392 



HUNGARY. 



the future ; and these declarations the King 

 confirms by oath at his coronation. The second 

 article declares that the crown of St. Stephen 

 shall not be removed from the country. The 

 third article declares that the countries legally 

 and .historically forming portions of Hungary 

 are incorporated with that country. The fourth 

 article declares that, in the event of the extinc- 

 tion by death of successors to the Hungarian 

 throne of the house of Hapsburg, Hungary 

 shall have the right of a free election of a sover- 

 eign. The fifth article engages that all future 

 Kings of Hungary shall issue a similar inaugural 

 diploma previous to their coronation, and swear 

 to maintain the Hungarian laws. 



On June 8th the Emperor and Empress of 

 Austria were crowned at Pesth as King and 

 Queen of Hungary with extraordinary pomp. 

 The coronation was generally represented as the 

 most brilliant affair of this kind since the begin- 

 ning of the nineteenth century. The following 

 details of the coronation are taken from the 

 Pesth correspondence of a New York paper : 



In a low tone of voice one of tlie bishops read some 

 Latin prayers, inaudible of course to all but himself, 

 and was steadily responded to at regular and frequent 

 intervals by a brother dignitary with an equally indis- 

 tinct articulation. Simultaneously the Emperor and 

 Andrassy advanced to the altar, at the conclusion of 

 this prayer, and with their advance, the band again. 

 struck up its wild, irregular strain. The Lord High 

 Primate of Hungary now advanced a few steps, and 

 when the Emperor slowly bent his head, anointecl him 

 first on the forehead and then on the throne, accord- 

 ing to constitutional custom. Then Andrassy, taking 

 the crown from the red velvet cushion on which it lay 

 on the altar, placed it on the Emperor's head, and the 

 Emperor immediately after walked slowly to the 

 throne under the large dais near the altar. 



As soon as the Emperor had been crowned King of 

 Hungary, the band again struck up the hymn written 

 for the occasion by_ Listz ; then Andrassy, leaving the 

 place he had previously occupied, advanced toward 

 the Empress^ and, removing the crown she then 

 wore, placed it on the altar, and, while the Kaiserin 

 moved toward the Lord High Primate, he advanced 

 toward the Emperor and received also his crown, 

 which he likewise placed on the altar. As before, 

 there followed a reciprocal exchange of prayers and 

 muttered exclamations between the same two bishops. 



The Empress, standing with downcast head and 

 ey_es, close to the High Primate, was covered b^ him 

 with a part of his own mantle, and under cover of 

 this garment, he proceeded with the extraordinary 

 cermonial usual on such occasions, first unfastening a 

 small strap keeping the Empress's dress on her right 

 arm, he dipped his hand again in the sacred oil and 

 anointed under the right armpit, after which An- 

 drassy came forward, crown in hand, and placed it on 

 the Empress's shoulder for a few seconds, and then 

 replaced it again on her husband's brow. 



The Empress now took her seat under the large 

 dais next to the Emperor, and remained there during 

 the concluding ceremonies. After a short flourish of 

 trumpets, a herald advanced to the edge-raised por- 

 tion of the church, and proclaimed Francis Joseph 

 crowned King of Hungary, while a champion, throw- 

 ing a glove, made the usual challenge. 



This was the signal for* a simultaneous and hearty 

 shout of " Eljen, " repeated with much vim three 

 times. After which, a few more prayers being read 

 and sung, the High Primate touched a small bell and 

 administered the sacrament, while all present bowed 

 their heads or knees. 



At the door of the church the King waited for a 



moment, until the Queen had entered her carnage, 

 then his Majesty turned and. walked to the garrison 

 church, about three hundred yards distant, followed 

 by his ministers and nobles. Between the two 

 churches a plank walk had been laid down and car- 

 peted with the national colors. As the King entered 

 the church a rush was made for the carpet over which 

 he had walked, and it was soon torn into fragments, 

 the people fighting angrily for the pieces. The cere- 

 mony inside the church was very simple. The six- 

 teen gentlemen who had been selected to receive the 

 order of the Golden Spur knelt* before his Majesty, 

 who touched each of them lightly upon the shoulder 

 with his sword. As he did this the kneeling knight 

 exclaimed in Latin, " I am not worthy " a declara- 

 tion to which King Ferdinand once made the re- 

 sponse, in German, " I know that already. " His 

 Majesty ventured upon no such joke to-day, but hur- 

 ried through the ceremony as soon as possible, and 

 then left the church and mounted the noble cream<- 

 white charger awaiting him at the door. His escort 

 also mounted, and speedily the cavalcade started 

 for Pesth. 



Neither the Queen nor ambassadors went to the Fahr 

 Kirche, or parish church of Pesth, but took up imme- 

 diately the stations prepared for them in the galleries 

 of Lloyd's Commercial Club. At a quarter-past 

 eleven o'clock the King arrived on the elevated trib- 

 une erected for the occasion, and without further 

 ceremony read in an impressive, manly voice the oath 

 by which he bound himself to maintain Hungary's 

 constitution, to use all endeavors to keep intact the 

 present boundaries of the kingdom, and if occasion 

 offered, to increase them to their former limits. Loud 

 shouts of " Eljen! " immediately greeted the conclu- 

 sion of the ceremony, and, descending from his plat- 

 form, the Emperor once more mounted and rode tow- 

 ard the Franz Joseph quay. The quay at Pesth, 

 upon \vhich the suspension bridge debouches, had 

 been transformed for this occasion into a splendid 

 square, framed in with tribunes richly decorated. In 

 the centre of the quay is the mound of earth, formed 

 of soil from all the most famous places in Hungary, 

 up which the king had to ride to flash his s_-,vord to 

 the four quarters of the globe. This mound is fenced 

 by a superb marble railing, bearing the Hungarian 

 arms, cut in marble, and it will remain as a memorial 

 of the coronation. Across the bridge came the pro- 

 cession escorting the King from the garrison church 

 at Offen to the parish church at Pesth, where the 

 oath was administered. The nobles from all the dis- 

 tricts of Hungary rode before the King, dressed in 

 robes which vied with each other in splendor. In 

 the midst of the magnificent throng, and preceded by 

 a knight in silver armor, came the King, wealing his 

 crown and mantle, and looking like one of the crusa- 

 ders revivified. Following him were the bishops 

 also on horseback, and then more noblemen, and then 

 the troops of Hungarian cavalry. Shouts of ''Eljen " 

 rent the air, and broke the dead silence of admira- 

 tion and wonder which had reigned since the dazzling 

 cavalcade first appeared. Then another silence en- 

 sued as the King vanished down the street leading to 

 the parish church. So like a vision did the pageant 

 seem, that one feared to speak lest the spell sbould 

 be broken. But before the last of the procession had 

 disappeared its head reappeared, defiling into the 

 square, having completed its route through the gay 

 streets of Pesth. The King dashed to the top of the 

 mound. There pausing he drew his sword, and, 

 wheeling his horse aboutj gave a cut to eacli point 

 of the compass, symbolizing his determination to de- 

 fend Hungary against the world. A moment more 

 and his Majesty had dashed down the hill again and 

 was lost in the radiant crowd at its foot. 



On June 28th the Diet elected delegates to 

 confer with a delegation from the Austrian 

 Reichsrath for settling the question of affairs 

 common to Hungary and 'Austria. The work 



