Second, and Third, who were at the same time Emperors of Germany, together with the Catholic clergy, not only retarded the advancement of Protestantism, but also repressed the extension of knowledge, and the invasion of the Turks contributed to complete the measure of evil.

The system of the Austrian dynasty in her government was followed up and adopted with great vigour in Hungary, and continued to the accession of Joseph the Second in 1765. The important victories achieved by Prince Eugene over the Turks, which resulted in the recovery of a part of the Hungarian territory which had previously submitted to their sway, secured to the nation an independence they had not previously enjoyed.

A brighter æra now opens to view, and a more genial sun throws his beams upon the pages of her literary history. Century after century had passed presenting obstacles the most formidable to the growth of human intelligence; during those ages, the intellect had been cramped and stifled in its development, and force had assumed that prerogative which belongs alone to the mind. Hope was now enlivened by anticipation, and joy realised by possession, in the distinguished reigns of Maria Theresa and Joseph the Second. The nation now rose in vital strength from year to year, and the spirit of literature seemed to breathe the breath of health and vigour.

But, amidst all the disadvantages that this nation has had to contend with, in its feeble and tardy struggles after knowledge, poetry here, as in all other nations, has flourished during the most obscure and unpropitious times; even under the iron rule of Attila, poetry was honoured and cultivated to a great extent. We have to regret in this instance, as in others, that many rich and beautiful gems of poetic composition, that might have contributed their illustration to the manners of the past, have perished in the general wreck of time.

We are informed by the historians and chroniclers of Hungary, that there existed a variety of poetic composi tions on religion and war, in which the exploits and achievements of eminent warriors were recounted, if not with a refined and finished style of

elegance, yet with considerable exactitude and precision. These productions were composed in the different idioms of Hungary. It was the custom of those times to recite and to chaunt them in the courts and palaces of kings. The poets called themselves Joculatores, or Trouveres. These bards were not held in high estimation by the clergy, and the synods forbade, at different times, the people to listen to them, or to give them alms; but, notwithstanding this, they were highly esteemed by the people, and they were the popular poets of the day.

The kings had their own private minstrels, whose office was to attend the table of the monarch, while he partook of his repast. This practice was not only adopted in Hungary, but in most of the courts of Europe, and it continued down to the fifteenth century. The royal bards had land assigned to them from the state for their support and encouragement. Their songs rarely celebrated love; the leading topics being combats and battles against the infidels, and farcical relations; which were the most admired and encouraged by the people. The oldest monuments of Hungarian poetry which have been preserved are a hymn to the Holy Virgin, and a poem in honour of King Ladislas, but neither are older than the fifteenth century.

In the sixteenth century, Balassa and Rimai were distinguished for lyric poetry, and more especially for sacred odes; but with them, as also Bornemisa and Göneze, the metrical art had not attained a very high degree of perfection, being harsh and rugged in its construction. About this time appeared a translation in verse of the history of Peter of Provence and the beautiful Magnelone, which possessed the same faults as the foregoing; but, although the metrical art did not flourish in the Hungarian language to the same extent as in some others, yet this period gave birth to scenic compositions in the form of dramatic songs.

In the thirteenth century, in the reign of Wladislas the Fourth, a new order of comedians made their appearance, consisting of pantomimics and mimics; and low buffoonery was thrown into a species of dramatic action, in which some popular character was hit off or satirized, and the clergy ca

me

in for no small portion of their humour. Rude as were these representations in their commencement, and even in their progress, they contained the germs of pure comedy and farcical dramas, which attained their perfection in the seventeenth century.

The songs of the Joculators withdrew to give place to the rhymed chroniclers, whose attention was devoted to recounting all important and even trivial circumstances in verse. These productions are even now important, as they serve to direct the historian in his researches, and illustrate many interesting, important, and intricate

events of the times.

One of the first of these kind of chronicles, written in the Hungarian idiom, is that of Szekelys: its date is 1559, and is preserved in the archives of the kingdom, in connexion with other productions of a similar species produced by his contemporaries, such as Temesvari, Haltai, Trinodi, &c.

