Fraternity-Testvériség, 1994 (72. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1994-01-01 / 1. szám
FRATERNITY Page 8 continued to press Hülsemann for the removal of Webster as the only “acceptable satisfaction,” the unhappy diplomat took off to the Southern states for some exploration of the American domestic situation on his own. Kossuth’s further itinerary covered the Northeast and the Midwest, where he met with continuing success. According to the January 14 issue of the New York Herald, Kossuth’s proposal for “intervention for non-intervention” had been, by that time, submitted for consideration in the assemblies of the states of New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Alabama. Notes on this tour were taken by the talented, Viennese-educated wife of Francis Pulszky, Kossuth’s indefatigable right hand in the organization of his American visit. Therese Pulszky’s entry for February 6 was typical: Feb. 6th — On the 4th, we set out from Cleveland in a railway-car gaily adorned, as usually, on our journey. It was fully crowded, so much that I was surprised to read in the paper that it was a special car for us. But the committees that accompanied us were numerous; their wives, children, and relatives like to participate in the festive trip ... We stopped at Beria, Grafton, Lagrange (so called in honour of the country seat of Lafayette in France), at Wellington and New-London. All these embryos of future towns consist of scattered plank-houses, and sketches of streets, paved as yet only with mud. The scenery offered no attraction; the woods around are all young. A tree two centuries old is very rare; they were burnt in the Indian border-warfare, to frighten away the deer, and with them the hunters ... I had an interesting conversation with a German resident of Cleveland, who ... remarked that sooner or later all the Germans coming to the United States lose their nationality. I told him that I thought that it was because their language and turn of mind are too metaphysical, that they must yield to a practical people. Power has always rested with force and action, not with thought and reasoning. We dined at Shelby. It was one of those public meals where hundreds of curious eyes devour every one of our glances and our movements, and our appetites into the bargain. The dishes on the table were choice, - a mixture of English, French and German fare; but, as generally in America, they were not cleanly prepared, and therefore not savory. Our party had hardly left the seats, when the public rushed to the table, seized upon the dainties, and made them disappear in an instant. That same evening, they arrived at Columbus, and there Kossuth delivered his great address, “Democracy, the Spirit of Our Age,” to the Ohio Legislature. In it he said: Almost every century has had one predominant idea which imparted a common direction to the activity of nations. This predominant idea is the spirit of the age, invisible yet omnipresent, impregnable, all-pervading, scorned, abused, opposed and yet omnipotent. The spirit of our age is Democracy. All for the people and all by the people. Nothing about the people without the people. As Governor Wood requested, the manuscript of this address was left in the care of the State Archives of Ohio. Kossuth went on to Cincinnati and addressed a banquet honoring Washington’s birthday. During his stay there, he was received as a member of the Free and Accepted Masons. His application gives the following description Daguerrotype of Lajos Kossuth, 1852, New York
