has set." To this Dugonics angrily replied: "Don't believe that stupid German, he lies!" The dialogue is characteristic of the temper of the times, when a fraction of the people, more by virtue of temperament than of reasoning, believed in their country's future.
But a change was at hand. At the beginning of the century it seemed as if all was lost, but in fact all was won. The day of greatness had been silently preparing. An awakening and stirring were going on in the hearts of men. The sentiment of patriotism was slowly gaining strength and finally became irresistible. And as though Nature knew what high aims had to be attained, she brought forth a greater number of eminent men in a few decades than she had formerly produced in centuries.
To this age belongs Vörösmarty, the first great classical poet of Hungary. He was born in the first year of the century. But before him, others had begun their work, and in 1802 appeared the first of the poems which were to become known and enthusiastically loved by the whole nation, Himfy's Love by Kisfaludy. Nature brought forth her gifted children in quick succession. In 1803 Kossuth was born, and in the next year Deák. Soon after came Eötvös, Liszt, Arany and Petőfi. In 1825 Széchenyi, destined to be Hungary's greatest reformer since the time of St. Stephen, stepped forth upon the stage of public life. The year in which Arany's masterpiece, Toldi, made its appearance, saw the birth of Munkácsy, the famous painter.
Hungary's three greatest poets, Vörösmarty, Petőfi, and Arany, happened to be contemporary with her three greatest statesmen, Széchenyi, Kossuth and Deák. Those men together, by herculean efforts, managed to awaken the country from its torpor, and to fill men's hearts with
