The New York Herald Newspaper, February 14, 1852, Page 2

The Secret History ef its Causes, Objects, and Disasters. HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION. Interesting Letters of Count Tekeli, and Min- ixters Stezmere and Vukovics, Letter from Count Teleki to Lord Dudley Stuart. Zuricn, Jan. 1, 1852. My Lorp:—With the greatest astonishment have Tread, in the Times of the Ist and 2d of December, just brought before my eyes, two letters concerning ‘the affairs of Ilungary—the ono signed Prince Esterbary, and the other barely Count Hatthyanyi, without a pranomen, though there are several of this name. These two Hungarian peers raise their voice to attack their country’s cause—to arraign the minis- try of 1848, to which Esterbary himself belonged— and to calumniate one of our most illustrious martyrs, the immortal Count Louis Batthyanyi, late prime minister of Hlungary. 1, therefore, as a Hungarian, as a faithful ally of tho last named suyporter of our sacred cause, and as one of his most intimate and devoted friends, interfere in this ion. 1 owe it to my country, to the govern- ment under which | served, and to the spirit of our heroic martyr, whose honor is £0 unworthily attacked. That | am so late in my reply, is bo- eaure | bave but just known of these letters. You now that | live quite out of the world. Prince Esterhazy avows what are his motives for writing. Hear his own words tam principally Mduced to address you these lines by the report of what takes place in England relative to Huogary, and the strange confusion of ideas which seems to prevail there at this moment, in several quarters, mixirg up actions of an essentially revolutionary ebaracter with constitutional and patriotic prin- eipies.” It is evident, then, that the Prince has en up the pen expressly in order to counteract the rympathies which the cause of his country in- spires in tbe great and generous English nation. ut with his motives | sha!) not concern myself; nor shail I discuss how he can have the face, openly and uublushirgly, to avow the end at which ho drives. | mean to analyze the arguments and accu- sations--to overthrow the erroneons assertions—— to mark out the utterigaorance of the whole recent history of Hungary which both these letters alike betray. Prince Esterhazy affirms that, since 1825, the Austrian Riven has firmly respected all the fuzdamental principles of our constitution. am thankful to him for fixing this date as the commencement of such respect. it relieves me from oing back to treat of the epochs prior to 1525 Dtherwise, I might have had to dilate on all that the Hungarian nation suffered in three centuries— from 1527 to —under the hypocritical and bloody tyranny of Hapsberg. I might have needed to prove that of this dynusty all the sovereign Perjured excopt two, namely:—Loopold Il., who reigsed only eighteen montbe, and Joseph if, who evaded taking oath to our laws by refus crowned. All the rest violated our constitution after swearing fidelity to it; and of this the Princo Esterhazy seems to be fully aware. From 18!1 to 1825 the Emperor King Francis summoned ne Diet, although the constitution commands that a Liet shal) be held every third year at least. Ia 1823, the same King, against the constitution aod his royal oath, tried to raise troops and taxes by his mere edict. This ended with 1525. But after this Jet us see how Francis and his successor, Ferdinand V., have respected our institutions. It will gaftics that I name a few important facts. It ie expressly laid down by our constitution, ‘ that Hungary is a free and independent kingdom in regard to the form of its government; that it shall never be sub- erdinated to any other country or nation, but shall always preserve its peculiar constitution, and ehall, im consequence, be governed and administered by ite kings, not after the model of other countrios, but by its own proper laws and customs. That the legislative power, composed of the sovereign and ef the Diet, as representing the nation, has the sole right of making, interpreting, or repealing laws; and that legislation can in no other way in any ease be exercised. That Hungary shall never be governed by edicts. That it shall not be governed according to the system established in the other states belonging to the houre of Austria. That no public affairs shall be decided except by means of the Diet. That none but natives shall take par’ in the government of the country, or be name offiser or commander inthe Hungarian army. ‘That the King shall never cause a foreign army to cross the frontier, and shell nover declare war or conclude any treaty without the approval of the Diet.” Ali this has been guaranteed to us by our laws, by the coronation oaths, and, over aud above, by the charters (diplomas) of our kings—which last is @ persona! covenant entered into wih the country by every one of our sovereigrs, without which they bave never been able to obtaia the crown. Yet, from 1825 te 1848, i eof all these guarantees. in spite of the House of Austria’s pretended respect for our constitution, foreigners have continually been mingled in ouraffairs In fact, during aii this period we were ¢ ed by Prince Metternich, an Austrian, aud unt Kollowrath, a Bohem The proper Hur an ministry, by a mere was Cflicially subordinated to a council of State, & wajority of which were utter foreigners to Hurgary. Our finances were administered by the Aulic Chamber of Vienna, composed almost ontirely of Germans and Bohemians; nor would the govern- ment ever congent to give any account to the Diet of its disposal of the public funds. A lineof custom hous-s reparated Hungary from the other States of the House of Austria, and the tariff of dues and the indirect taxes were settled by edict, in spite of the remonstrances of the Diet. Observe, moreover, especially, that they were fixed with a hostile pur- pore, £0 as to cripple the commerce and industry of Hungary, and work it to the exclusive profit of Austrian finance, Austrian commerce and indastry; impoverisbing our country, impeding its communi- | eation with the civilized world, and rendering foreign commerce impossible to us. As tothe Hungarian army, three quarters of the efficers were German or Bubemian, who did not know a word of our language. Moreover, without the Dict beirg consulted, German, Bohemian, and Italian troops were continually stationed in Hun. | gary. The war department was kept in the hands of an Aulic council of war, sitting in Vienna, and oompored entirely of persons foreign to Hungary; | Bor was the Hungarian Diet ever able to get co, Rizance of the proceedings of this department, which were managed in an absolutist manuer, with- out any reference to the will of the country. Trea- were concluded, alliances were contracted, military expeditions were ordered, without giving apy information to the Diet. Our laws recognise to censorship of the prees; Yet a ceveorship was established without (he oo: eurrence of the Diet, and enforced without its sent, simply as an exigence of the Aw: The censorship was stupid in severit was, and pushed ite rigor to the absurd sor not only pros d words of but corrected an m into his own. For ins! men, from a picoe “ Long live the Bish n- bishops; and thi that a Catho! Occasion the ¢ and wrote * br to these two examples, th thoveand in eupport of my statew The government