[_Reply to the Address of the Bar of New York, Dec. 19th, 1851_.]
A reception and a banquet to Kossuth having been prepared by the Bar at
Tripler Hall, ex-justice Jones introduced him with a short speech; after
which Judge Sandford, in the name of the whole Bar, read an ample
address, of which the following is the principal part:--
Governor Kossuth.--The Bar of New York, having participated with their
fellow-citizens in extending to you that cordial and enthusiastic
welcome which greeted your landing upon the shores of America, have
solicited the opportunity to express to you, as a member of the legal
profession, their respect for your great talents and eminent
attainments, and their admiration for the ardour and enthusiasm with
which you have devoted all your powers and energies to the sacred cause
of the emancipation of your native land. Wherever freedom has needed an
advocate, wherever law has required a supporter, wherever tyranny and
oppression have provoked resistance, and men have been found for the
occasion, it is the proud honour of our common profession to have
presented from our ranks some prominent individual who has generously
and boldly engaged in the service; and Hungary has furnished to the
world one of the most striking in the brilliant series of illustrious
examples. As early as the year 1840, the public history of Hungary had
made us acquainted with the distinguished part which a Mr. Kossuth, an
attorney, as he was then described, had performed in sustaining the laws
of his country. Mr. Kossuth, the Attorney of that day, has since matured
into the Counsellor, Statesman, Patriot, Governor, and now stands before
us the Exile more distinguished for his firmness and undaunted courage
in his last reverse than for his exaltation by the free choice of his
countrymen. After the years of your imprisonment and painful anxiety had
worn away, and the illegal measure of your arrest had been publicly
acknowledged, we found you restored to your personal liberty, and again
ardently engaged in the great cause of your country's freedom. At the
meeting of the Diet of Hungary which was held in November, 1847, and
before the flame of revolution had illuminated Europe, we found a series
of acts resolved upon by that body, which declared an equality of civil
rights and of public burdens among all classes, denominations, and races
in Hungary and its provinces, perfect toleration for every form of
religion, an extension of the elective franchise, universal freedom in
the sale of landed property, liberty to strangers to settle in the
country, the emancipation of the Jews, the sum of eight millions set
apart to encourage manufactures and construct roads, and the nobles of
Hungary, by a voluntary act, abolishing the old tenure of the lands,
thereby constituting the producing classes to be absolute owners of
nearly one half of the cultivated territory in the kingdom. This great
advance made by your country in a system of benign and ameliorating
legislation, was checked by occurrences which are too fresh in your
recollection to require a recapitulation. We welcome you among us; we
tender you our admiration for your efforts; our sympathy for your
sufferings; our cordial wishes that your persevering labours may be
successful in restoring your country to her place among nations, and her
people to the enjoyment of those blessings of civil and religious
liberty, to which, by their intelligence and bravery, and by the _laws
of nature and of nature's God_, they are justly entitled. Our
professional pursuits have led us to the study of the system of
jurisprudence which has been matured by the wisdom and experience of
ages, but which has been recognized by all eminent jurists to be founded
upon the defined principles of Christianity. From that great source of
law we have learned, that as members of the family of mankind, our
duties are not bounded by the territorial limits of the government which
protects us, nor circumscribed as to time or space. We have framed a
constitution of government, and under it have adopted a system of laws
which we are bound to execute and obey. The stability and efficiency of
our own government are dependent upon the intelligence, virtue, and
moderation of our people. It has been justly remarked by one of our most
distinguished jurists, that "in a republic, every citizen is himself in
some measure entrusted with the public safety, and acts an important
part for its weal or woe." Trained as we have been in these principles
of self-government, appreciating all the blessings which a bounteous
Creator has so profusely showered upon us, and desirous to see the
principles of civil and religious liberty extended to other nations, we
rejoice at every uprising of their oppressed people; we sympathize with
their struggles, and within the limits of our public laws and public
policy, we aid them in their efforts. If through weakness or treachery
they fail, we grieve at their misfortunes. In you, sir, we behold a
personification of that great principle which forms the corner stone of
our own revered Constitution--the right of self-government. Darkened as
has been the horizon of suffering Hungary, in you, sir, still burns that
living fire of freedom, which we trust will yet light up her firmament,
and shed its lustrous flame over her wasted lands. "The unnamed
demi-gods" whose blood has moistened her battle-fields, the martyrs
whose lives have been freely offered up on the scaffold and beneath the
axe, the living exiles now scattered through distant lands, have not
suffered, are not suffering in vain. Governments were created for the
benefit of the many, and not of the few. A day, an hour of retribution
will yet come; the Almighty promise will not be forgotten--"Vengeance is
mine--I will repay it, saith the Lord."