I will not endeavour here to excuse certain traits in his character.

His strongly pronounced egotism cannot be denied any more than the hardness of character, which made him insensible to the sufferings of all who were not closely connected with him.

He also made himself hated by his severe financial proceedings and his inexorable judgment on any subordinate whom he suspected of the slightest dishonesty.

In this connection there are hundreds of anecdotes, some true, some false.
These petty traits in his character injured him in the eyes of the great public, while the really great and manly qualities he possessed were unknown to them, and were not weighed in the balance in his favour.

For those who knew him well his great and good qualities outweighed the bad ones a hundredfold.
The Emperor was always very perturbed concerning the Archduke's plans for the future.