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Hungary of the Hungarians
Cornell University Library
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Austria of the Austrians and Hungarv of
3 1924 028 091 191
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HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA
AND KING OF HUNGARY
Austria of the Austrians
and
Hungary of the Hungarians
By
L. Kellner, Madame Paula Arnold,
and Arthur L. Delisle
LONDON: SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD.
No. 1 AMEN CORNER, E.C. . . . 1914
Printed by Sir Isaac Pitman
& Sons, Ltd., London, Bath
AND New York . . 1914
33fV3? 6
X
CONTENTS
AUSTRIA OF THE AUSTRIANS
CHAP. PAGE
INTRODUCTORY — WHAT IS AUSTRIA-HUNGAHY ? . 1
I. THE AUSTRIAN NATIONS AND THEIR LANDS . 13
II. PARTIES AND POLITICIANS .... 29
III. EDUCATION 42
IV. COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY .... 51
V. AGRICULTURE AND MINING .... 55
VI. GERMAN LITERATURE IN THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY 62
VII. THE PRESS 76
VIII. ARCHITECTURE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY . 81
IX. FINE ART IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY . . 89
X. MUSIC IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY . .112
XI. VIENNA 127
INDEX 294
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
(Austrian Section)
PAGE
H.i.M. THE EMPEROR . . . Frontispiece
GUMPOLDSKIRCHEN 6
AGGSTEIN 12
GOSAU SEE 14
DREI ZINNEN 16
POLA, THE ARENA 18
COUNT BERCHTOLD 30
A NATIVE TYPE FROM BUKOWINA .... 38
A DALMATIAN GROUP 42
HARBOUR, ZARA 52
A DALMATIAN 54
PARLIAMENT HOUSE 82
DONNERBRUNNEN .86
PIRANO (dalmatia) 88
ST. Stephen's, Vienna .... . 128
KARLSKIRCHE 132
DOORWAY, ST. GEORGSHAUS . . . . 138
CONTENTS
HUNGARY OF THE HUNGARIANS
CHAP.
PREFACE
I. ORIGINS OF THE MAGYARS
II. CHRISTIAN HUNGARY
III. THE HABSBURG DYNASTY
IV. THE HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTION
V, POLITICS AND POLITICIANS
VI. LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE .
VII. RELIGION AND EDUCATION
VIII. PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS . ' .
IX. THE CITY OF BUDAPEST .
X. ART, MUSIC, AND THE DRAMA .
XI. AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, AND INDUSTRY
XII. THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
XIII. STATE OF SOCIETY IN HUNGARY
XIV. HUNGARIAN SCENERY
INDEX
PAGE
143
145
154
166
171
180
191
207
218
225
238
248
271
278
288
301
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
(Hungarian Section)
PAGE
STATUE OF THE SAINT-KING STEPHEN, BUDAPEST . . 154
THE ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND .... 160
THE ROYAL PALACE, BUDAPEST 166
COUNT ALBERT APPONYI, M.P 175
THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, EASTERN FACADE . .181
MR. FRANCIS KOSSUTH, M.P 186
VOROSMARTY MONUMENT, BUDAPEST .... 198
PROFESSOR AEMINIUS vXmbSrY 203
DR. ALBERT BERZEVICZY, M.P 207
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, BUDAPEST .... 216
THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, FROM THE FISHER BASTION 225
Pfcs CATHEDRAL, INTERIOR 240
THE CASTLE OF VAJDA HUNYAD 248
DR. ANTAL gOnTER 272
HUNGARIAN PEASANT TYPE 282
DITTO DITTO 284
TRANSYLVANtAN PEASANT COSTUME .... 292
MAP ...... end of boo]i
AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY
INTRODUCTORY
WHAT IS AUSTRIA-HUNGARY?
This question seems a strange one, perhaps, yet some years
ago there were few Englishmen who could have answered it,
Austria ^^^ even to-day, after pohtical differences
a Confusing alas ! have awakened interest in the Monarchy
Notion. Qjj tjjg Danube, the ideas of the English
concerning it are most hazy.
The writer, on being introduced to English people as an
Austrian, has been asked the queerest questions — ^and
indeed, it must be confusing to meet Germans, Czechs,
Slovaks, Poles, Ruthenians, Slovenes, Servians, Croatians,
Italians, Roumanians, and Jews all describing themselves
as " Austrians," not to speak of the several hundred thousand
Bulgarians, Albanese, Turks, Armenians, Greeks, and Gipsies
who also live in our midst, but, not being represented in
the House of Parliament, do not count.
The key to the mystery of such disparate races forming
one State is the geographical unity of the four groups of
provinces, the Alpine, the Sudetian, the Carpathian, and the
Carst Group, so that they are more or less dependent on each
other. They are walled in by high mountain chains, the
open part pointing towards the valley of the Danube, near
Vienna, and all the great natural highways of traffic converging
in this focus of the four spheres.
To understand this strange conglomerate thoroughly,
however, it is necessary to see how it has grown.
1
I— (2394)
2 Austria and Hungary
The nucleus was a little frontier county of the German
Empire, founded by Charlemagne as a bulwark against the
Avars about the year 800, with the old
T^^. Roman town of Vienna (Vindobona) for its
of the Empire, centre. It was somewhat enlarged by the
clever and able Counts of Babenberg, who
held it for about three hundred years and were made dukes
by the German Emperor. Theirs was a famous court in
Vienna, and some of the greatest poets of the time Uved
there. The best known of the Babenbergs is Leopold the
Fifth, he who quarrelled with Richard the Lionheart in
Palestine and later kept him prisoner.
When the last of them died (in 1246), there were quarrels
as to who should get the Duchy, and in the confusion that
reigned everjrwhere a clever but most unscrupulous man.
King Ottokar of Bohemia and Moravia, annexed the Duchy
as well as three counties in the Alps — ^Stjnria, Carinthia and
the Ukraine. Thus a large part of what to-day forms the
Austrian half of the Dual Monarchy (the Sudetian and the
Alpine Group), comprising already Czech, German and
Slovenian countries, was then united under one monarch.
This union, however, did not last long.
Rudolf of Habsburg, the ruler of Germany, fought
Ottokar for the armexed countries, remained victor and gave
the Alpine counties, i.e., Austria, Styria,
u 1?^* Carinthia and the Ukraine, to his sons (in
Habsburgs. ^^82).
From that time onwards it was the chief care of that far-
seeing, ambitious and energetic race, whose scions reign in
Austria to this day, to enlarge and round off these possessions,
and that rarely by war, most often by agreements respecting
claims of inheritance and by advantageous marriages, so
that at one time it was well said of them : Bella gerant alii,
tu, felix Austria, nube. Especially Rudolf IV, and later
Maximilian I, were clever in this way.
It would lead too far to tell how often the four groups were
What is Austria-Hungary ? 3
united and severed again. Suffice it to say that in 1526, the
birth-year of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Bohemia,
Moravia, Hungary, Austria and other Alpine counties were
united and kept together in spite of several attempts on the
part of Bohemia and Hungary to regain their independence.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century the Realm
was more or less rounded off in its natural boundaries —
formed by the great mountain chains spoken
The Realm ^^ above, and now began a period of annexa-
Kounded On. ' ° '^ .
tions lymg beyond those boundaries, the
chief of which were the following : the Polish and Ruthenian
provinces of Galicia and Bukowina and the strip of Adriatic
coast called Dalmatia being acquired in the last quarter
of the eighteenth century, Salzburg, that beautiful bit of
Alpine scenery, in 1805, Cracow, the most important PoUsh
town, in 1846, and Bosnia and Herzegowina in 1878 (and
1908).
The annexation of these last-named countries has — ^most
unjustly, as I hope to show — aroused so much bad blood in
England that I am bound to speak of it at greater length.
It had belonged to the Turks until 1878, when the Berlin
Congress followed Lord Beaconsfield's suggestion and decreed
that the country whose exclusively Croatian
The population, exceeding 2,000,000, has a
o"°B^nia" Christian percentage of some 68 and
which had been rebellious and troublesome
for a long time, should be occupied and governed by Austria,
the only neighbouring State powerful enough to bring peace
to the distracted country. In his famous speech on the subject
Lord Beaconsfield said :
The state of Bosnia, and of those provinces and principalities con-
tiguous to it, was one of chronic anarchy. There is no language which
can describe adequately the condition of that large portion of the
Balkan peninsula occupied by Roumama, Servia, Bosnia, Herzegowina,
and other provinces. Political intrigues, constant rivalries, a total
absence of all public spirit, and of the pursuit of objects which patriotic
minds would wish to accomplish, the hatred of races, the animosities
of rival religions, and above all, the absence of any controlling power
4 Austria and Hungary
that could keep these large districts ia an3^hing like order ; such
were the sad truths, which no one who has investigated the subject
could resist for a moment.
What was to be done ? There have been before, in the history of
diplomacy, not unfrequent instances, in which, even in civilised parts
of the globe, states having Jallen into decrepitude, afforded no assist-
ance to keep order and tranquillity, and have become, as these districts
have become, a source of danger to their neighbours. Under such
circumstances, the Powers of Europe have generally looked to see
whether there was any neighbouring Power of a character entirely
different from these disturbed and desolated Tegions, but deeply
interested in their welfare and prosperity, who would undertake the
task of attempting to restore their tranquillity and prosperity.
In the present case you will see that the position of Austria is one
that clearly indicates her as fitted to undertake such an office. Austria
in the present case was deeply interested that some arrangement
should be made. Austria for now nearly three years had upwards of
15,000 refugees from Bosnia, who have been supported by her resources,
and whose demands notoriously have been of a vexatious and exhausting
character. It was therefore thought expedient by the Congress that
Austria should be invited to occupy Bosnia. My lords, I am the last
man who would wish, when objections are made to our proceedings,
to veil them under the decision of the Congress ; it was a decision which
the plenipotentiaries of England highly approved. It was a proposal
which, as your lordships will see when you refer to the protocols which
I shall lay on the table, was made by my noble friend the Secretary
of State, that Austria should accept this trust and fulfil this duty ; and
I earnestly supported him on that occasion.
The occupation was welcomed in the South (the Herze-
gowina), and accordingly was almost peaceful, while Bosnia
resisted for three months. Gradually, however, the country
was pacified, the populace finding out after a time that living
under the Austrian flag was far more comfortable than
under the Turkish one, and when in October, 1908, Austria-
Hungary formally annexed the province which for more than
thirty years had only been Turkish in name, the people took
this as quietly as possible, and Turkey was satisfied also,
getting back the Sandjak of Novibazax and a handsome sum
of money. Nobody could seriously expect Austria to give
up a province that had been solemnly handed over to her by
a European Congress, and which had cost her thousands of
men and milliards of money.
It was only abroad, where the fact of the occupation had
What is Austria-Hungary ? 5
been forgotten, and in Servia, which was hoping to get a share
of the pudding when the time came, that the suddenly pro-
claimed annexation roused bad feeling. The annexed country
itself was pleased, if anything. Since then Servia has been
hard at work to rouse sedition in Bosnia, as elsewhere ; truth
to say with small results. Her successes are limited to the
towns, the whole of the Mohammedan population, as well as
the Christian peasants, having remained most loyal subjects.
The period of all these acquisitions, however, was also
one of losses : part of Silesia was given over to Prussia after
the Seven Years' War, Lombardy and Venetia to Italy after
the unlucky wars of 1859 and 1866.
AH these provinces were possessions of the Habsburgs,
united only by the person of the ruler, who was called King
of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Austria,
^foraalT*^''^ Count of Tyrol, etc., etc. Now for a very
Established. lo°g ticae the chief of the House of Habsburg-
Lorraine (in 1740 the male line of the
Habsbiu'gs had died out and Maria Theresa married a Duke
of Lorraine) had always been Emperor of Germany, too.
But when Napoleon swept across Europe, Francis I foresaw
the fall of his German Empire, and in 1804 declared himself
Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian provinces also, thus
establishing a new Monarchy and keeping at least his title,
when the German Empire, with which we have no concern
here, was torn to bits in 1806.
In 1848 the great revolution broke out in Austria. The
second Emperor of the Monarchy, Ferdinand, was a feeble
man of little mental power, his minister
„ "^^ Metternich, the well-known reactionary who
of 1848. at a time held all Europe by his leading strings,
being all-powerful. Metternich fled the
country, and the Emperor resigned in favour of his nephew,
the present Emperor Francis Joseph I.
Under this remarkable personality, then a boy of eighteen,
the revolution was stamped out everswhere, but the old
6 Austria and Hungary
institutions nevertheless gave place to modern ones in all
respects, and slowly, very slowly, the Constitution of to-day
was evolved. Trial after trial was made, the difficulties
being enormous because gf the strife between the different
races, but in 1867 at last two separate constitutional states
were formed out of the chaos : Austria and Hungary.
The leading thought in thus dividing the Monarchy was
that the Magyar (or Hungarian) race should now be supreme
The Relations ™ *^^ Hungarian half, to which belong
between Hungary proper, Slavonia, Croatia, and the
Austria and port of Fiume with the surrounding bit of
ungary. country, while the Germans are supposed
to have the supremacy in the Austrian half, consisting of
the following provinces : Lower Austria, Upper Austria,
Salzburg, Stjnria, Carinthia, Carniola, the Adriatic Coast
(Kiistenland), Dalmatia, Ts^rol and Vorarlberg, Bohemia,
Moravia, Silesia, Galicia, Bukowina. Bosnia and Herzego-
wina are ruled more or less absolutely, having autonomous
diets, but not sending any delegates to Parliament.
The above supposition has proved correct as regards
Himgary, where ingenious and fervent statesmen have
managed to organise the country as a Hungarian National
State, giving a certain autonomy to the South Slav countries
(Slavonia and Croatia) and thus neutraUsing them, while aU
the other Non-Magyars in the State (Roumanians, Jews,
Germans, Slovaks) have been and are being systematically
Magyarized, the Magyar language being proclaimed the State
language, and other measures being taken, not aU of them
scrupulously fair, but all pointing towards the same goal,
which is being rapidly reached.
In contrast to this unswervingly purposeftd nationalisation,
the Austrian half of the Monarchy has not been reorganised
on the same principle. What resulted was a sort of United
Empire with a Central ParUament, but no care was taken to
draw the poUtical boundary-lines between the provinces
according to the true national relations. We might have
What is Austria-Hungary ? 7
avoided the terrible and incessant quarrels — these being the
result of almost no single race having a working majority in any
poHtical district. This, however, will be fully explained later.
To return to the relations between Himgary and Austria,
previously pointed out. As has been said before, the two
are reaUy separate States, each with its own Parliament and
Civil Government, having in common only the Sovereign
(called Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary), the Foreign
OfSce, the Army and Navy, and part of the Finances.
The Common Affairs are conducted by the three competent
Ministries (Foreign Office, War Office, Ministry of Finance)
and the " Delegations," a kind of ParUament for Common
Affairs delegated every year by the Parliaments proper
and meeting alternately in Vienna and in Budapeslj. A Bill
relating to common affairs has thus to pass both the' Austrian
and the Hungarian Delegations and to be sanctioned by the
Sovereign in order to become law.
The present Sovereign, Francis Joseph I, is one of the
most interesting personalities amongst European monarchs,
on account of his character as well as his
loseoii'l experiences. Coming to the throne when
little more than a boy, at the most difficult
period imaginable, when the revolution had broken out
in several provinces, he has reigned most successfully now
for almost seventy years, and during this time Austria's
economical and industrial development has been marvellous,
in spite of two disastrously unlucky wars and the nationalist
troubles. For almost fifty years he has maintained peace,
much as this may sometimes have been against his incUna-
tion, for he is a soldier first and foremost, and has been
under fire himself more than once. The Army is his chief
delight, and up to the year 1907 he still sat his horse at
the Annual Manoeuvres, rain or shine, for eight and even
ten hours a day — quite a respectable feat for a man of
seventy-seven. He Uves most frugally, getting up every
morning at five, sometimes at four, eating very httle, his
8 Austria and Hungary
food being of the simplest, and taking a good deal of exercise,
stag hunting near Ischl, his lovely summer residence, being
his favourite sport. The Emperor is a famous sportsman,
and a wonderful shot. People who know say that he has
never yet missed beast or "bird. He stiU walks about by him-
self a good deal, talking freely to the people in his genial way,
with the slight Viennese accent they love to hear.
He is in particularly close contact with his people by
means of the audiences which he alone of all European
monarchs grants three times a week from ten to one o'clock
whenever he is in Vienna, to whoever wants to come.
You must first apply for an audience at the Kahinetskanzlei,
the Emperor's private office, stating your name and the object
of your visit. When your wish is granted, a day is appointed.
The ante-room, a splendid hall, is crowded with appUcants,
male and female, of all nationaUties and walks of life, from
the poorest peasant in his native garb, to staff officers in
briUiant uniforms. When you are admitted to the Presence,
you find yourself in an oblong, rather bare room. While
you are making yoiu- bow, you notice the Emperor at the
other end of the long room, bending over some manuscript
at a little table. This is the list of visitors. He has just been
looking at your name and the object of your visit. Then
he comes down with long, firm strides to where you are
shaking in your shoes — ^for this is what ordinary people do in
presence of Royalty. If you happen to be a high official, and
have come to thank His Majesty for yom: latest preferment,
he teUs you that he is always happy to give merit its due,
and he is sure to add a question or two as to your present
aspirations and doings in the pubUc interest. The Emperor's
wonderful memory has never failed him yet on such occasions,
and though you may know that he has just been looking for
your name and vocation, it gives you a most agreeable
sensation to find the Emperor of Austria interested in your
little affairs. If you happen to be an applicant for justice
or an Imperial favour, the Emperor will listen patiently to
What is Austria-Hungary ? 9
all you have to say, ask a pertinent question now and then,
and at last tell you with his inimitable charming good-nature
that you may be sure he will do ever3^hing in his power to
comply with your wish.
Hundreds and hundreds of ancedotes are told of these
audiences. Two of them, for the authenticity of which we
can| answer safely, will bear repeating in this connection.
A famous scholar obtained a professorship in the University
of Vienna and according to custom came to thank the Emperor
for the appointment. " What languages do you teach ? "
asked the Emperor. The professor replied that it was
chiefly Hebrew, Arabic, and Ass3n:ian. " You have not many
students, have you ? " asked the Emperor with a smile.
" Only five, I am sorry to say," the crestfallen professor
answered. To which the Emperor replied reassuringly :
" So much the better for the five ! "
The widow of an of&cer was escorted into the ante-room by a
comrade of her late husband's. She was extremely nervous in
view of the imminent trial of speaking to His Majesty in favour
of a good-for-nothing son who had misbehaved himself in the
Army. When the poor mother had been admitted to the audience,
the officers in the ante-room put their heads together, and they
all agreed that the Emperor could not possibly do an5d;hing
for the widow, as the minister of war had decided the case
against her son. After a quarter of an hour the lady came out
and said, the tears streaming down her sallow cheeks : " The
Emperor, God bless him, has a heart — ^the minister has not ! "
He is extremely cultured, and speaks French and the
languages of his subjects (especially Hungarian, Czech and
Italian) like his mother tongue. He takes the greatest interest
in painting, being a good draughtsman himself, and never
misses an important exhibition, sometimes staying there
for hours and revisiting it again, if there is something that
interests him particularly.
He has been very unhappy in his private Ufe, losing his
only son, a highly-gifted and most liberal-minded man, by
10 Austria and Hungary
suicide, and the beautiful and accomplished wife he had
married for love (refusing her elder sister who had been meant
for him) by murder, after she had been melancholy and
misanthropic for years, owing to the tragic death of her son.
He is happy in his younger "daughter's charming family, how-
ever. She has married a cousin and lives not far from Vienna
in her country place of Wallsee with her eight children, to
whom the Emperor is devoted.
Kind-hearted and sweet-tempered as he is, he has always
been a good friend to children and to the poor. When his
eightieth birthday was approaching he had a touching idea
which was carried out with great success : he asked to be
spared aU noisy and expensive festivals and suggested that
the money saved that way be put into charity funds for
children instead.
His memory and quick perception, even now in his old age,
are said to be marvellous, and the amount of work he gets
through in a day can only be explained by these gifts.
Though very religious, like all his family, he is most liberal
in his opinions — unlike the Heir to the Throne, with whom he
does not always see eye to eye in consequence.
According to constitutional principles he has never put
himself forward but once, and this instance is well suited
to show his strength of character. In 1911 the Hungarians
were wilfully making trouble over a most necessary Army BUI
he had set his heart on. Negotiation after negotiation failed,
the ministers were at their wits' end, and things had come to
a dead-lock, when the old man suddenly stood up for the Bill
personally, actually declaring his intention to abdicate if it
were not carried — of course the Hungarians gave in like lambs.
He is extremely popular, as was also well seen in 1907,
when he lay ill for the first time for many years. For weeks
crowds of people of all classes and parties stood before the
windows of his palace in Schonbrunn night and day, silent
and patient, waiting for the news, the tears coursing down their
faces when the tidings were bad. In his convalescence, when
What is Austria-Hungary ? 11
he was able to look out of the window again, they brought
floral offerings, each laying their bunch on the ground, and
thus the square was always strewn with flowers.
The Austro-Hungarian Army is a standing one, consisting
of the Common Army and the Austrian and Hungarian Terri-
torials. After the disaster of 1866 it was
J*'^ equipped with modern rifles and altogether
reorganised, so that now it is equal to the
other great European Armies in every respect.
The system of conscription is carried out as follows : Every
male citizen who is sane and sound (with some exceptions, as
priests), is obliged to serve for two years consecutively and
to remain at disposal, with some weeks' training exercises,
for ten years more. This appUes to the infantry only, in
the cavalry and horse artiUery regiments three years' active
service and seven years' reserve service being the rule. When
they have passed through these two stages the men are
enrolled in the militia (Landsiurm), to which also belong
those who in consequence of ill-health could not serve at all.
Public school men, that is those who have passed their final
examination at a public school (or after going through at
least six classes of the same, pass a special examination),
need only serve for one year. They have a higher status
altogether : they need not hve in barracks except for the
first six weeks, may keep a servant for cleaning their things,
and become officers in the reserve after a year or two.
The Navy is a comparatively new institution in Austria,
having only been properly founded by the Emperor's brother
Archduke Ferdinand Max, in 1850. He was
j^"^ a man of great ability and ambition who did
wonders in the short time he worked at the
organisation of the Navy. As is well known, he was shot by
the rebels in Mexico, where he had been persuaded to go as
Emperor by Napoleon HI. His successor in the work of
naval reform was Admiral Tegetthoff, who fought the first
naval battles for Austria with great success.
12 Austria and Hungary
Since then the fleet has been continually enlarged and
modernised, and to-day Austria has a small, but perfectly
efficient Navy consisting of four Dreadnoughts (not launched
yet) of more than 20,000 tons, nine modern battleships of
8,000 to 15,000 tons, "three antiquated ones of 5,600 tons,
apart from several smaller cruisers, torpedo-boats, submarines,
etc.
The chief naval port is Pola.
AUSTRIA
CHAPTER I
THE AUSTRIAN NATIONS AND THEIR LANDS
Apart from the smaller groups mentioned above, the Austrian
half of the Empire harbours eleven different nations, who Hve
promiscuously in fourteen provinces, but
^^acef™* with the exception of the Jews, in more or
less connected masses. Of these, the Czechs,
Slovaks and Slovenes alone are wholly under Austrian rule ;
aU the others are each part of a greater nation which is either
independent as a whole — such is the case with the Germans,
the Italians, and the Roumanians — or living under different
foreign rules — the Poles belonging partly to Germany,
partly to Russia, the Ruthenians to Russia, the Servians and
Croatians partly to Hungary, partly to Turkey (and, of course,
part of them are independent in the kingdoms of Servia
and Montenegro), and the Jews, as is well known, are scattered
aU over the earth.
Their relations in number are the following : the Germans
with 35 per cent, are the strongest, but this relative majority
is not of much value to them, because the Slav nations
together form 60 per cent., of which 23 per cent, go to the
Czechs and Slovaks, 18 per cent, to the Poles, 12 per cent,
to the Ruthenians, and 7 per cent, to the South Slavs. These
sometimes unite against the Germans, and, as the latter are
politically divided among themselves, the result is disastrous
to them.
Of the different provinces there are only five where the
political boundaries really enclose a homogeneous population :
13
14 Austria
they are the German ones of Lower and Upper Austria and
Salzburg, the Slovene one of Carniola (though the 6 per cent,
of Germans there are giving trouble stiU) and the Servo-
Croatian one of Dalmatia, Servians and Croatians being very
closely related and friends, so far. In the other nine provinces
heterogeneous elements are cooped up together in a cage of
national laws and by-laws, always hampering one part of the
population and setting them up against the other. In
Styria and Carinthia Germans and Slovenes are at daggers
drawn, Italians are fighting against Slovenes and Servo-
Croatians in the Kxistenland, against Germans in the Tyrol.
In Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia Czechs and Germans are
making life a biu-den to each other, the Poles are squeezing
the breath out of the Ruthenians and the Jews in Galicia,
and, in the Bukowina, Roumanians, Ruthenians, Germans
and Jews are struggling with each other.
In dealing with these different elements, we propose to
bring some order into the chaos by treating each race separ-
ately, but together with the country in which it is at home,
taking for basis the Alps for the Germans and Italians, the
Carst for the South Slavs, the Sudetians for the Czechs, the
Carpathians for the Poles and Slovaks, Ruthenians and
Roumanians. The Jews cannot be properly located
in any single . province, but they are thickest in the
Carpathians.
The Alps undoubtedly contain the most beautiful scenery
of Europe, and the greater part of them belong to Austria.
But whereas the rage for Switzerland is
^the" Al s" ^°^^ *^^" ^ hundred years old, the Austrian
Alps have only become known to foreigners
very recently. And yet they are unequalled for variety of
formation.
There are the green hUls and fruitful valleys of the two
Austrias and Styria with their baby rivers, sweetly restful,
cool and pleasant.
There is the Danube, between Passau and Vienna, more
The Austrian Nations and their Lands 15
beautiful even than the Rhine, with castles, ruins and monas-
teries perched on the rocks and vineclad hills above it.
Especially the district called Wachau, only an hour's journey
from Vienna, with Diirnstein, the castle where Richard
the Lionheart was a prisoner, is a perfect Eden.
There is the Salzkammergut with its lakes, some blue and
serene, with white villages and hotels on their banks, with
hundreds of boats full of white-clad people skimming over
them, a cheerful picture of glad, light-hearted youth. Others
are green, almost black, the steep, pine-clad mountain giants
stand close to them, darkly reflected in the sombre water,
leaving no room for pleasant human homesteads on the banks.
A heavy solitude hangs over them, a mournful peace rarely
broken by chattering trippers, for none come to stay long —
it is an oppressive grandeur, brooding melancholy thoughts.
The most beautiful of these lakes, perhaps, is the Gosausee, at
the foot of the Dachstein.
There are the glaciers of the Oetztal and the Stubai, the
Ortler group and others, majestic like their Swiss brothers,
with charming httle villages nestling below, sometimes
chmbing as high as five and six thousand feet, their slim church
steeples sharply defined against the snow, the torrents shooting
down close to them, and here and there a magnificent
waterfall.
There are the warm Carinthian lakes, in their broad, com-
fortable, wooded valleys, the mountains looking in on them
from afar — they are there, they may be climbed any day,
but they do not oppress, they do not force themselves upon
you.
And there are the Dolomites, with the lonely grandeur of
their red fantastic peaks and stony vaUeys, while two or
three thousand feet below the slopes are grown with vines
and fine fruit, with olives and mulberry trees, and the broader
valleys are golden with corn and maize. There Austria still
possesses a bit of the lake of Garda, that dream of poets and
painters which has inspired Bocklin and Segantini, Heyse
16 Austria
and Hartleben. A walk on the tableland above the little
town of Riva, encircling fields and plantations, the sapphire
lake fringed with olives and cypresses below, and the terrible
naked red ridges, patched with snow, above — ^truly it is an
experience worth having.
AH these lands' are by no means barren rock, though, of
course, not to be compared with the Sudetians in wealth —
they are rich in minerals and mineral waters, in woods and
pastures, fields and orchards, and in cattle and game. Of
late years the tourists, too, bring a great deal of money into
the country.
Nature, however, sometimes works terrible havoc in the
Alps, and man has to use all his wits to contend against her
when she sends down her avalanches, her
C^^ophes roaring torrents, and sometimes landslips,
catastrophes which generally occur in spring,
when masses of snow melt rapidly under the first warm touch
of the sun. The best means of preventing such fatal occur-
rences is to afforest the danger regions, and this is being done
everywhere with excellent results. Apart from the planting
of pine woods, called Bannwdlder (taboo woods), because
the axe is banished from them, stone galleries are built to
break the force of the avalanches, and dams to regulate the
torrents and keep back the rubble.
The German population immigrated in the sixth century,
streaming in from the northern valleys, driving back the
Slavs who had just come in before them, or
Ge«nans Christianising and Germanising them. Living
in secluded, and sometimes almost inacces-
sible valleys, they have kept their variety of customs and
costumes, and extremely quaint and picturesque some of them
are. Not even the short green stockings of the men, that
leave the knee bare, are quite universally worn — ^in a great
part of the Tyrol long white stockings are the rule. And as
to the women's dress, every valley has distinctions, and
especially the headdress is of great variety — sometimes a
The Austrian Nations and their Lands 17
black silk turban, sometimes a black straw hat with streamers,
sometimes the most wonderful bonnets, heavy with gold
embroidery and beads, sometimes high fur caps not unlike
those of the EngUsh Guards ; but the two last named are
already becoming scarce.
Drunkards are very rare among these people, who meet
on Sunday to dance and sing, improvising :pTettySchnadahupfel
as their mostly humorous four-hne songs are called, to play the
zither, and, if the truth may be said, to fight and wrangle
a good deal, the Tyrolese especially being quick at picking a
quarrel. But the drinking on these occasions is very moderate.
They are thrifty and hard-working people, frugal and
absolutely honest, inclined towards poetry and philosophy,
and in contrast to the Germans in the Sudetian Group, who
are more like the sober Prussians, extremely easy-going and
kind-hearted. Having been the governing race for a long
time they have acquired an overbearing manner, however,
and an insufferable intolerance and national pride which
often puts them in the wrong where they are actually right.
Theirs is the highest state of civilisation in the Monarchy,
it is true, but the Czechs are rapidly gaining on them, and it
seems doubtful to whom the future belongs, especially as
they are priest-ridden in the extreme, most so in the Tyrol
and Salzburg, and the Clerical Party in ParUament is mostly
recruited from these Germans. In the Sudetians they Uve
in the poor mountain districts and are kept down by the
Czechs, so naturally they are more progressive there.
' The Carst is probably the most interesting part of the
Empire from every point of view. Its strange, desolate
aspect is, for the greater part, due to the
Sre^ery thoughtless and barbarous treatment of the
woods which in former times were cut and
never reafforested, so that the strong wind and water carried
off the soil, and the efflorescence had free play in the soft,
porous chalk. Now the mountains are desolate and barren,
except where there are the characteristic moulds with vegetable
2— (2394)
18 Austria
soil at the bottom, called Dolines and Polyes. The Dohnes are
much smaller and generally round, they are either funnels
formed by efflorescence, or caves, the ceiling of which has
broken in. The Polyes are much larger and have very good
soil indeed. They Extend in the same direction as the
mountain chain, differing from other valleys by having no
connection with each other, not being drained by actual
rivers, but by shafts in which the water disappears, generally
at the bottom of the Polye, sometimes at the side. There are
many rivers in the Carst which vanish and come up again ;
they are not fuUy explored by any means, and there is a rich
field yet for research in. that direction. In connection with
these phenomena are the wonderful, world-famous grottoes,
the one in Adelsberg especially being the grandest in the
world. It is really a succession of immense grottoes, 9 kilo-
metres in length altogether, with a broad river running through
the first of them and then vanishing. They are beautiful
halls, the largest 600 feet long and broad, and 150 feet high,
full of fantastical stalagmites and stalactites, mostly white,
sometimes faintly pink and yellow, and forming strange
shapes, columns and obelisks, curtains and Gothic ornaments.
A Uttle railway (with puUe}^ only) has been run through them,
they are lighted by electricity, and on feast days dances are
held there, to which the population from mUes around flocks
eagerly.
The Carst countries are also the only ones reaching to the
coast — doubly important because it is such a small strip
that Austria possesses. The Carst landscape is romantic and
beautiful even inland — ^in Carinola, for instance, you may see
pictures out of fairy tales even whea passing through by train,
as for instance, Veldes (not to be confounded with Velden in
Carinthia), an enchanting old grey church with a bell tinkling
all the time, in the middle of a little green lake, surrounded
by steep rocks. On the top of one a ruined castle is perched
and goats are climbing the narrow path towards it. And
behind them rises the gloomy naked ridge of the Karawanken.
The Austrian Nations and their Lands 19
But those are nothing compared to the pictures formed
by the mountains and the sea together, attaining their height
of lovehness in Dahnatia, that rather neglected country
which has only very lately been invaded by tourists. There
is some resemblance to the coast of Devonshire, especially
round Lynton. But here the Mediterranean climate has
wound a garland of evergreen vegetation round the blue sea
— ^woods of laurel and cypresses, clumps and plantations of
figs, pomegranates, lemons and oranges. And the roses
bloom in January !
It is not only the geologist and the lover of nature, however,
to whom the Carst affords a never-flagging interest — ^nowhere
else in Austria are there so many splendid ruins dating from
Roman times ; and again it is Dalmatia, especially Spalato,
which offers most to the student of history.
The most important ports are Triest, Fiume (which belongs
to Hungary) and Pola, the chief naval port. Triest was not
a naturally favourable harbour, lying unpro-
Trlest. tected before the Bora, the terrible cold
wind of those regions, but it was the only
possible one, and the Government being eager to make the
important railroads leading to the sea independent of Venice,
has taken up the struggle with unfavourable natural condi-
tions and has won. To-day Triest is a beautiful modern
town-port offering excellent shelter for the ships. It has
more than 200,000 inhabitants ; 12,000 ships, of together
8,500,000 register tons, touch there yearly ; its industry is
flourishing ; and apart from several small shipping companies,
the Austrian Lloyd and the Austro-Americana have their
chief offices there.
Regarded from a political point of view, the Carst
countries are a doubtful blessing to the Monarchy so far.
But since Austria was tmrned out of the German Union
by Bismarck, its sphere of interest has of necessity been
transferred to the near East, where hes its chief possibility
of economic expansion. At the present moment things are
20 Austria
at such a stage that it would be absurd to prophesy^— but
there seems, after all, some hope of pacifying the turbulent
elements in the Servo-Croatian provinces by making reason-
able concessions such as the official use of their language, etc.,
and so at last making it feasible truly to civihse those countries
and develop their immense possibilities — ^for their own good
and that of the Empire.
The most dangerous element of the Unity of the Monarchy,
however, are not the South Slavs, but the Italians, who
form the bulk of the population in the south
ItJians °^ *^^ Tyrol and in the Kiistenland. Living
in close proximity to their passionately
patriotic brethren across the frontier, they naturally gravitate
towards them. As they are rather slack and lazy in com-
parison with their German neighboiu's, these latter generally
have the whip hand of them economically, and truth to say,
there is not much love lost between them in any way. The
German is incUned to consider the Italian underhand, furtive,
even dishonest, and treats him accordingly, while the Italian
looks on the German as a tjrrant and barbarian, with feelings
that are a mixture of contempt and hatred.
For the rest, the ItaHans in Austria do not differ from their
brethren in the Kingdom. They are lazy, but violent,
quick to love and quick to hate. On the other hand, they are
also frugal, extremely clever, and gifted in learning as well
as in arts and crafts. A beautiful trait of theirs is also their
tolerance in religious matters, very rare in a Latin and an
exclusively CathoHc people.
The South Slavs (Slovenes in Grain and the Kiistenland,
Servians and Croatians in Dalmatia and Bosnia-Herzegowina)
are the most backward in civilisation of all
^ll vs"* the Austrian peoples, and consequently the
most interesting as regards their customs.
Of course the following remarks can be fully applied only as
regards the South-Eastern part of the provinces, and the
reader must bear in mind that civilisation increases and
The Austrian Nations and their Lands 21
primitiveness decreases gradually as we approach the West,
that is to say, the Alpine counties.
TTie most remarkable features in the Ufe of the South Slavs
are their patriarchal communities. Family life is still so
distinctly marked that the eldest and ablest member of the
family exercises absolute power over the others, who some-
times number as many as eighty, all living in the same house
or group of houses, in one farm. He gives out the work,
he administers the property, and to him they all turn for
advice.
Large groups of people thus living together and having each
other to turn to, are not so much given to frequenting the
pubUc-houses, and thus the South Slavs are not nearly so
degraded by drink as the Poles and Ruthenians.
The seamy side of their life is the way the women are over-
worked. They are no better than domestic animals from the
time they are married, having to help in the fields, do the house
work, spin, weave, and sew aU the clothing for the whole
family and carry water, sometimes from far down the hUl.
They also have to find time in the winter months to do the
fine embroidery and lace-work for which they are famous,
and which sells very well now that bright colours have become
the fashion.
When the girls marry they get no portion of the property —
all they have is their store of linen and clothes, and sometimes,
when they have been in service, the money they have saved
there, called their " basket."
They are generally very beautiful in face and figure,
with a peculiarly proud carriage and a swinging gait, but
they get old and wizened even earlier than the German
peasants.
Altogether the people are ignorant and Ohterate, dirty
and sUpshod, but very warm-hearted, extremely hospitable,
even to the merest stranger, and bold and reckless to the last
degree, the best soldiers, sailors and fishermen in the
Monarchy.
22 Austria
The Sudetian countries (Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia)
The are the richest and economically most
Sudetians. advanced provinces of the Empire.
The scenery cannot compare with that of the Alps, the
mountains all being much lower, and never reaching the
grandeur of even the lesser Alpine chains.
Scenery. but they have a loveliness all their own, and
there are many charming summer resorts in
the Riesengebirge, a country rich in legends, the Erzgebirge,
where the many ravines produce an impression of ruggedness
and greatness not warranted by its modest height, the
Sachsische Schweiz, with the stately river Elbe flowing
between grotesquely-formed red rocks, the Bohmerwald with
its wonderful old-time forests and ice-grottos, the Altvaterge-
birge, where merry rivulets frisk through darkly wooded
chines, and the fertile Mahrische Schweiz, with its caves
and other Carstlike phenomena.
The Bohemian watering-places, Karlsbad, Marienbad,
Franzensbad and Joachimstal, by far the Strongest radium
spring on earth, are well known all over the world. Hundreds
of thousands of sick people from the four corners of the earth
go there every year, most of whom return home cured, or
at least, relieved.
The Czechs immigrated into these countries in the sixth
century, when the Germans had just left them, and lived in
the plains forming the centre, without pene-
Czechs trating into the primeval forests of the border.
In the thirteenth century the Bohemian
kings and nobles invited German colonists to come into their
country for the purpose of advancing agriculture and mining.
They came, partly cleared the forests and germanised the
valley of the Eger. This rural colonisation did not last long,
but the Germans spread over the country in the town-ships,
and by dint of their high standard of civilisation soon played
a prominent part, attaining the height of their influence in
the fourteenth century. Then the Czechs' great religious
The Austrian Nations and their Lands 23
and national movement set in, and the German population
of the central districts was swallowed, while the borders have
remained German to this day.
The Czechs are a clever and industrious people, cleanly,
persevering and thorough-going, very good at manual work
of all kinds, gifted in music like all Slav peoples, and also in
science and mathematics. But they are supposed to be
ra.ther underhand in their ways, and, just because of that,
extremely suspicious of others. They are dogmatical too,
never knowing when they are beaten, and never owning
themselves to be in the wrong.
Much the same applies to the Slovaks, except that they
are not so gifted, and altogether on a lower plane of civilisa-
tion. They stiU wear their quaint national
SIotsOes costumes, like the Alpine Germans, and stick
to them even when going to the towns as
servants. As they are very good wet-nurses and nursery-
maids, they have become quite familiar figures even in
Vienna, with their beautifully starched white bonnets, dark
jackets and short skirts, very fuU and just reaching to their
knees, and gaudy-coloured aprons and stockings.
In number the Czechs have the majoiity over the Germans,
forming 65 per cent, of the population. They are thickest
in Moravia, while in Silesia the Germans are quite a respectable
minority, in fact almost half of the population, which also
comprises a great many Poles.
The Carpathian Provinces belonging to the Austrian half
of the Empire, are Galicia and Bukowina, countries rich in
excellent soil, in coal and oil and wood, and
Carpathians. ^^^ ^^^^ peasantry is the poorest of all.
There is a terrible chasm yawning between
the rich PoUsh aristocracy, whose immense estates extend all
over the Ruthenian as well at the PoUsh territory, and the
impoverished peasant population with its tiny bits of ground.
Poles, Ruthenians and Roumanians ; they are all alike suffering
from want of ground, want of proper tools and machinery.
24 Austria
want of modern methods, want of every kind of knowledge,
even that of reading and writing. In their distress (and the
cold climate has something to do with that, too) they are given
to drink, and the ill-advised, Government has found an
ingenious remedy for thai : the pubUc-houses being mostly in
the hands of the Jews (reasons wiU be given later), the licences
for keeping pubhc-houses werp taken away from these unlucky
people, thousands of whom were thus robbed of their meagre
sustenance at a moment's notice. This is well worth remark-
ing : the drinking houses were not abohshed, they were
merely taken out of the hands of the Jews and given to the
peasants themselves, who are at Hberty to drink themselves
to death as before.
The landscape of the PodoUan plain is almost devoid of
beauty, but the mountains, especially the Great Tatra, which
resembles the Northern Alps in their rocky,
Scenerv sombre parts, are well worth visiting. There
are no glaciers, in spite of the height of
8,000 feet, but there is eternal snow in the clefts of the rocks,
and for ruggedness and grandeur it stands alone in Eastern
Europe. There are also tiny green lakes embedded in the
rocks, many thousand feet high, appropriately called
Meeraugen (eyes of the sea), and long caves where one can
wander for hours without coming to an end.
The Poles form the majority of the population only in
Western Galicia, but their influence reaches far into the East,
where bitter struggles between them and the
pISes Ruthenians are going on. In character they
are strikingly like the Irish. Their perfervid
patriotism comes from the depth of their hearts, as is only
natural in a people of a grand past, but a sorry present,
being held in subjection by three different powers, and one
of those powers Russia. They are gifted in art more than
any of the Austrian peoples, first-class composers and per-
forming artists, painters, writers and poets of imagination
and strength. They are courteous and charming in manners.
The Austrian Nations and their Lands 25
their women are beautiful, and in the upper classes extremely
cultured and accomplished, perfect women of the world,
though helpless in the art of house-keeping. But they are
improvident and easy-going, shiftless and lazy, quick of tongue
and slow of deed. Their peasantry is dirty, slovenly, and
bigoted beyond behef, their aristocracy haughty and pleasure
loving.
The Ruthenians in Eastern Galicia and the Bukowina,
almost equalling the Poles in number, have not nearly the
same influence with the Government. They
R th ^^^ ^ quiet, melancholy people, closely
related to the Russians, whose religion they
share. They are being roused from their lethargy now by
their intelligent classes, and likely to become dangerous to
the Poles, so far the masters of the country. They are not
very brilliant, and like aU suppressed peoples, are rather sly
and underhand, quite as dirty and shiftless as the Poles, but
more industrious. They generally wear their national
costumes stOl, even the boys going to the pubUc schools.
The women's is primitive, but pretty : a long Unen garment
like a nightdress, beautifully embroidered on the sleeves,
which does duty for chemise, blouse and skirt, a dark woollen
apron, and in winter a sheepskin jacket.
The Roumanians, who live in the Bukowina, are a strange
race, quite unlike the other Latin peoples at heart, though
outwardly the very images of the ancient
Roumanians Ronia^ns. Their most striking characteris-
tics are discretion and caution, which often
degenerates into cunning, and national pride, which to the
stranger looks like unspeakable conceit. They never marry a
stranger if they can possibly help it, regarding everybody outside
their clan as beneath them. A girl cannot even marry into the
next village without losing caste. They are extravagantly
hospitable to friends, and set an absurdly high value on
pubhc opinion. They are indolent and lazy like all Southern
nations, especially the women, who never work in the fields.
26 Austria
When the Roumanian peasant is asked after his wife, the
standing answer is : She is cherishing her beauty. Even the
peasant women have been known to paint and wear false hair,
so that their complexion, which is beautiful in youth, suffers
later. They are clever at embroidery, however, and alto-
gether the arts and crafts are the only things at which the
Roumanians are really good.
Owing to the qualities above mentioned, the Roumanian
is a most loyal subject, and there is not the faintest trace of
an irredentist movement among them.
Such are the Austrian nations which are rooted in the
The soil. And now we come to that unhappy,
Jews. uprooted race, the Jews.
This is not the place to speak fully of that phenomenon
amongst nations, and of the singular circumstances that make
it what it is. Suffice it to say that the 2,000,000 Jews living
in Austria were only emancipated sixty years ago from the
cruel laws invented for them exclusively, preventing them from
holding land, penning them up in the Ghetti, and shutting them
out from aU means of getting their living except commerce.
Naturally, in this short time, they could not all leave the
business they had acquired a great aptitude for in the hundreds
of years they had practised it almost to the exclusion of any
other trade. The other roads open to them in Austria are
very few, and set with thorns, in fact growing fewer and more
difficult to pass as time goes on. For the springtide of
Uberalism which flooded the country in the sixties and
seventies of the nineteenth century has ebbed away, and
in its stead the tide of Anti-Semitism is
Anti-Semitism, swelling and rising still. To-day many pro-
fessions, as that of army-officer, of state
of&cial, of judge, are as good as closed to the Jew : he is
allowed to enter them, but he never advances beyond a
certain point, reached by the Gentile after a few years' service.
Besides, he is shown so plainly he is not wanted, that there
are only very few who are so thick-skinned and hopeful as to
The Austrian Nations and their Lands 27
try these professions. Then there are other professions
where the Jew, if exceptionally gifted, attains the same as his
perfectly average Gentile colleague, only it takes him twice
the time to do it : such are the careers of the University
Lecturer, of the school teacher, and others. In the so-called
free professions, those of the barrister and doctor, there are
no barriers raised : though, of course, as is also the case with
business men, the Christian will always prefer the Christian
lawyer, doctor, or shopkeeper, so long as he is not convinced
of being worse off with Mm. Naturally these callings are
crowded with Jews.
The state of the educated minority, however, is com-
paratively good ; they have a hard struggle for life, but they
are well equipped for it as regards brains,
''^'^^Jew'"^" and their sufferings are more or less of a
spiritual nature. The great majority of the
Austrian Jews, however, are almost paupers. Amongst the
desperately poor GaUcian peasants they are only just able
to eke out a living as shopmen, pedlars, carriers, drivers,
public-house keepers, and artisans. But there are far too
many of them in those poor and overcrowded businesses,
and the most they can do is to hold their heads above water ;
many cannot manage even that, and go under ; thousands
emigrate every year, and the white slave dealers from over
the sea, of course, find plenty of their horrible ware here.
The conditions are getting worse and worse, as they are
being mercilessly persecuted and hunted out of the few
positions they are stiU holding. The Public-house Bill
mentioned above was merely one instance of many.
It has been said by ignorant and malicious people that the
Jews have themselves to thank for the miserable state they
are in, that they do not care to work hard, that they consider
manual work beneath them. That is an untruth pure and
simple. They hold learning high. There are no " illiterates "
among them, and the poorest and meanest reads his Bible in
the original. But they are at the same time hard-working
28 Austria
people, and, for instance, one of the professions requiring
the greatest muscular strength and daring, that of the raftsmen
taking timber along the rivers, is practised by the Jews
exclusively all down the Danube. In the oil-districts of
GaUcia an oil-shaft sometimes begins to burn, the flames
leaping high at once and threatening the neighboiuring shafts.
Water is useless in these cases, and the only way to extinguish
the fire is to throw earth into the hole. For this work there
are only Jews to be had, nobody else is found willing to drag
the great sacks close to that heU and risk their lives.
These two instances will sufi&ce to show that the Jew has
other good points besides those grudgingly admitted even by
his foes — ^his genius for commerce, his hunger for learning,
his talent for art, especially poetry, his ideal family life, his
frugality and sobriety — ^that he is also capable and willing
to do any kind of work, however hard and dangerous, so long
as it wiU support him.
Their motet unfavourable traits are terrible want of self-
respect and proper pride. Of late, however, the national
rejuvenation has taken hold of them, too, and is doing wonders
in that respect. Theodor Herzl of Vienna, a man who had
so far only been known as a charming and graceful writer,
took up the idea of repatriating his scattered brethren in their
ancestral home, and in the last ten years of his short life gave
to the old dream of Zionism a political basis, and an organisa-
tion spanning the world — sure warrant for a prosperous
development for the nucleus of a Jewish homestead existing
already in Palestine.
CHAPTER II
PARTIES AND POLITICIANS
Vienna correspondents of London newspapers are from time
to time disgusted by the, to them, revolting and monstrous
Th E r h opinion, that the English Constitution, that
Constitution bulwark of freedom, that pride of every true
Imitated Briton, is at the bottom of all the mischief
m ustria. ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ during the last forty years
in Austria by unprincipled or misguided politicians. When-
ever there is a free fight in the Reichsrat (House of Commons),
whenever the machinery of lawmaking and government
comes to a deadlock, whenever an unsavory story of bribery
and corruption of poHticians gets abroad, people are ready to
cry out : "All this is owing to our having copied the Enghsh
Constitution with its Parhament and other poHtical customs !
The House of Commons may be good enough for Great Britain
with its more or less homogeneous, more or less enlightened
population, but it will not work in Austria with her eight
different nationalities and their diametrically opposed
interests."
There certainly is a grain of truth in the statement that the
English Constitution is to a great extent responsible for the
Austrian Ahgeordnetenhaus (House of Conmions) and Herren-
haus (House of Lords). When, after the revolutionary days of
1848, Austria began to yield to the modem spirit and to feel its
way towards some sort of government by representation, the
liberal leaders natmrally looked to England for practicable
models. The Enghsh Constitution was at that time eagerly
studied by every serious politician all over Europe, but
nowhere with more admiration than in Austria. And when,
29
30 Austria
after the disastrous war of 1866, which necessitated a recon-
struction of the Empire from the bottom upwards, the most
conservative advisers of the Crown agreed to try representa-
tive government, the " Mother of Parliaments " suggested
itself as the best oi aU possible models, and the English
Parliament was, figuratively speaking, transferred from
Westminster to the banks of the Danube with enthusiastic
optimism.
Our optimism was premature. Only the fault did not
lie with the English Constitution, but with the optimists.
No pohtician has a right to expect miracles, and it would have
been nothing short of a miracle if the Enghsh glove had
fitted the Austrian hand. Of course it did not and could
not fit.
The Austrian problem was too involved, too complex for
so simple a remedy. What the Austrian middle class
clamoured for was a safeguard against
ProW^m *" aristocratic privilege and the aU-powerfidness
of the Crown. So far the most optimistic
expectations were fulfilled. Equality before the law has been
estabUshed in Austria for half a century, nor have the most
benighted reactionaries ever since attempted to question this
principle. The equahty of citizenship is a
^n?*"""?**''^ fact in Austria, much more so than in any
Monarcny. . , i -r
other monarchic country of the world. In
the Church, the Army and Navy, in the Civil Service, in the
schools and Universities men of the lowest origin have
climbed to the top of the ladder. There are instances of
cobblers' sons having become archbishops ; many a soldier
is known to have risen from the ranks to the command of
a regiment ; shop-keepers in the smallest way of business
have seen their boys in the gorgeous uniforms of privy coun-
cillors and cabinet ministers. For democratic equality the
Austrian Army is hard to beat. Austria's position in this
respect is unique. Austrian officers enjoy, among the
middle classes, a popularity that is practically unparalleled
Plioto by
COUNT BERCHTOLD
{Austrian Foreign Minister)
Exclusive Nck's Agency
Parties and Politicians 31
throughout the world. You see, the most roseate optimism,
as far as equality goes, was justified by subsequent events.
The Constitution has proved a most efficient safeguard
against the arrogance of caste.
The days of the absolutist government by the Crown are
gone, it would seem, for good and all. The Emperor Francis
Francis Joseph Joseph never had any leanings towards
the most autocratic arbitrariness, and it is not too
Adherent of the much to say that, of all Austrians, he is the
Constitution, most scrupulous adherent of the Constitu-
tion. There is a proviso in the Austrian Constitution, the
ill-reputed section 14, which gives ministers the possibility,
when Parliament is prorogued, in cases of emergency to trans-
act business of state which, under ordinary circumstances,
would require the sanction of the Commons. Whenever
such a contingency arises the whole Administration meet
in council and sign the statute which is published in the name
of the Crown. Such provisional statutes must be subse-
quently passed in both the Low^r and the Upper House.
Treaties with foreign powers, ways and means, taxation,
administration of justice, and other business of an urgent
nature come under this head. During the eight years
between 1897 and 1904 no less than seventy-four statutes of
this kind were passed. Now, it is a well-established fact that
the Emperor is strongly averse to making use of this
emergency section which, for a time at least, does away
with Parliamentary government. In times of Parliamen-
tary deadlock he is always ready to exhaust all means
of conciliation rather than have recourse to that odious
paragraph.
But a Great Charter, such as was granted to the English
ever so many hundred years ago, was not calculated to solve
Lower Classes *^^ Austrian problem. The aristocracy, it
Left Out of is true, has been shorn of its privileges to a
the Reckoning, certain extent, and autocracy was abohshed.
The upper middle class, the rich captains of industry and of
32 Austria
commercial enterprise, came rapidly to the fore. But what
about the lower strata of the social fabric ? What about the
small tradesmen, the artisans, the working classes, the tillers
of the soil ? These had been completely left out of the
reckoning when the Aijstrian statesmen of the type of the
famous Schmerling, the so-caUed " Father of the Austrian
Constitution," Lasser, Perthaler and Lichtenfels were at
work reconstructing Austria and giving her a new lease of
life. From the outset it was plain to the thinking minority
that a representative Government based on the upper classes
only, utterly disregarding the masses, could not be of any long
duration. As a matter of fact, socialist aspirations such as
shook England in the uneasy times of Chartism, made them-
selves felt in Austria as early as the first half of the nineteenth
century, and the movement kept growing and spreading
notwithstanding all the coercive measures of every successive
Administration, until some twenty years ago, the movement
came to a head, and made the Socialistic Party one of the
strongest in Austria.
And apart from the clamouring of the masses for poUtical
representation, the national aspirations were a source of con-
The National stant trouble and vexation, in fact the drop
Problems. of wormwood in the cup of bliss which
the new constitution held to the hps of the Liberals all
over Austria.
The men who had worked all their lives in the interests
of political freedom and who, after exhausting struggles
against odds, after innumerable ups and
Centralism, downs, had succeeded in permeating both
the Imperial family and the great feudal
families such as the Schwarzenbergs, the Fiirstenbergs, the
Windischgratzs, the Thuns, the Lobkowitzs, the Auerspergs
and others with the idea of representative government, these
very men had grown up in the tradition of German superiority
oVer the Slavonic races, and therefore were naturally incapaci-
tated from seeing that Austria, constituted as she is, could
Parties and Politicians 33
not enjoy internal peace and prosperity, so long as she tried
the impossible, i.e., to make seven races give up their languages
and national idiosyncrasies in favour of German. No doubt,
Schmerling.'Lasser, Perthaler and Lichtenfels, and at a later
period men of world-wide reputation such as the geologist
Eduard Suess, the whilom President of the Vienna Academy
of Letters, were informed with the highest spirit of patriotism ;
theirs was an absolutely unselfish single-minded love of their
country such as had inspired the enlightened well-meaning
despotism of the great Emperor Joseph the Second. Theirs
was a deep-seated conviction that the Germans in Austria
had the sacred mission of educating the backward nations
around them up to their standard of civilisation, and they
were genuinely disgusted whenever the Poles, Czechs, Slovaks
and other Slavs ungratefully rejected the blessings of German
schools and German administrative officials. These " Central-
ists," as they were called, could not bring themselves to beheve
that Austria could possibly be governed otherwise than
according to the old Centralist tradition, that is, by a German
bureaucracy and through the vehicle of the German language.
Their ideal of Austria was One Ruler, One Army, One Lan-
guage. That the One Language was to be the German
tongue, was, to them, a matter of course. They looked upon
the Czechs, the Croats, the Poles, who refused to be swamped
by the aliens, who could not fancy themselves swallowed up
in a Germanic Austria, as enemies of the State. This attitude
of mind which is strongly opposed to diversity of speech for
reasons of State was quite common a generation ago and is
far from being extinct even now. M. Paul Meyer, the great
French scholar and Member of the French Institute who
used to spend the summer months among the treasures in the
British Museum, one day complained to an English confrere
that William the Conqueror had not been strong-minded
enough to stamp out the English speech in the conquered
island.
" What a blessing to the world," he exclaimed, " if the
3— (a3B4)
34 Austria
Anglo-Saxon population had accepted French as their
language. France, England, Scotland, Ireland, America,
Australia, Africa — ^the whole world that matters would speak
one language ! "
It would have beea grand, no doubt — ^for the French.
So it would have been grand for the Germans if the eight
nationalities of Austria could have made up their minds to
give up their mother-tongues.
But they wQl not. There's the rub. The Poles with their
great past, their brilliant old literature, and their religious
fervour had never for a moment wavered in
Polish ^jjgjj. allegiance to the national ideal. If
Aspirations. ,,, i r,/-.
they bore the yoke of the German school-
master and CivU Servant, it was because it was so much lighter
than what was imposed upon them by the Russian master.
But a nation with a language of their own they were and
meant to be for aU time ; so when in the sixties the Polish aris-
tocracy made their peace with the Emperor of Austria, the
German invasion in Galicia rapidly melted away, and after
a very short time it was neige d'antan. To-day Western
Galicia is Polish to the bone.
Czech nationalism is of a later growth. The Thirty Years'
War and the subsequent events had all but stamped out the
/ spirit and language of the Slavs in Bohemia
N t^^^^*" ^"^^ Moravia. The upper classes affected the
/ ' German language much as the Germans of
Alsatia, in the times of Louis, affected the French, and as
late as 1840 the number of cultured Czechs who stuck
to their mother-tongue was extremely small. When some
fervent nationalists were one day gathered at a meeting, one
of them perpetrated the quasi-joke : " If the roof fell in now,
there would be no Czechs left." But the zeal of the few
made up for their want of numbers. Dobrowsky, Jungmann,
Palacky, Safarik, Havlicek, KoUar, Celakowsky, and others
worked with tireless energy at the nationalist revival. Their
zeal has been crowned with marvellous success. Two
Parties and Politicians 35
generations ago the Czechs were a horde of helots — to-day
they are a nation.
The Slavs in the South were roused in the thirties of the
nineteenth century by Ljudovit Gaj, and later on by JeUacic ;
nowadays Laibach is the acknowledged
'"^''^Revlv^.^'*' centre of open Slav agitation, and the
Germans keep receding before the onward
movement of the Slovenes.
The most backward group of Slav nationality, the Ruthen-
ians, are, under the leadership of able
A^ftion" tacticians and zealous workers, on the point
of coming by their own.
No man has done more to disintegrate the German party
of Centralists, and to initiate the modern pohcy of conciliating
the other nations than Count Edward Taaffe
*^°"Ta5fe'"'^ who, within fifteen years (from 1879 tiU 1893)
actually put an end to the German upper
class ascendency in Austria and prepared the way to an
understanding between the classes and masses on one hand,
between the antagonistic races on the other.
Count Taaffe was the scion of an old Irish family long settled
in Austria. The Count's father had been a cabinet minister
during the ancien regime. Edward was a playmate of Francis
Joseph, and when, ever so many years later, the Emperor met
him in Prague, he was genuinely happy to have.foimd him
again. Taaffe was a whimsical, good-natured, easy-going
Irishman, quick of brain and ready with his repartee, sharp-
eyed, a student of character. He could be highly amusing
if he chose. The Emperor liked and trusted him, and Taaffe
deserved his confidence. He always called and actually
considered himself first and foremost the servant of the
Crown, His Majesty's Minister. He was not a statesman
in the highest sense of the word. He was neither a thinker,
like Gladstone or John Morley, nor a representative of prin-
ciple and tradition like Lord Sahsbury, nor even an orator.
But he was full of resource. He knew how to disentangle
36 Austria
himself out of a hopeless situation, how to get out of a
hole. Principles never burdened his back, thoughts of the
future never troubled his mind. His was, as he laughingly
acknowledged, a policy from hand to mouth ; he managed
" somehow to muddle llirough." And with all these short-
comings Taaffe, perhaps without his knowing it, became,
in a sense, Austria's man of destiny. During his administra-
tion the franchise was extended to the lower middle classes,
and a great many social laws for the benefit of the " small
man," the artisan, the shopkeeper, the crofter, were passed.
And the Slav members of the House of Commons who,
before the advent of Taaffe, had sullenly stood aside, now
actively took part in the Parliamentary debates, got seats
on the ministerial bench, and became valuable advisers
of the Crown. Taaffe knew how to hammer the different
Slav sections of the Commons, the Poles, the Czechs, the
Slovenes into the famous " iron ring " which held good for
over a decade against aU attempts on the part of the Germans
to break it. Perhaps the ring would have yielded, if Count
Taaffe had not had the skill to bring about aji alliance between
the Slavs and the Clericals of all nations. This alliance
proved impregnable, and is practically unbroken to this
day.
The German Liberals were pulverised, almost annihilated.
This was too much for the Emperor, who, truth to say, never
felt quite at home with his favourite Taaffe's
""^of* UteSusm." ^^^^^ ^°^ ^^^^- '^^^* ^^^ Emperor wanted
was a peaceable working together of Germans,
Slavs and Clericals, not the exclusion of his own race from
the government of the Empire. That is why he tried again
and again to get a new Administration on these lines. The
Germans were willing enough, and so were the Poles ; only
Count Hohenwart, the then leader of the Clerical Party,
demurred,
" I am too old. Your Majesty," he excused himself.
The Emperor became very angry indeed.
Parties and Politicians 37
" You were young enough to pull down, but you feel too
old to build up again."
Prince Windischgratz jumped into the breach. He failed.
Count Kielmannsegg stepped in. He failed. Count Badeni,
who had tamed a stubborn diet in GaUcia,
AdministJations. ^^^ <=^^^ ^V ^^^ Emperor and haUed bythe
" press as the saving man of the hour. He
failed. Close on a dozen short-lived administrations followed
on each other's heels without being able to solve the problem
of a working alUance between the opposing elements of the
Commons. Dr. Ernst von Koerber stood his ground longer
than most of his predecessors since Count Taaffe had resigned.
Instead of going on with a fight against odds, clever Dr.
Koerber gave up fighting altogether. It was impossible to get
together a working majority in the Commons ; consequently
he tried to do without the Commons. That was the secret of
his success. Dr. Koerber's administration did excellent
departmental work. Some of his colleagues in the cabinet
were, like the political economist Bohm-Bawerk, scholars of
European reputation. Although a Civil servant himself,
Koerber hated red tape, and introduced a good many measures
tending towards administrative reform. He did his best to
tackle the national problems. He tried every means in his
power to bring about a reconciliation between the Germans and
Czechs — and failed.
Baron Paul Gautsch fared no better. But his adminis-
tration will not be forgotten in the modern history of Austria.
He it was who prevailed upon the Emperor to
Suffr^e* ^^^ ^^ consent to a startling reform of
franchise — ^in 1907 universal man suffrage
was introduced. Truly a leap in the dark. The House
of Commons which was selected on the new lines did
not justify the extravagant hopes which optimists had
roused. The Austrian ParHament of to-day is as far as ever
from having a stable working majority, nor have the national
disputes been settled.
38 Austria
At present the conflicting national and social interests
of the Austrian population are represented
^''of^TSid^^"* in ParUament by no less than about twenty
different clubs.
There are the Germans — split into five groups. The so-
called German Nationalists who try to keep up the old Libered
traditions are most of them the representa-
^^cP?™*° fives of the German town population. Theirs
is a difficult position. They are expected
by their constituencies, most of them hard-working manu-
facturers and commercial people, to safeguard their class
interest, to stem the rise of the Slavonic flood in Bohemia
and Moravia, and at the same time to have the Empire at
heart, its unity and strength. The members of this club are
most of them cultxured people, sober and amenable to reason,
well-mannered in debate. But their very amenability and
sweet reasonableness is a constant danger to their popularity,
which is being undermined by the irresponsible extremists and
rowdies who form the small, but vociferous Pan-Germanic Club.
