The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-11-12


In the constitutional benefits and still this Ma
qyar race, in such difficulties Of circumstances,
through eight centuries and more, has conserved
not only its life, bat its constitutional liberty
and national institutions. Cheers. There is
in such a race, in such a patton, elements of a
future /; and believe, with some pride have
right to say, such nation deserves TO have free
dom.
| told you, little ago. that the people bad
not shared in the constitutional rights of the
country. The constitution of Hungary was an
aristocratic one entirely; but it was an aristo-
cratical constitution which had somewhat a diff
ferent meaning for that which you attach in Eng
land to the word aristocracy Aristoracy in
Hungary was not Synonymous with power and
with the weight of wealth, but was simply
aristocracy of birth, and was not reduced only
to elder brothers, but whoever had a father
nobIeman, he and his children. and their child
ren's children, remained through all centuries
noblemen always. A laugh What was the
consequence? The consequence was that as
human fate is subject 10 many changes of cir
cumstances, the d, scendants of the cid noble
men of Hungary did not remain wealthy, great.
and powerful, but became diffused, and, by the
course of centuries, descending among them,
became almost one part of the people itself; so
that the great part of the aristocracy OF Hungary
remained as poor, aye, poorer, than tn people.
because the noble had ambition not to work us
if work was not the greatest honor to humanity.
So, therefore, we had not only landed propri
etary, but we had these most poor classes Of the
aristocracy, which were not only in the same
condition as the people, but which were still,
now and then, in worse condition, not being
so Industrious But one prominent feature was
that the old aristocracy was not quite opposed
in its great extension to popular rights and to
the popular interest, as we find it TO be in the
middle ages on the continent and through Eu-
rope-because we must confess that the aristoc-
racy Of England has known in time to meet the
exigencies of the time, to share their privileges
with the people, and to take its part in the bur-
dens of the people, and therefore the arstocracy
of England remained, when those other a.istoc
racies were swept away like dust from the earth.
[Cheers In Hungary the nobility was not in
the same position, but the noblemen mixed with
all classes of the people-they were not in strong
opposition to the people; but they were agrcu
turalists, working not their own soil, but the
soil of their landlords; but they became manu-
facturers; they engaged in every trade and every
profession and therefore it was not in such op.
position to the people as the word " aristocracy"
signifies here; and though it is no wonder that
in Hungary and between the bounds of this aris-
tocrat'c constitution, where the people had no
right to speak for itself, it should not have had
its full share of privilege, STILL GU, of the ranks
of this aristocracy, which have characterized.
are always found in the past, and through all
their history, generous men, who manfully
struggled by all legal means to improve the con-
dition of their country, and who strove for the
rights of humanity. Now in this struggling for
the rights of humanity and the Improvement of
the condition of the country, we had, according
to our constitution, in Hungary, two principal
means. The first was-to call it by name
which is popular and is understood here-the
Parliament of Hungary; and the second was by
our county and municipal institutions. Those
municipal institutions were, still more than in
any other part of the world whatever, against
the encroachment on the rights of the nation by
the government, because those county institu-
tons were so framed that the government had no
right to convey any order whatever, but only
through the medium of the county meetings.
The county meeting was composed of all no.
blemen who were residents in that county, and
the noble population in county might number
from 10000 to $4,000 persons, and in some
counties it amounted to 10000. Therefore,
every one of the mobiles had right to speak in
these meetings; not, of course, every one or
every occasion, but according to the importance
of the business and the number of them that ap.
peared in the same way ut these meetings.
Every noble had right to be elected magis.
trate OF the county, who were the only ex, cutive
power of the orders of the government; so that
when the government ordered something to be
done, the hand of execution was that of the mu-
nicpa magistrate of the county, who alone had
to cary it out; but, the magistrate never coming
into contact with the government, could receive
no order but only through the medium of the
county meeting, which county meeting, met in
public assembly, had the right to discuss the lie
gaty of he government order; and when the
majority of the assembly held an order of gov
eminent TO be illegal, it did not go into the
hands of the magistrate TO execute it, but the
meeting made a remonstrance against it to the
government, and therefore these municipalities
were very powerful and strong bulwark against
the encroachments of government And, to be-
cure, no country in the world had or alter need
of such barrier than Hungary, because we have
been governed for three centuries by the house
of Hapsburg, which never, according to the evil
dence of history, had single fixed friend to po
tical freedom. | do not know whether weary
you. Loud cheers, and cries of $50 on."1
Now, the house of Hapsburg ruled Hungary for
800 years. 1t ruled Hungary not by conquest
but by the free choice of the nation cheers l.
net by the free choice of the nation without con.
ditions, but on the basis of treaties, the chief
feature of which treaties is, that the monarch
should reign in Hungary by the same lineal sue
cession as in the dominions of the house Of Aus
tria; that the Austrian dynasty was recognized,
and should remain kings of Hungary, and there
upon the King took on himself sacred duty, to
respect and conserve the Hungarian constitution
and to rule and govern Hungary by its own pub
lie institutions, according to its own ancient
laws. And that was the duty of the King. He
swore to God-he swore to the eternal Cod
that he hoped He would so bless him as he
should keep that word. Loud cheers. This
was resums of the fealty so far. Well out of
thirteen kings--out of the thirteen kings we had
of this house and dynasty, no one who knows
anything of history can charge me with exagger-
alton when ] say, that their rule was one of
continual perjury-M Kossuth spoke very earn
estly ard with emotion, dropping his voice so
that the close of tho sentence was not audible at
the end Of the table. and some person asked, "A
rule of whst!" He exclaimed: OF perjury,
- shos l..