Page:A history of Hungarian literature.djvu/166

 XII

ORATORS

with the literary revival marked by the advent of Vörösmarty, was an era of political reform which transformed the aspect of affairs in Hungary. In the year of the publication of Vörösmarty's epoch-making work, Zalán's Flight, the man who re-created Hungary as a modern State, Count (1791–1860) came into prominence.

It rarely happens that one man exerts such a wonderful influence over a whole country as Széchenyi wielded. He had a deeply interesting and strange personality. His nature was at base romantic, but harassed by doubts and self-mistrust. His heart was torn by mental conflicts and self-condemnatory meditations, but he unquestion­ably possessed the genius of a statesman.

Count Széchenyi was born in 1791 in Vienna, the stronghold of Hungary's foes. His father, a highly cultured nobleman, suffered from religious melancholy, but retained a keen interest in mundane affairs and founded the National Museum in Budapest. His son inherited from him his restless, sensitive conscience, and also his interest in the nation's welfare.

At the commencement of his career, Széchenyi dis­tinguished himself as a soldier, but throughout the term of his military service he was tormented by the vague