136 HUNGARIAN LITERATORE forum of State life, decided upon a stubborn resistance. They refused the su pply of soldiers and neglected to collect th e taxes. The country was in a state of fe ver , and revolution seemed imminent. The terrified Austrian Government endeavoured to overco me the difficulty by sending royal commissi oners to the recalcitrant provinces with orders to act on the king's authority if the provinces refused to obey. But the provinces fou nd a means of thwarting the efforts of the commissioners and of making their task impossible. Discontent and indignation grew to such an alarming extent that the Austrian Government thought it wiser to yield, and ParJ iament was opened in 1 825 , after an interval of sixteen years. Once again there was a national Parliament, though Metternich had though t it dead and buried for ever. Such were the events which írnpelled th e young poet to write h is epic. His purpose was to recall to the people the grand scen es in their country's history, that they might be strengthened in the time of oppression and despondency. Zalán's Fliglt t is in the style of Virgil, with the deus ex machin&. playing a part in it. lts subject was taken from the time when the Hungarians were con quering a home for themselves. The entry of the Hun gariau s into Europe a thousand years ago and their seUlement on the shores of the Danube and Tisza was u ndoubtedly the most important event in the nation's history, and one worthy to form the subject of a great h istorical epic. We see two contending nations : the Hungariaus led by the great conqueror Árpád, and the Bulgarians under their prince, Zalán. The war was the decisive one waged for the possession of the country, and it ended with the flight of Zalán before the victorious H ungarians, who took possession of the land.
