“Francis Joseph’s behaviour in the matter has been that of a magnanimous, just, and noble monarch. I have received from the hands of M. Csanadez of the Military Chancellery, the letter granting my request; but that letter forbade me to return to my own country without special permission. Hard as I find that condition, I recognise that it is not an act of excessive or exaggerated severity. No dynasty can allow one of its members to live the life of a bourgeois in his own country without his Emperor’s leave.
“What really troubled me was the order intimated to me by the order of the Minister of the Imperial Household to get myself naturalised in Switzerland. What a cruel dilemma was that! On the one hand I should have liked to demonstrate my gratitude and affection to the Emperor by acting in accordance with his wishes. On the other hand I was anxious to continue to be his subject, partly on account of my admiration for his august person, and partly on account of my passionate desire to continue to be a citizen of my beloved fatherland. I made an appeal, therefore, to the Emperor’s gracious kindness; and I have been a whole month without a reply letting me know whether I am or am not to be permitted to be an Austrian.”
The letter, which was published, was obviously written for publication. It was a manifesto rather than a confidence—designed to tell Austria, not the truth, but what John Orth wished to be accepted as the truth. We seem to see the writer laying his hand upon his heart and bowing, as he makes his exit speech. He goes on to speak of his intention to obtain a master mariner’s certificate; and then he becomes poetically vague:—
“My longings and my dreams will doubtless disappear among the ocean waves: not so the ideal which I cherish in my heart. Shall I be happy? I do not know; but at least I am satisfied that I have no reason to blush for anything that I have done. What will become of me if I do adopt the Swiss nationality? That, too, I do not know. The time for idle and empty dreams is past....
“... Need I add that, even if I have to become Swiss, my heart and soul will continue to be entirely Austrian?
“Perhaps my words are the outcome of morbid excitement. However that may be, I hide my thoughts from no one, and cling to the hope that, some day, I shall be able to seal my fidelity to my country by my actions. In truth, my impatience to do so is great—especially great in view of the impossibility of bringing my plans to realisation.”
There are also a few later letters. In one of them, written on the eve of departure, we read:—
“To-day I bid farewell to Europe—the quarter of the globe in which the first years of my life have been passed; and I am now beginning to realise, in the shadow of my old flag, my project of a voyage to the New World. The tug which awaits me will slowly and silently tow my ship out to sea, without any firing of salutes. And so we shall float down the Thames—the golden Thames; and, in a few hours’ time, we shall be unfurling our sails in the midst of fog and rain.”
The last letter is written after the arrival in South America:—
“Once away from Vienna, I find everything peaceful. My loyalty to my fatherland cannot be shaken. Across the wide waters I waft it a salute.”