COUNT RABY-ABUSES IN HUNGARY.

Justizmord und Reigerungsgreuel in Ungarn und Oestreich, oder actenmässige Geschichte wegen Toleranz und Menschlichkeit in unsern Tagen schrecklich verfolgten Ungrischen Edlen Mann Raby von Raba und Maura. 2 Bände. Strasburg, 1797.

THE unheard of persecutions and sufferings which this patriotic nobleman was doomed to endure during a long and painful succession of years, being calculated to throw a light upon the internal state and administration of Hungary, that terra incognita of civilized Europe, we presume that a short sketch of his eventful public life, extracted from his Memoirs, published at Strasburg in 1796, will not prove uninteresting to our readers. The total lawlessness prevailing, according to his account, in a Christian country, and the striking instances of utter disregard shewn by the Hungarian administration to the best of sovereigns, as revealed in his narrative, are facts so unexampled, that it would be impossible to believe them, were they not substantiated by documents, the authenticity of which has never yet been questioned. When reading the account of his thorny public career, we clearly discover the causes that prevented that enlightened and patriotic emperor, Joseph II., from realizing the plan of reformation which he laboriously attempted. We are made acquainted with a powerful set of nobles and magistrates, who were strongly leagued to uphold a long established system of oppression, and to resist every attempt of their monarch to introduce the dominion of equity and justice, whenever it interfered with their despotism and extortion, and who were not ashamed of the commission of the most flagrant falsehoods, in order to serve their detestable purpose; and readers, living in a country, in which even the lowest subject enjoys the benefit of the protection of the law against the most powerful, will scarcely think it possible that there could have existed in Christian Europe, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, a respectable nation that would have tamely submitted to such heinous excesses of a lawless aristocracy, as_are detailed in the subsequent outlines of the Memoirs of Mr. de Raby. But, as the woeful tale of the persecutions which he suffered was published to the world at large, and the dignified monsters, who were the authors of them, unhesitatingly named by him, and publicly branded as peculators and traitors to their king and country, without any one of them having, to the present day, attempted to impeach his veracity, we are constrained to give full credit to his statement.

Mr. de Raby was born at Presburgh in 1752. His family derived its name from the Castle of Raby; situated at a small distance from Prague, in Bohemia. The miseries, attending the civil wars in that country had induced his ancestors to emigrate to Hungary, whose kings bestowed upon them considerable domains. Mr. de Raby being educated in one of the public institutions at Vienna, the emperor, Joseph II., took particular notice of him on a public visitation, and being highly pleased with his person, talents and acquirements, appointed him, in 1773, a clerk of the Hungarian exchequer. When the young de Raby waited upon that prince to thank him for his appointment, he was informed by him, that he would soon discover abuses of the most flagitious nature, and strongly enjoined to report them to his majesty. Mr. de Raby wanted very little penetration to find in a very short time, that he was associated with a set of public functionaries, who were not ashamed of robbing the treasury, purloining the public money, and oppressing

