Select Speeches of Kossuth Part 29

To me this moment is one of solemn importance. I stand at the close of my wanderings in America. My words are those of farewell.

In these six months I have been enriched by many an experience. I had much to unlearn, but I have likewise learnt much.

Whatever be the result of my exertions, so much is sure, that they have linked more closely the hearts of the Germans and Hungarians, and have matured the instinct of solidarity into self-conscious conviction. This result alone is worth a warm utterance of thanks; it will heavily weigh in the future of the world.

And this result, dear friends, is it not achieved? The hearts of the German and the Hungarian are linked more closely; they throb like the hearts of twins which have rested under the same mother's breast; they throb like the hearts of brothers, who, hand in hand, attain the baptism of blood; they throb like the hearts of two comrades, on the eve of the battle, decided to hold together like the blade and the handle.

The echo of this harmony of German song fills yet the air of this hall; it thrills yet through the soul of the ladies and through the bosom of the resolute men. Let the word harmony between the Germans and Hungarians be the consecration of the present moment, which melts together our feelings, in order that, self-conscious of the sublime aim, which unites our nations and us all in brotherhood, we may unite in intention, unite in resolution, unite in endurance, unite in activity for the aim which fills your souls and mine.

And what is this aim which thrills through our bosoms like a magnetic current? The aim is the solidarity and independence of nations;--the freedom of our people--their liberation from the yoke of tyranny.

With this aim before my eyes and decided resolution in my heart, I feel here amidst you as Werner Stauffacher felt, when, in the hour of the night, on the Ruttli, G.o.d above him and the sword in his hand, he made the covenant with his two friends against tyrannical Austria.

Let this meeting here become the symbol of a similar covenant; three[*]

were the men who made it, and Switzerland became free. Let us three nations make a similar covenant, and the world becomes free. Germany, Hungary, and Italy! hurrah for the new Ruttli-covenant! G.o.d increase the number of them, as he increased the number of those on the Ruttli, and our triune band, strong in itself, will readily greet every one, and meet him as a brother, having the same rights in the great council of the Amphictyons, where the nations will give their verdict against tyrants and tyranny, on the battle-field, with the thunder of the cannons and the clas.h.i.+ng of swords; and will put the independence of every nation under the common guarantee of all, in order that every one of them may regulate her own domestic affairs, without foreign interference, and every people may govern itself, not acknowledging any master but the Almighty. They, will increase the members of this covenant, but Germany, Hungary, and Italy, they are neighbours, and have the same enemy. Hurrah! for the new covenant of Stauffacher!

[Footnote *: Werner Stauffacher, Walter Furst, and Arnold of the Melchthal; November 11th, 1307.]

Now, by the G.o.d who led my people from the prairies of far Asia to the banks of the Danube--of the Danube, whose waves have brought religion, science, and civilization from Germany to us, and in whose waves the tears of Germany and Hungary are mingled; by the G.o.d who led us, when on the soil watered by our blood we were the bulwark of Christendom; by the G.o.d who gave strength to our arm in the struggle for freedom, until our oppressor, this G.o.dless House, which weighed so heavily on the liberties of Germany for centuries, was humbled, and sunk down to be the underling of the Muscovite Czar; by the ties of common oppression which tortures our nation--by the ties of the same love of liberty, and of the same hatred of tyranny which boils in the veins of our people--by the remembrance of the day[*] when the Germans of Vienna rose to bar the way toward Hungary against the hirelings of despotism--and by the blood which flowed on the plain of Schwechat[**] from Hungarian hearts for the deliverance of Vienna; by the Almighty Eye which watches the fate of mankind--by all these, I pledge myself, I pledge that the people of Hungary will keep this covenant honestly, faithfully, and truly, in life and death.

[Footnote *: October 5th, 1848]

[Footnote **: October 30th, 1848]

I tender the brother-hand of Hungary to the German people, because I am convinced that it is essentially necessary for the freedom and independence of my country. Destined as we are to be the vanguard of freedom, I know well that as long as Germany remains enslaved, even the victory of our liberty would remain insecure; as long as Germany remains an army, whose power is wielded by the criminal hand of the house of Hapsburg; as long as Russia has nothing to fear from Germany, because the two masters of Germany are but underlings of Russia--obeying the command of their master, because he maintains them on their tottering thrones against their own people; so long Russia will always have the arrogance to throw her despotic sword into the scale against the freedom of the world.

