The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-02 00:00:00

FRANCIS jOSRPH OF AUSTRIA V. LAY

4.5. D KOSSViIi.

M. Kossuth, who has always paid scrupulous
deference to English law in England, took legal
advice as to the lawfulness of his printing certain
banknotes. On being assured that they were lawful
he gave his sanction. They are in the Hungarian
langui ge(whichdiscriminates them from all Austrian
paper), and promise that the note shall be accepted
in Hungarian Government Offices for such or
such a sum, They are signed Kossuth, without
any title annexed, On the face of the matter there
is no imaginable fraud : the holder can never fancy
that they are something else than they are. It is
not even clear that they are intended to be used at
all, except after Kossuth shall have been recalled
to Hungary and reinstated as its Governor. We all
remember that in the war of 1848-9 he found ex-
treme difficulty in getting Kossuth-notes stamped
fast (Tough. For anything that an English Court can
know, he is now preparing for a future exigency in
Hungary, for which he has a legal right to prepare.
On the other hand, if it were in evidence before the
Court that he had sold these notes by public auc-
tion, and that A. 8., an Englishman, had bought
a 10-florin note for 9 florins, what else would this
be but a speculation of A. B. as to a future revo-
lution in Hungary? What else could an English
court have to say to it but caveat emptor ? In no
commercial sense is Francis Joseph injured, when
A. B. gives money to Kossuth for a piece of paper.
Even if the notes were drawn upon his name, he
would have no power to claim an injunction
against them. Any Englishman, C. D., is free
to draw a bill on any banker or merchant,
on his own paper, and to sign his own.
name ; and the banker's redress is to dis-
honour the paper when presented ; but he
has no right to interfere between the issuer of the
paper and his customer, even when the customer is
the victim of a fraud, except when the banker's own
paper is being imitated. What if M. Kossuth's
notes ran as follows, " I hereby avow that I have
at present no credit in the Austrian treasury ; but
I expect that within twelve months I shall have a
credit there of thirty millions sterling. On the
faith of that expected credit, I promise that this
note shall be accepted there for a hundred florins :
Kossuth." If thereupon an Englishman were to
pay down eighty florins for the note, no Court of
England would listen to the complaint of Francis
Joseph that he was wronged by the transaction.
How then the more at present ? Francis Joseph
is not called on to pay. He has the common
banker's remedy, of dishonouring the bills when
presented. _ _

But his complaint to Chancery is said to have
run thus :—" I am king of Hungary ; and as such,
by the laws of Hungary I have an exclusive
privilege of making bank-notes : therefore I claim
that the Court will put an injunction on M. Kos-
suth's notes, lest these notes be smuggled
in-to Hungary." Accepting his facts, we
have to ask : When he enters Court as an
individual Hungarian who has certain exclusive
privileges in his own country, how is his case dif-
ferent from that of any other Hungarian, who has
similarly some exclusive privilege, as that of a
copyright or patent ? Unless there were some
international treaty to forbid it, the copyright or
patent might lawfully be imitated in England;
and if the patentee applied for an injunction, lest
the articles be smuggled into Hungary, the court
would reply—" Your Hungarian officers must
look after that contingency themselves." It does
not appear that the Austrian Ambassador in
the Emperor's name ventured to complain of
Kossuth circulating these notes in England. He
knew that this would be a question, not for Chan-
cery, but for the Ministry ; a purely political ques-
tion, whether such conduct threatened the peace of
England. He knew that the Ministry, after con-
sulting the law officers of the Crown, though anxious
to aid the Austrian policy, found no ground to
stand on. He, therefore, expressly based his claim
for an injunction on the argument that such notes
were intended to circulate in Hungary. How the
Vice-Chancellor should yield to it has puzzled some
Englishmen learned in the law.
If the case comes on for further hearing, the fact
alleged by Francis Joseph will require to be sub-
stantiated. He professes to be the legitimate King
of Hurgary. This is positively denied by all
Hungarian legists ; and the evidence to the con-
trary is on the face of Hungarian law and of
European history. Even the heir to the throne is
not King of Hungary until he is legitimately
crowned ; and he is under legal duty to
take the coronation oath within six months.
If six months elapse and he remain un-
crowned, the position is so illegal in Hun-
gary, that no man can say what he is. And before
he is crowned, he has not administered to the estate,
(as a lawyer would say of an executor to a will ;)
he can perform no properly royal functions : he can-
not convene the Diet, (the Palatine must do that,)
and much less can he issue Hungarian notes. Even
the crowned King has no such privilege: it is only
the Diet which from time to time permits such an
act.—Nor is this all: but the whole House of Austria
has been legally deposed in Hungary, by a formal
act of the Diet, legally summoned, not according to
,any new extemporised processes, but according to the
hereditary and ancient precedents of Hungary;
when her King, an imbecile and half idiot, was used
as a tool of treason by the Austrian Cabinet, and was
next deposed by them on his refusal to go all the
lengths of his treason. The Diet deposed the dynasty
for four reasons : 1. that it had secretly allied itself
to insurgent traitors and robbers whom it publicly
denounced. 2. That it had attacked with armed
force an unarmed and loyal people. 3. That it had
violated the integrity of the monarchy by tearing
away its constituent members. 4. That it had
called in foreign armies to crush liberty. This
solemn act of deposition was passed, after
the Austrian armies had been victoriously
driven out in 1849. An unjust Russian
invasion followed, and Francis Joseph be-
came Emperor, not by Hungarian law, but by th e
Russian arms, He has never pretended to be King
of Hungary till since last October. In 1849 he
published an edict, which began with, " Hungary
exists no longer." And he now claims that an
English Court will adopt as fact all his versions of
history and of law.
Moreover, if the Hungarian Declaration of In-
dependence be not valid in law, much less is the
abdication of Ferdinand V., and of his brother,
the father of Francis Joseph. These abdications
have never been even presented to the Diet : some
doubt whether such documents exist, or ever were
executed. Be that as it may, if there be any legal
King of Hungary, it is Ferdinand, the crowned
king, and not his nephew, who has been put on
the throne by Russian arms, and has never yet
performed a single legal deed.
When the Austrian Ambassador has so weak a
case,—when the law officers of the Crown had de-
cided against him,—why does he rush into Chan-
cery ? Apparently, because he hopes to crush
Kossuth by the expense of a Chancery suit.

