Borsodi Levéltári Évkönyv 3. (Miskolc, 1980)
Angol nyelvű
b) This mountain area of low fertility could not yield enough to keep the inhabitants of Hegyköz as early as the first half of the last century, nor could its stuck manufactural industry ensure enough to live on to those quitting agriculture. Thus since as early as the middle of the last century Hegyköz had had considerable losses through migration. From the eighties on emigration to America had caused more and more decreases in the population than migration within the country. The deleterious effects of emigration were even more enhanced by the two world wars and the moving abroad of people of Slovak nationality. The economic results of the last decades (local industry, forest economy) had led up to a certain increase of population here and there. c) The changes in population in Bodrogköz bear the greatest resemblance to those of Hungary’s population. Due to anti-inundation works its one-time marshlands had been turned into prosperous tillable area. Between 1887—1960 its population had risen nearly eightfold. This extremely quick growth was a result of immigration and huge natural increase. The agricultural area of Bodrogköz, especially since 1960 had suffered large-scale losses in the population through migration. KOSSUTH’S YEARS OF LEGAL PRACTICE IN COUNTY ZEMPLÉN, 1824-1832 István Kállay Lajos Kossuth’s lawyer’s diploma was announced on the general assembly of County Zemplén on 9th October 1824. The following eight years were spent on legal practice and work in the public life of the county. At first he practiced law together with his father at the office of their own, then he became independent. As a lawyer he dealt mainly with civil cases. The title of judge of the county court was granted him on 4th May 1827. In this character of his he took part in criminal jurisdiction as well. This study describes Kossuth’s activities of this sort on the evidence of documents kept in National Archives and in the branch office of the Archives of County Borsod-Abaúj -Zemplén in Sátoraljaújhely. The document published first dated from after 1824 and it was made up presumably by Kossuth himself in an action for mortgage begun by his father in 1814. As this document also shows, at the beginning of his lawyer’s career he dealt with cases of the numerous relatives belonging to the Kossuth family. In this stage of his career he was supported by baron Pál Vécsey who had been a client of his father, László. Among his clients we can find the Szentgyörgyi, Ocskay, Török, Fischer, Marschalkó, Schmidegg families. He came to the zenith of his legal career in 1831. At that time he had already had an office of his own and employed clerks. He was the lawyer of the town, a prominent figure of the committee against the crisis of cholera, a frequently figuring judge of the county court, a member of several county committees, fiery speaker of the local opposition and lawyer of significant and influential families. On the strength of his speeches made on county general assemblies he was characterized as a lawyer of exceptional diction. Of the prime of his career as a lawyer a true picture is given by the detailed enrolment of his cases. The remaining records of his cases manifest a thorough knowledge of his profession, i. e. law as well as his endeavour to develop law and bring it nearer up the matters of every-day life. His career in County Zemplén lasted till 1832, when the meeting of the county council condemned him in an orphanage. From that time on his position was getting worse and worse. This is why he had left Zemplén once for all giving up his legal practice and his activities in the public life of his homeland. 19* 291