The Christian Socialist Germans, about eighty in niunber,
have, their name notwithstanding, very little or nothing in
common with Christian Socialism as it is
^'sod^'iite*" understood in England. They are on the
best of terms with the capitalists and the
capitalist order of society ; they are in league with Feudalism
and its stanchest adherents. Agrarianism of the most selfish
description is part of their political platform. The famine
prices of mUk, meat and bread in Austria are their work. A
good many of their numbers have been branded as corrup-
tionists of the Tammany Hall type. Their stronghold is
Lower Austria and Vienna. The ultra-montane members
pure and simple who hail from the Alpine provinces, such as
Salzburg and Tyrol, follow their lead without actually approv-
ing of their methods. The present Burgomaster of Vienna,
Dr. Weisskirchner, who owes his exceptionally brilliant
career to the founder of the Christian SociaUst party, the late
•P'wto by " Kilophot," G.m.b.h., Vienna,
A NATIVE TYPE FROM BUKOWINA
Parties and Politicians 39
Dr. Lueger, is generally considered the strongest personality
in the Christian Socialist ranks.
In marked contrast to the Christian Socialist Club the
fifty-two Social Democratic Germans fight Clericalism and
Class Privilege tooth and naU. In uncom-
Democrate' promising allegiance to principle, in discipline,
in success they are the strongest party in
the Austrian Parliament. With the high-minded Dr. Victor
Adler at their head they are a tower of strength against the
aspirations of clericalism, caste and class.
The Poles who for close on half a century have been the
pampered pets of every successive administration, are, in
the House of Commons, gathered, but not
^''ciub"^'^ united, under the hospitable roof of the
Polish Club (Polenklub, Kolo Polskie) —
seventy-one members. When this club was at the height
of its power, the House and its destiny were in the hands
of the Polish members. In those times the club preserved
an iron discipline ; its chairman was obeyed like a Roman
dictator in the time of war. Every member bowed to the
decrees of the club. This unity is a thing of the past. There
are four groups in the club now. The Conservatives who
represent the shlachta (nobility) are fought by the democrats,
the people's party profess to work for a sort of progressive
agrarianism, and the Pan-Poles are uncompromising adher-
ents of the old national ideal, the reunion of the three
Polands being their most cherished aspiration.
The PoUsh Socialists form a group of their own outside the
PoUsh Club.
The Czechs, too, are gathered in one club, the Jednoty
Kluh Cesky, but they are no more homogeneous than the
Poles. There is the Catholic group (seven
^'*Club^*^*' members), there are the Agrarians (thirty-
five members) , there are the National SociaUsts
(some sixteen members), and there is the Union of the Inde-
pendent Progressives (seven members). The Czechs have the
40 Austria
reputation of providing the House with the most reckless
obstructionists, and some of them seem to imitate the Irish
members by affecting, in times of foreign tension, to side with
the enemies of the country. Thus Kramarz, during the
anxious time which followed the annexation of Bosnia, con-
stantly denounced the Imperial policy and pleaded for
Servia, to the unbounded disgust of the Germans and Poles.
Among the Czech Progressives Masaryk is the most pro-
minent Member of ParHament. The rights of man have in
him a most ardent and eloquent exponent.
The Southern Slavs, although only twenty-seven in number,
are spUt into several clubs, and so are the Ruthenians. The
Ruthenian Party or (as they prefer to be
^SlavT'*' called) the Ukrainians have a very hard fight
of it wresting national rights from the Poles.
The Ukrainians being of kin with the Russians, the court of
Vienna laboured a long time under the fear that they were
secretly in sjonpathy with the empire of the
Rut^nians ^^^r. In consequence of that misunder-
standing the Poles were given a free hand in
dealing with the Ruthenians. Nikolai von Wassilko, one of
the Ruthenian leaders, has changed all that. He and his
party vie with the most fervent Tyrolese in demonstrations
of zeal for Austria and the Emperor. This opportune
patriotism has gone a long way towards emancipating the
Ruthenians and giving them some sort of independent national
existence.
To the EngHsh mind, used as it is to the simple see-saw
system of EngHsh party-government, it must seem the height
of absurdity to try and manage a ParUament which falls
into some twenty clubs. And to the EngHsh statesman,
unless he happen to know Austria from a long sojourn in the
country, it cannot but seem impossible that an empire which
is composed of eight nations should go on existing for any
length of time. We Austrians who see things from the inside,
who have studied the history of this unique empire, know
Parties and Politicians 41
better than that. The very co-existence of so many nations
under the same rule is the raison d'eire of Austria.
Austria has a mission in the near East. England and
France seem to have forgotten this fact, but it is a fact all
the same. It is Austria which has wrested
Austria's Hungary, Transylvania, andl other wide
Mission in the ° •'' ,/ , ', j^ i_ -l • -j.
Near East. provinces from the clutches of barbarism ; it
is Austria which, for centuries? and centuries
have borne the brant of the battle against Asi0.tic raids, it is
Austria that has spread order and civilisation, banishing
chaos and anarch despotism. Austria actually stands for
freedom of race, nationality and creed in the East of Europe,
and we boast, rightly boast, that we have done for the con-
flicting interests of the manifold and variegated national
fragments that have taken shelter imder the wing of the Aus-
trian eagle, something similar to what the English have
achieved further afield. Austria has been and is still, the
battleground where Poles and Ruthenians, Germans and
Czechs, Magyars and Croatians fight it out, not in the old
fashion, popular stiU in Servia and Turkey, by barbarous
bloodshed and devastation, but according to the English
fashion by ballot and parUamentary debate. A large section
of the English public still takes its notions of Austria from the
Hterature of the fifties and sixties of the last century, when
mid-Victorian hterature rang with indignation against
Austrian oppression in Italy. AU this is over and done with.
Austria of to-day no more resembles the Austria of
that time than present England resembles the Great
Britain of the Chartist Riots. There is hardly a spot
on God's earth where conflicting races enjoy as much freedom
as the Poles, Ruthenians, Czechs, Roumanians, Croatians, and
Armenians in the Austrian Empire. Leave the welter of
Austrian nationaUties to themselves, and the world will be
set aflame by the news of fierce struggles surpassing in extent
and barbarity the atrocities of the Armenian type.
CHAPTER III
^ EDUCATION
Owing to the national friction Austria has remained behind
the times in many respects. As regards education, however,
it stands high amongst European nations, and, were it not for
the terrible handicaps it is again suffering from on the part
of the Clericals, it would doubtless rank with the best. Per-
haps one of the reasons for this comparatively fast develop-
ment is the very rivalry between the different nations, acting
as a spur in this one instance.
To the EngUshman the most remarkable features of the
Austrian system of education are its severe uniformity and
the absence of boarding colleges — all the schools and colleges,
with very few exceptions, being day schools. These features,
however, it shares with most continental systems, those of
Germany and France among the number.
Closely connected with these characteristics is the great
amount of learning acquired, and the comparatively low
standard in physical training.
The elementary school had existed for a long time as a
Catholic and German institution, when the Act of 1869
freed it from the trammels of the Church,
"^^ and nationahsed it : to-day the children in
School. ^^ elementary school must be taught in the
language of the majority attending it, so that
even in some Vienna districts closely populated by Czech
immigrants, there are Czech schools.
The primary schools are supported by the communities,
the State furnishing only the teachers' seminaries, and a
school must be founded wherever there are forty children
over six years of age who would have to walk more than two
miles to the nearest existing school. Yet, in spite of this rule,
and in spite of compulsory instruction (for children aged from
42
Photo by
" Kilophot"
DALMATIAN GROUP
G.m.b.h., Vienna.
Education 43
six to twelve or fourteen) being already more than forty years
old, in some backward provinces, especially the Carpathians
and the Carst, up to 70 per cent, of the population are still
unable to read or write ; while in the Sudetians and the
Alps, where in winter the little boys and girls have to wade
through the deep snow and to coast to school without path
or light in the bitter winter mornings, there is not even one
per cent, of " illiterates." Perhaps nothing illustrates so
well the different standard of Czechs and Germans on the one
hand, and the remaining Slav and Latin nations on the other,
than this one fact.
In the country the primary schools have always been
conducted on the co-education system, simply because
separate small classes of boys and girls would have been too
costly. But now that the modern tendency is aU for co-
education as a wholesome factor in school-hfe, many private
schools in the big towns are teaching boys and girls together
with excellent results, while the parish schools in town are
still holding back.
Of late another modern feature has found its way into the
primary school : the Swedish Sloyd lessons in handicraft.
This is practised in all the town schools now,
"Sloyd." the boys enjoying the carpentering, joining,
book-binding, etc., immensely. In the village
schools gardens are being laid out for the children, and experi-
ments in fruit and vegetable growing carried out successfully.
The kindergarten has only lately been taken in hand by
the parishes in the towns, but now every dfetrict has several.
And, indeed, in the country, where the
„. .^^^ . children are used to all kinds of manual
Kindergarten. , , , ,, ,
occupations, and where they generally have
all the supervision needed, because they are always running
after some member of the family in the house, the garden, or
the field, it would, be superfluous. Besides the parochial
kindergarten there are many private ones, where sometimes
the babies are taught English and French while playing.
44 Austria
An interesting modern institution, too, is that of the
Ferienhorte, which are imitations of the EngUsh Boys' Brigades,
and an immeasurable blessing for the stunted city boys.
The little girls also have play-grounds in the woods near
Vienna, where they are taken on Sundays and in the holidays,
but there are not nearly so many for them as for the boys.
The school teachers are excdlently grounded, both theo-
retically and practically, and generally aU that can be desired.
Of late the influence of the Clerical Party is at work. Their
aim, at which they are working together with the Christian
Socialists, is to get aJl the schools back into their hands.
The Austrian public schools for boys are mostly sup-
ported by the State, some few otherwise. (The girl's high-
schools are mostly private.) They were
The reorganised sixty years ago by Count Thun,
Schools. who changed them from the old Latin Schools
for Gentlemen's Sons into popular schools
preparing for aU kinds of studies apart from the classics,
introducing science and other subjects which had been
barred before.
His laudable principles have been followed in the more
recent development also, but even to-day these schools are
still hampered by their origin. So long as nothing but the
himianities were studied there, the boys had plenty of time
to go as deeply into these matters as was required of them.
But instead of cutting down the amount of classical reading,
history, etc., to make room for the all-important subject of
science, for drawing, etc., these new matters were simply
added to the curriculum. The result is that now the granunar
school boys are terribly overburdened, having very little
time for outdoor games, music, their private hobbies, in fact
recreation of any kind. Jn addition to all this, the final
examination, which opens the doors of the Universities, is a
very strict one, and the last year is always one of terribly
hard craraming even for the best pupils.
Apart from this sort of pubUc school, the Gymnasium,
Education 45
there is a modem type of secondary school, also founded by
Graf Thun, the Realschule, which chiefly prepares for the
Technical College. Instead of Latin, Greek, and Philosophy,
French and EngUsh are taught there, more mathematics,
and drawing. The boys are not so hard worked, and it is
possible for them to go to the University, too, after their
finals, on condition that they pass an additional examination
there to show that they have mastered Latin to a certain
extent.
A third type, the Realgymnasium, is a medium between
the two : instead of Greek, French is taught, and the boys
have the freedom both of the University and of the Technical
High School.
There are other experiments made in the direction sug-
gested by this latter type, and it is to be hoped that a
reorganisation of the pubHc schools on this
ITje Reform ^yasis will soon be effected. There is at
Movement. .
present a strong movement m favour of these
reforms. But the conservative elements, especially those
teachers whose subjects (Greek, Ancient History, Philosophy)
are in danger of being restricted, do what they can to keep
up the present state of things. There is a standing quarrel
between these two parties, sometimes very interesting to
watch, as really great men are to be foimd on both sides,
sometimes rather amusing for the impartial onlooker.
The girl student is, in Austria, a product of recent social
developments, and the Educational Department has not had
the time yet to tackle the problem with much
''schools^'* chance of success. Girls are admitted to
pass final examinations with a view to
matriculating in the university as students of letters, of
science, or of medicine, the study of law being inaccessible
to them as yet. But the State which pays for and manages
all the Secondary Schools for boys does absolutely nothing
for the higher education of girls. We have grammar schools
(Gymnasien) for girls, but they are aU of them private
46 Austria
affairs subject to the inspection and approval of the State
authorities.
In fact, the State does not encourage the girl students.
The State is in favour of our girls qualifying for good house-
wives. That evidently »is the meaning of the " Lyceum," a
new type of Girls' High School which was inaugurated
some ten years ago by the Educational Department. The
" Lyceum " is calculated to take over middle class girls from
elementary schools at the age of ten, to give them a smattering
of letters, science, and modern languages, and to dismiss
them as a finished article at the age of sixteen. This new
type is a failure. It is generally viewed as an impossible
betwixt and between, and it is likely to be aboUshed or
fundamentally changed in a very short time.
The teaching methods employed in the secondary schools
are excellent and quite modern. Especially as regards the
teaching of languages and history they
^Masters"* compare most favourably with the average
English school. The secondary school
teachers are generally very well up in their subjects scientific-
ally, but the pedagogic side of their education is comparatively
neglected. They have to study four years at the University
and to pass the teachers' examination, which is more difficult
than the degree for doctor of philosophy. But they have not
much opportunity for learning to teach, as they need only
attend the lessons of an older colleague for one year, occa-
sionally trying their hand themselves, and often even this
single year is not required, and they take to teaching
immediately on coming from college.
Besides these secondary schools for general education there
are a great many special ones : commercial schools, trade
schools, agricultural schools, forest schools,
^Schoor^** the famous art and craft school (Kunstgewer-
beschule) and the Academy of Music in
Vienna, and many others. The two last named draw a great
many foreign students to Vienna each year.
Education 47
The Austrian Universities are among the oldest on the
continent, some of them having been founded in the thirteenth
century. They were reorganised on modern
Universities principles (the Universities of the German
Empire serving as models) by the same
Graf Thun who did such good work in the case of the primary
and secondary schools. They are supported by the State,
who also appoints the lecturers, though the University itself
proposes them, and the Government, as a rule, takes its advice.
At present Austria has eight Universities proper, five of
them German, two Polish and one Czech. The Italians, the
Ruthenians, and the South Slavs are trsmig to get their own
Universities also, and in spite of great difficulties they are
likely to have their way soon. At present there are thousands
of them studying in Vienna, Cracow and Innsbruck.
In consequence of this the national quarrels are perpetually
coming to the front, and it is a sorry fact that they are
regarded, by one t5^e of student at least as
StiSnts ^^^ more important than their study. The
Austrian students are organised in different
societies according to their nationality, their religion, their
political views, and these organisations play a far greater
part in the life of the University than the learned societies.
There are always duels going on between the members of the
different organisations, sometimes bloody fights between
whole groups in the Universities themselves. It has happened
more than once that the University of Vienna had to be closed
on account of these continual fights. And the position of
Rektor, that is, the Governor who is elected yearly by the
professors from amongst themselves, requires a great deal of
energy and tact.
As mentioned above, the Austrian Universities, unlike the
EngUsh and American ones, are places for lecturing and
research work only — ^the students and masters do not five
in college, but in their homes, and there are almost no
scholarships to help the poorer class of students. But as
48 Austria
the fees for lectures are very low, the poorest, in fact, getting
them for nothing, studying at the University is not an
expensive thing, compared to English conditions. Besides,
many of the students support themselves by giving lessons.
As regards popular edjication, England has been Austria's
model, particularly in respect of the University Extension
Movement. Considering that the beginning
Ed°^"t'^n ^■^ *^^ work here falls only into the year
1885, Austria, and Vienna particularly, may
indeed be proud of what has been accompUshed.
It is characteristic of the conditions of Vienna public life
that the Christian-Socialist Town Council has gradually
withdrawn alipost the whole of its support from this perfectly
unpolitical work, reducing the monetary contribution to next
to nothing, and taking away all the lecturing rooms they had
lent to the Society for Popular Education {Volkshildungsverein).
They were mistaken, however, in hoping to mar the work.
Rich and poor vied with each other in donations to the Society,
the University helped in every way, members streamed in
from all sides, and to-day it stands secure, quite independent
of the local authorities.
Vienna has two Working Men's Colleges [Volksheim and
Volksbildungshaus), a University Extension {Volkstiimliche
Universiiatskurse), another institution standing between the
two {Urania), and many Toynbee Halls, Popular Libraries,
and a People's Theatre {Freie VolksbUhne), apart from
countless minor institutions of the kind.
The Working Men's Colleges include elementary and
secondary teaching as well as lectures on the University plane.
There are demonstrations, experiments and
I/fen%^o5leefs stereopticon pictures to enhven the lectures.
The teachers are students, board and high-
school teachers, and University lecturers. There are also
concerts and recitals. On Sundays there are performances
and lectures not only in the two chief buildings, but many
schools hospitably open their doors to receive the thousan(i
Education 49
of hearers eager to improve and enjoy themselves. The
pubhc consists for the greater part of working-people ; the
smaller half belongs equally to all the other classes. Women
— in contrast to the English institutions of the kind^ — ^are
admitted, and they eagerly avail themselves of the oppor-
tunity : they form 45 per cent, of the students, though it is
significant that they frequent the humanistic courses and
lectures (languages, history, art) far more than the scientific
courses.
There are a great many laboratories, thoroughly well
equipped all of them, some even better than those of the
University, as for instance the one for experimental
psychology.
The teachers and students are in close contact, and several
groups of them have been formed in the Volksheim. It is
quite interesting to see what subjects have brought about
these unions or clubs. They are : PoUtical science,
philosophy, English, hterature, art, history, natural science,
music and photography.
Every year a several week's journey is undertaken, and
these holiday travels, where lecturers and students come to
know each other much better than can ever be the case in the
regular course of things, are such a success, that the
University has begun to imitate them.
In the University Extension only scientific work is done,
and by University lecturers exclusively. The greatest
scientists and scholars are proud to help.
^^E^rtindon'*^ '^^ ^^^P^ "^^^ Austrian Extension on a
higher plane than the corresponding English
institutions. Here also women are admitted as well as men.
The Urania is an institution much like the Volksheim, but
founded on business principles instead of charity, and thus
obliged to charge entrance fees, making them
Urania ^^ ^°^ ^^ possible, however, and attracting
chiefly the middle classes. It has also buUt
an excellent observatory, the only pubhc one in Vienna, and
4— U394)
50 Austria
very well frequented. Its picturesque building, on the
embankment in the centre of the town, has become quite a
characteristic feature of Vienna.
The Toynbee Halls, on the other hand, offering tea and
biscuits *without any charge whatever after
^^^HMs^^ *^^ lecture, appeal most to the poorest of the
poor. They are kept by the Jewish Lodges.
There being no free Parish Libraries in Austria, the Society
for Popular Education has founded Free Libraries, too, and
this has been, indeed, a blessing. When it
LiteM-les opened its first branch, in 1887, twenty-seven
volumes daily were borrowed ; to-day the
number is 6,000. It is of interest that the music department
is the most frequented in the world, a fact very characteristic
of music-loving Vienna.
The Society for Popular Education is extending its work
in all branches to the provinces also, but so far only the
industrial centres have been won over. There wonderful
results are being achieved, especially by the extension lectures.
CHAPTER IV
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
The diversity of production in the several Austrian
countries, as well as the position of the monarchy between
The Character ^^® industrial states in the West and North-
of Austrian West, and the agricultural states in the East
Trade. j^jj(j South-East have favoured an excellent
development of commerce and traffic. Austria is double-
faced in its economical relation to its neighbours : it exports
raw materials to the industrial states, importing some from
the agricultural ones, while it imports industrial articles
from the industrial states and exports a great deal to the
agricultural ones. Since the Suez Canal has been opened,
Austria's oversea trade also has been steadily growing in
importance, so that to-day one-fifth of the foreign trade is
carried on by sea. This is a good deal when the fact of
Austria's having such a very small strip of seaboard is taken
into account.
The trade traf&c in Austria is also carried on by means of
the great natural waterways, especially the Danube and the
Elbe. There are 6,500 km. of river used by small boats and
rafts, and 1,300 km. used by steam-boats.
f:i, Railroads are continually in building ; especially in the
Alps new lines are opened every year. At present Austria
has 120,000 km. of railway lines.
The tendency of the Austrian trade (which is under tarLH
protection) is the development in the over-sea direction.
Up to a short time ago the trade-traffic went almost exclu-
sively to European countries, but this is changing rapidly,
so that to-day 25 per cent, of the import and 10 per cent,
of the export (together seven nailliard kronen) come and go
to transatlantic countries.
At present Austria is at the beginning of a process which
51
52 Austria
is rapidly changing her from an agricultural into an industrial
State. The conditions, however, are different in the different
groups of countries, Dalmatia, for instance, having scarcely
begun with the process, while Bohemia is almost at the stage
of England. Thus we may speak of these groups separately.
In the Alps the conditions for the development of industry
on a large scale are favourable in so far as the raw material is
plentiful ; but the population is thin as yet and
^ttiTXlpt *^^ highways of traffic are still restricted to
the chief valleys, though now they are
beginning to be carried into the smaller ones.
Of those branches of industry which are using the raw
material found at home, the iron industry is by far the most
important. It has grown to be an industry
I d^°S' °^ ^ large scale, working with the best of
technical aid, and has almost completely
supplanted the small workshops. The chief centres of the
iron industry are Lower Austria with Neunkirchen, Ternitz,
Waidhofen and Scheibbs, and Styria with Eisenerz, Steyr
(which is often called the Austrian Birmingham), and many
others. From needles to the most complicated machinery,
everything is manufactured, but for exporting purposes
sickles, scythes and rifles are of chief account. The rifle
factory of Stejn: is the largest in Em-ope.
Gin and beer are manufactured everywhere,
reweries. ^^^ latter especially round Vienna.
Famous paper mills are Schloglmiihl in Lower and Stejnrer-
Paper miihl in Upper Austria, but there are a great
Mills. many others.
Of textile industries, linen and wool-spinning and weaving
is of importance, chiefly as a home industry, while famous
homespuns are manufactured in Tyrol and
Textile Vorarlberg. The cotton manufacture, though
Industries. .^ . , ,.^ , ^ , ., . • i r-
it IS obhged to get its raw material from
oversea, is next in importance to the iron industry. Its
chief centre Ues in Lower Austria, round Wiener Neustadt,
Photo by
Kilophot," G.uuh.h., Vienna.
HARBOUR, ZARA
Commerce and Industry 53
The industry of the Carst countries is only a beginning as
yet, with the exception of Upper Carniola, where iron and
other factories centre round Assling. For
^"ht"^Sst" t^« ^^^^ there is chiefly home-industry:
liquors, especially the famous Maraschino,
being made in Dalmatia, and carpets, incrusted weapons and
other products of applied art in Bosnia-Herzegowina. The
Government is, however, doing its best to encourage industry
on a larger scale, and several foundries, sugar and tobacco
factories, etc., have already sprung up in recent years.
The Sudetian countries, Bohemia especially, are the most
advanced as regards industry, a fact which is explained by
their wealth of raw material. The good
Industry in example of the neighbouring German Indus-
the Sudetians. , . , i,,^ , , j i.. if j j.i.- j.
trial States has no doubt had somethmg to
do with it also.
There are fiour mills all over the country and though the
Hungarian competition is a grave danger, stiU they are
flourishing.
Breweries, sugar refineries and spirit distilleries thrive all
over the country. Bohemian beer is famous, and especially
the brand " Pilsen " is known and appreciated all over the world.
Leather and wood industries are of importance also,
especially the manufacture of matches.
There are numbers of paper mills, especially in Northern
Bohemia, round Hohenelbe.
Tobacco is prepared in Bohemia in State factories, but it
gets its material from abroad, while aU the other industries
named so far depend only on the native soil.
The most important branch of industry in the Sudetians,
however, is the textile manufacture, which has grown to such
an extent that the raw material provided by the countries
themselves forms but a tiny fraction of the material used.
Cotton mUls are numberless, the chief centres being Reichen-
berg and Warnsdorf, the Upper Elbe country, Prague,
Hohenstadt, Freudenthal.
54 Austria
The wool industry flourishes chiefly in Reichenberg,
Wamsdorf , Briinn and Bielitz.
Linen is manufactured in Trautenau, Rumburg, Asch,
Freiwaldau, and as a product of home industry all over the
three countries.
The foundries are of great importance everywhere, the
centres of the iron industries being the same as those of
mining — ^the country round Prague, Pilsen, Briinn, Wit-
kowitz. In Aussig there is a thriving chemical industry.
Bohemian glass and porcelain is well known aU over the
earth, even in Central Africa and Australia and India, where
the natives eagerly buy the Gablonz beads and bangles. The
finest and most precious glass and porcelain wares are made
in Winterberg, Karlsbad and Elbogen.
The Carpathian countries are still chiefly agricultural,
only on the SUesian frontier there is a district where woollen
stuffs are manufactiured on a large scale,
the "c^Shians. ^^h Biala. the sister town of Bielitz, for its
centre. The other branches of industry
beginning to be developed are spirit distillery, sugar refinery,
teer-brewing and tobacco manufacture.
Plata by
Kilophot," G.m.b.h., Vienna.
A DALMATIAN
CHAPTER V
AGRICULTURE AND MINING
Austria could, until quite lately, be rightly named among
the chief agricultural States of Europe, and though it is now
rapidly developing into an industrial country,
^"p^rtiir"^' still 60 per cent, of its population are peasants.
Apart from the Alps and the Carst the Aus-
trian lands are amongst the most fertile of Europe, and even
including these comparatively barren regions, only 5 per cent,
of the whole area is unproductive — 35 per cent, being corn
land, 33 per cent, timber, and 27 per cent, pasture.
Owing to the great differences in climate, the Austrian
products are most varied, ranging from all kinds of grain and
hardy fruit to such Southern products as
^"^tsVroducte °' ^'^^' '^^^^' oranges and chrysanthemums.
As regards corn, Austria is still among the
export countries, ranging only after Russia and Germany in
respect to the quantity of grain produced, and in the quaUty of
its wine, though there is less and less every year in consequence
of the ravages of the phylloxera, it comes immediately after
France, standing higher than Italy or Spain.
The position of the peasant population is very different
in the different provinces. They were freed from personal
bondage by Joseph II. at the end of the
p ^^\ eighteenth century, but the taxes and the
statute labour {Robot) that were claimed
from them by the squires remained until the middle of the
nineteenth century, when the former serfs were turned into
small holders, and " freehold bonds " were given out by the
Government to indemnify the landlords. These were paid
partly by the peasants, partly by the countries, and partly by
the State, and it is remarkable that this was done more quickly
in Austria than in any other European state. Though the
55
56 Austria
results were excellent in the more developed countries, as the
Alps and the Sudetians, the reform proved a doubtful blessing
in Galicia, where the peasants for the greater part held such
tiny bits of ground only that they were not able to keep them
free of mortgages, and many had at last to sell them outright.
Thus GaUcia has a numerous proletariate of field-labourers
to-day.
Government has done good work in preventing the cutting
up of small landowners' property by heritage. The laws
forbidding this parcelling up are only carried through gradu-
ally, though, as the provinces are independent in these
matters, a good deal of opposition has to be overcome in
the diets at first.
On the whole, Austrian husbandry is in rather a primitive
stage still. Except in the Sudetians, where machinery has
been in use for many years aheady, the peasantry is working
by hand still. It is nothing unusual to see threshing done by
flail, and the cutting and binding of the corn is scarcely ever
done mechanically, except on large estates. In the Alps
one may even see peasants hoeing steep bits of ground, where
the plough cannot be used. Galicia and Dalmatia especially
are most backward, in the latter province, in spite of its
wonderful climate, only 11 per cent, being properly under
cultivation, while Galicia is cultivated in such a primitive way
that not half of what it could yield is got out of the soil,
manuring, for instance being greatly neglected. Bohemia
and Moravia present quite a different aspect. These
countries are wonderfully well cultivated, and that by smaller
holders as well as by the great lords with their model farms,
such as the Heir Apparent and Prince Schwarzenberg.
Of grain fruits, every conceivable kind is grown in the
Monarchy, from corn in the North to maize and rice in the South.
But the chief grain for export has become
Cereals, etc. barley, of which the finer quaUties are eagerly
sought for by the foreign breweries. There
are, too, large malt-houses all over the country, and Austrian
Agriculture and Mining 57
malt is exported not only to Germany and Sweden, but also
to Central and South America and Japan.
Masses of peas and beans which are grown on a large scale
in the Sudetians and GaUcia are also exported.
Potatoes and sugar beets are cultivated everjrwhere, the
latter especially in the Sudetians, and in spite of the immense
consumption by the distilleries and the sugar industry there
is no need to import any of these.
Hops are grown in Bohemia and Lower Austria, and they
also form an article of export.
Market gardening is done on a large scale near all the
towns, and in Bohemia whole districts live by it. It is gradu-
ally being taken up by women too, and one school for lady
gardeners has just been founded in Vienna. On the whole,
however, Austiia cannot compete with Germany in this
respect.
As regards fruit, Austria ranks high. It is grown aU over
the country, but the most famous fruit-growing districts are
Leitmeritz in Bohemia, and above all.
Fruit. Southern Tjnrol, Bozen particularly, where
delicious apples and all kinds of fruit for
candying are grown. The orchards near Bozen are all dotted
white with little muslin sacks : for every apple is carefully
sown into such a bag when quite small, to prevent insects
from hurting it. In Bosnia plums are grown and either
dried or made into Slivovitz, a kind of brandy. In Dalmatia
cherries are made into Maraschino liqueur. Cider is made
ever5^where, and almost every peasant has his own press.
Austria is, after Russia, the richest country of Europe as
regards forests. And timber is the most important article
of export. The woods in Austria are very
Forestry. carefuUy tended. In the Sudetians the large
landowners never cut more than the after-
growth brings ; this ideal state is not reached anywhere else,
but stiU. the woods in the Alps and the Carpathians are beauti-
fully kept, and as has been mentioned before, they are not
58 Austria
only a profitable culture here, but a necessity, forming the
most effective protection against avalanches and torrent
floods. The logs are washed down from the mountains by
these torrents, locks also being often used. And the opening
of these picturesque little lakes after all the timber has been
gathered in them, is a most interesting affair. It is a grand
sight when these masses of logs come crashing down with the
foaming torrent. Where there is not enough water, or where
it is too far away, they are simply slid down a steep incline,
a so-called Riese, where a few trees have been cut to leave a
path for these logs. These Riesen generally lead to a brook,
from where the timber goes on its usual course.
Where there is water enough there are a great many saw-
mills, and the logs are cut on the spot. Sometimes there
are mills all along a Uttle brook, at every few steps — ^because
every farmer has his own saw for his own lot of wood. These
merry, noisy little mills are a charming and picturesque
feature of the loneliest chines in the Alps.
The only districts where there is scarcely any wood are the
Carst provinces, the inhabitants having ruthlessly cut down
everything and ruined their country. Government is doing
its best to afforest these regions, and a good many visible
resrdts have been achieved.
Cattle are raised everywhere, and breeding them is indeed
the chief occupation of the Alpine population. Some Alpine
races are reaUy first-rate, while on the whole
Cattle- quantity is aimed at more than quality.
Dairy farming, particularly, though the con-
ditions are quite as favourable as in Switzerland, is much
behind the times.
The Austrian horses, however, are the best that can
be found anywhere, especially those that are bred in
GaUcia. A fine breed of dray-horses comes
Horses. from Salzburg, too. As regards quantity,
only Russia and Germany produce more
horses than Austria,
Agriculture and Mining 59
Small cattle is not now of much importance : goats
ruin the young woods, and sheep are not very profitable as
wool has grown so cheap. Besides, mutton
Other Domestic jg j^^^ j^j „j.^^^ demand in Austria, except in
Animals. ,^,^, ^r i
the South Slav countries. So few sheep are
kept. Pigs are raised on a large scale only in the plains,
but every peasant has a few pigs for his own wants in the
mountains as well. Poultry for eating is raised chiefly in
Styria, while for egg-laying purposes English hens are often
imported. Compared with the poultry-raising of Hungary,
the Austrian efforts dwindle to nothing.
Austria is very rich in game, and sportsmen will find it
quite worth while to come from far off for shooting purposes.
It may as well be mentioned here that fox-
Game, hunting in the Enghsh style is unknown
in Austria. There are bears still in the
Southern Alps and in the Carpathians, and lynx and wild
cat in plenty. Foxes, badgers, otters, all kinds of martens
are found all over the Monarchy. There are wolves in Krain
and in the Carpathians, where hundreds are stUl shot every
year. Not so very long ago a professor at the University of
Czernowitz, the Capital of the Btikowina, was followed to
his door by a wolf — he hved on the outskirts of the town —
and badly mauled. Stags and roes are plentiful everj^where —
the latter coming almost into the suburbs of Vienna — and
hares the same. Even wild boars are still found in the
Carpathians, and the chamois hunt, that most exciting
sport, may be practised anywhere in the Alps. Only wild
birds are rarer, eagles especially having almost died out except
in the South, near the coast.
Fishing is practised all over the country, the trout in the
mountain streams offering good sport. But it cannot com-
pare with Enghsh fishing — or at least the
Fishing. interest taken in it cannot compare with that
taken in this sport in England. Sea-fishing
is not of much importance either, the coast being so small.
60 Austria
A good many corals and sponges are brought up from the
banks in the Adriatic, though.
As regards the variety of its mining products, Austria
stands first among the European States,
Mining. second only to Russia as regards their
quantity.
In the Alps mining has always played a great part in the
life of the people, bringing economical possibilities to the
loneliest valleys. It is, however, worthy of
^"'a! T "°^^ *^^* ^^"^^ *^^ Middle Ages a great
change has taken place : up to the seventeenth
century it was chiefly precious metals that were sought for.
Now this branch of mining has been more or less abandoned,
the price having sunk since the American and Australian
fields were discovered, and it is chiefly iron, brown coal, and
salt that are being produced.
The salt is mostly won by first dissolving it in water, and
then vaporising or boiling it. The largest beds are found in
Upper Austria and Styria, the so-called Salzkammergut, where
the salt water (Sole) is also used for cures, as for instance in
Ischl, the famous watering-place where the Emperor and his
family go every year.
Iron is won chiefly in Styria, but also in the other Alpine
countries, and coal the same.
The loam near Vienna is also of great importance, and the
brick-kilns in this district are unequalled by any in the world.
The Carst countries are not yet fully opened up. So far
they are famous only for their quicksilver
th'"'c^ T ^^^ Idria) and large beds of brown coal in
Carniola.
The Sudetian countries possess the richest mining fields,
50 per cent, of the whole production of the Monarchy coming
from Bohemia, and 20 per cent, from Silesia.
. ^'°'"S .'« Besides iron, a great many other ores are
found, for instance urane, from which radium
is won. Coal there is in plenty, in fact 90 per cent, of the
Agriculture and Mining 61
Austrian coal is found in the Sudetian countries. The chief
coal districts there are Karwin, Ostrau, Kladno, Boskowitz.
Salt is the only mineral not found in Bohemia.
In the Carpathians the chief products are salt and petroleum.
The former is found almost everywhere, but the most famous
mines are Bochnia and Wieliczka. The latter
the Carpathians ^® <l^te unequalled in beauty and picturesque-
' ness, and as well worth visiting as, for instance,
the grottos of Adelsberg. Petroleum is found especially
near Boryslaw and Justanowice, and it is of interest that the
shafts are mostly in the hands of English companies. There
are also coal and iron, and other minerals, but these are of
very Uttle account.
Austria is able to export considerable quantities of brown
coal and of mineral waters ; its production and consumption
are equal as regards quicksilver, lead, iron
and Imnort ^^^ ^^^^ ' ^^'^ ^^ ^^ obliged to import pit-coal
and all the metals except the two above
named. On the whole, it will have been seen that Austria's
natural resources are very great and diversified, but that not
enough is done either by the Government or by the population
to utilise them properly.
CHAPTER VI
GERMAN LITERATURE IN THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY
It is not only lack of space which forces us to ignore the
non-German literatures flourishing on Austrian soil — ^but
chiefly the fact that the Slav and Romanic authors this side
the frontier are only tributaries of the great rivers flowing
beyond, having little or no connection with what we teim
Germano-Austrian literature.
For there is no " Austrian Literature," in a strictly hteral
sense, and even the German writers in Austria we cannot
claim for our own exclusively — except the popular dramatists,
who have gone their own distinctly Austrian ways. For the
rest, literary Austria is as much one with the German
States as literary GaUcia with the Poland beyond the
frontier.
For the Austrian Dirama the nineteenth century has been
a golden age. It has brought forth one of the greatest drama-
tists of all times — Grillparzer, and several
jj^'^^ exponents of the Volkssiiick (a name com-
prising all modern plays in which men and
women of the people are the chief characters) unequalled by
those of any other nation.
Franz Grillparzer was born in Vienna in 1791, the son of
a pedantic barrister and a high-strung, artistic mother, who
subsequently died by her own hand. He
Franz ^^ ^^ become a barrister, but had to give
up his studies, as the father died and the
family became quite impoverished. He accepted a post as
librarian at the Imperial Library in Vienna {Hofbibliothek),
and in spite of grumbling and dissatisfaction on both sides
he kept it until 1856, when he retired. In 1872 he died.
62
Literature in the Nineteenth Century 63
Quiet as the outward circumstances of his life were, his
inner man was constantly shaken by storms. His was
a strangely melancholy, not very lovable
Love-story nature, and the strangest part of it was his
relation to women. He was easily inflamed,
aiid cooled quite as easily, and there were many women in
his life — yet he remained true to the first real love of his youth,
in a way which, nevertheless, ruined her happiness for ever.
She was Kathi Frohlich, the youngest of four sisters in the
merry Schubert-Schwind circle, famous for their beauty,
their talents, and their warm hearts, and the two fell in love
with each other when quite young. They were engaged to be
married, but the capricious, unruly and rather selfish young man
could not make up his mind either to give up his freedom
or to break with the girl. He daUied round her, for ever
quarrelling, making it up, leaving her and returning, until
she was an old maid and he a cantankerous old bachelor, when
he came to hve with the sisters as a humdrum paying guest 1
Grillparzer's dramatic career, apart from some youthfully-
bombastic work, began with a tragedy of fate, " Die
Ahnfrau" ("The Ancestress"), full of ghosts,
AnoBsfrSs " bloodshed and worse, but showing remarkable
dramatic skill and a masterful handling of the
verse. The superbly passionate and lyrical language does not
fail to draw tears to this day, even though the absurdity of
the play is past dispute. It was a great success, but the
critics were severe on the complicated plot with its atrocities,
and the youthful poet in a fit of pique made up his mind to
show them that he could make the simplest story into a
thrilling drama by his handling.
That is how " Sappho," with its lack of incident, must be
explained. The poet has almost made good his word — ^the
play is certainly a masterpiece (Grillparzer
" Sappho. ' • himself liked it best of all), and the inspiration
of the poet as well as his fine language show
at their best here. On the other hand, its meagre plot is a
64 Austria
serious drawback, strongly felt in the theatre ; the first act
drags exceedingly. The story of the poetess' love for the
unworthy boy who betrays her with the simple little slave
Melitta, is more or less GriUparzer's own invention. The
characterisation is excellent, especially the figure of the
innocently guilty girl is pathetically life-hke.
" Sappho " is the first of a series of Grecian plays. The
others are the trilogy "Das Goldene VUess " ("The Golden
Fleece "), with the heroine Medea, in her terrible grandeur
one of the most tragic characters ever set on the stage, and
the pathetical love-idyU of " Hero und Leander."
It is in the historical plays, however, that GriUparzer's
dramatic genius is at its best. The composition is perfect,
the characters are carefully studied and most
^Plavs^*' convincing in every detail, and the dialogue
is admirably adapted to the different
individualities.
The first and best of these plays is " Konig Ottokars Gliick
und Ende " (" King Ottokar's Rise and Fall ") in which Rudolf
of Habsburg and his great adversary are contrasted. The
first act is unrivalled in its grandiose gradation, full of dramatic
impulse and energy. The other plays in this series are " Ein
treuer Diener seines Herrn" ("A Faithful Servant of his
Master "), from the Hungarian history ; " Weh' dem der liigt "
(" Woe to Him Who Lies "), one of the best comedies ever
written, full of fun and wit ; " Ein Bruderzwist im Hause
Habsburg " (" A Brothers' Feud in Habsburg "), " Die Judin
von Toledo " (" The Jewess of Toledo "), and " Libussa."
The last three were never pubhshed by GriUparzer — they
were found in his desk after his death. He had been so
disgusted by the indifferent reception of " Ottokar " and the
rude (and to-day, inexphcable) hooting at the performance
of " Weh' dem der liigt," that he resolved never to pubUsh
anj^hing again. To this resolve he stuck, though he Uved
to see the resurrection of all his former works by Laube,
manager of the Burgtheater, and though they brought him
Literature in the Nineteenth Century 65
European fame : it came too late, and found him indifferent.
To-day " Die Jiidin " is one of the most popular historical
plays in Vienna, and a favourite part of all young actresses.
One more play of Grillparzer's must be mentioned : it
is the romantic tale " Der Traum ein Leben " (" The Dream
a Life") vivid and poetic in plot and
" ^i' LUe?^*"' diction, and full of humour.
There is no doubt that Grillparzer is the
greatest dramatist of the century, one of the three successors
of SchUler and Goethe. For though he affected to despise
him Grillparzer was certainly influenced by SchiUer as well
as by his adored Goethe and his beloved Shakespeare. Besides
Goethe it was the great Spanish dramatists who held him
most enthralled, and the influence of Calderon is plainly trace-
able in several of his plays. If GrUlparzer did not soar nearly
so high as his great models, it was less lack of genius than the
backboneless period to which he belonged, the unhappy country
he lived in, and the fatal Viennese inheritance of melancholy
and lack of virility.
Since Grillparzer a good many verse dramas have been
written in Austria, but there has been no dramatist of great
power in this field. The flow of|Romanticism
^H^altn "^ carried one man high : Friedrich Halm, with
his true name Baron Miinch-Bellinghausen
(1806-1871), whose pseudo-Spanish plays were once popular.
But they are of a sickly sweetness, not to say bathos. The
one play that has remained on the stage to this day is " Der
Fechter von Ravenna " (" The Gladiator of Raveima ").
Of late a Viennese Neo-Romanticist has made a name
for himself as a dramatist : it is Hugo von Hofmannsthal
(born 1874), the lyrical symboUst, whose
Hofminnlthal. P^^y^ ^^'^^ ^^^^^"^ *^® ^"ent or the Italy
of the Renaissance for their scene, glowing in
voluptuous descriptions, intoxicating the hearer with their
beautiful suggestive diction, but neither dramatic nor always
lucid. In his "Electra " (music by Richard Strauss) he
5— (2394)
66 Austria
shows his close relation to Oscar Wilde, in " Das Gerettete
Venedig " he has used the same story as Otway in his play
"Venice Preserved." He has found a good many imitators;
one pupU of promise is Beer-Hofmann, whose "Count of
Charolois" made quite a^tir, in spite of its lack of dramatic
spirit.
And Arthur Schnitzler, of whom we shall have to speak
in another connection, has written a brilliant Renaissance
tragedy, far more dramatic than any of
c w^"/ , Hofmannsthal's— " Der Schleier der Beatrice "
(" The Veil of Beatrice ").
The era of Metternich, which was the death of so much
that was great in poetry and art, and which made even
Grillparzer's the half-hearted plays they are,
Drama*^ nevertheless could not quite suppress Viennese
jollity and love of fun ; and these found an
outlet in the harmlessly hilarious popular theatres.
The finest flower growing in this waUed-in garden was
Ferdinand Raimund (1790-1836), the author of romantic-
realistic plays unique to this day, and as
R^'^'^'und^ popular now as they were almost a hundred
years ago, with the masses as well as with the
intellectual circles. His life was short and sad. As a boy
he was apprenticed to a pastry-cook ; he ran off, became an
actor, and was soon famous in comic parts. Like many
comedians, his was a sentimental, melancholy character ; he
was irresponsible, like a child, lovable and good-natured, but
prone to fits of what almost amounted to mania of persecution.
His married life was unhappy, and as a Catholic he could
not marry again, even after he had been divorced. He
shot himself in his beloved country-place, in the mountains
near Vienna. His literary career comprises only ten
years.
The charm of Raimund's comedies Ues in the natural and
poetic interlacement of fairy-tale and realistic comedy. His
fairies and sprites generally represent human frailties and
Literature in the Nineteenth Century 67
virtues, and all have a tenderly humorous, realistic touch —
they even speak the Vienna dialect. Among Raimund's
immortal creations are the domestics Florian in " The Fairy
King's Diamond " and, above all, Valentin in the " Spend-
thrift," who continually makes you laugh through tears, a
gift that Raimund often exercises. Besides the last-named
play the most pathetic, tenderly humorous, sweetly-fanciful
and at the same time profoundly human is " The Mountain
King and the Misanthrope," the story of a misanthrope
bearing strong resemblance to the author, who is cured by
having a mirror held before him, in which he sees his own
shape represented by a benevolent sprite, the " Mountain
King." There are some scenes (for instance, one in the
squalid hut of a poor wood-cutter) which hold their own
beside Hauptmann's reaUstic pictures, and some farcical ones
which make you scream with laughter.
Raimund's sorrow was that he was not learned enough
ever to be a " real poet " — ^little he guessed that his naive
genius would charm generations of old folk and young,
intellectual and simple-minded, long after the works of poets
appreciated in his time were forgotten.
In due distance from Raimund we must name his brother
actor, John Nestroy (1802-1882), a kindred genius in so far as
outwardly their methods were mudi the same ;
Nesteoy ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^ thorn in the flesh to the gentle,
refined Raimund because of his bitterly
sarcastic, sometimes equivocal wit. His farces lack the sweet
fancy of Raimund's even where supernatural beings play a
part. But they are undoubtedly clever and robust, their
political innuendos, though no longer topical, are still apposite
and striking, and if the jokes have a bitter flavour, they are
all the more to the point. His best plays are : " Zu ebener
Erde und im ersten Stock " (" Pedlar and Merchant-Prince ")
where a poor and a rich family in the same house are contrasted
effectively, and " Lumpaci-Vagabundus," the adventures of
three happy-go-lucky journeymen.
68 Austria
The third great comedy-writer of the time was Edward
von Bauerfeld (1802-1890), who did for the upper classes
what Raimund and Nestroy did for the people.
Iluemfeld" ^^^ refined, brilliant comedies of high life
are good in' their sparkling, natural dialogue,
in characterisation and in composition — ^he had studied the
French writers to a purpose, though he always remained
characteristically Viennese. " Biirgerlich und Romantisch "
(" Prose and Romance "), and " Grossjahrig " (" Of Age "),
a persiflage on the poUtical situation, which many consider
his masterpieces, are played with great success to this day.
A new impulse was given to dramatic literature in the
seventies by the village tragedies and comedies of Ludwig
Anzengruber (1839-1889). He is compara-
AnzMSiuber lively little known outside his country, for
he has deliberately caged himself by writing
mostly in the Austrian dialect. But it is well worth while
for readers of German to overcome this difficulty, for they
will be amply rewarded by making the acquaintance of a
true dramatist, an inspired poet, a man of high ideals, and at
the same time an inexhaustible humourist, both tender and
sarcastic. His figures, be they peasants or townspeople,
are living men and women; the dialogue is natural and witty;
and the tendency of the plays — ^for there is not one without
a purpose — never obtrudes itself. The pretty Httle songs,
of which his plays are full, always grow out of the situa-
tion and give emphasis to it. There are a great many
episodes round the central story, but never so many as to
entangle the thread of the plot unduly. Altogether,
Anzengruber, being an actor himself, had an excellent eye
for what was effective, but he never pandered to the baser
instincts of the public. Most of his plays are acted still,
some of them even in the Imperial Theatre, from which,
as a rule, the dialect is barred. The best known are " Der
Pfarrer von Kirchfeld " (" The Village Priest "), which rails
against clericahsm, the play which made Anzengruber famous ;
Literature in the Nineteenth Century 69
" Der G'wissenswurm " (" The Prick of Conscience "), with
a Tartuffe in peasant garb, one of the most striking figures
in modern dramatic literature ; " Das Vierte Gebot " (" The
Fourth Commandment "), a story of the degeneration of a
once prosperous Vienna family, which grips the hearer as
very few grand tragedies do ; " Die Kreuzelschreiber " (" The
Cross Signers "), a pathetic comedy which tells of how the
bigoted women of a Bavarian village effectually quench the
liberal spirit of the men ; and " Heimg'funden " (" Home
Again "), the tragedy of a man who has risen from a peasant
boy to a successful barrister, and is ruined by the devil of
pride. Anzengruber has also written short stories and two
remarkable novels, in the same vein as his plays.
He has found successors both in the field of the Viennese
popular play, and the vUlage tragedy. Among the former
Langmann, Hawel, and above aU Karlweis,
Schonherr. have written good, if not very profound plays ;
among the latter there is a man of genius,
Schonherr. This young author has already twice had the
most deserved success of the season, and it is to be hoped that
he wUl go on in the same way. In his thrilling play " Erde "
(" Earth "), he lays open the depth of peasant nature,
picturing that hunger for the soil, for a bit of earth, which
makes aU other passions dwindle in the breast of the peasant.
In the historical peasant drama " Glaube und Heimat "
(" Faith and Home "), which has for its background the
Protestant persecutions during the counter-reformation in the
seventeenth century, the conflict is that between rehgious faith,
and the love of home — an old story, but told in a new way.
ji Among the reaUsts who write Society plays, one man towers
above the rest — ^it is Arthur Schnitzler (born 1862). He has
Society Plays, studied medicine, coming from a family of
doctors, and his experiences have made him
Schnitzler. somewhat cynical and frivolous. But in
spite of a certain looseness as regards sexual relations,
Schnitzler may be said to have preached more moral than
70 Austria
many a highly respectable writer — ^he does not get tired of
breaking lance after lance for the outcasts of society, always
taking the part of the woman. Apart from his terribly
daring " Reigen," a sequence of suggestive dialogues, and
" Anatol," a series of one-jfct plays not unknown in England,
all Schnitzler's work points a moral. In " Liebelei " {" Phil-
andering ") he shows us the typical love affair of the man
of the world, which to him is no more than a passing fancy,
while it drives the girl to her death. In " Freiwild " he
describes the typical fight against overwhelming odds of the
actress who tries to keep her honour. His last play, " Pro-
fessor Bernhardi," which has become famous through being
forbidden in Austria, while it is performed with great success
in Germany, is the first without any erotic problem — ^in fact
there is no woman in it at all, excepting an episodical and
quite subordinate figure. It is a clever picture of the nasty
side of Viennese pohtics and a certain section of society,
though, as a drama, not equal to most of Schnitzler's former
plays.
An indefatigable fighter against reaction and clericalism
was also Burckhardt, barrister. Civil Servant, and sometime
director of the Vienna Imperial Theatre. His
Burckhardt. caUing gave him plenty of opportunity for
studying the seamy side of human nature, and
though his social dramas have not by far the literary value
of Schnitzler's carefully polished gems, still they are precious
as pictures of Austrian hfe. Of course, as is unavoidable in
work of the kind, the picture sometimes degenerates into
caricature, particularly when the subject is taken from the
life of the upper ten thousand.
A brilhant and at the same time profound and poetic
dramatist is Felix Salten, whose one-act plays were
a great success in London some years ago.
Felix Salten. Salten is comparatively young, and great
things are expected of him by his many
admirers. Other popular writers of social plays are Bahr
Literature in the Nineteenth Century 71
and Auernheimer — characteristically enough all the three
are feuilleton writers at the same time.
In poetry the nineteenth century has not yielded such rich
harvest as in dramatic literature. There are dozens and
dozens of minor poets, and in song several
Poetry. truly inspired ones. But there is only one
who is truly great — one of the half-dozen
divine lyrists the German tongue possesses — ^it is Nikolaus
Lenau (1802-1850, with his true name Nikolaus Niembsch
Edler von Strehlenau). As he was bom in
NMaus ^Yie melancholy Hungarian steppe, of a
libertine father and a lunatic mother, no
wonder that there was a shadow over him always, and that
his soul died long years before his body. His was a life of
unrest, he vacillated continually from Vienna to Stuttgart,
even going to America for a year, fleeing from himself, seeking
he knew not what. A destroying love for the wife of a friend,
the noble and beautiful Sofie LSwenthal, at last brought on
a climax. Lenau was brought to an asylum in 1844.
The charm of Lenau's poetry lies in its darkly wistful
atmosphere, instinct with a passionate love of nature in her
grandest and saddest moods (" Reed Songs," " Forest
Songs "). He has a note of his own, unlike that of any other
poet — sweetly musical always, like the soft strain of a gipsy's
violin or the wind among the reeds, and though his subjects
are old variations of old themes, love and nature, his handling
makes them new and fresh. It is characteristic that Lenau
has attracted more composers than any other lyrist, excepting
perhaps, Morike, the Suabian poet.
His epic poetry is quite as inspired and passionate as his
lyrics, but the true epic spirit is lacking. Both " Savonarola "
and " Die Albigenser " are rather a series of ballads and
lyrics, than stories in verse.
Lenau's faithful friend, Anastasius Grun (1806-1876, with
his true name Count Auersperg) lifted the party poetry of
the time to purer heights by his impassioned liberal poems
72 Austria
" Spaziergange eines Wiener Poeten " (" Rambles of a
Vienna Poet "). He has also written powerful and im-
pressive ballads, such as the cycle " Der
^"c^^n.'"^ letzte Ritter" ("The Last Knight"), and
translated* Slovenian folk-songs, being the
first to draw the treasures of Slav popular poetry to light.
Baron Zedlitz (1790-1862) was another spirited writer
of ballads, and so were the three spontaneous and patriotic,
Minor Poets of ^^ rather humdrum poets Seidl, Beck and Vogl.
the first half The only epics of note written in that
of the Century, time are " Ahasver in Rome " and " The
King of Sion," by Hamerling (1830-1889), clever and brilliant
historical paintings, full of pulsing life and glowing colour,
written in a carefuUy polished and noble language, but void
of soul. He has found a successor in Maria DeUe Grazie,
whose daring epic " Robespierre " raised a storm at the time
of its pubUcation.
Of Ijnrists, we must mention M'aurice Hartmann, an impas-
sioned hberal ; the vivid poetess, Betty Paoli ; the earnest
and noble-minded Feuchtersleben (best known by his excel-
lent essays on philosophic subjects), some of whose poems
have become so popular that their author was forgotten ;
Adolf Pichler, the vigorous Tyrolese ; and standing a few steps
higher than all these, Gilm (1813-1864), a lyrist of deep feehng,
melodious and tender ; some of his poems, such as " The ,
Night," breathless with melancholy and passion, or the
wistfully resigned "All Souls' Day," must be placed among
the pearls of the language.
The poetry of to-day is mostly under the spell of the
symbolists — ^beautiful language, musical verse, brilliant
imagery, quaint conceits, refinement, ela-
Poetry" boration— but little feehng or thought, and
less lucidity.
The leaders of the movement in Austria are Hofmannsthal,
who is better known abroad as a dramatist, and Rainer Maria
Rilke. Lesser stars in the group are Wildgans, Zweig, Camill
Literature in the Nineteenth Century 73
Hoffmann, and many others. Hugo Salus cannot be quite
counted one of them, for in spite of a certain hyper-refinement
he often finds accents of genuinely-felt emotion, and some of
his poems even remind one of folk-songs in their suggestive
simpHcity.
A new talent of remarkable originality is the workman
Alfons Petzold, whose socialistic poems have lately made a
stir in Vienna.
T* V I" T*
Fiction in the nineteenth century has some remarkable
representatives in Austria.
Fiction. In the first half of the century we have
Adalbert Stifter (1805-1868), who, in his
" Studies " and other stories, gives faithful pictures of nature
and humanity. His love of detail, his earnestness and
fervour, and his moral sense are aU quaUties
StWte?* which to-day are thrown in his teeth as faults,
and he is little read except by young people,
which is a great pity, as his eye for the picturesque in land-
scape and in human nature, his skill in telling a story, his
clever and tenderly humorous characterisation and the
poetry of his descriptions are such as should appeal to maturer
minds.
One of the best beloved novelists of the last fifty years
is Marie, Baronin Ebner-Eschenbach (born 1830). Her
wonderfully htunan descriptions of the hfe
Ebner" °^ peasant and aristocrat in Moravia, as well
as the faithful and brilliant pictures of Vienna
society, all seen with the eye of a tolerant, great-hearted,
genial, and profoundly thinking woman, have gained her a
place among the first writers of the age. She has written
several fine novels and many short stories, those of child
and animal hfe being among the most touching of their kind.
Her aphorisms show an undaunted hberal spirit and quaint
humour, together with a gift of terse, concise expression very
rare in one of her sex.
74 Austria
Beside these greater ones we must mention Ferdinand
Kiirnberger, a thoughtful novelist with a fine gift of char-
acterisation ; Ferdinand von Saar, who is by
Other Novelists, some considered Baronin Ebner's equal as
a writer ofpshort stories ; and Baronin Suttner,
the well-known advocate for the world's peace, who began
her agitation with the novel Die Waff en nieder ! {Lower Your
Arms I).
A different group of writers are the realist describers of
peasant life. Just as in the drama, so in fiction the peasant
story and peasant novel flourished in the
^'^Navel ^ seventies and is again bringing forth blossoms
to-day.
We have already spoken of Anzengruber. His friend
Peter Rosegger (born 1843) is still the foremost representative
of the village novel. He describes his
Rosegger. beloved Styria and her people in all moods
and tempers, always faithfuUy, but with a
love that forgives the faults of the rugged peasants and
woodcutters, without idealising them, pathetic and humorous
by turns. He is to-day one of the most popular Austrian
writers. His best works are Jakob der Leizte {Jacob the Last),
which tells of the despair of a peasant doomed to lose his
farm, his bit of earth ; Der Gottsucher {The Godseeker), a
profound and tragic story ; and Der Waldschuhneister which
describes the blessings wrought by a contented little village
teacher.
Schonherr, the gifted dramatist, has also written stories.
And close to him stands a woman, Enrica von HandeV
Mazzetti, the author of the most thriUing and
M tt" virile historical novel in the German language
of to-day. The background of the story is the
bitter fight between Catholics and Protestants during the
counter-reformation. Fraulein Handel has a grip and power
of characterisation, a knowledge of her subject, and a gift of
story-telling unique amongst living writers in Austria.
Literature in the Nineteenth Century 75
A poetic novelist, though a little too ornate and elaborate,
is Rudolf Hans Bartsch, a Styrian like Rosegger. He has
written several Styrian novels, but his best
Bartsch. book is a collection of historical tales, The
Dying Rococo.
The social novel of the day has for its chief representatives
the authors we have already spoken of as dramatists —
Burckhard, Schnitzler, Salten. As a poetic
Novets ^^^ thoughtful writer we must also name
J. J. David.
The chief Austrian humorists, both Viennese to the core,
Hu o 'sts ^^^ Vinzenz Chiavacci and — facile princeps —
Eduard Potzl, the famous feuilletonist of the
Neues Wiener Tagblatt.
CHAPTER VII
^THE PRESS
Here is a curious fact for politicians and journalists : Vienna,
which even at the height of the Habsburg ascendency, never
was the centre of Germany, and which has now for over a
hundred years been considered altogether outside it, produces
several dailies in German which are looked upon in Germany
and abroad on a par with, if not superior to, the very best
daily papers in Berlin, Munich, Frankfort and Cologne. A
writer who has been a contributor to the Neue Freie Presse,
or the Neues Wiener Taghlatt, or Die Zeit (the leading dailies
of Vienna), is always sure of a welcome reception by the
Berlin editors ; in point of fact a good many leader writers
and influential critics in Berlin hail from Vienna, where they
got their training and made their reputations.
The Neue Freie Presse, which was started some forty years
ago, had for a good many years the greatest circulation of any
German paper, and this marvellous success
F«!^B Pres^se^' ' ^^ owing solely and exclusively to its
literary finish. The then editors of the
Neue Freie Presse, of whom only one, Herr Moriz Benedikt,
has survived, took great pains and jibbed at no expense to
get the very best writers on the staff of their paper ; they had
a wonderful scent for talent and promise and thus it became
an established fact among writers and readers that for literary
excellence the Neue Freie Presse was first and unequalled
among the German daily papers, both in Austria and Germany.
The most attractive feature of the Neue Freie Presse was
its feuUleton, a genus of writing which in ever3rthing but its
name has nothing whatever to do with what
FeuTueton English, and French readers are used to
associate with the word feuilleton. In French
and English papers a feuilleton means a serial, a novel in
76
The Press 77
instalments : the Feuilleton of the Neue Freie Presse, which
is now being imitated by all the German papers, was a different
thing altogether. The subject of a feuilleton might be any-
thing and everything, from a commentary on some topic of
the day to the inspiration of a philosopher. The material was
nothing, the handling everything. There was one thing
required : the piece of writing " below the stroke," that is,
under the leader, had to be a work of art, complete
in itself, highly finished in style, suggestive, poignant,
forcible.
To give an English reader an idea of what the Vienna
feuilleton is like, one has to go back to the days of Addison
and Steele ; perhaps Lamb and Hazlitt would do as weU.
In our own days WiUiam Archer and H. W. Walkeley have
proved that ease and grace are not incompatible with critical
acumen and thoroughness. For a long time the dif&cult
art of feuiUet on- writing seemed to be a secret of the Neue
Freie Presse. Ludwig Speidel and Hugo Wittmann were
eagerly imitated by the young generation. Since then it
has become the tradition of every Vienna paper to have at
least one eminent feuilleton writer on its staff. To the general
reader, unless he happen to be acquainted with the personnel
of his favourite paper, the feuilleton writer is the only man who
is known to him by name, and consequently is most intimately
associated with the paper itself. Thus to subscribers of the
Neue Freie Presse Ludwig Speidel, Hugo Wittmann, and
later on, Theodor Herzl, were much better known to the public
than the editors-in-chief, Wilhelm Bacher and Moriz Benedikt ;
to readers of the Neues Wiener Taghlatt Eduard Potzl
is a more famUiar name than Wilhelm Singer, notwith-
standing the fact that Herr Singer enjoys a wide reputation
as a first-rate authority on French affairs, as a friend and
confidant of many a French statesman and as the founder
and president of the International Press Association. And
Die Zeit was in its upward struggle greatly helped by the
feuiUetons of that brilhant writer Felix Salten.
78 Austria
As to the politics of the Vienna papers, we have all shades
and varieties froni the narrowest nationalism and bigoted
denominationalism up to a broad-minded cosmopolitan
outlook on life.
The Clerical Party , which represents the German population
of the Alpine countries, has for its mouthpiece Die Reichspost,
which is said to be often inspired by the Heir
R ■ hsoost " Presumptive, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
This report is eagerly spread by the Clericals
and as eagerly contradicted by the Liberals. Die Reichspost
is the exponent of Anti-Semitism.
In this mission it is supported by another widely-read
paper, the Deuisches Volksblatt, the editor of which started
as a sort of modern St. George going to kill
vVk'tj'tt^" ^^^ dragon of political and financial corrup-
tion ; in due course he amassed a vast fortune
and was more than once dragged before the law courts to
defend himself against the reproach of bribery and
corruption.
The extreme German nationalism is voiced by the Ost-
deutsche Rundschau, a paper which has a very limited
circulation.
The Social Democratic Party is represented by the
Arbeiterzeitung, which has some very able editors and is
coming rapidly to the fore. It is read by a
zeitune*'''' great many people outside the social Demo-
cratic Party on account of its uncom-
promising attitude in matters connected with the upper
circles.
Most of the Vienna dailies are conducted on non-party
lines and are strictly liberal in their views. The Neue Freie
Presse and Die Zeit are read by intellectuals
"papers.*^ of aU parties. The Neues Wiener Tagblatt
and the Neues Wiener Journal have a vast
following among the lower middle class. The Illustriertes
Extrdblatt caters for the old stock of those natives to whom
The Press 79
Vienna is everything and the world outside of very little
account.
