=Copyright, 1897, by THE GREAT ROUND WORLD Publishing Company.=
* * * * *
When we take up our history books and read the accounts of the great
deeds that have been done, we are very apt to wonder how the people felt
in those times, and if it was not much more exciting to _live_ history
than it is to learn it.
We have an opportunity of judging for ourselves how it feels, for we are
now living through a very important chapter of history.
Cuba, Turkey, Haiti, and Hawaii are all making history for us that will
make very stirring reading for the scholars that come after us, and now
Austria has joined in the procession, and is giving us an episode that
will make one of the most exciting pages in that country's history.
The present occurrences in Austria are of the utmost importance to the
world. They show that the time has passed when kings can rule as
absolute monarchs, and that the voice of the people must be listened to.
We told you of the anger of the Austrian people against Count Badeni and
his Government, and how the Emperor approved of him and his work, and
was determined to uphold him in spite of the opposition.
We also told you that there is a clause in the Austrian constitution
which gives the Emperor power to act on his own authority without
consulting the people, in case of emergency.
But Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, backed by
this powerful clause, has not been strong enough to protect his Prime
Minister, and in the face of the anger of the people has not dared to
use the privilege which the constitution gives him.
This is a great chapter in history. It all happened in this way:
We told you in the last number how the Government rushed a resolution
through the Reichsrath, which gave the President of the House the power
to suspend unruly members and prevent them from entering the chamber.
As soon as the Reichsrath reassembled, it became evident to the
opposition that the Government considered the resolution legally passed,
and intended to act on it.
This so enraged the deputies that no sooner was the sitting declared
open than they rushed to the President's tribune, seized the papers on
his desk, tore them, and scattered them over the house.
The attendants had not been prepared for this rush, and had allowed some
of the angry members to pass through the gate which had been made in the
fence around the tribune.
As soon as they realized what was passing, they fought and buffeted the
intruders, until they had expelled them from the enclosure, and the
President declared the sitting adjourned.
This had no effect on the furious mob with which the chamber was filled.
One of the members again made a rush for the tribune. The gate had been
closed, but, climbing over the fence, he made a dash for the President's
bell and portfolio.
The President, amazed at this daring, pushed him away. In an instant a
crowd of his friends, howling and shouting, swarmed over the fence, and
a regular fight began on the tribune itself.
The deputies had by this time lost control of themselves, and proceeded
with blows and kicks to drive the President and Vice-Presidents of the
Reichsrath off the tribune, or raised platform, on which the President
sits.
One of the Vice-Presidents was knocked down and trampled on, and one
account of the affray said that the President was so roughly handled
that he fainted.
Finally, the deputies drove the representatives of the Government from
the tribune, and took possession of it themselves.
What new deed of violence they might have attempted it is impossible to
say, but at this moment a door at the end of the chamber opened, and in
marched a force of sixty policemen.
In their trim uniforms and their spiked steel helmets, they presented a
very formidable appearance, and the effect on the house was magical.
The members were astounded that the Government should dare to infringe
on their rights and privileges by sending police into the chamber that
was sacred to the liberties of the people.
The Commissioner of Police was not in the least embarrassed. He treated
the deputies as he would any other disorderly mob, and, marching his men
to the foot of the tribune, ordered the deputies to come down from it.
The deputies firmly refused to do any such thing, whereupon the
Commissioner took one man by the shoulder and ordered him off.
The deputy resisted, and was seized by six stalwart policemen, and
carried bodily out of the chamber.
Five others who refused to obey the Commissioner were treated in the
same unceremonious way.
Dr. Wolff, who up to this moment had been dumb with amazement, now
called on the ministers to remove the police.
Order having been partially restored, the President returned and
reopened the session. His appearance was greeted with a storm of
whistles, shouts, beating and slamming of desk-lids, and the usual
uproar, led by Dr. Wolff, who, too exhausted to do anything noisier,
contented himself with blowing a shrill cab whistle.