These chronicles treat in a great measure of national deeds and feats of arms, and in some instances the subjects are taken from history in its earliest stages, or from Greek or Latin poets, such, for instance, as the adventures of Ajax, those of Ulysses, also the history of Cyrus and the Persian Princes, &c. and others of a kindred character; and indeed during this period all historical annals, whether public or domestic, were arranged and concentrated into this style of composition. The manners of the people of the sixteenth century are more correctly pourtrayed in them than even in the historical records of the time. These compositions, from the nature of the subjects treated, did not allow scope for beautiful or correct structure in verse they are, in most instances, irregular, crude, and without poetical

:

lects spoken in one country, derived from such varied sources, it is no ordinary task to make them submit to mere grammatical principles. This can only be accomplished by the progress of time, when the nation is more advanced and improved by a general system of education.

During the seventeenth century, sciences, arts, and literature became prominent, and the people themselves gave some encouragement to its progress in the disposition they evinced to attend all kinds of dramatic representation. There can be no greater proof of the intellectual advancement of a nation than the circumstance of such compositions being patronized and admired. Theatrical dramas were not only represented in the principal towns and villages, but also in the camps of the armies, and indeed in any place where opportunity offered. In the latter instances these compositions depicted and developed the characters of martial heroes; but in the first they were serio-comic, or taken from history or mythology, or remarkable events. The comedians themselves enjoyed great privileges; but their representations were under the strict censorship of the government, which required that both the action and the speech should be of that character as not to be offensive to public morals, or not to touch on politics.

The glory of Hungarian literature in the seventeenth century was the eminent poet Zriny, whose poetical education was formed by a rigid study of the great masters of antiquity, such as Homer, Virgil, and Tasso; it was from these men that he drew the soul of poetical inspiration, disdaining to be guided by the mere verse chroniclers. His great national poem, the Zrineyide, is one deserving of high praise, although it cannot rank among the first compositions of poetic genius. The fault lay not so much in the author, as in the language which he employed, being ungoverned by any fixed rules or forms.

Great as are the excellences of this poet and much as he is to be admired, he did not obtain from his countrymen that justice which he deserved, and to which his abilities entitled him, as many mere versifiers of his time had more encouragement and experienced

greater success than he. Among the ephemerals is Liszti, and he is the most eminent of his class; he composed a poem on the celebrated battle of Mohacz, in a didactic style, quite unsuitable to the high nature of his subject. Generally speaking, among the contemporaries of Zriny is to be found a body of servile imitators of the ancients: there is a harshness and stiffness which allows not the flight of the imagination or the full range of poetical conceptions. In addition to Zriny's great epic poem he has left several lyrics and idylls, which display great simplicity and purity of conception, and rich veins in poetic imagery. There can be no question but that a genius of such superior order should give not only an impulse but a national characteristic to a people, and a desire to make progress in that knowledge which would raise them to a scale of eminence equal to other nations.

The polemical and controversial discussions which took place between the Catholic clergy and Jesuits against the Protestants contributed in no small degree to advance learning and to improve the spirit and temper of the Hungarians; it also gave a variety and refinement to the language: all men of education devoted their energies to historical studies and religious discussions. The Protestants, who were anxious to be on good terms with the people, wrote their treatises, pamphlets, and works generally in the Hungarian language; while the Catholics preferred the Latin, which was the language of the court, the nobility, the clergy, and of the state in public acts. In this period, the pulpit produced her best orators, and the chair her best philosophers; among the number may be cited the names of Pazmany, Kaldi, and Alvinczi, who produced several eminent works.

Tsere published in 1653 and 1656 an excellent treatise on logic, and also an Encyclopedia of Sciences. These works were highly esteemed at the time.