Besides these independent papers there is the official
gazette, Wiener Zeitung, and several dailies which are subsi-
Official and ^^^'^ W ^^^ Government. Of these the
Semi-official FremdenUatt is traditionally the organ of the
Papers. Foreign Office, and up to a short time ago
was also that of the War Office. The Emperor is believed
to be a regular reader of the Fremdenblatt. Owing to this fact
(or fiction) the paper has a wide circulation among officers
and the Vienna aristocracy. During the war scare of the
winter 1912-13 a military paper, named Militdrische
Rundschau has been founded and strongly subsidised by
the War Office. It was greatly deplored that the tone of
this semi-official paper during the crisis was ever5^hing but
correct.
It will surprise English readers to hear that there are scarcely
any weekly papers in Vienna. There have been a good many
abortive attempts at supplying this want.
Weeklies. Die Zeit seemed in a fair way to hold its own,
but in the end it was merged in the daily
paper of that name. And Die Wage, which was started under
favourable circumstances, barely manages to keep above
water.
It is not as if the Viennese were indifferent to argumentative
writing and hterary discussions. Rather the reverse. But
what interest there is in political argument and literary
criticism is amply satisfied by the feuilletons and weekly
supplements of the leading daily papers.
The comic weekly. Die Muskete, which was started a few
years ago, has, by its independent attitude towards parties
and politicians gained an influential position
MuslSte " ^^^ ^^^ become very popular in military
circles by its broad-minded patriotism and
fearless exposition of bogus and sham. It has the very best
Viennese cartoonists on its staff.
80 Austria
The only magazine of political and literary importance
is the bi-monthly review, Oesterreichische Rundschau. Dr.
Glossy, the editor-in-chief, has spared no
" Rundschau/ ^*P^"^^ to keep it at a high mark of literary
excelftnse and thorough information.
In a country of so many nations and languages as Austria
there is, of course, plenty of room for provincial papers. We
have three leading dailies in PoUsh, two in
The Provincial Czech, one in Ruthenian, and so on, aad so on.
But it may be safely asserted that the pro-
vincial press of the several Slavonic races is slightly given to
parochialism and self-ceatred exaggeration of their national
affairs. This foible is not shared by the chief Italian paper in
Trieste, the Piccolo delta Matina and Piccolo delta Sera.
It should be mentioned in passing that Prague, the capital
of Bohemia, which is claimed by the Czechs as a stronghold
of Slavonic aspirations, boasts of two excellent German'papers,
the Prager Tagblati and the Bohemia.
The Vienna journalists are a powerful body of men and have
never been wanting in a very commendable esprit de corps.
To become a member of their association, the " Concordia," is
a mark of distinction, and their yearly crush, the " Concordia-
ball " is attended by diplomatists, home and foreign, poU-
ticians, financiers, captains of industry, painters, theatrical
stars — in fact, tout Vienna.
CHAPTER VIII
ARCHITECTURE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
The first fifty years of the nineteenth century were lost ones
as regards architecture. The Emperor Franz, with his very
necessary principle of saving, had cut down
The Decline of all expenses relating to building. When
Architecture jjq^ ^nd again something had to be done,
beginning of such as a toU-house, a barrack, a Government-
the Century, house, no artists were employed, but the
buildings rose at command from the authori-
ties, and there was far more ink and red tape used than
pencU and brush.
The result of this was a sorry one, and the buildings erected
under the regime of Sprenger, the then almighty Master of
the Imperial Building Office (K. K. Hofbauamt) are no honour
to Vienna.
At the time it would have seemed incredible that the
healthy breeze which was to sweep over Europe was to rise
just here, that Vienna should boast the greatest architects
of the century, and that the " Viennese Style " should become
exemplary all over Europe.
In a great measure this is owing to the intelligent,
generous and great -minded initiative of the Emperor Francis
Joseph, who planned the rejuvenation of
Vienna Rebuilt Vienna and found the right men to carry it
'* of %rS'' through.
Joseph I. In 1857 the town walls with the fortifica-
cations encircling Vienna proper were laid
low, the old ramshackle houses leaning against them vanished
with them, and a broad street with double avenues, flanked
by the most beautiful and imposing buildings and palaces,
81
6— (2394)
82 Austria
rose in their stead, thus making the suburbs and Vienna one.
The effect of this novelty was such that a great many European
cities, Paris and the large German towns especially, imitated it.
This grandiose work was not done in a day, the first plans
were altered again an^ again, and it took almost thirty years
to finish it.
Before we speak of the five men who have made Vienna
architecture what it is, we must remember two unhappy
Van der Null artists who were born for great things also,
and but just a few years too soon. They are
Siccardsburg. Van der Niill and Siccardsburg, the builders
of the Imperial Opera House. These two inseparables died in
1868, the year before their great work was completed, Van
der NuU, by his own hand, Siccardsburg some weeks later
of heart failure, brought about by disappointment and grief.
The Opera House is to-day considered a masterpiece, but at
the time it was built not one good word was said about it.
The difficulties were great — ^the site for it being the old moat,
which was cleverly used for all kinds of cellars, and numbers
of private apartments and offices having to be accommodated
in the building. Apart from all this, incessant nagging,
suggestions, and even commands from all kinds of authorities
made the work a martyrdom. It cannot be appreciated
enough that, iii spite of all this, the house was made what it is.
The style is early French Empire, with a beautiful, most
effective loggia. Technically it is superb, especially as regards
light, ventilation and stage construction.
The five creators of New Vienna are the three great
friends, Hansen, , Schmidt, Ferstel, together with Semper
and Hasenauer.
TTheophil, Baron von Hansen (1813-1891), was by birth a
Dane, by incUnation a Grecian. He learned to love the classic
architecture in Athens, and though his first
Th«)phil work in Vienna was still romantic, he soon
found himself and remained true to Hellenic
architecture through life.
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Architecture in the Nineteenth Century 83
His great work is the House of Parliament, a pure Corin-
thian temple, or rather three of them, combined by two
imposing window tracts, so that the front
^pLHament * ^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^°"g- '^^^ *^° ^reat haUs to right
and left behind the pillared temples are
decorated by caryatid balconies, their high attica is fuU of
fine statuary seen from afar. The interior is rich with
marble and painted stucco, its glory the central temple hall
(128 to 72 feet) with twenty-four colossal red marble pillars,
the walls being black and white marble.
Hansen was fond of polychromy, and where he could not
make use of it on the outside, he lavished it on the interior.
Other public buildings by Hansen are the Academy of the
Fine Arts, with a fine pillar-hall, the Bourse, and the
Musikvereinssale, Vienna's largest concert-hall, with a profusion
of gold inside.
Apart from these, Hansen is of the last importance as
builder of private palaces. The Ringstrasse, with its unheard-
of broadness (almost 200 feet) required an immense type
of house, and he, together with Ferstel, was the man to
create it.
Baron Friedrich von Schmidt (1825-1871), a Suavian by
birth, was Hansen's antipode — a Gothic enthusiast of the last
order. He was an imposing personality,
Friedrich ^^^ artisan originally, and proud of the fact,
von Schmidt. -^ t V i -t -j. iv.
but m spite of many homely traits, the very
man to deal with court officials, and other authorities, getting
his own way always, and always without giving offence.
He was a society man, one of the best after-dinner speakers
of his time, and yet an artist through and through. To his
strong personality we owe a sturdy school of architects, while
the other great builders left scarcely any pupils behind them.
He became attached to the Gothic style in Cologne, where,
as a lad, he worked at restoring the dome, and then in Milan.
When first he came to Vienna, in 1859, his work was still a
bit hard and angular, but he soon became more Viennese,
84 Austria
that is, softer and more graceful. Before he began his great
work, the Town Hall {Rathaus), he had built the monastery-
like Akademisches Gymnasium, Vienna's most famous grammar
school, and five suburban churches, each of a distinct char-
acter, original and striding. The finest of these is the
church in Fiinfhaus, with a noble cupola and graceful
lantern.
Besides all this, he worked incessantly at the regeneration
of St. Stephen's (Stefansdom), that finest of German cathedrals,
which was begun in the thirteenth century
St. Stephen's, and finished in the fifteenth. This remarkable
edifice boasts the greatest steeple in Europe,
450 feet high. It is a pity that the magnificent building
cannot fuUy assert itself, as it is too closely surrounded by
secular structures to allow a full view from an3^where.
Schmidt rebuilt the top of the steeple, restored many bits
outside and in, which had been spoiled by irreverent hands,
and altogether sparingly but firmly strengthened the whole.
The Town Hall is an eclectic building, classical in the
horizontal lines, gothic in the vertical ones. In its con-
struction it reminds one of the Brussels Town
^''h^P" ^^^ ^* *^® ^^"^^^ ''^^^"^ almost free in front.
There are open arcades on the ground-floor ;
the upper floors, with their immense Gothic windows, are
richly decorated, and the whole with its magnificent staircase
makes a grand impression. The square commanded by this
building is surely one of the finest in the world, with the
classic House of Parliament and the University to left and
right of it, and the Hofhurgtheater opposite.
A little sister of the Town Hall is the Suhnhaus (House of
Atonement). This remarkable buUding was erected on the
Emperor's initiative on the site where the Ring Theatre was
burnt and hundreds perished, and meant to be an act of
atonement for that terrible catastrophe. It is really a business
house vrath a chapel for its centre.
Schmidt has also buUd many churches in the provinces
Architecture in the Nineteenth Century 85
and abroad, and altogether was one of our strongest and most
fertile architects.
A third great builder was Baron Heinrich von Ferstel
(1828-1883), a child of the Vienna soil, cheery and graceful,
full of imagination and yet ever harmonious,
Heinnch versatile and clever in technicalities! It is
von Ferstel. , , . ,. x ^, .1.^1.
characteristic of the man that he was a
good painter and musician, a passionate collector of antiqui-
ties, and a fluent writer. He has always been a favourite
of the public, and his greatest work, the Votive Cathedral
(Votivkirche), is almost as well beloved of the Viennese as
St. Stephen's.
The Votivkirche is simple in its construction, like the
Cathedral of Cologne, but not so heavy and massive ; on the
contrary, in spite of its rich decoration, the
^'^th^d^'T^ effect is so graceful as to remind one of lace,
which has its reason partly in the beautiful
light grey material used, and partly in the fact that the two
steeples are quite open-worked. The site adds to its effect,
for so far from being smothered like St. Stephen's, the church
stands in a huge square, the fine buildings flanking it (like
the University) weU set back. EngUsh readers will be
interested in the fact that Sir Tatton Sykes, when travelling
all over Europe to find a model for the parish church he wished
to build, chose the Votivkirche.
When Ferstel won the prize for this church he was only
twenty-seven years old. Later he was claimed by the
Renaissance, and his other great buildings were all in the
classic style. Of these the finest are the Austrian Museum,
which combines the Vienna Arts and Crafts School with an
Exhibition Hall. It is rich in polychrome outside, but its
chief beauty hes in the interior, particularly the arcade
court with its magnificent staircase. This was a speciality
of Ferstel's, and the University, his finest secular building,
has several of these imposing staircases and an inner court
with arcades rivalling Michael Angelo's court in the Palazzo
86 Austri^
Farnese. Ferstel studied in Italy, in France, and in England,
before he began this work, but his plans as regards the inner
decoration were not carried out in spite of his vaUant battles
with red tape and stinginess. This trouble actually helped
to bring him to his grave.
Ferstel was also, next to his friend Hansen, the most
important builder of private houses, and with him gave
the Ringstrasse its characteristic aspect. Besides, Vienna
owes to him the " Cottage Quarter," a suburb in the north-
west of Vienna, with one-family houses and gardens in the
EngUsh way, in contrast to the horrid tenement-house prin-
ciple prevalent in Vienna. It is a pity he could not do more
in this direction, in spite of his ardent propaganda in word
and deed.
On a somewhat lower step of the ladder than these three
great men stands Baron Karl von Hasenauer (1833-1895), a
pupil of Van der Niill, and a Vienna man also.
H nauer ^^ ^^^ ^° P^^® austere genius like that of
his three great colleagues, but his dazzling,
effective style suited the Viennese who were schooled by
Makart to love voluptuous beauty, and he was certainly
original in his magnificent decorative style, Viennese through
and through, and a clever manager.
His faults were counterbalanced by Eriedrich Semper,
whom we must count as the fifth great creator of New Vienna,
though he only spent some years here.
Friedrich Semper is as well known in England as here —
he lived four years in London, and to him
England is partly indebted for the construction of the Ken-
sington Museum, and for the organisation of the Arts and
Crafts Movement. In 1870 Semper was summoned to Vienna
to aid Hasenauer, in fact to supervise his work, and the
Imperial Museums, the Emperor's Palace, and the Imperial
Court Theatre were built by the two of them.
The Imperial Museums (of the Fine Arts and of Natural
History) are two identical buildings in the style of the Italian
Architecture in the Nineteenth Century 87
Renaissance, with cupolas 200 feet high, standing opposite
each other on a large square. The gorgeous entrance halls
with their grand staircases are the most colossal and magnifi-
cent ones of the world. Hasenauer has used all kinds of
many-coloured marble, with a Very network of gold ornaments,
and the decorations are pictures by Makart, Munkacsy,
Klimt, and Matsch — the whole an orgy of colour.
The Imperial Court Theatre is characteristic of Semper in
its construction — a half circle with two elongated wings —
and of Hasenauer in the decoration, which in its plastic
part was undertaken by artists such as TUgner, Wejn:,
Kundmann, while there is a profusion of pictures by Hynais,
Klimt, Matsch, Charlemont, Robert Russ. The staircases
are again magnificent, and the stage is technically above
reproach. But the house is too large, and the acoustics are
not what they ought to be, though immense sums have been
spent in alterations, and even rebuilding.
The new Palace of the Emperor (in which he does not live,
feeling more comfortable in his well-known suites in the old
wing) bears more or less the same stamp as these buildings,
being a massive and imposing Renaissance structure.
Besides these eminent artists there were and are a great
many other architects of high standing. As theatre-builders
Other ^^^ ^^° inseparables, Helmer and Fellner,
Architects of are famous all over the world,
the Old School. Fleischer was a specialist in synagogues and
built several fine residences besides. To Konig and Deininger,
Vienna also owes many private houses and palaces, those of
the latter in a rather too eclectic style. In Prague Zitek has
built many fine classic edifices. In GaUcia Zachariewitcz is
probably the most important architect.
In architecture as well as in the fine arts the last decade
of the century has brought a revolution, and the head of this
Otto Wagner, secession in building was Otto Wagner
(born 1841). He scorns all historical detail,
working in Uneary modem forms, straight and angular.
88 Austria
without pillars, without the popular round loggias, and
for decoration using a good deal of metal, gold in par-
ticular, and coloured Dutch tiles. In Vienna his chief
works are the station buildings of the Underground Railway,
the huge Post Office Savings Bank, the Church of the Lunatic
Asylum in Steinliof, and a great many tenement houses.
Wagner has explained his principles in the widely-read book.
Modern Architecture. He has a good many ardent fellow-
ccanbatants and pupils, as well as enemies who use his ideas,
so that most of the buildings in Vienna which bear his stamp
are not really his at aU.
Of these modem architects we must mention Olbrich, the
builder of the " Secession," Josef Hoffmann, Leopold Bauer,
Max Fabiani, who has constructed boxes of
°Archltecte.''° '^"siness houses, looking exactly like blocks
of marble mounted in metal, and Friedrich
Ohmann, to whom Vienna owes the charming terraces along
the river Wien, and the architectural arrangement of several
fine monuments. The most radical of all is Adolf Loos,
whose business house on the Michaelerplatz has roused a
storm of indignation in Vienna, and with good reason too,
we must add. We cannot bring ourselves to admire a bare
white block with windows looking like sightless eyes, and that
in a fine old bit of the city, with beautiful Empire palaces
all around, not to speak of the magnificent cupola of the
Emperor's Palace which stands just opposite. Structmres
of that kind are glaring offences, nothing less ; and it is to
be hoped that the movement which aspires to put such
incongruities in the place of aU the dignified old-world houses
stiU plentifiil in Vienna, will be checked in time.
Photo by
" Kilophot," 'G.in.b.h., Vienna.
PIRANO (DALMATIA)
CHAPTER IX
FINE ART IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
1. THE CLASSICISM OF THE FIRST QUARTER
This was not a brilliant period in Austria. There was little
originality, and even the imitative art does not get beyond
mediocrity — with the exception of the miniature portrait,
and porcelain plastics, where excellence was attained.
Historical painting was the clou of the time, and Friedrich
Heinrich Fiiger (1751-1818) the absolute lord of art. But
Histoi-ical good as he was in miniature painting, his
Painting. historical pieces lack hfe of any kind. Th6y
are beautifully composed, light and colour
"^^'^' are well distributed, the nude as well as the
draperies carefully studied, but the effect is one of deadly
correctness, no more.
His pupils were worse, and we may pass them over, with
the exception of Caucic and'Russ, two men who fought
effectually against the cloying sweetness of the prevailing
taste.
One painter only in that period found his way to a sort of
realism : Johann Peter Krafft, whose soldiers and citizens
are real Hve men, not costumes and attitudes.
In portrait painting, however, good work was done, especi-
ally in miniatures. English influence is remarkable here,
and though the first good portraitists of the
Palntine period, Lampi, father and son, still use the
" sweetener " as their chief brush, and are
but lukewarm in colour, Fiiger, and even more so his pupil
Daf&nger (1790-1849), who is influenced by Lawrence in his
Daffineer brilHant colouring, painted the most charming
miniature portraits, delicate, refined, perfect
in characterisation. The best known of Daffinger's many
famous pictures is, perhaps, the miniature of the present
90 Austria
Emperor as a baby, the prettiest baby imaginable, with fair
curls and laughing blue eyes.
We may here mention the Polish pupil of Lampi's, Peszka,
who was one of the first Polish painters and collectors.
In landscape painting Johann Christian Brand was the first
to leave the well-trodden paths of the ideal classical land-
scape, and to retiurn to the healthy, natural
^Patattoe^" picturing of his beautiful native scenery.
He had plenty of able pupils. Other famous
landscape painters of the time were Rebell and Koch, the
latter painting only Italian landscapes.
Of etchers, etc., there were legion then, mostly clever, but
not great. The demand for etchings and cuts was immense,
all the books and reviews were illustrated with them, Christ-
mas and other congratulation cards as well, and the art
dealers' business developed rapidly.
In sculpture one man only achieved real greatness — Franz
Zauner (1746-1822). At the time Canova loomed gigantic,
Sculoture ^ nobody could compete with him at first.
(It may be mentioned here that two beautiful
works by the Roman are to be seen in Vienna : the tomb of the
Archduchess Marie Christine in St. Augustine's Church and the
Theseus Group in the Imperial Museum of Art.) Zauner
Zauner worked in wood when a baby, in stone as a
boy, and had done remarkable things before
he was twenty. His beginnings are rococo, but his great
works, the beautiful statue of Joseph II above all, are truly
classic. Not in the cut and dried way of the contemporary
painters, but with a pathetic and grand simpUcity.
We may also mention Johann Martin Fischer. He is most
famous for his " Muscleman," the model figure used in aU the
studios in Austria and many abroad to this day. But he has
done good work in other ways, too, a great many Vienna
fountain figures with effective draperies, for instance.
Joseph Daniel Bohm was a different man altogether, one of
the few to see light in the darkness of the time. He only did
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 91
small things, woodcutting, reliefs, jewelry, medals, but
everything with a fervour for his art that was almost religious.
His influence on the younger generation was a remarkable
factor in the next epoch.
This leads us to another man who worked at applied art,
Grassi, the modeller of the Imperial Vienna Porcelain Shop.
This Vienna Porcelain, called Alt Wien, with the trade-mark
of the bee-hive, was truly artistic, in plastic work as well as
in painting, the flower designs being quite a speciality. To-
day it fetches fantastic prices, as the factory was closed in
the sixties.
2. ROMANTICISM UP TO THE ERA OF FRANCIS JOSEPH I
The reaction against academic constraint and straight-
lacedness had set in towards the end of the classicistic period,
as we have seen, and the epoch before us was to complete the
work of freeing art from its bonds. The Napoleonic Wars
sent a wave of patriotism over Austria, and in its wake came
Romanticism. Nothing was done in sculpture, it is true
(lack of money being the chief reason), but painting attained
a most respectable height, culminating in the works of one
man of universal genius — ^Waldmiiller. In historical and
romantic painting there are also several artists whose work
will Uve, some of whom, hke Schwind, having come to their
own only lately, so modern in the best sense are they.
In historical painting there is the trifolium Blaas, Engerth
and Wurzinger, closely allied in their manner as weU as in
Historical ^^® heroic subjects they chose. Blaas was.
Painting. perhaps, the most striking individuahty of
the three. He painted frescoes in the famous
Altlerchenfelder Church, and later forty-five
gigantic pictures for the Arsenal in Vienna, mostly for the
cupola. Their colouring is a little dull, but they are no doubt
Eneerth grand work, very different from the attitu-
dinous groups of a Fiiger. Engerth painted
a good deal too, perhaps too much, for his later work
92 Austria
is rather superficially effective, though the characterisation
and composition is always excellent. Wurzinger was
the best teacher of the time. His fame
Wurzinger. as a painter rests chiefly on one, monumental
picture.: " The Emperor Ferdinand II
refusing to sign the articles of the religious peq(ce which the
Protestant Vienna citizens are demanding."
As a historical painter we must also mention the Czech
nationaUst Manes. Apart from his historical scenes he
Manes painted portraits, Czech national types,
romantic legends, etc., and is popular to this
day. His chief merit, however, is that of having raised a
great many ancient Czech art treasures from forgotten depths.
The romantic religious painting of the period is also repre-
sented by three first-rate men, of whom two, however, soon
Relieious ^^^* Vienna. Fiihrich (d. 1876), the leader
Painting. of the " Nazarene " group in Vienna, a strong
individuality and honest, unshakable worker,
" "*^ ■ was the only one to remain in Austria. His
chief work here is the painting of the Altlerchenfelder
Church (in which he was aided by several others), but his
smaller pictures, and particularly his wood cuts, were
appreciated and popular always, even in the time of the
Makart rage, when good draughtsmanship was rather looked
down upon than otherwise.
Steinle, who left Vienna for Frankfort before he had
reached the summit of his power, was a specialist in Madonnas.
Schwindt (1804-1871), the third of this trifolium, was also
lost to Austria when still a young man — ^Uke so many others
of a later day, he went to Munich. He is
Schwindt. the romantic painter par excellence, but his
romance is aUve with personal reminiscences,
and that is what makes his pictures so powerful, in spite of
their elusive charm. Characteristically enough, he hated
oils, and generally worked in water-colours. We have also
countless pencil sketches from his hand, the most famous
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 93
being the " Schubertiaden," where Schubert, Schwindt, his
inseparable, and the whole of that merry group of friends
were portrayed in all possible and impossible situations.
Very characteristic of that travel-loving, romantic time are
also the travel sketches [Reisebilder). But his most beautiful
work are the great cyclic scenes of folk-songs, legends and
fairy tales, full of nature and yet most delicate and poetic
in drawing and colouring, though a bit washy and faded for
the modern colour-loving eye.
And now we come to that field where the best work
of the time was done : social genre painting. The life
that was portrayed in those pictures is
pSntfae ^^^ ^^^ described by Hevesi, the clever
Vienna art critic. He says ; " The art of
the time was rooted in everyday life, and thus limited by
mental shackles and inartistic influences, but all the same
the lovable traits of Viennese nature show to the best advan-
tage. It is a cheerful, honest, well-meaning world that is
reflected here, a world that lives and lets live, a hfe that is
best taken from the sunny side, brightness everywhere,
animation without agitation, pleasure in little things and
cheerful renunciation of bigger ones that are hard to reach —
the fine blue Danube, good wines to drink, good things to
eat, good music to hear, and pretty women in plenty."
Such was, indeed, the Vienna world before 1848, and when,
in addition to these rather uninspiring surroundings, we call
to mind the shackles of their academic, classicistic past aU
the painters had to get rid of, it is remarkable what a host
of excellent artists worked at the time. We can name only
a few, but the walls of the Vienna galleries show hundreds
of first-class pictures from the Hfe of " Alt Wien."
There was Danhauser (1805-1845) the " Englishman " of the
time, whose bright water-colours might be taken for British
Danhauser work of to-day. He was first under the spell
of the old Dutch gerure painters ; then David
Wilkie taught him much, but in the end he soared above
94 Austria
his master by aid of his temperament and fine sense of
colour. His pictures of the well-to-do Vienna citizens in
their comfortable and refined family Ufe are unequalled.
Then there are the humoristic Peter Fendi, a dehcate
draughtsman, and the veracious if rather elaborate Eybl, with
the animal painters Ranftl, Strassgschwandtner, and above all,
the dramatic Gauermann (1807-1862), whose
Gauermann. pictures of the Austrian Alps and their cattle
and game are always full of suggestion and
sentiment. Landseer, a kindred spirit, admired him
immensely.
And there is Ferdinand Georg WaldmiiUer (1793-1866), of
whom we may just as well speak in this connection, though
he reached the same excellence not only in
WaldmuUer. genre, but also in portrait-painting, in
landscape and in still life.
He was an individuality if ever there was one, learning
from all the great masters, but imitating none. He returned
from Paris, from the Netherlands, from Italy, not as he had
gone, but always himself. As quite a boy he had rebelled
against the academical death-in-life, and he remained a
revolutionist always. Here he was only properly valued
after he was dead, while he was treated infamously in his
lifetime, but England and America knew him at once for what
he was worth, and Queen Victoria once bought his whole
stock (thirty-one pictures) from him when he was on his way
to Philadelphia to sell it there. " Return to nature " was
his war cry, but he never became a soulless reahst, his pictures
always have a great thought of feeling in them. His colours
are briUiant even from a modern standpoint — he was the
first to paint in the sun, shocking his critics and dear colleagues
beyond expression. His landscapes aU have the atmosphere
that other painters only did twenty and thirty years later.
His portraits seem about to step from their frames, so Ufe-
like are they ; and all so very, very Viennese. As a tree-
painter he is first and foremost. And his genre pictures are
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 95
the last word in composition, in the distribution of light and
shade, in characterisation, in humour and tenderness. Only
in a certain softness is he excelled by Pettenkofen, past-master
in this kind of painting.
Except for him, there was no genius in landscape painting
at the time. His teacher, Franz Steinfeld, paved the way
for a modern generation, but their work all
pSntinr *^^^ ^^*° ^^^ *^™^ °* Francis Joseph I.
Beside him we may name Hoger, a specialist
in trees, who was surpassed only by WaldmiiUer.
The graphic arts do not show any growth during this time,
though a great deal of cutting, etching, etc., was done. Alt,
the father of the famous landscape painter, may just be
mentioned.
In sculpture absolutely nothing of note was done.
3. THE ERA OF FRANCIS JOSEPH I
This half century, a golden age, indeed, has doubtless a
face of its own, but to us the characteristic features are not
plain yet. We stand too near to make them out clearly.
If we must trace any schools or movements at all, we have
to say that the romantic tide of the fifties went out, to make
place to the Neo-renaissance ; this was followed by the colour
enthusiasm of Makart and his time, and between that and the
modern impressionism, with its various radical sections,
there is no recognisable influence strong enough to form
anything like a school.
Thus we shall have to take the good things as they come,
chronologically, doing our best to group them wherever this
is possible. I
The painters mentioned in ithe last chapter : Fuhrich and
his school, the trifoUum of historians, and WaldmiiUer, the
lonely one, all wrought in this epoch still, in fact their best
work was done in the sixties and seventies.
Other historians of the old school are Carl Swoboda, the
96 Austria
Czech, who painted the loggias in the Vienna opera, Eduard
Swoboda, who decorated the Stock Exchange, Loffler-
Radymno the Pole with great Pohsh pictures,
Historical KoUer, who died in the gutter, but painted
Old School, with wSnderful swing, and many others. Of
the older genre painters Friedrich Friedlander
(1825-1899), the last of the WaldmiiUer school, is the best.
He became a specialist in veterans after the
9^°''®, . war of 1866, and was very popular. Indeed,
Old School, liis carefully painted scenes show excellent
qualities, of which the cleverly observed
expression and gesture is not the least. His is also the
merit of having founded the Vienna Artists' Society
(Kiinstlergenossenschaft). Up to then the Vienna painters
had suffered terribly under the tyranny of the dealers.
This calm and rather elderly painting world was rudely
shaken by the allegorist, Karl Rahl (1812-1865), a man of
extraordinary vigour, one of those sensual
Rahl. natures brimming over with the love of life,
of colour, and of form, and full of imagination,
a man that the Renaissance of the sixteenth century might
have brought forth. He died insane, deeply mourned by his
pupils who had idolized him.
His titanic nature was at its best when working on a
gigantic scale, and, indeed, his frescoes and ceiling-pieces
are his most perfect work. He was the counterpart of his
friend Hansen the archite "t, working hand in hand with him.
His influence was very great, and he had countless pupils
and disciples, of whom we may mention BitterUch, painter
and sculptor, Eisenmenger and Griepenkerl, who painted
allegories quite in the style of the master, and carried out a
great many of his plans and sketches.
If Rahl had been a great influence in Vienna, Makart
(1840-1884) became a very pope. This genius in colour held
the whole city spell-bound, it painted, it acted, it dressed,
it talked, and, above all, it decorated its houses as the
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 97
great magician wished it to do. Rahl's school, with its
heavy sombre colours, was outshone from the moment
Makart Makart's first great painting, " Modern
Amorettes," was seen. He painted historical
scenes, allegories, portraits, landscapes, always on the largest
scale, dazzhng with hght and colour, revelling in sensual
beauty, in the most fantastic and voluptuous pageants.
It is a great pity that these wonderfully rich and glowing
colours have partly darkened to sickly hues, owing to his
often using cheap material — he could not always pay for the
best ! " Romeo and JuUet," for instance, has become
almost indistinguishable, and in his " Triumph of Ariadne "
(both in the Imperial Museum) some of the beautiful nude
figures, not all, have faded into a sickly yeUow.
He died young, without leaving any pupils ; what he knew
could not be taught.
Another great allegorist of the time was Hans Canon (1829-
1885), an enthusiastic admirer and imitator of Rubens,
Can n ^^* greater in his more original work.
As masters of colour we must also name the
The " Orientahsts " who studied hght and colour
unentaiists. ^^ Egypt, as Makart, too, had done. Leopold
Karl Miiller (1835-1892) was the first of them, Wilda and
Miehch of to-day are following in his footsteps.'; Schonn
painted street scenes in the same flaringly vivid colours,
using the same reflex effects, only his subjects were Italian.
Among MiiUer's famous pictures is a " Camel Market in
Cairo," Schonn has a " Fish Market in Chioggia," etc.
The greatest of this group, perhaps the greatest Austrian
genre painter, was August von Pettenkofen (1822-1889). He
began with mihtary pictures in the way of
Pettenkofen. Meissonier, though even then he was richer
in tone than the Frenchman, and broader
in touch. Later his colours became simply glowing, without
ever getting as extravagant as the impressionists'. An open
cowhouse in the warm brown summer shade with a peasant
7— (2394)
98 Austria
lad at the door, the glaring sun full on his white blouse-^such
were his subjects. His manner never remained the same,
for like Alt he never grew too old to learn, and his last
pictures are perfectly modern in touch, as the first had
already been in colour.. His brother Ferdinand imitated him
most successfully, and his pictures are often taken for August's.
In Galicia this period brought forth two great historians
of very different mettle — Grottker and the world-famous
Matejko. Arthur Grottker (1837-1867) has
Grottker. painted lovely historic romantic cycles of
Polish history, visibly influenced by Schwind.
But his is a melancholy poetry, steeped in tears, while Jan
Matejko (1838-1893) painted defiance and rebellion. His
composition was masterly at first, as in the
Matejko. famous " Polish Parhament at Warsaw,
in 1773 " (Imperial Museum in Vienna), but
his last pictures suffered from his growing short-sightedness
and became too intricate and confused. His colour, however,
remained what it had been from the beginning, so bright
and fresh as to produce an almost violent effect beside other
paintings of the time.
Two other PoHsh nationahsts are Julius Kossak and his
son Wojcich, who paint scenes of battle and hunting, full
of temperament and go.
Czech history painters of note are Vaclav Brozik (1851-1899)
who also did charming genre scenes of French peasantry,
and Jaroslav Czermak, who painted a whole
Czech^HUtory ^^av ethnograph, so to speak, types and
scenes from all the Slav nations down to
Servia and Montenegro, where he spent many years.
A lonely figure was that of Anselm Feuerbach (1829-1880),
a wholly spiritual genius who was not understood in the
time of Makart, and who is counted among
Feuerbach. the greatest to-day. It took him many years
to paint his heroic and gigantic pictures like
the " Battle of the. Amazons," or the " Fall of the Titans "
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 99
(ceiling picture in the Vienna Academy), but the sweetly or
sadly suggestive scenes like his " Iphigenia," " Hafis in the
Drinking House," " Dante," show him at his best. He is
Viennese only in so far as he taught at the Vienna Academy
in the seventies, so this is aU the space we can give him.
Another misjudged genius was Anton Romako, an impres-
sionist long before his time. His mad life had an evil
influence on his painting, however, and he did
Romako. not fulfil what his first work seemed to
promise.
Decorative painting profited a good deal by this grand
development of heroic art, and of architecture. Of the
older school we may mention Laufberger, a
Decorative g^^jj draughtsman, but cold. Gustav and
Ernst Klimt and Franz Matsch have in their
youth done brilliant ceUing-pieces for the Imperial Theatre
(Hofhurgtheatre), the Imperial Museum and many other
secular buildings. They will be spoken of later as the
originators of the Secession. Matsch's work is a bit sweet,
and so is that of three otherwise briUiant painters, Karger,
Veith, and Schram. Veith is perhaps the strongest, and
where he is not too superficial and creamy, as in many of his
girls' portraits, distinctly picturesque.
In Cracow there was the remarkable, if phantastic genius
of Wyspianski, poet and painterj whose stained glass windows
attracted great attention. He died quite young.
Taking the step from the historical to the genre painting
of the younger generation, we must begin with Julius v.
Payer, the Polar explorer who discovered
Genre Painters p^anz Josef Land. He is an original talent,
Generation? ^t his best when depicting life in the Polar
regions. Other remarkable genre painters
are Kurzbauer, a fresh and spontaneous colourist with simple
and effective subjects, Angeh (born 1840) who later became
famous for his elegantly finished portraits, that of Queen
Victoria and the Kaiser among the number ; Passini, with
100 Austria
Venetian scenes ; Rumpler with quaint, delicate pictures
something in the style of Pettenkofen ; Hans Temple whose
speciaUty are artists in their studios ; Eduard Charlemont
with most graceful nude figures ; Delug, whose first success
was a TjTTolese peasant woman hanging up her linen, a fresh,
breezy pictmre ; Jungwirth and Larwin with Austrian
peasants, market-women, etc., done with dash and humour,
but always honest and careful in detail ; Hirschl-Heremy,
who loves painting the sea with mj^thical accessories in cold
violets and greens ; " The Souls at the Acheron " is one of
his best and most characteristic pictures ; and Goltz with
fascinating l5T:ical scenes, suggestive and tender.
The genre pictures of Jewish hfe, by Isidor Kaufmann, are
full of feeling and subtle humour, beautifully finished and
strong in colour. Other Jewish genre painters of note are
Krestin, and Eichhorn, a versatile and sincere young painter,
of whom much may still be expected.
Of the many brilliant Polish genre painters let us mention
Zygmimt Aidtikiewicz, with Pohsh national scenes, Stachiewicz
with Madonnas in sweet pale grey tones, Zmiirko, who revels
in fantastic colours, Jan Styka and his young sons, one of
them a veritable prodigy who painted a vigorous, gripping
Prometheus on a large scale before he was sixteen.
The portrait has been very well represented of late. There
is Angeli, who was mentioned above, and who has grown a
Portrait bit too smooth in manner, though his fine
Painters of the draughtsmanship and vivid colour has not
G^ne^ralra. suffered. Probably at the top stands
Leopold Horovitz, the painter not only of
Horovitz. bodies, but of souls. His portraits in their
picturesqueness remind one of Herkomer, the eyes particu-
larly being so fiall of Kfe that they alone seem to tell the story
of their owner. Another profound psychologist and fresh,
Po hwalski spontaneous painter is the Pole Pochwalski,
a specialist in men portraits. The latest
genius is Quincey Adams, whose portrait of a well-known
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 101
Vienna surgeon at work on his patient occasioned a great
controversy. He is at his best when verging on genre, as
in the portrait of his little girl in yellow silk, dancing to
the 'cello. Schattenstein is a new painter of ladies, a man of
undoubted talent but inclined towards coarseness sometimes,
while Veith (who was named before) and Froschl sin by the
opposite extreme. Kraus, a careful and honest draughtsman,
is chaxacterised by a certain dash and a leaning towards
impressionism, and so is Baschny. As pastellists we may name
Josephine Swoboda, who has painted the English Royal
Family, the delicate and vividly characteristic specialist in
red chalk, Daviv Kohn, and Rauchinger, who works better
in pastel than in oils.
A clever and most prolific artist, surpassing even the
French in the hthographed portrait, was Kriehuber (1801-
1876). He used to draw on the stone at once, without any
preliminary studies, and scarcely ever corrected a line.
William Unger (born 1837) is the acknowledged master of
the etching needle, but his chief work is copying, while
Schmutzer and Michalek are almost exclusively portraitists.
SaUger and Cossmann are two of the most popular modern
etchers, the latter's speciality being Ex Libris.
Ernst Juch and Schliessmann are two of the best cartoonists
in Europe, each in his own way.
In landscape, as in portrait-painting, there are so many
first-class artists to-day that it is extremely hard to make
Landscape ^ selection. We must begin with Rudolf von
Painters. Alt, who, born in 1812, lived through all
the art revolutions of the century and
emerged as modern as the youngest. He was
a master in water-colours, painting landscapes and architectures
minutely and accurately, yet with inimitable grace and " go."
In his long life he has produced thousands of small master-
pieces, and, perhaps the finest are the last, painted with a
hand that shook too much to write a single w6rd. Alt made
a virtue of necessity, doing these last pictures in the
102 Austria
pointillist manner. It is very characteristic of the man
that he became the honorary president of the " Secession "
that was founded by quite young men, boys ahnost — and
he was ninety then.
Of the older generatfon there are Zimmermann, Lichtenfels
and Schaffer, all vigorous talents, but comparatively
colourless, better draughtsmen than painters.
A great step forward was made by the lyrical genius
Schindler (1842-1892). He loved subdued tints at first, brown
and grey, then gradually grew more and more
Schindler. natural and vivid. In this bright period he
discovered the charm of the gaudy cottage
gardens, and he has painted many graceful Uttle pictures
with these gajly coloured patches for their subject. He knew
how to take nature in her grand moods as well, however, as
his " Poplars," and above all the pathetic " Pax " (a ruined
cemetery with cypresses, Imperial Museum), show.
He has had a good many inspired pupils, Karl Moll (who
will be spoken of later), Tina Blau, and Olga Wisinger among
the number. Tina Blau has a preference for sombre moods
in landscape, while Olga Wisinger loves bright summer
scenes and glowing autumn foliage.
Theodor von Hermann (1840-1895) was also influenced
by Schindler. He was a fanatic of nature, painting honestly
what he saw, untouched by school or con-
Hormann. vention. For many years he was sneered
at and looked upon as half mad ; to-day the
younger generation make him out a martyr. When at last
he began to be appreciated, he died of a cold he had caught
actually sitting in the rising tide to paint the rollers.
Eugen Jettel and Rudolf Ribarz were masters of the French
landscape seen in the French way.
Robert Russ is one of the most versatile modern landscape
painters, finding new motifs and new manners almost every
year, but always vigorous in drawing and vivid in colour.
If one can speak of a speciality with this many-sided talent,
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 103
it is the South of Tyrol with the golden sun on gay autumn
fohage. Tomec is a vigorous painter, of rocky alpine scenery
for preference.
TTien there is Hugo Charlemont, a lover of the quaint and
dainty, with tiny pictures of a few birches in the sun, a
cottage garden with spotted fowls, and the Uke.
Benno Kniipf er was a specialist in seascapes, a Bocklinesque
example of which is the beautiful " Fight between Tritons,"
in the Imperial Museum, and so is Zoff, an ardent interpreter
of the lovely Adriatic coast.
Ludwig Fischer, a most prohfic painter and draughtsman
in every technique, is a master in oriental landscapes, India
and Egypt for preference, with fine yeUows and purples.
Damaut, one of the most mellow modem landscape painters,
is a speciaUst in wood and water ; his little lakes surrounded
with old grey beeches, their fohage gUstening with dew, are
unsurpassed in their sweet dreaminess.
Brunner loves lonely houses on grassy plains, the evening
sun painting a wall yellow. His pictures have a melancholy
suggestive charm, but they are rather ahke, so far.
Bernt and Bamberger, architects originally, foUow in Alt's
footsteps, painting bits of Vienna architecture quite in his
vivid, bright, and yet carefully detailed way. Pippich is
also one of the painter-chronists of Vienna town. He loves
queer light effects, gas lamps burning through the snowy
atmosphere of a large square, and the like.
Zetsche is a specialist in ruins and old towns, generally done
in water-colours with a quaintly elaborate care.
This period also boasts of some remarkable animal painters,
chief of whom was Rudolf Huber (1829-1896), a lover of
browsing cattle, but an excellent landscape
^dnt* painter and portraitist at the same time.
His ohve groves with sheep and shepherd
bathed in sun remind one of Pettenkofen. Schrodl, Pausinger
and Thoren must also be named, the last, a vigorous painter
of cattle particularly, has left Vienna for Paris now.
104 Austria
In still life there are a great many painters of quality,
most of whom have already been named in other connections,
as they are not specialists in this one Hne —
Painters^ only one man has had the courage to renounce
everj^hing else and throw himself into this
generally thankless branch of art with heart and soul, Schodl,
now one of our most popular painters.
And now let us throw a rapid glance at the latest develop-
ment of Austrian art, known as " Secession " in Vienna.
The " Kiinstlergenossenschaft," founded by
" Sec^s%n • ' Frifidl^^der and others in the 'sixties, had
grown a bit stiff and academic, not a breeze
stirred to tell of the storm that was sweeping the west, names
like Rodin, Meunier, Charpentier were unknown to the public,
and their ways and methods undreamed of. A few youngsters
who tried to follow in the steps of these daring souls were
laughed at, their pictures remained unhung and unsold,
and so they made up their minds to " secede," to leave the
Kiinstlerhaus. They founded a magazine that raised a storm,
their first exhibition in 1898, showing the best of foreign work
and most promising beginnings of young Austrians, made a
great impression on the public, and in the next year they had
their own house, with a rather bizarre exterior (the Viennese
call it the " Golden Cabbage "), but very pretty and serviceable
inside.
This was but fifteen years ago, and to-day the " Secession "
has become too academic for some of its members again ;
they have left the fold and founded a new secession, the
" Kunstschau." We shall, however, not follow this hyper-
modern development, as we cannot regard it as anything
else but a show of freaks bound to give place to serious art
again in a short time.
There are two other modern artists' societies, the " Hagen-
bund " and the " Aquarellistenclub," and we shall now pro-
ceed to speak of the painters belonging to these three groups
together. It must be mentioned once for all that a good
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 105
many of them have returned to the Kiinstlerhaus since,
this exhibition having now lost its conservative character.
An erratic genius is the first president of the " Secession,"
Gustav Khmt (born 1862). He began with graceful, brilliant,
but perfectly normal decorative painting.
Klimt. To-day he is the enfant terrible even of the
very latest and wildest modem school, and
has left the " Secession " as being too academic. Though
greatly influenced by Beardsley and many Frenchmen, he
is always original ; every square inch of his paintings is
unmistakably Klimt and no other. He is the most suggestive
of the modems, leaving a great deal unsaid always ; this
often gives his pictures charm, but more often they are
phantastic riddles for the onlooker. His coloizrs are beautiful.
He is especially great at silvery hght and aU the other tricks
of atmosphere. He paints everj^hing, letting his imagination
run riot in landscapes and portraits, as well as in genre and
allegory.
Kramer is a faithful and most brilliant disciple of the
orientahst Leopold MiiUer. His sunny and bright hued
Other scenes and landscapes have a particular
Landscape sweet fervour of their own when the subject
Painters. jg ^j^g Holy Land. Lately he has shown
himself a sincere and vigorous portraitist also.
One of the most remarkable landscape and genre painters
is Carl Moll, already referred to. His large pictures, repro-
ducing all the moods of nature, as the wistful " Ruin in the
Park of Schonbrunn " (Imperial Museum), are beautiful and
truthful in colouring, impeccable in draughtsmanship,
and his interiors and still life pictures have the same
qualities.
Stoitzner works on the same lines, only with a still greater
love of detail.
Nowak and Karl Miiller both paint the lovely Adriatic
coast in warm tones.
Bernatzik used to depict legends, but of late he has become
106 Austria
a landscape and genre painter of remarkable qualities,
particularly when he paints running water.
Then there is Hans Tychy with peaceful grassy
plains, and the poetic Friedrich Konig with fairy tale
accessories. ♦
Wilt and Kasparides, with rather phantastic colours,
Ranzoni and Suppantschitsch, with beautiful views of river
and wood, wholesome and vigorously painted, again exhibit
in the Kiinstlerhaus.
Of GaUcian landscape painters there is Falat, a genius in
depicting snowy woods, frozen brooks and the hke, with the
winter sun full on them, Stanislawski with sombre, melancholy
plains, and many others.
Here we may also speak of a lonely figure, the greatest
of modern landscape painters to our mind, who is generally
considered an Italian — Giovanni Segantini.
Segantini. He was, however, born on Austrian soil, in
Arco, in the year 1858. He studied in Milan
for some years, and spent many years of his short hfe outside
Austria, in Switzerland, but he has most often painted his
native scenery and his native peasants, so he may safely
be counted an Austrian. His technique, the progressive
building up of tones by the employment of touches of pure
colour set side by side, was invented by himself, though the
priority has since been doubted. Whatever our opinion about
the merit of this " scientific " painting, his handhng has
certainly justified it. His colours are of a transparent glow
rarely to be found in oil paintings — except, perhaps, those of
Bocklin — whether he paints a spring morning on his beloved
heights above the Lake Garda, or a woman milking in the cow-
house. Most of his paintings are mountain landscapes, but
he has also some wonderful allegorical pictures, as the legend
of the " Bad Mothers," which is hung in the " Modern Gallery "
in Vienna, one of the most pathetic pictures painted in this
centmry. Segantini died in a hut in the midst of his beloved
Alps, only forty years old.
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 107
Engelhart, for some years president of the " Secession," is
a very Viennese genre painter, full of fun and laughter, and
at the same time very clever cit applied art
pSTters. Of aU kinds.
Andn is a good colounst and full of humour
also, clever at characterisation with simple means, but his
drawing is too " modern," and the peasants he loves to paint
marketing or church-going generally look hke caricatures.
List has the same subjects, but instead of being awkward
and angular his figures are graceful, if a bit colourless.
Myrbach-Rheinfeld, director of the Vienna Arts and Crafts
School, paints and draws soldiers in a masterly way, his
composition being especially clever. Ludwig Koch is also
a smart draughtsman, specially good at joUy bivouac scenes
which he does in a style of his own, grounding them in pencil
and then painting them in water-colours. Schwaiger has a
humorous talent much in the style of the mediaeval
wood-cutters.
Rudolf Bacher, now president of the Secession, painted
fine biblical scenes. Especially his " Quo Vadis ? " made a
great impression. Now he is a speciaUst in fantastic
monsters and in woman portraits. The latter are the best
that can be seen at the Secession now.
Roller is a great decorative artist and a wonderful teacher,
famous as such abroad as well as at home. His ornamental
letters are the best that were ever invented.
Otto Friedrich was a pious painter of saints and sacred
subjects. Now he has become a rather enigmatic aUegorist,
who draws more than he paints. Much the same may be
said of Jettmar, who is also very clever at black and white
sketches.
Liebenwein and Wacik are fairy-tale painters in a charming
decorative style, Wacik with pecuhar fantastic figures,
and so is Lefler, now decorative manager of the
Hofburgtheater.
A most prolific, many-sided and ingenious painter is Emil
108 Austria
Orlik, who studied in Japan for more than a year, and now
lives in his native town of Prague. He has also been to
Scotland and has fallen in love with Edinbiirgh, which he
has represented in all the moods of all the times of the day
and the year. Whatever he does has a special grace all
his own, be it landscape, genre, or decorative graphic
work.
Uprka and Ruzicka are two Czech painters of peasants,
exceptionally vigorous in drawing and colouring. There are
many other new talents in Bohemia, of whom we may name
Svabinsky, Hudecek and Preisler.
Malczewski is one of the NationaUst Poles. His Siberian
sketches have made him famous all over Europe. Another
well-known modern Pole is Mehoffer, rather too sweet and
dainty for the large decorative work he is doing at present,
but harmonious in colouring and faultless in draughtsmanship.
The architectural rebirth of Vienna brought with it a new
sculpture also, and a marvellous amount of good work was
done in a very short time, the sculptors
Sculpture. seeming to spring up from nowhere after the
barren years of the romantic epoch, though
the enforced compromise between classicism and realism was
a terrible impediment.
The only descendant of that time was Hans Gasser (1817-
1868), a very teutonic romanticist. He is not unknown in
England — ^the well-known Adam Smith in
Gasser. Oxford being his work. He was very prolific
for a sculptor, being badly paid, and so
grew rather superficial in time. But all his work is
naturally graceful and suggestive, yet vigorous at the same
time. In Vienna we have his charming Donauwdhchen
(" the Danube water fairy ") in the Stadtpark, and twelve
children's statues representing the months in the Belvedere
Garden.
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 109
In a way 'the first naturalist was the bronze founder,
Fernkorn (1813-1878), a specialist in equestrian statues.
His best is that of the Archduke Carl, the
Fernkorn. victor of Aspem, though the boldly balanced
pose was criticised at the time.
Kaspar von Zumbusch (born 1830) is the faithful historian
among sculptors, programmatic and vigorous, but devoid
of imagination. His Beethoven is a beautiful
Zumbusch. monument, the central figure in its rugged
raassiveness very characteristic, and the
allegoric accessories, if not quite original, yet well grouped
and effective in good sense. But the immense monument
of Maria Theresa between the two museums of art and
natural history cannot but be regarded as a failure. The
whole effect is rather that of a merry-go-round, and the
Empress' figure is too short and squat for the height on which
it is placed. His equestrian statues (the Radetzky before the
new War Office, among them), are very fine, and so are his
numerous portrait busts.
Karl Kundmann (born 1838) is a graceful, characteristically
Viennese talent. A good many Vienna monuments in
prominent positions are his work, but only
Kundmann. a few have become deservedly popular, while
some have excited a not unmerited ridicule.
His simple if rather uninspired and conventional Schubert,
and the fine and original Grillparzer (with reliefs by Weyr)
belong to the first group, while the pretentious and elaborate
Tegetthoff column, with the small statue at the top and the
ships' keels sticking out queerly on both sides, looks grotesque ;
and the huge, deadly correct marble figure of Pallas Athene,
with her golden spear and helmet, which has been put up
before the beautiful low front of the House of Parliament,
quite mars the effect of our finest Greek building. He is a
very prohfic artist, and has done dozens of other figures in
Vienna and the provinces.
A Czech sculptor of a vigour and robustness never to be
110 - Austria
found with the Viennese artists is Josef Myslbek whose fine
statues of " Submission " and " Loyalty "
Myslbek. (on the attica of the House of Parliament)
made him famous.
Edmund von HeUmei* (born 1850), graceful and Viennese
like Kundmann, is never bizarre hke his compatriot, rather
agreeably lucid. His Goethe (on the Ring-
Hellmer. strasse) and his Schindler (in the Stadtpark)
are good examples of his sincere and unpre-
tentious art. They sit there comfortably and at home, not
grand and distant, it is true, but human and lovable. His
most monumental work so far is the fountain representing
Austria's land forces {Oesierreichs Macht zu Lande), an antique
hero thrusting Austria's enemies, aU kinds of monsters, into
the depths.
The counterpart of this group is one by Weyr, Austria's
Maritime Forces (Oesierreichs Macht zur See), and this certainly
shows more imagination and humour. Alto-
Weyr. gether Wejn: (born 1847) is one of our most
spontaneous and original sculptors, not a
scholar or a thinker at all, but a robust worker. He has done
a great many beautiful reUef s and medals too, in fact he began
as a relief sculptor.
An inspired portraitist was Edgar Bohm, son of Josef
Daniel, who lived in England for the greater part of his life
as Queen Victoria's Court Sculptor. His
Bohm. lifelike Carlyle with its wonderful charac-
terisation is a good example of his work.
Another great portraitist in sculpture was Oskar Tilgner
1844-1896). He has immortalised everybody who was
anybody in Vienna during the second half
Tilgner, of the century with an unequalled virtuosity
in making the best use of his material (often
coloured marble), the Ukeness always to the life, particularly
delightful when his models were women or children. He has
only done very few monuments, the Vienna Mozajrt being
Fine Art in the Nineteenth Century 111
among them, but a good many charming Uttle genre
statuettes.
Strasser (bom 1854), is a master in painted statuary, with
strange fantastic subjects, Asiatic for choice. A large bronze
group " Marc Antony's Chariot drawn by
Strasser. Lions," which now stands in the garden of
the " Secession," shows his virtuosity as an
animal sculptor, and his power of doing more monumental
work than his usual small groups.
Amongst many other great talents of this generation, too
many to name them all, we must mention Heinrich Natter
(1844-1892), a titanic natiure, characteristi-
Natter. cally Tsarolese. His best monuments are the
colossal figure of Andreas Hofer in Innsbruck,
on Mount Isel, and of ZwingU in Zurich, works of a compelling
grandeur and simpHcity.
Of the younger generation let us mention Klotz and
Zelezny, two excellent wood carvers, the latter of a deUghtful
humour and great strength in his rugged heads and busts,
Diirnbauer, a clever reahst who died young and full of promise,
Rathausky with coloured statuary, Gurschner with graceful
and original statuettes, and the medahsts Waschmann,
Radnitzky, Tautenhayn senior and junior, Schwartz, Scharff
and MarschaU.
An original and fantastic talent in the Hagenbund is
Hejda (born 1868), the Klimt of sculpture, though suggestive
rather than incomprehensible, a lover of
Hejda. beasts and monsters, painter and sculptor
at the same time.
We have attempted to give an idea of the countless forces
that are at work to-day in the Austrian, especially the Vien-
nese, world of art. It is quite clear, however, that of the
living artists we could only pick out a few, often at random,
for we have not nearly enough space to do justice to them aU,
and to enumerate mere names is useless.
CHAPTER X
MUSIC IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Music in Austria ma^ be regarded as a harmonious whole
up to the middle of the century, for during that time
Beethoven, in one sphere, and Schubert, in the other, were
the autocrats of the musical world. From that time onward,
however, it is the same in music as in fine art and in literature
— divergent influences battling with each other and original
genius going its own way, so that there is no prevalent
movement to be traced.
There is the treasure of popular music which is unearthed
when nationalism begins to assert itself with the several races.
There is the all-pervading influence of Wagner. There is the
great reactionary Brahms, Wagner's anti-emperor, as the
critic Hanshck calls him, and there are the impetuously pro-
gressive moderns, Gustav Mahler and Hugo Wolf. Again,
there are the alluring strains of the Vienna waltzes and musical
comedies which have so much grown in importance lately.
But let us begin with the giant who stands at the gate of
the century and dominates it for several decades.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn in the year 1770,
as the scion of an old family of musicians. But he came to
Vienna as a youth, and never left it again for
Beethoven, any length of time ; the hot summers he
spent in the immediate surroundings, where
many a lonely spot has been hallowed by his rambles. He
only counts his work from 1791, when he came to Vienna for
good, and thus we may in reason look upon him as an Austrian.
He was sent to Vienna to study with Mozart, but was
recalled home at first, so that his real teachers, apart from
Haydn, whom he left in disgust because of the dear old
man's too lenient ways, were Schenk, a humorous composer
of melodious popular operas ; Albrechtsberger, the famous
theorist ; and Salieri, Mozart's successful rival.
112
Music in the Nineteenth Century 113
Beethoven's patron, the Elector of Cologne, an Austrian
prince, introduced him to the Vienna aristocracy, and soon
the young man, though a stout RepubUcan, was hand and
glove with men like Prince Lichnowski, Count Rasumovski,
Prince Lobkowitz, and later, with the gifted and generous
Archduke Rudolf.
Beethoven was master of several instruments, having learnt
to play the violin and the hautboy when quite a baby, and
later, the organ and piano. This latter
a^Performer^ instrument remained his favourite always,
and he was the greatest performer of his time.
His pupil Czerny has preserved his rendering of Bach's
preludes and fugues, and these notes are an invaluable study
for the pianist to this day. He was also famous for his
improvisations, out of which grew some of his finest works,
such as the " Moonlight Sonata."
In spite of the patronage of princes and sovereigns — at
its height in the year 1814, when during the Vienna Congress
crowned heads literally vied with each other
Life ^^ honouring the democratic composer —
Beethoven was never quite free from care.
Since 1809 he had a pension allowed him by some of his
patrons, but it was not large and dwindled to next to nothing
after the bankruptcy year of 1811, and though he had no
family of his own, he had to provide for a good-for-nothing
young orphan nephew. Besides these constant pecuniary
cares which were not borne by Beethoven in the usual light-
hearted way of genius, the unhappy man grew hard of hearing,
and eventually stone deaf. His was by nature a melan-
choly disposition, and when the political reaction set in, and
the understanding and appreciation of his revolutionary genius
gradually faded, he became embittered, and spent the last
years of his life in loneliness and illness, getting release from
his sufferings in 1827. A small community of faithful friends
assembled at his grave, and Grillparzer, the dramatist, himself
a good musician, spoke at the funeral.
8-(s394)
114 Austria
Beethoven's development was a systematic and steady one,
with none of the fitfubiess so often found in genius. He
progressed constantly in form and in substance, and his
grandiose creative imagination, so far from giving out, grew
more profuse and inventive from year to year.
He began with pianoforte music, going on to stringed
quartets, quintets, sextets, and even one septet. The quartets
were his particular favourites. He wrote
Mu?ic "^ seventeen of them, but the five last, composed
when he was deaf, grew out of aU compre-
hensible rules of harmony, and belong to the most difficult
and obscure music even to-day. Of his pianoforte sonatas,
though each is a perfect jewel, the grandest are Opus 3,
Sonata Pathetique ; Opus 5, Waldsteinsonata ; Opus 57,
Sonata Appassionata, and Opus 27, the MoonUght Sonata.
Of his vioUn music perhaps the finest is the Kreutzer Sonata,
so instinct with passion that Tolstoi, fanatic that he was,
took exception to it. Beethoven has also written six sonatas-
for the 'cello, and one for the horn.
All these works, especially in their merry and sentimental
parts, contain allusions to folk-songs, of which Beethoven
was a passionate collector. In many of these scherzos
we can hear those simple little motives, warm and pulsing
with life.
Beethoven's songs — ^he has not written many — are original
to the last degree. The cycle, " An die feme Geliebte "
(1816) is probably the best known, if we except
Songs. " Mignon's Song."
His instrumental music shows Beethoven
at the height of his power. As an instrumentalist he has
achieved effects not nearly reached by the moderns in spite
c . • of their unscrupulous use of musical and other
resources. He used the mediums created
by Mozart and Haydn, and developed them further,
deepening their substance and completing their structure,
so that the symphony owes him quite a new Ufe.
Music in the Nineteenth Century 115
Of his nine sjonphonies the most famous are the second,
written in a happy and cheerful mood ; the " Eroica," which
was originally named after Bonaparte, but stamped upon
in fury and renamed when Beethoven heard of the misdeeds
of his hero, particularly the murder of the Due d'Enghien ;
the merrily rustic " Pastoral Sjmiphony," the first example
of programme music ; and the last grandiose bequest of the
deaf master who revelled in spherical harmonies, the ninth
with the finale on Schiller's " Ode to Joy " {Lied an die
Freude).
Though Beethoven is unquestionably the greatest dramatist
among musicians, he has written but one opera, " FideUo."
It stands between Mozart's " Magic Flute "
" Fidelio. ' ' and Wagner's musical dramas, the herald
of a new time. He has written three over-
tures for it, and Wagner calls the third of them " the summit
of dramatic art." Of his smaller dramatic works the music
for Goethe's " Egmont " is probably the most remarkable.
In the sphere of church music Beethoven's " Missa
Solemnis " is the grandest, most passionately religious work
ever written. Beethoven regarded it as his
Mus"!" masterpiece.
Some twenty years after his death his works
began to be appreciated again, they were played in concerts
now and then, and at last Billow, Liszt and Wagner knew
him for what he was and succeeded in making
taterprltere ^™ popular. To-day Beethoven is the un-
questioned sovereign of orchestral and chamber
music. In Vienna his grsmdest interpreters were and are the
conductors of the famous Philharmonic Concerts, Hans
Richter, Gustav Mahler, Felix Weingartner, and of the two
other great orchestral societies, the Gesellschaft der Musik-
frewnde and the TonkUnstter or Chester, Ferdinand Lowe, Fremz
Schalk, and Oskar Nedbal. His chamber music is played
by two remarkable quartets, Ros6 and Prill, And there is
scarcely any violin or piano concert without Beethoven as the
116 Austria
star of the programme. Thus he is more truly aUve to-day
than in the last years of his hfe in the body, when he had
no great interpreters at all.
Beethoven had no very great pupils to follow in his wake,
but a number of earnest • and sincere musicians remained
true to the classic principles. Among them
Classicist are Czerny (1791-1857), whose piano exer-
Composers after ,■■,), ■,■,-, .
. Beethoven, cises are still played with great success by
pupils of all grades, a brilliant performer,
pupU of Beethoven and teacher of Liszt. Dussek (1761-1812),
who composed warm and graceful pieces for the piano.
Hummel (1878-1837), the pupil of Mozart and friend of
Beethoven, who was a prodigy as a pianist, but unlike many
such, kept what he promised as a chUd ; his piano concerts
in the style of Mozart, being elegant and brilliant, are still
very popular. Moscheles, the jmpil of Salieri and friend of
Beethoven who has composed^some fine pieces for the piano,
particularly a much played concert, and exercises for advanced
pupils. And Diabelli (1781-1858), whose melodious simple
pieces are well beloved by the young folk to this day.
There was one man in Vienna then who might have become
another Beethoven, but he died young, just when he was
getting near the titan's style — it was Franz
Schubert. Schubert, the incomparable composer of
songs, whose Eighth Symphony has some of
Beethoven's sublimity.
Schubert was born in 1798 as the son of a poor board-school
teacher in the Viennese suburb of Lichtental. Like Haydn,
he entered the Court Choir when a boy of ten. He was
extremely precocious as a composer, having written church
music, songs, sonatas, even symphonies and operas before he
was thirteen. At this time he was also taught by Salieri,
beside his father and uncle, who were both musical, but in
spite of his amazing and quite manifest talent, there was
little chance for him for a long time, and he had to help his
father in teaching httle boys. At last the well-known tenor
Music in the Nineteenth Century 117
Vogl sang his compositions in his concerts, and Schubert began
to be known.
He never came into the great world like Beethoven, but he
grew to be the centre of a famous circle of Bohemians in
Vienna, partly poets like GrUlparzer and Bauernfeld, partly
painters like Moritz von Schwind and Kupelwieser. Schubert,
with his charming, childhke simphcity and sunny disposi-
tions, was the soul of the merry circle, and countless are the
pictures that have been drawn and painted, and the stories
that have been told, of their adventures. Only quite lately,
in 1912, the famous novelist Bartsch has made him the hero
of a novel (Schwammerl). Beethoven and Schubert never
came into personal contact, but Schubert idohsed Beet-
hoven as a far-off god, and Beethoven was a warm admirer
of Schubert's songs, in which he recognised the spark of
genius.
Schubert died in 1828, leaving hundreds of masterpieces
behind him — and yet how many more, and of what still
subhmer quality, could he have written, had he been spared
to reach at least middle age !
Schubert is the most Viennese of the great Austrian com-
posers ; all his songs were conceived in the Vienna mountains
and woods, in sight of the green hills, and while drinking the
young wine grown on them. For Schubert actually composed
in the garden of the inn, sitting on the mail coach, Ij^ng in
the grass, or wandering merrily through the wood. The
songs were carelessly scribbled on the back of an old envelope,
on a cuff, anjrwhere, as easily as if they were insignificant
notes.
