Balázs György (szerk.): The abolition of serfdom and its impact on rural culture, Guide to the Exhibition Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Revolution and War if Independence of 1848-49 (Budapest-Szentendre, Museum of Hungarian Agriculture-Hungarian Open-Air Museum, 1998.)

was very remarkable when Kossuth, Lajos, a young member of the lesser nobility and a lawyer from Zemplén County, started to publish his Dietal Reports (Országgyűlési Tudósítások) in hand-written form. The Diet of 1832-36 at Pozsony (present-day Bratis-lava) was a decisive one from the point of view of the liberal part of the nobility struggling for social changes. The Court wanted to get bills on new types of taxes through Parliament, but some liberal representatives of the opposition (e.g., Deák, Ferenc from Zala County) emphasized the importance of social reform. „It is high time we ensured at least partially, appropriate and moderate freedoms for the eight million non-nobles in this country. There is no other obstacle for this than what is the greatest obstacle in the way of the rise of our national culture; namely, the prevailing principle that nonnobles are not allowed to have any kind of real estate. In the spirit of my instructions as a deputy and in the name of justice and the public good I am asking, therefore, the Estates of the Realm to repeal this faulty measure that has caused so much damage so far." In the name of the conservative camp, Count La Motte, Károly, the representative of Gömör County, argued against the reforms as follows: „... According to our laws, noblemen may alienate their property only under serious pressure. If we allow them to discharge their serfs of their obligations against a due manumission compensation, we shall be faced with a great number of careless squanderers.... It is said that Count Széchenyi. Ish án (1792-1860) Painting by Barabás, Miklós, 1848 28