form of government; and, during the following years, new edicts altered the public charter. Finally, by an Imperial diploma, dated Oct. 20, 1860, followed by a decree, or 'Patent,' of February 26, 1861, the present Constitution, temporarily suspended from 1865 till 1867, was established. Its main features are a double Legislature, consisting, first, of the Provincial Diets, representing the various states of the monarchy, and secondly, a Central Diet, called the Reichsrath or Council of the Empire. There are fourteen Provincial Diets— namely, for Bohemia, Dalmatia, Galicia, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Bukowina, Moravia, Silesia, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, and the coastland, or Istria and Trieste. The Diets of all these provinces are formed in nearly the same manner, only differing in the number of deputies. Each consists of only one assembly, composed, 1st, of the archbishop and bishops of the Roman Catholic and Oriental Greek churches and the chancellors of universities; 2nd, of the representatives of great estates, elected by all landowners paying not less than 100 florins, or 107., taxes; 3rd, of the representatives of towns, elected by those citizens who possess municipal rights; 4th, of the representatives of boards of commerce and trade-guilds, chosen by the respective members; and 5th, of the representatives of rural communes, elected by such inhabitants as pay a small amount of direct taxation. The Provincial Diets are competent to make laws concerning local administration, particularly those affecting county taxation, the cultivation of the soil, educational, church, and charitable institutions, and public works executed at the public expense.

The Reichsrath, or Parliament of the western part of the Empire, consists of an Upper and a Lower House. The Upper House (Herren-haus) is formed, 1st, of the princes of the Imperial family who are of age; 2nd, of a number of nobles-sixty-two in the present Reichsrath-possessing large landed property, in whose families the dignity is hereditary; 3rd, of the archbishops and bishops who are of princely title, inherent to their episcopal seat; and 4th, of any other life-members nominated by the emperor, on account of being distinguished in art or science, or who have rendered signal services to Church or State-forty-seven in the present Reichsrath. The Lower House (Abgeordnetenhaus) is composed of 203 members, elected by the fourteen Provincial Diets of the empire in the following proportions: Bohemia, 54; Dalmatia, 5; Galicia, 38; Upper Austria, 10; Lower Austria, 18; Salzburg, 3; Styria, 13; Carinthia, 5; Carniola, 6; Bukowina, 5; Moravia, 22; Silesia, 6; Tyrol and Vorarlberg, 12; and Istria and Trieste, 6. The election for the Lower House of the Reichsrath is made in the assembled Provincial Diets, and the elected deputies must be members of such Diets. The emperor has the right, however, to order the elections to

take place directly by the various constituencies of the provincial representatives, should the Diets refuse or neglect to send members to the Reichsrath. The emperor nominates the presidents and vice-presidents of both Chambers of the Reichsrath, the remaining functionaries being chosen by the members of the two Houses. It is incumbent upon the head of the State to assemble the Reichsrath annually. The rights which, in consequence of the diploma of Oct. 20, 1860, and the 'Patent' of Feb. 26, 1861, are conferred upon the Reichsrath, are as follows:-1st, Consent to all laws relating to military duty; 2nd, Co-operation in the legislature on trade and commerce, customs, banking, posting, telegraph, and railway matters; 3rd, Examination of the estimates of the income and expenditure of the State; of the bills on taxation, public loans, and conversion of the funds; and general control of the public debt. To give validity to bills passed by the Reichsrath, the consent of both Chambers is required, as well as the sanction of the head of the State. The members of both the Upper and the Lower House have the right to propose new laws on subjects within the competence of the Reichsrath; but in all other matters the initiative belongs solely to the Government.

The executive of Austria Proper consists of the following nine departments :

1. The Presidency of the Council.-Count Eduard von Taaffe, born at Prague, 1833, the grandson of Rudolf, 7th Viscount Taaffe, in the peerage of Ireland; educated as companion of the Emperor Franz Joseph I.; Governor of the Province of Salzburg, 1863-67 ; Minister of the Interior of the Cisleithan monarchy, January to December, 1867; appointed President of the Cisleithan Council of Ministers, April 18, 1869.

2. The Ministry of National Defence (Landesvertheidigung) and of Police.-Count Eduard Taaffe; appointed Minister of National Defence, and of Police, Dec. 30, 1867.

3. The Ministry of Public Education.-Dr. Leopold Hasner, born at Prague, in 1817; editor of the official 'Prager Zeitung,' 1848-61; Member of the Lower House of the Reichsrath, 1861-65; nominated a Member of the Upper House of the Reichsrath, May 1867. Appointed Minister of Public Education, Dec. 30, 1867.

4. The Ministry of Agriculture.-Count Alfred Potocki, born. in Galicia, 1825; Member of the Upper House of the Reichsrath, 1861-65. Appointed Minister of Agriculture Dec. 30, 1867.

5. The Ministry of Finance.- Dr. Rudolf Brestel, born in Vienna, in 1816; studied philosophy and mathematics; Professor of Mathematics at the University of Vienna, 1844-48; Member of the Lower Chamber of the Reichsrath, 1849-51, and 1861-65. Appointed Minister of Finance Dec. 30, 1867.

6. The Ministry of the Interior.-Dr. Karl Giskra, born in Moravia,

1816, the son of a tanner; Professor of Political Economy at the University of Vienna, 1845-48; Deputy to the German Parliament at Frankfort, 1848-49; Member of the Lower Chamber of the Reichsrath, 1861-65. Appointed Minister of the Interior, Dec. 30, 1867.