Schubert's songs differ essentially from those written
before his time, the most remarkable progress being that they
Sones ^^ " composed throughout," the tune run-
ning not only through one verse, and thus
having to do for entirely different sentiments, but following
the poet closely throughout the whole poem. Schubert has
written about seven hundred songs. It is little short of
118 Austria
incredible that one man could find such perfect expression
for Schiller's grandiose and melancholy " ComplaintT'of the
Maiden," for Goethe's weirdly suggestive ballad " The Erl
King," for Miiller's merr^ and sentimental wanderer's songs,
and scores of others, differing from each other not only in
substance and sentiment, but in the very essence of thought
and feeling. His Viennese pliabihty and soft, clinging nature
did him good service here. A great many of his songs only
became known years after his death, and a complete edition
was not pubUshed until late in the nineties of the last century.
Now they are sung again and again ; in Vienna there is scarcely
one evening in the season when there is no Schubert on the
programme of one or the other singer, and a great many
stars have made Schubert their speciality. Frau Staegemann
and Meschaert, the world-famous Dutch tenor, for instance,
have their several Schubert evenings here every year.
Apart from the songs with pianoforte accompaniment
Schubert has written beautiful part-songs with orchestra ;
the most famous are the sublime eight-
jj^.* voiced " Song of the Spirits above the
Waters " (Goethe), the four-voiced " Night
Song in the Forest " and " Miriam's Song of Victory."
We possess a great many compositions for the pianoforte
from Schubert's pen also, especially for four hands. In
concerts — ^and in the drawing-room, too — ^the
Pieres "Impromptus^' and the "Moments Musi-
caux " are most popular. These latter, as
well as the " German Dances " and the ballet music for
Ch^zy's " Rosamonde," are among his gayest and most
graceful rhythmic pieces.
Of Schubert's chamber music we must mention the
" Trout Quintet," in which the song, " The Trout," is used
as the central movement, a piece fuU of the
^Mu^c^"^ gurgling of Uttle mountain streams and the
glint of the sun on foam and ripples ; and
the Quartet in D minor with the solemn song, " Death and
Music in the Nineteenth Century 119
the Maiden," for the central movement. The novelist
Otto Ernst has written a beautiful story about this
quartet.
Schubert's church music is stiU very popular, but his
operas are forgotten. His symphonies, particularly the
second, the seventh and the eighth and last,
Symphonies, which has remained unfinished, are generally
appreciated and played frequently.
Schubert's memory is stUl green in Vienna ; he Uves in every
heart, but he has left no successors in any sense, much less
pupUs. After him came the death-in-hfe of Metternich's
era, and music, art and Uterature alike languished. Par-
ticularly as regards the world of song, a desert stretches
between Schubert and the next great composer — Johannes
Brahms.
Brahms (1833-1897) was, like Beethoven, an Austrian by
choice, not by birth, having been born in Hamburg. He
lived rather restlessly for the first half of his
Brahms. Ufe, going from town to town, but in 1862
he came to Vienna — and stayed. Here he
wrote his grandest work, here he felt at home, and here he
was fuUy appreciated. The well-known Vienna critic,
Max Kalbeck, has written a truly monumental biography
of the master. The grim old bachelor was a well-known
and weU-beloved figure, and all Vienna mourned him
as their own when he died, hke Beethoven, stUl in the
ascendant.
Brahms was a great admirer of Schumann, who first made
the young man known, but his work is not Schuniannesque
in the least. In fact Brahms was rather a successor of
Beethoven, even of Bach, than of any romantic composer.
We shall presently speak of his most important compositions,
the instrumental music. Here we are interested in him chiefly
as a composer of songs. He has written a good many, all
characterised by deep feeling, and a certain northern harshness.
In spite of these qualities — so different from Schubert's
120 Austria
Viennese sweetness and pliability — ^which generally do not
make for popularity, Brahms' songs and part music are amongst
the most often performed, surely good evidence that even
in the days of music halls and comic opera, Vienna has still
preserved its good taste. -
Another original genius was Hugo Wolf (1860-1903), whose
songs are now the most popular in the Vienna concerts beside
Schubert's, but were unknown or laughed at
Wolf. in his lifetime. He had a stroke of madness
in him always, and spent the last ten years
of his life in perfect darkness of mind. His songs are charac-
terised by boldly original harmonies, and by the independent
part of the piano, which is not only accompaniment, but quite
a voice by itself. Amongst his hundreds of songs the com-
positions of Goethe and Morike poems are the finest. He
has further composed a choir piece " Feuerreiter," and
several unfinished operas.
Mahler, the great conductor and instrumentalist, of whom
we shall still have occasion to speak, also wrote strangely
sweet songs, original, sometimes weird in
Mahler. harmony and structure.
Besides these composers of serious songs
Austria has produced a good many popular songsters
whose merry airs are sung in the street as well as
in the drawing-room. The most famous
Koschat. of those is Koschat with his Carinthian
Quartets, melodious pieces full of fun and
sentimentahty.
And this brings us to a characteristically Austrian branch
of music — the waltz.
The waltz has its origin in the " Landler," a rustic dance
popular in the Alps. Schubert had written some charming
Landler already, but the species was developed
^^l^ and brought to an undreamed-of popularity
by the two friends, Lanner and Strauss, and
by the latter's son.
Music in the Nineteenth Century 121
Joseph Lanner (1801-1843), was the conductor of a famous
band, in which Johann Strauss the Elder (1804-1849) played
the bass viol. They both composed waltzes
Lanner. fuU of melody and feeling, instinct with
grace and sweetness, but they were still
surpassed by Strauss' son, Johann Strauss the Younger.
His father had already achieved European fame when he
left Lanner's orchestra, and travelled all
^^'and'son*" °^^^ Europe with one of his own, pla3dng
in Paris and London before crowned heads.
He became conductor of the Imperial Court Orchestra, and
his son followed in his shoes. Johann Strauss the Younger's
work as a composer of musical comedies will be spoken of
elsewhere, here we must occupy ourselves with the " Waltz
King," as he used to be called. He has written hundreds of
waltzes, and each has a new idea to itself, each is full of swing
and jollity, or of sweet pathos. They are played all over the
world, in hut and palace, by barrel organs and by pompous
orchestras, and though one has heard them thousands of
times, yet they never pall.
In the latest musical comedies there are some melodious
waltzes, too, as is only natural ; especially Lehar and Oscar
Strauss have written some catchy and yet not superficial
ones.
From these Ughter strains let us turn to the grand opera,
at this time under the influence of Romanticism, Weber in
particular. There are no great Austrian representatives of
this movement, but some found their second home in Vienna,
and so may be mentioned here.
There is the Englishman, Sir Julius Benedict (1804-1885),
composer of " The Gipsy's Warning " and " The LUy of
KiUarney." He became director of the
^O^era""^ Vienna Karnthnertortheatre on Weber's
recommendation and spent most of his
life here.
Then Marschner (1795-1861), Weber's most gifted successor.
122 Austria
whose " Hans Heiling " and " Templar and Jewess " still stir
the pulses of modern audiences with their inspired music,
lived in Vienna as a young man.
Gustav Albert Lortzing (1801-1851), that cheerful genius,
whose natural gaiety no adversity could queU, spent some
years in Vienna as conductor of the Theater an der Wien, and
wrote " The Armourer " here. Beside this opera, he has
written " The Czar and the Carpenter," " The Poacher," and
" Undine," and their popular humour and sweetly quaint
melodies have kept them their place on the repertory of all
the great theatres to this day. Lortzing wrote his own books,
and very good they are.
Konradin Kreutzer (1780-1849) came to Vienna in 1822,
became Beethoven's fast friend and stayed here, with one
interruption, until his death. He was conductor in the
Josephstadter Theater, and for this opera-house he wrote
" The Night Camp of Granada," his greatest work. In
Vienna he is best known by the music for Raimund's famous
melodrama " The Spendthrift " {Verschwender).
Last, but not least, there is Otto Nicolai (1810-1849), the
composer of the immortal " Wives of Windsor," the finest
and most graceful German comic opera, excepting Mozart's
" Figaro." Nicolai was of great importance for Vienna
by starting the Philharmonic Concerts, an institution
which has become one of the features of Vienna musical
life.
The modern musical drama, as created, or at least perfected,
by Wagner, found worthy exponents in
^'^Drama"^^ Austria, though mostly of a more lyrical and
romantic turn of mind than the master.
Ignaz Brijll (1846-1905), the famous pianist and teacher,
wrote several operas, all tuneful and original. The best of
them, the comic opera " The Golden Cross,"
Briill. which belongs to the standing repertory of all
German opera houses, is considered to be
the finest of its kind.
Music in the Nineteenth Century 123
Karl Goldmark (born 1830) came out of a Hungarian
ghetto like Briill, and, like him, left it for Vienna when a
child. His is an amazingly vivid personality.
Goldmark. Even now that he is an old man of more than
eighty, he is still able to take to new roads
and to siurprise the pubUc again and again, as with " The
Winter's Tale." His greatest success (in 1875) was " The
Queen of Sheba." Besides this opera, which is remarkable
for its Oriental voluptuousness in style and colour, the fairy
opera " Merlin," the charming " Cricket on the Hearth "
(after Dickens), and his latest " The Winter's Tale " (after
Shakespeare), are often played on all the European
stages.
Probably the greatest successor of Wagner was Friedrich
Smetana (1824-1848), the Czech nationalist composer. Like
Beethoven he grew deaf in his prime, and some
Smetana. time afterwards his mind gave way also, so
that he was brought to an asylum. He was
a pupil and an ardent admirer of Liszt's, whom he surpasses
in warmth and tenderness. His works acquired European
fame, but only long after his death — in fact he only became
known outside Bohemia towards the end of the century.
To-day his symphonies and chamber music as well as his
operas with their tender humour, their vigour and tunefulness
are performed everj^where with the greatest success. The
best known are " DaUbor " and " The Bartered Bride."
The St3Tian Wilhelm Kienzl (born 1857), was a well-known
critic before his pathetic opera " The Christian Beggarman "
{Der Evangelimann), made him famous all
Kienzl. over the world. He has since had another
great success with the opera " Der Kuhreigen "
(" The Herdsman's Song "), sweetly pathetic like the first,
with effective dramatic scenes and a very clever use of popular
motives, such as the well-known Swiss tune which gives
the piece its title. The story is by the Styrian noveUst
Bartsch.
124 Austria
Bittner, like Kienzl, was a clever writer before he began
to compose. His opera " The Musician " made quite a stir
in Vienna, and great things are expected of
Bittner. him still.
In Vienna there is a hypermodern move-
ment in music as in art, the chief exponent for the opera
being Franz Schreker, a gifted composer, but certainly on the
wrong track.
Almost every one of the modern dramatists in music is
also remarkable as a symphonist. Before we speak of their
work in this direction, however, we must
'"^Sc"*^ consider the two great symphonists par
excellence, Brahms and Bruckner.
We have already had occasion to speak of Brahms as a
composer of songs, but his chief greatness lies in his symphonic
and chamber music. He has written practi-
Brahms. cally everj^thing except opera, and all his
work bears the same stamp : it is ruthlessly
logical, hke Bach's, and, like that old master's, full of melodious
ideas ; but it has a certain harshness and sublimity absent
from Bach's sweetly tender and lucid strains, and Brahms'
construction is more complicated.
His symphonies and overtures are the greatest since
Beethoven, his part songs, especially the wonderful ' ' Requiem ' '
for soli, choir and orchestra, and the " Song of Fate " for
choir and orchestra, are amongst the most impressive com-
positions ever written ; and his chamber music, in spite of
its great difficulties, is very popular in concerts and with all
advanced players, be they professionals or amateurs.
Anton Bruckner, hke Beethoven and Brahms a bachelor
to his death, Uved (1824-1896) a quiet, retired life until 1884,
when Nikisch, the great conductor, drew
Bruckner. his symphonies to light and made him known.
It is difficult to place Bruckner. He is any-
thing but romantic, in fact he was often called reactionary,
and yet he has certainly learned a good deal from Wagner,
Music in the Nineteenth Century 125
especially as regards technicalities. Be that as it may, his
vigorous, vivid music with its touch of the sublime and its
wonderful instrumentation assure him a place among the
greatest composers of the century. He has also written
fine choir pieces, and was an unrivalled organist.
An excellent contrapuntist Uke Bruckner, but romantic
through and through, was the Styrian Heinrich von Herzogen-
berg (1843-1900) who lived in Berlin for the
Herzogenberg. greater part of his life. His poetical and
profound part songs as well as his chamber
music are well hked by the serious public.
Briill and Goldmark have both written remarkable chamber
music, and the latter is also the author of a beautiful
programmatic s5miphony called " A Rustic
G w"''' k Wedding," as well as of an overture to
mar . g-j^-g^.g .. pgnthesilea."
Smetana has. composed a great deal of instrumental music,
the finest being a monumental programmatic work for
orchestra, " My Fatherland," in which he
Smetana. has used Czech popular tunes to great
advantage.
Another Czech composer of note is Franz Dvorak (1841-
1904) ; he has composed melodious and
Dvorak. rhj^hmical symphonies and string quartets
that are extremely popular.
The hero of the moderns in symphonical music is Gustav
Mahler (1860-1911), the greatest conductor of the century,
an organising genius under whom the Vienna
Mahler. opera had its golden age. There is no doubt
of his genius, but his music is certainly
bizarre and often obscure. His symphonies demand a good
deal from the performers as well as from the listeners, but
his music grows upon you, and very likely a future public
will understand him perfectly. He has a passionately
devoted group of admirers in Vienna, and his works are
comparatively often played here. His greatest successes
126 Austria
were the part song "The Lament" {Das klagende Lied),
with really beautiful and quite lucid parts, and his songs.
A remarkable phenomenon is a boy composer, Erich
Wolfgang Korngold, th^ son of a notable critic, who at the
age of thirteen wrote perfectly mature,
Korngold. strikingty original music, such as a trio, and
a pantomime which was performed in the
Imperial Opera with great success. There is a certain grace
and humour in his work which have won him the name of
" the second Mozart," and though this is no doubt an exag-
geration, still great things may be expected of him. The
queer long name will probably be one to remember.
CHAPTER XI
VIENNA
The foreigner, on coming to Vienna, is struck by the strange
attitude of the Viennese as regards their town. It is plain
that they love it dearly, even passionately —
The Grumbling ^^^ y^^ ^j^^y continually disapprove, carp,
scold ; they are never satisfied.
This is characteristic of the people, but is also
characteristic of the town.
Vienna is, indeed, lovable. It is without question the most
beautiful town of Europe — for Paris, which alone can compare
with it as regards architectural beauty, has not by far the
charming surroimdings Vienna is blessed with. It is as fuU
of art treasures as any other of the great capitals, and it
makes better use of them than most. Its music is unrivalled.
Its hterary and theatrical life still holds its own against the
rivalry of Berlin ; in some respects it is even exemplary.
All this goes for much, and the indefinable, almost feminine
charm that lies over it all goes for more.
And yet, and yet — there is a deplorably definite something
which mars the charming impression again and again — ^it
is the slatternly, humdrum, reactionary
,. .^l^j''.. administration of the place, or to express
Administration. '^ ' ■ • ,
it negatively, the absence of municipal
enterprise, of fresh, progressive, truly pubUc spirit.
We shall content ourselves with naming a few instances
to illustrate the doings of this erratic, contrary genius loci.
There is the unsatisfactory traffic, for instance. Vienna
has unrivalled surroundings, and beautiful pubhc gardens
with dehghtful cafds and restaurants, where you can have
your tea or dinner in the open, and, of course, on hot days
all Vienna rushes to these havens of refuge. Electric trams
go everywhere, and you should reach the furthest of these
127
128 Austria
places, the " Eisvogel " in the Prater, for instance, in half an
hour from the city. But can you ? The cars run at inter-
minable intervals, and when at last, sometimes after seven
or ten minutes, the longed-for vehicle arrives, it is fuU up,
of course. So you w&it on. By the time the next car comes
dozens of people are anxious to get in, and a perfect scrimmage
ensues, to the detriment of eyes, ribs, feathers and personal
dignity.
This is a thing of daily occurrence, especially at the end of
business hours, and when the theatres open ; and the authori-
ties cannot be made to see that they must run more cars,
larger cars, (seats on the roof are unknown so far), and if
necessary build an underground railway in the city, a, project
that has been spoken of for years and is no nearer being
carried out than ten years ago.
Then the mediaeval way of street cleaning ! In summer,
when the famous Vienna breezes are merrily chasing clouds
of dust along the thoroughfares, groups of grave, elderly
fogies — as a rule, with pipes in their mouths — ^may be
seen and heard holding animated conversations in a strange
language (the Viennese dialect is a mystery to many who
have been born and bred here), and now and then aiding the
winds in sending a cloud of dust into the air by means of
their antique brooms. It is true that even Vienna streets
are sometimes sprinkled, though rarely with a disinfectant,
but never by any means before they are swept.
Shall we speak of the horrors caused by the " Mistbauer,"
the man who bears away dust and rubbish in open carts, and
to whom the dustbins must be brought into the street by the
servants ?
Or of the world famous " Hausmeister," the dragon who
guards every house, who knows all about your income and
your debts, the illnesses your children have or have not had,
the characters of your servants — and yourself ; the man to
whom you must pay an obolus of at least twopence whenever
you wish to leave your house after ten o'clock at night. For
Photo by
Stauda.
ST. STEPHEN S, VIENNA
Vienna 129
you are not allowed to have a latch-key — oh no ! You must
actually ring the caretaker up, see him or his wife come
straight out of bed in an attire neither graceful to the eye nor
particularly decent, and pay him for letting you in or out.
But enough ! We have fulfilled a disagreeable duty, at
the same time gratifying the characteristically Viennese
inclination of grumbhng at oru dear mother town. Now let
us proceed to sing her praises.
As has been fully explained in another chapter, Vienna
has in the reign of the present Emperor and on his initiative,
experienced the most wonderful architectural
Ait^itectital development. In addition to this hundreds
Unrivalled, of parks, gardens, small grass-plots and
flower beds have been either opened to the
public or newly created, and the effect of the whole is indeed
lovely.
The city proper, though growing more and more a mere
business quarter, with hideous " modern " buildings, still
boasts of a good many fine old houses, baroque and empire,
and some thoroughfares and squares have quite kept their
dignified old-world appearance, as, for instance, the Freyung
and Am Hof, two neighbouring flower and fruit markets
flanked by fine old palaces.
But the glory of Vienna is the Ringstrasse, a broad street
planted with fom: rows of trees in the manner of the Paris
boulevards, and together with the " Kai " (the Danube
embankment) embracing the city proper. I suppose it is
the finest street in the world, with its succession of palaces,
splendid pubUc buildings, and monuments, most of them
placed to their best advantage in parks or garden plots.
Altogether there is a profusion of flowers in Vienna —
wherever there is the least space, as in squares or circuses,
Uttle beds of them are planted, the windows and balconies
of private and business houses are decorated with them, and
even the street lamps are brightly festooned with them during
seven months of the year.
9— (S394)
130 Austria
The public gardens, of which there are a great many, are
distinct individualities — not two bear any resemblance to
each other except as regards one great drawback : the lawn
must not be stepped on an37where.
We cannot possibly name them all, so shall content ourselves
with speaking of a few.
First of all there is the Prater, something like Hyde Park,
Richmond, Ascot, Hampstead Heath and Shepherd's Bush
all roUed into one. It covers an immense
Prater ^^^^ *° *^^ 'E2st of the town, between the
Danube Canal and the Danube itself. It is
really an immense common, densely wooded in parts, in
others dotted with beautiful groups of trees hundreds of years
old. There are excellent restaurants and coffee-houses, all
with large gardens, some of the former famous for their fish
fresh from the Danube, most of them unpretending, but still
frequented by the better classes of an evening. There is music
in all of them, generally a regimental band. It may be men-
tioned here that the Austrian regimental bands are excellent,
indeed. It is a joy for the most fastidious to listen to them.
One part of the Prater (called Nobelprater) is a beautiful,
well cultivated park in English style, intersected by stately
chestnut avenues for driving and riding. The finest of those,
the Hauptallee, has the same function as Rotten Row. It
also connects the Nobelprater with the Freudenau, the Vienna
racing ground. There are two fashionable coffee-houses, where
light refreshments are taken in the open air : one on a terrace
overlooking a strip of ornamental water (I^onstantinhiigel),
the other in a delightfully wild and woody bit (Krieau). This
latter is frequented by the upper ten thousand, who have
their milk and eggs there after their morning rides, and their
coffee when driving in the afternoon. It is a good place to
study the Vienna aristocracy, and, of course, the demi-monde.
Then there is the famous Wurstelprater, so called after the
" Wurstel," the Austrian equivalent for Punch. The Wiurstel-
prater is the delight of the children and of the people, servants
Vienna 131
and private soldiers in particular. It consists of several
long avenues where all kinds of innocent amusements are
oflEered — a kind of perpetual village fair. Hundreds of booths
and merry-go-rounds entice the passer-by, all with deafening
organ music, and with hoarse criers trjdng to outdo each other
in sentiment, in wit, and in all kinds of antics. In former,
simpler times, the chief attractions used to be the lady without
legs, the calf with six legs, the mermaid preserved in spirits,
the giant lady, the pigmies, the hairy lady, the strong man,
the diver with his bell. Now there are giant wheels, scenic
railways, flip-flaps, and above all, moving picture shows,
to oust these sensations of a still unsophisticated time, and
the latter are disappearing. Two of them only have pre-
served their old popularity : the Punch and Judy shows
before which the happy, eager baby audiences still laugh and
cry exactly as hundreds of years ago, and the " Watschen-
mann," a peculiar Viennese invention : it is a measurer of
muscular force in the guise of a comic figure with a terribly
swollen cheek, on which the heroes of the suburbs apply theh*
pimches and boxes, thereby venting their surplus strength on
this harmless victim and going home satisfied, instead of trying
to show off before their girls on some human opponent or other.
This part of the Prater also holds the exhibition grounds,
the centre of which is the huge round hall called the
" Rotunde." From the World's Fair in 1873 to the Adria
Exhibition in 1913 dozens of important shows have been held
there and have drawn numbers of foreigners to Vienna. In
winter the Rotunde is often used as a people's theatre, for
instance, by Reinhardt in his mass productions. In it there
is room for five thousand spectators.
The Stadtpark, the Volksgarten and the Schwarzenberg-
park are probably the finest gardens in the city proper. The
Volksgarten is quite level and so lacks the
cSdens^"^ charming effects produced by the undulating
grounds of the Stadtpark with its beautiful
lake and stream, or of the terraces in the Schwarzenbergpark
132 Austria
with its old, old trees, but is the most central of all and so
the most frequented. There are fine monuments in all these
gardens, and the Volksgarten also boasts a small Greek
temple, the exact reproductiori of the temple of Theseus on
the Acropolis. It is a great pity that the thousands of
town-children playing in these pleasure-grounds have not one
single grass-plot on which to step ; the lawn is rigidly guarded,
and the babies are forced to play in the dust of the gravel
paths. There are fashionable coffee-houses and restaurants
in all the large Vienna parks, the most famous probably
being that of the Volksgarten, In this respect Vienna com-
pares altogether most favourably with other great cities,
where very few restaurants offer the possibiUty of having
your meals in the open.
Of the public gardens on the outskirts of the town we can
only mention Schonbrunn, the Emperor's world-famous
Court Park. It is an imitation of Versailles, but far prettier
and less formal, because the site is more advantageous, with
little undulations and a commanding hill, on which a charming
temple, the " Gloriette," has been erected. The Emperor
has thrown open the whole gardens to the public except for
a small space reserved for himself. Part of them contain
the grand menagerie, which is also open to the public without
any fee, and so are the hot-houses, the inunense palm-house
amongst, them. This Zoo is frequented by thousands of
children always who are good friends with most of the animals,
especially with the elephant-babies of whom Vienna is inor-
dinately proud, as it is the only EuropeEm town which has
succeeded in breeding them.
Altogether there are more children to be seen in the Vienna
public gardens than in London, and the reason is this : The
Viennese still live in flats like the Parisians,
Vienna Uves ^gjj -^^^ twenty families in one house — ^without
a garden. With the growth of the town the
Enghsh system of one-family-houses with a strip of garden
has come in, it is true, but so far only the rich, or at least
Vienna 133
the well-to-do have been able to indulge in this luxury. At
present there are two districts in Vienna which look like
prosperous English suburbs : Hietzing in the South and the
Wahring Cottage Quarter, as it is called, in the north-west.
But there is no such thing as the charming London suburbs of
the lower middle class with their tiny houses and gardens —
in place of them we have nothing but refined slums. Such
slmns, more or less, are the districts of Simmering, Ottakring,
Hernals and Floridsdorf, these being the chief manufacturing
quarters : straight, gloomy, uninteresting streets with bee-
hives of houses five stories high, the children plajdng in the
streets and dodging the trams as dexterously as the sparrows.
The chief shop districts are the city itself, the Graben and
Karntnerstrasse having the best and most expensive shops,
something like Bond Street, and Mariahilf,
Shopping. where the largest thoroughfare, the Mariahil-
ferstrasse, may be well compared to Oxford
Street. The Vienna shops are still specialised and so far
only one firm has tried the experiment, which has turned out
very well, of forming itself into a general store after the
English and American system.
But on the whole the leisurely way of going from shop to
shop is more to the taste of the Viennese. They have not
yet learned to " hustle " in any way ; " Gemiit-
" ^f ''???J*^'^' lichkeit iiber Alles " is their untranslatable
device and " Gemiitlichkeit " is perhaps best
explained by saying that it is the contrary of " hustling."
The Viennese are, indeed, easy-going in the extreme, even
casual, the despair of their northern cousins, the Prussians,
in business deaings. On the other hand they are genial and
pleasant, courteous and obliging, so that one often forgives
them their sins. They are also quick and smart, if rather
careless and slack, and though to do business with them one
has to look for them in the coffee-houses, one will generally
find that this loss of time is amply balanced by the way the
deal is concluded.
134 Austria
The coffee-house plays a great part in the life of the Viennese.
There are few clubs, none to compare with the English, and
so the coffee-houses take their place for the
Coffee-'lHouse "len-folk. Besides, they also stand for the
London teashops and reading-rooms. There
are upwards of 700 caf6s in Vienna, not counting the smaller
ones who are only frequented by the lower classes, and they
are always full in the afternoon and evening. All the Vienna
papers are kept, in the larger caf^s in the city a great many
foreign ones also, and so people sit there for hoiurs reading.
Billiards, cards, check, and dominoes are also played, but
only by men, while a great many ladies frequent the coffee-
houses to have their tea, or rather coffee, and read. Most of
the caf6s have some open-air space to use in summer, and,
indeed, the Ringstrasse offers much the same aspect as a Paris
boulevard in this regard ; at every few steps the pavement is
taken up by the Uttle tables and chairs. Only here the guests
are shielded from the streets more or less by green ivy walls.
But apart from its beloved caf6, how does Vienna amuse
itself ? Chiefly by going to the moving-picture shows, the
music halls and the musical comedies, exactly
'^''"''showi''*"''^ hke other capitals, mote's the pity. The
cinema is the same all the world over, and
we need only say that where the " dramas " are controlled,
as it is the case in Vienna to-day, the good it does far exceeds
the bad. It is the only cheap amusement for the masses,
and as the proprietors are obliged to have actual photos of
scenery, etc., in every performance, nilly-willy they are
educating the people as well as amusing them. Vienna has
about 150 " Kinos " as they are called here, and all of them
are doing excellent business.
The music halls have now become quite international.
What London is seeing this month is sure to be in Vienna by
,, . ti „ the next, and vice versa, so no more need be
Music Halls. . 1 , ' ^, A • J
said about them. An expensive and even
more luridly indecent, if a little more literary species of music
Vienna 135
halls are the cabarets — though they would be horrified to
hear us say so. But the best proof for our assertion is
that music haU and cabaret stars are often interchanged :
singing or acting now in the former, now in the latter.
The musical comedy has started on its victorious nm through
the world from Vienna. So it is well worth looking at more
closely in this connection.
^ 0>m"d'''^ It was born in Paris, that is true. But
Offenbach, its creator, had no great successor
in France. The man who carried on his work was an Aus-
trian, though he bears a French name, while, queerly enough,
the Frenchman was saddled with an " unpronounceable "
German one. Supp6 (1820-1895) was, indeed, born in
Spalato, Dalmatia, and though at first quite under Offenbach's
influence his later works show the spirit of Strauss, especially
his masterwork " Bocaccio," that graceful and melodious
musical comedy which is a favourite to this day and will
probably remain so much longer.
The man who created a new kind of " Operetta," not
burlesque or parody, but a refined comedy with sweetly
sentimental music was Viennese of the
StaSs Viennese, Johann Strauss the younger, son
of the famous waltz composer (1825-1899).
He is a classic in his art, not only inexhaustible in melodies
and effervescent rhythm, but a refined and ingenious instru-
mentalist also, which is more than can be said of many a
modern composer writing for the orchestra or the stage.
His plays have made their way round the world, two of them
having become such classics as to be performed even at the
Vienna Hofoper : " Fledermaus " and " Zigeunerbaron."
Strauss' imitators have been legion, especially in song and
dance-loving Austria. Amongst them we may single oat
MUlocker Millocker (1842-1899), who has written a
great many melodies if superficial operettas.
One of them, the " Bettelstudent," has survived its author
and is likely to have a deservedly long fife before it still.
136 Austria
Of the lately successful operetta composers Lehar, the most
striking and perhaps the most original, is distinctly influenced
by Strauss. His use of popular motifs, his
o'°''^tta *^^* composition and his comparative pro-
Composers, fundity alj point towards that master. After
his " Merry Widow " he has still had a good
many successes, but none so undisputed and certainly
none so deserved as that one. Other popular composers
of this genre are Oscar Strauss (no relation to the waltz-
composers' family), Eissler, Ascher, Fall, and Reinhardt,
all melodious and catchy, but not exactly deep in any
sense.
Of late the musical comedy has taken possession of almost
all the theatres, and it is difficult to say to what this ascen-
dency is due. Certainly not to the quality
?h™M'°" °\ °^ ^^^ species, for the majority of the books
Comedy. have mere apologies for plot, ambiguities
for dialogue, meaningless jingles for songs,
and undress scenes for jokes, while the music as often as not
is a mixture of reminiscences, cacophonies and trivialities.
Divers reasons are given : That the masses go to the theatres
more often than formerly and that they prefer light fare ;
that the strain in the struggle for Hfe has become severer,
so that people are disinchned for brainwork in the evening —
they want relaxation merely ; that the people have become
more musical so that instead of farces they prefer musical
comedies ; and that the lasciviousness of the modem operetta
is what attracts them. However that may be — and probably
aU those reasons together really account for it — ^the fact
remains, that to-day, when the musical comedy has degener-
ated into rather a futile thing, a ware manufactured
simply for gain by experienced but uninspired tradesmen,
the demand has during the last ten years ousted the recited
play from three stages in Vienna (the Raimundtheater, which
was built to play popular drama and comedy, the Lust-
spieltheater, which was devoted to farce and comedy, and the
Vienna 137
Biirgertheater, which was meant to serve the classics and the
modern drama), and created besides the two old operetta
stages (the Carl-Theater and Theater an der Wien) a sixth,
the Johann Strauss-Theater.
Until a very short time ago, the Vienna theatres all played
on the repertoire system : that is, there was a change of
play every evening, and only when a piece
Theata-e ^^ quite new would it be played two or
three times a week. A theatre in Vienna is a
solid unity. The building, the manager, the actors and
actresses belong together and stick together ; except for the
summer months, when the theatre is closed and the company
sometimes goes on tour ; interchanges in this one instance are
usual. The advantages of this firmly united repertory theatre
are evident, and Mr. WUham Archer has often pleaded for it
in England. It is a sensible system from every point of view ;
from that of the dramatist, because his work is not played to
death in one season, but is carefully performed for years — ^if
it is worthy, for decades ; from that of the actors, because they
are given unlimited opportunities and are not forced to the
degrading and numbing task of repeating the same parts
for hundreds of nights running, quite apart from the safety
and continuity of their position which is uncomparably better
than that of the EngUsh actors, who are obhged to find new
berths every few weeks or months ; and, of course, also from
that of the pubUc, which has a far greater choice of plays and
sees them much better performed. The only drawback is that
large fortunes are not made in a few months — as is sometimes
possible on the EngUsh system. And that is why, so far
from the sensible continental way being introduced in Eng-
land, the Enghsh system of " running " a play has come to
Vienna. It was first tried with the " Merry Widow," with
what success is well known all over the world, and since then
the musical comedy has adopted the system for good. Luckily
the other theatres still hold out, more or less, though one or
two which play light comedy have already got into the
138 Austria
dangerous practice of running only two or three pieces for
some weeks — a compromise between the two systems.
Vienna has two theatres for grand opera : the Imperial
Opera (Hofoperntheater) and the Popular Opera (Volksoper).
The fortner is well known to be unquestion-
Ooera ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ world, especially as
regards its orchestra. Formerly the staff
of singers used to be unique also, but of late the huge
American fees are luring the artistes across the water and
their stay with us is generally restricted to a few months of
the year. At present the Imperial Opera is suffering from
the want of an able manager ; under Mahler it had its days
of glory, his successor, Weingartner, already had trouble with
the staff and lost a good many able singers, and now we have
a manager who is nothing but a man of business, knows as
Httle of music as of Vienna, and is simply working havoc in
the noble institute given into his care by the malinformed
authorities of the Court. Vienna is in despair at this state
of things, for the Opera was an object of personal love and
pride to every child here, and it is only to be hoped that the
weight of public opinion will soon bring about a change for
the better in the management.
The Volksoper is comparatively new, but it has admirably
filled the gap left by the rather expensive Imperial Opera,
and is, if not first rate, still an excellent
Opera-hou^ theatre which has often produced remarkable
new works refused at the Imperial Opera,
hke " Quo Vadis ? " by NoogSs, and " Kuhreigen," by
Kienzl, two of the greatest operatic successes of late years.
Much the same as was said of the Imperial Opera may
with justice be applied to the Imperial Theatre (Hofburg-
theater). It is still considered the first
^'^TheTtoe!'*' German stage, and it is still the chief ambition
of every German actor and actress some day
to become a member of the illustrious company of " k.k.
Hofschauspieler." But the two last managers, especially
Photo by " Kilophot," G.m.b.h., Viemm.
DOORWAY, ST. GEORGSHAUS
Vienna 139
Schlenther, the last but one, have had a most unlucky hand,
both as regards the plays they accepted, and the actors and
actresses they engaged. Altogether an evil star seems to
shine over this theatre of late, for it has lost its greatest
actors within a short time, some of them being stiU compara-
tively young. To-day those classical performances for which
the Hofburgtheater has been so famous for long, lack the
grand manner of former times, and it is only tradition which
keeps the rather mediocre staff up to the mark at aU.
In the other Vienna theatres with their different genres
there is no lack of excellent actors. The " Deutsches Volks-
theater " is the one coming nearest to the
Th^^tc Hofburgtheater in its choice of plays ; it
has a classical evening at least once a week,
and for the rest plays modern dramas and society plays.
The " Neue Wiener Biihne " devotes itself to modern plays
and comedies exclusively, the " Josefstadter Theater " has
made a speciahty of spicy French plays and farces, the
" Residenztheater " and the " Lustspieltheater " play farces
and comedies of aU kinds, and the " New People's Theatre,"
a most promising institution, sees to literary excellence
in its productions. Their first season's great success was
Galsworthy's " Strife."
As regards outside arrangements in the Vienna theatres, it is
worth mentioning that even the smallest and cheapest are far
more comfortable than the London ones. There are spacious
lobbies and refreshment rooms ever5nvhere, the seats are
broad, and there are plenty of cloak-rooms ; in fact, it is for-
bidden to take overcoats or cloaks into the theatre. The
seats are numbered throughout and prices are much more
various, but there is no " pit " in the EngUsh sense ; the
seats there are comparatively dear.
Quite another kind of relaxation has, however, become
lately the fashion in Vienna and is luring people away from
the doubtful pleasures of music hall Eind cabaret ; it is
winter sport.
140 Austria
The Viennese have always known how to appreciate their
lovely surroundings, and mountaineering has been a passion
with them for a long time. But in winter
^'ort^ the only sport indulged in was skating, and
indeed,* every board-school child in Vienna
is a proficient skater, the winter being hard and long and the
opportunities for skating excellent. Now that all things
Scandinavian have become the rage, however, mountaineering
in winter and ski-ing have come in too, and a blessing they
prove. The trains going out to the Semmering and other
country places on a Sunday morning at six are packed with
joyfully expectant young people, mostly armed with ski
and knapsack, sure of a day's healthy pleasure in the clear
frosty mountain air, instead of frousting in the stuffy, smoky,
coffee-houses and theatres for hours. No other metropolis
in the world offers the opportunity of climbing 6,000 feet
without even going away for the week-end — ^twelve or four-
teen hours are all that is required, so that shop-girls and men
and poor students can afford it as well as the chUdren of
the rich.
And if all is not as it should be in Vienna city at present,
let us hope that the new generation growing up under the
influence of snow and mountain air, slim and clean-limbed,
clear-skinned and clear-sighted, with healthy pleasures and
clean enjoyments, will some day mend what has been
marred by fat and red-nosed Philistines, drinking beer in the
tobacco-laden air of restaurants for their chief amusement.
HUNGARY
PREFACE
Persons with an ambition in the direction of authorship
sometimes come to Hungary on a hohday visit of a few weeks'
duration and go home to write a 400 page volume purporting
to be a reUable account of this country, its people, and all
that pertains to it. I have lived here for six years, during
which period I have had abundant opportunity for travel and
observation. I have frequently enjoyed the hospitality of
high, middle-class, and low — in palace, mansion, and cottage —
yet feel diffident to take upon myself the task so lightly taken
by these tourists, feeling, as I do, how very much there is to
be learnt about the Magyars and their Fatherland. Like
a sparkling jewel, emitting rays of different hues as it is turned
from one point of light to another, this country demands still
more years of my life ere I can feel competent to render a just
and accurate estimate of the Hungarians. And as, on nearing
the top of a hill, new vistas open out before us, and we
behold more than we at first expected to see, so the more we
discover of Hungary and the Hungarians, the more we reaUse
how little we really know about it and them.
Some foreigners have sought to obtain the good-will of the
Hungarians by flattering eulogies of them and their land.
I prefer to regard the Hungarians as.* people too magnani-
mous to be influenced by such doubtful means ; too great to
be offended by honest criticism ; and too intelligent to resent
the telling of a truth when sometimes it happens to be dis-
agreeable. A book such as this can have no value in the eyes
of a discriminating reader, and therefore can be of no value
on the subject of which it treats, unless it bears the stamp of
the author's sincerity, and, while giving prominence to the
people's virtues, does not lose sight of their foibles. No
country is perfect — not even my own beloved England ; so
143
144 Preface
to pretend would be a sign not of intelligence but of stupidity
— ^why, then, should it be supposed that the aspiring Magyar
race do not wish to see themselves as others see them ?
I have endeavoured to approach the task set me in an
humble spirit, conscious of the dif&culties of the undertaking
as well as of my own deficiencies. I trust, however, that no
one — ^in Hungary or out of it — will doubt the honesty of my
intention to present a faithful portrait of the Hungarian in
his homeland, or the earnestness with which I have tried to
arrive at the truth about matters not under my immediate
cognisance.
A number of distinguished Hungarian friends have kindly
assisted me with data, with the loan of interesting historical
documents, and otherwise. These I thank most cordially,
regretting my inability for obvious reasons to name them here.
In dealing Tvith the politics of the country I have tried to be
fair to all parties, believing them each and all to be actuated
by a desire to promote their country's welfare ; but if any
bias be discovered in what I have written thereon, or on any
other matter, I alone am responsible for it, and do not desire
that any of my good Hungarian friends should share that
responsibility. With this declaration I commit this little
work to the indulgence of the English reading public.
A. L. DELISLE.
Hungary.
I5th August, 1913.
HUNGARY
CHAPTER I
ORIGINS OF THE MAGYARS
Ancient Pannonia and Dacia, corresponding to present-day
Hungary, including Transylvania, are thought to have been
originally peopled by the Cimmerians of the
Origins. Greek and Latin fables, who lived a life of
barbaric independence. Their dark valleys,
on which the sun seldom shone, supplied the early poets, from
Orpheus to Homer, with their most marvellous and capti-
vating fictions. The soil was so fertile as to yield all that was
necessary to human existence without laboiu" ; thus the people
are said to have passed their time in idleness and sleep. Every
article was valued in proportion to its power to contribute
to their ease. Ovid writes of the land as the abode of the god
of sleep.*
Such a race could not long maintain themselves in so
desirable a region. About 640 B.C. a Scythian tribe, driven
from their homes in the Caucasus by the Massagetae, fied
westward and entered the land of the Cimmerians. At
first fugitives, they soon became conquerors, expelling the
aborigines and occupying their rich valleys.
These Scythians were probably not of that royal race
whose exploits fill so large a place in ancient history, but
rather the conquered subjects of that higher family : and it
is supposable that their expulsion was the result of an
insurrection.
On taking possession of their conquest, they remained a
1 Qdyssey, Lib. XI.
14S
10— (2394;
146 Hungary
long time the barbarians they had been before. They had
no towns nor fortified places : they resided not in houses,
but 'in covered wagons drawn by oxen. They were particu-
larly fond of horses, which ranged in immense herds, ready
for the demands of war. Bordering, however, on the terri-
tories of ancient Thrace, which, according to Orpheus, was
civiUsed, they subsequently borrowed from that country
many of the arts of social life, and finally settled down to
cultivate and enjoy the exuberant fertility of the land of
their adoption. Herodotus says that the Scythians were
opposed to the introduction of foreign customs. He divides
them into two classes — ^those who ploughed and those who
did not.^
About the middle of the first century after Christ, the
Scythians were conquered by the Sarmatians, who, according
to Herodotus, were the natural descendants of the Amazons.
In the geographical works of Ptolemy these Sarmatians are
called Metanastce, or wanderers ; by the Roman writers they
are generally styled Jazyges, of whom there were three dis-
tinct families : (1) the M motes, who retained their native
seat, north of what is now the sea of Azof, the Cossack country ;
(2) the Basilii, who occupied the greater part of European
Sarmatia, of which the present Russian Empire is principally
composed, and (3) the third, whose name has not come down
to us, who poured down into the plains and valleys of their
Scythian neighbours and subdued them.
The territory these last acquired extended no further
westward than the river Tisza (the Tihiscus of the Romans),
beyond which was Pannonia, inhabited by a Celtic tribe.
Scythia was first styled Dacia by Ptolemy, to distinguish it
from Asiatic Scythia, with which it was connected on the
East. Pannonia at this period was a Roman province,
having been subdued by Tiberius in the reign of Caesar
Augustus. The Sarmatians, flushed with their recent vic-
tories, pushed towards the Roman camps, but were repulsed
> Lib. IV. c. 76.
Origins of the Magyars 147
with great slaughter. They made also several hostile incur-
sions into the provinces Is^ng south of the Danube, where
they were again met by the Roman legion and driven home.
Though beaten by the superior discipUne of the Imperial
soldiers, they were by no means discouraged and continued
their depredations till the days of Trajan. They compelled
Domitian, the persecutor of the Christians, to pay them an
annual tribute to keep quiet.
Trajan, whose miUtary abilities have been immortalised
by PUny, could not brook such an insult to the throne when he
came to occupy it. In a five years' war he employed all the
resources at his command in canying out his great design of
making a final subjugation of the fierce Dacians, i.e., the
Sarmatians inhabiting the land of Dacia. He threw an
immense bridge over the Danube and marched an invincible
army against Decebalus, their king. A terrible battle
ensued, in which so many wounds were inflicted on the Romans
that there was not hnen enough in the camp to bind them up.
Decebalus, however, at last yielded. His chief stronghold
and palace was destroyed, his army cut to pieces, and he —
glad to save himself and his subjects from utter annihilation —
consented to resign the royal dignity : whereupon Dacia, at the
beginning of the second century, was made a Roman province.
During the century and half that followed, the Roman
Emperors spent large sums of money on their new possession,
in order to make it a safe bulwark against other barbarians
to the north and east. Towers and cities were built and
colonies founded. Roads were made and bridges erected
in so substantial a manner that the remains of them may be
seen in Hungary at the present day.
At the middle of the third century arose a new race of
barbarians, who cast lustful eyes on this naturally beautiful
country which Roman civihsation had carried
of «ie'^°(Sthf. *° ^ st^ ^ig^^^ Pitc^ of splendour. These
were the Goths, who inhabited the vast plains
of the Vistula and the shores of the Baltic. Leaving their
148 Hungary
cold and bleak fatherland, they fixed their temporary habita-
tions on the northern slopes of the Carpathians. Not venturing
to attack the Roman garrisons, they poured down upon
the less protected region^ of Thrace and Macedonia : but
sweeping backward they entered Dacia with resistless daring,
drove the Roman legions from their positions at Ulpia Trajani,
the provincial capital, and held the country against all opposi-
tion. The Emperor Aurelian concluded a treaty with them,
relinquishing to them the whole of Dacia, but demolishing
the famous bridge erected by his predecessor that the bar-
barians might be the more easily confined to their acknowledged
limits.
The reign of the Goths was of brief duration. After a
century and a quarter on the soil of Dacia, enervated by the
easy blessings they enjoyed, they became a prey to another
nation of barbarians from the snowy steppes of Sogdiana,
between the Ural and the Caspian. These — having conquered
the Alani in their course, and thus swelled their numbers
— crushed through the defiles of the Carpathians, The Gothic
population, taken by surprise, was put to flight, and the
victors took possession of their homes. These were the
Huns under their famous leader, AttUa : and thus was settled
the name of Hungary as a geographical expression.
Towards the close of the ninth century, when the Huns
had held undisputed possession of their conquest for more
than five hundred years, their kindred of
The Huns, the Caspian, who, during their residence in
their new country had taken the name of
Magyars, came and settled on the confines of Dacia and
Pannonia. They came in reality to the country of their
brethren, but knew it not. During the five centuries the
Huns had undergone many misfortunes which had broken
their power and spirit, so that they were scarcely to be recog-
nised as the conquerors of the Goths. The want of genius in
the Huns, after the death of the great Attila was the principal
cause of their disasters. With their sharp swords they had
Origins of the Magyars 149
carved out an empire, but with their swords they could not
make just laws, nor raise up a civilisation by which their power
could be consolidated. Hence their decay was almost as
rapid as their success.
When the Magyars came, they found a mixed race of
people made up of unknown tribes who came out to dispute
the advance of the invading hosts. The
j^'^'^Ij.^ contest was of short diuation. After the
first few battles, in which the name of Magyar
had been rendered synonymous with every martial virtue,
the fighting practically ceased. The Huns, Goths, Sarmatians,
and the unknown population, now all massed together under
the collective appellation of Slavs, fled in wild disorder.
Some escaped into Italy, others into Germany and France.
The greater part, however, fled to the surrounding hflls, while
the invaders settled in the fertile plains.
But the Magyars were not yet content. Leaving a sufficient
number to guard their new home, they despatched large
bodies to north, west and south, to complete their circle of
victories. Everjnvhere their efforts were crowned with the
most remarkable success. With a daring never siurpassed
and seldom equalled, they penetrated to the most densely
populated regions, crossed the confines of Germany, into
Italy and France, their progress being stayed only at the base
of some absolutely impassable moimtain range or on the
shore of some unknown sea. Thus, with their centre on the
fertile plains of Hungary they overran all Northern and
Southern Europe from the Adriatic to the Baltic in an
incredibly short time.
A thousand years have rolled away since the Magyars
crossed the Carpathians into the land then called Pannonia.
At Pusztaszer, on the banks of the Tisza, may still be seen a
hill, beneath which thousands of skulls he buried. From
the summit of this hill it was that the Magyars proclaimed
themselves a nation, with Arpad as their prince ; and the
skulls are the remains of the unhappy Huns, Avars, and
150 Hungary
others, who fell in the futile struggle to stem the tide of
invasion.
There are several theories as to the origin of the Magyars
— ^the Hungarians of to-day. I shall, however, give only that
of Professor Arminius VaAbdry, since his seems to me to be
the least open to criticism and therefore most probably the
correct one.
According, then, to the learned OrientaUst, the Magyars
are of Turko-Tartar origin, mixed with the Finn-Ugrian branch
of the Ural-Altaic family, descendants of the Huns, with whom
they came in contact, as we have aheady seen.
The other theories, though differing, all point to one
undisputed fact : that the Magyars originally came from
Central Asia. The Hungarian language is itself a hving
witness of this, abounding as it does in words that have no
affinity whatever with the languages of Europe, while strongly
resembling their equivalents in various oriental tongues.
There is an interesting legend, well known in Hungary,
according to which Nimrod, after the confusion of tongues
at the Tower of Babel, migrated to the land of Havila, where
his wife bore him two sons, Hunyor and Magyar. As these,
grown up to young manhood, were one day hunting in the
Caucasus, in pursuit of a stag, they were led into a delightful
country, a veritable land overflowing with milk and honey.
Returning to their father with their report, they obtained his
consent to their setthng with their flocks in this delightful
land ; and in course of time married the beautiful daughters
of Dula, Prince of the Olans. From these unions sprang the
kindred races of Huns and Magyars, which both grew into
mighty nations.
Finding the territory they occupied too small to contain
them, they made a reconnaisance of the surrounding countries,
drove out the inhabitants and took possession. The tribe
of Hunyor occupied the region north of the Volga, while the
tribe of Magyar settled on the left bank of the river Don.
Twenty-two generations later came an exodus of the Huns,
Origins of the Magyars 151
the Magyars continuing to dwell peacefully on the spot they
had made their home.
The exploits of the Huns under Attila, the " Scourge of
God," need not be recounted here. Sufi&ce it to say that
though they carried their victorious army over a great part
of Europe, their empire was destined to be of but brief duration.
After Attila's death, his two sons, Aladar and Csaba, had
recourse to arms to decide the question of succession. Aladir
perished, and Csaba with dif&culty escaped the destroying
fury of the neighbouring nations. With a handful of followers
he reached the land of the Hellenes. There some of his
Httle band, deserting their leader, went to Transylvania, so
called as it was then a region of primeval, trackless forest.
Csaba, whose mother had been a Grecian princess, was
welcomed by the Emperor Marcianus, at whose court he
remained for some years until he returned to his ancestral
home by the Don. To the day of his death he urged upon
his people the duty of invading Pannonia and reconquering
the empire won by his father, Attila.
Several fenturies later a woman who dwelt in the Ural
region bore a son, of whom it was prophesied that he should
fulfil the living and dying wish of Prince Csaba and reconquer
Eastern Europe. The child was named Almos (dreamy),
and at the early age of twelve years he was placed at the head
of the massed tribes, whom he led on an offensive expedition.
They crossed the Don and the Volga, entered Pannonia
(territory nearly identical with present-day Hungary) and,
overcoming the inhabitants after fierce fighting, occupied it.
Years elapsed, Almos married and had a son, Arpid, the
constitutional chief of Hungary and founder of a princely
dynasty bearing his name.
During Arp4d's reign, war being waged against a tribe
inhabiting the forests and mountain fastnesses of Transyl-
vania, the Hungarians made the joyful discovery that they
and their enemies were blood-relations. Peace was accord-
ingly restored amid great rejoicing on both sides, and
152 Hungary
a solemn alliance of friendship was concluded between
them.i
The Greek Emperor, Leo the Wise, has left to posterity
a graphic sketch of the Hungarians at this period. He says,
" They are from their childhood horsemen.
the Wise They do not like to walk. On their shoulder
they carry long lances and spears — ^in their
hands the bow : they use these weapons very skilfully.
Their breasts and the breasts of their horses are protected
by shields of iron or hides. Accustomed to fight with the
arrow and the bow, they do not willingly come to close
quarters, but prefer to do battle from a distance. They
attend carefully to everything that concerns them, but keep
their intentions secret. They place numerous watches round
their camp, on which account it is difficult to surprise them.
In battle they divide their armies into small companies, each
containing about a thousand men, to which they give positions
not far distant from each other. They have also a reserve
corps, with which, if not brought into action, they lay snares
for the enemy, or give needful succour to jdelding or thinned
battalions. Their baggage they leave a mile or two in the
rear of the army under the protection of a detachment. Their
principal care is not to extend their lines too much : their
single battalions are consequently deep, their front straight
and dense. Their snares are laid by spreading their wings,
thus encircling the enemy, or by feigned retreats and quick
returns. If the enemy flee, they pursue as long as their horses
can keep up the pursuit, or until they have annihilated him.
If the flying enemy retreat into a fortress they endeavour to
prevent succour being sent him, and thus compel him
eventually to surrender." *
When not at war the Hungarians spent their time fishing
and hunting and pasturing their cattle. With agriculture
they, at this time, had no acquaintance, and knew only
* Magyarorszdg & Nipei, Felbermann.
' Tact. cap. ii, Leo Sap.
Origins of the Magyars 153
sufficient of the mechanical art to make their weapons and
their clothing.^
Arpad, it may be observed, was the Joshua of the Magyars.
He it was who led them forth into the Pannonian Canaan.
Here, however, they were by no means content to rest on their
laurels. Nearly the whole period of the reign of the Arpad
dynasty is characterised by warlike incursions into neigh-
bouring countries. Penetrating even to the Atlantic seaboard,
the Magyars terrorised Western Europe until their power
was broken by the Emperor Otto in 955 a.d. in the valley
of the Lech.
This overwhelming defeat of the Magyars was a blessing
in disguise, in that it woke them to a consciousness of the
advantages of the civilisation of the West. Then, too, the
Christian religion obtained a footing among them, G6za, the
last of their rulers to bear the title of prince, allowing his
son Vajk to receive baptism and the Christian name of
Stephen. This boy in due time became the first king and
the first Christian monarch of Hungary.
' Geschichte der Ungarn, Horvath.
CHAPTER II
CHRISTIAN HUNGARY
Stephen was crowned in 1001 a.d. with a crown specially
presented for the occasion by Pope Silvester II, the Roman
Pontiff at the same time conferring upon
^Croi^°'^ his protege the title of Apostolic King (Rex
Apostolicus). This crown (called " The Holy
Crown of Hungary "), plays, even to-day, an important role in
the coronation ceremony. By law every Hungarian sovereign
is bound to be crowned with it within six months of his acces-
sion to the throne. According to legend, this crown was
originally intended for Boleslav of Poland, but Pope Silvester
was visited by an angel who directed him to send it instead
to Stephen of Hungary. To prove his gratitude for this
signal mark of pontifical favour. King Stephen became very
zealous in building churches and monasteries, and organising
the Government of his realm according to the model of the
Christian states around him. He married Gisela, a Bavarian
princess, who added her enthusiasm to that of her husband
in the labour of Christianising and enhghtening the nation.
In 1083 Stephen was canonised for his zeal for the Church
by Pope Gregory the Seventh (Hildebrand). This year
marks the beginning of a period of severe trial for Hungary,
The German Emperors, particularly Henry III, attempted
to reduce the land to the status of a fief Their repeated
efforts, however, proved vain, and in 1055 they were forced
to conclude peace.
When the royal power had become consolidated, after the
days of St. Ladislas, who continued the good work of St.
Stephen, the country gained in territory by the addition of
Croatia, Dalmatia and Bosnia. Ladislas, though an ardent
son of the Church, defended his dominions against Papal
154
Photographed for this work by Mr., Ndndor Szabo.
STATUE OF THE SAINT-KING STEPHEN, BUDAPEST
Christian Hungary 155
intrigue. He is also remembered for having inaugurated
many useful laws.
Djing in 1114 he was succeeded by Stephen II, who lost
the greater part of Dalmatia in the war with the Venetians.
The greatest disorder prevailed for several decades, and the
country was practically reduced to a vassal state of the
Byzantine Empire.
In 1173, in the reign of King B61a IV, it regained its inde-
pendence, only to fall again in 1241 when the devastating
Tartar hordes of Khan Batu, numbering a
Ii^ders million and a half, annihilated the Hungarians
in the battle of Moh, destroying the churches,
monasteries, villages and towns, and laying waste entire
districts. At this time the Hungarian leaders were engaged
in strife with each other, and the King was left destitute of
fighting men. Being informed of the approach of this
terrible enemy, he summoned his nobles, despatched envoys
to various neighbouring monarchs for assistance, and
charged the small force at his disposal with the duty of
defending the frontier. But, alas I the envoys returned
without a single promise of assistance. The King, in despair,
implored his magnates to cease their private quarrels and
rally round him to save the country. Now Hedervary, the
palatine, appeared before the sovereign and said, " Sire, we
are lost. The Tartars have broken up our forces, and will
soon be upon us." On hearing this the assembly was seized
with consternation : the King, however, retained his calmness
and calling Michael Vanisa delivered to him the crown pf St.
Stephen, solemnly charging him to take it and the national
treasures safely out of the country. Then, drawing his sword,
the intrepid monarch cried : " The fate of our nation is in
the han(k of the Almighty, but its honour is in mine. Let
those who will die gloriously for their country, follow me ;
let those who will Uve in disgrace, remain."
In a moment the wavering comrage of thousands was re-
newed, and a mighty shout rent the air : " We will follow
156 Hungary
wherever you may lead us. Eljen a Kirdly I Eljen a haza I "
But all in vain, the little force of 6,000 Hungarians was
opposed by more than 1,000,000 Tartars. Magyar bravery
could avail nothing against such enormous odds, and the sun
set on that eventful 'day over a scene of blood and ruin.
The Tartars overran Hungary, Servia, and Bulgaria until
they could find nothing more to destroy or kill : then Khan
Batu ordered his troops back to Asia.
A generation later the nation had shaken off the effects of
this terrible disaster, and Ladislas IV, in 1278, could even
help Rudolf of Habsburg, at the battle of Marchfeld, to save
Austria from the threatened invasion of Ottocar, King of
Bohemia.
With the death of Ladislas' successor, Andrew III, in 1301,
the House of Arpid became extinct, and the right of electing
another King reverted to the nation. There were many
claimants and candidates for the throne, besides which the
country was split up into factions. One party 'accepted
Charles Robert of Anjou and made him King ; another
elected Wenceslas, son of the King of Bohemia ; while a
third crowned Otto of Bavaria. Each of these princes ruled
in turn, until in their quarrels the crown of St. Stephen fell
into the hands of Ladislas Apor, Voivode of Transylvania.
With a view to recovering the lost emblem of sovereignty
Otto offered to marry the Voivode's daughter ; and he was
invited to the Transylvanian Court for that purpose, but he
got neither the princess nor the crown ; Apor consigned the
luckless Otto to one of his deepest dungeons instead.
When Charles Robert of Anjou was, in 1309, crowned for
the fourth time King of Hungary, he had many difficulties
to contend with in restoring internal peace
^An^ou*** and bringing the recalcitrant nobles to
reason. He developed the mining industries
of the country and raised the commerce to a condition of
prosperity never before known. He introduced Italian pomp
and splendour into his palace at Sz6kesfeh6rvar and his
Christian Hungary 157
castle at Visegrid, making his Court the first in Europe,
copied by his brother sovereigns. At Visegrdd the destinies
of nations were often decided : and Charles Robert was at
once King of Hungary, Naples and Poland, though the two
latter titles were little more than nominal.
During the reign of his son, Louis the Great, Hungarian
dominion extended from the Black Sea to the Baltic, and the
brilliant campaigns in Naples paved the way for the " golden
age " of chivahry in Hungary. His Court, like that of his
father, was the centre of European culture and elegance.
He encouraged the arts and industries and improved the
general condition of the country. Leaving no male issue, his
daughter Mary's husband, Sigismimd, grandson of the Emperor
of Germany, became King of Hungary in 1395.
Sigismund proved but an indifferent ruler. He was soon
called upon to face the Turkish hosts under Sultan Bajazet.
At the first encounter the Turks were defeated, but as the
Hungarian forces were but 10,000 against 200,000 they were
finally borne down by overwhelming numbers. This was the
beginning of a long war.
Belgrade having been ceded by treaty to Hungary, a
soldier named John Hunyady was sent there as governor
of the fortress. This was the rising of a new
HunvadT ®*^ ^ *^® historical firmament. Concerning
his origin, tradition has it that Sigismund,
who, besides being King of Hungary, was Emperor of Germany
and Rome, had an amatory adventure with a beautiful
Wallachian girl, Elizabeth Marsinai. Maintaining his incognito,
he gave her a ring and left her, with the parting assurance
that if, when her child was born, she should take the ring to
the King in Buda both she and the infant would be treated
with kindness. Some years afterwards the woman with her
little son, accompanied by her brother, set out on foot to the
distant capital. During the journey the mother, overcome
with fatigue, fell asleep under the shade of a tree. The
child, in the meantime, toyed with the ring, which hung by
158 Hungary
a slender cord from his neck. Finally, a mischievous jack-
daw swooped down upon the ring and flew off with it. The
screams of the infant woke the woman, who was seized with
despair at seeing herself deprived of her passport to royal
favour. But Elizabeth's brother soon brought the bird down
by a clever shot from his bow. Thus to their great delight
the ring was recovered, and the King's joy when he heard
the story was unfeigned. He acknowledged the boy as his
son, bestowed on him the name of Hunyady, ^ and presented
him with the town of Hunyad and sixty villages besides.
The surname Corvinus * and the armorial bearings of
a crow and a ring were later assumed to commemorate
the event recorded. Elizabeth's birthplace, the village
of Szonakos, was by royal decree exempted from taxes
in perpetuity.
The child John was destined to be a great hero. At
the battle of Nicapolis he destroyed the whole Turkish
force of 80,000 men. Later he drove out Sultan Murad,
and subsequently, with an army of 24,000 men only,
defeated him in his attack upon Belgrade with 130,000
men.
The King dying at this time, was succeeded by his nephew
Albert, in 1437, who reigned but for two short years. His
widow had consented to re-marry with Ladislas, King of
Poland ; but giving birth to a posthumous son, she revoked
her promise Ladislas thereupon declared war against her,
and the Queen took her child and her crown and placed both
in the care of the German Emperor.
Subsequently she sold the crown and certain territory to
the German Emperor, and with the proceeds hired Bohemian
brigands against Ladislas. These wretches plundered the
country and committed innumerable excesses. As for the
German Emperor, he kept the crown and the rightful heir
thereto into the bargain.
• Of Hunyad.
• Jackdaw or crow.
Christian Hungary 159
Meantime the Turks invaded Transylvania and Hunyady
marched against them, inflicting upon them, after a fearful
struggle, a crushing defeat. Sultan Murad II,
^«!?TurS* enraged at the loss of his Vizier, Mezet Bey,
in this battle, swore revenge and despatched
Abdin Shah with 80,000 reinforcements. Hunyady was
prepared. With their respective battle cries of " Jesus I "
and " Allak-il-Allah ! " the Christian and the Moslem foemen
met in a terrible mel6e. A hand-to-hand struggle soon
ensued, in which the Hungarians proved victorious and put
the Turks to flight. The Sultan himself then came on the
scene with an enormous army, but was put to rout by Hunyady
with only 12,000 horsemen. The victor then pushed on and
captured Nisch and Sofia.
Murad took alarm. AssembUng every available man and
forming an alliance with Ladislas, King of Poland, the com-
bined forces attacked the Hungarians, the battle raging
throughout a day and a night. This encounter resulted
in a further defeat for the Turks, Hussein Bey, the Commander-
in-Chief, being taken prisoner. Hunyady returned to Buda
with thirteen captive Pashas and more than fifty Tiurkish
standards as trophies of victory ; while the Turks fled back
to their own country.
Hunyady's fame spread over the civiUsed world, and
martially disposed mothers — of which in those stirring times
there were many — ^taught their infants to hsp the name of
the great hero.
As this is not a history of Hungary but merely an historical
survey, many events of the reign of King Ladislas, who
succeeded Sigismund, must be passed over.
The war with the Turks was renewed, at the instigation
of Pope Eugenius IV, though a truce for ten years had been
declared. The result of this breach of faith was the crushing
defeat of the Hungarians at the battle of Varna (10th Novem-
ber, 1444), in which both the King of Hungary and the Papal
Legate were slain.
160 Hungary
John Hunyady escaped, and returning home was appointed
Regent of the kingdom during the minority of Lau' 1, 3 V.
