The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-28 00:00:00

. "kis,

LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1848.

Presburg may be taken and the Magyars still
remain unconquered. At a time when the counter-
revolutionists .are endeaVouring to dupe the under-
standing* ,of the multitude. into the, belief that no
other course remains -open to democracy but that of
submission,' it becomes doubly•nedeSsary•to expose
the absurdity of the non sequitur which is now being
noised abroad by the,reactionary urpns in regard tc
the state.oisffsirs,in Hungary. Because at the out
• set of the campaign the city of Presburg is seized b)
the forces of PrinCe WINDISCHeItATZ, it is pretended
**at Kossirra must per force, consent to an imme-
diate . and ignominious capitulation. Never was
a deduction more preposterously illogical: As well
might it be maintained that, in the event of
-Prussia suddenly invading the territories of France
and capturing the city of Metz, the'Republican Go-
vernment
,would- be Compelled. to haul down their
C9lOurs'and consent, to any conditions, that might be
demanded from them by the dragoons of WitAPIGBL.
The truth is that Presburg is so contiguous to the
`German frontiers of Hungary. as to place it almost
wholly at the mercy of whatever Imperial troops
could be marched to it from the barracks surrotinding
'the castellated palace of Schoenbrunn. As the crow
flies, there are, scarcely nine German Miles (about
forty-five English miles). intervening between Pres-
burg' 'end Vienna I ' That circumstance of itself
is sufficient to 'account for the abrupt capture of one
of the principal fortified places in the dominions:of the
Magyars. Beyond this it must be remembered that
Presburg is not the metropolis of the Hungarian
nation. Pesth must be garrisoned by Sassoxicn
before the
,country can be considered •in, the military
possession of the invaders. And-between Presburg
and Pesth there are a vast concourse of difficulties
and obstructions to be overcome. KOSSUTH has not
been indolent since first his patriotism • was re.
spon•ded -to by the enthusiastic devotion of
his fellow- cou n trymen. Every device that
could emanate from engineering ingenuity has been
• adopted as a precaution against the progress of the
• assailants. Extensive tracks of land have been de-
vastated, -villages deserted by their inhabitants, farm:
houses razed to the ground, crops destroyed, wefts
choked up, and all this for the purpose of presenting
to the Austrians the obstacles of arralmost impassable
wilderness. Several of the larger roads, conducting
from the boundaries of Hungary to the interior have
been even undermined' by the sappers of the defend-
ing army. The further WiNDISCHGRATZ penetrates
into the regions of insurrection the more embarrassing
. and perilous will become the snares, and the pitfalls,
and the mines, and the ambuscades prepared for his
reception:

We are not without confidence in the Hungarians.'
Although in recent emergencies they have not in-
variably displayed their wonted perseverance and

consistency, they have neverthele9 given evidence
rsyoSsl,the earnestness of their civism and-of the dignified
Le!stion of their valour. Degeneracy has not palsied
le\ heroic race of the i‘lacyars. True, without
,
4* t, they have yielded up a considerable portiop
of their self=relianee to the severe demands of ad-
-yetsity ; true that the prolonged predominance e

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