It was impossible to restore order, for even the friends of the
Government were indignant at the introduction of the police into the
chamber.
Relying on their privileges as members of the Reichsrath, the deputies
had for days behaved in a shameful and unmanly manner. The people were
indignant that their representatives should so disgrace them, and the
sympathy was all with the Government. The calling in of the police
changed the situation. The Government had interfered with the rights of
the people, and every lover of liberty was in arms against the outrage.
The riotous deputies now became heroes and martyrs instead of noisy,
foolish men, not fit to be intrusted with parliamentary privileges.
The President of the Reichsrath, having gone so far, was determined, if
possible, to end the disturbance at once and for all. When the noisy
demonstrations recommenced, he ordered Dr. Wolff to leave the house,
suspending him for three days--that is to say, forbidding him to
re-enter the Reichsrath for that space of time.
Wolff, of course, refused to obey, and the aid of the police was called
for. A shameful struggle ensued, in which the deputy's chair and desk
were smashed to pieces.
Twelve other members were seized by the police and turned out of the
chamber.
While this was going on inside the house, excited crowds had gathered
outside. As the torn and dishevelled members were expelled, the people,
regarding them as martyrs in the cause of liberty, began to murmur
against the Government, and finally grew so violent that a strong force
of police had to be fetched to disperse them.
Forgetting that the foolish conduct of these deputies had blocked all
legislation, and brought the Government and country to such a pass that
the dissolution of the bond with Hungary was likely to occur at any
moment, the people only realized that their liberties had been
interfered with, and their rights had been taken from them.
The people do not brook interference in their rights.
In the days of King John of England, the people allowed the vicious king
to get to a certain point, and then with their hands on their swords,
ready to rebel if he resisted, they forced him to sign the great
charter, Magna Charta, which has secured to Englishmen their rights from
that day to this.
It was signed by King John at Runnymede, near Windsor, in 1215.
So in France, five hundred years later, when the people had stood all
they could from their kings, they rose against Louis XVI., and were not
satisfied until both the King and the Queen, Marie Antoinette, had paid
the forfeit of their lives for their folly and arrogance. This happened
in 1793.
When the anger of the people is roused, there is trouble for the
Government.
In Vienna, though the Government had so far won a victory in turning the
turbulent members out of the chamber, they felt there was danger in the
air when the students surrounded Dr. Wolff as he was thrown out of the
Reichsrath, and marched with him to his home, honoring him as a hero.
Later, matters began to grow still more serious. Masses of workingmen
left their work, and began to parade the streets, crying out against the
government that had usurped their rights.
Soldiers were called out to guard the principal buildings, especially
the house of Count Badeni, the unpopular Prime Minister. Squads of
soldiers appeared in every street, forcing the crowds to move and
disperse.
It was an almost impossible task. The crowd that was driven around one
corner would reappear at the next. The soldiers would disperse the mob
in front of them, and it would re-form at their heels.
It seemed as if Austria were on the verge of a revolution.
Realizing that nothing could stop the trouble but the resignation of
Count Badeni, several members of the Reichsrath hurried to his home, and
begged him to put an end to the disturbance.
The Minister would not yield. His sovereign had confidence in him, and
he would not be driven out by an ignorant mob.
Another meeting of the Reichsrath was held, at which more violent scenes
occurred. Dr. Wolff presented himself in the chamber and tried to take
his place, whereupon he was seized and taken to prison.
The feeling among the people grew stronger, and at last one of the town
officials, Burgomaster Luegers, waited on Count Badeni, and informed him
that the people were now so excited that there would be bloodshed if he
did not resign.
Hearing this, the Prime Minister went to the Emperor and resigned his
office.
It is reported that the Emperor at first refused to accept the
resignation, whereupon Badeni informed him that he would not undertake
the responsibility of holding office longer, as he had been informed
that the people were ready to rise.
The Emperor then accepted the resignation, and it soon became evident
that the action had only just been taken in time.