A further period of sanguinary warfare, lasting lor more
than eight years, in which the tide of victory alternated
between the Magyars and the Moslems — ^the latter always
managing to retain their hold on the country — culminated
in the decisive defeat of the Hungarians at Mohacs on
19th August, 1526, when King Louis II (St. Louis) and the
flower of the Hungarian chivalry perished.
We must not omit, however, to tell briefly the story of the
preceding King Matthias, son of the renowned John Hunyady.
After the death of King Ladislas in 1458,
MatthUis Matthias ascended the throne, which he
worthily filled for thirty-two years. In all
respects a child of the Renaissance, he was a lover of books
and an admirer of scholars. He founded the most famous
library of his day in Buda and surrounded himself with the
most learned men Eiurope could produce. As warrior, he
kept the Bohemians in check, put a stop to the Turkish con-
quests for the time being, restored order in Croatia, overcame
Austria, and took possession of Vienna, and promptly sup-
pressed a self-styled " King " of Transylvania, whom he,
however, made Voivode ; while as a statesman, too, he
restrained the turbulent nobles, and, in the making of laws,
was guided by wise moderation and love of justice.
There was one grave flaw in his otherwise faultless states-
manship, however, as though to exempUfy the axiom that
no man is perfect. Matthias reigned for five years without
being crowned, the reason for this being that the German
Emperor, Frederick, had the crown of St. Stephen in his
possession and refused to give it up. King Matthias —
unfortunately for Hungary, as later history proved — induced
him to part with the crown for a large sum of money, certain
forts, and an agreement that he — the German Emperor — or his
successor should appoint the next King of Hungary, in the event
of the family of Matthias becoming extinct.
Photo by Pieizner.
THE ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND OF AUSTRIA
Christian Hungary 161
Matthias paid great attention to the welfare of his people.
He established the first printing press in Hungary, built many
schools, and founded the first University. He gave equal
rights to everybody, even appointing a member of the des-
pised Jewish race to be minister of the Royal household.
No wonder, then, that he was almost worshipped by his
subjects, and when he passed away they sincerely mourned
the loss of a friend and benefactor. " Matthias is dead» and
justice has died ^yith him," they said, and this saying is
sometimes heard from the lips of Magyars to-day.
The fatal consequences of King Matthias's agreement with
the German Emperor began to be seen after the disaster of
Mohacs. From this period Hungary came under the sway
of the House of Austria. ^ The nation fretted for a national
king, such as the glorious Matthias had been. Accordingly
John Szapolya, a wealthy Hungarian magnate, was elected
to the throne by a powerful party, while another party, also
powerful, gathered round the Habsbrurg prince, Ferdinand H,
husband of the daughter of Ladislas. Although the latter's
appointment was influenced to a great extent by the personal
interests of certain individuals, as well as by the agreement
of King Matthias referred to, the decisive point was the con-
viction, perfectly justifiable, that the country would derive
far more advantage from the rule of a monarch who could
bring the wealth and military power of his own dominions
to the aid of Hungary. Unfortunately, however, the high
hopes entertained were not realised.
, Owing to the lack of unity of purpose among the people,
Hungary soon found herself divided into three parts. In
the west the House of Habsburg, represented by Ferdinand,
was in possession ; and the east a national principaUty with
Transylvania as its centre ; between these two the Turk
with his capital at Buda.
The bleeding divisions of the country were for a centxiry
and a half the scene of continual warfare and devastation.
' At that period also Emperors of Germany.
II— (2394) ,
162 Hungary
At intervals large armies advanced from Germany and the
Austrian provinces against the Turks ; but beyond robbing
the unfortunate country they did practically nothing. Even
at the time when Nicholas Zrinyi with a few thousand men
held an ordinary earthVork and died a patriot's death, an
enormous army was lying inactive at Gyor under the command
of the Emperor-King Maximihan, which might with ease
have taken the field against the Turkish forces. ^
When Ferdinand I was elected King of Hungary he was
lord of Bohemia and the Austrian provinces only, but after
the death of Charles V he obtained also the crown of the
Holy Roman Empire, and his successors, without exception,
were chosen to be rulers of the German Empire. This had
an effect on the relations between the monarchs and Hungary.
Even had this country maintained its ancient territory and
power unimpaired, it would, to a certain extent, have been
thrown into the background by the policy of a dynasty which
at the same time sat on the throne of a mighty empire sur-
rounded with the almost saintly halo of traditions. StLQ less
was the importance attached to that little tract of land, all
that remained of the Hungarian kingdom in the hands of the
Habsburgs. Thus we cannot be surprised that the Habs-
burgs looked upon their Hungarian possession as nothing
more or less than a glacis acting as an impediment to the
onslaught of the Turks ; and it was their constant endeavour
to incorporate it in their empire. But it was quite as natural
that the Hungarian nation, jealous of its hberties, clung
obstinately to its ancient constitution, a fact that led to
bloody conflicts between the nation and the raUng dynasty.
The antagonism was accentuated by the fact that the monarchs,
as patrons of the Catholic faith, used every violence to
eradicate the Protestant religion that had so firm a hold on
the country ; and national resistance was rendered still more
passionate and fierce by the grievances of the persecuted
Protestants.
' Julius de Vargha : Hungary — a sketch, etc.
Christian Hungary 163
In the struggle that ensued, an important part was played
by Transylvania, which had developed into an independent
principality. Her distinguished princes,
Transylvania. Bocskay, Bethlen, and George Rakoczi I on
more than one occasion gave assistance
to the Hungarians. By the Peace of Vienna, as well as
by those of Nicolsburg and Linz, they secured hberty of
conscience and the maintenance of the Hungarian constitu-
tion unimpaired, without, however, an unbroken continuity
of peace and quiet. Out of gratitude to the reigning dynasty,
by whose aid they had succeeded in throwing off the Turkish
yoke, the Hungarians agreed to the annulment of the final
clause of the Golden Bull (Bulla Aurea) of Andrew III which
had sanctioned the use of armed forces against the Kings
who had defied the constitution. They even resigned their
right of electing a king, and recognised the right of succession
of the male hne of the Habsburg House. But aU this was of
no avaU. Leopold I treated Hungary as a province conquered
by force of arms.
Although the national resistance had no longer a pillar
cA support in Transylvania (which had in the meantime also
come under the rule of Leopold), harrassed to death, it took
up arms, and under the leadership of Prince Francis Rakoczi II
at the opening of the eighteenth century, carried on a bloody
struggle for nearly eight years against the oppressor. The
struggle was concluded, not by defeat, but by the honourable
Peace of Szatmar, in 1711, which secured the immunity of the
Hungarian constitution. ^
In 1723 King Charles III summoned a Parliament at
Pozsony for the ratification of the Pragmatic
^''sanc^oT*^'' Sanction, which secured the Habsburg
succession to the female line as well as to
the male.
No sooner had Charles III expired, in 1741, than his daughter
Maria Theresa, who succeeded to the throne by virtue of the
1 Julius de Vargha : Hungary — a sketch, etc.
164 Hungary
Pragmatic Sanction, found all Europe in arms against her
The Prussian, Bavarian, French, Saxon, Spanish, and Nea-
politan Kings aU claimed her inheritance. In despair, she
appeared in the Parliament at Pozsony with her two-months
old baby, Joseph, on her arm and implored, with tears, " her
faithful Hungarians " to protect her throne and person.
We can hear, in imagination, the roar that ascended from
those hundreds of loyal Magyar throats as sabres leapt from
their scabbards and flashed on high as their bearers swore
" Vitam et sanguinem moriamur pro rege nostra Maria Teresia ! "
("Our lives and our blood, to the death for our Queen Maria
Theresa!").!
Not only did they hasten to take up arms, but they voted
supplies to aid their young queeri, who was thus enabled
soon to obtain a brilliant victory over all her enemies.
Joseph II (1780-90), Maria Theresa's son, was an enlightened
monarch, far in advance of his time. He was never crowned,
objecting to the restrictions imposed by the coronation oath.
His great reforms — ^the decree of toleration, the census, and
the use of the German language in instruction and adminis-
tration — ^were received by the Hungarians with extreme
indignation. The magnates rose against him, because he
desired to abolish the unjust institution of serfdom and
obHge them, the magnates, to pay taxes, from which they had
from time immemorial been exempt. He increased the
number of schools and gave education to the peasantry, as
well as encouraged backward industries and agriculture.
Conscious of the purity of his intentions, he died broken-
hearted at the conduct of his Magyar subjects. These
regarded their Sovereign's acts as illegal, since he never
consulted Parhament. Shortly before his death he confessed
* I have translated rege as " queen " as the sense requires ; but as
Latin scholars know, the word actually signifies " king." The fact is,
the Sovereign of Hungary is in law always a king, tiie sex notwith-
standing. Thus, instead of a queen of Hungary it would be more
correct to speak of a female king. The reference is, of course, to a
reigning Jsovereign lady (kirdlyno), and not to a king's wife [kirdlyni).
Christian Hungary 165
his failure and sent back the crovm of St. Stephen (at that
time in Vienna) to Buda.
Joseph's successor, Leopold (1790-92), made concessions
to the Magyars, and carried on the war with Turkey, which
was the hope of the enslaved Servians. At his decease, the
new French RepubUc declared war on his successor : and it
is well known that Napoleon endeavoured by specious pro-
mises to seduce the Hungarians from their allegiance to the
House of Habsburg. They remained true, but got nothing
for their faithfulness. Their country was drained of its
manhood to supply soldiers and its exchequer was exhausted.
When, after many vicissitudes, Francis was once more firmly
seated on the throne, he refused to convoke the Hungarian
Diet until forced to do so by his failure to levy taxes (1821-25).
The selfishness of the aristocracy was now, as ever, the great
barrier to national progress ; but, nevertheless, this was a
period of great revival. A National Academy and Theatre
were founded, and many works of pubUc benefit begun ;
whUe in 1833 the Diet passed enactments ameUorating the
condition of the peasantry, and in 1848 the Hungarian lower
nobihty — ^the backbone of the country — ^relinquished their
class privileges and placed themselves in the van of progress.
The whole of Europe was now seething with the ideas of
individual Uberty and national independence ; the Magyars
were carried away on the wave of revolution, and never
afterwards, despite temporary checks, abandoned their
programme of national development and complete political
independence. ^
It is hoped that this brief outline of the past history of
Hungary will enable the reader better to understand the
conditions prevailing in the country at the present day.
• Colquhoun : Whirlpool of Europe.
CHAPTER III
THE HABSBURG DYNASTY
To whatever may be ascribed the cause, every Hungarian is
convinced that his country has suffered nothing but ill. in
a greater or lesser degree, since the first
Habsbures ^^^^^ of the House of Habsburg sat on the
throne of the Magyars by virtue of the short-
sighted agreement made by King Matthias with the astute
Emperor Frederick. Far be it from me to desire to convey
the impression that the Habsburgs have been all evil, or worse
rulers in general than those of other dynasties that have
wielded the sceptre of St. Stephen. By no means ; there
have, indeed, been excellent princes among them. But the
rilling spirit of that Imperial House is a prodigious vanity
and vaulting ambition, disposed to trample under foot all
popular rights and rule as by " Right Divine " every nation
and people it can by any means bring under its sway. Count
Julius Andrassy says : " The Habsburgs, moreover, had
earned for themselves a sinister reputation in Hungary.
Their conviction that the country belonged to them by right
of inheritance had caused long years of conflict. They were
a source of constant anxiety to the Hungarians, who clung
to the free election of their King as the very foundation of
their hberties. The unhappy reign of Ladislas V, the unlawful
execution of Ladislas Hunyady, and the cunning policy of the
Emperor Frederick against King Matthias, had all increased
the unpopularity of Himgary's formidable neighbour. These
various memories had been crystallised into popular sayings,
which passed from mouth to mouth until they were on the
lips of the whole people. Amongst the gentry, the prevalent
and all-distorting party animosity had increased the hatred
166
The Habsburg Dynasty 167
of foreigners, especially Germans, and above all of the
Habsburgs."!
It will, then, no doubt be of interest to be told something
about the rise and progress of this powerful family.
On the banks of the Aar, in Switzerland, towards the close
of the eleventh century a bishop named Werner built himself
a fortified palace among the crags of a lofty eminence. To
those in the deep valley below the bishop's residence seemed
like a speck on the horizon, and thus, in course of time, having
regard to the predatory and unepiscopal habits of its owner,
the peasantry came to refer to it as " Der Hahichtshurg,"
which may be anglicised as the Hawk's Nest or stronghold.
Bishop Werner's episcopal successors appear to have given
ample reason for the application of the name. In their
inaccessible ejnrie they kept vigilant eyes on the valleys and
seized every opportunity (not always restricted to moral or
lawful means) to increase their wealth and power. Having
reduced the immediate district to absolute fear, dependance,
and subjection, they next made the adjoining districts the
objects of their unwelcome attentions. In that age of bar-
barism social distinctions were not nicely drawn, the lines of
separation between ecclesiastical and secular authority were
very faint and irregular, and thus the occupants of the Hawk's
Nest gradually added a civil to their rehgious influence. A
little town sprang up under their feet, which, called Habichts-
burg, after the episcopal castle, was corrupted by the peasants
into Habsburg. The lord of the Hawk's Nest now threw off
the sacred mantle, took the secular title of count, and" later
married. His descendants, by violence and intrigue, brought
the whole north-east of Switzerland under their dominion,
and their territory, defended by the Alpine mountains, could
defy the proudest and mightiest barons of the land.
Rudolf, who became Count of Habsburg in 1240, spread
the terror of his name throughout Switzerland. He would
quarrel with his best friends, if by so doing he could have
1 Development of Hungarian Constitutional Liberty, p. 296.
168 Hungary
occasion to attack them and get possession of their estates.
He raised his sword against his uncle, and as the price of
peace demanded a strip of his relative's property. From
another uncle he borrowed money, and being denied when he
sought to borrow more, •seized the whole of this kinsman's
fortune. As guardian to his cousin Anne, he took advantage
of his position to convey her vast properties to himself. He
conquered many cities, among them Zurich, and was about
to batter down the walls of Basle when he received the intelli-
gence of his election to the Imperial throne of Germany.
When the Bishop of Basle heard the news he is reported to
have exclaimed, " Sit fast, O God, or Rudolf will have Thy
throne next ! "
Ottocar, Duke of Austria and King of Bohemia, at first
refused to acknowledge him, but Rudolf compelled his
submission by force of arms on the field of Marchfeld. ^
Styria, Illyria, Carinthia, and Carniola were soon annexed,
as well as part of Poland, by violence ; and the Habsbmrgs
ultimately reached a height of authority which enabled them
to secure the succession to the German throne in their own
family. Generations later Francis I resigned the crown of
the Caesars and declared himself Emperor of Austria : a
cunning political move, as will be admitted when it is pointed
out that the preceding Habsburgs had already swallowed
up the German empire and incorporated it, piece by piece,
with their extensive dominions.
Coxe, the historian of the House of Austria, ^ tells us that
Frederick III used to amuse himself with the construction of
anagrams. One of these compositions was extremely curious.
It was based upon the five vowels. A, E, I, O, U. These
letters were engraved on all the royal plate and carved on
every article of palace furniture. The Sovereign never
condescended to explain their significance, and his visitors
were puzzled. Thousands attempted to interpret them, but
' Vide Chapter II.
* Vol. I, p. 277.
The Habsburg Dynasty 169
in vain. They continued an unsolved mystery till after
Frederick's death, when the riddle was explained. On one
of the leaves of his diary, the Imperial executors found the
following singular inscription :
Austria TI?st Tmperare /^rbi T Tniverso
lies Crdreich 1st Westerreich Unterthan
1
This is indicative of the Habsburg pohcy, though it did not
originate with Frederick ; it had been the actuating spirit
of all his predecessors. It was bred and born in the Habichts-
burg fastness. From the bishop it descended to the count,
from the count to the duke, from the duke to the king, and
from the King to the Emperor. The records of the Habsburgs,
through a long Hne of princes, covering many centuries,
furnish a clearer exposition of their family poUcy than even
this royal enigma.
The present monarch, Francis Joseph, has passed the period
of life when he c4n be dazzled by dreams and schemes of
conquest, and reached an age when peace and tranquillity
are preferable to the wild alarms of war.
The same cannot, I fear, be said of the Heir to the Thrones,
Archduke Francis Ferdinand. The late Crown Prince Rudolf
fixed Salonica as the future boundary of the Dual Monarchy ;
and it is held by many at this moment that his present
Imperial and Royal Highness contemplates in the not distant
future a coup d'etat. Vienna has to-day two opposite policies,
and two chiefs representing them : the policy of peace inspired
by Francis Joseph and defended by diplomacy, and the policy
of aggression pursued by Francis Ferdinand and backed,
as a matter of course, by the miUtary leaders.
Judging his dominions to have reached the decisive point
when they must live or die, dissolve or rise to greater power
and glory, the Archduke has conceived a mighty plan. He
designs to set free all those peoples who, discontented and at
1 1 Latin : To Austria is it given to rule the universe.
(German : Everything in the universe is subject to Austria.
170 Hungary
variance, make up the Dual Monarchy ; of establishing new
principalities, and thus the great confederation of states
comprising Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, with their personal
chiefs and autonomy ; Servia, with her frontiers expanded by
recent victories over the Tttrks and even increased by Slavonia ;
and Montenegro, increased by a portion of Dalmatia and of
Herzegowina — all these, erected into duchies, principalities,
and kingdoms, he would make free, vigorous, and contented
in a vast empire of which he himself would be the head and
centre ! This would be the reconstruction, not of the Holy
Roman and Germanic Empire, but of a Slavonic Empire
outside Russia.
If we are to believe the Paris Journal's special correspon-
dent at Vienna, Poland has already accepted the scheme,
Bulgaria has divined it, and Servia is beginning to understand
it and offers no serious objection.
Such a new Slavonic Empire would make short work of
the political forms of Europe. There would doubtless be
the rupture of aUiances, the tearing up of
A Slavonic treaties, and the snapping of international
friendships ; but peace would be assiured
in the Near East, and to Francis Ferdinand's brand new
empire, and incidentally to himself, would aU these stupendous
blessings be due. Dream worthy of a Habsburg ! But to
realise this dream, in spite of all assurances of the acquiescence
of certain parties, would be to deluge Europe in blood and
bring to pass the prophesied Armageddon. Let the Hun-
garians beware of participating in an enterprise of this wild
nature, which, even if successful, would drain the blood and
resoiu'ces of the country and rivet the fetters of bondage and
oppression once more on their limbs. Let them rather
cultivate the arts of peace, developing their commerce, and
estabhshing friendly relations with their neighbours. In
this, and not in schemes of conquest, he Hungary's hopes of
prosperity and independence.
CHAPTER IV
THE HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTION
True to the spirit of civil liberty, the ancient Magyars, on
entering their new country, called a general assembly of the
_. people, discussed their poUtical needs, and
Constitution, laid the foundations of a constitution. Con-
Its Origin and sisting of about a million souls, they were
Development. Qj-iginaUy divided into 108 tribes, distributed
into seven grand divisions, each entirely independent of the
others in its private affairs, but aU hving together in the form
of a general confederation. Each of these grand divisions
acknowledged the supremacy of a chief, called a voivode, ^ or
duke ; and a convention of these voivodes constituted the
highest assembly and exercised the supreme authority of the
nation. When thus gathered together for the transaction of
business, they elected one of their number temporary president,
this election giving him no new permanent powers, but only
authority to guide the deliberations of the assembly while
in session. The convention was not a legislative body, for
it could make no laws binding on the divisions which affected
their private interests. Each division had its own pecuhar
institutions, and each voivode at the council represented
the predetermined wishes of his constituents. AU the divi-
sions were, however, naturally interested in whatever concerned
the federal operations of the nations, so that a majority of
votes in the voivodes' council always gave direction thereto.
But this form of government, eminently repubUcan —
though it would have been very valuable to a people suffi-
ciently civilised to appreciate it — ^needed in those barbarous
times a central authority above that of a mere chairman of
assembly, or even a president of a modern state. Necessity
soon taught the Hungarians that, unless some such central
' In Hungarian, vajda (pron. voida).
171
172 Hungary
authority was appointed, the success they hoped for in their
great enterprise would be impossible. This important need
was accordingly met. The voivodes assembled and, in the
presence of the whole people, each voivode opened a vein in
his arm, and the blood thus shed, collected in a vessel, was
drunk by the contracting parties. This solemn rite performed,
lots were drawn for the new officer. The lot fell to Almos, ^
whose valour in war, wisdom in counsel, and virtues as a man,
all rendered him worthy of the exalted position he was hence-
forth to occupy. This result announced; the voivodes
addressed Almos : " From this day thou art our supreme
chief and commander. Lead on ; we follow thee." *
At the subsequent convention the following covenant was
ratified : (1) The supreme chief should always be elected from
the descendants of Almos. * (2) Whatever property or spoil
should be acquired, should be divided amongst the voivodes.
(3) The voivodes, having elected Almos to his high dignity,
should, as well as their descendants, never be excluded by
Almos or his successors, either from the supreme chief's
council or from the government. (4) Should any voivode or
his descendant break this covenant made with the supreme
chief, his blood should be shed, even as the blood of the
original covenanting parties had been shed at the election of
Almos. (5) On the other hand, should Almos or any des-
cendant of his, or any of the present voivodes, or their des-
cendants, break this pledge mutually made, the outlaws'
curse should be pronounced upon them and rest on them for
ever ; they should be degraded from their offices and banished
irrevocably.
By this original constitution of the Hungarians four estates
were recognised : the supreme chief, the voivodes, the officers
under them, and the common warriors. Besides these, how-
ever, there were, led onward and defended by the warriors,
» Vide Chapter I.
' Horvath : Geschichte der Ungarn.
' No mention of the hereditary right of any member of the family.
The Hungarian Constitution 173
a considerable mass of human beings who, on account of
various disabilities were not prepared to fight ; they per-
formed what other services they could, and were glad to be
acknowledged as the useful, albeit servile, kindred of their
armed brethren. Feeling sufficiently compensated for their
services by receiving food, clothing, and protection, they
claimed no right in the making of rules or laws, but were
content to obey those made by their superiors ; hence they
were, according to their tacit admission, simply peasants,
or countrymen, without sovereign rights in any form. Hence
in the National Assembhes of early times we find two distinct
classes (sub-divided, of course, into other classes) — ^aristocracy
(comprising the prince, nobles, and warriors) and democracy
(the peasants just now alluded to).
Now Arpad, son of the first supreme chief Almos, proved
very much like most men whose family has risen to a privi-
leged position : he wished to secure the
Arp4d. supremacy to his descendants. Aware of
the high respect in which he was held —
he was, as I have already pointed out, the " Joshua " who
had led the Magyars into the Land of Promise — ^he resolved
to turn that respect to his own advantage. Calling all his
armies together on the plain of Pusztaszer, he gave them a
revision of the charter of their Uberties. An vmknown
Hungarian writer, a monk, who has left to posterity a number
of interesting manuscripts ^ signed Anonymous, says : " The
rights and duties of the people, as well as the relations between
them, the nobles, and the prince, were more accurately set
forth than they had been before ; judges were appointed,
and the execution of the laws, and the penalties for infringing
them, were estabUshed." Territory was then distributed
by Arpad among his followers ; for it was above all his desire
to attach to himself servants to defend him and his descendants
against the voivodes and lesser chiefs, who were disposed to
conduct themselves towards Arpad with greater independence
' Many of them, however, giving data now proved to be false.
174 Hungary
than pleased him. The importance of these latter he effectu-
ally reduced by generous gifts of estates to the most faithful
of his people, who themselves looking to him for protection
against the other chiefs, would naturally be interested in the
preservation of their ^tron's power. All the fortified places
of the land Arpad took unto himself, thus holding the key
of the house, to use a figure of speech. He could not, however,
long hold these numerous and widely scattered domains
entirely in his own hands. Therefore he appointed the chief
leaders under himself to be comites castri, empowered to hold
these national properties in the name of the prince, who
possessed the prerogative to change his representatives
whenever he thought fit for the common good. Thus, in
effect, all the castles and strongholds continued to be his
and his descendants', securing his and their authority for all
time.
After the question of the castles was settled, came that of
the fighting forces ; and again by a judicious granting of lands
Arpad secured the warriors as the special supporters of the
prince as much as the defenders of the fatherland.. Foreigners
also he favoured who were disposed to leave their own birth-
lands and become his subjects ; thus further strengthening
his position.
Such were Arpad's poUtical characteristics ; he was,
however, just and humane. When he fought and had con-
quered, those who submitted he restored to their rank and
possessions, reducing none to a position of servitude. When
he died, in 907 a.d., he was mourned by a people whom he
had raised to a position of prosperity and contentment.
Stephen, the Saint-King, the fourth of Arpad's successors,
the first Christian ruler of Hungary, and the first to bear the
title of king, made essential changes in the
St. Stephen, constitution by request of the Pope, whose
protegi he was, and to whom he was indebted
for the " holy " crown he wore. ^
» Vide Chapter II.
HIS EXCELLENCY COUNT ALBERT APPONYI, M.P.
{Sometime Miniskr for Public hniniclinn)
The Hungarian Constitution 175
There is no one written document in existence called the
Hungarian Constitution ; it is the product of evolution
through a series of precedents and laws
Golden Bull ejctending over a period of many centuries.
As, however, the Magna Charia of King John
(1217) is the first known document of the EngUsh constitution,
so the first written document of the Hungarian constitution
is the Bulla Aurea or " Golden Bull " of King Andrew II,
bearing date 1222.
In Chapter II the reader has already seen how Hungary
had constantly to contend with fierce enemies, Tartars and
Turks, and how for a period of 150 years the half of the
country was occupied by the Tiurkish invaders.
When, towards the end of the seventeenth century, the
armies of the Emperor-King Leopold finally drove the
Turks out of Hungary, German oppression followed, which
was hardly better than the Turkish rule had been. It drove
the people to despair, so that this poor country, almost
exhausted, almost annihilated by the three centuries of
struggle that had gone before, had to take arms again and
fight for ten years a heroic war against her own kings who had
become oppressors — a war which, after many fluctuations of
defeat and victory, ended in a compromise which was on the
whole favourable to Hungary, because therein Hungary
again solemnly recognised the right of the Habsburg ds^nasty
to rule in Hungary, but on the other hand the djmasty
solemnly pledged itself to respect the Constitution.^
Notwithstanding the ideas of despotism that prevailed all
over Europe in mediaeval times, the continuity of the Hun-
garian Constitution has never been interrupted. The six-
teenth century, which crushed the life out of almost all free
institutions, left (wo standing : the English and the Hungarian
Constitutions.
The King of Hungary's prerogative was a powerful one ;
^ Count Albert Apponyi, M.P. : Lecture on The Growth of the
Hungarian Constitution.
176 Hungary
it was necessary, in the interests of the country's defence, that
it should be so. That prerogative was, however, so hedged
about with guarantees that it was prevented from being
a danger to the commonwealth. So early as the thir-
teenth century we find' an enactment that no ordinance
of the King should have any legal value unless it were
signed by certain officers of state ; and another that he should
be deposed if there were any adverse vote of the estates
against him.
Like all mediaeval Constitutions, that of Hungary was
founded upon privilege. Political rights were possessed only
by the class who bore arms — called by the
Aristowacy* Hungarian law-books nohiUs ai.nd membrum
sacrae coronae. These do not correspond
much to the English conception of " nobles," but rather
to " free citizens " — ^free men liable to bear arms in
their country's (or their Sovereign's) cause. At the
time of the French Revolution the population of Hungary
was about 6,000,000, and of that number some 300,000 were
" nobles " in the sense described, and therefore were entitled
to vote. These " nobles " were, however, a democratic
body in an important respect : the wealthy and powerful
were equal before the law with the poorest possessors of the
franchise.
This aristocratic regime continued till about the middle
of the nineteenth century, when Count Stephen Sz^chenyi
(affectionately styled by his compatriots " The Greatest
Hungarian ") introduced plans for reform which should give
the lower classes also their due share of constitutional privi-
leges. His actions brought him into conflict with the most
eminent men of his age, but he eventually triumphed, and an
end was put to privilege in 1848 by the privileged persons
themselves consenting to renounce the special rights they and
their forefathers had enjoyed for ages.
Notwithstanding the multiplicity of races in Hungary,
there is only one kind of citizenship — Hungarian citizenship.
The Hungarian Constitution 177
Whether Magyar, Slovak, or Roumanian, a man is Hungarian.
and entitled to the benefits of the Constitution. *
In close connection with the Constitution are the relations
of Hungary with Austria. When the Hungarians called the
Relations ^^^ Habsbiurg to reign over them, it was not
between Austria in the least with the intention of their realm
and Hungary, becoming a portion of the Austrian Empire.
It was an alhance for mutual safety — ^not an amalgamation or
an assimilation the one of the other. The prime condition
under which the Habsburgs were called to the Hungarian
throne was that they should rule in Hungary according to the
provisions of the Constitution. This condition was solemnly
accepted by the first Habsburg, and afterwards sworn to by
every Habsburg at his coronation as King of Hungary. In
practice it has often been evaded by the monarch and his
advisers, but the theory has never legally been abandoned.
By the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, the Habsburg
ruler of Austria was also to be the ruler of Hungary ; both
countries were to assist each other against foreign aggression ;
but the independence and ancient hberties of Hungary were
to be preserved inviolate. Joseph II* made strenuous
attempts to convert Hungary into a province of Austria.
From his point of view it was with the best intentions. The
excellent popular reforms he would have instituted, we cannot
fail to admire ; but the Magyars would have none of them
since he defied their Constitution. In the reign of his successor
Leopold II, a law was passed, similar to the EngUsh " Declara-
tion of Right " under Charles I, in which the Habsburg King
of Himgary was made to reassert the legal status of the
realm. The original is in Latin ; the following is an exact
translation :
" Law XI, 1791. On the humble petition of the Estates
and Orders of the Realm, His Most Sacred Majesty has been
graciously pleased to recognise : That though the succession
1 Vide Chapter V.
* Vide Chapter II.
12—12394)
178 Hungary
of the female branch of the Austrian House, decreed in Hun-
gary and her annexed parts by Laws I and II of 1723, belongs,
according to the fixed order of succession, and in indivisible
and inseparable possession, to the same prince whose it is in
the other kingdoms and Jiereditary domains situated in or out
of Germany, Hungary with her annexed parts is none the less
a free and independent kingdom concerning her whole form of
rule {including therein every branch of administration) which
signifies : under submission to no other kingdom or people,^
but possessing her own consistence and constitution ; therefore
must she be ruled by her hereditary and crowned kings, as
well by His Present Majesty as his successors, in accordance
with her own laws and customs and not after the example
of other provinces, as already enacted by Laws III of 1715,
and VIII and XI of 1741."
Nothing, one might suppose, could be plainer than this ;
yet in published books and in the daily press one is constantly
meeting with references to the " Austro-Hungarian Empire " ;
places in Hungary are said to be in Austria ; Hungarian
statesmen are Austrian statesmen ; Hungarian nobles,
Austrian nobles ; events happening in Hungary are given as
taking place in Austria, and so on ad infinitum, much to the
annoyance of the Hungarians themselves, who like their
poUtical existence to be recognised by the nations abroad.
It is a greater matter even than calling a Scotsman or Irishman
an Englishman, since both belong to the British Empire ;
the Hungarian on the contrary does not belong to the Austrian
Empire, and to avoid wounding the susceptibilities of the
Magyars, visitors to Hungary will do well to remember this fact.
There is a party or political school in Austria who are
trying to make out a case for a unified Austrian Empire,
to include Hungary, and they claim that when the Emperor
Francis I, in 1804, put off the title of German Emperor and
assumed that of Emperor of Austria, he intended to assume
it with regard to his dominions as a whole. That may or
' Nulli alio regno vel populo subditum.
The Hungarian Constitution 179
may not be so ; but if Francis did intend, the intention was
in conflict with the law. No person, even a king, has the right
^:o alter arbitrarily a condition of things arranged on the
basis of a convention with another party.
Though the Emperor of Austria and the King of Hungary
happen to be the same physical person, he is juridically TWO
persons, his prerogative in the A)ne case being
_ ^^^v entirely different from his prerogative in the
cmperor-King. , -^ ._ , .-i • a , - . i
other. For mstance, while m Austria the
people have only such rights as the Emperor has allowed them,
in Hungary the position is reversed, and the King has only such
rights as the people have allowed him in the Constitution. In
Austria the Emperor may issue ordinances that have the
force of law, even to coUect taxes and levy recruits ; in
Hungary the King may do nothing of the kind. If he should
attempt to do so, any officials who dared to assist him would
be guilty of high treason and dealt with for that capital crime.
As in the laws of aU civihsed nations it is an act of treason
for a subject to appeal to a foreign sovereign, so it is treason
for a subject of the King of Hungary to appeal to the Emperor
of Austria !
All Hungarian institutions are based on the firm bed-rock
fact of an independent Hungarian kingdom. There is an
Austrian ParUament and a Hungarian Parliament, but there
is no such thing as an Austro-Hungarian Parliament ; conse-
quently there are no Austro-Hungarian M.P.'s, neither are
there any Austro-Hungarian subjects. They may belong to
either the one State or the other, but not to both. ^
The actual true significance of the term " Austria-Hungary "
— so familiar to British ears, yet so Uttle understood — is
that two independent nations, called respectively Austria and
Hungary, have become united for certain definite purposes to
their mutual advantage. Simply that, and nothing more
nor less than that.
1 For the " Common Affairs " (Army, Navy, and Foreign Relations)
of the Dual Monarchy, vide the Austrian section of this work.
CHAPTER V
OF POLITICS AND POLITICIANS
Politics in Hungary are very complicated, and the British
reader will not understand them until he has learned the
difference between the Hungarian and the
Roya?R)wer. English systems of government. The King
of Great Britain reigns but does not govern :
the King of Hungary both reigns and governs. In theory
there is no difference between the prerogative of the Hun-
garian monarch and that of the English ; but the actual
distribution of power between the Crown and the representa-
tives of the nation is in Hungary to-day what it was in
England in George Ill's time ; it is a natural phase in the
evolution of parliamentary government. Though King
Francis Joseph has never refused to sanction a BiU passed
through both Houses of ParUament, his personal will in the
work of the legislation is effected in his requiring his consent
to be given to any Bill before it is brought before ParUament.
In Great Britain custom and precedent oblige the Sovereign
to choose as premier the leader of the poUtical party pre-
dominant for the time being : in Hungary the King may,
and often does, choose the man most likely to give effect to
his (the King's) views and wishes.^ British ministers are
in a real sense the servants of the people, responsible to
Parliament : in Hungary they are the servants of the King,
and must submit to His Majesty a programme he wUl sanction
before he invites them to take office. Thus a man ambitious
1 A good illustration of this was the case of Baron Fej6rvary in
1905. Appointed Premier by the king without a following, he made no
attempt to seek the confidence of the nation ; he was in fact indifferent
to it ; he had the King's confidence and that was sufficient for him !
This was, of course, most unconstitutional. Again, in 1910, Count
Khuen-H6dervS.ry was appointed Premier with no party behind him ;
he did, however, succeed in getting a majority — somehow I
180
Of Politics and Politicians 181
for the premiership must have the honour to be " known " by
the King or he stands but Uttle chance of achieving success
in that direction : popular favour avails him nothing.
Another interesting difference between the sovereignties
is that, on the one hand the British monarch on the assembling
of Parliament goes in person to meet his people in " The
House " and there reads his " Speech from the Throne."
In the event of the Sovereign's illness, or bodily infirmity (as
in the case of Queen Victoria in her later years) the " Speech "
is read in Parliament by the Lord Chancellor. On the other
hand, King Francis Joseph of Hungary never goes in state to
ParUament, but summons the members thereof to his presence
in the Royal Palace, where he makes known his will.
Parliament is summoned by the King for a period of five
years ; but, in accordance with law, it must assemble within
three months of its dissolution, or even
Parliament, within any shorter period if the budget for
the ensuing year has not been passed.
During the past ten years parliamentary deadlocks have
been frequent, sometimes attended with disgraceful scenes
in " The House." To mention only a single instance : the
members of the Fej^rvary Cabinet (1905) were socially boy-
cotted ; army suppUes were refused by Parliament ; and
nearly everybody throughout the country refused to pay
taxes.
The Houses of Parliament at Budapest were completed so
recently as 1896 at a cost of £1,500,000. In florid Gothic
style they form, Westminster excepted, the most magnificent
legislative palace in the world. Abutting on the Danube,
as St. Stephen's abuts on the Thames, it is a most imposing
pUe, though a row of common wooden palings in the imme-
diate vicinity spoils the otherwise pleasing effect, and as the
eye turns from the one to the other the beholder experiences
a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous. For interior
magnificence the Hungarian Parliament building vies with
that of the English. Stately corridors, whose ceilings are
182 Hungary
exquisitely carved and gilded, whose walls are adorned
alternately with gigantic mirrors and historical paintings,
whose floors are laid with the softest of carpet, yielding to the
footfall and deadening the noise ; noble staircases and lofty
halls, superbly furnished'and decorated with statuary, busts,
and other works of national art, as befits the traditions of a
great people ; its awe-inspiring throne-room, which the King
has never deigned to use ; the rich decoration of the whole
building, its frescoes, and the majestic proportions of its
exterior, adorned with 258 statues of statesmen and others
who have won the gratitude of posterity — aU render it a
worthy home for the legislature of a nation whose constitution
is nearly as old as that of the English.
And what of the legislators themselves ? The Hungarian
Lower House consists of 453^ members, many of them lawyers.
Each receives the equivalent of £250 a year as salary, and
travels at half rate on the State railways. These professional
legislators represent a population of 19,000,000, of whom
only about 1,200,000 are electors. The present qualifications
for exercising the franchise are somewhat involved : (1) A
minimum income of £A 10s. and pajnnent of direct taxes
amoimting to 16s. 8d. (2) In the large towns the renting
of a dweUing of three living rooms. * (3) The emplojnflent of an
assistant. (4) Ancient privileges under the Constitution. (The
initial condition is that the citizen be not less than twenty-four
years of age.) Besides these, however, there are more than
30,000 persons who have votes in right of professional quali-
fications : such are, members of learned bodies, clerg5anen,
professors, physicians, apothecaries, notaries, civil engineers,
and schoolmasters. (Soldiers, policemen, and revenue officials
have no votes.)
The following extracts from Law XXXIII (1874) on the
' Forty of whom represent the Provincial Diet of Croatia.
^ Two living rooms (with the usual appurtenances) are generally
as much as the clerk or shop-assistant can afford ; while the artisan,
if he must live in town, has often to be content with one room. In
Budapest rents are very high.
Of Politics and Politicians 183
subject will assist the reader to a right understanding of the
situation :
" Property qualification : (a) In free towns, owners of
houses which contain three dwellings paying house tax, and
owners of land paying taxes on a direct income of 32 crowns
(Sec. 3 a, b). (b) In country districts, owners of " a quarter
urbarial session ' or its equivalent. (This nominally corre-
sponds to about 14 acres.) (c) Owners of houses whose house
tax was imposed on a basis of 210 crowns of clear income
(Sec. 6a). {^ In Transylvania, house owners who pay
ground tax on a direct income of 168 crowns, 159 crowns
60 filler and 145 crowns 60 filler respectively, according to
the class under which they are scheduled for purposes of
taxation (Sec. 5a).
" Taxation quaUfication — (a) Merchants, manufacturers or
town artisans, paying taxes on income of at least 210 crowns
(Sec. 6 c, d). (b) In boroughs, those who pay taxes for at
least one apprentice (Sec. 6e). (c) Those paying State taxes
on a direct income of at least 210 crowns (Sees. 56, 66). (d)
Those pa3dng income tax on 210 crowns' income in Class I,
on 1,400 crowns in Class II, or in the case of officials on 1,000
crowns in Class II (Sec. 7).
" Professional and official qualification : All members of the
Hungarian Academy, academy artists, professors, doctors,
veterinary surgeons, engineers, chemists, foresters ; public and
communal notaries, advocates, clergy, schoolmasters (Sec. 9).
" Ancestral qualification : All those possessing the franchise
previous to 1848 (Sec. 2). In 1905, according to the Statistical
Year-Book, 32,712 persons still voted by right of ancient
privileges."
The ballot is not secret in Hungary,^ and as a result
' Till 1874 the option of the secret ballot lay in each county and
municipal authority ; but this option was abolished by Law XXXIII
of that year. Most shop windows in Budapest display the legend,
Eljen az iltaldnos titkos vdlasztdjog I (Long live universal secret suffrage !].
Whether this be the real sentiment of all those who display the legend
is a question ; but even so Hungarians get, not what they want, but
what their Government thinks good for them.
184 Hungary
intimidation and corruption are too often brought to light. It
is not likely that a poor man with wife and family to support
The Ballot ^^ shout up his vote " according to his con-
science " when he knows that to utter the
name of the candidate whom his employer, or his employer's
friends, disapprove, will probably cost him the loss of his
position, or at least the favour of his employer. Such heroics
can hardly be expected of the working or dependent classes.
Many are in favour of the secret ballot, for, in the words of a
certain Hungarian statesman, " unless the ballot be secret
it is like taking back with one hand what has been given
with the other."
The question of electoral reform overshadows all others,
and the extension of the franchise is admitted on every hand
to be inevitable. Men of all parties are in agreement with the
statement of Count Andeassy, on introducing his Bill (Novem-
ber, 1908), that the future of Hungary depends on the solution
of the electoral problem. Though differing widely on many
things, they are apparently at one in regarding Universal
Suffrage as the remedy for the present poUtical evils. The
King himself is said to favour it. " Social reform," says
Count Tivadar Batthyany, " is inconceivable without
Universal Suffrage " ; while Mr. Julius Justh holds that
" electoral abuses can be cured only by the introduction
of universal equal, and secret suffrage (dltaldnos titkos
vdlasztojog)."
I suppose no EngUsh reader will be disposed to challenge
the principle of voting in secret, though there is room for
difference of opinion as to whether all citizens should enjoy
the vote or only a selection of them. My personal view is
that there should be an educational qualification for the
exercise of the franchise and that the authorities of any country
should see to it that their citizens are given proper opportunity
to raise themselves to the required standard. " So long as
the people are uncultivated," says Mr. Sigisiaund Varady,
M.P., " so long will there be electoral abuses,"
Of Politics and Politicians 185
\
The Independence Party, to which belong Count
Albert Apponjd and Mr. Francis Kossuth, are in favour of
the secret ballot in principle, the abohtion of the property
qualification, and the extension of the franchise to all adult
male persons able to read and write, and who, if workers,
are members for one year out of two, of an insurance society.
This scheme would confer the franchise on about 2,500,000 —
more than double the present electorate. Though the
Independence Party consists of two sections (the Kossuth
section standing principally for an independent army, and
the Justh section for an independent national bank), both
sections are united to restore legal continuity in the House
of Parliament. ^
A franchise BUI framed by the present Government (the
National Work Party, otherwise the Liberal Party, but
more corresponding to the British Conservative Party), was
recently the cause of serious agitation among the working
classes of this country, who threaten a general strike if it should
pass the Lower House. Its provisions are even more involved
than those of the law actually in force.
The present Cabinet is composed of Count Stephen Tisza
(Premier), Dr. John Teleszky (Finance Minister), Baron
John Harkanjd (Commerce), Mr. John Sindor (Interior),
General Hazay (National Defence), Baron Imre Ghillany
(Agriculture), Dr. Bela Jankovich (PubUc Instruction), and
Dr. Eugene Balogh (Justice).
Other pohtical parties are the People's (or Clerical) Party,
led by Count Aladar Zichy, and the two Sociahst parties —
the Christian Socialists and the Democrats — whose heads
are respectively Canon Giesswein and Dr. WiUiam
Vazsonyi.
The four leading figures in present-day Hungarian politics
are Count Tisza, a statesman of great abihty and honesty of
purpose, with the courage of his convictions ; Count Apponyi,
' The legal continuity was broken in November, 1904, by Count
Tisza's coup d'Slat to crush obstruction.
186 Hungary
his doughty opponent ; Count Andrassy, whose ruling
passion is poHtical honesty ; and Mr. Francis Kossuth,
whose unsatisfactory health however prevents his frequent
appearance in public.
The description of a Hungarian election cannot fail to
be instructive to the English reader, and he shall have one :
but though I have witnessed several elections,
Election ^* '® preferable to hear what the Magyar
himself has to say on the subject. The
following is, therefore, the narration ^ of a Hungarian Deputy
or M.P. :
" An election begins by the introduction of the candidate,
which may be made by ten electors of the constituency.
When this has not been done on the day preceding the elec-
tion, it may be pointed out before the poUing commences.
If, half an hour before polling, one candidate only has been
introduced, the returning officer announdes that there will
be no contest and declares the said candidate duly elected.
If there is more than one candidate and the electors demand
a poll, it is proceeded with.
" The voting is everywhere uniform, public, and oral.
Each elector, having given his name and established his
identity, proclaims in a loud voice the name of the candidate
for whom he intends to vote : and then, beside the elector's
name on the voting paper, is written the name of the candidate
to whom he gives his vote.
" The various communes comprising a constituency are
admitted to the poll in the order arranged by the Central
Committee, and the electors of each are called separately,
according to the candidate for whom they vote. It is decided
by lot for the first commune at a particular polling station
which party shall be first admitted to vote : after that, the
adherents of each party are called by turns, in batches of
twenty or more.
" No fixed number of votes is required for the validity of
1 Translated by the author.
HIS EXCELLENCY FRANCIS KOSSUTH, M.P.
{Sometime Minister of Commerce)
Of Politics and Politicians 187
an election, but when neither candidate has obtained an
absolute majority a ballot takes place between the two
candidates who have polled the most. In such an event
the Central Committee fixes the date of the second poll,
for which there must be an interval of at least fourteen
days.
" With regard to our electoral manners, I must confess
that they leave something to be desired. Illegitimate
governmental influences and individual corruption have been
spread so assiduously that, for a long time, no serious attempt
was made to check the evU. I am happy, however, to be
able to add that the recent law on jurisdiction in electoral
matters has produced a revolution in this respect. The
elections of 1901 were, on the whole, very clean-handed ; so
were those of 1906 ; but those of 1910 were the most
corrupt within our memory."
There is no fixed hour for closing the poll : it is left to the
discretion of the returning officer — a discretion which it is
not impossible to abuse.
It has been proved again and again that the most effective
weapon in diplomacy is straightforwardness ; it is equally
true that the proletariat is most easily ruled by the statesman
who unswervingly follows the straight path. There is every
reason for scrupulous integrity in those at the head of affairs
in Hungary, where it is admitted that underhand dealing
exists in connection with political matters, while cases are
not unknown in which prominent politicians have been
openly convicted of jobbery. The progress of popular
education, however, will no doubt cause such scandals to
diminish; as highly placed public servants can hardly
afford to defy a fully enlightened public opinion.
Of the two Chambers forming the Hungarian Par lament,
one — ^the Chamber of Deputies — ^has already been referred to
sufficiently for the reader to gather a fairly correct idea of what
it is like, and in what respects it differs from its British
counterpart.
188 Hungary
I will now endeavour to present a word-picture of the
Chamber of Magnates, or " House of Lords." It comprises
seventeen members of the Royal family,
M^nates *^® presidents of the Royal High Courts
of Appell, the CathoUc diocesan bishops,^
Roman and Greek, and Greek Orthodox, six representa-
tives (clerical and lay) of the two great Protestant
confessions, the Lutheran and the Calvinist, one Unitarian
bishop, and the hereditary aristocracy to the number of 234
(each of whom must pay at least ;£250 a year in land tax).
Besides these there are " life-members " created by the King,
the total number of whom may not exceed fifty, nor may
His Majesty create more than four annually : three members
elected by the Diet of Croatia, and the twenty odd remaining
members of the fifty appointed once for all by the Magnates
who, having sat before the Reform Law was passed, have lost
the exercise of their right in the Upper House, the taxes they
pay not reaching the amount prescribed by the new law.
Members of the Hungarian House of Lords — unlike those
of the British Empire — are eligible for election to the House
of Commons (Deputies) ; but should they exercise an M.P.'s
mandate their right in the Upper House is suspended for the
time being. The chief dignitaries of the realm, however,
cannot seek popular suffrage without definitely renouncing
their high offices.
A few words on the sub-nationalities' question must bring
this chapter to a close.
On the language basis the Magyars in Hungary form a
majority over all the sub-races or nationaUties. They are
also superior in wealth and cultiu-e. On
nationalities. ^^^^ grounds they justify their supremacy
in the government of the country. It is
often charged to the Magyar's .account that he " oppresses
the strangers within his gates," depriving them of their
political rights. This accusation, so wounding to his amour
> The titular bishops have been excluded.
Of Politics and Politicians 189
prapre, he is constantly rebutting. Indeed, it would be inter-
esting to know what sums of money the Hungarian Govern-
ment spends annually in pubUcations, permanent and ephe-
meral, intended to explain the whole matter to the satisfaction
of their foreign neighbours — Great Britain especially. It
must be considerable. It is a common saying among the
Magyars, with regard to this question, that " a man must
be master in h's own house " : and they beg to know, with
apparent sincerity, what England would do if she had (for
example) colonies of Germans, French and Russians settled
in various parts of her country, who, while claiming to be
British subjects, were always working in the interests of their
original fatherlands, instead of in those of their adopted
country, stirring up strife and causing strained relations
between the one and the other. As we EngUsh have never,
I believe, had a similar experience, it is not easy to find an
answer to the query.
In Hungary there are Roumanians (16'6 per cent.),
Germans (11'3 per cent.), Slovaks (ITS per cent.), Servians
(2'6 per cent.) and Ruthenians (2'5 per cent.).^
Dr. Julius Vargha claims (and his is no doubt the official
view) that the tendencies of these sub-nationahties is towards
disintegration and ought to be checked. No single non-
Magyar race living in Hungary, he says, can base any claim
to a separate national existence on the right of pre-settlement,
as they were all welcomed as colonists during the rule of the
Hungarian Kings. Unbiased historians have proved that the
proud claim of the Roumanians, or Wallachians, to be the
descendants of the Dacian legionaries of Trajan, is neither
more nor less than a fable. They did not make their appear-
ance in Hungary until the thirteenth century, when they
were foimd as shepherds tending their flocks among the hills.
Groaning under the yoke of their own hoyars, they were
attracted to this country by the more humane treatment of
the Hungarian landed proprietors.
' Figures furnished by the Government Statistics' Department.
190 Hungary
The fact that uniformity of speech — a characteristic of
most European States — ^is not found in Hungary, is due
chiefly to her turbulent history and partly to her toleration.
The sub-nationalities are welcome to their languages, but the
Magyars claim the right to lead. The assimilation of the
races, too, especially of the better educated classes, is so exten-
sive that it would be impossible to-day to settle Hungarian
society according to descent. Intermarriage has been so
common that it would be hard to find a Magyar who has not
the blood of one or more of the sub-nationalities in his veins.
Those whose mother-tongue is German, Slav, or Roumanian
enjoy perfect freedom in the use of their idiom. There are
thousands of churches in Hungary in which the Magyar
tongue is never heard. They enjoy their idiom also in
parochial and county administration. Though the teaching
medium is Magyar in the grammar schools belonging to the
State, two-thirds at least of the grammar schools are denomi-
national, supported nominally by the religious communities
whose names they bear, but really by generous State grants.
In such schools the teaching medium is the language of the
nominal supporters — non-Magyar in quite a third of the cases.
The Hungarian Government merely stipulates (1) that the
instruction shall be inspired by a patriotic spirit, and (2) that
the Magyar language shall also be taught.
When the aboHtion of the privileges of the nobility over-
threw class distinctions (in 1848), all those who had received
a good education, of whatever nationality and rank of society,
became Magyars in tongue and sentiment. Even the children
of foreigners recently settled in the country have become
Hungarians in the first generation.
CHAPTER VI
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Of oriental origin, as we have already seen, the Magyars have
dwelt so long in Europe that their language is neither oriental
nor occidental, but a mixture of both. It is
^'^Htfnear'^ ^ language of prefixes and suffixes, rich in
inflections, almost every relation existing
between things being perfectly expressed by modifications of
the words. One may almost regard it as a syUabic tongue,
the syllables being capable of an infinite variety of unions :
and although usually the Magyar employs simple terms to
express himself, it is quite possible to construct a whole
sentence in a single word. Thus : Megkarimdzitlaniihatndlak
(" I could take the brim off your hat "). Megkopenyegesit-
telenittehhetnelek ("I could deprive you of your gown").
With all its flexibility, however, it is remarkable that many
relative words have no abstract forms on which the relatives are
based. Though the word asszony (woman) has a number of
modifications, the Hungarian word for wife cannot be expressed
without qualification ; one may speak of my wife {felesegem),
or his wife (felesege), but never of wife simply. Though a
woman may stand alone, a wife is always associated with
another person, naturally a male.
It is known that several European languages have absurdi-
ties with regard to the gender of some substantives. In
French for instance, all inanimate objects are either masculine
or feminine : in German a " httle man " is neuter as well
as a " girl " and a " Miss " : the same in Greek ; but the
greatest absurdity is in the Hungarian, for man, woman, and
child, are neither masculine, feminine, nor neuter : there
being no genders at all in the Magyar tongue.
A favourite way of presenting a strange language to a
191
192 Hungary
reader is the use of the Lord's Prayer as a medium. This I
give, with a sublinear rendering into English, as follows :
Mi Atydnk hi vagy a Mennyekben, szenteltessek meg a Te
Our Father who art in , Heaven, hallowed be Thy
Neved ; jojjdn el a Te Orszdgad ; legyen meg a Te akaratod
Name ; come Thy Kingdom ; let Thy will (be done)
miitt a Mennyben tigy a foldon is ; a mi mindennapi
as in Heaven so on Earth also ; our every-day
kenyerilnket add meg nikiink ma; is bocsdsd meg a mi
bread give us to-day ; and pardon our
vetkeinket, mikSpen mi is megbocsdtunk azoknak, a kik
trespasses, as we pardon those who
elleniink vetkeztek ; is ne vigy minket kisertetbe ;
trespass against us : and not lead us into temptation ;
de szabadits meg minket a gonosztol ; mert Tied az
but deUver us from evil : for Thine (is) the
Orszdg, es a hatalom, is a dicsosig mind orokke.
Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
There are many striking analogies between the Magyar
and the Hebrew tongues, as the few examples following will
show : Kalap (hat) suggests the Hebrew kelub, anything
woven — as were the hats of the common Hungarians in the
early times. Nap (sun, or day) is similar to the Hebrew
noph (hght). Compare csillag (star) with kilak, the Hebrew
for flashing or twinkling.
On the other hand, there are a few words in Magyar that
will sound familiar to English ears — ^not, however, that the
Hungarians have borrowed them from us, but we from them
in most cases : Hdz (house), kocsi (coach), huszdr (hussar),
csdk6 (shako), juh (ewe), kapitdny (captain), it (eat),
mester (master), orkdn (hmricane), posia (post-ofhce), Szent
(saint), tyiik (hen, chuck), csirke (chicken) and vers (verse).
Language and Literature
193
A little knowledge, however, is often a dangerous thing,
and it were well that the reader, if interested in the study of
comparative philology, should pay due attention to the
following :
Buior is not butter, but furniture.
Boldog is not that fierce animal to which the Briton is
sometimes likened : it signifies happy.
Elegy is a mixture, and has no reference to Gray's well-
known verses.
Eleven is not the number, it means alive.
Fog is not the famous product of London, but a tooth.
Hat is not to be worn on the head, it is the number six.
Hit is not suggestive of a blow, it means faith.
Karpit is not for the floor, it is wall-paper.
Every priest or minister of reUgion in Hungary is a pope
(pap).
The foregoing examples of Hungarian words will be better
understood by a few explanatory remarks on the pronuncia-
tion, and the value of the letters of the alphabet, where they
differ materially from the English :
a pronounced as in watch.
d „ „ bar.
e „ ,, let.
e „ as « in late.
,, ea ,, meat.
„ oa ,, moan.
as in fuU.
as 00 in tool.
6 and 8 „ hke the German o — o being given a
longer drawl.
a and M „ like the French u in mur and une
respectively.
As to the consonants : c is always soft ; g is always hard
(to soften it y must be added -gy) ; / has the value of y in yes /
and s is pronounced Uke sh in she (the addition of z — ^thus sz —
13— (2394)
194 Hungary
gives it the value of the English s) . Besides the two compound
consonants referred to, there are cs, Uke the English ch ; and
zs, like the. French /.
Once the various sounds are mastered, the pronunciation
of Hungarian is extremely* simple. It is absolutely phonetic
and the accent is invariably on the first syllable.
But the student must beware of the accented vowels, or
he will be caught tripping. Kar means arm, and kdr injury ;
kerek is round, kerek wheel, and kerek please ; triilt means mad,
and oriUt, he was glad ; megyek, I go, and megyek, countries ;
kutya means dog, and kutja, his well ; erem, my vein, and
erem, medal ; rdk, crab, and rak, to store.
Any language must appear diiificult to the uninitiated,
and those who know the Magyar tongue except Hungarians,
are somewhat few and far between. Yet it is a language
worth knowing ; for, new as it may be to many of my
compatriots, Hungary has a hterature worthy of the country's
great past.
The most ancient manuscript existing in the Magyar is
a funeral oration and prayer dating as far
UteratarT ^^^^ ^ *^^ twelfth century, having been
transcribed in the year 1171 during the reign
of Stephen III.
After the nation had become Christian an impetus was
given to hterary activity, and numbers of translations of
parts of the Holy Scriptures, sermons, prayers, hymns, and
legends appeared. In the Hungarian Academy to-day are
thirteen large volumes of these, which not only show the
development of Hungarian style but also the effect of eccle-
siasticism on the people. The influence of Huss is seen in the
Bible translations, the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas in
the controversial works of Nicholas MirabUibus, while the
spirit of popular devotion breathes from the pu,bhshed ser-
mons of Pelbirt of Temesvar, a famous preacher of the
fifteenth century.
The spirit of the Renaissance completely captivated King
Language and Literature 195
Matthias, who not only called in Italian artists to build and
decorate his palace, but also surrounded himself with Latin
historians, orators, and poets. An army of copyists and
illuminators were constantly at work for him ; and his cele-
brated library, consisting of between six and seven thousand
volumes, was regarded as a most wonderful achievement in
that early age. In 1472 the printing press was introduced
into Hungary, thus anticipating England by five years.
Virgil was the poetic ideal of those days, and his spirit and
form inspired the Hungarian votaries of the muse. Among
the learned circle of King Matthias, one John of Pannonia
{Janus Pannonius) attained European fame as a poet.
It was a sad day for all literary aspirants, as well as for the
cause of literature itself when Matthias died. The splendid
intellectual monument he had reared fell to ruins ; the pro-
fessors were dispersed, and the books carried away by the
Germans and the Txirks.
iFor 350 years after the battle of Mohacs (1526) no Hun-
garian king occupied the throne. The three sections into
which the country was spUt up were waging constant war
with each other ; ^ political and religious disputes, struggles
between oppressors and oppressed, were a source of anarchy,
uncertainty, and misery, causing the mother-tongue to
languish. Yet the soul of the nation was not crushed ;
their trials only strengthened the Magyars' love for their
language and promoted its cultivation.
The Reformation did invaluable service to the cause of
literature in Hungary. Its preachers preached and sang in the
native tongue, whereas the priests and teachers of the earlier
faith (the Catholic) used the Latin, not only in the services
of the Church but in the ordinary daily intercourse, to the
detriment of the native idiom. Numbers of printing
establishments were erected, books (mostly on religious
controversy) were printed and sold on the markets and at the
periodical fairs. Schools also were opened, three of which
> Vidg Chapter II.
196 Hungary
(those at Sarospatak, Debreczen, and Papa) are flourishing
to-day. To the zeal of the Reformers, the Hungarians are
indebted for their first grammar, first dictionary, and first
translations of foreign works into the Magyar tongue. Pro-
testantism in Hungary was eminently patriotic, and though
its adherents regarded religious propaganda as their chief
work, the fundamental condition of nationalism — ^the cultiva-
tion of its mother-tongue — ^was thoroughly fulfilled. The
Catholics reaUsed that their power and influence in the country
were doomed unless something was done. To counteract,
therefore, the work of their opponents, the Jesuits were caUed
in, who, with their weapons of learning, enthusiasm, and
violence, sent the Protestants to the waU, condemned their
most gifted clergy to prison and the gaUeys, and closed their
churches and schools.
In this counter-reformation, Peter Pizmdny, Cardinal
Archbishop of Esztergom, was the moving spirit. He turned
the Protestants' own weapon — the vernacular — ^against them ;
wielding the Magyar with greater force than they all, and
vanquishing every opponent that dared to enter the dialectic
lists against him. Thus proving that Magyarism was not
incompatible with Catholicism, he became the second founder
(St. Stephen being the first) of the Roman Church in Hungary.
He founded, in 1635, the Jesuit University of Nagyszombat,
the mother of the University of Budapest.
Transylvania alone remained firm against the assaults
of Cardinal Pazmany. Her greatest Protestant, Albert
Molnar, of Szencz, wandered about from one German Uni-
versity to another, often weary and hungry, yet besides a
Hungarian grammar and dictionary, he managed to translate
Calvin's works into his mother-tongue.
Count Nicolas Zrinyi, the terror of the Truks, was the
contemporary of Pdzmany. Though a renowned warrior —
as one might have supposed more familiar with the sword
than with the pen — ^he has left to posterity a number of poems
of considerable merit.
Language and Literature 197
Another contemporary, Stephen Gyongyosi, a magistrate
of Gomor, has immortalised in verse some of the stirring
deeds of Hungarian history.
Protestantism being identified with national freedom, it
was the constant policy of the Imperial Court to crush both.
The Princes of Transylvania, Bocskay, Bethlen, and
Rak6czy, raised armies in defence of Hungary and Protest-
antism, resulting in a more tolerable condition of affairs, in
which learned men, summoned from abroad, displayed great
zeal in the development of education along national and
Protestant hnes.
Clement Mikes was the last representative of mediaeval
literature, his literary utterances being directed against the
tyranny of the Court of Vienna.
By degrees the insurrections against oppression lost their
rehgious character and became purely national. Early in
the eighteenth century this sentiment is expressed in poems
recounting the heroic deeds of Thokoly and Rak6czy.
The Rak6czy Song, composed after the defeat at Trencs6n,
was the forerunner of Liszt's spirit-stirring Rak6czy March,
which is not unknown in England.
The kindly personality of Queen Maria Theresa was a
magnet drawing Hungary within the sphere of Viennese
influence. Hungarian nobles broke with their family tradi-
tions, and their society became Germanised through such
intimate contact with the Court. Once more Latin was in
the ascendant, a History of Literature being begun in that
language, but never finished. Pastor Peter Bod shook his
head at Latin and sat down to write in Hungarian his History
of the Protestant Church and of Hungarian Literature. The
times were mediocre ; nevertheless they produced George
Bessenyey, Alexander Baroczy, Joseph PeczeU, Nicolas
R6vai, the great philologist, and Benedict Virag who wrote,
besides poems, a History of the Hungarian Centuries {Magyar
Szdzadok TortSnete).
In 1790 reaction set in ; the crown was brought back from
198 Hungary
Vienna, 1 and the peculiar Magyar dress became fashionable
throughout Hungary. Societies for the cultivation of the
national language sprang up and were well supported. At this
time two distinguished* poets flourished : Michael Vitez of
Csokona, and Alexander Kisfaludy ; the former a miUtary
officer, the latter a country squire, whose Songs of Himfy
have secured him a niche in the temple of fame.
Another country gentleman, Francis Kazinczy, of Zempldn,
who suffered a long imprisonment for his liberal opinions,
besides editing periodicals, translated into Himgarian a
number of the works of Cicero, Shakespeare, Moli^re and
Goethe.
To accord mention to all Hungarian litterateurs jilstly
worthy of it, would require a volume instead of a chapter ;
therefore I must regretfully pass over several names of
nineteenth century celebrities.
In the early part of the century the Holy AlUance fettered
every literary aspiration among the Hungarians. Police
t5rranny and espionage ruled supreme. But repression always
has its rebound. In this case it produced Joseph Katona,
who, with the patriotic tragedy Bdnk Bdn aroused the national
spirit. Not understood at first, the work attracted no public
attention, but in the 'forties (when the author slept in his
quiet grave) it called forth enthusiastic applause, and with
Petofi's fiery appeals, paved the way for the events of '48.
