Servia, Youngest Member of the European Family Part 20

[Footnote 26: This chapter was written in Vienna in the beginning of 1844; but I did not wish to break the current of my observations on Servia by the record of my intervening journey to England.]

CHAPTER x.x.xV.

Concluding Observations on Austria and her Prospects.

The heterogeneousness of the inhabitants of London and Paris is from the influx of foreigners; but the odd mixture of German, Italian, Slaavic, and I know not how many other races in Vienna, is almost all generated within the limits of the monarchy. Ma.s.ses, rubbing against each other, get their asperities smoothed in the contact; but the characteristics of various nationalities remain in Vienna in considerable strength, and do not seem likely soon to disappear by any process of attrition. There goes the German--honest, good-natured, and laborious; the Hungarian--proud, insolent, lazy, hospitable, generous, and sincere; and the plausible Slaav--his eye, twinkling with the prospect of seizing, by a knowledge of human nature, what others attain by slower means.

How curious again, is the meeting of nations that labour and enjoy! In Paris, the Germans and the English are more numerous than any other foreigners. The former toil, drudge, save their littles to make a meikle. The latter, whatever they may be at home, are, in Paris, generally loungers and consumers of the fruits of the earth. The Hungarian's errand in Vienna is to spend money: the Italian's to make it. The Hungarian, A.B., is one of the squirearchy of his country, whose name is legion, or a military man, whiling away his furlough amid the excitements of a gay capital. The Italian, C.D., is a painter, a sculptor, a musician, or an employe; and there is scarcely to be found an idle man among the twenty thousand of his fellow-countrymen, who inhabit the metropolis.

The Hungarian n.o.bility, of the higher cla.s.s, are, in appearance and habits, completely identified with their German brethren; but it is in the middle n.o.bility that we recognize the swarthy complexion, the haughty air and features, more or less of a Mongolian cast. The Hungarians and native Germans are mutually proud of each other, and mutually dislike each other. I never knew a Hungarian who was not in his heart pleased with the idea, that the King of Hungary was also an emperor, whose lands, broad and wide, occupied so large a s.p.a.ce in the map of Europe; and I never knew an Austrian proper, who was not proud of Hungary and the Hungarians, in spite of all their defects. The Hungarian of the above description herds with his fellow-countrymen, and preserves, to the end of his stay, his character of foreigner; visits a.s.siduously places of public resort, preferring the theatre and ball-room to the museum or picture-gallery.

Of all men living in Vienna, the Bohemians carry off the palm for acuteness and ingenuity. The relation of Bohemia to the Austrian empire has some resemblance to that of Scotland to the colonies of Britain, in the supply of mariners to the vessel of state. The population of Bohemia is a ninth part of that of the whole empire; but I dare say that a fourth of the bureaucracy of Austria is Bohemian.

To account for this, we must take into consideration the great number of men of sharp intellect, good education, and scanty fortune, that annually leave that country.

The population of Scotland is about a ninth of that of the United Kingdom. The Scot is well educated. He has less loose cash than his brother John Bull, and consequently prefers the sweets of office to the costly incense of the hustings and the senate. How few, comparatively speaking, of those who have made themselves ill.u.s.trious in the imperial Parliament, from the Union to our own time, came from the north of the Tweed; but how the Malcolms, the Elphinstones, the Munros, and the Burns, crowd the records of Indian statesmanship!

The power that controls the political tendencies of Austria is that of the _ma.s.s_ of the bureaucracy; consequently, looking at the proportion of Bohemian to other employes in the departments of public service, the influence exercised by this singularly sagacious people, over the destinies of the monarchy, may be duly appreciated. Count Kollowrath, the minister of the interior, and Baron Kubeck, the minister of finance, are both Bohemians, and thus, next to the Chancellor of State, occupy the most important offices in the empire.

The Bohemians of the middling and poorer cla.s.ses, have certainly less sincerity and straight-forwardness than their neighbours. An anecdote is related ill.u.s.trative of the slyness of the Bohemians, compared with the simple honesty of the German, and the candid unscrupulousness of the Hungarian: "During the late war, three soldiers, of each of these three nations, met in the parlour of a French inn, over the chimney-piece of which hung a watch. When they had gone, the German said, 'That is a good watch; I wish I had bought it.' 'I am sorry I did not take it,' said the Hungarian. 'I have it in my pocket,' said the Bohemian."

The rising man in the empire is the Bohemian Baron Kubeck, who is thoroughly acquainted with every detail in the economical condition of Austria. The great object of this able financier is to cut down the expenses of the empire. No doubt that it would be unwise for Austria, an inland state, to reduce her military expenses; but the _viel-schreiberei_ might be diminished, and the pruning-hook might safety be applied to the bureaucracy; but a powerful under-current places this region beyond the power of Baron Kubeck. He is also a free-trader; but here again he meets with a powerful opposition: no sooner does he propose a modification of the tariff, than the saloons of the Archdukes are filled with manufacturers and monopolists, who draw such a terrific picture of the ruin which they pretend is to overwhelm them, that the government, true to its tradition of never doing any thing unpopular, of always avoiding collision with public opinion, and of protecting vested interests, even to the detriment of the real interest of the public, draws back; and the old jog-trot is maintained.

