hut); then he related the effects of the constitution, and Bach’s[1] despotism, analyzed the February Patent,[2] discussed with fire the Diplomas,[3] spoke long of the passive Opposition, of entering the Austrian Parliament, of the sad, grovelling politics, of the rotten opportunistic party, of the venal government, of that new, approaching era that demanded new men, new organizations. (Here he again quoted Kollár: “Let all men work,” etc.)
Then, by a nice turn, he passed over to our white veterans: he called them a national legion, to whom the realm might appeal indeed at any moment; and that banner, which was to be a holy symbol to them, should be borne to the honor and glory of their society and their country.
The standard bearer raised the banner to a
- ↑ Alexander Bach, famous Austrian minister after 1848.
- ↑ A charter granted io Bohemia on February 26, 1861.
- ↑ The most important Diploma is the one granted by Emperor Frank Josef in 1860, by which the absolutism was abolished in favor of an equality of all the lands of the realm.