Chapter X: Part 10

“The national assembly, dissolved in 1827, was to be convoked anew in 1830. This was not done without great reluctance on the part of the Austrian cabinet, which perceived with apprehension the effect that the events which took place in France in July of that year had produced on the Hungarians. But it was necessary to raise subsidies; and it was no time to revolt the minds of the people, at the moment when the country was resounding with enthusiastic expressions of its sympathy with the triumph, in a neighbouring state, of the cause of constitutional rights over despotism. The diet was therefore convened. But the king, at the same time, gave notice that, after a short session devoted to the consideration of the most urgent affairs, it would be dissolved, to be convened again the following year. The diet met on the 11th of September. The king required the raising of recruits, and, the late events having somewhat lessened his confidence in the success of arbitrary measures, he accompanied his demand with all those flattering expressions which the Austrian kings of Hungary were accustomed to bestow so liberally on their subjects as often as they stood in need of them, and which had but too much effect on a people highly sensitive on the point of national honour, and devotedly loyal, whenever their duty to their country did not come in collision with their deference for their king. The diet acceded to the royal demands. It voted the recruits, with the usual stipulation, that they should be placed in Hungarian regiments, and should be commanded by Hungarian officers. The king replied evasively, that the Hungarians should be placed in these regiments, in preference to any other inhabitants of the empire. The diet refused to vote for the raising of the recruits without some more positive assurance. The emperor had recourse to the Palatine, and desired him to use his personal influence to overcome the resistance of the diet.

“The Archduke Joseph, called to the dignity of Palatine in 1796, at the age of twenty, had filled his difficult post of mediator between the king and the people with great discretion. If he had been the independent king of Hungary, the nation might have found in him one of the wisest and most patriotic of its princes, and, under the auspices of an administration, prudent, and, at the same time, liberal, might have followed, with sure steps, the path of political reform, and have taken, once more, a high place among the powers of Europe. As it was, placed as mediator between a people jealous of its liberties, and a sovereign watchful for an occasion to subvert them,—a sovereign to whom he owed, at the same time, the respect of a subject and the affection of a brother,—Joseph was forced to guide himself by a system of compromises, and, not unfrequently, to play on the generous feelings which he knew so well how to excite. The Hungarians, on their part, knew, or believed, that the regard which the Archduke Joseph had displayed for their interests had lessened his favour with the imperial court. He had, then, suffered for them. They repaid him with an enthusiastic affection, and the Palatine not seldom won from their gratitude concessions which he would in vain have expected from their compliance. On the present occasion, called upon by the court for aid in an attempted encroachment on the rights of Hungary, he felt that it was on this attachment for his person that he could alone rely for success. He addressed the diet in a speech skilfully framed, which concluded with these words:—‘Let, then, the states, in remembrance of thirty-five years of services, of efforts consecrated to this kingdom, which I proudly regard as my country, and in consideration of my position as mediator between the king and the nation,—let the states, I say, consent to show me some manifestation of their gratitude, by withdrawing their motion.’ These words did not fail of their intended effect. The recruits were voted; the condition was withdrawn. In three days, the king dissolved the diet.

“But the nation was no longer to be trifled with. The necessity for reform was, every day, more strongly and more extensively felt. The interval between the dissolution of the diet of 1830 and the assembling of that of 1832, was not lost by the patriots of Hungary. They employed it in determining on the measures of reform to be introduced at the next diet, and in concerting their plan of action. The condition of the peasantry was felt to be the subject which most urgently demanded attention. One of the most zealous advocates of the cause of the people was found in Count Széchényi, one of the large landed proprietors of the kingdom. He prepared the way for the reception of the question of the emancipation of the peasantry, by a series of works, which had a great effect in enlightening the public mind.

“The Austrian cabinet, in the mean time, had not been idle. Having been reluctantly compelled to convene the diet, it took its own measures to put a check on the designs of the liberal party. It gave orders to its agents to leave no arts unemployed, and to spare no expense, to defeat the election of the liberal candidates.[18] These efforts were vain. The spirit of liberty and the virtue of the people resisted all attempts. The chamber of deputies was almost wholly composed of liberal members.

“The Austrian cabinet, too prudent to enter into open contest with a movement which was evidently becoming national, affected to adopt the views of the liberal party, hoping, by an apparent and partial acquiescence, to allay the excitement of the public mind, and to restrain and direct a movement which it could not suppress. The royal propositions, therefore, embodied some of the principal measures of reform projected by the liberals. Among the most important of the subjects to which the attention of the diet was called, were the creation of the urbarial code, delayed since 1790, the reform of the judiciary, and a more equitable division of the imposts.

