The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-02 00:00:00

[PRICE 4D. STAMPED SV.

M. frOSSUTH'S LLCTURE TO THE WORKING

CLASSES OF EDINBURGH.

In compliance with a promise given on his last visit
to Edinburgh, M. Kossuth delivered an address to the
working classes there on Saturday evening last. A re-
quisition had previously been tendered to him, which,
as he stated in his address, was 64 feet long, with a
double row of signatures. The. meeting was held in a
large Congregarional Church, and was crowded to ex-
cess. Mr. Black, M.P., presided, ai,d introduced the
lectur-r by a low sympathetic remarks.
M. K9SSUTIi then addressed the meeting on the state
of the continent and the connection between European
lib-rty and British interests. The great war is over, he
said, the dead are buried, the. money is spent, the Te
Drums are chanted, and the Czar is crowned. If aey
one is able to tell what people on earth, are the better for
that war, he certainly ought to change places with me,
as ho must know nt)re of invisible mysteries than I do.
(Applause.) Southey's vei,:es on the battle of Blenheim
may not inaptly be made to apply to more recent vic-
t.iries—

" And everybody praised the Duke who this great fight did

win,
" BUt what good came of it at last ?' quoth little Peterkiii,
" Why, that I cannot tell,' says ho,
" ' But 'twas a famous victory.'"
Now, read Set,astopol for Blenheim, and the tale is
told. (Cheers.) Turkey, poor sick man, is now really
sick past recovery. Even I, with all the pae.iality with
which private affection'and public interest inspire me for
Turkey, now despair of her future. We may now speak
of her as

" The lingering star of lessentng ray."
L-Willl4o,lll7.hiti -been icelleieif by etiin of the

