HE population of the Austrian Empire consists of not less than five distinct races: the German, the Sclavonic, the Magyar, the Italian, and the Wallachian. The respective numbers of these nations have been estimated as follows: Germans, 7,285,000; Sclavonians, 17,033,000; Magyars, 4,800,000; Italians, 5,183,000; Wallachians, 2,156,000; to whom we may add, 475,000 Jews, and 128,000 Gipsies, forming an aggregate of more than 37 millions. The languages spoken by this enormous mass are, of course, various, and they may be classified in the following proportions:German, by 7,071,825 persons; Sclavonic, by 15,455,998; Romanic, by 7,817,711; Asiatic (including that of the Magyars, Armenians, Jews, and Zigeuner, or Gipsies), by 5,634,738. The dif ferent states or countries of which the empire is composed, are Aus

See the article on Austria and Germany in the Quarterly Review, No. CLXVII. The following statistical account is taken from the Kölnische Zeitung:

"According to the latest estimates there are 7,285,000 Germans in Austria, constituting above one-fifth of the entire population. Unmixed, however, and in a compact mass, they live only in the Archduchy of Austria, in the greater northern half of Styria, in a large part of Carinthia, in a smaller part of Krain, and in the greater northern part of the Tyrol, -altogether nearly 4,500,000 souls. Other 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 live on the northern and western borders of Bohemia, and, more intermingled with Sclavonians, in Moravia and Austrian Silesia. In the Hungarian provinces there are 1,200,000 Germans, 300,000 or 400,000 of whom live in Transylvania, where they are not so much interspersed with foreign tribes as in the other parts.

"The number of Sclavonians amounts to 17,033,000 (above three-sevenths of the whole population); 7,224,000 of them are Czechs, Moravians, and Slovaks;

tria (the hereditary dominions of the House of Hapsburg), Styria, Illyria, Tyrol, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, which are all within the limits of the German Confederation. But without those limits, and forming constituent parts of the same great empire, are, Hungary, Croatia, Sclavonia, Transylvania, Dalmatia, Gallicia, and the kingdom of Lombardy, including the Venetian territory. Besides these there is the Military Frontier, extending from the Adriatic to Gallicia, which numbers 1,235,466 souls, amongst whom German is the language most generally spoken; and it is calculated that they can furnish the Government on any sudden emergency with not less than 46,000 welldisciplined troops *.

We commence our narrative of the important events which happened this year in the dominions of Austria with a few remarks upon

2,375,000 Poles; 2,822,000 Ruthenen ; 4,605,000 Illyro-Servians (Croats, Slowenzen, and Servians). The first-named tribes inhabit the larger part of Bohemia and Moravia, the whole of Gallicia, and the north of Hungary, so that the northern part of the monarchy is occupied by them in a broad and uninterrupted line; the Illyro-Servians extend in the south from the coasts of the Adriatic almost to the frontiers of Transylvania.

"The Italian population in Lombardy and Venice, in South Tyrol, and on the coasts of Illyria and Dalmatia, amounts to 5,183,000.

"The Wallachians, 2,156,000 in number, form chiefly the population of Transylvania, and of the eastern frontiers of Hungary Proper.

"The seat of the Magyars, amounting to 4,800,000, is in the plains of Middle Hungary; but they are everywhere intersected by Sclavonians and Germans : part of Transylvania is also inhabited by them and by the Szeklers.

"The number of Gipsies in Austria amounts to 128,000, and that of Jews to 475,000."

the position of Hungary, for the revolutions at Vienna had an intimate connection with the troubles which agitated that portion of the empire. From 1812 to 1825 the Diet of Hungary had remained in a state of abeyance, and was not once convoked during that interval. At the former period it met when Austria was crushed under the heel of Napoleon, and the Palatine addressed to it the memorable words, that " Hungary must once more save the empire, as it had done in 1741, when appealed to by Maria Theresa." In 1825, the members again assembled, and from this period we may date the commencement of the aggressive attempts of the Magyar race to establish an offensive supremacy over the whole of Croatia and Sclavonia. But it was not until 1830 that the Diet determined to substitute the use of the Magyar language for the Latin throughout the whole of the Sclavonic population of Hungary. This awakened a strong feeling of reaction in the latter, and the joint Diet of Croatia and Sclavonia, which has its sittings at Agram, the capital of Croatia, and claims to be independent of the General Hungarian Diet at Pesth, raised the cry of "Nolumus Magyarisari;" and when at a later period the Diet at Pesth decreed that the Magyar language should be adopted in all official transactions, and taught in the public schools, and that both the Diets should carry on their discussions in that tongue, the Croatian Diet at Agram, which had hitherto deliberated in Latin, resolved thenceforth to use the Illyrian language exclusively.

Early in March, the Hungarian Chamber of Deputies assembled at Presburg, voted an address to

the Emperor, in which they, without disguise, condemned .the system of Prince Metternich's policy, and advised their monarch" to surround his throne with constitutional institutions, in accordance with the ideas of the age." In this address the Chamber of Magnates also concurred. When the news of this arrived at Vienna, Prince Metternich at once proposed in the Supreme Council of State that the Hungarian Parliament should be dissolved; the announcement of which excited lively dissatisfaction in the capital.

On the 13th of March, the Diet for Lower Austria was opened, and an address was resolved upon, which contained the following passage:

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Most Gracious Sire !-The people of Austria will elevate to the stars the Crown which, free and self-conscious, great and glorious, declares confidence to be the real fortress of the State, and harmonizes this confidence with the ideas of the age."

