by governments confident in their great military power, with armies in the field of vast strength, flushed with recent victory, and whose purposes were not to be thwarted or their pursuit stayed by any obstacle less than the interposition of an empire prepared to maintain the inviolability of its territories and its absolute sovereignty over its own soil. "This government, jealous of its own territorial rights, regarded with great respect and hearty approbation the firm and lofty position assumed by His Imperial Majesty at that time, and so proudly maintained under circumstances well calculated to inspire doubt, and against demands urged with such gravity and supported by so formidable an array. His Imperial Majesty felt that he should be no longer an independent prince if he consented to be anything less than the sovereign of his own dominions. "While thus regarding the political position and conduct of the Sublime Porte in reference to other powers, His Majesty's generosity in providing for the wants of the fugitives, thus unexpectedly and in so great numbers throwing themselves upon his protection, is considered equally worthy of admiration. . "For their attempt at independence they have most dearly paid, and now, broken in fortune and in heart, without home or country, a band of exiles, whose only future is a tearful remembrance of the past, whose only request is to spend the remainder of their days in obscure industry, they await the permission of His Imperial Majesty to remove themselves, and all that may remain to them, across the ocean to the uncultivated regions of America, and leave forever a continent which to them has become more gloomy than the wilderness, more lone and dreary than the desert. "The people of the United States expect from the generosity of the Turkish monarch that this permission will be given. They wait to receive these exiles on their shores, where, without giving just cause of uneasiness to any government, they may enjoy whatever of consolation can be afforded by sympathy for their sufferings and that assistance in their necessities which this people have never been late in offering to any, and which they are not now for the first time called upon to render. Accustomed themselves to high ideas of national independence, the people of the United States would regret to see the government of the vast Empire of Turkey constrained, by the force of circumstances, to exercise the duty of keeping prisoners for other powers. "You will further say to the Sublime Porte that if, as this government hopes and believes, Mr. Kossuth and his companions are allowed to depart from the dominions of His Imperial Majesty at the expiration of the year commencing in May, 1850, they will find conveyance to the United States in some of its national ships now in the Mediterranean Sea which can be spared for that purpose, and you will, on receiving assurances that these persons will be permitted to embark, ascertain precisely their numbers, and immediately give notice to the commander of the United States squadron on that station, who will receive orders from the proper authorities to be present with such of the ships as may be necessary or can leave the station to furnish conveyance for Kossuth and his companions to the United States." Mr. Webster, Sec. of State, to Mr. Marsh, Feb. 28, 1851, MS. Inst. Turkey, "On the 3d of March last both Houses of Congress passed a resolution requesting the President to authorize the employment of a public vessel to convey to this country Louis Kossuth and his associates in captivity. "The instruction above referred to was complied with, and, the Turkish government having released Governor Kossuth and his companions from prison, on the 10th of September last they embarked on board of the United States steam frigate Mississippi, which was selected to carry into effect the resolution of Congress. Governor Kossuth left the Mississippi at Gibraltar for the purpose of making a visit to England, and may shortly be expected in New York. By communications to the Department of State he has expressed his grateful acknowledgments for the interposition of this government in behalf of himself and his associates. This country has been justly regarded as a safe asylum for those whom political events have exiled from their own homes in Europe, and it is recommended to Congress to consider in what manner Governor Kossuth and his companions, brought hither by its authority, shall be received and treated." President Fillmore, annual message, Dec. 2, 1851 (Mr. Webster, Secretary of State), Richardson's Messages, V. 119. That the government of the United States contemplated the coming of Kossuth and his companions to America as emigrants is shown not only by Mr. Webster's instructions to Mr. Marsh of Feb. 28, 1851, supra, but also by the joint resolution of Congress, which requested the President to employ a public vessel "if it [should] be the wish of these exiles to emigrate to the United States," and by the instructions of the Secretary of the Navy, who directed Commodore Morgan, the commander of the squadron of the United States in the Mediterranean, to send the steamer Mississippi to Constantinople as soon as he should be advised that they desired "to seek a home" in the United States, and that the Sultan had consented to their departure. H. Doc. 551-vol 6-4 Kossuth, in his acceptance of the offer, did not refer to this aspect of it, but it was soon ascertained by the representative of the United States, diplomatic as well as naval, in the East, that he had other views. He embarked on board the Mississippi Sept. 10, 1851. At Smyrna and other Mediterranean ports at which the vessel called his presence gave rise to revolutionary demonstrations, in which he himself participated. Especially was this the case at Marseilles, where he went ashore, expecting to proceed through France to England and afterwards to rejoin the Mississippi at Gibraltar. A great commotion ensued, and permission to pass through France was refused him. Leaving Marseilles in the midst of what Mr. Hodge, the United States consul, called a "mob valedictory," the Mississippi conveyed him to Gibraltar, where he took a steamer for England. He embarked for the United States on the 24th of November on the American steamer Humboldt, at Southampton, and arrived at New York on the night of the 4th of December. At Washington he was presented by Mr. Webster to the President. Jan. 5, 1852, he was received by the Senate, and on the 7th by the House. In the Senate the proceedings were purely formal, and there were no addresses; in the House the same formality was observed, but Kossuth, after his presentation, briefly expressed his thanks for the cordiality of his reception. On the evening of January 7 Kossuth attended a Congressional banquet, at which