ontains numerous Roman Catholic, one Lutheran, one Calvinist, and three Greek churches, with three Jewish synagogues. The principal of these is the cathedral church of St Stephen, almost in the heart of the city; a beautiful Gothic building, with a steeple remarkable for its symmetry and height. It was begun by the first duke of Austria, before the middle of the twelfth century; in the thirteenth it was twice destroyed by fire, and then rebuilt in its present form. Its greatest length is 345 feet, and its extreme breadth 230; the height of the steeple is 444 feet, and it is ascended by 753 steps. Next in rank to the cathedral the Viennese reckon the church of St Carlo Borromeo, in the suburb Wieden, erected by the emperor Charles VI., between 1715 and 1737. It is a large massy structure, surmounted by an oval dome cased in glittering copper, and having in front a portico of six Corinthian columns. Before the church are placed two Doric columns, each of 13 feet diameter, and having their shafts adorned with a spiral band of bas-relief, representing the life, death, and actions of the saint. The church of the Capuchins is only remarkable for containing the sepulchral vault of the imperial family, where the remains of its members have been deposited, since the emperor Matthias, in 1619. The coffins are of bronze, oblong in form, and very large. But the hearts of the deceased are deposited in one of the chapels of the Augustinians, and their other viscera in St Stephen's. We may also mention St Peter's church, a poor imitation of St Peter's at Rome; the church of the Augustinians, remarkable for its extent, and for the tomb of the archduchess Christina, the work of Canova; and the church of St Rupert, remarkable for its antiquity, having been originally built in A.D. 740, restored in 1436, and again in 1703.

Vienna is most liberally provided with scientific institutions and charitable establishments. The university, founded in 1365, possesses an astronomical observatory, an anatomical theatre, a laboratory, a good library of 350,000 volumes, a museum of natural history, a botanical garden, and in 1858-9 had 85 professors and 2132 students. It is celebrated chiefly as a school of medicine. It was established on its present footing, and the building which it occupies was erected by the empress Maria Theresa, in 1755. Besides the university garden, the emperor Francis II. established, at the Upper Belvedere, another botanical garden, where may be found almost all the plants indigenous to Germany. There are also three gymnasia equally well appointed, and a commercial academy, in which pupils are instructed, not only in the usual routine of school learning, but also in the science and the history of commerce, the knowledge of merchandise and mercantile law, chemistry as applied to the useful arts, drawing, mechanics, mathematics, &c. The oriental academy is unique of its kind. Here young men are instructed in the oriental languages, and also in the political relations of Austria with the Eastern nations. When their studies are finished, they are employed as secretaries to ambassadors, consuls, or other agents of the government in the East. This excellent institution was founded by the emperor Joseph II., and has produced some of the most distinguished men in the recent history of Austria. The Theresian academy was founded by the empress Maria Theresa, for the education of the sons of the nobility; but her philosophic son, Joseph II., thinking they would be better fitted to perform the duties of good citizens if educated in a school of more mixed character, suppressed it, and distributed the revenues in pensions to meritorious civil and military officers. His nephew, however, the emperor Francis II., re-established it on the original plan. It is under the superintendence of a director, and has twenty-one professors, ten masters of modern languages, and several tutors. Vienna has also an excellent normal school, remarkable as having been established nearly fifty years before any similar institution was attempted in England. The medico-chirurgical academy, founded by Joseph II., is one of the finest buildings in Vienna. It has six professors; and the collection of anatomical figures in wax, by Fontador, is little inferior to that of Florence. The general hospital for the sick, also founded by the same emperor, contains 111 rooms, with 2000 beds, and is computed to receive annually about 10,000 patients. Adjoining to this is the lying-in hospital, another monument of Joseph's benevolence. There is likewise a foundling hospital, and many other charitable institutions, which reflect the highest honour on the founders, and on the liberality of the government which supports them. Besides the scientific establishments already mentioned, there are also at Vienna an academy of military engineers established in 1717, in which seventy-nine pupils are gratuitously educated; a veterinary school; and the imperial polytechnic school, designed for the instruction of tradesmen in their various arts and professions. There are also a considerable number of scientific and literary societies; and the higher classes in Vienna are in general well educated and accomplished. Of all accomplishments, a proficiency in music holds the highest place in the estimation of the Viennese; and, in the practice of this art, they are certainly as much above the other nations of Europe (except the Italians), as they are below them in more solid and useful pursuits.

