THE JUBILEE OF THE EMPEROR-KING. F EW symbolical ceremonies have so
much impressed the imagination of the present generation as the Diamond Jubilee of the late Queen Victoria, with its assemblage of men from every continent representative of the British race. But in some respects even that noteworthy pageant pales in interest before the gorgeous parade of his subjects which defiled before Francis Joseph on the occasion of his sixtieth year of reigning. It is true we have alien, races under our flag, but they are ours by conquest, and i the essential unity of language and of race in the British Empire makes its existence intelligible and inspires ready Confidence iii ftil duration, But in Monarchy of Francis Joseph, there is no central race. Each • of the ten nationalities enumerated as taking part in the procession of June 12th may claim an equal right with any of the others to be considered an integral factor of the Monarchy, while at the same time even the German or the Hungarian could not truthfully say, as the Briton could in the case of our Empire, that without him the whole fabric would necessarily fall to the ground. For this very reason, in no State of the world can a gathering of the clans have a more wholesome and strengthening effect on corporate feeling than in Austria-Hungary. It is no mere empty form, but a most salutary lesson in the secret of their corporate strength and indvidual weakness, that Germans and Poles, Czechs and Magyars, Serbo-Croats and Roumanians, should meet, as they did at Vienna last week, to see how each contributed to the making of a State, without which, though they may quarrel among themselves, they would be a prey to powerful neigh- bours who would eat up their liberties and even their individuality. • Readers of the Times, accustomed to the perspicacity and literary grace of its Vienna correspondent, will have found their expectations gratified by his vivid, and at the same time dignified, description of the Jubilee parade. Evert those barely familiar with all the historical signifi- cance of this pageant will by this description have caught some of the fire which the memories of the earlier Haps- burg Archdukes and Emperors, of the Monarchy's heroes, such as Walleustein, Prince Eugene, Hofer, Radetzky, must have inspired in the onlookers. No nobler setting for the scene could have been found than Vienna, still, in spite of grandiose improvements in its outer ring, almost articulate, for those familiar with its crowded inner town, with the traditions of its past glories and its services to Christendom. In the words of Lord Houghton,
"Think with what passionate delight The tale was told in Christian halls How Sobieski turned to flight The Muslim from Vienna's walls."
Nowhere in Europe can be seen a Hing's palace so full of the spirit of mediaeval magnificence as the Hofburv, with its grandiloquent • Latin inscriptions of Holy komart Emperors, its gorgeous halberdiers dimly seen through half-curtained windows, and its statues of Emperors and great commanders, and yet also so intimate with that strange conglomeration of peoples, the subjects of the Emperor-King, since peasant or stranger is free to pass through the noble gateways and courtyards and stand agape for hours on the chance of seeing the Monarch or one of his Court passing along the corridors once trodden by Maria Theresa, the lion-hearted lady.
It is largely owing to the strange constitution of the Monarchy that the Hapsburg ruler is, more than any other King, the central figure and the focus of interest in his dominions. But it is for something more than that. The Hapsburgs from the earliest times have shown a faculty for governing. The family is one apart, with a family law of its own, and forms a governing caste with all the traditions of devotion to the State implied in this peculiar position. As Carlyle says of one of the weakest of the Hapsburgs, he was "a man honestly doing his very best with his poor kaisership, and dying of chagrin by it." All of the long line can truly be said honestly to have done their very best, and in the case of some of them this best was very good. . One special characteristic of the present Emperor-King is that he has, perhaps, been more unfortunate than any of his predecessors. He has lost the Italian provinces and the hegemony of Germany ; he has been beaten in battle, and has often been compelled to give up cherished plans of internal policy at the pressure of one group or another of his subjects ; while his domestic sorrows would have over- whelmed many strong men. Yet the years of darkness and of trouble have only served to cement more firmly to him the affections of all his subjects. " Der alto Herr," as he is termed.with the personal affection of intimacy in Vienna, has made nijstakes, and is blamed for them ; but those who blame him most are the first to recognise that if it were not for his faculty of compromise and his multi-racial sympathy, the troubled times would have been a period of catastrophe instead of danger safely weathered.
