The Hungarian Book of Letters

(Extracts)

 

King Béla IV to Pope Innocent IV
1254

After repeated deliberations, my council has agreed that it would be more salutary for us as well, and also for the whole of Europe, if the Danube is fortified by castles. It was there that Heraclius confronted Chosroe in defence of the Roman Empire, and it was there too that we resisted the Tatars for ten months, albeit we were not prepared and were extraordinarily weakened and our realm was not really defended by a single castle or fortification. If the Tatar would occupy the country-from which the Lord may preserve us!-the road to other Catholic kingdoms would be wide open to the enemy. On the one hand, because no sea would stand in their way going on from us to other Christians, and secondly, because this would be a better place than elsewhere for them to settle their large families. Let Attila serve as an example. Coming from the East to subjugate the West, he established his princely court right in the middle of our country. The emperors, on the other hand, who fought their way from the West to subjugate the East, placed what-ever they needed to equip their armies within the borders of our country. Let Your Pontiffical Holiness give careful thought to this, graciously offering a healing balm before the wound suppurates. Wise men are astonished indeed that at a time when the situation is what it is, Your Holiness allows the King of France, that noble son of the Church, to dwell beyond the confines of Europe. They are astonished and do not cease in their astonishment that Your Apostolic Holiness has a care of many things, such as the Constantinopolitan Empire and the parts outre-mčre, which, if they were lost-which God forbid!-would not injure those who dwell in Europe as much as the occupation of our realm by the Tatars. May God and man be our witness that need and anxiety are so great, that if it were not for the dangers of the road, we would not merely send the envoys whom we are sending, but we would appear at your feet in person, speaking eye to eye to the Church, making excuses for ourselves, asking for permission to come to an agreement with the Tartar, albeit we have no mind whatever to do that, but we must if the Holy Father delays help, since need urges. We pray therefore that the Mother Church should consider if not our merits, then those of our saintly royal predecessors. In the midst of the other princes of this world, they humbly and respectfully maintained themselves and the people they converted in the purity of faith and obedience. Because of this the Holy Apostolic See promised them and their successors-as long as they kept on their way-that support and grace would be theirs unasked, whenever the need arose. Now, no doubt that serious danger threatens, therefore lay bare your fatherly heart, offering a helping hand in the hour of persecution, in support of faith and the common good. Should, however, this our supplication, deserving consideration and of universal importance to all the faithful members of the Roman Church meet with rejection, which we cannot believe, we will be forced to beg for help, not as your sons but as step-children, driven by need, excluded from our Father's fold.

Patak, the 11th of November, the day of Saint Martin, Bishop and Confessor.

 

ORSOLYA KANIZSAY TO TAMÁS NÁDASDY
1554

My admirable, honourable, estimable and beloved lord. After offering my duty I give hearty thanks to the Lord God for all His many favours to us, and for this present one too which His Divine Majesty has bestowed upon Your Honour and myself together, and I greet Your Honour firstly in spirit and then as the world does, that the eternal, almighty Lord may first strengthen us in the true religion by His holy faithfulness and promise, that all error be kept far from us, that we may be at one with the poor little Christian Holy Mother Church in soul and body, and that we may walk in the true faith and in mutual love;-and that He may cause you, Your Honour, my beloved lord Palatine, to prosper greatly and keep you before my solitary eyes, for which I hope, and trust and believe that it will be so, and I believe of a certainty that He will wish to raise you up for trust in Him alone, amen.
Further, my loving lord, I have indeed sinned greatly before you in that I have not made reply to Your Honour's so many letters: but of a truth this has been through neither anger nor forgetfulness, but because I have been daily expecting Your Honour. I cannot now answer concerning everything in the letter which Csáfordy has brought. Where Your Honour writes that I should receive Your Honour differently, that is so, because I will receive you as my dear lord Palatine; and let my lord Palatine see it when he comes home, because clearly he will find only a proud Palatine's wife. Further, one of your four honours is sufficient for me, and I wish to be judge of the Cumans, because Your Honour knows that I do not drink wine; the doctor says, however, that it is unseemly for the Palatine's wife to drink water; nevertheless, some small beer will be fitting in the office of judge, and I shall not die of thirst. May the mighty Lord God
preserve Your Honour. Given at Your Honour's Leoka, 23 April 1554.

