■ 1 %' i 
 
 B*l 
 

INTRODUCTION. 
 
 “Ignota natio”, an unknown nation we right¬ 
 fully may be called by the world. The knowledge 
 which the aliens have concerning the Slavonians is 
 so limited that it may be compared with almost no¬ 
 thing. The nations living in our closest neighbour¬ 
 hood do not know us. How can we expect to be 
 known by people inhabiting far and distant countries? 
 Many dont even know that we are in existence, 
 that we are a living nation, residing in the heart of 
 civilization, in a country well known and cultivated, 
 and not somewhere in the deserts of the darkest 
 Africa, where a civilized person only after untold 
 hardships and endurance can work his way. Our 
 ancestors dwelt a century ago on the same soil, 
 which at present is still cultivated by their unfor¬ 
 tunate, oppressed, tormented and persecuted descen¬ 
 dants, and which is open at all times to the travel 
 and inspection of the civilized world. 
 
 It is not our fault that we are a “natio ignota”; 
 it is the fault of the pseudo historians, the haters of 
 truth who, to the detriment of an apparently weaker 
 ^nation, strive to elevate others and to wipe us out 
 from the list of nations and to deny our existence. 
 Our most devout and sincere desire is to throw a 
 favourable light upon our nation, so that those who 
 
— 4 
 
 are not aquainted with its history, and have heard 
 little or nothing about ns, may aquire some know¬ 
 ledge of our race and be better able to pass a just 
 verdict upon us. We do not intend to rouse to 
 anger, to degrade or to defame others, in order to 
 clear our nation, nor to elevate it to the detriment 
 of our neighbours. We desire to convey only a 
 true impression concerning the Slavonic nation so 
 that the prejudice against us may be dissipated and 
 that our past and present condition be judged accor¬ 
 ding to our merits. If this be done, our aim will 
 be reached and our work rewarded. 
 
 PITTSBURGH, Pa., September 2nd 1891. 
 
Some call us “Hungarians” others “Hans”, 
 still others name ns properly ,,Slovak” Slavonians, 
 but such are few and themselves do not clearly 
 understand the word. They use the name simply 
 from habit. Very often they honor with that name 
 those who do not deserve it. Let us solve the 
 question who are the Slavonians? The term ,,Hun¬ 
 garian” is not properly applied to us in America. 
 It includes all the nationalities living in Hungary, 
 but Hungarians are not all Slavonians. By the 
 term Hungarian the citizenship or the right of 
 citizenship is conveyed. Every one who was born 
 in Hungary may he belong to whatever nationality, 
 is a Hungarian, exactly as an American citizen is an 
 American. But this does not indicate his rational¬ 
 ity, only his citizenship. After what are the people 
 called in common life, after their citizenship or after 
 their nationality ? We believe after the latter. An 
 American when asked what he is, ought to tell his 
 nationality and not his citizenship. An Irishman, 
 German, French, Bohemian if inquired from what he 
 is, will logically answer: I am an Irishman, German, 
 French, Bohemian. Only those, who do not adhere 
 to their mother language, who do not esteem their 
 nationality, will call themselves incorrectly, against 
 all uses of centuries and terminology after their 
 
— 6 
 
 citizenship. We have to consider the American 
 Nation according to the rules of logic as a civic, but 
 not as a phylological whole. After all, the language 
 is that which mostly characterizes the nation and, 
 to the European mind, is its most important and 
 most distinctive feature. 
 
 Hungary is a polyglotical state, . comprising 
 several nations as: Magyars, Germans, Slavonians, 
 Eumuns, Servians, Croates, Kussians and other minor 
 tribes. Each of these nations are separate and di¬ 
 stinct and their only feature in common is that the 
 government is the same. The name of “Hungarian” 
 may be properly applied to a Slavonian whenever 
 we speak of his citizenship. Coming to Amer¬ 
 ica the Slavonians abjured all fidelity to the old 
 citizenship and the only remnant of our old state 
 remaining was our language, which was the Slavo¬ 
 nic, purely distinct from the Magyar language. We 
 sundered all ties which bound us and swore persis¬ 
 tent loyaty to the “American Eagle” under whose 
 mighty wings we fled for safety, shelter and pro¬ 
 tection. Thus we have voluntarily given up the name 
 of our former citizenship, Hungarians, and have no¬ 
 thing further to do with that name. Whoever, there¬ 
 fore, calls us Hungarians applies a misnomer. Each 
 and every faithful Slavonian protests and has to 
 protest against this name, which is not distinctively 
 his own. Moreover we neither have nor had anything 
 in common with the Huns, another name applied to 
 us, excepting that our ancestors gained several vic¬ 
 tories over their hordes in the early continental 
 
