Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/157

Rh 1866, Baron Beust, who had previously been prime minister of Saxony, and was not only a foreigner but a Protestant, was made foreign minister. He subsequently became prime minister and chancellor of the empire. In the spring of 1867 the emperor summoned the Reichsrath to assemble at Vienna to deliberate upon various important measures, the proposed amendments in the Hungarian constitution, the question of ministerial responsibility, the sending of delegates to assemblies, the extension of the constitutional self-government of the different provinces, the reorganisation of the army, the improvement of the administration of justice, and the promotion of the economical interests of the country. It was opened by the emperor in person on May 22, and in his speech on the occasion he earnestly recommended to their attention these subjects. "To-day," he said, "we are about to establish a work of peace and of concord. Let us throw a veil of forgetfulness over the immediate past, which has inflicted deep wounds upon the empire. Let us lay to heart the lessons which it leaves behind, but let us derive with unshaken courage new strength, and the resolve to secure to the empire peace and power." On 8th June the emperor and empress were crowned king and queen of Hungary at Pesth amid great public rejoicings, on which occasion full pardon was given for all past political offences, and full liberty to all offenders residing in foreign countries to return. Many important and liberal measures were discussed and carried in the Reichsrath ; in particular, marriage was made a civil contract, and the perfect equality of believers of different creeds was recognised. On 25th May 18G8, the civil marriage bill received imperial assent, aiid on 30th July 1870 the concordat with Rome was declared to be suspended in consequence of the promulgation of the doctrine of Papal infallibility. This last measure introduced a very beneficial change in the relations between Austria and the kingdom of Italy, and has brought about more sympathy and cordiality between these two states than formerly existed.

For some years the Government had much difficulty in settling the law of elections so as to secure the due representation of the different races and classes of the people in the Reichsrath. On 6th March 1873 a reform bill was passed by the lower house, taking the election of members of the Reichsrath out of the hands of the provincial diets and transferring it to the body of the electors in the several provinces, thus substituting direct for indirect election. In April it passed the upper house and received the imperial assent. This measure was hailed with great satisfaction, and has established the government upon a much broader and more secure basis. The session of the new Reichsrath was opened by the emperor in person on November 5. In the same year a great exhibition of the industries of all nations was held at Vienna. It was opened on May 1 by the emperor, and attracted to the capital, among others, the prince of Wales, the czar of Russia, the emperor and empress of Germany, the king of Italy, and the shah of Persia. On 2d December the twenty-fifth anniversary of the emperor s accession to the throne was celebrated amid great rejoicings in Vienna, having been celebrated three days before in Pesth. The emperor and empress were present on both occasions, and everywhere met with an enthusiastic reception. In the spring of 1874 a bill for the abolition of the concordat was introduced by the Government, and measures for restricting the powers of the clergy passed both houses. In his speech at the opening of the Reichsrath on 5th November of that year, the emperor said that by the system of direct popular elections the empire had obtained real independence, and exhorted the members to work with united energy at the solution of the greatest of their tasks, the uniting of the people of Austria, so that she might become a powerful state, strong in ideas of justice and liberty.

See Dr F. Kohlrausch, Die Deutsche Geschichte, 1866; Ungewitter, Die Oesterreichische Monarchie, 1856; Geschichteder Oesterreichischen Kaiserstaates, 1859; Stein, Handbuch der Geographie, 1870; Grant Duff, Studies in European Politics, 1866, and Elgin Speeches, 1871; Sir A. Malet, The Overthrow of the Germanic Confederation, 1870; The Campaign of 1866 in Germany, translated by Colonel Von Wright, 1872; Steinhauser, Geographic von Oesterreich-Ungarn, 1872; The Armed Strength of Austria, by Captain W. S. Cooke, 1874. (D. K.)

 AUTOCHTHONES, in Greek Mythology, the first human beings who appeared in the world, and who, as their name implies, were believed to have sprung from the earth itself. Instead of one pair as the first parents of the whole race, each district of Greece had its own autochthones, who, according to the prominent physical features of the neighbourhood, were supposed to have been produced from trees, rocks, or marshy places, the most peculiar, and apparently the most widely-spread belief being that which traced the origin of mankind to the otherwise unproductive rocks. Whether the first appearance of mankind was regarded as having been simultaneous in the various districts or not, at what time or times such appearance was made with refer ence, for example, to the origin of the gods who also had sprung from the earth (Pindar, Nem. vi. 1 ; Hesiod, Works and Days, 108), and whether the first men possessed the full human form, are questions which there is no material to answer satisfactorily. On the last point it is to be observed that Erysichthon at Athens was said to have had legs in the form of serpents, and that this is taken to denote his origination from a marshy place. Similarly the earth-born giants, who made war against the gods, had legs in the form of serpents. In Thebes, the race of Sparti were believed to have sprung from a field sown with dragons teeth. The Phrygian Corybantes had been forced out of the hill-side like trees by Rhea, the great mother, and hence were called SevSpo^uets, But whatever the primitive form of men was believed to have been, it is clear from AEschylus (Prometheus, 447, foil.) that they were supposed to have at first lived like animals in caves and woods, till by the help of the gods and heroes they were raised to a stage of civilisation. The practice of describing legendary heroes and men of ancient lineage as "earth- born," y^yevct?, strengthened greatly the doctrine of autochthony, and nowhere so much as in Attica.

 AUTO-DA-FE (Act of Faith), a public solemnity of the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal, at which the sentences of the court were read; those who were declared innocent were formally absolved, and the condemned were handed over to the secular power for punishment. The day chosen was usually some Sunday between Trinity and Advent. The first auto-da-fe was held by Torquemada at Seville in 1481; the last was probably that mentioned by Llorente, the historian of the Inquisition, as having been solemnised in Mexico in 1815. See.

 AUTOGRAPH ( and ), that which is written with a person's own hand, an original manuscript as opposed to an apograph or copy, is used to designate either a whole document (e.g., a letter) or a signature only. The latter is perhaps the more common use of the term. The interest attaching to the possession of autographs of distinguished men, which has created a new branch of industry, is partly historical, partly psychological. The signatures or original manuscripts are interesting and valuable elements in the representation of the life of any individual; and it has been thought that from the