GENERAL HISTORY. 



[141 



ing year will afford in Wurtem- 

 berg the example of a king and 

 people co-operating with har- 

 mony in estabhshing a form of 

 government equally conducive to 

 the maintenance of private liberty 

 and public security. 



The court of Vienna was thrown 

 into mourning in April by the 

 • death, at Verona, of the second 

 wife of the Emperor Francis, 

 after a lingering illness. She was 

 born at Milan, and was the 

 daughter of the late Archduke 

 Ferdinand, and the Archduchess 

 Beatrice of Este. She bore a high 

 character for the performance of 

 her public and private duties. 



The finances of Austria having 

 long been in a very embarrassed 

 state, there were issued at Vienna 

 in the beginning of June, four 

 imperial patents, by which a new 

 system for supporting the public 

 credit was established. By the 

 first of these enactments it is 

 declared, that in future no paper 

 money having a forced value and 

 circidation shall be created, nor 

 shall any increase take place in 

 the amount of what is already in 

 circulation ; and if extraordinary 

 circumstances should require ex- 

 penses beyond the ordinary re- 

 sources of the State, measm-es 

 should be taken to cover them by 

 new expedients, without having 

 recourse to forced paper money. 

 The second related to the erection 

 of a national bank, which was 

 the principal engine for convert- 

 ing the existing paper money 

 into a security of a different kind. 

 By the third, certain revenues of 

 the State are indicated, which are 

 to be j)aid exclusively in bank 

 notes, or, for smaller sums, in 

 what is termed convention money ,- 



and the fourth provides for main- 

 taining the value of the small 

 copper coin received as conven- 

 tion money. 



The idea of the Austrian finan- 

 ces afforded by this scheme, is 

 by no means encouraging j and 

 before the end of the year, go- 

 vernment found it necessary to 

 publish, that it was impossible, 

 in the present distressing circum- 

 stances of the State, to repeal, for 

 1817, the imposts which were 

 laid in the preceding year. 



It was not long before the Em- 

 peror made a proposal for sup- 

 plying the vacancy in the imperial 

 bed from the royal family of 

 Bavaria, which was accepted, and 

 the Princess (the same who had 

 before been contracted to a Prince 

 of Wurtemberg) was conducted to 

 Vienna in November. At the re- 

 quest of the bride, it is said, the 

 festivities ordered on occasion of 

 the nuptials, were countermanded 

 in consequence of the distresses 

 of the people. This new alliance 

 may contribute to strengthen the 

 amity between two sovereign 

 houses which have been habitually 

 hostile to each other. 



At the opening of the Ger- 

 manic Diet at Frankfort in this 

 year, a speech was delivered by 

 the Austrian minister as its pre- 

 sident, which contains matter 

 worthy of observation. After 

 dwelling some time upon a ge- 

 neral character of the German 

 nation, and a historical sketch of 

 its principal political epochs from 

 the time of Rodolph of Hapsburg, 

 to the recovery of its independ- 

 ence in tlie year 1815, and its 

 new union in the league consti- 

 tuting the Diet of Frankfort, he 

 said, " Germany is not destined 



to 



