Chapter VIII: Part 8

Herein is the reason why I confidently state, that if the United States declare that a new intervention of Russia will be considered by your glorious republic a violation of the law of nations, that declaration will be respected, and Russia will not interfere.

Be pleased to consider the consequence of such renewed interference, after the passive acceptance of the first has proved so fatal to Europe, and so dangerous even to England itself. We can scarcely doubt, that, if ever Russia plans a new invasion, England could not forbear to encourage Turkey, not to lose again the favourable opportunity to shake off the preponderance of Russia. I have lived in Turkey. I know what enthusiasm exists there for that idea, and how popular such a war would be. Turkey is a match for Russia on the continent. The weak point of Turkey lies in the nearness of Sevastopol, the Russian harbour and arsenal, to Constantinople. Well, an English fleet, or an American fleet, or both joined, stationed at the mouth of the Bosphorus, may easily prevent this danger without one cannon's shot; and if this be prevented, Turkey alone is a match for Russia. And Turkey would not stand alone. The brave Circassians, triumphant through a war of ten years, would send down 80,000 of their unconquerable horsemen to the plains of Moscow. And Poland would rise, and Sweden would remember Finland and Charles the XII. With Hungary in the rear, screened by this very circumstance from her invasion, and Austria fallen to pieces from want of foreign support, Russia _must_ respect your protest in behalf of international law, or else she will fall never to rise again.

Gentlemen, I thank you for the patience with which you have listened to this exposition--long and tedious, because I had no time to be brief. And begging leave to assure you of my lasting gratitude for all the generous favours you have been and will yet be pleased to bestow upon my cause, let me proclaim my fervent wishes in this sentiment:

"Pennsylvania, the Keystone State--May it, by its legitimate influence upon the destinies of this mighty power on earth, and by the substantial generosity of its citizens, soon become the keystone of European independence."

Hon. J. H. Walker, Speaker of the Senate, and several other speakers followed, all decidedly sympathizing with the Hungarians, and advocating intervention for non-intervention.

The speaking continued until after midnight.

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XXIII.--AGENCIES OF RUSSIAN ASCENDANCY AND SUPREMACY.

[_Pittsburg Festival, Jan. 26th_.]

Kossuth was received in the Masonic Hall, which was filled to overflowing. After an eloquent address to him from the Chairman, A. W. Loomis, Esq., he replied:

Sir, The highly interesting instruction which your kindness has afforded me about that new and wonderful world of the West, in the entrance of which I now stand, impresses me with a presentiment of unlooked for events.

Since I have been in the United States, I have felt as if my guardian angel whispered, that in _the West_ the hopes of my bleeding country will be realized. It was an unconscious instinct,--a ray shooting above the horizon from the yet unseen sun. You, sir, have shown me the sun itself in full majesty. You have transformed my instinct into conviction. Here then, upon the threshold of the West, I bow with awe and joy, as the fireworshipper of old Persia to the source of life and light.

It is indeed joyful, sir, as you said, to see politicians, sectarians, philanthropists of all classes uniting in spontaneous sympathy for a cause pleaded by a stranger. I recognize in it the bounty of Providence. I see the truth revealed, that as magnetism pervades the universe, so there is a sentiment, which, independent of party affections and bubbling passion, pervades the breast of mankind; and that is, the love of Freedom, Justice, and Right. The chord of Freedom passes through all hearts, and whoever touches it, elicits harmony. The harmony is in the chord, not in him who touches it. There is no skill in the breeze which sweeps over the Aeolian harp, yet a sweet harmony bursts forth from its vibrations. The harmony of sympathy which I meet is the most decisive proof, gentlemen, that the cause which I plead is indeed the cause of liberty, the love of which gushes up spontaneously in human bosoms.

Gentlemen, the cause of Hungary, even were it _not_ the cause of Europe and of all earthly freedom, deserves your sympathy and active protection. Like other free nations, we were brave. The Austrian dynasty was perjured and treacherous; and our bravest bled on the scaffold. Tyrannies are cruel: only the people knows how to be generous in victory.--Let me rather say, the People _was_ generous: for the future I hope it will be _just_. I hope this, not because there is any deep truth in the Irish poet, who sang

"Revenge on a tyrant is sweetest of all:"

Not for that reason. But I hope that the oppressed nations will not again stop half way, and sacrifice their future to untimely generosity; for they have all paid too cruelly for the lesson, that _with tyrants there is no faith_. So there must be no dealing with them.

Yet, Gentlemen, it is not for Hungary's worth, nor for Hungary's sufferings that I claim protection for her; but because as in _her_ the law of nations has been strikingly trampled down, so in _her_ this law must be vindicated. Else, the league of despots will be able to enforce it as a precedent against all free nations; no law will henceforth be sure on earth, and oppression will rule the world.

It is indeed a new doctrine that all despots have a right to interfere with every attempt of a people to regulate its own institutions; and that oppression in each separate nation is to be upheld by a foreign Czar. According to this, freedom and independence are everywhere proscribed, as inconsistent with the security of absolutism,--to which every other consideration is to yield.

I have been indeed astonished to meet the reply, that the cause which I plead is not worthy of much consideration, "since, after all, it is only the cause of _one country_!" I have read that the Borgias were wont to say, that Italy is like the artichoke, which must be eaten leaf by leaf. Let me tell those, with whom Hungary is but one leaf of the artichoke, that the despot who is allowed to nibble each leaf separately, will manage to dispose of the whole.

