The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-05 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY NEWS

Sir,—Since the publication of a series of calumnies
in the Times, to which that journal refused to insert
my refutation, there have appeared in it other specific
charges against Kossuth, Szemere, and Perczel.
Kossuth is accused, as trustee, of having fraudu-
lently sold the property of orphans, and of only having
been saved from criminal prosecution by an arrange-
ment with the prosecutor. It is further alleged that
so little confidence was placed in him that an inquiry
was made of Roth (the prosecutor) as to whether the
signature to his receipt was genuine. The number
of the very act of the tribunal is cited, and it is
sought to impress the reader with the belief that Al.
Kossuth was stigmatized by a judicial sentence.
You very properly observe that such specific
charges seldom immediately admit of possible dis-
proof, though as in this instance the known life and
character of those against whom the accusations are
directed, stamp them as unworthy of belief.
It would, of course, he impossible for you or my-
self immediately to show that Kossuth was not th e
murderer of Eliza Grimwood, and if this system of
reckless calumny be persevered in, it will, unfor-
tunately, become a duty to prevent the perpetration
of a public wrong, through personal attack, by personal
exposure of the incriminators. The facts are briefly
these.

About 1830 Kossuth rendered himself obnoxious to
the Austrian Government by being chiefly instru-
mental in the congregation (a meeting of electors)
of the county of Zemplin, in causing a vote of censure
to be passed upon their representative, Baron Vay,
who had voted in the Diet to allow the Austrian
Cabinet a supplementary 20,000 men.
At that period, as long afterwards, it is well known
that Austria sought to crush all resistance by fair
means and foul, and no stone was left unturned to be
revenged on Kossuth in the next meeting of the
congregation. _ . _

It was at length raked up that he had sold some
produce of the property of his orphan wards in an
informal manner. That is to say at the wrong time
and without the participation of the necessary co-
trustees. The duties of trusteeship, it is to be ob-
served, are in Hungary most complicated. The
congregation, in consequence, annulled the sale—I,
proceeding which for party purposes conveyed a
rebuke to Kossuth as a lawyer, but intended no
reflection on his integrity or good faith. The pur-
chaser applied to Kossuth for the amount of the
purchase money, which was returned.
It is to be observed that if any attempt to defraud
his charges had been made or suspected, the Sedes
judicialia, whose especial duty is the protection of
orphan wards, would and must have taken cognisance
of the act ; whereas, the charge of irregularity was
never entertained by any judicial tribunal, the congre-
gation being merely deliberative and administrative,
not judicial in its functions.
Of the bearings of the case the countrymen of
Kossuth must have been the best judges. It was
subsequent to this, as you have justly remarked, that
in proof of their confidence men of the highest
character, rank, and standing in the country, proposed
to endow him with estates ; but your readers may
not be aware that amongst these was the unfortunate
Count Zichy, whose patriotism Austria had not yet
corrupted ; it is probably not known that the charge
made by the Times correspondent was brought for-
ward in 1843 by one of the vilest of the Austrian
organs, the rilag, and that Count Szechenyi, who
was then a political opponent of Kossuth, in his
paper, the lelenkor, rebutted as an infamous calumny
the accusation ; and it may not be remembered that
Kossuth was named Minister of Finance by the Em-
peror Ferdinand, and as such brought into contact
with the Imperial family.
The calumny against Szemere is the rechaufft! of
an electioneering squib when he set up for the county
of Biorsed, in 1843, and is founded on the following
incident :—M. Szemere was dancing with Miss Vera-
smarty, at Miscolz, when one of her diamond ear-
rings fell upon the ground. Szemere picked it up,
and observing, " You have lost it, I have found it, it
is a fair prize, I shall keep it as a souvenir," put it
into his pocket in jest, and only returned it the next
morning with a complimentary note or verses.
The charge against Perczel of having for a sum of
money legalised a forged bond is equally false. lam
informed by a Hungarian gentleman now in this
country, and acquainted with the transaction, that
Perczel, being a very young man, was imposed on as
to the identity of the party whose signature he au-
thenticated, but himself discovered and exposed the
imposture which had been practised, and resigned in
consequence of the mistake.
In fact, this wilful confusion of cause and effect is
made by the Times correspondents, that they contend
these personages to have become inimical to the
Government in consequence of such charges,
whereas it can be shown, beyond all doubt, that these
charges were urged because they were its known
opponents.