7 — 
 
 wars. The Huns belong to the mongolian and tarta¬ 
 ric race, with which the Slavonians stand in no 
 relationship whatever. Our ancestors the Slavo¬ 
 nians dwelt on the beautiful and rich shores of the 
 Danube, the present soil of Hungary, long before 
 the migration of nations. When the migration com¬ 
 menced the wild and barbaric nation of Huns inva¬ 
 ded Europe under the leadership of their comman¬ 
 der Attila, called the “Scourge of God” (Isten ostora) 
 and of whom tradition has it, that where his horse 
 once stepped grass grew no more. We know from 
 history what devastation was effected by their ap¬ 
 pearance in the whole of Europe. The relatives of this 
 barbaric nation are the Magyars, the present reigning 
 nation in Hungary, with which we have nothing in 
 common, excepting that we live together in the 
 same country, yet maintain our distinctive character- 
 ristics and language. The Indian is no relation to 
 the other residents of the United States. Would 
 
 you not deem it absurd to be called Indians or for 
 
 %/ 
 
 the Indians to be called Yankees, yet in persisting 
 in calling us Hungarians you fall into'just this fault. 
 To the Slavonian the word Hun calls to mind those 
 upon whom we have been apt to look as our infe¬ 
 riors, both in intelligence and industry and when it 
 is wrongly applied to us we feel the mistake keenly. 
 
 What are we than? We are Slavonians or as 
 some call us Slovak’s. 
 
 The Slavonians belong to the indogerman race. 
 They are a branch of the powerful slavish nationa- 
 * lity, whose number exceeds a hundred million souls. 
 
— 8 
 
 The slavish nations are: Russians, Polanders, Bohe¬ 
 mians, Slovaks, Servians, Croats, Bulgarians and 
 Vends. They are divided into two groupes viz: the 
 southern and eastern Slavs. The first compri¬ 
 ses the Bulgarians, Servians, Croats and Vends; the 
 second, the Russians, Polanders, Bohemians and the 
 Slavonians. All these branches formed in the olden 
 primeval times one nation, speaking one language 
 and had the same habits and features. Leaving 
 their original home and herd they occupied different 
 countries and came into contact with other national¬ 
 ities. Thus their language was subjected to changes 
 and modifications, but as a rule their mind, intellect, 
 and disposition remained remarkably similiar. The 
 same is visible in other nationalities, as for example 
 the Roman and German. History shows that from 
 the Latin language originated the Italian, French, 
 Spanish and others; from the German several very 
 different dialects and the English, Swedish, Danish 
 and other languages. 
 
 Considering the language we Slavonians do not 
 differ so much as others similarly situated as for 
 instance, the Germans; a Styrian has a hard task to 
 understand a high German, while nearly all the 
 Slavs can easily understand each other. But 
 the Germans have been more blessed than we, by 
 having early created one literary language, which is 
 used all over the world and to which fact must be 
 attributed the solidity of the great German nation; 
 we Slavs on the other hand have as many liter¬ 
 atures as there are branches of our nation. 
 
To this Slavish Nation we belong. Our native 
 brothers are: the Russians, Polanders, Bohemians, 
 Croates, Servians, Bulgarians and Vends. Although 
 we are divided into several nations, each having its 
 own literature and language, each its great men, the 
 true Slavish feeling and our own cultivation unite us 
 into one generation, one race, one brotherhood. 
 
— 30 
 
 OTTIR, PAST. 
 
 The Slavonic is one of the oldest nationalities. 
 “Since immemorial time, yon have your name”. (Od 
 . nepamati sveta mas ti meno tvoje,) sings the poet 
 about our nation. And this is unquestionable, and a 
 historically established fact. Where the first cradle 
 of our ancestors stood cannot be positively fixed, but 
 it is certain, that several centuries before Christ our 
 ancestors inhabited the same country where their 
 descendants at present toil and suffer : the beauti¬ 
 ful and romantic lands of Hungary. The oldest Greek 
 and Roman historians such as Herodot, Tukydides 
 Strabo, Plinius junior and senior, Tacitus and others 
 mention the Slavonic nation in their works and des¬ 
 cribe its people as quiet, temperate and peacable, 
 who occupied themselves with farming, cultivation 
 of the soil, trading and spreading of science and art. 
 Antiquities, the names of environs, landscapes, hills, 
 rivers, streams and villages show that they are of 
 Slavonic origin. There is not a historian who denies 
 that the first inhabitants of Hungary were not the 
 Slavonians. 
 
