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for Austria , we do not read that Hungary was delivered to Austria by an Hungarian . That was reserved for the year of grace 1849 . Szekeli died on . the field ; Tokolyi and Rakoczy died in exile . It was reserved for Arthur Gorged Hungarian , to betray his country in working out the most cold-blooded and selfish ambition , and to live in exile , a free prisoner , under the watchful eyes of Austrian mercenaries , with the mark of infamy deeply branded on his brow . If we could imagine the shade of Sobieski looking sadly down upon the consequences of kis acts—the late Russian invasion—how grimly and mournfully must the shades of the old patriot heroes of Hungary glance down upon the Life and Acts of Arthur Gorgei . In the spring of 1848 , the Hungarian , Arthur Gorgei , narrates that he
was living a quiet country life on the estate of a female relative , in the JN orth of Hungary , when he was roused and drawn forth by the cry of distress—" The country is in danger , " which , from the lips of a patriot Ministry , rang through the land . Emerging from obscurity , the future general was made a captain in the fifth Honvei battalion ; as he had previously served as a lieutenant in the Austrian army . Not destitute of a kind of brute courage , but wholly destitute of a generous faith , Arthur Gorgei entered on his duties . Hungary was then struggling to raise an araiy of defence ; her militia and her volunteers crowded to the ranks ; but as they were not born soldiers , and had to be made soldiers , Gorgei , who must have expected a Cadmean army , grew despondent and savage
with his lot . He was quickly transferred from the Honvcds to other services , which , to his credit , he performed with alacrity And success ; and had the authorities kept him strictly to works of administration , happy would it have been for Hungary . Fate , and sore need of men , however , ordered it otherwise , and the respectable talents and ferocious courage of Arthur Gorgei were employed to organize the Mobile National Guard . He was promoted to the rank of Honved major , and stationed in a command , of which Szolnok was the head-quarters . But he was utterly unfitted to the task . He had not the steady patience , the manly firmness and forbearance which creates soldiers out of citizens and ploughboys . In his mind there was a deep stratum of regimental pipeclay ; and he never could conquer his contempt for civilians . He wanted regular
troops , without the trouble of forming them , and does not appear tojiave conceived it possible that a national army coul < 1 be raised from the rustic Magyars . We do not wonder , therefore , that he , with great difficulty , collected scarcely seven hundred men in the course of a month . The Hungarians , lilce other nations , required to he roused into defending their fatherland : Gorgei was only prepared to dragoon them . He does not allude even reniotety to the possibility that the people of the circle of Szolnok might have been persuaded by hearty and generous exhortations , such as it would have become a man of superior knowledge to address to men of inferior knowledge . He despised such practices ; they were for l
civilians . Instead , he got an authorization from Louis Batthyani to cal courts-martial * ' to adjudicate upon cases of disobedience , cowardice , and treason , to confirm condemnations to death , and to order their execution ;" a mode of recruiting which at least , in a national struggle , has the benefit of novelty . It was while in this command that Major Gorgei , according to his own representations , first saved the Counts Zichy from the mob , and afterwards , one , being clearly proved guilty of treason , hung him . It was while Gorgei was stationed here , that General Moga , commander of the Hungarian army , and a kindred spirit of Gorgei's , fought the Croats at Pakozd , and concluded with them a three days' armistice , by which means the Croats under Jellachich escaped over the frontier .
Perczel now comes on the scene as Gorgei ' s superior officer , I hat word superior indicates an important psychological peculiarity of Gorgei's mind . Arthur Gorgei never acted under a . superior oflicer whom he did not depreciate and contemn . There was not one man in Hungary , that man being in rank Gorgei's superior , whose reputation lie has not attempted to blast . Moritz Perczel was went after n column of Croats , under Generals lfcoth and Phillipovich . The troops he commanded were ,
like those of his inferior , militia . The contempt Gorgei had for the patriotic levy , " mostly armed with . scythes , and a , very few with rusty old muskets , to which ' going oil * ' was almost as rare an occurrence as it was to their scythes , " because they would not face artillery , may he gathered from these words . " The militia came , and the militia went , just us it felt inclined . Generally , however , it cnino when the enemy was far oil '; when the enemy approached , the militia , departed . " And yet with these men IVrczel followed the Croat column , hampered in his
movements by ( Jorgei'H disobedience of orders , for which Gorgei takes great credit , inul captured them , although they were a . " well-disciplined corps of from HOOO to 10 , ( KM ) men . " 1 f cowardice , and scythes , and impossible muskets could do this , they played a , part in . the Hungarian war ¦ which they never played in any war before . (* orgei ' s antecedent military employment , and the good account of his own conduct , which he knew ¦ well how to lay before the Committee of Defence , gained for him the rank of llonvrd Colonel , on the Sfh of October , IS 4 K ; Liu ; day after the surrender of Liu ; Croats at Degh .
