sublime tragedy which fiction may in vain attempt to parallel.

It is affecting to observe in the history of Germany, through what woes
humanity has passed in attaining even its present position of
civilization. It is to be hoped that the human family may never again
suffer what it has already endured. We shall be indeed insane if we do
not gain some wisdom from the struggles and the calamities of those who
have gone before us. The narrative of the career of the Austrian Empire,
must, by contrast, excite emotions of gratitude in every American bosom.
Our lines have fallen to us in pleasant places; we have a goodly
heritage.

It is the author's intention soon to issue, as the second of this
series, the History of the Empire of Russia.

JOHN S. C. ABBOTT.

Brunswick, Maine, 1859.




CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
RHODOLPH OF HAPSBURG.
From 1232 to 1291.

Hawk's Castle.--Albert, Count of Hapsburg.--Rhodolph of Hapsburg.--His
Marriage and Estates.--Excommunication and its Results.--His Principles