Select Speeches of Kossuth Part 14

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 sh.o.r.es 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 a.s.sembly 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 a.s.sembly 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 b.l.o.o.d.y 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 circ.u.mstances will admit, the parallel should and will be so treated.

_Resolved_, That we are proud to recognize in Louis Kossuth const.i.tutional 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 n.o.bly 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 a.s.sembly, now in the session of the capital of the State.

This preamble, and these resolutions, set forth the views and sentiments of the people of Ohio in a far more forcible, authoritative, and enduring form, than can possibly be done by any declaration or expression of mine. In no part of the United States has your course been more warmly approved or your great talents, persevering energy, and devoted patriotism, more universally admired. This, sir, is sufficiently evinced in the cordial and heartfelt welcome that has everywhere awaited you, since your entrance into the State.

Free and independent themselves, the people of Ohio can not look with indifference on the great contest in which you are engaged. The history of that fearful struggle which resulted in the achievement of their own independence is still fresh in their recollection. Always on the side of the oppressed, no cold or calculating policy can suppress or control their sympathies.

The cause of Hungary, which you so eloquently plead, and which it is your high and sacred mission to maintain, is the cause of freedom in every quarter of the world. The principles involved in that cause, form the basis of our own inst.i.tutions, the source of our present prosperity and greatness, and the foundation of all our hopes and antic.i.p.ations of the future.

It would be strange, indeed, if a cause so pure and holy, or a champion so gifted, should fail to command the highest regard and admiration of freemen.

In the name, then, and on behalf of the General a.s.sembly of Ohio, I bid you welcome to our midst.

I welcome you, sir, to the capital of a great and flourishing commonwealth--to its halls of legislation, which, in your own fatherland, were the scenes of some of your proudest triumphs, and to the hearts of a free, generous, and sympathizing people.

KOSSUTH'S REPLY.

Mr. President--The General a.s.sembly of Ohio, having magnanimously bestowed upon me the high honour of this national welcome, it is with profound veneration that I beg leave to express my fervent grat.i.tude for it.

Were even no principles for the future connected with the honour which I now enjoy, still the past would be memorable as history, and not fail to have a beneficial influence, continuously to develop the Spirit of the Age. Almost every century has had one predominant idea, which imparted a common direction to the activity of nations. This predominant idea is the Spirit of the Age, invisible yet omnipresent; impregnable, all-pervading; scorned, abused, opposed, and yet omnipotent.

The spirit of our age is Democracy. All _for_ the people and all _by_ the people. Nothing _about_ the people _without_ the people. That is Democracy, and that is the ruling tendency of the spirit of our age.

To this spirit is opposed the principle of Despotism, claiming sovereignty over mankind, and degrading nations from the position of a self-conscious, self-consistent aim, to the condition of tools subservient to the authority of ambition.

One of these principles will and must prevail. So far as one civilization prevails, the destiny of mankind is linked to a common source of principles, and within the boundaries of a common civilization community of destinies exists. Hence the warm interest which the condition of distant nations awakes now-a-days in a manner not yet recorded in history because humanity never was yet aware of that common tie as it now is. With this consciousness thus developed, two opposite principles cannot rule within the same boundaries--Democracy and Despotism.

In the conflict of these two hostile principles, until now it was not Right, not Justice, but only Success which met approbation and applause.

Unsuccessful patriotism was stigmatized with the name of crime.

Revolution not crowned by success was styled Anarchy and Revolt, and the vanquished patriot being dragged to the gallows by victorious despotism, men did not consider _why_ he died on the gallows; but the fact itself, that _there_ he died, imparted a stain to his name.

And though impartial history, now and then, casts the halo of a martyr over an unsuccessful patriot's grave, yet even this was not always sure.

Tyrants have often perverted history by adulation or by fear. But whatever that late verdict might have been; for him who dared to struggle against despotism at the time when he struggled in vain, there was no honour on earth.--Victorious tyranny marked the front of virtue with the brand of a criminal.

Even when an existing "authority" was mere violence worse than that of a pirate, to have opposed it unsuccessfully was sufficient to ensure the disapproval of all who held any authority. The People indeed never failed to console the outcast by its sympathy, but Authority felt no such sympathy, and rather regarded this very sympathy as a dangerous symptom of anarchy.

When the idea of justice is thus perverted--when virtue is thus deprived of its fair renown, and honour is thus attacked--when success like that of Louis Napoleon's is gained through connivance--all this becomes an immeasurable obstacle to the freedom of nations, which never yet was achieved but by a struggle,--a struggle, which success raised to the honour of a glorious revolution, but failure lowered to the reputation of a criminal outbreak.

