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Nov. 22, 1851.J ®t>e &eairet% 1103
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KOSSUTH'S ITALIAN POLICY. To the Editor ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Kossuth Papers. A Number Of Miscellaneou...
«« humane , " and loftily courageous ; the Islington address extending its good wishes on the other side f tue grave , and praying that when he has departed this life he may receive that " inheritance which ^ incorruptible , undefiled , ana passeth not away" ! While on the other hand , the Northern Courts were de scribed as " merciless tyrants and despots , " and " odious and detestable assassins . " It is gravely recorded of L ord Palmerston ( one of the finest eentlemen m Europe be it remarked ) , that he received the deputation with " great courtesy , " and and listened to the reading of the addresses with « polite attention . " Lord P almerston ' s reply , very characteristic of the Minister , is as follows : —
" He felt extremely flattered and highly gratified by this expression of opinion on the part of so large a number of his fellow-countrymen for his exertions in endeavouring to promote the cause of national freedom of those nations who stood in need of it . The Government was fully aware of the sympathies of the British nation in favour o f the cause of Hungary ; but of course , as the organ of her Majesty ' s Government in friendly a lliance with great foreign powers , which had been referred to , it could not be expected that he should concur in some of the expressions which had been used in the addresses . He felt , however , that it was highly gratifvine to have been instrumental in aiding the cause of
the patriotic Hungarians and Poles , who , without British intervention , would no doubt have been doomed to perpetual imprisonment , and sacrificed their freedom , if not even their lives , in the cause of their country ' s independence . ( Hear , hear . ) They never could have been rescued from the fate which awaited them , even by the aid which the Government of this country was enabled to afford , had not the Government been backed by public opinion here . There was no question of the great moral power which the Government of this country had over foreign affairs , so long as the Government were backed in the exercise of that power by the public opinion of the people . No doubt the moral power of the British than le
Government was immense , more peopgenerally imagined ; but it would be only effective so long as the people and the Government went together . ( Hear . ) There could be no doubt but with regard to its Hungarian policy the Government had been backed by the people , as was instanced by the fact of the appeals which had been made from all quarters , and from all the large towns and cities in the kingdom , urging on the Government of this country to interfere in that important question . It was not necessary that ^ Eng land should exercise a power with its armies , with its bayonets , or with its cannons . The moral power , where the Government was backed by the people , would do a great deal more . The moral power was greater than anything else , but even that could not be made effective , unless the Government and people acted in unison . The
Government , more especially the foreign department , were sometimes accused of keeping so much secrecy with regard to their transactions with foreign powers . It was said there ought not to be so much secrecy in diplomacy , but upon the same ground that men in the ordinary business transactions of life did not make public all the details of such transactions until the bargains in which they might be engaged were completed , so also was it neces-Bary that the publication of the proceedings of diplomacy should be left to the judgment and discretion of that department of the Government , in order properly to transact the business of the nation . The noble lord again said the reception of these addresses just read , and the general expression of approval of his conduct on the part of his countrymen , afforded him unfeigned pleasure and gratification . "
Mr . Shaen observed that " the people of England had been hitherto somewhat lukewarm and callous as to the relations of this country with foreign questions ; but recent events , coupled with the circum-• tance that encouragement was held out to them , by the Government that they should do bo , would have the effect , for the future , of making them equally alive to foreign as to domestic subjects . " Whereupon Lord Palmeraton remarked that " one « f the difficulties in foreign affairs which was felt was from the fuct of the great bulk of the people caring generally little about them . "
Ihe Government had no desire to be urged on to war , although they were desirous of upholding the nationality of foreign countries . At the time when Hungarian affairs were agitating the world—lie did not allude to recent demonstrations here , but those which led to the step on the part of the Government—were the great demonstrations held in Glasgow , Edinburgh , liir"ungharn , and all the great towns , as well as the metropolis . When forty or fifty addresses had reached him " <> m all the great towns , he ( the noble viscount ) forwarded them to Sir Stratford Canning , to Bhow him that
* t . wua not merely the wish of the Government , but the } vish of the people , that he should interfere and prevent tlu , if possible , which other powers were demanding , and that it was only that circumstance which rendered t ic Government in u position to grant aid if it was needed . JJt't the Sultan , to do him justice , was most willing to l ( ' » d his aid , and cooperate with this country in currying « ut the wiHhes of the British Government . ( Hear , / war . ) ¦**\ the mimu time , however , a great deal of good generul" "' p und judicious bottle holding were required . " K'teur . )
As might luive been predicted of any similar body ° | men , it i 8 recorded that " the deputation retired ! » gnl y gratified with tho reception they had uict with » oia the noble yiHcount . "
Nov. 22, 1851.J ®T>E &Eairet% 1103
Nov . , 1851 . J ® t > e & eairet % 1103
Kossuth's Italian Policy. To The Editor ...
KOSSUTH ' S ITALIAN POLICY . To the Editor of the Leader . Offices of the Society of the Friends of Italy , 10 , Southampton-street , Strand , November 18 , 1851 . Sir , —The Society of the Friends of Italy is authorized to communicate the following facts , in contradiction to the charge brought against M . Kossuth , of having proposed , in the name of the Emperor of Austria , in the Hungarian Diet , a large levy of troops to be employed in slaughtering the Italians . —I am , Sir , your obedient servant , David Masson , Secretary .
