2 OCTOBER 1953, Page 16

Vie Spectator

OCTOBER 1st, 1853

AUSTRIA.—The grand ceremony of receiving the long-lost crown of St. Stephen, and the accompanying insignia of royalty, was per- formed at Vienna on the 19th September. The railway station was decked out with flags and festoons; twenty Magyars lifted the iron box containing the much-prized treasures out of the railway-carriage, and placed it in an imperial chariot drawn by six white horses; and on the arrival of the splendid escort with the precious relics at the Court Chapel, the twenty magnates again took up the chest, carried it into the chapel, and placed it before the *liar. Here the box was blessed, and then conveyed to the Imperial treasury. Next morning, the Emperor Francis Joseph arrived firom Olmiltz, and, after attending a Te Deum, inspected the relics of " the holy Stephen," in the presence of the Archduke Albrecht, Governor of Hungary, and all the dignitaries of State. In reply to an address from the Archduke, the Emperor made a short speech, speaking of the crown as " the crown of Hungary."