My opponents say; I myself confess my cause to be that of one country only: for in claiming "non-interference," I show my desire to abandon all other countries but my own to their oppressors! I may be permitted to ask,--Is there any truth in the world which may not be distorted into a mockery?

Russia is the strength of oppression. Her force in the background emboldens every petty tyrant and makes every oppressed nation despond: _not_ because she is so very powerful, but because all foresee distinctly that she will act unshrinkingly in the tyrant's favour so soon as he needs it. We fought, beat, crushed the Austrian emperor, of course not without sacrifice. You know that your own brave Duquesne Greys lost in one action more than half their men. Now, if after a victory gained at such a price, Russia steps in with a fresh force, well provided with every means of war, though that force be not such as one could not resist, it is formidable as a rearguard, falling fresh upon a nation exhausted with its very victories. Suppose that at the close of your own Mexican victories, you had to meet a fresh host of 100,000 well-disciplined men, what would have been the fate of your gallant army, which entered the city of Montezuma?

That is the key of Russian preponderance. But consider the consequences of our defeat. Austria was restored,--_not_ to its independent position--_that_ is lost forever; but, to the position of a tyrant at home, obedient to the wink of his master abroad. Relying on the precedent established by Russia,--Naples, Spain, and degraded France interfered in ROME. After this, Austria and Prussia quarrelled for German supremacy, but before they drew the sword, went to the Czar for permission. The Czar at Warsaw replied: "I forbid you to quarrel. Reconstruct the German confederacy of 1815 and add to it no constitutional element. Send your two armies to HESSE CASSEL; crush the people who there resist by law the Grand Duke's attempt to overthrow the sworn Constitution. As to SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN, I want to have it reserved to Denmark, as a satrapy for my servant and nephew. The German confederacy having dared to countenance its rebellion, shall be punished by having to request Austria to send an army against it." So ordered the Czar, and so it was done. And after it was done, the Czar ordered the withdrawal of the pageant of a Constitution, which in the hour of need the Emperor of Austria had promised to his empire. It was withdrawn. When thus every popular movement was crushed, every shadow of freedom withdrawn, the scaffolds of Hungary and Italy saturated with blood, the prisons filled with martyrs, the exiles driven from every asylum in the European continent, and Germany reduced to a condition worse than when the Unholy Alliance was at the full tide,--_then_ the Czar wrote an autograph letter to Louis Napoleon, the perjured President of France, assuring him of his imperial grace and benevolent support, if he would strike a deathblow to the French Republic. And Louis Napoleon struck the blow.

Such are the results of the overwhelming preponderance of Russia, imposed upon Europe by its interference in Hungary. Suppose now that I succeed in my sacred mission,--sacred, because it is the cause of law and of all the oppressed;--suppose Russian interference checked; then Hungary will crush the tottering Austrian dynasty: Italy, delivered from foreign dominion, will sportively dispose of its petty tyrants. The nation of Austria will become free, and a valuable ingredient in German liberty. At the result of a glorious struggle in Hungary, burning shame will mount to the cheek of the French, and Louis Napoleon will be shaken off.

Let interference by the combination of despots be checked, let nations become masters of their own fate,--and rely upon the magic power of your glorious example. Republican institutions will spread as the light of the sun. Yes, gentlemen. It is not for _one_ country that I ask your support. My ground is as broad as the world; for it is the ground of eternal principles, common to all humanity. No man, on the pretext that his heart is with some other nation,--German, Italian, Pole, French; no man, on the pretext that he is a Universal philanthropist, ought to refuse his sympathies to Hungary; for its cause happens in this crisis to comprise the rest. If I were a Pole, a German, or an Italian, egotistically patriotic, I could not serve my country better than by attacking Russia, the only substantial enemy.

What would the petty princes of Germany have been in 1848 without Prussia? and what was Prussia, when her capital was in the hands of the people, but for the certainty of the Czar's support? What were the petty despots of Italy without Austria? and what was Austria, when her armies, driven from the soil of Hungary in a series of pitched battles, were so demoralized, that nothing but the treacherous disobedience of a general prevented our brave militia from extinguishing in Vienna and Olmutz the decrepit absolutism of the Hapsburgs? What hindered _me_ from afterwards crushing it? The intervention of Russian despotism,--always the primal cause of evil.

Absolutism has understood and declared, that its repose is impossible, whilst a free press and free institutions exist any where. Formerly the absolutists adhered to the principle of "legitimacy," or, the Divine right of an hereditary dynasty; and provided this false principle was respected, they did not object to the development of constitutions which preserved attachment to monarchies. But now they have thrown away their own principle of dynastical legitimacy, and have no rule but to oppress freedom everywhere. Whoever will join them in that work is welcome, though he be a usurper. Thus it came to pass, that Henry of Bourbon was rejected by the despots, while Louis Napoleon has received from the Czar an autograph letter of approval, and from Austria complimentary gifts. Will the United States remain inactive, while free institutions are systematically extinguished? Can they look on indifferently, because seventy years ago it was a wise doctrine, appropriate to their childhood, not to care about European politics?

