chotek, in 1900,. he was little known abroad, and remained in the shadow cast by the Throne upon all save the reigning member of the House of Hapsburg. His marriage rendered him an object of sympathetic interest both within and without the Dual Monarchy. For some years it was indeed assumed, that his choice of a consort had added another and exceedingly delicate proD 'em to the many and complex AustroHungarian questions. Time and nature development have deprived this problem of its supposed acuteness. The Duchess Hohenberg, as a devoted wife, has herself contributed not a little to simplify the difficult position n which she and her husband might have bc-pR priced, by,' their obedience to the dictates 'of the heart ; but the interesting fact may be recorded — and that on ' this occasion, it should be recorded — that at a moment when the problem appeared to be at least potentially^ urgent King- Edward, in conjunction with the German Emperor, sought to prepare the way for an easier • solution of the difficulty than had previusly seemed feasible. King Edwaid's long-standing- friendship with the Emperor Francis Joseph, his sincere devot'ton to the true interests of the Hapsburg Monarchy, and his innate desire to help others led him ro assume an attitude which doubtless causes him, to be remembered with gratitude by the Archduke >Fra.ncis Ferdinand and bis wife." HAPSBURG TRAGEDIES. A TERRIBLE CURSE. Blow after blow has been struck at the Emperor through those around him; tragedy after tragedy has cast fits shadow upbn him in a fashion, that must have made the head of the Hapsburgs feel something of the littleness of family pride as "armour against fate." It is as 'though. one of those vho suffered during the early part of his reign had been ffilted with awful prophecy: Countess Karblyi, whose son had be,en one of the victims of the repres sion, cursed Francis Joseph," says" Mr Gribble, in his recent book, "in .--cathing words, which seem to sum up the possibilities of human hate : "May heaven and hell blast his happiness- May his family be exterminated ! ay he be smitten in the per sons of those he loves ! (May his wife be wrecked,, and may his children .be 1 rough t to ruin!" •'A' memorable curse truly and one which one might, if one chose, take for the text of the biography, sh,owo.g. how time has brought the fulfilment of «, drawing- the punishment out slowly, relentlessly The tragedy of the Square of Queretaro, where Francis Joseph's brother faced a firing party of Republican executioners ; the tragedy of the Vatican, where his sister-in-law lost her reason; the tragedy of the Meyerling" where his only son peir'ohed in .his shame; the tragedy of Geneva, where his wife was struck down' by the dagger of the assassin — all these ..things, and' many others also, miglit be represented as -;o many stages in the, untiring and undeviating march of Nemesis—fulfillments of the curse." In that brief summary only the more tragic" events have been mentioned. There have been many other blows, romantic, stinging, and" mys"erious, aimed at the incarnate pidde pi Mhe Hapsburgs. There have been members of the family who/have turn ;d their backs upon it and become rommoners," who have thrown their Orders in the face of their Emperor, have sloped, and otherwise created scandals ; &o that if Francis Joseph has had a difficult role as head^ of a State, he has also lived to a great age only to see. the awful curse of xixty years ago fulfilled in a terribly literal way "Cheap money," said the business tman, ' , "Cheap food." the labourer said; "Cheap beer," sang out old Dusty . -Dan, ' ••'. ■;.•■■■■ . •: What matters, beef , ex bread? -'That's very well'. '4 observed the ; sag<^ ' But you'll agr^^/Im sure, Cheap health,^' Joined from youth to ag,e C.^B Woods^Mt PeppermiDit Cxtfe-