RUSSIAN AGGRESSION. 



209 



as a Russian war-cry is this : that the cabinet of 

 St. Petersburg seeks, wherever there are Slavo- 

 nians, instruments wherewith to paralyze the 

 policy of some other power, to cripple its force, 

 and to find in the Panslavists wedges with which 

 it may split states asunder, if they stand in the 

 way of Russia's extension of power ; and to cre- 

 ate new combinations, either as her tools or her 

 objects, for the sake of her aggrandizement. 



At present it is the Turkish Empire that is 

 the anvil upon which Russia strikes with her 

 Panslavistic hammer. Her first object is the 

 country which forms an angle betwixt the vital 

 artery of our fatherland and Austria — the Dan- 

 ube, and her estuary on the coast of the Euxinc. 



That after the Turks we and Austria would 

 next be struck upon is quite clear. Not to sec 

 this is blindness. To see and not to prevent it 

 is suicide. 



This is no mere question of sympathy or an- 

 tipathy. It is a matter of vital importance for 

 Hungary that the integrity and sovereignty of the 

 Turkish Empire should be secured, and that Rus- 

 sia, who is the enemy of the liberties of Europe, 

 should have her poison-fangs torn out before she 

 can consolidate and increase her annexations for 

 her own advantage. 



This is the philosophy of the situation. 



It is a fact that, with respect to this danger, 

 the workings of diplomatists afford to us Hunga- 

 rians no comfort. They dissimulate ; they will 

 not even show that they are aware of the real 

 danger. 



The traditions of the past are very disquiet- 

 ing. It is an historical fact that there is not a 

 single example of Austria having taken the 

 part of Turkey against Russia. She has al- 

 ways been biased in favor of Russia. She 

 has always, indeed, declared openly for her. 

 There have been cases when she acted as media- 

 tor, as at Nimierow ; and, as soon as she heard 

 of the capture of Cracow by the Russians, and 

 their invasion of the Crimea, she attacked with 

 armed force the oppressed Turks. She made a 

 treaty with the Russians for the dismemberment 

 of Turkey. She had a share in the prey. She 

 accepted the half of Moldavia (Bukovina) as a 

 compensation for Poland, of which she got only 

 a small part. So it was planned by Kaunitz and 

 Gallitzin. 



These are the traditions of Viennese policy 

 on the Eastern question. 



That a continuation of this traditionary pol- 

 icy would be dangerous in the highest degree to j 

 our fatherland and to the monarchy is clear. To 



permit Russia to become either the direct lord 

 or the dictator of the southern Slavonians, to be 

 the steel hoop which compresses them, is equiva- 

 lent to multiplying the splitting wedges. 



I cannot believe that these dangerous traditions 

 can be continued within the circles of a constitu- 

 tional government. But there are very influential 

 circles, apart from constitutional bodies, that stick 

 to this traditional policy. They are fond of those 

 siren songs which are always heard when Austria 

 has lost something, and whose burden is, " Go for 

 compensation to the East." 



These are very disquieting things. And it is 

 a fact that the Hungarian Government has till 

 now done little to soothe or to appease the mind 

 of the nation. Its reservedness has transgressed 

 the farthest limits. Though reservedness may be 

 safe in some cases, when it overreaches itself it is 

 a fault, a blunder. 



Now, as the situation is full of danger, as di- 

 plomacy gives no comfort, as the traditions of 

 the past are disquieting, and as the Government 

 does nothing to appease the people, it is not only 

 a natural consequence, but it is also a postulate 

 of self-preservation, that the nation should now 

 occupy such a position on the Eastern question 

 as should make the whole world aware what is 

 the political tendency most conformable or most 

 contrary to our national interests. 



The interruption of the manifestations of pub- 

 lic opinion, caused by the very sinister proroga- 

 tion of the Hungarian Diet, was explained, if not 

 as a change of mind, at least as a loss of interest, 

 and gave rise to the apprehension that in the 

 councils of the Viennese cabinet certain influ- 

 ences, whose existence is an open secret, might 

 gain the preponderance. 



This apprehension was very well founded. 

 The " taking up " of a position preparatory to 

 becoming a sharer in the booty was nearly ac- 

 complished when, fortunately, the Turkish vic- 

 tories stopped these dangerous preparations, and 

 Hungarian patriotism watchfully called out, "Be 

 on thy guard, Hungarian ! who will keep watch 

 for thee, if thou thyself doest it not for thy father- 

 land ? " And it spread all over the country, loud- 

 ly proclaiming to friends and foes that the Hun- 

 garian nation wakefully watched. 



When I speak of the Hungarian nation, I do 

 not mean the Magyar race, but every faithful son 

 of the fatherland, without distinction of race, 

 tongue, or creed, who sticks patriotically to that 

 type of government which has belonged to Hun- 

 gary for a thousand years, and who wishes to see 

 also Hungary remain as Hungary in the future, 



