The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-08-02

which have. married his reign began
when an attempt was made TO assassi-
nate him. Early one afternoon In
February of that year the Emperor
was taking his daily walk on the
ancient bastions which used to encircie
Vienna. attended by a single aidede-
camp. Count O'Dorrell. The two men
had stopped TO view the movements of
the soldiers who were drilling nearby,
Suddenly a man ran UP the narrow
steps leading to the bastIon and dealt
the Emperor violent blow with
knife. The blow was aimed at the
neck, but II struck q bone behind the
ear and did not inflict a serious wound
although the conclusion caused partial
blindness for a time. The man proved
TO be Hungarian named Lebenzi--a
tailor by trade. He declared that ne
was determined 70 kill the. Emperor
and had waited for the opportunity
for some time.
When the Emperor had fully re
covered the people OF Vienna, who
| have always shown n remarkable de-
votion TO their ruler set about to build
a church in commemoration OF their
youthful monarch's preservation, and
the Votivktrche. n masterpiece of mod
ern Gothic art. was the result. This
beautiful church rears Its slender,
graceful towers on one OF the widest
streets OF the Austrian capital and is
| always an object az the greatest In
terest 10 the American traveller. The
Viennese have a habit OF setting up
thank offerings, for away back in the
eighteenth century they erected a
monument on what is known as the
Graben (the shopping district OF the
city) as thanks offering for the
cessation of an epidemic Of cholera
which had swept over the city.
The Emperor was kindly disposed
toward his subjects. even the Hun
garian rebels, and tried to win them,
but the Archduchess Sophie had
formed the policy OF his reign--a
cruel. heartless policy which carried
death and exile TO many. She was
heartily disliked by the people. and the
historians regard Il almost a miracle
that she was not assassinated during
one OF the Hungarian uprisings.
Marries Princess Elizabeth.
When "Franzi." as she affectionate-
ly called her son, was about twenty
three. she set about to find him wife.
so she sent him on a counting expedi-
ton to the home OF the Duke OF
Bavaria. who had married her younger
sister. Among the daughters Of the
Duke was the Princess Helene. who
was Just nineteen, and the mother
hoped that her son would fall in love
with this princess. but she was
destined to disappointment for he paid
little attention to the Princess Helene
and fell in love with her younger
sister. the Princess Elizabeth, who was
then only fifteen years OF age. A year
later they were married and the beau-
tiful princess charmed all Austria and
Hungary as we'll. She bore the name
of the patron saint OF the latter. and
when she came with the Emperor to
Budapest the widest enthusiasm pre-
vailed. She studied their language and
spoke Il like a native. Even today
she is known as the good angel OF
Hungary, and Il special museum has
been established where articles which
at one time belonged to her are on
exhibition. Or a naturally vivacious
disposition the new Empress chafed
under the restraint of Court etiquette
and did lot of unheard Of things
which shocked the Austrian royalty.
blu. delighted the pleasure-lovins Hun