ings of the Carousels, to which a trumpeter from time to time calls their attention; while, in an adjoining room, music invites the soldier and his sweetheart to mingle in the rapid waltz.' p. 30-32.

Such was the captivating exterior of this political carnival: But Dr B. had frequent occasion to find that, like other splendours, they masked a great deal of discontent and apprehension. In the midst of these festivities, he could not avoid observing, that there was much anxiety among all classes of people as to the political arrangements that were to be adopted; and that ENGLAND was regarded as the hope of those who had only Justice to support their claims. How completely these expectations have been disappointed, is now but too well known. The injury done to the character of England by the conduct of its Ministers, on this and other occasions, cannot be properly felt by those who remain at home: But we will venture to say, that no Englishman can now visit the Continent, without the pain of witnessing oppressions to which his country has been accessory; and of hearing it taxed, upon grounds that but too well warrant the charge, with breach of faith, and desertion of the cause of Liberty.

Although there are in Vienna extensive collections of Natural History, and libraries, open to the public, yet literary talent is little respected in society; and the small number of men of science who fill the chairs of the University, consists chiefly of foreigners. This, however, is the natural result of a monopoly of public education in the hands of the Government; which has crushed all private schools, and, consequently, all competition and all improvement, by excluding from the offices of the State every one who has not received his education at one of its own institutions. We may form some idea of the enlightened system which prevails in these establishments, by the time requi site to qualify the student for the duties of a Court Chamberlain, viz. thirteen years; during which, the studies for each month are specially prescribed by the sovereign authority. If the Princes of the House of Austria, who have made such laudable exertions to introduce at home the improved agriculture and machinery of England, could induce their Government to grant greater liberty to the talents of the people, and more freedom of discussion, they would then enjoy the still higher gratification of having imparted to their country a portion, not only of the fruits, but of the sources of British prosperity.

The tone of society, where such is the state of education, could hardly fail to be frivolous; but we must allow it the merit of being entirely free from formality or etiquette. The following paragraphs present a lively picture of an evening, and of dinner party.

a

'The evening amusements in Germany are very various, and will sometimes almost fall under the dreaded denomination of puerile. Not content with requesting young ladies to recite verses, they will sometimes invert the natural order of things, and compel children to act plays, while grown people play cross questions and crooked answers, or, standing in a circle, and holding a cord in their hands, pass a ring from one to the other, imposing it upon some one of the party, to discover in whose possession it is to be found. Acting riddles is a favourite game, and one which is well calculated to amuse those, who wisely resolve to be amused when they can. A certain portion of the company retire into an adjoining room, where they concert together how best to represent by action the different syllables which compose a word, and then the meaning of the whole word. They presently return, and, carrying on their preconcerted action, require the company to resolve their riddle. Thus, for instance, on one occasion the word which was determined upon was Jumeaux. Some of the actors coming from their retirement, began to squeeze a lemon into a glass, calling the attention of the company very particularly to it by their action, thus representing Ju. Others came forwards imitating the various maladies and misfortunes of life, thus acting the syllable meaux. Then, finally tottered into the circle an Italian duke and a Prussian general, neither less tban six feet in height, dressed in sheets and leading-strings;-a fine bouncing emblem of Jumeaux.

6

Dinner parties, though not the regular every-day amusement of of life in Vienna, are not uncommon; and at this period, besides those given by the inhabitants, the numerous strangers, some of whom had sufficiently large establishments, contributed to the number. There is much similarity in the style of dinners throughout Germany; and it has some points of peculiar excellence. The table is generally round or oval, so that each guest has means of intercourse with the whole party, even when it is large. It is covered, for the greater part, with a tasteful display of sweets or fruits; two places only being left, near the middle, for the more substantial dishes. Each person is provided with a black bottle of light wine, and every cover (even at a table d'hôte) is furnished with a napkin and silver forks. The first dishes which occupy the vacant spaces are always soups; they are quickly removed to the side tables, and distributed by the servants. In the mean time, the next dish is placed upon the table, taken off, carved, and carried round to the guests in precisely the same manner; and so on, till every thing has been served. The plates are carefully changed; but the knives and forks very generally remain through the greater part of the dinner, or, at best, are only wiped and returned. The dishes are so numerous, and the variety so great, that, as everybody eats a little of everything, they seldom take twice of the same. The succession of luxuries is not exactly the same as with us. An Englishman is somewhat surprised to see a joint of meat followed by a fish, or a savoury dish usurp the place

