The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-28 00:00:00

UNITARIANS IN TRANSYLVANIA,.

- The-following letter from - Mr. -John Paszet,. of
Hungary, addressed.. to the Rev. John Benrick. of
York, will no doubt be read with considerable
interest. It describes the embarrassing condition
of the Unitarians in Transylvania, and the inirne'
diate danger with which :their institutions ,tee
threatened by the foes of religious freedom. The
following is the letter alluded to :

Claugenbarg, March 4th, 1857.

My Dear Sic,—l have just had a visit from our bish)p--
Moses Szekely, whom I think yam know, and our mi
ter here—Professor Krisza, who kn ,V 74 you, at least hl
name, to request me to assist them in apolying to Eaglesd
eTal America to help titan in the difficulties under whit''
they lete:ar. I have bean so long absent from England
myself, that I have necessarily lost the means of interest'
ing' many persons in their behalf; and I do not know what
to recommend as the hest means of aerivieg at -the object
they havein view. It is under these' ci-cumstances that,
trusting to your kindriaea" towards myself, and your zeal for
the good cause, venture to *rouble you with our aff..irst
and to beg that yon would give tie 'our assistance and ad'
vice as to the best mode of proceedi4
The immediate cause of the uposal le
the fo:-
lowing : • of
The Austrian Government, in pursuit; of its policy
Germanizing Hungary, has begun a series of inroad the
freed en of educa.i m, which not only endangers the na-
tionality or the Hungarians, but still more their Peotes
tantisai Before the revolution, the schools of all th:
Protestants were completely in their own hands, both wits
respect to the system of education, the appointne!mt of pro,
fe4sers, and the disposition of the funds. Since that time,
however, the Austrian G vernment, although still allowing
a certain independence, has, nevertheless, bye succession of
arbitrary decrees materially interfered with the course of
instrucion to be pursued, as well as .with the numbers
and emoluMente of the teachers employed. In fact, in
order to retain the privileges of state schools, by which
alone they are entitled to grant certificates and degrees,
essential to the rursuit of the learned professions, as well
as the holding of all public employments, whether judicial
or political, the Government requires that the schools and
c,lleges of Transylvania shall be modelled on the system of
those of Austria. But the schools of Austria are sup'
ported by the State, and it is, therefore, an easy matter for
the minister who regulates them to provide for their sup-
port. Of course, the power which supports enjoys att un-
restraine I influence over them—an influence which has'
been in Austria openly delegated to the Jesuits. In Tr en-
sylvania, however, the Protestant schools have beta
hitherto entirely supported by funds derived from chsrita"
ale foundations, or from -present contributions. These,
albeit in the case of the Unitarians small, have been
hitherto found sufficient for the support of a College Of
upper Gymnasium in Klausenburg, and two udder Go'.
nesia, one in Thorde, the other in Keresztur in the Szekler
land. The payment of the professors has been, it is true,
very modest, but with this they would have been coral'
Teeir number, too, has been small, but they have uI6G,
up for it by increased diligence ; se that, although each
ornfessor wag ofren obliged to lecture on several subjects'
and to deliver several lectures every day, tie, se
have always maintained so good a character that
other
n 10.7
students of her confessions have always been found on
their Ist. The Au trian Government, on the patervt
principle of mixing in everything, and perhaps in hopes To
eventually :bringing the whole direction of the aall__,,°°o
entirely under its own influence, has insisted on a grey
increase in the payment of the p•ofessors, and; at the eat,
time, a great increase in their numbers. If the Corteiti,t_7A
cannot show, by a certain day, that they are able to lair;
these conditions, the schools are to be closed, ue to hb
deprived of their privilege as public schools, and eneEe"
quently of their right to grant degrees. By this massless
the Unitarian youth will be excluded from all the learned
professions, as well as from all public employments ; or
they will be obliged to seek their education in school°
where the it religious principles would be continuallY..
endangered by attempts at proselytism. It is possible the
the schools might receive aid from the Government on
submitting themselves entirely to Government control.
Nor would this involve any great hardship where the
religion and language of the people and Government sy::de
the same ; but neither is the case in Transylvania ;
the recent attempts of the Austrian Government to
tholicise the Protestants, and to deprive the whole 31>saYard
'Deputation of the use of their own language by the f"cc.a
introduction of German as the medium of instructlO'l
the schools, have excited a most intense feeling of fear st'
hatred amongst all classes of society. You may judge °.,1,
the impression created among the Unitarians, by the result
it. his produced in the form of contributi ms to resietY
Hitherto the whole prerrty of the Unitarian schools, In-
dependent of the College kildines and profess ,rs' houses,amounted • only to about .E 6,090 ; from the interest of
which the three Institutions above named have been almost
entirely supported— for the fee paid i!:%;, the studentbssis
.
almost nothing, only a few shillings—.d the coati
tions very small. Now, to provide a capital s;:ffiBjeut to
produce the annual revenue require by the new 1::'1"
la-
time, this sum must be raised to £20,000. And, alth-P
oe
the Unitarians do not altogether amount to 50,000 souls.
and the greater part part of thwe is composed of the po're'd
mountaineers of the Szekler land, it is confidently exact'e'd
that no less a sum than £12,000 will be raised -45,000 IP
larger sums, varying from £2OO to £l, collected in the
towns and from the wealehier members of the body, ea
£6,000 from the clergy, schoolmasters, and parishioners ee
the poorer villages. To those who know the poverty 0'
this country, in general, and especially of the Unitarian
borly, the collection of such a sum would have been eov-
sidered an impossibility, and nothing but the zeal which IE4
ever the fruit of persecution, could have produced it. This
sum, however, far as it is beyond what even the most Fall"
wine expected, is yet far below the amount requiren,
Under thee circumstances the Consistory have requested
me to enquire if they could hope for any assistance from
their brethren in England and America. I know no one'
to whom I can • apply, more able, and, I feel convircOu
more willing, to aid us with your advice in this matter than
yourself. The only road commonly open to the purafeh°L4
the public is that of agitation through the pries ; bet;
is More or less closed aga;nst the 'Transylvanian
for it would be sure to draw down upon them the
geance of the Austrian Government. Hed there bon alto
person he -e capable of expressing himself flueetly
English, I should have recommended that such a p roof
should have been sent to England and America, where, 11
visiting the different Unitarian congregations, and ealpiajll:
ing the peculiar merits of the case, I should have felt lit';;
doubt that aid might hare been atteined. But althouP
several of the Uniteeian clergy can read English, and s' e,,
well acquainted with English literature, there are 12°n:
who speak it sufficiently well to undertake such a t4',,'"
Under these circumstances I can think of no other tttss
of obtaining our end, than by interesting the Unitarian
Associa, ion in our case, and inducing them to issue circular
letters to the various ministers and congregations, reesal;-
mending collec•ions for our be, efit. Should this plan wee.'
your approval, might I request you to put it in a practie;
form, and father it by your recommendation. You 1:(1,;9',
readily believe I would not have undertaken to lay tt;
request before you, had I not been fully convinced f
immense importance of the question. T. wards the Bee,"
Transylvania forms the last home of Protestantism ;
that direction there is neither hope nor sympathy to va
looked for. The Austrian GJrarnment for many Yet°
attempted to reduce the Protestants to obedience by i'"
brutal persecutions of a former age: they now attempt the
same thing by the more dangerous means of tamper,'g
with education. Fortunately however slow and insidi
as have been the methods of attack, the attention of
people has been roused, and a stubbern spirit of opaasitt"
excited, which promises the best results. The will is there'
as they have already shewa, but the power is really wall*:
ing to meet the extravagant demands of the Governnt;
Help us if you can, for I am afraid alone we shall scare's
be able to maintain our position.--Very truly yours,
Joins l'ausf.