All who are acquainted with the parliamentary
history of Hungary, and the recent history of Aus-
tria, are aware that there are no forms of fraud,
perfidy, or perjury to which the Austrian Cabinet did
not resort—from the attacks on individual character
to

he bravos which she hounded upon such a man as
Count Teleki, or to the Gallician massacres perpe-
trated at her proved instigation.
But in the method its attacks upon the Hungarian
refugees, and in particular upon Kossuth, it may be
said to have exceeded even itself. It is not content
with the most slanderous imputations on his charac-
ter, but artfully endeavours, by appending his name
to a forged address, to discredit him in public esti-
mation as visionary and unpractical. To yourself I
need scarcely confirm your recorded opinion, that the
" farewell of Kossuth to the Hungarians," published
on some Austrian authority by the Times, never
proceeded from his pen—a pen far more given to
figures than to figures of speech, and with whose
productions, once read, it would seem impossible in
gcod faith to have confounded the loose and melodra-
matic effusion so mischievously, or with so little
judgment attributed to him by the Times.
Happily for this country, Mr. Editor, many of your
readers will be slow in crediting the possibility of
such systematic persecution ; for their instruction, I
shall conclude by adverting to a circumstance which
gives reason to believe that those who have been
attempting Sossuth's moral assassination have endea-
voured actually to take his life. In the month of
October last I was present at the ex-president gover-
nor's table at tea. It is the custom of Eastern
Europe to flavour this beverage with a few spoonsfulls
of rum. On the occasion in question, it was found
that the spirit instantly curdled the milk, and turned
it a peculiar colour. The same spirit taken from
another bottle did not produce the same effect.
The suspicious liquid was removed, an accident
prevented it being analysed, and the circumstance
was nearly forgotten, when a llungarian officer,
accompanied by two of his companions, came to
give information that a stranger bearing a Russian
passport had been making numerous inquiries
as to Kossuth's cook, the dishes that he ate,
and his medical adviser. The Hungarian suspecting
his drift, had led him on, till the stranger offered him
a present for his introduction to Kossuth's doctor. It
was agreed that the doctor should be personated by a
gentleman just arrived from Hungary, but as the
matter was talked of before several persons, it got
wind, and the individual in question, instead of corning
to the rendezvous, precipitately left W7iddin.—l am,
Mr. Editor, very obediently yours,
THE AUTHOR. OF " REVELATIONS OF RUSSIA."

THE TINDAL STATUE.—It is at last finally ar-
ranged that the site of this monument to the memory of
Chief Justice Tindal shall be in front of the Shire Hall,
and a portion of ground outside of the stone pillars en-
circling that building has been set apart for the pur-
pose. The parties to whom the casting of the bronze
statue has been entrusted bare been unable to
fulfil their engagement in consequence of the com-
pletion of the bas-reliefs for the Nelson monu-
ment; but the site having now been definitively fixed,
the statue will no doubt be erected as speedily as
possible.—Xseex Standard.

MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED
WIFE'S SISTER.
FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
Only part of England, and that a very small part,
was visited in 1846, at the expense of private persons,
by competent gentlemen, to ascertain the hardship of
individuals suffering under Lord Lyndhurst's Act.
The districts consisted, Ist, of some of the manufac-
turing portions of Lancashire and Yorkshire ; 2d,
Norfolk and Suffolk, and parts of Lincolnshire and
Essex ; 3d, parts of Warwickshire and Staffordshire,
including Birmingham and the Potteries ; 4th, parts
of Hampshire, Dorsetshire, and Devonshire, including
Portsmouth, Southampton, Winchester, Dorchester,
Plymouth, and Exeter ; and sth, the towns of Bristol,
Bath, and Cheltenham, and their immediate vicinities.
The summary of information thus obtained may be
stated as follows :—Of only this small part of the
United Kingdom, viz., 1,364 marriages between
parties within the prohibited degrees; yet of this
nine-tenths have been contracted with a deceased
wife's sister ! There were 88 cases only in which
the Act had prevented an intended marriage ; and of
these 88 cases 32 are stated to have resulted in open
cohabitation, without the sanction of any form or
ceremony.
The Commissi mers then proceed to say—" We
forbear to make any calculation deduced from thi.,
inquiry ; limited in time and extent, as it necessarily
was, as to the number of marriages within the same
degrees which have probably been contracted since
183.5, and down to the present time, throughout the
whole of England and Ireland; but it is probable
that they would bear a proportion to those ascertained
in the districts already referred to."
The Commissioners then go on to say that " We
cannot avoid the conclusion, that the statute 5 and 6
Wm. IV, c. 54, has failed to obtain the object sought
to be effected by its prospective enactments. It has
not prevented marriage with the sister or niece of a
deceased wife in numerous instances from taking
place ; whether more or less numerous than before
the passing of the statute, we have not, as was before
observed, sufficient data to enable us to form an
opinion. But without reference to any comparison of
this description, the number of these marriages is so
great as to justify us in saying that the provisions of
that statute, rendering them null and void, have not
generally deterred parties from forming such con-
nexions."
We will now proceed to give the opinion of Dr.
Adler, the Chief Rabbi in this country. This
opinion was elicited by an answer received from that
learned divine to three questions submitted to him,
viz.:—

" Ist. Whether the marriage of a widower with the
sister of his deceased wife is understood by the Jewish
nation as prohibited by the Divine law ? A.—That it
is not only not considered as prohibited, but it is dis-
tinctly understood to be permitted ; and on this point
neither the Divine law nor the Rabbis, nor historical
Judaism' leave room for the least doubt.
" Whether such marriages are solemnized
where both parties belong to the Jewish nation, and
whether they are frequent ? A.—That in all the
countries of civilized Europe, where the law of the
land offers no impediment, such marriages very
frequently take place; and from his experience
during twenty years that he held the office of Chief
Rabbi in Oldelaburgh and Hanover, he can affirm,
that the marriages in question have almost invariably
proved happy.
"3d. Whether supposing that such a marriage is
allowed by the Jewish law, it exposes the parties to
any want of respect, or at all affects their position in
society ? A.—That, according to Rabbinical autho-
rities, such a marriage, so far from exposing the
parties to any reproach, is considered proper, and even
laudable; and where young children are left it is
allowed to take place within a shorter period from the
wife's death than would otherwise be permitted."
Here, then, we have the opinion of the highest
Jewish authority in England; and next, in succession
of time regarding the ancient Churches of the world,
the Roman Catholic Church presents itself. Let us
see then what the Right Reverend Nicholas Wiseman,
D.D., Roman Catholic Bishop of Melipotamus, and
Pro Vicar Apostolic of the London district, says on
the subject

" What is the practice in your Church with regard
to marriages within the degrees that hare been
spoken of ? A.—Such a marriage, of course, is
considered unlawful; and a marriage contracted
by the parties within those degrees would be null.
Supposing that two persons wished to contract such a
marriage, that a person, for instance, wished to marry
his sister-in law, no priest could marry him until he
first obtained a dispensation. A dispensation would
not be granted upon general grounds, but only upon
a particular consideration of the case. If the mar-
riage had been already contracted it would also be
considered null, and a dispensation would also be
necessary ; but of course the facilities would be
greater; it would be granted with much less difficulty
than in the first case.

" When you say ' unlawful' you mean unlawful
by the law of the Church ? A.—Yes.

And when you think proper to dispense with
such unlawfulness you think proper to dispense with
a regulation of the Church, and not with a prohibition
of Scripture ? A.—Most certainly.
" Then the Commissioners are to understand that
in your Church the general prohibition of these mar-
riages is a matter of discipline; and permission to
contract such marriages is granted or not, according to
what on may think most advantageous and proper ?
A.— Certainly."
Here, then, is the whole argument. The Jews, to
whom the whole injunction in Leviticus was addressed,
do not consider it unlawful to marry a wife's sister,
but rather praiseworthy ; and the Roman Catholic
Bishop expounds the whole morality of the question
on the having obtained a dispensation l—which simply
means, in the language of Protestantism, " a bringing
grist to the mill," after the fashion of the indulgences
of old, which first paved the way to the great
Reformation.