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diff --git a/old/1349-0.txt b/old/1349-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..07dcc4a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1349-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,28091 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Russia, by Donald Mackenzie Wallace + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Russia + +Author: Donald Mackenzie Wallace + +Release Date: June, 1998 [eBook #1349] +[Most recently updated: April 12, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: Donald Lainson and David Widger + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUSSIA *** + + + + +RUSSIA + +by Donald Mackenzie Wallace + + + +Copyright 1905 + + +Contents + + +Preface + +CHAPTER I + +TRAVELLING IN RUSSIA + +Railways--State Interference--River Communications--Russian "Grand +Tour"--The Volga--Kazan--Zhigulinskiya Gori--Finns and Tartars--The +Don--Difficulties of Navigation--Discomforts--Rats--Hotels and +Their Peculiar Customs--Roads--Hibernian Phraseology +Explained--Bridges--Posting--A Tarantass--Requisites for +Travelling--Travelling in Winter--Frostbitten--Disagreeable +Episodes--Scene at a Post-Station. + +CHAPTER II + +IN THE NORTHERN FORESTS + +Bird's-eye View of Russia--The Northern Forests--Purpose of +my Journey--Negotiations--The Road--A Village--A Peasant's +House--Vapour-Baths--Curious Custom--Arrival. + +CHAPTER III + +VOLUNTARY EXILE + +Ivanofka--History of the Place--The Steward of the Estate--Slav and +Teutonic Natures--A German's View of the Emancipation--Justices of the +Peace--New School of Morals--The Russian Language--Linguistic Talent of +the Russians--My Teacher--A Big Dose of Current History. + +CHAPTER IV + +THE VILLAGE PRIEST + +Priests' Names--Clerical Marriages--The White and the Black Clergy--Why +the People do not Respect the Parish Priests--History of the White +Clergy--The Parish Priest and the Protestant Pastor--In What Sense +the Russian People are Religious--Icons--The Clergy and Popular +Education--Ecclesiastical Reform--Premonitory Symptoms of Change--Two +Typical Specimens of the Parochial Clergy of the Present Day. + +CHAPTER V + +A MEDICAL CONSULTATION + +Unexpected Illness--A Village Doctor--Siberian Plague--My +Studies--Russian Historians--A Russian Imitator of Dickens--A ci-devant +Domestic Serf--Medicine and Witchcraft--A Remnant of Paganism--Credulity +of the Peasantry--Absurd Rumours--A Mysterious Visit from St. +Barbara--Cholera on Board a Steamer--Hospitals--Lunatic Asylums--Amongst +Maniacs. + +CHAPTER VI + +A PEASANT FAMILY OF THE OLD TYPE + +Ivan Petroff--His Past Life--Co-operative Associations--Constitution of +a Peasant's Household--Predominance of Economic Conceptions over those +of Blood-relationship--Peasant Marriages--Advantages of Living in Large +Families--Its Defects--Family Disruptions and their Consequences. + +CHAPTER VII + +THE PEASANTRY OF THE NORTH + +Communal Land--System of Agriculture--Parish Fetes--Fasting--Winter +Occupations--Yearly Migrations--Domestic Industries--Influence +of Capital and Wholesale Enterprise--The State +Peasants--Serf-dues--Buckle's "History of Civilisation"--A precocious +Yamstchik--"People Who Play Pranks"--A Midnight Alarm--The Far North. + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MIR, OR VILLAGE COMMUNITY + +Social and Political Importance of the Mir--The Mir and the Family +Compared--Theory of the Communal System--Practical Deviations from the +Theory--The Mir a Good Specimen of Constitutional Government of the +Extreme Democratic Type--The Village Assembly--Female Members--The +Elections--Distribution of the Communal Land. + +CHAPTER IX + +HOW THE COMMUNE HAS BEEN PRESERVED, AND WHAT IT IS TO EFFECT IN THE +FUTURE + +Sweeping Reforms after the Crimean War--Protest Against the Laissez +Faire Principle--Fear of the Proletariat--English and Russian Methods of +Legislation Contrasted--Sanguine Expectations--Evil Consequences of +the Communal System--The Commune of the Future--Proletariat of the +Towns--The Present State of Things Merely Temporary. + +CHAPTER X + +FINNISH AND TARTAR VILLAGES + +A Finnish Tribe--Finnish Villages--Various Stages of +Russification--Finnish Women--Finnish Religions--Method of "Laying" +Ghosts--Curious Mixture of Christianity and Paganism--Conversion of +the Finns--A Tartar Village--A Russian Peasant's Conception of +Mahometanism--A Mahometan's View of Christianity--Propaganda--The +Russian Colonist--Migrations of Peoples During the Dark Ages. + +CHAPTER XI + +LORD NOVGOROD THE GREAT + +Departure from Ivanofka and Arrival at Novgorod--The Eastern Half of +the Town--The Kremlin--An Old Legend--The Armed Men of Rus--The +Northmen--Popular Liberty in Novgorod--The Prince and the Popular +Assembly--Civil Dissensions and Faction-fights--The Commercial Republic +Conquered by the Muscovite Tsars--Ivan the Terrible--Present Condition +of the Town--Provincial Society--Card-playing--Periodicals--"Eternal +Stillness." + +CHAPTER XII + +THE TOWNS AND THE MERCANTILE CLASSES + +General Character of Russian Towns--Scarcity of Towns in Russia--Why +the Urban Element in the Population is so Small--History of +Russian Municipal Institutions--Unsuccessful Efforts to Create a +Tiers-etat--Merchants, Burghers, and Artisans--Town Council--A Rich +Merchant--His House--His Love of Ostentation--His Conception of +Aristocracy--Official Decorations--Ignorance and Dishonesty of the +Commercial Classes--Symptoms of Change. + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE PASTORAL TRIBES OF THE STEPPE + +A Journey to the Steppe Region of the Southeast--The Volga--Town +and Province of Samara--Farther Eastward--Appearance of the +Villages--Characteristic Incident--Peasant Mendacity--Explanation of the +Phenomenon--I Awake in Asia--A Bashkir Aoul--Diner la Tartare--Kumyss--A +Bashkir Troubadour--Honest Mehemet Zian--Actual Economic Condition of +the Bashkirs Throws Light on a Well-known Philosophical Theory--Why +a Pastoral Race Adopts Agriculture--The Genuine Steppe--The +Kirghiz--Letter from Genghis Khan--The Kalmyks--Nogai Tartars--Struggle +between Nomadic Hordes and Agricultural Colonists. + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE MONGOL DOMINATION + +The Conquest--Genghis Khan and his People--Creation and Rapid +Disintegration of the Mongol Empire--The Golden Horde--The Real +Character of the Mongol Domination--Religious Toleration--Mongol System +of Government--Grand Princes--The Princes of Moscow--Influence of the +Mongol Domination--Practical Importance of the Subject. + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COSSACKS + +Lawlessness on the Steppe--Slave-markets of the Crimea--The Military +Cordon and the Free Cossacks--The Zaporovian Commonwealth Compared with +Sparta and with the Mediaeval Military Orders--The Cossacks of the Don, +of the Volga, and of the Ural--Border Warfare--The Modern Cossacks--Land +Tenure among the Cossacks of the Don--The Transition from Pastoral to +Agriculture Life--"Universal Law" of Social Development--Communal versus +Private Property--Flogging as a Means of Land-registration. + +CHAPTER XVI + +FOREIGN COLONISTS ON THE STEPPE + +The Steppe--Variety of Races, Languages, and Religions--The German +Colonists--In What Sense the Russians are an Imitative +People--The Mennonites--Climate and Arboriculture--Bulgarian +Colonists--Tartar-Speaking Greeks--Jewish +Agriculturists--Russification--A Circassian Scotchman--Numerical +Strength of the Foreign Element. + +CHAPTER XVII + +AMONG THE HERETICS + +The Molokanye--My Method of Investigation--Alexandrof-Hai--An Unexpected +Theological Discussion--Doctrines and Ecclesiastical Organisation of +the Molokanye--Moral Supervision and Mutual Assistance--History of the +Sect--A False Prophet--Utilitarian Christianity--Classification of +the Fantastic Sects--The "Khlysti"--Policy of the Government towards +Sectarianism--Two Kinds of Heresy--Probable Future of the Heretical +Sects--Political Disaffection. + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE DISSENTERS + +Dissenters not to be Confounded with Heretics--Extreme Importance +Attached to Ritual Observances--The Raskol, or Great Schism in the +Seventeenth Century--Antichrist Appears!--Policy of Peter the Great +and Catherine II.--Present Ingenious Method of Securing Religious +Toleration--Internal Development of the Raskol--Schism among the +Schismatics--The Old Ritualists--The Priestless People--Cooling of the +Fanatical Enthusiasm and Formation of New Sects--Recent Policy of +the Government towards the Sectarians--Numerical Force and Political +Significance of Sectarianism. + +CHAPTER XIX + +CHURCH AND STATE + +The Russian Orthodox Church--Russia Outside of the Mediaeval Papal +Commonwealth--Influence of the Greek Church--Ecclesiastical History of +Russia--Relations between Church and State--Eastern Orthodoxy and the +Russian National Church--The Synod--Ecclesiastical Grumbling--Local +Ecclesiastical Administration--The Black Clergy and the Monasteries--The +Character of the Eastern Church Reflected in the History of Religious +Art--Practical Consequences--The Union Scheme. + +CHAPTER XX + +THE NOBLESSE + +The Nobles In Early Times--The Mongol Domination--The Tsardom of +Muscovy--Family Dignity--Reforms of Peter the Great--The Nobles Adopt +West-European Conceptions--Abolition of Obligatory Service--Influence of +Catherine II.--The Russian Dvoryanstvo Compared with the French Noblesse +and the English Aristocracy--Russian Titles--Probable Future of the +Russian Noblesse. + +CHAPTER XXI + +LANDED PROPRIETORS OF THE OLD SCHOOL + +Russian Hospitality--A Country-House--Its Owner Described--His Life, +Past and Present--Winter Evenings--Books---Connection with the Outer +World--The Crimean War and the Emancipation--A Drunken, Dissolute +Proprietor--An Old General and his Wife--"Name Days"--A Legendary +Monster--A Retired Judge--A Clever Scribe--Social Leniency--Cause of +Demoralisation. + +CHAPTER XXII + +PROPRIETORS OF THE MODERN SCHOOL + +A Russian Petit Maitre--His House and Surroundings--Abortive Attempts +to Improve Agriculture and the Condition of the Serfs--A Comparison--A +"Liberal" Tchinovnik--His Idea of Progress--A Justice of the Peace--His +Opinion of Russian Literature, Tchinovniks, and Petits Maitres--His +Supposed and Real Character--An Extreme Radical--Disorders in +the Universities--Administrative Procedure--Russia's Capacity for +Accomplishing Political and Social Evolutions--A Court Dignitary in his +Country House. + +CHAPTER XXIII + +SOCIAL CLASSES + +Do Social Classes or Castes Exist in Russia?--Well-marked Social +Types--Classes Recognised by the Legislation and the Official +Statistics--Origin and Gradual Formation of these Classes--Peculiarity +in the Historical Development of Russia--Political Life and Political +Parties. + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION AND THE OFFICIALS + +The Officials in Norgorod Assist Me in My Studies--The Modern Imperial +Administration Created by Peter the Great, and Developed by his +Successors--A Slavophil's View of the Administration--The Administration +Briefly Described--The Tchinovniks, or Officials--Official Titles, and +Their Real Significance--What the Administration Has Done for Russia in +the Past--Its Character Determined by the Peculiar Relation between +the Government and the People--Its Radical Vices--Bureaucratic +Remedies--Complicated Formal Procedure--The Gendarmerie: My Personal +Relations with this Branch of the Administration; Arrest and Release--A +Strong, Healthy Public Opinion the Only Effectual Remedy for Bad +Administration. + +CHAPTER XXV + +MOSCOW AND THE SLAVOPHILS + +Two Ancient Cities--Kief Not a Good Point for Studying Old Russian +National Life--Great Russians and Little Russians--Moscow--Easter Eve +in the Kremlin--Curious Custom--Anecdote of the Emperor +Nicholas--Domiciliary Visits of the Iberian Madonna--The Streets of +Moscow--Recent Changes in the Character of the City--Vulgar Conception +of the Slavophils--Opinion Founded on Personal Acquaintance--Slavophil +Sentiment a Century Ago--Origin and Development of the Slavophil +Doctrine--Slavophilism Essentially Muscovite--The Panslavist +Element--The Slavophils and the Emancipation. + +CHAPTER XXVI + +ST. PETERSBURG AND EUROPEAN INFLUENCE + +St. Petersburg and Berlin--Big Houses--The "Lions"--Peter the Great--His +Aims and Policy--The German Regime--Nationalist Reaction--French +Influence--Consequent Intellectual Sterility--Influence of the +Sentimental School--Hostility to Foreign Influences--A New Period of +Literary Importation--Secret Societies--The Catastrophe--The Age of +Nicholas--A Terrible War on Parnassus--Decline of Romanticism and +Transcendentalism--Gogol--The Revolutionary Agitation of 1848--New +Reaction--Conclusion. + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE CRIMEAN WAR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + +The Emperor Nicholas and his System--The Men with Aspirations and the +Apathetically Contented--National Humiliation--Popular Discontent +and the Manuscript Literature--Death of Nicholas--Alexander II.--New +Spirit--Reform Enthusiasm--Change in the Periodical Literature--The +Kolokol--The Conservatives--The Tchinovniks--First Specific +Proposals--Joint-Stock Companies--The Serf Question Comes to the Front. + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE SERFS + +The Rural Population in Ancient Times--The Peasantry in the Eighteenth +Century--How Was This Change Effected?--The Common Explanation +Inaccurate--Serfage the Result of Permanent Economic and Political +Causes--Origin of the Adscriptio Glebae--Its Consequences--Serf +Insurrection--Turning-point in the History of Serfage--Serfage in +Russia and in Western Europe--State Peasants--Numbers and Geographical +Distribution of the Serf Population--Serf Dues--Legal and Actual Power +of the Proprietors--The Serfs' Means of Defence--Fugitives--Domestic +Serfs--Strange Advertisements in the Moscow Gazette--Moral Influence of +Serfage. + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE EMANCIPATION OF THE SERFS + +The Question Raised--Chief Committee--The Nobles of the Lithuanian +Provinces--The Tsar's Broad Hint to the Noblesse--Enthusiasm in the +Press--The Proprietors--Political Aspirations--No Opposition--The +Government--Public Opinion--Fear of the Proletariat--The Provincial +Committees--The Elaboration Commission--The Question Ripens--Provincial +Deputies--Discontent and Demonstrations--The Manifesto--Fundamental +Principles of the Law--Illusions and Disappointment of the +Serfs--Arbiters of the Peace--A Characteristic Incident--Redemption--Who +Effected the Emancipation? + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE LANDED PROPRIETORS SINCE THE EMANCIPATION + +Two Opposite Opinions--Difficulties of Investigation--The Problem +Simplified--Direct and Indirect Compensation--The Direct Compensation +Inadequate--What the Proprietors Have Done with the Remainder of +Their Estates--Immediate Moral Effect of the Abolition of Serfage--The +Economic Problem--The Ideal Solution and the Difficulty of Realising +It--More Primitive Arrangements--The Northern Agricultural Zone--The +Black-earth Zone--The Labour Difficulty--The Impoverishment of +the Noblesse Not a New Phenomenon--Mortgaging of Estates--Gradual +Expropriation of the Noblesse-Rapid Increase in the Production and +Export of Grain--How Far this Has Benefited the Landed Proprietors. + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE EMANCIPATED PEASANTRY + +The Effects of Liberty--Difficulty of Obtaining Accurate +Information--Pessimist Testimony of the Proprietors--Vague Replies of +the Peasants--My Conclusions in 1877--Necessity of Revising Them--My +Investigations Renewed in 1903--Recent Researches by Native Political +Economists--Peasant Impoverishment Universally Recognised--Various +Explanations Suggested--Demoralisation of the Common People--Peasant +Self-government--Communal System of Land Tenure--Heavy +Taxation--Disruption of Peasant Families--Natural Increase of +Population--Remedies Proposed--Migration--Reclamation of Waste +Land--Land-purchase by Peasantry--Manufacturing Industry--Improvement of +Agricultural Methods--Indications of Progress. + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE ZEMSTVO AND THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT + +Necessity of Reorganising the Provincial Administration--Zemstvo Created +in 1864--My First Acquaintance with the Institution--District and +Provincial Assemblies--The Leading Members--Great Expectations Created +by the Institution--These Expectations Not Realised--Suspicions and +Hostility of the Bureaucracy--Zemstvo Brought More Under Control of the +Centralised Administration--What It Has Really Done--Why It Has Not +Done More---Rapid Increase of the Rates--How Far the Expenditure +Is Judicious--Why the Impoverishment of the Peasantry Was +Neglected--Unpractical, Pedantic Spirit--Evil Consequences--Chinese and +Russian Formalism--Local Self-Government of Russia Contrasted with That +of England--Zemstvo Better than Its Predecessors--Its Future. + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE NEW LAW COURTS + +Judicial Procedure in the Olden Times--Defects and Abuses--Radical +Reform--The New System--Justices of the Peace and Monthly Sessions--The +Regular Tribunals--Court of Revision--Modification of the Original +Plan--How Does the System Work?--Rapid Acclimatisation--The Bench--The +Jury--Acquittal of Criminals Who Confess Their Crimes--Peasants, +Merchants, and Nobles as Jurymen--Independence and Political +Significance of the New Courts. + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +REVOLUTIONARY NIHILISM AND THE REACTION + +The Reform-enthusiasm Becomes Unpractical and Culminates in +Nihilism--Nihilism, the Distorted Reflection of Academic Western +Socialism--Russia Well Prepared for Reception of Ultra-Socialist +Virus--Social Reorganisation According to Latest Results of +Science--Positivist Theory--Leniency of Press-censure--Chief +Representatives of New Movement--Government Becomes Alarmed--Repressive +Measures--Reaction in the Public--The Term Nihilist Invented--The +Nihilist and His Theory--Further Repressive Measures--Attitude of Landed +Proprietors--Foundation of a Liberal Party--Liberalism Checked by Polish +Insurrection--Practical Reform Continued--An Attempt at Regicide Forms +a Turning-point of Government's Policy--Change in Educational +System--Decline of Nihilism. + +CHAPTER XXXV + +SOCIALIST PROPAGANDA, REVOLUTIONARY AGITATION, AND TERRORISM + +Closer Relations with Western Socialism--Attempts to Influence +the Masses--Bakunin and Lavroff--"Going in among the People"--The +Missionaries of Revolutionary Socialism--Distinction between Propaganda +and Agitation--Revolutionary Pamphlets for the Common People--Aims +and Motives of the Propagandists--Failure of Propaganda--Energetic +Repression--Fruitless Attempts at Agitation--Proposal to Combine +with Liberals--Genesis of Terrorism--My Personal Relations with the +Revolutionists--Shadowers and Shadowed--A Series of Terrorist Crimes--A +Revolutionist Congress--Unsuccessful Attempts to Assassinate +the Tsar--Ineffectual Attempt at Conciliation by Loris +Melikof--Assassination of Alexander II.--The Executive Committee +Shows Itself Unpractical--Widespread Indignation and Severe +Repression--Temporary Collapse of the Revolutionary Movement--A New +Revolutionary Movement in Sight. + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND THE PROLETARIAT + +Russia till Lately a Peasant Empire--Early Efforts to Introduce Arts and +Crafts--Peter the Great and His Successors--Manufacturing Industry +Long Remains an Exotic--The Cotton Industry--The Reforms of Alexander +II.--Protectionists and Free Trade--Progress under High Tariffs--M. +Witte's Policy--How Capital Was Obtained--Increase of Exports--Foreign +Firms Cross the Customs Frontier--Rapid Development of Iron Industry--A +Commercial Crisis--M. Witte's Position Undermined by Agrarians and +Doctrinaires--M. Plehve a Formidable Opponent--His Apprehensions of +Revolution--Fall of M. Witte--The Industrial Proletariat + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT IN ITS LATEST PHASE + +Influence of Capitalism and Proletariat on the Revolutionary +Movement--What is to be Done?--Reply of Plekhanof--A New Departure--Karl +Marx's Theories Applied to Russia--Beginnings of a Social Democratic +Movement--The Labour Troubles of 1894-96 in St. Petersburg--The Social +Democrats' Plan of Campaign--Schism in the Party--Trade-unionism and +Political Agitation--The Labour Troubles of 1902--How the Revolutionary +Groups are Differentiated from Each Other--Social Democracy and +Constitutionalism--Terrorism--The Socialist Revolutionaries--The +Militant Organisation--Attitude of the Government--Factory +Legislation--Government's Scheme for Undermining Social +Democracy--Father Gapon and His Labour Association--The Great Strike in +St. Petersburg--Father Gapon goes over to the Revolutionaries. + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +TERRITORIAL EXPANSION AND FOREIGN POLICY + +Rapid Growth of Russia--Expansive Tendency of Agricultural Peoples--The +Russo-Slavonians--The Northern Forest and the Steppe--Colonisation--The +Part of the Government in the Process of Expansion--Expansion towards +the West--Growth of the Empire Represented in a Tabular Form--Commercial +Motive for Expansion--The Expansive Force in the Future--Possibilities +of Expansion in Europe--Persia, Afghanistan, and India--Trans-Siberian +Railway and Weltpolitik--A Grandiose Scheme--Determined Opposition of +Japan--Negotiations and War--Russia's Imprudence Explained--Conclusion. + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE PRESENT SITUATION + + +Reform or Revolution?--Reigns of Alexander II. and Nicholas II. +Compared and Contrasted--The Present Opposition--Various Groups--The +Constitutionalists--Zemski Sobors--The Young Tsar Dispels +Illusions--Liberal Frondeurs--Plehve's Repressive Policy--Discontent +Increased by the War--Relaxation and Wavering under Prince +Mirski--Reform Enthusiasm--The Constitutionalists Formulate their +Demands--The Social Democrats--Father Gapon's Demonstration--The +Socialist-Revolutionaries--The Agrarian Agitators--The +Subject-Nationalities--Numerical Strength of the Various Groups--All +United on One Point--Their Different Aims--Possible Solutions of the +Crisis--Difficulties of Introducing Constitutional Regime--A Strong Man +Wanted--Uncertainty of the Future. + + + + +PREFACE + + +The first edition of this work, published early in January, 1877, +contained the concentrated results of my studies during an uninterrupted +residence of six years in Russia--from the beginning of 1870 to the end +of 1875. Since that time I have spent in the European and Central Asian +provinces, at different periods, nearly two years more; and in the +intervals I have endeavoured to keep in touch with the progress of +events. My observations thus extend over a period of thirty-five years. + +When I began, a few months ago, to prepare for publication the results +of my more recent observations and researches, my intention was to +write an entirely new work under the title of "Russia in the Twentieth +Century," but I soon perceived that it would be impossible to explain +clearly the present state of things without referring constantly to +events of the past, and that I should be obliged to embody in the new +work a large portion of the old one. The portion to be embodied grew +rapidly to such proportions that, in the course of a few weeks, I +began to ask myself whether it would not be better simply to recast +and complete my old material. With a view to deciding the question I +prepared a list of the principal changes which had taken place during +the last quarter of a century, and when I had marshalled them in logical +order, I recognised that they were neither so numerous nor so important +as I had supposed. Certainly there had been much progress, but it had +been nearly all on the old lines. Everywhere I perceived continuity and +evolution; nowhere could I discover radical changes and new departures. +In the central and local administration the reactionary policy of the +latter half of Alexander II.'s reign had been steadily maintained; +the revolutionary movement had waxed and waned, but its aims were +essentially the same as of old; the Church had remained in its usual +somnolent condition; a grave agricultural crisis affecting landed +proprietors and peasants had begun, but it was merely a development of +a state of things which I had previously described; the manufacturing +industry had made gigantic strides, but they were all in the direction +which the most competent observers had predicted; in foreign policy the +old principles of guiding the natural expansive forces along the lines +of least resistance, seeking to reach warm-water ports, and pegging out +territorial claims for the future were persistently followed. No doubt +there were pretty clear indications of more radical changes to come, but +these changes must belong to the future, and it is merely with the past +and the present that a writer who has no pretensions to being a prophet +has to deal. + +Under these circumstances it seemed to me advisable to adopt a middle +course. Instead of writing an entirely new work I determined to prepare +a much extended and amplified edition of the old one, retaining such +information about the past as seemed to me of permanent value, and at +the same time meeting as far as possible the requirements of those who +wish to know the present condition of the country. + +In accordance with this view I have revised, rearranged, and +supplemented the old material in the light of subsequent events, and +I have added five entirely new chapters--three on the revolutionary +movement, which has come into prominence since 1877; one on the +industrial progress, with which the latest phase of the movement is +closely connected; and one on the main lines of the present situation as +it appears to me at the moment of going to press. + +During the many years which I have devoted to the study of Russia, I +have received unstinted assistance from many different quarters. Of the +friends who originally facilitated my task, and to whom I expressed my +gratitude in the preface and notes of the early editions, only three +survive--Mme. de Novikoff, M. E. I. Yakushkin, and Dr. Asher. To the +numerous friends who have kindly assisted me in the present edition I +must express my thanks collectively, but there are two who stand out +from the group so prominently that I may be allowed to mention them +personally: these are Prince Alexander Grigorievitch Stcherbatof, who +supplied me with voluminous materials regarding the agrarian question +generally and the present condition of the peasantry in particular, +and M. Albert Brockhaus, who placed at my disposal the gigantic Russian +Encyclopaedia recently published by his firm (Entsiklopeditcheski +Slovar, Leipzig and St. Petersburg, 1890-1904). This monumental work, +in forty-one volumes, is an inexhaustible storehouse of accurate and +well-digested information on all subjects connected with the Russian +Empire, and it has often been of great use to me in matters of detail. + +With regard to the last chapter of this edition I must claim the +reader's indulgence, because the meaning of the title, "the present +situation," changes from day to day, and I cannot foresee what further +changes may occur before the work reaches the hands of the public. + +LONDON, 22nd May, 1905. + + + +RUSSIA + + +CHAPTER I + +TRAVELLING IN RUSSIA + + +Railways--State Interference--River Communications--Russian "Grand +Tour"--The Volga--Kazan--Zhigulinskiya Gori--Finns and Tartars--The +Don--Difficulties of Navigation--Discomforts--Rats--Hotels and +Their Peculiar Customs--Roads--Hibernian Phraseology +Explained--Bridges--Posting--A Tarantass--Requisites for +Travelling--Travelling in Winter--Frostbitten--Disagreeable +Episodes--Scene at a Post-Station. + + +Of course travelling in Russia is no longer what it was. During the last +half century a vast network of railways has been constructed, and one +can now travel in a comfortable first-class carriage from Berlin to St. +Petersburg or Moscow, and thence to Odessa, Sebastopol, the Lower Volga, +the Caucasus, Central Asia, or Eastern Siberia. Until the outbreak of +the war there was a train twice a week, with through carriages, from +Moscow to Port Arthur. And it must be admitted that on the main lines +the passengers have not much to complain of. The carriages are decidedly +better than in England, and in winter they are kept warm by small iron +stoves, assisted by double windows and double doors--a very necessary +precaution in a land where the thermometer often descends to 30 +degrees below zero. The train never attains, it is true, a high rate +of speed--so at least English and Americans think--but then we must +remember that Russians are rarely in a hurry, and like to have frequent +opportunities of eating and drinking. In Russia time is not money; if +it were, nearly all the subjects of the Tsar would always have a large +stock of ready money on hand, and would often have great difficulty in +spending it. In reality, be it parenthetically remarked, a Russian with +a superabundance of ready money is a phenomenon rarely met with in real +life. + +In conveying passengers at the rate of from fifteen to thirty miles an +hour, the railway companies do at least all that they promise; but in +one very important respect they do not always strictly fulfil their +engagements. The traveller takes a ticket for a certain town, and on +arriving at what he imagines to be his destination, he may find merely a +railway-station surrounded by fields. On making inquiries, he discovers, +to his disappointment, that the station is by no means identical with +the town bearing the same name, and that the railway has fallen several +miles short of fulfilling the bargain, as he understood the terms of +the contract. Indeed, it might almost be said that as a general rule +railways in Russia, like camel-drivers in certain Eastern countries, +studiously avoid the towns. This seems at first a strange fact. It is +possible to conceive that the Bedouin is so enamoured of tent life and +nomadic habits that he shuns a town as he would a man-trap; but surely +civil engineers and railway contractors have no such dread of brick and +mortar. The true reason, I suspect, is that land within or immediately +beyond the municipal barrier is relatively dear, and that the +railways, being completely beyond the invigorating influence of healthy +competition, can afford to look upon the comfort and convenience of +passengers as a secondary consideration. Gradually, it is true, this +state of things is being improved by private initiative. As the railways +refuse to come to the towns, the towns are extending towards the +railways, and already some prophets are found bold enough to predict +that in the course of time those long, new, straggling streets, without +an inhabited hinterland, which at present try so severely the springs of +the ricketty droshkis, will be properly paved and kept in decent repair. +For my own part, I confess I am a little sceptical with regard to this +prediction, and I can only use a favourite expression of the Russian +peasants--daï Bog! God grant it may be so! + +It is but fair to state that in one celebrated instance neither +engineers nor railway contractors were directly to blame. From St. +Petersburg to Moscow the locomotive runs for a distance of 400 miles +almost as "the crow" is supposed to fly, turning neither to the right +hand nor to the left. For twelve weary hours the passenger in the +express train looks out on forest and morass, and rarely catches sight +of human habitation. Only once he perceives in the distance what may be +called a town; it is Tver which has been thus favoured, not because it +is a place of importance, but simply because it happened to be near +the bee-line. And why was the railway constructed in this extraordinary +fashion? For the best of all reasons--because the Tsar so ordered it. +When the preliminary survey was being made, Nicholas I. learned that the +officers entrusted with the task--and the Minister of Ways and Roads +in the number--were being influenced more by personal than technical +considerations, and he determined to cut the Gordian knot in true +Imperial style. When the Minister laid before him the map with the +intention of explaining the proposed route, he took a ruler, drew a +straight line from the one terminus to the other, and remarked in a tone +that precluded all discussion, "You will construct the line so!" And +the line was so constructed--remaining to all future ages, like St. +Petersburg and the Pyramids, a magnificent monument of autocratic power. + +Formerly this well-known incident was often cited in whispered +philippics to illustrate the evils of the autocratic form of government. +Imperial whims, it was said, over-ride grave economic considerations. +In recent years, however, a change seems to have taken place in public +opinion, and some people now assert that this so-called Imperial whim +was an act of far-seeing policy. As by far the greater part of the goods +and passengers are carried the whole length of the line, it is well that +the line should be as short as possible, and that branch lines should be +constructed to the towns lying to the right and left. Evidently there is +a good deal to be said in favour of this view. + +In the development of the railway system there has been another +disturbing cause, which is not likely to occur to the English mind. In +England, individuals and companies habitually act according to their +private interests, and the State interferes as little as possible; +private initiative does as it pleases, unless the authorities can prove +that important bad consequences will necessarily result. In Russia, the +onus probandi lies on the other side; private initiative is allowed +to do nothing until it gives guarantees against all possible bad +consequences. When any great enterprise is projected, the first question +is--"How will this new scheme affect the interests of the State?" Thus, +when the course of a new railway has to be determined, the military +authorities are among the first to be consulted, and their opinion has +a great influence on the ultimate decision. The natural consequence is +that the railway-map of Russia presents to the eye of the strategist +much that is quite unintelligible to the ordinary observer--a fact that +will become apparent even to the uninitiated as soon as a war breaks out +in Eastern Europe. Russia is no longer what she was in the days of the +Crimean War, when troops and stores had to be conveyed hundreds of miles +by the most primitive means of transport. At that time she had only +750 miles of railway; now she has over 36,000 miles, and every year new +lines are constructed. + +The water-communication has likewise in recent years been greatly +improved. On the principal rivers there are now good steamers. +Unfortunately, the climate puts serious obstructions in the way of +navigation. For nearly half of the year the rivers are covered with ice, +and during a great part of the open season navigation is difficult. When +the ice and snow melt the rivers overflow their banks and lay a great +part of the low-lying country under water, so that many villages can +only be approached in boats; but very soon the flood subsides, and the +water falls so rapidly that by midsummer the larger steamers have +great difficulty in picking their way among the sandbanks. The Neva +alone--that queen of northern rivers--has at all times a plentiful +supply of water. + +Besides the Neva, the rivers commonly visited by the tourist are the +Volga and the Don, which form part of what may be called the Russian +grand tour. Englishmen who wish to see something more than St. +Petersburg and Moscow generally go by rail to Nizhni-Novgorod, where +they visit the great fair, and then get on board one of the Volga +steamers. For those who have mastered the important fact that Russia +is not a country of fine scenery, the voyage down the river is pleasant +enough. The left bank is as flat as the banks of the Rhine below +Cologne, but the right bank is high, occasionally well wooded, and not +devoid of a certain tame picturesqueness. Early on the second day +the steamer reaches Kazan, once the capital of an independent Tartar +khanate, and still containing a considerable Tartar population. Several +metchets (as the Mahometan houses of prayer are here termed), with their +diminutive minarets in the lower part of the town, show that Islamism +still survives, though the khanate was annexed to Muscovy more than +three centuries ago; but the town, as a whole, has a European rather +than an Asiatic character. If any one visits it in the hope of getting +"a glimpse of the East," he will be grievously disappointed, unless, +indeed, he happens to be one of those imaginative tourists who always +discover what they wish to see. And yet it must be admitted that, of +all the towns on the route, Kazan is the most interesting. Though +not Oriental, it has a peculiar character of its own, whilst all the +others--Simbirsk, Samara, Saratof--are as uninteresting as Russian +provincial towns commonly are. The full force and solemnity of that +expression will be explained in the sequel. + +Probably about sunrise on the third day something like a range of +mountains will appear on the horizon. It may be well to say at once, to +prevent disappointment, that in reality nothing worthy of the name +of mountain is to be found in that part of the country. The nearest +mountain-range in that direction is the Caucasus, which is hundreds of +miles distant, and consequently cannot by any possibility be seen from +the deck of a steamer. The elevations in question are simply a low range +of hills, called the Zhigulinskiya Gori. In Western Europe they would +not attract much attention, but "in the kingdom of the blind," as the +French proverb has it, "the one-eyed man is king"; and in a flat region +like Eastern Russia these hills form a prominent feature. Though they +have nothing of Alpine grandeur, yet their well-wooded slopes, coming +down to the water's edge--especially when covered with the delicate +tints of early spring, or the rich yellow and red of autumnal +foliage--leave an impression on the memory not easily effaced. + +On the whole--with all due deference to the opinions of my patriotic +Russian friends--I must say that Volga scenery hardly repays the time, +trouble and expense which a voyage from Nizhni to Tsaritsin demands. +There are some pretty bits here and there, but they are "few and far +between." A glass of the most exquisite wine diluted with a gallon +of water makes a very insipid beverage. The deck of the steamer is +generally much more interesting than the banks of the river. There one +meets with curious travelling companions. The majority of the passengers +are probably Russian peasants, who are always ready to chat freely +without demanding a formal introduction, and to relate--with certain +restrictions--to a new acquaintance the simple story of their lives. +Often I have thus whiled away the weary hours both pleasantly and +profitably, and have always been impressed with the peasant's homely +common sense, good-natured kindliness, half-fatalistic resignation, +and strong desire to learn something about foreign countries. This +last peculiarity makes him question as well as communicate, and his +questions, though sometimes apparently childish, are generally to the +point. + +Among the passengers are probably also some representatives of the +various Finnish tribes inhabiting this part of the country; they may be +interesting to the ethnologist who loves to study physiognomy, but they +are far less sociable than the Russians. Nature seems to have made them +silent and morose, whilst their conditions of life have made them shy +and distrustful. The Tartar, on the other hand, is almost sure to be +a lively and amusing companion. Most probably he is a peddler or small +trader of some kind. The bundle on which he reclines contains his +stock-in-trade, composed, perhaps, of cotton printed goods and +especially bright-coloured cotton handkerchiefs. He himself is enveloped +in a capacious greasy khalát, or dressing-gown, and wears a fur cap, +though the thermometer may be at 90 degrees in the shade. The roguish +twinkle in his small piercing eyes contrasts strongly with the sombre, +stolid expression of the Finnish peasants sitting near him. He has much +to relate about St. Petersburg, Moscow, and perhaps Astrakhan; but, like +a genuine trader, he is very reticent regarding the mysteries of his own +craft. Towards sunset he retires with his companions to some quiet spot +on the deck to recite evening prayers. Here all the good Mahometans on +board assemble and stroke their beards, kneel on their little strips +of carpet and prostrate themselves, all keeping time as if they +were performing some new kind of drill under the eve of a severe +drill-sergeant. + +If the voyage is made about the end of September, when the traders are +returning home from the fair at Nizhni-Novgorod, the ethnologist will +have a still better opportunity of study. He will then find not only +representatives of the Finnish and Tartar races, but also Armenians, +Circassians, Persians, Bokhariots, and other Orientals--a motley and +picturesque but decidedly unsavoury cargo. + +However great the ethnographical variety on board may be, the traveller +will probably find that four days on the Volga are quite enough for all +practical and aesthetic purposes, and instead of going on to Astrakhan +he will quit the steamer at Tsaritsin. Here he will find a railway of +about fifty miles in length, connecting the Volga and the Don. I say +advisedly a railway, and not a train, because trains on this line are +not very frequent. When I first visited the locality, thirty years ago, +there were only two a week, so that if you inadvertently missed one +train you had to wait about three days for the next. Prudent, nervous +people preferred travelling by the road, for on the railway the strange +jolts and mysterious creakings were very alarming. On the other hand the +pace was so slow that running off the rails would have been merely an +amusing episode, and even a collision could scarcely have been attended +with serious consequences. Happily things are improving, even in this +outlying part of the country. Now there is one train daily, and it goes +at a less funereal pace. + +From Kalatch, at the Don end of the line, a steamer starts for Rostoff, +which is situated near the mouth of the river. The navigation of the Don +is much more difficult than that of the Volga. The river is extremely +shallow, and the sand-banks are continually shifting, so that many times +in the course of the day the steamer runs aground. Sometimes she is got +off by simply reversing the engines, but not unfrequently she sticks so +fast that the engines have to be assisted. This is effected in a curious +way. The captain always gives a number of stalwart Cossacks a free +passage on condition that they will give him the assistance he requires; +and as soon as the ship sticks fast he orders them to jump overboard +with a stout hawser and haul her off! The task is not a pleasant one, +especially as the poor fellows cannot afterwards change their clothes; +but the order is always obeyed with alacrity and without grumbling. +Cossacks, it would seem, have no personal acquaintance with colds and +rheumatism. + +In the most approved manuals of geography the Don figures as one of the +principal European rivers, and its length and breadth give it a right to +be considered as such; but its depth in many parts is ludicrously out +of proportion to its length and breadth. I remember one day seeing +the captain of a large, flat-bottomed steamer slacken speed, to avoid +running down a man on horseback who was attempting to cross his bows in +the middle of the stream. Another day a not less characteristic incident +happened. A Cossack passenger wished to be set down at a place where +there was no pier, and on being informed that there was no means of +landing him, coolly jumped overboard and walked ashore. This simple +method of disembarking cannot, of course, be recommended to those who +have no local knowledge regarding the exact position of sand-banks and +deep pools. + +Good serviceable fellows are those Cossacks who drag the steamer off +the sand-banks, and are often entertaining companions. Many of them can +relate from their own experience, in plain, unvarnished style, +stirring episodes of irregular warfare, and if they happen to be in +a communicative mood they may divulge a few secrets regarding their +simple, primitive commissariat system. Whether they are confidential +or not, the traveller who knows the language will spend his time +more profitably and pleasantly in chatting with them than in gazing +listlessly at the uninteresting country through which he is passing. + +Unfortunately, these Don steamers carry a large number of free +passengers of another and more objectionable kind, who do not confine +themselves to the deck, but unceremoniously find their way into the +cabin, and prevent thin-skinned travellers from sleeping. I know too +little of natural history to decide whether these agile, bloodthirsty +parasites are of the same species as those which in England assist +unofficially the Sanitary Commissioners by punishing uncleanliness; +but I may say that their function in the system of created things is +essentially the same, and they fulfil it with a zeal and energy beyond +all praise. Possessing for my own part a happy immunity from their +indelicate attentions, and being perfectly innocent of entomological +curiosity, I might, had I been alone, have overlooked their existence, +but I was constantly reminded of their presence by less happily +constituted mortals, and the complaints of the sufferers received a +curious official confirmation. On arriving at the end of the journey +I asked permission to spend the night on board, and I noticed that the +captain acceded to my request with more readiness and warmth than I +expected. Next morning the fact was fully explained. When I began +to express my thanks for having been allowed to pass the night in a +comfortable cabin, my host interrupted me with a good-natured laugh, and +assured me that, on the contrary, he was under obligations to me. "You +see," he said, assuming an air of mock gravity, "I have always on board +a large body of light cavalry, and when I have all this part of the ship +to myself they make a combined attack on me; whereas, when some one is +sleeping close by, they divide their forces!" + +On certain steamers on the Sea of Azof the privacy of the sleeping-cabin +is disturbed by still more objectionable intruders; I mean rats. During +one short voyage which I made on board the Kertch, these disagreeable +visitors became so importunate in the lower regions of the vessel that +the ladies obtained permission to sleep in the deck-saloon. After this +arrangement had been made, we unfortunate male passengers received +redoubled attention from our tormentors. Awakened early one morning +by the sensation of something running over me as I lay in my berth, I +conceived a method of retaliation. It seemed to me possible that, in the +event of another visit, I might, by seizing the proper moment, kick the +rat up to the ceiling with such force as to produce concussion of the +brain and instant death. Very soon I had an opportunity of putting my +plan into execution. A significant shaking of the little curtain at the +foot of the berth showed that it was being used as a scaling-ladder. I +lay perfectly still, quite as much interested in the sport as if I had +been waiting, rifle in hand, for big game. Soon the intruder peeped +into my berth, looked cautiously around him, and then proceeded to walk +stealthily across my feet. In an instant he was shot upwards. First was +heard a sharp knock on the ceiling, and then a dull "thud" on the floor. +The precise extent of the injuries inflicted I never discovered, for +the victim had sufficient strength and presence of mind to effect his +escape; and the gentleman at the other side of the cabin, who had been +roused by the noise, protested against my repeating the experiment, +on the ground that, though he was willing to take his own share of the +intruders, he strongly objected to having other people's rats kicked +into his berth. + +On such occasions it is of no use to complain to the authorities. When +I met the captain on deck I related to him what had happened, +and protested vigorously against passengers being exposed to such +annoyances. After listening to me patiently, he coolly replied, entirely +overlooking my protestations, "Ah! I did better than that this morning; +I allowed my rat to get under the blanket, and then smothered him!" + +Railways and steamboats, even when their arrangements leave much to be +desired, invariably effect a salutary revolution in hotel accommodation; +but this revolution is of necessity gradual. Foreign hotelkeepers must +immigrate and give the example; suitable houses must be built; servants +must be properly trained; and, above all, the native travellers must +learn the usages of civilised society. In Russia this revolution is in +progress, but still far from being complete. The cities where foreigners +most do congregate--St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa--already possess +hotels that will bear comparison with those of Western Europe, and +some of the more important provincial towns can offer very respectable +accommodation; but there is still much to be done before the +West-European can travel with comfort even on the principal routes. +Cleanliness, the first and most essential element of comfort, as we +understand the term, is still a rare commodity, and often cannot be +procured at any price. + +Even in good hotels, when they are of the genuine Russian type, there +are certain peculiarities which, though not in themselves objectionable, +strike a foreigner as peculiar. Thus, when you alight at such an hotel, +you are expected to examine a considerable number of rooms, and to +inquire about the respective prices. When you have fixed upon a suitable +apartment, you will do well, if you wish to practise economy, to +propose to the landlord considerably less than he demands; and you will +generally find, if you have a talent for bargaining, that the rooms +may be hired for somewhat less than the sum first stated. You must be +careful, however, to leave no possibility of doubt as to the terms of +the contract. Perhaps you assume that, as in taking a cab, a horse is +always supplied without special stipulation, so in hiring a bedroom +the bargain includes a bed and the necessary appurtenances. Such an +assumption will not always be justified. The landlord may perhaps give +you a bedstead without extra charge, but if he be uncorrupted by foreign +notions, he will certainly not spontaneously supply you with bed-linen, +pillows, blankets, and towels. On the contrary, he will assume that you +carry all these articles with you, and if you do not, you must pay for +them. + +This ancient custom has produced among Russians of the old school a kind +of fastidiousness to which we are strangers. They strongly dislike +using sheets, blankets, and towels which are in a certain sense public +property, just as we should strongly object to putting on clothes which +had been already worn by other people. And the feeling may be developed +in people not Russian by birth. For my own part, I confess to having +been conscious of a certain disagreeable feeling on returning in this +respect to the usages of so-called civilised Europe. + +The inconvenience of carrying about the essential articles of bedroom +furniture is by no means so great as might be supposed. Bedrooms in +Russia are always heated during cold weather, so that one light blanket, +which may be also used as a railway rug, is quite sufficient, whilst +sheets, pillow-cases, and towels take up little space in a portmanteau. +The most cumbrous object is the pillow, for air-cushions, having a +disagreeable odour, are not well suited for the purpose. But Russians +are accustomed to this encumbrance. In former days--as at the present +time in those parts of the country where there are neither railways +nor macadamised roads--people travelled in carts or carriages without +springs and in these instruments of torture a huge pile of cushions +or pillows is necessary to avoid contusions and dislocations. On the +railways the jolts and shaking are not deadly enough to require such +an antidote; but, even in unconservative Russia, customs outlive the +conditions that created them; and at every railway-station you may see +men and women carrying about their pillows with them as we carry wraps. +A genuine Russian merchant who loves comfort and respects tradition +may travel without a portmanteau, but he considers his pillow as an +indispensable article de voyage. + +To return to the old-fashioned hotel. When you have completed the +negotiations with the landlord, you will notice that, unless you have a +servant with you, the waiter prepares to perform the duties of valet de +chambre. Do not be surprised at his officiousness, which seems founded +on the assumption that you are three-fourths paralysed. Formerly, every +well-born Russian had a valet always in attendance, and never dreamed +of doing for himself anything which could by any possibility be done +for him. You notice that there is no bell in the room, and no mechanical +means of communicating with the world below stairs. That is because the +attendant is supposed to be always within call, and it is so much easier +to shout than to get up and ring the bell. + +In the good old times all this was quite natural. The well-born Russian +had commonly a superabundance of domestic serfs, and there was no reason +why one or two of them should not accompany their master when his Honour +undertook a journey. An additional person in the tarantass did not +increase the expense, and considerably diminished the little unavoidable +inconveniences of travel. But times have changed. In 1861 the domestic +serfs were emancipated by Imperial ukaz. Free servants demand wages; and +on railways or steamers a single ticket does not include an attendant. +The present generation must therefore get through life with a more +modest supply of valets, and must learn to do with its own hands much +that was formerly performed by serf labour. Still, a gentleman brought +up in the old conditions cannot be expected to dress himself without +assistance, and accordingly the waiter remains in your room to act as +valet. Perhaps, too, in the early morning you may learn in an unpleasant +way that other parts of the old system are not yet extinct. You may +hear, for instance, resounding along the corridors such an order +as--"Petrusha! Petrusha! Stakán vodý!" ("Little Peter, little Peter, a +glass of water!") shouted in a stentorian voice that would startle the +Seven Sleepers. + +When the toilet operations are completed, and you order tea--one always +orders tea in Russia--you will be asked whether you have your own tea +and sugar with you. If you are an experienced traveller you will be able +to reply in the affirmative, for good tea can be bought only in certain +well-known shops, and can rarely be found in hotels. A huge, steaming +tea-urn, called a samovar--etymologically, a "self-boiler"--will be +brought in, and you will make your tea according to your taste. The +tumbler, you know of course, is to be used as a cup, and when using it +you must be careful not to cauterise the points of your fingers. If you +should happen to have anything eatable or drinkable in your travelling +basket, you need not hesitate to take it out at once, for the waiter +will not feel at all aggrieved or astonished at your doing nothing "for +the good of the house." The twenty or twenty-five kopeks that you pay +for the samovar--teapot, tumbler, saucer, spoon, and slop-basin being +included under the generic term pribor--frees you from all corkage and +similar dues. + +These and other remnants of old customs are now rapidly disappearing, +and will, doubtless, in a very few years be things of the past--things +to be picked up in out-of-the-way corners, and chronicled by social +archaeology; but they are still to be found in towns not unknown to +Western Europe. + +Many of these old customs, and especially the old method of travelling, +may be studied in their pristine purity throughout a great part of the +country. Though railway construction has been pushed forward with great +energy during the last forty years, there are still vast regions where +the ancient solitudes have never been disturbed by the shrill whistle +of the locomotive, and roads have remained in their primitive condition. +Even in the central provinces one may still travel hundreds of miles +without ever encountering anything that recalls the name of Macadam. + +If popular rumour is to be trusted, there is somewhere in the Highlands +of Scotland, by the side of a turnpike, a large stone bearing the +following doggerel inscription: + + +"If you had seen this road before it was made, You'd lift up your hands +and bless General Wade." + + +Any educated Englishman reading this strange announcement would +naturally remark that the first line of the couplet contains a logical +contradiction, probably of Hibernian origin; but I have often thought, +during my wanderings in Russia, that the expression, if not logically +justifiable, might for the sake of vulgar convenience be legalised by a +Permissive Bill. The truth is that, as a Frenchman might say, "there +are roads and roads"--roads made and roads unmade, roads artificial +and roads natural. Now, in Russia, roads are nearly all of the unmade, +natural kind, and are so conservative in their nature that they have at +the present day precisely the same appearance as they had many centuries +ago. They have thus for imaginative minds something of what is called +"the charm of historical association." The only perceptible change that +takes place in them during a series of generations is that the ruts +shift their position. When these become so deep that fore-wheels can no +longer fathom them, it becomes necessary to begin making a new pair of +ruts to the right or left of the old ones; and as the roads are commonly +of gigantic breadth, there is no difficulty in finding a place for the +operation. How the old ones get filled up I cannot explain; but as +I have rarely seen in any part of the country, except perhaps in the +immediate vicinity of towns, a human being engaged in road repairing, +I assume that beneficent Nature somehow accomplishes the task without +human assistance, either by means of alluvial deposits, or by some other +cosmical action only known to physical geographers. + +On the roads one occasionally encounters bridges; and here, again, +I have discovered in Russia a key to the mysteries of Hibernian +phraseology. An Irish member once declared to the House of Commons that +the Church was "the bridge that separated the two great sections of the +Irish people." As bridges commonly connect rather than separate, the +metaphor was received with roars of laughter. If the honourable members +who joined in the hilarious applause had travelled much in Russia, they +would have been more moderate in their merriment; for in that +country, despite the laudable activity of the modern system of local +administration created in the sixties, bridges often act still as a +barrier rather than a connecting link, and to cross a river by a +bridge may still be what is termed in popular phrase "a tempting of +Providence." The cautious driver will generally prefer to take to the +water, if there is a ford within a reasonable distance, though both he +and his human load may be obliged, in order to avoid getting wet feet, +to assume undignified postures that would afford admirable material for +the caricaturist. But this little bit of discomfort, even though the +luggage should be soaked in the process of fording, is as nothing +compared to the danger of crossing by the bridge. As I have no desire +to harrow unnecessarily the feelings of the reader, I refrain from all +description of ugly accidents, ending in bruises and fractures, +and shall simply explain in a few words how a successful passage is +effected. + +When it is possible to approach the bridge without sinking up to the +knees in mud, it is better to avoid all risks by walking over and +waiting for the vehicle on the other side; and when this is impossible, +a preliminary survey is advisable. To your inquiries whether it is safe, +your yamstchik (post-boy) is sure to reply, "Nitchevo!"--a word which, +according to the dictionaries, means "nothing" but which has, in the +mouths of the peasantry, a great variety of meanings, as I may explain +at some future time. In the present case it may be roughly translated. +"There is no danger." "Nitchevo, Barin, proyedem" ("There is no danger, +sir; we shall get over"), he repeats. You may refer to the generally +rotten appearance of the structure, and point in particular to the great +holes sufficient to engulf half a post-horse. "Ne bos', Bog pomozhet" +("Do not fear. God will help"), replies coolly your phlegmatic Jehu. You +may have your doubts as to whether in this irreligious age Providence +will intervene specially for your benefit; but your yamstchik, who has +more faith or fatalism, leaves you little time to solve the problem. +Making hurriedly the sign of the cross, he gathers up his reins, waves +his little whip in the air, and, shouting lustily, urges on his team. +The operation is not wanting in excitement. First there is a short +descent; then the horses plunge wildly through a zone of deep mud; +next comes a fearful jolt, as the vehicle is jerked up on to the first +planks; then the transverse planks, which are but loosely held in their +places, rattle and rumble ominously, as the experienced, sagacious +animals pick their way cautiously and gingerly among the dangerous holes +and crevices; lastly, you plunge with a horrible jolt into a second +mud zone, and finally regain terra firma, conscious of that pleasant +sensation which a young officer may be supposed to feel after his first +cavalry charge in real warfare. + +Of course here, as elsewhere, familiarity breeds indifference. When you +have successfully crossed without serious accident a few hundred bridges +of this kind you learn to be as cool and fatalistic as your yamstchik. + +The reader who has heard of the gigantic reforms that have been +repeatedly imposed on Russia by a paternal Government may naturally +be astonished to learn that the roads are still in such a disgraceful +condition. But for this, as for everything else in the world, there is +a good and sufficient reason. The country is still, comparatively +speaking, thinly populated, and in many regions it is difficult, or +practically impossible, to procure in sufficient quantity stone of any +kind, and especially hard stone fit for road-making. Besides this, when +roads are made, the severity of the climate renders it difficult to keep +them in good repair. + +When a long journey has to be undertaken through a region in which there +are no railways, there are several ways in which it may be effected. +In former days, when time was of still less value than at present, many +landed proprietors travelled with their own horses, and carried with +them, in one or more capacious, lumbering vehicles, all that was +required for the degree of civilisation which they had attained; and +their requirements were often considerable. The grand seigneur, for +instance, who spent the greater part of his life amidst the luxury of +the court society, naturally took with him all the portable elements of +civilisation. His baggage included, therefore, camp-beds, table-linen, +silver plate, a batterie de cuisine, and a French cook. The pioneers +and part of the commissariat force were sent on in advance, so that +his Excellency found at each halting-place everything prepared for his +arrival. The poor owner of a few dozen serfs dispensed, of course, with +the elaborate commissariat department, and contented himself with such +modest fare as could be packed in the holes and corners of a single +tarantass. + +It will be well to explain here, parenthetically, what a tarantass +is, for I shall often have occasion to use the word. It may be briefly +defined as a phaeton without springs. The function of springs +is imperfectly fulfilled by two parallel wooden bars, placed +longitudinally, on which is fixed the body of the vehicle. It is +commonly drawn by three horses--a strong, fast trotter in the shafts, +flanked on each side by a light, loosely-attached horse that goes along +at a gallop. The points of the shafts are connected by the duga, which +looks like a gigantic, badly formed horseshoe rising high above +the collar of the trotter. To the top of the duga is attached the +bearing-rein, and underneath the highest part of it is fastened a big +bell--in the southern provinces I found two, and sometimes even three +bells--which, when the country is open and the atmosphere still, may be +heard a mile off. The use of the bell is variously explained. Some say +it is in order to frighten the wolves, and others that it is to avoid +collisions on the narrow forest-paths. But neither of these explanations +is entirely satisfactory. It is used chiefly in summer, when there is no +danger of an attack from wolves; and the number of bells is greater in +the south, where there are no forests. Perhaps the original intention +was--I throw out the hint for the benefit of a certain school of +archaeologists--to frighten away evil spirits; and the practice has been +retained partly from unreasoning conservatism, and partly with a view to +lessen the chances of collisions. As the roads are noiselessly soft, +and the drivers not always vigilant, the dangers of collision are +considerably diminished by the ceaseless peal. + +Altogether, the tarantass is well adapted to the conditions in which it +is used. By the curious way in which the horses are harnessed it recalls +the war-chariot of ancient times. The horse in the shafts is compelled +by the bearing-rein to keep his head high and straight before +him--though the movement of his ears shows plainly that he would very +much like to put it somewhere farther away from the tongue of the +bell--but the side horses gallop freely, turning their heads outwards in +classical fashion. I believe that this position is assumed not from any +sympathy on the part of these animals for the remains of classical art, +but rather from the natural desire to keep a sharp eye on the driver. +Every movement of his right hand they watch with close attention, and as +soon as they discover any symptoms indicating an intention of using the +whip they immediately show a desire to quicken the pace. + +Now that the reader has gained some idea of what a tarantass is, we may +return to the modes of travelling through the regions which are not yet +supplied with railways. + +However enduring and long-winded horses may be, they must be allowed +sometimes, during a long journey, to rest and feed. Travelling long +distances with one's own horses is therefore necessarily a slow +operation, and is now quite antiquated. People who value their time +prefer to make use of the Imperial Post organisation. On all the +principal lines of communication there are regular post-stations, at +from ten to twenty miles apart, where a certain number of horses and +vehicles are kept for the convenience of travellers. To enjoy +the privilege of this arrangement, one has to apply to the proper +authorities for a podorozhnaya--a large sheet of paper stamped with the +Imperial Eagle, and bearing the name of the recipient, the destination, +and the number of horses to be supplied. In return, a small sum is paid +for imaginary road-repairs; the rest of the sum is paid by instalments +at the respective stations. + +Armed with this document you go to the post-station and demand the +requisite number of horses. Three is the number generally used, but if +you travel lightly and are indifferent to appearances, you may content +yourself with a pair. The vehicle is a kind of tarantass, but not such +as I have just described. The essentials in both are the same, but those +which the Imperial Government provides resemble an enormous cradle on +wheels rather than a phaeton. An armful of hay spread over the bottom of +the wooden box is supposed to play the part of seats and cushions. You +are expected to sit under the arched covering, and extend your legs so +that the feet lie beneath the driver's seat; but it is advisable, unless +the rain happens to be coming down in torrents, to get this covering +unshipped, and travel without it. When used, it painfully curtails the +little freedom of movement that you enjoy, and when you are shot upwards +by some obstruction on the road it is apt to arrest your ascent by +giving you a violent blow on the top of the head. + +It is to be hoped that you are in no hurry to start, otherwise your +patience may be sorely tried. The horses, when at last produced, may +seem to you the most miserable screws that it was ever your misfortune +to behold; but you had better refrain from expressing your feelings, for +if you use violent, uncomplimentary language, it may turn out that you +have been guilty of gross calumny. I have seen many a team composed of +animals which a third-class London costermonger would have spurned, and +in which it was barely possible to recognise the equine form, do their +duty in highly creditable style, and go along at the rate of ten or +twelve miles an hour, under no stronger incentive then the voice of the +yamstchik. Indeed, the capabilities of these lean, slouching, ungainly +quadrupeds are often astounding when they are under the guidance of a +man who knows how to drive them. Though such a man commonly carries a +little harmless whip, he rarely uses it except by waving it horizontally +in the air. His incitements are all oral. He talks to his cattle as he +would to animals of his own species--now encouraging them by tender, +caressing epithets, and now launching at them expressions of indignant +scorn. At one moment they are his "little doves," and at the next they +have been transformed into "cursed hounds." How far they understand and +appreciate this curious mixture of endearing cajolery and contemptuous +abuse it is difficult to say, but there is no doubt that it somehow has +upon them a strange and powerful influence. + +Any one who undertakes a journey of this kind should possess a +well-knit, muscular frame and good tough sinews, capable of supporting +an unlimited amount of jolting and shaking; at the same time he should +be well inured to all the hardships and discomforts incidental to +what is vaguely termed "roughing it." When he wishes to sleep in a +post-station, he will find nothing softer than a wooden bench, unless he +can induce the keeper to put for him on the floor a bundle of hay, which +is perhaps softer, but on the whole more disagreeable than the deal +board. Sometimes he will not get even the wooden bench, for in ordinary +post-stations there is but one room for travellers, and the two +benches--there are rarely more--may be already occupied. When he +does obtain a bench, and succeeds in falling asleep, he must not be +astonished if he is disturbed once or twice during the night by people +who use the apartment as a waiting-room whilst the post-horses are being +changed. These passers-by may even order a samovar, and drink tea, +chat, laugh, smoke, and make themselves otherwise disagreeable, utterly +regardless of the sleepers. Then there are the other intruders, smaller +in size but equally objectionable, of which I have already spoken when +describing the steamers on the Don. Regarding them I desire to give +merely one word of advice: As you will have abundant occupation in the +work of self-defence, learn to distinguish between belligerents and +neutrals, and follow the simple principle of international law, that +neutrals should not be molested. They may be very ugly, but ugliness +does not justify assassination. If, for instance, you should happen +in awaking to notice a few black or brown beetles running about your +pillow, restrain your murderous hand! If you kill them you commit an act +of unnecessary bloodshed; for though they may playfully scamper around +you, they will do you no bodily harm. + +Another requisite for a journey in unfrequented districts is a knowledge +of the language. It is popularly supposed that if you are familiar with +French and German you may travel anywhere in Russia. So far as the great +cities and chief lines of communication are concerned, this may be true, +but beyond that it is a delusion. The Russian has not, any more than +the West-European, received from Nature the gift of tongues. Educated +Russians often speak one or two foreign languages fluently, but the +peasants know no language but their own, and it is with the peasantry +that one comes in contact. And to converse freely with the peasant +requires a considerable familiarity with the language--far more than is +required for simply reading a book. Though there are few provincialisms, +and all classes of the people use the same words--except the words of +foreign origin, which are used only by the upper classes--the peasant +always speaks in a more laconic and more idiomatic way than the educated +man. + +In the winter months travelling is in some respects pleasanter than in +summer, for snow and frost are great macadamisers. If the snow falls +evenly, there is for some time the most delightful road that can be +imagined. No jolts, no shaking, but a smooth, gliding motion, like +that of a boat in calm water, and the horses gallop along as if totally +unconscious of the sledge behind them. Unfortunately, this happy state +of things does not last all through the winter. The road soon gets cut +up, and deep transverse furrows (ukhaby) are formed. How these furrows +come into existence I have never been able clearly to comprehend, though +I have often heard the phenomenon explained by men who imagined they +understood it. Whatever the cause and mode of formation may be, certain +it is that little hills and valleys do get formed, and the sledge, as it +crosses over them, bobs up and down like a boat in a chopping sea, with +this important difference, that the boat falls into a yielding liquid, +whereas the sledge falls upon a solid substance, unyielding and +unelastic. The shaking and jolting which result may readily be imagined. + +There are other discomforts, too, in winter travelling. So long as +the air is perfectly still, the cold may be very intense without being +disagreeable; but if a strong head wind is blowing, and the thermometer +ever so many degrees below zero, driving in an open sledge is a very +disagreeable operation, and noses may get frostbitten without their +owners perceiving the fact in time to take preventive measures. Then why +not take covered sledges on such occasions? For the simple reason that +they are not to be had; and if they could be procured, it would be well +to avoid using them, for they are apt to produce something very like +seasickness. Besides this, when the sledge gets overturned, it is +pleasanter to be shot out on to the clean, refreshing snow than to be +buried ignominiously under a pile of miscellaneous baggage. + +The chief requisite for winter travelling in these icy regions is a +plentiful supply of warm furs. An Englishman is very apt to be imprudent +in this respect, and to trust too much to his natural power of resisting +cold. To a certain extent this confidence is justifiable, for an +Englishman often feels quite comfortable in an ordinary great coat when +his Russian friends consider it necessary to envelop themselves in furs +of the warmest kind; but it may be carried too far, in which case severe +punishment is sure to follow, as I once learned by experience. I may +relate the incident as a warning to others: + +One day in mid-winter I started from Novgorod, with the intention of +visiting some friends at a cavalry barracks situated about ten miles +from the town. As the sun was shining brightly, and the distance to +be traversed was short, I considered that a light fur and a bashlyk--a +cloth hood which protects the ears--would be quite sufficient to keep +out the cold, and foolishly disregarded the warnings of a Russian friend +who happened to call as I was about to start. Our route lay along the +river due northward, right in the teeth of a strong north wind. A wintry +north wind is always and everywhere a disagreeable enemy to face; let +the reader try to imagine what it is when the Fahrenheit thermometer +is at 30 degrees below zero--or rather let him refrain from such an +attempt, for the sensation produced cannot be imagined by those who have +not experienced it. Of course I ought to have turned back--at least, +as soon as a sensation of faintness warned me that the circulation was +being seriously impeded--but I did not wish to confess my imprudence to +the friend who accompanied me. When we had driven about three-fourths of +the way we met a peasant-woman, who gesticulated violently, and shouted +something to us as we passed. I did not hear what she said, but my +friend turned to me and said in an alarming tone--we had been +speaking German--"Mein Gott! Ihre Nase ist abgefroren!" Now the word +"abgefroren," as the reader will understand, seemed to indicate that +my nose was frozen off, so I put up my hand in some alarm to discover +whether I had inadvertently lost the whole or part of the member +referred to. It was still in situ and entire, but as hard and insensible +as a bit of wood. + +"You may still save it," said my companion, "if you get out at once and +rub it vigorously with snow." + +I got out as directed, but was too faint to do anything vigorously. My +fur cloak flew open, the cold seemed to grasp me in the region of the +heart, and I fell insensible. + +How long I remained unconscious I know not. When I awoke I found myself +in a strange room, surrounded by dragoon officers in uniform, and the +first words I heard were, "He is out of danger now, but he will have a +fever." + +These words were spoken, as I afterwards discovered, by a very competent +surgeon; but the prophecy was not fulfilled. The promised fever never +came. The only bad consequences were that for some days my right hand +remained stiff, and for a week or two I had to conceal my nose from +public view. + +If this little incident justifies me in drawing a general conclusion, I +should say that exposure to extreme cold is an almost painless form +of death; but that the process of being resuscitated is very painful +indeed--so painful, that the patient may be excused for momentarily +regretting that officious people prevented the temporary insensibility +from becoming "the sleep that knows no waking." + +Between the alternate reigns of winter and summer there is always a +short interregnum, during which travelling in Russia by road is +almost impossible. Woe to the ill-fated mortal who has to make a long +road-journey immediately after the winter snow has melted; or, worse +still, at the beginning of winter, when the autumn mud has been +petrified by the frost, and not yet levelled by the snow! + +At all seasons the monotony of a journey is pretty sure to be broken by +little unforeseen episodes of a more or less disagreeable kind. An axle +breaks, or a wheel comes off, or there is a difficulty in procuring +horses. As an illustration of the graver episodes which may occur, I +shall make here a quotation from my note-book: + +Early in the morning we arrived at Maikop, a small town commanding the +entrance to one of the valleys which run up towards the main range +of the Caucasus. On alighting at the post-station, we at once ordered +horses for the next stage, and received the laconic reply, "There are no +horses." + +"And when will there be some?" + +"To-morrow!" + +This last reply we took for a piece of playful exaggeration, and +demanded the book in which, according to law, the departure of horses +is duly inscribed, and from which it is easy to calculate when the first +team should be ready to start. A short calculation proved that we +ought to get horses by four o'clock in the afternoon, so we showed the +station-keeper various documents signed by the Minister of the +Interior and other influential personages, and advised him to avoid all +contravention of the postal regulations. + +These documents, which proved that we enjoyed the special protection +of the authorities, had generally been of great service to us in our +dealings with rascally station-keepers; but this station-keeper was not +one of the ordinary type. He was a Cossack, of herculean proportions, +with a bullet-shaped head, short-cropped bristly hair, shaggy eyebrows, +an enormous pendent moustache, a defiant air, and a peculiar expression +of countenance which plainly indicated "an ugly customer." Though it was +still early in the day, he had evidently already imbibed a considerable +quantity of alcohol, and his whole demeanour showed clearly enough that +he was not of those who are "pleasant in their liquor." After glancing +superciliously at the documents, as if to intimate he could read them +were he so disposed, he threw them down on the table, and, thrusting his +gigantic paws into his capacious trouser-pockets, remarked slowly and +decisively, in something deeper than a double-bass voice, "You'll have +horses to-morrow morning." + +Wishing to avoid a quarrel we tried to hire horses in the village, and +when our efforts in that direction proved fruitless, we applied to the +head of the rural police. He came and used all his influence with the +refractory station-keeper, but in vain. Hercules was not in a mood to +listen to officials any more than to ordinary mortals. At last, after +considerable trouble to himself, our friend of the police contrived to +find horses for us, and we contented ourselves with entering an account +of the circumstances in the Complaint Book, but our difficulties were by +no means at an end. As soon as Hercules perceived that we had obtained +horses without his assistance, and that he had thereby lost his +opportunity of blackmailing us, he offered us one of his own teams, and +insisted on detaining us until we should cancel the complaint against +him. This we refused to do, and our relations with him became what is +called in diplomatic language "extremement tendues." Again we had to +apply to the police. + +My friend mounted guard over the baggage whilst I went to the police +office. I was not long absent, but I found, on my return, that important +events had taken place in the interval. A crowd had collected round +the post-station, and on the steps stood the keeper and his post-boys, +declaring that the traveller inside had attempted to shoot them! I +rushed in and soon perceived, by the smell of gunpowder, that firearms +had been used, but found no trace of casualties. My friend was tramping +up and down the little room, and evidently for the moment there was an +armistice. + +In a very short time the local authorities had assembled, a candle had +been lit, two armed Cossacks stood as sentries at the door, and the +preliminary investigation had begun. The Chief of Police sat at the +table and wrote rapidly on a sheet of foolscap. The investigation showed +that two shots had been fired from a revolver, and two bullets were +found imbedded in the wall. All those who had been present, and some who +knew nothing of the incident except by hearsay, were duly examined. Our +opponents always assumed that my friend had been the assailant, in +spite of his protestations to the contrary, and more than once the +words pokyshenie na ubiistvo (attempt to murder) were pronounced. Things +looked very black indeed. We had the prospect of being detained for days +and weeks in the miserable place, till the insatiable demon of official +formality had been propitiated. And then? + +When things were thus at their blackest they suddenly took an unexpected +turn, and the deus ex machinâ appeared precisely at the right moment, +just as if we had all been puppets in a sensation novel. There was +the usual momentary silence, and then, mixed with the sound of an +approaching tarantass, a confused murmur: "There he is! He is coming!" +The "he" thus vaguely and mysteriously indicated turned out to be an +official of the judicial administration, who had reason to visit the +village for an entirely different affair. As soon as he had been told +briefly what had happened he took the matter in hand and showed himself +equal to the occasion. Unlike the majority of Russian officials he +disliked lengthy procedure, and succeeded in making the case quite clear +in a very short time. There had been, he perceived, no attempt to murder +or anything of the kind. The station-keeper and his two post-boys, who +had no right to be in the traveller's room, had entered with threatening +mien, and when they refused to retire peaceably, my friend had fired +two shots in order to frighten them and bring assistance. The falsity of +their statement that he had fired at them as they entered the room was +proved by the fact that the bullets were lodged near the ceiling in the +wall farthest away from the door. + +I must confess that I was agreeably surprised by this unexpected turn +of affairs. The conclusions arrived at were nothing more than a simple +statement of what had taken place; but I was surprised at the fact that +a man who was at once a lawyer and a Russian official should have been +able to take such a plain, commonsense view of the case. + +Before midnight we were once more free men, driving rapidly in the +clear moonlight to the next station, under the escort of a fully-armed +Circassian Cossack; but the idea that we might have been detained for +weeks in that miserable place haunted us like a nightmare. + + + +CHAPTER II + +IN THE NORTHERN FORESTS + + +Bird's-eye View of Russia--The Northern Forests--Purpose of +my Journey--Negotiations--The Road--A Village--A Peasant's +House--Vapour-Baths--Curious Custom--Arrival. + + +There are many ways of describing a country that one has visited. The +simplest and most common method is to give a chronological account of +the journey; and this is perhaps the best way when the journey does +not extend over more than a few weeks. But it cannot be conveniently +employed in the case of a residence of many years. Did I adopt it, I +should very soon exhaust the reader's patience. I should have to take +him with me to a secluded village, and make him wait for me till I had +learned to speak the language. Thence he would have to accompany me to +a provincial town, and spend months in a public office, whilst I +endeavoured to master the mysteries of local self-government. After +this he would have to spend two years with me in a big library, where I +studied the history and literature of the country. And so on, and so +on. Even my journeys would prove tedious to him, as they often were to +myself, for he would have to drive with me many a score of weary miles, +where even the most zealous diary-writer would find nothing to record +beyond the names of the post-stations. + +It will be well for me, then, to avoid the strictly chronological +method, and confine myself to a description of the more striking objects +and incidents that came under my notice. The knowledge which I derived +from books will help me to supply a running commentary on what I +happened to see and hear. + +Instead of beginning in the usual way with St. Petersburg, I prefer for +many reasons to leave the description of the capital till some future +time, and plunge at once into the great northern forest region. + +If it were possible to get a bird's-eye view of European Russia, the +spectator would perceive that the country is composed of two halves +widely differing from each other in character. The northern half is a +land of forest and morass, plentifully supplied with water in the form +of rivers, lakes, and marshes, and broken up by numerous patches of +cultivation. The southern half is, as it were, the other side of +the pattern--an immense expanse of rich, arable land, broken up by +occasional patches of sand or forest. The imaginary undulating line +separating those two regions starts from the western frontier about the +50th parallel of latitude, and runs in a northeasterly direction till it +enters the Ural range at about 56 degrees N.L. + +Well do I remember my first experience of travel in the northern region, +and the weeks of voluntary exile which formed the goal of the journey. +It was in the summer of 1870. My reason for undertaking the journey was +this: a few months of life in St. Petersburg had fully convinced me that +the Russian language is one of those things which can only be acquired +by practice, and that even a person of antediluvian longevity might +spend all his life in that city without learning to express himself +fluently in the vernacular--especially if he has the misfortune of +being able to speak English, French, and German. With his friends and +associates he speaks French or English. German serves as a medium of +communication with waiters, shop keepers, and other people of that +class. It is only with isvoshtchiki--the drivers of the little open +droshkis which fulfil the function of cabs--that he is obliged to use +the native tongue, and with them a very limited vocabulary suffices. The +ordinal numerals and four short, easily-acquired expressions--poshól +(go on), na právo (to the right), na lyévo (to the left), and stoi +(stop)--are all that is required. + +Whilst I was considering how I could get beyond the sphere of +West-European languages, a friend came to my assistance, and suggested +that I should go to his estate in the province of Novgorod, where I +should find an intelligent, amiable parish priest, quite innocent of +any linguistic acquirements. This proposal I at once adopted, and +accordingly found myself one morning at a small station of the Moscow +Railway, endeavouring to explain to a peasant in sheep's clothing that +I wished to be conveyed to Ivanofka, the village where my future teacher +lived. At that time I still spoke Russian in a very fragmentary and +confused way--pretty much as Spanish cows are popularly supposed to +speak French. My first remark therefore being literally interpreted, +was--"Ivanofka. Horses. You can?" The point of interrogation was +expressed by a simultaneous raising of the voice and the eyebrows. + +"Ivanofka?" cried the peasant, in an interrogatory tone of voice. +In Russia, as in other countries, the peasantry when speaking with +strangers like to repeat questions, apparently for the purpose of +gaining time. + +"Ivanofka," I replied. + +"Now?" + +"Now!" + +After some reflection the peasant nodded and said something which I did +not understand, but which I assumed to mean that he was open to consider +proposals for transporting me to my destination. + +"Roubles. How many?" + +To judge by the knitting of the brows and the scratching of the head, +I should say that that question gave occasion to a very abstruse +mathematical calculation. Gradually the look of concentrated attention +gave place to an expression such as children assume when they endeavour +to get a parental decision reversed by means of coaxing. Then came a +stream of soft words which were to me utterly unintelligible. + +I must not weary the reader with a detailed account of the succeeding +negotiations, which were conducted with extreme diplomatic caution +on both sides, as if a cession of territory or the payment of a war +indemnity had been the subject of discussion. Three times he drove away +and three times returned. Each time he abated his pretensions, and each +time I slightly increased my offer. At last, when I began to fear that +he had finally taken his departure and had left me to my own devices, he +re-entered the room and took up my baggage, indicating thereby that he +agreed to my last offer. + +The sum agreed upon would have been, under ordinary circumstances, +more than sufficient, but before proceeding far I discovered that the +circumstances were by no means ordinary, and I began to understand the +pantomimic gesticulation which had puzzled me during the negotiations. +Heavy rain had fallen without interruption for several days, and now the +track on which we were travelling could not, without poetical license, +be described as a road. In some parts it resembled a water-course, in +others a quagmire, and at least during the first half of the journey I +was constantly reminded of that stage in the work of creation when the +water was not yet separated from the dry land. During the few moments +when the work of keeping my balance and preventing my baggage from being +lost did not engross all my attention, I speculated on the possibility +of inventing a boat-carriage, to be drawn by some amphibious quadruped. +Fortunately our two lean, wiry little horses did not object to being +used as aquatic animals. They took the water bravely, and plunged +through the mud in gallant style. The telega in which we were seated--a +four-wheeled skeleton cart--did not submit to the ill-treatment so +silently. It creaked out its remonstrances and entreaties, and at +the more difficult spots threatened to go to pieces; but its owner +understood its character and capabilities, and paid no attention to its +ominous threats. Once, indeed, a wheel came off, but it was soon fished +out of the mud and replaced, and no further casualty occurred. + +The horses did their work so well that when about midday we arrived at +a village, I could not refuse to let them have some rest and +refreshment--all the more as my own thoughts had begun to turn in that +direction. + +The village, like villages in that part of the country generally, +consisted of two long parallel rows of wooden houses. The road--if a +stratum of deep mud can be called by that name--formed the intervening +space. All the houses turned their gables to the passerby, and some of +them had pretensions to architectural decoration in the form of rude +perforated woodwork. Between the houses, and in a line with them, were +great wooden gates and high wooden fences, separating the courtyards +from the road. Into one of these yards, near the farther end of the +village, our horses turned of their own accord. + +"An inn?" I said, in an interrogative tone. + +The driver shook his head and said something, in which I detected the +word "friend." Evidently there was no hostelry for man and beast in the +village, and the driver was using a friend's house for the purpose. + +The yard was flanked on the one side by an open shed, containing rude +agricultural implements which might throw some light on the agriculture +of the primitive Aryans, and on the other side by the dwelling-house and +stable. Both the house and stable were built of logs, nearly cylindrical +in form, and placed in horizontal tiers. + +Two of the strongest of human motives, hunger and curiosity, impelled me +to enter the house at once. Without waiting for an invitation, I went +up to the door--half protected against the winter snows by a small open +portico--and unceremoniously walked in. The first apartment was empty, +but I noticed a low door in the wall to the left, and passing through +this, entered the principal room. As the scene was new to me, I noted +the principal objects. In the wall before me were two small square +windows looking out upon the road, and in the corner to the right, +nearer to the ceiling than to the floor, was a little triangular shelf, +on which stood a religious picture. Before the picture hung a curious +oil lamp. In the corner to the left of the door was a gigantic stove, +built of brick, and whitewashed. From the top of the stove to the wall +on the right stretched what might be called an enormous shelf, six or +eight feet in breadth. This is the so-called palati, as I afterwards +discovered, and serves as a bed for part of the family. The furniture +consisted of a long wooden bench attached to the wall on the right, a +big, heavy, deal table, and a few wooden stools. + +Whilst I was leisurely surveying these objects, I heard a noise on the +top of the stove, and, looking up, perceived a human face, with long +hair parted in the middle, and a full yellow beard. I was considerably +astonished by this apparition, for the air in the room was stifling, +and I had some difficulty in believing that any created being--except +perhaps a salamander or a negro--could exist in such a position. I +looked hard to convince myself that I was not the victim of a delusion. +As I stared, the head nodded slowly and pronounced the customary form of +greeting. + +I returned the greeting slowly, wondering what was to come next. + +"Ill, very ill!" sighed the head. + +"I'm not astonished at that," I remarked, in an "aside." "If I were +lying on the stove as you are I should be very ill too." + +"Hot, very hot?" I remarked, interrogatively. + +"Nitchevo"--that is to say, "not particularly." This remark astonished +me all the more as I noticed that the body to which the head belonged +was enveloped in a sheep-skin! + +After living some time in Russia I was no longer surprised by such +incidents, for I soon discovered that the Russian peasant has a +marvellous power of bearing extreme heat as well as extreme cold. When +a coachman takes his master or mistress to the theatre or to a party, +he never thinks of going home and returning at an appointed time. Hour +after hour he sits placidly on the box, and though the cold be of an +intensity such as is never experienced in our temperate climate, he +can sleep as tranquilly as the lazzaroni at midday in Naples. In that +respect the Russian peasant seems to be first-cousin to the polar +bear, but, unlike the animals of the Arctic regions, he is not at all +incommoded by excessive heat. On the contrary, he likes it when he can +get it, and never omits an opportunity of laying in a reserve supply of +caloric. He even delights in rapid transitions from one extreme to +the other, as is amply proved by a curious custom which deserves to be +recorded. + +The reader must know that in the life of the Russian peasantry the +weekly vapour-bath plays a most important part. It has even a certain +religious signification, for no good orthodox peasant would dare to +enter a church after being soiled by certain kinds of pollution without +cleansing himself physically and morally by means of the bath. In the +weekly arrangements it forms the occupation for Saturday afternoon, and +care is taken to avoid thereafter all pollution until after the morning +service on Sunday. Many villages possess a public or communal bath of +the most primitive construction, but in some parts of the country--I +am not sure how far the practice extends--the peasants take their +vapour-bath in the household oven in which the bread is baked! In +all cases the operation is pushed to the extreme limit of human +endurance--far beyond the utmost limit that can be endured by those who +have not been accustomed to it from childhood. For my own part, I only +made the experiment once; and when I informed my attendant that my life +was in danger from congestion of the brain, he laughed outright, and +told me that the operation had only begun. Most astounding of all--and +this brings me to the fact which led me into this digression--the +peasants in winter often rush out of the bath and roll themselves in the +snow! This aptly illustrates a common Russian proverb, which says that +what is health to the Russian is death to the German. + +Cold water, as well as hot vapour, is sometimes used as a means of +purification. In the villages the old pagan habit of masquerading in +absurd costumes at certain seasons--as is done during the carnival in +Roman Catholic countries with the approval, or at least connivance, +of the Church--still survives; but it is regarded as not altogether +sinless. He who uses such disguises places himself to a certain extent +under the influence of the Evil One, thereby putting his soul in +jeopardy; and to free himself from this danger he has to purify himself +in the following way: When the annual mid-winter ceremony of blessing +the waters is performed, by breaking a hole in the ice and immersing a +cross with certain religious rites, he should plunge into the hole as +soon as possible after the ceremony. I remember once at Yaroslavl, +on the Volga, two young peasants successfully accomplished this +feat--though the police have orders to prevent it--and escaped, +apparently without evil consequences, though the Fahrenheit thermometer +was below zero. How far the custom has really a purifying influence, +is a question which must be left to theologians; but even an ordinary +mortal can understand that, if it be regarded as a penance, it must +have a certain deterrent effect. The man who foresees the necessity +of undergoing this severe penance will think twice before putting on a +disguise. So at least it must have been in the good old times; but in +these degenerate days--among the Russian peasantry as elsewhere--the +fear of the Devil, which was formerly, if not the beginning, at least +one of the essential elements, of wisdom, has greatly decreased. Many +a young peasant will now thoughtlessly disguise himself, and when the +consecration of the water is performed, will stand and look on passively +like an ordinary spectator! It would seem that the Devil, like his enemy +the Pope, is destined to lose gradually his temporal power. + +But all this time I am neglecting my new acquaintance on the top of the +stove. In reality I did not neglect him, but listened most attentively +to every word of the long tale that he recited. What it was all about +I could only vaguely guess, for I did not understand more than ten per +cent of the words used, but I assumed from the tone and gestures that he +was relating to me all the incidents and symptoms of his illness. And +a very severe illness it must have been, for it requires a very +considerable amount of physical suffering to make the patient Russian +peasant groan. Before he had finished his tale a woman entered, +apparently his wife. + +To her I explained that I had a strong desire to eat and drink, and that +I wished to know what she would give me. By a good deal of laborious +explanation I was made to understand that I could have eggs, black +bread, and milk, and we agreed that there should be a division of +labour: my hostess should prepare the samovar for boiling water, whilst +I should fry the eggs to my own satisfaction. + +In a few minutes the repast was ready, and, though not very delicate, +was highly acceptable. The tea and sugar I had of course brought with +me; the eggs were not very highly flavoured; and the black rye-bread, +strongly intermixed with sand, could be eaten by a peculiar and +easily-acquired method of mastication, in which the upper molars are +never allowed to touch those of the lower jaw. In this way the grating +of the sand between the teeth is avoided. + +Eggs, black bread, milk, and tea--these formed my ordinary articles of +food during all my wanderings in Northern Russia. Occasionally potatoes +could be got, and afforded the possibility of varying the bill of fare. +The favourite materials employed in the native cookery are sour cabbage, +cucumbers, and kvass--a kind of very small beer made from black bread. +None of these can be recommended to the traveller who is not already +accustomed to them. + +The remainder of the journey was accomplished at a rather more rapid +pace than the preceding part, for the road was decidedly better, though +it was traversed by numerous half-buried roots, which produced violent +jolts. From the conversation of the driver I gathered that wolves, +bears, and elks were found in the forest through which we were passing. + +The sun had long since set when we reached our destination, and I found +to my dismay that the priest's house was closed for the night. To rouse +the reverend personage from his slumbers, and endeavour to explain to +him with my limited vocabulary the object of my visit, was not to be +thought of. On the other hand, there was no inn of any kind in the +vicinity. When I consulted the driver as to what was to be done, he +meditated for a little, and then pointed to a large house at some +distance where there were still lights. It turned out to be the +country-house of the gentleman who had advised me to undertake the +journey, and here, after a short explanation, though the owner was not +at home, I was hospitably received. + +It had been my intention to live in the priest's house, but a short +interview with him on the following day convinced me that that part +of my plan could not be carried out. The preliminary objections that I +should find but poor fare in his humble household, and much more of +the same kind, were at once put aside by my assurance, made partly by +pantomime, that, as an old traveller, I was well accustomed to simple +fare, and could always accommodate myself to the habits of people +among whom my lot happened to be cast. But there was a more serious +difficulty. The priest's family had, as is generally the case with +priests' families, been rapidly increasing during the last few years, +and his house had not been growing with equal rapidity. The natural +consequence of this was that he had not a room or a bed to spare. The +little room which he had formerly kept for occasional visitors was now +occupied by his eldest daughter, who had returned from a "school for +the daughters of the clergy," where she had been for the last two years. +Under these circumstances, I was constrained to accept the kind proposal +made to me by the representative of my absent friend, that I should +take up my quarters in one of the numerous unoccupied rooms in the +manor-house. This arrangement, I was reminded, would not at all +interfere with my proposed studies, for the priest lived close at hand, +and I might spend with him as much time as I liked. + +And now let me introduce the reader to my reverend teacher and one +or two other personages whose acquaintance I made during my voluntary +exile. + + + +CHAPTER III + +VOLUNTARY EXILE + + +Ivanofka--History of the Place--The Steward of the Estate--Slav and +Teutonic Natures--A German's View of the Emancipation--Justices of the +Peace--New School of Morals--The Russian Language--Linguistic Talent of +the Russians--My Teacher--A Big Dose of Current History. + + +This village, Ivanofka by name, in which I proposed to spend some +months, was rather more picturesque than villages in these northern +forests commonly are. The peasants' huts, built on both sides of a +straight road, were colourless enough, and the big church, with its five +pear-shaped cupolas rising out of the bright green roof and its ugly +belfry in the Renaissance style, was not by any means beautiful in +itself; but when seen from a little distance, especially in the soft +evening twilight, the whole might have been made the subject of a +very pleasing picture. From the point that a landscape-painter would +naturally have chosen, the foreground was formed by a meadow, through +which flowed sluggishly a meandering stream. On a bit of rising ground +to the right, and half concealed by an intervening cluster of old +rich-coloured pines, stood the manor-house--a big, box-shaped, +whitewashed building, with a verandah in front, overlooking a small plot +that might some day become a flower-garden. To the left of this stood +the village, the houses grouping prettily with the big church, and a +little farther in this direction was an avenue of graceful birches. On +the extreme left were fields, bounded by a dark border of fir-trees. +Could the spectator have raised himself a few hundred feet from the +ground, he would have seen that there were fields beyond the village, +and that the whole of this agricultural oasis was imbedded in a forest +stretching in all directions as far as the eye could reach. + +The history of the place may be told in a few words. In former times the +estate, including the village and all its inhabitants, had belonged to +a monastery, but when, in 1764, the Church lands were secularised by +Catherine, it became the property of the State. Some years afterwards +the Empress granted it, with the serfs and everything else which it +contained, to an old general who had distinguished himself in the +Turkish wars. From that time it had remained in the K---- family. +Some time between the years 1820 and 1840 the big church and the +mansion-house had been built by the actual possessor's father, who loved +country life, and devoted a large part of his time and energies to +the management of his estate. His son, on the contrary, preferred St. +Petersburg to the country, served in one of the public offices, loved +passionately French plays and other products of urban civilisation, +and left the entire management of the property to a German steward, +popularly known as Karl Karl'itch, whom I shall introduce to the reader +presently. + +The village annals contained no important events, except bad harvests, +cattle-plagues, and destructive fires, with which the inhabitants seem +to have been periodically visited from time immemorial. If good +harvests were ever experienced, they must have faded from the popular +recollection. Then there were certain ancient traditions which might +have been lessened in bulk and improved in quality by being subjected to +searching historical criticism. More than once, for instance, a leshie, +or wood-sprite, had been seen in the neighbourhood; and in several +households the domovoi, or brownie, had been known to play strange +pranks until he was properly propitiated. And as a set-off against these +manifestations of evil powers, there were well-authenticated stories +about a miracle-working image that had mysteriously appeared on the +branch of a tree, and about numerous miraculous cures that had been +effected by means of pilgrimages to holy shrines. + +But it is time to introduce the principal personages of this little +community. Of these, by far the most important was Karl Karl'itch, the +steward. + +First of all I ought, perhaps, to explain how Karl Schmidt, the son of +a well-to-do Bauer in the Prussian village of Schonhausen, became Karl +Karl'itch, the principal personage in the Russian village of Ivanofka. + +About the time of the Crimean War many of the Russian landed proprietors +had become alive to the necessity of improving the primitive, +traditional methods of agriculture, and sought for this purpose German +stewards for their estates. Among these proprietors was the owner of +Ivanofka. Through the medium of a friend in Berlin he succeeded in +engaging for a moderate salary a young man who had just finished his +studies in one of the German schools of agriculture--the institution at +Hohenheim, if my memory does not deceive me. This young man had arrived +in Russia as plain Karl Schmidt, but his name was soon transformed into +Karl Karl'itch, not from any desire of his own, but in accordance with +a curious Russian custom. In Russia one usually calls a man not by his +family name, but by his Christian name and patronymic--the latter being +formed from the name of his father. Thus, if a man's name is Nicholas, +and his father's Christian name is--or was--Ivan, you address him as +Nikolai Ivanovitch (pronounced Ivan'itch); and if this man should happen +to have a sister called Mary, you will address her--even though she +should be married--as Marya Ivanovna (pronounced Ivanna). + +Immediately on his arrival young Schmidt had set himself vigorously +to reorganise the estate and improve the method of agriculture. Some +ploughs, harrows, and other implements which had been imported at a +former period were dragged out of the obscurity in which they had +lain for several years, and an attempt was made to farm on scientific +principles. The attempt was far from being completely successful, for +the serfs--this was before the Emancipation--could not be made to work +like regularly trained German labourers. In spite of all admonitions, +threats, and punishments, they persisted in working slowly, listlessly, +inaccurately, and occasionally they broke the new instruments from +carelessness or some more culpable motive. Karl Karl'itch was not +naturally a hard-hearted man, but he was very rigid in his notions of +duty, and could be cruelly severe when his orders were not executed with +an accuracy and punctuality that seemed to the Russian rustic mind mere +useless pedantry. The serfs did not offer him any open opposition, and +were always obsequiously respectful in their demeanour towards him, but +they invariably frustrated his plans by their carelessness and stolid, +passive resistance. + +Thus arose that silent conflict and that smouldering mutual enmity which +almost always result from the contact of the Teuton with the Slav. The +serfs instinctively regretted the good old times, when they lived under +the rough-and-ready patriarchal rule of their masters, assisted by +a native "burmister," or overseer, who was one of themselves. The +burmister had not always been honest in his dealings with them, and +the master had often, when in anger, ordered severe punishments to be +inflicted; but the burmister had not attempted to make them change their +old habits, and had shut his eyes to many little sins of omission +and commission, whilst the master was always ready to assist them in +difficulties, and commonly treated them in a kindly, familiar way. As +the old Russian proverb has it, "Where danger is, there too is kindly +forgiveness." Karl Karl'itch, on the contrary, was the personification +of uncompassionate, inflexible law. Blind rage and compassionate +kindliness were alike foreign to his system of government. If he had +any feeling towards the serfs, it was one of chronic contempt. The word +durak (blockhead) was constantly on his lips, and when any bit of work +was well done, he took it as a matter of course, and never thought of +giving a word of approval or encouragement. + +When it became evident, in 1859, that the emancipation of the serfs was +at hand, Karl Karl'itch confidently predicted that the country would +inevitably go to ruin. He knew by experience that the peasants were lazy +and improvident, even when they lived under the tutelage of a master, +and with the fear of the rod before their eyes. What would they become +when this guidance and salutary restraint should be removed? The +prospect raised terrible forebodings in the mind of the worthy steward, +who had his employer's interests really at heart; and these forebodings +were considerably increased and intensified when he learned that +the peasants were to receive by law the land which they occupied on +sufferance, and which comprised about a half of the whole arable land +of the estate. This arrangement he declared to be a dangerous and +unjustifiable infraction of the sacred rights of property, which +savoured strongly of communism, and could have but one practical result: +the emancipated peasants would live by the cultivation of their own +land, and would not consent on any terms to work for their former +master. + +In the few months which immediately followed the publication of the +Emancipation Edict in 1861, Karl Karl'itch found much to confirm his +most gloomy apprehensions. The peasants showed themselves dissatisfied +with the privileges conferred upon them, and sought to evade the +corresponding duties imposed on them by the new law. In vain he +endeavoured, by exhortations, promises, and threats, to get the most +necessary part of the field-work done, and showed the peasants the +provision of the law enjoining them to obey and work as of old until +some new arrangement should be made. To all his appeals they replied +that, having been freed by the Tsar, they were no longer obliged to +work for their former master; and he was at last forced to appeal to +the authorities. This step had a certain effect, but the field-work was +executed that year even worse than usual, and the harvest suffered in +consequence. + +Since that time things had gradually improved. The peasants had +discovered that they could not support themselves and pay their taxes +from the land ceded to them, and had accordingly consented to till the +proprietor's fields for a moderate recompense. "These last two years," +said Karl Karl'itch to me, with an air of honest self-satisfaction, "I +have been able, after paying all expenses, to transmit little sums to +the young master in St. Petersburg. It was certainly not much, but it +shows that things are better than they were. Still, it is hard, uphill +work. The peasants have not been improved by liberty. They now work less +and drink more than they did in the times of serfage, and if you say a +word to them they'll go away, and not work for you at all." Here +Karl Karl'itch indemnified himself for his recent self-control in the +presence of his workers by using a series of the strongest epithets +which the combined languages of his native and of his adopted country +could supply. "But laziness and drunkenness are not their only faults. +They let their cattle wander into our fields, and never lose an +opportunity of stealing firewood from the forest." + +"But you have now for such matters the rural justices of the peace," I +ventured to suggest. + +"The justices of the peace!" . . . Here Karl Karl'itch used an inelegant +expression, which showed plainly that he was no unqualified admirer +of the new judicial institutions. "What is the use of applying to the +justices? The nearest one lives six miles off, and when I go to him he +evidently tries to make me lose as much time as possible. I am sure to +lose nearly a whole day, and at the end of it I may find that I have got +nothing for my pains. These justices always try to find some excuse for +the peasant, and when they do condemn, by way of exception, the +affair does not end there. There is pretty sure to be a pettifogging +practitioner prowling about--some rascally scribe who has been dismissed +from the public offices for pilfering and extorting too openly--and he +is always ready to whisper to the peasant that he should appeal. The +peasant knows that the decision is just, but he is easily persuaded +that by appealing to the Monthly Sessions he gets another chance in +the lottery, and may perhaps draw a prize. He lets the rascally scribe, +therefore, prepare an appeal for him, and I receive an invitation to +attend the Session of Justices in the district town on a certain day. + +"It is a good five-and-thirty miles to the district town, as you know, +but I get up early, and arrive at eleven o'clock, the hour stated in the +official notice. A crowd of peasants are hanging about the door of the +court, but the only official present is the porter. I enquire of him +when my case is likely to come on, and receive the laconic answer, 'How +should I know?' After half an hour the secretary arrives. I repeat my +question, and receive the same answer. Another half hour passes, and one +of the justices drives up in his tarantass. Perhaps he is a glib-tongued +gentleman, and assures me that the proceedings will commence at once: +'Sei tchas! sei tchas!' Don't believe what the priest or the dictionary +tells you about the meaning of that expression. The dictionary will tell +you that it means 'immediately,' but that's all nonsense. In the mouth +of a Russian it means 'in an hour,' 'next week,' 'in a year or two,' +'never'--most commonly 'never.' Like many other words in Russian, 'sei +tchas' can be understood only after long experience. A second justice +drives up, and then a third. No more are required by law, but these +gentlemen must first smoke several cigarettes and discuss all the local +news before they begin work. + +"At last they take their seats on the bench--a slightly elevated +platform at one end of the room, behind a table covered with green +baize--and the proceedings commence. My case is sure to be pretty far +down on the list--the secretary takes, I believe, a malicious pleasure +in watching my impatience--and before it is called the justices have to +retire at least once for refreshments and cigarettes. I have to amuse +myself by listening to the other cases, and some of them, I can assure +you, are amusing enough. The walls of that room must be by this time +pretty well saturated with perjury, and many of the witnesses catch at +once the infection. Perhaps I may tell you some other time a few of the +amusing incidents that I have seen there. At last my case is called. It +is as clear as daylight, but the rascally pettifogger is there with +a long-prepared speech, he holds in his hand a small volume of the +codified law, and quotes paragraphs which no amount of human ingenuity +can make to bear upon the subject. Perhaps the previous decision is +confirmed; perhaps it is reversed; in either case, I have lost a second +day and exhausted more patience than I can conveniently spare. And +something even worse may happen, as I know by experience. Once during +a case of mine there was some little informality--someone inadvertently +opened the door of the consulting-room when the decision was being +written, or some other little incident of the sort occurred, and the +rascally pettifogger complained to the Supreme Court of Revision, which +is a part of the Senate. The case was all about a few roubles, but it +was discussed in St. Petersburg, and afterwards tried over again by +another court of justices. Now I have paid my Lehrgeld, and go no more +to law." + +"Then you must expose yourself to all kinds of extortion?" + +"Not so much as you might imagine. I have my own way of dispensing +justice. When I catch a peasant's horse or cow in our fields, I lock it +up and make the owner pay a ransom." + +"Is it not rather dangerous," I inquired, "to take the law thus into +your own hands? I have heard that the Russian justices are extremely +severe against any one who has recourse to what our German jurists call +Selbsthulfe." + +"That they are! So long as you are in Russia, you had much better let +yourself be quietly robbed than use any violence against the robber. It +is less trouble, and it is cheaper in the long run. If you do not, you +may unexpectedly find yourself some fine morning in prison! You must +know that many of the young justices belong to the new school of +morals." + +"What is that? I have not heard of any new discoveries lately in the +sphere of speculative ethics." + +"Well, to tell you the truth, I am not one of the initiated, and I can +only tell you what I hear. So far as I have noticed, the representatives +of the new doctrine talk chiefly about Gumannost' and Tchelovetcheskoe +dostoinstvo. You know what these words mean?" + +"Humanity, or rather humanitarianism and human dignity," I replied, not +sorry to give a proof that I was advancing in my studies. + +"There, again, you allow your dictionary and your priest to mislead you. +These terms, when used by a Russian, cover much more than we understand +by them, and those who use them most frequently have generally a special +tenderness for all kinds of malefactors. In the old times, malefactors +were popularly believed to be bad, dangerous people; but it has been +lately discovered that this is a delusion. A young proprietor who lives +not far off assures me that they are the true Protestants, and the +most powerful social reformers! They protest practically against those +imperfections of social organisation of which they are the involuntary +victims. The feeble, characterless man quietly submits to his chains; +the bold, generous, strong man breaks his fetters, and helps others to +do the same. A very ingenious defence of all kinds of rascality, isn't +it?" + +"Well, it is a theory that might certainly be carried too far, and might +easily lead to very inconvenient conclusions; but I am not sure that, +theoretically speaking, it does not contain a certain element of truth. +It ought at least to foster that charity which we are enjoined to +practise towards all men. But perhaps 'all men' does not include +publicans and sinners?" + +On hearing these words Karl Karl'itch turned to me, and every feature of +his honest German face expressed the most undisguised astonishment. +"Are you, too, a Nihilist?" he inquired, as soon as he had partially +recovered his breath. + +"I really don't know what a Nihilist is, but I may assure you that I am +not an 'ist' of any kind. What is a Nihilist?" + +"If you live long in Russia you'll learn that without my telling you. +As I was saying, I am not at all afraid of the peasants citing me before +the justice. They know better now. If they gave me too much trouble I +could starve their cattle." + +"Yes, when you catch them in your fields," I remarked, taking no notice +of the abrupt turn which he had given to the conversation. + +"I can do it without that. You must know that, by the Emancipation +Law, the peasants received arable land, but they received little or no +pasturage. I have the whip hand of them there!" + +The remarks of Karl Karl'itch on men and things were to me always +interesting, for he was a shrewd observer, and displayed occasionally a +pleasant, dry humour. But I very soon discovered that his opinions were +not to be accepted without reserve. His strong, inflexible Teutonic +nature often prevented him from judging impartially. He had no sympathy +with the men and the institutions around him, and consequently he was +unable to see things from the inside. The specks and blemishes on the +surface he perceived clearly enough, but he had no knowledge of the +secret, deep-rooted causes by which these specks and blemishes were +produced. The simple fact that a man was a Russian satisfactorily +accounted, in his opinion, for any kind of moral deformity; and his +knowledge turned out to be by no means so extensive as I had at first +supposed. Though he had been many years in the country, he knew very +little about the life of the peasants beyond that small part of it which +concerned directly his own interests and those of his employer. Of the +communal organisation, domestic life, religious beliefs, ceremonial +practices, and nomadic habits of his humble neighbours, he knew little, +and the little he happened to know was far from accurate. In order to +gain a knowledge of these matters it would be better, I perceived, to +consult the priest, or, better still, the peasants themselves. But to do +this it would be necessary to understand easily and speak fluently the +colloquial language, and I was still very far from having, acquired the +requisite proficiency. + +Even for one who possesses a natural facility for acquiring foreign +tongues, the learning of Russian is by no means an easy task. Though +it is essentially an Aryan language like our own, and contains only a +slight intermixture of Tartar words,--such as bashlyk (a hood), kalpak +(a night-cap), arbuz (a water-melon), etc.--it has certain sounds +unknown to West-European ears, and difficult for West-European tongues, +and its roots, though in great part derived from the same original stock +as those of the Graeco-Latin and Teutonic languages, are generally not +at all easily recognised. As an illustration of this, take the Russian +word otets. Strange as it may at first sight appear, this word is merely +another form of our word father, of the German vater, and of the French +pere. The syllable ets is the ordinary Russian termination denoting the +agent, corresponding to the English and German ending er, as we see in +such words as--kup-ets (a buyer), plov-ets (a swimmer), and many others. +The root ot is a mutilated form of vot, as we see in the word otchina (a +paternal inheritance), which is frequently written votchina. Now vot is +evidently the same root as the German vat in Vater, and the English fath +in father. Quod erat demonstrandum. + +All this is simple enough, and goes to prove the fundamental identity, +or rather the community of origin, of the Slav and Teutonic languages; +but it will be readily understood that etymological analogies so +carefully disguised are of little practical use in helping us to acquire +a foreign tongue. Besides this, the grammatical forms and constructions +in Russian are very peculiar, and present a great many strange +irregularities. As an illustration of this we may take the future tense. +The Russian verb has commonly a simple and a frequentative future. The +latter is always regularly formed by means of an auxiliary with the +infinitive, as in English, but the former is constructed in a variety of +ways, for which no rule can be given, so that the simple future of each +individual verb must be learned by a pure effort of memory. In many +verbs it is formed by prefixing a preposition, but it is impossible +to determine by rule which preposition should be used. Thus idu (I go) +becomes poidu; pishu (I write) becomes napishu; pyu (I drink) becomes +vuipyu, and so on. + +Closely akin to the difficulties of pronunciation is the difficulty of +accentuating the proper syllable. In this respect Russian is like Greek; +you can rarely tell a priori on what syllable the accent falls. But +it is more puzzling than Greek, for two reasons: firstly, it is not +customary to print Russian with accents; and secondly, no one has yet +been able to lay down precise rules for the transposition of the accent +in the various inflections of the same word, Of this latter peculiarity, +let one illustration suffice. The word ruka (hand) has the accent on the +last syllable, but in the accusative (ruku) the accent goes back to the +first syllable. It must not, however, be assumed that in all words +of this type a similar transposition takes place. The word beda +(misfortune), for instance, as well as very many others, always retains +the accent on the last syllable. + +These and many similar difficulties, which need not be here enumerated, +can be mastered only by long practice. Serious as they are, they need +not frighten any one who is in the habit of learning foreign tongues. +The ear and the tongue gradually become familiar with the peculiarities +of inflection and accentuation, and practice fulfils the same function +as abstract rules. + +It is commonly supposed that Russians have been endowed by Nature with +a peculiar linguistic talent. Their own language, it is said, is so +difficult that they have no difficulty in acquiring others. This common +belief requires, as it seems to me, some explanation. That highly +educated Russians are better linguists than the educated classes of +Western Europe there can be no possible doubt, for they almost always +speak French, and often English and German also. The question, however, +is whether this is the result of a psychological peculiarity, or of +other causes. Now, without venturing to deny the existence of a natural +faculty, I should say that the other causes have at least exercised a +powerful influence. Any Russian who wishes to be regarded as civilised +must possess at least one foreign language; and, as a consequence of +this, the children of the upper classes are always taught at least +French in their infancy. Many households comprise a German nurse, a +French tutor, and an English governess; and the children thus become +accustomed from their earliest years to the use of these three +languages. Besides this, Russian is phonetically very rich and contains +nearly all the sounds which are to be found in West-European tongues. +Perhaps on the whole it would be well to apply here the Darwinian +theory, and suppose that the Russian Noblesse, having been obliged +for several generations to acquire foreign languages, have gradually +developed a hereditary polyglot talent. + +Several circumstances concurred to assist me in my efforts, during my +voluntary exile, to acquire at least such a knowledge of the language +as would enable me to converse freely with the peasantry. In the first +place, my reverend teacher was an agreeable, kindly, talkative man, +who took a great delight in telling interminable stories, quite +independently of any satisfaction which he might derive from the +consciousness of their being understood and appreciated. Even when +walking alone he was always muttering something to an imaginary +listener. A stranger meeting him on such occasions might have supposed +that he was holding converse with unseen spirits, though his broad +muscular form and rubicund face militated strongly against such a +supposition; but no man, woman, or child living within a radius of +ten miles would ever have fallen into this mistake. Every one in the +neighbourhood knew that "Batushka" (papa), as he was familiarly called, +was too prosaical, practical a man to see things ethereal, that he was +an irrepressible talker, and that when he could not conveniently find an +audience he created one by his own imagination. This peculiarity of his +rendered me good service. Though for some time I understood very little +of what he said, and very often misplaced the positive and negative +monosyllables which I hazarded occasionally by way of encouragement, +he talked vigorously all the same. Like all garrulous people, he was +constantly repeating himself; but to this I did not object, for the +custom--however disagreeable in ordinary society--was for me highly +beneficial, and when I had already heard a story once or twice before, +it was much easier for me to assume at the proper moment the requisite +expression of countenance. + +Another fortunate circumstance was that at Ivanofka there were no +distractions, so that the whole of the day and a great part of the night +could be devoted to study. My chief amusement was an occasional walk in +the fields with Karl Karl'itch; and even this mild form of dissipation +could not always be obtained, for as soon as rain had fallen it was +difficult to go beyond the verandah--the mud precluding the +possibility of a constitutional. The nearest approach to excitement was +mushroom-gathering; and in this occupation my inability to distinguish +the edible from the poisonous species made my efforts unacceptable. We +lived so "far from the madding crowd" that its din scarcely reached +our ears. A week or ten days might pass without our receiving any +intelligence from the outer world. The nearest post-office was in the +district town, and with that distant point we had no regular system of +communication. Letters and newspapers remained there till called for, +and were brought to us intermittently when some one of our neighbours +happened to pass that way. Current history was thus administered to us +in big doses. + +One very big dose I remember well. For a much longer time than usual +no volunteer letter-carrier had appeared, and the delay was more than +usually tantalising, because it was known that war had broken out +between France and Germany. At last a big bundle of a daily paper called +the Golos was brought to me. Impatient to learn whether any great battle +had been fought, I began by examining the latest number, and stumbled +at once on an article headed, "Latest Intelligence: the Emperor at +Wilhelmshohe!!!" The large type in which the heading was printed and +the three marks of exclamation showed plainly that the article was very +important. I began to read with avidity, but was utterly mystified. What +emperor was this? Probably the Tsar or the Emperor of Austria, for +there was no German Emperor in those days. But no! It was evidently the +Emperor of the French. And how did Napoleon get to Wilhelmshohe? The +French must have broken through the Rhine defences, and pushed far +into Germany. But no! As I read further, I found this theory equally +untenable. It turned out that the Emperor was surrounded by Germans, +and--a prisoner! In order to solve the mystery, I had to go back to the +preceding numbers of the paper, and learned, at a sitting, all about the +successive German victories, the defeat and capitulation of Macmahon's +army at Sedan, and the other great events of that momentous time. The +impression produced can scarcely be realised by those who have always +imbibed current history in the homeopathic doses administered by the +morning and evening daily papers. + +By the useful loquacity of my teacher and the possibility of devoting +all my time to my linguistic studies, I made such rapid progress in +the acquisition of the language that I was able after a few weeks to +understand much of what was said to me, and to express myself in a +vague, roundabout way. In the latter operation I was much assisted by +a peculiar faculty of divination which the Russians possess in a high +degree. If a foreigner succeeds in expressing about one-fourth of +an idea, the Russian peasant can generally fill up the remaining +three-fourths from his own intuition. + +As my powers of comprehension increased, my long conversations with +the priest became more and more instructive. At first his remarks and +stories had for me simply a philological interest, but gradually +I perceived that his talk contained a great deal of solid, +curious information regarding himself and the class to which he +belonged--information of a kind not commonly found in grammatical +exercises. Some of this I now propose to communicate to the reader. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE VILLAGE PRIEST + + +Priests' Names--Clerical Marriages--The White and the Black Clergy--Why +the People do not Respect the Parish Priests--History of the White +Clergy--The Parish Priest and the Protestant Pastor--In What Sense +the Russian People are Religious--Icons--The Clergy and Popular +Education--Ecclesiastical Reform--Premonitory Symptoms of Change--Two +Typical Specimens of the Parochial Clergy of the Present Day. + + +In formal introductions it is customary to pronounce in a more or less +inaudible voice the names of the two persons introduced. Circumstances +compel me in the present case to depart from received custom. The truth +is, I do not know the names of the two people whom I wish to bring +together! The reader who knows his own name will readily pardon one-half +of my ignorance, but he may naturally expect that I should know the name +of a man with whom I profess to be acquainted, and with whom I daily +held long conversations during a period of several months. Strange as +it may seem, I do not. During all the time of my sojourn in Ivanofka I +never heard him addressed or spoken of otherwise than as "Batushka." Now +"Batushka" is not a name at all. It is simply the diminutive form of an +obsolete word meaning "father," and is usually applied to all village +priests. The ushka is a common diminutive termination, and the root Bat +is evidently the same as that which appears in the Latin pater. + +Though I do not happen to know what Batushka's family name was, I can +communicate two curious facts concerning it: he had not possessed it in +his childhood, and it was not the same as his father's. + +The reader whose intuitive powers have been preternaturally sharpened by +a long course of sensation novels will probably leap to the conclusion +that Batushka was a mysterious individual, very different from what he +seemed--either the illegitimate son of some great personage, or a man of +high birth who had committed some great sin, and who now sought oblivion +and expiation in the humble duties of a parish priest. Let me dispel +at once all delusions of this kind. Batushka was actually as well as +legally the legitimate son of an ordinary parish priest, who was +still living, about twenty miles off, and for many generations all his +paternal and maternal ancestors, male and female, had belonged to the +priestly caste. He was thus a Levite of the purest water, and thoroughly +Levitical in his character. Though he knew by experience something about +the weakness of the flesh, he had never committed any sins of the heroic +kind, and had no reason to conceal his origin. The curious facts above +stated were simply the result of a peculiar custom which exists among +the Russian clergy. According to this custom, when a boy enters the +seminary he receives from the Bishop a new family name. The name may be +Bogoslafski, from a word signifying "Theology," or Bogolubof, "the love +of God," or some similar term; or it may be derived from the name of the +boy's native village, or from any other word which the Bishop thinks fit +to choose. I know of one instance where a Bishop chose two French words +for the purpose. He had intended to call the boy Velikoselski, after his +native place, Velikoe Selo, which means "big village"; but finding +that there was already a Velikoselski in the seminary, and being in a +facetious frame of mind, he called the new comer Grandvillageski--a word +that may perhaps sorely puzzle some philologist of the future. + +My reverend teacher was a tall, muscular man of about forty years of +age, with a full dark-brown beard, and long lank hair falling over his +shoulders. The visible parts of his dress consisted of three articles--a +dingy-brown robe of coarse material buttoned closely at the neck and +descending to the ground, a wideawake hat, and a pair of large, heavy +boots. As to the esoteric parts of his attire, I refrained from making +investigations. His life had been an uneventful one. At an early age he +had been sent to the seminary in the chief town of the province, and had +made for himself the reputation of a good average scholar. "The seminary +of that time," he used to say to me, referring to that part of his +life, "was not what it is now. Nowadays the teachers talk about +humanitarianism, and the boys would think that a crime had been +committed against human dignity if one of them happened to be flogged. +But they don't consider that human dignity is at all affected by their +getting drunk, and going to--to--to places that I never went to. I was +flogged often enough, and I don't think that I am a worse man on that +account; and though I never heard then anything about pedagogical +science that they talk so much about now, I'll read a bit of Latin yet +with the best of them. + +"When my studies were finished," said Batushka, continuing the simple +story of his life, "the Bishop found a wife for me, and I succeeded +her father, who was then an old man. In that way I became a priest of +Ivanofka, and have remained here ever since. It is a hard life, for the +parish is big, and my bit of land is not very fertile; but, praise be to +God! I am healthy and strong, and get on well enough." + +"You said that the Bishop found a wife for you," I remarked. "I suppose, +therefore, that he was a great friend of yours." + +"Not at all. The Bishop does the same for all the seminarists who wish +to be ordained: it is an important part of his pastoral duties." + +"Indeed!" I exclaimed in astonishment. "Surely that is carrying the +system of paternal government a little too far. Why should his Reverence +meddle with things that don't concern him?" + +"But these matters do concern him. He is the natural protector of widows +and orphans, especially among the clergy of his own diocese. When a +parish priest dies, what is to become of his wife and daughters?" + +Not perceiving clearly the exact bearing of these last remarks, I +ventured to suggest that priests ought to economise in view of future +contingencies. + +"It is easy to speak," replied Batushka: "'A story is soon told,' as +the old proverb has it, 'but a thing is not soon done.' How are we to +economise? Even without saving we have the greatest difficulty to make +the two ends meet." + +"Then the widow and daughters might work and gain a livelihood." + +"What, pray, could they work at?" asked Batushka, and paused for a +reply. Seeing that I had none to offer him, he continued, "Even the +house and land belong not to them, but to the new priest." + +"If that position occurred in a novel," I said, "I could foretell what +would happen. The author would make the new priest fall in love with +and marry one of the daughters, and then the whole family, including the +mother-in-law, would live happily ever afterwards." + +"That is exactly how the Bishop arranges the matter. What the novelist +does with the puppets of his imagination, the Bishop does with real +beings of flesh and blood. As a rational being he cannot leave things +to chance. Besides this, he must arrange the matter before the young man +takes orders, because, by the rules of the Church, the marriage cannot +take place after the ceremony of ordination. When the affair is arranged +before the charge becomes vacant, the old priest can die with the +pleasant consciousness that his family is provided for." + +"Well, Batushka, you certainly put the matter in a very plausible way, +but there seem to be two flaws in the analogy. The novelist can make two +people fall in love with each other, and make them live happily together +with the mother-in-law, but that--with all due respect to his Reverence, +be it said--is beyond the power of a Bishop." + +"I am not sure," said Batushka, avoiding the point of the objection, +"that love-marriages are always the happiest ones; and as to the +mother-in-law, there are--or at least there were until the emancipation +of the serfs--a mother-in-law and several daughters-in-law in almost +every peasant household." + +"And does harmony generally reign in peasant households?" + +"That depends upon the head of the house. If he is a man of the right +sort, he can keep the women-folks in order." This remark was made in +an energetic tone, with the evident intention of assuring me that the +speaker was himself "a man of the right sort"; but I did not attribute +much importance to it, for I have occasionally heard henpecked husbands +talk in this grandiloquent way when their wives were out of hearing. +Altogether I was by no means convinced that the system of providing for +the widows and orphans of the clergy by means of mariages de convenance +was a good one, but I determined to suspend my judgment until I should +obtain fuller information. + +An additional bit of evidence came to me a week or two later. One +morning, on going into the priest's house, I found that he had a friend +with him--the priest of a village some fifteen miles off. Before we had +got through the ordinary conventional remarks about the weather and the +crops, a peasant drove up to the door in his cart with a message that +an old peasant was dying in a neighbouring village, and desired the last +consolations of religion. Batushka was thus obliged to leave us, and his +friend and I agreed to stroll leisurely in the direction of the village +to which he was going, so as to meet him on his way home. The harvest +was already finished, so that our road, after emerging from the village, +lay through stubble-fields. Beyond this we entered the pine forest, and +by the time we had reached this point I had succeeded in leading the +conversation to the subject of clerical marriages. + +"I have been thinking a good deal on this subject," I said, "and I +should very much like to know your opinion about the system." + +My new acquaintance was a tall, lean, black-haired man, with a sallow +complexion and vinegar aspect--evidently one of those unhappy mortals +who are intended by Nature to take a pessimistic view of all things, and +to point out to their fellows the deep shadows of human life. I was not +at all surprised, therefore, when he replied in a deep, decided tone, +"Bad, very bad--utterly bad!" + +The way in which these words were pronounced left no doubt as to the +opinion of the speaker, but I was desirous of knowing on what that +opinion was founded--more especially as I seemed to detect in the tone a +note of personal grievance. My answer was shaped accordingly. + +"I suspected that; but in the discussions which I have had I have always +been placed at a disadvantage, not being able to adduce any definite +facts in support of my opinion." + +"You may congratulate yourself on being unable to find any in your own +experience. A mother-in-law living in the house does not conduce to +domestic harmony. I don't know how it is in your country, but so it is +with us." + +I hastened to assure him that this was not a peculiarity of Russia. + +"I know it only too well," he continued. "My mother-in-law lived with +me for some years, and I was obliged at last to insist on her going to +another son-in-law." + +"Rather selfish conduct towards your brother-in-law," I said to myself, +and then added audibly, "I hope you have thus solved the difficulty +satisfactorily." + +"Not at all. Things are worse now than they were. I agreed to pay her +three roubles a month, and have regularly fulfilled my promise, but +lately she has thought it not enough, and she made a complaint to the +Bishop. Last week I went to him to defend myself, but as I had not money +enough for all the officials in the Consistorium, I could not obtain +justice. My mother-in-law had made all sorts of absurd accusations +against me, and consequently I was laid under an inhibition for six +weeks!" + +"And what is the effect of an inhibition?" + +"The effect is that I cannot perform the ordinary rites of our religion. +It is really very unjust," he added, assuming an indignant tone, "and +very annoying. Think of all the hardship and inconvenience to which it +gives rise." + +As I thought of the hardship and inconvenience to which the parishioners +must be exposed through the inconsiderate conduct of the old +mother-in-law, I could not but sympathise with my new acquaintance's +indignation. My sympathy was, however, somewhat cooled when I perceived +that I was on a wrong tack, and that the priest was looking at the +matter from an entirely different point of view. + +"You see," he said, "it is a most unfortunate time of year. The peasants +have gathered in their harvest, and can give of their abundance. +There are merry-makings and marriages, besides the ordinary deaths +and baptisms. Altogether I shall lose by the thing more than a hundred +roubles!" + +I confess I was a little shocked on hearing the priest thus speak of his +sacred functions as if they were an ordinary marketable commodity, and +talk of the inhibition as a pushing undertaker might talk of sanitary +improvements. My surprise was caused not by the fact that he regarded +the matter from a pecuniary point of view--for I was old enough to know +that clerical human nature is not altogether insensible to pecuniary +considerations--but by the fact that he should thus undisguisedly +express his opinions to a stranger without in the least suspecting +that there was anything unseemly in his way of speaking. The incident +appeared to me very characteristic, but I refrained from all audible +comments, lest I should inadvertently check his communicativeness. With +the view of encouraging it, I professed to be very much interested, as +I really was, in what he said, and I asked him how in his opinion the +present unsatisfactory state of things might be remedied. + +"There is but one cure," he said, with a readiness that showed he had +often spoken on the theme already, "and that is freedom and publicity. +We full-grown men are treated like children, and watched like +conspirators. If I wish to preach a sermon--not that I often wish to +do such a thing, but there are occasions when it is advisable--I am +expected to show it first to the Blagotchinny, and--" + +"I beg your pardon, who is the Blagotchinny?" + +"The Blagotchinny is a parish priest who is in direct relations with +the Consistory of the Province, and who is supposed to exercise a strict +supervision over all the other parish priests of his district. He acts +as the spy of the Consistory, which is filled with greedy, shameless +officials, deaf to any one who does not come provided with a handful of +roubles. The Bishop may be a good, well-intentioned man, but he always +sees and acts through these worthless subordinates. Besides this, the +Bishops and heads of monasteries, who monopolise the higher places in +the ecclesiastical Administration, all belong to the Black Clergy--that +is to say, they are all monks--and consequently cannot understand our +wants. How can they, on whom celibacy is imposed by the rules of the +Church, understand the position of a parish priest who has to bring up +a family and to struggle with domestic cares of every kind? What they do +is to take all the comfortable places for themselves, and leave us all +the hard work. The monasteries are rich enough, and you see how poor we +are. Perhaps you have heard that the parish priests extort money from +the peasants--refusing to perform the rites of baptism or burial until +a considerable sum has been paid. It is only too true, but who is to +blame? The priest must live and bring up his family, and you cannot +imagine the humiliations to which he has to submit in order to gain a +scanty pittance. I know it by experience. When I make the periodical +visitation I can see that the peasants grudge every handful of rye and +every egg that they give me. I can overbear their sneers as I go away, +and I know they have many sayings such as--'The priest takes from the +living and from the dead.' Many of them fasten their doors, pretending +to be away from home, and do not even take the precaution of keeping +silent till I am out of hearing." + +"You surprise me," I said, in reply to the last part of this long +tirade; "I have always heard that the Russians are a very religious +people--at least the lower classes." + +"So they are; but the peasantry are poor and heavily taxed. They set +great importance on the sacraments, and observe rigorously the fasts, +which comprise nearly a half of the year; but they show very little +respect for their priests, who are almost as poor as themselves." + +"But I do not see clearly how you propose to remedy this state of +things." + +"By freedom and publicity, as I said before." The worthy man seemed to +have learned this formula by rote. "First of all, our wants must be made +known. In some provinces there have been attempts to do this by means of +provincial assemblies of the clergy, but these efforts have always been +strenuously opposed by the Consistories, whose members fear publicity +above all things. But in order to have publicity we must have more +freedom." + +Here followed a long discourse on freedom and publicity, which seemed to +me very confused. So far as I could understand the argument, there was +a good deal of reasoning in a circle. Freedom was necessary in order to +get publicity, and publicity was necessary in order to get freedom; +and the practical result would be that the clergy would enjoy bigger +salaries and more popular respect. We had only got thus far in the +investigation of the subject when our conversation was interrupted by +the rumbling of a peasant's cart. In a few seconds our friend Batushka +appeared, and the conversation took a different turn. + +Since that time I have frequently spoken on this subject with competent +authorities, and nearly all have admitted that the present condition of +the clergy is highly unsatisfactory, and that the parish priest rarely +enjoys the respect of his parishioners. In a semi-official report, +which I once accidentally stumbled upon when searching for material of +a different kind, the facts are stated in the following plain language: +"The people"--I seek to translate as literally as possible--"do not +respect the clergy, but persecute them with derision and reproaches, and +feel them to be a burden. In nearly all the popular comic stories the +priest, his wife, or his labourer is held up to ridicule, and in all the +proverbs and popular sayings where the clergy are mentioned it is always +with derision. The people shun the clergy, and have recourse to them not +from the inner impulse of conscience, but from necessity. . . . And why +do the people not respect the clergy? Because it forms a class apart; +because, having received a false kind of education, it does not +introduce into the life of the people the teaching of the Spirit, but +remains in the mere dead forms of outward ceremonial, at the same time +despising these forms even to blasphemy; because the clergy itself +continually presents examples of want of respect to religion, and +transforms the service of God into a profitable trade. Can the people +respect the clergy when they hear how one priest stole money from below +the pillow of a dying man at the moment of confession, how another was +publicly dragged out of a house of ill-fame, how a third christened a +dog, how a fourth whilst officiating at the Easter service was dragged +by the hair from the altar by the deacon? Is it possible for the +people to respect priests who spend their time in the gin-shop, write +fraudulent petitions, fight with the cross in their hands, and abuse +each other in bad language at the altar? + +"One might fill several pages with examples of this kind--in each +instance naming the time and place--without overstepping the boundaries +of the province of Nizhni-Novgorod. Is it possible for the people +to respect the clergy when they see everywhere amongst them simony, +carelessness in performing the religious rites, and disorder in +administering the sacraments? Is it possible for the people to respect +the clergy when they see that truth has disappeared from it, and +that the Consistories, guided in their decisions not by rules, but +by personal friendship and bribery, destroy in it the last remains of +truthfulness? If we add to all this the false certificates which the +clergy give to those who do not wish to partake of the Eucharist, the +dues illegally extracted from the Old Ritualists, the conversion of +the altar into a source of revenue, the giving of churches to priests' +daughters as a dowry, and similar phenomena, the question as to whether +the people can respect the clergy requires no answer." + +As these words were written by an orthodox Russian,* celebrated for his +extensive and intimate knowledge of Russian provincial life, and were +addressed in all seriousness to a member of the Imperial family, we +may safely assume that they contain a considerable amount of truth. The +reader must not, however, imagine that all Russian priests are of +the kind above referred to. Many of them are honest, respectable, +well-intentioned men, who conscientiously fulfil their humble duties, +and strive hard to procure a good education for their children. If they +have less learning, culture, and refinement than the Roman Catholic +priesthood, they have at the same time infinitely less fanaticism, less +spiritual pride, and less intolerance towards the adherents of other +faiths. + + * Mr. Melnikof, in a "secret" Report to the Grand Duke + Constantine Nikolaievitch. + +Both the good and the bad qualities of the Russian priesthood at the +present time can be easily explained by its past history, and by certain +peculiarities of the national character. + +The Russian White Clergy--that is to say, the parish priests, as +distinguished from the monks, who are called the Black Clergy--have had +a curious history. In primitive times they were drawn from all classes +of the population, and freely elected by the parishioners. When a man +was elected by the popular vote, he was presented to the Bishop, and +if he was found to be a fit and proper person for the office, he was +at once ordained. But this custom early fell into disuse. The Bishops, +finding that many of the candidates presented were illiterate peasants, +gradually assumed the right of appointing the priests, with or without +the consent of the parishioners; and their choice generally fell on the +sons of the clergy as the men best fitted to take orders. The creation +of Bishops' schools, afterwards called seminaries, in which the sons of +the clergy were educated, naturally led, in the course of time, to the +total exclusion of the other classes. The policy of the civil Government +led to the same end. Peter the Great laid down the principle that every +subject should in some way serve the State--the nobles as officers in +the army or navy, or as officials in the civil service; the clergy as +ministers of religion; and the lower classes as soldiers, sailors, or +tax-payers. Of these three classes the clergy had by far the lightest +burdens, and consequently many nobles and peasants would willingly have +entered its ranks. But this species of desertion the Government could +not tolerate, and accordingly the priesthood was surrounded by a legal +barrier which prevented all outsiders from entering it. Thus by the +combined efforts of the ecclesiastical and the civil Administration the +clergy became a separate class or caste, legally and actually incapable +of mingling with the other classes of the population. + +The simple fact that the clergy became an exclusive caste, with a +peculiar character, peculiar habits, and peculiar ideals, would in +itself have had a prejudicial influence on the priesthood; but this +was not all. The caste increased in numbers by the process of natural +reproduction much more rapidly than the offices to be filled, so that +the supply of priests and deacons soon far exceeded the demand; and the +disproportion between supply and demand became every year greater and +greater. In this way was formed an ever-increasing clerical Proletariat, +which--as is always the case with a Proletariat of any kind--gravitated +towards the towns. In vain the Government issued ukazes prohibiting the +priests from quitting their places of domicile, and treated as vagrants +and runaways those who disregarded the prohibition; in vain successive +sovereigns endeavoured to diminish the number of these supernumeraries +by drafting them wholesale into the army. In Moscow, St. Petersburg, and +all the larger towns the cry was, "Still they come!" Every morning, in +the Kremlin of Moscow, a large crowd of them assembled for the purpose +of being hired to officiate in the private chapels of the rich nobles, +and a great deal of hard bargaining took place between the priests and +the lackeys sent to hire them--conducted in the same spirit, and in +nearly the same forms, as that which simultaneously took place in the +bazaar close by between extortionate traders and thrifty housewives. +"Listen to me," a priest would say, as an ultimatum, to a lackey who was +trying to beat down the price: "if you don't give me seventy-five kopeks +without further ado, I'll take a bite of this roll, and that will be +an end to it!" And that would have been an end to the bargaining, for, +according to the rules of the Church, a priest cannot officiate after +breaking his fast. The ultimatum, however, could be used with effect +only to country servants who had recently come to town. A sharp lackey, +experienced in this kind of diplomacy, would have laughed at the threat, +and replied coolly, "Bite away, Batushka; I can find plenty more of your +sort!" Amusing scenes of this kind I have heard described by old people +who professed to have been eye-witnesses. + +The condition of the priests who remained in the villages was not much +better. Those of them who were fortunate enough to find places were +raised at least above the fear of absolute destitution, but their +position was by no means enviable. They received little consideration +or respect from the peasantry, and still less from the nobles. When the +church was situated not on the State Domains, but on a private estate, +they were practically under the power of the proprietor--almost as +completely as his serfs; and sometimes that power was exercised in a +most humiliating and shameful way. I have heard, for instance, of one +priest who was ducked in a pond on a cold winter day for the amusement +of the proprietor and his guests--choice spirits, of rough, jovial +temperament; and of another who, having neglected to take off his hat as +he passed the proprietor's house, was put into a barrel and rolled down +a hill into the river at the bottom! + +In citing these incidents, I do not at all mean to imply that they +represent the relations which usually existed between proprietors and +village priests, for I am quite aware that wanton cruelty was not among +the ordinary vices of Russian serf-owners. My object in mentioning the +incidents is to show how a brutal proprietor--and it must be admitted +that they were not a few brutal individuals in the class--could maltreat +a priest without much danger of being called to account for his conduct. +Of course such conduct was an offence in the eyes of the criminal law; +but the criminal law of that time was very shortsighted, and strongly +disposed to close its eyes completely when the offender was an +influential proprietor. Had the incidents reached the ears of the +Emperor Nicholas he would probably have ordered the culprit to be +summarily and severely punished but, as the Russian proverb has it, +"Heaven is high, and the Tsar is far off." A village priest treated in +this barbarous way could have little hope of redress, and, if he were +a prudent man, he would make no attempt to obtain it; for any annoyance +which he might give the proprietor by complaining to the ecclesiastical +authorities would be sure to be paid back to him with interest in some +indirect way. + +The sons of the clergy who did not succeed in finding regular sacerdotal +employment were in a still worse position. Many of them served as +scribes or subordinate officials in the public offices, where they +commonly eked out their scanty salaries by unblushing extortion and +pilfering. Those who did not succeed in gaining even modest employment +of this kind had to keep off starvation by less lawful means, and not +unfrequently found their way into the prisons or to Siberia. + +In judging of the Russian priesthood of the present time, we must call +to mind this severe school through which it has passed, and we must +also take into consideration the spirit which has been for centuries +predominant in the Eastern Church--I mean the strong tendency both in +the clergy and in the laity to attribute an inordinate importance to +the ceremonial element of religion. Primitive mankind is everywhere and +always disposed to regard religion as simply a mass of mysterious rites +which have a secret magical power of averting evil in this world +and securing felicity in the next. To this general rule the Russian +peasantry are no exception, and the Russian Church has not done all it +might have done to eradicate this conception and to bring religion into +closer association with ordinary morality. Hence such incidents as the +following are still possible: A robber kills and rifles a traveller, +but he refrains from eating a piece of cooked meat which he finds in the +cart, because it happens to be a fast-day; a peasant prepares to rob a +young attache of the Austrian Embassy in St. Petersburg, and ultimately +kills his victim, but before going to the house he enters a church +and commends his undertaking to the protection of the saints; a +housebreaker, when in the act of robbing a church, finds it difficult to +extract the jewels from an Icon, and makes a vow that if a certain saint +assists him he will place a rouble's-worth of tapers before the saint's +image! These facts are within the memory of the present generation. I +knew the young attache, and saw him a few days before his death. + +All these are of course extreme cases, but they illustrate a tendency +which in its milder forms is only too general amongst the Russian +people--the tendency to regard religion as a mass of ceremonies which +have a magical rather than a spiritual significance. The poor woman who +kneels at a religious procession in order that the Icon may be carried +over her head, and the rich merchant who invites the priests to bring +some famous Icon to his house, illustrates this tendency in a more +harmless form. + +According to a popular saying, "As is the priest, so is the parish," and +the converse proposition is equally true--as is the parish, so is the +priest. The great majority of priests, like the great majority of men +in general, content themselves with simply striving to perform what is +expected of them, and their character is consequently determined to a +certain extent by the ideas and conceptions of their parishioners. This +will become more apparent if we contrast the Russian priest with the +Protestant pastor. + +According to Protestant conceptions, the village pastor is a man of +grave demeanour and exemplary conduct, and possesses a certain amount +of education and refinement. He ought to expound weekly to his flock, in +simple, impressive words, the great truths of Christianity, and exhort +his hearers to walk in the paths of righteousness. Besides this, he is +expected to comfort the afflicted, to assist the needy, to counsel those +who are harassed with doubts, and to admonish those who openly stray +from the narrow path. Such is the ideal in the popular mind, and +pastors generally seek to realise it, if not in very deed, at least in +appearance. The Russian priest, on the contrary, has no such ideal set +before him by his parishioners. He is expected merely to conform +to certain observances, and to perform punctiliously the rites and +ceremonies prescribed by the Church. If he does this without practising +extortion his parishioners are quite satisfied. He rarely preaches or +exhorts, and neither has nor seeks to have a moral influence over his +flock. I have occasionally heard of Russian priests who approach to what +I have termed the Protestant ideal, and I have even seen one or two of +them, but I fear they are not numerous. + +In the above contrast I have accidentally omitted one important feature. +The Protestant clergy have in all countries rendered valuable service to +the cause of popular education. The reason of this is not difficult to +find. In order to be a good Protestant it is necessary to "search the +Scriptures," and to do this, one must be able at least to read. To be a +good member of the Greek Orthodox Church, on the contrary, according to +popular conceptions, the reading of the Scriptures is not necessary, and +therefore primary education has not in the eyes of the Greek Orthodox +priest the same importance which it has in the eyes of the Protestant +pastor. + +It must be admitted that the Russian people are in a certain sense +religions. They go regularly to church on Sundays and holy-days, cross +themselves repeatedly when they pass a church or Icon, take the Holy +Communion at stated seasons, rigorously abstain from animal food--not +only on Wednesdays and Fridays, but also during Lent and the other long +fasts--make occasional pilgrimages to holy shrines, and, in a word, +fulfil punctiliously the ceremonial observances which they suppose +necessary for salvation. But here their religiousness ends. They are +generally profoundly ignorant of religious doctrine, and know little or +nothing of Holy Writ. A peasant, it is said, was once asked by a priest +if he could name the three Persons of the Trinity, and replied without a +moment's hesitation, "How can one not know that, Batushka? Of course +it is the Saviour, the Mother of God, and Saint Nicholas the +miracle-worker!" + +That answer represents fairly enough the theological attainments of a +very large section of the peasantry. The anecdote is so often repeated +that it is probably an invention, but it is not a calumny of theology +and of what Protestants term the "inner religious life" the orthodox +Russian peasant--of Dissenters, to whom these remarks do not apply, I +shall speak later--has no conception. For him the ceremonial part of +religion suffices, and he has the most unbounded, childlike confidence +in the saving efficacy of the rites which he practises. If he has been +baptised in infancy, has regularly observed the fasts, has annually +partaken of the Holy Communion, and has just confessed and received +extreme unction, he feels death approach with the most perfect +tranquillity. He is tormented with no doubts as to the efficacy of faith +or works, and has no fears that his past life may possibly have rendered +him unfit for eternal felicity. Like a man in a sinking ship who has +buckled on his life-preserver, he feels perfectly secure. With no fear +for the future and little regret for the present or the past, he awaits +calmly the dread summons, and dies with a resignation which a Stoic +philosopher might envy. + +In the above paragraph I have used the word Icon, and perhaps the reader +may not clearly understand the word. Let me explain then, briefly, +what an Icon is--a very necessary explanation, for the Icons play an +important part in the religious observances of the Russian people. + +Icons are pictorial, usually half-length, representations of the +Saviour, of the Madonna, or of a saint, executed in archaic Byzantine +style, on a yellow or gold ground, and varying in size from a square +inch to several square feet. Very often the whole picture, with the +exception of the face and hands of the figure, is covered with a metal +plaque, embossed so as to represent the form of the figure and the +drapery. When this plaque is not used, the crown and costume are often +adorned with pearls and other precious stones--sometimes of great price. + +In respect of religions significance, Icons are of two kinds: simple, +and miraculous or miracle-working (tchudotvorny). The former are +manufactured in enormous quantities--chiefly in the province of +Vladimir, where whole villages are employed in this kind of work--and +are to be found in every Russian house, from the hut of the peasant to +the palace of the Emperor. They are generally placed high up in a corner +facing the door, and good orthodox Christians on entering bow in that +direction, making at the same time the sign of the cross. Before and +after meals the same short ceremony is always performed. On the eve of +fete-days a small lamp is kept burning before at least one of the Icons +in the house. + +The wonder-working Icons are comparatively few in number, and are always +carefully preserved in a church or chapel. They are commonly believed +to have been "not made with hands," and to have appeared in a miraculous +way. A monk, or it may be a common mortal, has a vision, in which he +is informed that he may find a miraculous Icon in such a place, and on +going to the spot indicated he finds it, sometimes buried, sometimes +hanging on a tree. The sacred treasure is then removed to a church, and +the news spreads like wildfire through the district. Thousands flock to +prostrate themselves before the heaven-sent picture, and some are healed +of their diseases--a fact that plainly indicates its miracle-working +power. The whole affair is then officially reported to the Most Holy +Synod, the highest ecclesiastical authority in Russia, in order that +the existence of the miracle-working power may be fully and regularly +proved. The official recognition of the fact is by no means a mere +matter of form, for the Synod is well aware that wonder-working Icons +are always a rich source of revenue to the monasteries where they are +kept, and that zealous Superiors are consequently apt in such cases +to lean to the side of credulity, rather than that of over-severe +criticism. A regular investigation is therefore made, and the formal +recognition is not granted till the testimony of the finder is +thoroughly examined and the alleged miracles duly authenticated. If +the recognition is granted, the Icon is treated with the greatest +veneration, and is sure to be visited by pilgrims from far and near. + +Some of the most revered Icons--as, for instance, the Kazan +Madonna--have annual fete-days instituted in their honour; or, more +correctly speaking, the anniversary of their miraculous appearance is +observed as a religions holiday. A few of them have an additional title +to popular respect and veneration: that of being intimately associated +with great events in the national history. The Vladimir Madonna, for +example, once saved Moscow from the Tartars; the Smolensk Madonna +accompanied the army in the glorious campaign against Napoleon in +1812; and when in that year it was known in Moscow that the French were +advancing on the city, the people wished the Metropolitan to take the +Iberian Madonna, which may still be seen near one of the gates of the +Kremlin, and to lead them out armed with hatchets against the enemy. + +If the Russian priests have done little to advance popular education, +they have at least never intentionally opposed it. Unlike their Roman +Catholic brethren, they do not hold that "a little learning is a +dangerous thing," and do not fear that faith may be endangered by +knowledge. Indeed, it is a remarkable fact that the Russian Church +regards with profound apathy those various intellectual movements which +cause serious alarm to many thoughtful Christians in Western Europe. It +considers religion as something so entirely apart that its votaries +do not feel the necessity of bringing their theological beliefs into +logical harmony with their scientific conceptions. A man may remain a +good orthodox Christian long after he has adopted scientific opinions +irreconcilable with Eastern Orthodoxy, or, indeed, with dogmatic +Christianity of any kind. In the confessional the priest never seeks to +ferret out heretical opinions; and I can recall no instance in +Russian history of a man being burnt at the stake on the demand of the +ecclesiastical authorities, as so often happened in the Roman Catholic +world, for his scientific views. This tolerance proceeds partly, no +doubt, from the fact that the Eastern Church in general, and the +Russian Church in particular, have remained for centuries in a kind of +intellectual torpor. Even such a fervent orthodox Christian as the late +Ivan Aksakof perceived this absence of healthy vitality, and he did +not hesitate to declare his conviction that, "neither the Russian nor the +Slavonic world will be resuscitated . . . so long as the Church remains +in such lifelessness (mertvennost'), which is not a matter of chance, +but the legitimate fruit of some organic defect."* + + * Solovyoff, "Otcherki ig istorii Russkoi Literaturi XIX. + veka." St. Petersburg, 1903, p. 269. + +Though the unsatisfactory condition of the parochial clergy is generally +recognised by the educated classes, very few people take the trouble +to consider seriously how it might be improved. During the Reform +enthusiasm which raged for some years after the Crimean War +ecclesiastical affairs were entirely overlooked. Many of the reformers +of those days were so very "advanced" that religion in all its forms +seemed to them an old-world superstition which tended to retard rather +than accelerate social progress, and which consequently should be +allowed to die as tranquilly as possible; whilst the men of more +moderate views found they had enough to do in emancipating the serfs +and reforming the corrupt civil and judicial Administration. During the +subsequent reactionary period, which culminated in the reign of the +late Emperor, Alexander III., much more attention was devoted to Church +matters, and it came to be recognised in official circles that something +ought to be done for the parish clergy in the way of improving their +material condition so as to increase their moral influence. With this +object in view, M. Pobedonostsef, the Procurator of the Holy Synod, +induced the Government in 1893 to make a State-grant of about 6,500,000 +roubles, which should be increased every year, but the sum was very +inadequate, and a large portion of it was devoted to purposes of +political propaganda in the form of maintaining Greek Orthodox priests +in districts where the population was Protestant or Roman Catholic. +Consequently, of the 35,865 parishes which Russia contains, only 18,936, +or a little more than one-half, were enabled to benefit by the grant. In +an optimistic, semi-official statement published as late as 1896 it is +admitted that "the means for the support of the parish clergy must even +now be considered insufficient and wanting in stability, making the +priests dependent on the parishioners, and thereby preventing the +establishment of the necessary moral authority of the spiritual father +over his flock." + +In some places the needs of the Church are attended to by voluntary +parish-curatorships which annually raise a certain sum of money, and the +way in which they distribute it is very characteristic of the Russian +people, who have a profound veneration for the Church and its rites, but +very little consideration for the human beings who serve at the altar. +In 14,564 parishes possessing such curatorships no less than 2,500,000 +roubles were collected, but of this sum 2,000,000 were expended on the +maintenance and embellishment of churches, and only 174,000 were devoted +to the personal wants of the clergy. According to the semi-official +document from which these figures are taken the whole body of the +Russian White Clergy in 1893 numbered 99,391, of whom 42,513 were +priests, 12,953 deacons, and 43,925 clerks. + +In more recent observations among the parochial clergy I have noticed +premonitory symptoms of important changes. This may be illustrated by +an entry in my note-book, written in a village of one of the Southern +provinces, under date of 30th September, 1903: + +"I have made here the acquaintance of two good specimens of the parish +clergy, both excellent men in their way, but very different from each +other. The elder one, Father Dmitri, is of the old school, a plain, +practical man, who fulfils his duties conscientiously according to his +lights, but without enthusiasm. His intellectual wants are very limited, +and he devotes his attention chiefly to the practical affairs of +everyday life, which he manages very successfully. He does not squeeze +his parishioners unduly, but he considers that the labourer is worthy of +his hire, and insists on his flock providing for his wants according to +their means. At the same time he farms on his own account and attends +personally to all the details of his farming operations. With the +condition and doings of every member of his flock he is intimately +acquainted, and, on the whole, as he never idealised anything or +anybody, he has not a very high opinion of them. + +"The younger priest, Father Alexander, is of a different type, and the +difference may be remarked even in his external appearance. There is a +look of delicacy and refinement about him, though his dress and +domestic surroundings are of the plainest, and there is not a tinge of +affectation in his manner. His language is less archaic and picturesque. +He uses fewer Biblical and semi-Slavonic expressions--I mean expressions +which belong to the antiquated language of the Church Service rather +than to modern parlance--and his armoury of terse popular proverbs +which constitute such a characteristic trait of the peasantry, is less +frequently drawn on. When I ask him about the present condition of the +peasantry, his account does not differ substantially from that of his +elder colleague, but he does not condemn their sins in the same forcible +terms. He laments their shortcomings in an evangelical spirit and has +apparently aspirations for their future improvement. Admitting frankly +that there is a great deal of lukewarmness among them, he hopes to +revive their interest in ecclesiastical affairs and he has an idea of +constituting a sort of church committee for attending to the temporal +affairs of the village church and for works of charity, but he looks to +influencing the younger rather than the older generation. + +"His interest in his parishioners is not confined to their spiritual +welfare, but extends to their material well-being. Of late an +association for mutual credit has been founded in the village, and +he uses his influence to induce the peasants to take advantage of the +benefits it offers, both to those who are in need of a little ready +money and to those who might invest their savings, instead of keeping +them hidden away in an old stocking or buried in an earthen pot. The +proposal to create a local agricultural society meets also with his +sympathy." + +If the number of parish priests of this type increase, the clergy may +come to exercise great moral influence on the common people. + + + +CHAPTER V + +A MEDICAL CONSULTATION + + +Unexpected Illness--A Village Doctor--Siberian Plague--My +Studies--Russian Historians--A Russian Imitator of Dickens--A ci-devant +Domestic Serf--Medicine and Witchcraft--A Remnant of Paganism--Credulity +of the Peasantry--Absurd Rumours--A Mysterious Visit from St. +Barbara--Cholera on Board a Steamer--Hospitals--Lunatic Asylums--Amongst +Maniacs. + + +In enumerating the requisites for travelling in the less frequented +parts of Russia, I omitted to mention one important condition: the +traveller should be always in good health, and in case of illness be +ready to dispense with regular medical attendance. This I learned by +experience during my stay at Ivanofka. + +A man who is accustomed to be always well, and has consequently cause +to believe himself exempt from the ordinary ills that flesh is heir +to, naturally feels aggrieved--as if some one had inflicted upon him +an undeserved injury--when he suddenly finds himself ill. At first he +refuses to believe the fact, and, as far as possible, takes no notice of +the disagreeable symptoms. + +Such was my state of mind on being awakened early one morning by +peculiar symptoms which I had never before experienced. Unwilling to +admit to myself the possibility of being ill, I got up, and endeavoured +to dress as usual, but very soon discovered that I was unable to stand. +There was no denying the fact; not only was I ill, but the malady, +whatever it was, surpassed my powers of diagnosis; and when the +symptoms increased steadily all that day and the following night, I +was constrained to take the humiliating decision of asking for medical +advice. To my inquiries whether there was a doctor in the neighbourhood, +the old servant replied, "There is not exactly a doctor, but there is a +Feldsher in the village." + +"And what is a Feldsher?" + +"A Feldsher is . . . . is a Feldsher." + +"I am quite aware of that, but I would like to know what you mean by the +word. What is this Feldsher?" + +"He's an old soldier who dresses wounds and gives physic." + +The definition did not predispose me in favour of the mysterious +personage, but as there was nothing better to be had I ordered him to be +sent for, notwithstanding the strenuous opposition of the old servant, +who evidently did not believe in feldshers. + +In about half an hour a tall, broad-shouldered man entered, and +stood bolt upright in the middle of the room in the attitude which +is designated in military language by the word "Attention." His +clean-shaven chin, long moustache, and closely-cropped hair confirmed +one part of the old servant's definition; he was unmistakably an old +soldier. + +"You are a Feldsher," I said, making use of the word which I had +recently added to my vocabulary. + +"Exactly so, your Nobility!" These words, the ordinary form of +affirmation used by soldiers to their officers, were pronounced in a +loud, metallic, monotonous tone, as if the speaker had been an automaton +conversing with a brother automaton at a distance of twenty yards. +As soon as the words were pronounced the mouth of the machine closed +spasmodically, and the head, which had been momentarily turned towards +me, reverted to its former position with a jerk as if it had received +the order "Eyes front!" + +"Then please to sit down here, and I'll tell you about my ailment." +Upon this the figure took three paces to the front, wheeled to the +right-about, and sat down on the edge of the chair, retaining the +position of "Attention" as nearly as the sitting posture would allow. +When the symptoms had been carefully described, he knitted his brows, +and after some reflection remarked, "I can give you a dose of . . . ." +Here followed a long word which I did not understand. + +"I don't wish you to give me a dose of anything till I know what is the +matter with me. Though a bit of a doctor myself, I have no idea what it +is, and, pardon me, I think you are in the same position." Noticing +a look of ruffled professional dignity on his face, I added, as a +sedative, "It is evidently something very peculiar, so that if the first +medical practitioner in the country were present he would probably be as +much puzzled as ourselves." + +The sedative had the desired effect. "Well, sir, to tell you the truth," +he said, in a more human tone of voice, "I do not clearly understand +what it is." + +"Exactly; and therefore I think we had better leave the cure to Nature, +and not interfere with her mode of treatment." + +"Perhaps it would be better." + +"No doubt. And now, since I have to lie here on my back, and feel rather +lonely, I should like to have a talk with you. You are not in a hurry, I +hope?" + +"Not at all. My assistant knows where I am, and will send for me if I am +required." + +"So you have an assistant, have you?" + +"Oh, yes; a very sharp young fellow, who has been two years in the +Feldsher school, and has now come here to help me and learn more by +practice. That is a new way. I never was at a school of the kind myself, +and had to pick up what I could when a servant in the hospital. There +were, I believe, no such schools in my time. The one where my assistant +learned was opened by the Zemstvo." + +"The Zemstvo is the new local administration, is it not?" + +"Exactly so. And I could not do without the assistant," continued my new +acquaintance, gradually losing his rigidity, and showing himself, what +he really was, a kindly, talkative man. "I have often to go to other +villages, and almost every day a number of peasants come here. At first +I had very little to do, for the people thought I was an official, and +would make them pay dearly for what I should give them; but now they +know that they don't require to pay, and come in great numbers. And +everything I give them--though sometimes I don't clearly understand what +the matter is--seems to do them good. I believe that faith does as much +as physic." + +"In my country," I remarked, "there is a sect of doctors who get the +benefit of that principle. They give their patients two or three little +balls no bigger than a pin's head, or a few drops of tasteless liquid, +and they sometimes work wonderful cures." + +"That system would not do for us. The Russian muzhik would have no +faith if he swallowed merely things of that kind. What he believes in is +something with a very bad taste, and lots of it. That is his idea of a +medicine; and he thinks that the more he takes of a medicine the better +chance he has of getting well. When I wish to give a peasant several +doses I make him come for each separate dose, for I know that if I did +not he would probably swallow the whole as soon as he was out of sight. +But there is not much serious disease here--not like what I used to see +on the Sheksna. You have been on the Sheksna?" + +"Not yet, but I intend going there." The Sheksna is a river which +falls into the Volga, and forms part of the great system of +water-communication connecting the Volga with the Neva. + +"When you go there you will see lots of diseases. If there is a hot +summer, and plenty of barges passing, something is sure to break +out--typhus, or black small-pox, or Siberian plague, or something of the +kind. That Siberian plague is a curious thing. Whether it really comes +from Siberia, God only knows. So soon as it breaks out the horses die +by dozens, and sometimes men and women are attacked, though it is not +properly a human disease. They say that flies carry the poison from the +dead horses to the people. The sign of it is a thing like a boil, with +a dark-coloured rim. If this is cut open in time the person may recover, +but if it is not, the person dies. There is cholera, too, sometimes." + +"What a delightful country," I said to myself, "for a young doctor who +wishes to make discoveries in the science of disease!" + +The catalogue of diseases inhabiting this favoured region was apparently +not yet complete, but it was cut short for the moment by the arrival of +the assistant, with the announcement that his superior was wanted. + +This first interview with the feldsher was, on the whole, satisfactory. +He had not rendered me any medical assistance, but he had helped me to +pass an hour pleasantly, and had given me a little information of the +kind I desired. My later interviews with him were equally agreeable. He +was naturally an intelligent, observant man, who had seen a great deal +of the Russian world, and could describe graphically what he had seen. +Unfortunately the horizontal position to which I was condemned prevented +me from noting down at the time the interesting things which he related +to me. His visits, together with those of Karl Karl'itch and of the +priest, who kindly spent a great part of his time with me, helped me to +while away many an hour which would otherwise have been dreary enough. + +During the intervals when I was alone I devoted myself to +reading--sometimes Russian history and sometimes works of fiction. The +history was that of Karamzin, who may fairly be called the Russian Livy. +It interested me much by the facts which it contained, but irritated me +not a little by the rhetorical style in which it is written. Afterwards, +when I had waded through some twenty volumes of the gigantic work +of Solovyoff--or Solovief, as the name is sometimes unphonetically +written--which is simply a vast collection of valuable but undigested +material, I was much less severe on the picturesque descriptions and +ornate style of his illustrious predecessor. The first work of fiction +which I read was a collection of tales by Grigorovitch, which had been +given to me by the author on my departure from St. Petersburg. These +tales, descriptive of rural life in Russia, had been written, as the +author afterwards admitted to me, under the influence of Dickens. Many +of the little tricks and affectations which became painfully obtrusive +in Dickens's later works I had no difficulty in recognising under their +Russian garb. In spite of these I found the book very pleasant reading, +and received from it some new notions--to be afterwards verified, of +course--about Russian peasant life. + +One of these tales made a deep impression upon me, and I still remember +the chief incidents. The story opens with the description of a village +in late autumn. It has been raining for some time heavily, and the road +has become covered with a deep layer of black mud. An old woman--a small +proprietor--is sitting at home with a friend, drinking tea and trying to +read the future by means of a pack of cards. This occupation is suddenly +interrupted by the entrance of a female servant, who announces that +she has discovered an old man, apparently very ill, lying in one of the +outhouses. The old woman goes out to see her uninvited guest, and, being +of a kindly nature, prepares to have him removed to a more comfortable +place, and properly attended to; but her servant whispers to her that +perhaps he is a vagrant, and the generous impulse is thereby checked. +When it is discovered that the suspicion is only too well founded, and +that the man has no passport, the old woman becomes thoroughly alarmed. +Her imagination pictures to her the terrible consequences that would +ensue if the police should discover that she had harboured a vagrant. +All her little fortune might be extorted from her. And if the old man +should happen to die in her house or farmyard! The consequences in that +case might be very serious. Not only might she lose everything, but she +might even be dragged to prison. At the sight of these dangers the old +woman forgets her tender-heartedness, and becomes inexorable. The old +man, sick unto death though he be, must leave the premises instantly. +Knowing full well that he will nowhere find a refuge, he walks forth +into the cold, dark, stormy night, and next morning a dead body is found +at a short distance from the village. + +Why this story, which was not strikingly remarkable for artistic merit, +impressed me so deeply I cannot say. Perhaps it was because I was myself +ill at the time, and imagined how terrible it would be to be turned out +on the muddy road on a cold, wet October night. Besides this, the story +interested me as illustrating the terror which the police inspired +during the reign of Nicholas I. The ingenious devices which they +employed for extorting money formed the subject of another sketch, which +I read shortly afterwards, and which has likewise remained in my memory. +The facts were as follows: An officer of rural police, when driving on +a country road, finds a dead body by the wayside. Congratulating himself +on this bit of good luck, he proceeds to the nearest village, and lets +the inhabitants know that all manner of legal proceedings will be taken +against them, so that the supposed murderer may be discovered. The +peasants are of course frightened, and give him a considerable sum of +money in order that he may hush up the affair. An ordinary officer +of police would have been quite satisfied with this ransom, but this +officer is not an ordinary man, and is very much in need of money; he +conceives, therefore, the brilliant idea of repeating the experiment. +Taking up the dead body, he takes it away in his tarantass, and a few +hours later declares to the inhabitants of a village some miles off +that some of them have been guilty of murder, and that he intends to +investigate the matter thoroughly. The peasants of course pay liberally +in order to escape the investigation, and the rascally officer, +emboldened by success, repeats the trick in different villages until he +has gathered a large sum. + +Tales and sketches of this kind were very much in fashion during the +years which followed the death of the great autocrat, Nicholas I., when +the long-pent-up indignation against his severe, repressive regime was +suddenly allowed free expression, and they were still much read during +the first years of my stay in the country. Now the public taste +has changed. The reform enthusiast has evaporated, and the existing +administrative abuses, more refined and less comical than their +predecessors, receive comparatively little attention from the satirists. + +When I did not feel disposed to read, and had none of my regular +visitors with me, I sometimes spent an hour or two in talking with the +old man-servant who attended me. Anton was decidedly an old man, but +what his age precisely was I never could discover; either he did not +know himself, or he did not wish to tell me. In appearance he seemed +about sixty, but from certain remarks which he made I concluded that he +must be nearer seventy, though he had scarcely a grey hair on his head. +As to who his father was he seemed, like the famous Topsy, to have no +very clear ideas, but he had an advantage over Topsy with regard to his +maternal ancestry. His mother had been a serf who had fulfilled for some +time the functions of a lady's maid, and after the death of her +mistress had been promoted to a not very clearly defined position of +responsibility in the household. Anton, too, had been promoted in +his time. His first function in the household had been that of +assistant-keeper of the tobacco-pipes, from which humble office he had +gradually risen to a position which may be roughly designated as that of +butler. All this time he had been, of course, a serf, as his mother had +been before him; but being naturally a man of sluggish intellect, he had +never thoroughly realised the fact, and had certainly never conceived +the possibility of being anything different from what he was. His master +was master, and he himself was Anton, obliged to obey his master, or +at least conceal disobedience--these were long the main facts in his +conception of the universe, and, as philosophers generally do with +regard to fundamental facts or axioms, he had accepted them without +examination. By means of these simple postulates he had led a tranquil +life, untroubled by doubts, until the year 1861, when the so-called +freedom was brought to Ivanofka. He himself had not gone to the church +to hear Batushka read the Tsar's manifesto, but his master, on returning +from the ceremony, had called him and said, "Anton, you are free now, +but the Tsar says you are to serve as you have done for two years +longer." + +To this startling announcement Anton had replied coolly, "Slushayus," +or, as we would say, "Yes, sir," and without further comment had gone to +fetch his master's breakfast; but what he saw and heard during the next +few weeks greatly troubled his old conceptions of human society and +the fitness of things. From that time must be dated, I suppose, the +expression of mental confusion which his face habitually wore. + +The first thing that roused his indignation was the conduct of his +fellow-servants. Nearly all the unmarried ones seemed to be suddenly +attacked by a peculiar matrimonial mania. The reason of this was that +the new law expressly gave permission to the emancipated serfs to marry +as they chose without the consent of their masters, and nearly all the +unmarried adults hastened to take advantage of their newly-acquired +privilege, though many of them had great difficulty in raising the +capital necessary to pay the priest's fees. Then came disorders among +the peasantry, the death of the old master, and the removal of the +family first to St. Petersburg, and afterwards to Germany. Anton's mind +had never been of a very powerful order, and these great events had +exercised a deleterious influence upon it. When Karl Karl'itch, at the +expiry of the two years, informed him that he might now go where he +chose, he replied, with a look of blank, unfeigned astonishment, "Where +can I go to?" He had never conceived the possibility of being forced +to earn his bread in some new way, and begged Karl Karl'itch to let him +remain where he was. This request was readily granted, for Anton was an +honest, faithful servant, and sincerely attached to the family, and it +was accordingly arranged that he should receive a small monthly salary, +and occupy an intermediate position between those of major-domo and head +watch-dog. + +Had Anton been transformed into a real watch-dog he could scarcely have +slept more than he did. His power of sleeping, and his somnolence when +he imagined he was awake, were his two most prominent characteristics. +Out of consideration for his years and his love of repose, I troubled +him as little as possible; but even the small amount of service which +I demanded he contrived to curtail in an ingenious way. The time and +exertion required for traversing the intervening space between his +own room and mine might, he thought, be more profitably employed; and +accordingly he extemporised a bed in a small ante-chamber, close to +my door, and took up there his permanent abode. If sonorous snoring be +sufficient proof that the performer is asleep, then I must conclude that +Anton devoted about three-fourths of his time to sleeping and a +large part of the remaining fourth to yawning and elongated guttural +ejaculations. At first this little arrangement considerably annoyed me, +but I bore it patiently, and afterwards received my reward, for during +my illness I found it very convenient to have an attendant within call. +And I must do Anton the justice to say that he served me well in his own +somnolent fashion. He seemed to have the faculty of hearing when asleep, +and generally appeared in my room before he had succeeded in getting his +eyes completely open. + +Anton had never found time, during his long life, to form many opinions, +but he had somehow imbibed or inhaled a few convictions, all of a +decidedly conservative kind, and one of these was that feldshers were +useless and dangerous members of society. Again and again he had advised +me to have nothing to do with the one who visited me, and more than once +he recommended to me an old woman of the name of Masha, who lived in +a village a few miles off. Masha was what is known in Russia as a +znakharka--that is to say, a woman who is half witch, half medical +practitioner--the whole permeated with a strong leaven of knavery. +According to Anton, she could effect by means of herbs and charms every +possible cure short of raising from the dead, and even with regard to +this last operation he cautiously refrained from expressing an opinion. + +The idea of being subjected to a course of herbs and charms by an old +woman who probably knew very little about the hidden properties of +either, did not seem to me inviting, and more than once I flatly +refused to have recourse to such unhallowed means. On due consideration, +however, I thought that a professional interview with the old witch +would be rather amusing, and then a brilliant idea occurred to me! I +would bring together the feldsher and the znakharka, who no doubt hated +each other with a Kilkenny-cat hatred, and let them fight out their +differences before me for the benefit of science and my own delectation. + +The more I thought of my project, the more I congratulated myself on +having conceived such a scheme; but, alas! in this very imperfectly +organised world of ours brilliant ideas are seldom realised, and in this +case I was destined to be disappointed. Did the old woman's black art +warn her of approaching danger, or was she simply actuated by a feeling +of professional jealousy and considerations of professional etiquette? +To this question I can give no positive answer, but certain it is that +she could not be induced to pay me a visit, and I was thus balked of +my expected amusement. I succeeded, however, in learning indirectly +something about the old witch. She enjoyed among her neighbours that +solid, durable kind of respect which is founded on vague, undefinable +fear, and was believed to have effected many remarkable cures. In the +treatment of syphilitic diseases, which are fearfully common among the +Russian peasantry, she was supposed to be specially successful, and I +have no doubt, from the vague descriptions which I received, that the +charm which she employed in these cases was of a mercurial kind. Some +time afterward I saw one of her victims. Whether she had succeeded in +destroying the poison I know not, but she had at least succeeded in +destroying most completely the patient's teeth. How women of this kind +obtain mercury, and how they have discovered its medicinal properties, +I cannot explain. Neither can I explain how they have come to know the +peculiar properties of ergot of rye, which they frequently employ for +illicit purposes familiar to all students of medical jurisprudence. + +The znakharka and the feldsher represent two very different periods +in the history of medical science--the magical and the scientific. +The Russian peasantry have still many conceptions which belong to the +former. The great majority of them are already quite willing, under +ordinary circumstances, to use the scientific means of healing; but as +soon as a violent epidemic breaks out, and the scientific means prove +unequal to the occasion, the old faith revives, and recourse is had to +magical rites and incantations. Of these rites many are very curious. +Here, for instance, is one which had been performed in a village near +which I afterwards lived for some time. Cholera had been raging in the +district for several weeks. In the village in question no case had yet +occurred, but the inhabitants feared that the dreaded visitor would soon +arrive, and the following ingenious contrivance was adopted for warding +off the danger. At midnight, when the male population was supposed to +be asleep, all the maidens met in nocturnal costume, according to a +preconcerted plan, and formed a procession. In front marched a girl, +holding an Icon. Behind her came her companions, dragging a sokha--the +primitive plough commonly used by the peasantry--by means of a long +rope. In this order the procession made the circuit of the entire +village, and it was confidently believed that the cholera would not be +able to overstep the magical circle thus described. Many of the males +probably knew, or at least suspected, what was going on; but they +prudently remained within doors, knowing well that if they should +be caught peeping indiscreetly at the mystic ceremony, they would be +unmercifully beaten by those who were taking part in it. + +This custom is doubtless a survival of old pagan superstitions. The +introduction of the Icon is a modern innovation, which illustrates that +curious blending of paganism and Christianity which is often to be +met with in Russia, and of which I shall have more to say in another +chapter. + +Sometimes, when an epidemic breaks out, the panic produced takes a more +dangerous form. The people suspect that it is the work of the doctors, +or that some ill-disposed persons have poisoned the wells, and no amount +of reasoning will convince them that their own habitual disregard of +the most simple sanitary precautions has something to do with the +phenomenon. I know of one case where an itinerant photographer was +severely maltreated in consequence of such suspicions; and once, in St. +Petersburg, during the reign of Nicholas I., a serious riot took place. +The excited populace had already thrown several doctors out of the +windows of the hospital, when the Emperor arrived, unattended, in an +open carriage, and quelled the disturbance by his simple presence, aided +by his stentorian voice. + +Of the ignorant credulity of the Russian peasantry I might relate +many curious illustrations. The most absurd rumours sometimes awaken +consternation throughout a whole district. One of the most common +reports of this kind is that a female conscription is about to take +place. About the time of the Duke of Edinburgh's marriage with the +daughter of Alexander II. this report was specially frequent. A large +number of young girls were to be kidnapped and sent to England in a red +ship. Why the ship was to be red I can easily explain, because in the +peasants' language the conceptions of red and beautiful are expressed +by the same word (krasny), and in the popular legends the epithet is +indiscriminately applied to everything connected with princes and great +personages; but what was to be done with the kidnapped maidens when they +arrived at their destination, I never succeeded in discovering. + +The most amusing instance of credulity which I can recall was the +following, related to me by a peasant woman who came from the village +where the incident had occurred. One day in winter, about the time +of sunset, a peasant family was startled by the entrance of a strange +visitor, a female figure, dressed as St. Barbara is commonly represented +in the religious pictures. All present were very much astonished by this +apparition; but the figure told them, in a low, soft voice, to be of +good cheer, for she was St. Barbara, and had come to honour the family +with a visit as a reward for their piety. The peasant thus favoured was +not remarkable for his piety, but he did not consider it necessary to +correct the mistake of his saintly visitor, and requested her to be +seated. With perfect readiness she accepted the invitation, and began at +once to discourse in an edifying way. + +Meanwhile the news of this wonderful apparition spread like wildfire, +and all the inhabitants of the village, as well as those of a +neighbouring village about a mile distant, collected in and around the +house. Whether the priest was among those who came my informant did not +know. Many of those who had come could not get within hearing, but those +at the outskirts of the crowd hoped that the saint might come out before +disappearing. Their hopes were gratified. About midnight the mysterious +visitor announced that she would go and bring St. Nicholas, the +miracle-worker, and requested all to remain perfectly still during her +absence. The crowd respectfully made way for her, and she passed out +into the darkness. With breathless expectation all awaited the arrival +of St. Nicholas, who is the favourite saint of the Russian peasantry; +but hours passed, and he did not appear. At last, toward sunrise, some +of the less zealous spectators began to return home, and those of them +who had come from the neighbouring village discovered to their horror +that during their absence their horses had been stolen! At once they +raised the hue-and-cry; and the peasants scoured the country in all +directions in search of the soi-disant St. Barbara and her accomplices, +but they never recovered the stolen property. "And serve them right, the +blockheads!" added my informant, who had herself escaped falling into +the trap by being absent from the village at the time. + +It is but fair to add that the ordinary Russian peasant, though in some +respects extremely credulous, and, like all other people, subject to +occasional panics, is by no means easily frightened by real dangers. +Those who have seen them under fire will readily credit this statement. +For my own part, I have had opportunities of observing them merely +in dangers of a non-military kind, and have often admired the perfect +coolness displayed. Even an epidemic alarms them only when it attains a +certain degree of intensity. Once I had a good opportunity of observing +this on board a large steamer on the Volga. It was a very hot day in +the early autumn. As it was well known that there was a great deal of +Asiatic cholera all over the country, prudent people refrained from +eating much raw fruit; but Russian peasants are not generally prudent +men, and I noticed that those on board were consuming enormous +quantities of raw cucumbers and water-melons. This imprudence was soon +followed by its natural punishment. I refrain from describing the scene +that ensued, but I may say that those who were attacked received +from the others every possible assistance. Had no unforeseen accident +happened, we should have arrived at Kazan on the following morning, +and been able to send the patients to the hospital of that town; but +as there was little water in the river, we had to cast anchor for the +night, and next morning we ran aground and stuck fast. Here we had to +remain patiently till a smaller steamer hove in sight. All this time +there was not the slightest symptom of panic, and when the small steamer +came alongside there was no frantic rush to get away from the infected +vessel, though it was quite evident that only a few of the passengers +could be taken off. Those who were nearest the gangway went quietly +on board the small steamer, and those who were less fortunate remained +patiently till another steamer happened to pass. + +The old conceptions of disease, as something that may be most +successfully cured by charms and similar means, are rapidly +disappearing. The Zemstvo--that is to say, the new local +self-government--has done much towards this end by enabling the people +to procure better medical attendance. In the towns there are public +hospitals, which generally are--or at least seem to an unprofessional +eye--in a very satisfactory condition. The resident doctors are daily +besieged by a crowd of peasants, who come from far and near to ask +advice and receive medicines. Besides this, in some provinces feldshers +are placed in the principal villages, and the doctor makes frequent +tours of inspection. The doctors are generally well-educated men, and do +a large amount of work for a very small remuneration. + +Of the lunatic asylums, which are generally attached to the larger +hospitals, I cannot speak very favourably. Some of the great central +ones are all that could be desired, but others are badly constructed and +fearfully overcrowded. One or two of those I visited appeared to me to +be conducted on very patriarchal principles, as the following incident +may illustrate. + +I had been visiting a large hospital, and had remained there so long +that it was already dark before I reached the adjacent lunatic asylum. +Seeing no lights in the windows, I proposed to my companion, who was +one of the inspectors, that we should delay our visit till the following +morning, but he assured me that by the regulations the lights ought not +to be extinguished till considerably later, and consequently there was +no objection to our going in at once. If there was no legal objection, +there was at least a physical obstruction in the form of a large wooden +door, and all our efforts to attract the attention of the porter or some +other inmate were unavailing. At last, after much ringing, knocking, and +shouting, a voice from within asked us who we were and what we wanted. A +brief reply from my companion, not couched in the most polite or amiable +terms, made the bolts rattle and the door open with surprising rapidity, +and we saw before us an old man with long dishevelled hair, who, as +far as appearance went, might have been one of the lunatics, bowing +obsequiously and muttering apologies. + +After groping our way along a dark corridor we entered a still darker +room, and the door was closed and locked behind us. As the key turned +in the rusty lock a wild scream rang through the darkness! Then came +a yell, then a howl, and then various sounds which the poverty of the +English language prevents me from designating--the whole blending into +a hideous discord that would have been at home in some of the worst +regions of Dante's Inferno. As to the cause of it I could not even form +a conjecture. Gradually my eyes became accustomed to the darkness, and I +could dimly perceive white figures flitting about the room. At the same +time I felt something standing near me, and close to my shoulder I saw +a pair of eyes and long streaming hair. On my other side, equally close, +was something very like a woman's night-cap. Though by no means of a +nervous temperament, I felt uncomfortable. To be shut up in a dark +room with an indefinite number of excited maniacs is not a comfortable +position. How long the imprisonment lasted I know not--probably not more +than two or three minutes, but it seemed a long time. At last a light +was procured, and the whole affair was explained. The guardians, not +expecting the visit of an inspector at so late an hour, had retired for +the night much earlier than usual, and the old porter had put us into +the nearest ward until he could fetch a light--locking the door behind +us lest any of the lunatics should escape. The noise had awakened one +of the unfortunate inmates of the ward, and her hysterical scream had +terrified the others. + +By the influence of asylums, hospitals, and similar institutions, the +old conceptions of disease, as I have said, are gradually dying out, but +the znakharka still finds practice. The fact that the znakharka is to be +found side by side not only with the feldsher, but also with the highly +trained bacteriologist, is very characteristic of Russian civilisation, +which is a strange conglomeration of products belonging to very +different periods. The enquirer who undertakes the study of it will +sometimes be scarcely less surprised than would be the naturalist +who should unexpectedly stumble upon antediluvian megatheria grazing +tranquilly in the same field with prize Southdowns. He will discover +the most primitive institutions side by side with the latest products +of French doctrinairism, and the most childish superstitions in close +proximity with the most advanced free-thinking. