The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-12-16
Came in a Storm, and De-
parted in a Storm, After
Riding Out Gales That
Would Have Engulfed the
Ordinary Monarch.


(By James Morgan in Boston Globe.
When the assassination of Abraham
Lincoln was announced to the British
said that Tin the character of the vic
tim and even in the accessories Of his
last moments, there is something sc
hQmely and innocent that it takes the
question, as it were, out Of all the
pomp of history and the ceremonial OF
diplomacy-it touches the heart OF
Nations and appeals to the domestic
sentiment Of mankind"
But this sympathy is denied the
monarch living Or dead. He is cut Off
from his kind as the price he must
pay for a seat upon the throne. II
for the moment we could forget that
Francis Joseph was an emperor, If we
could close our eyes to the ponp and
ceremonial Of his station and remem-
Der only that he was q man. his life
story would till us with compassion.
A Haunted Palace,
Schoenbrunn already was filed with
evil shadows when he first opened his
infant eyes upon it's palace walls, the
same walls within which he died last
week. The tragic death Of his great
aunt, Marie Antoinette, was fresh in
the memory Of the family. On the
throne sat his grandfather, the En-
peror Francis, from whom the Corsi-
can conquerer had snatched the
ancient crown Of the holy Roman EN-
pire' at Auster1itz, and whom he had
thrice put to flight before making him
his father -tn-law. Marie Louise, aunt
Of the child, still was living to testify
by her wretched existence to the readi-
ness Of the Hapsburgs to traffic in
their own flesh and blood for political
gain. And as the baby prince todd1ed
about the corridors he must have
looked up into the handsome, melan-
choly face Of his cousin, Napoleon's
Little Eagle" who fingered there in
the palace like the unwelcome, ghost
Of a past that the household gladly
would have wrapped in oblivion.
Shadows In the Path.
But these were pale shadows COM
pared with those that lay across the
path which stretched ahead Of the fu-
and midnight hays" already, were
stirring their witches cauldron. What
if he could have ready then the des-
tiny awaiting him? To be thrust in
boyhood upon throne rocked by the
waves Of revolution; to meet. disaster
in war after war; to have three as
sassins assail him in turn; to have
brother, wife, son and still another
heir to his crown shot down, leaving
him alone in his old age; to close his
eyes at last upon a flaming world,
set attire by Hapsburg ambition? -
Is Could he have seen those terrifying
specters lying in walt for him, he well
might have flung away his crown and
become a fugitive from greatness. Like
one member OF his family who, as
plain Johann Ortiz, sailed for parts
he might have foresworn
his Imperial name. Or like second
member, who ran off with her tutor.
Or like a third, who settled down In
quiet content as Herr Burg. husband
OF a school MAINS daughter. Or yet
like a fourth, who took wife from
the stage and went to housekeeping
in tree. The examples OF these kins-
men were scorned by the Emperor,
but, after all, they really chose the
better part.
When the Lid Blew On.
Being a true Hapsburg. Francis Jo-
seph did not seek to lift the veil OF
the future His grandfather had died,
but his Uncle Ferdinand, the new En-
peror, was yet young man and his
-. 49, -
succession, was younger still. With
those two lives between him and the
throne the responsibilities Of power
apparently were 80 or 40 years off.
Wherefore the care-free youth flashed
his sword and danced and flirted at
the scorching pace set for the sons Of
the most profiigate OF the royal races
Of Europe.
Suddenly forces long repressed burst
into the Revolution of 184S and blew
up Metternich, who, for 40 years. had
been sitting on the lid for the Haps-
burgs. Both the uncle and the father
of Francis Joseph, being lightweights,
could not hope to hold It down again
and they agree to turn the task over
to new generation.
Hungary had risen; Vienna was in
revolt and the imperial family. had run
as far as they could without leaving
the country entirely. They had fled
to Olmutz, in other days their favorite
refuge from Napoleon. For it was
from Olmutz that the Emperor Fran
els was marching to recover his CAPT
tai when a little man in gray coat
stopped him at Austerlitz. And it
was at Austerlitz, that the Emperor
Ferdinand signed his ahdicat1on and
resigned his crown to the 1S-year -old
Francis Joseph, IS years ago next
Saturday.
The Longest Reign.
Mere figures do not suffice to meas
ure the length Of the reign which be-
gan in 1S4S and has only closed in
1915. If the dead Emperor had
worked at any other trade 6s years,
we would not be surprised. In nearly
every community there are men who
have toiled as long and almost as
hard at blowing, laying brick, saving
wood, as carpenters, tailors, teachers,
preachers, lawyers. But since the rec
ords of history began, no other man
has stood up SO many years beneath
the burden Of crown.
In the course Of his long reign he
out1ived three heirs to his throne; he
saw three Czsrs =s:1k into their graves
in Russia: he saw three nnonarchs at
rar1in nnd thrae snverAfpns at Ton.