country, and the honour of our religion, have inspired us to
make these humble but sincere remonstrances, and have bid us
raise our voices! So, let us hope, that your majesty will not
merely receive our sentiments, but that, mindful of the
solemn oath that you took on the day of your coronation, in
the face of heaven, not only to defend the liberties of the
people, but to extend them still further--that, mindful of
this oath, to which you appeal so often and so solemnly, you
will remove from your royal person the terrible
responsibility that these impious and bloody wars heap upon
the throne, and that you will tear off the tissue of vile
falsehoods with which pernicious advisers beset you, by
hastening, with prompt and strong resolution, to recall peace
and order to our country, which was always the firmest prop
of your throne, in order that, with Divine assistance, that
country, so severely tried, may again see prosperous days; in
order that, in the midst of profound peace, she may raise a
monument of eternal gratitude to the justice and paternal
benevolence of her king.
"_Signed at Pesth, the 28th Oct. 1848_,
"THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF HUNGARY."
The Roman Catholic hierarchy of Hungary, it must be kept in mind, have
at all times been in close connexion with the Roman Catholic court of
Austria, and have almost uniformly supported its views. The Archbishop
of Gran, Primate of Hungary, possesses greater wealth and higher
privileges than perhaps any magnate in Hungary.
In this unhappy quarrel Hungary has never demanded more than was
voluntarily conceded to her by the Emperor-King on the 11th of April
1848. All she has required has been that faith should be kept with
her; that the laws passed by her diet, and sanctioned by her king,
should be observed. On the other hand, she is required by Austria to
renounce the concessions then made to her by her sovereign--to
relinquish the independence she has enjoyed for nine centuries, and to
exchange the constitution she has cherished, fought for, loved, and
defended, during seven hundred years, for the experimental
constitution which is to be tried in Austria, and which has already
been rejected by several of the provinces. This contest is but another
form of the old quarrel--an attempt on the part of Austria to enforce,
at any price, uniformity of system; and a determination on the part of
Hungary, at any cost, to resist it.
We hope next month to resume the consideration of this subject, to
which, in the midst of so many stirring and important events in
countries nearer home and better known, it appears to us that too
little attention has been directed. We believe that a speedy
adjustment of the differences between Austria and Hungary, on terms
which shall cordially reunite them, is of the utmost importance to the
peace of Europe--and that the complications arising out of those
differences will increase the difficulty of arriving at such a
solution, the longer it is delayed. We believe that Austria,
distracted by a multiplicity of counsels, has committed a great error,
which is dangerous to the stability of her position as a first-rate
power; and we should consider her descent from that position a
calamity to Europe.
FOOTNOTES:
[30] Chiefly by marriage with princesses who were heirs to these
kingdoms and principalities. It was thus that Hungary, Bohemia, and
the Tyrol were acquired. Hence the lines--
"Bella gerant alii; tu, felix Austria, nube:
Nam quæ Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Venus."
You, Austria, wed as others wage their wars;
And crowns to Venus owe, as they to Mars.
It was by marriage that the Saxon emperor, Otho the Great, acquired
Lombardy for the German empire.
[31] The acts passed by the diet are numbered by articles, as those of
our parliament are by chapters. Each of these articles, when it has
received the royal assent, becomes a statute of the kingdom, in the
same manner as with us, and of course equally binds the sovereign and
his subjects.
_Printed by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh._
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious typographical errors were repaired.
Hyphenation and accent variations retained as in original.
Footnotes on p.509, 577 (first footnote), and 590 were unanchored in
the original. They have been anchored to the chapter headings on those
pages.