BOOKS.

STILES'S AUSTRIA IN 184 8-4 9.* THIS narrative is a well-digested amount of the different revolts that in 1848 and 1849 brought the Austrian empire to the verre of dissolution ; but it will hardly equal the expectations of readers who consider the position of the author as American envoy at Vienna during the period of which it treats. Mr. Stiles very properly avoids the personal reminiscences and private gossip, with a ten- dency to which many of his countrymen are chargeable ; but he might have infused into his survey more of a living spirit. Aus- tria in 1848-49 is rather a painstaking compilation, in the main from such obvious sources as periodicals or the current publications of the day, than a work of original observation, or even, so to speak, of original composition. Mr. Stiles does not seem so much to master his subject, and reproduce it with the impress of his own mind, as to follow his authorities. This gives a species of in- congruity to his style, which varies beyond the occasion, and occa- sionally some apparent incongruity to his opinions. Passages might be quoted about Revolutionists and Red Republicans that are as Austrian as Austria herself could desire.

The book begins with a sort of chronological precis of the forma- tion and increase of the empire, from the territorial origin of the province of Austria in the tenth century, to the settlement at the Congress of Vienna. A summary review of the policy of the Holy Alliance introduces the revolution of Vienna in March 1848, which is continued to the reign of terror that followed the first flight of the Emperor. The insurrections of Milan and Venice, with the disturbances in Bohemia, or more properly at Prague, come next, and are pursued to their close. An historical notice of Hungary, with an account of Jellacie's invasion and discreditable repulse, prepares for a narrative of the second revolution of Vienna, in Oc- tober 1848, when Latour was murdered, and the city, according to Mr. Stiles's confirmation of other accounts, really at the mercy of a licentious rabble, and of students, equally licentious. Then come the Sardinian war, terminated so promptly by the battle of Novara, and the two Hungarian campaigns.

The best of these narratives is that which relates to Vienna. Of Radetzky's Italian campaigns we have had accounts from ori- ginal observers, some of them better qualified by their military knowledge to form a judgment upon the matter than Mr. Stiles. The same may be said of the Hungarian war. The affairs of Prague and Venice have not been very continuously presented to the world; neither were they of much importance. The riot at Prague was put down at once : the defence of Venice was resolute, but final success was impossible unless the Austrians had been driven out of Italy; and had isolated success been possible, it would have led to nothing. We have not had a complete narrative of the revolution at Vienna, and Mr. Stiles supplies a want. He was also present himself, and though he rarely speaks in his own person, there is the spirit of a living knowledge. Whether personal acquaintance with the aristocracy and with some of the victims of the rabble may have biassed Mr. Stiles, we cannot say, but he paints the conduct of the Revolutionary party in very dark colours, both as regards conduct and capacity. It is true, he censures with severity the general principles of the Austrian Government, the deceit of the Court, and the want of firmness and of policy which characterized the Ministers of the Revolu- tion ; but the spirit of the censure does not seem the same.

Besides the violence common to all excited multitudes, the con- duct of the Viennese revolutionists and of the foreigners who stimulated them falls under two heads—Utopianism, and moral offences. Of the first class this may be taken as an example.

"After these extraordinary proceedings, it was not to be wondered at that the disorders and disturbances increased in the city. The Ministry having become tools of the mob, the Liberals or friends of good government offering no resistance, and every one who could escaping as rapidly as possible, for fear of becoming a victim, Vienna was given up to perfect anarchy. Meet- ings were held to consider the propriety of making landlords diminish the rents of houses, and to determine that the proper time of payment was sub- sequent, and not, as formerly, previous to occupation. Processions of work- men promenaded the streets, striking for wages, and determined not to work until assurances were received that their pay would be increased and hours of labour diminished; requisitions fatal to contractors, and a serious incon- venience to builders.

"The tailors held a great assembly; the grievance to be remedied with them was that the women had appropriated certain work, such as making ladies' habits and mantillas, which they asserted belonged more properly to them. [In Vienna ladies' dresses are always made by men—Damen Schnei- dern, as they are called.) Breaking into the establishment of the most fashionable French milliner in the city, they destroyed the greater part of her goods, and carried off' the remainder. " Two offices or booths, erected on the glacis for the purpose of receiving enrolments for the army of Italy, openly and at mid-day were attacked by the mob, and torn to pieces in the presence of the National Guard, who made no attempt at interference ; the object being to prevent the departure of any ablebodied men from the city at that time."

The following instance of rapid progress on the part of students is common to all great transitions of opinion.