was ploarec ship even ever what was not i It ferbade Koseuth to send to manuscript © aries of | and in the county congreg: dence consiituted an offen: ria, and for this Koseuth and condemned to fi years’ impris: judges had been r ed by the Au ment, and were in o This was in 1ti6. § 1825, the Austrian g our institutions If Prince Keterhazy finde there facts ineuffi- Gent, I shall bo always ready to quote additional ones, which will clearly tet bis at losst inc giderate assertion as to the good faith of the Aus I could mention a good many ade trian government cases of arbitrary imprisonmert, blows egsinst freedom of speoch, condemant ( stitutional language uttered in legal assembh lations of our municipal rights, arbitrary from the Dict of mezobers legally elected, Space and i fail me; but in a future it will be « nly emissions yany of the Zimes (who has | reform ¢ proposed by ¢ support.” norant of the etatemer exam p! reform and vement aa that Aust even after 1f Every thing that concerned im. ovement or public prosperity, even the most foreign to politice, raised a tempest in the govern- ment, and was made impossible by ils resistance Did the landed proprietors desire to make conces- sions to their farmers and peasants in order torender the position of the great mass of the people mere eomformable to the principles of equity! ‘The dashed against this usequitable and hateful opposi- Hien, Witness the ate of the Diet from 12 to ia was, | 1836. It was ij ible to reform the civil code, to suppress the Sass of procedures, to give credi- tore guarantecs as towards their debtors, or to intro- duce ® commercial code into the country, without éarbing againet the everimpending government, which displayed a raro skill in transferring every uestion into the domain of politics; so that even a hw weak reforms could only bo passed by yielding up £0. of the guarantees of our independence. For example. Every Hungarian, except in cortain cases, had the Hans of being judged, whether in civil or criminal matters, by judges choosing; that is to say, by judg elceted 12 each country by & majority of voices. Well, when an effort was being made (in 1840) to regard to bille of exchange and other similar bonds, it proved impcs-ible to get the a’sent of the gover went, except on the condition that all the tribunals instituted in this maiter should be in its exolusive nomination * ministration of our towns, and reme ying the aduses which had been introduced, for it was impossible to everoome the obstacles interpored by the govorn- ment. (Aoctof the Diet of Isi4 ) Did we aim to establish a national fund by taxes distributed over all the inhabitants of the country, in order to construct canals, highways, and rail- ways? The exorbitant demands of the government always made them miscarry; since afer having in- vaded for its own profit all our existing publiofuads, it would never congent to the newtaxos in qaestion, unless their proceeds were confided to its adminis- tration, without any real responsibility. (Diet of 1843-44.) Tho more general was the interest and the greater the urgency of a measure projested for the country, the more insurmountable became the oppceition of the obstinately conceited Austrian go- veroment. A consideranle portion of ths nobility (i. ©, peerage,) itself having demanded the abolition of the absurd privilege of being exempted from takiag share in the public expeuses, the goverameat did not copfine iteelf to declaring itself openly hostile to this reform, but besides, ordered tts agents to dis- perse tuemeelves in the country districts, and stir up the petty nobility, (freehoiders) and excite then to practical outrages against the partisans of the reform. Under the leading of these agents of the Austrian government uvheard of acts of violense were in many places committed, and the deliberat- ing assemblies of the counties became real fiolds of battle, where the question ofreform wae treated by blows of sabre and club, Couut Louis Batthyanyi one day almost fell a victim him tothese shame- fal plo's of the Austrian governs Threatened with death ac chief of tho party hostileto privileges, in ope of the genera! assemblies of the county of Eieenburg, he owed his life to the courage and devo- tion of come friends. Tois was in 1843. At the diet of 1813-44, in apite of the goverament and its an- worthy devices, a great majority of voicos, and es- pesially of the nobility (peers), demanded that ail h, 1848, to the national pariy, to triumph point over the resistance of the govern- tenna. So much for she assertioa of Count Gustave Batthyany, as to the reforms emanating from er supported by the Austrian governmont. The preceding will perhaps suflise to dizprove at the came time the other assertion of the prince and count, as to the dangerous revolutionary tendeacies of the party ef Louie Battbyanyi and Kossath, not- withstanding the excellent intentions and irreproch- able conduct of the Austrian governn The real questions are: Was it them to contend against such a gove: it allowable to insist that the should at length become a reality, after having been £0 often sworn to by the House of Hapsbarg to reorganize the admi ration of towns, to abolish talloges and feudal service ? in short, in wishing to yield to the most imperious demande, to the most urgent needs of our century? [ think these ques- tions are already decided. Yea, certainly. Tho eae at the head of which we saw Count Louis Satthyanyi, was the national party, was the party of reasonable reform, of liberty, of civilization, of justice, and of morality. The great citizen who contended all his life fer such a cause, and to serve it bas paid with his blood, ought at least to be ecreened from the calumny of his countrymen. As to Count Stephen Szecheny, no one can have more admiration for him than I. I[t is possibie there may have beea some divergences of opinion between him and us as to the best means of com- bating the retrograde Austrian principle; but i know tbat he also struggled for the same cause as Louis Batthyanyiand Kogsuth, and aliof us who continued to belong to our own country. Oa the otber Land, I cannot divine by what right Prince Esterbezy and Count Gustave Batthyanyi now call forth the shade of Szecheny, so justly revere i: they, during his long and brill supported him, either at the Hu any other way. it remains to mo to analyzes the assertions of Prince Hsterhazy, and of his echo, Count Gustave Batthyanyi, asto the event: ISiS. [t is evident to all Who know the affairs and history of Husgary, that the pretended concessions of IMS but the developement of ell our} z The jaws sanctioned by the Emperor King dinand V. in April of that year, made g Hungary its parliamentary government—an pendent ministry. preceeding out ble to the Diet. This did bat cre: government, and thus consecrate the ancient penderce of the country ; that is to say, it estab | lished in fact what bas always existed in right. | (Witness Art 3 of the Dies of 1818 ) All these ‘* concessions” were, in fact, | in the Treaty of Conciliation (Pragm at! | of 1723). | necessary result ef twenty-three years’ cont ual We were forced to despair of reorganizing the ad- | the nebility should take part in the public expenses; | but it needed all the ascendancy given by theeventa | {ungarian charter | Lorraine? Did a man become anarchial by de- manding