And thus it was that he succeeded in | Pansclavist attempts in Prague. In a word, breathing into the South Sclavonic move- the object at which he aimed was no ment one feeling and one will. Every heart longer to be concealed, the ascendency clung to him as to the only champion of his of the Sclave at the expense of the other country's rights, or preserver of her good races of the empire. These representations order and peace. Croatia was not without had their effect; the conspiracy succeeded. its ultra-democratic party; even among the The emperor declared the Ban destitué from Sclaves there were sympathizers with the all his offices and dignities; but, fearful still Hungarians, but whatever may have been of the consequences, required that public their opinions or views, their numbers were effect should not be given to the edict, unfew. The great mass of the nation, beyond less in case of his refusal to abide by the all question, had but one political creed- decisions of the Hungarians. A more signal union with the empire, maintenance of their instance of court intrigue and short-sighted nationality, full development of its resources as well as ignoble policy-dangerous not less and liberties, on a perfect equality with every to the Magyar than to the Sclave-one more other portion of the state. calculated to bring liberty as well as monarchy into contempt-could not have been devised. Jellachlich was forthwith put to the test. He was enjoined not to attend the approaching meeting, on the 5th of June, of the Diet of Agram, and summoned to appear instead at Innspruck to answer the charges preferred against him. This injunction, inspired by Hungarian influence, was well calculated for its purpose. It was an important occasion and meeting, that which was about to take place; deputies from all the Croatian provinces were about to assemble at Agra; grave affairs, nay, the greatest which could affect the feelings and interests of a people, were on the point of being discussed. It had another object. The session was to be preceded by the solemn installation of the Ban. An ordinary man might have obeyed the mandate; the Ban knew at whose suggestion it had issued; he set at naught the summons, and on the appointed day apNewspaper invectives were no longer ade- peared at Agram, and not at Innspruck. quate to repress his growing power. Re-Enthusiastic was his welcome; great the jucourse was had to other expedients. It was sought to render him suspected in the eyes of the very sovereign whom he was laboring to serve. In the excitement naturally resulting from the collision of two such powerful elements, it could hardly be expected that the decencies and proprieties of literary warfare would be much regarded. The arrows shot forth from the Hungarian press against the Ban, whose crime, after all, was not more than endeavoring to obtain for Croatia what the Magyar looked for for Hungary, and who in a juncture of general weakness and faithlessness gave a signal example of energy and devotedness to his country and sovereign, were sent back, it is true, by the Croatian. But there was this difference between them; the Croatian press did not intermeddle with the domestic affairs of Hungary; it acted on the defensive, it defended the cause of the Ban and the country, and however provoked, always replied with dignity and self-control. But the time was past in which such weapons could much avail. Sick and feeble lay the emperor in the royal palace at Innspruck. It was a remote and retired spot. Many of his best friends were absent; he was surrounded by an Hungarian ministry. Through all the borders the irruption of the Raizes and Servians had produced alarm; the cry of "the country is in danger"-that tocsin cry which creates so much of the danger it affects to apprehend, was heard on every side. The Ban, it was represented, might easily have prevented or repressed this inroad; he allowed the torrent to grow, to advance, to burst all bounds; the cause of this apathy was obvious; the movement originated from himself. It was not less easy to connect him with the bilee with which he was received by all classes of his countrymen. His installation was performed amidst universal acclamations by the Greek or non-united Bishop and Patriarch of Karlowitz, partly in consequence of the Bishop of Agram being absent, partly from a wish to give evidence in his own instance, that, even in Croatia, religion and church were now free. And strange the contrast the proceedings of that day presented to any one acquainted with the secret machinations and duplicity of the court. In the very moment in which he was denounced as traitor by his sovereign, stood Ban Jellachlich in the Diet Hall at Agram, doing all that in him lay to rouse, by his eloquence, the affections and energies of his