Austria and the Future of Europe
An article in the April North American Review, by Mrs. Bellamy Storer, who has resided some years in Austria, and made famous by the differences between her and Ex-President Roosevelt, declares that there is a great awakening in Austria, and that the hope of morality and religion in Europe lies in the union of Catholic Austria and Protestant Germany, but more especially she places it on the side of Catholicism, and notes the friendliness of the emperor of Germany to the Catholic party. Last year the emperor William presented the Cologne Cathedral a stained glass window, representing Pope Leo III appealing for protection to Charlemagne. The archbishop of Cologne expressed the hope that Emperor William would extend to the subjects of the Catholic Church the same gracious favor which Charlemagne had given, and in his reply his majesty assured the archbishop of his “royal favor and benevolence.” Instead of the belief that the Austrian empire is going to fall to pieces as soon as the old emperor dies, Mrs. Storer declares that the empire of Austria is great and growing, “whose duration and strength shall be based upon the foundation pillars of religion and morality.” She feels that Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne, is one who is able to bring about a strong empire.