THE BOROUGH FRANCHISE BILL.

MEETING AT LEEDS.

Yesterday evening there was a largely attended
meeting held in the Victoria Hall, Leeds, for the
purpose of expressing an opinion on the bill brought
in by Mr. Baines, M.P., with the object of extend-
ing the borough franchise. The may or (James
Kitson, Esq.) presided, and he was supported by a
number of old and tried Reformers. The first re-
solution, which was moved by Mr. T. B. Baines
and seconded by Mr. John Geves, was as follows :

" That this meeting of the inhabitants of the borough
of Leeds believes that the time bas now arrived when the
education, independence, and patriotism of the working
classes fully justify, and loudly demand, such an extension
of the borough franchise as shall give to those classes a fair
share in the election of representatives to Parliament."
The resolution was unanimously carried, as was
also the following, which was moved by Alderman
Middleton, and seconded by Mr, A. Scarr—
" That this meeting regards with high satisfaction the
consistent adherence to principle shown by the Liberal
member for this borough, in introducing a bill to extend
the Parliamentary franchise in cities and boroughs in
England and Wales, believing that such bill,
it' carried, will improve the representation of the
country, and tend to satisfy the just demands of the work-
ing classes ; and it urges Mr. Baines to steadfast perse •
verance with this bill, in regard to which this meeting feels
bound to aid him by all constitutional means."
It was also resolved to petition Parliament in
favour of the bill, and an appeal was made to the
electors and non-electors of the various towns in
Yorkshire and Lancashire, to organise a vigorous
support of the measure, which comes on for second
reading on April 10th. Three cheers for Mr.
Baines, M.P., terminated the proceedings, which
lasted two hours and a half.

The Giornale di Verona of the 25th ult. states
that Mazzini is now at Caprera " to arrange the next expe-
dition with his Lieutenant Garibaldi."

FUNERAL OF CAPTAIN BOYD.—DUBLIN, March 1.
—The funeral of Captain Boyd took place today. It was
an imposing ceremony. The body was landed at Kingstown
amid the firing of minute guns ; and a procession, includ-
ing 300 officers, seamen and military, followed. After
parading Kingstown the irocessiou came by train to Dublin,
where it was joined by a firing party, a large detachment of
military, and 200 students. The coffin was carried on a
gun-carriage followed by the deceased's dog, and a seaman
carrying his hat and sword. On the procession arriving at
St. Patrick's Cathedral it was met by his Excellency tl:•
Earl of Carlisle, the Lord Mayor, and others. The usual .
ceremony was then performed and the remains of the gal-
lant deceased con4u4ttel to the grave.