hearers to loyalty and devotedness to that same prince; and so unconscious, or so doubtful of the real opinions of the emperor did he feel, that but a few days after, (the 12th of June,) at the head of a deputation composed of Colonel Denkstein, Count Nugent, Count Ludwig Erdödy, Baron Franz Kulmer, Count Karl Draskovich, and several others, he set out, without hesitation, for Innspruck. His progress through the Tyrol, in the midst of Alpine songs, patriotic music, festal arches, popular cheerings, was one brilliant triumphal march. The Tyrolese sympathized with the Croatians; they were distinguished by the same spirit of devotion to the Imperial House; they had beside some old reminiscences; the name of Jellachlich was not unknown amongst them. Many an old rifle in those mountains had fought in the victorious field of Feldkirch under his father. On his arrival, no communication was made to him-not a word spoken of the edict sanctioned by the emperor but six days before. Prince Paul Esterhazy, the then Minister of Hungary for Foreign Affairs, had received instructions from Pesth not to allow of any interview between him and the emperor. On this being communicated to the deputation, it determined at once on instantly returning, the Ban first conveying in clear terms to the emperor, that he did not hold it to be consistent with the dignity of his majesty, nor with his own, to submit to the control of an Hungarian ministry. But whilst the empire was thus divided against itself, the court gave proof of being scarcely less separated into different parties. The same man who was refused all approach to the sovereign, was received not only without difficulty, but with open arms, by the Archduke Franz Karl and the Archduchess Sophia. An audience, through their intervention, was, at last, obtained; out apprehensive of its results, Esterhazy and the Hungarian ministry, no longer able to prevent it, required to be present. The archduke endeavored to meet this new difficulty; the Ban still remained firm in his resolution; he would make no advance to the Hungarians. A middle term was at last found; a public was substituted for a private audience. On the appointed day, (19th of June,) the deputation, with Jellachlich at their head, appeared before the assembled court. All then at Innspruck-emperor and empress, archdukes and archduchesses, the whole of the corps diplomatique, the usual cortége of state officers, lords, and ladies attended. The Hungarian ministry likewise appeared. It was a remarkable scene-Jellachlich stood out before his Croatians, before the élite of the nation, and addressed, in his and their name, the emperor. In glowing language he placed before the sovereign the perilous state of the monarchy; the devotedness unto death of a true and valorous people. He spoke of the rights of both, of the interests of both, eloquently and courageously. It was not fitting that faithful servants should be trodden into dust, or passed away with the stroke of a pen to others at the very moment they were laying at the foot of the throne their urgent prayers, that the bonds which held them to the empire should be rendered more indissoluble than ever. Croatia was its right arm-the border provinces its bone and muscle; though not forming more than the five-and-thirtieth portion of the monarchy, they furnished not less than one-third of its infantry, and could, when necessary, make it double. Such a land and people-such hearts and arms were not, in an hour like this, of danger, recklessly to be cast away. The effect was striking; the court was moved, many shed tears. It was something new to see a man of genius, vigor, and intrepidity, addressing a weak and sickly sovereign face to face, before friend and foe. It carried the mind back to times when individuality, still strong, broke down all barriers of rank or position, and ruled by the force of personal prowess and mind. The charges were no longer pressed; the intervention of the Archduke John was sought and employed, with a view to remove the imputations of the Hungarians. The act of dismissal was not formally cancelled, but the Ban was allowed de facto to continue in the full exercise of his high trust. Every one felt assured that the emperor looked only for the favorable moment to withdraw an edict which it was now clear had been extorted from him against his will. The Archduke John addressed him an autograph letter of congratulation in the most affectionate terms, "An meinen lieben Bannus"-"To my dear Ban." The audience was scarcely over when he was received by the Archduke Franz, and the Archduchess Sophia, in the most friendly manner. Prince Esterhazy seemed to expect a visit ; this not taking place, he visited the Ban. It is said they remained closeted for more than an hour; and that the prince on leaving