The sun., 1889-12-15
solrE NEW BoOKS
Auntro.HnnEarH.

It Il surprising how much ignorance is
curront among men otherwise we'll informed
regarding the history and present political ar
rSneements OF the countries that mako I'D the
present Austro- Hungarian monarchy. Al
though England has had moro or less intimate
relations with the Vienna Government since the
accession Of the House Of Hanover. there are
bntf foor EnRllshmen generally ACKNOWLEDGED
tobs competent to disouss the past and actual
condition OF hustro-HunRary, namely. Mr..
Grant Dun. Prof. freeman. Prof Bryce. and
Mr.. Goodwin smi ith. In this country Prof. Tor
reg OF Harvard University was. no doubt, duali-
fed 10 unravei this extremely complicated
subject. but his lectures concerning II have
nbVeR. We believe, been published in book
fern. The eo-called universal histories
used - text books in American colleges
and Observation-Disclosures may be merits Of some
ofthem In certain dlrections-deal In q ieiunO
and Inadequate. II not positively misleading
waSe with the vioissitudes Of the many states
Subordinate TO the House OF HapsburR.
Neithnr IL there uny accessible and acceptable
bo1ksheUlaily devoted to any one Of the pres
ntdominions OF Francis Joseph. the volume
devoted 70 Hungary in the Story Of the Ma
tftShBs sariSs being far from satisfactory. Un-
rate atoount Of the historical evolution and
existing 8tatos Of tiio various oomponents' Of
the Austro- Hungarian power was obviously an
educational desiderRtum. To supply the want
an English lady. Mrs. BIRKBECK HILL (who
seems, however, to have had no qualifications
for the task except ability to read French), has
beeu1inyited to translate History Of .Austro-
Hunddrr. contributed by Prof. LOUIS LEaER to
o French educational series OF historical hand
books. By happy sfterthouRht the pub
lishers iRivinRtons, London. and Putnams.
New York; requested Prof FREEMAN to supply
at ttntroduction which. although short, 10 In
dtspensable to o right understanding OF the
ensuing narrative. Unluckily. the translator
did not see the Introduction until her version
was IN type. and. accordingly. fell into the
common error-an error. however, not COM
mitted In the French orlginal-of necessarily
applying the term Austrian Empire" to the
Stat0B collectively ruled by the house Of Haps-
burg. AZ Prof. Freeman is at pains to point
ont there was no suoh thing as an Austrian
Empire before 1904. neither has there been
any such thing since the constitutional pro-
vfsions, made In 1867, II the term empire" Is
supposed to include the kingdom of Hungary
aud Its dependencies. In the Transleithan
diVisiop OF his dominions,, whose Parliament
meets at Buda-Pesth. Francis Joseph is a king.
OhIy in the OisIeithan division. whose Parlia-
nent sits ct Vienna. does he bear tho title Of |
empefoE H. moreover the Czechs have their
way: as they now, seem likely to have. Francis
Joseph viii be known In Bohemia not as em-
DerpE. but as king.
sProk freeman seems to have examined not
the version before US. but the French original,
for he only points out one mistake. We infer
that for tho numerous errorG Of detail. some Of
which Fe shall proceed to specify, we should
blane, not Prof Leger. but the English trans
latoE. In one respect we know that the French
ORIGINAL ID greatly superior to its pretended
English counterpart for the former is supplied
With four maps depicting four stages In the
historical development Of the countries de-
scrfbed In the volume before US these mnps
are suppressed. and in their place Is appended
q so-called othnographical map. which for pur-
poses OF geographical and historical elucida-
tlonis absolutely worthless. Half the rivers and
towns are not named at oil. and OF the few
marked. nearly all have their Magyar or
6lavonte appellations. which. Of course with
out thSir German equivalents, are ,tinintelliRi-
ble 70 theVery persons for whom the. book was
deSigned, 0fminor slips and ovefsiRhts the
worlt b gunpardonably full. The ridtculously
RInHh hgt Of eleven errata. with which the text
a R AZ 81 has hAA TNlla % AAR.
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~ Ii. aoaa,- 49, w. o' ,.,.
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o,,s oo,,et sha,o SSn 10 10 h,,,.Io.. 49, W
-. o"n,,nod s"I ,,n.,, q. 49," hao'. ".s,.oS
M, tt"as. 49, %uI hsins,,, LOO D" o4U''p'u
- ~ t.," 'e'' cue ..N uo,pAu- u"p
phs ssrlous anu Wnohy ine1eusaDie ertor ls
oAuvun'ereu III eVery cnepter' anu on ALMOST
,1asvpe esaSvpaee. "nene'er tho autnor or trans
igsot wv occasion TO mentioh the area OF
M Zyen sohntEy' ls oescrioeu as covering 30
,nany = ~ squALo mica. vi course tne Englisn or
q AIlerican y, reauer supposes tnat Englisn square
mics Sre meHnt, whereas 1t ls Always 1erman
oGuete mlleS 'u1t arc speclleu. mheteer'
tSN %oLoovor ~ ID .ne ue,p@n snors mlo oF Ine
Iermsn .H lone mne Whicn ID contempiateo as
- ~ VI 'he sauare' Ine EeHuer LluSt nnu ou'
VI utulscl. Al lle iotmeI oSSo ne must hul-
,ne uGules E.Sel " .hlS oookp py nlIeen IN
~ it..er otIse " IN oIuer rouEnv
Y D,E cppt pto;Ais0 W le IoSl superhcIes. 1na'
yVlA ~, suouiu pe put upon 'ne marley M wl1n-
~ ~. sIo sOuo'o DeLuE tSAen " uanshor nkuEo'
w. Soh-Hn " HuEisn Sonetnes "a nioasuio
iten. l.,N - SuEkesuto ~ eomnon' On ,ne oonscl-
'nsSSuess ,...S 20 " puStSno,s anu pooh maAers'