The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-14 00:00:00

does besides appear to me that expression of the opinions
of the British people on the subject is an urgent exigency
of the exalted position of this mighty and constitutional
nation. Allow me to explain. You are aware both of the
character and intensity of the Hungarian movement. Well,
in November, 1858, when not a breeze was yet in motion
indicative of the storm which has swept over the tottering
house of Austria, I expressed, in one of my lectures at
Glasgow, the opinion that the time had come for refreshing
public interest in the cause of my native country. Eitenta
fully justified my anticipations. All that time the name of
Hungary was scarcely mentioned in the organs of European
publicity. To-day she is a standing topic of report and
argument throughout the whole periodical press, on the con-
tinent and in Great Britain alike. And both the justice and
importance of my country's cause is receiving a telling testi-

mony from the fact that, with the exception of the few
ultramontane journals (such as the French L' Univers), of
the doting Augsburg Gazette, notoriously in the pay of the
Austrian court, and some of the Viennese papers, the whole
European press, even some journals of Vienna included, is
unanimous in condemning the not less foolish than iniqui-
tous course of Francis Joseph of „Austria, and in acknow-
ledging the justice of the cause of Hungary.
In fact, the results of the war in Italy, the subsequent
movement in Hungary, Translylvania, and Croatia, con-
jointly with the general satisfaction throughout the whole
of the Austrian Empire, even Tyrol included, and the utter
helplessness of its government, have within the last four
months not only raised the Hungarian question to urgent
European import, but in reality endowed it with the eha-
racter of a burning question of the day.
Now, it does strike me that the position which the Bri-
..

tish Empire holds in the European community cannot allow
the British people to remain silent on any such question.
The giving expression to their opinions on the subject is a
necessity resulting from the political standing of England
as one of the leading Powers of Europe ; it is a duty at-
tached• to the weight and influence which the public opinion
of the British people has both with their own Government
and abroad.

There is, besides, another consideration. The short cam-
paign in Italy has so utterly destroyed the false prestige of
power which Austria enjoyed, not only during the late
Crimean, but even on the eve of the Italian war—and the
reports (however imperfect) of what is passing throughout
the Austrian provinces, and in Hungary in particular, have
to such an extent laid bare the utter rottenness of that ab-
normal, artificial, and iniquitous fabric, called the Austrian
Empire, that—to use the words of the Times, Dec. 27—" it
is now generally acknowledged that there is no hope for the
Austrian Empire, and that the Austrian rulers are carried
spell-bound to destruction."

Spell-bound or not, they are hurrying to destruction.
Francis Joseph of Austria is now both the nuisance and the
"sick man" of Europe. The opinion that there is no hope
for that "sick man" is perfeqtly well founded.
It would carry me too far *ere I to enter here on an ex-
planation in detail of the per'ersity, the stupidity, and con-
sequent rottenness of the system of government, the folly
of which is hurrying the house of Austria to that destruc-
tion to which they are doomed by their crimes.

Suffice it to•say, that the Austrian system of government,
se far from answering any single one, of the many require-
ments of society, is in flagrant contradiction to each and all
of them. It is not conservative, but subversive of society.
It substituted inextricable confusion for order, subverted
security of person and property; it is in constant conflict
with all those interests which are dear to man as a moral
being, to man es an intellectual being, to man as a religious
being, to man as a secial being, to man as a citizea—it
wounds the feelings of everybody, it dissatisfies everybody
—it saps the very foundation of material welfare—it blights
the gratuitous blessings of nature, arrests progress, checks
commerce and industry—drains the very marrow of the
people—lowers step by step the scale of subsistence, drives
every class, from the highest to the lowest, towards abso-
lute ruin;; and while it outrages human nature by its des-
potic arbitrariness, and creates contempt by its complicated
stupidity, while it tramples with wanton obstinacy on na •
tionality, liberty, law, historical rights, it can point to no-
thing which even the grossest egotist might regard as a
slight compensation for the loss of everything which is of
any value in the estimation of man.

"You ask us how we are getting on with our govern-
ment P We have no government ! they are banditti, and
not a government." Such are the words which you may
hear from men of standing both in the clergy and laity, from
men once staunch adherents of the house of Austria, who
formerly belonged to what was styled the old conservative
party.

These words tell volumes—and they are not of my inven-
tion; they aro words which uncontrollable exasperation
wrung from the lips of my former political antagonists.
However, it is notorious that, notwithstanding the lesson
which he got administered to him in Italy, it is on the
sword, and the sword alone, that Francis Joseph relies for
his safety.

