The Liberator

GEN. HOUSTON ON KOSSUTH.

In a speech recently delivered in the U. S. Senate, Gen. Houston expressed his opinion of Kossuth and his mission to this country in the following terms:—

There is a remarkable coincidence in a train of circumstances which have grown up in this country; which have had an exciting and important influence upon it. To be sure, we have had no cities sacked, no armies slain, no houses conflagrated; but, sir, the public has been excited to an unusual degree upon some occasions;—whether beneficially or not, I will not pretend to say. In 1849, when difficulties arose between Austria and her dependency, Hungary, resolutions on the subject were introduced into this body. They were discussed at length. There was no action upon them, I grant you; but yet, throughout this broad land, speeches of honorable gentlemen, speeches of great ability and statesmanship, went forth. If that had been a case of just interference on our part, it would have been well; but, sir, these speeches went forth. Soon after that, difficulties of no ordinary character arose; for we find that, in May, 1850, five months after the introduction into the Senate of the resolutions to which I refer, the first Cuban invasion took place. How far the debates in this body might have influenced that invasion, I do not pretend to say; I merely remark the coincidence—nothing further. It is certain, however, that they had some influence. Again we find that the public mind was excited, the popular feeling was sought to be drawn into that channel. And why? The excuse was, that the opinions which emanated from the Senate chamber seemed to unloose the bonds that bound society in constitutional or treaty allegiance, and they thought it was a time of general turmoil and uproar. That was the excuse.

Sir, we find that fifteen months after the first Cuban invasion of 1850, the second Cuban invasion of August, 1851, occurred. We know the disastrous consequences of that invasion; we know the unhappy state of feeling, and the deep-toned commiseration which possessed every heart; sympathy almost amounted to frenzy, and almost involved us in a foreign war. This was not by the advisement of the United States. These men did not go under the authority of this government, but an excuse was urged, that if a grave, deliberative body was willing to interfere across the Atlantic in foreign affairs, why might not the people of the United States interfere in their vicinity in taking Cuba, if possible?

It was not long after this, when another exciting circumstance took place. We had not escaped from these difficulties when the advent of the illustrious stranger, Kossuth, was announced. I was not captivated by his advent, Mr. President. A portion of my life had been spent among the Indians. They are a cautious and considerate people, and I had learned to reconnoitre character a little when it comes about me, and I am liable to come in contact with it. I played the Indian, and was wary. I received him, sir, in concurrence with the other senators. I wished his country liberty, as I wished the world liberty, but I did not wish to disregard our relations and obligations to other countries. He was hailed, he was greeted, he was welcomed, on some occasions more triumphantly than ever Lafayette, the friend of Washington. Compare the men, compare their feelings, their impulses, and their actions, and—that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr.'

What claims had he upon us? He had claims of sympathy. If he had ever fleshed his sword for liberty, he had a claim upon our admiration and our fraternal feelings. But he had not done it. He had left Hungary, he had denounced Gorgey, and had thrown upon him the responsibility of the government. He disregarded his colleagues in office when he was at the head of affairs in Hungary. He threw all the responsibility upon Gorgey when Gorgey was helpless, and he himself had retreated with five thousand men. A beautiful army for liberty! Five thousand men alone, would strike for liberty against thousands on thousands. Yet he retreated with a body-guard of five thousand. And after he had negotiated for a succedaneum, for a resting-place, he went away, leaving 'poor Hungary' down-trodden and bleeding. It is known, now, that somebody humbugged us, or we humbugged ourselves. Sir, it was Kossuth that humbugged the whole of us. [Laughter.]

Mr. Mason. Not all of us.

Mr. Houston. We have to take it collectively. Kossuth was received here not only as our own chieftains and warriors have been received, but he appeared in the Senate chamber in a costume with which Washington would never have entered and departed. He appeared at the desk with a sword by his side. My blood boiled when I saw it: for I detest tyranny or a symbol of despotism in any way, or any approach of the military to an equality with the civil. He wore at his side, in the halls of legislation, a sword—a thing that Washington never did, but to surrender it, with his power, to the counsellors of his country. Yet Kossuth entered and left the chamber with an unfleshed sword upon his thigh; for he never saw the face of an enemy in his life. Think you not, if spirits have ubiquity, that the spirit of Washington did not revisit the earth, and contemplate with supreme indignation a scene that seemed, even by a symbol, to menace the work of his hands? Sir, these things have passed and gone, and I have but little to say in regard to them. If Kossuth had been the representative of gallant and daring Hungarians, of men who struck for liberty, and failed for want of numbers sufficient to have achieved their independence, he would have been entitled to the immortality of Tell; or if he had perished in the attempt, he would have been gloriously embalmed in the hearts of all lovers of liberty. But, sir, he had no such proud trophies. He was supremely pecuniary in everything. The dollars and the contributions, and a splendid retinue, with a body-guard to march him through the land, were all that he cared about. He marched through the country with a body-guard, whereas there is but one shield needed in this country for any man. An honest and a manly heart will protect him always. I cannot let these things pass, because I admire true patriotism. There is now a man in this city whom I cannot pass by unnoticed. He is one who, though unfortunate in rebellion and unadvised in his action, was young, ardent and generous. Contriving for no place of refuge, he was taken in the fact. I refer to young Meagher, an Irishman. He looks like a hero, and bears the stamp and image of a man. He asks for no money; he wants no material aid to retire upon, and become Mr. Smith, in England, [laughter,] as it is said Kossuth has done.

Sir, much as I admire the patriots who strike for liberty—much as I admire the noble people whom Kossuth purported to represent—much as I admire all men who have struggled, even unfortunately or misguidedly for liberty, no matter where—much as I admire the promptings which actuated them, and love the cause in which they have been engaged; yet when a man proves recreant to a noble cause, forgets his people, lives in comfort, splendor and display, while they have to bite the dust or gnaw the file in agony, I have no sympathy for that man.