 Our ancestors were not a warlike nation. They 
 were lovers of peace and maintained their livelihood by 
 agriculture. Wars and combats, as we find them by 
 all other then living nations, were detestful to them. 
 That they were a civilized nation is shown by this 
 
— 11 — 
 
 fact alone, that they did’nt offer to their Gods human 
 beings, which nearly all o'thers did. Innocent offerings 
 consisting of produce of the soil were mostly favored. 
 
 Happy and contended for centuries and centu¬ 
 ries they held for their own that large and fertile 
 tract of land which extends from the well known 
 mountains of Karpath, south to the Adrian Sea and 
 
 from there west to the Black Sea, and which is traver- 
 
 • 
 
 sed by such mighty rivers and streams as the Danu¬ 
 be, Tisa, Sava, Drava, Morava, Yah, Nitra and Hron. 
 They reigned over all this immense country, ruled 
 by a duke or king whose first capitol was at Belo- 
 hrad. Later when the Romans extended their power 
 over Pannonia or the present country on the western 
 shores of the Danube, the capitol was transferred to 
 the town named Nitra, which remained thereafter 
 the seat of Slavonic regents. 
 
 The town Nitra, of pure Slavonic origin, is men¬ 
 tioned even in the first centuries after Christ. Sever¬ 
 al Roman writers make mention of it and describe it 
 as the capital seat of the Slavonic regents, where a 
 pompous church erected to the honor of the most 
 powerful God, called Svantovft, may be found. Ger¬ 
 man and Roman historians of the IV. century write 
 about Nitra, that it is a powerful fortress and exten¬ 
 sive town where Frigibunda sent its missionaries to 
 
 preach the gospel to the heathen Slavonians. In the 
 annals of German chroniclers and the canonical his¬ 
 tory, we find that the town Nitra had an episcopate 
 as early as the fourth century. 
 
12 
 
 We deem it necessary to consider briefly the 
 Christianization of the Slavonians because their 
 history therefrom is closely connected with it. The 
 adoption of Christianity has always caused a new 
 epoch in the life of a nation and brought important 
 changes. In the history of nearly every nation we 
 may read of bloody combats and persecutions which 
 they conducted against the preachers of the gospel. 
 We know how the Romans crucified the apostles 
 and their pupils, how they were stoned by the Greeks 
 and beheaded by the Germans. But history does not 
 mention any martyrs who lost their lives for 
 preaching the gospel to the Slavonians. In general 
 they adopted it without resistance and, as some 
 historians assert, they received the gospel from the 
 mouths of the Apostles themselves. Some say that 
 St. Paul himself preached the word of God to our 
 ancestors, which fact is credible, taking the ethnogra¬ 
 phy of that time into consideration. The Slavonians 
 came not only very often into contact with the 
 Grecians, carried on trade with them, and as Herodot 
 says, were frequently seen in Greek towns and 
 villages; but they inhabited the lands of the present 
 Dalmatia, where St. Paul, as we know from the 
 
 Acts of the Apostles, operated personally, and, 
 therefore, easily may have found the Slavonians. 
 That the Slavonians were very early aquainted with 
 the gospel is proven by the foundation of an episco¬ 
 pate there in the IV. century, and that the celebrated 
 translator of the latin Bible known as Vulgata, St. 
 

 — 13 — 
 
 Hieronym, was born in the Slavonic country at 
 Strydonium, and as Rufus writes, of Slavonic parents. 
 
