on rapacious courtiers or reforming | the subjugation of such extensive posbarons, but, with a few trifling excep- sessions by force, or their amalgamations, they were all accumulated into a tion by settlement, to govern them all religious fund (religionscasse) in the by an attention to their interests, and different provinces, from which pro- a respect for their feelings. The exvision was thereafter to be made for traordinary spectacle of the Hindoo, the spiritual wants and education of the Mussulman, the Parsee, and the the people. So ample were the re- followers of Bhudda, all uniting in sources thus acquired, that no difficulty willing civil and military obedience to has since been experienced in provid- the sway of the Christian stranger, has ing funds for the religious and secular its exact counterpart in the Imperial instruction of the rapidly increasing dominions, where the Austrian Cathopopulation. The same emperor intro- lics, the Bohemian Lutherans, the duced the equally important change of Polish Jews, and the Hungarian or causing, in defiance of all the remon- Transylvanian Greeks, rival each other strances of the Pope, the prayers and in devotion and attachment to the litanies in the churches to be perform- Imperial government. One cause alone ed in the German tongue, though mass can explain in either instance such a is still celebrated in Latin. Alarmed a prodigy, and that is-attention to at so portentous an innovation, the remote interests on the part of the holy father hastened in person to central authority. Unhappily, such is Vienna, to protest against it. He was the selfishness of human nature, that received with every possible demonstra- such attention is hardly ever to be tion of respect; but the new system looked for except in the weak, with continued, and all classes now enjoy whom it is a matter of necessity. Had the inexpressible comfort of joining Hungary been the ruling power and in the tribute of prayer and praise in the seat of government, the Bohemians, a language which they can understand. the Tyrolese, the Austrians, might Gentleness and toleration pervade every have been subdued by force, but they department of the Austrian church. would never have united in willing and Though the spiritual authority of the cheerful obedience to its sway. The Supreme Pontiff is respectfully ad- rule of the dominant Hungarians in mitted, the least attempt at interfer- Hungary, in Bohemia, and Austria, ence with temporal power is steadily would not have been that of the Engresisted; the patronage of livings, as lish in India, but of the English in in England, is vested in the crown, the the West Indies, or, till recent times, bishops, clerical and lay incorporations, in Ireland. and private individuals; and in no part of Europe is the authority of the crown more perseveringly exerted to correct clerical abuses, or extend spiritual struction, by ordinances altogether independent of the court of Rome. 26. Under the influence of this paternal system of government, industry and cultivation have made very conin-siderable progress in the Imperial dominions; but nothing to that of which they are susceptible, and which, to all 25. The Austrian system of govern- appearance, they will one day attain. ment, which has succeeded in so sur- Fully a fourth part of the whole superprising a manner in stilling the jeal- ficial extent of the state is still waste, ousies and lulling to sleep the rivalries a large portion of which is susceptible of so many different nations, is founded of cultivation; and even that which is on the same principles as the British under the plough, does not, if Lomgovernment in India, and in both bardy be excepted, yield on an average countries it has been brought about by a fourth of what the soil could prothe same necessity. It was the weak- duce. Supposing that two hundred ness of the central power, when com- million acres of the Austrian territory, pared with the strength of the subject out of the two hundred and fifty-two provinces, which compelled the govern-million of which it consists, are capable ments of both, in despair at effecting of profitable cultivation, this would, at the rate of an inhabitant to every two | admitted, and they are always in strict acres, maintain a hundred millions of conformity with their existing constiinhabitants, or above three times its tutions and laws. Improvements in present population.* Great as this num- local legislation or institutions are only ber is, it is less than is to be found in introduced when recommended by their some parts of Switzerland, where large established parliaments or legislature, parts of the territory are sterile and and enforced when sanctioned by their rocky, and there are nevertheless one authority. The great secret of governinhabitant to every acre and a quarter, ment consists in ascertaining, from corall living in a degree of ease and afflu- rect sources, the wants of the various ence almost unparalleled elsewhere in subjects of the empire, and anticipating the world. their complaints by being beforehand with the requisite reforms. "Every thing for the people, nothing by them," which Napoleon described as the real secret of good government, has long been the ruling principle of the Austrian administration: their maxim is to prevent the growth of political passion by carefully conserving political and individual interests. Whether such a system is equally advantageous as the popular institutions which make such changes emanate from the direct will of the people, this is not the place to discuss; but it may safely be affirmed that it is the only system of government adapted for a people in the circumstances of the great bulk of the subjects of Austria, or by which its various provinces could be retained in willing obedience to the central government. 