This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 edition. Excerpt: ...population in the Middle Ages, but resting in its nest upon the Adriatic, in serene repose, as though it knew that the principles of human justice and mercy, for which it sacrificed so much of its blood and treasure in days gone by, are now the recognised ideal of the civilised world. In the less important towns the differences are even more marked, for in Austria, as everywhere, the nearly imperceptible lines dividing many sections of society are always far more rigidly observed in small provincial towns than they are in capitals. Casual visitors to Austria, who speak of the freedom with which all classes mingle together, are often quite misled by appearances. At certain times and in certain places, Austrians of every class will, it is true, be found mingled in a way that might seem to indicate an almost startling disregard of social and caste distinctions. It is, in fact, mainly because such distinctions are universally recognised among them that in many public entertainments, or in the cafes, in parks and public gardens, all classes of society can take their pleasures together without the least danger of disagreeable results. Both Austrians and Hungarians, with all their light-heartedness, have a natural dignity and pride of their own which renders anything like vulgar insolence extremely rare. In the social and domestic life of the German Austrians there is an almost complete absence of the stiff rigidity that is so striking a feature among the Prussians. In this respect they more nearly resemble the Bavarians, to whom as a race they are closely allied; and this resemblance is greatest in nearly every point in which Bavarians differ most from their Prussian kinsmen. The family life of the middle classes is far more natural and...