 Christianity was taught early to our ancestors 
 but it did not take root. Just when it started to 
 spread and become a part of the life of the people 
 the migration of nations commenced and Hungary 
 in Europe was what the United States have been, 
 and are at present, the Eldorado of nations. All 
 migrating nations travelled through Hungary and 
 disturbed the peacable life of our ancestors, incited 
 a warlike feeling and compelled them to go to the 
 battlefield in order to protect their country, their 
 liberty, families and children from the attacks of 
 barbarous nations. For a long time they had to resist 
 the Gepids, the Avars and finally the Huns, which 
 wild race came from Asia and inundated Europe, 
 burning and devastating everything. The Huns 
 pitched their camp first in Hungary and squeezed 
 the Slavonians out of the most fertile land between 
 the Danube and Tisa. From there they conducted 
 their destructive expedition to all European countries, 
 especially to eastern Byzantine and the western 
 Roman empires. Their commander Attila, known 
 as “Scourge of God”, after murdering his brother 
 Buda, invaded the western countries, about the 
 time Rome had sent a powerful military force, 
 under the leadership of Aetius, againt the barbar 
 Huns. The enemies met on the Chalon’s fields and 
 the battle lasted uninteruptedly for three days, after 
 which both withdrew with terribly broken forces. The 
 battlefield was covered by 500,000 mangled human 
 
 L 
 
14 — 
 
 bodies. Attila afterwards returned with the remaining 
 warriors to Hangary and, not long afterwards, 
 partaking of a rich supper and drinking heavily died 
 suddenly of hemorrhage of the nose. After his death 
 the Slavonic population, which daring his despotism 
 retreated to the hilly parts of the country collected 
 its forces, attacked the remaining Huns, and drove 
 them from the country. They went back to Asia but 
 afterwards returned again under the name of 
 Magyars. The Magyars or the now reigning nation 
 in Hungary are the descendants of the Hans, and 
 it is clearly visible the Slavonians have nothing in 
 common with that nationality. 
 
 After the expulsion of the Huns from Europe 
 and after two centuries a new enemy, a closely 
 related nation of the Huns, the Avars, invaded 
 Hungary; they, however did not remain long, 
 because Charles the Great, with the assistance of 
 Germans and Slavonians, soon ended their devastation 
 by driving them back to Asia. 
 
 After the defeat of the Huns a new and better era 
 began for the Slavonians. They regained their lands 
 and their power over the whole country, and under 
 the wise ruling of their own kings, such as Priblina, 
 Kocel and others, increased their influence and 
 standing among nations. 
 
 In the second part of the VIII. century Rastislav 
 became the ruler of the country, and under his 
 managment the Slavonic kingdom rose to an exalted 
 position. It was he who asked the Byzantine court 
 for missionaries to again preach Christianity to his 
 
 \ 
 
— 15 — 
 
 subjects, and on his summons emperor Constantin 
 sent St. Cyrill and Method. Through the efforts of 
 these two Christianity was adopted in the whole 
 country and took root forever. St. Cyrill translated the 
 Holy Scripture into the language of the people, 
 and the divine services which for many centuries 
 were conducted in the Slavonic language in the 
 churches of our ancestors, were written by him. 
 
 After Rastislav’s death Svatopluk the most 
 celebrated of the Slavonian kings followed on the 
 throne. Under liis regime the great Moravian empire 
 reached the summit of its glory. He ruled for 24 
 years and glorified the Slavonian name. He gained 
 several victories over the Germans and cleared the 
 country of the German influx. The welfare of the 
 inhabitants, and science and art increased in the 
 empire under his ruling. On his deathbed he left 
 the country and the throne to his three sons, with 
 the condition, that the two younger sons should 
 obey the oldest. Soon after the death of Svatopluk 
 a quarrel ensued among his sons with a very unhappy 
 result to the whole country. Before progressing it is 
 necessary to mention the invasion of the descendants 
 of the Huns, the Magyars, or the now ruling national¬ 
 ity in Hungary. 
 
 The last of the migrating nations were the 
 Magyars. They originate from the Mongolian and 
 Tartaric race and as mentioned are closely related to 
 the feared Huns. Leaving their mother country, 
 they came west and settled between the rivers of 
 Dnieper and Moldava. From here they were driven 
 
— 16 
 
 out by the BesenalPs and not knowing what direction 
 to turn, they petitioned the Slavonic king to allow 
 them to pasture their herds on the rich lands of 
 Hungary. Svatopluk, the kindhearted, sent their 
 commander, Arpad, lime and water as an answer 
 that he had plenty of land and water and would 
 willingly allow him and his people to settle down 
 on the eastern shore of the river Tisa. Here they 
 remained and pastured their cattle for many years. 
 
