New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-06
FOUR JUBILEES.
NOTABLE ANNIVERSARIES WHICH WILL
BE CELEBRATED BY EUROPEAN
SOVEREIGNS THIS YEAR.

scribed as being Of tin. The last is 'ha' Vi EN-
peror William Of Germany. who on June IL
will complete the tenth year or MS reisH' III
Apri King Albert of Saxony. VINO IN punt Vi
age is the dean Of the confederation u 'ne
sovereigns comprised in the German hhpi'e,
will celebrate the twenty-hfth anniversary vi
his accession to the crown Sun Iater III 'iie
year Emperor Francis Joseph commentaries
the fiftieth anniversary Of his transiorhd''o"
from a mere archduke into the ruler OF AUS
tr;, Uunqarv while sixty years have now
elapsed since Leo NH was ordained priest anu
celebrated his first mass Each one of these four
personagcs has played 50 notable role III 'he
history # the Old World, and has contributed
co much tn the radical changes which it has UNI
dergone. that the respective jubilees deserve
more than passing attention, as they may be
reqardcd in the light Of miestones In the history
of the nineteenth century.
All four sovereigns, three Of them temporal
and one spiritual, may be said to have succeeded
to their respective thrones under circumstances
the reverse Of suspicious. Leo NH by MS eleVa-
tion to the Chair Of St Peter was condemned 10
a lifelong Imprisonment within the walls Oh the
Vatican, an incarceration calculated to weigh
with more than ordinary heaviness upon man
who. born and reared as mountaineer' was pas
sonateiy fond If exercise, and preferred the brac
ing air Of the Italian hill country to the depress
ing and unhealthy atmosphere OF the tapai
abodes
Emperor william was brought to the throne
by the untimey death Of his father, with whom
ne was on such terms Of open ennty that be-
fore the last breath had left the body OF "Unser
Fritz ne surrounded the palace with a Gordon
Of troops as to prevent the execution OF the
orders that the dying monarch is known 10
ttn
confidential papers.
King Albert Of Saxony's advent to the crown
was preceded by the insanity Of his father-an
insanity which. if the truth were known, was
Of homicidal nature. and was attended by one
Of those royal tragedies which always remain
more or less Of a mystery
But Of all these four rulers there is not one
who entered upon his duties as monarch Just
fifty years ago among such scenes Of riot raplne
loodshed and civil war as Francis Joseph or
Austria. The Hungarian portion OF the Dual En-
pre was In the ruthless grasp Of a Russian
army which the first Car Nicholas had placed
at the disposal of old Emperor Ferdinand in
order to enable him 10 suppress the Magyar IN
surrection. The cutters at Vienna with
human blood the streets being rendered hideous
by the most extraordinary savagery and blood
shed The mob which had taken possession OF
the city much i'm the same manner as the Com
mune Of 1871 secured hold of Paris, worked It's
sanguinary will upon both life and property
until the metropolis was recaptured by an army
Of regulars, just as Paris was restored to the
forces Of the Government at Versailles
A STORMY REIGN BEGUN
It was a very critical situation with which
Francis Joseph was thus called upon to deal; 80
critical indeed that neither his uncle Emperor
hi fath hdttGa nyc
Charles, ventured to face It, the former abdicat-
ing and the latter waving his rights Of success
sion in favor Of his son, who was barely egh-
teen years old at the time Brought up among
the most autocratic surroundings to a strict be-
lief In the royal rights of rulers and In the
sacred character of their sovereignty, for the
duties OF which they considered themselves re-
spOnsible to one save God, H. was confronted
by an entirely new and strange condition OF
affairs the revolution having resulted in the
transformation Of Austria from absolute
monarchy into a popular government for the
people and by the people.
Before he had been many months on the
throne an instruction broke out in the Aus
trian provinces Of Northern Italy, which de-
veloped into a war with the King Of Sardinia.
Although Austria got the better Of the con
hct, it vas only at tie expense Of much blood
and treasure, and exactly ten years later the
conflict was revived, with the result that Aus
tria was defeated and forced to consent TO the
treaty Of Villafranca, according TO the terms
Of which she had 70 surrender most Of her
possessions in Northern Italy which now form
part OF the dominions Of King Humbert. In
1866 Emperor Francis Joseph found himself
once more at war with Italy, who on this
occasion was SUI ported 10y Prussia, with whom
she had formed an alliance; and, although Aus