AUSTRIA. 



was married to Sophia, princess of Bavaria, half- 

 sister of the empress of A. (The house of A. now 

 exists in twenty-four separate branches.) Of the five 

 principal powers which decided the political condi- 

 tion of Naples, Piedmont, Spain, and Greece, in the 

 congress of Troppau, 1820, Laybach, 1821, and 

 Verona, 1822 (q. v.), A. was the first. The harmony 

 which existed between the three founders of the 

 Holy Alliance, so called, led to the establishment of 

 the principles of legitimacy ; and every one knows 

 the important consequences of this union, in the 

 maintenance of principles contrary to the spirit of the 

 age and the law of nations ; as in the law relating to 

 the armed interference. A. executed the decrees of 

 the congress as far as related to Naples and Pied- 

 mont. (See Naples and Piedmont, revolution of.) 

 Her influence was felt in the Swiss confederacy. In 

 the dispute between Portugal and Brazil, A., being 

 connected with the emperor of Brazil by means of a 

 family union, did not oppose the independence of the 

 new empire, for which Great Britain interceded. The 

 infant don Miguel swore allegiance, in Vienna, to the 

 Portuguese constitution of 1826,and has since conduct- 

 ed himself like a robber and a madman. Time will 

 probably show what share has been taken by A. in 

 the disputes of the royal family of Portugal. To the 

 alliance formed by Russia, Great Britain, and France 

 for the pacification of Greece (July 6, 1827), A 

 never acceded. Indeed, it is important for her that 

 the Greeks should still remain in bondage ; espe- 

 cially if the fall of the Porte (a power which the 

 congress of Vienna declared to be indispensable to 

 the other states of Europe) should increase the 

 strength of Russia. This power already presses on 

 the unprotected frontiers of A. : if it should extend 

 its conquests in that direction, the trade of this coun- 

 try with Moldavia and Walachia would be entirely 

 cut off. Moreover, it would be very prejudicial to 

 her to have a constitutional state established in the 

 south-east, on the confines of Hungary and Transyl- 

 vania, which, by religious sympathies, would exert 

 an influence on Serbia and the southern provinces of 

 Hungary. When prince Alexander Ypsilanti, leader 

 of the Hetaerists (see Hetara) in Moldavia, entered 

 the Austrian territory, he was detained by the Aus- 

 trian authorities at Munkatsch, and afterwards in 

 Theresienstadt, as a public prisoner, and liberated, 

 at last, in 1827. A. prohibited all societies for the 

 aid of Greece, and all contributions of money or 

 arms: the Greeks from Russia were forbidden to 

 march through the country, and the Philhellenes 

 were forbidden to traverse her territories to reach 

 the ports of the Adriatic.* On the other hand, A. 

 aided (by its internuncios in Constantinople) the 

 efforts of the British ambassador to settle the disputes 

 between Russia and the Porte, and effected the eva- 

 cuation of the principalities by the Turkish troops ; 

 which led, also, to the conclusion of the treaty of 

 Ackerman, in 1826. (See Ottoman Empire.) 



In its politics, both at home and abroad, A. has 

 more influence than any other state in Europe, in 

 suppressing liberal opinions and resisting the claims 

 of the age. The cabinet has recourse to measures, 

 of which other cabinets, striving after the same end, 



The semi-ollicial paper at Vienna, the (Lstreichlsch 

 Beobachter (the Austrian Observer), winch is entirely 

 subservient to the government, constantly wrote against 

 the Greeks, and in favour of the Turka. It is worth while 

 to mention here the dennition which this paper (on the 

 whole, an able one) gave of legitimacy, when the question 

 rose, whether the Turks were a legitimate power or not, 

 and whether, in consequence, the Greeks were rebels or 

 not. The Observer said, that an? power was legitimate 

 with which other legitimate powers bad concluded trca 

 tics far a series of years J I 



are as yet ashamed. The subjects are forbidden to 

 praise or blame the administration ; and thus no one 

 is permitted to express any political opinions. The 

 citizens are cut off from literary intercourse with other 

 nations by a twofold censorsliip established on the 

 frontiers. There are, likewise, in Austria, different 

 kinds of prohibited books : some are wholly prohi- 

 bited ; others are prohibited to all but the learned ; 

 and the whole nation has been, for centuries, desti- 

 tute of the means of high intellectual cultivation. 

 They are good-natured and lively. Eating, drink- 

 ing, dancing, music, and women make up the sum of 

 an Austrian's enjoyment. If his emperor allows 

 these indulgencies, he receives the approbation of 

 his subjects, even though he appropriates the estates 

 of orphans, which have been intrusted to the govern- 

 ment, and proclaims a public bankruptcy. Every 

 restraint is used to keep the spirit of the people 

 stagnant. Francis, on his visit to Laybach, 1820, 

 observed to the professors there, that he wished for 

 no learned men ; that lie needed good, loyal citizens, 

 and common schools were quite sufficient for their 

 education. The administration of justice, except in 

 political cases, is good ; for a perfect despotism, as 

 well as a free government, requires that the rights 

 of all the people should be equally respected. But, 

 in state trials, every species of injustice is permitted. 

 The policy of A. has been characterized, for ages, 

 by an insatiable thirst for the extension of her ter- 

 ritory, and by the oppression of every country 

 which she has held in subjection, except during the 

 reign of Joseph II. She has contended with France, 

 for centuries, for the control of Europe. A. has 

 always directed its efforts towards Italy and the 

 East, and the former may now be regarded as 

 wholly dependent on her. The internal govern- 

 ment is remarkable for the constant eBibarrass- 

 ment of the financial department, which leads to 

 the most unjust and arbitrary measures. The state 

 becomes bankrupt, extorts loans, and compels the. 

 borrowers to make new ones to secure the first. In 

 order to smother every liberal sentiment, foreigners 

 engaged in private instruction, especially the Swiss, 

 have been generally expelled from the empire. The 

 adherents of Carbonarism have been condemned to 

 death (see Italy) ; and, in July, 1824, several per- 

 sons, on account of their opinions and writings, were 

 forbidden to enter the Austrian states ; among them 

 were lady Oxford, Mrs Hutchinson, lady Morgan, 

 and lord Holland. Finally, an imperial decree has 

 been issued, that all works written by Austrians in 

 foreign countries should undergo the censorship of 

 the press at home ; and, in 1824, the order was ex- 

 tended to engravings, lithographs, and other prints. 

 The archduke Rodolph was chosen by the ecclesias- 

 tical chapter, and appointed archbishop of Olmutz, 

 by pope Pius VII. His brother, the emperor, con- 

 firmed him in this dignified office ; and, soon after 

 (Aug. 2, 1819), he was made a cardinal. In the autumn 

 of 1820, the emperor travelled to Presburg and Ofen. 

 He pledged himself to the nobles of the palatinate of 

 Pest, to maintain inviolate the constitution of the 

 country, as the palladium of its privileges and the 

 security of its happiness. His speech on this occasion 

 contained the following specimen of elegant Latin : 

 " Tolus mundus delirat, et rclictis antiifitis suit legi- 

 bus, ronstilutiones imaginarias qucerit" (The whole 

 world is mad ; they have deserted the good laws of 

 their fathers, and run after the shadows of constitu- 

 tions). 



The public measures have lately raised the 

 financial credit of the government. All that has 

 l>een done for this department since the charter of 

 March 21, 1818, is recounted in a subsequent article 

 (l>'u/uit, public) where the lottery loans of Rothschild 



