A History of Hungarian Literature/Chapter 12
XII
ORATORS
Contemporary 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 Stephen Széchenyi (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 STE PHEN SZÉCHENYI 153 discontent and yearnings of a man who has not fo und his proper sphere. He went abroad, and frequently visited Paris, London and Rome. Then he undertook a journey to Asia, and afterwards went to Athens, the ruins of which reminded bim painfully of his own decaying country. He was troubled by some love-sorrow too, and his restlessness and dissatisfac tion increased. Gradually a grand idea, that of saving his country, formed and ripened in his soul. Of th is resolution he wrote in after years : " Oh, how often in my childhood I have seen my poor father stricken with sorrow, so that eYen I , child as I was, could real ise vagu ely that so much sadness was not caused by family cares alone. For my father was a truly Christian man, and was imbued with the stoicism of Epictetus, and he met all his private troubles with a calm philosophic smile. I could not then understand his sorrow, but I lear ned later that the decline of our nation was the cause of his grief. The hopelessness of the situation, fore boding speedy extinction, filled bim with despair. Ever since my father, in whom shone so many of the virtucs of a citizen, sank into his grave, I have unceasingly com pared my country with other nations, to find whether there was any possibility of our resurrection. Th is was the task of my life. Other nations seemed to live in th e prese nt and to be cheerfu l and contented, while Hungary appeared to have no hope, and to think that ali her fame and greatness lay buried in the past. " O ccasionallythecloudswould break before my eyes, and my hear t was thrilled with the message : 'Those for whose welfare you yearn are not dead, and there is hope for the future. ' But ali at once the sky again became overcast and I seem ed to lie tossing on the waves 154 HUNGARIAN LITERAT URE of hope and despair, wearing out my own strength. My life was full of sadness, and h ope seidom shone upo n my youth. "Thus it came about that in the year t 825, after passing through severe mental confticts, and rea lising that no one shared my view, or, if he did, would dare to act, I swo re to myself that I, relying not upon my talents, but on the purity of my intentions and on my constancy, would devote myself whoily to the work of calling my country back to life. I was ebeered by a few hopeful signs, but I resolved that even if I remained alone or perished in the struggle, I would unhesitatingly tread the path which the spirit within me pohlied out. After loyally servi ng my king during my military career, I would dedicate th e rest of my life to my country, and I stepped out upon the' field of public life, so thickly strewn with thorns, resolved that I, if no one else, would try to revíve my country's former dignity, and wo uld devote ali my life and energy to the task. Three main characteristics gave Széchenyi's work its epoch-making value. The first is that he directed the attention of the nation to financial interests. There had been emin ent statesmen and politicians before Széch enyi and there were others contemporary with bim, but they were chiefty jurists, and hardly any one recognised th e importan ce of political economy, industry, commerce and means of communication, the very things upon which Hungary's future largely depended. Széchenyi's political faith was that Hungary must become more wealthy in order that she might become free and cultured. He awoke th e nation from the torpor into which it had fa llen and bade it cease to ponder over its rights and the infrac tions of them, and turn to the more important problem of reviving its prosperity. STE PHEN SZECHENYI ISS He also insisted on the fact that the cause of the national decadence lay not in the Goyernment, or in Vienna, but in the H ungarians themselves. N ot Austria, but their own indolence, wrong-doing, and obsolete institutions were at fault. Reform must begin with them selves. He understood how to inspire the people with faith in their own future. Before Széchenyi, people had thought that their glory was a thing of the past and that the present meant o nly stagnation and decay. Széchenyi gave them as a new motto " Hungary was not, but is to be." He concentrated men's thoughts upon the building up of a great future, greater in every respect than the past. He cured them of the melanch oly which had held the country' s best workers bound as if .by a spell, and braced them to earnest labour by his books, wh ich acted upon them like powerful electric shocks. His inftuence ' was so great because he expressed, with the voice of genius, the inarticulate feelings and longings of the people. Széchenyi's career as a reformer commenced with deeds, however, and not merely with words. Some persons were discussing and advocating, in his hearing, the creation of a scientific academy. Széchenyi stood up and offered a year's income Cb"sooo) towards the cost of the proj ect, a nd the Academy was founded. Then he e stablished horse races on the lines of those held in England, partly to encourage the breeding of horses, and partly to provide amusement at home for the wealthier classes so as to induce them to remain in Hungary instead of living abroad . In order to cultivate a social spirit he fo unded the first political and social clubs in Budapest on English models, and the country towns soon began to imitate the metropolis. 