The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-02-14
TIE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION.
The Secret History Of its Causes,
objects, and Disasters.
lntsrssting Letters Of Count Ttkeli, and din
listers Stzmere and VukOYicS.
Letter from Count Telekl Go Lord Dudley
Stuart.

Jan Il, l>0S
My LoRp.-With the greatest astonishment have
l Rad in the Times OF the lse and I'd of December
just brought before my eyes two letters concerning
Abe affairs of llungary-the one signed Prince
Esterhsry, and the other barely Count batthyanyi,
without yrGnomea, though there are several OF
this name.
These two hungarian peers raise their voice TO
attack their oountiys csuee-to arrsign the minis
try Of ls4S. 10 which EsterhsYy himself belonged
and to calumnate of cur most llustrlous
martyrs the immortal Count Louis Batthyanyi,
late prime minister OF Hungary. !, therefore, as
Hungarian, as a faithful ally OF the last named
Iporter of our sacred cause, and as one of his
most intm ate and devoted friends, interfere IN this
dicussion, | owe it TO my country, TO the govern
nent under which served, and to the spirit Of
our heroic martyr, whose honor is so unworthiy
attacked. That am so late in my reply, is be-
saufe have but just known of these letters. You
know that live quite out Of the world.
Prince Esterhazy avows what are his motives for
writing. Hear his own words 81 am principally
Induced to address you these lines by the report Of
What takes place in England relative to Hungary,
and the strange confusion OF ideas which seems to
prevail there at this moment, in several quarters
mixing up actions Of an essentially revolutionary
character with constitutional and patriotic prin-
eipes" 1t is evident, then, that the Prince has
taken up the pen expressly in order to counterfeit
the sympathies which the cause of his country in
spires in The great and generous English nation.
But wi b his nc olives shall not concern myself;
nor shall discuss how he can have the face, openly
and unblushir ely, to avow the ED at which no
drives. mean TO analyzs the arguments and accu-
saiors--to oyerthroT the erroneous assertions
to mark out the utter ignorance of the whole recent
history Of Hungary which both these letters alike
betray. Prince Esterhazy afirms that, since
1925. the Austrian government has firmly respected
all the fundamental principles OF our constitution
i am thankful to him for fixing this date the
commencement of such respect. IL relieves me from
going back to treat Of the epochs prior to 1925.
Otbervhe, might have had to dlate on all that
the Hungarian nation suffered in three centuries
from 1927 to 1926 the hypocritcal aud bloody
tyranny Of Hapsburs. | might have needed to
prove thst Of this dynasty oil the sovereigns were
peIjured except two, namely:-Leopold H., who
reigued only eighteen months, and oseph H., who
evaded taking oath to our laws by refusing to De
crowned. All the rest violated our constitution
after swearing fidelity to il; and of this the Prince
Esterhazy seems to be fully aware. From 1871 to
1925 the Emperor King Francis summoned ne Diet,
although the Constitution commands th 1t Diet
shall be held every third year at least. 10 1923,
the same King, against the constitution and bis
royal oath, tried to raise troops and taxes by his
mere edict. This ended with 1925. But after this
let us see how Francis and his successor, Ferdinand
", have respected our institutions. Ii will suffice
that name a few important facts. 1t il expressly
laid down by our constitution, " that Hungary is
free and independent kingdom in regard to the
form of its government; that it shall never be sub
erdipated to any other country or nation, but shall
always preserve its peculiar constitution, and shall,
in consequence, be governed and administered by
its kings rot after the model of other countries,
but by it's own proper laws and customs That the
legislative power. composed OF the sovereign and
OF the Diet, representing the nation, has the sole
right of making, interpreting, or repeating Laws;
and that legislation can in no other way in any
case be exercised That Hungary shall never DO
governed by edicts That it shall not be governed
according to the system established in the other
states belonging to the house Of Austria That no
public affairs shall be decided except by me of
the Diet. That but natives shall take par, in
the government Of the country, or be named ofiser
or commar der in the Hungarian army. That the
( King shall never cause foreign army to cross the
frontier, ard shall never declare war or conclude any
Treaty without the approval Of the Diet
All this has been guaranteed to Us by our laws,
by the coronation oaths, and, over and above, by
the charters DIPLOMACY Of our kingswhich last is
personal covenant entered into vi b the country
by every one Of our sovereigus without which they
have never been able 20 obtain the crown. Yet,
from 1925 Re lSiS in spite of all these guarantees.
