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    A pbil 12, 1856.] THE LEADEB. 353

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    COLONIAL CONSTITUTIONS. Colonial Constit...

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    The Court Oe Austria. 3femoirs Of The Co...

    half-wise , half-cracked Max until those of FraDcis Joseph , is eminently picturesque , and eminently edifying , too , if it be edifying to have abundant demonstration of Oxenstiern ' s rather musty observation to his son— bee with how little wisdom , the world is governed . " For , to the list of governors , with little wisdom , the House of Hapsburg can furnish as handsome a contingent as any royal house in Europe : the greater number of its precious scions being , apparently , Nature ' s experiments in the production of the utmost amount of imbecility with the utmost amount of despotic , selfassertion , a » d obstinate bigotry . One redeeming point there was in the very worst of them—the love of music and the arts , and the exceptions to the imbecility of the later Hapsburgs—Maria Theresa and her son Joseph—are among the most fascinating characters in history . The grandeur of the Austrian Empire and its importance in the scales of European power , lift the smallest details about the personnel of its court quite above that character of gossip which belongs to some of Br . " Vehse ' s volumes on the petty courts of Germany . A semi-idiot , who happens to be named of Hapsburg , has a passion for hunting , and the consequence is a series of the most important vicissitudes in the history of Europe .

    One of the most striking facts made evident in JJx : Vehse s volumes is the wholesale apostacy of the Austrian aristocracy . In no country , affected b j the Reformation , has " conversion" been so palpably an affair of selfish calculation as in Austria proper . First , the prospect of sharing the Church lands was an irresistible bait held out ljy Protestantism , and carried over the Austrian aristocracy in shoals . In 1596 , says Dr . Vehse , when Ferdinand ( afterwards Emperor ) celebrated Easter in his capital of Gr ' , he was almost the only one who took the sacrament , according to the Romish rite , there being not more than three Papists besides him in the town . In the whole of the arch-duchy of Austria there were , of all the noble houses , only five , in Carinthia seven , and in Styria not more than one that had remained Papists- " When the tide turned , after the Thirty Years' War , the re-conversions were equally wholesale . One of the most interesting figures in Austrian history is Prince Eugene . Dr . Vehse , in his usual " promiscuous" , collects abundant traits of the generous hero : —

    Eugene was a small man , not at all handsome . His appearance "by no naeans belied the countzy where he . had received bis education—it -was completely that of a Frenchman . His complexion was dark , but remarkably clear ; his face "thin , long , and strongly marked by a large pi'Oininent nose , with nostrils lite those of a horse . He wore his own black hair , with two small stiff curls : between his fiftieth and sixtieth year , when he began to turn grey , lie assumed a large flowing wig . The only fine point aboub his face was his eyes ; they were dark and full of animation . His glance electrified , his soldiers , and won the hearts of the women . It would , however , have been difficult at first sight to recognise in him the great inan ;__ he even looked remarkably silly , had a trick of gazing into the clouds , and , like Frederick II ., continually took Spanish snuff from his waistcoat pocket ; "which suggested to Pope the saying , that Eugene took as many towns as snuff . In his movements lie showed an incessant restlessness , yet it was tempered , by

    manly vigour and princely , dignified bearing ; and in the intercourse with the world he observed tlie most measured deportment , and even reserve . His impulses all came from -within , and he never allowed them to be overruled by any extraneous cause . At the first meeting he was , in most instances , of chilly coldness , taciturn , and reserved . His temperament was tender and sanguine ; and he was full of plans and ideas , whiqb . unceasingly occvipied his mind . In the prime of life , he seldom slept more than about three hours . He possessed a remarkable instinct for reading the future . Whilst , in 1708 , lie was encamped "before Lisle , he was , in the afternoon of the 14 th of October , suddenly seized with , an irresistible drowsiness . In this Sleep he dreamed that he saw his mother dead in the trenches . The struggle to reach her awoke him . He told his dream to his adjutant ; and soon afterwards news came from Brussels that , at that same hour , his mother had died there . The courtiers at Vienna used to sneer at these fancies of Eugene . But lie had an iron will , and a clear strong head ; in fact , an Italian intellect , but a German heart , full of gentleness and sympathy . He was