equality in the matter of ta and in | courts of Jaw? in wishing te reform the civil ode ? ‘They were, moreover, the aim and | of his owa | ho had been | | | introduce & prompt and peremptory provedure in | | pas of the extremo | insults; and, that the loyalty » Jarl concerns Count Louis |. Prince Esterhazy complains of the “ i want of good faith on the ofthe Hungarian mia- try at Peath, in publishing a decument, the mani- festo of the Emperor against the Ban of Croatia, which, according to an ent aolemaly entered into by their president at Innspruck, in open con- ference, ought not to have been published but ona certain eventuality; which not having taken plac2, could give no right whatever to broak so solemn an engagement.” | will not limit myself to the reply, that it is unworthy of Prince Esterhary thus to speak ill of a man who can no longer reply to his displayed in every trial that * knight without his well known firmness by Count Louis Batthyanyi, fear and withoutreproaoh,” | in fulfilling all his engagements, firmness which be | | | | has proved in his whole life, firmness for which he has paid with hie life, make every such accusation absurd. Certainly, the memory of the great mar- tyr, who will live eternally in our hearts, has no need of my weak voice to be avenged ofsuch a calumry. A man who has lived as he lived, is strong enough to claim the right of reeling bofore the pencil of history, in face of immortality, and viewing in the distance the impartial verdict of pos- terity, which does notconsole, but gives repose, in Promising a sure screen from calumny. it is rather for mygelf than for him that I speak, for I should feel my own honor sullied it I kept lence in face of such an accusation, directed t one who was not only one of the greatest men in my country, but also my best friend. This is why 1 wish, in a few words, to bring before the bar s0 ab- surd an accusation, and markedly direct yeu to it. The manifesto of whivh Prince Esterhazy speaks, and which, according tohim, ought not to have been i blished, is that which suspends the Ban of Sroatia from all his civil and military functions, as arraigned of revolt against tho laws of the couutry end the Hungarian Ministry. It would cortainly bave been contormable to the interests of the Aus trian back stairs cabinet (Camarilla) that such a document, which undeniably testifies a duplicity almost unexampled in history, should never have been published. But how is the pablis now to bo deceived as to this? Howis it to be made believe that this manifesto was designed to be kept secret? What! the emperor king had yielded, it seoms, to the 1emonstrances of tne Hungarian Ministry, and had been able to say “Yes! you are in tho right Yes! this Jellachich is a rebel, who do- terves chastisement. Yes, 1 suspend bim from all his civil and military functions. Sut, for the love sf God, let the thing remain between ourselves. Let not the public, nor yet the traitor himself; have any knowledge that I have abandoned him.” (do not ask whether the President of the Hunga- rian Ministry could possibly have accepted such a proposal, but solely whether it could possibly have been made to him. lt was more possible to say, ‘ Let us wait afow days longer before publishing this document. Per- haps the rebel will come to his senses.” But that is exactly the alternative which did not come about. Jellachich persisted in revolt; not only con:inued to arm, but in course invaded Hungary, and pone- | trated into the heart of the kingdem, to overthrow | ment. | | | i | struggle (from 1825 to 148), just as the other | | Jawe of the same year, which proclaimed for ever civil and political equality, without distinction of tongue or creed, participation of all citizens in the | rights. Tosecure that the constitution of the country | thould be a reality—to develope it | exigencies of tho times—bas been th | avowed and loyally pursned endof that party | Prince Esterbary and bis sole Hungarian sti xp» entitle subversive and demagogic, but which is, in | fact, netbing but the national party; say, the party of the whole nativn, oxze | some dispatriated individuals | . It is very astonishing to see, that while accusing | the two chiefe of this party of having professed per- | nicious principles—while affirming that their pre- vious conduct was such as “gave rise to mistrust and repugnance,” Prince Ester pt only | public charges by a fair proportionality, and the | tetal abolition of fendal service and all sciguorial | | eri A | Many autograph letters, which by bayonets both our constitution and our govern- Did our premier promise to wait till this eventuality had occurred, and meanwhile dea! so tenderly with the Ban Jollachich as not to publish the manifesto which abandoned him? Yet this is what results from Prince Eaterhazy’s accusation. Heavens! how incomprehensible does a man bo- come when he trics to uphold a bad osse. After all, adopt for a moment the absurdity that our premier falsified his word given tothe King. Why then, after committing this offence in the month of June, 1518, did the King continue him inthe ministry? Why continue to testify esteem for his character and confidence in his loyalty and good intentions? That he did so, is certain from T havo uador my eyes, two of which are dated Sept. 26 and 27 of 1848. Again, when Louis Batthyanyi had resigned | in September, why was he again entrusted by the court of Vienna with the formation of a new mia- | istry? Moreover, why did Prince [sterhazy re- main in the ministry even after the “signal want of good faith” of which ho accuses his chief? Above all, how did he keep his intimase footing with the court until October, 1448, when he now is not asbamed to outrage his ashes? Finally, I ask, if the accusation is not utterly groundless, why was it never among the heads of impeacbment against Louis Patthyauyi in tho courts-martial—complaitant and servile instru- ments as they are for assassinating the reputation of public men at the wiil ef the court of Vienna? Woy bave they lett to Prinve Esterhazy the honor of originating the charge? All the world knows what to think of the capital arrest of Count Louis Batithyani All the world knows thatit wasa judyment withont process, and 2 condemnation Without judges; that he met with his death as a conseque: f id-fashioned respect fer all his eemerts, because he woald be as faithful to his uri1y as be bad been to hia king, because ha would rever to from the straight line waich he hed trace bimee/f on extering ‘he ministry, and bad @ covere'gn disdaia for the latrigues of tha ii i illgained popularity. For alone, he met his death. ehend, would have been glad to the civilized world. © Taig ao you revere as a citizen of high and masex rive, nevertseless was guilty of dup’ y to og, falsified hia soleran word, and cannot deny ow then sould that which is iho headaad front of Prince Lsterbavy’s iwpeachment of him, escape the clearsightedness cf the courts mvwtial? As to the murder of Count Lamberg, it is known to be an isolated crime. As tothe pretended po tection extended to the assagsias by the Huagarian diet and government, the truch is, than an inquest wae instavtly ordered, and that the government without delay took all necessary measures for tha and arrest of the culprits. Moreover, Louis Patthyanyi at this very time ceased to bo minister. Hence the accusation made by these two i is ag calumnious as all their other imputa- jong. p What is an isolated deed, in comparisoa—O, heavyens'!