where they live, especially of that of Hungary: this singular race prefer a wandering life, exercising the trade of fiddling, and committing every where theft and robbery. Without having scarcely an idea of music, they are very skilful in the execution of their national and Hungarian dances and songs. Almost always wandering and travelling, followed by their wives and children, with their harps slung upon their backs and their Cythari in their hands, they draw forth from those instruments melodious sounds, when they take their rest on the sides of the roads: and, in all the vil lages through which they pass, they endeavour to interest the peasants and travellers by an afflicting representation of extreme misery. The Czingarians generally show more attachment to the Hungarians than to any other people, either because they resemble them more in manners, or because they are more protected by them; they are rather partial to the Sclavonians, but they can not endure the Germans.

Among the people of Austria, M. Marcel mentions the French, the Walloons, the Italians, and the Armenians; but the first three are in such small numbers that they have no influence upon the population in general: the Armenians are the most numerous Proceeding from Asia towards the end of the seventeenth century, they fixed themselves in Transylvania, where there are now more than eleven hundred families, most of whom inhabit the cities of Armenienstadt and Ebels Falva; and from them the former derives its name.— In the course of time many of them established themselves in Hungary, not congregating in any considerable numbers, except at Neugata, but scattering themselves all over the kingdom, where they are still in possession of all the large farms. There are also some of them in Gallicia, where they are sufficiently numerous to have an Archbishop, at Lemberg, the capital of that province. In travelling through Gallicia, it is not a little surprising to see the Armenians in their Oriental costume, proud of the beauty and elegance of their clothes. The same causes that brought the Armenians Eur. Mag. Feb. 1823.

to Austria also conducted thither the Greeks, the Albanians, and the Macedonians. These different nations are not very numerous, for there are scarcely an hundred families of them in Transylvania, though they abound there more than in any other province. These people, being naturally industrious, have been very useful to Austria; and the town of Cronstadt owes to them the establishment of several important manufactures. It is only in Moravia that some Walloon families are seen, who remind us of that brilliant period of her history when Austria reigned over Spain as well as Germany. As for the Italians, there are none except in the provinces situated on the coast of the Adriatic; their numbers in the provinces, of course, increases as those provinces approximate towards Italy. In like manner their numbers increase in German Tyrol; beyond the city of Brixen, they become gradually more numerous, and more especially at Reveredo.

On the frontiers of Transylvania is the greatest variety of people in all the Austrian dominions. The manners of the inhabitants of Bukovino are peculiar to themselves. Towards the end of the third century the Turks ceded this country to the House of Austria. It is mountainous, and covered with forests. The inhabitants are employed in tending cattle, particularly horses, and they are, for the most part, of the Greek religion. The purity of their manners, their sobriety, and the extreme simplicity of their mode of life, recall to our recollection the tastes and occupations of the ancient Patriarchs; they attain a very advanced age; in their dress they resemble the Turks, but still more the Persians, on account of their large bonnet of black sheep-skin.

In considering, as it regards the empire of Austria, the influence of climate and soil upon the manners and characters of mankind, the author, after some excellent observations upon this influence among ancient and modern nations, remarks, that there is in the poetry of the north of Germany a vague enthusiasm, a desire of something which they can never obtain.

The imagination of the Germans

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in this part of their territory is as fertile as it is unlimited. Encircled by the mists of the north they have never produced models, or works attaining a high degree of perfection; for they cannot bear the restraint of rules in literature, but lose themselves in vague ideas. Every thing bows to the influence of uncertainty; power is as fluctuating as thoughts and ideas, and enlightened men should take no more liberty with mental speculations than princes should take with the produce of the earth.

In the south of Germany, where nature is more calm and smiling, the imagination is much less exalted: power is less uncertain and more concentrated. In the west of Germany, the passions assume a much milder character: it would be the most fortunate country in Europe, if the Government which directs it had not evinced a weakness which little accords with the dictates of wisdom, Temperate in climate, fertile in soil, and happy in its institutions, it continues in a monotonous state of prosperity, which can only be injurious to activity of thought, but never to the happiness of the inhabitants. The natives of this peaceful and fertile country only desire to live to-morrow as they did yesterday.