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A PEASANT FAMILY OF THE OLD TYPE + + +Ivan Petroff--His Past Life--Co-operative Associations--Constitution of +a Peasant's Household--Predominance of Economic Conceptions over those +of Blood-relationship--Peasant Marriages--Advantages of Living in Large +Families--Its Defects--Family Disruptions and their Consequences. + + +My illness had at least one good result. It brought me into contact +with the feldsher, and through him, after my recovery, I made the +acquaintance of several peasants living in the village. Of these by far +the most interesting was an old man called Ivan Petroff. + +Ivan must have been about sixty years of age, but was still robust and +strong, and had the reputation of being able to mow more hay in a given +time than any other peasant in the village. His head would have made a +line study for a portrait-painter. Like Russian peasants in general, +he wore his hair parted in the middle--a custom which perhaps owes its +origin to the religious pictures. The reverend appearance given to his +face by his long fair beard, slightly tinged with grey, was in part +counteracted by his eyes, which had a strange twinkle in them--whether +of humour or of roguery, it was difficult to say. Under all +circumstances--whether in his light, nondescript summer costume, or in +his warm sheep-skin, or in the long, glossy, dark-blue, double-breasted +coat which he put on occasionally on Sundays and holidays--he always +looked a well-fed, respectable, prosperous member of society; whilst +his imperturbable composure, and the entire absence of obsequiousness or +truculence in his manner, indicated plainly that he possessed no small +amount of calm, deep-rooted self-respect. A stranger, on seeing him, +might readily have leaped to the conclusion that he must be the Village +Elder, but in reality he was a simple member of the Commune, like his +neighbour, poor Zakhar Leshkof, who never let slip an opportunity of +getting drunk, was always in debt, and, on the whole, possessed a more +than dubious reputation. + +Ivan had, it is true, been Village Elder some years before. When elected +by the Village Assembly, against his own wishes, he had said quietly, +"Very well, children; I will serve my three years"; and at the end of +that period, when the Assembly wished to re-elect him, he had answered +firmly, "No, children; I have served my term. It is now the turn of some +one who is younger, and has more time. There's Peter Alekseyef, a good +fellow, and an honest; you may choose him." And the Assembly chose the +peasant indicated; for Ivan, though a simple member of the Commune, had +more influence in Communal affairs than any other half-dozen members put +together. No grave matter was decided without his being consulted, +and there was at least one instance on record of the Village Assembly +postponing deliberations for a week because he happened to be absent in +St. Petersburg. + +No stranger casually meeting Ivan would ever for a moment have suspected +that that big man, of calm, commanding aspect, had been during a great +part of his life a serf. And yet a serf he had been from his birth till +he was about thirty years of age--not merely a serf of the State, but +the serf of a proprietor who had lived habitually on his property. For +thirty years of his life he had been dependent on the arbitrary will of +a master who had the legal power to flog him as often and as severely +as he considered desirable. In reality he had never been subjected to +corporal punishment, for the proprietor to whom he had belonged had +been, though in some respects severe, a just and intelligent master. + +Ivan's bright, sympathetic face had early attracted the master's +attention, and it was decided that he should learn a trade. For this +purpose he was sent to Moscow, and apprenticed there to a carpenter. +After four years of apprenticeship he was able not only to earn his own +bread, but to help the household in the payment of their taxes, and to +pay annually to his master a fixed yearly sum--first ten, then twenty, +then thirty, and ultimately, for some years immediately before the +Emancipation, seventy roubles. In return for this annual sum he was free +to work and wander about as he pleased, and for some years he had made +ample use of his conditional liberty. I never succeeded in extracting +from him a chronological account of his travels, but I could gather +from his occasional remarks that he had wandered over a great part of +European Russia. Evidently he had been in his youth what is colloquially +termed "a roving blade," and had by no means confined himself to the +trade which he had learned during his four years of apprenticeship. Once +he had helped to navigate a raft from Vetluga to Astrakhan, a distance +of about two thousand miles. At another time he had been at Archangel +and Onega, on the shores of the White Sea. St. Petersburg and Moscow +were both well known to him, and he had visited Odessa. + +The precise nature of Ivan's occupations during these wanderings I could +not ascertain; for, with all his openness of manner, he was extremely +reticent regarding his commercial affairs. To all my inquiries on this +topic he was wont to reply vaguely, "Lesnoe dyelo"--that is to say, +"Timber business"; and from this I concluded that his chief occupation +had been that of a timber merchant. Indeed, when I knew him, though he +was no longer a regular trader, he was always ready to buy any bit of +forest that could be bought in the vicinity for a reasonable price. + +During all this nomadic period of his life Ivan had never entirely +severed his connection with his native village or with agricultural +life. When about the age of twenty he had spent several months at home, +taking part in the field labour, and had married a wife--a strong, +healthy young woman, who had been selected for him by his mother, and +strongly recommended to him on account of her good character and her +physical strength. In the opinion of Ivan's mother, beauty was a kind of +luxury which only nobles and rich merchants could afford, and ordinary +comeliness was a very secondary consideration--so secondary as to be +left almost entirely out of sight. This was likewise the opinion of +Ivan's wife. She had never been comely herself, she used to say, but she +had been a good wife to her husband. He had never complained about her +want of good looks, and had never gone after those who were considered +good-looking. In expressing this opinion she always first bent forward, +then drew herself up to her full length, and finally gave a little jerky +nod sideways, so as to clench the statement. Then Ivan's bright eye +would twinkle more brightly than usual, and he would ask her how she +knew that--reminding her that he was not always at home. This was Ivan's +stereotyped mode of teasing his wife, and every time he employed it he +was called an "old scarecrow," or something of the kind. + +Perhaps, however, Ivan's jocular remark had more significance in it than +his wife cared to admit, for during the first years of their married +life they had seen very little of each other. A few days after the +marriage, when according to our notions the honeymoon should be at its +height, Ivan had gone to Moscow for several months, leaving his young +bride to the care of his father and mother. The young bride did not +consider this an extraordinary hardship, for many of her companions had +been treated in the same way, and according to public opinion in that +part of the country there was nothing abnormal in the proceeding. +Indeed, it may be said in general that there is very little romance +or sentimentality about Russian peasant marriages. In this as in other +respects the Russian peasantry are, as a class, extremely practical and +matter-of-fact in their conceptions and habits, and are not at all prone +to indulge in sublime, ethereal sentiments of any kind. They have little +or nothing of what may be termed the Hermann and Dorothea element +in their composition, and consequently know very little about those +sentimental, romantic ideas which we habitually associate with the +preliminary steps to matrimony. Even those authors who endeavour to +idealise peasant life have rarely ventured to make their story turn on +a sentimental love affair. Certainly in real life the wife is taken as a +helpmate, or in plain language a worker, rather than as a companion, and +the mother-in-law leaves her very little time to indulge in fruitless +dreaming. + +As time wore on, and his father became older and frailer, Ivan's visits +to his native place became longer and more frequent, and when the old +man was at last incapable of work, Ivan settled down permanently and +undertook the direction of the household. In the meantime his +own children had been growing up. When I knew the family it +comprised--besides two daughters who had married early and gone to +live with their parents-in-law--Ivan and his wife, two sons, three +daughters-in-law, and an indefinite and frequently varying number of +grandchildren. The fact that there were three daughters-in-law and only +two sons was the result of the Conscription, which had taken away the +youngest son shortly after his marriage. The two who remained spent only +a small part of the year at home. The one was a carpenter and the +other a bricklayer, and both wandered about the country in search of +employment, as their father had done in his younger days. There was, +however, one difference. The father had always shown a leaning towards +commercial transactions, rather than the simple practice of his +handicraft, and consequently he had usually lived and travelled alone. +The sons, on the contrary, confined themselves to their handicrafts, and +were always during the working season members of an artel. + +The artel in its various forms is a curious institution. Those to which +Ivan's sons belonged were simply temporary, itinerant associations of +workmen, who during the summer lived together, fed together, worked +together, and periodically divided amongst themselves the profits. This +is the primitive form of the institution, and is now not very often met +with. Here, as elsewhere, capital has made itself felt, and destroyed +that equality which exists among the members of an artel in the above +sense of the word. Instead of forming themselves into a temporary +association, the workmen now generally make an engagement with a +contractor who has a little capital, and receive from him fixed monthly +wages. The only association which exists in this case is for the +purchase and preparation of provisions, and even these duties are very +often left to the contractor. + +In some of the larger towns there are artels of a much more complex +kind--permanent associations, possessing a large capital, and +pecuniarily responsible for the acts of the individual members. Of +these, by far the most celebrated is that of the Bank Porters. These men +have unlimited opportunities of stealing, and are often entrusted with +the guarding or transporting of enormous sums; but the banker has no +cause for anxiety, because he knows that if any defalcations occur +they will be made good to him by the artel. Such accidents very rarely +happen, and the fact is by no means so extraordinary as many people +suppose. The artel, being responsible for the individuals of which it +is composed, is very careful in admitting new members, and a man when +admitted is closely watched, not only by the regularly constituted +office-bearers, but also by all his fellow-members who have an +opportunity of observing him. If he begins to spend money too freely or +to neglect his duties, though his employer may know nothing of the +fact, suspicions are at once aroused among his fellow-members, and an +investigation ensues--ending in summary expulsion if the suspicions +prove to have been well founded. Mutual responsibility, in short, +creates a very effective system of mutual supervision. + +Of Ivan's sons, the one who was a carpenter visited his family only +occasionally, and at irregular intervals; the bricklayer, on the +contrary, as building is impossible in Russia during the cold weather, +spent the greater part of the winter at home. Both of them paid a large +part of their earnings into the family treasury, over which their father +exercised uncontrolled authority. If he wished to make any considerable +outlay, he consulted his sons on the subject; but as he was a prudent, +intelligent man, and enjoyed the respect and confidence of the family, +he never met with any strong opposition. All the field work was +performed by him with the assistance of his daughters-in-law; only at +harvest time he hired one or two labourers to help him. + +Ivan's household was a good specimen of the Russian peasant family +of the old type. Previous to the Emancipation in 1861 there were +many households of this kind, containing the representatives of +three generations. All the members, young and old, lived together in +patriarchal fashion under the direction and authority of the Head of the +House, called usually the Khozain--that is to say, the Administrator; +or, in some districts, the Bolshak, which means literally "the Big +One." Generally speaking, this important position was occupied by the +grandfather, or, if he was dead, by the eldest brother, but the rule +was not very strictly observed. If, for instance, the grandfather became +infirm, or if the eldest brother was incapacitated by disorderly +habits or other cause, the place of authority was taken by some other +member--it might be by a woman--who was a good manager, and possessed +the greatest moral influence. + +The relations between the Head of the Household and the other members +depended on custom and personal character, and they consequently varied +greatly in different families. If the Big One was an intelligent man, +of decided, energetic character, like my friend Ivan, there was probably +perfect discipline in the household, except perhaps in the matter of +female tongues, which do not readily submit to the authority even +of their owners; but very often it happened that the Big One was not +thoroughly well fitted for his post, and in that case endless quarrels +and bickerings inevitably took place. Those quarrels were generally +caused and fomented by the female members of the family--a fact which +will not seem strange if we try to realise how difficult it must be +for several sisters-in-law to live together, with their children and a +mother-in-law, within the narrow limits of a peasant's household. The +complaints of the young bride, who finds that her mother-in-law puts all +the hard work on her shoulders, form a favourite motive in the popular +poetry. + +The house, with its appurtenances, the cattle, the agricultural +implements, the grain and other products, the money gained from the +sale of these products--in a word, the house and nearly everything it +contained--were the joint property of the family. Hence nothing was +bought or sold by any member--not even by the Big One himself, unless he +possessed an unusual amount of authority--without the express or tacit +consent of the other grown-up males, and all the money that was earned +was put into the common purse. When one of the sons left home to work +elsewhere, he was expected to bring or send home all his earnings, +except what he required for food, lodgings, and other necessary +expenses; and if he understood the word "necessary" in too lax a sense, +he had to listen to very plain-spoken reproaches when he returned. +During his absence, which might last for a whole year or several years, +his wife and children remained in the house as before, and the money +which he earned could be devoted to the payment of the family taxes. + +The peasant household of the old type is thus a primitive labour +association, of which the members have all things in common, and it is +not a little remarkable that the peasant conceives it as such rather +than as a family. This is shown by the customary terminology, for +the Head of the Household is not called by any word corresponding +to Paterfamilias, but is termed, as I have said, Khozain, or +Administrator--a word that is applied equally to a farmer, a shopkeeper +or the head of an industrial undertaking, and does not at all convey +the idea of blood-relationship. It is likewise shown by what takes +place when a household is broken up. On such occasions the degree of +blood-relationship is not taken into consideration in the distribution +of the property. All the adult male members share equally. Illegitimate +and adopted sons, if they have contributed their share of labour, +have the same rights as the sons born in lawful wedlock. The married +daughter, on the contrary--being regarded as belonging to her husband's +family--and the son who has previously separated himself from the +household, are excluded from the succession. Strictly speaking, the +succession or inheritance is confined to the wearing apparel and any +little personal effects of a deceased member. The house and all that it +contains belong to the little household community; and, consequently, +when it is broken up, by the death of the Khozain or other cause, the +members do not inherit, but merely appropriate individually what +they had hitherto possessed collectively. Thus there is properly no +inheritance or succession, but simply liquidation and distribution of +the property among the members. The written law of inheritance founded +on the conception of personal property, is quite unknown to the +peasantry, and quite inapplicable to their mode of life. In this way a +large and most important section of the Code remains a dead letter for +about four-fifths of the population. + +This predominance of practical economic considerations is exemplified +also by the way in which marriages are arranged in these large families. +In the primitive system of agriculture usually practised in Russia, the +natural labour-unit--if I may use such a term--comprises a man, a +woman, and a horse. As soon, therefore, as a boy becomes an able-bodied +labourer he ought to be provided with the two accessories necessary +for the completion of the labour-unit. To procure a horse, either by +purchase or by rearing a foal, is the duty of the Head of the House; +to procure a wife for the youth is the duty of "the female Big One" +(Bolshukha). And the chief consideration in determining the choice is +in both cases the same. Prudent domestic administrators are not to +be tempted by showy horses or beautiful brides; what they seek is not +beauty, but physical strength and capacity for work. When the youth +reaches the age of eighteen he is informed that he ought to marry at +once, and as soon as he gives his consent negotiations are opened with +the parents of some eligible young person. In the larger villages the +negotiations are sometimes facilitated by certain old women called +svakhi, who occupy themselves specially with this kind of mediation; but +very often the affair is arranged directly by, or through the agency of, +some common friend of the two houses. + +Care must of course be taken that there is no legal obstacle, and +these obstacles are not always easily avoided in a small village, the +inhabitants of which have been long in the habit of intermarrying. +According to Russian ecclesiastical law, not only is marriage between +first-cousins illegal, but affinity is considered as equivalent to +consanguinity--that is to say a mother-in-law and a sister-in-law are +regarded as a mother and a sister--and even the fictitious relationship +created by standing together at the baptismal font as godfather and +godmother is legally recognised, and may constitute a bar to matrimony. +If all the preliminary negotiations are successful, the marriage takes +place, and the bridegroom brings his bride home to the house of which +he is a member. She brings nothing with her as a dowry except her +trousseau, but she brings a pair of good strong arms, and thereby +enriches her adopted family. Of course it happens occasionally--for +human nature is everywhere essentially the same--that a young peasant +falls in love with one of his former playmates, and brings his little +romance to a happy conclusion at the altar; but such cases are very +rare, and as a rule it may be said that the marriages of the Russian +peasantry are arranged under the influence of economic rather than +sentimental considerations. + +The custom of living in large families has many economic advantages. We +all know the edifying fable of the dying man who showed to his sons by +means of a piece of wicker-work the advantages of living together and +assisting each other. In ordinary times the necessary expenses of a +large household of ten members are considerably less than the combined +expenses of two households comprising five members each, and when a +"black day" comes a large family can bear temporary adversity much +more successfully than a small one. These are principles of world-wide +application, but in the life of the Russian peasantry they have a +peculiar force. Each adult peasant possesses, as I shall hereafter +explain, a share of the Communal land, but this share is not sufficient +to occupy all his time and working power. One married pair can easily +cultivate two shares--at least in all provinces where the peasant +allotments are not very large. Now, if a family is composed of two +married couples, one of the men can go elsewhere and earn money, whilst +the other, with his wife and sister-in-law, can cultivate the two +combined shares of land. If, on the contrary a family consists merely +of one pair with their children, the man must either remain at home--in +which case he may have difficulty in finding work for the whole of his +time--or he must leave home, and entrust the cultivation of his share +of the land to his wife, whose time must be in great part devoted to +domestic affairs. + +In the time of serfage the proprietors clearly perceived these and +similar advantages, and compelled their serfs to live together in large +families. No family could be broken up without the proprietor's consent, +and this consent was not easily obtained unless the family had assumed +quite abnormal proportions and was permanently disturbed by domestic +dissension. In the matrimonial affairs of the serfs, too, the majority +of the proprietors systematically exercised a certain supervision, +not necessarily from any paltry meddling spirit, but because their own +material interests were thereby affected. A proprietor would not, +for instance, allow the daughter of one of his serfs to marry a serf +belonging to another proprietor--because he would thereby lose a female +labourer--unless some compensation were offered. The compensation might +be a sum of money, or the affair might be arranged on the principle of +reciprocity by the master of the bridegroom allowing one of his female +serfs to marry a serf belonging to the master of the bride. + +However advantageous the custom of living in large families may appear +when regarded from the economic point of view, it has very serious +defects, both theoretical and practical. + +That families connected by the ties of blood-relationship and marriage +can easily live together in harmony is one of those social axioms which +are accepted universally and believed by nobody. We all know by our own +experience, or by that of others, that the friendly relations of two +such families are greatly endangered by proximity of habitation. To +live in the same street is not advisable; to occupy adjoining houses is +positively dangerous; and to live under the same roof is certainly fatal +to prolonged amity. There may be the very best intentions on both sides, +and the arrangement may be inaugurated by the most gushing expressions +of undying affection and by the discovery of innumerable secret +affinities, but neither affinities, affection, nor good intentions can +withstand the constant friction and occasional jerks which inevitably +ensue. + +Now the reader must endeavour to realise that Russian peasants, even +when clad in sheep-skins, are human beings like ourselves. Though they +are often represented as abstract entities--as figures in a table +of statistics or dots on a diagram--they have in reality "organs, +dimensions, senses, affections, passions." If not exactly "fed with the +same food," they are at least "hurt with the same weapons, subject to +the same diseases, healed by the same means," and liable to be irritated +by the same annoyances as we are. And those of them who live in large +families are subjected to a kind of probation that most of us have never +dreamed of. The families comprising a large household not only live +together, but have nearly all things in common. Each member works, not +for himself, but for the household, and all that he earns is expected to +go into the family treasury. The arrangement almost inevitably leads to +one of two results--either there are continual dissensions, or order is +preserved by a powerful domestic tyranny. + +It is quite natural, therefore, that when the authority of the landed +proprietors was abolished in 1861, the large peasant families almost all +crumbled to pieces. The arbitrary rule of the Khozain was based on, and +maintained by, the arbitrary rule of the proprietor, and both naturally +fell together. Households like that of our friend Ivan were preserved +only in exceptional cases, where the Head of the House happened to +possess an unusual amount of moral influence over the other members. + +This change has unquestionably had a prejudicial influence on the +material welfare of the peasantry, but it must have added considerably +to their domestic comfort, and may perhaps produce good moral results. +For the present, however, the evil consequences are by far the most +prominent. Every married peasant strives to have a house of his own, +and many of them, in order to defray the necessary expenses, have been +obliged to contract debts. This is a very serious matter. Even if the +peasants could obtain money at five or six per cent., the position of +the debtors would be bad enough, but it is in reality much worse, for +the village usurers consider twenty or twenty-five per cent. a by no +means exorbitant rate of interest. A laudable attempt has been made +to remedy this state of things by village banks, but these have proved +successful only in certain exceptional localities. As a rule the peasant +who contracts debts has a hard struggle to pay the interest in ordinary +times, and when some misfortune overtakes him--when, for instance, the +harvest is bad or his horse is stolen--he probably falls hopelessly into +pecuniary embarrassments. I have seen peasants not specially addicted +to drunkenness or other ruinous habits sink to a helpless state of +insolvency. Fortunately for such insolvent debtors, they are treated by +the law with extreme leniency. Their house, their share of the common +land, their agricultural implements, their horse--in a word, all that +is necessary for their subsistence, is exempt from sequestration. The +Commune, however, may bring strong pressure to bear on those who do +not pay their taxes. When I lived among the peasantry in the seventies, +corporal punishment inflicted by order of the Commune was among the +means usually employed; and though the custom was recently prohibited +by an Imperial decree of Nicholas II, I am not at all sure that it has +entirely disappeared. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE PEASANTRY OF THE NORTH + + +Communal Land--System of Agriculture--Parish Fetes--Fasting--Winter +Occupations--Yearly Migrations--Domestic Industries--Influence +of Capital and Wholesale Enterprise--The State +Peasants--Serf-dues--Buckle's "History of Civilisation"--A precocious +Yamstchik--"People Who Play Pranks"--A Midnight Alarm--The Far North. + + +Ivanofka may be taken as a fair specimen of the villages in the northern +half of the country, and a brief description of its inhabitants will +convey a tolerably correct notion of the northern peasantry in general. + +Nearly the whole of the female population, and about one-half of the +male inhabitants, are habitually engaged in cultivating the Communal +land, which comprises about two thousand acres of a light sandy soil. +The arable part of this land is divided into three large fields, each of +which is cut up into long narrow strips. The first field is reserved +for the winter grain--that is to say, rye, which forms, in the shape of +black bread, the principal food of the rural population. In the second +are raised oats for the horses, and buckwheat, which is largely used for +food. The third lies fallow, and is used in the summer as pasturage for +the cattle. + +All the villagers in this part of the country divide the arable land +in this way, in order to suit the triennial rotation of crops. This +triennial system is extremely simple. The field which is used this +year for raising winter grain will be used next year for raising summer +grain, and in the following year will lie fallow. Before being sown +with winter grain it ought to receive a certain amount of manure. Every +family possesses in each of the two fields under cultivation one or more +of the long narrow strips or belts into which they are divided. + +The annual life of the peasantry is that of simple husbandman, +inhabiting a country where the winter is long and severe. The +agricultural year begins in April with the melting of the snow. Nature +has been lying dormant for some months. Awaking now from her long sleep, +and throwing off her white mantle, she strives to make up for lost time. +No sooner has the snow disappeared than the fresh young grass begins to +shoot up, and very soon afterwards the shrubs and trees begin to bud. +The rapidity of this transition from winter to spring astonishes the +inhabitants of more temperate climes. + +On St. George's Day (April 23rd*) the cattle are brought out for the +first time, and sprinkled with holy water by the priest. They are never +very fat, but at this period of the year their appearance is truly +lamentable. During the winter they have been cooped up in small +unventilated cow-houses, and fed almost exclusively on straw; now, when +they are released from their imprisonment, they look like the ghosts of +their former emaciated selves. All are lean and weak, many are lame, and +some cannot rise to their feet without assistance. + + * With regard to saints' days, I always give the date + according to the old style. To find the date according to + our calendar, thirteen days must be added. + +Meanwhile the peasants are impatient to begin the field labour. An old +proverb which they all know says: "Sow in mud and you will be a prince"; +and they always act in accordance with this dictate of traditional +wisdom. As soon as it is possible to plough they begin to prepare the +land for the summer grain, and this labour occupies them probably till +the end of May. Then comes the work of carting out manure and preparing +the fallow field for the winter grain, which will last probably till +about St. Peter's Day (June 29th), when the hay-making generally begins. +After the hay-making comes the harvest, by far the busiest time of the +year. From the middle of July--especially from St. Elijah's Day (July +20th), when the saint is usually heard rumbling along the heavens in his +chariot of fire*--until the end of August, the peasant may work day and +night, and yet he will find that he has barely time to get all his +work done. In little more than a month he has to reap and stack his +grain--rye, oats, and whatever else he may have sown either in spring or +in the preceding autumn--and to sow the winter grain for next year. +To add to his troubles, it sometimes happens that the rye and the +oats ripen almost simultaneously, and his position is then still more +difficult. + + * It is thus that the peasants explain the thunder, which is + often heard at that season. + +Whether the seasons favour him or not, the peasant has at this time +a hard task, for he can rarely afford to hire the requisite number +of labourers, and has generally the assistance merely of his wife +and family; but he can at this season work for a short time at high +pressure, for he has the prospect of soon obtaining a good rest and +an abundance of food. About the end of September the field labour is +finished, and on the first day of October the harvest festival begins--a +joyous season, during which the parish fetes are commonly celebrated. + +To celebrate a parish fete in true orthodox fashion it is necessary +to prepare beforehand a large quantity of braga--a kind of home-brewed +small beer--and to bake a plentiful supply of piroghi or meat pies. Oil, +too, has to be procured, and vodka (rye spirit) in goodly quantity. +At the same time the big room of the izba, as the peasant's house is +called, has to be cleared, the floor washed, and the table and benches +scrubbed. The evening before the fete, while the piroghi are being +baked, a little lamp burns before the Icon in the corner of the room, +and perhaps one or two guests from a distance arrive in order that they +may have on the morrow a full day's enjoyment. + +On the morning of the fete the proceedings begin by a long service +in the church, at which all the inhabitants are present in their best +holiday costumes, except those matrons and young women who remain at +home to prepare the dinner. About mid-day dinner is served in each izba +for the family and their friends. In general the Russian peasant's +fare is of the simplest kind, and rarely comprises animal food of any +sort--not from any vegetarian proclivities, but merely because beef, +mutton, and pork are too expensive; but on a holiday, such as a parish +fete, there is always on the dinner table a considerable variety of +dishes. In the house of a well-to-do family there will be not only +greasy cabbage-soup and kasha--a dish made from buckwheat--but also +pork, mutton, and perhaps even beef. Braga will be supplied in unlimited +quantities, and more than once vodka will be handed round. When the +repast is finished, all rise together, and, turning towards the Icon in +the corner, bow and cross themselves repeatedly. The guests then say to +their host, "Spasibo za khelb za sol"--that is to say, "Thanks for your +hospitality," or more literally, "Thanks for bread and salt"; and +the host replies, "Do not be displeased, sit down once more for good +luck"--or perhaps he puts the last part of his request into the form of +a rhyming couplet to the following effect: "Sit down, that the hens +may brood, and that the chickens and bees may multiply!" All obey this +request, and there is another round of vodka. + +After dinner some stroll about, chatting with their friends, or go to +sleep in some shady nook, whilst those who wish to make merry go to the +spot where the young people are singing, playing, and amusing themselves +in various ways. As the sun sinks towards the horizon, the more grave, +staid guests wend their way homewards, but many remain for supper; +and as evening advances the effects of the vodka become more and more +apparent. Sounds of revelry are heard more frequently from the houses, +and a large proportion of the inhabitants and guests appear on the road +in various degrees of intoxication. Some of these vow eternal affection +to their friends, or with flaccid gestures and in incoherent tones +harangue invisible audiences; others stagger about aimlessly in +besotted self-contentment, till they drop down in a state of complete +unconsciousness. There they will lie tranquilly till they are picked up +by their less intoxicated friends, or more probably till they awake of +their own accord next morning. + +As a whole, a village fete in Russia is a saddening spectacle. It +affords a new proof--where, alas! no new proof was required--that we +northern nations, who know so well how to work, have not yet learned the +art of amusing ourselves. + +If the Russian peasant's food were always as good and plentiful as at +this season of the year, he would have little reason to complain; but +this is by no means the case. Gradually, as the harvest-time recedes, it +deteriorates in quality, and sometimes diminishes in quantity. Besides +this, during a great part of the year the peasant is prevented, by the +rules of the Church, from using much that he possesses. + +In southern climes, where these rules were elaborated and first +practised, the prescribed fasts are perhaps useful not only in a +religious, but also in a sanitary sense. Having abundance of fruit and +vegetables, the inhabitants do well to abstain occasionally from animal +food. But in countries like Northern and Central Russia the influence +of these rules is very different. The Russian peasant cannot get as +much animal food as he requires, whilst sour cabbage and cucumbers are +probably the only vegetables he can procure, and fruit of any kind is +for him an unattainable luxury. Under these circumstances, abstinence +from eggs and milk in all their forms during several months of the year +seems to the secular mind a superfluous bit of asceticism. If the Church +would direct her maternal solicitude to the peasant's drinking, and +leave him to eat what he pleases, she might exercise a beneficial +influence on his material and moral welfare. Unfortunately she has a +great deal too much inherent immobility to attempt anything of the +kind, so the muzhik, while free to drink copiously whenever he gets the +chance, must fast during the seven weeks of Lent, during two or three +weeks in June, from the beginning of November till Christmas, and on all +Wednesdays and Fridays during the remainder of the year. + +From the festival time till the following spring there is no possibility +of doing any agricultural work, for the ground is hard as iron, and +covered with a deep layer of snow. The male peasants, therefore, who +remain in the villages, have very little to do, and may spend the +greater part of their time in lying idly on the stove, unless they +happen to have learned some handicraft that can be practised at home. +Formerly, many of them were employed in transporting the grain to the +market town, which might be several hundred miles distant; but now this +species of occupation has been greatly diminished by the extension of +railways. + +Another winter occupation which was formerly practised, and has now +almost fallen into disuse, was that of stealing wood in the forest. This +was, according to peasant morality, no sin, or at most a very venial +offence, for God plants and waters the trees, and therefore forests +belong properly to no one. So thought the peasantry, but the landed +proprietors and the Administration of the Domains held a different +theory of property, and consequently precautions had to be taken to +avoid detection. In order to ensure success it was necessary to choose +a night when there was a violent snowstorm, which would immediately +obliterate all traces of the expedition; and when such a night was +found, the operation was commonly performed with success. During the +hours of darkness a tree would be felled, stripped of its branches, +dragged into the village, and cut up into firewood, and at sunrise the +actors would be tranquilly sleeping on the stove as if they had spent +the night at home. In recent years the judicial authorities have done +much towards putting down this practice and eradicating the loose +conceptions of property with which it was connected. + +For the female part of the population the winter used to be a busy +time, for it was during these four or five months that the spinning +and weaving had to be done, but now the big factories, with their cheap +methods of production, are rapidly killing the home industries, and the +young girls are not learning to work at the jenny and the loom as their +mothers and grandmothers did. + +In many of the northern villages, where ancient usages happen to +be preserved, the tedium of the long winter evenings is relieved by +so-called Besedy, a word which signifies literally conversazioni. A +Beseda, however, is not exactly a conversazione as we understand the +term, but resembles rather what is by some ladies called a Dorcas +meeting, with this essential difference, that those present work for +themselves and not for any benevolent purposes. In some villages as many +as three Besedy regularly assemble about sunset; one for the children, +the second for the young people, and the third for the matrons. Each of +the three has its peculiar character. In the first, the children work +and amuse themselves under the superintendence of an old woman, who +trims the torch* and endeavours to keep order. The little girls spin +flax in a primitive way without the aid of a jenny, and the boys, +who are, on the whole, much less industrious, make simple bits of +wicker-work. Formerly--I mean within my own recollection--many of them +used to make rude shoes of plaited bark, called lapty, but these are +being rapidly supplanted by leather boots. These occupations do not +prevent an almost incessant hum of talk, frequent discordant attempts +to sing in chorus, and occasional quarrels requiring the energetic +interference of the old woman who controls the proceedings. To amuse her +noisy flock she sometimes relates to them, for the hundredth time, one +of those wonderful old stories that lose nothing by repetition, and all +listen to her attentively, as if they had never heard the story before. + + * The torch (lutchina) has now almost entirely disappeared + and been replaced by the petroleum lamp. + +The second Beseda is held in another house by the young people of a +riper age. Here the workers are naturally more staid, less given to +quarrelling, sing more in harmony, and require no one to look after +them. Some people, however, might think that a chaperon or inspector +of some kind would be by no means out of place, for a good deal of +flirtation goes on, and if village scandal is to be trusted, strict +propriety in thought, word, and deed is not always observed. How far +these reports are true I cannot pretend to say, for the presence of +a stranger always acts on the company like the presence of a severe +inspector. In the third Beseda there is always at least strict decorum. +Here the married women work together and talk about their domestic +concerns, enlivening the conversation occasionally by the introduction +of little bits of village scandal. + +Such is the ordinary life of the peasants who live by agriculture; but +many of the villagers live occasionally or permanently in the towns. +Probably the majority of the peasants in this region have at some period +of their lives gained a living elsewhere. Many of the absentees spend +yearly a few months at home, whilst others visit their families only +occasionally, and, it may be, at long intervals. In no case, however, do +they sever their connection with their native village. Even the peasant +who becomes a rich merchant and settles permanently with his family +in Moscow or St. Petersburg remains probably a member of the Village +Commune, and pays his share of the taxes, though he does not enjoy any +of the corresponding privileges. Once I remember asking a rich man of +this kind, the proprietor of several large houses in St. Petersburg, +why he did not free himself from all connection with his native Commune, +with which he had no longer any interests in common. His answer was, "It +is all very well to be free, and I don't want anything from the Commune +now; but my old father lives there, my mother is buried there, and I +like to go back to the old place sometimes. Besides, I have children, +and our affairs are commercial (nashe dyelo torgovoe). Who knows but my +children may be very glad some day to have a share of the Commune land?" + +In respect to these non-agricultural occupations, each district has its +specialty. The province of Yaroslavl, for instance, supplies the large +towns with waiters for the traktirs, or lower class of restaurants, +whilst the best hotels in Petersburg are supplied by the Tartars of +Kasimof, celebrated for their sobriety and honesty. One part of the +province of Kostroma has a special reputation for producing carpenters +and stove-builders, whilst another part, as I once discovered to +my surprise, sends yearly to Siberia--not as convicts, but as free +laborours--a large contingent of tailors and workers in felt! On +questioning some youngsters who were accompanying as apprentices one of +these bands, I was informed by a bright-eyed youth of about sixteen that +he had already made the journey twice, and intended to go every winter. +"And you always bring home a big pile of money with you?" I inquired. +"Nitchevo!" replied the little fellow, gaily, with an air of pride and +self-confidence; "last year I brought home three roubles!" This +answer was, at the moment, not altogether welcome, for I had just been +discussing with a Russian fellow-traveller as to whether the peasantry +can fairly be called industrious, and the boy's reply enabled my +antagonist to score a point against me. "You hear that!" he said, +triumphantly. "A Russian peasant goes all the way to Siberia and back +for three roubles! Could you get an Englishman to work at that rate?" +"Perhaps not," I replied, evasively, thinking at the same time that if a +youth were sent several times from Land's End to John o' Groat's House, +and obliged to make the greater part of the journey in carts or on foot, +he would probably expect, by way of remuneration for the time and labour +expended, rather more than seven and sixpence! + +Very often the peasants find industrial occupations without leaving +home, for various industries which do not require complicated machinery +are practised in the villages by the peasants and their families. Wooden +vessels, wrought iron, pottery, leather, rush-matting, and numerous +other articles are thus produced in enormous quantities. Occasionally we +find not only a whole village, but even a whole district occupied almost +exclusively with some one kind of manual industry. In the province of +Vladimir, for example, a large group of villages live by Icon-painting; +in one locality near Nizhni-Novgorod nineteen villages are occupied +with the manufacture of axes; round about Pavlovo, in the same province, +eighty villages produce almost nothing but cutlery; and in a locality +called Ouloma, on the borders of Novgorod and Tver, no less than two +hundred villages live by nail-making. + +These domestic industries have long existed, and were formerly an +abundant source of revenue--providing a certain compensation for +the poverty of the soil. But at present they are in a very critical +position. They belong to the primitive period of economic development, +and that period in Russia, as I shall explain in a future chapter, is +now rapidly drawing to a close. Formerly the Head of a Household bought +the raw material, had it worked up at home, and sold with a reasonable +profit the manufactured articles at the bazaars, as the local fairs are +called, or perhaps at the great annual yarmarkt* of Nizhni-Novgorod. +This primitive system is now rapidly becoming obsolete. Capital and +wholesale enterprise have come into the field and are revolutionising +the old methods of production and trade. Already whole groups of +industrial villages have fallen under the power of middle-men, who +advance money to the working households and fix the price of the +products. Attempts are frequently made to break their power by voluntary +co-operative associations, organised by the local authorities or +benevolent landed proprietors of the neighbourhood--like the benevolent +people in England who try to preserve the traditional cottage +industries--and some of the associations work very well; but the +ultimate success of such "efforts to stem the current of capitalism" +is extremely doubtful. At the same time, the periodical bazaars and +yarmarki, at which producers and consumers transacted their affairs +without mediation, are being replaced by permanent stores and by various +classes of tradesmen--wholesale and retail. + + * This term is a corruption of the German word Jahrmarkt. + +To the political economist of the rigidly orthodox school this important +change may afford great satisfaction. According to his theories it is +a gigantic step in the right direction, and must necessarily redound +to the advantage of all parties concerned. The producer now receives a +regular supply of raw material, and regularly disposes of the articles +manufactured; and the time and trouble which he formerly devoted to +wandering about in search of customers he can now employ more profitably +in productive work. The creation of a class between the producers +and the consumers is an important step towards that division and +specialisation of labour which is a necessary condition of industrial +and commercial prosperity. The consumer no longer requires to go on a +fixed day to some distant point, on the chance of finding there what he +requires, but can always buy what he pleases in the permanent stores. +Above all, the production is greatly increased in amount, and the price +of manufactured goods is proportionally lessened. + +All this seems clear enough in theory, and any one who values +intellectual tranquillity will feel disposed to accept this view of the +case without questioning its accuracy; but the unfortunate traveller +who is obliged to use his eyes as well as his logical faculties may +find some little difficulty in making the facts fit into the a +priori formula. Far be it from me to question the wisdom of political +economists, but I cannot refrain from remarking that of the three +classes concerned--small producers, middle-men, and consumers--two fail +to perceive and appreciate the benefits which have been conferred upon +them. The small producers complain that on the new system they work +more and gain less; and the consumers complain that the manufactured +articles, if cheaper and more showy in appearance, are far inferior in +quality. The middlemen, who are accused, rightly or wrongly, of taking +for themselves the lion's share of the profits, alone seem satisfied +with the new arrangement. + +Interesting as this question undoubtedly is, it is not of permanent +importance, because the present state of things is merely transitory. +Though the peasants may continue for a time to work at home for the +wholesale dealers, they cannot in the long run compete with the +big factories and workshops, organised on the European model with +steam-power and complicated machinery, which already exist in many +provinces. Once a country has begun to move forward on the great highway +of economic progress, there is no possibility of stopping halfway. + +Here again the orthodox economists find reason for congratulation, +because big factories and workshops are the cheapest and most productive +form of manufacturing industry; and again, the observant traveller +cannot shut his eyes to ugly facts which force themselves on his +attention. He notices that this cheapest and most productive form of +manufacturing industry does not seem to advance the material and moral +welfare of the population. Nowhere is there more disease, drunkenness, +demoralisation and misery than in the manufacturing districts. + +The reader must not imagine that in making these statements I wish to +calumniate the spirit of modern enterprise, or to advocate a return to +primitive barbarism. All great changes produce a mixture of good and +evil, and at first the evil is pretty sure to come prominently forward. +Russia is at this moment in a state of transition, and the new condition +of things is not yet properly organised. With improved organisation many +of the existing evils will disappear. Already in recent years I have +noticed sporadic signs of improvement. When factories were first +established no proper arrangements were made for housing and feeding +the workmen, and the consequent hardships were specially felt when the +factories were founded, as is often the case, in rural districts. Now, +the richer and more enterprising manufacturers build large barracks for +the workmen and their families, and provide them with common kitchens, +wash-houses, steam-baths, schools, and similar requisites of civilised +life. At the same time the Government appoints inspectors to superintend +the sanitary arrangements and see that the health and comfort of the +workers are properly attended to. + +On the whole we must assume that the activity of these inspectors tends +to improve the condition of the working-classes. Certainly in some +instances it has that effect. I remember, for example, some thirty years +ago, visiting a lucifer-match factory in which the hands employed worked +habitually in an atmosphere impregnated with the fumes of phosphorus, +which produce insidious and very painful diseases. Such a thing is +hardly possible nowadays. On the other hand, official inspection, like +Factory Acts, everywhere gives rise to a good deal of dissatisfaction +and does not always improve the relations between employers and +employed. Some of the Russian inspectors, if I may credit the testimony +of employers, are young gentlemen imbued with socialist notions, who +intentionally stir up discontent or who make mischief from inexperience. +An amusing illustration of the current complaints came under my notice +when, in 1903, I was visiting a landed proprietor of the southern +provinces, who has a large sugar factory on his estate. The inspector +objected to the traditional custom of the men sleeping in large +dormitories and insisted on sleeping-cots being constructed for them +individually. As soon as the change was made the workmen came to the +proprietor to complain, and put their grievance in an interrogative +form: "Are we cattle that we should be thus couped up in stalls?" + +To return to the northern agricultural region, the rural population +have a peculiar type, which is to be accounted for by the fact that +they never experienced to its full extent the demoralising influence of +serfage. A large proportion of them were settled on State domains and +were governed by a special branch of the Imperial administration, whilst +others lived on the estates of rich absentee landlords, who were in the +habit of leaving the management of their properties to a steward acting +under a code of instructions. In either case, though serfs in the eye +of the law, they enjoyed practically a very large amount of liberty. By +paying a small sum for a passport they could leave their villages for +an indefinite period, and as long as they sent home regularly the +money required for taxes and dues, they were in little danger of being +molested. Many of them, though officially inscribed as domiciled in +their native communes, lived permanently in the towns, and not a few +succeeded in amassing large fortunes. The effect of this comparative +freedom is apparent even at the present day. These peasants of the north +are more energetic, more intelligent, more independent, and consequently +less docile and pliable than those of the fertile central provinces. +They have, too, more education. A large proportion of them can read and +write, and occasionally one meets among them men who have a keen desire +for knowledge. Several times I encountered peasants in this region who +had a small collection of books, and twice I found in such collections, +much to my astonishment, a Russian translation of Buckle's "History of +Civilisation." + +How, it may be asked, did a work of this sort find its way to such a +place? If the reader will pardon a short digression, I shall explain the +fact. + +Immediately after the Crimean War there was a curious intellectual +movement--of which I shall have more to say hereafter--among the Russian +educated classes. The movement assumed various forms, of which two of +the most prominent were a desire for encyclopaedic knowledge, and an +attempt to reduce all knowledge to a scientific form. For men in this +state of mind Buckle's great work had naturally a powerful fascination. +It seemed at first sight to reduce the multifarious conflicting facts +of human history to a few simple principles, and to evolve order out of +chaos. Its success, therefore, was great. In the course of a few years +no less than four independent translations were published and sold. +Every one read, or at least professed to have read, the wonderful book, +and many believed that its author was the greatest genius of his time. +During the first year of my residence in Russia (1870), I rarely had +a serious conversation without hearing Buckle's name mentioned; and +my friends almost always assumed that he had succeeded in creating a +genuine science of history on the inductive method. In vain I pointed +out that Buckle had merely thrown out some hints in his introductory +chapter as to how such a science ought to be constructed, and that +he had himself made no serious attempt to use the method which he +commended. My objections had little or no effect: the belief was +too deep-rooted to be so easily eradicated. In books, periodicals, +newspapers, and professional lectures the name of Buckle was constantly +cited--often violently dragged in without the slightest reason--and the +cheap translations of his work were sold in enormous quantities. It is +not, then, so very wonderful after all that the book should have found +its way to two villages in the province of Yaroslavl. + +The enterprising, self-reliant, independent spirit which is often to +be found among those peasants manifests itself occasionally in amusing +forms among the young generation. Often in this part of the country +I have encountered boys who recalled young America rather than young +Russia. One of these young hopefuls I remember well. I was waiting at a +post-station for the horses to be changed, when he appeared before me +in a sheep-skin, fur cap, and gigantic double-soled boots--all of which +articles had been made on a scale adapted to future rather than actual +requirements. He must have stood in his boots about three feet eight +inches, and he could not have been more than twelve years of age; but +he had already learned to look upon life as a serious business, wore a +commanding air, and knitted his innocent little brows as if the cares of +an empire weighed on his diminutive shoulders. Though he was to act +as yamstchik he had to leave the putting in of the horses to larger +specimens of the human species, but he took care that all was done +properly. Putting one of his big boots a little in advance, and drawing +himself up to his full shortness, he watched the operation attentively, +as if the smallness of his stature had nothing to do with his +inactivity. When all was ready, he climbed up to his seat, and at a +signal from the station-keeper, who watched with paternal pride all the +movements of the little prodigy, we dashed off at a pace rarely +attained by post-horses. He had the faculty of emitting a peculiar +sound--something between a whirr and a whistle--that appeared to have +a magical effect on the team and every few minutes he employed this +incentive. The road was rough, and at every jolt he was shot upwards +into the air, but he always fell back into his proper position, and +never lost for a moment his self-possession or his balance. At the end +of the journey I found we had made nearly fourteen miles within the +hour. + +Unfortunately this energetic, enterprising spirit sometimes takes +an illegitimate direction. Not only whole villages, but even whole +districts, have in this way acquired a bad reputation for robbery, the +manufacture of paper-money, and similar offences against the criminal +law. In popular parlance, these localities are said to contain "people +who play pranks" (narod shalit). I must, however, remark that, if I may +judge by my own experience, these so-called "playful" tendencies are +greatly exaggerated. Though I have travelled hundreds of miles at +night on lonely roads, I was never robbed or in any way molested. Once, +indeed, when travelling at night in a tarantass, I discovered on awaking +that my driver was bending over me, and had introduced his hand into one +of my pockets; but the incident ended without serious consequences. +When I caught the delinquent hand, and demanded an explanation from the +owner, he replied, in an apologetic, caressing tone, that the night was +cold, and he wished to warm his fingers; and when I advised him to use +for that purpose his own pockets rather than mine, he promised to act +in future according to my advice. More than once, it is true, I believed +that I was in danger of being attacked, but on every occasion my fears +turned out to be unfounded, and sometimes the catastrophe was ludicrous +rather than tragical. Let the following serve as an illustration. + +I had occasion to traverse, in company with a Russian friend, the +country lying to the east of the river Vetluga--a land of forest and +morass, with here and there a patch of cultivation. The majority of the +population are Tcheremiss, a Finnish tribe; but near the banks of the +river there are villages of Russian peasants, and these latter have the +reputation of "playing pranks." When we were on the point of starting +from Kozmodemiansk a town on the bank of the Volga, we received a visit +from an officer of rural police, who painted in very sombre colours the +habits and moral character--or, more properly, immoral character--of +the people whose acquaintance we were about to make. He related with +melodramatic gesticulation his encounters with malefactors belonging to +the villages through which we had to pass, and ended the interview with +a strong recommendation to us not to travel at night, and to keep at all +times our eyes open and our revolver ready. The effect of his narrative +was considerably diminished by the prominence of the moral, which was to +the effect that there never had been a police-officer who had shown +so much zeal, energy, and courage in the discharge of his duty as the +worthy man before us. We considered it, however, advisable to remember +his hint about keeping our eyes open. + +In spite of our intention of being very cautious, it was already dark +when we arrived at the village which was to be our halting-place for the +night, and it seemed at first as if we should be obliged to spend the +night in the open air. The inhabitants had already retired to rest, +and refused to open their doors to unknown travellers. At length an old +woman, more hospitable than her neighbours, or more anxious to earn an +honest penny, consented to let us pass the night in an outer apartment +(seni), and this permission we gladly accepted. Mindful of the warnings +of the police officer, we barricaded the two doors and the window, and +the precaution was evidently not superfluous, for almost as soon as +the light was extinguished we could hear that an attempt was being made +stealthily to effect an entrance. Notwithstanding my efforts to remain +awake, and on the watch, I at last fell asleep, and was suddenly aroused +by some one grasping me tightly by the arm. Instantly I sprang to my +feet and endeavoured to close with my invisible assailant. In vain! He +dexterously eluded my grasp, and I stumbled over my portmanteau, which +was lying on the floor; but my prompt action revealed who the intruder +was, by producing a wild flutter and a frantic cackling! Before +my companion could strike a light the mysterious attack was fully +explained. The supposed midnight robber and possible assassin was simply +a peaceable hen that had gone to roost on my arm, and, on finding +her position unsteady, had dug her claws into what she mistook for a +roosting-pole! + +When speaking of the peasantry of the north I have hitherto had in +view the inhabitants of the provinces of Old-Novgorod, Tver, Yaroslavl, +Nizhni-Novgorod, Kostroma, Kazan, and Viatka, and I have founded my +remarks chiefly on information collected on the spot. Beyond this lies +what may be called the Far North. Though I cannot profess to have the +same personal acquaintance with the peasantry of that region, I may +perhaps be allowed to insert here some information regarding them which +I collected from various trustworthy sources. + +If we draw a wavy line eastward from a point a little to the north of +St. Petersburg, as is shown in the map facing page 1 of this volume, we +shall have between that line and the Polar Ocean what may be regarded as +a distinct, peculiar region, differing in many respects from the rest of +Russia. Throughout the whole of it the climate is very severe. For about +half of the year the ground is covered by deep snow, and the rivers are +frozen. By far the greater part of the land is occupied by forests of +pine, fir, larch, and birch, or by vast, unfathomable morasses. The +arable land and pasturage taken together form only about one and a half +per cent, of the area. The population is scarce--little more than one +to the English square mile--and settled chiefly along the banks of the +rivers. The peasantry support themselves by fishing, hunting, felling +and floating timber, preparing tar and charcoal, cattle-breeding, and, +in the extreme north, breeding reindeer. + +These are their chief occupations, but the people do not entirely +neglect agriculture. They make the most of their short summer by +means of a peculiar and ingenious mode of farming, well adapted to the +peculiar local conditions. The peasant knows of course nothing about +agronomical chemistry, but he, as well as his forefathers, have observed +that if wood be burnt on a field, and the ashes be mixed with the soil, +a good harvest may be confidently expected. On this simple principle his +system of farming is based. When spring comes round and the leaves begin +to appear on the trees, a band of peasants, armed with their hatchets, +proceed to some spot in the woods previously fixed upon. Here they begin +to make a clearing. This is no easy matter, for tree-felling is hard +and tedious work; but the process does not take so much time as might be +expected, for the workmen have been brought up to the trade, and wield +their axes with marvellous dexterity. When they have felled all the +trees, great and small, they return to their homes, and think no more +about their clearing till the autumn, when they return, in order to +strip the fallen trees of the branches, to pick out what they require +for building purposes or firewood, and to pile up the remainder in +heaps. The logs for building or firewood are dragged away by horses as +soon as the first fall of snow has made a good slippery road, but the +piles are allowed to remain till the following spring, when they are +stirred up with long poles and ignited. The flames rapidly spread in all +directions till they join together and form a gigantic bonfire, such as +is never seen in more densely-populated countries. If the fire does its +work properly, the whole of the space is covered with a layer of ashes; +and when these have been slightly mixed with soil by means of a light +plough, the seed is sown. + +On the field prepared in this original fashion is sown barley, rye, +or flax, and the harvests, nearly always good, sometimes border on the +miraculous. Barley or rye may be expected to produce about sixfold +in ordinary years, and they may produce as much as thirty-fold under +peculiarly favourable circumstances. The fertility is, however, +short-lived. If the soil is poor and stony, not more than two crops can +be raised; if it is of a better quality, it may give tolerable harvests +for six or seven successive years. In most countries this would be an +absurdly expensive way of manuring, for wood is much too valuable a +commodity to be used for such a purpose; but in this northern region the +forests are boundless, and in the districts where there is no river or +stream by which timber may be floated, the trees not used in this way +rot from old age. Under these circumstances the system is reasonable, +but it must be admitted that it does not give a very large return for +the amount of labour expended, and in bad seasons it gives almost no +return at all. + +The other sources of revenue are scarcely less precarious. With his +gun and a little parcel of provisions the peasant wanders about in the +trackless forests, and too often returns after many days with a very +light bag; or he starts in autumn for some distant lake, and comes +back after five or six weeks with nothing better than perch and pike. +Sometimes he tries his luck at deep-sea fishing. In this case he starts +in February--probably on foot--for Kem, on the shore of the White Sea, +or perhaps for the more distant Kola, situated on a small river which +falls into the Arctic Ocean. There, in company with three or four +comrades, he starts on a fishing cruise along the Murman coast, or, +it may be, off the coast of Spitzbergen. His gains will depend on the +amount caught, for it is a joint-venture; but in no case can they be +very great, for three-fourths of the fish brought into port belongs to +the owner of the craft and tackle. Of the sum realised, he brings home +perhaps only a small part, for he has a strong temptation to buy +rum, tea, and other luxuries, which are very dear in those northern +latitudes. If the fishing is good and he resists temptation, he may save +as much as 100 roubles--about 10 pounds--and thereby live comfortably +all winter; but if the fishing season is bad, he may find himself at the +end of it not only with empty pockets, but in debt to the owner of the +boat. This debt he may pay off, if he has a horse, by transporting the +dried fish to Kargopol, St. Petersburg, or some other market. + +It is here in the Far North that the ancient folk-lore--popular songs, +stories, and fragments of epic poetry--has been best preserved; but this +is a field on which I need not enter, for the reader can easily find all +that he may desire to know on the subject in the brilliant writings of +M. Rambaud and the very interesting, conscientious works of the late Mr. +Ralston,* which enjoy a high reputation in Russia. + + * Rambaud, "La Russie Epique," Paris, 1876; Ralston, "The + Songs of the Russian People," London, 1872; and "Russian + Folk-tales," London, 1873. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MIR, OR VILLAGE COMMUNITY + + +Social and Political Importance of the Mir--The Mir and the Family +Compared--Theory of the Communal System--Practical Deviations from the +Theory--The Mir a Good Specimen of Constitutional Government of the +Extreme Democratic Type--The Village Assembly--Female Members--The +Elections--Distribution of the Communal Land. + + +When I had gained a clear notion of the family-life and occupations of +the peasantry, I turned my attention to the constitution of the village. +This was a subject which specially interested me, because I was aware +that the Mir is the most peculiar of Russian institutions. Long before +visiting Russia I had looked into Haxthausen's celebrated work, by which +the peculiarities of the Russian village system were first made known +to Western Europe, and during my stay in St. Petersburg I had often +been informed by intelligent, educated Russians that the rural Commune +presented a practical solution of many difficult social problems with +which the philosophers and statesmen of the West had long been vainly +struggling. "The nations of the West"--such was the substance of +innumerable discourses which I had heard--"are at present on the +high-road to political and social anarchy, and England has the +unenviable distinction of being foremost in the race. The natural +increase of population, together with the expropriation of the small +landholders by the great landed proprietors, has created a dangerous and +ever-increasing Proletariat--a great disorganised mass of human beings, +without homes, without permanent domicile, without property of any kind, +without any stake in the existing institutions. Part of these gain a +miserable pittance as agricultural labourers, and live in a condition +infinitely worse than serfage. The others have been forever uprooted +from the soil, and have collected in the large towns, where they earn a +precarious living in the factories and workshops, or swell the ranks of +the criminal classes. In England you have no longer a peasantry in the +proper sense of the term, and unless some radical measures be very soon +adopted, you will never be able to create such a class, for men who +have been long exposed to the unwholesome influences of town life are +physically and morally incapable of becoming agriculturists. + +"Hitherto," the disquisition proceeded, "England has enjoyed, in +consequence of her geographical position, her political freedom, and her +vast natural deposits of coal and iron, a wholly exceptional position +in the industrial world. Fearing no competition, she has proclaimed +the principles of Free Trade, and has inundated the world with her +manufactures--using unscrupulously her powerful navy and all the other +forces at her command for breaking down every barrier tending to check +the flood sent forth from Manchester and Birmingham. In that way her +hungry Proletariat has been fed. But the industrial supremacy of England +is drawing to a close. The nations have discovered the perfidious +fallacy of Free-Trade principles, and are now learning to manufacture +for their own wants, instead of paying England enormous sums to +manufacture for them. Very soon English goods will no longer find +foreign markets, and how will the hungry Proletariat then be fed? +Already the grain production of England is far from sufficient for the +wants of the population, so that, even when the harvest is exceptionally +abundant, enormous quantities of wheat are imported from all quarters +of the globe. Hitherto this grain has been paid for by the manufactured +goods annually exported, but how will it be procured when these goods +are no longer wanted by foreign consumers? And what then will the hungry +Proletariat do?"* + + * This passage was written, precisely as it stands, long + before the fiscal question was raised by Mr. Chamberlain. + It will be found in the first edition of this work, + published in 1877. (Vol. I., pp. 179-81.) + +This sombre picture of England's future had often been presented to me, +and on nearly every occasion I had been assured that Russia had been +saved from these terrible evils by the rural Commune--an institution +which, in spite of its simplicity and incalculable utility, West +Europeans seemed utterly incapable of understanding and appreciating. + +The reader will now easily conceive with what interest I took to +studying this wonderful institution, and with what energy I prosecuted +my researches. An institution which professes to solve satisfactorily +the most difficult social problems of the future is not to be met with +every day, even in Russia, which is specially rich in material for the +student of social science. + +On my arrival at Ivanofka my knowledge of the institution was of that +vague, superficial kind which is commonly derived from men who are +fonder of sweeping generalisations and rhetorical declamation than of +serious, patient study of phenomena. I knew that the chief personage in +a Russian village is the Selski Starosta, or Village Elder, and that all +important Communal affairs are regulated by the Selski Skhod, or Village +Assembly. Further, I was aware that the land in the vicinity of the +village belongs to the Commune, and is distributed periodically among +the members in such a way that every able-bodied peasant possesses a +share sufficient, or nearly sufficient, for his maintenance. Beyond this +elementary information I knew little or nothing. + +My first attempt at extending my knowledge was not very successful. +Hoping that my friend Ivan might be able to assist me, and knowing that +the popular name for the Commune is Mir, which means also "the world," I +put to him the direct, simple question, "What is the Mir?" + +Ivan was not easily disconcerted, but for once he looked puzzled, and +stared at me vacantly. When I endeavoured to explain to him my question, +he simply knitted his brows and scratched the back of his head. This +latter movement is the Russian peasant's method of accelerating cerebral +action; but in the present instance it had no practical result. In +spite of his efforts, Ivan could not get much further than the "Kak vam +skazat'?" that is to say, "How am I to tell you?" + +It was not difficult to perceive that I had adopted an utterly false +method of investigation, and a moment's reflection sufficed to show +me the absurdity of my question. I had asked from an uneducated man a +philosophical definition, instead of extracting from him material in +the form of concrete facts, and constructing therefrom a definition for +myself. These concrete facts Ivan was both able and willing to supply; +and as soon as I adopted a rational mode of questioning, I obtained from +him all I wanted. The information he gave me, together with the results +of much subsequent conversation and reading, I now propose to present to +the reader in my own words. + +The peasant family of the old type is, as we have just seen, a kind of +primitive association in which the members have nearly all things in +common. The village may be roughly described as a primitive association +on a larger scale. + +Between these two social units there are many points of analogy. In both +there are common interests and common responsibilities. In both there +is a principal personage, who is in a certain sense ruler within and +representative as regards the outside world: in the one case called +Khozain, or Head of the Household, and in the other Starosta, or Village +Elder. In both the authority of the ruler is limited: in the one case +by the adult members of the family, and in the other by the Heads of +Households. In both there is a certain amount of common property: in the +one case the house and nearly all that it contains, and in the other the +arable land and possibly a little pasturage. In both cases there is a +certain amount of common responsibility: in the one case for all the +debts, and in the other for all the taxes and Communal obligations. +And both are protected to a certain extent against the ordinary legal +consequences of insolvency, for the family cannot be deprived of its +house or necessary agricultural implements, and the Commune cannot be +deprived of its land, by importunate creditors. + +On the other hand, there are many important points of contrast. The +Commune is, of course, much larger than the family, and the mutual +relations of its members are by no means so closely interwoven. The +members of a family all farm together, and those of them who earn money +from other sources are expected to put their savings into the common +purse; whilst the households composing a Commune farm independently, and +pay into the common treasury only a certain fixed sum. + +From these brief remarks the reader will at once perceive that a Russian +village is something very different from a village in our sense of the +term, and that the villagers are bound together by ties quite unknown to +the English rural population. A family living in an English village has +little reason to take an interest in the affairs of its neighbours. The +isolation of the individual families is never quite perfect, for man, +being a social animal, takes necessarily a certain interest in the +affairs of those around him, and this social duty is sometimes fulfilled +by the weaker sex with more zeal than is absolutely indispensable for +the public welfare; but families may live for many years in the same +village without ever becoming conscious of common interests. So long as +the Jones family do not commit any culpable breach of public order, such +as putting obstructions on the highway or habitually setting their +house on fire, their neighbour Brown takes probably no interest in their +affairs, and has no ground for interfering with their perfect liberty of +action. Amongst the families composing a Russian village, such a state +of isolation is impossible. The Heads of Households must often meet +together and consult in the Village Assembly, and their daily occupation +must be influenced by the Communal decrees. They cannot begin to mow the +hay or plough the fallow field until the Village Assembly has passed +a resolution on the subject. If a peasant becomes a drunkard, or takes +some equally efficient means to become insolvent, every family in the +village has a right to complain, not merely in the interests of public +morality, but from selfish motives, because all the families are +collectively responsible for his taxes.* For the same reason no peasant +can permanently leave the village without the consent of the Commune, +and this consent will not be granted until the applicant gives +satisfactory security for the fulfilment of his actual and future +liabilities. If a peasant wishes to go away for a short time, in order +to work elsewhere, he must obtain a written permission, which serves him +as a passport during his absence; and he may be recalled at any moment +by a Communal decree. In reality he is rarely recalled so long as he +sends home regularly the full amount of his taxes--including the dues +which he has to pay for the temporary passport--but sometimes the +Commune uses the power of recall for purposes of extortion. If it +becomes known, for instance, that an absent member is receiving a good +salary or otherwise making money, he may one day receive a formal order +to return at once to his native village, but he is probably informed at +the same time, unofficially, that his presence will be dispensed with if +he will send to the Commune a certain specified sum. The money thus sent +is generally used by the Commune for convivial purposes. ** + + * This common responsibility for the taxes was abolished in + 1903 by the Emperor, on the advice of M. Witte, and the + other Communal fetters are being gradually relaxed. A + peasant may now, if he wishes, cease to be a member of the + Commune altogether, as soon as he has defrayed all his + outstanding obligations. + + ** With the recent relaxing of the Communal fetters, + referred to in the foregoing note, this abuse should + disappear. + +In all countries the theory of government and administration differs +considerably from the actual practice. Nowhere is this difference +greater than in Russia, and in no Russian institution is it greater than +in the Village Commune. It is necessary, therefore, to know both theory +and practice; and it is well to begin with the former, because it is the +simpler of the two. When we have once thoroughly mastered the theory, +it is easy to understand the deviations that are made to suit peculiar +local conditions. + +According, then, to theory, all male peasants in every part of the +Empire are inscribed in census-lists, which form the basis of the direct +taxation. These lists are revised at irregular intervals, and all +males alive at the time of the "revision," from the newborn babe to the +centenarian, are duly inscribed. Each Commune has a list of this kind, +and pays to the Government an annual sum proportionate to the number of +names which the list contains, or, in popular language, according to the +number of "revision souls." During the intervals between the revisions +the financial authorities take no notice of the births and deaths. A +Commune which has a hundred male members at the time of the revision +may have in a few years considerably more or considerably less than that +number, but it has to pay taxes for a hundred members all the same until +a new revision is made for the whole Empire. + +Now in Russia, so far at least as the rural population is concerned, the +payment of taxes is inseparably connected with the possession of land. +Every peasant who pays taxes is supposed to have a share of the land +belonging to the Commune. If the Communal revision lists contain a +hundred names, the Communal land ought to be divided into a hundred +shares, and each "revision soul" should enjoy his share in return for +the taxes which he pays. + +The reader who has followed my explanations up to this point may +naturally conclude that the taxes paid by the peasants are in reality a +species of rent for the land which they enjoy. Such a conclusion would +not be altogether justified. When a man rents a bit of land he acts +according to his own judgment, and makes a voluntary contract with the +proprietor; but the Russian peasant is obliged to pay his taxes whether +he desires to enjoy land or not. The theory, therefore, that the +taxes are simply the rent of the land will not bear even superficial +examination. Equally untenable is the theory that they are a species of +land-tax. In any reasonable system of land-dues the yearly sum imposed +bears some kind of proportion to the quantity and quality of the land +enjoyed; but in Russia it may be that the members of one Commune possess +six acres of bad land, and the members of the neighbouring Commune seven +acres of good land, and yet the taxes in both cases are the same. The +truth is that the taxes are personal, and are calculated according to +the number of male "souls," and the Government does not take the trouble +to inquire how the Communal land is distributed. The Commune has to pay +into the Imperial Treasury a fixed yearly sum, according to the number +of its "revision souls," and distributes the land among its members as +it thinks fit. + +How, then, does the Commune distribute the land? To this question it is +impossible to reply in brief, general terms, because each Commune acts +as it pleases!* Some act strictly according to the theory. These divide +their land at the time of the revision into a number of portions or +shares corresponding to the number of revision souls, and give to each +family a number of shares corresponding to the number of revision souls +which it contains. This is from the administrative point of view by +far the simplest system. The census-list determines how much land each +family will enjoy, and the existing tenures are disturbed only by the +revisions which take place at irregular intervals.** But, on the other +hand, this system has serious defects. The revision-list represents +merely the numerical strength of the families, and the numerical +strength is often not at all in proportion to the working power. Let us +suppose, for example, two families, each containing at the time of +the revision five male members. According to the census-list these two +families are equal, and ought to receive equal shares of the land; but +in reality it may happen that the one contains a father in the prime of +life and four able-bodies sons, whilst the other contains a widow and +five little boys. The wants and working power of these two families are +of course very different; and if the above system of distribution be +applied, the man with four sons and a goodly supply of grandchildren +will probably find that he has too little land, whilst the widow with +her five little boys will find it difficult to cultivate the five shares +alloted to her, and utterly impossible to pay the corresponding amount +of taxation--for in all cases, it must be remembered, the Communal +burdens are distributed in the same proportion as the land. + + * A long list of the various systems of allotment to be + found in individual Communes in different parts of the + country is given in the opening chapter of a valuable work + by Karelin, entitled "Obshtchinnoye Vladyenie v Rossii" (St. + Petersburg, 1893). As my object is to convey to the reader + merely a general idea of the institution, I refrain from + confusing him by an enumeration of the endless divergencies + from the original type. + + ** Since 1719 eleven revisions have been made, the last in + 1897. The intervals varied from six to forty-one years. + +But why, it may be said, should the widow not accept provisionally the +five shares, and let to others the part which she does not require? The +balance of rent after payment of the taxes might help her to bring up +her young family. + +So it seems to one acquainted only with the rural economy of England, +where land is scarce, and always gives a revenue more than sufficient +to defray the taxes. But in Russia the possession of a share of Communal +land is often not a privilege, but a burden. In some Communes the land +is so poor and abundant that it cannot be let at any price. In others +the soil will repay cultivation, but a fair rent will not suffice to pay +the taxes and dues. + +To obviate these inconvenient results of the simpler system, many +Communes have adopted the expedient of allotting the land, not according +to the number of revision souls, but according to the working power +of the families. Thus, in the instance above supposed, the widow would +receive perhaps two shares, and the large household, containing five +workers, would receive perhaps seven or eight. Since the breaking-up of +the large families, such inequality as I have supposed is, of course, +rare; but inequality of a less extreme kind does still occur, and +justifies a departure from the system of allotment according to the +revision-lists. + +Even if the allotment be fair and equitable at the time of the revision, +it may soon become unfair and burdensome by the natural fluctuations of +the population. Births and deaths may in the course of a very few years +entirely alter the relative working power of the various families. +The sons of the widow may grow up to manhood, whilst two or three +able-bodied members of the other family may be cut off by an epidemic. +Thus, long before a new revision takes place, the distribution of the +land may be no longer in accordance with the wants and capacities of +the various families composing the Commune. To correct this, various +expedients are employed. Some Communes transfer particular lots from one +family to another, as circumstances demand; whilst others make from +time to time, during the intervals between the revisions, a complete +redistribution and reallotment of the land. Of these two systems the +former is now more frequently employed. + +The system of allotment adopted depends entirely on the will of the +particular Commune. In this respect the Communes enjoy the most complete +autonomy, and no peasant ever dreams of appealing against a Communal +decree.* The higher authorities not only abstain from all interference +in the allotment of the Communal lands, but remain in profound ignorance +as to which system the Communes habitually adopt. Though the Imperial +Administration has a most voracious appetite for symmetrically +constructed statistical tables--many of them formed chiefly out +of materials supplied by the mysterious inner consciousness of the +subordinate officials--no attempt has yet been made, so far as I know, +to collect statistical data which might throw light on this important +subject. In spite of the systematic and persistent efforts of the +centralised bureaucracy to regulate minutely all departments of the +national life, the rural Communes, which contain about five-sixths of +the population, remain in many respects entirely beyond its influence, +and even beyond its sphere of vision! But let not the reader be +astonished overmuch. He will learn in time that Russia is the land of +paradoxes; and meanwhile he is about to receive a still more startling +bit of information. In "the great stronghold of Caesarian despotism +and centralised bureaucracy," these Village Communes, containing about +five-sixths of the population, are capital specimens of representative +Constitutional government of the extreme democratic type! + + * This has been somewhat modified by recent legislation. + According to the Emancipation Law of 1861, redistribution of + the land could take place at any time provided it was voted + by a majority of two-thirds at the Village Assembly. By a + law of 1893 redistribution cannot take place oftener than + once in twelve years, and must receive the sanction of + certain local authorities. + +When I say that the rural Commune is a good specimen of Constitutional +government, I use the phrase in the English, and not in the Continental +sense. In the Continental languages a Constitutional regime implies +the existence of a long, formal document, in which the functions of the +various institutions, the powers of the various authorities, and the +methods of procedure are carefully defined. Such a document was never +heard of in Russian Village Communes, except those belonging to the +Imperial Domains, and the special legislation which formerly regulated +their affairs was repealed at the time of the Emancipation. At the +present day the Constitution of all the Village Communes is of the +English type--a body of unwritten, traditional conceptions, which have +grown up and modified themselves under the influence of ever-changing +practical necessity. No doubt certain definitions of the functions and +mutual relations of the Communal authorities might be extracted from +the Emancipation Law and subsequent official documents, but as a rule +neither the Village Elder nor the members of the Village Assembly +ever heard of such definitions; and yet every peasant knows, as if +by instinct, what each of these authorities can do and cannot do. The +Commune is, in fact, a living institution, whose spontaneous vitality +enables it to dispense with the assistance and guidance of the written +law, and its constitution is thoroughly democratic. The Elder represents +merely the executive power. The real authority resides in the Assembly, +of which all Heads of Households are members.* + + * An attempt was made by Alexander III. in 1884 to bring the + rural Communes under supervision and control by the + appointment of rural officials called Zemskiye Natchalniki. + Of this so-called reform I shall have occasion to speak + later. + +The simple procedure, or rather the absence of all formal procedure, +at the Assemblies, illustrates admirably the essentially practical +character of the institution. The meetings are held in the open air, +because in the village there is no building--except the church, which +can be used only for religious purposes--large enough to contain all the +members; and they almost always take place on Sundays or holidays, +when the peasants have plenty of leisure. Any open space may serve as +a Forum. The discussions are occasionally very animated, but there is +rarely any attempt at speech-making. If any young member should show +an inclination to indulge in oratory, he is sure to be unceremoniously +interrupted by some of the older members, who have never any sympathy +with fine talking. The assemblage has the appearance of a crowd of +people who have accidentally come together and are discussing in little +groups subjects of local interest. Gradually some one group, containing +two or three peasants who have more moral influence than their fellows, +attracts the others, and the discussion becomes general. Two or more +peasants may speak at a time, and interrupt each other freely--using +plain, unvarnished language, not at all parliamentary--and the +discussion may become a confused, unintelligible din; but at the +moment when the spectator imagines that the consultation is about to +be transformed into a free fight, the tumult spontaneously subsides, +or perhaps a general roar of laughter announces that some one has been +successfully hit by a strong argumentum ad hominem, or biting personal +remark. In any case there is no danger of the disputants coming to +blows. No class of men in the world are more good-natured and pacific +than the Russian peasantry. When sober they never fight, and even when +under the influence of alcohol they are more likely to be violently +affectionate than disagreeably quarrelsome. If two of them take to +drinking together, the probability is that in a few minutes, though they +may never have seen each other before, they will be expressing in very +strong terms their mutual regard and affection, confirming their words +with an occasional friendly embrace. + +Theoretically speaking, the Village Parliament has a Speaker, in the +person of the Village Elder. The word Speaker is etymologically less +objectionable than the term President, for the personage in question +never sits down, but mingles in the crowd like the ordinary members. +Objection may be taken to the word on the ground that the Elder speaks +much less than many other members, but this may likewise be said of the +Speaker of the House of Commons. Whatever we may call him, the Elder is +officially the principal personage in the crowd, and wears the insignia +of office in the form of a small medal suspended from his neck by a thin +brass chain. His duties, however, are extremely light. To call to order +those who interrupt the discussion is no part of his functions. If he +calls an honourable member "Durak" (blockhead), or interrupts an orator +with a laconic "Moltchi!" (hold your tongue!), he does so in virtue of +no special prerogative, but simply in accordance with a time-honoured +privilege, which is equally enjoyed by all present, and may be employed +with impunity against himself. Indeed, it may be said in general that +the phraseology and the procedure are not subjected to any strict rules. +The Elder comes prominently forward only when it is necessary to take +the sense of the meeting. On such occasions he may stand back a little +from the crowd and say, "Well, orthodox, have you decided so?" and the +crowd will probably shout, "Ladno! ladno!" that is to say, "Agreed! +agreed!" + +Communal measures are generally carried in this way by acclamation; but +it sometimes happens that there is such a diversity of opinion that it +is difficult to tell which of the two parties has a majority. In this +case the Elder requests the one party to stand to the right and the +other to the left. The two groups are then counted, and the minority +submits, for no one ever dreams of opposing openly the will of the Mir. + +During the reign of Nicholas I. an attempt was made to regulate by the +written law the procedure of Village Assemblies amongst the peasantry +of the State Domains, and among other reforms voting by ballot was +introduced; but the new custom never struck root. The peasants did +not regard with favour the new method, and persisted in calling it, +contemptuously, "playing at marbles." Here, again, we have one of those +wonderful and apparently anomalous facts which frequently meet the +student of Russian affairs: the Emperor Nicholas I., the incarnation of +autocracy and the champion of the Reactionary Party throughout Europe, +forces the ballot-box, the ingenious invention of extreme radicals, on +several millions of his subjects! + +In the northern provinces, where a considerable portion of the male +population is always absent, the Village Assembly generally includes a +good many female members. These are women who, on account of the +absence or death of their husbands, happen to be for the moment Heads of +Households. As such they are entitled to be present, and their right to +take part in the deliberations is never called in question. In matters +affecting the general welfare of the Commune they rarely speak, and if +they do venture to enounce an opinion on such occasions they have little +chance of commanding attention, for the Russian peasantry are as yet +little imbued with the modern doctrines of female equality, and express +their opinion of female intelligence by the homely adage: "The hair is +long, but the mind is short." According to one proverb, seven women +have collectively but one soul, and, according to a still more ungallant +popular saying, women have no souls at all, but only a vapour. Woman, +therefore, as woman, is not deserving of much consideration, but a +particular woman, as Head of a Household, is entitled to speak on all +questions directly affecting the household under her care. If, for +instance, it be proposed to increase or diminish her household's share +of the land and the burdens, she will be allowed to speak freely on +the subject, and even to indulge in personal invective against her male +opponents. She thereby exposes herself, it is true, to uncomplimentary +remarks; but any which she happens to receive she is pretty sure to +repay with interest--referring, perhaps, with pertinent virulence to +the domestic affairs of those who attack her. And when argument and +invective fail, she can try the effect of pathetic appeal, supported by +copious tears. + +As the Village Assembly is really a representative institution in the +full sense of the term, it reflects faithfully the good and the bad +qualities of the rural population. Its decisions are therefore usually +characterised by plain, practical common sense, but it is subject +to occasional unfortunate aberrations in consequence of pernicious +influences, chiefly of an alcoholic kind. An instance of this fact +occurred during my sojourn at Ivanofka. The question under discussion +was whether a kabak, or gin-shop, should be established in the village. +A trader from the district town desired to establish one, and offered to +pay to the Commune a yearly sum for the necessary permission. The more +industrious, respectable members of the Commune, backed by the whole +female population, were strongly opposed to the project, knowing full +well that a kabak would certainly lead to the ruin of more than one +household; but the enterprising trader had strong arguments wherewith +to seduce a large number of the members, and succeeded in obtaining a +decision in his favour. + +The Assembly discusses all matters affecting the Communal welfare, +and, as these matters have never been legally defined, its recognised +competence is very wide. It fixes the time for making the hay, and the +day for commencing the ploughing of the fallow field; it decrees what +measures shall be employed against those who do not punctually pay +their taxes; it decides whether a new member shall be admitted into +the Commune, and whether an old member shall be allowed to change his +domicile; it gives or withholds permission to erect new buildings on +the Communal land; it prepares and signs all contracts which the Commune +makes with one of its own members or with a stranger; it interferes +whenever it thinks necessary in the domestic affairs of its members; it +elects the Elder--as well as the Communal tax-collector and watchman, +where such offices exist--and the Communal herd-boy; above all, it +divides and allots the Communal land among the members as it thinks fit. + +Of all these various proceedings the English reader may naturally assume +that the elections are the most noisy and exciting. In reality this is a +mistake. The elections produce little excitement, for the simple reason +that, as a rule, no one desires to be elected. Once, it is said, a +peasant who had been guilty of some misdemeanor was informed by an +Arbiter of the Peace--a species of official of which I shall have +occasion to speak in the sequel--that he would be no longer capable of +filling any Communal office; and instead of regretting this diminution +of his civil rights, he bowed very low, and respectfully expressed his +thanks for the new privilege which he had acquired. This anecdote may +not be true, but it illustrates the undoubted fact that the Russian +peasant regards office as a burden rather than as an honour. There is no +civic ambition in those little rural commonwealths, whilst the privilege +of wearing a bronze medal, which commands no respect, and the reception +of a few roubles as salary afford no adequate compensation for the +trouble, annoyance, and responsibility which a Village Elder has to +bear. The elections are therefore generally very tame and uninteresting. +The following description may serve as an illustration: + +It is a Sunday afternoon. The peasants, male and female, have turned out +in Sunday attire, and the bright costumes of the women help the sunshine +to put a little rich colour into the scene, which is at ordinary times +monotonously grey. Slowly the crowd collects on the open space at the +side of the church. All classes of the population are represented. On +the extreme outskirts are a band of fair-haired, merry children--some +of them standing or lying on the grass and gazing attentively at the +proceedings, and others running about and amusing themselves. Close +to these stand a group of young girls, convulsed with half-suppressed +laughter. The cause of their merriment is a youth of some seventeen +summers, evidently the wag of the village, who stands beside them with +an accordion in his hand, and relates to them in a half-whisper how he +is about to be elected Elder, and what mad pranks he will play in that +capacity. When one of the girls happens to laugh outright, the matrons +who are standing near turn round and scowl; and one of them, stepping +forward, orders the offender, in a tone of authority, to go home at once +if she cannot behave herself. Crestfallen, the culprit retires, and the +youth who is the cause of the merriment makes the incident the subject +of a new joke. Meanwhile the deliberations have begun. The majority of +the members are chatting together, or looking at a little group composed +of three peasants and a woman, who are standing a little apart from the +others. Here alone the matter in hand is being really discussed. The +woman is explaining, with tears in her eyes, and with a vast amount of +useless repetition, that her "old man," who is Elder for the time being, +is very ill, and cannot fulfil his duties. + +"But he has not yet served a year, and he'll get better," remarks one +peasant, evidently the youngest of the little group. + +"Who knows?" replies the woman, sobbing. "It is the will of God, but +I don't believe that he'll ever put his foot to the ground again. The +Feldsher has been four times to see him, and the doctor himself came +once, and said that he must be brought to the hospital." + +"And why has he not been taken there?" + +"How could he be taken? Who is to carry him? Do you think he's a baby? +The hospital is forty versts off. If you put him in a cart he would die +before he had gone a verst. And then, who knows what they do with people +in the hospital?" This last question contained probably the true reason +why the doctor's orders had been disobeyed. + +"Very well, that's enough; hold your tongue," says the grey-beard of +the little group to the woman; and then, turning to the other peasants, +remarks, "There is nothing to be done. The Stanovoi [officer of rural +police] will be here one of these days, and will make a row again if we +don't elect a new Elder. Whom shall we choose?" + +As soon as this question is asked several peasants look down to the +ground, or try in some other way to avoid attracting attention, lest +their names should be suggested. When the silence has continued a minute +or two, the greybeard says, "There is Alexei Ivanof; he has not served +yet!" + +"Yes, yes, Alexei Ivanof!" shout half-a-dozen voices, belonging probably +to peasants who fear they may be elected. + +Alexei protests in the strongest terms. He cannot say that he is ill, +because his big ruddy face would give him the lie direct, but he finds +half-a-dozen other reasons why he should not be chosen, and accordingly +requests to be excused. But his protestations are not listened to, and +the proceedings terminate. A new Village Elder has been duly elected. + +Far more important than the elections is the redistribution of the +Communal land. It can matter but little to the Head of a Household how +the elections go, provided he himself is not chosen. He can accept +with perfect equanimity Alexei, or Ivan, or Nikolai, because the +office-bearers have very little influence in Communal affairs. But he +cannot remain a passive, indifferent spectator when the division and +allotment of the land come to be discussed, for the material welfare of +every household depends to a great extent on the amount of land and of +burdens which it receives. + +In the southern provinces, where the soil is fertile, and the taxes do +not exceed the normal rent, the process of division and allotment is +comparatively simple. Here each peasant desires to get as much land as +possible, and consequently each household demands all the land to which +it is entitled--that is to say, a number of shares equal to the number +of its members inscribed in the last revision list. The Assembly has +therefore no difficult questions to decide. The Communal revision list +determines the number of shares into which the land must be divided, and +the number of shares to be allotted to each family. The only difficulty +likely to arise is as to which particular shares a particular family +shall receive, and this difficulty is commonly obviated by the custom of +drawing lots. There may be, it is true, some difference of opinion as +to when a redistribution should be made, but this question is easily +decided by a vote of the Assembly. + +Very different is the process of division and allotment in many Communes +of the northern provinces. Here the soil is often very unfertile and the +taxes exceed the normal rent, and consequently it may happen that the +peasants strive to have as little land as possible. In these cases such +scenes as the following may occur: + +Ivan is being asked how many shares of the Communal land he will take, +and replies in a slow, contemplative way, "I have two sons, and there +is myself, so I'll take three shares, or somewhat less, if it is your +pleasure." + +"Less!" exclaims a middle-aged peasant, who is not the Village Elder, +but merely an influential member, and takes the leading part in the +proceedings. "You talk nonsense. Your two sons are already old enough to +help you, and soon they may get married, and so bring you two new female +labourers." + +"My eldest son," explains Ivan, "always works in Moscow, and the other +often leaves me in summer." + +"But they both send or bring home money, and when they get married, the +wives will remain with you." + +"God knows what will be," replies Ivan, passing over in silence the +first part of his opponent's remark. "Who knows if they will marry?" + +"You can easily arrange that!" + +"That I cannot do. The times are changed now. The young people do as +they wish, and when they do get married they all wish to have houses of +their own. Three shares will be heavy enough for me!" + +"No, no. If they wish to separate from you, they will take some land +from you. You must take at least four. The old wives there who have +little children cannot take shares according to the number of souls." + +"He is a rich muzhik!" says a voice in the crowd. "Lay on him five +souls!" (that is to say, give him five shares of the land and of the +burdens). + +"Five souls I cannot! By God, I cannot!" + +"Very well, you shall have four," says the leading spirit to Ivan; and +then, turning to the crowd, inquires, "Shall it be so?" + +"Four! four!" murmurs the crowd; and the question is settled. + +Next comes one of the old wives just referred to. Her husband is a +permanent invalid, and she has three little boys, only one of whom is +old enough for field labour. If the number of souls were taken as the +basis of distribution, she would receive four shares; but she would +never be able to pay four shares of the Communal burdens. She must +therefore receive less than that amount. When asked how many she will +take, she replies with downcast eyes, "As the Mir decides, so be it!" + +"Then you must take three." + +"What do you say, little father?" cries the woman, throwing off suddenly +her air of submissive obedience. "Do you hear that, ye orthodox? They +want to lay upon me three souls! Was such a thing ever heard of? Since +St. Peter's Day my husband has been bedridden--bewitched, it seems, for +nothing does him good. He cannot put a foot to the ground--all the same +as if he were dead; only he eats bread!" + +"You talk nonsense," says a neighbour; "he was in the kabak [gin-shop] +last week." + +"And you!" retorts the woman, wandering from the subject in hand; "what +did YOU do last parish fete? Was it not you who got drunk and beat +your wife till she roused the whole village with her shrieking? And no +further gone than last Sunday--pfu!" + +"Listen!" says the old man, sternly cutting short the torrent of +invective. "You must take at least two shares and a half. If you cannot +manage it yourself, you can get some one to help you." + +"How can that be? Where am I to get the money to pay a labourer?" +asks the woman, with much wailing and a flood of tears. "Have pity, ye +orthodox, on the poor orphans! God will reward you!" and so on, and so +on. + +I need not worry the reader with a further description of these scenes, +which are always very long and sometimes violent. All present are deeply +interested, for the allotment of the land is by far the most important +event in Russian peasant life, and the arrangement cannot be made +without endless talking and discussion. After the number of shares for +each family has been decided, the distribution of the lots gives rise to +new difficulties. The families who have plentifully manured their land +strive to get back their old lots, and the Commune respects their claims +so far as these are consistent with the new arrangement; but often it +happens that it is impossible to conciliate private rights and Communal +interests, and in such cases the former are sacrificed in a way that +would not be tolerated by men of Anglo-Saxon race. This leads, however, +to no serious consequences. The peasants are accustomed to work together +in this way, to make concessions for the Communal welfare, and to bow +unreservedly to the will of the Mir. I know of many instances where +the peasants have set at defiance the authority of the police, of the +provincial governor, and of the central Government itself, but I have +never heard of any instance where the will of the Mir was openly opposed +by one of its members. + +In the preceding pages I have repeatedly spoken about "shares of the +Communal land." To prevent misconception I must explain carefully what +this expression means. A share does not mean simply a plot or parcel of +land; on the contrary, it always contains at least four, and may contain +a large number of distinct plots. We have here a new point of difference +between the Russian village and the villages of Western Europe. + +Communal land in Russia is of three kinds: the land on which the village +is built, the arable land, and the meadow or hay-field, if the village +is fortunate enough to possess one. On the first of these each family +possesses a house and garden, which are the hereditary property of the +family, and are never affected by the periodical redistributions. The +other two kinds are both subject to redistribution, but on somewhat +different principles. + +The whole of the Communal arable land is first of all divided into three +fields, to suit the triennial rotation of crops already described, and +each field is divided into a number of long narrow strips--corresponding +to the number of male members in the Commune--as nearly as possible +equal to each other in area and quality. Sometimes it is necessary to +divide the field into several portions, according to the quality of the +soil, and then to subdivide each of these portions into the requisite +number of strips. Thus in all cases every household possesses at +least one strip in each field; and in those cases where subdivision is +necessary, every household possesses a strip in each of the portions +into which the field is subdivided. It often happens, therefore, that +the strips are very narrow, and the portions belonging to each family +very numerous. Strips six feet wide are by no means rare. In 124 +villages of the province of Moscow, regarding which I have special +information, they varied in width from 3 to 45 yards, with an average +of 11 yards. Of these narrow strips a household may possess as many +as thirty in a single field! The complicated process of division and +subdivision is accomplished by the peasants themselves, with the aid +of simple measuring-rods, and the accuracy of the result is truly +marvellous. + +The meadow, which is reserved for the production of hay, is divided +into the same number of shares as the arable land. There, however, the +division and distribution take place, not at irregular intervals, but +annually. Every year, on a day fixed by the Assembly, the villagers +proceed in a body to this part of their property, and divide it into +the requisite number of portions. Lots are then cast, and each family +at once mows the portion allotted to it. In some Communes the meadow is +mown by all the peasants in common, and the hay afterwards distributed +by lot among the families; but this system is by no means so frequently +used. + +As the whole of the Communal land thus resembles to some extent a big +farm, it is necessary to make certain rules concerning cultivation. +A family may sow what it likes in the land allotted to it, but all +families must at least conform to the accepted system of rotation. +In like manner, a family cannot begin the autumn ploughing before the +appointed time, because it would thereby interfere with the rights of +the other families, who use the fallow field as pasturage. + +It is not a little strange that this primitive system of land tenure +should have succeeded in living into the twentieth century, and still +more remarkable that the institution of which it forms an essential +part should be regarded by many intelligent people as one of the great +institutions of the future, and almost as a panacea for social and +political evils. The explanation of these facts will form the subject of +the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +HOW THE COMMUNE HAS BEEN PRESERVED, AND WHAT IT IS TO EFFECT IN THE +FUTURE + + +Sweeping Reforms after the Crimean War--Protest Against the Laissez +Faire Principle--Fear of the Proletariat--English and Russian Methods of +Legislation Contrasted--Sanguine Expectations--Evil Consequences of +the Communal System--The Commune of the Future--Proletariat of the +Towns--The Present State of Things Merely Temporary. + + +The reader is probably aware that immediately after the Crimean War +Russia was subjected to a series of sweeping reforms, including the +emancipation of the serfs and the creation of a new system of local +self-government, and he may naturally wonder how it came to pass that +a curious, primitive institution like the rural Commune succeeded in +weathering the bureaucratic hurricane. This strange phenomena I now +proceed to explain, partly because the subject is in itself interesting, +and partly because I hope thereby to throw some light on the peculiar +intellectual condition of the Russian educated classes. + +When it became evident, in 1857, that the serfs were about to be +emancipated, it was at first pretty generally supposed that the rural +Commune would be entirely abolished, or at least radically modified. At +that time many Russians were enthusiastic, indiscriminate admirers of +English institutions, and believed, in common with the orthodox school +of political economists, that England had acquired her commercial and +industrial superiority by adopting the principle of individual liberty +and unrestricted competition, or, as French writers term it, the +"laissez faire" principle. This principle is plainly inconsistent with +the rural Commune, which compels the peasantry to possess land, prevents +an enterprising peasant from acquiring the land of his less enterprising +neighbours, and places very considerable restrictions on the freedom of +action of the individual members. Accordingly it was assumed that the +rural Commune, being inconsistent with the modern spirit of progress, +would find no place in the new regime of liberty which was about to be +inaugurated. + +No sooner had these ideas been announced in the Press than they +called forth strenuous protests. In the crowd of protesters were +two well-defined groups. On the one hand there were the so-called +Slavophils, a small band of patriotic, highly educated Moscovites, who +were strongly disposed to admire everything specifically Russian, and +who habitually refused to bow the knee to the wisdom of Western Europe. +These gentlemen, in a special organ which they had recently founded, +pointed out to their countrymen that the Commune was a venerable and +peculiarly Russian institution, which had mitigated in the past the +baneful influence of serfage, and would certainly in the future confer +inestimable benefits on the emancipated peasantry. The other group was +animated by a very different spirit. They had no sympathy with national +peculiarities, and no reverence for hoary antiquity. That the Commune +was specifically Russian or Slavonic, and a remnant of primitive +times, was in their eyes anything but a recommendation in its favour. +Cosmopolitan in their tendencies, and absolutely free from all +archaeological sentimentality, they regarded the institution from +the purely utilitarian point of view. They agreed, however, with the +Slavophils in thinking that its preservation would have a beneficial +influence on the material and moral welfare of the peasantry. + +For the sake of convenience it is necessary to designate this latter +group by some definite name, but I confess I have some difficulty in +making a choice. I do not wish to call these gentlemen Socialists, +because many people habitually and involuntarily attach a stigma to +the word, and believe that all to whom the term is applied must be +first-cousins to the petroleuses. To avoid misconceptions of this kind, +it will be well to designate them simply by the organ which most +ably represented their views, and to call them the adherents of The +Contemporary. + +The Slavophils and the adherents of The Contemporary, though differing +widely from each other in many respects, had the same immediate object +in view, and accordingly worked together. With great ingenuity they +contended that the Communal system of land tenure had much greater +advantages, and was attended with much fewer inconveniences, than +people generally supposed. But they did not confine themselves to these +immediate practical advantages, which had very little interest for +the general reader. The writers in The Contemporary explained that the +importance of the rural Commune lies, not in its actual condition, but +in its capabilities of development, and they drew, with prophetic eye, +most attractive pictures of the happy rural Commune of the future. Let +me give here, as an illustration, one of these prophetic descriptions: + +"Thanks to the spread of primary and technical education the peasants +have become well acquainted with the science of agriculture, and are +always ready to undertake in common the necessary improvements. They no +longer exhaust the soil by exporting the grain, but sell merely certain +technical products containing no mineral ingredients. For this purpose +the Communes possess distilleries, starch-works, and the like, and the +soil thereby retains its original fertility. The scarcity induced by the +natural increase of the population is counteracted by improved methods +of cultivation. If the Chinese, who know nothing of natural science, +have succeeded by purely empirical methods in perfecting agriculture to +such an extent that a whole family can support itself on a few square +yards of land, what may not the European do with the help of chemistry, +botanical physiology, and the other natural sciences?" + +Coming back from the possibilities of the future to the actualities of +the present, these ingenious and eloquent writers pointed out that +in the rural Commune, Russia possessed a sure preventive against the +greatest evil of West-European social organisation, the Proletariat. +Here the Slavophils could strike in with their favourite refrain about +the rotten social condition of Western Europe; and their temporary +allies, though they habitually scoffed at the Slavophil jeremiads, had +no reason for the moment to contradict them. Very soon the Proletariat +became, for the educated classes, a species of bugbear, and the reading +public were converted to the doctrine that the Communal institutions +should be preserved as a means of excluding the monster from Russia. + +This fear of what is vaguely termed the Proletariat is still frequently +to be met with in Russia, and I have often taken pains to discover +precisely what is meant by the term. I cannot, however, say that my +efforts have been completely successful. The monster seems to be as +vague and shadowy as the awful forms which Milton placed at the gate of +the infernal regions. At one moment he seems to be simply our old enemy +Pauperism, but when we approach a little nearer we find that he +expands to colossal dimensions, so as to include all who do not +possess inalienable landed property. In short, he turns out to be, on +examination, as vague and undefinable as a good bugbear ought to be; and +this vagueness contributed probably not a little to his success. + +The influence which the idea of the Proletariat exercised on the public +mind and on the legislation at the time of the Emancipation is a +very notable fact, and well worthy of attention, because it helps to +illustrate a point of difference between Russians and Englishmen. + +Englishmen are, as a rule, too much occupied with the multifarious +concerns of the present to look much ahead into the distant future. We +profess, indeed, to regard with horror the maxim, Apres nous le deluge! +and we should probably annihilate with our virtuous indignation any one +who should boldly profess the principle. And yet we often act almost as +if we were really partisans of that heartless creed. When called upon +to consider the interests of the future generations, we declared +that "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," and stigmatise as +visionaries and dreamers all who seek to withdraw our attention from the +present. A modern Cassandra who confidently predicts the near exhaustion +of our coal-fields, or graphically describes a crushing national +disaster that must some day overtake us, may attract some public +attention; but when we learn that the misfortune is not to take place in +our time, we placidly remark that future generations must take care +of themselves, and that we cannot reasonably be expected to bear their +burdens. When we are obliged to legislate, we proceed in a cautious, +tentative way, and are quite satisfied with any homely, simple remedies +that common sense and experience may suggest, without taking the trouble +to inquire whether the remedy adopted is in accordance with scientific +theories. In short, there is a certain truth in those "famous prophetick +pictures" spoken of by Stillingfleet, which "represent the fate of +England by a mole, a creature blind and busy, continually working under +ground." + +In Russia we find the opposite extreme. There reformers have been +trained, not in the arena of practical politics, but in the school of +political speculation. As soon, therefore, as they begin to examine +any simple matter with a view to legislation, it at once becomes +a "question," and flies up into the region of political and social +science. Whilst we have been groping along an unexplored path, the +Russians have--at least in recent times--been constantly mapping out, +with the help of foreign experience, the country that lay before them, +and advancing with gigantic strides according to the newest political +theories. Men trained in this way cannot rest satisfied with homely +remedies which merely alleviate the evils of the moment. They wish to +"tear up evil by the roots," and to legislate for future generations as +well as for themselves. + +This tendency was peculiarly strong at the time of the Emancipation. The +educated classes were profoundly convinced that the system of Nicholas +I. had been a mistake, and that a new and brighter era was about to dawn +upon the country. Everything had to be reformed. The whole social and +political edifice had to be reconstructed on entirely new principles. + +Let us imagine the position of a man who, having no practical +acquaintance with building, suddenly finds himself called upon to +construct a large house, containing all the newest appliances for +convenience and comfort. What will his first step be? Probably he will +proceed at once to study the latest authorities on architecture and +construction, and when he has mastered the general principles he will +come down gradually to the details. This is precisely what the Russians +did when they found themselves called upon to reconstruct the political +and social edifice. They eagerly consulted the most recent English, +French, and German writers on social and political science, and here it +was that they made the acquaintance of the Proletariat. + +People who read books of travel without ever leaving their own country +are very apt to acquire exaggerated notions regarding the hardships +and dangers of uncivilised life. They read about savage tribes, daring +robbers, ferocious wild beasts, poisonous snakes, deadly fevers, and the +like; and they cannot but wonder how a human being can exist for a week +among such dangers. But if they happen thereafter to visit the countries +described, they discover to their surprise that, though the descriptions +may not have been exaggerated, life under such conditions is much easier +than they supposed. Now the Russians who read about the Proletariat were +very much like the people who remain at home and devour books of travel. +They gained exaggerated notions, and learned to fear the Proletariat +much more than we do, who habitually live in the midst of it. Of course +it is quite possible that their view of the subject is truer than ours, +and that we may some day, like the people who live tranquilly on the +slopes of a volcano, be rudely awakened from our fancied security. But +this is an entirely different question. I am at present not endeavouring +to justify our habitual callousness with regard to social dangers, +but simply seeking to explain why the Russians, who have little or no +practical acquaintance with pauperism, should have taken such elaborate +precautions against it. + +But how can the preservation of the Communal institutions lead to this +"consummation devoutly to be wished," and how far are the precautions +likely to be successful? + +Those who have studied the mysteries of social science have generally +come to the conclusion that the Proletariat has been formed chiefly by +the expropriation of the peasantry or small land-holders, and that its +formation might be prevented, or at least retarded, by any system of +legislation which would secure the possession of land for the peasants +and prevent them from being uprooted from the soil. Now it must be +admitted that the Russian Communal system is admirably adapted for this +purpose. About one-half of the arable land has been reserved for the +peasantry, and cannot be encroached on by the great landowners or the +capitalists, and every adult peasant, roughly speaking, has a right to +a share of this land. When I have said that the peasantry compose about +five-sixths of the population, and that it is extremely difficult for +a peasant to sever his connection with the rural Commune, it will be at +once evident that, if the theories of social philosophers are correct, +and if the sanguine expectations entertained in many quarters regarding +the permanence of the present Communal institutions are destined to be +realised, there is little or no danger of a numerous Proletariat being +formed, and the Russians are justified in maintaining, as they often do, +that they have successfully solved one of the most important and most +difficult of social problems. + +But is there any reasonable chance of these sanguine expectations being +realised? + +This is, doubtless, a most complicated and difficult question, but it +cannot be shirked. However sceptical we may be with regard to social +panaceas of all sorts, we cannot dismiss with a few hackneyed phrases a +gigantic experiment in social science involving the material and moral +welfare of many millions of human beings. On the other hand, I do not +wish to exhaust the reader's patience by a long series of multifarious +details and conflicting arguments. What I propose to do, therefore, is +to state in a few words the conclusions at which I have arrived, after a +careful study of the question in all its bearings, and to indicate in a +general way how I have arrived at these conclusions. + +If Russia were content to remain a purely agricultural country of +the Sleepy Hollow type, and if her Government were to devote all its +energies to maintaining economic and social stagnation, the rural +Commune might perhaps prevent the formation of a large Proletariat in +the future, as it has tended to prevent it for centuries in the past. +The periodical redistributions of the Communal land would secure to +every family a portion of the soil, and when the population became too +dense, the evils arising from inordinate subdivision of the land +might be obviated by a carefully regulated system of emigration to +the outlying, thinly populated provinces. All this sounds very well +in theory, but experience is proving that it cannot be carried out in +practice. In Russia, as in Western Europe, the struggle for life, even +among the conservative agricultural classes, is becoming yearly more +and more intense, and is producing both the desire and the necessity for +greater freedom of individual character and effort, so that each man may +make his way in the world according to the amount of his intelligence, +energy, spirit of enterprise, and tenacity of purpose. Whatever +institutions tend to fetter the individual and maintain a dead level +of mediocrity have little chance of subsisting for any great length of +time, and it must be admitted that among such institutions the rural +Commune in its present form occupies a prominent place. All its members +must possess, in principle if not always in practice, an equal share of +the soil and must practice the same methods of agriculture, and when a +certain inequality has been created by individual effort it is in great +measure wiped out by a redistribution of the Communal land. + +Now, I am well aware that in practice the injustice and inconveniences +of the system, being always tempered and corrected by ingenious +compromises suggested by long experience, are not nearly so great as the +mere theorist might naturally suppose; but they are, I believe, quite +great enough to prevent the permanent maintenance of the institution, +and already there are ominous indications of the coming change, as I +shall explain more fully when I come to deal with the consequences of +serf-emancipation. On the other hand there is no danger of a sudden, +general abolition of the old system. Though the law now permits the +transition from Communal to personal hereditary tenure, even the +progressive enterprising peasants are slow to avail themselves of the +permission; and the reason I once heard given for this conservative +tendency is worth recording. A well-to-do peasant who had been in the +habit of manuring his land better than his neighbours, and who was, +consequently, a loser by the existing system, said to me: "Of course I +want to keep the allotment I have got. But if the land is never again +to be divided my grandchildren may be beggars. We must not sin against +those who are to come after us." This unexpected reply gave me food +for reflection. Surely those muzhiks who are so often accused of being +brutally indifferent to moral obligations must have peculiar deep-rooted +moral conceptions of their own which exercise a great influence on their +daily life. A man who hesitates to sin against his grandchildren still +unborn, though his conceptions of the meum and the tuum in the present +may be occasionally a little confused, must possess somewhere deep down +in his nature a secret fund of moral feeling of a very respectable kind. +Even among the educated classes in Russia the way of looking at these +matters is very different from ours. We should naturally feel inclined +to applaud, encourage, and assist the peasants who show energy and +initiative, and who try to rise above their fellows. To the Russian +this seems at once inexpedient and immoral. The success of the few, he +explains, is always obtained at the expense of the many, and generally +by means which the severe moralist cannot approve of. The rich peasants, +for example, have gained their fortune and influence by demoralising +and exploiting their weaker brethren, by committing all manner of +illegalities, and by bribing the local authorities. Hence they are +styled Miroyedy (Commune-devourers) or Kulaki (fists), or something +equally uncomplimentary. Once this view is adopted, it follows logically +that the Communal institutions, in so far as they form a barrier to the +activity of such persons, ought to be carefully preserved. This idea +underlies nearly all the arguments in favour of the Commune, and +explains why they are so popular. Russians of all classes have, in fact, +a leaning towards socialistic notions, and very little sympathy with our +belief in individual initiative and unrestricted competition. + +Even if it be admitted that the Commune may effectually prevent the +formation of an agricultural Proletariat, the question is thereby +only half answered. Russia aspires to become a great industrial and +commercial country, and accordingly her town population is rapidly +augmenting. We have still to consider, then, how the Commune affects +the Proletariat of the towns. In Western Europe the great centres of +industry have uprooted from the soil and collected in the towns a great +part of the rural population. Those who yielded to this attractive +influence severed all connection with their native villages, became +unfit for field labour, and were transformed into artisans or +factory-workers. In Russia this transformation could not easily take +place. The peasant might work during the greater part of his life in +the towns, but he did not thereby sever his connection with his native +village. He remained, whether he desired it or not, a member of the +Commune, possessing a share of the Communal land, and liable for a share +of the Communal burdens. During his residence in the town his wife +and family remained at home, and thither he himself sooner or +later returned. In this way a class of hybrids--half-peasants, +half-artisans--has been created, and the formation of a town Proletariat +has been greatly retarded. + +The existence of this hybrid class is commonly cited as a beneficent +result of the Communal institutions. The artisans and factory labourers, +it is said, have thus always a home to which they can retire when thrown +out of work or overtaken by old age, and their children are brought +up in the country, instead of being reared among the debilitating +influences of overcrowded cities. Every common labourer has, in +short, by this ingenious contrivance, some small capital and a country +residence. + +In the present transitional state of Russian society this peculiar +arrangement is at once natural and convenient, but amidst its advantages +it has many serious defects. The unnatural separation of the artisan +from his wife and family leads to very undesirable results, well known +to all who are familiar with the details of peasant life in the northern +provinces. And whatever its advantages and defects may be, it cannot be +permanently retained. At the present time native industry is still in +its infancy. Protected by the tariff from foreign competition, and too +few in number to produce a strong competition among themselves, the +existing factories can give to their owners a large revenue without any +strenuous exertion. Manufacturers can therefore allow themselves many +little liberties, which would be quite inadmissible if the price of +manufactured goods were lowered by brisk competition. Ask a Lancashire +manufacturer if he could allow a large portion of his workers to go +yearly to Cornwall or Caithness to mow a field of hay or reap a few +acres of wheat or oats! And if Russia is to make great industrial +progress, the manufacturers of Moscow, Lodz, Ivanovo, and Shui will +some day be as hard pressed as are those of Bradford and Manchester. The +invariable tendency of modern industry, and the secret of its progress, +is the ever-increasing division of labour; and how can this principle be +applied if the artisans insist on remaining agriculturists? + +The interests of agriculture, too, are opposed to the old system. +Agriculture cannot be expected to make progress, or even to be tolerably +productive, if it is left in great measure to women and children. At +present it is not desirable that the link which binds the factory-worker +or artisan with the village should be at once severed, for in +the neighbourhood of the large factories there is often no proper +accommodation for the families of the workers, and agriculture, as at +present practised, can be carried on successfully though the Head of +the Household happens to be absent. But the system must be regarded as +simply temporary, and the disruption of large families--a phenomenon +of which I have already spoken--renders its application more and more +difficult. + + + +CHAPTER X + +FINNISH AND TARTAR VILLAGES + + +A Finnish Tribe--Finnish Villages--Various Stages of +Russification--Finnish Women--Finnish Religions--Method of "Laying" +Ghosts--Curious Mixture of Christianity and Paganism--Conversion of +the Finns--A Tartar Village--A Russian Peasant's Conception of +Mahometanism--A Mahometan's View of Christianity--Propaganda--The +Russian Colonist--Migrations of Peoples During the Dark Ages. + + +When talking one day with a landed proprietor who lived near Ivanofka, +I accidentally discovered that in a district at some distance to the +northeast there were certain villages the inhabitants of which did not +understand Russian, and habitually used a peculiar language of their +own. With an illogical hastiness worthy of a genuine ethnologist, I at +once assumed that these must be the remnants of some aboriginal race. + +"Des aborigenes!" I exclaimed, unable to recall the Russian equivalent +for the term, and knowing that my friend understood French. "Doubtless +the remains of some ancient race who formerly held the country, and are +now rapidly disappearing. Have you any Aborigines Protection Society in +this part of the world?" + +My friend had evidently great difficulty in imagining what an Aborigines +Protection Society could be, and promptly assured me that there was +nothing of the kind in Russia. On being told that such a society might +render valuable services by protecting the weaker against the stronger +race, and collecting important materials for the new science of Social +Embryology, he looked thoroughly mystified. As to the new science, +he had never heard of it, and as to protection, he thought that the +inhabitants of the villages in question were quite capable of protecting +themselves. "I could invent," he added, with a malicious smile, "a +society for the protection of ALL peasants, but I am quite sure that the +authorities would not allow me to carry out my idea." + +My ethnological curiosity was thoroughly aroused, and I endeavoured to +awaken a similar feeling in my friend by hinting that we had at hand a +promising field for discoveries which might immortalise the fortunate +explorers; but my efforts were in vain. The old gentleman was a portly, +indolent man, of phlegmatic temperament, who thought more of comfort +than of immortality in the terrestrial sense of the term. To my proposal +that we should start at once on an exploring expedition, he replied +calmly that the distance was considerable, that the roads were muddy, +and that there was nothing to be learned. The villages in question were +very like other villages, and their inhabitants lived, to all intents +and purposes, in the same way as their Russian neighbours. If they had +any secret peculiarities they would certainly not divulge them to +a stranger, for they were notoriously silent, gloomy, morose, and +uncommunicative. Everything that was known about them, my friend assured +me, might be communicated in a few words. They belonged to a Finnish +tribe called Korelli, and had been transported to their present +settlements in comparatively recent times. In answer to my questions as +to how, when, and by whom they had been transported thither my informant +replied that it had been the work of Ivan the Terrible. + +Though I knew at that time little of Russian history, I suspected that +the last assertion was invented on the spur of the moment, in order to +satisfy my troublesome curiosity, and accordingly I determined not +to accept it without verification. The result showed how careful +the traveller should be in accepting the testimony of "intelligent, +well-informed natives." On further investigation I discovered, not only +that the story about Ivan the Terrible was a pure invention--whether of +my friend or of the popular imagination, which always uses heroic names +as pegs on which to hang traditions, I know not--but also that my first +theory was correct. These Finnish peasants turned out to be a remnant +of the aborigines, or at least of the oldest known inhabitants of the +district. Men of the same race, but bearing different tribal names, +such as Finns, Korelli, Tcheremiss, Tchuvash, Mordva, Votyaks, Permyaks, +Zyryanye, Voguls, are to be found in considerable numbers all over the +northern provinces, from the Gulf of Bothnia to Western Siberia, as well +as in the provinces bordering the Middle Volga as far south as Penza, +Simbirsk, and Tamboff.* The Russian peasants, who now compose the great +mass of the population, are the intruders. + + * The semi-official "Statesman's Handbook for Russia," + published in 1896, enumerates fourteen different tribes, + with an aggregate of about 4,650,000 souls, but these + numbers must not be regarded as having any pretensions to + accuracy. The best authorities differ widely in their + estimates. + +I had long taken a deep interest in what learned Germans call the +Volkerwanderung--that is to say, the migrations of peoples during the +gradual dissolution of the Roman Empire, and it had often occurred to me +that the most approved authorities, who had expended an infinite +amount of learning on the subject, had not always taken the trouble to +investigate the nature of the process. It is not enough to know that +a race or tribe extended its dominions or changed its geographical +position. We ought at the same time to inquire whether it expelled, +exterminated, or absorbed the former inhabitants, and how the expulsion, +extermination, or absorption was effected. Now of these three processes, +absorption may have been more frequent than is commonly supposed, and it +seemed to me that in Northern Russia this process might be conveniently +studied. A thousand years ago the whole of Northern Russia was peopled +by Finnish pagan tribes, and at the present day the greater part of it +is occupied by peasants who speak the language of Moscow, profess the +Orthodox faith, present in their physiognomy no striking peculiarities, +and appear to the superficial observer pure Russians. And we have +no reason to suppose that the former inhabitants were expelled or +exterminated, or that they gradually died out from contact with the +civilisation and vices of a higher race. History records no +wholesale Finnish migrations like that of the Kalmyks, and no war of +extermination; and statistics prove that among the remnants of those +primitive races the population increases as rapidly as among the Russian +peasantry.* From these facts I concluded that the Finnish aborigines had +been simply absorbed, or rather, were being absorbed, by the Slavonic +intruders. + + * This latter statement is made on the authority of Popoff + ("Zyryanye i zyryanski krai," Moscow, 1874) and + Tcheremshanski ("Opisanie Orenburgskoi Gubernii," Ufa, + 1859). + +This conclusion has since been confirmed by observation. During my +wanderings in these northern provinces I have found villages in every +stage of Russification. In one, everything seemed thoroughly Finnish: +the inhabitants had a reddish-olive skin, very high cheek-bones, +obliquely set eyes, and a peculiar costume; none of the women, and very +few of the men, could understand Russian, and any Russian who visited +the place was regarded as a foreigner. In a second, there were already +some Russian inhabitants; the others had lost something of their pure +Finnish type, many of the men had discarded the old costume and spoke +Russian fluently, and a Russian visitor was no longer shunned. In a +third, the Finnish type was still further weakened: all the men spoke +Russian, and nearly all the women understood it; the old male costume +had entirely disappeared, and the old female costume was rapidly +following it; while intermarriage with the Russian population was no +longer rare. In a fourth, intermarriage had almost completely done its +work, and the old Finnish element could be detected merely in certain +peculiarities of physiognomy and pronunciation.* + + * One of the most common peculiarities of pronunciation is + the substitution of the sound of ts for that of tch, which I + found almost universal over a large area. + +The process of Russification may be likewise observed in the manner of +building the houses and in the methods of farming, which show plainly +that the Finnish races did not obtain rudimentary civilisation from the +Slavs. Whence, then, was it derived? Was it obtained from some other +race, or is it indigenous? These are questions which I have no means of +answering. + +A Positivist poet--or if that be a contradiction in terms, let us say +a Positivist who wrote verses--once composed an appeal to the fair sex, +beginning with the words: + +"Pourquoi, O femmes, restez-vous en arriere?" + +The question might have been addressed to the women in these Finnish +villages. Like their sisters in France, they are much more conservative +than the men, and oppose much more stubbornly the Russian influence. +On the other hand, like women in general, when they do begin to change, +they change more rapidly. This is seen especially in the matter of +costume. The men adopt the Russian costume very gradually; the women +adopt it at once. As soon as a single woman gets a gaudy Russian dress, +every other woman in the village feels envious and impatient till she +has done likewise. I remember once visiting a Mordva village when this +critical point had been reached, and a very characteristic incident +occurred. In the preceding villages through which I had passed I had +tried in vain to buy a female costume, and I again made the attempt. +This time the result was very different. A few minutes after I had +expressed my wish to purchase a costume, the house in which I was +sitting was besieged by a great crowd of women, holding in their hands +articles of wearing apparel. In order to make a selection I went out +into the crowd, but the desire to find a purchaser was so general and +so ardent that I was regularly mobbed. The women, shouting "Kupi! kupi!" +("Buy! buy!"), and struggling with each other to get near me, were so +importunate that I had at last to take refuge in the house, to prevent +my own costume from being torn to shreds. But even there I was not +safe, for the women followed at my heels, and a considerable amount of +good-natured violence had to be employed to expel the intruders. + +It is especially interesting to observe the transformation of +nationality in the sphere of religious conceptions. The Finns remained +pagans long after the Russians had become Christians, but at the present +time the whole population, from the eastern boundary of Finland proper +to the Ural Mountains, are officially described as members of the +Greek Orthodox Church. The manner in which this change of religion was +effected is well worthy of attention. + +The old religion of the Finnish tribes, if we may judge from the +fragments which still remain, had, like the people themselves, a +thoroughly practical, prosaic character. Their theology consisted not of +abstract dogmas, but merely of simple prescriptions for the ensuring +of material welfare. Even at the present day, in the districts not +completely Russified, their prayers are plain, unadorned requests for +a good harvest, plenty of cattle, and the like, and are expressed in a +tone of childlike familiarity that sounds strange in our ears. They +make no attempt to veil their desires with mystic solemnity, but ask, in +simple, straightforward fashion, that God should make the barley ripen +and the cow calve successfully, that He should prevent their horses from +being stolen, and that he should help them to gain money to pay their +taxes. + +Their religious ceremonies have, so far as I have been able to discover, +no hidden mystical signification, and are for the most part rather +magical rites for averting the influence of malicious spirits, +or freeing themselves from the unwelcome visits of their departed +relatives. For this latter purpose many even of those who are officially +Christians proceed at stated seasons to the graveyards and place an +abundant supply of cooked food on the graves of their relations who have +recently died, requesting the departed to accept this meal, and not to +return to their old homes, where their presence is no longer desired. +Though more of the food is eaten at night by the village dogs than +by the famished spirits, the custom is believed to have a powerful +influence in preventing the dead from wandering about at night and +frightening the living. If it be true, as I am inclined to believe, that +tombstones were originally used for keeping the dead in their graves, +then it must be admitted that in the matter of "laying" ghosts the +Finns have shown themselves much more humane than other races. It +may, however, be suggested that in the original home of the Finns--"le +berceau de la race," as French ethnologists say--stones could not easily +be procured, and that the custom of feeding the dead was adopted as a +pis aller. The decision of the question must be left to those who know +where the original home of the Finns was. + +As the Russian peasantry, knowing little or nothing of theology, and +placing implicit confidence in rites and ceremonies, did not differ very +widely from the pagan Finns in the matter of religious conceptions, the +friendly contact of the two races naturally led to a curious blending of +the two religions. The Russians adopted many customs from the Finns, +and the Finns adopted still more from the Russians. When Yumala and the +other Finnish deities did not do as they were desired, their worshippers +naturally applied for protection or assistance to the Madonna and the +"Russian God." If their own traditional magic rites did not suffice to +ward off evil influences, they naturally tried the effect of crossing +themselves, as the Russians do in moments of danger. All this may seem +strange to us who have been taught from our earliest years that religion +is something quite different from spells, charms, and incantations, and +that of all the various religions in the world one alone is true, all +the others being false. But we must remember that the Finns have had a +very different education. They do not distinguish religion from magic +rites, and they have never been taught that other religions are less +true than their own. For them the best religion is the one which +contains the most potent spells, and they see no reason why less +powerful religions should not be blended therewith. Their deities are +not jealous gods, and do not insist on having a monopoly of devotion; +and in any case they cannot do much injury to those who have placed +themselves under the protection of a more powerful divinity. + +This simple-minded eclecticism often produces a singular mixture of +Christianity and paganism. Thus, for instance, at the harvest festivals, +Tchuvash peasants have been known to pray first to their own deities, +and then to St. Nicholas, the miracle-worker, who is the favourite +saint of the Russian peasantry. Such dual worship is sometimes +even recommended by the Yomzi--a class of men who correspond to the +medicine-men among the Red Indians--and the prayers are on these +occasions couched in the most familiar terms. Here is a specimen given +by a Russian who has specially studied the language and customs of this +interesting people:* "Look here, O Nicholas-god! Perhaps my neighbour, +little Michael, has been slandering me to you, or perhaps he will do +so. If he does, don't believe him. I have done him no ill, and wish him +none. He is a worthless boaster and a babbler. He does not really honour +you, and merely plays the hypocrite. But I honour you from my heart; +and, behold, I place a taper before you!" Sometimes incidents occur +which display a still more curious blending of the two religions. Thus +a Tcheremiss, on one occasion, in consequence of a serious illness, +sacrificed a young foal to our Lady of Kazan! + + * Mr. Zolotnitski, "Tchuvasko-russki slovar," p. 167. + +Though the Finnish beliefs affected to some extent the Russian +peasantry, the Russian faith ultimately prevailed. This can be +explained without taking into consideration the inherent superiority +of Christianity over all forms of paganism. The Finns had no organised +priesthood, and consequently never offered a systematic opposition to +the new faith; the Russians, on the contrary, had a regular hierarchy in +close alliance with the civil administration. In the principal villages +Christian churches were built, and some of the police-officers vied with +the ecclesiastical officials in the work of making converts. At the same +time there were other influences tending in the same direction. If +a Russian practised Finnish superstitions he exposed himself to +disagreeable consequences of a temporal kind; if, on the contrary, a +Finn adopted the Christian religion, the temporal consequences that +could result were all advantageous to him. + +Many of the Finns gradually became Christians almost unconsciously. The +ecclesiastical authorities were extremely moderate in their demands. +They insisted on no religious knowledge, and merely demanded that the +converts should be baptised. The converts, failing to understand the +spiritual significance of the ceremony, commonly offered no resistance, +so long as the immersion was performed in summer. So little repugnance, +indeed, did they feel, that on some occasions, when a small reward +was given to those who consented, some of the new converts wished the +ceremony to be repeated several times. The chief objection to receiving +the Christian faith lay in the long and severe fasts imposed by the +Greek Orthodox Church; but this difficulty was overcome by assuming that +they need not be strictly observed. At first, in some districts, it was +popularly believed that the Icons informed the Russian priests against +those who did not fast as the Church prescribed; but experience +gradually exploded this theory. Some of the more prudent converts, +however, to prevent all possible tale-telling, took the precaution of +turning the face of the Icon to the wall when prohibited meats were +about to be eaten! + +This gradual conversion of the Finnish tribes, effected without any +intellectual revolution in the minds of the converts, had very important +temporal consequences. Community of faith led to intermarriage, and +intermarriage led rapidly to the blending of the two races. + +If we compare a Finnish village in any stage of Russification with a +Tartar village, of which the inhabitants are Mahometans, we cannot fail +to be struck by the contrast. In the latter, though there may be many +Russians, there is no blending of the two races. Between them religion +has raised an impassable barrier. There are many villages in the eastern +and north-eastern provinces of European Russia which have been for +generations half Tartar and half Russian, and the amalgamation of +the two nationalities has not yet begun. Near the one end stands the +Christian church, and near the other stands the little metchet, or +Mahometan house of prayer. The whole village forms one Commune, with one +Village Assembly and one Village Elder; but, socially, it is composed +of two distinct communities, each possessing its peculiar customs and +peculiar mode of life. The Tartar may learn Russian, but he does not on +that account become Russianised. + +It must not, however, be supposed that the two races are imbued with +fanatical hatred towards each other. On the contrary, they live in +perfect good-fellowship, elect as Village Elder sometimes a Russian +and sometimes a Tartar, and discuss the Communal affairs in the Village +Assembly without reference to religious matters. I know one village +where the good-fellowship went even a step farther: the Christians +determined to repair their church, and the Mahometans helped them to +transport wood for the purpose! All this tends to show that under a +tolerably good Government, which does not favour one race at the expense +of the other, Mahometan Tartars and Christian Slavs can live peaceably +together. + +The absence of fanaticism and of that proselytising zeal which is one of +the most prolific sources of religious hatred, is to be explained by +the peculiar religious conceptions of these peasants. In their +minds religion and nationality are so closely allied as to be almost +identical. The Russian is, as it were, by nature a Christian, and the +Tartar a Mahometan; and it never occurs to any one in these villages +to disturb the appointed order of nature. On this subject I had once an +interesting conversation with a Russian peasant who had been for some +time living among Tartars. In reply to my question as to what kind of +people the Tartars were, he replied laconically, "Nitchevo"--that is to +say, "nothing in particular"; and on being pressed for a more definite +expression of opinion, he admitted that they were very good people +indeed. + +"And what kind of faith have they?" I continued. + +"A good enough faith," was the prompt reply. + +"Is it better than the faith of the Molokanye?" The Molokanye are +Russian sectarians--closely resembling Scotch Presbyterians--of whom I +shall have more to say in the sequel. + +"Of course it is better than the Molokan faith." + +"Indeed!" I exclaimed, endeavouring to conceal my astonishment at this +strange judgment. "Are the Molokanye, then, very bad people?" + +"Not at all. The Molokanye are good and honest." + +"Why, then, do you think their faith is so much worse than that of the +Mahometans?" + +"How shall I tell you?" The peasant here paused as if to collect his +thoughts, and then proceeded slowly, "The Tartars, you see, received +their faith from God as they received the colour of their skins, but +the Molokanye are Russians who have invented a faith out of their own +heads!" + +This singular answer scarcely requires a commentary. As it would be +absurd to try to make Tartars change the colour of their skins, so it +would be absurd to try to make them change their religion. Besides this, +such an attempt would be an unjustifiable interference with the designs +of Providence, for, in the peasant's opinion, God gave Mahometanism to +the Tartars just as he gave the Orthodox faith to the Russians. + +The ecclesiastical authorities do not formally adopt this strange +theory, but they generally act in accordance with it. There is little +official propaganda among the Mahometan subjects of the Tsar, and it is +well that it is so, for an energetic propaganda would lead merely to +the stirring up of any latent hostility which may exist deep down in the +nature of the two races, and it would not make any real converts. The +Tartars cannot unconsciously imbibe Christianity as the Finns have done. +Their religion is not a rude, simple paganism without theology in +the scholastic sense of the term, but a monotheism as exclusive as +Christianity itself. Enter into conversation with an intelligent man +who has no higher religious belief than a rude sort of paganism, and you +may, if you know him well and make a judicious use of your knowledge, +easily interest him in the touching story of Christ's life and teaching. +And in these unsophisticated natures there is but one step from interest +and sympathy to conversion. + +Try the same method with a Mussulman, and you will soon find that all +your efforts are fruitless. He has already a theology and a prophet of +his own, and sees no reason why he should exchange them for those which +you have to offer. Perhaps he will show you more or less openly that he +pities your ignorance and wonders that you have not been able to ADVANCE +from Christianity to Mahometanism. In his opinion--I am supposing that +he is a man of education--Moses and Christ were great prophets in their +day, and consequently he is accustomed to respect their memory; but he +is profoundly convinced that however appropriate they were for their own +times, they have been entirely superseded by Mahomet, precisely as +we believe that Judaism was superseded by Christianity. Proud of his +superior knowledge, he regards you as a benighted polytheist, and may +perhaps tell you that the Orthodox Christians with whom he comes in +contact have three Gods and a host of lesser deities called saints, that +they pray to idols called Icons, and that they keep their holy days by +getting drunk. In vain you endeavour to explain to him that saints +and Icons are not essential parts of Christianity, and that habits of +intoxication have no religious significance. On these points he may make +concessions to you, but the doctrine of the Trinity remains for him a +fatal stumbling-block. "You Christians," he will say, "once had a great +prophet called Jisous, who is mentioned with respect in the Koran, but +you falsified your sacred writings and took to worshipping him, and +now you declare that he is the equal of Allah. Far from us be such +blasphemy! There is but one God, and Mahomet is His prophet." + +A worthy Christian missionary, who had laboured long and zealously among +a Mussulman population, once called me sharply to account for having +expressed the opinion that Mahometans are very rarely converted to +Christianity. When I brought him down from the region of vague general +statements and insisted on knowing how many cases he had met with in his +own personal experience during sixteen years of missionary work, he was +constrained to admit that he had know only one: and when I pressed him +farther as to the disinterested sincerity of the convert in question his +reply was not altogether satisfactory. + +The policy of religious non-intervention has not always been practised +by the Government. Soon after the conquest of the Khanate of Kazan in +the sixteenth century, the Tsars of Muscovy attempted to convert their +new subjects from Mahometanism to Christianity. The means employed were +partly spiritual and partly administrative, but the police-officers +seem to have played a more important part than the clergy. In this way +a certain number of Tartars were baptised; but the authorities were +obliged to admit that the new converts "shamelessly retain many horrid +Tartar customs, and neither hold nor know the Christian faith." When +spiritual exhortations failed, the Government ordered its officials to +"pacify, imprison, put in irons, and thereby UNTEACH and frighten from +the Tartar faith those who, though baptised, do not obey the admonitions +of the Metropolitan." These energetic measures proved as ineffectual +as the spiritual exhortations; and Catherine II. adopted a new +method, highly characteristic of her system of administration. The new +converts--who, be it remembered, were unable to read and write--were +ordered by Imperial ukaz to sign a written promise to the effect that +"they would completely forsake their infidel errors, and, avoiding all +intercourse with unbelievers, would hold firmly and unwaveringly the +Christian faith and its dogmas"*--of which latter, we may add, they had +not the slightest knowledge. The childlike faith in the magical efficacy +of stamped paper here displayed was not justified. The so-called +"baptised Tartars" are at the present time as far from being Christians +as they were in the sixteenth century. They cannot openly profess +Mahometanism, because men who have been once formally admitted into +the National Church cannot leave it without exposing themselves to +the severe pains and penalties of the criminal code, but they strongly +object to be Christianised. + + * "Ukaz Kazanskoi dukhovnoi Konsistorii." Anno 1778. + +On this subject I have found a remarkable admission in a semiofficial +article, published as recently as 1872.* "It is a fact worthy of +attention," says the writer, "that a long series of evident apostasies +coincides with the beginning of measures to confirm the converts in +the Christian faith. There must be, therefore, some collateral cause +producing those cases of apostasy precisely at the moment when the +contrary might be expected." There is a delightful naivete in this +way of stating the fact. The mysterious cause vaguely indicated is not +difficult to find. So long as the Government demanded merely that the +supposed converts should be inscribed as Christians in the official +registers, there was no official apostasy; but as soon as active +measures began to be taken "to confirm the converts," a spirit of +hostility and fanaticism appeared among the Mussulman population, and +made those who were inscribed as Christians resist the propaganda. + + * "Zhurnal Ministerstva Narodnago Prosveshtcheniya." June, + 1872. + +It may safely be said that Christians are impervious to Islam, and +genuine Mussulmans impervious to Christianity; but between the two there +are certain tribes, or fractions of tribes, which present a promising +field for missionary enterprise. In this field the Tartars show much +more zeal than the Russians, and possess certain advantages over their +rivals. The tribes of Northeastern Russia learn Tartar much more easily +than Russian, and their geographical position and modes of life +bring them in contact with Russians much less than with Tartars. The +consequence is that whole villages of Tcheremiss and Votiaks, officially +inscribed as belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church, have openly +declared themselves Mahometans; and some of the more remarkable +conversions have been commemorated by popular songs, which are sung +by young and old. Against this propaganda the Orthodox ecclesiastical +authorities do little or nothing. Though the criminal code contains +severe enactments against those who fall away from the Orthodox Church, +and still more against those who produce apostasy,* the enactments are +rarely put in force. Both clergy and laity in the Russian Church are, +as a rule, very tolerant where no political questions are involved. The +parish priest pays attention to apostasy only when it diminishes his +annual revenues, and this can be easily avoided by the apostate's paying +a small yearly sum. If this precaution be taken, whole villages may be +converted to Islam without the higher ecclesiastical authorities knowing +anything of the matter. + + * A person convicted of converting a Christian to Islamism + is sentenced, according to the criminal code (§184), to the + loss of all civil rights, and to imprisonment with hard + labour for a term varying from eight to ten years. + +Whether the barrier that separates Christians and Mussulmans in Russia, +as elsewhere, will ever be broken down by education, I do not know; but +I may remark that hitherto the spread of education among the Tartars +has tended rather to imbue them with fanaticism. If we remember that +theological education always produces intolerance, and that Tartar +education is almost exclusively theological, we shall not be surprised +to find that a Tartar's religious fanaticism is generally in direct +proportion to the amount of his intellectual culture. The unlettered +Tartar, unspoiled by learning falsely so called, and knowing merely +enough of his religion to perform the customary ordinances prescribed by +the Prophet, is peaceable, kindly, and hospitable towards all men; but +the learned Tartar, who has been taught that the Christian is a kiafir +(infidel) and a mushrik (polytheist), odious in the sight of Allah, and +already condemned to eternal punishment, is as intolerant and fanatical +as the most bigoted Roman Catholic or Calvinist. Such fanatics are +occasionally to be met with in the eastern provinces, but they are +few in number, and have little influence on the masses. From my own +experience I can testify that during the whole course of my wanderings +I have nowhere received more kindness and hospitality than among the +uneducated Mussulman Bashkirs. Even here, however, Islam opposes a +strong barrier to Russification. + +Though no such barrier existed among the pagan Finnish tribes, the work +of Russification among them is still, as I have already indicated, far +from complete. Not only whole villages, but even many entire districts, +are still very little affected by Russian influence. This is to be +explained partly by geographical conditions. In regions which have a +poor soil, and are intersected by no navigable river, there are few or +no Russian settlers, and consequently the Finns have there preserved +intact their language and customs; whilst in those districts which +present more inducements to colonisation, the Russian population is more +numerous, and the Finns less conservative. It must, however, be admitted +that geographical conditions do not completely explain the facts. The +various tribes, even when placed in the same conditions, are not +equally susceptible to foreign influence. The Mordva, for instance, +are infinitely less conservative than the Tchuvash. This I have often +noticed, and my impression has been confirmed by men who have had more +opportunities of observation. For the present we must attribute this to +some occult ethnological peculiarity, but future investigations may some +day supply a more satisfactory explanation. Already I have obtained +some facts which appear to throw light on the subject. The Tchuvash have +certain customs which seem to indicate that they were formerly, if not +avowed Mahometans, at least under the influence of Islam, whilst we have +no reason to suppose that the Mordva ever passed through that school. + +The absence of religious fanaticism greatly facilitated Russian +colonisation in these northern regions, and the essentially peaceful +disposition of the Russian peasantry tended in the same direction. +The Russian peasant is admirably fitted for the work of peaceful +agricultural colonisation. Among uncivilised tribes he is good-natured, +long-suffering, conciliatory, capable of bearing extreme hardships, and +endowed with a marvellous power of adapting himself to circumstances. +The haughty consciousness of personal and national superiority +habitually displayed by Englishmen of all ranks when they are brought +in contact with races which they look upon as lower in the scale of +humanity than themselves, is entirely foreign to his character. He has +no desire to rule, and no wish to make the natives hewers of wood and +drawers of water. All he desires is a few acres of land which he and his +family can cultivate; and so long as he is allowed to enjoy these he is +not likely to molest his neighbours. Had the colonists of the Finnish +country been men of Anglo-Saxon race, they would in all probability have +taken possession of the land and reduced the natives to the condition of +agricultural labourers. The Russian colonists have contented themselves +with a humbler and less aggressive mode of action; they have settled +peaceably among the native population, and are rapidly becoming blended +with it. In many districts the so-called Russians have perhaps more +Finnish than Slavonic blood in their veins. + +But what has all this to do, it may be asked, with the aforementioned +Volkerwanderung, or migration of peoples, during the Dark Ages? More +than may at first sight appear. Some of the so-called migrations were, +I suspect, not at all migrations in the ordinary sense of the term, but +rather gradual changes, such as those which have taken place, and are +still taking place, in Northern Russia. A thousand years ago what is now +known as the province of Yaroslavl was inhabited by Finns, and now it is +occupied by men who are commonly regarded as pure Slavs. But it would be +an utter mistake to suppose that the Finns of this district migrated to +those more distant regions where they are now to be found. In reality +they formerly occupied, as I have said, the whole of Northern Russia, +and in the province of Yaroslavl they have been transformed by Slav +infiltration. In Central Europe the Slavs may be said in a certain +sense to have retreated, for in former times they occupied the whole of +Northern Germany as far as the Elbe. But what does the word "retreat" +mean in this case? It means probably that the Slays were gradually +Teutonised, and then absorbed by the Teutonic race. Some tribes, it +is true, swept over a part of Europe in genuine nomadic fashion, and +endeavoured perhaps to expel or exterminate the actual possessors of the +soil. This kind of migration may likewise be studied in Russia. But I +must leave the subject till I come to speak of the southern provinces. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +LORD NOVGOROD THE GREAT + + +Departure from Ivanofka and Arrival at Novgorod--The Eastern Half of +the Town--The Kremlin--An Old Legend--The Armed Men of Rus--The +Northmen--Popular Liberty in Novgorod--The Prince and the Popular +Assembly--Civil Dissensions and Faction-fights--The Commercial Republic +Conquered by the Muscovite Tsars--Ivan the Terrible--Present Condition +of the Town--Provincial Society--Card-playing--Periodicals--"Eternal +Stillness." + + +Country life in Russia is pleasant enough in summer or in winter, but +between summer and winter there is an intermediate period of several +weeks when the rain and mud transform a country-house into something +very like a prison. To escape this durance vile I determined in the +month of October to leave Ivanofka, and chose as my headquarters for the +next few months the town of Novgorod--the old town of that name, not +to be confounded with Nizhni Novgorod--i.e., Lower Novgorod, on the +Volga--where the great annual fair is held. + +For this choice there were several reasons. I did not wish to go to St. +Petersburg or Moscow, because I foresaw that in either of those cities +my studies would certainly be interrupted. In a quiet, sleepy provincial +town I should have much more chance of coming in contact with people who +could not speak fluently any West-European languages, and much better +opportunities for studying native life and local administration. Of the +provincial capitals, Novgorod was the nearest, and more interesting than +most of its rivals; for it has had a curious history, much older than +that of St. Petersburg or even of Moscow, and some traces of its +former greatness are still visible. Though now a town of third-rate +importance--a mere shadow of its former self--it still contains about +21,000 inhabitants, and is the administrative centre of the large +province in which it is situated. + +About eighty miles before reaching St. Petersburg the Moscow railway +crosses the Volkhof, a rapid, muddy river which connects Lake Ilmen with +Lake Ladoga. At the point of intersection I got on board a small steamer +and sailed up stream towards Lake Ilmen for about fifty miles.* The +journey was tedious, for the country was flat and monotonous, and the +steamer, though it puffed and snorted inordinately, did not make more +than nine knots. Towards sunset Novgorod appeared on the horizon. +Seen thus at a distance in the soft twilight, it seemed decidedly +picturesque. On the east bank lay the greater part of the town, the sky +line of which was agreeably broken by the green roofs and pear-shaped +cupolas of many churches. On the opposite bank rose the Kremlin. +Spanning the river was a long, venerable stone bridge, half hidden by a +temporary wooden one, which was doing duty for the older structure while +the latter was being repaired. A cynical fellow-passenger assured me +that the temporary structure was destined to become permanent, because +it yielded a comfortable revenue to certain officials, but this sinister +prediction has not been verified. + + * The journey would now be made by rail, but the branch line + which runs near the bank of the river had not been + constructed at that time. + +That part of Novgorod which lies on the eastern bank of the river, and +in which I took up my abode for several months, contains nothing that +is worthy of special mention. As is the case in most Russian towns, the +streets are straight, wide, and ill-paved, and all run parallel or +at right angles to each other. At the end of the bridge is a spacious +market-place, flanked on one side by the Town-house. Near the other side +stand the houses of the Governor and of the chief military authority +of the district. The only other buildings of note are the numerous +churches, which are mostly small, and offer nothing that is likely to +interest the student of architecture. Altogether this part of the town +is unquestionably commonplace. The learned archaeologist may detect in +it some traces of the distant past, but the ordinary traveller will find +little to arrest his attention. + +If now we cross over to the other side of the river, we are at once +confronted by something which very few Russian towns possess--a kremlin, +or citadel. This is a large and slightly-elevated enclosure, surrounded +by high brick walls, and in part by the remains of a moat. Before the +days of heavy artillery these walls must have presented a formidable +barrier to any besieging force, but they have long ceased to have any +military significance, and are now nothing more than an historical +monument. Passing through the gateway which faces the bridge, we find +ourselves in a large open space. To the right stands the cathedral--a +small, much-venerated church, which can make no pretensions to +architectural beauty--and an irregular group of buildings containing the +consistory and the residence of the Archbishop. To the left is a long +symmetrical range of buildings containing the Government offices and the +law courts. Midway between this and the cathedral, in the centre of +the great open space, stands a colossal monument, composed of a massive +circular stone pedestal and an enormous globe, on and around which +cluster a number of emblematic and historical figures. This curious +monument, which has at least the merit of being original in design, was +erected in 1862, in commemoration of Russia's thousandth birthday, +and is supposed to represent the history of Russia in general and of +Novgorod in particular during the last thousand years. It was placed +here because Novgorod is the oldest of Russian towns, and because +somewhere in the surrounding country occurred the incident which +is commonly recognised as the foundation of the Russian Empire. The +incident in question is thus described in the oldest chronicle: + +"At that time, as the southern Slavonians paid tribute to the Kozars, so +the Novgorodian Slavonians suffered from the attacks of the Variags. For +some time the Variags exacted tribute from the Novgorodian Slavonians +and the neighbouring Finns; then the conquered tribes, by uniting their +forces, drove out the foreigners. But among the Slavonians arose strong +internal dissensions; the clans rose against each other. Then, for the +creation of order and safety, they resolved to call in princes from a +foreign land. In the year 862 Slavonic legates went away beyond the +sea to the Variag tribe called Rus, and said, 'Our land is great and +fruitful, but there is no order in it; come and reign and rule over us.' +Three brothers accepted the invitation, and appeared with their armed +followers. The eldest of these, Rurik, settled in Novgorod; the second, +Sineus, at Byelo-ozero; and the third, Truvor, in Isborsk. From them our +land is called Rus. After two years the brothers of Rurik died. He alone +began to rule over the Novgorod district, and confided to his men the +administration of the principal towns." + +This simple legend has given rise to a vast amount of learned +controversy, and historical investigators have fought valiantly with +each other over the important question, Who were those armed men of Rus? +For a long time the commonly received opinion was that they were Normans +from Scandinavia. The Slavophils accepted the legend literally in this +sense, and constructed upon it an ingenious theory of Russian history. +The nations of the West, they said, were conquered by invaders, who +seized the country and created the feudal system for their own benefit; +hence the history of Western Europe is a long tale of bloody struggles +between conquerors and conquered, and at the present day the old enmity +still lives in the political rivalry of the different social classes. +The Russo-Slavonians, on the contrary, were not conquered, but +voluntarily invited a foreign prince to come and rule over them! +Hence the whole social and political development of Russia has been +essentially peaceful, and the Russian people know nothing of social +castes or feudalism. Though this theory afforded some nourishment for +patriotic self-satisfaction, it displeased extreme patriots, who did not +like the idea that order was first established in their country by men +of Teutonic race. These preferred to adopt the theory that Rurik and his +companions were Slavonians from the shores of the Baltic. + +Though I devoted to the study of this question more time and labour than +perhaps the subject deserved, I have no intention of inviting the reader +to follow me through the tedious controversy. Suffice it to say that, +after careful consideration, and with all due deference to recent +historians, I am inclined to adopt the old theory, and to regard the +Normans of Scandinavia as in a certain sense the founders of the Russian +Empire. We know from other sources that during the ninth century there +was a great exodus from Scandinavia. Greedy of booty, and fired with +the spirit of adventure, the Northmen, in their light, open boats, swept +along the coasts of Germany, France, Spain, Greece, and Asia Minor, +pillaging the towns and villages near the sea, and entering into the +heart of the country by means of the rivers. At first they were mere +marauders, and showed everywhere such ferocity and cruelty that they +came to be regarded as something akin to plagues and famines, and the +faithful added a new petition to the Litany, "From the wrath and malice +of the Normans, O Lord, deliver us!" But towards the middle of the +century the movement changed its character. The raids became military +invasions, and the invaders sought to conquer the lands which they had +formerly plundered, "ut acquirant sibi spoliando regna quibus possent +vivere pace perpetua." The chiefs embraced Christianity, married the +daughters or sisters of the reigning princes, and obtained the conquered +territories as feudal grants. Thus arose Norman principalities in the +Low Countries, in France, in Italy, and in Sicily; and the Northmen, +rapidly blending with the native population, soon showed as much +political talent as they had formerly shown reckless and destructive +valour. + +It would have been strange indeed if these adventurers, who succeeded +in reaching Asia Minor and the coasts of North America, should have +overlooked Russia, which lay, as it were, at their very doors. The +Volkhof, flowing through Novgorod, formed part of a great waterway which +afforded almost uninterrupted water-communication between the Baltic and +the Black Sea; and we know that some time afterwards the Scandinavians +used this route in their journeys to Constantinople. The change which +the Scandinavian movement underwent elsewhere is clearly indicated +by the Russian chronicles: first, the Variags came as collectors of +tribute, and raised so much popular opposition that they were expelled, +and then they came as rulers, and settled in the country. Whether they +really came on invitation may be doubted, but that they adopted the +language, religion, and customs of the native population does not +militate against the assertion that they were Normans. On the contrary, +we have here rather an additional confirmation, for elsewhere the +Normans did likewise. In the North of France they adopted almost at +once the French language and religion, and the son and successor of +the famous Rollo was sometimes reproached with being more French than +Norman.* + + *Strinnholm, "Die Vikingerzuge" (Hamburg, 1839), I., p. 135. + +Though it is difficult to decide how far the legend is literally true, +there can be no possible doubt that the event which it more or less +accurately describes had an important influence on Russian history. From +that time dates the rapid expansion of the Russo-Slavonians--a movement +that is still going on at the present day. To the north, the east, and +the south new principalities were formed and governed by men who all +claimed to be descendants of Rurik, and down to the end of the sixteenth +century no Russian outside of this great family ever attempted to +establish independent sovereignty. + +For six centuries after the so-called invitation of Rurik the city on +the Volkhof had a strange, checkered history. Rapidly it conquered the +neighbouring Finnish tribes, and grew into a powerful independent state, +with a territory extending to the Gulf of Finland, and northwards to the +White Sea. At the same time its commercial importance increased, and it +became an outpost of the Hanseatic League. In this work the descendants +of Rurik played an important part, but they were always kept in strict +subordination to the popular will. Political freedom kept pace with +commercial prosperity. What means Rurik employed for establishing +and preserving order we know not, but the chronicles show that his +successors in Novgorod possessed merely such authority as was freely +granted them by the people. The supreme power resided, not in the +prince, but in the assembly of the citizens called together in the +market-place by the sound of the great bell. This assembly made laws +for the prince as well as for the people, entered into alliances with +foreign powers, declared war, and concluded peace, imposed taxes, +raised troops, and not only elected the magistrates, but also judged and +deposed them when it thought fit. The prince was little more than +the hired commander of the troops and the president of the judicial +administration. When entering on his functions he had to take a solemn +oath that he would faithfully observe the ancient laws and usages, and +if he failed to fulfil his promise he was sure to be summarily deposed +and expelled. The people had an old rhymed proverb, "Koli khud knyaz, +tak v gryaz!" "If the prince is bad, into the mud with him!", and they +habitually acted according to it. So unpleasant, indeed, was the task of +ruling those sturdy, stiff-necked burghers, that some princes refused to +undertake it, and others, having tried it for a time, voluntarily laid +down their authority and departed. But these frequent depositions and +abdications--as many as thirty took place in the course of a single +century--did not permanently disturb the existing order of things. The +descendants of Rurik were numerous, and there were always plenty of +candidates for the vacant post. The municipal republic continued to +grow in strength and in riches, and during the thirteenth and fourteenth +centuries it proudly styled itself "Lord Novgorod the Great" (Gospodin +Velilki Novgorod). + +"Then came a change, as all things human change." To the east arose +the principality of Moscow--not an old, rich municipal republic, but a +young, vigorous State, ruled by a line of crafty, energetic, ambitious, +and unscrupulous princes of the Rurik stock, who were freeing the +country from the Tartar yoke and gradually annexing by fair means and +foul the neighbouring principalities to their own dominions. At the same +time, and in a similar manner, the Lithuanian Princes to the westward +united various small principalities and formed a large independent +State. Thus Novgorod found itself in a critical position. Under a +strong Government it might have held its own against these rivals and +successfully maintained its independence, but its strength was already +undermined by internal dissensions. Political liberty had led to +anarchy. Again and again on that great open space where the national +monument now stands, and in the market-place on the other side of the +river, scenes of disorder and bloodshed took place, and more than once +on the bridge battles were fought by contending factions. Sometimes it +was a contest between rival families, and sometimes a struggle between +the municipal aristocracy, who sought to monopolise the political +power, and the common people, who wished to have a large share in the +administration. A State thus divided against itself could not long +resist the aggressive tendencies of powerful neighbours. Artful +diplomacy could but postpone the evil day, and it required no great +political foresight to predict that sooner or later Novgorod must become +Lithuanian or Muscovite. The great families inclined to Lithuania, but +the popular party and the clergy, disliking Roman Catholicism, looked to +Moscow for assistance, and the Grand Princes of Muscovy ultimately won +the prize. + +The barbarous way in which the Grand Princes effected the annexation +shows how thoroughly they had imbibed the spirit of Tartar +statesmanship. Thousands of families were transported to Moscow, and +Muscovite families put in their places; and when, in spite of this, the +old spirit revived, Ivan the Terrible determined to apply the method of +physical extermination which he had found so effectual in breaking the +power of his own nobles. Advancing with a large army, which met with no +resistance, he devastated the country with fire and sword, and during a +residence of five weeks in the town he put the inhabitants to death +with a ruthless ferocity which has perhaps never been surpassed even by +Oriental despots. If those old walls could speak they would have many +a horrible tale to tell. Enough has been preserved in the chronicles to +give us some idea of this awful time. Monks and priests were subjected +to the Tartar punishment called pravezh, which consisted in tying the +victim to a stake, and flogging him daily until a certain sum of money +was paid for his release. The merchants and officials were tortured with +fire, and then thrown from the bridge with their wives and children +into the river. Lest any of them should escape by swimming, boatfuls +of soldiers despatched those who were not killed by the fall. At the +present day there is a curious bubbling immediately below the bridge, +which prevents the water from freezing in winter, and according to +popular belief this is caused by the spirits of the terrible Tsar's +victims. Of those who were murdered in the villages there is no record, +but in the town alone no less than 60,000 human beings are said to have +been butchered--an awful hecatomb on the altar of national unity and +autocratic power! + +This tragic scene, which occurred in 1570, closes the history of +Novgorod as an independent State. Its real independence had long +since ceased to exist, and now the last spark of the old spirit was +extinguished. The Tsars could not suffer even a shadow of political +independence to exist within their dominions. + +In the old days, when many Hanseatic merchants annually visited the +city, and when the market-place, the bridge, and the Kremlin were often +the scene of violent political struggles, Novgorod must have been an +interesting place to live in; but now its glory has departed, and in +respect of social resources it is not even a first-rate provincial town. +Kief, Kharkof, and other towns which are situated at a greater distance +from the capital, in districts fertile enough to induce the nobles to +farm their own land, are in their way little semi-independent centres of +civilisation. They contain a theatre, a library, two or three clubs, and +large houses belonging to rich landed proprietors, who spend the +summer on their estates and come into town for the winter months. These +proprietors, together with the resident officials, form a numerous +society, and during the winter, dinner-parties, balls, and other social +gatherings are by no means infrequent. In Novgorod the society is much +more limited. It does not, like Kief, Kharkof, and Kazan, possess a +university, and it contains no houses belonging to wealthy nobles. The +few proprietors of the province who live on their estates, and are rich +enough to spend part of the year in town, prefer St. Petersburg for +their winter residence. The society, therefore, is composed exclusively +of the officials and of the officers who happen to be quartered in the +town or the immediate vicinity. + +Of all the people whose acquaintance I made at Novgorod, I can recall +only two men who did not occupy some official position, civil or +military. One of these was a retired doctor, who was attempting to farm +on scientific principles, and who, I believe, soon afterwards gave up +the attempt and migrated elsewhere. The other was a Polish bishop who +had been compromised in the insurrection of 1863, and was condemned to +live here under police supervision. This latter could scarcely be said +to belong to the society of the place; though he sometimes appeared +at the unceremonious weekly receptions given by the Governor, and was +invariably treated by all present with marked respect, he could not but +feel that he was in a false position, and he was rarely or never seen in +other houses. + +The official circle of a town like Novgorod is sure to contain a good +many people of average education and agreeable manners, but it is +sure to be neither brilliant nor interesting. Though it is constantly +undergoing a gradual renovation by the received system of frequently +transferring officials from one town to another, it preserves +faithfully, in spite of the new blood which it thus receives, its +essentially languid character. When a new official arrives he exchanges +visits with all the notables, and for a few days he produces quite a +sensation in the little community. If he appears at social gatherings +he is much talked to, and if he does not appear he is much talked about. +His former history is repeatedly narrated, and his various merits and +defects assiduously discussed. + +If he is married, and has brought his wife with him, the field of +comment and discussion is very much enlarged. The first time that Madame +appears in society she is the "cynosure of neighbouring eyes." Her +features, her complexion, her hair, her dress, and her jewellery are +carefully noted and criticised. Perhaps she has brought with her, from +the capital or from abroad, some dresses of the newest fashion. As soon +as this is discovered she at once becomes an object of special curiosity +to the ladies, and of envious jealousy to those who regard as a personal +grievance the presence of a toilette finer or more fashionable than +their own. Her demeanour, too, is very carefully observed. If she is +friendly and affable in manner, she is patronised; if she is distant and +reserved, she is condemned as proud and pretentious. In either case +she is pretty sure to form a close intimacy with some one of the older +female residents, and for a few weeks the two ladies are inseparable, +till some incautious word or act disturbs the new-born friendship, and +the devoted friends become bitter enemies. Voluntarily or involuntarily +the husbands get mixed up in the quarrel. Highly undesirable qualities +are discovered in the characters of all parties concerned, and are made +the subject of unfriendly comment. Then the feud subsides, and some new +feud of a similar kind comes to occupy the public attention. Mrs. A. +wonders how her friends Mr. and Mrs. B. can afford to lose considerable +sums every evening at cards, and suspects that they are getting into +debt or starving themselves and their children; in her humble opinion +they would do well to give fewer supper-parties, and to refrain from +poisoning their guests. The bosom friend to whom this is related retails +it directly or indirectly to Mrs. B., and Mrs. B. naturally retaliates. +Here is a new quarrel, which for some time affords material for +conversation. + +When there is no quarrel, there is sure to be a bit of scandal afloat. +Though Russian provincial society is not at all prudish, and leans +rather to the side of extreme leniency, it cannot entirely overlook les +convenances. Madame C. has always a large number of male admirers, and +to this there can be no reasonable objection so long as her husband does +not complain, but she really parades her preference for Mr. X. at balls +and parties a little too conspicuously. Then there is Madame D., with +the big dreamy eyes. How can she remain in the place after her husband +was killed in a duel by a brother officer? Ostensibly the cause of the +quarrel was a trifling incident at the card-table, but every one knows +that in reality she was the cause of the deadly encounter. And so on, +and so on. In the absence of graver interests society naturally +bestows inordinate attention on the private affairs of its members; and +quarrelling, backbiting, and scandal-mongery help indolent people to +kill the time that hangs heavily on their hands. + +Potent as these instruments are, they are not sufficient to kill all the +leisure hours. In the forenoons the gentlemen are occupied with their +official duties, whilst the ladies go out shopping or pay visits, +and devote any time that remains to their household duties and their +children; but the day's work is over about four o'clock, and the long +evening remains to be filled up. The siesta may dispose of an hour or an +hour and a half, but about seven o'clock some definite occupation has to +be found. As it is impossible to devote the whole evening to discussing +the ordinary news of the day, recourse is almost invariably had +to card-playing, which is indulged in to an extent that we had no +conception of in England until Bridge was imported. Hour after hour +the Russians of both sexes will sit in a hot room, filled with a +constantly-renewed cloud of tobacco-smoke--in the production of +which most of the ladies take part--and silently play "Preference," +"Yarolash," or Bridge. Those who for some reason are obliged to be alone +can amuse themselves with "Patience," in which no partner is required. +In the other games the stakes are commonly very small, but the sittings +are often continued so long that a player may win or lose two or three +pounds sterling. It is no unusual thing for gentlemen to play for eight +or nine hours at a time. At the weekly club dinners, before coffee had +been served, nearly all present used to rush off impatiently to the +card-room, and sit there placidly from five o'clock in the afternoon +till one or two o'clock in the morning! When I asked my friends why they +devoted so much time to this unprofitable occupation, they always gave +me pretty much the same answer: "What are we to do? We have been reading +or writing official papers all day, and in the evening we like to have +a little relaxation. When we come together we have very little to talk +about, for we have all read the daily papers and nothing more. The best +thing we can do is to sit down at the card-table, where we can spend our +time pleasantly, without the necessity of talking." + +In addition to the daily papers, some people read the monthly +periodicals--big, thick volumes, containing several serious articles on +historical and social subjects, sections of one or two novels, satirical +sketches, and a long review of home and foreign politics on the model +of those in the Revue des Deux Mondes. Several of these periodicals +are very ably conducted, and offer to their readers a large amount of +valuable information; but I have noticed that the leaves of the more +serious part often remain uncut. The translation of a sensation novel by +the latest French or English favourite finds many more readers than an +article by an historian or a political economist. As to books, they seem +to be very little read, for during all the time I lived in Novgorod I +never discovered a bookseller's shop, and when I required books I had to +get them sent from St. Petersburg. The local administration, it is true, +conceived the idea of forming a museum and circulating library, but in +my time the project was never realised. Of all the magnificent projects +that are formed in Russia, only a very small percentage come into +existence, and these are too often very short-lived. The Russians +have learned theoretically what are the wants of the most advanced +civilisation, and are ever ready to rush into the grand schemes which +their theoretical knowledge suggests; but very few of them really +and permanently feel these wants, and consequently the institutions +artificially formed to satisfy them very soon languish and die. In the +provincial towns the shops for the sale of gastronomic delicacies spring +up and flourish, whilst shops for the sale of intellectual food are +rarely to be met with. + +About the beginning of December the ordinary monotony of Novgorod life +is a little relieved by the annual Provincial Assembly, which sits +daily for two or three weeks and discusses the economic wants of +the province.* During this time a good many landed proprietors, who +habitually live on their estates or in St. Petersburg, collect in +the town, and enliven a little the ordinary society. But as Christmas +approaches the deputies disperse, and again the town becomes enshrouded +in that "eternal stillness" (vetchnaya tishina) which a native poet has +declared to be the essential characteristic of Russian provincial life. + + * Of these Assemblies I shall have more to say when I come + to describe the local self-government. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE TOWNS AND THE MERCANTILE CLASSES + + +General Character of Russian Towns--Scarcity of Towns in Russia--Why +the Urban Element in the Population is so Small--History of +Russian Municipal Institutions--Unsuccessful Efforts to Create a +Tiers-etat--Merchants, Burghers, and Artisans--Town Council--A Rich +Merchant--His House--His Love of Ostentation--His Conception of +Aristocracy--Official Decorations--Ignorance and Dishonesty of the +Commercial Classes--Symptoms of Change. + + +Those who wish to enjoy the illusions produced by scene painting and +stage decorations should never go behind the scenes. In like manner he +who wishes to preserve the delusion that Russian provincial towns are +picturesque should never enter them, but content himself with viewing +them from a distance. + +However imposing they may look when seen from the outside, they will be +found on closer inspection, with very few exceptions, to be little more +than villages in disguise. If they have not a positively rustic, they +have at least a suburban, appearance. The streets are straight and wide, +and are either miserably paved or not paved at all. Trottoirs are +not considered indispensable. The houses are built of wood or brick, +generally one-storied, and separated from each other by spacious yards. +Many of them do not condescend to turn their facades to the street. The +general impression produced is that the majority of the burghers have +come from the country, and have brought their country-houses with them. +There are few or no shops with merchandise tastefully arranged in the +window to tempt the passer-by. If you wish to make purchases you must +go to the Gostinny Dvor,* or Bazaar, which consists of long, symmetrical +rows of low-roofed, dimly-lighted stores, with a colonnade in front. +This is the place where merchants most do congregate, but it presents +nothing of that bustle and activity which we are accustomed to associate +with commercial life. The shopkeepers stand at their doors or loiter +about in the immediate vicinity waiting for customers. From the scarcity +of these latter I should say that when sales are effected the profits +must be enormous. + + * These words mean literally the Guests' Court or Yard. The + Ghosti--a word which is etymologically the same as our + "host" and "guest"--were originally the merchants who traded + with other towns or other countries. + +In the other parts of the town the air of solitude and languor is +still more conspicuous. In the great square, or by the side of the +promenade--if the town is fortunate enough to have one--cows or horses +may be seen grazing tranquilly, without being at all conscious of the +incongruity of their position. And, indeed, it would be strange if they +had any such consciousness, for it does not exist in the minds either +of the police or of the inhabitants. At night the streets may be lighted +merely with a few oil-lamps, which do little more than render the +darkness visible, so that cautious citizens returning home late often +provide themselves with lanterns. As late as the sixties the learned +historian, Pogodin, then a town-councillor of Moscow, opposed the +lighting of the city with gas on the ground that those who chose to +go out at night should carry their lamps with them. The objection was +overruled, and Moscow is now fairly well lit, but the provincial towns +are still far from being on the same level. Some retain their old +primitive arrangements, while others enjoy the luxury of electric +lighting. + +The scarcity of large towns in Russia is not less remarkable than their +rustic appearance. According to the last census (1897) the number of +towns, officially so-called, is 1,321, but about three-fifths of them +have under 5,000 inhabitants; only 104 have over 25,000, and only 19 +over 100,000. These figures indicate plainly that the urban element of +the population is relatively small, and it is declared by the official +statisticians to be only 14 per cent., as against 72 per cent. in Great +Britain, but it is now increasing rapidly. When the first edition of +this work was published, in 1877, European Russia in the narrower sense +of the term--excluding Finland, the Baltic Provinces, Lithuania, Poland, +and the Caucasus--had only 11 towns with a population of over 50,000, +and now there are 34; that is to say, the number of such towns has more +than trebled. In the other portions of the country a similar increase +has taken place. The towns which have become important industrial and +commercial centres have naturally grown most rapidly. For example, in +a period of twelve years (1885-97) the populations of Lodz, of +Ekaterinoslaf, of Baku, of Yaroslavl, and of Libau, have more than +doubled. In the five largest towns of the Empire--St. Petersburg, +Moscow, Warsaw, Odessa and Lodz--the aggregate population rose during +the same twelve years from 2,423,000 to 3,590,000, or nearly 50 per +cent. In ten other towns, with populations varying from 50,000 to +282,000, the aggregate rose from 780,000 to 1,382,000, or about 77 per +cent. + +That Russia should have taken so long to assimilate herself in this +respect to Western Europe is to be explained by the geographical and +political conditions. Her population was not hemmed in by natural +or artificial frontiers strong enough to restrain their expansive +tendencies. To the north, the east, and the southeast there was a +boundless expanse of fertile, uncultivated land, offering a tempting +field for emigration; and the peasantry have ever shown themselves ready +to take advantage of their opportunities. Instead of improving their +primitive system of agriculture, which requires an enormous area and +rapidly exhausts the soil, they have always found it easier and more +profitable to emigrate and take possession of the virgin land beyond. +Thus the territory--sometimes with the aid of, and sometimes in spite +of, the Government--has constantly expanded, and has already reached the +Polar Ocean, the Pacific, and the northern offshoots of the Himalayas. +The little district around the sources of the Dnieper has grown into a +mighty empire, comprising one-seventh of the land surface of the globe. +Prolific as the Russian race is, its power of reproduction could not +keep pace with its territorial expansion, and consequently the country +is still very thinly peopled. According to the latest census (1897) in +the whole empire there are under 130 millions of inhabitants, and the +average density of population is only about fifteen to the English +square mile. Even the most densely populated provinces, including Moscow +with its 988,610 inhabitants, cannot show more than 189 to the English +square mile, whereas England has about 400. A people that has such +an abundance of land, and can support itself by agriculture, is not +naturally disposed to devote itself to industry, or to congregate in +large cities. + +For many generations there were other powerful influences working in the +same direction. Of these the most important was serfage, which was not +abolished till 1861. That institution, and the administrative system of +which it formed an essential part, tended to prevent the growth of the +towns by hemming the natural movements of the population. Peasants, for +example, who learned trades, and who ought to have drifted naturally +into the burgher class, were mostly retained by the master on his +estate, where artisans of all sorts were daily wanted, and the few who +were sent to seek work in the towns were not allowed to settle there +permanently. + +Thus the insignificance of the Russian towns is to be attributed mainly +to two causes. The abundance of land tended to prevent the development +of industry, and the little industry which did exist was prevented by +serfage from collecting in the towns. But this explanation is evidently +incomplete. The same causes existed during the Middle Ages in Central +Europe, and yet, in spite of them, flourishing cities grew up and played +an important part in the social and political history of Germany. In +these cities collected traders and artisans, forming a distinct +social class, distinguished from the nobles on the one hand, and the +surrounding peasantry on the other, by peculiar occupations, peculiar +aims, peculiar intellectual physiognomy, and peculiar moral conceptions. +Why did these important towns and this burgher class not likewise come +into existence in Russia, in spite of the two preventive causes above +mentioned? + +To discuss this question fully it would be necessary to enter into +certain debated points of mediaeval history. All I can do here is to +indicate what seems to me the true explanation. + +In Central Europe, all through the Middle Ages, a perpetual struggle +went on between the various political factors of which society was +composed, and the important towns were in a certain sense the products +of this struggle. They were preserved and fostered by the mutual rivalry +of the Sovereign, the Feudal Nobility, and the Church; and those who +desired to live by trade or industry settled in them in order to enjoy +the protection and immunities which they afforded. In Russia there was +never any political struggle of this kind. As soon as the Grand Princes +of Moscow, in the sixteenth century, threw off the yoke of the Tartars, +and made themselves Tsars of all Russia, their power was irresistible +and uncontested. Complete masters of the situation, they organised the +country as they thought fit. At first their policy was favourable to the +development of the towns. Perceiving that the mercantile and industrial +classes might be made a rich source of revenue, they separated them from +the peasantry, gave them the exclusive right of trading, prevented +the other classes from competing with them, and freed them from the +authority of the landed proprietors. Had they carried out this policy in +a cautious, rational way, they might have created a rich burgher class; +but they acted with true Oriental short-sightedness, and defeated their +own purpose by imposing inordinately heavy taxes, and treating the urban +population as their serfs. The richer merchants were forced to serve +as custom-house officers--often at a great distance from their +domiciles*--and artisans were yearly summoned to Moscow to do work for +the Tsars without remuneration. + + * Merchants from Yaroslavl, for instance, were sent to + Astrakhan to collect the custom-dues. + +Besides this, the system of taxation was radically defective, and +the members of the local administration, who received no pay and were +practically free from control, were merciless in their exactions. In a +word, the Tsars used their power so stupidly and so recklessly that the +industrial and trading population, instead of fleeing to the towns to +secure protection, fled from them to escape oppression. At length this +emigration from the towns assumed such dimensions that it was found +necessary to prevent it by administrative and legislative measures; +and the urban population was legally fixed in the towns as the rural +population was fixed to the soil. Those who fled were brought back as +runaways, and those who attempted flight a second time were ordered to +be flogged and transported to Siberia.* + + * See the "Ulozhenie" (i.e. the laws of Alexis, father of + Peter the Great), chap. xix. 13. + +With the eighteenth century began a new era in the history of the +towns and of the urban population. Peter the Great observed, during his +travels in Western Europe, that national wealth and prosperity reposed +chiefly on the enterprising, educated middle classes, and he attributed +the poverty of his own country to the absence of this burgher element. +Might not such a class be created in Russia? Peter unhesitatingly +assumed that it might, and set himself at once to create it in a simple, +straightforward way. Foreign artisans were imported into his dominions +and foreign merchants were invited to trade with his subjects; young +Russians were sent abroad to learn the useful arts; efforts were made to +disseminate practical knowledge by the translation of foreign books +and the foundation of schools; all kinds of trade were encouraged, and +various industrial enterprises were organised. At the same time the +administration of the towns was thoroughly reorganised after the model +of the ancient free-towns of Germany. In place of the old organisation, +which was a slightly modified form of the rural Commune, they received +German municipal institutions, with burgomasters, town councils, courts +of justice, guilds for the merchants, trade corporations (tsekhi) +for the artisans, and an endless list of instructions regarding the +development of trade and industry, the building of hospitals, sanitary +precautions, the founding of schools, the dispensation of justice, the +organisation of the police, and similar matters. + +Catherine II. followed in the same track. If she did less for trade +and industry, she did more in the way of legislating and writing +grandiloquent manifestoes. In the course of her historical studies she +had learned, as she proclaims in one of her manifestoes, that "from +remotest antiquity we everywhere find the memory of town-builders +elevated to the same level as the memory of legislators, and we see +that heroes, famous for their victories, hoped by town-building to give +immortality to their names." As the securing of immortality for her own +name was her chief aim in life, she acted in accordance with historical +precedent, and created 216 towns in the short space of twenty-three +years. This seems a great work, but it did not satisfy her ambition. +She was not only a student of history, but was at the same time a +warm admirer of the fashionable political philosophy of her time. +That philosophy paid much attention to the tiers-etat, which was then +acquiring in France great political importance, and Catherine thought +that as she had created a Noblesse on the French model, she might +also create a bourgeoisie. For this purpose she modified the municipal +organisation created by her great predecessor, and granted to all the +towns an Imperial Charter. This charter remained without essential +modification until the publication of the new Municipality Law in 1870. + +The efforts of the Government to create a rich, intelligent tiers-etat +were not attended with much success. Their influence was always more +apparent in official documents than in real life. The great mass of the +population remained serfs, fixed to the soil, whilst the nobles--that +is to say, all who possessed a little education--were required for the +military and civil services. Those who were sent abroad to learn the +useful arts learned little, and made little use of the knowledge which +they acquired. On their return to their native country they very soon +fell victims to the soporific influence of the surrounding social +atmosphere. The "town-building" had as little practical result. It was +an easy matter to create any number of towns in the official sense of +the term. To transform a village into a town, it was necessary merely to +prepare an izba, or log-house, for the district court, another for the +police-office, a third for the prison, and so on. On an appointed day +the Governor of the province arrived in the village, collected the +officials appointed to serve in the newly-constructed or newly-arranged +log-houses, ordered a simple religious ceremony to be performed by the +priest, caused a formal act to be drawn up, and then declared the town +to be "opened." All this required very little creative effort; to create +a spirit of commercial and industrial enterprise among the population +was a more difficult matter and could not be effected by Imperial ukaz. + +To animate the newly-imported municipal institutions, which had no +root in the traditions and habits of the people, was a task of equal +difficulty. In the West these institutions had been slowly devised in +the course of centuries to meet real, keenly-felt, practical wants. In +Russia they were adopted for the purpose of creating those wants which +were not yet felt. Let the reader imagine our Board of Trade supplying +the masters of fishing-smacks with accurate charts, learned treatises +on navigation, and detailed instructions for the proper ventilation of +ships' cabins, and he will have some idea of the effect which Peter's +legislation had upon the towns. The office-bearers, elected against +their will, were hopelessly bewildered by the complicated procedure, and +were incapable of understanding the numerous ukazes which prescribed +to them their multifarious duties and threatened the most merciless +punishments for sins of omission and commission. Soon, however, it was +discovered that the threats were not nearly so dreadful as they seemed; +and accordingly those municipal authorities who were to protect and +enlighten the burghers, "forgot the fear of God and the Tsar," and +extorted so unblushingly that it was found necessary to place them under +the control of Government officials. + +The chief practical result of the efforts made by Peter and Catherine +to create a bourgeoisie was that the inhabitants of the towns were more +systematically arranged in categories for the purpose of taxation, and +that the taxes were increased. All those parts of the new administration +which had no direct relation to the fiscal interests of the Government +had very little vitality in them. The whole system had been arbitrarily +imposed on the people, and had as motive only the Imperial will. Had +that motive power been withdrawn and the burghers left to regulate their +own municipal affairs, the system would immediately have collapsed. +Rathhaus, burgomasters, guilds, aldermen, and all the other lifeless +shadows which had been called into existence by Imperial ukaz would +instantly have vanished into space. In this fact we have one of the +characteristic traits of Russian historical development compared with +that of Western Europe. In the West monarchy had to struggle with +municipal institutions to prevent them from becoming too powerful; in +Russia, it had to struggle with them to prevent them from committing +suicide or dying of inanition. + +According to Catherine's legislation, which remained in force until +1870, and still exists in some of its main features, the towns were +divided into three categories: (1) Government towns (gubernskiye +goroda)--that is to say, the chief towns of provinces, or governments +(gubernii)--in which are concentrated the various organs of provincial +administration; (2) district towns (uyezdniye goroda), in which resides +the administration of the districts (uyezdi) into which the provinces +are divided; and (3) supernumerary towns (zashtatniye goroda), which +have no particular significance in the territorial administration. + +In all these the municipal organisation is the same. Leaving out of +consideration those persons who happen to reside in the towns, but +in reality belong to the Noblesse, the clergy, or the lower ranks of +officials, we may say that the town population is composed of three +groups: the merchants (kuptsi), the burghers in the narrower sense of +the term (meshtchanye), and the artisans (tsekhoviye). These categories +are not hereditary castes, like the nobles, the clergy, and the +peasantry. A noble may become a merchant, or a man may be one year a +burgher, the next year an artisan, and the third year a merchant, if he +changes his occupation and pays the necessary dues. But the categories +form, for the time being, distinct corporations, each possessing a +peculiar organisation and peculiar privileges and obligations. + +Of these three groups the first in the scale of dignity is that of the +merchants. It is chiefly recruited from the burghers and the peasantry. +Any one who wishes to engage in commerce inscribes himself in one of the +three guilds, according to the amount of his capital and the nature of +the operations in which he wishes to embark, and as soon as he has paid +the required dues he becomes officially a merchant. As soon as he ceases +to pay these dues he ceases to be a merchant in the legal sense of the +term, and returns to the class to which he formerly belonged. There +are some families whose members have belonged to the merchant class for +several generations, and the law speaks about a certain "velvet-book" +(barkhatnaya kniga) in which their names should be inscribed, but in +reality they do not form a distinct category, and they descend at once +from their privileged position as soon as they cease to pay the annual +guild dues. + +The artisans form the connecting link between the town population +and the peasantry, for peasants often enrol themselves in the +trades-corporations, or tsekhi, without severing their connection +with the rural Communes to which they belong. Each trade or handicraft +constitutes a tsekh, at the head of which stands an elder and two +assistants, elected by the members; and all the tsekhi together form +a corporation under an elected head (remeslenny golova) assisted by a +council composed of the elders of the various tsekhi. It is the duty of +this council and its president to regulate all matters connected with +the tsekhi, and to see that the multifarious regulations regarding +masters, journeymen, and apprentices are duly observed. + +The nondescript class, composed of those who are inscribed as permanent +inhabitants of the towns, but who do not belong to any guild or tsekh, +constitutes what is called the burghers in the narrower sense of the +term. Like the other two categories, they form a separate corporation, +with an elder and an administrative bureau. + +Some idea of the relative numerical strength of these three categories +may be obtained from the following figures. Thirty years ago in European +Russia the merchant class (including wives and children) numbered about +466,000, the burghers about 4,033,000, and the artisans about 260,000. +The numbers according to the last census are not yet available. + +In 1870 the entire municipal administration was reorganised on modern +West-European principles, and the Town Council (gorodskaya duma), +which formed under the previous system the connecting link between the +old-fashioned corporations, and was composed exclusively of members +of these bodies, became a genuine representative body composed of +householders, irrespective of the social class to which they might +belong. A noble, provided he was a house-proprietor, could become Town +Councillor or Mayor, and in this way a certain amount of vitality and a +progressive spirit were infused into the municipal administration. As a +consequence of this change the schools, hospitals, and other benevolent +institutions were much improved, the streets were kept cleaner and +somewhat better paved, and for a time it seemed as if the towns in +Russia might gradually rise to the level of those of Western Europe. But +the charm of novelty, which so often works wonders in Russia, soon wore +off. After a few years of strenuous effort the best citizens no longer +came forward as candidates, and the office-bearers selected no longer +displayed zeal and intelligence in the discharge of their duties. In +these circumstances the Government felt called upon again to intervene. +By a decree dated June 11, 1892, it introduced a new series of reforms, +by which the municipal self-government was placed more under the +direction and control of the centralised bureaucracy, and the attendance +of the Town Councillors at the periodical meetings was declared to be +obligatory, recalcitrant members being threatened with reprimands and +fines. + +This last fact speaks volumes for the low vitality of the institutions +and the prevalent popular apathy with regard to municipal affairs. Nor +was the unsatisfactory state of things much improved by the new reforms; +on the contrary, the increased interference of the regular officials +tended rather to weaken the vitality of the urban self government, and +the so-called reform was pretty generally condemned as a needlessly +reactionary measure. We have here, in fact, a case of what has often +occurred in the administrative history of the Russian Empire since the +time of Peter the Great, and to which I shall again have occasion to +refer. The central authority, finding itself incompetent to do all that +is required of it, and wishing to make a display of liberalism, accords +large concessions in the direction of local autonomy; and when it +discovers that the new institutions do not accomplish all that was +expected of them, and are not quite so subservient and obsequious as +is considered desirable, it returns in a certain measure to the old +principles of centralised bureaucracy. + +The great development of trade and industry in recent years has of +course enriched the mercantile classes, and has introduced into them +a more highly educated element, drawn chiefly from the Noblesse, which +formerly eschewed such occupations; but it has not yet affected very +deeply the mode of life of those who have sprung from the old merchant +families and the peasantry. When a merchant, contractor, or manufacturer +of the old type becomes wealthy, he builds for himself a fine house, or +buys and thoroughly repairs the house of some ruined noble, and spends +money freely on parquetry floors, large mirrors, malachite tables, grand +pianos by the best makers, and other articles of furniture made of the +most costly materials. Occasionally--especially on the occasion of a +marriage or a death in the family--he will give magnificent banquets, +and expend enormous sums on gigantic sterlets, choice sturgeons, foreign +fruits, champagne, and all manner of costly delicacies. But this lavish, +ostentatious expenditure does not affect the ordinary current of his +daily life. As you enter those gaudily furnished rooms you can perceive +at a glance that they are not for ordinary use. You notice a rigid +symmetry and an indescribable bareness which inevitably suggest that +the original arrangements of the upholsterer have never been modified or +supplemented. The truth is that by far the greater part of the house is +used only on state occasions. The host and his family live down-stairs +in small, dirty rooms, furnished in a very different, and for them more +comfortable, style. At ordinary times the fine rooms are closed, and the +fine furniture carefully covered. + +If you make a visite de politesse after an entertainment, you will +probably have some difficulty in gaining admission by the front door. +When you have knocked or rung several times, some one will come round +from the back regions and ask you what you want. Then follows another +long pause, and at last footsteps are heard approaching from within. The +bolts are drawn, the door is opened, and you are led up to a spacious +drawing-room. At the wall opposite the windows there is sure to be a +sofa, and before it an oval table. At each end of the table, and at +right angles to the sofa, there will be a row of three arm-chairs. The +other chairs will be symmetrically arranged round the room. In a few +minutes the host will appear, in his long double-breasted black coat +and well-polished long boots. His hair is parted in the middle, and his +beard shows no trace of scissors or razor. + +After the customary greetings have been exchanged, glasses of tea, with +slices of lemon and preserves, or perhaps a bottle of champagne, are +brought in by way of refreshments. The female members of the family +you must not expect to see, unless you are an intimate friend; for the +merchants still retain something of that female seclusion which was in +vogue among the upper classes before the time of Peter the Great. The +host himself will probably be an intelligent, but totally uneducated and +decidedly taciturn, man. + +About the weather and the crops he may talk fluently enough, but he will +not show much inclination to go beyond these topics. You may, perhaps, +desire to converse with him on the subject with which he is best +acquainted--the trade in which he is himself engaged; but if you make +the attempt, you will certainly not gain much information, and you may +possibly meet with such an incident as once happened to my travelling +companion, a Russian gentleman who had been commissioned by two learned +societies to collect information regarding the grain trade. When +he called on a merchant who had promised to assist him in his +investigation, he was hospitably received; but when he began to speak +about the grain trade of the district the merchant suddenly interrupted +him, and proposed to tell him a story. The story was as follows: + +Once on a time a rich landed proprietor had a son, who was a thoroughly +spoilt child; and one day the boy said to his father that he wished all +the young serfs to come and sing before the door of the house. After +some attempts at dissuasion the request was granted, and the young +people assembled; but as soon as they began to sing, the boy rushed out +and drove them away. + +When the merchant had told this apparently pointless story at great +length, and with much circumstantial detail, he paused a little, poured +some tea into his saucer, drank it off, and then inquired, "Now what do +you think was the reason of this strange conduct?" + +My friend replied that the riddle surpassed his powers of divination. + +"Well," said the merchant, looking hard at him, with a knowing grin, +"there was no reason; and all the boy could say was, 'Go away, go away! +I've changed my mind; I've changed my mind'" (poshli von; otkhotyel). + +There was no possibility of mistaking the point of the story. My friend +took the hint and departed. + +The Russian merchant's love of ostentation is of a peculiar +kind--something entirely different from English snobbery. He may delight +in gaudy reception-rooms, magnificent dinners, fast trotters, costly +furs; or he may display his riches by princely donations to churches, +monasteries, or benevolent institutions: but in all this he never +affects to be other than he really is. He habitually wears a costume +which designates plainly his social position; he makes no attempt +to adopt fine manners or elegant tastes; and he never seeks to gain +admission to what is called in Russia la societe. Having no desire to +seem what he is not, he has a plain, unaffected manner, and sometimes +a quiet dignity which contrasts favourably with the affected manner of +those nobles of the lower ranks who make pretensions to being highly +educated and strive to adopt the outward forms of French culture. At his +great dinners, it is true, the merchant likes to see among his guests as +many "generals"--that is to say, official personages--as possible, and +especially those who happen to have a grand cordon; but he never dreams +of thereby establishing an intimacy with these personages, or of being +invited by them in return. It is perfectly understood by both parties +that nothing of the kind is meant. The invitation is given and accepted +from quite different motives. The merchant has the satisfaction of +seeing at his table men of high official rank, and feels that the +consideration which he enjoys among people of his own class is thereby +augmented. If he succeeds in obtaining the presence of three generals, +he obtains a victory over a rival who cannot obtain more than two. The +general, on his side, gets a first-rate dinner, a la russe, and acquires +an undefined right to request subscriptions for public objects or +benevolent institutions. + +Of course this undefined right is commonly nothing more than a mere +tacit understanding, but in certain cases the subject is expressly +mentioned. I know of one case in which a regular bargain was made. A +Moscow magnate was invited by a merchant to a dinner, and consented +to go in full uniform, with all his decorations, on condition that the +merchant should subscribe a certain sum to a benevolent institution in +which he was particularly interested. It is whispered that such bargains +are sometimes made, not on behalf of benevolent institutions, but simply +in the interest of the gentleman who accepts the invitation. I cannot +believe that there are many official personages who would consent to let +themselves out as table decorations, but that it may happen is proved by +the following incident, which accidentally came to my knowledge. A +rich merchant of the town of T---- once requested the Governor of the +Province to honour a family festivity with his presence, and added that +he would consider it a special favour if the "Governoress" would +enter an appearance. To this latter request his Excellency made +many objections, and at last let the petitioner understand that her +Excellency could not possibly be present, because she had no velvet +dress that could bear comparison with those of several merchants' wives +in the town. Two days after the interview a piece of the finest velvet +that could be procured in Moscow was received by the Governor from +an unknown donor, and his wife was thus enabled to be present at the +festivity, to the complete satisfaction of all parties concerned. + +It is worthy of remark that the merchants recognise no aristocracy but +that of official rank. Many merchants would willingly give twenty pounds +for the presence of an "actual State Councillor" who perhaps never heard +of his grandfather, but who can show a grand cordon; whilst they would +not give twenty pence for the presence of an undecorated Prince without +official rank, though he might be able to trace his pedigree up to the +half-mythical Rurik. Of the latter they would probably say, "Kto ikh +znact?" (Who knows what sort of a fellow he is?) The former, on the +contrary, whoever his father and grandfather may have been, possesses +unmistakable marks of the Tsar's favour, which, in the merchant's +opinion, is infinitely more important than any rights or pretensions +founded on hereditary titles or long pedigrees. + +Some marks of Imperial favour the old-fashioned merchants strive to +obtain for themselves. They do not dream of grand cordons--that is far +beyond their most sanguine expectations--but they do all in their power +to obtain those lesser decorations which are granted to the mercantile +class. For this purpose the most common expedient is a liberal +subscription to some benevolent institution, and occasionally a regular +bargain is made. I know of at least one instance where the kind of +decoration was expressly stipulated. The affair illustrates so well the +commercial character of these transactions that I venture to state the +facts as related to me by the official chiefly concerned. A merchant +subscribed to a society which enjoyed the patronage of a Grand Duchess +a considerable sum of money, under the express condition that he +should receive in return a St. Vladimir Cross. Instead of the desired +decoration, which was considered too much for the sum subscribed, a +cross of St. Stanislas was granted; but the donor was dissatisfied with +the latter and demanded that his money should be returned to him. The +demand had to be complied with, and, as an Imperial gift cannot be +retracted, the merchant had his Stanislas Cross for nothing. + +This traffic in decorations has had its natural result. Like paper money +issued in too large quantities, the decorations have fallen in value. +The gold medals which were formerly much coveted and worn with pride by +the rich merchants--suspended by a ribbon round the neck--are now +little sought after. In like manner the inordinate respect for official +personages has considerably diminished. Fifty years ago the provincial +merchants vied with each other in their desire to entertain any great +dignitary who honoured their town with a visit, but now they seek rather +to avoid this expensive and barren honour. When they do accept the +honour, they fulfil the duties of hospitality in a most liberal spirit. +I have sometimes, when living as an honoured guest in a rich merchant's +house, found it difficult to obtain anything simpler than sterlet, +sturgeon, and champagne. + +The two great blemishes on the character of the Russian merchants as +a class are, according to general opinion, their ignorance and their +dishonesty. As to the former of these there cannot possibly be any +difference of opinion. Many of them can neither read nor write, and are +forced to keep their accounts in their memory, or by means of ingenious +hieroglyphics, intelligible only to the inventor. Others can decipher +the calendar and the lives of the saints, can sign their names with +tolerable facility, and can make the simpler arithmetical calculations +with the help of the stchety, a little calculating instrument, composed +of wooden balls strung on brass wires, which resembles the "abaca" +of the old Romans, and is universally used in Russia. It is only the +minority who understand the mysteries of regular book-keeping, and of +these very few can make any pretensions to being educated men. + +All this, however, is rapidly undergoing a radical change. Children are +now much better educated than their parents, and the next generation +will doubtless make further progress, so that the old-fashioned type +above described is destined to disappear. Already there are not a few +of the younger generation--especially among the wealthy manufacturers +of Moscow--who have been educated abroad, who may be described as tout +a fait civilises, and whose mode of life differs little from that of +the richer nobles; but they remain outside fashionable society, and +constitute a "set" of their own. + +As to the dishonesty which is said to be so common among the Russian +commercial classes, it is difficult to form an accurate judgment. That +an enormous amount of unfair dealing does exist there can be no possible +doubt, but in this matter a foreigner is likely to be unduly severe. We +are apt to apply unflinchingly our own standard of commercial morality, +and to forget that trade in Russia is only emerging from that primitive +condition in which fixed prices and moderate profits are entirely +unknown. And when we happen to detect positive dishonesty, it seems to +us especially heinous, because the trickery employed is more primitive +and awkward than that to which we are accustomed. Trickery in weighing +and measuring, for instance, which is by no means uncommon in Russia, +is likely to make us more indignant than those ingenious methods of +adulteration which are practised nearer home, and are regarded by many +as almost legitimate. Besides this, foreigners who go to Russia and +embark in speculations without possessing any adequate knowledge of +the character, customs, and language of the people positively invite +spoliation, and ought to blame themselves rather than the people who +profit by their ignorance. + +All this, and much more of the same kind, may be fairly urged in +mitigation of the severe judgments which foreign merchants commonly pass +on Russian commercial morality, but these judgments cannot be reversed +by such argumentation. The dishonesty and rascality which exist among +the merchants are fully recognised by the Russians themselves. In all +moral affairs the lower classes in Russia are very lenient in their +judgments, and are strongly disposed, like the Americans, to admire +what is called in Transatlantic phraseology "a smart man," though the +smartness is known to contain a large admixture of dishonesty; and yet +the vox populi in Russia emphatically declares that the merchants as a +class are unscrupulous and dishonest. There is a rude popular play in +which the Devil, as principal dramatis persona, succeeds in cheating all +manner and conditions of men, but is finally overreached by a genuine +Russian merchant. When this play is acted in the Carnival Theatre in St. +Petersburg the audience invariably agrees with the moral of the plot. + +If this play were acted in the southern towns near the coast of the +Black Sea it would be necessary to modify it considerably, for here, +in company with Jews, Greeks, and Armenians, the Russian merchants seem +honest by comparison. As to Greeks and Armenians, I know not which of +the two nationalities deserves the palm, but it seems that both are +surpassed by the Children of Israel. "How these Jews do business," +I have heard a Russian merchant of this region exclaim, "I cannot +understand. They buy up wheat in the villages at eleven roubles per +tchetvert, transport it to the coast at their own expense, and sell it +to the exporters at ten roubles! And yet they contrive to make a profit! +It is said that the Russian trader is cunning, but here 'our brother' +[i.e., the Russian] can do nothing." The truth of this statement I have +had abundant opportunities of confirming by personal investigations on +the spot. + +If I might express a general opinion regarding Russian commercial +morality, I should say that trade in Russia is carried on very much on +the same principle as horse-dealing in England. A man who wishes to buy +or sell must trust to his own knowledge and acuteness, and if he gets +the worst of a bargain or lets himself be deceived, he has himself to +blame. Commercial Englishmen on arriving in Russia rarely understand +this, and when they know it theoretically they are too often unable, +from their ignorance of the language, the laws, and the customs of the +people, to turn their theoretical knowledge to account. They indulge, +therefore, at first in endless invectives against the prevailing +dishonesty; but gradually, when they have paid what Germans call +Lehrgeld, they accommodate themselves to circumstances, take large +profits to counterbalance bad debts, and generally succeed--if they have +sufficient energy, mother-wit, and capital--in making a very handsome +income. + +The old race of British merchants, however, is rapidly dying out, and I +greatly fear that the rising generation will not be equally successful. +Times have changed. It is no longer possible to amass large fortunes +in the old easy-going fashion. Every year the conditions alter, and +the competition increases. In order to foresee, understand, and take +advantage of the changes, one must have far more knowledge of the +country than the men of the old school possessed, and it seems to me +that the young generation have still less of that knowledge than their +predecessors. Unless some change takes place in this respect, the German +merchants, who have generally a much better commercial education and are +much better acquainted with their adopted country, will ultimately, I +believe, expel their British rivals. Already many branches of commerce +formerly carried on by Englishmen have passed into their hands. + +It must not be supposed that the unsatisfactory organisation of the +Russian commercial world is the result of any radical peculiarity of +the Russian character. All new countries have to pass through a similar +state of things, and in Russia there are already premonitory symptoms +of a change for the better. For the present, it is true, the extensive +construction of railways and the rapid development of banks and limited +liability companies have opened up a new and wide field for all kinds +of commercial swindling; but, on the other hand, there are now in every +large town a certain number of merchants who carry on business in the +West-European manner, and have learnt by experience that honesty is +the best policy. The success which many of these have obtained will +doubtless cause their example to be followed. The old spirit of caste +and routine which has long animated the merchant class is rapidly +disappearing, and not a few nobles are now exchanging country life and +the service of the State for industrial and commercial enterprises. +In this way is being formed the nucleus of that wealthy, enlightened +bourgeoisie which Catherine endeavoured to create by legislation; but +many years must elapse before this class acquires sufficient social and +political significance to deserve the title of a tiers-etat. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE PASTORAL TRIBES OF THE STEPPE + + +A Journey to the Steppe Region of the Southeast--The Volga--Town +and Province of Samara--Farther Eastward--Appearance of the +Villages--Characteristic Incident--Peasant Mendacity--Explanation of the +Phenomenon--I Awake in Asia--A Bashkir Aoul--Diner la Tartare--Kumyss--A +Bashkir Troubadour--Honest Mehemet Zian--Actual Economic Condition of +the Bashkirs Throws Light on a Well-known Philosophical Theory--Why +a Pastoral Race Adopts Agriculture--The Genuine Steppe--The +Kirghiz--Letter from Genghis Khan--The Kalmyks--Nogai Tartars--Struggle +between Nomadic Hordes and Agricultural Colonists. + + +When I had spent a couple of years or more in the Northern and +North-Central provinces--the land of forests and of agriculture +conducted on the three-field system, with here and there a town of +respectable antiquity--I determined to visit for purposes of comparison +and contrast the Southeastern region, which possesses no forests nor +ancient towns, and corresponds to the Far West of the United States of +America. My point of departure was Yaroslavl, a town on the right bank +of the Volga to the northeast of Moscow--and thence I sailed down the +river during three days on a large comfortable steamer to Samara, the +chief town of the province or "government" of the name. Here I left the +steamer and prepared to make a journey into the eastern hinterland. + +Samara is a new town, a child of the last century. At the time of +my first visit, now thirty years ago, it recalled by its unfinished +appearance the new towns of America. Many of the houses were of wood. +The streets were still in such a primitive condition that after rain +they were almost impassable from mud, and in dry, gusty weather they +generated thick clouds of blinding, suffocating dust. Before I had been +many days in the place I witnessed a dust-hurricane, during which it was +impossible at certain moments to see from my window the houses on +the other side of the street. Amidst such primitive surroundings the +colossal new church seemed a little out of keeping, and it occurred +to my practical British mind that some of the money expended on its +construction might have been more profitably employed. But the Russians +have their own ideas of the fitness of things. Religious after their +own fashion, they subscribe money liberally for ecclesiastical +purposes--especially for the building and decoration of their churches. +Besides this, the Government considers that every chief town of a +province should possess a cathedral. + +In its early days Samara was one of the outposts of Russian +colonisation, and had often to take precautions against the raids of the +nomadic tribes living in the vicinity; but the agricultural frontier has +since been pushed far forward to the east and south, and the province +was until lately, despite occasional droughts, one of the most +productive in the Empire. The town is the chief market of this region, +and therein lies its importance. The grain is brought by the peasants +from great distances, and stored in large granaries by the merchants, +who send it to Moscow or St. Petersburg. In former days this was a very +tedious operation. The boats containing the grain were towed by horses +or stout peasants up the rivers and through the canals for hundreds of +miles. Then came the period of "cabestans"--unwieldly machines propelled +by means of anchors and windlasses. Now these primitive methods of +transport have disappeared. The grain is either despatched by rail +or put into gigantic barges, which are towed up the river by powerful +tug-steamers to some point connected with the great network of railways. + +When the traveller has visited the Cathedral and the granaries he has +seen all the lions--not very formidable lions, truly--of the place. He +may then inspect the kumyss establishments, pleasantly situated near +the town. He will find there a considerable number of patients--mostly +consumptive--who drink enormous quantities of fermented mare's-milk, +and who declare that they receive great benefit from this modern +health-restorer. + +What interested me more than the lions of the town or the suburban +kumyss establishments were the offices of the local administration, +where I found in the archives much statistical and other information +of the kind I was in search of, regarding the economic condition of +the province generally, and of the emancipated peasantry in particular. +Having filled my note-book with material of this sort, I proceeded to +verify and complete it by visiting some characteristic villages and +questioning the inhabitants. For the student of Russian affairs who +wishes to arrive at real, as distinguished from official, truth, this is +not an altogether superfluous operation. + +When I had thus made the acquaintance of the sedentary agricultural +population in several districts I journeyed eastwards with the intention +of visiting the Bashkirs, a Tartar tribe which still preserved--so at +least I was assured--its old nomadic habits. My reasons for undertaking +this journey were twofold. In the first place I was desirous of seeing +with my own eyes some remnants of those terrible nomadic tribes +which had at one time conquered Russia and long threatened to overrun +Europe--those Tartar hordes which gained, by their irresistible force +and relentless cruelty, the reputation of being "the scourge of God." +Besides this, I had long wished to study the conditions of pastoral +life, and congratulated myself on having found a convenient opportunity +of doing so. + +As I proceeded eastwards I noticed a change in the appearance of the +villages. The ordinary wooden houses, with their high sloping roofs, +gradually gave place to flat-roofed huts, built of a peculiar kind of +unburnt bricks, composed of mud and straw. I noticed, too, that the +population became less and less dense, and the amount of fallow land +proportionately greater. The peasants were evidently richer than those +near the Volga, but they complained--as the Russian peasant always +does--that they had not land enough. In answer to my inquiries why they +did not use the thousands of acres that were lying fallow around them, +they explained that they had already raised crops on that land for +several successive years, and that consequently they must now allow it +to "rest." + +In one of the villages through which I passed I met with a very +characteristic little incident. The village was called Samovolnaya +Ivanofka--that is to say, "Ivanofka the Self-willed" or "the +Non-authorised." Whilst our horses were being changed my travelling +companion, in the course of conversation with a group of peasants, +inquired about the origin of this extraordinary name, and discovered a +curious bit of local history. The founders of the village had settled on +the land without the permission of the absentee owner, and obstinately +resisted all attempts at eviction. Again and again troops had been +sent to drive them away, but as soon as the troops retired these +"self-willed" people returned and resumed possession, till at last the +proprietor, who lived in St. Petersburg or some other distant place, +became weary of the contest and allowed them to remain. The various +incidents were related with much circumstantial detail, so that +the narration lasted perhaps half an hour. All this time I listened +attentively, and when the story was finished I took out my note-book +in order to jot down the facts, and asked in what year the affair had +happened. No answer was given to my question. The peasants merely looked +at each other in a significant way and kept silence. Thinking that my +question had not been understood, I asked it a second time, repeating a +part of what had been related. To my astonishment and utter discomfiture +they all declared that they had never related anything of the sort! +In despair I appealed to my friend, and asked him whether my ears had +deceived me--whether I was labouring under some strange hallucination. +Without giving me any reply he simply smiled and turned away. + +When we had left the village and were driving along in our tarantass the +mystery was satisfactorily cleared up. My friend explained to me that I +had not at all misunderstood what had been related, but that my +abrupt question and the sight of my note-book had suddenly aroused the +peasants' suspicions. "They evidently suspected," he continued, "that +you were a tchinovnik, and that you wished to use to their detriment the +knowledge you had acquired. They thought it safer, therefore, at once to +deny it all. You don't yet understand the Russian muzhik!" + +In this last remark I was obliged to concur, but since that time I have +come to know the muzhik better, and an incident of the kind would now +no longer surprise me. From a long series of observations I have come +to the conclusion that the great majority of the Russian peasants, when +dealing with the authorities, consider the most patent and barefaced +falsehoods as a fair means of self-defence. Thus, for example, when +a muzhik is implicated in a criminal affair, and a preliminary +investigation is being made, he probably begins by constructing an +elaborate story to explain the facts and exculpate himself. The story +may be a tissue of self-evident falsehoods from beginning to end, but +he defends it valiantly as long as possible. When he perceives that the +position which he has taken up is utterly untenable, he declares +openly that all he has said is false, and that he wishes to make a +new declaration. This second declaration may have the same fate as the +former one, and then he proposes a third. Thus groping his way, he +tries various stories till he finds one that seems proof against all +objections. In the fact of his thus telling lies there is of course +nothing remarkable, for criminals in all parts of the world have a +tendency to deviate from the truth when they fall into the hands of +justice. The peculiarity is that he retracts his statements with the +composed air of a chess-player who requests his opponent to let him take +back an inadvertent move. Under the old system of procedure, which was +abolished in the sixties, clever criminals often contrived by means of +this simple device to have their trial postponed for many years. + +Such incidents naturally astonish a foreigner, and he is apt, in +consequence, to pass a very severe judgment on the Russian peasantry +in general. The reader may remember Karl Karl'itch's remarks on the +subject. These remarks I have heard repeated in various forms by Germans +in all parts of the country, and there must be a certain amount of truth +in them, for even an eminent Slavophil once publicly admitted that the +peasant is prone to perjury.* It is necessary, however, as it seems to +me, to draw a distinction. In the ordinary intercourse of peasants +among themselves, or with people in whom they have confidence, I do not +believe that the habit of lying is abnormally developed. It is only when +the muzhik comes in contact with authorities that he shows himself an +expert fabricator of falsehoods. In this there is nothing that need +surprise us. For ages the peasantry were exposed to the arbitrary power +and ruthless exactions of those who were placed over them; and as the +law gave them no means of legally protecting themselves, their only +means of self-defence lay in cunning and deceit. + + * Kireyefski, in the Russakaya Beseda. + +We have here, I believe, the true explanation of that "Oriental +mendacity" about which Eastern travellers have written so much. It is +simply the result of a lawless state of society. Suppose a truth-loving +Englishman falls into the hands of brigands or savages. Will he not, if +he have merely an ordinary moral character, consider himself justified +in inventing a few falsehoods in order to effect his escape? If so, we +have no right to condemn very severely the hereditary mendacity of those +races which have lived for many generations in a position analogous +to that of the supposed Englishman among brigands. When legitimate +interests cannot be protected by truthfulness and honesty, prudent +people always learn to employ means which experience has proved to be +more effectual. In a country where the law does not afford protection, +the strong man defends himself by his strength, the weak by cunning and +duplicity. This fully explains the fact that in Turkey the Christians +are less truthful than the Mahometans. + +But we have wandered a long way from the road to Bashkiria. Let us +therefore return at once. + +Of all the journeys which I made in Russia this was one of the most +agreeable. The weather was bright and warm, without being unpleasantly +hot; the roads were tolerably smooth; the tarantass, which had been +hired for the whole journey, was nearly as comfortable as a tarantass +can be; good milk, eggs, and white bread could be obtained in abundance; +there was not much difficulty in procuring horses in the villages +through which we passed, and the owners of them were not very +extortionate in their demands. But what most contributed to my comfort +was that I was accompanied by an agreeable, intelligent young Russian, +who kindly undertook to make all the necessary arrangements, and I +was thereby freed from those annoyances and worries which are always +encountered in primitive countries where travelling is not yet a +recognised institution. To him I left the entire control of our +movements, passively acquiescing in everything, and asking no questions +as to what was coming. Taking advantage of my passivity, he prepared for +me one evening a pleasant little surprise. + +About sunset we had left a village called Morsha, and shortly +afterwards, feeling drowsy, and being warned by my companion that +we should have a long, uninteresting drive, I had lain down in the +tarantass and gone to sleep. On awaking I found that the tarantass had +stopped, and that the stars were shining brightly overhead. A big +dog was barking furiously close at hand, and I heard the voice of the +yamstchik informing us that we had arrived. I at once sat up and looked +about me, expecting to see a village of some kind, but instead of that +I perceived a wide open space, and at a short distance a group of +haystacks. Close to the tarantass stood two figures in long cloaks, +armed with big sticks, and speaking to each other in an unknown tongue. +My first idea was that we had been somehow led into a trap, so I drew +my revolver in order to be ready for all emergencies. My companion was +still snoring loudly by my side, and stoutly resisted all my efforts to +awaken him. + +"What's this?" I said, in a gruff, angry voice, to the yamstchik. "Where +have you taken us to?" + +"To where I was ordered, master!" + +For the purpose of getting a more satisfactory explanation I took to +shaking my sleepy companion, but before he had returned to consciousness +the moon shone out brightly from behind a thick bank of clouds, and +cleared up the mystery. The supposed haystacks turned out to be +tents. The two figures with long sticks, whom I had suspected of being +brigands, were peaceable shepherds, dressed in the ordinary Oriental +khalát, and tending their sheep, which were grazing close by. Instead +of being in an empty hay-field, as I had imagined, we had before us a +regular Tartar aoul, such as I had often read about. For a moment I felt +astonished and bewildered. It seemed to me that I had fallen asleep in +Europe and woke up in Asia! + +In a few minutes we were comfortably installed in one of the tents, +a circular, cupola-shaped erection, of about twelve feet in diameter, +composed of a frame-work of light wooden rods covered with thick felt. +It contained no furniture, except a goodly quantity of carpets and +pillows, which had been formed into a bed for our accommodation. Our +amiable host, who was evidently somewhat astonished at our unexpected +visit, but refrained from asking questions, soon bade us good-night +and retired. We were not, however, left alone. A large number of black +beetles remained and gave us a welcome in their own peculiar fashion. +Whether they were provided with wings, or made up for the want of flying +appliances by crawling up the sides of the tent and dropping down on any +object they wished to reach, I did not discover, but certain it is that +they somehow reached our heads--even when we were standing upright--and +clung to our hair with wonderful tenacity. Why they should show such +a marked preference for human hair we could not conjecture, till it +occurred to us that the natives habitually shaved their heads, and that +these beetles must naturally consider a hair-covered cranium a curious +novelty deserving of careful examination. Like all children of nature +they were decidedly indiscreet and troublesome in their curiosity, but +when the light was extinguished they took the hint and departed. + +When we awoke next morning it was broad daylight, and we found a crowd +of natives in front of the tent. Our arrival was evidently regarded as +an important event, and all the inhabitants of the aoul were anxious +to make our acquaintance. First our host came forward. He was a short, +slimly-built man, of middle age, with a grave, severe expression, +indicating an unsociable disposition. We afterwards learned that he +was an akhun*--that is to say, a minor officer of the Mahometan +ecclesiastical administration, and at the same time a small trader in +silken and woollen stuffs. With him came the mullah, or priest, a portly +old gentleman with an open, honest face of the European type, and a +fine grey beard. The other important members of the little community +followed. They were all swarthy in colour, and had the small eyes and +prominent cheek-bones which are characteristic of the Tartar races, but +they had little of that flatness of countenance and peculiar ugliness +which distinguish the pure Mongol. All of them, with the exception of +the mullah, spoke a little Russian, and used it to assure us that we +were welcome. The children remained respectfully in the background, and +the women, with faces veiled, eyed us furtively from the doors of the +tents. + + * I presume this is the same word as akhund, well known on + the Northwest frontier of India, where it was applied + specially to the late ruler of Svat. + +The aoul consisted of about twenty tents, all constructed on the same +model, and scattered about in sporadic fashion, without the least regard +to symmetry. Close by was a watercourse, which appears on some maps as +a river, under the name of Karalyk, but which was at that time merely a +succession of pools containing a dark-coloured liquid. As we more than +suspected that these pools supplied the inhabitants with water for +culinary purposes, the sight was not calculated to whet our appetites. +We turned away therefore hurriedly, and for want of something better +to do we watched the preparations for dinner. These were decidedly +primitive. A sheep was brought near the door of our tent, and there +killed, skinned, cut up into pieces, and put into an immense pot, under +which a fire had been kindled. + +The dinner itself was not less primitive than the manner of preparing +it. The table consisted of a large napkin spread in the middle of the +tent, and the chairs were represented by cushions, on which we +sat cross-legged. There were no plates, knives, forks, spoons, or +chopsticks. Guests were expected all to eat out of a common wooden bowl, +and to use the instruments with which Nature had provided them. The +service was performed by the host and his son. The fare was copious, but +not varied--consisting entirely of boiled mutton, without bread or other +substitute, and a little salted horse-flesh thrown in as an entree. + +To eat out of the same dish with half-a-dozen Mahometans who accept +their Prophet's injunction about ablutions in a highly figurative sense, +and who are totally unacquainted with the use of forks and spoons, +is not an agreeable operation, even if one is not much troubled with +religious prejudices; but with these Bashkirs something worse than this +has to be encountered, for their favourite method of expressing their +esteem and affection for one with whom they are eating consists in +putting bits of mutton, and sometimes even handfuls of hashed meat, +into his month! When I discovered this unexpected peculiarity in Bashkir +manners and customs, I almost regretted that I had made a favourable +impression upon my new acquaintances. + +When the sheep had been devoured, partly by the company in the tent and +partly by a nondescript company outside--for the whole aoul took part +in the festivities--kumyss was served in unlimited quantities. This +beverage, as I have already explained, is mare's milk fermented; but +what here passed under the name was very different from the kumyss I +had tasted in the establissements of Samara. There it was a pleasant +effervescing drink, with only the slightest tinge of acidity; here +it was a "still" liquid, strongly resembling very thin and very sour +butter-milk. My Russian friend made a wry face on first tasting it, and +I felt inclined at first to do likewise, but noticing that his grimaces +made an unfavourable impression on the audience, I restrained my facial +muscles, and looked as if I liked it. Very soon I really came to like +it, and learned to "drink fair" with those who had been accustomed to it +from their childhood. By this feat I rose considerably in the estimation +of the natives; for if one does not drink kumyss one cannot be sociable +in the Bashkir sense of the term, and by acquiring the habit one adopts +an essential principle of Bashkir nationality. I should certainly have +preferred having a cup of it to myself, but I thought it well to conform +to the habits of the country, and to accept the big wooden bowl when it +was passed round. In return my friends made an important concession in +my favour: they allowed me to smoke as I pleased, though they considered +that, as the Prophet had refrained from tobacco, ordinary mortals should +do the same. + +Whilst the "loving-cup" was going round I distributed some small +presents which I had brought for the purpose, and then proceeded to +explain the object of my visit. In the distant country from which I +came--far away to the westward--I had heard of the Bashkirs as a +people possessing many strange customs, but very kind and hospitable +to strangers. Of their kindness and hospitality I had already learned +something by experience, and I hoped they would allow me to learn +something of their mode of life, their customs, their songs, their +history, and their religion, in all of which I assured them my distant +countrymen took a lively interest. + +This little after-dinner speech was perhaps not quite in accordance +with Bashkir etiquette, but it made a favourable impression. There was +a decided murmur of approbation, and those who understood Russian +translated my words to their less accomplished brethren. A short +consultation ensued, and then there was a general shout of "Abdullah! +Abdullah!" which was taken up and repeated by those standing outside. + +In a few minutes Abdullah appeared, with a big, half-picked bone in his +hand, and the lower part of his face besmeared with grease. He was a +short, thin man, with a dark, sallow complexion, and a look of premature +old age; but the suppressed smile that played about his mouth and a +tremulous movement of his right eye-lid showed plainly that he had not +yet forgotten the fun and frolic of youth. His dress was of richer and +more gaudy material, but at the same time more tawdry and tattered, than +that of the others. Altogether he looked like an artiste in distressed +circumstances, and such he really was. At a word and a sign from the +host he laid aside his bone and drew from under his green silk khalát a +small wind-instrument resembling a flute or flageolet. On this he played +a number of native airs. The first melodies which he played reminded me +of a Highland pibroch--at one moment low, solemn, and plaintive, +then gradually rising into a soul-stirring, martial strain, and again +descending to a plaintive wail. The amount of expression which he put +into his simple instrument was truly marvellous. Then, passing suddenly +from grave to gay, he played a series of light, merry airs, and some +of the younger onlookers got up and performed a dance as boisterous and +ungraceful as an Irish jig. + +This Abdullah turned out to be for me a most valuable acquaintance. +He was a kind of Bashkir troubadour, well acquainted not only with the +music, but also with the traditions, the history, the superstitions, and +the folk-lore of his people. By the akhun and the mullah he was regarded +as a frivolous, worthless fellow, who had no regular, respectable means +of gaining a livelihood, but among the men of less rigid principles he +was a general favourite. As he spoke Russian fluently I could converse +with him freely without the aid of an interpreter, and he willingly +placed his store of knowledge at my disposal. When in the company of the +akhun he was always solemn and taciturn, but as soon as he was relieved +of that dignitary's presence he became lively and communicative. + +Another of my new acquaintances was equally useful to me in another way. +This was Mehemet Zian, who was not so intelligent as Abdullah, but +much more sympathetic. In his open, honest face, and kindly, unaffected +manner there was something so irresistibly attractive that before I had +known him twenty-four hours a sort of friendship had sprung up between +us. He was a tall, muscular, broad-shouldered man, with features that +suggested a mixture of European blood. Though already past middle +age, he was still wiry and active--so active that he could, when on +horseback, pick a stone off the ground without dismounting. He could, +however, no longer perform this feat at full gallop, as he had been wont +to do in his youth. His geographical knowledge was extremely limited and +inaccurate--his mind being in this respect like those old Russian maps +in which the nations of the earth and a good many peoples who had +never more than a mythical existence are jumbled together in +hopeless confusion--but his geographical curiosity was insatiable. My +travelling-map--the first thing of the kind he had ever seen--interested +him deeply. When he found that by simply examining it and glancing at my +compass I could tell him the direction and distance of places he +knew, his face was like that of a child who sees for the first time +a conjuror's performance; and when I explained the trick to him, and +taught him to calculate the distance to Bokhara--the sacred city of +the Mussulmans of that region--his delight was unbounded. Gradually I +perceived that to possess such a map had become the great object of his +ambition. Unfortunately I could not at once gratify him as I should have +wished, because I had a long journey before me and I had no other map +of the region, but I promised to find ways and means of sending him one, +and I kept my word by means of a native of the Karalyk district whom I +discovered in Samara. I did not add a compass because I could not find +one in the town, and it would have been of little use to him: like a +true child of nature he always knew the cardinal points by the sun or +the stars. Some years later I had the satisfaction of learning that the +map had reached its destination safely, through no less a personage +than Count Tolstoy. One evening at the home of a friend in Moscow I +was presented to the great novelist, and as soon as he heard my name he +said: "Oh! I know you already, and I know your friend Mehemet Zian. When +I passed a night this summer in his aoul he showed me a map with your +signature on the margin, and taught me how to calculate the distance to +Bokhara!" + +If Mehemet knew little of foreign countries he was thoroughly well +acquainted with his own, and repaid me most liberally for my elementary +lessons in geography. With him I visited the neighbouring aouls. In all +of them he had numerous acquaintances, and everywhere we were received +with the greatest hospitality, except on one occasion when we paid a +visit of ceremony to a famous robber who was the terror of the whole +neighbourhood. Certainly he was one of the most brutalised specimens of +humanity I have ever encountered. He made no attempt to be amiable, +and I felt inclined to leave his tent at once; but I saw that my friend +wanted to conciliate him, so I restrained my feelings and eventually +established tolerably good relations with him. As a rule I avoided +festivities, partly because I knew that my hosts were mostly poor and +would not accept payment for the slaughtered sheep, and partly because +I had reason to apprehend that they would express to me their esteem +and affection more Bashkirico; but in kumyss-drinking, the ordinary +occupation of these people when they have nothing to do, I had to +indulge to a most inordinate extent. On these expeditions Abdullah +generally accompanied us, and rendered valuable service as interpreter +and troubadour. Mehemet could express himself in Russian, but his +vocabulary failed him as soon as the conversation ran above very +ordinary topics; Abdullah, on the contrary, was a first-rate +interpreter, and under the influence of his musical pipe and lively +talkativeness new acquaintances became sociable and communicative. Poor +Abdullah! He was a kind of universal genius; but his faded, tattered +khalát showed only too plainly that in Bashkiria, as in more civilised +countries, universal genius and the artistic temperament lead to poverty +rather than to wealth. + +I have no intention of troubling the reader with the miscellaneous +facts which, with the assistance of these two friends, I succeeded in +collecting--indeed, I could not if I would, for the notes I then made +were afterwards lost--but I wish to say a few words about the actual +economic condition of the Bashkirs. They are at present passing from +pastoral to agricultural life; and it is not a little interesting to +note the causes which induce them to make this change, and the way in +which it is made. + +Philosophers have long held a theory of social development according +to which men were at first hunters, then shepherds, and lastly +agriculturists. How far this theory is in accordance with reality we +need not for the present inquire, but we may examine an important part +of it and ask ourselves the question, Why did pastoral tribes adopt +agriculture? The common explanation is that they changed their mode of +life in consequence of some ill-defined, fortuitous circumstances. A +great legislator arose amongst them and taught them to till the soil, or +they came in contact with an agricultural race and adopted the customs +of their neighbours. Such explanations must appear unsatisfactory to +any one who has lived with a pastoral people. Pastoral life is so +incomparably more agreeable than the hard lot of the agriculturist, and +so much more in accordance with the natural indolence of human nature, +that no great legislator, though he had the wisdom of a Solon and the +eloquence of a Demosthenes, could possibly induce his fellow-countrymen +to pass voluntarily from the one to the other. Of all the ordinary +means of gaining a livelihood--with the exception perhaps of +mining--agriculture is the most laborious, and is never voluntarily +adopted by men who have not been accustomed to it from their childhood. +The life of a pastoral race, on the contrary, is a perennial holiday, +and I can imagine nothing except the prospect of starvation which could +induce men who live by their flocks and herds to make the transition to +agricultural life. + +The prospect of starvation is, in fact, the cause of the +transition--probably in all cases, and certainly in the case of the +Bashkirs. So long as they had abundance of pasturage they never thought +of tilling the soil. Their flocks and herds supplied them with all that +they required, and enabled them to lead a tranquil, indolent existence. +No great legislator arose among them to teach them the use of the plough +and the sickle, and when they saw the Russian peasants on their borders +laboriously ploughing and reaping, they looked on them with compassion, +and never thought of following their example. But an impersonal +legislator came to them--a very severe and tyrannical legislator, +who would not brook disobedience--I mean Economic Necessity. By +the encroachments of the Ural Cossacks on the east, and by the +ever-advancing wave of Russian colonisation from the north and west, +their territory had been greatly diminished. With diminution of the +pasturage came diminution of the live stock, their sole means of +subsistence. In spite of their passively conservative spirit they had to +look about for some new means of obtaining food and clothing--some new +mode of life requiring less extensive territorial possessions. It was +only then that they began to think of imitating their neighbours. They +saw that the neighbouring Russian peasant lived comfortably on thirty or +forty acres of land, whilst they possessed a hundred and fifty acres per +male, and were in danger of starvation. + +The conclusion to be drawn from this was self-evident--they ought +at once to begin ploughing and sowing. But there was a very serious +obstacle to the putting of this principle in practice. Agriculture +certainly requires less land than sheep-farming, but it requires very +much more labour, and to hard work the Bashkirs were not accustomed. +They could bear hardships and fatigues in the shape of long journeys +on horseback, but the severe, monotonous labour of the plough and the +sickle was not to their taste. At first, therefore, they adopted a +compromise. They had a portion of their land tilled by Russian peasants, +and ceded to these a part of the produce in return for the labour +expended; in other words, they assumed the position of landed +proprietors, and farmed part of their land on the metayage system. + +The process of transition had reached this point in several aouls which +I visited. My friend Mehemet Zian showed me at some distance from the +tents his plot of arable land, and introduced me to the peasant who +tilled it--a Little-Russian, who assured me that the arrangement +satisfied all parties. The process of transition cannot, however, stop +here. The compromise is merely a temporary expedient. Virgin soil gives +very abundant harvests, sufficient to support both the labourer and the +indolent proprietor, but after a few years the soil becomes exhausted +and gives only a very moderate revenue. A proprietor, therefore, must +sooner or later dispense with the labourers who take half of the produce +as their recompense, and must himself put his hand to the plough. + +Thus we see the Bashkirs are, properly speaking, no longer a purely +pastoral, nomadic people. The discovery of this fact caused me some +little disappointment, and in the hope of finding a tribe in a more +primitive condition I visited the Kirghiz of the Inner Horde, who occupy +the country to the southward, in the direction of the Caspian. Here for +the first time I saw the genuine Steppe in the full sense of the term--a +country level as the sea, with not a hillock or even a gentle +undulation to break the straight line of the horizon, and not a patch +of cultivation, a tree, a bush, or even a stone, to diversify the +monotonous expanse. + +Traversing such a region is, I need scarcely say, very weary work--all +the more as there are no milestones or other landmarks to show the +progress you are making. Still, it is not so overwhelmingly wearisome +as might be supposed. In the morning you may watch the vast lakes, +with their rugged promontories and well-wooded banks, which the mirage +creates for your amusement. Then during the course of the day there are +always one or two trifling incidents which arouse you for a little from +your somnolence. Now you descry a couple of horsemen on the distant +horizon, and watch them as they approach; and when they come alongside +you may have a talk with them if you know the language or have an +interpreter; or you may amuse yourself with a little pantomime, if +articulate speech is impossible. Now you encounter a long train of +camels marching along with solemn, stately step, and speculate as to +the contents of the big packages with which they are laden. Now you +encounter the carcass of a horse that has fallen by the wayside, and +watch the dogs and the steppe eagles fighting over their prey; and if +you are murderously inclined you may take a shot with your revolver at +these great birds, for they are ignorantly brave, and will sometimes +allow you to approach within twenty or thirty yards. At last you +perceive--most pleasant sight of all--a group of haystack-shaped tents +in the distance; and you hurry on to enjoy the grateful shade, and +quench your thirst with "deep, deep draughts" of refreshing kumyss. + +During my journey through the Kirghiz country I was accompanied by a +Russian gentleman, who had provided himself with a circular letter from +the hereditary chieftain of the Horde, a personage who rejoiced in the +imposing name of Genghis Khan,* and claimed to be a descendant of the +great Mongol conqueror. This document assured us a good reception in the +aouls through which we passed. Every Kirghis who saw it treated it with +profound respect, and professed to put all his goods and chattels at our +service. But in spite of this powerful recommendation we met with none +of the friendly cordiality and communicativeness which I had found among +the Bashkirs. A tent with an unlimited quantity of cushions was always +set apart for our accommodation; the sheep were killed and boiled for +our dinner, and the pails of kumyss were regularly brought for our +refreshment; but all this was evidently done as a matter of duty and not +as a spontaneous expression of hospitality. When we determined once or +twice to prolong our visit beyond the term originally announced, I could +perceive that our host was not at all delighted by the change of our +plans. The only consolation we had was that those who entertained +us made no scruples about accepting payment for the food and shelter +supplied. + + * I have adopted the ordinary English spelling of this name. + The Kirghiz and the Russians pronounce it "Tchinghiz." + +From all this I have no intention of drawing the conclusion that the +Kirghiz are, as a people, inhospitable or unfriendly to strangers. My +experience of them is too limited to warrant any such inference. The +letter of Genghis Khan insured us all the accommodation we required, +but it at the same time gave us a certain official character not at all +favourable to the establishment of friendly relations. Those with whom +we came in contact regarded us as Russian officials, and suspected us of +having some secret designs. As I endeavoured to discover the number +of their cattle, and to form an approximate estimate of their annual +revenue, they naturally feared--having no conception of disinterested +scientific curiosity--that these data were being collected for the +purpose of increasing the taxes, or with some similar intention of a +sinister kind. Very soon I perceived clearly that any information we +might here collect regarding the economic conditions of pastoral life +would not be of much value, and I postponed my proposed studies to a +more convenient season. + +The Kirghiz are, ethnographically speaking, closely allied to the +Bashkirs, but differ from them both in physiognomy and language. Their +features approach much nearer the pure Mongol type, and their language +is a distinct dialect, which a Bashkir or a Tartar of Kazan has some +difficulty in understanding. They are professedly Mahometans, but their +Mahometanism is not of a rigid kind, as may be seen by the fact that +their women do not veil their faces even in the presence of Ghiaours--a +laxness of which the Ghiaour will certainly not approve if he happen to +be sensitive to female beauty and ugliness. Their mode of life differs +from that of the Bashkirs, but they have proportionately more land and +are consequently still able to lead a purely pastoral life. Near their +western frontier, it is true, they annually let patches of land to +the Russian peasants for the purpose of raising crops; but these +encroachments can never advance very far, for the greater part of their +territory is unsuited to agriculture, on account of a large admixture +of salt in the soil. This fact will have an important influence on +their future. Unlike the Bashkirs, who possess good arable land, and +are consequently on the road to become agriculturists, they will in all +probability continue to live exclusively by their flocks and herds. + +To the southwest of the Lower Volga, in the flat region lying to the +north of the Caucasus, we find another pastoral tribe, the Kalmyks, +differing widely from the two former in language, in physiognomy, and +in religion. Their language, a dialect of the Mongolian, has no close +affinity with any other language in this part of the world. In respect +of religion they are likewise isolated, for they are Buddhists, and have +consequently no co-religionists nearer than Mongolia or Thibet. But it +is their physiognomy that most strikingly distinguishes them from the +surrounding peoples, and stamps them as Mongols of the purest water. +There is something almost infra-human in their ugliness. They show in +an exaggerated degree all those repulsive traits which we see toned down +and refined in the face of an average Chinaman; and it is difficult, +when we meet them for the first time, to believe that a human soul lurks +behind their expressionless, flattened faces and small, dull, obliquely +set eyes. If the Tartar and Turkish races are really descended from +ancestors of that type, then we must assume that they have received in +the course of time a large admixture of Aryan or Semitic blood. + +But we must not be too hard on the poor Kalmyks, or judge of their +character by their unprepossessing appearance. They are by no means so +unhuman as they look. Men who have lived among them have assured me that +they are decidedly intelligent, especially in all matters relating to +cattle, and that they are--though somewhat addicted to cattle-lifting +and other primitive customs not tolerated in the more advanced stages +of civilisation--by no means wanting in some of the better qualities of +human nature. + +Formerly there was a fourth pastoral tribe in this region--the Nogai +Tartars. They occupied the plains to the north of the Sea of Azof, but +they are no longer to be found there. Shortly after the Crimean war +they emigrated to Turkey, and their lands are now occupied by Russian, +German, Bulgarian, and Montenegrin colonists. + +Among the pastoral tribes of this region the Kalmyks are recent +intruders. They first appeared in the seventeenth century, and were long +formidable on account of their great numbers and compact organisation; +but in 1771 the majority of them suddenly struck their tents and +retreated to their old home in the north of the Celestial Empire. Those +who remained were easily pacified, and have long since lost, under the +influence of unbroken peace and a strong Russian administration, their +old warlike spirit. Their latest military exploits were performed during +the last years of the Napoleonic wars, and were not of a very serious +kind; a troop of them accompanied the Russian army, and astonished +Western Europe by their uncouth features, their strange costume, and +their primitive accoutrements, among which their curious bows and arrows +figured conspicuously. + +The other pastoral tribes which I have mentioned--Bashkirs, Kirghiz, and +Nogai Tartars--are the last remnants of the famous marauders who from +time immemorial down to a comparatively recent period held the vast +plains of Southern Russia. The long struggle between them and the +agricultural colonists from the northwest, closely resembling the long +struggle between the Red-skins and the white settlers on the prairies of +North America, forms an important page of Russian history. + +For centuries the warlike nomads stoutly resisted all encroachments on +their pasture-grounds, and considered cattle-lifting, kidnapping, and +pillage as a legitimate and honorable occupation. "Their raids," says an +old Byzantine writer, "are as flashes of lightning, and their retreat is +at once heavy and light--heavy from booty and light from the swiftness +of their movements. For them a peaceful life is a misfortune, and a +convenient opportunity for war is the height of felicity. Worst of +all, they are more numerous than bees in spring, their numbers are +uncountable." "Having no fixed place of abode," says another Byzantine +authority, "they seek to conquer all lands and colonise none. They are +flying people, and therefore cannot be caught. As they have neither +towns nor villages, they must be hunted like wild beasts, and can be +fitly compared only to griffins, which beneficent Nature has banished to +uninhabited regions." As a Persian distich, quoted by Vambery, has it-- + + "They came, conquered, burned, + pillaged, murdered, and went." + +Their raids are thus described by an old Russian chronicler: "They burn +the villages, the farmyards, and the churches. The land is turned by +them into a desert, and the overgrown fields become the lair of wild +beasts. Many people are led away into slavery; others are tortured and +killed, or die from hunger and thirst. Sad, weary, stiff from cold, with +faces wan from woe, barefoot or naked, and torn by the thistles, the +Russian prisoners trudge along through an unknown country, and, weeping, +say to one another, 'I am from such a town, and I from such a village.'" +And in harmony with the monastic chroniclers we hear the nameless +Slavonic Ossian wailing for the fallen sons of Rus: "In the Russian land +is rarely heard the voice of the husbandman, but often the cry of the +vultures, fighting with each other over the bodies of the slain; and the +ravens scream as they fly to the spoil." + +In spite of the stubborn resistance of the nomads the wave of +colonisation moved steadily onwards until the first years of the +thirteenth century, when it was suddenly checked and thrown back. A +great Mongolian horde from Eastern Asia, far more numerous and better +organized than the local nomadic tribes, overran the whole country, +and for more than two centuries Russia was in a certain sense ruled +by Mongol Khans. As I wish to speak at some length of this Mongol +domination, I shall devote to it a separate chapter. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE MONGOL DOMINATION + + +The Conquest--Genghis Khan and his People--Creation and Rapid +Disintegration of the Mongol Empire--The Golden Horde--The Real +Character of the Mongol Domination--Religious Toleration--Mongol System +of Government--Grand Princes--The Princes of Moscow--Influence of the +Mongol Domination--Practical Importance of the Subject. + + +The Tartar invasion, with its direct and indirect consequences, is +a subject which has more than a mere antiquarian interest. To the +influence of the Mongols are commonly attributed many peculiarities +in the actual condition and national character of the Russians of the +present day, and some writers would even have us believe that the +men whom we call Russians are simply Tartars half disguised by a thin +varnish of European civilisation. It may be well, therefore, to inquire +what the Tartar or Mongol domination really was, and how far it affected +the historical development and national character of the Russian people. + +The story of the conquest may be briefly told. In 1224 the chieftains +of the Poloftsi--one of those pastoral tribes which roamed on the Steppe +and habitually carried on a predatory warfare with the Russians of +the south--sent deputies to Mistislaf the Brave, Prince of Galicia, to +inform him that their country had been invaded from the southeast by +strong, cruel enemies called Tartars*--strange-looking men with brown +faces, eyes small and wide apart, thick lips, broad shoulders, and black +hair. "Today," said the deputies, "they have seized our country, and +tomorrow they will seize yours if you do not help us." + + * The word is properly "Tatar," and the Russians write and + pronounce it in this way, but I have preferred to retain the + better known form. + +Mistislaf had probably no objection to the Poloftsi being annihilated +by some tribe stronger and fiercer than themselves, for they gave him +a great deal of trouble by their frequent raids; but he perceived the +force of the argument about his own turn coming next, and thought +it wise to assist his usually hostile neighbours. For the purpose of +warding off the danger he called together the neighbouring Princes, +and urged them to join him in an expedition against the new enemy. The +expedition was undertaken, and ended in disaster. On the Kalka, a small +river falling into the Sea of Azof, the Russian host met the invaders, +and was completely routed. The country was thereby opened to the +victors, but they did not follow up their advantage. After advancing for +some distance they suddenly wheeled round and disappeared. + +Thus ended unexpectedly the first visit of these unwelcome strangers. +Thirteen years afterwards they returned, and were not so easily got rid +of. An enormous horde crossed the River Ural and advanced into the heart +of the country, pillaging, burning, devastating, and murdering. Nowhere +did they meet with serious resistance. The Princes made no attempt to +combine against the common enemy. Nearly all the principal towns were +laid in ashes, and the inhabitants were killed or carried off as slaves. +Having conquered Russia, they advanced westward, and threw all Europe +into alarm. The panic reached even England, and interrupted, it is said, +for a time the herring fishing on the coast. Western Europe, however, +escaped their ravages. After visiting Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Servia, +and Dalmatia, they retreated to the Lower Volga, and the Russian Princes +were summoned thither to do homage to the victorious Khan. + +At first the Russians had only very vague notions as to who this +terrible enemy was. The old chronicler remarks briefly: "For our sins +unknown peoples have appeared. No one knows who they are or whence they +have come, or to what race and faith they belong. They are commonly +called Tartars, but some call them Tauermen, and others Petchenegs. Who +they really are is known only to God, and perhaps to wise men deeply +read in books." Some of these "wise men deeply read in books" supposed +them to be the idolatrous Moabites who had in Old Testament times +harassed God's chosen people, whilst others thought that they must be +the descendants of the men whom Gideon had driven out, of whom a revered +saint had prophesied that they would come in the latter days and conquer +the whole earth, from the East even unto the Euphrates, and from the +Tigris even unto the Black Sea. + +We are now happily in a position to dispense with such vague +ethnographical speculations. From the accounts of several European +travellers who visited Tartary about that time, and from the writings of +various Oriental historians, we know a great deal about these barbarians +who conquered Russia and frightened the Western nations. + +The vast region lying to the east of Russia, from the basin of the Volga +to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, was inhabited then, as it is still, +by numerous Tartar and Mongol tribes. These two terms are often regarded +as identical and interchangeable, but they ought, I think, to be +distinguished. From the ethnographic, the linguistic, and the religious +point of view they differ widely from each other. The Kazan Tartars, +the Bashkirs, the Kirghiz, in a word, all the tribes in the country +stretching latitudinally from the Volga to Kashgar, and longitudinally +from the Persian frontier, the Hindu Kush and the Northern Himalaya, to +a line drawn east and west through the middle of Siberia, belong to the +Tartar group; whereas those further eastward, occupying Mongolia and +Manchuria, are Mongol in the stricter sense of the term. + +A very little experience enables the traveller to distinguish between +the two. Both of them have the well-known characteristics of the +Northern Asiatic--the broad flat face, yellow skin, small, obliquely set +eyes, high cheekbones, thin, straggling beard; but these traits are more +strongly marked, more exaggerated, if we may use such an expression, +in the Mongol than in the Tartar. Thus the Mongol is, according to our +conceptions, by far the uglier of the two, and the man of Tartar +race, when seen beside him, appears almost European by comparison. The +distinction is confirmed by a study of their languages. All the Tartar +languages are closely allied, so that a person of average linguistic +talent who has mastered one of them, whether it be the rude Turki of +Central Asia or the highly polished Turkish of Stambul, can easily +acquire any of the others; whereas even an extensive acquaintance with +the Tartar dialects will be of no practical use to him in learning a +language of the Mongol group. In their religions likewise the two races +differ. The Mongols are as a rule Shamanists or Buddhists, while the +Tartars are Mahometans. Some of the Mongol invaders, it is true, adopted +Mahometanism from the conquered Tartar tribes, and by this change of +religion, which led naturally to intermarriage, their descendants became +gradually blended with the older population; but the broad line of +distinction was not permanently effaced. + +It is often supposed, even by people who profess to be acquainted with +Russian history, that Mongols and Tartars alike first came westward to +the frontiers of Europe with Genghis Khan. This is true of the Mongols, +but so far as the Tartars are concerned it is an entire mistake. From +time immemorial the Tartar tribes roamed over these territories. Like +the Russians, they were conquered by the Mongol invaders and had long to +pay tribute, and when the Mongol empire crumbled to pieces by internal +dissensions and finally disappeared before the victorious advance of the +Russians, the Tartars reappeared from the confusion without having lost, +notwithstanding an intermixture doubtless of Mongol blood, their +old racial characteristics, their old dialects, and their old tribal +organisation. + +The germ of the vast horde which swept over Asia and advanced into the +centre of Europe was a small pastoral tribe of Mongols living in the +hilly country to the north of China, near the sources of the Amur. This +tribe was neither more warlike nor more formidable than its neighbours +till near the close of the twelfth century, when there appeared in it +a man who is described as "a mighty hunter before the Lord." Of him and +his people we have a brief description by a Chinese author of the time: +"A man of gigantic stature, with broad forehead and long beard, and +remarkable for his bravery. As to his people, their faces are broad, +flat, and four-cornered, with prominent cheek-bones; their eyes have +no upper eyelashes; they have very little hair in their beards and +moustaches; their exterior is very repulsive." This man of gigantic +stature was no other than Genghis Khan. He began by subduing and +incorporating into his army the surrounding tribes, conquered with their +assistance a great part of Northern China, and then, leaving one of his +generals to complete the conquest of the Celestial Empire, he led his +army westward with the ambitious design of conquering the whole world. +"As there is but one God in heaven," he was wont to say, "so there +should be but one ruler on earth"; and this one universal ruler he +himself aspired to be. + +A European army necessarily diminishes in force and its existence +becomes more and more imperilled as it advances from its base of +operations into a foreign and hostile country. Not so a horde like that +of Genghis Khan in a country such as that which it had to traverse. It +needed no base of operations, for it took with it its flocks, its tents, +and all its worldly goods. Properly speaking, it was not an army at all, +but rather a people in movement. The grassy Steppes fed the flocks, and +the flocks fed the warriors; and with such a simple commissariat system +there was no necessity for keeping up communications with the point +of departure. Instead of diminishing in numbers, the horde constantly +increased as it moved forwards. The nomadic tribes which it encountered +on its way, composed of men who found a home wherever they found pasture +and drinking-water, required little persuasion to make them join the +onward movement. By means of this terrible instrument of conquest +Genghis succeeded in creating a colossal Empire, stretching from the +Carpathians to the eastern shores of Asia, and from the Arctic Ocean to +the Himalayas. + +Genghis was no mere ruthless destroyer; he was at the same time one +of the greatest administrators the world has ever seen. But his +administrative genius could not work miracles. His vast Empire, founded +on conquest and composed of the most heterogeneous elements, had no +principle of organic life in it, and could not possibly be long-lived. +It had been created by him, and it perished with him. For some time +after his death the dignity of Grand Khan was held by some one of his +descendants, and the centralised administration was nominally preserved; +but the local rulers rapidly emancipated themselves from the central +authority, and within half a century after the death of its founder the +great Mongol Empire was little more than "a geographical expression." + +With the dismemberment of the short-lived Empire the danger for Eastern +Europe was by no means at an end. The independent hordes were scarcely +less formidable than the Empire itself. A grandson of Genghis formed +on the Russian frontier a new State, commonly known as Kiptchak, or the +Golden Horde, and built a capital called Serai, on one of the arms of +the Lower Volga. This capital, which has since so completely disappeared +that there is some doubt as to its site, is described by Ibn Batuta, +who visited it in the fifteenth century, as a very great, populous, and +beautiful city, possessing many mosques, fine market-places, and broad +streets, in which were to be seen merchants from Babylon, Egypt, Syria, +and other countries. Here lived the Khans of the Golden Horde, who kept +Russia in subjection for two centuries. + +In conquering Russia the Mongols had no wish to possess themselves of +the soil, or to take into their own hands the local administration. What +they wanted was not land, of which they had enough and to spare, +but movable property which they might enjoy without giving up their +pastoral, nomadic life. They applied, therefore, to Russia the same +method of extracting supplies as they had used in other countries. +As soon as their authority had been formally acknowledged they sent +officials into the country to number the inhabitants and to collect an +amount of tribute proportionate to the population. This was a severe +burden for the people, not only on account of the sum demanded, but +also on account of the manner in which it was raised. The exactions +and cruelty of the tax-gatherers led to local insurrections, and the +insurrections were of course always severely punished. But there was +never any general military occupation of the country or any wholesale +confiscations of land, and the existing political organisation was left +undisturbed. The modern method of dealing with annexed provinces was +totally unknown to the Mongols. The Khans never thought of attempting +to denationalise their Russian subjects. They demanded simply an oath +of allegiance from the Princes* and a certain sum of tribute from +the people. The vanquished were allowed to retain their land, their +religion, their language, their courts of justice, and all their other +institutions. + + * During the Mongol domination Russia was composed of a + large number of independent principalities. + +The nature of the Mongol domination is well illustrated by the policy +which the conquerors adopted towards the Russian Church. For more than +half a century after the conquest the religion of the Tartars was +a mixture of Buddhism and Paganism, with traces of Sabaeism or +fire-worship. During this period Christianity was more than simply +tolerated. The Grand Khan Kuyuk caused a Christian chapel to be erected +near his domicile, and one of his successors, Khubilai, was in the habit +of publicly taking part in the Easter festivals. In 1261 the Khan of the +Golden Horde allowed the Russians to found a bishopric in his capital, +and several members of his family adopted Christianity. One of them +even founded a monastery, and became a saint of the Russian Church! The +Orthodox clergy were exempted from the poll-tax, and in the charters +granted to them it was expressly declared that if any one committed +blasphemy against the faith of the Russians he should be put to death. +Some time afterwards the Golden Horde was converted to Islam, but the +Khans did not on that account change their policy. They continued +to favour the clergy, and their protection was long remembered. Many +generations later, when the property of the Church was threatened by the +autocratic power, refractory ecclesiastics contrasted the policy of +the Orthodox Sovereign with that of the "godless Tartars," much to the +advantage of the latter. + +At first there was and could be very little mutual confidence between +the conquerors and the conquered. The Princes anxiously looked for an +opportunity of throwing off the galling yoke, and the people chafed +under the exactions and cruelty of the tribute-collectors, whilst +the Khans took precautions to prevent insurrection, and threatened to +devastate the country if their authority was not respected. But in the +course of time this mutual distrust and hostility greatly lessened. When +the Princes found by experience that all attempts at resistance were +fruitless, they became reconciled to their new position, and instead +of seeking to throw off the Khan's authority, they tried to gain his +favour, in the hope of forwarding their personal interests. For this +purpose they paid frequent visits to the Tartar Suzerain, made rich +presents to his wives and courtiers, received from him charters +confirming their authority, and sometimes even married members of his +family. Some of them used the favour thus acquired for extending their +possessions at the expense of neighbouring Princes of their own race, +and did not hesitate to call in Tartar hordes to their assistance. +The Khans, in their turn, placed greater confidence in their vassals, +entrusted them with the task of collecting the tribute, recalled their +own officials who were a constant eyesore to the people, and abstained +from all interference in the internal affairs of the principalities so +long as the tribute was regularly paid. The Princes acted, in short, as +the Khan's lieutenants, and became to a certain extent Tartarised. Some +of them carried this policy so far that they were reproached by the +people with "loving beyond measure the Tartars and their language, and +with giving them too freely land, and gold, and goods of every kind." + +Had the Khans of the Golden Horde been prudent, far-seeing statesmen, +they might have long retained their supremacy over Russia. In reality +they showed themselves miserably deficient in political talent. Seeking +merely to extract from the country as much tribute as possible, +they overlooked all higher considerations, and by this culpable +shortsightedness prepared their own political ruin. Instead of keeping +all the Russian Princes on the same level and thereby rendering them all +equally feeble, they were constantly bribed or cajoled into giving to +one or more of their vassals a pre-eminence over the others. At first +this pre-eminence consisted in little more than the empty title of +Grand Prince; but the vassals thus favoured soon transformed the +barren distinction into a genuine power by arrogating to themselves the +exclusive right of holding direct communications with the Horde, and +compelling the minor Princes to deliver to them the Mongol tribute. +If any of the lesser Princes refused to acknowledge this intermediate +authority, the Grand Prince could easily crush them by representing them +at the Horde as rebels. Such an accusation would cause the accused to be +summoned before the Supreme Tribunal, where the procedure was extremely +summary and the Grand Prince had always the means of obtaining a +decision in his own favour. + +Of the Princes who strove in this way to increase their influence, +the most successful were the Grand Princes of Moscow. They were not a +chivalrous race, or one with which the severe moralist can sympathise, +but they were largely endowed with cunning, tact, and perseverance, and +were little hampered by conscientious scruples. Having early discovered +that the liberal distribution of money at the Tartar court was the +surest means of gaining favour, they lived parsimoniously at home and +spent their savings at the Horde. To secure the continuance of the +favour thus acquired, they were ready to form matrimonial alliances +with the Khan's family, and to act zealously as his lieutenants. When +Novgorod, the haughty, turbulent republic, refused to pay the yearly +tribute, they quelled the insurrection and punished the leaders; and +when the inhabitants of Tver rose against the Tartars and compelled +their Prince to make common cause with them, the wily Muscovite +hastened to the Tartar court and received from the Khan the revolted +principality, with 50,000 Tartars to support his authority. + +Thus those cunning Moscow Princes "loved the Tartars beyond measure" so +long as the Khan was irresistibly powerful, but as his power waned they +stood forth as his rivals. When the Golden Horde, like the great Empire +of which it had once formed a part, fell to pieces in the fifteenth +century, these ambitious Princes read the signs of the times, and put +themselves at the head of the liberation movement, which was at first +unsuccessful, but ultimately freed the country from the hated yoke. + +From this brief sketch of the Mongol domination the reader will readily +understand that it did not leave any deep, lasting impression on +the people. The invaders never settled in Russia proper, and never +amalgamated with the native population. So long as they retained their +semi-pagan, semi-Buddhistic religion, a certain number of their notables +became Christians and were absorbed by the Russian Noblesse; but as +soon as the Horde adopted Islam this movement was arrested. There was no +blending of the two races such as has taken place--and is still taking +place--between the Russian peasantry and the Finnish tribes of the +North. The Russians remained Christians, and the Tartars remained +Mahometans; and this difference of religion raised an impassable barrier +between the two nationalities. + +It must, however, be admitted that the Tartar domination, though it +had little influence on the life and habits of the people, had a +considerable influence on the political development of the nation. +At the time of the conquest Russia was composed of a large number of +independent principalities, all governed by descendants of Rurik. As +these principalities were not geographical or ethnographical units, but +mere artificial, arbitrarily defined districts, which were regularly +subdivided or combined according to the hereditary rights of the +Princes, it is highly probable that they would in any case have been +sooner or later united under one sceptre; but it is quite certain that +the policy of the Khans helped to accelerate this unification and to +create the autocratic power which has since been wielded by the Tsars. +If the principalities had been united without foreign interference we +should probably have found in the united State some form of political +organisation corresponding to that which existed in the component +parts--some mixed form of government, in which the political power would +have been more or less equally divided between the Tsar and the people. +The Tartar rule interrupted this normal development by extinguishing +all free political life. The first Tsars of Muscovy were the political +descendants, not of the old independent Princes, but of the Mongol +Khans. It may be said, therefore, that the autocratic power, which +has been during the last four centuries out of all comparison the most +important factor in Russian history, was in a certain sense created by +the Mongol domination. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COSSACKS + + +Lawlessness on the Steppe--Slave-markets of the Crimea--The Military +Cordon and the Free Cossacks--The Zaporovian Commonwealth Compared with +Sparta and with the Mediaeval Military Orders--The Cossacks of the Don, +of the Volga, and of the Ural--Border Warfare--The Modern Cossacks--Land +Tenure among the Cossacks of the Don--The Transition from Pastoral to +Agriculture Life--"Universal Law" of Social Development--Communal versus +Private Property--Flogging as a Means of Land-registration. + + +No sooner had the Grand Princes of Moscow thrown off the Mongol yoke +and become independent Tsars of Muscovy than they began that eastward +territorial expansion which has been going on steadily ever since, and +which culminated in the occupation of Talienwan and Port Arthur. Ivan +the Terrible conquered the Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan (1552-54) +and reduced to nominal subjection the Bashkir and Kirghiz tribes in the +vicinity of the Volga, but he did not thereby establish law and order on +the Steppe. The lawless tribes retained their old pastoral mode of life +and predatory habits, and harassed the Russian agricultural population +of the outlying provinces in the same way as the Red Indians in America +used to harass the white colonists of the Far West. A large section +of the Horde, inhabiting the Crimea and the Steppe to the north of the +Black Sea, escaped annexation by submitting to the Ottoman Turks and +becoming tributaries of the Sultan. + +The Turks were at that time a formidable power, with which the Tsars of +Muscovy were too weak to cope successfully, and the Khan of the Crimea +could always, when hard pressed by his northern neighbours, obtain +assistance from Constantinople. This potentate exercised a nominal +authority over the pastoral tribes which roamed on the Steppe between +the Crimea and the Russian frontier, but he had neither the power +nor the desire to control their aggressive tendencies. Their raids in +Russian and Polish territory ensured, among other advantages, a regular +and plentiful supply of slaves, which formed the chief article of export +from Kaffa--the modern Theodosia--and from the other seaports of the +coast. + +Of this slave trade, which flourished down to 1783, when the Crimea was +finally conquered and annexed by Russia, we have a graphic account by +an eye-witness, a Lithuanian traveller of the sixteenth century. "Ships +from Asia," he says, "bring arms, clothes, and horses to the Crimean +Tartars, and start on the homeward voyage laden with slaves. It is for +this kind of merchandise alone that the Crimean markets are remarkable. +Slaves may be always had for sale as a pledge or as a present, and every +one rich enough to have a horse deals in them. If a man wishes to buy +clothes, arms, or horses, and does not happen to have at the moment any +slaves, he takes on credit the articles required, and makes a formal +promise to deliver at a certain time a certain number of people of +our blood--being convinced that he can get by that time the requisite +number. And these promises are always accurately fulfilled, as if those +who made them had always a supply of our people in their courtyards. +A Jewish money-changer, sitting at the gate of Tauris and seeing +constantly the countless multitude of our countrymen led in as captives, +asked us whether there still remained any people in our land, and whence +came such a multitude of them. The stronger of these captives, branded +on the forehead and cheeks and manacled or fettered, are tortured by +severe labour all day, and are shut up in dark cells at night. They are +kept alive by small quantities of food, composed chiefly of the flesh of +animals that have died--putrid, covered with maggots, disgusting even +to dogs. Women, who are more tender, are treated in a different fashion; +some of them who can sing and play are employed to amuse the guests at +festivals. + +"When the slaves are led out for sale they walk to the marketplace in +single file, like storks on the wing, in whole dozens, chained together +by the neck, and are there sold by auction. The auctioneer shouts loudly +that they are 'the newest arrivals, simple, and not cunning, lately +captured from the people of the kingdom (Poland), and not from Muscovy'; +for the Muscovite race, being crafty and deceitful, does not bring a +good price. This kind of merchandise is appraised with great accuracy in +the Crimea, and is bought by foreign merchants at a high price, in order +to be sold at a still higher rate to blacker nations, such as Saracens, +Persians, Indians, Arabs, Syrians, and Assyrians. When a purchase +is made the teeth are examined, to see that they are neither few nor +discoloured. At the same time the more hidden parts of the body are +carefully inspected, and if a mole, excrescence, wound, or other latent +defect is discovered, the bargain is rescinded. But notwithstanding +these investigations the cunning slave-dealers and brokers succeed in +cheating the buyers; for when they have valuable boys and girls, they +do not at once produce them, but first fatten them, clothe them in silk, +and put powder and rouge on their cheeks, so as to sell them at a better +price. Sometimes beautiful and perfect maidens of our nation bring their +weight in gold. This takes place in all the towns of the peninsula, but +especially in Kaffa."* + + * Michalonis Litvani, "De moribus Tartarorum Fragmina," X., + Basilliae, 1615. + +To protect the agricultural population of the Steppe against the raids +of these thieving, cattle-lifting, kidnapping neighbours, the Tsars of +Muscovy and the Kings of Poland built forts, constructed palisades, dug +trenches, and kept up a regular military cordon. The troops composing +this cordon were called Cossacks; but these were not the "Free Cossacks" +best known to history and romance. These latter lived beyond the +frontier on the debatable land which lay between the two hostile races, +and there they formed self-governing military communities. Each one of +the rivers flowing southwards--the Dnieper, the Don, the Volga, and the +Yaik or Ural--was held by a community of these Free Cossacks, and no +one, whether Christian or Tartar, was allowed to pass through their +territory without their permission. + +Officially the Free Cossacks were Russians, for they professed to be +champions of Orthodox Christianity, and--with the exception of those +of the Dnieper--loyal subjects of the Tsar; but in reality they were +something different. Though they were Russian by origin, language, and +sympathy, the habit of kidnapping Tartar women introduced among them a +certain admixture of Tartar blood. Though self-constituted champions of +Christianity and haters of Islam, they troubled themselves very little +with religion, and did not submit to the ecclesiastical authorities. +As to their religious status, it cannot be easily defined. Whilst +professing allegiance and devotion to the Tsar, they did not think it +necessary to obey him, except in so far as his orders suited their own +convenience. And the Tsar, it must be confessed, acted towards them in a +similar fashion. When he found it convenient he called them his faithful +subjects; and when complaints were made to him about their raids in +Turkish territory, he declared that they were not his subjects, but +runaways and brigands, and that the Sultan might punish them as he saw +fit. At the same time, the so-called runaways and brigands regularly +received supplies and ammunition from Moscow, as is amply proved by +recently-published documents. Down to the middle of the seventeenth +century the Cossacks of the Dnieper stood in a similar relation to +the Polish kings; but at that time they threw off their allegiance to +Poland, and became subjects of the Tsars of Muscovy. + +Of these semi-independent military communities, which formed a +continuous barrier along the southern and southeastern frontier, the +most celebrated were the Zaporovians* of the Dnieper, and the Cossacks +of the Don. + + * The name "Zaporovians," by which they are known in the + West, is a corruption of the Russian word Zaporozhtsi, which + means "Those who live beyond the rapids." + +The Zaporovian Commonwealth has been compared sometimes to ancient +Sparta, and sometimes to the mediaeval Military Orders, but it had +in reality quite a different character. In Sparta the nobles kept in +subjection a large population of slaves, and were themselves constantly +under the severe discipline of the magistrates. These Cossacks of the +Dnieper, on the contrary, lived by fishing, hunting, and marauding, +and knew nothing of discipline, except in time of war. Amongst all +the inhabitants of the Setch--so the fortified camp was called--there +reigned the most perfect equality. The common saying, "Bear patiently, +Cossack; you will one day be Ataman!" was often realised; for every year +the office-bearers laid down the insignia of office in presence of the +general assembly, and after thanking the brotherhood for the honour they +had enjoyed, retired to their former position of common Cossack. At the +election which followed this ceremony any member could be chosen chief +of his kuren, or company, and any chief of a kuren could be chosen +Ataman. + +The comparison of these bold Borderers with the mediaeval Military +Orders is scarcely less forced. They call themselves, indeed, Lytsars--a +corruption of the Russian word Ritsar, which is in its turn a corruption +of the German Ritter--talked of knightly honour (lytsarskaya tchest'), +and sometimes proclaimed themselves the champions of Greek Orthodoxy +against the Roman Catholicism of the Poles and the Mahometanism of the +Tartars; but religion occupied in their minds a very secondary place. +Their great object in life was the acquisition of booty. To attain this +object they lived in intermittent warfare with the Tartars, lifted their +cattle, pillaged their aouls, swept the Black Sea in flotillas of small +boats, and occasionally sacked important coast towns, such as Varna +and Sinope. When Tartar booty could not be easily obtained, they turned +their attention to the Slavonic populations; and when hard pressed by +Christian potentates, they did not hesitate to put themselves under the +protection of the Sultan. + +The Cossacks of the Don, of the Volga, and of the Ural had a somewhat +different organisation. They had no fortified camp like the Setch, but +lived in villages, and assembled as necessity demanded. As they were +completely beyond the sphere of Polish influence, they knew nothing +about "knightly honour" and similar conceptions of Western chivalry; +they even adopted many Tartar customs, and loved in time of peace to +strut about in gorgeous Tartar costumes. Besides this, they were +nearly all emigrants from Great Russia, and mostly Old Ritualists or +Sectarians, whilst the Zaporovians were Little Russians and Orthodox. + +These military communities rendered valuable service to Russia. The best +means of protecting the southern frontier was to have as allies a large +body of men leading the same kind of life and capable of carrying on the +same kind of warfare as the nomadic marauders; and such a body of men +were the Free Cossacks. The sentiment of self-preservation and the +desire of booty kept them constantly on the alert. By sending out small +parties in all directions, by "procuring tongues"--that is to say, by +kidnapping and torturing straggling Tartars with a view to extracting +information from them--and by keeping spies in the enemy's territory, +they were generally apprised beforehand of any intended incursion. When +danger threatened, the ordinary precautions were redoubled. Day and +night patrols kept watch at the points where the enemy was expected, and +as soon as sure signs of his approach were discovered a pile of tarred +barrels prepared for the purpose was fired to give the alarm. Rapidly +the signal was repeated at one point of observation after another, and +by this primitive system of telegraphy in the course of a few hours the +whole district was up in arms. If the invaders were not too numerous, +they were at once attacked and driven back. If they could not be +successfully resisted, they were allowed to pass; but a troop of +Cossacks was sent to pillage their aouls in their absence, whilst +another and larger force was collected, in order to intercept them when +they were returning home laden with booty. Thus many a nameless battle +was fought on the trackless Steppe, and many brave men fell unhonoured +and unsung: + +"Illacrymabiles Urgentur ignotique longa Nocte, carent quia vate sacro." + +Notwithstanding these valuable services, the Cossack communities were +a constant source of diplomatic difficulties and political dangers. As +they paid very little attention to the orders of the Government, they +supplied the Sultan with any number of casi belli, and were often ready +to turn their arms against the power to which they professed allegiance. +During "the troublous times," for example, when the national existence +was endangered by civil strife and foreign invasion, they overran the +country, robbing, pillaging, and burning as they were wont to do in the +Tartar aouls. At a later period the Don Cossacks twice raised formidable +insurrections--first under Stenka Razin (1670), and secondly under +Pugatchef (1773)--and during the war between Peter the Great and Charles +XII. of Sweden the Zaporovians took the side of the Swedish king. + +The Government naturally strove to put an end to this danger, +and ultimately succeeded. All the Cossacks were deprived of their +independence, but the fate of the various communities was different. +Those of the Volga were transfered to the Terek, where they had abundant +occupation in guarding the frontier against the incursions of the +Eastern Caucasian tribes. The Zaporovians held tenaciously to their +"Dnieper liberties," and resisted all interference, till they were +forcibly disbanded in the time of Catherine II. The majority of them +fled to Turkey, where some of their descendants are still to be found, +and the remainder were settled on the Kuban, where they could lead their +old life by carrying on an irregular warfare with the tribes of the +Western Caucasus. Since the capture of Shamyl and the pacification +of the Caucasus, this Cossack population of the Kuban and the Terek, +extending in an unbroken line from the Sea of Azof to the Caspian, have +been able to turn their attention to peaceful pursuits, and now raise +large quantities of wheat for exportation; but they still retain their +martial bearing, and some of them regret the good old times when a brush +with the Circassians was an ordinary occurrence and the work of tilling +the soil was often diversified with a more exciting kind of occupation. + +The Cossacks of the Ural and the Don have been allowed to remain in +their old homes, but they have been deprived of their independence +and self-government, and their social organisation has been completely +changed. The boisterous popular assemblies which formerly decided all +public affairs have been abolished, and the custom of choosing the +Ataman and other office-bearers by popular election has been replaced +by a system of regular promotion, according to rules elaborated in +St. Petersburg. The officers and their families now compose a kind of +hereditary aristocracy which has succeeded in appropriating, by means of +Imperial grants, a large portion of the land which was formerly common +property. As the Empire expanded in Asia the system of protecting the +parties by Cossack colonists was extended eastwards, so now there is a +belt of Cossack territory stretching almost without interruption from +the banks of the Don to the coast of the Pacific. It is divided into +eleven sections, in each of which is settled a Cossack corps with a +separate administration. + +When universal military service was introduced, in 1873, the Cossacks +were brought under the new law, but in order to preserve their military +traditions and habits they were allowed to retain, with certain +modifications, their old organisation, rights, and privileges. In return +for a large amount of fertile land and exemption from direct taxation, +they have to equip themselves at their own expense, and serve for twenty +years, of which three are spent in preparatory training, twelve in the +active army, and five in the reserve. This system gives to the army +a contingent of about 330,000 men--divided into 890 squadrons and 108 +infantry companies--with 236 guns. + +The Cossacks in active service are to be met with in all parts of +the Empire, from the Prussian to the Chinese frontier. In the Asiatic +Provinces their services are invaluable. Capable of enduring an +incredible amount of fatigue and all manner of privations, they can live +and thrive in conditions which would soon disable regular troops. The +capacity of self-adaptation, which is characteristic of the Russian +people generally, is possessed by them in the highest degree. When +placed on some distant Asiatic frontier they can at once transform +themselves into squatters--building their own houses, raising crops of +grain, and living as colonists without neglecting their military duties. + +I have sometimes heard it asserted by military men that the Cossack +organisation is an antiquated institution, and that the soldiers which +it produces, however useful they may be in Central Asia, would be of +little service in regular European warfare. Whether this view, which +received some confirmation in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, is +true or false I cannot pretend to say, for it is a subject on which +a civilian has no right to speak; but I may remark that the Cossacks +themselves are not by any means of that opinion. They regard themselves +as the most valuable troops which the Tsar possesses, believing +themselves capable of performing anything within the bounds of human +possibility, and a good deal that lies beyond that limit. More than once +Don Cossacks have assured me that if the Tsar had allowed them to fit +out a flotilla of small boats during the Crimean War they would have +captured the British fleet, as their ancestors used to capture Turkish +galleys on the Black Sea! + +In old times, throughout the whole territory of the Don Cossacks, +agriculture was prohibited on pain of death. It is generally supposed +that this measure was adopted with a view to preserve the martial +spirit of the inhabitants, but it may be explained otherwise. The great +majority of the Cossacks, averse to all regular, laborious occupations, +wished to live by fishing, hunting, cattle-breeding, and marauding, +but there was always amongst them a considerable number of +immigrants--runaway serfs from the interior--who had been accustomed to +live by agriculture. These latter wished to raise crops on the fertile +virgin soil, and if they had been allowed to do so they would to some +extent have spoiled the pastures. We have here, I believe, the true +reason for the above-mentioned prohibition, and this view is strongly +confirmed by analogous facts which I have observed in another locality. +In the Kirghiz territory the poorer inhabitants of the aouls near the +frontier, having few or no cattle, wish to let part of the common land +to the neighbouring Russian peasantry for agricultural purposes; but +the richer inhabitants, who possess flocks and herds, strenuously oppose +this movement, and would doubtless prohibit it under pain of death if +they had the power, because all agricultural encroachments diminish the +pasture-land. + +Whatever was the real reason of the prohibition, practical necessity +proved in the long run too strong for the anti-agriculturists. As the +population augmented and the opportunities for marauding decreased, the +majority had to overcome their repugnance to husbandry; and soon large +patches of ploughed land or waving grain were to be seen in the vicinity +of the stanitsas, as the Cossack villages are termed. At first there was +no attempt to regulate this new use of the ager publicus. Each Cossack +who wished to raise a crop ploughed and sowed wherever he thought fit, +and retained as long as he chose the land thus appropriated; and when +the soil began to show signs of exhaustion he abandoned his plot and +ploughed elsewhere. But this unregulated use of the Communal property +could not long continue. As the number of agriculturists increased, +quarrels frequently arose, and sometimes terminated in bloodshed. Still +worse evils appeared when markets were created in the vicinity, and it +became possible to sell the grain for exportation. In some stanitsas the +richer families appropriated enormous quantities of the common land +by using several teams of oxen, or by hiring peasants in the nearest +villages to come and plough for them; and instead of abandoning the land +after raising two or three crops they retained possession of it, and +came to regard it as their private property. Thus the whole of the +arable land, or at least the best part of it, became actually, if +not legally, the private property of a few families, whilst the less +energetic or less fortunate inhabitants of the stanitsa had only parcels +of comparatively barren soil, or had no land whatever, and became mere +agricultural labourers. + +After a time this injustice was remedied. The landless members justly +complained that they had to bear the same burdens as those who possessed +the land, and that therefore they ought to enjoy the same privileges. +The old spirit of equality was still strong amongst them, and they +ultimately succeeded in asserting their rights. In accordance with their +demands the appropriated land was confiscated by the Commune, and the +system of periodical redistributions was introduced. By this system each +adult male possesses a share of the land. + +These facts tend to throw light on some of the dark questions of social +development in its early stages. + +So long as a village community leads a purely pastoral life, and +possesses an abundance of land, there is no reason why the individuals +or the families of which it is composed should divide the land into +private lots, and there are very potent reasons why they should not +adopt such a course. To give the division of the land any practical +significance, it would be necessary to raise fences of some kind, and +these fences, requiring for their construction a certain amount of +labour, would prove merely a useless encumbrance, for it is much more +convenient that all the sheep and cattle should graze together. If there +is a scarcity of pasture, and consequently a conflict of interest among +the families, the enjoyment of the common land will be regulated not by +raising fences, but by simply limiting the number of sheep and cattle +which each family is entitled to put upon the pasturage, as is done in +many Russian villages at the present day. When any one desires to keep +more sheep and cattle than the maximum to which he is entitled, he pays +to the others a certain compensation. Thus, we see, in pastoral life +the dividing of the common land is unnecessary and inexpedient, and +consequently private property in land is not likely to come into +existence. + +With the introduction of agriculture appears a tendency to divide the +land among the families composing the community, for each family living +by husbandry requires a definite portion of the soil. If the land +suitable for agricultural purposes be plentiful, each head of a family +may be allowed to take possession of as much of it as he requires, as +was formerly done in the Cossack stanitsas; if, on the contrary, the +area of arable land is small, as is the case in some Bashkir aouls, +there will probably be a regular allotment of it among the families. + +With the tendency to divide the land into definite portions arises a +conflict between the principle of communal and the principle of private +property. Those who obtain definite portions of the soil are in general +likely to keep them and transmit them to their descendants. In a +country, however, like the Steppe--and it is only of such countries +that I am at present speaking--the nature of the soil and the system of +agriculture militate against this conversion of simple possession into a +right of property. A plot of land is commonly cultivated for only three +or four years in succession. It is then abandoned for at least double +that period, and the cultivators remove to some other portion of the +communal territory. After a time, it is true, they return to the old +portion, which has been in the meantime lying fallow; but as the soil is +tolerably equal in quality, the families or individuals have no reason +to desire the precise plots which they formerly possessed. Under such +circumstances the principle of private property in the land is not +likely to strike root; each family insists on possessing a certain +QUANTITY rather than a certain PLOT of land, and contents itself with a +right of usufruct, whilst the right of property remains in the hands of +the Commune; and it must not be forgotten that the difference between +usufruct and property here is of great practical importance, for so long +as the Commune retains the right of property it may re-allot the land in +any way it thinks fit. + +As the population increases and land becomes less plentiful, the +primitive method of agriculture above alluded to gives place to a less +primitive method, commonly known as "the three-field system," according +to which the cultivators do not migrate periodically from one part of +the communal territory to another, but till always the same fields, +and are obliged to manure the plots which they occupy. The principle of +communal property rarely survives this change, for by long possession +the families acquire a prescriptive right to the portions which they +cultivate, and those who manure their land well naturally object to +exchange it for land which has been held by indolent, improvident +neighbours. In Russia, however, this change has not destroyed the +principle of communal property. Though the three-field system has been +in use for many generations in the central provinces, the communal +principle, with its periodical re-allotment of the land, still remains +intact. + +For the student of sociology the past history and actual condition of +the Don Cossacks present many other features equally interesting and +instructive. He may there see, for instance, how an aristocracy can be +created by military promotion, and how serfage may originate and become +a recognised institution without any legislative enactment. If he takes +an interest in peculiar manifestations of religious thought and feeling, +he will find a rich field of investigation in the countless religious +sects; and if he is a collector of quaint old customs, he will not lack +occupation. + +One curious custom, which has very recently died out, I may here +mention by way of illustration. As the Cossacks knew very little about +land-surveying, and still less about land-registration, the precise +boundary between two contiguous yurts--as the communal land of a +stanitsa was called--was often a matter of uncertainty and a fruitful +source of disputes. When the boundary was once determined, the following +method of registering it was employed. All the boys of the two stanitsas +were collected and driven in a body like sheep to the intervening +frontier. The whole population then walked along the frontier that had +been agreed upon, and at each landmark a number of boys were soundly +whipped and allowed to run home! This was done in the hope that the +victims would remember, as long as they lived, the spot where they had +received their unmerited castigation.* The device, I have been assured, +was generally very effective, but it was not always quite successful. +Whether from the castigation not being sufficiently severe, or from +some other defect in the method, it sometimes happened that disputes +afterwards arose, and the whipped boys, now grown up to manhood, gave +conflicting testimony. When such a case occurred the following expedient +was adopted. One of the oldest inhabitants was chosen as arbiter, and +made to swear on the Scriptures that he would act honestly to the best +of his knowledge; then taking an Icon in his hand, he walked along what +he believed to be the old frontier. Whether he made mistakes or not, his +decision was accepted by both parties and regarded as final. This custom +existed in some stanitsas down to the year 1850, when the boundaries +were clearly determined by Government officials. + + * A custom of this kind, I am told, existed not very long + ago in England and is still spoken of as "the beating of the + bounds." + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +FOREIGN COLONISTS ON THE STEPPE + + +The Steppe--Variety of Races, Languages, and Religions--The German +Colonists--In What Sense the Russians are an Imitative +People--The Mennonites--Climate and Arboriculture--Bulgarian +Colonists--Tartar-Speaking Greeks--Jewish +Agriculturists--Russification--A Circassian Scotchman--Numerical +Strength of the Foreign Element. + + +In European Russia the struggle between agriculture and nomadic +barbarism is now a thing of the past, and the fertile Steppe, which was +for centuries a battle-ground of the Aryan and Turanian races, has been +incorporated into the dominions of the Tsar. The nomadic tribes have +been partly driven out and partly pacified and parked in "reserves," +and the territory which they so long and so stubbornly defended is now +studded with peaceful villages and tilled by laborious agriculturists. + +In traversing this region the ordinary tourist will find little to +interest him. He will see nothing which he can possibly dignify by the +name of scenery, and he may journey on for many days without having +any occasion to make an entry in his note-book. If he should happen, +however, to be an ethnologist and linguist, he may find occupation, for +he will here meet with fragments of many different races and a variety +of foreign tongues. + +This ethnological variety is the result of a policy inaugurated by +Catherine II. So long as the southern frontier was pushed forward +slowly, the acquired territory was regularly filled up by Russian +peasants from the central provinces who were anxious to obtain more land +and more liberty than they enjoyed in their native villages; but during +"the glorious age of Catherine" the frontier was pushed forward so +rapidly that the old method of spontaneous emigration no longer sufficed +to people the annexed territory. The Empress had recourse, therefore, +to organised emigration from foreign countries. Her diplomatic +representatives in Western Europe tried to induce artisans and peasants +to emigrate to Russia, and special agents were sent to various countries +to supplement the efforts of the diplomatists. Thousands accepted the +invitation, and were for the most part settled on the land which had +been recently the pasture-ground of the nomadic hordes. + +This policy was adopted by succeeding sovereigns, and the consequence of +it has been that Southern Russia now contains a variety of races such as +is to be found, perhaps, nowhere else in Europe. The official statistics +of New Russia alone--that is to say, the provinces of Ekaterinoslaf, +Tauride, Kherson, and Bessarabia--enumerate the following nationalities: +Great Russians, Little Russians, Poles, Servians, Montenegrins, +Bulgarians, Moldavians, Germans, English, Swedes, Swiss, French, +Italians, Greeks, Armenians, Tartars, Mordwa, Jews, and Gypsies. The +religions are almost equally numerous. The statistics speak of Greek +Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Gregorians, Lutherans, Calvinists, Anglicans, +Mennonites, Separatists, Pietists, Karaim Jews, Talmudists, Mahometans, +and numerous Russian sects, such as the Molokanye and the Skoptsi or +Eunuchs. America herself could scarcely show a more motley list in her +statistics of population. + +It is but fair to state that the above list, though literally correct, +does not give a true idea of the actual population. The great body +of the inhabitants are Russian and Orthodox, whilst several of the +nationalities named are represented by a small number of souls--some of +them, such as the French, being found exclusively in the towns. Still, +the variety even in the rural population is very great. Once, in +the space of three days, and using only the most primitive means of +conveyance, I visited colonies of Greeks, Germans, Servians, Bulgarians, +Montenegrins, and Jews. + +Of all the foreign colonists the Germans are by far the most numerous. +The object of the Government in inviting them to settle in the country +was that they should till the unoccupied land and thereby increase +the national wealth, and that they should at the same time exercise a +civilising influence on the Russian peasantry in their vicinity. In +this latter respect they have totally failed to fulfil their mission. +A Russian village, situated in the midst of German colonies, shows +generally, so far as I could observe, no signs of German influence. Each +nationality lives more majorum, and holds as little communication as +possible with the other. The muzhik observes carefully--for he is very +curious--the mode of life of his more advanced neighbours, but he never +thinks of adopting it. He looks upon Germans almost as beings of a +different world--as a wonderfully cunning and ingenious people, who +have been endowed by Providence with peculiar qualities not possessed by +ordinary Orthodox humanity. To him it seems in the nature of things that +Germans should live in large, clean, well-built houses, in the same way +as it is in the nature of things that birds should build nests; and +as it has probably never occurred to a human being to build a nest for +himself and his family, so it never occurs to a Russian peasant to +build a house on the German model. Germans are Germans, and Russians are +Russians--and there is nothing more to be said on the subject. + +This stubbornly conservative spirit of the peasantry who live in +the neighbourhood of Germans seems to give the lie direct to the +oft-repeated and universally believed assertion that Russians are an +imitative people strongly disposed to adopt the manners and customs of +any foreigners with whom they may come in contact. The Russian, it is +said, changes his nationality as easily as he changes his coat, and +derives great satisfaction from wearing some nationality that does not +belong to him; but here we have an important fact which appears to prove +the contrary. + +The truth is that in this matter we must distinguish between the +Noblesse and the peasantry. The nobles are singularly prone to adopt +foreign manners, customs, and institutions; the peasants, on the +contrary, are as a rule decidedly conservative. It must not, however, be +supposed that this proceeds from a difference of race; the difference is +to be explained by the past history of the two classes. Like all other +peoples, the Russians are strongly conservative so long as they remain +in what may be termed their primitive moral habitat--that is to say, so +long as external circumstances do not force them out of their accustomed +traditional groove. The Noblesse were long ago violently forced out of +their old groove by the reforming Tsars, and since that time they have +been so constantly driven hither and thither by foreign influences that +they have never been able to form a new one. Thus they easily enter upon +any new path which seems to them profitable or attractive. The great +mass of the people, on the contrary, too heavy to be thus lifted out of +the guiding influence of custom and tradition, are still animated with a +strongly conservative spirit. + +In confirmation of this view I may mention two facts which have often +attracted my attention. The first is that the Molokanye--a primitive +Evangelical sect of which I shall speak at length in the next +chapter--succumb gradually to German influence; by becoming heretics in +religion they free themselves from one of the strongest bonds attaching +them to the past, and soon become heretics in things secular. The second +fact is that even the Orthodox peasant, when placed by circumstances in +some new sphere of activity, readily adopts whatever seems profitable. +Take, for example, the peasants who abandon agriculture and embark in +industrial enterprises; finding themselves, as it were, in a new world, +in which their old traditional notions are totally inapplicable, they +have no hesitation in adopting foreign ideas and foreign inventions. And +when once they have chosen this new path, they are much more "go-ahead" +than the Germans. Freed alike from the trammels of hereditary +conceptions and from the prudence which experience generates, they often +give a loose rein to their impulsive character, and enter freely on the +wildest speculations. + +The marked contrast presented by a German colony and a Russian village +in close proximity with each other is often used to illustrate the +superiority of the Teutonic over the Slavonic race, and in order to make +the contrast more striking, the Mennonite colonies are generally taken +as the representatives of the Germans. Without entering here on the +general question, I must say that this method of argumentation is +scarcely fair. The Mennonites, who formerly lived in the neighbourhood +of Danzig and emigrated from Prussia in order to escape the military +conscription, brought with them to their new home a large store of +useful technical knowledge and a considerable amount of capital, and +they received a quantity of land very much greater than the Russian +peasants possess. Besides this, they enjoyed until very recently several +valuable privileges. They were entirely exempted from military service +and almost entirely exempted from taxation. Altogether their lines fell +in very pleasant places. In material and moral well-being they stand as +far above the majority of the ordinary German colonists as these latter +do above their Russian neighbours. Even in the richest districts of +Germany their prosperity would attract attention. To compare these +rich, privileged, well-educated farmers with the poor, heavily taxed, +uneducated peasantry, and to draw from the comparison conclusions +concerning the capabilities of the two races, is a proceeding so absurd +that it requires no further comment. + +To the wearied traveller who has been living for some time in Russian +villages, one of these Mennonite colonies seems an earthly paradise. In +a little hollow, perhaps by the side of a watercourse, he suddenly comes +on a long row of high-roofed houses half concealed in trees. The +trees may be found on closer inspection to be little better than mere +saplings; but after a long journey on the bare Steppe, where there is +neither tree nor bush of any kind, the foliage, scant as it is, appears +singularly inviting. The houses are large, well arranged, and kept in +such thoroughly good repair that they always appear to be newly built. +The rooms are plainly furnished, without any pretensions to elegance, +but scrupulously clean. Adjoining the house are the stable and byre, +which would not disgrace a model farm in Germany or England. In front +is a spacious courtyard, which has the appearance of being swept several +times a day, and behind there is a garden well stocked with vegetables. +Fruit trees and flowers are not very plentiful, for the climate is not +favourable to them. + +The inhabitants are honest, frugal folk, somewhat sluggish of intellect +and indifferent to things lying beyond the narrow limits of their own +little world, but shrewd enough in all matters which they deem worthy of +their attention. If you arrive amongst them as a stranger you may be +a little chilled by the welcome you receive, for they are exclusive, +reserved, and distrustful, and do not much like to associate with those +who do not belong to their own sect; but if you can converse with +them in their mother tongue and talk about religious matters in +an evangelical tone, you may easily overcome their stiffness and +exclusiveness. Altogether such a village cannot be recommended for a +lengthened sojourn, for the severe order and symmetry which everywhere +prevail would soon prove irksome to any one having no Dutch blood in +his veins;* but as a temporary resting-place during a pilgrimage on +the Steppe, when the pilgrim is longing for a little cleanliness and +comfort, it is very agreeable. + + * The Mennonites were originally Dutchmen. Persecuted for + their religious views in the sixteenth century, a large + number of them accepted an invitation to settle in West + Prussia, where they helped to drain the great marshes + between Danzig, Elbing, and Marienburg. Here in the course + of time they forgot their native language. Their emigration + to Russia began in 1789. + +The fact that these Mennonites and some other German colonies have +succeeded in rearing a few sickly trees has suggested to some fertile +minds the idea that the prevailing dryness of the climate, which is +the chief difficulty with which the agriculturist of that region has +to contend, might be to some extent counteracted by arboriculture on a +large scale. This scheme, though it has been seriously entertained by +one of his Majesty's ministers, must seem hardly practicable to any +one who knows how much labour and money the colonists have expended in +creating that agreeable shade which they love to enjoy in their leisure +hours. If climate is affected at all by the existence or non-existence +of forests--a point on which scientific men do not seem to be entirely +agreed--any palpable increase of the rainfall can be produced only by +forests of enormous extent, and it is hardly conceivable that these +could be artificially produced in Southern Russia. It is quite possible, +however, that local ameliorations may be effected. During a visit to +the province of Voronezh in 1903 I found that comparatively small +plantations diminished the effects of drought in their immediate +vicinity by retaining the moisture for a time in the soil and the +surrounding atmosphere. + +After the Mennonites and other Germans, the Bulgarian colonists deserve +a passing notice. They settled in this region much more recently, on the +land that was left vacant by the exodus of the Nogai Tartars after the +Crimean War. If I may judge of their condition by a mere flying visit, +I should say that in agriculture and domestic civilisation they are +not very far behind the majority of German colonists. Their houses +are indeed small--so small that one of them might almost be put into a +single room of a Mennonite's house; but there is an air of cleanliness +and comfort about them that would do credit to a German housewife. + +In spite of all this, these Bulgarians were, I could easily perceive, by +no means delighted with their new home. The cause of their discontent, +so far as I could gather from the few laconic remarks which I +extracted from them, seemed to be this: Trusting to the highly coloured +descriptions furnished by the emigration agents who had induced them to +change the rule of the Sultan for the authority of the Tsar, they +came to Russia with the expectation of finding a fertile and beautiful +Promised Land. Instead of a land flowing with milk and honey, they +received a tract of bare Steppe on which even water could be obtained +only with great difficulty--with no shade to protect them from the heat +of summer and nothing to shelter them from the keen northern blasts that +often sweep over those open plains. As no adequate arrangements had been +made for their reception, they were quartered during the first winter +on the German colonists, who, being quite innocent of any Slavophil +sympathies, were probably not very hospitable to their uninvited +guests. To complete their disappointment, they found that they could not +cultivate the vine, and that their mild, fragrant tobacco, which is for +them a necessary of life, could be obtained only at a very high price. +So disconsolate were they under this cruel disenchantment that, at the +time of my visit, they talked of returning to their old homes in Turkey. + +As an example of the less prosperous colonists, I may mention the +Tartar-speaking Greeks in the neighbourhood of Mariupol, on the northern +shore of the Sea of Azof. Their ancestors lived in the Crimea, under +the rule of the Tartar Khans, and emigrated to Russia in the time of +Catherine II., before Crim Tartary was annexed to the Russian Empire. +They have almost entirely forgotten their old language, but have +preserved their old faith. In adopting the Tartar language they have +adopted something of Tartar indolence and apathy, and the natural +consequence is that they are poor and ignorant. + +But of all the colonists of this region the least prosperous are the +Jews. The Chosen People are certainly a most intelligent, industrious, +frugal race, and in all matters of buying, selling, and bartering they +are unrivalled among the nations of the earth, but they have been too +long accustomed to town life to be good tillers of the soil. These +Jewish colonies were founded as an experiment to see whether the +Israelite could be weaned from his traditionary pursuits and transferred +to what some economists call the productive section of society. The +experiment has failed, and the cause of the failure is not difficult to +find. One has merely to look at these men of gaunt visage and shambling +gait, with their loop-holed slippers, and black, threadbare coats +reaching down to their ankles, to understand that they are not in their +proper sphere. Their houses are in a most dilapidated condition, and +their villages remind one of the abomination of desolation spoken of by +Daniel the Prophet. A great part of their land is left uncultivated or +let to colonists of a different race. What little revenue they have is +derived chiefly from trade of a more or less clandestine nature.* + + * Mr. Arnold White, who subsequently visited some of these + Jewish Colonies in connection with Baron Hirsch's + colonisation scheme, assured me that he found them in a much + more prosperous condition. + +As Scandinavia was formerly called officina gentium--a workshop in which +new nations were made--so we may regard Southern Russia as a workshop +in which fragments of old nations are being melted down to form a new, +composite whole. It must be confessed, however, that the melting process +has as yet scarcely begun. + +National peculiarities are not obliterated so rapidly in Russia as in +America or in British colonies. Among the German colonists in Russia the +process of assimilation is hardly perceptible. Though their fathers and +grandfathers may have been born in the new country, they would consider +it an insult to be called Russians. They look down upon the Russian +peasantry as poor, ignorant, lazy, and dishonest, fear the officials +on account of their tyranny and extortion, preserve jealously their +own language and customs, rarely speak Russian well--sometimes not at +all--and never intermarry with those from whom they are separated by +nationality and religion. The Russian influence acts, however, +more rapidly on the Slavonic colonists--Servians, Bulgarians, +Montenegrins--who profess the Greek Orthodox faith, learn more easily +the Russian language, which is closely allied to their own, have no +consciousness of belonging to a Culturvolk, and in general possess a +nature much more pliable than the Teutonic. + +The Government has recently attempted to accelerate the fusing process +by retracting the privileges granted to the colonists and abolishing +the peculiar administration under which they were placed. These +measures--especially the universal military service--may eventually +diminish the extreme exclusiveness of the Germans; the youths, whilst +serving in the army, will at least learn the Russian language, and may +possibly imbibe something of the Russian spirit. But for the present +this new policy has aroused a strong feeling of hostility and greatly +intensified the spirit of exclusiveness. In the German colonies I have +often overheard complaints about Russian tyranny and uncomplimentary +remarks about the Russian national character. + +The Mennonites consider themselves specially aggrieved by the so-called +reforms. They came to Russia in order to escape military service and +with the distinct understanding that they should be exempted from it, +and now they are forced to act contrary to the religious tenets of their +sect. This is the ground of complaint which they put forward in the +petitions addressed to the Government, but they have at the same time +another, and perhaps more important, objection to the proposed changes. +They feel, as several of them admitted to me, that if the barrier which +separates them from the rest of the population were in any way broken +down, they could no longer preserve that stern Puritanical discipline +which at present constitutes their force. Hence, though the Government +was disposed to make important concessions, hundreds of families sold +their property and emigrated to America. The movement, however, did +not become general. At present the Russian Mennonites number, male and +female, about 50,000, divided into 160 colonies and possessing over +800,000 acres of land. + +It is quite possible that under the new system of administration the +colonists who profess in common with the Russians the Greek Orthodox +faith may be rapidly Russianised; but I am convinced that the +others will long resist assimilation. Greek orthodoxy and Protestant +sectarianism are so radically different in spirit that their respective +votaries are not likely to intermarry; and without intermarriage it is +impossible that the two nationalities should blend. + +As an instance of the ethnological curiosities which the traveller may +stumble upon unawares in this curious region, I may mention a strange +acquaintance I made when travelling on the great plain which stretches +from the Sea of Azof to the Caspian. One day I accidentally noticed on +my travelling-map the name "Shotlandskaya Koldniya" (Scottish Colony) +near the celebrated baths of Piatigorsk. I was at that moment in +Stavropol, a town about eighty miles to the north, and could not +gain any satisfactory information as to what this colony was. Some +well-informed people assured me that it really was what its name +implied, whilst others asserted as confidently that it was simply a +small German settlement. To decide the matter I determined to visit +the place myself, though it did not lie near my intended route, and I +accordingly found myself one morning in the village in question. The +first inhabitants whom I encountered were unmistakably German, and +they professed to know nothing about the existence of Scotsmen in +the locality either at the present or in former times. This was +disappointing, and I was about to turn away and drive off, when a young +man, who proved to be the schoolmaster, came up, and on hearing what I +desired, advised me to consult an old Circassian who lived at the end +of the village and was well acquainted with local antiquities. On +proceeding to the house indicated, I found a venerable old man, with +fine, regular features of the Circassian type, coal-black sparkling +eyes, and a long grey beard that would have done honour to a patriarch. +To him I explained briefly, in Russian, the object of my visit, and +asked whether he knew of any Scotsmen in the district. + +"And why do you wish to know?" he replied, in the same language, fixing +me with his keen, sparkling eyes. + +"Because I am myself a Scotsman, and hoped to find fellow-countrymen +here." + +Let the reader imagine my astonishment when, in reply to this, he +answered, in genuine broad Scotch, "Od, man, I'm a Scotsman tae! My name +is John Abercrombie. Did ye never hear tell o' John Abercrombie, the +famous Edinburgh doctor?" + +I was fairly puzzled by this extraordinary declaration. Dr. +Abercrombie's name was familiar to me as that of a medical practitioner +and writer on psychology, but I knew that he was long since dead. When +I had recovered a little from my surprise, I ventured to remark to the +enigmatical personage before me that, though his tongue was certainly +Scotch, his face was as certainly Circassian. + +"Weel, weel," he replied, evidently enjoying my look of mystification, +"you're no' far wrang. I'm a Circassian Scotsman!" + +This extraordinary admission did not diminish my perplexity, so I +begged my new acquaintance to be a little more explicit, and he at once +complied with my request. His long story may be told in a few words: + +In the first years of the present century a band of Scotch missionaries +came to Russia for the purpose of converting the Circassian tribes, and +received from the Emperor Alexander I. a large grant of land in this +place, which was then on the frontier of the Empire. Here they founded +a mission, and began the work; but they soon discovered that the +surrounding population were not idolaters, but Mussulmans, and +consequently impervious to Christianity. In this difficulty they fell +on the happy idea of buying Circassian children from their parents and +bringing them up as Christians. One of these children, purchased about +the year 1806, was a little boy called Teoona. As he had been purchased +with money subscribed by Dr. Abercrombie, he had received in baptism +that gentleman's name, and he considered himself the foster-son of his +benefactor. Here was the explanation of the mystery. + +Teoona, alias Mr. Abercrombie, was a man of more than average +intelligence. Besides his native tongue, he spoke English, German, +and Russian perfectly; and he assured me that he knew several other +languages equally well. His life had been devoted to missionary work, +and especially to translating and printing the Scriptures. He had +laboured first in Astrakhan, then for four years and a half in +Persia--in the service of the Bale mission--and afterwards for six years +in Siberia. + +The Scottish mission was suppressed by the Emperor Nicholas about the +year 1835, and all the missionaries except two returned home. The son of +one of these two (Galloway) was the only genuine Scotsman remaining at +the time of my visit. Of the "Circassian Scotsmen" there were several, +most of whom had married Germans. The other inhabitants were German +colonists from the province of Saratof, and German was the language +commonly spoken in the village. + +After hearing so much about foreign colonists, Tartar invaders, +and Finnish aborigines, the reader may naturally desire to know the +numerical strength of this foreign element. Unfortunately we have no +accurate data on this subject, but from a careful examination of the +available statistics I am inclined to conclude that it constitutes +about one-sixth of the population of European Russia, including Poland, +Finland, and the Caucasus, and nearly a third of the population of the +Empire as a whole. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AMONG THE HERETICS + + +The Molokanye--My Method of Investigation--Alexandrof-Hai--An Unexpected +Theological Discussion--Doctrines and Ecclesiastical Organisation of +the Molokanye--Moral Supervision and Mutual Assistance--History of the +Sect--A False Prophet--Utilitarian Christianity--Classification of +the Fantastic Sects--The "Khlysti"--Policy of the Government towards +Sectarianism--Two Kinds of Heresy--Probable Future of the Heretical +Sects--Political Disaffection. + + +Whilst travelling on the Steppe I heard a great deal about a peculiar +religious sect called the Molokanye, and I felt interested in them +because their religious belief, whatever it was, seemed to have a +beneficial influence on their material welfare. Of the same race and +placed in the same conditions as the Orthodox peasantry around them, +they were undoubtedly better housed, better clad, more punctual in +the payment of their taxes, and, in a word, more prosperous. All my +informants agreed in describing them as quiet, decent, sober people; +but regarding their religious doctrines the evidence was vague and +contradictory. Some described them as Protestants or Lutherans, whilst +others believed them to be the last remnants of a curious heretical sect +which existed in the early Christian Church. + +Desirous of obtaining clear notions on the subject, I determined to +investigate the matter for myself. At first I found this to be no easy +task. In the villages through which I passed I found numerous members of +the sect, but they all showed a decided repugnance to speak about their +religious beliefs. Long accustomed to extortion and persecution at the +hands of the Administration, and suspecting me to be a secret agent of +the Government, they carefully avoided speaking on any subject beyond +the state of the weather and the prospects of the harvest, and replied +to my questions on other topics as if they had been standing before a +Grand Inquisitor. + +A few unsuccessful attempts convinced me that it would be impossible +to extract from them their religious beliefs by direct questioning. I +adopted, therefore, a different system of tactics. From meagre replies +already received I had discovered that their doctrine had at least a +superficial resemblance to Presbyterianism, and from former experience +I was aware that the curiosity of intelligent Russian peasants is easily +excited by descriptions of foreign countries. On these two facts I +based my plan of campaign. When I found a Molokan, or some one whom I +suspected to be such, I talked for some time about the weather and the +crops, as if I had no ulterior object in view. Having fully discussed +this matter, I led the conversation gradually from the weather and crops +in Russia to the weather and crops in Scotland, and then passed slowly +from Scotch agriculture to the Scotch Presbyterian Church. On nearly +every occasion this policy succeeded. When the peasant heard that +there was a country where the people interpreted the Scriptures for +themselves, had no bishops, and considered the veneration of Icons as +idolatry, he invariably listened with profound attention; and when he +learned further that in that wonderful country the parishes annually +sent deputies to an assembly in which all matters pertaining to the +Church were freely and publicly discussed, he almost always gave free +expression to his astonishment, and I had to answer a whole volley of +questions. "Where is that country?" "Is it to the east, or the west?" +"Is it very far away?" "If our Presbyter could only hear all that!" + +This last expression was precisely what I wanted, because it gave me +an opportunity of making the acquaintance of the Presbyter, or pastor, +without seeming to desire it; and I knew that a conversation with that +personage, who is always an uneducated peasant like the others, but +is generally more intelligent and better acquainted with religious +doctrine, would certainly be of use to me. On more than one occasion I +spent a great part of the night with a Presbyter, and thereby learned +much concerning the religious beliefs and practices of the sect. After +these interviews I was sure to be treated with confidence and respect by +all the Molokanye in the village, and recommended to the brethren of +the faith in the neighbouring villages through which I intended to pass. +Several of the more intelligent peasants with whom I spoke advised me +strongly to visit Alexandrof-Hai, a village situated on the borders of +the Kirghiz Steppe. "We are dark [i.e., ignorant] people here," they +were wont to say, "and do not know anything, but in Alexandrof-Hai you +will find those who know the faith, and they will discuss with you." +This prediction was fulfilled in a somewhat unexpected way. + +When returning some weeks later from a visit to the Kirghiz of the Inner +Horde, I arrived one evening at this centre of the Molokan faith, +and was hospitably received by one of the brotherhood. In conversing +casually with my host on religious subjects I expressed to him a desire +to find some one well read in Holy Writ and well grounded in the faith, +and he promised to do what he could for me in this respect. Next morning +he kept his promise with a vengeance. Immediately after the tea-urn had +been removed the door of the room was opened and twelve peasants were +ushered in! After the customary salutations with these unexpected +visitors, my host informed me to my astonishment that his friends +had come to have a talk with me about the faith; and without further +ceremony he placed before me a folio Bible in the old Slavonic tongue, +in order that I might read passages in support of my arguments. As I was +not at all prepared to open a formal theological discussion, I felt not +a little embarrassed, and I could see that my travelling companions, +two Russian friends who cared for none of these things, were thoroughly +enjoying my discomfiture. There was, however, no possibility of drawing +back. I had asked for an opportunity of having a talk with some of the +brethren, and now I had got it in a way that I certainly did not expect. +My friends withdrew--"leaving me to my fate," as they whispered to +me--and the "talk" began. + +My fate was by no means so terrible as had been anticipated, but at +first the situation was a little awkward. Neither party had any clear +ideas as to what the other desired, and my visitors expected that I +was to begin the proceedings. This expectation was quite natural and +justifiable, for I had inadvertently invited them to meet me, but I +could not make a speech to them, for the best of all reasons--that I +did not know what to say. If I told them my real aims, their suspicions +would probably be aroused. My usual stratagem of the weather and the +crops was wholly inapplicable. For a moment I thought of proposing that +a psalm should be sung as a means of breaking the ice, but I felt that +this would give to the meeting a solemnity which I wished to avoid. On +the whole it seemed best to begin at once a formal discussion. I told +them, therefore, that I had spoken with many of their brethren in +various villages, and that I had found what I considered grave errors +of doctrine. I could not, for instance, agree with them in their belief +that it was unlawful to eat pork. This was perhaps an abrupt way +of entering on the subject, but it furnished at least a locus +standi--something to talk about--and an animated discussion immediately +ensued. My opponents first endeavoured to prove their thesis from the +New Testament, and when this argument broke down they had recourse +to the Pentateuch. From a particular article of the ceremonial law we +passed to the broader question as to how far the ceremonial law is still +binding, and from this to other points equally important. + +If the logic of the peasants was not always unimpeachable, their +knowledge of the Scriptures left nothing to be desired. In support +of their views they quoted long passages from memory, and whenever I +indicated vaguely any text which I needed, they at once supplied it +verbatim, so that the big folio Bible served merely as an ornament. +Three or four of them seemed to know the whole of the New Testament by +heart. The course of our informal debate need not here be described; +suffice it to say that, after four hours of uninterrupted conversation, +we agreed to differ on questions of detail, and parted from each other +without a trace of that ill-feeling which religious discussion commonly +engenders. Never have I met men more honest and courteous in debate, +more earnest in the search after truth, more careless of dialectical +triumphs, than these simple, uneducated muzhiks. If at one or two points +in the discussion a little undue warmth was displayed, I must do my +opponents the justice to say that they were not the offending party. + +This long discussion, as well as numerous discussions which I had +had before and since have had with Molokanye in various parts of the +country, confirmed my first impression that their doctrines have a +strong resemblance to Presbyterianism. There is, however, an important +difference. Presbyterianism has an ecclesiastical organisation and a +written creed, and its doctrines have long since become clearly defined +by means of public discussion, polemical literature, and general +assemblies. The Molokanye, on the contrary, have had no means of +developing their fundamental principles and forming their vague +religious beliefs into a clearly defined logical system. Their theology +is therefore still in a half-fluid state, so that it is impossible to +predict what form it will ultimately assume. "We have not yet thought +about that," I have frequently been told when I inquired about some +abstruse doctrine; "we must talk about it at the meeting next Sunday. +What is your opinion?" Besides this, their fundamental principles allow +great latitude for individual and local differences of opinion. They +hold that Holy Writ is the only rule of faith and conduct, but that it +must be taken in the spiritual, and not in the literal, sense. As there +is no terrestrial authority to which doubtful points can be referred, +each individual is free to adopt the interpretation which commends +itself to his own judgment. This will no doubt ultimately lead to a +variety of sects, and already there is a considerable diversity of +opinion between different communities; but this diversity has not yet +been recognised, and I may say that I nowhere found that fanatically +dogmatic, quibbling spirit which is usually the soul of sectarianism. + +For their ecclesiastical organisation the Molokanye take as their +model the early Apostolic Church, as depicted in the New Testament, and +uncompromisingly reject all later authorities. In accordance with this +model they have no hierarchy and no paid clergy, but choose from among +themselves a Presbyter and two assistants--men well known among +the brethren for their exemplary life and their knowledge of the +Scriptures--whose duty it is to watch over the religious and moral +welfare of the flock. On Sundays they hold meetings in private +houses--they are not allowed to build churches--and spend two or three +hours in psalm singing, prayer, reading the Scriptures, and friendly +conversation on religious subjects. If any one has a doctrinal +difficulty which he desires to have cleared up, he states it to the +congregation, and some of the others give their opinions, with the texts +on which the opinions are founded. If the question seems clearly solved +by the texts, it is decided; if not, it is left open. + +As in many young sects, there exists among the Molokanye a system of +severe moral supervision. If a member has been guilty of drunkenness or +any act unbecoming a Christian, he is first admonished by the Presbyter +in private or before the congregation; and if this does not produce the +desired effect, he is excluded for a longer or shorter period from the +meetings and from all intercourse with the members. In extreme cases +expulsion is resorted to. On the other hand, if any one of the members +happens to be, from no fault of his own, in pecuniary difficulties, +the others will assist him. This system of mutual control and mutual +assistance has no doubt something to do with the fact that the Molokanye +are distinguished from the surrounding population by their sobriety, +uprightness, and material prosperity. + +Of the history of the sect my friends in Alexandrof-Hai could tell me +very little, but I have obtained from other quarters some interesting +information. The founder was a peasant of the province of Tambof called +Uklein, who lived in the reign of Catherine II., and gained his living +as an itinerant tailor. For some time he belonged to the sect of the +Dukhobortsi--who are sometimes called the Russian Quakers, and who have +recently become known in Western Europe through the efforts of Count +Tolstoy on their behalf--but he soon seceded from them, because he could +not admit their doctrine that God dwells in the human soul, and +that consequently the chief source of religious truth is internal +enlightenment. To him it seemed that religious truth was to be found +only in the Scriptures. With this doctrine he soon made many converts, +and one day he unexpectedly entered the town of Tambof, surrounded by +seventy "Apostles" chanting psalms. They were all quickly arrested +and imprisoned, and when the affair was reported to St. Petersburg +the Empress Catherine ordered that they should be handed over to the +ecclesiastical authorities, and that in the event of their proving +obdurate to exhortation they should be tried by the Criminal Courts. +Uklein professed to recant, and was liberated; but he continued his +teaching secretly in the villages, and at the time of his death he was +believed to have no less than five thousand followers. + +As to the actual strength of the sect it is difficult to form even a +conjecture. Certainly it has many thousand members--probably several +hundred thousand. Formerly the Government transported them from the +central provinces to the thinly populated outlying districts, where +they had less opportunity of contaminating Orthodox neighbours; and +accordingly we find them in the southeastern districts of Samara, on the +north coast of the Sea of Azof, in the Crimea, in the Caucasus, and +in Siberia. There are still, however, very many of them in the central +region, especially in the province of Tambof. + +The readiness with which the Molokanye modify their opinions and beliefs +in accordance with what seems to them new light saves them effectually +from bigotry and fanaticism, but it at the same time exposes them to +evils of a different kind, from which they might be preserved by a +few stubborn prejudices. "False prophets arise among us," said an old, +sober-minded member to me on one occasion, "and lead many away from the +faith." + +In 1835, for example, great excitement was produced among them by +rumours that the second advent of Christ was at hand, and that the +Son of Man, coming to judge the world, was about to appear in the New +Jerusalem, somewhere near Mount Ararat. As Elijah and Enoch were to +appear before the opening of the Millennium, they were anxiously +awaited by the faithful, and at last Elijah appeared, in the person of +a Melitopol peasant called Belozvorof, who announced that on a given +day he would ascend into heaven. On the day appointed a great crowd +collected, but he failed to keep his promise, and was handed over to the +police as an impostor by the Molokanye themselves. Unfortunately they +were not always so sensible as on that occasion. In the very next year +many of them were persuaded by a certain Lukian Petrof to put on their +best garments and start for the Promised Land in the Caucasus, where the +Millennium was about to begin. + +Of these false prophets the most remarkable in recent times was a man +who called himself Ivan Grigorief, a mysterious personage who had at one +time a Turkish and at another an American passport, but who seemed in +all other respects a genuine Russian. Some years previously to my visit +he appeared at Alexandrof-Hai. Though he professed himself to be a good +Molokan and was received as such, he enounced at the weekly meetings +many new and startling ideas. At first he simply urged his hearers to +live like the early Christians, and have all things in common. This +seemed sound doctrine to the Molokanye, who profess to take the +early Christians as their model, and some of them thought of at once +abolishing personal property; but when the teacher intimated pretty +plainly that this communism should include free love, a decided +opposition arose, and it was objected that the early Church did not +recommend wholesale adultery and cognate sins. This was a formidable +objection, but "the prophet" was equal to the occasion. He reminded his +friends that in accordance with their own doctrine the Scriptures should +be understood, not in the literal, but in the spiritual, sense--that +Christianity had made men free, and every true Christian ought to use +his freedom. + +This account of the new doctrine was given to me by an intelligent +Molokan, who had formerly been a peasant and was now a trader, as I sat +one evening in his house in Novo-usensk, the chief town of the district +in which Alexandrof-Hai is situated. It seemed to me that the author +of this ingenious attempt to conciliate Christianity with extreme +Utilitarianism must be an educated man in disguise. This conviction I +communicated to my host, but he did not agree with me. + +"No, I think not," he replied; "in fact, I am sure he is a peasant, +and I strongly suspect he was at some time a soldier. He has not much +learning, but he has a wonderful gift of talking; never have I heard any +one speak like him. He would have talked over the whole village, had it +not been for an old man who was more than a match for him. And then +he went to Orloff-Hai and there he did talk the people over." What he +really did in this latter place I never could clearly ascertain. Report +said that he founded a communistic association, of which he was himself +president and treasurer, and converted the members to an extraordinary +theory of prophetic succession, invented apparently for his own sensual +gratification. For further information my host advised me to apply +either to the prophet himself, who was at that time confined in the +gaol on a charge of using a forged passport, or to one of his friends, a +certain Mr. I----, who lived in the town. As it was a difficult +matter to gain admittance to the prisoner, and I had little time at my +disposal, I adopted the latter alternative. + +Mr. I---- was himself a somewhat curious character. He had been a +student in Moscow, and in consequence of some youthful indiscretions +during the University disturbances had been exiled to this place. +After waiting in vain some years for a release, he gave up the idea of +entering one of the learned professions, married a peasant girl, rented +a piece of land, bought a pair of camels, and settled down as a small +farmer.* He had a great deal to tell about the prophet. + + * Here for the first time I saw camels used for agricultural + purposes. When yoked to a small four-wheeled cart, the + "ships of the desert" seemed decidedly out of place. + +Grigorief, it seemed, was really simply a Russian peasant, but he had +been from his youth upwards one of those restless people who can never +long work in harness. Where his native place was, and why he left it, +he never divulged, for reasons best known to himself. He had travelled +much, and had been an attentive observer. Whether he had ever been +in America was doubtful, but he had certainly been in Turkey, and had +fraternised with various Russian sectarians, who are to be found in +considerable numbers near the Danube. Here, probably, he acquired many +of his peculiar religious ideas, and conceived his grand scheme of +founding a new religion--of rivalling the Founder of Christianity! He +aimed at nothing less than this, as he on one occasion confessed, and +he did not see why he should not be successful. He believed that +the Founder of Christianity had been simply a man like himself, +who understood better than others the people around him and the +circumstances of the time, and he was convinced that he himself had +these qualifications. One qualification, however, for becoming a prophet +he certainly did not possess: he had no genuine religious enthusiasm in +him--nothing of the martyr spirit about him. Much of his own preaching +he did not himself believe, and he had a secret contempt for those who +naively accepted it all. Not only was he cunning, but he knew he was +cunning, and he was conscious that he was playing an assumed part. And +yet perhaps it would be unjust to say that he was merely an impostor +exclusively occupied with his own personal advantage. Though he was +naturally a man of sensual tastes, and could not resist convenient +opportunities of gratifying them, he seemed to believe that his +communistic schemes would, if realised, be beneficial not only to +himself, but also to the people. Altogether a curious mixture of the +prophet, the social reformer, and the cunning impostor! + +Besides the Molokanye, there are in Russia many other heretical sects. +Some of them are simply Evangelical Protestants, like the Stundisti, who +have adopted the religious conceptions of their neighbours, the German +colonists; whilst others are composed of wild enthusiasts, who give a +loose rein to their excited imagination, and revel in what the Germans +aptly term "der hohere Blodsinn." I cannot here attempt to convey even +a general idea of these fantastic sects with their doctrinal and +ceremonial absurdities, but I may offer the following classification of +them for the benefit of those who may desire to study the subject: + +1. Sects which take the Scriptures as the basis of their belief, but +interpret and complete the doctrines therein contained by means of +the occasional inspiration or internal enlightenment of their leading +members. + +2. Sects which reject interpretation and insist on certain passages of +Scripture being taken in the literal sense. In one of the best known +of these sects--the Skoptsi, or Eunuchs--fanaticism has led to physical +mutilation. + +3. Sects which pay little or no attention to Scripture, and derive their +doctrine from the supposed inspiration of their living teachers. + +4. Sects which believe in the re-incarnation of Christ. + +5. Sects which confound religion with nervous excitement, and are +more or less erotic in their character. The excitement necessary for +prophesying is commonly produced by dancing, jumping, pirouetting, or +self-castigation; and the absurdities spoken at such times are regarded +as the direct expression of divine wisdom. The religious exercises +resemble more or less closely those of the "dancing dervishes" and +"howling dervishes's" with which all who have visited Constantinople are +familiar. There is, however, one important difference: the dervishes +practice their religious exercises in public, and consequently observe a +certain decorum, whilst these Russian sects assemble in secret, and give +free scope to their excitement, so that most disgusting orgies sometimes +take place at their meetings. + +To illustrate the general character of the sects belonging to this last +category, I may quote here a short extract from a description of the +"Khlysti" by one who was initiated into their mysteries: "Among them +men and women alike take upon themselves the calling of teachers and +prophets, and in this character they lead a strict, ascetic life, +refrain from the most ordinary and innocent pleasures, exhaust +themselves by long fasting and wild, ecstatic religious exercises, and +abhor marriage. Under the excitement caused by their supposed holiness +and inspiration, they call themselves not only teachers and prophets, +but also 'Saviours,' 'Redeemers,' 'Christs,' 'Mothers of God.' Generally +speaking, they call themselves simply Gods, and pray to each other as to +real Gods and living Christs or Madonnas. When several of these teachers +come together at a meeting, they dispute with each other in a vain +boasting way as to which of them possesses most grace and power. In this +rivalry they sometimes give each other lusty blows on the ear, and +he who bears the blows most patiently, turning the other cheek to the +smiter, acquires the reputation of having most holiness." + +Another sect belonging to this category is the Jumpers, among whom the +erotic element is disagreeably prominent. Here is a description of their +religious meetings, which are held during summer in the forest, and +during winter in some out-house or barn: "After due preparation prayers +are read by the chief teacher, dressed in a white robe and standing in +the midst of the congregation. At first he reads in an ordinary tone +of voice, and then passes gradually into a merry chant. When he remarks +that the chanting has sufficiently acted on the hearers, he begins +to jump. The hearers, singing likewise, follow his example. Their +ever-increasing excitement finds expression in the highest possible +jumps. This they continue as long as they can--men and women alike +yelling like enraged savages. When all are thoroughly exhausted, the +leader declares that he hears the angels singing"--and then begins a +scene which cannot be here described. + +It is but fair to add that we know very little of these peculiar sects, +and what we do know is furnished by avowed enemies. It is very possible, +therefore, that some of them are not nearly so absurd as they are +commonly represented, and that many of the stories told are mere +calumnies. + +The Government is very hostile to sectarianism, and occasionally +endeavours to suppress it. This is natural enough as regards these +fantastic sects, but it seems strange that the peaceful, industrious, +honest Molokanye and Stundisti should be put under the ban. Why is it +that a Russian peasant should be punished for holding doctrines which +are openly professed, with the sanction of the authorities, by his +neighbours, the German colonists? + +To understand this the reader must know that according to Russian +conceptions there are two distinct kinds of heresy, distinguished from +each other, not by the doctrines held, but by the nationality of the +holder, it seems to a Russian in the nature of things that Tartars +should be Mahometans, that Poles should be Roman Catholics, and that +Germans should be Protestants; and the mere act of becoming a Russian +subject is not supposed to lay the Tartar, the Pole, or the German under +any obligation to change his faith. These nationalities are therefore +allowed the most perfect freedom in the exercise of their respective +religions, so long as they refrain from disturbing by propagandism the +divinely established order of things. + +This is the received theory, and we must do the Russians the justice to +say that they habitually act up to it. If the Government has sometimes +attempted to convert alien races, the motive has always been political, +and the efforts have never awakened much sympathy among the people at +large, or even among the clergy. In like manner the missionary societies +which have sometimes been formed in imitation of the Western nations +have never received much popular support. Thus with regard to aliens +this peculiar theory has led to very extensive religious toleration. +With regard to the Russians themselves the theory has had a very +different effect. If in the nature of things the Tartar is a Mahometan, +the Pole a Roman Catholic, and the German a Protestant, it is equally in +the nature of things that the Russian should be a member of the Orthodox +Church. On this point the written law and public opinion are in perfect +accord. If an Orthodox Russian becomes a Roman Catholic or a Protestant, +he is amenable to the criminal law, and is at the same time condemned by +public opinion as an apostate and renegade--almost as a traitor. + +As to the future of these heretical sects it is impossible to speak +with confidence. The more gross and fantastic will probably disappear +as primary education spreads among the people; but the Protestant sects +seem to possess much more vitality. For the present, at least, they are +rapidly spreading. I have seen large villages where, according to the +testimony of the inhabitants, there was not a single heretic fifteen +years before, and where one-half of the population had already become +Molokanye; and this change, be it remarked, had taken place without any +propagandist organisation. The civil and ecclesiastical authorities were +well aware of the existence of the movement, but they were powerless +to prevent it. The few efforts which they made were without effect, or +worse than useless. Among the Stundisti corporal punishment was tried as +an antidote--without the concurrence, it is to be hoped, of the central +authorities--and to the Molokanye of the province of Samara a learned +monk was sent in the hope of converting them from their errors by +reason and eloquence. What effect the birch-twigs had on the religious +convictions of the Stundisti I have not been able to ascertain, but I +assume that they were not very efficacious, for according to the latest +accounts the numbers of the sect are increasing. Of the mission in the +province of Samara I happen to know more, and can state on the evidence +of many peasants--some of them Orthodox--that the only immediate effect +was to stir up religious fanaticism, and to induce a certain number of +Orthodox to go over to the heretical camp. + +In their public discussions the disputants could find no common +ground on which to argue, for the simple reason that their fundamental +conceptions were different. The monk spoke of the Church as the +terrestrial representative of Christ and the sole possessor of truth, +whilst his opponents knew nothing of a Church in this sense, and held +simply that all men should live in accordance with the dictates of +Scripture. Once the monk consented to argue with them on their own +ground, and on that occasion he sustained a signal defeat, for he could +not produce a single passage recommending the veneration of Icons--a +practice which the Russian peasants consider an essential part of +Orthodoxy. After this he always insisted on the authority of the early +Ecumenical Councils and the Fathers of the Church--an authority which +his antagonists did not recognise. Altogether the mission was a complete +failure, and all parties regretted that it had been undertaken. "It was +a great mistake," remarked to me confidentially an Orthodox peasant; "a +very great mistake. The Molokanye are a cunning people. The monk was +no match for them; they knew the Scriptures a great deal better than he +did. The Church should not condescend to discuss with heretics." + +It is often said that these heretical sects are politically disaffected, +and the Molokanye are thought to be specially dangerous in this respect. +Perhaps there is a certain foundation for this opinion, for men +are naturally disposed to doubt the legitimacy of a power that +systematically persecutes them. With regard to the Molokanye, I believe +the accusation to be a groundless calumny. Political ideas seemed +entirely foreign to their modes of thought. During my intercourse with +them I often heard them refer to the police as "wolves which have to +be fed," but I never heard them speak of the Emperor otherwise than in +terms of filial affection and veneration. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE DISSENTERS + + +Dissenters not to be Confounded with Heretics--Extreme Importance +Attached to Ritual Observances--The Raskol, or Great Schism in the +Seventeenth Century--Antichrist Appears!--Policy of Peter the Great +and Catherine II.--Present Ingenious Method of Securing Religious +Toleration--Internal Development of the Raskol--Schism among the +Schismatics--The Old Ritualists--The Priestless People--Cooling of the +Fanatical Enthusiasm and Formation of New Sects--Recent Policy of +the Government towards the Sectarians--Numerical Force and Political +Significance of Sectarianism. + + +We must be careful not to confound those heretical sects, Protestant and +fantastical, of which I have spoken in the preceding chapter, with the +more numerous Dissenters or Schismatics, the descendants of those who +seceded from the Russian Church--or more correctly from whom the Russian +Church seceded--in the seventeenth century. So far from regarding +themselves as heretics, these latter consider themselves more orthodox +than the official Orthodox Church. They are conservatives, too, in the +social as well as the religious sense of the term. Among them are to +be found the last remnants of old Russian life, untinged by foreign +influences. + +The Russian Church, as I have already had occasion to remark, has +always paid inordinate attention to ceremonial observances and somewhat +neglected the doctrinal and moral elements of the faith which it +professes. This peculiarity greatly facilitated the spread of its +influence among a people accustomed to pagan rites and magical +incantations, but it had the pernicious effect of confirming in the new +converts their superstitious belief in the virtue of mere ceremonies. +Thus the Russians became zealous Christians in all matters of external +observance, without knowing much about the spiritual meaning of the +rites which they practised. They looked upon the rites and sacraments +as mysterious charms which preserved them from evil influences in the +present life and secured them eternal felicity in the life to come, and +they believed that these charms would inevitably lose their efficacy +if modified in the slightest degree. Extreme importance was therefore +attached to the ritual minutiae, and the slightest modification of these +minutiae assumed the importance of an historical event. In the year +1476, for instance, the Novgorodian Chronicler gravely relates: + +"This winter some philosophers (!) began to sing, 'O Lord, have mercy,' +and others merely, 'Lord, have mercy.'" And this attaching of enormous +importance to trifles was not confined to the ignorant multitude. An +Archbishop of Novgorod declared solemnly that those who repeat the word +"Alleluia" only twice at certain points in the liturgy "sing to their +own damnation," and a celebrated Ecclesiastical Council, held in 1551, +put such matters as the position of the fingers when making the sign of +the cross on the same level as heresies--formally anathematising those +who acted in such trifles contrary to its decisions. + +This conservative spirit in religious concerns had a considerable +influence on social life. As there was no clear line of demarcation +between religious observances and simple traditional customs, the most +ordinary act might receive a religious significance, and the slightest +departure from a traditional custom might be looked upon as a deadly +sin. A Russian of the olden time would have resisted the attempt to +deprive him of his beard as strenuously as a Calvinist of the present +day would resist the attempt to make him abjure the doctrine of +Predestination--and both for the same reason. As the doctrine of +Predestination is for the Calvinist, so the wearing of a beard was for +the old Russian--an essential of salvation. "Where," asked one of the +Patriarchs of Moscow, "will those who shave their chins stand at +the Last Day?--among the righteous adorned with beards, or among the +beardless heretics?" The question required no answer. + +In the seventeenth century this superstitious, conservative spirit +reached its climax. The civil wars and foreign invasions, accompanied by +pillage, famine, and plagues with which that century opened, produced +a wide-spread conviction that the end of all things was at hand. The +mysterious number of the Beast was found to indicate the year 1666, and +timid souls began to discover signs of that falling away from the Faith +which is spoken of in the Apocalypse. The majority of the people did not +perhaps share this notion, but they believed that the sufferings with +which they had been visited were a Divine punishment for having forsaken +the ancient customs. And it could not be denied that considerable +changes had taken place. Orthodox Russia was now tainted with the +presence of heretics. Foreigners who shaved their chins and smoked the +accursed weed had been allowed to settle in Moscow, and the Tsars not +only held converse with them, but had even adopted some of their "pagan" +practises. Besides this, the Government had introduced innovations and +reforms, many of which were displeasing to the people. In short, the +country was polluted with "heresy"--a subtle, evil influence lurking +in everything foreign, and very dangerous to the spiritual and temporal +welfare of the Faithful--something of the nature of an epidemic, but +infinitely more dangerous; for disease kills merely the body, whereas +"heresy" kills the soul, and causes both soul and body to be cast into +hell-fire. + +Had the Government introduced the innovations slowly and cautiously, +respecting as far as possible all outward forms, it might have effected +much without producing a religious panic; but, instead of acting +circumspectly as the occasion demanded, it ran full-tilt against the +ancient prejudices and superstitious fears, and drove the people into +open resistance. When the art of printing was introduced, it became +necessary to choose the best texts of the Liturgy, Psalter, and other +religious books, and on examination it was found that, through the +ignorance and carelessness of copyists, numerous errors had crept into +the manuscripts in use. This discovery led to further investigation, +which showed that certain irregularities had likewise crept into the +ceremonial. The chief of the clerical errors lay in the orthography of +the word "Jesus," and the chief irregularity in the ceremonial regarded +the position of the fingers when making the sign of the cross. + +To correct these errors the celebrated Nikon, who was Patriarch in the +time of Tsar Alexis, father of Peter the Great, ordered all the old +liturgical books and the old Icons to be called in, and new ones to be +distributed; but the clergy and the people resisted. Believing these +"Nikonian novelties" to be heretical, they clung to their old Icons, +their old missals and their old religious customs as the sole anchors of +safety which could save the Faithful from drifting to perdition. In vain +the Patriarch assured the people that the change was a return to the +ancient forms still preserved in Greece and Constantinople. "The Greek +Church," it was replied, "is no longer free from heresy. Orthodoxy has +become many-coloured from the violence of the Turkish Mahomet; and +the Greeks, under the sons of Hagar, have fallen away from the ancient +traditions." + +An anathema, formally pronounced by an Ecclesiastical Council against +these Nonconformists, had no more effect than the admonitions of the +Patriarch. They persevered in their obstinacy, and refused to believe +that the blessed saints and holy martyrs who had used the ancient forms +had not prayed and crossed themselves aright. "Not those holy men of +old, but the present Patriarch and his counsellors must be heretics." +"Woe to us! Woe to us!" cried the monks of Solovetsk when they received +the new Liturgies. "What have you done with the Son of God? Give him +back to us! You have changed Isus [the old Russian form of Jesus] into +Iisus! It is fearful not only to commit such a sin, but even to think +of it!" And the sturdy monks shut their gates, and defied Patriarch, +Council, and Tsar for seven long years, till the monastery was taken by +an armed force. + +The decree of excommunication pronounced by the Ecclesiastical Council +placed the Nonconformists beyond the pale of the Church, and the civil +power undertook the task of persecuting them. Persecution had of course +merely the effect of confirming the victims in their belief that the +Church and the Tsar had become heretical. Thousands fled across the +frontier and settled in the neighbouring countries--Poland, Russia, +Sweden, Austria, Turkey, the Caucasus, and Siberia. Others concealed +themselves in the northern forests and the densely wooded region near +the Polish frontier, where they lived by agriculture or fishing, and +prayed, crossed themselves and buried their dead according to the +customs of their forefathers. The northern forests were their favourite +place of refuge. Hither flocked many of those who wished to keep +themselves pure and undefiled. Here the more learned men among the +Nonconformists--well acquainted with Holy Writ, with fragmentary +translations from the Greek Fathers, and with the more important +decisions of the early Ecumenical Councils--wrote polemical and edifying +works for the confounding of heretics and the confirming of true +believers. Hence were sent out in all directions zealous missionaries, +in the guise of traders, peddlers, and labourers, to sow what they +called the living seed, and what the official Church termed "Satan's +tares." When the Government agents discovered these retreats, the +inmates generally fled from the "ravenous wolves"; but on more than one +occasion a large number of fanatical men and women, shutting themselves +up, set fire to their houses, and voluntarily perished in the flames. +In Paleostrofski Monastery, for instance, in the year 1687, no less +than 2,700 fanatics gained the crown of martyrdom in this way; and many +similar instances are on record.* As in all periods of religious panic, +the Apocalypse was carefully studied, and the Millennial ideas rapidly +spread. The signs of the time were plain: Satan was being let loose +for a little season. Men anxiously looked for the reappearance of +Antichrist--and Antichrist appeared! + + * A list of well-authenticated cases is given by Nilski, + "Semeinaya zhizn v russkom Raskole," St. Petersburg, 1869; + part I., pp. 55-57. The number of these self-immolators + certainly amounted to many thousands. + +The man in whom the people recognised the incarnate spirit of evil was +no other than Peter the Great. + +From the Nonconformist point of view, Peter had very strong claims to be +considered Antichrist. He had none of the staid, pious demeanour of the +old Tsars, and showed no respect for many things which were venerated +by the people. He ate, drank, and habitually associated with heretics, +spoke their language, wore their costume, chose from among them his most +intimate friends, and favoured them more than his own people. Imagine +the horror and commotion which would be produced among pious Catholics +if the Pope should some day appear in the costume of the Grand Turk, and +should choose Pashas as his chief counsellors! The horror which Peter's +conduct produced among a large section of his subjects was not less +great. They could not explain it otherwise than by supposing him to +be the Devil in disguise, and they saw in all his important measures +convincing proofs of his Satanic origin. The newly invented census, or +"revision," was a profane "numbering of the people," and an attempt to +enrol in the service of Beëlzebub those whose names were written in the +Lamb's Book of Life. The new title of Imperator was explained to mean +something very diabolical. The passport bearing the Imperial arms was +the seal of Antichrist. The order to shave the beard was an attempt to +disfigure "the image of God," after which man had been created, and by +which Christ would recognise His own at the Last Day. The change in +the calendar, by which New Year's Day was transferred from September +to January, was the destruction of "the years of our Lord," and the +introduction of the years of Satan in their place. Of the ingenious +arguments by which these theses were supported, I may quote one by +way of illustration. The world, it was explained, could not have been +created in January as the new calendar seemed to indicate, because +apples are not ripe at that season, and consequently Eve could not have +been tempted in the way described!