•
RESULT OF THE IHTSH+hat
ELECTIONS.—It is estimated .--
the recent elections in Ireland have resulted in a clear
gam of four in favour ot ministers. At the close of t"aoto
last Parliament the Irish members were divided In
49 Liberals, 56 Conservatives. These numbers are.l%,
converted into 51 Liberals, 54 Conservatives. The Brig' ":
at the dissolution, numbered 14. Their ranks have 104).
thinned in the recent contests; they now muster,onlY 'to
A remarkable feature in the late Irish elections is tee
change in the number of Protestants and Roman Catho,l
members. In the last Parliament there were 64 f°-
testants and 41 Roman Catholics; there are now 71 -Pr°-
tants and 34 Roman Catholics.
TIIn CATTLE DISTEMPER. —A mong the sanitary Pr c 5
cautions recommended for arresting' the approach an
checking the progress of this destructive malady, tuali
tint, as a preventive measure, has been found peculiarlyl;
efficacious. Whatever may be the nature of the poi° 1
which generates the disease, and whether the mode
r°.
propagation be infectious or contagious, the fact ig a'e(3„s
tamed, by the result of several experiments, that the v,„",
,-0
is•easily decomposed, even by feeble chemical agents. .11,1,
expedient which has proved most successful in cases of
kind is damped gunpowder, ignited when suffietemlY
The combined action of sulphur, nitre, and carbon, e-i
ployel in a state of comlo ni tstion, exhibits the reaik,h
r
property of instantly purifyinz foul or contatniqate'l
'aiawl of restoring the atmostr i b
ere to a ,und and Iv"'
condition. Ttie cheapness of the article used, and to
facility of its application, will operate as an induceale'
caske,a trial, end test the value of this simple remedy
Limerick Chronicle. •