Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-03-08
SECOND HAND CROWNS
FOR SALE; ARE BARGAINS
Each Of the Central Powers Has
Head Pieces to Match
Shattered Thrones.

One would not be particularly SUI
| prised these days to find nm advertise
mept like the above in European ncwn
paper For the number Of royal crowns on
| OF q job has increased enormously durln
| the last three years. The first Russial
| revolution Of March, 1917, started n
| avalanche OF rcgalia which eliminated il
November. 1918, with the collapse OF tn
| Central Powers.
The number of unemployed crowns Il
central and eastern Europe today mn,
roughly be put at 40. With the accompany
ing insignia of sovereign powers sccpters
crosses. swords, robes, etc.--they repre-
sent an enormous treasure even If onl,
the actual value of gold and precious
stones IL considered. Some OF them mr.
exquisite pieces Of oraftsrna uship. Wha
with the historic "reminiscences nnt
sentimental associations attaching to then
their aggregate value ~ practically beyone
computation.
The foregoing estimate Of tho number 81
crowns once engaged in making uneasy
tho heads that wore them may seem large
seeing that monarrhies were overturned
only IN four countries --Russin. Germ, NY
Austria and Hungary. To this number,
however, must be added thrt OF the kings,
grand dukes, dukes and princes olisted by
the revolution in the German federal
states This brings the total up 70 about
twcnty-seyen.
The discrepancy between this % and
the 40 before referred TO is explained by the
fact that the word crown" is commonly
employed AZ covering two distinct com
ceptinne, one abstract. one concrete.
Ii is the custom to speak Of the british
CROWN Hungarian crown, "Russian
crown" in which case "crown" h synony-
nous with the abstract idea Of sovereign
power In this eenso each monarchy has
but one crown. But the word also de-
notes tho concrete object defined by the
New Standard Dictionary as % decorative
circlet ar covering for the head To he
worn, carried or displayed rs the sign or
mark Of sovereign power" and in this
(which ls, naturally. tho Originally sense a
kingdom or empire may have several
crowns.
The legal significance Of the crown as n
svInbol oi power varied greatly in the diff
feTent European countries. Strangely
enough, the two extreme interpretations
could he found within the HaWburg en-
pire. In the Austrian empire proper the
imperial CROWN WA nothing but piece of
ornament, an elaborate specimen Of
jewelry, of almost contemporary origin
and of no higher status than any other
valuable item oi the imperial treasury On
the other hand, in the kingdom Of Hun
gary the CROWN of st. Stephen, officially
called the Holy Hungarian Crown, dc
veloped IN the oourse oi centuries into the
obIec. of a veritahle legal and sentimental
idolntry uD.aueled IN any other country.
The crown (which in this ease WAS actually
identical with the ieweled hcadgear worn
by the king at the coronation) wm the
source and depository Of all power in the
realm, and the supreme symbol of law and
According TO the Hungarian conception
an uncrowned King WAS no king at all,
his decrres had no legal force and re-
sistance to them was constitutional, And,
in fact, during the last 300 years there was
only one ruler who dched tho ancient
Magyar traditions centcring around the
crown Of st. S;ephen-Joseph III, the en-
lishtened but arbitrary son Of Maria
Theresa.
With the sole exception of the so-called
iron crown of Lomhardy. tins Hungarian
crown IL by far the oldest of all existing
regalia in Europe. Legend traces back it's
origin to the year 1000, 1t is certain that it
existed in the first years of the thirteenth
century, and q section Of IL Is probably
much older than that.
IL is a strange fate which has picked
Just this, the most ancient ana revered
crown in all Europe. for possible object
of a commercial transaction. And yet this
Is what happened when. IN August lest,
The rumor circulated in the European
press that the Hungarian Soviet govern
4 81 h..s Al IN
ieweler. The sum Of 100, 900
Swiss fra normally about $1,000
Mas named as the price In the meantime,
Bella Kun was ousted, and the succeeding
of MIR. Friedrich seems 20
nave decided to keep the crown at Buda-
pest for an emergency And If the dreams
If the monarchist group now rampant IN
Hungary. should matcrialize according to
this particular crown will soon
nave q Job again.
No. only does-or did-the Hungarian
,rown possess a unique constitutional
position among the crowns of Europe 1t lis
also distinguished BY a most romantic
,areer According To the Hungarian text
,ooks the crown was sent In the year 1000
,y Pope Sylvester Ii to Stephen. Duke Of
hungary, who had just then finished the
sood-sized task of converting the fierce
horsemen 10 Christianity. Ac-
'ording TO this version, hardly more than
egend, Pope Sylvester had the crown
made for the Polish Prince Boleslav, and
vas Just about dispatchlng it by courier
when one night al angel appeared to him
n dream and enjoined HIM to give the
:rown to Stephen. Awakening, the Pope
ave the crown to the Abbot Asztrik (Ot-
nix, with the words:
Tell the duke of the Hungarians that
whilst ! am merely successor OF the
apostles, he is O real apostle himself.
,Thereupon Asztrik delivered the crown
o Stephen, who soon afterward was
crowned first king Of Hungary at Alba
aegia Ever after the rulers of Hungary
,ore the title Apostolic King, Just as the
,pithet "Most Christian" was bestowed
~ the Popes on the kings of France and
he attribute "Most Catholic" on the
,ings of Spain.
In contrast to the long historical past
md great sentimental and legal signifi-
ance of the crown of st. Stephen, the
,osition OF the imperial crown of Austria
vas almost negligible This crown, like the
Austrian empire itself, WAS purely
rtifciaI creation, made TO order, without a
DOT In history and without al emotional
1t WAS kept under glass in
he imperial treasury a Vienna. Nobody
kept curious foreign tourists ever looked
{ it, although it WAS quite pretty OBJ
ect, in fact one of the prcttiest and most
Taceful of all crowns, with it's dainty de-
ign emphasized by pearls and sapphires
nd its ruby colored velvet lining. The
ustrian emperor was not crowned at oil.
he beir-apparent automatically became
mperor in the moment his predecessor