Hungary, and swore allegiance to the
Emperor of Austria. Upon this the Szeklers flew to arms--on the side of
the Magyars, of course; throughout their history they have always made
common cause with them. In the autumn of the same year, Joseph Bem, a
native of Galicia, who had fought under Marshal Davoust, later with
Macdonald at the siege of Hamburg, arid had also taken part in the
Polish insurrection of 1830, attached himself to the Hungarian cause. He
had formed a body of troops from the wrecks and remnants of other corps,
and soon by his admirable tactics succeeded on two occasions in beating
the Austrians at the very outset of his campaign; the latter of these
victories was near Dees, to the north of Klausenburg, where he defeated
General Wardener. The winter of that terrible year wore on. In
Transylvania it was not merely keeping back the common enemy, the
invader of the soil, but it was a case where the foes were of the same
township, and the nearest neighbours confronted each other on opposite
ranks.

The Austrians meanwhile had called in the Russians to aid them in
crushing the Hungarians; and at the time it was believed that the Saxons
of Transylvania had instigated this measure. It is easy to understand
how the Russians would be hated along with their allies; it was a
desperate struggle, and well fought out by Magyars and Szeklers, ably
handled by General Bem. Herrmannstadt and Kronstadt both fell into his
hands, after a vigorous defence by the Austro-Russian garrisons; in
fact, by the middle of March '49, the whole of Transylvania, with the
exception of Karlsburg and Deva, was held by the troops of this
fortunate general. But, as we all know, the Hungarian arms were not so
successful elsewhere, and the end of that struggle was approaching,
which was to find its saddest hour at Villagos on the 13th of August,
when the Hungarians were cajoled into laying down their arms before the
Russians!

The rest of the miserable story had better not be dwelt upon. Much has
changed in these few years. Now a Hapsburg recognises the privilege of
mercy amongst his kingly attributes. The last words of Maximilian, the
ill-fated Emperor of Mexico, were, "Let my blood be the last shed as an
offering for my country." Since then capital punishment has become of
rare occurrence in Austria; and remembering his brother's death, the
Emperor, it is said, can hardly be induced to sign a death-warrant!

[Footnote 17: Boner's Transylvan