“Notwithstanding the enthusiasm for liberty which pervaded the Hungarian people, and the generous ardour with which her enlightened patriots approached the work of reform, it is not to be supposed that measures, involving important changes in the constitution of the country, were passed without encountering opposition. This opposition sprang from two very different sources. It arose, on the one hand, from the conservative spirit of the elder magnates, old Magyar patriots, who regarded the institutions of their country with a superstitious affection, and in whose eyes it was a sacrilege to lay a finger on one stone of this venerable edifice. The organ of this party, composed of men who had been the patriots of twenty years before, and to whom it is impossible to refuse our respect, was Dessewffy. ‘In my youth,’ cried the venerable noble, ‘I defended my country against the usurpations of Austria; in my old age, I will defend her against the ingratitude of her sons.’ The other and more dangerous source of opposition which the plans of the reform party encountered, arose from the influence of the Austrian cabinet. This government, true to its constant principle, _Divide et impera_, while it gave apparent countenance to one party, lent its real support to the other. It was not ill pleased to see these impracticable Hungarian magnates engaged in a contest for their institutions with their own countrymen, and those forces divided which had hitherto been concentrated in the defence of Hungarian nationality against Austrian encroachment. Thus, while affecting to take the initiative in the reforms contemplated by the liberal members of the diet, the Austrian government opposed the success of these measures with all the weight of its influence. It was no longer as in those times when the monarchs found their interest in raising the condition of the common people. In this nineteenth century, it is not the king who shields his prerogatives against the encroachments of an ambitious nobility; it is king and aristocracy who tremble together, before the advance of a new power, which threatens them both with extinction.

“But the cause of liberty was not without its advocates in the upper house. The younger magnates,[19] with the exception of those who held places under the government, shared warmly in the liberal spirit of the time, and, with the generous ardour of youth, were ready to make any sacrifice which the welfare of their country demanded. At their head was the noble Széchényi, who supported the cause of freedom and justice with the double power of eloquence and reason. It was he who gave the first blow to the peculiar privileges of the aristocratic class. He brought forward a project for a suspension bridge between Pest and Buda. He proposed that all who passed this bridge, whether peasant or noble, should be subjected to the toll. This question assumed importance from the principle involved in it. The exemption from all public charges was one of the most cherished privileges of the nobles. It was a question in which their pride was more concerned than their pecuniary interest. Széchényi knew how to combat the pride of the Magyars by calling on their generosity.

“‘Do you call it a privilege,’ said he, ‘to be debarred from contributing to the advancement of your country? Is it a privilege to be obliged to devote your wealth only to your own selfish gratification, while your country languishes in perpetual poverty? Will you build houses, and plant trees, and lay out walks through your grounds, while the country has neither roads, nor public buildings, nor navigation, nor commerce? After all, what is the question before you? Are you called to sacrifice your constitution to a foreign power? No; it is yourselves who are to pronounce the decision. The right to give ourselves laws, the right to restrain our own liberties, is not that, in itself, the highest liberty!’

“The measure was carried. The diet then proceeded to pass several other laws, which touched yet more nearly the prerogatives of the aristocracy. The constitutional right of the noble to be exempted from arrest, except on a charge of high treason, was abolished. The judicial power was taken from the lord of the manor. The peasant received the right of instituting a suit against a noble, and even against his own manorial lord. It was especially to the improvement of the peasantry that the diet of 1832–36 devoted its energies. The right of free migration, which had been repeatedly adjudged to the peasant by former diets, and had as often fallen into disuse, was confirmed. The amount of land which he had a right to hold for his own use was increased; the vexatious exactions, known by the name of the little tithes, abolished; and the _robot_, or soccage labour, reduced to fifty-two days in the year. The most important measure was that which decreed to the peasant the right of redeeming the _tized_ (tithes) and _robot_ (_corvées_ or soccage-work), by means of contracts passed between him and the manorial proprietor, and of thus becoming the owner of the soil he tilled.[20] In addition to these important measures, the diet of 1832 passed several bills for internal improvements. This diet was not, however, content with providing only for the material wants of the country. The friends of reform had long been desirous of establishing a system of public instruction. They had repeatedly called the attention of the government to this subject, but always without effect. The representations offered by the present diet were not more successful. The education of the people was too dangerous a power to be trusted in the hands of reformers; and the Austrian cabinet, emboldened by the support of the conservative party in the upper house, felt itself strong enough to venture on open acts of opposition to the views of the liberal party. This conduct of the government called forth the liveliest indignation in the chamber of deputies.

“‘The government,’ said Bezerédy, ‘sins against its own conscience in refusing to permit us to secure instruction to our children and our fellow-countrymen. But patience has its limits. Let the government look to its acts. Its conduct forces the nation to rely on itself. I call upon you, then, I call upon the whole nation, to unite in paying to our country this most necessary duty; to unite in fulfilling a sublime, a holy work, that of elevating the people.’

“‘Let us thank the government,’ said Deák, ‘let us thank the government. There are among us those who cherish, if not a full confidence, at least a hope, that the government is not hostile to the welfare of our country. But all the answers of the court have been calculated to dispel these illusions. Let us, then, thank the government, for illusion is the worst of evils. We ask of the government neither money nor counsel; we make no attempt on the royal prerogative; we simply ask to be allowed to frame a law for the moral and material development of the people. And the government interferes to prevent us. But what will it gain by this interference? In more than one heart will be planted the bitter conviction, that the Austrian government dreads the prosperity of Hungary, and labours to repress it. False calculations! Can there be more short-sighted policy than to excite in us such bitter feelings, at the very moment of the dissolution of the diet, that we may communicate to our constituents these feelings, which will, in three years, again animate the representatives of the country? It is not necessary to be a prophet, to predict that this policy of the government will favour the development of the national faculties more than all polytechnic institutions.’

