The New Doctrine of Intervention, tried by the Teachings of Washington: An Address Delivered in the Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia

Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo and Co, 1852. 8vo. (9 x 5 7/8 inches). 63pp., plus 24pp. of ads in the rear and 4pp. of ads tipped in at the front. Original printed wrappers.

Provenance: President Millard C. Fillmore (presentation inscription on the upper wrapper, "President Fillmore, with respects of the Author")

Second edition, inscribed to President Millard Fillmore.

This address given by Henry Augustus Boardman, pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and prolific author, denounces the policy of political intervention proposed by deposed Hungarian leader Lajos Kossuth in his speech before Congress. Kossuth, who was briefly President-Regent of Hungary, fled the country in 1851 after the collapse of his power-base. Considered a revolutionary, he was feted across England and America and addressed the Congress, exhorting them to intervene in the quarrels of foreign countries to support democracy and freedom. Boardman is highly critical of this idea. This copy is inscribed on the front wrapper "President Fillmore- With Respects of the Author-" At the time of the address Fillmore was President of the United States, although he failed to win renomination later in the year. By the time Fillmore received this pamphlet, he probably shared Boardman's views. Kossuth, who was a flamboyant figure, was invited to the White House at the time of his address to Congress, and used the opportunity to call for American intervention. Fillmore mildly rebuked him, making it clear that intervention in the affairs of Europe was not American policy. Kossuth was so angry at this that he behaved very badly for the rest of the evening. Millard Fillmore, one of the most literate of Presidents, had one of the most extensive libraries of any President.