27. Austria is now not a uniform homogeneous empire, subject to one law, descended of one race, inspired by one national feeling; it is a confederation of monarchies united by accident or consent under one common head, but each governed by its own constitution, laws, and customs. The sovereign is emperor of Austria, but he is king of Hungary and Bohemia; and it is in the latter character, and in it only, that he gives his commands to these mighty dependencies. No attempt to alter the constitution, or force changes on the subjects of any of its provinces, is ever made, at least in modern times, by the government of Vienna. Satisfied if they remain peaceable, and contribute their fixed quota to the general defence of the empire, they willingly allow them to enjoy their national institutions, and sedulously attend to every circumstance, even in form, which tends to maintain their national feelings, or diffuse the illusion of real in dependence. The Emperor can issue orders which are obeyed both in Hungary and Bohemia, but he does so as king of these monarchies; his orders are addressed to their respective chanceries, into which none but natives are * Total superficies of the Austrian domin-posed of the principal inhabitants. Their composition varies in different 12,167 square Ger-126,878,241 or 252,000,000 they are the notables or chief men of provinces; but, generally speaking, ions man miles, or Of which arable, Vineyards, ards, and gar dens, Pastures, Forests, Jochs. Acres. 33,366,680 66,733,360 11,014,707 22,029,414 66,770,030 Total productive 95,432,870.. 190,865,740 -SPRINGER's Stat. de l'Autriche; and TCHOR- 28. Although the popular principle enters very little into the general system of the Austrian administration in any of its provinces, yet it is a mistake to suppose, as is frequently done in Great Britain, that the power of the crown is entirely uncontrolled, and that the government is a pure despotism. In every part of the empire there is a provincial State or Stande," com 66 the district, not the representatives of any large body in the community. They consist in all cases of four classes: the clergy, the higher nobility, the ordinary landholders, and the burghers. The latter are deputies of cities, but elected by a limited class. They have no legislative power, but they have important powers of administration with in their own bounds, and nearly the entire direction of the collection of the revenue, and levying of men within those limits. They make representations also, or remonstrances, on all matters of local concern; and in a government founded on the principle of preventing discontent by anticipating all the reasonable wants of their subjects, these representations are often as effectual as actual legislation, emanating from themselves, would have been. In Hungary, a more thorough representative system prevails, if that system can be called representative which, framed mainly for the interests of the aristocratic body, is entirely rested on their suffrage. In Lombardy, the provincial estates are elected in a still more popular manner-the deputies being proper representatives of the whole inhabitants who pay taxes to a certain amount, and the suffrage being conducted through a double, and sometimes a triple election. But in all the provinces, the duties and powers of these assemblies are the same, and very nearly resemble those which, in ancient times, belonged to the English parliament-viz. the raising and collecting the revenue and levies of men, and representing their wants to the government. The power of taxation and legislation belongs to the crown, to be exercised, however, by and through these local assemblies. 29. The public debt of Austria is very considerable, and will hereafter weigh heavily, like that of England, on the energy and resources of the empire. Great pains have been taken by the Imperial authorities to conceal the magnitude of this burden, and mystify the details published regarding it; but enough exists to show that it is a very serious burden. Part of it is of old standing, but by far the greater proportion was contracted during the disastrous wars of the French Revolution. The addition made during that long and dreadful contest was so considerable, that in 1841 it amounted to little short of 1,000,000,000 florins, (£100,000,000), and the total interest which required to be provided for was no less than 42,817,000 florins, or £4,281,700 sterling. This, it must be admitted, is a heavy burden upon a nation little abounding in commercial wealth, and the revenue of which has not yet reached £14,000,000 a-year. Yet it is inconsiderable, both in point of absolute and relative amount, to that of Great Britain, which, of a revenue which does not now exceed, from ordinary sources, £50,000,000 sterling, absorbs annually £28,000,000.* And if the resources which ultimately may be rendered available to the two countries be taken into consideration, the balance will incline still more decisively in favour of the Austrian empire. Certainly, to a country possessing a fine climate, thirty-five millions of inhabitants, and more than double the whole area of the British Islands, a public debt of a hundred millions sterling cannot be considered as a very crushing burden, when Great Britain, with half these natural resources, exists and flourishes under eight hundred millions. 30. This national debt of Austria was, as we have said, for the most part contracted during the Revolutionary war: two-thirds of its amount grew up during or since that terrible convulsion. Great part of it was contracted in paper money, bearing a forced circulation-the most easy method for the moment, and the most burdensome in the end, which a state can possibly adopt. The difficulty of comprehending the complicated details of Austrian finance arises, in a great degree, from this circumstance, as a considerable part of the debt is due to the holders of this paper money, which government is obliged to recognise as at par to the holders. Its depreciation was often very great during the war; but the regular and stable administration of the Imperial government has uniformly made it resume its proper value on the return of peace. And, notwithstanding the difficulty which the public exchequer has experienced in discharging the interest of their public debt since the peace, they have had the fortitude to keep up a sinking-fund of 10,000,000 florins, (£1,000,000), nearly equal to a third of the interest of the debt; a fact which, contrasted with the ruinous abandonment of the same admirable institution during the same period by Great Britain, illustrates the vital distinction between the foresight of an aristocratic, and the recklessness of a popular government. 