Part 32

He had now become a popular leader. As soon as his health was restored he was appointed (January 1841) editor of the _Pesti Hirlap_, the newly founded organ of the party. Strangely enough, the government did not refuse its consent. The success of the paper was unprecedented. The circulation soon reached what was then the immense figure of 7000. The attempts of the government to counteract his influence by founding a rival paper, the _Vilag_, only increased his importance and added to the political excitement. The warning of the great reformer Szechenyi that by his appeal to the passions of the people he was leading the nation to revolution was neglected. Kossuth, indeed, was not content with advocating those reforms--the abolition of entail, the abolition of feudal burdens, taxation of the nobles--which were demanded by all the Liberals. By insisting on the superiority of the Magyars to the Slavonic inhabitants of Hungary, by his violent attacks on Austria (he already discussed the possibility of a breach with Austria), he raised the national pride to a dangerous pitch. At last, in 1844, the government succeeded in breaking his connexion with the paper. The proprietor, in obedience to orders from Vienna (this seems the most probable account), took advantage of a dispute about salary to dismiss him. He then applied for permission to start a paper of his own. In a personal interview Metternich offered to take him into the government service. The offer was refused, and for three years he was without a regular position. He continued the agitation with the object of attaining both the political and commercial independence of Hungary. He adopted the economic principles of List, and founded a society, the "Vedegylet," the members of which were to consume none but home produce. He advocated the creation of a Hungarian port at Fiume. With the autumn of 1847 the great opportunity of his life came. Supported by the influence of Louis Batthyany, after a keenly fought struggle he was elected member for Budapest in the new Diet. "Now that I am a deputy, I will cease to be an agitator," he said. He at once became chief leader of the Extreme Liberals. Deak was absent. Batthyany, Szechenyi, Szemere, Eotvos, his rivals, saw how his intense personal ambition and egoism led him always to assume the chief place, and to use his parliamentary position to establish himself as leader of the nation; but before his eloquence and energy all apprehensions were useless. His eloquence was of that nature, in its impassioned appeals to the strongest emotions, that it required for its full effect the highest themes and the most dramatic situations. In a time of rest, though he could never have been obscure, he would never have attained the highest power. It was therefore a necessity of his nature, perhaps unconsciously, always to drive things to a crisis. The crisis came, and he used it to the full.

