abnormally long faces, shapeless, box-like skulls, and drooping lips, gave the impression of degeneracy, outwardly at any rate, although they were in reality not degenerate-it is only necessary to recall Archduke Karl, the victor of Aspern, and Archduke Johann, the Viceregent. In contrast to them, however, Franz Josef was very well built, an advantage which he owed to his mother. His slim, elegant figure, with the upright military bearing and elastic step which he retained to an advanced age, was combined with a normally shaped head and a handsome, sympathetic face, in which the characteristic Habsburg lip was only slightly indicated. Not one of the many portraits of Kaiser Franz Josef taken in his youth betrays signs of degeneracy. Again, his iron constitution which, in spite of the terrible accumulation of misfortunes heaped upon him, enabled him to reach a patriarchal age and at the same time to retain a remarkably strong memory, emphatically contradicts the reproach of degeneracy.

Just as his outward appearance showed no sign of morbid degeneracy, so neither did his mentality. Even as a boy of eighteen, when he came to the throne, contemporary accounts show that he gave evidence by his bearing of a personal majesty which was quite unusual in one so young. Although he was not by birth the son of a ruler, he was, nevertheless, a born ruler. This majesty of bearing and conduct, which placed an impassable gulf between him and the rest of the world, was one of his most characteristic qualities; it adhered to him during the whole of his long life and in course of time developed ever more markedly. Once Kaiser, he remained at all times and to all men, even to his nearest relations, always the 'Kaiser.' He dwelt, as it were, on inaccessible heights, and only occasionally condescended to relax a little within the circle of his own family. His need to be sometimes not only Kaiser but also man was practically limited to his pleasures as a grandfather when in the company of the children of his daughter Valerie, and his intercourse with his friend of many years' standing, Frau Katharina Schratt, an actress of the Hofburg Theater, in whose house he was a daily visitor.

But, however sharp and well-defined the gulf between himself and the rest of the world might be, it would be Vol. 235.-No. 466.

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a mistake to conclude from it that his manner towards others was such as to cause offence. This was by no means the case, for his strongly developed sense of the dignity of royalty was combined with great distinction of manner which could be, as occasion demanded, friendly, benevolent, and even charming. His courtesy towards women, in particular, was well known. Thus, the imperial halo surrounding him not only caused no feeling of resentment or even of estrangement, but served to strengthen the feelings of reverence and devotion to him. The public audiences, also, which he held every week and to which the lowest labourer had as much right of entry as the greatest magnate, so long as he had any reason to give for demanding it, must have helped to prevent the people from resenting this distance between themselves and the Kaiser. Those who had much to do with him, especially those in direct personal relation with him, regarded him with great devotion and affection, an affection particularly marked in the case of his servants and household guards, among whom there was hardly one who would have hesitated to give his life for him.

Towards those far beneath him in the social scale he could be particularly affable, because he was so far removed from them that he had no need to fear any loss of dignity. His perfect tact and his long schooling in self-restraint prevented him, also, from expressing his consciousness of sovereignty in so loud and insistent a manner as was habitual with Kaiser Wilhelm II, although this consciousness was no less strongly developed in him. Nothing could have been further removed from his distinguished nature, and, doubtless, nothing could have been more repugnant to him than such demonstrations. Although he never referred to the subject except perhaps in his most intimate circle, it can be safely assumed that the resounding trumpet tones in which Kaiser Wilhelm liked to make himself heard were repellent to him. No doubt he was unable to understand how a monarch could allow himself to indulge in such inordinate extravagance of behaviour. One is justified, therefore, in assuming that he was but little in sympathy with his ally's conduct as a whole, and that, on his part, the friendship between them was solely of an official nature. The contrast between the

characters of the two rulers was too great for it to have been otherwise.

In marked contrast to Kaiser Wilhelm, Franz Josef avoided any expression of opinion in public which might have far-reaching consequences. Statements such as the notorious 'Sic volo, sic jubeo,' or, 'Whoever is against me, him will I destroy' (Wer wider mich ist, den zerschmettere ich), were quite unthinkable as coming from his lips. Rather did he anxiously avoid giving any definite character to remarks made by him in public, so that they appeared colourless, conventional, insignificant, even sometimes ridiculous. But the derision which they occasionally excited was not in the least justified. It is true that he did not give an impression either of intellect or distinction when, at the innumerable exhibitions and ceremonies which he considered it his duty to open or to attend, he invariably made use of the same words: 'It was very fine,' or 'It has given me great pleasure.' But the mockers, had they been in his place, would in all probability have had nothing more intellectual or significant to say, if they had been opening and inspecting exhibitions and fêtes for more than half a century and had been obliged thousands of times to make gracious remarks to the exhibitors or the organisers of these shows. No doubt the Kaiser himself would often have preferred to say something quite different, even to express the wish to have done with such things for ever, and doubtless he often had grounds for expressing dislike or disapproval. But his tact and sense of duty prevented him from doing so, because he knew that to every word uttered by him great significance was attributed, and for this reason he wished to avoid causing injury to any one by making disparaging remarks. Even when an exhibit was quite contrary to his taste, as for instance the crazy daubs of the secessionist painters, he confined the expression of his opinion to a smiling: That is too extreme for me.'

