Select Speeches of Kossuth Part 13

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 n.o.bly 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 pa.s.sed, 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 circ.u.mvent 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 a.s.surance 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 grat.i.tude that the great National Jury, the PEOPLE, gave and gives incessantly its favourable verdict.

Your State Legislature is p.r.o.nouncing 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 a.s.sociations cl.u.s.tering 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 n.o.ble 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 cla.s.ses.

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 hara.s.sing 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.]

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 a.s.sembly 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 b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

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 l.u.s.tre on our early history.

You call to mind more freshly than poetic or historic page, song, or speaking canva.s.s, 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 G.o.d."_

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 n.o.ble 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 a.s.sembly, 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 a.s.suring him that the enthusiasm which he now witnessed was no new creation; inasmuch as, more than two years before, the General a.s.sembly 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.