the apartment, apparently much excited, was heard to exclaim, in passing through the Croatians assembled in the antechamber, "What a man! I must myself go to Pesth; this matter must henceforth take another direction." The And thus he left Innspruck, in the midst of the caresses of the court, the defeat or reconciliation of his enemies, the exultation of | while the light of freedom had arisen over his friends, and the jubilee of the people. His return was a festival! And all this was an illusion-a fraud-a snare! He had now reached Lienz, a small village on his way homeward, when taking up the papers of the day, amongst them the "Wiener Zeitung," the first thing which struck his astonished and indignant eye under the date of 19th of June, the very day of his audience with the emperor, was the edict for his dismissal-the edict which was not to have been acted on, and of the existence of which not one single tongue had ventured to utter to him a syllable during the whole of his stay at Innspruck! Nor was this all; as if the court could be true to none, the document reluctantly yielded was rendered by a ruse inoperative; it was published without the counter-signature of an Hungarian minister. The Ban was insulted and derided; the Hungarian was duped and foiled. It is hard to say how such a government could inspire or deserve confidence. But this was only one step in that labyrinth of follies and duplicities, which render this page of Austrian history as contemptible as it is mysterious. At this news, as may well be imagined, the whole of South Sclavonia was in a flame. Through all their bounds and borders there was but one cry of sorrowful and scornful indignation at the ignoble treachery of the court. The Ban was silent. None of the papers of the day contain one single word of reproach or resentment from him. But looking back to time and place, to men and circumstances, bitterly must his true heart have felt and deplored this wound so prepared and so struck. His reception by the emperor, the deep concealment, on every side, of the hostile edict, the friendly advances of the archduke and archduchess, the selection of the Archduke John as the mediator; all these matters taken together showed how little he could, in future, count on such a government -how little it was intended that their mandates should be respected or obeyed. The Ban was silent, but not so the Croatian Diet. They bore not the wrong with the same meekness or humility. In bold, but just phrase, they represented to the emperor their veneration and love for their chief, their grief at the injury which had been perpetrated against him. In his wounds they had been wounded; in his interests their interests had been sacrificed. Their allegiance and union with the empire still remained unshaken, but they asked how was it that every other land in the empire, they alone should be bowed down under the yoke of a foreign dominion. To Hungary and Hungarian intrigue they traced this edict, and in proportion to their attachment to the Ban, was their indignation at such interference. These sentiments were re-echoed by the troops along the frontier. They were the sentiments, indeed, of the whole nation. Under these circumstances the Ban considered himself justified in paying no regard to the Imperial edict. He knew how unreal it was in every respect, and trusted to future events for his justification. He returned at once to Agra, where he was met with unbounded enthusiasm, and so far from retiring into a private capacity, as was intended, he employed to the utmost every means which his official position gave him, redoubled every exertion, took every measure to put the country in a state of defense, to win still more the confidence of his compatriots, to rouse and prepare for the uncompromising maintenance of their nationality. Neither the mandate of the sovereign nor the Austrian and German press, (then by no means favorable,) nor the fierce denunciations of the Magyar orators and writers, neither private intrigue nor public attack had any effect in diverting him from this purpose. No longer confined to Croatia, he journeyed through all Sclavonia, and everywhere found the same reception, everywhere the same determination to support and defend him in the coming emergency. Events soon proved how just and wise were these precautions. So far from visiting this contumacy with chastisement, the court of Vienna found itself reduced to try other means for the accomplishment of its purpose. It was thought that by mutual explanations an arrangement might still be devised acceptable to both, and sufficient to tranquilize these angry elements. A conference was proposed to take place at Vienna. Bathyany, the Hungarian minister, was there; Jellachlich was invited to meet him ; he acceded; his reception in the Imperial capital was encouraging; immense multitudes came out to meet him. He had scarcely reached the Badener Bahnhof, when cries resounded on every side, "Where is Jellachlich ?" During his stay in the city his residence in the Kärnthnerstrass was surrounded by crowds of admirers. The officers of the garrison honored him on the 29th of July with a serenade and a "Fackelzug." Nor had the slight interruption 66 attempted by the Hungarian party any other effect than to furnish him with an opportu nity of addressing the Viennese from his window, in a speech terminating with these words: My cause is the cause of honor; therefore am I ready to lay before you frankly all my feelings and intentions. I am no foe to the noble Hungarian nation, but to those only who, hurried on by their separation tendencies, for their own selfish ends, would rend Hungary from Austria, and thus render both weak. I, my brothers, I wish a great, a strong, a powerful, a free, an undivided Austria. Long live our beautiful fatherland and long live Germany!" Notwithstanding these demonstrations, the conference of Vienna produced no peaceful result. It was soon obvious that all compromise was impracticable. Jellachlich did not indeed require the political separation of the Sclavonian border territories from the Hungarian united kingdom, but he did require a due recognition of the national and local interests of the Sclavonian races, and in that view the suppression of the Hungarian ministries of war and finance, which by establishing an altogether independent action of the Magyar element, left the Sclavonic more or less at its mercy; in a word, he demanded the surrender of that independence which had been set up by Hungary since March, 1848, and a re-entrance into the relations of the other provinces of the Austrian monarchy. thens; as by the stroke of a magician's Jellachlich had now completed his arrangements. With the fervent support of his own Croatians, and the warm wishes of many Austrian regiments, and no very determined opposition on the part even of the Hungarians themselves, armed at every point, he stood ready to pass the frontier of Hungary. Civil war was imminent; a few still looked (they were very few) to the mediation or control of the emperor. In this crisis, on the 4th of September, 1848, appeared in the Agramer Zeitung, an imperial edict in open recantation of all former measures on the subject, restoring the Ban to all his public honors and functions, in recognition "of his wise and patriotic services!" But this, too, was without the signature of an Hungar an minister. It thus looked little less than a formal declaration of war against Hungary. It was so interpreted. The ferment, the consternation it produced is well known. An Hungarian deputation hastened to Schönbrun; it was received, but none but the most evasive answers returned. The court would enter into no explanation, no discussion, until the Kossuth ministry had been dismissed. This This was complied with. A Bathyany ministry was formed, but to no purpose; the old Kossuth spirit still breathed through it. Neither the court nor Jellachlich gained by the alteration. New complications succeeded. The Archduke Ste This, as may be easily imagined, was resisted with no less obstinacy by the Hungarian minister. In a country which aimed at total separation, and had accomplished it in part, it was a question of life and death. The negotiations were broken off-the Hungarians on their side, in greater difficulty than ever, with their position exposed through the apathy of the imperial troops; Jellachlich, on his, more than ever conscious of his advantages, hastened respectively to make immediate preparations for war. Notwithstanding the two battalions sent from each of the frontier regiments to Italy, he had still left in each district from 4000 to 5000 volunteers. "With God, and be he-phen had at first attempted, in quality of roes!" was the old cry of departure of the Borderers, whenever the emperor called them to join his standard in war-" With God, and be heroes!" arose from the sick and the viceroy, to conduct affairs; this he soon found to be impossible; a semi-provisional government, a species of Kossuth and Szemere dictatorship was appointed; it had sound, the young and the old. "With God, given way to the Bathyany ministry, and and be heroes!