The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-24 00:00:00

House of Austria has exhausted against Hungary
every effort, both of open violence and of secret in.
trigue ; and it was only, our municipal institutions
which still, under tbe most difficult circumstances,
conserved to Hungary something of the spirit of pub-
lic life—some part of constitutional liberty. There
was a time when a fatal sickness, a desire to centralize
every power in the Government, and to tutor the
Government—when that fatal sickness of political
feeling spread over the Continent, and made its way
to my own country, so that it became almost the
fashion, almost a mark of intelligence, to be in favour
of centralization. I was almost alone in struggling
against this storm, the rushing waves of this sentiment
in Europe, because I regarded, and ever shall regard,
municipal life as such a benefit, that without it there
can be no practical freedom whatever ; and for the
loss of which I take Ministerial responsibilities and
Parliamentary privileges to be but poor equivalents.—
(Cheers.) Under this sickening influence of cen-
tralization, the fairest fruits of a nation's conquest—
glory outside and freedom within—wither in its
fingers. When I first read the French Constitution, I
foretold that the great and glorious French nation
would yet have to undergo many storms, because they
had not abandoned the fatal principle of centraliza-
tion; for it is only in the municipal institutions of
a country where freedom dwells. Such, gentlemen,
are my convictions. I hope that England will ever
remain great, glorious, and free. I regard history,
and I see the English race almost the one single race
that is free in both hemispheres of the world, and
when I look for the key of that freedom, I readily
confess that it is to be found in the municipal institu-
tions which have not been absorbed by the propensity
to centralisation, and which have been conserved un-
der different forms of government—here monarchical,
in America republican. For, gentlemen, it is not the
institutions, but the spirit of the people embodied in
these institutions—(Hear, hear)—which make the
two offshoots of that mighty race great, glorious, and
free. It is, therefore, with the highest gratification
that I receive this address at your hands, Mr. Mayor,
and from this corporation. As to my humble self,
conscious of no merit, and never aspiring to any
reputation but that of a plain, honest man—(Cheers)
—faithful to the duties of a true friend of freedom
and of a patriot, I could not forbear feeling per-
plexed to see myself the object of such undeserved
honour, were it not that I am aware your gene-
rous manifestation is intended as an open counte-
nance to the principles of freedom, of justice, and of
popular rights, which my nation so valiantly strug •
gled for, and which you so happily enjoy.—(Loud
cheers.) It is a glorious position which the English
race holds in the world—almost the only free nation,
doubtless the only one whose freedom has to fear
neither the change of time nor the ambition of man,
provided it keep to its institutions, provided the public
spirit of the people continue to safeguard it by adapt-
ing those institutions to the exigencies of the times,
and by a manly resolution never to fail in meeting
those exigencies. This determination, these resolu-
tions, being the chief guarantee of your greatness and
happiness, I take to be the most consolatory hope
to oppressed humanity, because I have a firm con-
viction that the freedom and greatness of England are
intimately connected with the liberties of the earth.
It is not without reason that my dear native country
and all the oppressed nations of the earth look to you
as their elder brother, to whom the Almighty has
not in vain imparted a spirit to meet the tide
of human destinies. There is one promi-
nent feature—there is nothing more impor-
tant in all our struggles—that this sentiment is
spreading over the world ; for it is not the least of
the glories you call your own that the people of Eng-
land appear to take the lead in the new direction of
the public opinion of the world, out of which the
highest blessings must ensue. The generous sym-
pathy of the people of England with my bleeding,
struggling, down-trodden, but still not broken native
land, is one, but not the only one, of the manifesta-
tions by which England shows that she is ready to
accept the glorious call of elder brotherhood. The
people of England, though it has not to fear any
direct attacks upon its liberty, knows that its welfare
and its prosperity, founded as they are on the con-
tinued development of its genius and industry, are yet
not entirely independent of the condition of other
nations. The people of England knows that neither
in a social nor political sense can it be indifferent
whether Europe is free, or whether it groans under
the despotism of Russia and its satellites. The people
of England is conscious of its glorious position, and it
knows that—will it conserve that position—it must
not grant to Austrian despots to dispose of the whole
of Europe, but that it must throw its own weight
into the balance of the fate of Europe, or England
will be no European power more. It is this
knowledge which is the source of hope and
consolation to my oppressed nation, as well
as to her fellow nations in the world, be-
