The Saint Paul globe., 1898-11-06
1O~~N~~~N~~,
! Emperor Francis
I Joseph to Marry
the sister of Al
I fonso XIII.

they ruled the German empire, too In
Europe for seven centuries they were
mighty among the mightieSt. But
their glory has passed, their star has
set, the house and the name of it are
ill-omened. Franz Josef's first appear
ance was at a review of his army. BY
way Of encouragement an anarchist
tried to kill him. His last official ap-
pearance was at the funeral of his
wife, with whom another anarchist had
succeeded better. During the inter
vening years he saw Lombardy and
Venetia slip from him. He saw his
primacy in the German confederation
evaporate. He saw losses to the mon
archy such as the state had not suf-
fered since the days of Maria Theresa,
and disasters comparable only to those
which Napoleon produced. He saw the
turmoils and jealousieS of his unrelat-
ed races, the revolts of Magyars and of
CzechS.
These things being insufficient, fate
supplied more. There was his brother,
Maximillan, butchered by Junrez on
the plain Of Queretaro. There was his
son, Rudolph, knocked on the head in
drunken brawl, and there was his
wife, whom an obscure reptile recently
murdered. One has to go back to the
heroic age, to the Old tragedies of the
Greek dramatists, to find H. king pur-
sued by Nemesis as relentlessly as he.
No sovereign Of modern times has
supped on horrors so protractedly
One after another, brother, son and
wife were taken from hinl-the first by
a bullet, the second by a bottle, the
third by a beast. That the bomb
which explodes in the paths of emper-
ors has been absent from his own is
due, perhaps, to one of fate's refine
ments-that living he might suffer
more.
Today without an heir and with the
future of the empire menaced, weary
and alone, the old man stands. He
mas daughters, indeed, and he has also
nepheWs, but for reasons too complex
Tor recital here they are not available.
one nephew, Otto, regarded for tins
as heir presumptive, showed himself as
unflt to reign as a coster would be
Inc grandson of Bonnba the worst Of
the Bourbons, which is saying a great
deal, his one title to distinction is
public insult which he offered to hia
wife and for which the emperor honor
ed him with personal and equally pub
lie chaStisement. Considered as an
heir, he is worse than none, and yet
an heir there must be.
The name Hapsburg, derived from
ddDlcntSDurg, means a Vulture'S nest
When Rudolph was killed there ensued
a stupor into which presently filtered
Inc dlscernment that, barring miracle,
the name was doomed, that vultures
OF another brood, birds of prey that
nested not within the realm, but with
out, We're lowering at the frontier
waiting but for the heirless emperor
to die to batten on the empires vitals
The possibility may seem unfmpor
tant. 1t is the reverse, To Austria the
preservation Of the dynasty may mean
but the preservation of the empire, yet
10 the world the preservation of the
empire means the preservation of the
triple alliance, and to Europe that, for
some time past, has spelled peace. To
insure these things a fmiracle was re.
quired. In its stead, an infamy oc-
CURED. The wife of Franz Josef was
killed. The late empress had every.
thing which an artificial world can
give, except ar1if1ciahty, everything
which power cam bestow except might.
If she ever harmed a human being, that
human being was herself. The assas-
s1natlon of woman such as she was
politically speaking, wanton, and, So
cially, without excuse. 3 But 1t set Franz
Josef free
A month has little more than come
and gone since then. Last week 1T was
reported that the widowed monarch
was preparing to marry again. AS al
ready stated the brideIto-be is Mer-
cedes OF Spain. Should the marriage
take place and child result, there
will be the miracle, indeed. And yet
1T might not be SO miraculous after all.
Thinkers of ken have averred that at
nifty a husband usually becomes ia