The Sun. — 1838-03-17 (London, England)

VIENNA AND THE AUSTRIANS. 2 Vats. London, Bentley, 1838. Mrs. Trollope's views of the Austrian character, and Austrian system of government, differ widely from those adopted by most preceding travellers. Prince Metternich's policy she seems to think faultless ; and certainly she is not very far wrong as far as his government of Austria is concerned ; but his system presses hard upon the Italian States, and the majority of the tributary provinces, Which are held to their allegiance rather by coercion than clemency. On this point, however, our author refrains from giving a decided opinion, contenting herself instead with expatiating on the blessings which the native Austrians en-4(1 under the sway of the most adroit and experienced statesman of the age. Mrs. Trollope frequently met this 'lllustrious individual in private society, and describes him 48 8 gentleman of the most polished manners and prePossessing exterior. " I had expected to see," she says, bc4 so on onl gu y a distinished man, but one who bore the impress of 1 his brow, and neither the seeing nor hearing Prince Mettertnch can ever have disappointed any one; his whole person, countenance, and demeanor, are indicative of high station, commanding intellect, and very finished elegance. He led me to dinner, and I had the advantage of his conversation while it lasted ; for the table was not °Yoas round, but as large as king Arthur's, rendering general conversation nof course impossible. The Prince is of middle height, rather thin tn otherwise, with handsome and regular features; his hair is quite grey, and the prevailing expression of his countenance is that of mild bnand evolence ; but in his light, blue eyes, there is a character of deep and earnest thoughtfulness that is exceedingly remarkable. His person manners are eminently dignified and graceful; and there is, dmhoarei moreover, told , such an air of calm, philosophical tranquillity in his aspect, that 07e w ho cout of a hundred gentlemen, selected at hazard, to. selectthe or twenty.five years had held a steady and unvacillatmg course, tottered, all beyond the circle of his influence had blundered, trembled, and I am very sure I should have made no mistake." Trollope's sketches of society in Vienna, of its valimis places of public amusement, and the domestic habits and manners of its beau monde, into whose magic circle she l'as, it , seems, admitted, through the influence of the Princess Ambassador, who brought her acquainted with andrneess INletternich, her husband's third wife, " a young lovely woman, with a piquante sauciness of manner, softened by a smile of exceeding sweetness ;"—these sketches are hit off, not coldly and formally, in a gentleman-usher sort of style, but in a spirit remarkable for its freshness and liveliness. But, indeed, throughout her volumes, Mrs. Trollope describes with singular felicity of touch. Her conceptions are quick and forcible, and she has the power of embodying them in language equally graphic and energetic. Tier account of her voyage down the Danube in a ricketty, amphibious vessel, half barge, half boat, which was ,constantly manifesting a perverse disposition to tumble to Pieces, is full of picturesque power, especially those portions of it which describe the scenery of the river, some of which i 8 calculated to make that of the Rhine " hide its diminished head." Mrs. Trollope has an eye for ruins ; and the old castellated and monastic edifices of the Durrenstein and its l'eighbourhood—a locality characterized by more than alpine gloom and grandeur—frown and look awful in her pages, like the ivied Rhenish castles in the verse of Byron. Of a far different, but not less striking character, are our authoress's descriptions of social life, as she witnessed it among the lower classes in the secondary German States. Here her humour comes into play, and she fearlessly gives vent to it, though without degenerating into caricature,— that fatal rock on which comic genius is so apt to split. We should not omit to mention, in closing our hasty notice of these delightful volumes, the excellence of the embellish' Inents with which they are profusely studded. These are drawn and etched by Hervieu—a clever artist, whose illustrations are warm and glowing with life. His sketches taken on the spot, of the murderer in his dungeon, with the nlidnight lamp dimly gleaming on his pale, and almost sPectral, face ; and of the solitary gasthaus among the Passes of the Tyrolean mountains, with the romantic background of wood and rock, seen through the half-open door of the hut, display considerable skill and vigor of execution.