On the 3rd of March 1848, as soon as the news of the revolution in Paris had arrived, in a speech of surpassing power he demanded parliamentary government for Hungary and constitutional government for the rest of Austria. He appealed to the hope of the Habsburgs, "our beloved Archduke Francis Joseph," to perpetuate the ancient glory of the dynasty by meeting half-way the aspirations of a free people. He at once became the leader of the European revolution; his speech was read aloud in the streets of Vienna to the mob by which Metternich was overthrown (March 13), and when a deputation from the Diet visited Vienna to receive the assent of the emperor to their petition it was Kossuth who received the chief ovation. Batthyany, who formed the first responsible ministry, could not refuse to admit Kossuth, but he gave him the ministry of finance, probably because that seemed to open to him fewest prospects of engrossing popularity. If that was the object, it was in vain. With wonderful energy he began developing the internal resources of the country: he established a separate Hungarian coinage--as always, using every means to increase the national self-consciousness; and it was characteristic that on the new Hungarian notes which he issued his own name was the most prominent inscription; hence the name of _Kossuth Notes_, which was long celebrated. A new paper was started, to which was given the name of _Kossuth Hirlapia_, so that from the first it was Kossuth rather than the Palatine or the president of the ministry whose name was in the minds of the people associated with the new government. Much more was this the case when, in the summer, the dangers from the Croats, Serbs and the reaction at Vienna increased. In a great speech of 11th July he asked that the nation should arm in self-defence, and demanded 200,000 men; amid a scene of wild enthusiasm this was granted by acclamation. When Jellachich was marching on Pesth he went from town to town rousing the people to the defence of the country, and the popular force of the _Honved_ was his creation. When Batthyany resigned he was appointed with Szemere to carry on the government provisionally, and at the end of September he was made President of the Committee of National Defence. From this time he was in fact, if not in name, the dictator. With marvellous energy he kept in his own hands the direction of the whole government. Not a soldier himself, he had to control and direct the movements of armies; can we be surprised if he failed, or if he was unable to keep control over the generals or to establish that military co-operation so essential to success? Especially it was Görgei (q.v.) whose great abilities he was the first to recognize, who refused obedience; the two men were in truth the very opposite to one another: the one all feeling, enthusiasm, sensibility; the other cold, stoical, reckless of life. Twice Kossuth deposed him from the command; twice he had to restore him. It would have been well if Kossuth had had something more of Görgei's calculated ruthlessness, for, as has been truly said, the revolutionary power he had seized could only be held by revolutionary means; but he was by nature soft-hearted and always merciful; though often audacious, he lacked decision in dealing with men. It has been said that he showed a want of personal courage; this is not improbable, the excess of feeling which made him so great an orator could hardly be combined with the coolness in danger required of a soldier; but no one was able, as he was, to infuse courage into others. During all the terrible winter which followed, his energy and spirit never failed him. It was he who overcame the reluctance of the army to march to the relief of Vienna; after the defeat of Schwechat, at which he was present, he sent Bem to carry on the war in Transylvania. At the end of the year, when the Austrians were approaching Pesth, he asked for the mediation of Mr Stiles, the American envoy. Windischgrätz, however, refused all terms, and the Diet and government fled to Debrecszin, Kossuth taking with him the regalia of St Stephen, the sacred Palladium of the Hungarian nation. Immediately after the accession of the Emperor Francis Joseph all the concessions of March had been revoked and Kossuth with his colleagues outlawed. In April 1849, when the Hungarians had won many successes, after sounding the army, he issued the celebrated declaration of Hungarian independence, in which he declared that "the house of Habsburg-Lorraine, perjured in the sight of God and man, had forfeited the Hungarian throne." It was a step characteristic of his love for extreme and dramatic action, but it added to the dissensions between him and those who wished only for autonomy under the old dynasty, and his enemies did not scruple to accuse him of aiming at the crown himself. For the time the future form of government was left undecided, but Kossuth was appointed responsible governor. The hopes of ultimate success were frustrated by the intervention of Russia; all appeals to the western powers were vain, and on the 11th of August Kossuth abdicated in favour of Görgei, on the ground that in the last extremity the general alone could save the nation. How Görgei used his authority to surrender is well known; the capitulation was indeed inevitable, but a greater man than Kossuth would not have avoided the last duty of conducting the negotiations so as to get the best terms.

With the capitulation of Villagos Kossuth's career was at an end. A solitary fugitive, he crossed the Turkish frontier. He was hospitably received by the Turkish authorities, who, supported by Great Britain, refused, notwithstanding the threats of the allied emperors, to surrender him and the other fugitives to the merciless vengeance of the Austrians. In January 1849 he was removed from Widdin, where he had been kept in honourable confinement, to Shumla, and thence to Katahia in Asia Minor. Here he was joined by his children, who had been confined at Pressburg; his wife (a price had been set on her head) had joined him earlier, having escaped in disguise. In September 1851 he was liberated and embarked on an American man-of-war. He first landed at Marseilles, where he received an enthusiastic welcome from the people, but the prince-president refused to allow him to cross France. On the 23rd of October he landed at Southampton and spent three weeks in England, where he was the object of extraordinary enthusiasm, equalled only by that with which Garibaldi was received ten years later. Addresses were presented to him at Southampton, Birmingham and other towns; he was officially entertained by the lord mayor of London; at each place he pleaded the cause of his unhappy country. Speaking in English, he displayed an eloquence and command of the language scarcely excelled by the greatest orators in their own tongue. The agitation had no immediate effect, but the indignation which he aroused against Russian policy had much to do with the strong anti-Russian feeling which made the Crimean War possible.