-,....
d Y liIONEY MARKET AND CITY NEWS.
)as CITY, Two o'CLoox.
gal The Bank of England returns, completed to the
sin 27th ult., shows some very favourable changes.
la' The bullion has been largely augmented, and the
ian reserve of rates exhibits an increase of over a guar-
ian ter of a million sterling. The private deposits are
:ed larger, and there is also a slight increase in the pub-
or
lie balances. An important feature is an augmenta-
mt
ere tion of £326,000 to the Government Securities.
Icy ln the other items of the balance-sheet the changes
t is
at are of a limited character. They will be seen in
led the subjoined table :
all
e%_ Active Circulation .. .. .. £19,518,110 Increase .. • • • • 30
• •
)ed Bullion .. • • .. .. .. 12,208,721
an Increase .. • • • • • • 315,465
in Rest .. .• • • • • • • 3,436,215
Decrease .. .. .. .. 68,721
Public Deposits 5 820 870
he Increase .. .. .. .. 169,263
uc- Other Deposits 12 109 781
041 ot, 4, 9 1
Olt Increase .. .. .. .. 656,502
his Seven Day and other Bills .. .. 586,479
-
Decrease .. .. .. ..
.. •. 1 1 3,928
vo
is Government SecuritiesB 770 776
Increase .. .. .. .. 326,000
no Other Securities .. • • .. 20,569,958
en Increase .. .. .. .. 111,681
er. Notes Unemployed .. .. .. 6,326,635
he Increase 280,990
,on The steamer Ceylon, to be despatched on Mon-
roe
et, day, the 4th inst., with the India and China mails,
KM will take out £167,417—viz., £7,261 in gold, and
is- the remainder in silver.
he
he Notice has been given that the directors of the
•is Great Western Railway of Canada intend propos-
wn lug a dividend at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum
h's .
for the past half-year.
Lye
mt Yesterday the sum of £216,991 was paid to the
) a credit of the Secretary of State for India, on account
his of the capital of the Punjaub Railway Company.
'8 : In the Liverpool Cotton Market yesterday a
to Moderate demand prevailed for most descriptions
of
cis at previous rates. The sales were about 5,000
an. bales.
Ph Active preparations being in progress for the
011 engagements due on the 4th inst., the money
en market exhibits increased firmness and animation.
xe Another small parcel of gold, amounting to about
:th, £B,OOO, was sent into the Bank of England yester-
ye • day.
im The foreign exchanges yesterday afternoon ex-
OS- hibited a slight advance in the rate on Amsterdam,
Led but Antwerp,Paris, Vienna, and Trieste were rather
we
an lower.
ye The Atrato, as hich left to-day for the West
if Indies, conveyed £6,688 in gold and £l,OOO in
ias silver.
a Since Monday last the imports of specie have been
no
about £567,000 and the exports £648,500.
OT
d; Exclusive of the above, the Arabia, which left
sst to-day for New York, took £259,189 in specie.
art 0 wing to the receipt of later advices from New
Ist York, reporting an advance in the rate of exchange,
aes Consols improved to 911 j, for money, and 918 92
in
for the account, but they have since reacted to
of
Ere 911 /, and 91/ I respectively. The New Threes
Ln- remain at 917-, -: ; the Reduced at 911 a; the New
es- 2-} per Cents. improved to 761. Bank Stock re-
of ceded to 231; and Exchequer Bills to'Bs. dis. ; but
In-
Ills Indian New Loan Scrip was steady at 1001.
to Very little business has been reported in the
im Foreign Stock market, and prices have not varied
tes to any important degree. Turkish 6 per Cents.
he are 691 70 ; ditto 1858, 514- 52 ex div. ; Mexican
ine are steady at 231, 24, and 24,1 ; Spanish are firm at
act 49 ; and Genada Active at 15k, but Sardinian are
Lb- flat at 814.
ng A moderate amount of business has been trans-
all acted in the Railway Share Market to-day, and
In- prices generally have shown an improvement of
of about 1 per cent. Caledonian, Eastern Counties,
is
ly Lancashire and Yorkshire, North Western and
to North Eastern (Berwick), have advanced 55., and
Is. Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln, and South
in- Eastern, 10s.
in- In the Foreign and Colonial undertakings the
are
te, dealings have been limited, and the variations in
I;) prices unimportant.
LII- Joint Stock Bank and Miscellaneous Shares
,t,) continue at steady rates. London Joint Stock,
'en however, has improved 10s., and Union of Aus-
ily tralia declined 55., and Red Sea Telegraph have
an
ria advanced 58.
Lai
to BRITISH FUNDS—CLOSING PRICES.
he Bak Stock
3 per Cent. Reduced Annuities . 911 1
y ; 3 Cent. Consols Annuities
ed New 3 per Cent. Annuities 911 i /
rat New 21 per Cent. Annuities 761
he India Stock -
ty Ditto 6 per Cent ... , lOOl 100
elf Ditto Scrip
.ly bitto Debentures, 1858 951
Ditto Bonds £l,OOO
25 dis
ed Consols for Account, March 7 .. 91f 1 /
ad Exchequer Bills, £l,OOO, lid
ng FOREIGN FUNDS—CLOSING PRICES.
ad Mexican 3 per Cent 24
iis Ditto Account
New Grenada Active, 31 per Cent.
er 1.51
Sardinian 5 per Cent
ily Spanish 3 per Cent
an Ditto Passive .. 172
)e- Spanish, Cert. of Coup. not funded....... 61
h e Dividends on the above payable in London.
lg TWO O'CLOCK.
he Consols, Money 9ll 1
ry Ditto Account
in
of
THE WEATHER.
4:-
n-
-10 METEOROLOGICAL REPORTS.
~.
!r, This
DS between BDay and' B. E. M. D. F. 'C. I. S.
9 a.m.
ae-_____
re Nairn ........ 29'48 25 31 W. 4 1I b. 2
al Aberdeen .... 29'54 39 35 W.S.W. , 3 I 1, b. 2
Leith 29'65 41 39 S. i 3; b. --
K 1 Berwick 29'64 41 38 W.S W. —4
I 21 b. 1
m ~ossan
et vortrusli .. i 29.70 40 38 W.S.W. 7 ' 3 o. 4
Shields •• I 29'71 38 36 W.N.W. 3I 2 b. 2
Galway.....
a zearborewrh. 2913 40 38 N.W. 3'l 1 b. 3
11n11 D
e- I.iverpool 29'88 41 39 W.S.W. 4 9 o. 2
n- Queenstown 29 83 46 45 W.S.W. 6 5 r. 4
ill a'armouth..
London .'29 93 41 38 W.N.W. 3 21 b.
Dover 129.51 43 41 W.S.W. 2 1, b. 1
Portsmouth
Portland ... I 20114 44 42 W. 2' 5 m. 3
Plymouth ..:•., 20104 44 41 W. 3 3 b. 3
Penzance
Jersey 30•14 46 43 W.N.W. 5 1I b. 5
EXPLANATION.—B. Barometer, corrected and reduced
;d to 32 deg at mean sea level ; each 10 feet of vertical rise