* + + * I found this ingenious argument in one of the polemical + treatises of the Old Believers. + +These ideas regarding Peter and his reforms were strongly confirmed by +the vigorous persecutions which took place during the earlier years of +his reign. The Nonconformists were constantly convicted of political +disaffection--especially of "insulting the Imperial Majesty"--and were +accordingly flogged, tortured, and beheaded without mercy. But when +Peter had succeeded in putting down all armed opposition, and found that +the movement was no longer dangerous for the throne, he adopted a policy +more in accordance with his personal character. Whether he had himself +any religious belief whatever may be doubted; certainly he had not a +spark of religious fanaticism in his nature. Exclusively occupied with +secular concerns, he took no interest in subtle questions of religious +ceremonial, and was profoundly indifferent as to how his subjects prayed +and crossed themselves, provided they obeyed his orders in worldly +matters and paid their taxes regularly. As soon, therefore, as political +considerations admitted of clemency, he stopped the persecutions, and +at last, in 1714, issued ukazes to the effect that all Dissenters might +live unmolested, provided they inscribed themselves in the official +registers and paid a double poll-tax. Somewhat later they were allowed +to practise freely all their old rites and customs, on condition of +paying certain fines. + +With the accession of Catherine II., "the friend of philosophers," the +Raskol,* as the schism had come to be called, entered on a new phase. +Penetrated with the ideas of religious toleration then in fashion +in Western Europe, Catherine abolished the disabilities to which the +Raskolniks were subjected, and invited those of them who had fled +across the frontier to return to their homes. Thousands accepted the +invitation, and many who had hitherto sought to conceal themselves from +the eyes of the authorities became rich and respected merchants. The +peculiar semi-monastic religious communities, which had up till that +time existed only in the forests of the northern and western provinces, +began to appear in Moscow, and were officially recognised by the +Administration. At first they took the form of hospitals for the +sick, or asylums for the aged and infirm, but soon they became regular +monasteries, the superiors of which exercised an undefined spiritual +authority not only over the inmates, but also over the members of the +sect throughout the length and breadth of the Empire. + + * The term is derived from two Russian words--ras, asunder; + and kolot, to split. Those who belong to the Raskol are + called Raskolniki. They call themselves Staro-obriadtsi + (Old Ritualists) or Staroveri (Old Believers). + +From that time down to the present the Government has followed a +wavering policy, oscillating between complete tolerance and active +persecution. It must, however, be said that the persecution has +never been of a very searching kind. In persecution, as in all other +manifestations, the Russian Church directs its attention chiefly +to external forms. It does not seek to ferret out heresy in a man's +opinions, but complacently accepts as Orthodox all who annually +appear at confession and communion, and who refrain from acts of open +hostility. Those who can make these concessions to convenience are +practically free from molestation, and those who cannot so trifle +with their conscience have an equally convenient method of escaping +persecution. The parish clergy, with their customary indifference +to things spiritual and their traditional habit of regarding their +functions from the financial point of view, are hostile to sectarianism +chiefly because it diminishes their revenues by diminishing the number +of parishioners requiring their ministrations. This cause of hostility +can easily be removed by a certain pecuniary sacrifice on the part of +the sectarians, and accordingly there generally exists between them +and their parish priest a tacit contract, by which both parties are +perfectly satisfied. The priest receives his income as if all his +parishioners belonged to the State Church, and the parishioners are +left in peace to believe and practise what they please. By this rude, +convenient method a very large amount of toleration is effectually +secured. Whether the practise has a beneficial moral influence on the +parish clergy is, of course, an entirely different question. + +When the priest has been satisfied, there still remains the police, +which likewise levies an irregular tax on heterodoxy; but the +negotiations are generally not difficult, for it is in the interest of +both parties that they should come to terms and live in good-fellowship. +Thus practically the Raskolniki live in the same condition as in the +time of Peter: they pay a tax and are not molested--only the money paid +does not now find its way into the Imperial Exchequer. + +These external changes in the history of the Raskol have exercised a +powerful influence on its internal development. + +When formally anathematised and excluded from the dominant Church the +Nonconformists had neither a definite organisation nor a positive creed. +The only tie that bound them together was hostility to the "Nikonian +novelties," and all they desired was to preserve intact the beliefs and +customs of their forefathers. At first they never thought of creating +any permanent organisation. The more moderate believed that the Tsar +would soon re-establish Orthodoxy, and the more fanatical imagined that +the end of all things was at hand.* In either case they had only to +suffer for a little season, keeping themselves free from the taint of +heresy and from all contact with the kingdom of Antichrist. + + * Some had coffins made, and lay down in them at night, in + the expectation that the Second Advent might take place + before the morning. + +But years passed, and neither of these expectations was fulfilled. The +fanatics awaited in vain the sound of the last trump and the appearance +of Christ, coming with His angels to judge the world. The sun continued +to rise, and the seasons followed each other in their accustomed course, +but the end was not yet. Nor did the civil power return to the old +faith. Nikon fell a victim to Court intrigues and his own overweening +pride, and was formally deposed. Tsar Alexis in the fulness of time was +gathered unto his fathers. But there was no sign of a re-establishment +of the old Orthodoxy. Gradually the leading Raskolniki perceived that +they must make preparations, not for the Day of Judgment, but for +a terrestrial future--that they must create some permanent form of +ecclesiastical organisation. In this work they encountered at the very +outset not only practical, but also theoretical difficulties. + +So long as they confined themselves simply to resisting the official +innovations, they seemed to be unanimous; but when they were forced to +abandon this negative policy and to determine theoretically their new +position, radical differences of opinion became apparent. All were +convinced that the official Russian Church had become heretical, and +that it had now Antichrist instead of Christ as its head; but it was not +easy to determine what should be done by those who refused to bow the +knee to the Son of Destruction. According to Protestant conceptions +there was a very simple solution of the difficulty: the Nonconformists +had simply to create a new Church for themselves, and worship God in +the way that seemed good to them. But to the Russians of that time such +notions were still more repulsive than the innovations of Nikon. These +men were Orthodox to the backbone--"plus royalistes que le roi"--and +according to Orthodox conceptions the founding of a new Church is an +absurdity. They believed that if the chain of historic continuity were +once broken, the Church must necessarily cease to exist, in the same way +as an ancient family becomes extinct when its sole representative dies +without issue. If, therefore, the Church had already ceased to exist, +there was no longer any means of communication between Christ and His +people, the sacraments were no longer efficacious, and mankind was +forever deprived of the ordinary means of grace. + +Now, on this important point there was a difference of opinion among +the Dissenters. Some of them believed that, though the ecclesiastical +authorities had become heretical, the Church still existed in the +communion of those who had refused to accept the innovations. Others +declared boldly that the Orthodox Church had ceased to exist, that +the ancient means of grace had been withdrawn, and that those who +had remained faithful must thenceforth seek salvation, not in the +sacraments, but in prayer and such other religious exercises as did not +require the co-operation of duly consecrated priests. Thus took place a +schism among the Schismatics. The one party retained all the sacraments +and ceremonial observances in the older form; the other refrained from +the sacraments and from many of the ordinary rites, on the ground +that there was no longer a real priesthood, and that consequently +the sacraments could not be efficacious. The former party are +termed Staro-obriadsti, or Old Ritualists; the latter are called +Bezpopoftsi--that is to say, people "without priests" (bez popov). + +The succeeding history of these two sections of the Nonconformists has +been widely different. The Old Ritualists, being simply ecclesiastical +Conservatives desirous of resisting all innovations, have remained a +compact body little troubled by differences of opinion. The Priestless +People, on the contrary, ever seeking to discover some new effectual +means of salvation, have fallen into an endless number of independent +sects. + +The Old Ritualists had still, however, one important theoretical +difficulty. At first they had amongst themselves plenty of consecrated +priests for the celebration of the ordinances, but they had no means +of renewing the supply. They had no bishops, and according to Orthodox +belief the lower degrees of the clergy cannot be created without +episcopal consecration. At the time of the schism one bishop had thrown +in his lot with the Schismatics, but he had died shortly afterwards +without leaving a successor, and thereafter no bishop had joined their +ranks. As time wore on, the necessity of episcopal consecration came to +be more and more felt, and it is not a little interesting to observe +how these rigorists, who held to the letter of the law and declared +themselves ready to die for a jot or a tittle, modified their theory +in accordance with the changing exigencies of their position. When the +priests who had kept themselves "pure and undefiled"--free from all +contact with Antichrist--became scarce, it was discovered that certain +priests of the dominant Church might be accepted if they formally +abjured the Nikonian novelties. At first, however, only those who had +been consecrated previous to the supposed apostasy of the Church were +accepted, for the very good reason that consecration by bishops who had +become heretical could not be efficacious. When these could no longer be +obtained it was discovered that those who had been baptised previous to +the apostasy might be accepted; and when even these could no longer +be found, a still further concession was made to necessity, and all +consecrated priests were received on condition of their solemnly +abjuring their errors. Of such priests there was always an abundant +supply. If a regular priest could not find a parish, or if he was +deposed by the authorities for some crime or misdemeanour, he had merely +to pass over to the Old Ritualists, and was sure to find among them a +hearty welcome and a tolerable salary. + +By these concessions the indefinite prolongation of Old Ritualism was +secured, but many of the Old Ritualists could not but feel that their +position was, to say the least, extremely anomalous. They had no bishops +of their own, and their priests were all consecrated by bishops whom +they believed to be heretical! For many years they hoped to escape +from this dilemma by discovering "Orthodox"--that is to say, Old +Ritualist--bishops somewhere in the East; but when the East had been +searched in vain, and all their efforts to obtain native bishops proved +fruitless, they conceived the design of creating a bishopric somewhere +beyond the frontier, among the Old Ritualists who had in times of +persecution fled to Prussia, Austria, and Turkey. There were, however, +immense difficulties in the way. In the first place it was necessary +to obtain the formal permission of some foreign Government; and in the +second place an Orthodox bishop must be found, willing to consecrate an +Old Ritualist or to become an Old Ritualist himself. Again and again +the attempt was made, and failed; but at last, after years of effort and +intrigue, the design was realised. In 1844 the Austrian Government gave +permission to found a bishopric at Belaya Krinitsa, in Galicia, a +few miles from the Russian frontier; and two years later the deposed +Metropolitan of Bosnia consented, after much hesitation, to pass over to +the Old Ritualist confession and accept the diocese.* From that time the +Old Ritualists have had their own bishops, and have not been obliged to +accept the runaway priests of the official Church. + + * An interesting account of these negotiations, and a most + curious picture of the Orthodox ecclesiastical world in + Constantinople, is given by Subbotiny, "Istoria + Belokrinitskoi Ierarkhii," Moscow, 1874. + +The Old Ritualists were naturally much grieved by the schism, and +were often sorely tried by persecution, but they have always enjoyed a +certain spiritual tranquillity, proceeding from the conviction that they +have preserved for themselves the means of salvation. The position of +the more extreme section of the Schismatics was much more tragical. They +believed that the sacraments had irretrievably lost their efficacy, that +the ordinary means of salvation were forever withdrawn, that the powers +of darkness had been let loose for a little season, that the authorities +were the agents of Satan, and that the personage who filled the place +of the old God-fearing Tsars was no other than Antichrist. Under the +influence of these horrible ideas they fled to the woods and the caves +to escape from the rage of the Beast, and to await the second coming of +Our Lord. + +This state of things could not continue permanently. Extreme religious +fanaticism, like all other abnormal states, cannot long exist in a +mass of human beings without some constant exciting cause. The vulgar +necessities of everyday life, especially among people who have to live +by the labour of their hands, have a wonderfully sobering influence +on the excited brain, and must always, sooner or later, prove fatal to +inordinate excitement. A few peculiarly constituted individuals may show +themselves capable of a lifelong enthusiasm, but the multitude is ever +spasmodic in its fervour, and begins to slide back to its former apathy +as soon as the exciting cause ceases to act. + +All this we find exemplified in the history of the Priestless People. +When it was found that the world did not come to an end, and that the +rigorous system of persecution was relaxed, the less excitable natures +returned to their homes, and resumed their old mode of life; and when +Peter the Great made his politic concessions, many who had declared him +to be Antichrist came to suspect that he was really not so black as he +was painted. This idea struck deep root in a religious community near +Lake Onega (Vuigovski Skit) which had received special privileges on +condition of supplying labourers for the neighbouring mines; and here +was developed a new theory which opened up a way of reconciliation with +the Government. By a more attentive study of Holy Writ and ancient books +it was discovered that the reign of Antichrist would consist of two +periods. In the former, the Son of Destruction would reign merely in +the spiritual sense, and the Faithful would not be much molested; in the +latter, he would reign visibly in the flesh, and true believers would be +subjected to the most frightful persecution. The second period, it was +held, had evidently not yet arrived, for the Faithful now enjoyed "a +time of freedom, and not of compulsion or oppression." Whether this +theory is strictly in accordance with Apocalyptic prophecy and patristic +theology may be doubted, but it fully satisfied those who had already +arrived at the conclusion by a different road, and who sought merely +a means of justifying their position. Certain it is that very many +accepted it, and determined to render unto Caesar the things that were +Caesar's, or, in secular language, to pray for the Tsar and to pay their +taxes. + +This ingenious compromise was not accepted by all the Priestless People. +On the contrary, many of them regarded it as a woeful backsliding--a new +device of the Evil One; and among these irreconcilables was a certain +peasant called Theodosi, a man of little education, but of remarkable +intellectual power and unusual strength of character. He raised anew +the old fanaticism by his preaching and writings--widely circulated in +manuscript--and succeeded in founding a new sect in the forest region +near the Polish frontier. + +The Priestless Nonconformists thus fell into two sections; the one, +called Pomortsi,* accepted at least a partial reconciliation with the +civil power; the other, called Theodosians, after their founder, held +to the old opinions, and refused to regard the Tsar otherwise than as +Antichrist. + + *The word Pomortsi means "those who live near the seashore." + It is commonly applied to the inhabitants of the Northern + provinces--that is, those who live near the shore of the + White Sea, the only maritime frontier that Russia possessed + previous to the conquests of Peter the Great. + +These latter were at first very wild in their fanaticism, but ere long +they gave way to the influences which had softened the fanaticism of the +Pomortsi. Under the liberal, conciliatory rule of Catherine they lived +in contentment, and many of them enriched themselves by trade. Their +fanatical zeal and exclusiveness evaporated under the influence +of material well-being and constant contact with the outer world, +especially after they were allowed to build a monastery in Moscow. +The Superior of this monastery, a man of much shrewdness and enormous +wealth, succeeded in gaining the favour not only of the lower officials, +who could be easily bought, but even of high-placed dignitaries, and for +many years he exercised a very real, if undefined, authority over all +sections of the Priestless People. "His fame," it is said, "sounded +throughout Moscow, and the echoes were heard in Petropol (St. +Petersburg), Riga, Astrakhan, Nizhni-Novgorod, and other lands +of piety"; and when deputies came to consult him, they prostrated +themselves in his presence, as before the great ones of the earth. +Living thus not only in peace and plenty, but even in honour and luxury, +"the proud Patriarch of the Theodosian Church" could not consistently +fulminate against "the ravenous wolves" with whom he was on friendly +terms, or excite the fanaticism of his followers by highly coloured +descriptions of "the awful sufferings and persecution of God's people +in these latter days," as the founder of the sect had been wont to do. +Though he could not openly abandon any fundamental doctrines, he allowed +the ideas about the reign of Antichrist to fall into the background, +and taught by example, if not by precept, that the Faithful might, by +prudent concessions, live very comfortably in this present evil world. +This seed fell upon soil already prepared for its reception. The +Faithful gradually forgot their old savage fanaticism, and they have +since contrived, while holding many of their old ideas in theory, to +accommodate themselves in practice to the existing order of things. + +The gradual softening and toning down of the original fanaticism in +these two sects are strikingly exemplified in their ideas of marriage. +According to Orthodox doctrine, marriage is a sacrament which can +only be performed by a consecrated priest, and consequently for the +Priestless People the celebration of marriage was an impossibility. +In the first ages of sectarianism a state of celibacy was quite in +accordance with their surroundings. Living in constant fear of their +persecutors, and wandering from one place of refuge to another, the +sufferers for the Faith had little time or inclination to think of +family ties, and readily listened to the monks, who exhorted them to +mortify the lusts of the flesh. + +The result, however, proved that celibacy in the creed by no means +ensures chastity in practice. Not only in the villages of the +Dissenters, but even in those religious communities which professed +a more ascetic mode of life, a numerous class of "orphans" began to +appear, who knew not who their parents were; and this ignorance of +blood-relationship naturally led to incestuous connections. Besides +this, the doctrine of celibacy had grave practical inconveniences, for +the peasant requires a housewife to attend to domestic concerns and +to help him in his agricultural occupations. Thus the necessity of +re-establishing family life came to be felt, and the feeling soon found +expression in a doctrinal form both among the Pomortsi and among the +Theodsians. Learned dissertations were written and disseminated in +manuscript copies, violent discussions took place, and at last a great +Council was held in Moscow to discuss the question.* The point at issue +was never unanimously decided, but many accepted the ingenious arguments +in favour of matrimony, and contracted marriages which were, of course, +null and void in the eye of the law and of the Church, but valid in all +other respects. + + * I cannot here enter into the details of this remarkable + controversy, but I may say that in studying it I have been + frequently astonished by the dialectical power and logical + subtlety displayed by the disputants, some of them simple + peasants. + +This new backsliding of the unstable multitude produced a new outburst +of fanaticism among the stubborn few. Some of those who had hitherto +sought to conceal the origin of the "orphan" class above referred to +now boldly asserted that the existence of this class was a religious +necessity, because in order to be saved men must repent, and in order +to repent men must sin! At the same time the old ideas about Antichrist +were revived and preached with fervour by a peasant called Philip, who +founded a new sect called the Philipists. This sect still exists. They +hold fast to the old belief that the Tsar is Antichrist, and that the +civil and ecclesiastical authorities are the servants of Satan--an +idea that was kept alive by the corruption and extortion for which the +Administration was notorious. They do not venture on open resistance +to the authorities, but the bolder members take little pains to conceal +their opinions and sentiments, and may be easily recognised by their +severe aspect, their Puritanical manner, and their Pharisaical horror of +everything which they suppose heretical and unclean. Some of them, it is +said, carry this fastidiousness to such an extent that they throw away +the handle of a door if it has been touched by a heretic! + +It may seem that we have here reached the extreme limits of fanaticism, +but in reality there were men whom even the Pharisaical Puritanism of +the Philipists did not satisfy. These new zealots, who appeared in the +time of Catherine II., but first became known to the official world in +the reign of Nicholas I., rebuked the lukewarmness of their brethren, +and founded a new sect in order to preserve intact the asceticism +practised immediately after the schism. This sect still exists. They +call themselves "Christ's people" (Christoviye Lyudi), but are better +known under the popular name of "Wanderers" (Stranniki), or "Fugitives" +(Beguny). Of all the sects they are the most hostile to the existing +political and social organisation. Not content with condemning +the military conscription, the payment of taxes, the acceptance of +passports, and everything connected with the civil and ecclesiastical +authorities, they consider it sinful to live peaceably among an +orthodox--that is, according to their belief, a heretical--population, +and to have dealings with any who do not share their extreme views. +Holding the Antichrist doctrine in the extreme form, they declare that +Tsars are the vessels of Satan, that the Established Church is the +dwelling-place of the Father of Lies, and that all who submit to the +authorities are children of the Devil. According to this creed, those +who wish to escape from the wrath to come must have neither houses nor +fixed places of abode, must sever all ties that bind them to the world, +and must wander about continually from place to place. True Christians +are but strangers and pilgrims in the present life, and whoso binds +himself to the world will perish with the world. + +Such is the theory of these Wanderers, but among them, as among the less +fanatical sects, practical necessities have produced concessions and +compromises. As it is impossible to lead a nomadic life in Russian +forests, the Wanderers have been compelled to admit into their ranks +what may be called lay-brethren--men who nominally belong to the sect, +but who live like ordinary mortals and have some rational way of gaining +a livelihood. These latter live in the villages or towns, support +themselves by agriculture or trade, accept passports from the +authorities, pay their taxes regularly, and conduct themselves in +all outward respects like loyal subjects. Their chief religious duty +consists in giving food and shelter to their more zealous brethren, who +have adopted a vagabond life in practise as well as in theory. It is +only when they feel death approaching that they consider it necessary +to separate themselves from the heretical world, and they effect this +by having themselves carried out to some neighbouring wood--or into a +garden if there is no wood at hand--where they may die in the open air. + +Thus, we see, there is among the Russian Nonconformist sects what may be +called a gradation of fanaticism, in which is reflected the history of +the Great Schism. In the Wanderers we have the representatives of +those who adopted and preserved the Antichrist doctrine in its extreme +form--the successors of those who fled to the forests to escape from +the rage of the Beast and to await the second coming of Christ. In the +Philipists we have the representatives of those who adopted these ideas +in a somewhat softer form, and who came to recognise the necessity of +having some regular means of subsistence until the last trump should be +heard. The Theodosians represent those who were in theory at one with +the preceding category, but who, having less religious fanaticism, +considered it necessary to yield to force and make peace with the +Government without sacrificing their convictions. In the Pomortsi we see +those who preserved only the religious ideas of the schism, and became +reconciled with the civil power. Lastly we have the Old Ritualists, who +differed from all the other sects in retaining the old ordinances, and +who simply rejected the spiritual authority of the dominant Church. +Besides these chief sections of the Nonconformists there are a great +many minor denominations (tolki), differing from each other on minor +points of doctrine. In certain districts, it is said, nearly every +village has one or two independent sects. This is especially the case +among the Don Cossacks and the Cossacks of the Ural, who are in part +descendants of the men who fled from the early persecutions. + +Of all the sects the Old Ritualists stand nearest to the official +Church. They hold the same dogmas, practise the same rites, and +differ only in trifling ceremonial matters, which few people consider +essential. In the hope of inducing them to return to the official +fold the Government created at the beginning of last century special +churches, in which they were allowed to retain their ceremonial +peculiarities on condition of accepting regularly consecrated priests +and submitting to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. As yet the design has not +met with much success. The great majority of the Old Ritualists regard +it as a trap, and assert that the Church in making this concession +has been guilty of self-contradiction. "The Ecclesiastical Council of +Moscow," they say, "anathematised our forefathers for holding to the old +ritual, and declared that the whole course of nature would be changed +sooner than the curse be withdrawn. The course of nature has not been +changed, but the anathema has been cancelled." This argument ought to +have a certain weight with those who believe in the infallibility of +Ecclesiastical Councils. + +Towards the Priestless People the Government has always acted in a much +less conciliatory spirit. Its severity has been sometimes justified on +the ground that sectarianism has had a political as well as a religious +significance. A State like Russia cannot overlook the existence of +sects which preach the duty of systematic resistance to the civil and +ecclesiastical authorities and hold doctrines which lead to the grossest +immorality. This argument, it must be admitted, is not without a certain +force, but it seems to me that the policy adopted tended to increase +rather than diminish the evils which it sought to cure. Instead of +dispelling the absurd idea that the Tsar was Antichrist by a system +of strict and evenhanded justice, punishing merely actual crimes and +delinquencies, the Government confirmed the notion in the minds of +thousands by persecuting those who had committed no crime and who +desired merely to worship God according to their conscience. Above all +it erred in opposing and punishing those marriages which, though legally +irregular, were the best possible means of diminishing fanaticism, by +leading back the fanatics to healthy social life. Fortunately these +errors have now been abandoned. A policy of greater clemency and +conciliation has been adopted, and has proved much more efficacious than +persecution. The Dissenters have not returned to the official fold, but +they have lost much of their old fanaticism and exclusiveness. + +In respect of numbers the sectarians compose a very formidable body. Of +Old Ritualists and Priestless People there are, it is said, no less +than eleven millions; and the Protestant and fantastical sects comprise +probably about five millions more. If these numbers be correct, the +sectarians constitute about an eighth of the whole population of the +Empire. They count in their ranks none of the nobles--none of the +so-called enlightened class--but they include in their number a +respectable proportion of the peasants, a third of the rich merchant +class, the majority of the Don Cossacks, and nearly all the Cossacks of +the Ural. + +Under these circumstances it is important to know how far the sectarians +are politically disaffected. Some people imagine that in the event of +an insurrection or a foreign invasion they might rise against the +Government, whilst others believe that this supposed danger is purely +imaginary. For my own part I agree with the latter opinion, which is +strongly supported by the history of many important events, such as +the French invasion in 1812, the Crimean War, and the last Polish +insurrection. The great majority of the Schismatics and heretics are, I +believe, loyal subjects of the Tsar. The more violent sects, which are +alone capable of active hostility against the authorities, are weak in +numbers, and regard all outsiders with such profound mistrust that they +are wholly impervious to inflammatory influences from without. Even if +all the sects were capable of active hostility, they would not be nearly +so formidable as their numbers seem to indicate, for they are hostile to +each other, and are wholly incapable of combining for a common purpose. + +Though sectarianism is thus by no means a serious political danger, +it has nevertheless a considerable political significance. It proves +satisfactorily that the Russian people is by no means so docile and +pliable as is commonly supposed, and that it is capable of showing +a stubborn, passive resistance to authority when it believes great +interests to be at stake. The dogged energy which it has displayed in +asserting for centuries its religious liberty may perhaps some day be +employed in the arena of secular politics. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +CHURCH AND STATE + + +The Russian Orthodox Church--Russia Outside of the Mediaeval Papal +Commonwealth--Influence of the Greek Church--Ecclesiastical History of +Russia--Relations between Church and State--Eastern Orthodoxy and the +Russian National Church--The Synod--Ecclesiastical Grumbling--Local +Ecclesiastical Administration--The Black Clergy and the Monasteries--The +Character of the Eastern Church Reflected in the History of Religious +Art--Practical Consequences--The Union Scheme. + + +From the curious world of heretics and Dissenters let us pass now to +the Russian Orthodox Church, to which the great majority of the Russian +people belong. It has played an important part in the national history, +and has exercised a powerful influence in the formation of the national +character. + +Russians are in the habit of patriotically and proudly congratulating +themselves on the fact that their forefathers always resisted +successfully the aggressive tendencies of the Papacy, but it may be +doubted whether, from a worldly point of view, the freedom from Papal +authority has been an unmixed blessing for the country. If the Popes +failed to realise their grand design of creating a vast European empire +based on theocratic principles, they succeeded at least in inspiring +with a feeling of brotherhood and a vague consciousness of common +interest all the nations which acknowledged their spiritual supremacy. +These nations, whilst remaining politically independent and frequently +coming into hostile contact with each other, all looked to Rome as +the capital of the Christian world, and to the Pope as the highest +terrestrial authority. Though the Church did not annihilate nationality, +it made a wide breach in the political barriers, and formed a channel +for international communication by which the social and intellectual +progress of each nation became known to all the other members of the +great Christian confederacy. Throughout the length and breadth of +the Papal Commonwealth educated men had a common language, a common +literature, a common scientific method, and to a certain extent a common +jurisprudence. Western Christendom was thus all through the Middle Ages +not merely an abstract conception or a geographical expression: if not +a political, it was at least a religious and intellectual unit, and all +the countries of which it was composed benefited more or less by the +connection. + +For centuries Russia stood outside of this religious and intellectual +confederation, for her Church connected her not with Rome, but with +Constantinople, and Papal Europe looked upon her as belonging to the +barbarous East. When the Mongol hosts swept over her plains, burnt her +towns and villages, and finally incorporated her into the great empire +of Genghis khan, the so-called Christian world took no interest in the +struggle except in so far as its own safety was threatened. And as +time wore on, the barriers which separated the two great sections of +Christendom became more and more formidable. The aggressive pretensions +and ambitious schemes of the Vatican produced in the Greek Orthodox +world a profound antipathy to the Roman Catholic Church and to Western +influence of every kind. So strong was this aversion that when the +nations of the West awakened in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries +from their intellectual lethargy and began to move forward on the path +of intellectual and material progress, Russia not only remained unmoved, +but looked on the new civilisation with suspicion and fear as a thing +heretical and accursed. We have here one of the chief reasons why +Russia, at the present day, is in many respects less civilised than the +nations of Western Europe. + +But it is not merely in this negative way that the acceptance of +Christianity from Constantinople has affected the fate of Russia. The +Greek Church, whilst excluding Roman Catholic civilisation, exerted +at the same time a powerful positive influence on the historical +development of the nation. + +The Church of the West inherited from old Rome something of that +logical, juridical, administrative spirit which had created the Roman +law, and something of that ambition and dogged, energetic perseverance +that had formed nearly the whole known world into a great centralised +empire. The Bishops of Rome early conceived the design of reconstructing +that old empire on a new basis, and long strove to create a universal +Christian theocratic State, in which kings and other civil authorities +should be the subordinates of Christ's Vicar upon earth. The Eastern +Church, on the contrary, has remained true to her Byzantine traditions, +and has never dreamed of such lofty pretensions. Accustomed to lean on +the civil power, she has always been content to play a secondary part, +and has never strenuously resisted the formation of national churches. + +For about two centuries after the introduction of Christianity--from +988 to 1240--Russia formed, ecclesiastically speaking, part of the +Patriarchate of Constantinople. The metropolitans and the bishops were +Greek by birth and education, and the ecclesiastical administration was +guided and controlled by the Byzantine Patriarchs. But from the time of +the Mongol invasion, when communication with Constantinople became more +difficult and educated native priests had become more numerous, this +complete dependence on the Patriarch of Constantinople ceased. The +Princes gradually arrogated to themselves the right of choosing the +Metropolitan of Kief--who was at that time the chief ecclesiastical +dignitary in Russia--and merely sent their nominees to Constantinople +for consecration. About 1448 this formality came to be dispensed with, +and the Metropolitan was commonly consecrated by a Council of Russian +bishops. A further step in the direction of ecclesiastical autonomy was +taken in 1589, when the Tsar succeeded in procuring the consecration of +a Russian Patriarch, equal in dignity and authority to the Patriarchs of +Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria. + +In all matters of external form the Patriarch of Moscow was a very +important personage. He exercised a certain influence in civil as well +as ecclesiastical affairs, bore the official title of "Great Lord" +(Veliki Gosudar), which had previously been reserved for the civil head +of the State, and habitually received from the people scarcely less +veneration than the Tsar himself. But in reality he possessed very +little independent power. The Tsar was the real ruler in ecclesiastical +as well as in civil affairs.* + + * As this is frequently denied by Russians, it may be well + to quote one authority out of many that might be cited. + Bishop Makarii, whose erudition and good faith are alike + above suspicion, says of Dmitri of the Don: "He arrogated to + himself full, unconditional power over the Head of the + Russian Church, and through him over the whole Russian + Church itself." ("Istoriya Russkoi Tserkvi," V., p. 101.) + This is said of a Grand Prince who had strong rivals and had + to treat the Church as an ally. When the Grand Princes + became Tsars and had no longer any rivals, their power was + certainly not diminished. Any further confirmation that may + be required will be found in the Life of the famous + Patriarch Nikon. + +The Russian Patriarchate came to an end in the time of Peter the +Great. Peter wished, among other things, to reform the ecclesiastical +administration, and to introduce into his country many novelties which +the majority of the clergy and of the people regarded as heretical; and +he clearly perceived that a bigoted, energetic Patriarch might throw +considerable obstacles in his way, and cause him infinite annoyance. +Though such a Patriarch might be deposed without any flagrant violation +of the canonical formalities, the operation would necessarily be +attended with great trouble and loss of time. Peter was no friend of +roundabout, tortuous methods, and preferred to remove the difficulty in +his usual thorough, violent fashion. When the Patriarch Adrian died, the +customary short interregnum was prolonged for twenty years, and when +the people had thus become accustomed to having no Patriarch, it was +announced that no more Patriarchs would be elected. Their place +was supplied by an ecclesiastical council, or Synod, in which, as a +contemporary explained, "the mainspring was Peter's power, and the +pendulum his understanding." The great autocrat justly considered +that such a council could be much more easily managed than a stubborn +Patriarch, and the wisdom of the measure has been duly appreciated +by succeeding sovereigns. Though the idea of re-establishing the +Patriarchate has more than once been raised, it has never been carried +into execution. The Holy Synod remains the highest ecclesiastical +authority. + +But the Emperor? What is his relation to the Synod and to the Church in +general? + +This is a question about which zealous Orthodox Russians are extremely +sensitive. If a foreigner ventures to hint in their presence that the +Emperor seems to have a considerable influence in the Church, he may +inadvertently produce a little outburst of patriotic warmth and virtuous +indignation. The truth is that many Russians have a pet theory on this +subject, and have at the same time a dim consciousness that the theory +is not quite in accordance with reality. They hold theoretically that +the Orthodox Church has no "Head" but Christ, and is in some peculiar +undefined sense entirely independent of all terrestrial authority. In +this respect it is often contrasted with the Anglican Church, much to +the disadvantage of the latter; and the supposed differences between +the two are made a theme for semi-religious, semi-patriotic exultation. +Khomiakof, for instance, in one of his most vigorous poems, predicts +that God will one day take the destiny of the world out of the hands +of England in order to give it to Russia, and he adduces as one of +the reasons for this transfer the fact that England "has chained, with +sacrilegious hand, the Church of God to the pedestal of the vain earthly +power." So far the theory. As to the facts, it is unquestionable that +the Tsar exercises a much greater influence in ecclesiastical affairs +than the King and Parliament in England. All who know the internal +history of Russia are aware that the Government does not draw a clear +line of distinction between the temporal and the spiritual, and that +it occasionally uses the ecclesiastical organisation for political +purposes. + +What, then, are the relations between Church and State? + +To avoid confusion, we must carefully distinguish between the Eastern +Orthodox Church as a whole and that section of it which is known as the +Russian Church. + +The Eastern Orthodox Church* is, properly speaking, a confederation of +independent churches without any central authority--a unity founded +on the possession of a common dogma and on the theoretical but now +unrealisable possibility of holding Ecumenical Councils. The +Russian National Church is one of the members of this ecclesiastical +confederation. In matters of faith it is bound by the decisions of +the ancient Ecumenical Councils, but in all other respects it enjoys +complete independence and autonomy. + + * Or Greek Orthodox Church, as it is sometimes called. + +In relation to the Orthodox Church as a whole the Emperor of Russia is +nothing more than a simple member, and can no more interfere with its +dogmas or ceremonial than a King of Italy or an Emperor of the French +could modify Roman Catholic theology; but in relation to the Russian +National Church his position is peculiar. He is described in one of the +fundamental laws as "the supreme defender and preserver of the dogmas +of the dominant faith," and immediately afterwards it is said that "the +autocratic power acts in the ecclesiastical administration by means +of the most Holy Governing Synod, created by it."* This describes very +fairly the relations between the Emperor and the Church. He is merely +the defender of the dogmas, and cannot in the least modify them; but he +is at the same time the chief administrator, and uses the Synod as an +instrument. + + * Svod Zakonov I., 42, 43. + +Some ingenious people who wish to prove that the creation of the Synod +was not an innovation represent the institution as a resuscitation of +the ancient local councils; but this view is utterly untenable. The +Synod is not a council of deputies from various sections of the Church, +but a permanent college, or ecclesiastical senate, the members of which +are appointed and dismissed by the Emperor as he thinks fit. It has no +independent legislative authority, for its legislative projects do not +become law till they have received the Imperial sanction; and they are +always published, not in the name of the Church, but in the name of +the Supreme Power. Even in matters of simple administration it is +not independent, for all its resolutions require the consent of the +Procureur, a layman nominated by his Majesty. In theory this functionary +protests only against those resolutions which are not in accordance with +the civil law of the country; but as he alone has the right to +address the Emperor directly on ecclesiastical concerns, and as all +communications between the Emperor and the Synod pass through his hands, +he possesses in reality considerable power. Besides this, he can always +influence the individual members by holding out prospects of advancement +and decorations, and if this device fails, he can make refractory +members retire, and fill up their places with men of more pliant +disposition. A Council constituted in this way cannot, of course, +display much independence of thought or action, especially in a country +like Russia, where no one ventures to oppose openly the Imperial will. + +It must not, however, be supposed that the Russian ecclesiastics regard +the Imperial authority with jealousy or dislike. They are all most loyal +subjects, and warm adherents of autocracy. Those ideas of ecclesiastical +independence which are so common in Western Europe, and that spirit of +opposition to the civil power which animates the Roman Catholic clergy, +are entirely foreign to their minds. If a bishop sometimes complains to +an intimate friend that he has been brought to St. Petersburg and made +a member of the Synod merely to append his signature to official papers +and to give his consent to foregone conclusions, his displeasure is +directed, not against the Emperor, but against the Procureur. He is +full of loyalty and devotion to the Tsar, and has no desire to see his +Majesty excluded from all influence in ecclesiastical affairs; but he +feels saddened and humiliated when he finds that the whole government of +the Church is in the hands of a lay functionary, who may be a military +man, and who looks at all matters from a layman's point of view. + +This close connection between Church and State and the thoroughly +national character of the Russian Church is well illustrated by the +history of the local ecclesiastical administration. The civil and the +ecclesiastical administration have always had the same character and +have always been modified by the same influences. The terrorism which +was largely used by the Muscovite Tsars and brought to a climax by Peter +the Great appeared equally in both. In the episcopal circulars, as in +the Imperial ukazes, we find frequent mention of "most cruel corporal +punishment," "cruel punishment with whips, so that the delinquent and +others may not acquire the habit of practising such insolence," and much +more of the same kind. And these terribly severe measures were sometimes +directed against very venial offences. The Bishop of Vologda, for +instance, in 1748 decrees "cruel corporal punishment" against priests +who wear coarse and ragged clothes,* and the records of the Consistorial +courts contain abundant proof that such decrees were rigorously +executed. When Catherine II. introduced a more humane spirit into the +civil administration, corporal punishment was at once abolished in the +Consistorial courts, and the procedure was modified according to the +accepted maxims of civil jurisprudence. But I must not weary the reader +with tiresome historical details. Suffice it to say that, from the time +of Peter the Great downwards, the character of all the more energetic +sovereigns is reflected in the history of the ecclesiastical +administration. + + * Znamenski, "Prikhodskoe Dukhovenstvo v Rossii so vremeni + reformy Petra," Kazan, 1873. + +Each province, or "government," forms a diocese, and the bishop, like +the civil governor, has a Council which theoretically controls his +power, but practically has no controlling influence whatever. The +Consistorial Council, which has in the theory of ecclesiastical +procedure a very imposing appearance, is in reality the bishop's +chancellerie, and its members are little more than secretaries, whose +chief object is to make themselves agreeable to their superior. And it +must be confessed that, so long as they remain what they are, the +less power they possess the better it will be for those who have the +misfortune to be under their jurisdiction. The higher dignitaries have +at least larger aims and a certain consciousness of the dignity of their +position; but the lower officials, who have no such healthy restraints +and receive ridiculously small salaries, grossly misuse the little +authority which they possess, and habitually pilfer and extort in the +most shameless manner. The Consistories are, in fact, what the public +offices were in the time of Nicholas I. + +The higher ecclesiastical administration has always been in the hands +of the monks, or "Black Clergy," as they are commonly termed, who form a +large and influential class. The monks who first settled in Russia were, +like those who first visited north-western Europe, men of the earnest, +ascetic, missionary type. Filled with zeal for the glory of God and the +salvation of souls, they took little or no thought for the morrow, and +devoutly believed that their Heavenly Father, without whose knowledge no +sparrow falls to the ground, would provide for their humble wants. Poor, +clad in rags, eating the most simple fare, and ever ready to share what +they had with any one poorer than themselves, they performed faithfully +and earnestly the work which their Master had given them to do. But +this ideal of monastic life soon gave way in Russia, as in the West, to +practices less simple and austere. By the liberal donations and bequests +of the faithful the monasteries became rich in gold, in silver, in +precious stones, and above all in land and serfs. Troitsa, for instance, +possessed at one time 120,000 serfs and a proportionate amount of land, +and it is said that at the beginning of the eighteenth century more than +a fourth of the entire population had fallen under the jurisdiction of +the Church. Many of the monasteries engaged in commerce, and the monks +were, if we may credit Fletcher, who visited Russia in 1588, the most +intelligent merchants of the country. + +During the eighteenth century the Church lands were secularised, and the +serfs of the Church became serfs of the State. This was a severe +blow for the monasteries, but it did not prove fatal, as many people +predicted. Some monasteries were abolished and others were reduced to +extreme poverty, but many survived and prospered. These could no longer +possess serfs, but they had still three sources of revenue: a limited +amount of real property, Government subsidies, and the voluntary +offerings of the faithful. At present there are about 500 monastic +establishments, and the great majority of them, though not wealthy, +have revenues more than sufficient to satisfy all the requirements of an +ascetic life. + +Thus in Russia, as in Western Europe, the history of monastic +institutions is composed of three chapters, which may be briefly +entitled: asceticism and missionary enterprise; wealth, luxury, and +corruption; secularisation of property and decline. But between Eastern +and Western monasticism there is at least one marked difference. +The monasticism of the West made at various epochs of its history +a vigorous, spontaneous effort at self-regeneration, which found +expression in the foundation of separate Orders, each of which proposed +to itself some special aim--some special sphere of usefulness. In Russia +we find no similar phenomenon. Here the monasteries never deviated +from the rules of St. Basil, which restrict the members to religious +ceremonies, prayer, and contemplation. From time to time a solitary +individual raised his voice against the prevailing abuses, or retired +from his monastery to spend the remainder of his days in ascetic +solitude; but neither in the monastic population as a whole, nor in any +particular monastery, do we find at any time a spontaneous, vigorous +movement towards reform. During the last two hundred years reforms have +certainly been effected, but they have all been the work of the civil +power, and in the realisation of them the monks have shown little more +than the virtue of resignation. Here, as elsewhere, we have evidence of +that inertness, apathy, and want of spontaneous vigour which form one of +the most characteristic traits of Russian national life. In this, as in +other departments of national activity, the spring of action has lain +not in the people, but in the Government. + +It is only fair to the monks to state that in their dislike to progress +and change of every kind they merely reflect the traditional spirit of +the Church to which they belong. The Russian Church, like the Eastern +Orthodox Church generally, is essentially conservative. Anything in +the nature of a religious revival is foreign to her traditions and +character. Quieta non movere is her fundamental principle of conduct. +She prides herself as being above terrestrial influences. + +The modifications that have been made in her administrative organisation +have not affected her inner nature. In spirit and character she is now +what she was under the Patriarchs in the time of the Muscovite Tsars, +holding fast to the promise that no jot or tittle shall pass from the +law till all be fulfilled. To those who talk about the requirements of +modern life and modern science she turns a deaf ear. Partly from the +predominance which she gives to the ceremonial element, partly from +the fact that her chief aim is to preserve unmodified the doctrine and +ceremonial as determined by the early Ecumenical Councils, and partly +from the low state of general culture among the clergy, she has ever +remained outside of the intellectual movements. The attempts of the +Roman Catholic Church to develop the traditional dogmas by definition +and deduction, and the efforts of Protestants to reconcile their creeds +with progressive science and the ever-varying intellectual currents of +the time, are alike foreign to her nature. Hence she has produced no +profound theological treatises conceived in a philosophical spirit, and +has made no attempt to combat the spirit of infidelity in its modern +forms. Profoundly convinced that her position is impregnable, she has +"let the nations rave," and scarcely deigned to cast a glance at their +intellectual and religious struggles. In a word, she is "in the world, +but not of it." + +If we wish to see represented in a visible form the peculiar +characteristics of the Russian Church, we have only to glance at Russian +religious art, and compare it with that of Western Europe. In the West, +from the time of the Renaissance downwards, religious art has kept pace +with artistic progress. Gradually it emancipated itself from archaic +forms and childish symbolism, converted the lifeless typical figures +into living individuals, lit up their dull eyes and expressionless +faces with human intelligence and human feeling, and finally aimed at +archaeological accuracy in costume and other details. Thus in the +West the Icon grew slowly into the naturalistic portrait, and the rude +symbolical groups developed gradually into highly-finished historical +pictures. In Russia the history of religious art has been entirely +different. Instead of distinctive schools of painting and great +religious artists, there has been merely an anonymous traditional craft, +destitute of any artistic individuality. In all the productions of +this craft the old Byzantine forms have been faithfully and rigorously +preserved, and we can see reflected in the modern Icons--stiff, archaic, +expressionless--the immobility of the Eastern Church in general, and of +the Russian Church in particular. + +To the Roman Catholic, who struggles against science as soon as it +contradicts traditional conceptions, and to the Protestant, who strives +to bring his religious beliefs into accordance with his scientific +knowledge, the Russian Church may seem to resemble an antediluvian +petrifaction, or a cumbrous line-of-battle ship that has been long +stranded. It must be confessed, however, that the serene inactivity for +which she is distinguished has had very valuable practical consequences. +The Russian clergy have neither that haughty, aggressive intolerance +which characterises their Roman Catholic brethren, nor that bitter, +uncharitable, sectarian spirit which is too often to be found among +Protestants. They allow not only to heretics, but also to members of +their own communion, the most complete intellectual freedom, and never +think of anathematising any one for his scientific or unscientific +opinions. All that they demand is that those who have been born +within the pale of Orthodoxy should show the Church a certain nominal +allegiance; and in this matter of allegiance they are by no mean very +exacting. So long as a member refrains from openly attacking the Church +and from going over to another confession, he may entirely neglect all +religious ordinances and publicly profess scientific theories logically +inconsistent with any kind of dogmatic religious belief without the +slightest danger of incurring ecclesiastical censure. + +This apathetic tolerance may be partly explained by the national +character, but it is also to some extent due to the peculiar relations +between Church and State. The government vigilantly protects the Church +from attack, and at the same time prevents her from attacking her +enemies. Hence religious questions are never discussed in the Press, +and the ecclesiastical literature is all historical, homiletic, or +devotional. The authorities allow public oral discussions to be held +during Lent in the Kremlin of Moscow between members of the State Church +and Old Ritualists; but these debates are not theological in our sense +of the term. They turn exclusively on details of Church history, and on +the minutiae of ceremonial observance. + +A few years ago there was a good deal of vague talk about a possible +union of the Russian and Anglican Churches. If by "union" is meant +simply union in the bonds of brotherly love, there can be, of course, no +objection to any amount of such pia desideria; but if anything more real +and practical is intended, the project is an absurdity. A real union of +the Russian and Anglican Churches would be as difficult of realisation, +and is as undesirable, as a union of the Russian Council of State and +the British House of Commons.* + + * I suppose that the more serious partisans of the union + scheme mean union with the Eastern Orthodox, and not with + the Russian, Church. To them the above remarks are not + addressed. Their scheme is, in my opinion, unrealisable and + undesirable, but it contains nothing absurd. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE NOBLESSE + + +The Nobles In Early Times--The Mongol Domination--The Tsardom of +Muscovy--Family Dignity--Reforms of Peter the Great--The Nobles Adopt +West-European Conceptions--Abolition of Obligatory Service--Influence of +Catherine II.--The Russian Dvoryanstvo Compared with the French Noblesse +and the English Aristocracy--Russian Titles--Probable Future of the +Russian Noblesse. + + +Hitherto I have been compelling the reader to move about among what +we should call the lower classes--peasants, burghers, traders, parish +priests, Dissenters, heretics, Cossacks, and the like--and he feels +perhaps inclined to complain that he has had no opportunity of mixing +with what old-fashioned people call gentle-folk and persons of quality. +By way of making amends to him for this reprehensible conduct on my +part, I propose now to present him to the whole Noblesse* in a body, not +only those at present living, but also their near and distant ancestors, +right back to the foundation of the Russian Empire a thousand years ago. +Thereafter I shall introduce him to some of the country families and +invite him to make with me a few country-house visits. + + * I use here a foreign, in preference to an English, term, + because the word "Nobility" would convey a false impression. + Etymologically the Russian word "Dvoryanin" means a Courtier + (from Dvor=court); but this term is equally objectionable, + because the great majority of the Dvoryanstvo have nothing + to do with the Court. + +In the old times, when Russia was merely a collection of some seventy +independent principalities, each reigning prince was surrounded by +a group of armed men, composed partly of Boyars, or large landed +proprietors, and partly of knights, or soldiers of fortune. These men, +who formed the Noblesse of the time, were to a certain extent under the +authority of the Prince, but they were by no means mere obedient, silent +executors of his will. The Boyars might refuse to take part in his +military expeditions, and the "free-lances" might leave his service +and seek employment elsewhere. If he wished to go to war without their +consent, they could say to him, as they did on one occasion, "You have +planned this yourself, Prince, so we will not go with you, for we knew +nothing of it." Nor was this resistance to the princely will always +merely passive. Once, in the principality of Galitch, the armed men +seized their prince, killed his favourites, burned his mistress, and +made him swear that he would in future live with his lawful wife. To his +successor, who had married the wife of a priest, they spoke thus: "We +have not risen against YOU, Prince, but we will not do reverence to a +priest's wife: we will put her to death, and then you may marry whom you +please." Even the energetic Bogolubski, one of the most remarkable +of the old Princes, did not succeed in having his own way. When he +attempted to force the Boyars he met with stubborn opposition, and was +finally assassinated. From these incidents, which might be indefinitely +multiplied from the old chronicles, we see that in the early period +of Russian history the Boyars and knights were a body of free men, +possessing a considerable amount of political power. + +Under the Mongol domination this political equilibrium was destroyed. +When the country had been conquered, the Princes became servile vassals +of the Khan and arbitrary rulers towards their own subjects. The +political significance of the nobles was thereby greatly diminished. It +was not, however, by any means annihilated. Though the Prince no longer +depended entirely on their support, he had an interest in retaining +their services, to protect his territory in case of sudden attack, or +to increase his possessions at the expense of his neighbours when a +convenient opportunity presented itself. Theoretically, such conquests +were impossible, for all removing of the ancient landmarks depended on +the decision of the Khan; but in reality the Khan paid little attention +to the affairs of his vassals so long as the tribute was regularly +paid; and much took place in Russia without his permission. We find, +therefore, in some of the principalities the old relations still +subsisting under Mongol rule. The famous Dmitri of the Don, for +instance, when on his death-bed, speaks thus to his Boyars: "You know +my habits and my character; I was born among you, grew up among you, +governed with you--fighting by your side, showing you honour and love, +and placing you over towns and districts. I loved your children, and +did evil to no one. I rejoiced with you in your joy, mourned with you in +your grief, and called you the princes of my land." Then, turning to his +children, he adds, as a parting advice: "Love your Boyars, my children; +show them the honour which their services merit, and undertake nothing +without their consent." + +When the Grand Princes of Moscow brought the other principalities under +their power, and formed them into the Tsardom of Muscovy, the nobles +descended another step in the political scale. So long as there were +many principalities they could quit the service of a Prince as soon as +he gave them reason to be discontented, knowing that they would be well +received by one of his rivals; but now they had no longer any choice. +The only rival of Moscow was Lithuania, and precautions were taken to +prevent the discontented from crossing the Lithuanian frontier. The +nobles were no longer voluntary adherents of a Prince, but had become +subjects of a Tsar; and the Tsars were not as the old Princes had +been. By a violent legal fiction they conceived themselves to be +the successors of the Byzantine Emperors, and created a new court +ceremonial, borrowed partly from Constantinople and partly from the +Mongol Horde. They no longer associated familiarly with the Boyars, and +no longer asked their advice, but treated them rather as menials. +When the nobles entered their august master's presence they prostrated +themselves in Oriental fashion--occasionally as many as thirty +times--and when they incurred his displeasure they were summarily +flogged or executed, according to the Tsar's good pleasure. In +succeeding to the power of the Khans, the Tsars had adopted, we see, a +good deal of the Mongol system of government. + +It may seem strange that a class of men which had formerly shown a proud +spirit of independence should have submitted quietly to such humiliation +and oppression without making a serious effort to curb the new power, +which had no longer a Tartar Horde at its back to quell opposition. But +we must remember that the nobles, as well as the Princes, had passed in +the meantime through the school of the Mongol domination. In the course +of two centuries they had gradually become accustomed to despotic rule +in the Oriental sense. If they felt their position humiliating and +irksome, they must have felt, too, how difficult it was to better it. +Their only resource lay in combining against the common oppressor; +and we have only to glance at the motley, disorganised group, as they +cluster round the Tsar, to perceive that combination was extremely +difficult. We can distinguish there the mediatised Princes, still +harbouring designs for the recovery of their independence; the Moscow +Boyars, jealous of their family honour and proud of Muscovite supremacy; +Tartar Murzi, who have submitted to be baptised and have received land +like the other nobles; the Novgorodian magnate, who cannot forget the +ancient glory of his native city; Lithuanian nobles, who find it more +profitable to serve the Tsar than their own sovereign; petty chiefs who +have fled from the opposition of the Teutonic order; and soldiers of +fortune from every part of Russia. Strong, permanent political factors +are not easily formed out of such heterogeneous material. + +At the end of the sixteenth century the old dynasty became extinct, +and after a short period of political anarchy, commonly called "the +troublous times" (smutnoe vremya), the Romanof family were raised to the +throne by the will of the people, or at least by those who were assumed +to be its representatives. By this change the Noblesse acquired a +somewhat better position. They were no longer exposed to capricious +tyranny and barbarous cruelty, such as they had experienced at the hands +of Ivan the Terrible, but they did not, as a class, gain any political +influence. There were still rival families and rival factions, but +there were no political parties in the proper sense of the term, and the +highest aim of families and factions was to gain the favour of the Tsar. + +The frequent quarrels about precedence which took place among the rival +families at this period form one of the most curious episodes of Russian +history. The old patriarchal conception of the family as a unit, one and +indivisible, was still so strong among these men that the elevation or +degradation of one member of a family was considered to affect deeply +the honour of all the other members. Each noble family had its rank in a +recognised scale of dignity, according to the rank which it held, or had +previously held, in the Tsar's service; and a whole family would have +considered itself dishonoured if one of its members accepted a post +lower than that to which he was entitled. Whenever a vacant place in +the service was filled up, the subordinates of the successful candidate +examined the official records and the genealogical trees of their +families, in order to discover whether some ancestor of their new +superior had not served under one of their own ancestors. If the +subordinate found such a case, he complained to the Tsar that it was not +becoming for him to serve under a man who had less family honour than +himself. + +Unfounded complaints of this kind often entailed imprisonment or +corporal punishment, but in spite of this the quarrels for precedence +were very frequent. At the commencement of a campaign many such disputes +were sure to arise, and the Tsar's decision was not always accepted by +the party who considered himself aggrieved. I have met at least with one +example of a great dignitary voluntarily mutilating his hand in order +to escape the necessity of serving under a man whom he considered his +inferior in family dignity. Even at the Tsar's table these rivalries +sometimes produced unseemly incidents, for it was almost impossible +to arrange the places so as to satisfy all the guests. In one recorded +instance a noble who received a place lower than that to which he +considered himself entitled openly declared to the Tsar that he would +rather be condemned to death than submit to such an indignity. In +another instance of a similar kind the refractory guest was put on his +chair by force, but saved his family honour by slipping under the table! + +The next transformation of the Noblesse was effected by Peter the +Great. Peter was by nature and position an autocrat, and could brook no +opposition. Having set before himself a great aim, he sought everywhere +obedient, intelligent, energetic instruments to carry out his designs. +He himself served the State zealously--as a common artisan, when he +considered it necessary--and he insisted on all his subjects doing +likewise, under pain of merciless punishment. To noble birth and long +pedigrees he habitually showed a most democratic, or rather autocratic, +indifference. Intent on obtaining the service of living men, he paid no +attention to the claims of dead ancestors, and gave to his servants the +pay and honour which their services merited, irrespectively of birth or +social position. Hence many of his chief coadjutors had no connection +with the old Russian families. Count Yaguzhinski, who long held one of +the most important posts in the State, was the son of a poor sacristan; +Count Devier was a Portuguese by birth, and had been a cabin-boy; Baron +Shafirof was a Jew; Hannibal, who died with the rank of Commander in +Chief, was a negro who had been bought in Constantinople; and his Serene +Highness Prince Menshikof had begun life, it was said, as a baker's +apprentice! For the future, noble birth was to count for nothing. The +service of the State was thrown open to men of all ranks, and personal +merit was to be the only claim to promotion. + +This must have seemed to the Conservatives of the time a most +revolutionary and reprehensible proceeding, but it did not satisfy the +reforming tendencies of the great autocrat. He went a step further, and +entirely changed the legal status of the Noblesse. Down to his time the +nobles were free to serve or not as they chose, and those who chose to +serve enjoyed land on what we should call a feudal tenure. Some served +permanently in the military or civil administration, but by far the +greater number lived on their estates, and entered the active service +merely when the militia was called out in view of war. This system was +completely changed when Peter created a large standing army and a +great centralised bureaucracy. By one of those "fell swoops" which +periodically occur in Russian history, he changed the feudal into +freehold tenures, and laid down the principle that all nobles, whatever +their landed possessions might be, should serve the State in the army, +the fleet, or the civil administration, from boyhood to old age. In +accordance with this principle, any noble who refused to serve was not +only deprived of his estate, as in the old times, but was declared to be +a traitor and might be condemned to capital punishment. + +The nobles were thus transformed into servants of the State, and the +State in the time of Peter was a hard taskmaster. They complained +bitterly, and with reason, that they had been deprived of their ancient +rights, and were compelled to accept quietly and uncomplainingly +whatever burdens their master chose to place upon them. "Though our +country," they said, "is in no danger of invasion, no sooner is peace +concluded than plans are laid for a new war, which has generally no +other foundation than the ambition of the Sovereign, or perhaps merely +the ambition of one of his Ministers. To please him our peasants are +utterly exhausted, and we ourselves are forced to leave our homes and +families, not as formerly for a single campaign, but for long years. We +are compelled to contract debts and to entrust our estates to thieving +overseers, who commonly reduce them to such a condition that when we +are allowed to retire from the service, in consequence of old age or +illness, we cannot to the end of our lives retrieve our prosperity. In +a word, we are so exhausted and ruined by the keeping up of a standing +army, and by the consequences flowing therefrom, that the most cruel +enemy, though he should devastate the whole Empire, could not cause us +one-half of the injury."* + + * These complaints have been preserved by Vockerodt, a + Prussian diplomatic agent of the time. + +This Spartan regime, which ruthlessly sacrificed private interests to +considerations of State policy, could not long be maintained in its +pristine severity. It undermined its own foundations by demanding too +much. Draconian laws threatening confiscation and capital punishment +were of little avail. Nobles became monks, inscribed themselves as +merchants, or engaged themselves as domestic servants, in order to +escape their obligations. "Some," says a contemporary, "grow old in +disobedience and have never once appeared in active service. . . . There +is, for instance, Theodore Mokeyef. . . . In spite of the strict orders +sent regarding him no one could ever catch him. Some of those sent +to take him he belaboured with blows, and when he could not beat the +messengers, he pretended to be dangerously ill, or feigned idiocy, and, +running into the pond, stood in the water up to his neck; but as soon +as the messengers were out of sight he returned home and roared like a +lion." * + + * Pososhkof, "O skudosti i bogatstve." + +After Peter's death the system was gradually relaxed, but the Noblesse +could not be satisfied by partial concessions. Russia had in the +meantime moved, as it were, out of Asia into Europe, and had become +one of the great European Powers. The upper classes had been gradually +learning something of the fashions, the literature, the institutions, +and the moral conceptions of Western Europe, and the nobles naturally +compared the class to which they belonged with the aristocracies of +Germany and France. For those who were influenced by the new foreign +ideas the comparison was humiliating. In the West the Noblesse was a +free and privileged class, proud of its liberty, its rights, and its +culture; whereas in Russia the nobles were servants of the State, +without privileges, without dignity, subject to corporal punishment, and +burdened with onerous duties from which there was no escape. Thus arose +in that section of the Noblesse which had some acquaintance with Western +civilisation a feeling of discontent, and a desire to gain a social +position similar to that of the nobles in France and Germany. These +aspirations were in part realised by Peter III., who in 1762 abolished +the principle of obligatory service. His consort, Catherine II., went +much farther in the same direction, and inaugurated a new epoch in the +history of the Dvoryanstvo, a period in which its duties and obligations +fell into the background, and its rights and privileges came to the +front. + +Catherine had good reason to favour the Noblesse. As a foreigner and +a usurper, raised to the throne by a Court conspiracy, she could not +awaken in the masses that semi-religious veneration which the legitimate +Tsars have always enjoyed, and consequently she had to seek support +in the upper classes, who were less rigid and uncompromising in their +conceptions of legitimacy. She confirmed, therefore, the ukaz which +abolished obligatory service of the nobles, and sought to gain their +voluntary service by honours and rewards. In her manifestoes she always +spoke of them in the most flattering terms; and tried to convince them +that the welfare of the country depended on their loyalty and devotion. +Though she had no intention of ceding any of her political power, she +formed the nobles of each province into a corporation, with periodical +assemblies, which were supposed to resemble the French Provincial +Parliaments, and entrusted to each of these corporations a large part +of the local administration. By these and similar means, aided by her +masculine energy and feminine tact, she made herself very popular, +and completely changed the old conceptions about the public service. +Formerly service had been looked on as a burden; now it came to be +looked on as a privilege. Thousands who had retired to their estates +after the publication of the liberation edict now flocked back and +sought appointments, and this tendency was greatly increased by the +brilliant campaigns against the Turks, which excited the patriotic +feelings and gave plentiful opportunities of promotion. "Not only landed +proprietors," it is said in a comedy of the time,* "but all men, even +shopkeepers and cobblers, aim at becoming officers, and the man who +has passed his whole life without official rank seems to be not a human +being." + + * Knyazhnina, "Khvastun." + +And Catherine did more than this. She shared the idea--generally +accepted throughout Europe since the brilliant reign of Louis XIV.--that +a refined, pomp-loving, pleasure-seeking Court Noblesse was not only the +best bulwark of Monarchy, but also a necessary ornament of every highly +civilised State; and as she ardently desired that her country should +have the reputation of being highly civilised, she strove to create +this national ornament. The love of French civilisation, which already +existed among the upper classes of her subjects, here came to her aid, +and her efforts in this direction were singularly successful. The +Court of St. Petersburg became almost as brilliant, as galant, and as +frivolous as the Court of Versailles. All who aimed at high honours +adopted French fashions, spoke the French language, and affected an +unqualified admiration for French classical literature. The Courtiers +talked of the point d'honneur, discussed the question as to what +was consistent with the dignity of a noble, sought to display "that +chivalrous spirit which constitutes the pride and ornament of France"; +and looked back with horror on the humiliating position of their fathers +and grandfathers. "Peter the Great," writes one of them, "beat all who +surrounded him, without distinction of family or rank; but now, many of +us would certainly prefer capital punishment to being beaten or flogged, +even though the castigation were applied by the sacred hands of the +Lord's Anointed." + +The tone which reigned in the Court circle of St. Petersburg spread +gradually towards the lower ranks of the Dvoryanstvo, and it seemed to +superficial observers that a very fair imitation of the French Noblesse +had been produced; but in reality the copy was very unlike the model. +The Russian Dvoryanin easily learned the language and assumed the +manners of the French gentilhomme, and succeeded in changing his +physical and intellectual exterior; but all those deeper and more +delicate parts of human nature which are formed by the accumulated +experience of past generations could not be so easily and rapidly +changed. The French gentilhomme of the eighteenth century was the direct +descendant of the feudal baron, with the fundamental conceptions of his +ancestors deeply embedded in his nature. He had not, indeed, the old +haughty bearing towards the Sovereign, and his language was tinged with +the fashionable democratic philosophy of the time; but he possessed +a large intellectual and moral inheritance that had come down to him +directly from the palmy days of feudalism--an inheritance which even the +Great Revolution, which was then preparing, could not annihilate. The +Russian noble, on the contrary, had received from his ancestors entirely +different traditions. His father and grandfather had been conscious +of the burdens rather than the privileges of the class to which they +belonged. They had considered it no disgrace to receive corporal +punishment, and had been jealous of their honour, not as gentlemen or +descendants of Boyars, but as Brigadiers, College Assessors, or Privy +Counsellors. Their dignity had rested not on the grace of God, but +on the will of the Tsar. Under these circumstances even the proudest +magnate of Catherine's Court, though he might speak French as fluently +as his mother tongue, could not be very deeply penetrated with the +conception of noble blood, the sacred character of nobility, and the +numerous feudal ideas interwoven with these conceptions. And in adopting +the outward forms of a foreign culture the nobles did not, it seems, +gain much in true dignity. "The old pride of the nobles has fallen!" +exclaims one who had more genuine aristocratic feeling than his +fellows.* "There are no longer any honourable families; but merely +official rank and personal merits. All seek official rank, and as all +cannot render direct services, distinctions are sought by every possible +means--by flattering the Monarch and toadying the important personages." +There was considerable truth in this complaint, but the voice of this +solitary aristocrat was as of one crying in the wilderness. The whole of +the educated classes--men of old family and parvenus alike--were, with +few exceptions, too much engrossed with place-hunting to attend to such +sentimental wailing. + + * Prince Shtcherbatof. + +If the Russian Noblesse was thus in its new form but a very imperfect +imitation of its French model, it was still more unlike the English +aristocracy. Notwithstanding the liberal phrases in which Catherine +habitually indulged, she never had the least intention of ceding one +jot or tittle of her autocratic power, and the Noblesse as a class +never obtained even a shadow of political influence. There was no real +independence under the new airs of dignity and hauteur. In all their +acts and openly expressed opinions the courtiers were guided by the +real or supposed wishes of the Sovereign, and much of their political +sagacity was employed in endeavouring to discover what would please +her. "People never talk politics in the salons," says a contemporary +witness,* "not even to praise the Government. Fear has produced habits of +prudence, and the Frondeurs of the Capital express their opinions only +in the confidence of intimate friendship or in a relationship still more +confidential. Those who cannot bear this constraint retire to Moscow, +which cannot be called the centre of opposition, for there is no such +thing as opposition in a country with an autocratic Government, but +which is the capital of the discontented." And even there the discontent +did not venture to show itself in the Imperial presence. "In Moscow," +says another witness, accustomed to the obsequiousness of Versailles, +"you might believe yourself to be among republicans who have just thrown +off the yoke of a tyrant, but as soon as the Court arrives you see +nothing but abject slaves."** + + * Segur, long Ambassador of France at the Court of + Catherine. + + ** Sabathier de Cabres, "Catherine II. et la Cour de Russie + en 1772." + +Though thus excluded from direct influence in political affairs the +Noblesse might still have acquired a certain political significance in +the State, by means of the Provincial Assemblies, and by the part +they took in local administration; but in reality they had neither the +requisite political experience nor the requisite patience, nor even +the desire to pursue such a policy. The majority of the proprietors +preferred the chances of promotion in the Imperial service to the +tranquil life of a country gentleman; and those who resided permanently +on their estates showed indifference or positive antipathy to everything +connected with the local administration. What was officially described +as "a privilege conferred on the nobles for their fidelity, and for +the generous sacrifice of their lives in their country's cause," was +regarded by those who enjoyed it as a new kind of obligatory service--an +obligation to supply judges and officers of rural police. + +If we require any additional proof that the nobles amidst all these +changes were still as dependent as ever on the arbitrary will or caprice +of the Monarch, we have only to glance at their position in the time +of Paul I., the capricious, eccentric, violent son and successor of +Catherine. The autobiographical memoirs of the time depict in vivid +colours the humiliating position of even the leading men in the State, +in constant fear of exciting by act, word, or look the wrath of the +Sovereign. As we read these contemporary records we seem to have before +us a picture of ancient Rome under the most despotic and capricious +of her Emperors. Irritated and embittered before his accession to the +throne by the haughty demeanour of his mother's favourites, Paul lost no +opportunity of showing his contempt for aristocratic pretensions, and +of humiliating those who were supposed to harbour them. "Apprenez, +Monsieur," he said angrily on one occasion to Dumouriez, who had +accidentally referred to one of the "considerable" personages of the +Court, "Apprenez qu'il n'y a pas de considerable ici, que la personne a +laquelle je parle et pendant le temps que je lui parle!"* + + * This saying is often falsely attributed to Nicholas. The + anecdote is related by Segur. + +From the time of Catherine down to the accession of Alexander II. in +1855 no important change was made in the legal status of the Noblesse, +but a gradual change took place in its social character by the continual +influx of Western ideas and Western culture. The exclusively French +culture in vogue at the Court of Catherine assumed a more cosmopolitan +colouring, and permeated downwards till all who had any pretensions to +being civilises spoke French with tolerable fluency and possessed at +least a superficial acquaintance with the literature of Western Europe. +What chiefly distinguished them in the eye of the law from the other +classes was the privilege of possessing "inhabited estates"--that is to +say, estates with serfs. By the emancipation of the serfs in 1861 this +valuable privilege was abolished, and about one-half of their landed +property passed into the hands of the peasantry. By the administrative +reforms which have since taken place, any little significance which the +provincial corporations may have possessed has been annihilated. Thus +at the present day the nobles are on a level with the other classes with +regard to the right of possessing landed property and the administration +of local affairs. + +From this rapid sketch the reader will easily perceive that the Russian +Noblesse has had a peculiar historical development. In Germany, France, +and England the nobles were early formed into a homogeneous organised +body by the political conditions in which they were placed. They had to +repel the encroaching tendencies of the Monarchy on the one hand, and +of the bourgeoisie on the other; and in this long struggle with powerful +rivals they instinctively held together and developed a vigorous esprit +de corps. New members penetrated into their ranks, but these intruders +were so few in number that they were rapidly assimilated without +modifying the general character or recognised ideals of the class, and +without rudely disturbing the fiction of purity of blood. The class thus +assumed more and more the nature of a caste with a peculiar intellectual +and moral culture, and stoutly defended its position and privileges +till the ever-increasing power of the middle classes undermined its +influence. Its fate in different countries has been different. In +Germany it clung to its feudal traditions, and still preserves its +social exclusiveness. In France it was deprived of its political +influence by the Monarchy and crushed by the Revolution. In England +it moderated its pretensions, allied itself with the middle classes, +created under the disguise of constitutional monarchy an aristocratic +republic, and conceded inch by inch, as necessity demanded, a share of +its political influence to the ally that had helped it to curb the Royal +power. Thus the German baron, the French gentilhomme, and the English +nobleman represent three distinct, well-marked types; but amidst all +their diversities they have much in common. They have all preserved to +a greater or less extent a haughty consciousness of innate +inextinguishable superiority over the lower orders, together with a more +or less carefully disguised dislike for the class which has been, and +still is, an aggressive rival. + +The Russian Noblesse has not these characteristics. It was formed out of +more heterogeneous materials, and these materials did not spontaneously +combine to form an organic whole, but were crushed into a conglomerate +mass by the weight of the autocratic power. It never became a +semi-independent factor in the State. What rights and privileges it +possesses it received from the Monarchy, and consequently it has no +deep-rooted jealousy or hatred of the Imperial prerogative. On the other +hand, it has never had to struggle with the other social classes, and +therefore it harbours towards them no feelings of rivalry or hostility. +If we hear a Russian noble speak with indignation of autocracy or with +acrimony of the bourgeoisie, we may be sure that these feelings have +their source, not in traditional conceptions, but in principles learned +from the modern schools of social and political philosophy. The class +to which he belongs has undergone so many transformations that it has no +hoary traditions or deep-rooted prejudices, and always willingly adapts +itself to existing conditions. Indeed, it may be said in general that it +looks more to the future than the past, and is ever ready to accept any +new ideas that wear the badge of progress. Its freedom from traditions +and prejudices makes it singularly susceptible of generous enthusiasm +and capable of vigorous spasmodic action, but calm moral courage and +tenacity of purpose are not among its prominent attributes. In a word, +we find in it neither the peculiar virtues nor the peculiar vices which +are engendered and fostered by an atmosphere of political liberty. + +However we may explain the fact, there is no doubt that the +Russian Noblesse has little or nothing of what we call aristocratic +feeling--little or nothing of that haughty, domineering, exclusive +spirit which we are accustomed to associate with the word aristocracy. +We find plenty of Russians who are proud of their wealth, of their +culture, or of their official position, but we rarely find a Russian +who is proud of his birth or imagines that the fact of his having a +long pedigree gives him any right to political privileges or social +consideration. Hence there is a certain amount of truth in the +oft-repeated saying that there is in reality no aristocracy in Russia. + +Certainly the Noblesse as a whole cannot be called an aristocracy. If +the term is to be used at all, it must be applied to a group of families +which cluster around the Court and form the highest ranks of the +Noblesse. This social aristocracy contains many old families, but its +real basis is official rank and general culture rather than pedigree or +blood. The feudal conceptions of noble birth, good family, and the like +have been adopted by some of its members, but do not form one of +its conspicuous features. Though habitually practising a certain +exclusiveness, it has none of those characteristics of a caste which +we find in the German Adel, and is utterly unable to understand such +institutions as Tafelfähigkeit, by which a man who has not a pedigree of +a certain length is considered unworthy to sit down at a royal table. +It takes rather the English aristocracy as its model, and harbours the +secret hope of one day obtaining a social and political position similar +to that of the nobility and gentry of England. Though it has no peculiar +legal privileges, its actual position in the Administration and at +Court gives its members great facilities for advancement in the public +service. On the other hand, its semi-bureaucratic character, together +with the law and custom of dividing landed property among the children +at the death of their parents, deprives it of stability. New men force +their way into it by official distinction, whilst many of the old +families are compelled by poverty to retire from its ranks. The son of +a small proprietor, or even of a parish priest, may rise to the highest +offices of State, whilst the descendants of the half-mythical Rurik may +descend to the position of peasants. It is said that not very long ago +a certain Prince Krapotkin gained his living as a cabman in St. +Petersburg! + +It is evident, then, that this social aristocracy must not be confounded +with the titled families. Titles do not possess the same value in Russia +as in Western Europe. They are very common--because the titled families +are numerous, and all the children bear the titles of the parents even +while the parents are still alive--and they are by no means always +associated with official rank, wealth, social position, or distinction +of any kind. There are hundreds of princes and princesses who have not +the right to appear at Court, and who would not be admitted into what is +called in St. Petersburg la societe, or indeed into refined society in +any country. + +The only genuine Russian title is Knyaz, commonly translated "Prince." +It is borne by the descendants of Rurik, of the Lithuanian Prince +Ghedimin, and of the Tartar Khans and Murzi officially recognised by the +Tsars. Besides these, there are fourteen families who have adopted it by +Imperial command during the last two centuries. The titles of count +and baron are modern importations, beginning with the time of Peter +the Great. From Peter and his successors about seventy families have +received the title of count and ten that of baron. The latter are all, +with two exceptions, of foreign extraction, and are mostly descended +from Court bankers.* + + * Besides these, there are of course the German counts and + barons of the Baltic Provinces, who are Russian subjects. + +There is a very common idea that Russian nobles are as a rule enormously +rich. This is a mistake. The majority of them are poor. At the time of +the Emancipation, in 1861, there were 100,247 landed proprietors, and +of these, more than 41,000 were possessors of less than twenty-one male +serfs--that is to say, were in a condition of poverty. A proprietor who +was owner of 500 serfs was not considered as by any means very rich, and +yet there were only 3,803 proprietors belonging in that category. There +were a few, indeed, whose possessions were enormous. Count Sheremetief, +for instance, possessed more than 150,000 male serfs, or in other words +more than 300,000 souls; and thirty years ago Count Orloff-Davydof +owned considerably more than half a million of acres. The Demidof family +derive colossal revenues from their mines, and the Strogonofs have +estates which, if put together, would be sufficient in extent to form a +good-sized independent State in Western Europe. The very rich families, +however, are not numerous. The lavish expenditure in which Russian +nobles often indulge indicates too frequently not large fortune, but +simply foolish ostentation and reckless improvidence. + +Perhaps, after having spoken so much about the past history of the +Noblesse, I ought to endeavour to cast its horoscope, or at least to +say something of its probable future. Though predictions are always +hazardous, it is sometimes possible, by tracing the great lines of +history in the past, to follow them for a little distance into the +future. If it be allowable to apply this method of prediction in +the present matter, I should say that the Russian Dvoryanstvo will +assimilate with the other classes, rather than form itself into an +exclusive corporation. Hereditary aristocracies may be preserved--or at +least their decomposition may be retarded--where they happen to exist, +but it seems that they can no longer be created. In Western Europe there +is a large amount of aristocratic sentiment, both in the nobles and in +the people; but it exists in spite of, rather than in consequence of, +actual social conditions. It is not a product of modern society, but an +heirloom that has come down to us from feudal times, when power, wealth, +and culture were in the hands of a privileged few. If there ever was in +Russia a period corresponding to the feudal times in Western Europe, +it has long since been forgotten. There is very little aristocratic +sentiment either in the people or in the nobles, and it is difficult to +imagine any source from which it could now be derived. More than this, +the nobles do not desire to make such an acquisition. In so far as +they have any political aspirations, they aim at securing the political +liberty of the people as a whole, and not at acquiring exclusive rights +and privileges for their own class. + +In that section which I have called a social aristocracy there are a +few individuals who desire to gain exclusive political influence for +the class to which they belong, but there is very little chance of their +succeeding. If their desires were ever by chance realised, we should +probably have a repetition of the scene which occurred in 1730. When in +that year some of the great families raised the Duchess of Courland to +the throne on condition of her ceding part of her power to a supreme +council, the lower ranks of the Noblesse compelled her to tear up the +constitution which she had signed! Those who dislike the autocratic +power dislike the idea of an aristocratic oligarchy infinitely more. +Nobles and people alike seem to hold instinctively the creed of the +French philosopher, who thought it better to be governed by a lion of +good family than by a hundred rats of his own species. + +Of the present condition of the Noblesse I shall again have occasion to +speak when I come to consider the consequences of the Emancipation. + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +LANDED PROPRIETORS OF THE OLD SCHOOL + + +Russian Hospitality--A Country-House--Its Owner Described--His Life, +Past and Present--Winter Evenings--Books---Connection with the Outer +World--The Crimean War and the Emancipation--A Drunken, Dissolute +Proprietor--An Old General and his Wife--"Name Days"--A Legendary +Monster--A Retired Judge--A Clever Scribe--Social Leniency--Cause of +Demoralisation. + + +Of all the foreign countries in which I have travelled, Russia certainly +bears off the palm in the matter of hospitality. Every spring I found +myself in possession of a large number of invitations from landed +proprietors in different parts of the country--far more than I could +possibly accept--and a great part of the summer was generally spent in +wandering about from one country-house to another. I have no intention +of asking the reader to accompany me in all these expeditions--for +though pleasant in reality, they might be tedious in description--but +I wish to introduce him to some typical examples of the landed +proprietors. Among them are to be found nearly all ranks and conditions +of men, from the rich magnate, surrounded with the refined luxury of +West-European civilisation, to the poor, ill-clad, ignorant owner of a +few acres which barely supply him with the necessaries of life. Let us +take, first of all, a few specimens from the middle ranks. + +In one of the central provinces, near the bank of a sluggish, meandering +stream, stands an irregular group of wooden constructions--old, +unpainted, blackened by time, and surmounted by high, sloping roofs +of moss-covered planks. The principal building is a long, one-storied +dwelling-house, constructed at right angles to the road. At the front +of the house is a spacious, ill-kept yard, and at the back an equally +spacious shady garden, in which art carries on a feeble conflict with +encroaching nature. At the other side of the yard, and facing the front +door--or rather the front doors, for there are two--stand the stables, +hay-shed, and granary, and near to that end of the house which is +farthest from the road are two smaller houses, one of which is the +kitchen, and the other the Lyudskaya, or servants' apartments. Beyond +these we can perceive, through a single row of lime-trees, another +group of time-blackened wooden constructions in a still more dilapidated +condition. That is the farmyard. + +There is certainly not much symmetry in the disposition of these +buildings, but there is nevertheless a certain order and meaning in the +apparent chaos. All the buildings which do not require stoves are built +at a considerable distance from the dwelling-house and kitchen, which +are more liable to take fire; and the kitchen stands by itself, because +the odour of cookery where oil is used is by no means agreeable, even +for those whose olfactory nerves are not very sensitive. The plan of the +house is likewise not without a certain meaning. The rigorous separation +of the sexes, which formed a characteristic trait of old Russian +society, has long since disappeared, but its influence may still be +traced in houses built on the old model. The house in question is one of +these, and consequently it is composed of three sections--at the one +end the male apartments, at the other the female apartments, and in the +middle the neutral territory, comprising the dining-room and the salon. +This arrangement has its conveniences, and explains the fact that the +house has two front doors. At the back is a third door, which opens from +the neutral territory into a spacious verandah overlooking the garden. + +Here lives, and has lived for many years, Ivan Ivanovitch K----, a +gentleman of the old school, and a very worthy man of his kind. If we +look at him as he sits in his comfortable armchair, with his capacious +dressing-gown hanging loosely about him, we shall be able to read at a +glance something of his character. Nature endowed him with large bones +and broad shoulders, and evidently intended him to be a man of great +muscular power, but he has contrived to frustrate this benevolent +intention, and has now more fat than muscle. His close-cropped head +is round as a bullet, and his features are massive and heavy, but +the heaviness is relieved by an expression of calm contentment and +imperturbable good-nature, which occasionally blossoms into a broad +grin. His face is one of those on which no amount of histrionic talent +could produce a look of care and anxiety, and for this it is not to +blame, for such an expression has never been demanded of it. Like +other mortals, he sometimes experiences little annoyances, and on such +occasions his small grey eyes sparkle and his face becomes suffused with +a crimson glow that suggests apoplexy; but ill-fortune has never been +able to get sufficiently firm hold of him to make him understand what +such words as care and anxiety mean. Of struggle, disappointment, hope, +and all the other feelings which give to human life a dramatic interest, +he knows little by hearsay and nothing by experience. He has, in +fact, always lived outside of that struggle for existence which modern +philosophers declare to be the law of nature. + +Somewhere about seventy years ago Ivan Ivan'itch was born in the house +where he still lives. His first lessons he received from the parish +priest, and afterwards he was taught by a deacon's son, who had studied +in the ecclesiastical seminary to so little purpose that he was unable +to pass the final examination. By both of these teachers he was treated +with extreme leniency, and was allowed to learn as little as he chose. +His father wished him to study hard, but his mother was afraid that +study might injure his health, and accordingly gave him several holidays +every week. Under these circumstances his progress was naturally +not very rapid, and he was still very slightly acquainted with the +elementary rules of arithmetic, when his father one day declared that he +was already eighteen years of age, and must at once enter the service. + +But what kind of service? Ivan had no natural inclination for any +kind of activity. The project of entering him as a Junker in a cavalry +regiment, the colonel of which was an old friend of the family, did not +at all please him. He had no love for military service, and positively +disliked the prospect of an examination. Whilst seeming, therefore, +to bow implicitly to the paternal authority, he induced his mother to +oppose the scheme. + +The dilemma in which Ivan found himself was this: in deference to his +father he wished to be in the service and gain that official rank +which every Russian noble desires to possess, and at the same time, in +deference to his mother and his own tastes, he wished to remain at home +and continue his indolent mode of life. The Marshal of the Noblesse, who +happened to call one day, helped him out of the difficulty by offering +to inscribe him as secretary in the Dvoryanskaya Opeka, a bureau which +acts as curator for the estates of minors. All the duties of this office +could be fulfilled by a paid secretary, and the nominal occupant would +be periodically promoted as if he were an active official. This was +precisely what Ivan required. He accepted eagerly the proposal, and +obtained, in the course of seven years, without any effort on his +part, the rank of "collegiate secretary," corresponding to the +"capitaine-en-second" of the military hierarchy. To mount higher he +would have had to seek some place where he could not have fulfilled his +duty by proxy, so he determined to rest on his laurels, and sent in his +resignation. + +Immediately after the termination of his official life his married +life began. Before his resignation had been accepted he suddenly found +himself one morning on the high road to matrimony. Here again there was +no effort on his part. The course of true love, which is said never to +run smooth for ordinary mortals, ran smooth for him. He never had even +the trouble of proposing. The whole affair was arranged by his parents, +who chose as bride for their son the only daughter of their nearest +neighbour. The young lady was only about sixteen years of age, and was +not remarkable for beauty, talent, or any other peculiarity, but she had +one very important qualification--she was the daughter of a man who +had an estate contiguous to their own, and who might give as a dowry +a certain bit of land which they had long desired to add to their own +property. The negotiations, being of a delicate nature, were entrusted +to an old lady who had a great reputation for diplomatic skill in such +matters, and she accomplished her mission with such success that in the +course of a few weeks the preliminaries were arranged and the day fixed +for the wedding. Thus Ivan Ivan'itch won his bride as easily as he had +won his tchin of "collegiate secretary." + +Though the bridegroom had received rather than taken to himself a wife, +and did not imagine for a moment that he was in love, he had no reason +to regret the choice that was made for him. Maria Petrovna was exactly +suited by character and education to be the wife of a man like Ivan +Ivan'itch. She had grown up at home in the society of nurses and +servant-maids, and had never learned anything more than could be +obtained from the parish priest and from "Ma'mselle," a personage +occupying a position midway between a servant-maid and a governess. +The first events of her life were the announcement that she was to be +married and the preparations for the wedding. She still remembers the +delight which the purchase of her trousseau afforded her, and keeps in +her memory a full catalogue of the articles bought. The first years +of her married life were not very happy, for she was treated by her +mother-in-law as a naughty child who required to be frequently snubbed +and lectured; but she bore the discipline with exemplary patience, and +in due time became her own mistress and autocratic ruler in all domestic +affairs. From that time she has lived an active, uneventful life. +Between her and her husband there is as much mutual attachment as can +reasonably be expected in phlegmatic natures after half a century of +matrimony. She has always devoted her energies to satisfying his simple +material wants--of intellectual wants he has none--and securing his +comfort in every possible way. Under this fostering care he "effeminated +himself" (obabilsya), as he is wont to say. His love of shooting died +out, he cared less and less to visit his neighbours, and each successive +year he spent more and more time in his comfortable arm-chair. + +The daily life of this worthy couple is singularly regular and +monotonous, varying only with the changing seasons. In summer Ivan +Ivan'itch gets up about seven o'clock, and puts on, with the assistance +of his valet de chambre, a simple costume, consisting chiefly of a +faded, plentifully stained dressing-gown. Having nothing particular +to do, he sits down at the open window and looks into the yard. As the +servants pass he stops and questions them, and then gives them orders, +or scolds them, as circumstances demand. Towards nine o'clock tea is +announced, and he goes into the dining-room--a long, narrow apartment +with bare wooden floor and no furniture but a table and chairs, all in a +more or less rickety condition. Here he finds his wife with the tea-urn +before her. In a few minutes the grandchildren come in, kiss their +grandpapa's hand, and take their places round the table. As this morning +meal consists merely of bread and tea, it does not last long; and all +disperse to their several occupations. The head of the house begins the +labours of the day by resuming his seat at the open window. When he has +smoked some cigarettes and indulged in a proportionate amount of silent +contemplation, he goes out with the intention of visiting the stables +and farmyard, but generally before he has crossed the court he finds the +heat unbearable, and returns to his former position by the open window. +Here he sits tranquilly till the sun has so far moved round that the +verandah at the back of the house is completely in the shade, when he +has his arm-chair removed thither, and sits there till dinner-time. + +Maria Petrovna spends her morning in a more active way. As soon as the +breakfast table has been cleared she goes to the larder, takes stock +of the provisions, arranges the menu du jour, and gives to the cook the +necessary materials, with detailed instructions as to how they are to +be prepared. The rest of the morning she devotes to her other household +duties. + +Towards one o'clock dinner is announced, and Ivan Ivan'itch prepares his +appetite by swallowing at a gulp a wineglassful of home-made bitters. +Dinner is the great event of the day. The food is abundant and of good +quality, but mushrooms, onions, and fat play a rather too important part +in the repast, and the whole is prepared with very little attention +to the recognised principles of culinary hygiene. Many of the dishes, +indeed, would make a British valetudinarian stand aghast, but they seem +to produce no bad effect on those Russian organisms which have never +been weakened by town life, nervous excitement, or intellectual +exertion. + +No sooner has the last dish been removed than a deathlike stillness +falls upon the house: it is the time of the after-dinner siesta. +The young folks go into the garden, and all the other members of the +household give way to the drowsiness naturally engendered by a heavy +meal on a hot summer day. Ivan Ivan'itch retires to his own room, from +which the flies have been carefully expelled. Maria Petrovna dozes in +an arm-chair in the sitting-room, with a pocket-handkerchief spread +over her face. The servants snore in the corridors, the garret, or the +hay-shed; and even the old watch-dog in the corner of the yard stretches +himself out at full length on the shady side of his kennel. + +In about two hours the house gradually re-awakens. Doors begin to creak; +the names of various servants are bawled out in all tones, from bass to +falsetto; and footsteps are heard in the yard. Soon a man-servant issues +from the kitchen bearing an enormous tea-urn, which puffs like a little +steam-engine. The family assembles for tea. In Russia, as elsewhere, +sleep after a heavy meal produces thirst, so that the tea and other +beverages are very acceptable. Then some little delicacies are +served--such as fruit and wild berries, or cucumbers with honey, +or something else of the kind, and the family again disperses. Ivan +Ivan'itch takes a turn in the fields on his begovuiya droshki--an +extremely light vehicle composed of two pairs of wheels joined together +by a single board, on which the driver sits stride-legged; and Maria +Petrovna probably receives a visit from the Popadya (the priest's wife), +who is the chief gossipmonger of the neighbourhood. There is not much +scandal in the district, but what little there is the Popadya carefully +collects, and distributes among her acquaintances with undiscriminating +generosity. + +In the evening it often happens that a little group of peasants come +into the court, and ask to see the "master." The master goes to the +door, and generally finds that they have some favour to request. In +reply to his question, "Well, children, what do you want?" they tell +their story in a confused, rambling way, several of them speaking at a +time, and he has to question and cross-question them before he comes to +understand clearly what they desire. If he tells them he cannot grant +it, they probably do not accept a first refusal, but endeavour by means +of supplication to make him reconsider his decision. Stepping forward +a little, and bowing low, one of the group begins in a half-respectful, +half-familiar, caressing tone: "Little Father, Ivan Ivan'itch, be +gracious; you are our father, and we are your children"--and so on. +Ivan Ivan'itch good-naturedly listens, and again explains that he cannot +grant what they ask; but they have still hopes of gaining their point by +entreaty, and continue their supplications till at last his patience is +exhausted and he says to them in a paternal tone, "Now, enough! enough! +you are blockheads--blockheads all round! There's no use talking; it +can't be done." And with these words he enters the house, so as to +prevent all further discussion. + +A regular part of the evening's occupation is the interview with the +steward. The work that has just been done, and the programme for the +morrow, are always discussed at great length; and much time is spent in +speculating as to the weather during the next few days. On this latter +point the calendar is always carefully consulted, and great confidence +is placed in its predictions, though past experience has often shown +that they are not to be implicitly trusted. The conversation drags on +till supper is announced, and immediately after that meal, which is an +abridged repetition of dinner, all retire for the night. + +Thus pass the days and weeks and months in the house of Ivan Ivan'itch, +and rarely is there any deviation from the ordinary programme. The +climate necessitates, of course, some slight modifications. When it is +cold, the doors and windows have to be kept shut, and after heavy rains +those who do not like to wade in mud have to remain in the house +or garden. In the long winter evenings the family assembles in the +sitting-room, and all kill time as best they can. Ivan Ivan'itch smokes +and meditates or listens to the barrel-organ played by one of the +children. Maria Petrovna knits a stocking. The old aunt, who commonly +spends the winter with them, plays Patience, and sometimes draws from +the game conclusions as to the future. Her favourite predictions are +that a stranger will arrive, or that a marriage will take place, and she +can determine the sex of the stranger and the colour of the bridegroom's +hair; but beyond this her art does not go, and she cannot satisfy the +young ladies' curiosity as to further details. + +Books and newspapers are rarely seen in the sitting-room, but for those +who wish to read there is a book-case full of miscellaneous literature, +which gives some idea of the literary tastes of the family during +several generations. The oldest volumes were bought by Ivan Ivan'itch's +grandfather--a man who, according to the family traditions, enjoyed the +confidence of the great Catherine. Though wholly overlooked by recent +historians, he was evidently a man who had some pretensions to culture. +He had his portrait painted by a foreign artist of considerable +talent--it still hangs in the sitting-room--and he bought several pieces +of Sevres ware, the last of which stands on a commode in the corner +and contrasts strangely with the rude home-made furniture and squalid +appearance of the apartment. Among the books which bear his name are +the tragedies of Sumarokof, who imagined himself to be "the Russian +Voltaire"; the amusing comedies of Von-Wisin, some of which still keep +the stage; the loud-sounding odes of the courtly Derzhavin; two or three +books containing the mystic wisdom of Freemasonry as interpreted by +Schwarz and Novikoff; Russian translations of Richardson's "Pamela," +"Sir Charles Grandison," and "Clarissa Harlowe"; Rousseau's "Nouvelle +Heloise," in Russian garb; and three or four volumes of Voltaire in +the original. Among the works collected at a somewhat later period are +translations of Ann Radcliffe, of Scott's early novels, and of Ducray +Dumenil, whose stories, "Lolotte et Fanfan" and "Victor," once enjoyed a +great reputation. At this point the literary tastes of the family +appear to have died out, for the succeeding literature is represented +exclusively by Kryloff's Fables, a farmer's manual, a handbook of family +medicine, and a series of calendars. There are, however, some signs of +a revival, for on the lowest shelf stand recent editions of Pushkin, +Lermontof, and Gogol, and a few works by living authors. + +Sometimes the monotony of the winter is broken by visiting neighbours +and receiving visitors in return, or in a more decided way by a visit +of a few days to the capital of the province. In the latter case Maria +Petrovna spends nearly all her time in shopping, and brings home a large +collection of miscellaneous articles. The inspection of these by the +assembled family forms an important domestic event, which completely +throws into the shade the occasional visits of peddlers and colporteurs. +Then there are the festivities at Christmas and Easter, and occasionally +little incidents of less agreeable kind. It may be that there is a heavy +fall of snow, so that it is necessary to cut roads to the kitchen and +stables; or wolves enter the courtyard at night and have a fight with +the watch-dogs; or the news is brought that a peasant who had been +drinking in a neighbouring village has been found frozen to death on the +road. + +Altogether the family live a very isolated life, but they have one bond +of connection with the great outer world. Two of the sons are officers +in the army and both of them write home occasionally to their mother +and sisters. To these two youths is devoted all the little stock of +sentimentality which Maria Petrovna possesses. She can talk of them +by the hour to any one who will listen to her, and has related to the +Popadya a hundred times every trivial incident of their lives. Though +they have never given her much cause for anxiety, and they are now men +of middle age, she lives in constant fear that some evil may befall +them. What she most fears is that they may be sent on a campaign or may +fall in love with actresses. War and actresses are, in fact, the two +bug-bears of her existence, and whenever she has a disquieting dream she +asks the priest to offer up a moleben for the safety of her absent +ones. Sometimes she ventures to express her anxiety to her husband, and +recommends him to write to them; but he considers writing a letter a +very serious bit of work, and always replies evasively, "Well, well, we +must think about it." + +During the Crimean War Ivan Ivan'itch half awoke from his habitual +lethargy, and read occasionally the meagre official reports published by +the Government. He was a little surprised that no great victories were +reported, and that the army did not at once advance on Constantinople. +As to causes he never speculated. Some of his neighbours told him that +the army was disorganised, and the whole system of Nicholas had been +proved to be utterly worthless. That might all be very true, but he did +not understand military and political matters. No doubt it would all +come right in the end. All did come right, after a fashion, and he again +gave up reading newspapers; but ere long he was startled by reports much +more alarming than any rumours of war. People began to talk about +the peasant question, and to say openly that the serfs must soon be +emancipated. For once in his life Ivan Ivan'itch asked explanations. +Finding one of his neighbours, who had always been a respectable, +sensible man, and a severe disciplinarian, talking in this way, he took +him aside and asked what it all meant. The neighbour explained that the +old order of things had shown itself bankrupt and was doomed, that a +new epoch was opening, that everything was to be reformed, and that +the Emperor, in accordance with a secret clause of the Treaty with the +Allies, was about to grant a Constitution! Ivan Ivan'itch listened for +a little in silence, and then, with a gesture of impatience, interrupted +the speaker: "Polno duratchitsya! enough of fun and tomfoolery. Vassili +Petrovitch, tell me seriously what you mean." + +When Vassili Petrovitch vowed that he spoke in all seriousness, his +friend gazed at him with a look of intense compassion, and remarked, as +he turned away, "So you, too, have gone out of your mind!" + +The utterances of Vassili Petrovitch, which his lethargic, sober-minded +friend regarded as indicating temporary insanity in the speaker, +represented fairly the mental condition of very many Russian nobles at +that time, and were not without a certain foundation. The idea about a +secret clause in the Treaty of Paris was purely imaginary, but it was +quite true that the country was entering on an epoch of great reforms, +among which the Emancipation question occupied the chief place. Of +this even the sceptical Ivan Ivan'itch was soon convinced. The Emperor +formally declared to the Noblesse of the province of Moscow that the +actual state of things could not continue forever, and called on the +landed proprietors to consider by what means the condition of their +serfs might be ameliorated. Provincial committees were formed for the +purpose of preparing definite projects, and gradually it became apparent +that the emancipation of the serfs was really at hand. + +Ivan Ivan'itch was alarmed at the prospect of losing his authority +over his serfs. Though he had never been a cruel taskmaster, he had not +spared the rod when he considered it necessary, and he believed birch +twigs to be a necessary instrument in the Russian system of agriculture. +For some time he drew consolation from the thought that peasants were +not birds of the air, that they must under all circumstances require +food and clothing, and that they would be ready to serve him as +agricultural labourers; but when he learned that they were to receive +a large part of the estate for their own use, his hopes fell, and he +greatly feared that he would be inevitably ruined. + +These dark forebodings have not been by any means realised. His serfs +were emancipated and received about a half of the estate, but in return +for the land ceded they paid him annually a considerable sum, and they +were always ready to cultivate his fields for a fair remuneration. The +yearly outlay was considerably greater, but the price of grain rose, +and this counterbalanced the additional yearly expenditure. The +administration of the estate has become much less patriarchal; much that +was formerly left to custom and tacit understanding is now regulated +by express agreement on purely commercial principles; a great deal more +money is paid out and a great deal more received; there is much less +authority in the hands of the master, and his responsibilities are +proportionately diminished; but in spite of all these changes, Ivan +Ivan'itch would have great difficulty in deciding whether he is a richer +or a poorer man. He has fewer horses and fewer servants, but he has +still more than he requires, and his mode of life has undergone no +perceptible alteration. Maria Petrovna complains that she is no longer +supplied with eggs, chickens, and homespun linen by the peasants, and +that everything is three times as dear as it used to be; but somehow the +larder is still full, and abundance reigns in the house as of old. + +Ivan Ivan'itch certainly does not possess transcendent qualities of any +kind. It would be impossible to make a hero out of him, even though his +own son should be his biographer. Muscular Christians may reasonably +despise him, an active, energetic man may fairly condemn him for +his indolence and apathy. But, on the other hand, he has no very +bad qualities. His vices are of the passive, negative kind. He is a +respectable if not a distinguished member of society, and appears a +very worthy man when compared with many of his neighbours who have +been brought up in similar conditions. Take, for instance, his younger +brother Dimitri, who lives a short way off. + +Dimitri Ivanovitch, like his brother Ivan, had been endowed by nature +with a very decided repugnance to prolonged intellectual exertion, +but as he was a man of good parts he did not fear a Junker's +examination--especially when he could count on the colonel's +protection--and accordingly entered the army. In his regiment were a +number of jovial young officers like himself, always ready to relieve +the monotony of garrison life by boisterous dissipation, and among these +he easily acquired the reputation of being a thoroughly good fellow. In +drinking bouts he could hold his own with the best of them, and in all +mad pranks invariably played the chief part. By this means he endeared +himself to his comrades, and for a time all went well. The colonel had +himself sown wild oats plentifully in his youth, and was quite disposed +to overlook, as far as possible, the bacchanalian peccadilloes of his +subordinates. But before many years had passed, the regiment suddenly +changed its character. Certain rumours had reached headquarters, and the +Emperor Nicholas appointed as colonel a stern disciplinarian of German +origin, who aimed at making the regiment a kind of machine that should +work with the accuracy of a chronometer. + +This change did not at all suit the tastes of Dimitri Ivan'itch. He +chafed under the new restraints, and as soon as he had gained the rank +of lieutenant retired from the service to enjoy the freedom of country +life. Shortly afterwards his father died, and he thereby became owner of +an estate, with two hundred serfs. He did not, like his elder brother, +marry, and "effeminate himself," but he did worse. In his little +independent kingdom--for such was practically a Russian estate in the +good old times--he was lord of all he surveyed, and gave full scope to +his boisterous humour, his passion for sport, and his love of drinking +and dissipation. Many of the mad pranks in which he indulged will long +be preserved by popular tradition, but they cannot well be related here. + +Dimitri Ivan'itch is now a man long past middle age, and still continues +his wild, dissipated life. His house resembles an ill-kept, disreputable +tavern. The floor is filthy, the furniture chipped and broken, the +servants indolent, slovenly, and in rags. Dogs of all breeds and sizes +roam about the rooms and corridors. The master, when not asleep, is +always in a more or less complete state of intoxication. Generally +he has one or two guests staying with him--men of the same type as +himself--and days and nights are spent in drinking and card-playing. +When he cannot have his usual boon-companions he sends for one or two +small proprietors who live near--men who are legally nobles, but who are +so poor that they differ little from peasants. Formerly, when ordinary +resources failed, he occasionally had recourse to the violent expedient +of ordering his servants to stop the first passing travellers, +whoever they might be, and bring them in by persuasion or force, as +circumstances might demand. If the travellers refused to accept +such rough, undesired hospitality, a wheel would be taken off their +tarantass, or some indispensable part of the harness would be secreted, +and they might consider themselves fortunate if they succeeded in +getting away next morning.* + + * This custom has fortunately gone out of fashion even in + outlying districts, but an incident of the kind happened to + a friend of mine as late as 1871. He was detained against + his will for two whole days by a man whom he had never seen + before, and at last effected his escape by bribing the + servants of his tyrannical host. + +In the time of serfage the domestic serfs had much to bear from their +capricious, violent master. They lived in an atmosphere of abusive +language, and were subjected not unfrequently to corporal punishment. +Worse than this, their master was constantly threatening to "shave their +forehead"--that is to say, to give them as recruits--and occasionally he +put his threat into execution, in spite of the wailings and entreaties +of the culprit and his relations. And yet, strange to say, nearly all of +them remained with him as free servants after the Emancipation. + +In justice to the Russian landed proprietors, I must say that the class +represented by Dimitri Ivan'itch has now almost disappeared. It was the +natural result of serfage and social stagnation--of a state of society +in which there were few legal and moral restraints, and few inducements +to honourable activity. + +Among the other landed proprietors of the district, one of the best +known is Nicolai Petrovitch B----, an old military man with the rank of +general. Like Ivan Ivan'itch, he belongs to the old school; but the two +men must be contrasted rather than compared. The difference in their +lives and characters is reflected in their outward appearance. Ivan +Ivan'itch, as we know, is portly in form and heavy in all his movements, +and loves to loll in his arm-chair or to loaf about the house in a +capacious dressing-gown. The General, on the contrary, is thin, wiry, +and muscular, wears habitually a close-buttoned military tunic, and +always has a stern expression, the force of which is considerably +augmented by a bristly moustache resembling a shoe-brush. As he paces up +and down the room, knitting his brows and gazing at the floor, he looks +as if he were forming combinations of the first magnitude; but those who +know him well are aware that this is an optical delusion, of which he +is himself to some extent a victim. He is quite innocent of deep thought +and concentrated intellectual effort. Though he frowns so fiercely he is +by no means of a naturally ferocious temperament. Had he passed all +his life in the country he would probably have been as good-natured and +phlegmatic as Ivan Ivan'itch himself, but, unlike that worshipper of +tranquillity, he had aspired to rise in the service, and had adopted +the stern, formal bearing which the Emperor Nicholas considered +indispensable in an officer. The manner which he had at first put on as +part of his uniform became by the force of habit almost a part of his +nature, and at the age of thirty he was a stern disciplinarian and +uncompromising formalist, who confined his attention exclusively to +drill and other military duties. Thus he rose steadily by his own merit, +and reached the goal of his early ambition--the rank of general. + +As soon as this point was reached he determined to leave the service and +retire to his property. Many considerations urged him to take this step. +He enjoyed the title of Excellency which he had long coveted, and when +he put on his full uniform his breast was bespangled with medals and +decorations. Since the death of his father the revenues of his estate +had been steadily decreasing, and report said that the best wood in his +forest was rapidly disappearing. His wife had no love for the country, +and would have preferred to settle in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but they +found that with their small income they could not live in a large town +in a style suitable to their rank. + +The General determined to introduce order into his estate, and become +a practical farmer; but a little experience convinced him that his new +functions were much more difficult than the commanding of a regiment. He +has long since given over the practical management of the property to a +steward, and he contents himself with exercising what he imagines to be +an efficient control. Though he wishes to do much, he finds small scope +for his activity, and spends his days in pretty much the same way as +Ivan Ivan'itch, with this difference, that he plays cards whenever he +gets an opportunity, and reads regularly the Moscow Gazette and Russki +Invalid, the official military paper. What specially interests him is +the list of promotions, retirements, and Imperial rewards for merit and +seniority. When he sees the announcement that some old comrade has been +made an officer of his Majesty's suite or has received a grand cordon, +he frowns a little more than usual, and is tempted to regret that he +retired from the service. Had he waited patiently, perhaps a bit of +good fortune might have fallen likewise to his lot. This idea takes +possession of him, and during the remainder of the day he is taciturn +and morose. His wife notices the change, and knows the reason of it, but +has too much good sense and tact to make any allusion to the subject. + +Anna Alexandrovna--as the good lady is called--is an elderly dame +who does not at all resemble the wife of Ivan Ivan'itch. She was long +accustomed to a numerous military society, with dinner-parties, dancing, +promenades, card-playing, and all the other amusements of garrison life, +and she never contracted a taste for domestic concerns. Her knowledge of +culinary affairs is extremely vague, and she has no idea of how to +make preserves, nalivka, and other home-made delicacies, though Maria +Petrovna, who is universally acknowledged to be a great adept in such +matters, has proposed a hundred times to give her some choice recipes. +In short, domestic affairs are a burden to her, and she entrusts them +as far as possible to the housekeeper. Altogether she finds country life +very tiresome, but, possessing that placid, philosophical temperament +which seems to have some casual connection with corpulence, she submits +without murmuring, and tries to lighten a little the unavoidable +monotony by paying visits and receiving visitors. The neighbours within +a radius of twenty miles are, with few exceptions, more or less of +the Ivan Ivan'itch and Maria Petrovna type--decidedly rustic in their +manners and conceptions; but their company is better than absolute +solitude, and they have at least the good quality of being always able +and willing to play cards for any number of hours. Besides this, Anna +Alexandrovna has the satisfaction of feeling that amongst them she is +almost a great personage, and unquestionably an authority in all matters +of taste and fashion; and she feels specially well disposed towards +those of them who frequently address her as "Your Excellency." + +The chief festivities take place on the "name-days" of the General and +his spouse--that is to say, the days sacred to St. Nicholas and +St. Anna. On these occasions all the neighbours come to offer their +congratulations, and remain to dinner as a matter of course. After +dinner the older visitors sit down to cards, and the young people +extemporise a dance. The fete is specially successful when the eldest +son comes home to take part in it, and brings a brother officer with +him. He is now a general like his father.* In days gone by one of his +comrades was expected to offer his hand to Olga Nekola'vna, the second +daughter, a delicate young lady who had been educated in one of the +great Instituts--gigantic boarding-schools, founded and kept up by the +Government, for the daughters of those who are supposed to have deserved +well of their country. Unfortunately the expected offer was never made, +and she and her sister live at home as old maids, bewailing the absence +of "civilised" society, and killing time in a harmless, elegant way by +means of music, needlework, and light literature. + + * Generals are much more common in Russia than in other + countries. A few years ago there was an old lady in Moscow + who had a family of ten sons, all of whom were generals! + The rank may be obtained in the civil as well as the + military service. + +At these "name-day" gatherings one used to meet still more interesting +specimens of the old school. One of them I remember particularly. He was +a tall, corpulent old man, in a threadbare frock-coat, which wrinkled +up about his waist. His shaggy eyebrows almost covered his small, dull +eyes, his heavy moustache partially concealed a large mouth strongly +indicating sensuous tendencies. His hair was cut so short that it was +difficult to say what its colour would be if it were allowed to grow. +He always arrived in his tarantass just in time for the zakuska--the +appetising collation that is served shortly before dinner--grunted out +a few congratulations to the host and hostess and monosyllabic greetings +to his acquaintances, ate a copious meal, and immediately afterwards +placed himself at a card-table, where he sat in silence as long as he +could get any one to play with him. People did not like, however, to +play with Andrei Vassil'itch, for his society was not agreeable, and he +always contrived to go home with a well-filled purse. + +Andrei Vassil'itch was a noted man in the neighbourhood. He was the +centre of a whole cycle of legends, and I have often heard that his name +was used with effect by nurses to frighten naughty children. I never +missed an opportunity of meeting him, for I was curious to see and study +a legendary monster in the flesh. How far the numerous stories told +about him were true I cannot pretend to say, but they were certainly +not without foundation. In his youth he had served for some time in the +army, and was celebrated, even in an age when martinets had always a +good chance of promotion, for his brutality to his subordinates. His +career was cut short, however, when he had only the rank of captain. +Having compromised himself in some way, he found it advisable to send in +his resignation and retire to his estate. Here he organised his house on +Mahometan rather than Christian principles, and ruled his servants and +peasants as he had been accustomed to rule his soldiers--using corporal +punishment in merciless fashion. His wife did not venture to protest +against the Mahometan arrangements, and any peasant who stood in the way +of their realisation was at once given as a recruit, or transported to +Siberia, in accordance with his master's demand.* At last his tyranny +and extortion drove his serfs to revolt. One night his house was +surrounded and set on fire, but he contrived to escape the fate that was +prepared for him, and caused all who had taken part in the revolt to +be mercilessly punished. This was a severe lesson, but it had no effect +upon him. Taking precautions against a similar surprise, he continued +to tyrannise and extort as before, until in 1861 the serfs were +emancipated, and his authority came to an end. + + * When a proprietor considered any of his serfs unruly he + could, according to law, have them transported to Siberia + without trial, on condition of paying the expenses of + transport. Arrived at their destination, they received + land, and lived as free colonists, with the single + restriction that they were not allowed to leave the locality + where they settled. + +A very different sort of man was Pavel Trophim'itch, who likewise came +regularly to pay his respects and present his congratulations to the +General and "Gheneralsha."* It was pleasant to turn from the hard, +wrinkled, morose features of the legendary monster to the soft, smooth, +jovial face of this man, who had been accustomed to look at the bright +side of things, till his face had caught something of their brightness. +"A good, jovial, honest face!" a stranger might exclaim as he looked at +him. Knowing something of his character and history, I could not endorse +such an opinion. Jovial he certainly was, for few men were more capable +of making and enjoying mirth. Good he might be also called, if the word +were taken in the sense of good-natured, for he never took offence, +and was always ready to do a kindly action if it did not cost him any +trouble. But as to his honesty, that required some qualification. Wholly +untarnished his reputation certainly could not be, for he had been a +judge in the District Court before the time of the judicial reforms; +and, not being a Cato, he had succumbed to the usual temptations. He had +never studied law, and made no pretensions to the possession of great +legal knowledge. To all who would listen to him he declared openly +that he knew much more about pointers and setters than about legal +formalities. But his estate was very small, and he could not afford to +give up his appointment. + + * The female form of the word General. + +Of these unreformed Courts, which are happily among the things of the +past, I shall have occasion to speak in the sequel. For the present I +wish merely to say that they were thoroughly corrupt, and I hasten to +add that Pavel Trophim'itch was by no means a judge of the worst kind. +He had been known to protect widows and orphans against those who wished +to despoil them, and no amount of money would induce him to give an +unjust decision against a friend who had privately explained the case to +him; but when he knew nothing of the case or of the parties he readily +signed the decision prepared by the secretary, and quietly pocketed the +proceeds, without feeling any very disagreeable twinges of conscience. +All judges, he knew, did likewise, and he had no pretension to being +better than his fellows. + +When Pavel Trophim'itch played cards at the General's house or +elsewhere, a small, awkward, clean-shaven man, with dark eyes and a +Tartar cast of countenance, might generally be seen sitting at the same +table. His name was Alexei Petrovitch T----. Whether he really had any +Tartar blood in him it is impossible to say, but certainly his ancestors +for one or two generations were all good orthodox Christians. His father +had been a poor military surgeon in a marching regiment, and he himself +had become at an early age a scribe in one of the bureaux of the +district town. He was then very poor, and had great difficulty in +supporting life on the miserable pittance which he received as a salary; +but he was a sharp, clever youth, and soon discovered that even a scribe +had a great many opportunities of extorting money from the ignorant +public. + +These opportunities Alexei Petrovitch used with great ability, +and became known as one of the most accomplished bribe-takers +(vzyatotchniki) in the district. His position, however, was so very +subordinate that he would never have become rich had he not fallen upon +a very ingenious expedient which completely succeeded. Hearing that a +small proprietor, who had an only daughter, had come to live in the town +for a few weeks, he took a room in the inn where the newcomers lived, +and when he had made their acquaintance he fell dangerously ill. Feeling +his last hours approaching, he sent for a priest, confided to him that +he had amassed a large fortune, and requested that a will should be +drawn up. In the will he bequeathed large sums to all his relations, and +a considerable sum to the parish church. The whole affair was to be kept +a secret till after his death, but his neighbour--the old gentleman with +the daughter--was called in to act as a witness. When all this had been +done he did not die, but rapidly recovered, and now induced the old +gentleman to whom he had confided his secret to grant him his daughter's +hand. The daughter had no objections to marry a man possessed of such +wealth, and the marriage was duly celebrated. Shortly after this the +father died--without discovering, it is to be hoped, the hoax that had +been perpetrated--and Alexei Petrovitch became virtual possessor of +a very comfortable little estate. With the change in his fortunes he +completely changed his principles, or at least his practice. In all his +dealings he was strictly honest. He lent money, it is true, at from ten +to fifteen per cent., but that was considered in these parts not a very +exorbitant rate of interest, nor was he unnecessarily hard upon his +debtors. + +It may seem strange that an honourable man like the General should +receive in his house such a motley company, comprising men of decidedly +tarnished reputation; but in this respect he was not at all peculiar. +One constantly meets in Russian society persons who are known to +have been guilty of flagrant dishonesty, and we find that men who are +themselves honourable enough associate with them on friendly terms. This +social leniency, moral laxity, or whatever else it may be called, is the +result of various causes. Several concurrent influences have tended to +lower the moral standard of the Noblesse. Formerly, when the noble lived +on his estate, he could play with impunity the petty tyrant, and could +freely indulge his legitimate and illegitimate caprices without any +legal or moral restraint. I do not at all mean to assert that all +proprietors abused their authority, but I venture to say that no class +of men can long possess such enormous arbitrary power over those around +them without being thereby more or less demoralised. When the noble +entered the service he had not the same immunity from restraint--on +the contrary, his position resembled rather that of the serf--but he +breathed an atmosphere of peculation and jobbery, little conducive to +moral purity and uprightness. If an official had refused to associate +with those who were tainted with the prevailing vices, he would have +found himself completely isolated, and would have been ridiculed as a +modern Don Quixote. Add to this that all classes of the Russian people +have a certain kindly, apathetic good-nature which makes them very +charitable towards their neighbours, and that they do not always +distinguish between forgiving private injury and excusing public +delinquencies. If we bear all this in mind, we may readily understand +that in the time of serfage and maladministration a man could be +guilty of very reprehensible practises without incurring social +excommunication. + +During the period of moral awakening, after the Crimean War and the +death of Nicholas I., society revelled in virtuous indignation against +the prevailing abuses, and placed on the pillory the most prominent +delinquents; but the intensity of the moral feeling has declined, and +something of the old apathy has returned. This might have been predicted +by any one well acquainted with the character and past history of the +Russian people. Russia advances on the road of progress, not in that +smooth, gradual, prosaic way to which we are accustomed, but by a series +of unconnected, frantic efforts, each of which is naturally followed by +a period of temporary exhaustion. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +PROPRIETORS OF THE MODERN SCHOOL + + +A Russian Petit Maitre--His House and Surroundings--Abortive Attempts +to Improve Agriculture and the Condition of the Serfs--A Comparison--A +"Liberal" Tchinovnik--His Idea of Progress--A Justice of the Peace--His +Opinion of Russian Literature, Tchinovniks, and Petits Maitres--His +Supposed and Real Character--An Extreme Radical--Disorders in +the Universities--Administrative Procedure--Russia's Capacity for +Accomplishing Political and Social Evolutions--A Court Dignitary in his +Country House. + + +Hitherto I have presented to the reader old-fashioned types which were +common enough thirty years ago, when I first resided in Russia, but +which are rapidly disappearing. Let me now present a few of the modern +school. + +In the same district as Ivan Ivan'itch and the General lives Victor +Alexandr'itch L----. As we approach his house we can at once perceive +that he differs from the majority of his neighbours. The gate is painted +and moves easily on its hinges, the fence is in good repair, the short +avenue leading up to the front door is well kept, and in the garden we +can perceive at a glance that more attention is paid to flowers than +to vegetables. The house is of wood, and not large, but it has some +architectural pretensions in the form of a great, pseudo-Doric wooden +portico that covers three-fourths of the façade. In the interior +we remark everywhere the influence of Western civilisation. Victor +Alexandr'itch is by no means richer than Ivan Ivan'itch, but his rooms +are much more luxuriously furnished. The furniture is of a lighter +model, more comfortable, and in a much better state of preservation. +Instead of the bare, scantily furnished sitting-room, with the +old-fashioned barrel-organ which played only six airs, we find an +elegant drawing-room, with a piano by one of the most approved makers, +and numerous articles of foreign manufacture, comprising a small buhl +table and two bits of genuine old Wedgwood. The servants are clean, +and dressed in European costume. The master, too, is very different +in appearance. He pays great attention to his toilette, wearing a +dressing-gown only in the early morning, and a fashionable lounging +coat during the rest of the day. The Turkish pipes which his grandfather +loved he holds in abhorrence, and habitually smokes cigarettes. With his +wife and daughters he always speaks French, and calls them by French or +English names. + +But the part of the house which most strikingly illustrates the +difference between old and new is "le cabinet de monsieur." In the +cabinet of Ivan Ivan'itch the furniture consists of a broad sofa which +serves as a bed, a few deal chairs, and a clumsy deal table, on which +are generally to be found a bundle of greasy papers, an old chipped +ink-bottle, a pen, and a calendar. The cabinet of Victor Alexandr'itch +has an entirely different appearance. It is small, but at once +comfortable and elegant. The principal objects which it contains are a +library-table, with ink-stand, presse-papier, paper-knives, and other +articles in keeping, and in the opposite corner a large bookcase. The +collection of books is remarkable, not from the number of volumes or +the presence of rare editions, but from the variety of the subjects. +History, art, fiction, the drama, political economy, and agriculture +are represented in about equal proportions. Some of the works are +in Russian, others in German, a large number in French, and a few +in Italian. The collection illustrates the former life and present +occupations of the owner. + +The father of Victor Alexandr'itch was a landed proprietor who had +made a successful career in the civil service, and desired that his son +should follow the same profession. For this purpose Victor was first +carefully trained at home, and then sent to the University of Moscow, +where he spent four years as a student of law. From the University he +passed to the Ministry of the Interior in St. Petersburg, but he found +the monotonous routine of official life not at all suited to his taste, +and very soon sent in his resignation. The death of his father had made +him proprietor of an estate, and thither he retired, hoping to find +there plenty of occupation more congenial than the writing of official +papers. + +At the University of Moscow he had attended lectures on history and +philosophy, and had got through a large amount of desultory reading. +The chief result of his studies was the acquisition of many ill-digested +general principles, and certain vague, generous, humanitarian +aspirations. With this intellectual capital he hoped to lead a useful +life in the country. When he had repaired and furnished the house he set +himself to improve the estate. In the course of his promiscuous reading +he had stumbled on some descriptions of English and Tuscan agriculture, +and had there learned what wonders might be effected by a rational +system of farming. Why should not Russia follow the example of England +and Tuscany? By proper drainage, plentiful manure, good ploughs, and the +cultivation of artificial grasses, the production might be multiplied +tenfold; and by the introduction of agricultural machines the manual +labour might be greatly diminished. All this seemed as simple as a sum +in arithmetic, and Victor Alexandr'itch, more scholarum rei familiaris +ignarus, without a moment's hesitation expended his ready money in +procuring from England a threshing-machine, ploughs, harrows, and other +implements of the newest model. + +The arrival of these was an event that was long remembered. The peasants +examined them with attention, not unmixed with wonder, but said nothing. +When the master explained to them the advantages of the new +instruments, they still remained silent. Only one old man, gazing at the +threshing-machine, remarked, in an audible "aside," "A cunning people, +these Germans!"* On being asked for their opinion, they replied vaguely, +"How should we know? It OUGHT to be so." But when their master had +retired, and was explaining to his wife and the French governess that +the chief obstacle to progress in Russia was the apathetic indolence and +conservative spirit of the peasantry, they expressed their opinions more +freely. "These may be all very well for the Germans, but they won't do +for us. How are our little horses to drag these big ploughs? And as for +that [the threshing-machine], it's of no use." Further examination +and reflection confirmed this first impression, and it was unanimously +decided that no good would come of the new-fangled inventions. + + * The Russian peasant comprehends all the inhabitants of + Western Europe under the term Nyemtsi, which in the language + of the educated designates only Germans. The rest of + humanity is composed of Pravoslavniye (Greek Orthodox), + Busurmanye (Mahometans), and Poliacki (Poles). + +These apprehensions proved to be only too well founded. The ploughs were +much too heavy for the peasants' small horses, and the threshing-machine +broke down at the first attempt to use it. For the purchase of lighter +implements or stronger horses there was no ready money, and for the +repairing of the threshing-machine there was not an engineer within a +radius of a hundred and fifty miles. The experiment was, in short, a +complete failure, and the new purchases were put away out of sight. + +For some weeks after this incident Victor Alexandr'itch felt very +despondent, and spoke more than usual about the apathy and stupidity of +the peasantry. His faith in infallible science was somewhat shaken, and +his benevolent aspirations were for a time laid aside. But this eclipse +of faith was not of long duration. Gradually he recovered his normal +condition, and began to form new schemes. From the study of certain +works on political economy he learned that the system of communal +property was ruinous to the fertility of the soil, and that free +labour was always more productive than serfage. By the light of these +principles he discovered why the peasantry in Russia were so poor, and +by what means their condition could he ameliorated. The Communal land +should be divided into family lots, and the serfs, instead of being +forced to work for the proprietor, should pay a yearly sum as rent. The +advantages of this change he perceived clearly--as clearly as he +had formerly perceived the advantages of English agricultural +implements--and he determined to make the experiment on his own estate. + +His first step was to call together the more intelligent and influential +of his serfs, and to explain to them his project; but his efforts at +explanation were eminently unsuccessful. Even with regard to ordinary +current affairs he could not express himself in that simple, homely +language with which alone the peasants are familiar, and when he spoke +on abstract subjects he naturally became quite unintelligible to his +uneducated audience. The serfs listened attentively, but understood +nothing. He might as well have spoken to them, as he often did in +another kind of society, about the comparative excellence of Italian +and German music. At a second attempt he had rather more success. The +peasants came to understand that what he wished was to break up the Mir, +or rural Commune, and to put them all on obrok--that is to say, +make them pay a yearly sum instead of giving him a certain amount of +agricultural labour. Much to his astonishment, his scheme did not meet +with any sympathy. As to being put on obrok, the serfs did not much +object, though they preferred to remain as they were; but his proposal +to break up the Mir astonished and bewildered them. They regarded it +as a sea-captain might regard the proposal of a scientific wiseacre +to knock a hole in the ship's bottom in order to make her sail faster. +Though they did not say much, he was intelligent enough to see that they +would offer a strenuous passive resistance, and as he did not wish +to act tyrannically, he let the matter drop. Thus a second benevolent +scheme was shipwrecked. Many other schemes had a similar fate, and +Victor Alexandr'itch began to perceive that it was very difficult to +do good in this world, especially when the persons to be benefited were +Russian peasants. + +In reality the fault lay less with the serfs than with their master. +Victor Alexandr'itch was by no means a stupid man. On the contrary, he +had more than average talents. Few men were more capable of grasping +a new idea and forming a scheme for its realisation, and few men could +play more dexterously with abstract principles. What he wanted was +the power of dealing with concrete facts. The principles which he had +acquired from University lectures and desultory reading were far too +vague and abstract for practical use. He had studied abstract science +without gaining any technical knowledge of details, and consequently +when he stood face to face with real life he was like a student who, +having studied mechanics in text-books, is suddenly placed in a workshop +and ordered to construct a machine. Only there was one difference: +Victor Alexandr'itch was not ordered to do anything. Voluntarily, +without any apparent necessity, he set himself to work with tools which +he could not handle. It was this that chiefly puzzled the peasants. Why +should he trouble himself with these new schemes, when he might live +comfortably as he was? In some of his projects they could detect a +desire to increase the revenue, but in others they could discover +no such motive. In these latter they attributed his conduct to pure +caprice, and put it into the same category as those mad pranks in which +proprietors of jovial humour sometimes indulged. + +In the last years of serfage there were a good many landed proprietors +like Victor Alexandr'itch--men who wished to do something beneficent, +and did not know how to do it. When serfage was being abolished the +majority of these men took an active part in the great work and rendered +valuable service to their country. Victor Alexandr'itch acted otherwise. +At first he sympathised warmly with the proposed emancipation and +wrote several articles on the advantages of free labour, but when the +Government took the matter into its own hands he declared that the +officials had deceived and slighted the Noblesse, and he went over to +the opposition. Before the Imperial Edict was signed he went abroad, and +travelled for three years in Germany, France, and Italy. Shortly after +his return he married a pretty, accomplished young lady, the daughter of +an eminent official in St. Petersburg, and since that time he has lived +in his country-house. + +Though a man of education and culture, Victor Alexandr'itch spends his +time in almost as indolent a way as the men of the old school. He rises +somewhat later, and instead of sitting by the open window and gazing +into the courtyard, he turns over the pages of a book or periodical. +Instead of dining at midday and supping at nine o'clock, he takes +dejeuner at twelve and dines at five. He spends less time in sitting in +the verandah and pacing up and down with his hands behind his back, +for he can vary the operation of time-killing by occasionally writing +a letter, or by standing behind his wife at the piano while she plays +selections from Mozart and Beethoven. But these peculiarities are merely +variations in detail. If there is any essential difference between the +lives of Victor Alexandr'itch and of Ivan Ivan'itch, it is in the fact +that the former never goes out into the fields to see how the work is +done, and never troubles himself with the state of the weather, the +condition of the crops, and cognate subjects. He leaves the management +of his estate entirely to his steward, and refers to that personage all +peasants who come to him with complaints or petitions. Though he takes +a deep interest in the peasant as an impersonal, abstract entity, and +loves to contemplate concrete examples of the genus in the works of +certain popular authors, he does not like to have any direct relations +with peasants in the flesh. If he has to speak with them he always feels +awkward, and suffers from the odour of their sheepskins. Ivan Ivan'itch +is ever ready to talk with the peasants, and give them sound, practical +advice or severe admonitions; and in the old times he was apt, in +moments of irritation, to supplement his admonitions by a free use of +his fists. Victor Alexandr'itch, on the contrary, never could give any +advice except vague commonplace, and as to using his fist, he would have +shrunk from that, not only from respect to humanitarian principles, but +also from motives which belong to the region of aesthetic sensitiveness. + +This difference between the two men has an important influence on their +pecuniary affairs. The stewards of both steal from their masters; but +that of Ivan Ivan'itch steals with difficulty, and to a very limited +extent, whereas that of Victor Alexandr'itch steals regularly and +methodically, and counts his gains, not by kopecks, but by roubles. +Though the two estates are of about the same size and value, they give +a very different revenue. The rough, practical man has a much larger +income than his elegant, well-educated neighbour, and at the same time +spends very much less. The consequences of this, if not at present +visible, must some day become painfully apparent. Ivan Ivan'itch will +doubtless leave to his children an unencumbered estate and a certain +amount of capital. The children of Victor Alexandr'itch have a different +prospect. He has already begun to mortgage his property and to cut down +the timber, and he always finds a deficit at the end of the year. What +will become of his wife and children when the estate comes to be sold +for payment of the mortgage, it is difficult to predict. He thinks very +little of that eventuality, and when his thoughts happen to wander in +that direction he consoles himself with the thought that before the +crash comes he will have inherited a fortune from a rich uncle who has +no children. + +The proprietors of the old school lead the same uniform, monotonous life +year after year, with very little variation. Victor Alexandr'itch, +on the contrary, feels the need of a periodical return to "civilised +society," and accordingly spends a few weeks every winter in St. +Petersburg. During the summer months he has the society of his +brother--un homme tout a fait civilise--who possesses an estate a few +miles off. + +This brother, Vladimir Alexandr'itch, was educated in the School of Law +in St. Petersburg, and has since risen rapidly in the service. He holds +now a prominent position in one of the Ministries, and has the honourary +court title of "Chambellan de sa Majeste." He is a marked man in the +higher circles of the Administration, and will, it is thought, some +day become Minister. Though an adherent of enlightened views, and a +professed "Liberal," he contrives to keep on very good terms with those +who imagine themselves to be "Conservatives." In this he is assisted by +his soft, oily manner. If you express an opinion to him he will always +begin by telling you that you are quite right; and if he ends by showing +you that you are quite wrong, he will at least make you feel that your +error is not only excusable, but in some way highly creditable to your +intellectual acuteness or goodness of heart. In spite of his Liberalism +he is a staunch Monarchist, and considers that the time has not yet come +for the Emperor to grant a Constitution. He recognises that the present +order of things has its defects, but thinks that, on the whole, it acts +very well, and would act much better if certain high officials were +removed, and more energetic men put in their places. Like all genuine +St. Petersburg tchinovniks (officials), he has great faith in the +miraculous power of Imperial ukazes and Ministerial circulars, and +believes that national progress consists in multiplying these documents, +and centralising the Administration, so as to give them more effect. +As a supplementary means of progress he highly approves of aesthetic +culture, and he can speak with some eloquence of the humanising +influence of the fine arts. For his own part he is well acquainted with +French and English classics, and particularly admires Macaulay, whom +he declares to have been not only a great writer, but also a great +statesman. Among writers of fiction he gives the palm to George Eliot, +and speaks of the novelists of his own country, and, indeed, of Russian +literature as a whole, in the most disparaging terms. + +A very different estimate of Russian literature is held by Alexander +Ivan'itch N----, formerly arbiter in peasant affairs, and afterwards +justice of the peace. Discussions on this subject often take place +between the two. The admirer of Macaulay declares that Russia has, +properly speaking, no literature whatever, and that the works which +bear the names of Russian authors are nothing but a feeble echo of the +literature of Western Europe. "Imitators," he is wont to say, "skilful +imitators, we have produced in abundance. But where is there a man of +original genius? What is our famous poet Zhukofski? A translator. What +is Pushkin? A clever pupil of the romantic school. What is Lermontoff? A +feeble imitator of Byron. What is Gogol?" + +At this point Alexander Ivan'itch invariable intervenes. He is ready to +sacrifice all the pseudo-classic and romantic poetry, and, in fact, the +whole of Russian literature anterior to about the year 1840, but he will +not allow anything disrespectful to be said of Gogol, who about that +time founded the Russian realistic school. "Gogol," he holds, "was +a great and original genius. Gogol not only created a new kind of +literature; he at the same time transformed the reading public, and +inaugurated a new era in the intellectual development of the nation. By +his humorous, satirical sketches he swept away the metaphysical dreaming +and foolish romantic affectation then in fashion, and taught men to see +their country as it was, in all its hideous ugliness. With his help the +young generation perceived the rottenness of the Administration, and +the meanness, stupidity, dishonesty, and worthlessness of the landed +proprietors, whom he made the special butt of his ridicule. The +recognition of defects produced a desire for reform. From laughing at +the proprietors there was but one step to despising them, and when we +learned to despise the proprietors we naturally came to sympathise with +the serfs. Thus the Emancipation was prepared by the literature; and +when the great question had to be solved, it was the literature that +discovered a satisfactory solution." + +This is a subject on which Alexander Ivan'itch feels very strongly, and +on which he always speaks with warmth. He knows a good deal regarding +the intellectual movement which began about 1840, and culminated in +the great reforms of the sixties. As a University student he troubled +himself very little with serious academic work, but he read with intense +interest all the leading periodicals, and adopted the doctrine of +Belinski that art should not be cultivated for its own sake, but should +be made subservient to social progress. This belief was confirmed by +a perusal of some of George Sand's earlier works, which were for him +a kind of revelation. Social questions engrossed his thoughts, and all +other subjects seemed puny by comparison. When the Emancipation question +was raised he saw an opportunity of applying some of his theories, +and threw himself enthusiastically into the new movement as an ardent +abolitionist. When the law was passed he helped to put it into execution +by serving for three years as an Arbiter of the Peace. Now he is an +old man, but he has preserved some of his youthful enthusiasm, attends +regularly the annual assemblies of the Zemstvo, and takes a lively +interest in all public affairs. + +As an ardent partisan of local self-government he habitually scoffs at +the centralised bureaucracy, which he proclaims to be the great bane of +his unhappy country. "These tchinovniks," he is wont to say in moments +of excitement, "who live in St. Petersburg and govern the Empire, know +about as much of Russia as they do of China. They live in a world of +official documents, and are hopelessly ignorant of the real wants and +interests of the people. So long as all the required formalities are +duly observed they are perfectly satisfied. The people may be allowed +to die of starvation if only the fact do not appear in the official +reports. Powerless to do any good themselves, they are powerful enough +to prevent others from working for the public good, and are extremely +jealous of all private initiative. How have they acted, for instance, +towards the Zemstvo? The Zemstvo is really a good institution, and might +have done great things if it had been left alone, but as soon as it +began to show a little independent energy the officials at once clipped +its wings and then strangled it. Towards the Press they have acted in +the same way. They are afraid of the Press, because they fear above +all things a healthy public opinion, which the Press alone can create. +Everything that disturbs the habitual routine alarms them. Russia +cannot make any real progress so long as she is ruled by these cursed +tchinovniks." + +Scarcely less pernicious than the tchinovnik, in the eyes of our +would-be reformer, is the baritch--that is to say, the pampered, +capricious, spoiled child of mature years, whose life is spent in +elegant indolence and fine talking. Our friend Victor Alexandr'itch +is commonly selected as a representative of this type. "Look at him!" +exclaims Alexander Ivan'itch. "What a useless, contemptible member of +society! In spite of his generous aspirations he never succeeds in doing +anything useful to himself or to others. When the peasant question +was raised and there was work to be done, he went abroad and talked +liberalism in Paris and Baden-Baden. Though he reads, or at least +professes to read, books on agriculture, and is always ready to +discourse on the best means of preventing the exhaustion of the soil, +he knows less of farming than a peasant-boy of twelve, and when he goes +into the fields he can hardly distinguish rye from oats. Instead of +babbling about German and Italian music, he would do well to learn a +little about practical farming, and look after his estate." + +Whilst Alexander Ivan'itch thus censures his neighbours, he is himself +not without detractors. Some staid old proprietors regard him as a +dangerous man, and quote expressions of his which seem to indicate +that his notions of property are somewhat loose. Many consider that his +liberalism is of a very violent kind, and that he has strong republican +sympathies. In his decisions as Justice he often leaned, it is said, +to the side of the peasants against the proprietors. Then he was always +trying to induce the peasants of the neighbouring villages to found +schools, and he had wonderful ideas about the best method of teaching +children. These and similar facts make many people believe that he has +very advanced ideas, and one old gentleman habitually calls him--half in +joke and half in earnest--"our friend the communist." + +In reality Alexander Ivan'itch has nothing of the communist about him. +Though he loudly denounces the tchinovnik spirit--or, as we should +say, red-tape in all its forms--and is an ardent partisan of local +self-government, he is one of the last men in the world to take part in +any revolutionary movement, he would like to see the Central Government +enlightened and controlled by public opinion and by a national +representation, but he believes that this can only be effected by +voluntary concessions on the part of the autocratic power. He has, +perhaps, a sentimental love of the peasantry, and is always ready +to advocate its interests; but he has come too much in contact with +individual peasants to accept those idealised descriptions in which +some popular writers indulge, and it may safely be asserted that the +accusation of his voluntarily favouring peasants at the expense of the +proprietors is wholly unfounded. Alexander Ivan'itch is, in fact, a +quiet, sensible man, who is capable of generous enthusiasm, and is not +at all satisfied with the existing state of things; but he is not a +dreamer and a revolutionnaire, as some of his neighbours assert. + +I am afraid I cannot say as much for his younger brother Nikolai, who +lives with him. Nikolai Ivan'itch is a tall, slender man, about sixty +years of age, with emaciated face, bilious complexion and long black +hair--evidently a person of excitable, nervous temperament. When he +speaks he articulates rapidly, and uses more gesticulation than is +common among his countrymen. His favourite subject of conversation, or +rather of discourse, for he more frequently preaches than talks, is the +lamentable state of the country and the worthlessness of the Government. +Against the Government he has a great many causes for complaint, and one +or two of a personal kind. In 1861 he was a student in the University of +St. Petersburg. At that time there was a great deal of public excitement +all over Russia, and especially in the capital. The serfs had just been +emancipated, and other important reforms had been undertaken. There was +a general conviction among the young generation--and it must be added +among many older men--that the autocratic, paternal system of government +was at an end, and that Russia was about to be reorganised according +to the most advanced principles of political and social science. +The students, sharing this conviction, wished to be freed from +all academical authority, and to organise a kind of academic +self-government. They desired especially the right of holding public +meetings for the discussion of their common affairs. The authorities +would not allow this, and issued a list of rules prohibiting meetings +and raising the class-fees, so as practically to exclude many of the +poorer students. This was felt to be a wanton insult to the spirit of +the new era. In spite of the prohibition, indignation meetings were +held, and fiery speeches made by male and female orators, first in the +class-rooms, and afterwards in the courtyard of the University. On one +occasion a long procession marched through the principal streets to the +house of the Curator. Never had such a spectacle been seen before in +St. Petersburg. Timid people feared that it was the commencement of a +revolution, and dreamed about barricades. At last the authorities took +energetic measures; about three hundred students were arrested, and of +these, thirty-two were expelled from the University. + +Among those who were expelled was Nicolai Ivan'itch. All his hopes of +becoming a professor, as he had intended, were thereby shipwrecked, +and he had to look out for some other profession. A literary career +now seemed the most promising, and certainly the most congenial to his +tastes. It would enable him to gratify his ambition of being a +public man, and give him opportunities of attacking and annoying his +persecutors. He had already written occasionally for one of the leading +periodicals, and now he became a regular contributor. His stock of +positive knowledge was not very large, but he had the power of writing +fluently and of making his readers believe that he had an unlimited +store of political wisdom which the Press-censure prevented him from +publishing. Besides this, he had the talent of saying sharp, satirical +things about those in authority, in such a way that even a Press censor +could not easily raise objections. Articles written in this style were +sure at that time to be popular, and his had a very great success. He +became a known man in literary circles, and for a time all went well. +But gradually he became less cautious, whilst the authorities became +more vigilant. Some copies of a violent seditious proclamation fell into +the hands of the police, and it was generally believed that the document +proceeded from the coterie to which he belonged. From that moment he was +carefully watched, till one night he was unexpectedly roused from his +sleep by a gendarme and conveyed to the fortress. + +When a man is arrested in this way for a real or supposed political +offence, there are two modes of dealing with him. He may be tried +before a regular tribunal, or he may be dealt with "by administrative +procedure" (administrativnym poryadkom). In the former case he will, if +convicted, be condemned to imprisonment for a certain term; or, if the +offence be of a graver nature, he may be transported to Siberia either +for a fixed period or for life. By the administrative procedure he is +simply removed without a trial to some distant town, and compelled +to live there under police supervision during his Majesty's pleasure. +Nikolai Ivan'itch was treated "administratively," because the +authorities, though convinced that he was a dangerous character, could +not find sufficient evidence to procure his conviction before a court +of justice. For five years he lived under police supervision in a small +town near the White Sea, and then one day he was informed, without any +explanation, that he might go and live anywhere he pleased except in St. +Petersburg and Moscow. + +Since that time he has lived with his brother, and spends his time in +brooding over his grievances and bewailing his shattered illusions. He +has lost none of that fluency which gained him an ephemeral literary +reputation, and can speak by the hour on political and social questions +to any one who will listen to him. It is extremely difficult, however, +to follow his discourses, and utterly impossible to retain them in the +memory. They belong to what may be called political metaphysics--for +though he professes to hold metaphysics in abhorrence, he is himself a +thorough metaphysician in his modes of thought. He lives, indeed, in +a world of abstract conceptions, in which he can scarcely perceive +concrete facts, and his arguments are always a kind of clever juggling +with such equivocal, conventional terms as aristocracy, bourgeoisie, +monarchy, and the like. At concrete facts he arrives, not directly by +observation, but by deductions from general principles, so that his +facts can never by any possibility contradict his theories. Then he has +certain axioms which he tacitly assumes, and on which all his arguments +are based; as, for instance, that everything to which the term "liberal" +can be applied must necessarily be good at all times and under all +conditions. + +Among a mass of vague conceptions which it is impossible to reduce +to any clearly defined form he has a few ideas which are perhaps not +strictly true, but which are at least intelligible. Among these is +his conviction that Russia has let slip a magnificent opportunity of +distancing all Europe on the road of progress. She might, he thinks, at +the time of the Emancipation, have boldly accepted all the most +advanced principles of political and social science, and have completely +reorganised the political and social structure in accordance with them. +Other nations could not take such a step, because they are old and +decrepit, filled with stubborn, hereditary prejudices, and cursed with +an aristocracy and a bourgeoisie; but Russia is young, knows nothing of +social castes, and has no deep-rooted prejudices to contend with. The +population is like potter's clay, which can be made to assume any +form that science may recommend. Alexander II. began a magnificent +sociological experiment, but he stopped half-way. + +Some day, he believes, the experiment will be completed, but not by the +autocratic power. In his opinion autocracy is "played out," and must +give way to Parliamentary institutions. For him a Constitution is a kind +of omnipotent fetish. You may try to explain to him that a Parliamentary +regime, whatever its advantages may be, necessarily produces political +parties and political conflicts, and is not nearly so suitable for grand +sociological experiments as a good paternal despotism. You may try to +convince him that, though it may be difficult to convert an autocrat, it +is infinitely more difficult to convert a House of Commons. But all your +efforts will be in vain. He will assure you that a Russian Parliament +would be something quite different from what Parliaments commonly are. +It would contain no parties, for Russia has no social castes, and would +be guided entirely by scientific considerations--as free from prejudice +and personal influences as a philosopher speculating on the nature of +the Infinite! In short, he evidently imagines that a national Parliament +would be composed of himself and his friends, and that the nation would +calmly submit to their ukazes, as it has hitherto submitted to the +ukazes of the Tsars. + +Pending the advent of this political Millennium, when unimpassioned +science is to reign supreme, Nikolai Ivan'itch allows himself the luxury +of indulging in some very decided political animosities, and he hates +with the fervour of a fanatic. Firstly and chiefly, he hates what he +calls the bourgeoisie--he is obliged to use the French word, because +his native language does not contain an equivalent term--and especially +capitalists of all sorts and dimensions. Next, he hates aristocracy, +especially a form of aristocracy called Feudalism. To these abstract +terms he does not attach a very precise meaning, but he hates the +entities which they are supposed to represent quite as heartily as if +they were personal enemies. Among the things which he hates in his +own country, the Autocratic Power holds the first place. Next, as +an emanation from the Autocratic Power, come the tchinovniks, and +especially the gendarmes. Then come the landed proprietors. Though he +is himself a landed proprietor, he regards the class as cumberers of +the ground, and thinks that all their land should be confiscated and +distributed among the peasantry. + +All proprietors have the misfortune to come under his sweeping +denunciations, because they are inconsistent with his ideal of a peasant +Empire, but he recognises amongst them degrees of depravity. Some are +simply obstructive, whilst others are actively prejudicial to the public +welfare. Among these latter a special object of aversion is Prince +S----, because he not only possesses very large estates, but at the same +time has aristocratic pretensions, and calls himself Conservative. + +Prince S---- is by far the most important man in the district. His +family is one of the oldest in the country, but he does not owe his +influence to his pedigree, for pedigree pure and simple does not count +for much in Russia. He is influential and respected because he is a +great land-holder with a high official position, and belongs by birth +to that group of families which forms the permanent nucleus of the +ever-changing Court society. His father and grandfather were important +personages in the Administration and at Court, and his sons and +grandsons will probably in this respect follow in the footsteps of +their ancestors. Though in the eye of the law all nobles are equal, +and, theoretically speaking, promotion is gained exclusively by personal +merit, yet, in reality, those who have friends at Court rise more easily +and more rapidly. + +The Prince has had a prosperous but not very eventful life. He was +educated, first at home, under an English tutor, and afterwards in the +Corps des Pages. On leaving this institution he entered a regiment +of the Guards, and rose steadily to high military rank. His activity, +however, has been chiefly in the civil administration, and he now has +a seat in the Council of State. Though he has always taken a certain +interest in public affairs, he did not play an important part in any of +the great reforms. When the peasant question was raised he sympathised +with the idea of Emancipation, but did not at all sympathise with the +idea of giving land to the emancipated serfs and preserving the Communal +institutions. What he desired was that the proprietors should liberate +their serfs without any pecuniary indemnity, and should receive in +return a certain share of political power. His scheme was not adopted, +but he has not relinquished the hope that the great landed proprietors +may somehow obtain a social and political position similar to that of +the great land-owners in England. + +Official duties and social relations compel the Prince to live for a +large part of the year in the capital. He spends only a few weeks yearly +on his estate. The house is large, and fitted up in the English style, +with a view to combining elegance and comfort. It contains several +spacious apartments, a library, and a billiard-room. There is an +extensive park, an immense garden with hot houses, numerous horses and +carriages, and a legion of servants. In the drawing-room is a plentiful +supply of English and French books, newspapers, and periodicals, +including the Journal de St. Petersbourg, which gives the news of the +day. + +The family have, in short, all the conveniences and comforts which money +and refinement can procure, but it cannot be said that they greatly +enjoy the time spent in the country. The Princess has no decided +objection to it. She is devoted to a little grandchild, is fond of +reading and correspondence, amuses herself with a school and hospital +which she has founded for the peasantry, and occasionally drives over to +see her friend, the Countess N----, who lives about fifteen miles off. + +The Prince, however, finds country life excessively dull. He does not +care for riding or shooting, and he finds nothing else to do. He knows +nothing about the management of his estate, and holds consultations +with the steward merely pro forma--this estate and the others which he +possesses in different provinces being ruled by a head-steward in St. +Petersburg, in whom he has the most complete confidence. In the vicinity +there is no one with whom he cares to associate. Naturally he is not a +sociable man, and he has acquired a stiff, formal, reserved manner +that is rarely met with in Russia. This manner repels the neighbouring +proprietors--a fact that he does not at all regret, for they do not +belong to his monde, and they have in their manners and habits a +free-and-easy rusticity which is positively disagreeable to him. His +relations with them are therefore confined to formal calls. The greater +part of the day he spends in listless loitering, frequently yawning, +regretting the routine of St. Petersburg life--the pleasant chats with +his colleagues, the opera, the ballet, the French theatre, and the quiet +rubber at the Club Anglais. His spirits rise as the day of his departure +approaches, and when he drives off to the station he looks bright and +cheerful. If he consulted merely his own tastes he would never visit his +estates at all, and would spend his summer holidays in Germany, France, +or Switzerland, as he did in his bachelor days; but as a large landowner +he considers it right to sacrifice his personal inclinations to the +duties of his position. + +There is, by the way, another princely magnate in the district, and +I ought perhaps to introduce him to my readers, because he represents +worthily a new type. Like Prince S----, of whom I have just spoken, he +is a great land-owner and a descendant of the half-mythical Rurik; but +he has no official rank, and does not possess a single grand cordon. +In that respect he has followed in the footsteps of his father and +grandfather, who had something of the frondeur spirit, and preferred +the position of a grand seigneur and a country gentleman to that of +a tchinovnik and a courtier. In the Liberal camp he is regarded as +a Conservative, but he has little in common with the Krepostnik, who +declares that the reforms of the last half-century were a mistake, +that everything is going to the bad, that the emancipated serfs are all +sluggards, drunkards, and thieves, that the local self-government is an +ingenious machine for wasting money, and that the reformed law-courts +have conferred benefits only on the lawyers. On the contrary, he +recognises the necessity and beneficent results of the reforms, and +with regard to the future he has none of the despairing pessimism of the +incorrigible old Tory. + +But in order that real progress should be made, he thinks that certain +current and fashionable errors must be avoided, and among these errors +he places, in the first rank, the views and principles of the advanced +Liberals, who have a blind admiration for Western Europe, and for what +they are pleased to call the results of science. Like the Liberals of +the West, these gentlemen assume that the best form of government is +constitutionalism, monarchical or republican, on a broad democratic +basis, and towards the realisation of this ideal all their efforts +are directed. Not so our Conservative friend. While admitting that +democratic Parliamentary institutions may be the best form of government +for the more advanced nations of the West, he maintains that the only +firm foundation for the Russian Empire, and the only solid guarantee +of its future prosperity, is the Autocratic Power, which is the sole +genuine representative of the national spirit. Looking at the past from +this point of view, he perceives that the Tsars have ever identified +themselves with the nation, and have always understood, in part +instinctively and in part by reflection, what the nation really +required. Whenever the infiltration of Western ideas threatened to swamp +the national individuality, the Autocratic Power intervened and averted +the danger by timely precautions. Something of the kind may be observed, +he believes, at present, when the Liberals are clamouring for a +Parliament and a Constitution; but the Autocratic Power is on the alert, +and is making itself acquainted with the needs of the people by means +far more effectual than could be supplied by oratorical politicians. + +With the efforts of the Zemstvo in this direction, and with the activity +of the Zemstvo generally, the Prince has little sympathy, partly because +the institution is in the hands of the Liberals and is guided by +their unpractical ideas, and partly because it enables some ambitious +outsiders to acquire the influence in local affairs which ought to be +exercised by the old-established noble families of the neighbourhood. +What he would like to see is an enlightened, influential gentry working +in conjunction with the Autocratic Power for the good of the country. If +Russia could produce a few hundred thousand men like himself, his ideal +might perhaps be realised. For the present, such men are extremely +rare--I should have difficulty in naming a dozen of them--and +aristocratic ideas are extremely unpopular among the great majority of +the educated classes. When a Russian indulges in political speculation, +he is pretty sure to show himself thoroughly democratic, with a strong +leaning to socialism. + +The Prince belongs to the highest rank of the Russian Noblesse. If we +wish to get an idea of the lowest rank, we can find in the neighbourhood +a number of poor, uneducated men, who live in small, squalid houses, and +are not easily to be distinguished from peasants. They are nobles, like +his Highness; but, unlike him, they enjoy no social consideration, +and their landed property consists of a few acres of land which barely +supply them with the first necessaries of life. If we went to other +parts of the country we might find men in this condition bearing the +title of Prince! This is the natural result of the Russian law of +inheritance, which does not recognise the principle of primogeniture +with regard to titles and estates. All the sons of a Prince are Princes, +and at his death his property, movable and immovable, is divided amongst +them. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +SOCIAL CLASSES + + +Do Social Classes or Castes Exist in Russia?--Well-marked Social +Types--Classes Recognised by the Legislation and the Official +Statistics--Origin and Gradual Formation of these Classes--Peculiarity +in the Historical Development of Russia--Political Life and Political +Parties. + + +In the preceding pages I have repeatedly used the expression "social +classes," and probably more than once the reader has felt inclined to +ask, What are social classes in the Russian sense of the term? It may be +well, therefore, before going farther, to answer this question. + +If the question were put to a Russian it is not at all unlikely that +he would reply somewhat in this fashion: "In Russia there are no social +classes, and there never have been any. That fact constitutes one of the +most striking peculiarities of her historical development, and one of +the surest foundations of her future greatness. We know nothing, +and have never known anything, of those class distinctions and class +enmities which in Western Europe have often rudely shaken society in +past times, and imperil its existence in the future." + +This statement will not be readily accepted by the traveller who visits +Russia with no preconceived ideas and forms his opinions from his own +observations. To him it seems that class distinctions form one of the +most prominent characteristics of Russian society. In a few days he +learns to distinguish the various classes by their outward appearance. +He easily recognises the French-speaking nobles in West-European +costume; the burly, bearded merchant in black cloth cap and long, shiny, +double-breasted coat; the priest with his uncut hair and flowing robes; +the peasant with his full, fair beard and unsavoury, greasy sheepskin. +Meeting everywhere those well-marked types, he naturally assumes +that Russian society is composed of exclusive castes; and this first +impression will be fully confirmed by a glance at the Code. On examining +that monumental work, he finds that an entire volume--and by no means +the smallest--is devoted to the rights and obligations of the various +classes. From this he concludes that the classes have a legal as well as +an actual existence. To make assurance doubly sure he turns to official +statistics, and there he finds the following table: + + Hereditary nobles........652,887 + Personal nobles..........374,367 + Clerical classes.........695,905 + Town classes...........7,196,005 + Rural classes.........63,840,291 + Military classes.......4,767,703 + Foreigners...............153,185 + ---------- 77,680,293* + + + * Livron: "Statistitcheskoe Obozrenie Rossiiskoi Imperii," + St. Petersburg, 1875. The above figures include the whole + Empire. The figures according to the latest census (1897) + are not yet available. + +Armed with these materials, the traveller goes to his Russian friends +who have assured him that their country knows nothing of class +distinctions. He is confident of being able to convince them that +they have been labouring under a strange delusion, but he will be +disappointed. They will tell him that these laws and statistics +prove nothing, and that the categories therein mentioned are mere +administrative fictions. + +This apparent contradiction is to be explained by the equivocal meaning +of the Russian terms Sosloviya and Sostoyaniya, which are commonly +translated "social classes." If by these terms are meant "castes" in +the Oriental sense, then it may be confidently asserted that such do not +exist in Russia. Between the nobles, the clergy, the burghers, and the +peasants there are no distinctions of race and no impassable barriers. +The peasant often becomes a merchant, and there are many cases on record +of peasants and sons of parish priests becoming nobles. Until very +recently the parish clergy composed, as we have seen, a peculiar and +exclusive class, with many of the characteristics of a caste; but this +has been changed, and it may now be said that in Russia there are no +castes in the Oriental sense. + +If the word Sosloviya be taken to mean an organised political unit +with an esprit de corps and a clearly conceived political aim, it may +likewise be admitted that there are none in Russia. As there has been +for centuries no political life among the subjects of the Tsars, there +have been no political parties. + +On the other hand, to say that social classes have never existed in +Russia and that the categories which appear in the legislation and in +the official statistics are mere administrative fictions, is a piece of +gross exaggeration. + +From the very beginning of Russian history we can detect unmistakably +the existence of social classes, such as the Princes, the Boyars, the +armed followers of the Princes, the peasantry, the slaves, and various +others; and one of the oldest legal documents which we possess--the +"Russian Right" (Russkaya Pravda) of the Grand Prince Yaroslaff +(1019-1054)--contains irrefragable proof, in the penalties attached +to various crimes, that these classes were formally recognised by +the legislation. Since that time they have frequently changed their +character, but they have never at any period ceased to exist. + +In ancient times, when there was very little administrative regulation, +the classes had perhaps no clearly defined boundaries, and the +peculiarities which distinguished them from each other were actual +rather than legal--lying in the mode of life and social position rather +than in peculiar obligations and privileges. But as the autocratic power +developed and strove to transform the nation into a State with a highly +centralised administration, the legal element in the social distinctions +became more and more prominent. For financial and other purposes +the people had to be divided into various categories. The actual +distinctions were of course taken as the basis of the legal +classification, but the classifying had more than a merely formal +significance. The necessity of clearly defining the different groups +entailed the necessity of elevating and strengthening the barriers which +already existed between them, and the difficulty of passing from one +group to another was thereby increased. + +In this work of classification Peter the Great especially distinguished +himself. With his insatiable passion for regulation, he raised +formidable barriers between the different categories, and defined the +obligations of each with microscopic minuteness. After his death the +work was carried on in the same spirit, and the tendency reached its +climax in the reign of Nicholas, when the number of students to be +received in the universities was determined by Imperial ukaz! + +In the reign of Catherine a new element was introduced into the official +conception of social classes. Down to her time the Government had +thought merely of class obligations; under the influence of Western +ideas she introduced the conception of class rights. She wished, as we +have seen, to have in her Empire a Noblesse and tiers-etat like those +which existed in France, and for this purpose she granted, first to the +Dvoryanstvo and afterwards to the towns, an Imperial Charter, or Bill +of Rights. Succeeding sovereigns have acted in the same spirit, and the +Code now confers on each class numerous privileges as well as numerous +obligations. + +Thus, we see, the oft-repeated assertion that the Russian social classes +are simply artificial categories created by the legislature is to a +certain extent true, but is by no means accurate. The social groups, +such as peasants, landed proprietors, and the like, came into existence +in Russia, as in other countries, by the simple force of circumstances. +The legislature merely recognised and developed the social distinctions +which already existed. The legal status, obligations, and rights of each +group were minutely defined and regulated, and legal barriers were added +to the actual barriers which separated the groups from each other. + +What is peculiar in the historical development of Russia is this: until +lately she remained an almost exclusively agricultural Empire with +abundance of unoccupied land. Her history presents, therefore, few of +those conflicts which result from the variety of social conditions and +the intensified struggle for existence. Certain social groups were, +indeed, formed in the course of time, but they were never allowed to +fight out their own battles. The irresistible autocratic power kept them +always in check and fashioned them into whatever form it thought proper, +defining minutely and carefully their obligations, their rights, their +mutual relations, and their respective positions in the political +organisation. Hence we find in the history of Russia almost no trace +of those class hatreds which appear so conspicuously in the history of +Western Europe.* + + * This is, I believe, the true explanation of an important + fact, which the Slavophils endeavoured to explain by an + ill-authenticated legend (vide supra p.151). + +The practical consequence of all this is that in Russia at the present +day there is very little caste spirit or caste prejudice. Within +half-a-dozen years after the emancipation of the serfs, proprietors and +peasants, forgetting apparently their old relationship of master and +serf, were working amicably together in the new local administration, +and not a few similar curious facts might be cited. The confident +anticipation of many Russians that their country will one day enjoy +political life without political parties is, if not a contradiction +in terms, at least a Utopian absurdity; but we may be sure that when +political parties do appear they will be very different from those which +exist in Germany, France, and England. + +Meanwhile, let us see how the country is governed without political +parties and without political life in the West-European sense of the +term. This will form the subject of our next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION AND THE OFFICIALS + + +The Officials in Norgorod Assist Me in My Studies--The Modern Imperial +Administration Created by Peter the Great, and Developed by his +Successors--A Slavophil's View of the Administration--The Administration +Briefly Described--The Tchinovniks, or Officials--Official Titles, and +Their Real Significance--What the Administration Has Done for Russia in +the Past--Its Character Determined by the Peculiar Relation between +the Government and the People--Its Radical Vices--Bureaucratic +Remedies--Complicated Formal Procedure--The Gendarmerie: My Personal +Relations with this Branch of the Administration; Arrest and Release--A +Strong, Healthy Public Opinion the Only Effectual Remedy for Bad +Administration. + + +My administrative studies were begun in Novgorod. One of my reasons for +spending a winter in that provincial capital was that I might study the +provincial administration, and as soon as I had made the acquaintance of +the leading officials I explained to them the object I had in view. With +the kindly bonhomie which distinguishes the Russian educated classes, +they all volunteered to give me every assistance in their power, but +some of them, on mature reflection, evidently saw reason to check their +first generous impulse. Among these was the Vice-Governor, a gentleman +of German origin, and therefore more inclined to be pedantic than a +genuine Russian. When I called on him one evening and reminded him of +his friendly offer, I found to my surprise that he had in the meantime +changed his mind. Instead of answering my first simple inquiry, he +stared at me fixedly, as if for the purpose of detecting some covert, +malicious design, and then, putting on an air of official dignity, +informed me that as I had not been authorised by the Minister to make +these investigations, he could not assist me, and would certainly not +allow me to examine the archives. + +This was not encouraging, but it did not prevent me from applying to the +Governor, and I found him a man of a very different stamp. Delighted to +meet a foreigner who seemed anxious to study seriously in an unbiassed +frame of mind the institutions of his much-maligned native country, he +willingly explained to me the mechanism of the administration which he +directed and controlled, and kindly placed at my disposal the books and +documents in which I could find the historical and practical information +which I required. + +This friendly attitude of his Excellency towards me soon became +generally known in the town, and from that moment my difficulties were +at an end. The minor officials no longer hesitated to initiate me into +the mysteries of their respective departments, and at last even the +Vice-Governor threw off his reserve and followed the example of his +colleagues. The elementary information thus acquired I had afterwards +abundant opportunities of completing by observation and study in other +parts of the Empire, and I now propose to communicate to the reader a +few of the more general results. + +The gigantic administrative machine which holds together all the various +parts of the vast Empire has been gradually created by successive +generations, but we may say roughly that it was first designed and +constructed by Peter the Great. Before his time the country was governed +in a rude, primitive fashion. The Grand Princes of Moscow, in subduing +their rivals and annexing the surrounding principalities, merely cleared +the ground for a great homogeneous State. Wily, practical politicians, +rather than statesmen of the doctrinaire type, they never dreamed of +introducing uniformity and symmetry into the administration as a whole. +They developed the ancient institutions so far as these were useful and +consistent with the exercise of autocratic power, and made only such +alterations as practical necessity demanded. And these necessary +alterations were more frequently local than general. Special decisions, +instruction to particular officials, and charters for particular +communes of proprietors were much more common than general legislative +measures. + +In short, the old Muscovite Tsars practised a hand-to-mouth policy, +destroying whatever caused temporary inconvenience, and giving little +heed to what did not force itself upon their attention. Hence, +under their rule the administration presented not only territorial +peculiarities, but also an ill-assorted combination of different systems +in the same district--a conglomeration of institutions belonging to +different epochs, like a fleet composed of triremes, three-deckers, and +iron-clads. + +This irregular system, or rather want of system, seemed highly +unsatisfactory to the logical mind of Peter the Great, and he conceived +the grand design of sweeping it away, and putting in its place a +symmetrical bureaucratic machine. It is scarcely necessary to say +that this magnificent project, so foreign to the traditional ideas and +customs of the people, was not easily realised. Imagine a man, without +technical knowledge, without skilled workmen, without good tools, and +with no better material than soft, crumbling sandstone, endeavouring +to build a palace on a marsh! The undertaking would seem to reasonable +minds utterly absurd, and yet it must be admitted that Peter's project +was scarcely more feasible. He had neither technical knowledge, nor the +requisite materials, nor a firm foundation to build on. With his usual +Titanic energy he demolished the old structure, but his attempts to +construct were little more than a series of failures. In his numerous +ukazes he has left us a graphic description of his efforts, and it is +at once instructive and pathetic to watch the great worker toiling +indefatigably at his self-imposed task. His instruments are constantly +breaking in his hands. The foundations of the building are continually +giving way, and the lower tiers crumbling under the superincumbent +weight. Now and then a whole section is found to be unsuitable, and is +ruthlessly pulled down, or falls of its own accord. And yet the builder +toils on, with a perseverance and an energy of purpose that compel +admiration, frankly confessing his mistakes and failures, and +patiently seeking the means of remedying them, never allowing a word of +despondency to escape him, and never despairing of ultimate success. And +at length death comes, and the mighty builder is snatched away suddenly +in the midst of his unfinished labours, bequeathing to his successors +the task of carrying on the great work. + +None of these successors possessed Peter's genius and energy--with the +exception perhaps of Catherine II.