From England he went to the United States of America: there his reception was equally enthusiastic, if less dignified; an element of charlatanism appeared in his words and acts which soon destroyed his real influence. Other Hungarian exiles protested against the claim he appeared to make that he was the one national hero of the revolution. Count Casimir Batthyany attacked him in _The Times_, and Szemere, who had been prime minister under him, published a bitter criticism of his acts and character, accusing him of arrogance, cowardice and duplicity. He soon returned to England, where he lived for eight years in close connexion with Mazzini, by whom, with some misgiving, he was persuaded to join the Revolutionary Committee. Quarrels of a kind only too common among exiles followed; the Hungarians were especially offended by his claim still to be called governor. He watched with anxiety every opportunity of once more freeing his country from Austria. An attempt to organize a Hungarian legion during the Crimean War was stopped; but in 1859 he entered into negotiations with Napoleon, left England for Italy, and began the organization of a Hungarian legion, which was to make a descent on the coast of Dalmatia. The Peace of Villafranca made this impossible. From that time he resided in Italy; he refused to follow the other Hungarian patriots, who, under the lead of Deak, accepted the composition of 1867; for him there could be no reconciliation with the house of Habsburg, nor would he accept less than full independence and a republic. He would not avail himself of the amnesty, and, though elected to the Diet of 1867, never took his seat. He never lost the affections of his countrymen, but he refrained from an attempt to give practical effect to his opinions, nor did he allow his name to become a new cause of dissension. A law of 1879, which deprived of citizenship all Hungarians who had voluntarily been absent ten years, was a bitter blow to him.

He died in Turin on the 20th of March 1894; his body was taken to Pesth, where he was buried amid the mourning of the whole nation, Maurus Jokai delivering the funeral oration. A bronze statue, erected by public subscription, in the Kerepes cemetery, commemorates Hungary's purest patriot and greatest orator.

Many points in Kossuth's career and character will probably always remain the subject of controversy. His complete works were published in Hungarian at Budapest in 1880-1895. The fullest account of the Revolution is given in Helfert, _Geschichte Oesterreichs_ (Leipzig, 1869, &c.), representing the Austrian view, which may be compared with that of C. Gracza, _History of the Hungarian War of Independence, 1848-1849_ (in Hungarian) (Budapest, 1894). See also E. O. S., _Hungary and its Revolutions, with a Memoir of Louis Kossuth_ (Bohn, 1854); Horvath, _25 Jahre aus der Geschichte Ungarns, 1823-1848_ (Leipzig, 1867); Maurice, _Revolutions of 1848-1849_; W. H. Stiles, _Austria in 1848-1849_ (New York, 1852); Szemere, _Politische Charakterskizzen: III. Kossuth_ (Hamburg, 1853); Louis Kossuth, _Memoirs of my Exile_ (London, 1880); Pulszky, _Meine Zeit, mein Leben_ (Pressburg, 1880); A. Somogyi, _Ludwig Kossuth_ (Berlin, 1894). (J. W. He.)

KOSTER (or COSTER), LAURENS (c. 1370-1440), Dutch printer, whose claims to be considered at least one of the inventors of the art (see TYPOGRAPHY) have been recognized by many investigators. His real name was Laurens Janssoen-Koster (i.e. sacristan) being merely the title which he bore as an official of the great parish church of Haarlem. We find him mentioned several times between 1417 and 1434 as a member of the great council, as an assessor (_scabinus_), and as the city treasurer. He probably perished in the plague that visited Haarlem in 1439-1440; his widow is mentioned in the latter year. His descendants, through his daughter Lucia, can be traced down to 1724.

See Peter Scriver, _Beschryvinge der Stad Harlem_ (Haarlem, 1628); Scheltema, _Levensschets van Laurens d. Koster_ (Haarlem, 1834); Van der Linde, _De Haarlemsche Costerlegende_ (Hague, 1870).

