of success, he met with one defeat after another. He heaped error upon error. His attempts to create a revolutionary diplomacy ended in unparalleled disgrace. Poor, wretched, vanquished Hungary wanted to create a new fashion: she thought to impose female ambassadors upon foreign Governments without their consent. This attempt, of course, failed, and its only result was that all contact between us and foreign countries ceased. While German and Austrian diplomacy were gaining ground, our new pledged and accepted diplomacy registered nothing but losses.
The complete uncertainty of the future heightened the general state of nervousness. The more the enemy penetrated into our country, the more was the disbandment of our army regarded in ever-increasing circles as a terrible crime. The Government clutched at every straw that offered, and began to contradict itself. The Government started with ultra-pacifist principles, and now it spoke once more of war and integrity; it disbanded the existing army, and now set about organizing a new one. The best possible peace was expected from this Government, and it became apparent that they were committing the nation to a hopeless war.
There was only one way out of the morass into which we had fallen: hard, serious and untiring work; but the desire to work was completely lacking. The large majority had given up regular work during the war. They wanted to rest after the excitement and the weariness of the centuries. The apostles of the revolution had promised them comfort and even luxury, and the