“The diet separated in May, 1836. The result of its labours fell short of the wishes and plans of the reformers, yet they must be regarded as having gained a signal victory. This victory was not achieved without cost. Every triumph of truth and justice has had its martyrs.

“It was during the sitting of the diet of 1832–36, that the name of Kossuth was heard for the first time. He attended the diet as scribe for some of the deputies. He had learned the art of short-hand writing, in order the better to qualify himself for making reports of the discussions in the diet. These reports he lithographed and circulated as a newspaper. The government declared the publication of the proceedings of the diet in this way to be illegal.[21] Kossuth then organized a society of young men, composed chiefly of the scribes who attended the deputies; these copied the journal by hand, and it was then transmitted to the subscribers through the post, in the form of a letter. These letters were seized in the post-office, and destroyed. This infringement of their rights only served to rouse the indignation of the people, and to give celebrity to the journal. The papers were thenceforth carried by the county messengers, and delivered at the doors of the subscribers. After the closing of the diet, Kossuth continued to edit his journal, giving, in the place of the deliberations of the diet, the discussions in the county assemblies. This journal being interdicted by the government, Kossuth made application to the county of Pest, and was formally authorized to continue it.

“The censorship of the press has never existed by law in Hungary, but, since the awakening of liberal ideas in that country, the Austrian government has exercised a censorship of the most formidable kind. It could not attack the publisher or author by process of law; but by a sudden act of arbitrary power, it cut off from the world the utterer of dangerous doctrines, and smothered his voice in the silence of the dungeon. Since the beginning of the present century, not less than forty Hungarian patriots had met this fate. It was thus that Kossuth was now dealt with. He was seized in the middle of the night, and consigned to a dungeon in Buda. The government arrested, at the same time, the leaders of a debating society, formed by some young men, who met for the purpose of political and literary discussions. Among these was Lovassy, a young man of brilliant talents and an ardent patriot. When the amnesty of 1840 restored him to liberty, he was no longer to be recognized; the horrors of the dungeon had deprived him of reason.

“Another victim of the vengeance of the government was the Baron Wesselényi. This nobleman was born of a family which had already made sacrifices to liberty. His ancestor, the Palatine, had defended the liberties of Hungary against the encroachments of Leopold, and would have lost his life on the scaffold, if he had not found refuge in Transylvania. The father of Wesselényi had sustained in his castle, for a whole day, the attack of a regiment of dragoons sent against him by Joseph II. His mother was a noble woman, who early impressed on his mind the principles of justice and benevolence. Wesselényi had long been an object of fear to the Austrian government. He possessed large estates both in Hungary and Transylvania; this gave him a right to sit in the diet of both kingdoms.

“The Transylvanians, not less attached to their liberties than the Hungarians, had seen them even more boldly infringed. The constitution of that kingdom requires that the king shall summon the diet every year. During the war with Napoleon, its convention had been suspended, and, after the return of peace, the Austrian cabinet still continued to govern the kingdom as a province of the empire. The dissatisfaction of the people was great. They watched with deep interest the movements of the patriots in the sister kingdom. They had seen these succeed in forcing from the government the restoration of their political rights, after a suspension of thirteen years. The news of the revolution of July, in Paris, which seemed at that time an event full of good augury for all who were engaged, whether openly or silently, in a struggle for their rights, spread rapidly through the country, and added to the popular excitement. It was then that Wesselényi appeared on the scene. He was a man peculiarly fitted to guide and control a popular movement. He possessed a vigorous intellect, improved by the highest degree of cultivation, invincible firmness, and a disinterestedness which his enemies have never impugned. He was not less endowed with all those qualities which possess a peculiar influence over the popular mind. To the prestige of high birth, he added the advantages of wealth, an imposing person, and a captivating eloquence. He possessed Herculean strength,—a gift held in high respect by a simple and martial people,—and an intrepid, almost reckless courage, which shrank from no form of danger, now leading him to brave the vengeance of a despotic government, now to put off alone at midnight in a frail boat, to save from the waters of the Danube the victims of an inundation.[22] Wesselényi might as easily have roused the Szeklers and Magyars of Transylvania to armed insurrection, as to a constitutional vindication of their rights. But while he called them to action, he restrained their enthusiasm within the bounds of law. He passed rapidly through the country, haranguing the congregations. He turned the excitement and unfixed purposes of the people to a single point. He brought the different counties into communication with each other, and led them to combine to demand the restoration of their political rights. The people rose at his summons, and the counties unanimously demanded of the king the convocation of the diet. The government did not venture to refuse the demand. The convocation of the diet was proclaimed. Wesselényi had gained a victory over the Austrian cabinet; but one which they would not fail to make him expiate. With this ardent and fearless temper, he was not long in offering them an occasion. During the diet of 1832–36, at the time when the government was endeavouring, through its emissaries, to misrepresent the views of the liberal party, and to excite the jealousies and prejudices of the nobles in opposition to reform, Wesselényi, in the county meeting of Szathmár, detailed and explained the measures which were contemplated by the reform party. In the course of his speech, he spoke bitterly of the injustice which the people suffered from the privileges of the aristocracy, and the check which the prosperity of the nation received from the policy of the government. Some of his expressions were pronounced to be treasonable, and he was condemned to three years’ imprisonment. It was immediately after his noble exertions during the inundation, and while his name was on all lips, that this decree was carried into execution. Three years’ imprisonment in an Austrian dungeon is a sentence whose terrors, in this country, cannot be easily comprehended. On a vigorous frame and energetic temperament, like Wesselényi’s, the damp and squalor of the dungeon, the privation of light and air, seem to act even more powerfully than on frailer and more elastic constitutions. In a year and a half, their work was done on Wesselényi. The government had no longer anything to apprehend from him. Blind and decrepit, he was permitted to leave his dungeon, on parole, to repair to Gräfenberg. He was finally released by the amnesty of 1840.

