a, 1883).
Excellent briefer works are L. Gumplowicz, Das
oesterreichische Staatsrecht (3d ed., Vienna, 1907);
J. Ulbrich, Oesterreichisches Staatsrecht (3d ed.,
Tuebingen, 1904), in Marquardsen's Handbuch; and R.
von Herrnritt, Handbuch des oesterreichischen
Verfassungsrechtes (Tuebingen, 1910). On the
workings of the governmental system something may
be gleaned from G. Drage, Austria-Hungary (London,
1909); S. Whitman, Austria (New York, 1879) and H.
Rumbold, Francis Joseph and his Times (New York,
1909).]

II. THE CROWN AND THE MINISTRY (p. 463)

*513. The Emperor's Status.*--The sovereign authority of the Empire is
vested in the Emperor. Duties are assigned to the ministers, and
privileges are granted to the legislative bodies; but all powers not
expressly conferred elsewhere remain with the Emperor as supreme head
of the state. The Imperial office is hereditary in the male line of
the house of Hapsburg-Lothringen, and the rules governing the
succession are substantially those which were laid down originally in
the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713[660] promulgated by the Emperor Charles
VI. to render possible the succession of his daughter Maria Theresa.
Females may inherit, but only in the event of the failure of male
heirs. By the abdication of the direct heir, the throne may pass to a
member of the royal family who stands farther removed, as it did in
1848 when the present Emperor was established on the throne while his
father was yet living. By reason of the unusual prolongation of the
reign of Francis Joseph, there has been no opportunity in sixty years
to put to a test the rules by which the inheritance is regulated.
Since the death of the Crown Prince Rudolph the heir-presumptive has
been the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, son of the Archduke Charles
Louis, and nephew of the ruling Emperor. It is required that the
sovereign be a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

[Footnote 660: Issued definitely in 1724.]

*514. His Powers.*--By fundamental law it is declared that the Emperor
is "sacred, inviolable, and irresponsible." His powers of government
are exercised largely, however, through ministers who are at least
nominally responsible to the Reichsrath, a