in which Austria was beaten and deprived of Lombardy, led the Emperor, as soon as he had obtained peace, to turn his attention to establishing his government on a more liberal footing. Accordingly, in 1860, what is known as the October Diploma was issued, introducing a constitutional form of government, but vesting the power chiefly in the provincial Diets of Austria and the National Diet of Hungary. Difficulties arose in the carrying out of this system, and in 1861 the February Patent or Ordinance was promulgated for the establishment of a Central Reichsrath, consisting of a House of Lords and a House of Representatives from all the provinces of the empire. Hungary, however, as we have seen, declined to send any representative, claiming the right to an independent constitution of her own. In 1866 Austria was disastrously beaten and humbled in the war with Prussia, and on obtaining peace the Emperor once more turned his attention to home affairs. In opening the Reichsrath on the 22nd of May 1867 he said, 'To-day we are about to establish a work of peace and of concord. Let us throw a veil of forgetfulness over the immediate past, which has inflicted deep wounds upon the empire. Let us lay to heart the lessons which it leaves behind; but let us derive with unshaken courage new strength and the resolve to secure to the empire peace and power.' In the same year the December Laws were passed (under the able and enlightened ministry of Baron Beust), by which the existing form of government was established. In March 1873 a law was passed taking the election of members of the Reichsrath out of the hands of the provincial Diets and transferring it to the general body of the electors in the several provinces, thus substituting direct for indirect representation.

The Reichsrath, Imperial Council, or Parliament of Austria consists of a House of Lords and a House of Representatives. The former is composed of (1) princes of the Imperial house who are of age (at present thirteen); (2) hereditary members, the heads of noble houses in high rank, on account of their large territorial possessions (fifty-three); (3) archbishops (ten) and bishops ranking as princes (seven); and (4) life members nominated by the Emperor, on account of distinguished services (at present 105). The House of Representatives consists of 353 members elected to represent different classes of the inhabitants of the several provinces. Of these eighty-five are chosen by the large landed proprietors, twenty-one by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, 116 by electors in the cities, towns, and places of industry, and 131 by electors in the country districts, these last not being chosen directly, but through representatives nominated by the people to vote for them. The elections are for six years, and the Emperor nominates the presidents and vice-presidents of both Houses, the other functionaries being chosen by the members themselves. In the case of a dissolution a new election must take place within six months, and it is incumbent on the head of the State

to summon the Reichsrath annually. It has the right of legislation in all matters affecting the rights, duties, and interests of the several provinces, in so far as these, from equally affecting Hungary, do not come within the jurisdiction of the Delegations. It deals with matters connected with industry, commerce and finance, religion, education, the administration of justice, post-office, railways, telegraphs, customs, the mint, weights and measures, raising of new loans, imposing of new taxes, the budget, matters relating to military service and defence. The members of either House have the right to propose new laws, but the consent of both Houses is required, together with the sanction of the Emperor, to render them valid. For the altering of fundamental laws of the State the votes of at least twothirds of the members present are necessary. The executive is vested in the president of the council and ministries for the interior, religion and education, commerce, agriculture, national defence, justice, and finance. The ministers form also a ministerial council, which is presided over by the Emperor or a minister-president. The ministers are responsible to the Reichsrath for their actions.

The old provincial Diets still exist in Austria, and though shorn of much of their former power and importance they still perform important functions. There are seventeen of these Diets in the country, and the number of members in each varies from twenty or thirty up to more than 100, according to the size and importance of the district. Each Diet is composed of the archbishops and bishops of the Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic Churches, the rectors of the universities, representatives chosen by the great landed proprietors, representatives of the Chambers of Commerce and Manufacture, and representatives of the rural districts. In all of these cases except the last the representatives are chosen directly by the electors. In the rural districts the electors choose a certain number of persons to vote for them. The members of the Diets are elected for six years, and sit under a president who, together with the vice-president, is nominated by the Emperor for the same period of six years. The provincial Diets deal with such matters affecting their districts as do not come before the Reichsrath -such as local taxation, religion, education, public works, charitable institutions, industry, commerce, &c.

Having thus briefly sketched the constitutions of the two States as they exist separately, we come now to notice shortly the ties by which they are bound together-namely, the same monarch and the Delegations. By the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles the Sixth the different parts and provinces of the empire are declared to be inseparable and indivisible, and the succession is fixed in the order of primogeniture in the male, whom failing, in the female line of the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine. The monarch bears the titles of the Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary; but in all public documents relating to Hungary he has only the title of king.

The sovereign comes of age on the completion of his eighteenth year, and must be of the Roman Catholic faith. On assuming the reins of government he must take oaths to maintain the constitutions of the two States, in Austria in presence of the two Houses of the Reichsrath, and in Hungary before the Diet on his coronation. The monarch is in exclusive possession of the executive power, while the legislative is shared by him with the representative bodies of the two States. He is commander-in-chief of the army, and grand master of the several orders of knighthood.