31. The foreign policy of Austria, like that of all other countries which are governed by a landed aristocracy, is steady, consistent, and ambitious. It never loses sight of its objects: yields when it cannot resist, but prepares in silence the means of future elevation. In no other monarchy of equal extent is the personal cost of the court so inconsiderable; a great expenditure is not required either to uphold the influence of the crown, or to overshadow the lustre of the nobility. The disposal of all the situations in the army, and those in the civil administration, which are at least as numerous, renders the influence of government irresistible, and enables the archdukes and Imperial family, without injury to their authority, to live rather with the simplicity of private citizens than the extravagance of princes of the blood in VOL. VI. other countries. In no part of Europe is the practical administration of government more gentle and paternal than in the Hereditary States; but in the recently-acquired provinces the weight of authority is more severely felt, and many subjects of local complaint, arising from the exorbitant power of the nobles, and the feudal restrictions on the people, have long existed in the Hungarian and Bohemian dominions. The population of the empire, at the peace of Lunéville in 1801, was 27,600,000; and they have given ample proof, in the glorious efforts of subsequent times, both of the courageous and patriotic spirit by which they are animated, and the heroic sacrifices of which they are capable. 32. Jealousy of Prussia was, during the years which followed the treaty of Lunéville, the leading principle of the Austrian cabinet; a feeling which originated in the aggression and conquests of the Great Frederick, and had been much increased by the impolitic and ungenerous advantage which the court of Berlin took of the distresses and dangers of the Austrian monarchy, to extend, by an alliance with France, their possessions and influence in the north of Germany. Europe had too much cause to lament this unhappy division, the result of a selfish and short-sighted policy on the part of the Prussian government, which, in their rivalry of the Emperor, made them shut their eyes to the enormous danger of French ambition, till incalculable calamities had been inflicted on both monarchies, and they themselves were brought to the verge of destruction by the overthrow at Jena. Though compelled frequently to withdraw from the alliance with England, the Austrian government never ceased to look to it as the main pillar of the confederacy for the independence of Europe, and reverted to the cabinet of London on every occasion when they took up arms, in the perfect confidence that they would not apply for aid in vain. The natural inclination of the Imperial government was to lean for Continental support on the Russian power; and F although this tendency was consider- | instruction, and elevation of his people. ably weakened by the part which the From the very commencement of his cabinet of St Petersburg took with reign, his acts had breathed this benePrussia in arranging the matter of volent spirit: the punishment of the German indemnities, yet this tempo- knout, the use of torture, had been rary estrangement soon ceased upon abolished; valuable rights given to the arrival of more pressing dangers, several classes of citizens; improveand the two nations were to be seen ments introduced into the civil and contending side by side, with heroic criminal code; slavery banished from constancy, on the field of Austerlitz. the royal domains; and the first germ of 33. The leading persons in the ad- representative institutions introduced, ministration of Vienna at this period by permitting to the senate, the conwere the Count Cobentzel, vice-chan- servators of the laws, the right of recellor of state, and Count Colloredo, a monstrance against their introduction. cabinet minister, and intimate friend of But these wise and philanthropic imthe Emperor. The Archduke Charles, provements, which daily made the whose great military abilities had pro- Czar more the object of adoration to cured for him a European reputation, his subjects, only rendered Russia was at the head of the war depart- more formidable to the powers of ment; but the powers of government Western Europe. The policy of the were really in the hands of Cobentzel cabinet of St Petersburg was unchanged and Colloredo, and an unworthy jeal- and unchangeable. Domineering asousy prevailed of the hero who had cendancy over Turkey and Persia, premore than once proved the saviour of dominant influence in the European Germany. A young man, afterwards monarchies, formed the continued obcelebrated in the most important trans-ject of its ambition; and in the conactions of Europe, M. DE METTERNICH, tests and divisions of other powers, had already made himself distinguished by his eminent talents in political affairs, but he had not yet risen to any of the great offices. The general policy of the Austrian cabinet at this period was reserve and caution; the empire had bled profusely from the wounds of former wars, and required years of repose to regain its strength and recruit its finances; but the principles which governed its secret resolutions were unchangeable, and it was well known to all the statesmen of Europe, that in any coalition which might be formed to restrain the ambition of France, Austria, if success appeared feasible, would bear a prominent part. 34. Russia, under the benignant rule of Alexander, was daily advancing in wealth, power, and prosperity. That illustrious prince, whose disposition was naturally inclined to exalted feeling, had been bred in the exercise of benevolent affections by his tutor, Colonel La Harpe, a Swiss by birth, and a philanthropist by character, under whose instructions he had learned to appreciate the glorious career which lay before him, in the improvement, too many opportunities occurred of carrying its designs into execution. For above a century past, Russia has continually advanced, and never once receded; victorious or vanquished, its opponents are ever glad to purchase a respite from its hostility by the cession of territory. Unlike the ephemeral empires of Alexander or Napoleon, its frontiers have slowly and steadily enlarged. Civilisation marches in the rear of conquest, and consolidates the acquisitions which power has made; its population, doubling every sixty years, is daily rendering it more formidable to the adjoining states; and its extension, to all human appearance, is not destined to be arrested till it has subjected all Central Asia to its rule, and established the Cross in undisturbed sovereignty on the dome of St Sophia and the minarets of Jerusalem. 35. At the conclusion of the reign of Peter the Great, in 1725, the population of the empire was about 20,000,000, and its revenue 13,000,000 silver rubles, or £3,200,000 sterling: in 1787, its numbers had swelled to 28,000,000, |