The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-29 00:00:00

M. KOSSUTH AS A JOURNALrn.

M. Kossuth intimates-in the-Atlas of this day the ter-
mination of his labours as an Euglish journalist. • It is
but justice to say-that-isiscontributions to-the Atlas have
frequently imparted to the -English public information
that could net have been obtained from, any other
source ; that his views of European politics, always
bread and comprehensive, have often been strikingly
just and original ; and that the tone and temper of his
wri loge have been uniformly uncompromising, elevated,
and dignified. Subjoined is M. Kossuth'. farewell :
" After nine months of uninterrupted communion, my
connexion with the Atlas is brought to a close.
"The object of my engaging in the °hearken task
which I now terminate was clearly defined in my intro-
ductory article, published in the 7th April number of this
paper. I leave the reader to judge whether I hive been
faithful to my programme. That programme is.my tes-
timony that I was not sanguine of success when I en-
tered on the task, and in partiog with'it I conGss. that I
did well not to be sanguine of success. Still, I look back
with some satisfaction on the strange episode in my
strange life • and though I cannot boast of having de-
rived immediate advantage fromit, either to the cause to
which I am religiously devoted or to myself, I do not
regret the pains it has cost me-to go through it. My con-
science tells me that I have performed &duty; and to me
that is enough. Some wanthope for a motive, and sue•
cess for a reward. With me the sense of duty is a suffi-
cient motive ; and the conscinusnetts of 'having done a
duty is a sufficient reward. Besides, ' words lost on the
ears of the living are net always Lotfor histery,'and tre.ny
it with emsiers noksirith Jwidej,khoser- the presentiment
"that many a word I hisi-orritten on the future in the
Atlas, which after a short while may read like antici-
i paced record of history, But be this as it may, I remem-
ber to have read in the Times the telling remark, that
in England the leaders of party are intent on Parlia-
mentary tactics instead of European politics. If that
remark tells a true tale, it is sot amiss that the British
public should hear now and then s qua little of European
politics. Well, I have the consciousness that I for one
have spoken to them European politics. Modest as my
aeq+ it tii.ents otherwise is ay be, this subject at least is
familiar to me : protracted study, experience, medita-
tion, and my very sufferings concurred to familiarise me
with it ; and the moral solitude in which I stand iu
England has this advantage at least, that, impassible to
the varying emotions of the flitting momeLt and of party
intere it, I mry keep a steady eye on the main features
of events, and take a broad view of a broad case, True
it is, much prejudice exists in England against the
opinions of foreigners. While on the Continent it is a
vernacular truth that nobody is a prophet in his own
laud, in England the reverse is true. In almost every
other regard the most cosmopolitan nation, in that one
regard the English are not free from self-conceit. Em-
phatically a nation of " details," each man a "specialty,"
they do not muc's care to arrive at a bird's-eye view of
a European ease ; and because they do not, they are
inclined to think no foreigner can. But strong as this
prejudice may be, truth is not the less truth because
a foreigner has told it ; and if good be the advice
which a foreigner happens to give, not he will have to
rue if men do not profit by it.
" Besides, though the son of a foreign land, and though
the best affections of my heart cling with superhuman
ardour to the. land of my birth, I am not an alien to any
people on earth. Corrupt as is the Christianity of this
our material age (alas ! degraded into mere lip worship),
I thank our Father in Ileaven that amongst all the
vicissitudes of my sorrowful life, he has left me a heart
religiously devoted to the sublime fundamental command
of pure Christianity—brotherly love and charity. Fra-
ternal solidarity is my religion. lam no stranger to my
brethren on earth ; no stranger especially to my bre-
thren the people of England ; 1 take the deepest inte-
rest in the welfare of this country, which gave a shelter
to my homeless head.

" it was this interest that prompted me to contribute
the modest light of my lamp towards the enlightment of
public opinion at this critical period of England's history.
1," Whether or not I have been too presumptuous in
undertaking the task, time will show. The tack is done.
In parting with it I publicly thank the proprietors of the
Atlas for the fair field they held open to me fur perform.
ing what I, in conscience, think to have been the duty of
an honest man, and I thank the readers for the indulgence
with which they have borne the unflattering austerity of
my language, and the defects of a foreigner's pen.
" Unbiassed as I have been by any of those particular
considera.ions which often have their share in the ma-
aagemtiat of the English periodical press, I did not learn
to make a compromise between truth and the art to
please. Rigid are my convictions, because they are the
well-matured result of principles which neither can mis-
lead aor ever change, and severe has been my language
accordingly. Truth is mostly unpalatable in itself.
When told by ins it may sometimes have caught a tinge
of bitterness from the gloomy disposition of the exile's
soul ; for bitter is the salt on an exile's bread, cheerless
is the air of homelessness, and sad is it to stand between
compassion, iudifference, and derision—humiliating the
first, chilling the second, and revolting the third. Thus
to stand is the doom of the patriot exile. It is not plea.
sant to commune with him. Therefore, in bidding fare-
well to the Atlas and its readers, I do not rock myself in
the illusion that I have been a pleasant companion to
them ; but this conviction I carry with me, that though
not plasant I have been true.
"I promised not to treat the readers of the Atlas with
sentimental appeals to barren sympathies, and I trust I
have been as good as my word. In every subject I have
discussed these nine months, I conscientiously laboured
to take an English stand, and to judge matters from an
English point of view. I wish for England's sake (and
for England's sake alone ; my national hopes rest on
another ground o—l wish, for England's sake, the truth
I have told could have been worthier told, so that it
might have left some impression on the public mind, But
" What is writ is writ—with me the pain;
With the future the moral of the strain.
"KOSSUTH."