of one that was sweet. To conclude the ceremony, each servant takes one of the sweetmeat ornaments of the table, and carries it, as he has done with the other dishes, to all the guests. During the whole of this time, the conversation has been general and lively, and, beyond a doubt, much more interesting than that which is heard on similar occasions and in similar society in England, where its current is perpetually interrupted by the attention which every one is bound to pay to the wants and wishes of persons at the most distant parts of the table. While the sweat meats are served, a few glasses of some superior kinds of wine, which have likewise been distributed at intervals during the dinner, are carried round; and then the company, both ladies and gentlemen, rise at the same time by a kind of mutual consent, which, as the rooms are seldom covered with a carpet, occasions no inconsiderable noise. To this succeeds a general bowing and compliment from every one to each of the company individually, each" hoping that the other has eaten a good dinner. This peculiar phrase is precisely the counterpart of another always employed on the parting of friends about mid-day, expressing "a sincere hope that the other will eat a hearty dinner," and is the form of civility most usual in Vienna. The party now adjourns into another apartment, where coffee is served, and where it is frequently joined by other visitors, chiefly men who come without particular invitation, to pay their respects, or converse on business, in the manner of a morning call, and prolong their visits as the movements of the first party indicate for an invitation to dinner by no means necessarily implies that you are to spend your evening, or any part of it, at the house, or that the family has no other engagement as soon as dinner is concluded, and the guests have taken their coffee and liquors. As the dinner is early, being always between twelve and five, the remainder of the evening is employed in various pursuits. A drive in the Prater, or to some place of public resort, a visit to the theatre, or a succession of the calls I have just described, employ the evening; or, if the dinner has been very early, the party resume the occupations and business of the day.' p. 22-25.

The appearance of the country, and of the peasants our author met with on his entrance into Hungary by Presburg, was far from prepossessing; but is characteristic of an extensive district and its inhabitants.

The plain is unenlivened by trees, unintersected by hedges, and thinly inhabited by human beings;-a waste of arable land, badly cultivated, and yielding imperfect crops to proprietors who are scarcely conscious of the extent of territory they possess. It is for some branch of the families of Esterhazy or Palfy, known to them only by name, that the Sclavonian peasants who inhabit these regions are em. ployed. Their appearance bespeaks no fostering care from the su perior, no independent respect, yielded with free satisfaction from the inferior. It is easy to perceive, that all stimulus to invention, all incitement to extraordinary exertion, is wanting. No one peasant

has proceeded in the arts of life and civil!zation a step further than his neighbour. When you have seen one, you have seen all. From the same little hat, covered with oil, falls the same matted long black hair, negligently plaited or tied in knots; and over the same dirty jacket and trowsers, is wrapped on each a cloak of coarse woollen cloth, or sheep-skin still retaining its wool. Whether it be winter or summer, weekday or Sabbath, the Sclavonian of this district never lays aside his cloak, or is seen but in heavy boots. Their instruments of agriculture are throughout the same; and in all their habitations is observed a perfect uniformity of design. A wide muddy road separates two rows of cottages, which constitute a village. From amongst them there is no possibility of selecting the best or the worst; they are absolutely uniform. In some villages the cottages present their ends; in others, their sides to the road; but there is seldom this va riety in the same village. The interior of the cottage is, in general, divided into three small rooms on the ground floor, and a little space in the roof destined for lumber. The roof is commonly covered with a very thick thatch, the walls are whitewashed, and pierced towards the road by two small windows. The cottages are usually placed a few yards distant from each other. The intervening space, defended by a rail and gate, or a hedge of wicker-work towards the road, forms the farm-yard, which runs back some way, and contains a shed or out-house for the cattle. Such is the outward appearance of the peasant and his habitation. Of his domestic economy more may be said hereafter.' p. 98, 99.

