THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA

New Zealand Tablet, 10 December 1908, Page 11

THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA

A cable message' received last Friday stated that the joyous celebrations in connection with the Emperor of Austria's diamond j-übilee of his accession to the throne were overclouded by the fact that four people were killed and 106 injured while witnessing the illuminations. Fortythree of the Emperor's grand-children gave a fairy play at the Royal residence at Schonbrunn. After the celebration of Solemn High Mass at the Cathedral the Emperor received the congratulations of the Royal princes, ambassadors, and Court officials. His Imperial Majesty Francis Joseph, Emperor rf Austria and King of Hungary, who is in his 79th year, is one of the most remarkable figures in the civilised world to-day. He is the ruler of a dozen States and twenty peoples speaking us many languages. He was born in 1830, and ascended the throne as far back as 1848, that is before the South Island of New Zealand was settled. No prince of the Hapsburg House ever enjoyed such universal respect and reverence, and to these qualities is in a great measure due his success in keeping welded together an Empire composed of so many diverse nationalities and conflicting interests. Whoever has occasion to approach this ' Grand Old Man ' among the monarchs of the world is filled with enthusiasm for his ckaTm of manner, his democratic approachableness, his amazing frankness, and his sterling sense of justice. Notwithstanding his great age he still works ten hours a day and more at State and military affairs — and that for weeks on end — often contenting himself with a ' quick lunch ' brought to him at the desk in his study. He is to-day the same early riser he was in the days of his youth, and summer and winter rises from his little iron bedstead at the unearthly hour of half-past four. His toilet — bathing, shaving, and dressing — never takes tim longer- than half an hour ; and, as the Emperor does not care for civilian dress, he usually dons the uniform of a Colonel of one of his own regiments. On his frequent sliooting expeditions, however, he wears the coarse dress of Alpine Austria, and in his study appears in a short military cloak with a peakless soldier's cap on his grey head. Every single act of this remarkable old man's life is conducted with military precision. On the very stroke of 5 his breakfast — a cup of coffee, some cold meat and rolls — is brought him, and before 6 he is in his study. „

The Emperor at Work. A casual glance might lead one to think (says a writer in Cassell's Magazine) this "was a cosy sitting-room, with its dainty pictures, framed photos, and charming furniture, but the big writing-table in the window, the book shelves, and the litter of newspaper cuttings, on tables, chairs, and floor, reveal the room's true purpose. In this study the aged Emperor works uninterruptedly until noon. Bulky packets of papers and Ministerial reports are read to him, and so carefully does he go through this work: that he frequently pounces on contradictions between clauses which have entirely escaped the notice of Ministers or Under-Secretaries who may have drafted the Bill. The . Austrian Emperor is a great man for iaviting petitions from all sections of his wonderful t empire — and few people realise the diversity of nations which go to make up the Dual Monarchy. May not the domes and minarets and cupolas of Islam be seen in ' Bosnia and the Herzegovina r Is not Italian the language of Istria? Are not the Hungarians more different from the Austrians than the Irish from the English. Naturally, then, petitions are numerous, and every one of these documents is read by the Emperor, who speaks and writes with perfect ease seven or eight languages, including Maygar, Croat, and Polish, as well as Italian and Russian. If he thinks any petition worthy he puts his Imperial sign manual upon it and passes it oa to a Minister, who carries out the request. Important laws may often lie on the table in this room for many weeks before the conscientious old man will make up his mind to sign them ; nor does he ever put his signature on a "death warrant without exhaustive study of the case, and until he is convinced that clemency would be an injury to society. In one corner stands a little cupboard in which the old Emperor Francis Joseph keeps his private correspondence and accounts ; and here, too, he keeps papers he dislikes to sign and equally dislikes to return to the Ministers unsigned, lest their feelings be hurt. Such documents frequently are concerned with the conferring of honors and distinctions. Having read and signed a whole hosl@tif reports, petitions, bills, and other documents, the Emperor glances through the Vienna papers and also the '"big assortment of newspaper cuttings from all leading journals of the world. In the Vienna Hofburg, as the Imperial Palace is called, general audiences are held twice a week, and positively anyone wishing to prefer a request or petition, may approach freely this most democratic of Emperors. Granting Personal Interviews. It does not matter whether the Imperial visitor- is a street-sweeper or a nobleman like one of the princely House of Esterhazy. I have often seen Archdukes and Princes with their dress-coats ablaze with orders walking into the presence of the Emperor side by side with the poorest of peasants. Naturally, the audiences cannot last long, since the aged monarch often receives over a hundred persons in a single forenoon. In each case Francis Joseph is posted up on the subject from the written petition; and as neither an adjutant nor any Court official is present, the Emperor alone is face to face with his petitioner. It frequently happens that the latter is struck absolutely speechless in .the Emperor's presence, but the old man will take lis hand and speak words of kindly encouragement until his visitor is quite at his ease and recovers his speech. Frequent slips of the tongue, such as ' Your Excellency' and even 'Mr. Emperor!' are never heeded, v of course; and to hear the old Emperor rattling off the dialects of his polyglot empire is "an experience probably unique in Royal receptions. He - drops into Hungarian > for one set 1 of. rubjects, and there is Polish for the Galicians ; Czech ■ for the Bohemians; Italian for the people round about Trieste and the Adriatic seaboard; and so on. Of course, not every petition can be granted, but even if the Emperor is bound to refuse his manner has so delicate and gentle : a charm that the disappointed one comes a"way full of love for the old man. • A light nod and a smile is a hint to the visitor that the audience is over, and the Emperor hurries over to his desk to make a few notes and get information from bhe list there about the next case. In the ordinary way, however, the Emperor lunches with his Adjutant-General, taking only a soup, two dishes

