Fraternity-Testvériség, 2002 (80. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2002-01-01 / 1. szám
FRATERNITY Page 9 In 1851, Kossuth was invited to the United States by the government as “the Nation’s guest.” After a stay of several weeks in England, where he was warmly received by the British people, he arrived at Staten Island, New York on December 4,1851. He visited virtually the entire United States (as it existed at that time), making impassioned pleas for political and financial support for the cause of Hungarian independence. He won over the hearts of the American people with his oratory and patriotism in over 300 public addresses and lectures. He was honored at many banquets, and hundreds of poems and songs were written about him. He was praised and lauded by such men as Daniel Webster, Horace Greeley, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. However, although his visit was a personal triumph and he secured significant funds to aid his cause, he was unsuccessful in achieving his primary goal of enlisting the active support and intervention of the United States Government in Hungary’s behalf. Kossuth left the United States on July 14, 1852 and returned to England, where he continued to champion the cause of Hungary’s independence through his speeches and writings. In 1859, he went to Turin, Italy, where he remained in exile for the rest of his life. Even after the Austrian- Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Kossuth refused to return to his native land while it was still under Habsburg rule. He spent his final years writing his memoirs and died in Turin on March 20,1894. His body was taken to Budapest for official burial by the capital city of Hungary. Despite governmental warnings, a period of official mourning was observed throughout Hungary. So, who was Louis Kossuth, this man who failed in the great endeavor of his life - to secure independence and self-determination for the peoples of Hungary? Count Albert Apponyi, in an address before the Hungarian House of Representatives upon Kossuth’s death in 1894, asked this very question and then answered it as follows: “Behold this nation before his hand was put to the wheel of her destinies. Was she a nation at all? Was she independent? Was she free? Was she a member of the great European family? In legal fiction, yes; but how in fact? In fact we see before us a shapeless multitude, tom by the conflicts of privilege and oppression, almost secluded from the great currents and the noble competition of the civilized world, having no independent government of its own, made subservient to a foreign power, uncertain even in its national self-consciousness, which now and then flashes up lightning-like in the patriotic outbursts of individuals, but has no firm hold on the masses; and, tho this people has a parliament, the power of that parliament hardly goes beyond the privilege of issuing impotent complaints - a picture, indeed, of decay and dissolution. And now behold the present state of the country. God be praised for what we became since. Tho very far still from the fulfillment of our destiny, we are a free nation strong in her unity, in the equality of her citizens; in the recognized power of her representation, a not unworthy sister of the greatest among civilized nations; conscious of our independence, we are governing ourselves in the spirit of liberty and progress; no aim appears too high for our legitimate ambition and undoubted possibilities. A picture, indeed, of hope and self-confidence. Between these two states of a nation stands a man whose name was Louis Kossuth. Behold and compare: the difference says who he was; he found the former, he created the latter.” Glorious and well-deserved sentiments, indeed! However, I submit that the question of real importance is not “Who was Louis Kossuth?” but rather, “Who is Louis Kossuth?” Kossuth is a man who continually crosses our paths in the present day. We are gathered in a building named for him to celebrate a portion of a 7 month trip he made to this country 150 years ago! We see statues of him KOSSUTH 1802-1894 ' FATHER OF HUNGARIAN DEMOCRACY HUNGARIAN STATESMAN FREEDOM FIGHTER 1848 — 1849 * v Bronze bust of Louis Kossuth presented to the Congress on March 15, 1990.
