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of men who had never felt any hesitation about the matter, and a certain gaiety of manner which showed that they were conscious of the sympathy of the "gentlemen" present. Indeed, occasionally one of the latter would grant a mark of recognition to a poorer fellow-citizen in the form of a servus András," or servus Péter." A day or two afterwards, riding to town in the vice-president's carriage, I observed that he acknowledged the greetings of the peasantry by a hurried nod, or a hasty "Good-day;" but if we passed a "nobleman" he shook his hand to him in a friendly way, and inquired after his health, and then after that of his father, his son, or his brother, as the case might be. This interested me as a relic of the old days before 1848, when the "short nobility," as it was called, determined all the county elections, municipal and parliamentary.

When a man voted for the clerical party in opposition to the majority of his fellow villagers, I observed that he often did so without any enthusiasm, and even with a certain embarrassment of manner; as if he had been subjected to a good deal of pressure, moral or immoral, from both sides, and had at last made up his mind after a calculation as to which of two evils was the least. But when those staunch Catholics from R- — trooped in, and gave the name of the clerical candidate, they did so with looks of stern, almost sullen, resolution, as if they expected their right to vote as they liked to be gainsayed. But then the letter R is rather low down in the alphabet, so that their turn did not come till long after dinner-time. By that time the whole crowd was affected with a sort of combative irritability, in part owing to their being tired out with waiting so many hours for the final result, and in part to the wine with which both parties had been freely supplied.

It was now evident why the priests had declined accepting the result of the acclamation as final, for their party had been largely reinforced during the afternoon. They now pressed tight up towards the right side of the courtyard gate, while their opponents hugged equally closely the left side. The entrance itself was kept clear, and the two bodies of electors, fierce with impatience and wine, kept apart only by the repeated movements of the cavalry, and the threats and authority of the szolga-biró. His attendant pandur walked about in the gateway, dressed in a long overcoat, with a solitary pistol stuck in his belt, and in his hand a long stick, useful in keeping order among a crowd of curious boys, who were continually trying to elude his sorely-tried vigilance, and get into the courtyard. But the persons most to be pitied were the unfortunate cuirassiers, wearing out the weary day, sitting in line on their tired chargers, doing nothing. Their captain sought what little consolation he could get out of the conversation of the szolga-biró, who calculated how much

longer their troubles would last, and criticised severely the democratic character of the laws of 1848. As to the probability of there arising any occasion for actual military intervention, he said, "They ought to be able to keep the peace, with so many of the 'intelligence' about." I am very much mistaken if the German officer did not ride back to G the next morning with strong convictions about the futility, absurdity, and general inconvenience of constitutional government.

As the two parties could not come to blows, they relieved their feelings by éljens and mutual abuse. The Liberals shouted Eljen a Magyar szaladság (Long live Hungarian freedom). The others ominously answered, "Wait a bit; we do not yet know whether we shall get this Hungarian freedom after all." Another time a Liberal began with, "It is all very well for you to be waiting here, but we did not come for daily wages." To such a flagrant insinuation the clericals indignantly answered, "That is a lie;" while the pandur termed round and addressed the aggressor with, "Are you not ashamed of yourself? How can you say anything so foolish?" Next the clericals seemed to think that something might be done by flattering the soldiery, and began to say, "Long life to these gallant gentlemen; long life to the servants of our lord the king."

As matters turned out, no breach of the peace actually occurred; but I dare say that was owing to the precautions taken. The Magyars are decidedly a pugnacious people. Indeed, it not unfrequently happens that when for a long time there has been no fight in a village, one is got up for the mere fun of the thing. The Magyar does not fight with his fists like an Englishman, and the use of the knife, which is said to be so common in Southern Europe, is, at the least, as unfrequent in Hungary as in England; but he is great in the use of the stick. Not only is the peasant himself proud of his prowess, and the effect with which he handles that weapon, but even persons belonging to a somewhat superior class in society are proud of that accomplishment of their under fellow-countrymen. One of them once observed to me: "If only there were no cannon, muskets, and such like, to which the peasant is not accustomed, and all wars were fought out with the stick, I would back Hungary against the rest of Europe." But he had not travelled far from home, and was quite ignorant of the glories of a "sprig of shillelagh." Indeed, in this matter of fighting, and in one or two others, perhaps, the Magyars do resemble the Irish; and these points have been made the most of by certain German and English admirers of the Viennese government, with whom the comparison of those two nations is a very favourite one. If I have not written altogether in vain, the reader will see that the Magyars might with just as much truth, or rather show of truth, be compared to the English; but, in

act, all such comparisons are as fallacious as they are odious. The Hungarians have a character of their own which in some points. resembles that of the English, in others that of the Irish, and in many points neither of them.