“‘It is with a noble serenity,’ says De Gerando, ‘that Wesselényi has borne the persecutions which have followed him. Proscribed for many years, broken by moral and physical pain, he has been able at length to return to his country, and it is to her that, prematurely old through suffering, he consecrates his last wishes and his last thoughts.’[23]

“The diet was again convened in 1839. The Austrian cabinet had returned to its old policy. The royal propositions contained no allusion to the topics which chiefly occupied the public mind. The royal speech at the opening of the diet concluded with these words:—

“‘As we have no greater desire than to testify to you, by our entire confidence, a love equal to that of our ancestors of glorious memory, so, likewise, we do not doubt, in any manner, of the zeal of our faithful states, nor of their eagerness to show themselves the worthy sons of those who have assured to the Hungarians the reputation of a generous nation. Among the subjects of which we shall treat with you, there is one which has its guarantee in the noble Hungarian character, since it tends to maintain the army in a condition worthy of its honour and glory.’

“This prefaced, after the ancient fashion of the Austrian kings of Hungary, a demand for subsidies.

“The first of the royal propositions demanded the reinforcement of the army; the second, supplies for its support. The only point affecting the interests of the country to which it called the attention of the diet, was the regulation of the course of the Danube.

“The liberal party did not, however, lose ground in the diet of 1839. Some new advantages were acquired for the peasant, and the privileges of the nobles were still further retrenched. The diet was dissolved on the 3d of May, 1840. The government, convinced by the result of this diet, of the strength of the liberal party, returned once more into the path of concession. At the closing of the diet, an amnesty for political offences was proclaimed. The prosecutions were stopped, and the prisoners set at liberty. Among these was Kossuth. He left his dungeon, with his bodily frame wasted and enfeebled, but with his mental faculties unimpaired and his energy unsubdued. He was released in May, 1840. On the 12th of July, of the same year, appeared the first number of the _Pesti Hirlap_. It was published by the bookseller Heckenast. The name of the editor was concealed. Never, since the rise of periodical literature, did journalist exercise such a power as that swayed by the unknown editor of the _Pesti Hirlap_. He attacked wrong and injustice in whatever quarter they showed themselves. He not only maintained a contest with the government for the constitutional liberties of the kingdom, but brought to light all malpractices which took place in the administration of public affairs throughout the country. Abuses to which the diet had in vain attempted to bring a remedy, fell before the attacks of the _Pesti Hirlap_. The minute knowledge which the editor displayed of the affairs of every part of the kingdom,—the vigilance from which it seemed that nothing could be hid,—above all, his rigorous justice,—inspired both admiration and fear, and gave a force to his judgments which nothing could withstand. In six months after its first publication, this journal numbered eleven thousand subscribers. These were of all classes and of all races. It was sought with equal eagerness by the Slaves and the Germans, as by the Magyars.

“But with the increased diffusion of liberal opinions, the opposition to them strengthened, and was gradually assuming a more selfish character. It became apparent that the advocates of reform would not be content with merely removing the most flagrant abuses. When the untitled nobility had laid down all the privileges which separated them from the common people, it was not to be supposed that the nation would see with indifference the enormous influence exerted in the state by a few families.[24] Already some of the liberal party had recalled the fact that the chamber of magnates was an innovation introduced under the Austrian administration, and there were many indications that the titled aristocracy would be called on to make some sacrifices in their turn. Experience has shown, again and again, that men who are capable, individually, of making the greatest sacrifices, become selfish and tenacious as members of an order. The interests of the magnates of Hungary, and those of the emperor of Austria, became every day more closely intertwined. There were still, however, among them noble examples of patriotism and disinterestedness. Széchényi was still true to the principles of his youth. The name of Batthyányi has been already consecrated by martyrdom.

