to the country, was the establishment of courts having jurisdiction in cases of capital punishment. In Bohehemia alone there were three hundred and seventy-eight towns where criminal courts were held. These were now reduced to twenty-four, and placed in the hands of competent judges, men well versed in the laws. From that time on, no one had to fear that he would lose his life through the maliciousness of some lord or official.
Another important reform introduced was a change in the school system. Up to this time the schools had been in the hands of Jesuits, whose educational methods tended rather to benumb than enlighten the understanding. Maria Theresa deprived the Jesuits of their control of public education, placing it in the hands of a commission of learned men, who had authority over all the schools in her dominions. Many new professorships were established in the university, and rapid progress was made in the arts and sciences.
The government of Maria Theresa, although beneficent in its designs, was not without its evils, like all absolute monarchies. Bohemia was deprived of the last vestige of self-government. In the old days the country was divided into circuits, the officers in these being appointed by the States; but under her government they were appointed by the crown, and responsible for their actions only to the chief officers in Vienna. Indeed, the whole government became a vast system of bureaucracy, having its center in Vienna. This was the case in Bohemia and in some of the other Austrian provinces, but not in Hungary. The empress favored that country, partly from gratitude and
