THE Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1894. LOUIS KOSSUTH.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2637, 24 March 1894, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1894. LOUIS KOSSUTH.

Death has removed one of the truest patriots and the bravest of men in the person of Louis Kossuth. To understand Kossuth's motives and aotious through life it is necessary, first of all, to understand the circumstances by which he was animated. Hungary, the land of his birth, passed bloodlessly under the domiuiou of Austria in the 10th century, through the marriage of a Hungarian princess to au Austrian prince. Tho relations of the two nations becune h uceforward like those which Hxinteti between J&uglaud and iiclaud. Juofc exactly like England and Ireland up to llic lima i,» the Uniou iu 1800, botii countries had their own Parli.-iuicu », but iu the begin - uiug of the present century tho eoaatitutioii of Hungury was suspended, and **»u igd to rebellion and dis union between £ a tW° nations. Iu the year 1800 Kossuth was b? r u I lie came of noble though poor parents, and after having been educated for the law, lie entered public I'm W » member of Parliament at the aga U{ JW frffsffl. The Miocv " Austrian UuvoniSMiUfc at t|f4 H&w would not allow thy proceedings ol J f ui'd»»»f«W j to be reported, and Kossuth very 90011 started a newspaper, with the view of exposing the wrong-doing 3 of tho governing classes, but found himself before long sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment. There was nothing very extraordinary in this. John Wilkes, the publisher of the Junius letters, was punished for a similar oil'ence ; and indeed it has been the policy of all Governments to conceal their actions as much us possible. After (spending about a couple of years iu gaol Kossuth was amnestied, but no sooner did he regain his liberty thau he plunged once more into tho newspaper world, and, by means of Kossuth's Gazette, very scon had so aroused the natiou, that the Austrian monarch yielded up Hungary its ancient rights uuti privileges. The analogy

between the histories of Ireland and | Hungary is again strengthened by this I circumstance. When England was trying to crush the American rebellion, Ireland under the leadership of Henry Grattan, demanded a free constitution, and got it, but as soon as the American difficulty was settled it was taken away. It was exactly the same in Austria. The Constitution granted Hungary was nullified by Imperial Edicts, and this drove the people to rebellion. Like all true patriots, Kossuth remained loyal to the Crown as long at it was possible. Like O'Counell, and other great men, he shrank from shedding human blood, and threw all his energies into effecting reform by constitutioal means. The vulgar arrogance of power is always impervious to reason or common sense, and sooner than yield up the smallest of its privileges would not hestitate to sacrifice half the nation. It was so with the Emperor of Austria; he would yield nothing till at last he drove Kossuth to exclaim "I demand 200,000 men and 42,000,000 florins." He got Ihem, and he led the rebellion successfully till the Austrian Emperor had to seek the assistance of the Czar of Russia, and the combined armies were able to crash the Hungarian patriots. The result of the rebellion, however, sank deep into the mind of the Austrian Emperor. Some years afterwards an agitation was got up to get what the Hungarians called Home Kule, and this was granted. Ever since Hungary ha* been peaceable and prosperous, and has astonished Europe by the progress which she has made. It is there the zone system of managing railways has been established, and Buda-Pesth, its capital, has sprung into a city of great importance. But to return to Kossuth; the moment he found himself defeated he fled to Turkey, and great efforts were put forth by Austria to induce the Sultan to give him up. . But Louis Kossuth had a great and powerful friend at his- back. From beginning to end England sympathised with Hungary's struggle for independence, and resolved that he should not be given up. The Sultan was then, as he is now, under British influence, and finding England favourable to protecting the refugee, he refused to give up Kossuth, and thus he was saved from Austrian vengeance. Sometime afterwards Kossuth came to England and received an ovation seldom accorded to any one before. "He had," says McCarthyi n his History of Our Own Times, " a strikingly handsome face and stately presence. He was undoubtedly one of the most eloquent men who ever addressed an English popular audience. In one of his imprisonments Kossuth studied the English language, chiefly from the pages of Shakespeare. He had mastered our tongue as few foreigners had ever been able to do, but what he mastered was not the colloquial English of the streets and the drawing-room. The English he spoke was the noblest in its style from which a student could supply his eloquence; Kossuth spoke the English of Shakespeare.'' This was Louis Kossuth, and this was the man who was received as the lion of a season in England. He lectured to crowded houses, he was received into the highest society, and for a time he labored under the delusion that England would assist him to carry on the war. Kussia had assisted Austria, and why should not England assist him? But Euglaud did not see it in that way ; there was no money in it, and when the novelty wore off Kossuth he was allowed to pass uu noticed. Eventually Kossuth returned to his native laud, where he spent his latter days in peace and contentment. Now the conduct of England with regard to Kossuth was most extraordinary and illogical. Kossuth had been guilty of exactly the same crime as that for which England hanged or exiled many Irishmen a year or two before. The Hungarians demanded Home Rule, and rebelled because they did not get it. England sympathised with Hungary, and received Kossuth as a hero. The Irish demanded Home Bule, and rebelled when they did not get it. Smith O'Brien w«s sentenced to be hanged,.drawn and quartered. This was a most extraordinary thing for England to do, and more extraordinary still is the fact that 26 years ago Hungary got Home Bule, and has been peaceful, quiet, and contented ever since, while Ireland is still disorganised and discontented, and hoping from day to day that her deliverance is at hand. With John Bull Bull it is apparent that charity does not begin at home.