It is publicly reported, that Russia has decided to absorb Turkey; and means to grant Italy to Austria; Belgium, and the Rhenish provinces to France; and the rest of Germany to Prussia. The Czar, acting like the Persian Kings of old when they sent garments of honour to their satraps, flings in the addition of a few provinces of kingdoms to their satrapies.

And oh! Almighty father of humanity! is there no power on earth to stop this execrable annihilation of human and national rights, of freedom and independence?--though there is a Republic powerful enough to do so--a Republic founded upon the very principles which the despotic powers have put under an inexorable ban!

Gentlemen, I have dwelt perhaps too long on the condition of Europe; but it was necessary to show that though there be no Russian eagles, painted over the public offices in Germany, Italy, France, still the Russian frontier is really extended to the Atlantic.

People of free America, beware, ere it be too late! Hurriedly and by sudden violence, all civil and religious liberty must, for the repose of absolutism, be trampled out of Europe; and by more deliberate perpetration, by diplomacy, persuasion, and gold, the way must be prepared to trample it out elsewhere by ulterior violence.

And here I claim permission to say something about the most dangerous power of Russia, its DIPLOMACY.

It is worthy of consideration that while Russia starves her armies and underpays her officials, who live by peculation, still, abroad she devotes greater resources to her diplomacy than any other power has ever done.

Acting on the maxim that "men are not influenced by facts, but by opinions respecting facts"--not by "things as they are," but by "things as they are believed to be," she finds it easier and cheaper, through a diplomatic agency, to impress the world with a belief in a strength she has not, than to try to organize or attain that strength.

And to come to that aim, Russian diplomacy is not restricted to diplomatic proceedings. Brilliant saloons of fascinating ladies, as well as marriages, are equally departments of Russian diplomacy.

The secret-service money at the disposal of all other diplomatists, is always limited, and has only been exceptionably used. But every Russian diplomatist, in whom confidence is reposed, has _unlimited credit_, and is allowed to disburse any sum to achieve an adequate result. Their traditional experience teaches them how to attain their point; their discretion can be relied on, and they understand every possible means of reaching men directly and indirectly, pulling frequently the strings of thoroughly unconscious puppets.

Constantinople is the great workshop of diplomatic skill, worthy of more close interest than has hitherto been bestowed upon it from America--because there will be struck the most dreadful blow to the independence of Europe. In Constantinople, when Russia wishes to turn a grand vizier out of office, it does not attack him: it praises him rather, and spreads the rumour of having him in its pay; and it is sure that foreign influential diplomatists will then turn out for it the hated grand vizier. When on the other hand a grand vizier is wavering in his position, and Russia likes him to continue in office, it attacks him with ostentatious publicity.

Russia hates not always the man whom it appears to hate, and loves not always the man whom it appears to love. Russian diplomacy is a subterraneous power, slippery like a snake, burrowing like the mole; and when it has to come out in broad daylight, it watches to the left when it looks to the right. Russia gives instructions never to allow her to be directly defended by the press. That would lead to discussion and further exposure. With regard to herself, she wants silence--the silence of the grave. But her agents devote months of scheming, and any sums required to attack her opponents, to get up discord, or the appearance of division amongst them, or to popularize any momentary view which suits her policy, and she delights in doing so through apparently hostile and therefore unsuspected agents.

Thus Russia is powerful by an army held ready as a rearguard to support needy despots with; powerful by its ascendancy over the European continent; powerful by having pushed other despots into extremities where they have lost all independent vitality, and cannot escape throwing themselves into the iron grasp of the Czar; but above all, Russia is powerful by its secret diplomacy. Still this Colossus, gigantic as it appears to be--like to the idol

"With front of brass but feet of clay,"

may be overturned--easily overturned, from its fragile pedestal, if the glorious Republic of the United States opposes to it, with resolute attitude, THE LAW OF NATIONS, and does not abandon principles in favour of _accomplished_ criminal _facts_.

The mournful condition of Hungary seems to be pointed out by Providence to the United States as an opportunity to save mankind from Russia without any sacrifice at all; whereas if this opportunity be lost--I say it with the inspiration of prophecy--there are many here in this Hall who will yet see the day when the United States shall have to wrestle for life and death with all Europe absorbed by Russia.

I know where I stand, gentlemen; I know your power and the indomitable, heroic spirit of your people. It is not with the intention to create apprehension that I say this: the people of the United States fears nobody on earth. It may be that Russia, even after having absorbed Europe, will not dare to attack the United States directly. But it may be that it will dare even this. Some domestic dissension may come--(no nation is safe against it)--the passion of particular interest may cause some momentary discord. Russia will foster it, by its secret diplomacy, to which nothing is sacred on earth; and when irritation comes to the pitch, and the ties of affection become for a moment loose, then perhaps Russia may step in at a moment of interior weakness, from which not the greatest nations are exempt. Russia will begin by "_divido_," and will perhaps come to "_impero_." All this may happen; I can say neither yes nor no; but one thing I am sure of, and that is, that Russia triumphant in Europe can and will attack you in your most vital interests, and can hurt you mortally, _without even resorting to war_.

