My
Hungarian--who, by the way, is a man well qualified to speak about legal
matters--showered down upon me a perfect avalanche of facts. Leaving out
a few patriotic flashes, the substance of what he told me was much as
follows. I had especially asked about the recent legislation on the land
question.
"In the old time, before '48, the State, the Church, and the Nobles were
the _sole_ landowners. The holding of land was strictly prohibited to
all who were not noble; but to the peasants were allotted certain
tracts, called for distinction 'session-lands.' For this privilege the
peasant had to give up a tenth part of the produce to the lord, and
besides he had to work for him two, and in some cases even _three_, days
in the week. The _robot_, or forced labour, varied in different
localities. The lord was judge over his tenants, and even his bailiff
had the right of administering twenty-five lashes to insubordinate
peasants. The _time_ of the forced labour was at the option of the lord,
who might oblige his tenant to give his term of labour consecutively
during seed-sowing or harvest, at the very time that the peasant's own
land required his attendance. It may easily be imagined that this was a
fruitful cause of dispute between the lord and his serfs.
"But the most glaring act of injustice under the old system was that
_all the taxes_ were paid by the session-holding peasantry, while the
nobles were privileged and tax-free.
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