er nations under the same ruler, and that were united to us so many ties of relationship. ... promises The king and royal family granted these requests, appealing The king the sanctity of their oaths as a guarantee of their fulfill- made nt; and I, weak in myself, but strong through the confince of my countrymen and the noble sympathy of the strian people, proclaimed everywhere, amid the raging orm of revolution, that "the House of Austria should stand; r by the blessing of the Almighty it had begun to move in e right direction, and would be just to its people." It stood; nd stood, too, at a time when, whatever might have been the te of Hungary, the revolutionary tempest, under my direction, ould have blown away this antiquated and helpless dynasty ke chaff before the winds of heaven. On the very day they signed the grant of these moderate And then lemands of the Hungarian people, and solemnly swore, before proved false God and the nation to maintain them, they secretly resolved and planned the most cruel conspiracy against us. They determined to break their oaths, to desolate the land with insurrection, conflagration, and blood, till, feeble and exhausted under the burden of a thousand miseries, Hungary might be struck from the roll of living nations. Then they hoped by the power of the bayonet, and, if necessary, by the arms of Russia, to erect a united and consolidated empire, like the Russian, of sixteen various nations; they hoped to realize their long-conceived purpose of making themselves an absolute as a last We desired an honorable peace, and were willing to submit Independence to any reasonable terms. We many times tendered the olive declared only branch. We asked the constitutional governments of Europe resort to interpose. They heard us not. The haughty imperial family, forgetting that they were the real traitors, rejected every proposition with the defiant expression that they "did not treat with rebels." Ay, more, they threw our ambassadors into prison, and one of them, the noblest of Hungary's sons, they The powers when every attempt to bring about an honorable peace failed; when Francis Joseph, who was never our king, dared, in his manifesto of the 4th of March, 1849, to utter the curse that Hungary should exist no longer "; when there was no hope of arresting the Russian invasion by diplomacy; when we saw that we must fight to save ourselves from being struck off the earth as a nation; when the House of Austria, by its endless acts of injustice and cruelty, and by calling in the aid of a foreign power, had extinguished, in the heart of the Hungarian people, every spark of affection-then, and then only, after so much patience, the nation resolved to declare its absolute independence. Then the National Assembly spoke the words which had long been uttered by every patriotic tongue : "Francis Joseph, thou beardless young Nero! thou darest to say Hungary shall exist no more! We, the people, answer, we do and will exist; but you and your treacherous House shall stand no longer! You shall no more be kings of Hungary! Be forever banished, ye perfidious traitors to the nation! Oh, that Hungary had received but a slight token of moral refused aid to support from the European powers, - from those powers whose Hungary dreams are troubled with fears of the advance of the Cossack. Had only an English or a French agent come to us during our struggle, what might he not have done! He too would have seen and estimated our ability to sustain ourselves; he would have observed the humanity, the love of order, the reverence for liberty, which characterized the Hungarian nation. Had these two powers permitted a few ships to come to Ossara, laden with arms for the noble patriots who had asked in vain for weapons, the Hungarians would now have stood a more impregnable barrier against Russia than all the arts of a miserable and expensive diplomacy. There was a time when we, with the neighboring Poles, saved Christianity in Europe. And now I hesitate not to avow before God that we alone that my own Hungary - could have saved Europe from Russian domination. As the war in Hungary advanced its character became changed. In the end the results it contemplated were higher and far more impor tant nothing less in fact than universal freedom which wes I thought of in the beginning. This was not a choice; it s forced upon us by the policy of the European nations, who, sregarding their own interests, suffered Russia to invade and ovoke us. the Hun garians In vain fell the bravest of men in this long war; in vain The heroic ere the exertions of my countrymen; in vain did the aged struggles of ther send, with pious heart, his only son, the prop of his eclining years, and the bride her bridegroom; in vain did all private interests yield to the loftiest patriotism; in vain arose he prayers of a suffering people; in vain did the ardent wishes of every friend of freedom accompany our efforts; in vain did the genius of liberty hope for success. My country was martyred. Her rulers are hangmen! They have spoken the impious words that the liberty-loving nation "lies at the feet of the Tsar!" Instead of the thankful prayers of faith, of hope, and of love, the air of my native land is filled with the cries of despair; and I, her chosen leader, am an exile. . . . Before you I assert that the accusation that the Magyar race was unjust to the other races - by means of which a portion of the Servians, Wallachians, Slavonians, and Germans dwelling in Hungary was excited against us is an impious. slander, circulated by the House of Hapsburg, which shrinks from no crime to weaken the united forces of our united army, to conquer one race after another, and thus bring them all under the yoke of slavery. It is true, some of the races in Hungary had reason to complain; but these subjects of complaint were the inevitable consequences of the preëxisting state of things and the Austrian interference. But the Croatians had no reason to complain. This race of half a million, in a separate province, had a national assembly of its own and enjoyed greater privileges than even the Hungarians. They contributed proportionally but half as much in taxes. They possessed equal rights with Hungary; whilst the Hungarian Protestants, on account of their religion, were not suffered to hold lands in Croatia. Their grievances and ours were the same, in the perpetual violation of the con The Magyars not unjust to other races 232. Proclamation of Charles Albert's abdication 1849) Austrian system of government, which forcibly placed the ... In America people of different languages dwell, but who says that it is unjust for senators and representatives to use the English language in their debates, and to make it the official language of the government? LOUIS KOSSUTH, Governor of Hungary Section 62. Austria regains her Power in Italy The Austrian government was able, as we have seen, to put down, in October, 1848, the revolt in Vienna, and then had a free hand to reconquer its Italian provinces. The intervention of Charles Albert was unsuccessful, and after his final defeat at Novara, March 23, 1849, his abdication was proclaimed in the following manner: Proclamation of Eugene, prince of Savoy-Carignan, lieutenant general of his Majesty: I have a sad message to communicate to you. The king, Charles Albert, after having faced with intrepidity the bullets of the enemy, would not consent, in view of the reverses of our armies, to bow to ill fortune. He has preferred to crown (March 26, his life by a new sacrifice. On March 23 he abdicated in favor of the duke of Savoy. The gratitude of his people toward him will know no end, nor our respectful attachment. Let us rally around our new king, in battle a worthy rival of the paternal virtues, and the stanch guardian of the constitutional liberties granted by his august father. Long live the king, Victor Emmanuel ! TURIN, March 26 Although Charles Albert failed in his attempt to free Italy from the dominion of Austria and was compelled to lay down his crown, he nevertheless left as a legacy to the people of Sardinia a charter establishing constitutional government. This is a lengthy document, but it was summed up by the king in the following preliminary statement of its leading principles. His successor, Victor Emmanuel, maintained this new constitution in the midst of the general reaction that followed, and it later became the fundamental basis for the government of united Italy. bases of the Constitu tional Sardinia We have much pleasure in declaring that, with the advice 233. The and approval of our ministers and the principal advisors of our crown, we have resolved and determined to adopt the following bases of a fundamental statute for the establishment in our Charter of States of a complete system of representative government. (1848) ART. 1. The Catholic, apostolic, and Roman religion shall be the sole religion of the State. Other forms of public worship at present existing shall be tolerated in conformity with the law. ART. 2. The person of the sovereign is sacred and inviolable. His ministers are responsible. ART. 3. The executive power is vested in the king alone. The He is the supreme head of the State. He commands all the Executive forces, both naval and military; declares war, concludes treaties of peace, alliance, and commerce; nominates to all offices, and gives all the necessary orders for the execution of the laws, without, however, suspending them or dispensing with the observance thereof. ART. 4. The king alone shall sanction and promulgate the laws. ART. 5. All justice emanates from the king, and is administered in his name. He may grant pardons and commute punishment. ART. 6. The legislative power shall be collectively exercised The by the king and by two chambers. legislature ART. 7. The first of these chambers shall be composed of members nominated by the king for life; the second shall be elective, on a basis to be determined later. ART. 8. The proposal of laws shall be vested in the king and in each of the chambers, but with the distinct understanding |