FOOTNOTES:

A party at the Austrian court, opposed to all concessions, and desirous still to revert to the patriarchal system that had been overturned, saw in the established constitutional freedom of Hungary the greatest impediment to the success of their plans. Seeking everywhere the means of producing a reaction, it found in Croatia a party which had been endeavouring to get up a Sclavonic movement in favour of what they called Illyrian nationality, and which was therefore opposed to Majjar ascendency in Hungary. The peculiar organisation of the military frontier, which extends from the Adriatic to the frontiers of Russia, and which is in fact a military colony in Hungary, under the immediate influence and authority of Austria, and composed almost exclusively of a Sclavonic population, afforded facilities for exciting disturbances in Hungary. But it was necessary to provide leaders for the Sclavonic revolt against the Hungarians. Baron Joseph Jellachich, colonel of a Croat regiment in the army of Italy, was selected by the agitators for reaction as a man fitted by his position, his character, and military talents, as well as by his ambition, to perform this duty in Croatia. He was named Ban of that province, without consulting the Hungarian ministry, whose countersignature was necessary to legalise the nomination. This was the first breach of faith committed by the imperial government; but the Hungarian ministry, desirous to avoid causes of difference, acquiesced in the appointment, and invited the Ban to put himself in communication with them. His first act was to interdict the Croat magistrates from holding any communication with the government of Hungary, of which Croatia is a province, declaring that the Croat revolt was encouraged by the king. On the representation of the Hungarian ministry, the king, in an autograph letter, dated 29th May, reprobated the proceedings of the Ban, and summoned him to Innspruck. On the 10th of June, by a royal ordinance, he was suspended from all his functions, civil and military; but Jellachich retained his position, and declared that he was acting in accordance with the real wishes and instructions of his sovereign, while these public ordinances were extorted by compulsion. At the same time, and by similar means, a revolt of the Serbes on the Lower Danube was organised by Stephen Suplikacs, another colonel of a frontier regiment, aided by the Greek patriarch. Several counties, some of which were principally inhabited by Hungarians, Wallacks, andGermans, were declared to have been formed into a Serbe Vayoodat or government, which was to be in alliance with Croatia. The Serbes, joined by bands from Turkish Servia, attacked the neighbouring Hungarian villages, slaughtered the inhabitants, and plundered the country. But this did not prevent Jellachich, who had been denounced and charged with high treason, or the Greek patriarch Rajaesis, the accomplice of Suplikacs, from being received by the emperor and his brother, the Archduke Francis Charles, at Innspruck. In a letter, dated the 4th of June, addressed to the frontier regiments stationed in Italy, Jellachich declared that the imperial family of Austria encouraged the insurrections against the Hungarians. Meanwhile the Serbes were carrying on a war of extermination, massacring the inhabitants, burning towns and villages, even when they encountered no resistance; and a force was collected on the frontiers of Croatia with the manifest intention of invading Hungary.

"In such a crisis," says Count L. Teleki, "the Hungarian government experienced the most painful feelings. Condemned to inaction while entire populations were being exterminated, it acquired the sad conviction that the Austrian ministry only kept the national troops out of the country, and abandoned Hungary to the protection of foreign troops, through connivance with the enemy."

The revolt continued to be pushed forward in the name of the emperor-king, and the diet was about to be opened. The Hungarian ministers, therefore, entreated his majesty to open the diet in person, in order by his presence to prove the falsehood of the enemies of Hungary; but the invitation had no effect.

The new national assembly of Hungary, returned for the first time by the suffrage of all classes of the nation, was opened at Pesth, when it was found that, with scarcely an exception, all the members of the diet, formerly elected by the nobles, had been again returned—so calmly had the people exercised their newly-acquired privileges. On the 2d of July the Archduke Palatine, who had been unanimously chosen by the diet on the presentation of the king, alluded in his opening speech to a revolt in Croatia, and to the proceedings of armed bands in the counties of the Lower Danube. His Imperial Highness made the following statement:—

"His majesty the king has seen with profound grief, after having spontaneously sanctioned the laws voted by the last diet, because they were favourable to the development of the country, that agitators, especially in Croatia and the Lower Danube, had excited against each other the inhabitants of different creeds and races, by false reports and vain alarms, and had urged them to resist the laws and the legislative authority, asserting that they were not the free expression of his majesty's will. Some have gone so far to encourage the revolt, as to pretend that their resistance is made in the interest of the royal family, and with the knowledge and consent of his majesty. For the purpose, therefore, of tranquillising the inhabitants of those countries, I declare, in the name of his majesty, their lord and king, that his majesty is firmly resolved to protect the unity and the inviolability of the royal crown of Hungary, against all attack from without or disturbance in the interior of the kingdom, and to carry out the laws which he has sanctioned. At the same time that his majesty would not allow any infraction of the lawful rights of his subjects, he blames, and in this all the members of the royal family agree with him, the audacity of those who have dared to pretend that illegal acts are compatible with the wishes of his majesty, or were done in the interest of the royal family. His majesty sanctioned, with the greatest satisfaction, the incorporation of Transylvania with Hungary, not only because he thus gratified the ardent desire of his beloved people—both Hungarians and Transylvanians—but also because the union of the two countries will give a more firm support to the throne and to liberty, by the combined development of their power and their prosperity."

