International studio (16.1902)

Studio- Talk

obedient.” The indictment, therefore, is withdrawn;
there is now no question of treachery, but of dis-
obedience. This refers to the fact that the Governor
issued certain impracticable orders for the army,
which the General in command declared could not
be carried out. On the nth of August, 1849, in
a document addressed “ to the nation,” Kossuth
expresses himself as follows:—“After the unfortu-
nate reverses there is now no further hope of con-
tinuing the struggle against the allied Austrian and
Russian powers with any hope of success.” Kossuth
and his Ministers resigned and left the country,
transferring all military and civil powers to General
Arthur Gorgey. In the sight of history this fact
alone proves that Gorgey was not unworthy of
being invested with the powers of a dictator. He
assumed the supreme power in order to prevent
still greater misfortune, and to save what was still
to be saved of life and of the remnant of the former
well-being of his country. Being pressed hard by
the allied forces, Gorgey took, while there was yet
time to do so, immediate steps to surrender before
the Russian army. The laying down of arms
took place on the 13th of August, 1849, in perfect
order before Count Riidiger, a general of cavalry.

This was a carefully-considered act, approved by all
his generals and superior staff officers, numbering
eighty-one, in order toputa stop to further bloodshed.
The “ Declaration by Soldiers of 1848-49,” already
referred to, concludes with the following words -
“ The capitulation of Vilagos, in the face of so great
a superiority of force, was not an act of treason,
nor was it in any way disgraceful to our arms; !t
was not a crime against the country, but a humane
and honourable termination of a struggle that had
become hopeless and aimless, and therefore without
excuse, putting an end to further useless waste of
life.” The late Colonel G. B. Malleson, C.S.b>
sums up the situation with the following telling
words, in hi's essay in the United Service Magazine
of 1900, page 295:—“As to the two men most
prominent in that struggle, the man of words and
eloquence, selfish, scheming, caring for his own
safety, and thwarting all the measures of his
greatest soldier to ensure the safety of the country ;
and the man of action, careless of himself, working
only for his country, calm and reticent under
undeserved obloquy, there can be no question as
to which of them deserved the most at the hands
of their countrymen.” T. D.

Montreal.
—The Royal
Canadian
Academy has
just opened its twenty-
third annual exhibition
at Montreal with unpre-
cedented success, the
increased number of ex-
hibits showing that a
steady output of credit-
able art work has no"'
been attained in the
Dominion.

MAHOGANY WRITING TABI.B

DESIGNED BY C. FRANZ, EXECUTED BY C. FROMMEl.

The place of honour
has, for the present sea-
son, been accorded t°
Mr. William Hope’5
large landscape,
port, Maine, which was
purchased by Sir ThomaS
Shaughnessy, president
of the Canadian Pacihc
Railway; while a smaller
canvas has passed int0
the hands of Mr. Riel1'
ard Angus, a collector


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