New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-01-05

three great personages who succeeded each other
without perceptible interval. The hrst or these
personages was Queen Elizabeth the second Car
dlnal Richelieu the third Cardinal Mazarin.
Nothing less than this series of transcendant
minds beginning in England and continued in
the most influential state on the Continent could
have broken down the dynastic tradition which
enabled the Eapsburgs in the course of few
generations to claim almost universal empire
The theory never did harden into law that king
owned his kingdom In the same sense that an in
dependent farmer owned his farm; but 1t came
r ar being deemed inviolable law at one time
I'd that happened to he Just the time when the
japsburgs discovered the wonderful utility Of
royal caste. Let fools wage war Ito para
phrase a famous Latin verse; but thou. happy
Austria. marry" was in effect the motto OF the
House OF Hapsburg and obedience t. it had an
extraordinary result since the time OF the HO-
henstau.ens imperialism had been shadow In
Europe: legally wherever Roman law was taught
Or obeyed a stupcndous shade. but practically
impotent But suddenly this antique sem5lance
became a magnificent threatening reality In
the person Of Charles V. Just before his time the
Emperor had been impoverished prince with
grandoquent title. but without the power to en-
force his commands The Spanish peninsula was
not only divided. Low. between SPAN ana
Portugal bu, Spain itself was divided iato sew
eral independent soveresn.ies. 1'aly gave the
orc;ical allegiance t. the Emperor. but was even
more remote than Spain from union Germany
vas 4 bundle Of celebrates and smaller ruler
shus Only In England and France can a modern
eye discern any authorizations Of national unity.
In those countries there was spirit likely, under
proper conditions. to 4 purpose far greater
than that OF any dynasty
The Hapsburgs were not the discoveries If ro-
litical matchmaking and marriage for reasons of
state They did not even consider we'll At the out
set what the result would be II an Imperial family
undertook the acquisition Of territorial rights by
marriage. Thus. for long time they cut rather
a sorry figure in history though their name had
been linked with that OF the Duchy Of Austria
since the time OF the Emperor Rudolph. The
worst years Of the Holy Roman Empire were
those of the Hapsburg line. when 1t had no hered-
iiary possessions except its duchy ana a few
lordshps in Switzerland and .Alsace. Dut things
hogan I, change when MACMILLAN ! married
Mary, the hciross oc Charles The Bold. For
Charles the Bold by marriage had added the
Netherlands to the Duchy and County ~ Ber-
gundy previous Hapsburg marriage had
Joined the Tyrol t. Austria. Thus. Philip the
to vastly enlarged estate. The joke ii the thing
was that Macmillan lived his whole l.fo thrrgh
sort Of tramp among princes. chrpnicaliy i'm
pecuni1us "A sovereign out at elbows" But
doubtless he was cheered in his somewhat farcscal
misery by the thought which Charles the Bold eX-
pressed tina, the Union Of burgundy and Austria
by marriage would make the Haps1urg Lmr error
n parsonage to be feared more than aHy Emperor
had been in three hundred years
Things turned oul even better char Charles
hoped For now mere luck came TO help the
Hapsburgs up to the ownership o. one continent
and the reversion Of all the rest. pnlip "a" Hand
some married Juana. the third ch!ld # Ferdinand
and Isabella Then the two older children died
and the Hapsburg stretched his hands out over
almost all Spain. over Naples and Sicily. and over
an unknown world beyond TIE ocean. 10 dd noi
grasp all this infinite estate At once PhilIp long
appeared merely as a Burgunian prince. and his
son. who was to he Charles In the line II Holy
Roman Emperors. grew " Fleming With ut any
adequate knowledge of either Spain or Germany.
Men wondered even after Charles mad taken all
his heritage in hand. whether Or not he could
WELD n power So enormous. concentrated in his
hands by accident. II is needless - dwell on The
answer he gave by his acts For century the
Hapsburg power ovcrshad3wci the world and
three times oppressed Europe hy It's atcenlancy.
once under Charles V. second time In the later
years OF Philip IL. third time In the earlier part
- the Thirty Years War" After this POWER be
Kan 70 decay Il took almost n century 10 construct
new political fabrics out ~ rs ruins. BESIDES. II
gave the for subsequent dynasiles. The STATE
craft OF Louis XIV In France and Il the Siuarts
in England was largely matter OF royal marrl-
ages 1T Is strange. indeed. /, must he mortify-
ing 10 those who would think nobly 4 human
history" remarks the author. 10 zee m almost
universal dominion created neither by a reason
bic view Of the public good. nor even lay an excr-
ton Of force which. II irrational might be grand
and might involve displays of heroic valor. but 10y
the mere operation II a legal usage originally IN
tended II produce no such effect" The forced
union u Spain and Germany was too tnnat Iral
t. be maintained after the reign ~ Charles '.
But Spain and the Low Countries were Eed to-
gether for almost two hundred years and were the
cause OF infinite slaughter before the direct results
OF the great Hapsburg marriages were cffaccd.
England narrowly escaped the Harsburg net
L., ho MA cd n hcrinp