Round About the Carpathians

by Andrew F. Crosse

During the war of independence these robber bands rallied round their elected chief, Shandor Bozsa, and actually offered their services to the Hungarian Government, as they desired to take part in the great national struggle. The Provisional Government accepted their services, and they came pouring in from every part of the country. At first they behaved very well, and in fact many of these "irregulars" distinguished themselves by acts of great valour. In the end it was the old story; they soon showed a degree of insubordination that rendered them worse than useless to the regular army. By the time the struggle for independence had found its melancholy ending at Villagos, these fellows were again at their old tricks of horse-stealing and cattle-lifting, and they went so far as to waylay even the honved, the national Hungarian militia. The well-disposed part of the community was powerless to resist the robbers, for after the disastrous events of 1849 the Austrian Government prohibited the possession of firearms, even for hunting purposes, so that villages and towns, one might almost say, were at the mercy of a band of well-armed robbers. The Government were so busy hunting down political conspirators, and hanging, shooting, and imprisoning patriots, that they were indifferent to the increase of brigandage. The statistics of the political persecutions which Hungary suffered at the hands of Austria during the ten years that followed Villagos were significant. Upwards of two thousand persons were sentenced to death, nearly ten times that number were thrown into prison, and almost five thousand Hungarian patriots were driven into exile—amongst the number Deák, the yet-to-be saviour of his country.

But to return to the robbers. They had spread themselves over the whole land; from the forests of Bakony to Transylvania, from the Carpathians to the Danube, no place was free from these desperate marauders. They committed incredible deeds of boldness. On one occasion seven or eight robbers attacked a caravan of thirty waggons in the neighbourhood of Szegedin, the cavalcade being on its way to the fair in that town. The traders were without a single firearm amongst them, so that the fully—armed brigands effected their purpose, though it was broad daylight. Another time they entered a market town in Transylvania and coolly demanded that the broken wheel of their waggon should be mended, threatening to shoot down anybody who offered the slightest opposition. The post was frequently stopped, but it came to be remarked, that though the passengers were generally killed, the drivers escaped. This, together with the fact that the post was always stopped when there were large sums of money in course of transit, led the authorities to suspect that their employés were in collusion with the robbers, and subsequent events proved this to be the case.

When the hostility of Austria had somewhat cooled down, the dangerous up-growth of these robber bands attracted the serious attention of the Government, and not only gendarmerie but military force were employed against them. The officials to a man were Germans and Bohemians, indifferently honest, and hated by the peasantry, who, after all, preferred a Hungarian robber to an Austrian official. The consequence was that they were not by any means very ready to depose against the "poor lads," and the Government found themselves unequal to cope with the difficulty, so things went from bad to worse.

In 1867, when at last the reconciliation policy of Deák had effected a substantial peace with Austria, the Hungarian Constitution being reestablished, and the towns and comitats (counties) having got back their prerogatives and self-government, the intolerable evil of brigandage was at once brought before the attention of the Parliament assembled at Buda-Pest. There were a great many speeches made upon the subject, and Count Forgács with a considerable military force was despatched to Zala and the adjoining country against the robbers. He simply drove them out of one part of the country to carry on their devastations in another, and dreadful robberies and murders were reported from Szegedin. On several occasions the post was stopped, and the passengers were invariably killed. They even stopped the railway train one day at Péteri.

Government were now obliged to take stronger measures. They recalled Count Forgács, and despatched Count Rádaz as Royal Commissary with augmented powers, Parliament in the mean time voting a grant of 60,000 florins for the purpose.

The energetic measures taken by Count Rádaz led to some remarkable disclosures. He discovered that tradesmen, magistrates, and other employés in towns and villages were in communication with the brigands, and in fact shared the booty. It came to be remarked that certain persons returned suddenly to their homes after a mysterious absence, which corresponded with the commission of some desperate outrage in another part of the country.

In the space of fifteen months Count Rádaz had to deal with nearly six hundred cases of capital offences, and no less than two hundred of the malefactors were condemned to the gallows.

"Wherever they can the peasants will shelter the 'poor lads' from the law," said my friend. "It happened only last spring in our neighbourhood that a robber had been tracked to a village, but though this had happened on several occasions, yet the authorities failed to find him. It was known that he had a sweetheart there, a handsome peasant girl, who was herself a favourite with everybody. One day, however, the soldiers discovered him hidden in a hay-loft. There was a terrible struggle; the robber, discharging his revolver, killed one man and wounded another. At length he was secured, strongly bound, and placed in a waggon to be conveyed to the nearest fortress. When passing through a wood the convoy was set upon by a lot of women, who flung flowers into the waggon, and a little farther on a rescue was attempted; but the military were in strong force, and the villagers had to content themselves with loud expressions of sympathy for the 'poor lad.' He was, in truth, a handsome, gallant young fellow—open-handed, generous to the poor, and with the courage of a lion—just the sort of hero for a mischievous romance."

The following story, related by my friend Baroness B——, proves that there were men amongst these outlaws who were not destitute of patriotic feeling. In the year 1867 a band of "poor lads" surprised a country gentleman's house by night. It was their habit to ask for money and valuables, and woe betide those who refused, unless they were strong enough to resist the demand. Horrible atrocities were committed by these miscreants, who have been known to torture the inhabitants of lonely dwellings, finishing their brutal work by setting fire to house and homestead.

On the occasion above named the robber band consisted of more than a dozen well-armed men, and as the household was but small, resistance was out of the question. They made a forcible entrance, and were going the round of every room in the house, collecting all valuables of a portable nature, when it chanced that they entered the guest-chamber, that had for its occupant no less a person than the great patriot Francis Deák. The intruders instantly pounced on a very handsome gold watch lying on a table near the bedside. Mr Deák, thus rudely disturbed, awoke to the unpleasant fact that his much-prized watch was in the hands of the robbers. Giving them credit for some feelings of patriotism, he simply told them who he was, adding that the watch was the keepsake of a dear departed friend, and begged they would restore it to him. On hearing his name the chief immediately handed the watch back, apologising "very much for breaking in on the repose of honoured Mr Deák, whom they held in so much respect," adding "that the nature of their occupation obliged them to make use of the hours of the night for their work."