To this was added a petition, which asked for an immediate reform in the constitution of the Chamber, and the liberty for it forthwith to consider measures for increasing the representation; reparation of the finances; and a general restoration of confidence in the empire, together with the liberty of the press.

But the people had collected in crowds around the hall, and a body of persons, consisting chiefly of students, forced their way inside. They were followed by more of the mob, and the Chamber was filled by a strange assemblage. A deputation of the States proceeded to present the address to the Emperor, and during their absence the populace became impatient,

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and were very riotous; but, when the news arrived that the requests contained in the petition had been refused, a general destruction of the contents of the Chamber immediately commenced. The students headed the work of violence, and after doing all the mischief in their power, the excited mob rushed towards the palace, and began to attack some houses in the immediate neighbourhood. The troops now came up, and fired in platoon upon the crowd, who however would not give way, and a fierce conflict took place. At last the Burgher Guard appeared, and this produced a pause in the strug gle; but the whole body forced their way to the palace, where they were met by the intelligence that Prince Metternich had resigned, and that their demands would be granted. This put a stop to the tumult, and during the night the peace of the city was preserved by the Burgher Guard, assisted by the students, to whom arms were supplied from the Arsenal by orders of the Government. Next morning the troops of the line, to the number of about 18,000, were withdrawn beyond the walls, and the preservation of order was confided to the Burgher Guard. The formation of a National Guard was also decreed. On the 15th, the following important proclamation was issued by the Emperor.

"By virtue of our declaration abolishing the censorship, liberty of the press is allowed in the form under which it exists in those countries which have hitherto enjoyed it. A National Guard, established on the basis of property and intelligence, already performs the most beneficial service.

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The necessary steps have been taken for convoking, with the least possible loss of time, the Deputies from all our provincial States, and from the Central Congregations of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, (the representation of the class of burghers being strengthened, and due regard being paid to the existing provincial constitutions,) in order that they may deliberate on the constitution which we have resolved to grant to our people.

"We therefore confidently expect that excited tempers will become composed, that study will resume its wonted course, and that industry and peaceful intercourse will spring into new life."

Prince Metternich fled from Vienna, and ultimately took up his abode in England-the great land of refuge this year for distressed foreigners. A Provisional Council was in the mean time appointed, consisting of the following members-Barons Steifel and Doppel, and MM. Meyer and Roberto. In the midst of all this confusion and excitement, the people gave a proof that the inherent loyalty of the German character was by no means extinct, for when the Emperor, surrounded by several members of the Imperial Family, appeared on the balcony of the Court Library, on the Josephs Platz, where the National Guard was drawn up in ranks, they were received with enthusiastic shouts. Suddenly the National Anthem was begun, and the effect upon the assembled multitude was electric. Tears flowed down the cheeks of young and old, and it seemed as if the Crown had never been more endeared to the people.

Let us now turn our attention to Hungary, where important events

took place. After the 15th of March had witnessed the downfall of Prince Metternich, and his flight from Vienna, the BathyanyKossuth Ministry at Pesth pursued a course which aimed at nothing less than a dismemberment of the Empire. They required that there should be a distinct and separate administration of war, finance, and foreign affairs for Hungary. They obviously intended to realize the favourite theory of Hungarian independence and Magyar supremacy over the Sclavonic part of the population. We have already shown that the numerical superiority of the latter is great over the former, and it was not likely that they would tamely submit to the domination of a hostile and weaker race. So long as Hungary remained a vassal of the Empire, the Croats were content to be governed mediately through her Diet and Ministers, for they felt that all were alike constituent elements of one great body politic. But the case was different when Hungary prepared to assert her independence, and become a separate kingdom; and the Sclavonic multitudes resolved not to submit to the attempted usurpation. The Viceroy of Croatia is called Ban or Pan, which in the Sclavonic dialect signifies Lord. Since the resignation of that office by Haller in 1845, the Government had been carried on by the Bishop of Agram, who acted as Viceroy for the interim; but now deputations were sent from Croatia to Vienna to beseech the Emperor to appoint Baron Von Jellachich as Ban. The request was granted, and, as we shall hereafter see, momentous consequences followed from this selection.

When the storm of popular fury

had driven Prince Metternich from power, the Emperor appointed, on the 17th of March, Count Von Kolowrath, Minister of State, Prime Minister ad interim; Count Von Figuelmont Minister of Foreign Affairs; Baron Von Pillersdorf, Supreme Chancellor, Minister of the Interior; Count Von Taffe Minister of Justice; and Baron Von Kubeck Minister of Finance.

Royal proclamations were issued, in which liberal measures were promised; and, on the 21st of March, an amnesty was published bestowing pardon upon all political offenders who had been tried for high treason and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment "in the kingdoms of Gallicia and Lodomeria, inclusive of the district of Cracow, and in the LombardoVenetian kingdom." The decree also provided that persons from those kingdoms who were found guilty of political crimes, or who were accessories to such crimes, if they were confined in any other province, no matter where, should be liberated.

It may be interesting to see the style and titles used by the Emperor at a time not distant from the day when he was to become a fugitive from his capital. The declaration of amnesty was thus headed:

"We, Ferdinand I., by the Grace of God, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, the fifth King of that name, King of Lombardy and Venice, of Dalmatia, Croatia, Sclavonia, Gallicia, Lodomeria and Illyria, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Styria, Karinthia, Krain, Upper and Lower Silesia, Prince of Siebenburgen, Markgrave of Mahren, Princely Count of Hapsburg and Tyrol," &c,