Be sure, gentlemen, so soon as Russia has consolidated its undisputed preponderance, the first step will be to exclude the commerce of America from Europe by a prohibitory system of custom duties. It will do it; it must do it. Firstly, because commerce is the convoyer of principles. That is more sure yet than what a gentleman of New York so eloquently said,--that "the _steam engine is a democrat_." Absolutism could not for a single moment rule Europe with security, if Europe remained in commercial intercourse with republican America. And secondly, Russia will exclude your trade from Europe, because (and let the great valley of the West mark it) because your immensely expanding agriculture is the most dangerous competitor to Russian wheat, or corn, in the markets of Europe. Either you must be excluded from the trade with Europe, or Russia cannot find a market for its corn.

If you ask, _how soon_ is such an exclusion of your produce from Europe by Russian influence possible? I reply: possibly within a single year; for within a year, if we cannot recommence the struggle, Russia may accomplish the partition of Europe. Principles can only be balanced by principles--absolutism by republican institutions--unrighteous interference by the law of nations--despotism by civil and religious liberty. This is the cause which I advocate. It is not the cause of Hungary alone; it is yours--it is the world's. It has a determination as absolute and extreme as despotism.

Hungary would have been too content, if Russia had not interfered, merely to defend herself against Austria, the immediate instrument of her oppression. Now the independence of Europe, and the independence of Hungary with it, can only be secured on the Moskwa, and on the Neva, in the Kremlin, and in the great Hall of St. George.

For this purpose, in which you yourselves are so vitally interested, we do not claim for you to fight our battles for us. Look to the nations of Europe, groaning under Russia's weight. Look, in the first line to Sweden, and from Sweden, across Poland to Hungary, and from Hungary to Turkey, and to brave Circassia. Pronounce in favor of the law of nations, with the determination which shows that you mean to act, and I say, Russia _will_ respect your declaration, or else it will have a war from Sweden down to Turkey and Circassia. So soon as it moves with 160,000 to 200,000 men against Hungary (and with less it could not), all those nations will be aware that there is the last opportunity afforded to them by Providence to shake off Russia's yoke, and they will avail themselves of this opportunity--be sure of it. The momentary fall of Hungary was too painful a lesson to them.

But again I am answered, "in case of such a war you will be entangled in it." To this I say that you will have to fight a war single-handed and alone, within less than five years against Russia and all Europe, if you do not take the position which I humbly claim. But if you take this position, the necessity of this war will be averted from you, and Russian preponderance will be checked and your protestation respected, without having to go to war. Because there is another sanction which you may add to your protestation--a sanction powerful as a threat of war, and yet no war at all. That sanction will be the declaration of Congress, that, as the intervention of a foreign power in the domestic affairs of any nation is a violation of the laws of nations, by the fact of such intervention your neutrality laws of 1818 are suspended in as far as the interfering or interference-claiming power is concerned. In other words, that the citizens of the United States are at liberty to follow their own inclination in respect to such a foreign power which violates the laws of nations.

This sanction would be sufficient, because the enterprizing spirit of your high-minded people is too well known not to be feared by all the despots of the world.

Your laws, which forbid your citizens to partake in an armed expedition abroad, are founded upon the sentiment, that to a foreign power with which you are on terms of _amity_ the regards of friendship are due. But you, without becoming inconsistent with your own fundamental principles, cannot consider yourself to be in good friendship with a power which violates the laws of nations: so you may well withdraw the regards of friendship from it without resorting to war. Between friendship and hostility there is yet a middle position--that of being neither friend nor enemy--therefore permitting to every private individual to act as he pleases.

Thus the conditional recall of your neutrality laws would enforce the respect to your protestation without bringing your country into the moral obligation to maintain your protestation by war. I hope those who share my principles but hesitate to pronounce on account of the possibility of a war, will be pleased to consider this humble suggestion, and will see, that with my principles war will be averted from the United States, and by opposing my principles the United States will soon be forced into dangerous difficulties, out of which they cannot be extricated but by a war, which they will have to fight single-handed and alone.

[After this, Kossuth proceeded to speak on _Catholicism;_ but this subject is treated afterwards more amply in his speech at St. Louis against the Jesuits.]

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While Kossuth was addressing his audience at Pittsburg, a special envoy from Massachusetts arrived, Mr. Erastus Hopkins of Northampton, one of the Representatives of the State Legislature. At the vote of the Legislature, the Governor (Jan. 15th) deputed Mr. Hopkins to convey to Kossuth a solemn public invitation; and at the close of Kossuth's speech (Jan. 27th) permission was granted by the President of the evening to allow Mr. Hopkins' credentials to be read; upon which that gentleman said:--

"Mr. President, after the soul-stirring proceedings of this afternoon, I dare hardly venture to obtrude upon your attention. It was indeed very far from my expectation, when I came a pilgrim on a toilsome journey at this inclement season of the year, that I would be enabled to mingle the congratulations of the citizens of the 'Old Bay State' to Governor Kossuth with those of the people of Alleghany County. But Sir, my message, although not addressed to this meeting, is addressed to one, whom we, in common with you, love, and whom we all delight to honour."

Turning to Kossuth, Mr. Hopkins then addressed him as follows:

"Governor Kossuth: I am directed by his Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts to present to you the accompanying resolve of the Legislature, inviting you to visit their capital during the present session. The resolve is _in fact_, no less than in its terms, _in the name and in behalf of the people of the commonwealth_.