EXPLANATION.—B. Barometer, corrected and reduced
to 32 deg at mean sea level ; each 10 feet of vertical rise
causing about 1-100th of an inch diminution, and each 10
iieg above 32 deg causing nearly 3-100ths increase. E.
Exposed thermometer in shade. M. Moistened bulb (for
evaporation and dew-point). D. Direction of wind (true—
tot magnetic). F. Force (1 to 12—estimated). C. Cloud
(1 to 9). I. Initials :—b , blue sky ; c., clouds (detached) ;
f., fog. ' • h,, hail ; 1., lightning ; m., misty (hazy) ; 0.,
Overcast (dull) ; r., rain ; s , snow • t., thunder. A letter
repeated augments—thus, r.r., much rain. S. Sea disturb-
ance (1 to 9).

WIND AND WEATHER
Belfast, W. ; . dull
Birmingham, S.W.; fine
Bradford, N.E. ; fine
Boston, W. • fine
Brighton, W. ; fine
Bristol, W.; fine
Cambridge,
S.W.. ; fine
Cardiff, W cloudy
Chatham, N.W.; fresh
Deal, N.W.2* fine
Dublin, W.S.W. ; fine
Dundee, very fine
Edinburgh, W. ; fine
Falmouth, W. ; stormy
Glasgow, S.W. ; shwa ery
Gravesend, N.W.; fine
Hartlepool, S.W. ; fine
CONTINENTAL ST.
Brussels, S. ; little fog
Cherbourg, S.W.; rain
Copenhagen W.S.W. ; rain
Dunkirk, ; cloudy
- Havre, W. ; cloudy
Leghorn, E.N.E.; cloudy
Leipsic, N.W. ; foggy
Lisbon, N.W. ; cloudy
Lyons, N.; fine

tEP ORT, Tins DAY, 9 A.M.
Holyhead, W.N W. ; fine
Inverness, S.W. ; squally
Londonderry, W, ; dull
Lowestoft, N.W. ; fresh, fine
Milford Haven, S.W.; cloudy
Newcastle on Tyne, S.W. ;
fine
Newmarket, S.W.; fine
Norwich, W. ; fine
Penzance, W.N.W. ; fine
Portsmouth, W. ; fine
Stockton on Tees S.W.; fine
Sunderland, N.E. • fine
Wakefield, S.E ; fine
Whitehaven, W. • fine
Wolverhampton, W, ; fine

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