Every thing in Austria is done more for the sake of duty than for glory. A nation which has no other guide than the love of duty must be a nation of real worth and integrity. The Germans in general, and particularly the Austrians, have the greatest sincerity and honesty. Their excellent qualities are as much derived from the excellence of their institutions as from the goodness of their hearts; their mild and peaceful character, as well as their domestic habits, incline them to order and union, from which they never depart. In the winter, obliged to be united round their stoves in a room excessively heated, with an atmosphere hot and heavy, they ac

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quire soft and mild habits, whilst the activity of their blood is lessened. The slowness of their actions, and the importance they attach to them, contribute to perpetuate their ideas of civility and hospitality, which they exercise without distinction, either towards their countrymen or strangers.That goodness and generosity, which pervade the minutest actions of the Austrians, are very disagreeable to the generality of travellers. every step you hear them say,—" It is impossible-I cannot do what you wish"-though it may be the easiest thing in the world; but, if you insist upon it, they make no more difficulties but do what you desire, obeying less for the hope of a reward, than out of respect for power and a loud command. M. Marcel has often heard them say," these devils of French make us do every thing they like: but how can we resist them? they insist upon it so stoutly."

It is a very mistaken notion to think every thing may be obtained in Germany for money; they are insensible to that powerful stimulous, but they never resist the appearance of power and the decided tone of command.

The custom of shutting themselves up in the winter in rooms, excessively heated by enormous stoves, and where the smoke of tobacco contributes still more to form a thick and unhealthy atmosphere, must, as the author observes, render their blood heavy and viscous: the use of beer may also have some influence, as it relaxes the nervous system. More than once during his travels the author was obliged to stay in these warm rooms some hours, and he never left them without feeling very sensibly the effects of the heavy atmosphere to which he had been confined.

In consequence of their love of order the Austrians are very clean in their clothing ;† there is not with them, as in many large cities in

Europe, miserable wretches covered with rags walking by the side of elegance and luxury. Every Austrian peasant has a clean coat, boots, and a furred cloak for the winter: their houses are as clean as their clothes, and though nothing in their habitations bespeaks wealth nothing indicates misery and nakedness; they wear their clothes as long as the French, but they take much more care of them. The general taste for cleanliness and decency is evinced by not suffering beggars to wear rags, and it is not one of the least benefits of the Austrian government, to have almost totally extirpated them from the countries under its dominion.

When a whole people are sensible of benefits and never forget them, they deserve general esteem; and such are the Austrians. If you oblige them they always remember it, whilst they easily forget the injuries done to them. They have been reproached for being too much attached to ceremony and etiquette, and many foreigners have ridiculed them on this account, but unjustly: this formal politeness is the consequence of the spirit of order and decency, It must be confessed, that if etiquette and formality are more observed in Germany than elsewhere, the prerogatives which the nobility enjoy are, in a great measure, the cause. Though the demarcation of classes is more marked, yet there is nothing offensive in this restraint, for good-nature prevails in Austria even over the pride of aristocracy.

The universities in the north of Germany have instructed the people in constitutional forms of government, and have contributed to divest the feudal system of its grinding and barbarous severity. Feudal slavery, however, still exists in several Austrian provinces where the progress of knowledge has not yet extended its influence, but it is gra dually decreasing.

