There is loyalty of a very deep and true kind amongst all classes of his subjects; it is not the Austrians alone, but the Slavs and Tyrolese and Hungarians, who look with tender reverence on the aged man, now in his eightieth decade, who has lived far beyond the allotted span of man’s life. Loyalty it is none the less because it does not seek avidly the tittle-tattle as to royal doings so eagerly sought in Great Britain, nor does it lead to mobbing the Emperor in his capital when he goes among his subjects.
In character the Emperor is free from vanity and simple in his tastes. He has suffered so much that even had he not had dignity and courage as inborn qualities he must have gained them, otherwise he could never have survived the repeated blows of fate. He is sparing of words, but his thought penetrates below the surface. “His calm placidity enables him to see through the transparent motive of the self-seeker, the charity-mongering toady—a rare gift of kingship. An indulgent smile perhaps, but few stars and crosses are to be had for incense-burning to this Habsburg.” In spite of being a constitutional ruler, it is the personality of the Emperor that counts in a way that is felt in no other country. Perhaps it is because he forms the only link among so many nationalities, so many jarring, turbulent, and opposed aspirations, that his person is so strongly revered. Whatever else divides the Magyar from the Austrian and the Slav from the Magyar, here they are all at one. Quiet, reserved, shrewd, and kindly, he has learnt by many bitter experiences to play his hard part to perfection.
The Austrian National Anthem evokes as much feeling as in more homogeneous countries.
AUSTRIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM
{Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser,
Unsern guten Kaiser Franz!}
{Hoch als Herrscher, hoch als Weiser,
Steht er in des Ruhmes Glanz!}
Liebe windet Lorbeerreiser