He declared that
Austria studded the peninsula of Italy with bayonets, and that she was
able to send her armies to Italy because Russia guarded her eastern
frontier. His residence in Italy for a third of a century was due to
his admiration for the history of the Italian peoples, and his belief
in the capacity of the Italian races for the business of government.
"The spirit of republican liberty, the warlike genius of ancient Rome,
were never extinguished between the Alps and the Faro." He declared
that every stain upon the honor of Italy was connected with foreign
rule, and that the petty tyrants of Italy had been kept on their
tottering thrones through the intervention of Austria, Germany and
France.
At the end he placed the responsibility for the domination of
absolutism upon the Continent of Europe to the intervention of
Russia and to her recognized supremacy in war. He appreciated the
fact that Russia in coalition with Austria or Germany or France was
more than the equal of the residue of the Continent, whether combined
for offensive or defensive operations.
In the many speeches which Kossuth made in the United States, he
endeavored to impress upon his hearers the conviction that absolutism,
under which Europe was then groaning, would extend to America. This
view made a slight impression only. To the common mind the ocean and
the distance seemed a sufficient protection.
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