This great empire is situated nearly in the centre of Europe, extending from the 44th to the 51st degree of north latitude, and from the 8th to the 26th degree of east longitude. Its configuration is irregular, but its extent corresponds to that of an oblong of fully 600 miles in length from east to west, and above 400 miles in breadth from north to south. Compared with France, the Austrian dominions have no form nearly as compact, but their frontiers are by no means so strongly defined, nor so well guarded by physical barriers. France resembles a five-sided figure, having on three sides the sea, and on the other sides the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Vosges; while in Austria the chief ranges of mountains are in the interior. In extent of surface, the Austrian dominions considerably exceed those of France, for they cover a space of no less than 260,000 square miles. They comprise a remarkable diversity of tribes, and even nations, differing from each other in language, habits, religion, and comparative civilization.
The component parts of this great empire consist of six countries bearing each the name of kingdom, viz. Hungary, Bohemia, Galicia, Lombardy and Venice, Illyria, and Dalmatia; one archduchy, Austria; one principality, Transylvania; one duchy, Styria; one margraviate, Moravia; and one county, Tyrol. We shall begin with an historical notice of this empire, that our readers may have a distinct view of two important subjects; first, of the means by which Austria, at first a small state, progressively rose into importance; and, next, of those resources by which she withstood the reverses sustained in her long contest with revolutionary France.
The cradle of Austrian power was the fertile tract lying along the southern bank of the Danube to the eastward of the river Ens. It is said to have been overrun and partly colonized by Germans under Charlemagne; but be that as it may, after the empire of Germany was constituted in the ninth century, the district in question, afterwards called Lower Austria, was declared a military frontier for repelling the incursions of the Huns and other barbarous tribes to the eastward. It was called Ost-reich, the east country, from its position relatively to the rest of Germany; and its governor received from the head of the empire the title of margrave (in German mark-graf, or lord of the marches), which his descendants bore for centuries without anticipating the future greatness of their house. Towards the middle of the twelfth century their territory received an important accession in the province west of the Ens, which, from its vicinity to the Alps, and the greater elevation of its surface, was called Upper Austria. The governors of this augmented domain were now raised by the emperors of Germany from the humble rank of margrave to that of duke; and it was one of their number, Duke Leopold, who, towards the end of the twelfth century, ungenerously detained our Richard I. in confinement on his return from the Holy Land. It was at this time also that the important province of Styria came to the dukes of Austria by bequest. Hitherto the ducal residence had been in a castle on the high ground of Kahlenberg, near Vienna; but it was now removed to that city. In 1246 the male branch of the ducal line, originally from Bamberg in Franconia, became extinct, and Austria underwent a long interregnum. The reigning emperor of Germany declared both that duchy and Styria to have lapsed to the imperial crown, and appointed a lieutenant (statthalter) to govern them on the part of the empire. But claims to the succession were brought forward by descendants of the female branch of the Bamberg line; and after various contests, Ottocar, son of the king of Bohemia, was, in 1262, duly invested with the government of Austria and Styria. Carinthia, Istria, with part of Friuli, soon after devolved on Ottocar by succession; but he forfeited all these advantages by his imprudence in refusing to acknowledge as emperor Rodolph of Hapsburg, who had been regularly elected to that high station. Hostilities ensued; the talents of Rodolph prevailed; and, in 1276, Ottocar was obliged to renounce his title to Austria and its appendant states. Notwithstanding this renunciation, Ottocar re-entered Austria with an army, but soon after fell in battle. The ducal throne being then vacant, Rodolph vested the succession to it in his sons; and having obtained the sanction of the electors of the empire to that important act, the reign of the Hapsburg dynasty over Austria commenced in 1282.
In the beginning of the following century the dukes of Austria lost a part of their Swiss territory by the insurrection of the cantons. This they never recovered; but in 1364 they acquired Tyrol; and Austria, hitherto known only as a remote province, little connected with the improved part of Germany, was soon after brought into contact with the general politics of the empire. The rank of emperor of Germany had been held successively by Saxon, Franconian, Swabian, and Bohemian princes, Austria having as yet supplied only one of the number (Albert I); but, in 1438, another Albert, duke of Austria, was raised to that dignity, and, from close connection with Bohemia and Hungary, the power of Austria became so much greater than that of any other state in the empire, that from 1438 the imperial crown was regularly vested in the chief of the Austrian family. In the latter part of the century of which we are treating (the fifteenth), Maximilian I., an emperor of the Austrian line, made great additions to the power of his house by matrimonial connections, having himself espoused the heiress of the Netherlands, and afterwards married his son to the heiress of the crown of Spain. Of the latter marriage the issue was the well-known Charles V., who held the crown of Spain by inheritance, and the empire of Germany by election. Several years after his election, viz. in 1527, on the death of the king of Hungary and Bohemia, these extensive countries, formerly held by the house of Austria, reverted to it, along with Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia, and were all governed by Ferdinand, a younger brother of Charles. Such were the countries directly or indirectly subject to the sovereign who carried on such obstinate conflicts with France, and was accused, like Louis XIV., of aiming at the sovereignty of Europe.
But the dominions of Charles V. did not long remain under one ruler. Spain was made over to his son Philip, along with the Netherlands; whilst Austria, Hungary, and his German states, were vested in his brother Ferdinand. These formed a splendid possession, but their efficiency in a political sense was not at all proportioned to their extent. A long time elapsed before Hungary and the eastern provinces became cordially attached to the imperial family. The treatment they in general experienced from their sovereigns was far from conciliatory, and the vicinity of the Turks afforded a ready support to insurgents. Meanwhile, in the north of Germany, the religious antipathy of Catholics and Protestants led first to repeated dissensions, and eventually to the obstinate and sanguinary contest known from its duration (from 1618 to 1648) as the Thirty Years' War. On the one side were the Catholic princes of the empire, with Austria at their head; on the other, Saxony and the Protestant states, assisted at one time by Sweden, and subsequently by France. The most distinguished commanders were Gustavus Adolphus on the part of the Protestants, and, on that of the Catholics, Wallenstein the Austrian. Both were greatly superior to the age in which they lived, and evinced, at the battle of Lutzen, fought in 1632, talents not inferior to those displayed on the same fields in 1813. Wallenstein survived his illustrious opponent, but his end was tragic: he met a violent death by order of his imperial master, against whom he had ventured to conspire. The war was at last ended by the peace of Westphalia, by which Austria was obliged to relinquish Lusatia to Saxony, and Alsace to France.
