Up to the time at which Vambery, the celebrated historian of Hungary,
begins the present narrative, the growth of the national spirit had been
more and more evident each year since the end of the Napoleonic wars.
For more than two centuries Hungary had been under the oppressive rule
of Austria. Hungary had furnished soldiers to Austria in her struggle
against Bonaparte, and the Austrian Emperor had repeatedly promised to
redress Hungarian grievances; but after the fall of Napoleon these
promises were repudiated. Hungary so emphatically showed her indignation
that the Emperor was compelled to convoke the Diet in which Szechenyi
distinguished himself. The subsequent career of this leader, the
character and aims of Kossuth, and the insurrection they did so much to
incite are powerfully described by Vambery, who writes not only as an
author fully versed in his country's annals, but also as a patriot
jealous of her liberties, proud of her heroic sons, and loyal to her
fame.
For fifteen years, up to 1840, the popularity of Szechenyi extended over
Hungary, and his name was cherished by every patriot in the land.
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