Crowds had assembled outside the Reichsrath, waiting for it to open,
and the attitude of the mob had become so threatening that the hussars
had to draw their sabres and charge the crowd to keep it in check.
Several people were killed and many wounded.
This roused the mob to fury, and matters were just developing into a
serious riot when Burgomaster Luegers appeared on the scene.
Driving through the streets at full speed, forcing his horses through
the crowds, he hurried from mob to mob, shouting the good news that
Badeni had resigned.
The anger of the crowd at once melted away. The people who had assembled
with rage in their hearts soon became quiet. The night, which might have
been one of bloodshed and murder, was turned into a fête, laughter and
song succeeded the angry murmurs, and the danger was over.
The next day it was announced that Baron Gautsch von Frankenthurn, a man
who is a great favorite with the people, had been appointed Prime
Minister in the place of Badeni.
It is said that as soon as the new cabinet is formed, Baron Gautsch will
endeavor to bring about a meeting between the heads of the two parties
which are so violently opposed to each other on the language question,
and see if he cannot arrive at some understanding with them.
It is also said that Baron Banffy, the Hungarian Prime Minister, insists
that the Reichsrath must agree to the renewal of the Austro-Hungarian
contract for one year, else Hungary will act independently of Austria,
and a separation of the two monarchies may follow.
After the news of Badeni's resignation there were still angry
demonstrations in Vienna, but after the police had released Dr. Wolff
peace gradually settled down on the city.
* * * * *
Turkey does not seem to have taken Russia seriously about the old war
debt.
In spite of her assurance that she had no intention of increasing her
navy or enlarging her store of war materials, she has placed an order
for one hundred and fifty large cannon with Krupp, the famous German
gun-maker.
These cannons will cost a large sum of money, and the various European
Powers are watching with much interest to see what Russia will have to
say to it.
It is rumored that the Turks look upon Germany as their most powerful
friend, and are willing to defy Russia or any other nation so long as
Germany shows a disposition to stand by them.
This winter is likely to give us some more interesting chapters in
European history.
* * * * *
The Sultan of Turkey has fresh worries. The Albanians are now rebelling
against him.
Albania is on the western border of European Turkey; its shores are
washed by the Adriatic Sea.
It is a mountainous country, inhabited by a war-like race of people, who
are much given to robbery and brigandage.
The Albanians are a curious people. They claim to be descended from the
Pelasgians, who were a people of Greece, supposed to be the most
ancient race in Europe.
They arrived and settled in Europe centuries before men began to keep
records of the events that occurred, and so their origin is unknown. It
is supposed they came from Asia, and probably from India.
The Albanians base their claim to Pelasgian origin on their language,
which differs from any known tongue, and cannot clearly be connected
with any of the mother tongues. These mother tongues were the original
languages from which the various modern languages are derived.
More than one thousand languages are spoken on the globe, and these are
so different that each is unintelligible to the speakers of the other.
The study of these languages is an especial science. Students of this
science, philologists, as they are called, have traced, classed, and
grouped these thousand languages, until they have divided them into six
main groups, or mother tongues.
The formations of the verbs, the plurals, and the declensions are the
main guides to the identification of a language.
The study of philology is an intensely interesting one, and while it is
very difficult, its pleasures are easily within the reach of every young
scholar who is beginning the study of Latin, French, and German.
Our own English language is one of the most interesting with which to
begin the study.
The ancient Britons were Celts, and spoke Celtic; when they were
conquered by the Romans, Latin words crept into the tongue; and as
Romans gave place to the Saxons, and the Saxons to the Danes, words
from the German and Norse tongues were added to the language. Finally,
came the Norman Conquest, and with it a flood of French words. The
English we speak to-day is a mixture of Celtic, Latin, Saxon, Danish,
and French.
As you learn your foreign languages you will be interested to find how
many Latin words and forms you are using every day; and as for German
and French, there are so many words in these languages resembling our
own that you are constantly meeting old friends in the course of your
new studies.
For instance: