New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-06-29

line of succession thereto, yet ferdl-
nand's sense of honor was so keen that
there was no reason whatsoever TO sup
pose that he would yield TO the long
inCs of his heart and break the promise
which he gave to the members OF MS
house, the government of the Dual En-
pire and 10 the people.
Throughout his reign, at any rate
as long as she remained unmarried u
was expected that his half-slster'
Archduchess Marie Annunciata, Abbess
of the Hradraschin, would continue 70
play the role of acting Empress and OF
first lady of the empire, to which she
was appointed on the death Of Arch
duke Otto. and on all state functions
and official ceremonies the Princess OF
Hohenberg was obliged to yield the
pass to her sister-in-law.
Sophie's chief hope that this would
not be the case lay in the movement
for the political advancement OF 30
hemia to a position Of equality IN the
emnire with Austria and Hungary.
The agitation for equal political rights
among the Bohemians grows with
every day. II is q movement when
weakens the empire in its foreign re-
lations, and it has converted the
Reichsrath into an international arena
for noisy, though unframed, puglhsts,
and it was her hope that the day would
come when the GROWING OF Boheml-
an woman as Empress might soften,
and even solve, a situation which would
otherwise prove intolerable.
This was the ambitious woman
hest card. which many believed would
prove a winning card, and expect TO
see a former governess installed on
the throne of Maria Theresa, despite
the pragmatic sanction and the family
comnact. laws and regulations almost
as ancient as those of the Medes and
Persians.
WAY Out of Difficulty.
This would have relieved most un-
pleasant situation, for Hungary recog-
nizes no such thing as morganauc
marriage. With Hungarian the law
ful wife Of the king is their queen.
So if Francis Ferdinand had become
emperor the Princess Hohenberg would
have been queen at Budapest an9
morganatic wife only in Vienna. The
archduke's oath and declaration were
registered by the Hungarian parlla-
ment and embodied in the statutes
which, of course, could nave beeh
changed by parliament IN the same
way.
over him Sophie welded sgreat in
fluence. even in the nine ycars before
their marriage during which their al
fair was the talk of ali Europe, and
before the Austrian Cabinet sought to
sever the alliance by marrying him to
a princess of Saxony.
Francis Ferdinand. who was fifty-one
years old at his death, visited TIE
United States at the time OF the Colum-
hian Exposition. The results OF his
visit he published in his diary his RET
erences to the country and It's people
being friendly and commendatory IN
tone. This diary was not his only ven
ture in literature, for he had TO his
record several graceful monographs,
notably one on the celebrated Field
Marshal Radetzky, remarkable by rea-
son of the high souled patriotism APP
parent in every line of the essay, and
two volumes Of pretty Alpine poetry.
Like most of his countrymen, he was
aeyoted TO music, and was something
of a composer, having put on paper for
the first time several of those old Sty-
rian melodies which until then had
never been written, but merely handed
down from father 70 son throughout
the ages.
Boy When Mother Died.
Francis Ferdinand was born on De
cember ~, 1863. His father. the Arch
duke Carl Ludwig, was a brother of
Emperor Francis Joseph, and his
mother was Maria Annunziata, daugh-
ter of Ferdinand II of Naples. Fran
els Ferdinand was still boy when his
mother died.
In 1898 his father, then over fifty,
married Princess Maria Theresa Won
Rraganza, the eighteen-year old daugh-
fer of King Miguel of Portugal. The
new stepmother established an exem-
uIary home. and Ferdinand always held
her in high esteem. She and her
daughter, the Archduchess Maria An
nunziata, were the only ladies present
as witnesses of Francis Ferdinand's
morganatic marriage TO the Bohemian
Countess Sophie Chotek, who later was
elevated to the rank OF Duchess OF
Hohenberg by the Emperor.
Francis Ferdinand became the heir
presumptive when the Crown Prince
Pudolph, the only son of Emperor
Francis Joseph, met "A tragic death in
what is known as the Meyerling
tragedy, the result Of an uncounte-
nanced love for young baroness.