KOSTROMA, a government of central Russia, surrounded by those of Vologda, Vyatka, Nizhniy-Novgorod, Vladimir and Yaroslav, lying mostly on the left bank of the upper Volga. It has an area of 32,480 sq. m. Its surface is generally undulating, with hilly tracts on the right bank of the Volga, and extensive flat and marshy districts in the east. Rocks of the Permian system predominate, though a small tract belongs to the Jurassic, and both are overlain by thick deposits of Quaternary clays. The soil in the east is for the most part sand or a sandy clay; a few patches, however, are fertile black earth. Forests, yielding excellent timber for ship-building, and in many cases still untouched, occupy 61% of the area of the government. The export of timber is greatly facilitated by the navigable tributaries of the Volga, e.g. the Kostroma, Unzha, Neya, Vioksa and Vetluga. The climate is severe; frosts of -22° F. are common in January, and the mean temperature of the year is only 3°.1 (summer, 64°.5; winter, -13°.3). The population, which numbered 1,176,000 in 1870 and 1,424,171 in 1897, is almost entirely Russian. The estimated population in 1906 was 1,596,700. Out of 20,000,000 acres, 7,861,500 acres belong to private owners, 6,379,500 to the peasant communities, 3,660,800 to the crown, and 1,243,000 to the imperial family. Agriculture is at a low ebb; only 4,000,000 acres are under crops (rye, oats, wheat and barley), and the yield of corn is insufficient for the wants of the population. Flax and hops are cultivated to an increasing extent. But market-gardening is of some importance. Bee-keeping was formerly an important industry. The chief articles of commerce are timber, fuel, pitch, tar, mushrooms, and wooden wares for building and household purposes, which are largely manufactured by the peasantry and exported to the steppe governments of the lower Volga and the Don. Boat-building is also carried on. Some other small industries, such as the manufacture of silver and copper wares, leather goods, bast mats and sacks, lace and felt boots, are carried on in the villages; but the trade in linen and towelling, formerly the staple, is declining. There are cotton, flax and linen mills, engineering and chemical works, distilleries, tanneries and paper mills. The government of Kostroma is divided into twelve districts, the chief towns of which, with populations in 1897, are Kostroma (q.v.), Bui (2626), Chukhloma (2200), Galich (6182), Kineshma (7564), Kologriv (2566), Makariev (6068), Nerekhta (3002), Soligalich (3420), Varnavin (1140), Vetluga (5200) and Yurievets (4778).

KOSTROMA, a town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name, 230 m. N.N.E. of Moscow and 57 m. E.N.E. from Yaroslav, on the left bank of the Volga, at the mouth of the navigable Kostroma, with suburbs on the opposite side of the Volga. Pop. (1897), 41,268. Its glittering gilded cupolas make it a conspicuous feature in the landscape as it climbs up the terraced river bank. It is one of the oldest towns of Russia, having been founded in 1152. Its fort was often the refuge of the princes of Moscow during war, but the town was plundered more than once by the Tatars. The cathedral, built in 1239 and rebuilt in 1773, is situated in the kreml, or citadel, and is a fine monument of old Russian architecture. In the centre of the town is a monument to the peasant Ivan Susanin and the tsar Michael (1851). The former sacrificed his own life in 1669 by leading the Poles astray in the forests in order to save the life of his own tsar Michael Fedeorovich. On the opposite bank of the Volga, close to the water's edge, stands the monastery of Ipatiyev, founded in 1330, with a cathedral built in 1586, both associated with the election of Tsar Michael (1669). Kostroma has been renowned since the 16th century for its linen, which was exported to Holland, and the manufacture of linen and linen-yarn is still kept up to some extent. The town has also cotton-mills, tanneries, saw-mills, an iron-foundry and a machine factory. It carries on an active trade--importing grain, and exporting linen, linen yarn, leather, and especially timber and wooden wares.

KÖSZEG (Ger. _Güns_), a town in the county of Vas, in Hungary, 173 m. W. of Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900), 7422. It is pleasantly situated in the valley of the Güns, and is dominated towards the west by the peaks of Altenhaus (2000 ft.) and of the Geschriebene Stein (2900 ft.). It possesses a castle of Count Esterhazy, a modern Roman Catholic Church in Gothic style and two convents. It has important cloth factories and a lively trade in fruit and wine. The town has a special historical interest for the heroic and successful defence of the fortress by Nicolas Jurisics against a large army of Sultan Soliman, in July-August 1532, which frustrated the advance of the Turks to Vienna for that year.

