Produced by Keren Vergon, Rich Magahiz and PG Distributed Proofreaders
Condensed and abridged,with Kossuth's express sanction,
byFrancis W. Newman.
Nothing appears in history similar to the enthusiasm roused by Kossuthin nations foreign to him, except perhaps the kindling for the FirstCrusade by the voice of Peter the Hermit. Then bishops, princes, andpeople alike understood the danger which overshadowed Europe from theMohammedan powers; and by soundly directed, though fanatical instinct,all Christendom rushed eastward, till the chivalry of the Seljuk Turkswas crippled on the fields of Palestine. Now also the multitudes ofEurope, uncorrupted by ambition, envy, or filthy lucre, forebode thedeadly struggle impending over us all from the conspiracy of crownedheads. Seeing the apathy of their own rulers, and knowing, perhaps bydim report, the deeds of Kossuth, they look to him as the Great Prophetand Leader, by whom Policy is at length to be moulded into Justice; andare ready to catch his inspiration before he has uttered a word. Kossuthundoubtedly is a mighty Orator; but no one is better aware than he, thatthe cogency of his arguments is due to the atrocity of our commonenemies, and the enthusiasm which he kindles to the preparations of thepeople's heart.
His orations are a tropical forest, full of strength and majesty,tangled in luxuriance, a wilderness of self-repetition. Utterlyunsuited to form a book without immense abridgment, they containmaterials adapted equally for immediate political service and forpermanence as a work of wisdom and of genius. To prepare them for thepress is an arduous and responsible duty: the best excuse which I cangive for having assumed it, is, that it has been to me a labour of love.My task I have felt to be that of a judicious reporter, who cuts shortwhat is of temporary interest, condenses what is too amplified for hislimits and for written style, severely prunes down the repetitions whichare inevitable where numerous[*] audiences are addressed by the same manon the same subject, yet amid all these necessary liberties retains notonly the true sentiments and arguments of the speaker, but his forms ofthought and all that is characteristic of his genius. Such an operation,rightly performed, may, like a diminishing mirror, concentrate thebrilliancy of diffuse orations, and assist their efficacy on minds whichwould faint under the effort of grasping the original.
[Footnote *: The number of speeches, great and small, spoken in his
American half-year, is reckoned to be above 500.]
It is true, the exuberance of Kossuth is often too Asiatic for Englishtaste, and that excision of words, which needful abridgment suggests,will often seem to us a gain. Moreover, remembering that he is aforeigner, and though marvellous in his mastery of our language, stillnaturally often unable to seize the word, or select the constructionwhich he desired, I have not thought I should show honour to him byretaining anything verbally unskilful. To a certain cautious extent, Iaccount myself to be a translator, as well as a reporter,and in undertaking so delicate a duty, I am happy to announce that Ihave received Kossuth's written approval and thanks. Mere quaintness ofexpression I have by no means desired entirely to remove, where itinvolved nothing grotesque, obscure, or monotonous. In several passageswhere I imperfectly understood the thought, I have had the advantage ofKossuth's personal explanations, which have enabled me to clear up thedefective report, or real obscur