--but they were all compelled by +the force of circumstances to adopt his plans. A return to the old +rough-and-ready rule of the local Voyevods was impossible. As the +Autocratic Power became more and more imbued with Western ideas, it +felt more and more the need of new means for carrying them out, and +accordingly it strove to systematise and centralise the administration. + +In this change we may perceive a certain analogy with the history of the +French administration from the reign of Philippe le Bel to that of +Louis XIV. In both countries we see the central power bringing the local +administrative organs more and more under its control, till at last it +succeeds in creating a thoroughly centralised bureaucratic organisation. +But under this superficial resemblance lie profound differences. The +French kings had to struggle with provincial sovereignties and feudal +rights, and when they had annihilated this opposition they easily found +materials with which to build up the bureaucratic structure. The Russian +sovereigns, on the contrary, met with no such opposition, but they +had great difficulty in finding bureaucratic material amongst their +uneducated, undisciplined subjects, notwithstanding the numerous schools +and colleges which were founded and maintained simply for the purpose of +preparing men for the public service. + +The administration was thus brought much nearer to the West-European +ideal, but some people have grave doubts as to whether it became thereby +better adapted to the practical wants of the people for whom it was +created. On this point a well-known Slavophil once made to me some +remarks which are worthy of being recorded. "You have observed," he +said, "that till very recently there was in Russia an enormous amount +of official peculation, extortion, and misgovernment of every kind, that +the courts of law were dens of iniquity, that the people often committed +perjury, and much more of the same sort, and it must be admitted that +all this has not yet entirely disappeared. But what does it prove? That +the Russian people are morally inferior to the German? Not at all. It +simply proves that the German system of administration, which was forced +upon them without their consent, was utterly unsuited to their nature. +If a young growing boy be compelled to wear very tight boots, he will +probably burst them, and the ugly rents will doubtless produce an +unfavourable impression on the passers-by; but surely it is better that +the boots should burst than that the feet should be deformed. Now, the +Russian people was compelled to put on not only tight boots, but also +a tight jacket, and, being young and vigorous, it burst them. +Narrow-minded, pedantic Germans can neither understand nor provide for +the wants of the broad Slavonic nature." + +In its present form the Russian administration seems at first sight a +very imposing edifice. At the top of the pyramid stands the Emperor, +"the autocratic monarch," as Peter the Great described him, "who has +to give an account of his acts to no one on earth, but has power +and authority to rule his States and lands as a Christian sovereign +according to his own will and judgment." Immediately below the Emperor +we see the Council of State, the Committee of Ministers, and the Senate, +which represent respectively the legislative, the administrative, and +the judicial power. An Englishman glancing over the first volume of the +great Code of Laws might imagine that the Council of State is a kind of +Parliament, and the Committee of Ministers a cabinet in our sense of the +term, but in reality both institutions are simply incarnations of the +Autocratic Power. Though the Council is entrusted by law with many +important functions--such as discussing Bills, criticising the annual +budget, declaring war and concluding peace--it has merely a consultative +character, and the Emperor is not in any way bound by its decisions. +The Committee is not at all a cabinet as we understand the word. The +Ministers are directly and individually responsible to the Emperor, and +therefore the Committee has no common responsibility or other cohesive +force. As to the Senate, it has descended from its high estate. It +was originally entrusted with the supreme power during the absence or +minority of the monarch, and was intended to exercise a controlling +influence in all sections of the administration, but now its activity +is restricted to judicial matters, and it is little more than a supreme +court of appeal. + +Immediately below these three institutions stand the Ministries, ten in +number. They are the central points in which converge the various kinds +of territorial administration, and from which radiates the Imperial will +all over the Empire. + +For the purpose of territorial administration Russia proper--that is to +say, European Russia, exclusive of Poland, the Baltic Provinces, Finland +and the Caucasus--is divided into forty-nine provinces or "Governments" +(gubernii), and each Government is subdivided into Districts (uyezdi). +The average area of a province is about the size of Portugal, but some +are as small as Belgium, whilst one at least is twenty-five times as +big. The population, however, does not correspond to the amount of +territory. In the largest province, that of Archangel, there are only +about 350,000 inhabitants, whilst in two of the smaller ones there are +over three millions. The districts likewise vary greatly in size. Some +are smaller than Oxfordshire or Buckingham, and others are bigger than +the whole of the United Kingdom. + +Over each province is placed a Governor, who is assisted in his duties +by a Vice-Governor and a small council. According to the legislation +of Catherine II., which still appears in the Code and has only +been partially repealed, the Governor is termed "the steward of the +province," and is entrusted with so many and such delicate duties, that +in order to obtain qualified men for the post it would be necessary to +realise the great Empress's design of creating, by education, "a new +race of people." Down to the time of the Crimean War the Governors +understood the term "stewards" in a very literal sense, and ruled in +a most arbitrary, high-handed style, often exercising an important +influence on the civil and criminal tribunals. These extensive and +vaguely defined powers have now been very much curtailed, partly by +positive legislation, and partly by increased publicity and improved +means of communication. All judicial matters have been placed +theoretically beyond the Governor's control, and many of his former +functions are now fulfilled by the Zemstvo--the new organ of local +self-government. Besides this, all ordinary current affairs are +regulated by an already big and ever-growing body of instructions, in +the form of Imperial orders and ministerial circulars, and as soon as +anything not provided for by the instructions happens to occur, the +minister is consulted through the post-office or by telegraph. + +Even within the sphere of their lawful authority the Governors have now +a certain respect for public opinion and occasionally a very wholesome +dread of casual newspaper correspondents. Thus the men who were formerly +described by the satirists as "little satraps" have sunk to the level +of subordinate officials. I can confidently say that many (I believe the +majority) of them are honest, upright men, who are perhaps not endowed +with any unusual administrative capacities, but who perform their duties +faithfully according to their lights. If any representatives of the old +"satraps" still exist, they must be sought for in the outlying Asiatic +provinces. + +Independent of the Governor, who is the local representative of the +Ministry of the Interior, are a number of resident officials, who +represent the other ministries, and each of them has a bureau, with the +requisite number of assistants, secretaries, and scribes. + +To keep this vast and complex bureaucratic machine in motion it is +necessary to have a large and well-drilled army of officials. These are +drawn chiefly from the ranks of the Noblesse and the clergy, and form +a peculiar social class called Tchinovniks, or men with Tchins. As the +Tchin plays an important part in Russia, not only in the official world, +but also to some extent in social life, it may be well to explain its +significance. + +All offices, civil and military, are, according to a scheme invented +by Peter the Great, arranged in fourteen classes or ranks, and to each +class or rank a particular name is attached. As promotion is supposed +to be given according to personal merit, a man who enters the public +service for the first time must, whatever be his social position, begin +in the lower ranks, and work his way upwards. Educational certificates +may exempt him from the necessity of passing through the lowest classes, +and the Imperial will may disregard the restrictions laid down by +law; but as general rule a man must begin at or near the bottom of the +official ladder, and he must remain on each step a certain specified +time. The step on which he is for the moment standing, or, in other +words, the official rank or tchin which he possesses determines what +offices he is competent to hold. Thus rank or tchin is a necessary +condition for receiving an appointment, but it does not designate any +actual office, and the names of the different ranks are extremely apt to +mislead a foreigner. + +We must always bear this in mind when we meet with those imposing titles +which Russian tourists sometimes put on their visiting cards, such as +"Conseiller de Cour," "Conseiller d'Etat," "Conseiller prive de S. M. +l'Empereur de toutes les Russies." It would be uncharitable to suppose +that these titles are used with the intention of misleading, but that +they do sometimes mislead there cannot be the least doubt. I shall never +forget the look of intense disgust which I once saw on the face of +an American who had invited to dinner a "Conseiller de Cour," on the +assumption that he would have a Court dignitary as his guest, and +who casually discovered that the personage in question was simply an +insignificant official in one of the public offices. No doubt other +people have had similar experiences. The unwary foreigner who has heard +that there is in Russia a very important institution called the "Conseil +d'Etat," naturally supposes that a "Conseiller d'Etat" is a member +of that venerable body; and if he meets "Son Excellence le Conseiller +prive," he is pretty sure to assume--especially if the word "actuel" +has been affixed--that he sees before him a real living member of the +Russian Privy Council. When to the title is added, "de S. M. l'Empereur +de toutes les Russies," a boundless field is opened up to the +non-Russian imagination. In reality these titles are not nearly so +important as they seem. The soi-disant "Conseiller de Cour" has probably +nothing to do with the Court. The Conseiller d'Etat is so far from being +a member of the Conseil d'Etat that he cannot possibly become a member +till he receives a higher tchin.* As to the Privy Councillor, it is +sufficient to say that the Privy Council, which had a very odious +reputation in its lifetime, died more than a century ago, and has not +since been resuscitated. The explanation of these anomalies is to be +found in the fact that the Russian tchins, like the German honorary +titles--Hofrath, Staatsrath, Geheimrath--of which they are a literal +translation, indicate not actual office, but simply official rank. +Formerly the appointment to an office generally depended on the tchin; +now there is a tendency to reverse the old order of things and make the +tchin depend upon the office actually held. + + * In Russian the two words are quite different; the Council + is called Gosudarstvenny sovet, and the title Statski + sovetnik. + +The reader of practical mind who is in the habit of considering +results rather than forms and formalities desires probably no further +description of the Russian bureaucracy, but wishes to know simply how it +works in practice. What has it done for Russia in the past, and what is +it doing in the present? + +At the present day, when faith in despotic civilisers and paternal +government has been rudely shaken, and the advantages of a free, +spontaneous national development are fully recognised, centralised +bureaucracies have everywhere fallen into bad odour. In Russia the +dislike to them is particularly strong, because it has there something +more than a purely theoretical basis. The recollection of the reign +of Nicholas I., with its stern military regime, and minute, pedantic +formalism, makes many Russians condemn in no measured terms the +administration under which they live, and most Englishmen will feel +inclined to endorse this condemnation. Before passing sentence, +however, we ought to know that the system has at least an historical +justification, and we must not allow our love of constitutional liberty +and local self-government to blind us to the distinction between +theoretical and historical possibility. What seems to political +philosophers abstractly the best possible government may be utterly +inapplicable in certain concrete cases. We need not attempt to decide +whether it is better for humanity that Russia should exist as a +nation, but we may boldly assert that without a strongly centralised +administration Russia would never have become one of the great European +Powers. Until comparatively recent times the part of the world which +is known as the Russian Empire was a conglomeration of independent or +semi-independent political units, animated with centrifugal as well as +centripetal forces; and even at the present day it is far from being +a compact homogeneous State. It was the autocratic power, with the +centralised administration as its necessary complement, that first +created Russia, then saved her from dismemberment and political +annihilation, and ultimately secured for her a place among European +nations by introducing Western civilisation. + +Whilst thus recognising clearly that autocracy and a strongly +centralised administration were necessary first for the creation and +afterwards for the preservation of national independence, we must +not shut our eyes to the evil consequences which resulted from +this unfortunate necessity. It was in the nature of things that the +Government, aiming at the realisation of designs which its subjects +neither sympathised with nor clearly understood, should have become +separated from the nation; and the reckless haste and violence with +which it attempted to carry out its schemes aroused a spirit of positive +opposition among the masses. A considerable section of the people long +looked on the reforming Tsars as incarnations of the spirit of evil, and +the Tsars in their turn looked upon the people as raw material for the +realisation of their political designs. This peculiar relation between +the nation and the Government has given the key-note to the whole system +of administration. The Government has always treated the people as +minors, incapable of understanding its political aims, and only very +partially competent to look after their own local affairs. The officials +have naturally acted in the same spirit. Looking for direction and +approbation merely to their superiors, they have systematically treated +those over whom they were placed as a conquered or inferior race. The +State has thus come to be regarded as an abstract entity, with interests +entirely different from those of the human beings composing it; and in +all matters in which State interests are supposed to be involved, the +rights of individuals are ruthlessly sacrificed. + +If we remember that the difficulties of centralised administration must +be in direct proportion to the extent and territorial variety of +the country to be governed, we may readily understand how slowly and +imperfectly the administrative machine necessarily works in Russia. The +whole of the vast region stretching from the Polar Ocean to the Caspian, +and from the shores of the Baltic to the confines of the Celestial +Empire, is administered from St. Petersburg. The genuine bureaucrat has +a wholesome dread of formal responsibility, and generally tries to +avoid it by taking all matters out of the hands of his subordinates, +and passing them on to the higher authorities. As soon, therefore, +as affairs are caught up by the administrative machine they begin to +ascend, and probably arrive some day at the cabinet of the minister. +Thus the ministries are flooded with papers--many of the most trivial +import--from all parts of the Empire; and the higher officials, even +if they had the eyes of an Argus and the hands of a Briareus, could not +possibly fulfil conscientiously the duties imposed on them. In reality +the Russian administrators of the higher ranks recall neither Argus +nor Briareus. They commonly show neither an extensive nor a profound +knowledge of the country which they are supposed to govern, and seem +always to have a fair amount of leisure time at their disposal. + +Besides the unavoidable evils of excessive centralisation, Russia has +had to suffer much from the jobbery, venality, and extortion of the +officials. When Peter the Great one day proposed to hang every man who +should steal as much as would buy a rope, his Procurator-General frankly +replied that if his Majesty put his project into execution there would +be no officials left. "We all steal," added the worthy official; "the +only difference is that some of us steal larger amounts and more openly +than others." Since these words were spoken nearly two centuries +have passed, and during all that time Russia has been steadily making +progress, but until the accession of Alexander II. in 1855 little change +took place in the moral character of the administration. Some people +still living can remember the time when they could have repeated, +without much exaggeration, the confession of Peter's Procurator-General. + +To appreciate aright this ugly phenomenon we must distinguish two kinds +of venality. On the one hand there was the habit of exacting what are +vulgarly termed "tips" for services performed, and on the other there +were the various kinds of positive dishonesty. Though it might not +be always easy to draw a clear line between the two categories, the +distinction was fully recognised in the moral consciousness of the +time, and many an official who regularly received "sinless revenues" +(bezgreshniye dokhodi), as the tips were sometimes called, would have +been very indignant had he been stigmatised as a dishonest man. The +practice was, in fact, universal, and could be, to a certain extent, +justified by the smallness of the official salaries. In some departments +there was a recognised tariff. The "brandy farmers," for example, who +worked the State Monopoly for the manufacture and sale of alcoholic +liquors, paid regularly a fixed sum to every official, from the Governor +to the policeman, according to his rank. I knew of one case where an +official, on receiving a larger sum than was customary, conscientiously +handed back the change! The other and more heinous offences were by no +means so common, but were still fearfully frequent. Many high officials +and important dignitaries were known to receive large revenues, to +which the term "sinless" could not by any means be applied, and yet they +retained their position, and were received in society with respectful +deference. + +The Sovereigns were well aware of the abuses, and strove more or less +to root them out, but the success which attended their efforts does not +give us a very exalted idea of the practical omnipotence of autocracy. +In a centralised bureaucratic administration, in which each official is +to a certain extent responsible for the sins of his subordinates, it is +always extremely difficult to bring an official culprit to justice, for +he is sure to be protected by his superiors; and when the superiors are +themselves habitually guilty of malpractices, the culprit is quite safe +from exposure and punishment. The Tsar, indeed, might do much towards +exposing and punishing offenders if he could venture to call in public +opinion to his assistance, but in reality he is very apt to become a +party to the system of hushing up official delinquencies. He is himself +the first official in the realm, and he knows that the abuse of power by +a subordinate has a tendency to produce hostility towards the fountain +of all official power. Frequent punishment of officials might, it is +thought, diminish public respect for the Government, and undermine that +social discipline which is necessary for the public tranquillity. It +is therefore considered expedient to give to official delinquencies as +little publicity as possible. + +Besides this, strange as it may seem, a Government which rests on the +arbitrary will of a single individual is, notwithstanding occasional +outbursts of severity, much less systematically severe than authority +founded on free public opinion. When delinquencies occur in very high +places the Tsar is almost sure to display a leniency approaching to +tenderness. If it be necessary to make a sacrifice to justice, the +sacrificial operation is made as painless as may be, and illustrious +scapegoats are not allowed to die of starvation in the wilderness--the +wilderness being generally Paris or the Riviera. This fact may seem +strange to those who are in the habit of associating autocracy with +Neapolitan dungeons and the mines of Siberia, but it is not difficult +to explain. No individual, even though he be the Autocrat of all the +Russias, can so case himself in the armour of official dignity as to be +completely proof against personal influences. The severity of autocrats +is reserved for political offenders, against whom they naturally harbour +a feeling of personal resentment. It is so much easier for us to be +lenient and charitable towards a man who sins against public morality +than towards one who sins against ourselves! + +In justice to the bureaucratic reformers in Russia, it must be said that +they have preferred prevention to cure. Refraining from all Draconian +legislation, they have put their faith in a system of ingenious checks +and a complicated formal procedure. When we examine the complicated +formalities and labyrinthine procedure by which the administration is +controlled, our first impression is that administrative abuses must be +almost impossible. Every possible act of every official seems to have +been foreseen, and every possible outlet from the narrow path of honesty +seems to have been carefully walled up. As the English reader has +probably no conception of formal procedure in a highly centralised +bureaucracy, let me give, by way of illustration, an instance which +accidentally came to my knowledge. + +In the residence of a Governor-General one of the stoves is in need +of repairs. An ordinary mortal may assume that a man with the rank +of Governor-General may be trusted to expend a few shillings +conscientiously, and that consequently his Excellency will at once order +the repairs to be made and the payment to be put down among the petty +expenses. To the bureaucratic mind the case appears in a very different +light. All possible contingencies must be carefully provided for. As +a Governor-General may possibly be possessed with a mania for making +useless alterations, the necessity for the repairs ought to be verified; +and as wisdom and honesty are more likely to reside in an assembly than +in an individual, it is well to entrust the verification to a council. A +council of three or four members accordingly certifies that the repairs +are necessary. This is pretty strong authority, but it is not enough. +Councils are composed of mere human beings, liable to error and subject +to be intimidated by a Governor-General. It is prudent, therefore, to +demand that the decision of the council be confirmed by the Procureur, +who is directly subordinated to the Minister of Justice. When this +double confirmation has been obtained, an architect examines the stove, +and makes an estimate. But it would be dangerous to give carte blanche +to an architect, and therefore the estimate has to be confirmed, first +by the aforesaid council and afterwards by the Procureur. When all these +formalities--which require sixteen days and ten sheets of paper--have +been duly observed, his Excellency is informed that the contemplated +repairs will cost two roubles and forty kopecks, or about five shillings +of our money. Even here the formalities do not stop, for the Government +must have the assurance that the architect who made the estimate and +superintended the repairs has not been guilty of negligence. A second +architect is therefore sent to examine the work, and his report, like +the estimate, requires to be confirmed by the council and the Procureur. +The whole correspondence lasts thirty days, and requires no less than +thirty sheets of paper! Had the person who desired the repairs been not +a Governor-General, but an ordinary mortal, it is impossible to say how +long the procedure might have lasted.* + + * In fairness I feel constrained to add that incidents of + this kind occasionally occur--or at least occurred as late + as 1886--in our Indian Administration. I remember an + instance of a pane of glass being broken in the Viceroy's + bedroom in the Viceregal Lodge at Simla, and it would have + required nearly a week, if the official procedure had been + scrupulously observed, to have it replaced by the Public + Works Department. + +It might naturally be supposed that this circuitous and complicated +method, with its registers, ledgers, and minutes of proceedings, must +at least prevent pilfering; but this a priori conclusion has been +emphatically belied by experience. Every new ingenious device had merely +the effect of producing a still more ingenious means of avoiding it. +The system did not restrain those who wished to pilfer, and it had a +deleterious effect on honest officials by making them feel that the +Government reposed no confidence in them. Besides this, it produced +among all officials, honest and dishonest alike, the habit of systematic +falsification. As it was impossible for even the most pedantic of +men--and pedantry, be it remarked, is a rare quality among Russians--to +fulfil conscientiously all the prescribed formalities, it became +customary to observe the forms merely on paper. Officials certified +facts which they never dreamed of examining, and secretaries gravely +wrote the minutes of meetings that had never been held! Thus, in the +case above cited, the repairs were in reality begun and ended long +before the architect was officially authorised to begin the work. The +comedy was nevertheless gravely played out to the end, so that any one +afterwards revising the documents would have found that everything had +been done in perfect order. + +Perhaps the most ingenious means for preventing administrative abuses +was devised by the Emperor Nicholas I. Fully aware that he was regularly +and systematically deceived by the ordinary officials, he formed a body +of well-paid officers, called the gendarmerie, who were scattered over +the country, and ordered to report directly to his Majesty whatever +seemed to them worthy of attention. Bureaucratic minds considered this +an admirable expedient; and the Tsar confidently expected that he would, +by means of these official observers who had no interest in concealing +the truth, be able to know everything, and to correct all official +abuses. In reality the institution produced few good results, and in +some respects had a very pernicious influence. Though picked men and +provided with good salaries, these officers were all more or less +permeated with the prevailing spirit. They could not but feel that they +were regarded as spies and informers--a humiliating conviction, little +calculated to develop that feeling of self-respect which is the main +foundation of uprightness--and that all their efforts could do but +little good. They were, in fact, in pretty much the same position +as Peter's Procurator-General, and, with true Russian bonhomie, they +disliked ruining individuals who were no worse than the majority of +their fellows. Besides this, according to the received code of official +morality insubordination was a more heinous sin than dishonesty, and +political offences were regarded as the blackest of all. The gendarmerie +officers shut their eyes, therefore, to the prevailing abuses, which +were believed to be incurable, and directed their attention to real or +imaginary political delinquencies. Oppression and extortion remained +unnoticed, whilst an incautious word or a foolish joke at the expense of +the Government was too often magnified into an act of high treason. + +This force still exists under a slightly modified form. Towards the +close of the reign of Alexander II. (1880), when Count Loris Melikof, +with the sanction and approval of his august master, was preparing to +introduce a system of liberal political reforms, it was intended +to abolish the gendarmerie as an organ of political espionage, and +accordingly the direction of it was transferred from the so-called +Third Section of his Imperial Majesty's Chancery to the Ministry of the +Interior; but when the benevolent monarch was a few months afterwards +assassinated by revolutionists, the project was naturally abandoned, and +the Corps of Gendarmes, while remaining nominally under the Minister of +the Interior, was practically reinstated in its former position. Now, as +then, it serves as a kind of supplement to the ordinary police, and +is generally employed for matters in which secrecy is required. +Unfortunately it is not bound by those legal restrictions which protect +the public against the arbitrary will of the ordinary authorities. +In addition to its regular duties it has a vaguely defined roving +commission to watch and arrest all persons who seem to it in any way +dangerous or suspectes, and it may keep such in confinement for an +indefinite time, or remove them to some distant and inhospitable part +of the Empire, without making them undergo a regular trial. It is, +in short, the ordinary instrument for punishing political dreamers, +suppressing secret societies, counteracting political agitations, and in +general executing the extra-legal orders of the Government. + +My relations with this anomalous branch of the administration were +somewhat peculiar. After my experience with the Vice-Governor of +Novgorod I determined to place myself above suspicion, and accordingly +applied to the "Chef des Gendarmes" for some kind of official document +which would prove to all officials with whom I might come in contact +that I had no illicit designs. My request was granted, and I was +furnished with the necessary documents; but I soon found that in +seeking to avoid Scylla I had fallen into Charybdis. In calming official +suspicions, I inadvertently aroused suspicions of another kind. The +documents proving that I enjoyed the protection of the Government made +many people suspect that I was an emissary of the gendarmerie, and +greatly impeded me in my efforts to collect information from private +sources. As the private were for me more important than the official +sources of information, I refrained from asking for a renewal of the +protection, and wandered about the country as an ordinary unprotected +traveller. For some time I had no cause to regret this decision. I knew +that I was pretty closely watched, and that my letters were occasionally +opened in the post-office, but I was subjected to no further +inconvenience. At last, when I had nearly forgotten all about Scylla +and Charybdis, I one night unexpectedly ran upon the former, and, to my +astonishment, found myself formally arrested! The incident happened in +this wise. + +I had been visiting Austria and Servia, and after a short absence +returned to Russia through Moldavia. On arriving at the Pruth, which +there forms the frontier, I found an officer of gendarmerie, whose duty +it was to examine the passports of all passers-by. Though my passport +was completely en regle, having been duly vise by the British and +Russian Consuls at Galatz, this gentleman subjected me to a searching +examination regarding my past life, actual occupation, and intentions +for the future. On learning that I had been for more than two years +travelling in Russia at my own expense, for the simple purpose of +collecting miscellaneous information, he looked incredulous, and seemed +to have some doubts as to my being a genuine British subject; but when +my statements were confirmed by my travelling companion, a Russian +friend who carried awe-inspiring credentials, he countersigned my +passport, and allowed us to depart. The inspection of our luggage by +the custom-house officers was soon got over; and as we drove off to the +neighbouring village where we were to spend the night we congratulated +ourselves on having escaped for some time from all contact with the +official world. In this we were "reckoning without the host." As the +clock struck twelve that night I was roused by a loud knocking at my +door, and after a good deal of parley, during which some one proposed to +effect an entrance by force, I drew the bolt. The officer who had +signed my passport entered, and said, in a stiff, official tone, "I must +request you to remain here for twenty-four hours." + +Not a little astonished by this announcement, I ventured to inquire the +reason for this strange request. + +"That is my business," was the laconic reply. + +"Perhaps it is; still you must, on mature consideration, admit that +I too have some interest in the matter. To my extreme regret I cannot +comply with your request, and must leave at sunrise." + +"You shall not leave. Give me your passport." + +"Unless detained by force, I shall start at four o'clock; and as I wish +to get some sleep before that time, I must request you instantly to +retire. You had the right to stop me at the frontier, but you have no +right to come and disturb me in this fashion, and I shall certainly +report you. My passport I shall give to none but a regular officer of +police." + +Here followed a long discussion on the rights, privileges, and general +character of the gendarmerie, during which my opponent gradually laid +aside his dictatorial tone, and endeavoured to convince me that the +honourable body to which he belonged was merely an ordinary branch of +the administration. Though evidently irritated, he never, I must say, +overstepped the bounds of politeness, and seemed only half convinced +that he was justified in interfering with my movements. When he found +that he could not induce me to give up my passport, he withdrew, and I +again lay down to rest; but in about half an hour I was again disturbed. +This time an officer of regular police entered, and demanded my +"papers." To my inquiries as to the reason of all this disturbance, he +replied, in a very polite, apologetic way, that he knew nothing about +the reason, but he had received orders to arrest me, and must obey. +To him I delivered my passport, on condition that I should receive +a written receipt, and should be allowed to telegraph to the British +ambassador in St. Petersburg. + +Early next morning I telegraphed to the ambassador, and waited +impatiently all day for a reply. I was allowed to walk about the village +and the immediate vicinity, but of this permission I did not make much +use. The village population was entirely Jewish, and Jews in that part +of the world have a wonderful capacity for spreading intelligence. By +the early morning there was probably not a man, woman, or child in +the place who had not heard of my arrest, and many of them felt a not +unnatural curiosity to see the malefactor who had been caught by the +police. To be stared at as a malefactor is not very agreeable, so I +preferred to remain in my room, where, in the company of my friend, who +kindly remained with me and made small jokes about the boasted liberty +of British subjects, I spent the time pleasantly enough. The most +disagreeable part of the affair was the uncertainty as to how many +days, weeks, or months I might be detained, and on this point the +police-officer would not even hazard a conjecture. + +The detention came to an end sooner than I expected. On the following +day--that is to say, about thirty-six hours after the nocturnal +visit--the police-officer brought me my passport, and at the same time +a telegram from the British Embassy informed me that the central +authorities had ordered my release. On my afterwards pertinaciously +requesting an explanation of the unceremonious treatment to which I +had been subjected, the Minister for Foreign Affairs declared that the +authorities expected a person of my name to cross the frontier about +that time with a quantity of false bank-notes, and that I had been +arrested by mistake. I must confess that this explanation, though +official, seemed to me more ingenious than satisfactory, but I was +obliged to accept it for what it was worth. At a later period I had +again the misfortune to attract the attention of the secret police, but +I reserve the incident till I come to speak of my relations with the +revolutionists. + +From all I have seen and heard of the gendarmerie I am disposed to +believe that the officers are for the most part polite, well-educated +men, who seek to fulfil their disagreeable duties in as inoffensive a +way as possible. It must, however, be admitted that they are generally +regarded with suspicion and dislike, even by those people who fear the +attempts at revolutionary propaganda which it is the special duty of the +gendarmerie to discover and suppress. Nor need this surprise us. Though +very many people believe in the necessity of capital punishment, there +are few who do not feel a decided aversion to the public executioner. + +The only effectual remedy for administrative abuses lies in placing the +administration under public control. This has been abundantly proved in +Russia. All the efforts of the Tsars during many generations to check +the evil by means of ingenious bureaucratic devices proved utterly +fruitless. Even the iron will and gigantic energy of Nicholas I. were +insufficient for the task. But when, after the Crimean War, there was a +great moral awakening, and the Tsar called the people to his assistance, +the stubborn, deep-rooted evils immediately disappeared. For a time +venality and extortion were unknown, and since that period they have +never been able to regain their old force. + +At the present moment it cannot be said that the administration is +immaculate, but it is incomparably purer than it was in old times. +Though public opinion is no longer so powerful as it was in the early +sixties, it is still strong enough to repress many malpractices which +in the time of Nicholas I. and his predecessors were too frequent to +attract attention. On this subject I shall have more to say hereafter. + +If administrative abuses are rife in the Empire of the Tsars, it is not +from any want of carefully prepared laws. In no country in the world, +perhaps, is the legislation more voluminous, and in theory, not only +the officials, but even the Tsar himself, must obey the laws he has +sanctioned, like the meanest of his subjects. This is one of those +cases, not infrequent in Russia, in which theory differs somewhat from +practice. In real life the Emperor may at any moment override the law +by means of what is called a Supreme Command (vysotchaishiye povelenie), +and a minister may "interpret" a law in any way he pleases by means of +a circular. This is a frequent cause of complaint even among those who +wish to uphold the Autocratic Power. In their opinion law-respecting +autocracy wielded by a strong Tsar is an excellent institution for +Russia; it is arbitrary autocracy wielded by irresponsible ministers +that they object to. + +As Englishmen may have some difficulty in imagining how laws can come +into being without a Parliament or Legislative Chamber of some sort, +I shall explain briefly how they are manufactured by the Russian +bureaucratic machine without the assistance of representative +institutions. + +When a minister considers that some institution in his branch of the +service requires to be reformed, he begins by submitting to the Emperor +a formal report on the matter. If the Emperor agrees with his minister +as to the necessity for reform, he orders a Commission to be appointed +for the purpose of considering the subject and preparing a definite +legislative project. The Commission meets and sets to work in what seems +a very thorough way. It first studies the history of the institution in +Russia from the earliest times downwards--or rather, it listens to +an essay on the subject, especially prepared for the occasion by some +official who has a taste for historical studies, and can write in a +pleasant style. The next step--to use a phrase which often occurs in the +minutes of such commissions--consists in "shedding the light of science +on the question" (prolit' na dyelo svet nauki). This important operation +is performed by preparing a memorial containing the history of similar +institutions in foreign countries, and an elaborate exposition of +numerous theories held by French and German philosophical jurists. +In these memorials it is often considered necessary to include every +European country except Turkey, and sometimes the small German States +and principal Swiss cantons are treated separately. + +To illustrate the character of these wonderful productions, let me give +an example. From a pile of such papers lying before me I take one almost +at random. It is a memorial relating to a proposed reform of benevolent +institutions. First I find a philosophical disquisition on benevolence +in general; next, some remarks on the Talmud and the Koran; then a +reference to the treatment of paupers in Athens after the Peloponnesian +War, and in Rome under the emperors: then some vague observations on the +Middle Ages, with a quotation that was evidently intended to be Latin; +lastly, comes an account of the poor-laws of modern times, in which I +meet with "the Anglo-Saxon domination," King Egbert, King Ethelred, "a +remarkable book of Icelandic laws, called Hragas"; Sweden and Norway, +France, Holland, Belgium, Prussia, and nearly all the minor German +States. The most wonderful thing is that all this mass of historical +information, extending from the Talmud to the most recent legislation +of Hesse-Darmstadt, is compressed into twenty-one octavo pages! The +doctrinal part of the memorandum is not less rich. Many respected names +from the literature of Germany, France, and England are forcibly dragged +in; and the general conclusion drawn from this mass of raw, undigested +materials is believed to be "the latest results of science." + +Does the reader suspect that I have here chosen an extremely exceptional +case? If so, let us take the next paper in the file. It refers to a +project of law regarding imprisonment for debt. On the first page I find +references to "the Salic laws of the fifth century," and the "Assises de +Jerusalem, A.D 1099." That, I think, will suffice. Let us pass, then, to +the next step. + +When the quintessence of human wisdom and experience has thus been +extracted, the commission considers how the valuable product may +be applied to Russia, so as to harmonise with the existing general +conditions and local peculiarities. For a man of practical mind this +is, of course, the most interesting and most important part of the +operation, but from Russian legislators it receives comparatively little +attention. Very often have I turned to this section of official papers +in order to obtain information regarding the actual state of the +country, and in every case I have been grievously disappointed. +Vague general phrases, founded on a priori reasoning rather than on +observation, together with a few statistical tables--which the cautious +investigator should avoid as he would an ambuscade--are too often all +that is to be found. Through the thin veil of pseudo-erudition the real +facts are clear enough. These philosophical legislators, who have spent +their lives in the official atmosphere of St. Petersburg, know as much +about Russia as the genuine cockney knows about Great Britain, and +in this part of their work they derive no assistance from the learned +German treatises which supply an unlimited amount of historical facts +and philosophical speculation. + +From the commission the project passes to the Council of State, where +it is certainly examined and criticised, and perhaps modified, but it is +not likely to be improved from the practical point of view, because +the members of the Council are merely ci-devant members of similar +commissions, hardened by a few additional years of official routine. The +Council is, in fact, an assembly of tchinovniks who know little of +the practical, everyday wants of the unofficial classes. No merchant, +manufacturer, or farmer ever enters its sacred precincts, so that its +bureaucratic serenity is rarely disturbed by practical objections. It +is not surprising, therefore, that it has been known to pass laws which +were found at once to be absolutely unworkable. + +From the Council of State the Bill is taken to the Emperor, and he +generally begins by examining the signatures. The "Ayes" are in one +column and the "Noes" in another. If his Majesty is not specially +acquainted with the matter--and he cannot possibly be acquainted with +all the matters submitted to him--he usually signs with the majority, +or on the side where he sees the names of officials in whose judgment he +has special confidence; but if he has strong views of his own, he places +his signature in whichever column he thinks fit, and it outweighs the +signatures of any number of Councillors. Whatever side he supports, that +side "has it," and in this way a small minority may be transformed into +a majority. When the important question, for example, as to how far +classics should be taught in the ordinary schools was considered by the +Council, it is said that only two members signed in favour of classical +education, which was excessively unpopular at the moment, but the +Emperor Alexander III., disregarding public opinion and the advice of +his Councillors, threw his signature into the lighter scale, and the +classicists were victorious. + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +MOSCOW AND THE SLAVOPHILS + + +Two Ancient Cities--Kief Not a Good Point for Studying Old Russian +National Life--Great Russians and Little Russians--Moscow--Easter Eve +in the Kremlin--Curious Custom--Anecdote of the Emperor +Nicholas--Domiciliary Visits of the Iberian Madonna--The Streets of +Moscow--Recent Changes in the Character of the City--Vulgar Conception +of the Slavophils--Opinion Founded on Personal Acquaintance--Slavophil +Sentiment a Century Ago--Origin and Development of the Slavophil +Doctrine--Slavophilism Essentially Muscovite--The Panslavist +Element--The Slavophils and the Emancipation. + + +In the last chapter, as in many of the preceding ones, the reader must +have observed that at one moment there was a sudden break, almost +a solution of continuity, in Russian national life. The Tsardom of +Muscovy, with its ancient Oriental costumes and Byzantine traditions, +unexpectedly disappears, and the Russian Empire, clad in modern garb +and animated with the spirit of modern progress, steps forward uninvited +into European history. Of the older civilisation, if civilisation it can +be called, very little survived the political transformation, and that +little is generally supposed to hover ghostlike around Kief and Moscow. +To one or other of these towns, therefore, the student who desires +to learn something of genuine old Russian life, untainted by foreign +influences, naturally wends his way. For my part I thought first of +settling for a time in Kief, the oldest and most revered of Russian +cities, where missionaries from Byzantium first planted Christianity on +Russian soil, and where thousands of pilgrims still assemble yearly +from far and near to prostrate themselves before the Holy Icons in the +churches and to venerate the relics of the blessed saints and martyrs in +the catacombs of the great monastery. I soon discovered, however, that +Kief, though it represents in a certain sense the Byzantine traditions +so dear to the Russian people, is not a good point of observation for +studying the Russian character. It was early exposed to the ravages of +the nomadic tribes of the Steppe, and when it was liberated from those +incursions it was seized by the Poles and Lithuanians, and remained for +centuries under their domination. Only in comparatively recent times +did it begin to recover its Russian character--a university having been +created there for that purpose after the Polish insurrection of 1830. +Even now the process of Russification is far from complete, and the +Russian elements in the population are far from being pure in the +nationalist sense. The city and the surrounding country are, in fact, +Little Russian rather than Great Russian, and between these two sections +of the population there are profound differences--differences of +language, costume, traditions, popular songs, proverbs, folk-lore, +domestic arrangements, mode of life, and Communal organisation. In these +and other respects the Little Russians, South Russians, Ruthenes, +or Khokhly, as they are variously designated, differ from the Great +Russians of the North, who form the predominant factor in the +Empire, and who have given to that wonderful structure its essential +characteristics. Indeed, if I did not fear to ruffle unnecessarily the +patriotic susceptibilities of my Great Russian friends who have a pet +theory on this subject, I should say that we have here two distinct +nationalities, further apart from each other than the English and the +Scotch. The differences are due, I believe, partly to ethnographical +peculiarities and partly to historic conditions. + +As it was the energetic Great Russian empire-builders and not the +half-dreamy, half-astute, sympathetic descendants of the Free Cossacks +that I wanted to study, I soon abandoned my idea of settling in the Holy +City on the Dnieper, and chose Moscow as my point of observation; and +here, during several years, I spent regularly some of the winter months. + +The first few weeks of my stay in the ancient capital of the Tsars were +spent in the ordinary manner of intelligent tourists. After mastering +the contents of a guide-book I carefully inspected all the officially +recognised objects of interest--the Kremlin, with its picturesque towers +and six centuries of historical associations; the Cathedrals, containing +the venerated tombs of martyrs, saints, and Tsars; the old churches, +with their quaint, archaic, richly decorated Icons; the "Patriarchs' +Treasury," rich in jewelled ecclesiastical vestments and vessels of +silver and gold; the ancient and the modern palace; the Ethnological +Museum, showing the costumes and physiognomy of all the various races in +the Empire; the archaeological collections, containing many objects that +recall the barbaric splendour of old Muscovy; the picture-gallery, with +Ivanof's gigantic picture, in which patriotic Russian critics discover +occult merits which place it above anything that Western Europe has yet +produced! Of course I climbed up to the top of the tall belfry which +rejoices in the name of "Ivan the Great," and looked down on the "gilded +domes"* of the churches, and bright green roofs of the houses, and far +away, beyond these, the gently undulating country with the "Sparrow +Hills," from which Napoleon is said, in cicerone language, to have +"gazed upon the doomed city." Occasionally I walked about the bazaars +in the hope of finding interesting specimens of genuine native +art-industry, and was urgently invited to purchase every conceivable +article which I did not want. At midday or in the evening I visited the +most noted traktirs, and made the acquaintance of the caviar, sturgeons, +sterlets, and other native delicacies for which these institutions +are famous--deafened the while by the deep tones of the colossal +barrel-organ, out of all proportion to the size of the room; and in +order to see how the common people spent their evenings I looked in at +some of the more modest traktirs, and gazed with wonder, not unmixed +with fear, at the enormous quantity of weak tea which the inmates +consumed. + + * Allowance must be made here for poetical licence. In + reality, very few of the domes are gilt. The great majority + of them are painted green, like the roofs of the houses. + +Since these first weeks of my sojourn in Moscow more than thirty years +have passed, and many of my early impressions have been blurred by time, +but one scene remains deeply graven on my memory. It was Easter Eve, +and I had gone with a friend to the Kremlin to witness the customary +religious ceremonies. Though the rain was falling heavily, an immense +number of people had assembled in and around the Cathedral of the +Assumption. The crowd was of the most mixed kind. There stood the +patient bearded muzhik in his well-worn sheepskin; the big, burly, +self-satisfied merchant in his long black glossy kaftan; the noble with +fashionable great-coat and umbrella; thinly clad old women shivering +in the cold, and bright-eyed young damsels with their warm cloaks drawn +closely round them; old men with long beard, wallet, and pilgrim's +staff; and mischievous urchins with faces for the moment preternaturally +demure. Each right hand, of old and young alike, held a lighted taper, +and these myriads of flickering little flames produced a curious +illumination, giving to the surrounding buildings a weird +picturesqueness which they do not possess in broad daylight. All stood +patiently waiting for the announcement of the glad tidings: "He is +risen!" As midnight approached, the hum of voices gradually ceased, +till, as the clock struck twelve, the deep-toned bell on "Ivan the +Great" began to toll, and in answer to this signal all the bells in +Moscow suddenly sent forth a merry peal. Each bell--and their name is +legion--seemed frantically desirous of drowning its neighbour's voice, +the solemn boom of the great one overhead mingling curiously with the +sharp, fussy "ting-a-ting-ting" of diminutive rivals. If demons dwell +in Moscow and dislike bell-ringing, as is generally supposed, then +there must have been at that moment a general stampede of the powers of +darkness such as is described by Milton in his poem on the Nativity, and +as if this deafening din were not enough, big guns were fired in rapid +succession from a battery of artillery close at hand! The noise seemed +to stimulate the religious enthusiasm, and the general excitement had +a wonderful effect on a Russian friend who accompanied me. When in his +normal condition that gentleman was a quiet, undemonstrative person, +devoted to science, an ardent adherent of Western civilisation in +general and of Darwinism in particular, and a thorough sceptic with +regard to all forms of religious belief; but the influence of the +surroundings was too much for his philosophical equanimity. For a moment +his orthodox Muscovite soul awoke from its sceptical, cosmopolitan +lethargy. After crossing himself repeatedly--an act of devotion which I +had never before seen him perform--he grasped my arm, and, pointing to +the crowd, said in an exultant tone of voice, "Look there! There is a +sight that you can see nowhere but in the 'White-stone City.'* Are not +the Russians a religious people?" + + *Belokamenny, meaning "of white stone," is one of the + popular names of Moscow. + +To this unexpected question I gave a monosyllabic assent, and refrained +from disturbing my friend's new-born enthusiasm by any discordant note; +but I must confess that this sudden outburst of deafening noise and +the dazzling light aroused in my heretical breast feelings of a warlike +rather than a religious kind. For a moment I could imagine myself in +ancient Moscow, and could fancy the people being called out to repel a +Tartar horde already thundering at the gates! + +The service lasted two or three hours, and terminated with the curious +ceremony of blessing the Easter cakes, which were ranged--each one with +a lighted taper stuck in it--in long rows outside of the cathedral. A +not less curious custom practised at this season is that of exchanging +kisses of fraternal love. Theoretically one ought to embrace and be +embraced by all present--indicating thereby that all are brethren in +Christ--but the refinements of modern life have made innovations in the +practice, and most people confine their salutations to their friends +and acquaintances. When two friends meet during that night or on the +following day, the one says, "Christos voskres!" ("Christ hath risen!"); +and the other replies, "Vo istine voskres!" ("In truth he hath risen!"). +They then kiss each other three times on the right and left cheek +alternately. The custom is more or less observed in all classes of +society, and the Emperor himself conforms to it. + +This reminds me of an anecdote which is related of the Emperor Nicholas +I., tending to show that he was not so devoid of kindly human feelings +as his imperial and imperious exterior suggested. On coming out of his +cabinet one Easter morning he addressed to the soldier who was mounting +guard at the door the ordinary words of salutation, "Christ hath risen!" +and received instead of the ordinary reply, a flat contradiction--"Not +at all, your Imperial Majesty!" Astounded by such an unexpected +answer--for no one ventured to dissent from Nicholas even in the most +guarded and respectful terms--he instantly demanded an explanation. The +soldier, trembling at his own audacity, explained that he was a Jew, +and could not conscientiously admit the fact of the Resurrection. This +boldness for conscience' sake so pleased the Tsar that he gave the man a +handsome Easter present. + +A quarter of a century after the Easter Eve above mentioned--or, to be +quite accurate, on the 26th of May, 1896--I again find myself in the +Kremlin on the occasion of a great religious ceremony--a ceremony +which shows that "the White-stone City" on the Moskva is still in some +respects the capital of Holy Russia. This time my post of observation is +inside the cathedral, which is artistically draped with purple hangings +and crowded with the most distinguished personages of the Empire, all +arrayed in gorgeous apparel--Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses, Imperial +Highnesses and High Excellencies, Metropolitans and Archbishops, +Senators and Councillors of State, Generals and Court dignitaries. In +the centre of the building, on a high, richly decorated platform, sits +the Emperor with his Imperial Consort, and his mother, the widowed +Consort of Alexander III. Though Nicholas II. has not the colossal +stature which has distinguished so many of the Romanofs, he is well +built, holds himself erect, and shows a quiet dignity in his movements; +while his face, which resembles that of his cousin, the Prince of Wales, +wears a kindly, sympathetic expression. The Empress looks even more than +usually beautiful, in a low dress cut in the ancient fashion, her thick +brown hair, dressed most simply without jewellery or other ornaments, +falling in two long ringlets over her white shoulders. For the moment, +her attire is much simpler than that of the Empress Dowager, who wears +a diamond crown and a great mantle of gold brocade, lined and edged +with ermine, the long train displaying in bright-coloured embroidery the +heraldic double-headed eagle of the Imperial arms. + +Each of these august personages sits on a throne of curious workmanship, +consecrated by ancient historic associations. That of the Emperor, the +gift of the Shah of Persia to Ivan the Terrible, and commonly called the +Throne of Tsar Michael, the founder of the Romanof dynasty, is covered +with gold plaques, and studded with hundreds of big, roughly cut +precious stones, mostly rubies, emeralds, and turquoises. Of still older +date is the throne of the young Empress, for it was given by Pope Paul +II. to Tsar Ivan III., grandfather of the Terrible, on the occasion of +his marriage with a niece of the last Byzantine Emperor. More recent +but not less curious is that of the Empress Dowager. It is the throne of +Tsar Alexis, the father of Peter the Great, covered with countless and +priceless diamonds, rubies, and pearls, and surmounted by an Imperial +eagle of solid gold, together with golden statuettes of St. Peter and +St. Nicholas, the miracle-worker. Over each throne is a canopy of purple +velvet fringed with gold, out of which rise stately plumes representing +the national colours. + +Their Majesties have come hither, in accordance with time-honoured +custom, to be crowned in this old Cathedral of the Assumption, the +central point of the Kremlin, within a stone-throw of the Cathedral of +the Archangel Michael, in which lie the remains of the old Grand Dukes +and Tsars of Muscovy. Already the Emperor has read aloud, in a clear, +unfaltering voice, from a richly bound parchment folio, held by the +Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, the Orthodox creed; and his Eminence, +after invoking on his Majesty the blessing of the Holy Spirit, has +performed the mystic rite of placing his hands in the form of a cross on +the Imperial forehead. Thus all is ready for the most important part of +the solemn ceremony. Standing erect, the Emperor doffs his small +diadem and puts on with his own hands the great diamond crown, offered +respectfully by the Metropolitan; then he reseats himself on his +throne, holding in his right hand the Sceptre and in his left the Orb +of Dominion. After sitting thus in state for a few minutes, he stands up +and proceeds to crown his august spouse, kneeling before him. First he +touches her forehead with his own crown, and then he places on her +head a smaller one, which is immediately attached to her hair by four +ladies-in-waiting, dressed in the old Muscovite Court-costume. At the +same time her Majesty is invested with a mantle of heavy gold brocade, +similar to those of the Emperor and Empress Dowager, lined and bordered +with ermine. + +Thus crowned and robed their Majesties sit in state, while a +proto-deacon reads, in a loud stentorian voice, the long list of +sonorous hereditary titles belonging of right to the Imperator and +Autocrat of all the Russias, and the choir chants a prayer invoking long +life and happiness--"Many years! Many years! Many years!"--on the high +and mighty possessor of the titles aforesaid. And now begins the Mass, +celebrated with a pomp and magnificence that can be witnessed only +once or twice in a generation. Sixty gorgeously robed ecclesiastical +dignitaries of the highest orders fulfil their various functions with +due solemnity and unction; but the magnificence of the vestments and the +pomp of the ceremonial are soon forgotten in the exquisite solemnising +music, as the deep double-bass tones of the adult singers in the +background--carefully selected for the occasion in all parts of the +Empire--peal forth as from a great organ, and blend marvellously with +the clear, soft, gentle notes of the red-robed chorister boys in front +of the Iconostase. Listening with intense emotion, I involuntarily +recall to mind Fra Angelico's pictures of angelic choirs, and cannot +help thinking that the pious old Florentine, whose soul was attuned to +all that was sacred and beautiful, must have heard in imagination such +music as this. So strong is the impression that the subsequent details +of the long ceremony, including the anointing with the holy chrism, fail +to engrave themselves on my memory. One incident, however, remains; and +if it had happened in an earlier and more superstitious age it would +doubtless have been chronicled as an omen full of significance. As the +Emperor is on the point of descending from the dais, duly crowned and +anointed, a staggering ray of sunshine steals through one of the narrow +upper windows and, traversing the dimly lit edifice, falls full on the +Imperial crown, lighting up for a moment the great mass of diamonds with +a hundredfold brilliance. + +In a detailed account of the Coronation which I wrote on leaving the +Kremlin, I find the following: "The magnificent ceremony is at an end, +and now Nicholas II. is the crowned Emperor and anointed Autocrat of all +the Russias. May the cares of Empire rest lightly on him! That must be +the earnest prayer of every loyal subject and every sincere well-wisher, +for of all living mortals he is perhaps the one who has been +entrusted by Providence with the greatest power and the greatest +responsibilities." In writing those words I did not foresee how heavy +his responsibilities would one day weigh upon him, when his Empire would +be sorely tried, by foreign war and internal discontent. + +One more of these old Moscow reminiscences, and I have done. A day or +two after the Coronation I saw the Khodinskoye Polye, a great plain in +the outskirts of Moscow, strewn with hundreds of corpses! During +the previous night enormous crowds from the city and the surrounding +districts had collected here in order to receive at sunrise, by the +Tsar's command, a little memento of the coronation ceremony, in the +form of a packet containing a metal cup and a few eatables; and as day +dawned, in their anxiety to get near the row of booths from which the +distribution was to be made, about two thousand had been crushed to +death. It was a sight more horrible than a battlefield, because among +the dead were a large proportion of women and children, terribly +mutilated in the struggle. Altogether, "a sight to shudder at, not to +see!" + +To return to the remark of my friend in the Kremlin on Easter Eve, +the Russians in general, and the Muscovites in particular, as the +quintessence of all that is Russian, are certainly a religious people, +but their piety sometimes finds modes of expression which rather +shock the Protestant mind. As an instance of these, I may mention the +domiciliary visits of the Iberian Madonna. This celebrated Icon, for +reasons which I have never heard satisfactorily explained, is held +in peculiar veneration by the Muscovites, and occupies in popular +estimation a position analogous to the tutelary deities of ancient pagan +cities. Thus when Napoleon was about to enter the city in 1812, the +populace clamorously called upon the Metropolitan to take the Madonna, +and lead them out armed with hatchets against the hosts of the infidel; +and when the Tsar visits Moscow he generally drives straight from the +railway-station to the little chapel where the Icon resides--near one of +the entrances to the Kremlin--and there offers up a short prayer. +Every Orthodox Russian, as he passes this chapel, uncovers and crosses +himself, and whenever a religious service is performed in it there +is always a considerable group of worshippers. Some of the richer +inhabitants, however, are not content with thus performing their +devotions in public before the Icon. They like to have it from time to +time in their houses, and the ecclesiastical authorities think fit to +humour this strange fancy. Accordingly every morning the Iberian Madonna +may be seen driving about the city from one house to another in a +carriage and four! The carriage may be at once recognised, not from any +peculiarity in its structure, for it is an ordinary close carriage such +as may be obtained at livery stables, but by the fact that the coachman +sits bare-headed, and all the people in the street uncover and cross +themselves as it passes. Arrived at the house to which it has been +invited, the Icon is carried through all the rooms, and in the principal +apartment a short religious service is performed before it. As it is +being brought in or taken away, female servants may sometimes be seen +to kneel on the floor so that it may be carried over them. During +its absence from its chapel it is replaced by a copy not easily +distinguishable from the original, and thus the devotions of the +faithful and the flow of pecuniary contributions do not suffer +interruption. These contributions, together with the sums paid for the +domiciliary visits, amount to a considerable yearly sum, and go--if I am +rightly informed--to swell the revenues of the Metropolitan. + +A single drive or stroll through Moscow will suffice to convince the +traveller, even if he knows nothing of Russian history, that the city +is not, like its modern rival on the Neva, the artificial creation of a +far-seeing, self-willed autocrat, but rather a natural product which has +grown up slowly and been modified according to the constantly changing +wants of the population. A few of the streets have been Europeanised--in +all except the paving, which is everywhere execrably Asiatic--to suit +the tastes of those who have adopted European culture, but the great +majority of them still retain much of their ancient character and +primitive irregularity. As soon as we diverge from the principal +thoroughfares, we find one-storied houses--some of them still of +wood--which appear to have been transported bodily from the country, +with courtyard, garden, stables, and other appurtenances. The whole is +no doubt a little compressed, for land has here a certain value, but the +character is in no way changed, and we have some difficulty in believing +that we are not in the suburbs but near the centre of a great +town. There is nothing that can by any possibility be called street +architecture. Though there is unmistakable evidence of the streets +having been laid out according to a preconceived plan, many of them show +clearly that in their infancy they had a wayward will of their own, and +bent to the right or left without any topographical justification. The +houses, too, display considerable individuality of character, having +evidently during the course of their construction paid no attention to +their neighbours. Hence we find no regularly built terraces, crescents, +or squares. There is, it is true, a double circle of boulevards, but the +houses which flank them have none of that regularity which we commonly +associate with the term. Dilapidated buildings which in West-European +cities would hide themselves in some narrow lane or back slum here +stand composedly in the face of day by the side of a palatial residence, +without having the least consciousness of the incongruity of their +position, just as the unsophisticated muzhik, in his unsavoury +sheepskin, can stand in the midst of a crowd of well-dressed people +without feeling at all awkward or uncomfortable. + +All this incongruity, however, is speedily disappearing. Moscow has +become the centre of a great network of railways, and the commercial +and industrial capital of the Empire. Already her rapidly increasing +population has nearly reached a million.* The value of land and property +is being doubled and trebled, and building speculations, with the aid of +credit institutions of various kinds, are being carried on with feverish +rapidity. Well may the men of the old school complain that the world is +turned upside down, and regret the old times of traditional somnolence +and comfortable routine! Those good old times are gone now, never to +return. The ancient capital, which long gloried in its past historical +associations, now glories in its present commercial prosperity, and +looks forward with confidence to the future. Even the Slavophils, the +obstinate champions of the ultra-Muscovite spirit, have changed with the +times, and descended to the level of ordinary prosaic life. These men, +who formerly spent years in seeking to determine the place of Moscow +in the past and future history of humanity, have--to their honour be +it said--become in these latter days town-counsellors, and have devoted +much of their time to devising ways and means of improving the drainage +and the street-paving! But I am anticipating in a most unjustifiable +way. I ought first to tell the reader who these Slavophils were, and why +they sought to correct the commonly received conceptions of universal +history. + + * According to the census of 1897 it was 988,610. + +The reader may have heard of the Slavophils as a set of fanatics who, +about half a century ago, were wont to go about in what they considered +the ancient Russian costume, who wore beards in defiance of Peter the +Great's celebrated ukaz and Nicholas's clearly-expressed wish anent +shaving, who gloried in Muscovite barbarism, and had solemnly "sworn a +feud" against European civilisation and enlightenment. By the tourists +of the time who visited Moscow they were regarded as among the most +noteworthy lions of the place, and were commonly depicted in not very +flattering colours. At the beginning of the Crimean War they were among +the extreme Chauvinists who urged the necessity of planting the Greek +cross on the desecrated dome of St. Sophia in Constantinople, and +hoped to see the Emperor proclaimed "Panslavonic Tsar"; and after the +termination of the war they were frequently accused of inventing Turkish +atrocities, stirring up discontent among the Slavonic subjects of the +Sultan, and secretly plotting for the overthrow of the Ottoman Empire. +All this was known to me before I went to Russia, and I had consequently +invested the Slavophils with a halo of romance. Shortly after my arrival +in St. Petersburg I heard something more which tended to increase my +interest in them--they had caused, I was told, great trepidation among +the highest official circles by petitioning the Emperor to resuscitate a +certain ancient institution, called Zemskiye Sobory, which might be +made to serve the purposes of a parliament! This threw a new light +upon them--under the disguise of archaeological conservatives they were +evidently aiming at important liberal reforms. + +As a foreigner and a heretic, I expected a very cold and distant +reception from these uncompromising champions of Russian nationality and +the Orthodox faith; but in this I was agreeably disappointed. By all +of them I was received in the most amiable and friendly way, and I soon +discovered that my preconceived ideas of them were very far from the +truth. Instead of wild fanatics I found quiet, extremely intelligent, +highly educated gentlemen, speaking foreign languages with ease and +elegance, and deeply imbued with that Western culture which they were +commonly supposed to despise. And this first impression was amply +confirmed by subsequent experience during several years of friendly +intercourse. They always showed themselves men of earnest character +and strong convictions, but they never said or did anything that could +justify the appellation of fanatics. Like all philosophical theorists, +they often allowed their logic to blind them to facts, but their +reasonings were very plausible--so plausible, indeed, that, had I been a +Russian they would have almost persuaded me to be a Slavophil, at least +during the time they were talking to me. + +To understand their doctrine we must know something of its origin and +development. + +The origin of the Slavophil sentiment, which must not be confounded +with the Slavophil doctrine, is to be sought in the latter half of +the seventeenth century, when the Tsars of Muscovy were introducing +innovations in Church and State. These innovations were profoundly +displeasing to the people. A large portion of the lower classes, as I +have related in a previous chapter, sought refuge in Old Ritualism or +sectarianism, and imagined that Tsar Peter, who called himself by the +heretical title of "Imperator," was an emanation of the Evil Principle. +The nobles did not go quite so far. They remained members of the +official Church, and restricted themselves to hinting that Peter was the +son, not of Satan, but of a German surgeon--a lineage which, according +to the conceptions of the time, was a little less objectionable; but +most of them were very hostile to the changes, and complained bitterly +of the new burdens which these changes entailed. Under Peter's immediate +successors, when not only the principles of administration but also many +of the administrators were German, this hostility greatly increased. + +So long as the innovations appeared only in the official activity of +the Government, the patriotic, conservative spirit was obliged to keep +silence; but when the foreign influence spread to the social life of the +Court aristocracy, the opposition began to find a literary expression. +In the time of Catherine II., when Gallomania was at its height in Court +circles, comedies and satirical journals ridiculed those who, "blinded +by some externally brilliant gifts of foreigners, not only prefer +foreign countries to their native land, but even despise their +fellow-countrymen, and think that a Russian ought to borrow all--even +personal character. As if nature arranging all things with such wisdom, +and bestowing on all regions the gifts and customs which are appropriate +to the climate, had been so unjust as to refuse to the Russians a +character of their own! As if she condemned them to wander over all +regions, and to adopt by bits the various customs of various nations, +in order to compose out of the mixture a new character appropriate to +no nation whatever!" Numerous passages of this kind might be quoted, +attacking the "monkeyism" and "parrotism" of those who indiscriminately +adopted foreign manners and customs--those who + + "Sauntered Europe round, + And gathered ev'ry vice in ev'ry ground." + +Sometimes the terms and metaphors employed were more forcible than +refined. One satirical journal, for instance, relates an amusing +story about certain little Russian pigs that went to foreign lands to +enlighten their understanding, and came back to their country full-grown +swine. The national pride was wounded by the thought that Russians +could be called "clever apes who feed on foreign intelligence," and +many writers, stung by such reproaches, fell into the opposite extreme, +discovering unheard-of excellences in the Russian mind and character, +and vociferously decrying everything foreign in order to place these +imagined excellences in a stronger light by contrast. Even when they +recognised that their country was not quite so advanced in civilisation +as certain other nations, they congratulated themselves on the fact, +and invented by way of justification an ingenious theory, which was +afterwards developed by the Slavophils. "The nations of the West," they +said, "began to live before us, and are consequently more advanced than +we are; but we have on that account no reason to envy them, for we can +profit by their errors, and avoid those deep-rooted evils from which +they are suffering. He who has just been born is happier than he who is +dying." + +Thus, we see, a patriotic reaction against the introduction of foreign +institutions and the inordinate admiration of foreign culture already +existed in Russia more than a century ago. It did not, however, take the +form of a philosophical theory till a much later period, when a similar +movement was going on in various countries of Western Europe. + +After the overthrow of the great Napoleonic Empire a reaction against +cosmopolitanism took place and a romantic enthusiasm for nationality +spread over Europe like an epidemic. Blind, enthusiastic patriotism +became the fashionable sentiment of the time. Each nation took to +admiring itself complacently, to praising its own character and +achievements, and to idealising its historical and mythical past. +National peculiarities, "local colour," ancient customs, traditional +superstitions--in short, everything that a nation believed to be +specially and exclusively its own, now raised an enthusiasm similar to +that which had been formerly excited by cosmopolitan conceptions founded +on the law of nature. The movement produced good and evil results. +In serious minds it led to a deep and conscientious study of history, +national literature, popular mythology, and the like; whilst in +frivolous, inflammable spirits it gave birth merely to a torrent of +patriotic fervour and rhetorical exaggeration. The Slavophils were the +Russian representatives of this nationalistic reaction, and displayed +both its serious and its frivolous elements. + +Among the most important products of this movement in Germany was the +Hegelian theory of universal history. According to Hegel's views, +which were generally accepted by those who occupied themselves with +philosophical questions, universal history was described as "Progress in +the consciousness of freedom" (Fortschritt im Bewusstsein der Freiheit). +In each period of the world's history, it was explained, some one +nation or race had been intrusted with the high mission of enabling the +Absolute Reason, or Weltgeist, to express itself in objective existence, +while the other nations and races had for the time no metaphysical +justification for their existence, and no higher duty than to imitate +slavishly the favoured rival in which the Weltgeist had for the moment +chosen to incorporate itself. The incarnation had taken place first in +the Eastern Monarchies, then in Greece, next in Rome, and lastly in the +Germanic race; and it was generally assumed, if not openly asserted, +that this mystical Metempsychosis of the Absolute was now at an end. The +cycle of existence was complete. In the Germanic peoples the Weltgeist +had found its highest and final expression. + +Russians in general knew nothing about German philosophy, and were +consequently not in any way affected by these ideas, but there was in +Moscow a small group of young men who ardently studied German literature +and metaphysics, and they were much shocked by Hegel's views. Ever since +the brilliant reign of Catherine II., who had defeated the Turks and had +dreamed of resuscitating the Byzantine Empire, and especially since the +memorable events of 1812-15, when Alexander I. appeared as the liberator +of enthralled Europe and the arbiter of her destinies, Russians +were firmly convinced that their country was destined to play a most +important part in human history. Already the great Russian historian +Karamzin had declared that henceforth Clio must be silent or accord +to Russia a prominent place in the history of the nations. Now, by the +Hegelian theory, the whole of the Slav race was left out in the cold, +with no high mission, with no new truths to divulge, with nothing better +to do, in fact, than to imitate the Germans. + +The patriotic philosophers of Moscow could not, of course, adopt this +view. Whilst accepting the fundamental principles, they declared the +theory to be incomplete. The incompleteness lay in the assumption that +humanity had already entered on the final stages of its development. The +Teutonic nations were perhaps for the moment the leaders in the march of +civilisation, but there was no reason to suppose that they would always +retain that privileged position. On the contrary, there were already +symptoms that their ascendency was drawing to a close. "Western Europe," +it was said, "presents a strange, saddening spectacle. Opinion struggles +against opinion, power against power, throne against throne. Science, +Art, and Religion, the three chief motors of social life, have lost +their force. We venture to make an assertion which to many at present +may seem strange, but which will be in a few years only too evident: +Western Europe is on the highroad to ruin! We Russians, on the contrary, +are young and fresh, and have taken no part in the crimes of Europe. +We have a great mission to fulfil. Our name is already inscribed on +the tablets of victory, and now we have to inscribe our spirit in the +history of the human mind. A higher kind of victory--the victory of +Science, Art and Faith--awaits us on the ruins of tottering Europe!"* + + * These words were written by Prince Odoefski. + +This conclusion was supported by arguments drawn from history--or, +at least, what was believed to be history. The European world was +represented as being composed of two hemispheres--the Eastern or +Graeco-Slavonic on the one hand, and the Western, or Roman Catholic +and Protestant, on the other. These two hemispheres, it was said, are +distinguished from each other by many fundamental characteristics. In +both of them Christianity formed originally the basis of civilisation, +but in the West it became distorted and gave a false direction to the +intellectual development. By placing the logical reason of the learned +above the conscience of the whole Church, Roman Catholicism produced +Protestantism, which proclaimed the right of private judgment and +consequently became split up into innumerable sects. The dry, logical +spirit which was thus fostered created a purely intellectual, one-sided +philosophy, which must end in pure scepticism, by blinding men to those +great truths which lie above the sphere of reasoning and logic. The +Graeco-Slavonic world, on the contrary, having accepted Christianity +not from Rome, but from Byzantium, received pure orthodoxy and true +enlightenment, and was thus saved alike from Papal tyranny and from +Protestant free-thinking. Hence the Eastern Christians have preserved +faithfully not only the ancient dogmas, but also the ancient spirit of +Christianity--that spirit of pious humility, resignation, and brotherly +love which Christ taught by precept and example. If they have not yet a +philosophy, they will create one, and it will far surpass all previous +systems; for in the writings of the Greek Fathers are to be found the +germs of a broader, a deeper, and a truer philosophy than the dry, +meagre rationalism of the West--a philosophy founded not on the logical +faculty alone, but on the broader basis of human nature as a whole. + +The fundamental characteristics of the Graeco-Slavonic world--so runs +the Slavophil theory--have been displayed in the history of Russia. +Throughout Western Christendom the principal of individual judgment and +reckless individual egotism have exhausted the social forces and brought +society to the verge of incurable anarchy and inevitable dissolution, +whereas the social and political history of Russia has been harmonious +and peaceful. It presents no struggles between the different social +classes, and no conflicts between Church and State. All the factors have +worked in unison, and the development has been guided by the spirit of +pure orthodoxy. But in this harmonious picture there is one big, +ugly black spot--Peter, falsely styled "the Great," and his so-called +reforms. Instead of following the wise policy of his ancestors, Peter +rejected the national traditions and principles, and applied to his +country, which belonged to the Eastern world, the principles of Western +civilisation. His reforms, conceived in a foreign spirit, and elaborated +by men who did not possess the national instincts, were forced upon the +nation against its will, and the result was precisely what might have +been expected. The "broad Slavonic nature" could not be controlled by +institutions which had been invented by narrow-minded, pedantic German +bureaucrats, and, like another Samson, it pulled down the building in +which foreign legislators sought to confine it. The attempt to introduce +foreign culture had a still worse effect. The upper classes, charmed and +dazzled by the glare and glitter of Western science, threw themselves +impulsively on the newly found treasures, and thereby condemned +themselves to moral slavery and intellectual sterility. Fortunately--and +herein lay one of the fundamental principles of the Slavophil +doctrine--the imported civilisation had not at all infected the common +people. Through all the changes which the administration and the +Noblesse underwent the peasantry preserved religiously in their hearts +"the living legacy of antiquity," the essence of Russian nationality, +"a clear spring welling up living waters, hidden and unknown, but +powerful."* To recover this lost legacy by studying the character, +customs, and institutions of the peasantry, to lead the educated classes +back to the path from which they had strayed, and to re-establish that +intellectual and moral unity which had been disturbed by the foreign +importations--such was the task which the Slavophils proposed to +themselves. + + * This was one of the favourite themes of Khomiakof, the + Slavophil poet and theologian. + +Deeply imbued with that romantic spirit which distorted all the +intellectual activity of the time, the Slavophils often indulged in +the wildest exaggerations, condemning everything foreign and praising +everything Russian. When in this mood they saw in the history of the +West nothing but violence, slavery, and egotism, and in that of their +own country free-will, liberty, and peace. The fact that Russia did not +possess free political institutions was adduced as a precious fruit of +that spirit of Christian resignation and self-sacrifice which places +the Russian at such an immeasurable height above the proud, selfish +European; and because Russia possessed few of the comforts and +conveniences of common life, the West was accused of having made comfort +its God! We need not, however, dwell on these puerilities, which only +gained for their authors the reputation of being ignorant, narrow-minded +men, imbued with a hatred of enlightenment and desirous of leading their +country back to its primitive barbarism. What the Slavophils really +condemned, at least in their calmer moments, was not European culture, +but the uncritical, indiscriminate adoption of it by their countrymen. +Their tirades against foreign culture must appear excusable when we +remember that many Russians of the upper ranks could speak and write +French more correctly than their native language, and that even the +great national poet Pushkin was not ashamed to confess--what was not +true, and a mere piece of affectation--that "the language of Europe" was +more familiar to him than his mother-tongue! + +The Slavophil doctrine, though it made a great noise in the world, never +found many adherents. The society of St. Petersburg regarded it as one +of those harmless provincial eccentricities which are always to be found +in Moscow. In the modern capital, with its foreign name, its streets +and squares on the European model, its palaces and churches in the +Renaissance style, and its passionate love of everything French, any +attempt to resuscitate the old Boyaric times would have been eminently +ridiculous. Indeed, hostility to St. Petersburg and to "the Petersburg +period of Russian history" is one of the characteristic traits of +genuine Slavophilism. In Moscow the doctrine found a more appropriate +home. There the ancient churches, with the tombs of Grand Princes and +holy martyrs, the palace in which the Tsars of Muscovy had lived, the +Kremlin which had resisted--not always successfully--the attacks of +savage Tartars and heretical Poles, the venerable Icons that had many a +time protected the people from danger, the block of masonry from which, +on solemn occasions, the Tsar and the Patriarch had addressed the +assembled multitude--these, and a hundred other monuments sanctified by +tradition, have kept alive in the popular memory some vague remembrance +of the olden time, and are still capable of awakening antiquarian +patriotism. + +The inhabitants, too, have preserved something of the old Muscovite +character. Whilst successive sovereigns have been striving to make the +country a progressive European empire, Moscow has remained the home of +passive conservatism and an asylum for the discontented, especially for +the disappointed aspirants to Imperial favour. Abandoned by the modern +Emperors, she can glory in her ancient Tsars. But even the Muscovites +were not prepared to accept the Slavophil doctrine in the extreme form +which it assumed, and were not a little perplexed by the eccentricities +of those who professed it. Plain, sensible people, though they might +be proud of being citizens of the ancient capital, and might thoroughly +enjoy a joke at the expense of St. Petersburg, could not understand +a little coterie of enthusiasts who sought neither official rank nor +decorations, who slighted many of the conventionalities of the higher +classes to which by birth and education they belonged, who loved to +fraternise with the common people, and who occasionally dressed in the +national costume which had been discarded by the nobles since the time +of Peter the Great. + +The Slavophils thus remained merely a small literary party, which +probably did not count more than a dozen members, but their influence +was out of all proportion to their numbers. They preached successfully +the doctrine that the historical development of Russia has been +peculiar, that her present social and political organisation is +radically different from that of the countries of Western Europe, and +that consequently the social and political evils from which she suffers +are not to be cured by the remedies which have proved efficacious in +France and Germany. These truths, which now appear commonplace, were +formerly by no means generally recognised, and the Slavophils deserve +credit for directing attention to them. Besides this, they helped to +awaken in the upper classes a lively sympathy with the poor, oppressed, +and despised peasantry. So long as the Emperor Nicholas lived they had +to confine themselves to a purely literary activity; but during the +great reforms initiated by his successor, Alexander II., they descended +into the arena of practical politics, and played a most useful and +honourable part in the emancipation of the serfs. In the new +local self-government, too--the Zemstvo and the new municipal +institutions--they laboured energetically and to good purpose. Of all +this I shall have occasion to speak more fully in future chapters. + +But what of their Panslavist aspirations? By their theory they were +constrained to pay attention to the Slav race as a whole, but they were +more Russian than Slav, and more Muscovite than Russian. The Panslavist +element consequently occupied a secondary place in Slavophil doctrine. +Though they did much to stimulate popular sympathy with the Southern +Slavs, and always cherished the hope that the Serbs, Bulgarians, and +cognate Slav nationalities would one day throw off the bondage of the +German and the Turk, they never proposed any elaborate project for the +solution of the Eastern Question. So far as I was able to gather from +their conversation, they seemed to favour the idea of a grand Slavonic +Confederation, in which the hegemony would, of course, belong to Russia. +In ordinary times the only steps which they took for the realisation of +this idea consisted in contributing money for schools and churches +among the Slav population of Austria and Turkey, and in educating young +Bulgarians in Russia. During the Cretan insurrection they +sympathised warmly with the insurgents as co-religionists, but +afterwards--especially during the crisis of the Eastern Question which +culminated in the Treaty of San Stefano and the Congress of Berlin +(1878)--their Hellenic sympathies cooled, because the Greeks showed that +they had political aspirations inconsistent with the designs of Russia, +and that they were likely to be the rivals rather than the allies of the +Slavs in the struggle for the Sick Man's inheritance. + +Since the time when I was living in Moscow in constant intercourse with +the leading Slavophils more than a quarter of a century has passed, and +of those with whom I spent so many pleasant evenings discussing the past +history and future destinies of the Slav races, not one remains alive. +All the great prophets of the old Slavophil doctrine--Jun Samarin, +Prince Tcherkaski, Ivan Aksakof, Kosheleff--have departed without +leaving behind them any genuine disciples. The present generation of +Muscovite frondeurs, who continue to rail against Western Europe and the +pedantic officialism of St. Petersburg, are of a more modern and less +academic type. Their philippics are directed not against Peter the Great +and his reforms, but rather against recent Ministers of Foreign Affairs +who are thought to have shown themselves too subservient to foreign +Powers, and against M. Witte, the late Minister of Finance, who is +accused of favouring the introduction of foreign capital and enterprise, +and of sacrificing to unhealthy industrial development the interests of +the agricultural classes. These laments and diatribes are allowed free +expression in private conversation and in the Press, but they do not +influence very deeply the policy of the Government or the natural course +of events; for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to cultivate +friendly relations with the Cabinets of the West, and Moscow is rapidly +becoming, by the force of economic conditions, the great industrial and +commercial centre of the Empire. + +The administrative and bureaucratic centre--if anything on the frontier +of a country can be called its centre--has long been, and is likely to +remain, Peter's stately city at the mouth of the Neva, to which I now +invite the reader to accompany me. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +ST. PETERSBURG AND EUROPEAN INFLUENCE + + +St. Petersburg and Berlin--Big Houses--The "Lions"--Peter the Great--His +Aims and Policy--The German Regime--Nationalist Reaction--French +Influence--Consequent Intellectual Sterility--Influence of the +Sentimental School--Hostility to Foreign Influences--A New Period of +Literary Importation--Secret Societies--The Catastrophe--The Age of +Nicholas--A Terrible War on Parnassus--Decline of Romanticism and +Transcendentalism--Gogol--The Revolutionary Agitation of 1848--New +Reaction--Conclusion. + + +From whatever side the traveller approaches St. Petersburg, unless he +goes thither by sea, he must traverse several hundred miles of forest +and morass, presenting few traces of human habitation or agriculture. +This fact adds powerfully to the first impression which the city makes +on his mind. In the midst of a waste howling wilderness, he suddenly +comes on a magnificent artificial oasis. + +Of all the great European cities, the one that most resembles the +capital of the Tsars is Berlin. Both are built on perfectly level +ground; both have wide, regularly arranged streets; in both there is +a general look of stiffness and symmetry which suggests military +discipline and German bureaucracy. But there is at least one profound +difference. Though Berlin is said by geographers to be built on the +Spree, we might live a long time in the city without noticing +the sluggish little stream on which the name of a river has been +undeservedly conferred. St. Petersburg, on the contrary, is built on +a magnificent river, which forms the main feature of the place. By its +breadth, and by the enormous volume of its clear, blue, cold water, +the Neva is certainly one of the noblest rivers of Europe. A few miles +before reaching the Gulf of Finland it breaks up into several streams +and forms a delta. It is here that St. Petersburg stands. + +Like the river, everything in St. Petersburg is on a colossal scale. The +streets, the squares, the palaces, the public buildings, the churches, +whatever may be their defects, have at least the attribute of greatness, +and seem to have been designed for the countless generations to come, +rather than for the practical wants of the present inhabitants. In this +respect the city well represents the Empire of which it is the capital. +Even the private houses are built in enormous blocks and divided into +many separate apartments. Those built for the working classes sometimes +contain, I am assured, more than a thousand inhabitants. How many cubic +feet of air is allowed to each person, I do not know; not so many, I +fear, as is recommended by the most advanced sanitary authorities. + +For a detailed description of the city I must refer the reader to the +guide books. Among its numerous monuments, of which the Russians are +justly proud, I confess that the one which interested me most was +neither St. Isaac's Cathedral, with its majestic gilded dome, its +colossal monolithic columns of red granite, and its gaudy interior; nor +the Hermitage, with its magnificent collection of Dutch pictures; nor +the gloomy, frowning fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul, containing +the tombs of the Emperors. These and other "sights" may deserve all the +praise which enthusiastic tourists have lavished upon them, but what +made a far deeper impression on me was the little wooden house in which +Peter the Great lived whilst his future capital was being built. In its +style and arrangement it looks more like the hut of a navvy than the +residence of a Tsar, but it was quite in keeping with the character of +the illustrious man who occupied it. Peter could and did occasionally +work like a navvy without feeling that his Imperial dignity was thereby +impaired. When he determined to build a new capital on a Finnish +marsh, inhabited chiefly by wildfowl, he did not content himself with +exercising his autocratic power in a comfortable arm chair. Like the +Greek gods, he went down from his Olympus and took his place in the +ranks of ordinary mortals, superintending the work with his own eyes, +and taking part in it with his own hands. If he was as arbitrary and +oppressive as any of the pyramid-building Pharaohs, he could at least +say in self-justification that he did not spare himself any more than +his people, but exposed himself freely to the discomforts and dangers +under which thousands of his fellow-labourers succumbed. + +In reading the account of Peter's life, written in part by his own pen, +we can easily understand how the piously Conservative section of his +subjects failed to recognise in him the legitimate successor of the +orthodox Tsars. The old Tsars had been men of grave, pompous demeanour, +deeply imbued with the consciousness of their semi-religious dignity. +Living habitually in Moscow or its immediate neighbourhood, they spent +their time in attending long religious services, in consulting with +their Boyars, in being present at ceremonious hunting-parties, in +visiting the monasteries, and in holding edifying conversations with +ecclesiastical dignitaries or revered ascetics. If they undertook a +journey, it was probably to make a pilgrimage to some holy shrine; and, +whether in Moscow or elsewhere, they were always protected from contact +with ordinary humanity by a formidable barricade of court ceremonial. +In short, they combined the characters of a Christian monk and of an +Oriental potentate. + +Peter was a man of an entirely different type, and played in the calm, +dignified, orthodox, ceremonious world of Moscow the part of the bull in +the china shop, outraging ruthlessly and wantonly all the time-honored +traditional conceptions of propriety and etiquette. Utterly regardless +of public opinion and popular prejudices, he swept away the old +formalities, avoided ceremonies of all kinds, scoffed at ancient usage, +preferred foreign secular books to edifying conversations, chose profane +heretics as his boon companions, travelled in foreign countries, dressed +in heretical costume, defaced the image of God and put his soul in +jeopardy by shaving off his beard, compelled his nobles to dress and +shave like himself, rushed about the Empire as if goaded on by the demon +of unrest, employed his sacred hands in carpentering and other menial +occupations, took part openly in the uproarious orgies of his foreign +soldiery, and, in short, did everything that "the Lord's anointed" +might reasonably be expected not to do. No wonder the Muscovites were +scandalised by his conduct, and that some of them suspected he was not +the Tsar at all, but Antichrist in disguise. And no wonder he felt the +atmosphere of Moscow oppressive, and preferred living in the new capital +which he had himself created. + +His avowed object in building St. Petersburg was to have "a window by +which the Russians might look into civilised Europe"; and well has +the city fulfilled its purpose. From its foundation may be dated the +European period of Russian history. Before Peter's time Russia belonged +to Asia rather than to Europe, and was doubtless regarded by Englishmen +and Frenchmen pretty much as we nowadays regard Bokhara or Kashgar; +since that time she has formed an integral part of the European +political system, and her intellectual history has been but a reflection +of the intellectual history of Western Europe, modified and coloured by +national character and by peculiar local conditions. + +When we speak of the intellectual history of a nation we generally mean +in reality the intellectual history of the upper classes. With regard +to Russia, more perhaps than with regard to any other country, this +distinction must always carefully be borne in mind. Peter succeeded in +forcing European civilisation on the nobles, but the people remained +unaffected. The nation was, as it were, cleft in two, and with each +succeeding generation the cleft has widened. Whilst the masses clung +obstinately to their time-honoured customs and beliefs, the nobles +came to look on the objects of popular veneration as the relics of a +barbarous past, of which a civilised nation ought to be ashamed. + +The intellectual movement inaugurated by Peter had a purely practical +character. He was himself a thorough utilitarian, and perceived clearly +that what his people needed was not theological or philosophical +enlightment, but plain, practical knowledge suitable for the +requirements of everyday life. He wanted neither theologians nor +philosophers, but military and naval officers, administrators, artisans, +miners, manufacturers, and merchants, and for this purpose he introduced +secular technical education. For the young generation primary schools +were founded, and for more advanced pupils the best foreign works on +fortification, architecture, navigation, metallurgy, engineering and +cognate subjects were translated into the native tongue. Scientific men +and cunning artificers were brought into the country, and young Russians +were sent abroad to learn foreign languages and the useful arts. In a +word, everything was done that seemed likely to raise the Russians to +the level of material well-being already attained by the more advanced +nations. + +We have here an important peculiarity in the intellectual development +of Russia. In Western Europe the modern scientific spirit, being the +natural offspring of numerous concomitant historical causes, was born in +the natural way, and Society had, consequently, before giving birth to +it, to endure the pains of pregnancy and the throes of prolonged labour. +In Russia, on the contrary, this spirit appeared suddenly as an adult +foreigner, adopted by a despotic paterfamilias. Thus Russia made the +transition from mediaeval to modern times without any violent struggle +between the old and the new conceptions such as had taken place in the +West. The Church, effectually restrained from all active opposition by +the Imperial power, preserved unmodified her ancient beliefs; whilst the +nobles, casting their traditional conceptions and beliefs to the +winds, marched forward unfettered on that path which their fathers and +grandfathers had regarded as the direct road to perdition. + +During the first part of Peter's reign Russia was not subjected to +the exclusive influence of any one particular country. Thoroughly +cosmopolitan in his sympathies, the great reformer, like the Japanese +of the present day, was ready to borrow from any foreign nation--German, +Dutch, Danish, or French--whatever seemed to him to suit his purpose. +But soon the geographical proximity to Germany, the annexation of +the Baltic Provinces in which the civilisation was German, and +intermarriages between the Imperial family and various German dynasties, +gave to German influence a decided preponderance. When the Empress Anne, +Peter's niece, who had been Duchess of Courland, entrusted the whole +administration of the country to her favourite Biron, the German +influence became almost exclusive, and the Court, the official world, +and the schools were Germanised. + +The harsh, cruel, tyrannical rule of Biron produced a strong reaction, +ending in a revolution, which raised to the throne the Princess +Elizabeth, Peter's unmarried daughter, who had lived in retirement and +neglect during the German regime. She was expected to rid the country of +foreigners, and she did what she could to fulfil the expectations that +were entertained of her. With loud protestations of patriotic feelings, +she removed the Germans from all important posts, demanded that in +future the members of the Academy should be chosen from among born +Russians, and gave orders that the Russian youth should be carefully +prepared for all kinds of official activity. + +This attempt to throw off the German bondage did not lead to +intellectual independence. During Peter's violent reforms Russia had +ruthlessly thrown away her own historic past with whatever germs it +contained, and now she possessed none of the elements of a genuine +national culture. She was in the position of a fugitive who has escaped +from slavery, and, finding himself in danger of starvation, looks +about for a new master. The upper classes, who had acquired a taste for +foreign civilisation, no sooner threw off everything German than they +sought some other civilisation to put in its place. And they could not +long hesitate in making a choice, for at that time all who thought of +culture and refinement turned their eyes to Paris and Versailles. All +that was most brilliant and refined was to be found at the Court of +the French kings, under whose patronage the art and literature of the +Renaissance had attained their highest development. Even Germany, which +had resisted the ambitious designs of Louis XIV., imitated the manners +of his Court. Every petty German potentate strove to ape the pomp and +dignity of the Grand Monarque; and the courtiers, affecting to look on +everything German as rude and barbarous, adopted French fashions, and +spoke a hybrid jargon which they considered much more elegant than the +plain mother tongue. In a word, Gallomania had become the prevailing +social epidemic of the time, and it could not fail to attack and +metamorphose such a class as the Russian Noblesse, which possessed few +stubborn deep-rooted national convictions. + +At first the French influence was manifested chiefly in external +forms--that is to say, in dress, manners, language, and upholstery--but +gradually, and very rapidly after the accession of Catherine II., the +friend of Voltaire and the Encyclopaedists, it sank deeper. Every +noble who had pretensions to being "civilised" learned to speak +French fluently, and gained some superficial acquaintance with French +literature. The tragedies of Corneille and Racine and the comedies of +Moliere were played regularly at the Court theatre in presence of the +Empress, and awakened a real or affected enthusiasm among the audience. +For those who preferred reading in their native language, numerous +translations were published, a simple list of which would fill +several pages. Among them we find not only Voltaire, Rousseau, Lesage, +Marmontel, and other favourite French authors, but also all the +masterpieces of European literature, ancient and modern, which at that +time enjoyed a high reputation in the French literary world--Homer and +Demosthenes, Cicero and Virgil, Ariosto and Camoens, Milton and Locke, +Sterne and Fielding. + +It is related of Byron that he never wrote a description whilst the +scene was actually before him; and this fact points to an important +psychological principle. The human mind, so long as it is compelled +to strain the receptive faculties, cannot engage in that "poetic" +activity--to use the term in its Greek sense--which is commonly called +"original creation." And as with individuals, so with nations. By +accepting in a lump a foreign culture a nation inevitably condemns +itself for a time to intellectual sterility. So long as it is occupied +in receiving and assimilating a flood of new ideas, unfamiliar +conceptions, and foreign modes of thought, it will produce nothing +original, and the result of its highest efforts will be merely +successful imitation. We need not be surprised therefore to find that +the Russians, in becoming acquainted with foreign literature, became +imitators and plagiarists. In this kind of work their natural pliancy +of mind and powerful histrionic talent made them wonderfully successful. +Odes, pseudo-classical tragedies, satirical comedies, epic poems, +elegies, and all the other recognised forms of poetical composition, +appeared in great profusion, and many of the writers acquired a +remarkable command over their native language, which had hitherto been +regarded as uncouth and barbarous. But in all this mass of imitative +literature, which has since fallen into well-merited oblivion, there +are very few traces of genuine originality. To obtain the title of +the Russian Racine, the Russian Lafontaine, the Russian Pindar, or the +Russian Homer, was at that time the highest aim of Russian literary +ambition. + +Together with the fashionable literature the Russian educated classes +adopted something of the fashionable philosophy. They were peculiarly +unfitted to resist that hurricane of "enlightenment" which swept over +Europe during the latter half of the eighteenth century, first +breaking or uprooting the received philosophical systems, theological +conceptions, and scientific theories, and then shaking to their +foundations the existing political and social institutions. The Russian +Noblesse had neither the traditional conservative spirit, nor the firm, +well-reasoned, logical beliefs which in England and Germany formed a +powerful barrier against the spread of French influence. They had been +too recently metamorphosed, and were too eager to acquire a foreign +civilisation, to have even the germs of a conservative spirit. The +rapidity and violence with which Peter's reforms had been effected, +together with the peculiar spirit of Greek Orthodoxy and the low +intellectual level of the clergy, had prevented theology from +associating itself with the new order of things. The upper classes had +become estranged from the beliefs of their forefathers without acquiring +other beliefs to supply the place of those which had been lost. The +old religious conceptions were inseparably interwoven with what was +recognised as antiquated and barbarous, whilst the new philosophical +ideas were associated with all that was modern and civilised. Besides +this, the sovereign, Catherine II., who enjoyed the unbounded admiration +of the upper classes, openly professed allegiance to the new philosophy, +and sought the advice and friendship of its high priests. If we bear +in mind these facts we shall not be surprised to find among the Russian +nobles of that time a considerable number of so-called "Voltaireans" +and numerous unquestioning believers in the infallibility of the +Encyclopedie. What is a little more surprising is, that the new +philosophy sometimes found its way into the ecclesiastical seminaries. +The famous Speranski relates that in the seminary of St. Petersburg one +of his professors, when not in a state of intoxication, was in the habit +of preaching the doctrines of Voltaire and Diderot! + +The rise of the sentimental school in Western Europe produced an +important change in Russian literature, by undermining the inordinate +admiration for the French pseudo-classical school. Florian, Richardson, +Sterne, Rousseau, and Bernardin de St. Pierre found first translators, +and then imitators, and soon the loud-sounding declamation and wordy +ecstatic despair of the stage heroes were drowned in the deep-drawn +sighs and plaintive wailings of amorous swains and peasant-maids +forsaken. The mania seems to have been in Russia even more severe than +in the countries where it originated. Full-grown, bearded men wept +because they had not been born in peaceful primitive times, "when all +men were shepherds and brothers." Hundreds of sighing youths and maidens +visited the scenes described by the sentimental writers, and wandered +by the rivers and ponds in which despairing heroines had drowned +themselves. People talked, wrote, and meditated about "the sympathy +of hearts created for each other," "the soft communion of sympathetic +souls," and much more of the same kind. Sentimental journeys became +a favourite amusement, and formed the subject of very popular books, +containing maudlin absurdities likely to produce nowadays mirth rather +than tears. One traveller, for instance, throws himself on his knees +before an old oak and makes a speech to it; another weeps daily on the +grave of a favourite dog, and constantly longs to marry a peasant girl; +a third talks love to the moon, sends kisses to the stars, and wishes to +press the heavenly orbs to his bosom! For a time the public would read +nothing but absurd productions of this sort, and Karamzin, the great +literary authority of the time, expressly declared that the true +function of Art was "to disseminate agreeable impressions in the region +of the sentimental." + +The love of French philosophy vanished as suddenly as the inordinate +admiration of the French pseudo-classical literature. When the great +Revolution broke out in Paris the fashionable philosophic literature in +St. Petersburg disappeared. Men who talked about political freedom +and the rights of man, without thinking for a moment of limiting +the autocratic power or of emancipating their serfs, were naturally +surprised and frightened on discovering what the liberal principles +could effect when applied to real life. Horrified by the awful scenes of +the Terror, they hastened to divest themselves of the principles which +led to such results, and sank into a kind of optimistic conservatism +that harmonised well with the virtuous sentimentalism in vogue. In this +the Empress herself gave the example. The Imperial disciple and friend +of the Encyclopaedists became in the last years of her reign a decided +reactionnaire. + +During the Napoleonic wars, when the patriotic feelings were excited, +there was a violent hostility to foreign intellectual influence; and +feeble intermittent attempts were made to throw off the intellectual +bondage. The invasion of the country in 1812 by the Grande Armee, and +the burning of Moscow, added abundant fuel to this patriotic fire. For +some time any one who ventured to express even a moderate admiration for +French culture incurred the risk of being stigmatised as a traitor to +his country and a renegade to the national faith. But this patriotic +fanaticism soon evaporated, and exaggerations of the ultra-national +party became the object of satire and parody. When the political danger +was past, and people resumed their ordinary occupations, those who +loved foreign literature returned to their old favourites--or, as the +ultra-patriots called it, to their "wallowing in the mire"--simply +because the native literature did not supply them with what they +desired. "We are quite ready," they said to their upbraiders, "to admire +your great works as soon as they appear, but in the meantime please +allow us to enjoy what we possess." Thus in the last years of the reign +of Alexander I. the patriotic opposition to West European literature +gradually ceased, and a new period of unrestricted intellectual +importation began. + +The intellectual merchandise now brought into the country was very +different from that which had been imported in the time of Catherine. +The French Revolution, the Napoleonic domination, the patriotic wars, +the restoration of the Bourbons, and the other great events of that +memorable epoch, had in the interval produced profound changes in the +intellectual as well as the political condition of Western Europe. +During the Napoleonic wars Russia had become closely associated with +Germany; and now the peculiar intellectual fermentation which was going +on among the German educated classes was reflected in the society of St. +Petersburg. It did not appear, indeed, in the printed literature, for +the Press-censure had been recently organised on the principles laid +down by Metternich, but it was none the less violent on that account. +Whilst the periodicals were filled with commonplace meditations on +youth, spring, the love of Art, and similar innocent topics, the young +generation was discussing in the salons all the burning questions which +Metternich and his adherents were endeavouring to extinguish. + +These discussions, if discussions they might be called, were not of +a very serious kind. In true dilettante style the fashionable young +philosophers culled from the newest books the newest thoughts and +theories, and retailed them in the salon or the ballroom. And they were +always sure to find attentive listeners. The more astounding the idea +or dogma, the more likely was it to be favourably received. No matter +whether it came from the Rationalists, the Mystics, the Freemasons, or +the Methodists, it was certain to find favour, provided it was novel and +presented in an elegant form. The eclectic minds of that curious time +could derive equal satisfaction from the brilliant discourses of the +reactionary jesuitical De Maistre, the revolutionary odes of Pushkin, +and the mysticism of Frau von Krudener. For the majority the vague +theosophic doctrines and the projects for a spiritual union of +governments and peoples had perhaps the greatest charm, being specially +commended by the fact that they enjoyed the protection and sympathy +of the Emperor. Pious souls discovered in the mystical lucubrations +of Jung-Stilling and Baader the final solution of all existing +difficulties--political, social, and philosophical. Men of less dreamy +temperament put their faith in political economy and constitutional +theories, and sought a foundation for their favourite schemes in +the past history of the country and in the supposed fundamental +peculiarities of the national character. Like the young German +democrats, who were then talking enthusiastically about Teutons, +Cheruskers, Skalds, the shade of Arminius, and the heroes of the +Niebelungen, these young Russian savants recognised in early Russian +history--when reconstructed according to their own fancy--lofty +political ideals, and dreamed of resuscitating the ancient institutions +in all their pristine imaginary splendour. + +Each age has its peculiar social and political panaceas. One generation +puts its trust in religion, another in philanthropy, a third in written +constitutions, a fourth in universal suffrage, a fifth in popular +education. In the Epoch of the Restoration, as it is called, the +favourite panacea all over the Continent was secret political +association. Very soon after the overthrow of Napoleon the peoples who +had risen in arms to obtain political independence discovered that they +had merely changed masters. The Princes reconstructed Europe according +to their own convenience, without paying much attention to patriotic +aspirations, and forgot their promises of liberal institutions as soon +as they were again firmly seated on their thrones. This was naturally +for many a bitter deception. The young generation, excluded from all +share in political life and gagged by the stringent police supervision, +sought to realise its political aspirations by means of secret +societies, resembling more or less the Masonic brotherhoods. There were +the Burschenschaften in Germany; the Union, and the "Aide toi et le ciel +t'aidera," in France; the Order of the Hammer in Spain; the Carbonari in +Italy; and the Hetairai in Greece. In Russia the young nobles followed +the prevailing fashion. Secret societies were formed, and in December, +1825, an attempt was made to raise a military insurrection in St. +Petersburg, for the purpose of deposing the Imperial family and +proclaiming a republic; but the attempt failed, and the vague Utopian +dreams of the romantic would-be reformers were swept away by grape-shot. + +This "December catastrophe," still vividly remembered, was for the +society of St. Petersburg like the giving way of the floor in a crowded +ball-room. But a moment before, all had been animated, careless, and +happy; now consternation was depicted on every face. The salons, that +but yesterday had been ringing with lively discussions on morals, +aesthetics, politics, and theology, were now silent and deserted. Many +of those who had been wont to lead the causeries had been removed to the +cells of the fortress, and those who had not been arrested trembled for +themselves or their friends; for nearly all had of late dabbled more +or less in the theory and practice of revolution. The announcement +that five of the conspirators had been condemned to the gallows and +the others sentenced to transportation did not tend to calm the +consternation. Society was like a discomfited child, who, amidst the +delight and excitement of letting off fireworks, has had its fingers +severely burnt. + +The sentimental, wavering Alexander I. had been succeeded by his stern, +energetic brother Nicholas, and the command went forth that there should +be no more fireworks, no more dilettante philosophising or political +aspirations. There was, however, little need for such an order. Society +had been, for the moment at least, effectually cured of all tendencies +to political dreaming. It had discovered, to its astonishment and +dismay, that these new ideas, which were to bring temporal salvation to +humanity, and to make all men happy, virtuous, refined, and poetical, +led in reality to exile and the scaffold! The pleasant dream was at an +end, and the fashionable world, giving up its former habits, took to +harmless occupations--card-playing, dissipation, and the reading of +French light literature. "The French quadrille," as a writer of the time +tersely expresses it, "has taken the place of Adam Smith." + +When the storm had passed, the life of the salons began anew, but it was +very different from what it had been. There was no longer any talk about +political economy, theology, popular education, administrative abuses, +social and political reforms. Everything that had any relation to +politics in the wider sense of the term was by tacit consent avoided. +Discussions there were as of old, but they were now confined to literary +topics, theories of art, and similar innocent subjects. + +This indifference or positive repugnance to philosophy and political +science, strengthened and prolonged by the repressive system of +administration adopted by Nicholas, was of course fatal to the +many-sided intellectual activity which had flourished during the +preceding reign, but it was by no means unfavourable to the cultivation +of imaginative literature. On the contrary, by excluding those practical +interests which tend to disturb artistic production and to engross the +attention of the public, it fostered what was called in the phraseology +of that time "the pure-hearted worship of the Muses." We need not, +therefore, be surprised to find that the reign of Nicholas, which +is commonly and not unjustly described as an epoch of social and +intellectual stagnation, may be called in a certain sense the Golden Age +of Russian literature. + +Already in the preceding reign the struggle between the Classical and +the Romantic school--between the adherents of traditional aesthetic +principles and the partisans of untrammelled poetic inspiration--which +was being carried on in Western Europe, was reflected in Russia. A group +of young men belonging to the aristocratic society of St. Petersburg +embraced with enthusiasm the new doctrines, and declared war against +"classicism," under which term they understood all that was antiquated, +dry, and pedantic. Discarding the stately, lumbering, unwieldy periods +which had hitherto been in fashion, they wrote a light, elastic, +vigorous style, and formed a literary society for the express purpose of +ridiculing the most approved classical writers. The new principles +found many adherents, and the new style many admirers, but this only +intensified the hostility of the literary Conservatives. The staid, +respectable leaders of the old school, who had all their lives kept the +fear of Boileau before their eyes and considered his precepts as the +infallible utterances of aesthetic wisdom, thundered against the impious +innovations as unmistakable symptoms of literary decline and moral +degeneracy--representing the boisterous young iconoclasts as dissipated +Don Juans and dangerous freethinkers. + +Thus for some time in Russia, as in Western Europe, "a terrible war +raged on Parnassus." At first the Government frowned at the innovators, +on account of certain revolutionary odes which one of their number had +written; but when the Romantic Muse, having turned away from the present +as essentially prosaic, went back into the distant past and soared into +the region of sublime abstractions, the most keen-eyed Press Censors +found no reason to condemn her worship, and the authorities placed +almost no restrictions on free poetic inspiration. Romantic poetry +acquired the protection of the Government and the patronage of the +Court, and the names of Zhukofski, Pushkin, and Lermontof--the three +chief representatives of the Russian Romantic school--became household +words in all ranks of the educated classes. + +These three great luminaries of the literary world were of course +attended by a host of satellites of various magnitudes, who did all +in their power to refute the romantic principles by reductiones ad +absurdum. Endowed for the most part with considerable facility of +composition, the poetasters poured forth their feelings with torrential +recklessness, demanding freedom for their inspiration, and cursing the +age that fettered them with its prosaic cares, its cold reason, and +its dry science. At the same time the dramatists and novelists created +heroes of immaculate character and angelic purity, endowed with all the +cardinal virtues in the superlative degree; and, as a contrast to these, +terrible Satanic personages with savage passions, gleaming daggers, +deadly poisons, and all manner of aimless melodramatic villainy. +These stilted productions, interspersed with light satirical essays, +historical sketches, literary criticism, and amusing anecdotes, formed +the contents of the periodical literature, and completely satisfied +the wants of the reading public. Almost no one at that time took +any interest in public affairs or foreign politics. The acts of the +Government which were watched most attentively were the promotions in +the service and the conferring of decorations. The publication of a +new tale by Zagoskin or Marlinski--two writers now well-nigh +forgotten--seemed of much greater importance than any amount of +legislation, and such events as the French Revolution of 1830 paled +before the publication of a new poem by Pushkin. + +The Transcendental philosophy, which in Germany went hand in hand with +the Romantic literature, found likewise a faint reflection in Russia. A +number of young professors and students in Moscow, who had become +ardent admirers of German literature, passed from the works of Schiller, +Goethe, and Hoffmann to the writing of Schelling and Hegel. Trained in +the Romantic school, these young philosophers found at first a special +charm in Schelling's mystical system, teeming with hazy poetical +metaphors, and presenting a misty grandiose picture of the universe; +but gradually they felt the want of some logical basis for their +speculations, and Hegel became their favourite. Gallantly they struggled +with the uncouth terminology and epigrammatic paradoxes of the great +thinker, and strove to force their way through the intricate mazes of +his logical formulae. With the ardour of neophytes they looked at every +phenomenon--even the most trivial incident of common life--from the +philosophical point of view, talked day and night about principles, +ideas, subjectivity, Weltauffassung, and similar abstract entities, +and habitually attacked the "hydra of unphilosophy" by analysing the +phenomena presented and relegating the ingredient elements to the +recognised categories. In ordinary life they were men of quiet, grave, +contemplative demeanour, but their faces could flush and their blood +boil when they discussed the all-important question, whether it is +possible to pass logically from Pure Being through Nonentity to the +conception of Development and Definite Existence! + +We know how in Western Europe Romanticism and Transcendentalism, +in their various forms, sank into oblivion, and were replaced by a +literature which had a closer connection with ordinary prosaic wants and +plain everyday life. The educated public became weary of the Romantic +writers, who were always "sighing like a furnace," delighting in +solitude, cold eternity, and moonshine, deluging the world with their +heart-gushings, and calling on the heavens and the earth to stand aghast +at their Promethean agonising or their Wertherean despair. Healthy +human nature revolted against the poetical enthusiasts who had lost +the faculty of seeing things in their natural light, and who constantly +indulged in that morbid self-analysis which is fatal to genuine feeling +and vigorous action. And in this healthy reaction the philosophers fared +no better than the poets, with whom, indeed, they had much in common. +Shutting their eyes to the visible world around them, they had busied +themselves with burrowing in the mysterious depths of Absolute Being, +grappling with the ego and the non-ego, constructing the great +world, visible and invisible, out of their own puny internal +self-consciousness, endeavouring to appropriate all departments of human +thought, and imparting to every subject they touched the dryness and +rigidity of an algebraical formula. Gradually men with real human +sympathies began to perceive that from all this philosophical turmoil +little real advantage was to be derived. It became only too evident +that the philosophers were perfectly reconciled with all the evil in the +world, provided it did not contradict their theories; that they were men +of the same type as the physician in Moliere's comedy, whose chief care +was that his patients should die selon les ordonnances de la medicine. + +In Russia the reaction first appeared in the aesthetic literature. Its +first influential representative was Gogol (b. 1808, d. 1852), who may +be called, in a certain sense, the Russian Dickens. A minute comparison +of those two great humourists would perhaps show as many points of +contrast as of similarity, but there is a strong superficial resemblance +between them. They both possessed an inexhaustible supply of broad +humour and an imagination of singular vividness. Both had the power of +seeing the ridiculous side of common things, and the talent of producing +caricatures that had a wonderful semblance of reality. A little calm +reflection would suffice to show that the characters presented are for +the most part psychological impossibilities; but on first making their +acquaintance we are so struck with one or two life-like characteristics +and various little details dexterously introduced, and at the same time +we are so carried away by the overflowing fun of the narrative, that we +have neither time nor inclination to use our critical faculties. In a +very short time Gogol's fame spread throughout the length and breadth +of the Empire, and many of his characters became as familiar to +his countrymen as Sam Weller and Mrs. Gamp were to Englishmen. His +descriptions were so graphic--so like the world which everybody knew! +The characters seemed to be old acquaintances hit off to the life; and +readers revelled in that peculiar pleasure which most of us derive from +seeing our friends successfully mimicked. Even the Iron Tsar could not +resist the fun and humour of "The Inspector" (Revizor), and not only +laughed heartily, but also protected the author against the tyranny of +the literary censors, who considered that the piece was not written in +a sufficiently "well-intentioned" tone. In a word, the reading public +laughed as it had never laughed before, and this wholesome genuine +merriment did much to destroy the morbid appetite for Byronic heroes and +Romantic affectation. + +The Romantic Muse did not at once abdicate, but with the spread of +Gogol's popularity her reign was practically at an end. In vain some +of the conservative critics decried the new favourite as talentless, +prosaic, and vulgar. The public were not to be robbed of their amusement +for the sake of any abstract aesthetic considerations; and young +authors, taking Gogol for their model, chose their subjects from real +life, and endeavoured to delineate with minute truthfulness. + +This new intellectual movement was at first purely literary, and +affected merely the manner of writing novels, tales, and poems. The +critics who had previously demanded beauty of form and elegance +of expression now demanded accuracy of description, condemned the +aspirations towards so-called high art, and praised loudly those who +produced the best literary photographs. But authors and critics did +not long remain on this purely aesthetic standpoint. The authors, in +describing reality, began to indicate moral approval and condemnation, +and the critics began to pass from the criticism of the representations +to the criticism of the realities represented. A poem or a tale was +often used as a peg on which to hang a moral lecture, and the fictitious +characters were soundly rated for their sins of omission and commission. +Much was said about the defence of the oppressed, female emancipation, +honour, and humanitarianism; and ridicule was unsparingly launched +against all forms of ignorance, apathy, and the spirit of routine. +The ordinary refrain was that the public ought now to discard what was +formerly regarded as poetical and sublime, and to occupy itself with +practical concerns--with the real wants of social life. + +The literary movement was thus becoming a movement in favour of social +and political reforms when it was suddenly arrested by political +events in the West. The February Revolution in Paris, and the political +fermentation which appeared during 1848-49 in almost every country of +Europe, alarmed the Emperor Nicholas and his counsellors. A Russian army +was sent into Austria to suppress the Hungarian insurrection and save +the Hapsburg dynasty, and the most stringent measures were taken +to prevent disorders at home. One of the first precautions for the +preservation of domestic tranquillity was to muzzle the Press more +firmly than before, and to silence the aspirations towards reform and +progress; thenceforth nothing could be printed which was not in strict +accordance with the ultra-patriotic theory of Russian history, as +expressed by a leading official personage: "The past has been admirable, +the present is more than magnificent, and the future will surpass +all that the human imagination can conceive!" The alarm caused by the +revolutionary disorders spread to the non-official world, and gave rise +to much patriotic self-congratulation. "The nations of the West," it was +said, "envy us, and if they knew us better--if they could see how happy +and prosperous we are--they would envy us still more. We ought not, +however, to withdraw from Europe our solicitude; its hostility should +not deprive us of our high mission of saving order and restoring rest +to the nations; we ought to teach them to obey authority as we do. It is +for us to introduce the saving principle of order into a world that has +fallen a prey to anarchy. Russia ought not to abandon that mission which +has been entrusted to her by the heavenly and by the earthly Tsar."* + + * These words were written by Tchaadaef, who, a few years + before, had vigorously attacked the Slavophils for enouncing + similar views. + +Men who saw in the significant political eruption of 1848 nothing but +an outburst of meaningless, aimless anarchy, and who believed that their +country was destined to restore order throughout the civilised world, +had of course little time or inclination to think of putting their +own house in order. No one now spoke of the necessity of social +reorganisation: the recently awakened aspirations and expectations +seemed to be completely forgotten. The critics returned to their old +theory that art and literature should be cultivated for their own sake +and not used as a vehicle for the propagation of ideas foreign to their +nature. It seemed, in short, as if all the prolific ideas which had for +a time occupied the public attention had been merely "writ in water," +and had now disappeared without leaving a trace behind them. + +In reality the new movement was destined to reappear very soon with +tenfold force; but the account of its reappearance and development +belongs to a future chapter. Meanwhile I may formulate the general +conclusion to be drawn from the foregoing pages. Ever since the time of +Peter the Great there has been such a close connection between Russia +and Western Europe that every intellectual movement which has appeared +in France and Germany has been reflected--albeit in an exaggerated, +distorted form--in the educated society of St. Petersburg and Moscow. +Thus the window which Peter opened in order to enable his subjects to +look into Europe has well served its purpose. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE CRIMEAN WAR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + + +The Emperor Nicholas and his System--The Men with Aspirations and the +Apathetically Contented--National Humiliation--Popular Discontent +and the Manuscript Literature--Death of Nicholas--Alexander II.--New +Spirit--Reform Enthusiasm--Change in the Periodical Literature--The +Kolokol--The Conservatives--The Tchinovniks--First Specific +Proposals--Joint-Stock Companies--The Serf Question Comes to the Front. + + +The Russians frankly admit that they were beaten in the Crimean War, but +they regard the heroic defence of Sebastopol as one of the most glorious +events in the military annals of their country. Nor do they altogether +regret the result of the struggle. Often in a half-jocular, half-serious +tone they say that they had reason to be grateful to the Allies. And +there is much truth in this paradoxical statement. The Crimean War +inaugurated a new epoch in the national history. It gave the death-blow +to the repressive system of the Emperor Nicholas, and produced an +intellectual movement and a moral revival which led to gigantic results. + +"The affair of December," 1825--I mean the abortive attempt at a +military insurrection in St. Petersburg, to which I have alluded in +the foregoing chapter--gave the key-note to Nicholas's reign. The armed +attempt to overthrow the Imperial power, ending in the execution or +exile of many young members of the first families, struck terror into +the Noblesse, and prepared the way for a period of repressive police +administration. Nicholas had none of the moral limpness and vacillating +character of his predecessor. His was one of those simple, vigorous, +tenacious, straightforward natures--more frequently to be met with +among the Teutonic than among the Slav races--whose conceptions are all +founded on a few deep-rooted, semi-instinctive convictions, and who are +utterly incapable of accommodating themselves with histrionic cleverness +to the changes of external circumstances. From his early youth he had +shown a strong liking for military discipline and a decided repugnance +to the humanitarianism and liberal principles then in fashion. With +"the rights of man," "the spirit of the age," and similar philosophical +abstractions his strong, domineering nature had no sympathy; and for +the vague, loud-sounding phrases of philosophic liberalism he had a most +profound contempt. "Attend to your military duties," he was wont to say +to his officers before his accession; "don't trouble your heads with +philosophy. I cannot bear philosophers!" The tragic event which formed +the prelude to his reign naturally confirmed and fortified his previous +convictions. The representatives of liberalism, who could talk so +eloquently about duty in the abstract, had, whilst wearing the uniform +of the Imperial Guard, openly disobeyed the repeated orders of their +superior officers and attempted to shake the allegiance of the troops +for the purpose of overthrowing the Imperial power! A man who was at +once soldier and autocrat, by nature as well as by position, could of +course admit no extenuating circumstances. The incident stereotyped his +character for life, and made him the sworn enemy of liberalism and +the fanatical defender of autocracy, not only in his own country, but +throughout Europe. In European politics he saw two forces struggling +for mastery--monarchy and democracy, which were in his opinion identical +with order and anarchy; and he was always ready to assist his brother +sovereigns in putting down democratic movements. In his own Empire he +endeavoured by every means in his power to prevent the introduction +of the dangerous ideas. For this purpose a stringent intellectual +quarantine was established on the western frontier. All foreign books +and newspapers, except those of the most harmless kind, were rigorously +excluded. Native writers were placed under strict supervision, and +peremptorily silenced as soon as they departed from what was considered +a "well-intentioned" tone. The number of university students was +diminished, the chairs for political science were suppressed, and the +military schools multiplied. Russians were prevented from travelling +abroad, and foreigners who visited the country were closely watched by +the police. By these and similar measures it was hoped that Russia would +be preserved from the dangers of revolutionary agitation. + +Nicholas has been called the Don Quixote of Autocracy, and the +comparison which the term implies is true in many points. By character +and aims he belonged to a time that had passed away; but failure and +mishap could not shake his faith in his ideal, and made no change in his +honest, stubborn nature, which was as loyal and chivalresque as that +of the ill-fated Knight of La Mancha. In spite of all evidence to the +contrary, he believed in the practical omnipotence of autocracy. He +imagined that as his authority was theoretically unlimited, so his power +could work miracles. By nature and training a soldier, he considered +government a slightly modified form of military discipline, and looked +on the nation as an army which might be made to perform any intellectual +or economic evolutions that he might see fit to command. All social ills +seemed to him the consequence of disobedience to his orders, and he +knew only one remedy--more discipline. Any expression of doubt as to +the wisdom of his policy, or any criticism of existing regulations, he +treated as an act of insubordination which a wise sovereign ought not +to tolerate. If he never said, "L'Etat--c'est moi!" it was because he +considered the fact so self-evident that it did not need to be stated. +Hence any attack on the administration, even in the person of the most +insignificant official, was an attack on himself and on the monarchical +principle which he represented. The people must believe--and faith, as +we know, comes not by sight--that they lived under the best possible +government. To doubt this was political heresy. An incautious word or a +foolish joke against the Government was considered a serious crime, and +might be punished by a long exile in some distant and inhospitable part +of the Empire. Progress should by all means be made, but it must be made +by word of command, and in the way ordered. Private initiative in any +form was a thing on no account to be tolerated. Nicholas never +suspected that a ruler, however well-intentioned, energetic, and legally +autocratic he may be, can do but little without the co-operation of +his people. Experience constantly showed him the fruitlessness of his +efforts, but he paid no attention to its teachings. He had formed +once for all his theory of government, and for thirty years he acted +according to it with all the blindness and obstinacy of a reckless, +fanatical doctrinaire. Even at the close of his reign, when the terrible +logic of facts had proved his system to be a mistake--when his armies +had been defeated, his best fleet destroyed, his ports blockaded, and +his treasury well-nigh emptied--he could not recant. "My successor," he +is reported to have said on his deathbed, "may do as he pleases, but I +cannot change." + +Had Nicholas lived in the old patriarchal times, when kings were the +uncontrolled "shepherds of the people," he would perhaps have been +an admirable ruler; but in the nineteenth century he was a flagrant +anachronism. His system of administration completely broke down. In vain +he multiplied formalities and inspectors, and punished severely the few +delinquents who happened by some accident to be brought to justice; the +officials continued to pilfer, extort, and misgovern in every possible +way. Though the country was reduced to what would be called in Europe +"a state of siege," the inhabitants might still have said--as they are +reported to have declared a thousand years before--"Our land is great +and fertile, but there is no order in it." + +In a nation accustomed to political life and to a certain amount of +self-government, any approach to the system of Nicholas would, of +course, have produced wide-spread dissatisfaction and violent hatred +against the ruling power. But in Russia at that time no such feelings +were awakened. The educated classes--and a fortiori the uneducated--were +profoundly indifferent not only to political questions, but also to +ordinary public affairs, whether local or Imperial, and were quite +content to leave them in the hands of those who were paid for attending +to them. In common with the uneducated peasantry, the nobles had a +boundless respect--one might almost say a superstitious reverence--not +only for the person, but also for the will of the Tsar, and were ready +to show unquestioning obedience to his commands, so long as these did +not interfere with their accustomed mode of life. The Tsar desired them +not to trouble their heads with political questions, and to leave all +public matters to the care of the Administration; and in this respect +the Imperial will coincided so well with their personal inclinations +that they had no difficulty in complying with it. + +When the Tsar ordered those of them who held office to refrain from +extortion and peculation, his orders were not so punctiliously obeyed, +but in this disobedience there was no open opposition--no assertion of +a right to pilfer and extort. As the disobedience proceeded, not from a +feeling of insubordination, but merely from the weakness that +official flesh is heir to, it was not regarded as very heinous. In the +aristocratic circles of St. Petersburg and Moscow there was the same +indifference to political questions and public affairs. All strove to +have the reputation of being "well-intentioned," which was the first +requisite for those who desired Court favour or advancement in the +public service; and those whose attention was not entirely occupied +with official duties, card-playing, and the ordinary routine of everyday +life, cultivated belles-lettres or the fine arts. In short, the educated +classes in Russia at that time showed a complete indifference to +political and social questions, an apathetic acquiescence in the +system of administration adopted by the Government, and an unreasoning +contentment with the existing state of things. + +About the year 1845, when the reaction against Romanticism was awakening +in the reading public an interest in the affairs of real life,* began to +appear what may be called "the men with aspirations," a little band of +generous enthusiasts, strongly resembling the youth in Longfellow's poem +who carries a banner with the device "Excelsior," and strives ever to +climb higher, without having any clear notion of where he was going or +of what he is to do when he reaches the summit. At first they had little +more than a sentimental enthusiasm for the true, the beautiful, and +the good, and a certain Platonic love for free institutions, liberty, +enlightenment, progress, and everything that was generally comprehended +at that period under the term "liberal." Gradually, under the influence +of current French literature, their ideas became a little clearer, and +they began to look on reality around them with a critical eye. They +could perceive, without much effort, the unrelenting tyranny of the +Administration, the notorious venality of the tribunals, the reckless +squandering of the public money, the miserable condition of the serfs, +the systematic strangulation of all independent opinion or private +initiative, and, above all, the profound apathy of the upper classes, +who seemed quite content with things as they were. + + * Vide supra, p. 377 et seq. + +With such ugly facts staring them in the face, and with the habit +of looking at things from the moral point of view, these men could +understand how hollow and false were the soothing or triumphant phrases +of official optimism. They did not, indeed, dare to express their +indignation publicly, for the authorities would allow no public +expression of dissatisfaction with the existing state of things, but +they disseminated their ideas among their friends and acquaintances by +means of conversation and manuscript literature, and some of them, as +university professors and writers in the periodical Press, contrived to +awaken in a certain section of the young generation an ardent enthusiasm +for enlightenment and progress, and a vague hope that a brighter day was +about to dawn. + +Not a few sympathised with these new conceptions and aspirations, but +the great majority of the nobles regarded them--especially after the +French Revolution of 1848--as revolutionary and dangerous. Thus the +educated classes became divided into two sections, which have sometimes +been called the Liberals and the Conservatives, but which might be +more properly designated the men with aspirations and the apathetically +contented. These latter doubtless felt occasionally the irksomeness of +the existing system, but they had always one consolation--if they were +oppressed at home they were feared abroad. The Tsar was at least a +thorough soldier, possessing an enormous and well-equipped army by +which he might at any moment impose his will on Europe. Ever since the +glorious days of 1812, when Napoleon was forced to make an ignominious +retreat from the ruins of Moscow, the belief that the Russian soldiers +were superior to all others, and that the Russian army was invincible, +had become an article of the popular creed; and the respect which the +voice of Nicholas commanded in Western Europe seemed to prove that +the fact was admitted by foreign nations. In these and similar +considerations the apathetically contented found a justification for +their lethargy. + +When it became evident that Russia was about to engage in a trial of +strength with the Western Powers, this optimism became general. "The +heavy burdens," it was said, "which the people have had to bear were +necessary to make Russia the first military Power in Europe, and now +the nation will reap the fruits of its long-suffering and patient +resignation. The West will learn that her boasted liberty and liberal +institutions are of little service in the hour of danger, and the +Russians who admire such institutions will be constrained to admit +that a strong, all-directing autocracy is the only means of preserving +national greatness." As the patriotic fervour and military enthusiasm +increased, nothing was heard but praises of Nicholas and his system. The +war was regarded by many as a kind of crusade--even the Emperor spoke +about the defence of "the native soil and the holy faith"--and the +most exaggerated expectations were entertained of its results. The old +Eastern Question was at last to be solved in accordance with Russian +aspirations, and Nicholas was about to realise Catherine II.'s grand +scheme of driving the Turks out of Europe. The date at which the troops +would arrive at Constantinople was actively discussed, and a Slavophil +poet called on the Emperor to lie down in Constantinople, and rise up as +Tsar of a Panslavonic Empire. Some enthusiasts even expected the speedy +liberation of Jerusalem from the power of the Infidel. To the enemy, who +might possibly hinder the accomplishment of these schemes, very little +attention was paid. "We have only to throw our hats at them!" (Shapkami +zakidaem) became a favourite expression. + +There were, however, a few men in whom the prospect of the coming +struggle awoke very different thoughts and feelings. They could not +share the sanguine expectations of those who were confident of success. +"What preparations have we made," they asked, "for the struggle with +civilisation, which now sends its forces against us? With all our vast +territory and countless population we are incapable of coping with it. +When we talk of the glorious campaign against Napoleon, we forget +that since that time Europe has been steadily advancing on the road of +progress while we have been standing still. We march not to victory, +but to defeat, and the only grain of consolation which we have is that +Russia will learn by experience a lesson that will be of use to her in +the future."* + + * These are the words of Granovski. + +These prophets of evil found, of course, few disciples, and were +generally regarded as unworthy sons of the Fatherland--almost as +traitors to their country. But their predictions were confirmed by +events. The Allies were victorious in the Crimea, and even the despised +Turks made a successful stand on the line of the Danube. In spite of the +efforts of the Government to suppress all unpleasant intelligence, it +soon became known that the military organisation was little, if at all, +better than the civil administration--that the individual bravery of +soldiers and officers was neutralised by the incapacity of the generals, +the venality of the officials, and the shameless peculation of the +commissariat department. The Emperor, it was said, had drilled out of +the officers all energy, individuality, and moral force. Almost the only +men who showed judgment, decision, and energy were the officers of the +Black Sea fleet, which had been less subjected to the prevailing system. +As the struggle went on, it became evident how weak the country really +was--how deficient in the resources necessary to sustain a prolonged +conflict. "Another year of war," writes an eye-witness in 1855, "and +the whole of Southern Russia will be ruined." To meet the extraordinary +demands on the Treasury, recourse was had to an enormous issue of paper +money; but the rapid depreciation of the currency showed that this +resource would soon be exhausted. Militia regiments were everywhere +raised throughout the country, and many proprietors spent large sums in +equipping volunteer corps; but very soon this enthusiasm cooled when +it was found that the patriotic efforts enriched the jobbers without +inflicting any serious injury on the enemy. + +Under the sting of the great national humiliation, the upper classes +awoke from their optimistic resignation. They had borne patiently the +oppression of a semi-military administration, and for this! The system +of Nicholas had been put to a crucial test, and found wanting. The +policy which had sacrificed all to increase the military power of +the Empire was seen to be a fatal error, and the worthlessness of +the drill-sergeant regime was proved by bitter experience. Those +administrative fetters which had for more than a quarter of a century +cramped every spontaneous movement had failed to fulfil even the narrow +purpose for which they had been forged. They had, indeed, secured a +certain external tranquillity during those troublous times when Europe +was convulsed by revolutionary agitation; but this tranquillity was not +that of healthy normal action, but of death--and underneath the surface +lay secret and rapidly spreading corruption. The army still possessed +that dashing gallantry which it had displayed in the campaigns of +Suvorof, that dogged, stoical bravery which had checked the advance of +Napoleon on the field of Borodino, and that wondrous power of endurance +which had often redeemed the negligence of generals and the defects of +the commissariat; but the result was now not victory, but defeat. How +could this be explained except by the radical defects of that system +which had been long practised with such inflexible perseverance? The +Government had imagined that it could do everything by its own wisdom +and energy, and in reality it had done nothing, or worse than nothing. +The higher officers had learned only too well to be mere automata; the +ameliorations in the military organisation, on which Nicholas had always +bestowed special attention, were found to exist for the most part only +in the official reports; the shameful exploits of the commissariat +department were such as to excite the indignation of those who had +long lived in an atmosphere of official jobbery and peculation; and +the finances, which people had generally supposed to be in a highly +satisfactory condition, had become seriously crippled by the first great +national effort. + +This deep and wide-spread dissatisfaction was not allowed to appear +in the Press, but it found very free expression in the manuscript +literature and in conversation. In almost every house--I mean, of +course, among the educated classes--words were spoken which a few months +before would have seemed treasonable, if not blasphemous. Philippics and +satires in prose and verse were written by the dozen, and circulated +in hundreds of copies. A pasquil on the Commander in Chief, or a tirade +against the Government, was sure to be eagerly read and warmly approved +of. As a specimen of this kind of literature, and an illustration of the +public opinion of the time, I may translate here one of those metrical +tirades. Though it was never printed, it obtained a wide circulation: + +"'God has placed me over Russia,' said the Tsar to us, 'and you must bow +down before me, for my throne is His altar. Trouble not yourselves with +public affairs, for I think for you and watch over you every hour. My +watchful eye detects internal evils and the machinations of foreign +enemies; and I have no need of counsel, for God inspires me with wisdom. +Be proud, therefore, of being my slaves, O Russians, and regard my will +as your law.' + +"We listened to these words with deep reverence, and gave a tacit +consent; and what was the result? Under mountains of official papers +real interests were forgotten. The letter of the law was observed, but +negligence and crime were allowed to go unpunished. While grovelling in +the dust before ministers and directors of departments in the hope of +receiving tchins and decorations, the officials stole unblushingly; +and theft became so common that he who stole the most was the most +respected. The merits of officers were decided at reviews; and he who +obtained the rank of General was supposed capable of becoming at once an +able governor, an excellent engineer, or a most wise senator. Those who +were appointed governors were for the most part genuine satraps, the +scourges of the provinces entrusted to their care. The other offices +were filled up with as little attention to the merits of the candidates. +A stable-boy became Press censor! an Imperial fool became admiral! +Kleinmichel became a count! In a word, the country was handed over to +the tender mercies of a band of robbers. + +"And what did we Russians do all this time? + +"We Russians slept! With groans the peasant paid his yearly dues; with +groans the proprietor mortgaged the second half of his estate; groaning, +we all paid our heavy tribute to the officials. Occasionally, with a +grave shaking of the head, we remarked in a whisper that it was a shame +and a disgrace--that there was no justice in the courts--that millions +were squandered on Imperial tours, kiosks, and pavilions--that +everything was wrong; and then, with an easy conscience, we sat down +to our rubber, praised the acting of Rachel, criticised the singing of +Frezzolini, bowed low to venal magnates, and squabbled with each other +for advancement in the very service which we so severely condemned. +If we did not obtain the place we wished we retired to our ancestral +estates, where we talked of the crops, fattened in indolence and +gluttony, and lived a genuine animal life. If any one, amidst the +general lethargy, suddenly called upon us to rise and fight for the +truth and for Russia, how ridiculous did he appear! How cleverly the +Pharisaical official ridiculed him, and how quickly the friends of +yesterday showed him the cold shoulder! Under the anathema of public +opinion, in some distant Siberian mine he recognised what a heinous +sin it was to disturb the heavy sleep of apathetic slaves. Soon he was +forgotten, or remembered as an unfortunate madman; and the few who said, +'Perhaps after all he was right,' hastened to add, 'but that is none of +our business.' + +"But amidst all this we had at least one consolation, one thing to be +proud of--the might of Russia in the assembly of kings. 'What need we +care,' we said, 'for the reproaches of foreign nations? We are stronger +than those who reproach us.' And when at great reviews the stately +regiments marched past with waving standards, glittering helmets, and +sparkling bayonets, when we heard the loud hurrah with which the troops +greeted the Emperor, then our hearts swelled with patriotic pride, and +we were ready to repeat the words of the poet-- + +"Strong is our native country, and great the Russian Tsar." + +"Then British statesmen, in company with the crowned conspirator of +France, and with treacherous Austria, raised Western Europe against us, +but we laughed scornfully at the coming storm. 'Let the nations rave,' +we said; 'we have no cause to be afraid. The Tsar doubtless foresaw +all, and has long since made the necessary preparations.' Boldly we went +forth to fight, and confidently awaited the moment of the struggle. + +"And lo! after all our boasting we were taken by surprise, and caught +unawares, as by a robber in the dark. The sleep of innate stupidity +blinded our Ambassadors, and our Foreign Minister sold us to +our enemies.* Where were our millions of soldiers? Where was the +well-considered plan of defence? One courier brought the order to +advance; another brought the order to retreat; and the army wandered +about without definite aim or purpose. With loss and shame we retreated +from the forts of Silistria, and the pride of Russia was humbled before +the Hapsburg eagle. The soldiers fought well, but the parade-admiral +(Menshikof)--the amphibious hero of lost battles--did not know +the geography of his own country, and sent his troops to certain +destruction. + + * Many people at that time imagined that Count Nesselrode, + who was then Minister for Foreign Affairs, was a traitor to + his adopted country. + +"Awake, O Russia! Devoured by foreign enemies, crushed by slavery, +shamefully oppressed by stupid authorities and spies, awaken from your +long sleep of ignorance and apathy! You have been long enough held +in bondage by the successors of the Tartar Khan. Stand forward calmly +before the throne of the despot, and demand from him an account of the +national disaster. Say to him boldly that his throne is not the altar of +God, and that God did not condemn us to be slaves. Russia entrusted to +you, O Tsar, the supreme power, and you were as a God upon earth. And +what have you done? Blinded by ignorance and passion, you have lusted +after power and have forgotten Russia. You have spent your life in +reviewing troops, in modifying uniforms, and in appending your signature +to the legislative projects of ignorant charlatans. You created the +despicable race of Press censors, in order to sleep in peace--in order +not to know the wants and not to hear the groans of the people--in order +not to listen to Truth. You buried Truth, rolled a great stone to the +door of the sepulchre, placed a strong guard over it, and said in the +pride of your heart: For her there is no resurrection! But the third day +has dawned, and Truth has arisen from the dead. + +"Stand forward, O Tsar, before the judgment-seat of history and of God! +You have mercilessly trampled Truth under foot, you have denied +Freedom, you have been the slave of your own passions. By your pride and +obstinacy you have exhausted Russia and raised the world in arms against +us. Bow down before your brethren and humble yourself in the dust! Crave +pardon and ask advice! Throw yourself into the arms of the people! There +is now no other salvation!" + +The innumerable tirades of which the above is a fair specimen were not +very remarkable for literary merit or political wisdom. For the most +part they were simply bits of bombastic rhetoric couched in doggerel +rhyme, and they have consequently been long since consigned to +well-merited oblivion--so completely that it is now difficult to obtain +copies of them.* They have, however, an historical interest, because +they express in a more or less exaggerated form the public opinion and +prevalent ideas of the educated classes at that moment. In order to +comprehend their real significance, we must remember that the writers +and readers were not a band of conspirators, but ordinary, respectable, +well-intentioned people, who never for a moment dreamed of embarking +in revolutionary designs. It was the same society that had been a few +months before so indifferent to all political questions, and even now +there was no clear conception as to how the loud-sounding phrases could +be translated into action. We can imagine the comical discomfiture of +those who read and listened to these appeals, if the "despot" had obeyed +their summons, and suddenly appeared before them. + + * I am indebted for the copies which I possess to friends + who copied and collected these pamphlets at the time. + +Was the movement, then, merely an outburst of childish petulance? +Certainly not. The public were really and seriously convinced that +things were all wrong, and they were seriously and enthusiastically +desirous that a new and better order of things should be introduced. It +must be said to their honour that they did not content themselves with +accusing and lampooning the individuals who were supposed to be the +chief culprits. On the contrary, they looked reality boldly in the face, +made a public confession of their past sins, sought conscientiously the +causes which had produced the recent disasters, and endeavoured to find +means by which such calamities might be prevented in the future. The +public feeling and aspirations were not strong enough to conquer the +traditional respect for the Imperial will and create an open opposition +to the Autocratic Power, but they were strong enough to do great things +by aiding the Government, if the Emperor voluntarily undertook a series +of radical reforms. + +What Nicholas would have done, had he lived, in face of this national +awakening, it is difficult to say. He declared, indeed, that he could +not change, and we can readily believe that his proud spirit would +have scorned to make concessions to the principles which he had always +condemned; but he gave decided indications in the last days of his life +that his old faith in his system was somewhat shaken, and he did not +exhort his son to persevere in the path along which he himself had +forced his way with such obstinate consistency. It is useless, however, +to speculate on possibilities. Whilst the Government had still to +concentrate all its energies on the defence of the country, the Iron +Tsar died, and was succeeded by his son, a man of a very different type. + +Of a kind-hearted, humane disposition, sincerely desirous of maintaining +the national honour, but singularly free from military ambition +and imbued with no fanatical belief in the drill-sergeant system of +government, Alexander II. was by no means insensible to the spirit +of the time. He had, however, none of the sentimental enthusiasm for +liberal institutions which had characterised his uncle, Alexander I. +On the contrary, he had inherited from his father a strong dislike to +sentimentalism and rhetoric of all kinds. This dislike, joined to a +goodly portion of sober common-sense, a limited confidence in his own +judgment, and a consciousness of enormous responsibility, prevented him +from being carried away by the prevailing excitement. With all that was +generous and humane in the movement he thoroughly sympathised, and he +allowed the popular ideas and aspirations to find free utterance; but +he did not at once commit himself to any definite policy, and carefully +refrained from all exaggerated expressions of reforming zeal. + +As soon, however, as peace had been concluded, there were unmistakable +symptoms that the rigorously repressive system of Nicholas was about to +be abandoned. In the manifesto announcing the termination of hostilities +the Emperor expressed his conviction that by the combined efforts of the +Government and the people, the public administration would be improved, +and that justice and mercy would reign in the courts of law. Apparently +as a preparation for this great work, to be undertaken by the Tsar and +his people in common, the ministers began to take the public into their +confidence, and submitted to public criticism many official data +which had hitherto been regarded as State secrets. The Minister of the +Interior, for instance, in his annual report, spoke almost in the tone +of a penitent, and confessed openly that the morality of the officials +under his orders left much to be desired. He declared that the Emperor +now showed a paternal confidence in his people, and as a proof of this +he mentioned the significant fact that 9,000 persons had been liberated +from police supervision. The other branches of the Administration +underwent a similar transformation. The haughty, dictatorial tone which +had hitherto been used by superiors to their subordinates, and by all +ranks of officials to the public, was replaced by one of considerate +politeness. About the same time those of the Decembrists who were still +alive were pardoned. The restrictions regarding the number of students +in each university were abolished, the difficulty of obtaining +foreign passports was removed, and the Press censors became singularly +indulgent. Though no decided change had been made in the laws, it was +universally felt that the spirit of Nicholas was no more. + +The public, anxiously seeking after a sign, readily took these symptoms +of change as a complete confirmation of their ardent hopes, and leaped +at once to the conclusion that a vast, all-embracing system of radical +reform was about to be undertaken--not secretly by the Administration, +as had been the custom in the preceding reign when any little changes +had to be made, but publicly, by the Government and the people in +common. "The heart trembles with joy," said one of the leading organs of +the Press, "in expectation of the great social reforms that are about to +be effected--reforms that are thoroughly in accordance with the spirit, +the wishes, and the expectations of the public." "The old harmony and +community of feeling," said another, "which has always existed between +the government and the people, save during short exceptional periods, +has been fully re-established. The absence of all sentiment of caste, +and the feeling of common origin and brotherhood which binds all classes +of the Russian people into a homogeneous whole, will enable Russia to +accomplish peacefully and without effort not only those great reforms +which cost Europe centuries of struggle and bloodshed, but also many +which the nations of the West are still unable to accomplish, in +consequence of feudal traditions and caste prejudices." The past was +depicted in the blackest colours, and the nation was called upon to +begin a new and glorious epoch of its history. "We have to struggle," it +was said, "in the name of the highest truth against egotism and the puny +interests of the moment; and we ought to prepare our children from their +infancy to take part in that struggle which awaits every honest man. +We have to thank the war for opening our eyes to the dark sides of our +political and social organisation, and it is now our duty to profit +by the lesson. But it must not be supposed that the Government can, +single-handed, remedy the defects. The destinies of Russia are, as it +were, a stranded vessel which the captain and crew cannot move, and +which nothing, indeed, but the rising tide of the national life can +raise and float." + +Hearts beat quicker at the sound of these calls to action. Many heard +this new teaching, if we may believe a contemporary authority, "with +tears in their eyes"; then, "raising boldly their heads, they made a +solemn vow that they would act honourably, perseveringly, fearlessly." +Some of those who had formerly yielded to the force of circumstances +now confessed their misdemeanours with bitterness of heart. "Tears +of repentance," said a popular poet, "give relief, and call us to new +exploits." Russia was compared to a strong giant who awakes from sleep, +stretches his brawny limbs, collects his thoughts, and prepares to atone +for his long inactivity by feats of untold prowess. All believed, or at +least assumed, that the recognition of defects would necessarily entail +their removal. When an actor in one of the St. Petersburg theatres +shouted from the stage, "Let us proclaim throughout all Russia that the +time has come for tearing up evil by the roots!" the audience gave way +to the most frantic enthusiasm. "Altogether a joyful time," says one who +took part in the excitement, "as when, after the long winter, the genial +breath of spring glides over the cold, petrified earth, and nature +awakens from her deathlike sleep. Speech, long restrained by police and +censorial regulations, now flows smoothly, majestically, like a mighty +river that has just been freed from ice." + +Under these influences a multitude of newspapers and periodicals were +founded, and the current literature entirely changed its character. The +purely literary and historical questions which had hitherto engaged the +attention of the reading public were thrown aside and forgotten, unless +they could be made to illustrate some principle of political or social +science. Criticisms on style and diction, explanations of aesthetic +principles, metaphysical discussions--all this seemed miserable trifling +to men who wished to devote themselves to gigantic practical interests. +"Science," it was said, "has now descended from the heights of +philosophic abstraction into the arena of real life." The periodicals +were accordingly filled with articles on railways, banks, free-trade, +education, agriculture, communal institutions, local self-government, +joint-stock companies, and with crushing philippics against personal +and national vanity, inordinate luxury, administrative tyranny, and the +habitual peculation of the officials. This last-named subject received +special attention. During the preceding reign any attempt to criticise +publicly the character or acts of an official was regarded as a very +heinous offence; now there was a deluge of sketches, tales, comedies, +and monologues, describing the corruption of the Administration, and +explaining the ingenious devices by which the tchinovniks increased +their scanty salaries. The public would read nothing that had not a +direct or indirect bearing on the questions of the day, and whatever had +such a bearing was read with interest. It did not seem at all strange +that a drama should be written in defence of free-trade, or a poem +in advocacy of some peculiar mode of taxation; that an author should +expound his political ideas in a tale, and his antagonist reply by +a comedy. A few men of the old school protested feebly against this +"prostitution of art," but they received little attention, and the +doctrine that art should be cultivated for its own sake was scouted as +an invention of aristocratic indolence. Here is an ipsa pinxit of the +literature of the time: "Literature has come to look at Russia with her +own eyes, and sees that the idyllic romantic personages which the poets +formerly loved to describe have no objective existence. Having taken +off her French glove, she offers her hand to the rude, hard-working +labourer, and observing lovingly Russian village life, she feels herself +in her native land. The writers of the present have analysed the past, +and, having separated themselves from aristocratic litterateurs and +aristocratic society, have demolished their former idols." + +By far the most influential periodical at the commencement of the +movement was the Kolokol, or Bell, a fortnightly journal published in +London by Herzen, who was at that time an important personage among +the political refugees. Herzen was a man of education and culture, with +ultra-radical opinions, and not averse to using revolutionary methods +of reform when he considered them necessary. His intimate relations +with many of the leading men in Russia enabled him to obtain secret +information of the most important and varied kind, and his sparkling +wit, biting satire, and clear, terse, brilliant style secured him a +large number of readers. He seemed to know everything that was done in +the ministries and even in the Cabinet of the Emperor,* and he exposed +most mercilessly every abuse that came to his knowledge. We who are +accustomed to free political discussion can hardly form a conception of +the avidity with which his articles were read, and the effect which they +produced. Though strictly prohibited by the Press censure, the Kolokol +found its way across the frontier in thousands of copies, and was +eagerly perused and commented on by all ranks of the educated classes. +The Emperor himself received it regularly, and high-priced delinquents +examined it with fear and trembling. In this way Herzen was for some +years, though an exile, an important political personage, and did much +to awaken and keep up the reform enthusiasm. + + * As an illustration of this, the following anecdote is + told: One number of the Kolokol contained a violent attack + on an important personage of the court, and the accused, or + some one of his friends, considered it advisable to have a + copy specially printed for the Emperor without the + objectionable article. The Emperor did not at first + discover the trick, but shortly afterwards he received from + London a polite note containing the article which had been + omitted, and informing him how he had been deceived. + +But where were the Conservatives all this time? How came it that for two +or three years no voice was raised and no protest made even against +the rhetorical exaggerations of the new-born liberalism? Where were the +representatives of the old regime, who had been so thoroughly imbued +with the spirit of Nicholas? Where were those ministers who had +systematically extinguished the least indication of private initiative, +those "satraps" who had stamped out the least symptom of insubordination +or discontent, those Press censors who had diligently suppressed +the mildest expression of liberal opinion, those thousands of +well-intentioned proprietors who had regarded as dangerous free-thinkers +and treasonable republicans all who ventured to express dissatisfaction +with the existing state of things? A short time before, the +Conservatives composed at least nine-tenths of the upper classes, and +now they had suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. + +It is scarcely necessary to say that in a country accustomed to +political life, such a sudden, unopposed revolution in public opinion +could not possibly take place. The key to the mystery lies in the +fact that for centuries Russia had known nothing of political life or +political parties. Those who were sometimes called Conservatives were +in reality not at all Conservatives in our sense of the term. If we say +that they had a certain amount of conservatism, we must add that it +was of the latent, passive, unreasoned kind--the fruit of indolence and +apathy. Their political creed had but one article: Thou shalt love the +Tsar with all thy might, and carefully abstain from all resistance +to his will--especially when it happens that the Tsar is a man of the +Nicholas type. So long as Nicholas lived they had passively acquiesced +in his system--active acquiescence had been neither demanded nor +desired--but when he died, the system of which he was the soul died with +him. What then could they seek to defend? They were told that the system +which they had been taught to regard as the sheet-anchor of the State +was in reality the chief cause of the national disasters; and to this +they could make no reply, because they had no better explanation of +their own to offer. They were convinced that the Russian soldier was the +best soldier in the world, and they knew that in the recent war the army +had not been victorious; the system, therefore, must be to blame. They +were told that a series of gigantic reforms was necessary in order to +restore Russia to her proper place among the nations; and to this +they could make no answer, for they had never studied such abstract +questions. And one thing they did know: that those who hesitated to +admit the necessity of gigantic reforms were branded by the Press as +ignorant, narrow-minded, prejudiced, and egotistical, and were held up +to derision as men who did not know the most elementary principles of +political and economic science. Freely expressed public opinion was +such a new phenomenon in Russia that the Press was able for some time +to exercise a "Liberal" tyranny scarcely less severe than the +"Conservative" tyranny of the censors in the preceding reign. Men who +would have stood fire gallantly on the field of battle quailed before +the poisoned darts of Herzen in the Kolokol. Under such circumstances, +even the few who possessed some vague Conservative convictions refrained +from publicly expressing them. + +The men who had played a more or less active part during the preceding +reign, and who might therefore be expected to have clearer and deeper +convictions, were specially incapable of offering opposition to the +prevailing Liberal enthusiasm. Their Conservatism was of quite as limp +a kind as that of the landed proprietors who were not in the public +service, for under Nicholas the higher a man was placed the less likely +was he to have political convictions of any kind outside the simple +political creed above referred to. Besides this, they belonged to that +class which was for the moment under the anathema of public opinion, and +they had drawn direct personal advantage from the system which was now +recognised as the chief cause of the national disasters. + +For a time the name of tchinovnik became a term of reproach and +derision, and the position of those who bore it was comically painful. +They strove to prove that, though they held a post in the public +service, they were entirely free from the tchinovnik spirit--that there +was nothing of the genuine tchinovnik about them. Those who had formerly +paraded their tchin (official rank) on all occasions, in season and +out of season, became half ashamed to admit that they had the rank +of General; for the title no longer commanded respect, and had become +associated with all that was antiquated, formal, and stupid. Among +the young generation it was used most disrespectfully as equivalent +to "pompous blockhead." Zealous officials who had lately regarded the +acquisition of Stars and Orders as among the chief ends of man, were +fain to conceal those hard-won trophies, lest some cynical "Liberal" +might notice them and make them the butt of his satire. "Look at the +depth of humiliation to which you have brought the country"--such was +the chorus of reproach that was ever ringing in their ears--"with +your red tape, your Chinese formalism, and your principle of lifeless, +unreasoning, mechanical obedience! You asserted constantly that you were +the only true patriots, and branded with the name of traitor those who +warned you of the insane folly of your conduct. You see now what it has +all come to. The men whom you helped to send to the mines turn out to +have been the true patriots."* + + * It was a common saying at that time that nearly all the + best men in Russia had spent a part of their lives in + Siberia, and it was proposed to publish a biographical + dictionary of remarkable men, in which every article was to + end thus: "Exiled to ---- in 18--." I am not aware how far + the project was seriously entertained, but, of course, the + book was never published. + +And to these reproaches what could they reply? Like a child who has in +his frolics inadvertently set the house on fire, they could only look +contrite, and say they did not mean it. They had simply accepted without +criticism the existing order of things, and ranged themselves among +those who were officially recognised as "the well-intentioned." If they +had always avoided the Liberals, and perhaps helped to persecute them, +it was simply because all "well-intentioned" people said that Liberals +were "restless" and dangerous to the State. Those who were not convinced +of their errors simply kept silence, but the great majority passed over +to the ranks of the Progressists, and many endeavoured to redeem their +past by showing extreme zeal for the Liberal cause. + +In explanation of this extraordinary outburst of reform enthusiasm, we +must further remember that the Russian educated classes, in spite of the +severe northern climate which is supposed to make the blood circulate +slowly, are extremely impulsive. They are fettered by no venerable +historical prejudices, and are wonderfully sensitive to the seductive +influence of grandiose projects, especially when these excite the +patriotic feelings. Then there was the simple force of reaction--the +rebound which naturally followed the terrific compression of the +preceding reign. Without disrespect, the Russians of that time may +be compared to schoolboys who have just escaped from the rigorous +discipline of a severe schoolmaster. In the first moments of freedom it +was supposed that there would be no more discipline or compulsion. The +utmost respect was to be shown to "human dignity," and every Russian +was to act spontaneously and zealously at the great work of national +regeneration. All thirsted for reforming activity. The men in authority +were inundated with projects of reform--some of them anonymous, and +others from obscure individuals; some of them practical, and very many +wildly fantastic. Even the grammarians showed their sympathy with the +spirit of the time by proposing to expel summarily all redundant letters +from the Russian alphabet! + +The fact that very few people had clear, precise ideas as to what was +to be done did not prevent, but rather tended to increase, the reform +enthusiasm. All had at least one common feeling--dislike to what had +previously existed. It was only when it became necessary to forsake pure +negation, and to create something, that the conceptions became clearer, +and a variety of opinions appeared. At the first moment there was +merely unanimity in negation, and an impulsive enthusiasm for beneficent +reforms in general. + +The first specific proposals were direct deductions from the lessons +taught by the war. The war had shown in a terrible way the disastrous +consequences of having merely primitive means of communication; the +Press and the public began, accordingly, to speak about the necessity of +constructing railways, roads and river-steamers. The war had shown +that a country which has not developed its natural resources very soon +becomes exhausted if it has to make a great national effort; accordingly +the public and the Press talked about the necessity of developing the +natural resources, and about the means by which this desirable end might +be attained. It had been shown by the war that a system of education +which tends to make men mere apathetic automata cannot produce even a +good army; accordingly the public and the Press began to discuss the +different systems of education and the numerous questions of pedagogical +science. It had been shown by the war that the best intentions of +a Government will necessarily be frustrated if the majority of the +officials are dishonest or incapable; accordingly the public and the +Press began to speak about the paramount necessity of reforming the +Administration in all its branches. + +It must not, however, be supposed that in thus laying to heart the +lessons taught by the war and endeavouring to profit by them, the +Russians were actuated by warlike feelings, and desired to avenge +themselves as soon as possible on their victorious enemies. On the +contrary, the whole movement and the spirit which animated it were +eminently pacific. Prince Gortchakof's saying, "La Russie ne boude pas, +elle se recueille," was more than a diplomatic repartee--it was a +true and graphic statement of the case. Though the Russians are very +inflammable, and can be very violent when their patriotic feelings are +aroused, they are, individually and as a nation, singularly free from +rancour and the spirit of revenge. After the termination of hostilities +they really bore little malice towards the Western Powers, except +towards Austria, which was believed to have been treacherous and +ungrateful to the country that had saved her in 1849. Their patriotism +now took the form, not of revenge, but of a desire to raise their +country to the level of the Western nations. If they thought of military +matters at all, they assumed that military power would be obtained as a +natural and inevitable result of high civilisation and good government. + +As a first step towards the realisation of the vast schemes +contemplated, voluntary associations began to be formed for industrial +and commercial purposes, and a law was issued for the creation of +limited liability companies. In the space of two years forty-seven +companies of this kind were founded, with a combined capital of 358 +millions of roubles. To understand the full significance of these +figures, we must know that from the founding of the first joint-stock +company in 1799 down to 1853 only twenty-six companies had been formed, +and their united capital amounted only to thirty-two millions of +roubles. Thus in the space of two years (1857-58) eleven times as much +capital was subscribed to joint-stock companies as had been subscribed +during half a century previous to the war. The most exaggerated +expectations were entertained as to the national and private advantages +which must necessarily result from these undertakings, and it became +a patriotic duty to subscribe liberally. The periodical literature +depicted in glowing terms the marvellous results that had been obtained +in other countries by the principle of co-operation, and sanguine +readers believed that they had discovered a patriotic way of speedily +becoming rich. + +These were, however, mere secondary matters, and the public were +anxiously waiting for the Government to begin the grand reforming +campaign. When the educated classes awoke to the necessity of great +reforms, there was no clear conception as to how the great work should +be undertaken. There was so much to be done that it was no easy matter +to decide what should be done first. Administrative, judicial, social, +economical, financial, and political reforms seemed all equally +pressing. Gradually, however, it became evident that precedence must be +given to the question of serfage. It was absurd to speak about progress, +humanitarianism, education, self-government, equality in the eye of +the law, and similar matters, so long as one half of the population was +excluded from the enjoyment of ordinary civil rights. So long as serfage +existed it was mere mockery to talk about re-organising Russia according +to the latest results of political and social science. How could a +system of even-handed justice be introduced when twenty millions of the +peasantry were subject to the arbitrary will of the landed proprietors? +How could agricultural or industrial progress be made without free +labour? How could the Government take active measures for the spread of +national education when it had no direct control over one-half of +the peasantry? Above all, how could it be hoped that a great moral +regeneration could take place, so long as the nation voluntarily +retained the stigma of serfage and slavery? + +All this was very generally felt by the educated classes, but no one +ventured to raise the question until it should be known what were the +views of the Emperor on the subject. How the question was gradually +raised, how it was treated by the nobles, and how it was ultimately +solved by the famous law of February 19th (March 3d), 1861,* I now +propose to relate. + + * February 19th according to the old style, which is still + used in Russia, and March 3d according to our method of + reckoning. + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE SERFS + + +The Rural Population in Ancient Times--The Peasantry in the Eighteenth +Century--How Was This Change Effected?--The Common Explanation +Inaccurate--Serfage the Result of Permanent Economic and Political +Causes--Origin of the Adscriptio Glebae--Its Consequences--Serf +Insurrection--Turning-point in the History of Serfage--Serfage in +Russia and in Western Europe--State Peasants--Numbers and Geographical +Distribution of the Serf Population--Serf Dues--Legal and Actual Power +of the Proprietors--The Serfs' Means of Defence--Fugitives--Domestic +Serfs--Strange Advertisements in the Moscow Gazette--Moral Influence of +Serfage. + + +Before proceeding to describe the Emancipation, it may be well to +explain briefly how the Russian peasants became serfs, and what serfage +in Russia really was. + +In the earliest period of Russian history the rural population was +composed of three distinct classes. At the bottom of the scale stood the +slaves, who were very numerous. Their numbers were continually augmented +by prisoners of war, by freemen who voluntarily sold themselves as +slaves, by insolvent debtors, and by certain categories of criminals. +Immediately above the slaves were the free agricultural labourers, who +had no permanent domicile, but wandered about the country and +settled temporarily where they happened to find work and satisfactory +remuneration. In the third place, distinct from these two classes, and +in some respects higher in the social scale, were the peasants properly +so called.* + + * My chief authority for the early history of the peasantry + has been Belaef, "Krestyanye na Rusi," Moscow, 1860; a most + able and conscientious work. + +These peasants proper, who may be roughly described as small farmers or +cottiers, were distinguished from the free agricultural labourers in two +respects: they were possessors of land in property or usufruct, and +they were members of a rural Commune. The Communes were free primitive +corporations which elected their office-bearers from among the heads +of families, and sent delegates to act as judges or assessors in the +Prince's Court. Some of the Communes possessed land of their own, whilst +others were settled on the estates of the landed proprietors or on the +extensive domains of the monasteries. In the latter case the peasant +paid a fixed yearly rent in money, in produce, or in labour, according +to the terms of his contract with the proprietor or the monastery; but +he did not thereby sacrifice in any way his personal liberty. As soon +as he had fulfilled the engagements stipulated in the contract and had +settled accounts with the owner of the land, he was free to change his +domicile as he pleased. + +If we turn now from these early times to the eighteenth century, we find +that the position of the rural population has entirely changed in the +interval. The distinction between slaves, agricultural labourers, and +peasants has completely disappeared. All three categories have melted +together into a common class, called serfs, who are regarded as the +property of the landed proprietors or of the State. "The proprietors +sell their peasants and domestic servants not even in families, but one +by one, like cattle, as is done nowhere else in the whole world, from +which practice there is not a little wailing."* And yet the Government, +whilst professing to regret the existence of the practice, takes no +energetic measures to prevent it. On the contrary, it deprives the serfs +of all legal protection, and expressly commands that if any serf shall +dare to present a petition against his master, he shall be punished with +the knout and transported for life to the mines of Nertchinsk. (Ukaz of +August 22d, 1767.**) + + * These words are taken from an Imperial ukaz of April 15th, + 1721. Polnoye Sobranye Zakonov, No. 3,770. + + ** This is an ukaz of the liberal and tolerant Catherine! + How she reconciled it with her respect and admiration for + Beccaria's humane views on criminal law she does not + explain. + +How did this important change take place, and how is it to be explained? + +If we ask any educated Russian who has never specially occupied himself +with historical investigations regarding the origin of serfage in +Russia, he will probably reply somewhat in this fashion: + +"In Russia slavery has never existed (!), and even serfage in the +West-European sense has never been recognised by law! In ancient times +the rural population was completely free, and every peasant might change +his domicile on St. George's Day--that is to say, at the end of the +agricultural year. This right of migration was abolished by Tsar +Boris Godunof--who, by the way, was half a Tartar and more than half a +usurper--and herein lies the essence of serfage in the Russian sense. +The peasants have never been the property of the landed proprietors, +but have always been personally free; and the only legal restriction on +their liberty was that they were not allowed to change their domicile +without the permission of the proprietor. If so-called serfs were +sometimes sold, the practice was simply an abuse not justified by +legislation." + +This simple explanation, in which may be detected a note of patriotic +pride, is almost universally accepted in Russia; but it contains, like +most popular conceptions of the distant past, a curious mixture of fact +and fiction. Serious historical investigation tends to show that the +power of the proprietors over the peasants came into existence, not +suddenly, as the result of an ukaz, but gradually, as a consequence of +permanent economic and political causes, and that Boris Godunof was not +more to blame than many of his predecessors and successors.* + + * See especially Pobedonostsef, in the Russki Vestnik, 1858, + No. 11, and "Istoritcheskiya izsledovaniya i statyi" (St. + Petersburg, 1876), by the same author; also Pogodin, in the + Russkaya Beseda, 1858, No. 4. + +Although the peasants in ancient Russia were free to wander about as +they chose, there appeared at a very early period--long before the reign +of Boris Godunof--a decided tendency in the Princes, in the proprietors, +and in the Communes, to prevent migration. This tendency will be easily +understood if we remember that land without labourers is useless, and +that in Russia at that time the population was small in comparison with +the amount of reclaimed and easily reclaimable land. The Prince desired +to have as many inhabitants as possible in his principality, because the +amount of his regular revenues depended on the number of the population. +The landed proprietor desired to have as many peasants as possible on +his estate, to till for him the land which he reserved for his own use, +and to pay him for the remainder a yearly rent in money, produce, or +labour. The free Communes desired to have a number of members sufficient +to keep the whole of the Communal land under cultivation, because +each Commune had to pay yearly to the Prince a fixed sum in money or +agricultural produce, and the greater the number of able-bodied members, +the less each individual had to pay. To use the language of political +economy, the Princes, the landed proprietors, and the free Communes +all appeared as buyers in the labour market; and the demand was far in +excess of the supply. Nowadays when young colonies or landed proprietors +in an outlying corner of the world are similarly in need of labour, +they seek to supply the want by organising a regular system of importing +labourers--using illegal violent means, such as kidnapping expeditions, +merely as an exceptional expedient. In old Russia any such regularly +organised system was impossible, and consequently illegal or violent +measures were not the exception, but the rule. The chief practical +advantage of the frequent military expeditions for those who took part +in them was the acquisition of prisoners of war, who were commonly +transformed into slaves by their captors. If it be true, as some assert, +that only unbaptised prisoners were legally considered lawful booty, +it is certain that in practice, before the unification of the +principalities under the Tsars of Moscow, little distinction was made +in this respect between unbaptised foreigners and Orthodox Russians.* +A similar method was sometimes employed for the acquisition of +free peasants: the more powerful proprietors organised kidnapping +expeditions, and carried off by force the peasants settled on the land +of their weaker neighbours. + + * On this subject see Tchitcherin, "Opyty po istorii + Russkago prava," Moscow, 1858, p. 162 et seq.; and + Lokhvitski, "O plennykh po drevnemu Russkomu pravu," Moscow, + 1855. + +Under these circumstances it was only natural that those who possessed +this valuable commodity should do all in their power to keep it. Many, +if not all, of the free Communes adopted the simple measure of refusing +to allow a member to depart until he had found some one to take his +place. The proprietors never, so far as we know, laid down formally such +a principle, but in practice they did all in their power to retain the +peasants actually settled on their estates. For this purpose some simply +employed force, whilst others acted under cover of legal formalities. +The peasant who accepted land from a proprietor rarely brought with +him the necessary implements, cattle, and capital to begin at once +his occupations, and to feed himself and his family till the ensuing +harvest. He was obliged, therefore, to borrow from his landlord, and the +debt thus contracted was easily converted into a means of preventing his +departure if he wished to change his domicile. We need not enter into +further details. The proprietors were the capitalists of the time. +Frequent bad harvests, plagues, fires, military raids, and similar +misfortunes often reduced even prosperous peasants to beggary. The +muzhik was probably then, as now, only too ready to accept a loan +without taking the necessary precautions for repaying it. The laws +relating to debt were terribly severe, and there was no powerful +judicial organisation to protect the weak. If we remember all this, +we shall not be surprised to learn that a considerable part of the +peasantry were practically serfs before serfage was recognised by law. + +So long as the country was broken up into independent principalities, +and each land-owner was almost an independent Prince on his estate, the +peasants easily found a remedy for these abuses in flight. They fled +to a neighbouring proprietor who could protect them from their +former landlord and his claims, or they took refuge in a neighbouring +principality, where they were, of course, still safer. All this was +changed when the independent principalities were transformed into the +Tsardom of Muscovy. The Tsars had new reasons for opposing the migration +of the peasants and new means for preventing it. The old Princes had +simply given grants of land to those who served them, and left the +grantee to do with his land what seemed good to him; the Tsars, on the +contrary, gave to those who served them merely the usufruct of a certain +quantity of land, and carefully proportioned the quantity to the rank +and the obligations of the receiver. In this change there was plainly +a new reason for fixing the peasants to the soil. The real value of a +grant depended not so much on the amount of land as on the number of +peasants settled on it, and hence any migration of the population was +tantamount to a removal of the ancient landmarks--that is to say, to a +disturbance of the arrangements made by the Tsar. Suppose, for instance, +that the Tsar granted to a Boyar or some lesser dignitary an estate on +which were settled twenty peasant families, and that afterwards ten of +these emigrated to neighbouring proprietors. In this case the recipient +might justly complain that he had lost half of his estate--though the +amount of land was in no way diminished--and that he was consequently +unable to fulfil his obligations. Such complaints would be rarely, +if ever, made by the great dignitaries, for they had the means of +attracting peasants to their estates;* but the small proprietors +had good reason to complain, and the Tsar was bound to remove their +grievances. The attaching of the peasants to the soil was, in fact, the +natural consequence of feudal tenures--an integral part of the Muscovite +political system. The Tsar compelled the nobles to serve him, and was +unable to pay them in money. He was obliged, therefore, to procure for +them some other means of livelihood. Evidently the simplest method of +solving the difficulty was to give them land, with a certain number of +labourers, and to prevent the labourers from migrating. + + * There are plain indications in the documents of the time + that the great dignitaries were at first hostile to the + adscriptio glebae. We find a similar phenomenon at a much + more recent date in Little Russia. Long after serfage had + been legalised in that region by Catherine II., the great + proprietors, such as Rumyantsef, Razumofski, Bezborodko, + continued to attract to their estates the peasants of the + smaller proprietors. See the article of Pogodin in the + Russkaya Beseda, 1858, No. 4, p. 154. + +Towards the free Communes the Tsar had to act in the same way for +similar reasons. The Communes, like the nobles, had obligations to the +Sovereign, and could not fulfil them if the peasants were allowed to +migrate from one locality to another. They were, in a certain sense, the +property of the Tsar, and it was only natural that the Tsar should do +for himself what he had done for his nobles. + +With these new reasons for fixing the peasants to the soil came, as has +been said, new means of preventing migration. Formerly it was an +easy matter to flee to a neighbouring principality, but now all the +principalities were combined under one ruler, and the foundations of a +centralised administration were laid. Severe fugitive laws were issued +against those who attempted to change their domicile and against the +proprietors who should harbour the runaways. Unless the peasant chose +to face the difficulties of "squatting" in the inhospitable northern +forests, or resolved to brave the dangers of the steppe, he could +nowhere escape the heavy hand of Moscow.* + + * The above account of the origin of serfage in Russia is + founded on a careful examination of the evidence which we + possess on the subject, but I must not conceal the fact that + some of the statements are founded on inference rather than + on direct, unequivocal documentary evidence. The whole + question is one of great difficulty, and will in all + probability not be satisfactorily solved until a large + number of the old local Land-Registers (Pistsoviya Knigi) + have been published and carefully studied. + +The indirect consequences of thus attaching the peasants to the soil did +not at once become apparent. The serf retained all the civil rights he +had hitherto enjoyed, except that of changing his domicile. He could +still appear before the courts of law as a free man, freely engage in +trade or industry, enter into all manner of contracts, and rent land for +cultivation. + +But as time wore on, the change in the legal relation between the two +classes became apparent in real life. In attaching the peasantry to the +soil, the Government had been so thoroughly engrossed with the direct +financial aim that it entirely overlooked, or wilfully shut its eyes to, +the ulterior consequences which must necessarily flow from the policy it +adopted. It was evident that as soon as the relation between proprietor +and peasant was removed from the region of voluntary contract by being +rendered indissoluble, the weaker of the two parties legally tied +together must fall completely under the power of the stronger, unless +energetically protected by the law and the Administration. To this +inevitable consequence the Government paid no attention. So far from +endeavouring to protect the peasantry from the oppression of the +proprietors, it did not even determine by law the mutual obligations +which ought to exist between the two classes. Taking advantage of this +omission, the proprietors soon began to impose whatever obligations they +thought fit; and as they had no legal means of enforcing fulfilment, +they gradually introduced a patriarchal jurisdiction similar to +that which they exercised over their slaves, with fines and corporal +punishment as means of coercion. From this they ere long proceeded a +step further, and began to sell their peasants without the land on +which they were settled. At first this was merely a flagrant abuse +unsanctioned by law, for the peasant had never been declared the private +property of the landed proprietor; but the Government tacitly sanctioned +the practice, and even exacted dues on such sales, as on the sale of +slaves. Finally the right to sell peasants without land was formally +recognised by various Imperial ukazes.* + + * For instance, the ukazes of October 13th, 1675, and June + 25th, 1682. See Belaef, pp. 203-209. + +The old Communal organisation still existed on the estates of the +proprietors, and had never been legally deprived of its authority, but +it was now powerless to protect the members. The proprietor could easily +overcome any active resistance by selling or converting into domestic +servants the peasants who dared to oppose his will. + +The peasantry had thus sunk to the condition of serfs, practically +deprived of legal protection and subject to the arbitrary will of the +proprietors; but they were still in some respects legally and actually +distinguished from the slaves on the one hand and the "free wandering +people" on the other. These distinctions were obliterated by Peter the +Great and his immediate successors. + +To effect his great civil and military reforms, Peter required an +annual revenue such as his predecessors had never dreamed of, and he +was consequently always on the look-out for some new object of taxation. +When looking about for this purpose, his eye naturally fell on the +slaves, the domestic servants, and the free agricultural labourers. +None of these classes paid taxes--a fact which stood in flagrant +contradiction with his fundamental principle of polity, that every +subject should in some way serve the State. He caused, therefore, a +national census to be taken, in which all the various classes of the +rural population--slaves, domestic servants, agricultural labourers, +peasants--should be inscribed in one category; and he imposed equally +on all the members of this category a poll-tax, in lieu of the former +land-tax, which had lain exclusively on the peasants. To facilitate the +collection of this tax the proprietors were made responsible for their +serfs; and the "free wandering people" who did not wish to enter the +army were ordered, under pain of being sent to the galleys, to inscribe +themselves as members of a Commune or as serfs to some proprietor. + +These measures had a considerable influence, if not on the actual +position of the peasantry, at least on the legal conceptions regarding +them. By making the proprietor pay the poll-tax for his serfs, as if +they were slaves or cattle, the law seemed to sanction the idea that +they were part of his goods and chattels. Besides this, it introduced +the entirely new principle that any member of the rural population not +legally attached to the land or to a proprietor should be regarded as a +vagrant, and treated accordingly. Thus the principle that every subject +should in some way serve the State had found its complete realisation. +There was no longer any room in Russia for free men. + +The change in the position of the peasantry, together with the hardships +and oppression by which it was accompanied, naturally increased +fugitivism and vagrancy. Thousands of serfs ran away from their masters +and fled to the steppe or sought enrolment in the army. To prevent this +the Government considered it necessary to take severe and energetic +measures. The serfs were forbidden to enlist without the permission +of their masters, and those who persisted in presenting themselves for +enrolment were to be beaten "cruelly" (zhestoko) with the knout, and +sent to the mines.