oppressing the subjects in the most barbarous and merciless manner. He reported these crying disorders to the emperor, as by his oath he was bound to do. The consequence of this denunciation was a severe reproof from Joseph, who threatened the infliction of the most exemplary punishment, if the shameful abuses of which he had been informed were not instantly discontinued. The members of the Hungarian Exchequer, totally unused as they were to the control of superior authority, determined to seize the first occasion that should offer, for being revenged upon the informer, who soon discovered more flagrant instances of the delinquency of these public officers. Going one day at an unusual hour, attended by a servant, to the office, to search for some papers, he unexpectedly found the director of the department for the expedition of the rescripts issued by the treasury, busily employed in the store-room, where the writing materials of the office were kept, in packing up a variety of articles, which a couple of servants were to carry off in a handbarrow. These articles consisted of whole reams of writing-paper, sealing-wax, quills, wax-candles, sheets of parchment, &c., &c. What business have you here at this late hour of the day? snarled the director at the unwelcome intruder. 'I am here on duty,' Mr. de Raby replied, But you, sir, do not seem to be here for any honourable purpose, the proofs of which are here before my eyes,' pointing at a large linen sheet, in which the servants had tied up the stolen articles. The director, as it afterwards appeared, had been carrying on this pilfering trade for a long time, having sent the stolen goods to the jews at a markettown in the vicinity of Presburg, where they sold them [publicly. Mr. de Raby thought himself bound in duty to give information of his discovery to Baron Orczy, the vice-president of the exchequer. But this denunciation proved more fatal to himself, than to the delinquent. His chamber in the exchequer was, in his absence, opened by means of a master-key; a large quantity of writing-paper belonging to the office was smuggled into it, and himself, in his turn, charged with having robbed the store-room. Without trial he was deprived of his appointment; and when he complained to Baron Pfeffershofen, who had presided at the inquiry into the business, of the illegality of the proceeding, that nobleman had the coolness to reply: You are served justly, for it was no business of yours to inform against the director; the stolen effects not having been your property, you have rendered yourself guilty of a glaring act of insubordination, and are not fit to serve any longer in our office. When Mr. de Raby declared he had done no more than conformed to his oath, he was told To go to the d-l with his oath, and be more discreet in future: Finding it impossible to obtain justice at Presburg, notwithstanding the notorious delinquency of his superiors, and his own equally well known innocence, he went to Vienna, to appeal in person to the Empress-queen Maria Theresa. Joseph II., recommending his case particularly to his august mother, an imperial decree was issued in 1779, to the Hungarian Exchequer, requiring that department to answer to its illegal and despotic proceeding.

After numerous consultations, a most calumnious report was at length returned to the sovereign; but Mr. de Raby proved his innocence so clearly, that a peremptory order was at length sent to Presburg, that he should, without delay, be reinstated in his former situation. This order was, however, so totally disregarded, that he was again obliged to repair to Vienna, and implore the protection of his sovereign. Joseph II. again advocated his cause with her Imperial Majesty, who made him a present of a gold snuffbox containing fifty ducats, and a valuable watch set with brilliants, telling him, My son, I am fully sensible of the loyal zeal with which you have endeavoured to perform your duty, and give you this, as an acknowledgment

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of my approbation of your conduct. I have declared you to be capable of serving me again, and, in order to deliver you from any further connexion with those detestable officers of the Hungarian Exchequer, I give you leave to apply for a vacant place in my residence.' But Mr. de Raby, being fully aware how impossible it was for her majesty effectually to shield him against the future cabals and machinations of her Hungarian servants, returned to Hungary, firmly resolved to confine himself to the cultivation of his estate in that country. Shortly after his arrival, he was applied to by a widow lady of the name of Tanka, owing him a considerable sum of money, to protect her against the oppression of her brother-in-law, who, immediately after the decease of her husband, had entered her house with an armed force, whilst she was absent from home, broken open her chests and drawers, demolished her furniture, and carried off every valuable which he could find, and, amongst others, all her family papers. She was even in hourly danger of being driven by him from her family seat. Mr. de Raby advocated her cause at Vienna with great success, and eventually compelled her rapacious relative to make a complete restitution to her, an event which was unheard of in Hungary, and greatly increased the number of his enemies. Notwithstanding the personal interference of Joseph II., he was less successful in his defence of another widow, who, with her orphan children, was stripped of all she possessed, and reduced to absolute beggary. The character of Mr. de Raby had been so grossly traduced by the judges of his unfortunate client, in the course of the lawsuit, that it was impossible for him to suffer matters to rest there. He went, therefore, to Vienna to obtain from the emperor an order for a new trial before an impartial court. The sovereign exhorted him to patience, pledging himself, however, that he would see justice done to his protegée, charging him, at the same time, with a commission that could not but render his enemies more inveterate. Going to his house at Tirna for some documents, he found, to his utter amazement, that it had been broken open by the local authorities, in virtue of a forged order from the emperor. Mr. de Raby prosecuted them for this daring and flagrant breach of the most sacred laws, but could obtain no satisfaction, notwithstanding the repeated commands of the emperor, urging the strictest inquiry into the particulars of that heinous offence, and was at last obliged to stay all further legal proceedings, having been robbed of a large chest containing the documents on which they were founded.

