[Reception by the two Houses of Legislature of Ohio.]
Kossuth, attended by the Joint Committee, was then introduced, and addressed by the President of the Senate, Hon. Wm. Medill, as follows:
Governor Kossuth: On learning that you were about to visit the Western portion of our country, the General Assembly of this State adopted the following preamble and resolutions:—
Whereas, Louis Kossuth, Governor of Hungary, has endeared himself to the people of Ohio by his great military and greater civic services rendered to the cause of Liberty; by the transcendent power and eloquence with which he has vindicated the right of every nation to determine for itself its own form of government, by the perils he has encountered and the suffering he has endured to achieve the freedom of his native country: therefore, in the name, and on behalf of the people,
Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the war in which Hungary was lately seemingly overcome, was a struggle in behalf of the great principles which underlie the structure of our government, vindicated by the bloody battles of eight years, and that we cannot be indifferent to their fate, whatever be the arena in which the struggle for their vitality goes on.
Resolved, That an attack in any form upon them is implicitly an attack upon us, an armed intervention against them, is in effect an insult to us; that any narrowing of the sway of these principles is a most dangerous weakening of our own influence and power; and that all such combinations of kings against people should be regarded by us now as they were in 1776, and so far as circumstances will admit, the parallel should and will be so treated.
Resolved, That we are proud to recognize in Louis Kossuth constitutional Governor of Hungary, the heroic personification of these great principles, and that as such, and in token and pledge of our profound sympathy with him, and the high cause he so nobly represents, we tender to him, in behalf of two millions of freemen, a hearty welcome to the capital of the State of Ohio.
Resolved, That we declare the Russian past intervention in the affairs of Hungary, a violation of the laws of nations which, if repeated, would not be regarded indifferently by the people of the State of Ohio.
Resolved, That a joint committee of three on the part of the Senate, and five on the part of the House of Representatives, be appointed to tender Governor Kossuth, in the name and on behalf of the people of Ohio, a public reception by their General Assembly, now in the session of the capital of the State.
This preamble, and these resolutions, set forth the views and sentiments of the people of Ohio in a far more forcible, authoritative, and enduring form, than can possibly be done by any declaration or expression of mine. In no part of the United States has your course been more warmly approved or your great talents, persevering energy, and devoted patriotism, more universally admired. This, sir, is sufficiently evinced in the cordial and heartfelt welcome that has everywhere awaited you, since your entrance into the State.