I am not the first who say it, that the freedom of Germany is the condition of the liberty of the world; history tells it with a thousand tongues, every statesman acknowledges it, and all the despots know it.

Twenty years past, when the German Princes recovered from the stunning blow of the July Revolution, by finding out that LOUIS PHILIPPE was not in earnest with his phrases of liberty, when, in the year 1832, they united to enslave the German people, and to retract the concessions which they had given in the fright of their hearts; when they curtailed all the Const.i.tutional guarantees, then HENRY LYTTON BULWER, the same who was Amba.s.sador in Was.h.i.+ngton during the last year, rose in the English Parliament, and claimed that England should not permit the liberty and independence of the German people to be crushed. He claimed the attention of the world to the great truths that _the peace of Europe cannot be secured without a strong Germany, and that Germany cannot be strong without freedom._ A free Germany is a bulwark against the encroachments of France and the arrogance of Russia.

Germany enslaved, is either the prey of the former or the tool of the other. His prophecy is fulfilled; Germany is become half the prey and wholly the tool of Russia. Who then can calculate on security and peace and freedom, as long as Germany is thus enslaved.

You see, dear friends, that the brotherly union with Germany must be of sacred importance to me, and that my heart must beat as fervently for Germany's freedom, as for that of my own people. Therefore, I necessarily wished to bequeath the care of the seed which I have sown, to men urged to this task of love, not only by enlightened American patriotism--not only by the conscience of right and duty and prudence, but likewise especially by love for their old German fatherland. And do I not express only the sentiments of your own hearts, when I say, "The German may wander from his father's house, and may build for himself a new home in a distant country, yet he ever loves truly and faithfully his own old German fatherland"?

I request you to exert your influence, that the idea of the solidarity of the struggle for European liberty may be well understood, and that preparations be made to support the revolution, whenever it breaks out.

There is nothing more dangerous than to say: "The Hungarian, the Italian, or the German fights; let us see whether he succeeds; if he succeeds, we too will try the same." By the isolation of the nations the combined despots become victorious. Let everybody support Liberty, wherever she struggles. But, on the other side, the forces of the revolution cannot so pledge and tie themselves, as to be thrown into the abyss by every ill-combined premature outbreak. _Not an_ "EMEUTE,"

_but a_ REVOLUTION _is our aim_; and therefore the leaders of the movement of the different nations must combine either in a simultaneous outbreak, or to mutual support; and in this combination there must be absolute freedom and equality.

There are persons in this country who did me the honour to mention that I would lead the German movement. No! gentlemen; that would be a presumptuous arrogance, even if it were practical, which it is not. This idea itself is the most antagonistical to my principles. No!--No! No foreign interference with the domestic affairs of a nation. I will not bear it in Hungary, nor obtrude it abroad. Full independence is my watchword.

But you will ask who are, or who were, the leaders of Germany, with whom I still combine? The question is easily answered; you will acknowledge them from their works. Whoever comes to tender me his hand as a confederate, I do not ask who he is, where he comes from?--but I ask, "What do you weigh? what power do you command? what forces have you organized? or what are your prospects or means of organization?" and then I inquire into the truth myself. I judge the vitality of the intention, and accept or decline the proffered brotherly alliance of mutual support.

This is my way. I do not think that Germany will ever combine under the leaders.h.i.+p of one man; but there are many Germans in the different parts of Germany who enjoy the confidence of their countrymen, and have a leading influence. Every one of these can act in his sphere. I, my friends, will be always ready to combine with every one who does, and who has some forces to tender to the league. I do not care for names, for petty party disputes, or for those which belong to the domestic questions.

[Kossuth proceeded, in a.s.sent to a special request, to give his advice as to the method of proceeding suitable to the German voters in America; and closed by saying:]

Those are the principles, my dear friends, which should lead you, according to my humble opinion, in the present crisis. And if you take into kind consideration my bequest, and exert your influence and active aid on behalf of the movement for freedom in Europe, I can but a.s.sure you, for my grateful farewell, that there are hundreds of thousands in Europe who take those words for their device, which the other day, the German singers sang, as if from the depth of my heart.

"And never shall rest the s.h.i.+eld and the spear, Till destroyed we see, and laid in the dust, The enemies all."

May G.o.d help me! This is my oath, and this oath my farewell!

