St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-05-10

Turin. Kossuth knew that l was
not a professional interviewer; that
outside his door, no boy stood wait
ing for copy" and he talked freely
and with that same eloquence which,
nearly forty years before, had made
his English tongue the wonder of the
English speaking people who had
listened to his oratory.
Speaking of Europe, he said: "Eu-
rope is today one grand barrack.
Great revolutions are before US
enormous armies menace the peace
of Europe, and a terrible war is soon
er or later sure to come. Russia"
he said, sis grand in its extent and
marvellous in it's physical resources;
but nothing but great wars can
work out the solution of the great
political and social questions which
agitate the empire of the ear. Ger
many in the person OF her emperor
seems to have deeply at heart the
interests of the masses, but between
the people and the throne there IS a
great gulf fixed and serious social
troubles are in store for Germany"
l refer red to his own native land. |
told him Of my trip on the Danube
from its mouth to the capital of
Austria; of the grandeur of the
mountain scenery, where the Danube
breaks through the lower Carpa-
THAN chain at the Iron Gates" l
told him of my journey across
the wheat and corn fields Of Hungary
to the famous summer resorts OF the
upper Carpathians. l referred to
weeks spent in his own city, Buda
Pesth; of a dinner with his old
friend and companion in his early
exile, MI. Pulzsky. AS he listened,
there was mingled with his interest
an expression Of deep sadness as he
said, Hungary is beautiful, but still
not free. My old home l shall never
see again, but shall die here in this
country, where an asylum was opened
to me by the friends who made Italy
free. England" he said, is great in
power and riches, but no greater
today than yesterday. She has seen
her greatest glory. America is
young, just commencing to grow.
God has so much more richly en-
dowed America than any other ma
ton, thatyour country will lead the
world in population, wealth, power.
Matthew Arnold has truly said
America holds the future"
This was the way Kossuth talked
and l quote the words he used, for,
the moment | left him, l made a YER
batim memorandum OF the interview
His talk was more of America than
of any other country. He spoke en-
Enthusiastically of his ovation there,
and said, Americans are always
dear to me, and their country a re-
minder of some of the happiest days
of my life" He spoke of our daily
papers, and of the men who conduct
ed them, Greeley, Bennett, Dana, and
he said, Horace Greeley ought to
have realized that he was too wide
ly known, and his political theories
too pronounced, to ever become presi-
dent" and he added, the republi-
cans have just chosen a man as their
standard bearer (Mr. Harrison)
who has the legacy of a good name
and l think he will make a good and
wise leader" His knowledge Of our
country physically, and our affairs
political, social, religious and COM
merciai, surprised me. He spoke of
our civil war, and asked me about
the South, whether it was recover
ing rapidly, and whether the colored
people were showing themselves cap
able of exercising the powers which
emancipation act placed in
their hands. l illustrated my asser-
tions that the colOred race were
making progress by giving him
many individual cases which had
come under my own observation.
You know" he said, Il have al
ways loved humanity, but now in
my old age l am compelled from ne
cessity to love it at a distance, for,
ty years, 1 know, outside my family.
only my tailor and shoemaker. l
read much now, and though names
and dates are easily lost, l do o
fail to grasp and hold the real phil
osophy of history. When a boy, l
read with hardly a moments rest
all the volumes of Guthrie's Univer-
sal History. This avalanche of his
tory so overwhelmed me with names
and dates that ven my birthday l
was in doubt about"
AS I rose to leave, Kossuth rose,
and walking to a chest of drawers,
took from one of them two photo
graphs, and coming % me, he said
Here you have Kossuth at thirty
nine and Kossuth at eighty-six-this
a bit of antiquity in ruin. l
give you, with my autograph, the
bit of antiquity in ruin" And here
it lies before me as l write, remind
ing me pleasantly of the hour at
which 1 have hastily out
lined in this letter.
Naturally, I am reminded of other
one a private one with
Alfonso XII. and the present Queen
mine months before the
death of the King in a beautiful