The high opinion entertained by Joseph II. of Mr. de Raby's talents, patriotism, and incorruptible loyalty, unfortunately became the main source of all the subsequent persecutions which repeatedly reduced him to the brink of despair. The inhabitants of St. André, a market-town appertaining to the royal domains of the king of Hungary, had complained to the emperor of the vexations and trying exactions which they had to suffer from their magistrates, and petitioned that their public accounts for the last twenty-five years might be examined. The emperor commissioned Mr. de Raby to inquire into the truth of their complaints. Previously to entering into a detail of this investigation, he gives an account of the political and ecclesiastical state of Hungary, of which we shall select the following striking particulars-Hungary, though commonly considered a monarchy, is, in fact, an aristocracy, under a head of a very limited power. The king is the greatest landowner in the country; there is not, however, a single nobleman more grossly imposed upon and cheated than he. Even of the produce of the regalia, exclusively belonging to him, one half only, at most, finds its way into his treasury. The great number of inferior officers renders it extremely difficult to detect the frauds, which they commit the more impudently, as they cannot be ignorant of the robberies of which their superiors are guilty. The ૨ king

VOL. V.-NO. IX.

king is, indeed, entitled to issue such orders as are not contrary to the constitution, but the states never hesitate to throw them under the table, whenever they clash with their own interest. The nobility and clergy, in fact, exclusively compose the nation; the citizens being held in very little estimation and the country-people entirely disregarded. The palatine is nominally considered the second person after the king, but virtually subordinate to the Archbishop of Gran. This prelate possesses the privilege of granting letterspatent of nobility, which, however, must be countersigned by the king. A nobleman, when distress is to be levied on his property, may oppose the execution of the sentence of the law at the head of his people, armed with sabres and pistols, and thus virtually protest against it. If the defendant be a lady, she uses a cane instead of a sabre. This opposition having been made, the lawsuit is commenced de novo, and thus may be perpetuated for ages. Should the nobleman, in consequence of the superior power of his adversary, be driven from his estate, or because he was sick or absent at the time of seizure, he avails himself of the first convenient opportunity to surprise his antagonist with an armed force, and thus regains what had been legally taken from him. These reciprocal seizures being commonly effected at night, we may suppose that they must be frequently attended with flagrant excesses. The plebeians are kept in better order; far from being allowed to oppose the execution of the sentence of the courts of justice, they are not even permitted to appeal to the throne, this being considered a crime against the constitution of the country. Entire communities, rendering themselves guilty of such a crime, are driven together by the militia, when from forty to fifty of them are severely scourged in public, to convince them of their being in the wrong. There are many courts of justice in Hungary, but few plaintiffs know to which of them they are to apply; nay, the lawyers themselves are sometimes ignorant of it. Every lord of a manor possesses the power of adjudging capital punishment. Bribery is so common, even in all the superior courts of justice, and perpretrated so barefacedly, that it would appear to be a matter of course. The most respectable man cannot flatter himself that he shall obtain justice, let his cause be ever so clear, if he cannot add weight to his arguments by a few rolls of ducats. The litigating parties outbid each other, fully persuaded that money will make the judges propitious to them. The amount of the bribes is regularly shared among the different officers of the court of justice, in proportion to the influence they derive from their respective situations.

