do not often form the necessary complement;
yet his easy demeanour, delicate feelings, and especially his
language, are such as to put him on a level with the educated
classes. In conversation he will often use a more dignified style
than a noble, who, by his exclusive privileges, has had ample scope
for oratory in the county assemblies--select with astonishing tact the
best lyrical productions of the day, and immortalize the lay by a tune
of his own composition. These qualities of the Hungarian rustic--an
insight into whose character will be given to the reader by a few camp
scenes contained in this volume--must appear the more striking if we
remember that the class to which he belongs was for centuries in a
state of serfdom, from which it was only liberated by the late
Revolution.

Independently of the various other calamities which prevented the
development of the physical and mental resources of Hungary during the
last three hundred years, the feudal system alone was an
insurmountable barrier in the way of progress. The privileged classes
were for the most part devising how to kill the time, while the labour
of the peasant provided them with the means of gratifying their
propensities, rarely disquieted by the backward state of the country,
which in their eyes seemed all perfection. Properly speaking, it was
only since the year 1825 that matters had begun to exhibit a material
change in this respect. Many of the most conceited and thoughtless
among the nobles had gradually allowed themselves to be convinced that
arts and sciences might add to the charms of an easy life; and that
national greatness demanded something more than hospitable roofs,
fertile plains, and vast herds of cattle. The political and literary
activity displayed by Counts Szecheny and Kolcsey found noble
followers, and produced unexpected and astonishing results during the
last twenty-five years. Still, compared with other countries, the
progress of literature was slow; and the works of the most popular
authors, though thrown off in comparatively small impressions, were
long of reaching second editions. The cause of this result must be
sought in the fact that reading is by no means universal among the
Hungarians. Among the nobles, who had the means of buying books, only
a few cared to do so, while the condition of the peasants prevented
them from becoming in any way the patrons of literature. This apathy
was undoubtedly owing in great part to the