Evening star., 1923-05-26
Hungarian Mobiles ON Perilous Quest
For Loan Visit Eastern Europe

of Magyar life. for the so-called pro
lection of the Hungarian patriots
X
1t is not at moment when Jewish
citizens in Hungary are being driven
from schools and universities and from
public resorts. and when foreign Jews
are being expelled for no other reason
than their creed from Budapest, and
from all the more important towns and
cities of Hungary, by reason of anil
Semetic prejudices, that she can expect
to find any cordial response to her APP
peal TO the money markets OF the 1e-
mander of the world for foreign loans.
Premier Count Stephen Bethlen be-
longs to a very ancient house of the
Magyar aristocracy, which has been
prominent in Hungary and has fg-
ured in the pages of her history ever
since the time of the discovery of
America by Christopher Columbus.
and which won the rank of Count OF
the Holy Roman Empire in 1914, when
1t was bestowed upon John Won Beth
len in recognition of his services as
chancellor of the kingdom of St Ste
phen. 1t is a family that has fur
nished much romance and tragedy to
the annals of the nation and it may
be recalled that during the great war
a woman who styled herself Countess
Aurelia Won BethIen of Hungary
until the restoration of peace by the
federal authorities on a charge Of
sending threatening letters addressed
to President Woodrow Wilson and
for spreading German ropaganda in
America. She claimed to have been a
lady in waiting to the murdered En-
press Elizabeth, but was unable to
furnish any evidence as to the va
lidity of her pretensions in the mat
ter.
Some years before the war the
name of another member of the Beth
len family, Count Gregory of that
ilk. a first cousin of the Hungarian
premier. was much in the public eye
in central Europe through his extraor-
dinary quarrel with Prince Theodore
public protest delivered by the prince
in the house of 1ords-or so-ca1led
table of magnates," at Budapest
against sitting in the same room as
such a man as Count Gregory Beth
len who had brought domestic misery
and unhappiness upon the house of
Odescalchi. The prince had been
thrice married After the death OF
his first wife he married Countess
Erdoedy. dame du palais of En-
whom he deserted and divorced in
order to wed her cousin. Countess
Julia Zichy. very beautiful woman
X x X *
Count Gregory Bethlen became a
very frequent guest of the prince and
princess at their magnificent castle
of Skizko on the princes invitation
until he suddenly developed a well
nigh insane jealousy against his
guest and grossly insulted him, with
the ordinary result of a duel, the
count being badly wounded. The en-
counter, far from assuaging the wrath
of the prince caused him to turn
i,, hi nd hn h.
close prisoner in a remote wing of
the castle, threatening to keep her
in the StricteSt sort of captivity until
released by death. In some way she
managed to communicate the news of
her treatment to the count, who lost
no time in informing the authorities
at PeSth. She was thereupon sum-
moned by the judicial courts of the
Hungarian metropolis to appear be-
fore them. After some demur the old
and to permit her to obey the sum-
mons of the tribunal since which
time, and naturally, she never re-
turned to his roof
Matters were further complicated
by Count Gregory Bethlen lodging
charge to the effect that while stay
ing at the castle at SkiZko a number
of valuable papers inclosed in a pock-
etbook had been stolen from him, the
prince being charged with having in
Stigated the THEFT by one OF mis- SerV-
ants in the hope that it might contain
compromising correspondence be-
tween his wife and Count Gregory
Bethlen. The proceedings lasted for
a considerable time, and were finally
ended through the restoration in a
mysterious fashion to Count Bethlen
of the principal papers of which he
had been robbed while under the
princes roof-that Is to say. the res
toration of all the papers that hap
pened to be of any financial value.