The peace of Westphalia, like that of Utrecht in a subsequent age, restored tranquillity throughout Europe. It continued many years, and might have lasted much longer, had not the ambition of Louis XIV. alarmed the neighbouring states, and obliged them to look for safety in arms. Belgium, held at that time with a feeble hand by Spain, was the prize at stake; and the dread of that fertile and populous country falling into the power of France called forth the greatest efforts on the part of both Austria and Holland, which, from the extent of its financial means, was at that time a power of great influence. Louis was surrounded by able generals and well-disciplined armies. Flattered with the prospect of success, he attempted the conquest of the Netherlands in no less than three wars, in two of which (those begun in 1672 and 1689) Austria bore a principal part. In the last she received the co-operation of England, which then, for the first time, came forward as a principal in continental coalitions, contributing largely both in troops and subsidies. The chief scenes of conflict were the Netherlands and the banks of the Rhine. The French, acting with all the advantage of unity, had frequently the superiority in action; but the allies, numerous and resolute, were never discouraged by defeat. At last, in 1697, came the peace of Ryswick, which, left, as peace often does, the contending parties in nearly the same relative positions as at the outset of the contest. They had the satisfaction, however, of having compelled the aspiring Louis to stop short in his encroachments and schemes of aggrandizement.
But with so restless a prince at the head of a population of 20,000,000, peace could not be of long continuance; and, on the death of the king of Spain, Austria, England, and Holland, found it again necessary to take the field. The question now related not merely to the Netherlands, but whether a French or an Austrian prince should succeed to the crown of Spain. Hence the name of War of the Succession, given to this long contest, which, beginning in 1701, lasted no less than twelve years. The superiority in military skill was now for the first time on the side of the allies. The Austrians and other Germans, subsidized by Holland and England, were led to repeated victories by Eugene and Marlborough. France sent forth numerous armies, and showed, in Villars and Vendome, generals worthy of the better days of Louis; but in Italy and the Low Countries the allies were completely successful; and it was in Spain only that they failed. Such was the state of circumstances in 1711, when the death of the reigning emperor took place unexpectedly, and the election to that dignity fell on his brother, who had been destined by the allies to the throne of Spain. The prospect of the junction on one head of the crowns of Spain and Austria brought to recollection the ambitious projects of the emperor Charles V., and inclined many who had supported the war from a dread of France, to consider the transfer of Spain to a grandson of Louis XIV., the less dangerous alternative of the two. This, joined to the change of ministry in England, the removal of Marlborough from the command, and the impatience of the Dutch under so long and burdensome a war, led to the peace of Utrecht, to which Austria, after urgent remonstrances with her allies, and fruitless efforts in the field, acceded, by a treaty concluded the year after (1714) at Baden. Well might she give her assent to a treaty which transferred to her not only the Low Countries, but extensive possessions in both the north and south of Italy.
The emperor, anxious to confirm his authority in Hungary and Transylvania, now directed his troops against the Turks. The latter had, during more than a century, been ready to take part with the insurgents in Hungary against the Austrians, and had at one time, in 1683, advanced to the walls of Vienna, whence they were driven by a Polish army under Sobieski. This was the first serious check given to these confident barbarians. At a subsequent date Prince Eugene defeated them in several actions, and the peace concluded with them at Carlowitz, in 1699, secured to Austria a considerable accession of territory on the side of Hungary. Still that country continued divided and of doubtful allegiance to Austria. Eugene led thither, in 1716, a part of the armies with which he had conquered in Italy and the Netherlands, and applied European tactics against the Turks with distinguished success. The result was a series of splendid successes, and a treaty of peace highly favourable to Austria.
Such, however, was not the case in the last scene of the military career of Eugene, when, nearly twenty years after (in 1735), he headed the Austrian armies on the Rhine. The French had taken the field in support of the claims of Spain on the south of Italy. Austria was evidently overmatched in force; and England, guided by the pacific counsels of Walpole, declining to interfere, the result was a treaty, by which the emperor relinquished to Spain the contested territory in Italy.
In 1740 the death of the reigning emperor, Charles VI., brought to a close the male line of the house of Hapsburg, the succession devolving on Charles's daughter, Maria Theresa. The death of Charles became the signal for attack on his dominions by almost all the neighbouring powers; by Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and even by France. But England came forward to support the cause of Austria with a liberal subsidy, while the Hungarians, now united and loyal, recruited her armies. The aspect of affairs was soon altered; the Bavarians were driven back; and the French, who had ventured to advance as far as Bohemia, were obliged to retire to the Rhine. Frederick II. of Prussia proved a more obstinate opponent; and, as the interest of England and Holland called the Austrian forces to the Low Countries to maintain the great contest carrying on in that quarter against France, Maria Theresa was induced to subscribe, first in 1742, and afterwards in 1745, a separate treaty with Frederick, by which she ceded to him the chief part of Silesia. But the provoked attack of Frederick sunk deep in her mind; she watched an opportunity of revenge; and, in 1756, formed that coalition of powers against Prussia, which gave rise to a war of seven years, and to an extent of devastation such as Germany had not witnessed for more than a century. On one side was the whole Austrian force, aided by 80,000 French, and, at particular periods of the war, by the Russians and Swedes; on the other stood Prus- Austria
Kleber, young in years, but full of enterprise and activity, led to the conquest of the Netherlands, and to the retreat of the Austrians beyond the Rhine. France now offered to Austria a separate peace; but England engaging to furnish large subsidies, the emperor declined a treaty that would have involved the cession of Belgium. The French, determined to obtain this cession by force of arms, crossed the Rhine, in the autumn of 1795, with two formidable armies. Prussia had withdrawn from the contest, and allowed the whole weight of it to fall upon the emperor. It was then that the talents of Marshal Clairfayt, as yet known only to military men, became apparent to Europe at large. With numbers inferior to the two French armies collectively, he found means, by rapid movements, to concentrate a force superior to either singly, and drove them across the Rhine with great loss. Next year, however, the French, undismayed by failure, resumed the offensive, and crossed the Rhine again with two armies; one of which penetrated into the heart of Franconia, whilst the other overran Swabia and part of Bavaria. But these armies had not the means of affording each other ready support; they were separated by the Danube, while the Austrians were in possession of the bridges on that river, and could move within a smaller circle. They were thus enabled to repeat their manoeuvre of the preceding year, by detaching a superior force against the French army in Franconia, and thus obliging it not only to evacuate the country it had overrun, but to seek safety beyond the Rhine. Such was also the case with the southern army of the French, although the retreat conducted by Moreau was the subject of general commendation.