Your Honour's Orsolya

Further, I may write to Your Honour concerning the proud Palatine's wife that she has not a skirt to put on; that which she had is no longer fit because it is worn. Let it have a waistband of pink, and be of satin; the Palatine's wife commands my lord Palatine to send it by István Kocsis together with her furs and dyed cambric; from this my lord Palatine may opine that clearly he has to do with so proud a person.

 

TAMÁS NÁDASDY TO HIS WIFE
1555

My beloved lieutenant. I have learned from Zsennyei of your missive, to which I reply briefly. First, may the enemy not discover your secret, second, do not completely abandon your own God-given wits out of regard for anyone, third, have in secret a vice-lieutenant, in order that should anything befall your chief lieutenant you may not be left lacking, fourth, be not fearful, but trust in God and use your God-given wits. Finally, I pray you forgive me that I cannot come to you, there is a reason and you shall learn it from Zsennyei. The common nobility have come to me over a dispute of theirs. May God instruct you, guard and preserve you. Given at Vasvár 26 September 1555.

Your Nádasdy etc.

 

TAMÁS NÁDASDY TO HIS WIFE
1556

My beloved Nestling. Tomorrow I shall send you a horse and carriage, and as soon as I write, come straight to Keresztur, and I will write again where you are to come thence. God keep you in peace. If it is possible I will not tarry. Given at Vienna 29 April 1556.

Your grandpa etc.

My distress is allayed on reading your letter.
Ferkó must be brought most gradually to look on strong sunlight, else it is to be feared that his eyes may be weakened, because if God preserves his life he must needs look on the points of spears more than on either his father or mother, and for that weak eyes are not good. Certainly it is time, says my lady Széchy, to accustom him to brightness.

 

TAMÁS NÁDASDY TO HIS WIFE
1556

Splendid and magnificent etc. After this salutation I can write that by the goodness of the Lord God we are all in good health. I can also write that Ali, pasha of Buda, Hassan, pasha of Temesvár, and the pasha of Bosnia are together at Pécs and await the beylerbey. We are here, we watch them and they us, and either we shall drive them off or they us. Our plan is that if they fall upon us we shall fight with them, although the king's son being with us we shall act prudently, and if we perceive the Turk coming upon us in greater force than our own then we shall go over into the Muraköz and there be as in a castle. But this I write to you alone. We must await from the Lord God whatsoever His Majesty gives, but do you with all the people of your household beseech God to grant victory to the Christians. May the same be healthy and prosper. From Csorgó on the last day of September 1556. Forgive me, my dear, for causing another to write this. I would fain know how Ferkó fares with the new nursemaid and the boil. Do not await my homecoming, if you are wretched so.

 

SÁNDOR PETŐFI TO SÁNDOR TELEKI
1846

Pest, 29 December 1846

My dear namesake!
A great sorrow is about to befall you, therefore I counsel you to prepare for it. But inevitable as is death, so inevitable is it that you should give me (or let me have, as you please) six hundred forints; but in such a way that you send off two hundred forints directly, before you finish reading this letter; and send four hundred by the time of the March market in Pest. As for repayment, I will give you two hundred forints at every year's end, so that in three years' time we shall be quits. I speak seriously, my dear friend, and now you may show if there is any human kindness in you. I turn for the first time in my life to a rich man, and so spare me the embarrassment and blushing which will eat away my face worse than an ulcer if you refuse me. Furthermore, I have turned to you as to my friend and not as a rich man. You may say that you have no money, and but if you wish you will; he that will toss a thousand forints to a Gipsy for nothing can always lend me six hundred, for I would not take it in return for nothing, I am too proud for that, praise be. I do not doubt that you will gladly fulfil my request, and send two hundred forints this minute, for were I not in immense need I would not have contemplated this action. Send your letter with the money by the express coach. My address: Hatvani utca, Jankovics house no. 585, 2nd floor. My greetings to Viktor. Your sincere friend

Petőfi

 

