DEATH OF A PATRIOT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2103, 14 June 1894, Page 29

DEATH OF A PATRIOT.

EXTRAORDINARY PROCEEDINGS. Kossuth, the great Hungarian patriot, died in the last week of March at Turin, whither he retired many years ago in high dudgeon with his fellow countrymen for having accepted the rule of the Hapsburgs. The oews of his death caused an immense sensation throughout Hungary, and by reaction throughout Austria as well, for if the memory of Kossuth was revered in the former kingdom it was detested as strongly in the more ancient part of the empire. Kossuth had rather lost caste in England when it came to be recognised that he was little better than an irreconcilable, though he played his part in 1848 with the courage of a hero and the virtues of a patriot.

Hungary asked that Kossuth's body should be buried in his own land, and permission was granted, the preliminary funeral proceeding at Turin was on a large scale, the Italian King and nation having beforehand made manifestations of sympathy aud courtesy. A large body of students from Buda Pesth travelled to Turin to take part, and delegates were present from various parts of Hungary, as well as delegates from the Hungarian Parliament. At the railway station, the mayor of Turin handed over the body to the deputy-mayor of Buda, and the representative of the Hungarian Diet expressed the profound gratitude of Hungary towards Italy and " her glorious King " for having given a second fatherland to Kossuth. the course of the day the Hungarian students gave further expression to this feeling by decorating with flowers the statute of Victor Emmanuel and the local memorials of Oavour and Garibaldi.

The Hungarians were much excited at the patriot's death, and miles of black draperies and mourning were to be seen in every city and town. The students in Buda ordered all the theatres to be closed and attempted to put their edict into force. The riff-raff taking advantage of the excitement plundered the shops, and there were numerous collisions with the police. Had it not been for a timely communication from Kossuth's family there is no knowing what turn affairs would have taken. An awkward difficulty arose then. The Catholic clergy are bound to conduct the service, but after consulting the Vatican the primate declared that the church could do nothing for a Protestant and a Freemason. Popular feeling ran so high that the consequences might have been serious. But a way was found to "get round" the awkward question. Kossuth's wife and daughter had died at Turin, but it was decided to exhume the remains and reinter them with those of Kossuth, and so it was decided that the church should honour the patriot by giving a magnificent funeral at the same time and place to the exhumed remains of the wife and daughter. The public lying-in-state of the body at the museum at Buda Pesth gave rise to a series of popular demonstrations which have certainly no parallel in Hungarian history. The walls of the vestibule, which was converted into a mortuary chapel, were draped in black, and the catafalque was perfectly enshrined in floral votive offerings, no fewer than 1100 wreaths having been received from public bodies and individual admirers of the deceased statesman. On each side of the coffin were four rows of lighted tapers and a double row of gas oandelabra. Two students in deep mourning, with drawn swoids, kept guard at the side of the bier, and farther back the catafalque wss surrounded by the veteran's of the historical Honved Regiment that nearly half a century ago Kossuth led to victory in the cau3e of national freedom. The entrance was guarded by members of the fire brigade. Out of doors the maintenance of order was left to the students, who turned out several thousand strong, and were specially organised for this duty, the police being held in reserve for any serious emergency. When the doors were thrown open ajb midnight, a crowd numbering several thousand were assembled outside the garden railings and in front of the museum gates. The people then began to pass in one continuous stream through the mortuary chamber all through the early morning honrs till daylight dawned, and then unceasingly throughout the day. The crowd outside steadily grew instead of diminishing, until in the evening it had assembled into almost unmanageable proportions. Those who thus flocked from all parts' of the country to pay this mournful tribute of respect to their dead hero made up a strangely heterogeneous throng, at once striking in its picturesquenesa and singularly impressive in the solmnity of its demeanour. Burghers and peasants (old and young), soldiers and artisans, women and children, struggled for precedence, or waited in patient expectancy as hour after hour went by, and the body of people slowly advanced across the garden, up the steps and through the solemn mortuary chamber. Probably the most notable example of the spirit exhibited all overy the country on this historic occasion is afforded by the acticn of 5000 inhabitants of Czeglet, who, unable to pay the railway fare to Buda Pestb, travelled hither on foot — a weary two days' march — in order to take part in the demonstration of national grief. Another group that excited attention was a party of whiteclad peasant girls from distant Transylvania, who visited the Chapelle Ardente at noon. A little later the roll of drums announced the arrival of 10 aged Honved Hussars from irzegedin. Two other veterans belonging to the same body came from Debreczin, bringing with them the colours of their cavalry regiment. When they reached the barrier at the entrance to the vestibule they lowered the colours, saluting the remains of their former leader, and then passed on in the general procession. Kossuth's two sons, Carl and Louis, accompanied by several ladies in deep mourning, visited the mortuary chamber in the course of the day, and stood weeping and praying for several minutes at the foot of the bier. There were also numerous deputations of ladies, and every now and again the Bubdued silence was broken by violent outbursts of grief, The average rate at which the