But whilst in Germany success inclined to the side of Austria, the case was very different in Piedmont and Lombardy. In Piedmont indeed the war had long been carried on between the French and the allies without decisive success on either side. The opposing forces were nearly equal, and the mountainous nature of the country afforded so many strong positions, that there seemed no means of bringing the contest to a speedy termination. But all this was suddenly changed by the genius of one man. Buonaparte appeared on the scene, and in less than a month after receiving the command, defeated the allies in three engagements; obliged the court of Turin to make a separate peace; and, pouring his forces into Lombardy, drove the Austrians from every position in that country except Mantua. The strength of the latter place, however, bade defiance to the attacks of the French, and enabled the emperor to make repeated attempts for the recovery of Lombardy. No part of the war is more deserving of attention than this campaign; for none displayed in a more striking light the extensive resources of Austria, or the inventive mind of Buonaparte. Threatened in the end of July by an Austrian army of great strength, but which was imprudently advancing in two bodies, he hesitated not a moment in sacrificing his artillery, that by sudden marches he might assail his opponents before they effected a junction. In this he succeeded; but his loss was heavy, and the Austrians were rather repulsed than defeated. Six weeks after, a repetition by Buonaparte of these daring movements was attended with decisive success. When apparently marching against the Austrian troops in Trent, he turned suddenly to the right, and advancing by a valley, reached the head-quarters of their army before they were prepared. The result was a series of actions, which cut off the retreat of their main body, and obliged it to fly for refuge to Mantua. But ere two months had passed the Austrians prepared another army, which, advancing towards Verona; Buonaparte marched to encounter, using in his dispatch to Paris these remarkable words: Il faut frap- Austria, per l'ennemi comme la foudre, et le balayer dès son premier pas. On this occasion, however, fortune was not favourable to him. He was worsted twice in action (on the 6th and 12th November); yet, far from being discouraged, he conceived the extraordinary plan of quitting his camp at night, and gaining the rear of that army which had twice repulsed him. He reckoned on the effect of a surprise; but his hopes were disappointed by the time unavoidably lost in attacks on the village of Arcole, which stood in his way. The main body of the Austrians had time to advance, and the result was a series of conflicts, attended with great loss on both sides.
Thus ended the campaign of 1796, sanguinary beyond example even in those days of waste of life, and not altogether conclusive in its results. Next year, however, the chances of war were no longer doubtful. The Austrians having reinforced their army, made a final effort to relieve Mantua; but Buonaparte having intercepted a dispatch with their intended plan of operations, was enabled to make such a disposition of his troops as to insure success; and the results were, the victory of Rivoli, the surrender of the force destined to relieve Mantua, and the complete expulsion of the Austrians from Italy. The French now crossed the mountain barrier, and advanced toward the heart of Austria. This, joined to the approach of their armies from the Rhine, obliged the emperor to conclude preliminaries of peace at Leoben, and afterwards a treaty proceeding on these as a basis at Campo Formio. This treaty involved the cession by Austria of Belgium and Lombardy, but gave her, in return, Venice and its dependent provinces, making an absolute loss in population of 1,500,000 souls.
This peace, however, proved only a truce. The absence of a portion of the French armies in Egypt, and the evident misgovernment of the directory, induced England to form a new coalition, and renew the continental contest early in 1799. The Austrian troops took the field, powerful equally in numbers and discipline; and the French, commanded for the first time by inferior leaders, were driven back both in Germany and Italy. The arrival of Russian auxiliaries, and the talents of Suvaroff, bore forward the tide of success, until the autumn of the year, when increased levies on the part of the French, and a better choice of generals, began to turn the scale in their favour. The capricious Paul now withdrew from the coalition, and the Austrians entered on the campaign of 1800 with their own forces only. These proved, as formerly, insufficient to withstand the French, especially when the latter were commanded in Germany by Moreau, in Italy by Buonaparte. Battles, unfortunately too decisive, took place; the victories of Hohenlinden and Marengo led to the treaty of Luneville, and to the cession by Austria of almost all her Venetian acquisitions.
This peace, though not so short as the preceding, lasted only four years. In 1805 Austria and Russia, provoked by Buonaparte's aggressions, and stimulated by English subsidies, took the field with numerous armies; but the successive overthrows at Ulm and Austerlitz rendered peace again indispensable to Austria. It was obtained (6th August 1806) by the surrender of the remainder of the Venetian territory, of the Tyrol, and of various districts, comprising a sacrifice in all of three millions of subjects. Soon after these reverses, Francis II. renounced the title and authority of emperor of Germany, and assumed the title of emperor of Austria. Taught by repeated disasters, he remained passive in the great contest in 1806 and 1807 between France, Prussia, and Russia; but in 1809 the war in Spain having withdrawn a very large portion of the French force, he ventured once more to try his fortune in the field. The Austrian armies were numerous; but Buonaparte had still a powerful French force at command, and was aided by all the troops of the confederation of the Rhine. The Austrians, worsted in Bavaria, retreated to Vienna; and although temporary hopes were excited by their success at Aspern (21st and 22nd May), they were blasted by the disastrous day of Wagram, and peace was again purchased by a sacrifice of territory containing more than three millions of inhabitants. Austria, now reduced to a population of twenty millions, remained in peace during the years 1810, 1811, and 1812; but when the disasters of the French in Russia once more raised the hopes of Germany, and brought friendly standards into Saxony, Austria took part with the grand alliance, and her troops bore a conspicuous part in the battle of Leipsic and the invasion of France. The definitive treaties of 1814 and 1815 reinstated her in all her former territories, except Belgium, and gave her substantial additions on the side of Italy. Satisfied with these, the Austrian government has ever since wisely abstained from war, directing its attention to the reinstatement of its finances, and the promotion of its productive industry.
### Population of the Austrian Empire in 1831; the provinces Pro classed by the comparative density of the inhabitants
| Province | Population | Density | |---------------------------|------------|---------| | Tyrol | 780,000 | 50 | | Dalmatia | 340,000 | 58 | | Military frontier adjoining Turkey | 1,000,000 | 73 | | Slavonia | 370,000 | 85 | | Transylvania | 2,000,000 | 88 | | Hungary | 9,000,000 | 100 | | Styria | 850,000 | 102 | | Governments of Laybach and Trieste (Carinthia and Istria) | 1,160,000 | 105 | | Croatia | 600,000 | 110 | | Upper Austria and Salzburg | 900,000 | 130 | | Galicia of the Buckowine | 4,400,000 | 135 | | Lower Austria, including Vienna | 1,300,000 | 165 | | Moravia and Austrian Silesia | 2,000,000 | 185 | | Bohemia | 3,900,000 | 190 | | Lombardy and the Venetian provinces | 4,400,000 | 245 |
Population of the empire...33,000,000
Yearly increase, computed from the last 10 years...400,000
Average of the whole empire per square mile...nearly 130
Such are the constituent portions of this great empire. Differing as they do in climate, soil, language, and customs, no general description can possibly apply to the whole. We shall therefore recapitulate the chief characteristics of each in succession, classing them in the following order:
- The archduchy of Austria; Hungary and the adjacent provinces; Bohemia, Moravia, Galicia; the Alpine Provinces; Lombardy and Venice.
