The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1852-02-12

ample vengeance even for the blood-thirsty.
An Austrian officer who has received Q blow,
though only in an accidental scuff1e, is called
upon to quit his regiment, uniess he has slain
upon the spot the owner Of the sac-ilegious
hand that struck him. This he is authorised
by law to do. if struck whiie wearing uniform.
The effect of this savage custom has been to
produce in Austrian officers peculiar meekness
and forbearance; to keep them always uatchful
against quarrels with civilians; and to make
them socially the quietest gentlemen in the
world
Last winter a fast English gent left masked
ball at the Redoute, intoxicated Disarming a
sentry, he ensconced himself until morning in
his box. The gent was then forwarded to the
frontier, but the soldier was fogged for not
having shot him.
Freedom from arrest for debt is immunity
enjoyed by Austrian officers; but those who
indulge too freely in their exemption from re-
sponsibility may want defenders powerful
enough to prevent their summary dismissal
from the service.
L have written thus much about the Austrian
army, because, in fact, as the world here now
stands, every third man is or has been sol
der; aud one can not talk about society in this
empire without beginning at once to talk about
its military aspect.
Gay and triiing as the metropolis is, with its
abundance of outdoor amusements, Vienna
must be put down in plain words as the most
inhospitable capital in Europe. The Austrians
admit that they could not endure to
be received abroad they in the habit of
receiving strangers here. The greater Austrian
mobiles never receive stranger to their intimacy.
4 late French ambassador, who conducted
his establishment With splendor, and vas At all
times profusely hospitable, used to say that he
was not once asked privately to dinner during
the whole period of his residence in Vienna
The diplomatic corps do not succeed in forcing
the close barriers of Austrian exclusiveness;
and twenty years of residence will not entitle
a stranger TO feel that he has made himself
the friend of single Austrian Any
one who has lived among the higher classes in
Vienna will confirm my statement, and will re-
call with astonishment the somewhat indignant
testimony Of the oldest and most respected
members of the corps dq0losxatiqus to the mhos
have been received. Invitations to dinner are
exceedingly rare; there are brilliant balls; but
these do not satisfy an English longing for
good-fellowship. Familiar visits and free social
intercourse do not exist at all. Then there are
the two great divisions of society-or the mobiles
and the merchant Jews; on one side poverty
and pride; on the other, wealth and intellect
ii of
esses would consider her glove soiled by contact
with the rosy fingers of the fairest and most
accomplished among bankers wives. The mobiles
so intermarrying and so looking down contempt
uously upon the brain and sinew of the land,
have, as matter of course, degenerated into
colorless morsels of humanity. How long they
can remain uppermost is for themselves to cal
good wine at the bottom, and lees at the top, to
know that there must be settlement impending.
For the inhospitality of Viennese society there
is one sufficient reason; it springs out Of the
dread of espionage. In this city of Vienna
alone there are said to be four hundred police
spies, varying in rank between an arehduke and
a waiter. Letters are not safe; writing desks
are not sacred. An Office for opening letters
exists in the post-ofice. Upon the slightest
suspicion or curiosity, seals have impressions
taken from them, the wax is melted over jet
of flame, the letters are read, and, if necessary,
copied, sealed, and delivered. Waters are
Of course moistened by steam. You can not
prevent this espionage, but it can be detected
(supposng that to be any consolation) if you
seal with wax over wafer. One consequence
of the melting and steaming practices of the
Austrian post-office is especially affecting to
merchants bills come sometimes to be pre-
sented, while the letters containing advice of
them lie detained by the authorities; acceptance,
in the absence of advice, being refused.
From the surveillance of the police officials,
perhaps not house in Vienna is free The man
whom you invited as friend, and who is dancing
with your wife, may be spy. You can not
tell; and for this reason people in Vienna
naturally warm and sociable-close their doors
upon familiarity, and are made freezingly inhos-
pitable. Yet this grand machine of espionage
leaves crime at liberty. Although murder is
rare, at least rare of discovery. There is a
Todschauer, or inspector of Deaths but no coro-
ner's inquest,) unpunished forgeries and robber-
les of the most shameless kind outrage society
continually. Many Of the more distant proyin-
ces are infested by gangs of organized banditti
who will ride, during broad daylight, into q
country gentleman's courtyard; invite them
selves to dinner, take away his property, and