The diet, rejoiced by these assurances, immediately sent a deputation to entreat the king to repair to Pesth, as the only means of disabusing the minds of the Croats and Serbes, who were made to believe that his public acts were the result of coercion. The prayer of the deputation was refused. The Servian insurrection continued to gain ground; the Austrian troops stationed in Hungary, for the defence of the country,refused to obey the government, and at length a communication to the Hungarian ministry, dated the 29th of June, three days prior to the speech of the Archduke Palatine, announced the intention of the Austrian ministry to put an end to the neutrality it had hitherto observed, and to support Croatia openly. All the Hungarians were then convinced that their constitution, and the independence of the country, must be defended by force of arms. But the ministry and the diet would not depart from the constitutional and legal course. A levy of 200,000 men was decreed, as well as an issue of bank-notes to cover the deficits; and the acts were presented for the royal assent by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice: but a long time elapsed before any reply could be obtained. In the mean time the situation of the country every day became worse, and another deputation was sent to the king, headed by the president of the Chamber of Deputies, to obtain the royal assent to the laws already presented; the recall of the Hungarian troops of the line, quartered everywhere except in Hungary; and orders to the foreign troops stationed in that country to discharge their duty faithfully. Finally the king was again entreated to come into his kingdom, to restore to her peace and order. The deputation received an evasive reply. But at the same time, and while the two ministers were at Vienna, the king, without acquainting them, despatched, on the 31st of August, a letter to the Palatine, directing him to send several members of the Hungarian ministry to Vienna, for the purpose of concerting measures with the Austrian ministry, to consolidate and insure the unity of the government and of the monarchy, and to open negotiations with the Croats for the reconciliation of their differences. But the king declared it to be an indispensable condition that the Ban Jellachich—who in the end of May had been denounced as a traitor—should take a part in the conferences; that all preparations for war should cease on both sides; and that the districts of the military frontier, which have always formed part of Hungary, should be provisionally subject to the Austrian ministry.In this same documenta communication was made to the Hungarian ministry, of a note of the Austrian government, on the relations to be established between Austria and Hungary. It was stated "that the provisions of the law of 1848, by which the Archduke Palatine had been appointed depository of the royal authority, and chief of the executive power in the absence of the king—and by which a responsible ministry had been conceded to Hungary, detaching from the central government of Vienna the administration of war, finance, and commerce—were contrary to the Pragmatic Sanction, opposed to the legal relations between Austria and Hungary, and detrimental alike to the interests of Hungary and Austria. These concessions were declared illegal and of none effect, under the pretext that they had not been consented to by the responsible Austrian ministry; and although they had been sanctioned by the royal word on the 11th of April, and again formally recognised in the speech from the throne on the 2d July, it was announced that these laws were to be considerably modified, in order that a central power might be established at Vienna."

Never, we venture to say, was a discreditable breach of public faith palliated on pretexts more futile. Hungary is as independent of the Hereditary States as the Hereditary States are of Hungary; and, in matters relating to Hungary, the ministers of Austria, responsible or irresponsible, have no more right to interfere between the King and his Hungarian ministers, or Hungarian diet, than these have to interfere between the Emperor of Austria and his Austrian ministers, in matters relating to the Hereditary States. The pretension to submit the decisions of the Hungarian diet, sanctioned by the King, to the approval or disapproval of the Austrian ministers, is too absurd to have been resorted to in good faith. The truth appears to be, that the successes of the gallant veteran Radetzki, and of the Austrian army in Italy, which has so well sustained its ancient reputation,had emboldened the Austrian government to retrace the steps that had been taken by the emperor. Trusting to the movements hitherto successful in Croatia and the Danubian provinces of Hungary,—to the absence of the Hungarian army, and of all efficient preparation for defence on the part of the Hungarian government, and elated with military success in Italy,—the Austrian ministers resumed their intention to subvert the constitution of Hungary, and to fuse the various parts of the emperor's dominions into one whole. Their avidity to accomplish this object prevented their perceiving the stain they were affixing to the character of the empire, and the honour of the emperor; or the injury they were thereby inflicting on the cause of monarchy all over the world. "Honour and good faith, if driven from every other asylum, ought to find a refuge in the breasts of princes." And the ministers who sully the honour of their confiding prince, do more to injure monarchy, and therefore to endanger the peace and security of society, than the rabble who shout for Socialism.

The Austrian ministry did not halt in their course. They made the emperor-king recall, on the 4th September, the decree which suspended Jellachich from all his dignities, as a person accused of high treason. This was done on the pretext that the accusations against the Ban were false, and that he had exhibited undeviating fidelity to the house of Austria. He was reinstated in all his offices at a moment when he was encamped with his army on the frontiers of Hungary, preparing to invade that kingdom. In consequence of this proceeding, the Hungarian ministry, which had been appointed in March, gave in their resignation. The Palatine, by virtue of his full powers, called upon Count Louis Bathianyi to form a new ministry. All hope of a peaceful adjustment seemed to be at an end; but, as a last resource, a deputation of the Hungarian deputies was sent to propose to the representatives of Austria, that the two countries should mutually guarantee to each other their constitutions and their independence. The deputation was not received.

Count Louis Bathianyi undertook the direction of affairs, upon the condition that Jellachich, whose troops had already invaded Hungary, should be ordered to retire beyond the boundary. The king replied, that this condition could not be accepted before the other ministers were known.

But Jellachich had passed the Drave with an army of Croats and Austrian regiments. His course was marked by plunder and devastation; and so little was Hungary prepared for resistance, that he advanced to the lake of Balaton without firing a shot. The Archduke Palatine took the command of the Hungarian forces, hastily collected to oppose the Ban; but, after an ineffectual attempt at reconciliation, he set off for Vienna, whence he sent the Hungarians his resignation.

The die was now cast, and the diet appealed to the nation. The people roseen masse. The Hungarian regiments of the line declared for their country. Count Lemberg had been appointed by the king to the command of all the troops stationed in Hungary; but the diet could no longer leave the country at the mercy of the sovereign who had identified himself with the proceedings of its enemies, and they declared the appointment illegal, on the ground that it was not countersigned, as the laws required, by one of the ministers. They called upon the authorities, the citizens, the army, and Count Lemberg himself, to obey this decree under pain of high treason. Regardless of this proceeding, Count Lemberg hastened to Pesth, and arrived at a moment when the people were flocking from all parts of the country to oppose the army of Jellachich. A cry was raised that the gates of Buda were about to be closed by order of the count, who was at this time recognised by the populace as he passed the bridge towards Buda, and brutally murdered. It was the act of an infuriated mob, for which it is not difficult to account, but which nothing can justify. The diet immediately ordered the murderers to be brought to trial, but they had absconded. This was the only act of popular violence committed in the capital of Hungary.