Besides the Bastions and the Glacis, already mentioned, Vienna possesses several other public walks and gardens of great value and importance to the health and recreation of the citizens. The most celebrated of these is the Prater, said to be the finest public park in Europe. It is situated on the north-east of the city, in a large island, formed by two branches of the Danube. From the entrance, the principal drive extends about half a mile in length, divided by rows of trees into five alleys, of which the two outer are appropriated to pedestrians, the next two to equestrians, and the inner one to carriages. Beyond its termination is the more rural part of the Prater. There the wood becomes thicker, the alleys are no longer straight and formal, but wind irregularly till they are stopped by the banks of the Danube itself. On each side of the drive stretches a verdant lawn, plentifully studded with coffeehouses, and therefore much frequented by the listless pedestrians, who seat Vienna themselves under shady awnings, or on the grass beneath clumps of trees, enjoying in idle gaiety their ices, coffee, and cigars. The Prater is frequented daily by the rich and the great, on horseback or in carriages. On Sundays and other festivals the shopkeepers and mechanics likewise resort to it in flocks, to amuse themselves and their children with ninepins, conjurers, see-saws, and roundabouts, and to dine under the trees and the pavilions.

To the westward of the Prater, communicating with it by two alleys, and on the same island, is the Augarten, a large enclosure, intersected by regular walks, and containing two large eating-rooms where parties are supplied with dinner, a billiard-room, a dancing-room, and a coffee-room. On the first of May this garden is crowded to excess. The Brigittenau is a large meadow to the west of the Augarten, divided from it by the wall of the suburb, and still on the same island. It contains a church and two public houses, and has its share of company in fine weather. On the first Sunday and Monday after St. Bridget's day, a fête is held here; and the number of persons who then come to dance and amuse themselves usually amounts to about 30,000. The island which contains these parks and gardens is connected with the city and the southern suburbs by six bridges. The Volksgarten is a large enclosure, between the Kaiserburg and the south wall of the city; it is in fact the palace garden, but the people are freely admitted, and it forms a favourite promenade. It contains a semicircular building where coffee and other refreshments may be procured; and also a Doric temple, built on the model of that of Theseus at Athens, to contain a group by Canova of Theseus killing the Minotaur. All these promenades are somewhat less frequented than formerly, since railways have increased the facility of getting out to the neighbouring parts of the country. For in-door amusement, there are several theatres. Two of these are in the city, namely, the Burg, or palace theatre, and the Kaerntnerthor (Carinthian gate) theatre. There are others in the suburbs, and one of them, near the Wien, is capacious and handsome. The Kaerntnerthor theatre, where operas are performed, is not remarkable for its architecture or its stage decorations; but its instrumental and vocal performances may, generally speaking, be called the best in Europe.

Notwithstanding the precautions taken by the authorities for the public health, Vienna is decidedly unhealthy, and the climate is generally fatal to delicate constitutions. Colds, catarrhs, and pulmonary complaints are frequent and most malignant. This insalubrity arises from its peculiar situation; for it is exposed to the frequent prevalence of easterly winds, which, blowing over the cold plains of Russia, Poland, and Hungary, the icy tops of the Carpathians, and the waters and marshes of the Danube, increase continually in coldness and dampness till they reach Vienna. To the north wind the city is also equally exposed while from the softer influences of the south and the west it is excluded by a neighbouring chain of mountains, behind which rise the everlasting snows of the Tyrolian and the Carnic Alps. Alternations from heat to cold and from cold to heat are frequent and often violent. The narrow streets preclude any benefit from the sun, even when he shines; and in dry weather the clouds of dust are intolerable.

Vienna is the most important manufacturing town in the empire, and contained, in 1850, 425 manufactories of different kinds. The principal manufactures consist of silk and other stuffs, gold lace, silver lace, ribbons, hardware, and ironmongery goods, needles, philosophical instruments, carriages, and paper. The carriages are prized in most parts of Germany. There are several porcelain-works, one of which employs 150 painters, and about 1500 work-people. There are also made steel ornaments, jewels, watches, musical instruments, and chemical productions. There are a cannon-foundry and a manufactory of arms, belonging to government; and tobacco is manufactured under a government monopoly. Vienna is indeed the centre of Austrian commerce, and of the capital and enterprise requisite to maintain it. The produce of its industry gives rise to large exportation, and the trade was greatly increased by the establishment of a national bank in 1818. Besides the Danube, by which Vienna communicates with Hungary and the upper parts of southern Germany, communications have been formed with other provinces by means of railways. One line extends northwards to Prague and Cracow; another eastwards to Pesth and Debreczin; a third southwards to Trieste; and a fourth westwards to Salzburg and Munich.

The population of the city and suburbs was found, in 1851, to amount to 431,147 souls, exclusive of the garrison of 15,000 men, and strangers residing there.