—our women and children will this now had failed. In the mean time the guard our borders from the Turks;" greeted dangers which threatened Hungary every him on every side. Croatia and Sclavonia day increased. Jellachlich had already passimposed and submitted to the heaviest bur-ed the Drave on the morning of the 11th of September, with the main body of his army, and was now advancing towards the capital. The "Landwehr" was called out, and the very same Diet which had refused the archduke more extensive powers, now called on him to do his duty as Palatine, and to place himself at the head of the insurrection. For a moment he hesitated, and appeared disposed to take the command of the troops, but, on the 17th of September, instead of appearing, as was expected, at their head, he escaped to Vienna, on the plea of making one more effort for conciliation. This last link with the court being broken, Hungary now stood in open revolt. Every exertion was made, but the means and chances were unequal. The national guard, the army of the Drave, were for the most part composed of raw recruits; a feeble force against the 30,000 or 40,000 men of Jellachlich, who now stood at Great Kanisa ready to strike the decisive blow. But in this moment of suspense, Vienna gave a new direction to events, the flight of the emperor to Olmütz left little doubt what course it was now intended to pursue. The rural population had never forgotten their traditional attachment to the House of Hapsburg, and the emperor still maintains something in all his weakness of that goodnatured homeliness, which smoothened down with the peasant so much of the harsher form of absolutism in the time of his predecessors. On the way they crowded out from villages with song and shout to meet their Kaiser. Woe to the " Studiosus" who on that day dared to show himself with red cap or red handkerchief, albeit of the national guard, amongst them. At Egginburg the whole neighborhood gathered round the Imperial carriage. The emperor had way made for them, and addressed them in the old paternal tone of Kaiser Franz-" Children! what I've promised I'll keep. Robott, tithes, and all those other matters have ceased. I've sanctioned and signed it, and so it shall remain. Your emperor gives you his word for it, and you may believe your emperor. I mean well towards you, but in Vienna there are people who do not mean well towards me, and who wish to seduce you. As I can no longer help myself, I must, unfortunately, send military amongst them to make them act better," &c. &c.* These words were received with The very words of the emperor, if we are to trust the report: "Kinder was ich versprochen hab' das halt ich; Robott, Zehend, und das andere hat aufgehört; ich hab's sanctionirt, unterschrieben und more applause than would have been the most studied oration. The old spoke of the late "blessed" emperor, and the women hung out "schwärz-gelbe" handkerchiefs, the imperial colors. The Austrian peasant is conservative, and looks with something akin to destestation on the unintelligible theories and wild uproar of the towns. So long as he is allowed to reap what he sows, the pa-. triotism of the Aula appears to him incomprehensible. The court saw enough to convince it, that it could rely on the country, in case of any measure against the towns; no aid could come to them from that quarter; no landsturm cry would be obeyed. The movements of Windisch-Grätz and Jellachlich were now safe. And day after day, closer and closer drew the lines-move after move, until tower and pawn were shut in by bishop, king, and knight; and the issue of the great game no longer appeared doubtful. Few sieges in modern times have been so fraught with the wild and wayward, with huge and harsh contrasts of men and things. A sovereign with outstretched arm and uplifted sword over his own capital; his Parliament sitting within its walls; his subjects within, as without, protesting allegiance; without, as within, proclaiming freedom; resisting in despite of their allegiance the still constitutional head of the state; in despite of their protestations in favor of liberty, ready to crush it; nationalities of all kinds (even Hungary has several) under new banners, the very opposite to those under which they had at first set out. "Deutschthum" in alliance with "Sclaventhum ;" Sclaventhum at variance with itself, witness the letter of the Ban to his Bohemian brethren, and their expostulations in answer from Prague-surely there were never joined in more tangled web so many and such various views and passions. At night might be heard on the Rother-Thurm bastion, the bivouac of the Windisch-Grätz grenadiers, chanting, with might and main, in the Leopoldstadt near-"Was ist der Deutschen Vaterland?" whilst the university, "Fuchslied"-" Was kommt dort von der Höh'," was converted into a "Soldaten-Lied" for the occasion, and every now and then the burthen-"Vom ledernen Jellachlich," mixed jovially with Sclavonic lay and music, the dabei bleibt's: eure Kaiser gibt euch sein Wort darauf, und glaubt's dem Kaiser; ich mein's gut mit euch; aber in Wien gieb's Leut' die's nicht gut mit mir meinen, und die euch auch verführen wollen und da kann ich mir nicht helfen ich wird leider Militär hinschicken müssen," u. s. w. |