people filed past the catafalque was 6000 per hour.

The crowd in the street was so great that barricades had to be erecter<,and in the crushing many women fainted. As the crowd outside at midnight was as great as ever ib was decided to keep open till 2 a.m. As the second .day of the ceremony was beginning to dawn, and the crowd outside still continued to increase rather than diminish, while the waiting multitude became more and more impatient, it was therefore determined to close the gates, and with considerable difficulty this was finally accomplished. The disappointed peasantry especially were greatly incensed at finding themselves thus excluded. Some stones were thrown, and a good deal of violent language was indulged in, but no incident calling for the intervention of the police or military occurred. It isa remarkable fact that, although the lying in state had lasted 26 hours and had been witnessed by something like 150,000 persons, the streets remained thronged by excited country folk.

The funeral service in the museum commenced at 10 o'clock. At its conclusion the coffia was placed upon a funeral car drawn by eight horses, and the long procession, which had meanwhile been marshalled, was set ia motien. It was headed by 20 mounted police, and included fully half a mile of peasant deputations carrying banners and emblems. Behind the hearse were 20 cars laden with wreaths, of which a large proportion had come to hand within the preceding 24 hours, the total number boing now over 3000. Many of them were exceedingly beautiful, and t these floral offerings alone must have cost thousands of pounds. Next came a group of about GOO Honveds, some in uniform, some in civil attire, but all wearing medals. In their contingent several regimental colours were carried aloft. The representatives of the 98 oh Honved Battalion carried their celebrated black flag with its 13 death's heads commemorating the " martyrs " chiefly general officers who were hanged and shot at Arad during the suppression of the revolution. It was 20 minutes past 12 when tho procession started. As it wended its way through the densely crowded street perfect order was maintained, although not a policeman or soldier was to be seen except at the crossings. Firemen marched on either side of the procession with ropss extending from one to the other, and the demeanour of the crowd was most exemplary, no attempt being made to press forward unduly. Every coign of vantage on public monuments, scaffoldings, roofs, trees, and railings was occupied, and every window along the route was crammed with spectators. As the cortege passed along the magnificent Andrassy Straese the thousands of people who were massed on the steps and pavement in front of the theatre suddenly began to sing the Kossuth hymn, their voices swelling into a mighty volume. The oommandant had ordered the troops to be confined to barracks. Not a soldier was allowed outside. All the doors were locked, and it was even forbidden to stand at the windows which overlooked the route.

In the Eerepeser Strasse, into which the Theresien King Strasse runs, the poorest of the population live. Here children literally swarmed upon the trees, which form an avenue in the roadway, complacently regarded by the policemen standing here and there in the street beneath. At 20 minutes past 1 o'clock, exactly two hours after leaving the museum, the funeral car halted opposite the main gate of the Kerepeser Cemetery, distant fully three English miles from the starting place. Only the pallbearers, the Honveds, and the representatives of the press were allowed to pass within the cemetery walls. The final scene at the grave, which lies halfway up the main avenue on the left-band side, was of the utmost simplicity. An open space kept around it was guarded on four sides by the Honved veterans and the firemen. From lofty flagstaffs mourning banners floated gently in the light breeze, while from the ropes suspended between the poles hung wreaths to which were attached brilliant streamers. Many orations were delivered over the grave. They closed with an impressive address from Pastor Kis, Buda Pesth, who said it was matter for rejoicing that Kossuth at last rested in peace in the soil of his beloved country. The coffin waß lowered reverently into the grave. The last solemn rites were performed, and the band of faithful mourners round the grave gradually moved away. It was surprising to note how quickly the streets of the city resumed their almost normal aspect. The enormous multitude, estimated at fully one million spectators, which had gathered to witness this great historic pageant melted rapidly away without disorder.