The morning call., 1894-03-22
KOSSUTH.

! 1t is more than forty years since Kossuth
/ landed al Castle Garden, the guest of the
nation. the idol of the crowd, the type OF
the modern hero. He was received as no
foreigner except Lafayette has ever been
received. Horace Greeley and other en-
thusias:s over1ow wed in tributes of adula-
tiOn. No one but cynical old James Cor
don Bennett uttered discordant note OF
sarcasm or tried 10 check the burst OF pop
ular feeling with jarring sneers. He
asked. What has the man done that we
should make a god of him ?" a proper
answer would have told not what be had
done, but what he was and what ne had
tried to do.
hossuth possessed one extraord ary
gift. He was a consummate master of
oratory, and many languages were the
same to him. He could address an audi
ence with equal fuency in German. or
French, or Hungarian. or Italian, or Eng
lish. No matter what language he was
using he never hesitated for a word. His
sOnorOus sentences flowed in cadence,
now with the impetuosity of a mountain
torrent, and now with the calm, resistless
momentum of mighty river. This gave
him power over men and made him a pop
ular hero.
But besides that he had played a large
part In the great Liberal and revolutionary
movement In Europe of 1S4S. A member
OF small noble family of Hungary. he
had been elected to the Diet ana became
the leader Of the advanced revolutiOniSts
OF Hungary. The political, industrial and
commercial independence of Hungary was
his object. AS Provisional Governor and
No. Mt
Defense he displayed extraordinary vigor
and devotion. Austria drew the sword,
and with the assistance of Russia crushed
Hungary.
The sympathy which Kossuth attracted
in this country and in England was largely
due 20 the detestation in which Austria
was held. At that time-it is very fer
ent n0w-the Austrian Government was a
brutal, domineering, bloodthirsty abs0lut-
ism. Its policy typiied modern tyranny,
a regime in which the citizen was nothing
and the monarch and the soldier every
thing. All who visited that most delight
ful of cities. Vienna, shook the dust from
their feet when they left 1t and thanked
the stars that their heads were still on
their shoulders. Kossuth appeared as the
personal enemy Of that odouS Govern
ment. He was a knight In armor who
poised his lance against a despotism which
mankind loathed. Il was partly because
OF this altitude that he became so popular
That man with KOssuth's gifts should
not have done something more with the
forty years Of life which were left TO hun
is hardly surprising considering his char
acter. His forte was as q leader of men
rather than as statesman. In exile he
had nothing to write with or on. For
many years he was a newspaper writer
and lecturer in England, but his fame died
out and people grew little weary of his
TRADES against the Hapsburgs. He re-
tired to Turin some twenty years ago.
There, as in England, his song one burden
bore-DOwn with Austria.
He wrote for Italian papers, wrote books,
taught languages and maintained an hon.
Orable independence. Fourteen years ago
be Austrian Government with unspeaka-
bic bitterness passed law which deprived
him Of his rights as an Hungarian citizen.
The excuse was that he would not have
been week in PeSth before he had con-
cocted some conspiracy or other.
Kossuth failed, but he nspired Hungary
with a spirit which enabled Deale aud
other statesmen to accomplish nearly all
that he sought. Hungary is now the lead
ing element in Austria-Huugary, and lib
eralism has largely displaced desDotism in
that empire. Now that Kossuth is dead
he will have due honor in his own coun-
try. A significant dispatch from Buda-
Pesth says that such honors alone can
avert the fall of the Ministry.