American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1851, 1851-12-09
From the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.l
Treatment OF II 0sguth.

Now that we have seen Kossuth face to face,
now that we have listened to his voice, we cease
to wonder at the results he produced in Hun
gary, or at the enthusiasm that followed him in
England. He is simply the greatest orator liy-
ing-perhaps the greatest that has lived for
centuries: and in this lies his miraculous power.
Before he has spoken five minutes he impresses
his hearer with a profound sense of his sin
cerity. His magnetic voice, his affecting pres
ence, the associations that cluster around him,
the justice Of his cause, and the almost inspired
feryor with which he utters his thoughts, do
the rest. Few can read his speeches without
thrill; but to hear him is to become his tempo
rary slave. We doubt whether there were
dozen persons, in the immense auditory that
greeted him at New York, who did not, for the
moment, feel as if this country ought at once to
declare war on Russia, unless the Czar would
consent to let Hungary and Austria fight out
their quarrel alone; and yet we doubt whether
there were dozen Americans in the crowd who
would not, before they heard Kossuth, have dis
countenanced all idea Of interference, on the
part Of this republic, in the affairs of Europe.
Ii this Is not eloquence, we know not what is.
But the illusion does not and cannot last.
Removed from the magic presence of the great
orator, his listeners begin to recover their equi-
librium; they remember the warning of Wash
ington against interfering in European politics;
they recall the fact that the country has grown
great and prosperous by adhering to his adj
vice; and they reflect that foreign war, by
creating a vast national debt, would load US
down with taxes, and thus pervert, if not de-
stroy, our liberties. Sober reason regains the
ascendency. As soon as the cost is counted,
indeed, the perils Of the enterprise appear, and
every man, who is in his senses, sees imme-
dately that we cannot take up this quarrel for
Hungary, much as we might wish to do it,
Yet, to persuade us to this, is almost the sole
motive which has brought Kossuth to our shores.
Our heart bleeds, therefore, at the disappoint-
ment which he will meet with; and we are even
angry at these public demonstrations, because,
for a period, they may delude the poor exile.
What is but an agreeable excitement to us, is a
game of life or death to him. He carries the
bleeding heart of Hungary in his hand, he shows
1T to us in order to arouse our sympathies; and
we answer him with huzzas, that mean, alas |!
nothing. He comes here to preach crusade
for freedom; and we reply with infinite applause,
but that is all
The spectacle of solitary, unaided man,
trayersing the world on such a mission, is too
noble, too holy to be trifed with. We have no
right to deceive Kossuth with our lying trans
parencies or after-dinner promises of support.
We should be compassionate, and therefore out
spoken, as he is himself, to his honor be it said
We can, indeed, give him our sympathy, and
what assistance private individuals choose but
as u nation We can do nothing. We can neither
send our fleets to the Baltic, nor our armies to
Trieste and if we have grain of manliness in
US we will tell him this at once.
But we have said enough. We would no
check sincere and well directed enthusiasm
Yet heaven forbid that we should insult oul
guest, or debase ourselves, by saying more thar
we mean, or in any way holding out false hopes