On the 29th of September, Jellachich was defeated in a battle fought within twelve miles of Pesth. The Ban fled, abandoning to their fate thedetached corps of his army; and the Croat rearguard, ten thousand strong, surrendered, with Generals Roth and Philipovits, who commanded it.

In detailing the events subsequent to the 11th of April 1848, we have followed the Hungarian manifesto, published in Paris by Count Ladeslas Teleki, whose character is a sufficient security for the fidelity of his statements; and the English translation of that document by Mr Brown, which is understood to have been executed under the Count's own eye. But we have not relied upon the Count alone, nor even upon the official documents he has printed. We have availed ourselves of other sources of information equally authentic. One of the documents, which had previously been transmitted to us from another quarter, and which, we perceive, has also been printed by the Count, is so remarkable, both because of the persons from whom it emanates, and the statements it contains, that, although somewhat lengthy, we think it right to give it entire.

The Roman-Catholic Clergy of Hungary to his Apostolic Majesty, Ferdinand V., King of Hungary.Representation presented to the Emperor-King, in the name of the Clergy, by the Archbishop of Gran, Primate of Hungary, and by the Archbishop of Erlaw.

The Roman-Catholic Clergy of Hungary to his Apostolic Majesty, Ferdinand V., King of Hungary.

Representation presented to the Emperor-King, in the name of the Clergy, by the Archbishop of Gran, Primate of Hungary, and by the Archbishop of Erlaw.

"Sire! Penetrated with feelings of the most profound sorrow at the sight of the innumerable calamities and the internal evils which desolate our unhappy country, we respectfully address your Majesty, in the hope that you may listen with favour to the voice of those, who, after having proved their inviolable fidelity to your Majesty, believe it to be their duty, as heads of the Hungarian Church, at last to break silence, and to bear to the foot of the throne their just complaints, for the interests of the church, of the country, and of the monarchy."Sire!—We refuse to believe that your Majesty is correctly informed of the present state of Hungary. We are convinced that your Majesty, in consequence of your being so far away from our unfortunate country, knows neither the misfortunes which overwhelm her, nor the evils which immediately threaten her, and which place the throne itself in danger, unless your Majesty applies a prompt and efficacious remedy, by attending to nothing but the dictates of your own good heart."Hungary is actually in the saddest and most deplorable situation. In the south, an entire race, although enjoying all the civil and political rights recognised in Hungary, has been in open insurrection for several months, excited and led astray by a party which seems to have adopted the frightful mission of exterminating the Majjar and German races, which have constantly been the strongest and surest support of your Majesty's throne. Numberless thriving towns and villages have become a prey to the flames, and have been totally destroyed; thousands of Majjar and German subjects are wandering about without food or shelter, or have fallen victims to indescribable cruelty—for it is revolting to repeat the frightful atrocities by which the popular rage, let loose by diabolical excitement, ventures to display itself."These horrors were, however, but the prelude to still greater evils, which were about to fall upon our country. God forbid that we should afflict your Majesty with the hideous picture of all our misfortunes! Suffice it to say, that the different races who inhabit your kingdom of Hungary, stirred up, excited one against the other by infernal intrigues, only distinguish themselves by pillage, incendiarism, and murder, perpetrated with the greatest refinement of atrocity."Sire!—The Hungarian nation, heretofore the firmest bulwark of Christianity and civilisation against the incessant attacks of barbarism, often experienced rude shocks in that protracted struggle for life and death; but at no period did there gather over her head so many and so terrible tempests, never was she entangled in the meshes of so perfidious an intrigue, never had she to submit to treatment so cruel, and at the same time so cowardly—and yet, oh! profound sorrow! all these horrors are committed in the name, and, as they assure us, by the order of your Majesty."Yes, Sire! it is under your government, and in the name of your Majesty, that our flourishing towns are bombarded, sacked, and destroyed. In the name of your Majesty, they butcher the Majjars and Germans. Yes, sire! all this is done; and they incessantly repeat it, in the name and by the order of your Majesty, who nevertheless has proved, in a manner so authentic and so recent, your benevolent and paternal intentions towards Hungary. In the name of your Majesty, who in the last Diet of Presburg, yielding to the wishes of the Hungarian nation, and to the exigencies of the time, consented to sanction and confirmby your royal word and oath, the foundation of a new constitution, established on the still broader foundation of a perfectly independent government."It is for this reason that the Hungarian nation, deeply grateful to your Majesty, accustomed also to receive from her king nothing but proofs of goodness really paternal, when he listens only to the dictates of his own heart, refuses to believe, and we her chief pastors also refuse to believe, that your Majesty either knows, or sees with indifference, still less approves the infamous manner in which the enemies of our country, and of our liberties, compromise the kingly majesty, arming the populations against each other, shaking the very foundations of the constitution, frustrating legally established powers, seeking even to destroy in the hearts of all the love of subjects for their sovereign, by saying that your Majesty wishes to withdraw from your faithful Hungarians the concessions solemnly sworn to and sanctioned in the diet; and, finally, to wrest from the country her character of a free and independent kingdom."Already, Sire! have these new laws and liberties, giving the surest guarantees for the freedom of the people, struck root so deeply in the hearts of the nation, that public opinion makes it our duty to represent to your Majesty, that the Hungarian people could not but lose that devotion and veneration, consecrated and proved on so many occasions, up to the present time, if it was attempted to make them believe that the violation of the laws, and of the government sanctioned and established by your majesty, is committed with the consent of the king."But if, on the one hand, we are strongly convinced that your majesty has taken no part in the intrigues so basely woven against the Hungarian people, we are not the less persuaded, that that people, taking arms to defend their liberty, have stood on legal ground, and that in obeying instinctively the supreme law of nations,which demands the safety of all, they have at the same time saved the dignity of the throne and the monarchy, greatly compromised by advisers as dangerous as they are rash."Sire! We, the chief pastors of the greatest part of the Hungarian people, know better than any others their noble sentiments; and we venture to assert, in accordance with history, that there does not exist a people more faithful to their monarchs than the Hungarians, when they are governed according to their laws."We guarantee to your majesty, that this people, such faithful observers of order and of the civil laws in the midst of the present turmoils, desire nothing but the peaceable enjoyment of the liberties granted and sanctioned by the throne."In this deep conviction, moved also by the sacred interests of the country and the good of the church, which sees in your majesty her first and principal defender, we, the bishops of Hungary, humbly entreat your majesty patiently to look upon our country now in danger. Let your majesty deign to think a moment upon the lamentable situation in which this wretched country is at present, where thousands of your innocent subjects, who formerly all lived together in peace and brotherhood on all sides, notwithstanding difference of races, now find themselves plunged into the most frightful misery by their civil wars."The blood of the people is flowing in torrents—thousands of your majesty's faithful subjects are, some massacred, others wandering about without shelter, and reduced to beggary—our towns, our villages, are nothing but heaps of ashes—the clash of arms has driven the faithful people from our temples, which have become deserted—the mourning church weeps over the fall of religion, and the education of the people is interrupted and abandoned."The frightful spectre of wretchedness increases, and develops itself every day under a thousand hideous forms. The morality, and with it the happiness of the people, disappear in the gulf of civil war."But let your majesty also deign to reflect upon the terrible consequences of these civil wars; not only as regards their influence on the moral and substantial interests of the people, but also as regards their influence upon the security and stability of the monarchy. Let your majesty hasten to speak one of those powerful words which calm tempests!—the flood rises, the waves are gathering, and threaten to engulf the throne!"Let a barrier be speedily raised against those passions excited and let loose with infernal art amongst populations hitherto so peaceable. How is it possible to make people who have been inspired with the most frightful thirst—that of blood—return within the limits of order, justice, and moderation?"Who will restore to the regal majesty the original purity of its brilliancy, of its splendour, after having dragged that majesty in the mire of the most evil passions? Who will restore faith and confidence in the royal word and oath? Who will render an account to the tribunal ofthe living God, of the thousands of individuals who have fallen, and fall every day, innocent victims to the fury of civil war?"Sire! our duty as faithful subjects, the good of the country, and the honour of our religion, have inspired us to make these humble but sincere remonstrances, and have bid us raise our voices! So, let us hope, that your majesty will not merely receive our sentiments, but that, mindful of the solemn oath that you took on the day of your coronation, in the face of heaven, not only to defend the liberties of the people, but to extend them still further—that, mindful of this oath, to which you appeal so often and so solemnly, you will remove from your royal person the terrible responsibility that these impious and bloody wars heap upon the throne, and that you will tear off the tissue of vile falsehoods with which pernicious advisers beset you, by hastening, with prompt and strong resolution, to recall peace and order to our country, which was always the firmest prop of your throne, in order that, with Divine assistance, that country, so severely tried, may again see prosperous days; in order that, in the midst of profound peace, she may raise a monument of eternal gratitude to the justice and paternal benevolence of her king."Signed at Pesth, the 28th Oct. 1848,"The Bishops of the Catholic Church of Hungary."