This he soon had an opportunity of observing, on the estate of Count Hunyadi, at Urmeny, where he was most hospitably entertained, and remained some time to study the economy of a Hungarian farm, of which he has given a minute account.

Being curious to examine the interior of their houses, I was gratified by the Director, who conducted me into some of them; I believe, however, with a very pardonable selection of the best. I was surprised to find, that men, se negligent of their personal appearance, should enjoy in their houses so much comfort and good order. The door opens in the side of the house into the middle room, or kitchen, in which is an oven, constructed of clay, well calculated for baking bread, and various implements for household purposes, which generally occupy this apartment fully. On each side of the room is a door, communicating on one hand with the family dormitory, in which are the two windows that look into the road. This chamber is usually small, but well arranged; the beds in good order, piled upon each other, to be spread out on the floor at night, and the walls covered with a multiplicity of pictures and images of our Saviour, together with dishes, plates, and vessels of coarse earthen ware. The other door from the kitchen leads to the store-room, the repository of the greater part of the peasant's riches, consisting of bags of grain of various kinds, both for consumption and for seed; bladders of tallow, sausages, and other articles of provision, in quantities which it

would astonish us to find in an English cottage. We must, however, keep in mind, that the harvest of the Hungarian peasant anticipates the income of the whole year; and, from the circumstances in which he is placed, he should be rather compared with our farmer than our labourer. The yards or folds between the houses are usually much neglected, and are the dirty receptacles of a thousand uncleanly objects. Light carts and ploughs, with which the owner performs his stated labour,his meagre cattle,-a loose rudely formed heap of hay, and half a dozen ragged children,-stand there in mixed confusion; over which three or four noble dogs, of a peculiar breed, resembling in some degree the Newfoundland dog, keep faithful watch." p. 118, 119.

From Urmeny, the author proceeded to the gold and silver mines at Schemnitz and Kremnitz, which he has described at great length; as also the various docimastic processes employed to obtain the metals from their ores. The prevalent rock is a tender claystone porphyry, in some places passing into grunstein; the summits of the hills being all composed of this grunstein. The district productive of the precious metals, is about five or six square miles in extent, and contains five great parallel veins, running east and west, and dipping at an angle of eighty degrees. In these veins, consisting chiefly of feldspar, varying from sixty to one hundred and twenty feet in thickness, and connected with each other by small and irregular branches, is found the metallic ore, forming veins from ten to four inches. in thickness, and druses lined with crystals of the metal, quartz, and calcareous spar. The great vein of stephani-schacht is remarkable, as diminishing in width as it approaches the surface, which is considered by the miners as an exception to the general rule.

There are twelve great mines in this district, all of which find an outlet for their water at a depth of twelve hundred feet, by one adit, the length of which is estimated at twelve miles. The veins have however been wrought to the depth of eighteen hundred feet; and from these deeper galleries the water is raised by a most ingenious machine, invented by Höll, the chief engineer of the imperial mines. A stream of water, procured from reservoirs in the high valleys, falls through a perpendicular iron pipe, two hundred and seventy feet in length, which, being then bent at a right angle, conducts it into the lower extremity of a large cylinder, in which there is an air-tight piston. The water entering the cylinder, raises the piston to the top, and escapes by a valve which then opens; while, at the same time, the communication between the cylinder and the vertical pipe is interrupted. The piston redescends by its own weight; the water is again allowed to enter the cylinder, and an alternate motion is thus