Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-04-21
ANTI-SLAVERY BUGLE.
THE HUNGARIAN.
BY AuGUsTE DE GERANpA

BY AuoUsTE DE GERANpA
The dignity Of the Hungarian is that of the
Oriental. lie is grave like the Turk. This dig
nifty suits perfectly the physiogomy of the lluuga-
rians, which announces their Asiatic ORIGIN, Tall.
and muscular, they have the purely Oriental type ::
the oquilinc nose, black mOnstachc, the full face,
and the open forehead. Their step is at the same
time grave and firm, and their gestures, by reason
of this very gravity, never want nobleness.
The hungarian proverb says the Magyar is born
a horseinan Meier VAS u proycrb more true.
The people of this country believe a man is not n
man If he be not a horseman.
At four years old the child is placed on a horse,
lie grasps the name Of the animal with his little
hands, and as soon us he feels himself well seated,
he does not hesitate to excite him with his voice.
On the day that he can gallop without falling his
father says to him gravely, "EmLer vagy"-"Thou
art a man." At these words the child feels himself
a foot taller. lie grows up With the idea that he
is a man and a llungarian-two titles which i'm
pose obligations. a man, he is called to the honor
of being a horseman and of bearing arms; q
a Hungarian he must remember that he is su perior
to all, aud that he must do nothing derOgatory.
The sentiment of pride which animated his auces-
tors subsists as the other results of the conquest.
lie has therefore the consciousness of his value and
dignity. To be convinced of it, you have only to
hear his language. The word "honor"-"besctet'
WORTHY OF II man of honor" When he has
carried you at a gallop for a whole stage, do not
think he will demand his fee. lie detaches his
horses uncovcrs his head politely, and,
addressing you in his igurative language, wishes
you a good journey. You will have to call him
back to give him Che money he has earned, and
however little you may give him he will not remon-
strate. That would not be 6esculctes. 1t does not
enter into the ideas of honor Of the Magyar to be
either eager for gain like the German, or indolent
like the Walach. lie works honorably like a man
who has a family to support, He brings to the
village the grain of which his wife will make his
bread, the hemp Of which she will spin his gar
mcnts. In the evening when he has we'll employed
his day, he smokes before his door, caressing his
moustache.
If he is master in his hou Sc, he does rot the less
treat with kindness those whom he calls his people,
lie is gentle like all the strong. He never i'll treats
his wife, never subjects her to rude labor. She
knows that she has in him a support, a protector,
and she receives from him the most tender names f.:
rozsam, my rose, cslllagom, my star gyongyom,
my pearl. The Magyar language, full of meta
phors, like all the Asiatic languages, contains a
great many expressions of this kind. 1t contains,
besides, n great number of polite forms, that are
addressed to ncighbors, to friends, to guests. If
you stop in a village you will see one of the inhab-
itGnts, the one lefore whose door you may have
stationed yourself, advance toward you, take of
hiss hat, and offer you hospi atty. When you
quit him he will address you his thanks in a dis
course IN which he will call down upon you the
bencdictiOn Of Heaven. All this with II wonderful
ease, and that dignity which only Lclorgs to the
Orientals.
The men of this privileged race have a natural
nobility which puts them on n level with the stran-
ger who addresses them, whoever he may be.
f They have a reserve Of language which surprises
us in men without cultivation Il course pleasantly
i would never come into their mind. Nature has
+ endowed them with an easy eloquence, which
gives force and yivacity to the expression of their
sentiments. Whether they express 10y or give vent
to anger, the words flow sonorously from their lips.
4, To welcome n guest or curse II enemy, they find an
abundance of SMILES ard epi hets-the most polite
/ phrases, the most energetic terms. 1t is true their
language aids them marvelously. Poetic and me
~lodious, it is not the less capable of expressing the
most manly sentiments. Certain examinations
which mark the plural give it sometimes Il charac,
ter Of hlrshness, while from the abundance of vow.
+ els, it is usually very soft. According to what lie
wishes to express. the Hungarian can, by laying
. stress on one or another syllable, employ at will a
: harsh or a harmonious language.
have more than once admired the elevation OF
ideas and sentiments in these men which their ma.
ture. alone inspires. The Hungarian peasant is
. usually sober of words; he never becomes familiar
but he is # frank and loyal, and if he recognizes I
friend in you, he will open his heart to you Will
I; sincerity. You will then be struck with the ex
o pressions which will escape him, with the senti
ments that he will utter without an idea that he j.
strongly captivating your attention, and it will m
easy for you, in your turn, to excite in him livcl'
. emotions. 1t is that there are, in the hearts of thi
= nation, noble chords, which vibrate to the frs
= contact Of an elevated sentiment, a generou
=. idea.