rioting, during which the police were compelled to fire, with
the result of a hundred casualties among the rioters. Every- where in the Cisleithan dominion the dispute stirs up the most bitter animosities of race, the Germans being deter- mined not to surrender their present ascendency, while the remaining races see in it the best hope of recovering their political freedom. It will in the end, we think, be impossible to refuse the demand, more especially as it is favoured by the Hungarian Ministry, by a large section of those who advise the Austrian Emperor, and, though without enthusiasm, by his Majesty himself. There is no reason to believe that it will of itself produce worse consequences in Austria than it has done in Germany; but one result may prove of inter- national importance. It will greatly strengthen the inclina- tion of the Austrian Germans to place themselves under Berlin. They hold themselves entitled to ascendency by the right of a higher civilisation, and if they lose it they will unquestionably appeal to their brethren of the North for aid, thus assisting in that partition of the Austrian Empire which, if it occurs, will destroy the best guarantee of peace within Central and Eastern Europe.