Mr. President, I feel proud at the accident, that in my person public honours have been restored to that on which alone they ought to be bestowed--righteousness and a just cause; whereas, until now, honours were lavished only upon success. I consider this as a highly important _fact_, which cannot fail to encourage the resolution of devoted patriots, who, though not afraid of death, may be excused for recoiling before humiliation.

Senators, Representatives of Ohio, I thank you for it in the name of all who may yet suffer for having done the duty of a patriot. You may yet see many a man, who, out of your approbation, will draw encouragement to n.o.ble deeds; for there are many on earth ready to meet misfortune for a n.o.ble aim, but not so many ready to meet humiliation and indignity.

Besides, in honouring me, you have approved what my nation has done. You have honoured all Hungary by it, and I pledge my word to you that we will yet do what you have approved. The approbation of our conscience we have--the sympathy of your generous people has met us--and it is no idle thing, that sympathy of the people of Ohio--it weighs as the sovereign will of two millions of freemen. You have added to it the sanction of your authority. Your people's sympathy you have framed into a law, sacred and sure in its consequences, on which humanity may rely.

But, sir, high though be the value of this n.o.ble approbation, it becomes an invaluable benefit to humanity by these resolutions by which the General a.s.sembly of Ohio, acknowledging the justice of those principles which it is my mission to plead in my injured country's name, declares that the mighty and flourishing commonwealth of Ohio is resolved to resist the eternal laws of nations to their due sway, too long contemned by arbitrary power.

It was indeed a sorrowful sight to see how nations bled, and how freedom withered in the iron grasp of despotisms, leagued for universal oppression of humanity. It was a sorrowful sight to see that there was no power on earth ready to maintain those eternal laws, without which there is no security for any nation on earth. It was a sorrowful sight to see all nations isolating themselves in defence, while despots leagued in offence.

The view has changed. A bright l.u.s.tre is spreading over the dark sky of humanity. The glorious galaxy of the United States rises upon oppressed nations, and the b.l.o.o.d.y star of despotism fading at your very declaration, will soon vanish from the sky like a meteor.

Legislators of Ohio, it may be flattering to ambitious vanity to act the part of an execrated conqueror, but it is a glory unparalleled in history to protect rights and freedom on earth. The time draws near, when, by virtue of such a declaration as yours, shared by your sister States, Europe's liberated nations will unite in a mighty choir of Hallelujahs, thanking G.o.d that his paternal cares have raised the United States to the glorious position of a first-born son of freedom on earth.

Washington prophesied, that within twenty years the Republic of the United States would be strong enough to defy any power on earth _in a just cause_. The State of Ohio was not yet born when the wisest of men and purest of patriots uttered that prophecy; and G.o.d the Almighty has made the prophecy true, by annexing, in a prodigiously short period, more stars to the proud constellation of your Republic, and increasing the l.u.s.tre of every star more powerfully, than Washington could have antic.i.p.ated in the brightest moments of his patriotic hopes.

Rejoice, O my nation, in thy very woes! Wipe off all thy tears, and smile amidst thy tortures, like the Dutch hero, De Wytt. There is a Providence which rules. Thou wast, O my nation, often the martyr, who by thy blood didst redeem the Christian nations on earth. Even thy present nameless woes are providential. They were necessary, that the star-spangled banner of America should rise over a new Sinai--the Mountain of Law for all nations. Thy sufferings were necessary, that the people of the United States, powerful by their freedom and free by the principle of national independence, that common right of all humanity, should stand up, a new Moses upon the new Sinai, and shout out with the thundering voice of its twenty-five millions--"Hear, ye despots of the world, henceforward this shall be law, in the name of the Lord your G.o.d and our G.o.d.

Ye shall not kill nations.

Ye shall not steal their freedom.

And ye shall not covet what is your neighbour's."

Ohio has given its vote by the resolutions I had the honour to hear. It is the vote of two millions, and it will have its const.i.tutional weight in the councils of Washington City, where the delegates of the people's sovereignty find their glory in doing the people's will.

Sir, it will be a day of consolation and joy in Hungary, when my bleeding nation reads these resolutions, which I will send to her. They will flash over the gloomy land; and my nation, unbroken in courage, steady in resolution, and firm in confidence, will draw still more courage, more resolution from them, because it is well aware that the legislature of Ohio would never pledge a word to which the people of Ohio will not be true in case of need.

Sir, I regret that my illness has disabled me to express my fervent thanks in a manner more becoming to this a.s.sembly's dignity. I beg to be excused for it; and humbly beg you to believe, that my nation for ever, and I for all my life, will cherish the memory of this benefit.