    called " the Noble Chevalier ; " and chivalrous he was to the heart ' s core , as a lover , a friend , or an enemy . He was always no"ble , generous , and forgiving , a foe to all flattery and fawning obsequiousness ; and he detested everything like untruth , and falseness . He never made a promise which , he could not keep . The winner of thirteen groat battles , ho was adorned by the most unaffected modesty . Moderation and disinterestedness , at that time the qualities rarest to be met with at Vienna , were prominent features of his character . Never did Eugene show the least jealousy of his great friend Marlboroxigh ; not even when the latter , after their joint-viotory of Hbchstiidt-Blenheim , received for his reward the Imperial principality of Mindelheim . His honesty commanded the respect of every one . He used to say , " honesty is not an indispensable , but it is the beat quality of a true statesman . " Viliars , when be negotiated with Eugene the Peace o £ Kaetadt , wrote homo to the Minister of State , Toroy , " Nothing in my life ever gavo me so much trouble as the necessity of not giving offence to the honesty of Eugene ; for tho character of the prince inspires every one with veneration . "

    Ivaunitz is another character whose points are very well marked by Dr-Vehse : — Kaunitz , who presided over the destinies of Austria , was tall , well made , muscular , of rather a lithe figure ; his complexion was milk-white , his hair blonde , his eyos blue , very fine , and although ordinarily of a calm expression , yet now and then flashing with the keen glance of tho eagle ; his brow was a little arohed , his nose aquiline , his oliin somewhat prominent , his mouth delicately formed and rather sinull . Kaunitss used to Avear a remarkable tio-wig with a prolusion of curls , whioh , to cover every wrinkle on his forehead , ran across it in a ssigsmg hne . He seema to have boon tho inventor of tho art of powdering

    , pmotiBod alBo by tho famous Prinoo tie Ligno ; who UBod to walk to and fro through a doublo lino of BervantB , oaoh of whom had a different shade of hair-powder , > rhito , Divio , yellow , and pink , to throw at Mb wig , whioh , after this combined operation , oxmbitod what was considered to bo tl » o perfection of ovonnoBB and coloiiring . * rom toe vory beginning of his being in power / - Baron Ftlrst writos , " Kaunitus placed himself above the court etiquetto . With tho Spanish ooutume lie wore white ^ instead ot rod ) Htook mgs , nnd made hia appearance with a Twig to his wig , and with a largo muff . Although he had bean told to comply with oxiating oustorns , Ho would not always do ho . He was everywhere , except when at « ourt , aoconv paniod by a , largo bull-dog . " .... l '

    Jso ono has ever understood bottor tlian Kaunite did , tho art of making lifo pleasant to himself nnd toothers . It luunt also bo said , that no one hns over talcon H jioli anxiouH oivro of hiH lifo aa he . Whatevor oould roiuind him of dying was to bo carefully kop ^ jn tho background . All tUo poraoua uaually about him

    were strictly forbidden "to utter in bis presence the words " death " and " smallpo x ^ " He had not himself been afflicted with this disorder ; but he had been shocked "by it in the case of the Empress . His readers received from Mm in writing an earnest injunction to eschew the use of these two obnoxious words . The wags would have it that even the " inoculation" of trees was not to be spoken of , because it reminded him of the inoculation of the small-pox . His "birthday also was never to be alluded to . When the referendary , Ton Binder , for fifty years his friend and confidant , died , Xaverius Raidt , the Prince ' s reader , expressed himself in this way : " Baron Binder is no longer tole found . " The prince , after some moments silence , replied : " Est il morb ? H ^ toit cependant assez vieux :. " Binder was one year and . a half younger than Kaunitz . To another of his readers

    Secretary Harrer , at that time a man of sixty , he once said : " Mais comment est-il possible , qu . e de jeunes gens , comme vous , oublient des choses pareilles ?'" The news of the death of Frederic the Great reached him in this way : —his reader , with apparent absence of mind , told him that a courier had just arrived from Berlin at the Prussian ambassador ' s with the notifications of King Frederic William . Kaunitz sat for some time stiff and motionless in his arm-chair , showing no sign of having understood the hint . At last he rose , walked slowly through the room , then sat down and * said , raising his arms to heaven , " Alas ! when will such a king again ennoble the diadem ? " When tie Emperor Joseph died , the valet returned to Kaunitz a document , which the Emperor was to have signed , with the words : " The Emperor signs no more . "

    This kind of anecdotic sketching is abundant in the book , and , as it is connected with a continuous survey of the fortunes of the Austrian Empire , readers will be at once amused , and put in possession of a general coneeptioa of Austrian history , which is likely to be acceptable to the great majority .

