union between Austria and Hungary is a personal union. The
Emperor of Austria is King of Hungary. Only in four particulars
are the Empire and the Kingdom united, namely, a joint administration
of the army and navy, of diplomatic affairs and of such finances
as are connected with joint expenditures for these purposes.

In 1848 Hungary sought to break away from Austria. Kossuth
heroically led the Hungarians against their Austrian masters,
only to be beaten in the end because of the advent of the
Russians, because one autocrat came to the aid of another.

Since then, by superior political talents and taste for intrigue,
the Magyars have not only held the Slovaks, Roumanians, etc., of
their own country in political subjection, but have held much of
the power in the Dual Monarchy. Their danger lies, however, in
the predominance of German influence; and some day the gay,
easy-going, pleasant Hungarians may awake to find the Prussian
Eitel Fritz seated on their throne and to learn what Prussian
efficiency means when applied to those whom Germans consider an
inferior people.

The twelve million Austrian Germans differ much in character from
the Prussians. They are far more polite, far more agreeable, far
more fond of amusement of all kinds. Indeed it is because of
their pleasant personal characteristics that so many other
nations have been content to remain under their rule. In no city
of the world is the mass of the population as fond of pleasure as
in Vienna. The best light operas come from that city. Vienna is
the original home of the waltz. The "Blue Danube" was composed on
the shores of the river which flows through the Austrian capital.

The dominant religion of the German Empire is Protestant, but in
the Dual Monarchy it is Roman Catholic among the ruling Germans
in Austria and Magyars in Hungary.

In Austria and in Hungary most of the land is held in great
estates. The peasants, as in Germany, sometimes own a few strips
of land near their miserable villages. Possession of land is
necessary to the standing of any noble. In Hungary, for example,
no noble sits in the house of Magnates or House of Lords unless
he is the owner of a certain amount of land.

Once across the Hungarian border, one sees the people taking a
certain delight in refusing to understand German. The names of
the railway stations are in Hungarian, and the uniforms of
station officials, conductors, etc., differ from those in
Austria. Every effor