The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-25 00:00:00

CONDITION OF RUSSIA.

The following letter from St. Petersburg of the
18th:inst. gives a very unfavourable description of
the Russian empire ;
" Far from improving, the internal state of the
country is visibly becoming worse. All classes of
society have arrived at such a state of irritation that
an explosion is imminent. The great landed pro-
prietors do not conceal their rage. They complain
of being plundered, and addresses of adhesion are
sent from all parts of our vast empire to the Jockey
Club at Moscow, the members of which had the sad
courage to swear in corpore that the emancipation
of the serfs should not take place according to the
terms proposed by the Government. It is evident
that this resolution will infallibly produce an intes-
tine struggle which will degenerate into a war of
extermination. Four years since when Alexander 11.
conceived the idea of emancipating the serfs he went
to Moscow to solicit the aid of the nobility of that
capital to carry out his humane plan. He said to
them, "The state of slavery in which the peasants
are kept is incompatible with the spirit of the age.
Assist me in the difficult task of emancipating the
serfs. Let us take the initiative.' This was the
language employed by the Emperor when he ad-
dressed the nobility of Moscow, assembled in the
palance of the Kremlin. It was unfortunate and
ill-timed language. As autocrat he had no need to
solicit the consent of his subjects. A stroke of his
pen would have been sufficient to carry the Imperial
plan into execution. By declaring that he would
remain with the nobility until the people should
take the initiative in their emancipation he osten-
sibly admitted the right of the people to express
their will. The autocrat bowed his head before
democracy.
" It is easy to comprehend that in the face of the
ill-will of the nobility the Emperor's words became
more deeply engraven in the memory of every pea-
sant. The nobility were thus held forth to the
hatred of the people. Thence have arisen the bar-
barous massacres which have spread terror among
the nobility living on their lands. Thence these
risings en masse of the peasants and the subsequent
military executions of which we hear every day, and
of which it is difficult to foretell the end.
" Under the ancient system of slavery the serf
was the absolute property of his lord. The serf
possessed, and could possess, nothing of his own. It
happened, however, that some serfs, authorised by
their lords, quitted their villages, and by the pay-
ments of an annual tribute were permitted to settle
in a town and to follow a trade. It frequently hap-
pened that these serfs by their economy and industry
acquired large fortunes, but the law prevented them
from possessing any property in their own name.
They asked permission of their lords to purchase
landed property in their names. Russia possesses
thousands of serfs so circumstanced who possess mag-
nificent palaces and lands in the name of their lords.
Since the proclamation of the act of emancipation, in-
credible as the fact mayappear, more than 2,000 law-
suits have been commenced by former peasants, now
landed proprietors, against their former lords who dis-
pute their right to these properties. One noble-
man, the possessor of 21,000 peasants, has nearly
100 such actions to defend before the Senate. I
conclude my letter by announcing the departure
for Baden of the Grand Duke Constantine, deputed
, by the Emperor to congratulate his august uncle,
the King of Prussia, on his escape from the assassin
Becker."