FOREIGN NEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 77, 26 June 1852, Page 4

FOREIGN NEWS.

AMERICA.

Kossuth.—M. Kossuth, on being presented to the President, addressed him as follows •— " Enlightened by the spirit of your country's institutions when we succeeded to consolidate our natural and historical State's right of selfgovernment by placing it upon the broad foundation of democratic liberty; inspired by your history when he had to fight for independence against annihilation by centralized absolutism • consoled by your people's sympathy when a victim of Russian interference with the laws of nature and of nature's God ; protected in exile by the Government of the United States supporting the Sultan of Turkey in his noble resolution to undergo the very danger of war rather than leave unprotected the rights of humanity against Russo-Austrian despotism; restored by the United States to life because restored to freedom, and by freedom to activity in behalf of those duties which, by my nation's unanimous confidence and sovereign will, devolved upon me ; raised in the eyes of many oppressed nations to the standing of a harbinger of hope, because the star-spangled banner was seen casting protection around me, announcing to the world that there is a nation alike powerful as free, ready to protect the laws of nations even in distant parts of the earth, and even in the person of a poor exile ; cheered by your people's sympathy so as freemen cheer no man whatever, but a principle—l now bow before you, Sir,-in the proud position of your great nation's guest generously welcomed by resolution of the Congress of the United States, with equal generosity approved and executed by your Excellency. I beg leave to express my fervent thanks, m my own name and in the name of my associates who, after having shared my misfortunes, have now the reward to share the honour and benefit which the great republic of the United States was pleased to bestow on Hungary, by bestowing it upon its freely chosen chief when he became a persecuted victim of despotic violence. I beg leave to express my fervent thanks, in my country's name, which also, amid the sorrows of its desolation, feels cheered by your country s generosity, and. looks with resolution to the impending future, because it is confident that the time draws near when the eternal code of tne laws of nations will become a reality, rrf 1' dent, I stand before your Excellency a h"", protestation against the violence of foreign terference oppressing the sovereign »S M* nations to regulate their own domestic « cerns. I stand before you a living Vfff^t against centralization oppressing thebtate r„ of self-government. May Ibe allowed to■ v* it for an augury of better times that, in ia « » on the happy shores of this glorious Bcpuo. , I landed in a free and powerful country, w< - honored chief magistrate proclaims to tne > that this country cannot remain mani when the strong arm of a foreign *W yoked to stifle public sentiment, and "j-^ the spirit of freedom in any country I t God that He deemed me not m^K Qo i and to suffer for my fatherland. 1 tnau that the fate of my country became J* mately connected with the fate of liDei i independence of nations of Europe' a* .„ Jf it was intimately connected with the secu ;

Christendom. I thank God that my country's unmerited woe and my personal sufferings be•une an opportunity to seek a manifestation of the spirit and principles of your Republic. May God Almighty bless you with a long life, that you may'enjoy the happiness to see your country great, glorious, and free, the corner stone of international justice and the column of freedom on the earth, as it is already an asylum to the oppressed. Sir, I beg to your country the everlasting gratitude of Hungary."

The President replied briefly to M. Kossuth's address in substance as follows : — " I am happy, Governor Kossuth, to welcome you to this land of freedom, and it gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon your release from a long confinement in Turkey, and your. late arrival here, as an individual, I sympathised deeply with you in your brave struggle for the independence and freedom of your native land. The American people can never be indifferent to such a contest, but our policy, as a nation, in this respect has been uniform from the commencement of our Government; and ray own views, as the chief executive magistrate of this nation, are fully and freely expressed in my recent Message to Congress, to which you have been pleased to allude. They are the same, whether speaking to Congress here or to the nations of Europe. Should your country be restored to independence and freedom, I should then wish you, as the greatest blessin«r you could enjoy, a restoration to your native land; but should that never happen, I can ouly repeat my welcome to you and your companions here, and pray that God's blessing may rest upon you wherever your lot may be cast."