The Emperor Francis Joseph left Budapest on Sunday last to
pay a State visit to Serajevo, the capital of Bosnia. At first he was received with respectful curiosity, but this gradually developed into something like enthusiasm, the Bosnians evidently being impressed by his kindliness and simplicity. The most interesting ceremonies took place on Tuesday in the various places of worship. In Bosnia the political divisions are the same as the religious divisions, so that a visit to all the places of worship comprehended all the elements of Bosnian life. The Emperor went first to the Roman Catholic Cathedral, then to the Serb Orthodox Cathedral, and next to the Great Begova Mosque, "one of the finest and largest in the Balkans," as the Times correspondent says, where an unprecedented ceremony took place :-
"Standing erect with reverent mien under a canopy of rich
rose-coloured brocade, the Emperor listened to the orisons of the Imam, which were punctuated by deep Arnim ' from the many hundred shoeless worshippers encircling the clergy and the
Throne The Emperor himself seemed under the spell of the moment when, for the first time in his long life, he received the homage of his Moslem subjects in their chief house of prayer."
Later the Emperor went to the synagogues of the Spanish Jews and the German Jews, and to the Protestant church.
