4. The Ministry of Agriculture.-Count Julius Falkenhayn, born at Vienna, February 20, 1829; entered the army 1848, and retired 1858; editor of the journal Vaterland,' 1859-76. Appointed Minister of Agriculture, August 19, 1879.

5. The Ministry of Commerce.-Chevalier A. Kermer d'Auenrode. Appointed Minister of Commerce, June 26, 1880.

6. The Ministry of National Defence (Landesvertheidigung).— Major-General Count S. Von Welsersheimb. Appointed Minister of National Defence, June 25, 1880.

Besides the six ministers, heads of departments, there are two 'ministers without portfolio,' taking part in the deliberations of the cabinet, but not exercising special functions.

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 on the 21st of December, 1870.

Hungary.

The constitution of the eastern part of the Empire, or the Kingdom of Hungary, including Hungary Proper, Croatia, Slavonia, and Transylvania, dates from the foundation of the kingdom, about 895. 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 Bulla Aurea' of King Andrew II., was granted in 1222, and defined the form of Government as an Aristocratic Monarchy. The Hungarian Constitution has been repeatedly suspended and partially disregarded, until, at the end of the armed struggle of 1849, it was decreed to be forfeited by the rebellion of the nation. This decree was repealed in 1860; and the present sovereign, on the 8th of June 1867, swore to maintain the Constitution, and was crowned King of Hungary.

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 was composed, in the session of 1879, of 705 members, namely 3 Princes of the reigning house; 48 Archbishops and Bishops of the Roman Catholic and Greek churches; 652 Peers and dignitaries of Hungary; and 2 deputies of Croatia.

The Lower House, or House of Representatives of Hungary, 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 168., 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 1880, the House of Representatives consisted of 445 members, of whom 411 were deputies of Hungarian towns and districts, and 34 delegates of Croatia and Slavonia.

The executive of the kingdom is in a responsible ministry, consisting of a president and nine departments, namely :—

The Presidency of the Council.-Colomann Tisza de Boros-Yenö; appointed President of the Council of Ministers, February 25, 1877. 1. The Ministry of Finance.-Count Gyula Szapary, appointed December 6, 1878.

2. The Ministry of National Defence (Landesvertheidigung).— Béla Szende de Keresztes, appointed February 26, 1877.

3. The Ministry near the King's person (ad latus).—Baron Bela d'Orczy; appointed August 12, 1879.

4. The Ministry of the Interior.-Colomann Tisza de Boros-Yenö, President of the Council; appointed December 6, 1878.

5. The Ministry of Education and of Public Worship.-Dr. August de Trefort, appointed February 26, 1877.

6. The Ministry of Justice.-Dr. Theodor Pauler, Minister of Justice, 1872-75; re-appointed December 6, 1878.

7. The Ministry of Communications and Public Works.Thomas Péchy de Pécs-Ujfalu, appointed February 26, 1877.

8. The Ministry of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce.-Baron de Kemény, appointed December 6, 1878.

9. The Ministry for Croatia and Slavonia.-Count de Bedekovich, appointed February 26, 1877.

The sovereign of Hungary, though acknowledged Emperor of Austria-Hungary, 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 percentage of each, in Austria and in Hungary, as well as in the whole Empire.

The ecclesiastical hierarchy of Austria comprises 11 Roman Catholic archbishops-of Vienna, Salzburg, Görz, Prag, Olmütz, Lemberg, Zara, Gran, Erlau, Kalocsa, and Agram; 2 Greek Catholic archbishops-at Lemberg and Blasendorf; 1 Greek Byzantine archbishop, and 1 Catholic Armenian archbishop. The Roman Catholic Church has further 57 bishops, with chapters and consistories, and 43 abbots of ancient endowed monasteries, in Austria, Styria, Illyria, Bohemia, and Moravia. Hungary has 22 abbots with endowments, 124 titular abbots, 41 endowed, 29 titular prebendaries, and 3 college foundations. Transylvania has 3 titular abbots, and upwards of 150 monasteries and convents; and Galicia 70 monasteries. The Greek United Church has 1 archbishop and 1 bishop in Galicia, and 5 bishops in Hungary. The Armenian Catholic Church has an archbishop at Lemberg. The Archbishop of Carlowitz is head of the Greek Church, with 10 bishops and 60 protopopas, or deans. Very extensive powers, secured by a special Concordate with the Pontifical government, were formerly possessed by the Roman Catholic clergy in Cisleithan Austria, but the whole of these were swept away in 1867 and 1868, by a series of laws enacted by the Reichsrath, the last and most important of which-passed in April 1868-established civil marriage, and the perfect equality of all religious creeds.

