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of the 31 st of May ; but no longer . Should the President play false and the Ministry flinch The real fact is , that M . Bonaparte is not strong enough for the place . He has sadly bungled in this crisis of his fortune . He played his last card—no respectable backers visible . Lamartine , Girardin , Billault , Ducos , even , would not risk their reputation . He had not the courage to
appoint a really worliing Ministry , on the American model , quite independent of Parliament—a simple executive , in fact , —but he patches up a mongrel cabinet , partly parliamentary and partly not . " Well may people ask—is this serious ? Again the destiny of France is in the hands of the army . Alas ! not the People ' s fault this ; but the crime of those who usurped the national sovereignty . '
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KOSSUTH'S WELCOME . KOSSUTH AT WINCHESTER . The English-hearted Mayor of Southampton , who has so bravely borne himself upon this great occasion , entertained Louis Kossuth in his private house near Winchester , on Saturday , where the noble exile met the principal members of the corporation , and several gentlemen and friends . Lord Dudley Stuart , M . P ., and Mr . Cobden , M . P ., were among the guests . Mr . Andrews himself proposed the toast , " The illustrious Kossuth . "
M . Kossuth , amidst loud cheering , arose and Teplied . He poured out eloquent thanks to the Mayor of Southampton and the people of England . Then he described the political position of the Hungarian nation in former times ; showing how she was surrounded by Turkey , Russia , and Austria — or rather , said he , the House of Hapsburg . How she enjoyed a free constitution , based on municipal institutions , and united only to the House of Hapsburg in so far as the head of that House was , de facto , King of Hungarv . How the constitution of
Hungary was aristocratical—that is , that there "was a certain section , very large , called noble , whose members were privileged , but often poor , and forming , in reality , a portion of the people ; and how there was another section , without any political rights , who were , in reality , serfs of the soil . And he described the bulwarks of liberty , and the media of progress , to be the municipal institutions and the Parliament of Hungary . The county meetings were the most powerful bulwarks of liberty , because no government order could get itself executed unless approved by the county meetings .
" Now , " exclaimed Kossuth , " the house of Hapsburg ruled Hungary for 300 years . It ruled Hungary , not by conquest , but by the free choice of the nation—( cheers )—not by the free clioice of the nation without conditions , but on the basis of treaties , the chief feature of which treaties is , that the monarch should reign in Hungary by the same lineal succession as in the dominions of the House of Austria ; that the Austrian dynasty was recognized , and should remain Kings of Hungary , and thereupon the King took on himself a sacred duty , to respect and conserve the Hungarian constitution , and to rule and govern Hungary by its own public institutions according to its own ancient laws . And that was the duty of the King . He swore to God , he swore to the Eternal
God , that he hoped He would so bless him as he should keep that word . ( Loud cheers . ) This wan a resume of the facts so far . Well , out of thirteen Kings—out of the thirteen Kings we had of this house and dynasty , no one who knows anything of history can charge me with exaggeration when I say that their rule was one of continual perjury . " —( M . Kossuth spoke very earnestly and with emotion , dropping his voice ao that the close of the sentence was not audible at the end of the table , and ome person asked , " A rule of what ? " He exclaimed—) ' Of perjury , gentlemen—( loud cheers )—that is the word—perjury . ( Cheers for tome mome ? its at his emphatic delivery of the word . ) I am a plain , common man ; I call things as they are . "
Continuing his narrative , he told his delighted hearers that when the Hungarian nation chose its king from the House of llnpsburg , nil the other provinces of the Hapsburg dynasty were constitutional monarchies ; that since that period Austria had " gone on in a straight direction to be an absolute monarch y ; and that before her late struggle with . Hungary she had abolished every single constitution . " " Hungary had no other connection with Austria than Hanover had with England , with this difference only , that Hanover had a different line of succession , while the line of succession of Austria and Hungary was the same . But we hud lawn and coronation oaths and paciiicationa , which declare that there hIiou Id be no connection between
Hungary and the house of Austria but this , only to be ruled by the same sovereign , not that Hungary should have a right to be ruled by its own laws , rightn , and institutions ; « o much so , that should we happen to have a king come to the succession of the sovereignty , being a child in his minority , Hungary should not be governed by the same person as ruled over the Austrian provinces , beoauso there existed in the house of Hapuburg K family treaty by which the eldest of the house must be the tutor ( i . e . regent ) to the empire , but by the law in it must be u Palatine who rules as tutor of the , there was this possibility , that a to govern Austria , while unother Hungary . Therefore , the con-Hungary vraa not absorbed , and chiefly - it muni
wag not absorbed , because the municipal institutionsthat strength which can never be broken— ( cheers)—resisted the encroachments of the Crown . I consider these municipal institutions to resemble in a fair instance the siege of Saragossa , where , after Napoleon ' s army had taken the town , they still had to fight single battles in every street . ( Cheers . ) So was it always in Hungary . " He instanced cases of resistance to illegal decrees , and described in general terms the manoeuvres of Austria to put down the constitutional life of Hungary . It-was this advance of despotism which they had been resisting for twenty-eight years . Since 1825 the direction of public life in Hungary has been by degrees to make the people participate in constitutional rights and liberties ; and as the great majority of the nation were out of the pale of the