of meat, and a glass of beeiv His Majesty afterwards lights one of the cigars made specially for him of choice Havana leaves rolled in the Vienna factory. He often presents a box of these to persons he wishes to favor. The Imperial dinner, usually served at 7, is also eaten in private with the Adjutant-General, Count Paar. As a rule, it consists of five courses — light tors d'oeuvres, a soup, some boiled or roast meat, a sweety and some dessert, with the inevitable glass of Bavarian beer and a cigar. The Emperor dislikes wine, and, when giving toasts at State banquets, he barely touches the champagne glass with his lips. He almost invariably retires to rest early, but if he should be kept up late he takes nothing more before going to bed except a plate of strawberries in summer or a glass of ' bonny-clabber. 3 The Imperial chef, however, is always tempting his master, but at night, when the menu for the next day is sent down to the kitchen it always contains erasures by the Emperor's pen. Naturally, State and other dinners are a very different matter, for it is well known that, in spite of the abstemiousness of the Emperor as an individual, the Court of Vienna is one of the most brilliant in the world, and the women most beautifully dressed. In the course of a year many magnificent banquets are given at the Hofburg in honor of foreign monarchs, princes, and ambassadors; and other State events take place in the Royal Castle at Budapest, when high officers of State, Court dignitaries and members of the House of Parliament of Austria and Hungary are invited. During dinner the Emperor converses in his liveliest manner with the guests of honor near him, and when he rises the whole party of men betake themselves to the smoking-room, " where black coffee is served. Here begins what is known as the cercle at the Austrian Court. The Emperor talks in turn to everyone present about personal things or current events. He likes the frankest replies, and laughs with grand joviality at witty sallies. Formerly Francis Joseph devoted two liours to his family after lunch, but since the painful death of his only son the Crown Prince Rudolph, and the assassination of his Empress at Geneva, coupled with the marriage of his two daughters, he leads a very solitary life for the greater part of the year. In summer, however, he makes his way to his lovely villa at Ischl, and here he is surrounded by his daughters and their children. It is then this pathetic old man is happiest, playing grandfather with the babies, taking walks with them, and forgetting for a brief season the trials, sufferings, misfortunes, and disappointments which life has brought him. When in Vienna the greater part of the afternoon and evening is spent at work in his study, but now and again his Majesty will take a drive out to the villa of his younger daughter, the Archduchess Marie Valeric, at Lainz, not far from the capital; or to the Imperial Chateau of Schonbrunn, where in spring and autumn the Emperor resides altogether. The park at Schonbrunn contains the Emperor's favorite walks. "When driving his carriage is never surrounded by a military escort, and the Emperor has an intense personal disliko of any police precautions for his safety. Of course, the public recognise their beloved sovereign and pay him homage and reverence. His recreations are reading, the theatre, and shooting. A Generous Giver. The old Empeior gives with full hands to the poor and suffering, and often, when sums are proposed by his Ministers and Court officials in aid of persons, villages, or districts in distress — Laibaek, for instance, a notorious earth quake centre — the amounts are constantly raised, and even doubled, by his Majesty. His Majesty is also a very liberal patron of arts and letters; and no considerable Exhibition is given in the capital without his visiting it and buying a number of valuable canvases selected by him with rare taste. In both capitals, Vienna and "Budapest, will be found many magnificent monuments due entirely to the Emperor. His Majesty is very strict in performing his religious duties. He takes part in all great Church festivals, and for this reason the Corpus Christi Procession and the Easter Celebrations are great sights for the pleasure-loving Vien-

nese> Then on Maundy Thursday, in the Great Hall of Ceremonies of the Hofburg, the Emperor goes through tho quaint ceremony of washing the feet of twelve aged men..

Unique among monarchs, the Austrian Emperor has no favorites, and his Ministers, no matter how much he may distinguish them, cam never tell how near to their Imperial master's heart they really are. The late Counts Bombelles, Taafe, and Pejacsevics were always addressed by him as 1 thou,' being dear friends from childhood. Yet none of the three could assert he had ever been particularly favojed by his master.