"Having with this announcement delivered to you the documents entrusted to my charge, I must be considered as having exhausted my official functions. Yet, sir, having had the honour of introducing the resolve to the Legislature of Massachusetts [cheers], and witnessing with pleasure the unanimous and instant concurrence of her four hundred representatives [renewed cheers], I will venture to add a few words beyond the record--only such words, however, as cannot fail to be consonant with the sentiment and hearts of her people.

"The people of Massachusetts would have you accept this act of her constituted authorities as _no unmeaning compliment._ Never, in her history as an independent State, with one single and illustrious exception, has Massachusetts tendered such a mark of respect to any other than the chief magistrates of these United States. And even in the present instance, much as she admires your patriotism, your eloquence, your untiring devotedness and zeal,--deeply as she is moved by your plaintive appeals and supplications in behalf of your native and oppressed land--greatly as she is amazed by the irrepressible elasticity with which you rise from under the heel of oppression, with fortitude increased under sufferings, with assurance growing stronger as the darkness grows deeper [cheers], still, it is not one or all these qualities combined that can lead her to swerve from her dignity as an independent State to the mere worship of man. [Applause.] No! But it is because she views you as the advocate and representative of certain great _principles_ which constitute her own vitality as a State;--because she views you as the representative of human rights and freedom in another and far distant land,--it is because she views you as the rightful but exiled Governor of a people, whose past history and whose recent deeds show them to be worthy of some better future than that of Russian tyranny and Austrian oppression,--that she seeks to welcome you to her borders: that she seeks to attest to a gazing world that to the cause of freedom she is not insensible, and that to the oppression of tyrants she is not indifferent."

Mr. Hopkins then proceeded to recount the public glories of Massachusetts, which he summed up in "Religion, Education, and Freedom,--a tricolour for the world." He avowed Massachusetts to be "the birth-place of American liberty;" and stated that her government is carried on in 322 cities and townships, literally democratic assemblies, which levy their own taxes, sustain their own schools, police, tribunals &c., and receive and pay local funds four or five times larger than those of the State treasury. "The seat of Government," said he, "is a fiction in Massachusetts, save as it signifies the hearts of the people. Come to her borders; witness the truth of all and more than I have uttered; as you shall find it attested by our institutions, by the plenitude of our hospitality, and by the acclamations of one million souls."

Kossuth replied briefly, with thanks and cordial assent.

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XXIV.--REPLY TO THE PITTSBURG CLERGY.

[_Jan. 26th_.]

The substance of his speech is reported as follows:--

He said that he received with a thankful heart this testimonial of respect and welcome from the reverend ministers of the Gospel, whose hearts and minds were deeply imbued with regard and desire for _truth_. He had been taught to reverence the Word of God, because it guaranteed freedom to man; and there was nothing more intimately associated with the idea of freedom than the right of every mind to search for truth in its own way--the right of private judgment. Therefore in receiving the approbation of so reverend and learned a body, he felt that he received the approbation of religion itself; and as if an angel voice from heaven had declared to him--"The cause you plead has found favour before Heaven. You may encounter hostility; you may be overtaken by calumny; you may endure sufferings, and trials, and temptations; you may even suffer martyrdom;--but the cause will triumph. Trust to Him who strengthened the arm of David against the mighty Goliath; and learn to say in truth: Lord, thy will be done!" When he thought thus, and felt thus, he was not weak, but strong. The sufferings and trials which he had endured had strengthened his body, even as the holy influences of religion had strengthened his soul. He was not left as the fragile flower, that remained bowed and bent before the blast; for he could now look forward with more of hope and of trust for the future of his own beloved land, when he heard such glorious truths so warmly proclaimed; and when he saw such evidences of real sympathy for the cause of Hungary. They spoke of the Protestant Church. He claimed no merit on account of his belief; but he, too, was a Protestant--not by education merely, but from his own studied convictions. He could believe nothing merely because he might be commanded to do so; but solely as the result of his own convictions. Truth is as uncorruptible and imperishable as God himself; and He will spread it throughout all the world. But the triumph of truth cannot be achieved by persecution, opposition, or political oppression. This glorious principle can only be triumphant when the nations of the earth shall become free from oppression; because it is only under the protection of free institutions--a free press, free controversy, freedom of speech, and free popular education,--where it is your privilege to preach and that of the neighbour to hear,--that the political independence of a people can be preserved. Oppression is everywhere accompanied by the demoralization of the masses, and their adoption of infidelity or fanaticism; while under the teachings of freedom religion becomes a growth of the soul.