—with the innumerable assagsinatious committed undor the auspices, by the order, and at the instigation, of the Austrian governmont? [f | one counts the old men, women, and children butchered by the savage hordes who, in the nameof | the house of Austria, covered the country with appears to | | have been satisfied with the result and aim of their | 1a | efforts in 1848; for he accepted a p in the Hua- n ministry formed at this epoch, and he avows If that the formation of such a ministry was, at time, useful to the interests ef the monarchy. It ig still more astonishing that, after having ap- proved the concessions made to the country in 1343, nemely, the laws sanctio: in April of that year, after having mede partin the ministry of that yet treats as seditious plots and acts of nb, the me: by this ministry et with i it is easy to ds, the policy which it fol mediately after having aoce: f the country, as to tha nietry for Hungary and 3 the advice of this ministry, ia, and gave him 4 posi ngarian government, ¢ of the appanages of our cow nee the ben to bring aboat a rupt Hungary. It excited the Ser uwane) populations of Lan L fthe countr: od herever it wag able, it conflagrati ous with war of every kind. After 1 the g of troops to jters and brigands, it gave ge r troops to o k (R nst | having officially | put cown the reve ered him not to submi' r ecit al of which woul commit ek e pula { P moro thousand souls have periehod in consequen ¢ odious plots; without sounting those who havo allen inthe battles. What name ought we to give a policy, in order to deviguate And of what can the Hung. ment be accused, except of having country when it wae attacked? Prince Esterkezy ia ehooked that the Hungarian Diet ordered a levy of troops, and an issue of paper anys Without the sanction of the king. But where was the may ' and what was he, at that moment ! He was at Vienna, and had alroady erdered the in- invasion of Hungary; he was become an enomy of the country; itis evident that we could not leave to him the care of providing for our dofeace. fire and blood, and acted under the loading of Aus- trian agents and Austrian officers, the saurders prill Sg to the figure of 30.000 at least, ut, nO. ian absolutism deetroy the sympathies of your d glorious nation for the cause of my coun- ‘here is too much analogy, not only as to institutions, but as to their history, betwoen us and you. The policy of the house ef Austria, in oxait ing the Croate to rebellion, and urging the Wal- lacks and Serbs to insurrection against the majority of the inhabitants and against its legal govera- ment, appears to me quite tho same as the policy followed in 1687 and 1688 by James 1L—a policy | resting on Tyrconnell, Edmund Petre, Sunderland, | Jefireya, ; orushed by aid of Russian b: jon, and | | know that, in these two sittings, h &e. And the situation of Hungary, te, serms like e if James IT V 's armies and what might have been England’s had euceeeded, by aidof Loui nd, in subjugating your ancestors, and esta hing the despoiism of @ small miaority te the hurt of the deareet and most sacred interests of tho immense majority of the nation. he above will, perbajs, suffice to throw a just ght on the accusations made by the Prince and t ikewise assertions ze, but which e overthrown. y refor to pereo: not to public ado not touch t on his calms Those of us who have survired nd are at liberty, will have no seed d to rebat calumpy, but are strong b of themselves havo etil a few words to ny ary, and on his cha ras a Hoo gerian s Before 1548, he was totally un- known in Hungary, or rather bis namo only was t landed proprietors, but person nor bis qua abroad, except a few ing his castles, be speaks tho language of bis country very imperfectly, and has very little acquaintance with our laws. Ho was, therefore, Having paseod incompetent to ta part in our parliamentary struggle lor myself, since 1839, | have constantly taken part in them, and I think J have seen him at | two of the sittings of our House of Peers; aad 1 slips, Persons ofwhem ho naked have assured me that his questions muting, for the ignorance w our oflairg and p te rays, wt befe ew little of d nothing of | dood; when I was o in March, 18 id court to Batthyanyi asiduity, and wen ve times a day. wi ua or for petriotism, or for curios that the Prince sought their & an cagerness truly singular. Nobody at that epoch oftener struck himself on the broast while be cried that he was a most roalous, consti- tutional, and liberal patriot; that he was a deadly beta A of the camanila and of buroaucracy, tho very humble, faithful, and obedient servant of the whole entire nation. I know not whother he ac- cepted with or without repugnance the ministry whioh was offered him; what I do know is, that upon becoming minister a few days later, his coun- tenanco wae radiant gnough. Bub these festive » who fol- 8 acoratarier, ; aad I know d graces with Never, [ believe, will the friends of | you about | onthe employed | Gaye passed very quickly. Thanks to the hateful plots woven by the Austrian reactionaries, the carcer of our ministry was soon beset with 5 ness; and, at this sexond epoeh, wo saw Esterhasy gradually withdrawing, and cooling ia hie protestations for the sacred cause of fatherland; nti}, one fine moraing in September, when Aus: trian treason was in open day, Austro-Croat troops had been ordered to rate Hungary, the Prinse decided to abandon, first his post and next his side. He went over to the enemy, and left his country to struggle with her thousand dangers. He began to court the camarilla, ashe had courted Batthyanyi and Kossuth, and pushed his loyalty so far as to make bis son, Prince Nicol: terhazy, Sub- Lieutenant in the Austro- Russian q which was attacking bis country—an honor ich the young Prince shared with an extremely small number of Hungariang of like temperaments, four or five at mest, [am hoppy, to be able to assure you of it. Two words for Count Gustave Batthyanyi. I knew his brother well, who, in 1849, wa3 our Foreign Minister. For him I have a high esteem, and flatt@r myselt I am ono of his intimato* friends. I do net know that I have seen Count Gustave more than twice; but I know that he does not speak our pie rd at all ;’that he does not know our codes, and that fer more than twenty years (in fact, sinco 1825) he has lived abroad, and has not busied him- self with our affaire. In ESmneeey he is unknowo— in certain coteries of London he seems to be more at home than in his own country. Judge, then, my lord, whether the authors of the two letters are competent to enlighton the public concsrning the cause of my country. I pray you, for the interest you have always shownin our cause, to do your best to give publicity to my lotter. Kindly receive the assurance of my high con- sideration, and of the sincere devotion with which lam, my lord, yours, &o., (Signed) Count Lapistaus Te.ess. * This was written before Count Teleki had seen Cassi- mer Batthyanyi’s recent letter. Letter from Bartholomew Szemere, late Minister of the Interior of the Kingdom of Hungary, to Prince Esterh Lv T have read your letter, dated Vienna, November 13, and printed in tho Z'imes, of December 1, with the greatest