THE history of nations is the biography of their martyrs. As the effects of the mighty convulsions to which the earth has been subjected are exhibited in its seamed and rugged surface, so may we perhaps consider that the annals of the world are written with the blood of those who have died in support of opinions with which their birthright inspired them. Every nation in the adoration of its martyrs respects at the same time the history of the country; and thus, in attempting to narrate the history of past centuries, special prominence must be given to the names of those whose great deeds have inspired their countrymen to raise statues and monuments to their memory. But what must be the feelings of a nation which can proudly proclaim to the world that it counts among these martyrs, beings whom the munificent Providence intended to be the symbols of peace, and yet, in the hour of destruction, inspired by burning love for their country, placed the soldier's helmet on their heads, exchanging their home-spun garments for the warrior's cloak, and casting aside the distaff to grasp the sword! CHAPTER I. MYSTIC HISTORY. ONE of the most peculiar traits in the character of the Eastern races is their extraordinary love and veneration of mystic, or, as we might say, imaginary history. This feeling is possessed to a great degree by the Magyars, whose legends give us the following description of their origin: Nimrod, a descendant of Japhet, son of Noah, after the destruction of the Tower of Babel, wandered into the land of Havila with his family and dependants. Here his wife gave birth to two sons, one called Hunyor, the other Magyar. These two brothers, during a hunting expedition in the Caucasus, were one day following a roe, when, on reaching the swampy moors of the Sea of Azof,' the animal suddenly disappeared from their sight. In their search for the retreat of the roe they were struck with the magnificent pasturages with which this country abounded, and which would afford them ample grazing grounds for their numerous flocks and herds. On their return home they related to their father what they had seen, and induced him to allow them to emigrate with their flocks to the newly discovered country. Here they remained attending to their cattle for a In the history of the Visigoths, who lived in the beginning of the fourth century on the borders of the Sea of Azof, it is mentioned that a roe, swimming across the Don, led the Hunic hunters to discover the Sea of Azof and to attack the Visigoths. |