A desire for the revival of the provincial estates (Landstande), is entertained by many influential persons.  These provincial parliaments existed up to the time of the Emperor Joseph, who, with his rage for novelty, and his desire for despotic and centralized power, abolished them.  The section of the aristocracy desirous for this revival is certainly small, but intelligent, and impatient for a sphere of activity.  They have neither radical nor democratic principles; they admit that Austria, from the heterogeneous nature of her population, is not adapted for constitutional government; but maintain that the revival of municipal institutions is quite compatible with the present elements of the monarchy, and that the difficulties presented by the antagonist nationalities are best solved by allowing a development of provincial public life, restricted to the control of local affairs, and leaving the central government quite unfettered in its general foreign and domestic policy.

St. Marc Girardin remarks, with no less piquancy of language than accuracy of observation, that “no country is judged with less favour than Austria; and none troubles herself less about misrepresentation.  Austria carries her repugnance to publicity so far as even to dislike eulogium.  Praise often offends her as much as blame; for he that applauds to-day may condemn to-morrow; to set one’s self up for praise, is to set one’s self up for discussion.  Austria will have none of it, for her political worship is the religion of silence, and her worship of that goes almost to excess.  Her schools are worthy of the highest admiration; we hear nothing about them.  She is, after England, the first country in Europe for railways; and we hear nothing of them, except by a stray paragraph in the Augsburg Gazette.”

The national railroad scheme of Austria is certainly the most splendid effort of the tout pour le peuple—­rien par le peuple system that has been hitherto seen; the scheme is the first of its class:  but its class is not the first, not the best in the abstract, but the best in an absolute country, where the spirit of association is scarcely in embryo.  From Vienna to Cracow is now but a step.  Prague and Dresden will shake hands with Vienna next year.  If we look southwards, line upon line interpose themselves between Vienna and the Adriatic, but the great Sommering has been pierced.  The line to Trieste is open beyond Gratz, the Styrian capital.  The Lombard-Venetian line proceeds rapidly, and is to be joined to that of Trieste.  In 1847, the traveller may go, without fail, from Milan to Stettin on the Baltic.  But the most interesting line for us is that of Gallicia, in connexion with that of Silesia.  If prolonged from Czernowitz to Galatz, along the dead flat of Moldavia, the Black Sea and the German Ocean will be joined; Samsoun and the Tigris will thus be, in all probability, at no distant day, on the high road to our Indian empire.