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AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

(OESTERREICH-UNGARISCHE MONARCHIE.)

Reigning Emperor and King.

Franz Josef I., Emperor of Austria, and King of Hungary, born August 18, 1830, the son of Archduke Franz Karl, second son of the late Emperor Franz I. of Austria, and of Archduchess Sophie, Princess of Bavaria. Proclaimed Emperor of Austria after the abdication of his uncle, Ferdinand I., and the renunciation of the crown by his father, December 2, 1848; crowned King of Hungary, and took the oath on the Hungarian Constitution, June 8, 1867. Married April 24, 1854, to Empress Elisabeth, born December 24, 1837, the daughter of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria.

Children of the Emperor.

I. Archduchess Gisela, born July 12, 1856; married April 20, 1873, to Prince Leopold, second son of Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, born February 9, 1846 (see page 133).

II. Archduke Rudolf, Crown Prince and heir-apparent, general in the service of Austria, born August 21, 1858; married May 10, 1881, to Princess Stéphanie, second daughter of King Leopold II., of Belgium, born May 21, 1864. Offspring: Elisabeth, born September 2, 1883.

III. Archduchess Maria Valeria, born April 22, 1868.

Brothers of the Emperor.

I. Archduke Karl Ludwig, field-marshal-lieutenant in the Imperial army, born July 30, 1833; married, in first nuptials, November 4, 1856, to Princess Margaret, born May 24, 1840, daughter of the late King Johann of Saxony; widower, September 15, 1858; married, in second nuptials, October 21, 1862, to Princess Annunciata, born March 24, 1843, daughter of the late King Ferdinando II. of Naples; widower, May 4, 1871; married, in third nuptials, July 23, 1873, to Princess Maria, born August 24, 1855, daughter of the late Prince Miguel of Braganza, Regent of Portugal. Offspring of the second and third unions are six children:-1. Franz, born December 18, 1863. 2. Otto, born April 21, 1865. 3. Ferdinand, born December 27, 1868. 4. Margaret, born May 13, 1870. Marie, born July 31, 1876. 6. Elizabeth, born July 7, 1878. II. Archduke Ludwig, major-general in the Imperial army, born May 15, 1842.

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Cousins of the Emperor.

I. Archduke Albrecht, born Aug. 3, 1817, son of the late Archduke Karl, field-marshal-general; field-marshal and commander-inchief of the army of the Empire, 1868-69; married, May 1, 1844, to Princess Hildegarde of Bavaria, who died April 2, 1864. Offspring of the union is one daughter, Maria Theresa, born July 15, 1845, and married, Jan. 18, 1865, to Prince Philipp of Württemberg (see page 143).

II. Archduchess Elisabeth, born Jan. 17,.1831; married, April 18, 1854, to Archduke Karl Ferdinand, brother of the preceding Archduke Albrecht; widow, November 20, 1874. Offspring of the union are four children:-1. Friedrich, born June 4, 1856, and married Oct. 8, 1878, to Isabella, daughter of Duke Rudolf of CroyDülmen, born Feb. 27, 1856. 2. Marie Christina, born July 21, 1858; married Nov. 29, 1879, to Alfonso XII., King of Spain. 3. Karl, born Sept. 5, 1860. 4. Eugen Ferdinand, born May 21, 1863. III. Archduke Wilhelm, inspector-general of the artillery, born April 21, 1827, brother of the two preceding archdukes.

IV. Archduke Leopold, inspector-general of the Imperial corps of engineers, born June 6, 1823, the son of Archduke Rainer, fifth brother of the Emperor Franz I.

V. Archduke Ernst, commander of the 3rd corps d'armée, born Aug. 8, 1824, brother of the preceding Archduke Leopold.

VI. Archduke Sigismund, commander of the 45th regiment of Imperial infantry, born Jan. 7, 1826, brother of the two preceding archdukes.

VII. Archduke Rainer, administrator of the Imperial academy of sciences, born Jan. 11, 1827, brother of the three preceding archdukes; married, February 21, 1852, to Archduchess Marie Caroline, daughter of the late Archduke Karl of Austria.

VIII. Archduke Heinrich, major-general in the Imperial army, born May 9, 1828, brother of the four preceding archdukes; married, Feb. 4, 1868, to Leopoldine Hoffmann, elevated Countess Waldeck, born November 29, 1842.

Besides the above, there are upwards of twenty other Archdukes and Archduchesses of Austria, members of the formerly reigning branch of Tuscany and of Modena. Head of both branches -since the death of Archduke Francisco, ex-duke of Modena, October 20, 1875-is Archduke Ferdinand, born June 10, 1835, nominal Grand Duke of Tuscany from July 21, 1859, to March 22, 1860.