Amongst the higher classes of society in Germany it is very common to unite a great many literary titles, and there are more diplomas in this country than in any other in Europe, and there is more importance attached to them; but this mania is much more common in western Germany than in the south, where, before the establish

ment of the academies of Munich and Landshut, there did not exist a single university or academy of the least repute; on the contrary, it is well known what lustre the universities of Gottingen and Halle have given to the north of Germany, and what influence these great establishments have had in the progress of knowledge. In Austria, where emulation has never been directed towards the cultivation of letters, where literary success is no glory because it is supposed to weaken military spirit, and where the light of knowledge has scarcely penetrated, titles purely literary could not be of much importance. It must, therefore, easily appear that there is more public spirit in the north of Germany than in the south, where there is not that spirit of unity, although there exists but one sovereign power. Two causes, nevertheless, excite a species of public spirit and patriotism in Austriathe love of their country and their sovereign; and, in fine, the happiness which every one enjoys under protecting laws. More addicted to husbandry than trade, the Austrians are excessively attached to their native soil;therefore the interests of the country are more dependant on the labourer than on the merchant, whose almost only aim is the success of his private speculation on which depends his precarious existence. Agriculture is much honored in Austria; and the sovereign himself feels of what importance it is to an empire where the land is so fertile.

The inhabitants of the south of Germany, and particularly in Austria, have a much calmer imagination than those of the northern parts. Generally less given to contemplation, they are less susceptible of enthusiasm. A purer sky, a more genial soil, and a less savage scenery soften rather than rouse their imagination: if they are little susceptible of enthusiasm in poetry and the fine arts, they are more alive to the dangers of their country. Their native soil, the land of their forefathers, the long line of kings who formed the hap piness of their ancestors, and of themselves, and recollections of ancient and modern times, all are continually present to their view, and spur them on to generous sacrifices; nor are these sacrifices painful to them

because they love their country: thus, though the Austrians have a calmer imagination than the northern Germans, they have notwithstanding a romantic tendency in their affections. The Austrian women are very ideal in their sentiments; and their heads are warm at the expense of their repose. They love passionately, and with all the ardour of their nature; and, though christians, love far from appearing a weakness to them seems a virtue; they think it needs no excuse. As in all peaceful and thoughtful nations, the Austrian women abandon themselves without fear to their sensibility, and think nothing extraordinary that contributes to the happiness of him they love: equally generous and affectionate, even when they are deceived, they sigh in secret, but seldom abandon themselves to despair. It has been thought in France, though upon slight foundation, that the German women were easy of access, because some of them might have been weak; but it was not considered that they are not prepared like the French women against seduction. The German women, in their simplicity of mind, cannot comprehend that a man of honour can ever feign sentiments he does not feel, or ridicule the noblest affections of the soul.

The Austrian nation is, perhaps, the most moral in Europe. If its political conduct has not always been guided by honour, it may be justly said of them, as of the English, that they are far from approving every act of their government. The Austrian people are much too grave to easily adopt that levity of manners, which is too common in other nations, and which turns the arms of ridicule

against every thing that is sacred. The sanctity of marriage is still respected in Austria. The conjugal leads to maternal love, and the Austrian women are all, or almost all, excellent mothers.

They are not more ostentatious in their attachment to their children than in their tenderness for their husbands. Divorce, which introduces into families a species of anarchy, has never been allowed by the Austrian laws; and this is not the least advantage of their legislation. The Austrian women in their simplicity

and goodnature have a charm that is peculiar to them; a mild sound of voice, an air of candour and goodness, flaxen hair, a dazzling complexion, and large blue eyes, would render them too seducing, if their simplicity and modesty did not enforce respect and temper, by the charm of virtue, the too lively impression caused by their beauty;" they please the stranger by their sensibility, while they interest him by their imagination.

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Without cultivating the fine arts and literature too much, they are not strangers to them; and, when their confidence is gained, they evince considerable knowledge, of which they never make a display. Their presence in society is as agreeable as that of Frenchwomen, and it may be said, that they seem to be more necessary to it. The men are less agreeable than their wives, and generally less amiable. The Austrian women speak with nearly equal facility all the European languages; and French is peculiarly delightful in their mouths. They have much less influence in the world and in society than the French women, but happiness does not depend upon exterior. Family love and tranquillity of mind never tire, and these alone are what they appreciate. The Ger man girls have much more liberty than the French; this liberty, which they never abuse,gives them a greater knowledge of the world. It is to be remarked that,in general, women in Germany have a marked superiority over the men in society. It is astonishing how little agreeable men, and even clever men, are in conversation; neither their ideas, nor their choice of expression can convey a conception of what they are capable of in silence, solitude, and meditation. The most distinguished men are so little in the habit of conversing, that without women there would be no society.

