The Archduke had but few friends, and under the old monarch practically none at all.  That was one of the reasons for the advances he made to the Emperor William.  In reality, they were men of such a different type that there could be no question of friendship in the true sense of the word, or any real understanding between him and the Emperor William, and the question was never mooted practically.  The only point common to both their characters was a strongly defined autocratic trait.  The Archduke had no sympathy with the speeches of the Emperor William, nor yet with his obvious desire for popularity, which the Archduke could not understand.  The Emperor William, on his part, undoubtedly grew more attached to the Archduke during his latter years than he had been originally.  Franz Ferdinand was not on such good terms with the Crown Prince of Germany.  They spent some weeks together at St. Moritz in Switzerland, without learning to know each other any better; but this can readily be explained by the difference in age and also by the much more serious views of life held by the Archduke.

The isolation and retirement in which the Archduke lived, and the regrettably restricted intercourse he had with other circles, gave rise to the circulation of some true, besides numerous false, rumours.  One of these rumours, which is still obstinately kept up, was to the effect that the Archduke was a fanatic for war and looked upon war as a necessary aid to the realisation of his plans for the future.  Nothing could be more untrue, and, although the Archduke never openly admitted it to me, I am convinced that he had an instinctive feeling that the Monarchy would never be able to bear the terrible test of strength of a war, and the fact is that, instead of working to encourage war, his activities lay all in the opposite direction.  I recollect an extremely symptomatic episode:  I do not remember the exact date, but it was some time before the death of the Archduke.  One of the well-known Balkan turmoils threw the Monarchy into a state of agitation, and the question whether to mobilise or not became the order of the day.  I chanced to be in Vienna, where I had an interview with Berchtold who spoke of the situation with much concern and complained that the Archduke was acting in a warlike spirit.  I offered to draw the Archduke’s attention to the danger of the proceeding, and put myself in telegraphic communication with him.  I arranged to join his train that same day when he passed through Wessely on his way to Konopischt.  I only had the short time between the two stations for my conversation.  I therefore at once took the bull by the horns and told him of the rumours current about him in Vienna and of the danger of promoting a conflict with Russia by too strong action in the Balkans.  I did not meet with the slightest opposition from the Archduke, and in his usual expeditious way he wrote, while still in the train, a telegram to Berchtold in which he expressed his perfect agreement