Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-03-21
HIS DEEDS MAINLY A MEMORY


"iHbat "a country.
Vt ripe old age, with his faculties stll
bright and responsive, Louis Kossuth. the
great Hungarian patriot, has passed
quietly away. Although his name and
his deeds are mainly a memory with the
present generation, his death causes uni
versal sorrow. Once the dictator of Hun
gary, with his dream of national iuGepend-
encc on the verge of realization. the old
man Gled in exile and in GEOGRAPHICALLY
rian without = country-for kus~uth
would never bow the knee to the house OF
Hap> burg and refused all Inducements to
return to his native land With thousands
ready and even anxious to ease the burdens
of his later years he preserved Il spirit Of
sturdy independence to the last His nen
earned him a bare subsistence, and his
declining Years Were smoothed by the dt-
votion OF IA favorite sister The fire OF his
patriotism was never quencned. hut it
burned dull and rheerle,>ly amid the des-
olatiOn Of age and penury.
Il have no hope in the future, no con-
ISOLATION III the past was the mournful
manner IN which he recently referred u
the approaching end Of a career which was
once the glory and admiration Of ali lovers
OF liberty and heroism the world over.
VI
Hungary, April =, 1895. His parents y-ere
poor, but of noble rank. He WIS educated
n the Protestant college OF Sarospatak
where Ia qualified himself fog the practice
OF law. In lSiU hr became AGENT for the
Countess Szap.ry, a position which gave
him seat n the com!tal assembly. Two
years later, when the people Of Hungary
were grooming under the restrictions on
their rights and privileges, his active DO
Etical career began iii the diet OF Pres
burg. ~ III other countries, about this
critical period. the authorizes were ,fs-
posed 10 the publication OF debates or leg
i=lative proceeding. Known, the power
Of the press in the cause @. reform. nls-
suth founded "A paper in which speeches
were published and governmental affair,
fcarlessly discussed. The authorities took
alarm and tried in vain 10 stop the spread
OF liberal ideas
kossuth WIS threatened and his paper
suppressed. but he found means to keep
the people informed of national affairs,
and in 1854 he was imprisoned for the
publication of a Autographed new spapcr
His Imprisonment. which lasted about two
years, increased his popularity. and when
he was released be continued his wo, n
for hungarian freedom. Year by wear
despite numerous attempts at coercion.
ho~suth's influence spread He was he
recognized leader of the opposition il, e
diet, striving for the complete emaucIuu-
ton OF the peasants. the elevation OF the
citizen class and the freedom of the pres
In ISIS the French revolution. the great
stimulus of radical doctrines. suurrcG Kos
s1Ith on 10 broader subjects He demanded
independent government for hi. country
and constitutional government IN the
hereditary territories OF Austria.
Il was his burning eloquencc more than
anything else that started the revolution
and instruction in Vienna The ministry
was dissolved III September, ISIS. and Kos
suth was placed at the head OF the com
mittee Of national defense. Events fol
lowed thick and fast after this Measures
for pushing the war agaiust Austria were
prosecuted wiki great energy At Deb
reczin in April. 1870. the independence Of
Hungary was declared and kossGth made
provisional governor Then came Diff
culties and dlsSensions III the ranks of the
patriots. Russia threw herself into the
Austrian cause, and To end the ieal-
ousy Of GorEei, his political rival in the
great struggle. kosSuth resigned the die
tatorship. The patriots were defeated in
August, lS49, and kossuth fled into Tur.
key, where ne was held Il prisoner
Despite the pressure OF Russia and Aus
tr.a the sultan refused to surrender the
patriot, who through the Intervention of
England and the United States was al
lowed TO leave Turkey. In December. 1851
accompanied by his wife. he was conveyed
to the United States as the nations guest
by the warship Mississippi, which had
been dispatch for that purpose. What
followed is well known. kossuth was re
,.,l -.,i,
ihusiasm. He became the friend OF Daniel
Webster and, other great statesmen of the
time. He addressed meetings in the large
cities in advocacy of the claim of Hungary
to independence. Ills eloquence was re-
garded as marvellous, but the coup d'etat
of Napoleon III struck fatal blow TO
his agitation, and in spite OF popular
sympathy with the great exile his mission
fell flat.
Kossuth returned to Europe in July,
1852, and joined hands with Mazzini and
l.edro Rollin. He delivered lectures in
Great Britain on history and European
politics, and became as popular there as he
was i'll the United States. In 1859 he pro-
posed plan of attack on Austria to Louis
Napoleon. but the peace of Nillairanca pre-
vented its contamination. The Hungarian
legion was dissolved, and Kossuth re
turned TO England bitterly disappointed.
lie removed To Turin (where lie died) in
loj@ During the war of 1866 he tried
again to rouse the HunGarians, but failed.
Ills hopes fled with this failure and he re-
manned IN exile, preparing his memoirs.
studying scientific subjects and writing
occasional articles for magazines.
kossuth always entertained a warm af-
lection for the United States, which at
iorded him asylum and substantial en-
couraSement in time of need. At his
humble home in Turin he was always glad
- receive Americans. When he was de
nationali1ed bv the action OF Hungarian