"Sire!—We refuse to believe that your Majesty is correctly informed of the present state of Hungary. We are convinced that your Majesty, in consequence of your being so far away from our unfortunate country, knows neither the misfortunes which overwhelm her, nor the evils which immediately threaten her, and which place the throne itself in danger, unless your Majesty applies a prompt and efficacious remedy, by attending to nothing but the dictates of your own good heart.

"Hungary is actually in the saddest and most deplorable situation. In the south, an entire race, although enjoying all the civil and political rights recognised in Hungary, has been in open insurrection for several months, excited and led astray by a party which seems to have adopted the frightful mission of exterminating the Majjar and German races, which have constantly been the strongest and surest support of your Majesty's throne. Numberless thriving towns and villages have become a prey to the flames, and have been totally destroyed; thousands of Majjar and German subjects are wandering about without food or shelter, or have fallen victims to indescribable cruelty—for it is revolting to repeat the frightful atrocities by which the popular rage, let loose by diabolical excitement, ventures to display itself.

"These horrors were, however, but the prelude to still greater evils, which were about to fall upon our country. God forbid that we should afflict your Majesty with the hideous picture of all our misfortunes! Suffice it to say, that the different races who inhabit your kingdom of Hungary, stirred up, excited one against the other by infernal intrigues, only distinguish themselves by pillage, incendiarism, and murder, perpetrated with the greatest refinement of atrocity.

"Sire!—The Hungarian nation, heretofore the firmest bulwark of Christianity and civilisation against the incessant attacks of barbarism, often experienced rude shocks in that protracted struggle for life and death; but at no period did there gather over her head so many and so terrible tempests, never was she entangled in the meshes of so perfidious an intrigue, never had she to submit to treatment so cruel, and at the same time so cowardly—and yet, oh! profound sorrow! all these horrors are committed in the name, and, as they assure us, by the order of your Majesty.

"Yes, Sire! it is under your government, and in the name of your Majesty, that our flourishing towns are bombarded, sacked, and destroyed. In the name of your Majesty, they butcher the Majjars and Germans. Yes, sire! all this is done; and they incessantly repeat it, in the name and by the order of your Majesty, who nevertheless has proved, in a manner so authentic and so recent, your benevolent and paternal intentions towards Hungary. In the name of your Majesty, who in the last Diet of Presburg, yielding to the wishes of the Hungarian nation, and to the exigencies of the time, consented to sanction and confirmby your royal word and oath, the foundation of a new constitution, established on the still broader foundation of a perfectly independent government.