    A Pbil 12, 1856.] The Leadeb. 353

    A pbil 12 , 1856 . ] THE LEADEB . 353

    Colonial Constitutions. Colonial Constit...

    COLONIAL CONSTITUTIONS . Colonial Constitutions : A . n Outline oftFie Constitutional History and existing GovernmeTit ofthe British Dependencies . By Arthur Mills . . Murray . The English nation lias been conquering and colonising for nearly three hundred years , and though some of its colonies have been lost , and others ruined , the result is , that it possesses more than a seventh of the habitable globe . Considering these circumstances , it is remarkable that we have had no Colonial History . The gradual acquisition of India has been frequently described upon an elaborate plan ; attention has . teen , bestowed , also ., on the North American Colonies and on separate territories in the East , West , arid South ; but the great historical series , with its fascinating episodes of discovery , settlement , conflict , has been completely and unaccountably neglected . For a summary we still depend on Heeren , for Martin ' s unweildy compilations are neither readable nor trustworthy , Mr . Arthur Mills , studying this undeveloped subject , presents a dry , but systematic epitome of the Constitutional History of the British Dependencies , and . of the politicalrelatsons

    actually existing between them and the Imperial executive in London . This volume , though in . no sense supplying the place , of a Colonial History , is a wellarranged manual , clear 3 concise , and authentic ^ In an introductory chapter the open questions of policy connected with our Colonial system are recapitulated , with comparative notes , from ancient and modern annals in illustration of certain parallels which Mr , Mills undertakes to justify or destroy- He nest reviews historically the relations between the Home and Colonial Governments , as affected by original charters , by conquests , cessions , or discoveries , separates . those dependencies possessing Constitutions from those under the control of councils , companies , or military governors , and analyses the power of the local assemblies , the remnants of prerogative , and other details connected with Colonial policy and administration . Upon this well-prepared basis , Mr . Mills proceeds to examine in several groups , the political condition of the European , Asiatic , African , American , and Australian dependencies of Great Britain , regarding Mauritius and St . Helena as African , and the Antilles and the Falkland Isles as American dependencies .

    Six reasons have been given why a State should retain its colonies ; that it may levy tribute from them ; that they may contribute to its defence ia time of war ; that they may increase its agricultural and mineral riches ; thai they may furnish it with markets ; that they may nurse a school of seamen engaged in the carrying trade ; that they may draw off its redundant or criminal transportation . Which of these advantages , asks Mr . Mills , does Great Britain derive from her present colonial policy 1 When she once attempted to tax her colonies , she lost them . Even her Eastern conquests yield nothing to the imperial revenue . In time of war , she has invariably had to defend her transmarine settlements , and it was a new phase in her history , that during the Russian conflict , Canada and Australia oiFered to strengthen her arms by contributions of men and money . The territorial revenues have been , for the most part , surrendered to the control of the Local Legislatures ,

    rtie advantages of exclusive commerce with the Colonies arc being gradually given up in favour of the more generous and far-sighted policy of free trade . Differential duties , one by one , are abolished , so that Brazil and the United States will , in process of time , stand to Great Britain exactly in the same relation , commercially , as Canada or Jamaica . Tn the same way , the repeal of the Navigation Laws has destroyed the privilege of an exclusive carrying trade . As fields of emigration , notwithstanding the happy situation and unsurpassed resources of Canada , and the golden perspective of Australia , tUese colonies do not compete successfully with the United States . The majority of emigrants , instead of becoming colonists , carrying few English rights beyond the seas , have preferred to become citizens of America . The results of a more liberal policy in the British Colonies have yet to be ascertained . As to the transportation of convicts , it is a plan violently in dispute , being l ) y

    some regarded aa the propagation of a curse , by others as the legitimate use of a colony . Tho British dependencies , then , involve , on the whole , an expenditure of imperial revenues , amounting to three millions sterling annually , will confer , in future , no patents of exclusive commerce , have not Attracted so many emigrants as the United States of North America , and cannot long form receptacles of our criminal population . In what , than , consists their vnluc ? Whatever may be said , their progress has been simultaneous with that of tho political ana commercial prosperity of the Empire , while other nations , losing their colonies , have lost at the same time their rank , their influence , all tunfc made them flourish in peace or war . As long as l ' ortuguul held her chain of forts and factories along the coast of India and Africa , nnd in the Malayan Archipelago , she rivalled in power and opulence the foremost states of tho world , and it was not tho extravagant expansion ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 12, 1856, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12041856/page/17/