He would urge them to go on and support that cause which they believed
to be sanctified by truth. It has been said that true religion can never
cease to be republican. If this be true, he would ask what could more
promote the glorious cause, than the influence of the United States
exerted among the nations of the world, toward the general
acknowledgment of that doctrine among nations which is laid down for the
government of men,--"What ye would that men should do unto you, do ye
even so to them." This fundamental truth should be declared a part of
the international law of the world; and the Gospel would then become the
bulwark of liberty to all mankind. Thus we may see that the triumph of
genuine liberty can best be secured by recognizing religion as the true
basis of the law of nations. He who shall be instrumental in
incorporating this grand doctrine among those laws, will be equal, or
perhaps superior to, a Luther, or a Melancthon, a Calvin, or a Huss, a
Cranmer, or any other of the world's greatest reformers. The people of
this republic have all this within their grasp; and he hoped the
Almighty would hasten the day when it shall be done. He had often heard
that the people of this country loved to be called a great people, and
he had many times heard them called a great people. To _be_ a great
people, however, the people of this country must really _act_ as a
great people. He urged upon the ministers of the Gospel that they should
warn their flocks against the horrid doctrines of _Materialism_.
Nothing is more hostile to national greatness than when the poor see the
rich governed only by pecuniary considerations--leaving nothing for the
mind and the soul, or undervaluing virtue and talents. He thankfully
acknowledged the deep solemnity of his feelings, when for his humble
self, such solemn manifestations were observed; and while commending his
bleeding country to their love, he could only refer them to the
Saviour's words as the guide for their prayers and their watchfulness.
* * * * *
XXV.--HUNGARIAN LOAN.
[_Melodeum, Cleveland_.]
Kossuth having been presented at the Melodeum to the Mayor, was publicly
addressed by Mr. Starkweather in a highly energetic speech, which ended
by saluting him as "rightful Governor of Hungary."
Kossuth replied:--
Sir, if I am not mistaken it is now the 156th time [since I entered
America], I am sure that it is the 34th time since I left Washington on
the 12th of January,--that I have had the honour to address an American
audience in that tongue which I learned from Shakespeare, while confined
in an Austrian prison for having dared to claim the right of a free
press, which now, like the hundred-handed Briareus of old, pours my
words by thousands of channels into the hearts of millions of freemen,
who comprize in their national capacity a mighty Republic, destined to
enforce the Law of Nations, upon which rests the deliverance of the
world from an overwhelming despotism.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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