respect to such a foreign power which
violates the laws of nations.

This sanction would be sufficient, because the enterprizing spirit of
your high-minded people is too well known not to be feared by all the
despots of the world.

Your laws, which forbid your citizens to partake in an armed expedition
abroad, are founded upon the sentiment, that to a foreign power with
which you are on terms of _amity_ the regards of friendship are
due. But you, without becoming inconsistent with your own fundamental
principles, cannot consider yourself to be in good friendship with a
power which violates the laws of nations: so you may well withdraw the
regards of friendship from it without resorting to war. Between
friendship and hostility there is yet a middle position--that of being
neither friend nor enemy--therefore permitting to every private
individual to act as he pleases.

Thus the conditional recall of your neutrality laws would enforce the
respect to your protestation without bringing your country into the
moral obligation to maintain your protestation by war. I hope those who
share my principles but hesitate to pronounce on account of the
possibility of a war, will be pleased to consider this humble
suggestion, and will see, that with my principles war will be averted
from the United States, and by opposing my principles the United States
will soon be forced into dangerous difficulties, out of which they
cannot be extricated but by a war, which they will have to fight
single-handed and alone.

[After this, Kossuth proceeded to speak on _Catholicism;_ but this
subject is treated afterwards more amply in his speech at St. Louis
against the Jesuits.]

* * * * *

While Kossuth was addressing his audience at Pittsburg, a special envoy
from Massachusetts arrived, Mr. Erastus Hopkins of Northampton, one of
the Representatives of the State Legislature. At the vote of the
Legislature, the Governor (Jan. 15th) deputed Mr. Hopkins to convey to
Kossuth a solemn public invitation; and at the close of Kossuth's speech
(Jan. 27th) permission was granted by the President of the evening to
allow Mr. Hopkins' credentials to be read; upon which that gentleman
said:--

"Mr. President, after the soul-stirring proceedings of this afternoon, I
dare hardly venture to obtrude upon your attention. It was indeed very
far from my expectation, when I came a pilgrim on a toilsome journey at
this inclement seaso