Mr. William R. King, President of the Senate, assisted by the Speaker of the House, presided, it having been understood that nothing objectionable to those gentlemen as "nonintervention men" should be said at the dinner. Among the speakers was Mr. Webster, who, in concluding his remarks, said: "The progress of things is unquestionably onward. It is onward with respect to Hungary; it is onward everywhere. Public opinion, in my estimation at least, is making great progress. It will penetrate all resources; it will come more or less to animate all minds; and, in respect to that country for which our sympathies to-night have been so strongly invoked, I can not but say that I think the people of Hungary are an enlightened, industrious, sober, well-inclined community, and I wish only to add that I do not now enter into any discussion of the form of government that may be proper for Hungary. Of course, all of you, like myself, would be glad to see her. when she becomes independent, embrace that system of government which is most acceptable to ourselves. We shall rejoice to see our American model upon the Lower Danube and on the mountains of Hungary. But this is not he first step. It is not that which will a H. Ex. Doc. 78, 32 Cong. 1 sess. 26. be our first prayer for Hungary. That first prayer shall be that Hungary may become independent of all foreign powers; that her destinies may be intrusted to her own hands and to her own discretion. I do not profess to understand the social relations and connections of races, and of twenty other things that may affect the public institutions of Hungary. All I say is that Hungary can regulate these matters for herself infinitely better than they can be regulated for her by Austria; and, therefore, I limit my aspirations for Hungary, for the present, to that single and simple point-Hungarian independence, Hungarian self-government, Hungarian control of Hungarian destinies." Curtis, Life of Webster, II. 578. See, as to Mr. Webster's presence at the banquet, his letter to President Fillmore, Jan. 7, 1852, Webster's Private Correspondence, II. 503. During his visit to Washington Kossuth sought and obtained an interview with Mr. Clay, who was then in feeble health. In the course of an extended conversation Mr. Clay said: "For the sake of my country you must allow me to protest against the policy you propose to her. Waiving the grave and momentous question of the right of one nation to assume the executive power among nations, for the enforcement of international law, or of the right of the United States to dictate to Russia the character of her relations with the nations around her, let us come at once to the practical consideration of the matter. You tell us yourself, with great truth and propriety, that mere sympathy, or the expression of sympathy, can not advance your purposes. You require material aid. . . . Well, sir, suppose that war should be the issue of the course you propose to us, could we then effect anything for you, ourselves, or the cause of liberty? To transport men and arms across the ocean in sufficient numbers and quantities to be effective against Russia and Austria, would be impossible. Thus, sir, after effecting nothing in such a war, after abandoning our ancient policy of amity and non-intervention in the affairs of other nations, and thus justifying them in abandoning the terms of forbearance and non-interference which they have hitherto preserved toward us; after the downfall, perhaps, of the friends of liberal institutions in Europe, her despots, imitating and provoked by our example, may turn upon us in the hour of weakness and exhaustion, and with an almost irresistible force of reason and of arms, they may say to us: 'You have set us the example; you have quit your own to stand on foreign ground; you have abandoned the policy you professed in the day of your weakness, to interfere in the affairs of the people upon this continent, in behalf of those principles the supremacy of which you say is necessary to your prosperity, to your existence. We, in our turn, believing that your anarchical doctrines are destructive of, and that monarchical principles are essential to, the peace, security, and happiness of our subjects, will obliterate the bed which has nourished such noxious weeds; we will crush you, as the propagandists of doctrines so destructive of the peace and good order of the world.' The indomitable spirit of our people might and would be equal to the emergency, and we might remain unsubdued, even by so tremendous a combination, but the consequences to us would be terrible enough. You must allow me, sir, to speak thus freely, as I feel deeply, though my opinion may be of but little import, as the expression of a dying man. By the policy to which we have adhered since the days of Washington we have prospered beyond precedent; we have done more for the cause of liberty in the world than arms could effect; we have shown to other nations the way to greatness and happiness. Far better is it for ourselves, for Hungary and for the cause of liberty, that, adhering to our wise pacific system and avoiding the distant wars of Europe, we should keep our lamp burning brightly on this western shore, as a light to all nations, than to hazard its utter extinction, amid the ruins of fallen and falling republics in Europe." Report of the special committee appointed by the common council of the city of New York to make arrangements for the reception of Gov. Louis Kossuth, Appendix, 574–577. Kossuth left Washington January 12, 1852. He addressed to President Fillmore a farewell letter, with the request that it might be communicated to Congress. To this request the President, through Mr. Webster, declined to accede, at the same time suggesting that the letter might be sent to the presiding officers of the two Houses. On this suggestion Kossuth subsequently acted, but his letter was coldly received, a motion to print it being carried in the Senate by only one vote, after a debate characterized by much freedom of expression. After the Congressional banquet Mr. Hülsemann, the Austrian chargé d'affaires, who, in consequence of differences with Mr. Webster, had become unable to communicate with the Department of State, sought an interview with the President, and, although he was not entitled to claim an audience of the head of the state, the President received him and assured him of his desire to maintain friendly' relations with Austria. At the end of April, however, Mr. Hülsemann, his relations with the Department of State having undergone no improvement, gave notice of his withdrawal from Washington, assigning as the principal reason therefor the course of Mr. Webster at and previously to the Congressional banquet. Mr. Webster afterwards addressed to Mr. McCurdy, the chargé d'affaires of the United |