erning the true
condition of affairs there, the Austrian Government instructed its
diplomatic representative at Washington, the Chevalier Hulsemann,
to protest against this interference in its internal affairs, as
offensive to the laws of propriety. This protest was communicated
to Mr. Webster after he became Secretary of State, and in due time
the Chevalier received an answer which completely extinguished him.
It carefully reviewed the case, and in conclusion told the protesting
Chevalier in plain Anglo-Saxon that nothing would "deter either
the Government or the people of the United States from exercising,
at their own discretion, the rights belonging to them as an
independent nation, and of forming and expressing their own opinion
freely and at all times upon the great political events which might
transpire among the civilized nations of the earth." The paternity
of this memorable letter was afterward ascribed to Edward Everett.
It was not, however, written either by Mr. Webster or Mr. Everett,
but by Mr. William Hunter, then the Chief Clerk of the Department
of State.

Meanwhile, Kossuth had been released from his imprisonment within
the dominion of the Sublime Porte, by request of the Government of
the United States, and taken to England in the war steamer Mississippi.
In due time the great Behemoth of the Magyar race arrived at
Washington, where he created a marked sensation. The distinguished
revolutionist wore a military uniform, and the steel scabbard of
his sword trailed on the ground as he walked. He was about five
feet eight inches in height, with a slight and apparently not
strongly built frame, and was a little round-shouldered. His face
was rather oval; a pair of bluish-gray eyes gave an animated and
intelligent look to his countenance. His forehead, high and broad,
was deeply wrinkled, and time had just begun to grizzle a head of
dark, straight hair, a heavy moustache, and whiskers which formed
a beard beneath his chin. Whether from his recent captivity or
from constitutional causes, there was an air of lassitude in his
look to which the fatigues of his voyage not improbably contributed.
Altogether, he gave one the idea of a visionary or theoretical
enthusiast rather then of a great leader or soldier.

Kossuth was the guest of Congress at Brown's Hotel, but those
Senators and Representatives who called to pay their respects found
members of his retinue on guard before the door of his apartments