"It is for this reason that the Hungarian nation, deeply grateful to your Majesty, accustomed also to receive from her king nothing but proofs of goodness really paternal, when he listens only to the dictates of his own heart, refuses to believe, and we her chief pastors also refuse to believe, that your Majesty either knows, or sees with indifference, still less approves the infamous manner in which the enemies of our country, and of our liberties, compromise the kingly majesty, arming the populations against each other, shaking the very foundations of the constitution, frustrating legally established powers, seeking even to destroy in the hearts of all the love of subjects for their sovereign, by saying that your Majesty wishes to withdraw from your faithful Hungarians the concessions solemnly sworn to and sanctioned in the diet; and, finally, to wrest from the country her character of a free and independent kingdom.

"Already, Sire! have these new laws and liberties, giving the surest guarantees for the freedom of the people, struck root so deeply in the hearts of the nation, that public opinion makes it our duty to represent to your Majesty, that the Hungarian people could not but lose that devotion and veneration, consecrated and proved on so many occasions, up to the present time, if it was attempted to make them believe that the violation of the laws, and of the government sanctioned and established by your majesty, is committed with the consent of the king.

"But if, on the one hand, we are strongly convinced that your majesty has taken no part in the intrigues so basely woven against the Hungarian people, we are not the less persuaded, that that people, taking arms to defend their liberty, have stood on legal ground, and that in obeying instinctively the supreme law of nations,which demands the safety of all, they have at the same time saved the dignity of the throne and the monarchy, greatly compromised by advisers as dangerous as they are rash.

"Sire! We, the chief pastors of the greatest part of the Hungarian people, know better than any others their noble sentiments; and we venture to assert, in accordance with history, that there does not exist a people more faithful to their monarchs than the Hungarians, when they are governed according to their laws.

"We guarantee to your majesty, that this people, such faithful observers of order and of the civil laws in the midst of the present turmoils, desire nothing but the peaceable enjoyment of the liberties granted and sanctioned by the throne.

"In this deep conviction, moved also by the sacred interests of the country and the good of the church, which sees in your majesty her first and principal defender, we, the bishops of Hungary, humbly entreat your majesty patiently to look upon our country now in danger. Let your majesty deign to think a moment upon the lamentable situation in which this wretched country is at present, where thousands of your innocent subjects, who formerly all lived together in peace and brotherhood on all sides, notwithstanding difference of races, now find themselves plunged into the most frightful misery by their civil wars.

"The blood of the people is flowing in torrents—thousands of your majesty's faithful subjects are, some massacred, others wandering about without shelter, and reduced to beggary—our towns, our villages, are nothing but heaps of ashes—the clash of arms has driven the faithful people from our temples, which have become deserted—the mourning church weeps over the fall of religion, and the education of the people is interrupted and abandoned.

"The frightful spectre of wretchedness increases, and develops itself every day under a thousand hideous forms. The morality, and with it the happiness of the people, disappear in the gulf of civil war.

"But let your majesty also deign to reflect upon the terrible consequences of these civil wars; not only as regards their influence on the moral and substantial interests of the people, but also as regards their influence upon the security and stability of the monarchy. Let your majesty hasten to speak one of those powerful words which calm tempests!—the flood rises, the waves are gathering, and threaten to engulf the throne!

"Let a barrier be speedily raised against those passions excited and let loose with infernal art amongst populations hitherto so peaceable. How is it possible to make people who have been inspired with the most frightful thirst—that of blood—return within the limits of order, justice, and moderation?

"Who will restore to the regal majesty the original purity of its brilliancy, of its splendour, after having dragged that majesty in the mire of the most evil passions? Who will restore faith and confidence in the royal word and oath? Who will render an account to the tribunal ofthe living God, of the thousands of individuals who have fallen, and fall every day, innocent victims to the fury of civil war?

"Sire! our duty as faithful subjects, the good of the country, and the honour of our religion, have inspired us to make these humble but sincere remonstrances, and have bid us raise our voices! So, let us hope, that your majesty will not merely receive our sentiments, but that, mindful of the solemn oath that you took on the day of your coronation, in the face of heaven, not only to defend the liberties of the people, but to extend them still further—that, mindful of this oath, to which you appeal so often and so solemnly, you will remove from your royal person the terrible responsibility that these impious and bloody wars heap upon the throne, and that you will tear off the tissue of vile falsehoods with which pernicious advisers beset you, by hastening, with prompt and strong resolution, to recall peace and order to our country, which was always the firmest prop of your throne, in order that, with Divine assistance, that country, so severely tried, may again see prosperous days; in order that, in the midst of profound peace, she may raise a monument of eternal gratitude to the justice and paternal benevolence of her king.

"Signed at Pesth, the 28th Oct. 1848,

"The Bishops of the Catholic Church of Hungary."

The Roman Catholic hierarchy of Hungary, it must be kept in mind, have at all times been in close connexion with the Roman Catholic court of Austria, and have almost uniformly supported its views. The Archbishop of Gran, Primate of Hungary, possesses greater wealth and higher privileges than perhaps any magnate in Hungary.

In this unhappy quarrel Hungary has never demanded more than was voluntarily conceded to her by the Emperor-King on the 11th of April 1848. All she has required has been that faith should be kept with her; that the laws passed by her diet, and sanctioned by her king, should be observed. On the other hand, she is required by Austria to renounce the concessions then made to her by her sovereign—to relinquish the independence she has enjoyed for nine centuries, and to exchange the constitution she has cherished, fought for, loved, and defended, during seven hundred years, for the experimental constitution which is to be tried in Austria, and which has already been rejected by several of the provinces. This contest is but another form of the old quarrel—an attempt on the part of Austria to enforce, at any price, uniformity of system; and a determination on the part of Hungary, at any cost, to resist it.

We hope next month to resume the consideration of this subject, to which, in the midst of so many stirring and important events in countries nearer home and better known, it appears to us that too little attention has been directed. We believe that a speedy adjustment of the differences between Austria and Hungary, on terms which shall cordially reunite them, is of the utmost importance to the peace of Europe—and that the complications arising out of those differences will increase the difficulty of arriving at such a solution, the longer it is delayed. We believe that Austria, distracted by a multiplicity of counsels, has committed a great error, which is dangerous to the stability of her position as a first-rate power; and we should consider her descent from that position a calamity to Europe.