constitution , and those who were within it were unable to defend the rights of the nation , the first step they took was to emancipate the peasantry . In this they were thwarted by Austria . The reform question in 1836 issued in a practical proposition , agreed to by both Houses , to the effect that when the landlord should give his consent to it every peasant , or corporation of peasants , should be free . But this Austria rejected . Attempts were then made to control the county meetings by corruption , intrigue , and cunning . To this end the Government devised a scheme for having an agent of the Lord Lieutenant , called an administrator , present at the county meetings to manage them and frame instructions to the deputies , while his superior was in his place in the Legislature . This scheme , if carried out , would have made the county meetings mere tools of
Government . " Therefore , " said Kossuth , " we opposed it with all our possible strength ; but we opposed it , not in any privilegiary view , but because we wished for the independence of the municipal institutions in order to carry out reforms in this direction ; not to make the condition of Hungary such that there should be there no close privileges for a few , but to erect a temple of liberty there for all the people . ( Loud cheers . ) But the more we developed our progress in a view to reforms , the more the Government insisted on the progress to demoralize the people . That was our condition when the Diet met
in November or October , 1847 , just before the French Revolution . You see , then , that we in Hungary were not planning revolution . ( Loud cheers ) Hungary was not the soul of secret conspiracy , but we in public meeting struggled fairly and openly for the rights of the people . ( Loud cheers . ) I myself had the honour to be elected member of Parliament in 1847 , as deputy for the chief department , in fact , by its geographical position the metropolitan county of Pesth , where the Austrian Government did every thing possible to oppose my election ; but the good sense of the people carried it out to a triumphant success . "
Kossuth proposed that , until the system of administrators was done away with , no taxes should be voted . For two months the two Houses could not agree on this ; and , as delay was ground gained by the Government , Kossuth proposed a daring remedy . We saw , he said , that the King of Hungary and the Emperor of Austria was the one head of two different systems—constitutional liberty and despotism . And he proposed that Hungary , as the elder brother of Austria , should go to the King and ask him to restore the constitutional liberties of the other portions of his dominions , and so by this means to put away the enchainment placed on the constitutional rights of Hungary .
" And now the news of the French Revolution came upon us , and Vienna rose up in revolt—( loud cheers )—that was the Austrian Revolution . I myself , with a knowledge of all the circumstances of Europe before me , frankly own I decided not to be carried away by the elements , but to take the reins of the elements into my own hands—( cheers )—to avail myself to the utmost of the opportunity which God had given—not Hungary made . ( Loud cheers . ) Our first proposition now was
for the emancipation of the peasantry , which was carried unanimously by both Houbcs . ( Cheers . ) But I was anxious not to hurt the interests of any class , but rather to spare those which , though not just in their origin , by time , circumstance , age , had got interlaced with the private fortunes of the people ; and I therefore proponed , and it was agreed to unanimously , that the people should be free of all its duties—free without paying anything for it . Liberty must not be paid for—( loud cheers )—but , at the same time , thero should
be an indemnity , not b y the peasantry , but for the landlords . Hungary is rich enough to give compensation and indemnity to the nobles , and by good financial operations might be made to pay more than two or three times what it does now . I engaged my honour and my word that a full indemnity should be given , and the measure was carried unanimously ; the second measure 1 proposed was that , whereas before the people had every duty but no right , there should be an equality in duty and in rights , and that every man , according to his fortune , should contribute to the public necessities—this wua also
carried ; the third proposition was , that the people should be admitted to the right of . electing , not only members of Parliament , but the magiHtrutott who administer the laws ; but , of course , half a million of people could not be convoked together in one room , and , therefore , the personal , wa » transported to a representative , basis and every community was ordered to elect men to represent them in the county meetings . That being my chief directive principle—that I recognized the rights of men , the rights of families , the rights of communities , which I considered aa not to bo uubjeoted to Parliurnentury
interference , —Parliament has no right to HiTr ** " " how I shall rule my own family " / T d * ° *" * ** fere with the rights of other families , and thl er " is true of communities in matters which affP f e kingdom . Government should have sufficient r , a to provide for the public necessities of the ^ hV country , to uphold and enforce obedience to « , laws ; but it ought to have no power at all to encroaeh upon the rights of men , the rights of co mmunities ' or municipalities in their own domestic matters that I my ruling principle . " We ordered the Gdvernment ? n prepare bills for the representation of the parishes- h * . it was not enough for me and for my friends to establish municipalities as a barrier against the Government Seeing the evil effects of the Administrative ColW * nich
