~~"——~->~~~»—« ' iii*wi iLuc ii(iHnnhnTamriaim"nrTi » * * * ; mm » ««m» *• saw* * «««» «» *»» ssw> * *s*«. <?•»»* -own- IP Ptlll llllllllilllll «»« Mm • «*» • «n» * i MMHM ^^LBBOMEAH (LIB =S» PRESENTED BY Wk A /' , / p^ f «*f/lA£ rt M« No 1,614.] [Price 6d. London, September 11, 1853. Imperial Courtship.—A letter from Vienna of the 31st ult. " says : We learn from a source worthy of credit that the rapid choice which the Emperor made of the Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria took place in the fol- lowing way : At Ischl the family of Prince Maximilian of LIBRARY Bavaria happened to be present at the court ball. The Em- peror appeared charmed with the Princess and requested to be allowed a few minutes con- THE UNIVERSITY versation with her. At the end of a few instants the Emperor returned with the Princess OF CALIFORNIA leaning on his arm and pre- sented her to the company as the future Empress of Austria." SANTA [EmiJress Elizabeth was assass- BARBARA inated at Cipneva in 1898; the Emperor Francis Joseph died in 1916.1 — FROM THE LIBRARY OF F. VON BOSCHAN LA KEYSTONE OF EMPIRE FRANCIS JOSEPH OF AUSTRIA BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE MARTYRDOM OF AN EMPRESS" ILLUSTRATED HARPER £r BROTHERS PUBLISHERS LONDON AND NEW YORK 1903 Copyright, 1903, by Harper & Brothers. All rights reserved. Published November, 1903 Printed in United States of A merica. TO HIS MAJESTY FRANCIS-JOSEPH, EMPEROR-KING OF AUSTRO-HUNGARY IN MEMORY OF FORMER DAYS Remembering all the beauty of that star Which shone so close beside Thee that ye made leaves One light together, but has past, and The Crown a lonely splendor. ILLUSTRATIONS FRANCIS-JOSEPH Frontispiece ERGHCRZOG CARL LUDWIG Facing p. 1 6 EMPEROR FRANCIS I. (GRANDFATHER OF FRANCIS- JOSEPH) AND EMPRESS CAROLINE IN THE IM- PERIAL BOX AT THE THEATRE .... 28 A "ball-bei-hof" AT THE BURG 38 THE EMPEROR'S BAPTISM OF FIRE AT SANTA LUCIA 46 FRANCIS-JOSEPH IN 1848 98 A SPEECH FROM THE THRONE 122 EMPEROR FRANCIS-JOSEPH IN HIS ROBES OF STATE 158 THE "WASHING OF THE FEET," ON THURSDAY OF HOLY WEEK, IN THE GREAT HALL OF CERE- MONIES AT THE HOFBURG 168 THE CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION 178 THE EMPEROR'S PRIVATE HALL OF AUDIENCE ] IN THE HOFBURG \ 220 i SCHLOSS LAXENBURG J "ERZSI," ARCHDUCHESS ELIZABETH NOW PRIN- CESS OTTO VON WINDISCHGRATZ GRAND- DAUGHTER OF THE EMPEROR 244 ARCHDUKE RAINER 266 A LITTLE PETITIONER 282 THE EMPEROR'S PRIVATE SALON IN THE HOFBURG 298 A FUTURE EMPEROR. ARCHDUKE KARL-FRANZ, SON OF THE HEIR-PRESUMPTIVE, ARCHDUKE OTTO 3IO V A mighty Keystone shouldering up the span Of a gray arch of Empire, while below Threatens a torrent black and fierce of flow That ill-wrought masonry uncouth of plan. All strange, dissimilar stones the quarry can Yield, East or Southward, in a helpless row Let ponderously their great bulks inward go And lean upon it, bearing like a man. Pray Heaven it hold! and when Time crumble it May naught unworthy take that high command But granite strengthened by the shock of seas. And thus true-centred, well and firmly knit Austria, by ages honored, still withstand The crush and turmoil of the centuries. A KEYSTONE OF EMPIRE CHAPTER I The great park was smiling with the new, clean- washed radiance of spring, under a velvety blue sky, seen through the tender foliage of veteran trees, stretch- ing their mighty arms greedily towards the golden sun- rays. On the mossy edge of a fountain stood a baby—rosy, chubby, golden-haired, and blue-eyed—peering intently into the transparent water, wherein the squat body of a big, green frog reposed comfortably upon a miniature bowlder, his round, topaz eyes gleaming just above the surface. Plainly the frog was sunk in a deep reverie, revolving in his round, flat head queer, mysterious water secrets, and regretful memories of long, lazy summer days spent amid the tangle of oozy weeds carpeting his native brook. Now, alas! he was old and cynical and heavy, contemptuously silent, and quite undisturbed by the gay little figure so perilously balanced on the slippery bastions of his splendid prison. The baby, fascinated by the yellow, glittering eyes of the monster, extended a dimpled, pink -palmed hand, and, bending forward, tried to touch ever so gently the top of the shining, partly immersed head. Almost was the deed accomplished, almost had the little ringers A KEYSTONE OF EMPIRE caressed the imperturbable water-god, a soft, purling, the then victorious laugh thrilled morning quiet ; came a splash, a cry of terror, and the future high and puissant Emperor of Austro-Hungary lay on his little round nose, at the bottom of the fountain! The water - plants rocked with a violence hitherto quite unknown to those decorous, admirably tended growths, while scores of birds, with