 After the death of Svatopluk, the Germans who 
 jealously watched the growing power of the Slavo¬ 
 nians found a good opportunity to destroy it by at¬ 
 tacking his quarelling and discordant sons. They 
 allied with the ungrateful Magyars and with com¬ 
 bined forces attacked the unprepared nation and 
 their king. It came to a fierce battle near the present 
 town of Pressburg, in the year 907, where the Sla¬ 
 vonians were defeated. This year will always be a 
 memorable one in the history of the Slavonians. 
 The defeat brought peril to the Slavonic kingdom and 
 caused a wound, which up to the present time has 
 never been healed. This ended the great Moravian 
 empire and the glory of the Slavonians. 
 
 After the unfortunate battle at Pressburg, the 
 Slavonic throne was wavering. The Magyars assisted 
 by the Germans daily occupied more land and gain¬ 
 ed power over the country. Finally when St. Ste¬ 
 phen became king, ruling from 1000—1038, the Sla¬ 
 vonians deliberately declared loyalty to the Hunga¬ 
 rian crown, under the conditions, that the Slavonic 
 land, or the noithern part of Hungary inhabited by 
 
— 17 — 
 
 Slavonians, remain an independent dukedom, ruled 
 by a duke from a Slavonic royal family. The first 
 such was St. Emerich, the son of St. Stephen. 
 From this time on the Slavonic country constituted 
 a part of the kingdom belonging to the Hungarian 
 crown as an independent dukedom and many Sla¬ 
 vonic dukes reigned on the Hungarian throne, 
 among them Gesa and St. Ladislav, both of whom 
 occupy a prominent place in its history. 
 
 In 1301 the royal family of Arpad was extin- 
 quished with Andrew the III-d. After his death the 
 throne rightfully ought to have fallen to the female 
 branch of the royal family, but it did not do so. 
 The Homan pope, of whom St. Stephen received the 
 crown, retained Hungary as their own and tried to 
 force the duke of Neapel, Charles Robert, upon the 
 throne. For this purpose a meeting of Hungarian 
 magnates was called by the pope, and Cardinal 
 Gentilius sent so that through his intervention, the 
 election of Charles Robert might be insured. 
 
 Against Charles Robert, rose in arms the mighty 
 oligarch, Matheus Trenciansky, called the “Lord of 
 the Vah & Tatra”, who demanded that Charles ratify 
 the treaty made between St. Stephen I., king of 
 Hungary, and the Slavonic nation in order to insure 
 the rights of the Slavonic dukedom. Charles Robert 
 refused to comply with his demands. Matheus then 
 called to arms his true Slavonians and a battle took 
 place. The two enemies met at Rozhanovce, (Roz- 
 gony) a little village near the river of Torisa. Vic¬ 
 tory seemed inclined towards the Slavonians, when 
 
at the determinative moment, the treacherous hand 
 of a betrayer stabbed Matheus with a sharp knife, 
 killing him almost instantly. Disorder arose in the 
 ranks of the Slavonians and the battle ended with 
 their defeat. 
 
 After this unhappy battle the Slavonic duke¬ 
 dom was abolished. All rights of the Slavonians 
 were taken away and the Slavonic dukedom was 
 annexed to the Hungarian kingdom. 
 
 From this time on the territory occupied by the 
 Slavonians does not appear as an independent coun¬ 
 try. Its history is comprised in the history of 
 Hungary. In this history, however, Ave meet gross 
 injustice at the hands of usual writers, since the 
 Slavonians and other nationalities in Hungary are 
 almost ignored. The history of Hungary deals only 
 with the Hungarian nation proper, or the history of 
 the Magyars, the ruling nation. 
 
 The Slavonians were not disheartened after the 
 unfortunate battle near Rozhanovce, but maintained 
 the high standing which they gained by industry 
 and perseverance, and were still a separate people, 
 though we do not find them again a reigning nation. 
 Among all nationalities they gave the most and 
 best soldiers for the defense of the country. The 
 ■world famous black regiment of the Hungarian king, 
 Mathias Corvin, Avas mainly constituted by Slavo¬ 
 nians. Our ancestors fought in the first ranks for 
 over 300 years against the Turks, Avhen that nation 
 threatened to destroy the continent. Thousands of 
 Slavonian youths shed their blood, and their lifeless 
 
— 19 — 
 
 bodies were left upon the field in defense of the 
 liberty of Hangary. Millions had been paid by them 
 for military purposes. The sons of Slavonic parents 
 excelled in science and art, and magnates of Slavonic 
 origin occupied the foremost positions in the country. 
 
