His first great literary work (a smaller one had preceded it), entitled “Credit,” was published in 1830, and in it he treated of economical questions of the most immediate importance to the country. It was a work of great power, marked by scholarly thoroughness, practical statesmanship, and poetic elevation, and produced an extraordinary sensation throughout the country. It was read everywhere, in the palaces of the magnates, in the mansions of the provincial gentry, and in the homes and offices of merchants and tradesmen. The book was spoken of in the most exalted terms by some, while others declared its author to be a communist and revolutionary agitator. The foes to progress, the defenders of the decaying privileges of the nobility, burned the book, while the friends of the new ideas, and especially the rising generation, saw in it the gospel of a new era. It was in this work that Széchenyi, addressing the generation that vainly clung to the reminiscences of the past, said: “Do not constantly trouble yourselves with the vanished glories of the past, but rather let your determined patriotism bring about the prosperity of the beloved fatherland. Many there are who think that _Hungary has been_, but for my part I like to think that _Hungary shall be_.” Under the influence of these exalted ideas Széchenyi persevered in his practical efforts for the common weal. He wrote a great deal up to the time of his death, and some of his works are justly ranked among the gems of Hungarian literature. But more precious than these are his practical creations, which still, for the most part, survive, and which are destined to perpetuate his fame for many centuries to come. His busy mind attended to every variety of matters of public concern. Thus it was he who introduced horse-racing into the country, not for the purpose of affording a mere gentlemanly pastime, but with the object of developing horse-breeding in Hungary, an object which has been very successfully accomplished by the new sport. In furtherance of this object he formed a society which subsequently became the National Breeding Association, which flourishes to this day. In order to afford to the gentry permanently a rallying and central point in the country, he established the Buda-Pesth National Casino, a social club of high distinction, still in existence and enjoying an enviable reputation in the best European circles. He took quite an active part in the management of the new Academy of Sciences; zealously supported the efforts made to found a permanent national theatre, efforts which subsequently proved successful; started and realized the scheme for building a permanent bridge across the Danube, connecting Pesth and Buda, and for the construction of a tunnel under the castled mountain of Buda; conducted for years the work of regulating the Danube, especially in the vicinity of the Vaskapu (Iron Gate); and also aided in the establishment of the Danube Steam Navigation Company, which