Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1846-02-26


gushed political writer that there is something char
acterlstcaly and intentionally obscure in the move
ments ond policy Of Austria. The dull monotony of
her existence, her affected gravity the silence which
regns over the vast extent other territory, and the
interrupted luxury Of her capital, have repealed curl
os1ty, and almost dsarmed censme.
This powerful monarchy. with a territory superior,
and population equal to that of France is composed
OF four distinct nations each speaking different Ian
guages, and governed by widely varying customs and
laws There Is Hungary, world by ITSELF gloomy
in its untamed uncvilized wdness where the rocky
castles Of proud barons still frown upon the cliffs,
sNblc as npTcgnlbe. as sombre in their semi-barba-
pn gloom, as in the darkest morning of the dark ages
and Courty men and high born danes move in those
euda halls while the mental serfs retaining the Dress
the manners and the mind Of generations long since
bIIT in oblivion hover for protection in their miser-
AWkras asnuad Ihri,@o~d; proud Of 1hairservtude
IG6siring no change, and never dreaming that they
were born for nober destiny. Hungary is the twelfth
century dwelling in the nineteenth, it is a picture of
the middle ages framed in central Europe
There Is Bohemia, with its obsequous poasantry, its
naughty nobility, It's nominal constitution, with its
mockery Oh Legislature, unendowed even with the
shadow Of power It's members, the dishonored tools
OF absolutsm can only deliberate upon the means of
executing the kings commands, with no liberty to sug
gost anything, Or even to petition for favor redress
There is Tyrol, the land of romance and of song ;
with her bceng cliffs, her gushing fountains, her
roaring torrents and her delicious mountain rills and
where the traveller passing through the secluded Al
pine ravlnes often sees through the latced windows,
the gathered family kneeling around the humble fire.
side in the offering Of their vespcr praise or Is warm
ed Of his approach to human habitahOns by hearing
the notes of their evening mnstrosy floating through
the silence and solitude of the forest.
There is Austria proper, the nucleus of this vast
kingdom the kernel Of the nut, divided by the Danube,
Europes great artery embellished by the vouptuous
capital Vienna unquestionably the most dissoutc city
in Chrstendom, where worldly pleasure in unrestrain-
ed Indulgence holds its high carnival; where
BE ladies', frivou5 and unleered, are merely those
I" prcEJy nothngs' which help to adorn ballroom,
scarcely conscious that they have either or
soul.; where high-born men, cXultng in their llustr
GUS ancestry, have no nober object in life than hrta
tAn Walt2ng, and the gaming table where all the
nobest energies Of the mind crushed by the ncu-
bus of absolutsm which overshadows the land and
whore the peasantry, impoverished and imbecie, hug
the chains which bmdthem, and neycrdesre or DREAM
even, of Il more enviablo lot.
The German, the Italian, Hungarian, the Bohemian,
the lllyrian and the Waachian are among the con-
gloneraed provinces and empires Of this heterogene
GUS realm. And they are all sumbering together, in
utter Inconsistencies of the progress of the nine
teenth century. And when the Emperor Ferdinand
gathers around his throne the thundorbolts of war; and
unfrs his eagles there rally at the sound of the ml-
sic Of the Austrian bands the submissive peasanry of
Ial these provinces, ready to march to the slaughter
fol siXpence day. And they willingly assemble, with
romurmors of discomfort There is infinitely more
of political dissatisfaction under the almost boundless
liberty of the United States, than exists unler the ut
ter despotism of Austria.
The stream Of thoughtlessness and gaiety flows in
IuuSGrrupted streams through the Austrian capital
AnE%A Aent is the obec, of universal pursuit The
theatss, dancing saloons and gaming tables are tenn
pleg thronged with ardent votaries, No man is
permitted to take up his residence in Vienna till he
can prove that he is ableto live there In the busy
hrong which crowds the pavements Of this voluptuous
metropolis roll In their chariots under the OVCrsEad-
owing ems Of the Prater, the most beautiful park in
Europe, may be seen the naughty Hungarian baron,
with his gallant bearing, his gorgeous attire, his mag
nifcont retinue and his fouda pride; the mindless
smiling Austrian without either thought for the FUTURE
Oh a "reminiscences Of the past the Bohemian noble
with his strongly marked countenanco and frame erect
with imagined superiority over the whole glittcring
thong; the willy Illyran the Italian, polished and
courty, smiling upon the monarch whom he in heart
rolentessy hates the conqueror Of his country, and
in whose breast he would gladly bury his poniard and
the Pale, with shade Of melancholy and sef-humli-
alton mincing with his noble features, as in labored
torgGtulness Of his countrys wrongs, he abandons
himself to the mirth-ovng crowd. The result Of the
universal dissipation to which this city is surrendered,
may be seen in the fact, that while in London but
in io A-tve dies annually, in Vienna one in fifteen is
each qr borne to his grave. This is degree of NOR
tliy probably unprecedented in any other city of Eu
rope.
The great object of the Austrian government-that
to which its energies are constantly directed, is to
crush the spirit of liberty to paralyze the activity of
the mind, and to prevent if possible, the idea from
entering the minds Of the people, that they have any
thing 10 do with the government. During the Con-
gress of Laybach, the Emperor of Austria said to the
teachers of public seminary, &" | want no learned
men, need no learned men; | want men who will do
what bid them" These wishes of the Emperor are
abundantly gratltied for there is not single great
man IN literature, whom Austria can claim as her own
There are but few Austrian names to be found upon
any of the pages of intellectual greatness
Much has recently been said respecting the elemen-
tary schools establishes in Austria. These schools
are established in but limited portion of the empire
while the millions who people the vast realms of Hun
gary, Pennsylvania, Croatia, Bucomia, &c are sunk in
the deepest ignorance. And the schools, where es-
tabshed are but the patent instruments of dcsposm
for the pupils not taught TO Think but to be scrve
y submissive to despotic authority, Says foreign
Review, The "System of Austrian education is indeed
unique in the history humankind. The government mo-
nobofTes the charge No one durcs to instruct youth,
who has not received an authorization to that effect
The books employed must be written by agents APP
pointed to the task, and every word that falls from
teachers mouth, is a subject of inquiry and interest
for the Council of State. The amount of the instuc-
ton conveyed in the schools of Austria is Servants,
obey your masters; and Subjects, honor your king"
Indeed mind, throughout Austria, with few excep-
tlons, is dead There is no enterprise no desire for
improvement There is but one wish through the en-
pre, and that is to live tomorrow as they lived yester
day. Consequently, there is eager rush for wealth.
even, but dull and sagnant tranquility.
Hon to make Monarchy Of a RepudHc.-