After the death, in the thirties, of Charles Kisfaludy
(brother of the Alexander previously mentioned), Michael
Vorosmarty became the acknowledged leader of Hungarian
literature. He edited the Weekly Athenceum. His Szozat
(Appeal) alone, among his numerous beautiful poems that
have been set to music, would have earned his title to an
imperishable memory. His statute, adorning Gizella Square,
in Budapest, bears carved on its marble pedestal the opening
lines of this deeply affecting patriotic address, of which an
English rendering is given :
* After the death of the Emperor Joseph II (vide Chapter II).
Photographed for this work by Mr. Ndndor Szahd.
VOROSMARTY MONUMENT, BUDAPEST
Language and Literature 199
" Hazddnak rendiiletleniil, legy hive Magyar I "
O Magyar, by thy native land
With faithful heart abide !
Thy cradle first, thy grave at last.
It nursed thee and shall hide.
For thee the spacious world affords
As home no other spot.
Here must ;thou live and here must die.
Be weal or woe thy lot.
Upon this soil thy fathers' blood
Flowed to redeem thy claims.
Upon this soil ten centuries
Engrave immortal names.
Here struggled Arpad's gallant crew
To win our fatherland.
And here the yoke of slavery
Was snapt by Hunyad's hand.
Here Freedom's banner, dyed with blood.
Shone proudly from afar.
Here fell the bravest of the brave
In long protracted war.
It cannot be that all in vain
Have countless tears been shed :
Or vainly for the fatherland
Unnumbered hearts have bled.
O Magyar, for thy country play
A firm and faithful part ;
She gives thee strength, and if thou fall
She hides thee in her heart.
The spacious world doth offer thee
For home no other spot ;
Here must thou live, and here must die.
Be weal or woe thy lot.
Among Vorosmarty's literary associates must be mentioned
Bajza, Kolcsey, Garay, and Toldy, not omitting Andrew Fay,
the Magyar ^Esop, author of more than 600 fables.
We have already referred to Count Stephen Sz6chenyi as a
reformer ; ^ we have now to see him as a man of letters.
Finding his countrymen indifferent to high culture, which
1 Vide Chapter IV.
200 Hungary
alone could redeem the nation from the prejudices of an
obsolete system, Sz6chenyi resolved to set an example of
patriotic self-sacrifice. In 1825 he founded the Academy
of Science, the chief object^of which was to revive the Magyar
tongue and liberate it from the Germanising influences of
Austrian domination. The stirring words of the greatest Hun-
garian are recalled to-day, though the circumstances under
which they were uttered have happily changed : Hungary
was not, but shall be I Let us not weep over the past, but labour
for the future I
" I am not here," he said, " as a great dignitary of the
kingdom ; but I am an opulent landowner, and if an institu-
tion be estabUshed that will develop the Magyar language
and, by so doing, advance the national education of our
countrjnnen, I will sacrifice the revenues of my estates for
one year." Loud Eljens (Hurrahs) greeted this generous
offer, after which ensued dead silence for some minutes.
Then Mr. Vay, M.P., rising, said : " The unexpected offer
just made, like all great actions, stunned us for the instant ;
now, however, we are conscious again. I offer 20,000 florins
in aid of the good work."
Then followed Count Andrassy with an offer of 10,000
florins, and Count Karol}^ of six months' revenue.
These were the four original founders of the Hungarian
Academy of Science in 1825. Five years later saw the noble
institution an accomplished fact.
Count Stephen Szlcheny's personal contributions to the
national hterature consisted of a number of publications on
Credit and Economic Reform.
Before the War of Freedom (1848) the three principal
Hungarian novehsts were Baron Nicolas Josika, Baron Joseph
Eotvos, and Baron Sigismund Kemeny, whose productions
inspired their countrymen with hope for the future.
A National Theatre was sanctioned by the Government,
for the encouragement of dramatic hterature. Thus encour-
aged, excellent play-writers and actors made their appearance :
Language and Literature 201
among them Edward Szigligeti, Mesdames Kintor and D6ry,
Charles Megyeri, the comedian, and Madame J6kay, the
poetical reciter.
To Michael Tompa, a poor Calvanist pastor of Gomor, the
Magyars are indebted for Folk Tales and Legends, collected
from the residents around the ancient castles
Tom^a! °^ *^® neighbourhood in which he hved and
laboured. His works betray a love of nature
and simplicity of heart not unlike those of Sir Walter
Scott.
The impetus given by Sz&henyi and his three companions
to the reform movement never slackened. Indeed, its
rapid progress alarmed even the one who had called it into
being. The national spirit, now awakened, grasped its
possibihties, and under the leadership of the heroic Louis
Kossuth the Magyars resolved to put their destiny to the
test. The story of the Revolution belongs to the domain
of history and not to that of Hterature ; though the reference
to that stupendous event was necessary, since it gave to the
Hungarians their bard of freedom, Alexander Petofi. At the
age of twenty-six this gifted poet met the glorious death he
prayed for at the battle of Segesvar.
It must not, however, be inferred from this remark that
Petofi was an enthusiast for mihtary life. On the contrary,
his Conscript service was most distasteful to his refined and
sensitive sotil, as we find in a letter he wrote from barracks
to a friend : " I feel how deeply I have sunk, from the
profession of a scholar, to mix with uneducated, unfeeling men,
the prey of a rude tyrant." ^
Yet when the supreme hour struck a few years later (1848)
he roused his country with the clarion call :
" Talpia Magyar I
Hi a haza " '
• Alexander Petdfi, Poet of the Hungarian War of Independence, by
Dr. A. B. YoUand.
' Magyars arise ! Your country calls you.
202 Hungary
shouldered his musket and marched away with the rest, to
offer all he had — ^his life — on the altar of Freedoin, as did
thousands of his heroic compatriots. He was the idol and the
ideal of the youth of Hungary, an admirer of Shakespeare,
some of whose works he translated, and above all an
enthusiastic lover of his native land.
The greatest epic poet of Hungary was John Arany, con-
temporary with Petofi, though unknown to fame at the time
of the latter's death.
Mamice Jokai, whose entertaining romances are much read
in England, was for fifty years one of the chief ornaments of
Magyar hterature. A prolific story-writer,
I ' legacy to posterity, the best known being
A Ma^ar Nabob, Black Diamonds, and Rab Rdby. An excel-
lent dehneator of character, J6kai has drawn for us, with the
fideUty of a master, pictures of the Ufe that moved around
him, in the towns and on the iUimitable plains of the land of
his birth.
From Jokai to the present day the path of hterature is
marked by the forms of many eminent writers — Fogarasi, the
lexicographer, Paul Gyulai, the biographer of Vorosmarty
and Katona, Francis D6ak, whose state papers are treasures
of Hungarian political literature, Charles Szasz, the translator
of foreign hterary masterpieces, and Kalmdn Mikszath, the
popular noveHst, to name only a few.
The greatest Hungarian poem of modern times, and one of
the chief glories of Magyar hterature, is the Tragedy of Man,
by Imre Madach. It is related that
Ma^ch John Arany, after reading it, saluted the
author as his superior. In this work the
highest summits of poetic thought are scaled. With the
subUmity of expression and the boldness of conception of a
Milton, the poet seems to have beheld with his own eyes and
felt with his own heart the struggles of humanity upward,
toward the hght of divine truth. Dramatised and produced
THE LATE PROFESSOR ARMINIUS VAMBERY
(Disd loth September, 1913)
Language and Literature 203
on the Hungarian stage, The Tragedy of Man has evoked
universal admiration from the most celebrated thinkers and
teachers of the age.
The three most prominent Hungarian dramatists to-day
appear to be Menyhert Lengyel, whose Typhoon has had
immense success in New York and later in London ; Francis
Molnar, whose Devil brought him fame and fortune in
America ; and Alexander Br6dy, author of The Lady-Teacher,
whose realistic theatre pieces always secure crowded houses.
Among the eminent living writers — it would be impossible
to name them all — ^may be mentioned Eugene Rakosi, editor
of the Budapesti Hirlap ; Dr. Albert Berzeviczy, president
of the Academy of Sciences ; Professor Bernard Alexander, a
Shakespearean scholar ; Count Julius Andrassy, an authority
on constitutional law ; Count Albert Appon5ri, a keen political
controversialist ; Mr. Francis Kossuth (son of the famous
Dictator), some time Minister of Commerce, who has written
on industrial labour legislation ; Dr. Antal Giinter, ex-Minister
of Justice, and now President of the High Courts ; Professor
Arminius Vambery, famous all over the world for his linguistic
attainments and ethnographical research ; and Professor
Zsolt Beothy, whose works I have drawn upon for the present
chapter. Dr. Giinter has the traditional merit of having
risen from the lowest rung of the ladder, by dint of indomitable
perseverence allied to sterling integrity of character. Even
his opponents speak well of him — and in Hungary that is
valuable testimony to a man's worth.
To the venerable Professor Vambery ^ belongs the peculiar
distinction of having spent a long period of his Ufe in England
— at Oxford University — and enjoyed the
VSmb&T intimate friendship of Britain's most illus-
trious, including Queen Victoria, King
Edward, and the present reigning sovereigns. So anglophile
is he that the fact has sometimes been used to reproach him
1 Since the above was printed, Professor Vambfiry's death has been
announced.
204 Hungary
with ; unjustly, however, since he declined the offer of Eng-
lish citizenship — ^the stepping-stone to power and wealth —
choosing to remain faithful to the land of his birth. Pro-
fessor Vambdry, like Dr. Giinter, is a " self-made man " and
another striking example of what may be accomplished by
force of character and that patience which, in the words of
Longfellow, can
Learn to labour and to wait.
Such is in brief the story of Hungarian literature. But
nearly everything genuine has its counterfeit, and there is
in this case a reverse to the medal. Flooding some of the
bookshops of Budapest to-day is a pseudo literature, consisting
of erotic novels with suitably piquant illustrations, degrading
to the taste and ruinous to the moral sense of the nation.
Some of the humorous papers, too, are vulgar and even
indecent, while the picture post cards exhibited in some shop-
windows would not be tolerated in England. The words of
Tennyson most aptly describe the state of things to which
I refer :
Author, essayist, atheist, noveUst, realist, rhymster — play your part.
Paint the mortal shame of nature with the living hues of Art.
Rip your brothers' vices open, strip your own foul passions bare ;
Down with Reticence, down with Reverence — forward — naked^ — let
them stare.
Feed the budding rose of boyhood with the drainage of your sewer.
Send the drain into the fountain, lest the stream should issue pure.
Set the maiden fancies wallowing in the troughs of Zolaism,
Forward, forward, ay, and backward, downward too into the abysm.
Do your best to charm the worst, to lower the rising race of men :
Have we risen from the beast ? Then back into the beast again 1 '
It is a pity that some concerted action is not taken to check
this growing intellectual corruption which, if persisted in,
must sooner or later recoil on the heads of the authorities
that permit it. * Books — good ones — ^are as httle read in
^ Locksley Hall Sixty Years After.
^ The question of Legal Measures against Immoral Literature was
discussed at the International Publishers' Congress held at Budapest
in June this year, when important resolutions on the subject were
adopted.
Language and Literature 205
Hungary to-day as newspapers are read too much ; though
happily there are signs of improvement in this respect, thanks
to the praiseworthy efforts of a small band of young authors
of the right sort. Ida Ferency's stories are among the few
that can safely be put into the hands of young people ; many
of them are reminiscent of Maria Edgeworth.
Between thirty and forty daily papers are published in
Budapest, the most extensively circulated being the Pesti
Hirlap (originally founded by Louis Kossuth),
The Press. Budapesti Hirlap, Az Ujsdg, Pester Lloyd,
and Neues Pester Journal. To the quality
of the news that these and the rest supply little exception
can be taken, but it is to be regretted that more discrimination
is not shown in the matter of the advertisements. Many of
the latter have a truly oriental flavour, and would bring a
blush to the cheek of any self-respecting Briton able to
understand them.
In Hungary, as in England, the Press is supposed to be free
and unfettered, yet the paper attacking the Government
must look out : it is not uncommon for a newspaper
that has so offended to be forbidden to be sold in the streets
and at the railway-stations. As another writer has justly
observed, any attempt to limit the freedom of the Press
invariably leads to grave danger. ^ The Press being one of the
great safety valves of the nation, to sit upon it is naturally
to court explosion.
Of magazine hterature there are the organs of the various
churches and societies, as well as those representing nothing
in particular. The Vasdrnapi Ujsdg (Sunday News) is one
of the best illustrated weekly popidar journals ; the Huszadik
Szdzad (Twentieth Century), edited by Mr. Oskar Jaszi, is the
organ of a smaU band of outspoken politicians who are
" spreading the light " ; the Budapesti Szimle (organ of the
Academy of Science), edited jointly by Dr. Berzeviczy and
' To prosecute editors and journalists on account of libellous or
obscene matter is, however, quite a different thing.
206 Hungary
Professor Beothy ; and the Tarsadaiomtudomdwyi Szemle
(Social Science Review), edited by Professor Eugene Gaal, are
treasure-houses of current knowledge respecting scientific
and social movements at home and abroad ; while two
English illustrated journate, Hungary and the Hungarian
Spectator (organ of the British-American Literary Society)
foirm connecting links between the country and English-
speaking people who have visited or who are in any way
interested in the land of the Magyars.
Native journalism is not accorded such an honourable place
as in England. Hungarian journalists are badly paid in
comparison with their English confreres, and the esteem they
enjoy is in proportion to their low emoluments. This is a
great drawback to the development of literary talent among
the poor ; and it may be that many a budding Shakespeare
or Milton in this country is, owing to his poverty,
born to blush unseen
And waste his sweetness on the desert air.
Vorosmarty, Tompa, Petofi, and Arany were all fearfully
poor, and but for their dogged pertinacity would never have
secured public recognition of their glorious talents even after
their deaths. They were the exceptions proving the rule.
Pure wholesome Uterature does not to-day in Hungary
offer sufficient advantage and reward to cause many to desire
to cultivate it as a means of Uvelihood ; so that, generally
speaking, the most prominent Hungarian writers of to-day
are men and women of private means, or of incomes derived
from other professions, who write, not for gain, but either for
the love of Uterature or the laudable desire to instruct and
uphft their fellows. Their efforts will in due time, we feel
sure, have their recompense in the raising of the national
hterary tone to the place it formerly occupied, and, with an
enlightened pubUc opinion, making a clean sweep of the
debasing prints that poUute the minds of the rising generation.
HIS EXCELLENCY DR. ALBERT BERZEVICZY, M.P.
[Sometime Minister for Public Instruction ; now President
of the Academy of Sciences)
CHAPTER VII
RELIGION AND EDUCATION
The religion of the original Magyars was a kind of monotheism.
Like the Druids of ancient Britain, they erected their altars
on the hill-tops, in the forest glades, and shady
Religion groves. Their favourite sacrificial victim was
a white horse. Their Good Spirit was Isten, ^
their Evil Spirit Ordog, by which names they are known
to-day in the Magyar tongue.
Believing in the immortality of the soul, they encouraged
no mourning over their dead, regarding a relative's departure
from this life rather as an occasion for feasting and merriment,
to celebrate the deceased's entrance into a better world.
They usually buried their dead by the side of a river, as though
to facilitate their passage to the spirit-land.
Their priests were also the counsellors, poets, physicians,
and philosophers of the nation. The Hungarian historian,
Horvath, says : " In their festivals and at the sacrifices they
sang heroic songs, accompanied by the harp, to awaken the
love of glory in the people, to incite them to courage and
fortitude, or to soften their savage moods. The people paid
their priests profound respect, but decUiied to allow them to
violate or curtail the popular liberties, as the priests had done
in so many other Eastern lands." ^
When King Stephen imdertook to bring his subjects into
the Christian fold, he found his task beset with difficulties.
They argued that the old faith was as good as the new one ;
the latter was certainly more compUcated and speculative,
while those who professed it were more quarrelsome and
uncharitable than themselves ; moreover, they were neither
more moral nor more honourable. To abandon their ancient
1 Compare the Persian Izdan.
' Geschichte der Ungarn.
207
208 Hungary
faith was in their eyes to abandon their dead ancestors who
had professed it, and that were an act of disloyalty.
As in the case of other heathen nations in the days when
the Christian faith was young, attempts were made to coerce
the Magyars into an aoceptance of it, and much bloodshed
resulted. Hardly by that means, however, was the conver-
sion of the Hungarians finally effected, but rather by the noble
character of the monarch himself. King Stephen was as
upright and virtuous as he was pious and patriotic. He
despatched Christian missionaries over the length and breadth
of his dominions, and the people's love for their monarch
constrained them to examine the new faith more closely
than at first — with the desired result.
From the eleventh century till the Reformation the Hun-
gariahs bore undivided allegiance to the see of Rome. The
Slavs of Hungary, however, evinced a pre-
^^h ^^^ ^""^ ference for the doctrines of the Greek Church,
Churches. whose patriarch had his seat at Constanti-
nople. Sending a deputation to the Greek
Emperor Basil, asking the monarch to intercede with the
patriarch that rehgious teachers might be sent to them, then-
request was compUed with, and the Slav provinces of Lower
Hungary were, in the early part of the thirteenth century,
received into the pale of the Greek Church. The conversion
of the Russians following soon afterwards, nearly aU the Slavs
in Europe, from the Baltic to the Bosphorus, and from
Bohemia to the Euxine, professed Christianity as taught by
the Greek communion.
The Roman pontifEs could not view with equanimity the
loss of the support of these rich lands ; while on the other
hand, the Greek patriarchs on various occasions made pro-
posals for reunion with the Western branch of the Church.
But whenever the schemes put forward were on the point
of being accepted the lower Greek clergy would rise en masse
in uncompromising resistance and the negotiations would
consequently be abruptly broken off.
Religion and Education 209
Individual priests and small groups of clergy there were,
however, who went over from the Greek to the Roman
allegiance. They were not required to abjure any of their
distinguishing doctrines or ceremonies. Such were, and stiU
are, known in Hungary as the United, or Greek Oriental
{Gorog Keleti) Church. They anoint the sick, baptise by
immersion, administer commimion in both kinds, and the
clergy marry.
It may safely be said that the Roman Catholics of Hungary
have never been such docile children of the Church as have
those of most other CathoUc countries. They have always
contended for the right of private judgment, and the papal
system has apparently often been too arbitrary to suit their
temper. Count Julius Andrassy says : " The Hungarians
played a comparatively small part in the Crusades, and they
managed to remain at peace even with the pagan Cumanians.
They never developed that zeal in the persecution of heretics
which the Pope expected of them. In spite of the most
urgent requests to the contrary, they tolerated the Jews in
the country and did them no harm." ^ And when the dogma
of papal infaUibiUty was promulgated in 1871 only a single
Hungarian bishop* could be found bold enough to publish
the declaration in his diocese, and he for his temerity was
compelled promptly to resign his see. With a race of people
of such independent spirit, it was small wonder that the
doctrines of the Reformation found many adherents, and that
Protestantism took firm root and flourished. The Magyar
is passionately tenacious of his individual liberty ; though it
must be admitted that, unless the subject be a person of high
culture and strength of character, individual liberty is not
an unmixed blessing.
The King of Hungary is the head of the Catholic Church
1 Development of Hungarian Constitutional Liberty, p. 25.
" Bishop Jekelfalussy of Szfekesfehfervir. Haynald, Archbishop
of Kalocsa, too, stoutly refused to accept the dogma of papal
infaUibility at the (Ecumenical CouncU of 1870.
14— (2394)
210 , Hungary
I
within his dominions. Being a layman, however, his eccle-
siastical authority is delegated and divided among the three
archbishops : the Archbishop of Esztergom^ and Prince-
Primate (Dr. John Csernoch), the Archbishop of Kalocsa
(Dr. Glattf elder), and the Archbishop of Eger (Dr. Szmre-
csany). Under these are fifteen diocesan bishops, a greater
number of titular bishops, 260 canons, one arch-abbot
(HypoUte Feh6r, of Pannonhalma), 150 abbots, and the rank
and file of the regular and secular clergy in their thousands.
The Greek Church in Hungary is governed by two bishops
(who in their turn are controlled by the Roman Catholic
Prince-Primate), eleven canons, six honorary canons, and
upwards of a thousand ordinary priests. The United, or
Greek Oriental Church, more numerous than the so-called
" Independent " body, is under the spiritual — and in some
respects even the temporal — ^jurisdiction of the Patriarch
of Karlocza (Dr. Lucian Bogdanovics), who, like the Roman
Pontiff, is accorded the official title of " His Holiness."
At the last religious census the numbers of the adherents
of the various confessions were as follows :
Roman Catholics
9,919,913
51-5 per cent.
Greek Oriental
2,815,713
14-6 „
Reformed
2,441,142
12-7
Greek Catholics
1,854,143
9-6
Evangelical
1,288,942
6-7
Jews
851,378
4-4
Unitarians
68,568
■4
Baptists and others
14,760
•1
These figures include Croatia-Slavonia, where the inhabi-
tants are about evenly divided between the Roman and the
Greek communions. In Hungary Proper {i.e., exclusive of
Croatia-Slavonia) the Roman CathoUcs are in the proportion
of 71 '3 per cent. The adherents of the two Greek churches
comprise nearly one-fourth, and those of the three Protestant
confessions about one-fifth of the total population. The
Baptist community, though small, is exceedingly active, and
' The Strigonium of the Romans.
Religion and Education 211
enjoys the assistance and support of the brethren in Germany
and Great Britain. A still smaller body are the Nazarenes,
who resemble the Quakers in many respects — especially in
their rejection of forms and ceremonies and their uncom-
promising attitude towards military service. As by law
every man not physically incapacitated must undergo a
period of training in some branch of the Army and fight if
required to do so by the authorities, it was inevitable that
such a rehgious body as the Nazarenes should have to endure
suffering for conscience sake. The Hungarians are, however,
a humane people, and this has been shown in recent measures
for letting down the Nazarenes as easily as possible : so that
nowadays every bona fde member of that body when with the
colours performs only non-combatant's duties, assists the
ambulance or medical corps, in accordance with his education
and abilities.
The Hungarian Government keeps a controUing hand on
the clergy of all denominations, as it does, indeed, on every-
thing else. The Miaister for Public Instruction is also
Minister for Religion, and it is an unwritten law that this
minister must always be a Roman Cathohc. (In the rare
instances in which he has been a Protestant, his rule has been
temporary only, until a suitable member of the predominating
church could be found to fUl the post.) No appointment to
any clerical office in any church can be made without his
sanction. 1 The Catholic priest, the Protestant pastor, and
the Jewish rabbi are practically on the footing of State
employes, the amount of their salaries, emoluments, and pen-
sion allowances being fixed by the Government and paid out
of a fund raised by a tax per capitem. Every person is
expected to subscribe himself as adhering to one of the first
seven rehgious bodies mentioned on page 212 (the Baptists
and others not being legally recognised), which is empowered
1 Exceptions are, however, the bishops and chief dignitaries of the
Catholic Church, who are appointed by the King in concert with the
Pope of Rome.
212
Hungary
by law to tax him, and to distrain on his goods in default"of
payment within a prescribed period. To understand better
the force of this, let us suppose that the English reader has
no particular religion* convictions and never attends any
/place of worship (as is sometimes the case with Hungarians),
but being requested to write himself down as of some per-
suasion he puts Congregationalist on his " identity form " and
thinks no more about the matter. By and by he receives a
demand note for the payment of, say, £1 10s. to the funds of
the Congregational Union. He is astonished. " I never
trouble these people, never go to their churches, I receive
nothing from them," he says ; and the document is consigned
to the waste-paper basket. A fortnight or so later a collector
calls in person, and should the citizen remain obstinate, the
collector wiU proceed to appraise certain articles of his furni-
ture as a preliminary to removing them if the amount be not
paid within eight days from the date of that visit. ^
It will now be interesting to observe the quality, from the
standpoint of culture, of the adherents of the various officially
recognised religious bodies. According to
Den^omhJ^fons *^^ omdsl report of the Hungarian Govern-
ment Statistics' Department, the proportion
of the inhabitants of Hungary who, being upwards of six
years of age, can read and write, is as foUows :
1. Jews
2. Evangelical
3. Reformed .
4. Roman Catholics
5. Unitarians
6. Greek Catholics
7. Greek Oriental .
83-03 per cent.
82-26
75-52
68-26
64-95
23-86
20-83
The Jews of Hungary are enthusiasts for education and,
as we see, stand at the top of the list. Their zeal in this respect
1 Such was an early experience of the author, who describing himself
as an English Protestant was erroneously classed with the adherents
of the native Reformed Church. The error was, however, rectified before
any harm had been done.
Religion and Education
213
is so well recognised that ia the event of a person being
mentioned as having acquired any exceptional distinction
in the realm of science or art, it seems natural in this country
to ask : " Is he a Jew ? "
The Protestants follow next in order of merit ; the lowest
being the adherents of the Greek communions, who, like
ignorant people generally, are very superstitious. In Buda-
pest, however, coming under the cultural influences afforded
by the metropohs, their condition is not nearly so degraded
as in the country.
An examination of the various rehgious denominations
according to the language is instructive. In Hungary Proper
65 per cent, of the adherents of the Occidental Christian
churches (those numbered 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the list) accept
Magyar as their mother-tongue, whereas only 6-9 per cent,
of the Oriental Christian churches (numbered 6 and 7) do so.
Taking each church separately, their proportions of Magyar-
speaking adherents are as follows :
Unitarians . . . 99-09 per cent. ^
Reformed .... 98-24 „ '
Roman Catholics . . 60-50 ,,
Evangelical . . . 28-56
(38-73 per cent, being Slovaks and 32-71 per cent. Germans.)
Greek Catholics. . . 13-39 per cent.
(57-83 per cent, being Roumanians, 23-26 per cent. Ruthenians, and
5-52 per cent. Slovaks.)
Greek Oriental . . . 1-45 per cent.
(77-99 per cent being Roumanians and 20-56 per cent. Servians.)
Now let us take the state of education in Hungary according
to nationality. Of persons over six years of age who can
read and 'Arite are :
Germans .
. 79-63 per cent
Magyars .
. 72-52
Slovaks .
. 60-36
Servians .
. 48-38
Roumanians
. 23-88
Ruthenians
. 17-78
^ Thus the Unitarians and the Reformed Church are pre-eminently
Magyar bodies,
214
Hungary
Thus the most advanced are the Germans. It should be
explained, in fairness to the Magyars, that on the Great Plain,
inhabited almost exclusively by them, the
Education. population is so widely scattered that it is
next to impossible for the children to attend
school. The State is, however, endeavouring to remedy
this evU to some extent by establishing " homestead " schook
with itinerant teachers.
To form an idea of the educational progress of the Nation- /
alities, let the reader compare the foregoing percentages with
those for the year 1880 :
Germans .
Magyars .
Slovaks
Servians .
Roumanians
Ruthenians
68-25 per cent.
53-56
39-27
37-25
U-Ol
8-64
Attendance at school is compulsory in Hungary between
the ages of six and fifteen yearS. The following table shows
at a glance the present number of elementary schools in Hun-
gary Proper, with the aggregate number of teachers and
pupils attending :
Kind of Elementary
Number of
Number of
Number of
School.
Schools.
Teachers.
Pupils.
Roman Catholic
5,305
9,431
710,779
State
2,744
5,291
316-005
Parish
1,473
4,314
265,094
Reformed .
1,903
3,110
204,822
Greek Oriental
1,723
2,320
148,162
Evangelical
1,338
2,317
137,514
Greek Catholic
1,963
2,207
132,574
Jewish
466
903
35,594
Private .
308
(No data)
19,540
Proprietary
(No data)
2,096
Unitarian ....
36
301
2,021
The schools of the two Greek churches are badly staffed,
many of them having only a single teacher each. As already
Religion and Education 215
pointed out, the adherents of these religious bodies are on a
very low plane as regards education and culture.
State schools were not established in Hungary till 1875,
and in the following year they numbered 125 only, with 237
teachers and some 25,000 pupils. To-day the cost of maintain-
ing the State schools exceeds half a million pounds sterUng.
The State assists the non-State schools also to a similar
extent.
The City schools, not mentioned in the table, play a very
important part in the educational Kfe of Budapest. They
number 385, accommodating 61,529 pupils — 25,450 boys and
36,079 girls — and costing £350,000 annually, about a third
of which sum is contributed by the State.
Of Teachers' Training Colleges there are 89 — 49 for men
and 40 for women ; 27 State-maintained, the rest denomina-
tional. The students attending these number 2,540 men
and 5,408 women. The predominating number of women
contemplating a scholastic career is, an unhealthy sign.
Of Secondary schools there are tWo kinds — ^the Gymnasia,
for the study of the humanities, classics, history, and htera-
ture ; and the Modern schools [RedUskola), for modern lan-
guages, mathematics, and the natural sciences. In the
former category are 178, staffed by 3,341 teachers, and
attended by 54,199 pupils ; in the latter 32, with 710 teachers
and 9540 pupils. The proportions of these pupils according
to nationality are : Magyar, 78'89 per cent. ; German, 9*81
per cent. ; Roumanian, 6' 13 percent. ; Slovak, 2'84 per cent. ;
Croatian-Servian, 1*75 per cent. ; Ruthenian, 0*14 per cent. ,
others, 0"44 per cent.
With regard to the educational establishments of University
rank, Veszpr^m rejoiced in a University College even in the
remote period of the Arpad kings ; and P6cs also in the year
1367. Under the influence of the Renaissance in the reign
of King Matthias several colleges were raised to the status
of Universities. In Hungary Proper there are 59 such
estabhshments ; two universities of science, one technical
216 Hungary
university (polsTtechnic), 10 academies of law, and 46 theolo-
gical colleges. Government sanction has just been given
for the foundation of two new universities, at Debreczen and
Pozsony respectively. Budapest University has upwards of
7,000 students, that ol Kolozsvar about 2,500. The Poly-
technic at Budapest, has about 1,400 students, including a
considerable proportion of women. At the two universities
of sciences the overwhelming majority of the attenders are
law students, while the medical students number upwards
of 1,000. At the Polsrtechnic half the students are enrolled
in the department of mechanical engineering, the other half
being divided between the chemistry and architecture depart-
ments. Outside of Hungary Proper — ^at Zagrab (better known
to the Enghsh as Agram) — there is another University ;
though the teaching medium there is the Croatian language.
University extension has not yet become general in
Hungary, though the progress made in that respect during
the past few years is very encouraging. Among the agencies
working in the cause may be mentioned the Urania Scientific
Theatre and Society, the Queen Elizabeth Popular Academy,
the People's University College, and the Free Lyceum.
During last year the publications of these five institutions
exceeded half a miUion, and the number of students who
availed themselves of the opportunities of self-improvement
were nearly as many. Of institutions devoted to the teaching
of art, are several schools of painting, the Theatrical Academy
and the National Academy of Music — all in Budapest — ^whUe
there are others also at Kolozsvar, Debreczen, Zagrab, and
the chief provincial towns.
Museums and hbraries are naturally an important factor
in public education, and such institutions abound in the
capital and principal cities. The Hungarian National
Museum at Budapest, founded in 1802, is remarkable for its
antiquities, natural history and ethnographical collections ;
as well as for its library, the most valuable in Hungary,
consisting of 1,420,000 volumes and manuscripts, and the
Religion and Education 217
most ancient documents in the Hungarian language. Worthy
of mention also are the Anthropological Museum, Commercial
Museum, Technological Museum, Museum of Industrial Art
(famed for its magnificent specimens of carpets, old chasubles,
goldsmith's work, and rare porcelain), the Agricultural
Museum, Geological Museum, the Academy Library (200,000
volumes), the University Library (400,000 volumes in all
languages, including the chief EngUsh works), the Polytechnic
Library, and the Municipal Library, with its unrivalled
collection of works on social science. These are all in Buda-
pest ; many of the principal towns have institutions scarcely
inferior to those of the metropohs.
Hungary, with her 20,000,000 of inhabitants, ranks to-day
next after Germany and France for her cultural means and
the earnest efforts she puts forth ih the interests of popular
enlightenment.
CHAPTER VIII
PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS
From educational establishments to philanthropic and
charitable institutions is not a far cry, especially with regard
The Children to those which concern themselves with the
of the State, welfare of the children.
It is doubtful whether there is any country in the world
where the children are taken so much care of as in Hungary.
Indeed, the State has constituted itself the " over-parent "
of every child born and living within its jurisdiction, so that
every Hungarian boy and girl if not healthy and happy
ought to be. In their interest the State has, directly and
indirectly, provided no less than 1,631 infant homes, 230
infant asylums, and 734 summer homes all over the land.
Some of these establishments are distinctly State, county
or municipal, while others are denominational in character ;
in all cases, however, the State controls and insists on the
fulfilment of the prescribed duties towards the children.
" Baby farming " is impossible, as no private person may set
up an infant home.
It would not, perhaps, interest the general reader to quote
the enactments of the law, which require every municipality
and community to make adequate provision for its children.
Suf&ce it to say that all the homes are fitted up in the most
modern style, comprising a hall for games, another for work,
dormitories, a playground with a covered shed, and suitable
quarters for the staff.
For the purpose of child protection Hungary is divided
into seventeen districts, each of which has its Children's
Court, whose business is to see that each child is properly
cared for. The moment that the court receives notice that
a child is being ill-treated or neglected, or exposed to immoral
218
Philanthropic Institutions 219
influences, it warns its parents or guardian of the penalties
of such conduct. If a father neglects his child he is threatened
with deprivation of the rights of parentage imless he mends
his ways. This deprivation wiU not, however, relieve him
of the cost of the child's maintenance. If a father be caught
in the act of Ul-treating his child, it is at once taken from him
and placed in the district home. Abandoned infants, waifs
and strays, and the children of parents who are in hospital
or prison, are also sent to the home, and the circumstances
reported to the court. This tribunal has authority to inflict
punishment on all convicted of wrong-doing towards children.
On the other hand, parents too poor to keep a child may
make it over to the authorities to be placed in a home, the
State taking all responsibility for its maintenance and
education.
Only about 5 per cent, of the children sent to the homes
remain any length of time therein. The bulk of them, after
a period of medical attention, are boarded out with peasant
famiUes in vUlages selected for their salubrity. These villages
become, in effect, children's colonies under the superintendance
of the directors of the district homes. These gentlemen
keep a sharp eye on the foster-parents and relieve them of
their charges if they fail to comply with the conditions under
which they are permitted to bring up the children. To
deprive a peasant couple of their foster-child is a real punish-
ment, as the pay they receive on its account forms an
acceptable addition to their income, to say nothing of the loss
of honour involved. If after three years the treatment of
the child by its foster-parents is certified by the State inspector
to have been satisfactory the couple receive a pecuniary gift
accompanied by a letter signed by the Minister of the Interior.
These rewards are naturally coveted and are an incentive
to the fulfilment of duty.
There are at present nearly 40,000 children under the
guardianship of the State, and most of them are of the class
that would have to be taken care of either by the nation or
220 Hungary
by public charity. When Parliament introduced its Chil-
dren's Protection Bill in 1891, its opposers argued that its
being passed would promote the increase of illegitimate
children. The prediction has, however, been falsified, as the
illegitimate birth-rate ' has decreased by 7 per cent., while
the death-rate also among this class of children has been
appreciably reduced.
The Patriotic League for the Protection of Children
(Orszdgos Gyermekvedo Liga), whose president is Count
Ladislas Szdchenyi (husband of Gladys
^'""l^^r"'* Vanderbilt), is a State-controlled charitable
institution. Besides a State grant and the
assistance of its wealthy patrons and members, its funds are
augmented by general charity. Following the example of
the Salvation Army, it makes street collections on two con-
secutive days in every year. In this laudable work the young
ladies of some of the most aristocratic families assist. Each
is appointed to her post, where she remains with brief inter-
vals from morning till night, and, with such wiles as the fair
sex know so well how to employ, induces a transfer of silver
and nickel (and occasionally gold) coins from the pockets of
the by-passers to her coUecting-box.
, At the present time the League has upwards of 50,000
members, and its activities include every phase of child
protection from earliest infancy till latest youth. Deaf,
dumb, blind, deformed, and sick children it sends to suitable
institutions and resorts ; affords such education as the con-
dition of each child renders it capable of receiving ; and, in
the case of specially talented children, even places opportunities
for higher education in their way
The League also, like the State, boards out many children,
placing them under the supervision of the physicians attached
to its asylums or homes. It has six asylums, in Budapest,
Rikoskeresztur, Sopron, Szeged, Szaloncza, and Nagy-
Szollos respectively. In these institutions the boys are
taught handicrafts and the rudiments of agriculture and
Philanthropic Institutions 221
horticulture, after which they are placed with tradesmen
and farmers for practical experience, while still being under
the League's care and control. The girls are trained for
domestic service.
Should a child prove incorrigible — and this happens only
in a small percentage of cases — ^he is transferred to one of the
State reformatories.
Besides pa37ing the nurse's and doctor's fees in cases of
confinement among the poor, the League further supplies
medicines and bandages gratis to all in need.
The maj ority of the public hospitals of Hungary are equipped
with all the requirements of modem hygiene as weU as with
the latest scientific appliances. Unfortunately their number
is insufficient for the population, there being only some 450
in the whole country, with an aggregate of 40,000 beds.
Budapest is, however, well provided for in this respect, there
being in the city upwards of sixty hospitals, dispensaries,
sanatoria, and medical institutes — ^public and private — at
the service of the sick and afflicted ; an average of one
establishment to every 16,000 inhabitants.
It would be uninteresting to enumerate them all, but a
brief reference to the principal ones may be acceptable.
The oldest and largest hospital in Budapest is that known
as the St. Rokus Hospital, which has an interesting history.
To commemorate the visitation of the plague
H(KoltaIs ^ 1711, and as a thank-offering on the part
of the survivors, they subscribed to a fund
for building a votive chapel dedicated to St. Rokus. ^ In
connection with this, a little later, an asylum for destitute
old people was erected, and this edifice became, in 1796, the
hospital. In 1860 it was enlarged to its present dimensions.
The hospital has no less than 1,623 beds for the use of patients.
It treats disease and ailments of every kind, and possesses a
Rontgen laboratory.
St. Stephen's Hospital was built in 1885 at a cost of £118,360.
1 Fr., St. Roche.
222 Hungary
It comprises nineteen separate buildings occupying an exten-
sive park, eight of which are used for the accommodation of
patients. This institution also has a Rontgen installation.
Four hundred and thirty-six beds are here available for those
needing them.
St. Ladislas's Hospital for infectious diseases was built in
1893 at a cost of £53,250. It consists of sixteen separate
buildings, eight of which, containing 224 beds, are for the
accommodation of patients.
St. Gerard's Hospital, adjoining St. Ladislas's, was inau-
gurated in 1898 and enlarged in 1904. It has 200 beds.
AU four of these hospitals are under the direction of Baron
Kilmin MiiUer, the most eminent of Hungarian physicians.
The institution originally known as the Hospital for Nervous
Diseases has recently been officially designated the Third
Medical Clinic, and placed under the direction of the eminent
nerve specialist, Baron Alexander Koran3d. It contains
128 beds. On the ground-floor is a commodious lecture-hall
for medical students, with all the latest scientific appliances
for radioscopic demonstrations.
Ever since the eighteenth century the study of eye diseases
(ophthalmology) has occupied the special attention of the
medical faculty of Budapest, their attention being first drawn
to its importance by a Frenchman, Baron de St. Idelfont,
who came to lecture on the subject and, as it proved, to settle
in the Hungarian capital. In 1802 a professorship of the
science was created in connection with the Budapest Uni-
versity. To-day the chair of ophthalmology is worthily
filled by a comparatively young man. Dr. Emil Gr6sz, who
is also director of the Ophthalmological Clinic, one of the
finest edifices devoted to the healing art in Hungary.
Erected in 1907 at a cost of £37,500, it is a large quadrangular
building, situated practically in the centre of the city. The
entrance to its dispensary department, standing higher than
the street level, is approached by an inclined path, obviating
the necessity for the patients, bhnd, or nearly blind, ascending
Philanthropic Institutions 223
steps, while for reaching the upper floors electric lifts with
attendants are provided. This institution has eighty-four
beds. Last year 1,306 in-patients and 17,610 out-patients
were treated.
St. John's Hospital, pleasantly situated 9± the foot of the
Suabian hill, treats diseases of every kind, and has a special
department for tubercidosis. On the same estate is a Con-
valescent Home for patients of the hospital, which owes its
existence to the munificence of Baron Wodianer.
The old St. John's Hospital, more than a mile distant
from the new one, dates from 1820. It is now used only in
the event — somewhat rare — of the new establishment being
fuU.
The Adele Brody Hospital for Children was founded in 1893
by Mr. Sigismund Brody, a Jewish gentleman, as a memorial
of his deceased wife. Tbirteen large rooms contain altogether
114 beds, besides which there are sixteen single chambers
each containing a bed and a child's cot. This excellent
institution treats an average of 1,500 in-patients and 16,000
out-patients annually.
The Jewish Hospital, founded and supported entirely by the
Hungarian Israelite community, was erected in 1837 and
rebuilt, with considerable extensions, in 1889. It has 200
beds.
The Polyclinical Dispensary Hospital is maintained by an
association of that name for the dual purpose of assisting the
indigent sick and the advancement of medical science. In
the institution are fifty beds ; and upwards of 50,000 cases
(in and out-patients) are treated annually. The entire staff
render gratuitous service, their reward consisting in the
valuable experience they obtain.
A reference to the Red Cross Hospital must not be omitted.
Situated in one of the most salubrious suburbs of the city,
at a height of 135 feet above the level of the Danube, it
consists of sixteen separate mansions, besides a number of
offices, in the midst of beautifully laid-out gardens. The
224 Hungary
hospital proper claims eight of these mansions, the rest
consisting of private rooms furnished with the acme of comfort.
The institution contains 680 beds.
The Hungarian branch of the International Red Cross
Society was founded in 1879. Besides the service it renders
in war-time, it is active also in peace and contributes to the
happiness and well-being of the civil community in a multi-
tude of ways. It is a very wealthy organisation, owning
considerable property in buildings and land ; it has a reserve
fund of £250,000, to which must be added the annual con-
tributions of its 37,357 members. The president of the
central committee is Count Andrew Csekonics.
Budapest being a cosmopolitan city on the high-road to
the Orient, experiences the effects of the white slave traffic
to no small degree. This terrible evil, the combating of
which gives scope for the exercise of the noblest quaHties of
womanhood, has found vaUant adversaries here. Miss Emma
Dessewffy spares neither herself nor her wealth in the cause
of enlightening and protecting unfortunate members of her
sex against the cunning and violence of debased men. Practi-
cally at her own expense this lady has opened two " homes "
for young fallen women who desire to return t9 the path of
virtue. Other zealous workers in the same useful sphere
are Miss Augusta Rosenberg and Miss Rosa Latinovitz, the
latter being the representative in Budapest of the National
Vigilance Association.
It would be impossible within the Umits of this Uttle work
to mention in detail a tithe of the numerous philanthropic
institutions and charitable organisations of Hungary. With
her 108 orphanages, sixteen deaf and dumb asylums, and five
institutes for the bUnd, provided by the State and supported
by the generosity of many large-hearted men and women
within her borders, this country ranks second to none in the
world for her noble efforts in the service of humanity.
CHAPTER IX
THE CITY OF BUDAPEST
Topographically Budapest, the Hungarian metropolis —
after London, Paris, and Vienna, the largest city in Europe
as regards superficial area, — consists of two
Budapest. parts, Buda and Pest, separated from each
other by the " blue Danube's " broad ribbon,
and slenderly joined up again by six threads in the form of
bridges.
Buda is set on a hill, its foreground broken by the preci-
pitous slopes of the Blocksberg, or Mount St. Gerard. Mir-
rored in the calm river, the dismantled citadel that crowns it
could, had it speech, tell a tale of struggle alternately of
Magyar against Turk and Austrian equal to the most stirring
deeds recorded in history or fiction. Close by is the steep
hill dominated by the Royal Palace, with its hanging gardens,
and embellished with flights of ornamental stone stairs,
buttresses, pilasters, embrasures, arcades, columns, and
turrets, culminating in the ancient Coronation Church of
St. Matthias. Originally built and dedicated to Our Lady
by King B61a IV in the thirteenth century, it was rebuilt in
Gothic style in the fifteenth. During the Turkish occupation,
when the Cross had perforce to hide before the conquering
Crescent, the stately fane was used as a mosque. The back-
ground is in autumn a gorgeous blaze of many-hued hiUs
dotted with pretty villas of Ught blue, white, yellow, and
green.
Standing on one of the bridges that span the noble river,
or on the terrace of the Houses of Parliament, in the glow of
sunset and lifting the eyes towards Buda, the spectator is
spellbound by a scene of panoramic splendour unequalled
anywhere in the world. Then when darkness has fallen, the
225
15— (S394)
226 Hungary
myriad twinkling lights that line the river-banks and silhouette
the contour of the hills give a genuine touch of romance to
the scene.
Pest is quite fiat, spreading out fan-shape from the Belvdros,
or inner city. Its most beautiful building is St. Stephen's
Cathedral, in the Renaissance style, the mere empty shell of
which cost £320,000, to say nothing of the enormous sums that
have been spent on the interior decoration. Though it has
none of the vastness of Gothic cathedrals, or the spaciousness
of basiUcas like St. John of Lateran or Santa Maria Maggiore,
majesty exhales from its fagades, and the exquisite lines of its
cupola and campanile form a veritable epic in stone. Its
design is peculiar : massive, columned, arcaded, balustraded,
sculptured, subUmely and solemnly rich ,in ornament.
Other noteworthy edifices abound in Pest, some of
which — ^the Houses of Parliament,^ hospitals,* art galleries,
museums, * and pubUc hbraries * — ^have already been referred
to, while stiU others will be given attention in subsequent
chapters of this work.
The baths and curative mineral springs of Budapest are
too world-famous to be passed over in silence. They were
known for centuries to the conquering nations that from time
to time settled on the banks of the Danube. Romans and
Turks at their respective periods left their mark in the form
of bathing establishments around the springs, some of which
to-day have lost nothing of their original beauty, wlule the
healing power of their waters is more widely recognised than
ever. Their fame has extended to
Regions Caesar never knew,
Where his eagles never flew.
Portions of the Imperial and the Rudas baths date from
the Turkish period, the latter having been founded in 1560
1 Vide Chapter V.
' Vide Chapter VIII.
» Vide Chapter X.
« Vide Chapter VII.
The City of Budapest 227
I
by Mustapha Pasha, at that time Governor of Buda. The
Rascian bath was elevated to royal dignity by King Matthias.
This, with the Imperial and the St. Luke's baths, are run by
private enterprise. The Margaret Island baths are State
property. An ideal resort, rej oicing in umbrageous woodlands
smiUng flower-beds, and a murmuring cascade, this Eden is
refreshing to the eye and soothing to the nerves. On the Pest
side is the Artesian bath, originally built at a cost of £125,000.
Its recent extension and embellishment have cost nearly
£100,000 more. The Saros (or Mud) bath lies at the foot of
Moimt St. Gerard. The Municipality has now in course of
erection on its site a palatial establishment which is expected
to be the " last word " on baths.
The Hungarian metropolis has experienced many trials
and vicissitudes. The soil on which it stands has witnessed
the successive dominion of Celts, Romans, Huns, Avars, and
Slavs, before the Magyars came to take possession of it.
It has been the scene of memorable historic events ; and if no
attempt has been made till recent years to create a great city
upon it, the omission has been due solely to unsatisfactory
political conditions.
The peoples of antiquity recognised the advantages afforded
by its geographical situation. Under the name of Ak-ink
(the place of abundant waters) the Celts founded there,
before the Christian era, a town which the Romans, in the
second century after Christ, called Aquincum. The place
soon acquired considerable importance. The Emperor
Hadrian raised it to the rank of a municipaUty, and Septimus
Severus to that of a colony. A bridge-of-boats connected
it with Contra-Aquincum^ on the left bank of the Danube,
thus forming a bulwark against the incursions of the bar-
barians who threatened the Roman Empire on the east.
When Diocletian sought to preserve the tottering empire
by sub-division, Pannonia fell to Valerius, who named the
country Valeria, with Aquincum as capital. To-day may be
* To-day called Ujpest.
228 Hungary
seen on the site the remains of the amphitheatre, capable of
holding 20,000 spectators ; while scattered around are the
remains of dwellings destroyed many centimes ago : broken
columns, ruins of ba^hs, of temples — ^notably of one in honour
of Mithras, of pagan altars, of a theatre with accommodation
for 8,000, and sarcophagi crumbUng to dust ; all of which
tend to show that Aquincum must have been an important
city of at least 60,000 inhabitants.
The brief supremacy of the Huns, Goths, and Lombards
passed away leaving scarcely a trace behind ; the same with
the domination of the Avars and Slavs. The only souvenir
the last-named have left is the name of the city of Pest,
which, in the Slav tongue, signifies " oven," as does also the
name " Ofen," given by the Germans to the city of Buda on
the opposite shore. These designations preserve the remem-
brance of the brick-works and Ume-kilns formerly existing
in both places.
When the Magyars appeared, the region of which Budapest
now forms the centre witnessed a new period of prosperity.
Their prince, Arpad, took up his residence on Csepel Isle,
which he fortified as a base for his operations in the subjugation
of Hungary to his sway.
After the devastation by the Tartar hordes in 1241, Buda
rose from its ruins under King Bdla IV, who, taking account
of the strategic importance of the Danube, fortified the hiU
on which the Royal Palace now stands.
Later, in 1286, Pest began to play a more important r6le,
the National Diet assembling in that year for the first time
on the neighbouring plain of Rakos.
The royal line of Arpad having become extinct, Buda rose
again to eminence under the Anjou kings, Charles Robert
and Louis the Great ; but in the troublous times that followed
she had much to endure.
Under King Sigismund (who was also Emperor of Ger-
many) the Royal Castle of Buda became an Imperial
residence. This glory was, however, of fleeting duration, for at
The City of Budapest 229
Sigismund's decease, struggles between the nationalities and
parties broke out and Ladislas, son of the renowned John
Hunyady, fell a victim to the malice of his enemies, being
beheaded in 1457 on the spot now known as St. George's
Square.
Under the brother of that prince. King Matthias, a new
epoch of prosperity set in. The royal residence and the
Parliament were transferred to Buda, a college was founded,
and the city became the poUtical, scientific, and commercial
centre of the kingdom. After Matthias's death, however, this
brilliant period ended, and the internal dissensions were
renewed, stifling all progress and bringing to naught the work
of the great and good king. The land was, moreover, menaced
from without. After the battle of Mohacs, Buda fell into the
hands of the Turks without striking a blow ; and for 145 years
the Crescent banner floated from the walls of the Hungarian
capital.
In 1686 Prince Charles of Lorraine, at the head of the
allied armies, drove out the Turks and roused the Hungarians
of Buda from their long torpor. But their trials and afflictions
were not yet over ; the Rakoczi insurrection and the plague
reduced the population to such a degree that in 1710 there
were in both Buda and Pest only 300 souls. Yet with praise-
worthy courage this handful of citizens took up the task of
setting their house in order. Civic authorities were appointed,
and the sister cities prospered once more. In 1784 the
University of Nagyszombat was transferred to Pest, and
shortly afterwards the first hospital, seminary, and barracks
were erected. Under the influence of the example set them
by their beloved palatine, Archduke Joseph, a new spirit
took possession of the people. During the early part of last
century the National Museum, Hungarian Scientific Society,
National Theatre, National Casino, Institute for the Blind,
and other works of public culture and utility were inaugurated,
while the Danube was rendered navigable for all kinds of
ships.
230 Hungary
Then came the year of calamity, 1838, when the mighty
river overflowed its banks, spreading death and destruction
for miles around.
Late in the aftemqon of the 13th March the waters of
the Danube had risen so high that grave fears began to
pervade all breasts. Orders were given to fortify the
dike, and hundreds of laboiu-ers were soon at work with this
intention.
Towards eight o'clock in the evening the alarm bell boomed
forth its warning peal, and then the scene in the neighbour-
hood of the river baffled description. Workmen and soldiers
lighted by torchbearers, were actively employed in streng-
thening the defences ; crowds thronged the quays, impeding
the passage of the wagons laden with sand to fill the breaches.
It is calculated that not less than 60,000 persons must have
been collected on the shore, when about ten o'clock the swollen
river suddenly burst the dike, and the v/ild waters, laden with
jagged ice, rushed onwards with resistless violence, driving
before them the cowering crowd, who fled appalled and
breathless before the swift pursuit of this strange and terrible
enemy. Night fell, as if to aggravate the terror ; and men
hurried on, they knew not whither, pursued by a danger against
which the bravest could not contend. The shrieks of women
and the groans of men rent the air ; mothers screaming for
their children, children wailing for their parents ; the sharp
sound of flying footfalls upon the frozen earth ; and over all
the rushing, dashing, swirling noise of the emancipated waters
made up the frightful diapason. By an hour past midnight
most part of the city was flooded to a height of 27 feet, and
in several streets large boats might have been seen moving
from house to house rescuing the inhabitants.
On the morning of the 14th whole streets of houses, imder-
mined by the pent-up volume of water filling the subter-
raneans, fell with a succession of deafening crashes, collapsing
like houses of cards, burying human beings and animals alike
amid the rtiins ; 2,281 houses were completely destroyed ;
The City of Budapest 231
827 were seriously damaged ; and only 1,147 in the whole
city remained intact.
During these distressful days the most eminent men of the
country, aided by unknown heroes, performed prodigies of
valour and gave proof of the noblest Christian charity in
rescuing thousanck of destitute inhabitants. A memorial
tablet on the Franciscan church in Kossuth Lajos utca (street)
records the heroic deeds of Baron Wesselenyi and his brave
companions on that never-to-be-forgotten occasion.
In the ten years that followed this disaster the city recovered ;
industry and commerce, literature and the arts flourished
and developed with inconceivable rapidity. The year 1848
marks the beginning of a new era in the history of Budapest,
as, indeed, in that of all Hungary. The nation awoke to the
ideals of liberty and constitutional government. The first
responsible Hungarian Ministry was appointed, and the first
Parliament based on national representation superseded the
ancient Diet founded on class privileges.
But the unfortunate result of the War of Freedom rendered
the situation most precarious. During the reign of martial
law and the succeeding police rule, utter stagnation was
experienced in all branches of public activity throughout
Hungary.
Yet once again the nation revived. The bonds of oppression
were by degrees relaxed, imtil in 1866 the Sovereign and the
Nation became reconciled. Francis Joseph's coronation as
King of Hungary, on 8th June, 1867, is a red-letter day in
the history of Budapest. The restoration of the Constitu-
tion, the transfer of the Parliament to Pest, and the uniting,
in 1872, of the hitherto separate cities of Buda and Pest
under the title of Budapest, and as the capital of Hungary,
resulted in renewed prosperity and bright hopes for the future.
Diuring the forty-one years that have since elapsed Budapest
has become the metropolis of the Hungarian kingdom in a
very real sense ; the seat of national cultmre, and a rival of
the other great cities of Europe.
232 Hungary
Its Municipal Council is composed of 400 members, half
of whom are elected from 1,200 citizens paying the highest
^l,e taxes, and the other half from the rest of
Municipal the inhabitants. These two bodies are the
Council. Aldermfen and the Councillors respectively.
At the head of the Council is the Chief Burgomaster, or Lord
Mayor, elected for six years by the Council from three candi-
dates nominated by the King. CEie present Chief Burgo-
master, is Mr. Francis Heltai.) Under him is the Burgo-
master, the head of the executive, who, in the absence of the
Chief Burgomaster, presides at Council meetings. (The
present Burgomaster is Dr. Stephen Barczy.) Besides these
two officials, there are -two Vice-Burgomasters, the Mayors
of the ten wards into which the city is divided, and a host
of other officials of more or less importance.
The growth of the city may be appreciated by the fact
that, whereas in 1872 the expenses of municipal government
were only £200,000, they last year exceeded £3,000,000
sterling. The funds of the capital are, in round figures,
£20,000,000; its debts, £8,250,000. Four hundred and
forty-five buildings, the property of the municipality, figure
in the latest inventory for the sum of £6,875,000, while the
land owned by the municipaUty is set down for £7,000,000.
Its increase of population has been nothing short of mar-
vellous dmdng the last generation. At the beginning of the
eighteenth century, when the population of Berlin was 55,000,
that of Naples 300,000, and that of Paris, 720,000, Buda and
Pest (not then united) had only 2,000 souls between them ! In
1910 the population of Budapest was 880,371, and to-day it
lacks but few of a million. ^
It is not, however, oiu: intention to set down flattery, and
in writing of " things as they are " we shall give equal pro-
minence to the disagreeable as to the pleasing and meritorious
feattu-es of this interesting city.
The annual birth-rate is 27'4 per thousand, the death-rate,
1 Actually 990,000.
The City of Budapest 233
20'6. Twenty-six per cent, of the births are illegitimate.
Illegitimate births are rarest among the Jews (11 per cent.),
and most numerous among the adherents of the Greek churches
(46 per cent.). The Protestants contribute 15 per cent, and
the Roman Catholics 20 per cent, to the illegitimates. ^
The cheerful optimism of the Hungarians fosters the
gambling spirit within them.* Gambling in aU its forms is
met with on every hand. Quite half the
and^Lottenes Population of Budapest indulge in games of
chance to a greater or less degree. The most
serious persons gamble ; even some of the clergy cannot be
excluded from this category. Among the upper classes
fortunes have sometimes changed hands in a single night
over the cards ; and in the streets of Budapest may be
seen to-day genuine titled nobles destitute of means in
consequence of either their parents' or their own profligacy.
After the cards the favourite form of gambling is the lottery.
Is it necessary to raise funds for any purpose, secular or
sacred, the lottery is resorted to. Schools, hospitals, asylums,
churches, and cathedrals are often built and supported with
money raised by this means. " Buy a lottery-ticket and God
will bless you I " may sound incongruous to some ears, yet
such was the purport of an appeal recently issued in connection
with an effort to provide the wherewithal for erecting a
certain church in the neighbourhood of Budapest ; while
St. Stephen's Cathedral lottery-tickets {Bazilikai Sorsjdtek)
can be procured to-day at most of the banking houses. Rich
1 " A Budapest, plus d'un quart des naissances sont iU6gitimes.
Bien qu'une ISgdre amelioration puisse €tre constatee k cet £gard depuis
quelques annees, la frequence en est toujours trds grande (26 a 27 per'
cent.). Les naissances iU6gitimes sont le plus rares (10 a 12 per cent.)
Chez les israfelites, le plus nombreuses (44 k 48 per cent.) chez les
grecs-unis." — (Guide Midical de Budapest par le Dr. Tibfire deGyory.)
For the whole country the proportions of illegitimate births are
as follows : Protestants, 8-70 per cent. ; Catholics, 9-40 per cent ;
Jews, 11-19; Greek Churches, 19-17.
* This is, of course, equally true of other peoples besides the
Hungarians.
234 Hungary
and poor alike patronise the lottery — ^the latter in many cases
first patronising the State pawn-shop.* Secure in the pos-
session of his lottery-ticket, the potential Hungarian million-
aire often glides through Ufe without a thought as to its
responsibilities, his duty to himself or others. Like Mr.
Micawber, always expecting something to turn up, when it
does not — which is only too often the case — ^he is apt to
degenerate into a lazy drone, an utterly imreliable person,
dissatisfied with everybody and everything, blaming his
failure in life to the social organisation of which he is a unit.
It is not, therefore, to be wondered at if he drifts into
SociaHsm or even Anarchism. The multipHcation of such
social failures becomes in time a menace to the State, as
Hungary is finding to her cost to-day.
The Government of Hungary causes this gambling spirit
to contribute to the revenue by imposing a heavy tax on the
winnings in the Royal Hungarian Lottery, an institution not
unknown in England.
The headquarters of the Royal Hungarian Lottery are a
palatial edifice overlooking the Danube, and there the
periodical drawings of prizes take place. The respectability
of its numerous ofi&ciaJs is above suspicion. The method
of conducting the drawings, too, leaves nothing to be
desired on the score of honesty. The Hall of Drawings is
open to the general pubUc, so that the curious, whether
ticket-holders or not, have free access to witness the
proceedings.
On a platform are to be seen two burnished copper cyUnders,
or wheels, with plate-glass sides, and consequently trans-
parent. The tiny rolls of paper bearing the winning numbers
are placed in the one cylinder, and those bearing the amounts
of the prizes in the other. This done, the cylinders are closed
and turned rapidly until their contents are well mixed up.
They are then re-opened and the drawing commences.
' Pawnbroking is in Hungary conducted by the State, which exacts
a lovr rate of interest on pledges sufficient to meet working expenses.
The City of Budapest 235
Two girls from an orphan asylum, got up for the occasion
in holiday attire, with bare arms, preside at the cylinders,
each drawing forth simultaneously a roll from the wheel.
These rolls they hand together to the clerk or secretary,
who announces with loud voice the winning number and the
amount of the prize that has fallen to it, the public notary
recording the same in his book and filing the slips for permanent
reference.
This arrangement precludes the possibihty of collusion or
unfairness in awarding the prizes. Patrons of the Lottery
living abroad may, however, sometimes have to suffer from
the sharp practice of some agent or other whose business
methods would scarcely commend themselves to Englishmen.
Taken as a whole — although there are very numerous and
notable exceptions — punctuality is not a virtue on which
the Hungarians can pride themselves with any sense of justice.
Too many of them pay little regard to the value of time, their
own or other people's. The coffee-houses of Budapest are
well patronised throughout the day — and night.'^ Hours
are often spent over a single cup of coffee or other beverage,
in conversation, dozing over the newspaper, or listening to the
dreamy strains of the gipsy b^nd. This evil is recognised
and deplored by many enlightened inhabitants of the Hun-
garian metropolis, who, however, are powerless to effect
improvement except by force of their own excellent example.
Multiply the hours wasted daily by the number of days in
the year, the number of years in a generation, and the loss
to the country as well as to the individual may be somewhat
realised.
The Hungarians are not brilliant as correspondents. Many
things which in England can be effected by means of a few
written lines through the post require in Hungary a personal
interview. Hungarians who have hved some time in England
^ Az eglsz ejjel nyitva (open all night), and Reggel 3 irdig nyitva (open
till 3 a.m.). are legends which frequently meet the eye in the windows
of the coffee-houses in Budapest.
236 Hungary
or America are fully aware of these differences telling to the
disadvantage of their own people, and to deal with such
individuals is usually more agreeable than dealing with their
untravelled compatriots. Hungarian manufacturers and mer-
chants now send their sons to England and America to study
the business methods of those countries. These young men,
after their sojourn abroad, retujrn home and immediately
begin to put their newly acquired modern ideas into practice,
with beneficial results to themselves and others.
The greater contact with the outside world afforded by
international congresses at Budapest is of incalculable value
for the stay-at-home Magyars ; and such events have been
rather frequent during the past decade. As examples may
be mentioned the Post Office Congress (1905), Press Congress
(1906), Postal Telegraph Congress (1908), Law Congress (1908),
and the Medical Congress (1909). On each of these occasions
Budapest was the rendezvous of representative men (many
of them accompanied by their wives and daughters) from all
quarters of the globe.
In an exceptional degree was this the case with the Sixteenth
Medical Congress in 1909. On that occasion the city of Buda-
pest was en fiie and the Burgomaster, on behalf of the Munici-
pality, extended an of&cial welcome to distinguished physi-
cians from Great Britain and her Colonies (172), United
States (188), the Argentine Republic (35), Japan (43), Brazil
(22), Cuba (6), Chih (4), Mexico (3), Uruguay (3), Egypt (21),
Germany (277), Austria (247), France (280), Italy (165),
Russia (210), Spain (66), Belgium (46), Portugal (32), Holland
(33), Switzerland (29), Turkey (20), Bulgaria (17), Greece (18),
Roumania (10), Denmark (10), Servia (7), Sweden (5), and
Norway (3), and the ladies who accompanied them to the
number of 800. The 1,267 native physicians who played the
hosts, under the lead of Professor Kalman Muller (since
created baron for his eminent services to the cause of medical
science) and Dr. Emil Gr6sz — President and General
Secretary respectively of the Congress — gave their guests
The City of Budapest 237
an object-lesson in the art of entertaining of which they will
doubtless long retain pleasant reminiscences. But, then,
Magyar hospitality is proverbial.
This year (1913) the Hungarian capital welcomed the
world's publishers to the International PubUshers' Congress,
and ere these had returned home the ladies of many lands
appeared on the scene to compare notes and discuss problems
of importance to the sex at the Universal Feminist Congress.