He would urge them to go on and support that cause which they believed to be sanctified by truth. It has been said that true religion can never cease to be republican. If this be true, he would ask what could more promote the glorious cause, than the influence of the United States exerted among the nations of the world, toward the general acknowledgment of that doctrine among nations which is laid down for the government of men,--"What ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them." This fundamental truth should be declared a part of the international law of the world; and the Gospel would then become the bulwark of liberty to all mankind. Thus we may see that the triumph of genuine liberty can best be secured by recognizing religion as the true basis of the law of nations. He who shall be instrumental in incorporating this grand doctrine among those laws, will be equal, or perhaps superior to, a Luther, or a Melancthon, a Calvin, or a Huss, a Cranmer, or any other of the world's greatest reformers. The people of this republic have all this within their grasp; and he hoped the Almighty would hasten the day when it shall be done. He had often heard that the people of this country loved to be called a great people, and he had many times heard them called a great people. To _be_ a great people, however, the people of this country must really _act_ as a great people. He urged upon the ministers of the Gospel that they should warn their flocks against the horrid doctrines of _Materialism_. Nothing is more hostile to national greatness than when the poor see the rich governed only by pecuniary considerations--leaving nothing for the mind and the soul, or undervaluing virtue and talents. He thankfully acknowledged the deep solemnity of his feelings, when for his humble self, such solemn manifestations were observed; and while commending his bleeding country to their love, he could only refer them to the Saviour's words as the guide for their prayers and their watchfulness.

* * * * *

XXV.--HUNGARIAN LOAN.

[_Melodeum, Cleveland_.]

Kossuth having been presented at the Melodeum to the Mayor, was publicly addressed by Mr. Starkweather in a highly energetic speech, which ended by saluting him as "rightful Governor of Hungary."

Kossuth replied:--

Sir, if I am not mistaken it is now the 156th time [since I entered America], I am sure that it is the 34th time since I left Washington on the 12th of January,--that I have had the honour to address an American audience in that tongue which I learned from Shakespeare, while confined in an Austrian prison for having dared to claim the right of a free press, which now, like the hundred-handed Briareus of old, pours my words by thousands of channels into the hearts of millions of freemen, who comprize in their national capacity a mighty Republic, destined to enforce the Law of Nations, upon which rests the deliverance of the world from an overwhelming despotism.

The press is nobly recompensing me. The ways of Providence are wonderful!

May the free press never forget its living principle, "Justice and Truth." May it always be watchful with its thousand eyes, that the secret craft of diplomacy may never succeed to degrade one organ of the American press into an unconscious Russian tool, acted on by blind animosity or by exclusive predilections.

Sir--after having spoken so often, and so much; and the free press having conveyed my principles, my arguments, and my prayers, in almost every homestead of this great Republic; I may be well permitted to believe, that the stage of speaking is passed, and the stage of practical action has come.

Almost every packet brings such news of absolutist reaction in Europe, and almost every new step of the despotic powers is accompanied by such incidents, that it were indeed unpardonable neglect, if, when Providence has placed so much influence in my hands by the confidence of nations bestowed upon me, I should not use all possible energy to circumvent the influence of evil, to combine the efforts of the good, to check the plots of vile, and the waywardness of erring or weak characters--often the unconscious tools of the vile, to direct the action of inconsiderate friends, and above all, to accomplish those preparations which are indispensable to meet the exigencies of the future--in short, to attain that crisis, at which I humbly claim protection for principles from the people of the United States, in their public capacity, and substantial aid from their private generosity.

You of course are aware that all these things together present a vast field, for which every moment of my time would scarcely suffice.

Often am I asked, what are the instrumentalities for this my activity? But this question cannot be answered publicly, as I am quite unwilling to let the enemy learn my secrets.

However, so much I may state, that it is not without a definite aim and clear hope that I devote all that yet remains in me of energy and strength. If I did not hope,--if under certain conditions I had not an assurance of success,--I would prefer tranquillity to action, though it were the tranquillity of the grave.

There are _two_ modes in which free nations may aid the cause of European Independence,--namely, _politically_ and _privately_. As to the first, I avow with intense gratitude that the great National Jury, the PEOPLE, gave and gives incessantly its favourable verdict. Your State Legislature is pronouncing its vote, and the cause is moved before the High Court of your national Congress.

In regard to aid by _private funds_ I rejoice to see local associations clustering round the central one of Northern Ohio, in Cleveland; but I desire that such efforts may not be delayed until I come in person: for I can possibly come only to a few.

Already in New York I started the idea of a National Hungarian Loan, in shares of one, five and ten dollars, with the facsimile of my signature, and of larger shares of fifty and of a hundred dollars with my autograph. I prepared the smaller shares for generous men, who are not rich, yet desire to help the great cause of Freedom. It is a noble privilege of the richer to do greater good. But remember, it is not a gift, it is a loan: for either Freedom has no name on earth, or Hungary has a future yet; and let Hungary be once again independent, and she has ample resources to pay that small loan, if the people of the United States, remembering the aid received in their own dark hour, vouchsafe to me such a loan.

Hungary has no public debt, it has fifteen millions of population, a territory of more than one hundred thousand square English miles, abundant in the greatest variety of nature's blessings, if the doom of oppression be taken from it. The State of Hungary has public landed property administered badly, worth more than a hundred millions of dollars, even at the low price, at which it was already an established principle of my administration to sell it in small shares to suit the poorer classes.

Hungary has rich mines of gold, silver, copper, quicksilver, antimony, iron, sulphur, nickel, opal, and other mines. Hungary has the richest salt mines in the world--where the extraction of one hundred weight of the purest stone salt, amounts to but little more than one shilling of your money--and though that is sold by the government at the price of two to three and a half dollars, and thus the consumption is of course very restricted, this still yields a net revenue of five millions of dollars a year--to the Government--but no! there is not government, it is usurpation now! sucking out the lifeblood of the people, crushing the spirit of freedom by soldiers, hangmen, policemen, and harassing the people in its domestic life and the sanctuary of its family with oppression worse than a free American can conceive.