Scandal, which is but too often the subject of conversation in our societies, would soon have destroyed that politeness which distinguished the German women, if they had fallen into this vice so common to little minds; but they have preserved the purity of their primitive manners through the goodness of their dispositions, as well as the excellence of

their institutions. They are never bigots or fanatics; their religion is as pure and simple as their hearts, and supports them in the miseries of life. What has been said here of the Austrian women relates to the higher classes of society.

As to the lower orders of women, M. Mancel knows none who have purer and better manners. It is very rare in a village to find a single family that is not in the most perfect harmony. Maternal love is so forcible in these good countrywomen, that it preserves them from faults so common elsewhere; their work and the duties of religion entirely occupy them, and thus they are preserved from all the vices that idle ness engenders. In some cantons, however, they may be reproached for being too much addicted to strong liquors, which destroys their health and fortune.

The Austrians, like the Germans, are rather serious than gay; and the men of superior intellect have more genius than wit,and more originality than taste. It is to this want of tact that the monotony of the society in southern Germany may be attributed; but this monotony is not apparent in the familiar intercourse of domestic privacy.

When a person is fortunate enough to be admitted as an intimate friend into a family, he finds a charm and fascination that the stranger cannot meet with, who only sees the German in circumstances where their natural timidity and respect for custom restrain and paralise their faculties. In seeing them as they really are, it is delightful to meet with men of such pure and excellent hearts in an age so demoralized. It is necessary to see the Germans frequently and long, to find out the extent and solidity of their knowledge. The stranger finds more pleasure in the society of the inhabitants of the north of Germany than of the south. The gentlemen of the northern provinces are not satisfied with seeking the society of the literati, for many of them excel in the sciences and in the higher classes of literature. Princes, and even sovereigns, have rivalled each other in their efforts to give that lustre to letters which they claim from civilization. Thus any little

capital, which might otherwise remain forever in obscurity and almost unknown, acquires celebrity by producing learned men. Gotha, Weimar, and Gottingen are become the Athens of the north, and the centre of instruction to the greatest part of Europe; in a short time the same may be said of Munich.

A nation generally good, and possessing integrity, can not be otherwise than charitable, and no nation was ever more so than the German. In the large cities there are fewer mansions and fine private edifices than in France, or especially in Italy; but charitable establishments are greater in number and better superintended. Many of these establishments, founded at first by associations of individuals, have acquired by degrees immense riches, which are employed in the service of the sick and indigent. It is said that at Vienna there is one hospital capable of receiving, in case of emergency, fourteen thousand beds. In spite of this prodigality of assistance for the indigent, which apparently would encourage idleness and consequently mendicity, there are but few beggars in Austria; where every man, who can work so as to gain his livelihood, would be ashamed to live at the expense of others. The different charitable establishments, and the workhouses which exist in almost all the cities, and sometimes even in the smallest villages, have greatly contributed to extirpate mendicity.

The cleanliness of the Germans, which charms all travellers, has the happinest effects upon their charitable institutions; it preserves health, diminishes the causes of mortality, and favours the love of economy: the people are indebted to it for a kind of dignity closely allied to decency and propriety; for cleanliness favors, as much as food and climate, the development of the human powers. Perhaps it is chiefly owing to this cause that nearly all the Germans are tall in stature, with strong and well proportioned limbs and fresh florid complexions; but they have in general no delicacy of feature, and but little expression of countenance. Though there are but few ugly men amongst them, yet there are still fewer really hand