Philip's son, a boy nine years of age, was sold into slavery, and the royal race of Massasoit was extinct.
As all our information of Carthage and the Punic wars has been transmitted by Roman authors, so our knowledge of Philip and the war of 1675-6, is derived from partial and in some instances prejudiced sources. Yet it is just to say that our ancestors made no concealment of the facts, although the comments of Mather and Hubbard are often strangely barbarous in spirit. And further, we may be certain that our Pilgrim Fathers were true to the light that was in them; and that their memory will grow green with years and blossom through the flight of ages.
If to-day we have seen the bright side of Indian character, contrasted with the few harsh features of the New England colonists, it is that this occasion, while it calls forth feelings of gratitude and reverence for the men and history of the Past may have somewhat of a practical value in the Present and the Future. The men of the forest have not disappeared entirely, though
"They waste—they shrink away;
And fast we follow, as they go
Towards the setting day."
And if in the Providence of God the race is soon to be extinct, let not injustice, oppression, or war, increase their woes or hasten their decay.
XVIII LOUIS KOSSUTH*
When Louis Kossuth landed in New York, December 5, 1851, he was not an unknown personage. He and his native land had been made known to the people of the United States by the Revolution of 1848 and the contest of 1849 for the independence of Hungary. Until those events occurred, Hungary was only a marked spot on the map of Europe, and the name of Kossuth, as a leader in industrial and social progress, had not been written or spoken on this side of the Atlantic; but in the year 1851 there was no other person of a foreign race and language of whose name and career as much was known.
There was no exaggeration in Mr. Emerson's words of address to Kossuth: "You have got your story told in every palace, and log hut, and prairie camp throughout this continent."
From the first Kossuth recognized a special interest in the commonwealth of Massachusetts. This interest was due in part to the history of the State, from which he drew many lessons of instruction and much confidence that personal liberty and the independence and sovereignty of states would become universal possessions. Beyond these considerations the invitation to him from Massachusetts was made January 8, 1852,—among the first of the States of the Union.
In my annual address to the Legislature, delivered the 15th of January, I said: "Your action will be regarded as an expression of the sympathy of Massachusetts for the distinguished exile, and for the cause of European liberty, which he so truly represents. The common sentiment of America is on the side of constitutional governments."