The ex-Emperor Charles died last Saturday in Madeira, his place
of exile. He was only thirty-four. It was apparent, when he succeeded his great-uncle, the Emperor Francis Joseph, in November, 1916, that he was wholly unequal to the task of ruling the Hapsburg dominions. Few who knew the simple youth would have said of him that he was capax imperii nisi imperasset. Napoleon in his place could hardly have succeeded Charles, called-in the midst of a ruinous war to an uneasy throne, was a pitiful failure. Several of his Ministers have described the helpless indecision, born of ignorance, which . marred all the young Empeior's-efforts to gain the confidence of his peoples and to secure peace for Austria-Hungary. He forfeited such sym- pathy as is given to fallen monarchs by his foolish and dishonour- able conduct in his Swiss retreat. He promised to respect the neutrality of Switzerland. and twice broke his word by attempting to regain the Hungarian throne. In-him the ancient Hapsburg dynasty came to a very inglorious end.
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