It has been asked by some, why I allowed a treacherous general to ruin
our cause. I have always been anxious not to assume any duty for which I
might be unsuited. If I had undertaken the practical direction of
military operations, and anything went amiss, I feared that my
conscience would torture me, as guilty of the fall of my country, as I
had not been familiar with military tactics. I therefore entrusted my
country's cause, thus far, into other hands; and I weep for the result.
In exile, I have tried to profit by the past and prepare for the future.
I believe that the confidence of Hungary in me is not shaken by
misfortune nor broken by my calumniators. I have had all in my own hands
once; and if ever I am in the same position again, I will act. I will
not become a Napoleon nor an Alexander, and labour for my own ambition;
but I will labour for freedom and for the moral well-being of man. I do
but ask you to enforce your own great constitutional principles, and not
permit Russia to interfere.

* * * * *

VII.--HEREDITARY POLICY OF AMERICA.

[_Speech at the Corporation Dinner, New York, Dec. 11th_,
1851.]

The Mayor having made an address to Kossuth, closed by proposing the
following toast:--

"Hungary--Betrayed but not subdued. Her call for help is but the echo of
our appeal against the tread of the oppressor."