The Sun.
London, England, 1849-07-03 00:00:00

Lt 011b14
LONDON, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1849.

About half a hundred Hungarian Hussars are now
encamped in the neighbourhood of Folkstone.
Travel-stained, impoverished, and emaciated, they
are still described by those who have seen them as
" fine soldier-like men, who would do credit in their
bearing to any of our crack regiments." The his-
tory of these gallant fellows, of their misfortunes and
vicissitudes, is very simple and touching. It is this.
When Austria was fighting simultaneously below the
Carpathians and on the banks of the Danube, against
the Magyars and against the Sardinians, several of
the Hungarian regiments, fired by a hatred of the
oppressors of their country, deserted from the army
of RADETZKY, joined the forces of his
Majesty King CHARLES ALBERT, and fought
valiantly against the German soldiers on the fields of
Mortara and Novara. On the close of the last brief
but disastrous campaign, when the conquerors re-
quired, among other terms for an armistice, the
delivery into the hands of RADETZKY of all the
Lombards and Hungarians who were reently num-
bered amongst his antagonists, the latter received a
friendly intimation which enabled them to seek safety
by a sudden departure. About two hundred on that
occasion left the territories of Savoy—some seeking
shelter at Grenoble, and others traversing the
mountains of Switzerland. The former division,
supported by a bounty from the French Govern-
ment, amounting to three sous, for each individual
during every hour of march, crossed the intermediate
departments of the Republic, and having been con-
veyed over the channel, ultimately reached the
suburbs of Folkstone. Their object is, if possible, to
arrive by some means at the glorious country which
gave them birth, and to dedicate the remainder of
their lives to the service of their fatherland. To
gratify this patriotic intention they have already
gone through many severe difficulties, and voluntarily
subjected themselves to many bitter privations. Be- 1
fore they can place their good swords at the '
service of Hungary, before they can lay
their credentials at the feet of LUDWIG
KOSSUTH', the illustrious tribune who at present
rulQa ilungsvry is th 9 ehg.ra..kor of h.t. Sleet Repub-
lican President, yet greater difficulties must be over-
come, and yet greater privations endured. Mean-
while their spirit remains unconquered, even though
they are standing on a foreign shore without a copper
coin in their pockets, and though they know the
immerse distance which remains to be traversed.
Here then is an opportunity afforded to Englishmen
of showing the sympathy with which the people of 1
Britain regard the struggle of the Magyars against
the legions of Despotism ! Hitherto we have been pre-
vented, from tbe remoteness of our position from the seat
of war, from offering more than the words ofencourage-
ment and the voice of admiration to the heroic sol-
diers who have gained so many victories under the
banners of BEM and DEmuussx.r. At last we have
the opportunity of doing something more than this to
testify our solicitude for the triumph of Hungarian
liberty. Fifty-six members of the race of the
Magyars are at this moment on the soil of England,
ill-clothed, without food, and penniless—yet re-
solved, at all hazards, to shed their heart's blood if
necessary in defence of their beloved nationality. Shall
England witness their arrival and departure with
apathetic indifference ? Will not Englishmen, on the
contrary, avail themselves eagerly of this golden
means of revealing their true sentiments as to the
aggression of the combined forces of Austria and
Russia upon the armies of the Hungarians ? A tes-
timonial for a band so small, yet so heroic, would not
only recruit the strength of these refugees from the
legions of despotism—it would not only carry these
fifty-six Hussars, fully equipped, and in admirable
condition, to the troops assembled near Raab, or in
Transylvania, it would not only be the per-
formance of an act of humanity and of generosity,
but it would carry into the very heart of the
race of the Maygars the conviction that in
sympathy, if not in fact, England is with them in their
sublime endeavours. Such an assurance would be
better to them than a park of artillery or a regiment
of mercenaries. It would stimulate the bravery, and
prolong the endurance, and heighten the enthusiasm,
and confirm the patriotism, and strengthen the ambi-
tion, and exalt the aspirations of the illustrious men
who are fighting unaided against the colossal empires
of the CZAR and KAISER ! It would be an announce-
ment to them that, isolated as they have been to all
appearance, they have still retained for friends and
brothers the people of Great Britain.