 But this was in the time when tbe nobility was 
 held as almost superhuman and the poor peasant 
 was nothing but a miserable slave. Such a condi¬ 
 tion in these feudal times prevailed not only in Hun¬ 
 gary but on the whole continent. The feudal tenants 
 were not even allowed to move from one place to 
 another without the permission of their masters. 
 They were considered property in the same sense as 
 cattle and were sold in the same manner. 
 
 After the defeat of the Slavonians near Roz- 
 hanovce, their nobility, fearing the confiscation of 
 their lands, flattered the Italian king and betrayed 
 their own blood, their own native brothers. The 
 dissatisfaction between the nobility and peasantry 
 increased daily so that in the XVI, XVII & XVIII 
 century we had no nobility which would have 
 acknowledged their nationality, but when a favo¬ 
 rable wind blew, with it they turned and if their 
 interests demanded it they even became Latins, 
 Teutons or anything else. The common peasant left 
 to himself was neglected, nothing was asked of him 
 but to labor for his holdings and pay his disme on 
 time. Under those circumstances we may easily 
 understand why it was that the peasantry fell deep 
 into the mire of ignorance and poverty and slept a 
 mental sleep until the end of the last century. 
 
20 — 
 
 
 THE PERIOD OF AWAKENING. 
 
 When at the end of the last and the begining 
 of this century the motto of great men: ’’Liberty, 
 Equality and Fraternity" brought into life the French 
 Revolution and caused Europe to tremble; when Na¬ 
 poleon striving for power and glory became the cham¬ 
 pion of the people; when the peoples of Europe be¬ 
 gan to awaken, each claiming its own; so when the 
 Magyars began to arrogate unlimited power over 
 Hungary there appeared also men in our nation who 
 laid stress on nationality, language and 
 rights, roused the long dormant people and de¬ 
 manded their rights as the people of other nations 
 did. After the abolition of the dead Latin tongue, the 
 zeal for the mother language developed itself in our 
 country as well as on the whole continent. It was 
 cultivated, spoken and written. Jan Holly the 
 greatest Slavonic epic poet, sang of the glory of our 
 ancestors and of the past of our nation. In Horace- 
 like odes, he has not ceased to teach the love for 
 our language and the Slavonian race. J a n K o 11 ar, 
 who with his lyric songs has won a world wide re¬ 
 putation, was untiring in his effort to show the im¬ 
 portance of the cultivation of reciprocity between all 
 the Slavish branches. Jan.Safarik, the far famed 
 historian and phylologist, labored in the same 
 direction as the two mentioned above. Literary clubs 
 
21 — 
 
 were founded, books published in rapid succession, 
 and on all sides earnest work began to rouse the na¬ 
 tion to a realization of its condition and to awaken 
 its sleeping people. 
 
 In the mean time the Magyars boldly progressed 
 with the oppression of all non-Magyar nationalities, 
 prevented their developement wherever they could, 
 and strove to make all feel that they were the Lords 
 of Hungary. 
 
 Finally the year 1848 arrived. The revolution 
 broke out in France, then in Vienna and soon 
 followed in Hungary. Kossuth, known to many 
 Americans, called all Hungarians to bear against 
 the Austrian Germans, dethroned the family of 
 Habsburg and proclaimed himself governor of Hun¬ 
 gary. The non - Magyar citizens of Hungary, finding 
 that their rights were not, and likely would not be, 
 respected took to arms and rose against the Magyars. 
 Among them were also the Slavonians. Under the 
 leadership of Dr. Joseph Hurban, a protestant clergy¬ 
 man, Ludv. Stur, Martin Hodza, Jan Francisci, baron 
 Levartovsky, Janecko and others they arranged three 
 revolutionary expeditions and gained several victories 
 over the Magyars, when the betrayer’s loathsome 
 work again caused their defeat. The Vienna go¬ 
 vernment fearing the victories of the Slavonian’s 
 
 worked secretly against them, in spite of the fact 
 that they fought for their king and their rights. In 
 the determinative moment when they expected help 
 from the Austrians the latter turned against them. 
 
22 
 
 The insurrection of the Magyars was finally put 
 down by the Russian. General Commander Gorgey 
 surrendered with 22 thousand men to the Russians. 
 Kossuth taking the state treasury became a fugitive 
 and tried to raise funds in foreign countries against 
 the Yienese government, but all in vain. 
 
 After this the so-called Bach period began, 
 during which there sprang up a new life among the 
 Slavonic inhabitants of Hungary. ,To cultivate, to 
 enlighten the neglected masses was the wish and 
 desire of all. 
 
