Louis Kossuth was born at Monok, in Zemplin, one of the northern
counties of Hungary, April 21, 1802. His family was ancient, but
impoverished; his father served in the Austrian 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 disposition, 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, themselves 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 introduced
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 entering upon manhood, made his way to Pesth,
the capital, to study the legal profession. 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.

The man and the hour were alike preparing. In 1825, the year before
Kossuth arrived at Pesth, the critical state of her Italian
possessions compelled Austria to provide extraordinary revenues. The
Hungarian Diet was then assembled, after an interval of thirteen
years. This Diet at once demanded certain measures of reform before
they would make the desired pecuniary grants. The court was obliged
to concede these demands. Kossuth, having completed his lega