"Even their own two favourite and most-liberal professors—they who had acted on all their deputations to the Court, and who with them were the first to seize arms in defence of liberty—one escaped arrest by flight, the other, after enduring imprisonment for some time, was, by strong intercessions in his behalf, released. These individuals, who, six weeks previous, were re- * Austria in 1848-49 : being a History of the late Political Movements in Vienna, Milan, Venice, and Prague; with Details of the Campaigns of Lombardy and No- vara; stun Account of the Revolution in Hungary; and Historical Sketches of the Austrian Government and the Princes of the Empire. By W. H. Stiles, late Gharg6 d'Affaires of the United States at the Court of Vienna. In two volumes. Pa- lliated by Sampson Low.

garded, even by the students themselves, as the most liberal men of their class, as men attached to real progress, were now denounced as traitors.

"The students, proceeding with youthful rapidity, had found themselves far in advance of their cautious professors. The latter, it was declared, did not keep up with the age - they had become too conservative; and they were seized and tried for no offence in the world, except that they had not kept pace in extravagance and crime with the warm blood and light heads of their pupils. -Time moved rapidly, and a few days was quite sufficient to convert liberals into either Radicals or Conservatives. It seemed impossible to stand still, it was therefore necessary either to advance or retrograde. The most formidable enemies of the new liberal constitution were those who but a few weeks before were its most strenuous partisans ; for they were the first to denounce the very concessions which they had been the first to demand."

The next extract shows the advance of political tyranny, which always follows in the wake of revolution by violence.

" The students established among themselves a legion known as the Death's-head Legion, and bearing on their caps, as emblematic ornaments, a skull and cross-bones ; and boys of fourteen and sixteen years, with such de- vices to their Calabrian hats, exhibited their enthusiasm for liberty, and ex- pressed their determination neither to yield nor accept pardon in the struggle for it. No one could now walk the streets of Vienna without the fear of in- jury. Everywhere appeared placards of menace and violence. It was quite usual for creditors to penetrate the houses of their debtors, insulting them when unwilling or unable to respond to their unreasonable demands. Any one who disapproved of such disorders was visited with summary vengeance ; and if one desired to gratify his long-indulged hate, it was only necessary to hint to the mob that the unhappy victim had expressed a sentiment or per- formed an act favourable to order or good government. There was no per- sonal security, for any well-attired individual was liable to insult while quietly promenading the streets. Every one dreaded what the next day might de- velop ; and despondency increased from hour to hour throughout the city. In this exigency, the Police acknowledged its inefficiency ; the National Guard shrugged their shoulders ; and the Ministry, terror-stricken, sought refuge either in flight or obscurity upon the first symptoms of danger. * * " Even freedom of the press, to obtain which was a principal object of the previous agitation, now existed no longer ; for no one dared to publish any- thing reflecting in the slightest degree upon the patriotism, wisdom, or mo- deration of the students. Although it was the unanimous wish of the middle classes to free the community of the students, who were the primary cause of the existent difficulties, a petition to that effect, extensively circulated, was not signed by six individuals, such was the alarm which the young fa- natics inspired. The programme adopted by the extreme left at the Diet at Frankfort now became known, and this was to form in Germany a great confederation of Republican states; and the partisans of this object in Vienna now urged upon Austria to join the league. " For this purpose, German ribands were only worn and German patriotic songs alone sung ; Radical papers even dated their news not from Vienna but from the United States of Germany.' The question of an Austrian monarchy no longer existed. It was universally said that the Constituent Assembly would determine a form of government for Austria ; and it was openly suggested that certain rights should be permitted and others taken from the Emperor. It was no longer allowed to speak of the privileges of the Crown and of the Monarch. It was only the Sovereign People to whom remained any rights whatever.

" One of the most talented of the Radical leaders in Vienna, one who afterward paid the forfeit of his life for the, extravagance of .his opinions, was heard to say to an American, [the author,) We wish no such republic as you have in the United States—we wish something original ; we wish a government where there shall not only be an equality of rights and of rank, but an equality of property and an equality of everything.' Another influ- ential Radical, one of the celebrated Council of Fifty-two, to whom for a season was committed all the affairs of the German Confederation, remarked to the same gentleman, ' Sir, the only course left to us is to raise the guillo- tine, and to keep it in constant and active operation; our only watchword should be, Blood, blood, blood! and the more blood that flows the sooner shall we attain our liberties.' Such sentiments were not only freely promul- gated, but even published. The Reich Zeitung, edited by two members of the Diet at Frankfort, in the number which appeared on the 24th of Novem- ber 1848, contains the following awful idea—' The destroying angel of the Revolution will pass over the world, and the word of mercy will become paralyzed upon the lips of the triumphant people.' "

The foregoing passages are from the earlier narrative. These extracts refer to the period immediately following the murder of the Minister of War and the withdrawal of the soldiery.

