The men of the forest have not
disappeared entirely, though
"They waste--they shrink away;
And fast we follow, as they go
Towards the setting day."
And if in the Providence of God the race is soon to be extinct, let not
injustice, oppression, or war, increase their woes or hasten their decay.
XVIII
LOUIS KOSSUTH*
When Louis Kossuth landed in New York, December 5, 1851, he was not an
unknown personage. He and his native land had been made known to the
people of the United States by the Revolution of 1848 and the contest
of 1849 for the independence of Hungary. Until those events occurred,
Hungary was only a marked spot on the map of Europe, and the name of
Kossuth, as a leader in industrial and social progress, had not been
written or spoken on this side of the Atlantic; but in the year 1851
there was no other person of a foreign race and language of whose name
and career as much was known.
There was no exaggeration in Mr. Emerson's words of address to Kossuth:
"You have got your story told in every palace, and log hut, and prairie
camp throughout this continent."
From the first Kossuth recognized a special interest in the
commonwealth of Massachusetts. This interest was due in part to the
history of the State, from which he drew many lessons of instruction
and much confidence that personal liberty and the independence and
sovereignty of states would become universal possessions.
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