The Hungarian constitution was based on the pragmatic sanction , according to which the Emperor of Austria , as King of Hungary , was bound to send troops to the aid of that country , if threatened by a foreign enemy ; whilst Hungary , on the other hand , was bound to furnish men and money to maintain the integrity of the House of Austria , if any of its possessions were menaced by a foreign enemy . The Cabinet of Vienna , having incited the rebellion of the Serbs , took the opportunity of the war with Sardinia , and the disasters of the Austrian arms in Italy , to embarrass the Hungarian Ministry , presided over by Count Louis Batthyany , and in which Kossuth held office as Finance Minister . It
was the opinion , and known 4 o be the opinion , of Count Batthyany then , that Hungary was not yet in a condition to resist Austria . Even at a subsequent period , when Jellachich invaded Hungary , Count Batthyany still believed resistance impossible ; and later , as is well known , when the army of Windischgratz ( afterwards defeated and driven out of Hungary by Kossuth ) invaded that country , he became the victim of that opinion . Now , the Emperor of Austria , in June , 1848 , required , as King of Hungary , that his Hungarian Ministry should demand a levy of men , which , in fact , was not intended to exercise an immediate influence on the affairs of Italy , as these affairs must have received some solution before the levy ,
if granted , could ever have been got together . But it was supposed that if , on the one hand , Batthyany ' s Ministry had unconstitutionally refused to make that demand , it might , constitutionally and without danger , have been dismissed ; and that eo Hungary , at a critical juncture ( and , in fact , whilst the Austrian Cabinet , as the event proved , was plotting with Jellachich ) would have been left without a Ministry . On the other hand , if Batthyany ' s Ministry had made the proposition , it was thought that they would have forfeited all popularity in Hungary . From this seemingly inextricable dilemma , which was fully
understood upon both sides , that Ministry was extricated in the following manner by Kossuth , who , as Finance Minister , had to make the proposition . After noticing , on behalf of the Crown , that a rebellion raged in the lower parts of Hungary , and that the King of Hungary was still engaged in a foreign war in Italy , he asked for a levy of 80 , 000 men , and then added that , after having made this demand as Minister , as a Hungarian he recommended that the grant should be accompanied by the express stipulation that none of these men should , under any pretext , be employed beyond the Hungarian frontier till the Serbian war was over . In this manner the
employment of Hungarian troops in Italy was practically stopped ; but the same evening a Cabinet Council was held , and Batthyany argued that it was impossible , constitutionally , not to concede the principle that the King of Hungary had a right to demand , and to obtain , Hungarian troops for the defence of Italy—supposing , for instance , the Serbian rebellion to have been quelled , which had afforded the legitimate , but accidental and temporary , pretext for refusing them to Austria . Thia consideration was incontrovertible ; but it was agreed to meet the difficulty by discussing the question as a
matter of principle , and annexing the further stipulation to the eventual employment of the Hungarian troops in the defence of the Austrian possessions in Italy , after the Serbian or any other rebellion , that these troops should only be so employed , after reasonable attempts at reconciliation had been made with the King of Sardinia , and on the condition that the Italian provinces should receive a separate administration and free constitution in all respects similar to that enjoyed by the Hungarians . These conditions were proposed by Kossuth , and passed in the Diet on the following day .
KOSSUTH AT SOUTHAMl'TON . It is important to register the fact , that the Council of Southampton have not flinched at all from the generous position they have assumed before the people of England in relation to Kossuth . They accorded him a magnificent reception before they had seen or heurd him , and they have nobly bid him farewell . The following is the official account of the proceedings of a special meeting of the council : — " Uoiiouqh of Southampton , Tuesday , November 18 . —At a meeting of the council of the borough of Southampton held this day at tho Audit-house , or Council-chamber , Southampton , Richard Andrews , Esq ., mayor , in tho chair , it was moved by Mr . Aldcrmuu
Laishley , seconded by Mr . Alderman Pulk , and resolved unanimously , ' That the council having received from the worshipful the mayor a communication as to the intended departure of the illustrious Hungarian patriot , Louis Kossuth , from this port to the United States of America on the 20 th i ; istunt , the members of this council cannot refrain from hereby recording their admiration of those patriotic und strictly constitutional sentiments which he bus everywhere and on ull occusiona enunciated to the public of this country , and of those prompt und unqualified deniuls which ho has given to the unfounded culum nies of the ubettors of despotism and tyranny , whether resident in this or other countries , us well as " tho tuirpasuing eloquence und irresistible truthfulness with which lie has plueed before the Britkh public the countlena wrongs and the crushing opprcbuions of his beloved country , and the claims whioli it U «» on tho sympathy
and moral and energetic influence of all lovers of freedom throughout the world . Most gratifying as it has been to this council to have observed from day to day since the arrival of that great and distinguished man in our port on the 23 rd of Ootober last , and the ardent admiration of his public conduct and private worth , and of his vast sacrifices for those great and undying principles of liberty which he so ably and so worthily represents , first publicly expressed by the mayor and corporation of Southampton , have been everywhere most enthusiastically reechoed by the millions of the British people . For the purpose of further expressing our most profound and increased admiration of so