attention, but also with the greatest astouishment. It might be supposed, at first, that you intended to give a conscientious account of the course of events in Hungary; but tho want of his- torical truth, of an intimate knowledge of facta, of dates as to time and place, and of everything else that an impartial reader might expect to find in such a document, entirely precludes this Le ipod tion. Ifyou had merely exposed the Pay of Kos- suth, | should have remained silent, for I also re- gard this policy—though from a diferent poiat of view thar that which you have takon—ag an irra tional, temporizing, vacillating policy, sush as no one claiming the character of a statesman would, under any circumstances, have pursued. [ should also have remained silent if you had only apolo- gised for your own proceedings, for, although you are well known in European diplomacy, your po- litical influence in your own country is far too trifling to Jay claim to criticism. You do not, aceuse the ministry, of which you were a member —accuse the Legislative Assembly, and the nation; you trample on the honorable foolings, on the sense of duty, on the bona fides of all, and then ttrive on there melancholy ruins to raise a monn- ment to your own political sagacity. My eoul is harrowed to find that you do not even know how to be just towards o country, of which the most ample domains are in your possession Far be it in Hurgary, at leastin England, where pasriotism has its cheristed home, that primary daty of a citizen—fidelity to the legal constitution of his couatry—a duty which should have taught you to oppoee the power of royalty itself when that power Was used for the subversion of our chartered rights and liberties. Among our higher aristocracy taere are many individuals who have conducted them- selves like you, and as you can never repair the damage causcd by your neglect of duty, abstain | entombed. I am willing to admit that parties in Hungary may have committed political faults, but only ig- norance or @ corrupt mind could deny that the sanctity of tho laws and the guarantees afforded by the constitution were first iniringed by peed naty Yoa, Prince Esterhazy, as late Hungarian Minister, maintain the contrary; and this is the question at issue between us. ho shall be tho arbitrators? Count Louis Batthyanyi rests in his grave; Count Stephen Széchéoyi, that puissant genius, is the ia- mate of a lunatic azylum. They cannot speak. Three members of the samo Ministry are euffering inexile; but three others are nowliving in Hungary, ard | have not the least hesitation to declare that no power on earth could induve them to share your opinions or corroborate your agsertions. Yet theso three gentlemen belonged to that Miaisiry that you are pleased to designate as ‘still honest in ica in- tentions.”” You must pardon me if Ido not enter into tailed examination of your assertions. Apclogies for yourown conduct are so mixed up with the gravest accusations a, st the nation, and facts relating to different times and places so entangled, that I should mest assuredly lose myeelf were I to follow you through cucha labyrinth. Instead of placing your assertions in order and entering into a refutation of them, | will give a succinc! ac count of the political sitaation of Hun Tel should not succeed in making you acquainted with the true principles of the Hungarian Jus Publicun, which you had probably no time te learn daring Jour long dip'omatio career, I shall Lt events have the satisfaction of placing Hungarian affairs before the readers of the Limes, in a of view trom which you had never an opportunity of obsery- ing them. The quertion of the greatest interest for the British public is simply this: hich party first in- | fringed the covstitution—the nation or the dynasty? For that party that first infringed it obviously be- ganthe revolution. In order that any impartial | person may satiefactorily answer this question, I | sball merely have to citerome of our Dietal acta, | and give a short account of events as they actually occurred. In tho year 1526 Ferdinand of Hapsburg was elected King of Hungary by the representatives of the ni in Diet assembled. His snovessors, from in to Leopold [., were elocted in the same ménner; but in 1657 an act was passed rendering the crown heroditary in the house of Hapsburg. | Anoter Dietal act, passed in 1723, extended the euc- | cersion to women. Sy this act, called the Prag- | matie Sanction, the rights and independezce of | Hupgory were again solemnly guarantead by the soveriegn. Several other Die:al acts, and numerous royal decroes and rescripts might be cited to show | that Hungary was alw: Tegarded as an indepen: dent kingdom by the sovereigns of the House of | Hapsburg. The 10th act of the Diet of 1790, tanotioned by Leopold Ii., will, however, suffisa, ag | it is therein emphatically made known that, | “Hongary in her entire system of legislation and government is a free and independert kingdom, } | | | that is to sey, is not sabject to any other kiagdom || | Or people, but possessing her own peculiar consiet- eney and conetitution, and is, therciora, to be ruled | and governed by her legally crowned hereditary | | Kings according te her national taws avd customs.” | | Other acts, parsed at the sume Diet, and daly’ | sanctioned by the sovereign, further declare that the power of exactirg, sitering, and abrogating lawe belongs exclusively to the legislature—that is | to ray, to ths King aud the representatives of the nation in the Diet assembled; that this power shall Lever be exercised in any other way; that Hungary, thall never be governed by royal edicts and ordon-| nances; that ‘he Kiog ehall never issue decrees res- pecting the administration of justi od that if he | should, notwithstanéing, issue decrees, the courts of justice shall teke no notice of them; that a King isto be crowned witbin six months after his accession to the throre, and thatall donations, rights, privileges, &o , granted by an uncrowned King are invalid © the year 1022 a king of Hungary, previous coronation, is obliged to sign a document | called the Inaugural Dip! the acts of the Diet, and is, in fact, a compast be- latter binds himself to maintain, and caused to be maintained, all the rights, liberties, privileges, im— munities, Jawa, customs, and usages|ofthe kingdom of Hungary, which bave been instituted during the | reigns ot his predecoseors, or which may bo inati- tuted during bis own reign, and ‘Snally acknow- ledges that evch of bis succossora will have to sign & Pinilar inangural diploma and to take the custo- | mary oathe previous to the ceremony of coronation. It is needless for me to add that Ferdinand V. sign- | ed tuch an inaugural diploma, and took the cusio- | mary oaths, by which, inter alia, he pledged him- self in the meet solemn manner not to alionate or | dismomber any part or portion of the kingdom of | Hungary, but to employ ali tho means at ais disno- | eal for the welfare and advantage of the said kiag- | dom | These aro our constitutional guarantees; bosides which wo p the treaties of psace concluded be- tween tho Hungarian nation aud the Hapsburg dy- | pasty. Hungary, as it is well known, was (requ matly) obliged, during t nie of this dynasty, to have re: | course to arms fn defence of her constitutional | rights and indepenc » and the dynasty nevor succceded