The spiritual needs of the Anglo-Saxon colony of Budapest
are met by Church of England, Methodist Episcopal, and
Presbj^erian Missions. The last-named owes
^itish and j^g origin to a somewhat romantic incident.
Churches. When in 1839 a party of Scotch missionaries
were returning from the Holy Land, one of
their number — Rev. Dr. Alexander Keith — ^was taken seriously
, ill, obliging the whole party to remain in Budapest until he
had recovered sufficiently to continue the journey. The
news of this gentleman's illness happened to penetrate to the
Court and reached the ears of the wife of the Archduke-
Palatine. The Archduchess Maria Dorothea, a Protestant,
lost no time in calling on the sick clergjonan. She called
indeed more than once, and on one occasion related that,
having prayed God to open the way for the Gospel to be
preached in Budapest, she regarded the presence of these
clergymen as the answer to her prayers. With the moral
and material support of Her Royal Highness the commence-
ment of the work was easy. It led, however, to the passing
of a " House Law " prohibiting any member of the Habsburg
Family from taking a Protestant for consort without
renouncing the rights and privileges of his order.
CHAPTER X
ART, MUSIC, AND THE DRAMA
Art of a kind seems to have flourished in Hungary since
before King Matthias introduced foreign painters, sculptors,
carvers, and gilders into the country for the
Art. embellishment of his palaces and castles. In
olden times Magyar pottery-ware, jewellery,
embroidery, carpets, and ornamental leather-work were
renowned in all the chief towns of Western Europe. The
constant struggles, however, with the Turks and other
enemies arrested the progress of those industries, obliging
them to seek refuge among the peasantry, who carried them
on as well as they could in the obscurity of their cottage
homes in those regions that had escaped the furies of war.
Remote from foreign influences, the humble Magyar peasantry
thus preserved the artistic traditions of their ancestors.
After the Ausgleich^ of 1867 efforts were made to develop
the artistic Ufe of the country in teaching the methods and
principles of the chief Western schools ; but later the need of
a national school was apparent, and a basis thereof was dis-
covered in the productions of popular art. The Magyars,
conceiving an ambition to create a modern Hungarian style,
founded the Society of Industrial Arts, as the most direct
means to the desired end. This institution, supported by the
Government, has brought to the front a galaxy of talent,
resulting in the productions of Hungarian artistic skill being
known in aU the markets of the civihsed world. Zsolnay
pottery and porcelain, Rappaport enamels, Kalotaszeg
embroidery, the peasant needlework of North Hungary, and
the carpets of the south, as well as the peculiarly ornate
1 Agreement with Austria.
238
Art, Music, and the Drama 239
wood-carving of the Magyar peasantry have found admirers
and purchasers everjnvhere.
On entering a city for the first time the architecture is
naturally the first thing to strike the eye, that is to say, if
it differs at all from the architecture of other cities. In
Budapest this is eminently the case. The architecture there
certainly has individuality ; being neither Gothic, Ionic,
Corinthian, nor any other style approved in the West : it
is Hungarian, combining the Oriental with the Occidental
in a fashion calculated to raise a smile on the countenances
of British visitors to the Magyar capital. It is not inelegant,
of course, but it is strange. Motifs of every figure known to
geometry, the tiniest tiles of every colour of the rainbow
placed here and there, and much gilding are especial features
of the faQades ; while representations of the human form,
generally undraped, meet one at entrances and at the foot
of staircases.
These observations apply to the buildings in general.
There are in Budapest edifices of classic design, some of which
have already been referred to. The Royal Palace is in the
Rococo style ; the Art Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts, and
National Museum are pure Greek ; the Ssoiagogue is in
Byzantine style. The most interesting examples of modern
Hungarian architecture are the Gresham Insurance Company's
offices — ^the work of Quittner — ^Museum of Industrial Art,
Post Office Savings Bank, and the Parish Chm-ch of Kobanya
(a suburb of Budapest) — all designed by the eminent architect
Edmund Lechner. The Houses of Parliament are the
masterpiece of Imre Steindl ; the Opera, Cathedral, and
Custom House are worthy examples of the genius of Nicolas
Ybl, these two men being unquestionably the greatest of
Magyar architects.
In beautiful paintings and statuary Budapest is not lacking,
though insufficient appreciation at home has driven many
a promising Hungarian artist to try his fortune in a foreign
land. Several such are flourishing in London to-day, among
240 Hungary
them Philip Laszlo, whose exhibits at the Royal Academy
and his portraits of members of the British Royal Family
are well known. The most prominent knights of the brush
and palette living at home are M6sz61y, Sz6kely, Ladislas
Pal, Szinyei-Merse, B^czur, Than, and Lotz.
" The Baptism of King Stephen," " Rakoczi's Arrest," and
" Homage to the King " (the Magyar nobles in national
costume at a Royal reception), by JuUus Benczur, are his-
torical paintings of which any nation might be proud. In
the last-named work all the figures are authentic portraits.
Munkacsy's fame is derived chiefly from his paintings on
sacred subjects : " Christ before Pilate," " Golgotha," and
" Ecce Homo ! " though he has also produced several striking
pictures illustrating incidents in the history of his native land.
His " Coming of the Magyars " is in this respect perhaps his
chef-d'oeuvre, containing several hundreds of figures each
painted with a fidelity to detail that excites the wonder of
every intelligent spectator.
Sz6kely's genius is shown in his delightful frescoes in the
Coronation Church and also in P6cs Cathedral. Of portrait
painters Horowitz and Karlovsky are the best known. Genre
painting is ably represented by Cs6k, Tornay, Jendrassik,
Pataky, and yag6 ; while as impressionists Mednyanszky
and Kacziany are perhaps unequalled.
In sculpture the pioneers were Engel and Ferenczy. Living
sculptors of European renown are Aloysius Strobl and George
Zala, whose chefs-d'ceuvre are respectively the statues of
Arany the poet and of Semmelweiss the gynsecologist, and
the equestrian monument of Count Andrassy before the Houses
of ParUament. Of Ligeti, whose statue of Anonymous
adorns the City Park ; of Teles, whose Vorosmarty group
evokes the admiration of every beholder, and of George
Vastagh the world will hear more in the near future.
The two art palaces of Budapest would be valuable acquisi-
tions to the greatest cosmopolitan city. The Museum of
Fine Arts is rich in the works of the native artists just referred
Photographed for this work by Miss Tcri Mattyasovszky.
PECS CATHEDRAL, INTERIOR
[The most ancient Christian church in Hungary)
Art, Music, and the Drama 241
to, both painters and sculptors, besides those of modern
French, ItaUan, German and Spanish artists. The National
Picture Gallery has upwards of 800 paintings, including five
Murillos, various Raphaels, Corregios, Van Dycks, Rem-
brandts, and other invaluable specimens of the ItaUan and
Dutch masters. Most of the exhibits were originally the
property of Prince Eszterhazy, from whom the Hungarian
Government purchased them in 1871 at the comparatively
low price of 100,000 guineas.
In Hungary great importance is attached to the drama
as an educational adjunct. The Opera Houses and the
National Theatres of the capital, as well as
The Drama, those of the chief provincial towns, are
absolutely under the control of a special
department of the Ministry of Public Instruction (correspond-
ing to the EngUsh Board of Education), their permanent
staffs being on the footing of civil servants, entitled to State
pensions and other honours on retiring from service. Numer-
ous other playhouses enjoy subventions from the Government.
The Budapest Theatre* is subventioned by the Municipality,
who presented also the site for the handsome People's Opera
inaugurated two years ago : a building capable of accom-
modating an audience of 2,000. Thus it may be gathered
that the Hungarian Stage acquires a respectabiUty not
usually associated with its English counterpart. The prin-
cipal exponents of the histrionic art * in Hungary are, in
tragedy, Mdme. Emiha Markus, Miss Mari Jaszay, Oscar
Beregi, and Julius Gal ; in comedy. Miss Irene Varsanyi,
Edward Ujhazi, and JuUus Hegedas ; in operette, the two
Saris — ^Misses Petras and Fedak ; while among the portrayers
of society life are Mdme. Louise Blaha (the " Hungarian
Nightingale "), Miss Irma Alszeghi, and Eugene Ivanfi.
Who has not heard of the Hungarian Band? It is often
* The of&cial designation ; there are, of course, a number of theatres
in Budapest.
* For the play-writers, see Chapter VI.
l6— (2394)
242 Hungary
in evidence at Earl's Court exhibitions, garden parties, and
all high-class social functions to which it is desired to
attract the wealth and fashion of London.
Music. Generally, however, it is not Hungarian : it is
more lively to be German. At any rate,
the popularity of the name is the measure of the fame of
the Hungarians as a musical people.
Their music is much more ancient than their painting and
decorative art. The Anonymous monk, whom we have
already had occasion to quote, records that, after Arpad had
conquered the land, he marched his army into Attila's strong-
hold, where " amid the ruins they held daily feasts, sitting
in rows, the sweet tones of their lutes and shalms, and all
kinds of songs echoing from the company." There is
abundant evidence that music was common in Arpad's time.
Eight centuries ago Hungarian music appears to have been
in great repute. The principal native instruments are the
lute {koboz), the violin (hegedo), the pipe (tilinko), the buffalo's
horn (kiirt), the trombone (tdrogato), and the dulcimer {cim-
balom) ; though the piano (zongora) is now quite as common in
Hungary as in England. In Transylvania another instru-
ment of the lute class (the timhora) is met with. Earher
than that period the exploits of the national heroes were
sung by minstrels to the accompaniment of their lutes in
camp and village. The wanderings of the Magyars, the
covenant of blood, Arpid and his battles, Lehel and his horn,
and other stirring events of history and legend formed the
subjects of primitive Hungarian ballads.
Under King Stephen sacred music first came into vogue,
and the Gregorian chant soon became common among the
Christian converts. The chief objects of the schools founded
by Stephen and his immediate successors at Esztergom,
Pannonhalma, Vacz, Veszpr^m, and Nagyvarad were " to
instruct in the faith of Christ and in song."
The first Christian priests in Hungary being Italians, we
may well suppose that the young people were taught mostly
Art, Music, and the Drama 243
Latin songs and hymns. When later native Hungarians
became priests they were taught to sing in the vernacular.
It is interesting to observe how often sacred subjects
inspired musical composition. Thus, among many others of
a similar character, we have the " Story of the Holy Marriage
of the Patriarch Isaac," and " How God led the Children of
Israel from Egypt and the Magyars from Scjh:hia." The
former is by Andrew Batizi, the latter by Andrew Farkas,
both of whom flourished in the sixteenth century. This was
also the age of Sebastian Tinodi, the great lutist and chronicler
in song of the events of his day.
Valentine Bakfark, born in Transylvania in 1507, went to
Vienna in 1570 at the invitation of the Emperor Maximilian.
Several of his compositions have descended to posterity. A
contemporary of his and another Transylvanian was Chris-
topher Armbruster, whose " Song on Mortahty " appeared
in 1551.
The advent of the Reformation promoted the development
of Hungarian music. When the people sang their own tongue
in the churches they began also to sing outside on secular
themes to sacred tunes, and many of the hymn-tunes of
Gaudimel the Huguenot became naturalised in Hungary.
The period of Thokoly and Rdkoczy was the " golden age "
of Hungarian ballad, and many real musical gems have
those days bequeathed to the present. The great masters,
Handel and Bach, were then in their childhood ; and the
incomparable Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven did not arise
till a half-century later. This was the time of the " Rak6czy
Song " and the " Rak6czy Lament," on which was foimded
later the spirit-stirring " Rakoczy March."
Dance music became popular through the wandering
gipsies of the fourteenth century. Not only did the common
people welcome these nomads, but they even found entrance
into the castles and mansions of the nobles and the wealthy.
In the sixteenth century one of these gipsies, Dominic Kalmdn,
rose to fame as a violinist.
244 Hungary
The old " Palace Dance " is a Court dance of the fifteenth
century. Its music differs quite from the other music of the
period, being much Uvelier ; and since it consists of slow
turns and walking, elderly people and the clergy often took
part in it. In Italy it is still danced under the name of il passo
mezzo ongarese.
In the eighteenth century Michael Barna, Czinka Panna,
and John Bihary flourished ; the last-named being composer
of the dance tunes " Primate," " Palatine," and " Coronation."
all of which are very popular to-day. Bihary had several
times the honour of being invited to play at the Imperial
Court at Vienna ; while he gave concerts also in Transylvania,
Poland, and his own country. Even the great Beethoven
expressed his admiration for Bihary's genius.
There are the " Wedding Dance " and " Coquettish " for
marriage festivals ; and the " Tent," " Arm," and " Drum
Dances " as pastimes among the soldiers in camp. Dtiring
last century a number of social dances arose, among which
the " Round Dance," " Wreath Dance," and " Tavern Dance "
are quite fashionable at the present day.
Foreign music-masters were often found at the Courts of
the Hungarian kings. At King Sigismund's was the renowned
George Stolzer ; at King Matthias's the great Dutchman,
John Tinctoris, who, formerly at the Court of Ferdinand of
Naples, was brought to Hungary by that monarch's daughter,
Princess Beatrice, on the occasion of her marriage to King
Matthias. Peter, Bishop of Volturno, legate of Pope Sixtus
IV, says that the choir of King Matthias was the finest in
existence. Besides this, there was a band of trumpeters.
The royal orchestra also consisted of thirty executants :
a large number at that early period, for even in the eighteenth
century the band of the Imperial Court at Vienna numbered
eighteen only. Another Dutchman, Adrian Willaert, the
creator of the madrigal, was " master of the King's music "
under Louis II. One of his works in several parts may be
seen to-day in St. Marks' Library at Venice.
Art, Music, and the Drama 245
Organs were first introduced into the churches generally
in the reign of King Sigismund ; though there is a document
extant, dated 1452, in which John Hunyady sanctions certain
expenses in connection with an organ at the parish church of
Felsobanya, while there is also mention of an organ with
silver pipes in the chapel of King Matthias at Visegrad.
The pioneer of Hungarian opera composers was Sigismund
Cousser, a native of Pozsony. In 1700 we find him choir-
master of St. Patrick's Cathedral, DubUn. His operas,
" Pyramus and Thisbe " and " Scipio in Africa," evoked
universal admiration.
John Francisci, born at Beszterczebanya in 1691, attained
to considerable fame as an organist. Sometime choir-master
at Pozsony, he retired, in 1735, to his native town, where he
filled a similar if less distinguished post till the end of his life.
The Eszterhdzy family have always been known as great
patrons of art and music. Prince Nicolas kept at his castle
of Kis-Marton a splendid theatre and orchestra, the latter
being led first by Joseph Haydn and afterwards by Pleyel and
Hummel. Other distinguished patrons of music are the
Karolyis, Batthyinyis and Erdodys.
Beethoven's master, Albrechtsberger, and Michael Haydn
lived many years at Gyor, and Karl Dottersdorf at Nags^virad,
exercising great influence on the development of musical
life in both those towns.
Though, as already stated, the piano is now quite common
in Hungary, it did not make its appearance till the beginning
of last century. To that instrument the
Liszt country owes a genius of harmony in the
person of Francis Liszt, who was bom at
the little village of DoborjAn, in Sopron county, on 22nd
October, 1811. Even in his ninth year Liszt's pianoforte
execution excited such wonder that he was styled the second
Mozart. The Szapiry, Apponyi, Eszterhizy, and ErdSdy
families took the boy under their protection, guaranteeing
between them the expenses of his education. Under this
246 Hungary
arrangement he went to Vienna and became the pupil first
of Czerny and afterwards of SaUeri. At his first concert
young Liszt was publicly embraced by Beethoven, who pre-
dicted for him a brillianf future. At the age of seventeen he
had achieved more than European fame. Twenty years
later he retired to Pozsony and settled down to the composi-
tion of those " Rhapsodies " which have so deUghted the
whole musical world. In 1862 he entered the seclusion of
the Convent of Monte Mario at Rome, receiving there the
lowest clerical ordination of abbe. During this period of
peaceful retreat he produced his oratorio " St. Elizabeth "
(first performed at Budapest in 1865), his " Coronation
March," for the auspicious event that took place on 8th June,
1867, and a second oratorio, " Christus " (first rendered at
Budapest in 1875). In that year he was appointed the first
director of the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music. When
his death occurred at Bayreuth on 31st July, 1886, the
Hungarian people mourned the loss of one whose genius had
brought his native land to the forefront of cultured nations,
while the whole world was the poorer for the passing of a
great master of the divine, uplifting art of music.
His famous contemporary, Francis Erkel (born 5th Novem-
ber, 1810, died 15th June, 1860), was the founder of modern
Hungarian opera. His chief works are " Maria Bathory "
and " Ladislas Hunyady."
Charles Goldmark, the dramatist, must not be omitted
from our list of Hungarian musical worthies. Born at
Keszthely in 1832, he achieved a universal reputation with
his Oriental piece " Sakunthala," first produced in 1860.
Of his other works the best appreciated are " Penthesilea,"
" Sappho," and " The Queen of Sheba," the last named
being undoubtedly his chef-d'oeuvre.
Her living musicians of international repute are sufficiently
numerous to justify Hungary's claim to be considered a
musical nation. Karl Thern, Charles and Eugene Huber —
father and son — ^are well known abroad. Edmund Mihalovich
Art, Music, and the Drama 247
(" Hero and Leander " and " The Phantom Ship "), Francis
Sarossy (" Attila " and " The Last of the Abencerages "), and
among the younger generation Imre Elbert, Edmund Farkas,
JuHus Mannheimer, and Maurice Verinecz are all operatic
composers of whom any land may be proud.
Among violinists — ^the distinctive production of musical
Hungary — must be mentioned Joseph Joachim, Eugene
Hubay, Joska Szigeti, Francis Vecsey, Stefi Geyer, and the
greatest 'cellist of the century, David Popper.
An aristocratic pianist is Count Gdza Zichy, who, when a boy,
had the misfortune to lose his right arm in a gun explosion.
His left-hand playing has excited the admiration of the musical
world ; he is, moreover, the author of a successful opera.
The names of the Hungarian song-writers and singers are
legion. We must, however, mention Benjamin Egressy,
Ernest Lanyi, Alexander Erkel, Francis Gaal, Edward
SzigUgety, Ignacius Bognar, Julius Kaldy, Michael Fiiredy,
Aloysius Tarnay, Lorand Frater, and Bela Zerkowitz ; while
among the ladies are Madam Hegediis and " the Hungarian
Nightingale," Madam Blaha. For ballet music Charles
Szabados and Louis Toth are unrivalled.
During the course of the last century many institutions for
musical culture have arisen in Hungary. The first Conserva-
toire was founded in 1819 at Kolozsvar ; the second at Arad
in 1833. The institution known originally as the Musicians'
Society of Pesth, developed into the National Conservatoire
of Music. In 1860 a Conservatoire was inaugurated at
Debreczen ; an example followed within the next few years
by the towns of Kassa, Szeged, and Szabadka. In the year
named the Musical Academy of Buda was also founded. In
1875, as already stated, the Royal Hungarian Academy of
Music was opened with the Abb6 Liszt at its head. Besides
these, the Hungarian metropolis boasts numerous choral
societies, glee unions, and other organisations devoted to the
cultivation of musical talent ; while its concert season is as
brilliant is that of Vienna.
CHAPTER XI
AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, AND INDUSTRY
Upwards of 6,000,000, ot 68 per cent, of the bread-winners
of Hungary, are employed in agricultural pursuits ; and
since 7,000,000 more may be reckoned as
Agriculture, dependent upon these, we have a total of
13,000,000, or 68 per cent, of the total population
of the country living by agriculture. Even this great number
is, however, a decrease since 1890, in which year no less than
72 per cent, of the population were engaged in or dependent
upon the cultivation of the soil for their livelihood.
The Ministry of Agriculture does all in its power to ensiu-e
the success of this the principal occupation of the inhabitants
of the land, by providing special agricultural schools wherein
facilities are given the farmers and small landowners to acquire
the necessary practical knowledge, and to become acquainted
with the latest scientific discoveries in all branches of agri-
culture. Besides these facilities for the already educated
agriculturists, however, there are also schools for the training
of farm labourers along the most practical lines, as well as
schools of dairy work, horticulture, viticulture, and forestry.
Property ownership in Hungary is characterised by extremes.
There are many large estates and many small ones, but those
of medium extent are now very few and fax between. A
different state of affairs, too, is found in Hungary from that
obtaining in England. In the latter country tenant-farming
is the rule ; in Hungary it is the exception. The Hungarian
gentlemen farm their own lands, and are often inferior in
business capacity and agricultural knowledge ; the same state-
ment holds good also with regard to the small-holders ; hence
the solicitude of the Agricultural Ministry for their general
enlightenment is not without reason.
More than 30,000,000 hectares, * out of the 32,500,000
> One hectare = 2-471 acres.
248
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 249
forming the area of Hungary, is productive land : its
distribution being as follows ;
Area
(in hectares)
Ploughed-land
. 41-63 per cent.
13,531,028
Forest-land
27-88
9,060,888
Pasture-land
. 12-59
4,092,882
Meadow-land
10-31
3.349,806
Gardens
1-30
421,705
Vineyards .
•72
234,182
Cane-brakes
•23
75,042
Non-productive .
5-34
1,734,261
100-00
32,499,794
The latest data (1913) show the yield of the productive
area for last year to have been as follows :
Wheat
Carrots and Turnips
Potatoes
Maize
Mixed Provender .
Beetroot
Lucerne and Clover
Vetches and MUlet-grass
Barley
Rye .
Oats .
Tobacco
Hemp .
Peas, Beans
Hemp-seed
Rape-seed
Harl .
Clover-seed
Linseed
Lucerne-seed
and Lentils
5,273,
5,428,
5,223
4,100,
2,775,
2,987
2,328,
1,755
1,578,
1,508,
1,381
63
67
34
21
21
15
9
7
4
,624 tons.
556
,682
489
,740
593
,465
017
,607
,711
,987
,314
,287
563
,396
,174
,795
,389
,014
,196
Practically all the forest land is included in the large estates,
while the arable is in the hands of the small-holders — a class
which in the past formed the very backbone of the poUtical
and social life of Hungary. This was the class which suppUed
the leaders in the struggles for religious and poUtical freedom at
the time of the Reformation and later, upholding the national
glory and sacrificing themselves in their country's cause.
250 Hungary
Diiring the last few years there has been a movement
towards co-operation, but only as regards leasing. The
responsibility towards the landlord is shared by several
tenants, but when the agreement is signed, the leased land is
divided and each partf proceeds on his own responsibility ;
a good method of keeping men on the land, but it is not
co-operative farming. Hungarian legislation, prior to 1848,
sought to control the proprietor's rights of selling and mort-
gaging, somewhat after the fashion of the Wyndham Act
(for Ireland) ; but the changes made in the law in the year
referred to, freed the farmers and gave them the absolute
right to dispose of their land. Neither the selling of the land
to foreigners nor the parcelling out into small plots is satis-
factory to the Government, yet no practical remedy is forth-
coming up to the present. Some propose to introduce the
law of primogeniture, as in England ; to exempt the ancestral
estate from sale, as in America ; or to fix Umits to the dis-
posal of inherited property, as in Germany. The matter
will no doubt resolve itself ere long ; in the meantime the
national legislators demand that the agricultural education
already alluded to shall be vigorously pushed forward.
The position of the Hungarian farm labourers until the last
few years was a very miserable one. Dr. Ignacius Daranyi,
when Minister of Agrictdture, took a keen interest in that
class and did much to brighten their lives, by establishing
reading clubs and passing Acts of Parliament to improve
their material conditions. Among the latter were (a) a
Labour Bureau with a central office at Budapest ; (b) old-age
pensions for farm servants, and (c) a vote of £12,500 annually
for the next thirty years for erecting more comfortable
dwellings for them. Many of the farm labourers' so-called
" homes," even on the estates of the wealthy nobles, were a
disgrace to any country claiming to be civilised. Dr.
Daran5d especially distinguished himself in his successful
struggle with agricultural strikes. Fourteen or fifteen years
ago the agriculture of the country was jeopardised by the
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 251
refusal of the harvesters to fulfil their contracts. It is
always necessary to secure in the previous winter or spring
the signed undertakings of the hantk required for the summer
harvest, and if they are not forthcoming in due time, the har-
vest is ruined. The State cannot allow agreements of such
far-reaching national importance to be lightly broken, and
thus was justified in its intervention on the occasion referred
to. The State itself being the largest farmer in Hungary,
Dr. Daranyi, as Minister of Agriculture, collected the work-
men's reserve from all the State domains and placed it at
the disposal of .those landowners who were able to prove
that they had lost the services of workmen through no fault
of their own. This precedent has been followed ever since,
when necessary, and is found to work satisfactorily.
In their endeavours to get higher pay the labourers are
assisted by combination before contracting. Their wages
are, however, going down, owing to the retiirn of many who
emigrated to America. The average daily pay of a farm
hand in spring is Is. 5d., in summer, 2s. 2Jd. ; in autumn.
Is. 7d. ; and in winter. Is. IJd. The farm labourer's life
has little attraction to offer, and is consequently taken up
only by the least desirable class.
Hungary is a considerable wine-producing country, the
annual output varying between 3,500,000 and 4,500,000
hectolitres. ^ ' ' Nullum vinum nisi ungaricum "
erovSne ''^ ^ famiUar saying, dating from the Middle
Ages. The quality of the wine is excellent,
but the truth must be told — adulteration is practised on a
gigantic scale. The Government has tried to put a stop to
the evil ; heavy punishments are inflicted on convicted
deUnquents, but in spite of all the game goes merrily on, and
one Hungarian gentleman (himself a wine-grower) has said :
" For many a year not a single bottle of genuine Hungarian
wine has been sold in London."
Hungarian fruit is unsurpassed in Europe : the grapes,
> Hectolitre = 22-0097 gallons.
252 Hungary
melons, pears, apples, apricots, peaches, cherries, and nuts
would be hailed with deUght in Covent Garden, if only they
could be got there in fresh condition. Alas ! there are no
refrigerating carriages on the Hungarian railway system ;
and cold storage is unknown outside Budapest.
With the exception of horses, the breeding of animals is
not so general in Hungary as in England. The State has
stud-farms at Kisb6r (for English thorough-
^Fwrns*!"* ^t^^^), Babobia (for Arabs), and Mezohegyes
(for both kinds). Besides these there
are more than a thousand breeding-stations belonging
to the State, with^an aggregate of 3,500 staUions. The
quality of the Hungarian horse is well known in England.
It may be interesting to recall here Lord Rosebery's facetious
observation to the effect that " there were none but good horses
in Hungary, since the Hungarians had exported all their had ones
for the war in South Africa I " The revenue from the export
of horses represents upwards of f 1,000,000 sterling a year.
For draught purposes in the country oxen are largely used
— ^long-horned, white animals, akin to the Padolians of Russia.
The latest inventory of the quadrupeds in Hungary, from
the reports of the official veterinary inspectors, reads as follows :
Sheep
Pigs
Homed cattle
Horses .
Goats
Mules and Asses
8,548,204
7,580,446
7,319,121
2,351,481
426,981
21,953
Formerly pig-breeding was a flourishing trade in Hungary,
but the outbreak of swine-fever in 1895 dealt it a heavy
blow, from which it has not yet recovered. To-day, however,
pork is still one of the commonest articles of diet. The
Hungarian pig is woolly, and at a distance can hardly be
distinguished from a sheep.
Cattle disease is controlled pretty much the same as in
England. Rinderpest has been quite abolished ; anthrax
and glanders are rare ; rabies rarer still ; but swine-fever is
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 253
still a factor to be reckoned with. The Government indemnifies
farmers and others for loss of cattle through disease.
The forest-land of Hungary, covering an area of more than
9,000,000 hectares,^ abounds with game. Statistics are
deficient, as the statements of sportsmen
^^Lands'** cannot be absolutely relied on ; but it is
estimated that 4,500,000 head of game are
killed annually, the majority consisting of hares and par-
tridges. Deer and wild boar are also shot in great numbers ;
as well as chamois, mouflons, and bears to a smaller extent.
The late King Edward, when Prince of Wales, was a familiar
figure in the hunting parties of the Hungarian magnates.
One million five hundred thousand hectares of this forest-land
belong to the State. It is not on this territory only, however,
that scientific forestry is practised ; there are nearly 150 State
nurseries which, in one year, produced an aggregate of
67,000,000 saplings. These were used in the re-afforestation
of barren districts and for planting along the country road-
sides. There are also gardens for the rearing of fruit-trees
destined to be planted on the road-sides ; for mulberry trees
in connection with sericulture ; and for willows in connection
with the basket-weaving industry. Every municipality is
under legal obUgation to estabhsh and maintain one such
garden, but, generally speaking, this measure is not a success,
as too much expense is involved, and often more knowledge
of horticulture is required than is to be found in the locality.
The Ministry of Agriculture takes the oversight of all
matters relating to the waterways of the country. Preventive
works against inundations exceed in extent and importance
those of any other European land. In Russia and America
only are the flood areas and morasses more extensive than in
Hungary, in which the protected area covers 3,670,000 hectares.
The natural water-ways of Hungary are 2,500 miles in
extent. In the winter and the rainy season these, but for
the excellent preventive works, would be a source of grave
» Vide page 249.
254 Hungary
danger to the lives and property of thousands living in the
adjacent towns and districts. As it is, this danger cannot
be entirely obviated. The disaster at Budapest in 1838
has already been described ; ^ in 1879 the town of Szeged
(105,000 inhabitants) was practically destroyed by the River
Tisza bursting its banks. This year also, by the overflowing
of the River Maros, several villages in Transylvania have
been wiped out, hundreds of lives lost and thousands rendered
homeless. The pecuniary damage done is estimated at
£1,600,000.
There are 523 inland water-locks and bank flood-gates in
the valley of the Danube, and 2,804 in that of the Tisza ;
while the number of bridges are 898 and 1,978 respectively.
Neither the flood-gates nor the dykes are sufficient to lead off
the water from certain areas of the Great Plain, as the water
in the channel of the river, between the embankments, is
often for months together at a higher level than that upon
the protected areas behind the, embankments.
The shipping affairs of the country, the harbour works of
the only seaport (Fiume), and the maintenance of the " Iron
Gate " of the Danube — ^near the Serbo-Roumanian frontier —
are in the department of the Ministry of Commerce.
The economic development of Hungary dates from a very
recent period : forty years ago it could scarcely be said to
have begun. Hungary is a country to which
Economic Nature and circumstances have denied the
Advance. . ,
two factors necessary to commercial greatness
— an extensive seaboard and a highly developed home industry.
We may not be surprised, therefore, that she has been unable
to rise to the level of prosperity attained by more favoured
nations ; though I shall endeavour to show, in the course
of this chapter, that the progress of the past decade is
remarkably gratifying from the Hungarian point of view.
An important sign of this commercial Renaissance is the
fact that for the past year or two the Ministry of Commerce
» Vide Chapter IX.
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 255
has been overwhelmed with work. The Factory Act of 1884,
which circumstances had rendered practically obsolete, is
now being completely revised, and a nurhber of Bills have
been laid before ParUament intended to settle various pressing
social questions of the day.
For reasons that I do not feel competent to explain, the
Hungarian Government considers foreign capital a sine qud
non to the development of the economic resources of the
country ; and accordingly offers generous subventions,
exemption from taxation, and other favours and concessions
to foreigners as inducements to them to estabUsh their busi-
nesses in Hungary. During the last ten years no less than
£1,250,000 sterling have been devoted to this purpose ; and
in the past twelve months alone upwards of £200,000. Since
1902 foreign individuals and firms to the number of 512 have
been assisted ; these in return finding employment for 15,425
Hungarians ; for it is one of the conditions attaching to every
subvention or concession of this kind that only natives shall
be employed whenever such can be found competent for the
work required to be done.
The number of industrial schools of all kinds erected during
the past few years, and the Zealous activity with which others
are being added, are a tacit admission on the
^Schools*' P^"^ °* ^^^ authorities that the Hungarian
artisan has much to learn ere he can hold his
own against his neighbours. There are at present in the
country four higher grade industrial schools, twenty-three
handicraft schools, one industrial school for girls, and five
artisans' schools, the whole acconamodating 18,500 pupils ;
while three other institutions are approaching completion :
at Pdcs, Miskolcz, and Ujpest respectively. The higher
grade industrial school at Budapest has just been enlarged,
in the metals, chemistry, and machine-construction depart-
ments ; while among other institutions that have recently
undergone extension may be mentioned the clock-making
school of Budapest, the wood-carving school at Gyor, and the
256 Hungary
school of ironwork at Temesvir, Besides these there are
460 apprentices' schools with 66,300 pupils, six schools for
training in basket-weaving, toy and lace-making, and four-
teen women's schools for practical needlework. It wiU thus
be seen that the Hungarian State is endeavouring to place
its home industry on a soUd foundation by the systematising
of technical education, preparing young men and women for
useful careers and enabling older ones to complete their
knowledge of their callings and become acquainted with the
most modern methods and improvements.
The backwardness of Hungary was not observed until the
manufacturing industry of her foreign neighbours had made
a hitherto unexpected advance and the completion of the
means of communication made it possible for the factories
abroad to inundate the country with their goods. The feeble
and in many respects primitive industry of Hungary was
unable to compete with that of Austria, which had enjoyed
a protective tariff for centuries ; and home industry was
every year less able to cope with the constantly increasing
demands of home consumption. Nevertheless, after gradually
overcoming the troubles incident to a transition stage, the
industry of Hungary began vigorously to develop. Whereas
in 1869 only 9'4 per cent, of the aggregate nimiber of workers
were employed in industrial pursuits, to-day there are nearly
15 per cent.
The social legislation of the Government during the past
twenty years is deserving of a few words here. The first
important step was the passing of Act XIV
Urislation °^ ^®^^' ^y *^^ provisions of which all factory
hands were obUged to become members of a
sick fund guaranteeing them free medical attendance, medicine,
and sick pay, as well as confinement allowance in the case
of wives, and defrajmaent of funeral expenses at death. The
employer paid one-third and the employ^ two-thirds of the
contributions. Act XIX of 1907 was an improvement upon
the earlier law, providing for the maintenance of workmen in
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 257
cases of incapacitation owing to accident as well as sickness.
By virtue of this law the beneficiary pays half the premium
only in the insurance against sickness, while in the insurance
against accident the employer pays the whole. Dludng the
course of the expired year Bills have been passed for the
better regulation of the building trades and itinerant occupa-
tions ; while other Bills are in preparation relative to shop
hours, prohibition of unfair competition, protection of
women-workers and minors, and Sunday rest.
In 1906, while the Act of 1891 was in force, there were
440 sick funds, whose aggregate capital amounted to £588,333,
and aggregate income to £610,000. Their aggregate member-
ship numbered 780,217 persons. At the last census there
were 1,127,130 industrial employes in Hungary ; 1,077,226
engaged in industry proper, 43,081 in domestic, and 6,823
in itinerant industry. All these are by law members of a sick
benefit fund. Although the economic depression of 1900
caused many establishments to reduce the number of their
employes, there were nevertheless single ironfoundries and
machine works in Hungary employing upwards of 2,000 hands
each, while in one steel-works no less than 4,447 were employed.
The number of industrial employes mentioned are
apportioned as follows :
Clothing 281,320
Articles of Food and Drink 143,736
Iron and Metal-workers ...... 128,219
Building Trade 125,070
Wood and Bone 95,824
Hotels and Restaurants ...... 95,332
Machinists, Vehicles, Electrical Industry . . . 72,415
Earthenware, Glass and Stone ..... 44,886
Domestic Industry ....... 43,081
Spinning and Weaving . . . . . . 34,156
Decorative Art 17,059
Leather, Brush and Feather Work .... 16,595
Chemical Industry ....... 14,491
Paper-making 7,727
Itinerants 6.823
Total .... 1,127,130
I?— («394)
258 Hungary
There are no exact data giving the present state of Hun-
garian industry ; but at the last census there were in the
country 703 native firms and companies with
Varietiit! ^^^ ""°^^^ °^ establishments, and 22 foreign
firms ^th 29 factories. The paid-up capital
of the former amounted to £41,208,333 ; the aggregate
capital, £86,041,666 ; and the net profits, £12,340,417.
There are 85 breweries, which produce in the aggregate
2,158,402 hectohtres of beer annually ; 55,317 spirit dis-
tilleries, large and small, with an aggregate annual output
of 108,343,400 hectohtres of pure spirit ; 23 sugar factories
employing 17,985 hands and producing 333,342 tons of beet-
root sugar a year. The Hungarian milling industry is very
highly developed, not only satisfjdng the demands of the
native consumers, but exporting flour in a constantly increasing
quantity. The mills of Budapest alone grind upwards of
837,000 tons of corn annually, while the annual export of
flour exceeds 782,000 tons, representing a value of £7,647,900.
The greater part of this goes to Austria ; though, American
competition notwithstanding, Hungarian exporters have
been able to place 29,400 tons of flour annually on the Enghsh
market ; a fact due to its excellent quahty.
Mining plays a conspicuous rdle in the industry of Hungary.
The digging and smelting of ore may be traced back to the
bronze age ; later the Roman conquerors of Pannonia engaged
in the industry, and in the days of the Arpad kings it formed
an important branch of the economic hfe of the country.
The greater part of the revenue being of old contributed by
the mines, the Hungarian monarchs not unnaturally did all
in their power, by the granting of valuable concessions and by
other means, to foster the industry. But on the discovery,
to a fabulous extent, of mines of gold and silver in
Australia and America, the mining of Hungary lost much
of its importance, and since that time the exploitation
of coal and iron-ore has, owing to the backward state
of Hungarian industry, never been able to reach the
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 259
level of importance attained by lands in which industry is
better developed.
Exclusive of coal-miners, of whom no data are available,
there are 80,409 persons employed in the mines of Hungary.
Twenty years ago the number was 46,134 only : an increase,
therefore, of 74 per cent. Of the' former number 14,237
(21 "2 per cent.) are employed in the mines and smelting
works belonging to the State.
Hungary is immensely rich in salt-mines. The production
of that indispensable domestic requisite is a monopoly of the
State, giving employment to 2,605 persons. Silver-mining,
too, is conducted chiefly by the State ; while gold-mining is
generally undertaken by private enterprise, which has given
a great impetus to the production of that precious metal.
From 1868 to 1876 the average annual gold output was 1,534
kilograms only, whereas since 1906 it has risen to 3,738
kilograms, representing a value of £513,000. On the other
hand, the silver output has declined. While from 1868 to
1876 the average output reached 21,787 kilograms a year,
since 1906 it has fallen as low as 13,642 kilograms. The
output of Hungarian copper also has dwindled in conse-
quence of the over-production of the United States. Hungary
produces also, though in insignificant quantities, lead,
antimony, and zinc.
Next to coal, the most important mineral production of
Hungary is iron, the northern and eastern counties being
especially rich in ore. The output is advancing by leaps and
bounds. In the year 1887 the production of iron-ore was
566,000 tons only. In 1906 it had risen to 1,698,000 tons,
and to-day it exceeds 2,400,000 tons annually. Unfortu-
nately for the country, the production of pig-iron has not kept
pace with that of ore. Every year the ore in ever-increasing
quantities is exported to Silesian furnaces to be turned into
metal. The metal industry, nevertheless, ^ows an advance
of more than double during the last twenty years : i.e., from
193,000 to 420,000 tons annually. This advance has not
260 Hungary
however, been a steady one ; it reached its cHmax in 1899
(471,000 tons), since which year a decline has had to be
recorded.
The advance in the coal output is, on the contrary, much
more permanent and vigorous. Coal-fields abound throughout
Hungary ; though, unfortunately, they produce chiefly the
less valuable lignite, or brown coal, the more valuable anthra-
cite, or stone coal, representing only some 20 per cent, of the
whole output. Taking the complete production, we find
immense progress has been made during the last thirty years.
In 1887 it was 2,510,000 tons ; in 1906 it was 7,603,000 tons ;
to-day it exceeds 12,000,000 tons. The coal export trade
has increased proportionately. In 1887 some 84,300 tons
were sent out of the coutitry ; in 1906 the export had risen
to 372,000 tons ; to-day upwards of 400,000 tons are exported
annually. The superior coal — anthracite — ^is largely imported
from the coal-fields of the North of England and South Wales.
Last year no less than 1,847,000 tons were admitted into
Hungary from abroad — chiefly from the ports of Newcastle
and Cardiff — ^the total coal consumption of the country
amounting to 9,000,000 tons. Though the output is rapidly
increasing, its consumption is increasing still more rapidly —
a sign of the development of the industry of the nation.
The remuneration of those persons — ^not men alone, but
women, and youths of both sexes — ^who risk their lives and
limbs in the bowels of the earth, is by no means princely ;
official statistics showing the maximum daily wage for a
man as 4s. lid., the minimum, lOd. (for a woman, 2s. 2d. — 6d. ;
for a youth, Is. 7d. — 3d.). Miserable as these rates
certainly are, they are, nevertheless, 65 per cent, higher than
those obtaining in 1891. The working day is usually about
twelvie hours, without a Saturday half-hoUday. The cost of
living varies in different parts of the country, but on the whole
it is about the same as in the mining districts of England.
Compared with the position of their English brethren, that
of the Hungarian workers is not an enviable one. The average
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 261
weekly earnings of a factory hand are 22s. for a seventy-two
hour week (a woman, 10s. 6d. only). The rates of pay are,
of course, somewhat higher in Budapest.
Hungary has a seaboard of 94 miles only, the value of which
is considerably discounted by the fact that the great mountain
range of the Karst shuts it off from the heart of the country,
rendering transport by rail difficult and consequently expen-
sive. The navigable rivers, however, compensate somewhat
for this disadvantage. The Danube, the largest Evuropean
river, crosses Hungary in a south-easterly direction, covering
a distance of 625 miles. The Tisza, flowing from north to
south, practically divides the country into two halves, tra-
versing 750 miles before joining the Danube below Titel.
The direction taken by these two great water-ways cannot
be said to be altogether favourable for inland traffic. While
the former brings the industrial products of Western Europe
down stream quickly and at Uttle cost, the raw material of
Hungary is obliged to fight its way up stream at a greater
expense of time and money. The Tisza flows for a consider-
able distance almost parallel with the Danube before finally
joining it. A canal connects the two rivers, but being too
far south, goods coming down the Tisza must go a long way
round to reach the Danube. The cutting of a second canal
to remedy the present unsatisfactory state of things, is now
engaging the attention of the Government.
The provision and maintenance of good roads has always
been an object of the solicitude of the Commerical Ministry.
Last year 238 miles were added to the length
CommSntcftion. ^^ ^^^ State roads, bringing it up to 7,360
miles ; while by an additional 940 miles the
aggregate length of the county roads has been increased to
18,533 miles. The high-roads of all kinds (State, county,
municipal, and district council) have an aggregate length of
60,748 miles, an average of 30 miles of pubUc road to every
100 square miles of territory, or to every 10,000 of the popula-
tion. Nevertheless, there remains much to be done to improve
262 Hungary
the roads of Hungary. Outside the towns in autumn and winter
much of the road is practically morass, impassable for the
pedestrian and extremely dangerous for vehicles carrjdng even
light loads. Road metal being scarce the maintenance of
the public roads is an expensive item, the State roads alone
absorbing £333,000 a year, and the county roads not less than
£1,000,000 sterling. A Bill now before Parliament provides
for the completion of all the public roads within a period of
eighteen years.
The first railway was laid down in Hungary in 1846, but
the Revolution breaking out two years later put a stop to
popular aspirations for at least a generation. In 1866 there
were only 1,350 miles of railway in the whole country, a figure
which was trebled by 1876. Up to that time the railway was
in the hands of private companies. Several factors, however
— among them the burdens imposed on the State by the
guarantee of dividends and the backward economic conditions
of the land — convinced the Government of the necessity of
taking over this branch of the public service. Accordingly
the old lines were bought by the State, and the construction
of new lines immediately commenced. To-day, from Buda-
pest as the centre, railways run in all directions. There are
eighteen routes to Austria, five to Roumania, one to Servia,
two to Bosnia, the most important of all being that connecting
the capital with the port of Fiume.
More than £208,000,000 have already been invested in the
railways of Hungary. In last year's budget the following
sums were voted to defray the expenses of further development
of the State lines :
For Rolling Stock .... ;£420,000
Locomotives 340,000
Completion of unfinished lines . . 2,374,333
Laying down of new lines . . . 267,083
Works of special urgency . . . 548,500
The employfe of the State railwa57s number 53,51 1 officials
and 49,220 workmen, whose salaries and wages amount in the
aggregate to £5,125,000 annually.
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 263
The first great enterprise of the State after taking over the
railways, was to make Fiume the great emporium of Hun-
garian commerce. A railway line was accordingly laid down
from Budapest, right across the country, boring through the
Karst, to the port, rebuilding and extending the harbour and
furnishing it with wharves and warehouses : a gigantic under-
taking that cost the Government between the years 1871 to
1906, no less than £1,920,000.
Schemes of far-reaching importance are now occupying the
attention of the Commercial Ministry, having for their object
the attainment of new outlets for Hungarian export traf&c.
Certain conventions with shipping companies have just been
renewed ; the mercantile marine is to be increased ; and to
accomplish these things important subsidies have been granted.
The Adria Steam Navigation Company is to reorganise its
North African service, its vessels putting in at Mogador
instead of Gibraltar ; and, increasing its fleet, wiU multiply
its periodical sailings between Marseilles, Oporto, and Fiume.
Moreover, a new steamship Une is about to be formed connect-
ing Fiume with the newly acquired Itahan possessions of
TripoU and Benghasi. The coasting service of Fiume will
also be vastly improved, and wiU embrace the whole eastern
shore of the Adriatic. A new line of steamers has recently
commenced to run between Fiume and Patras ; while a new
vessel of the Ungaro-Croata Company, capable of accom-
plishing 16 knots an hour, is engaged in the Cattaro traffic.
The Hungarian Orient Steam Navigation Company com-
menced last year a service between Fitime, Australia, New
Zealand, and the Dutch East Indies ; and steps are being
taken by this company to start, after the Balkan war is over,
a weekly service between Galatz and Constantinople. In
view of these considerations the port of Fiume must ere long
prove inadequate for the requirements of the commerce of
Hungary.
Thirty-five years ago Fiume was scarcely more than a
fair-sized fishing village, while to-day it has a population
264 Hungary
little short of 60,000. ^ Of these 50 per cent, are Italian,
30 per cent. Hunjgarian, and the rest mainly Croatian. All
three languages, with the addition of German, are freely used.
The centre of the pubhc life of the city is the Via del Corso,
where numerous mural tablets commemorate prominent
incidents, an inscription under the vaulted City Gate recording
the memory of the great earthquake of 1750. A reUc of its
Roman origin is the Arco Romano, thought by many to have
been originally a triumphal arch in honour of Caesar Claudius
II. The city is pleasantly situated ; the blue Adriatic in
front, in the background the dark mountains, with Monte
Maggiore, capped with eternal snow, towering like a gigantic
guardian over all.
The Hungarian Post and Telegraph Administration is also
a branch of the Ministry of Commerce, its immediate head
(differing somewhat from the British Postmaster-General in
that he is not of Ministerial rank) being known as the
Director-in-Chief {Vezerigazgato).
Throughout the country there are 314 Treasury (or " Crown "
offices, and 4,274 other head, branch, and sub-of&ces. In
Budapest alone are forty-six Treasury branch offices and
twenty-four sub-offices, besides the General Post Office, at
the public service. Added to these must be the thousands
of tobacco-shops in every town, whose owners sell stamps
and usually take in parcels and register letters in return for the
coveted privilege of being allowed to engage in the remuner-
ative business of vending the favourite weed, of which the
Government has the monopoly.
According to data kindly suppHed by Dr. WUliam Hennyey
(whose position in the Hungarian service corresponds as nearly
as possible to that of an English post-office surveyor), a year's
traffic in the Hungarian Post and Telegraph Department
comprises :
Letters and newspapers . . . 650,000,000
Sample-packets and circulars . . 290,000,000
' At the census of 1910 the population was actually 49,806.
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 265
Parcels
. 40.000,000
Postal Orders
. 30,000,000
Money Orders
2,500,000
Inland telegrams
9,000,000
Foreign telegrams despatched .
2,000,000'
Foreign telegrams received
2,400,000 »
An aggregate sum of nearly £10,000,000 is collected annually
by means of the Remboursement S3retem, — a public convenience
which the English Post-Office ought to have adopted, in its
interior service, at least, long ago.
Another advantage not yet enjoyed in England, but which
has obtained in Hungary for many years, is the delivery of
sealed letters within the town area per Jd. post. The
Hungarian Post-Office was one of the pioneers in the utilisation
of motor tricycles for the collection of letters from the street
wall-boxes, which are planned on a most ingenious principle.
Incredible as it may seem to the English reader accustomed
to see the postman taking the letters out of the box by hand
in good old-fashioned style, in Hungary the postmen never
handle nor even see the letters they collect from the boxes.
The collecting-bag is already locked when handed to them
empty at the head office. The act of attaching it to the letter-
box causes both to open automatically, and the contents of
the letter-box fall from above into the collecting bag beneath.
The act of withdrawing the bag from the box effectively
locks both. On the return of the men to the head office the
bags are unlocked by responsible officials, and then the first
personal handling takes place.
The letter-bags used for the conveyance of official remit-
tances from office to office are furnished with patent safety
locks. Automatic post card and postage stamp supply
machines, on the " slot " principle, are met with in all the
large towns ; while even an apparatus for the automatic
' It may be well to point out that Austria, between which and
Hungary there is naturally a considerable amount of telegraph traflfic,
is regarded by the Hungarians as a foreign country.
266 Hungary
registration of letters is now on trial. One Jnay, also on the
" slot " principle, deposit one's spare silver (in crowns) in
the Post-Office Savings-Bank. All these are pubUc con-
veniences in regard to which the English Post-Office may
well take a leaf from the llungarian's book.
The Hungarian Post and Telegraph (including the Tele-
phone) Service finds employment for upwards of 40,000
persons of both sexes. There are 2,200 offices at which tele-
graph and telephone business is transacted. Of these, sixty
are open during the whole twenty-four hours ; some others
are open during half the night as weU as throughout the day.
Eight hundred call offices 'phone messages to the nearest
head office for transmission by telegraph ; while 2,300 railway
stations also undertake public telegraph business. As in
England, the charge for inland telegrams has a 6d. minimum ;
though " local " telegrams (i.e., those originating and delivered
within the town radius) cost 4d. only. Budapest is in direct
telegraphic communication with Vienna, Trieste, Prague,
Lemberg, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Bukarest, and BraUa ; and
telephonically with the whole of Austria, besides places in
Bosnia, Bulgaria, Roumania, Servia, and Germany. The
Telephone Centre at Budapest is overloaded with upwards
of 18,000 subscribers ; another for the accommodation of
14,000 being now in course of erection.
Though there is much to praise in the Hungarian Post and
Telegraph Administration, yet to the EngUshman there is
also something to criticise. Many offices, for instance, close
for one or two hours during the middle of the day, at the very
time when the general pubUc are themselves most free, to
transact their postal business. Most of the offices, too (head
ofiices excepted), close as early as six p.m., rendering it con-
siderably inconvenient for the employd class to transact their
postal business, as they usually do not leave their employ-
ment until after that hour. If the Post-Office is, as it certainly
ought to be, a public service, the public convenience should
be considered before that of the post-office employes. Since
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 267
the Administration makes an annual profit of £680,000^ it
would appear well able to afford the additional expense of
keeping all post-offices open throughout the day as well as
of extending the evening service until at least eight p.m.
From the Post-Office to the Post-Office Savings-Bank is an
easy step. This useful institution, founded in 1886, resembles
in its chief features its English counter-
Savings-Banks, part, but differs in two important respects :
it not only performs additional public
service by means of its cheque-clearing department,
but has, moreover, a reciprocal arrangement with the savings-
banks of Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Switzerland and Belgium,
besides, of course, Austria, the partner in the Dual Monarchy.
For the first five years after its foundation its accounts
showed a deficit ; now, however, one may regard it as finan-
cially sound as the Bank of Austria-Hungary. During the
year 1911 (the latest year for which I have been able to pro-
cure data) the Hungarian Post-Office Savings-Bank transacted
cheque-clearing business representing a total value exceeding
£333,000,000 sterling. At the close of the same year some
780,000 depositors had the sum of £4,626,000 standing to
their credit. The following table shows at a glance the rate
of progress.
1886
. ;£1 18,297
1890
339,263
1895
904,849
1900
. 1,361,318
1905
. 2,868,523
1910
. 4,522,916
1911
. 4,626,000
Besides the ordinary mode of depositing one's spare funds,
the youthful Hungarian may elect to lay by his savings till (1)
his majority, * (2) his marriage, or (3) imtil his miHtary service
' Seventeen million crowns : information specially supplied for
this work.
^ In Hungary a person is not legally of age until the twenty-fourth
year.
268 Hungary
is completed. Such deferred deposits bear interest at the
rate of 3"6 per cent.
Witnessing the popularity of the Post-Of&ce Savings-Bank
private bodies decided, to emulate its example. To-day the
number of private savings-banks in Budapest and the pro-
vincial towns is almost legion. From investigations I have
made, there appear to be some 1,674,000 savings-bank deposit
books in the hands of the general pubUc, the aggregate
amount deposited being £119,870,000, equal to £71 5s. per
book. These facts prove thrift in a nation whose annual
budget is about £60,000,000 sterhng.
The Austro-Hungarian Bank being the bank of issue of the
Dual Monarchy, has been treated of in the Austrian section.
I shall therefore content myself with stating that Hungary is
represented in that institution by a Managing Council and a
Director, with the Hungarian headquarters at Budapest, just
as the Austrian managing body and headquarters are at
Vienna. Over both branches is a Governor-in-Chief.
There are innumerable other banking houses, whose aggre-
gate funds amount to £360,953,750. These establishments
do not cash each other's cheques ; neither are their regulations
uniform ; some cheques must be cashed within fourteen,
others ten days, or they are void. A cheque drawn on a
certain branch will not be accepted at another branch even
of the same banking firm.
Twenty Hungarian towns have Chambers of Commerce,
supported by a number of private associations with similar
aims and objects. The Budapest Bourse (or Tozsde) is also
the Com Exchange. Its annual sales of corn average
32,000,000 tons.
I am informed there are no statistical data of the inland
trade, except with respect to cattle — a branch of business
of minor importance. The Statistics Office appears to
concentrate its activities rather on keeping account of the
foreign trade of the country. During the last quarter of a
centviry this has increased 73 per cent., its aggregate value
Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry 269
exceeding £125,000,000 annually. In the period under review
the value of the imports has risen from £36,462,500 to
£64,816,000 ; and the exports from £37,204,166 to £62,867.000
— ^the trade balance showing an export surplus of £12,000,000.
It must be pointed out, for the benefit of the English reader
who is too apt to regard the Dual Monarchy as a single State,
that the preceding data are based on the definition of Austria
as a foreign country. As may be supposed, the Empire
naturally plays the most important rdle in the foreign trade
of the Hungarian Kingdom. The following table shows at a
glance the relative importance of the various States in the
foreign commercial relations of the country :
VALUE PER ANNUM.
■
PERCENTAGE.
Imfokts.
Exports.
Both.
Imports
Exports
Both
Austria
49,797,500
£
44,704,666
94,502,166.
76-83
71-11
74-01
Germany
4,533.291
6,092,083
10.625,374
6-99
9-69
8-32
Gt. Britain .
1,160,583
1^453,083
2,613,666
1-79
2-30
2-04
Bosnia
1,093,833
1,444,750
2,538,583
1-60
2-31
2-00
British India
1,405,291
759,958
2,165,249
2-17
1-21
1-70
Italy .
710,875
1,415,917
2,126,792
1-9
2-26
1-67
Roumania .
653,417
1,255,666
1,909,083
l-OI
2-00
1-49
France
687,291
1,152,875
1,840,166
1-06
1-81
1-44
United States
1,141,791
271,666
1,413,457
1-76
0-43
Ml
Servia
966,375
338,291
1,304,666
1-49
0-54
1-02
Russia
289,041
665,791
954.832
0-45
1-06
0-75
Switzerland .
286,417
488,800
775,217
0-44
0-78
0-61
With the whole British Empire, Hungary has a commercial
turnover exceeding £5,000,000 sterling per annum.
Of the imports of the country, textile goods comprise
30 per cent., articles of cotton being most conspicuous ; the
remainder consisting chiefly of ready-made clothing, leather
goods, iron and hardware, and machinery.
270
Hungary
The value of the principal exports in an average
year is as follows :
Corn and Flour
Animals
Animal Products • .
Wood and Coal
Wine and Spirits
Fruit and Plants
Sugar ....
Leather and Leather Goods
Iron and Hardware .
Machinery and Vehicles
Textile Goods .
Explosives
;^20,829,166
10,347,917
4,209,166
3,718,750
1,877,500
1,671,666
1,472,084
1,363,666
1,542,500
1,677,500
2,559,584
992,917
A few words on the Hungarian currency, weights, and
measures may fitly conclude this chapter.
Bronze coins are 1 and 2^ filler pieces (10 filler = Id.) ;
nickel, 10 and 20 filldr pieces ; silver, 1 crown {= lOd.), 2^ and
5 crown pieces ; gold, 10,-20,-50, and 100-crown pieces.
Liquids are measured by the litre (=8888 quart) and
hectoUfre (=22-01 gallons) ; dry goods by the*i7o (=2-2055 lbs.)
and metercentner (=220-46 lbs.) ; and land by the hold
(= 1-43 acre) and hectare (= 2-471 acres).
' A 2-fill6r piece and a 2-crown piece were formerly called a kreuzer
(krajcxar) and a florin (forint) respectively, but those terms are now
unfashionable and discouraged.
CHAPTER XII
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
The first object of a civilised community is the administration
of justice between man and man, without regard to power,
wealth, or social distinction on the one hand
Tud^'iar ^^ *^® ^^^ °^ these on the other. In Hungary,
as in England, no exemptions from the regular
judicial procedure are permissible, or at least they are never
acknowledged, the highest nobles being amenable to the law
equally with the humblest peasant. That " money is power,"
and that the possession thereof sometimes enables a Utigant
to defeat justice, are indisputable facts, exemplifications of
which are not confined to any single country under heaven.
Human laws and their administrators are both alike Uable to
error ; but when due allowance has been made for human
frailty, it njay justly be said that the Hungarian Code compares
very favourably with that of England.
The great legist of Hungary was Stephen Verboczy, who, in
1517, wrote his Tripartiium Corpus Juris consuetudinarii
indytcB Regni Hungarice, a kind of Hungarian " Blackstone,"
and codified custom and statute law.
The right of primogeniture is unknown to Hungarian law,
and titles are inalienable. Thus when a man is created a
count, not only does his wife become a countess, but all his
children are counts and countesses too, and their children
after them ad infinitum ; so that in the course of a few genera-
tions there may be some hundreds of persons bearing the
same countly title, many of them too poor properly to support
the dignity. The same apphes also to other titles of nobihty.
The inheritance is divided among all the children, the eldest son
having the custody of the family archives, and the youngest
the possession of the ancestral home. So long as one member
271
272 Hungary
of the family is alive, the property remains in its possession,
reverting to the Crown only in the event of the family becoming
extinct.
When, in the sixteenth century, Hungary first came under
the rule of the Habsburgs " only the nobility," says the
ex-Minister of Justice, Dr. Antal Giinter, " could counter-
balance this foreign authority, for the peasant was at the
lowest stage of development, and the cities were at this time
considerably estranged from the national hfe. From the
point of view of independent national existence the conserva-
tism of the nobility became therefore a necessity. Its power
could be maintained only by the system of serfdom, the
unfree tenants (jobhagiones) receiving a holding as wages for
the work done for the landlord."
The influence of Western civiUsation on Hungarian law was
noticeable towards the close of the eighteenth century.
Joseph II, as we have already seen, sought to impose laws on
Hungary in defiance of the Constitution, but aU his efforts
were thwarted by the national opposition. In that monarch
we have an example of one who tried to do a right thing in
a wrong way. At a later period we find the estates of the
realm themselves endeavouring to initiate the necessary
reforms by consUtuUonal means ; and though they were not
immediately successful, the good seed was nevertheless sown
that bore fruit in the year 1848. By that time the old feudal
law was changed into a common law for aU citizens. Landed
property was enfranchised, the old bonds between landlord
and tenant were dissolved, the former being indemnified by
the State for the loss of the latter's services.
It was soon discovered that the old Hungarian law could
not quickly adapt itself to modern conditions, and this led
to the adoption of many of the laws of the neighboiuing
states, though in a revised form.
In Hungary as in England from the dawn of history to
mediaeval times the monarchs took a personal part in the
administration of justice. Then to facilitate the King's
HIS EXCELLENCY DR. ANTAL GUNTER
(Sometime Minister of Ti-istice : now President of the
The Judicial System 273
judicial duties itinerant judges were created to assist him.
Besides the supreme court, the Curia Regis, there were special
courts for the nobles, and landlords' courts for tenants. In
1848 the judicial power of the landlord came to an end and
in 1871 the nobles' courts were superseded by the State coiu-ts,
the administration of justice thus becoming at length
completely democratised.
The Hungarian Minister of Justice is at the head of all the
institutions of judicial service, and supreme administrative
authority under the Crown in everything concerning justice.
The principal functions of the Ministry over which he presides
are : to supervise aU the courts and take care that they keep
within legal Umits in the fulfilment of their duties ; to devise
means for the perfecting of justice and a rational organisation
of judicial administration ; to issue instructions for the
conduct of cases, without, however, changing the prescrip-
tions of the law or hampering the independence of the judges ;
to make representations to the King with regard to pardons ;
to supervise the organisation of prisons and penitentiaries ;
and to give effect to the new laws passed in Parliament.
AU the judges and magistrates must report to the Minister
on the cases tried by them. The Minister, moreover, presents
to the King the nominations for the appointoent of judges,
presidents of the courts, and secretaries. AU lower oflBicers
the Minister may appoint himself.
In dispensing justice the judges are independent ; they
judge and decide in accordance with the law. The presence
of three judges is necessary for a coiurt to be able to dispense
justice, which is done publicly in the cotirts, except in such
cases where the judges consider it necessary to exclude the
public in the interests of order. The discussion and the vote
are secret, whUe the judgments are deUvered aloud and
publicly. The judges, dispensing justice in the King's name,
are irremovable ; they may not be despoiled of their rank,
nor deprived of their posts except in case of malversation by
virtue of a disciplinary condemnation in a higher court. They
1 8— (2394)
274 Hungary
cannot be held responsible before the law for their judicial
acts, neither may they be retired against their will before
reaching the age of sixty-five years. .
The qualifications for, appointment as a judge are : (1)
Hungarian citizenship, (2) sound and complete legal erudition,
(3) knowledge of the language of the court over which he is
td preside, ^ (4) good moral character, and finally (5) he must
not be under twenty-six years of age. A judge's salary varies
according to the rank of his court ; it may be an5^hing from
£160 to £500. The President of the Curia, corresponding
with the EngUsh Lord Chief Justice, receives £1,200 a year.
There are in Hungary Proper 385 district courts, 67 county
courts, and 11 courts of appeal. In Croatia-Slavonia, which
enjoys judicial autonomy, there are 73 district courts, 9
county courts, and 1 court of appeal. Besides these, is the
Royal Supreme Court, or " Septemviral Table." Both the
district and county courts are competent to give judgment
in civil and criminal cases, though in the latter the punishment
inflicted may not exceed 12 months' imprisonment.
There are in Hungary Proper 2,274 judges of first instance
(magistrates) whose office is by no means a sinecure, since each
deals with an average of 2,300 cases annually. The courts of
second instance (Courts of Appeal or " Royal Tables ") have
214 judges ; while the Supreme Court of Justice at Budapest
(the Curia Regis) has 79 judges. Besides these there are 76
presidents and vice-presidents of the tribunals.
In Crotia-Slavonia there are 60 district and 75 county
judges, and exactly 40 of the courts of second and third
instance, besides 14 presidents and vice-presidents.
Law costs are lower than in England ; consequently a
Hungarian lawyer, if his income be derived from his pro-
fession alone, is not so comfortably situated as his EngUsh
colleague.
Owing to the number of sub-nationaUties in Hungary,
' This is not necessarily Magyar ; it may be Croatian, Servian,
Roumanian, German, or Italian.
The Judicial System 275
though every judge and magistrate is required to know the
language prevailing in his jurisdiction, a considerable number
of interpreters are employed.
