13 MARCH 1880, Page 3

The Prince Imperial of Austria, Rudolph, has this week been

betrothed to the Princess Clotilde, a daughter of the King of the Belgians, now only sixteen years old. The arrangement seems to have given great satisfaction in all the States of Austria, where the Heir-Apparent, an unusually cultivated young man, is very popular. It is one of no political importance, except that it gives the Catholic branch of the House of Coburg a relation to one more first-class throne. That gives the Princes of that House, who are necessarily Constitutionalists, a certain power of advising by letter, which, in days when individual influence counts for so much, is not without its advantages. Prince Rudolph may not, however, be a Sovereign for a quarter of a century yet, and the whole face of Europe may be changed.