WICKEDEST OLD MAN IN THE WORLD.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 227, 17 November 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

WICKEDEST OLD MAN IN THE WORLD.

FRANCIS JOSEPH, THE HUN OF

AUSTRIA

In one of his historic Mid-Lotiiia'i orations thirty-six years ago, Mr. Gladstone challenged mankind to place its linger on any .spot in Europe and say, "There Austria did good." No one accepted the challenge, for no one could point to such a spot, either in Eurooe or elsewhere. The challenge was one of -Mr. Gladstone's splendid indiscretions. He hal to explain it away; but his indictment of Austria was true. On August 18 Francis Joseph, wh> became Emperor of Austria, thirty-two years before Mr. Gladstone's denunciation, reached his eighty-sixth year. He has reigned for sixty-eight years. At the end of his reign Austria has reached depths of infamy which even Mr. Gladstone never suspected-of her. History will brand.his reign .with th' foul and fearful record of cruelty with .which his army has .treated the girls, the womon, the children, and' the unarmed men of Servia during the invasion two years ago. That awlul outrage on humanity was done by high command. It will stamp Francis Joseph for ever as one of the two most appalling ruffians in modern history. Fran'is Joseph began his reign as i butcher. The Hungarians revolted against Austria. Francis Joseph had them slaughtered. He turned Genera'. Haynau loose on them—General Hyena, as he came to be called in England. The thing which chiefly shocked England then was tha + . women wer* Hogged. How Austria has progressed since, under the guidance of her royal tutor! When Haynau came to London the draymen at Barclay and Perkins brewery flogged him iwith rods because he had flogged women. BY ROYAL DESIRE. But Francis Joseph's latest pupils have not stopped at flogging women; they broke their arms and legs, .and otherwise mutilated them. They had Francis Joseph's orders to give th? Servians a lesson. Truly Francis Joseph may be called the wickedest old man in the world, for the Servian women and children were massacred oy royal desire.

After Francis Joseph had dipped his hand in the Wood of his Hungarians, the Countess Karolyi uttered 1 a famous curse upon him. Her son had been on? of the victims who were''.'repressed" to death so that Francis Joseph might have a comfortable throne. This was 'the terrible curse:—

May heaven and hell blast his happiness ! May his family be exterminated ! May he be smitten in the persons of those he loves! May his life l>e wrecked, and may his children be brought to rum!

The countess's rurse has l»ecn to some extent fulfilled. His brother Maximilian was executed by the Mexicans. His son and heir, the Crown Prinoi Rudolph, committed suiside. His wifo, th« Empress Elizabeth, was assassinated.

His son. Archduko John, was drowned at sea. Two other royal relatives committed suicide, one was burned to death, and one was killed by a fall from a horse, and another by an accident with a gun while hunting. His heir, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and wife, were assassinated at Serajovo.

The story of tho Hapsburgs since Francis Joseph came to the throne has been a story of scandals and sudden deaths. When he heard that his wife had been killed lie exclaimed, "Is There; no calamity known to this world which is to be spared to me?" There was' at least one more calamity in store; the ruin of his empire, now being brought about, Francis Joseph earned his curse. His lite does not entitle him to much pity. NOTORIOUS LIFE. It ia not merely known, it is notorious, that he has lived the life of an unbridled libertine. Vienna has won the title of the most dissolute capital in Europe. It took its tone from Francis Joseph. Ho married a beautiful girl of sixtoen. Within five years he broke her heart, and she fled from him. She went in her . yacht to Corfu. Francis Joseph, who lias always liked to keep r.p an air of respectability, chased aft. r her. She eluded him, and for eight years they lived apart. Then she was prevailed on to return, but she and Francis Joseph lived as strongers under the same roof. Appearances were keotup—and Francis Josep'i led the looso life of a hog, with none of the e straints which are imposed on that animal.

His name has been associated with many women, to their discredit. He maintained a long association with one, not thd Empress, but Katti Schratt. Francis Joseph two days a week -e - ceived amy one at the palace who had any complaints to make. Katti Schratt, a pretty actress, was received at one of these audiences. She soon ciinie. the uncrowned Empress of Austria, and she held her place. "SORROWING FRANZ." After the real Kmpro.s's assassination it was even suggested that Francis Joseph would marrv Katti. lint Francis Joseph did not think that at all necessary. That would have registered the scandal, and lie lik d to pretend he wa« res]>C(:ta!jl". Austria. however, kne.v all about its old leprobati l . Once Katti was driven aiwa.v by the Kmperor's sisters. One of the wags of Vienna put a,n advertisement in th • agony column of the Vienna " NV.v Press""Katti. --Come back to vour sorrowing 1' ranz. ' A writer in tlw '• Near Fast" described Francis .fwph a few years ago. No one who hn-r! followed his career, h • said, could la'cuv him either «->f kindTies*. or >tbty. lv.-v. <ver kind and -i op .] !. > . nod. In v«-r, " uh, he '.'ided. he possess- '! >t o! 1 ' 1 qualities of » peasant. He •< craft Mipcrstitioi:*., bigoted, spite! ji. —• onvientioi-.?. insincere, ii.ythifn; feir intp'lei-tual. almost i!lit-fi|.-v ; 1: -o• 11 trifles, a fred"i'. If rr.fii ii.i»t utterlv destitute c-f hnioc it rr,i;loral. rw-evish. mawk-niedl-.'v of contrasts and

inconsistencies, an inhuman document. Remembering Ins many sufferings, we forget his savage cruelties. Re is for ever tempting us to make allowances for him, like a professional widower and orphan. He is also the perpetual Jesuit of fiction without the polish and subtlety of that bug-bear, but persistently struggling to do evii that good may come to his house and empire. Francis Joseph may be remembered as the last and the worst of the Austrian Emperors. The countess's cur,e is on him still.