The Express.
London, England, 1861-10-30 00:00:00

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

THE HUNGARIAN CLERGY AND THE
AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT,
THE ARCHBISHOP'S PROTEST.

The followings a translation of the letter which
bait just been addressed by the Cardinal Prince
Primate to the Chancellor of Hungary :
Excellency,—By your honoured official communication,
dated October 18, 1861, No. 15,014, you invite me to inform
you up to what limit the corps of functionaries of the
eomitat confided to my direction as hereditary Obergespen
will be disposed to contribute to the recruiting; and in
case of the comitat's refusal in this matter, up to what
extent 1, as Obergespan, intend to contribute to the levy of
recruits, and what are the steps which I propose or intend
to take to attain this object. Guided by my unshaken
fidelity and attachment for his Majesty, our Lord
and King, and not less for my dear country, I
feel compelled, in respect to this invitation, to declare
sincerely and conscientiously that which in the prevent
unfortunate' circumstances, and after mature reflection, I
believe good, useful, and just, not only as a true citizen and
faithful subject, but also ea chief of the church of this
country, always ready to give au account of his actions and
counsels before the tribunal of the just and eternal Judge.
Supposing that the corps of functionaries of my comitat,
agreeably to the legal relations which have subsisted for
centuries between them and the community of the co-
mitat, and which have been re-established after an interrup-
tion of eleven years, by the diploma of Oct. 20, 1860,
execute, as the legal expression of that community, all
that the latter decides, and, consequently, are regulated
by it concerning the recruiting, and also the deci-
sions of the general assembly, I do not hesitate a moment—
however difficult it may be to say beforehand what will be
the decisions of the general assembly, in view of the public
opinion which is the regrettable consequence of our un-
happy situation, in view of the irritation resulting from the
visible dangers to our constitutional life—to declare that the
community of my comitat, which has always hitherto
striven to avoid conflicts which are dangerous to the public
welfare, not only will not order its functionaries to co-
operate in the recruiting, but will even directly prevent
them from doing so.
Our situation is extraordinary; it does not resemble
that of Ita.3, whets, in an isolated case, the comitats
could content themselves for the defence of national
rights with a solemn protest, for we are not now concerned
with an exceptional case. To-day the national right
relative to the vote of the military contingent and the
imposts, a right guaranteed by innumerable laws and
royal oaths, not only is questioned, but directly denied.
Ido sot believe that the country, and, therefore, my comi-
tat, will voluntarily renounce, in consenting in an extra-
legal manner to the collection of imposts and to the recruit-
ing, the principal guarantees of its constitutional r,,ydne,
and that it would or could justify thus the denial of right.
And all this is not from arrogance, from a separatist
' tendency, monsieur ; for of myself I can guarantee
the fidelity and the attachment of my nation to the
King, while 1 can also guarantee that it does not wish to
rend the tie by which it was fraternally united in the
person of the King, under the maintenance of its auto-
nomy,witb the hereditary provinces in goad and evil fortune.
As I have said, it is not arrogance or a separatist tendency
that anicates us ; it is the sentiment of right and
its natural consequence, self defence. I, who have
been and am always ready by fidelity to my
King and attachment to my c.matry, not only to offer my
aid to the sacred work of conciliation, but also to
maks sacrifices—l, who do not wish to leave a bitter
remembrance in the heart of my King and
my fellow-citizens, and who at the advanced age
at which I have attired would consider the meet for-
tunate day of my life that on which confidence be-
tween the King and the nation should triumph—l
am forced to declare to your Excellency that I
do not know the extra-legal issue which permits me to lend
my co-operation in the pending questions ; for while I have
the duty not only of presiding over the general assemblies
but also of guiding their deliberations, yet I have neither
the right nor the means of doing them violence.
If at the present moment, when the forced col-
lection of duties has raised cries of grief in the
country ; when the comae., are the passive wit-
nesses and victims of the violence and the persecution
directed against our constitution by the collectors of
the imposts ; when the nation, deprived of the hope of
a means of constitutional conciliation, groans at the
dissolution of the Diet ; when the public administration is
paralysed by the dissolution of the comitats ; if, at this
moment the ministry finds it good to exact recruits
and imposts, I do not believe that that exaction can bear
agreeable fruits. Ida not believe that the young soldier
who has joined in weeping at the executions of which his
parents have been the vie:3ms, offers a sufficient guarantee
to the King. I do not believe that the comitats
dissolved, and reorganised, perhaps, contrary to the laws
can represent in their functions, and therefore n the levy-
ing of the imposts and recruits, the consenting wili of the
public, and I do not believe that it would be prudent to
trifle loot; with the sentiments, the hopes, and the rights
of the people.
My advice, who have not been asked as prelate and as
chief of the church at the time when these questions of
urgent importance have been discussed, is summarised,
now that actual deeds are in question, as follows:
Let his Majesty our King, rejecting all anti-national
influence and influence opposed to our laws, deign to put
himself in direct communication with the country,
and, Repairing in our midst, address the nation
with sincere words, which would dissipate the fears
for the constitution, and would permit the earliest
possible re-s•eembling of the Diet ; let the unhappy state
of things arising from the dissolution of the comitats
be changed, which cannot be until the elections for
the Diet, now so eagerly awaited; let the questions
of impost and recruiting be adjourned until the meeting of
the Diet, fixed for the earliest possible period, and let
a stop be put meanwhile to the forced collection of the
taxes. Oo these conditions I will boldly guarantee
that the country, which will see its rights recognised and
the complications about to be removed, will be disposed as
ever in its proved fidelity towards the King and in regard to
the necessities of the state, to grant all that his Majesty can
legally demand.

I Consider it au indispensable duty tc submit all
those things to your &willowy, in order that 1
may not one day be accused of silence—in order that I hive
not even the semblance of being indifferent to the
dangers of the dynasty and of the state, for which I
have ever been reedy to make the greatest sacrifice., and
declare myself ready at this moment to ►ppear in the
presence of his Majesty, with the dignitaries, obergespans.
and notabilities of the country, to submit to him verbary
the present statement.—ltoceive,
Oran, Oct. 21. JILIN SCITOWtIItY, M.P.

It has been airway stated, in a tolugram from
Vienna, that the Cardinal Primate has been sum-
moned to thu capital to explain and justify the
above circular to the Emperor.