The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-06-28
sPGRIT OF THE PRESS.
Editorial Opinions of the Leading Journals
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OUR HISTORIAN D1pLoMAT1sT.

OUR HISTORIAN DIPLOMATIST.
From the NJ Y. Sun.
The Hon. George Bancroft is our present
Minister at the Court of Berlin, and receives
a salary of $12, 600 year in gold for attend
ing to the official business, such as il is of
the United States with the North German
Confederation. That this business, however,
does not occupy all his time and attention,
but leaves him considerable leisure for pur-
suing his favorite literary occupation, is
shown by letter recently written by him to
the State Department, and which has just
been printed by order of the Senate.
1t seems that some Senator who knew and
appreciated the value of Mr. Bancrofts lucJ-
brations, and was determined that the nation
should not remain ignorant OF Its debt to the
illustrious historian ambassador, procured the
passage of resolution requesting the Presi-
dent, ''if in his opinion not inconsistent with
the pu bic interest, to communicate to the
Senate any recent correspondence of Mr..
Bancroft, the Minister of the United States in
Berlin, relating to political questions in Ger
many" The President, on receiving this
request, referred it in due course to Secretary
Fish, and he to his assistant, Mr.. Bancroft
Davis, and the result has been the publi-
cation of a letter-upon what does the reader
suppose?-upon 'the internal political con-
dition of the Transleithan part of the Aus
trian empire !" What an ambassador to
North Germany has to do with the affairs of
Austria and what the Transleithan part of
that empire is to the United States, is not ex-
plained but there the letter is, filling six
octave pages of fine print, headed American
Legation, Berlin, April Is, 1870, and signed
at the end, in large capitals, George Ban
croft"
A perusal of the document shows that it is
a very nice little treatise on the present con-
dltion and prospects of Hungary, written in
MIR. Bancroft's usual philosophical style, and
admirably adapted to serve as the preliminary
penance by which the members of the New
York Historical Society earn or used to earn,
once a month, the light to partake of choco-
late and sandwiches. The following para
graph, taken from near the beginning, may
serve to give some idea of what it is like:-
''Within three hours after the news of the Aus
trian defeat at Sadowa reached Buda-Pesth the
Magyar patriots formed their plan for the recon-
struction OF the empire upon basis OF POLITICAL per-
sonal, and constitutional liberty The system, which
had been thoroughly digested, and which Deak, at
pragmatic sanction of Charles VI was an acEnow
iedgment Of the dualism OF the Austrian empire and
the equality OF the two separate parts, with a
stut0Dal concert OF action in general affairs, ef-
fected by meeting of their respective delegates
under the same Emperor-King. The Hungarian
monarchy OF st. Stephen was to raise its head
through the Magyars on the one side and what was
called the crown lands, hereditary provinces,
which are seventeen in number were to constitute
themselves as one organism under the lead Of the
Germans on the other. The Two parts, from little
stream which divides them, though for a few miles
only, took their of Ciseitha, the Austrian
hereditary provinces, and the Tiansleitha, Hun
gary, the ancient kingdom of ST. Stephen. To give
you at glance an exact idea of this division, have
caused map TO be so coored as to represent vvdly
to the eye the division OF the old Austrian empire
into Cisletha and 1ransleha, assigning the Slavonc
military boundary to Hungary Transeitha and
Dalnatia, for the present at least to Cisleltha. l
annex second map, so colored as to exhibit the
great constituent elements OF Transleitha on the
one side and the seventeen separate provinces of
fCisleitha on the other"
And so forth, and so on. We have
eulogy of Deak, the Hungarian statesman; a
glowing description of the natural advantages
of the Hungarian territory, and of the city of
Buda- Pesth; a gloomy account of the rest of
Austria, to serve as a background to the
picture; and some excellent advice to the
Austrian politicians, which no doubt they
will gladly receive and profit by. Our ac-
.complished Minister at Vienna, the Hon.
John Jay of Revolutionary descent, will also,
we are sure, feel obliged to Mr. Bancroft for
pointing out to him how he too might exer-
else his otherwise useless talents and we may
expect before long to hear call in the
Senate for the publication, 'if not incon-
sistent with the public interest" of learned
dissertation by him upon Polish nationality
and antiquities, or some other equally re-
condite subject.
Undoubtedly any of our eminent American
diplomatists had better be concocting little
essays like this upon Hungary, and getting
up colored maps, than remaining idle or
gambling at Baden-Baden or Homburg But
we protest against the system that pays men
thousands of dollars a year for such trifing.