The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-22
NJ JEANETTE L. GLIDER.

m0nger or whether IL Is because nj
sense Of humor incites him to write q
he does Of men and women. who to tn
public are famous, in private life per
haps Infamous, Ia question. As mat
ter Of fact, l think that he delights II
showing up the worlds great. not Il
epite, but simply because their side
steppings from the paths OF vtrtu'
amuse rather than shock him.
In "The Life Of Emperor Francii
Joseph" he has all the material for Z
story Of scandals that he could possibl,
want. There In no royal house In Eu
rupe more surrounded with eccentrici.
tics, to put II mildly. than the house ol
I Hapsburg. not only scandal but ro'
nance comes up at every turn In III
J story. There are those who think that
Mr.. Gribble takes 1np these subjects
more as n scientific investigator than
~ q rehearser Of scandals. This may be
true, but he has n much livelier touch
than the average investigator. For hold
ing the readers attention there Is nc
novelist who surpasses Mr.. Gribble, for
after all, Is not truth stranger than fic-
ton?
Much has been read about. the lives
OF the Hapsburgs OF late. II was only
recently that Louisa Of Tuscany laid
bare the story OF her extraordinary
lapses from court etiquette and later
the Countess Larisch told us In MY
Rast" scandals that she claims were
known only TO her. but which have been
challenged by those who think they
know the subject better than she. among
them the lady who wrote 1.-THE Martyr
dom OF an Empress"
While there have been n great many
books written about the Hapsburgs, MIR.
GribbIe argues that the ground has not
vet been covered. There exists no lie
of Francis Joseph, and no history Of
Austria. in which the personal ana po-
litical aspects OF the subjects are con-
sidered In their relation to each other.
Those writers who have already treated
this theme have either taken the side
OF tittie-tattle or history assuming that
the two can never meet. In Mr.. GRID
ble's pages they are cheek by )owL
Following out this idea l quote from
Ills preface:
whence 1t follows. as a secondary
sequence. that. in the history or
modern Austria, tlttle-tattle matters:
Tor II is only by the careful study
of the tittle-tattle that We can hope
To discover whether the Hapsburgs
Of to-day are true or false To tn,
proud and impressive traditions OF
their house. In their case, as in
that of any other house, stray
story Of a romantic or scandalous char
acter might properly he ignored as APP
pertaining to the domain OF idle gossip;
but when stories OF that kind meet us
at every turn-and meet us with In.
creasing frequency as time proceeds
we are no longer entitled to dismiss
them with superior indifference.
'They are significant: the key to the
situation Is to be found In them. Title.
tattle, In short when one encounters 1t.
not in sample but in bulk. ceases to be
tittle-tattle, but attalns to the dignity
OF history. and furnishes the raw ma
ter,sl for the CONGRATULATIONS of the po-
lisical philosopher"
The political and personal factors In
the problem are perpetually interact-
ing; and one Of the questions which
the political prophet has to consider Is:
win not the decadence OF the family
hasten the dissolution of the empire?"
Mr.. Gribble draws his own differences
from the history Of the house of Haps-
burg. In doing this he has been obliged
to deal with a good many matters be-
sides the political manGuvres Of the
Emperor and his Ministers. He re.
marks:
"John Ortiz pelting the Emperor
with the insignia of the Order OF the
Golden Fleece. Herr Wulhing' cracking
nuts In q tree with Fraulein Adamo-
vic& Princess Louisa OF Tuscany. first
bicycling with the dentist In the Dres-
den Park and then appealing to her
sons tutor to come and compromise her
in Switzerland; all these are matters
which may suggest reflections quite as
far reaching as anything that we read
about Francis Joscph's skill in extri-
eating his country from embarrass-
ments with rival Powers and keeping
the peace lin so far AS II has been kept
between Ruthenians and Galic!ans."
Mr. Gribble does not presume to
present this biography as the full and
final portrait Of Francis Joseph as he
really Is. The fact that that sovereign
il still living makes this impossible.
Being a thoroughly up to date writer,
Mr.. Gribble considers In one chapter
the house OF Hapsburg from the stand
point OF eugenics. In several recent
works of this science It has been argued
that the Hapsburgs are degenerates and
this degeneracy Is attributed to the one
cause:
1T rs. they agree. the cumulative
effect of what Is technically called i'm
breeding'--of a long succession Of inter-
marriages among comparatively near
relatives.
zone hears OF the physiological law
thus violated whenever the question Of
a marriage between cousins is mooted.
The tendency Of such q marriage, We
are always told. Is to perpetuate and
scoentuate typical characteristics and
weaknesses both physical and moral.
A single marriage between cousins may
produce NO perceptible evil result. and
one can cite cases In which II appears
70 have produced remarkably brilliant
results. But q series of such marriages.
continued through generation after gen.
Grafton, Invariably and inevitably tells.
1.-THE family. or the community. in
which such unions are the rule loses
vigor and develops pecularities. q spe-
ciai, readily recognizable physiognomy
and an unstable mental equilibrium.
Tho transmitted eccentricities-mOre
particularly the mental eccentricities--
may skip a generation or leave an indi-
viduai exempt. but they are always
lurking In the background, always to