In the same series ENGLAND FRANCE ITALY SWITZERLAND...

No one can rightly enjoy a visit to a country unless he knows something of its history and its heroes; otherwise much that is seen remains meaningless. It is a common saying among oculists that we see with the brain and not with the eye, and the saying is fulfilled when we pass by, as without meaning, this or that magnificent statue embodying in concrete marble or bronze an epoch of vital action in the history of a nation. But besides what we miss from want of that observation whose roots are em

Others of Maria Teresa’s descendants, besides Joseph, held the title of Emperor, but as the Germanic states grew more united among themselves this tended to become an empty dignity. It was dropped at last by Francis II., who ascended the throne in 1792. But before that, Francis had gone through the terrible wars of the Napoleonic era, and had been shorn of all his dominions beyond Austria and its immediate dependencies. The first of his outlying dominions to be taken by the French was the Nether

Few monarchs have waded through such deep waters of sorrow as the venerable Emperor of Austria, who was born on August 18, 1830, and succeeded to the throne on the abdication of his uncle, the Emperor Ferdinand, and the renunciation of all rights by his own father. To the good-looking high-spirited lad of eighteen the world probably did not seem difficult to conquer, even though his dual inheritance was torn by inward throes of dissension. It was when he was twenty-three that he met his beautifu

Running round fully two-thirds of Hungary are the Carpathian ranges of mountains. Hungary has been called the land of “three mountains and four rivers,” and the emblem of these form the chief feature in the coat-of-arms of the country. The mountains are supposed to be the Tátra, Fátra, and Mátra, and the rivers the Danube, Theiss or Tisza, Drave, and Save. But this, in regard to the mountains at all events, is misleading, for the country is surrounded by mountains on three sides, a great chain o

A very interesting race is that of the Magyars who people Hungary. The word Hungary is of course derived from the Huns, who are described in their earliest descent into Europe from Central Asia as a “fierce Tartar people of dwarfish figure, great strength and ugly beardless faces.” They penetrated far, under their great leader Attila, but his defeat and death in 453 broke their dominion, and they retreated again, leaving only traces of their influence on the nations of modern Europe. The Magyars

The Danube is the second largest river in Europe, its only superior being the Volga. Out of its whole course of some 1750 miles about half may be claimed by Austria-Hungary. Not only are the capitals of both kingdoms situated on it, but the largest rivers in the Dual Monarchy are its tributaries. The general trend of the Danube in its course is fairly well known. It enters Austria near Passau, and flows irregularly eastward to Vienna, then, in something the same direction, on to Budapest, above

The exclusiveness of the Court of Vienna has become a byword; so strictly is the right of entry criticised that few indeed of those who pass through the country ever gain a glimpse of the highest circles of all. The nobles of Austria-Hungary rigidly keep within their class limits; they do not meet and mingle with the upper middle class as is the custom in so many countries; there is no overlapping, no exchange of social courtesies; marriages are confined to their own class, and a girl who marrie

In music Austria has ever taken a foremost place, and numbers among her sons some of the names that have become part of the world’s history. Perhaps the greatest of all is that of Mozart, the little Wolfgang, born in 1756, first of “musical prodigies,” who, as an innocent curly-haired child, sat up in his little night-shirt, lost in the melody which overflowed every corner of his being. His father was a violinist of some repute, and so his case followed the well-known law that geniuses are often

Following the course of the river onward, there is not much to remark on after leaving Vienna until we reach the boundary of Hungary. The first Hungarian town is Dévény, otherwise known as Theben, and at the mouth of the river March the spurs of the North-West Carpathians can be seen. It is tiring to repeat the same things about castle after castle, but the situations chosen for these ancient relics are, in almost all cases, so remarkably fine that it is impossible to pass them by without commen

Almost directly after leaving the city to continue the voyage southward, we find ourselves close to the island of Csepel, very like others passed above, only more so! The Danube seems to have a peculiar facility in dividing itself into two branches, which run almost parallel and rejoin after a longer or shorter course. The islands thus formed are celebrated for the fertility of their alluvial soil and are eagerly taken up by peasant agriculturists. Csepel is a strip of 38 miles or so with an ave

There is a kingdom in the Austrian Empire which arose at one time to such a height of power that it might well have been the one eventually to overshadow the others and assume, as Prussia did, the leading position in the German confederation. This is Bohemia, at first a duchy, which became a kingdom about the thirteenth century. At one time its king had so extended his dominions by purchase and conquest that they included almost all the Empire of Austria as at present known, the kingdom of Polan

It certainly would be no exaggeration to say that the best-known part of Austria, to other nations at all events, is the Tyrol. That strange, mountainous, beautiful corner of the empire is now as much a playground for the nations of Europe as Switzerland is. One of the first men to make a map of the Tyrol was Burghlechner in 1603, and, with the licence of the time, which allowed strange vagaries in the way of imagination, he drew it to resemble an eagle clutching with one of its claws the lion o

The Tyrol, which is not much more than half as large as Switzerland, is an extraordinarily mountainous country, and these mountains are divided by one or two deeply marked valleys, so that the character of the country is different from that of the Republic, where mountains and valleys and even plains are mingled inextricably. The Tyrol is a paradise for rock climbers from all over the world, and in fact as soon as the Bavarian border is crossed, near Kufstein, some rock pinnacles and precipices

The Dolomites occupy the south-eastern corner of the Tyrol. They are partly in Austria and partly in Italy, and may be concisely described as bounded by the cities of Brixen, Trient, Belluno, and Lienz as four corners of a rectangle. The ground lying between these towns is for the most part the country of the Dolomites, or at any rate is dominated by them. The best known and highest mountain, the Marmolata, rises almost in the centre. The valleys in this remarkable region run generally from nort

The name Illyria is a very ancient one, going back to centuries B.C. , when the lands bordering the Adriatic on the eastern side were thus known. The boundaries of this state are uncertain and indeterminate, and varied greatly from time to time. Strabo, the ancient historian, mentions the country, saying that the coast-line was fertile and well supplied with harbours but that the people were barbarous and warlike. They are also described as tattooing their bodies and offering human sacrifices to

On the west of Hungary lies that mountainous land, rich in minerals, namely Transylvania, which so long stood alone and even now is possessed of a spirit of independence, which is likely to give trouble, though for the time in full legislative and political union with Hungary. The Magyar name for the country is Erdely, meaning forest-land, and is akin to the Latin one with its obvious signification “beyond the woods.” The country contains about 21,000 square miles, and on account of its rugged h