* The proprietors, on the other hand, received the +right to transport without trial their unruly serfs to Siberia, and even +to send them to the mines for life.** + + * Ukaz of June 2d, 1742. + + ** See ukaz of January 17th, 1765, and of January 28th, + 1766. + +If these stringent measures had any effect it was not of long duration, +for there soon appeared among the serfs a still stronger spirit of +discontent and insubordination, which threatened to produce a general +agrarian rising, and actually did create a movement resembling in many +respects the Jacquerie in France and the Peasant War in Germany. A +glance at the causes of this movement will help us to understand the +real nature of serfage in Russia. + +Up to this point serfage had, in spite of its flagrant abuses, a certain +theoretical justification. It was, as we have seen, merely a part of a +general political system in which obligatory service was imposed on all +classes of the population. The serfs served the nobles in order that the +nobles might serve the Tsar. In 1762 this theory was entirely overturned +by a manifesto of Peter III. abolishing the obligatory service of +the Noblesse. According to strict justice this act ought to have been +followed by the liberation of the serfs, for if the nobles were no +longer obliged to serve the State they had no just claim to the service +of the peasants. The Government had so completely forgotten the original +meaning of serfage that it never thought of carrying out the measure +to its logical consequences, but the peasantry held tenaciously to +the ancient conceptions, and looked impatiently for a second manifesto +liberating them from the power of the proprietors. Reports were spread +that such a manifesto really existed, and was being concealed by the +nobles. A spirit of insubordination accordingly appeared among the rural +population, and local insurrections broke out in several parts of the +Empire. + +At this critical moment Peter III. was dethroned and assassinated by a +Court conspiracy. The peasants, who, of course, knew nothing of the +real motives of the conspirators, supposed that the Tsar had been +assassinated by those who wished to preserve serfage, and believed +him to be a martyr in the cause of Emancipation. At the news of the +catastrophe their hopes of Emancipation fell, but soon they were revived +by new rumours. The Tsar, it was said, had escaped from the conspirators +and was in hiding. Soon he would appear among his faithful peasants, and +with their aid would regain his throne and punish the wicked oppressors. +Anxiously he was awaited, and at last the glad tidings came that he had +appeared in the Don country, that thousands of Cossacks had joined +his standard, that he was everywhere putting the proprietors to death +without mercy, and that he would soon arrive in the ancient capital! + +Peter III. was in reality in his grave, but there was a terrible element +of truth in these reports. A pretender, a Cossack called Pugatchef, had +really appeared on the Don, and had assumed the role which the peasants +expected the late Tsar to play. Advancing through the country of the +Lower Volga, he took several places of importance, put to death all the +proprietors he could find, defeated on more than one occasion the +troops sent against him, and threatened to advance into the heart of +the Empire. It seemed as if the old troublous times were about to be +renewed--as if the country was once more to be pillaged by those wild +Cossacks of the southern steppe. But the pretender showed himself +incapable of playing the part he had assumed. His inhuman cruelty +estranged many who would otherwise have followed him, and he was +too deficient in decision and energy to take advantage of favourable +circumstances. If it be true that he conceived the idea of creating a +peasant empire (muzhitskoe tsarstvo), he was not the man to realise such +a scheme. After a series of mistakes and defeats he was taken prisoner, +and the insurrection was quelled.* + + *Whilst living among the Bashkirs of the province of Samara + in 1872 I found some interesting traditions regarding this + pretender. Though nearly a century had elapsed since his + death (1775), his name, his personal appearance, and his + exploits were well known even to the younger generation. My + informants firmly believed that he was not an impostor, but + the genuine Tsar, dethroned by his ambitious consort, and + that he never was taken prisoner, but "went away into + foreign lands." When I asked whether he was still alive, + and whether he might not one day return, they replied that + they did not know. + +Meanwhile Peter III. had been succeeded by his consort, Catherine II. As +she had no legal right to the throne, and was by birth a foreigner, she +could not gain the affections of the people, and was obliged to court +the favour of the Noblesse. In such a difficult position she could not +venture to apply her humane principles to the question of serfage. Even +during the first years of her reign, when she had no reason to fear +agrarian disturbances, she increased rather than diminished the power of +the proprietors over their serfs, and the Pugatchef affair confirmed +her in this line of policy. During her reign serfage may be said to have +reached its climax. The serfs were regarded by the law as part of the +master's immovable property*--as part of the working capital of the +estate--and as such they were bought, sold, and given as presents** in +hundreds and thousands, sometimes with the land, and sometimes without +it, sometimes in families, and sometimes individually. The only legal +restriction was that they should not be offered for sale at the time of +the conscription, and that they should at no time be sold publicly +by auction, because such a custom was considered as "unbecoming in a +European State." In all other respects the serfs might be treated +as private property; and this view is to be found not only in the +legislation, but also in the popular conceptions. It became customary--a +custom that continued down to the year 1861--to compute a noble's +fortune, not by his yearly revenue or the extent of his estate, but +by the number of his serfs. Instead of saying that a man had so many +hundreds or thousands a year, or so many acres, it was commonly said +that he had so many hundreds or thousands of "souls." And over these +"souls" he exercised the most unlimited authority. The serfs had no +legal means of self-defence. The Government feared that the granting to +them of judicial or administrative protection would inevitably awaken +in them a spirit of insubordination, and hence it was ordered that those +who presented complaints should be punished with the knout and sent +to the mines.*** It was only in extreme cases, when some instance of +atrocious cruelty happened to reach the ears of the Sovereign, that the +authorities interfered with the proprietor's jurisdiction, and these +cases had not the slightest influence on the proprietors in general.**** + + * See ukaz of October 7th, 1792. + + ** As an example of making presents of serfs, the following + may be cited. Count Panin presented some of his + subordinates for an Imperial recompense, and on receiving a + refusal, made them a present of 4000 serfs from his own + estates.--Belaef, p. 320. + + *** See the ukazes of August 22d, 1767, and March 30th, + 1781. + + **** Perhaps the most horrible case on record is that of a + certain lady called Saltykof, who was brought to justice in + 1768. According to the ukaz regarding her crimes, she had + killed by inhuman tortures in the course of ten or eleven + years about a hundred of her serfs, chiefly of the female + sex, and among them several young girls of eleven and twelve + years of age. According to popular belief her cruelty + proceeded from cannibal propensities, but this was not + confirmed by the judicial investigation. Details in the + Russki Arkhiv, 1865, pp. 644-652. The atrocities practised + on the estate of Count Araktcheyef, the favourite of + Alexander I. at the commencement of last century, have been + frequently described, and are scarcely less revolting. + +The last years of the eighteenth century may be regarded as the +turning-point in the history of serfage. Up till that time the power +of the proprietors had steadily increased, and the area of serfage had +rapidly expanded. Under the Emperor Paul (1796-1801) we find the first +decided symptoms of a reaction. He regarded the proprietors as his most +efficient officers of police, but he desired to limit their authority, +and for this purpose issued an ukaz to the effect that the serfs should +not be forced to work for their masters more than three days in the +week. With the accession of Alexander I., in 1801, commenced a long +series of abortive projects for a general emancipation, and endless +attempts to correct the more glaring abuses; and during the reign of +Nicholas no less than six committees were formed at different times to +consider the question. But the practical result of these efforts was +extremely small. The custom of giving grants of land with peasants was +abolished; certain slight restrictions were placed on the authority +of the proprietors; a number of the worst specimens of the class +were removed from the administration of their estates; a few who +were convicted of atrocious cruelty were exiled to Siberia;* and some +thousands of serfs were actually emancipated; but no decisive radical +measures were attempted, and the serfs did not receive even the right of +making formal complaints. Serfage had, in fact, come to be regarded as +a vital part of the State organisation, and the only sure basis for +autocracy. It was therefore treated tenderly, and the rights and +protection accorded by various ukazes were almost entirely illusory. + + *Speranski, for instance, when Governor of the province of + Penza, brought to justice, among others, a proprietor who + had caused one of his serfs to be flogged to death, and a + lady who had murdered a serf boy by pricking him with a + pen-knife because he had neglected to take proper care of a tame + rabbit committed to his charge!--Korff, "Zhizn Speranskago," + II., p. 127, note. + +If we compare the development of serfage in Russia and in Western +Europe, we find very many points in common, but in Russia the movement +had certain peculiarities. One of the most important of these was caused +by the rapid development of the Autocratic Power. In feudal Europe, +where there was no strong central authority to control the Noblesse, the +free rural Communes entirely, or almost entirely, disappeared. They were +either appropriated by the nobles or voluntarily submitted to powerful +landed proprietors or to monasteries, and in this way the whole of the +reclaimed land, with a few rare exceptions, became the property of the +nobles or of the Church. In Russia we find the same movement, but it +was arrested by the Imperial power before all the land had been +appropriated. The nobles could reduce to serfage the peasants settled on +their estates, but they could not take possession of the free Communes, +because such an appropriation would have infringed the rights and +diminished the revenues of the Tsar. Down to the commencement of the +last century, it is true, large grants of land with serfs were made +to favoured individuals among the Noblesse, and in the reign of Paul +(1796-1801) a considerable number of estates were affected to the use +of the Imperial family under the name of appanages (Udyelniya imteniya); +but on the other hand, the extensive Church lands, when secularised by +Catherine II., were not distributed among the nobles, as in many other +countries, but were transformed into State Domains. Thus, at the date +of the Emancipation (1861), by far the greater part of the territory +belonged to the State, and one-half of the rural population were +so-called State Peasants (Gosudarstvenniye krestyanye). + +Regarding the condition of these State Peasants, or Peasants of the +Domains, as they are sometimes called, I may say briefly that they were, +in a certain sense, serfs, being attached to the soil like the others; +but their condition was, as a rule, somewhat better than the serfs in +the narrower acceptation of the term. They had to suffer much from the +tyranny and extortion of the special administration under which they +lived, but they had more land and more liberty than was commonly enjoyed +on the estates of resident proprietors, and their position was much less +precarious. It is often asserted that the officials of the Domains were +worse than the serf-owners, because they had not the same interest in +the prosperity of the peasantry; but this a priori reasoning does not +stand the test of experience. + +It is not a little interesting to observe the numerical proportion +and geographical distribution of these two rural classes. In European +Russia, as a whole, about three-eighths of the population were composed +of serfs belonging to the nobles;* but if we take the provinces +separately we find great variations from this average. In five provinces +the serfs were less than three per cent., while in others they formed +more than seventy per cent. of the population! This is not an accidental +phenomenon. In the geographical distribution of serfage we can see +reflected the origin and history of the institution. + + * The exact numbers, according to official data, were--Entire + Population 60,909,309 + Peasantry of all Classes 49,486,665 + + Of these latter there were--State Peasants + 23,138,191 + Peasants on the Lands of Proprietors 23,022,390 + Peasants of the Appanages and other Departments 3,326,084 + ---------- + 49,486,665 + +If we were to construct a map showing the geographical distribution of +the serf population, we should at once perceive that serfage radiated +from Moscow. Starting from that city as a centre and travelling in any +direction towards the confines of the Empire, we find that, after making +allowance for a few disturbing local influences, the proportion of serfs +regularly declines in the successive provinces traversed. In the region +representing the old Muscovite Tsardom they form considerably more than +a half of the rural population. Immediately to the south and east of +this, in the territory that was gradually annexed during the seventeenth +and first half of the eighteenth century, the proportion varies from +twenty-five to fifty per cent., and in the more recently annexed +provinces it steadily decreases till it almost reaches zero. + +We may perceive, too, that the percentage of serfs decreases towards the +north much more rapidly than towards the east and south. This points to +the essentially agricultural nature of serfage in its infancy. In the +south and east there was abundance of rich "black earth" celebrated for +its fertility, and the nobles in quest of estates naturally preferred +this region to the inhospitable north, with its poor soil and severe +climate. + +A more careful examination of the supposed map* would bring out other +interesting facts. Let me notice one by way of illustration. Had serfage +been the result of conquest we should have found the Slavonic race +settled on the State Domains, and the Finnish and Tartar tribes +supplying the serfs of the nobles. In reality we find quite the reverse; +the Finns and Tartars were nearly all State Peasants, and the serfs +of the proprietors were nearly all of Slavonic race. This is to be +accounted for by the fact that the Finnish and Tartar tribes inhabit +chiefly the outlying regions, in which serfage never attained such +dimensions as in the centre of the Empire. + + * Such a map was actually constructed by Troinitski + ("Krepostnoe Naseleniye v Rossii," St. Petersburg, 1861), + but it is not nearly so graphic as is might have been. + +The dues paid by the serfs were of three kinds: labour, money, and farm +produce. The last-named is so unimportant that it may be dismissed in +a few words. It consisted chiefly of eggs, chickens, lambs, mushrooms, +wild berries, and linen cloth. The amount of these various products +depended entirely on the will of the master. The other two kinds of +dues, as more important, we must examine more closely. + +When a proprietor had abundance of fertile land and wished to farm on +his own account, he commonly demanded from his serfs as much labour as +possible. Under such a master the serfs were probably free from money +dues, and fulfilled their obligations to him by labouring in his fields +in summer and transporting his grain to market in winter. When, on the +contrary, a land-owner had more serf labour at his disposal than he +required for the cultivation of his fields, he put the superfluous serfs +"on obrok,"--that is to say, he allowed them to go and work where they +pleased on condition of paying him a fixed yearly sum. Sometimes the +proprietor did not farm at all on his own account, in which case he put +all the serfs "on obrok," and generally gave to the Commune in usufruct +the whole of the arable land and pasturage. In this way the Mir played +the part of a tenant. + +We have here the basis for a simple and important classification of +estates in the time of serfage: (1) Estates on which the dues were +exclusively in labour; (2) estates on which the dues were partly in +labour and partly in money; and (3) estates on which the dues were +exclusively in money. + +In the manner of exacting the labour dues there was considerable +variety. According to the famous manifesto of Paul I., the peasant could +not be compelled to work more than three days in the week; but this law +was by no means universally observed, and those who did observe it had +various methods of applying it. A few took it literally and laid down +a rule that the serfs should work for them three definite days in the +week--for example, every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday--but this was +an extremely inconvenient method, for it prevented the field labour +from being carried on regularly. A much more rational system was that +according to which one-half of the serfs worked the first three days of +the week, and the other half the remaining three. In this way there was, +without any contravention of the law, a regular and constant supply of +labour. It seems, however, that the great majority of the proprietors +followed no strict method, and paid no attention whatever to Paul's +manifesto, which gave to the peasants no legal means of making formal +complaints. They simply summoned daily as many labourers as they +required. The evil consequences of this for the peasants' crops were in +part counteracted by making the peasants sow their own grain a little +later than that of the proprietor, so that the master's harvest work +was finished, or nearly finished, before their grain was ripe. This +combination did not, however, always succeed, and in cases where there +was a conflict of interests, the serf was, of course, the losing party. +All that remained for him to do in such cases was to work a little in +his own fields before six o'clock in the morning and after nine o'clock +at night, and in order to render this possible he economised his +strength, and worked as little as possible in his master's fields during +the day. + +It has frequently been remarked, and with much truth--though +the indiscriminate application of the principle has often led to +unjustifiable legislative inactivity--that the practical result of +institutions depends less on the intrinsic abstract nature of the +institutions themselves than on the character of those who work them. +So it was with serfage. When a proprietor habitually acted towards his +serfs in an enlightened, rational, humane way, they had little reason to +complain of their position, and their life was much easier than that +of many men who live in a state of complete individual freedom and +unlimited, unrestricted competition. However paradoxical the statement +may seem to those who are in the habit of regarding all forms of slavery +from the sentimental point of view, it is unquestionable that the +condition of serfs under such a proprietor as I have supposed was more +enviable than that of the majority of English agricultural labourers. +Each family had a house of its own, with a cabbage-garden, one or +more horses, one or two cows, several sheep, poultry, agricultural +implements, a share of the Communal land, and everything else necessary +for carrying on its small farming operations; and in return for this it +had to supply the proprietor with an amount of labour which was by no +means oppressive. If, for instance, a serf had three adult sons--and the +households, as I have said, were at that time generally numerous--two of +them might work for the proprietor whilst he himself and the remaining +son could attend exclusively to the family affairs. By the events which +used to be called "the visitations of God" he had no fear of being +permanently ruined. If his house was burnt, or his cattle died from the +plague, or a series of "bad years" left him without seed for his fields, +he could always count upon temporary assistance from his master. He was +protected, too, against all oppression and exactions on the part of the +officials; for the police, when there was any call for its interference, +applied to the proprietor, who was to a certain extent responsible for +his serfs. Thus the serf might live a tranquil, contented life, and die +at a ripe old age, without ever having been conscious that serfage was a +grievous burden. + +If all the serfs had lived in this way we might, perhaps, regret that +the Emancipation was ever undertaken. In reality there was, as the +French say, le revers de la medaille, and serfage generally appeared +under a form very different from that which I have just depicted. The +proprietors were, unfortunately, not all of the enlightened, humane +type. Amongst them were many who demanded from their serfs an inordinate +amount of labour, and treated them in a very inhuman fashion. + +These oppressors of their serfs may be divided into four categories. +First, there were the proprietors who managed their own estates, and +oppressed simply for the purpose of increasing their revenues. Secondly, +there were a number of retired officers who wished to establish a +certain order and discipline on their estates, and who employed for this +purpose the barbarous measures which were at that time used in the +army, believing that merciless corporal punishment was the only means of +curing laziness, disorderliness and other vices. Thirdly, there were the +absentees who lived beyond their means, and demanded from their steward, +under pain of giving him or his son as a recruit, a much greater yearly +sum than the estate could be reasonably expected to yield. Lastly, +in the latter years of serfage, there were a number of men who bought +estates as a mercantile speculation, and made as much money out of them +as they could in the shortest possible space of time. + +Of all hard masters, the last-named were the most terrible. Utterly +indifferent to the welfare of the serfs and the ultimate fate of the +property, they cut down the timber, sold the cattle, exacted heavy money +dues under threats of giving the serfs or their children as recruits, +presented to the military authorities a number of conscripts greater +than was required by law--selling the conscription receipts (zatchetniya +kvitantsii) to the merchants and burghers who were liable to the +conscription but did not wish to serve--compelled some of the richer +serfs to buy their liberty at an enormous price, and, in a word, used +every means, legal and illegal, for extracting money. By this system +of management they ruined the estate completely in the course of a few +years; but by that time they had realised probably the whole sum paid, +with a very fair profit from the operation; and this profit could be +considerably augmented by selling a number of the peasant families +for transportation to another estate (na svoz), or by mortgaging the +property in the Opekunski Sovet--a Government institution which lent +money on landed property without examining carefully the nature of the +security. + +As to the means which the proprietors possessed of oppressing their +peasants, we must distinguish between the legal and the actual. The +legal were almost as complete as any one could desire. "The proprietor," +it is said in the Laws (Vol. IX, p. 1045, ed. an. 1857), "may impose on +his serfs every kind of labour, may take from them money dues (obrok) +and demand from them personal service, with this one restriction, that +they should not be thereby ruined, and that the number of days fixed by +law should be left to them for their own work."* Besides this, he had +the right to transform peasants into domestic servants, and might, +instead of employing them in his own service, hire them out to others +who had the rights and privileges of Noblesse (pp. 1047-48). For +all offences committed against himself or against any one under his +jurisdiction he could subject the guilty ones to corporal punishment not +exceeding forty lashes with the birch or fifteen blows with the stick +(p. 1052); and if he considered any of his serfs as incorrigible, he +could present them to the authorities to be drafted into the army or +transported to Siberia as he might desire (pp. 1053-55). In cases of +insubordination, where the ordinary domestic means of discipline did +not suffice, he could call in the police and the military to support his +authority. + + * I give here the references to the Code, because Russians + commonly believe and assert that the hiring out of serfs, + the infliction of corporal punishment, and similar practices + were merely abuses unauthorised by law. + +Such were the legal means by which the proprietor might oppress +his peasants, and it will be readily understood that they were very +considerable and very elastic. By law he had the power to impose any +dues in labour or money which he might think fit, and in all cases +the serfs were ordered to be docile and obedient (p. 1027). Corporal +punishment, though restricted by law, he could in reality apply to any +extent. Certainly none of the serfs, and very few of the proprietors, +were aware that the law placed any restriction on this right. All the +proprietors were in the habit of using corporal punishment as they +thought proper, and unless a proprietor became notorious for inhuman +cruelty the authorities never thought of interfering. But in the eyes +of the peasants corporal punishment was not the worst. What they feared +infinitely more than the birch or the stick was the proprietor's power +of giving them or their sons as recruits. The law assumed that this +extreme means would be employed only against those serfs who showed +themselves incorrigibly vicious or insubordinate; but the authorities +accepted those presented without making any investigations, and +consequently the proprietor might use this power as an effective means +of extortion. + +Against these means of extortion and oppression the serfs had no +legal protection. The law provided them with no means of resisting any +injustice to which they might be subjected, or of bringing to +punishment the master who oppressed and ruined them. The Government, +notwithstanding its sincere desire to protect them from inordinate +burdens and cruel treatment, rarely interfered between the master and +his serfs, being afraid of thereby undermining the authority of +the proprietors, and awakening among the peasantry a spirit of +insubordination. The serfs were left, therefore, to their own resources, +and had to defend themselves as best they could. The simplest way was +open mutiny; but this was rarely employed, for they knew by experience +that any attempt of the kind would be at once put down by the military +and mercilessly punished. Much more favourite and efficient methods were +passive resistance, flight, and fire-raising or murder. + +We might naturally suppose that an unscrupulous proprietor, armed with +the enormous legal and actual power which I have just described, could +very easily extort from his peasants anything he desired. In reality, +however, the process of extortion, when it exceeded a certain measure, +was a very difficult operation. The Russian peasant has a capacity +of patient endurance that would do honour to a martyr, and a power of +continued, dogged, passive resistance such as is possessed, I believe, +by no other class of men in Europe; and these qualities formed a very +powerful barrier against the rapacity of unconscientious proprietors. +As soon as the serfs remarked in their master a tendency to rapacity and +extortion, they at once took measures to defend themselves. Their first +step was to sell secretly the live stock they did not actually require, +and all their movable property except the few articles necessary for +everyday use; then the little capital realised was carefully hidden. + +When this had been effected, the proprietor might threaten and punish +as he liked, but he rarely succeeded in unearthing the treasure. Many +a peasant, under such circumstances, bore patiently the most cruel +punishment, and saw his sons taken away as recruits, and yet he +persisted in declaring that he had no money to ransom himself and his +children. A spectator in such a case would probably have advised him +to give up his little store of money, and thereby liberate himself from +persecution; but the peasants reasoned otherwise. They were convinced, +and not without reason, that the sacrifice of their little capital would +merely put off the evil day, and that the persecution would very soon +recommence. In this way they would have to suffer as before, and have +the additional mortification of feeling that they had spent to no +purpose the little that they possessed. Their fatalistic belief in the +"perhaps" (avos') came here to their aid. Perhaps the proprietor might +become weary of his efforts when he saw that they led to no result, or +perhaps something might occur which would remove the persecutor. + +It always happened, however, that when a proprietor treated his serfs +with extreme injustice and cruelty, some of them lost patience, and +sought refuge in flight. As the estates lay perfectly open on all sides, +and it was utterly impossible to exercise a strict supervision, nothing +was easier than to run away, and the fugitive might be a hundred miles +off before his absence was noticed. But the oppressed serf was reluctant +to adopt such an extreme measure. He had almost always a wife and +family, and he could not possibly take them with him; flight, therefore, +was expatriation for life in its most terrible form. Besides this, the +life of a fugitive was by no means enviable. He was liable at any moment +to fall into the hands of the police, and to be put into prison or sent +back to his master. So little charm, indeed, did this life present that +not infrequently after a few months or a few years the fugitive returned +of his own accord to his former domicile. + +Regarding fugitives or passportless wanderers in general, I may here +remark parenthetically that there were two kinds. In the first place, +there was the young, able-bodied peasant, who fled from the oppression +of his master or from the conscription. Such a fugitive almost always +sought out for himself a new domicile--generally in the southern +provinces, where there was a great scarcity of labourers, and where many +proprietors habitually welcomed all peasants who presented themselves, +without making any inquiries as to passports. In the second place, there +were those who chose fugitivism as a permanent mode of life. These +were, for the most part, men or women of a certain age--widowers or +widows--who had no close family ties, and who were too infirm or too +lazy to work. The majority of these assumed the character of pilgrims. +As such they could always find enough to eat, and could generally even +collect a few roubles with which to grease the palm of any zealous +police-officer who should arrest them. For a life of this kind Russia +presented peculiar facilities. There was abundance of monasteries, where +all comers could live for three days without questions being asked, and +where those who were willing to do a little work for the patron saint +might live for a much longer period. Then there were the towns, +where the rich merchants considered almsgiving as very profitable for +salvation. And, lastly, there were the villages, where a professing +pilgrim was sure to be hospitably received and entertained so long as he +refrained from stealing and other acts too grossly inconsistent with his +assumed character. For those who contented themselves with simple fare, +and did not seek to avoid the usual privations of a wanderer's life, +these ordinary means of subsistence were amply sufficient. Those who +were more ambitious and more cunning often employed their talents with +great success in the world of the Old Ritualists and Sectarians. + +The last and most desperate means of defense which the serfs possessed +were fire-raising and murder. With regard to the amount of fire-raising +there are no trustworthy statistics. With regard to the number of +agrarian murders I once obtained some interesting statistical data, but +unfortunately lost them. I may say, however, that these cases were +not very numerous. This is to be explained in part by the patient, +long-suffering character of the peasantry, and in part by the fact that +the great majority of the proprietors were by no means such inhuman +taskmasters as is sometimes supposed. When a case did occur, the +Administration always made a strict investigation--punishing the guilty +with exemplary severity, and taking no account of the provocation to +which they had been subjected. The peasantry, on the contrary--at least, +when the act was not the result of mere personal vengeance--secretly +sympathised with "the unfortunates," and long cherished their memory as +that of men who had suffered for the Mir. + +In speaking of the serfs I have hitherto confined my attention to the +members of the Mir, or rural Commune--that is to say, the peasants +in the narrower sense of the term; but besides these there were the +Dvorovuye, or domestic servants, and of these I must add a word or two. + +The Dvorovuye were domestic slaves rather than serfs in the proper +sense of the term. Let us, however, avoid wounding unnecessarily Russian +sensibilities by the use of the ill-sounding word. We may call the class +in question "domestics"--remembering, of course, that they were not +quite domestic servants in the ordinary sense. They received no wages, +were not at liberty to change masters, possessed almost no legal rights, +and might be punished, hired out, or sold by their owners without any +infraction of the written law. + +These "domestics" were very numerous--out of all proportion to the work +to be performed--and could consequently lead a very lazy life;* but +the peasant considered it a great misfortune to be transferred to their +ranks, for he thereby lost his share of the Communal land and the little +independence which he enjoyed. It very rarely happened, however, that +the proprietor took an able-bodied peasant as domestic. The class +generally kept up its numbers by the legitimate and illegitimate method +of natural increase; and involuntary additions were occasionally made +when orphans were left without near relatives, and no other family +wished to adopt them. To this class belonged the lackeys, servant-girls, +cooks, coachmen, stable-boys, gardeners, and a large number of +nondescript old men and women who had no very clearly defined functions. +If the proprietor had a private theatre or orchestra, it was from this +class that the actors and musicians were drawn. Those of them who were +married and had children occupied a position intermediate between +the ordinary domestic servant and the peasant. On the one hand, they +received from the master a monthly allowance of food and a yearly +allowance of clothes, and they were obliged to live in the immediate +vicinity of the mansion-house; but, on the other hand, they had each a +separate house or apartment, with a little cabbage-garden, and commonly +a small plot of flax. The unmarried ones lived in all respects like +ordinary domestic servants. + + * Those proprietors who kept orchestras, large packs of + hounds, &c., had sometimes several hundred domestic serfs. + +The number of these domestic serfs being generally out of all proportion +to the amount of work they had to perform, they were imbued with a +hereditary spirit of indolence, and they performed lazily and carelessly +what they had to do. On the other hand, they were often sincerely +attached to the family they served, and occasionally proved by acts +their fidelity and attachment. Here is an instance out of many for which +I can vouch. An old nurse, whose mistress was dangerously ill, +vowed that, in the event of the patient's recovery, she would make a +pilgrimage, first to Kief, the Holy City on the Dnieper, and afterwards +to Solovetsk, a much revered monastery on an island in the White Sea. +The patient recovered, and the old woman, in fulfilment of her vow, +walked more than two thousand miles! + +This class of serfs might well be called domestic slaves, but I must +warn the reader that he ought not to use the expression when speaking +with Russians, because they are extremely sensitive on the point. +Serfage, they say, was something quite different from slavery, and +slavery never existed in Russia. + +The first part of this assertion is perfectly true, and the second +part perfectly false. In old times, as I have said above, slavery was a +recognised institution in Russia as in other countries. One can hardly +read a few pages of the old chronicles without stumbling on references +to slaves; and I distinctly remember--though I cannot at this moment +give chapter and verse--that one of the old Russian Princes was so +valiant and so successful in his wars that during his reign a slave +might be bought for a few coppers. As late as the beginning of last +century the domestic serfs were sold very much as domestic slaves +used to be sold in countries where slavery was recognised as a legal +institution. Here is an example of the customary advertisement; I take +it almost at random from the Moscow Gazette of 1801:--"TO BE SOLD: three +coachmen, well trained and handsome; and two girls, the one eighteen, +and the other fifteen years of age, both of them good-looking, and well +acquainted with various kinds of handiwork. In the same house there are +for sale two hairdressers; the one, twenty-one years of age, can read, +write, play on a musical instrument, and act as huntsman; the other can +dress ladies' and gentlemen's hair. In the same house are sold pianos +and organs." + +A little farther on in the same number of the paper, a first-rate clerk, +a carver, and a lackey are offered for sale, and the reason assigned is +a superabundance of the articles in question (za izlishestvom). In some +instances it seems as if the serfs and the cattle were intentionally put +in the same category, as in the following announcement: "In this house +one can buy a coachman and a Dutch cow about to calve." The style of +these advertisements, and the frequent recurrence of the same +addresses, show that there was at this time in Moscow a regular class of +slave-dealers. The humane Alexander I. prohibited advertisements of this +kind, but he did not put down the custom which they represented, and his +successor, Nicholas I., took no effective measures for its repression. + +Of the whole number of serfs belonging to the proprietors, the domestics +formed, according to the census of 1857, no less than 6 3/4 per cent. +(6.79), and their numbers were evidently rapidly increasing, for in the +preceding census they represented only 4.79 per cent. of the whole. This +fact seems all the more significant when we observe that during this +period the number of peasant serfs had diminished. + +I must now bring this long chapter to an end. My aim has been to +represent serfage in its normal, ordinary forms rather than in its +occasional monstrous manifestations. Of these latter I have a collection +containing ample materials for a whole series of sensation novels, but +I refrain from quoting them, because I do not believe that the criminal +annals of a country give a fair representation of its real condition. On +the other hand, I do not wish to whitewash serfage or attenuate its +evil consequences. No great body of men could long wield such enormous +uncontrolled power without abusing it,* and no large body of men could +long live under such power without suffering morally and materially from +its pernicious influence. If serfage did not create that moral apathy +and intellectual lethargy which formed, as it were, the atmosphere of +Russian provincial life, it did much at least to preserve it. In short, +serfage was the chief barrier to all material and moral progress, and +in a time of moral awakening such as that which I have described in the +preceding chapter, the question of Emancipation naturally came at once +to the front. + + * The number of deposed proprietors--or rather the number of + estates placed under curators in consequence of the abuse of + authority on the part of their owners--amounted in 1859 to + 215. So at least I found in an official MS. document shown + to me by the late Nicholas Milutin. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE EMANCIPATION OF THE SERFS + + +The Question Raised--Chief Committee--The Nobles of the Lithuanian +Provinces--The Tsar's Broad Hint to the Noblesse--Enthusiasm in the +Press--The Proprietors--Political Aspirations--No Opposition--The +Government--Public Opinion--Fear of the Proletariat--The Provincial +Committees--The Elaboration Commission--The Question Ripens--Provincial +Deputies--Discontent and Demonstrations--The Manifesto--Fundamental +Principles of the Law--Illusions and Disappointment of the +Serfs--Arbiters of the Peace--A Characteristic Incident--Redemption--Who +Effected the Emancipation? + + +It is a fundamental principle of Russian political organisation that +all initiative in public affairs proceeds from the Autocratic Power. The +widespread desire, therefore, for the Emancipation of the serfs did not +find free expression so long as the Emperor kept silence regarding his +intentions. The educated classes watched anxiously for some sign, and +soon a sign was given to them. In March, 1856--a few days after the +publication of the manifesto announcing the conclusion of peace with the +Western Powers--his Majesty said to the Marshals of Noblesse in Moscow: +"For the removal of certain unfounded reports I consider it necessary to +declare to you that I have not at present the intention of annihilating +serfage; but certainly, as you yourselves know, the existing manner +of possessing serfs cannot remain unchanged. It is better to abolish +serfage from above than to await the time when it will begin to abolish +itself from below. I request you, gentlemen, to consider how this can +be put into execution, and to submit my words to the Noblesse for their +consideration." + +These words were intended to sound the Noblesse and induce them to make +a voluntary proposal, but they had not the desired effect. Abolitionist +enthusiasm was rare among the great nobles, and those who really wished +to see serfage abolished considered the Imperial utterance too vague and +oracular to justify them in taking the initiative. As no further steps +were taken for some time, the excitement caused by the incident soon +subsided, and many people assumed that the consideration of the +problem had been indefinitely postponed. "The Government," it was +said, "evidently intended to raise the question, but on perceiving +the indifference or hostility of the landed proprietors, it became +frightened and drew back." + +The Emperor was in reality disappointed. He had expected that his +"faithful Moscow Noblesse," of which he was wont to say he was himself a +member, would at once respond to his call, and that the ancient capital +would have the honour of beginning the work. And if the example were +thus given by Moscow, he had no doubt that it would soon be followed by +the other provinces. He now perceived that the fundamental principles +on which the Emancipation should be effected must be laid down by the +Government, and for this purpose he created a secret committee composed +of several great officers of State. + +This "Chief Committee for Peasant Affairs," as it was afterwards called, +devoted six months to studying the history of the question. Emancipation +schemes were by no means a new phenomenon in Russia. Ever since the time +of Catherine II. the Government had thought of improving the condition +of the serfs, and on more than one occasion a general emancipation had +been contemplated. In this way the question had slowly ripened, +and certain fundamental principles had come to be pretty generally +recognised. Of these principles the most important was that the State +should not consent to any project which would uproot the peasant from +the soil and allow him to wander about at will; for such a measure would +render the collection of the taxes impossible, and in all probability +produce the most frightful agrarian disorders. And to this general +principle there was an important corollary: if severe restrictions were +to be placed on free migration, it would be necessary to provide the +peasantry with land in the immediate vicinity of the villages; otherwise +they must inevitably fall back under the power of the proprietors, and +a new and worse kind of serfage would thus be created. But in order to +give land to the peasantry it would be necessary to take it from the +proprietors; and this expropriation seemed to many a most unjustifiable +infringement of the sacred rights of property. It was this consideration +that had restrained Nicholas from taking any decisive measures with +regard to serfage; and it had now considerable weight with the members +of the committee, who were nearly all great land-owners. + +Notwithstanding the strenuous exertions of the Grand Duke Constantine, +who had been appointed a member for the express purpose of accelerating +the proceedings, the committee did not show as much zeal and energy as +was desired, and orders were given to take some decided step. At that +moment a convenient opportunity presented itself. + +In the Lithuanian Provinces, where the nobles were Polish by origin and +sympathies, the miserable condition of the peasantry had induced the +Government in the preceding reign to limit the arbitrary power of the +serf-owners by so-called Inventories, in which the mutual obligations +of masters and serfs were regulated and defined. These Inventories had +caused great dissatisfaction, and the proprietors now proposed that they +should be revised. Of this the Government determined to take advantage. +On the somewhat violent assumption that these proprietors wished to +emancipate their serfs, an Imperial rescript was prepared approving of +their supposed desire, and empowering them to form committees for the +preparation of definite projects.* In the rescript itself the word +emancipation was studiously avoided, but there could be no doubt as to +the implied meaning, for it was expressly stated in the supplementary +considerations that "the abolition of serfage must be effected not +suddenly, but gradually." Four days later the Minister of the Interior, +in accordance with a secret order from the Emperor, sent a circular to +the Governors and Marshals of Noblesse all over Russia proper, informing +them that the nobles of the Lithuanian Provinces "had recognised the +necessity of liberating the peasants," and that "this noble intention" +had afforded peculiar satisfaction to his Majesty. A copy of the +rescript and the fundamental principles to be observed accompanied +the circular, "in case the nobles of other provinces should express a +similar desire." + + * This celebrated document is known as "The Rescript to + Nazimof." More than once in the course of conversation I did + all in my power, within the limits of politeness and + discretion, to extract from General Nazimof a detailed + account of this important episode, but my efforts were + unsuccessful. + +This circular produced an immense sensation throughout the country. No +one could for a moment misunderstand the suggestion that the nobles of +other provinces MIGHT POSSIBLY express a desire to liberate their serfs. +Such vague words, when spoken by an autocrat, have a very definite and +unmistakable meaning, which prudent loyal subjects have no difficulty in +understanding. If any doubted, their doubts were soon dispelled, for +the Emperor, a few weeks later, publicly expressed a hope that, with +the help of God and the co-operation of the nobles, the work would be +successfully accomplished. + +The die was cast, and the Government looked anxiously to see the result. + +The periodical Press--which was at once the product and the fomenter +of the liberal aspirations--hailed the raising of the question with +boundless enthusiasm. The Emancipation, it was said, would certainly +open a new and glorious epoch in the national history. Serfage was +described as an ulcer that had long been poisoning the national blood; +as an enormous weight under which the whole nation groaned; as an +insurmountable obstacle, preventing all material and moral progress; as +a cumbrous load which rendered all free, vigorous action impossible, +and prevented Russia from rising to the level of the Western nations. If +Russia had succeeded in stemming the flood of adverse fortune in spite +of this millstone round her neck, what might she not accomplish when +free and untrammelled? All sections of the literary world had arguments +to offer in support of the foregone conclusion. The moralists declared +that all the prevailing vices were the product of serfage, and that +moral progress was impossible in an atmosphere of slavery; the lawyers +held that the arbitrary authority of the proprietors over the peasants +had no legal basis; the economists explained that free labour was an +indispensable condition of industrial and commercial prosperity; the +philosophical historians showed that the normal historical development +of the country demanded the immediate abolition of this superannuated +remnant of barbarism; and the writers of the sentimental, gushing type +poured forth endless effusions about brotherly love to the weak and +the oppressed. In a word, the Press was for the moment unanimous, +and displayed a feverish excitement which demanded a liberal use of +superlatives. + +This enthusiastic tone accorded perfectly with the feelings of a large +section of the nobles. Nearly the whole of the Noblesse was more or less +affected by the newborn enthusiasm for everything just, humanitarian, +and liberal. The aspirations found, of course, their most ardent +representatives among the educated youth; but they were by no means +confined to the younger men, who had passed through the universities and +had always regarded serfage as a stain on the national honour. Many a +Saul was found among the prophets. Many an old man, with grey hairs and +grandchildren, who had all his life placidly enjoyed the fruits of serf +labour, was now heard to speak of serfage as an antiquated institution +which could not be reconciled with modern humanitarian ideas; and not +a few of all ages, who had formerly never thought of reading books +or newspapers, now perused assiduously the periodical literature, and +picked up the liberal and humanitarian phrases with which it was filled. + +This Abolitionist fervour was considerably augmented by certain +political aspirations which did not appear in the newspapers, but +which were at that time very generally entertained. In spite of the +Press-censure a large section of the educated classes had become +acquainted with the political literature of France and Germany, and had +imbibed therefrom an unbounded admiration for Constitutional government. +A Constitution, it was thought, would necessarily remove all political +evils and create something like a political Millennium. And it was +not to be a Constitution of the ordinary sort--the fruit of compromise +between hostile political parties--but an institution designed calmly +according to the latest results of political science, and so constructed +that all classes would voluntarily contribute to the general welfare. +The necessary prelude to this happy era of political liberty was, of +course, the abolition of serfage. When the nobles had given up +their power over their serfs they would receive a Constitution as an +indemnification and reward. + +There were, however, many nobles of the old school who remained +impervious to all these new feelings and ideas. On them the raising +of the Emancipation question had a very different effect. They had no +source of revenue but their estates, and they could not conceive the +possibility of working their estates without serf labour. If the peasant +was indolent and careless even under strict supervision, what would he +become when no longer under the authority of a master? If the profits +from farming were already small, what would they be when no one would +work without wages? And this was not the worst, for it was quite evident +from the circular that the land question was to be raised, and that a +considerable portion of each estate would be transferred, at least for a +time, to the emancipated peasants. + +To the proprietors who looked at the question in this way the prospect +of Emancipation was certainly not at all agreeable, but we must not +imagine that they felt as English land-owners would feel if threatened +by a similar danger. In England a hereditary estate has for the family +a value far beyond what it would bring in the market. It is regarded as +one and indivisible, and any dismemberment of it would be looked upon +as a grave family misfortune. In Russia, on the contrary, estates +have nothing of this semi-sacred character, and may be at any +time dismembered without outraging family feeling or traditional +associations. Indeed, it is not uncommon that when a proprietor dies, +leaving only one estate and several children, the property is broken +up into fractions and divided among the heirs. Even the prospect of +pecuniary sacrifice did not alarm the Russians so much as it would alarm +Englishmen. Men who keep no accounts and take little thought for the +morrow are much less averse to making pecuniary sacrifices--whether for +a wise or a foolish purpose--than those who carefully arrange their mode +of life according to their income. + +Still, after due allowance has been made for these peculiarities, it +must be admitted that the feeling of dissatisfaction and alarm was very +widespread. Even Russians do not like the prospect of losing a part +of their land and income. No protest, however, was entered, and no +opposition was made. Those who were hostile to the measure were ashamed +to show themselves selfish and unpatriotic. At the same time they knew +very well that the Emperor, if he wished, could effect the Emancipation +in spite of them, and that resistance on their part would draw down +upon them the Imperial displeasure, without affording any compensating +advantage. They knew, too, that there was a danger from below, so that +any useless show of opposition would be like playing with matches in a +powder-magazine. The serfs would soon hear that the Tsar desired to set +them free, and they might, if they suspected that the proprietors +were trying to frustrate the Tsar's benevolent intentions, use violent +measures to get rid of the opposition. The idea of agrarian massacres +had already taken possession of many timid minds. Besides this, all +classes of the proprietors felt that if the work was to be done, it +should be done by the Noblesse and not by the bureaucracy. If it were +effected by the nobles the interests of the land-owners would be duly +considered, but if it were effected by the Administration without their +concurrence and co-operation their interests would be neglected, and +there would inevitably be an enormous amount of jobbery and corruption. +In accordance with this view, the Noblesse corporations of the various +provinces successively requested permission to form committees for the +consideration of the question, and during the year 1858 a committee was +opened in almost every province in which serfage existed. + +In this way the question was apparently handed over for solution to the +nobles, but in reality the Noblesse was called upon merely to advise, +and not to legislate. The Government had not only laid down the +fundamental principles of the scheme; it continually supervised the work +of construction, and it reserved to itself the right of modifying or +rejecting the projects proposed by the committees. + +According to these fundamental principles the serfs should be +emancipated gradually, so that for some time they would remain attached +to the glebe and subject to the authority of the proprietors. During +this transition period they should redeem by money payments or labour +their houses and gardens, and enjoy in usufruct a certain quantity of +land, sufficient to enable them to support themselves and to fulfil +their obligations to the State as well as to the proprietor. In return +for this land they should pay a yearly rent in money, produce or labour +over and above the yearly sum paid for the redemption of their +houses and gardens. As to what should be done after the expiry of the +transition period, the Government seems to have had no clearly conceived +intentions. Probably it hoped that by that time the proprietors and +their emancipated serfs would have invented some convenient modus +vivendi, and that nothing but a little legislative regulation would be +necessary. But radical legislation is like the letting-out of water. +These fundamental principles, adopted at first with a view to +mere immediate practical necessity, soon acquired a very different +significance. To understand this we must return to the periodical +literature. + +Until the serf question came to be discussed, the reform aspirations +were very vague, and consequently there was a remarkable unanimity among +their representatives. The great majority of the educated classes were +unanimously of opinion that Russia should at once adopt from the West +all those liberal principles and institutions the exclusion of which had +prevented the country from rising to the level of the Western nations. +But very soon symptoms of a schism became apparent. Whilst the +literature in general was still preaching the doctrine that Russia +should adopt everything that was "liberal," a few voices began to be +heard warning the unwary that much which bore the name of liberal was +in reality already antiquated and worthless--that Russia ought not to +follow blindly in the footsteps of other nations, but ought rather to +profit by their experience, and avoid the errors into which they had +fallen. The chief of these errors was, according to these new teachers, +the abnormal development of individualism--the adoption of that +principle of laissez faire which forms the basis of what may be +called the Orthodox School of Political Economists. Individualism and +unrestricted competition, it was said, have now reached in the West +an abnormal and monstrous development. Supported by the laissez faire +principle, they have led--and must always lead--to the oppression of the +weak, the tyranny of capital, the impoverishment of the masses for +the benefit of the few, and the formation of a hungry, dangerous +Proletariat! This has already been recognised by the most advanced +thinkers of France and Germany. If the older countries cannot at once +cure those evils, that is no reason for Russia to inoculate herself with +them. She is still at the commencement of her career, and it would +be folly for her to wander voluntarily for ages in the Desert, when a +direct route to the Promised Land has been already discovered. + +In order to convey some idea of the influence which this teaching +exercised, I must here recall, at the risk of repeating myself, what +I said in a former chapter. The Russians, as I have there pointed out, +have a peculiar way of treating political and social questions. Having +received their political education from books, they naturally +attribute to theoretical considerations an importance which seems to us +exaggerated. When any important or trivial question arises, they at once +launch into a sea of philosophical principles, and pay less attention to +the little objects close at hand than to the big ones that appear on +the distant horizon of the future. And when they set to work at +any political reform they begin ab ovo. As they have no traditional +prejudices to fetter them, and no traditional principles to lead +them, they naturally take for their guidance the latest conclusions of +political philosophy. + +Bearing this in mind, let us see how it affected the Emancipation +question. The Proletariat--described as a dangerous monster which was +about to swallow up society in Western Europe, and which might at any +moment cross the frontier unless kept out by vigorous measures--took +possession of the popular imagination, and aroused the fears of the +reading public. To many it seemed that the best means of preventing the +formation of a Proletariat in Russia was the securing of land for the +emancipated serfs and the careful preservation of the rural Commune. +"Now is the moment," it was said, "for deciding the important question +whether Russia is to fall a prey, like the Western nations, to this +terrible evil, or whether she is to protect herself for ever against it. +In the decision of this question lies the future destiny of the country. +If the peasants be emancipated without land, or if those Communal +institutions which give to every man a share of the soil and secure this +inestimable boon for the generations still unborn be now abolished, +a Proletariat will be rapidly formed, and the peasantry will become a +disorganised mass of homeless wanderers like the English agricultural +labourers. If, on the contrary, a fair share of land be granted to them, +and if the Commune be made proprietor of the land ceded, the danger of a +Proletariat is for ever removed, and Russia will thereby set an example +to the civilised world! Never has a nation had such an opportunity of +making an enormous leap forward on the road of progress, and never again +will the opportunity occur. The Western nations have discovered their +error when it is too late--when the peasantry have been already deprived +of their land, and the labouring classes of the towns have already +fallen a prey to the insatiable cupidity of the capitalists. In vain +their most eminent thinkers warn and exhort. Ordinary remedies are no +longer of any avail. But Russia may avoid these dangers, if she but act +wisely and prudently in this great matter. The peasants are still in +actual, if not legal, possession of the land, and there is as yet +no Proletariat in the towns. All that is necessary, therefore, is to +abolish the arbitrary authority of the proprietors without expropriating +the peasants, and without disturbing the existing Communal institutions, +which form the best barrier against pauperism." + +These ideas were warmly espoused by many proprietors, and exercised a +very great influence on the deliberations of the Provincial Committees. +In these committees there were generally two groups. The majorities, +whilst making large concessions to the claims of justice and expediency, +endeavoured to defend, as far as possible, the interests of their class; +the minorities, though by no means indifferent to the interests of the +class to which they belonged, allowed the more abstract theoretical +considerations to be predominant. At first the majorities did all +in their power to evade the fundamental principles laid down by the +Government as much too favourable to the peasantry; but when they +perceived that public opinion, as represented by the Press, went +much further than the Government, they clung to these fundamental +principles--which secured at least the fee simple of the estate to +the landlord--as their anchor of safety. Between the two parties arose +naturally a strong spirit of hostility, and the Government, which wished +to have the support of the minorities, found it advisable that both +should present their projects for consideration. + +As the Provincial Committees worked independently, there was +considerable diversity in the conclusions at which they arrived. The +task of codifying these conclusions, and elaborating out of them a +general scheme of Emancipation, was entrusted to a special Imperial +Commission, composed partly of officials and partly of landed +proprietors named by the Emperor.* Those who believed that the question +had really been handed over to the Noblesse assumed that this Commission +would merely arrange the materials presented by the Provincial +Committees, and that the Emancipation Law would thereafter be elaborated +by a National Assembly of deputies elected by the nobles. In reality +the Commission, working in St. Petersburg under the direct guidance +and control of the Government, fulfilled a very different and much more +important function. Using the combined projects merely as a storehouse +from which it could draw the proposals it desired, it formed a new +project of its own, which ultimately received, after undergoing +modification in detail, the Imperial assent. Instead of being a mere +chancellerie, as many expected, it became in a certain sense the author +of the Emancipation Law. + + * Known as the Redaktsionnaya Komissiya, or Elaboration + Commission. Strictly speaking, there were two, but they are + commonly spoken of as one. + +There was, as we have seen, in nearly all the Provincial Committees +a majority and a minority, the former of which strove to defend the +interests of the proprietors, whilst the latter paid more attention to +theoretical considerations, and endeavoured to secure for the peasantry +a large amount of land and Communal self-government. In the Commission +there were the same two parties, but their relative strength was very +different. Here the men of theory, instead of forming a minority, were +more numerous than their opponents, and enjoyed the support of the +Government, which regulated the proceedings. In its instructions we see +how much the question had ripened under the influence of the theoretical +considerations. There is no longer any trace of the idea that the +Emancipation should be gradual; on the contrary, it is expressly +declared that the immediate effect of the law should be the complete +abolition of the proprietor's authority. There is even evidence of a +clear intention of preventing the proprietor as far as possible from +exercising any influence over his former serfs. The sharp distinction +between the land occupied by the village and the arable land to be ceded +in usufruct likewise disappears, and it is merely said that efforts +should be made to enable the peasants to become proprietors of the land +they required. + +The aim of the Government had thus become clear and well defined. The +task to be performed was to transform the serfs at once, and with the +least possible disturbance of the existing economic conditions, into +a class of small Communal proprietors--that is to say, a class of free +peasants possessing a house and garden and a share of the Communal land. +To effect this it was merely necessary to declare the serf personally +free, to draw a clear line of demarcation between the Communal land and +the rest of the estate, and to determine the price or rent which should +be paid for this Communal property, inclusive of the land on which the +village was built. + +The law was prepared in strict accordance with these principles. As +to the amount of land to be ceded, it was decided that the existing +arrangements, founded on experience, should, as a general rule, be +preserved--in other words, the land actually enjoyed by the peasants +should be retained by them; and in order to prevent extreme cases of +injustice, a maximum and a minimum were fixed for each district. In like +manner, as to the dues, it was decided that the existing arrangements +should be taken as the basis of the calculation, but that the sum should +be modified according to the amount of land ceded. At the same time +facilities were to be given for the transforming of the labour dues into +yearly money payments, and for enabling the peasants to redeem them, +with the assistance of the Government, in the form of credit. + +This idea of redemption created, at first, a feeling of alarm among the +proprietors. It was bad enough to be obliged to cede a large part of the +estates in usufruct, but it seemed to be much worse to have to sell it. +Redemption appeared to be a species of wholesale confiscation. But very +soon it became evident that the redeeming of the land was profitable for +both parties. Cession in perpetual usufruct was felt to be in reality +tantamount to alienation of the land, whilst the immediate redemption +would enable the proprietors, who had generally little or no ready money +to pay their debts, to clear their estates from mortgages, and to make +the outlays necessary for the transition to free labour. The majority of +the proprietors, therefore, said openly: "Let the Government give us a +suitable compensation in money for the land that is taken from us, so +that we may be at once freed from all further trouble and annoyance." + +When it became known that the Commission was not merely arranging and +codifying the materials, but elaborating a law of its own and regularly +submitting its decisions for Imperial confirmation, a feeling of +dissatisfaction appeared all over the country. The nobles perceived that +the question was being taken out of their hands, and was being solved +by a small body composed of bureaucrats and nominees of the Government. +After having made a voluntary sacrifice of their rights, they were being +unceremoniously pushed aside. They had still, however, the means of +correcting this. The Emperor had publicly promised that before the +project should become law deputies from the Provincial Committees should +be summoned to St. Petersburg to make objections and propose amendments. + +The Commission and the Government would have willingly dispensed with +all further advice from the nobles, but it was necessary to redeem the +Imperial promise. Deputies were therefore summoned to the capital, but +they were not allowed to form, as they hoped, a public assembly for +the discussion of the question. All their efforts to hold meetings were +frustrated, and they were required merely to answer in writing a list +of printed questions regarding matters of detail. The fundamental +principles, they were told, had already received the Imperial sanction, +and were consequently removed from discussion. Those who desired to +discuss details were invited individually to attend meetings of the +Commission, where they found one or two members ready to engage with +them in a little dialectical fencing. This, of course, did not give much +satisfaction. Indeed, the ironical tone in which the fencing was too +often conducted served to increase the existing irritation. It was only +too evident that the Commission had triumphed, and some of the members +could justly boast that they had drowned the deputies in ink and buried +them under reams of paper. + +Believing, or at least professing to believe, that the Emperor was +being deceived in this matter by the Administration, several groups +of deputies presented petitions to his Majesty containing a respectful +protest against the manner in which they had been treated. But by this +act they simply laid themselves open to "the most unkindest cut of all." +Those who had signed the petitions received a formal reprimand through +the police. + +This treatment of the deputies, and, above all, this gratuitous insult, +produced among the nobles a storm of indignation. They felt that they +had been entrapped. The Government had artfully induced them to form +projects for the emancipation of their serfs, and now, after having been +used as a cat's-paw in the work of their own spoliation, they were +being unceremoniously pushed aside as no longer necessary. Those who +had indulged in the hope of gaining political rights felt the blow most +keenly. A first gentle and respectful attempt at remonstrance had been +answered by a dictatorial reprimand through the police! Instead of being +called to take an active part in home and foreign politics, they +were being treated as naughty schoolboys. In view of this insult all +differences of opinion were for the moment forgotten, and all parties +resolved to join in a vigorous protest against the insolence and +arbitrary conduct of the bureaucracy. + +A convenient opportunity of making this protest in a legal way was +offered by the triennial Provincial Assemblies of the Noblesse about to +be held in several provinces. So at least it was thought, but here again +the Noblesse was checkmated by the Administration. + +Before the opening of the Assemblies a circular was issued excluding the +Emancipation question from their deliberations. Some Assemblies evaded +this order, and succeeded in making a little demonstration by submitting +to his Majesty that the time had arrived for other reforms, such as the +separation of the administrative and judicial powers, and the creation +of local self-government, public judicial procedure, and trial by jury. + +All these reforms were voluntarily effected by the Emperor a few years +later, but the manner in which they were suggested seemed to savour of +insubordination, and was a flagrant infraction of the principle that all +initiative in public affairs should proceed from the central Government. +New measures of repression were accordingly used. Some Marshals of +Noblesse were reprimanded and others deposed. Of the conspicuous +leaders, two were exiled to distant provinces and others placed under +the supervision of the police. Worst of all, the whole agitation +strengthened the Commission by convincing the Emperor that the majority +of the nobles were hostile to his benevolent plans.* + + * This was a misinterpretation of the facts. Very many of + those who joined in the protest sincerely sympathised with + the idea of Emancipation, and were ready to be even more + "liberal" than the Government. + +When the Commission had finished its labours, its proposals passed to +the two higher instances--the Committee for Peasant Affairs and the +Council of State--and in both of these the Emperor declared plainly that +he could allow no fundamental changes. From all the members he demanded +a complete forgetfulness of former differences and a conscientious +execution of his orders; "For you must remember," he significantly +added, "that in Russia laws are made by the Autocratic Power." From +an historical review of the question he drew the conclusion that "the +Autocratic Power created serfage, and the Autocratic Power ought to +abolish it." On March 3d (February 19th, old style), 1861, the law +was signed, and by that act more than twenty millions of serfs were +liberated.* A Manifesto containing the fundamental principles of the law +was at once sent all over the country, and an order was given that it +should be read in all the churches. + + * It is sometimes said that forty millions of serfs have + been emancipated. The statement is true, if we regard the + State peasants as serfs. They held, as I have already + explained, an intermediate position between serfage and + freedom. The peculiar administration under which they lived + was partly abolished by Imperial Orders of September 7th, + 1859, and October 23d, 1861. In 1866 they were placed, as + regards administration, on a level with the emancipated + serfs of the proprietors. As a general rule, they received + rather more land and had to pay somewhat lighter dues than + the emancipated serfs in the narrower sense of the term. + +The three fundamental principles laid down by the law were:--1. That the +serfs should at once receive the civil rights of the free rural classes, +and that the authority of the proprietor should be replaced by Communal +self-government. + +2. That the rural Communes should as far as possible retain the land +they actually held, and should in return pay to the proprietor certain +yearly dues in money or labour. + +3. That the Government should by means of credit assist the Communes to +redeem these dues, or, in other words, to purchase the lands ceded to +them in usufruct. + +With regard to the domestic serfs, it was enacted that they should +continue to serve their masters during two years, and that thereafter +they should be completely free, but they should have no claim to a share +of the land. + +It might be reasonably supposed that the serfs received with boundless +gratitude and delight the Manifesto proclaiming these principles. Here +at last was the realisation of their long-cherished hopes. Liberty was +accorded to them; and not only liberty, but a goodly portion of the +soil--about half of all the arable land possessed by the proprietors. + +In reality the Manifesto created among the peasantry a feeling of +disappointment rather than delight. To understand this strange fact we +must endeavour to place ourselves at the peasant's point of view. + +In the first place it must be remarked that all vague, rhetorical +phrases about free labour, human dignity, national progress, and the +like, which may readily produce among educated men a certain amount of +temporary enthusiasm, fall on the ears of the Russian peasant like drops +of rain on a granite rock. The fashionable rhetoric of philosophical +liberalism is as incomprehensible to him as the flowery +circumlocutionary style of an Oriental scribe would be to a keen city +merchant. The idea of liberty in the abstract and the mention of rights +which lie beyond the sphere of his ordinary everyday life awaken +no enthusiasm in his breast. And for mere names he has a profound +indifference. What matters it to him that he is officially called, not +a "serf," but a "free village-inhabitant," if the change in official +terminology is not accompanied by some immediate material advantage? +What he wants is a house to live in, food to eat, and raiment +wherewithal to be clothed, and to gain these first necessaries of life +with as little labour as possible. He looked at the question exclusively +from two points of view--that of historical right and that of material +advantage; and from both of these the Emancipation Law seemed to him +very unsatisfactory. + +On the subject of historical right the peasantry had their own +traditional conceptions, which were completely at variance with the +written law. According to the positive legislation the Communal land +formed part of the estate, and consequently belonged to the proprietor; +but according to the conceptions of the peasantry it belonged to the +Commune, and the right of the proprietor consisted merely in that +personal authority over the serfs which had been conferred on him by the +Tsar. The peasants could not, of course, put these conceptions into a +strict legal form, but they often expressed them in their own homely +laconic way by saying to their master, "Mui vashi no zemlya nasha"--that +is to say. "We are yours, but the land is ours." And it must be admitted +that this view, though legally untenable, had a certain historical +justification.* + + * See preceding chapter. + +In olden times the Noblesse had held their land by feudal tenure, +and were liable to be ejected as soon as they did not fulfil their +obligations to the State. These obligations had been long since +abolished, and the feudal tenure transformed into an unconditional +right of property, but the peasants clung to the old ideas in a way that +strikingly illustrates the vitality of deep-rooted popular conceptions. +In their minds the proprietors were merely temporary occupants, who were +allowed by the Tsar to exact labour and dues from the serfs. What, then, +was Emancipation? Certainly the abolition of all obligatory labour and +money dues, and perhaps the complete ejectment of the proprietors. On +this latter point there was a difference of opinion. All assumed, as a +matter of course, that the Communal land would remain the property of +the Commune, but it was not so clear what would be done with the rest +of the estate. Some thought that it would be retained by the proprietor, +but very many believed that all the land would be given to the Communes. +In this way the Emancipation would be in accordance with historical +right and with the material advantage of the peasantry, for whose +exclusive benefit, it was assumed, the reform had been undertaken. + +Instead of this the peasants found that they were still to pay dues, +even for the Communal land which they regarded as unquestionably their +own. So at least said the expounders of the law. But the thing was +incredible. Either the proprietors must be concealing or misinterpreting +the law, or this was merely a preparatory measure, which would be +followed by the real Emancipation. Thus were awakened among the +peasantry a spirit of mistrust and suspicion and a widespread belief +that there would be a second Imperial Manifesto, by which all the land +would be divided and all the dues abolished. + +On the nobles the Manifesto made a very different impression. The +fact that they were to be entrusted with the putting of the law into +execution, and the flattering allusions made to the spirit of generous +self-sacrifice which they had exhibited, kindled amongst them enthusiasm +enough to make them forget for a time their just grievances and their +hostility towards the bureaucracy. They found that the conditions on +which the Emancipation was effected were by no means so ruinous as +they had anticipated; and the Emperor's appeal to their generosity +and patriotism made many of them throw themselves with ardour into the +important task confided to them. + +Unfortunately they could not at once begin the work. The law had been +so hurried through the last stages that the preparations for putting +it into execution were by no means complete when the Manifesto was +published. The task of regulating the future relations between the +proprietors and the peasantry was entrusted to local proprietors in +each district, who were to be called Arbiters of the Peace (Mirovuiye +Posredniki); but three months elapsed before these Arbiters could be +appointed. During that time there was no one to explain the law to the +peasants and settle the disputes between them and the proprietors; +and the consequence of this was that many cases of insubordination and +disorder occurred. The muzhik naturally imagined that, as soon as the +Tsar said he was free, he was no longer obliged to work for his old +master--that all obligatory labour ceased as soon as the Manifesto was +read. In vain the proprietor endeavoured to convince him that, in regard +to labour, the old relations must continue, as the law enjoined, until +a new arrangement had been made. To all explanations and exhortations he +turned a deaf ear, and to the efforts of the rural police he too often +opposed a dogged, passive resistance. + +In many cases the simple appearance of the higher authorities sufficed +to restore order, for the presence of one of the Tsar's servants +convinced many that the order to work for the present as formerly was +not a mere invention of the proprietors. But not infrequently the birch +had to be applied. Indeed, I am inclined to believe, from the numerous +descriptions of this time which I received from eye-witnesses, that +rarely, if ever, had the serfs seen and experienced so much flogging as +during these first three months after their liberation. Sometimes even +the troops had to be called out, and on three occasions they fired on +the peasants with ball cartridge. In the most serious case, where +a young peasant had set up for a prophet and declared that the +Emancipation Law was a forgery, fifty-one peasants were killed and +seventy-seven were more or less seriously wounded. In spite of these +lamentable incidents, there was nothing which even the most violent +alarmist could dignify with the name of an insurrection. Nowhere was +there anything that could be called organised resistance. Even in the +case above alluded to, the three thousand peasants on whom the troops +fired were entirely unarmed, made no attempt to resist, and dispersed +in the utmost haste as soon as they discovered that they were being shot +down. Had the military authorities shown a little more judgment, tact, +and patience, the history of the Emancipation would not have been +stained even with those three solitary cases of unnecessary bloodshed. + +This interregnum between the eras of serfage and liberty was brought to +an end by the appointment of the Arbiters of the Peace. Their first duty +was to explain the law, and to organise the new peasant self-government. +The lowest instance, or primary organ of this self-government, the rural +Commune, already existed, and at once recovered much of its ancient +vitality as soon as the authority and interference of the proprietors +were removed. The second instance, the Volost--a territorial +administrative unit comprising several contiguous Communes--had to be +created, for nothing of the kind had previously existed on the estates +of the nobles. It had existed, however, for nearly a quarter of +a century among the peasants of the Domains, and it was therefore +necessary merely to copy an existing model. + +As soon as all the Volosts in his district had been thus organised the +Arbiter had to undertake the much more arduous task of regulating the +agrarian relations between the proprietors and the Communes--with the +individual peasants, be it remembered, the proprietors had no direct +relations whatever. It had been enacted by the law that the future +agrarian relations between the two parties should be left, as far as +possible, to voluntary contract; and accordingly each proprietor was +invited to come to an agreement with the Commune or Communes on his +estate. On the ground of this agreement a statute-charter (ustavnaya +gramota) was prepared, specifying the number of male serfs, the quantity +of land actually enjoyed by them, any proposed changes in this amount, +the dues proposed to be levied, and other details. If the Arbiter +found that the conditions were in accordance with the law and +clearly understood by the peasants, he confirmed the charter, and the +arrangement was complete. When the two parties could not come to an +agreement within a year, he prepared a charter according to his own +judgment, and presented it for confirmation to the higher authorities. + +The dissolution of partnership, if it be allowable to use such a +term, between the proprietor and his serfs was sometimes very easy and +sometimes very difficult. On many estates the charter did little more +than legalise the existing arrangements, but in many instances it was +necessary to add to, or subtract from, the amount of Communal land, and +sometimes it was even necessary to remove the village to another part +of the estate. In all cases there were, of course, conflicting interests +and complicated questions, so that the Arbiter had always abundance +of difficult work. Besides this, he had to act as mediator in those +differences which naturally arose during the transition period, when the +authority of the proprietor had been abolished but the separation of +the two classes had not yet been effected. The unlimited patriarchal +authority which had been formerly wielded by the proprietor or his +steward now passed with certain restriction into the hands of the +Arbiter, and these peacemakers had to spend a great part of their time +in driving about from one estate to another to put an end to alleged +cases of insubordination--some of which, it must be admitted, existed +only in the imagination of the proprietors. + +At first the work of amicable settlement proceeded slowly. The +proprietors generally showed a conciliatory spirit, and some of them +generously proposed conditions much more favourable to the peasants than +the law demanded; but the peasants were filled with vague suspicions, +and feared to commit themselves by "putting pen to paper." Even the +highly respected proprietors, who imagined that they possessed the +unbounded confidence of the peasantry, were suspected like the others, +and their generous offers were regarded as well-baited traps. Often I +have heard old men, sometimes with tears in their eyes, describe the +distrust and ingratitude of the muzhik at this time. Many peasants still +believed that the proprietors were hiding the real Emancipation Law, +and imaginative or ill-intentioned persons fostered this belief by +professing to know what the real law contained. The most absurd rumours +were afloat, and whole villages sometimes acted upon them. + +In the province of Moscow, for instance, one Commune sent a deputation +to the proprietor to inform him that, as he had always been a good +master, the Mir would allow him to retain his house and garden during +his lifetime. In another locality it was rumoured that the Tsar sat +daily on a golden throne in the Crimea, receiving all peasants who came +to him, and giving them as much land as they desired; and in order to +take advantage of the Imperial liberality a large body of peasants set +out for the place indicated, and had to be stopped by the military. + +As an illustration of the illusions in which the peasantry indulged at +this time, I may mention here one of the many characteristic incidents +related to me by gentlemen who had served as Arbiters of the Peace. + +In the province of Riazan there was one Commune which had acquired a +certain local notoriety for the obstinacy with which it refused all +arrangements with the proprietor. My informant, who was Arbiter for the +locality, was at last obliged to make a statute-charter for it without +its consent. He wished, however, that the peasants should voluntarily +accept the arrangement he proposed, and accordingly called them together +to talk with them on the subject. After explaining fully the part of the +law which related to their case, he asked them what objection they had +to make a fair contract with their old master. For some time he received +no answer, but gradually by questioning individuals he discovered the +cause of their obstinacy: they were firmly convinced that not only the +Communal land, but also the rest of the estate, belonged to them. To +eradicate this false idea he set himself to reason with them, and the +following characteristic dialogue ensued:--Arbiter: "If the Tsar gave +all the land to the peasantry, what compensation could he give to the +proprietors to whom the land belongs?" + +Peasant: "The Tsar will give them salaries according to their service." + +Arbiter: "In order to pay these salaries he would require a great deal +more money. Where could he get that money? He would have to increase the +taxes, and in that way you would have to pay all the same." + +Peasant: "The Tsar can make as much money as he likes." + +Arbiter: "If the Tsar can make as much money as he likes, why does he +make you pay the poll-tax every year?" + +Peasant: "It is not the Tsar that receives the taxes we pay." + +Arbiter: "Who, then, receives them?" + +Peasant (after a little hesitation, and with a knowing smite): "The +officials, of course!" + +Gradually, through the efforts of the Arbiters, the peasants came to +know better their real position, and the work began to advance more +rapidly. But soon it was checked by another influence. By the end of the +first year the "liberal," patriotic enthusiasm of the nobles had cooled. +The sentimental, idyllic tendencies had melted away at the first touch +of reality, and those who had imagined that liberty would have an +immediately salutary effect on the moral character of the serfs +confessed themselves disappointed. Many complained that the peasants +showed themselves greedy and obstinate, stole wood from the forest, +allowed their cattle to wander on the proprietor's fields, failed to +fulfil their legal obligations, and broke their voluntary engagements. +At the same time the fears of an agrarian rising subsided, so that even +the timid were tranquillised. From these causes the conciliatory spirit +of the proprietors decreased. + +The work of conciliating and regulating became consequently more +difficult, but the great majority of the Arbiters showed themselves +equal to the task, and displayed an impartiality, tact and patience +beyond all praise. To them Russia is in great part indebted for the +peaceful character of the Emancipation. Had they sacrificed the general +good to the interests of their class, or had they habitually acted in +that stern, administrative, military spirit which caused the instances +of bloodshed above referred to, the prophecies of the alarmists would, +in all probability, have been realised, and the historian of the +Emancipation would have had a terrible list of judicial massacres to +record. Fortunately they played the part of mediators, as their name +signified, rather than that of administrators in the bureaucratic sense +of the term, and they were animated with a just and humane rather than a +merely legal spirit. Instead of simply laying down the law, and ordering +their decisions to be immediately executed, they were ever ready to +spend hours in trying to conquer, by patient and laborious reasoning, +the unjust claims of proprietors or the false conceptions and ignorant +obstinacy of the peasants. It was a new spectacle for Russia to see a +public function fulfilled by conscientious men who had their heart in +their work, who sought neither promotion nor decorations, and who paid +less attention to the punctilious observance of prescribed formalities +than to the real objects in view. + +There were, it is true, a few men to whom this description does not +apply. Some of these were unduly under the influence of the feelings +and conceptions created by serfage. Some, on the contrary, erred on the +other side. Desirous of securing the future welfare of the peasantry and +of gaining for themselves a certain kind of popularity, and at the same +time animated with a violent spirit of pseudo-liberalism, these latter +occasionally forgot that their duty was to be, not generous, but just, +and that they had no right to practise generosity at other people's +expense. All this I am quite aware of--I could even name one or two +Arbiters who were guilty of positive dishonesty--but I hold that these +were rare exceptions. The great majority did their duty faithfully and +well. + +The work of concluding contracts for the redemption of the dues, or, in +other words, for the purchase of the land ceded in perpetual usufruct, +proceeded slowly. The arrangement was as follows:--The dues were +capitalised at six per cent., and the Government paid at once to the +proprietors four-fifths of the whole sum. The peasants were to pay to +the proprietor the remaining fifth, either at once or in installments, +and to the Government six per cent. for forty-nine years on the sum +advanced. The proprietors willingly adopted this arrangement, for +it provided them with a sum of ready money, and freed them from the +difficult task of collecting the dues. But the peasants did not show +much desire to undertake the operation. Some of them still expected a +second Emancipation, and those who did not take this possibility into +their calculations were little disposed to make present sacrifices for +distant prospective advantages which would not be realised for half a +century. In most cases the proprietor was obliged to remit, in whole or +in part, the fifth to be paid by the peasants. Many Communes refused to +undertake the operation on any conditions and in consequence of this +not a few proprietors demanded the so-called obligatory redemption, +according to which they accepted the four-fifths from the Government as +full payment, and the operation was thus effected without the peasants +being consulted. The total number of male serfs emancipated was about +nine millions and three-quarters,* and of these, only about seven +millions and a quarter had, at the beginning of 1875, made redemption +contracts. Of the contracts signed at that time, about sixty-three per +cent, were "obligatory." In 1887 the redemption was made obligatory +for both parties, so that all Communes are now proprietors of the land +previously held in perpetual usufruct; and in 1932 the debt will have +been extinguished by the sinking fund, and all redemption payments will +have ceased. + + * This does not include the domestic serfs who did not + receive land. + +The serfs were thus not only liberated, but also made possessors of +land and put on the road to becoming Communal proprietors, and the old +Communal institutions were preserved and developed. In answer to the +question, Who effected this gigantic reform? we may say that the chief +merit undoubtedly belongs to Alexander II. Had he not possessed a very +great amount of courage he would neither have raised the question nor +allowed it to be raised by others, and had he not shown a great deal +more decision and energy than was expected, the solution would have been +indefinitely postponed. Among the members of his own family he found an +able and energetic assistant in his brother, the Grand Duke Constantine, +and a warm sympathiser with the cause in the Grand Duchess Helena, +a German Princess thoroughly devoted to the welfare of her adopted +country. But we must not overlook the important part played by the +nobles. Their conduct was very characteristic. As soon as the question +was raised a large number of them adopted the liberal ideas with +enthusiasm; and as soon as it became evident that Emancipation was +inevitable, all made a holocaust of their ancient rights and demanded to +be liberated at once from all relations with their serfs. Moreover, when +the law was passed it was the proprietors who faithfully put it +into execution. Lastly, we should remember that praise is due to the +peasantry for their patience under disappointment and for their orderly +conduct as soon as they understood the law and recognised it to be the +will of the Tsar. Thus it may justly be said that the Emancipation was +not the work of one man, or one party, or one class, but of the nation +as a whole.* + + * The names most commonly associated with the Emancipation + are General Rostoftsef, Lanskoi (Minister of the Interior), + Nicholas Milutin, Prince Tchererkassky, G. Samarin, + Koshelef. Many others, such as I. A. Solovief, Zhukofski, + Domontovitch, Giers--brother of M. Giers, afterwards + Minister for Foreign Affairs--are less known, but did + valuable work. To all of these, with the exception of the + first two, who died before my arrival in Russia, I have to + confess my obligations. The late Nicholas Milutin rendered + me special service by putting at my disposal not only all + the official papers in his possession, but also many + documents of a more private kind. By his early and lamented + death Russia lost one of the greatest statesmen she has yet + produced. + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE LANDED PROPRIETORS SINCE THE EMANCIPATION + +Two Opposite Opinions--Difficulties of Investigation--The Problem +Simplified--Direct and Indirect Compensation--The Direct Compensation +Inadequate--What the Proprietors Have Done with the Remainder of +Their Estates--Immediate Moral Effect of the Abolition of Serfage--The +Economic Problem--The Ideal Solution and the Difficulty of Realising +It--More Primitive Arrangements--The Northern Agricultural Zone--The +Black-earth Zone--The Labour Difficulty--The Impoverishment of +the Noblesse Not a New Phenomenon--Mortgaging of Estates--Gradual +Expropriation of the Noblesse-Rapid Increase in the Production and +Export of Grain--How Far this Has Benefited the Landed Proprietors. + + +When the Emancipation question was raised there was a considerable +diversity of opinion as to the effect which the abolition of serfage +would have on the material interests of the two classes directly +concerned. The Press and "the young generation" took an optimistic view, +and endeavoured to prove that the proposed change would be beneficial +alike to proprietors and to peasants. Science, it was said, has long +since decided that free labour is immensely more productive than slavery +or serfage, and the principle has been already proved to demonstration +in the countries of Western Europe. In all those countries modern +agricultural progress began with the emancipation of the serfs, +and increased productivity was everywhere the immediate result of +improvements in the method of culture. Thus the poor light soils of +Germany, France, and Holland have been made to produce more than the +vaunted "black earth" of Russia. And from these ameliorations the +land-owning class has everywhere derived the chief advantages. Are not +the landed proprietors of England--the country in which serfage was +first abolished--the richest in the world? And is not the proprietor of +a few hundred morgen in Germany often richer than the Russian noble who +has thousands of dessyatins? By these and similar plausible arguments +the Press endeavoured to prove to the proprietors that they ought, even +in their own interest, to undertake the emancipation of the serfs. Many +proprietors, however, showed little faith in the abstract principles of +political economy and the vague teachings of history as interpreted by +the contemporary periodical literature. They could not always refute the +ingenious arguments adduced by the men of more sanguine temperament, but +they felt convinced that their prospects were not nearly so bright +as these men represented them to be. They believed that Russia was a +peculiar country, and the Russians a peculiar people. The lower classes +in England, France, Holland, and Germany were well known to be laborious +and enterprising, while the Russian peasant was notoriously lazy, +and would certainly, if left to himself, not do more work than was +absolutely necessary to keep him from starving. Free labour might +be more profitable than serfage in countries where the upper classes +possessed traditional practical knowledge and abundance of capital, but +in Russia the proprietors had neither the practical knowledge nor the +ready money necessary to make the proposed ameliorations in the system +of agriculture. To all this it was added that a system of emancipation +by which the peasants should receive land and be made completely +independent of the landed proprietors had nowhere been tried on such a +large scale. + +There were thus two diametrically opposite opinions regarding the +economic results of the abolition of serfage, and we have now to examine +which of these two opinions has been confirmed by experience. + +Let us look at the question first from the point of view of the +land-owners. + +The reader who has never attempted to make investigations of this kind +may naturally imagine that the question can be easily decided by simply +consulting a large number of individual proprietors, and drawing a +general conclusion from their evidence. In reality I found the task +much more difficult. After roaming about the country for five years +(1870-75), collecting information from the best available sources, I +hesitated to draw any sweeping conclusions, and my state of mind at that +time was naturally reflected in the early editions of this work. As a +rule the proprietors could not state clearly how much they had lost or +gained, and when definite information was obtained from them it was not +always trustworthy. In the time of serfage very few of them had been +in the habit of keeping accurate accounts, or accounts of any kind, and +when they lived on their estates there were a very large number of +items which could not possibly be reduced to figures. Of course, each +proprietor had a general idea as to whether his position was better or +worse than it had been in the old times, but the vague statements made +by individuals regarding their former and their actual revenues had +little or no scientific value. So many considerations which had nothing +to do with purely agrarian relations entered into the calculations that +the conclusions did not help me much to estimate the economic results +of the Emancipation as a whole. Nor, it must be confessed, was the +testimony by any means always unbiassed. Not a few spoke of the +great reform in an epic or dithyrambic tone, and among these I easily +distinguished two categories: the one desired to prove that the measure +was a complete success in every way, and that all classes were benefited +by it, not only morally, but also materially; whilst the others strove +to represent the proprietors in general, and themselves in particular, +as the self-sacrificing victims of a great and necessary patriotic +reform--as martyrs in the cause of liberty and progress. I do not for +a moment suppose that these two groups of witnesses had a clearly +conceived intention of deceiving or misleading, but as a cautious +investigator I had to make allowance for their idealising and +sentimental tendencies. + +Since that time the situation has become much clearer, and during +recent visits to Russia I have been able to arrive at much more definite +conclusions. These I now proceed to communicate to the reader. + +The Emancipation caused the proprietors of all classes to pass through +a severe economic crisis. Periods of transition always involve much +suffering, and the amount of suffering is generally in the inverse ratio +of the precautions taken beforehand. In Russia the precautions had +been neglected. Not one proprietor in a hundred had made any serious +preparations for the inevitable change. On the eve of the Emancipation +there were about ten millions of male serfs on private properties, and +of these nearly seven millions remained under the old system of paying +their dues in labour. Of course, everybody knew that Emancipation must +come sooner or later, but fore-thought, prudence, and readiness to take +time by the forelock are not among the prominent traits of the Russian +character. Hence most of the land-owners were taken unawares. But while +all suffered, there were differences of degree. Some were completely +shipwrecked. So long as serfage existed all the relations of life were +ill-defined and extremely elastic, so that a man who was hopelessly +insolvent might contrive, with very little effort, to keep his head +above water for half a lifetime. For such men the Emancipation, like a +crisis in the commercial world, brought a day of reckoning. It did not +really ruin them, but it showed them and the world at large that they +were ruined, and they could no longer continue their old mode of life. +For others the crisis was merely temporary. These emerged with a larger +income than they ever had before, but I am not prepared to say that +their material condition has improved, because the social habits have +changed, the cost of living has become much greater, and the work of +administering estates is incomparably more complicated and laborious +than in the old patriarchal times. + +We may greatly simplify the problem by reducing it to two definite +questions: + +1. How far were the proprietors directly indemnified for the loss of +serf labour and for the transfer in perpetual usufruct of a large part +of their estates to the peasantry? + +2. What have the proprietors done with the remainder of their estates, +and how far have they been indirectly indemnified by the economic +changes which have taken place since the Emancipation? + +With the first of these questions I shall deal very briefly, because it +is a controversial subject involving very complicated calculations +which only a specialist can understand. The conclusion at which I have +arrived, after much patient research, is that in most provinces the +compensation was inadequate, and this conclusion is confirmed by +excellent native authorities. M. Bekhteyev, for example, one of the most +laborious and conscientious investigators in this field of research, +and the author of an admirable work on the economic results of the +Emancipation,* told me recently, in course of conversation, that in +his opinion the peasant dues fixed by the Emancipation Law represented, +throughout the Black-earth Zone, only about a half of the value of the +labour previously supplied by the serfs. To this I must add that the +compensation was in reality not nearly so great as it seemed to be +according to the terms of the law. As the proprietors found it extremely +difficult to collect the dues from the emancipated serfs, and as they +required a certain amount of capital to reorganise the estate on the new +basis of free labour, most of them were practically compelled to demand +the obligatory redemption of the land (obiazatelny vuikup), and in +adopting this expedient they had to make considerable sacrifices. Not +only had they to accept as full payment four-fifths of the normal sum, +but of this amount the greater portion was paid in Treasury bonds, which +fell at once to 80 per cent. of their nominal value. + + * "Khozaistvenniye Itogi istekshago Sorokoletiya." St. + Petersburg, 1902. + +Let us now pass to the second part of the problem: What have the +proprietors done with the part of their estates which remained to them +after ceding the required amount of land to the Communes? Have they +been indirectly indemnified for the loss of serf labour by subsequent +economic changes? How far have they succeeded in making the transition +from serfage to free labour, and what revenues do they now derive from +their estates? The answer to these questions will necessarily contain +some account of the present economic position of the proprietors. + +On all proprietors the Emancipation had at least one good effect: it +dragged them forcibly from the old path of indolence and routine and +compelled them to think and calculate regarding their affairs. The +hereditary listlessness and apathy, the traditional habit of looking on +the estate with its serfs as a kind of self-acting machine which must +always spontaneously supply the owner with the means of living, the +inveterate practice of spending all ready money and of taking little +heed for the morrow--all this, with much that resulted from it, was +rudely swept away and became a thing of the past. + +The broad, easy road on which the proprietors had hitherto let +themselves be borne along by the force of circumstances suddenly split +up into a number of narrow, arduous, thorny paths. Each one had to use +his judgement to determine which of the paths he should adopt, and, +having made his choice, he had to struggle along as he best could. I +remember once asking a proprietor what effect the Emancipation had had +on the class to which he belonged, and he gave me an answer which is +worth recording. "Formerly," he said, "we kept no accounts and drank +champagne; now we keep accounts and content ourselves with kvass." +Like all epigrammatic sayings, this laconic reply is far from giving +a complete description of reality, but it indicates in a graphic way +a change that has unquestionably taken place. As soon as serfage was +abolished it was no longer possible to live like "the flowers of the +field." Many a proprietor who had formerly vegetated in apathetic ease +had to ask himself the question: How am I to gain a living? All had to +consider what was the most profitable way of employing the land that +remained to them. + +The ideal solution of the problem was that as soon as the peasant-land +had been demarcated, the proprietor should take to farming the remainder +of his estate by means of hired labour and agricultural machines in West +European or American fashion. Unfortunately, this solution could not +be generally adopted, because the great majority of the landlords, even +when they had the requisite practical knowledge of agriculture, had not +the requisite capital, and could not easily obtain it. Where were they +to find money for buying cattle, horses, and agricultural implements, +for building stables and cattle-sheds, and for defraying all the other +initial expenses? And supposing they succeeded in starting the new +system, where was the working capital to come from? The old Government +institution in which estates could be mortgaged according to the number +of serfs was permanently closed, and the new land-credit associations +had not yet come into existence. To borrow from private capitalists was +not to be thought of, for money was so scarce than ten per cent. was +considered a "friendly" rate of interest. Recourse might be had, it is +true, to the redemption operation, but in that case the Government would +deduct the unpaid portion of any outstanding mortgage, and would pay +the balance in depreciated Treasury bonds. In these circumstances the +proprietors could not, as a rule, adopt what I have called the ideal +solution, and had to content themselves with some simpler and +more primitive arrangement. They could employ the peasants of the +neighbouring villages to prepare the land and reap the crops either for +a fixed sum per acre or on the metayage system, or they could let their +land to the peasants for one, three or six years at a moderate rent. + +In the northern agricultural zone, where the soil is poor and primitive +farming with free labour can hardly be made to pay, the proprietors had +to let their land at a small rent, and those of them who could not find +places in the rural administration migrated to the towns and sought +employment in the public service or in the numerous commercial and +industrial enterprises which were springing up at that time. There they +have since remained. Their country-houses, if inhabited at all, are +occupied only for a few months in summer, and too often present a +melancholy spectacle of neglect and dilapidation. In the Black-earth +Zone, on the contrary, where the soil still possesses enough of its +natural fertility to make farming on a large scale profitable, the +estates are in a very different condition. The owners cultivate at least +a part of their property, and can easily let to the peasants at a fair +rent the land which they do not wish to farm themselves. Some have +adopted the metayage system; others get the field-work done by the +peasants at so much per acre. The more energetic, who have capital +enough at their disposal, organise farms with hired labourers on the +European model. If they are not so well off as formerly, it is because +they have adopted a less patriarchal and more expensive style of living. +Their land has doubled and trebled in value during the last thirty +years, and their revenues have increased, if not in proportion, at least +considerably. In 1903 I visited a number of estates in this region and +found them in a very prosperous condition, with agricultural machines of +the English or American types, an increasing variety in the rotation of +crops, greatly improved breeds of cattle and horses, and all the other +symptoms of a gradual transition to a more intensive and more rational +system of agriculture. + +It must be admitted, however, that even in the Black-earth Zone the +proprietors have formidable difficulties to contend with, the chief of +which are the scarcity of good farm-labourers, the frequent droughts, +the low price of cereals, and the delay in getting the grain conveyed to +the seaports. On each of these difficulties and the remedies that might +be applied I could write a separate chapter, but I fear to overtax the +reader's patience, and shall therefore confine myself to a few remarks +about the labour question. On this subject the complaints are loud and +frequent all over the country. The peasants, it is said, have become +lazy, careless, addicted to drunkenness, and shamelessly dishonest with +regard to their obligations, so that it is difficult to farm even in the +old primitive fashion and impossible to introduce radical improvements +in the methods of culture. In these sweeping accusations there is a +certain amount of truth. That the muzhik, when working for others, +exerts himself as little as possible; that he pays little attention to +the quality of the work done; that he shows a reckless carelessness with +regard to his employer's property; that he is capable of taking money +in advance and failing to fulfil his contract; that he occasionally gets +drunk; and that he is apt to commit certain acts of petty larceny when +he gets the chance--all this is undoubtedly true, whatever biassed +theorists and sentimental peasant-worshippers may say to the contrary.* +It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the fault is entirely +on the side of the peasants, and equally erroneous to believe that the +evils might be remedied, as is often suggested, by greater severity +on the part of the tribunals, or by an improved system of passports. +Farming with free labour, like every other department of human activity, +requires a fair amount of knowledge, judgment, prudence, and tact, which +cannot be replaced by ingenious legislation or judicial severity. In +engaging labourers or servants it is necessary to select them carefully +and make such conditions that they feel it to be to their interest +to fulfil their contract loyally. This is too often overlooked by the +Russian land-owners. From false views of economy they are inclined +to choose the cheapest labourer without examining closely his other +qualifications, or they take advantage of the peasant's pecuniary +embarrassments and make with him a contract which it is hardly possible +for him to fulfil. In spring, for instance, when his store of provisions +is exhausted and he is being hard pressed by the tax-collector, +they supply him with rye-meal or advance him a small sum of money on +condition of his undertaking to do a relatively large amount of summer +work. He knows that the contract is unfair to him, but what is he to do? +He must get food for himself and his family and a little ready money for +his taxes, for the Communal authorities will probably sell his cow if he +does not pay his arrears.** In desperation he accepts the conditions +and puts off the evil day--consoling himself with the reflection that +perhaps (avos') something may turn up in the meantime--but when the time +comes for fulfilling his engagements the dilemma revives. According +to the contract he ought to work nearly the whole summer for the +proprietor; but he has his own land to attend to, and he has to make +provision for the winter. In such circumstances the temptation to evade +the terms of the contract is probably too strong to be resisted. + + * Amongst themselves the peasants are not addicted to + thieving, as is proved by the fact that they habitually + leave their doors unlocked when the inmates of the house are + working in the fields; but if the muzhik finds in the + proprietor's farmyard a piece of iron or a bit of rope, or + any of those little things that he constantly requires and + has difficulty in obtaining, he is very apt to pick it up + and carry it home. Gathering firewood in the landlord's + forest he does not consider as theft, because "God planted + the trees and watered them," and in the time of serfage he + was allowed to supply himself with firewood in this way. + + ** Until last year (1904) they could use also corporal + punishment as a means of pressure, and I am not sure that + they do not occasionally use it still, though it is no + longer permitted by law. + +In Russia, as in other countries, the principle holds true that for +good labour a fair price must be paid. Several large proprietors of my +acquaintance who habitually act on this principle assure me that they +always obtain as much good labour as they require. I must add, however, +that these fortunate proprietors have the advantage of possessing a +comfortable amount of working capital, and are therefore not compelled, +as so many of their less fortunate neighbours are, to manage their +estates on the hand-to-mouth principle. + +It is only, I fear, a minority of the landed proprietors that have +grappled successfully with these and other difficulties of their +position. As a class they are impoverished and indebted, but this state +of things is not due entirely to serf-emancipation. The indebtedness +of the Noblesse is a hereditary peculiarity of much older date. By some +authorities it is attributed to the laws of Peter the Great, by which +all nobles were obliged to spend the best part of their lives in the +military or civil service, and to leave the management of their estates +to incompetent stewards. However that may be, it is certain that from +the middle of the eighteenth century downwards the fact has frequently +occupied the attention of the Government, and repeated attempts have +been made to alleviate the evil. The Empress Elizabeth, Catherine II., +Paul, Alexander I., Nicholas I., Alexander II., and Alexander III. tried +successively, as one of the older ukazes expressed it, "to free the +Noblesse from debt and from greedy money-lenders, and to prevent +hereditary estates from passing into the hands of strangers." The +means commonly adopted was the creation of mortgage banks founded and +controlled by the Government for the purpose of advancing money to +landed proprietors at a comparatively low rate of interest. + +These institutions may have been useful to the few who desired to +improve their estates, but they certainly did not cure, and rather +tended to foster, the inveterate improvidence of the many. On the eve of +the Emancipation the proprietors were indebted to the Government for +the sum of 425 millions of roubles, and 69 per cent. of their serfs +were mortgaged. A portion of this debt was gradually extinguished by the +redemption operation, so that in 1880 over 300 millions had been paid +off, but in the meantime new debts were being contracted. In 1873-74 +nine private land-mortgage banks were created, and there was such a rush +to obtain money from them that their paper was a glut in the market, and +became seriously depreciated. When the prices of grain rose in 1875-80 +the mortgage debt was diminished, but when they began to fall in 1880 +it again increased, and in 1881 it stood at 396 millions. As the rate of +interest was felt to be very burdensome there was a strong feeling among +the landed proprietors at that time that the Government ought to help +them, and in 1883 the nobles of the province of Orel ventured to address +the Emperor on the subject. In reply to the address, Alexander III., who +had strong Conservative leanings, was graciously pleased to declare in +an ukaz that "it was really time to do something to help the Noblesse," +and accordingly a new land-mortgage bank for the Noblesse was created. +The favourable terms offered by it were taken advantage of to such +an extent that in the first four years of its activity (1886-90) it +advanced to the proprietors over 200 million roubles. Then came two +famine years, and in 1894 the mortgage debt of the Noblesse in that and +other credit establishments was estimated at 994 millions. It has since +probably increased rather than diminished, for in that year the prices +of grain began to fall steadily on all the corn-exchanges of the world, +and they have never since recovered. + +By means of mortgages some proprietors succeeded in weathering the +storm, but many gave up the struggle altogether, and settled in the +towns. In the space of thirty years 20,000 of them sold their estates, +and thus, between 1861 and 1892, the area of land possessed by the +Noblesse diminished 30 per cent.--from 77,804,000 to 55,500,000 +dessyatins. + +This expropriation of the Noblesse, as it is called, was evidently not +the result merely of the temporary economic disturbance caused by the +abolition of serfage, for as time went on it became more rapid. During +the first twenty years the average annual amount of Noblesse land sold +was 517,000 dessyatins, and it rose steadily until 1892-96, when it +reached the amount of 785,000. As I have already stated, the townward +movement of the proprietors was strongest in the barren Northern +provinces. In the province of Olonetz, for example, they have already +parted with 87 per cent. of their land. In the black-soil region, on the +contrary, there is no province in which more than 27 per cent. of the +Noblesse land has been alienated, and in one province (Tula) the amount +is only 19 per cent. + +The habit of mortgaging and selling estates does not necessarily mean +the impoverishment of the landlords as a class. If the capital raised in +that way is devoted to agricultural improvements, the result may be an +increase of wealth. Unfortunately, in Russia the realised capital +was usually not so employed. A very large proportion of it was spent +unproductively, partly in luxuries and living abroad, and partly in +unprofitable commercial and industrial speculations. The industrial +and railway fever which raged at the time induced many to risk and +lose their capital, and it had indirectly an injurious effect on all by +making money plentiful in the towns and creating a more expensive style +of living, from which the landed gentry could not hold entirely aloof. + +So far I have dwelt on the dark shadows of the picture, but it is not +all shadow. In the last forty years the production and export of grain, +which constitute the chief source of revenue for the Noblesse, have +increased enormously, thanks mainly to the improved means of transport. +In the first decade after the Emancipation (1860-70) the average annual +export did not exceed 88 million puds; in the second decade (1870-80) it +leapt up to 218 millions; and so it went up steadily until in the +last decade of the century it had reached 388 millions--i.e., over six +million tons. At the same time the home trade had increased likewise +in consequence of the rapidly growing population of the towns. All this +must have enriched the land-proprietors. Not to such an extent, it is +true, as the figures seem to indicate, because the old prices could not +be maintained. Rye, for example, which in 1868 stood at 129 kopeks +per pud, fell as low as 56, and during the rest of the century, except +during a short time in 1881-82 and the famine years of 1891-92, when +there was very little surplus to sell, it never rose above 80. Still, +the increase in quantity more than counterbalanced the fall in price. +For example: in 1881 the average price of grain per pud was 119, and in +1894 it had sunk to 59; but the amount exported during that time rose +from 203 to 617 million puds, and the sum received for it had risen from +242 to 369 millions of roubles. Surely the whole of that enormous sum +was not squandered on luxuries and unprofitable speculation! + +The pessimists, however--and in Russia their name is legion--will not +admit that any permanent advantage has been derived from this enormous +increase in exports. On the contrary, they maintain that it is a +national misfortune, because it is leading rapidly to a state of +permanent impoverishment. It quickly exhausted, they say, the large +reserves of grain in the village, so that as soon as there was a very +bad harvest the Government had to come to the rescue and feed the +starving peasantry. Worse than this, it compromised the future +prosperity of the country. Being in pecuniary difficulties, and +consequently impatient to make money, the proprietors increased +inordinately the area of grain-producing land at the expense of +pasturage and forests, with the result that the live stock and the +manuring of the land were diminished, the fertility of the soil +impaired, and the necessary quantity of moisture in the atmosphere +greatly lessened. There is some truth in this contention; but it would +seem that the soil and climate have not been affected so much as the +pessimists suppose, because in recent years there have been some very +good harvests. + +On the whole, then, I think it may be justly said that the efforts of +the landed proprietors to work their estates without serf labour have +not as yet been brilliantly successful. Those who have failed are in the +habit of complaining that they have not received sufficient support from +the Government, which is accused of having systematically sacrificed the +interests of agriculture, the mainstay of the national resources, to the +creation of artificial and unnecessary manufacturing industries. How far +such complaints and accusations are well founded I shall not attempt to +decide. It is a complicated polemical question, into which the reader +would probably decline to accompany me. Let us examine rather what +influence the above-mentioned changes have had on the peasantry. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE EMANCIPATED PEASANTRY + + +The Effects of Liberty--Difficulty of Obtaining Accurate +Information--Pessimist Testimony of the Proprietors--Vague Replies of +the Peasants--My Conclusions in 1877--Necessity of Revising Them--My +Investigations Renewed in 1903--Recent Researches by Native Political +Economists--Peasant Impoverishment Universally Recognised--Various +Explanations Suggested--Demoralisation of the Common People--Peasant +Self-government--Communal System of Land Tenure--Heavy +Taxation--Disruption of Peasant Families--Natural Increase of +Population--Remedies Proposed--Migration--Reclamation of Waste +Land--Land-purchase by Peasantry--Manufacturing Industry--Improvement of +Agricultural Methods--Indications of Progress. + + +At the commencement of last chapter I pointed out in general terms +the difficulty of describing clearly the immediate consequences of the +Emancipation. In beginning now to speak of the influence which the great +reform has had on the peasantry, I feel that the difficulty has reached +its climax. The foreigner who desires merely to gain a general idea of +the subject cannot be expected to take an interest in details, and even +if he took the trouble to examine them attentively, he would derive from +the labour little real information. What he wishes is a clear, concise, +and dogmatic statement of general results. Has the material and moral +condition of the peasantry improved since the Emancipation? That is the +simple question which he has to put, and he naturally expects a simple, +categorical answer. + +In beginning my researches in this interesting field of inquiry, I had +no adequate conception of the difficulties awaiting me. I imagined that +I had merely to question intelligent, competent men who had had abundant +opportunities of observation, and to criticise and boil down the +information collected; but when I put this method of investigation to +the test of experience it proved unsatisfactory. Very soon I came +to perceive that my authorities were very far from being impartial +observers. Most of them were evidently suffering from shattered +illusions. They had expected that the Emancipation would produce +instantaneously a wonderful improvement in the life and character of +the rural population, and that the peasant would become at once a sober, +industrious, model agriculturist. + +These expectations were not realised. One year passed, five years +passed, ten years passed, and the expected transformation did not take +place. On the contrary, there appeared certain very ugly phenomena which +were not at all in the programme. The peasants began to drink more +and to work less,* and the public life which the Communal institutions +produced was by no means of a desirable kind. The "bawlers" (gorlopany) +acquired a prejudicial influence in the Village Assemblies, and in very +many Volosts the peasant judges, elected by their fellow-villagers, +acquired a bad habit of selling their decisions for vodka. The natural +consequence of all this was that those who had indulged in exaggerated +expectations sank into a state of inordinate despondency, and imagined +things to be much worse than they really were. + + * I am not at all sure that the peasants really drank more, + but such was, and still is, a very general conviction. + +For different reasons, those who had not indulged in exaggerated +expectations, and had not sympathised with the Emancipation in the form +in which it was effected, were equally inclined to take a pessimistic +view of the situation. In every ugly phenomenon they found a +confirmation of their opinions. The result was precisely what they had +foretold. The peasants had used their liberty and their privileges to +their own detriment and to the detriment of others! + +The extreme "Liberals" were also inclined, for reasons of their own, +to join in the doleful chorus. They desired that the condition of the +peasantry should be further improved by legislative enactments, and +accordingly they painted the evils in as dark colours as possible. + +Thus, from various reasons, the majority of the educated classes were +unduly disposed to represent to themselves and to others the actual +condition of the peasantry in a very unfavourable light, and I felt +that from them there was no hope of obtaining the lumen siccum which I +desired. I determined, therefore, to try the method of questioning the +peasants themselves. Surely they must know whether their condition was +better or worse than it had been before their Emancipation. + +Again I was doomed to disappointment. A few months' experience sufficed +to convince me that my new method was by no means so effectual as I had +imagined. Uneducated people rarely make generalisations which have no +practical utility, and I feel sure that very few Russian peasants ever +put to themselves the question: Am I better off now than I was in the +time of serfage? When such a question is put to them they feel taken +aback. And in truth it is no easy matter to sum up the two sides of the +account and draw an accurate balance, save in those exceptional cases +in which the proprietor flagrantly abused his authority. The present +money-dues and taxes are often more burdensome than the labour-dues in +the old times. If the serfs had a great many ill-defined obligations +to fulfil--such as the carting of the master's grain to market, the +preparing of his firewood, the supplying him with eggs, chickens, +home-made linen, and the like--they had, on the other hand, a good many +ill-defined privileges. They grazed their cattle during a part of the +year on the manor-land; they received firewood and occasionally logs for +repairing their huts; sometimes the proprietor lent them or gave them +a cow or a horse when they had been visited by the cattle-plague or the +horse-stealer; and in times of famine they could look to their master +for support. All this has now come to an end. Their burdens and their +privileges have been swept away together, and been replaced by clearly +defined, unbending, unelastic legal relations. They have now to pay the +market-price for every stick of firewood which they burn, for every log +which they require for repairing their houses, and for every rood of +land on which to graze their cattle. Nothing is now to be had gratis. +The demand to pay is encountered at every step. If a cow dies or a horse +is stolen, the owner can no longer go to the proprietor with the hope of +receiving a present, or at least a loan without interest, but must, +if he has no ready money, apply to the village usurer, who probably +considers twenty or thirty per cent, as a by no means exorbitant rate of +interest. + +Besides this, from the economic point of view village life has been +completely revolutionised. Formerly the members of a peasant family +obtained from their ordinary domestic resources nearly all they +required. Their food came from their fields, cabbage-garden, and +farmyard. Materials for clothing were supplied by their plots of flax +and their sheep, and were worked up into linen and cloth by the female +members of the household. Fuel, as I have said, and torches wherewith +to light the izba--for oil was too expensive and petroleum was +unknown--were obtained gratis. Their sheep, cattle, and horses were bred +at home, and their agricultural implements, except in so far as a little +iron was required, could be made by themselves without any pecuniary +expenditure. Money was required only for the purchase of a few cheap +domestic utensils, such as pots, pans, knives, hatchets, wooden dishes, +and spoons, and for the payment of taxes, which were small in amount +and often paid by the proprietor. In these circumstances the quantity of +money in circulation among the peasants was infinitesimally small, the +few exchanges which took place in a village being generally effected +by barter. The taxes, and the vodka required for village festivals, +weddings, or funerals, were the only large items of expenditure for the +year, and they were generally covered by the sums brought home by the +members of the family who went to work in the towns. + +Very different is the present condition of affairs. The spinning, +weaving, and other home industries have been killed by the big +factories, and the flax and wool have to be sold to raise a little ready +money for the numerous new items of expenditure. Everything has to be +bought--clothes, firewood, petroleum, improved agricultural implements, +and many other articles which are now regarded as necessaries of life, +whilst comparatively little is earned by working in the towns, because +the big families have been broken up, and a household now consists +usually of husband and wife, who must both remain at home, and children +who are not yet bread-winners. Recalling to mind all these things and +the other drawbacks and advantages of his actual position, the old +muzhik has naturally much difficulty in striking a balance, and he may +well be quite sincere when, on being asked whether things now are on the +whole better or worse than in the time of serfage, he scratches the back +of his head and replies hesitatingly, with a mystified expression on his +wrinkled face: "How shall I say to you? They are both better and worse!" +("Kak vam skazat'? I lûtche i khûdzhe!") If, however, you press him +further and ask whether he would himself like to return to the old state +of things, he is pretty sure to answer, with a slow shake of the head +and a twinkle in his eye, as if some forgotten item in the account had +suddenly recurred to him: "Oh, no!" + +What materially increases the difficulty of this general computation is +that great changes have taken place in the well-being of the particular +households. Some have greatly prospered, while others have become +impoverished. That is one of the most characteristic consequences of the +Emancipation. In the old times the general economic stagnation and +the uncontrolled authority of the proprietor tended to keep all the +households of a village on the same level. There was little opportunity +for an intelligent, enterprising serf to become rich, and if he +contrived to increase his revenue he had probably to give a considerable +share of it to the proprietor, unless he had the good fortune to belong +to a grand seigneur like Count Sheremetief, who was proud of having +rich men among his serfs. On the other hand, the proprietor, for evident +reasons of self-interest, as well as from benevolent motives, prevented +the less intelligent and less enterprising members of the Commune from +becoming bankrupt. The Communal equality thus artificially maintained +has now disappeared, the restrictions on individual freedom of action +have been removed, the struggle for life has become intensified, and, as +always happens in such circumstances, the strong men go up in the world +while the weak ones go to the wall. All over the country we find on the +one hand the beginnings of a village aristocracy--or perhaps we should +call it a plutocracy, for it is based on money--and on the other hand +an ever-increasing pauperism. Some peasants possess capital, with which +they buy land outside the Commune or embark in trade, while others have +to sell their live stock, and have sometimes to cede to neighbours their +share of the Communal property. This change in rural life is so +often referred to that, in order to express it a new, barbarous word, +differentsiatsia (differentiation) has been invented. + +Hoping to obtain fuller information with the aid of official protection, +I attached myself to one of the travelling sections of an agricultural +Commission appointed by the Government, and during a whole summer I +helped to collect materials in the provinces bordering on the Volga. The +inquiry resulted in a gigantic report of nearly 2,500 folio pages, but +the general conclusions were extremely vague. The peasantry, it was +said, were passing, like the landed proprietors, through a period of +transition, in which the main features of their future normal life had +not yet become clearly defined. In some localities their condition had +decidedly improved, whereas in others it had improved little or not +at all. Then followed a long list of recommendations in favour +of Government assistance, better agronomic education, competitive +exhibitions, more varied rotation of crops, and greater zeal on the +part of the clergy in disseminating among the people moral principles in +general and love of work in particular. + +Not greatly enlightened by this official activity, I returned to my +private studies, and at the end of six years I published my impressions +and conclusions in the first edition of this work. While recognising +that there was much uncertainty as to the future, I was inclined, on the +whole, to take a hopeful view of the situation. I was unable, however, +to maintain permanently that comfortable frame of mind. After my +departure from Russia in 1878, the accounts which reached me from +various parts of the country became blacker and blacker, and were partly +confirmed by short tours which I made in 1889-1896. At last, in the +summer of 1903, I determined to return to some of my old haunts and +look at things with my own eyes. At that moment some hospitable friends +invited me to pay them a visit at their country-house in the province of +Smolensk, and I gladly accepted the invitation, because Smolensk, when +I knew it formerly, was one of the poorest provinces, and I thought it +well to begin my new studies by examining the impoverishment, of which I +had heard so much, at its maximum. + +From the railway station at Viazma, where I arrived one morning at +sunrise, I had some twenty miles to drive, and as soon as I got clear of +the little town I began my observations. What I saw around me seemed +to contradict the sombre accounts I had received. The villages through +which I passed had not at all the look of dilapidation and misery +which I expected. On the contrary, the houses were larger and better +constructed than they used to be, and each of them had a chimney! That +latter fact was important because formerly a large proportion of the +peasants of this region had no such luxury, and allowed the smoke to +find its exit by the open door. In vain I looked for a hut of the old +type, and my yamstchik assured me I should have to go a long way to find +one. Then I noticed a good many iron ploughs of the European model, and +my yamstchik informed me that their predecessor, the sokha with which I +had been so familiar, had entirely disappeared from the district. Next +I noticed that in the neighbourhood of the villages flax was grown +in large quantities. That was certainly not an indication of poverty, +because flax is a valuable product which requires to be well manured, +and plentiful manure implies a considerable quantity of live stock. +Lastly, before arriving at my destination, I noticed clover being grown +in the fields. This made me open my eyes with astonishment, because +the introduction of artificial grasses into the traditional rotation of +crops indicates the transition to a higher and more intensive system of +agriculture. As I had never seen clover in Russia except on the estates +of very advanced proprietors, I said to my yamstchik: + +"Listen, little brother! That field belongs to the landlord?" + +"Not at all, Master; it is muzhik-land." + +On arriving at the country-house I told my friends what I had seen, +and they explained it to me. Smolensk is no longer one of the poorer +provinces; it has become comparatively prosperous. In two or three +districts large quantities of flax are produced and give the cultivators +a big revenue; in other districts plenty of remunerative work is +supplied by the forests. Everywhere a considerable proportion of the +younger men go regularly to the towns and bring home savings enough to +pay the taxes and make a little surplus in the domestic budget. A few +days afterwards the village secretary brought me his books, and showed +me that there were practically no arrears of taxation. + +Passing on to other provinces I found similar proofs of progress +and prosperity, but at the same time not a few indications of +impoverishment; and I was rapidly relapsing into my previous state of +uncertainty as to whether any general conclusions could be drawn, +when an old friend, himself a first-rate authority with many years of +practical experience, came to my assistance.* He informed me that a +number of specialists had recently made detailed investigations into +the present economic conditions of the rural population, and he kindly +placed at my disposal, in his charming country-house near Moscow, the +voluminous researches of these investigators. Here, during a good many +weeks, I revelled in the statistical materials collected, and to the +best of my ability I tested the conclusions drawn from them. Many of +these conclusions I had to dismiss with the Scotch verdict of "not +proven," whilst others seemed to me worthy of acceptance. Of these +latter the most important were those drawn from the arrears of taxation. + + * I hope I am committing no indiscretion when I say that the + old friend in question was Prince Alexander Stcherbatof of + Vasilefskoe. + +The arrears in the payment of taxes may be regarded as a pretty safe +barometer for testing the condition of the rural population, because +the peasant habitually pays his rates and taxes when he has the means of +doing so; when he falls seriously and permanently into arrears it may be +assumed that he is becoming impoverished. If the arrears fluctuate +from year to year, the causes of the impoverishment may be regarded as +accidental and perhaps temporary, but if they steadily accumulate, we +must conclude that there is something radically wrong. Bearing these +facts in mind, let us hear what the statistics say. + +During the first twenty years after the Emancipation (1861-81) things +went on in their old grooves. The poor provinces remained poor, and the +fertile provinces showed no signs of distress. During the next twenty +years (1881-1901) the arrears of the whole of European Russia rose, +roughly speaking, from 27 to 144 millions of roubles, and the increase, +strange to say, took place in the fertile provinces. In 1890, for +example, out of 52 millions, nearly 41 millions, or 78 per cent., fell +to the share of the provinces of the Black-earth Zone. In seven of these +the average arrears per male, which had been in 1882 only 90 kopeks, +rose in 1893 to 600, and in 1899 to 2,200! And this accumulation had +taken place in spite of reductions of taxation to the extent of 37 +million roubles in 1881-83, and successive famine grants from the +Treasury in 1891-99 to the amount of 203 millions.* On the other hand, +in the provinces with a poor soil the arrears had greatly decreased. In +Smolensk, for example, they had sunk from 202 per cent, to 13 per cent. +of the annual sum to be paid, and in nearly all the other provinces of +the west and north a similar change for the better had taken place. + +These and many other figures which I might quote show that a great +and very curious economic revolution has been gradually effected. The +Black-earth Zone, which was formerly regarded as the inexhaustible +granary of the Empire, has become impoverished, whilst the provinces +which were formerly regarded as hopelessly poor are now in a +comparatively flourishing condition. This fact has been officially +recognised. In a classification of the provinces according to their +degree of prosperity, drawn up by a special commission of experts in +1903, those with a poor light soil appear at the top, and those with the +famous black earth are at the bottom of the list. In the deliberations +of the commission many reasons for this extraordinary state of things +are adduced. Most of them have merely a local significance. The big +fact, taken as a whole, seems to me to show that, in consequence of +certain changes of which I shall speak presently, the peasantry +of European Russia can no longer live by the traditional modes of +agriculture, even in the most fertile districts, and require for their +support some subsidiary occupations such as are practised in the less +fertile provinces. + + * In 1901 an additional famine grant of 33 1/2 million + roubles had to be made by the Government. + +Another sign of impoverishment is the decrease in the quantity of live +stock. According to the very imperfect statistics available, for every +hundred inhabitants the number of horses has decreased from 26 to 17, +the number of cattle from 36 to 25, and the number of sheep from 73 to +40. This is a serious matter, because it means that the land is not +so well manured and cultivated as formerly, and is consequently not so +productive. Several economists have attempted to fix precisely to what +extent the productivity has decreased, but I confess I have little faith +in the accuracy of their conclusions. M. Polenof, for example, a most +able and conscientious investigator, calculates that between 1861 and +1895, all over Russia, the amount of food produced, in relation to the +number of the population, has decreased by seven per cent. His methods +of calculation are ingenious, but the statistical data with which he +operates are so far from accurate that his conclusions on this point +have, in my opinion, little or no scientific value. With all due +deference to Russian economists, I may say parenthetically that they are +very found of juggling with carelessly collected statistics, as if their +data were mathematical quantities. + +Several of the Zemstvos have grappled with this question of peasant +impoverishment, and the data which they have collected make a very +doleful impression. In the province of Moscow, for example, a careful +investigation gave the following results: Forty per cent. of the +peasant households had no longer any horses, 15 per cent. had given up +agriculture altogether, and about 10 per cent. had no longer any +land. We must not, however, assume, as is often done, that the peasant +families who have no live stock and no longer till the land are utterly +ruined. In reality many of them are better off than their neighbours who +appear as prosperous in the official statistics, having found profitable +occupation in the home industries, in the towns, in the factories, or on +the estates of the landed proprietors. It must be remembered that Moscow +is the centre of one of the regions in which manufacturing industry has +progressed with gigantic strides during the last half-century, and it +would be strange indeed if, in such a region, the peasantry who supply +the labour to the towns and factories remained thriving agriculturists. +That many Russians are surprised and horrified at the actual state of +things shows to what an extent the educated classes are still under the +illusion that Russia can create for herself a manufacturing industry +capable of competing with that of Western Europe without uprooting from +the soil a portion of her rural population. + +It is only in the purely agricultural regions that families officially +classed as belonging to the peasantry may be regarded as on the brink of +pauperism because they have no live stock, and even with regard to them +I should hesitate to make such an assumption, because the muzhiks, as I +have already had occasion to remark, have strange nomadic habits unknown +to the rural population of other countries. It is a mistake, therefore, +to calculate the Russian peasant's budget exclusively on the basis of +local resources. + +To the pessimists who assure me that according to their calculations the +peasantry in general must be on the brink of starvation, I reply that +there are many facts, even in the statistical tables on which they +rely, which run counter to their deductions. Let me quote one by way +of illustration. The total amount of deposits in savings banks, about +one-fourth of which is believed to belong to the rural population, +rose in the course of six years (1894-1900) from 347 to 680 millions of +roubles. Besides the savings banks, there existed in the rural districts +on 1st December, 1902, no less than 1,614 small-credit institutions, +with a total capital (1st January, 1901) of 69 million roubles, of which +only 4,653,000 had been advanced by the State Bank and the Zemstvo, the +remainder coming in from private sources. This is not much for a big +country like Russia, but it is a beginning, and it suggests that the +impoverishment is not so severe and so universal as the pessimists would +have us believe. + +There is thus room for differences of opinion as to how far the +peasantry have become impoverished, but there is no doubt that their +condition is far from satisfactory, and we have to face the important +problem why the abolition of serfage has not produced the beneficent +consequences which even moderate men so confidently predicted, and how +the present unsatisfactory state of things is to be remedied. + +The most common explanation among those who have never seriously studied +the subject is that it all comes from the demoralisation of the common +people. In this view there is a modicum of truth. That the peasantry +injure their material welfare by drunkenness and improvidence there can +be no reasonable doubt, as is shown by the comparatively flourishing +state of certain villages of Old Ritualists and Molokanye in which there +is no drunkenness, and in which the community exercises a strong moral +control over the individual members. If the Orthodox Church could +make the peasantry refrain from the inordinate use of strong drink as +effectually as it makes them refrain during a great part of the year +from animal food, and if it could instil into their minds a few simple +moral principles as successfully as it has inspired them with a belief +in the efficacy of the Sacraments, it would certainly confer on them an +inestimable benefit. But this is not to be expected. The great majority +of the parish priests are quite unfit for such a task, and the few who +have aspirations in that direction rarely acquire a perceptible moral +influence over their parishioners. Perhaps more is to be expected from +the schoolmaster than from the priest, but it will be long before the +schools can produce even a partial moral regeneration. Their +first influence, strange as the assertion may seem, is often in a +diametrically opposite direction. When only a few peasants in a village +can read and write they have such facilities for overreaching their +"dark" neighbours that they are apt to employ their knowledge for +dishonest purposes; and thus it occasionally happens that the man who +has the most education is the greatest scoundrel in the Mir. Such facts +are often used by the opponents of popular education, but in reality +they supply a good reason for disseminating primary education as rapidly +as possible. When all the peasants have learned to read and write they +will present a less inviting field for swindling, and the temptations +to dishonesty will be proportionately diminished. Meanwhile, it is only +fair to state that the common assertions about drunkenness being greatly +on the increase are not borne out by the official statistics concerning +the consumption of spirituous liquors. + +After drunkenness, the besetting sin which is supposed to explain +the impoverishment of the peasantry is incorrigible laziness. On that +subject I feel inclined to put in a plea of extenuating circumstances in +favour of the muzhik. Certainly he is very slow in his movements--slower +perhaps than the English rustic--and he has a marvellous capacity for +wasting valuable time without any perceptible qualms of conscience; but +he is in this respect, if I may use a favourite phrase of the Social +Scientists, "the product of environment." To the proprietors who +habitually reproach him with time-wasting he might reply with a very +strong tu quoque argument, and to all the other classes the argument +might likewise be addressed. The St. Petersburg official, for example, +who writes edifying disquisitions about peasant indolence, considers +that for himself attendance at his office for four hours, a large +portion of which is devoted to the unproductive labour of cigarette +smoking, constitutes a very fair day's work. The truth is that in +Russia the struggle for life is not nearly so intense as in more densely +populated countries, and society is so constituted that all can live +without very strenuous exertion. The Russians seem, therefore, to the +traveller who comes from the West an indolent, apathetic race. If the +traveller happens to come from the East--especially if he has been +living among pastoral races--the Russians will appear to him energetic +and laborious. Their character in this respect corresponds to their +geographical position: they stand midway between the laborious, +painstaking, industrious population of Western Europe and the indolent, +undisciplined, spasmodically energetic populations of Central Asia. They +are capable of effecting much by vigorous, intermittent effort--witness +the peasant at harvest-time, or the St. Petersburg official when some +big legislative project has to be submitted to the Emperor within a +given time--but they have not yet learned regular laborious habits. In +short, the Russians might move the world if it could be done by a +jerk, but they are still deficient in that calm perseverance and dogged +tenacity which characterise the Teutonic race. + +Without seeking further to determine how far the moral defects of the +peasantry have a deleterious influence on their material welfare, I +proceed to examine the external causes which are generally supposed to +contribute largely to their impoverishment, and will deal first with the +evils of peasant self-government. + +That the peasant self-government is very far from being in a +satisfactory condition must be admitted by any impartial observer. The +more laborious and well-to-do peasants, unless they wish to abuse their +position directly or indirectly for their own advantage, try to escape +election as office-bearers, and leave the administration in the hands +of the less respectable members. Not unfrequently a Volost Elder trades +with the money he collects as dues or taxes; and sometimes, when he +becomes insolvent, the peasants have to pay their taxes and dues a +second time. The Village Assemblies, too, have become worse than they +were in the days of serfage. At that time the Heads of Households--who, +it must be remembered, have alone a voice in the decisions--were few +in number, laborious, and well-to-do, and they kept the lazy, unruly +members under strict control. Now that the large families have been +broken up and almost every adult peasant is Head of a Household, the +Communal affairs are sometimes decided by a noisy majority; and certain +Communal decisions may be obtained by "treating the Mir"--that is to +say, by supplying a certain amount of vodka. Often I have heard old +peasants speak of these things, and finish their recital by some such +remark as this: "There is no order now; the people have been spoiled; it +was better in the time of the masters." + +These evils are very real, and I have no desire to extenuate them, but +I believe they are by no means so great as is commonly supposed. If +the lazy, worthless members of the Commune had really the direction of +Communal affairs we should find that in the Northern Agricultural Zone, +where it is necessary to manure the soil, the periodical redistributions +of the Communal land would be very frequent; for in a new distribution +the lazy peasant has a good chance of getting a well-manured lot in +exchange for the lot which he has exhausted. In reality, so far as my +observations extend, these general distributions of the land are not +more frequent than they were before. + +Of the various functions of the peasant self-government the judicial +are perhaps the most frequently and the most severely criticised. +And certainly not without reason, for the Volost Courts are too often +accessible to the influence of alcohol, and in some districts the +peasants say that he who becomes a judge takes a sin on his soul. I am +not at all sure, however, that it would be well to abolish these courts +altogether, as some people propose. In many respects they are better +suited to peasant requirements than the ordinary tribunals. Their +procedure is infinitely simpler, more expeditious, and incomparably +less expensive, and they are guided by traditional custom and plain +common-sense, whereas the ordinary tribunals have to judge according +to the civil law, which is unknown to the peasantry and not always +applicable to their affairs. + +Few ordinary judges have a sufficiently intimate knowledge of the minute +details of peasant life to be able to decide fairly the cases that are +brought before the Volost Courts; and even if a Justice had sufficient +knowledge he could not adopt the moral and juridical notions of the +peasantry. These are often very different from those of the upper +classes. In cases of matrimonial separation, for instance, the educated +man naturally assumes that, if there is any question of aliment, it +should be paid by the husband to the wife. The peasant, on the +contrary, assumes as naturally that it should be paid by the wife to the +husband--or rather to the Head of the Household--as a compensation +for the loss of labour which her desertion involves. In like manner, +according to traditional peasant-law, if an unmarried son is working +away from home, his earnings do not belong to himself, but to the +family, and in Volost Court they could be claimed by the Head of the +Household. + +Occasionally, it is true, the peasant judges allow their respect for old +traditional conceptions in general and for the authority of parents in +particular, to carry them a little too far. I was told lately of one +affair which took place not long ago, within a hundred miles of Moscow, +in which the judge decided that a respectable young peasant should be +flogged because he refused to give his father the money he earned +as groom in the service of a neighbouring proprietor, though it was +notorious in the district that the father was a disreputable old +drunkard who carried to the kabak (gin-shop) all the money he could +obtain by fair means and foul. When I remarked to my informant, who was +not an admirer of peasant institutions, that the incident reminded me of +the respect for the patria potestas in old Roman times, he stared at +me with a look of surprise and indignation, and exclaimed laconically, +"Patria potestas? . . . Vodka!" He was evidently convinced that the +disreputable father had got his respectable son flogged by "treating" +the judges. In such cases flogging can no longer be used, for the Volost +Courts, as we have seen, were recently deprived of the right to inflict +corporal punishment. + +These administrative and judicial abuses gradually reached the ears of +the Government, and in 1889 it attempted to remove them by creating +a body of Rural Supervisors (Zemskiye Natchalniki). Under their +supervision and control some abuses may have been occasionally prevented +or corrected, and some rascally Volost secretaries may have been +punished or dismissed, but the peasant self-government as a whole has +not been perceptibly improved. + +Let us glance now at the opinions of those who hold that the material +progress of the peasantry is prevented chiefly, not by the mere abuses +of the Communal administration, but by the essential principles of the +Communal institutions, and especially by the practice of periodically +redistributing the Communal land. From the theoretical point of view +this question is one of great interest, and it may acquire in the future +an immense practical significance; but for the present it has not, in my +opinion, the importance which is usually attributed to it. There can be +no doubt that it is much more difficult to farm well on a large number +of narrow strips of land, many of which are at a great distance from the +farmyard, than on a compact piece of land which the farmer may divide +and cultivate as he pleases; and there can be as little doubt that the +husbandman is more likely to improve his land if his tenure is secure. +All this and much more of the same kind must be accepted as indisputable +truth, but it has little direct bearing on the practical question under +consideration. We are not considering in the abstract whether it would +be better that the peasant should be a farmer with abundant capital and +all the modern scientific appliances, but simply the practical question, +What are the obstructions which at present prevent the peasant from +ameliorating his actual condition? + +That the Commune prevents its members from adopting various systems +of high farming is a supposition which scarcely requires serious +consideration. The peasants do not yet think of any such radical +innovations; and if they did, they have neither the knowledge nor the +capital necessary to effect them. In many villages a few of the richer +and more intelligent peasants have bought land outside of the Commune +and cultivate it as they please, free from all Communal restraints; and +I have always found that they cultivate this property precisely in the +same way as their share of the Communal land. As to minor changes, we +know by experience that the Mir opposes to them no serious obstacles. + +The cultivation of beet for the production of sugar has greatly +increased in the central and southwestern provinces, and flax is now +largely produced in Communes in northern districts where it was formerly +cultivated merely for domestic use. The Communal system is, in fact, +extremely elastic, and may be modified as soon as the majority of the +members consider modifications profitable. When the peasants begin to +think of permanent improvements, such as drainage, irrigation, and the +like, they will find the Communal institutions a help rather than +an obstruction; for such improvements, if undertaken at all, must +be undertaken on a larger scale, and the Mir is an already existing +association. The only permanent improvements which can be for the +present profitably undertaken consist in the reclaiming of waste land; +and such improvements are already sometimes attempted. I know at +least of one case in which a Commune in the province of Yaroslavl +has reclaimed a considerable tract of waste land by means of hired +labourers. Nor does the Mir prevent in this respect individual +initiative. In many Communes of the northern provinces it is a received +principle of customary law that if any member reclaims waste land he is +allowed to retain possession of it for a number of years proportionate +to the amount of labour expended. + +But does not the Commune, as it exists, prevent good cultivation +according to the mode of agriculture actually in use? + +Except in the far north and the steppe region, where the agriculture +is of a peculiar kind, adapted to the local conditions, the peasants +invariably till their land according to the ordinary three-field system, +in which good cultivation means, practically speaking, the plentiful +use of manure. Does, then, the existence of the Mir prevent the peasants +from manuring their fields well? + +Many people who speak on this subject in an authoritative tone seem to +imagine that the peasants in general do not manure their fields at all. +This idea is an utter mistake. In those regions, it is true, where the +rich black soil still retains a large part of its virgin fertility, +the manure is used as fuel, or simply thrown away, because the peasants +believe that it would not be profitable to put it on their fields, and +their conviction is, at least to some extent, well founded;* but in +the Northern Agricultural Zone, where unmanured soil gives almost no +harvest, the peasants put upon their fields all the manure they possess. +If they do not put enough it is simply because they have not sufficient +live stock. + + * As recently as two years ago (1903) I found that one of + the most intelligent and energetic landlords of the province + of Voronezh followed in this respect the example of the + peasants, and he assured me that he had proved by experience + the advantage of doing so. + +It is only in the southern provinces, where no manure is required, +that periodical re-distributions take place frequently. As we travel +northward we find the term lengthens; and in the Northern Agricultural +Zone, where manure is indispensable, general re-distributions are +extremely rare. In the province of Yaroslavl, for example, the Communal +land is generally divided into two parts: the manured land lying near +the village, and the unmanured land lying beyond. The latter alone is +subject to frequent re-distribution. On the former the existing tenures +are rarely disturbed, and when it becomes necessary to give a share to a +new household, the change is effected with the least possible prejudice +to vested rights. + +The policy of the Government has always been to admit redistributions +in principle, but to prevent their too frequent recurrence. For this +purpose the Emancipation Law stipulated that they could be decreed +only by a three-fourths majority of the Village Assembly, and in 1893 +a further obstacle was created by a law providing that the minimum +term between two re-distributions should be twelve years, and that they +should never be undertaken without the sanction of the Rural Supervisor. + +A certain number of Communes have made the experiment of transforming +the Communal tenure into hereditary allotments, and its only visible +effect has been that the allotments accumulate in the hands of the +richer and more enterprising peasants, and the poorer members of the +Commune become landless, while the primitive system of agriculture +remains unimproved. + +Up to this point I have dealt with the so-called causes of peasant +impoverishment which are much talked of, but which are, in my opinion, +only of secondary importance. I pass now to those which are more +tangible and which have exerted on the condition of the peasantry a more +palpable influence. And, first, inordinate taxation. + +This is a very big subject, on which a bulky volume might be written, +but I shall cut it very short, because I know that the ordinary reader +does not like to be bothered with voluminous financial statistics. +Briefly, then, the peasant has to pay three kinds of direct taxation: +Imperial to the Central Government, local to the Zemstvo, and Commune to +the Mir and the Volost; and besides these he has to pay a yearly sum for +the redemption of the land-allotment which he received at the time of +the Emancipation. Taken together, these form a heavy burden, but for +ten or twelve years the emancipated peasantry bore it patiently, without +falling very deeply into arrears. Then began to appear symptoms of +distress, especially in the provinces with a poor soil, and in 1872 +the Government appointed a Commission of Inquiry, in which I had the +privilege of taking part unofficially. The inquiry showed that something +ought to be done, but at that moment the Government was so busy with +administrative reforms and with trying to develop industry and commerce +that it had little time to devote to studying and improving the economic +position of the silent, long-suffering muzhik. It was not till nearly +ten years later, when the Government began to feel the pinch of the +ever-increasing arrears, that it recognised the necessity of relieving +the rural population. For this purpose it abolished the salt-tax and the +poll-tax and repeatedly lessened the burden of the redemption-payments. +At a later period (1899) it afforded further relief by an important +reform in the mode of collecting the direct taxes. From the police, +who often ruined peasant householders by applying distraint +indiscriminately, the collection of taxes was transferred to special +authorities who took into consideration the temporary pecuniary +embarrassments of the tax-payers. Another benefit conferred on the +peasantry by this reform is that an individual member of the Commune +is no longer responsible for the fiscal obligations of the Commune as a +whole. + +Since these alleviations have been granted the annual total demanded +from the peasantry for direct taxation and land-redemption payments +is 173 million roubles, and the average annual sum to be paid by each +peasant household varies, according to the locality, from 11 1/2 to 20 +roubles (21s. 6d. to 40s.). In addition to this annuity there is a heavy +burden of accumulated arrears, especially in the central and eastern +provinces, which amounted in 1899 to 143 millions. Of the indirect taxes +I can say nothing definite, because it is impossible to calculate, even +approximately, the share of them which falls on the rural population, +but they must not be left out of account. During the ten years of M. +Witte's term of office the revenue of the Imperial Treasury was nearly +doubled, and though the increase was due partly to improvements in the +financial administration, we can hardly believe that the peasantry did +not in some measure contribute to it. In any case, it is very difficult, +if not impossible, for them, under actual conditions, to improve their +economic position. On that point all Russian economists are agreed. +One of the most competent and sober-minded of them, M. Schwanebach, +calculates that the head of a peasant household, after deducting +the grain required to feed his family, has to pay into the Imperial +Treasury, according to the district in which he resides, from 25 to 100 +per cent, of his agricultural revenue. If that ingenious calculation +is even approximately correct, we must conclude that further financial +reforms are urgently required, especially in those provinces where the +population live exclusively by agriculture. + +Heavy as the burden of taxation undoubtedly is, it might perhaps be +borne without very serious inconvenience if the peasant families could +utilise productively all their time and strength. Unfortunately in the +existing economic organisation a great deal of their time and energy is +necessarily wasted. Their economic life was radically dislocated by +the Emancipation, and they have not yet succeeded in reorganising it +according to the new conditions. + +In the time of serfage an estate formed, from the economic point of +view, a co-operative agricultural association, under a manager who +possessed unlimited authority, and sometimes abused it, but who was +generally worldly-wise enough to understand that the prosperity of the +whole required the prosperity of the component parts. By the abolition +of serfage the association was dissolved and liquidated, and the strong, +compact whole fell into a heap of independent units, with separate and +often mutually hostile interests. Some of the disadvantages of this +change for the peasantry I have already enumerated above. The most +important I have now to mention. In virtue of the Emancipation Law each +family received an amount of land which tempted it to continue farming +on its own account, but which did not enable it to earn a living and +pay its rates and taxes. The peasant thus became a kind of amphibious +creature--half farmer and half something else--cultivating his allotment +for a portion of his daily bread, and obliged to have some other +occupation wherewith to cover the inevitable deficit in his domestic +budget. If he was fortunate enough to find near his home a bit of land +to be let at a reasonable rent, he might cultivate it in addition to his +own and thereby gain a livelihood; but if he had not the good luck to +find such a piece of land in the immediate neighbourhood, he had to look +for some subsidiary occupation in which to employ his leisure time; and +where was such occupation to be found in an ordinary Russian village? +In former years he might have employed himself perhaps in carting the +proprietor's grain to distant markets or still more distant seaports, +but that means of making a little money has been destroyed by the +extension of railways. Practically, then, he is now obliged to choose +between two alternatives: either to farm his allotment and spend a +great part of the year in idleness, or to leave the cultivation of +his allotment to his wife and children and to seek employment +elsewhere--often at such a distance that his earnings hardly cover the +expenses of the journey. In either case much time and energy are wasted. + +The evil results of this state of things were intensified by another +change which was brought about by the Emancipation. In the time of +serfage the peasant families, as I have already remarked, were usually +very large. They remained undivided, partly from the influence +of patriarchal conceptions, but chiefly because the proprietors, +recognising the advantage of large units, prevented them from breaking +up. As soon as the proprietor's authority was removed, the process +of disintegration began and spread rapidly. Every one wished to be +independent, and in a very short time nearly every able-bodied +married peasant had a house of his own. The economic consequences were +disastrous. A large amount of money had to be expended in constructing +new houses and farmsteadings; and the old habit of one male member +remaining at home to cultivate the land allotment with the female +members of the family whilst the others went to earn wages elsewhere +had to be abandoned. Many large families, which had been prosperous and +comfortable--rich according to peasant conceptions--dissolved into three +or four small ones, all on the brink of pauperism. + +The last cause of peasant impoverishment that I have to mention is +perhaps the most important of all: I mean the natural increase of +population without a corresponding increase in the means of subsistence. +Since the Emancipation in 1861 the population has nearly doubled, whilst +the amount of Communal land has remained the same. It is not surprising, +therefore, that when talking with peasants about their actual condition, +one constantly hears the despairing cry, "Zemli malo!" ("There is not +enough land"); and one notices that those who look a little ahead ask +anxiously: "What is to become of our children? Already the Communal +allotment is too small for our wants, and the land outside is doubling +and trebling in price! What will it be in the future?" At the same time, +not a few Russian economists tell us--and their apprehensions are +shared by foreign observers--that millions of peasants are in danger of +starvation in the near future. + +Must we, then, accept for Russia the Malthus doctrine that population +increases more rapidly than the means of subsistence, and that +starvation can be avoided only by plague, pestilence, war, and other +destructive forces? I think not. It is quite true that, if the amount +of land actually possessed by the peasantry and the present system +of cultivating it remained unchanged, semi-starvation would be the +inevitable result within a comparatively short space of time; but the +danger can be averted, and the proper remedies are not far to seek. If +Russia is suffering from over-population, it must be her own fault, +for she is, with the exception of Norway and Sweden, the most thinly +populated country in Europe, and she has more than her share of fertile +soil and mineral resources. + +A glance at the map showing the density of population in the various +provinces suggests an obvious remedy, and I am happy to say it is +already being applied. The population of the congested districts of the +centre is gradually spreading out, like a drop of oil on a sheet of soft +paper, towards the more thinly populated regions of the south and east. +In this way the vast region containing millions and millions of acres +which lies to the north of the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian, and +Central Asia is yearly becoming more densely peopled, and agriculture is +steadily encroaching on the pastoral area. Breeders of sheep and cattle, +who formerly lived and throve in the western portion of that great +expanse, are being pushed eastwards by the rapid increase in the value +of land, and their place is being taken by enterprising tillers of the +soil. Further north another stream of emigration is flowing into Central +Siberia. It does not flow so rapidly, because in that part of the +Empire, unlike the bare, fertile steppes of the south, the land has to +be cleared before the seed can be sown, and the pioneer colonists have +to work hard for a year or two before they get any return for their +labour; but the Government and private societies come to their +assistance, and for the last twenty years their numbers have been +steadily increasing. During the ten years 1886-96 the annual contingent +rose from 25,000 to 200,000, and the total number amounted to nearly +800,000. For the subsequent period I have not been able to obtain the +official statistics, but a friend who has access to the official sources +of information on this subject assures me that during the last twelve +years about four millions of peasants from European Russia have been +successfully settled in Siberia. + +Even in the European portion of the Empire millions of acres which are +at present unproductive might be utilised. Any one who has travelled by +rail from Berlin to St. Petersburg must have noticed how the landscape +suddenly changes its character as soon as he has crossed the frontier. +Leaving a prosperous agricultural country, he traverses for many weary +hours a region in which there is hardly a sign of human habitation, +though the soil and climate of that region resembles closely the soil +and climate of East Prussia. The difference lies in the amount of labour +and capital expended. According to official statistics the area of +European Russia contains, roughly speaking, 406 millions of dessyatins, +of which 78 millions, or 19 per cent., are classified as neudobniya, +unfit for cultivation; 157 millions, or 39 per cent., as forest; 106 +millions, or 26 per cent., as arable land; and 65 millions, or 16 per +cent., as pasturage. Thus the arable and pasture land compose only 42 +per cent., or considerably less than half the area. + +Of the land classed as unfit for cultivation--19 per cent. of the +whole--a large portion, including the perennially frozen tundri of the +far north, must ever remain unproductive, but in latitudes with a milder +climate this category of land is for the most part ordinary morass or +swamp, which can be transformed into pasturage, or even into arable +land, by drainage at a moderate cost. As a proof of this statement I +may cite the draining of the great Pinsk swamps, which was begun by the +Government in 1872. If we may trust an official report of the progress +of the works in 1897, an area of 2,855,000 dessyatins (more than seven +and a half million acres) had been drained at an average cost of about +three shillings an acre, and the price of land had risen from four to +twenty-eight roubles per dessyatin. + +Reclamation of marshes might be undertaken elsewhere on a much more +moderate scale. The observant traveller on the highways and byways of +the northern provinces must have noticed on the banks of almost every +stream many acres of marshy land producing merely reeds or coarse +rank grass that no well-brought-up animal would look at. With a little +elementary knowledge of engineering and the expenditure of a moderate +amount of manual labour these marshes might be converted into excellent +pasture or even into highly productive kitchen-gardens; but the peasants +have not yet learned to take advantage of such opportunities, and the +reformers, who deal only in large projects and scientific panaceas for +the cure of impoverishment, consider such trifles as unworthy of their +attention. The Scotch proverb that if the pennies be well looked after, +the pounds will look after themselves, contains a bit of homely wisdom +totally unknown to the Russian educated classes. + +After the morasses, swamps, and marshes come the forests, constituting +39 per cent. of the whole area, and the question naturally arises +whether some portions of them might not be advantageously transformed +into pasturage or arable land. In the south and east they have been +diminished to such an extent as to affect the climate injuriously, so +that the area of them should be increased rather than lessened; but in +the northern provinces the vast expanses of forest, covering millions +of acres, might perhaps be curtailed with advantage. The proprietors +prefer, however, to keep them in their present condition because they +give a modest revenue without any expenditure of capital. + +Therein lies the great obstacle to land-reclamation in Russia: it +requires an outlay of capital, and capital is extremely scarce in the +Empire of the Tsars. Until it becomes more plentiful, the area of arable +land and pasturage is not likely to be largely increased, and other +means of checking the impoverishment of the peasantry must be adopted. + +A less expensive means is suggested by the statistics of foreign trade. +In the preceding chapter we have seen that from 1860 to 1900 the average +annual export of grain rose steadily from under 1 1/2 millions to over 6 +millions of tons. It is evident, therefore, that in the food supply, so +far from there being a deficiency, there has been a large and constantly +increasing surplus. If the peasantry have been on short rations, it +is not because the quantity of food produced has fallen short of the +requirements of the population, but because it has been unequally +distributed. The truth is that the large landed proprietors produce more +and the peasants less than they consume, and it has naturally occurred +to many people that the present state of things might be improved if +a portion of the arable land passed, without any socialistic, +revolutionary measures, from the one class to the other. This operation +began spontaneously soon after the Emancipation. Well-to-do peasants who +had saved a little money bought from the proprietors bits of land near +their villages and cultivated them in addition to their allotments. At +first this extension of peasant land was confined within very narrow +limits, because the peasants had very little capital at their disposal, +but in 1882 the Government came to their aid by creating the Peasant +Land Bank, the object of which was to advance money to purchasers of the +peasant class on the security of the land purchased, at the rate of 7 +1/2 per cent., including sinking fund.* From that moment the purchases +increased rapidly. They were made by individual peasants, by rural +Communes, and, most of all, by small voluntary associations composed of +three, four, or more members. In the course of twenty years (1883-1903) +the Bank made 47,791 advances, and in this way were purchased about +eighteen million acres. This sounds a very big acquisition, but it will +not do much to relieve the pressure on the peasantry as a whole, because +it adds only about 6 per cent. to the amount they already possessed in +virtue of the Emancipation Law. + + * This arrangement extinguishes the debt in 34 1/2 years; an + additional 1 per cent, extinguishes it in 24 1/2 years. By + recent legislation other arrangements are permitted. + +Nearly all of this land purchased by the peasantry comes directly or +indirectly from the Noblesse, and much more will doubtless pass from +the one class to the other if the Government continues to encourage the +operation; but already symptoms of a change of policy are apparent. In +the higher official regions it is whispered that the existing policy is +objectionable from the political point of view, and one sometimes hears +the question asked: Is it right and desirable that the Noblesse, who +have ever done their duty in serving faithfully the Tsar and Fatherland, +and who have ever been the representatives of civilisation and culture +in Russian country life, should be gradually expropriated in favour +of other and less cultivated social classes? Not a few influential +personages are of opinion that such a change is unjust and undesirable, +and they argue that it is not advantageous to the peasants themselves, +because the price of land has risen much more than the rents. It is not +at all uncommon, for example, to find that land can be rented at five +roubles per dessyatin, whereas it cannot be bought under 200 roubles. In +that case the peasant can enjoy the use of the land at the moderate rate +of 2 1/2 per cent. of the capital value, whereas by purchasing the land +with the assistance of the bank he would have to pay, without sinking +fund, more than double that rate. The muzhik, however, prefers to be +owner of the land, even at a considerable sacrifice. When he can be +induced to give his reasons, they are usually formulated thus: "With +my own land I can do as I like; if I hire land from the neighbouring +proprietor, who knows whether, at the end of the term, he may not raise +the rent or refuse to renew the contract at any price?" + +Even if the Government should continue to encourage the purchase of land +by the peasantry, the process is too slow to meet all the requirements +of the situation. Some additional expedient must be found, and we +naturally look for it in the experience of older countries with a denser +population. + +In the more densely populated countries of Western Europe a safety-valve +for the inordinate increase of the rural population has been provided +by the development of manufacturing industry. High wages and the +attractions of town life draw the rural population to the industrial +centres, and the movement has increased to such an extent that already +complaints are heard of the rural districts becoming depopulated. In +Russia a similar movement is taking place on a smaller scale. During the +last forty years, under the fostering influence of a protective tariff, +the manufacturing industry has made gigantic strides, as we shall see in +a future chapter, and it has already absorbed about two millions of the +redundant hands in the villages; but it cannot keep pace with the rapid +increasing surplus. Two millions are less than two per cent. of the +population. The great mass of the people has always been, and must long +continue to be, purely agricultural; and it is to their fields that +they must look for the means of subsistence. If the fields do not +supply enough for their support under the existing primitive methods +of cultivation, better methods must be adopted. To use a favourite +semi-scientific phrase, Russia has now reached the point in her economic +development at which she must abandon her traditional extensive system +of agriculture and adopt a more intensive system. So far all competent +authorities are agreed. But how is the transition, which requires +technical knowledge, a spirit of enterprise, an enormous capital, and a +dozen other things which the peasantry do not at present possess, to be +effected? Here begin the well-marked differences of opinion. + +Hitherto the momentous problem has been dealt with chiefly by the +theorists and doctrinaires who delight in radical solutions by means of +panaceas, and who have little taste for detailed local investigation and +gradual improvement. I do not refer to the so-called "Saviours of the +Fatherland" (Spasiteli Otetchestva), well-meaning cranks and visionaries +who discover ingenious devices for making their native country at once +prosperous and happy. I speak of the great majority of reasonable, +educated men who devote some attention to the problem. Their favourite +method of dealing with it is this: The intensive system of agriculture +requires scientific knowledge and a higher level of intellectual +culture. What has to be done, therefore, is to create agricultural +colleges supplied with all the newest appliances of agronomic research +and to educate the peasantry to such an extent that they may be able to +use the means which science recommends. + +For many years this doctrine prevailed in the Press, among the reading +public, and even in the official world. The Government was accordingly +urged to improve and multiply the agronomic colleges and the schools of +all grades and descriptions. Learned dissertations were published on the +chemical constitution of the various soils, the action of the +atmosphere on the different ingredients, the necessity of making careful +meteorological observations, and numerous other topics of a similar +kind; and would-be reformers who had no taste for such highly technical +researches could console themselves with the idea that they were +advancing the vital interests of the country by discussing the relative +merits of Communal and personal land-tenure--deciding generally in +favour of the former as more in accordance with the peculiarities of +Russian, as contrasted with West European, principles of economic and +social development. + +While much valuable time and energy were thus being expended to little +purpose, on the assumption that the old system might be left untouched +until the preparations for a radical solution had been completed, +disagreeable facts which could not be entirely overlooked gradually +produced in influential quarters the conviction that the question was +much more urgent than was commonly supposed. A sensitive chord in the +heart of the Government was struck by the steadily increasing arrears of +taxation, and spasmodic attempts have since been made to cure the evil. + +In the local administration, too, the urgency of the question has come +to be recognised, and measures are now being taken by the Zemstvo to +help the peasantry in making gradually the transition to that higher +system of agriculture which is the only means of permanently saving +them from starvation. For this purpose, in many districts well-trained +specialists have been appointed to study the local conditions and to +recommend to the villagers such simple improvements as are within their +means. These improvements may be classified under the following heads: + +(1) Increase of the cereal crops by better seed and improved implements. + +(2) Change in the rotation of crops by the introduction of certain +grasses and roots which improve the soil and supply food for live stock. + +(3) Improvement and increase of live stock, so as to get more +labour-power, more manure, more dairy-produce, and more meat. + +(4) Increased cultivation of vegetables and fruit. + +With these objects in view the Zemstvo is establishing depots in which +improved implements and better seed are sold at moderate prices, and the +payments are made in installments, so that even the poorer members of +the community can take advantage of the facilities offered. Bulls and +stallions are kept at central points for the purpose of improving the +breed of cattle and horses, and the good results are already visible. +Elementary instruction in farming and gardening is being introduced into +the primary schools. In some districts the exertions of the Zemstvo +are supplemented by small agricultural societies, mutual credit +associations, and village banks, and these are to some extent assisted +by the Central Government. But the beneficent action in this direction +is not all official. Many proprietors deserve great praise for the good +influence which they exercise on the peasants of their neighbourhood +and the assistance they give them; and it must be admitted that their +patience is often sorely tried, for the peasants have the obstinacy of +ignorance, and possess other qualities which are not sympathetic. I know +one excellent proprietor who began his civilising efforts by giving +to the Mir of the nearest village an iron plough as a model and a fine +pedigree ram as a producer, and who found, on returning from a tour +abroad, that during his absence the plough had been sold for vodka, +and the pedigree ram had been eaten before it had time to produce +any descendants! In spite of this he continues his efforts, and not +altogether without success. + +It need hardly be said that the progress of the peasantry is not so +rapid as could be wished. The muzhik is naturally conservative, and is +ever inclined to regard novelties with suspicion. Even when he is half +convinced of the utility of some change, he has still to think about it +for a long time and talk it over again and again with his friends and +neighbours, and this preparatory stage of progress may last for years. +Unless he happens to be a man of unusual intelligence and energy, it is +only when he sees with his own eyes that some humble individual of his +own condition in life has actually gained by abandoning the old routine +and taking to new courses, that he makes up his mind to take the plunge +himself. Still, he is beginning to jog on. E pur si muove! A spirit of +progress is beginning to move on the face of the long-stagnant waters, +and progress once begun is pretty sure to continue with increasing +rapidity. With starvation hovering in the rear, even the most +conservative are not likely to stop or turn back. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE ZEMSTVO AND THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT + + +Necessity of Reorganising the Provincial Administration--Zemstvo Created +in 1864--My First Acquaintance with the Institution--District and +Provincial Assemblies--The Leading Members--Great Expectations Created +by the Institution--These Expectations Not Realised--Suspicions and +Hostility of the Bureaucracy--Zemstvo Brought More Under Control of the +Centralised Administration--What It Has Really Done--Why It Has Not +Done More---Rapid Increase of the Rates--How Far the Expenditure +Is Judicious--Why the Impoverishment of the Peasantry Was +Neglected--Unpractical, Pedantic Spirit--Evil Consequences--Chinese and +Russian Formalism--Local Self-Government of Russia Contrasted with That +of England--Zemstvo Better than Its Predecessors--Its Future. + + +After the emancipation of the serfs the reform most urgently required +was the improvement of the provincial administration. In the time of +serfage the Emperor Nicholas, referring to the landed proprietors, used +to say in a jocular tone that he had in his Empire 50,000 most zealous +and efficient hereditary police-masters. By the Emancipation Law the +authority of these hereditary police-masters was for ever abolished, and +it became urgently necessary to put something else in its place. Peasant +self-government was accordingly organised on the basis of the rural +Commune; but it fell far short of meeting the requirements of the +situation. Its largest unit was the Volost, which comprises merely a +few contiguous Communes, and its action is confined exclusively to the +peasantry. Evidently it was necessary to create a larger administrative +unit, in which the interests of all classes of the population could be +attended to, and for this purpose Alexander II. in November, 1859, +more than a year before the Emancipation Edict, instructed a special +Commission to prepare a project for giving to the inefficient, +dislocated provincial administration greater unity and independence. The +project was duly prepared, and after being discussed in the Council +of State it received the Imperial sanction in January, 1864. It was +supposed to give, in the words of an explanatory memorandum attached +to it, "as far as possible a complete and logical development to the +principle of local self-government." Thus was created the Zemstvo,* +which has recently attracted considerable attention in Western Europe, +and which is destined, perhaps, to play a great political part in the +future. + + * The term Zemstvo is derived from the word Zemlya, meaning + land, and might be translated, if a barbarism were + permissible, by Land-dom on the analogy of Kingdom, Dukedom, + etc. + +My personal acquaintance with this interesting institution dates from +1870. Very soon after my arrival at Novgorod in that year, I made the +acquaintance of a gentleman who was described to me as "the president +of the provincial Zemstvo-bureau," and finding him amiable and +communicative, I suggested that he might give me some information +regarding the institution of which he was the chief local +representative. With the utmost readiness he proposed to be my Mentor, +introduced me to his colleagues, and invited me to come and see him +at his office as often as I felt inclined. Of this invitation I made +abundant use. At first my visits were discreetly few and short, but when +I found that my new friend and his colleagues really wished to instruct +me in all the details of Zemstvo administration, and had arranged a +special table in the president's room for my convenience, I became a +regular attendant, and spent daily several hours in the bureau, studying +the current affairs, and noting down the interesting bits of statistical +and other information which came before the members, as if I had been +one of their number. When they went to inspect the hospital, the lunatic +asylum, the seminary for the preparation of village schoolmasters, or +any other Zemstvo institution, they invariably invited me to accompany +them, and made no attempt to conceal from me the defects which they +happened to discover. + +I mention all this because it illustrates the readiness of most Russians +to afford every possible facility to a foreigner who wishes seriously to +study their country. They believe that they have long been misunderstood +and systematically calumniated by foreigners, and they are extremely +desirous that the prevalent misconceptions regarding their country +should be removed. It must be said to their honour that they have +little or none of that false patriotism which seeks to conceal national +defects; and in judging themselves and their institutions they are +inclined to be over-severe rather than unduly lenient. In the time +of Nicholas I. those who desired to stand well with the Government +proclaimed loudly that they lived in the happiest and best-governed +country of the world, but this shallow official optimism has long since +gone out of fashion. During all the years which I spent in Russia I +found everywhere the utmost readiness to assist me in my investigations, +and very rarely noticed that habit of "throwing dust in the eyes of +foreigners," of which some writers have spoken so much. + +The Zemstvo is a kind of local administration which supplements the +action of the rural Communes, and takes cognizance of those higher +public wants which individual Communes cannot possibly satisfy. Its +principal duties are to keep the roads and bridges in proper repair, to +provide means of conveyance for the rural police and other officials, to +look after primary education and sanitary affairs, to watch the state of +the crops and take measures against approaching famine, and, in short, +to undertake, within certain clearly defined limits, whatever seems +likely to increase the material and moral well-being of the population. +In form the institution is Parliamentary--that is to say, it consists +of an assembly of deputies which meets regularly once a year, and of +a permanent executive bureau elected by the Assembly from among its +members. If the Assembly be regarded as a local Parliament, the bureau +corresponds to the Cabinet. In accordance with this analogy my friend +the president was sometimes jocularly termed the Prime Minister. Once +every three years the deputies are elected in certain fixed proportions +by the landed proprietors, the rural Communes, and the municipal +corporations. Every province (guberniya) and each of the districts +(uyezdi) into which the province is subdivided has such an assembly and +such a bureau. + +Not long after my arrival in Novgorod I had the opportunity of being +present at a District Assembly. In the ball-room of the "Club de la +Noblesse" I found thirty or forty men seated round a long table covered +with green cloth. Before each member lay sheets of paper for the purpose +of taking notes, and before the president--the Marshal of Noblesse for +the district--stood a small hand-bell, which he rang vigorously at the +commencement of the proceedings and on all the occasions when he wished +to obtain silence. To the right and left of the president sat the +members of the executive bureau (uprava), armed with piles of written +and printed documents, from which they read long and tedious extracts, +till the majority of the audience took to yawning and one or two of the +members positively went to sleep. At the close of each of these reports +the president rang his bell--presumably for the purpose of awakening the +sleepers--and inquired whether any one had remarks to make on what +had just been read. Generally some one had remarks to make, and not +unfrequently a discussion ensued. When any decided difference of opinion +appeared a vote was taken by handing round a sheet of paper, or by the +simpler method of requesting the Ayes to stand up and the Noes to sit +still. + +What surprised me most in this assembly was that it was composed partly +of nobles and partly of peasants--the latter being decidedly in the +majority--and that no trace of antagonism seemed to exist between the +two classes. Landed proprietors and their ci-devant serfs, emancipated +only ten years before, evidently met for the moment on a footing of +equality. The discussions were carried on chiefly by the nobles, but on +more than one occasion peasant members rose to speak, and their remarks, +always clear, practical, and to the point, were invariably listened +to with respectful attention. Instead of that violent antagonism which +might have been expected, considering the constitution of the Assembly, +there was too much unanimity--a fact indicating plainly that the +majority of the members did not take a very deep interest in the matters +presented to them. + +This assembly was held in the month of September. At the beginning of +December the Assembly for the Province met, and during nearly three +weeks I was daily present at its deliberations. In general character and +mode of procedure it resembled closely the District Assembly. Its chief +peculiarities were that its members were chosen, not by the primary +electors, but by the assemblies of the ten districts which compose the +province, and that it took cognisance merely of those matters which +concerned more than one district. Besides this, the peasant deputies +were very few in number--a fact which somewhat surprised me, because +I was aware that, according to the law, the peasant members of the +District Assemblies were eligible, like those of the other classes. The +explanation is that the District Assemblies choose their most active +members to represent them in the Provincial Assemblies, and consequently +the choice generally falls on landed proprietors. To this arrangement +the peasants make no objection, for attendance at the Provincial +Assemblies demands a considerable pecuniary outlay, and payment to the +deputies is expressly prohibited by law. + +To give the reader an idea of the elements composing this assembly, let +me introduce him to a few of the members. A considerable section of them +may be described in a single sentence. They are commonplace men, who +have spent part of their youth in the public service as officers in the +army, or officials in the civil administration, and have since retired +to their estates, where they gain a modest competence by farming. Some +of them add to their agricultural revenue by acting as justices of the +peace.