Printed by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh.

FOOTNOTES:[1]A View of the Art of Colonisation, with present reference to the British Empire; in Letters between a Statesman and a Colonist.Edited by (one of the writers)Edward Gibbon Wakefield.[2]Ultramontanism; or the Roman Church and Modern Society.ByE. Quinet, of the College of France. Translated from the French. Third edition, with the author's approbation, byC. Cocks, B.L. London: John Chapman. 1845.[3]He surely meansBernini, and is aninnyfor not saying so. But Mr Cocks' translation saysBerni—p. 144.[4]Literary Life of Frederick von Schlegel.By James Burton Robertson, Esq.[5]SeeBlackwoodfor August 1845.[6]Mr Robertson says of de Bonald, "As long as this great writer deals in general propositions, he seldom errs; but when he comes to apply his principles to practice, then the political prejudices in which he was bred lead him sometimes into exaggerations and errors." For "political prejudices" substituteUltramontanism, and Mr Robertson has characterised the whole school of the Reaction.[7]Philosophy of History.[8]De l'Etat et des besoins Religieux et Moraux des Populations en France: parM. l'Abbé J. Bonnetat. Paris. 1845.[9]SeeBlackwood, October 1845.[10]"Le Souverain Pontife est la base nécessaire, unique, et exclusive du Christianisme.... Si les évènements contrarient ce que j'avance, j'appelle sur ma mémoire le mépris et les risées de la postérité."—Du Pape, chap. v. p. 268.[11]Remarks on the Government Scheme of National Education in Scotland, 1848.[12]We observe, however, that by the Parliamentary Returns of 1834, the school accommodation was even then considerably greater than is here stated. The greatest number attending the parish school was 246, and non-parochial schools 443; which, to the population there given of 3210, was nearly a proportion of 1 in 5 of the inhabitants—a larger proportion than in Prussia![13]They have taken care to sound the committee on the subject, and have received an answer encouraging enough. The following extract is from their report of a deputation to the Lord President:—"2. In regard to applications for annual grants under the minutes, it was asked—What evidence will ordinarily be required to satisfy the Committee of the Privy Council that any particular school is needed in the district in which it stands, and that it ought to be recognised as entitled to its fair share of the grant equally with others similarly situated? Supposing, in any given school, all the other conditions, as to pecuniary resources, the qualifications of teachers, &c., satisfactorily complied with, will it be held enough to have the report of the Government inspector or inspectors that a sufficient number of children (say 50 or 60 in the country, and 90 or 100 in towns) either are actually in attendance upon the school, or engaged to attend,without the question being raised as to the contiguity of other schoolsof a different denomination, or the amount of vacant accommodation in such schools? In reply, it was stated that the Committee of Privy Council could not limit their discretion in judging of the comparative urgency of applications; their lordships were disposed to receive representations, and to inquire as to the sufficiency of the existing school accommodation; and they would also consider any other ground which might be urged for the erection of a new school where a school or schools had been previously established."—Minutes for 1847-8, vol. l, p. lxiv.[14]Schoolmasters' Memorial, p. 3.[15]In many parishes side schools are built and endowed, in addition to the parish school, from the same funds: the salary in these cases being fixed by the Act at about £17.[16]Parliamentary Inquiry, 1837,Appendix.[17]That the presbytery has the power of insisting upon qualifications supplementary to those prescribed by the heritors, was decided, we think about a dozen years ago, in the case of Sprouston.[18]The Church herself, to a considerable extent, supplements deficiencies in the legal school provision by means of her "Education Scheme," whose object and efficiency may be partly gathered from the two first sentences of the last report of the managing committee:—"The schools under the charge of your committee (as has often been stated) are intended to form auxiliaries to the parish schools, not to compete or interfere with these admirable institutions; and, accordingly, are never planted except where, owing to local peculiarities, it is impossible that all the youth of the district requiring instruction can be gathered into one place. While much needed, your schools continue to be most useful; and, indeed, by the divine blessing, they appear to have been rendered eminently beneficial."The number of schools under the care of your committee may be reported of thus:—Those situated in the Highlands and Islands, 125; those in the Lowlands, 64; and those planted at the expense of the Church of Scotland's Ladies' Gaelic School Society, and placed under your committee's charge, 20; in all, 209."[19]Reise nach dem Ararat und dem Hochland Armenien, von DrMoritz Wagner.Mit einem Anhange: Beiträge zur Naturgeshichte des Hochlandes Armenien. Stuttgart und Tübinger, 1848.[20]Reise in der Regentschaft Algier in den Jahren 1836-8.3 volumes. Leipzig, 1841.[21]The Armenian Christians abound in traditions respecting Noah and his ark. We have already mentioned the one relating to Arguri, which he is said to have founded, and which should therefore have been the oldest village in the world, up to its destruction in 1840 by an earthquake and volcanic eruption, of which Dr Wagner gives an interesting account. The simple and credulous Christians of Armenia believe that fragments of the ark are still to be found upon Ararat.[22]This eccentric old soldier and author, who calls himself the Hermit of Gauting, from the name of an estate he possesses, is not more remarkable for the oddity of his dress and appearance, than for the peculiarities and affected roughness of his literary style, and for the overstrained originality of many of his views. In his own country he is cited as a contrast to Prince Puckler Muskau, the dilettante and silver-fork touristpar excellence, whose affectation, by no means less remarkable than that of the baron, is quite of the opposite description. Von Hallberg's works are numerous, and of various merit. One of his most recent publications is a "Journey through England," (Stuttgard, 1841.) The chief motive of his travels is apparently a love of locomotion and novelty. When travelling with Dr Wagner, he took little interest in his companion's geological and botanical investigations, and directed his attention to men rather than to things. After passing the town of Pipis, three days' journey from Tefflis, the country and climate assumed a very German aspect, strongly reminding the travellers of the vicinity of the Hartz Mountains. "It is folly," exclaimed old Baron Hallberg, almost angrily, "perfect folly, to travel a couple of thousand miles to visit a country as like Germany as one egg is to another." "I really pitied the old man, who had daily to support the rude jolting of the Russiantelega, besides suffering greatly from the assaults of vermin, and who found so little matter where with to fill his journal."—Reise nach dem Ararat, &c., p. 15.[23]Une Visite â Monsieur le Duc de Bordeaux.ParCharles Didier. Paris: 1849.Dieu le Veut.ParVicomte d'Arlincourt. Paris: 1848-9.[24]Videlicet—the Dean's apartment; a visit to which frequently concludes by the visitor's finding himself "gated,"i. e., obliged to be within the college walls by 10 o'clock at night; by this he is prevented from partaking in suppers, or other nocturnal festivities, in any other college or in lodgings.[25]Be not indignant, ye broader waves of Thames and Isis! In the number of contending barks, and the excitement of the spectators of the strife, Cam may, with all due modesty, boast herself unequalled. To the swiftness of her champion galleys ye have yourselves often borne witness.[26]The most fashionable promenade for the "spectantes" and "spectandi" of Cambridge.[27]"Narratur et prisci CatonisSæpe mero caluisse virtus."—Horace,Odes.[28]Virgil,Æneid, i. 415.[29]It was the fanciful opinion of Hume that the purer Divinities of pagan worship, and the system of the Homeric Olympus, were so lastingly beautiful, that somewhere or other they must, to this hour, continue to exist.[30]Chiefly by marriage with princesses who were heirs to these kingdoms and principalities. It was thus that Hungary, Bohemia, and the Tyrol were acquired. Hence the lines—"Bella gerant alii; tu, felix Austria, nube:Nam quæ Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Venus."You, Austria, wed as others wage their wars;And crowns to Venus owe, as they to Mars.It was by marriage that the Saxon emperor, Otho the Great, acquired Lombardy for the German empire.[31]The acts passed by the diet are numbered by articles, as those of our parliament are by chapters. Each of these articles, when it has received the royal assent, becomes a statute of the kingdom, in the same manner as with us, and of course equally binds the sovereign and his subjects.

