GERMAN AND POLISH PROVINCES OF AUSTRIA. 



735 



The literature of Hungary has added little or nothing to the general stock of European taste or 

 knowledge. In Hungary there is no established religion, according to the letter of the law, but 

 the Catholics are the most numerous sect. There are Lutherans, Calvinists, Jews, and others. 

 The Gypsies are without a creed. The Jews pay a tax called tolerance. In Transylvania, 

 there are Greeks, Catholics, various sects of Protestants, Jews, and Unitarians. 



In Transylvania, as in other districts in that vicinity, there is a belief in vampyres, oi 

 of demons, that animate the bodies of the dead, which come forth to steal away the life of 

 the living, by sucking their blood. The victims are often supposed to be the nearest friends 

 of the deceased. It used to be the custom, when a vam[)yre was supposed to be the ten- 

 ant of a particular new-made grave, to open it, and examine the corpse ; if this was found 

 with ruddy cheeks, and fresh and undecayed, it was adjudged a vampyre and burnt. The 

 Wallachian population, to show affection for their departed friends, moisten their graves with 

 wine. They have also the custom, which prevails in many countries, of interrogating the dead ; 

 saying to a deceased friend, that he was so fortunately situated with his wife, children, and 

 friends, that he should not have died. They say to him that he acted foolishly, and call upon 

 him to change his mind. Hungary is an hereditary monarchy. The king has great power, but 

 there is a Diet, which has its influence in the State. In religious matters, the king has papal 

 authority. Transylvania is a limited monarchy ; and the king, like the king of Hungary, is the 

 Emperor of Austria. 



Hungary, or Pannonia, as it was called by the Romans, was invaded and subdued by the 

 Magyars, a Caucasian tribe, towards the end of the 9th century ; about which time Christiani- 

 ty was introduced. The kingdom was especially aggrandized during the administration of Mat- 

 thias, who took possession of Vienna and many of the neighboring provinces, and died in 1490. 

 After his death Austria recovered the conquered provinces, and began to look to the prospect 

 of succession to the Hungarian crown. In 1526, the greater part of Hungary was conquered 

 by the Turks, in whose hands it remained until the peace of Carlovvitz, in 1699. From this 

 period the country has remained united to the Austrian Empire. 



CHAPTER XCIV. GERMAN AND POLISH PROVINCES OF AUSTRIA. 



Divisions. This part of the Austrian Empire consists of 1. the Archduchy of Austria ; 

 2. the Duchy of Stiria ; 3. the Kingdom of Iliyria ; 4. the Tyrol ; 5. the Kingdom of Bo- 

 hemia ; 6. the Margraviate of Moravia and Austrian Silesia ; 7. the Kingdom of Galicia. 



1. Archduchy of Jlustria. This country is bounded north by Bohemia and Moravia, east 

 by Hungary, south by Stiria, and west by Bavaria. It contains 15,000 square miles, and a 

 population of 2,120,000. It lies upon the Danube, which rises in Bavaria and flows easterly 

 into Hungary. The Enns, one of its branches, divides the country into Upper and Lower 

 Austria. A branch of the Noric Alps, called the Soemmering Heights, separates it from 

 Stiria. Another range, called the Kahlenberg, extends from the source of the Drave toward 

 the Danube. Other eminences, of considerable elevation, are scattered over the country. 

 The rivers vary in color at different seasons, except the Danube, which is always yellow. The 

 others are of a beautiful lively green in the spring. The lake of Gmunden is celebrated for 

 the fine scenery of its shores, and the salt manufactured from its waters and the neighborhood, 

 which supplies the whole of Austria. There are many other lakes. The climate on the 

 mountainous borders of Stiria and Bohemia, is cold, with boisterous winds and a short sum- 

 mer ; the ground is covered with snow from October to March. On the banks of the Danube 

 the heat of summer and autumn is excessive. The soil is generally good. Upper Austria 

 abounds in fossil salt. 



Vienna., the capital, is pleasantly situated upon the Danube, in the midst of a fertile and 

 picturesque region. It consists of the city proper, which is small and surrounded with walls, 

 and 34 suburbs, whose spacious streets and elegant edifices form a striking contrast with the 

 narrow streets and mean buildings of the former. Vienna contains IS public squares, 20 mo- 

 nasteries, 5 theatres, 50 churches, numerous scientific and charitable institutions, palaces, &c., 

 and 300,000 inhabitants. The finest promenade is the Prater, on an island in the Danube, 

 which the rich equipages, the gay crowd, tlie fine walks, and the various amusements combine 

 to render unrivaled in Europe. The imperial palace is a splendid, but irregular building, con- 

 taining numerous treasures of art, and a fine library of 300,000 volumes. 



