AZ ORSZÁGOS SZÉCHÉNYI KÖNYVTÁR ÉVKÖNYVE 1973. Budapest (1976)

III. Könyvtártörténeti és művészettörténeti tanulmányok - Jeszenszky Géza: A londoni Eighty Club magyarországi látogatása 1906-ban - The Visit of the Eighty Club in Hungary in 1906

lation, which

—

despite the efforts of the six page special English edition of the social democratic paper Népszava—

seemed to convince the English participants that the Hungarian Government was not anti-Labour, though perhaps a bit aristocratic and paternalistic. The major issue of the visit, however, was the attitude of the Eighty Club delegation to the national aspirations of the Hungarian coalition, and here they showed great restraint avoiding any open espousal of the Hungarian side as opposed to the Austrian, thus causing disappointment to the more extremist Independentist wing. Yet despite all their cautiousness the visitors did utter some remarks of sympathy, which was seriously criticized by The Times and also by the Saturday Review as meddling into a dangerous hornet's nest out of sheer ignorance of the delicate Austro-Hungarian situation. In a leading article on 27 September The Times —no doubt under the influence of its Vienna correspondent, H. W. STEED —accused the Hungarian Government with endangering "the internal peace of foreign countries" and pursuing party interests. The semi-official reply of the Hungarians denied the charges and accused the English paper with bias and "an unjust anti-Hungarian attitude", which was quite effectively dealt with by Steed on 29 September. Although the English visitors did not stint their praise of Hungary, its progress and its great potentials, and even published a long account of the visit in book form, trying to explain "the case for Hungary", the were unsuccessful even in Liberal circles to create an atmosphere more favourable to the demands of Hungary. In fact soon after their visit the majority of British public opinion — influenced by R. W. SETONWATSON and others—came to question the Tightness of the dominant position of the Hungarian element in Hungary and went over to the side of the non-Hungarian nationalities, or transferred its sympathies to the left-wing Hungarian critics of the ruling classes of Hungary. Thus in perspective the visit of the Eighty Club was a failure. 311