SÁNDOR PETŐFI TO JÁNOS ARANY
1847

Pest, 4 February 1847

I salute you! Today I have read Toldi, today I have written this poem, and this very day I shall send it off. It will appear in Életképek, but I will brook no delay in making you aware of the surprise, the pleasure, the delight that your work has aroused in me. Whatever they may say, folk-poetry is the true poetry. Let us set about making it the master! If the people is master in poetry they will stand near to mastery in politics too, and that is the purpose of the age, the aim of every noble breast that is weary of seeing millions suffer martyrdom in order that a couple of thousand may be able to live a life of ease and luxury. To Heaven with the people, to Hell with the aristocracy!
Write to me, if it will not burden you: write about yourself, anything, everything, how old you are, whether you are single or married, fair- or dark-haired, tall or short... it will all interest me. God be with you, God be with you. Ab invisis your sincere friend

Sándor Petőfi

 

JÁNOS ARANY TO SÁNDOR PETŐFI
1847

Szalonta-Bury, 9. Dec. 1847.

Mylord!* I have read your letter and I am forced to confess that you are the greatest under all the asses I have ever seen or been aquainted with. Were you not, what you are, and not so mighty one, I would beat your hogshead and oxhead to dung and dirt: but while I am no more than John, I must be silent and weep for anger. I am your most faithful friend and most humble servant;

John Stibli
shoe-maker and poet

P.S. When you will write not so rascally and godless things, then I shall answer more

J. S.

P.S. The anecdot can I not remember.

On the envelope: To the right honourable Lord Arthur Krumply* devotely London.

SÁNDOR PETŐFI TO LAJOS KOSSUTH
1848

Debreczen, 24 December 1848

Honoured fellow-citizen!
I make no apology for this my importunity, for I write this letter not for my own benefit, but for the sake of the country. Everyone can see, and you best of all, that we are one in our greatest lack, that of leaders. If my intuition is correct-and my intuitions do not usually deceive me-there is in me the strength, if the way is open to me, to become one of those leaders whom Hungary will thank for her liberty. I therefore request you to appoint me, or have me appointed, to the rank of major, that I may as soon as possible be enabled to play my part in the great drama of the salvation of the Fatherland. Let me be appointed to that place in the army in which duties are hardest and most perilous, for my powers and courage there reach their zenith where others despair. In the worst case, if it be written in the book of Fate otherwise than in my heart, I shall add to the number of those who, if by their lives they could not profit the Fatherland, have brought it honour by their deaths. I repeat: no self-interest drives me to make this request, but love of Hungary alone. Were I to do it out of ambition, what a paltry ambition it would be for one to seek a majority who elsewhere has been a general, as I have in poetry. That very thing too,
the reputation that I have won hitherto, stands surety that I cannot lightly and without serious consideration wish to occupy a place in which misfortune would ruin my previous good name. I have expressed myself unreservedly, as if conversing with myself, convinced as I am that, if you do nothing else, at least you will not take my words amiss. If you think it better to decline my request I shall serve the Fatherland as a captain, or, if that too is taken from me, in the ranks. If, however, you appoint me major (and in the army, not the militia), I beg that this should occur on the 1st of January. I can only take up my duties on the first of February, but I desire that my appointment should date from the first day of the year, as that is my birthday. I attach great importance to such minutiae. God be with you! Your respectful fellow-citizen

Sándor Petőfi
captain in the 28th battalion of the army

 