The extent of landed property in Austria belonging to the Roman Catholic Church is very considerable. Though reduced in number within the last half century, there are still nearly 300 abbeys, and above 500 convents in the Empire. The Protestants have no churches endowed by the state, the clergy being chosen and supported by their congregations.

Education until very recently was in a greatly backward state in Austria, the bulk of the agricultural population, constituting twothirds of the inhabitants of the Empire, being almost entirely illite

rate. During the last twenty years, however, vigorous efforts have been made to bring about an improvement, by founding schools, and appointing teachers, partly at the expense of communes, and partly, but less, at that of the state. It was enacted by a series of decrees issued in the years 1848 and 1849, that education should be general and compulsory, and the principle, though not adhered to in Transleithan Austria, nor in those parts of Cisleithan Austria inhabited by people belonging to the Slavonian race, was fully carried out among the Germanic population of the Empire. In the major part of German Austria, the law enforces the compulsory attendance in the 'Volks-schulen,' or National Schools, of all children between the ages of six and twelve, and parents are liable to punishment for neglect. The cost of public education mainly falls on the communes, but of late years the state has come forward to assist in the establishment of schools for primary education.

There are eight universities in the Empire, at Vienna, Prague, Pesth, Graz, Innsbruck, Cracow, Czernowitz, and Lemberg. In the summer of 1879, the university of Vienna had 246 teachers and 3,975 students; the university of Pesth 127 teachers and 1,979 students; and the university of Prague 129 teachers and 1,592 students. None of the other universities, at the same period, had over 800 students.

Revenue and Expenditure.

In accordance with the political constitution of the Austrian Empire, which recognises three distinct parliaments, there are also three distinct budgets: the first, that of the Delegations, for the whole Empire; the second, that of the Reichsrath, for Austria; and the third, that of the Hungarian diet, for the kingdom of Hungary. By an agreement, or so-called 'Compromise,' entered into, in February 1868, between the governments and legislatures of Austria and Hungary, the former has to pay seventy and the latter thirty per cent. towards the ' common expenditure of the Empire,' not including the interest of the national debt.

The Whole Empire.

The budget estimates for the common affairs of the Empire,' were as follows for the

year

Sources of Direct Revenue

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of War

Ministry of Finance

Board of Control

1880:

Total

Not included in the sources of direct revenue, given in the first table, is the surplus from customs, apportioned to meet the expenditure for the common affairs of the Empire. The receipts were set down at 11,000,000 florins, or 1,100,000l., in the budget for 1879. The receipts from all other sources amounted as will be seen to 4,699,296 florins, or 469,9291. After deducting the special receipts of the common ministries and the surplus of the customs revenue, in all 15,699,296 florins, or 1,569,92 7., there remained a sum of 98,031,871 florins, or 9,803,1871., to be provided for, of which 70 per cent. by Austria and 30 per cent. by Hungary.

In the financial accounts for the year 1879, the ordinary expenditure was estimated at 169,896,751 florins, or 16,989,675l., and the extraordinary expenditure at 22,688,393 florins, or 2,268,8397., being a total of 192,565,144 florins, or 19,258,5141. The direct receipts, from customs, amounted, in 1880, to 97,331,364 florins, or 9,733,1367., and from other sources to 5,815,125 florins, or 581,5127., leaving a deficit of 89,438,655 florins, or 8,943,8651., to be covered by contributions from Austria Proper to the amount of 59,625,720 florins, or 5,962,5771., and from Hungary to the amount of 29,812,885 florins, or 2,981,2887.

Austria Proper.

The accounts of actual revenue and expenditure of Austria Proper are only published after the lapse of a number of years, and are very intricate. They show generally large deficits, and, in recent years, a growing expenditure. The budget estimates of revenue and expenditure were as follows in the eight years from 1874 to 1881 :

: