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Leader (1850-1860), 31st March 1860, Edition 1 of 2, Page 303

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    • LA.MENNAIS- AND GIOBERTI.
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      rpHE two most gifted and passionate souls . . . or JL can boast of in recent days arc . Lamenijtaits and Giobeetiv No human beings could be more sincere , and none could rush into more flagrant inconsistencies , _ What , however , is inconsistency ? It may either be the childish fickleness of the ' shallow , the mean calculation of the mercenary , the adroit yielding- to circumstances of the ambitious ; or it may be the necessary , earnest , logical development of a fioble and opulent mind . The path of Lamennais and Giobekti was pure and grand from the" beginning to the end . There was the hero , there was the martyr , there was the saint in both . What , therefore , was inconsistency in both but the spontaneous outpouring of energy and

      genius P .. Lamennais , however , alone succeeded in raising himself from Catholicism to Catholicity ; GroBEB'JCl cursed and shook his chains , and uttered the wild cry of freedom ; but still he was in bondage to > the last . . Better than , all other men do Lamennais arid GroBERTr typifythat torture , that tragedy of our modern existence- ^ the attempt to reconcile the present and the past . They , therefore , apart from their merit as writers , deserve our most serious study i We in England settle everything- by compromise , that philosophy so dear to Macaulay , who was no philosopher , and which is not a philosophy . The writhing-s , the wrestlings of . such men as Gioberts , and Lamennais , Eng-liahmen , therefore , d ° not understand . In a . sort of rough way the Englislj like to bo frani * and truthful , but thov have no impulse except positive personal discomfort to march

      on to a : diviner political , social , or religious state , lill , as they say , the shoe pinches them , they eat , drink , and are xaorry . The world ' improvement they consider to bo no affair oF theirs . Even in their philanthropy there is no love j they go into philanthropy as they go into money-making , simply as a matter of business . Ihey enter into commorciul speculations , promote drainage , convert the Hottentots , all on the most mechanical principles . Now to iierco , fiery southern hearts , how chilling must this rftolid utilitarianism be , and how criminal must it appear ! lhey listen to no counsel but that of their tumultuous and eloquent , blood . Not till their glowing phantasy has spoken do they form their theories . And if around them are the momorieH and the monuments of holiest institutions , and if they dream that what has been can again be , how little they must bo arrested by craven considerations of expediency ! They cry with a loud voice to <* o » to lift up his strong right arm and bring the church of the middle back *

      ages . „ , , To the loftiest natures materialism—the idolatry of hard , -harsh material interests—is the grief of griefs , the crown of abomination and iniquity . When progress moans , as it certainly means in England , the opportunity afforded to rich men to grow richer , what can they whoso bosoms burn with piety and pity , and the glorious vision of human redemption , think of progress / They must throw themselves very far into the future , or very fij ? into the past , ™> escape from tho thraldom and tho pollution ol the present . If they