### Austria; the Archduchy.
The archduchy of Austria consists of two nearly equal parts, viz. Upper and Lower Austria. The river Enns, flowing northward from the Alps to the Danube, intersects the archducal territory nearly in the middle; the country to the east of the river being Lower, and that to the west Upper Austria. Lower Austria, in particular the fertile tract adjoining the Danube above and below Vienna, formed originally the nucleus of that union of states which now constitute the second empire in Europe. That district is both the site of the capital and the seat of extensive manufactures. These consist principally of woollens, cottons, and hardware, the yearly value of which, added to the lesser fabrics of hardware, leather, glass, hats, and paper, is computed at three or four millions sterling. In the mountainous part of the province are mines of iron, coal, and rock salt; but the wealth derived from these is slight compared with that resulting from the agricultural products of the more level part of the country. These consist of wheat, barley, oats, and other corns raised in England; and, in the warmer situations, of maize and vines. Advantage is taken here, as in Lombardy, of the numerous streams which flow from the mountains in the south towards the Danube. They are used for irrigation, the great desideratum of the agriculturist in a warm situation. Besides, the produce of the land along the Danube, from Vienna to the Bavarian frontier, has been greatly increased within the last half century, by the use of marl. The traveller, in pursuing this track, sees in all directions a quantity of marl pits, wrought with great activity; but still the crops raised are much smaller than they would be under a system like that of our improved countries.
Upper Austria, or the country west of the Enns, was added to the sister province in the twelfth century: it is called Upper, from its comparative vicinity to the Alps, and its greater elevation of surface. Its wealth consists not in manufactures, but in agricultural produce. It is too cold for the culture of the vine; but the low grounds are productive in corn, while the pasturages are extensive both in the hills and the valleys. The sides of the mountains are covered with forests, the timber of which finds to a certain extent an outlet by navigable rivers, of which the chief are the Enns, the Salzach, the Traun, and the Traisen. One of the principal sources of employment to the lower orders in the forest-lands consists in felling their timber and conveying it to these rivers, whence it is floated to the towns along their banks, or to the Danube, the great channel for the transport of bulky commodities. Upper Austria, since the acquisition of Salzburg, has an extent (about 7500 square miles) nearly equal to that of Lower Austria; but in population it is far inferior, containing only 900,000 inhabitants, while the lower province reckons 1,300,000.
### Population of the Chief Towns
| Lower Austria | Upper Austria | |---------------|---------------| | Vienna........| 300,000 | | Lintz.........| 20,000 | | Neustadt......| 8,000 | | Salzburg......| 11,000 | | Krems.........| 5,000 | | Steyr.........| 9,000 |
The early inhabitants of Austria are understood to have come partly from among the Germans in the west, partly from the Slavonian tribes in the north and east. German is now almost the sole language of the inhabitants, but it differs considerably from the German spoken in Saxony. As to religion, almost all the inhabitants are Catholics. Situated to the south-east of Germany, and comparatively backward in civilization, Austria was long considered as rather an outwork than an integral part of the empire; it was not until 1438 that the election to the imperial crown fell almost invariably on the head of the house of Hapsburg. The power of the sovereign in the archduchy is almost unlimited, but it is exercised with mildness, and with the concurrence of a parliament or states, composed, as in the other great divisions of the monarchy, of prelates, noblemen, and the deputies from the barons and principal towns.
The most extensive of the great divisions of the Austrian empire, is of an oblong or rather heptagonal form: its length is 370 miles, its general breadth above 300, and its superficial extent, nearly 9000 square miles, is equal to that of Great Britain. For the purposes of administration, Hungary is divided into four circles or provinces, called respectively the circle north of the Danube, the circle south of the Danube, the circle west of the Theiss, and the circle east of the Theiss.
The latitude of Hungary is between 45° and 49° north. The degree of elevation of the surface is very different in different parts, the Carpathian range extending over a great part of the west and north of the kingdom, while the central and south-east divisions consist of a succession of plains. The climate is marked by equal differences, the mountainous districts being cold, while the plains are warm, and, in the summer months, much hotter than in England. The products of the higher grounds are oats, barley, rye; of the lower, wheat, maize; and in the rich alluvial soil adjoining the rivers, rice. But tillage is as yet extremely backward in Hungary, the improvements so familiar to our agriculturists, such as draining, irrigating, and even inclosing, being here almost unknown; while iron being high priced for the means of the farmers, their implements are wretched, and their ploughs do little more than scratch or move the surface of the ground. The poverty of the peasantry in most parts of Hungary is such, that to pay their rent in money is out of the question: they accordingly discharge it partly in produce, partly in personal service.
The climate of Hungary being sufficiently warm for the vine, its cultivation is carried on extensively, though with much less skill than in France. Hemp, flax, and tobacco, are also raised in considerable quantities. Though artificial grasses are unknown in this country, the natural pastures are good; and horses from Hungary form, as is well known to military men, a large proportion of the Austrian light cavalry,—though small of size, they are swift and active. As to horned cattle, this is perhaps the only country in Europe that can vie with England. The oxen are large and well shaped, and roam over the pasture districts in vast herds: but they are exposed with little or no shelter to the cold of winter and to the heat of summer; and hence at certain seasons there have occurred among them diseases attended with great mortality. The sheep in like manner pass almost the whole year in the open air; and the shepherds may be said to share in this exposure, having no habitations that deserve the name. The quality of the wool, though greatly inferior to that of Saxony, has received improvement in the course of the present age.
Appropriation of the land in Hungary, Slavonia, and Croatia, exhibited in proportions of 100:
- Under tillage.......................................................... 12 - Vines, orchards, gardens........................................... 4 - In pasture, chiefly natural....................................... 17 - Forest land............................................................ 19 - Marshes, high mountains, sandy plains, and other as yet uncultivated tracts............................................. 48
This shows but too plainly how great a proportion of Hungary and the adjacent provinces is still in a neglected and half-cultivated state. In some parts the extent of sandy plain is so great as to remind the traveller of an African desert, and to fatigue the eye by an horizon without a boundary. The extent of marsh land in Hungary is computed at 3000 English square miles; but there are also large tracts along the banks of rivers lost to cultiva- tion, from occasional inundations caused by heavy rains or the melting of snow in the Alps and Carpathians.