[1]A View of the Art of Colonisation, with present reference to the British Empire; in Letters between a Statesman and a Colonist.Edited by (one of the writers)Edward Gibbon Wakefield.

[2]Ultramontanism; or the Roman Church and Modern Society.ByE. Quinet, of the College of France. Translated from the French. Third edition, with the author's approbation, byC. Cocks, B.L. London: John Chapman. 1845.

[3]He surely meansBernini, and is aninnyfor not saying so. But Mr Cocks' translation saysBerni—p. 144.

[4]Literary Life of Frederick von Schlegel.By James Burton Robertson, Esq.

[5]SeeBlackwoodfor August 1845.

[6]Mr Robertson says of de Bonald, "As long as this great writer deals in general propositions, he seldom errs; but when he comes to apply his principles to practice, then the political prejudices in which he was bred lead him sometimes into exaggerations and errors." For "political prejudices" substituteUltramontanism, and Mr Robertson has characterised the whole school of the Reaction.

[7]Philosophy of History.

[8]De l'Etat et des besoins Religieux et Moraux des Populations en France: parM. l'Abbé J. Bonnetat. Paris. 1845.

[9]SeeBlackwood, October 1845.

[10]"Le Souverain Pontife est la base nécessaire, unique, et exclusive du Christianisme.... Si les évènements contrarient ce que j'avance, j'appelle sur ma mémoire le mépris et les risées de la postérité."—Du Pape, chap. v. p. 268.

[11]Remarks on the Government Scheme of National Education in Scotland, 1848.

[12]We observe, however, that by the Parliamentary Returns of 1834, the school accommodation was even then considerably greater than is here stated. The greatest number attending the parish school was 246, and non-parochial schools 443; which, to the population there given of 3210, was nearly a proportion of 1 in 5 of the inhabitants—a larger proportion than in Prussia!

[13]They have taken care to sound the committee on the subject, and have received an answer encouraging enough. The following extract is from their report of a deputation to the Lord President:—"2. In regard to applications for annual grants under the minutes, it was asked—What evidence will ordinarily be required to satisfy the Committee of the Privy Council that any particular school is needed in the district in which it stands, and that it ought to be recognised as entitled to its fair share of the grant equally with others similarly situated? Supposing, in any given school, all the other conditions, as to pecuniary resources, the qualifications of teachers, &c., satisfactorily complied with, will it be held enough to have the report of the Government inspector or inspectors that a sufficient number of children (say 50 or 60 in the country, and 90 or 100 in towns) either are actually in attendance upon the school, or engaged to attend,without the question being raised as to the contiguity of other schoolsof a different denomination, or the amount of vacant accommodation in such schools? In reply, it was stated that the Committee of Privy Council could not limit their discretion in judging of the comparative urgency of applications; their lordships were disposed to receive representations, and to inquire as to the sufficiency of the existing school accommodation; and they would also consider any other ground which might be urged for the erection of a new school where a school or schools had been previously established."—Minutes for 1847-8, vol. l, p. lxiv.

[14]Schoolmasters' Memorial, p. 3.

[15]In many parishes side schools are built and endowed, in addition to the parish school, from the same funds: the salary in these cases being fixed by the Act at about £17.

[16]Parliamentary Inquiry, 1837,Appendix.

[17]That the presbytery has the power of insisting upon qualifications supplementary to those prescribed by the heritors, was decided, we think about a dozen years ago, in the case of Sprouston.

