red laws; now the laws are torn down, and the freedom of church and
school is gone. The Catholic Church had control of its own estates; now,
day by day, the nearly bankrupt Austrian government is overgrowing that
property by the poisonous weeds of a new loan, on which it vegetates, a
curse to every nation on the continent. Such is the condition of the
Catholic Church, concerning which I--a Protestant, not only by birth,
but also by conviction--declare, that during a whole lifetime, when
Hungary was struggling for religious liberty, that Church contended in
the foremost rank for the rights of us Protestants. So much do we value
the freedom of conscience, that the very thought was repugnant to us
all, that there should be unequal rights of citizenship between
Protestants and Catholics and professors of the Faith of Moses. Zeal for
religious freedom will kindle Magyars to struggle, as long as there is
blood in our veins. As during three centuries, so the late war was for
religious independence as well as civil; indeed, still earlier, we were
the barrier of Christendom against the invading Mahommedan. We
succeeded lately in freeing the agriculture of Hungary, and transforming
peasants into freeholders; now the Austrian dynasty is stealthily
bringing back feudal rights. In freeing the peasants, we provided for
indemnification of landlords; Austria taxes the peasants very heavily,
and does not (for she cannot) indemnify the landlords; because her
violence and wastefulness does not know how to turn our public estates
to account. She favours a few landlords only, who are faithful tools of
her oppression. During our struggle, we issued paper-money,--it was
called the Kossuth-bank-note; Austria disavowed it, and commanded its
surrender, yet twenty millions are firmly held by the people, as
valuable after a new revolution. Before we fell under the stroke of
Russian interference, the taxation permitted by our Parliament was only
four and a half millions of dollars; Austria now imposes SIXTY. Our
people burn their tobacco-seed and cut down their vines, rather than
endure her tax. Such are the motives which Austria gives to Hungary
_not_ to make a new revolution! There is not a single interest
which she has not mortally wounded. The mind, the heart, dignity,
conscience, self-esteem, hatred, love, revenge, besides every material
interest of every class, is engaged to the struggle.

The oppression of Hungary has ratified the oppression