LAJOS KOSSUTH TO GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

Turin, 14th September, 1860

For my part, I freely confess that Hungary has great need of Italy in order that she may be liberated from the Austrians; but I dare declare that Italy herself has great need of Hungary's collaboration, for after all, it cannot be disputed that not merely to remove from Austria a populace of fifteen millions, and with it all the resources of a large country, but furthermore add it to Italy's strength is a matter that will make a difference of thirty million to the reckoning of prospects and the elements of ultimate victory.
I have formed the conviction, from Your own words and actions, that you have always regarded the independence of my homeland as an indispensable prerequisite for the solution of the Italian question; thus, taking the community of interests of the two nations as a starting-point, allow me to set out how I perceive the situation.
Venice must be liberated and annexed to a unified and independent Italy. That goes without saying. There will be war against the Austrians then. But what sort of war shall it be? The things You have achieved are such that You undoubtedly have the right to believe Italy is sufficient on its own, and for that reason alone I place no weight on the lesson of the recent past, which, in face of the failure of centuries-old aspirations, led many to the opposite point of view. Italy is sufficient on its own to liberate Venice. So be it. But, I ask, is that enough? Will Italy's future be secured if you restrict yourselves to driving the Austrians out of Venice without Austria's power being broken? It is not given to man to foretell the vagaries of the future, yet if reasoning based on fact has any value, one may declare that if You rest content with only that, there will be merely a cease-fire in Italy but no lasting peace.
Austria will seek pretexts, will bring coalitions into existence, will find means, will take advantage of any chance favours to regain what she has lost.
She must be broken, once and for all time.
But she can be broken only in Hungary, because that is the axis of her power.
Thus, if there is to be war, then it must be unleashed from two sides at once: attack in Italy, attack in Hungary.
Attack, I say, not a diversion.
Your sentiments are much too noble, your purview of your country's interests much too wide-ranging, for You not to concede I am right, when I say it cannot be wished that Hungary destroy herself merely to serve as a diversion. For even were she to do this, that would not be able to serve lastingly to Italy's advantage; on the contrary, Austria, freed of all worries on that front, would be a far more formidable enemy for Italy than she had been previously.
So, war on the Austrians from two sides; a major war and not minor disturbances or riots (émeutes), no diversions.
Have I caught your line of thinking well?
If I have, then I must consider the positions of Austria, on the one hand, and Hun-gary, on the other, in order to justify my opinion on the demands of the situation.
I do not believe that if war were to break out that will bring in its train foreign intervention against Italy within Italy herself, assuming Italians will take care not to provoke a clash with France-at least not until they have dealt with Austria. The unconditional necessity for such restraint is patently obvious. If there were to be any, who, failing to consider the consequences of their enthusiasm, were imprudent enough to swell the number of Italy's enemies, You, with your authority, will always be able to save renascent Italy from that misfortune.
I may also assert as sure fact that in Vienna, Berlin, Saint Petersburg, London (at the Foreign Office)-in short, everywhere that desires to sustain Austria- they want nothing more than to see You grappling with the French, because then Austria would be saved. They even write to me from Vienna that secret agents are at work to goad You into attacking either the French or what goes by the name of the "territory of the German Confederation". Success with these intrigues is practically Austria's sole remaining hope. Dear God, how little are they acquainted with You! How little do they realize that You will never allow yourself to be prodded on, or held back, by any one in the world! How little do they realize that no one appreciates better than You the adage, "sufficient unto each day is the evil thereof". I am acquainted with You, I remember the lofty manifestations of your self-sacrifice, so I am unperturbed. The time will come when the French will either leave Rome or be driven from it, and if You believe there are other scores to be settled with the French government-then the time will come for that too. First, though, Austria must be dealt with. Let us not breed our enemies. Is that not also the way You are thinking?
I said that there will be no direct intervention in Italy; yes, but in all probability there will be indirect intervention: the Tyrol, occupied by 60,000 Bavarians, Silesia and, perhaps, Bohemia too by Prussia, in order that Austria may have all her forces freely at her disposal. Accordingly, Austria will have the means to deploy six army corps in Italy and set up another two in reserve. That comes to 320,000 men on paper, of which 240,000 effectives can be turned out, so the greatest number that can be brought together on any one battlefield will be some 150,000 men-a force which, as any one knows, carries very potent strategic weight.
The material of Austria's army, in view of its jumbled heterogeneity, is such as can scarcely be congenial to her; in other words, reckon on a certain degree of demoralization. There are just two things which can give hope for this: 1. in regard to the Hungarian regiments, a serious general uprising in Hungary; 2. in regard to the whole army, if Italy were to win in the first two big clashes. Everything hinges on initial success.
From that it follows that Italy has need of a very substantial force for the pur-poses of this war. I hold an army of 200,000 actual effectives, with 50,000 men in reserve, to be indispensable. That cannot be difficult since, thanks to your glorious successes, 21 million Italians are now rallying to the flag of il re galantuomo,* which You chose with such wise foresight as the symbol of Italian unity, and support with loyalty as well as with heroism. But in the end, to reach the numbers of the army that you will need, the ten million populace of the South must contribute in due proportion, and it therefore seems to me that organization of the splendid lands that have been liberated by You is a very urgent necessity.