156 HUNGARIAN LITERATURE His first great work, entitled Credit, was published in 1830. Arany called it "a pyramid on the boundary line dividing Hungary's dead pas t from her living present." The novelty of the book consisted in setting practical aims before th e nation. Széchenyi desired to create credit in Hungary, and to make money easily accessihle to the agriculturalist. He drew attention to the cumbersome methods of litigation, and the unpractical feudal customs which obtained on many estates ; to the need of improved mean s of communication and of the aholition of feudal services. In short he devoted hímself to pra ctical problems in such a way that men woke up to the fact that he was not the mere dreamer that they had taken him to be. Széchenyi's second book, The Wo rld, advocated amongst other things the claims of the national language, and his third, The Stadium, mai ntained the necessity of more equitable taxation, of the aholition of monopolies, and of equality before the law. Széchenyi's treatment of his subjects was not suffi ciently systematic. He leapt impulsively from one thing to anotber so that his writings have something of the character of a collection of aphorisms. His style, a mixture of irony and deep feeling, is somewhat bizarre. Passionate outbursts are often entangled amidst cum brous periphrases. Paul Gyulai, the critic, compared one of Széchenyi's books to a dense forest, in which we sometimes lose our way but where we are everywhere surr ounded by a sturdy growth of thronging ideas. Here and there the growth is so dense as to bar our way; the nettle of irony stings us, the thorn of sarcasm wounds us, but when once we reach the height to which our path leads, we see stretchi ng before us a sublime STEPHEN SZECHENYI 157 prospect, the future of Hungary. Throughout the time of his literary activity, Széchenyi vigorously prosecuted his various schemes of reform. He commenced impor tant engineering works for improving the channels of the Danube and the Tisza, inaugurated a steamboat service, reconstructed the ancient road made by the Emperor Traj an, dug canal s to facilitate commerce, and did much to develop and beautify the young capital. Nothing escaped his attention, whether great political problems or the desirability of an omnibus service, the planting of trees in the public squares or the culture of th e. silk-worm . He went abroad to discover the best model for a bridge to unite Buda with Pest, and it was at his instigation that the handsome suspension bridge was built under the direction of an English engineer, Thomas Clark. By means of this bridge, Széch enyi achieved a great demo eratic reform. In the time of the pontoon bridge a glaring injustice was continually perpetrated. The poor peasa nts, to whom the toll was a serious burden, were c ompelled to pay it, while the burgesses and nobles, who wou ld not have felt it, were exempted. On the new bridge, however, a uniform toll of rather Iess than a balfpenny was levied upon ali. About 1840 Széchenyi's life became over-shadowed, and in time even his intellect became affected. His good luck and his popularity forsook him, while a new figure, that of Louis Kossuth, more and more filled the popular imagination. Széchenyi's ideal, the gradual growth in wealth and power of the commonwealth and the development of culture among the people,. came into conflict with the aims of a victorious democracy and its demand for i ndependence. 158 HUNGARIAN LITERATORE " I read in the stars, blood, blood everywhere l Alas, my wasted life f On the firmament there sh ines in letters of fire the name of Kossuth. Flagelltm Dei-the scourge of God," exclaimed Széchenyi once, his eyes filling with tears, as he foresaw the revolution which Kossuth was preparing. And the revolution carne. In 1848 Széchenyi, who was then a member of the first Hungarian Govern ment, saw with growing excitement how the revolution was spreading. His mind was darkened. He aceused himself. He írnagined that he had roused the nation and started it upon its path and athat now it could not be stopped. He felt like a physi cian who, in his anxiety to cure, had administered too strong a dose and saw his patient dying in convulsions. After enduring terrihle mental sufferings Széchenyi lost his reason and was taken, in 1849, to an asylum at Döbling, near Vienna, which he never left. After some time, his health improved, and he wrote one more book entitled A Glance, this time in German, as it was directed agai ost the Austrian Ba ch government. It was published anony mously in London, and is full of sound and weighty argument, vigorous onslaughts and biting satire. "l n 186o, his excitement again increased. He írnagined that Hungary stood on the brink of a new revolution, for which he was responsible, and on Easter Sunday he shot himself, and so, unhappily, did not live to see the success of Deák's effarts at conciliation. Széchenyi's great aim was the salvation and advance ment of his race, and to that end he employed means which his contem poraries could not rightly value or apply. His means were practical, and directed to the raising of Hungary to the level of the surrounding Eu ropean LO UIS KOSSUT H 159 nations. His journeys to England produced a great and decisive effect upon Széchenyi. His sensitíve nature readily took every impression. He learnd much and with enthusiasm. His great reforms were mostly suggested by English examples. He learned political economy from Bentham. It seemed to English visitors who stayed in his castle, that they were in the house of an English nobleman ; this may be partly accounted for by the fact that he was related to an English aristocratic family. " The more I learned to know the English he wrote, u the more I was compelled to love them." In the diary of his English travels we read u The Germans write much, the Fre neh talk much, and the English do much." In 1832, when he visited his " heloved England " for the third time, he wished to study thoroughly the manufacture of machinery, and he entered a factory as a workman, and laboured diligently. 