The chief towns of Hungary are as follows:
| In the western half of the kingdom | Population | |-----------------------------------|------------| | Pesth | 40,000 | | Ofen or Buda, the present capital | 30,000 | | Presburg, formerly the capital | 35,000 | | Zombor | 18,000 | | Raab | 14,000 | | Stuhl Weissenburg | 13,000 | | Edenburg | 13,000 | | Kremnitz | 10,000 |
| In the eastern or more remote part of the kingdom | Population | |--------------------------------------------------|------------| | Debreczin | 42,000 | | Eslau | 17,000 | | Gross Wardein | 15,000 | | Miskoloz | 14,000 | | Kaschau | 12,500 | | Temesvar | 12,000 | | Bekess | 11,000 | | Szathmar | 11,000 |
Such are the only towns containing 10,000 inhabitants or upwards, in a population of nearly nine millions. Four-fifths of the inhabitants of Hungary are scattered over the country in huts; and in fact the towns, with the exception of the three which stand first on the list, are little more than collections of cottages. In a country so deficient in town population, and so backward in other respects, manufactures are necessarily in a rude state. They are limited to coarse woollens, coarse linen, and other articles woven in the cottage of the manufacturer, in the homely manner of our ancestors two centuries ago. Tobacco is raised and manufactured here in large quantities, but it is consumed in the country. There are mines of iron, copper, lead, gold, and silver, but all of limited extent. The foreign trade of Hungary is confined to an annual import of manufactured goods, and an export of wool, hides, and other raw materials. The Danube traverses almost the whole kingdom from west to east, as does the Theiss from north to south; and the depth of both is such as to admit the ready passage of vessels down their streams, but the navigation upwards will be difficult until aided by steam or mechanical power. The chief intercourse in Hungary, whether for produce or merchandise, is consequently carried on by land; and Debreczin owes its comparatively large population (42,000) to its position on one of the very few high roads in this country, where it is a central station for traffic between Transylvania in the east and Hungary in the west.
The name of Hungary (in German Ungarn) is said to be derived, not from the Huns, who entered this country in such numbers under Attila in the fifth century, but from the word Unger, "new comer," applied by the natives to invaders of later date. Be that as it may, the population of Hungary is of a very mixed character, whether we consider their origin, religion, or language. As to religion, the computation is, that the Catholics amount to 5,000,000, the Protestants to above 2,000,000, the Greek church to 1,800,000, and the Jews to 160,000. Germans, or descendants of Germans, reside in most of the larger towns; and whatever can be termed improved husbandry has been introduced from their country, from Austria, Bavaria, and Silesia. The Germans are found chiefly in the west of Hungary, the part nearest to the empire, but they bear a small proportion to the rest of the population. At the head of the latter are the Magyars or Madjars, the descendants of a tribe from the east of the Wolga, who settled in Hungary under a leader of the name of Arpad in the ninth century. They are a comely and spirited race, who prefer agriculture and the tending of cattle to mechanical employments. The aborigines were doubtless of the Slavonian race, and their descendants consist at the present day of various tribes, viz. the Slovacs, the Rascians or Servians, the Reusniacs (from Red Russia), and the Wallachians. The most numerous of these different tribes are the Slovacs. The languages spoken in Hungary are almost as varied as the descent of the inhabitants. The Magyar is properly the Hungarian language, and is spoken currently by all who bear the name of Magyar; but as it is wholly different from German, Latin, which is generally understood, and even spoken by the upper classes, is made the vehicle, not only of official business, but of newspapers, or whatever is intended for general circulation.
The political connection between Hungary and Austria goes back nearly four centuries, the crown having devolved to the Austrian family in 1437, and having been vested ever since 1527 in the head of that house. A very long time, however, elapsed before the Austrian government became popular in Hungary. On the one side despotic habits and intolerance in religion, on the other the restless spirit of the great barons, were the cause of repeated insurrections, and of coalitions with the Turks, which twice (in 1529 and 1683) brought an Ottoman army to the walls of Vienna. Montecucculi, Sobieski, and Prince Eugene, successively routed these undisciplined hosts; but it was not until the early part of last century (in 1718), when the final victories of Prince Eugene drove the Turks out of Hungary, and the court of Vienna adopted a conciliating course, that the Hungarians, as a nation, became impressed with that attachment to their Austrian sovereigns which has ever since been eminently their characteristic.
In no country is the line more strongly drawn between the upper and the lower classes. The former have an exclusive right to public appointments; and a grant of land by the sovereign to a plebeian must be accompanied by a patent of rank, the right of possessing land in Hungary being confined to the higher classes. They are exempt also from all direct imposts; tithes, toll-dues, and a tax called the thirtieth penny, being all assessed on the peasantry and the inhabitants of towns. The duty of the nobility and gentry in Hungary is of a higher order; it is to serve personally under their sovereign, taking up arms whenever a war has received the approbation of the diet. The emperor Joseph II. was inclined to put his Hungarian subjects on a more equal footing; but he found, on the one hand, that the lower classes were not ripe for the advancement he intended them, and on the other, that what seemed their greatest grievance (an undue share of taxation) was more nominal than real, the peasantry obtaining in their rents, and the inhabitants of towns in the enhanced price of articles, an indemnity for their greater share of the public burdens.
The regular or standing army in Hungary in time of peace is about 50,000 men; in war that number is readily doubled, at the call of the crown, by an extraordinary levy called insurrectio. In the frontier line extending along the Turkish territory, military service is accepted from the inhabitants in lieu of tithe and taxes, so that there is a strong permanent militia in that quarter. The public revenue of Hungary is between £3,000,000 and £4,000,000 sterling. It is derived partly from the regalia or rights of the crown, such as the crown-lands, the monopoly of salt, the mines, and assessments on the church lands; partly from taxes voted by the diet, such as a land-tax, a poll-tax, and an impost on cattle. The diet or parliament consists here, as in Bohemia, of four "states" or classes; the Catholic prelates, the magnates or peers, the representatives of the inclyti or landholders, and the deputies from towns. The two first mentioned form the upper, the two last the lower house. The president of the former is the prince palatine, and in his absence the noble of highest rank; in the lower house the imperial, or, as he is here termed, the royal commissioner, is president. The deliberations generally proceed in separate chambers; but in case of non-agreement, the two are united in one, and questions are decided by a majority of votes. No serious division, however, has for a long time taken place either in the diet or between the diet and the executive government. The power of the sovereign in Hungary, though not so great as in Bohemia or the hereditary states, is very considerable, comprising not only the executive administration, but the proposition of all bills to the diet, and the patronage of the Catholic church. A council of state at Buda, and a higher council at Vienna, constitute what may be termed the cabinets for the affairs of Hungary.