Count Bussingen, the governor of Venetia, being at his
wits' end (an bout de son latin), run up one of these days to
Vienna for advice and to advise. Ho told the Kaiser that
he cannot catch one single I4alian to accept office ; that
on his causing any decree to be published people answer
that they don't understand German (exactly as in Hungary);
that whenever a government functionary, a gendarme, or
police officer makes his appearance in a community, the
whole community is found " not at home ;" thus adminis-
tration being brought to a dead stand, the count suggested
that it would be wise to grant "concessions," and not wait
to be forced to them either by Congress or otherwise. Upon
this the Emperor flew into a passion, and striking violently
his sword, exclaimed—" I give no concessions, rather may
the whole trash go to the devil." (Lieber solider Teufel
den ganzen plunder hohlen.)

Again, with regard to Hungary, he is credibly reported to '
have used such polite expressions as "- the fellows (die
Kerin) with their clamours, as long as I have one single
soldier left I shall not yield, they shall get nothing, pre-
cisely." And this man pretends to be the delegate of the
Eternal Lord. In a well regulated society such creatures are
put in the straitjacket ; and shall he be let free to dlsPose,
according to his mad fancies, of the soul, mind, body, and
fortunes of thirty-six millions of human beings ? However,
though this may be madness, perhaps there is method in
it, because, whatsoever a recourse to timely concessions,
based on a return to historical rietts, might or might
not have effected formerly, so much is certain, that his mad
system has perfectly succeeded in rendering concessions too
late. Be this as it may, on the sword alone he relies for
maintaining hithself. Forsooth, a . curious reliance in a
man who_could so little set himself up by his sword, that
he wanted 200,000 Russian bayonets to get set up. How-
ever, upon the sword ho relies. Now, such a reliance wants
two things—money and a devoted, reliable army. As to
money, on the financial system of Austria public opinion
has already passed judgment. It is in a state of bankruptcy,
and that bankruptcy is coupled with " escroquetio" (swin-
dling). (Remember the famous history of the surreptitious
emission of bonds to the amount of one hundred and ton
millions of florins). I desire is advert to the Austrian sy -
tem of taxation as it is practised in Hungary. Landed pro-
perty is rated at 32 per cent. (about six shillings and five
pence in the pound) of not income, which is, besides,
valued in the most iniquitous manner.. To this tax, al-
ready too heavy in itself, are superadded 50 per cent. pro-
vincial, and 25 cent, communal supplement, together 85
per cent, of the original amount of the tax (or another 6s.
sd. in the pound). Thus, this one tax alone amounts to
12s. in every pound of revenue from landed property.
£lOO income tax has to pay £6OO land tax. And who
could, besides, enumerate the different other items of direct
andtind irecritaxat ion; ono more ruinous than.anotherond for
the most part, insupportably vexatious ? To give you an
idea of the value I shall mention one fact. Hungary is a
wine-growing country to the average amount of 340 mil-
lions of gallons a year. The vineyards are subject to the land
tax. Again the produce is raised up to ono florin on each
barrel of ten gallons, which is often spld not higher than at
two or three florins. But the matter does not yet end with
thus much. The producer must pay "consumption tax"
for drinking his own wino. His barrels are put under seal,
in his own cellars, and when the hospitable Magyar wishes
to tap a fresh barrel, to entertain a chance traveller, he can-
not do so without the finantz, or the Jew who happens to
have rented the consumption tax on the community, coming
to take off the imperial seal on due payment ? Sometimes
he is not disposed to go, and must be conciliated of course.
To get rid of these vexations, doubly insupportable to the
Hungarian, who is not yet broken to such "paternal go-
verment," people used to come to an agreement with the
" finantz," paying an average by the year for the liberty to
tap their own wine. The average is calculated upon an
arbitrary valua ion of the daily consumption. Well, I
know of a case where a right rev. canon of a cathedral
church—a man equally distinguished for his patriotism and
moral and intellectual accomplishments—had his throat
valuated at 200 gallons a month, or six and two-thirds gal-
lons a day, and had left no choice but to submit either to
the robbery or to the insupportable vexation. And you
can have no idea what ingenuity there is employed in de-
vising new titles for taxation. When, a couple of years
ago, Francis Joseph made a trip to Hungary, his clever
"financiers," having exhausted every imaginable title of
taxation, fell on the idea of a " joy tax" (froudensteur).
From what I have said you may understand how it could