LII.--THE FUTURE OF NATIONS.

[_A Lecture in New York_.]

The following Lecture was delivered at the Broadway Tabernacle by request of a large number of ladies and gentlemen of New York, for the purpose of obtaining the means necessary to secure to the exiled family of Kossuth, consisting of his aged mother, his sisters and their children, an establishment by which they might earn an independent livelihood.

The New York 'Evening Post' says of the Lecture:--

"Kossuth appears nowhere greater than in this able discourse. His comprehensive politics, his beautiful sympathies, his power over language, his poetic imagination, his magnetic and melting earnestness of purpose, are blended with that depth of religious feeling which gives to his character as a patriot the sanct.i.ty and unction of the prophet.

His moral and intellectual faculties are shown in harmony, working out the great and beneficent purposes of his commanding will.

"It would be difficult to select any portion of this speech as better than another, and we therefore commend the whole to the reader's careful examination."

Ladies and gentlemen,--During six months I appeared many times before the tribunal of public opinion in America. This evening I appear before you in the capacity of a working man. My aged mother, tried by more sufferings than any living being on earth, and my three sisters, one of them a widow with two fatherless orphans, together a homeless family of fourteen unfortunate souls, have been driven by the Austrian tyrant from their home, that Golgotha of murdered right, that land of the oppressed, but also of undesponding braves, and the land of approaching revenge.

When Russian violence, aided by domestic treason, succeeded to accomplish what Austrian perjury could not achieve, and I with bleeding heart went into exile, my mother and all my sisters were imprisoned by Austria; but it having been my constant maxim not to allow to whatever member of my family any influence in public affairs, except that I intrusted to the charitable superintending of my youngest sister the hospitals of the wounded heroes, as also to my wife the cares of providing for the furniture of these hospitals, not even the foulest intrigues could contrive any pretext for the continuation of their imprisonment. And thus when diplomacy succeeded to fetter my patriotic activity by the internation to far Asia, after some months of unjust imprisonment, my mother and sisters and their family have been released; and though surrounded by a thousand spies, tortured by continual interference with their private life, and hara.s.sed by insulting police measures, they had at least the consolation to breathe the native air, to see their tears falling upon native soil, and to rejoice at the majestic spirit of our people, which no adversities could bend and no tyranny could break.

But at last by the humanity of the Sultan, backed by American generosity, seconded by England, I once more was restored to personal freedom, and by freedom to activity. Having succeeded to escape the different snares and traps which I unexpectedly met, I considered it my duty publicly to declare that the war between Austrian tyranny and the freedom of Hungary is not ended yet, and swore eternal resistance to the oppressors of my country, and declared that, faithful to the oath sworn solemnly to my people, I will devote my life to the liberation of my fatherland. Scarcely reached the tidings of this my after resolution the b.l.o.o.d.y Court of Vienna, than two of my sisters were again imprisoned; my poor old mother escaping the same cruelty only on account that bristling bayonets of the bloodhounds of despotism, breaking in the dead of night upon the tranquil house, and the persecution of my sisters, hurried away out of Hungary to the prisons of Vienna, threw her in a half-dying condition upon a sick bed. Again no charge could be brought against the poor prisoners, because, knowing them in the tiger's den, and surrounded by spies, I not only did not communicate any thing to them about my foreign preparations and my dispositions at home, but have expressly forbidden them to mix in any way with the doings of patriotism.

But tyrants are suspicious. You know the tale about Marcius. He dreamt that he cut the throat of Dionysius the tyrant, and Dionysius condemned him to death, saying that he would not have dreamt such things in the night if he had not thought of it by day. Thus the Austrian tyrant imprisoned my sisters, because he suspected that, being my sisters, they must be initiated in my plans. At last, after five months of imprisonment, they were released, but upon the condition that they, as well as my mother and all my family, shall leave our native land. Thus they became exiles, homeless, helpless, poor. I advised them to come to your free country--the asylum of the oppressed, where labour is honoured, and where they must try to live by their honest work.

They followed my advice, and are on their way; but my poor aged mother and my youngest sister, the widow with the two orphans, being stopped by dangerous sickness at Brussels, another sister stopped with them to nurse them. The rest of the family is already on the way--in a sailing s.h.i.+p of course, I believe, and not in a steamer. We are poor. My mother and sisters will follow so soon as their health permits.

