The resolutions of the Legislature and the letter of the Governor were presented to Kossuth at Pittsburg, Pa., January 26, by Hon. Erastus Hopkins, then a member of the House of Representatives.
Kossuth's first speech in New England was made at New Haven, Thursday, April 22. From what he there said some inferences may be drawn as to his religious opinions and the basis on which, to him, the principles of freedom seemed to rest:
"I know that there is one God in Heaven, the Father of all humanity, and Heaven is therefore one. I know that there is one sun in the sky, which gives light to all the world. As there is unity in God, and unity in the light, so is there unity in the principles of freedom."
Upon his arrival in Boston, April 27, 1852, I met with him on the steps of the State House, greeting him with the following speech:
"Governor Kossuth: As the voice of the Legislature and people of
Massachusetts, I welcome you to this capitol to-day.
"Your presence brings before us our own past, bitter in its experience, but glorious in its history. We once had apostles of liberty on whose heads a price was set, who were hunted by tyranny from their homes, and threatened with expulsion from civilized life. That day of oppression and anxiety with us is ended. It introduced a contest for human rights, whose results on this continent you have seen, in the extent, character and power of the American republic.
"The people of Massachusetts, inspired by their early history and animated by the impulses of their hearts, greet you as one who has nobly served and suffered in the cause of individual freedom and the rights of states. Nor will their admiration be limited by any consideration arising from the fate of your country, or the failure of the patriotic hopes with which it was inspired.
"Liberty can never die. The generations of men appear and pass away, but the principles and aspirations of their nature are immortal.
"Despotism is of time. It contains within itself the elements and the necessity of decay and death.
"Fifty years of your eventful life are past; but take courage, sir, in the belief that, in the providence of God, the moment is near when the light of freedom shall penetrate the darkness of European despotism. Then shall your own Hungary welcome you to her fields and mountains, to her homes and heart; and we will welcome Hungary to the family of republican, constitutional, sovereign states.