It does not follow,
however, that his labors were in vain. He aroused the American mind to
a higher sense of the power and dignity of the American nation, and he
set forth the influence that England and the United States might exert
in the affairs of the world whenever they should co-operate in an
international public policy. He maintained the cause of universal
liberty. At West Cambridge Kossuth said: "Liberty was not granted
to your forefathers as a selfish boon; your destiny is not completed
till, by the aid and influence of America, the oppressed nations are
regenerated and made free."
These words were not wholly visionary, and in these forty years since
they were uttered some progress has been made. The empires of Brazil
and France have been transformed into republics, slavery has been
abolished in North and South America, the weak states of Italy have
been united in one government, the German Empire has been created, and
all in the direction of popular liberty and with manifest preparation
for the republican form of government. Nor can it be said justly that
there has been a retrograde movement in any part of the world. These
changes would have come to pass without Kossuth; but it is to his
credit that his teachings were coincident with the trend of events,
and they may have contributed to the accomplished results.
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