The progress of intelligence, which now had made considerable strides, was, in the commencement of the eighteenth century, unhappily arrested. The extreme principles of the government, combined with the despotism and the intolerance of the Catholic

The reigning dynasty of Transylvania encouraged the Hungarian language in their dominions and used it in state affairs, but it was relinquished when the country became a province under the sway of Austria. The first act of the Emperor Leopold the First, who also was King of Hungary, was, at the instigation of the Jesuits, to suppress, in this province, the use of the national language in public acts, and to adopt in its stead the Latin. The German and even the French languages were also introduced in the higher schools. The nationality of the Hungarian language was restricted, and recourse was obliged to be made to foreign literature to fill up the chasm.

Among the writers of this epoch displaying the lively and energetic combined with simplicity, and the amorous with delicacy and refined expression, may be cited Amadus, whose poetic compositions embrace the rich yet natural figures of Bion and Moschus, with the sentiment of Theocritus, and the love painting of Anacreon. In this respect, he stands alone in the whole poetic history of Hungary. These compositions met with not merely partial but general success and encouragement.

The Jesuits, who have in all instances strived to make their body powerful at the expense of the people, studied and encouraged all kinds of dramatic representation; but these productions were not exposed to public exhibition, but only to private representation, being confined to their houses of education, and only enacted for the benefit of the pupils, in order to impart to them a general and perfect development of all the diversities of human nature.

The eighteenth century opened under the authority of the Empress Maria Theresa, who owed the security and stability of the empire only to the sacrifices and fidelity of the Hungarians. On the death of Leopold the First, the Pragmatic Sanction was defied by several princes, who attacked the Empress on all sides; but

the Hungarians remained steady and favourable to her rights: she, in return for their support, did more good for the kingdom than all her predecessors put together. Her son and successor Joseph the Second, however willing, could not realise all the noble and generous desires of his mind; his dominions being so scattered and his influence so extended. The Hungarians were opposed to the reforms he had resolved to introduce; the clergy, nobility, and the people, being backward in the march of civilisation, knew not how to appreciate with justice his views and designs. He was most anxious to arouse the lower orders of the people to a sense of their nationality, and to accelerate their independence; but this disposition was unfortunately repulsed by the Diet, consisting of deputies of the clergy and nobility, and the representatives of the eight royal free towns. Still, the wise and generous efforts of the Emperor were not wholly inefficient as in later times several patriotic members appeared and carried measures by which the Hungarian language was authorized to be taught in all public schools. Theatres in the chief towns were opened; journals published in the national tongue; prizes were awarded to competitors in sciences, arts, and literature, and throughout these arrangements, the Emperor and the Diet legislated with prudence, wisdom, and discretion, to the astonishment and dismay of the Catholics and their clergy. From this circumstance the effect was soon evident;

the spirit of freedom and liberality now began to assume its authority, and to exercise its justice; the people began to awake from their slumbers, and men of education acquired a new influence.

In literature there were three distinct schools visible: Baroczi and Barascai were at the head of the French, which however soon began to decline, being entirely exotic; the Latin was directed by the distinguished masters Virag and Kazinczi, who rendered themselves eminent in nationalizing the ancient metrical compositions, which had been already introduced into the Hungarian verse by Erdosi, who flourished in the fourteenth century, and had since fallen into disuse; and lastly the Modern school, which

alternately employed the metre and the rhyme; the heads of it were Dayka and Kazinczi.

The most brilliant period of Hungarian literature began with the nineteenth century, the language having been considerably enriched by the victory obtained by the Neologists* over the Stationaries, who bestowed no ordinary care and research, in order to introduce precision, purity, and harmony in the writings of the national idiom, and in which they succeeded to an extent beyond precedent.

Literature now began to assume an elevation which it had not dared before to attempt, and poetry became invigorated. In epic composition Hungary now seemed to be freed from the constraint under which she had previously laboured, and to such an extent had she now proceeded, as fairly to challenge competition with any other part of Europe. The most distinguished who merit our attention as poets of the first rank are Czuczor and Vorosmarty. The first is author of the poem entitled the Battle of Augsburg, and the Diet of Arad; the second is author of the Conquest of Hungary, by Arpad†, the Defeat of the Kumanes at Czerhalom, the Siege of Erlaus, and of the Enchanted Valley.