The ma.s.s of the aristocracy continues as usual without the slightest political influence, or the slightest taste for state affairs. The Count or Prince of thirty or forty thousand a year, is as contented with his chamberlain's key embroidered on his coat-skirt, as if he controlled the avenues to real power; but the silent operation of an important change is visible in all the departments of the internal government of Austria. The national reforms of the Emperor Joseph were too abrupt and sweeping to be salutary. By good luck the reaction which they produced being co-incident with the first French Revolution, the firebrands which that great explosion scattered over all monarchical Europe, fell innocuous in Austria. The second French revolution rather r.e.t.a.r.ded than accelerated useful reforms. Now that the fear of democracy recedes, an inclination for salutary changes shows itself everywhere. A desire for incorporations becomes stronger, and the government shows none of its quondam anxiety about public companies and inst.i.tutions. The censorship has been greatly relaxed, and many liberal newspapers and periodicals, formerly excluded, are now frequently admitted. Any one who knew Austria some years ago, would be surprised to see the "Examiner," and "Const.i.tutionnel" lying on the tables of the Clubs.

A desire for the revival of the provincial estates (Landstande), is entertained by many influential persons. These provincial parliaments existed up to the time of the Emperor Joseph, who, with his rage for novelty, and his desire for despotic and centralized power, abolished them. The section of the aristocracy desirous for this revival is certainly small, but intelligent, and impatient for a sphere of activity. They have neither radical nor democratic principles; they admit that Austria, from the heterogeneous nature of her population, is not adapted for const.i.tutional government; but maintain that the revival of munic.i.p.al inst.i.tutions is quite compatible with the present elements of the monarchy, and that the difficulties presented by the antagonist nationalities are best solved by allowing a development of provincial public life, restricted to the control of local affairs, and leaving the central government quite unfettered in its general foreign and domestic policy.

St. Marc Girardin remarks, with no less piquancy of language than accuracy of observation, that "no country is judged with less favour than Austria; and none troubles herself less about misrepresentation.

Austria carries her repugnance to publicity so far as even to dislike eulogium. Praise often offends her as much as blame; for he that applauds to-day may condemn to-morrow; to set one's self up for praise, is to set one's self up for discussion. Austria will have none of it, for her political worship is the religion of silence, and her worship of _that_ goes almost to excess. Her schools are worthy of the highest admiration; we hear nothing about them. She is, after England, the first country in Europe for railways; and we hear nothing of them, except by a stray paragraph in the Augsburg Gazette."

The national railroad scheme of Austria is certainly the most splendid effort of the _tout pour le peuple--rien par le peuple_ system that has been hitherto seen; the scheme is the first of its cla.s.s: but its cla.s.s is not the first, not the best in the abstract, but the best in an absolute country, where the spirit of a.s.sociation is scarcely in embryo. From Vienna to Cracow is now but a step. Prague and Dresden will shake hands with Vienna next year. If we look southwards, line upon line interpose themselves between Vienna and the Adriatic, but the great Sommering has been pierced. The line to Trieste is open beyond Gratz, the Styrian capital. The Lombard-Venetian line proceeds rapidly, and is to be joined to that of Trieste. In 1847, the traveller may go, without fail, from Milan to Stettin on the Baltic.

But the most interesting line for us is that of Gallicia, in connexion with that of Silesia. If prolonged from Czernowitz to Galatz, along the dead flat of Moldavia, the Black Sea and the German Ocean will be joined; _Samsoun and the Tigris will thus be, in all probability, at no distant day, on the high road to our Indian empire_.

But to return to Austria; this spectacle of rapid material improvement, without popular commotion, and without the trumpets and alarm-bells of praise and blame, is satisfactory: but when we look to the reverse of the picture, and see the c.u.mbrous debt, the frequent deficits, and the endless borrowing, we think the time has come for great financial reforms,--as Schiller hath it:--

"Warum denn nicht mit einem grossen Schritte anfangen, Da sie mit einem grossen Schritte doch enden mussen?"

THE END.

THE MODERN SYRIANS;

OR,

NATIVE SOCIETY IN DAMASCUS, ALEPPO, AND THE MOUNTAINS OF THE DRUSES.

"Lebanon and its inhabitants, particularly the Druses, Damascus, and Aleppo, are his leading subjects. His statements, under the first of those heads, form by far the most valuable portion of the work, affording, as it does, information not elsewhere to be found respecting the social condition, the politics, and the state of religion in a highly interesting region, our knowledge of which has. .h.i.therto been of the slightest description. Next to this, in interest, is the account of Aleppo, which has been less visited by English travellers than Damascus; but even at Damascus, the information of this writer has considerable novelty, and embraces many points of interest arising from his leisurely sojourn, from his mixing more than other travellers with the native population, and from his ability to converse with them in their own language. Hence we have pictures more distinct in their outlines, facts more positive, and information more real than the pa.s.sing traveller, ignorant of the local language, can be reasonably expected to exhibit ... makes larger additions to the common stock of information concerning Syria, than any work which could easily be named since 'Burckhardt's Travels in Syria'

appeared."--_Eclectic Review_.

"Remarkably clever and entertaining."--_Times_.

"In many of the conversations and reports in this volume, there seems to us a _reality_, which European writing and discourse often want."--_Spectator_.

"I willingly testify to the fact of your having enjoyed facilities over all our modern travellers, for accurately describing the manners, customs, and statistics of Syria."--_Letter of Mr. Consul-General Barker_.

For a detailed a.n.a.lysis, see _Athenaeum_, 24th Aug. 1844.

LONDON: LONGMAN & CO., PATERNOSTER-ROW.