 

ÁGOSTON TREFORT TO IMRE SZALAY

Paris, 2 September 1884

My Dear Imre!
According to the letters from Mariska and Anna which we found here on our arrival, you will all be in Pest when this letter reaches Hungary, which is why I am addressing these lines there, to inform you first of all that we are in good health and have no trouble. We spent seventeen or eighteen days in England, and left Dover yesterday morning, arriving here at six in the evening via Calais after as rough a crossing as may be, but without being in the least seasick. Radisics was waiting for us at the Gare du Nord. Our travels in England took us as far as Bristol, and from there by way of Gloucester, Cheltenham and Oxford, back to London, where we stayed for another two days. We inspected closely and with rare delight the splendid cathedral in Canterbury and brought our English journey to an end, pleased to be once more on the Continent.
I saw many splendid things and learnt much in England, but it is not a pleasant country. For my own part England is doubly interesting since I was there forty-eight years ago and was able at every step to study the changes, and I could tell that although in small things she has maintained many foolish customs, in big things she has changed greatly, and principally notable is the extent to which America influences England. Democracy is extraordinarily esteemed and the very great progress is impressive, but the aura of the aristocracy is at an end and reform of the House of Lords is on the agenda. England is as beautiful as a park, extraordinarily rich, and therefore does everything splendidly on a colossal scale. In great things she has many practical ideas, but in much is very narrow-minded, stupid and lacking in taste. The food is bad and very expensive, the language is spoken hideously and badly, the women are not beautiful, their legs are like those of elephants, their toilette is like that of monkeys, the climate is not good, and in short: the English are the world's leading nation and in many respects are barbarians.
I kiss you all, Your loving

AT

We shall stay here three days and then go via Metz to Frankfurt. Write to Cassel poste restante.

 

FROM COUNT ALBERT APPONYI TO COUNT GYULA ANDRÁSSY THE YOUNGER

Eberhard, the 21st of May 1919

My dear friend,
Thank you for your kind lines. Going to Vienna depends on whether I get full assurances from the government there that I will be allowed to return here. Negotiations in that respect are going on right now. If things are right, I will come up for two days next week, if not then this is also something I must do without.
What I am asking from the present provisional government is not a detailed programme but a declaration which-on its part and that of those who back it-excludes every suspicion of a reactionary attempt, and assures the forceful continuation of the welfare trend, albeit using rational methods. If that does not happen, the Communists will always succeed in recruiting support amongst people who do not sympathise with them, but to whom the thought of a return of what was horrifes even more.
What I expect from the present (Count Gyula Károlyi) government is not only that they should drive out the Communists and occupy Budapest (if the Allies keep on with their hesitant and incomprehensibly inane policy, even this-that would still have been easy a month ago-is hardly likely to succeed) but also arrange for the election of a National Assembly on the widest possible basis. I consider a government made up of representatives of the "old parties" minus the Socialists, to be unsuitable for the purpose. I am compelled to maintain what I have written about their political unsuitability. Allowing them to play a part before the National Assembly had granted them absolution would be to provoke the masses, whose dominant feeling is bitterness because of the long war. Abroad we can be of use if the Allies accept us, but at home only if the nation calls. The trouble is that we must make a start with untried forces (politically neutral experts can be obtained for the economic portfolios), but this is a lesser evil than any sort of claim by the earlier representatives of a people that failed catastrophically. I have not found anyone yet who would deny this proposition even out of a wish to be polite to my person, with the exception of the circle of one's closest friends whose mood so often misleads those who put their trust in it. If you look carefully, new men of integrity can be found. While in hiding, I spent a day and a half with a tenant farmer. The government must not be a Jewish government, it need not be anti-Semitic but at least a-Semitic, since the antipathy felt for Jews is one of the most effective antidotes to Communism. The people will not believe that Jew rule could possibly be good... whom I would immediately appoint as Minister of Agriculture. He is not only a real authority on his subject, he also shows sympathy for the welfare of the people and a true understanding of the times. Such men ought to be recruited and provided with political advice. If the freely elected National Assembly wants personalities who belong to our circle, we will naturally be ready to serve, but we cannot make claims based on the past.
I hope anyway that we will get a chance to exchange views in person.
With heartfelt friendly greetings,

Apponyi