The political significance of the Crown Prince's death is at
present slight, as his father is only fifty-eight, and still in full health and energy. In the future, however, Austria- Hungary may feel a serious loss, as the Prince was an able man, unusually well educated, fond of study, and liberal in all his ideas. He was by taste a naturalist, and zealously pro- moted all kinds of scientific inquiry. He had travelled much, and was president of a committee which is preparing a " monumental " description of the Hapsburg dominion. It is said, truly or falsely, that he was not well affected to the German alliance ; and we can ourselves testify to have heard a few years ago, on good authority, that he was inclined to favour a compromise with Russia on the basis of the partition of the Balkans, Austria going to Salonica, and Russia to Constanti- nople. It must be remembered, however, that every Crown Prince is a critic of his father's policy, and that once on the throne, Prince Rudolph would have felt the influence of all the circumstances which have made of the Emperor the steady ally of the great German House. Little is known of the Arch- duke Charles Louis, who will now occupy his position, but an impression prevails that he is in a high degree conservative and Hapsburg-like.