In the eighteenth century, when our Alliance with the Emperor represented; in the Duke of Newcastle's words, the " Old System," much attention was naturally paid to the politics of the famous Imperial Chancery. But now for many decades Englishmen have taken too little thought of the position in European politics of this strange con- glomeration of nationalities. We have been content to say vaguely that its union depends on the life of the Emperor, and that after his death the Monarchy will probably dissolve, and with that to dismiss the matter from our minds. Our French friends had for some time been tempted to take the same view, but recently, no doubt owing to their keener interest in German and Mid-European affairs, have begun to study the question of Austria- Hungary more closely. Several French authors have published books on the subject during the last few years, the most notable being by M. Louis r3Eiseumann on " Le Compromis Austro-Hougrois." Our own readers will alio have been awakened to some of the most interesting phases of the Monarchy's internal politics by the illuminating articles of our correspondent " Scotus Viator." He, like the Times correspondent, has pointed out that foreigners make a mistake in taking all their information from the scribes and politicians of Vienna, and has directed attention to the extraordinary interest which events in Hungary• are developing. Hungary, partly by the political instinct and the vigour of her Magyar ruling caste, and partly owing to- the racial difficulties especially of Czechs and Germans in Austria, has acquired since the compromise of 1867 a pre, ponderatiug influence in the Monarchy. But together with this superiority, and, indeed, largely owing to it, she has developed internal difficulties of her own. The strength of Hungary's position in the Monarchy lies in the rigid exclusiveness of her political system. The Hungarian Parliament can speak with one voice to Austria because nearly all opposition in it is suppressed. But as we pointed out iu our article on the Slays two weeks ago, the Magyars who set the tune in Hungary do not form half the popu- lation of that kingdom. The remainder are Slays and Roumanians, with a few Germans : these non-Magyars. owing to the mediaeval system of representation and of government, have not only no proper outlet for their feelings, but are depressed or violently " Magyarised." Even the Croats, who have some claims to form an. independent kingdom within Hungary, find their liberties and privileges seriously curtailed by means of the powers assumed by the Ban, who is appointed by the Hungarian Government. Nor, indeed, is this all. The Magyars them- selves of low degree, owing to the oligarchical form of government, suffer many disabilities as compared with the nobles. The obvious danger of this condition of affairs is that the discontent of the majority of the population in Hungary may at any time become so insistent that the whole fabric of Hungarian superiority may fall to the ground like a pack of cards. This is the more probable since Austria which groans at present unavailingly against the demands of Hungary, contains also a large body of Slays whose sympathies are bringing them ever closer to their fellow-Slays in Hungary ; and already Germans, Poles, and Slays at Vienna are talking of a whole-hearted co-operation to overcome the pretensions of the other kingdom.
Whatever may be said to the discredit of the Magyars, it must be admitted that in the main they have shown political wisdom, and that, though their blunders in the past have been great, they have the saving grace of acknowledging them and profiting by them before it is too late. There have recently been signs that some of the more liberal politicians, partly, perhaps, owing to the light which Las been brought to bear on Hungarian methods of govern- ment, are beginning to realise that a more sympathetic treatment of the other nationalities is desirable. Under the present methods they depend too much for support on Germany, the chief non-Slav Power in Mid-Europe, and are awakening to the dangers which the whole Monarchy undergoes from this dependence. One notable sign of this change is to be found in a pamphlet recently published in Budapest under the pseudonym of "Mercator." The author may not be, as he professes, a Magyar, but he certainly gives most convincing reasons from the Magyar point of view for a change of attitude. He yields to no one in anxiety for the Magyar supremacy in the Monarchy ; but be sees that, considering the present numbers of his people, this can only be maintained by enlisting the sympathies of the Slav and other races in the task of government. Neither the Slays nor the Roumanians have any real interest in separating from the Monarchy and in attaching them- selves to neighbouring States, any more than the Poles, Germans, or Czechs of Austria have, and their only temptation to do so would be the result of intolerable oppression. It is always hard for a ruling caste to share its power with others ; but when, as seems likely, the Magyars once discover that by undivided ruling they may be left with nothing to rule, they will not be slow to follow the advice of far-seeing politicians like "Mercator." We in this country have always sympathised with the just aspirations of the Magyars, and have an ever-growing interest in the strength and solidarity of the Austro- Hungarian Monarchy as an essential factor iu the peace and stability of Europe. We welcome, therefore, all indications, such as the great pageant of June 12th, and this sign of progress in Hungarian politics, that the nations subject to Francis Joseph recognise their common purpose in the world as well as their common allegiance.
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