illustrious , high-minded , and gifted an assertor of the rights of human freedom , and our deepest sympathy with that people of whom he is so distinguished an ornament , and after having carefully read and considered the statements of his traducers , and the manly replications with which they have been instantly met , this council resolves to invite his Excelleney to a dejetiner on Thursday next , previously to his departure on his great mission to the United States of America , hoping and believing that his visit to England of the Old World , and to the United States of the New , will greatly tend , sooner or later , more closely to unite the two great , sections of the Anglo-Saxon race in the vindication and maintenance of human
rights of freedom , and trusting that , by the blessing of Providence , he will ere long be restored to his country and home , and there realize in the emancipation of his beloved nation the most ardent wishes of his noble and generous soul , and the complete and enduring consummation of his transcendant exertions and labours . ' " It was moved by Mr . Councillor Borrett , seconded by Mr . Councillor Payne , and resolved unanimously , — That the foregoing resolution be engrossed on vellum and presented to his Excellency Louis Kossuth . ' "
REPLY TO THE BRISTOL ADDRESS . An address to Kossuth from Bristol , signed by several thousands , received the following reply : — " 80 , Eaton-place , November 15 . " Sir , —I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of an address from the inhabitants of Bristol , at the head of which stands your name . I must request the favour of your communicating this niy acknowledgment thereof to your fellow-citizens . Among the many generous addresses which I have had the honour to receive since my arrival in England , there has been none which shows a more just appreciation of the circumstances of my country , and of the immediate causes of its present position , than this address from the inhabitants of Bristol .
My government was successful , because it was based on a respect for , and animated by the single and earnest desire to strengthen by further developing , the institutions of the country . It was the conscious self-respect which habitual local self-government gave to all that filled the hearts of all with patriotism , and nerved their arms with valour . Europe stood by in silence and indifference , while a stranger state poured its hordes upon our plains to crush down liberties which England herself has only maintained by the same means that Hungary has done , and which England herself would not now be enjoying had such a foreign intervention taken place in her hours of struggling . But not only did every nation in Europe look on
in silence and indifference , the work of the spoiler and the despot was aided by that secret diplomacy , of which every nation in Europe allows itself to be made the victim—however contrary such secret diplomacy may be to the real sympathies and best interests of the nations themselves . But for this foreign intervention and this secret diplomacy , the enemies of European freedom would have beenunable to find , in internal treachery , the menus to that result which their arms were unable to accomplish . For the brave and good who have falleneither in arms for their country , or by the more coldblooded axe of the executioner as martyrs—they have been saved the pangs we now suffer at the sight of the wrongs of our country , and their memories will be a continual call , beckoning us to the fulfilment of our duties .
For the future of my country , it is certain , and it cannot be distant . A nation of freemen , whose fathers were the sons of freemen , and who have bo well known the value of free institutions that they have sought aucceasfully to strengthen them by extending their benefits , through peaceable and lawful ^ neana , to every man within the land—such a nation can never be crushed out . The inherent elements of inextinguishable vitality exist within it . Its future is written in the heart of everj one of its sons . The warml y expressed sympathy of that English nation , wliich has itself hud , like us , to struggle for and maintain by arms its liberties , und the deurest inheritance of its fathers , will assuredly bring that future nearer . I have the honour to be , Sir , your obedient servant , " ( Signed ) Louis Kohsuth . "
We print below an accurate list of tho places , from the corporation or body of the inhabitants of which uddre « sen have been presented to Kosuuih . Should it be found that any place , from the corporation or inhabitants of which any address has been hent , in not in this Ji « t , it must be understood that it haw never reached it » destination , and information as to the facts is requested to be communicated immediately to J . Toulmin Smith , Ewq ., Ilighgate , near London : —Ashton-unde . r-Iiyne , Uarnsley , IJuth , Bedford , Biugley , Birmingham , - Boston , Bradford ,
Biidgewnter , Brighton , Bristol , Burnley , Burnlem ( Potteries ) , Uury , Canterbury , Cambridge , ( Meikenweli , Cork , Coventry , Croydon , Cupar I ' ife , Derby , De . ul , Dover , Dundee , Dunfei inline , J- 'insbury , UIubrow , Halifax , HudderKfield , Ilkewton , Islington , Kiddeiminntor , Lambeth , lipcdfl , Leicester , St . Leonard's ( Shoreililch ) , Liverpool , Llaiiidloen , Lon < io » , Manchester , Murylebone , Northampton , Nottingham , Oldbum , Parley , Panorntj , Preston , Kochdalr , Sheffield , Southampton , Sout . hwurk , Stafford , iStookport , Sunderland , Tonbridge , Tuunton , Wake-field , Warwick , West Hackney , WCStmioater Wick , Woolwich , Worcester , Wreahum . *
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 22, 1851, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22111851/page/3/
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