The Sun.
London, England, 1849-11-21 00:00:00

SYMPATHY WITH HUNGARY.

(From the Liverpool Albion.)
A public meeting of the Welsh residents in the
town was held in the Music•hall on Friday evening,
to memorialize Lord Palmerston to interpose the in-
fluence of the British Government to obtain for the
remnant of the patriotic Magyars who have not yet
been executed by Austria a restitution of their ancient
constitutional liberties, and of their liberty and pro-
perty confiscated. The meeting was highly compli-
mentary to the philanthropic and patriotic feelings of
our Welsh fallow-townsmen ; and the spacious room
was thronged and much enthusiasm manifested.
Amongst the gentlemen on the platform were the fol-
lowing :—The Rev. D. James, W. Rees, M. Lewis,
T. Aubrey, S. Pierce, J. Hughes, J. Williams, and J.
James, and Messrs. D. Lewis, Owen Elias, J. Evans,
Matthew Jones, D. Davies, J. Griffiths, and G.
Owen, &o. Mr. Thomas Lloyd, town councillor, was
called upon to preside.
The CHAIRMAN opened the proceedings by address-
ing the audience in Welsh, and, after giving a
geographical description of Hungary and the number
and character of her population, &c., read a lengthy
letter from Mr. Arthur James Johnes, in which the
writer stated, that although his public engagements
prevented his attendance at the meeting, he begged
to convey his entire concurrence in the views of those
by whom the meeting had been promoted and his
heartfelt hope for their success.
The Rev. W. Rees, whospoke in Welsh, then came
for ward amid loud cheers and proposed the first resolu-
tion, which was as follows :—" That this meeting,
viewing with extreme horror and disgust the deceit.
ful and tortuous policy of the Austrian Government
lowards the Hungarian nation and the unparalleled
atrocities perpetrated by that Power, aided by Russia,
on those brave people, calls upon all free nations,
both in Europe and America, as they value the in-
stitutions under which they live, emphatically to
petition their respective Governments to use
every means in their power to obtain fir
the Magyar people a restoration of their ancient con-
stitutional liberties, and for those individuals of their
race who are now unjustly enduring the penalties of
confiscation and banishment restitution a their
property and liberty to return to their native land."
After observing that the Welsh were not accustomed
to deliberate upon political subjects, especially
the affairs of sovereign nations, the Rev. Gentleman
said, if any one should ask why they took upon
themselves the cause of Hungary, they would answer
by asking another question—'was there not a reason ?
Tne cause of Hungary was the cause of justice,
the cause of truth,- of liberty, of civilization, of
humanity; yea, the cause of God, and therefore their
cause. The speaker th .n proceeded in a power Ail and
fervid strain to speak of the threatened judgments of
Gal as expressed in Scripture towards the tyrants and
oppressors of nations, and cited the case of the oppres-
sors of the I fungerians as one to which these judgments
applied. The Almighty had said, "I am the Lord,
who exercise loving- kindness, judgment, and righte-
ousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, saith
the Lord." Surely, then, he delighteth not in that dra-
g en of cruelty, the Austrian Government.— (Cheers.)
The cause of oppressed Hungary was peculiarly the
cruse of God; and in assembling there that evening
to advocate it they (night confidently look for His ap-
probation and blessing on their meeting.—(Hear,
hear.) The speaker then proceeded to condemn
those whom be designated the tyrants of Europe.
He wished he could get these of Austria and Russia
together including the villain Idayn-.11, who was a
di,gr ice to the age in which he lived—he said he
wished he could get them closeted together, that
he might point out to them several passages cf
Scripture, and say, Look there, ye promoters
of iniquity, and behold pour horrible visages ;
reed there your doom, written in fiery letters of
divine ilspleasure ; look there and tremble ; look
there and perish."—(Loud cheers.) He would also
point to Kossuth and Mazzini certain passages in the
same blessed book, and say, " Look there and hope ;
look there and be encouraged ; look there and be
consoled ; your righteous cause is not lost, it is in safe
keeping, under the protection of Him who spoke
these words, and not one jot or one tittle of them
shall pass away till all be fulfided." But the
object of their meeting that evening was not so
much to create a feeling on the question, because
that feeling, he was happy to say, already existed.
There was no individual then present whose bosom
had not been often convulsed with strong emotions
of indignation against the monstrous oppressors of
anhappy Hungary and of deep and tender sympathy
with that brave nation. There was, he believed, a
sufficient amount of feeling in Wales on the question
to produce such an earthquake underneath the
foundation of Vienna and St. Petersburgh, the
seats of the two beasts who devoured Hungary,
as would spew them off the face of this earth.