To judge from Mr. de Raby's documentary account of the administration of justice in Hungary, it seems that the laws were framed exclusively for the benefit of the nobility and clergy. All public posts are in the possession of these two classes. The same crime, for which a plebeian is punished capitally, is compensated by a fine, if committed by a nobleman, or an ecclesiastic, if it cannot be otherwise hushed up. Even the commission of murder can by them be atoned for in this way; and the highest punishment inflicted for it upon a nobleman, is a short imprisonment. Plebeians purloining the property of another are hanged without ceremony; whereas the nobility rob and pilfer publicly with impunity, unless they should have injured the property of one of their own caste. Widows and orphans are most frequently exposed to depredations, because they are least able to resist them. What renders the obtainment of justice still more difficult are the enormous fees that must be paid by the parties, and the facility with which a cause can be transferred from one court to another. The Roman catholic religion is still predominant in Hungary, although the law directs that the numerous protestants should enjoy the same privileges as their Roman catholic fellow-subjects. The Wallachians, and Russians, who are settled in great numbers in

Hungary,

Hungary, are, in fact, of the Greek profession, but, under the denomination of united Greeks, have incorporated themselves with the Roman catholic church. They have, however, bishops of their own, who are subordinate to the Archbishop of Gran, and acknowledge the Pope's supremacy. Their priests are allowed to marry, and to administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper under both forms. Joseph II. ardently desired to remedy the rooted defects which undermined the prosperity of his subjects in general, and particularly wished to realize his humane plans in Hungary; but every new regulation which he attempted to introduce in that country, however salutary and necessary, was, by the nobility and clergy, obstinately opposed, as an infringement of their constitution.

But let us return to Mr. de Raby's account of himself. In consequence of the emperor's orders, he went, in 1784, to Ofen, and thence to St. André, in order to come to a proper understanding with that community, whose cause he was to advocate, and to procure the requisite documents. St. André is a large market-town, pleasantly situated on the Danube, at a small distance from Ofen and Waizen, and has a population of more than a thousand souls. When Mr. de Raby inquired into the state of the exchequer of that community, sixty thousand florins had been paid into it; but he found it completely empty, and the magistrates totally incapable of giving a satisfactory account of the manner in which the money had been disposed of, and, besides, was informed, that it was burthened with a debt of forty-eight thousand florins. Mr. de Raby ascertained that the magistrates had divided among themselves the major part of these sums, and employed the rest to bribe the court that might have called them to account. Mr. de Raby having reported these particulars to the emperor, the lord-lieutenant of the county to which St. André belongs was ordered to form a committee of impartial persons, to scrutinize this matter more closely. Whereupon de Raby repaired to Tirna, for the necessary papers, when he, as before-mentioned, found his house broken open by public authority, and stripped of every thing valuable. Persons being appointed to assist him in the examination of this crying infringement of all the laws of justice, who had themselves had a share in the booty, he was continually harassed by them, and such malicious attempts were made to ruin his character, that he found himself necessitated to repair to Vienna for redress and protection. Two new orders were now issued by the supreme court at Vienna, to the lord-lieutenant and the magistrates, enjoining them not to injure Mr. de Raby's person and property, and to forward, as much as possible, the execution of his commission. In spite of all the cabals of the commissioners, and of all the obstacles which they threw in his way, the most shameful dilapidations, the most exorbitant extortions, and the most disgraceful briberies were proved; nevertheless the committee reported to the Hungarian chancery at Vienna, that the accounts of St. André, for the last ten years, had been examined and found to be correct. Mr. de Raby, who, in the mean time, had gone to Vienna, was ordered to repair, within eight days, to Pesth, and to verify his report before the assessor. When he arrived there, he found that that magistrate had gone to Vienna, and desired him to await his return. Whilst he was waiting for him, he discovered that the magistrates of St. André had accumulated, by means of extortion and peculation, a private chest of more than eighty thousand florins, which served them chiefly as a fund, out of which they bribed the superior courts. New endeavours were now made to remove him from the committee of inquiry, and a large bribe was offered him, if he would resign his appointment. The firmness with which he still maintained his ground, irritated his antagonists almost to madness. They threatened to Q 2 send