“The diet was again convened for 1843. The Austrian cabinet had now abandoned the idea of intimidation, and returned to the line of policy it had adopted in 1832. The royal propositions called the attention of the diet to some of the principal measures of reform demanded by the liberal party. The charge of defeating them was left to the upper house. The two parties in the state, that adverse and that favourable to reform, were already known by the names of the government party and the opposition. Among the opponents of reform were found all who held offices by the appointment of the crown, and likewise—with regret it must be spoken—the dignitaries of the Church, who gave their influence and their votes constantly on the side of the Austrian government. Meanwhile, the same means were put in requisition, as in the case of the former diet, to defeat the election of the liberal candidates. Money was not spared. All the influence of the government and of the conservative magnates was called into exercise. But without effect. The voice of the nation pronounced itself, with decision, for the liberal side. The party of reform had, as before, a very large majority in the lower house. New victories were obtained for the cause of freedom. The most important measure which was passed during this session of the diet was that which gave the peasant the right to become the possessor of landed property, without restriction. The law of 1836 had given him the power of acquiring the property of the land which he held as tenant, by means of contracts between himself and the manorial lord. The act of 1843 permitted him to become the owner, by purchase, of noble property, as if himself noble. The advocates of this bill took the ground, that, by their ancient constitution, the peasant possessed this right, and that it was but a revival and confirmation of a law already existing, though long unrecognized. While this question was under debate, one of the members proposed, as an amendment, that this right should be extended only to such peasants as understood the Hungarian language; but he was instantly reminded by his colleagues, that ‘the law gave all the inhabitants of Hungary the title of Hungarians, and that all, having equally shed their blood for the defence of the country, had a right to share in the same advantages.’ The act was passed without any condition. It was likewise carried in the upper house, where it owed its success chiefly to the exertions of Count Széchényi.

“Another very important measure, which likewise originated at the second table, was carried during the diet of 1843. This was a law by which all public functions were rendered accessible to the non-nobles.

“The liberal party could not, however, yet succeed in obtaining the passage of a law for the equal distribution of the taxes. It was in vain that Széchényi exerted all his eloquence. The victory was still delayed. But, in the mean time, in anticipation of the law, great numbers of the liberal party caused themselves to be inscribed on the list of those subject to taxation. ‘There is not a county,’ says De Gerando, ‘in which the liberals have not, in crowds, given this proof of their patriotism.’[25]

“The chamber of deputies attempted several other measures of reform, which were lost through the opposition of the upper house. Among these were, the abolition of the _aviticitas_, and the introduction of trial by jury. The states likewise passed some decrees favourable to Hungarian commerce;[26] these having, with some difficulty, passed the upper house, were by the government ‘deferred to the next diet,’—a common mode, with the Austrian cabinet, of disposing of measures to which it does not venture to give a direct veto.

“The liberal members of the diet had not succeeded in carrying all their measures, but, during the short time they had been in session, they had rendered great service to the country, and they were confident of obtaining yet greater victories at the next convention of the national assembly, which was to take place in 1847.

“The government in 1845, finding all its attempts to arrest the progress of the liberal party unsuccessful, resolved to renew the attempt which had been made in the time of Joseph, and attack the liberty of Hungary in its very stronghold,—the municipal governments. Hungary has been, from the earliest times, divided into counties, each of which possesses an independent administration; so that the kingdom may be said to be composed of a number of small states, united by a federal compact, and represented, by their deputies, in the general diet of the nation. Each of these counties is presided over by a Föispán, or supreme count, who is usually one of the large landed proprietors of the county. Under him is an Alispán (Viscount), on whom the principal business of the county devolves. The salaries of these officers are, on the true republican principle, very moderate. The honour of serving the country is regarded as sufficient recompence. The law provides, that, in case of neglect of duty on the part of the Föispán, the king may, _at the instance of the county_, oblige him to resign his office into the hands of an administrator, to be named by the king. The government made the absence of some of these magistrates from the counties over which they presided the pretext for a general displacement. This was done without the consent of the counties, and even in cases where the Föispán had resigned his other offices for the purpose of devoting himself to the affairs of his county. The new administrators brought with them a complete set of under officers, and, instead of receiving the moderate stipend awarded by the county to its chief magistrate, had very large salaries from the Austrian government. It was the intention of the cabinet, by this illegal measure, to overrule the elections, as it had already done in Croatia.[27] The appointment of these administrators excited an indignation, which their conduct did not tend to allay. It was in vain, however, that the counties presented remonstrances to the king against the mal-administration of these functionaries. All complaints were disregarded, and this new encroachment on their rights was added to the list of grievances for whose redress the nation was to combat at the next meeting of the diet.

“In June, 1847, the opposition party issued a programme of the measures which they intended to advocate at the next meeting of the diet. They begin with declaring that, in giving their opposition or their support, they shall have regard, not to persons, but to acts; that they shall disapprove of those acts of the government only which are, in their form or their essence, illegal, or which are calculated to affect injuriously the interests of the country. They proceed to recount some of the most serious of the long-neglected grievances of the nation:—

“‘Our heavy grievances, so many times exposed, after a long course of years, in which we have asked, urged, waited, have remained even to this day without a remedy. They have become more bitter, because our legitimate complaints, so often heard, have never produced any result. It is for this reason that confidence and hope begin to fail.