You see by this, gentlemen, that when Hungary is once free--and free it will be--she has ample resources to repay your generous loan within a year without any taxation of the people itself; and pay it well, because every shilling of your generous aid will faithfully be employed for its restoration to freedom and independence. I may point to my whole life as a guarantee to that purpose. I had millions at my disposal, entrusted to me by my people's confidence, and here I stand penniless and poor, not knowing what my children will eat to-morrow, if I die to-day; and I am proud that I am poor, and I pledge my honour to you, that every shilling of what your generosity gives for Hungary will be employed for Hungary's benefit. In fact, as I have provided for the contingency of anything befalling me, so also I am ready, if it be your people's will, to admit any control, consistent with the necessary conditions of success.

[After this, Kossuth proceeded to speak on the aspect of republicanism towards Catholicism and the fortunes of Ireland; a subject more fully treated in other speeches.]

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ADDRESS TO KOSSUTH FROM THE STATE COMMITTEE OF OHIO.

Governor Kossuth:--As Chairman of the Committee appointed for that purpose by a resolution of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, I have the honour to tender to you, in the name and in behalf of the State, a cordial welcome to the capital.

We proffer this greeting as a small tribute of that admiration which your courage, your integrity, and above all, your self-denying devotion to the cause of Hungarian freedom has roused in our breasts.

Wonder not, sir, at the enthusiasm which your presence excites in a people who cherish, with fond recollection and reverence, the smallest relic of that time, when liberty wrestled with oppression in America, and who hail the anniversaries of her triumphs with such grateful remembrance of those brave and patriotic men who wrought out our full measure of national happiness.

In you we behold a living embodiment of those great principles which we cherish with such tender affection.

You are the realization of that virtue, that courage, that civil and military genius, which sheds such lustre on our early history.

You call to mind more freshly than poetic or historic page, song, or speaking canvass, that glorious record which was graven more than two centuries ago by the first exiles from European oppression upon the granite rocks of New England,--_"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."_

Our affection is warmed by the lively interest which we feel in the spread of this cardinal principle, and the fitness for its championship which you have evinced, revealing constantly a resemblance to that immortal man, the impress of whose greatness you behold on every side.

When Liberty, scourged from the old, sought out a new world wherein to raise her sacred temple, it was to his master hand she confided the noble work.

Had he been less great, that glorious shrine might never have been beaconed in the sky, or at least its proportions might have been uncouth and insecure.

Now therefore, since liberty has secured the manifold blessings that flow from human equality, and proudly flung back the taunts of tyrants, it is a joyous reflection to the children of this her first home, that she has at length found a man in foreign lands fitly gifted to appreciate those blessings, industrious to search out and follow the path by which they were attained, and virtuous to take no selfish advantage from the thanksgiving that her mission will arouse.

Sir, it is a splendid characteristic of our national government, that Ohioans are as keenly touched by the history of your wrongs as the borders of the Atlantic States.

Yes, sir, the hearts of two millions of freemen at the centre of our country's population leap fast at the shrieks of freedom in every clime, believing in no cold, unbrother-like law of distance; and, sir, we yield to no State in the sincerity with which the following resolution was adopted:

Resolved,--That we declare the Russian past intervention in the affairs of Hungary a violation of the law of nations, which, if repeated, would not be regarded indifferently by the people of the State of Ohio.

In conclusion, sir, I present to you a copy of the resolutions of the General Assembly, and again welcome you to the valley of the West, trusting that the warmth of your reception in Ohio is but an earnest of that glorious sympathy which will spring in your path should you go still farther westward in your holy mission.

* * * * *

XXVI.--PANEGYRIC OF OHIO.

[_Speech at his Reception at Columbus, Feb. 5th_.]

Kossuth was conducted by Governor Wood to the place fitted up for his reception, and was there addressed by the Hon. Samuel Galloway in an ample and glowing speech, which opened by assuring him that the enthusiasm which he now witnessed was no new creation; inasmuch as, more than two years before, the General Assembly of the State had resolved that Congress be requested to interpose for Kossuth's deliverance from captivity.

Kossuth replied:--

Sir, I thank you for the information of what I owe to Ohio. I stood upon the ruins of vanquished greatness in Asia, where tidings from young America are so seldom heard that indeed I was not acquainted with the fact. Still, I loved Ohio before I knew what I had yet to hear. Now I will love her with the affection and tenderness of a child, knowing what part she took in my restoration to liberty and life.

Sir, permit me to decline those praises which you have been pleased to bestow on me personally. I know of no _merit_--I know only the word _duty_, and you are acquainted with the beautiful lines of the Irish poet--

"Far dearer the grave or the prison,
Illumed by a patriot's name,
Than the glories of all who have risen,
On liberty's ruins, to fame."

I was glad to hear that you are familiar with the history of our struggles, and of our achievements, and of our aims. This dispenses me from speaking much,--and that is a great benefit to me, because indeed I have spoken very much.

