The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-29
DEAD ARCHDUKE GREAT HUNTER AND
 TRAVELLED OFTEN
Continued from Page one,

time many of the old melodies of his na- tive Styria.
 His admirers insist that his life was singularly free from scandal with the exception of his infatuation for the for mer Bohemian countess and thereby hangs the interest in the present situa- ton. While she belongs to one of the most ancient noble families of Bohemia, her birth rank is far below that of the imperial house of the Austrian Haps- burgs. Under the Hapsburg law no mem Der of the imperial family can be mar ried without the consent of the sov- eregn.
 As the Emperor's nephew and heir ap- parent. Francis Ferdinand's love affairs had been close watched. By arrange ment of the Austrian cabinet he was to become betrothed to a princess of Saxony but so uncompromising was. his refusal that the matter was dropped. He had fallen in love with the former Bohemian countess, then maid of honor to the widowed Crown Princess Stephanie. For nine years this attachment was a subject of gossip in Vienna. When his uncle, the Emperor protested against plans for marriage, the Arehduke remind ed him of his previous advice.
 ''T heard you once say, he repeated, that in choosing wife an Emperor should pay no attention to politics and should follow the impulse of his own heart" This was a chapter out of Fran cis Joseph's own life.
 Followed Own Heart in Marriage
 Francis Ferdinand stubbornly resisted the nine years of opposition on the part of the Emperor. When he married he answered all arguments with the reply:
 "The Austrians would not like to see an unhappy man on the throne" There was no question but that the two were deeply In love, and have ever since continued so. Francis Joseph. however. was never pleased with his nephews con duct. But he gave his imperial consent to the marriage upon condition that the archduke strictly observe the Hapsburg laws and never attempt to place his morganatic wife on the throne. or estab- fish the fright of succession for his chill dren.s He also elevated the wife to the title of Princess of Hohenberg.
 The terms of the archduke's oath were explicit and binding. They set forth that the marriage was not 'ebenbuertige. or to one highly born
 The oath concluded as follows:
 We pledge our word that we recog- nize for all time the present declaration. of whose significance and scope we are fully conscious. both for us and our wife. and for our children by this marriage and that We never will attempt to revoke tnlS, our present declaratIon nor un- dertake anything calculated to enfeeblc or to abrogate the binding force there- of
 The precise meaning of this solemn re- nunciation is viewed somewhat differently in Austria and in Hungary. In Austria it's force is thought to depend largely upon the provisions of the mysterious Hapgsburg family law. hitherto most jealously kept secret. 1t is known, how ever, that the Emperor as sovereign head of the family has very far-reaching au- thority. but whether he himself is bound by the family law or is superior to it, and whether he can after the law alone, or with the consent of the family in council assembled. are all questions which nobody outside the members of the fam fly can answer. Then again. how far the Hapsburg family law is binding upon the Austrian state is another question.
 In Hungary. however, the whole mat ter Is entirely different. The Hungarians recognize no such thing as morganatic marriages With them a marriage Is a marriage, and the lawful wife of their King is their Queen. Tn Hungary the archdukes oath and declaration were registered by the Parliament and em- bodied in statute which can, of course. be changed by the Parliament in the same way
 Both Francis Ferdinand and his wife