* A few may be described more particularly. + + * That is no longer possible. The institution of justices + elected and paid by the Zemstvo was abolished in 1889. + +You see there, for instance, that fine-looking old general in uniform, +with the St. George's Cross at his button-hole--an order given only for +bravery in the field. That is Prince Suvorof, a grandson of the famous +general. He has filled high posts in the Administration without ever +tarnishing his name by a dishonest or dishonourable action, and has +spent a great part of his life at Court without ceasing to be frank, +generous, and truthful. Though he has no intimate knowledge of current +affairs, and sometimes gives way a little to drowsiness, his sympathies +in disputed points are always on the right side, and when he gets to his +feet he always speaks in a clear soldierlike fashion. + +The tall gaunt man, somewhat over middle age, who sits a little to +the left is Prince Vassiltchikof. He too, has an historic name, but he +cherishes above all things personal independence, and has consequently +always kept aloof from the Imperial Administration and the Court. The +leisure thus acquired he has devoted to study, and he has produced +several valuable works on political and social science. An enthusiastic +but at the same time cool-headed abolitionist at the time of the +Emancipation, he has since constantly striven to ameliorate the +condition of the peasantry by advocating the spread of primary +education, the rural credit associations in the village, the +preservation of the Communal institutions, and numerous important +reforms in the financial system. Both of these gentlemen, it is said, +generously gave to their peasants more land than they were obliged +to give by the Emancipation Law. In the Assembly Prince Vassiltchikof +speaks frequently, and always commands attention; and in all important +committees he is leading member. Though a warm defender of the Zemstvo +institutions, he thinks that their activity ought to be confined to +a comparatively narrow field, and he thereby differs from some of his +colleagues, who are ready to embark in hazardous, not to say fanciful, +schemes for developing the natural resources of the province. His +neighbour, Mr. P----, is one of the ablest and most energetic members +of the Assembly. He is president of the executive bureau in one of the +districts, where he has founded many primary schools and created several +rural credit associations on the model of those which bear the name of +Schultze Delitsch in Germany. Mr. S----, who sits beside him, was for +some years an arbiter between the proprietors and emancipated serfs, +then a member of the Provincial Executive Bureau, and is now director of +a bank in St. Petersburg. + +To the right and left of the president--who is Marshal of Noblesse for +the province--sit the members of the bureau. The gentleman who reads +the long reports is my friend "the Prime Minister," who began life as +a cavalry officer, and after a few years of military service retired +to his estate; he is an intelligent, able administrator, and a man of +considerable literary culture. His colleague, who assists him in reading +the reports, is a merchant, and director of the municipal bank. The next +member is also a merchant, and in some respects the most remarkable +man in the room. Though born a serf, he is already, at middle age, an +important personage in the Russian commercial world. Rumour says that +he laid the foundation of his fortune by one day purchasing a copper +cauldron in a village through which he was passing on his way to St. +Petersburg, where he hoped to gain a little money by the sale of some +calves. In the course of a few years he amassed an enormous fortune; but +cautious people think that he is too fond of hazardous speculations, and +prophesy that he will end life as poor as he began it. + +All these men belong to what may be called the party of progress, which +anxiously supports all proposals recognised as "liberal," and especially +all measures likely to improve the condition of the peasantry. Their +chief opponent is that little man with close-cropped, bullet-shaped head +and small piercing eyes, who may be called the Leader of the opposition. +He condemns many of the proposed schemes, on the ground that the +province is already overtaxed, and that the expenditure ought to be +reduced to the smallest possible figure. In the District Assembly +he preaches this doctrine with considerable success, for there the +peasantry form the majority, and he knows how to use that terse, homely +language, interspersed with proverbs, which has far more influence on +the rustic mind than scientific principles and logical reasoning; but +here, in Provincial Assembly, his following composes only a respectable +minority, and he confines himself to a policy of obstruction. + +The Zemstvo of Novgorod had at that time the reputation of being one of +the most enlightened and energetic, and I must say that the proceedings +were conducted in a business-like, satisfactory way. The reports +were carefully considered, and each article of the annual budget was +submitted to minute scrutiny and criticism. In several of the provinces +which I afterwards visited I found that affairs were conducted in a very +different fashion: quorums were formed with extreme difficulty, and +the proceedings, when they at last commenced, were treated as mere +formalities and despatched as speedily as possible. The character of +the Assembly depends of course on the amount of interest taken in local +public affairs. In some districts this interest is considerable; in +others it is very near zero. + +The birth of this new institution was hailed with enthusiasm, and +produced great expectations. At that time a large section of the Russian +educated classes had a simple, convenient criterion for institutions of +all kinds. They assumed as a self-evident axiom that the excellence +of an institution must always be in proportion to its "liberal" and +democratic character. The question as to how far it might be appropriate +to the existing conditions and to the character of the people, and as to +whether it might not, though admirable in itself, be too expensive for +the work to be performed, was little thought of. Any organisation which +rested on "the elective principle," and provided an arena for free +public discussion, was sure to be well received, and these conditions +were fulfilled by the Zemstvo. + +The expectations excited were of various kinds. People who thought more +of political than economic progress saw in the Zemstvo the basis of +boundless popular liberty. Prince Yassiltchikof, for example, though +naturally of a phlegmatic temperament, became for a moment enthusiastic, +and penned the following words: "With a daring unparalleled in the +chronicles of the world, we have entered on the career of public life." +If local self-government in England had, in spite of its aristocratic +character, created and preserved political liberty, as had been proved +by several learned Germans, what might be expected from institutions so +much more liberal and democratic? In England there had never been county +parliaments, and the local administration had always been in the hands +of the great land-owners; whilst in Russia every district would have +its elective assembly, in which the peasant would be on a level with +the richest landed proprietors. People who were accustomed to think of +social rather than political progress expected that they would soon see +the country provided with good roads, safe bridges, numerous village +schools, well-appointed hospitals, and all the other requisites of +civilisation. Agriculture would become more scientific, trade and +industry would be rapidly developed, and the material, intellectual, +and moral condition of the peasantry would be enormously improved. The +listless apathy of provincial life and the hereditary indifference to +local public affairs were now, it was thought, about to be dispelled; +and in view of this change, patriotic mothers took their children to the +annual assemblies in order to accustom them from their early years to +take an interest in the public welfare. + +It is hardly necessary to say that these inordinate expectations were +not realised. From the very beginning there had been a misunderstanding +regarding the character and functions of the new institutions. During +the short period of universal enthusiasm for reform the great officials +had used incautiously some of the vague liberal phrases then in fashion, +but they never seriously intended to confer on the child which they +were bringing into the world a share in the general government of the +country; and the rapid evaporation of their sentimental liberalism, +which began as soon as they undertook practical reforms, made them less +and less conciliatory. When the vigorous young child, therefore, showed +a natural desire to go beyond the humble functions accorded to it, the +stern parents proceeded to snub it and put it into its proper place. +The first reprimand was administered publicly in the capital. The +St. Petersburg Provincial Assembly, having shown a desire to play a +political part, was promptly closed by the Minister of the Interior, +and some of the members were exiled for a time to their homes in the +country. + +This warning produced merely a momentary effect. As the functions of +the Imperial Administration and of the Zemstvo had never been clearly +defined, and as each was inclined to extend the sphere of its activity, +friction became frequent. The Zemstvo had the right, for example, to +co-operate in the development of education, but as soon as it organised +primary schools and seminaries it came into contact with the Ministry of +Public Instruction. In other departments similar conflicts occurred, +and the tchinovniks came to suspect that the Zemstvo had the ambition to +play the part of a parliamentary Opposition. This suspicion found formal +expression in at least one secret official document, in which the writer +declares that "the Opposition has built itself firmly a nest in the +Zemstvo." Now, if we mean to be just to both parties in this little +family quarrel, we must admit that the Zemstvo, as I shall explain in +a future chapter, had ambitions of that kind, and it would have been +better perhaps for the country at the present moment if it had been able +to realise them. But this is a West-European idea. In Russia there is, +and can be, no such thing as "His Majesty's Opposition." To the Russian +official mind the three words seem to contain a logical contradiction. +Opposition to officials, even within the limits of the law, is +equivalent to opposition to the Autocratic Power, of which they are the +incarnate emanations; and opposition to what they consider the interests +of autocracy comes within measurable distance of high treason. It was +considered necessary, therefore, to curb and suppress the ambitious +tendencies of the wayward child, and accordingly it was placed more and +more under the tutelage of the provincial Governors. To show how +the change was effected, let me give an illustration. In the older +arrangements the Governor could suspend the action of the Zemstvo only +on the ground of its being illegal or ultra vires, and when there was +an irreconcilable difference of opinion between the two parties the +question was decided judicially by the Senate; under the more recent +arrangements his Excellency can interpose his veto whenever he considers +that a decision, though it may be perfectly legal, is not conducive to +the public good, and differences of opinion are referred, not to the +Senate, but to the Minister of the Interior, who is always naturally +disposed to support the views of his subordinate. + +In order to put an end to all this insubordination, Count Tolstoy, +the reactionary Minister of the Interior, prepared a scheme of +reorganisation in accordance with his anti-liberal views, but he died +before he could carry it out, and a much milder reorganisation was +adopted in the law of 12th (24th) June, 1890. The principal changes +introduced by that law were that the number of delegates in the +Assemblies was reduced by about a fourth, and the relative strength of +the different social classes was altered. Under the old law the Noblesse +had about 42 per cent., and the peasantry about 38 per cent, of the +seats; by the new electoral arrangements the former have 57 per cent, +and the latter about 30. It does not necessarily follow, however, +that the Assemblies are more conservative or more subservient on that +account. Liberalism and insubordination are much more likely to be found +among the nobles than among the peasants. + +In addition to all this, as there was an apprehension in the higher +official spheres of St. Petersburg that the opposition spirit of the +Zemstvo might find public expression in a printed form, the provincial +Governors received extensive rights of preventive censure with regard +to the publication of the minutes of Zemstvo Assemblies and similar +documents. + +What the bureaucracy, in its zeal to defend the integrity of the +Autocratic Power, feared most of all was combination for a common +purpose on the part of the Zemstvos of different provinces. It vetoed, +therefore, all such combinations, even for statistical purposes; and +when it discovered, a few years ago, that leading members of the Zemstvo +from all parts of the country were holding private meetings in Moscow +for the ostensible purpose of discussing economic questions, it ordered +them to return to their homes. + +Even within its proper sphere, as defined by law, the Zemstvo has not +accomplished what was expected of it. The country has not been covered +with a network of macadamised roads, and the bridges are by no means as +safe as could be desired. Village schools and infirmaries are still far +below the requirements of the population. Little or nothing has been +done for the development of trade or manufactures; and the villages +remain very much what they were under the old Administration. Meanwhile +the local rates have been rising with alarming rapidity; and many +people draw from all this the conclusion that the Zemstvo is a worthless +institution which has increased the taxation without conferring any +corresponding benefit on the country. + +If we take as our criterion in judging the institution the exaggerated +expectations at first entertained, we may feel inclined to agree with +this conclusion, but this is merely tantamount to saying that the +Zemstvo has performed no miracles. Russia is much poorer and much less +densely populated than the more advanced nations which she takes as her +model. To suppose that she could at once create for herself by means of +an administrative reform all the conveniences which those more advanced +nations enjoy, was as absurd as it would be to imagine that a poor man +can at once construct a magnificent palace because he has received from +a wealthy neighbour the necessary architectural plans. Not only years +but generations must pass before Russia can assume the appearance of +Germany, France, or England. The metamorphosis may be accelerated or +retarded by good government, but it could not be effected at once, even +if the combined wisdom of all the philosophers and statesmen in Europe +were employed in legislating for the purpose. + +The Zemstvo has, however, done much more than the majority of its +critics admit. It fulfils tolerably well, without scandalous peculation +and jobbery, its commonplace, every-day duties, and it has created a +new and more equitable system of rating, by which landed proprietors and +house-owners are made to bear their share of the public burdens. It has +done a very great deal to provide medical aid and primary education for +the common people, and it has improved wonderfully the condition of the +hospitals, lunatic asylums, and other benevolent institutions committed +to its charge. In its efforts to aid the peasantry it has helped to +improve the native breeds of horses and cattle, and it has created a +system of obligatory fire-insurance, together with means for preventing +and extinguishing fires in the villages--a most important matter in +a country where the peasants live in wooden houses and big fires are +fearfully frequent. After neglecting for a good many years the essential +question as to how the peasants' means of subsistence can be increased, +it has latterly, as I have mentioned in a foregoing chapter, helped them +to obtain improved agricultural implements and better seed, encouraged +the formation of small credit associations and savings banks, and +appointed agricultural inspectors to teach them how they may introduce +modest improvements within their limited means.* At the same time, in +many districts it has endeavoured to assist the home industries which +are threatened with annihilation by the big factories, and whenever +measures have been proposed for the benefit of the rural population, +such as the lowering of the land-redemption payments and the creation of +the Peasant Land Bank, it has invariably given them its cordial support. + + * The amount expended for these objects in 1897, the latest year + for which I have statistical data, was about a million and a half + of roubles, or, roughly speaking, 150,000 pounds, distributed under + the following heads:--1. Agricultural tuition + 41,100 pounds. + 2. Experimental stations, museums, etc 19,800 + 3. Scientific agriculturists 17,400 + 4. Agricultural industries 26,700 + 5. Improving breeds of horses and cattle 45,300 + ------- + 150,300 pounds. + +If you ask a zealous member of the Zemstvo why it has not done more +he will probably tell you that it is because its activity has been +constantly restricted and counteracted by the Government. The Assemblies +were obliged to accept as presidents the Marshals of Noblesse, many of +whom were men of antiquated ideas and retrograde principles. At every +turn the more enlightened, more active members found themselves opposed, +thwarted, and finally checkmated by the Imperial officials. When a +laudable attempt was made to tax trade and industry more equitably the +scheme was vetoed, and consequently the mercantile class, sure of being +always taxed at a ridiculously low maximum, have lost all interest in +the proceedings. Even with regard to the rating of landed and house +property a low limit is imposed by the Government, because it is afraid +that if the rates were raised much it would not be able to collect the +heavy Imperial taxation. The uncontrolled publicity which was at first +enjoyed by the Assemblies was afterwards curtailed by the bureaucracy. +Under such restrictions all free, vigorous action became impossible, and +the institutions failed to effect what was reasonably anticipated. + +All this is true in a certain sense, but it is not the whole truth. If +we examine some of the definite charges brought against the institution +we shall understand better its real character. + +The most common complaint made against it is that it has enormously +increased the rates. On that point there is no possibility of dispute. +At first its expenditure in the thirty-four provinces in which it +existed was under six millions of roubles; in two years (1868) it +had jumped up to fifteen millions; in 1875 it was nearly twenty-eight +millions, in 1885 over forty-three millions, and at the end of the +century it had attained the respectable figure of 95,800,000 roubles. +As each province had the right of taxing itself, the increase varied +greatly in different provinces. In Smolensk, for example, it was only +about thirty per cent., whilst in Samara it was 436, and in Viatka, +where the peasant element predominates, no less than 1,262 per cent.! +In order to meet this increase, the rates on land rose from under ten +millions in 1868 to over forty-seven millions in 1900. No wonder that +the landowners who find it difficult to work their estates at a profit +should complain! + +Though this increase is disagreeable to the rate-payers, it does not +follow that it is excessive. In all countries rates and local taxation +are on the increase, and it is in the backward countries that they +increase most rapidly. In France, for example, the average yearly +increase has been 2.7 per cent., while in Austria it has been 5.59. In +Russia it ought to have been more than in Austria, whereas it has been, +in the provinces with Zemstvo institutions, only about 4 per cent. In +comparison with the Imperial taxation the local does not seem excessive +when compared with other countries. In England and Prussia, for +instance, the State taxation as compared with the local is as a hundred +to fifty-four and fifty-one, whilst in Russia it is as a hundred +to sixteen.* A reduction in the taxation as a whole would certainly +contribute to the material welfare of the rural population, but it is +desirable that it should be made in the Imperial taxes rather than +in the rates, because the latter may be regarded as something akin to +productive investments, whilst the proceeds of the former are expended +largely on objects which have little or nothing to do with the wants +of the common people. In speaking thus I am assuming that the local +expenditure is made judiciously, and this is a matter on which, I am +bound to confess, there is by no means unanimity of opinion. + + * These figures are taken from the best available + authorities, chiefly Schwanebach and Scalon, but I am not + prepared to guarantee their accuracy. + +Hostile critics can point to facts which are, to say the least, strange +and anomalous. Out of the total of its revenue the Zemstvo spends about +twenty-eight per cent. under the heading of public health and benevolent +institutions; and about fifteen per cent. for popular education, whilst +it devotes only about six per cent. to roads and bridges, and until +lately it neglected, as I have said above, the means for improving +agriculture and directly increasing the income of the peasantry. + +Before passing sentence with regard to these charges we must remember +the circumstances in which the Zemstvo was founded and has grown up. +In the early times its members were well-meaning men who had had very +little experience in administration or in practical life of any sort +except the old routine in which they had previously vegetated. Most of +them had lived enough in the country to know how much the peasants were +in need of medical assistance of the most elementary kind, and to this +matter they at once turned their attention. They tried to organise a +system of doctors, hospital assistants, and dispensaries by which the +peasant would not have to go more than fifteen or twenty miles to get a +wound dressed or to have a consultation or to obtain a simple remedy +for ordinary ailments. They felt the necessity, too, of thoroughly +reorganising the hospitals and the lunatic asylums, which were in a very +unsatisfactory condition. Plainly enough, there was here good work to +be done. Then there were the higher aims. In the absence of practical +experience there were enthusiasms and theories. Amongst these was the +enthusiasm for education, and the theory that the want of it was the +chief reason why Russia had remained so far behind the nations of +Western Europe. Give us education, it was said, and all other good +things will be added thereto. Liberate the Russian people from the bonds +of ignorance as you have liberated it from the bonds of serfage, and its +wonderful natural capacities will then be able to create everything that +is required for its material, intellectual, and moral welfare. + +If there was any one among the leaders who took a more sober, prosaic +view of things he was denounced as an ignoramus and a reactionary. +Willingly or unwillingly, everybody had to swim with the current. +Roads and bridges were not entirely neglected, but the efforts in +that direction were confined to the absolutely indispensable. For +such prosaic concerns there was no enthusiasm, and it was universally +recognised that in Russia the construction of good roads, as the term +is understood in Western Europe, was far beyond the resources of any +Administration. Of the necessity for such roads few were conscious. +All that was required was to make it possible to get from one place to +another in ordinary weather and ordinary circumstances. If a stream was +too deep to be forded, a bridge had to be built or a ferry had to be +established; and if the approach to a bridge was so marshy or muddy that +vehicles often sank quite up to the axles and had to be dragged out by +ropes, with the assistance of the neighbouring villagers, repairs had +to be made. Beyond this the efforts of the Zemstvo rarely went. Its +road-building ambition remained within very modest bounds. + +As for the impoverishment of the peasantry and the necessity of +improving their system of agriculture, that question had hardly appeared +above the horizon. It might have to be dealt with in the future, but +there was no need for hurry. Once the rural population were educated, +the question would solve itself. It was not till about the year 1885 +that it was recognised to be more urgent than had been supposed, +and some Zemstvos perceived that the people might starve before its +preparatory education was completed. Repeated famines pushed the lesson +home, and the landed proprietors found their revenues diminished by the +fall in the price of grain on the European markets. Thus was raised the +cry: "Agriculture in Russia is on the decline! The country has entered +on an acute economic crisis! If energetic measures be not taken promptly +the people will soon find themselves confronted by starvation!" + +To this cry of alarm the Zemstvo was neither deaf nor indifferent. +Recognising that the danger could be averted only by inducing the +peasantry to adopt a more intensive system of agriculture, it directed +more and more of its attention to agricultural improvements, and tried +to get them adopted.* It did, in short, all it could, according to its +lights and within the limits of its moderate resources. Its available +resources were small, unfortunately, for it was forbidden by the +Government to increase the rates, and it could not well dismiss doctors +and close dispensaries and schools when the people were clamouring for +more. So at least the defenders of the Zemstvo maintain, and they go +so far as to contend that it did well not to grapple with the +impoverishment of the peasantry at an earlier period, when the real +conditions of the problem and the means of solving it were only very +imperfectly known: if it had begun at that time it would have made great +blunders and spent much money to little purpose. + + * Vide supra, p. 489. + +However this may be, it would certainly be unfair to condemn the Zemstvo +for not being greatly in advance of public opinion. If it endeavours +strenuously to supply all clearly recognised wants, that is all that can +reasonably be expected of it. What it may be more justly reproached with +is, in my opinion, that it is, to a certain extent, imbued with that +unpractical, pedantic spirit which is commonly supposed to reside +exclusively in the Imperial Administration. But here again it simply +reflects public opinion and certain intellectual peculiarities of the +educated classes. When a Russian begins to write on a simple everyday +subject, he likes to connect it with general principles, philosophy, +or history, and begins, perhaps, by expounding his views on the +intellectual and social developments of humanity in general and of +Russia in particular. If he has sufficient space at his disposal he +may even tell you something about the early period of Russian history +previous to the Mongol invasion before he gets to the simple matter in +hand. In a previous chapter I have described the process of "shedding +on a subject the light of science" in Imperial legislation.* In Zemstvo +activity we often meet with pedantry of a similar kind. + + * Vide supra, p. 343. + +If this pedantry were confined to the writing of Reports it might not do +much harm. Unfortunately, it often appears in the sphere of action. +To illustrate this I take a recent instance from the province of +Nizhni-Novgorod. The Zemstvo of that province received from the Central +Government in 1895 a certain amount of capital for road-improvement, +with instructions from the Ministry of Interior that it should classify +the roads according to their relative importance and improve them +accordingly. Any intelligent person well acquainted with the region +might have made, in the course of a week or two, the required +classification accurately enough for all practical purposes. Instead of +adopting this simple procedure, what does the Zemstvo do? It chooses one +of the eleven districts of which the province is composed and instructs +its statistical department to describe all the villages with a view of +determining the amount of traffic which each will probably contribute to +the general movement, and then it verifies its a priori conclusions by +means of a detachment of specially selected "registrars," posted at all +the crossways during six days of each month. These registrars doubtless +inscribed every peasant cart as it passed and made a rough estimate of +the weight of its load. When this complicated and expensive procedure +was completed for one district it was applied to another; but at the end +of three years, before all the villages of this second district had +been described and the traffic estimated, the energy of the statistical +department seems to have flagged, and, like a young author impatient to +see himself in print, it published a volume at the public expense which +no one will ever read. + +The cost entailed by this procedure is not known, but we may form some +idea of the amount of time required for the whole operation. It is a +simple rule-of-three sum. If it took three years for the preparatory +investigation of a district and a half, how many years will be required +for eleven districts? More than twenty years! During that period it +would seem that the roads are to remain as they are, and when the moment +comes for improving them it will be found that, unless the province is +condemned to economic stagnation, the "valuable statistical material" +collected at such an expenditure of time and money is in great part +antiquated and useless. The statistical department will be compelled, +therefore, like another unfortunate Sisyphus, to begin the work anew, +and it is difficult to see how the Zemstvo, unless it becomes a little +more practical, is ever to get out of the vicious circle. + +In this case the evil result of pedantry was simply unnecessary delay, +and in the meantime the capital was accumulating, unless the interest +was entirely swallowed up by the statistical researches; but there +are cases in which the consequences are more serious. Let me take an +illustration from the enlightened province of Moscow. It was observed +that certain villages were particularly unhealthy, and it was pointed +out by a local doctor that the inhabitants were in the habit of +using for domestic purposes the water of ponds which were in a filthy +condition. What was evidently wanted was good wells, and a practical man +would at once have taken measures to have them dug. Not so the District +Zemstvo. It at once transformed the simple fact into a "question" +requiring scientific investigation. A commission was appointed to +study the problem, and after much deliberation it was decided to make +a geological survey in order to ascertain the depth of good water +throughout the district as a preparatory step towards preparing a +project which will some day be discussed in the District Assembly, and +perhaps in the Assembly of the province. Whilst all this is being +done according to the strict principles of bureaucratic procedure, the +unfortunate peasants for whose benefit the investigation was undertaken +continue to drink the muddy water of the dirty ponds. + +Incidents of that kind, which I might multiply almost to any extent, +remind one of the proverbial formalism of the Chinese; but between +Chinese and Russian pedantry there is an essential difference. In the +Middle Kingdom the sacrifice of practical considerations proceeds from +an exaggerated veneration of the wisdom of ancestors; in the Empire of +the Tsars it is due to an exaggerated adoration of the goddess Nauka +(Science) and a habit of appealing to abstract principles and scientific +methods when only a little plain common-sense is required. + +On one occasion, I remember, in a District Assembly of the province +of Riazan, when the subject of primary schools was being discussed, an +influential member started up, and proposed that an obligatory system +of education should at once be introduced throughout the whole district. +Strange to say, the motion was very nearly carried, though all the +members present knew--or at least might have known if they had taken the +trouble to inquire--that the actual number of schools would have to be +multiplied twenty-fold, and all were agreed that the local rates +must not be increased. To preserve his reputation for liberalism, the +honourable member further proposed that, though the system should be +obligatory, no fines, punishments, or other means of compulsion should +be employed. How a system could be obligatory without using some means +of compulsion, he did not condescend to explain. To get out of the +difficulty one of his supporters suggested that the peasants who did +not send their children to school should be excluded from serving as +office-bearers in the Communes; but this proposition merely created +a laugh, for many deputies knew that the peasants would regard this +supposed punishment as a valuable privilege. And whilst this discussion +about the necessity of introducing an ideal system of obligatory +education was being carried on, the street before the windows of the +room was covered with a stratum of mud nearly two feet in depth! The +other streets were in a similar condition; and a large number of the +members always arrived late, because it was almost impossible to come on +foot, and there was only one public conveyance in the town. Many +members had, fortunately, their private conveyances, but even in these +locomotion was by no means easy. One day, in the principal thoroughfare, +a member had his tarantass overturned, and he himself was thrown into +the mud! + +It is hardly fair to compare the Zemstvo with the older institutions +of a similar kind in Western Europe, and especially with our own local +self-government. Our institutions have all grown out of real, practical +wants keenly felt by a large section of the population. Cautious and +conservative in all that concerns the public welfare, we regard change +as a necessary evil, and put off the evil day as long as possible, even +when convinced that it must inevitably come. Thus our administrative +wants are always in advance of our means of satisfying them, and we +use vigorously those means as soon as they are supplied. Our method of +supplying the means, too, is peculiar. Instead of making a tabula rasa, +and beginning from the foundations, we utilise to the utmost what we +happen to possess, and add merely what is absolutely indispensable. +Metaphorically speaking, we repair and extend our political edifice +according to the changing necessities of our mode of life, without +paying much attention to abstract principles or the contingencies of the +distant future. The building may be an aesthetic monstrosity, belonging +to no recognised style of architecture, and built in defiance of the +principles laid down by philosophical art critics, but it is well +adapted to our requirements, and every hole and corner of it is sure to +be utilised. + +Very different has been the political history of Russia during the last +two centuries. It may be briefly described as a series of revolutions +effected peaceably by the Autocratic Power. Each young energetic +sovereign has attempted to inaugurate a new epoch by thoroughly +remodelling the Administration according to the most approved foreign +political philosophy of the time. Institutions have not been allowed +to grow spontaneously out of popular wants, but have been invented by +bureaucratic theorists to satisfy wants of which the people were still +unconscious. The administrative machine has therefore derived little or +no motive force from the people, and has always been kept in motion by +the unaided energy of the Central Government. Under these circumstances +it is not surprising that the repeated attempts of the Government to +lighten the burdens of centralised administration by creating organs of +local self-government should not have been very successful. + +The Zemstvo, it is true, offered better chances of success than any of +its predecessors. A large portion of the nobles had become alive to the +necessity of improving the administration, and the popular interest in +public affairs was much greater than at any former period. Hence there +was at first a period of enthusiasm, during which great preparations +were made for future activity, and not a little was actually effected. +The institution had all the charm of novelty, and the members felt that +the eyes of the public were upon them. For a time all went well, and +the Zemstvo was so well pleased with its own activity that the satirical +journals compared it to Narcissus admiring his image reflected in the +pool. But when the charm of novelty had passed and the public turned its +attention to other matters, the spasmodic energy evaporated, and many of +the most active members looked about for more lucrative employment. +Such employment was easily found, for at that time there was an unusual +demand for able, energetic, educated men. Several branches of the civil +service were being reorganised, and railways, banks, and joint-stock +companies were being rapidly multiplied. With these the Zemstvo had +great difficulty in competing. It could not, like the Imperial service, +offer pensions, decorations, and prospects of promotion, nor could it +pay such large salaries as the commercial and industrial enterprises. +In consequence of all this, the quality of the executive bureaux +deteriorated at the same time as the public interest in the institution +diminished. + +To be just to the Zemstvo, I must add that, with all its defects and +errors, it is infinitely better than the institutions which it replaced. +If we compare it with previous attempts to create local self-government, +we must admit that the Russians have made great progress in their +political education. What its future may be I do not venture to predict. +From its infancy it has had, as we have seen, the ambition to play a +great political part, and at the beginning of the recent stirring times +in St. Petersburg its leading representatives in conclave assembled took +upon themselves to express what they considered the national demand for +liberal representative institutions. The desire, which had previously +from time to time been expressed timidly and vaguely in loyal addresses +to the Tsar, that a central Zemstvo Assembly, bearing the ancient title +of Zemski Sobor, should be convoked in the capital and endowed with +political functions, was now put forward by the representatives in plain +unvarnished form. Whether this desire is destined to be realised time +will show. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE NEW LAW COURTS + + +Judicial Procedure in the Olden Times--Defects and Abuses--Radical +Reform--The New System--Justices of the Peace and Monthly Sessions--The +Regular Tribunals--Court of Revision--Modification of the Original +Plan--How Does the System Work?--Rapid Acclimatisation--The Bench--The +Jury--Acquittal of Criminals Who Confess Their Crimes--Peasants, +Merchants, and Nobles as Jurymen--Independence and Political +Significance of the New Courts. + + +After serf-emancipation and local self-government, the subject which +demanded most urgently the attention of reformers was the judicial +organisation, which had sunk to a depth of inefficiency and corruption +difficult to describe. + +In early times the dispensation of justice in Russia, as in other States +of a primitive type, had a thoroughly popular character. The State +was still in its infancy, and the duty of defending the person, the +property, and the rights of individuals lay, of necessity, chiefly on +the individuals themselves. Self-help formed the basis of the judicial +procedure, and the State merely assisted the individual to protect his +rights and to avenge himself on those who voluntarily infringed them. + +By the rapid development of the Autocratic Power all this was changed. +Autocracy endeavoured to drive and regulate the social machine by +its own unaided force, and regarded with suspicion and jealousy all +spontaneous action in the people. The dispensation of justice was +accordingly appropriated by the central authority, absorbed into the +Administration, and withdrawn from public control. Themis retired +from the market-place, shut herself up in a dark room from which +the contending parties and the public gaze were rigorously excluded, +surrounded herself with secretaries and scribes who put the rights and +claims of the litigants into whatever form they thought proper, weighed +according to her own judgment the arguments presented to her by her +own servants, and came forth from her seclusion merely to present a +ready-made decision or to punish the accused whom she considered guilty. + +This change, though perhaps to some extent necessary, was attended with +very bad consequences. Freed from the control of the contending parties +and of the public, the courts acted as uncontrolled human nature +generally does. Injustice, extortion, bribery, and corruption assumed +gigantic proportions, and against these evils the Government found no +better remedy than a system of complicated formalities and ingenious +checks. The judicial functionaries were hedged in by a multitude of +regulations, so numerous and complicated that it seemed impossible +for even the most unjust judge to swerve from the path of uprightness. +Explicit, minute rules were laid down for investigating facts and +weighing evidence; every scrap of evidence and every legal ground on +which the decision was based were committed to writing; every act in the +complicated process of coming to a decision was made the subject of a +formal document, and duly entered in various registers; every document +and register had to be signed and countersigned by various officials who +were supposed to control each other; every decision might be carried to +a higher court and made to pass a second time through the bureaucratic +machine. In a word, the legislature introduced a system of formal +written procedure of the most complicated kind, in the belief that by +this means mistakes and dishonesty would be rendered impossible. + +It may be reasonably doubted whether this system of judicial +administration can anywhere give satisfactory results. It is everywhere +found by experience that in tribunals from which the healthy atmosphere +of publicity is excluded justice languishes, and a great many ugly +plants shoot up with wonderful vitality. Languid indifference, an +indiscriminating spirit of routine, and unblushing dishonesty invariably +creep in through the little chinks and crevices of the barrier raised +against them, and no method of hermetically sealing these chinks +and crevices has yet been invented. The attempt to close them up by +increasing the formalities and multiplying the courts of appeal and +revision merely adds to the tediousness of the procedure, and withdraws +the whole process still more completely from public control. At the +same time the absence of free discussion between the contending parties +renders the task of the judge enormously difficult. If the system is +to succeed at all, it must provide a body of able, intelligent, +thoroughly-trained jurists, and must place them beyond the reach of +bribery and other forms of corruption. + +In Russia neither of these conditions was fulfilled. Instead of +endeavouring to create a body of well-trained jurists, the Government +went further and further in the direction of letting the judges be +chosen for a short period by popular election from among men who had +never received a juridical education, or a fair education of any kind; +whilst the place of judge was so poorly paid, and stood so low in public +estimation, that the temptations to dishonesty were difficult to resist. + +The practice of choosing the judges by popular election was an attempt +to restore to the courts something of their old popular character; but +it did not succeed, for very obvious reasons. Popular election in a +judicial organisation is useful only when the courts are public and the +procedure simple; on the contrary, it is positively prejudicial when the +procedure is in writing and extremely complicated. And so it proved in +Russia. The elected judges, unprepared for their work, and liable to +be changed at short intervals, rarely acquired a knowledge of law +or procedure. They were for the most part poor, indolent landed +proprietors, who did little more than sign the decisions prepared for +them by the permanent officials. Even when a judge happened to have some +legal knowledge he found small scope for its application, for he rarely, +if ever, examined personally the materials out of which a decision +was to be elaborated. The whole of the preliminary work, which was in +reality the most important, was performed by minor officials under +the direction of the secretary of the court. In criminal cases, for +instance, the secretary examined the written evidence--all evidence +was taken down in writing--extracted what he considered the essential +points, arranged them as he thought proper, quoted the laws which ought +in his opinion to be applied, put all this into a report, and read the +report to the judges. Of course the judges, if they had no personal +interest in the decision, accepted the secretary's view of the case. +If they did not, all the preliminary work had to be done anew by +themselves--a task that few judges were able, and still fewer willing, +to perform. Thus the decision lay virtually in the hands of the +secretary and the minor officials, and in general neither the secretary +nor the minor officials were fit persons to have such power. There is +no need to detail here the ingenious expedients by which they increased +their meagre salaries, and how they generally contrived to extract money +from both parties.* Suffice it to say that in general the chancelleries +of the courts were dens of pettifogging rascality, and the habitual, +unblushing bribery had a negative as well as a positive effect. If a +person accused of some crime had no money wherewith to grease the palm +of the secretary he might remain in prison for years without being +brought to trial. A well-known Russian writer still living relates that +when visiting a prison in the province of Nizhni-Novgorod he found among +the inmates undergoing preliminary arrest two peasant women, who were +accused of setting fire to a hayrick to revenge themselves on a landed +proprietor, a crime for which the legal punishment was from four to +eight months' imprisonment. One of them had a son of seven years of age, +and the other a son of twelve, both of whom had been born in the +prison, and had lived there ever since among the criminals. Such a long +preliminary arrest caused no surprise or indignation among those who +heard of it, because it was quite a common occurrence. Every one knew +that bribes were taken not only by the secretary and his scribes, but +also by the judges, who were elected by the local Noblesse from its own +ranks. + + * Old book-catalogues sometimes mention a play bearing the + significant title, "The Unheard-of Wonder; or, The Honest + Secretary" (Neslykhannoe Dyelo ili Tchestny Sekretar). I + have never seen this curious production, but I have no doubt + that it referred to the peculiarities of the old judicial + procedure. + +With regard to the scale of punishments, notwithstanding some +humanitarian principles in the legislation, they were very severe, and +corporal punishment played amongst them a disagreeably prominent part. +Capital sentences were abolished as early as 1753-54, but castigation +with the knout, which often ended fatally, continued until 1845, when +it was replaced by flogging in the civil administration, though retained +for the military and for insubordinate convicts. For the non-privileged +classes the knout or the lash supplemented nearly all punishments of +a criminal kind. When a man was condemned, for example, to penal +servitude, he received publicly from thirty to one hundred lashes, +and was then branded on the forehead and cheeks with the letters K. A. +T.--the first three letters of katorzhnik (convict). If he appealed he +received his lashes all the same, and if his appeal was rejected by +the Senate he received some more castigation for having troubled +unnecessarily the higher judicial authorities. For the military +and insubordinate convicts there was a barbarous punishment called +Spitsruten, to the extent of 5,000 or 6,000 blows, which often ended in +the death of the unfortunate. + +The use of torture in criminal investigations was formally abolished in +1801, but if we may believe the testimony of a public prosecutor, it was +occasionally used in Moscow as late as 1850. + +The defects and abuses of the old system were so flagrant that they +became known even to the Emperor Nicholas I., and caused him momentary +indignation, but he never attempted seriously to root them out. In 1844, +for example, he heard of some gross abuses in a tribunal not far from +the Winter Palace, and ordered an investigation. Baron Korff, to whom +the investigation was entrusted, brought to light what he called "a +yawning abyss of all possible horrors, which have been accumulating for +years," and his Majesty, after reading the report, wrote upon it with +his own hand: "Unheard-of disgrace! The carelessness of the authority +immediately concerned is incredible and unpardonable. I feel ashamed +and sad that such disorder could exist almost under my eyes and remain +unknown to me." Unfortunately the outburst of Imperial indignation did +not last long enough to produce any desirable consequences. The only +result was that one member of the tribunal was dismissed from the +service, and the Governor-General of St. Petersburg had to resign, but +the latter subsequently received an honorary reward, and the +Emperor remarked that he was himself to blame for having kept the +Governor-General so long at his post. + +When his Majesty's habitual optimism happened to be troubled by +incidents of this sort he probably consoled himself with remembering +that he had ordered some preparatory work, by which the administration +of justice might be improved, and this work was being diligently carried +out in the legislative section of his own chancery by Count Bludof, one +of the ablest Russian lawyers of his time. Unfortunately the existing +state of things was not thereby improved, because the preparatory work +was not of the kind that was wanted. On the assumption that any evil +which might exist could be removed by improving the laws, Count Bludof +devoted his efforts almost entirely to codification. In reality what was +required was to change radically the organisation of the courts and the +procedure, and above all to let in on their proceedings the cleansing +atmosphere of publicity. This the Emperor Nicholas could not understand, +and if he had understood it he could not have brought himself to +adopt the appropriate remedies, because radical reform and control of +officials by public opinion were his two pet bugbears. + +Very different was his son and successor, Alexander II., in the first +years of his reign. In his accession manifesto a prominent place was +given to his desire that justice and mercy should reign in the courts +of law. Referring to these words in a later manifesto, he explained his +wishes more fully as "the desire to establish in Russia expeditious, +just, merciful, impartial courts of justice for all our subjects; to +raise the judicial authority; to give it the proper independence, and in +general to implant in the people that respect for the law which ought +to be the constant guide of all and every one from the highest to the +lowest." These were not mere vain words. Peremptory orders had been +given that the great work should be undertaken without delay, and +when the Emancipation question was being discussed in the Provincial +Committees, the Council of State examined the question of judicial +reform "from the historical, the theoretical, and the practical point of +view," and came to the conclusion that the existing organisation must be +completely transformed. + +The commission appointed to consider this important matter filed a +lengthy indictment against the existing system, and pointed out no less +than twenty-five radical defects. To remove these it proposed that the +judicial organisation should be completely separated from all other +branches of the Administration; that the most ample publicity, +with trial by jury in criminal cases, should be introduced into the +tribunals; that Justice of Peace Courts should be created for petty +affairs; and that the procedure in the ordinary courts should be greatly +simplified. + +These fundamental principles were published by Imperial command on +September 29th, 1862--a year and a half after the publication of the +Emancipation Manifesto--and on November 20th, 1864, the new legislation +founded on these principles received the Imperial sanction. + +Like most institutions erected on a tabula rasa, the new system is at +once simple and symmetrical. As a whole, the architecture of the edifice +is decidedly French, but here and there we may detect unmistakable +symptoms of English influence. It is not, however, a servile copy of any +older edifice; and it may be fairly said that, though every individual +part has been fashioned according to a foreign model, the whole has a +certain originality. + +The lower part of the building in its original form was composed of two +great sections, distinct from, and independent of, each other--on the +one hand the Justice of Peace Courts, and on the other the Regular +Tribunals. Both sections contained an Ordinary Court and a Court of +Appeal. The upper part of the building, covering equally both sections, +was the Senate as Supreme Court of Revision (Cour de Cassation). + +The distinctive character of the two independent sections may be +detected at a glance. The function of the Justice of Peace Courts is +to decide petty cases that involve no abstruse legal principles, and to +settle, if possible by conciliation, those petty conflicts and disputes +which arise naturally in the relations of everyday life; the function of +the Regular Tribunals is to take cognisance of those graver affairs in +which the fortune or honour of individuals or families is more or less +implicated, or in which the public tranquillity is seriously endangered. +The two kinds of courts were organised in accordance with these intended +functions. In the former the procedure is simple and conciliatory, the +jurisdiction is confined to cases of little importance, and the judges +were at first chosen by popular election, generally from among the local +inhabitants. In the latter there is more of "the pomp and majesty of +the law." The procedure is more strict and formal, the jurisdiction is +unlimited with regard to the importance of the cases, and the judges are +trained jurists nominated by the Emperor. + +The Justice of Peace Courts received jurisdiction over all obligations +and civil injuries in which the sum at stake was not more than 500 +roubles--about 50 pounds--and all criminal affairs in which the legal +punishment did not exceed 300 roubles--about 30 pounds--or one year of +punishment. When any one had a complaint to make, he might go to the +Justice of the Peace (Mirovoi Sudya) and explain the affair orally, +or in writing, without observing any formalities; and if the complaint +seemed well founded, the Justice at once fixed a day for hearing the +case, and gave the other party notice to appear at the appointed time. +When the time appointed arrived, the affair was discussed publicly and +orally, either by the parties themselves, or by any representatives +whom they might appoint. If it was a civil suit, the Justice began by +proposing to the parties to terminate it at once by a compromise, and +indicated what he considered a fair arrangement. Many affairs were +terminated in this simple way. If, however, either of the parties +refused to consent to a compromise, the matter was fully discussed, and +the Justice gave a formal written decision, containing the grounds +on which it was based. In criminal cases the amount of punishment was +always determined by reference to a special Criminal Code. + +If the sum at issue exceeded thirty roubles--about 3 pounds--or if the +punishment exceeded a fine of fifteen roubles--about 30s.--or three days +of arrest, an appeal might be made to the Assembly of Justices (Mirovoi +Syezd). This is a point in which English rather than French institutions +were taken as a model. According to the French system, all appeals from +a Juge de Paix are made to the "Tribunal d'Arrondissement," and +the Justice of Peace Courts are thereby subordinated to the Regular +Tribunals. According to the English system, certain cases may be carried +on appeal from the Justice of the Peace to the Quarter Sessions. This +latter principle was adopted and greatly developed by the Russian +legislation. The Monthly Sessions, composed of all the Justices of +the District (uyezd), considered appeals against the decisions of the +individual Justices. The procedure was simple and informal, as in the +lower court, but an assistant of the Procureur was always present. This +functionary gave his opinion in some civil and in all criminal cases +immediately after the debate, and the Court took his opinion into +consideration in framing its judgment. + +In the other great section of the judicial organisation--the Regular +Tribunals--there are likewise Ordinary Courts and Courts of Appeal, +called respectively "Tribunaux d'Arrondissement" (Okruzhniye Sudy) +and "Palais de Justice" (Sudebniya Palaty). Each Ordinary Court has +jurisdiction over several Districts (uyezdy), and the jurisdiction of +each Court of Appeals comprehends several Provinces. All civil cases are +subject to appeal, however small the sum at stake may be, but criminal +cases are decided FINALLY by the lower court with the aid of a jury. +Thus in criminal affairs the "Palais de Justice" is not at all a court +of appeal, but as no regular criminal prosecution can be raised without +its formal consent, it controls in some measure the action of the lower +courts. + +As the general reader cannot be supposed to take an interest in the +details of civil procedure, I shall merely say on this subject that in +both sections of the Regular Tribunals the cases are always tried by +at least three judges, the sittings are public, and oral debates +by officially recognised advocates form an important part of the +proceedings. I venture, however, to speak a little more at length +regarding the change which has been made in the criminal procedure--a +subject that is less technical and more interesting for the uninitiated. + +Down to the time of the recent judicial reforms the procedure in +criminal cases was secret and inquisitorial. The accused had little +opportunity of defending himself, but, on the other hand, the State +took endless formal precautions against condemning the innocent. The +practical consequence of this system was that an innocent man might +remain for years in prison until the authorities convinced themselves of +his innocence, whilst a clever criminal might indefinitely postpone his +condemnation. + +In studying the history of criminal procedure in foreign countries, +those who were entrusted with the task of preparing projects of reform +found that nearly every country of Europe had experienced the evils from +which Russia was suffering, and that one country after another had come +to the conviction that the most efficient means of removing these evils +was to replace the inquisitorial by litigious procedure, to give a fair +field and no favour to the prosecutor and the accused, and allow them to +fight out their battle with whatever legal weapons they might think fit. +Further, it was discovered that, according to the most competent foreign +authorities, it was well in this modern form of judicial combat to leave +the decision to a jury of respectable citizens. The steps which Russia +had to take were thus clearly marked out by the experience of other +nations, and it was decided that they should be taken at once. The +organs for the prosecution of supposed criminals were carefully +separated from the judges on the one hand, and from the police on the +other; oral discussions between the Public Prosecutor and the prisoner's +counsel, together with oral examination and cross-questioning of +witnesses, were introduced into the procedure; and the jury was made an +essential factor in criminal trials. + +When a case, whether civil or criminal, has been decided in the Regular +Tribunals, there is no possibility of appeal in the strict sense of the +term, but an application may be made for a revision of the case on the +ground of technical informality. To use the French terms, there cannot +be appel, but there may be cassation. If there has been any omission +or transgression of essential legal formalities, or if the Court has +overstepped the bounds of its legal authority, the injured party may +make an application to have the case revised and tried again.* This is +not, according to French juridical conceptions, an appeal. The Court of +Revision** (Cour de Cassation) does not enter into the material facts +of the case, but merely decides the question as to whether the essential +formalities have been duly observed, and as to whether the law has been +properly interpreted and applied; and if it be found on examination that +there is some ground for invalidating the decision, it does not decide +the case. According to the new Russian system, the sole Court of +Revision is the Senate. + + * This is the procedure referred to by Karl Karl'itch, vide + supra, p 37. + + ** I am quite aware that the term "Court of Revision" is + equivocal, but I have no better term to propose, and I hope + the above explanations will prevent confusion. + +The Senate thus forms the regulator of the whole judicial system, but +its action is merely regulative. It takes cognisance only of what is +presented to it, and supplies to the machine no motive power. If any +of the lower courts should work slowly or cease to work altogether, the +Senate might remain ignorant of the fact, and certainly could take +no official notice of it. It was considered necessary, therefore, to +supplement the spontaneous vitality of the lower courts, and for this +purpose was created a special centralised judicial administration, at +the head of which was placed the Minister of Justice. The Minister is +"Procureur-General," and has subordinates in all the courts. The primary +function of this administration is to preserve the force of the law, +to detect and repair all infractions of judicial order, to defend +the interests of the State and of those persons who are officially +recognised as incapable of taking charge of their own affairs, and to +act in criminal matters as Public Prosecutor. + +Viewed as a whole, and from a little distance, this grand judicial +edifice seems perfectly symmetrical, but a closer and more minute +inspection brings to light unmistakable indications of a change of plan +during the process of construction. Though the work lasted only about +half-a-dozen years, the style of the upper differs from the style of +the lower parts, precisely as in those Gothic cathedrals which grew up +slowly during the course of centuries. And there is nothing here that +need surprise us, for a considerable change took place in the opinions +of the official world during that short period. The reform was conceived +at a time of uncritical enthusiasm for advanced liberal ideas, of +boundless faith in the dictates of science, of unquestioning reliance +on public spirit, public control, and public honesty--a time in which it +was believed that the public would spontaneously do everything necessary +for the common weal, if it were only freed from the administrative +swaddling-clothes in which it had been hitherto bound. Still smarting +from the severe regime of Nicholas, men thought more about protecting +the rights of the individual than about preserving public order, and +under the influence of the socialistic ideas in vogue malefactors were +regarded as the unfortunate, involuntary victims of social inequality +and injustice. + +Towards the end of the period in question all this had begun to change. +Many were beginning to perceive that liberty might easily turn to +license, that the spontaneous public energy was largely expended in +empty words, and that a certain amount of hierarchical discipline was +necessary in order to keep the public administration in motion. It was +found, therefore, in 1864, that it was impossible to carry out to their +ultimate consequences the general principles laid down and published in +1862. Even in those parts of the legislation which were actually put +in force, it was found necessary to make modifications in an indirect, +covert way. Of these, one may be cited by way of illustration. In +1860 criminal inquiries were taken out of the hands of the police and +transferred to Juges d'instruction (Sudebniye Sledovateli), who were +almost entirely independent of the Public Prosecutor, and could not +be removed unless condemned for some legal transgression by a Regular +Tribunal. This reform created at first much rejoicing and great +expectations, because it raised a barrier against the tyranny of the +police and against the arbitrary power of the higher officials. But +very soon the defects of the system became apparent. Many Juges +d'instruction, feeling themselves independent, and knowing that they +would not be prosecuted except for some flagrantly illegal act, gave way +to indolence, and spent their time in inactivity.* In such cases it +was always difficult, and sometimes impossible, to procure a +condemnation--for indolence must assume gigantic proportions in order +to become a crime--and the minister had to adopt the practice of +appointing, without Imperial confirmation, temporary Juges d'instruction +whom he could remove at pleasure. + + * A flagrant case of this kind came under my own + observation. + +It is unnecessary, however, to enter into these theoretical defects. The +important question for the general public is: How do the institutions +work in the local conditions in which they are placed? + +This is a question which has an interest not only for Russians, but +for all students of social science, for it tends to throw light on +the difficult subject as to how far institutions may be successfully +transplanted to a foreign soil. Many thinkers hold, and not without +reason, that no institution can work well unless it is the natural +product of previous historical development. Now we have here an +opportunity of testing this theory by experience; we have even what +Bacon terms an experimentum crucis. This new judicial system is an +artificial creation constructed in accordance with principles laid down +by foreign jurists. All that the elaborators of the project said about +developing old institutions was mere talk. In reality they made a tabula +rasa of the existing organisation. If the introduction of public oral +procedure and trial by jury was a return to ancient customs, it was a +return to what had been long since forgotten by all except antiquarian +specialists, and no serious attempt was made to develop what actually +existed. One form, indeed, of oral procedure had been preserved in the +Code, but it had fallen completely into disuse, and seems to have been +overlooked by the elaborators of the new system.* + + * I refer to the so-called Sud po forme established by an + ukaz of Peter the Great, in 1723. I was much astonished + when I accidentally stumbled upon it in the Code. + +Having in general little confidence in institutions which spring +ready-made from the brains of autocratic legislators, I expected to find +that this new judicial organisation, which looks so well on paper, was +well-nigh worthless in reality. Observation, however, has not confirmed +my pessimistic expectations. On the contrary, I have found that these +new institutions, though they have not yet had time to strike deep root, +and are very far from being perfect even in the human sense of the term, +work on the whole remarkably well, and have already conferred immense +benefit on the country. + +In the course of a few years the Justice of Peace Courts, which may +perhaps be called the newest part of the new institutions, became +thoroughly acclimatised, as if they had existed for generations. As +soon as they were opened they became extremely popular. In Moscow the +authorities had calculated that under the new system the number of cases +would be more than doubled, and that on an average each justice would +have nearly a thousand cases brought before him in the course of the +year. The reality far exceeded their expectations: each justice had on +an average 2,800 cases. In St. Petersburg and the other large towns the +amount of work which the justices had to get through was equally great. + +To understand the popularity of the Justice of Peace Courts, we must +know something of the old police courts which they supplanted. The +nobles, the military, and the small officials had always looked on +the police with contempt, because their position secured them against +interference, and the merchants acquired a similar immunity by +submitting to blackmail, which often took the form of a fixed subsidy; +but the lower classes in town and country stood, in fear of the humblest +policeman, and did not dare to complain of him to his superiors. If +two workmen brought their differences before a police court, instead of +getting their case decided on grounds of equity, they were pretty sure +to get scolded in language unfit for ears polite, or to receive still +worse treatment. Even among the higher officers of the force many became +famous for their brutality. A Gorodnitchi of the town of Tcherkassy, for +example, made for himself in this respect a considerable reputation. If +any humble individual ventured to offer an objection to him, he had at +once recourse to his fists, and any reference to the law put him into a +state of frenzy. "The town," he was wont to say on such occasions, "has +been entrusted to me by his Majesty, and you dare to talk to me of the +law? There is the law for you!"--the remark being accompanied with a +blow. Another officer of the same type, long resident in Kief, had a +somewhat different method of maintaining order. He habitually drove +about the town with a Cossack escort, and when any one of the lower +classes had the misfortune to displease him, he ordered one of his +Cossacks to apply a little corporal punishment on the spot without any +legal formalities. + +In the Justice of Peace Courts things were conducted in a very different +style. The justice, always scrupulously polite without distinction +of persons, listened patiently to the complaint, tried to arrange the +affairs amicably, and when his efforts failed, gave his decision at +once according to law and common-sense. No attention was paid to rank +or social position. A general who would not attend to the police +regulations was fined like an ordinary workingman, and in a dispute +between a great dignitary and a man of the people the two were treated +in precisely the same way. No wonder such courts became popular among +the masses; and their popularity was increased when it became known +that the affairs were disposed of expeditiously, without unnecessary +formalities and without any bribes or blackmail. Many peasants regarded +the justice as they had been wont to regard kindly proprietors of the +old patriarchal type, and brought their griefs and sorrows to him in +the hope that he would somehow alleviate them. Often they submitted +most intimate domestic and matrimonial concerns of which no court could +possibly take cognisance, and sometimes they demanded the fulfilment of +contracts which were in flagrant contradiction not only with the written +law, but also with ordinary morality.* + + * Many curious instances of this have come to my knowledge, + but they are of such a kind that they cannot be quoted in a + work intended for the general public. + +Of course, the courts were not entirely without blemishes. In the +matter, for example, of making no distinction of persons some of the +early justices, in seeking to avoid Scylla, came dangerously near to +Charybdis. Imagining that their mission was to eradicate the conceptions +and habits which had been created and fostered by serfage, they +sometimes used their authority for giving lessons in philanthropic +liberalism, and took a malicious delight in wounding the +susceptibilities, and occasionally even the material interests, of those +whom they regarded as enemies to the good cause. In disputes between +master and servant, or between employer and workmen, the justice of this +type considered it his duty to resist the tyranny of capital, and was +apt to forget his official character of judge in his assumed character +of social reformer. Happily these aberrations on the part of the +justices are already things of the past, but they helped to bring about +a reaction, as we shall see presently. + +The extreme popularity of the Justice of Peace Courts did not last very +long. Their history resembled that of the Zemstvo and many other +new institutions in Russia--at first, enthusiasm and inordinate +expectations; then consciousness of defects and practical +inconveniences; and, lastly, in an influential section of the public, +the pessimism of shattered illusions, accompanied by the adoption of +a reactionary policy on the part of the Government. The discontent +appeared first among the so-called privileged classes. To people who had +all their lives enjoyed great social consideration it seemed monstrous +that they should be treated exactly in the same way as the muzhik; and +when a general who was accustomed to be addressed as "Your Excellency," +was accused of using abusive language to his cook, and found himself +seated on the same bench with the menial, he naturally supposed that the +end of all things was at hand; or perhaps a great civil official, who +was accustomed to regard the police as created merely for the lower +classes, suddenly found himself, to his inexpressible astonishment, +fined for a contravention of police regulations! Naturally the justices +were accused of dangerous revolutionary tendencies, and when they +happened to bring to light some injustice on the part of the tchinovnik +they were severely condemned for undermining the prestige of the +Imperial authority. + +For a time the accusations provoked merely a smile or a caustic remark +among the Liberals, but about the middle of the eighties criticisms +began to appear even in the Liberal Press. No very grave allegations +were made, but defects in the system and miscarriages of justice were +put forward and severely commented upon. Occasionally it happened that a +justice was indolent, or that at the Sessions in a small country town +it was impossible to form a quorum on the appointed day. Overlooking the +good features of the institution and the good services rendered by it, +the critics began to propose partial reorganisation in the sense of +greater control by central authorities. It was suggested, for example, +that the President of Sessions should be appointed by the Government, +that the justices should be subordinated to the Regular Tribunals, and +that the principle of election by the Zemstvo should be abolished. + +These complaints were not at all unwelcome to the Government, because it +had embarked on a reactionary policy, and in 1889 it suddenly granted to +the critics a great deal more than they desired. In the rural districts +of Central Russia the justices were replaced by the rural supervisors, +of whom I have spoken in a previous chapter, and the part of their +functions which could not well be entrusted to those new officials was +transferred to judges of the Regular Courts. In some of the larger +towns and in the rural districts of outlying provinces the justices +were preserved, but instead of being elected by the Zemstvo they were +nominated by the Government. + +The regular Tribunals likewise became acclimatised in an incredibly +short space of time. The first judges were not by any means profound +jurists, and were too often deficient in that dispassionate calmness +which we are accustomed to associate with the Bench; but they were at +least honest, educated men, and generally possessed a fair knowledge of +the law. Their defects were due to the fact that the demand for trained +jurists far exceeded the supply, and the Government was forced to +nominate men who under ordinary circumstances would never have thought +of presenting themselves as candidates. At the beginning of 1870, in +the 32 "Tribunaux d'Arrondissement" which then existed, there were 227 +judges, of whom 44 had never received a juridical education. Even the +presidents had not all passed through a school of law. Of course the +courts could not become thoroughly effective until all the judges +were men who had received a good special education and had a practical +acquaintance with judicial matters. This has now been effected, and the +present generation of judges are better prepared and more capable than +their predecessors. On the score of probity I have never heard any +complaints. + +Of all the judicial innovations, perhaps the most interesting is the +jury. + +At the time of the reforms the introduction of the jury into the +judicial organisation awakened among the educated classes a great amount +of sentimental enthusiasm. The institution had the reputation of being +"liberal," and was known to be approved of by the latest authorities in +criminal jurisprudence. This was sufficient to insure it a favourable +reception, and to excite most exaggerated expectations as to its +beneficent influence. Ten years of experience somewhat cooled this +enthusiasm, and voices might be heard declaring that the introduction +of the jury was a mistake. The Russian people, it was held, was not yet +ripe for such an institution, and numerous anecdotes were related +in support of this opinion. One jury, for instance, was said to have +returned a verdict of "NOT guilty with extenuating circumstances"; and +another, being unable to come to a decision, was reported to have cast +lots before an Icon, and to have given a verdict in accordance with the +result! Besides this, juries often gave a verdict of "not guilty" when +the accused made a full and formal confession to the court. + +How far the comic anecdotes are true I do not undertake to decide, but I +venture to assert that such incidents, if they really occur, are too +few to form the basis of a serious indictment. The fact, however, that +juries often acquit prisoners who openly confess their crime is beyond +all possibility of doubt. + +To most Englishmen this fact will probably seem sufficient to prove that +the introduction of the institution was at least premature, but before +adopting this sweeping conclusion it will be well to examine the +phenomenon a little more closely in connection with Russian criminal +procedure as a whole. + +In England the Bench is allowed very great latitude in fixing the amount +of punishment. The jury can therefore confine themselves to the +question of fact and leave to the judge the appreciation of extenuating +circumstances. In Russia the position of the jury is different. The +Russian criminal law fixes minutely the punishment for each category of +crimes, and leaves almost no latitude to the judge. The jury know +that if they give a verdict of guilty, the prisoner will inevitably be +punished according to the Code. Now the Code, borrowed in great part +from foreign legislation, is founded on conceptions very different +from those of the Russian people, and in many cases it attaches heavy +penalties to acts which the ordinary Russian is wont to regard as mere +peccadilloes, or positively justifiable. Even in those matters in +which the Code is in harmony with the popular morality, there are many +exceptional cases in which summum jus is really summa injuria. Suppose, +for instance--as actually happened in a case which came under my +notice--that a fire breaks out in a village, and that the Village Elder, +driven out of patience by the apathy and laziness of some of his young +fellow-villagers, oversteps the limits of his authority as defined by +law, and accompanies his reproaches and exhortations with a few +lusty blows. Surely such a man is not guilty of a very heinous +crime--certainly he is not in the opinion of the peasantry--and yet if +he be prosecuted and convicted he inevitably falls into the jaws of an +article of the Code which condemns to transportation for a long term of +years. + +In such cases what is the jury to do? In England they might safely give +a verdict of guilty, and leave the judge to take into consideration all +the extenuating circumstances; but in Russia they cannot act in this +way, for they know that the judge must condemn the prisoner according +to the Criminal Code. There remains, therefore, but one issue out of the +difficulty--a verdict of acquittal; and Russian juries--to their honour +be it said--generally adopt this alternative. Thus the jury, in those +cases in which it is most severely condemned, provides a corrective for +the injustice of the criminal legislation. Occasionally, it is true, +they go a little too far in this direction and arrogate to themselves +a right of pardon, but cases of that kind are, I believe, very rare. +I know of only one well-authenticated instance. The prisoner had been +proved guilty of a serious crime, but it happened to be the eve of a +great religious festival, and the jury thought that in pardoning the +prisoner and giving a verdict of acquittal they would be acting as good +Christians! + +The legislation regards, of course, this practice as an abuse, and has +tried to prevent it by concealing as far as possible from the jury the +punishment that awaits the accused if he be condemned. For this +purpose it forbids the counsel for the prisoner to inform the jury what +punishment is prescribed by the Code for the crime in question. This +ingenious device not only fails in its object, but has sometimes a +directly opposite effect. Not knowing what the punishment will be, and +fearing that it may be out of all proportion to the crime, the jury +sometimes acquit a criminal whom they would condemn if they knew +what punishment would be inflicted. And when a jury is, as it were, +entrapped, and finds that the punishment is more severe than it +supposed, it can take its revenge in the succeeding cases. I know at +least of one instance of this kind. A jury convicted a prisoner of +an offence which it regarded as very trivial, but which in reality +entailed, according to the Code, seven years of penal servitude! So +surprised and frightened were the jurymen by this unexpected consequence +of their verdict, that they obstinately acquitted, in the face of the +most convincing evidence, all the other prisoners brought before them. + +The most famous case of acquital when there was no conceivable doubt as +to the guilt of the accused was that of Vera Zasulitch, who shot +General Trepof, Prefect of St. Petersburg; but the circumstances were +so peculiar that they will hardly support any general conclusion. +I happened to be present, and watched the proceedings closely. Vera +Zasulitch, a young woman who had for some time taken part in the +revolutionary movement, heard that a young revolutionist called +Bogoliubof, imprisoned in St. Petersburg, had been flogged by orders of +General Trepof,* and though she did not know the victim personally she +determined to avenge the indignity to which he had been subjected. +With this intention she appeared at the Prefecture, ostensibly for the +purpose of presenting a petition, and when she found herself in the +presence of the Prefect she fired a revolver at him, wounding him +seriously, but not mortally. At the trial the main facts were not +disputed, and yet the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty. This +unexpected result was due, I believe, partly to a desire to make a +little political demonstration, and partly to a strong suspicion that +the prison authorities, in carrying out the Prefect's orders, had acted +in summary fashion without observing the tedious formalities prescribed +by the law. Certainly one of the prison officials, when under +cross-examination, made on me, and on the public generally, the +impression that he was prevaricating in order to shield his superiors. + + * The reason alleged by General Trepof for giving these + orders was that, during a visit of inspection, Bogoliubof + had behaved disrespectfully towards him, and had thereby + committed an infraction of prison discipline, for which the + law prescribes the use of corporal punishment. + +At the close of the proceedings, which were dexterously conducted by +Counsel in such a way that, as the Emperor is reported to have said, +it was not Vera Zasulitch but General Trepof who was being tried, +an eminent Russian journalist rushed up to me in a state of intense +excitement and said: "Is not this a great day for the cause of political +freedom in Russia?" I could not agree with him and I ventured to predict +that neither of us would ever again see a political case tried publicly +by jury in an ordinary court. The prediction has proved true. Since that +time political offenders have been tried by special tribunals without +a jury or dealt with "by administrative procedure," that is to say, +inquisitorially, without any regular trial. + +The defects, real and supposed, of the present system are commonly +attributed to the predominance of the peasant element in the juries; and +this opinion, founded on a priori reasoning, seems to many too evident +to require verification. The peasantry are in many respects the most +ignorant class, and therefore, it is assumed, they are least capable of +weighing conflicting evidence. Plain and conclusive as this reasoning +seems, it is in my opinion erroneous. The peasants have, indeed, +little education, but they have a large fund of plain common-sense; and +experience proves--so at least I have been informed by many judges and +Public Prosecutors--that, as a general rule, a peasant jury is more to +be relied on than a jury drawn from the educated classes. It must be +admitted, however, that a peasant jury has certain peculiarities, and it +is not a little interesting to observe what those peculiarities are. + +In the first place, a jury composed of peasants generally acts in a +somewhat patriarchal fashion, and does not always confine its attention +to the evidence and the arguments adduced at the trial. The members form +their judgment as men do in the affairs of ordinary life, and are sure +to be greatly influenced by any jurors who happen to be personally +acquainted with the prisoner. If several of the jurors know him to be a +bad character, he has little chance of being acquitted, even though +the chain of evidence against him should not be quite perfect. Peasants +cannot understand why a notorious scoundrel should be allowed to escape +because a little link in the evidence is wanting, or because some little +judicial formality has not been duly observed. Indeed, their ideas of +criminal procedure in general are extremely primitive. The Communal +method of dealing with malefactors is best in accordance with their +conceptions of well-regulated society. The Mir may, by a Communal decree +and without a formal trial, have any of its unruly members transported +to Siberia! This summary, informal mode of procedure seems to the +peasants very satisfactory. They are at a loss to understand how a +notorious culprit is allowed to "buy" an advocate to defend him, and are +very insensible to the bought advocate's eloquence. To many of them, +if I may trust to conversations which I have casually overheard in and +around the courts, "buying an advocate" seems to be very much the same +kind of operation as bribing a judge. + +In the second place, the peasants, when acting as jurors, are very +severe with regard to crimes against property. In this they are +instigated by the simple instinct of self-defence. They are, in fact, +continually at the mercy of thieves and malefactors. They live in wooden +houses easily set on fire; their stables might be broken into by a +child; at night the village is guarded merely by an old man, who cannot +be in more than one place at a time, and in the one place he is apt to +go to sleep; a police officer is rarely seen, except when a crime has +actually been committed. A few clever horse-stealers may ruin many +families, and a fire-raiser, in his desire to avenge himself on an +enemy, may reduce a whole village to destitution. These and similar +considerations tend to make the peasants very severe against theft, +robbery, and arson; and a Public Prosecutor who desires to obtain a +conviction against a man charged with one of these crimes endeavours to +have a jury in which the peasant class is largely represented. + +With regard to fraud in its various forms, the peasants are much more +lenient, probably because the line of demarcation between honest and +dishonest dealing in commercial affairs is not very clearly drawn in +their minds. Many, for instance, are convinced that trade cannot be +successfully carried on without a little clever cheating; and hence +cheating is regarded as a venial offence. If the money fraudulently +acquired be restored to the owner, the crime is supposed to be +completely condoned. Thus when a Volost Elder appropriates the public +money, and succeeds in repaying it before the case comes on for trial, +he is invariably acquitted--and sometimes even re-elected! + +An equal leniency is generally shown by peasants towards crimes against +the person, such as assaults, cruelty, and the like. This fact is easily +explained. Refined sensitiveness and a keen sympathy with physical +suffering are the result of a certain amount of material well-being, +together with a certain degree of intellectual and moral culture, and +neither of these is yet possessed by the Russian peasantry. Any one who +has had opportunities of frequently observing the peasants must have +been often astonished by their indifference to suffering, both in their +own persons and in the person of others. In a drunken brawl heads may be +broken and wounds inflicted without any interference on the part of the +spectators. If no fatal consequences ensue, the peasant does not think +it necessary that official notice should be taken of the incident, +and certainly does not consider that any of the combatants should be +transported to Siberia. Slight wounds heal of their own accord without +any serious loss to the sufferer, and therefore the man who inflicts +them is not to be put on the same level as the criminal who reduces +a family to beggary. This reasoning may, perhaps, shock people of +sensitive nerves, but it undeniably contains a certain amount of plain, +homely wisdom. + +Of all kinds of cruelty, that which is perhaps most revolting to +civilised mankind is the cruelty of the husband towards his wife; but +to this crime the Russian peasant shows especial leniency. He is still +influenced by the old conceptions of the husband's rights, and by that +low estimate of the weaker sex which finds expression in many popular +proverbs. + +The peculiar moral conceptions reflected in these facts are +evidently the result of external conditions, and not of any recondite +ethnographical peculiarities, for they are not found among the +merchants, who are nearly all of peasant origin. On the contrary, the +merchants are more severe with regard to crimes against the person +than with regard to crimes against property. The explanation of this +is simple. The merchant has means of protecting his property, and if +he should happen to suffer by theft, his fortune is not likely to +be seriously affected by it. On the other hand, he has a certain +sensitiveness with regard to such crimes as assault; for though he has +commonly not much more intellectual and moral culture than the peasant, +he is accustomed to comfort and material well-being, which naturally +develop sensitiveness regarding physical pain. + +Towards fraud the merchants are quite as lenient as the peasantry. This +may, perhaps, seem strange, for fraudulent practices are sure in the +long run to undermine trade. The Russian merchants, however, have not +yet arrived at this conception, and can point to many of the richest +members of their class as a proof that fraudulent practices often create +enormous fortunes. Long ago Samuel Butler justly remarked that we damn +the sins we have no mind to. + +As the external conditions have little or no influence on the religious +conceptions of the merchants and the peasantry, the two classes are +equally severe with regard to those acts which are regarded as crimes +against the Deity. Hence acquittals in cases of sacrilege, blasphemy, +and the like never occur unless the jury is in part composed of educated +men. + +In their decisions, as in their ordinary modes of thought, the jurors +drawn from the educated classes are little, if at all, affected by +theological conceptions, but they are sometimes influenced in a not less +unfortunate way by conceptions of a different order. It may happen, +for instance, that a juror who had passed through one of the higher +educational establishments has his own peculiar theory about the value +of evidence, or he is profoundly impressed with the idea that it is +better that a thousand guilty men should escape than that one +innocent man should be punished, or he is imbued with sentimental +pseudo-philanthropy, or he is convinced that punishments are useless +because they neither cure the delinquent nor deter others from crime; in +a word, he may have in some way or other lost his mental balance in +that moral chaos through which Russia is at present passing. In England, +France, or Germany such an individual would have little influence on +his fellow-jurymen, for in these countries there are very few people who +allow new paradoxical ideas to overturn their traditional notions and +obscure their common-sense; but in Russia, where even the elementary +moral conceptions are singularly unstable and pliable, a man of this +type may succeed in leading a jury. More than once I have heard men +boast of having induced their fellow-jurymen to acquit every prisoner +brought before them, not because they believed the prisoners to be +innocent or the evidence to be insufficient, but because all punishments +are useless and barbarous. + +One word in conclusion regarding the independence and political +significance of the new courts. When the question of judicial reform +was first publicly raised many people hoped that the new courts would +receive complete autonomy and real independence, and would thus form a +foundation for political liberty. These hopes, like so many illusions of +that strange time, have not been realised. A large measure of autonomy +and independence was indeed granted in theory. The law laid down the +principle that no judge could be removed unless convicted of a definite +crime, and that the courts should present candidates for all the vacant +places on the Bench; but these and similar rights have little practical +significance. If the Minister cannot depose a judge, he can deprive him +of all possibility of receiving promotion, and he can easily force him +in an indirect way to send in his resignation; and if the courts have +still the right to present candidates for vacant places, the Minister +has also this right, and can, of course, always secure the nomination +of his own candidate. By the influence of that centripetal force which +exists in all centralised bureaucracies, the Procureurs have become more +important personages than the Presidents of the courts. + +From the political point of view the question of the independence of +the Courts has not yet acquired much practical importance, because +the Government can always have political offenders tried by a special +tribunal or can send them to Siberia for an indefinite term of years +without regular trial by the "administrative procedure" to which I have +above referred. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +REVOLUTIONARY NIHILISM AND THE REACTION + + +The Reform-enthusiasm Becomes Unpractical and Culminates in +Nihilism--Nihilism, the Distorted Reflection of Academic Western +Socialism--Russia Well Prepared for Reception of Ultra-Socialist +Virus--Social Reorganisation According to Latest Results of +Science--Positivist Theory--Leniency of Press-censure--Chief +Representatives of New Movement--Government Becomes Alarmed--Repressive +Measures--Reaction in the Public--The Term Nihilist Invented--The +Nihilist and His Theory--Further Repressive Measures--Attitude of Landed +Proprietors--Foundation of a Liberal Party--Liberalism Checked by Polish +Insurrection--Practical Reform Continued--An Attempt at Regicide Forms +a Turning-point of Government's Policy--Change in Educational +System--Decline of Nihilism. + + +The rapidly increasing enthusiasm for reform did not confine itself to +practical measures such as the emancipation of the serfs, the creation +of local self-government, and the thorough reorganisation of the +law-courts and legal procedure. In the younger section of the educated +classes, and especially among the students of the universities and +technical colleges, it produced a feverish intellectual excitement and +wild aspirations which culminated in what is commonly known as Nihilism. + +In a preceding chapter I pointed out that during the last two centuries +all the important intellectual movements in Western Europe have been +reflected in Russia, and that these reflections have generally been +what may fairly be termed exaggerated and distorted reproductions of +the originals.* Roughly speaking, the Nihilist movement in Russia may +be described as the exaggerated, distorted reflection of the earlier +Socialist movements of the West; but it has local peculiarities and +local colouring which deserve attention. + + * See Chapter XXVI. + +The Russian educated classes had been well prepared by their past +history for the reception and rapid development of the Socialist virus. +For a century and a half the country had been subjected to a series of +drastic changes, administrative and social, by the energetic action of +the Autocratic Power, with little spontaneous co-operation on the +part of the people. In a nation with such a history, Socialistic ideas +naturally found favour, because all Socialist systems until quite recent +times were founded on the assumption that political and social progress +must be the result not of slow natural development, but rather of +philosophic speculation, legislative wisdom, and administrative energy. + +This assumption lay at the bottom of the reform enthusiasm in St. +Petersburg at the commencement of Alexander II.'s reign. Russia might +be radically transformed, it was thought, politically and socially, +according to abstract scientific principles, in the space of a few +years, and be thereby raised to the level of West-European civilisation, +or even higher. The older nations had for centuries groped in darkness, +or stumbled along in the faint light of practical experience, and +consequently their progress had been slow and uncertain. For Russia +there was no necessity to follow such devious, unexplored paths. She +ought to profit by the experience of her elder sisters, and avoid the +errors into which they had fallen. Nor was it difficult to ascertain +what these errors were, because they had been discovered, examined +and explained by the most eminent thinkers of France and England, and +efficient remedies had been prescribed. Russian reformers had merely to +study and apply the conclusions at which these eminent authorities had +arrived, and their task would be greatly facilitated by the fact +that they could operate on virgin soil, untrammelled by the feudal +traditions, religious superstitions, metaphysical conceptions, romantic +illusions, aristocratic prejudices, and similar obstacles to social and +political progress which existed in Western Europe. + +Such was the extraordinary intellectual atmosphere in which the Russian +educated classes lived during the early years of the sixties. On the +"men with aspirations," who had longed in vain for more light and +more public activity under the obscurantist, repressive regime of the +preceding reign, it had an intoxicating effect. The more excitable and +sanguine amongst them now believed seriously that they had discovered +a convenient short-cut to national prosperity, and that for Russia a +grandiose social and political millennium was at hand.* + + * I was not myself in St. Petersburg at that period, but on + arriving a few years afterwards I became intimately + acquainted with men and women who had lived through it, and + who still retained much of their early enthusiasm. + +In these circumstances it is not surprising that one of the most +prominent characteristics of the time was a boundless, child-like faith +in the so-called "latest results of science." Infallible science +was supposed to have found the solution of all political and social +problems. What a reformer had to do--and who was not a would-be reformer +in those days?--was merely to study the best authorities. Their works +had been long rigidly excluded by the Press censure, but now that it was +possible to obtain them, they were read with avidity. Chief among the +new, infallible prophets whose works were profoundly venerated was +Auguste Comte, the inventor of Positivism. In his classification of the +sciences the crowning of the edifice was sociology, which taught how to +organise human society on scientific principles. Russia had merely to +adopt the principles laid down and expounded at great length in the +Cours de Philosophie Positive. There Comte explained that humanity had +to pass through three stages of intellectual development--the religious, +the metaphysical, and the positive--and that the most advanced nations, +after spending centuries in the two first, were entering on the third. +Russia must endeavour, therefore, to get into the positive stage +as quickly as possible, and there was reason to believe that, in +consequence of certain ethnographical and historical peculiarities, she +could make the transition more quickly than other nations. After Comte's +works, the book which found, for a time, most favour was Buckle's +"History of Civilisation," which seemed to reduce history and progress +to a matter of statistics, and which laid down the principle that +progress is always in the inverse ratio of the influence of theological +conceptions. This principle was regarded as of great practical +importance, and the conclusion drawn from it was that rapid national +progress was certain if only the influence of religion and theology +could be destroyed. Very popular, too, was John Stuart Mill, because he +was "imbued with enthusiasm for humanity and female emancipation"; and +in his tract on Utilitarianism he showed that morality was simply +the crystallised experience of many generations as to what was most +conducive to the greatest good of the greatest number. The minor +prophets of the time, among whom Buchner occupied a prominent place, are +too numerous to mention. + +Strange to say, the newest and most advanced doctrines appeared +regularly, under a very thin and transparent veil, in the St. Petersburg +daily Press, and especially in the thick monthly magazines, which were +as big as, or bigger than, our venerable quarterlies. The art of writing +and reading "between the lines," not altogether unknown under the +Draconian regime of Nicholas I., was now developed to such a marvellous +extent that almost any thing could be written clearly enough to be +understood by the initiated without calling for the thunderbolts of the +Press censors, which was now only intermittently severe. Indeed, the +Press censors themselves were sometimes carried away by the reform +enthusiasm. One of them long afterwards related to me that during +"the mad time," as he called it, in the course of a single year he +had received from his superiors no less than seventeen reprimands for +passing objectionable articles without remark. + +The movement found its warmest partisans among the students and young +literary men, but not a few grey-beards were to be found among the +youthful apostles. All who read the periodical literature became more +or less imbued with the new spirit; but it must be presumed that many of +those who discoursed most eloquently had no clear idea of what they were +talking about; for even at a later date, when the novices had had +time to acquaint themselves with the doctrines they professed, I often +encountered the most astounding ignorance. Let me give one instance by +way of illustration: + +A young gentleman who was in the habit of talking glibly about the +necessity of scientifically reorganising human society, declared to me +one day that not only sociology, but also biology should be taken into +consideration. Confessing my complete ignorance of the latter science, +I requested him to enlighten me by giving me an instance of a biological +principle which could be applied to social regeneration. He looked +confused, and tried to ride out of the difficulty on vague general +phrases; but I persistently kept him to the point, and maliciously +suggested that as an alternative he might cite to me a biological +principle which could NOT be used for such a purpose. Again he failed, +and it became evident to all present that of biology, about which he +talked so often, he knew absolutely nothing but the name! After this I +frequently employed the same pseudo-Socratic method of discussion, +and very often with a similar result. Not one in fifty, perhaps, ever +attempted to reduce the current hazy conceptions to a concrete form. The +enthusiasm was not the less intense, however, on that account. + +At first the partisans of the movement seemed desirous of assisting, +rather than of opposing or undermining the Government, and so long as +they merely talked academically about scientific principles and +similar vague entities, the Government felt no necessity for energetic +interference; but as early as 1861 symptoms of a change in the character +of the movement became apparent. A secret society of officers organised +a small printing-press in the building of the Headquarters Staff and +issued clandestinely three numbers of a periodical called the Velikoruss +(Great Russian), which advocated administrative reform, the convocation +of a constituent assembly, and the emancipation of Poland from Russian +rule. A few months later (April, 1862) a seditious proclamation +appeared, professing to emanate from a central revolutionary committee, +and declaring that the Romanoffs must expiate with their blood the +misery of the people. + +These symptoms of an underground revolutionary agitation caused alarm in +the official world, and repressive measures were at once adopted. Sunday +schools for the working classes, reading-rooms, students' clubs, and +similar institutions which might be used for purposes of revolutionary +propaganda were closed; several trials for political offences took +place; the most popular of the monthly periodicals (Sovremennik) was +suspended, and its editor, Tchernishevski, arrested. There was nothing +to show that Tchernishevski was implicated in any treasonable designs, +but he was undoubtedly the leader of a group of youthful writers whose +aspirations went far beyond the intentions of the Government, and it +was thought desirable to counteract his influence by shutting him up +in prison. Here he wrote and published, with the permission of the +authorities and the imprimatur of the Press censure, a novel called +"Shto delat'?" ("What is to be Done?"), which was regarded at first as +a most harmless production, but which is now considered one of the most +influential and baneful works in the whole range of Nihilist literature. +As a novel it had no pretensions to artistic merit, and in ordinary +times it would have attracted little or no attention, but it put into +concrete shape many of the vague Socialist and Communist notions that +were at the moment floating about in the intellectual atmosphere, and +it came to be looked upon by the young enthusiasts as a sort of informal +manifesto of their new-born faith. It was divided into two parts; in +the first was described a group of students living according to the +new ideas in open defiance of traditional conventionalities, and in the +second was depicted a village organised on the communistic principles +recommended by Fourier. The first was supposed to represent the dawn of +the new era; the second, the goal to be ultimately attained. When the +authorities discovered the mistake they had committed in allowing the +book to be published, it was at once confiscated and withdrawn from +circulation, whilst the author, after being tried by the Senate, was +exiled to Northeastern Siberia and kept there for nearly twenty years.* + + * Tchernishevski was a man of encyclopaedic knowledge and + specially conversant with political economy. According to + the testimony of those who knew him intimately, he was one + of the ablest and most sympathetic men of his generation. + During his exile a bold attempt was made to rescue him, and + very nearly succeeded. A daring youth, disguised as an + officer of gendarmes and provided with forged official + papers, reached the place where he was confined and procured + his release, but the officer in charge had vague suspicions, + and insisted on the two travellers being escorted to the + next post-station by a couple of Cossacks. The rescuer + tried to get rid of the escort by means of his revolver, but + he failed in the attempt, and the fugitives were arrested. + In 1883 Tchernishevski was transferred to the milder climate + of Astrakhan, and in 1889 he was allowed to return to his + native town, Saratof, where he died a few months afterwards. + +With the arrest and exile of Tchernishevski the young would-be reformers +were constrained to recognise that they had no chance of carrying the +Government with them in their endeavours to realise their patriotic +aspirations. Police supervision over the young generation was increased, +and all kinds of association, whether for mutual instruction, mutual +aid, or any other purpose, were discouraged or positively forbidden. And +it was not merely in the mind of the police that suspicion was aroused. +In the opinion of the great majority of moderate, respectable people +the young enthusiasts were becoming discredited. The violently seditious +proclamations with which they were supposed to sympathise, and a series +of destructive fires in St. Petersburg, erroneously attributed to them, +frightened timid Liberals and gave the Reactionaries, who had hitherto +remained silent, an opportunity of preaching their doctrines with +telling effect. The celebrated novelist, Turgeneif, long the idol of the +young generation, had inadvertently in "Fathers and Children" invented +the term Nihilist, and it at once came to be applied as an opprobrious +epithet, notwithstanding the efforts of Pissaref, a popular writer of +remarkable talent, to prove to the public that it ought to be regarded +as a term of honour. + +Pissaref's attempt at rehabilitation made no impression outside of his +own small circle. According to popular opinion the Nihilists were a +band of fanatical young men and women, mostly medical students, who had +determined to turn the world upside down and to introduce a new kind of +social order, founded on the most advanced principles of social equality +and Communism. As a first step towards the great transformation they had +reversed the traditional order of things in the matter of coiffure: the +males allowed their hair to grow long, and the female adepts cut their +hair short, adding occasionally the additional badge of blue spectacles. +Their unkempt appearance naturally shocked the aesthetic feelings of +ordinary people, but to this they were indifferent. They had raised +themselves above the level of popular notions, took no account of +so-called public opinion, gloried in Bohemianism, despised Philistine +respectability, and rather liked to scandalise old-fashioned people +imbued with antiquated prejudices. + +This was the ridiculous side of the movement, but underneath the +absurdities there was something serious. These young men and women, who +were themselves terribly in earnest, were systematically hostile not +only to accepted conventionalities in the matter of dress, but to all +manner of shams, hypocrisy, and cant in the broad Carlylean sense of +those terms. To the "beautiful souls" of the older generation, who had +habitually, in conversation and literature, shed pathetic tears over the +defects of Russian social and political organisation without ever moving +a finger to correct them--especially the landed proprietors who +talked and wrote about civilisation, culture, and justice while living +comfortably on the revenues provided for them by their unfortunate +serfs--these had the strongest aversion; and this naturally led them to +condemn in strong language the worship of aesthetic culture. But here +again they fell into exaggeration. Professing extreme utilitarianism, +they explained that the humble shoemaker who practises his craft +diligently is, in the true sense, a greater man than a Shakespeare, or +a Goethe, because humanity has more need of shoes than of dramas and +poetry. + +Such silly paradoxes provoked, of course, merely a smile of compassion; +what alarmed the sensible, respectable "Philistine" was the method of +cleansing the Augean stable recommended by these enthusiasts. Having +discovered in the course of their desultory reading that most of +the ills that flesh is heir to proceed directly or indirectly from +uncontrolled sexual passion and the lust of gain, they proposed to seal +hermetically these two great sources of crime and misery by abolishing +the old-fashioned institutions of marriage and private property. When +society, they argued, should be so organised that all the healthy +instincts of human nature could find complete and untrammelled +satisfaction, there would be no motive or inducement for committing +crimes or misdemeanours. For thousands of years humanity had been +sailing on a wrong tack. The great law-givers of the world, religious +and civil, in their ignorance of physical science and positivist +methods, had created institutions, commonly known as law and morality, +which were utterly unfitted to human nature, and then the magistrate +and the moralist had endeavoured to compel or persuade men and women to +conform to them, but their efforts had failed most signally. In vain +the police had threatened and punished and the priests had preached and +admonished. Human nature had systematically and obstinately rebelled, +and still rebels, against the unnatural constraint. It is time, +therefore, to try a new system. Instead of continuing, as has been done +for thousands of years, to force men and women, as it were, into badly +fitting, unelastic clothes which cause intense discomfort and prevent +all healthy muscular action, why not adapt the costume to the anatomy +and physiology of the human frame? Then the clothes will no longer be +rent, and those who wear them will be contented and happy. + +Unfortunately for the progress of humanity there are serious obstacles +in the way of this radical change of system. The absurd, antiquated +and pernicious institutions and customs are supported by abstruse +metaphysical reasons and enshrined in mystical romantic sentiment, and +in this way they may still be preserved for generations unless the axe +be laid to the root of the tree. Now is the critical moment. Russia must +be made to rise at once from the metaphysical to the positivist stage of +intellectual development; metaphysical reasoning and romantic sentiment +must be rigorously discarded; and everything must be brought to the +touchstone of naked practical utility. + +One might naturally suppose that men holding such opinions must be +materialists of the grossest type--and, indeed, many of them gloried +in the name of materialist and atheist--but such an inference would +be erroneous. While denouncing metaphysics, they were themselves +metaphysicians in so far as they were constantly juggling with abstract +conceptions, and letting themselves be guided in their walk and +conversation by a priori deductions; while ridiculing romanticism, they +had romantic sentiment enough to make them sacrifice their time, +their property, and sometimes even their life, to the attainment of an +unrealisable ideal; and while congratulating themselves on having passed +from the religious to the positivist stage of intellectual development, +they frequently showed themselves animated with the spirit of the early +martyrs! Rarely have the strange inconsistencies of human nature been so +strikingly exemplified as in these unpractical, anti-religious fanatics. +In dealing with them I might easily, without very great exaggeration, +produce a most amusing caricature, but I prefer describing them as they +really were. A few years after the period here referred to I knew some +of them intimately, and I must say that, without at all sharing or +sympathising with their opinions, I could not help respecting them +as honourable, upright, quixotic men and women who had made great +sacrifices for their convictions. One of them whom I have specially +in view at this moment suffered patiently for years from the utter +shipwreck of his generous illusions, and when he could no longer hope to +see the dawn of a brighter day, he ended by committing suicide. Yet that +man believed himself to be a Realist, a Materialist, and a Utilitarian +of the purest water, and habitually professed a scathing contempt for +every form of romantic sentiment! In reality he was one of the best and +most sympathetic men I have ever known. + +To return from this digression. So long as the subversive opinions were +veiled in abstract language they raised misgivings in only a comparative +small circle; but when school-teachers put them into a form suited to +the juvenile mind, they were apt to produce startling effects. In a +satirical novel of the time a little girl is represented as coming +to her mother and saying, "Little mamma! Maria Ivan'na (our new +school-mistress) says there is no God and no Tsar, and that it is wrong +to marry!" Whether such incidents actually occurred in real life, as +several friends assured me, I am not prepared to say, but certainly +people believed that they might occur in their own families, and that +was quite sufficient to produce alarm even in the ranks of the Liberals, +to say nothing of the rapidly increasing army of the Reactionaries. + +To illustrate the general uneasiness produced in St. Petersburg, I may +quote here a letter written in October, 1861, by a man who occupied one +of the highest positions in the Administration. As he had the reputation +of being an ultra-Liberal who sympathised overmuch with Young Russia, +we may assume that he did not take an exceptionally alarmist view of the +situation. + + +"You have not been long absent--merely a few months; but if you returned +now, you would be astonished by the progress which the Opposition, one +might say the Revolutionary Party, has already made. The disorders in +the university do not concern merely the students. I see in the affair +the beginning of serious dangers for public tranquillity and the +existing order of things. Young people, without distinction of costume, +uniform and origin, take part in the street demonstrations. Besides +the students of the university, there are the students of other +institutions, and a mass of people who are students only in name. +Among these last are certain gentlemen in long beards and a number of +revolutionnaires in crinoline, who are of all the most fanatical. Blue +collars--the distinguishing mark of the students' uniform--have become +the signe de ralliement. Almost all the professors and many officers +take the part of the students. The newspaper critics openly defend +their colleagues. Mikhailof has been convicted of writing, printing and +circulating one of the most violent proclamations that ever existed, +under the heading, 'To the young generation!' Among the students and the +men of letters there is unquestionably an organised conspiracy, which +has perhaps leaders outside the literary circle. . . . The police are +powerless. They arrest any one they can lay hands on. About eighty +people have already been sent to the fortress and examined, but all this +leads to no practical result, because the revolutionary ideas have taken +possession of all classes, all ages, all professions, and are publicly +expressed in the streets, in the barracks, and in the Ministries. I +believe the police itself is carried away by them! What this will lead +to, it is difficult to predict. I am very much afraid of some bloody +catastrophe. Even if it should not go to such a length immediately, the +position of the Government will be extremely difficult. Its authority +is shaken, and all are convinced that it is powerless, stupid and +incapable. On that point there is the most perfect unanimity among +all parties of all colours, even the most opposite. The most desperate +'planter'* agrees in that respect with the most desperate socialist. +Meanwhile those who have the direction of affairs do almost nothing and +have no plan or definite aim in view. At present the Emperor is not in +the Capital, and now, more than at any other time, there is complete +anarchy in the absence of the master of the house. There is a great deal +of bustle and talk, and all blame they know not whom."** + + * An epithet commonly applied, at the time of the + Emancipation, to the partisans of serfage and the defenders + of the proprietors' rights. + + ** I found this interesting letter (which might have been + written today) thirty years ago among the private papers of + Nicholas Milutin, who played a leading part as an official + in the reforms of the time. It was first published in an + article on "Secret Societies in Russia," which I contributed + to the Fortnightly Review of 1st August, 1877. + +The expected revolution did not take place, but timid people had no +difficulty in perceiving signs of its approach. The Press continued +to disseminate, under a more or less disguised form, ideas which +were considered dangerous. The Kolokol, a Russian revolutionary +paper published in London by Herzen and strictly prohibited by the +Press-censure, found its way in large quantities into the country, and, +as is recorded in an earlier chapter, was read by thousands, including +the higher officials and the Emperor himself, who found it regularly on +his writing-table, laid there by some unknown hand. In St. Petersburg +the arrest of Tchernishevski and the suspension of his magazine, The +Contemporary, made the writers a little more cautious in their mode of +expression, but the spirit of the articles remained unchanged. These +energetic intolerant leaders of public opinion were novi homines not +personally connected with the social strata in which moderate views and +retrograde tenderness had begun to prevail. Mostly sons of priests or +of petty officials, they belonged to a recently created literary +proletariat composed of young men with boundless aspirations and meagre +national resources, who earned a precarious subsistence by journalism or +by giving lessons in private families. Living habitually in a world of +theories and unrestrained by practical acquaintance with public life, +they were ready, from the purest and most disinterested motives to +destroy ruthlessly the existing order of things in order to realise +their crude notions of social regeneration. Their heated imagination +showed them in the near future a New Russia, composed of independent +federated Communes, without any bureaucracy or any central power--a +happy land in which everybody virtuously and automatically fulfilled +his public and private duties, and in which the policeman and all other +embodiments of material constraint were wholly superfluous. + +Governments are not easily converted to Utopian schemes of that idyllic +type, and it is not surprising that even a Government with liberal +humanitarian aspirations like that of Alexander II. should have become +alarmed and should have attempted to stem the current. What is to be +regretted is that the repressive measures adopted were a little too +Oriental in their character. Scores of young students of both sexes--for +the Nihilist army included a strong female contingent--were secretly +arrested and confined for months in unwholesome prisons, and many +of them were finally exiled, without any regular trial, to distant +provinces in European Russia or to Siberia. Their exile, it is true, was +not at all so terrible as is commonly supposed, because political exiles +are not usually confined in prisons or compelled to labour in the +mines, but are obliged merely to reside at a given place under police +supervision. Still, such punishment was severe enough for educated young +men and women, especially when their lot was cast among a population +composed exclusively of peasants and small shop-keepers or of Siberian +aborigines, and when there were no means of satisfying the most +elementary intellectual wants. For those who had no private resources +the punishment was particularly severe, because the Government granted +merely a miserable monthly pittance, hardly sufficient to purchase food +of the coarsest kind, and there was rarely an opportunity of adding to +the meagre official allowance by intellectual or manual labour. In +all cases the treatment accorded to the exiles wounded their sense of +justice and increased the existing discontent among their friends and +acquaintances. Instead of acting as a deterrent, the system produced a +feeling of profound indignation, and ultimately transformed not a few +sentimental dreamers into active conspirators. + +At first there was no conspiracy or regularly organised secret society +and nothing of which the criminal law in Western Europe could have taken +cognisance. Students met in each other's rooms to discuss prohibited +books on political and social science, and occasionally short essays on +the subjects discussed were written in a revolutionary spirit by members +of the coterie. This was called mutual instruction. Between the various +coteries or groups there were private personal relations, not only in +the capital, but also in the provinces, so that manuscripts and printed +papers could be transmitted from one group to another. From time to time +the police captured these academic disquisitions, and made raids on the +meetings of students who had come together merely for conversation and +discussion; and the fresh arrests caused by these incidents increased +the hostility to the Government. + +In the letter above quoted it is said that the revolutionary ideas had +taken possession of all classes, all ages, and all professions. This may +have been true with regard to St. Petersburg, but it could not have +been said of the provinces. There the landed proprietors were in a very +different frame of mind. They had to struggle with a multitude of urgent +practical affairs which left them little time for idyllic dreaming about +an imaginary millennium. Their serfs had been emancipated, and what +remained to them of their estates had to be reorganised on the basis +of free labour. Into the semi-chaotic state of things created by such +far-reaching changes, legal and economic, they did not wish to see any +more confusion introduced, and they did not at all feel that they could +dispense with the Central Government and the policeman. On the contrary, +the Central Government was urgently needed in order to obtain a little +ready money wherewith to reorganise the estates in the new conditions, +and the police organisation required to be strengthened in order to +compel the emancipated serfs to fulfil their legal obligations. These +men and their families were, therefore, much more conservative than the +class commonly designated "the young generation," and they naturally +sympathised with the "Philistines" in St. Petersburg, who had been +alarmed by the exaggerations of the Nihilists. + +Even the landed proprietors, however, were not so entirely free from +discontent and troublesome political aspirations as the Government would +have desired. They had not forgotten the autocratic and bureaucratic way +in which the Emancipation had been prepared, and their indignation had +been only partially appeased by their being allowed to carry out the +provisions of the law without much bureaucratic interference. So much +for the discontent. As for the reform aspirations, they thought that, as +a compensation for having consented to the liberation of their serfs and +for having been expropriated from about a half of their land, they ought +to receive extensive political rights, and be admitted, like the upper +classes in Western Europe, to a fair share in the government of the +country. Unlike the fiery young Nihilists of St. Petersburg, they did +not want to abolish or paralyse the central power; what they wanted +was to co-operate with it loyally and to give their advice on important +questions by means of representative institutions. They formed a +constitutional group which exists still at the present day, as we shall +see in the sequel, but which has never been allowed to develop into an +organised political party. Its aims were so moderate that its programme +might have been used as a convenient safety-valve for the explosive +forces which were steadily accumulating under the surface of Society, +but it never found favour in the official world. When some of its +leading members ventured to hint in the Press and in loyal addresses to +the Emperor that the Government would do well to consult the country on +important questions, their respectful suggestions were coldly received +or bluntly rejected by the bureaucracy and the Autocratic Power. + +The more the revolutionary and constitutional groups sought to +strengthen their position, the more pronounced became the reactionary +tendencies in the official world, and these received in 1863 an immense +impetus from the Polish insurrection, with which the Nihilists and even +some of the Liberals sympathised.* That ill-advised attempt on the +part of the Poles to recover their independence had a curious effect +on Russian public opinion. Alexander II., with the warm approval of +the more Liberal section of the educated classes, was in the course of +creating for Poland almost complete administrative autonomy under +the viceroyalty of a Russian Grand Duke; and the Emperor's brother +Constantine was preparing to carry out the scheme in a generous spirit. +Soon it became evident that what the Poles wanted was not administrative +autonomy, but political independence, with the frontiers which existed +before the first partition! Trusting to the expected assistance of the +Western Powers and the secret connivance of Austria, they raised the +standard of insurrection, and some trifling successes were magnified by +the pro-Polish Press into important victories. As the news of the rising +spread over Russia, there was a moment of hesitation. Those who had been +for some years habitually extolling liberty and self-government as the +normal conditions of progress, who had been sympathising warmly with +every Liberal movement, whether at home or abroad, and who had put +forward a voluntary federation of independent Communes as the ideal +State organism, could not well frown on the political aspirations of +the Polish patriots. The Liberal sentiment of that time was so extremely +philosophical and cosmopolitan that it hardly distinguished between +Poles and Russians, and liberty was supposed to be the birthright of +every man and woman to whatever nationality they might happen to belong. +But underneath these beautiful artificial clouds of cosmopolitan Liberal +sentiment lay the volcano of national patriotism, dormant for the +moment, but by no means extinct. Though the Russians are in some +respects the most cosmopolitan of European nations, they are at the same +time capable of indulging in violent outbursts of patriotic +fanaticism; and events in Warsaw brought into hostile contact these two +contradictory elements in the national character. The struggle was only +momentary. Ere long the patriotic feelings gained the upper hand and +crushed all cosmopolitan sympathy with political freedom. The Moscow +Gazette, the first of the papers to recover its mental equilibrium, +thundered against the pseudo-Liberal sentimentalism, which would, if +unchecked, necessarily lead to the dismemberment of the Empire, and +its editor, Katkoff, became for a time the most influential private +individual in the country. A few, indeed, remained true to their +convictions. Herzen, for instance, wrote in the Kolokol a glowing +panegyric on two Russian officers who had refused to fire on the +insurgents; and here and there a good Orthodox Russian might be found +who confessed that he was ashamed of Muravieff's extreme severity +in Lithuania. But such men were few, and were commonly regarded as +traitors, especially after the ill-advised diplomatic intervention of +the Western Powers. Even Herzen, by his publicly expressed sympathy with +the insurgents, lost entirely his popularity and influence among his +fellow-countrymen. The great majority of the public thoroughly approved +of the severe energetic measures adopted by the Government, and when the +insurrection was suppressed, men who had a few months previously spoken +and written in magniloquent terms about humanitarian Liberalism joined +in the ovations offered to Muravieff! At a great dinner given in his +honour, that ruthless administrator of the old Muscovite type, who +had systematically opposed the emancipation of the serfs and had +never concealed his contempt for the Liberal ideas in fashion, could +ironically express his satisfaction at seeing around him so many "new +friends"!** This revulsion of public feeling gave the Moscow Slavophils +an opportunity of again preaching their doctrine that the safety +and prosperity of Russia were to be found, not in the Liberalism and +Constitutionalism of Western Europe, but in patriarchal autocracy, +Eastern Orthodoxy, and other peculiarities of Russian nationality. +Thus the reactionary tendencies gained ground; but Alexander II., while +causing all political agitation to be repressed, did not at once abandon +his policy of introducing radical reforms by means of the Autocratic +Power. On the contrary, he gave orders that the preparatory work for +creating local self-government and reorganising the Law Courts should be +pushed on energetically. The important laws for the establishment of the +Zemstvo and for the great judicial reforms, which I have described in +previous chapters, both date from the year 1864. + + * The students of the St. Petersburg University scandalised + their more patriotic fellow-countrymen by making a + pro-Polish demonstration. + + ** In fairness to Count Muravieff I must say that he was not + quite so black as he was painted in the Polish and + West-European Press. He left an interesting autobiographical + fragment relating to the history of this time, but it is not + likely to be printed for some years. As an historical + document it is valuable, but must be used with caution by + the future historian. A copy of it was for some time in my + possession, but I was bound by a promise not to make + extracts. + +These and other reforms of a less important kind made no impression on +the young irreconcilables. A small group of them, under the leadership +of a certain Ishutin, formed in Moscow a small secret society, and +conceived the design of assassinating the Emperor, in the hope that +his son and successor, who was erroneously supposed to be imbued with +ultra-Liberal ideas, might continue the work which his father had begun +and had not the courage to complete. In April, 1866, the attempt on the +life of the Emperor was made by a youth called Karakozof as his Majesty +was leaving a public garden in St. Petersburg, but the bullet happily +missed its mark, and the culprit was executed. + +This incident formed a turning-point in the policy of the Government. +Alexander II. began to fear that he had gone too far, or, at least, too +quickly, in his policy of radical reform. An Imperial rescript announced +that law, property, and religion were in danger, and that the Government +would lean on the Noblesse and other conservative elements of Society. +The two periodicals which advocated the most advanced views (Sovremennik +and Russkoye Slovo) were suppressed permanently, and precautions were +taken to prevent the annual assemblies of the Zemstvo from giving public +expression to the aspirations of the moderate Liberals. + +A secret official inquiry showed that the revolutionary agitation +proceeded in all cases from young men who were studying, or had recently +studied, in the universities, the seminaries, or the technical schools, +such as the Medical Academy and the Agricultural Institute. Plainly, +therefore, the system of education was at fault. The semi-military +system of the time of Nicholas had been supplanted by one in which +discipline was reduced to a minimum and the study of natural science +formed a prominent element. Here it was thought, lay the chief root of +the evil. Englishmen may have some difficulty in imagining a possible +connection between natural science and revolutionary agitation. To them +the two things must seem wide as the poles asunder. Surely mathematics, +chemistry, physiology, and similar subjects have nothing to do with +politics. When a young Englishman takes to studying any branch of +natural science he gets up his subject by means of lectures, text-books, +and museums or laboratories, and when he has mastered it he probably +puts his knowledge to some practical use. In Russia it is otherwise. Few +students confine themselves to their speciality. The majority of them +dislike the laborious work of mastering dry details, and, with the +presumption which is often found in conjunction with youth and a +smattering of knowledge, they aspire to become social reformers and +imagine themselves specially qualified for such activity. + +But what, it may be asked, has social reform to do with natural science? +I have already indicated the connection in the Russian mind. Though very +few of the students of that time had ever read the voluminous works of +Auguste Comte, they were all more or less imbued with the spirit of +the Positive Philosophy, in which all the sciences are subsidiary +to sociology, and social reorganisation is the ultimate object of +scientific research. The imaginative Positivist can see with prophetic +eye humanity reorganised on strictly scientific principles. Cool-headed +people who have had a little experience of the world, if they ever +indulge in such delightful dreams, recognise clearly that this ultimate +goal of human intellectual activity, if it is ever to be reached, +is still a long way off in the misty distance of the future; but the +would-be social reformers among the Russian students of the sixties were +too young, too inexperienced, and too presumptuously self-confident to +recognise this plain, simple truth. They felt that too much valuable +time had been already lost, and they were madly impatient to begin +the great work without further delay. As soon as they had acquired +a smattering of chemistry, physiology, and biology they imagined +themselves capable of reorganising human society from top to bottom, and +when they had acquired this conviction they were of course unfitted for +the patient, plodding study of details. + +To remedy these evils, Count Dimitri Tolstoy, who was regarded as a +pillar of Conservatism, was appointed Minister of Public Instruction, +with the mission of protecting the young generation against pernicious +ideas, and eradicating from the schools, colleges, and universities all +revolutionary tendencies. He determined to introduce more discipline +into all the educational establishments and to supplant to a certain +extent the superficial study of natural science by the thorough study of +the classics--that is to say, Latin and Greek. This scheme, which became +known before it was actually put into execution, produced a storm of +discontent in the young generation. Discipline at that time was regarded +as an antiquated and useless remnant of patriarchal tyranny, and young +men who were impatient to take part in social reorganisation resented +being treated as naughty schoolboys. To them it seemed that the +Latin grammar was an ingenious instrument for stultifying youthful +intelligence, destroying intellectual development, and checking +political progress. Ingenious speculations about the possible +organisation of the working classes and grandiose views of the future +of humanity are so much more interesting and agreeable than the rules of +Latin syntax and the Greek irregular verbs! + +Count Tolstoy could congratulate himself on the efficacy of his +administration, for from the time of his appointment there was a lull in +the political excitement. During three or four years there was only one +political trial, and that an insignificant one; whereas there had been +twenty between 1861 and 1864, and all more or less important. I am not +at all sure, however, that the educational reform which created +much momentary irritation and discontent had anything to do with the +improvement in the situation. In any case, there were other and more +potent causes at work. The excitement was too intense to be long-lived, +and the fashionable theories too fanciful to stand the wear and tear of +everyday life. They evaporated, therefore, with amazing rapidity when +the leaders of the movement had disappeared--Tchernishevski and others +by exile, and Dobrolubof and Pissaref by death--and when among the less +prominent representatives of the younger generation many succumbed to +the sobering influences of time and experience or drifted into lucrative +professions. Besides this, the reactionary currents were making +themselves felt, especially since the attempt on the life of the +Emperor. So long as these had been confined to the official world they +had not much affected the literature, except externally through +the Press-censure, but when they permeated the reading public their +influence was much stronger. Whatever the cause, there is no doubt that, +in the last years of the sixties, there was a subsidence of excitement +and enthusiasm and the peculiar intellectual phenomenon which had been +nicknamed Nihilism was supposed to be a thing of the past. In reality +the movement of which Nihilism was a prominent manifestation had merely +lost something of its academic character and was entering on a new stage +of development. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +SOCIALIST PROPAGANDA, REVOLUTIONARY AGITATION, AND TERRORISM + + +Closer Relations with Western Socialism--Attempts to Influence +the Masses--Bakunin and Lavroff--"Going in among the People"--The +Missionaries of Revolutionary Socialism--Distinction between Propaganda +and Agitation--Revolutionary Pamphlets for the Common People--Aims +and Motives of the Propagandists--Failure of Propaganda--Energetic +Repression--Fruitless Attempts at Agitation--Proposal to Combine +with Liberals--Genesis of Terrorism--My Personal Relations with the +Revolutionists--Shadowers and Shadowed--A Series of Terrorist Crimes--A +Revolutionist Congress--Unsuccessful Attempts to Assassinate +the Tsar--Ineffectual Attempt at Conciliation by Loris +Melikof--Assassination of Alexander II.--The Executive Committee +Shows Itself Unpractical--Widespread Indignation and Severe +Repression--Temporary Collapse of the Revolutionary Movement--A New +Revolutionary Movement in Sight. + + +Count Tolstoy's educational reform had one effect which was not +anticipated: it brought the revolutionists into closer contact with +Western Socialism. Many students, finding their position in Russia +uncomfortable, determined to go abroad and continue their studies in +foreign universities, where they would be free from the inconveniences +of police supervision and Press-censure. Those of the female sex had +an additional motive to emigrate, because they could not complete their +studies in Russia, but they had more difficulty in carrying out +their intention, because parents naturally disliked the idea of their +daughters going abroad to lead a Bohemian life, and they very often +obstinately refused to give their consent. In such cases the persistent +daughter found herself in a dilemma. Though she might run away from +her family and possibly earn her own living, she could not cross +the frontier without a passport, and without the parental sanction a +passport could not be obtained. Of course she might marry and get the +consent of her husband, but most of the young ladies objected to the +trammels of matrimony. Occasionally the problem was solved by means of +a fictitious marriage, and when a young man could not be found to +co-operate voluntarily in the arrangement, the Terrorist methods, which +the revolutionists adopted a few years later for other purposes, might +be employed. I have heard of at least one case in which an ardent female +devotee of medical science threatened to shoot a student who was going +abroad if he did not submit to the matrimonial ceremony and allow her to +accompany him to the frontier as his official wife! + +Strange as this story may seem, it contains nothing inherently +improbable. At that time the energetic young ladies of the Nihilist +school were not to be diverted from their purpose by trifling obstacles. +We shall meet some of them hereafter, displaying great courage and +tenacity in revolutionary activity. One of them, for example, attempted +to murder the Prefect of St. Petersburg; and another, a young person of +considerable refinement and great personal charm, gave the signal +for the assassination of Alexander II. and expiated her crime on the +scaffold without the least sign of repentance. + +Most of the studious emigres of both sexes went to Zurich, where female +students were admitted to the medical classes. Here they made the +acquaintance of noted Socialists from various countries who had settled +in Switzerland, and being in search of panaceas for social regeneration, +they naturally fell under their influence, at the same time they read +with avidity the works of Proudhon, Lassalle, Buchner, Marx, Flerovski, +Pfeiffer, and other writers of "advanced opinions." + +Among the apostles of socialism living at that time in Switzerland they +found a sympathetic fellow-countryman in the famous Anarchist, Bakunin, +who had succeeded in escaping from Siberia. His ideal was the +immediate overthrow of all existing Governments, the destruction of +all administrative organisation, the abolition of all bourgeois +institutions, and the establishment of an entirely new order of things +on the basis of a free federation of productive Communes, in which all +the land should be distributed among those capable of tilling it and the +instruments of production confided to co-operative associations. Efforts +to obtain mere political reforms, even of the most radical type, were +regarded by him with contempt as miserable palliatives, which could be +of no real, permanent benefit to the masses, and might be positively +injurious by prolonging the present era of bourgeois domination. + +For the dissemination of these principles a special organ called The +Cause of the People (Narodnoye Dyelo) was founded in Geneva in 1868 and +was smuggled across the Russian frontier in considerable quantities. +It aimed at drawing away the young generation from Academic Nihilism to +more practical revolutionary activity, but it evidently remained to some +extent under the old influences, for it indulged occasionally in very +abstract philosophical disquisitions. In its first number, for example, +it published a programme in which the editors thought it necessary to +declare that they were materialists and atheists, because the belief +in God and a future life, as well as every other kind of idealism, +demoralises the people, inspiring it with mutually contradictory +aspirations, and thereby depriving it of the energy necessary for +the conquest of its natural rights in this world, and the complete +organisation of a free and happy life. At the end of two years this +organ for moralising the people collapsed from want of funds, but other +periodicals and pamphlets were printed, and the clandestine relations +between the exiles in Switzerland and their friends in St. Petersburg +were maintained without difficulty, notwithstanding the efforts of the +police to cut the connection. In this way Young Russia became more and +more saturated with the extreme Socialist theories current in Western +Europe. + +Thanks partly to this foreign influence and partly to their own +practical experience, the would-be reformers who remained at home came +to understand that academic talking and discussing could bring about no +serious results. Students alone, however numerous and however devoted to +the cause, could not hope to overthrow or coerce the Government. It was +childish to suppose that the walls of the autocratic Jericho would fall +by the blasts of academic trumpets. Attempts at revolution could not be +successful without the active support of the people, and consequently +the revolutionary agitation must be extended to the masses. So far there +was complete agreement among the revolutionists, but with regard to the +modus operandi emphatic differences of opinion appeared. Those who were +carried away by the stirring accents of Bakunin imagined that if +the masses could only be made to feel themselves the victims of +administrative and economic oppression, they would rise and free +themselves by a united effort. According to this view all that was +required was that popular discontent should be excited and that +precautions should be taken to ensure that the explosions of discontent +should take place simultaneously all over the country. The rest might +safely be left, it was thought, to the operation of natural forces and +the inspiration of the moment. Against this dangerous illusion warning +voices were raised. Lavroff, for example, while agreeing with Bakunin +that mere political reforms were of little or no value, and that any +genuine improvement in the condition of the working classes could +proceed only from economic and social reorganisation, maintained +stoutly that the revolution, to be permanent and beneficial, must be +accomplished, not by demagogues directing the ignorant masses, but by +the people as a whole, after it had been enlightened and instructed as +to its true interests. The preparatory work would necessarily require a +whole generation of educated propagandists, living among the labouring +population rural and urban. + +For some time there was a conflict between these two currents of +opinion, but the views of Lavroff, which were simply a practical +development of academic Nihilism, gained far more adherents than the +violent anarchical proposals of Bakunin, and finally the grandiose +scheme of realising gradually the Socialist ideal by indoctrinating the +masses was adopted with enthusiasm. In St. Petersburg, Moscow and other +large towns the student association for mutual instruction, to which +I have referred in the foregoing chapter, became centres of popular +propaganda, and the academic Nihilists were transformed into active +missionaries. Scores of male and female students, impatient to convert +the masses to the gospel of freedom and terrestrial felicity, sought +to get into touch with the common people by settling in the villages as +school-teachers, medical practitioners, midwives, etc., or by working +as common factory hands in the industrial centres. In order to obtain +employment in the factories and conceal their real purpose, they +procured false passports, in which they were described as belonging +to the lower classes; and even those who settled in the villages lived +generally under assumed names. Thus was formed a class of professional +revolutionists, sometimes called the Illegals, who were liable to be +arrested at any moment by the police. As compensation for the privations +and hardships which they had to endure, they had the consolation of +believing that they were advancing the good cause. The means they +usually employed were formal conversations and pamphlets expressly +written for the purpose. The more enthusiastic and persevering of +these missionaries would continue their efforts for months and years, +remaining in communication with the headquarters in the capital or some +provincial town in order to report progress, obtain a fresh supply of +pamphlets, and get their forged passports renewed. This extraordinary +movement was called "going in among the people," and it spread among the +young generation like an epidemic. In 1873 it was suddenly reinforced +by a detachment of fresh recruits. Over a hundred Russian students were +recalled by the Government from Switzerland, in order to save them from +the baneful influence of Bakunin, Lavroff, and other noted Socialists, +and a large proportion of them joined the ranks of the propagandists.* + + * Instances of going in among the people had happened as + early as 1864, but they did not become frequent till after + 1870. + +With regard to the aims and methods of the propagandists, a good deal of +information was obtained in the course of a judicial inquiry instituted +in 1875. A peasant, who was at the same time a factory worker, informed +the police that certain persons were distributing revolutionary +pamphlets among the factory-hands, and as a proof of what he said he +produced some pamphlets which he had himself received. This led to +an investigation, which showed that a number of young men and women, +evidently belonging to the educated classes, were disseminating +revolutionary ideas by means of pamphlets and conversation. Arrests +followed, and it was soon discovered that these agitators belonged to +a large secret association, which had its centre in Moscow and local +branches in Ivanovo, Tula, and Kief. In Ivanovo, for instance--a +manufacturing town about a hundred miles to the northeast of Moscow--the +police found a small apartment inhabited by three young men and four +young women, all of whom, though belonging by birth to the educated +classes, had the appearance of ordinary factory workers, prepared their +own food, did with their own hands all the domestic work, and sought +to avoid everything which could distinguish them from the labouring +population. In the apartment were found 240 copies of revolutionary +pamphlets, a considerable sum of money, a large amount of correspondence +in cypher, and several forged passports. + +How many persons the society contained, it is impossible to say, because +a large portion of them eluded the vigilance of the police; but many +were arrested, and ultimately forty-seven were condemned. Of these, +eleven were noble, seven were sons of parish priests, and the remainder +belong to the lower classes--that is to say, the small officials, +burghers, and peasants. The average age of the prisoners was +twenty-four, the oldest being thirty-six and the youngest under +seventeen! Only five or six were over twenty-five, and none of these +were ringleaders. The female element was represented by no less than +fifteen young persons, whose ages were on an average under twenty-two. +Two of these, to judge by their photographs, were of refined, +prepossessing appearance, and seemingly little fitted for taking part in +wholesale massacres such as the society talked of organising. + +The character and aims of the society were clearly depicted in the +documentary and oral evidence produced at the trial. According to the +fundamental principles, there should exist among the members absolute +equality, complete mutual responsibility and full frankness and +confidence with regard to the affairs of the association. Among the +conditions of admission we find that the candidate should devote himself +entirely to revolutionary activity; that he should be ready to sever +all ties, whether of friendship or of love, for the good cause; that +he should possess great powers of self-sacrifice and the capacity for +keeping secrets; and that he should consent to become, when necessary, +a common labourer in a factory. The desire to maintain absolute equality +is well illustrated by the article of the statutes regarding the +administration: the office-bearers are not to be chosen by election, +but all members are to be office-bearers in turn, and the term of office +must not exceed one month! + +The avowed aim of the society was to destroy the existing social order, +and to replace it by one in which there should be no private property +and no distinctions of class or wealth; or, as it is expressed in one +document, "to found on the ruins of the present social organisation the +Empire of the working classes." The means to be employed were indicated +in a general way, but each member was to adapt himself to circumstances +and was to devote all his energy to forwarding the cause of the +revolution. For the guidance of the inexperienced, the following means +were recommended: simple conversations, dissemination of pamphlets, the +exciting of discontent, the formation of organised groups, the creation +of funds and libraries. These, taken together, constitute, in the +terminology of revolutionary science, "propaganda," and in addition to +it there should be "agitation." The technical distinction between these +two processes is that propaganda has a purely preparatory character, and +aims merely at enlightening the masses regarding the true nature of the +revolutionary cause, whereas agitation aims at exciting an individual +or a group to acts which are considered, in the existing regime, as +illegal. In time of peace "pure agitation" was to be carried on by +means of organised bands which should frighten the Government and the +privileged classes, draw away the attention of the authorities from less +overt kinds of revolutionary action, raise the spirit of the people +and thereby render it more accessible to revolutionary ideas, obtain +pecuniary means for further activity, and liberate political prisoners. +In time of insurrection the members should give to all movements every +assistance in their power, and impress on them a Socialistic character. +The central administration and the local branches should establish +relations with publishers, and take steps to secure a regular supply +of prohibited books from abroad. Such are a few characteristic +extracts from a document which might fairly be called a treatise on +revolutionology. + +As a specimen of the revolutionary pamphlets circulated by the +propagandists and agitators I may give here a brief account of one which +is well known to the political police. It is entitled Khitraya Mekhanika +(Cunning Machinery), and gives a graphic picture of the ideas and +methods employed. The mise en scene is extremely simple. Two peasants, +Stepan and Andrei, are represented as meeting in a gin-shop and drinking +together. Stepan is described as good and kindly when he has to do +with men of his own class, but very sharp-tongued when speaking with +a foreman or manager. Always ready with an answer, he can on occasions +silence even an official! He has travelled all over the Empire, has +associated with all sorts and conditions of men, sees everything most +clearly, and is, in short, a very remarkable man. One of his excellent +qualities is that, being "enlightened" himself, he is always ready to +enlighten others, and he now finds an opportunity of displaying his +powers. When Andrei, who is still unenlightened, proposes that they +should drink another glass of vodka, he replies that the Tsar, together +with the nobles and traders, bars the way to the throat. As his +companion does not understand this metaphorical language, he explains +that if there were no Tsars, nobles, or traders, he could get five +glasses of vodka for the sum that he now pays for one glass. This +naturally suggests wider topics, and Stepan gives something like a +lecture. The common people, he explains, pay by far the greater part +of the taxation, and at the same time do all the work; they plough the +fields, build the houses and churches, work in the mills and factories, +and in return they are systematically robbed and beaten. And what is +done with all the money that is taken from them? First of all, the Tsar +gets nine millions of roubles--enough to feed half a province--and +with that sum he amuses himself, has hunting-parties, and feasts, eats, +drinks, makes merry, and lives in stone houses. He gave liberty, it is +true, to the peasants; but we know what the Emancipation really was. The +best land was taken away and the taxes were increased, lest the +muzhik should get fat and lazy. The Tsar is himself the richest landed +proprietor and manufacturer in the country. He not only robs us as much +as he pleases, but he has sold into slavery (by forming a national debt) +our children and grandchildren. He takes our sons as soldiers, shuts +them up in barracks so that they should not see their brother-peasants, +and hardens their hearts so that they become wild beasts, ready to rend +their parents. The nobles and traders likewise rob the poor peasants. In +short, all the upper classes have invented a bit of cunning machinery +by which the muzhik is made to pay for their pleasures and luxuries. The +people will one day rise and break this machinery to pieces. When that +day comes they must break every part of it, for if one bit escapes +destruction all the other parts of it will immediately grow up again. +All the force is on the side of the peasants, if they only knew how +to use it. Knowledge will come in time. They will then destroy this +machine, and perceive that the only real remedy for all social evils is +brotherhood. People should live like brothers, having no mine and thine, +but all things in common. When we have created brotherhood, there will +be no riches and no thieves, but right and righteousness without end. In +conclusion, Stepan addresses a word to "the torturers": "When the +people rise, the Tsar will send troops against us, and the nobles and +capitalists will stake their last rouble on the result. If they do not +succeed, they must not expect any quarter from us. They may conquer us +once or twice, but we shall at last get our own, for there is no power +that can withstand the whole people. Then we shall cleanse the country +of our persecutors, and establish a brotherhood in which there will +be no mine and thine, but all will work for the common weal. We shall +construct no cunning machinery, but shall pluck up evil by the roots, +and establish eternal justice!" + +The above-mentioned distinction between Propaganda and Agitation, which +plays a considerable part in revolutionary literature, had at that time +more theoretical than practical importance. The great majority of +those who took an active part in the movement confined their efforts +to indoctrinating the masses with Socialistic and subversive ideas, and +sometimes their methods were rather childish. As an illustration I +may cite an amusing incident related by one of the boldest and most +tenacious of the revolutionists, who subsequently acquired a certain +sense of humour. He and a friend were walking one day on a country road, +when they were overtaken by a peasant in his cart. Ever anxious to sow +the good seed, they at once entered into conversation with the rustic, +telling him that he ought not to pay his taxes, because the tchinovniks +robbed the people, and trying to convince him by quotations from +Scripture that he ought to resist the authorities. The prudent muzhik +whipped up his horse and tried to get out of hearing, but the two +zealots ran after him and continued the sermon till they were completely +out of breath. Other propagandists were more practical, and preached +a species of agrarian socialism which the rural population could +understand. At the time of the Emancipation the peasants were convinced +as I have mentioned in a previous chapter, that the Tsar meant to give +them all the land, and to compensate the landed proprietors by salaries. +Even when the law was read and explained to them, they clung obstinately +to their old convictions, and confidently expected that the REAL +Emancipation would be proclaimed shortly. Taking advantage of this state +of things, the propagandists to whom I refer confirmed the peasants +in their error, and sought in this way to sow discontent against the +proprietors and the Government. Their watchword was "Land and Liberty," +and they formed for a good many years a distinct group, under that title +(Zemlya i Volya, or more briefly Zemlevoltsi). + +In the St. Petersburg group, which aspired to direct and control this +movement, there were one or two men who held different views as to the +real object of propaganda and agitation. One of these, Prince Krapotkin, +has told the world what his object was at that time. He hoped that the +Government would be frightened and that the Autocratic Power, as in +France on the eve of the Revolution, would seek support in the landed +proprietors, and call together a National Assembly. Thus a constitution +would be granted, and though the first Assembly might be conservative +in spirit, autocracy would be compelled in the long run to yield to +parliamentary pressure. + +No such elaborate projects were entertained, I believe, by the majority +of the propagandists. Their reasoning was much simpler: "The Government, +having become reactionary, tries to prevent us from enlightening the +people; we will do it in spite of the Government!" The dangers to which +they exposed themselves only confirmed them in their resolution. Though +they honestly believed themselves to be Realists and Materialists, they +were at heart romantic Idealists, panting to do something heroic. They +had been taught by the apostles whom they venerated, from Belinski +downwards, that the man who simply talks about the good of the people, +and does nothing to promote it, is among the most contemptible of human +beings. No such reproach must be addressed to them. If the Government +opposed and threatened, that was no excuse for inactivity. They must be +up and doing. "Forward! forward! Let us plunge into the people, identify +ourselves with them, and work for their benefit! Suffering is in +store for us, but we must endure it with fortitude!" The type which +Tchernishevski had depicted in his famous novel, under the name of +Rakhmetof--the youth who led an ascetic life and subjected himself +to privation and suffering as a preparation for future revolutionary +activity--now appeared in the flesh. If we may credit Bakunin, these +Rakhmetofs had not even the consolation of believing in the possibility +of a revolution, but as they could not and would not remain passive +spectators of the misfortunes of the people, they resolved to go +in among the masses in order to share with them fraternally +their sufferings, and at the same time to teach and prepare, not +theoretically, but practically by their living example.* This is, I +believe, an exaggeration. The propagandists were, for the most part of +incredibly sanguine temperament. + + * Bakunin: "Gosudarstvennost' i Anarkhiya" ("State + Organisation and Anarchy"), Zurich, 1873. + +The success of the propaganda and agitation was not at all in proportion +to the numbers and enthusiasm of those who took part in it. Most +of these displayed more zeal than mother-wit and discretion. Their +Socialism was too abstract and scientific to be understood by rustics, +and when they succeeded in making themselves intelligible they awakened +in their hearers more suspicion than sympathy. The muzhik is a very +matter-of-fact practical person, totally incapable of understanding what +Americans call "hifalutin" tendencies in speech and conduct, and as +he listened to the preaching of the new Gospel doubts and questionings +spontaneously rose in his mind: "What do those young people, who betray +their gentlefolk origin by their delicate white hands, their foreign +phrases, their ignorance of the common things of everyday peasant life, +really want? Why are they bearing hardships and taking so much +trouble? They tell us it is for our good, but we are not such fools and +simpletons as they take us for. They are not doing it all for nothing. +What do they expect from us in return? Whatever it is, they are +evidently evil-doers, and perhaps moshenniki (swindlers). Devil take +them!" and thereupon the cautious muzhik turns his back upon his +disinterested self-sacrificing teachers, or goes quietly and denounces +them to the police! It is not only in Spain that we encounter Don +Quixotes and Sancho Panzas! + +Occasionally a worse fate befell the missionaries. If they allowed +themselves, as they sometimes did, to "blaspheme" against religion or +the Tsar, they ran the risk of being maltreated on the spot. I have +heard of one case in which the punishment for blasphemy was applied by +sturdy peasant matrons. Even when they escaped such mishaps they had +not much reason to congratulate themselves on their success. After three +years of arduous labour the hundreds of apostles could not boast of more +than a score or two of converts among the genuine working classes, and +even these few did not all remain faithful unto death. Some of them, +however, it must be admitted, laboured and suffered to the end with the +courage and endurance of true martyrs. + +It was not merely the indifference or hostility of the masses that the +propagandists had to complain of. The police soon got on their track, +and did not confine themselves to persuasion and logical arguments. +Towards the end of 1873 they arrested some members of the central +directory group in St. Petersburg, and in the following May they +discovered in the province of Saratof an affiliated organisation +with which nearly 800 persons were connected, about one-fifth of them +belonging to the female sex. A few came of well-to-do families--sons and +daughters of minor officials or small landed proprietors--but the great +majority were poor students of humbler origin, a large contingent being +supplied by the sons of the poor parish clergy. In other provinces the +authorities made similar discoveries. Before the end of the year a large +proportion of the propagandists were in prison, and the centralised +organisation, so far as such a thing existed, was destroyed. Gradually +it dawned on the minds even of the Don Quixotes that pacific propaganda +was no longer possible, and that attempts to continue it could lead only +to useless sacrifices. + +For a time there was universal discouragement in the revolutionary +ranks; and among those who had escaped arrest there were mutual +recriminations and endless discussions about the causes of failure and +the changes to be made in modes of action. The practical results of +these recriminations and discussions was that the partisans of a slow, +pacific propaganda retired to the background, and the more impatient +revolutionary agitators took possession of the movement. These +maintained stoutly that as pacific propaganda had become impossible, +stronger methods must be adopted. The masses must be organised so as +to offer successful resistance to the Government. Conspiracies must +therefore be formed, local disorders provoked, and blood made to flow. +The part of the country which seemed best adapted for experiments of +this kind was the southern and southeastern region, inhabited by +the descendants of the turbulent Cossack population which had raised +formidable insurrections under Stenka Razin and Pugatcheff in the +seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Here, then, the more impatient +agitators began their work. A Kief group called the Buntari (rioters), +composed of about twenty-five individuals, settled in various localities +as small shopkeepers or horse dealers, or went about as workmen or +peddlers. One member of the group has given us in his reminiscences an +amusing account of the experiment. Everywhere the agitators found the +peasants suspicious and inhospitable, and consequently they had to +suffer a great deal of discomfort. Some of them at once gave up the +task as hopeless. The others settled in a village and began operations. +Having made a topographic survey of the locality, they worked out an +ingenious plan of campaign; but they had no recruits for the future army +of insurrection, and if they had been able to get recruits, they had no +arms for them, and no money wherewith to purchase arms or anything else. +In these circumstances they gravely appointed a committee to collect +funds, knowing very well that no money would be forthcoming. It was +as if a shipwrecked crew in an open boat, having reached the brink of +starvation, appointed a committee to obtain a supply of fresh water and +provisions! In the hope of obtaining assistance from headquarters, a +delegate was sent to St. Petersburg and Moscow to explain that for the +arming of the population about a quarter of a million of roubles was +required. The delegate brought back thirty second-hand revolvers! The +revolutionist who confesses all this* recognises that the whole scheme +was childishly unpractical: "We chose the path of popular insurrection +because we had faith in the revolutionary spirit of the masses, in its +power and its invincibility. That was the weak side of our position; and +the most curious part of it was that we drew proofs in support of +our theory from history--from the abortive insurrections of Pazin and +Pugatcheff, which took place in an age when the Government had only a +small regular army and no railways or telegraphs! We did not even think +of attempting a propaganda among the military!" In the district of +Tchigirin the agitators had a little momentary success, but the result +was the same. There a student called Stefanovitch pretended that the +Tsar was struggling with the officials to benefit the peasantry, and he +showed the simple rustics a forged imperial manifesto in which they were +ordered to form a society for the purpose of raising an insurrection +against the officials, the nobles, and the priests. At one moment +(April, 1877), the society had about 600 members, but a few months +later it was discovered by the police, and the leaders and peasants were +arrested. + + * Debogorio-Mokrievitch. "Vospominaniya" ("Reminiscences"). + Paris, 1894-99. + +When it had thus become evident that propaganda and agitation were alike +useless, and when numerous arrests were being made daily, it became +necessary for the revolutionists to reconsider their position, and some +of the more moderate proposed to rally to the Liberals, as a temporary +measure. Hitherto there had been very little sympathy and a good deal of +openly avowed hostility between Liberals and revolutionists. The latter, +convinced that they could overthrow the Autocratic Power by their own +unaided efforts, had looked askance at Liberalism because they believed +that parliamentary discussions and party struggles would impede rather +than facilitate the advent of the Socialist Millennium, and strengthen +the domination of the bourgeoisie without really improving the condition +of the masses. Now, however, when the need of allies was felt, it seemed +that constitutional government might be used as a stepping-stone for +reaching the Socialist ideal, because it must grant a certain liberty +of the Press and of association, and it would necessarily abolish the +existing autocratic system of arresting, imprisoning and exiling, on +mere suspicion, without any regular form of legal procedure. As usual, +an appeal was made to history, and arguments were easily found in favour +of this course of action. The past of other nations had shown that in +the march of progress there are no sudden leaps and bounds, and it was +therefore absurd to imagine, as the revolutionists had hitherto done, +that Russian Autocracy could be swallowed by Socialism at a gulp. +There must always be periods of transition, and it seemed that such a +transition period might now be initiated. Liberalism might be allowed to +destroy, or at least weaken, Autocracy, and then it might be destroyed +in its turn by Socialism of the most advanced type. + +Having adopted this theory of gradual historic development, some of the +more practical revolutionists approached the more advanced Liberals +and urged them to more energetic action; but before anything could be +arranged the more impatient revolutionists--notably the group called +the Narodovoltsi (National-will-ists)--intervened, denounced what they +considered an unholy alliance, and proposed a policy of terrorism +by which the Government would be frightened into a more conciliatory +attitude. Their idea was that the officials who displayed most zeal +against the revolutionary movement should be assassinated, and that +every act of severity on the part of the Administration should be +answered by an act of "revolutionary justice." + +As it was evident that the choice between these two courses of action +must determine in great measure the future character and ultimate fate +of the movement, there was much discussion between the two groups; but +the question did not long remain in suspense. Soon the extreme party +gained the upper hand, and the Terrorist policy was adopted. I shall let +the revolutionists themselves explain this momentous decision. In a long +proclamation published some years later it is explained thus: + + +"The revolutionary movement in Russia began with the so-called 'going +in among the people.' The first Russian revolutionists thought that the +freedom of the people could be obtained only by the people itself, and +they imagined that the only thing necessary was that the people should +absorb Socialistic ideas. To this it was supposed that the peasantry +were naturally inclined, because they already possess, in the rural +Commune, institutions which contain the seeds of Socialism, and which +might serve as a basis for the reconstruction of society according to +Socialist principles. The propagandists hoped, therefore, that in the +teachings of West European Socialism the people would recognise its own +instinctive creations in riper and more clearly defined forms and that +it would joyfully accept the new teaching. + +"But the people did not understand its friends, and showed itself +hostile to them. It turned out that institutions born in slavery could +not serve as a foundation for the new construction, and that the man who +was yesterday a serf, though capable of taking part in disturbances, is +not fitted for conscious revolutionary work. With pain in their heart +the revolutionists had to confess that they were deceived in their hopes +of the people. Around them were no social revolutionary forces on which +they could lean for support, and yet they could not reconcile themselves +with the existing state of violence and slavery. Thereupon awakened a +last hope--the hope of a drowning man who clutches at a straw: a little +group of heroic and self-sacrificing individuals might accomplish with +their own strength the difficult task of freeing Russia from the yoke +of autocracy. They had to do it themselves, because there was no other +means. But would they be able to accomplish it? For them that question +did not exist. The struggle of that little group against autocracy was +like the heroic means on which a doctor decides when there is no longer +any hope of the patient's recovery. Terrorism was the only means that +remained, and it had the advantage of giving a natural vent to pent-up +feelings, and of seeming a reaction against the cruel persecutions of +the Government. The party called the Narodnaya Volya (National Will) +was accordingly formed, and during several years the world witnessed +a spectacle that had never been seen before in history. The Narodnaya +Volya, insignificant in numbers but strong in spirit, engaged in single +combat with the powerful Russian Government. Neither executions, nor +imprisonment with hard labour, nor ordinary imprisonment and exile, +destroyed the energy of the revolutionists. Under their shots fell, +one after the other, the most zealous and typical representatives of +arbitrary action and violence. . . ." + + +It was at this time, in 1877, when propaganda and agitation among the +masses were being abandoned for the system of terrorism, but before any +assassinations had taken place, that I accidentally came into personal +relations with some prominent adherents of the revolutionary movement. +One day a young man of sympathetic appearance, whom I did not know and +who brought no credentials, called on me in St. Petersburg and suggested +to me that I might make public through the English Press what he +described as a revolting act of tyranny and cruelty committed by General +Trepof, the Prefect of the city. That official, he said, in visiting +recently one of the prisons, had noticed that a young political prisoner +called Bogolubof did not salute him as he passed, and he had ordered him +to be flogged in consequence. To this I replied that I had no reason to +disbelieve the story, but that I had equally no reason to accept it as +accurate, as it rested solely on the evidence of a person with whom I +was totally unacquainted. My informant took the objection in good part, +and offered me the names and addresses of a number of persons who could +supply me with any proofs that I might desire. + +At his next visit I told him I had seen several of the persons he had +named, and that I could not help perceiving that they were closely +connected with the revolutionary movement. I then went on to suggest +that as the sympathisers with that movement constantly complained that +they were systematically misrepresented, calumniated and caricatured, +the leaders ought to give the world an accurate account of their real +doctrines, and in this respect I should be glad to assist them. +Already I knew something of the subject, because I had many friends +and acquaintances among the sympathisers, and had often had with them +interminable discussions. With their ideas, so far as I knew them, I +felt bound to confess that I had no manner of sympathy, but I flattered +myself, and he himself had admitted, that I was capable of describing +accurately and criticising impartially doctrines with which I did not +agree. My new acquaintance, whom I may call Dimitry Ivan'itch, was +pleased with the proposal, and after he had consulted with some of +his friends, we came to an agreement by which I should receive all the +materials necessary for writing an accurate account of the doctrinal +side of the movement. With regard to any conspiracies that might be in +progress, I warned him that he must be strictly reticent, because if I +came accidentally to know of any terrorist designs, I should consider +it my duty to warn the authorities. For this reason I declined to attend +any secret conclaves, and it was agreed that I should be instructed +without being initiated. + +The first step in my instruction was not very satisfactory or +encouraging. One day Dimitri Ivan'itch brought me a large manuscript, +which contained, he said, the real doctrines of the revolutionists and +the explanation of their methods. I was surprised to find that it was +written in English, and I perceived at a glance that it was not at all +what I wanted. As soon as I had read the first sentence I turned to my +friend and said: + +"I am very sorry to find, Dimitri Ivan'itch, that you have not kept your +part of the bargain. We agreed, you may remember, that we were to act +towards each other in absolutely good faith, and here I find a flagrant +bit of bad faith in the very first sentence of the manuscript which +you have brought me. The document opens with the statement that a large +number of students have been arrested and imprisoned for distributing +books among the people. That statement may be true according to the +letter, but it is evidently intended to mislead. These youths have been +arrested, as you must know, not for distributing ordinary books, as the +memorandum suggests, but for distributing books of a certain kind. I +have read some of them, and I cannot feel at all surprised that the +Government should object to their being put into the hands of the +ignorant masses. Take, for example, the one entitled Khitraya Mekhanika, +and others of the same type. The practical teaching they contain is that +the peasants should be ready to rise and cut the throats of the landed +proprietors and officials. Now, a wholesale massacre of the kind may +or may not be desirable in the interests of Society, and justifiable +according to some new code of higher morality. That is a question +into which I do not enter. All I maintain is that the writer of this +memorandum, in speaking of 'books,' meant to mislead me." + +Dimitri Ivan'itch looked puzzled and ashamed. "Forgive me," he said; "I +am to blame--not for having attempted to deceive you, but for not having +taken precautions. I have not read the manuscript, and I could not if +I wished, for it is written in English, and I know no language but my +mother tongue. My friends ought not to have done this. Give me back the +paper, and I shall take care that nothing of the sort occurs in future." + +This promise was faithfully kept, and I had no further reason +to complain. Dimitri Ivan'itch gave me a considerable amount of +information, and lent me a valuable collection of revolutionary +pamphlets. Unfortunately the course of tuition was suddenly interrupted +by unforeseen circumstances, which I may mention as characteristic +of life in St. Petersburg at the time. My servant, an excellent young +Russian, more honest than intelligent, came to me one morning with a +mysterious air, and warned me to be on my guard, because there were "bad +people" going about. On being pressed a little, he explained to me what +he meant. Two strangers had come to him and, after offering him a few +roubles, had asked him a number of questions about my habits--at what +hour I went out and came home, what persons called on me, and much more +of the same sort. "They even tried, sir, to get into your sitting-room; +but of course I did not allow them. I believe they want to rob you!" + +It was not difficult to guess who these "bad people" were who took such +a keen interest in my doings, and who wanted to examine my apartment in +my absence. Any doubts I had on the subject were soon removed. On +the morrow and following days I noticed that whenever I went out, +and wherever I might walk or drive, I was closely followed by two +unsympathetic-looking individuals--so closely that when I turned round +sharp they ran into me. The first and second times this little accident +occurred they received a strong volley of unceremonious vernacular; +but when we became better acquainted we simply smiled at each other +knowingly, as the old Roman Augurs are supposed to have done when they +met in public unobserved. There was no longer any attempt at concealment +or mystification. I knew I was being shadowed, and the shadowers could +not help perceiving that I knew it. Yet, strange to say, they were never +changed! + +The reader probably assumes that the secret police had somehow got wind +of my relations with the revolutionists. Such an assumption presupposes +on the part of the police an amount of intelligence and perspicacity +which they do not usually possess. On this occasion they were on +an entirely wrong scent, and the very day when I first noticed my +shadowers, a high official, who seemed to regard the whole thing as +a good joke, told me confidentially what the wrong scent was. At the +instigation of an ex-ambassador, from whom I had the misfortune to +differ in matters of foreign policy, the Moscow Gazette had denounced me +publicly by name as a person who was in the habit of visiting daily the +Ministry of Foreign Affairs--doubtless with the nefarious purpose of +obtaining by illegal means secret political information--and the police +had concluded that I was a fit and proper person to be closely watched. +In reality, my relations with the Russian Foreign Office, though +inconvenient to the ex-ambassador, were perfectly regular and +above-board--sanctioned, in fact, by Prince Gortchakoff--but the +indelicate attentions of the secret police were none the less extremely +unwelcome, because some intelligent police-agent might get onto the real +scent, and cause me serious inconvenience. I determined, therefore, +to break off all relations with Dimitri Ivan'itch and his friends, and +postpone my studies to a more convenient season; but that decision +did not entirely extricate me from my difficulties. The collection of +revolutionary pamphlets was still in my possession, and I had promised +to return it. For some little time I did not see how I could keep my +promise without compromising myself or others, but at last--after having +had my shadowers carefully shadowed in order to learn accurately their +habits, and having taken certain elaborate precautions, with which I +need not trouble the reader, as he is not likely ever to require them--I +paid a visit secretly to Dimitri Ivan'itch in his small room, almost +destitute of furniture, handed him the big parcel of pamphlets, warned +him not to visit me again, and bade him farewell. Thereupon we went our +separate ways and I saw him no more. Whether he subsequently played a +leading part in the movement I never could ascertain, because I did +not know his real name; but if the conception which I formed of his +character was at all accurate, he probably ended his career in Siberia, +for he was not a man to look back after having put his hand to the +plough. That is a peculiar trait of the Russian revolutionists of the +period in question. Their passion for realising an impossible ideal was +incurable. Many of them were again and again arrested; and as soon as +they escaped or were liberated they almost invariably went back to their +revolutionary activity and worked energetically until they again fell +into the clutches of the police. + +From this digression into the sphere of personal reminiscences I return +now and take up again the thread of the narrative. + +We have seen how the propaganda and the agitation had failed, partly +because the masses showed themselves indifferent or hostile, and partly +because the Government adopted vigorous repressive measures. We have +seen, too, how the leaders found themselves in face of a formidable +dilemma; either they must abandon their schemes or they must attack +their persecutors. The more energetic among them, as I have already +stated, chose the latter alternative, and they proceeded at once to +carry out their policy. In the course of a single year (February, 1878, +to February, 1879) a whole series of terrorist crimes was committed; in +Kief an attempt was made on the life of the Public Prosecutor, and an +officer of gendarmerie was stabbed; in St. Petersburg the Chief of the +Political Police of the Empire (General Mezentsef) was assassinated in +broad daylight in one of the central streets, and a similar attempt +was made on his successor (General Drenteln); at Kharkof the Governor +(Prince Krapotkin) was shot dead when entering his residence. During the +same period two members of the revolutionary organisation, accused of +treachery, were "executed" by order of local Committees. In most cases +the perpetrators of the crimes contrived to escape. One of them became +well known in Western Europe as an author under the pseudonym of +Stepniak. + +Terrorism had not the desired effect. On the contrary, it stimulated the +zeal and activity of the authorities, and in the course of the winter of +1878-79 hundreds of arrests--some say as many as 2,000--were made in +St. Petersburg alone. Driven to desperation, the revolutionists still +at large decided that it was useless to assassinate mere officials; the +fons et origo mali must be reached; a blow must be struck at the Tsar +himself! The first attempt was made by a young man called Solovyoff, who +fired several shots at Alexander II. as he was walking near the Winter +Palace, but none of them took effect. + +This policy of aggressive terrorism did not meet with universal approval +among the revolutionists, and it was determined to discuss the matter +at a Congress of delegates from various local circles. The meetings were +held in June, 1879, two months after Solovyoff's unsuccessful attempt, +at two provincial towns, Lipetsk and Voronezh. It was there agreed in +principle to confirm the decision of the Terrorist Narodovoltsi. As the +Liberals were not in a position to create liberal institutions or to +give guarantees for political rights, which are the essential conditions +of any Socialist agitation, there remained for the revolutionary party +no other course than to destroy the despotic autocracy. Thereupon a +programme of action was prepared, and an Executive Committee elected. +From that moment, though there were still many who preferred milder +methods, the Terrorists had the upper hand, and they at once proceeded +to centralise the organisation and to introduce stricter discipline, +with greater precautions to ensure secrecy. + +The Executive Committee imagined that by assassinating the Tsar +autocracy might be destroyed, and several carefully planned attempts +were made. The first plan was to wreck the train when the Imperial +family were returning to St. Petersburg from the Crimea. Mines were +accordingly laid at three separate points, but they all failed. At the +last of the three points (near Moscow) a train was blown up, but it was +not the one in which the Imperial family was travelling. + +Not at all discouraged by this failure, nor by the discovery of its +secret printing-press by the police, the Executive Committee next tried +to attain its object by an explosion of dynamite in the Winter Palace +when the Imperial family were assembled at dinner. The execution was +entrusted to a certain Halturin, one of the few revolutionists of +peasant origin. As an exceptionally clever carpenter and polisher, he +easily found regular employment in the palace, and he contrived to make +a rough plan of the building. This plan, on which the dining-hall was +marked with an ominous red cross, fell into the hands of the police, and +they made what they considered a careful investigation; but they failed +to unravel the plot and did not discover the dynamite concealed in the +carpenters' sleeping quarters. Halturin showed wonderful coolness while +the search was going on, and continued to sleep every night on the +explosive, though it caused him excruciating headaches. When he was +assured by the chemist of the Executive Committee that the quantity +collected was sufficient, he exploded the mine at the usual dinner hour, +and contrived to escape uninjured.* In the guardroom immediately above +the spot where the dynamite was exploded ten soldiers were killed and 53 +wounded, and in the dining-hall the floor was wrecked, but the Imperial +family escaped in consequence of not sitting down to dinner at the usual +hour. + + * After living some time in Roumania he returned to Russia + under the name of Stepanof, and in 1882 he was tried and + executed for complicity in the assassination of General + Strebnekof. + +For this barbarous act the Executive Committee publicly accepted full +responsibility. In a proclamation placarded in the streets of St. +Petersburg it declared that, while regretting the death of the soldiers, +it was resolved to carry on the struggle with the Autocratic Power +until the social reforms should be entrusted to a Constituent Assembly, +composed of members freely elected and furnished with instructions from +their constituents. + +Finding police-repression so ineffectual, Alexander II. determined to +try the effect of conciliation, and for this purpose he placed Loris +Melikof at the head of the Government, with semi-dictatorial powers +(February, 1880). The experiment did not succeed. By the Terrorists +it was regarded as "a hypocritical Liberalism outwardly and a veiled +brutality within," while in the official world it was condemned as an +act of culpable weakness on the part of the autocracy. One consequence +of it was that the Executive Committee was encouraged to continue its +efforts, and, as the police became much less active, it was enabled +to improve the revolutionary organisation. In a circular sent to the +affiliated provincial associations it explained that the only source +of legislation must be the national will,* and as the Government would +never accept such a principle, its hand must be forced by a great +popular insurrection, for which all available forces should be +organised. The peasantry, as experience had shown, could not yet be +relied on, but efforts should be made to enrol the workmen of the towns. +Great importance was attached to propaganda in the army; but as few +conversions had been made among the rank and file, attention was to +be directed chiefly to the officers, who would be able to carry their +subordinates with them at the critical moment. + + * Hence the designation Narodovoltsi (which, as we have + seen, means literally National-will-ists) adopted by this + section. + +While thus recommending the scheme of destroying autocracy by means of +a popular insurrection in the distant future, the Committee had not +abandoned more expeditious methods, and it was at that moment hatching +a plot for the assassination of the Tsar. During the winter months his +Majesty was in the habit of holding on Sundays a small parade in the +riding-school near the Michael Square in St. Petersburg. On Sunday, +March 3d, 1881, the streets by which he usually returned to the Palace +had been undermined at two places, and on an alternative route several +conspirators were posted with hand-grenades concealed under their great +coats. The Emperor chose the alternative route. Here, at a signal given +by Sophia Perovski, the first grenade was thrown by a student called +Ryssakoff, but it merely wounded some members of the escort. The Emperor +stopped and got out of his sledge, and as he was making inquiries about +the wounded soldiers a second grenade was thrown by a youth called +Grinevitski, with fatal effect. Alexander II. was conveyed hurriedly to +the Winter Palace, and died almost immediately. + +By this act the members of the Executive Committee proved their energy +and their talent as conspirators, but they at the same time showed their +shortsightedness and their political incapacity; for they had made no +preparations for immediately seizing the power which they so ardently +coveted--with the intention of using it, of course, entirely for the +public good. If the facts were not so well authenticated, we might +dismiss the whole story as incredible. A group of young people, +certainly not more than thirty or forty in number, without any organised +material force behind them, without any influential accomplices in the +army or the official world, without any prospect of support from the +masses, and with no plan for immediate action after the assassination, +deliberately provoked the crisis for which they were so hopelessly +unprepared. It has been suggested that they expected the Liberals +to seize the Supreme Power, but this explanation is evidently an +afterthought, because they knew that the Liberals were as unprepared +as themselves and they regarded them at that time as dangerous +rivals. Besides this, the explanation is quite irreconcilable with the +proclamation issued by the Executive Committee immediately afterwards. +The most charitable way of explaining the conduct of the conspirators is +to suppose that they were actuated more by blind hatred of the autocracy +and its agents than by political calculations of a practical kind--that +they acted simply like a wounded bull in the arena, which shuts its eyes +and recklessly charges its tormentors. + +The murder of the Emperor had not at all the effect which the +Narodovoltsi anticipated. On the contrary, it destroyed their hopes of +success. Many people of liberal convictions who sympathised vaguely with +the revolutionary movement without taking part in it, and who did not +condemn very severely the attacks on police officials, were horrified +when they found that the would-be reformers did not spare even the +sacred person of the Tsar. At the same time, the police officials, who +had become lax and inefficient under the conciliatory regime of Loris +Melikof, recovered their old zeal, and displayed such inordinate +activity that the revolutionary organisation was paralysed and in great +measure destroyed. Six of the regicides were condemned to death, and +five of them publicly executed, amongst the latter Sophia Perovski, +one of the most active and personally sympathetic personages among the +revolutionists. Scores of those who had taken an active part in the +movement were in prison or in exile. For a short time the propaganda +was continued among military and naval officers, and various attempts +at reorganisation, especially in the southern provinces, were made, but +they all failed. A certain Degaief, who had taken part in the formation +of military circles, turned informer, and aided the police. By his +treachery not only a considerable number of officers, but also Vera +Filipof, a young lady of remarkable ability and courage, who was the +leading spirit in the attempts at reorganisation, were arrested. There +were still a number of leaders living abroad, and from time to time they +sent emissaries to revive the propaganda, but these efforts were all +fruitless. One of the active members of the revolutionary party, Leo +Deutsch, who has since published his Memoirs, relates how the tide of +revolution ebbed rapidly at this time. "Both in Russia and abroad," +he says, "I had seen how the earlier enthusiasm had given way to +scepticism; men had lost faith, though many of them would not allow +that it was so. It was clear to me that a reaction had set in for +many years." Of the attempts to resuscitate the movement he says: "The +untried and unskilfully managed societies were run to death before they +could undertake anything definite, and the unity and interdependence +which characterised the original band of members had disappeared." With +regard to the want of unity, another prominent revolutionist (Maslof) +wrote to a friend (Dragomanof) at Geneva in 1882 in terms of bitter +complaint. He accused the Executive Committee of trying to play the +part of chief of the whole revolutionary party, and declared that its +centralising tendencies were more despotic than those of the Government. +Distributing orders among its adherents without initiating them into +its plans, it insisted on unquestioning obedience. The Socialist youth, +ardent adherents of Federalism, were indignant at this treatment, and +began to understand that the Committee used them simply as chair a +canon. The writer described in vivid colours the mutual hostility which +reigned among various fractions of the party, and which manifested +itself in accusations and even in denunciations; and he predicted that +the Narodnaya Volya, which had organised the various acts of terrorism +culminating in the assassination of the Emperor, would never develop +into a powerful revolutionary party. It had sunk into the slough of +untruth, and it could only continue to deceive the Government and the +public. + +In the mutual recriminations several interesting admissions were made. +It was recognised that neither the educated classes nor the common +people were capable of bringing about a revolution: the former were not +numerous enough, and the latter were devoted to the Tsar and did not +sympathise with the revolutionary movement, though they might perhaps +be induced to rise at a moment of crisis. It was considered doubtful +whether such a rising was desirable, because the masses, being +insufficiently prepared, might turn against the educated minority. In no +case could a popular insurrection attain the object which the Socialists +had in view, because the power would either remain in the hands of the +Tsar--thanks to the devotion of the common people--or it would fall into +the hands of the Liberals, who would oppress the masses worse than the +autocratic Government had done. Further, it was recognised that acts of +terrorism were worse than useless, because they were misunderstood by +the ignorant, and tended to inflame the masses against the leaders. +It seemed necessary, therefore, to return to a pacific propaganda. +Tikhomirof, who was nominally directing the movement from abroad, became +utterly discouraged, and wrote in 1884 to one of his emissaries in +Russia (Lopatin): "You now see Russia, and can convince yourself that it +does not possess the material for a vast work of reorganisation. . . . +I advise you seriously not to make superhuman efforts and not to make +a scandal in attempting the impossible. . . . If you do not want to +satisfy yourself with trifles, come away and await better times." + +In examining the material relating to this period one sees clearly that +the revolutionary movement had got into a vicious circle. As pacific +propaganda had become impossible, in consequence of the opposition of +the authorities and the vigilance of the police, the Government could be +overturned only by a general insurrection; but the general insurrection +could not be prepared without pacific propaganda. As for terrorism, it +had become discredited. Tikhomirof himself came to the conclusion that +the terrorist idea was altogether a mistake, not only morally, but also +from the point of view of political expediency. A party, he explained, +has either the force to overthrow the Government, or it has not; in the +former case it has no need of political assassination, and in the latter +the assassinations have no effect, because Governments are not so stupid +as to let themselves be frightened by those who cannot overthrow them. +Plainly there was nothing to be done but to wait for better times, as he +had suggested, and the better times did not seem to be within measurable +distance. He himself, after publishing a brochure entitled "Why I Ceased +to Be a Revolutionist," made his peace with the Government, and others +followed his example.* In one prison nine made formal recantations, +among them Emilianof, who held a reserve bomb ready when Alexander II. +was assassinated. Occasional acts of terrorism showed that there was +still fire under the smouldering embers, but they were few and far +between. The last serious incident of the kind during this period was +the regicide conspiracy of Sheviryoff in March, 1887. The conspirators, +carrying the bombs, were arrested in the principal street of St. +Petersburg, and five of them were hanged. The railway accident of Borki, +which happened in the following year, and in which the Imperial family +had a very narrow escape, ought perhaps to be added to the list, because +there is reason to believe that it was the work of revolutionists. + + * Tikhomirof subsequently worked against the Social + Democrats in Moscow in the interests of the Government. + +By this time all the cooler heads among the revolutionists, especially +those who were living abroad in personal safety, had come to understand +that the Socialist ideal could not be attained by popular insurrection, +terrorism, or conspiracies, and consequently that further activity +on the old lines was absurd. Those of them who did not abandon the +enterprise in despair reverted to the idea that Autocratic Power, +impregnable against frontal attacks, might be destroyed by prolonged +siege operations. This change of tactics is reflected in the +revolutionary literature. In 1889, for example, the editor of the +Svobodnaya Rossia declared that the aim of the movement now +was political freedom--not only as a stepping-stone to social +reorganisation, but as a good in itself. This is, he explains, the only +possible revolution at present in Russia. "For the moment there can be +no other immediate practical aim. Ulterior aims are not abandoned, but +they are not at present within reach. . . The revolutionists of the +seventies and the eighties did not succeed in creating among the +peasantry or the town workmen anything which had even the appearance +of a force capable of struggling with the Government; and the +revolutionists of the future will have no greater success until they +have obtained such political rights as personal inviolability. Our +immediate aim, therefore, is a National Assembly controlled by local +self-government, and this can be brought about only by a union of all +the revolutionary forces." + +There were still indications, it is true, that the old spirit of +terrorism was not yet quite extinct: Captain Zolotykhin, for example, +an officer of the Moscow secret police, was assassinated by a female +revolutionist in 1890. But such incidents were merely the last fitful +sputterings of a lamp that was going out for want of oil. In 1892 +Stepniak declared it evident to all that the professional revolutionists +could not alone overthrow autocracy, however great their energy and +heroism; and he arrived at the same conclusion as the writer just +quoted. Of course, immediate success was not to be expected. "It is only +from the evolutionist's point of view that the struggle with autocracy +has a meaning. From any other standpoint it must seem a sanguinary +farce--a mere exercise in the art of self-sacrifice!" Such are the +conclusions arrived at in 1892 by a man who had been in 1878 one of the +leading terrorists, and who had with his own hand assassinated General +Mezentsef, Chief of the Political Police. + +Thus the revolutionary movement, after passing through four stages, +which I may call the academic, the propagandist, the insurrectionary, +and the terrorist, had failed to accomplish its object. One of those +who had taken an active part in it, and who, after spending two years +in Siberia as a political exile, escaped and settled in Western Europe, +could write thus: "Our revolutionary movement is dead, and we who are +still alive stand by the grave of our beautiful departed and discuss +what is wanting to her. One of us thinks that her nose should be +improved; another suggests a change in her chin or her hair. We do not +notice the essential that what our beautiful departed wants is life; +that it is not a matter of hair or eyebrows, but of a living soul, which +formerly concealed all defects, and made her beautiful, and which now +has flown away. However we may invent changes and improvements, all +these things are utterly insignificant in comparison with what is really +wanting, and what we cannot give; for who can breathe a living soul into +a corpse?" + +In truth, the movement which I have endeavoured to describe was at an +end; but another movement, having the same ultimate object, was coming +into existence, and it constitutes one of the essential factors of +the present situation. Some of the exiles in Switzerland and Paris had +become acquainted with the social-democratic and labour movements in +Western Europe, and they believed that the strategy and tactics employed +in these movements might be adopted in Russia. How far they have +succeeded in carrying out this policy I shall relate presently; but +before entering on this subject, I must explain how the application +of such a policy had been rendered possible by changes in the economic +conditions. Russia had begun to create rapidly a great manufacturing +industry and an industrial proletariat. This will form the subject of +the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND THE PROLETARIAT + + +Russia till Lately a Peasant Empire--Early Efforts to Introduce Arts and +Crafts--Peter the Great and His Successors--Manufacturing Industry +Long Remains an Exotic--The Cotton Industry--The Reforms of Alexander +II.