DEAK, FRANCIS. 



221 



Inp, N. Y., September 17, 1876. He entered the 

 Military Academy at West Point in 1818, 

 ^railtiati-i! in 1815, and was mado lieutenant 

 of artillery. After a brief service with hia 

 regiment he was transferred to the Corps of 

 Kn^inoers, and assigned to duty as teacher in 

 tin- Academy in August, 1816. In December 

 >f tlio same year ho resigned his commif-ion, 

 and accepted the appointment of Assistant 

 Professor of Mathematics, and in 1821 of 

 Natural Philosophy ; and in 1828 he was com- 

 missioned Professor of Mathematics. "While 

 he was engaged in preparing a series of mathe- 

 matical text-hooks, his health failed, and ho 

 resigned his post, and in 1837 visited Europe. 

 A fur his return he became Professor of 

 Mathematics in Trinity College, Hartford ; but 

 in consequence of a bronchial affection he re- 

 linquished this post for that of paymaster in 

 the army and treasurer of West Point Acade- 

 my. These offices he resigned in 1845, and 

 became Professor of Mathematics and Natural 

 Philosophy in the University of the City of 

 New York. He afterward retired to Fishkill 

 Landing, on the Hudson, to complete his series 

 of text-books, but soon resumed his profes- 

 sional duties, first in the Normal School at 

 Albany, and afterward in Columbia College, 

 New York, of which institution he was at 

 the time of his death Emeritus Professor of 

 Higher Mathematics. His works, considered 

 as a series, present a natural order of sequence, 

 extending from a primary arithmetic to the 

 higher mathematics, and including editions of 

 Bourbon's " Algebra" and Legendre's u Geom- 

 etry." He also published treatises on survey- 

 ing and trigonometry, a work on the u Logic 

 of Mathematics," and a " Mathematical Dic- 

 tionary and Cyclopedia of Mathematical 

 Science," written in conjunction with Prof. 

 G. W. Peck, of Columbia College. 



DEAK, FRANCIS, an Hungarian statesman 

 and patriot, born October 17, 1803; died Janu- 

 ary 28, 1876. He studied law in the Academy 

 of Raab, and soon gained considerable renown 

 as an orator. Having been elected to the Diet 

 for the years 1832-'86, he soon became the 

 leader of the Opposition by his parliamentary 

 talent and his devoted patriotism. He retained 

 tins position in the Reichstag of 1839, and his 

 ability was not only recognized by his own, but 

 also by the Government party. It was mainly 

 due to him that the Diet of 1840, which had 

 opened very inauspiciously, closed with a rec- 

 onciliation of the King and the people, while 

 the interests of the people had been preserved 

 in every respect. In 1840 he was one of a 

 onimittec which prepared a penal code for 

 Hungary, which was highly praised by the most 

 prominent jurists for its clearness and pre- 

 cision. In 1843 he demanded general taxation, 

 including the nobility. This demand enabled 

 the Opposition, by most disreputable means, to 

 cause his defeat. His friends then used the 

 same means, and at a second ballot succeeded 

 in electing him. Deak had declared in advance 



that he would not accept an election secured 

 by unfair means, and he kept hia word. Ik- 

 declared that he had but one measure for what 

 waa right. What ho had declared as wrong in 

 hie opponents he could not permit to be used 

 for hia own interests, not even for the welfare 

 of his country, for he placed justice above his 

 country. The moral effect of these worda was 

 very great. The Reichstag resolved to leave 

 Deak's seat vacant, and to admit but one repre- 

 sentative from his county, until he would agaiu 

 take it. Through this act the Reform party 

 gained great strength in Hungary, the briberies 

 at elections ceased, and the cause of reform 

 made general progress. In the Reichstag of 

 1846 he could not take his seat on account of 

 continued illness. In his place, Kossuth ap- 

 peared, and the Deak party changed into the 

 Kossuth party. In 1848, after long delibera- 

 tions, he accepted the position of Minister of 

 Justice in the first cabinet of Count Louis 

 Batthyany. He always voted on political ques- 

 tions with Batthyany for a peaceful settlement 

 with Austria. When Kossuth took charge of 

 the ministry in 1848, Deak retired from the 

 cabinet, keeping only his seat as member of the 

 Reichstag. Upon the approach of Prince Win- 

 dischgratz, at the head of an army, in 1849, 

 Deak voted for another attempt at mediation, 

 and was a member of the deputation which 

 was to meet the prince. When the latter re- 

 fused to treat with rebels, Deak retired to his 

 estates. For ten years Deak lived entirely 

 devoted to his studies, on his estate Kehida, 

 and when he sold this estate he moved to 

 Pesth, where he was not troubled by the Gov- 

 ernment, while the other leaders of his party 

 were forced to leave the country to avoid ar- 

 rest. Here he spoke with everybody, and on 

 every subject, except on politics; and when the 

 minister Bach made proposals to him to take 

 part in the Government, his only answer was : 

 "Excellency, as long as the Hungarian Consti- 

 tution does not exist, I do not exist; I per- 

 sonally am nothing." When the Government 

 was finally forced, from sheer necessity, to rec- 

 ognize the Hungarian Constitution, and to de- 

 cree an election for an Hungarian Diet, Deak 

 accepted office immediately. The demand made 

 by the Left for the restoration of the un- 

 changed Constitution of. 1848 was embodied 

 by Deak in his famous address to the throne 

 of May 13, 1861, which was almost unani- 

 mously adopted by the Chambers on June 5th. 

 The principal point of this address was: "A 

 man can be Emperor of Austria, ay, even of 

 all Europe, and even actual master of Hun- 

 gary, but no one can become King of Hungary 

 who does not restore, and swear to preserve, 

 the Constitution of Hungary." This address 

 was not accepted in Vienna, and the Diet was 

 dissolved. In the year 1866, after the disas- 

 trous war with Prussia, the Emperor again 

 called upon Deak for his services. The latter 

 insisted upon his conditions, and the settleiiu-i t 

 of 1867 was brought about. The Constitution 