Arthur Gorgei . like a certain claws of ri . sing soldiers and politicians , knew the ; great , force of . self-mlvertisemeiiL . Self-praise may be , and is , no recommendation , when directly advanced ; but self-prai . se may be , and often is , couched under attacks upon others by persons who Ji . ro anxious ( o rise at any cost . Moreover it / looks patriotic and careful in a man freely to find fault with everybody to everybody else ; carefully keepmg self out of sight by words , and obtruding . self by facts . This was the Gorgei tactic . The following paragraph nllbnls an apt illustration : — " Tin ! doi / rce of" firmness , «<> unusual : it that time , which 1 had shown a president ¦ of tho court- martini against ( -omit Zidry ; tho open ami decided blame with which 1 lunl censured freely , and even in writ me ; , l . hti armistice concluded with Han . lelliieliich , immediately after it was agreed upon ; the . success of the Hungarian aniiH agiiiu . st KoUi ' m corps , which niy friends attributed mom to the measures 1 had tiikrn , singlehandcd , against the will of l'erc / el , than to wlwt . had been done in oxecul . injj ; his order * ; all this mig ht , have directed the attention of ilif ! leaders of the Hungarian movement towards me . and made them believe that . I was thi ) man who would tmcceed in tf ivinjj decision to the wavering operations of Moga ' H army . " X .
Accordingly Gorgei was sent to be a spy in the camp of Moga , who was vehemently suspected of treacherous intents . He was appointed to command the vanguard . There is no necessity here " to detail the various manoeuvres by which Moga , excited by Kossuth , who had joined the army with a strong reinforcement , and yet hesitating to cross the Laithato attack Windisch Gratz , led the army to Schwechat on the 30 th of Sen . teniber , and met with a terrible defeat . It may not have materially affected the result , but Gorgei again disobeyed orders at Schwechat . He imputes the loss of the day to the conduct of the troops , who ran away under lire ; but he does not tell us whether they were so placed that they must either run away or stand to be shot without fighting , or the chance
of fighting , or to maintain any position . The volunteers , led by Guyon fought well enough . But , in fact , Moga had carelessly placed the army so tliat it could not fight ; and this in an offensive advance ensured destruction or flight . The result was disastrous defeat ; and Vienna , which it had been intended to relieve , remained the prey of Windisch Gratz . Gorgei , himself , behaved , as he always did on the field of battle , with an utter disregard of death . But he expected too much from the volunteers , over whom had swept the icy chill breath of the treachery of General Moga . Gorgei , recommended by himself and Moga , was made General-in-Chief , by Kossuth , after this disastrous battle . Bern now comes on the scene ; and has an interview with Gorgei : —
" Bern ' s presence produced a depressing effect upon me . I knew neither whence lie came , nor what were his aims . His emerging in Vienna , which has remained inexplicable to me ; his doings there , which I knew only by report ; and now suddenly the devotedness , j ust as inexplicable , which he constantly protested for the defence of my counti-y , —these circumstances led me involuntarily to suppose him to he something of a " knight errant" in a modern revolutionary stylo of warfare . My country ' s cause appeared to me to be too sacred , too just , not to make me feel a decided aversion to the companionship in arms of such elements . " Here , for this week , we leave Arthur Gorgei , now a General of an
army , hailing his own appointment " as a proof that Kossuth had for ever sacrificed , to the welfare of the country , his anti-military enthusiasm ; " and in an excess of confidence admitting what Major Gorgei had denied , that "the nation had risen unanimously to the conflict ; " accepting the chief command because he felt a vocation for it , and modestly expressing a belief that the higher he stood the more likely it seemed to him that his example would inspire his fellow citizens with a strong devotion to the just cause of the fatherland . We leave him also depreciating the rising talent of the army , and despising the civil power . Next week we shall see whither this led the General at present excited by his new dignity , and seemingly proud of his new vocation .
