The sun., 1889-12-15
Eylvania, entered into negotiations with
Sweden, and In 1914 attacked Austria.

| Eylvania, entered into negotiations witt
Sweden. and In 1914 attacked Austria.
III.
This narrative has two capital merits. The
author confines his attention to the countries
included within the present limits Of Austro-
| Hungary. and leaves out Of view the out
lying possessions acquired in one way OF
another tbut since lost By the house OF
Hapsburr IN central or western Germany,
in the Low Countries. In, Italy. Spain,
and the Indies. Then. again. he follows sop
arately and conseoutively the history. first, Of
the elective kingdom OF Bohemia with its de-
pondencios Of Moravia bllesla. and Lusatia
secondly. OF the elective kingdom OF Hungary.
with its adiuncts OF Croatia, Dalmatia. and
Transylvania; and, thirdly. OF the hereditary
States, Upper and Lower Austria SalzburR. Sty-
ria. Carniola, Carinthia, Friuli. and the TyroL
In these pages the reader can obtain definite
idea OF the conditions under which the Ozechs.
the MayRars and the Croats have managed to
maintain with such noteworthy perslstency
their national language. customa and
aspirations. He will also recognise that
while in western Europe absolutism made
steady progress for the two centuries pre-
ceding 1889. during the Same period most
Of the possessions OF the Hapsburgs man
aRed to retain the habit OF solf-rule through
representative institutions. The result 10 that
no part OF Europe exoept England is 80 well
fitted by practice and tradition for parliament
tarv government as the countries that mako
up Austro-HunRary. The constitution. there
fore, or rather oonRerles OF constitutions, es-
tablished In 1867. was but return to the right
road from which the Hapsburgs had mistaken
ly but vainly striven to depart for centuries.
The centralizinR and absolutist system applied
by Metternich was brief. hateful. and dis
astrous episode. BY reverting to the funda-
mental principles OF decentralization and
home rule ingrained In the customs and
traditions OF his Heterogeneous subjects.
Francis Joseph accomplished one Of the
most sagacious and successful strokes
OF policy ever witnessed in Europe. II the
existing system OF dualism. with its twin
Parliaments and numerous subordinate local
legislatures, is by no means perfect, It is. as
Count Won Taaffe. the most trusted adviser OF
the Emperor-King clearly perceives. because
the two essential principles above named have
not yet been carried out with sufficient thor
oughness. When the Czechs have their own
Parliament at Prague, the Croats theirs at
ARram, and the Poles Of GaliciA theirs at
Lemburg. the federal ediflce begun in 1857 will
have received its fitting crown All the details
Implications and consequences Of the present
duallsm will be found intelliRibly set forth In
ID0 laSJ 1OuE Cnbnb0EB OF tulB VOluueS
Among the incidental matters upon which
light is thrown by the book before US are the
causes OF the implacable hatred Of the Czeohs
for the Germans on the one hand. and OF the
sympathy OF the MaaVars for the Turks on the
other. We are also taught to qualify the cur
rent opinion OF tho Hapsburg family. which. In
tho three centuries succeeding the Reforma-
tion, furnished almost as many examples Of
tolerance and elemepcy as OF bloodthirsty big
otry. Among minor questions answered II the
inquiry which has puzzled many persons un-
familiar with Hungarian history. why. namely,
the Magyars should have apparently made o
mistake Of gender In acolaiming Maria Teresa
in the famous words, Moridmur pro re0e nostro.
instead OF MoriG,nur pro regina nostrd. At
tention is also called to an interesting PAM
phlet circulated two and half centuries ago, In
which the precise state Of things brought
about at Versailles in 1871 Is advocated. VIZ:
the complete exclusion Of tho House OF Haps-
burg from Germany
HI.
Let US look very briefly at the points enumer-
ated. To comprehend the feelings Of inex-
tInguishable hostility with which the Czechs
regard the Germans. We need only to recall
what the former suffered at the hands Of their
German sovereign. By 1420 Bohemia was
or Utraquists, called because they insisted on
In both kinds. l. e.. bread and wine.
for people and priests alike. The Utraquists
dominant In Bohemia for about q
century, and large section Of the nation ad-
hered to O sect Of more advaAeed religious re-
the Bohemian incorrectly called Mo-
ravian) Brothers. Lufher's doctrines also.
made from the outset rapid progress in the
kingdom. At the outbreak OF the Thirty Years
War the orthodox Catholics formed only
small fraction Of the population. which then
numbered upward OF three millions. exclusive
Of the inhabitants Of Moravia. Silesia. and Lu-
satia- At the end of that frightful contest the
population had dwindlsd to less than 100000,
and only orthodox Catholics ostensiby sur
vived. Only within our own time have the |
Czechs regained the numerical strength and
of three centuries ago.
The indisputable fact that the MaRYars like |
the Turks better than the Germans is due not |
10 an chronological but historical cause 1t |
Is true that the Magyars. whom they en- |
tered central Europe In the ninth GEN.
fury. were o TuraniRn race. closely allied |
10 the Tartars. who were to invade them |
In the thirteenth century, and to the Turks |
who wore to be their neiRhbors from the |
fourteenth century down to our time. The |
sarliest descriptions Of the MaRyars represent
hem az having high check bones and slantinR |
,yes. But all traces OF the MonRol typo long
since disappeared, and owing to the early and
,ontinuous admixture Of Aryan blood. the
Magyar is now perhaps the handsomest race
n Europe. Far from recognizing any kinshp
With the Tartar inyaders Of the thirteenth /
century they regarded and still regard
hem with horror and detestation. Curl
,usly enough. they seem to have re-
,arded the Turks with precisely the same
ceilings for nearly two centuries. viz. from
heir first collision with them in 1866 down to
md oven for few years after their memorable
leieat at the battle Of Mohacs. AS In the case
II Bohemia. It was persecution on the score
Il religious opinions which has caused the
Iungarians to look with less aversion
N the Turks than on the Germans. The
Iussite doctrines indeed. being propagated
" the Ozeohs. who were intensely dlsike1.
lever struck deep root In Hungary. and. In
Ike manner. the spread OF Lutheranism was
Instructed by its German origin But Calvin
sm speedily made vast number OF converts.
In middle and eastern Hungary.
ftar QoIvro N fha Mn oonIaoant ocountad puda |