1He was often the gu est of George IV., wh ile the latter was Prince Regent. It was characteristic of him that his favourite poet should be Byron, whom he resembled in his capricious melan choly. It was to England, above all, that Széchenyi was indebted for a righ t esti mation of the important part played by practical interests in the life of a nation. After Széchenyi, wh om Kossuth bimself called u the greatest Hungarian," Louis Kossuth and Francis Deák became the natio n's leaders. LOUIS KOSSUTH (1802·1 894) and FRANCIS DEÁK (r8o3- 1876) were Hungary's greatest orators. Kossuth's talents were in many respects in marked contrast with those of Deák. Deák was usually calm and mod erate, while Kossuth spoke in tones of excitement and passion . Deák app ealed to the intellect of his hearers, Kossuth to their imagin ation. Kossuth's fervour enehanted men ; 160 HUNGARIAN LITERATU RE Deák's lucidity and wise moderation convinced them. Kossuth 's strength lay in his ability to rouse the emotion of his audience more and more by his inexhaustible fire and enthusiasm ; white Deák excelled in linking one con vincing argument with another. The work of the former braced the nat ion to action on the eve of a revolution, while the latter led the nation out of a eritical situation with wisdom and with dignity. - Kossuth's parliamentary career was very short, lasting littie more than twenty months, but it was brilliant and effective . In 1848 he was the leader of the Partiament . and captivated every one by his oratorical gen ius. At that time he had well-defined aims, which he also pro claimed in his English addresses, namely the emancipa tion of the peasants and the defence of the Constitution . To English audiences he gave the follawing explanation of his ai ms. 11 Excepting the citizens of the privil eged towns, the only persons in H ungary and in the countries under the Hungar ian crown, who before the year 1848 enj oyed any of the priYileges, social or political, of the Constitution, were the nobles. Moreover the privileges of a noble family were not confined to the eidest son, as in England, but ali the sons of a nobl eman were thero selves nobles, with th e same privileges as their father. Their numbers might grow without limit, and reach ed about five or six bundred thousand, or about the number of the enfranchised citizens of England. We should not have been worthy of the name of patriot had we not seized the chance of securing the constitutional freedom and independence of our country. And Hungary must be free and indepenclent in accord ance with her rights and the terms of ancient contracts. Hungary is not bound to any other country, but enj oys a separate LO UIS KOSSUTH 161 national life and a separate Constitution, and is not to . be governed as an Austrian province, whether such provinces be governed well or ill, despoticaily or con stitutionally, but is to be governed in accordance with her own Constitutien and her own laws. This was our right with respect tq the Austrian House and Empire, and was the duty of the Austrian House towards us. We had to safeguard this right and enforce the fulfil ment of this duty. We had to take care that in every department of state life H ungary should be governed independently and be free from all foreign inter ference. " After the catastrophe of Világos, Kossuth went into exile. England, which had shown such magnanimaus sympathy with those who carried on Hungary's war for freedom, gave him an enthusiastic welcome. He spoke with great effect on his country's behalf both in England and in the United States, and his speeches in 1859 were Jargely instrumental in bringing about the resignation of the Tory Govern ment which desired to put a stop to the Austro-Italian war by EngJand's intervention. Kossuth did not approve of the reconciJiation with Austria in 1 867, achieved by Deák. He never saw his country again after 1849, and died far from her borders, in Turin, . on March 20, x 894. When his body was carried home, indescribable scenes occurred everywhere a]ong the route, alJ showing how the people idolised bim, the hero of their struggles for liberty. Thousands of people travelled long distances to the railway line al ong which the body was to pass, and waited there kneeling. Bnt it was not only in Hungary that Kossuth was admired. Once when a Hungarian gentleman visited a family in Edinburgh, directly his nationality was known, L HUNGARIAN LITERATURE his hostess took bim into a room which contained nothing but a portrait of Kossuth enshrined in a littie chapel. It was on May 2, r833, that Deák first spoke in Parlia. ment. His subject was the aholition of corporal punish ment. Since that time there was no great cause or piece of legistation upon which his wisdom did not sbed some light. In political controversy he was the country's acknowledged leader, who stated the nation's case in the clearest terms and defended it undauntedly. His most important achievement was the compromise with Austria in 1867, the fundamental conditions of which he had laid down in 1861. The twelve years which followed the war of 1848-9 were years of grea t depression in H ungary. The Austrian Government had suspended the