      Untitled Article

      March 31 , 1860 . J The Leader-and'Saturday Analyst . 303

      Untitled Article

      to restore and live under one of the most ancient constitutions in the world , and which , up to the period of the iniquitous and disastrous intervention of Russia , answered the purpose of training the people , in habits of self-government arid respect for established law . JFrom one generation to another the Hungarians were called upon to defend their constitutional rights against the usurpations ot the House of Hapsburg ; and there is much in tlieir circumstances and conduct that reminds the English student of the constant cry of the Saxons when struggling against Norman oppression , * ' Give us the laws of Edward the Confessor I" Hungarian sovereigns were sworn to obey the laws of the kingdom , and they were also required to sign and seal a diploma of coronation binding them to observe a number of provisions strikingly similar to the best portions of our own constitution ; and the royal power was by law eveiimore limited than with us , as the king 1 could not declare war or make treaties without the consent of the Diet . These excellent laws , together with the warlike spirit of the people , would have ensured to Hungary the gradual development of liberty and industry , had it not unfortunately happened that in accepting the rule of the Hapsburgs she connected herself with the very worst race of rulers of whom history contains a record , and who were successful in their criminal attacks upon the constitutional rights of every other portion of their dominions . Professor Newman well observes that the Hapsburg princes have been signal for the extraordinary number of political offences like those of the Bourbons and the Stuarts , and the high development of freedom they have crushed ; and he adds , " when a wicked policy is hereditary in a court and sustains itself under better and worse princes alike , this is the greatest of all testimonies that the dynasty is incurably evil . " In 1526 , when the great struggle of the Reformation Was the most significant event in Europe , and wlien the successes of the Turks had created a very general alarm , Hungary and Bohemia elected Ferdinand I . as king- of the two countries , a proceeding which , rapidly led to the extinction of the liberty , of the latter , and to a struggle on the part of the former which , with occasional intermissions , has continued ever since . If Bohemia had been successful either at this period or in the seventeenth century , when the Protestant cause , and wth . it all hope Of libertyj was crushed by a most sanguinary and ferocious persecution , it is probable that the Austrian empire might have entered a new and happier stage of its existence , as the Hungarianswould not have stood alone hi their efforts to sustain religious liberty and the principles of constitutional government ; but the might of ' despbtism and the craft of the Jesuits prevailed , and the house of Austria gradually found itself in possession of a vast empire , whose sovereigns had broken down every barrier of legal right except in Hungary , which was too isolated from the rdst of Europeto occupy much attention , except when some nev ^ provocation excited a fresh appeal to arms . After the Russian intervention had fully restored the power of the Austrian Court , tlie present Emperor had an admirable , opportunity 6 f reconstituting the empire upon liberal principles , . but ,-. true to the hereditary . policy . of his race , he made a Concordat with the Pope , and devoted all his energies and resources to revive a worse than mediaeval despotism , and make his dominion a perfect anachronism in ah enlightened age . In Italy we have seen the commencement of a salutary reaction , and one in Hungary cannot be long delayed . M . Szeinere points out that , in 1859 , Austria , without Hungary , possessed 17 , 508 , 354 inhabitants , and a territory of 5 , 554 square geographical leagues ; while Hungary , without Austria , contained 15 ^ 500 , 000 people , inhabiting . 6 , 175 square geographical leagues : He also gives us a statistical account of the races inhabiting Hungary , showing the Hungarians to number 6 , 150 , 000 , while the next most numerous race , theWallachs , amount only to 2 , 374 , 472 . Considering the persecutions to ¦ which Protestantism has been exposed for so , many centuries , it is highly honourable to the Hungarians that the Protestants novv number 3 , 375 , 000 ; while the Koman Catholics , with all the advantages of prolonged state patronage , are little wore than double the number © f the Protestants , and do not amount to half the entire population . What was called the" Tongue Quarrel" in Hungary will be in the recollection of our readers , and also the blame thrown by many upon the Mng-yars , for causing the adoption of their own language in public proceedings , when the use of Latin was given up . Upon this question M . Szemero throws considerable light , by offering an analysis of tho periodicals and books published in Hungary in the year 1855 , From this it appears that out of eighty-one periodicals , fiftyfour wero printed in Hungarian ; while out of GdW ) worlsa published ia volumes , 510 were Hungarian . Thus it is quite clear that tho intellectual life of the country was intimately associated with the language of tho numerically largest race . With reference to the assistance Austria obtained during the revolutionary period from the Sulaves , the Itounmna , and the Germans of Hungary , M . Szemore observes , that , , " out of 2 , 400 ^ 000 Rouinans , there were 1 , 500 , 000 ; out of 1 , 600 , 000 Germans , 1 , 350 , 000 , and out of 4 , 700 , 000 Solaves , 3 , 000 , 000 who could not boinduoed by any means of persuasion , nor even by force , to take arms against ubj" and th , ore is goud reason to hope that , in Hungary as in Italy , the bitter lessons of experience have taught the folly a-ndi wickedness of permitting * local jealousies to obstruct the plain duty of uniting- for national objects against a common i'oe . . We have recently explained tine position of the Protestant Churches in Hungary , and the collision with them which the Austrian Government has so rashly provoked . M , Szomere does full justice to tlieir importance , and reminds us " that all their risings have invariably led to a . treaty ( us in 1600 , 1022 , 1045 , and 1711 ) , which alwnys hnd the twofold object of securing politico , ! And religious liberty . ' Wo can well understand tho anxioty of tho

      Jesuit-led Court of Austria to breakup the organisation of the Protestant churches , because they afford a daily practice in self-govern * ment to a very numerous and important section of the community . Each member of the commune has a vote in Church affairs , arid the communal constituency elects its own minister and schoolmaster . The district businesses managed by representatives elected by the communes , and those of the diocese by representatives of the districts . A system like this leads so'directly " to constitutional liberty , that it can be no other than odious to a sovereign who rules in violation of laws and paths , and is ready to perpetrate any crime rather than submit to the restraints which free institutions impose upon an arbitrary will . In entitling- his work , which is in the form of letters to Mr . Cobden , Jlungai-y from 1848 to I 860 , M . Szemere has led us to expect the history of the remarkable negotiation between the Emperor Napoleon and Louis ICossuth , and of the train of incidents connected with" the Italian war ; but upon these he is silent . He himself appears to have taken no part in them , beyond inditing some wordy epistles to Lord Palmerston and Count Cavour . We are surprised at this omission , because the formation of the Hungarian legions in Italy , and the conditional undertaking to assist Hungary if the Austrians prolonged the war , were among the most remarkable events of the campaign of 1859 , and afford good grounds for hoping that the Emperor will aid the Hungarian cause if a legitimate opportunity occurs in which he can do so , with due reg-ard to the interests of France . . .: M . Szemere contributes nothing new in his record of the grievances of Hungary , with which the speeches and letters of Kossuth have familiarized the British public ; but Iris remarks are valuable , as confirmatory evidence ; and the picture represents so much misery and oppression , that it is impossible to believe it can be maintained by any force which the bankrupt finances of-Austria will enable her to employ . As a question 6 f humanity , every one mustr sympathize with the Hungarians , and wish them a prosperous issue out of this prolonged struggle ; while the obvious Connection of their position with the territorial arrangements of Europe , and with the condition of the Christian races in the Danttbian Principalities , oblige the diplomatist and statesman to consider their future destiny as bound up with some of the most important problems which civilization has to solve . ... . ¦ .

      La.Mennais- And Gioberti.

      LAMENNAIS AND GIOBERTI .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 31, 1860, page 303, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2340/page/11/