The principality of Transylvania is very extensive, having a territory of considerably more than 20,000 square miles, with a population of nearly two millions. It is situated to the east of Hungary, and its name was given to it on account of the vast forests which separate it from that kingdom. Its surface is very diversified, consisting of alternate mountains and valleys. In so wide a tract of country there is necessarily a number of plains; but few of them are of great extent. The changes of temperature consequent on change of wind are frequent, and, at times, great in degree. The soil, though not deficient in natural fertility, has as yet been little cultivated: the chief products are maize and vines in warm situations; wheat, oats, and barley, on the higher grounds. The forests have long been, and still are, very extensive. There are here a number of mines of the precious metals, which, though less profitable than is commonly supposed, give employment to many thousands of the lower class. The manufactures are generally in a rude state, and can hardly be otherwise so long as the country remains destitute of conveyance by water, or of good roads. The inhabitants are chiefly of Slavonian descent, and with as many varieties as in Hungary, each tribe adhering to its peculiar customs, though settled in the immediate vicinity of other tribes. The prevailing religion of the Transylvanians is that of the Greek church: it is professed by nearly three fourths of the population, while the Protestants amount to 400,000, and the Catholics to only half the number. To one or other of these belong the descendants of Germans who settled in this country, and who are in number about 400,000. The constitution of Transylvania is nearly the same as in Hungary, the diet or representative body being on a similar footing. The languages spoken here are as various as in Hungary; Latin being used for public papers and communications of importance, the Magyar for personal intercourse. The public revenue is about 500,000 a year.
Croatia, an extensive province to the south-west of Hungary, is marked by physical features similar to those of Upper Austria or Carinthia, being pervaded by mountains in almost every direction. The climate consequently differs according to the elevation of the soil, the degree of cold being in many parts nearly as great as on the Carpathian Mountains; while the tract along the coast of the Adriatic has a comparatively mild climate, as also the plains in the interior. In the latter are raised maize, vines, and the fruits common in the south of Europe. The forests of Croatia are of great extent, consisting of oak, elm, ash, beech, and, in the higher grounds, of fir and pines. The mines, though naturally productive, are as yet very imperfectly wrought, not excepting those of iron. The extent of this province is between 5000 and 6000 square miles. The inhabitants, in number about 600,000, are almost all Catholics: the majority are of Slavonian descent, and speak the language of their ancestors. The Germans are comparatively few, and are the descendants of those who from time to time settled in this uncivilized quarter to exercise mechanical employments, with which the natives were unacquainted.
Sclavonia, situated to the east of Croatia, is somewhat less extensive, having a surface of about 5000 square miles, with a population of 370,000. The figure of this Sclavonia province is long and narrow; its northern frontier, formed by the Drave and Danube, separating it from Hungary, while the Save, also a large river, divides it on the south from the Turkish territory. From its position under the 45th and 46th degrees of north latitude, its climate would be warm throughout, were it not traversed throughout its whole length by a chain of lofty mountains, covered with forests. The consequence is, that the low grounds alone have a sufficient degree of temperature for the cultivation of maize and the fruits of the south of Europe. The higher districts produce wheat, barley, flax, hemp, and madder. The rivers and streams flowing from the hills often inundate the low country, and leave, as in Hungary, a quantity of stagnant water, the effect of which is very injurious to health. The dwellings of the peasantry are in general mere mud huts; but in the forest tracts they are log-houses covered with slate. This extreme poverty of Sclavonia is to be ascribed to its having been long the seat of war between the Turks and Hungarians; for it was not till the year 1700 that it came definitively into the possession of Austria. The majority of the inhabitants are consequently of the Greek church; the Germans settled here being, as in Croatia, comparatively few.
The Military Frontiers form a long and narrow tract of country, extending several hundred miles, from the Carpathians in the east to the Adriatic in the west, along the confines of Transylvania, Hungary, Sclavonia, and Croatia. The climate, the state of agriculture, and the degree of civilization, are similar to those of the adjoining provinces. After the year 1718, when the successes of Prince Eugene had obliged the Turks to cede this country to Austria, a constitution adapted to a frontier district was framed for it, and has continued in force ever since. Its fundamental principle is to enable the inhabitants to defend themselves by being accustomed to the use of arms, and by giving personal service in the field in lieu of taxes and the rent of land. Every man along this extensive line may be said to be born a soldier; at least in every family one of the males is bound to do military duty, and all are liable to serve when called on. In return they are exempted from tithe and all direct taxes. They have also assigned to them portions of land, which descend from father to son. Even civil affairs in this country are conducted in a military form; the different magistrates bearing the rank respectively of generals, colonels, and captains. The population of this extensive line of country is nearly 1,000,000, the efficient force about 50,000 militia.
BOHEMIA.
Bohemia, which ranks immediately after Hungary among the great members of the Austrian union, bears the title of kingdom, and is amply entitled to it by its extent, its population, and its progressive improvement. Backward as it still is, its resources, as the imperial government is well aware, are of a nature very different from those afforded by the mountainous provinces of the Alps, or the half-civilized districts on the side of Turkey. It is situated between the 48th and 51st degrees of north latitude; its form is an irregular square; its area, not yet accurately ascertained, is computed at fully 20,000 square miles, or three fourths of the extent of Scotland. It is separated from the surrounding countries by ranges of mountains which encircle it on every side. From this, and from the general appearance of the interior, there seems little doubt that in an early age the chief part of Bohemia was covered with water, and that such conti- Austria.
nued the case until an outlet was opened at the northern and least elevated part of the chain, in the direction by which the Elbe still flows, carrying with it the waters of tributary streams from almost every part of the kingdom.
This separation from the adjacent countries, particularly from the comparatively improved states of Saxony on the north and Franconia on the west, necessarily operated to the disadvantage of Bohemia, and retarded its advance in civilization. German settlers resorted to it from time to time, but individually or in small parties, never in numerous bodies, or in a manner that enabled them to disseminate extensively the improvements of their respective countries.
Of the aboriginal inhabitants of Bohemia there are no distinct accounts; but the name of the country confirms the current tradition that they were the Boii, a well-known Celtic tribe. Christianity appears to have been introduced among them only towards the close of the ninth century, the era of the commencement of their historical records. The ruler or governor then bore the name of grand duke, and the succession under that, as under the subsequent title of king, was for a long time elective. In the thirteenth century Ottocar I., a prince of ability, passed laws similar to those which were enacted in England about the same time by Edward I., exempting the inhabitants of villages from dependence on the neighbouring barons, and enabling them to possess their little properties in security. His son and successor, Ottocar II., followed a similar course; a system of laws was compiled and reduced to writing in German; and Prague, the capital, became a town of importance. Bohemia was, as is well known, the country of John Huss and Jerome of Prague, who exposed the fallacies of the church of Rome, but at too early a date; for the public, not then enlightened by the art of printing and the circulation of sound doctrines, misunderstood their views; a civil war burst out, and the result tended to perpetuate the abuses which these well-meaning men had laboured to remove.