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WHEWELL ON FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS . A Letter to the Author of Prolegomena T , ogica . By the Author of the " History and Philosophy of the Inductive " Sciences . " Privately printed . We presume that it will be no breach of etiquette to notice this pamphlet , although it seems to have been privately printed . It has been sent to us ; and it discusses a topic not personal , but of fundamental importance in philosophy , and it endeavours to extricate Dr . Whewell ' s favourite doctrine from the " misconceptions" of John Mill , H . L . Mansel , G . H . Lewes , and the Edinburgh Review . . We need not remind the student of Philosophy , that the great problem which lies at the very basis of Metaphysics , that which must be . settled before the possibility of Metaphysics as a science can be accepted , is expressed in the question , —have we , or can we have , any Ideas antecedent to or independent of Mxperienee ? . , The old doctrine of Innate Ideas has been revived in Germany , and by German disciples in France and England , under the now form of JNecessary Truths , or Fundamental Ideas . In England Dr . Whewell is the most celebrated representative of this school , and has done" good service » y pushing the doctrine to that extremity which renders its fallacy inoio recognizable . . . -, t e His position in tins : we have ideas which are not only imlependein , m Experience , lor no Experience can give them , but aro Necessary Irani ., tho contraries of which are inconceivable , and they thus furnish the inu leet . ial capital of all Philosophy ; they belong to the spintimIn ml pi n . element , and blow to atoms tho whole fabric of " Sensational L !; lioso f £ Against this it has been argued ut Home length by Mr . Mill un i Lewes , that these Ideas are given in Experience , that , they are -m , * milnecessarily commanding the assent of the iiiind ; Mini they au > hi contraries of which are conceivable amd are very often eoncciycc , j uiu ¦ so far from having ih < , . salf-eoidenl irresistible character oirnliil / l 0 "" ¦ ¦ seeudina experience , they " require , in many rases , n , very laborious Li . u »» *
in the niiiwl that is to understand Mieni . vieVH , Dr . Whewell now" comes forward with a restatement ol m * ^ . modified to if . eet Uie . se objections , which he considers l ""; ' 1 ^ ° ' . „• misconception of his doctrine . J I « gives up the . rres . st . hi lily , ' j ks evidence , and the impossibility of conceiving tho contrary , but , m , m . he retreats into an impregnable threshold : — - . (< j " The special mid characteristic property of all the Fundamental l ««« ' " ' ^ , ^ , 1 have already mentioned , Mint they are Mir ineiilnl sources of necessity am ^^ scientific truths . 1 call them . Ideas , as being something not dejwd J >'' . . to
lion , tint otiernin sensation , and consequently , giving 'o nu ''" l ' ^ ' ^ . ^ A ,, d Fundamental , as bring 1 \ w foundation- of Anoic / eth / e , or a . I least ol .. eii ^^ ^ the wny in which those Ideiis becomi ; the foundations of Science is , '' . ' ^^ . j ^ , ^ . < . „„ . arc clearly and distinctly entertiiincl in tho mind , limy tf ivo n « i <¦•> >»| - A \ () 11 ) S , „•„ vidions or intuitions , which may he expressed us Axioms ; aud U « _ ' *¦• ^ ^ ^ Wu t . he foundations of Sciences respective of eneh Idea ,. 'IMio tea ' ^^^ ; ' . ; , ' ( , f ihv clearly possessed , gives rise to tfcomd . neal Axioms , and is ( bus Uie <» > ^ ^^ , H . ii . sniH ! of ( Jeometry . Thn Idea of Mccbanicil Korco ( a inodilu-. ii t "'" ; ^ ^ ( 1 (( , CmiHc ) , when dearly < leveloped in tbo mind , f ^ ives birth to Axioin ! ? iH ( t j , o tlm foundation of M «> Scie . uv of MeclunicM . Tin * Idea of S « l > stan < -o K _ illS | ,,,. ' « - <' Axiom which is universally nccepte . l Mini , w . i cannot , by » ny 1 » « " ¦«/¦• ^ ri ( . )) Iin , to by < 'h .-mical process .-n ) create or destroy matter , but can only <¦<>»»>" elements ; and Miiih gives riso to l , l «« Science of ( Jlminml . ry . y ( . y ^ ncc , "Now it niny be observed , that in f ? ivinK Miia iiccouut <> 1 tlio loimu
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1094 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 13, 1852, page 1094, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1960/page/18/
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