people greeted him everywhere on his triumphal progress from place to place, were well calculated to encourage in him the hope that the American Republic might abandon her traditional policy of non-entanglement, and take an active part in the struggles of his country. In fact, however, scarcely anybody thought soberly and seriously of casting aside the principles so impressively taught in Washington's Farewell Address, to embroil this Republic in the turmoils and vicissitudes of the struggles disturbing the Old World. But this secret conviction found little expression among those with whom Kossuth came into personal contact. Even at a banquet given in his honor at Washington, where Webster, the Secretary of State, and several of the most prominent Senators spoke, many of the speeches might have been interpreted as meaning that, if the American Republic were not ready at once to throw overboard the principles of foreign policy faithfully adhered to from the beginning, it was only watching for a proper occasion to do so.
Kossuth had in his orations frequently mentioned Clay's name as that of the great advocate of South American independence and of the Greek cause. He solicited an interview with the old statesman, and Clay received him in his sick-chamber. Clay spoke to the distinguished visitor with cordial kindness and respect, but also with a frankness which excluded all misunderstanding. He assured Kossuth that Hungary, in her struggle
