The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1851-11-20
FIFTEEN CENTS A WEEK.

the magistrate to execute it, but the meeting made
a remonstrance against it to the Government, and
therefore, these municipalities were very power
full, strong bulwark against the encroachments of
Government. And, to be sure, country in the
world had greater need OF such barrier than Hun
gary, because we have been governed for three
centuries by the house Of Hapsburg which never,
according to the evidence of history, haa single
fixed friend to political freedom. | do not know
| whether am weary. Loud cheers, and cries of
ego on"
Now, the house Of Hapsburg ruled Hungary for
300 years. 1t ruled Hungary, not by conquest,
but by the free choice of the nation [c rs]-not
by the free choice of the nation without conditions,
but on the basis of treaties, the chief feature of
which treaties Is, that the monarch should reign
in Hungary by the same lneal succession in the
dominions of the House OF Austria; that the Aus
TRAN dynasty was recognized, and should remain
kings of Hungary, and thereupon the King took
on himself sacred duty, to respect and conserve
the Hungarian constitution, and to rule and gov
ern Hungary by its own public institutions, accord
ing to its own ancient laws. And that was the
duty of the King. He swore to God, he swore to
the eternal God, that he hoped He would so bless
him he should keep that word. Loud cheers.
This was resume of the facts so far. Well, out
of thirteen 6ings-out of the thirteen kings we
had of this house and dynasty-no one who knows
any thing of history can charge me with exagger-
ation when | say that their rule was of
tinual perjury. M. Kossuth spoke very earnestly
and with emotion, dropping his voice so that the
close of the sentence was not audible at the end of
the table, and some person asked, GA rule of
WHAT" He exclaimed-Of perjury, gentlemen,
loud cheersl that is the word-perjury. [Cheers
for some moments, at his emphatic delivery of the
word L am plain, common man II call things
as they
Now when the Hungarian nation elected the
house of Hapsburg to the throne of Hungary-of
this Hungary, which is larger than 100000 Ger
man square miles, which is equal, as am told, to
100000 English square miles, with population of
1000, ,0O0-no small country, gentlemen; no small
lille patch Of land-when she chose the house of
Hapsburg, all the other provinces of the Hapsburg
were constitutional monarchies. Every other of
these States had constitution, and every one of
these afterwards united to her had too; but by
and by, through the course of three centuries, the
house of Austria has gone on iii straight direc.
ton to he an absolute monarchy; and now, before
our past struggle, not one place or province in her
domnons had constitution-the ambitious des-
potical house of Austra-rather, should say, the
house of Hapsburg, had absorbed every single one
of them. Loud cheers The constitutional life
of Hungary was not absorbed, because it did not
belong to the Austrian Empire. Hungary had no
other connection with Austria than Hanover had
with England with this difference only, that Han,
over had different line Of succession, while the
line of succession Of Austria and Hungary was
the same.
But we had laws and coronation oaths and paci-
icauons, which declare that there should be no
connection between Hungary and the house of
Austria but this, only to he ruled by the same
sovereign, not that Hungary should have right
to re ruled by its own laws, rights and institutions
so much SO, that should We happen to have a King
come 10 the succession of the sovereignty, being
child in his minority, Hungary should not be g.
verned ny the same person as ruled over the Aus.
TRAN Provinces because there existed in The house
of Hapsburg a family treaty by which the eldest
of the house must be the tutor H. e. RegenD to the
Empire, but by the law in Hungary II must be a
PaiaIine who rules nor of the King, and there
fore there was this possibility, that Regent might
have to govern Austria, while another Regent
governing Hungary. Therefore the constitutional
| life of Hungary not absorbed, and chiefly was
not absorbed because by the municipal institutions
| by that strength which never be broken
lcheersl it resisted the encrOachmens OF the crown
consider these municipal institutions 10 resemble
IN lair instance The siege of Saragossa, where
| after Napoleon's army had taken the town, they
| still had to fight single battles in every street
| [Cheersl So was it always in Hungary. In my
own time, though young man yet, remember
that there a time when the house OF Hapsburg,
without the help Of any Parliament, attempted to
destroy the constitution, TO levy troops and 10 raise
| the taxes TO two and half times their former
amount: and that out of the fifGy-two counties IN
| Hungary, influenced by every means which Co.
| vernments-immoral Governments-have at their
| disposal, only some ten or twelve registered The
DEGREES, but that the Others constantly resisted
| them by lawful grounds, and that this resistance
| on d constitutional and lawful basis overtime "
| tneiH IL was as salu, Jus ike ShrdgOSsd, where
| the town was taken indeed, but where the fight
went on from street 10 street, and house to house
| [Chesrs.
| So it was, Notwithstanding these encroachments
we conserved some shadow of constitutional liber.
| ty; but the house OF Hapsburg, after having ab-
sorbed all constitutional life in it's domnons came
| to this, that there was only Hungary, which is SO
bold to oppose it in its aim to be entirely alb
| soue monarchy, and, seeing that is head availed
himself OF every means in his power, of open vio-
ence, Of all kinds of intrgues destroy and
| throw constitution he fomented our discords
| he undermined our national character, he impov-
| ershed u.s. he corrupted u.s. he oppressed, and, by
| and by, our rights were taken away, and by-and by
| we became aware OF our municipal institutions and
| our parliament, which should have been convoked
| every three years. and was not convoked once in
twenty years, though taxation went and an ar.
| btrary Government went were not enough
| and we became aware that 200 or 800 or 40C
| or 800 mobiles by BIRTH meeting by right in tbeiI
county meetings. were not sufficient to defend the
constitution OF the country against the predominant
| direction Of the head of the Austrian absolutsm
and that was the origin of endeavors, which are
as old as twenty eight years; that men influenced
by justice and pure patriotism took for aim to gc
on degree by degree, and step by step, to make the
people participate in constitutional rights and lib
critics. That was the aim and direction of the pub
lie life OF Hungary from 1928.
| The more Hungary has felt this necessity be
cause she had board of government, commits
sion or council of government, which, by law, wa.
made responsible not only not to do anything con
trary to the law, but not to carry into execution any
order of the Sovereign himself, contrary to the law
but still we saw there responsibility in tha
| council, because corporate body can be made re-
sponsble. individuals can be made responsible
| but when the government is collective, responsi
bility is folly lcheers and vanishes like dream
| We saw that our national Independence and tn,
lawful rights Of our nation We're entirely absorbed
| by the Austrian Government and in our time
chiefly by Prince Metternch, who was all in all il
| Austria. We were conscious that the Austr al
Ministry had nothing to 10 with the affairs of Hun
gary, that the Emperor of Austria, as King o
Hungary, was obliged to govern Hungary by it
own laws, and not as he liked. We did not iik,
these Austrian influences, and we took, as the di
recton of efforts to give the people their ma
tlonal share in the constitution, in order that they
: might be the safeguard of the constitutional lif.
which 100000 800, 900 were not able to defend
, but which people of 100000, united in tn,
great principles of common duties and equal, ma
, have good reason to defend Loud cheers
In the peasantry, in every country, TO be sure
the agricultural classes are ofimportant consdeIa
: ton, lhear, hear,l but they are chiefly so in Hun
{ gary, which was almost entirely, with few excep
, tons, an agricultural country. OF course the con
| dition of this peasaniry was The first topic of an
design to reform; and, seeing that the country il
, all material respects so highly gifted BY nature
/ could never be converted into earthly parad,s,
such you have made this land but by free worl
where every one enjoys the fruits of labor. w
| saw also that the agricuurist had to work for hi
| landlord one hundred and four DAYS in the year