ungary has
produced many greater; I will not trouble you by recapitulating all, but
there is one name I cannot forbear mentioning--but you have heard of
it--even at Horncastle, the name of Hunyadi must be familiar.

_Myself_. It may be so, though I rather doubt it; but, however that may
be, I confess my ignorance. I have never, until this moment, heard the
name of Hunyadi.

_Hungarian_. Not of Hunyadi Janos, not of Hunyadi John--for the genius
of our language compels us to put a man's Christian name after his other;
perhaps you have heard of the name of Corvinus?

_Myself_. Yes, I have heard the name of Corvinus.

_Hungarian_. By my God, I am glad of it; I thought our hammer of
destruction, our thunderbolt, whom the Greeks called Achilles, must be
known to the people of Horncastle. Well, Hunyadi and Corvinus are the
same.

_Myself_. Corvinus means the man of the crow, or raven. I suppose that
your John, when a boy, climbed up to a crow or a raven's nest, and stole
the young; a bold feat, well befitting a young hero.

_Hungarian_. By Isten, you are an acute guesser; a robbery there was,
but it was not Hunyadi who robbed the raven, but the raven who robbed
Hunyadi.

_Myself_. How was that?

_Hungarian_. In this manner: Hunyadi, according to tradition, was the
son of King Sigmond, by a peasant's daughter. The king saw and fell in
love with her, whilst marching against the vaivode of Wallachia. He had
some difficulty in persuading her to consent to his wishes, and she only
yielded at last, on the king making her a solemn promise that, in the
event of her becoming with child by him, he would handsomely provide for
her and the infant. The king proceeded on his expedition; and on his
returning in triumph from Wallachia, again saw the girl, who informed him
that she was enceinte by him; the king was delighted with the
intelligence, gave the girl money, and at the same time a ring,
requesting her, if she brought forth a son, to bring the ring to Buda
with the child, and present it to him. When her time was up, the
peasant's daughter brought forth a fair son, who was baptized by the name
of John. After some time the young woman communicated the whole affair
to her elder brother, whose name was Gaspar, and begged him to convey her
and the child to the king at Buda. The brother consented, and both set
out, taking the child with them. On their way, the woman, wanting to
wash her clothes, laid the child do