for someone else, said to him
during dinner: "I am to go out shooting to-morrow, and I hear it is to
be with that tiresome Franz Ferdinand; I hope the plan will be
changed." As far as I know, the expedition did not take place; but I
never heard whether the prince discovered his mistake. The Archduke,
however, laughed heartily for days at the episode.

The Archduke invariably spoke of his nephew, the present Emperor
Charles, with great affection. The relations between the two were,
however, always marked by the absolute subordination of the nephew to
the uncle. In all political discussions, too, the Archduke Charles was
always the listener, absorbing the precepts expounded by Franz
Ferdinand.

Charles's marriage met with the full approval of his uncle. The
Duchess of Hohenberg, too, entertained the warmest affection for the
young couple.

The Archduke was a firm partisan of the Great-Austria programme. His
idea was to convert the Monarchy into numerous more or less
independent National States, having in Vienna a common central
organisation for all important and absolutely necessary affairs--in
other words to substitute Federalisation for Dualism. Now that, after
terrible military and revolutionary struggles, the development of the
former Monarchy has been accomplished in a national spirit, there
cannot be many to contend that the plan is Utopian. At that time,
however, it had many opponents who strongly advised against dissecting
the State in order to erect in its place something new and "presumably
better," and the Emperor Francis Joseph was far too conservative and
far too old to agree to his nephew's plans. This direct refusal of the
idea cherished by the Archduke offended him greatly, and he complained
often in bitter terms that the Emperor turned a deaf ear to him as
though he were the "lowest serving man at Schoenbrunn."

The Archduke lacked the knowledge of how to deal with people. He
neither could nor would control himself, and, charming though he could
be when his natural heartiness was allowed free scope, just as little
could he conceal his anger and ill-humour. Thus it came about that the
relations between him and the aged Emperor grew more and more
strained. There were doubtless faults on both sides. The standpoint of
the old Emperor, that as long as he lived no one else should
interfere, was in direct opposition to that of the Archduke, who held
that he would one day have to suffer for the present faul