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HUNGARY 55 as provided by law. The language of the diet is the Hungarian, but the representatives of Croatia and Slavonia are permitted to use the Croatian language. The Hungarian ministry consists of a president and the heads of nine departments, viz. : the ministry of national de- fence, the ministry near the king's person (ad latus), the ministry of finance, of the interior, of education and public worship, of justice, of public works, of agriculture, industry, and com- merce, and for Croatia and Slavonia. The ad- ministration of communes was regulated by law in 1871 ; that of municipia, which class comprises counties, districts, and the royal free cities, in 1870. The supreme court of the kingdom is the royal curia in Pesth, consist- ing of two divisions, the court of cassation and the supreme court. The royal tables of Pesth (for Hungary proper and Fiume) and of Maros-Viisarhely (for Transylvania) are courts of the second resort; 102 royal courts and 306 district courts have original jurisdiction. The public revenue of Hungary for the year 1872 amounted to $82,187,809, the expe'ndi- ture to $112,853,765. To meet the interest on the common debt of the monarchy contracted prior to 1868, Hungary pays an annual contri- bution of $13,630,000. It has also a special debt amounting to $219,000,000. Politically, Hungary proper, according to ancient custom, is divided into four natural divisions or circles, subdivided into counties, and called, from the standpoint of Pesth, the Cis-Danubian (N. and E. of the Danube), Trans-Danubian (S. and W. of the Danube), Cis-Tibiscan (N. and W. of the Theiss), and Trans-Tibiscan (S. and E. of the Theiss), and three districts : Jazygia (Jdszsdg), with Great and Little Cumania (Kunsag) ; the Hayduk towns (ffajdu-Vdrosok); and Kovar. The counties are as follows: Cis-Danubian circle Presburg (Pozsony), Neutra (Nyitra), Trentschin (Trencseny), Arva, Tur6cz, Bars, Lipto, Z61yom, Hont, N6grad, Pesth (Pest), Gran (Etztergom), Bacs. Trans-Danubian circle Wieselburg (Mosony), Oedenburg (Soprony), Vas, Zala, Somogy, Baranya, Tolna, Vesz- pr6m, Raab (Gyor), Comorn (Komdrom), Weis- senburg (Fejer). Cis-Tibiscan circle Heves, Borsod, Gomor, Zips (Szepes), Saros, Torna, Abauj, Zempl6n, Ung, Bereg. Trans-Tibiscan circle Ugocsa, Marmaros, Szatmar, Szabolcs, Bihar, B6kes, Arad, Csan&d, Csongrad, Toron- tal, Temes, Krasso, Middle Szolnok, Kraszna, Zarand. Among the nations who occupied parts of Hungary before its conquest by the Magyars or Hungarians, we find the Dacians, Illyrians, Pannonians, Bulgarians, Jazyges, Alans, Avars, Huns, Gepidee, Longobards, and Khazars. The Romans held the S. W. part of the country under the name of Pannonia, while the S. E. belonged to their province of Dacia. Various Slavic tribes, together with Wallachs, Bulgarians, and Germans, were the chief occupants at the time of the Magyar invasion. The Magyars, a warlike people of the Turanian race, had made various migra- tions, and long dwelt in the vicinity of the Caucasian mountains, and afterward in the re- gion between the Don and the Dniester, before they approached and crossed tlie Carpathians (about 887) under the lead of Almos, one of their seven chiefs (vezer), and elected head (fejedelem) or duke. They were divided into seven tribes and 108 families, bad a compact, consecrated by oaths, which guaranteed justice and equality among themselves, and a religion which in various features resembled the Aryan element worship of the Medo-Persians, but also included the notion of a supreme being (Isteri). Arpad, the son of Almos, conquered the whole of Hungary and Transylvania, organized the government, and also made various expeditions beyond the limits of these countries, among others against Svatopluk of Moravia, being in- vited by Arnulf of Germany. These expedi- tions were further extended under his son Zol- tan (907-946) and grandson Taksony (946-972), spreading terror and devastation as far as the North sea, the south of France and Italy, and the Euxine. But various bloody defeats, es- pecially near Merseburg (933) by the emperor Henry I., on the Lech (955) by Otho I., and in Greece (970), finally broke the desire of the Hungarians for booty and adventurous ex- ploits, and turned the attention of their princes to the consolidation of their power within the natural limits of the country. Gejza (972-997), the son of Taksony, who married a Christian princess, promoted the introduction of Chris- tianity, which was almost completed under his son Stephen I. (997-1038), whose religious zeal gained him a crown and the title of apostolic king from Pope Sylvester II. (1000), and after- ward the appellation of saint. Assisted by Roman priests and German knights, he pro- claimed the freedom of Christian slaves, intro- duced Latin schools, established bishoprics, built churches, chapels, and convents, elevated the bishops to the foremost rank in the state, compelled the people to pay tithes to the new clergy, and subdued the rebellious adherents of the national religion. The political and ad- ministrative institutions of the state were also organized. The original equality of the con- querors was limited by imitations of the west- ern feudal aristocracy. The higher clergy, the higher nobility, consisting of distinguished na- tional families and of foreign lords, and the common nobility, embracing the bulk of the national warriors, were the ruling classes ; the two former, together with the dignitaries of the state, the palatine (nddor), the court judge (afterward land judge), &c., formed the senate, or the higher division of the legislative body. Against this new and foreign order of things the national party more than once violently rose, both under Stephen and his successors, Peter (1038-'40), against whom Aba Samuel was elected king, and who twice lost his throne, Andrew I. (1046-'61), who perished after being defeated by his brother Bela, and B61a I. (1061-'63), under whom the resistance