I felt the duty to help them in their first establishment here. For this I had to work, having no means of my own.

Some generous friends advised me to try a lecture for this purpose, and I did it. I will not act the part of crying complainants about our misfortunes; we will bear them. Let me at once go to my task.

There is a stirring vitality of busy life about this your city of New York, striking with astonishment the stranger's mind. How great is the progress of Humanity! Its steps are counted by centuries, and yet while countless millions stand almost at the same point where they stood, and some even have declined since America first emerged out of an unexplored darkness which had covered her for thousands of years, like the gem in the sea; while it is but yesterday a few pilgrims landed on the wild coast of Plymouth, flying from causeless oppression, seeking but for a place of refuge and of rest, and for a free spot in the wilderness to adore the Almighty in their own way; still, in such a brief time, shorter than the recorded genealogy of the n.o.ble horse of the wandering Arab; yes, almost within the turn of the hand, out of the unknown wilderness a mighty empire arose, broad as an ocean, solid as a mountain-rock, and upon the scarcely rotted roots of the primitive forest, proud cities stand, teeming with boundless life, growing like the prairie's gra.s.s in spring, advancing like the steam-engine, baffling time and distance like the telegraph, and spreading the pulsation of their life-tide to the remotest parts of the world; and in those cities and on that broad land a nation, free as the mountain air, independent as the soaring eagle, active as nature, and powerful as the giant strength of millions of freemen.

How wonderful! What a present--and what a future yet!

Future?--then let me stop at this mysterious word--the veil of unrevealed eternity!

The shadow of that dark word pa.s.sed across my mind, and amid the bustle of this gigantic bee-hive, there I stood with meditation alone.

And the spirit of the immovable Past rose before my eyes, unfolding the misty picture-rolls of vanished greatness, and of the fragility of human things.

And among their dissolving views, there I saw the scorched soil of Africa, and upon that soil Thebes with its hundred gates, more splendid than the most splendid of all the existing cities of the world; Thebes, the pride of old Egypt, the first metropolis of arts and sciences, and the mysterious cradle of so many doctrines which still rule mankind in different shapes, though it has long forgotten their source. There I saw Syria with its hundred cities, every city a nation, and every nation with an empire's might. Baalbec, with its gigantic temples, the very ruins of which baffle the imagination of man, as they stand like mountains of carved rocks in the desert where for hundreds of miles not a stone is to be found, and no river flows, offering its tolerant back to carry a mountain's weight upon, and yet there they stand, those gigantic ruins; and as we glance at them with astonishment, though we have mastered the mysterious elements of nature, and know the combination of levers, and how to catch the lightning, and to command the power of steam and of compressed air, and how to write with the burning fluid out of which the thunderbolt is forged, and how to drive the current of streams up the mountain's top, and how to make the air s.h.i.+ne in the night like the light of the sun, and how to dive to the bottom of the deep ocean, and how to rise up to the sky--though we know all this, and many things else, still, looking at the temples of Baalbec, we cannot forbear to ask what people of giants was that, which could do what neither the efforts of our skill nor the ravaging hand of unrelenting time can undo, through thousands of years. And then I saw the dissolving picture of Nineveh, with its ramparts now covered with mountains of sand, where Layard is digging up colossal winged bulls, huge as a mountain, and yet carved with the nicety of a cameo; and then Babylon, with its wonderful walls; and Jerusalem, with its unequalled temple; Tyrus, with its countless fleets; Arad, with its wharves; and Sidon, with its labyrinth of work-shops and factories; and Ascalon, and Gaza, and Beyrout, and farther off Persepolis, with its world of palaces.

All these pa.s.sed before my eyes as they have been, and again they pa.s.sed as they now are, with no trace of their ancient greatness, but here and there a ruin, and everywhere the desolation of tombs. With all their splendour, power, and might, they vanished like a bubble, or like the dream of a child, leaving but for a moment a drop of cold sweat upon the sleeper's brow, or a quivering smile upon his lips; then, this wiped away, dream, sweat, smile--all is nothingness.

So the powerful cities of the ancient greatness of a giant age; their very memory but a sad monument of the fragility of human things.

And yet, proud of the pa.s.sing hour's bliss, men speak of the future, and believe themselves insured against its vicissitudes!

And the spirit of history rolled on the misty shapes of the past before the eyes of my soul. After those cities of old came the nations of old.