The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-04-04
Ko..uth Honored in New York.

II IL natural that our Hungarian fellow
citizens should wish to commemorate with
fitting ceremonies the death Of the great
patriot who has been laid to rest In the soil
which he strove to liberate. In this desire
they have the sympathy Of all sound
hearted Americans. without distinction OF
descent. for we all acclaim In LOUIS Kos
sUTH representative OF the principles OF
national independence and republican gov
eminent. which on this side Of the Atlantic
find their supreme embodiment In WASH
YNoToN. When the illustrious Magyar Wis
tied this city upward Of forty years ago.
there were among those who greeted him
some who could remember our first Presl-
dent and who had welcomed LAFAYETTE,
and they recognized In their Hungarian
guest man whom history would place In
the front rank OF revolutionists. and whose
extraordinary eloouence. although for the
moment it seemed frultless. was destined
to infuse a splendid aspiration and an in
domitable purpose into his countrymen.
There are not few men still living In
New York who can recall the astonishing
effect produced by KossuTH upon an Amer
lean audience, though he was forced to ad-
dress 1t In q language which to him was
alien, and which he had laboriously &C.
uuired In prison with but two text books.
the plays OF SHAKESPEARE and the English
Bible. Those who heard him at that time
in this city, were we'll qualified to Judge OF
oratory. for they had repeatedly listened to
DANIEL WEBSTER. Their verdict was that
never. even in the great expounder OF our
Constitution, had they witnessed moro
wonderful mastery OF the spoken word, q
~ at
once the brain and the heart, OF combining
q lucid. orderly. and logical development OF
elevating thought with an electric and IRE
sistible appeal to the generous emotions.
As they hearkened to KossUTH pleading in q
strange tongue to strangers the cause OF
his native land. q cause not lost In loss It
self, the thrill which shook them made
them understand the marvels accomplished
by that voice amid the turmoil Of faction
and In tho teeth OF appalling odds: how In
Budapest 1t had welded at will the fierce
Magyar democracy. and launched Its levies
In mad. hopeless onset on the united legions
Of two empires.
The voice Of KossUTH has long been
silent. but the impulse which he kindled
and fostered In his countrymen until 1t
burst forth devouring flame. has proved
unquenchable by violence. or even by the
Establishments which have followed the
disuse Of force. Much Of the work to which
he set his hands has since been wrought by
his disciples. and stands forth Q solid and
Imposing structure. needing to finish 1t
but tho capstone OF complete national In
dependence. It was because he regarded
as indispensable such an addition to the
fabric reared by DEkK and ANDRAssY. that
KossUTH chose to die in exile rather than
TO acknowledge the HAPsBURGs as Kings of
Hungary. and accept as definite and final
the federative connection Of his country
with the Cislelthan kingdom. The twen-
tistk century will determine whether. in
defending his refusal to sanction any Or
ganic compromise with the HAPsBURGs. Kos
sUrH was not rs wise as no was eloquent.