 In the year 1861 on June 6-th a general meeting 
 of Slavonians was called at Turciansky Sv. Martin, 
 the center of the Slavonic national life, where the 
 “Memorandum” was issued containing the desires of 
 the Slavonic nation, and was submitted to the king and 
 the parliam ent of Hungary. In the same year a Slavonic 
 literary institution “Matica Slovenska” was founded 
 and soon afterwards two protestant and catholic 
 Slavonic high schools “gymnasiums” were erected 
 and it was the general effort on all sides to elevate 
 the Slavonic population morally as well as materially. 
 
 In 1866. the government of Vienna in order to 
 secure the aid of the Magyars against the Prussians 
 became reconciled with them. Emperor Francis Jo¬ 
 seph I. was crowned king of Hungary the following 
 year and the Magyars were given full sway. From this 
 time on the laws constructed in 1848. and 1866, giv¬ 
 ing equal rights to all citizens and nations of Hun¬ 
 gary, were more and more disregarded and the go- 
 
23 — 
 
 vernment daily oppressed and persecuted the non- 
 Magyar nations in their own native ancestral country. 
 The Slavonians were on Febr. 5. 1875. deprived first of 
 their literary institution: ”Matica“. With it, the 
 government confiscated 250.000 fl. worth of pro¬ 
 perty, mostly donated by poor Slavonic people, and 
 turned the building into a military barrack, holding 
 that a Slavonic literary institution had no right to exist 
 on the grounds of Hungary. Then the spirit of hatred 
 which the Magyars manifested to the Slavonians 
 plainly showed itself. Too much couldn’t be done 
 by the former people against the latter. The atten¬ 
 tion of the government was turned to the Slavonic 
 high schools. One after the other they were locked 
 up and the Slavonic students dismissed. 
 
 The government did not stop here but made 
 and still is making the greatest effort to do away 
 with the Slavonic language in all the schools. The 
 northern part of Hungary is inhabited by pure Sla¬ 
 vonic inhabitants amounting to 3 millions and the 
 government in its effort progressed so far that there 
 is not a single Slavonic school in Hungary, where 
 the Slavonic youth can obtain his education in his 
 mother language. From the village school up, the 
 
 Magyar language is taught to children. A six or 
 seven year old child not knowing a word of the 
 Magyar language, coming to school does not hear 
 anything else but Magyarish. We leave it to the 
 pedagouges to decide whether a child having to 
 wrestle with a strange language can during the 
 
compulsory six years of schooling aquire the neces¬ 
 sary knowledge for further self cultivation ? 
 
 To Magyarize, is the greatest aim of the 
 teacher in the school and clergyman in the pulpit. 
 The catholic bishops very often send a pure Slavonic 
 congregation a pastor who is not able to construct a 
 correct sentence in the language of his people. 
 People striving for an office betray their nationality, 
 and buy a real Magyarish name for 50 c. and are 
 known by that thereafter, rather than by their 
 honest Slavonic name. The names of Slavonic 
 villages, towns, rivers, valleys, mountains are 
 changed to Magyar names. To speak Slavonic on the 
 street or public places is considered as a disgrace. 
 An official who dares to acknowledge that he is a 
 true Slavonian is deprived of his office. A student 
 of theology who would dare to take a Slavonic 
 prayerbook into his hands is expelled from the 
 institution and any student not denying his nation¬ 
 ality has no room in the high schools of the 
 country. 
 
 Some may be tempted to say this is an exagger¬ 
 ation. No tired reader, we could fill volumes and 
 volumes if we would relate all wrongs and mention 
 all instances proving these facts. To convince you 
 of the barbaric treatment to which the Slavonians 
 are subjected by their cruel rulers, one instance is 
 sufficient, and it alone we feel is enough to cause 
 the blood to boil in the veins of any humane person. 
 