Constitution, abolished the ministry, the palatinate, and the provinciai system, refused to summon a Parliament, and altagether dealt with Hungary as a conquered province. Those were the years of absolutism, when neither in Austria nor in Hupgary, newly deprived of her independence, was there any Partiament or responsible Government. Many believed that Hungary was ruined, that her future would resemble that of Poland, and that together with the Magyar language, the whole nation would be wiped out. But towards the end of the fifties despotism lost its strength, and it became more and more evident that it could not effectively administer the n ation's affairs. The Austro-Italian war (1859), which ended in the defeat of Austria, demonstrated still more. clearly the in capacity of Austrian rule, and the King decided to put an end to the old system of government and allow each country to have a Parliament. He therefore issued on October I 86o the so-called 1 1 October Decree, " in accordnations. His journeys to England produced a great and decisive effect upon Széchenyi. His sensitive nature readily took every impression. He learned much and with enthusiasm. His great reforms were mostly suggested by English examples. He learned political economy from Bentham. It seemed to English visitors who stayed in his castle, that they were in the house of an English nobleman ; this may be partly accounted for by the fact that he was related to an English aristocratic family. "The more I learned to know the English " he wrote, "the more I was compelled to love them." In the diary of his English travels we read "The Germans write much, the French talk much, and the English do much." In 1832, when he visited his "beloved England" for the third time, he wished to study thoroughly the manufacture of machinery, and he entered a factory as a workman, and laboured diligently. He was often the guest of George IV., while the latter was Prince Regent. It was characteristic of him that his favourite poet should be Byron, whom he resembled in his capricious melan- choly. It was to England, above all, that Széchenyi was indebted for a right estimation of the important part played by practical interests in the life of a nation. After Széchenyi, whom Kossuth himself called "the greatest Hungarian," Louis Kossuth and Francis Deák became the nation's leaders. LOUIS KOSSUTH (1802-1894) and FRANCIS DEÁK (1803- 1876) were Hungary's greatest orators. Kossuth's talents were in many respects in marked contrast with those of Deák. Deák was usually calm and moderate, while Kossuth spoke in tones of excitement and passion. Deák appealed to the intellect of his hearers, Kossuth to their imagination. Kossuth's fervour enchanted men; Digitized by Microsoft ® 164 HUNGARIAN LITERATDRE which we are free to dispose ; it was entrusted to our keeping by the nation and we are responsible for it to our country and our consciences. 1 1 Whatever we are called upon to bear, the nation will endure in order to preserve for posterity the freedom in· heritcd from our an cestors. We shall suffer without desponden cy, as our ancestors suffered, to preserve the country's rights, for what superior strength may take from us may be brought back by good fortune, but what we voluntarily surrender through fear of suffering is h ard to regain, and the issue remains doubtful. Th e nation will be patient, hoping for a better future and trusting to the righteousness of its cause." The Austrian authorities answered this second address by dissolving Parliament. Deák, on learning their inten tion, suggested that the nation should prociaim that, although Parliament could not oppose this act of violence but could merely protest agaiost it, it was resolved to cling to its laws and to consider every breach of them an offence agai ost the constitution. u Our only weapons," he said, 11 are the legality and the justic;e of our cause, and they support us agaiost armed force. It is an ancient belief, and one which has never proved illusory, that truth always prevails in the end, and in this con viction lies our hope. If we would walk in safety we must under no circumstances abandon our laws, for they are the only secure territory on which we may stand without any armed force, and even in defiance of such force. Into the solitude from which I stepped fOJ·th I now retire with the clear conviction that we in Parliament have done our duty to our country, our constituents and our conscien ces, and that the example set by Parliament will be followed by our courts of law, and by ali our FRANCIS DEÁ K citizens. Th ey will cling to the law and never abandon it. Citizens must eberisb their laws, for they give the soul peace, and enab]e them to face the most trying events with equan imity, and that Jeads to what is essentia] to the right enduran ce of suffering, to dignity, and dignity is horn solely of a consciousness of th e justice of our cause." With the dissolution of Parliame nt the negotiations a]so carne to an end, and it was not until 1867 that a re conciliation took place on the basis of Deák's first Address with a few slight a]terations. That reconciliation rest01·ed their Constitution and independence to the Hunga rians. In all th ese struggJes Deák was the nation's Jeader. He guided them to wards their goal with the greatest wisdom and moderation, and at the sa me time with the greatest firmness. Deák had the genius accompanied by sound judgment, and fully deserved the title of " The Country's Sage " with wh ich the people honoured h im du ring his lifetime. On his monument was placed the inscription : Vicfor sine sangu ine.