Kisfaludy, Gael, and Maylath, with extraordinary research, have gathered together the wisdom of the Sagas and the ancient traditions preserved in substance among the soldiers, citizens, and the people, from the earliest periods down to their own time.

As a lyrical poet of this period, Alexander Kisfaludy, who by his great genius opened a new road to poetical distinction, maintains without contradiction the first place, throwing into the shade such men who preceded him, as Szentjobi, Dayka, Anyos, Csokonai, and others of the same mediocre class. His collection of poems, published under the title of the Love of Heinfey, are filled with the most beautiful imagination, and characterised by the highest degree of sentiment. Ka

* The principal organ of the Neologists is at the present time the Almanach Aurora, established long since by Charles Kisfaludy.

Arpad was the King of Huns Maggyares, who invaded and conquered Hungary in 907.

zinczi is also a poet of no common order and deserves a place beside the former; his odes bear the stamp of the study of Horace, and his songs are full of lovely and natural simplicity. The gracious Szentmiklossy, the noble and elevated Berzseny, Horrat, who are distinguished among the didactic class, Szati, Telcki, Charles Kisfaludy, Szemer, Bartfay, and many others of the same level of eminence, deserve to be mentioned.

The dramatic art, although early encouraged and more fully developed in the subsequent history of Hungary, has not attained the same degree of perfection as the other branches of poetry. Comedies and tragedies and lighter compositions are somewhat numerous, but not sufficiently important for the pen of criticism. The tragedies of Alexander Kisfaludy are dialoguised epopeas and not dramas in the strict sense of the word. Charles Kisfaludy is the leading author of the Hungarian theatre, and shines more especially in subjects of comedy. After him come Vorosmarty, Tolteny, and Szenrcy.

As it respects her prose compositions, the Hungarians can boast but little. This is a fact much to be regretted, that while she has produced poets of considerable eminence, there are no prose productions of any high degree of merit to which we can refer, as specimens of composition or as historical works worthy of imitation. This defect may be accounted for upon this principle, that the disposition of the people was more inclined for versified poetry, and also from the severity of the political institutions of the country, which have not allowed a full and free expression of opinion.

MR. URBAN, March 30. AS at this moment when every thing

relative to Ireland and Catholic Ireland is so anxiously sought for, it strikes me that the following curious historical anecdote, which has never been published, may not be deemed uninteresting to your readers; and the more so, as there the loyal conduct of that much calumniated body the Irish priesthood, at a most critical period, the year 1745, will be made manifest, and on no less an authority than that of Doctor Stone, the Primate Archbishop of Armagh.

Curious fact, IMPORTANT SERVICE RENDERED BY AN IRISH PAPIST TO THE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK.

This fact is as follows: James Devereux of Carigmenan in the county of Wexford, who died in the year 1758, was throughout the courts of Europe, where he had visited many of his relatives, raised by their civil or military merits to high stations, deemed to be an accomplished gentleman, and at the same time one of the most perfect classical scholars which the renowned Jesuits' College of St. Omer's had produced. On leaving college he made the tour of Europe, accompanied by the celebrated Father O'Madden, a St. Omer's Jesuit,* and afterwards lived many years in London, where his society was courted by the first wits of the age; amongst others, by Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, whom he had known on the Continent.

In 1737 Mr. Devereux returned to Ireland, where, shortly after, he married a celebrated beauty, his cousin Mary Esmonde (the representative of the ancient house of Esmonde of Johnstown Castle, the head of that family).

Lord Chesterfield came over as Lord Lieutenant in 1745. Mr. Devereux renewed his acquaintance, and was cordially received at the Castle, by Lord Chesterfield, who, from Mr. D.'s classical arguments, used jocosely to