The Most Famous of All the 1848 European Revolutionaries, Louis Kossuth, Proclaims the United States a Land of Asylum

Included is a letter from Kossuth’s mother, sending the family’s money to the foreign minister to safeguard her son and get him to a safe place

“Should my family be rescued out of the tiger’s den…Here is an asylum for them as long as [until] I restore them to their native land.”

The Revolutions of 1848 were a series of republican revolts against European monarchies, beginning in Italy and spreading to France, Germany, and the Austrian Empire. They all ended in failure and repression, but sowed the seeds for successful changes in some countries later. Many of the most idealistic of the revolutionaries fled to the United States as the land of freedom and asylum. Carl Schurz, Civil War general and Secretary of the Interior, was one of these.

Louis Kossuth was the leader of the revolution in Hungary, and sought Hungarian independence from Austrian domination. He was considered one of the greatest orators of the mid-19th century, and was a prominent figure and well known in the United States and throughout Europe. He became the first important revolutionary leader in Europe to come to the United States and acknowledge it as the prototype for a future Europe free from the heady hand of authoritarian monarchy.

In 1848, Kossuth’s campaigns and demands earned Hungary its own separate constitution from Austria. After the new government was formed, Kossuth was named the Minister of Finance. On September 28, 1848, after five months of serving as the minister of Finance, he assumed full control of the revolution in Hungary. He gathered, strengthened, and armed his revolutionary army. Not satisfied with their autonomous constitution, he demanded his county’s independence from Austrian rule. On April 14, 1849, the Hungarian Diet, inspired by Kossuth, proclaimed the complete independence of Hungary from Austria and deposed the Habsburg Dynasty. The Hungarian declaration of independence was influenced by the American document. At the same time the Diet elected Kossuth “governor-president” and charged him to render an account of his actions to the parliament. The Hungarians won several military victories, but later in 1849 Russian troops intervened in favor of Austria and brought the revolution to an end. Hungary was the last bastion of the democratic revolutions of 1848 to remain standing against the forces of absolutism.

After his defeat, Kossuth fled to Turkey where he spent two years in exile. The governments of Great Britain, the United States, and other West European nations successfully pressured the Turkish Sultan to refuse Austrian and Russian demands for Kossuth’s extradition. They were able to arrange for his departure from Turkey, and on September 10, 1851, Kossuth steamed from the Turkish port of Smyrna aboard the U. S. Navy’s frigate Mississippi. After stops in France and Britain, he arrived in New York City on December 5, 1851, to great public acclaim. His triumphant six-month tour throughout the United States was an popular success fully reminiscent of the extraordinary welcome accorded the Marquis de Lafayette a quarter century earlier. He was received by President Fillmore and political and social leaders in all parts of the United States, gave several hundred speeches pleading for aid for Hungarian independence, including separate addresses to both Houses of Congress. During this tour dozens of books, hundreds of pamphlets and poems, and thousands of editorials were written about him and his democratic beliefs. To Americans, he was the symbol of the attempt to bring American ideals of liberty to Europe.

Abbott Lawrence was among the most important merchants, industrialists, and philanthropists of his day, and is credited as the founders of New England’s influential textile industry. He was also a prime mover in favor of railroads, and in time become one of the wealthiest men in the United States. He was U.S. ambassador to Great Britain from October 1849-October 1852.

Autograph letter signed, in English (which Kossuth had taught himself in exile), 2 pages with its envelope, Boston (during his tour of the U.S.), May 7, 1852, to Ambassador Lawrence, proclaiming the United States a place of asylum, seeking to get his wife and children there, and at the same time settling the family’s financial situation. “Excellency, the Secretary of State favored me by sending me a letter from my sister dated Hungary 21st March and forwarded by the charge d’affaires of the U.S. in Vienna.  This letter informs me that, relying upon the kindness of Your Excellency, a considerable portion of my poor children’s rescued small property, upon which their very existence is depending, has been directed to Your Excellency, viz 12,000 florins Austrian…shares bought at the price of 153 7/8 for 100 in sum (with the pending interest) 18,600 florins.  As these shares have been but bought to have a medium of sending the money, which they thought cannot be done in cash, I like not to see the existence of my children depending from such an investment. Should therefore the said shares have arrived to Your Excellency, I would humbly request to have them realized into cash at Rothschild’s if it can be done without any very considerable loss.

“May be that the rest of my children’s small property together with some silver effects of my wife have been since also directed to the kind cares of Your Excellency. If the silver cannot be got without paying the heavy English custom duties, I would prefer to have them in deposit at the custom office until, I return to England.

“I respectfully request Your Excellency to excuse me for this troubles we cause to Your Excellency but I could not alter the dispositions, and upon whom could poor exiles rely if not upon the humanity of men like you. Should my family be rescued out of the tiger’s den, and arrive at London, I humbly recommend the poor sufferers to Your Excellency’s protection and kind interposition that they might without any delay get (if possible free) passage to America. They have no means to linger in England, I have no means to assist them. Here is an asylum for them as long as [until] I restore them to their native land. Please to accept the appearance of my highest regards and particular esteem, with which I have the honor to be…L. Kossuth.”

This comes with a long letter to Lawrence, in French, from Kossuth’s mother, sending money from the family and pleading with the minister to make sure it goes to helping protect her son and make sure he can make it to his final destination.

This is the most significant letter of Kossuth we can ever recall seeing, and comes from privately held Lawrence papers.