a loud whir of startled wings, rose from their twittering councils in the scented thickets hard by; finches, nightingales, robins,, and even gray -clad, ubiquitous little sparrows raising alike shrill cries of amazement and alarm, and for a short moment the out-door world stood still as though time had ceased to be while the fate of a great empire, and that of a tiny, dimpled toddler, hung in the balance. Then the sound of hurried feet came down a shaded avenue, where the sun, glancing through dainty clouds of tender green, dappled the gravel - path with rosy spots, and a young gardener's assistant, attracted by the cries of the birds and moved by an inexplicable but overwhelming impulse, ran straight to where the white form of the little Archduke still feebly struggled among the lily-pads. With a wildly beating heart, and a choking sensation in his throat, he snatched the half-drowned mite from the water, and ran at full speed towards the castle, where the careless attendants who had allowed the child to stray away had already given the alarm, for a knot of people were running excitedly down the marble steps of the upper terraces, and crying out confusedly to one another, as if almost distraught. One tall, graceful figure, however, guided by an unerring mother-instinct, flew down the path taken by the young gardener and his precious burden, and Arch- duchess Sophia, with her beautiful hair streaming loose A KEYSTONE OF EMPIRE upon her shoulders, her face white and haggard, her trembling lips unable to form a word, stretched implor- ing arms towards the lad, her usual icy, proud composure completely shattered by overpowering anguish. "He is not hurt, Kaiserliche Hoheit, not a bit the worse," he shouted joyfully, thrusting the boy into his mother's arms; and then, smitten with a sudden, paralyz- ing shyness, which made the blood tingle like fire through his veins, he turned on his heel and, without waiting for thanks or reward, ran off as fast as he could put foot to the ground. On the 18th of August, 1830, a salute of one hundred and one guns had proclaimed to the good citizens of Vienna that yet another Prince had been born to the Imperial House of Habsburg. Later on the Wiener Zeitung published a bulletin of which the following is a literal translation: "Her Imperial Highness Archduchess Sophia, wife of his Imperial Highness Archduke Franz-Karl, and daughter-in-law of his Imperial Majesty Francis I., has been happily delivered of a son at the Imperial Palace of Schonbrunn. Her Imperial Highness and the Imperial Babe are both in a satisfactory condition. The christening will take place to-morrow at the Palace of Schonbrunn, and will be followed by a Cercle." The birth of this particular little Archduke was greeted with joy not only by the Emperor's loyal subjects, but by the entire House of Habsburg, for obvious reasons. To begin with, the then reigning Emperor, Francis I., had never been robust, for ever since the injuries received by him at the battle of Lugos, during the war with the Turks, to which he had in 1788 accompanied his uncle and predecessor Emperor Joseph, his chest had remained 3 A KEYSTONE OF EMPIRE delicate, and it was always greatly feared lest any shock or overstrain of the nerves or the brain should precipitate him into the grave, leaving the throne vacant for his weak-minded and unpopular son Ferdinand, who had no issue, and was looked upon as a most un- desirably successor to his kind-hearted and conscientious father. Nor were the people of Austro-Hungary, or, for the matter of that, the Imperial Family, very eager to see Ferdinand's younger brother, Archduke Franz-Karl, assume 'the reins of government should it become nec- essary to pass over the former, for, although the most upright and just of men, his tastes were far more quiet and domestic than political, and he was of so very kindly a disposition that his heart always overruled his head; not the best of recommendations for a monarch beneath whose sceptre a score of different races and peoples exist, creating and fomenting unceasing conflicts, which can alone be subdued by an iron hand in a velvet glove. It will, therefore, be readily understood that the neces- sity for a fit and proper heir to the heavy Dual Crown was bitterly felt, and hence the rejoicing occasioned by the birth of Francis-Joseph, who, none doubted, would be brought up in every particular as an Emperor should be by his mother, the shrewd, clever, and determined Archduchess Sophia; a maitresse femme if ever there was one. Myriads of roses were glowing upon the velvety lawns of Schonbrunn and the warm beams of summer sun danced on the tall jets of the fountains in the Pleasaunce, when the handsome, vigorous, Archducal baby was for the first time carried into open air.