The roads immediately beyond the gates of the suburbs are worse than those around any other capital in Europe; and, for several miles, the country is dreary and devoid of interest. But the more distant environs are highly beautiful, and offer numberless interesting excursions to the citizen and the traveller. On the north are the islands of the Danube; on the west the lofty summit of the Kahlenberg; on the south the mountains of Styria, covered with forests and vineyards; and on the east, towards Hungary, extensive plains, along which the eye ranges unobstructed to the distant horizon. A few miles east of the capital is the imperial palace of Schoenbrunn (Pretty Spring,) which was occupied by Napoleon as his head-quarters in 1805 and 1809. It was built by Maria Theresa, who used it as her favourite residence. The building is large and superbly furnished; the gardens are well laid out and very beautiful; and the situation is delightful. Luxenburg is another imperial palace, where the emperor has two residences; the one an ordinary palace, with a theatre and other appendages; the other a sort of model of an ancient baronial castle, with a moat, portcullis, arched gateway, court, hall, chapel, chambers, dungeons, walls, passages, galleries, communications, turrets, and every other proper accompaniment of an ancient fortress. The interior is fitted up in a corresponding style; and at a little distance there is a regular tilting-ground, where occasionally mock tournaments have been held for the emperor's amusement. We may also mention Maria Hitzing, near Schoenbrunn, which possesses a theatre and baths, and has been considered the finest and most picturesque village in Austria; Penzing, noted for its ribbon manufactures; Meidling, for its mineral waters; and Baden, fifteen miles south-east of Vienna, a fine town, with 3000 inhabitants, and frequented annually by 4000 or 5000 strangers, to drink its mineral waters; and near Baden, Weilburg, a magnificent palace erected by the late archduke Charles.

Notwithstanding all its disadvantages of climate and situation, few places possess such ample resources, such general means of enjoyment, both intellectual and physical, as this imperial city. Its magnificent imperial library, scarcely inferior to any in Europe, and its admirable museums and public galleries, are all open to the public, in a manner so perfect as to arrangement and accommodation, as to render them practically and generally useful. The theatres and the opera are all excellent. The streets are crowded with a lively, active, bustling population. Nothing occurs to annoy or molest the passenger; and in no capital of continental Europe does the stranger, whose passports are regular, and conduct orderly, experience or perceive so little of the interference of the police as at Vienna. No beggars are to be seen; no appearance of poverty meets the eye; no one appears badly dressed. The Viennese are indeed a happy and enjoying people; frugal, cheerful, and contented, they seek no alteration in their condition; they know little of their government but its mild and paternal influence; and they dread changes of any kind as fraught with evil. They see their princes mixing among them with all the simplicity and kindness of private citizens; and they love them with an affection which they believe to be reciprocal. Their general tone of character forms them for tranquil enjoyment in themselves, and promoting it in others; and the lower classes, as well as the higher, are generally found to be mild, kind, and obliging. They are, however, said to be more addicted to sensual than to intellectual pleasures; and the standard of morality is very low among all classes.

Vienna is a place of considerable antiquity, and has been the scene of many historical events. It was originally a small village, encircled by marshes and forests, and peopled by fishermen; and here the Romans established castra stativa, or a standing intrenched camp, which gradually became a town, with the name of Vindobona. It was here that the emperor Marcus Aurelius died, A.D. 180. On the decline of the Roman empire, it fell successively into the hands of the Goths and Huns; and in 791 was, with the rest of Austria, attached by Charlemagne to his dominions. The origin of the modern town is commonly ascribed to Henry I., duke of Austria, who is said to have founded it in or about the year 1142. In 1241 it was taken by the emperor Frederick II., and again, in 1297, by the emperor Rudolph, who bestowed it, with the duchy of Austria, upon his son Albert, who became the founder of the archducal, now the imperial family. It was in vain besieged by the Hungarians in 1477; but eight years afterwards, it was obliged to surrender to Matthias, king of Hungary and Bohemia. It was besieged by the Turks in 1529, and again in 1683; and was relieved, on the latter occasion, only by the arrival of a Polish army, under their king Sobieski, who beat the Turks with great slaughter before the city. In 1805, it surrendered to the emperor Napoleon; and again in 1809, after a short resistance. Six miles east of the city is the island of Lobau, in the Danube, where the French were encamped for six weeks in 1809; and opposite it, near the north bank of the river, are the villages of Aspern, Essling, and Wagram, where were fought the desperate battles which decided the fate of the Austrian monarchy at that time. In 1814 and 1815, the celebrated congress sat here which settled the political affairs of Europe after the wars of Napoleon. In 1848, the city was for a time in the hands of the revolutionary party; but it was bombarded and compelled to surrender on the 30th October of the same year.