As an additional inducement to aid in some mea-
sure, however slight, the cause which is threatened
simultaneously by the Governments of Vienna and
St. Petersburgh, the ghastly intelligence arrives of
the novel and wholesale atrocities perpetrated in the
name of Austria, at the city of Presburg, by HAY-
NAU, the successor of WELDEN and WINDISCHGRATZ.
One of the latest of the diabolical acts of cruelty
which are day by day adding fresh infamy to the
name of HAYNAU, is the dastardly and untimely
execution of the principal member of one of the
nob:est families of Hungary—Baron LADISLAUS
MEDNIANSZKY. On that scaffold which has
been permanently raised on a hill visible
from nearly all parts of Presburg, on that gibbet
which has reeked .with blood almost as copiously as
the guillotine on the Place de Greve, perished prema-
turely, in his thirty-second year, the husband of a
once happy lady, the father of two young children,
the head of an illustrious house, the heroic com-
mander of the garrison of Leopoldstadt. Our heart
leaps up within us when we hear how the young
noble at the foot of the gallows addressed himself to
the assembled multitude, and how, when the hangman
endeavoured to stop his mouth with his hand, MED.
NIANSZKY struck the executioner a blow in the face,
saying, "Your duty is to hang me, but I will not suffer
your hand to touch me beyond the performance of that
duty. In three weeks the Hungarians will be in
Presburg; they will then avenge my death !" How
probable that prophecy is as to its fulfilment may be
learnt from the enthusiasm at present animating all
classes of the Hungarian population. Religious dif-
ferences, as well as social and political, are forgotten
is the common resolve to save the freedom of the
country, and to vindicate the outraged glory of the
realm of St. Stephen ! And in this sympathetic mood
the brother of the young nobleman whose death we
have just recounted, although an ecclesiastic, a
Catholic canon of Erlau, could march to the
field of battle with the cross in his hand, and alto.

gether evince such a noble devotion to the cause as
to be nominated Head Field Chaplain of the Hun-
garian army, while a Protestant Clergyman, -named
RAZZA, could suffer the punishment of death in the
same cause, and with a serenity so remarkable as to
excite the admiration of the beholders. A devotion
which can thus affect persons of otherwise such an-
tagonistic opinions is of a character not to be extin-
guished but by the annihilation of an entire race, by
the subjugation of many millions of Magyars.
Everything assures us that vast as are the prepara-
tions made by the congenial Governments of Imperial
Austria and Russia, their end can never be obtained
but through a series of atrocities the commission of
which must ultimately rouse the most sluggish
nations to an interposition. Those atrocities have
already been commenced—thousands have been exe-
cu,ed ; prisoners of war have been subjected to into-
lerable cruelties, have been scourged in the public
squares, and incarcerated in terrible dungeons ;
property has been confiscated ; villages have been
committed to the flames; towns have been bombarded;
cities have been razed to the ground ; a gibbet has
been permanently erected at Presburg ; whole pro-
vinces have been ravaged and desolated ; the green
crops have been trampled under the hoofs of
the cavalry and under the wheels of the
artillery ; the ripe crops have been burnt
wantonly.; agriculture, commerce, religion, all
have alike been outraged and contemned ; and
the invaders are at length pressing forward in such
enormous numbers as to threaten to overrun Transyl-
vania, if not ultimately to overwhelm the Hungarians.
Still the motto of the Magyars must be fulfilled—
" Parcere subjectis, et deiellare superbos"—and its
fulfilment can only be visible in the fruits of victory.

