742 



AUSTRIA. 



They execute many works in wood with great neatness. Shops and houses are framed, the 

 pieces numbered, and transported to the lake of Constance, and from thence to different coun- 

 tries. Many of the Tyrolese follow the adventurous life of hunters, but all these employments 

 are insufficient to supj)ort the population, and it is supposed, that 30,000 leave the country 

 yearly. At six years of age, the Tyrolian often quits his country, and sets out for a fair in Ba- 

 varia, where he gets employment in herding geese or cattle. 



The Bohemians are hardy and cheerful ; they have great musical talents, and are found as 

 musicians all over Germany ; they have a disposition to travel, and visit in all countries, though 

 they often return to their own. They are inclined to superstition, and in no place is the reve- 

 rence to the images of saints carried so far as in Prague ; the bridge is lined with an avenue of 

 statues, round which numerous people kneel, or prostrate tiienjselves, in the most humble pos- 

 tures. The peasantry have the usual faults that spring from an unequal condition ; for every 

 landholder is a master, and every peasant in eflect a slave. 



Austria has many schools, of every grade ; but all are public ; and of course the institutions 

 are not so well conducted as in countries where rival institutions are permitted in competition. 

 The higher classes are intelligent, especially at Vienna ; and, of the people at large, the greater 

 part can read and write. There are universities at Vienna, Prague, and Pest, and lyceums at 

 several towns. There is a medical school at Vienna, and an academy for painting, sculpture, 

 architecture, and engraving. The Austrian States have not added much to the literature of 

 Europe, nor have any of the departments of science been much advanced by them. The 

 present emperor is known to make a distinction between good scholars and good subjects. The 

 arts of sculpture, painting, and even architecture, are in a humble state, but that of music is 

 more generally and successfully cultivated than in any other country. Haydn and Mozart are 

 names associated with harmony. 



The Catholic is the established religion of Austria, but all others are tolerated. There are, 

 besides Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinlsts, Jews, &c. In Bohemia, many of the ecclesiastics 

 are said to be dissolute. Austria is an absolute monarchy, in which the power of the crown is 

 impregnable. The censorship of the press is strict, travelers are subjected to annoyance, and 

 all means are taken to secure the dependence of the people on the government, and to prevent 

 all innovation or discussion of political institutions. Bohemia, as well as Hungary, is a distinct 

 kingdom, and limited monarchy, but under the immediate government of the emperor. In the 

 Tyrol, the four estates, mcluding the peasantry, are convened to grant supplies for the expenses 

 of government. The laws in Austria are mild, and the administration of them just. The civil 

 code, introduced in 1811, is considered good. 



8. History. Austria began to acquire significance in the 12th century, when it was made a 

 duchy. In the following century, the house of Hapsburg laid the foundation of the Austrian 

 greatness. New territories were subsequently acquired, and the electoral crown of Germany 

 was obtained by this dynasty in 1438. Austria was raised to an archduchy in 1453, and, with 

 the acquisition of Bohemia and Hungary, in 1526, it was allowed the rank of a European mon- 

 archy. It was erected into an empire in 1804, and though much abridged of its territory and 

 influence, by the conquests of Napoleon, its losses were subsequently retrieved, and it is now, 

 both in name and effect, one of the chief powers of Europe. 