w , as a commission , could not be made responsihV we determined that as , as had often happened part of these councils had been modified according to' circum stances , we resolved to modify it so that the respond " bility which was provided in the Charter , but which wasi not a reality in effect , should be made real , and tha ? could only be done by substituting individ uals for col lective and general bodies . There were some other measures , with the details of which I shall not abuse your attention . Thus we had participation of the nobles in all public duties and taxation , of the people in their general rights , and responsibility in Government "
He went to Vienna as one of a deputation , headed by the Archduke Palatine , to ask the King to sanction these propositions ?—" The agitation was then great in Vienna , as almost it was in every other country in Europe , save this England only , which , having once established its peace by revolution , can enjoy its public liberties without any desire for another . HeTe all was quiet , —on the Continent all was movement . The Government of Austria still hesitated to give us our rights . I went up to the Imperial Palace , and I told them there that , if the deputation was kept long waiting , I would not guarantee on myself what the consequences would be , or that the movement that was taking place would not reach Hungary if we were discomfited and disappointed in our just expectations , and I therefore entreated
them to do us justice . They promised they would do so if only Vienna was quiet ; but that they did not wish it to appear that the house of Hapsburg was compelled by its fears to be just and generous . ( Cheers and laughter : ) This was one of the moments in which I in my own humble person was a strange example of the various changes of human life . Myself , an humble unpretending son of modest Hungary , was in the condition that 1 had the existence of the house of Hapsburg and all its crowns here in my hand . ( M . Kossuth here stretched out his arm with clinched fist across the table Tremendous cheering . ) I told them ' Be just to my fatherland , and I will give you peace and tranquilliiy in them
Vienna . ' They promised me to be just , and I gave peace and tranquillity in Vienna in twenty-four hours ; and before the Eternal God who will make responsible to Him my soul , —before history , the independent judge of men and events , I have a right to say the house of Hapsburg has to thank its existence to me . At last sanction was given ; but while we received the promise of the King in one room , in the other room the Duchess Sophia , mother of the present King , and sister of Francis Joseph , was plotting with Metternich how to get rid of this word and sanction . In a few days afterwards the King , who was afterwards deposed , came to Presburg and sanctioned publicly our laws . I waa there as a member of the Lord ol lie
Ministry , in which I was what you call First Treasury , which I was forced to accept . I say so , because I can call the public knowledge of my nation ,-- " )' enemies in my nation as well as my fritnds . —tliat i always considered office and power as a burden and as no glory ; but that it was myself who , before going « P ' Vienna with the laws for sanction , ' addressed to unpeople of Presburg ( assembled below ) from the ! lilU " jj taking Louis Batthyany , my poor friend , by tnc , ,, " ,. ' ' Don ' t cheer myself . Here is the m * n who sliaH ut who must be First Minister , President of Hungary ; u Batthyany refused to accept it , so 1 was forced to act it ; and I state this , because I Bee it IB said in bomt papers that I made myself Minister . "
Shortly after the Serbs and Croats , headed by -Jd ' * - chich , and instigated by the Cam arilla , at Viei » w . revolted . The Parliament of Hungary de manded
be convoked . " I stood by the side of the Archduke Palatine when ho read the declaration of the king , that he solemnly » - demncd the damnable efforts of Jcllachich , and oi Serba , and Croats , and Wallaohians , who had riot ^ against the common liberty of the land , which in 7 . joyed , without any distinction of the languag ei tiuy * * use , or the church to which they belonged . At " » ( f time that the orders were given by the A | lnI " \ nl \ Hungary to put down this revolt ¦ R «> n I Bt "'? , " , ' of that the king had convoked his faithful Parl nni «> ; Hungary , to provide bb well for the army as <> ^ financial means to defend and protect the r « > ^ was done ; and in the convocation of the kingu «> ii m one of the grandest sighta of my life , when ntariy ^ V 4 > na- /»« anfntiv «> a rnBA fkfl nnft Ml niland . 8 tOpl » K . >
. . , ,, „ ,, address which I was making , declared , You it—you shall have all you want . ' j But the victory of Novarra followed ; AllB / 7 / . i „ *" , «•<> - not mius the occasion ; Jellachich , the . ¦' ful fit . . claimed traitor , was now lauded as tl * ¦ illIlH . vant of the Crown , and lent again ? ' tlic ji k tw (| Ho was easily routed ; but obtaining a trr' ^ , V ( l ( i day * ho CBcaped . An Imperial ordei w « i ^ the Parliament "ncoiiBtitutionally 1 > <> , th <; not accepter ! a « legal , Htopa were taken t del a count . y , and Jullachich pursued ; but he huu tho frontier , and joined tho Auatnan army .
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1030 ®^ 0 QLtaUtt . /[ Saturday ,
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Hungary King , and , therefore Mjtfint might have _* ## * Cfl < KJ& >"* V * governing •^ raJSiyH | BtgajLii i [ > of JH nungur j , u King , and , thcrcfo Mjtfint might huvi ^^ METfl | ftf | K *^ wus goveri awl KylK
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 1, 1851, page 1030, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1907/page/2/
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