Meantime, the darkness of the evening and the impatience of the captain increased visibly. The short November day had now come fairly to an end, and still the "gentlemen" went on receiving and recording votes by candle-light. They had at last got to counting and adding up the votes recorded on either side, when the captain entered their room and told them that his men had been kept in the saddle well-nigh the whole day, and that he could not keep them so any longer. They, however, assured him that things were in the last stage; and contrived to seat him in their midst until they had finished their work. No sooner was the result-namely, 1154 for the liberal candidate, 658 for the clerical candidate-ascertained and accepted as correct by all the persons officially concerned, than one of the compossessores of the village hurried out, mounted the platform, which had been lighted by an improvised collection of lamps, and made a speech to the liberal electors. He thus engaged their attention, while the formalities of signing the protocol, &c., were being gone through. At the same time a message was sent in all haste to the successful candidate, to congratulate him on his triumph, and to call upon him to address his friends. Neither he nor his rival had been seen in public the whole day.

When the compossessor informed the liberals of the triumph of their cause, they gave way to a series of éljens, only inferior in vigour to those they had uttered in the morning, when the struggle was all before them. Their shouts were renewed when the pro-president himself mounted the platform and officially announced the result of the poll. Hearing these sounds, the clericals also began to flock towards the platform, and to yell out their dissatisfaction. No sooner did the captain hear this-I have before mentioned that he was ignorant of the Hungarian language-than a sudden fear seized him that the fighting had already begun, that he had kept his men under arms the whole day to no purpose, and that his conduct would, after all the trouble and annoyance he had endured, become liable to censure. In a moment the cuirassiers were in motion; again they repeated the manœuvres of the morning; and when the newly-elected köret arrived, he found himself face to face with the ranks of the military. This sadly marred the effect of the whole scene. It was 80 ridiculous to hear him addressing the white-coated Germans as polgár-társaim (fellow-citizens). He was in this moment of success as cool, and, to all appearance, as unconcerned, as the evening before when measuring his oats in the granary. His speech was brief and very general in its terms, and no sooner was it ended than the

cuirassiers began to disperse the crowd on either hand with threats and entreaties, imploring the "gentlemen," wherever they met them, to help them in so doing, for that they were tired to death. In a very short space of time the peasantry had either rattled away in their light waggons or disappeared into the wineshops or the cottages of their friends.

The election was over. In describing it I have been necessarily very diffuse, but I hope that I have not rendered the reader quite as tired of the whole business as were the captain and his men. I had intended at the outset to have given him some idea of the merrymaking which followed, as we went from house to house till past midnight; how two sturdy peasants raised in their arms az Angol sogorunk (our English brother-in-law); from which unstable elevation I had to stammer a speech in broken Magyar; and of other extemporised gaieties. But I feel that I must not abuse the indulgence hitherto vouchsafed me. Still less can I venture on the borough election, which came off the following week, where the voting was by ballot; and the whole proceeding confirmed my previous prejudices (somehow, one's experience generally does confirm one's previous prejudices) against secret voting. Suffice it here to state that the Bishop and the Chapter and their friends the bureaucracy gained a victory as signal as the defeat they suffered in T. If my sketch should, in spite of its many shortcomings, induce another Englishman to take as much interest in any future general election in Hungary as I did in that last year, I shall not have written it in vain. Of one thing I can at any rate assure him, that is, of a reception as hospitable and as courteous as was extended to myself. I am not at all blinded by national prepossessions when I say that there is no people whose good opinion the Hungarians value so highly as that of the English.

ARTHUR J. PATTERSON.

20

HOLBEIN AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT EXHIBITION.

I.

To some of the readers of this Review it may, perhaps, appear presumptuous in a foreigner to venture to write on the subject of the British National Portrait Exhibition in an English periodical. The writer, however, may be permitted to remark, by way of apology, that it was chiefly this exhibition which induced him to visit the English metropolis. Occupied with writing the "Life of Holbein," the first volume of which has already been published, he expected to find here the best opportunity for forming a correct view of Holbein's activity in England. Apart from this, the writer found the exhibition in all respects one of the highest interest. A special predilection for portraits is an old peculiarity of English taste. The first portrait painters of the Continent were, in times gone by, engaged in London. It was here that in two succeeding centuries Holbein and Vandyck-who, together with Velasquez, are considered the greatest masters that ever existed in portrait painting-achieved their universal fame. At a later period, when the development of an independent style in art had already commenced in England, many of the most celebrated artists, such as Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds, chiefly excelled in portrait painting. In some respects this peculiarity may be considered to denote a narrowness in English taste. But on the other hand it may be viewed as the natural result of that accurate estimation of personal worth, of that perfect acknowledgment of the individual independence of man, which forms so important a trait in the character of the English nation. Hence it follows that the present exhibition, regarded either in a historical or in an artistic point of view, is of the highest importance, and such as could not be produced in any other country in the world except England. For our purpose it will suffice to contemplate it from the artistic point of view.

The portraits of persons on view in the National Exhibition date as far back as the twelfth century. The committee, it may be politely intimated, might have exercised a little more caution and greater circumspection in this respect. A modern lady in the costume, as it may be seen on the stage, of the sixteenth century, bears the name of Rosamund Clifford, King Henry II.'s mistress, and takes the lead as No. 1. This certainly might have been avoided. One of the most valuable among these ancient portraits in the eastern corridor, is No. 7, the more than life-size picture of King Richard II., belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. Unfortunately the whole picture,

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