The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-31 00:00:00

THE HUNGARIAN czEßor AND THE
AUSTRIAN GOVERNALEIVT.

THE ARCHBISHOP'S PROTEST

The following is a translation of the letter which
has jest been addressed by the Cardinal Prince
Primate to the Chancellor of Hungary :
Excellency,—By your honoured official communication,
dated October 18, 1861, No. 15,014, you invite me to inform
you up to what limit the corps of functionaries of the
comitat confided to my direction as hereditary Obergespan
will be disposed to contribute to the recruiting; and in
case of the comitat's refusal in this matter, up to what
extent 1, as Obergespan intend to contribute to the levy
of recruits, and what are the steps which I propose or
intend to take to attain this object. Guided by my un-
shaken fidelity and attachment for his M ijesty, our
Lord and King, and not less for my dear country, I
feel compelled, in respect to this invitation, to declare
sincerely and conscientiously that which in the present un-
fortunate circumstances, and after mature reflection, I
believe good, useful, and just, not only as a true citizen and
faithful subject, but also as chief of the Church of this
country, always ready to give an account of his actions and
counsels before the tribunal of the just and eternal Judge
Supposing that the corps of functionaries of my comitat, •
agreeably to the legal relations which have subsisted for
centuries between them and the community of the comitat,
and which have been re-stablished after an interruption of
eleven years, by the diploma of Oct. 20, 1860, execute, as
the legal expression of that community, all that the latter
decides, and, consequently, are regulated by it concerning
the recruiting, and also the decisions of the general
assembly, I do not hesitate a moment—however difficult
it may be to say beforehand what will be the decisions of
the general assembly, in view of the public opinion which
is the regrettable consequence of our unhappy situation, in
♦iew of the irritation resulting from the visible dangers to
our constitutional life—to declare that the community of
my comitat, which has always hitherto striven to avoid
conflicts which are dangerous to the public welfare, not
only will not order its functionaries to co-operate in the
recruiting, but will even directly prevent them from
doing so.
Our situation is extraordinary; it does not resemble
that of 1823, where, in an isolated case, the comitats
could content themselves for the defence of national
rights with a solemn protest, for we are not now concerned
with an exceptional case. To-day the national right
relative to the vote of the military contingent and the im-
posts, a right guaranteed by innumerable laws and royal
oaths, not only is questioned, but directly denied. I do not
believe that the country, and therefore my comitat, will
voluntarily renounce, in consenting in an extra legal man-
ner to the collection of imposts and to the recruiting, the
principal guarantees of its constitutional regime, and that it
would or could justify thus the denial of right.
And all this is not from arrogance, from a separatist ten-
dency, monsieur ; for of myself I can guarantee the fidelity
and the attachment of my nation to the King, while I can
also guarantee that it does not wish to rend the tie by which
it was fraternally united in the person of the King, under
the maintenance of its autonomy, with the hereditary pro-
vinces in good and evil fortune. As I have said, it is not
arrogance or a separatist tendency that animates us; it is
the sentiment of right and its natural consequences, self.
defence. I, who have been and am always ready by fidelity
to my King and attachment to my country, not only to
offer my aid to the sacred work of conciliation, but also to
make sacrifices—l, who do not wish to leave a bitter remem-
brance in the heart of my King and my fellow-citizens, and
who at the advanced age at which I have arrived would
consider the most fortunate day of my life that on which
confidence between the King and the nation should triumph
—I am forced to declare to your Excellency that I do not
know the extra-legal issue which permits me to lend my
co-operation in the pending questions ; for while I have
the duty not only of presiding over the general assemblies
but also of guiding their deliberations, yet I have neither
the right nor the, means of doing them violence.
If at the present moment, when the forced collection of
duties has raised cries of grief in the country ; when the
comitats are the passive witnesses and victims of the vio-
lence and persecution directed against our constitution by
the collectors of the imposts ; when the nation, deprived of
the hope of a means of constitutional conciliation
groans at the dissolution of the Diet; when the public ad-
ministration is paralysed by the dissolution of the comitats;
if, at this moment, the ministry finds it good to exact re-
cruits and imposts, I do not believe that that exaction can
bear agreeable fruits. Ido not believe that the young sol-
dier who has joined in weeping at the executions of which
his parents have been the victims, offers a sufficient gua-
rantee to the King. I do not believe that the comitats dis-
solved, and reorganised, perhaps, contrary to the laws, can
represent in their functions, and therefore in the levying
of the imposts and recruits, the consenting will of the public,
and I do not believe that it would be prudent to trifle long
with the sentiments, the hopes, and the rights of the
people.

My advice, who have not been asked as prelate and as
chief of the Chili& at the time when these questions of
urgent importance have been discussed, is summarised,
now that actual deeds are in question, as follows
Let his Majesty our King, rejecting all anti-national in-
fluenee and influence opposed to our laws, deign to put
himself in direct communication with the country, and, ap-
pearing in our midst, address the nation with sincere words
which would dissipate the fears for the constitution, and
would permit the earliest possible re-assembling of the
Diet ; let the unhappy state of things arising from the dis-
solution of the comitats be changed, which cannot be until
the elections for the Diet, now so eagerly awaited ; let the
questions of impost and recruiting be adjourned until the
meeting of the Diet, fixed for the earliest possible period and
let a stop be put meanwhile to the forced collection of the
taxes. On these conditions I will boldly guarantee that the
country, which will see its rights recognised and the com-
plications about to be removed, will be disposed as ever in
its proved fidelity towards the King and in regard to the ne-
cessities of the state, to grant all that his Majesty can
legally demand.

I consider it an indispensable duty to submit all these
things to your Excellency, in order that I may not one day
be accused of silence—in order that I have not even the
semblance of being indifferent o the dangers of the dynasty
and of the state, for which I have ever been ready to make
the greatest sacrifices, and declare myself ready at this mo-
ment to appear in the presence of his Majesty, with the
dignitaries, obergespans, and notabilities of the country, to
submit to him verbally the present statement.—Receive,
&e.,

Gran, Oct. 24, JEAN SCITOWSBY, M.P.
It has been already stated, in a telegram from
Vienna, that the Cardinal Primate has been sum-
moned to the capital to explain and justify the
above circular to the Emperor.