7. The Ministry of Commerce.-Chevalier Ignaz von Plener, born at Vienna, 1810; studied law, and entered the public service in 1836; Employé in the Ministry of Finance, 1852-59; Minister of Finance in the cabinet of Chevalier von Schmerling, 1860-65. Appointed Minister of Commerce, Dec. 30, 1867.

8. The Ministry of Justice.-Dr. Eduard Herbst, born at Vienna, in 1820; Professor of Legal Philosophy at Lemberg, 1847-57, and at Prague, 1858-61; Member of the Reichsrath, 1861-65. Appointed Minister of Justice, Dec. 30; 1867.

9. The Ministry of Public Works.-Dr. Johann Nepomuk Berger, born at Prossnitz, Moravia, Sept. 16, 1816; studied law, and became advocate at Vienna, 1841; Member of the Diet of Lower Austria, 1861-3; Member of the Reichsrath; appointed Minister of Public Works, Dec. 30, 1867.

The responsibility of ministers for acts committed in the discharge of their official functions was established by a bill which passed the Reichsrath in July 1867, and received the sanction of the emperor.

Hungary.

The constitution of the eastern part of the empire, or the kingdom of Hungary, including Hungary Proper, Croatia, Slavonia, and Transylvania, is of very ancient date, and based mainly upon unwritten laws that grew up in the course of centuries. There exists no

charter, or constitutional code, but in place of it are fundamental statutes, published at long intervals of time. The principal of them, the Aurea Bulla' of King Andrew II., was granted in 1222, and changed the form of government, which had until then been completely autocratic, into an aristocratic monarchy. Almost all subsequent rulers endeavoured, though with little or no success, to extend the royal prerogatives, the struggle lasting, with more or less interruption, till the year 1867, when the present king, having failed in his attempt to weld Hungary to the rest of his dominions, acknowledged and took oath upon the ancient constitution, modified, in the meanwhile, by laws and decrees issued after the revolution of 1849, which had brought about the temporary establishment of a republic.

The legislative power rests conjointly in the King and the Diet, or Reichstag. The latter consists of an upper and a lower

house, the first known as the House of Magnates, and the second as the House of Representatives. The House of Magnates is composed, first, of the prelates, comprising 35 Roman Catholic and 12 Greek archbishops and bishops, headed by the primate, the Archbishop of Gran; secondly, of the barones et comites regni,' or peers of the realm, in two classes; thirdly, of the great officers of the crown, with the lords-lieutenant of the 52 counties; and, fourthly, the barons, summoned by royal letters, including every prime count and baron of 25 years of age. Magnates who cannot appear in person may send deputies, as may also the widows of magnates. The lower house, or House of Representatives, is composed of representatives of the nation, elected by the vote of all citizens, of full age, who pay direct taxes to the amount of eight gulden, or 16s., per annum. No distinction is made, either as regards electors or representatives, on account of race or religion. New elections must take place every three years. By the electoral law in force in the session of 1869, the House of Representatives consisted of 473 members, of which number 359 were returned by Hungary proper, 18 by Croatia and Slavonia, and 96 by Transylvania. The speeches in both chambers are made in Hungarian. Among the magnates discourses were formerly often delivered in Latin; but this language has fallen into disuse. The right to summon, prorogue, and dissolve the Diet rests with the king, but in the case of a dissolution new elections must take place within three months. The Diet has to meet in annual session.

The executive of the Transleithan kingdom is exercised, in the name of the king, by a responsible ministry, consisting of a president and eight departments, namely:

The Presidency of the Council.-Count Gyula Andrássy, born March 8, 1823; took an active part in the Hungarian revolution, 1848-49; ambassador of the 'Republic of Hungary' to the Sultan of Turkey, 1849; exiled 1849-60; elected representative of the district of Zemplin in the Hungarian Diet, 1861. Appointed president of the council of ministers by royal rescript, approved by the Diet, February 24, 1867.

1. The Ministry of National Defence (Landesvertheidigung).— Count Gyula Andrássy, President of the Council, appointed pro tempore.

2. The Ministry near the King's person (ad latus).—Count George Festetics, appointed Minister ad latus, or Representative of the Hungarian Government near the person of the King, February 24, 1867.

3. The Ministry of Finance.-Melchior Lonyay, founder of the Hungarian Insurance Company, appointed February 24, 1867.

4. The Ministry of the Interior.-Paul von Rajner, appointed October 24, 1869.

5. The Ministry of Education and of Public Worship.-Baron Joseph Eötvös, born at Buda, September 3, 1813; studied jurisprudence, but devoted himself after a time exclusively to literature, publishing a great number of dramas, romances, and political works; Hungarian minister of education, 1848-49; exiled 1849-52; elected representative of Buda in the Hungarian Diet, 1861. Appointed minister of education and of public worship, February 24, 1867.

6. The Ministry of Justice.-Balthasar Horváth, appointed February 24, 1867.

7. The Ministry of Public Works. Baron Emerich Mikó, appointed February 24, 1867.

8. The Ministry of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce.-Stephan Gorove, appointed February 24, 1867.

The sovereign of Hungary, though acknowledged as Emperor of Austria, is styled 'king' in all public acts.

Church and Education.

The State religion of Austria is the Roman Catholic, but there is complete toleration for all dissenters from it, of whatever form of belief. According to the returns of the last census, rather more than 66 per cent. of the inhabitants of the Empire are Roman Catholics, while of the remainder 11 per cent. are Greek Catholics; 10 per cent. Evangelical Protestants, and 9 per cent. Byzantine Greeks. The following table shows the numbers, in thousands, of the various religious denominations, and the relative per-centage of each, in Cisleithan and Transleithan Austria, as well as in the whole Empire.