suddenly yielded, dismissed his ministers, and
promised to withdraw the troops and allow the arming of the people.

The victory of the popular cause seemed now complete; but the bitterness
which still remained in the hearts of the citizens was shown by a public
funeral procession through Berlin in honor of those who had fallen in
the struggle. The King stood bare-headed on the balcony as the
procession passed the palace; and on March 21st he came forward in
public waving the black, red, and gold flag of Germany.

(1848) THE REVOLT OF HUNGARY, Arminius Vambery

Deep interest throughout the civilized world was aroused by the
unavailing struggle of Hungary, in 1848, for national independence. The
name of Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot and famous orator, became
celebrated in many lands; and in the various countries where he
sojourned as an exile from his own--especially in the United States
(1851-1852) and in England--his eloquent appeals awakened profound
sympathy for his people's cause. Vambery, however, regards Kossuth's
compatriot, Count Stephen Szechenyi (born in 1791) as "the greatest
Hungarian of the nineteenth century." He was descended from a
distinguished family, which had given to its country many champions of
liberty. The great aim of his life was to revive the drooping energies
of the nation. As a youth he served in the army. Entering the famous
Diet of 1825, in which, by right of birth, he took his seat in the Upper
House, he distinguished himself by his liberal leadership, and as a
writer and an advocate of public endowments accomplished much for the
education of his people.

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