Fraternity-Testvériség, 1960 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1960-05-01 / 5. szám

1

FRATERNITY 5

on the political battle ground Louis Kossuth, the greatest Hungarian speaker and statesman who ever lived. Széchényi believed that the brighter future for the Magyars can be reached through wise political and economic reforms within the existing political frame. He desperately opposed every forceful or revolutionary solution which would lead the nation to a complete disaster. Kossuth held liberty and independence prerequisites to the country’s economic rise and social advancement.

In 1848, under the influence of Kossuth’s brilliant eloquence, the majority of the Magyars identified themselves with the latter idea.

Under the pressure of the March 15th events, the king appointed the first Hungarian Responsible Government. Széchényi himself, carried away by the general enthusiasm, hailed the achievements of a policy

to which he had been steadily opposed. He took the portfolio of

public works.

Soon, when the new-born government had to face the reactionary forces of the Vienna Court, as well as the revolt of the nationalities,

his sensitive nerves could not stand the increasing pressure. In September, 1848, he was sent to the Döbling psychiatric sanatorium.

The “hermit of Döbling”, as he was commonly called by his countrymen, wrote essays of political nature which revived the hatred of the Court. The king signed a warrant to arrest him. “I have to destroy myself” — he wrote on April 8, 1860, in his famous “Diary”, and shot himself.

★ ★ ★

Széchényi is dead. But his name keeps living not only in his magnificent achievements but also in the hearts of every grateful Hungarian countryman. “No fertile valleys, mountains, ore and climate make strength, but mind, which uses natural resources intelligently”, he wrote.

And these intelligent and educated Hungarian heads had rebuilt the country after the tragedies at Világos and Arad.

Széchényi offers 60,000 forints for the Hungarian Academy of Sciences