Bishop Doane and the Convention of New-Jersey 222 31, 32, 64, 95, 126, 159, 190, 223, 254, 255, 286, 287,

ceeded still further towards the west, until they had reached the eastern banks of the Volga. From this point they attacked the Alans and Goths, and took possession of the country between the Volga and the Danube, and, in 432, obtained possession of Pannonia, on the southern side of the Danube. The Emperor Theodosius II. was compelled to buy a peace from Ronas their king, by paying him an annual stipend of 350 pounds weight of gold. In 776, two of their princes sent ambassadors to Charlemagne, requesting his friendship and alliance. They were received with many marks of distinction and favor, and their request complied with. But misunderstandings having arisen, Charlemagne entered their country with an immense army, and after a war of eight years reduced them to subjection. Subsequent to this, and in the reign of Louis IV., the empire suffered so severely from their devastations, that the emperor submitted to an annual pension to get rid of them. Conrad I., the first German who ruled the empire of Germany after it ceased to be an appendage of France, also became their tributary.

HE Hungarians, a people, on whom the eyes of the world have been resting for the last few years with the most profound interest, are of ancient origin. They were originally a nation of Tartars known by the name of Huns, and inhabited a barren tract of country on the north of China. They were a warlike race, inured to perils and hardships, capable of bearing up against great fatigue and exposure, and living on uncooked roots, and raw flesh. They extended their conquests and dominions until they became the sovereigns of a formidable empire, and as far back as 300 years before the Christian era, the Chinese, with the design of protecting themselves against their invasions, were compelled to erect a wall 1500 miles in length, as a defence to their frontiers; and were afterwards necessitated to purchase a precarious peace, by entering into stipulations which contained many degrading conditions. The policy adopted by the Chinese, of detaching the tributary nations from their allegiance to Until the year 997 they had been governed the Huns, and converting them into enemies, by chiefs who were chosen from among gradually undermined the power of that peo- the bravest of the people, and whose principle; and the Tanjou, or monarch of the Huns, pal qualifications consisted in their ability to at length did homage to the Emperor of Chi-head their armies, and lead them in times of After this the Huns were much divided by civil dissensions, until about A. D. 93, they began to emigrate. A portion attached themselves to the Chinese empire; but the most warlike part moved westward in two divisions; one of these settled on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and the other pro

na.

war. By degrees their savage manners became softened by the arts and appliances of civilization, and in the year 997, they adopted a monarchical form of government, and Stephen, their first king, was placed upon the throne. He was crowned with the two diadems sent to him by the Greek Emperor

than the dominions of the Emperors. Charles died in 1339, revered by his subjects, who called his son Louis to the throne. Under his administration the country rose to a still greater height of importance and power. He pushed his conquests into Naples, overcame a part of Russia, drove the Tartars beyond the Empire, and was acknowledged king of Jerusalem. This was a brilliant era in the history of Hungary. War was at that time the business of nations, and the valor of her arms gained for Hungary a proud position among them. Her armies were victorious, her enemies brought into subjection, her power established, and her influence acknowledged. But in the very zenith of its splendor, her sun was eclipsed, and a shadow fell upon her path. Louis dying without male issue, the nation, actuated by a deep-seated and universal veneration for their deceased king, called his daughter, Mary, under the title of Maria Rex, to the throne. She had been married to Sigismund, of Bavaria, and he being yet under age, the kingdom was actually governed by Nicolas Gara, the Palatine. His tyranny produced discontent and commotions, and the whole reign of Sigismund was a source of wars, troubles, and calamities to Hungary. Mary died in 1392, when new dissensions broke out; the Turks seized upon Bulgaria; the people revolted, and the crown was offered to Ladislaus; but Sigismund, afterwards, reinstated himself in the kingdom. In 1410 he was elected Emperor of Germany. At his death, Albert, Archduke of Austria, who had married Sigismund's only daughter by a second marriage, ascend

and the Pope, and which, united, make the
crown of St. Stephen, with which, by the law
of Hungary, each king is to be crowned.
He established the Roman Catholic religion
in his territories, and received from the Pope
the title of Apostolic. Many of the laws and
institutions of the country date from his
reign, and among others, the written consti-
tution, which, with the modifications after-
wards adopted, formed the fundamental law
of their government. This constitution was
the act of the national assembly, confirmed
by the king; and its adoption is a significant
fact, showing, at the very commencement of
their monarchical system, their opposition to
absolutism, and their determination to enjoy
the privileges of a limited and constitutional
government. Stephen was so beloved by his
subjects, that at his death his son was chosen
to succeed him on the throne. During three
centuries twenty-four kings of the dynasty of
Stephen succeeded to the crown. This was
not by virtue of any inherent or hereditary
right, for the Hungarians claimed and main-
tained the prerogative of electing their king:
but with the consent and sanction of the peo-
ple. Among the descendants of Stephen
were, LADISLAUS, surnamed the saint, on ac-
count of the purity of his life; BELA III., who
instituted many judiciary regulations, and was
the first who divided the kingdom into coun-
ties, appointing a governor to each; ANDREW
II., who was one of the most renowned so-
vereigns of the age, and acquired great fame
in the wars of the Crusades, which he joined
with a numerous army, and of which he was
declared the generalissimo. In his reign the
privileges of the nobles were greatly extend-ed
ed, and the regulations of his father, Bela
III., perfected and formed into a national code,
known as the Bulla Aurea, or Golden Bull,
and which every king, at his accession, was
obliged to confirm by a solemn oath. BELA
IV., whose daughter married Charles, king
of Sicily, from whom sprung the famous
Charles Martel, the father of Charles of An-
jou, afterwards king of Hungary; ANDREW
IV., the last, and one of the most illustrious
of the dynasty of Stephen, who died without
issue in 1301.

the throne of Hungary in 1437; and was also raised to the Empire. This event forms the earliest basis of the Austrian claim to the throne of Hungary. The reign of Albert was short, and was followed by civil wars which again desolated the kingdom. Ladislaus, king of Poland, was invited to the throne, but soon after perished in battle against the Turks. John Hunniades was then made regent, and in 1457 Matthias Corvinus, the son of Hunniades, received the crown from the states assembled in the field of Rakos, near Pesth. He seized Vienna and the other Austrian states, and retained them to his death. He was one of the most

On the failure of the family of Stephen, a period of anarchy and dissension ensued, and rival competitors for the crown kept the na-renowned of the kings of Hungary: brave tion in strife and commotion until 1310, when Charles of Anjou was solemnly proclaimed king. Under his government Hungarywhich after the death of the Emperor Conrad had, in connection with Denmark and Holland, freed itself from all feudal connection with the empire-advanced in greatness and prosperity, and became more powerful even

and generous, a friend of arts and of literature, and founded the library of Buda. After his death the throne was again filled by the descendants of Albert. On the death of their king, Louis II., in the battle of Mohats, in the year 1527, the nobles of Hungary, assembled at Presburg, offered the sceptre to Ferdinand of Austria, who was accordingly