The Welsh people were never known to have
taken such a deep interest in the affairs of a foreign
nation as they now manifested in the affairs of Hun-
gary. It was the subject of conversation between
the shepherds on its mountains, the warm-hearted
quarrymen in the slate works, the labourers in the
fields, the mechanics in the towns, and the mothers, and
wives and daughters of their beloved country. The
external mountains and the majestic rocks of that
beautiful land were witnesses to the prayers offered by
their countrymen on behalf of the noble Magyar race,
and of their execrations of its abominable tyrants.—
(Hear, hear.) But they must work out that feeling
to some practical purpose—it must be tempered by
judgment and discretion; they should not advocate
war with. Au,stria and Russia if it could be avoided ;
but, at the same time, they would cry peace, peace
to them. What I peace, so long as the abomi-
nations and barbarities of that Jezebel, the
Austrian Camarilla, are so many ? No! they
proclaimed war against those monsters that evening.
Not a physical, but a moral war. They would
arouse sach an amount of public opinion as would send
forth mighty thunders of honest indignation against
them, that would cause them to quail and tremble,
and hasten to hide their heads and the secrets of their
infamous deeds. These public meetings and the public
press would be employed as their heavy artillery
against such tyranny. They would have all the free
nations of Europe and America to rise up as one man
and lift up such a tremendous shout of indignation
against Austrian barbarities as would thrill through
the whole globe. They would earnestly implore
their respective Governments to use every peaceful
means to obtain for Hungary a restoration of its just
rights and constitutional liberties. They would not
cease till the last grievance of that worthy and noble
nation was redressed—(Loud cheers)—until her noble
and illustrious Kossuth, her heroic Klapka, and others
of her noble sons who had been bunted like wild
beasts and driven out of their beloved country for no
other crime but their patriotism and their love of
justice and liberty, were restored unto her. They
would nut cease in their endeavours " until the
roaring of the lion, the voice of the firm lion, and
the teeth of the young lion were broken ; until the
old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout
lion's whelps were scattered abroad." The Hun-
garians had a right to their liberties in a twofold
sense : first as the common birthright of man.
Man was never made to be a slave ; he had an ina-
lienable right to freedom. The Creator never com-
manded nor intended that one man should rule over
another to his hurt.—(Cheers,) Again, the Hunga-
rian people had a constitutional right to their liber-
ties ; a constitution guaranteeing to them their na-
tionality and liberty was formed and ratified more
than 300 years ago, when the country was united to
Austria. It gave them a diet and a parliament to re-
gulate their own laws and institutions. The Hunga-
rian struggle, therefore, was not a rebellion in any
sense, at least in any bad sense of the term.—(Hear.)
It was a sacred, natural duty.—(Cheers.) It was for
freedom as the common birthright of man, but also
as a constitutional right of their country. The infa-
mous attack' of the Austrian Government on Hun-
gary involved it under a heavy load of twofold guilt,
a violation of the rights of mankind, and a violation
of the constitutional rights of a nation. But they
should not despair of the cause of Hungary. It could
not be lost—(Hear)—for as sure as there was a God
in heaven who loved justice and mercy, and who
judged among the nations, the great bulk of its op-
pressors would be broken and Hungary would yet
rejoice in the full enjoyment-of those rights and liber-
ties which her noble sons had proved themselves so
worthy to enjoy.—(Loud cheers hailed the reverend
gentleman as he resumed his seat.)
The Rev. Mr. Animal-, Wesleyan minister, of
this town, next addressed the meeting in Welsh.
He regretted, we understand, that the meeting had
not been held on an earlier day, but expressed a hope
that it would not yet be too late to put a stop to the.
brutal executions taking place in Hungary. When
humanity was bleeding it was the duty of all good
Samaritans to step in and endeavour to heal the.
wound. The love- of liberty an of life were like
Siamese twins: wpheaoti),e7; life without liberty.—
( A pplauee.) The Hungary were not de-
graded set* but highly educated and civilized, pos-
seesed of rights like ourselves, and were hence en-
titled to sympathy. It was their desire to
destroy
which had
serfdom throughout their kin
brought them into collision with Austria. Tyrants
stood between men and their Creator ; they oppressed
men who, in the siOit of God were their brethren,
and this was the case between Hungary and Austria.
Metternich and the Austrian executive were only
puppets, the strings of which were pulled by the
Jesuits. He had tried to exclude the Bible from
Austria , but had been compelled to fly.—(Applause.)
The reason of the attack upon Hungary was, the
prevalence of Protestantism there : the people strongly
wished for religious liberty; If James the Second
had done his duty to Protestantism it would have
been all but universal. If Cromwell, who used through
John Milton to write powerful notes to the Poten-
tates on the Continent, were now on the English throne,
he would have put a stop to the butcheries of Hun-
gary.—(Rapturous applause.) He eulogised the