The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1852-01-07
KOSSUTH'S
G R b 4 7 : ? B 4 c II

tne honor you did me bv your toast and by the
beueh Coupling my name with that cause
which is the sacred aim of my lie, c@niess to
be 50 overwhelmed with cm"tion-hy all that
i, was my 1T TO experience since cam" 10
your rlorous shores, that a,n unable To fad
/ words 10 cxprtss my iecilags; and knowing that
all tn, honor meet with has Che highest mean
ing Of principles, | at once beg leave II fall
back t. my duties winch are the lasting topics
/ of my I, Il ciions, sorrows ana hopes.
take the present occasion for highly inn
/ portant oppor:uniy--i take It for such as Will
probably decide about the success or future ol
my visiting the United States.
| must, therefore, embrace the opportunity Il
I aim your indu gence Ter a pretty long, plain
and in no case, el,qu.nt development Of my
humh'c views, To the benefit of that cause
which the citizens Of New York, and you par
/ ticular!y, gentlemen, honor with generous sym
pathy.
When | consider the sympathy Of the peopl,
! OF the United Stairs for the cause If Hungary
! so generally ditlased as to be almost universal
and 50 rrsulu;cly pronounce! as men pronounce
those fceljnrs which are intended IL be follow
ed by noble and great deeds, | would feel in
clined To take your generous aid for th,
restoration of my native land to its sovereign
independence, already as granted in principle
and for me nothing left to do but TO enter into
negotiation about the arrangement OF the de
tails, were not my confident hopes checked by
that idea of non-interierencc in foreign, chief,
Eur opcan affairs, which, according to the
numerous testimonials OF your most distinguish
I'd politicians, we are told To be one ofthe ruin
and lasting principles and 'licy Of the United
States.
| | highly respect the source Of this convic
| ton, gentlemen. This source of your rel giou.
4
who highly proved to all poscrity their wis
dom, BIZ hequ'alhng 10 you the immortal work
of that Constitution, which, aided by the IN
paralclrd benefits Of nature, raised you, in the
| short period of seventytivc years, from the
prccarous position Of an infant people To the
4 prodgious strength of giant nation. The
beneficial results of the wisdom of the founders
of this great Republic you see in happy
reality. What would be the consequences OF
! The departure from that wisdom, you are moi
sure o! 1t is, Therefore, natural thlt you feel
ar instructive fear TO touch, with improv
ing hands, The dear legacy of those great men
| AS TO your GLORIOUS Constitution, all human
| ity can onl; wish, in the common ,ntcres, oi
mankind, that YOU and your poslcrity may We,
long conserve this religious attachment to it,
| fundamental principles, which by no means OK
cludc development and progress; and that every
citizen of your great Union, thankfully ac-
! knowledTing the immense banefts of The con-
stituton, may. even in the moments Of the most
passionate irritation, never forget TO love tina,
| Constitution more than the mo :lcntary passions
OF his heart, or the cgo,istical interest of the
passing hour. My every citizen of YOUR pIo-
rous country forever remember that a partial
disc om!ort of a corner III large, sure aud
conf 'r,able house, may be well amended with
out breaking the foundation of it; and that
amongst all possible means of getting rid to
that corners partial discomfort, the worst would
/ he 10 burn down the house with our own
| hands.
| But while thus acknowledge the wisdom OF
your attachment TO the fundamental doctrines
of the founders of your United Republic, beg
leave, with equal frankncss,to state TINT, in ny
opinion, there can be scarcely anything more
dangerous to the progressive development of
whatever nation, than to take for basis that
which is nonc-to take for principle that
which is but the convenience of the pass m Q
stuation--to take for substantial that which is
hut accidental, take for constitutional doc
trne that winch was but the momcntary eX-
igency of administrative policy. Such course
of action would be like to that when healthy
man refuses to take substantial food because
when he was once laboring under weakness OF
stomach, his physician ordered him severe
diet to keep. The consequence would be con-
sumpton-deatl.
Let me suppose, gentlemen, that yonder doc
trnc of nol int reference really bequeathcd
to you by your Washin gton--and that it was
not, will prove to you afterwards, and let me
even suppose that your Washington impaired
such meaning TO yonder supposed doctrine
which were equivalent TO the words Of Cain,
Gam my brother keeper (Which SUPPOSE
| ton would be sacrilege. But suppose all this
Aud believe that, even under snch supposi
tons, my be entitled to ask, is the dress
which well suited the child convenient to the
tall grown man-nay, TO giant, which you
are? Would it not be ridiculous to ldy the
giant in the child's cradle, and to sing him to
sleep by lullaby
In those times of the foundation of the United
States, you were an infant people, and the large
dress of your then comparatively not large ter
r.tory, hung loose Oh your puerile limbs In
these times you had, OF course, no wiser thing
to do than to grow-to grow and still to grow
But now you are so far grown that there is
no foreign power on earth from which YOU have
| anything to fear for your own existance, for
| your own security. This being your present
condition, you have entered into the second
stadium of political existence, the destination
of which is not only to exist tor yourself cx-
| clusvcly, but to exist rs member Of the great
family OF nations having the right TO all claims
which are due from that family towards every
| one of its full grown members, but also engaged
to every duty which that great family. has the
right 20 claim from every one OF its full grown
members.
A nation may be in the situation, either by
comparative weakness, or by choice and ,Iicy,
as Japan and China, or by both these motives,
as Paraguay, under DIR. Francia, TO live life
secluded from the world, indifferent to the doc
tr.nes of mankind, in which it can not or will
not, have any share but then it must be pre-
pared to become also excluded from the benefits
ofprogress, civilization and national intercourse
Such nation may well say 81 don't care about
the fate Of whatever other nations in The
world
But am sure no citizen of the United States
had, has, or ever will have, that wish to see.this
country degraded to the rotting vegetation of a
Paraguay, the mummy existence of Japan
aud China The feeling Of self-digniiy, and
the expensive quality OF that enterprslng spirit,
which are congenial to free men, would revolt
against the very idea of such a degrading ma
tional captivity. But il there were even a ,ciN
to live such mummy HE, there were no posi-
bility to do so
The very existence Of your great country
the principles upon which it is founded, It's
geographical position, its present state of civ
ilzation, and all its moral and material interests,
would lead on your people, not only to main
tain, but necessarily more and more to developc
your intercourse with the world
Then of course, being in SO many respects
linked to the world connected with the world,
you can have neither the will, nor be in the
possibility, to remain Indifferent TO that out
ward world you are in so many respects connect
ed with. And if you cannot remain indiher-
cnt, so you must feel resolved to put your
own self consistent weight into that balance,
in which the fate and condition of the world
is weighed
In word, the glorious Republic of the
United States must feel resolved to be power
on earth, power among the nations or else
itself would be doomed TO continual decay
and soon cease TO be great glorious and free
You are power on earth. You must be
power on earth. So, of course, you must un
hesitatingly accept all the natural consequences
of this situation. You can not allow that any
power whatever should dispose of the fate of
that great family of mankind of which you are
such pre- eminent member or else you would
resign your proud position, and your still
prouder fatuse, and be power on earth no
more.
Thus hope have sufficiently shown, that