The New York herald., 1922-04-02
Ex-Emperor Charles Dead.

Ex-Emperor Charles Lead.
The last Hapsburg who sat on the
imperial throne of Austria and the
heir in place if not in title to the
Holy Roman Empire died an exile
yesterday when the former Emperor
CHARLES |. passed away on the little
island Of Madeira in the Atlantic
Ocean.
Tragedy ruled strongly in this
young mans life. The mysterious
death of Crown Prince RUDOLPH at
Meyerling and the assassination Of
Archduke FRANCIS FERDINAND at
Sarajevo made him heir to the crown,
while the sudden death of the aged
FRANCIS JOSEPH raised him to the
Hapsburg throne. 1t was his fate
to take up the burden of a world
war at 27, and to rule without ex-
perience and without responsibility
for that war, when the fortunes Of the
Central Empires had begun to de-
cline, to see the mighty monarchy
his ancestors had been centuries
building up crumble in day, and to
face death when his spirit had been
broken by the failure of the i'll ad-
vised. blunderingly conducted misad-
venture to recover the Hungarian
crown Of st. STEPHEN.
CHARLES came to the throne with
a very different background from
that Of most of the Hapsburgs whom
the Austrians Of the last two or three
generations knew. He had neither
the reckless profligacy Of RUDOLPH
nor the rigid austerity OF FRANCIS
FERDINAND. He was exactly the
opposite TO his aged predecessor,
FRANCIS JOSEPH, to whose concep-
tion of imperial dignity friend.
ship was a luxury in which he
could not indulge himself. CHARLES
had many friends and he was happy
in their companionship. He married
the vivacious ZITA, princess Of the
house of Bourbon de Parme, OF whom
he was genuinely fond, and he was
the father Of a family of six,
to whom he was much attached.
When he was notified of the death
of FRANCIS FERDINAND he acknowl-
edged his lack of the training which
should be possessed by the heir pre-
sumptive OF the Hapsburgs. If he
had been permitted a choice he might
have chosen to remain an army officer
and to pass his leisure on the family
archducal estate. eo,,t .f.
Upon CHARLES suddenly fell the
problems and perplexities of an EN-.
pire one morning when the Hapsburg
court discovered that in the night
the old Emperor had laid down his
burdens Of state. But they were
mightier in weight to him than they
had been to FRANCIS JOSEPH with all
his experience and facility for han.
ding them. The world war was near
ing its turning point and the hith-
erto repressed longings Of Czech,
Croat, Serb, Slovene and Pole for
freedom had begun to express them
selves in unmistakable terms. The
heritage Of his house, the legacy left
by his ancestors, was too much for
man Of power and capacity to ad-
minister: it was overwhelming to a
man Of 27 inexperienced in war, di-
plomacy or affairs OF state.
The failures Of CHARLES in Hun
gary were due to the inopportune-
ness Of the ventures as well as to
poor counsel OF his friends. They
we're foredoomed to failure from
the start, and CHARLES showed his
gentleness and humanity when he
refused to countenance any move
in his favor which might be at the
cost of bloodshed. The behavior OF
the Hungarian people during his i'll
ness and their manifestations Of deep
concern over his condition were a
touching tribute to the fallen ruler.
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