able to bear for so long or so heroically the many misfortunes which visited him in the course of his long reign. He was just and could be generous, but he was never friendly. He treated his ministers well as long as they were in power, and as long as they were in power he gave ear to what they had to say; but as soon as a minister had fallen, he exercised no more influence upon him, and the King was not even curious to hear his opinion.
The greatest successes of Francis Joseph took place during the Government of my father; at that time he gained the sympathy of the Hungarian nation and became an integral part of the nation. It was at this time that he acquired Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that he played a leading part in international policy. But since my father had left office he did not listen to him any more. It was hard for the King to part from my father, but afterwards my father had the impression that he was glad to be rid of the statesman whose convictions were too independent and too strong, and whose superiority was felt by the King.
With mechanical and polite simplicity he parted from his old advisers and accustomed himself to the new ones, if his interests or his duty demanded it. He possessed no initiative. He was accustomed from childhood to choose from the plans that had been worked out by others. He laid great stress upon the necessity of energy, but I cannot say that I found him truly energetic. By nature he was conservative. He was always afraid of bold decisions and possessed a
