Slavery in the United States <br> Chapter 9

"The peasants are forbid to collect money or natural productions, and the offenders are to be punished with twenty-four strokes of the cane."

"The peasants are not allowed to collect Knoppern Galls, nor to knock down acorns, as they belong entirely to the landlord; but it is prohibited as contraband, and the offenders are further to be punished with three days hand labour."* (In contradistinction to labour with his team of oxen or horses.)

"Peasants are not to carry a gun, nor to keep sporting dogs, under penalty of three days hand labour."

"When a peasant, out of idleness and carelessness, after being called to his service, does not come to it, he is to be punished with twelve strokes of a cane."

"If any peasant shall sell flesh-meat from another place, or cut up and sell flesh-meat, thereby taking away the profits of the shambles from the landlord, this shall be considered as contraband, and the peasant shall be further punished with three days hand labour."

"The widows of deceased peasants must observe the order of the twenty-first article of the seventh of King Uladislaus, which orders that, if they marry again, they must not quit their homes without permission of their landlord, otherwise their whole property shall be at his disposal."

"The peasants of Hungary could formerly leave their landlord at pleasure. This liberty was granted by a great many laws of the land, as by the sixth article of the second decree, and the fourteenth of the third decree of Sigismond, in the year 1405; the thirty-fourth of 1550; the twenty-seventh of 1566; and several others. This liberty, under Uladislaus, was taken from all those who suffered themselves to be drawn into the rebellion of that time. From this circumstance the Hungarian nobility has in after times determined on their bondage, which indeed not everywhere, but in the greatest part of the kingdom, is introduced."* (Rosenmann's Staatstrecht, p. 193.)

When the reader is informed that the whole of the landed property of Hungary, and, with the exception of the commercial cities, nearly all that of Germany, belongs to the nobility, which still retains a large portion of the despotic prerogatives of the feudal system, he will be able to comprehend what share of personal, civil, or political rights falls to the lot of the peasant. The truth is, his situation is decidedly worse than that of a slave in the United States. In the first place, he is equally in bondage; in the second, he possesses no property in the soil, nor can he acquire any; in the third place, he is obliged to contribute a large portion of his labour, and the products of his labour, to the service of his landlord, and maintain himself and family besides; and, in the fifth place, he is equally subjected to stripes, and imprisonment in irons, at the discretion of a baronial court, the officers of which are dependants of the landlord. The consequence of all this is a degree of extreme and abject poverty, that would be insufferable but for the universal solace of music, which seems to supply the place of freedom and competency.* (See Bright's Travels in Germany.) Hence we see them, whenever they are at liberty and can find the means, flocking to this country, where they and their descendants constitute a considerable portion of our most valuable and industrious citizens. Generally speaking, throughout all Germany, the feudal maxims and habits have been less affected by the progress of human freedom in Europe, than in the southern portion of that quarter of the world. The pride of birth, and the privileges of feudality, are still retained in all the vigour of ages of barbarism; and, wherever this is the case, ignorance, poverty, and oppression are the only birthright of the labouring classes. Surely there is a glaring inconsistency in affecting such exclusive sympathy for the wrongs of the African, while holding their own peculiar race, their brethren of the same nation and colour, in a rigid and inflexible bondage, which has all the restraints and degradation, without any of the advantages, of a state of slavery.

The condition of the Russian peasantry is thus briefly described by Mr. Coxe, a traveller of the highest reputation for accuracy and learning :—

"Peasants belonging to individuals are the private property of the landholders, as much as implements of agriculture or herds of cattle; and the value of an estate is estimated, as in Poland, by the number of boors, not by the number of acres."

Speaking of the consequences resulting from certain regulations of Peter the Great, Mr. Coxe observes:—

"These circumstances occasion a striking difference in the state of the Russian and Polish peasants, even in favour of the latter, who in other re- spects are more wretched. If the Polish boor is oppressed, and escapes to another master, the latter is liable to no pecuniary penalty for harbouring him ; but, in Russia, the person who receives another's vassal is subject to a heavy fine. With respect to his own demands upon his peasants, the lord is restrained by no law, either in the exaction of any sum or in the mode of employing them. He is absolute master of their time and their labour : some he employs in agriculture ; a few he makes his menial servants, and perhaps without wages; and from others he exacts an annual payment. Several instances of these exactions fell under my observation ; a mason, who was rated at six pounds sterling per annum ; a smith, at twelve ; and others as high as twenty. With regard to any capital they may have acquired by their industry, it may be seized, and there is no redress ; as, according to the old feudal law which still exists, a slave cannot institute a process against his master. Hence it occasionally happens, that several peasants who have gained a large capital cannot purchase their liberty for any sum, because they are subject, as long as they continue slaves, to be pillaged by their masters."* (Coxe's Travels in Russia, vol. iii., p. 177, 8, 9.)

These, we presume, are extreme cases, and such are always rare. We know that the condition of the Russian peasantry has been much ameliorated of late years, and, in all probability, will be more so, under the salutary influence of legal restrictions, and, above all, of humane and enlightened views on the part of their masters. Still the reader cannot but perceive that the situation of the Russian boor, as regards his civil rights, is not superior to that of the Southern slave in any one point of comparison. What his condition is in regard to the comforts of life, will be seen by the following extract from the work we have just quoted:—

"The Russian peasants appeared in general a large, coarse, hardy race, and of great bodily strength. Their dress is a round hat or cap, with a very high crown, a coarse robe of drugget (or, in winter, of sheepskin, with the wool turned inwards), reaching below the knee, and bound round the waist by a sash; trousers of linen almost as thick as sackcloth; a woollen or flannel cloth wrapped round the leg, instead of stockings; sandals woven from strips of a pliant bark, and fastened by strings of the same material, which are afterwards twined round the leg, and serve as garters to the woollen or flannel wrappers. In warm weather, the peasants frequently wear only a short coarse shirt and trousers.

Rare Book Monthly

Slavery in the United States <br> Chapter 9

Rare Book Monthly

Archived Articles

Slavery in the United States <br> Chapter 9

Rare Book Monthly

Article Search

Archived Articles