258 



AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 



ception of the principal towns; and, although the 

 state of civilization varies so much in each of those 

 provinces, still there is a spirit of nationality pre- 

 valent amongst them, which makes them fraternise 

 like men having common interests. The military 

 frontier, Croatia, Sclavonia, and Dalmatia. foim 

 part of Hungary, and have a prospect of waiting 

 :ime, if the improvement oi their soeiul state 

 is to depend on ti.e geneial progress of that coun- 

 try. Istria, Carniola, and part of Carinthia, may, 

 with the exception of some mountain districts, be 

 e-m-idercd as equally advanced in cultivation with 

 Bohemia. It is worthy of remark that the valu- 

 able mining districts, with the exception of those 

 ot Transylvania, lie all in Sclavonic districts, the 

 Sclavonians, as original inhabitants of the country, 

 having probably maintained their ground in the 

 mountainous chains which limit and intersect the 

 empire. Although mining is carried on to a consi- j 

 derable extent in these latter provinces, the mines 

 of Istria alone furnishing a large sum annually to 

 the imperial treasury, yet it is probable that the 

 entire riches of these mountainous districts are far 

 from being ascertained. There is, perhaps, no spot 

 in Europe so remarkable for singular natural 

 varieties, nor any so little travelled, even in our 

 curious age, as the chain extending from Carniola, 

 through Croatia, into Hungary: the want of roads, 

 but especially the depression of all individual exer- 

 tion by vexatious bureaux and restrictive laws, 

 prevent the inhabitants from seeking new sources 

 of industry, as well as from turning those already 

 discovered to the best account. In Carinthia are 

 mines in which native steel is found, and yet the 

 English manufactured steel is sold cheaper at 

 Trieste than the mines can afford to deliver their 

 produce* at that city. Many similar instances of 

 undeveloped resources might be adduced from dif- 

 ferent parts of the empire, but no where are they 

 so striking, on account of the vicinity of the sea, 

 and the consequent facility of finding a market for 

 produce of all kinds. The Sclavonian population 

 of these provinces is said to amount to 2,500,000 

 souls ; the dialect they speak is more ancient in its 

 grammatical forms than that of the Bohemians and 

 Poles, and bears more resemblance to the Russian 

 and Servian. 



The race of inhabitants of Tartar descent, who, 

 under the name of Magyars, claim the moral, al- 

 though by no means the numerical, supremacy in 

 Hungary and Transylvania, are distinguished from 

 the other nations of the empire by an energy of 

 character which has only lately taken a useful di- 

 rection. This valuable pre-eminence they owe to 

 their invincible attachment to their old institutions, 

 which, imperfect as they are acknowledged to be 

 at the present day, have kept alive the pride and 

 energy of the people, while the nations around 

 them have sunk into a melancholy indolence and 

 supineness. In number not exceeding 4,500.000, 

 and surrounded by Sclavonian and other tribes to 

 the number of 6,000,000, they maintain an undis- 

 puted superiority within the country, and have even 

 formed the chimerical notion of forcing their lan- 

 guage and manners upon the rest of their fellow- 

 countrymen. But a more useful and nobler direc- 

 tion has within a few years been given to their 

 exertions by the patriotic spirit of some dis- 



* The steel hanging bridge across the Danube canal at 

 Vienna, suspended from only two main chains, one at each 

 side, is the only one of the kind in Knu.j <. 



tinguished men, among whom the most conspicuous 

 at present is Count Stephen Szeczeny. This no- 

 bleman has almost single-handed, in opposition to 

 all the direct and indirect impediments wliich a 

 blind and jealous government and rude national 

 prejudices could raise against him, opened a steam 

 communication from Preslmrg to Constantinople; 

 thus furnishing his country with a new and in- 

 valuable field of enterpiize, at a moment when the 

 endeavours making to draw a portion of the trade 

 of the East once more over A>ia Minor to Europe 

 give a cheering promise of prosperity likely to accrue 

 to his country by his means, lie i- accordingly 

 looked upon as its greatest benefactor at the pre- 

 sent, moment, although suspected of not bcin^ 

 warmly attached to that kind of reform which 

 would raise the lower classes of his fellow-citizens 

 in the social scale. It is, perhaps, also for this 

 reason that he has been able to avoid direct colli- 

 sion with the government, which views every step 

 taken for the advantage of Hungary with a jealousy 

 natural to those who prefer a weakness which 

 they can easily guide to a strength that they niiplit 

 have cause to fear. The happy idea of attracting 

 foreign trade into Hungary, by way of fhe Danube, 

 must in a short time show its effects by encourag- 

 ing the spirit of adventure, which the natives pos- 

 sess in abundance, to strike into that useful chan- 

 nel; and, if prosecuted on a liberal footing, may 

 enable them to assert their own rights against the 

 encroachments of the Russians, which their govern- 

 ment seems inclined to neglect. This jealousy of 

 Hungary must he conceived in its full force, before 

 indifference on the part of the Vienna cabinet to a 

 Russian settlement at the mouth of the Danube 

 can be imagined ; for, according to all western cal- 

 culations, the stoppage of this grand outlet for its 

 productions must inflict a much more serious wound 

 on the future prosperity of the empire at large, 

 than even the contagious neighbourhood of a power- 

 less republic could on its political tranquillity ; 

 while the possession of Cracow, should it even- 

 tually be conceded, will, we fear, prove but a poor 

 indemnity for immeasurable sources of wealth, 

 which it will be impossible to cultivate without 

 such a channel of communication with foreign 

 lands. 



The Magyars have, as it is, valuable rights. 

 Their language is used in all public transactions, 

 and their nationality fully respected. No passports 

 are necessary within the country, in which they are 

 not overburdened with bureaux, like the other pro- 

 vinces. Separate chanceries at Vienna transact the 

 business of Hungary and Transylvania, and their 

 diets impose only the taxes of which they approve, 

 and with which they are by no means liberal. In 

 return for this exemption, every thing Hungary 

 exports is loaded with a heavy duty, even on im- 

 portation into the other provinces. 



If the Sclavonic nations of the empire have rea- 

 son to complain of the little care taken to consult 

 their national customs and feelings, it may be 

 imagined that the Italians are scarcely less exposed 

 to annoyance on this head; not that they by any 

 means stand on the same footing with the Scla- 

 vonian nations, for the Italian language is that 

 used in all the public offices and courts of justice 

 in the united kingdom of Lombardy and Venice. 

 The Austrian code of law has been translated into 

 Italian, and is studied in that language in their 

 universities: and the Italian jurists have also cor- 

 tributed very much towards its improvement. 