The Imperial family of Austria descend from Rudolf von Habs burg, a German Count, born 1218, who was elected Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire in 1276. The male line died out in 1740 with

Emperor Karl VI., whose only daughter, Maria Theresa, gave her hand to Duke Franz of Tuscany, afterwards Kaiser Franz I. of Germany, of the House of Lorraine, who thereby became the founder of the new line of Habsburg-Lorraine. Maria Theresa was succeeded, in 1780, by her son Joseph II., who, dying in 1790, left the Crown to his brother Leopold II., at whose death, in 1792, his son Franz I. ascended the throne, who reigned till 1835, and having been married four times, left a large family, the members of which and their descendants form the present Imperial House. Franz was the first sovereign who assumed the title of Emperor, or 'Kaiser,' of Austria, after having been compelled by Napoleon to renounce the Imperial Crown of Germany, for more than five centuries in the Habsburg family. The assumption of the title of Kaiser of Austria took place on August 11, 1804. Franz I. was succeeded by his son, the Emperor Ferdinand IV., on whose abdication, Dec. 2, 1848, the Crown fell to his nephew the present Emperor-King Franz Josef I.

The present Emperor-King has a civil list of 9,300,000 florins, or 930,000l.: one moiety of this sum, 4,650,000 florins, or 465,000l., is paid to him as Emperor of Austria, out of the revenue of Austria, and the other moiety as King of Hungary, out of the revenue of Hungary.

The following is a list of the sovereigns of Austria-Hungary, from the date of the conquest of the Duchy of Austria by Rudolf of Habsburg, founder of the dynasty :—

The average reign of the above twenty-six sovereigns of the House of Habsburg, who ruled over Austria for nearly six centuries-filling likewise, with the exception of those marked by an asterisk, the throne of Germany (see page 94), and crowned Kings of Hungary since Ferdinand I.-comprises a term of twenty-two years.

Constitution and Government.

Since the year 1867, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy forms a bipartite state, consisting of a 'Cisleithan' monarchy, and a 'Transleithan' kingdom, the former officially designated as Austria, and the latter as Hungary. Each of the two countries has its own parliament, ministers, and government, while the connecting ties between them consist in the person of the hereditary sovereign, in a common army, navy, and diplomacy, and in a controlling body known as the Delegations. The Delegations form a parliament of 120 members, one-half of whom are chosen by and represent the legislature of Austria, and the other half that of Hungary, the Upper House of each returning 20, and the Lower House 40 delegates. On subjects affecting the common affairs the Delegations have a decisive vote, and their resolutions require neither the confirmation nor approbation of the representative assemblies in which they have their source. The ordinary mode of procedure for the Delegations is to sit and vote in two chambers, the 60 deputies of Austria Proper forming the one, and the 60 of Hungary the other. But it is provided that if no agreement can be arrived at in this manner, the two bodies must meet together, and, without further debate, give their final vote, which is binding for the whole Empire. The jurisdiction of the Delegations is limited to Foreign Affairs and War. Each of these has its own executive department, the finances of the two being in charge of a third. The departments thus formed are :—

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of the Imperial House for the Whole Empire.-Count G. Kálnoky de Köröspatak, born at Letourtz, December 29, 1832; entered the diplomatic service, 1854; Secretary of Legation at Berlin, 1856-57, and at London, 1857-61; Ambassador at Rome, 1879-80; and at St. Petersburg, 1880-81. Appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and of the Imperial House for the Whole Empire, November 21, 1881.

2. The Ministry of War for the Whole Empire.-Lieutenant FieldMarshal Count Bylandt-Rheydt; President of the Technical Committee in the Administration of the Army, 1870-76; appointed Minister of War for the Whole Empire, June 21, 1876.

3. The Ministry of Finance for the Whole Empire.-Baron von Kállay. Appointed Minister of Finance for the Whole Empire, June 4, 1882.

The above ministers are responsible for the discharge of their official functions to the Delegations.

Austria Proper.

The first constitution of Austria, called also 'Cisleithania,' originated in an Imperial diploma, dated Oct. 20, 1860, followed by

an ordinance, or 'Patent,' of February 26, 1861. These decrees laid the basis of a Charter, which, after a suspension from 1865 to 1867, was put in force in December 1867, with modifications rendered necessary by the recognition of the independence of Hungary. The main features of this Constitution 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 seventeen Provincial Diets-namely, for Bohemia, Dalmatia, Galicia, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Bukowina, Moravia, Silesia, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Gorizia, 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 deputies called 'Wahlmänner,' returned by all inhabitants who pay a small amount of direct taxation. The Provincial Diets are competent to make laws concerning local administration, particularly those affecting taxation, the cultivation of the soil, educational, church and charitable institutions, and public works.

The Reichsrath, or Parliament of the western part of the Empire, consists of an Upper and a Lower House. The Upper House (Herrenhaus) is formed, 1st, of the princes of the Imperial family who are of age, thirteen in number in 1884; 2nd, of a number of nobles-fifty-three in the present Reichsrath-possessing large landed property, in whose families the dignity is hereditary; 3rd, of the archbishops, ten in number, and bishops, seven in number, 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-one hundred and five in 1884. The Lower House (Abgeordnetenhaus) consisted in 1884, under a law passed April 2, 1873, of 353 members, elected, partly directly and partly indirectly, by the vote of all citizens who are 24 years of age and possessed of a small property qualification: of these 85 represent the landed proprietors, 116 represent the towns, 21 the Chambers of Trade and Commerce, 131 the rural districts. The constituencies which under that law elect the representatives for the Austrian Lower House are divided