Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 6.djvu/140

 304 WORKMEN AND HEROES classes would be satisfied, all commotions cease, and the community would be as near perfection as near perfection in the pecuniary view as it possibly could be on earth." y* / /* LOUIS KOSSUTH (i 802-1 894) L c ouis Kossuth was born at Monok, in Zemp- lin, one of the northern counties of Hun- gary, April 21, 1802. His family was ancient, but impoverished ; his father served in the Aus- trian army during the wars against Napoleon ; his mother is represented to have been a woman of extraordinary force of mind and character. Kossuth thus adds another to the long list of great men who seem to have inherited their genius from their mothers. As a boy he was remarkable for the winning gentleness of his dis- position, and for an earnest enthusiasm, which gave promise of future eminence, could he but break the bonds imposed by low birth and iron fortune. A young clergyman was attracted by the character of the boy, and voluntarily took upon himself the office of his tutor, and thus first opened before his mind visions of a broader world than that of the miserable village of his residence. But these serene days of power expanding under genial guidance soon passed away. His father died, his tutor was translated to another post, and the walls of his prison-house seemed again to close upon the boy. But by the aid of members of his family, them- selves in humble circumstances, he was enabled to attend such schools as the district furnished. Little worth knowing was taught there ; but among that little was the Latin language ; and through that door the young dreamer was intro- duced into the broad domains of history, where, abandoning the mean present, he could range at will through the immortal past. In times of peace the law offers to an aspiring youth the readiest means of ascent from a low degree to lofty stations. Kossuth, therefore, when just enter- ing upon manhood, made his way to Pesth, the capital, to study the legal pro- fession. Here he entered the office of a notary, and began gradually to make himself known by his liberal opinions and the fervid eloquence with which he set forth and maintained them ; and men began to see in him the promise of a powerful public writer, orator, and debater.