“‘In the mass of our grievances there are some on which the opinion of the whole nation is unanimous, including the men who are now members of the Hungarian government. Nevertheless, the government does not seek to remedy the evil; we cannot see, on their part, any intention of relieving it.... In addition to our complaints of long standing, we find new grievances in recent acts of the government. We have no need to relate them in full; the public consultations of the counties, their representations and their circulars, have already fully exposed and registered them.... In this alarming situation of our country, we must strive to increase and strengthen the legal guarantees of our constitutional existence. We regard the responsibility of the government as one of these guarantees. This belongs to the very nature of constitutional government, and will form the best defence of the Hungarian government against the pernicious influence of foreign elements.

“‘Among the constitutional guarantees we count publicity. This we will maintain, with all our force, in regard to every branch of public life. We regard as a constitutional guarantee, and as a necessary means to our future national development, the liberty of the press, limited by suitable laws. We shall therefore insist upon the abolition of the censorship, which has been introduced contrary to law.

“‘We regard it as legal, equitable, and as important for the increase of the national strength and the security of our independence, that Transylvania and Hungary should be fully and legally united; that the two nations may be restored to each other, and the claims of kindred and the long-expressed wishes of both countries satisfied.

“‘But we shall not regard our mission as accomplished when we have fortified the guarantees of our constitutional existence. We believe ourselves called to labour continually for the accomplishment of all just reforms. We therefore resolutely declare, that we shall remain, for the future, on the ground on which the history of the last years has made the name of opposition synonymous with that of reform....

“‘In conformity with all that precedes, while we regard it as our indispensable duty to guard the right of the initiative, we also hold it our duty openly and clearly to point out the principal questions whose prompt solution we believe necessary for the good of the country:—

“‘1. The equal distribution of the public burdens. We regard it as our
principal duty to lighten the burdens of the people, who have hitherto
been alone subjected to taxation. We wish in this respect, also, to
strengthen our constitutional guarantees. We desire that the diet
should decide as to the disposition of the impost.

“‘2. Participation of the non-nobles, of the inhabitants of the royal
cities, and of the free districts, in legislative and municipal
rights.[28]

“‘3. Equality before the law.

“‘4. The abolition of the urbarial dues, with indemnity to the landed
proprietors. We think it desirable that steps should be taken to
render the redemption of these universal, through the assistance of
the state.

“‘5. Security given to credit and property by the abolition of the
_aviticitas_.

“‘We shall labour strenuously to call into life all that can tend to the material and intellectual development of the country. We shall endeavour to give to popular education, that powerful engine of national development, such a direction as shall form able and patriotic citizens, that the people may, by this means, likewise attain to personal independence....

“‘While labouring for the accomplishment of these ends, we shall never forget the relations which, by the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, exist between Hungary and the hereditary states of Austria. But at the same time, we shall hold fast to the tenth article of 1790, by which the royal word, sanctified by an oath, guaranteed to our nation that Hungary is a free country, independent in its whole system of legislation and of administration, and that it is not subordinate to any other country.’

“The events which took place in France and Austria in the spring of 1848 gave to the cause of liberal principles a speedier triumph than its advocates had anticipated for it. Ferdinand, in the midst of a crumbling empire, was in no condition to refuse the demands of his people. Immediately after the revolution of the 13th of March in Vienna, the opposition party in Hungary issued a proclamation, headed, ‘_Mit kiván a magyar nemzet?_’—‘What asks the Magyar nation?’

“This manifesto sets forth twelve points of reform:—

“‘1. We ask freedom of the press, and the abolition of the censorship.

“‘2. A responsible ministry at Buda.

“‘3. Annual diet at Pest.

“‘4. Equality before the law, both as regards religious and civil
rights.

“‘5. A national guard.

“‘6. An equal distribution of the public burdens.

“‘7. Abolition of the urbarial relations.

“‘8. Trial by jury.

“‘9. Representation on the principle of equality.

“‘10. A national bank.

“‘11. The army shall be required to take the oath to the constitution;
the Magyar troops shall not be taken out of the country; the foreign
troops shall be withdrawn.

“‘12. Union with Transylvania.’[29]

“To these articles, at the suggestion of Vahot, was added, the release of prisoners confined for political offences.[30]

“It is to be observed that these demands for equality before the law, and an equal distribution of the taxes, were not made by those who suffered by the existing injustice,—until these reforms were carried, these had no voice in any public matter,—but by the very persons whose privileges were to be abrogated.

“These measures of reform were rapidly passed by the diet. A deputation of Hungarian nobles then proceeded to Vienna, to lay them before the king, and obtain his sanction.