To the south-east of Köszeg, at the confluence of the Güns with the Raab, is situated the town of Sárvár (pop. 3158), formerly fortified, where in 1526 the first printing press in Hungary was established.

KOTAH, a native state of India, in the Rajputana agency, with an area of 5684 sq. m. The country slopes gently northwards from the high table-land of Malwa, and is drained by the Chambal with its tributaries, all flowing in a northerly or north-easterly direction. The Mokandarra range, from 1200 to 1600 ft. above sea-level, runs from south-east to north-west. The Mokandarra Pass through these hills, in the neighbourhood of the highest peak (1671 ft.), has been rendered memorable by the passage of Colonel Monson's army on its disastrous retreat in 1804. There are extensive game preserves, chiefly covered with grass. In addition to the usual Indian grains, wheat, cotton, poppy, and a little tobacco of good quality are cultivated. The manufactures are very limited. Cotton fabrics are woven, but are being rapidly superseded by the cheap products of Bombay and Manchaster. Articles of wooden furniture are also constructed. The chief articles of export are opium and grain; salt, cotton and woollen cloth are imported.

Kotah is an offshoot from Bundi state, having been bestowed upon a younger son of the Bundi raja by the emperor Shah Jahan in return for services rendered him when the latter was in rebellion against his father Jahangir. In 1897 a considerable portion of the area taken to form Jhalawar (q.v.) in 1838 was restored to Kotah. In 1901 the population was 544,879, showing a decrease of 24% due to the results of famine. The estimated revenue is £206,000; tribute, £28,000. The maharao Umad Singh, was born in 1873, and succeeded in 1889. He was educated at the Mayo College, Ajmere, and became a major in the British army. A continuation of the branch line of the Indian Midland railway from Goona to Baran passes through Kotah, and it is also traversed by a new line, opened in 1909. The state suffered from drought in 1896-1897, and again more severely in 1899-1900.

The town of Kotah is on the right bank of the Chambal. Pop. (1901), 33,679. It is surrounded and also divided into three parts by massive walls, and contains an old and a new palace of the maharao and a number of fine temples. Muslins are the chief articles of manufacture, but the town has no great trade, and this and the unhealthiness of the site may account for the decrease in population.

KOTAS (Kotar, Koter, Kohatur, Gauhatar), an aboriginal tribe of the Nilgiri hills, India. They are a well-made people, of good features, tall, and of a dull copper colour, but some of them are among the fairest of the hill tribes. They recognize no caste among themselves, but are divided into _keris_ (streets), and a man must marry outside his _keri_. Their villages (of which there are seven) are large, averaging from thirty to sixty huts. They are agriculturists and herdsmen, and the only one of the hill tribes who practise industrial arts, being excellent as carpenters, smiths, tanners and basket-makers. They do menial work for the Todas, to whom they pay a tribute. They worship ideal gods, which are not represented by any images. Their language is an old and rude dialect of Kanarese. In 1901 they numbered 1267.

KOTKA, a seaport of Finland, in the province of Viborg, 35 m. by rail from Kuivola junction on the Helsingfors railway, on an island of the same name at the mouth of the Kymmene river. Pop. (1904), 7628. It is the chief port for exports from and imports to east Finland and a centre of the timber trade.

KOTRI, a town of British India, in Karachi district, Sind, situated on the right bank of the Indus. Pop. (1901), 7617. Kotri is the junction of branches of the North-Western railway, serving each bank of the Indus, which is here crossed by a railway bridge. It was formerly the station for Hyderabad, which lies across the Indus, and the headquarters of the Indus steam flotilla, now abolished in consequence of the development of railway facilities. Besides its importance as a railway centre, however, Kotri still has a considerable general transit trade by river.