The Delegations consist of sixty members for each State, chosen annually by the assemblies-one-third being elected by the House of Lords and the House of Magnates, and two-thirds by the House of Representatives and that of Deputies. They are summoned by the head of the State, and meet alternately at Vienna and Buda-Pesth, and elect their own presidents. They conduct their business in distinct chambers and communicate their decisions to each other in writing. Should three written messages on any subject be exchanged without bringing the two bodies into accord, they meet together and, without discussion, proceed at once to vote by ballot, the majority of votes deciding the question. They legislate on matters which equally affect both States, and particularly on matters touching their relations with foreign countries, diplomatic or commercial, and in what concerns the defence of the country-the army and navy. The executive is vested in three departments-(1) a ministry of foreign affairs and of the Imperial house; (2) a ministry of war; and (3) a ministry of finance. The ministers are responsible to the Delegations. The active army and reserves are common to the whole monarchy and are under the control of the minister of war. The Landwehr, or militia, however, of Austria and Hungary are respectively under the control of the Austrian and Hungarian ministers of national defence; but all orders relating to great concentrating movements of troops. must emanate from the sovereign. A customs and commercial treaty for the whole monarchy was first entered into between the two States in 1867 for ten years, and has since been renewed for the like period. The revenue thus derived is divided in the proportion of 31.4 per cent. to Hungary and 68.6 per cent. to Austria. The Delegations also legislate on matters of taxation on industries affecting the two States, on the currency and standard of gold, and on railway matters common to the two divisions. Hungary is chiefly an agricultural country, while Austria is in a great measure manufacturing. By an agreement come to in February 1868, Austria was to contribute 70 and Hungary 30 per cent. towards the common expenditure of the empire. When the military frontier was subsequently incorporated with Hungary, the proportions came to be Austria 68.6 and Hungary 31.4. In matters connected with foreign affairs and the army and navy, the resolutions of the Delegations require neither the approval

nor confirmation of the representative assemblies, but only the assent of the sovereign; but all treaties affecting the customs duties must be approved by the Austrian Reichsrath and Hungarian Diet.

By the last census of the 31st of December 1880, the population of Austria was 22,144,244, and that of Hungary only 15,738,468, and, as we have just seen, the contributions of the latter towards the expenditure of the monarchy is only 31-4 per cent. of the whole; yet we find her having an equal representation with Austria in the management of their common affairs. This has the appearance of a concession to Hungary, yet in practice it has worked well. As all questions in dispute are settled by the absolute majority of votes, such is the rivalry between the two States, that were the voting power of Austria to greatly prevail over that of Hungary the interests of the latter would be likely to suffer.

There can be no doubt that Home Rule has acted beneficially in regard to Hungary. On this point no higher authority can be cited than Louis Kossuth, the leading spirit in the revolutionary movement of 1848-49, and president of the Committee of Defence. This distinguished patriot and irreconcilable enemy of the Austrian government, in writing to his countrymen thanking them for an address which they had sent congratulating him on his eightieth birthday, said that the present condition of Hungary is in accordance with the real wants of the nation,' that parties now stand on the basis of loyalty to the dynasty,' and that 'it affords an amply sufficient guarantee for the future of the Hungarian State.' Under these circumstances, he expressed the hope that Hungary might be preserved from revolutions in the future.

The rivalries that subsist between the different nationalities which constitute its population are a constant source of disquietude and even danger to the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Except Russia, no other nation in Europe embraces within it so many distinct nationalitiespeoples differing from each other in race, language, religion, customs, and manners. In Austria, according to the last census of 1880, of a total population of 24,144,244, there were 8,008,864 speaking German; 5,180,908 Bohemian, Moravian, Slavonic; 3,238,534 Polish; 2,792,667 Ruthenian; 1,140,304 Sloven; 563,615 Serb and Croatian; 668,653 Italian and Ladin; 190,799 Roumanian; and 6,887 Magyar. In Hungary, of a population of 15,738,468, 6,206,842 spoke Magyar or Hungarian; 2,325,838 Roumanian; 1,882,371 German; 1,799,563 Slavonic; 2,325,747 Serb and Croatian; 345,187 Ruthenian; and 83,150 Wendic. There were in Austria 17,693,648 and in Hungary 7,849,692 Roman Catholics; in Austria 2,536,177 and in Hungary 1,497,268 Greek Catholics; in Austria 401,479 and in Hungary 3,154,652 Protestants; in Austria 1,005,394 and in Hungary 638,314 Jews; in Austria 493,542 and in Hungary

2,434,896 belonging to the Eastern or Oriental Greek Church. The Germans are the dominant race in Austria and the Magyars in Hungary, but in neither do they form a majority of the population. These different nationalities are constantly calling out for an independent government, or the right to manage their own affairs in their own. way without the interference of others, but we do not hear of Home Rule being granted to them. The State, however, has endeavoured to bring about harmony by means of liberal concessions, as the lowering of the franchise and the substitution of direct for indirect representation, so as to give the inadequately represented nationalities more power in the National Council, but only with partial success. In 1882 a law was passed extending the franchise in Austria to all males in towns and rural districts paying direct taxes to the amount of 10s. annually. The same year a measure was introduced reorganising the army on the territorial system, so that in place of the different divisions being composed of a mixture of all nationalities, with the German element usually predominant, they will be composed entirely, or nearly so, of persons of the same nationality. The Emperor, by making frequent journeys to different parts of his dominions, has done much to increase his popularity and strengthen the loyalty of his subjects.

DAVID KAY.

VOL. XIX.-No. 107.

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