ing's absence he exercises
vice-regal powers, so both then, and at other seasons, he mediates
between the crown and the people, taking care that the former shall not
trench upon the liberties of the latter, nor the latter make any
encroachments on the legal prerogatives of the former.

I might specify many other points in which even the parallel between
the kingly offices in Hungary and in England fails; but it is not
necessary. We have but to pass downwards to the classes below royalty,
and all ground of comparison between the institutions of the two
countries ceases. The parliament of Hungary is a very different affair
from the parliament of England. Its members sit, to be sure, in two
chambers, or houses, and enjoy, when assembled, the most absolute
freedom of speech; but they meet very rarely, they transact very little
business when they do meet, and both in the principle which brings them
together, and in their arrangements when assembled, they outrage every
notion which we are accustomed to cherish of perfection in such
matters. The spirit of the Hungarian constitution requires that the
estates should assemble at least once in every five years; the practice
of the same constitution leaves the king at liberty to call together,
and to dissolve the chambers at pleasure. I have already stated, that
to the higher order of nobility, the privilege appertains of meeting,
in their own persons, to deliberate on questions affecting the public
weal. These,--the princes and magnates,--occupy the same chamber with
the prelates and barons of the kingdom. The other chamber is given up
to the representatives of the lesser nobles, of the free towns, and of
the clergy; and, strange to say, to the proxies of such magnates as may
find it inconvenient, personally, to attend in their places. But though
there are only two chambers, there are four distinct estates, each of
which votes within itself in the first instance, and then carries the
result of its scrutiny to the common centre. And finally, while the
Upper House is presided over by the palatine, the lower is regulated
and kept in order by an official personage who bears the somewhat
lengthy title of Personalis presentiae Regiae in judiciis locum tenens.
He must be of noble birth, of course, and is likewise President of the
High Court of Justiciary. There are not fewer than 661 members in the
first of these houses, whereas the last can count upon 236 only.

The representative memb