The crown of Bohemia, like that of Hungary, had at different intervals been held from marriage connection by princes of the house of Austria; but in 1526 both crowns devolved on the head of that house, and have ever since been held by it in hereditary succession.
The climate of Bohemia varies greatly, according to the elevation of the ground; the plains and valleys being warm, while the mountains in the south, as in the north, are cold and bleak. The annual fall of rain differs in like manner according to situation; but 20 inches a year is said to be a frequent average. The soil of Bohemia is in general good, but the agriculture extremely backward. The chief products, as in a similar latitude in England, are wheat, barley, rye, oats, potatoes; also hemp, flax, and hops. In some warm situations vines are cultivated, but as yet on a small scale. The pastures, on the other hand, are extensive, and in many parts as good as those of Saxony and Silesia; but the inhabitants are far behind their neighbours in the management of their flocks and the quality of their wool. In the rearing and training of horses the case is otherwise: considerable improvement has been made in both, studs having been established in different parts of the country by the Austrian government, which draws a large proportion of its cavalry from this quarter.
The forests of Bohemia are of great extent; and large quantities of timber are annually cut down and shipped in the parts adjoining a navigable river. The Elbe and Moldau are of great use for the conveyance of these as well as of other bulky commodities. The Elbe rises in the east of the kingdom; but the Moldau, which at their junction is the larger river, rises in the southern extremity of Bohemia, and has a course of above 150 miles, nearly the whole width of the kingdom. The Eger, the river next in size, rises in the west, and has a course of about 100 miles, with a less rapid current than the Moldau.
Bohemia is divided into sixteen circles or counties, varying, of course, in extent and population, but containing on an average nearly 1300 square miles, and 250,000 inhabitants.
Population of the Chief Towns.
| Prague | 90,000 | |--------|--------| | Pilsen | 8,000 | | Eger | 10,000 | | Budweis| 7,000 | | Reichenberg | 10,000 | | Konig-graetz | 6,000 |
Besides these there are about fifteen petty places with 2000, 3000, or 4000 inhabitants each; but altogether the town population, with the exception of the capital, is insignificant. That of the country is very different: it approaches in density to that of Ireland; the farms being small, and the cultivation being carried on almost wholly by manual labour.
The manufactures of Bohemia have made considerable progress in the last and present age: they consist chiefly of woollens, linen, and leather, but they comprise also cottons, hardware, and glass. The value of these different fabrics approaches to an annual total of three millions sterling, a large amount for so poor a country. Great part of the woollen and linen is woven, as in the last age in England, in cottages. The mountains contain ores of iron, lead, tin, cobalt, and silver; but iron alone is extracted on a large scale. The foreign trade of Bohemia with Saxony and the north of Germany is carried on by the Elbe, but with most other parts by land-carriage. The communication now making, partly by canal, partly by railway, from the Moldau to the Danube, will be of great advantage to Bohemia, as will a farther extension of the turnpike roads, which at present hardly exceed 1000 miles in total length, or one twentieth of the roads of England; and nowhere are good roads more wanted than in Bohemia, for business there is still carried on, in a great measure, by itinerant dealers, who pass the summer in conveying their goods to public fairs held periodically at the different towns.
The population of Bohemia has greatly increased in the last and present age. In 1791 it was considerably below 3,000,000. At present it amounts to 3,900,000, and bids fair to rise soon to 4,000,000. Of these about a third part are of German extraction, the other two thirds being descended from the aboriginal stock. The ancestors of the Germans settled here from time to time, as mechanics, miners, and traders; employments which the uninstructed natives, like the cottagers of Ireland, were not capable of exercising. At present, even, it is by the German part of the population that whatever relates to public business or to foreign trade is conducted; the Bohemians generally confining themselves to husbandry in the country, or to common labour in towns. The middle classes, in general, speak both German and Bohemian; but the latter, which is quite different from German, is the only language of the lower orders, particularly in remote districts. The power of the sovereigns is as great in Bohemia as in any part of the Austrian dominions. The parliament or states consist of four classes of members; the clergy, the great nobility, the nobility of the second class, and the representatives of the chief towns. But their duties are little more than nominal. They deliberate on the measures proposed to them by the royal commissioner, but they have no power to originate a bill. As to public revenue, Bohemia contributes fully two millions to the imperial treasury, and maintains a force in regulars and militia of 50,000 men. Moravia, and Austrian Silesia; which is now annexed to it, contain an area of 11,000 square miles, with a population of 2,000,000, a degree of density approaching that of England, and nearly double the average population of Germany. This is owing chiefly to the fertility of the soil; for although chains of mountains cross the country in several directions, the plains and valleys are extensive, yielding in abundance wheat, rye, oats, barley, and, in the warmer situations, vines. The pastures also are good, and a number of horses and horned cattle are exported annually. Here, as in Bohemia, the majority of the inhabitants are of Slavonian descent; and the language of the lower orders is not German, but a dialect of the Slavonic. Moravia resembles Bohemia in other respects,—in the religion of its inhabitants, who are chiefly Catholics; and in the limited power of its states or parliament, who deliberate on such subjects only as are proposed to them by the executive government. But it surpasses Bohemia, and every part of the Austrian dominions, except the Vienna district, in its extent of manufactures and the use of machinery. Woollens, linen, and, since the beginning of the present century, cottons, are here made in large quantities, both for home consumption and export.
Austrian Silesia has an area of 1900 square miles, with a population of 400,000. It consists of two circles or counties, called, from their respective chief towns, Troppau and Teschen; but, for the administration of justice and other public purposes, Austrian Silesia is considered as united with Moravia. It resembles that country, too, in the activity of its productive industry. The density of its population is owing less to an advanced state of tillage than to extensive manufactures of linen and woollens. The pastures of this country are in general rich, and the export of wool, already considerable, is likely to increase.
