them, informed us, that they were sometimes rather idle, and required a little beating. This he did not administer himself, but, when he thought it necessary, sent them to the soldiers. The peasants pay three roubles a-year, besides this contribution in kind: they also furnish horses and carts.

CHAP.
X.

Peasantry.

The peasants are slaves': these unfortunate State of the people are sold, like cattle in the market; and as much art and finesse are shewn by the nobles in disposing of them, as in the sale of their horses. If they are diseased, or infamous, or stupid, their faults and vices are concealed. They are often advertised in the Gazettes: and are let out on hire, or suffered to keep shops; their masters receiving the principal part of their gains. The price of a slave varies, according to circumstances: if he is a mechanic, an artisan, if he dresses hair-in short, if he knows how to procure a little money, the price rises in proportion to his abilities. The children of slaves are also slaves. The treatment which such persons must sometimes experience in Russia may be well conceived. We had once,

(1) A peasant may obtain his liberty, either by manumission, as in the instance of domestics; or by purchase; or by serving in the army or navy.

X.

CHAP. in Petersburg, the pain to witness, in the public streets, the punishment which a meagre effeminate coward thought proper to bestow on a man who might have crushed him with a grasp: but he was a slave! This contemptible tyrant, for no cause whatever that we could discover, was displaying his prowess, before a mob, by beating a peasant with a large bludgeon. The poor man bore the punishment without a groan or a tear, or even a word. His cowardly oppressor seemed to think he distinguished himself by the number of blows he gave; and became exasperated, because the object of his torture refused to shew, in any manner, that he felt the severity of the punishment. Unable to endure a spectacle so repugnant to the common feelings of humanity, and yet sensible of the danger of interfering in species of iniquity protected and encouraged by the laws, we ventured, with great deference, to remonstrate, and to petition for the release of the peasant. "You

know little," said his chastiser to us, in French, "of this people: you have been so short a time in this country, that you have not learned how to manage a Russian: if you do not flea the skin from his body, you will never have him in any order whatever."

There are, however, many proprietors in Russia

X.

whose general conduct to their peasants is di- CHAP. rected by feelings of benevolence and kindness. The family of Prince Sheremetof have been remarkable, for some time, for the treatment of their slaves; many of whom are very rich, and not afraid to shew their wealth: their condition is, indeed, better than the peasants of the Crown. The Prince has 150,000; and receives, from each, five roubles a-year, as Capitation-tax. As an illustration of the wealth possessed by many of this class of men, we were informed that the late Empress, wishing to obtain a supply, proposed to make a levy of one in five hundred; which, with the population of that time, of nine millions, would amount to eighteen thousand; declaring, however, that those who would pay five hundred roubles should be exempted. The levy was made in the usual manner; and fourteen thousand, out of the eighteen thousand, paid four hundred roubles. It is customary, on the different estates, for the peasants to go as soldiers; and a family generally knows when they will have to send a son. The only exception to this takes place when either the Seigneur or the neighhood are desirous of ridding themselves of some man of bad character.

The peasants on the estates of the Russian

CHAP. noblemen are allowed to manage the lands as

X. they please, provided they pay the Capitation

Mode of

managing

tax. This is different in different places; as the Estates much depends on the wants of the proprietor. sian Nobi- The higher the rank, and the greater the wealth,

of the Rus

lity.

the happier, for the most part, are his peasants. Few of the Russian noblemen farm their own estates when they do, their lands produce more; but the situation of their peasants is rendered at once miserable. This is the case in Livonia and Poland, where some of the noblemen suffer their slaves to work for themselves only on Sunday.

There are some estates appropriated to particular branches of the Royal Family; and the peasants attached to them are considered to be in a better condition than those belonging to individuals. There are peasants, but not many, who may be said to possess land of their own; and these are chiefly the families of noblemen reduced to poverty, who have been permitted to enter into the class of vassals, and have had lands given to them by the Crown, which they hold under a particular tenure. On every estate, whether it belongs to the Crown or to an individual, a new enumeration and a new division of lands takes place every ten or twelve years. A family that loses any male children

during the interval pays for them until the next enumeration. Forty acres is the common portion of land allotted; but the quantity depends on the size of the family, or what they are thought able to cultivate, and on the plenty or scarcity of land on the estate. The tax is like a rent; and the Seigneur in general does not trouble himself in what manner it is earned, whether by cultivating the farm, or leaving it, and working in a town: for the latter, however, permission is required. Many of the arrangements, relating to the division of the lands and internal regulations, are settled by the peasants themselves, the Elders of the village. When an estate is overpeopled, which, however, does not often happen, the peasants are sometimes transported to another place, and formed into a new colony. The brother of the Baroness Strogonof had an estate where the population was too great for the quantity of land; but no inconvenience arose from it, as he received a certain capitation-tax, and allowed his peasants to go and earn it where they pleased. This was the method he pursued in general; and therefore never gave himself any trouble, whether they cultivated the land that was allotted to them, or not. "Cela m'est égal: cela me fait ni bien, ni mal!"

CHAP.

X.