Where he did not feel himself to be, as it were, a guest, but on duty, above all in his capacity as Supreme War Lord at manoeuvres and parades, he did not refrain from criticism, and let fall many an emphatic remark. His extraordinary quickness of vision where military formalities such as precision of movement and accuracy

in drill were concerned, seldom failed to observe faults in this direction, and for this reason was very much feared by the officers. The so-called Kaiser-Parade' of the Vienna garrison, which was held every spring on the 'Schmelz' parade-ground, cast many an ominous shadow before it. Not infrequently, on such occasions, an imperial storm burst over the head of one or other of the regimental commanders; but it should be added that, as a rule, these outbreaks had no further consequences for the victims.

It was not therefore lack of temperament, as might be supposed, which caused Kaiser Franz Josef to refrain from such expressions of opinion as were often uttered by Kaiser Wilhelm; but he always had his temperament so well under control that it never played him any tricks. Indeed his excessive reserve in speech and manner alienated many people, and even in Austria Kaiser Wilhelm was held to be by far the more distinguished monarch; this was especially the case in German nationalist circles and among the Magyars. There were indeed plenty of people who were not a little impressed by Kaiser Wilhelm's pompous manner and loud-sounding phrases, and who, because he spoke on every imaginable subject, considered him to be gifted both as man and ruler, which was in fact very far from the truth. Beside this loud and glaring personality, Kaiser Franz Josef, from whose lips a notable word was never heard to fall and whose sphere of interest was so much more restricted, did indeed appear pale, impersonal, even insignificant, quite apart from the fact that the great difference in age was to his disadvantage. Those, however, who did not permit themselves to be dazzled by Kaiser Wilhelm's versatility and excessive self-assertion, had to admit that he was something of a braggart, whereas Kaiser Franz Josef had a genuine individuality and was certainly the better and wiser ruler of the two.

It is indeed incontestable that he was lacking in originality; his was a more conventional nature which travelled along the well-worn grooves of tradition and carefully avoided any divergence from that path. Nevertheless, it would seem that, in his youth the Kaiser had a more definite personality, which was worn down and obliterated in the course of time by the many experiences,

mostly unhappy, of his long reign, so that the distinct colours which were perhaps there at first had faded more and more and gradually vanished. But this much is certain and cannot be denied, that his sphere of intellectual interests had always been a very narrow one. He never cared much for science or art, with the exception of painting; and it has never been reported of him that he expressed sympathy with this or the other poet. As a matter of fact, he had one favourite pursuit onlyhunting, to which he remained faithful to the end of his life. Apart from this, he sought in the society of his friend Frau Schratt the relief and recreation in which his great sense of duty only permitted him to indulge to a limited extent.

His relations with this lady were an open secret, which no one took amiss, with the exception of the clergy. He himself made no mystery of it, and during his summer residence at Ischl he used to spend every afternoon at his friend's villa. An indication of the unusual nature of this relation was given by the fact that his wife knew of it and gave evidence of a real feeling of sympathy with Frau Schratt; that the Empress went so far as to present this lady with her portrait was surely by no means an ordinary occurrence. The people begrudged the Kaiser this relief all the less because it was well known how unhappy he was in his family life. His marriage with Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria had been a love-match on his part, which is not surprising in view of her extraordinary charm. But her independent and self-willed nature, which had developed in comparative freedom, could not feel at home amid the Spanish ceremonial of the Viennese Court, and put her out of sympathy with her husband, so that a feeling of coldness and estrangement arose between them, which led, in the course of time, to an actual though not official separation. They led their own lives apart and met but seldom. If the Kaiser was in any way to blame for this state of affairs it was certainly much against his will, for, just because he had at other times always to be the 'Kaiser,' he occasionally felt the necessity of being human also; and, as he could not satisfy this need at home, he sought to do so elsewhere and found what he sought in the company of Frau Schratt.