Galicia bears the title of kingdom, to which it is well entitled; for its territory, above 32,000 square miles, is greater than that of Scotland, and its population, distinct from that of the Buckowine, exceeds 4,000,000. It is of an oblong form, and is divided for purposes of government into two parts, called respectively East and West Galicia. The name of Lodomeria (in Polish Wlodomir) is now obsolete, or used only in diplomatic papers. The whole belonged formerly to Poland; and in its physical aspect Galicia greatly resembles that country, consisting of a succession of plains, with few elevations except in the south, where it is intersected by a part of the Carpathian range. The climate is consequently temperate, and even warm. The chief products are, as in a similar latitude in England, wheat, oats, rye, and barley. The summer heats being much greater than in this country, the culture of the vine is practicable in certain situations, but has not yet been carried to any considerable length. The pastures, on the other hand, are extensive, and supply the Austrian cavalry with a number of good horses. Farming, however, is as backward here as in the rest of Poland, or in the least improved parts of Germany. The peasantry, till lately in a state of servitude, have still the indolent habits of vassals, and must often be driven to their labour by compulsion. The roads in Galicia are in general very bad, and the extent of river navigation is very limited; but the level surface of the country is favourable to the forming of both roads and canals; and were Galicia less distant from the sea, its exports, particularly of corn, would soon become considerable. German is the language for public documents and official business, but Polish is spoken by the people at large. In like manner, as to religion, the Roman Catholic is the established faith; but the majority of the inhabitants, being of Slavonian descent, are of the Greek church. Here, as in the rest of Poland, the dealers and traffickers are almost all Jews, whose total number approaches to half a million. Of the backwardness of this country in manufactures and the mechanical arts we may judge by the smallness of the town population; Lemberg, the capital, being the only place which as yet sends deputies to the Galician diet. The members of that assembly consist wholly of prelates and landholders.
Extensive as the portion of Galicia subject to Austria is at present, it was formerly still larger. Russia having taken part against Austria in the disastrous campaign of 1809, the latter power was obliged by Buonaparte to cede to Russia the eastern part of Galicia. Nor was this valuable territory restored in the general adjustment of 1815, because the principle of that adjustment was, that Russia should be indemnified in Poland, as Austria was in Italy, and Prussia on the banks of the Rhine.
The Buckowine is an extensive district, formerly part of Moldavia, but ceded by the Turks to Austria in 1777. Buckowine now forms a circle or county of Galicia, having an area of 3700 square miles, and a population of 260,000. The western part adjoining the Carpathian Mountains is high and barren; but the rest of the country is in general fertile. The forests of oak are here of great extent, and seem to have given name to the country, buckow in Slavonian signifying an oak.
THE ALPINE PROVINCES.
The duchy of Styria, one of the earliest acquisitions of Styria, the Austrian family, has an extent of nearly 9000 square miles, with a population of 850,000, of whom more than half are of German descent, while the remainder are Wends or Slavonians. The inhabitants differ in language, but are agreed in religion, being almost all Catholics. Styria bears a resemblance to the adjoining province of Carinthia, both in soil and climate; Upper Styria being very mountainous, while in Lower Styria the ground has less elevation as it recedes from the Alps. Hence a corresponding difference in temperature and products; the mountainous part being covered with forests, and fit only for pasture, while the plains and valleys produce wheat, barley, oats, rye, and, in the warmer situations, maize. The culture of potatoes, though introduced less than a century ago, has now become general, and has been the means of adding largely to the population. The mines are extensive, particularly those of coal and iron; the steel of Styria is as noted in Germany as the Swedish steel in the north of Europe. Salt also is obtained here in great abundance.
Tyrol bears in official papers no higher name than that Tyrol of county (in German Graf-schaft); but it is by far the largest county in Europe, having an extent of above 15,000 square miles, with a population of 780,000. It is traversed in every direction by mountains, many of them of great height; while the low grounds consist, not of plains of any extent, but of a succession of long valleys to the number of more than twenty. In these the climate is comparatively warm, and the soil in many parts fertile, producing corn in considerable quantity, and, in favourable situations, vines. The ploughs and agricultural implements used in this country are extremely rude; but the inhabitants show both ingenuity and industry in cultivating slopes and summits, wherever there is enough of soil to reward their labour. In this mountainous region waterfalls are frequent, and many of them are made available to the movement of mills and other machinery. Mineral ores are found in Tyrol to an extent that justifies the expectation that they may be made to afford eventually considerable employment and income to the inhabitants; but in a country so rugged in its surface, and so Austria. deficient in machinery, little progress has as yet been made in working mines. Manufactures are equally backward; the work required for them, whether spinning, knitting, or weaving, being almost all performed by the hand.
The domestic animals in Tyrol are, in general, of a diminutive size. The forests contain wolves, bears, goats, and many other animals in a wild state; hence the number of chasseurs or sportsmen in Tyrol, and their dexterity as sharp-shooters, so frequently evinced in the late wars. The Tyrolese, though of a warlike character, and strongly attached to the house of Austria, dislike the restraints of discipline. They perform, however, militia duty, and are called out for training during several weeks in the year.
The language of the Tyrol is German. Like the other provinces of the Austrian empire, it has its states or parliament, composed of deputies from the clergy and nobility, to whom there have been added, for some time past, deputies from the peasantry.
Carinthia. Carinthia adjoins Tyrol, and, like it, consists of a succession of mountains separated by narrow valleys. It contains a number of lakes, formed, as in the highlands of Scotland and other mountainous countries, by water collecting in hollows, and finding no outlet, except at a considerable height. Tillage is here on a very limited scale; but the pastures are more extensive, and the forests which cover the sides of the mountains would be very valuable, were it practicable to convey the trees to a navigable river. The mines of this province are extensive, particularly those of iron, lead, and quicksilver. The extent of Carinthia is 4000 square miles; its population 300,000. The chief towns are Clagenfurth and Villach.
Carniola. Carniola, the adjacent province, is more populous than Carinthia; because, though mountainous in the north, it has in the south extensive valleys and fertile plains. Here also are a number of mines of iron, lead, and quicksilver. The agricultural products are not merely wheat, rye, and barley, as in Carinthia, but maize and vines, the sure indication of a warmer sun. Of a population of half a million, only a tenth part are of German descent; the rest are Slavonians. Carinthia, Carniola, Istria, and part of Friuli, form the present kingdom of Illyria, which is divided, for purposes of administration, into two great districts or governments, Laybach and Trieste.
Dalmatia. Dalmatia, though dignified with the title of kingdom, is a long, narrow, and, as yet, thinly peopled tract, extending along the east shore of the Adriatic, from lat. 42. to 45. It comprises the whole of what was formerly Venetian Dalmatia, along with the smaller territories of Ragusa and Cattaro. Its extent is about 6000 square miles; its population 340,000. Its agricultural products, maize, vines, olives, and silk, give proof of a climate considerably warmer than in any of the above-mentioned provinces. Here, as in those provinces, the ranges of mountains are extensive; but there are also beautiful and fertile valleys. The iron mines and the marble quarries of Dalmatia are both of great extent; but as yet they are little wrought, on account chiefly of the thinness of the population. Such parts of the forests as adjoin navigable rivers, or have ready means of conveyance to the coast, are made available for ship-building; the Austrian government adopting the views of Buonaparte in considering Dalmatia of great importance towards forming a navy. No part of Europe abounds more with good harbours than the mainland of Dalmatia, and the numerous islands along the coast.