Legal procedure in Hungary follows very closely that of
England, though in practice the punishments inflicted are
generally less severe than in the latter country. As recent
instances of Hungarian leniency may be cited : (1) The case
of an M.P. shot dead by a young man who went to the house
of the former evidently in a quarrelsome mood. As the victim
angered by the reproaches levelled at him, rushed at the
accused to strike him with a stick, the jury took the view that
the accused, in shooting, merely acted in self-defence and
accordingly acquitted him. (2) The outrage on the Speaker
of the House of Commons, when that dignitary was shot at,
fortunately without effect, by a member. The assailant,
after trial, was set at Uberty on the ground that at the time
of the occmrrence he was suffering from " brain storm " and
therefore not responsible for his actions. The Hungarians
claim that this mildness tends to the diminution of crime, and
point out that, whereas in 1889 there were some 7,000 con-
victs in penal servitude, there are now some 4,000 only,
notwithstanding the increase in population.
As in England, in Hungary also pursuit of the guilty is
carried out with the utmost caution to avoid implicating the
innocent ; no person may be compelled tp give evidence
incriminating himself ; and trial by jury obtains in all cases
of serious crime involving five years' penal servitude or more,
as well as in political and press offences. Should a case of
wrongful conviction or of mistaken identity be brought to
hght, the victim receives compensation from the State.
Even so early as the thirteenth century the legal status of
woman in Hungary was considerably superior to that enjoyed
by woman in the neighbouring coimtries ; and had it con-
tinued to lead the van of progress in this respect it is possible
that at least a modified form of female suffrage might to-day
be an accomplished fact in the land of the Magyars. At that
276 Hungary
early period a Hungarian married woman could dispose of
real estate, act as the independent guardian of her child, and
even vote by male proxy. To-day a married woman has
absolute control over her own property. If she have none
and be left a widow, full provision is made for her to the extent
of her late husband's estate.
Hungarian law has, however, no legal provision against the
exploitation of female virtue by dishonourable men, such,
for instance, as that afforded by the salutary Breach of Pro-
mise law of England, or the more recent measures against
the White Slave traffic. Though corporal punishment is
foreign to modern Hungarian sentiment, it nmght advantage-
ously be revived for the chastisement of creatures of either
sex whose actions have put them without the pale of humanity.
Cases have been known (I hope they are rare) in which Hun-
garian brides have been abandoned at the very altar ^ and no
redress at law could be got. The result of this state of things
is to hedge round the virtuous of the sex with precautions
unusual in England ; young ladies must be accompanied by
a chaperone if they go out in the evening ; if belated in the
afternoon without escort, they must hurry home ; in short,
the familiar friendship and the chivalrous relations between
man and woman which constitute one of the chief charms of
English life, do not exist in Hungary to such a great extent.
Since 1894 civil marriage has been obUgatory, the reUgious
solemnisation being left to the option of the contracting parties.
As in England, the State undertakes the registration of births,
marriages, and deaths.
Hungary has an Employers' Liability Act ; there are legal
restrictions against the exploitation of the economically weak
by the strong, as well as measures regulating the conditions
of labour in the lower grades. For the regulation of com-
mercial relationships and the removal of abuses, there are the
Commercial Code (1875), the Bill of Exchange Act (1876),
* Or rather at the Town Hall, since civil marriage must precede the
religious ceremony.
The Judicial System 277
the Bankruptcy Act (1881), and the Co-operative Societies'
Act (1898).
The legislation in the interests of the children has already
been dealt with.^ First offenders and juveniles are never
(unless the circumstances be very exceptional) sentenced to
imprisonment, but put on probation. Culprits under eighteen
years of age are usually committed to a reformatory, of which
there are five in Hungary, capable of accommodating 1,000
boys and girls.
On the principle that environment influences conduct and
moulds character, the youthful criminal is removed from his
unwholesome surroundings and placed in a reformatory
conducted on the " family " system. There he makes one
of a family of thirty " brothers," with the teacher as the
" father " {in loco parentis) who not only gives formal lessons
but guides his charges in all the circumstances of their life
in the institution. He attends them in workshop and garden,
encouraging them in manual labour and taking part in their
recreations. He is constantly on the watch to detect and
correct their faults, to encourage them by praise or restrain
them by reproof. Often on leaving the reformatory a youth
finds himself on a higher plane, mentally, morally, and materi-
ally, with the knowledge of a useful trade that places him
on the high-road to a successful career. At Aszod is a reforma-
tory with a coach-building school ; at Kassa is another with
schools of carpentry, leather-work, and textile industries,
the productions of which have gained prizes at international
exhibitions. The inmates of these institutions, when morally
regenerated, are sent forth again into society, of which in
nearly all cases they become useful and respectable members
— ^the hope of Hungary of the next generation.
' Vide Chapter VIII.
CHAPTER XIII
STATE OF SOCIETY IN HUNGARY
The social system of Hungary, which differs considerably
from that of the surrounding countries, may be said to consist
of four classes : the magnates or higher
Condittons nobility, the lower nobility, the tradespeople
of the towns, and the peasants of the country.
The famihes of the magnates form regular clans after the
Scotch fashion, between which people and the Himgarians
there are many points of resemblance. The
Magnates ^^^^^ being inaUenable, as explained in our
previous chapter, it passes to all the children ;
and as there is rarely any entail of property, except in the case
of some score of the highest families, the whole is usually
divided among all the members of the family. Thus it
frequently happens that, in the course of generations, estates
are divided and sub-divided until they become almost invisible.
The Hungarian magnates are usually very accomplished,
speaking several foreign languages with ease, and being
acquainted with the literature of all the cultured nations,
besides which they are musical and artistic in their tcistes.
Usually good horsemen and keen sportsmen, easy and graceful
in their movements, they are among the best dancers in the
world. Towards each other genial and hospitable, courteous
and tactful in their intercourse with their inferiors, yet their
pride of race is strong and social barriers are sharply defined.
They acquired much of their wealth and influence from their
connection with the Court of Vienna, in the palmy days of
Queen Maria Theresa, who attracted them thither, causing
them to a great degree to become denationalised. Though
the nationaUstic sentiment of Hungary to-day is intolerant
of lack of patriotism, the Esterhazys, Batthyanys, Festetics,
Pilffys, Karol3ds, Andrassys, Sz&henjds, and Wenckheims
are, nevertheless, very cosmopolitan in taste and habits.
278
State of Society in Hungary 279
The lower nobility correspond as nearly as possible to the
English county families, many of them being able to trace
back their pedigree to the earUest days of
^^Nobtes""^ Hungarian history. They are the descendants
of the landed proprietors who, as freemen,
received the patent of nobility from the sovereign. Though
they may have lost their estates, be poorly educated, and
occupy humble stations, some of them living in scarcely
better style than the peasants around them, yet all their
hnen will be decorated with the five-pointed coronet and
monogram, a framed coat-of-arms hanging from the wall in
the parlour, and an air of unmistakable superiority upon their
countenances. Though untitled, they are very proud of their
right to the use of the coronet, a right that mere wealth cannot
purchase. They are above all remarkable as being the most
distinctively national element of Hungary, being the real
Magyars who have never succumbed to Viennese influences.
Before 1848 both magnates and lower nobiUty enjoyed, by
right of birth, certain privileges denied to their social inferiors
— ^the chief of which was exemption from taxation of every
kind ; but in that year, when the nobility generally sur-
rendered their privileges for the common good, the magnates
declined voluntarily to join in the sacrifice. This led to a
gradual cleavage between the two ranks, and now there is
practically no social intercourse between them.
While the magnates hold aloof from the lower nobility,
the latter are equally proud. Many are wealthy and live in
considerable style, both in Budapest and on their country
estates. This class, according to Dr. Elem6r Hantos, M.P.,
was of the greatest social and political importance in past
times. " Every possessor of the land was a noble, though
he owned but a few acres, and furnished his slender contribu-
tion towards the equipment of a knight. In England, those
who were three degrees removed from the King in order of
tenancy were considered as ignoble, but in Hungary, where
subinfeudation was unknown, we never meet such distinction.
280 Hungary
The word ' noble,' therefore, had a meaning altogether
different from its signification in England. It answered more
to the ' freeman ' of Magna Carta and expressed a right to
certain political and civil privileges not enjoyed by the rest
of the population." 1
A few words may be said here concerning the family names
of the aristocrats and nobles. The custom prevails in Hungary
similar to that in vogue among the lairds
Nams °^ Scotland, of calling families after their
ancestral estates, as " James Campbell, Esq.,
of Campbelltown " ; and though in many cases the ancestral
estate may have long passed from them, the predicate (as
it is in the Hungarian usage) is still retained. In some
instances famiUes possess (or have possessed) more than one
estate, in which cases they attach the designations of them
all to their names, thus : SzentmiMosi es Nagykeresztesi
Szilassy Jdnos = John Szilassy, Esq., of Szentmiklos and
Nagykeresztes. Where the family name has been derived
from the estate (which is the case with all the most ancient
aristocratic houses), the family name ends with yi, as Apponyi
(of Appony), Batthydnyi (of Batthyany), Kdrolyi, and
Szechenyi. Sometimes we meet with family names prefixed
with de (as de Nadosy, de Maitheny). This is not the French
form, as many suppose, but the Latin, thus : Princeps Paulus
Esterhdzy de Galdnta (Prince Paul Eszterhazy of Galanta),
the classic idiom having been used in Hvmgary until a
comparatively recent period.
The tradespeople are, generally speaking, not real Magyars,
but mostly Germans and Jews. To distinguish the ones from
the others is not an easy task to the
^^^ Class^™^" uninitiated, seeing that both have usually
German names. After residence for a
time in Hungary, it begins to dawn upon the Englishman that
though most of the tradesmen have German names, some of
' The Magna Carta of the English and of the Hungarian Constitution,
by Elemfer Hantos, D.C.L.. M.P.
State of Society in Hungary 281
those nam^s are sufficiently dignified while others are rather
ridiculous. Better acquaintance will reveal the fact that the
latter are generally borne by the Jews and the former by the
Germans. Thus, while Klein, Schreiber, Beyerlein, Billow,
Schultz, and Seidel may he Germans, Reinkopf (Cleanhead),
Feuerloscher (Fire-extinguisher), Himmelreich {Kingdom-of-
Heaven), Goldfaden (Golden-thread), Rauchbauer (Hairy
peasant), and Klopfer (Knocker) are certain to he Israelites.
There is a reason for this, and one that does not say much
for the sense of fairness of the Magyars of a past age. Up
to the reign of Joseph II the Jews were not permitted to
have surnames, besides being compelled to wear a distinctive
badge, Uve outside the town boundaries, and suffer other
humiliations. They were known somewhat as " Isaac the
money-changer," " Abraham the umbrella-mender," and
" Jacoh the pedler."
In the " Introduction " to J6kai's Rah Rdhy we read :
" The rough outline of the Ter&viros* was just beginning to
show itself in a cluster of houses huddled closely together, and
the narrow street they were then building was called ' Jewry.'
In this same street, and in this only, was it permitted to the
Jews, on one day every week, by an order of the magistrate,
to expose for sale. . . Within the city they were not allowed
to have shops, and when outside the Jews' quarter they were
obliged to don a red mantle, with a yeUow lappet, and any
Jew who failed to wear this distinctive garb was fined."
Dr. Hantos, already quoted, says : " The position of the
Jew was peculiar and unhappy. He was an alien, and as
such had no poUtical rights, and so could inherit no landed
estate, his very residence in the country being on sufferance.
He was, moreover, an hereditary alien, for he was unable to
do homage or fealty. He was the King's chattel." Reading
further we find that, although often the monarch was disposed
to be lenient towards the despised race, " under the influence
of the Church Bulla Aurea took efficient measures to exclude
1 One of the wards of the city of Budapest.
282 Hungary
Jews and all heretics from the holding of pubhc offices,
pledging the King to confer such posts only on the nobles of
his realm. (Article 24.) "
To return to the subject of Jewish surnames. When the
Emperor Joseph (1765-^) admitted the Israelites — ^in spite
of the opposition of the Magyars — ^to the
Jews. rights of citizenship, he gave them the
privilege of choosing a surname, which should
be German. Owing, however, to the Ul-will of the Magyar
authorities of the period, the good intentions of the Emperor
were frustrated; and most of the unfortunate Jews were
registered for life and posterity with the nickname (in German)
that their neighbours in derision had fastened upon them.^
In the course of a century many of these names have under-
gone such modification as to render them less objectionable,
though some are still sufficiently curious, as may be gathered
from the examples given.
Now, however, a happier state of things prevails ; and
though antisemitism is not yet dead in Hungary, a different
spirit animates the Magyars to-day. They are only too
pleased for anyone with a German cognomen to exchange it
for another (generally its translatable equivalent) in the
Magyar tongue. The present writer himself is sometimes
called " Szigeti " (of the island) by his Hungarian friends —
a direct Magyarisation of the name Delisle.
The position of the Hungarian peasantry has vastly im-
proved since 1848, but their lot is still a hard one, providing
ample material for the philanthropic labours
Counlytfolk. °* ^"y ^^^^ " i°^'' ^"S^* " "^ " ^^ley-
Cooper." Francis Deik, in his published
speeches and papers, draws a gloomy picture of his humble
fellow-countrymen in the early part of the last century. In
' Even some of the pure-blooded Magyars, however, have pecuUar
surnames : Bornemisza (He drinks no wine), Boromisza (He drmks my
wine).
Compare these with the Duke of Westminster's surname, Grosvenor
{i.e., Grosventre).
pjto/ogmphed /or this work by
Miss Teri Matiyasovszky.
HUNGARIAN PEASANT TYPE
state of Society in Hungary 283
allusion to the practice of billeting troops upon them, he
declared, " The wild beast has its den, and the bird its nest,
from which they have power to keep off all intruders ; but
the Hungarian tax-payer ^ is not even master over that which
is most exclusively his own — he is not free to do as he likes
in his own house ; for the State, whose whole burden falls on
his shoiilders, does not leave even the peace of his home
undisturbed, but foists upon him guests whose presence he is
compelled to tolerate, who are frequently aliens from foreign
lands, and who are not even connected with him by the bond
of a common tongue and the love of a common country."
Pleading that the peasantry should be allowed to possess
land, Deak said, " Let us grant to the people the right of
property, and thereby draw them closer to us, and attach
them with a bond of affection to that Fatherland which has
been in great measure both supported and defended by them.
Let us allow the people to hold land." " No," answered the
majority, " ioT—omrUs terra proprietas ad dominum spectat —
property is sacred and inviolable." " True," we replied,
" we are willing to grant that the people must obtain property
from the lord of the soil, ad quern omnis terrcB proprietas
spectat, by means of voluntary sale." " Heaven forefend ! "
exclaimed our opponents ; " such an idea is contrary to the
Constitution." Thus limited in our scope, we finally prayed
that the people might at least be absolved from compulsory
labour. . . To this it was answered, " We will consider that
question another time." And now we have come to the very
last clause of our humble petition, so much of which has been
refused. We have now but one request to make, and that is,
that the bodily sustenance of the people may be cared for ;
that they who bear on their shoulders the burdens of the whole
nation should not have the very bread taken out of their
mouths. This can hardly be refused ; this surely is " not
contrary to the Constitution." . . . I wish to see the injustice
which has gone on during the 800 years of our constitutional
' The peasantry were the only taxpayers in Hungary at that period.
284 Hungary
existence atoned for. I wish it in the interest of our country,
for the full development of the nation can never be achieved
so long as personal seciurity is only a privilege enjoyed
exclusively by the minority." ^
These bold and noble words of the great Hungarian tribune
were not in vain. Supported by the eloquence of a few of his
contemporaries, and aided by the state of the times, radical
changes for the better in the condition of the peasantry were
effected.
That their condition is not yet satisfactory the constant
stream of emigration to America is sufficient to show. In
1906, according to official statistics, 169,202
Emigration. Hungarians left their homeland. The emi-
gration problem has been a source of anxiety
to the Government for some years ; and that something has
been done in the matter may be assumed, as in 1910 (the
latest statistics procurable) the number of those who sought a
home across the Atlantic was reduced to 96,324. This pleasing
sign is no doubt due in some measure to the economic revival
referred to in Chapter XI. It is to be hoped that ere long
sufficient emplojrment may be f oimd to enable every Hungarian
to remain on his native soil.
Technically illegal, duelHng is as rife in Hungary as in the
dominions of Kaiser William II. If a gentleman's " honour "
be touched, there is no help for it but a resort
Duelling. to arms, and sanguinary encoimters are the
rule. After a duel with swords both com-
batants are sometimes compelled to hide their disfigured
features from pubUc gaze for a week or two. The best that
can be said for Hungarian duels is that they seldom leave
rancour behind. I have in mind the case of a gentleman
challenged who, less than a couple of months after a murderous
combat, in which the challenger (as he deserved) got a split
skull, interested himself to procure for his whilom adversary
a good berth in the public service. When a duel comes under
'■ Francis Dedk : Hungarian Statesman, by M. E. Grant-Duff.
Plnlogrxflud /or this work by Miss Teri M attyasovszhy .
HUNGARIAN PEASANT TYPE
state of Society in Hungary 285
the notice of the authorities the offenders axe given a mild
term of imprisonment, which involves no social disgrace, such
as the refusal to fight would certainly do. In one year
fifty-five cases of dueUing were dealt with by the magistrates,
but those probably do not represent a tithe of the duels actually
fought, most of them taking place in private houses and
fencing schools, where the police are little likely to interfere.
Those who make the laws {i.e., the poUticians) are among those
who most often break the law in this respect.
It is a good sign of the times that the militant upholders
of personal honour are counterbalanced by the Anti-Duelling
League in Budapest, which numbers among its members
several prominent legislators and representative men in
various branches of public life, all pledged to rid the country
of this rehc of a barbarous age. Mr. Aristide Dessewffy,
M.P., is President of the League, as well as being prominently
identified with the Interparliamentary Union and the Universal
Peace Movement.
Though the modern Hungarian, whatever his class, is not
usually a strict chiurch-goer nor a regular, to the peasants
both CathoUc and Protestant the utterance of pious phrases
and Scriptural quotations and allusions comes as natural as
swimming to the duck. This is said to be an inheritance
from an earher age when sincere religious faith played a greater
part in the lives of the people than apparently it does to-day.
In all the chief events of life the name of " God " and " the
Lord " is frequently invoked. As for instance, when walking
in the country one is frequently greeted with the salutation,
" Jesus Christ be praised ! " To which the expected answer is,
" Now and forever, Amen ! "
When a young peasant couple have decided to wed, the
young man chooses a spokesman from among his friends and,
with him, proceeds to his sweetheart's home
Custom^ *° formally demand the consent of the
parents, who, it might be presumed, have
been prepared for the visit. Without preliminary the
286 Hungary
would-be benedict's friend addresses the girl's parents some-
what after the following manner : " As it was God who
instituted the holy ordinance of marriage when He said to
Adam, ' It is not good for man to be alone ' and created Eve
to be his help-meet, be it therefore known unto you that this
worthy man, A. B., having carefully considered the matter,
desires to take a wife ia obedience to the commands of the
Lord. We have heard a good report of your daughter C,
and if Almighty God hath been pleased to unite her heart
with this man's it would be sinful for mortals to put them
asunder. We pray you to give permission for their union."
The suit is naturally received with favour, since it has all been
arranged beforehand, and refreshments are now served round.
Later in the day the now betrothed couple call together on
the priest or pastor to receive his blessing, returning to the
home of the young woman for the " betrothal festival."
The reUgious solemnisation of matrimony (after the civil
marriage at the Town Hall) differs but httle from the English
form ; but invitations to the wedding feast are verbal through
the intermediary of the " best man," who calls on those whom
it is intended to invite and delivers himself of the following
message : " Pardon my intrusion, but I am deputed by
Mr. and Mrs, A. B. to invite you to the celebration of their
daughter C.'s wedding on the . . . instant. Please bring
your knives, forks, and plates."
In the wedding procession all the male friends of the bride
and bridegroom, wearing garlands of flowers, ride gaily be-
ribboned and flower-decorated horses and gallop along, wildly
discharging pistols into the air.
The toasts in honour of the newly-wedded are always
most flowery effusions, such as : " May holy affection's
bonds entwine your hearts for ever." " May the fruit of
your union be as the trees in blossom." " May you be over-
whelmed with happiness." The " best man's " benediction
upon the bride is a performance worthy of the clergyman
himself. Addressing her, he says : " May the Almighty
State of Society in Hungary 287
crown thy head with happiness ; may Nature smile upon
thy face ; may care and affliction never draw a sigh from thy
lips ; mayst thou dwell in peace and unity with thy husband ;
may thy earthly life be prolonged, and when at last thou
yieldst it up, may it be to exchange it for eternal life in
Paradise." As a reward for this pretty speech the " best
man " is kissed by the bride.
Among the rural festivals of Hungary may be mentioned
the Vintage, the Harvest Home, and the Pig-kiUing, aU
accompanied with music and dancing, affording unbounded
merriment to all present — except, in the case of the last, to
the poor animal in whose honour the festival is given.
At Easter it is customary to present €ggs of chocolate or
sugar'- and to sprinkle one's friends with scent. Among the
rustics the " sprinkling " is usually performed by means of
a pail of water thrown over the object of the polite attention.
The decorating of horses, carts, and carriages on May Day
is carried out in Hungary to-day as it used to be in England
a generation or more ago.
In Hungarian towns there is no "rule of the road" for
pedestrians, and much jostling and dodging to avoid collision
are the natural result ', while in the event of an unusual
attraction in a shop-window a crowd collects, blocking the
foot-path and extending, perhaps, half-way into the horse-road.
Such is the " Uberty of the subject " in Hungary that the
policeman has no right to interfere.
' Among the farming people real eggs painted red are exchanged.
CHAPTER XIV
HUNGARIAN SCENERY
No work on Hungary would be complete that failed to make
mention of some of the natural beauties and peculiarities of
the country ; and in point of interest in
Region/^ both these respects the High Tatra region is
facile princeps.
It is, in short, a rock-bound land of romance, with castles
long gone to ruin and their ancient chivalry forgotten. In
this land, at more than 3,000 feet above sea-level — cpnsider-
ably higher than the Peak in Derbyshire, or even than Scafell
— ^is Csorba, the most elevated village possessing a railway
station in all Hungary. Still higher up is the lovely Lake
Csorba, its banks fringed by pine forests and snow-capped
mountains surrounding it on all sides. This lake, covering
an area of fifty English acres, is, though more than 60 feet
deep, quite transparent, the bottom being easily visible at
all times. At an altitude of 5,000 feet is another lake, Poprad,
in whose emerald green depths, clear as crystal, disport
shoals of lively trout. Here one may experience snowstorms
in the middle of summer, and gaze on beautiful pine-clad
heights, whose summits glisten with coronets of eternal snow,
and on innumerable lakelets, cascades, and streams that
glitter on the plateaux like stars in the Milky Way ; while
down in the valley lie the villages of the Tatra, nestling
amidst lovely foliage and looking for all the world Uke the
contents of a toy " Noah's Ark."
The principal resorts are Tatra-Fiired and Tatra-Lomnicz,
where warm sunshine may be enjoyed in the depth of winter.
Even when the snow is several feet deep one may witness
what to a foreigner must be a novel spectacle : men strolling
about in straw hats and the lightest of clothing ! In the
288
Hungarian Scenery 289
neighbourhood are the two falls of the Tarpatak river, both
resembling sheets of plate-glass, the lower having a sheer
descent from a height of 120 feet. In the Tarpatak valley
are numerous lakelets, called by the peasantry " the eyes of
the sea" (tengerszem), as according to their lore they are
connected with the ocean. This is a fallacy, however, for
the lakes have been sounded and their greatest depth is found
not to exceed 235 feet.
Hidden away in the Tatra forest-lands is the famous cavern
of Dobsina, whose ceiling and walls are of Umestone and its
floor a mass of slippery ice. Entering the
A Cavern. cavern a sudden transformation is experienced,
from the brilliant warm sunshine without,
to this frigid underworld where one's very breath is congealed,
forming hoar-frost on moustache or face-wrapper. A verit-
able realm of ice it is, sparlding and scintillating in the glare
of the electric arc-lamps. As far as the eye can reach are
majestic columns, slender pinnacles, graceful minarets,
stately domes, fountains, altars, alcoves — all of chaste ice,
clear as crystal ; to say nothing of the fringes and curtains
of exquisite lace-Uke delicacy and beauty which hang sus-
pended from the ceihng — all of the same transparent material
— while flashing gems of ice, like myriads of diamonds, are
strewn around. The visitor conversant with the " Arabian
Nights " is sure to think of Aladdin's enchanted palace.
There is the Grand Hall, the floor of which forms a natural
skating-rink of 1,750 square yards superficial area. Descend-
ing wooden stairs we reach a corridor, upwards of 600 feet
long and 60 feet high. Traversing this and descending still
lower, we gaze upon weird, fantastic shapes, icicles, forming
dainty tassels which refract the Ught Uke so many crsrstal
prisms. Passing from chamber to chamber, each in turn
presents some new and startUng specimen of Nature's handi-
work, suggesting such fancies as the " Bedouin's Tent," the
" Winter King's Palace," the " Fairy's Bower," the " Organ,"
and the " Magic Curtain." Long after returning to the Ught
19— (2394)
290 Hungary
of the sunny day, we find ourselves wondering whether what
we beheld was a reality or but a fantastic dream.
At six miles distance is the charming valley of Sztraczina,
with Mount Rhadzim forming a pxuple background in the
declining rays of the setting sun, and the
The Golnicz Golnicz river winding its tortuous course
'^^'^' through the verdant meadows. In contem-
plative mood we follow the stream, until suddenly we experi-
ence a shock of surprise. The earth has swallowed it up !
Some miles down the valley, however, it reappears, now
dashing madly over boulders, now scattering its pvu-ple waters
in thousands of tiny spray-drops, sporting rainbow tints in
the sunlight ; now whirling in a vortex, its clatter subsiding
into a subdued murmur as it glides smoothly over a sandy
bed, or floating above slabs of polished granite Uke a trans-
parent veil. Where it fills the deeper recesses the dark grey
crags and motionless pines are mirrored in its glassy surface,
presenting a magic harmony of silence and repose in vivid
contrast to the ceaseless unrest of life.
In the inmiediate neighbourhood is the village of Aggtelek,
boasting a wonderful stalactite cave, which for the magnifi-
cence of its proportions is unrivalled in all
AStafectite £uj.ope. Its principal chamber is 6,000
yards in length ; another chamber branching
oft to the right is at least half that length, the total area of
the cave covering five square miles. Two streams flow
through the length of the cavern, dubbed not inappropriately
Styx and Acheron.
Close to the entrance is the " Chaxnel House," used in the
Stone Age as a cemetery. The primeval inhabitants of the
cave appear to have been the ursus speltBus, or cave bear,
and certain domestic animals that were the companions of
man at that early period. Investigations within the cave
have established the fact that in the Neolithic Age the dead
were buried face downwards, flat stones being placed under
and above the head. There is abundant evidence, too, that
Hungarian Scenery 291
the cave was used in the Bronze Age as a human habitation,
domestic implements, the remains of a hearth and of food
having been discovered therein.
Crossing the rude bridge over the Acheron we enter the
" Fox Hole," and proceeding through the " Vampire Cave,"
skirt the "Stinking Pool," our stroll terminating at
" Paradise," which, superfluous to add, is the prettiest part
of the cavern. Here are numerous stalactite columns which,
reaching the floor, practically support the roof, and, when
illuminated, strike the beholder as a most impressive sight.
He geizes with admiration on the " Alabaster Column," a
white stalagmite superbly formed ; and the "Observatory,"
another stalagmite rising to the height of 65 feet from a
pedestal 25 feet in diameter. The furthermost recess of the
cave has been given the awesome name of the " Infernal
Abyss."
A few hours hence by rail in a south-westerly direction
will bring us to the largest lake of Central Europe, a possession
of which Hungary is not unnaturally very
Lake Balaton, proud. This is Lake Balaton, of which the
reader may have heard under its German
name, Plattensee.
The Tihany peninsula divides the lake into two parts, the
upper being the broader and more extensive, while the lower
is the more impressive on account of its length. Beyond the
Fiilop roads, at a distance of thirty miles from the head of the
lake, the finest basaltic cones in Europe rise up sheer out
of the water. The chief of these is Mount Badascony, a
magnificent broken cone rising to a height of 1,350 feet,
protruding into the lake and forming two inlets, above the
vine-clad slopes of which a row of superb basaltic columns
support a wooded summit. Balaton's shores were cultivated
in the remote days of the old Romans, who planted the first
vines on its fertile slopes and built their villas on the more
charming spots, the remains of which have been brought to
light by modem discoverers.
292 Hungary
Between Balaton and Fiume, in the vicinity of Ogulin,
is a bit 6f the picturesque certainly unequalled in Europe,
perhaps even in the whole world. The falls
Szlujin Falls. °^ Szlujin are one of the wonders of the
wonderful Karst region. Bursting forth from
a cave, the Szlujinsicza rushes boisterously down between
rocky banks, forming a series of cataracts, until the stream
joins the larger Korana river right under the ruins of Count
Frangepani's ancient castle of Szlujin.
The south-eastern highlands of Hungary formed for some time
in the past the independent principality of Transylvania.
To-day, however, that name is merely a
Transylvania, geographical expression, though its sharply
defined natural boundaries and the peculiar
customs, costumes, and language of the peasantry still
preserve the impression that it is a separate state.
Walled in by her seven mountains, ^ Transylvania has been
amply compensated by Nature for her isolation from the rest
of the world by the lavish gift of scenic beauties. Whoever
has had the good fortune to travel in Transylvania never tires
of describing the bewitching pictvires of rushing waters,
frowning rocks, snow-covered peaks and verdant valleys,
as well as of the variety of picturesque national costumes of
the Wallachs, Roumanians, and Saxons who form the bulk
of the population of that wildly romantic land.
Of certain interest to the novelty-seeker is the island of
Ada Kaleh, in the Danube below the " Iron Gate." Here
among ruined forts are groups of small housefe, with a mosque
whose minarets stand out boldly against a background of
azure sky. Grave-looking Orientals, wearing the fez and
smoking their narghiles, attend to their business in the
leisurely manner peculiar to the inhabitants of the East.
This island, a perfect paradise as regards its flora and climate,
is a remnant of the once mighty Ottoman Empire, whose
' The German name for Transylvania is Siebenbzirgen, meaning
literally ■' Seven fortresses " {i.e., fortified hills).
By permission of
Miss Maimic L. Dclisle
TRANSYLVANIAN PEASANT COSTUME
Hungarian Scenery 293
glory has departed even during the past six months. To-
day the island is peopled exclusively by Moslems and the
Austro-Hungarian garrison. Its poUtical status is peculiar :
for, though a Hungarian possession, it sends a representative
to the Turkish Parliament !
Hungary is rich in beauty-spots besides those already
referred to ; while many of her cities are of thrilling historical
interest. Pozsony, or Pressburg, her ancient
Notable'cities capital, is sacred to the memory of the glorious
Maria Theresa, who knew how to reward her
" faithful Magyars." Komarom, or Komorn, is her virgin
fortress, and the headquarters of the Danube torpedo-boat
flotilla. Esztergom, or Gran, is the Hungarian " Canterbury,"
the seat of the Prince-Primate, possessing a cathedral practi-
cally as stately and magnificent as St. Peter's at Rome. The
University city of Kolozsvar, or Klausenburg, is remarkable
as the capital of the former principality of Transylvania, the
scene of eighty ParUaments, and the Mecca of Unitarianism.
Pecs, or Funfkirchen, has the most ancient cathedral in
Hungary, said to have been erected on the ruins of an old
Roman structure.
To do justice to — ^nay, merely to mention — all that is of
interest in Hungary is impossible within the limits of this
work. Those travellers whose acquaintance with Hungary
is confined to Budapest, have not seen Hungary at all, and can
hardly be said to have seen the Hungarians. For Budapest
is eminently cosmopolitan, having Httle in common with the
land of which she is the metropoUs ; her vices and virtues
are peculiarly her own ; Uke a queen enthroned, she holds
aloof, as it were, from her subjects, the provincial towns.
The real Hungary and the real Hungarians are not to be found
in the Capital, but in Debreczen, the Protestant " Rome,"
Kecskemet, famed for its fruit, Temesvar, the garden city,
Szeged, of painful memories, and other towns of the Great
Plain.
Austrian Index
Academy of the Fine Arts, 8S
of Music, 46
Adams, J. Q., 100
Adelsberg, 18
Adler, Dr. Victor, 39
Akademisches Gymnasium, 84
Aidukiewicz, 100
Albrechtsberger, 112
Alps, the Austrian, 14, 52
Alt, R. von, 101
Altvatergebirge, 22
Alt-Wien porcelain, 91
Andri, 107
Angeli, 99
Annexation of Bosnia, 3, 5
Anti-Semitism, 26
Anzengmber, Ludwig, 68
Aquarellistenklub, 104
Arbeiterzeitung, 78
Architecture, Modem, 88
Army, the Austrian, 1 1
Ascher, Leo, 136
Assling, 53
Auemheimer, Raoul, 71
Auersperg, Count, 71
Babenberg, Counts of, 2
Bacher, Rudolf, 107
,Wilhelm. 77
Badeni Count, 37
Bahr, Hermann, 70
Bamberger, 103
Bartsch, R. H., 75
Baschny, 101
Bauer, 88
Bauemfeld, Eduard von, 68
Beaconsfield, Lord, 3
Beck, 72
Beer-Hofmann, 66
Beethoven, 112
Benedict, Sir Julius, 121
Benedikt, M., 76
Bemt, 103
Bismarck, 19
Bitterlich, 96
Bittner, 124
Blaas, 91
Blau, Tina, 102
Bochnia, 61
Bohemia, 22
(newspaper), 80
Bohm. E., 110
, J. D., 90
Bohm-Bawerk, 37
Bohmerwald, 22
Boryslaw, 61
Bosnia, 3, 4, 6, 53
Bourse, the Vienna, 83
Bozen, 57
Brahms, J., 112, 119, 124
Brand, J. Ch., 90
Breweries, 52
Brozik, 98
Bruckner, 124
Brunner, 103
BruU, J., 122, 125
Bukowina, 3, 14, 23
Burckhard, 70, 75
Burgtheater, 84, 86, 138
Carinthia, 14
Camiola (Krain), 2, 14, 18
Carpathians, 23, 54
Carst, 17, 53
Canon, Hans, 97
Canova, 90
Caucic, 87
Charlemagne, 2
Charlemont, Eduard, 100
.Hugo, 103
Chiavacci, 75
Christian Socialists, 38
Centralism, 32
CofEee-Houses, 134
Concordia, 80
Conscription, 11
Constitution, the Austrian, 6, 29
Co-education, 43
Cossmann, 101
Cottage Quarter, 86
294
Index
295
Cracow. 3
Croatia, 6
Croatians, 13, 14
Court Theatre, the Imperial, 84,
86, 138
Czechs, 13, 14, 22, 23, 34, 39
Czermak, Jaroslaw, 98
Czerny, 113, 116
Daffinger, 89
Dalmatia, 3, 14, 19, 53
Danhauser, 93
Danube, 1, 14, 51, 130
Damaut, 103
David, J. J., 75
Deininger, 87
Delegations, 7
Delug, 100
Deutsches Volksblatt, 78
— Volkstheater, 139
DiabeUi, 116
DoUnes, 18
Dolomites, 15
Donauwaibchen, 108
Dreadnoughts, 12
Durnbauer, 111
Diimstein, 15
Dussek, 116
Dvorak, 125
Ebner-Eschenbach, Marie
Baronin, 73
Eger, 22
Eichhorn, 100
Eisenmenger, 96
Eissler, 136
Elbe, 22, 51
Elementary School, 42
Engelhart, 107
Engerth, 91
Erzgebirge, 22
Extrablatt, Illustriertes, 78
Eybl, 94
Fabiani, Max, 88
Falat, 106
Fall, 136
FeUner, 87
Pendi, Peter, 94
Feuerbach, Anselm, 98
Ferdinand, Emperor, 5
Max, Archduke, 11
Perienhorte, 44
Femkom, 109
Perstl, Heinrich von, 83, 85
Feuchtersleben, 72
Feuilleton, 76
Fischer, Johann Martin, 90
, Ludwig, 103
Fishing, 59
Fleischer, 87
Forestry, 58
Francis the First, Emperor, 5, 81
Joseph the First, Emperor,
5. 7, 31, 81
Pranzensbad, 22
Premdenblatt, 79
Preudenau, 130
Friedlander, Friedrich, 96, 104
Priedrich, Otto, 107
Prohlich, the Sisters, 63
Froschl, 101
Fruit, 57
Piiger, Priedrich Heinrich, 89
Fiihrich, 92
Game, 59
Galicia, 3, 23
Galsworthy, 139
Garda, Lake of, 15
Gasser, Hans, 108
Gauermann, 94
Gautsch, Baron Paul, 37
Germans, 13, 14, 16, 17, 38
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde,
115
Gilm, 72
Girls' High Schools, 45
Gloriette, 132
Glossy, Dr., 80
Goldmark, Kari, 123, 125
Goltz, 100
Gosausee, 15
Graben, 133
Grassi, 91
Grazie, Maria delle, 72
Griepenkerl, 96
Grillparzer, Franz, 62, 113
Grottker, 98
Griin, Anastasius, 71
296
Index
Gurschner, 111
Gymnasium, 44
, Akademisches, 84
Habsburgs, 2, 5
Hagenbund, 104 •
Halm, Friedrich, 65
Hamerling, 72
Handel-Mazetti, 74
Hansen, Theophil von, 82
Hanslick, 112
Hartmann, M., 72
Hasenauer, Karl von, 86
Haydn, 112
Heir to the Throne, 10, 56, 78
Hejda, 111
Hellmer, 110
Helmer, 87
Herremhaus, 29
Herzegowina, 3, 4, 6
Herzl, Theodor, 28, 77
Herzogenburg, Heinrich von, 125
Hevesi, 93
Hietzing, 133
Hirschl-Heremy, 100
Hofburgtheater, 84, 86, 138
Hofiman, Camill, 73
, Josef, 88
Hofmannsthal, Hugo von, 65, 72
Hoger, 95
Hohenwart, Count, 36
Hormann, Theodor von, 102
Horowitz, Leopold, 100
Huber, Rudolf, 103
Hudecek, 108
Hummel, 116
Hungary, 6
Hynais, 87
IDRIA, 60
Illustriertes Extrablatt, 78
Industry, 52
Iron Industries, 52
Ischl, 8, 60
Italians, 13, 14, 20
Jettel, Eugen, 102
Jettmar, 107
Jews, 13, 14, 24, 26
Joachimstal, 22
Joseph the Second, Emperor, 55
Journal, Neues Wiener 78
Juch, Ernst, 101
Jungwirth, 100
Kalbeck, Max, 119
Karawanken, 18
Karger, 99
Karlsbad, 22
Karlweis, 69
Kamtnerstrasse, 133
Karwin, 61
Kasparides, 106
Kanfmann, Isidor, 100
Kielmannsegg, Count, 37
Kienzl, Wilhehn, 122
Kindergarten, 43
Klimt, Ernst, 99
, Gustav, 87, 99, 105
Klotz, 111
Knupfer, Benno, 103
Koch, 90
, Ludwig, 107
Koerber, Dr. Ernst von, 37
Kohn, David, 101
KoUer. 96
Konig, 87
, Friedrich, 106
Konstantinhugel, 130
Komgold, Erich Wolfgang, 120
Kossa^, Julius, 98
.Wojcich, 98
Krafft, Johann Peter, 89
Krain (Camiola), 14, 18
Kramarz, 40
Kramer, 105
Kraus, 101
Krestin, 100
Kreutzer, Konradin, 122
Krieau, 130
Kriehuber, 101
Kundtmann, 87. 109
Kunstgewerbeschule, 46
Kunstschau, 104
Kiimberger, Ferdinand, 74
Kurzbauer, 99
Kustenland, 14
Lampi, 89
Laimer, 121
Index
297
Larwin, 100
Laufberger, 99
Lefler, 107
Lehar, 121, 136
Leitmeritz, 57
Lenau, Nikolaus, 71
Leopold the Fifth, Duke, 2
Libraries, the Free, 50
Lichtenfels, 102
Liebenwein, 107
List, 107
Loffler-Radjrmno, 96
Lombardy and Venetia, 5
Loos, Adolf, 88
Lortzing, 122
Lowe, Ferdinand, 115
Lower Austria, 14
Lueger, Dr., 39
Lyceum, 46
Magyar Race, 6
Mahler, Gustav, 112, 115, 120, 125
Mahrische Schweiz, 22
Makart, 87, 96
Malczewski, 108
Manes, 92
Maraschino, 53
Mariahilferstrasse, 133
Maria Theresia, Empress, 5
Marienbad, 22
Marschall, 111
Marschner, 121
Matsch, 87, 99
Matejko, 98
Maximilian the First, Emperor, 2
Mazaryk, 40
Mehoffer, 108
Meschaert, 118
Metternich, 5
Michalek, 101
Mielich, 97
Militarische Rundschau, 79
Millocker, 135
Mining, 60
Modern Architecture, 88
Modern Gallery, 106
Moll, Karl, 102, 105
Moravia, 23
Moscheles, 116
Moving-Picture Shows, 134
Mozart, 112, 122
Miiller, Carl, 105
Miiller, Leopold Karl, 97
Miinch-Bellinghausen, Baron, 65
Munkaczy, 87
Museum, the Austrian, 85
, the Imperial, 86
Music Halls, 134
Musikfreunde, Gesellschaft der,
115
Musikvereinssale, 83
Muskete, Die, 79
Myrbach-Rheinfeld, 107
Myslbeck, 110
Napoleon the First, 5
the Third, 1 1
Natter, 111
Navy, the Austrian, 11
Nedbal, Oskar, 115
Nestroy, Johann, 67
Neue Freie Presse, 76
Neues Wiener Journal, 78
Neues Wiener Tagblatt, 76
Nicolai, Otto, 122
Novibazar, Sandschak, 4
Nowak, 105
Occupation of Bosnia, 4
Ohmann, Friedrich, 88
Offenbach, 135
Olbrich, 88
Opera House, the Imperial, 82,
138
— , the Popular, 138
Orlik, Emil, 108
Ostdeutsche Rundschau, 78
Oesterreichische Rundschau, 80
Ostrau, 61
Ottokar of Bohemia, 2
Paoli, Betty, 72
Palace, the Emperors, 86
Paper MiUs, 52
Parliament, the House of, 38, 83.
110
Passini, 99
Pausinger, 103
Payer, Julius von, 99
Peasantry, 55
298
Index
People's Theatre, 48
Peszka, 90
Pettenkofen, August, 95, 97
, Ferdinand, 98
Petzold, Alfons, 73 ,
Philharmonic Concerts, 115
Piccolo delta Matina, 80
Seya, 80
Pichler, Adolf, 72
Pippich, 103
Pochwalski, 100
Pola, 12, 19
Poles, 13, 14, 21, 23, 24, 34, 39
Polyes, 17
Popular Education, 48
Opera House, 138
Porcelain " Alt-Wien," 91
Post Office Savings Bank, 88
Potzl, Eduard, 75
Prager Tagblatt, 80
Prater, 130
Preisler, 108
Presse, Neue Freie, 76
Prill Quartette, 115
Radetzky (statue), 109
Radnitzky, 111
Rahl, Karl, 96
Railroads, 51
Raimund, Ferdinand, 66
Ranftl, 94
Ranzoni, 106
Rathausky, 111
Rauchinger, 101
Realgymnasium, 45
Realschule, 45
Rebell, 90
Reichspost, 78
Reichsrat, 29
Reinhardt, 136
Rektor of the University, 47
Revolution of '48, 5
Ribarz, Adolf, 102
Richter, Hans, 115
Riesengebirge, 22
Rilke, Rainer Maria, 72
Kingstrasse, 83
Riva, 16
Robot, 55
Roller, 107
Roinako, Anton, 99
Rosegger, Peter, 74
Ros6 Quartette, 115
Rotunde, 131
Roumanians, 13, 14, 23, 25
Rudolf von Habsburg, 2
the Fourth, Emperor, 2
Rumpler, 100
Rundschau, Militarische, 79
, Ostdeutsche, 78
, Oesterreichische, 80
Russ, Robert, 87, 89, 102
Ruthenians, 13, 14, 21, 23, 125,
135, 139
Ruzicka, 108
Saar, Ferdinand von, 74
Sachsische Schweiz, 22
SaUeri, 112
Saliger, 101
Salten, Felix, 70, 75, 77
Salus, Hugo, 73
Salzburg, 3, 14
Salzkammergut, 15, 60
Schafier, 102
Schalk, Franz, 115
Scharff, 111
Schattenstein, 101
Schenk, 112
Schindler, 102
Schlenther, 139
Schliessmann, 101
Schmerling, 32
Schmidt, Friedrich von, 83
Schmutzer, 101
Schnitzler, Arthur, 66, 69, 75
Schodl, 104
Schonbrunn, 132
Schonherr, 69, 74
Schonn, 97
Schram, 99
Schreker, Franz, 124
Schrodl, 103
Schubert, Franz, 116, 117
Schumann, 119
Schwaiger, 107
Schwartz, 111
Schwarzenbergpark, 131
Schwind, 91, 92
Secession, 88, 110
Index
299
Secondary Schools, 44
Segantini, 106
Seidl, 72
Semper, 86
Servia, 5
Servians, 13, 14
Siccardsburg, 82
SUesia, 5, 23
Singer, Wilhelm, 77
Slavonia, 6
Slivovitz, 57
Slovaks, 13, 14, 23
Slovenes, 13, 14, 35
Sloyd. 43
Smetana, Friedrich, 123, 125
Smith, Adam (statue), 108
Socialistic Party, 32, 39
South Slavs, 20, 21, 35, 39
Speidel, Ludwig, 77
Sprenger, 81
Stachiewicz, 100
Stadtpark, 131
Stagemann, Frau, 118
Stanislawski, 106
Steinfeld, Franz, 95
Steinle, 92
Stefansdom, 84
St. Stephen's, 84
Steyr, 52
Stifter, Adalbert, 73
Stoitzner, 105
Strassgschwandtner, 94
Strasser, 111
Strauss, Johann, senior, 121
, junior, 121, 135
, Oscar, 121, 135
Students, 47
Styka, 100
Styria, 14
Sudetians, 22, 53
Suffrage, Universal, 37
Siihntmus, 84
Suppantschitsch, 106
Supp6, 135
Suttner, Baronin, 74
Svabinski, 108
Swoboda, Carl, 95
, Eduard, 96
, Josefine, 101
Sykes, Sir Tatton, 85
Taaffe, Count Eduardj 35
Tagblatt, Neues Wiener, 76
Tagblatt, Prager, 80
Tatra, the Great, 24
Tautenhajm, 111
Tegetthoff, Admiral, 11
Temple, Hans, 100
Textile Industries, 52
Theatre, 137
, the Imperial Court, 84, 86,
138
Thoren, 103
TUgner, 87, 1 10
Tomec, 103
Tonkiinstler Orchester, 115
Town Hall of Vienna, 84
Toynbee Halls, 50
Trade, the Austrian, 51
Triest, 19
Tychy, Hans, 106
Tyrol, 14
Unger, William, 101
University of Vienna, 46, 47, 85
Upper Austria, 14
Uprka, 108
Urania, 48, 49
Van dek NUll, 82
Veith, 99, 101
Veldes, 18
Vienna, 1, 7, 81, 127
Vindobona, 2
Vogl, Johann Nepomuk, 72
Voglsang, 117
Volksbildungsverein, 48
Volksblatt, Deufsches, 78
Volksgarten, 131
Volksheim, 49
Volkstheater, Deutsches, 139
Votive Cathedral, 85
Votivkirche, 85
Wachau, 15
Wacik, 107
Wage, Die, 79
Wagner, Otto, 87
Waldmiiller, 91, 94
WaUsee, 10
Waschmann, 111
300
Index
Wassilko, Nikolai von, 40
Watschenmann, 131
Weber, 121
Weiagartner, Felix, 120
Weisskirchner, Dr., 28
Weyr, 87, 109, 110 •
jWieliczka, 61
Wiener yieustadt, 52
Wiener Zeitung, 79
Wilda, 97
Wildgans, 72
Wilt, 106
Windischgratz, Prince, 37
Wintersport, 140
Wisinger, Olga, 102
Wittmann, Hugo, 77
Wolf, Hufeo, 112, 120
Working Men's College, 48
Wurstelprater, 130
Wurzinger, 91, 92
Wyspiansky, 99
Zachariewitcz, 87
Zauner, Franz, 90
Zedlitz, Baron, 72
Zeit, Die, 76
Zelezny, 111
Zetscbe, 103
Zimmermann, 102
Zitek, 87
Zmurko, 100
Zoff, 103
Zumbusch, 109 >
Zweig, 72
Hungarian Index
Abb6 Liszt, 245
Academies of Hungary, 216
Actors and actresses, status of,
241
Ada Kaleh Island, 292
A.E.I.O.U., 168
Aggtelek Stalactite Cave, 230
Agriculture, Commerce, and
Industry, 248
Aladar and Csaba, Attila's sons,
151
Alexander Petofi, 201
Almos, 151, 172
Amazons, 146
American and British Churches
in Budapest, 237
Anagrams of Frederick III, 168
Andrew III, 156
Anjou House, 156
Aquincum, 227
Architecture in Hungary, 239
Arpad, 151, 173
Aristocracy, privileges of, 176
Art and artists in Hungary, 238
AttUa, the " Scourge of God,"
148, 151
" Austria-Hungary," significance
of, 179
Austrian Dynasty, Hungary
comes under, 161
Austro-Huugariau Bank, 268
" Austro-Hungarian Empire " a
misnomer, 178
Avars, 149
Bajazet Sultan, 157
Balaton Lake, 291
Ballot, the, 183
Banks, 268
Baths, 226
Batu Khan, 155
Battle of Marchfeld, 156
— Moh, 155
— Mohacs, 160
B§la IV, 155
Birth-rate in Budapest, 232
Blood Covenant, 172
Breweries in Hungary, 258
British and American churches
in Budapest, 237
Budapest, history and description
of, 225
Bulla Aurea, 175
Cabinet (Hungarian) of 1913,
185
Chamber of Deputies, 182
Magnates, 188
Chambers of Commerce, 268
Charles Robert of Anjou, 156
Charles III, 163
Charles Goldmark, 246
Child criminals, treatment of,
277
Children of the State, 218
Children's League, 220
Christian Hungary, 154
Churches, British and American,
in Budapest, 237
Cimmerians, 145
Civil Marriage obligatory, 276
Coal-mining in Hungary, 260
Coffee-houses of Budapest, 235
Communications, 261
Congresses in Budapest, 236
Conservatoires of music, 247
Constitution of the Hungarians,
171
Covenant of Blood, 172
Currency, 270
Dacia, 145, 146
Dances, 244
Deak Francis, 282
Death-rate in Budapest, 232
Defeat of Magyars at the Lech,
153
Deputies, Chamber of, 182
Disasters by flood, 230, 254
Dobsina ice-cavern, 289
301
302
Index
Drama, the, 241
Dramatists of to-day, 203
Duelling, 284
Early religion of the Magyars,
207
Easter customs, 287
Ecclesiastical dignitaries of
Hungary, 210
Economic advance, 254
Education in Hungary, 214
Election in Hungary, an, 186
Electoral reform, question of, 184
Emigration, 284
Emperor-King, in law two persons,
179
Exports and imports, 269
Falls of Szlujin, 292
Family names, 280
Farm labourers, 250
Ferdinand I, 162
Festivals, rural, 287
Fiume, 263
Foreign capital a sine qua non,
255
Forest lands, 253
Francis Deak, 282
Francis Ferdinand, Archduke, 169
Francis Joseph I, 169
Francis Liszt, 245
Franchise quaUfications, 182
Frederick Ill's anagrams, 168
Fruit-growing, 251
GoLNICZ RIVER, 290
" Golden Bull," the, 175
Goldmark, Charles, 246
Gold-mining in Hungary, 259
Goths, 147
Greek and Roman Churches in
Hungary, 208
Habsburg Dynasty, 166
High Tatra region, 288
"Holy Crown," the, 154
Hospitals of Budapest, 221
House of Anjou, 156
■ — ■ — Austria, 161
Parliament, 181
Hungarian Academy founded, 200
Architecture, 239
Constitution, 171
currency, 270
Parliament, 181
Hungary divided, 161
Huns, 148
Hunyady, John, 157
Hunyor and Magyar, legend of,
150
Imports and Exports, 269
Imre Madich, 202
Industrial employ6s, 257
schools, 255
International Congresses in
Budapest, 236
Inundation of Budapest, 230
Szeged, 254
Invasion of the Tartars, 155
Iron-mining in Hungary, 259
Jews IN Hungary, 212, 281
John Hunyady, 157
J6kai Maurice, 202
Joseph II, 164
Journalism and journalists, 206
Judicial system, 271
Khan Batu, 155
Ladislas IV, 156
Lake Balaton, 291
Language and Literature, 191
Leading figures in Hungarian
politics, 185
Legal procedure in Hungary, 275
Legal status of Hungary, 177
Legend of Hunyor and Magyar,
150
Leo the Wise on the Hungarians,
152
Leopold I, 165
Lesser nobihty, 279
Libraries and museums, 216
Liszt Francis, 245
Literature, history of, 194
Locks and flood-gates, 254
" Lord's Prayer " in the
Hungarian language, 192
Index
303
Lotteries in Hungary, 233
Louis the Great, 157
Madach Imre, 202
Magnates, 278
Chamber of. 188
Magyars, 149
Marchfeld, battle of, 156
Maria Theresa, 163, 197
Marriage customs, 285
Matthias the Just, 160
Maurice J6kai, 202
Michael Tompa, 201
Michael Vorosmarty, 198
Mining in Hungary, 258
Minister for Religion, qualifications
and functions, 211
Moh, battle of, 155
Mohacs, battle of, 160
Municipal Council of Budapest,
232
Murad II, 159
Museums and libraries of Hungary,
216
Music and musical composers,
242
Nationalities, the, 188
National Theatre founded, 200
Navigation and shipping, 263
Nicholas Zrinyi, 162
Nobility, lesser, 279
Notable Hungarian cities, 293
Opera and opera-composers, 245
Organs first introduced into
Hungary, 245
Origins of the Magyars, 145
Ottocar, King of Bohemia, 168
Pannonia, 145
Parliament, the Hungarian, 181
Pawnbroking in Hungary, 234
Peace of Szatmar, 163
Peasantry, 282, 285
Petofi, Alexander, 201
Philanthropic institutions, 218
PoHtical parties, 185
Politics and politicians, 180
Post-Oface Savings-Bank, 267
Post, Telegraph, and Telephone
administration, 264
Pragmatic Sanction, 163
Preface, 143
Presbyterian Mission in Buda-
pest, origin of, 237
Press in Hungary, 205
Privileges of aristocracy, 176
Pronunciation of Hungarian, 193
Pseudo literature, 204
Quadrupeds in Hungary, 252
Qualifications for exercising
franchise, 182
Railways in Hungary, 262
Red Cross Society of Hungary,
224
Relations between Austria and
Hungary, 177
ReUgion and education, 207
Religious denominations, 212
Rehgious statistics, 210, 212, 213
Roman and Greek Churches in
Hungary, 208
Royal Power, 180
Rudolf of Habsburg, 167
Rural festivals, 287
Salt-mines of Hungary, 259
Sarmatians, 146
Savings-banks in Hungary, 267
Scenery in Hungary, 288
Schools in Hungary, 214
Scythians, 145
Seaboard, the Hungarian, ,261
Shipping and navigation, 263
Sigismund, 157
Significance of " Austria-
Hungary," 179
Singers and song-writers, 247
Slavs, 149
Social Legislation, 256
" State Children," 218
State of society in Hungary, 278
State stud-farms, 252
Statistics, religious, 210
, educational, 214
304
Index
status of actors and actresses in
Hungary, 241
■ — — women in Hungary,
275
St. Ladislas, 154 .
St. Stephen, 154, 174
Stephen II, 155
Struggles with the Turks, 159
Sub-nationalities, the, 188
Sultan Bajazet, 157
Murad II, 159
Szatmdr, Peace of, 163
Sz6chenyi, Count Stephen, 176,
199
Szlujin faUs, 292
Szdzat of Vorosmarty, 199
Tartar Invasion, 155
Tatra region, 288
Tompa, Michael, 201
Tradesman class, 280
" Tragedy of Man," 202
Training Colleges in Hungary, 215
Trajan, 147
Transylvania, 163, 292
Treatment of child criminals,
277
Universities and university
colleges, 215
University extension, 216
VAiUBfiRY, Professor Arminius,
203
Vambery's theory as to origin of
Magyars, 150
Violinists of Hungary, 247
Vorosmarty, Michael, 198
Wages in Hungary, 260
Waterways of Hungary, 253
Weights and measures, 270
Wine-growing, 251
Woman's status in Hungary, 275
ZiCHY, Count G6za, 247
Zrinyi, Nicholas, 162
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THEOLOGICAL
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THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. Newly Translated with Intro-
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14
THEOLOGICAL (contd.)
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15
THEOLOGICAL {contd.)
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THEOLOGICAL ^ontd.)
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THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH. By E. Hermitage Day, D.D.,
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18
THEOLOGICAL (contd.)
THE SOCIAL RESULTS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY. By C. Schmidt.
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EDUCATION AND SOCIAL LIFE. By the Rev. J. Wilson Harper,
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MODERNISM. A Record and Review. By the Ven. A. Leslie
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BODY AND SOUL. An Enquiry into the effects of Religion upon
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19
THEOLOGICAL [conid.)
THE SOCIAL WORKERS' GUIDE, A Handbook of Infonnatjon
and Counsel for all who are interested in Public Welfare. Edited
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Diocesan Social Service Committee, with assistance from Fifty
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HOW TO TEACH AND CATECHISE, A Plea for the Employment
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A POPULAR HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN WALES From the
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THE LONDON CHURCH HANDBOOK, Being a Compendium of
Information upon Church Affairs in the County of London [Dioceses
of London and Southwark]. Second year of issue (1913-14). In
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THE SPRING OF THE DAY, Spiritual Analogies from the Things
OF Nature. By the late Hugh Macmillan, D.D., LL.D. In
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THE CLOCK OF NATURE. By the late Hugh Macmillan, D.D.,
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An attempt to bring out the wise lessons which the objects of
Nature teach, and to illustrate the spiritual revelation of God in
Christ by the revelation of God in Nature.
THE POETRY OF PLANTS, By the late Hugh Macmillan, D.D.,
LL.D. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. net.
A collection of popular studies, showing the many points of beauty
and interest about some of the commonest of our trees and wild
flowers.
20
TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, AND SPORT
THE ADVENTURER IN SPAIN. By S. R. Crockett. With 162
illustratioiis by Gordon Browne and from photographs taken by
the Author. In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s.
WANDERINGS ON THE ITALIAN RIVIERA. The Record of a leis-
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THE IMMOVABLE EAST. Studies of the People and Customs of
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ITALY OF THE ITALIANS. By Helen Zimmern.
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FRANCE OF THE FRENCH. By E. Harrison Barker.
" A book of general information concerning the life and genius
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SPAIN OF THE SPANISH. By Mrs. Villiers-Wardell.
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ordered information which must be simply invaluable to any one
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Gaxette.
21
TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, AND SPORT {contd. )
SWITZERLAND OF THE SWISS. By Frank Webb.
" Mr. Webb's account of that unknown country is intimate,
faithful, and. interesting. It is an attempt to convey a real know-
ledge of a striking people — an admirably successful attempt." —
Morning Leader. "
GERMANY OF THE GERMANS. By Robert M. Berry.
" Mr. Berry abundantly proves his ability to write of Germany
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— Daily Telegraph.
TURKEY OF THE OTTOMANS. By Lucy M. J. Garnett.
" There could hardly be a better handbook for the newspaper
reader who wants to understand all the conditions of the ' danger
zone.' " — Spectator.
BELGIUM OF THE BELGIANS. By Demetrius C. Boulger.
" A very complete handbook to the country." — World.
HOLLAND OF THE DUTCH. By the same author.
"... It contains everything that one needs to know about
the country. Mr. Boulger has the seeing eye, and everything is
described with vivacity and sympathetic insight. The book is as
interesting as it is useful, and a series of splendid photographs is
not its least notable iea,tw-e."— Aberdeen Free Press.
SERVIA OF THE SERVIANS. By Chedo Mijatovich.
" It is a useful and informative work and it deserves to be widely
read." — Liverpool Daily Courier.
JAPAN OF THE JAPANESE. By Professor J. H. Longford. With
map.
" A capital historical resume and a mine of information regard-
ing the country and its people." — London and China Telegraph.
AUSTRIA OF THE AUSTRIANS AND HUNGARY OF THE
HUNGARIANS. By L. Kellner, Paula Arnold and Arthur
L. Delisle.
Other Volumes in preparation.
22
TRAVEL. TOPOGRAPHY. AND SPORT (contd.)
The "All Red" Series
Each volume is in demy 8vo, cloth gilt, with 16 full-page plate
illustrations, maps, etc., 7s. 6d. net.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA. By the Hon. Bernhard
RiNGROSE Wise (formerly Attorney-General of New South Wales).
Second Edition Revised.
" The ■ All Red ' Series should become known as the Well-Read
Series within a short space of time. Nobody is better qualified to
write of Australia than the late Attorney-General of New South
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that has yet been pubUshed. We desire to give a hearty welcome
to this series." — Globe.
THE DOMINION OF NEW ZEALAND. By the late Sir Arthur P.
Douglas, Bt., formerly Under-Secretary for Defence, New Zealand,
and previously a Lieutenant, R.N.
" Those who have failed to find romance in the history of the
British Empire should read The Dominion of New Zealand. Sir
Arthur Douglas contrives to present in the 444 pages of his book an
admirable account of Ufe in New Zealand and an impartial summary
of her development up to the present time. It is a most alluring
picture that one conjures up after reading it." — Standard.
THE DOMINION OF CANADA. By W. L. Griffith, Secretary to
the Ofjice of the High Commissioner for Canada.
" The publishers could hardly have found an author better
qualified than Mr. Griffith to represent the premier British Dominion
... an excellent plain account of Canada, one of the best and most
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THE BRITISH WEST INDIES. Their History, Resources, and Pro-
gress. By Algernon E. Aspinall, Secretary to the West India
Committee.
" . . . hence the value of such a book as Mr. Aspinall has
compiled so skilfully. Its treatment of current topics is copious,
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West Indies will be well advised if he takes Mr. Aspinall's book £is
his guide." — Times ,
23
TRAVEL," TOPOGRAPHY, AND SPORT (contd.)
THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA. With chapters on Rhodesia and the
Native Territories of the High Commission. By W. Basil Worsfold,
Sometime Editor of the " Johannesburg Star."
" . . The promoters of ' All Red Series ' got the right man for
the work. Mr. Wqfsfold's considerable experience of the making
of the country from within, combined with his training as a jour-
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have been impossible to a less skilled and well-informed annalist.
Into 500 pages he has compressed the main outlines of the history
and geography of that much-troubled dominion, the form of its
new Constitution, its industrial developments, and social and
political outlook. The volume is an encyclopaedia of its subject."
— Yorkshire Post.
THE EMPIRE OF INDIA. By Sir J. Bampfylde Fuller, K.C.S.I.,
Formerly Lieutenant-Governor of Eastern Bengal.
" Sir Bampfylde Fuller was well qualified to write such a book as
this which will serve admirably for an introduction to the study of
Indian conditions and politics. Sir Bampfylde Fuller presents a,
complete picture of the Indian Empire — ^the country, its people,
its government, and its future prospects." — Times.
"No western mind more practically versed in and sympathetic
with the Indian spirit could be found than his, and his long adminis-
trative experience could not fail to lead him to compile a well
balanced volume." — Times of India.
WINTER LIFE IN SWITZERLAND. Its Sports and Health Cures.
By Mrs. M. L. and Winifred M. A. Brooke. In crown 8vo,
cloth, 290 pp., with coloured frontispiece and many full-page
plates, maps, and other illustrations, 3s. 6d. net.
" This book is so full of description and useful information on
all points as to be an indispensable possession to anyone intending
a winter visit to Switzerland . . . this invaluable little book." —
Throne.
Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., 1 Amen Corner, London, E.C.
illiiiilili:
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Open Library