“On the 19th of March, placards, affixed to the walls of Pest, announced to the people that the royal assent to their demands had been obtained. A copy of a letter was given, addressed by the Palatine to Count Batthyányi, empowering him to form the long-desired Hungarian ministry. This announcement seemed to give the final pledge of the reality and permanence of their newly gained freedom. The people were satisfied. They had never had any other desire than to live quietly under just and equal laws. They believed their end accomplished. A partaker in the scenes of the 15th to the 19th of March, writing while the hopes of the people were still fresh, and before they had even a foreboding of the terrible disenchantment which was to follow, speaks thus:—

“‘That which in Italy has cost streams of blood, that to which, in France, hundreds and hundreds of men fell as sin-offerings, that which Germany must buy with blood, and again blood,—that have we Hungarians, who have been decried, through all Europe, as a seditious, lawless, turbulent people, gained without any disturbance of the public order. Our victory was no victory of force, but a victory of right,—a victory of intelligence. Our revolution was a revolution against disorder, to obtain the highest good of a free people,—order.’[31]

“Another eyewitness thus describes the effect produced on the people of Pest by the announcement of the royal assent:—

“‘It would be impossible to describe the joy which everywhere manifested itself. With deeply penetrated, devout hearts, we hastened to the church, to give thanks to the Omnipotent for this speedy bloodless accomplishment of our transformation. The church, when we entered, was filled with people, the sight of whose deep, enthusiastic devotion elevated the heart with a sublime feeling. When we left the church, I felt as if newly born, newly baptized.’[32]

“But this apparent triumph of their rights did but hasten the crisis which Austria had been for years preparing for the Hungarian nation.[33] While they were returning thanks to God for their freedom, redeemed without blood, Jellachich was receiving his orders from the Austrian cabinet.

“On the 24th of March, only five days after the date of the letter to Count Batthyányi, which had excited so much joy and gratitude among the people, the Palatine Stephen, son of the old, beloved Palatine Joseph, and who was himself possessed of the affection and confidence of the Hungarian people, addressed to the emperor a letter, in which he set forth the ‘three measures’ through which ‘alone’ he ‘hoped to accomplish anything in Hungary.’

“The first measure was to withdraw all the military force from the country, and to ‘abandon it to entire devastation,’ (dieses der gänzlichen Verwüstung zu überlassen,) to ‘pillage and fire,’ while the government was to look passively on. The second measure was to make an attempt upon Count Batthyányi, the President of the Hungarian ministry, and, through his means, ‘to save all that is to be saved.’ The third measure was to recall the Palatine, and to send a royal commissioner, invested with extraordinary powers, with a considerable armed force, to Presburg, who should repair to Pest, after the dissolution of the diet, and there carry on the government with a strong hand, in such a manner as circumstances may require.’[34] The Austrian cabinet adopted each of these measures in turn. The first was already in progress of preparation. Until their plans were matured for carrying the third into execution, it was necessary still to temporize. The good faith of the Hungarian ministry was not to be tampered with, but their credulity might be practised upon. They were, for a time, not less deceived than the rest of the nation.

“On the 11th of April, Ferdinand gave in person, at Presburg, his solemn sanction to the laws which had been promulgated in March. On the 10th of the following month, he issued a proclamation, addressed to the rebellious Croats and Servians, in which Jellachich was denounced as a traitor, and deprived of his banship, and all his military employments. In this proclamation, Ferdinand himself exposes the futility of the accusations which had been brought against the Hungarians as oppressors of the other races. He upbraids the rebels with their treason, in the following terms:—

“‘We have been deceived in you,—in you, Croats and Slavonians, who, for eight hundred years, under the same crown, sharing the destinies of Hungary, _have owed to this bond the constitutional freedom which you alone, among all Slavonian people, have been through a course of centuries in a condition to retain_.

“‘We find ourselves deceived in you,—_you, who have not only always shared equally in all the rights and privileges of the Hungarian constitution_, but also, by the favour of our illustrious ancestors, in reward of your spotless fidelity, have been invested with greater privileges than any other subjects of our sacred Hungarian crown.

“‘We have been deceived in you to whom the last diet of Hungary and its dependent states granted, agreeably to our royal will, a brotherly share in all the benefits of constitutional freedom and equality before the law. The right of constitutional representation has, with you, as in Hungary, been extended to the people, so that not only the nobility, but also the other inhabitants, and the frontier regiments, through their deputies, may take part, as well in the general legislation as also in your municipal assemblies, and thus you yourselves, through your own immediate action, can forward your own prosperity. Hitherto the noble has had little share in the public burdens; henceforward the uniform distribution of the same among all the inhabitants, without distinction of class, is established by law, and thereby an oppressive burden has been taken from your shoulders.

“‘Your nationality and municipal rights, in regard to which an attempt has been made, by malicious, false reports, to inspire you with apprehensions, are not in any way threatened; on the contrary, they have been extended and strengthened, secured against all attacks; for _the use of your mother tongue has not only been secured to you by law in your schools and churches, for all future time, but has also been introduced into your public assemblies, in place of the Latin, hitherto in use_.

“‘Calumniators have endeavoured to persuade you that the Hungarian nation wishes to suppress your language, or to hinder its further development. _We ourselves assure you these reports are entirely false._

“‘_For eight hundred years have you been united with Hungary; during all this time, the legislature has acted with a regard to your nationality; how could you, then, believe that this same legislature would now show itself hostile to your mother tongue, which it has protected for eight hundred years?..._

“‘The law is holy, and must be holy. _We have sworn by the living God, that we will preserve the integrity of our Hungarian crown, that we will maintain and obey the constitution and the laws, and cause others to obey them._’

“This proclamation had the effect of confirming the Hungarians in their false security. It had no other effect. Jellachich continued to raise troops, and complete his preparations for the invasion of Hungary. The other agents of Austria in Southern Hungary incited the peasants with the hope of the rich plunder of the Hungarian towns and villages. The work of devastation began immediately after the promulgation of this edict.