" The Diet demands the withdrawal of the Imperial troops from the vicinity of the city. The commanders refuse to stir, and all hope of an arrangement has vanished. Every preparation is made to resist the anticipated attack from without; every inhabitant capable of bearing arms is summoned and provided with weapons ; barricades are erected throughout the streets, and the entire fortifications surrounding the faubourgs are raised, mounted with cannons, and covered with men—students, National Guards, and workmen. During the day of the 10th of October, it being currently reported through- out the city that an attack might be hourly expected from the combined forces of Jellacic and Auersperg, the excitement became very great. National Guards from Brunn, Baden, Voslauer, and the vicinity, were all day pouring into the city. The Landsturm of the neighbourhood were everywhere rising and rushing to the rescue of the capital. In the evening, as soon as the army of the Ban was visible from the towers, the alarm was sounded, and the whole city was under arms. And when, a little later in the night, the watch-fires of .Axersperg's army were found to have been extinguished, the attack was considered as placed beyond all doubt, and might be momentarily expected. "By the older inhabitants, that night was considered the most distracted one which Vienna had endured since its bombardment by Napoleon in 1809. In the streets, till early dawn, only armed men were seen, who, either singly, in small irregular bodies, or in regulated companies, marched in solemn silence at a measured pace. At the corner of the streets, in the open squares, and in front of the coffeehouses, stood sombre groups in animated conversa- tion or violent altercation.

"Behind and upon the barricades, armed blousemen were gathered around the watch-fires ; and among them women and girls of not very respectable exterior were scattered—some sleeping upon heaps of stones, others laughing or singing. The ramparts and bastions, in particular, presented a most ani- mated and picturesque appearance ; watch-fire succeeded watch-fire, each sur- rounded by a motley group—legionnaires in their kalabresses, workmen in their sleeves, and National Guards. Above the gates were mounted cannon, which commanded the entrance to the city ; beside them were burning torches, borne by the Burgher Artillery, scattered academicians, or work- men. Close by were ranged whole companies, armed with every kind of weapon, whose patrols marched up and down, keeping guard with a musket or rifle, carbine or pike in hand, and almost every minute stopping some curious spectator with the incessant cry, Halt wir da '

"Fortunately for the undisciplined, ill-organized mass, the night passed off without attack."

The licentiousness of the revolutionists, described in the follow- ing passage, was alluded to in the foreign correspondence at the time, but seemed too atrocious to be trite. The extract is from an exposition of the causes of the failure of the revolution after the surrender of the city to Windischgratz.

"In the next place, there was no body to the Revolution. The feeling of resistance was not a general or popular one ; a large majority of the Vien- nese were inclined to peace and loyalty, but they were completely crushed by the terrorism of the Polish committee, the students, and the workmen. Mar- tial law had been proclaimed in Vienna, and every ablebodied man who was found unarmed, or who refused to perform military service which the com- mittee required of him, was immediately taken up as a traitor; and tried by court-martial. Nothing was more common than the name of traitor ; for they had other tests besides the performance of military duties to try the wretched citizens' devotion to liberty. Students and workmen took up their quarters in any man's house that suited their fancy, and must be treated with every hospitality. People who declined the honour of receiving these distinguished guests, who winced under the summary disposal of their goods and chattels, or demurred against giving up their wives and daughters to the brutal lusts of the rulers of the hour, were treated as ene- mies of public liberty. They were accused and given up to the tender mer- cies of martial law.

"And who were these rulers of the hour, these especial champions of the movement? Were they of the better class of citizens ? were they of the substantial burghers, the owners of property? No ; they were the youth of the university, to whom the only government of which they had as yet any experience was that of a college ; and the ouvriers, or workmen in the dif- ferent fabrics of the faubourgs and the vicinity, who felt not a particle of in- terest either in the government or the country, who lived today on the earn- ings of yesterday, and whose only hope for the morrow rested on the earn-

ings of today. To such a class, any which might come must be for the better, as it could not possibly be for the worse. They are the bane of every government ; to them the restraint of any regular authority, however free, is insupportable ; and their every effort is aimed at its deStruction. Like certain animals, they are brought forth by and can exist only in an atmosphere of dissolution. Their only conception of liberty is licentiousness —the liberty, to do anything and everything which their inclinations or in- terests might dictate ; their only ideas of justice consist in an equal division of property,—a doctrine which comports most admirably with their destitute condition, for, having nothing in the world to contribute, they can only be gainers by the division."