cause the principles of your freedom, greatness,
and happiness are bound up in this ; and in the
generous sentiments of the people of England we are
positively assured that if the people of England throw
its weight into the balance of the fate of Europe, the
people of England will never side with injustice, but
with right—it will never side with oppression, but
with freedom—it will never side with a few great
families, but with the moral dignity of the people.—
(Cheers.) Such were my prepossessions before my
reception, and this address assures me of it, because
your ay that for the nation for which we so valiantly
struggled there is yet a future. To see you, the
people of England, entertain this hope and belief, is
almost like a victory ; because its manifestation can-
not fail powerfully to influence in the strongest manner
the hopes of my country, and to double my own per-
severance and zeal in her cause—(Cheers)—in order
to have this realised which the people of England
foretell, with a self-confident power to make it good.
I hope the Almighty may grant me, before I leave
this country, and cross the ocean to go to that young
giant—the younger brother of this mighty race—
(Cheers)—to thank him for the generous protection
which he has bestowed, and to entreat his fatherly hand
for the future of Europe—l hope before I leave this
country to see in full activity, and spread over the
whole of these glorious isles, some of those mighty asso-
ciations by which you carry triumphantly every re-
form, every great principle in this country. I hope
some of these associations will lend their attention to
the solidarity of the independence of Hungary, with
the freedom, the peace, and the independence of
Europe and of these glorious isles—that they will
take arms and give a practical direction to the gene-
rous sympathy of the people of England for my poor
down-trodden and unhappy land, and reduce under a
ruling principle the sentiments of public spirit in the
people, which shows that they are ready to accept the
solidarity of their own freedom with the destinies of
man, and especially with the destinies of Europe. I
thank you for the generous wishes which you have
bestowed upon me personally. To me life has no va-
lue, but only as much as I can make use of it for the
liberty and independence of my country, and for the
benefit of humanity—(Cheers)—and though I decline
all praises bestowed upon my personal character, as I
am conscious of nothing I have done but what I con-
sider my simple duty to be, and I am only sorry
that my modest faculties do not equal my warm de-
votion to my native land ; yet I take your sentiments
as encouraging me to go on in the way which I
have ever aimed at through life, and which I hope,
by the blessing of the Almighty, and the help of you,
the people of England, and of all generous hearts in
the world, to carry out to a happy issue. Let me end
by pronouncing my most sincere wishes for the hap-
piness of these great, free, and glorious isles. Let me
repeat, that I take it to be a most glorious sight to see
your gracious Queen representing upon the throne
tbe principles of liberty ; and let me hope that the
acknowledgment will not only have a future in Eu-
rope, but that the time draws near when you will
have to applaud the success of those endeavours for
which you now manifest such generous sympathy,
even in their adversity and misfortune. It is a much
greater right to acknowledge a principle in adversity
than to hail it in success. I hope, gentlemen, you will
excuse me. My life has been spent in hard work for
my country. I have not had time to cultivate the
civilisation of Western Europe, but my heart is de-
voted to England, and you will meet never a man
who has a greater sympathy for you and for your
glorious country.
We may state here that Kossuth speaks English
with considerable accuracy, and with more command
over its idiom than most foreigners possess. His flu-
ency is also respectable, though checked by the evi-
dent mental process which was going on all through
his speech, of thinking in ono language and translat-
ing it into the words of another.
At the conclusion of the address the meeting rose
and cheered Kossuth repeatedly, and when the
noise had subsided a voice exclaimed, "Three groans
for the Austrian tyrant 1" which was responded to by
three loud groans forthwith.

The MAYOR then presented a large silk banner,
being the national flag adopted by the Hungarian
Republic, to Kossuth, at the same time stating
that it had been wrought by the Hungarians in New
York, and transmitted to England for conveyance to
Hungary, but before that could be done the Austrians
were in the ascendant, and the banner itself was de-
tained in the Custom-house for non-payment of duty.
Since then it had been purchased by the corporation
of Southampton, who had deputed him to present it
to the Hungarian leader.
KOSSUTH took the flag, pressed it to his bosom,
and said, with energy,—" I receive, gentlemen, this
flag as the most valuable trust intrusted to the people
of Hungary, and I swear to you, whatever be our
fate, cowardice and ambition shall never tarnish this
flag."

Great cheering and applause, after which Kos-
suth handed the flag to Mr. Croskey, the American
Consul.
The MAYOR then introduced Mr. Folney, of the
Harp hire independent, who reAd and resented the