The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-05-06
LOUIS KOSSUTH.
Sketch of the Hungarian Patriot
Who Led the Magyars Against
Austria in 1848.
AN IRRECONClLABLE REBEL.
He Lives in Retirement at Turin
and is Now Ninety One
Years Of Age.

and is Now Ninety One
Years Of Age.
Among the "grand old men" of the
world leading place must surely be
gwen to LOUIS Kossuth, who completed
his 91et year of life on April 27. There
are still many who remember his great
struggle for the freedom Of Hungary, and
who joined with the multitude who
greeted him with cries of "E]jen Kos
suthp' when he was the guest of the
United States, though that was more
than q generation ago.
It is a curious circumstance that Kos
snth, the le der Of the Magyars, is not
himself Magyar at all, but Croatian.
He was born on April 81, 1902, at Monok,
of a Croatian family, seventeen members
of which between 1927 and 1715 had been
prosecuted for high treason by the Aus.
trian government. No wonder, then,
that he became foe of that power.
The conflict began when he was so years
old, at which time he was sent to the diet
at Presburg as substitute for an absent
magnate. Without much influence in
this aristocratic body he began to report
it's proceedings in manuscript journal
which be intended at first to publish.
This, however, was prohibited by an old
law. He had procured photographic
press for the purpose of multiplying
copies of his report, but an interdict from
the Austrian government arrested the
printing. He then employed secretaries
to write out the report, the editions of
these sometimes reaching 10000 copies.
Following up this idea, he began the
publication OF a newsletter at Pesth in
1886, which reported the proceedings of
the county meetings. He also took
leading part in the defense of prisoners
prosecuted at that time for political
offenses. His activity was great and it is
said that when much occupied he al
lowed himself only three hours sleep out
of the twenty y-four The majority of the
counties were aroused against the ille-
galities of this royal court of justice, but
naturally he was not permitted to go on.
He was arrested in 1887 and sentenced
in 1888 to three years imprisonment,
during part of which he was cut off
from all communications with his friends
and was denied the use of pen and ink
and even of books. In the second year
he was allowed to read, but as all po]iti-
English grammer, Walkers pronouncing
dictionary and Shakespeare. Without
knowing single word, he began to read
''The Tempest" He was engaged for a
fortnight in getting through the first
page. He made rule never to 20 on
reading anything without perfectly un-
derstanding what he read. "Look," he
said afterward, what an instrument in
the hands of Providence became my little
knowledge of the English language,
which was obliged to learn because for
bidden to meddle with politics +"
In May, 1s4O, Kossuth was liberated
by general AN nesty. The diet had be-
come refractory; to Austria, needing an
increase of her military establishment, a
levy of $4,000 Hungarian troops was re-
fused; Metternich finally resolved upon
policy of Cancellation, and the prison
doors were opened to Kossuth. He came
out with shattered health but with an
indomitable spirit. A bookseller at
Pesth had received permission to publish
a newspaper, the Pesti Hirlap. or Pesth
Gazette. This soon became daily news
paper with circulation of $4,000 and
corresponding influence. It was the
champion of the middle classes against
the Hungarian nobility, which established
a rival journal. In l847 Kossuth was re-
turned to the diet for the county OF
Pesth, being strongly supported by Count
Louis Batthyanyi, and g on as an orator
and debater he made his influence felt.
Then came the great work of his life;
first as champion of the common peo-
pie against henobility of Hungar, itself,
and then as the leader OF all Hungary
against the tyranny of Austria. It was
in the fall Of 1848 that Austrian Injustice
finally drove Hungary to declare its inde-
pendence and to make Kossuth it's gov
ernor or president. A desperate war fol-
lowed. Russia came to the aid of Aus
tFia. The Hungarians were crushed and
Kossuth fed to the Turkish empire for
safety. The story Of those events fills
many chapters OF European history.
Doubtless the exiled leader, in response
to the demands and threats of Austria
and Russia. would have been surrendered