Sir, entering the young state of Ohio--though my mind is constantly filled with homeward thoughts and homeward sorrows, still my sorrows relax while I look around me in astonishment, and rub my eyes to ascertain that it is not the magic of a dream, which makes your bold, mighty, and flourishing commonwealth rich with all the marks of civilization and of life, here, where almost yesterday was nothing but a vast wilderness, silent and dumb like the elements of the world on creation's eve. And here I stand in Columbus, which, though ten years younger than I am, is still the capital of that mighty commonwealth, which--again in its turn,--ten years before I was born, nursed but three thousand daring men, scattered over the vast wilderness, fighting for their lives with scalping Indians; but now numbers two millions of happy freemen, who, generous because free, are conscious of their power, and weigh mightily in the scale of mankind's destiny.

How wonderful that an exile from a distant European nation of Asiatic origin, which, amidst the raging waves of centuries that swept away empires, stood for a thousand years like a rock, and protected Christendom and civilization against barbarism--how wonderful that the exiled governor of that nation was destined to come to this land, where a mighty nation has grown up, as it were, over night, out of the very earth, and found this nation protecting the rights of humanity, when offended in his person,--found that youthful nation ready to stretch its powerful arm across the Atlantic to protect all Hungary against oppression,--found her pouring the balm of her sympathy into the bleeding wounds of Hungary, that, regenerated by the faithful spirit of America, she may rise once more independent and free, a breakwater to the flood of Russian ambition, which oppresses Europe and threatens the world.

Citizens of Columbus--the namesake of your city, when he discovered America, little thought that by his discovery he would liberate the Old World.--And those exiles of the Old World, who sixty-four years ago, first settled within the limits of Ohio, at Marietta, little thought that the first generation which would leap into their steps, would make despots tremble and oppressed nations rise. And yet, thus it will be. The mighty outburst of popular feeling which it is my wonderful lot to witness, is a revelation of that future too clear not to be understood. The Eagle of America flaps its wings; the Stars of America illumine Europe's night; and the Star-spangled banner, taking under its protection the Hungarian flag, fluttering loftily and proudly, tells the tyrants of the world that the right of freedom must sway, and not the whim of despots but the Law of Nations must rule.

Gentlemen, I may not speak longer. [Cries of _go on!_] Yes, gentlemen, but I am ill, and worn out. Give me your lungs, and then I will go on.

Citizens, your young and thriving city is conspicuous by its character of benevolence. There is scarcely a natural human affliction for which your young city has not an asylum of benevolence. To-day you have risen in that benevolence from alleviating private affliction to consoling oppressed nations. Be blessed for it. I came to the shores of your country pleading the restoration of the law of nations to its due sway, and as I went on pleading, I met flowers of sympathy. Since I am in Ohio I meet fruits; and as I go on thankfully gathering the fruits, new flowers arise, still promising more and more beautiful fruits. That is the character of Ohio--and you are the capital of Ohio.

If I am not mistaken, the birth of your city was the year of the trial of war, by which your nation proved to the world that there is no power on earth that can dare any more to touch your lofty building of Independence. The glory of your eastern sister States is, to have conquered that independence for you. Let it be your glory to have cast your mighty weight into the scale, that the law of nations, guarded and protected by you, may afford to every oppressed nation that "fair play" which America had when it struggled for independence.

Gentlemen, I am tired out. You must generously excuse me, when I conclude by humbly recommending my poor country's future to your generosity.

* * * * *

XXVII.--DEMOCRACY THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE.

[_Reception by the two Houses of Legislature of Ohio_.]

Kossuth, attended by the Joint Committee, was then introduced, and addressed by the President of the Senate, Hon. Wm. Medill, as follows:

Governor Kossuth: On learning that you were about to visit the Western portion of our country, the General Assembly of this State adopted the following preamble and resolutions:--

Whereas, Louis Kossuth, Governor of Hungary, has endeared himself to the people of Ohio by his great military and greater civic services rendered to the cause of Liberty; by the transcendent power and eloquence with which he has vindicated the right of every nation to determine for itself its own form of government, by the perils he has encountered and the suffering he has endured to achieve the freedom of his native country: therefore, in the name, and on behalf of the people,

_Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio_, That the war in which Hungary was lately seemingly overcome, was a struggle in behalf of the great principles which underlie the structure of our government, vindicated by the bloody battles of eight years, and that we cannot be indifferent to their fate, whatever be the arena in which the struggle for their vitality goes on.

_Resolved_, That an attack in any form upon them is implicitly an attack upon us, an armed intervention against them, is in effect an insult to us; that any narrowing of the sway of these principles is a most dangerous weakening of our own influence and power; and that all such combinations of kings against people should be regarded by us now as they were in 1776, and so far as circumstances will admit, the parallel should and will be so treated.

_Resolved_, That we are proud to recognize in Louis Kossuth constitutional Governor of Hungary, the heroic personification of these great principles, and that as such, and in token and pledge of our profound sympathy with him, and the high cause he so nobly represents, we tender to him, in behalf of two millions of freemen, a hearty welcome to the capital of the State of Ohio.

_Resolved_, That we declare the Russian past intervention in the affairs of Hungary, a violation of the laws of nations which, if repeated, would not be regarded indifferently by the people of the State of Ohio.

_Resolved_, That a joint committee of three on the part of the Senate, and five on the part of the House of Representatives, be appointed to tender Governor Kossuth, in the name and on behalf of the people of Ohio, a public reception by their General Assembly, now in the session of the capital of the State.