[18]The Church herself, to a considerable extent, supplements deficiencies in the legal school provision by means of her "Education Scheme," whose object and efficiency may be partly gathered from the two first sentences of the last report of the managing committee:—"The schools under the charge of your committee (as has often been stated) are intended to form auxiliaries to the parish schools, not to compete or interfere with these admirable institutions; and, accordingly, are never planted except where, owing to local peculiarities, it is impossible that all the youth of the district requiring instruction can be gathered into one place. While much needed, your schools continue to be most useful; and, indeed, by the divine blessing, they appear to have been rendered eminently beneficial."The number of schools under the care of your committee may be reported of thus:—Those situated in the Highlands and Islands, 125; those in the Lowlands, 64; and those planted at the expense of the Church of Scotland's Ladies' Gaelic School Society, and placed under your committee's charge, 20; in all, 209."

"The schools under the charge of your committee (as has often been stated) are intended to form auxiliaries to the parish schools, not to compete or interfere with these admirable institutions; and, accordingly, are never planted except where, owing to local peculiarities, it is impossible that all the youth of the district requiring instruction can be gathered into one place. While much needed, your schools continue to be most useful; and, indeed, by the divine blessing, they appear to have been rendered eminently beneficial.

"The number of schools under the care of your committee may be reported of thus:—Those situated in the Highlands and Islands, 125; those in the Lowlands, 64; and those planted at the expense of the Church of Scotland's Ladies' Gaelic School Society, and placed under your committee's charge, 20; in all, 209."

[19]Reise nach dem Ararat und dem Hochland Armenien, von DrMoritz Wagner.Mit einem Anhange: Beiträge zur Naturgeshichte des Hochlandes Armenien. Stuttgart und Tübinger, 1848.

[20]Reise in der Regentschaft Algier in den Jahren 1836-8.3 volumes. Leipzig, 1841.

[21]The Armenian Christians abound in traditions respecting Noah and his ark. We have already mentioned the one relating to Arguri, which he is said to have founded, and which should therefore have been the oldest village in the world, up to its destruction in 1840 by an earthquake and volcanic eruption, of which Dr Wagner gives an interesting account. The simple and credulous Christians of Armenia believe that fragments of the ark are still to be found upon Ararat.

[22]This eccentric old soldier and author, who calls himself the Hermit of Gauting, from the name of an estate he possesses, is not more remarkable for the oddity of his dress and appearance, than for the peculiarities and affected roughness of his literary style, and for the overstrained originality of many of his views. In his own country he is cited as a contrast to Prince Puckler Muskau, the dilettante and silver-fork touristpar excellence, whose affectation, by no means less remarkable than that of the baron, is quite of the opposite description. Von Hallberg's works are numerous, and of various merit. One of his most recent publications is a "Journey through England," (Stuttgard, 1841.) The chief motive of his travels is apparently a love of locomotion and novelty. When travelling with Dr Wagner, he took little interest in his companion's geological and botanical investigations, and directed his attention to men rather than to things. After passing the town of Pipis, three days' journey from Tefflis, the country and climate assumed a very German aspect, strongly reminding the travellers of the vicinity of the Hartz Mountains. "It is folly," exclaimed old Baron Hallberg, almost angrily, "perfect folly, to travel a couple of thousand miles to visit a country as like Germany as one egg is to another." "I really pitied the old man, who had daily to support the rude jolting of the Russiantelega, besides suffering greatly from the assaults of vermin, and who found so little matter where with to fill his journal."—Reise nach dem Ararat, &c., p. 15.

[23]Une Visite â Monsieur le Duc de Bordeaux.ParCharles Didier. Paris: 1849.Dieu le Veut.ParVicomte d'Arlincourt. Paris: 1848-9.

[24]Videlicet—the Dean's apartment; a visit to which frequently concludes by the visitor's finding himself "gated,"i. e., obliged to be within the college walls by 10 o'clock at night; by this he is prevented from partaking in suppers, or other nocturnal festivities, in any other college or in lodgings.

[25]Be not indignant, ye broader waves of Thames and Isis! In the number of contending barks, and the excitement of the spectators of the strife, Cam may, with all due modesty, boast herself unequalled. To the swiftness of her champion galleys ye have yourselves often borne witness.

[26]The most fashionable promenade for the "spectantes" and "spectandi" of Cambridge.

[27]"Narratur et prisci CatonisSæpe mero caluisse virtus."—Horace,Odes.

[27]

"Narratur et prisci CatonisSæpe mero caluisse virtus."—Horace,Odes.

[28]Virgil,Æneid, i. 415.

[29]It was the fanciful opinion of Hume that the purer Divinities of pagan worship, and the system of the Homeric Olympus, were so lastingly beautiful, that somewhere or other they must, to this hour, continue to exist.

[30]Chiefly by marriage with princesses who were heirs to these kingdoms and principalities. It was thus that Hungary, Bohemia, and the Tyrol were acquired. Hence the lines—"Bella gerant alii; tu, felix Austria, nube:Nam quæ Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Venus."You, Austria, wed as others wage their wars;And crowns to Venus owe, as they to Mars.It was by marriage that the Saxon emperor, Otho the Great, acquired Lombardy for the German empire.

[30]Chiefly by marriage with princesses who were heirs to these kingdoms and principalities. It was thus that Hungary, Bohemia, and the Tyrol were acquired. Hence the lines—

"Bella gerant alii; tu, felix Austria, nube:Nam quæ Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Venus."You, Austria, wed as others wage their wars;And crowns to Venus owe, as they to Mars.

It was by marriage that the Saxon emperor, Otho the Great, acquired Lombardy for the German empire.

[31]The acts passed by the diet are numbered by articles, as those of our parliament are by chapters. Each of these articles, when it has received the royal assent, becomes a statute of the kingdom, in the same manner as with us, and of course equally binds the sovereign and his subjects.

Transcriber's Notes:Obvious typographical errors were repaired.Hyphenation and accent variations retained as in original.Footnotes on p.509, 577 (first footnote), and 590 were unanchored in the original. They have been anchored to the chapter headings on those pages.

Obvious typographical errors were repaired.

Hyphenation and accent variations retained as in original.

Footnotes on p.509, 577 (first footnote), and 590 were unanchored in the original. They have been anchored to the chapter headings on those pages.

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