Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-02-04
Death No RespectOr of Persons.
That xaocf dolinhtfal of the Il afi

Dcatn NO nebYtCtOA VI
That most delightful of the Latin
poets, Horace, has, in one Of his
odes couplet which Pope has turned
into English, in verse almost as delicious
as the original, which runs thus:
with equal pace remorseless fate
Knocks at the palace and the cottage gate.
The truth of this sentiment was never
more perfectly exemplified than in the
case of the unfortunate heir-apparent to
the Austrian throne, whose tragic end is
engrossing much public attention at
present. He was not only the heir
apparent to the crown OF great and
ancient empire, but he was the only
child of the reigning monarch.
He had many accomplishments
which princes do not always
take the pains to acquire, and
he seems to have been possessed OF pop
ular impulses which do not usually throb
with great force in the breasts of men
born to reign-not by merit, but by he
reditary right, as it is called, which is
too often hereditary wrong. Few men
had more to live for than unhappy Ru-
dolsh of Austria. Yet he was cut off in
his prime, and before he had tasted the
pleasures supposed to be derivable from
the occupying of throne; and what
ever the circumstances that surround his
untimely end, through all the obscurity
thrown around the terrible event, this one
fact crops out, that his death was by vio-
lence, and also this other fact that there
is most deep and damnable disgrace
lurking behind the curtain drawn be-
tween his death and the public view.
The latest sensation in this connection
came from the Old World by wire last
night, and is to the effect that synchro-
nously with the death Of Rudolph oc-
Cured the suicide of a beautiful
princess whose name, strange to say,
is concealed.
The moral is that Death does
not aim his arrows blindly
when they strike down the king
on his throne or the noble from his ranks,
with the same unceremonious disregard
of whom they strike as he practices when
he Stays the beggar in the street. In
spite of the royal purple, ard even in
spite of mind that possessed sparks oi
genius and heart that had noble inn
pulses, Rudolph was only a man. He
was weak and erring man, too.
There is most beautiful ceremonial
in connection with the burial of all mon
archs OF Rudolph's race, whose truth will
be illustrated by his death.
When the casket containing his mortal
remains comes to the iron portals of the
marble tomb where they shall sleep for
ever, entrance will be denied in the
name of all his princely titles. To each
of them will come the same reply-no
such person is known here. Before he
can be peacefully inurned there his
spokesmen have to crave admission for
Rudolph of Hapsburg. No kingly ad-
junct, no princely insignia will be recog-
nized. 1t is simply the man who is to
come there to rest, to mingle the dust OF
his bones with the earth from which
if came, to rest his head on his mothers
lap to whom all must retnrn at last.
There is one other reflection in this
connection which recalls the mind from
the dead to the living. The death of this
Prince marks an era in the world. He
is reported as having said himself while
on one of his hunting expeditions that
the days of Kings and Princes
were nearly numbered. His ending seems
to prove how right he was. 1t is not
many years since any sort of an escapade
was overlooked. The victim of
his lust no matter how exalte d
she might be, how young, or how
beautiful was apt to be regarded as
rather honored than otherwise. In this
instance the heir to an empire seems to
have been rudely called to account for
his wrong, and if not killed in duel he
seems to have been forced to take his