Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1852-02-02
The Wife of KossutIl.

|
husband; and such husband of SO notable a
wife. In his Address to the people of the
| United States written while an exile in Tur-
key, be thus speaks of her. SAT the moment
when hardly hoped for further consolation
ON earth, behold the G I'd of mercy freed my
wife, and enabled her to reach me at my place
of exile. Like hunted deer, she could not
for five months find in her own native land a
place Of rest. The executioners Of the beard
less Nero placed reward upon her head,
but she has escaped the tyrants. She was to
me, and to my exiled couutrymen, like the
rainbow to Noah, for she brought intelligence
Of hope in the unshaken souls of the Hunga-
rian people, and in the affectionate sympathy
of the neighboring nations who bad fought
against US. They had aided the wife of the
much slandered Governor of Hungary"
At the present time f,r many reasons the
FOLLOWING NARRATIVE,
Of her escape will be read with much inter-
est. 1t is from the pen of writer in Cham
ber' sEdingburgh Journal.
During the month of August, l848 the
President Governor of Hungary, Louis Kos
suth, with the principal officers Of his provis-
ional government, were in the fortified town
of Arad, on the river Morseh. Between
that place and the town Of Zegadin, on the
Tiseh, in the vicinity of Aran, Gorgey, with
the Hungarian troops under his command,
lay encamped; while behind him, towards
the Tisch, was the Russian army of reserve
under Paskiewitch. Dembinski, with his
men, besieged Temeswar, and he had al
ways carried his third wall. Between him
and the Tisch lay the united Austro-R Russian
forces. The army of Benz had been defeat
ed at Hermanstadt, by the Russian General,
Luders and he had fled with small band of
faithful followers, towards Temeswar.
With this position of the combatants, the
plan of Dembinski was to unite with Gorgey,
near Arad, and the Russian forces. Before
this was affected, news reached him of the
capitulation Of Gorgey, and that the Cover
nor, M. Kossuth, had been compelled to for
sake Arad, and retire to the town of Villages.
Before leaving Arad, the Governor separated
from his wife and children, and their parting
scene is said to have been one of the most
touching nature. Under the circumstances
of the moment, it was a subject of even more
than doubt whether they would ever meet
again on earth. It was only when young
Hungarian nobleman named Ashbot, an exile
with Kossuth, solemn]y swore to his wife
that he would never leave her husband, that
Madame Kossuth consented to be separated
from him, and seek safety in flight. The
children were confided to the care of a pri-
vate secretary of the Governor, and this indi-
vidual subsequently delivered them up to the
tender mercies of Haynau, for the purpose of
securing his own pardon and safety. The
children set out before their mother, and the
latter in her fight, endeavored to keep at
least so near to them as to hear every now
and then of their safety.
Madame Kossuth sought out brother of
hers, residing in the town of Viagos, and he
is now imprisoned in the fortress of Comorn,
with many others of the unfortunate Hunga-
rian patriots, for eighteen years, on account
of the succor which he then gave to his sister.
Leaving him she then went in search of her
children, and wandered to pesta, or farm
house Of Booksak, belonging to a relative
There she fell ill of a typhus fever, which
nearly ended her life; and when so far re-
covered as to be able to travel, she continued
her Journey in search of her children. Soon
she learned that they had been given up by
their protector to the Austrian General, Hay
nau, and taken to Pesth. Her own safety
depended wholly upon the fidelity of the
Hungarian peasants, and on their attachment
to her husband.
Now, having no other object in view than
her own safety, without friends better off
than herself, she soon became reduced to a
state of complete destitution. In disguise,
she wandered over the most miserable part
of Hungary. She even, as means of safe
ty, as well as support sought for service as a
servant, and by telling that she was poor
Wouiou, VIII hdo Juob DOoA uioSLIol Sou HUN
public hospital-which, indeed, she very much
resembled-was so fortunate as to find en-
ployment in the family Of an hun1ble curr-n-
ter, in the town of Orsah Haya, who little
thought he was served by the lady of Louis
Kossuth, the late Governor of Hungary
Everywhere notices were exposed in the
streets, offering forty thousand forins for her
capture, and proclaiming death as the punish
ment of the person who should dare to har-
Dor or conceal her from the authorities.
Among the persons who fled with NJ. Kos
suth before the overwhelming number of his
enemies, was an elderly lady, whom it is
necessary to designate as Madame L.,
and who, from being unable to ride as fast
and as long as those who were stronger and
younger than herself, soon became exhausted
and was left behind. She had son, ma
jor in the Hungarian army, near the person
of the Governor, and both the son and the
mother were warmly attached to his inter-
ests. Madame L-,when unabled to pro-
| ceed longer with the fugitives, in order to