In spite Of tie House of Austrias pretended respect
for eur constitution, foreigners have continually
been ming led in our affairs In fact, during oil this
period we were governed by Prince Metternich, an
Austrian, and by Count kolowrath, a Bohemian.
The proper Hungarian ministry, by mere edict,
was officially subordinated to council OF State,
a majority Of which were utter foreigners to
Hungary. Our fnaE.es were administered by the
Aulic Chamber OF Vienna, composed almost entirely
of Germans and Bohemians; nor would the govern
ment ever consent TO give any account TO the Diet
of its disposal Of the public funds A line Of ,ustom
housAs separate Hungary from the other States Of
the House of Austria and the tariff Of dues and the
indirect taxes settled by edict IN spite Of the
especially, that they were fixed with hostile pur-
pose. so as to cripple the commerce and industry
Of Hungary, and work it to the exclusive profit of
Austrian finance, Austrian commerce and industry;
impoverishng our country, impeding its com NUM-
cation with the civilized world, and rendering
foreign commerce impossible to US.
AS to the Hungarian array. three quarters Of the
officers were German or Bohemian, who did not
know word Of cur language Moreover, without
the Diet beirg consulted, German, Bohemian, and
Italian troops were continually stationed in Hun
gary. The war department was kept in the hands
Of an Aulic council Of war, sitting in Vienna. and
composed entirely OF persons foreign TO Hungary
nor was the Hungarian Diet ever able to get cog
nizapce Of the proceedings Of this department,
which were managed in an aosolutist manner, With
out any reference TO the viii Of the country. Tres
ties were concluded, alliances we're contracted,
military expeditions were ordered, without giving
any nfor u alton 10 the Diet
Our laws recognise 10 censorship Of the press;
yet a censorship was established without he con
currence Of the Diet, and enforced without its
sent, simply an exigence Of the Austrian 81 stem
The censorship stupid in severity, If ever any
was, and pushed its rigor to the absurd The CEN
sor lot only prescribed words Of political meaning,
but corrected an futsor's style, and improved il
into his own For instance, one Of these gentle
men, from piece Of poetry, erased the words
" Long live the Biahop!" because The suthor was
Protestant; ard Hungarian PrOtostan,s have no
bishops; and the unhsppy poet in vain represented
that a Catholic bishop was intended. On another
occasion the biotted out :" hefoi, warrior"
and wrote brave soldier" instead limit myself
to these two examples, though | could quote a
thousand in support Of my statement
The government was pleased to assume q censor
ship even ever what was not intended for the press
1t forbade Kossuth to send to his acqutntancos
manuscript summaries Of the debates in the Diet
and in the county congregations. such CORES
pondence constituttd offence in the eyes Of Aus
tris, and for this Kossuth was brought to trial,
and condemned to four years Imprisonment. His
judges had been nominated by the Austriay govern.
ment, and were ia consequence dependent on il.
This was in 1886 Such is the respect which, since
1928, the Austrian government has proisssed for
our Institutions
II Prince EserhaZy finds there facts INSULT
Gent | shall be always ready to quote additional
ones, which will clearly Nst lis at eist incon-
siderate assertion as to tie good faith Of the Aus
trian government | could mention good many
cases Of arbitrary imprisonment, blows made
against f eedom Of speech, oondem nation for con-
stitutional language uttered IN legal assembly, VIC
istions Of orr municipal rights arbitrary exclusions
from the Diet Of men bers legally elected, &c &c.