 Seeing the bravery with which the Slavonians 
 were holding out against their attempts to destroy 
 
— 25 
 
 them and beholding at the same time a failing on 
 the part of their own people, 400 children were torn 
 from the bosoms of their Slavonian mothers by the 
 Hungarian armed police and they were distributed 
 among the Magyar families to freshen the blood of 
 the declining nation. The protests of parents, the 
 ravings of mothers were all in vain against the 
 bayonets of the gendarms. The children were hid in 
 cellars and other hiding places but were brought 
 forth labeled and shipped to strange people. What 
 do you, happy mothers of this free country, say to 
 this unheard of barbarism in this enlightened XIX. 
 centurv? Such action was and ought to be condem- 
 ned by the whole world. All nations are interested 
 in Lavigiers movement to abolish slavery in Africa; 
 is it not first our duty to surpress it in Europe? The 
 whole world gave a helping hand to free the Balcan 
 population of the turkish tyranism, but the cries 
 of the oppressed and tormented Slavonians are lost 
 in the deserts and remain unheard and unknown. 
 If we only could acquaint each nation of all the 
 wrongs committed in the heart of the civilized world 
 how gladly we would do it and at the same time 
 perform a duty to our nation as well as our God. 
 
 We have, kind reader, attempted to acquaint 
 you briefly with the condition of our nation from 
 the earliest period until to day. Bead it carefully and 
 judge. Will you disapprove of some of our errors 
 caused by ignorance. Knowing this, do you despise 
 us because we do not stand so highly civilized as 
 you do? Bern ember that you had all the opportuni- 
 
— 26 — 
 
 ties to learn all that is necessary in life from your 
 childhood np, while we had, until we reached this 
 great land, no opportunity whatsoever and were in 
 a great distress, cut off from all the refining influen¬ 
 ces of modern thought and culture. Remember 
 that the people of our nation are not themselves 
 the cause of their neglected condition but that it is 
 attributable to the harshness of others. 
 
 Leaving our country we came to this free and 
 glorious republic. We are the youngest of the immi¬ 
 grating nations. Scarcely 12 years have elapsed since 
 the bulk of our people left their materially ruined 
 and unfortunate homes and come to the Union in 
 search of betterment of themselves and their fami¬ 
 lies. Our number in this country reaches nearly 
 100.000 souls and we do not think ve have failed in 
 grasping the opportunities offered for self improve¬ 
 ment and we feel encouraged in the thought that our 
 advancement will bear a favorable comparison with 
 the immigrants and settlers whose stay with you has 
 been of an equally short duration. We have nume¬ 
 rous churches, such as catholic, greek catholic and 
 protestant and our own schools. We have hundreds 
 of beneficial and benevolent societies and an orga¬ 
 nization. ’’The National Slavonic Society “ founded 
 but two years ago and now rejoicing in 3000 mem¬ 
 bers. The aim of this Society is the elevation of the 
 condition of all Slavonians through urging our peo¬ 
 ple towards prosperity and the blessing of American 
 citizenship. Its constitution prescribes that each mem¬ 
 ber become a citizen within 6 years or forfeit his 
 
1 
 
 — 27 — 
 
 membership. We have political clubs, literary and 
 singing Societies and four Slavonic newspapers. In 
 each Slavonic colony we find Slavonic businessmen 
 respected not only by their nationality but also by 
 all citizens. 
 
 Our nation is not idling about in this great 
 country of freedom but making every effort to keep 
 up with the standard off all others and is trying to 
 remedy any faults, due to our neglect in the land of 
 our birth. Our societies have amission of culture and 
 education for our people in the duties and require¬ 
 ments of a true American Citizenship. Our national¬ 
 ity is not made up of an indolent class of immigrants 
 but it is composed of a willing and industrions peo¬ 
 ple, whose desire is to add to the glory of the great 
 nation which has, with outstreched arms, welcomed 
 us to its bosom and bid us become brothers. We have 
 no fatherland to which we hope some day to flee 
 when our pockets shall have been filled with Ame¬ 
 rican money. Our only hope and future lies in our 
 citizenship in this the country of our adoption, to 
 which we pledge our faith and life blood if it be 
 required. 
 
“Amerikfinsko Slovenske Noviny” 
 
 (SLAVONIC WEEKLY NEWSPAPER.) 
 
 The only oldest and largest Slavonic newspaper 
 in Western Pennsylvania and the West. It is the 
 Official Organ of the National Slavonic Society and 
 all the prominent Slavonic beneficial Societies in the 
 United States. It has the largest circulation among 
 the Slavonians (called Hungarians) in this country 
 and as an advertising medium it is unexcelled. 
 
 JOHH SLOYENSKY & CO., 
 
 Publishers c b Proprietors , 
 
 604 GRANT STREET, 
 
 PITTSBURG-, PA. 
 
 I M TP O R T EBS 
 
 — Of — 
 
 Slavish & Hungarian Religious Rooks & Literary Works 
 
 of all kinds.