EUROPE IN 1827.

III.

AUSTRIA.

A MORE Complete and regularly systematized despotism, can scarcely be found in Europe, than that which now exists in Austria. It was the wish of the late Emperor Joseph II. to introduce a more lenient system of administration. His intentions

were excellent, but he was not possessed of sufficient influence or energy to accomplish his designs, which were unfortunately frustrated by the superior influence of the nobility and clergy. Amid such powerful opposition, the Emperor was discouraged, and very few reforms were really effected in the course of his short and troubled reign. His successor Francis has uniformly, since his accession to the throne in 1792, shown an inveterate hostility to even the most moderate improvements. The illiberal system of government, from which Joseph was desirous of delivering his subjects, has been restored in all its severity. The Jesuits alone have not been re-established, but other religious orders occupy their place.

Austria is composed of a great variety of States, of which several, recently subjected to its authority, will probably embrace the first favourable op

portunity of throwing off the yoke. Differing in climate, in manners, in origin from Austria, separated by lofty mountains, placed at immense distances, they have neither the same wants to satisfy, nor the same interests to defend. Hungary, the Austrian part of Poland, and Lombardy, may be considered as in this situation. In Hungary alone, there are two millions of Sclavonians, who, agreeing in religious sentiment with the Russians, are secretly disposed to recognise the Czar as their Sovereign. The Poles of Galicia, also, would change masters without repugnance; and even the Sclavonians on the borders of the Adriatic, though possessing neither the Russian manners nor tastes, are evidently discontented with the foreign government, to whose tyrannical power they are reluctantly compelled to submit.

The internal state of Austria is perhaps the most melancholy spectacle which a true philan thropist could behold. To a superficial observer, the undisturbed tranquillity which reigns throughout the country might be regarded as sufficient evidence that the people were contented and happy; but it is the forced cheerfulness and submission of ignorant and degraded slaves. Who would envy the apparent happiness of the passive slave, whose vacant stare and unmeaning laugh indicate a complete unconsciousness of his real situation? Were the slightest symptom of discontent with the proceedings of government expressed by a single individual, even in the remotest corner of the empire, it would reach the ears of the monarch with the greatest possible speed, by means of that system of espionage which hires its agents in every tavern, and in every private circle. So jealous is

Francis of his people, that every idle calumny has a passport to his presence. The agents of the police, by a ducat or two, bribe the servants to betray their masters. Official spies are stationed in every quarter, who correspond regularly with the President of the Supreme Police at Vienna, or with the Emperor himself.

Under this absolute government, the people are permitted to enjoy only as much liberty as will enable them to raise a subsistence, but all attempts to attain a state of comfortable independence are carefully discouraged. The government eagerly grasp at every opportunity of establishing more firmly the authority of the Crown, on the one hand, and the entire subjection of the people on the other. No person is permitted to leave the country without obtaining permission from the police, under penalty not only of the loss of his civil rights, but of the confiscation of his property, provided he has no children. Should such an individual have no property, he is liable to be seized as a criminal; and if he return to Austria, he is con demned to hard labour for three years. By an edict of 1820, the present Emperor has prohibited the police from giving passports to the sons of noblemen, who might wish to prosecute their studies in a foreign country. The evident intention of such a decree, is to prevent the higher classes from imbibing those liberal notions which are the necessary consequence of an enlarged acquaintance with mankind. Still farther to isolate the country, young German students, who have always been considered as forming the majority of the dreaded Illuminati, are excluded from the Austrian States; and foreign books and journals, are sub

mitted to a very strict censorship, and of late completely proscribed.

Prince Metternich, with whom originated the Holy Alliance is the mainspring of Austrian policy. This inflexible opponent of all modern improvement, fully accords in sentiment with his Royal master, and both pursue their course of oppression with a consistency worthy of a better cause. The line of policy which this Minister has uniformly pursued since his appointment to office, has rendered him the object of unqualified detestation, both in and out of Austria. That he is an able diplomatist cannot be denied, but his eminent talents have been hitherto prostituted to the support of an odious despotism. To his unprincipled exertions must no doubt be attributed the present condition of Europe, and the disgraceful attempts which have of late so frequently been made in the Continental countries, to sacrifice the comfort and happiness of thousands, at the shrine of legitimacy. Who but Metternich, has been the secret abettor of Turkish oppression? Had not that crafty diplomatist attempted to defeat the designs of the allies, the Sultan would have yielded, and Greece would have now been free. In regard to the education of the people, the opinions of the Emperor are very illiberal; in proof of which, it is only necessary to adduce his own words, when the professors were admitted into his Imperial presence in 1825. "I will have my subjects learn all those things that are useful in common life, and likely to keep them attached to our person and their religion. I don't want teachers who fill the heads of my students with that

nonsense which turns the brains of so many youths in our days." All the schools and colleges are under the immediate superintendence of government officers, who never fail to report any expressions uttered by the professors, which can be construed as indicating even the slightest approach to liberality of opinion. The certain consequence of such an accusation, is the suspension of the professor from office, and perhaps imprisonment for years. Government supplies the text-books by which, meagre as they are, the prelections of the professor must be closely regulated. The students are prevented from enjoying the advantages of private tuition, and to secure their dutiful submission to the Catholic church, they are required to confess six times every year. Such is the system of education to which the despotic Francis limits his subjects. Every liberal or enlightened sentiment is thus attempted to be crushed, as soon as it arises in the mind of generous youth; and by a decree of November last, the priests are granted almost unlimited power over education in all parts of the empire. With an education so contracted and illiberal, the public offices are necessarily occupied by men who, whatever may be their attachment to the person of the monarch, are quite unfit to discharge important duties. Hence, it is not unusual to find men raised to the most responsible situations in the government, whose ignorance on political subjects is inconceivable. In this state of matters, the financial condition of Austria is becoming every day more perplexing; and scarcely an individual can be found in the country, who is capable of understanding and managing this essential department of internal policy. But igno