“On the opening of the diet, on the 5th of July, the Palatine, in the name of the king, expressed his reprobation of the rebels in Croatia and Slavonia, who, as he said, had even dared to use the royal name, and to resist the laws under the pretext that they were not the free expression of the royal will. He assured them that it was his majesty’s desire that the representatives of the nation should consider it their first duty to take the necessary measures for restoring the tranquillity of the country, for preserving the integrity of the Hungarian kingdom, and for maintaining the sacred inviolability of the law. With this view, he recommended them to bestow their earliest attention _on the defence of the country and the state of the finances_. He declared that the king regarded with signal displeasure the audacious conduct of those who had ventured to assert that any act of disobedience to the law could be pleasing to his Majesty.

“In the mean time the southern provinces of Hungary were already a prey to fire and massacre,[35] while the Austrian generals looked quietly on. It was not until the 11th of July, that the nation was roused to a sense of its danger, and, on the motion of Kossuth, ordered a levy of men to defend the country against invasion.

“In August, the Austrian cabinet threw off the mask: the imperial troops began to march towards Zágráb, and to place themselves under the command of Jellachich. In their reply to the remonstrances of the Hungarian diet, the ministry at Vienna now spoke openly of the Croatian and Servian rebels as the brothers in arms of the imperial army.

“On the 4th of September, the emperor addressed a letter to the same Jellachich whom, not two months before, he had denounced as a traitor, in which he speaks of the ‘_indubitable proofs of fidelity and attachment which the Freiherr von Jellachich had repeatedly displayed since he has been named Ban of Croatia_.’

“The Hungarians made yet one more attempt to avoid an open collision with the Austrian government. On the 9th of September, a deputation of one hundred and sixty Hungarians, at whose head was Pazmandy, the president of the chamber of deputies, repaired to Vienna, to entreat the emperor of Austria to show himself the king of Hungary, and ‘to contribute to the rescue of the fatherland by throwing the weight of his royal authority into the scale.’ The king drew from his pocket a written paper, and read them, in an indifferent voice, a cold and evasive answer.

“The deputation returned to Pest, to announce to the Hungarian people, that they were to rely only on themselves. On the same day, Jellachich, at the head of the imperial forces, passed the Drave.

“It was thus that the war between Hungary and Austria began. From this period, the eyes of the world have been turned upon Hungary. Our readers have yet fresh in their recollection the scene of this war, in which the Hungarians extorted admiration even from their enemies. It is not our intention to retrace them here. We have designed only, in this rapid sketch, to place in a condensed form before those of our readers who had not, previous to the breaking out of the late contest, directed their attention towards Hungary, such a statement of the antecedent relations of that country with Austria as shall enable them to form an equitable judgment of the events of which they have been witness, and of those which the next decade is to develop.”

M.L.P.

It may seem remarkable, that the History of the Crimes of the House of Austria should be closed just with the stirring up a war, which concentrates and epitomizes all the crimes of five hundred years, against a virtue, which, for eight hundred years, had been one long struggle for the development of the noblest constitution of the Eastern Continent, a Constitution thirteen times all but overthrown by despots, and thirteen times reinstated by the patriotic energy of its liberty and law-loving people.

But the object of this compilation is especially to show, that the Austrian house has been acting, in the war of Hungary, wholly according to its nature; for that its whole conduct from Rodolph downwards, with reference not merely to Hungary, but to every nation and province of a nation, with which it has come into contact, demonstrates, that it is an enemy to all international law which deserves the name of _Public Right_; and imperatively calls upon all constitutional nations, in self-defence, or, at least in defence of the principle which is their strength, to withdraw from it their support and countenance.

It would be unjust to give less than a volume to the history of this war; a war unrivalled since the days, when Athens and Sparta, at the gate of Europe, stemmed the millions of Asia, that were threatening to overwhelm the only spot on Earth, where Freedom was self-conscious and intelligent.

Indeed, the historian cannot fail to see a certain parallel between this crisis of the world’s history, and that culminating point of antiquity, the world-renowned, time-honoured Persian war. For more than two thousand years had Syria, Babylon, Media, Nineveh, Egypt, Ethiopia and Persia been developing every resource of the gardens of the world, from the banks of the Nile to the Indus; and they had formed a commercial web[36] of power and wealth, which stretched from China (the ancient Serica) in the East, to the Gulf of Guinea, along the North of Africa to Spain, and thence coastwise to Britain on the West, and concentrated in their great capitals the material resources of the Earth, as may be discerned, with the eyes of the present day, upon the monuments that yet remain to astonish us by their colossal proportions, and their historical memorials, and by the gem cylinders, whose date seems as endless as their influence was deep.[37] At the end of the sixth century before Christ, those vast regions had been centralized by the military genius of Cyrus, and the administrative skill more than the military genius of Darius Hystaspes, so that all their productions, and their inhabitants, with all their time and labour, physical strength and genius, were at his personal command.[38]