In the hour of necessity, the House of Austria complied with the wishes of my nation, whenever my country had taken up arms; but no sooner was the sword laid down, than this dynasty always neglected to perform its promises.  In the midst of the last century, under Maria Theresa, those who did not belong to the Catholic faith were almost excluded from all offices.  Joseph succeeded, who was a tolerant man; but scarcely was he in his grave, when the Emperor Francis renewed persecution, and it was only in 1848, that religious liberty was established to every creed.  When the House of Austria took arms against the laws of 1848, they took arms against religious liberty.

In our Parliament, it was Roman Catholics who stood in the van of battle for religious liberty:  but when I say this, I must state it without drawing any commentary from it.  It was reserved to our revolution to show the development of the glorious cause of freedom.  When my country imposed on me the duty to govern the land, I was ready to show the confidence I had in religious freedom.  I chose a Catholic Minister to be Minister of Education in Hungary, and he fully justified the confidence I reposed in him.  He has shown that our Constitution is founded upon equality; that it regards all men as citizens, and makes no distinction of profession.  It is only under free institutions that a clergyman can remain a clergyman with burning heart towards his own duties, and yet, when called to perform the duties of a citizen, be no longer a clergyman but a citizen.  Could the Church of Rome have appreciated this principle, and have acted upon it, my friend Mazzini were not now necessary for the freedom of Italy.  But as Rome did not appreciate it, the temporal power of the Pope will probably fall at the next revolution.

My principles are, that the Church shall not meddle with politics, and Government will not meddle with religion.  In every society there are political and civil concerns on one side, and on the other social concerns; for the first, civil authority must be established—­in political and civil respects every one has to acknowledge the power of its jurisdiction.  But, in respect to social interests, it is quite the contrary.  Religion is not an institution—­it is a matter of conscience.

For the support of these principles I ask your generous aid.  You know that whenever the House of Austria attains to any strength, its first step is to break down religious liberty.  And Austria is helped by Russia, which is even still less propitious to these principles; you remember the insolence or hardship to which in Russia those people are subject who do not belong to the Greek Church; at the present time the poor Jews are subjected to great indignities, and compelled, if not to shave off their hair, to cut it in a particular manner, so as to distinguish them from members of the Greek Church.  But Hungary, by the providence of God, is destined to become once more the vanguard of civilization, and of religious liberty for the whole of the European Continent against the encroachments of Russian despotism, as it has already been the barrier of Christianity, against Islamism.