" seitioreeetarawaseuremtrewwweeneesee
stone has been 'rolled on the leaden coffin wherein the
immortal dead, Poland, is slumbering ; Circassia and
Asia Minor are given up to Russian influence, and Russian,
fleets are now sweeping down the British channel to-
wards toe Bay of Naples, to suppoit the Divine right
of lashing at Royal pleasure the martyrs of Pro-
cida, for some of whom, and not for Italian liberty,
the Western G 'veruments are vainly remonstrating
with the frantic Bourbons of Naples. The mushroom
dynasty of France sti 1 stands, Aug' ria rejoices in a little
further lenethening of her shadow, and the state of con-
tinental Europe is substantially the same as it was before
the war. After describing the successive steps by which
the Holy Alliance had sought to fetter and extinguish
representative government and the freedom of the press,
M. Kossuth contended that Britain bad not taken the
part worthy of her power in opposing the progress of the
despotic system. He was inclined to think it would have
been better for the interestsef humanity and freedom had
she totally abstained from any participation in European
politics rather than have reduced her influence to power-
less protests, which could but serve, as they have actually
served, to encourage the despotic conspirators in their
course by showing them that they have nothing to tear
from the British nation. (Hear, hear.) A great Power
either ought not to speak, or it should give effect to its
words. (Cheers.) To point to an injustice and yet to
submit to it is tantamount to acknowledging the supre-
macy of the oppress., r. He then pointed to what he called
one bright spot in the records of British foreign policy—
namely, when George Canning so determinately resisted
the efforts of despotism that the uplifted arms of the
despots fell before his words, and when under his genius
England stood forth with her head high, a lion amid
crouching dogs, and first amid the Po were of the earth,
because the champion of right and justice; A cry of
enthn,iesm went through the land as the manifestoes of
that eminent Minister went forth, and the despots felt
they dare not challenge Great Britain, because they knew
her strength and power would be irresistible, for whole
notions would rally round the banner of national inde-
pendence which she so proudly upheld. Oh, that Can-
ning had lived till 1843 ! Then not all the Czars in the
world wculd have. hared to raise a finger against the
independence of Hungary. We should have been,
fee and happy; Italy would have been free ; you
would have neen spared the late resultlees war, and
would still be the first. nation under the canopy of
heaven. (Cheers.) But as Mr. Roebuck had said,
" England has now only to do what her big brother
chooses." He went on to say that under the impious
sway of the despotic system all was at present dark-
ness, depression, and desolation on the continent. This
was a state of matters well fitted to engage the patriotic
solicitude of the British people—a people wiser in their
incorrupted instincts than those elders in Israel who
continued to offer the incense of ptopitiotion to the
golden cab of successful crime. (Loud cheers.) The
interests of Britain, who had to preserve liberty, Mere
perfectly identical with those who had to reconquer it.
Great principles, he proceeded to say, derive safety from
extension alone. A principle that does not extend itself
is doomed to wither like a sapless tree. The despots of
the continent perfectly understand the truth, and have
succeeded but ten well in carrying it out. The Ameri-
can slaveholders, with their oligarchy of colour—the
worst of all oligarchies—understand it, and are ready
to risk lit-, fortune, and even the existence of the Ame-
rican union, for the extension of their execrable system.
Principles good or bad can subsist only by extension.
It is indeed the hereditary curse of mankind that virtue
should be blind, but vice ever active and far-seeing !
This country is now the only one it, which representa
Live government is still standing, and you may believe
me that hatred—inexorable, implacable, hatred—of this
country is with the despots of Europe the thought of
their waking hours and the dream of their restless sleep.
And how could it be otherwise when, though purple
crime walks there with dilated front, incorruptible public
opinion here brands it with the stigma of infamy, and
holds it up to the execration of the contemporary age,
and to the reprobation of future history ? How should
they not hate this country when the poor, homeless exile
may speak as I am speaking, and raise an echoing
thunder of approbation from the lips of millions ?
(Cheers.) M. Kossuth then referred to the internal
state of Britain, and to the urgency for various re-
forms, especially the further political recognition of
the democratic element and those measures required
for the social amelioration of the working classes.
He said that what stopped the course of legisla-
tion in this country was the unsettled state of the con-
tinent, and that this country would never be able to
pursue in quiet her domestic legislation, or carry out
peacefully her commercial enterprise, her burdens light-
etted, till the nationalities of Europe were emancipated.
As an instance of the connection between national
liberty abroad and reform a thome, he might remind
them how soon the Reform Bill was conceded after the
French Revolution of 1830. He concluded by saying,
—but seall we part in anguish and despondency ? Shall
we not rather part in cheerfulness and hope ? The
darker the night the nearer the dawn. (Loud cheers.)
As Robert the Bruce once said, "In man's most high
necessity oft succour dawns from Heaven." The fears
of tyrants, the restlessness of diplomatists, the con-
science of nations, the air, the soil, the sky, ad announce
the dawn. The idea of nationality has impressed its
stamp on the character of the continental movement,
and that idea is unconquerable. "All for each, and
each for all" will be the war cry of the future among the
oppressed nations. Fraternity is not a mete word any
longer, but the sling of David with which the Goliath
of tyranny shall fall. (Cheers.) What is it that now
stands between us and that consummation ! What
stands between the raising of the world's arm and its
falling on the neck of despotism ! It is the momentary
success of one man—only one man, a poor worm of the
dust, doomed to return to dust—and his name is Louis
Napoleon Bonaparte. (Cheers.) Sir, Ido not believe
in the stability of successful crime. (Renewed cheers.)
I will venture to contrast my own humble lot with the
brilliant one of that potentate. I eat with my children •
the bitter bread of homelessness ; I am staggering
j ,ylese towards an obscure grave. For inheritance my
children may get a legacy of sorrow, yet of devotion to
their country's cau3e. Such is their lot, but, whatever
may be my faults, my errors, or even my sins, never
have I broken oaths, never have I deceived nations,
never trifled with the duties of an honest patriot.
(Loud cheer-.) Bonaparte, on the contrary, sits
high in power, dazzling the eyes of short-sighed
man with the lustre of his propitious star. Still I
do not believe in the stability of successful crime. (Loud
cheers.) From the depths of my desolation I turn my
eyes to the universe, and from the stars in the firmament
down to the atom of dust at my feet I see creation crying
out aloud that there is a God. The feeble spark of IL=
.
eternal spirit glimmering in my brain, my re .s-in rev., to
against the thought that it should lie at the mercy of ad-
venturous crime to break the eternal chain of moral laws
which, by the sovereign decree of an omnipotent and
self-consistent will, have ruled the world since creation
dawned, and will rule it to the consummation of time.
My reason revolts against the thought that a worm, th-.
off-priog of the dust, can with !nepunily dety teose
laws by which the Eternal Lawgiver has bound not
only the fluctuations of human events, but has bound
even his owe immoveable will. No : I do not believe
in the stability of successful crinie. (Cheers.) I turn
my regard from the universe to history, the mirror of the
future, because the record of the past, and I see that
crime sometimes may have flashed up with the dazzling
blaze of a passing moment, but the success of crime
never yet did last, therefore never shall. (Cheering.)
I ask you, therefore, to have faith in the future—a
fruitful faith, not mere lip worship. Free working men,
du not undeirate your own power. The voice of one of
you may but resemble a tender girl's sigh, but the
united voice of the people is sometimes the thunder in
which God reveals His decrees. There was a time when
the voice of Britain burst out with a loud cry of eyes
pithy for Hungary. We were grateful for it, but it was
of no avail, because too late. Had it been uttered six
months earlier, not one Cossack would have desecrated
the soil of my native land—the voice of the British people
would have reached the proud palace of the Czar, and
arrested him in his design. That same voice heard at
Westminster would have stirred the elect of the people,',
and that Minister who then turned coldly away from;
Hungary would have felt the strength and spirit of,,George•
Canning, and would have cried out to the Czar—
off ll.andeT
! or else, while Great Britain has an arm to ram., it
shall be raised for liberty !" and down would have gone
the uplifted arm of the Czar before the British opi
voice. (Loud cheers.) Oh, let it not be `rteo late" aga.
(Cheers.) The horizon is trembling with the reflected.ir
light of the rising sun of liberty. Be you, free peop thas
you are, the lark to greet the morn ! (Cheers.) Raise