hrough the form of mildly censuring him. That
did not trouble Gregorig.

The Viennese say of themselves that they are an easy-going,
pleasure-loving community, making the best of life, and not taking it
very seriously. Nevertheless, they are grieved about the ways of their
Parliament, and say quite frankly that they are ashamed. They claim
that the low condition of the parliament's manners is new, not old.
A gentleman who was at the head of the government twenty years ago
confirms this, and says that in his time the parliament was orderly and
well-behaved. An English gentleman of long residence here endorses this,
and says that a low order of politicians originated the present forms of
questionable speech on the stump some years ago, and imported them
into the parliament.(2) However, some day there will be a Minister of
Etiquette and a sergeant-at-arms, and then things will go better. I mean
if parliament and the Constitution survive the present storm.

IV.--THE HISTORIC CLIMAX

During the whole of November things went from bad to worse. The
all-important Ausgleich remained hard aground, and could not be sparred
off. Badeni's government could not withdraw the Language Ordinance and
keep its majority, and the Opposition could not be placated on easier
terms. One night, while the customary pandemonium was crashing and
thundering along at its best, a fight broke out. It was a surging,
struggling, shoulder-to-shoulder scramble. A great many blows
were struck. Twice Schonerer lifted one of the heavy ministerial
fauteuils--some say with one hand--and threatened members of the
Majority with it, but it was wrenched away from him; a member hammered
Wolf over the head with the President's bell, and another member choked
him; a professor was flung down and belaboured with fists and choked; he
held up an open penknife as a defence against the blows; it was snatched
from him and flung to a distance; it hit a peaceful Christian Socialist
who wasn't doing anything, and brought blood from his hand. This was the
only blood drawn. The men who got hammered and choked looked sound and
well next day. The fists and the bell were not properly handled, or
better results would have been apparent. I am quite sure that the
fighters were not in earnest.

On Thanksgiving Day the sitting was a history-making one. On that day
the harried, bedevilled, and despairing government went insane. In order
to free itself from the thraldom of the Opposit