No. 33.
Mr. Jay
to Mr. Fish.
Vienna, April 19, 1872. (Received May 9.)
Sir: I returned last evening from Pesth, where the diplomatic corps at this court had been informally invited to assist at the closing of the Hungarian diet by the King in person.
It was, I believe, the first occasion since the coronation of His Majesty in 1867, that the ambassadors and ministers, with their suites, had attended at the capital of Hungary, and we were received with marked cordiality by the court society and by the royal family.
The invitation is, I find, attributed, in part at least, to political motives [Page 54] connected with the party struggle at Pesth, in which the opposition are aiming at the abrogation of the present union between Austria and Hungary, and the substitution of a simply personal and dynastic union, which would endow Hungary with an independent sovereignty, and entitle her to send and receive ambassadors. The national sympathies and characteristics of the Count Andrassy naturally incline him to gratify, as far as practicable, Hungarian pride; and the manner in which the diplomats were received at the Hungarian capital seemed to indicate a sincere gratification at their coming.
The Diet closed their sittings on Monday, the 15th, and the members of both houses belonging to the Deak (which is the government) party came in a body to pay their respects to their illustrious chief, Francis Deak, now in his sixty-ninth year, who lives at the same hotel where we chanced to be staying, “The Queen of England.”
The speech made by Deak in response to their addresses seems characteristic of the frank, unselfish patriotism of the man, as he has been described to me by Andrassy and others, who know him well.
The next day—Tuesday—took place the formal prorogation of the Diet by the Emperor in person, in the throne-room of the palace. The Emperor’s speech was well received, and the cheers with which the Emperor and the Empress were greeted on their separate entrance and departure, were more hearty and prolonged than at Vienna. I was, however, told in advance, that so bitter was the spirit between the government and the opposition, who had succeeded by their tactics in defeating the bill for quinquennial parliaments, that few, if any, from the opposition side would attend the prorogation, to listen to a speech from the throne, in which their course would probably be condemned. The royal message appears to be generally approved, and its language is suggestive of constitutional progress and national prosperity. It alludes to the reforms separating the judicial and executive departments, as increasing the public safety, to the organization of municipal and parochial establishments, based on the principle of self-government, as insuring a strict enforcement of the laws; to the increase of the public revenue, and its just appropriation for the improvement of justice, public instruction, a complete net-work of railways, and the establishment of the capital; to the ready vote for the development of the Honved institution; and the Emperor points to these measures, accomplished without an increase of taxes, as a proof of the increasing prosperity of the country. Alluding to the change in the military frontier provinces, he expressed the hope that there would soon be no fraction of the population of the monarchy not in the enjoyment of constitutional rights, and he concluded by referring to the friendly relations existing with foreign powers.
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I have, &c,