New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-04-16
uuppary-The Cour. g. Enquirer.


There certainly should be somewhere an
end to controveIsy-there must be If the
disputants are honest or the tribunal intelli-
gent and candid. The Courier & Enquirer
opened without provocation upon KOssuth
and his Hungarian compatriots, assuming
to set The Tribune light with regard to the
origin and objects of their quarrel with
Austria, basing its attack on these funda-
mental propositions:
l. The quareloriginated in an illegal at
tempt by the Austrian Court to emancipste
and enfranchse the Nine or Ten Millions
of Sclavonians, &c. in Hungary, in viola
ton of the Constitution of that country and
the vested rights of the Magyar Race.
2. la opposition to this illegal enfran-
chisement, Kossuth and the Magyars took
up arms, but were defeated and crushed,
whereby Political Freedom, Equal Rights
and Universal Suffrage were secured to tho
Slavonians of Hungary.
These propositions were met by us, not
by a mere denial and a demand of proof,
but by an attempt to disprove and refute
them by showing their utter incompatibility
with notorious and undeniable facts, such
cs these:
/. The late ssnguinary struggle COM
menced months before Austria made any pre-
tense of granting political rights to any part
of the population of Hungary, and could
not have been caused by that which had no
existence till long after its occurrence;
.. The pretended Constitution of Hun
gary, granted by the new Emperor in
March, l649, was nothing but a COurtly
swindle intended to excite sanguine hopes
of Freedom under Austrian predOminance
on the part of the Slavic tribes in Hun
gary in order to detach them from the Ma
tional cause and induce them to fight
against its defenders. In proof of this as
sertion, we pointed to the indubitable fact
that, though the Magyars were utterly
crushed and silenced nearly two years ago.
vet up to this day Austria has never given
effect TO the liberal Constitution she pre-
tended to grant ia March, l349, more than
two years ago, and has manifested no dis
position ever t. DO so. In fact, not only
has she done nothing toward converting
her paper promise Of liberal Constitution
for Hungary into living verify, but she
has held the whole Country in AFFECT Mil
itary vassalsge ever since, and has demon
strated in Hesss- Cassol her understanding
that People who patiently, peaceably,
unanimously ask their monarch to respect
the Constitution he has granted and sworn
to uphold are guilty of dislOyalty, anarchy
and treason.
Such were our main propositions in an
swsr to The Courier's first foray on Hun
gary. Nine large and close columns were
devoted by that paper on Saturday to re-
loinder, but oar positions were Rot even
menacedl The Editor did not even deny
that the Hungarian War broke out long be-
fore the Austrian Court promised or suggest
ed Liberal Constitution for Hungary, nor
did he deny that said Constitution had lain
dead letter to this day, while the Country,
though entirely quiet, is governed as a sim
pie and absolute Military DesPOtism. The
Courier, therefore, in its second long attack
on the Magysrs, completely abandoned the
positions mainly relied on in its first, and
virtually admitted them to be groundless
and untenable.
Instead Of defending its original posi-
tons which we had controverted, The
Courier trumps up new grounds of attack
on the integrity, sincerity and love Of lib