in re establishix ace otherwiso than | by negotiations. And it mmst bo borne in mind that there negotiations of the two belligerents—tho Hungarian nation and the Hapsburg dynasty— were conducted precisely in the same manner as ne- gotiations between two independent States, and fre- | quently throngh the mediation of foreign cabinets. | in thie manner were goncluded the treaties of Vi-‘ enna, 1606; of Nikolsburg, 1622; of Presburg, 1628; of Linz, 1645; and of Szethmar, 1711; eash of which was @ freeh guarantee for the constitutional ndependenoe of Hungary. ‘This efight sketch of our politioal institutions will suffice to show the jegal relations that subsisted between Hungary and Austria. however, confine yourself within these limits. You | {rom me to reproach you for not acquiring, if not | at least from insulting your country while it lies | loma, which is inserted in | tween the nation and the sovereign, by which the | lations were intact. was, both de jure and de facto, independent ef Austria. Hungary and the Austrian hereditary States had a pa mon 4 exeopt one and the same so al- h ine ary had, generall, Ape main- tained its dence, several fundamental arti- cles of ita constitution were not ebserved by the dynasty. The Diets continually insisted on their strict observance, but the dynasty, although they did not venture to call them in see refused to fulfil them. Tho task of the Ifungarian Diets for this last century has been—first, to maintain the eld constitution; and second, to introdace sush re- forms as the course of time had rendered necessary. in 1845 the Dict was sitting at Prosburg, when the French revolution broke out, but this unex- ected event exercised no further influence on it that of increasing its activity and rendorin, the sovereign more inolined to ide to the legiti- mate wishos of the nation. The acts passed by this Diet were strictly legal. Ist. In respect to their | principle. For the political acts were a simple ro- novation of the old laws and rights, the observance of which had been neglected by the dynasty, aad the other acts related to subjecta which tho Diets had been accustomed to discuss for half a century. For the rest the relations between Hungary and Austria remained unchanged. 2d. In respoot to their form. For all these acts wore drawa up and went through both Houses in the usual manner, aud received the royal sanction with the usual for- malities. There was no revolutionary movement. The people throughout the country bailed with joy the reforms effected by the Diet and sanctioned by the Sovereign. ‘That the dynasty may have acceded to the logiti- mate demands of the nation through fear is possible; but it is, on the other hand, an undeniable fact, that the Diet did not demand anything that it had not pevcioumy songht to cbtain, or that was contrary the principles of the constitution. 1 defy you to par out any political act ares by this Diet that at variance with our old laws. Make as many objections as you please, and I will answor each ob- jection by citin, text of a logislative enactment. Paramount in pays ieee was the act binding the King to exercise the executive power by means of & special Hungarian Ministry, and investing the Palatine, in the King’s absence, with royal pleni- potentiary authority. But this was simply a literal renovation of our old fundamental rights. Thore was nothing new in the ministerial form of govern- ment but the name; the principle of a responsible government being essentially rooted in our old con- stitution. I shall now proceed to give a succinct account of what took place from April 14, when the new axts received the royal sanction, to December, 1813. You may be assured that | shall conceal nothing that tended to chango the relations between Hua- gary and Austria. ‘he Prime Minister was already nominated when Jellachich was raired to the dignity of Ban of Croa- tia by a royal decree which the Promicr was not even asked to countersign. The Hungarian Mi- nisters, nevertheless, for the sake of poace, over- looked this irregular proceeding. By a decree, dated June 10, 1848, the king made gnown to all whom it might coneern, that all the | troops stationed within the kingdom of fungary, | whether Hungarians or Austrians, were placed under the orders of the Hungarian Minister of. War, and that all the Hungarian fortresses were under | the jurisdiction of the said Minister. Yot at this very time officers of the imperial and royal army | were taking an astive part in the rebellion of the | Serbs and Valachs, while General Mayerhofer was enlisting recruits in the principality of Servia, and | sending them to assict the rebels. The people thus | beheld with astonishment civil war break out, and saw with still greater astonishment that imperial | Oflicers were fighting on both sides. Jellachich, as a functionary of the Hungasian crown, refused to obey the Hungarian Ministry, and | Wegally summoned a Croatian Dict to meet at | Agram on June 5. In eonsequense of these pro- f caciiie Fordinand V., by a decree dated June 10. | 1848, deprived him, as a rebel, of all his civil an | military offices and dignities, but at the same time sent him, through his Minister of War, Latour, field officers, artillory, and ammunition, ‘Tke troubles increased daily. Tho Hungarian | Ministry requested the Archduke John to act eee He accepted the office, but did no- thing. The Diet meton July 2. Tho Palatine, as the representative of the sovereign, in the speech from the throne, said that, as soveral districts wore ina state of open rebellion, tho principal objects to which, inthe name of his Majesty, he should di- rect the attention of the Diet were the finances and deferces of the country, and that bil's relating to these objects would be brought in by the ministers. He then proceeded as follaws:—** His Majesty has learned with painful feelings that although he only followed the dictates of his own gracious inclina— tion, when, at the request of the faithful Huaga- rian people, he gave his sovereign sanction to the laws enacted by the last Diet—laws which the com- |\mon weal, according to the exigencios of the pro- sent age, rendered imperatively neccssary—there are, nevertheless, anumber of seditious agitators, eepecially ia the annexed territories and the Hun- gstian -districts of the Lower Danube, who, by false reports and terrorism, have excited the differ- ligious sects aud races speaking different laa- guages against each other, and, by mendaciously affirming that the above mentioned laws are not the free expressions of his Majesty’s royal will, have stirred upthe people to cffer an armed cage: sition to the execution of the law and to the legally constituted authoritics. And, moreover that some of these agitators have even proceeded so far in their iniquitous course as to spread the report that this armed opposition has been made in the interests of the dynasty, and with the knowledgo and conni- vance of his Majesty or of the mombers of his Ma- | jesty’s royal house. I therefore, in order that all | the inbabitants of the kingdom, withont distinction | as te croed or language, may have their minds set at rest, hereby declare, in conformity with the sovercign behest of his Majesty our most gracious | King, and in bis sovereignnamo and person, that it is his Majosty’s firm and steadfast determination to defend