Application will be made to Parliament by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, probably within the
present week, to authorise the advance of a consider-
able sum of money by way of loan to the Dublin
and Galway Railway Company. This is a wise and
prudent measure, by which great advantages will be
conferred on the sister kingdom, without any loss or
even risk to the national exchequer. Additional em-
ployment will be afforded to the labouring
population; the line of railway communication
will be extended from the Irish metropolis
and Great Britain to the far west ; great
facilities will be afforded to travellers ; a
cheap and expeditious mode of transit will be pro-
vided throughout the country, and other branches of
industry will be materially benefited, while many
persons will obtain permanent occupation on the line
who are now wasting their time in idleness. Even
the public revenue will be increased by the stimulus
thus given to trade and commerce, and it is
to be hoped that when the line is completed
we shall hear less of the misery and destitution in
what are termed, par excellence, the distressed unions.
The advances made to other Irish railway companies
have already been productive of the happiest results.
After the project brought forward by Lord GEORGE
BENTZNCK had been rejected by Parliament, a pro-
ject which was by far too extensive and indiscrimi-
nate to receive the legislative sanction, loans
amounting in the whole to 620,0001. were granted to
the companies whose position and prospects entitled
them to look for encouragement and assistance.
Since that period the Dublin and Galway
Company have made exertions that fully
justify the favourable consideration of the
Government, and there is another company also, the
Waterford and Limerick, whose conduct has been
equally meritorious, and who are as well deserving
of present aid. The directors of the Waterford and
Limerick Railway base their application for a neces-
sary loan upon grounds which, in our opinion, fairly
and fully justify them in preferring a strong claim to
fiscal assistance. The circumstances of the case
are briefly these. In 1847, the Great Southern and
Western Railway received a loan of 500,000/. to enable
them to complete their line, and two other com-
panies obtained lesser amounts at the same time.
The Waterford and Limerick Railway was, how-
ever, denied a participation in this benefit, merely
because it had not paid up by a few thousand
pounds the portion of capital, vie., one-half (amount-
ing to 375,0001.), required by the Act to enable it to
raise money by way of aloan.;lntimation was, however,
given to. the company that, on the necessary amount
being paid up, the same advantages would be
extended to them. On this promise of advances
from the Treasury the company commenced opera-
tions upon the second section of the line, extend-
ing between the towns of Tipperary and
Clonmel, thereby involving themselves in a
considerable outlay, which has ever since been
comparatively unproductive, in consequence of an
unexpected change of policy on the part of the Go-
vernment, who withdrew the promised supplies, after
advancing only 13,0001., which the company are now
called on to repay by instalments. If the Treasury
obstinately persist in denying this essential aid, the
evil consequences of such obduracy will be severely
felt throughout an important district of the south of
Ireland. Two thirds of the capital, being a sum of
500,0001., have already been paid up. Without any
risk, and with ample security, they may avert the
danger impending over this portion of the country,
and without inflicting in jury upon other interests es-
sentially accelerate the prosperity of the south and
south-east.

If the means be withheld of continuing the works to
Waterford, the towns along the unfinished portion of
the line will sink into decay, from the diversion of
the trade they have hitherto enjoyed from its natural
channel to a false and artificial direction, and the ad-
joining country will speedily fall into as deplorable
a condition of poverty and destitution as that which
to-day afflicts the far west. No monopoly of favour
is demanded : all that is asked for is simply this,
that similar support to that accorded to other lines
may be extended in this instance as well. There is the
fullest security, not only for the payment of the interest,
but for the repayment of the loan. The railway,
and the district whose vital interests depend upon
the prolongation of the line, seek for no eleemosynary
aid, but put forth unquestionable security for what
they may receive. The total amount sought to be
advanced is 250,0001. Of this 150,0001. is required
within the present year for the purpose of complet-
ing the second section of the line to Clonmel, and the
remaining 100,0001. to complete the third section to
Waterford, as soon as the company can justify the
realisation of 150,0001. on their shares. Although the
company are at present cramped for funds, they offer
what we cannot but consider as perfectly satisfactory
guarantees. The first consists of the amount payable
for the carriage of the mail, now estimated at 4,0001.,
and when the second section should be completed, at
8,0001. per annum. To this extent the Government
are secured, as far as the amount which they them-
selves agree to pay for conveyance of mails, beyond a
shadow of risk, and, as to the balance, by the surplus
weekly revenue, which, by the last report of the di-
rectors, amounted to 1151., or to 5,9801. per annum.
This increase would be commensurate with the gra-
dual extension of the line; so that whilst there would
be security at the very outset for the interest
of the entire loan, the receipts would be
nearly, or even fully, doubled before the
second portion of the loan would be required. Then,
again, there are the unpaid calls on 10,000 shares,
which would be doubtless paid up were the line in a
position to proceed; and, thirdly, the forfeited shares,
5,000 of 50/. each, which the company have power to
re-issue. If fitting and reasonable succour be ex-
tended to the Waterford and Limerick Railway we
shall regard it as one of the greatest boons that can
possibly be conferred on the sister country. The
unfinished portion, running from Tipperary to
Waterford, passes through the valley of the Suir, one
of the loveliest and richest districts in the
island. It touches on the towns of Cahir,
Clonmel, and Carrick on-Suir, terminating in
the great seaport of Waterford. To the
latter city the prolongation of the undertaking would
be an immense advantage, -Waterford being the
natural outlet for the exports, and market for the
imports required by the entire district through which
the line passes. At present it is a fact most in-
juriously felt by the Waterford merchants, that
buyers from Kilkenny and Cahir find it more to their
advantage to frequent the markets of Dublin and
Limerick, and to pay higher prices there than in the
former, in consequence of the greater facilities of
carriage. Kilkenny, 12though at a di-tense of morel
than sixty miles from Dublin, now makes
the Irish capital its outlet, instead of 1
Waterford, which lies within thirty miles, and which,