--Protectionists and Free Trade--Progress under High Tariffs--M. +Witte's Policy--How Capital Was Obtained--Increase of Exports--Foreign +Firms Cross the Customs Frontier--Rapid Development of Iron Industry--A +Commercial Crisis--M. Witte's Position Undermined by Agrarians and +Doctrinaires--M. Plehve a Formidable Opponent--His Apprehensions of +Revolution--Fall of M. Witte--The Industrial Proletariat. + + +Fifty years ago Russia was still essentially a peasant empire, living by +agriculture of a primitive type, and supplying her other wants chiefly +by home industries, as was the custom in Western Europe during the +Middle Ages. + +For many generations her rulers had been trying to transplant into their +wide dominions the art and crafts of the West, but they had formidable +difficulties to contend with, and their success was not nearly as great +as they desired. We know that as far back as the fourteenth century +there were cloth-workers in Moscow, for we read in the chronicles that +the workshops of these artisans were sacked when the town was stormed +by the Tartars. Workers in metal had also appeared in some of the larger +towns by that time, but they do not seem to have risen much above the +level of ordinary blacksmiths. They were destined, however, to make more +rapid progress than other classes of artisans, because the old Tsars of +Muscovy, like other semi-barbarous potentates, admired and envied the +industries of more civilised countries mainly from the military point +of view. What they wanted most was a plentiful supply of good arms +wherewith to defend themselves and attack their neighbours, and it was +to this object that their most strenuous efforts were directed. + +As early as 1475 Ivan III., the grandfather of Ivan the Terrible, sent a +delegate to Venice to seek out for him an architect who, in addition to +his own craft, knew how to make guns; and in due course appeared in +the Kremlin a certain Muroli, called Aristotle by his contemporaries on +account of his profound learning. He undertook "to build churches and +palaces, to cast big bells and cannons, to fire off the said cannons, +and to make every sort of castings very cunningly"; and for the exercise +of these various arts it was solemnly stipulated in a formal document +that he should receive the modest salary of ten roubles monthly. With +regard to the military products, at least, the Venetian faithfully +fulfilled his contract, and in a short time the Tsar had the +satisfaction of possessing a "cannon-house," subsequently dignified with +the name of "arsenal." Some of the natives learned the foreign art, and +exactly a century later (1856) a Russian, or at least a Slav, called +Tchekhof, produced a famous "Tsar-cannon," weighing as much as 96,000 +lbs. The connection thus established with the mechanical arts of the +West was always afterwards maintained, and we find frequent notices of +the fact in contemporary writers. In the reign of the grandfather of +Peter the Great, for example, two paper-works were established by an +Italian; and velvet for the Tsar and his Boyars, gold brocades for +ecclesiastical vestments, and rude kinds of glass for ordinary purposes +were manufactured under the august patronage of the enlightened ruler. +His son Alexis went a good many steps further, and scandalised +his God-fearing orthodox subjects by his love of foreign heretical +inventions. It was in his German suburb of Moscow that young Peter, +who was to be crowned "the Great," made his first acquaintance with the +useful arts of the West. + +When the great reformer came to the throne he found in his Tsardom, +besides many workshops, some ten foundries, all of which were under +orders "to cast cannons, bombs, and bullets, and to make arms for the +service of the State." This seemed to him only a beginning, especially +for the mining and iron industry, in which he was particularly +interested. By importing foreign artificers and placing at their +disposal big estates, with numerous serfs, in the districts where +minerals were plentiful, and by carefully stipulating that these +foreigners should teach his subjects well, and conceal from them none of +the secrets of the craft, he created in the Ural a great iron industry, +which still exists at the present day. Finding by experience that State +mines and State ironworks were a heavy drain on his insufficiently +replenished treasury, he transferred some of them to private persons, +and this policy was followed occasionally by his successors. Hence the +gigantic fortunes of the Demidofs and other families. The Shuvalovs, for +example, in 1760 possessed, for the purpose of working their mines and +ironworks, no less than 33,000 serfs and a corresponding amount of land. +Unfortunately the concessions were generally given not to enterprising +business-men, but to influential court-dignitaries, who confined their +attention to squandering the revenues, and not a few of the mines and +works reverted to the Government. + +The army required not only arms and ammunition, but also uniforms and +blankets. Great attention, therefore, was paid to the woollen industry +from the reign of Peter downwards. In the time of Catherine there +were already 120 cloth factories, but they were on a very small scale, +according to modern conceptions. Ten factories in Moscow, for example, +had amongst them only 104 looms, 130 workers, and a yearly output for +200,000 roubles. + +While thus largely influenced in its economic policy by military +considerations, the Government did not entirely neglect other branches +of manufacturing industry. Ever since Russia had pretensions to being +a civilised power its rulers have always been inclined to pay more +attention to the ornamental than the useful--to the varnish rather than +the framework of civilisation--and we need not therefore be surprised +to find that long before the native industry could supply the materials +required for the ordinary wants of humble life, attempts were made to +produce such things as Gobelin tapestries. I mention this merely as an +illustration of a characteristic trait of the national character, +the influence of which may be found in many other spheres of official +activity. + +If Russia did not attain the industrial level of Western Europe, it was +not from want of ambition and effort on the part of the rulers. They +worked hard, if not always wisely, for this end. Manufacturers were +exempted from rates and taxes, and even from military service, and some +of them, as I have said, received large estates from the Crown on the +understanding that the serfs should be employed as workmen. At the +same time they were protected from foreign competition by prohibitive +tariffs. In a word, the manufacturing industry was nursed and fostered +in a way to satisfy the most thorough-going protectionist, especially +those branches which worked up native raw material such as ores, flax, +hemp, wool, and tallow. Occasionally the official interference and +anxiety to protect public interests went further than the manufacturers +desired. On more than one occasion the authorities fixed the price +of certain kinds of manufactured goods, and in 1754 the Senate, being +anxious to protect the population from fires, ordered all glass and iron +works within a radius of 200 versts around Moscow to be destroyed! In +spite of such obstacles, the manufacturing industry as a whole +made considerable progress. Between 1729 and 1762 the number of +establishments officially recognised as factories rose from 26 to 335. + +These results did not satisfy Catherine II., who ascended the throne in +1762. Under the influence of her friends, the French Encyclopedistes, +she imagined for a time that the official control might be relaxed, and +that the system of employing serfs in the factories and foundries might +be replaced by free labour, as in Western Europe; monopolies might be +abolished, and all liege subjects, including the peasants, might be +allowed to embark in industrial undertakings as they pleased, "for +the benefit of the State and the nation." All this looked very well on +paper, but Catherine never allowed her sentimental liberalism to injure +seriously the interests of her Empire, and she accordingly refrained +from putting the laissez-faire principle largely into practice. Though +a good deal has been written about her economic policy, it is hardly +distinguishable from that of her predecessors. Like them, she maintained +high tariffs, accorded large subsidies, and even prevented the export of +raw material, in the hope that it might be worked up at home; and when +the prices in the woollen market rose very high, she compelled the +manufacturers to supply the army with cloth at a price fixed by the +authorities. In short, the old system remained practically unimpaired, +and notwithstanding the steady progress made during the reign of +Nicholas I. (1825-55), when the number of factory hands rose from +210,000 to 380,000, the manufacturing industry as a whole continued to +be, until the serfs were emancipated in 1861, a hothouse plant which +could flourish only in an officially heated atmosphere. + +There was one branch of it, however, to which this remark does not +apply. The art of cotton-spinning and cotton-weaving struck deep root +in Russian soil. After remaining for generations in the condition of +a cottage industry--the yarn being distributed among the peasants +and worked up by them in their own homes--it began, about 1825, to be +modernised. Though it still required to be protected against foreign +competition, it rapidly outgrew the necessity for direct official +support. Big factories driven by steam-power were constructed, the +number of hands employed rose to 110,000, and the foundations of great +fortunes were laid. Strange to say, many of the future millionaires were +uneducated serfs. Sava Morozof, for example, who was to become one of +the industrial magnates of Moscow, was a serf belonging to a proprietor +called Ryumin; most of the others were serfs of Count Sheremetyef--the +owner of a large estate on which the industrial town of Ivanovo had +sprung up--who was proud of having millionaires among his serfs, and who +never abused his authority over them. The great movement, however, was +not effected without the assistance of foreigners. Foreign foremen were +largely employed, and in the work of organisation a leading part was +played by a German called Ludwig Knoop. Beginning life as a commercial +traveller for an English firm, he soon became a large cotton importer, +and when in 1840 a feverish activity was produced in the Russian +manufacturing world by the Government's permission to import English +machines, his firm supplied these machines to the factories on condition +of obtaining a share in the business. It has been calculated that it +obtained in this way a share in no less than 122 factories, and hence +arose among the peasantry a popular saying: + + "Where there is a church, there you find a pope, + And where there is a factory, there you find a Knoop."* + +The biggest creation of the firm was a factory built at Narva in 1856, +with nearly half a million spindles driven by water-power. + + * Gdye tserkov--tam pop; + A gdye fabrika--tam Knop. + +In the second half of last century a revolution was brought about in the +manufacturing industry generally by the emancipation of the serfs, +the rapid extension of railways, the facilities for creating limited +liability companies, and by certain innovations in the financial policy +of the Government. The emancipation put on the market an unlimited +supply of cheap labour; the construction of railways in all directions +increased a hundredfold the means of communication; and the new banks +and other credit institutions, aided by an overwhelming influx of +foreign capital, encouraged the foundation and extension of industrial +and commercial enterprise of every description. For a time there was +great excitement. It was commonly supposed that in all matters relating +to trade and industry Russia had suddenly jumped up to the level of +Western Europe, and many people in St. Petersburg, carried away by the +prevailing enthusiasm for liberalism in general and the doctrines of +Free Trade in particular, were in favour of abolishing protectionism +as an antiquated restriction on liberty and an obstacle to economic +progress. + +At one moment the Government was disposed to yield to the current, but +it was restrained by an influential group of conservative Political +Economists, who appealed to patriotic sentiment, and by the Moscow +manufacturers, who declared that Free Trade would ruin the country. +After a little hesitation it proceeded to raise, instead of lowering, +the protectionist tariff. In 1869-76 the ad valorem duties were, on an +average, under thirteen per cent., but from that time onwards they rose +steadily, until the last five years of the century, when they averaged +thirty-three per cent., and were for some articles very much higher. +In this way the Moscow industrial magnates were protected against the +influx of cheap foreign goods, but they were not saved from foreign +competition, for many foreign manufacturers, in order to enjoy the +benefit of the high duties, founded factories in Russia. Even the firmly +established cotton industry suffered from these intruders. Industrial +suburbs containing not a few cotton factories sprang up around St. +Petersburg; and a small Polish village called Lodz, near the German +frontier, grew rapidly into a prosperous town of 300,000 inhabitants, +and became a serious rival to the ancient Muscovite capital. So +severely was the competition of this young upstart felt, that the Moscow +merchants petitioned the Emperor to protect them by drawing a customs +frontier round the Polish provinces, but their petition was not granted. + +Under the shelter of the high tariffs the manufacturing industry as a +whole has made rapid progress, and the cotton trade has kept well to +the front. In that branch, between 1861 and 1897, the number of hands +employed rose from 120,000 to 325,000, and the estimated value of the +products from 72 to 478 millions of roubles. In 1899 the number of +spindles was considerably over six millions, and the number of automatic +weaving machines 145,000. + +The iron industry has likewise progressed rapidly, though it has not yet +outgrown the necessity for Government support, and it is not yet able to +provide for all home wants. About forty years ago it received a powerful +impulse from the discovery that in the provinces to the north of the +Crimea and the Sea of Azof there were enormous quantities of iron ore +and beds of good coal in close proximity to each other. Thanks to this +discovery and to other facts of which I shall have occasion to speak +presently, this district, which had previously been agricultural and +pastoral, has outstripped the famous Ural region, and has become the +Black Country of Russia. The vast lonely steppe, where formerly one saw +merely the peasant-farmer, the shepherd, and the Tchumak,* driving along +somnolently with his big, long-horned, white bullocks, is now dotted +over with busy industrial settlements of mushroom growth, and great +ironworks--some of them unfinished; while at night the landscape is lit +up with the lurid flames of gigantic blast-furnaces. In this wonderful +transformation, as in the history of Russian industrial progress +generally, a great part was played by foreigners. The pioneer who did +most in this district was an Englishman, John Hughes, who began life +as the son and pupil of a Welsh blacksmith, and whose sons are now +directors of the biggest of the South Russian ironworks. + + * The Tchumak, a familiar figure in the songs and legends of + Little Russia, was the carrier who before the construction + of railways transported the grain to the great markets, and + brought back merchandise to the interior. He is gradually + disappearing. + +Much as the South has progressed industrially in recent years, it still +remains far behind those industrial portions of the country which were +thickly settled at an earlier date. From this point of view the most +important region is the group of provinces clustering round Moscow; next +comes the St. Petersburg region, including Livonia; and thirdly Poland. +As for the various kinds of industry, the most important category is +that of textile fabrics, the second that of articles of nutrition, +and the third that of ores and metals. The total production, if we may +believe certain statistical authorities, places Russia now among the +industrial nations of the world in the fifth place, immediately after +the United States, England, Germany, and France, and a little before +Austria. + +The man who has in recent times carried out most energetically the +policy of protecting and fostering native industries is M. Witte, a name +now familiar to Western Europe. An avowed disciple of the great German +economist, Friedrich List, about whose works he published a brochure in +1888, he held firmly, from his youth upwards, the doctrine that +"each nation should above all things develop harmoniously its natural +resources to the highest possible degree of independence, protecting +its own industries and preferring the national aim to the pecuniary +advantage of individuals." As a corollary to this principle he declared +that purely agricultural countries are economically backward and +intellectually stagnant, being condemned to pay tribute to the nations +who have learned to work up their raw products into more valuable +commodities. The good old English doctrine that certain countries were +intended by Providence to be eternally agricultural, and that their +function in the economy of the universe is to supply raw material +for the industrial nations, was always in his eyes an abomination--an +ingenious, nefarious invention of the Manchester school, astutely +invented for the purpose of keeping the younger nations permanently in +a state of economic bondage for the benefit of English manufacturers. To +emancipate Russia from this thraldom by enabling her to create a great +native industry, sufficient to supply all her own wants, was the aim of +his policy and the constant object of his untiring efforts. Those who +have had the good fortune to know him personally must have often +heard him discourse eloquently on this theme, supporting his views by +quotations from the economists of his own school, and by illustrations +drawn from the history of his own and other countries. + +A necessary condition of realising this aim was that there should be +high tariffs. These already existed, and they might be raised +still higher, but in themselves they were not enough. For the rapid +development of the native industry an enormous capital was required, and +the first problem to be solved was how this capital could be obtained. +At one moment the energetic minister conceived the project of creating a +fictitious capital by inflating the paper currency; but this idea +proved unpopular. When broached in the Council of State it encountered +determined opposition. Some of the members of that body, especially M. +Bunge, who had been himself Minister of Finance, and who remembered +the evil effects of the inordinate inflation of the currency on foreign +exchanges during the Turkish War, advocated strongly the directly +opposite course--a return to gold monometallism, for which M. +Vishnegradski, M. Witte's immediate predecessor, had made considerable +preparations. Being a practical man without inveterate prejudices, M. +Witte gave up the scheme which he could not carry through, and adopted +the views of his opponents. He would introduce the gold currency as +recommended; but how was the requisite capital to be obtained? It must +be procured from abroad, somehow, and the simplest way seemed to be to +stimulate the export of native products. For this purpose the railways +were extended,* the traffic rates manipulated, and the means of +transport improved generally. + + * In 1892, when M. Witte undertook the financial + administration, there were 30,620 versts of railway, and at + the end of 1900 there were 51,288 versts. + +A certain influx of gold was thus secured, but not nearly enough for the +object in view.* Some more potent means, therefore, had to be employed, +and the inventive minister evolved a new scheme. If he could only induce +foreign capitalists to undertake manufacturing industries in Russia, +they would, at one and the same time, bring into the country the capital +required, and they would cooperate powerfully in that development of the +national industry which he so ardently wished. No sooner had he roughly +sketched out his plan--for he was not a man to let the grass grow under +his feet--than he set himself to put it into execution by letting it +be known in the financial world that the Government was ready to open +a great field for lucrative investments, in the form of profitable +enterprises under the control of those who subscribed the capital. + + * In 1891 the total value of the exports was roughly + 70,000,000 pounds. It then fell, in consequence of bad + harvests, to 45 millions, and did not recover the previous + maximum until 1897, when it stood at 73 millions. + Thereafter there was a steady rise till 1901, when the total + was estimated at 76 millions. + +Foreign capitalists responded warmly to the call. Crowds of +concession-hunters, projectors, company promoters, et hoc genus omne, +collected in St. Petersburg, offering their services on the most +tempting terms; and all of them who could make out a plausible case were +well received at the Ministry of Finance. It was there explained to them +that in many branches of industry, such as the manufacture of textile +fabrics, there was little or no room for newcomers, but that in +others the prospects were most brilliant. Take, for example, the iron +industries of Southern Russia. The boundless mineral wealth of that +region was still almost intact, and the few works which had been there +established were paying very large dividends. The works founded by John +Hughes, for example, had repeatedly divided considerably over twenty per +cent., and there was little fear for the future, because the Government +had embarked on a great scheme of railway extension, requiring an +unlimited amount of rails and rolling-stock. What better opening could +be desired? Certainly the opening seemed most attractive, and into it +rushed the crowd of company promoters, followed by stock-jobbers and +brokers, playing lively pieces of what the Germans call Zukunftsmusik. +An unwary and confiding public, especially in Belgium and France, +listened to the enchanting strains of the financial syrens, and invested +largely. Quickly the number of completed ironworks in that region rose +from nine to seventeen, and in the short space of three years the output +of pig-iron was nearly doubled. In 1900 there were 44 blast furnaces in +working order, and ten more were in course of construction. And all this +time the Imperial revenue increased by leaps and bounds, so that the +introduction of the gold currency was effected without difficulty. M. +Witte was declared to be the greatest minister of his time--a Russian +Colbert or Turgot, or perhaps the two rolled into one. + +Then came a change. Competition and over-production led naturally to a +fall in prices, and at the same time the demand decreased, because the +railway-building activity of the Government slackened. Alarmed at this +state of things, the banks which had helped to start and foster the huge +and costly enterprises contracted their credits. By the end of 1899 the +disenchantment was general and widespread. Some of the companies were +so weighted by the preliminary financial obligations, and had conducted +their affairs in such careless, reckless fashion, that they had soon +to shut down their mines and close their works. Even solid undertakings +suffered. The shares of the Briansk works, for example, which had given +dividends as high as 30 per cent., fell from 500 to 230. The Mamontof +companies--supposed to be one of the strongest financial groups in the +country--had to suspend payment, and numerous other failures occurred. +Nearly all the commercial banks, having directly participated in the +industrial concerns, were rudely shaken. M. Witte, who had been for a +time the idol of a certain section of the financial world, became very +unpopular, and was accused of misleading the investing public. Among the +accusations brought against him some at least could easily be refuted. +He may have made mistakes in his policy, and may have been himself +over-sanguine, but surely, as he subsequently replied to his accusers, +it was no part of his duty to warn company promoters and directors that +they should refrain from over-production, and that their enterprises +might not be as remunerative as they expected. As to whether there +is any truth in the assertion that he held out prospects of larger +Government orders than he actually gave, I cannot say. That he cut +down prices, and showed himself a hard man to deal with, there seems no +doubt. + +The reader may naturally be inclined to jump to the conclusion that the +commercial crisis just referred to was the cause of M. Witte's fall. +Such a conclusion would be entirely erroneous. The crisis happened in +the winter of 1899-1900, and M. Witte remained Finance Minister until +the autumn of 1903. His fall was the result of causes of a totally +different kind, and these I propose now to explain, because the +explanation will throw light on certain very curious and characteristic +conceptions at present current in the Russian educated classes. + +Of course there were certain causes of a purely personal kind, but +I shall dismiss them in a very few words. I remember once asking +a well-informed friend of M. Witte's what he thought of him as an +administrator and a statesman. The friend replied: "Imagine a negro of +the Gold Coast let loose in modern European civilisation!" This reply, +like most epigrammatic remarks, is a piece of gross exaggeration, but +it has a modicum of truth in it. In the eyes of well-trained Russian +officials M. Witte was a titanic, reckless character, capable at any +moment of playing the part of the bull in the china-shop. As a masterful +person, brusque in manner and incapable of brooking contradiction, +he had made for himself many enemies; and his restless, irrepressible +energy had led him to encroach on the provinces of all his colleagues. +Possessing as he did the control of the purse, his interference could +not easily be resisted. The Ministers of Interior, War, Agriculture, +Public Works, Public Instruction, and Foreign Affairs had all occasion +to complain of his incursions into their departments. In contrast to his +colleagues, he was not only extremely energetic, but he was ever +ready to assume an astounding amount of responsibility; and as he was +something of an opportunist, he was perhaps not always quixotically +scrupulous in the choice of expedients for attaining his ends. + +Altogether M. Witte was an inconvenient personage in an administration +in which strong personality is regarded as entirely out of place, and in +which personal initiative is supposed to reside exclusively in the Tsar. +In addition to all this he was a man who felt keenly, and when he was +irritated he did not always keep the unruly member under strict +control. If I am correctly informed, it was some imprudent and not very +respectful remarks, repeated by a subordinate and transmitted by a Grand +Duke to the Tsar, which were the immediate cause of his transfer from +the influential post of Minister of Finance to the ornamental position +of President of the Council of Ministers; but that was merely the +proverbial last straw that broke the camel's back. His position was +already undermined, and it is the undermining process which I wish to +describe. + +The first to work for his overthrow were the Agrarian Conservatives. +They could not deny that, from the purely fiscal point of view, his +administration was a marvellous success; for he was rapidly doubling the +revenue, and he had succeeded in replacing the fluctuating depreciated +paper currency by a gold coinage; but they maintained that he was +killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. Evidently the tax-paying +power of the rural classes was being overstrained, for they were falling +more and more into arrears in the payment of their taxes, and their +impoverishment was yearly increasing. All their reserves had been +exhausted, as was shown by the famines of 1891-92, when the Government +had to spend hundreds of millions to feed them. Whilst the land was +losing its fertility, those who had to live by it were increasing in +numbers at an alarming rate. Already in some districts one-fifth of the +peasant households had no longer any land of their own, and of those +who still possessed land a large proportion had no longer the cattle and +horses necessary to till and manure their allotments. No doubt M. +Witte was beginning to perceive his mistake, and had done something to +palliate the evils by improving the system of collecting the taxes and +abolishing the duty on passports, but such merely palliative remedies +could have little effect. While a few capitalists were amassing gigantic +fortunes, the masses were slowly and surely advancing to the brink +of starvation. The welfare of the agriculturists, who constitute +nine-tenths of the whole population, was being ruthlessly sacrificed, +and for what? For the creation of a manufacturing industry which rested +on an artificial, precarious basis, and which had already begun to +decline. + +So far the Agrarians, who champion the interests of the agricultural +classes. Their views were confirmed and their arguments strengthened by +an influential group of men whom I may call, for want of a better name, +the philosophers or doctrinaire interpreters of history, who have, +strange to say, more influence in Russia than in any other country. + +The Russian educated classes desire that the nation should be wealthy +and self-supporting, and they recognise that for this purpose a large +manufacturing industry is required; but they are reluctant to make the +sacrifices necessary to attain the object in view, and they imagine +that, somehow or other, these sacrifices may be avoided. Sympathising +with this frame of mind, the doctrinaires explain that the rich and +prosperous countries of Europe and America obtained their wealth and +prosperity by so-called "Capitalism"--that is to say, by a peculiar +social organisation in which the two main factors are a small body of +rich capitalists and manufacturers and an enormous pauper proletariat +living from hand to mouth, at the mercy of the heartless employers of +labour. Russia has lately followed in the footsteps of those wealthy +countries, and if she continues to do so she will inevitably be saddled +with the same disastrous results--plutocracy, pauperism, unrestrained +competition in all spheres of activity, and a greatly intensified +struggle for life, in which the weaker will necessarily go to the wall.* + + * Free competition in all spheres of activity, leading to + social inequality, plutocracy, and pauperism, is the + favourite bugbear of Russian theorists; and who is not a + theorist in Russia? The fact indicates the prevalence of + Socialist ideas in the educated classes. + +Happily there is, according to these theorists, a more excellent way, +and Russia can adopt it if she only remains true to certain mysterious +principles of her past historic development. Without attempting to +expound those mysterious principles, to which I have repeatedly referred +in previous chapters, I may mention briefly that the traditional +patriarchal institutions on which the theorists found their hopes of a +happy social future for their country are the rural Commune, the native +home-industries, and the peculiar co-operative institutions called +Artels. How these remnants of a semi-patriarchal state of society are to +be practically developed in such a way as to withstand the competition +of manufacturing industry organised on modern "capitalist" lines, no +one has hitherto been able to explain satisfactorily, but many people +indulge in ingenious speculations on the subject, like children planning +the means of diverting with their little toy spades a formidable +inundation. In my humble opinion, the whole theory is a delusion; but +it is held firmly--I might almost say fanatically--by those who, in +opposition to the indiscriminate admirers of West-European and American +civilisation, consider themselves genuine Russians and exceptionally +good patriots. M. Witte has never belonged to that class. He believes +that there is only one road to national prosperity--the road by which +Western Europe has travelled--and along this road he tried to drive his +country as rapidly as possible. He threw himself, therefore, heart and +soul into what his opponents call "Capitalism," by raising State loans, +organising banks and other credit institutions, encouraging the creation +and extension of big factories, which must inevitably destroy the home +industry, and even--horribile dictu!--undermining the rural Commune, +and thereby adding to the ranks of the landless proletariat, in order to +increase the amount of cheap labour for the benefit of the capitalists. + +With the arguments thus supplied by Agrarians and doctrinaires, quite +honest and well-meaning, according to their lights, it was easy to sap +M. Witte's position. Among his opponents, the most formidable was the +late M. Plehve, Minister of Interior--a man of a totally different +stamp. A few months before his tragic end I had a long and interesting +conversation with him, and I came away deeply impressed. Having +repeatedly had conversations of a similar kind with M. Witte, I could +compare, or rather contrast, the two men. Both of them evidently +possessed an exceptional amount of mental power and energy, but in the +one it was volcanic, and in the other it was concentrated and thoroughly +under control. In discussion, the one reminded me of the self-taught, +slashing swordsman; the other of the dexterous fencer, carefully trained +in the use of the foils, who never launches out beyond the point at +which he can quickly recover himself. As to whether M. Plehve was +anything more than a bold, energetic, clever official there may be +differences of opinion, but he certainly could assume the airs of a +profound and polished statesman, capable of looking at things from a +much higher point of view than the ordinary tchinovnik, and he had the +talent of tacitly suggesting that a great deal of genuine, enlightened +statesmanship lay hidden under the smooth surface of his cautious +reserve. Once or twice I could perceive that when criticising the +present state of things he had his volcanic colleague in his mind's eye; +but the covert allusions were so vague and so carefully worded that the +said colleague, if he had been present, would hardly have been justified +in entering a personal protest. A statesman of the higher type, I was +made to feel, should deal not with personalities, but with things, and +it would be altogether unbecoming to complain of a colleague in presence +of an outsider. Thus his attitude towards his opponent was most correct, +but it was not difficult to infer that he had little sympathy with the +policy of the Ministry of Finance. + +From other sources I learned the cause of this want of sympathy. Being +Minister of Interior, and having served long in the Police Department, +M. Plehve considered that his first duty was the maintenance of public +order and the protection of the person and autocracy of his august +master. He was therefore the determined enemy of revolutionary +tendencies, in whatever garb or disguise they might appear; and as +a statesman he had to direct his attention to everything likely to +increase those tendencies in the future. Now it seemed that in the +financial policy which had been followed for some years there were +germs of future revolutionary fermentation. The peasantry were becoming +impoverished, and were therefore more likely to listen to the insidious +suggestions of Socialist agitators; and already agrarian disturbances +had occurred in the provinces of Kharkof and Poltava. The industrial +proletariat which was being rapidly created was being secretly organised +by the revolutionary Social Democrats, and already there had been +serious labour troubles in some of the large towns. For any future +revolutionary movement the proletariat would naturally supply recruits. +Then, at the other end of the social scale, a class of rich capitalists +was being created, and everybody who has read a little history knows +that a rich and powerful tiers etat cannot be permanently conciliated +with autocracy. Though himself neither an agrarian nor a Slavophil +doctrinaire, M. Plehve could not but have a certain sympathy with those +who were forging thunderbolts for the official annihilation of M. Witte. +He was too practical a man to imagine that the hands on the dial of +economic progress could be set back and a return made to moribund +patriarchal institutions; but he thought that at least the pace might +be moderated. The Minister of Finance need not be in such a desperate, +reckless hurry, and it was desirable to create conservative forces which +might counteract the revolutionary forces which his impulsive colleague +was inadvertently calling into existence. + +Some of the forgers of thunderbolts went a great deal further, +and asserted or insinuated that M. Witte was himself consciously a +revolutionist, with secret, malevolent intentions. In support of their +insinuations they cited certain cases in which well-known Socialists had +been appointed professors in academies under the control of the Ministry +of Finance, and they pointed to the Peasant Bank, which enjoyed M. +Witte's special protection. At first it had been supposed that the bank +would have an anti-revolutionary influence by preventing the +formation of a landless proletariat and increasing the number of small +land-owners, who are always and everywhere conservative so far as the +rights of private property are concerned. + +Unfortunately its success roused the fears of the more conservative +section of the landed proprietors. These gentlemen, as I have already +mentioned, pointed out that the estates of the nobles were rapidly +passing into the hands of the peasantry, and that if this process were +allowed to continue the hereditary Noblesse, which had always been the +civilising element in the rural population, and the surest support of +the throne, would drift into the towns and there sink into poverty or +amalgamate with the commercial plutocracy, and help to form a tiers etat +which would be hostile to the Autocratic Power. + +In these circumstances it was evident that the headstrong Minister +of Finance could maintain his position only so long as he enjoyed the +energetic support of the Emperor, and this support, for reasons which I +have indicated above, failed him at the critical moment. When his +work was still unfinished he was suddenly compelled, by the Emperor's +command, to relinquish his post and accept a position in which, it was +supposed, he would cease to have any influence in the administration. + +Thus fell the Russian Colbert-Turgot, or whatever else he may be +called. Whether financial difficulties in the future will lead to his +reinstatement as Minister of Finance remains to be seen; but in any case +his work cannot be undone. He has increased manufacturing industry to +an unprecedented extent, and, as M. Plehve perceived, the industrial +proletariat which manufacturing industry on capitalist lines always +creates has provided a new field of activity for the revolutionists. +I return, therefore, to the evolution of the revolutionary movement in +order to describe its present phase, the first-fruits of which have +been revealed in the labour disturbances in St. Petersburg and other +industrial centres. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT IN ITS LATEST PHASE + + +Influence of Capitalism and Proletariat on the Revolutionary +Movement--What is to be Done?--Reply of Plekhanof--A New Departure--Karl +Marx's Theories Applied to Russia--Beginnings of a Social Democratic +Movement--The Labour Troubles of 1894-96 in St. Petersburg--The Social +Democrats' Plan of Campaign--Schism in the Party--Trade-unionism and +Political Agitation--The Labour Troubles of 1902--How the Revolutionary +Groups are Differentiated from Each Other--Social Democracy and +Constitutionalism--Terrorism--The Socialist Revolutionaries--The +Militant Organisation--Attitude of the Government--Factory +Legislation--Government's Scheme for Undermining Social +Democracy--Father Gapon and His Labour Association--The Great Strike in +St. Petersburg--Father Gapon goes over to the Revolutionaries. + + +The development of manufacturing industry on capitalist lines, and the +consequent formation of a large industrial proletariat, produced great +disappointment in all the theorising sections of the educated classes. +The thousands of men and women who had, since the accession of the +Tsar-Emancipator in 1855, taken a keen, enthusiastic interest in the +progress of their native country, all had believed firmly that in +some way or other Russia would escape "the festering sores of Western +civilisation." Now experience had proved that the belief was an +illusion, and those who had tried to check the natural course of +industrial progress were constrained to confess that their efforts had +been futile. Big factories were increasing in size and numbers, while +cottage industries were disappearing or falling under the power of +middlemen, and the Artels had not advanced a step in their expected +development. The factory workers, though all of peasant origin, were +losing their connection with their native villages and abandoning +their allotments of the Communal land. They were becoming, in short, +a hereditary caste in the town population, and the pleasant Slavophil +dream of every factory worker having a house in the country was being +rudely dispelled. Nor was there any prospect of a change for the better +in the future. With the increase of competition among the manufacturers, +the uprooting of the muzhik from the soil must go on more and more +rapidly, because employers must insist more and more on having +thoroughly trained operatives ready to work steadily all the year round. + +This state of things had a curious effect on the course of the +revolutionary movement. + +Let me recall very briefly the successive stages through which the +movement had already passed. It had been inaugurated, as we have +seen, by the Nihilists, the ardent young representatives of a +"storm-and-stress" period, in which the venerable traditions and +respected principles of the past were rejected and ridiculed, and the +newest ideas of Western Europe were eagerly adopted and distorted. Like +the majority of their educated countrymen, they believed that in the +race of progress Russia was about to overtake and surpass the nations of +the West, and that this desirable result was to be attained by making +a tabula rasa of existing institutions, and reconstructing society +according to the plans of Proudhon, Fourier, and the other writers of +the early Socialist school. + +When the Nihilists had expended their energies and exhausted the +patience of the public in theorising, talking, and writing, a party of +action came upon the scene. Like the Nihilists, they desired political, +social, and economic reforms of the most thorough-going kind, but they +believed that such things could not be effected by the educated classes +alone, and they determined to call in the co-operation of the people. +For this purpose they tried to convert the masses to the gospel of +Socialism. Hundreds of them became missionaries and "went in among +the people." But the gospel of Socialism proved unintelligible to the +uneducated, and the more ardent, incautious missionaries fell into the +hands of the police. Those of them who escaped, perceiving the error +of their ways, but still clinging to the hope of bringing about a +political, social, and economic revolution, determined to change their +tactics. The emancipated serf had shown himself incapable of "prolonged +revolutionary activity," but there was reason to believe that he was, +like his forefathers in the time of Stenka Razin and Pugatcheff, capable +of rising and murdering his oppressors. He must be used, therefore, for +the destruction of the Autocratic Power and the bureaucracy, and then +it would be easy to reorganise society on a basis of universal equality, +and to take permanent precautions against capitalism and the creation of +a proletariat. + +The hopes of the agitators proved as delusive as those of the +propagandists. The muzhik turned a deaf ear to their instigations, and +the police soon prevented their further activity. Thus the would-be +root-and-branch reforms found themselves in a dilemma. Either they must +abandon their schemes for the moment or they must strike immediately at +their persecutors. They chose, as we have seen, the latter alternative, +and after vain attempts to frighten the Government by acts of terrorism +against zealous officials, they assassinated the Tsar himself; but +before they had time to think of the constructive part of their task, +their organisation was destroyed by the Autocratic Power and the +bureaucracy, and those of them who escaped arrest had to seek safety in +emigration to Switzerland and Paris. + +Then arose, all along the line of the defeated, decimated +revolutionists, the cry, "What is to be done?" Some replied that the +shattered organisation should be reconstructed, and a number of secret +agents were sent successively from Switzerland for this purpose. +But their efforts, as they themselves confessed, were fruitless, and +despondency seemed to be settling down permanently on all, except a few +fanatics, when a voice was heard calling on the fugitives to rally round +a new banner and carry on the struggle by entirely new methods. The +voice came from a revolutionologist (if I may use such a term) of +remarkable talent, called M. Plekhanof, who had settled in Geneva with +a little circle of friends, calling themselves the "Labour Emancipation +Group." His views were expounded in a series of interesting +publications, the first of which was a brochure entitled "Socialism and +the Political Struggle," published in 1883. + +According to M. Plekhanof and his group the revolutionary movement had +been conducted up to that moment on altogether wrong lines. All previous +revolutionary groups had acted on the assumption that the political +revolution and the economic reorganisation of society must be effected +simultaneously, and consequently they had rejected contemptuously all +proposals for reforms, however radical, of a merely political kind. +These had been considered, as I have mentioned in a previous chapter, +not only as worthless, but as positively prejudicial to the interests +of the working classes, because so-called political liberties and +parliamentary government would be sure to consolidate the domination of +the bourgeoisie. That such has generally been the immediate effect of +parliamentary institutions is undeniable, but it did not follow that the +creation of such institutions should be opposed. On the contrary, they +ought to be welcomed, not merely because, as some revolutionists had +already pointed out, propaganda and agitation could be more easily +carried on under a constitutional regime, but because constitutionalism +is certainly the most convenient, and perhaps the only, road by which +the socialistic ideal can ultimately be attained. This is a dark saying, +but it will become clearer when I have explained, according to the new +apostles, a second error into which their predecessors had fallen. + +That second error was the assumption that all true friends of the +people, whether Conservatives, Liberals, or revolutionaries, ought to +oppose to the utmost the development of capitalism. In the light of Karl +Marx's discoveries in economic science every one must recognise this to +be an egregious mistake. That great authority, it was said, had proved +that the development of capitalism was irresistible, and his conclusions +had been confirmed by the recent history of Russia, for all the economic +progress made during the last half century had been on capitalist lines. + +Even if it were possible to arrest the capitalist movement, it is not +desirable from the revolutionary point of view. In support of this +thesis Karl Marx is again cited. He has shown that capitalism, though an +evil in itself, is a necessary stage of economic and social progress. At +first it is prejudicial to the interests of the working classes, but +in the long run it benefits them, because the ever-growing proletariat +must, whether it desires it or not, become a political party, and as a +political party it must one day break the domination of the bourgeoisie. +As soon as it has obtained the predominant political power, it +will confiscate, for the public good, the instruments of +production--factories, foundries, machines, etc.--by expropriating the +capitalist. In this way all the profits which accrue from production +on a large scale, and which at present go into the pockets of the +capitalists, will be distributed equally among the workmen. + +Thus began a new phase of the revolutionary movement, and, like all +previous phases, it remained for some years in the academic stage, +during which there were endless discussions on theoretical and practical +questions. Lavroff, the prophet of the old propaganda, treated the +new ideas "with grandfatherly severity," and Tikhomirof, the leading +representative of the moribund Narodnaya Volya, which had prepared the +acts of terrorism, maintained stoutly that the West European methods +recommended by Plekhanof were inapplicable to Russia. The Plekhanof +group replied in a long series of publications, partly original and +partly translations from Marx and Engels, explaining the doctrines and +aims of the Social Democrats. + +Seven years were spent in this academic literary activity--a period of +comparative repose for the Russian secret police--and about 1890 +the propagandists of the new school began to work cautiously in St. +Petersburg. At first they confined themselves to forming little secret +circles for making converts, and they found that the ground had been +to some extent prepared for the seed which they had to sow. The workmen +were discontented, and some of the more intelligent amongst them who had +formerly been in touch with the propagandists of the older generation +had learned that there was an ingenious and effective means of getting +their grievances redressed. How was that possible? By combination and +strikes. For the uneducated workers this was an important discovery, and +they soon began to put the suggested remedy to a practical test. In the +autumn of 1894 labour troubles broke out in the Nevski engineering works +and the arsenal, and in the following year in the Thornton factory and +the cigarette works. In all these strikes the Social Democratic agents +took part behind the scenes. Avoiding the main errors of the old +propagandists, who had offered the workmen merely abstract Socialist +theories which no uneducated person could reasonably be expected to +understand, they adopted a more rational method. Though impervious to +abstract theories, the Russian workman is not at all insensible to the +prospect of bettering his material condition and getting his everyday +grievances redressed. Of these grievances the ones he felt most keenly +were the long hours, the low wages, the fines arbitrarily imposed by +the managers, and the brutal severity of the foreman. By helping him +to have these grievances removed the Social Democratic agents might gain +his confidence, and when they had come to be regarded by him as his real +friends they might widen his sympathies and teach him to feel that his +personal interests were identical with the interests of the working +classes as a whole. In this way it would be possible to awaken in the +industrial proletariat generally a sort of esprit de corps, which is the +first condition of political organisation. + +On these lines the agents set to work. Having formed themselves into a +secret association called the "Union for the Emancipation of the +Working Classes," they gradually abandoned the narrow limits of +coterie-propaganda, and prepared the way for agitation on a larger +scale. Among the discontented workmen they distributed a large number +of carefully written tracts, in which the material grievances were +formulated, and the whole political system, with its police, gendarmes, +Cossacks, and tax-gathers, was criticised in no friendly spirit, +but without violent language. In introducing into the programme this +political element, great caution had to be exercised, because the +workmen did not yet perceive clearly any close connection between their +grievances and the existing political institutions, and those of +them who belonged to the older generation regarded the Tsar as the +incarnation of disinterested benevolence. Bearing this in mind, the +Union circulated a pamphlet for the enlightenment of the labouring +population, in which the writer refrained from all reference to the +Autocratic Power, and described simply the condition of the labouring +classes, the heavy burdens they had to bear, the abuses of which they +were the victims, and the inconsiderate way in which they were treated +by their employers. This pamphlet was eagerly read, and from that moment +whenever labour troubles arose the men applied to the Social Democratic +agents to assist them in formulating their grievances. + +Of course, the assistance had to be given secretly, because there were +always police spies in the factories, and all persons suspected of +aiding the labour movement were liable to be arrested and exiled. In +spite of this danger the work was carried on with great energy, and +in the summer of 1896 the field of operations was extended. During the +coronation ceremonies of that year the factories and workshops in St. +Petersburg were closed, and the men considered that for these days they +ought to receive wages as usual. When their demand was refused, 40,000 +of them went out on strike. The Social Democratic Union seized the +opportunity and distributed tracts in large quantities. For the first +time such tracts were read aloud at workmen's meetings and applauded by +the audience. The Union encouraged the workmen in their resistance, +but advised them to refrain from violence, so as not to provoke the +intervention of the police and the military, as they had imprudently +done on some previous occasions. When the police did intervene and +expelled some of the strike-leaders from St. Petersburg, the agitators +had an excellent opportunity of explaining that the authorities were +the protectors of the employers and the enemies of the working classes. +These explanations counteracted the effect of an official proclamation +to the workmen, in which M. Witte tried to convince them that the Tsar +was constantly striving to improve their condition. The struggle was +decided, not by arguments and exhortations, but by a more potent force; +having no funds for continuing the strike, the men were compelled by +starvation to resume work. + +This is the point at which the labour movement began to be conducted +on a large scale and by more systematic methods. In the earlier labour +troubles the strikers had not understood that the best means of bringing +pressure on employers was simply to refuse to work, and they had often +proceeded to show their dissatisfaction by ruthlessly destroying their +employers' property. This had brought the police, and sometimes the +military, on the scene, and numerous arrests had followed. Another +mistake made by the inexperienced strikers was that they had neglected +to create a reserve fund from which they could draw the means of +subsistence when they no longer received wages and could no longer +obtain credit at the factory provision store. Efforts were now made +to correct these two mistakes, and with regard to the former they were +fairly successful, for wanton destruction of property ceased to be a +prominent feature of labour troubles; but strong reserve funds have not +yet been created, so that the strikes have never been of long duration. + +Though the strikes had led, so far, to no great practical, tangible +results, the new ideas and aspirations were spreading rapidly in the +factories and workshops, and they had already struck such deep root +that some of the genuine workmen wished to have a voice in the managing +committee of the Union, which was composed exclusively of educated men. +When a request to that effect was rejected by the committee a lengthy +discussion took place, and it soon became evident that underneath the +question of organisation lay a most important question of principle. The +workmen wished to concentrate their efforts on the improvement of their +material condition, and to proceed on what we should call trade-unionist +lines, whereas the committee wished them to aim also at the acquisition +of political rights. Great determination was shown on both sides. An +attempt of the workmen to maintain a secret organ of their own with the +view of emancipating themselves from the "Politicals" ended in failure; +but they received sympathy and support from some of the educated members +of the party, and in this way a schism took place in the Social Democrat +camp. After repeated ineffectual attempts to find a satisfactory +compromise, the question was submitted to a Congress which was held +in Switzerland in 1900; but the discussions merely accentuated the +differences of opinion, and the two parties constituted themselves into +separate independent groups. The one under the leadership of Plekhanof, +and calling itself the Revolutionary Social Democrats, held to the Marx +doctrines in all their extent and purity, and maintained the necessity +of constant agitation in the political sense. The other, calling itself +the Union of Foreign Social Democrats, inclined to the trade-unionism +programme, and proclaimed the necessity of being guided by political +expediency rather than inflexible dogmas. Between the two a wordy +warfare was carried on for some time in pedantic, technical language; +but though habitually brandishing their weapons and denouncing their +antagonists in true Homeric style, they were really allies, struggling +towards a common end--two sections of the Social Democratic party +differing from each other on questions of tactics. + +The two divergent tendencies have often reappeared in the subsequent +history of the movement. During ordinary peaceful times the economic +or trade-unionist tendency can generally hold its own, but as soon as +disturbances occur and the authorities have to intervene, the political +current quickly gains the upper hand. This was exemplified in the labour +troubles which took place at Rostoff-on-the-Don in 1902. During the +first two days of the strike the economic demands alone were put +forward, and in the speeches which were delivered at the meetings of +workmen no reference was made to political grievances. On the third day +one orator ventured to speak disrespectfully of the Autocratic Power, +but he thereby provoked signs of dissatisfaction in the audiences. On +the fifth and following days, however, several political speeches were +made, ending with the cry of "Down with Tsarism!" and a crowd of 30,000 +workmen agreed with the speakers. Thereafter occurred similar strikes +in Odessa, the Caucasus, Kief, and Central Russia, and they had all a +political rather than a purely economic character. + +I must now endeavour to explain clearly the point of view and plan +of campaign of this new movement, which I may call the revolutionary +Renaissance. + +The ultimate aim of the new reformers was the same as that of all their +predecessors--the thorough reorganisation of Society on Socialistic +principles. According to their doctrines, Society as at present +constituted consists of two great classes, called variously the +exploiters and the exploited, the shearers and the shorn, the +capitalists and the workers, the employers and the employed, the tyrants +and the oppressed; and this unsatisfactory state of things must go on so +long as the so-called bourgeois or capitalist regime continues to exist. +In the new heaven and the new earth of which the Socialist dreams this +unjust distinction is to disappear; all human beings are to be equally +free and independent, all are to cooperate spontaneously with brains +and hands to the common good, and all are to enjoy in equal shares the +natural and artificial good things of this life. + +So far there has never been any difference of opinion among the various +groups of Russian thorough-going revolutionists. All of them, from the +antiquated Nihilist down to the Social Democrat of the latest type, have +held these views. What has differentiated them from each other is the +greater or less degree of impatience to realise the ideal. + +The most impatient were the Anarchists, who grouped themselves around +Bakunin. They wished to overthrow immediately by a frontal attack all +existing forms of government and social organisation, in the hope that +chance, or evolution, or natural instinct, or sudden inspiration or some +other mysterious force, would create something better. They themselves +declined to aid this mysterious force even by suggestions, on the ground +that, as one of them has said, "to construct is not the business of +the generation whose duty is to destroy." Notwithstanding the +strong impulsive element in the national character, the reckless, +ultra-impatient doctrinaires never became numerous, and never succeeded +in forming an organised group, probably because the young generation in +Russia were too much occupied with the actual and future condition of +their own country to embark on schemes of cosmopolitan anarchism such as +Bakunin recommended. + +Next in the scale of impatience came the group of believers in Socialist +agitation among the masses, with a view to overturning the existing +Government and putting themselves in its place as soon as the masses +were sufficiently organised to play the part destined for them. Between +them and the Anarchists the essential points of difference were that +they admitted the necessity of some years of preparation, and +they intended, when the Government was overturned, not to preserve +indefinitely the state of anarchy, but to put in the place of autocracy, +limited monarchy, or the republic, a strong, despotic Government +thoroughly imbued with Socialistic principles. As soon as it had laid +firmly the foundations of the new order of things it was to call a +National Assembly, from which it was to receive, I presume, a bill of +indemnity for the benevolent tyranny which it had temporarily exercised. + +Impatience a few degrees less intense produced the next group, the +partisans of pacific Socialist propaganda. They maintained that there +was no necessity for overthrowing the old order of things till the +masses had been intellectually prepared for the new, and they objected +to the foundation of the new regime being laid by despots, however +well-intentioned in the Socialist sense. The people must be made happy +and preserved in a state of happiness by the people themselves. + +In the last place came the least impatient of all, the Social Democrats, +who differ widely from all the preceding categories. + +All previous revolutionary groups had systematically rejected the idea +of a gradual transition from the bourgeois to the Socialist regime. They +would not listen to any suggestion about a constitutional monarchy or +a democratic republic even as a mere intermediate stage of social +development. All such things, as part and parcel of the bourgeois +system, were anathematised. There must be no half-way houses between +present misery and future happiness; for many weary travellers might be +tempted to settle there in the desert, and fail to reach the promised +land. "Ever onward" should be the watchword, and no time should be +wasted on the foolish struggles of political parties and the empty +vanities of political life. + +Not thus thought the Social Democrat. He was much wiser in his +generation. Having seen how the attempts of the impatient groups had +ended in disaster, and knowing that, if they had succeeded, the old +effete despotism would probably have been replaced by a young, vigorous +one more objectionable than its predecessor, he determined to try a more +circuitous but surer road to the goal which the impatient people had +in view. In his opinion the distance from the present Russian regime +protected by autocracy to the future Socialist paradise was far too +great to be traversed in a single stage, and he knew of one or two +comfortable rest-houses on the way. First there was the rest-house of +Constitutionalism, with parliamentary institutions. For some years +the bourgeoisie would doubtless have a parliamentary majority, but +gradually, by persistent effort, the Fourth Estate would gain the upper +hand, and then the Socialist millennium might be proclaimed. Meanwhile, +what had to be done was to gain the confidence of the masses, especially +of the factory workers, who were more intelligent and less conservative +than the peasantry, and to create powerful labour organisations as +material for a future political party. + +This programme implied, of course, a certain unity of action with the +constitutionalists, from whom, as I have said, the revolutionists of +the old school had stood sternly aloof. There was now no question of a +formal union, and certainly no idea of a "union of hearts," because the +Socialists knew that their ultimate aim would be strenuously opposed by +the Liberals, and the Liberals knew that an attempt was being made to +use them as a cat's-paw; but there seemed to be no reason why they +of the two groups should not observe towards each other a benevolent +neutrality, and march side by side as far as the half-way house, where +they could consider the conditions of the further advance. + +When I first became acquainted with the Russian Social Democrats I +imagined that their plan of campaign was of a purely pacific character; +and that they were, unlike their predecessors, an evolutionary, as +distinguished from a revolutionary, party. Subsequently I discovered +that this conception was not quite accurate. In ordinary quiet times +they use merely pacific methods, and they feel that the Proletariat is +not yet sufficiently prepared, intellectually and politically, to assume +the great responsibilities which are reserved for it in the future. +Moreover, when the moment comes for getting rid of the Autocratic +Power, they would prefer a gradual process of liquidation to a sudden +cataclysm. So far they may be said to be evolutionaries rather than +revolutionaries, but their plan of campaign does not entirely exclude +violence. They would not consider it their duty to oppose the use +of violence on the part of the more impatient sections of the +revolutionists, and they would have no scruples about utilising +disturbances for the attainment of their own end. Public agitation, +which is always likely in Russia to provoke violent repression by +the authorities, they regard as necessary for keeping alive and +strengthening the spirit of opposition; and when force is used by the +police they approve of the agitators using force in return. To acts of +terrorism, however, they are opposed on principle. + +Who, then, are the Terrorists, who have assassinated so many great +personages, including the Grand Duke Serge? In reply to this question +I must introduce the reader to another group of the revolutionists who +have usually been in hostile, rather than friendly, relations with the +Social Democrats, and who call themselves the Socialist-Revolutionaries +(Sotsialisty-Revolutsionery). + +It will be remembered that the terrorist group, commonly called +Narodnaya Volya, or Narodovoltsi, which succeeded in assassinating +Alexander II., were very soon broken up by the police and most of the +leading members were arrested. A few escaped, of whom some remained in +the country and others emigrated to Switzerland or Paris, and efforts +at reorganisation were made, especially in the southern and western +provinces, but they proved ineffectual. At last, sobered by experience +and despairing of further success, some of the prisoners and a few of +the exiles--notably Tikhomirof, who was regarded as the leader--made +their peace with the Government, and for some years terrorism seemed to +be a thing of the past. Passing through Russia on my way home from India +and Central Asia at that time, I came to the conclusion that the young +generation had recovered from its prolonged attack of brain-fever, and +had entered on a more normal, tranquil, and healthy period of existence. + +My expectations proved too optimistic. About 1894 the Narodnaya Volya +came to life again, with all its terrorist traditions intact; and +shortly afterwards appeared the new group which I have just mentioned, +the Socialist-Revolutionaries, with somewhat similar principles and +a better organisation. For some seven or eight years the two groups +existed side by side, and then the Narodnaya Volya disappeared, absorbed +probably by its more powerful rival. + +During the first years of their existence neither group was strong +enough to cause the Government serious inconvenience, and it was not +till 1897-98 that they found means of issuing manifestos and programmes. +In these the Narodovoltsi declared that their immediate aims were the +annihilation of Autocracy, the convocation of a National Assembly and +the reorganisation of the Empire on the principles of federation and +local self-government, and that for the attainment of these objects +the means to be employed should include popular insurrections, military +conspiracies, bombs and dynamite. + +Very similar, though ostensibly a little more eclectic, was the +programme of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Their ultimate aim was +declared to be the transfer of political authority from the Autocratic +Power to the people, the abolition of private property in the means +of production, and in general the reorganisation of national life on +Socialist principles. On certain points they were at one with the Social +Democrats. They recognised, for example, that the social reorganisation +must be preceded by a political revolution, that much preparatory +work was necessary, and that attention should be directed first to the +industrial proletariat as the most intelligent section of the masses. +On the other hand they maintained that it was a mistake to confine the +revolutionary activity to the working classes of the towns, who were +not strong enough to overturn the Autocratic Power. The agitation ought, +therefore, to be extended to the peasantry, who were quite "developed" +enough to understand at least the idea of land-nationalisation; and for +the carrying out of this part of the programme a special organisation +was created. + +With so many opinions in common, it seemed at one moment as if the +Social Democrats and the Socialist-Revolutionaries might unite their +forces for a combined attack on the Government; but apart from the +mutual jealousy and hatred which so often characterise revolutionary as +well as religious sects, they were prevented from coalescing, or even +cordially co-operating, by profound differences both in doctrine and in +method. + +The Social Democrats are essentially doctrinaires. Thorough-going +disciples of Karl Marx, they believed in what they consider the +immutable laws of social progress, according to which the Socialistic +ideal can be reached only through capitalism; and the intermediate +political revolution, which is to substitute the will of the people +for the Autocratic Power, must be effected by the conversion and +organisation of the industrial proletariat. With the spiritual pride of +men who feel themselves to be the incarnations or avatars of immutable +law, they are inclined to look down with something very like contempt on +mere empirics who are ignorant of scientific principles and are guided +by considerations of practical expediency. The Social-Revolutionaries +seem to them to be empirics of this kind because they reject the tenets, +or at least deny the infallibility, of the Marx school, cling to the +idea of partially resisting the overwhelming influence of capitalism in +Russia, hope that the peasantry will play at least a secondary part in +bringing about the political revolution, and are profoundly convinced +that the advent of political liberty may be greatly accelerated by +the use of terrorism. On this last point they stated their views very +frankly in a pamphlet which they published in 1902 under the title of +"Our Task" (Nasha Zadatcha). It is there said: + + +"One of the powerful means of struggle, dictated by our revolutionary +past and present, is political terrorism, consisting of the annihilation +of the most injurious and influential personages of Russian autocracy in +given conditions. Systematic terrorism, in conjunction with other +forms of open mass-struggle (industrial riots and agrarian risings, +demonstrations, etc.), which receive from terrorism an enormous, +decisive significance, will lead to the disorganisation of the enemy. +Terrorist activity will cease only with the victory over autocracy +and the complete attainment of political liberty. Besides its chief +significance as a means of disorganising, terrorist activity will serve +at the same time as a means of propaganda and agitation, a form of open +struggle taking place before the eyes of the whole people, undermining +the prestige of Government authority, and calling into life new +revolutionary forces, while the oral and literary propaganda is being +continued without interruption. Lastly, the terrorist activity serves +for the whole secret revolutionary party as a means of self-defence and +of protecting the organisation against the injurious elements of spies +and treachery." + + +In accordance with this theory a "militant organisation" (Boevaga +Organisatsia) was formed and soon set to work with revolvers and +bombs. First an attempt was made on the life of Pobedonostsef; then the +Minister of the Interior, Sipiagin, was assassinated; next attempts were +made on the lives of the Governors of Vilna and Kharkof, and the +Kharkof chief of police; and since that time the Governor of Ufa, the +Vice-Governor of Elizabetpol, the Minister of the Interior, M. Plehve, +and the Grand Duke Serge have fallen victims to the terrorist policy.* + + * In this list I have not mentioned the assassination of M. + Bogolyepof, Minister of Public Instruction, in 1901, because + I do not know whether it should be attributed to the + Socialist-Revolutionaries or to the Narodovoltsi, who had + not yet amalgamated with them. + +Though the Social Democrats have no sentimental squeamishness about +bloodshed, they objected to this policy on the ground that acts of +terrorism were unnecessary and were apt to prove injurious rather than +beneficial to the revolutionist cause. One of the main objects of every +intelligent revolutionary party should be to awaken all classes from +their habitual apathy and induce them to take an active part in the +political movement; but terrorism must have a contrary effect by +suggesting that political freedom is to be attained, not by the steady +pressure and persevering cooperation of the people, but by startling, +sensational acts of individual heroism. + +The efforts of these two revolutionary parties, as well as of minor +groups, to get hold of the industrial proletariat did not escape the +notice of the authorities; and during the labour troubles of 1896, on +the suggestion of M. Witte, the Government had considered the question +as to what should be done to counteract the influence of the agitators. +On that question it had no difficulty in coming to a decision; the +condition of the working classes must be improved. An expert official +was accordingly instructed to write a report on what had already been +done in that direction. In his report it was shown that the Government +had long been thinking about the subject. Not to speak of a still-born +law about a ten-hour day for artisans, dating from the time of Catherine +II., an Imperial commission had been appointed as early as 1859, but +nothing practical came of its deliberations until 1882, when legislative +measures were taken for the protection of women and children in +factories. A little later (1886) other grievances were dealt with and +partly removed by regulating contracts of hire, providing that the money +derived from deductions and fines should not be appropriated by the +employers, and creating a staff of factory inspectors who should take +care that the benevolent intentions of the Government were duly carried +out. Having reviewed all these official efforts in 1896, the Government +passed in the following year a law prohibiting night work and limiting +the working day to eleven and a half hours. + +This did not satisfy the workmen. Their wages were still low, and it +was difficult to get them increased because strikes and all forms of +association were still, as they had always been, criminal offences. On +this point the Government remained firm so far as the law was concerned, +but it gradually made practical concessions by allowing the workmen +to combine for certain purposes. In 1898, for example, in Kharkof, the +Engineers' Mutual Aid Society was sanctioned, and gradually it became +customary to allow the workmen to elect delegates for the discussion of +their grievances with the employers and inspectors. + +Finding that these concessions did not check the growing influence of +the Social Democratic agitators among the operatives, the Government +resolved to go a step further; it would organise the workers on purely +trade-unionist lines, and would thereby combat the Social Democrats, +who always advised the strikers to mix up political demands with their +material grievances. The project seemed to have a good prospect of +success, because there were many workmen, especially of the older +generation, who did not at all like the mixing up of politics, which so +often led to arrest, imprisonment and exile, with the practical concerns +of every day life. + +The first attempt of the kind was made in Moscow under the direction of +a certain Zubatof, chief of the secret police, who had been himself a +revolutionary in his youth, and afterwards an agent provocateur. Aided +by Tikhomirof, the repentant terrorist whom I have already mentioned, +Zubatof organised a large workmen's association, with reading-rooms, +lectures, discussions and other attractions, and sought to convince +the members that they should turn a deaf ear to the Social Democratic +agents, and look only to the Government for the improvement of their +condition. In order to gain their sympathy and confidence, he instructed +his subordinates to take the side of the workmen in all labour disputes, +while he himself brought official pressure to bear on the employers. By +this means he made a considerable number of converts, and for a time the +association seemed to prosper, but he did not possess the extraordinary +ability and tact required to play the complicated game successfully, +and he committed the fatal mistake of using the office-bearers of the +association as detectives for the discovery of the "evil-intentioned." +This tactical error had its natural consequences. As soon as the workmen +perceived that their professed benefactors were police spies, who +did not obtain for them any real improvement of their condition, the +popularity of the association rapidly declined. At the same time, the +factory owners complained to the Minister of Finance that the police, +who ought to be guardians of public order, and who had accused +the factory inspectors of stirring up discontent in the labouring +population, were themselves creating troubles by inciting the workmen +to make inordinate demands. The Minister of Finance at the moment was +M. Witte, and the Minister of Interior, responsible for the acts of the +police, was M. Plehve, and between these two official dignitaries, who +were already in very strained relations, Zubatof's activity formed a new +base of contention. In these circumstances it is not surprising that the +very risky experiment came to an untimely end. + +In St. Petersburg a similar experiment was made, and it ended much more +tragically. There the chief rôle was played by a mysterious personage +called Father Gapon, who acquired great momentary notoriety. Though a +genuine priest, he did not belong by birth, as most Russian priests +do, to the ecclesiastical caste. The son of a peasant in Little Russia, +where the ranks of the clergy are not hermetically sealed against +the other social classes, he aspired to take orders, and after being +rusticated from a seminary for supposed sympathy with revolutionary +ideas, he contrived to finish his studies and obtain ordination. During +a residence in Moscow he took part in the Zubatof experiment, and +when that badly conducted scheme collapsed he was transferred to St. +Petersburg and appointed chaplain to a large convict prison. His new +professional duties did not prevent him from continuing to take a keen +interest in the welfare of the working classes, and in the summer of +1904 he became, with the approval of the police authorities, president +of a large labour union called the Society of Russian Workmen, which had +eleven sections in the various industrial suburbs of the capital. Under +his guidance the experiment proceeded for some months very successfully. +He gained the sympathy and confidence of the workmen, and so long as +no serious questions arose he kept his hold on them; but a storm was +brewing and he proved unequal to the occasion. + +In the first days of 1905, when the economic consequences of the war +had come to be keenly felt, a spirit of discontent appeared among +the labouring population of St. Petersburg, and on Sunday, January +15th--exactly a week before the famous Sunday when the troops were +called into play--a strike began in the Putilof ironworks and spread +like wildfire to the other big works in the neighbourhood. The immediate +cause of the disturbance was the dismissal of some workmen and a demand +on the part of the labour union that they should be reinstated. A +deputation, composed partly of genuine workmen and partly of Social +Democratic agitators, and led by Gapon, negotiated with the managers of +the Putilof works, and failed to effect an arrangement. At this moment +Gapon tried hard to confine the negotiations to the points in dispute, +whereas the agitators put forward demands of a wider kind, such as the +eight-hour working day, and they gradually obtained his concurrence +on condition that no political demands should be introduced into the +programme. In defending this condition he was supported by the workmen, +so that when agitators tried to make political speeches at the meetings +they were unceremoniously expelled. + +A similar struggle between the "Economists" and the "Politicals" was +going on in the other industrial suburbs, notably in the Nevski quarter, +where 45,000 operatives had struck work, and the Social Democrats +were particularly active. In this section of the Labour Union the most +influential member was a young workman called Petroff, who was a staunch +Gaponist in the sense that he wished the workers to confine themselves +to their own grievances and to resist the introduction of political +demands. At first he succeeded in preventing the agitators from speaking +at the meetings, but they soon proved too much for him. At one of the +meetings on Tuesday, when he happened to be absent, a Social Democrat +contrived to get himself elected chairman, and from that moment the +political agitators had a free hand. They had a regular organisation +composed of an organiser, three "oratorical agitators," and several +assistant-organisers who attended the small meetings in the operatives' +sleeping-quarters. Besides these there were a certain number of workmen +already converted to Social Democratic principles who had learned the +art of making political speeches. + +The reports of the agitators to the central organisation, written +hurriedly during this eventful week, are extremely graphic and +interesting. They declared that there is a frightful amount of work +to be done and very few to do it. Their stock of Social Democratic +pamphlets is exhausted and they are hoarse from speech-making. In spite +of their superhuman efforts the masses remain frightfully "undeveloped." +The men willingly collect to hear the orators, listen to them +attentively, express approval or dissent, and even put questions; +but with all this they remain obstinately on the ground of their own +immediate wants, such as the increase of wages and protection against +brutal foremen, and they only hint vaguely at more serious demands. The +agitators, however, are equally obstinate, and they make a few converts. +To illustrate how conversions are made, the following incident is +related. At one meeting the cry of "Stop the war!" is raised by an +orator without sufficient preparation, and at once a voice is heard +in the audience saying. "No, no! The little Japs (Yaposhki) must +be beaten!" Thereupon a more experienced orator comes forward and a +characteristic conversation takes place: + +"Have we much land of our own, my friends?" asks the orator. + +"Much!" replies the crowd. + +"Do we require Manchuria?" + +"No!" + +"Who pays for the war?" + +"We do!" + +"Are our brothers dying, and do your wives and children remain without a +bit of bread?" + +"So it is!" say many, with a significant shake of the head. + +Having succeeded so far, the orator tries to turn the popular +indignation against the Tsar by explaining that he is to blame for all +this misery and suffering, but Petroff suddenly appears on the scene and +maintains that for the misery and suffering the Tsar is not at all +to blame, for he knows nothing about it. It is all the fault of his +servants, the tchinovniks. + +By this device Petroff suppresses the seditious cry of "Down with +autocracy!" which the Social Democrats were anxious to make the +watchword of the movement, but he has thereby been drawn from his +strong position of "No politics," and he is standing, as we shall see +presently, on a slippery incline. + +On Thursday and Friday the activity of the leaders and the excitement +of the masses increase. While the Gaponists speak merely of local +grievances and material wants, the Social Democrats incite their hearers +to a political struggle, advising them to demand a Constituent Assembly, +and explaining the necessity for all workmen to draw together and form a +powerful political party. The haranguing goes on from morning to night, +and agitators drive about from one factory to another to keep the +excitement at fever-heat. The police, usually so active on such +occasions, do not put in an appearance. Prince Sviatopolk Mirski, the +honest, well-intentioned, liberal Minister of the Interior, cannot make +up his mind to act with energy, and lets things drift. The agitators +themselves are astonished at this extraordinary inactivity. One of them, +writing a few days afterwards, says: "The police was paralysed. It would +have been easy to arrest Gapon, and discover the orators. On Friday the +clubs might have been surrounded and the orators arrested. . . . In a +word, decided measures might have been taken, but they were not." + +It is not only Petroff that has abandoned his strong position of "No +politics"; Gapon is doing likewise. The movement has spread far beyond +what he expected, and he is being carried away by the prevailing +excitement. With all his benevolent intentions, he is of a nervous, +excitable nature, and his besetting sin is vanity. He perceives that +by resisting the Social Democrats he is losing his hold on the masses. +Early in the week, as we have seen, he began to widen his programme in +the Social Democratic sense, and every day he makes new concessions. +Before the week is finished a Social Democratic orator can write +triumphantly: "In three days we have transformed the Gaponist assemblies +into political meetings!" Like Petroff, Gapon seeks to defend the Tsar, +and he falls into Petroff's strategical mistake of pretending that the +Tsar knows nothing of the sufferings of his people. From that admission +to the resolution that the Tsar must somehow be informed personally and +directly, by some means outside of the regular official channel, there +is but one step, and that step is quickly taken. On Friday morning Gapon +has determined to present with his own hands a petition to his Majesty, +and the petition is already drafted, containing demands which go far +beyond workmen's grievances. After resisting the Social Democratic +agitators so stoutly, he is now going over, bag and baggage, to the +Social Democratic camp. + +This wonderful change was consummated on Friday evening at a conference +which he held with some delegates of the Social Democrats. From an +account written by one of these delegates immediately after the meeting +we get an insight into the worthy priest's character and motives. In the +morning he had written to them: "I have 100,000 workmen, and I am going +with them to the Palace to present a petition. If it is not granted, +we shall make a revolution. Do you agree?" They did not like the idea, +because the Social Democratic policy is to extort concessions, not +to ask favours, and to refrain from anything that might increase the +prestige of the Autocratic Power. In their reply, therefore, they +consented simply to discuss the matter. I proceed now to quote from the +delegate's account of what took place at the conference: + + +"The company consisted of Gapon, with two adherents, and five Social +Democrats. All sat round a table, and the conversation began. Gapon is a +good-looking man, with dark complexion and thoughtful, sympathetic face. +He is evidently very tired, and, like the other orators, he is hoarse. +To the questions addressed to him, he replies: 'The masses are at +present so electrified that you may lead them wherever you like. We +shall go on Sunday to the Palace, and present a petition. If we are +allowed to pass without hindrance, we shall march to the Palace Square, +and summon the Tsar from Tsarskoe Selo. We shall wait for him till the +evening. When he arrives, I shall go to him with a deputation, and +in presenting to him the petition, I shall say: 'Your Majesty! Things +cannot go on like this; it is time to give the people liberty.' (Tak +nelzya! Para dat' narodu svobodu.) If he consents, we shall insist that +he take an oath before the people. Only then we shall come away, and +when we begin to work, it will only be for eight hours a day. If, on the +other hand, we are prevented from entering the city, we shall request +and beg, and if they do not let us pass, we shall force our way. In the +Palace Square we shall find troops, and we shall entreat them to come +over to our side. If they beat us, we shall strike back. There will be +sacrifices, but part of the troops will come over to us, and then, +being ourselves strong in numbers, we shall make a revolution. We shall +construct barricades, pillage the armourers' shops, break open +the prisons, and seize the telephones and telegraphs. The +Socialist-Revolutionaries have promised us bombs, and the Democrats +money: and we shall be victorious!* + + * This confirms the information which comes to me from other + quarters that Gapon was already in friendly relations with + other revolutionary groups. + +"Such, in a few words, were the ideas which Gapon expounded. The +impression he made on us was that he did not clearly realise where +he was going. Acting with sincerity, he was ready to die, but he was +convinced that the troops would not fire, and that the deputation would +be received by the Emperor. He did not distinguish between different +methods. Though not at all a partisan of violent means, he had become +infuriated against autocracy and the Tsar, as was shown by his language +when he said: 'If that blockhead of a Tsar comes out' (Yesli etot durak +Tsar vuidet) . . . Burning with the desire to attain his object, he +looked on revolution like a child, as if it could be accomplished in a +day with empty hands!" + + +Knowing that no previous preparations had been made for a revolution +such as Gapon talked of, the Social Democratic agents tried to dissuade +him from carrying out his idea on Sunday, but he stood firm. He had +already committed himself publicly to the project. At a workmen's +meeting in another quarter (Vassiliostrof) earlier in the day he had +explained the petition, and said: "Let us go to the Winter Palace and +summon the Emperor, and let us tell him our wants; if he does not listen +to us we do not require him any longer." To a Social Democrat who shook +him warmly by the hand and expressed his astonishment that there should +be such a man among the clergy, he replied: "I am no longer a priest; I +am a fighter for liberty! They want to exile me, and for some nights I +have not slept at home." When offered assistance to escape arrest, he +answered laconically: "Thanks; I have already a place of refuge." +After his departure from the meeting one of his friends, to whom he had +confided a copy of the petition, rose and said: "Now has arrived the +great historical moment! Now we can and must demand rights and liberty!" +After hearing the petition read the meeting decided that if the Tsar +did not come out at the demand of the people strong measures should be +taken, and one orator indicated pretty plainly what they should be: "We +don't require a Tsar who is deaf to the woes of the people; we shall +perish ourselves, but we shall kill him. Swear that you will all come to +the Palace on Sunday at twelve o'clock!" The audience raised their hands +in token of assent. + +Finding it impossible to dissuade Gapon from his purpose, the Social +Democrats told him that they would take advantage of the circumstances +independently, and that if he was allowed to enter the city with his +deputation they would organise monster meetings in the Palace Square. + +The imperious tone used by Gapon at the public meetings and private +consultations was adopted by him also in his letters to the Minister of +the Interior and to the Emperor. To the former he wrote: + + +"The workmen and inhabitants of St. Petersburg of various classes desire +to see the Tsar at two o'clock on Sunday in the Winter Palace Square, +in order to lay before him personally their needs and those of the +whole Russian people. . . . Tell the Tsar that I and the workmen, +many thousands in number, have peacefully, with confidence in him, but +irrevocably, resolved to proceed to the Winter Palace. Let him show his +confidence by deeds, and not by manifestos." + + +To the Tsar himself his language was not more respectful: + + +"Sovereign,--I fear the Ministers have not told you the truth about the +situation. The whole people, trusting in you, has resolved to appear at +the Winter Palace at two o'clock in the afternoon, in order to inform +you of its needs. If you hesitate, and do not appear before the people, +then you tear the moral bonds between you and them. Trust in you will +disappear, because innocent blood will flow. Appear to-morrow before +your people and receive our address of devotion in a courageous spirit! +I and the labour representatives, my brave comrades, guarantee the +inviolability of your person." + + +Gapon was no longer merely the president of the Workmen's Union: +inebriated with the excitement he had done so much to create, he now +imagined himself the representative of the oppressed Russian people, and +the heroic leader of a great political revolution. In the petition +which he had prepared he said little about the grievances of the St. +Petersburg workmen whose interests he had a right to advocate, and +preferred to soar into much higher regions: + + +"The bureaucracy has brought the country to the verge of ruin, and, by +a shameful war, is bringing it to its downfall. We have no voice in the +heavy burdens imposed on us; we do not even know for whom or why this +money is wrung from the impoverished people, and we do not know how it +is expended. This state of things is contrary to the Divine laws, and +renders life unbearable. Assembled before your palace, we plead for our +salvation. Refuse not your aid; raise your people from the tomb, and +give them the means of working out their own destiny. Rescue them from +the intolerable yoke of officialdom; throw down the wall that separates +you from them, in order that they may rule with you the country that was +created for their happiness--a happiness which is being wrenched from +us, leaving nothing but sorrow and humiliation." + + +With an innate sentiment of autocratic dignity the Emperor declined +to obey the imperious summons, and he thereby avoided an unseemly +altercation with the excited priest, as well as the boisterous public +meetings which the Social Democrats were preparing to hold in the Palace +Square. Orders were given to the police and the troops to prevent the +crowds of workmen from penetrating into the centre of the city from the +industrial suburbs. The rest need not be described in detail. On Sunday +the crowds tried to force their way, the troops fired, and many of the +demonstrators were killed or wounded. How many it is impossible to say; +between the various estimates there is an enormous discrepancy. At one +of the first volleys Father Gapon fell, but he turned out to be quite +unhurt, and was spirited away to his place of refuge, whence he escaped +across the frontier. + +As soon as he had an opportunity of giving public expression to his +feelings, he indulged in very strong language. In his letters and +proclamations the Tsar is called a miscreant and an assassin, and is +described as traitorous, bloodthirsty, and bestial. To the ministers +he is equally uncomplimentary. They appear to him an accursed band of +brigands, Mamelukes, jackals, monsters. Against the Tsar, "with his +reptilian brood," and the ministers alike, he vows vengeance--"death +to them all!" As for the means for realising his sacred mission, he +recommends bombs, dynamite, individual and wholesale terrorism, popular +insurrection, and paralysing the life of the cities by destroying the +water-mains, the gas-pipes, the telegraph and telephone wires, the +railways and tram-ways, the Government buildings and the prisons. At +some moments he seems to imagine himself invested with papal powers, for +he anathematises the soldiers who did their duty on the eventful day, +whilst he blesses and absolves from their oath of allegiance those who +help the nation to win liberty. + +So far I have spoken merely of the main currents in the revolutionary +movement. Of the minor currents--particularly those in the outlying +provinces, where the Socialist tendencies were mingled with nationalist +feeling--I shall have occasion to speak when I come to deal with the +present political situation as a whole. Meanwhile, I wish to sketch in +outline the foreign policy which has powerfully contributed to bring +about the present crisis. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +TERRITORIAL EXPANSION AND FOREIGN POLICY + + +Rapid Growth of Russia--Expansive Tendency of Agricultural Peoples--The +Russo-Slavonians--The Northern Forest and the Steppe--Colonisation--The +Part of the Government in the Process of Expansion--Expansion towards +the West--Growth of the Empire Represented in a Tabular Form--Commercial +Motive for Expansion--The Expansive Force in the Future--Possibilities +of Expansion in Europe--Persia, Afghanistan, and India--Trans-Siberian +Railway and Weltpolitik--A Grandiose Scheme--Determined Opposition of +Japan--Negotiations and War--Russia's Imprudence Explained--Conclusion. + + +The rapid growth of Russia is one of the most remarkable facts of modern +history. An insignificant tribe, or collection of tribes, which, a +thousand years ago, occupied a small district near the sources of +the Dnieper and Western Dvina, has grown into a great nation with a +territory stretching from the Baltic to the Northern Pacific, and from +the Polar Ocean to the frontiers of Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, and +China. We have here a fact well deserving of investigation, and as +the process is still going on and is commonly supposed to threaten our +national interests, the investigation ought to have for us more than a +mere scientific interest. What is the secret of this expansive power? +Is it a mere barbarous lust of territorial aggrandisement, or is it +some more reasonable motive? And what is the nature of the process? Is +annexation followed by assimilation, or do the new acquisitions retain +their old character? Is the Empire in its present extent a homogeneous +whole, or merely a conglomeration of heterogenous units held together +by the outward bond of centralised administration? If we could find +satisfactory answers to these questions, we might determine how far +Russia is strengthened or weakened by her annexations of territory, and +might form some plausible conjectures as to how, when, and where the +process of expansion is to stop. + +By glancing at her history from the economic point of view we may easily +detect one prominent cause of expansion. + +An agricultural people, employing merely the primitive methods of +agriculture, has always a strong tendency to widen its borders. +The natural increase of population demands a constantly increasing +production of grain, whilst the primitive methods of cultivation exhaust +the soil and steadily diminish its productivity. With regard to this +stage of economic development, the modest assertion of Malthus, that +the supply of food does not increase so rapidly as the population, often +falls far short of the truth. As the population increases, the supply +of food may decrease not only relatively, but absolutely. When a +people finds itself in this critical position, it must adopt one of two +alternatives: either it must prevent the increase of population, or it +must increase the production of food. In the former case it may legalise +the custom of "exposing" infants, as was done in ancient Greece; or it +may regularly sell a large portion of the young women and children, +as was done until recently in Circassia; or the surplus population +may emigrate to foreign lands, as the Scandinavians did in the ninth +century, and as we ourselves are doing in a more peaceable fashion +at the present day. The other alternative may be effected either +by extending the area of cultivation or by improving the system of +agriculture. + +The Russo-Slavonians, being an agricultural people, experienced this +difficulty, but for them it was not serious. A convenient way of escape +was plainly indicated by their peculiar geographical position. They +were not hemmed in by lofty mountains or stormy seas. To the south and +east--at their very doors, as it were--lay a boundless expanse of thinly +populated virgin soil, awaiting the labour of the husbandman, and ready +to repay it most liberally. The peasantry therefore, instead of exposing +their infants, selling their daughters, or sweeping the seas as Vikings, +simply spread out towards the east and south. This was at once the most +natural and the wisest course, for of all the expedients for preserving +the equilibrium between population and food-production, increasing the +area of cultivation is, under the circumstances just described, the +easiest and most effective. Theoretically the same result might have +been obtained by improving the method of agriculture, but practically +this was impossible. Intensive culture is not likely to be adopted so +long as expansion is easy. High farming is a thing to be proud of when +there is a scarcity of land, but it would be absurd to attempt it where +there is abundance of virgin soil in the vicinity. + +The process of expansion, thus produced by purely economic causes, +was accelerated by influences of another kind, especially during the +seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The increase in the number of +officials, the augmentation of the taxes, the merciless exactions of the +Voyevods and their subordinates, the transformation of the peasants +and "free wandering people" into serfs, the ecclesiastical reforms and +consequent persecution of the schismatics, the frequent conscriptions +and violent reforms of Peter the Great--these and other kinds of +oppression made thousands flee from their homes and seek a refuge in the +free territory, where there were no officials, no tax-gatherers, and +no proprietors. But the State, with its army of tax-gatherers and +officials, followed close on the heels of the fugitives, and those +who wished to preserve their liberty had to advance still further. +Notwithstanding the efforts of the authorities to retain the population +in the localities actually occupied, the wave of colonisation moved +steadily onwards. + +The vast territory which lay open to the colonists consisted of two +contiguous regions, separated from each other by no mountains or +rivers, but widely differing from each other in many respects. The one, +comprising all the northern part of Eastern Europe and of Asia, +even unto Kamchatka, may be roughly described as a land of forests, +intersected by many rivers, and containing numerous lakes and marshes; +the other, stretching southwards to the Black Sea, and eastwards far +away into Central Asia, is for the most part what Russians call "the +Steppe," and Americans would call the prairies. + +Each of these two regions presented peculiar inducements and peculiar +obstacles to colonisation. So far as the facility of raising grain was +concerned, the southern region was decidedly preferable. In the north +the soil had little natural fertility, and was covered with dense +forests, so that much time and labour had to be expended in making a +clearing before the seed could be sown.* In the south, on the contrary, +the squatter had no trees to fell, and no clearing to make. Nature had +cleared the land for him, and supplied him with a rich black soil of +marvellous fertility, which has not yet been exhausted by centuries +of cultivation. Why, then, did the peasant often prefer the northern +forests to the fertile Steppe where the land was already prepared for +him? + + * The modus operandi has been already described; vide supra, + pp. 104 et seq. + +For this apparent inconsistency there was a good and valid reason. The +muzhik had not, even in those good old times, any passionate love of +labour for its own sake, nor was he by any means insensible to the +facilities for agriculture afforded by the Steppe. But he could not +regard the subject exclusively from the agricultural point of view. He +had to take into consideration the fauna as well as the flora of the +two regions. At the head of the fauna in the northern forests stood +the peace-loving, laborious Finnish tribes, little disposed to molest +settlers who did not make themselves obnoxiously aggressive; on the +Steppe lived the predatory, nomadic hordes, ever ready to attack, +plunder, and carry off as slaves the peaceful agricultural population. +These facts, as well as the agricultural conditions, were known to +intending colonists, and influenced them in their choice of a new home. +Though generally fearless and fatalistic in a higher degree, they +could not entirely overlook the dangers of the Steppe, and many of them +preferred to encounter the hard work of the forest region. + +These differences in the character and population of the two regions +determined the character of the colonisation. Though the colonisation +of the northern regions was not effected entirely without bloodshed, it +was, on the whole, of a peaceful kind, and consequently received little +attention from the contemporary chroniclers. The colonisation of the +Steppe, on the contrary, required the help of the Cossacks, and forms, +as I have already shown, one of the bloodiest pages of European history. + +Thus, we see, the process of expansion towards the north, east, and +south may be described as a spontaneous movement of the agricultural +population. It must, however, be admitted that this is an imperfect +and one-sided representation of the phenomenon. Though the initiative +unquestionably came from the people, the Government played an important +part in the movement. + +In early times when Russia was merely a conglomeration of independent +principalities, the Princes were under the moral and political +obligation of protecting their subjects, and this obligation coincided +admirably with their natural desire to extend their dominions. When the +Grand Princes of Muscovy, in the fifteenth century, united the numerous +principalities and proclaimed themselves Tsars, they accepted this +obligation for the whole country, and conceived much grander schemes of +territorial aggrandisement. Towards the north and northeast no strenuous +efforts were required. The Republic of Novgorod easily gained possession +of Northern Russia as far as the Ural Mountains, and Siberia was +conquered by a small band of Cossacks without the authorisation of +Muscovy, so that the Tsars had merely to annex the already conquered +territory. In the southern region the part played by the Government +was very different. The agricultural population had to be constantly +protected along a frontier of enormous length, lying open at all points +to the incursions of nomadic tribes. To prevent raids it was necessary +to keep up a military cordon, and this means did not always ensure +protection to those living near the frontier. The nomads often came in +formidable hordes, which could be successfully resisted only by large +armies, and sometimes the armies were not large enough to cope with +them. Again and again during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries +Tartar hordes swept over the country--burning the villages and towns, +and spreading devastation wherever they appeared--and during more than +two centuries Russia had to pay a heavy tribute to the Khans. + +Gradually the Tsars threw off this galling yoke. Ivan the Terrible +annexed the three Khanates of the Lower Volga--Kazan, Kipttchak, and +Astrakhan--and in that way removed the danger of a foreign domination. +But permanent protection was not thereby secured to the outlying +provinces. The nomadic tribes living near the frontier continued their +raids, and in the slave markets of the Crimea the living merchandise was +supplied by Russia and Poland. + +To protect an open frontier against the incursions of nomadic tribes +three methods are possible: the construction of a great wall, the +establishment of a strong military cordon, and the permanent subjugation +of the marauders. The first of these expedients, adopted by the Romans +in Britain and by the Chinese on their northwestern frontier, is +enormously expensive, and was utterly impossible in a country like +Southern Russia, where there is no stone for building purposes; the +second was constantly tried, and constantly found wanting; the third +alone proved practicable and efficient. Though the Government has +long since recognised that the acquisition of barren, thinly populated +steppes is a burden rather than an advantage, it has been induced to go +on making annexations for the purpose of self-defence, as well as for +other reasons. + +In consequence of this active part which the Government took in the +extension of the territory, the process of political expansion sometimes +got greatly ahead of the colonisation. After the Turkish wars and +consequent annexations in the time of Catherine II., for example, a +great part of Southern Russia was almost uninhabited, and the deficiency +had to be corrected, as we have seen, by organised emigration. At the +present day, in the Asiatic provinces, there are still immense tracts of +unoccupied land, some of which are being gradually colonised. + +If we turn now from the East to the West we shall find that the +expansion in this direction was of an entirely different kind. The +country lying to the westward of the early Russo-Slavonian settlements +had a poor soil and a comparatively dense population, and consequently +held out little inducement to emigration. Besides this, it was inhabited +by warlike agricultural races, who were not only capable of defending +their own territory, but even strongly disposed to make encroachments +on their eastern neighbours. Russian expansion to the westward was, +therefore, not a spontaneous movement of the agricultural population, +but the work of the Government, acting slowly and laboriously by means +of diplomacy and military force; it had, however, a certain historical +justification. + +No sooner had Russia freed herself, in the fifteenth century, from +the Tartar domination, than her political independence, and even +her national existence, were threatened from the West. Her western +neighbours, were like herself, animated with that tendency to national +expansion which I have above described; and for a time it seemed +doubtful who should ultimately possess the vast plains of Eastern +Europe. The chief competitors were the Tsars of Moscow and the Kings +of Poland, and the latter appeared to have the better chance. In close +connection with Western Europe, they had been able to adopt many of the +improvements which had recently been made in the art of war, and they +already possessed the rich valley of the Dnieper. Once, with the help of +the free Cossacks, they succeeded in overrunning the whole of Muscovy, +and a son of the Polish king was elected Tsar in Moscow. By attempting +to accomplish their purpose in a too hasty and reckless fashion, they +raised a storm of religious and patriotic fanaticism, which very +soon drove them out of their newly acquired possessions. The country +remained, however, in a very precarious position, and its more +intelligent rulers perceived plainly that, in order to carry on the +struggle successfully, they must import something of that Western +civilisation which gave such an advantage to their opponents. + +Some steps had already been taken in that direction. In the year 1553 an +English navigator, whilst seeking for a short route to China and India, +had accidentally discovered the port of Archangel on the White Sea, and +since that time the Tsars had kept up an intermittent diplomatic and +commercial intercourse with England. But this route was at all times +tedious and dangerous, and during a great part of the year it was closed +by the ice. In view of these difficulties the Tsars tried to import +"cunning foreign artificers," by way of the Baltic; but their efforts +were hampered by the Livonian Order, who at that time held the east +coast, and who considered, like the Europeans on the coast of Africa at +the present day, that the barbarous natives of the interior should not +be supplied with arms and ammunition. All the other routes to the West +traversed likewise the territory of rivals, who might at any time become +avowed enemies. Under these circumstances the Tsars naturally desired to +break through the barrier which hemmed them in, and the acquisition +of the eastern coast of the Baltic became one of the chief objects of +Russia's foreign policy. + +After Poland, Russia's most formidable rival was Sweden. That +power early acquired a large amount of territory to the east of the +Baltic--including the mouths of the Neva, where St. Petersburg now +stands--and long harboured ambitious schemes of further conquest. In the +troublous times when the Poles overran the Tsardom of Muscovy, she took +advantage of the occasion to annex a considerable amount of territory, +and her expansion in this direction went on in intermittent fashion +until it was finally stopped by Peter the Great. + +In comparison with these two rivals Russia was weak in all that regarded +the art of war; but she had two immense advantages: she had a very large +population, and a strong, stable Government that could concentrate the +national forces for any definite purpose. All that she required for +success in the competition was an army on the European model. Peter the +Great created such an army, and won the prize. After this the political +disintegration of Poland proceeded rapidly, and when that unhappy +country fell to pieces Russia naturally took for herself the lion's +share of the spoil. Sweden, too, sank to political insignificance, and +gradually lost all her trans-Baltic possessions. The last of them--the +Grand Duchy of Finland, which stretches from the Gulf of Finland to +the Polar Ocean--was ceded to Russia by the peace of Friederichshamm in +1809. + +The territorial extent of all these acquisitions will be best shown in +a tabular form. The following table represents the process of expansion +from the time when Ivan III. united the independent principalities and +threw off the Tartar yoke, down to the accession of Peter the Great in +1682: + + + English + Sq. Miles. + In 1505 the Tsardom of Muscovy contained about 784,000 + " 1583 " " " " 996,000 + " 1584 " " " " 2,650,000 + " 1598 " " " " 3,328,000 + " 1676 " " " " 5,448,000 + " 1682 " " " " 5,618,000 + +Of these 5,618,000 English square miles about 1,696,000 were in Europe +and about 3,922,000 in Asia. Peter the Great, though famous as a +conqueror, did not annex nearly so much territory as many of his +predecessors and successors. At his death, in 1752, the Empire +contained, in round numbers, 1,738,000 square miles in Europe and +4,092,000 in Asia. The following table shows the subsequent expansion: + + In Europe and the Caucasus In Asia. + Eng. sq. m Eng. sq. m. + In 1725 the Russian Empire contained about 1,738,000 4,092,000 + " 1770 " " " " 1,780,000 4,452,000 + " 1800 " " " " 2,014,000 4,452,000 + " 1825 " " " " 2,226,000 4,452,000 + " 1855 " " " " 2,261,250 5,194,000 + " 1867 " " " " 2,267,360 5,267,560 + " 1897 " " " " 2,267,360 6,382,321 + +In this table is not included the territory in the North-west of +America--containing about 513,250 English square miles--which was +annexed to Russia in 1799 and ceded to the United States in 1867. + + +When once Russia has annexed she does not readily relax her grasp. She +has, however, since the death of Peter the Great, on four occasions +ceded territory which had come into her possession. To Persia she ceded, +in 1729, Mazanderan and Astrabad, and in 1735 a large portion of the +Caucasus; in 1856, by the Treaty of Paris, she gave up the mouths of the +Danube and part of Bessarabia; in 1867 she sold to the United States her +American possessions; in 1881 she retroceded to China the greater +part of Kuldja, which she had occupied for ten years; and now she is +releasing her hold on Manchuria under the pressure of Japan. + +The increase in the population--due in part to territorial +acquisitions--since 1722, when the first census was taken, has been as +follows:-- + + In 1722 the Empire contained about 14 million inhabitants. + " 1742 " " " 16 " + " 1762 " " " 19 " + " 1782 " " " 28 " + " 1796 " " " 36 " + " 1812 " " " 41 " + " 1815 " " " 45 " + " 1835 " " " 60 " + " 1851 " " " 68 " + " 1858 " " " 44 " + " 1897 " " " 129 " + +So much for the past. To sum up, we may say that, if we have read +Russian history aright, the chief motives of expansion have been +spontaneous colonisation, self-defence against nomadic tribes, and high +political aims, such as the desire to reach the sea-coast; and that the +process has been greatly facilitated by peculiar geographical conditions +and the autocratic form of government. Before passing to the future, +I must mention another cause of expansion which has recently come into +play, and which has already acquired very great importance. + +Russia is rapidly becoming, as I have explained in a previous chapter, +a great industrial and commercial nation, and is anxious to acquire new +markets for her manufactured goods. Though her industries cannot yet +supply her own wants, she likes to peg out claims for the future, so as +not to be forestalled by more advanced nations. I am not sure that she +ever makes a conquest exclusively for this purpose, but whenever it +happens that she has other reasons for widening her borders, the idea of +acquiring commercial advantages acts as a subsidiary incentive, and +as soon as the territory is annexed she raises round it a line of +commercial fortifications in the shape of custom-houses, through which +foreign goods have great difficulty in forcing their way. + +This policy is quite intelligible from the patriotic point of view, but +Russians like to justify it, and condemn English competition, on higher +ground. England, they say, is like a successful manufacturer who has +oustripped his rivals and who seeks to prevent any new competitors from +coming into the field. By her mercantile policy she has become the great +blood-sucker of other nations. Having no cause to fear competition, she +advocates the insidious principles of Free Trade, and deluges foreign +countries with her manufactures to such an extent that unprotected +native industries are inevitably ruined. Thus all nations have long +paid tribute to England, but the era of emancipation had dawned. The +fallacies of Free Trade have been detected and exposed, and Russia, like +other nations, has found in the beneficent power of protective tariffs a +means of escape from British economic thraldom. Henceforth, not only the +muzhiks of European Russia, but also the populations of Central +Asia, will be saved from the heartless exploitation of Manchester and +Birmingham--and be handed over, I presume, to the tender mercies of the +manufacturers of Moscow and St. Petersburg, who sell their goods much +dearer than their English rivals. + +Having thus analysed the expansive tendency, let us endeavour to +determine how the various factors of which it is composed are acting in +the present and are likely to act in the future. In this investigation +it will be well to begin with the simpler, and proceed gradually to the +more complex parts of the problem. + +Towards the north and the west the history of Russian expansion may +almost be regarded as closed. Northwards there is nothing to be annexed +but the Arctic Ocean and the Polar regions; and, westwards, annexations +at the expense of Germany are not to be thought of. There remain, +therefore, only Sweden and Norway. They may possibly, at some future +time, come within the range of Russia's territorial appetite, but at +present the only part of the Scandinavian Peninsula on which she is +supposed to cast longing eyes is a barren district in the extreme north, +which is said to contain an excellent warm-water port. + +Towards the south-west there are possibilities of future expansion, and +already some people talk of Austrian Galicia being geographically and +ethnographically a part of Russia; but so long as the Austro-Hungarian +Empire holds together such possibilities do not come within the sphere +of practical politics. + +Farther east, towards the Balkan Peninsula, the expansive tendency is +much more complicated and of very ancient date. The Russo-Slavs who +held the valley of the Dnieper from the ninth to the thirteenth century +belonged to those numerous frontier tribes which the tottering Byzantine +Empires attempted to ward off by diplomacy and rich gifts, and by giving +to the troublesome chiefs, on condition of their accepting Christianity, +princesses of the Imperial family as brides. Vladimir, Prince of Kief, +now recognised as a Saint by the Russian Church, accepted Christianity +in this way (A. D. 988), and his subjects followed his example. +Russia thus became ecclesiastically a part of the Patriarchate of +Constantinople, and the people learned to regard Tsargrad--that is, +the City of the Tsar, as the Byzantine Emperor was then called--with +peculiar veneration. + +All through the long Tartar domination, when the nomadic hordes held the +valley of the Dnieper and formed a barrier between Russia and the Balkan +Peninsula, the capital of the Greek Orthodox world was remembered +and venerated by the Russian people, and in the fifteenth century it +acquired in their eyes a new significance. At that time the relative +positions of Constantinople and Moscow were changed. Constantinople fell +under the power of the Mahometan Turks, whilst Moscow threw off the yoke +of the Mahometan Tartars, the northern representatives of the Turkish +race. The Grand Prince of Moscow thereby became the Protector of +the Faith, and in some sort the successor of the Byzantine Tsars. To +strengthen this claim, Ivan III. married a niece of the last Byzantine +Emperor, and his successors went further in the same direction by +assuming the title of Tsar, and inventing a fable about their ancestor +Rurik having been a descendant of Caesar Augustus. + +All this would seem to a lawyer, or even to a diplomatist, a very +shadowy title, and none of the Russian monarchs--except perhaps +Catherine II., who conceived the project of resuscitating the Byzantine +Empire, and caused one of her grandsons to learn modern Greek, in +view of possible contingencies--ever thought seriously of claiming +the imaginary heritage; but the idea that the Tsars ought to reign in +Tsargrad, and that St. Sophia, polluted by Moslem abominations, should +be restored to the Orthodox Christians, struck deep root in the minds of +the Russian people, and is still by no means extinct. As soon as serious +disturbances break out in the East the peasantry begin to think that +perhaps the time has come for undertaking a crusade for the recovery of +the Holy City on the Bosphorus, and for the liberation of their brethren +in the faith who groan under Turkish bondage. + +Essentially different from this religious sentiment, but often blended +with it, is a vague feeling of racial affinity, which has long existed +among the various Slav nationalities, and which was greatly developed +during last century by writers of the Panslavist school. When Germans +and Italians were striving after political independence and unity, it +naturally occurred to the Slavs that they might do likewise. The idea +became popular among the subject Slav nationalities of Austria and +Turkey, and it awoke a certain amount of enthusiasm in Moscow, where it +was hoped that "all the Slav streams would unite in the great Russian +Sea." It required no great political perspicacity to foresee that in +any confederation of Slav nationalities the hegemony must necessarily +devolve on Russia, the only Slav State which has succeeded in becoming a +Great Power. + +Those two currents of national feeling ran parallel to, and intermingled +with, the policy of the Government. Desirous of becoming a great naval +Power, Russia has always striven to reach the sea-coast and obtain good +harbours. In the north and north-west she succeeded in a certain degree, +but neither the White Sea nor the Baltic satisfied her requirements, and +she naturally turned her eyes to the Mediterranean. With difficulty +she gained possession of the northern shores of the Black Sea, but her +designs were thereby only half realised, because the Turks held the only +outlet to the Mediterranean, and could effectually blockade, so far as +the open sea is concerned, all her Black Sea ports, without employing +a single ship of war. Thus the possession of the Straits, involving +necessarily the possession of Constantinople, became a cardinal point of +Russia's foreign policy. Any description of the various methods adopted +by her at different times for the attainment of this end does not enter +into my present programme, but I may say briefly that the action of the +three factors above mentioned--the religious feeling, the Panslavist +sentiment, and the political aims--has never been better exemplified +than in the last struggle with Turkey, culminating in the Treaty of San +Stefano and the Congress of Berlin. + +For all classes in Russia the result of that struggle was a feeling +of profound disappointment. The peasantry bewailed the fact that the +Crescent on St. Sophia had not been replaced by the Cross; the Slavophil +patriots were indignant that the "little brothers" had shown themselves +unworthy of the generous efforts and sacrifices made on their behalf, +and that a portion of the future Slav confederation had passed under +the domination of Austria; and the Government recognised that the +acquisition of the Straits must be indefinitely postponed. Then history +repeated itself. After the Crimean War, in accordance with Prince +Gortchakoff's famous epigram, La Russie ne boude pas elle se recueille, +the Government had for some years abandoned an active policy in Europe, +and devoted itself to the work of internal reorganisation; whilst the +military party had turned their attention to making new acquisitions +of territory and influence in Asia. In like manner, after the Turkish +campaign of 1877-78, Alexander III., turning his back on the Slav +brethren, inaugurated an era of peace in Europe and of territorial +expansion in the east. In this direction the expansive force was +not affected by religious feeling, or Panslavist sentiment, and +was controlled and guided by purely political considerations. It is +consequently much easier to determine in this field of action what the +political aims really are. + +In Asia, as in Europe, the dominant factor in the policy of the +Government has been the desire to reach the sea-coast; and in both +continents the ports first acquired were in northern latitudes where +the coasts are free from ice during only a part of the year. In this +respect, Nikolaefsk and Vladivostok in the Far East correspond to +Archangel and St. Petersburg in Europe. Such ports could not fulfil +all the requirements, and consequently the expansive tendency turned +southwards--in Europe towards the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, +and in Asia towards the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of +Pechili. + +In Persia the Russian Government pursues the policy of pacific +infiltration, and already the northern half of the Shah's dominions is +pretty well permeated with Russian influence, commercial and political. +In the southern half the infiltration is to some extent checked by +physical obstacles and British influence, but it is steadily advancing, +and the idea of obtaining a port on the Persian Gulf is coming within +the range of practical politics. + +In Afghanistan also the pressure is felt, and here too the expansive +tendency meets with opposition from England. More than once the two +great Powers have come dangerously near to war--notably in 1885, at +the moment of the Penjdeh incident, when the British Parliament voted +11,000,000 pounds for military preparations. Fortunately on that +occasion the problem was solved by diplomacy. The northern frontier of +Afghanistan was demarcated by a joint commission, and an agreement was +come to by which this line should form the boundary of the British +and Russian spheres of influence. For some years Russia scrupulously +respected this agreement, but during our South African difficulties +she showed symptoms of departing from it, and at one moment orders were +issued from St. Petersburg for a military demonstration on the Afghan +frontier. Strange to say, the military authorities, who are usually very +bellicose, deprecated such a movement, on the ground that a military +demonstration in a country like Afghanistan might easily develop into a +serious campaign, and that a serious campaign ought not to be undertaken +in that region until after the completion of the strategical railways +from Orenburg to Tashkent. + +As this important line has now been completed, and other strategic lines +are in contemplation, the question arises whether Russia meditates an +attack on India. It is a question which is not easily answered. No doubt +there are many Russians who think it would be a grand thing to annex +our Indian Empire, with its teeming millions and its imaginary fabulous +treasures, and not a few young officers imagine that it would be an easy +task. Further, it is certain that the problem of an invasion has been +studied by the Headquarters Staff in St. Petersburg, just as the problem +of an invasion of England has been studied by the Headquarters Staff in +Berlin. It may be pretty safely asserted, however, that the idea of a +conquest of India has never been seriously entertained in the Russian +official world. What has been seriously entertained, not only in the +official world, but by the Government itself, is the idea--strongly +recommended by the late General Skobelef--that Russia should, as quickly +as possible, get within striking distance of our Indian possessions, so +that she may always be able to bring strong diplomatic pressure on the +British Government, and in the event of a conflict immobilise a large +part of the British army. + +The expansive tendency in the direction of the Persian Gulf and +the Indian Ocean was considerably weakened by the completion of the +Trans-Siberian Railway and the rapid development of an aggressive policy +in the Far east. Never, perhaps, has the construction of a single line +produced such deep and lasting changes in the sphere of Weltpolitik. + +As soon as the Trans-Siberian was being rapidly constructed a +magnificent prospect opened up to the gaze of imaginative politicians in +St. Petersburg. The foreground was Manchuria a region of 364,000 square +miles, endowed by nature with enormous mineral resources, and +presenting a splendid field for agricultural colonisation and commercial +enterprise. Beyond was seen Korea, geographically an appendix of +Manchuria, possessing splendid harbours, and occupied by an effete, +unwarlike population, wholly incapable of resisting a European Power. +That was quite enough to inflame the imagination of patriotic Russians; +but there was something more, dimly perceived in the background. Once +in possession of Manchuria, supplied with a network of railways, Russia +would dominate Peking and the whole of Northern China, and she would +thus be able to play a decisive part in the approaching struggle of the +European Powers for the Far-Eastern Sick Man's inheritance. + +Of course there were obstacles in the way of realising this grandiose +scheme, and there were some cool heads in St. Petersburg who were not +slow to point them out. In the first place the undertaking must be +extremely costly, and the economic condition of Russia proper was not +such as to justify the expenditure of an enormous capital which must be +for many years unproductive. Any superfluous capital which the country +might possess was much more urgently required for purposes of internal +development, and the impoverished agricultural population ought not +to be drained of their last meagre reserves for the sake of gigantic +political schemes which did not directly contribute to their material +welfare. To this the enthusiastic advocates of the forward policy +replied that the national finances had never been in such a prosperous +condition, that the revenue was increasing by leaps and bounds, that +the money invested in the proposed enterprise would soon be repaid with +interest; and that if Russia did not at once seize the opportunity she +would find herself forestalled by energetic rivals. There was still, +however, one formidable objection. Such an enormous increase of +Russia's power in the Far East would inevitably arouse the jealousy and +opposition of other Powers, especially of Japan, for whom the future of +Korea and Manchuria was a question of life and death. Here again these +advocates of the forward policy had their answer ready. They declared +that the danger was more apparent than real. In Far-Eastern diplomacy +the European Powers could not compete with Russia, and they might easily +be bought off by giving them a very modest share of the spoil; as for +Japan, she was not formidable, for she was just emerging from Oriental +barbarism, and all her boasted progress was nothing more than a thin +veneer of European civilisation. As the Moscow patriots on the eve of +the Crimean War said contemptuously of the Allies, "We have only to +throw our hats at them," so now the believers in Russia's historic +mission in the Far East spoke of their future opponents as "monkeys" and +"parrots." + +The war between China and Japan in 1894-5, terminating in the Treaty of +Shimonoseki, which ceded to Japan the Liaotung Peninsula, showed Russia +that if she was not to be forestalled she must be up and doing. She +accordingly formed a coalition with France and Germany, and compelled +Japan to withdraw from the mainland, on the pretext that the integrity +of China must be maintained. In this way China recovered, for a moment, +a bit of lost territory, and further benefits were conferred on her by +a guarantee for a foreign loan, and by the creation of the Russo-Chinese +Bank, which would assist her in her financial affairs. For these and +other favours she was expected to be grateful, and it was suggested +to her that her gratitude might take the form of facilitating the +construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. If constructed wholly on +Russian territory the line would have to make an enormous bend to the +northward, whereas if it went straight from Lake Baikal to Vladivostok +it would be very much shorter, and would confer a very great benefit +on the north-eastern provinces of the Celestial Empire. This benefit, +moreover, might be greatly increased by making a branch line to +Talienwan and Port Arthur, which would some day be united with Peking. +Gradually Li-Hung-Chang and other influential Chinese officials were +induced to sympathise with the scheme, and a concession was granted for +the direct line to Vladivostok through Chinese territory. + +The retrocession of the Liaotung Peninsula had not been effected by +Russia alone. Germany and France had co-operated, and they also expected +from China a mark of gratitude in some tangible form. On this point +the statesmen of Berlin held very strong views, and they thought it +advisable to obtain a material guarantee for the fulfilment of their +expectations by seizing Kiaochau, on the ground that German missionaries +had been murdered by Chinese fanatics. + +For Russia this was a most unwelcome incident. She had earmarked +Kiaochau for her own purposes, and had already made an agreement with +the authorities in Peking that the harbour might be used freely by her +fleet. And this was not the worst. The incident might inaugurate an era +of partition for which she was not yet prepared, and another port which +she had earmarked for her own use might be seized by a rival. Already +English ships of war were reported to be prowling about in the vicinity +of the Liaotung Peninsula. She hastened to demand, therefore, as a +set-off for the loss of Kiaochau, a lease of Port Arthur and Talienwan, +and a railway concession to unite these ports with the Trans-Siberian +Railway. The Chinese Government was too weak to think of refusing the +demands, and the process of gradually absorbing Manchuria began, in +accordance with a plan already roughly sketched out in St. Petersburg. + +In the light of a few authentic documents and many subsequent events, +the outline of this plan can be traced with tolerable accuracy. In the +region through which the projected railways were to run there was a +large marauding population, and consequently the labourers and the +works would have to be protected; and as Chinese troops can never be +thoroughly relied on, the protecting force must be Russian. Under +this rather transparent disguise a small army of occupation could be +gradually introduced, and in establishing a modus vivendi between it and +the Chinese civil and military authorities a predominant influence in +the local administration could be established. At the same time, by +energetic diplomatic action at Peking, which would be brought within +striking-distance by the railways, all rival foreign influences might be +excluded from the occupied provinces, and the rest might be left to the +action of "spontaneous infiltration." Thus, while professing to uphold +the principle of the territorial integrity of the Celestial Empire, the +Cabinet of St. Petersburg might practically annex the whole of Manchuria +and transform Port Arthur into a great naval port and arsenal, a far +more effectual "Dominator of the East" than Vladivostok, which was +intended, as its name implies, to fulfil that function. From Manchuria +the political influence and the spontaneous infiltration would naturally +extend to Korea, and on the deeply indented coast of the Hermit Kingdom +new ports and arsenals, far more spacious and strategically more +important than Port Arthur, might be constructed. + +The grandiose scheme was carefully laid, and for a time it was favoured +by circumstances. In 1900 the Boxer troubles justified Russia in sending +a large force into Manchuria, and enabled her subsequently to play the +part of China's protector against the inordinate demands of the Western +Powers for compensation and guarantees. For a moment it seemed as if +the slow process of gradual infiltration might be replaced by a more +expeditious mode of annexation. As the dexterous diplomacy of Ignatief +in 1858 had induced the Son of Heaven to cede to Russia the rich +Primorsk provinces between the Amur and the sea, as compensation for +Russian protection against the English and French, who had burnt his +Summer Palace, so his successor might now perhaps be induced to cede +Manchuria to the Tsar for similar reasons. + +No such cession actually took place, but the Russian diplomatists in +Peking could use the gratitude argument in support of their demands for +an extension of the rights and privileges of the "temporary" occupation; +and when China sought to resist the pressure by leaning on the rival +Powers she found them to be little better than broken reeds. France +could not openly oppose her ally, and Germany had reasons of her own +for conciliating the Tsar, whilst England and the United States, though +avowedly opposing the scheme as dangerous to their commercial interests, +were not prepared to go to war in defence of their policy. It seemed, +therefore, that by patience, tenacity and diplomatic dexterity Russia +might ultimately attain her ends; but a surprise was in store for her. +There was one Power which recognised that her own vital interests were +at stake, and which was ready to undertake a life-and-death struggle in +defence of them. + +Though still smarting under the humiliation of her expulsion from the +Liaotung Peninsula in 1895, and watching with the keenest interest every +move in the political game, Japan had remained for some time in the +background, and had confined her efforts to resisting Russian influence +in Korea and supporting diplomatically the Powers who were upholding +the policy of the open door. Now, when it had become evident that the +Western Powers would not prevent the realisation of the Russian scheme, +she determined to intervene energetically, and to stake her national +existence on the result. Ever since 1895 she had been making military +and naval preparations for the day of the revanche, and now that day was +at hand. Against the danger of a coalition such as had checkmated her +on the previous occasion she was protected by the alliance which she had +concluded with England in 1902, and she felt confident that with Russia +alone she was quite capable of dealing single-handed. Her position is +briefly and graphically described in a despatch, telegraphed at that +time (28th July, 1903) by the Japanese Government to its representative +at St. Petersburg, instructing him to open negotiations: + + +"The recent conduct of Russia in making new demands at Peking and +tightening her hold upon Manchuria has led the Imperial Government to +believe that she must have abandoned her intention of retiring from +that province. At the same time, her increased activity upon the Korean +frontier is such as to raise doubts as to the limits of her ambition. +The unconditional and permanent occupation of Manchuria by Russia would +create a state of things prejudicial to the security and interests of +Japan. The principle of equal opportunity (the open door) would thereby +be annulled, and the territorial integrity of China impaired. There is, +however, a still more serious consideration for the Japanese Government. +If Russia were established on the flank of Korea she would constantly +menace the separate existence of that Empire, or at least exercise in +it a predominant influence; and as Japan considers Korea an important +outpost in her line of defence, she regards its independence as +absolutely essential to her own repose and safety. Moreover, the +political as well as commercial and industrial interests and influence +which Japan possesses in Korea are paramount over those of other Powers; +she cannot, having regard to her own security, consent to surrender them +to, or share them with, another Power." + + +In accordance with this view of the situation the Japanese Government +informed Count Lamsdorff that, as it desired to remove from the +relations of the two Empires every cause of future misunderstanding, +it would be glad to enter with the Imperial Russian Government upon an +examination of the condition of affairs in the Far East, with a view to +defining the respective special interests of the two countries in those +regions. + +Though Count Lamsdorff accepted the proposal with apparent cordiality +and professed to regard it as a means of preventing any outsider from +sowing the seeds of discord between the two countries, the idea of +a general discussion was not at all welcome. Careful definition of +respective interests was the last thing the Russian Government desired. +Its policy was to keep the whole situation in a haze until it had +consolidated its position in Manchuria and on the Korean frontier +to such an extent that it could dictate its own terms in any future +arrangement. It could not, however, consistently with its oft-repeated +declarations of disinterestedness and love of peace, decline to discuss +the subject. It consented, therefore, to an exchange of views, but in +order to ensure that the tightening of its hold on the territories in +question should proceed pari passu with the diplomatic action, it made +an extraordinary departure from ordinary procedure, entrusting the +conduct of the affair, not to Count Lamsdorff and the Foreign Office, +but to Admiral Alexeyef, the newly created Viceroy of the Far East, +in whom was vested the control of all civil, military, naval, and +diplomatic affairs relating to that part of the world. + +From the commencement of the negotiations, which lasted from August +12th, 1903, to February 6th, 1904, the irreconcilable differences of the +two rivals became apparent, and all through the correspondence, in +which a few apparent concessions were offered by Japan, neither Power +retreated a step from the positions originally taken up. What Japan +suggested was, roughly speaking, a mutual engagement to uphold the +independence and integrity of the Chinese and Korean empires, and at the +same time a bilateral arrangement by which the special interests of the +two contracting parties in Manchuria and in Korea should be formally +recognised, and the means of protecting them clearly defined. The scheme +did not commend itself to the Russians. They systematically ignored the +interests of Japan in Manchuria, and maintained that she had no right +to interfere in any arrangements they might think fit to make with the +Chinese Government with regard to that province. In their opinion, Japan +ought to recognise formally that Manchuria lay outside her sphere +of interest, and the negotiations should be confined to limiting her +freedom of action in Korea. + +With such a wide divergence in principle the two parties were not likely +to agree in matters of detail. Their conflicting aims came out most +clearly in the question of the open door. The Japanese insisted on +obtaining the privileges of the open door, including the right of +settlement in Manchuria, and Russia obstinately refused. Having marked +out Manchuria as a close reserve for her own colonisation, trade, and +industry, and knowing that she could not compete with the Japanese if +they were freely admitted, she could not adopt the principle of "equal +opportunity" which her rivals recommended. A fidus achates of Admiral +Alexeyef explained to me quite frankly, during the negotiations, why no +concessions could be made on that point. In the work of establishing +law and order in Manchuria, constructing roads, bridges, railways, and +towns, Russia had expended an enormous sum--estimated by Count Cassini +at 60,000,000 pounds--and until that capital was recovered, or until a +reasonable interest was derived from the investment, Russia could not +think of sharing with any one the fruits of the prosperity which she had +created. + +We need not go further into the details of the negotiations. Japan soon +convinced herself that the onward march of the Colossus was not to be +stopped by paper barricades, and knowing well that her actual military +and naval superiority was being rapidly diminished by Russia's warlike +preparations,* she suddenly broke off diplomatic relations and commenced +hostilities. + + * According to an estimate made by the Japanese authorities, + between April, 1903, and the outbreak of the war, Russia + increased her naval and military forces in the Far East by + nineteen war vessels, aggregating 82,415 tons, and 40,000 + soldiers. In addition to this, one battleship, three + cruisers, seven torpedo destroyers, and four torpedo boats, + aggregating about 37,040 tons, were on their way to the + East, and preparations had been made for increasing the land + forces by 200,000 men. For further details, see Asakawa, + "The Russo-Japanese Conflict" (London, 1904), pp. 352-54. + +Russia thus found herself engaged in a war of the first magnitude, of +which no one can predict the ultimate consequences, and the question +naturally arises as to why, with an Emperor who lately aspired to play +in politics the part of a great peacemaker, she provoked a conflict, +for which she was very imperfectly prepared--imposing on herself the +obligation of defending a naval fortress, hastily constructed on foreign +territory, and united with her base by a single line of railway 6,000 +miles long. The question is easily answered: she did not believe in the +possibility of war. The Emperor was firmly resolved that he would not +attack Japan, and no one would admit for a moment that Japan could have +the audacity to attack the great Russian Empire. In the late autumn +of 1903, it is true, a few well-informed officials in St. Petersburg, +influenced by the warnings of Baron Rosen, the Russian Minister in +Tokio, began to perceive that perhaps Japan would provoke a conflict, +but they were convinced that the military and naval preparations +already made were quite sufficient to repel the attack. One of these +officials--probably the best informed of all--said to me quite frankly: +"If Japan had attacked us in May or June, we should have been in a sorry +plight, but now [November, 1903] we are ready." + +The whole past history of territoral expansion in Asia tended to confirm +the prevailing illusions. Russia had advanced steadily from the Ural +and the Caspian to the Hindu Kush and the Northern Pacific without once +encountering serious resistance. Not once had she been called on to make +a great national effort, and the armed resistance of the native races +had never inflicted on her anything worse than pin-pricks. From decrepit +China, which possessed no army in the European sense of the term, a more +energetic resistance was not to be expected. Had not Muravieff Amurski +with a few Cossacks quietly occupied her Amur territories without +provoking anything more dangerous than a diplomatic protest; and had +not Ignatief annexed her rich Primorsk provinces, including the site of +Vladivostok, by purely diplomatic means? Why should not Count Cassini, +a diplomatist of the same type as Ignatief, imitate his adroit +predecessor, and secure for Russia, if not the formal annexation, at +least the permanent occupation, of Manchuria? Remembering all this, we +can perceive that the great mistake of the Russian Government is not +so very difficult to explain. It certainly did not want war--far from +it--but it wanted to obtain Manchuria by a gradual, painless process +of absorption, and it did not perceive that this could not be attained +without a life-and-death struggle with a young, vigorous nationality, +which has contrived to combine the passions and virtues of a primitive +race with the organising powers and scientific appliances of the most +advanced civilisation. + +Russian territorial expansion has thus been checked, for some years to +come, on the Pacific coast; but the expansive tendency will re-appear +soon in other regions, and it behooves us to be watchful, because, +whatever direction it may take, it is likely to affect our interests +directly or indirectly. Will it confine itself for some years to a +process of infiltration in Mongolia and Northern Thibet, the line of +least resistance? Or will it impinge on our Indian frontier, directed by +those who desire to avenge themselves on Japan's ally for the reverses +sustained in Manchuria? Or will it once more take the direction of the +Bosphorous, where a campaign might be expected to awaken religious and +warlike enthusiasm among the masses? To these questions I cannot give +any answer, because so much depends on the internal consequences of the +present war, and on accidental circumstances which no one can at +present foresee. I have always desired, and still desire, that we should +cultivate friendly relations with our great rival, and that we should +learn to appreciate the many good qualities of her people; but I have at +the same time always desired that we should keep a watchful eye on +her irrepressible tendency to expand, and that we should take timely +precautions against any unprovoked aggression, however justifiable it +may seem to her from the point of view of her own national interests. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE PRESENT SITUATION + + +Reform or Revolution?--Reigns of Alexander II. and Nicholas II. +Compared and Contrasted--The Present Opposition--Various Groups--The +Constitutionalists--Zemski Sobors--The Young Tsar Dispels +Illusions--Liberal Frondeurs--Plehve's Repressive Policy--Discontent +Increased by the War--Relaxation and Wavering under Prince +Mirski--Reform Enthusiasm--The Constitutionalists Formulate their +Demands--The Social Democrats--Father Gapon's Demonstration--The +Socialist-Revolutionaries--The Agrarian Agitators--The +Subject-Nationalities--Numerical Strength of the Various Groups--All +United on One Point--Their Different Aims--Possible Solutions of the +Crisis--Difficulties of Introducing Constitutional Regime--A Strong Man +Wanted--Uncertainty of the Future. + + +Is history about to repeat itself, or are we on the eve of a cataclysm? +Is the reign of Nicholas II. to be, in its main lines, a repetition of +the reign of Alexander II., or is Russia about to enter on an entirely +new phase of her political development? + +To this momentous question I do not profess to give a categorical +answer. If it be true, even in ordinary times, that "of all forms of +human folly, prediction is the most gratuitous," it is especially true +at a moment like the present, when we are constantly reminded of the +French proverb that there is nothing certain but the unforeseen. All +I can hope to do is to throw a little light on the elements of the +problem, and allow the reader to draw his own conclusions. + +Between the present situation and the early part of Alexander II.'s +reign there is undoubtedly a certain analogy. In both cases we find +in the educated classes a passionate desire for political liberty, +generated by long years of a stern, autocratic regime, and stimulated by +military disasters for which autocracy is held responsible; and in both +cases we find the throne occupied by a Sovereign of less accentuated +political convictions and less energetic character than his immediate +predecessor. In the earlier case, the autocrat, showing more +perspicacity and energy than were expected of him, guides and controls +the popular enthusiasm, and postpones the threatened political crisis +by effecting a series of far reaching and beneficent reforms. In the +present case . . . the description of the result must be left to future +historians. For the moment, all we can say is that between the two +situations there are as many points of difference as of analogy. After +the Crimean War the enthusiasm was of a vague, eclectic kind, and +consequently it could find satisfaction in practical administrative +reforms not affecting the essence of the Autocratic Power, the main +pivot round which the Empire has revolved for centuries. Now, on the +contrary, it is precisely on this pivot that the reform enthusiasm is +concentrated. Mere bureaucratic reforms can no longer give satisfaction. +All sections of the educated classes, with the exception of a small +group of Conservative doctrinaires, insist on obtaining a controlling +influence in the government of the country, and demand that the +Autocratic Power, if not abolished, shall be limited by parliamentary +institutions of a democratic type. + +Another difference between the present and the past, is that those who +now clamour for radical changes are more numerous, more courageous, +and better organised than their predecessors, and they are consequently +better able to bring pressure to bear on the Government. Formerly +the would-be reformers were of two categories; on the one hand, the +Constitutionalists, who remained within the bounds of legality, and +confined themselves to inserting vague hints in loyal addresses to the +Tsar and making mild political demonstrations; and on the other +hand, the so-called Nihilists, who talked about organising society on +Socialistic principles, and who hoped to attain their object by means of +secret associations. With both of these groups, as soon as they became +aggressive, the Government had no difficulty in dealing effectually. The +leading Constitutionalists were simply reprimanded or ordered to +remain for a time in their country houses, while the more active +revolutionaries were exiled, imprisoned, or compelled to take refuge +abroad. All this gave the police a good deal of trouble, especially when +the Nihilists took to Socialist propaganda among the common people, and +to acts of terrorism against the officials; but the existence of the +Autocratic Power was never seriously endangered. Nowadays the Liberals +have no fear of official reprimands, and openly disregard the orders +of the authorities about holding meetings and making speeches, while a +large section of the Socialists proclaim themselves a Social Democratic +party, enrol large numbers of working men, organise formidable strikes, +and make monster demonstrations leading to bloodshed. + +Let us now examine this new Opposition a little more closely. We can +perceive at a glance that it is composed of two sections, differing +widely from each other in character and aims. On the one hand, there +are the Liberals, who desire merely political reforms of a more or less +democratic type; on the other, there are the Socialists, who aim at +transforming thoroughly the existing economic organisation of Society, +and who, if they desire parliamentary institutions at all, desire them +simply as a stepping stone to the realisation of the Socialist ideal. +Behind the Socialists, and to some extent mingling with them, stand a +number of men belonging to the various subject-nationalities, who have +placed themselves under the Socialist banner, but who hold, more or +less concealed, their little national flags, ready to be unfurled at the +proper moment. + +Of these three sections of the Opposition, the most numerous and +the best prepared to undertake the functions and responsibilities of +government is that of the Liberals. The movement which they represent +began immediately after the Crimean War, when the upper ranks of +society, smarting under defeat and looking about for the cause of the +military disasters, came to the conclusion that Autocracy had been +put to a crucial test, and found wanting. The outburst of patriotic +indignation at that time and the eager desire for a more liberal regime +have been described in previous chapters. For a moment the more sanguine +critics of the Government imagined that the Autocratic Power, persuaded +of its own inefficiency, would gladly accept the assistance of the +educated classes, and would spontaneously transform itself into +a Constitutional Monarchy. In reality Alexander II. had no such +intentions. He was resolved to purify the administration and to reform +as far as possible all existing abuses, and he seemed ready at first +to listen to the advice and accept the co-operation of his faithful +subjects; but he had not the slightest intention of limiting his supreme +authority, which he regarded as essential to the existence of the +Empire. As soon as the landed proprietors began to complain that the +great question of serf emancipation was being taken out of their hands +by the bureaucracy, he reminded them that "in Russia laws are made by +the Autocratic Power," and when the more courageous Marshals of Noblesse +ventured to protest against the unceremonious manner in which the nobles +were being treated by the tchinovniks, some of them were officially +reprimanded and others were deposed. + +The indignation produced by this procedure, in which the Tsar identified +himself with the bureaucracy, was momentarily appeased by the decision +of the Government to entrust to the landed proprietors the carrying out +of the Emancipation law, and by the confident hope that political rights +would be granted them as compensation for the material sacrifices +they had made for the good of the State; but when they found that +this confident hope was an illusion, the indignation and discontent +reappeared. + +There was still, however, a ray of hope. Though the Autocratic Power +was evidently determined not to transform itself at once into a limited +Constitutional Monarchy, it might make concessions in the sphere of +local self-government. At that moment it was creating the Zemstvo, +and the Constitutionalists hoped that these new institutions, though +restricted legally to the sphere of purely economic wants, might +gradually acquire a considerable political influence. Learned Germans +had proved that in England, "the mother of modern Constitutionalism," it +was on local self-government that the political liberties were founded, +and the Slavophils now suggested that by means of an ancient institution +called the Zemski Sobor, the Zemstvo might gradually and naturally +acquire a political character in accordance with Russian historic +development. As this idea has often been referred to in recent +discussions, I may explain briefly what the ancient institution in +question was. + +In the Tsardom of Muscovy during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries +representative assemblies were occasionally called together to deal with +matters of exceptional importance, such as the election of a Tsar when +the throne became vacant, a declaration of war, the conclusion of a +peace, or the preparation of a new code of laws. Some fifteen assemblies +of the kind were convoked in the space of about a century (1550-1653). +They were composed largely of officials named by the Government, but +they contained also some representatives of the unofficial classes. +Their procedure was peculiar. When a speech from the throne had been +read by the Tsar or his representative, explaining the question to +be decided, the assembly transformed itself into a large number of +commissions, and each commission had to give in writing its opinion +regarding the questions submitted to it. The opinions thus elicited were +codified by the officials and submitted to the Tsar, and he was free to +adopt or reject them, as he thought fit. We may say, therefore, that the +Zemski Sobor was merely consultative and had no legislative power; but +we must add that it was allowed a certain initiative, because it was +permitted to submit to the Tsar humble petitions regarding anything +which it considered worthy of attention. + +Alexander II. might have adopted this Slavophil idea and used the Zemski +Sobor as a means of transition from pure autocracy to a more modern +system of government, but he had no sooner created the Zemstvo than he +thought it necessary, as we have seen, to clip its wings, and dispel its +political ambition. By this repressive policy the frondeur spirit of the +Noblesse was revived, and it has continued to exist down to the present +time. On each occasion when I revisited Russia and had an opportunity +of feeling the pulse of public opinion, between 1876 and 1903, I noticed +that the dissatisfaction with the traditional methods of government, and +the desire of the educated classes to obtain a share of the political +power, notwithstanding short periods of apparent apathy, were steadily +spreading in area and increasing in intensity, and I often heard +predictions that a disastrous foreign war like the Crimean campaign +would probably bring about the desired changes. Of those who made such +predictions not a few showed clearly that, though patriotic enough in a +certain sense, they would not regret any military disaster which would +have the effect they anticipated. Progress in the direction of political +emancipation, accompanied by radical improvements in the administration, +was evidently regarded as much more important and desirable than +military prestige or extension of territory. + +During the first part of the Turkish campaign of 1877-78, when the +Russian armies were repulsed in Bulgaria and Asia Minor, the hostility +to autocracy was very strong, and the famous acquittal of Vera +Zasulitch, who had attempted to assassinate General Trepof, caused +widespread satisfaction among people who were not themselves +revolutionaries and who did not approve of such violent methods of +political struggle. Towards the end of the war, when the tide of fortune +had turned both in Europe and in Asia, and the Russian army was encamped +under the walls of Constantinople, within sight of St. Sophia, the +Chauvinist feelings gained the upper hand, and they were greatly +intensified by the Congress of Berlin, which deprived Russia of some +fruits of her victories. + +This change in public feeling and the horror excited by the +assassination of Alexander II. prepared the way for Alexander III.'s +reign (1881-94), which was a period of political stagnation. He was a +man of strong character, and a vigorous ruler who believed in Autocracy +as he did in the dogmas of his Church; and very soon after his accession +he gave it clearly to be understood that he would permit no limitations +of the Autocratic Power. The men with Liberal aspirations knew that +nothing would make him change his mind on that subject, and that any +Liberal demonstrations would merely confirm him in his reactionary +tendencies. They accordingly remained quiet and prudently waited for +better times. + +The better times were supposed to have come when Nicholas II. ascended +the throne in November, 1894, because it was generally assumed that +the young Tsar, who was known to be humane and well-intentioned, would +inaugurate a more liberal policy. Before he had been three months on the +throne he summarily destroyed these illusions. On 17th (29th) January, +1895, when receiving deputies from the Noblesse, the Zemstvo, and the +municipalities, who had come to St. Petersburg to congratulate him on +his marriage, he declared his confidence in the sincerity of the loyal +feelings which the delegates expressed; and then, to the astonishment of +all present, he added: "It is known to me that recently, in some Zemstvo +assemblies, were heard the voices of people who had let themselves be +carried away by absurd dreams of the Zemstvo representatives taking +part in the affairs of internal administration; let them know that I, +devoting all my efforts to the prosperity of the nation, will preserve +the principles of autocracy as firmly and unswervingly as my late father +of imperishable memory." + +These words, pronounced by the young ruler at the commencement of his +reign, produced profound disappointment and dissatisfaction in all +sections of the educated classes, and from that moment the frondeur +spirit began to show itself more openly than at any previous period. In +the case of some people of good social position it took the unusual form +of speaking disrespectfully of his Majesty. Others supposed that the +Emperor had simply repeated words prepared for him by the Minister +of the Interior, and this idea spread rapidly, till hostility to the +bureaucracy became universal. + +This feeling reached its climax when the Ministry of the Interior +was confided to M. Plehve. His immediate predecessors, though sincere +believers in autocracy and very hostile to Liberalism of all kinds, +considered that the Liberal ideas might be rendered harmless by firm +passive resistance and mild reactionary measures. He, on the contrary, +took a more alarmist view of the situation. His appointment coincided +with the revival of terrorism, and he believed that autocracy was in +danger. To save it, the only means was, in his opinion, a vigorous, +repressive police administration, and as he was a man of strong +convictions and exceptional energy, he screwed up his system of police +supervision to the sticking-point and applied it to the Liberals as well +as to the terrorists. In the year 1903, if we may credit information +which comes from an apparently trustworthy source, no less than 1,988 +political affairs were initiated by the police, and 4,867 persons were +condemned inquisitorially to various punishments without any regular +trial. + +Whilst this unpopular rigorism was in full force the war unexpectedly +broke out, and added greatly to the existing discontent. + +Very few people in Russia had been following closely the recent +developments of the Far Eastern Question, and still fewer understood +their importance. There seemed to be nothing abnormal in what was taking +place. Russia was expanding, and would continue to expand indefinitely, +in that direction, without any strenuous effort on her part. Of course +the English would try to arrest her progress as usual by diplomatic +notes, but their efforts would be as futile as they had been on all +previous occasions. They might incite the Japanese to active resistance, +but Japan would not commit the insane folly of challenging her +giant rival to mortal combat. The whole question could be settled in +accordance with Russian interests, as so many similar questions had been +settled in the past, by a little skilful diplomacy; and Manchuria could +be absorbed, as the contiguous Chinese provinces had been forty years +ago, without the necessity of going to war. + +When these comforting illusions were suddenly destroyed by the rupture +of diplomatic relations and the naval attack on Port Arthur, there was +an outburst of indignant astonishment. At first the indignation was +directed against Japan and England, but it soon turned against the home +Government, which had made no adequate preparations for the struggle, +and it was intensified by current rumours that the crisis had been +wantonly provoked by certain influential personages for purely personal +reasons. + +How far the accounts of the disorders in the military organisation and +the rumours about pilfering in high quarters were true, we need not +inquire. True or false, they helped greatly to make the war unpopular, +and to stimulate the desire for political changes. Under a more liberal +and enlightened regime such things were supposed to be impossible, and, +as at the time of the Crimean War, public opinion decided that autocracy +was being tried, and found wanting. + +So long as the stern, uncompromising Plehve was at the Ministry of the +Interior, enjoying the Emperor's confidence and directing the police +administration, public opinion was prudent and reserved in its +utterances, but when he was assassinated by a terrorist (July 28th, +1904), and was succeeded by Prince Sviatopolk Mirski, a humane man of +Liberal views, the Constitutionalists thought that the time had come for +making known their grievances and demands, and for bringing pressure +to bear on the Emperor. First came forward the leading members of the +Zemstvos. After some preliminary consultation they assembled in St. +Petersburg, with the consent of the authorities, in the hope that they +would be allowed to discuss publicly the political wants of the +country, and prepare the draft of a Constitution. Their wishes were +only partially acceded to. They were informed semi-officially that their +meetings must be private, but that they might send their resolutions +to the Minister of the Interior for transmission to his Majesty. A +memorandum was accordingly drawn up and signed on November 21st by 102 +out of the 104 representatives present. + +This hesitating attitude on the part of the Government encouraged +other sections of the educated classes to give expression to their long +pent-up political aspirations. On the heels of the Zemstvo delegates +appeared the barristers, who discussed the existing evils from the +juridical point of view, and prescribed what they considered the +necessary remedies. Then came municipalities of the large towns, +corporations of various kinds, academic leagues, medical faculties, +learned societies, and miscellaneous gatherings, all demanding reforms. +Great banquets were organised, and very strong speeches, which would +have led in Plehve's time to the immediate arrest of the orators, were +delivered and published without provoking police intervention. + +In the memorandum presented to the Minister of the Interior by the +Zemstvo Congress, and in the resolutions passed by the other corporate +bodies, we see reflected the grievances and aspirations of the great +majority of the educated classes. + +The theory propounded in these documents is that a lawless, arbitrary +bureaucracy, which seeks to exclude the people from all participation +in the management of public affairs, has come between the nation and +the Supreme Power, and that it is necessary to eliminate at once this +baneful intermediary and inaugurate the so-called "reign of law." For +this purpose the petitioners and orators demanded: + +(1) Inviolability of person and domicile, so that no one should be +troubled by the police without a warrant from an independent magistrate, +and no one punished without a regular trial; + +(2) Freedom of conscience, of speech, and of the Press, together with +the right of holding public meetings and forming associations; + +(3) Greater freedom and increased activity of the local self-government, +rural and municipal; + +(4) An assembly of freely elected representatives, who should +participate in the legislative activity and control the administration +in all its branches; + +(5) The immediate convocation of a constituent assembly, which should +frame a Constitution on these lines. + +Of these requirements the last two are considered by far the most +important. The truth is that the educated classes have come to be +possessed of an ardent desire for genuine parliamentary institutions on +a broad, democratic basis, and neither improvements in the bureaucratic +organisation, nor even a Zemski Sobor in the sense of a Consultative +Assembly, would satisfy them. They imagine that with a full-fledged +constitution they would be guaranteed, not only against administrative +oppression, but even against military reverses such as they have +recently experienced in the Far East--an opinion in which those who know +by experience how military unreadiness and inefficiency can be combined +with parliamentary institutions will hardly feel inclined to concur. + +It may surprise English readers to learn that the corruption and +venality of the civil and military administration, of which we have +recently heard so much, are nowhere mentioned in the complaints and +remonstrances; but the fact is easily accounted for. Though corrupt +practices undoubtedly exist in some branches of the public service, they +are not so universal as is commonly supposed in Western Europe; and +the Russian reformers evidently consider that the purifying of the +administration is less urgent than the acquisition of political +liberties, or that under an enlightened democratic regime the existing +abuses would spontaneously disappear. + +The demands put forward in St. Petersburg did not meet with universal +approval in Moscow. There they seemed excessive and un-Russian, and an +attempt was made to form a more moderate party. In the ancient Capital +of the Tsars even among the Liberals there are not a few who have a +sentimental tenderness for the Autocratic Power, and they argue that +parliamentary government would be very dangerous in a country which is +still far from being homogeneous or compact. To maintain the integrity +of the Empire, and to hold the balance equally between the various races +and social classes of which the population is composed, it is necessary, +they think, to have some permanent authority above the sphere of party +spirit and electioneering strife. While admitting that the Government +in its present bureaucratic form is unsatisfactory and stands in need +of being enlightened by the unofficial classes, they think that a +Consultative Assembly on the model of the old Zemski Sobors would be +infinitely better suited to Russian wants than a Parliament such as that +which sits at Westminster. + +For a whole month the Government took little notice of the unprecedented +excitement and demonstrations. It was not till December 25th that a +reply was given to the public demands. On that day the Emperor signed an +ukaz in which he enumerated the reforms which he considered most urgent, +and instructed the Committee of Ministers to prepare the requisite +legislation. The list of reforms coincided to a certain extent with the +demands formulated by the Zemstvos, but the document as a whole produced +profound disappointment, because it contained no mention of a National +Assembly. To those who could read between the lines the attitude of the +Emperor seemed perfectly clear. He was evidently desirous of introducing +very considerable reforms, but he was resolved that they must be +effected by the unimpaired Autocratic Power in the old bureaucratic +fashion, without any participation of the unofficial world. + +To obviate any misconception on this point, the Government published, +simultaneously with the ukaz, an official communication in which +it condemned the agitation and excitement, and warned the Zemstvos, +municipalities, and other corporate bodies that in discussing political +questions they were overstepping the limits of their legally-defined +functions and exposing themselves to the rigours of the law. + +As might have been foreseen, the ukaz and the circular had not at all +the desired effect of "introducing the necessary tranquillity into +public life, which has lately been diverted from its normal course." On +the contrary, they increased the excitement, and evoked a new series of +public demonstrations. On December 27th, the very day on which the two +official documents were published--the Provincial Zemstvo of Moscow, +openly disregarding the ministerial warnings, expressed the conviction +that the day was near when the bureaucratic regime, which had so long +estranged the Supreme Power from the people, would be changed, and +when freely-elected representatives of the people would take part +in legislation. The same evening, at St. Petersburg, a great Liberal +banquet was held, at which a resolution was voted condemning the war, +and declaring that Russia could be extricated from her difficulties only +by the representatives of the nation, freely elected by secret ballot. +As an encouragement to the organs of local administration to persevere +in their disregard of ministerial instructions, the St. Petersburg +Medical Society, after adopting the programme of the Zemstvo Congress, +sent telegrams of congratulation to the Mayor of Moscow and the +President of the Tchernigof Zemstvo bureau, both of whom had incurred +the displeasure of the Government. A similar telegram was sent by a +Congress of 496 engineers to the Moscow Town Council, in which the +burning political questions had been freely discussed. In other large +towns, when the mayor prevented such discussions, a considerable number +of the town councillors resigned. + +From the Zemstvos and municipalities the spirit of opposition spread to +the provincial assemblies of the Noblesse. The nobles of the province of +St. Petersburg, for example, voted by a large majority an address to the +Tsar recommending the convocation of a freely-elected National Assembly; +and in Moscow, usually regarded as the fortress of Conservatism, eighty +members of the Assembly entered a formal protest against a patriotic +Conservative address which had been voted two days before. Even the +fair sex considered it necessary to support the opposition movement. The +matrons of Moscow, in a humble petition to the Empress, declared that +they could not continue to bring up their children properly in the +existing state of unconstitutional lawlessness, and their view was +endorsed in several provincial towns by the schoolboys, who marched +through the streets in procession, and refused to learn their lessons +until popular liberties had been granted! + +Again, for more than a month the Government remained silent on the +fundamental questions which were exercising the public mind. At last, +on the morning of March 3d, appeared an Imperial manifesto of a very +unexpected kind. In it the Emperor deplored the outbreak of internal +disturbances at a moment when the glorious sons of Russia were fighting +with self-sacrificing bravery and offering their lives for the Faith, +the Tsar, and the Fatherland; but he drew consolation and hope from +remembering that, with the help of the prayers of the Holy Orthodox +Church, under the banner of the Tsar's autocratic might, Russia had +frequently passed through great wars and internal troubles, and had +always issued from them with fresh strength. He appealed, therefore, to +all right-minded subjects, to whatever class they might belong, to join +him in the great and sacred task of overcoming the stubborn foreign foe, +and eradicating revolt at home. As for the manner in which he hoped this +might be accomplished, he gave a pretty clear indication, at the end +of the document, by praying to God, not only for the welfare of his +subjects, but also for "the consolidation of autocracy." + +This extraordinary pronouncement, couched in semi-ecclesiastical +language, produced in the Liberal world feelings of surprise, +disappointment, and dismay. No one was more astonished and dismayed than +the Ministers, who had known nothing of the manifesto until they saw it +in the official Gazette. In the course of the forenoon they paid their +usual weekly visit to Tsarskoe Selo, and respectfully submitted to the +Emperor that such a document must have a deplorable effect on public +opinion. In consequence of their representations his Majesty consented +to supplement the manifesto by a rescript to the Minister of the +Interior, in which he explained that in carrying out his intentions for +the welfare of his people the Government was to have the co-operation of +"the experienced elements of the community." Then followed the memorable +words: "I am resolved henceforth, with the help of God, to convene the +most worthy men, possessing the confidence of the people and elected +by them, in order that they may participate in the preparation and +consideration of legislative measures." For the carrying out of this +resolution a commission, or "special conference," was to be at once +convened, under the presidency of M. Bulyghin, the Minister of the +Interior. + +The rescript softened the impression produced by the manifesto, but +it did not give general satisfaction, because it contained significant +indications that the Emperor, while promising to create an assembly of +some kind, was still determined to maintain the Autocratic Power. So +at least the public interpreted a vague phase about the difficulty of +introducing reforms "while preserving absolutely the immutability of +the fundamental laws of the Empire." And this impression seemed to +be confirmed by the fact that the task of preparing the future +representative institutions was confided, not to a constituent assembly, +but to a small commission composed chiefly or entirely of officials. + +In these circumstances the Liberals determined to continue the +agitation. The Bulyghin Commission was accordingly inundated with +petitions and addresses explaining the wants of the nation in general, +and of various sections of it in particular; and when the Minister +declined to receive deputations and discuss with them the aforesaid +wants, the reform question was taken up by a new series of congresses, +composed of doctors, lawyers, professors, journalists, etc. Even the +higher ecclesiastical dignitaries woke up for a moment from their +accustomed lethargy, remembered how they had lived for so many years +under the rod of M. Pobedonostsef, recognised as uncanonical such +subordination to a layman, and petitioned for the resurrection of the +Patriarchate, which had been abolished by Peter the Great. + +On May 9th a new Zemstvo Congress was held in Moscow, and it at once +showed that since their November session in St. Petersburg the delegates +had made a decided movement to the Left. Those of them who had then led +the movement were now regarded as too Conservative. The idea of a +Zemski Sobor was discarded as insufficient for the necessities of the +situation, and strong speeches were made in support of a much more +democratic constitution. + +It was thus becoming clearer every day that between the Liberals and the +Government there was an essential difference which could not be removed +by ordinary concessions. The Emperor proved that he was in favour of +reform by granting a very large measure of religious toleration, by +removing some of the disabilities imposed on the Poles, and allowing the +Polish language to be used in schools, and by confirming the proposals +of the Committee of Ministers to place the Press censure on a legal +basis. But these concessions to public opinion did not gain for him the +sympathy and support of his Liberal subjects. What they insisted on was +a considerable limitation of the Autocratic Power; and on that point the +Emperor has hitherto shown himself inexorable. His firmness proceeds +not from any wayward desire to be able to do as he pleases, but from a +hereditary respect for a principle. From his boyhood he has been taught +that Russia owes her greatness and her security to her autocratic form +of government, and that it is the sacred duty of the Tsar to hand down +intact to his successors the power which he holds in trust for them. + +While the Liberals were thus striving to attain their object without +popular disorders, and without any very serious infraction of the law, +Revolutionaries were likewise busy, working on different but parallel +lines. + +In the chapter on the present phase of the revolutionary movement I +have sketched briefly the origin and character of the two main Socialist +groups, and I have now merely to convey a general idea of their attitude +during recent events. And first, of the Social Democrats. + +At the end of 1894 the Social Democrats were in what may be called their +normal condition--that is to say, they were occupied in organising and +developing the Labour Movement. The removal of Plehve, who had greatly +hampered them by his energetic police administration, enabled them to +work more freely, and they looked with a friendly eye on the efforts +of the Liberal Zemstvo-ists; but they took no part in the agitation, +because the Zemstvo world lay outside their sphere of action. In the +labour world, to which they confined their attention, they must have +foreseen that a crisis would sooner or later be produced by the war, and +that they would then have an excellent opportunity of preaching +their doctrine that for all the sufferings of the working classes the +Government is responsible. What they did not foresee was that serious +labour troubles were so near at hand, and that the conflict with the +authorities would be accelerated by Father Gapon. Accustomed to regard +him as a persistent opponent, they did not expect him to become suddenly +an energetic, self-willed ally. Hence they were taken unawares, and at +first the direction of the movement was by no means entirely in their +hands. Very soon, however, they grasped the situation, and utilised +it for their own ends. It was in great measure due to their secret +organisation and activity that the strike in the Putilof Ironworks, +which might easily have been terminated amicably, spread rapidly not +only to the other works and factories in St. Petersburg, but also to +those of Moscow, Riga, Warsaw, Lodz, and other industrial centres. +Though they did not approve of Father Gapon's idea of presenting +a petition to the Tsar, the loss of life which his demonstration +occasioned was very useful to them in their efforts to propagate the +belief that the Autocratic Power is the ally of the capitalists and +hostile to the claims and aspirations of the working classes. + +The other great Socialist group contributed much more largely towards +bringing about the present state of things. It was their Militant +Organisation that assassinated Plehve, and thereby roused the Liberals +to action. To them, likewise, is due the subsequent assassination of the +Grand Duke Serge, and it is an open secret that they are preparing other +acts of terrorism of a similar kind. At the same time they have been +very active in creating provincial revolutionary committees, in printing +and distributing revolutionary literature, and, above all, in organising +agrarian disturbances, which they intend to make a very important +factor in the development of events. Indeed, it is chiefly by agrarian +disturbances that they hope to overthrow the Autocratic Power and bring +about the great economic and social revolution to which the political +revolution would be merely the prologue. + +Therein lies a serious danger. + +After the failure of the propaganda and the insurrectionary agitation +in the seventies, it became customary in revolutionary circles to +regard the muzhik as impervious to Socialist ideas and insurrectionary +excitement, but the hope of eventually employing him in the cause never +quite died out, and in recent times, when his economic condition in many +districts has become critical, attempts have occasionally been made to +embarrass the Government by agrarian disturbances. The method usually +employed is to disseminate among the peasantry by oral propaganda, by +printed or hectographed leaflets, and by forged Imperial manifestoes, +the belief that the Tsar has ordered the land of the proprietors to be +given to the rural Communes, and that his benevolent wishes are being +frustrated by the land-owners and the officials. The forged manifesto +is sometimes written in letters of gold as a proof of its being genuine, +and in one case which I heard of in the province of Poltava, the +revolutionary agent, wearing the uniform of an aide-de-camp of the +Emperor, induced the village priest to read the document in the parish +church. + +The danger lies in the fact that, quite independent of revolutionary +activity, there has always been, since the time of the Emancipation, a +widespread belief among the peasantry that they would sooner or later +receive the whole of the land. Successive Tsars have tried personally +to destroy this illusion, but their efforts have not been successful. +Alexander II., when passing through a province where the idea was very +prevalent, caused a number of village elders to be brought before him, +and told them in a threatening tone that they must remain satisfied with +their allotments and pay their taxes regularly; but the wily peasants +could not be convinced that the "General" who had talked to them in this +sense was really the Tsar. Alexander III. made a similar attempt at the +time of his accession. To the Volost elders collected together from all +parts of the Empire, he said: "Do not believe the foolish rumours and +absurd reports about a redistribution of the land, and addition to your +allotments, and such like things. These reports are disseminated by your +enemies. Every kind of property, your own included, must be inviolable." +Recalling these words, Nicholas II. confirmed them at his accession, and +warned the peasants not to be led astray by evil-disposed persons. + +Notwithstanding these repeated warnings, the peasants still cling to +the idea that all the land belongs to them; and the +Socialist-Revolutionaries now announce publicly that they intend to use +this belief for the purpose of carrying out their revolutionary designs. +In a pamphlet entitled "Concerning Liberty and the Means of Obtaining +it," they explain their plan of campaign. Under the guidance of the +revolutionary agents the peasants of each district all over the Empire +are to make it impossible for the proprietors to work their estates, and +then, after driving away the local authorities and rural police, they +are to take possession of the estates for their own use. The Government, +in its vain attempts to dislodge them, will have to employ all the +troops at its disposal, and this will give the working classes of the +towns, led by the revolutionists, an opportunity of destroying the most +essential parts of the administrative mechanism. Thus a great social +revolution can be successfully accomplished, and any Zemski Sobor or +Parliament which may be convoked will merely have to give a legislative +sanction to accomplished facts. + +These three groups--the Liberals, the Social Democrats, and the +Socialist Revolutionaries--constitute what may be called the purely +Russian Opposition. They found their claims and justify their action +on utilitarian and philosophic grounds, and demand liberty (in various +senses) for themselves and others, independently of race and creed. This +distinguishes them from the fourth group, who claim to represent +the subject-nationalities, and who mingle nationalist feelings and +aspirations with enthusiasm for liberty and justice in the abstract. + +The policy of Russifying these subject-nationalities, which was +inaugurated by Alexander III. and maintained by his successor, has +failed in its object. It has increased the use of the Russian language +in official procedure, modified the system of instruction in the schools +and universities, and brought, nominally, a few schismatic and heretical +sheep into the Eastern Orthodox fold, but it has entirely failed to +inspire the subject-populations with Russian feeling and national +patriotism; on the contrary, it has aroused in them a bitter hostility +to Russian nationality, and to the Central Government. In such of +them as have retained their old aspirations of political +independence--notably the Poles--the semi-latent disaffection has been +stimulated; and in those of them which, like the Finlanders and the +Armenians, desire merely to preserve the limited autonomy they formerly +enjoyed, a sentiment of disaffection has been created. All of them +know very well that in an armed struggle with the dominant Russian +nationality they would speedily be crushed, as the Poles were in 1863. +Their disaffection shows itself, therefore, merely in resistance to +the obligatory military service, and in an undisguised or thinly veiled +attitude of systematic hostility, which causes the Government some +anxiety and prevents it from sending to the Far East a large number +of troops which would otherwise be available. They hail, however, with +delight the Liberal and revolutionary movements in the hope that +the Russians themselves may undermine, and possibly overthrow, the +tyrannical Autocratic Power. Towards this end they would gladly +co-operate, and they are endeavouring, therefore, to get into touch +with each other; but they have so little in common, and so many mutually +antagonistic interests, that they are not likely to succeed in forming a +solid coalition. + +While sympathising with every form of opposition to the Government, the +men of the subject-nationalities reserve their special affection for +the Socialists, because these not only proclaim, like the Liberals, the +principles of extensive local self-government and universal equality +before the law, but they also speak of replacing the existing system of +coercive centralisation by a voluntary confederation of heterogeneous +units. This explains why so many Poles, Armenians and Georgians are +to be found in the ranks of the Social Democrats and the +Socialist-Revolutionaries. + +Of the recruits from oppressed nationalities the great majority +come from the Jews, who, though they have never dreamed of political +independence, or even of local autonomy, have most reason to complain of +the existing order of things. At all times they have furnished a goodly +contingent to the revolutionary movement, and many of them have belied +their traditional reputation of timidity and cowardice by taking part in +very dangerous terrorist enterprises--in some cases ending their career +on the scaffold. In 1897 they created a Social-Democratic organisation +of their own, commonly known as the Bund, which joined, in 1898, the +Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party, on the understanding that it +should retain its independence on all matters affecting exclusively the +Jewish population.* It now possesses a very ably-conducted weekly organ, +and of all sections of the Social-Democratic group it is unquestionably +the best organised. This is not surprising, because the Jews have more +business capacity than the Russians, and centuries of oppression have +developed in the race a wonderful talent for secret illegal activity, +and for eluding the vigilance of the police. + + * The official title of this Bund is the "Universal Jewish + Labour Union in Russia and Poland." Its organ is called + Sovremenniya Izvestiya (Contemporary News). + +It would be very interesting to know the numerical strength of these +groups, but we have no materials for forming even an approximate +estimate. The Liberals are certainly the most numerous. They include the +great majority of the educated classes, but they are less persistently +energetic than their rivals, and their methods of action make less +impression on the Government. The two Socialist groups, though +communicative enough with regard to their doctrines and aims, are +very reticent with regard to the number of their adherents, and this +naturally awakens a suspicion that an authoritative statement on the +subject would tend to diminish rather than enhance their importance in +the eyes of the public. If statistics of the Social Democrats could +be obtained, it would be necessary to distinguish between the three +categories of which the group is composed: (1) The educated active +members, who form the directing, controlling element; (2) the fully +indoctrinated recruits from the working classes; and (3) workmen who +desire merely to better their material condition, but who take part in +political demonstrations in the hope of bringing pressure to bear on +their employers, and inducing the Government to intervene on their +behalf. + +The two Socialist groups are not only increasing the number of their +adherents; they are also extending and improving their organisation, +as is proved by the recent strikes, which are the work of the Social +Democrats, and by the increasing rural disturbances and acts of +terrorism, which are the work of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. + +With regard to the unorganised Nationalist group, all I can do towards +conveying a vague, general idea of its numerical strength is to give +the numbers of the populations--men, women, and children--of which the +Nationalist agitators are the self-constituted representatives, without +attempting to estimate the percentage of the actively disaffected. The +populations in question are: + + Poles 7,900,000 + Jews 5,190,000 + Finlanders 2,592,000 + Armenians 1,200,000 + Georgians 408,000 + ---------- 16,495,000 + +If a National Assembly were created, in which all the nationalities +were represented according to the numbers of the population, the Poles, +roughly speaking, would have 38 members, the Jews 24, the Finlanders 12, +the Armenians 6, and the Georgians 2: whereas the Russians would +have about 400. The other subject-nationalities in which symptoms +of revolutionary fermentation have appeared are too insignificant to +require special mention. + +As the representatives of the various subject-nationalities are +endeavouring to combine, so likewise are the Liberals and the two +Socialist groups trying to form a coalition, and for this purpose they +have already held several conferences. How far they will succeed it is +impossible to say. On one point--the necessity of limiting or abolishing +the Autocratic Power--they are unanimous, and there seems to be a tacit +understanding that for the present they shall work together amicably +on parallel lines, each group reserving its freedom of action for the +future, and using meanwhile its own customary means of putting pressure +on the Government. We may expect, therefore, that for a time the +Liberals will go on holding conferences and congresses in defiance of +the police authorities, delivering eloquent speeches, discussing thorny +political questions, drafting elaborate constitutions, and making gentle +efforts to clog the wheels of the Administration,* while the +Social Democrats will continue to organise strikes and semi-pacific +demonstrations,** and the Socialist-Revolutionaries will seek to +accelerate the march of events by agrarian disturbances and acts of +terrorism. + + * As an illustration of this I may cite the fact that + several Zemstvos have declared themselves unable, under + present conditions, to support the indigent families of + soldiers at the front. + + ** I call them semi-pacific, because on such occasions the + demonstrators are instructed to refrain from violence only + so long as the police do not attempt to stop the proceedings + by force. + +It is certain, however, that the parting of the ways will be reached +sooner or later, and already there are indications that it is not very +far off. Liberals and Social Democrats may perhaps work together for +a considerable time, because the latter, though publicly committed to +socialistic schemes which the Liberals must regard with the strongest +antipathy, are willing to accept a Constitutional regime during the +period of transition. It is difficult, however, to imagine that the +Liberals, of whom a large proportion are landed proprietors, can long +go hand in hand with the Socialist-Revolutionaries, who propose to bring +about the revolution by inciting the peasants to seize unceremoniously +the estates, live stock, and agricultural implements of the landlords. + +Already the Socialist-Revolutionaries have begun to speak publicly +of the inevitable rupture in terms by no means flattering to their +temporary allies. In a brochure recently issued by their central +committee the following passage occurs: + + +"If we consider the matter seriously and attentively, it becomes evident +that all the strength of the bourgeoisie lies in its greater or less +capacity for frightening and intimidating the Government by the fear of +a popular rising; but as the bourgeoisie itself stands in mortal terror +of the thing with which it frightens the Government, its position at the +moment of insurrection will be rather ridiculous and pitiable." + + +To understand the significance of this passage, the reader must know +that, in the language of the Socialists, bourgeoisie and Liberals are +convertible terms. + +The truth is that the Liberals find themselves in an awkward strategical +position. As quiet, respectable members of society they dislike violence +of every kind, and occasionally in moments of excitement they believe +that they may attain their ends by mere moral pressure, but when +they find that academic protests and pacific demonstrations make no +perceptible impression on the Government, they become impatient and feel +tempted to approve, at least tacitly, of stronger measures. Many of them +do not profess to regard with horror and indignation the acts of the +terrorists, and some of them, if I am correctly informed, go so far +as to subscribe to the funds of the Socialist-Revolutionaries without +taking very stringent precautions against the danger of the money being +employed for the preparation of dynamite and hand grenades. + +This extraordinary conduct on the part of moderate Liberals may well +surprise Englishmen, but it is easily explained. The Russians have a +strong vein of recklessness in their character, and many of them are at +present imbued with an unquestioning faith in the miracle-working +power of Constitutionalism. These seem to imagine that as soon as +the Autocratic Power is limited by parliamentary institutions the +discontented will cease from troubling and the country will be at rest. + +It is hardly necessary to say that such expectations are not likely +to be realised. All sections of the educated classes may be agreed in +desiring "liberty," but the word has many meanings, and nowhere more +than in Russia at the present day. For the Liberals it means simply +democratic parliamentary government; for the Social Democrat it +means the undisputed predominance of the Proletariat; for the +Socialist-Revolutionary it means the opportunity of realising +immediately the Socialist ideal; for the representative of a +subject-nationality it means the abolition of racial and religious +disabilities and the attainment of local autonomy or political +independence. There is no doubt, therefore, that in Russia, as in other +countries, a parliament would develop political parties bitterly hostile +to each other, and its early history might contain some startling +surprises for those who had helped to create it. If the Constitution, +for example, were made as democratic as the Liberals and Socialists +demand, the elections might possibly result in an overwhelming +Conservative majority ready to re-establish the Autocratic Power! This +is not at all so absurd as it sounds, for the peasants, apart from the +land question, are thoroughly Conservative. The ordinary muzhik can +hardly conceive that the Emperor's power can be limited by a law or an +Assembly, and if the idea were suggested to him, he would certainly not +approve. In his opinion the Tsar should be omnipotent. If everything is +not satisfactory in Russia, it is because the Tsar does not know of the +evil, or is prevented from curing it by the tchinovniks and the landed +proprietors. "More power, therefore, to his elbow!" as an Irishman might +say. Such is the simple political creed of the "undeveloped" muzhik, and +all the efforts of the revolutionary groups to develop him have not yet +been attended with much success. + +How, then, the reader may ask, is an issue to be found out of the +present imbroglio? I cannot pretend to speak with authority, but +it seems to me that there are only two methods of dealing with +the situation: prompt, energetic repression, or timely, judicious +concessions to popular feeling. Either of these methods might, perhaps, +have been successful, but the Government adopted neither, and has halted +between the two. By this policy of drift it has encouraged the hopes of +all, has satisfied nobody, and has diminished its own prestige. + +In defence or extenuation of this attitude it may be said that there +is considerable danger in the adoption of either course. Vigorous +repression means staking all on a single card, and if it were successful +it could not do more than postpone the evil day, because the present +antiquated form of government--suitable enough, perhaps, for a simply +organised peasant-empire vegetating in an atmosphere of "eternal +stillness"--cannot permanently resist the rising tide of modern ideas +and aspirations, and is incapable of grappling successfully with the +complicated problems of economic and social progress which are already +awaiting solution. Sooner or later the bureaucratic machine, driven +solely by the Autocratic Power in the teeth of popular apathy or +opposition, must inevitably break down, and the longer the collapse is +postponed the more violent is it likely to be. On the other hand, it +is impossible to foresee the effects of concessions. Mere bureaucratic +reforms will satisfy no one; they are indeed not wanted except as a +result of more radical changes. What all sections of the Opposition +demand is that the people should at least take part in the government +of the country by means of freely elected representatives in Parliament +assembled. It is useless to argue with them that Constitutionalism will +certainly not work the miracles that are expected of it, and that in the +struggles of political parties which it is sure to produce the unity and +integrity of the Empire may be endangered. Lessons of that kind can only +be learned by experience. Other countries, it is said, have existed +and thriven under free political institutions, and why not Russia? +Why should she be a pariah among the nations? She gave parliamentary +institutions to the young nationalities of the Balkan Peninsula as soon +as they were liberated from Turkish bondage, and she has not yet been +allowed such privileges herself! + +Let us suppose now that the Autocratic Power has come to feel the +impossibility of remaining isolated as it is at present, and that it has +decided to seek solid support in some section of the population, what +section should it choose? Practically it has no choice. The only way of +relieving the pressure is to make concessions to the Constitutionalists. +That course would conciliate, not merely the section of the Opposition +which calls itself by that name and represents the majority of the +educated classes, but also, in a lesser degree, all the other sections. +No doubt these latter would accept the concession only as part payment +of their demands and a means of attaining ulterior aims. Again and +again the Social Democrats have proclaimed publicly that they desire +parliamentary government, not as an end in itself, but as a stepping +stone towards the realisation of the Socialist ideal. It is evident, +however, that they would have to remain on this stepping stone for +a long series of years--until the representatives of the Proletariat +obtained an overwhelming majority in the Chamber. In like manner the +subject-nationalities would regard a parliamentary regime as a mere +temporary expedient--a means of attaining greater local and national +autonomy--and they would probably show themselves more impatient than +the Social Democrats. Any inordinate claims, however, which they might +put forward would encounter resistance, as the Poles found in 1863, not +merely from the Autocratic Power, but from the great majority of the +Russian people, who have no sympathy with any efforts tending to bring +about the disruption of the Empire. In short, as soon as the Assembly +set to work, the delegates would be sobered by a consciousness of +responsibility, differences of opinion and aims would inevitably appear, +and the various groups transformed into political parties, instead of +all endeavouring as at present to pull down the Autocratic Power, would +expend a great part of their energy in pulling against each other. + +In order to reach this haven of safety it is necessary to pass through +a period of transition, in which there are some formidable difficulties. +One of these I may mention by way of illustration. + +In creating parliamentary institutions of any kind the Government could +hardly leave intact the present system of allowing the police to arrest +without a proper warrant, and send into exile without trial, any one +suspected of revolutionary designs. On this point all the Opposition +groups are agreed, and all consequently put forward prominently the +demand for the inviolability of person and domicile. To grant such a +concession seems a very simple and easy matter, but any responsible +minister might hesitate to accept such a restriction of his +authority. We know, he would argue, that the terrorist section of the +Socialist-Revolutionary group, the so-called Militant Organisation, +are very busy preparing bombs, and the police, even with the extensive, +ill-defined powers which they at present possess, have the greatest +difficulty in preventing the use of such objectionable instruments +of political warfare. Would not the dynamiters and throwers of +hand-grenades utilise a relaxation of police supervision, as they did in +the time of Louis Melikof,* for carrying out their nefarious designs? + + * Vide supra, p. 569. + +I have no desire to conceal or minimise such dangers, but I believe they +are temporary and by no means so great as the dangers of the only other +alternatives--energetic repression and listless inactivity. Terrorism +and similar objectionable methods of political warfare are symptoms of +an abnormal, unhealthy state of society, and would doubtless disappear +in Russia, as they have disappeared in other countries, with the +conditions which produced them. If the terrorists continued to exist +under a more liberal regime, they would be much less formidable, because +they would lose the half-concealed sympathy which they at present enjoy. + +Political assassinations may occasionally take place under the most +democratic governments, as the history of the United States proves, +but terrorism as a system is to be found only in countries where the +political power is concentrated in the hands of a few individuals; and +it sometimes happens that irresponsible persons are exposed to terrorist +attacks. We have an instance of this at present in St. Petersburg. +The reluctance of the Emperor to adopt at once a Liberal programme is +commonly attributed to the influence of two members of the Imperial +family, the Empress Dowager and the Grand Duke Vladimir. This is a +mistake. Neither of these personages is so reactionary as is generally +supposed, and their political views, whatever they may be, have no +appreciable influence on the course of affairs. If the Empress Dowager +had possessed the influence so often ascribed to her, M. Plehve would +not have remained so long in power. As for the Grand Duke Vladimir, he +is not in favour, and for nearly two years he has never been consulted +on political matters. The so-called Grand Ducal party of which he is +supposed to be the leader, is a recently invented fiction. When in +difficulties the Emperor may consult individually some of his near +relatives, but there is no coherent group to which the term party could +properly be applied. + +As soon as the Autocratic Power has decided on a definite line of +action, it is to be hoped that a strong man will be found to take the +direction of affairs. In Russia, as in other autocratically governed +countries, strong men in the political sense of the term are extremely +rare, and when they do appear as a lusus naturae they generally take +their colour from their surroundings, and are of the authoritative, +dictatorial type. During recent years only two strong men have come to +the front in the Russian official world. The one was M. Plehve, who +was nothing if not authoritative and dictatorial, and who is no longer +available for experiments in repression or constitutionalism. The other +is M. Witte. As an administrator under an autocratic regime he has +displayed immense ability and energy, but it does not follow that he is +a statesman capable of piloting the ship into calm waters, and he is not +likely to have an opportunity of making the attempt, for he does not--to +state the case mildly--possess the full confidence of his august master. + +Even if a strong man, enjoying fully the Imperial confidence, could be +found, the problem would not be thereby completely and satisfactorily +solved, because an autocrat, who is the Lord's Anointed, cannot delegate +his authority to a simple mortal without losing something of the +semi-religious halo and the prestige on which his authority rests. +While a roi faineant may fulfil effectively all the essential duties of +sovereignty, an autocrate faineant is an absurdity. + +In these circumstances, it is idle to speculate as to the future. All +we can do is to await patiently the development of events, and in all +probability it is the unexpected that will happen. + +The reader doubtless feels that I am offering a very lame and impotent +conclusion, and I must confess that I am conscious of this feeling +myself, but I think I may fairly plead extenuating circumstances. +Happily for my peace of mind I am a mere observer who is not called upon +to invent a means of extricating Russia from her difficult position. +For that arduous task there are already brave volunteers enough in +the field. All I have to do is to explain as clearly as I can the +complicated problem to be solved. Nor do I feel it any part of my duty +to make predictions. I believe I am pretty well acquainted with the +situation at the present moment, but what it may be a few weeks hence, +when the words I am now writing issue from the press, I do not profess +to foresee. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUSSIA *** + +***** This file should be named 1349-0.txt or 1349-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/4/1349/ + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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