with sll his royal power and authority the | unity andintegrity of his royal Hungarian crown agarnst every attack from without, and every at- tempt at disruption and separation that may be made within the kingdom, and at the same time pea to maintain the laws which have received the royal sanction. And while his Mejosty will not suffer avy one to curtail the liberties assured to all clagses by the law, his Majesty, as well as all the members of hia royal dynasty, strongly condemns the audacity of those who venture to affirm that any illegal act whatsoever or any disrespect of the constituted authorities can be reconcilable with his Majesty's covereign will, or at all compatible with the interests of the royal dynasty. It thus cleerly appears that the King acknow- | ledged the validity and the inviolability of tho acts | passed by the Dict of 1817-8, throe months after they had been sanctioned. _ Relying on’ tho sincerity of the Royal assevora- tions, the Diet humbly requested that His Majesty | would be most graciously ploased to render the country happy by his presence. It was, in fact, | the general wish that the King should come to Hungary; even the most radical journals loudly declared that if he came, ho would be received with enthusiaem bordering on madness. Meaxwhile the rebellion of the Croats, Sorbs and Valachs was sproading daily, aud that, too, in the rame of tho Sovereign. Generals, colonels, and other field cfficers of the Imperial army, were at the hond of it, without any one of them boing sum- | moned by the King to answer for hisoonduct.. The | eyes of the too creduloun natives were now opened, | and still more when the King refused- to sanction | the acts for the levying of troops and raising of funds for the suppresvion of the rebollion, although & | the Dict hud been oonvoned obicfly for this pure pore. I must here observe that at this period nothing | whatever bad vecurred that could serve a8 a pretext | for the ¢ynasty to support the rebellion. Tho Diet, it is true, would not consent that the troops that were to be levied should be draughted into the old regiments; but it was obviously impossible for | the Diet to consent to any such measures at a peri- ed when the rebe's wero everywhere led by Im- | fee officers, when the Austrian troops stationed in Hungary, although they hed boen placed under the orders of the Hungarian Ministry, refused to fight ogainst those iebols, and tho commanders | of fortresses to receive orders from the Hungarian war cflico On the Sth of September a deputation from the Hurgaiian Diet earnestly entrented his majesty to sanction two acts relating to the levying of troops and taxes. The king retused; but in his answer to the address of the deputation said, “| trust that no one will hereby suppose that | have the iutention to ‘ide orintringe the existing laws. This, I re- , isfar from my intention. On the contrary, it ny firm and determioed will to maintain, in con- formity with my coronation oath, the laws, tho in- tegrity, and the nights of the kingdom, under my Hungarian crown.” The king made this solemn deolaration on tho Sth of September, and on the 9vh of Septombor Jel- lechich eroesed the Drave with 48,000 men, te wago war in the king’s neme on tho Hungarian Diet and ministry. The king had, moreover, on the 4th of September, affixed his al manual to aletter, or royal wandate, addressed to Jellachich, and revok- ing the decree by which he bad been deprived of his civil and military offices and dignitios. His inajesty, in this letter, also exprersce his high approbation of the Ban’s conduct. By a royal dearoe, dated Octo- ber 3, the constitution was eurpendod, martial law proclaimed, and Jellavhich, the revel, appointed his majesty’s Plenipotentiary Commissary for tho kin dom of Hungary, and invested wich unlimited thority to aot, in the name of his majosty, within the raid kingdom. Hungary, 80 far from commenoing the revolution, Was not even prepared to meet the invasion of the Croatian Ban. He wae defeated near Stuhl woissen- burg by tho Landsturm. © Hungarian govorn- mont only began to organise regular troops in Oo- Sn 1848 theo re- | tober, That the Diet did not ise a desree that nded the constitution and invosted Jellachicl ’ the dictatorsaip will be found quite natural, if net by you, at least by every Euglishman who cherishes constitutional freedow, oe babe a | proceedings on this occasion were founded on right, aie on act 4, sect 6, of the Diet of 18475, wi expressly ordaing that ‘the annual session of the Diet shall not bo closed, nor tho Dies itself dissolved, Bee, be budget for tho ensuing year vo! From this short but faithfal account of what ac- tvally occurred, it elearly appears that the Hunga- tian nation had not recourse to arms until the Ban of Crotia entered the Hungarian territory with an Austro-Croatian army. ‘t is also an undeniabl fact, that until the promulgation of the Austrian charter in Maroh, 1549, by which, with a stroke of the pen, the indepondeace of Hungary was destroy- ed, its constitution abolished, andits torritories dismembered--the flungnrian nation never do manded anything else than the maintenance of the laws and institutions which its sovereign had sanc- tioned and sworn to maintain inviolate. It was, however, precisely for the purpose of dostroying these laws and institutions that the dynasty began the war. This, of course, they did not veature to avow. It was necessary to conceal the real motives of their perfidious conduct from the civilized world. . Hence in their public proclamations they alwaya alleged some protextor other—all of them diend groundless. At the commencement, they said that it was only an insigviticant faction they had to deal with, but when they saw that the whole na« tion was arrayed in arms against them, they do- clared it was for the suppression of demagogueism, _ propagated by foreigners, chiefly Poles, that their armics bad entered Hungary; and to give color to this pretext they industriously spread the report that there were 20,000 Potes in the ranks of the Hungarians. When, however, it became notorious that not more than 1,000 Poles were fighting under eur national standard, the Austrian Gynasty nA peared as the sot disunt champion and judge o! various nationalities or races. This answered well enough until the system of centralization showed too clearly that an atiempt would be made to German- ize these nationalities, when the dynasty again” veerod about, and, leaving ‘nationalities’ in the larch, took up the peasantry. Woe consequently find the Austrian government assuring the Washe ington Cabinet (in the note of July 4, 1851,) that they had waged war on Hungary in order to crash @ turbulent aristecraoy that “preach democracy with their tongues, while thoir whole lives consist in the daily exercise over their fellow men of arbi- trary power in the most repugnant form.’ Thig last protoxt, so osten‘atiously put forth, loses, how- ever, oven its plausibility whea contrasted with the olicy of the ieee in 1848, for it is an undoubted Fret that, although the reforms effected in our po- litical inetitutions at that period were consented to, by the dynasty without much hesitation, it required tho most onergetic remoustrances on the part of tha Diet to obtain the royal sanction to the act for the liberation of the peasants from feudal bondage. Although the dynasty has most shamefully mis- used its high miesion, | grant that it has never aoe knowledged having broken its oaths, but it has also never had the boldness to assert that it was the na» tion that first sworved from the path of constitu- tional legality. To you belong exclusively both the * audacity and tho honor of this agsertion. It is” precisely to the fact of all lasses, without distinction, being equally avare of tho ozbals of the dynasty that may be accribed the success of the Hungarian insurr on. It was not one man, nor ® party, nor @ conspiracy, nor terrorism that awak- ened that spontaneous enthusiasm with which the people rushed te arins, Kossuth may hive beea the railying cry ; but he was not tho cause of the war. For several months tbo people had witnessed the equivocal conductofthe dynasty; had seen that its words were bolicd by its deeds; had seen that tho rebels were everywhere led by imperial officers; and finally beheld Jellachich, a high funotionary of tho Hungarian crown, invade the country at tie hoad ofan Austro-Croatianarmy. Jt was then, and not till then, that the nation cried, as with one voice —the King is atraitor. From tnatday began tho } f } Hungarian revolution. On that day the monar- - ohical feeling was extinguished. What no one had Sine it possible to accomplish was accomplished by the sya itself. Inthe beginning of Sep- tember, I candidly told the Archduke Stephen, our Palatine, that such was my opinion—an opinion that subsequent events have fully confirmed. Bo- fore September there was no one in Hungary who would have been able to get up an agitation against the King. At tbe end of pores vars the senti- ments of loyalty that had eo long animated the nation were replaced by an intenso feeling of dis- gust. With the nimbus of Majesty every other prestige had fied. The old Hungarian people had ceased to exist. It might be supposed, in fact, to judge from their actions, that st is waited impa- tiently for the maturity of the poople, in order thas all who are not republicans by principle should be forced to embrace republicaniem through the has tred and aversion whick such actions must neces. sarily inepire. I must owit noticing several of your aesertions, roundiess though they be, because it is not my fitention either to defend or to cousure the conduct ofany one. { shall also refrain from expressing any opinion on the question, whether, although honorable and loyal, it was also pradent and poli- ~ tic for the nation to cling so long to legitimacy. Facts, however, cannot be denied. Tue nation fell asacrifise to its own policy. The heroism of re maining so long in the path of constitutional le- gality redounds to its glery; the shortsigh*ednoss of entering so late on tho path of revolution is ite shame. But “heroism,” to use the words of an American writer, “is a self-trust which slights the restraints of prudence in the plenitude of its oner- A, and power to repair the harms it may suffer.” ‘hat the harms which Hungary now sulfers will one day be repaired is the trust and firm conviction of every Huxgarian who ia proudly conscious of having performed the duty which he owed to his eountry. How far you may share this conviction I will not pretend to decide, but have the honor to be, with the usual courtesies, your very obedient, BanrnoLomew SzeMerr, Late Minister of the Interior of the Kingdom of Paris, Deo. 9. Hungary. Letter of S. Vukovics, late Minister of Justice of Hungary. Sir:—In the Times of Dec. 30, 1851, appeared w letter from Count Casimir Batthyanyi, which met, Ido not doubt, with the unanimous approbation of our countrymen in that part of it which vindicates the first Hungarian ministry, and more particular! that immortal patriot Count Louis atthyanyh, against the unpatriotic and groundless asporsiong of Prince Esterbazy. The noble count, however, in the latter part of his letter, turns suddenly to ~ another eubject, and undertakes to discuss soma principles and evente of our revolution in a manner which has placed him in direct antagonism to the advocates of the cavse of Hungary. { mast confess that itis with great regret that | feel myself com- ene to combat the assertions of a man who, by is patriotism, his intelligonce, and his great sacri- fices on the altar of his native country, has taken s0 distinguished a place in our ranks. Jt is true that after the close of the Diet of 1817-43, and after the royal sanction given to thy rejorm3 carried by it, tho whole country, with scarooly the exception of @ small faetion, was sincere- ly attached to the maintenance of the union with tho House of Austria. This circum: stance is of ere importance, becauso ry, with its constitational and indopendent es of war and finance, was then thoroughly in a condition in a short time to have created & power euflicient to cope with, and even to overturs, the house of Austria, shackicd, ag it thea was, by the critical state of Vienna and Italy. The nation, ovever, held tothe unhappy delusioa that the ately sworn oath of tho King was takenin good faith. ‘The moze, therefore, | agree with the noble count, as to the prevailing sentiment aud opinion of the country at the close of the Diet on the Ith of April, 1848, the more decidedly must | combat hia acser Lions, that the nation, after go many clandestine end open attacks of the court on the ausiont con- stitution, and even after tho imposition of tho Austrian constitution of 4th March, 184%, which annihilated the autonomy and independence of Hun- gary, felt compelled to have an ultimate recourse © the force of arms, but nevertheless remained per- marently averse to a deposition of the dynasty, and that it accepted the resolution of tho Divt to that cflect—stated to have been oarried by o> minority—-merely aaa fait ag ai I shall dieprove this assertion by a simple narra+ tive of those ovents, whieh widened tho chasm be- tween the people and the dynasty. So carly as the commencement of tho Serbian insurréotion, the popular saspision gainod ground that the insurrection had been stirred up by tho secret intrigues of the court. and confidence in tho truth and good faitn of the King disap; id a0- cordingly. The nation, howovor, still indulged tho hope thata weak King, though betrayed into ambi- guous proceedings, would net permit himself to bo carried away into a flagrant breach o! the consti- tution. ‘This was the timo when the King, in tho opinion of the people, was kept distinct trom the Camarilla. But when the Austrian ministry oponly attempted to deprive ry ood ot its ministries of war and finance, when the base gamo of tho degra- dation and restoration of Jellacbich was playod, and when the Hungarian army, fighting in the namo of the King against the insurrections of the Serbians and Croats, becamo aware that the balls of that samo King thinned their ranks from the hostilo camp, the nation arrived at tho univoreal conviction that the Hapsburg dynoety were only pursuing theit old absolute tenden sud that they wanted to forco Hungary into rel’ cefenoe, in order, under the pretext of rebellion, to deprive it of all its consti- tutional rights and rusrantes 5 It needs no 0 ‘ty in con- sequeneo of these intrigues and proceedings. Im spite of this natural oxcitement, aad of the war « itself carried on by the nation with an increasing onthusinsm of hatred of the Howse of Austria, vd