The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-23 00:00:00

SERFAGE IN RUSSIA.

LAT MEASURES.—" God is too high, and the
Czar too distant," was the ancient proverb which was
in the mouth of every Russian, till within late years,
when any idea was mooted among themselves upon
the improvement of the condition, either in a moral,
political, or social view. " But," observes a writer—
(See a clear and talented pamphlet " Russia under
Nicholas the First," Murray, 1841,)—who has
steadily regarded the reforms which have taken place
in late years, " when the Emperor Nicholas came
to the throne, he brought with him a strong will,
and a mind full of activity Driven by the ne-
cessity of seeing things with his own eyes, he

spent a great portion of' his time in rapid journeys
through the provinces He began to rouse the
moral corpse into a convulsive movement."
Among other measures, and new political organi-
zations which the Emperor, who has shown himself
since his accession to be altogether a Russian, none
has more worthily received the impress of the Im-
perial hand, than that which the ensuing paper pro-
poses to take into consideration—the attempted
emancipation of that immense body of people, known
by the appellation of " Serfs."
After effecting the work of forming a systematic
collection of all the laws relative to the rights of
citizens, and the branches of public justice, known by
the name of the " Swod," the Emperor determined to
take into full consideration the " Serfage" of the em-
pire, and accordingly began this new and important
change in the higher branches of the administration
by an ukase bearing date the Bth of January, 1838.
By this ukase, the Emperor ordered a particular
ministry for the Imperial domains, at the head of
which Kisselew was placed. The object of this regu-
lation was to improve the condition of the Crown
Serfs, amounting to 21,500,000 souls, and to in-
troduce a better system for their taxation.
To what extent the Emperor's views have up to
the present moment been carried out, our readers are
cognizant already, from foregoing papers and articles
in this journal.
SERFAGE—RETROSPECTIVE REVlEw.—Antecedent
to the time of the present Emperor, the state of the
serfs had received some notice, and indeed their
emancipation had been effected in some instances.
'We take the fellowing brief view of their state, during
the fifteen years preliminary to the Emperor's time.
The serfs at the beginning of this period acquired
some legal protections against the caprice of their
masters, and the great work of emancipation began
in the Baltic provinces.
In 1818, the nobility of Courland abolished vil-
lenage. In 1819, the Livonian nobles made a pro-
vision for its gradual extinction, by which all serfs
born after that year were declared to be born free,
and all bondage was to cease after 1826.
In 1822, the Crown peasants 9f the provinces, were
permitted, by imperial Lukase, to settle on the fertile
lands in Siberia, and grants of wild lands in the
southern districts were made to military veterans.
Here let us note, that in the military colonies, there
are no serfs.—(See the Philadelphian Encyclopwdia.)
In 1823, the Emperor directed the Imperial Coun-
cil to take measures for preventing the sale of the
serfs, independently of that of the land to which
they were attached.
Such, down to the present time, are a few of the
ameliorative measures made for this vast body of
pele.
POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF SERFAGE.—We now
proceed succinctly to notice the different grades of
serfs, and peculiarities attached to them :
The serfs constitute the lowest class of the inha-
bitants of Russia, and as they do not enjoy any per-
sonal privileges, they cannot (according to the ex-
pression of the ukase of the 10th of March, 1813), be
deprived either of honour or good name. They pay
the capitation tax, and are subject to military con-
scription. Beside their agricultural pursuits, they
are allowed to engage in handicraft, and some minor
tracks, as keeping inns in villages, &c. By pur-
chasing licenses they may engage in any kind of
commerce, even that which is carried on by merchants
of the first guild, but they do not enjoy the personal
privileges of the merchants.
THE CRQWN SERFS.—These live on the estates be-
longing to the Crown. They pay, besides the capi-
tation tax, a rent for their grounds. They even elect
some of their authorities, and each commune among
them (a volost of five hundred male individuals) elects
every two years its chief, called head. The Crown
serfs may pass into the higher classes of burghers and
merchaOts.
SERFS OF THE APPANAGE ESTATES.—The condition
of these differs little from that of the Crown peasants,
they being reserved for the maintenance of the impe-
rial family.
THIS COMMON SERFS.—The landowner's peasants
or serfs, are generally allowed to be complete slaves.
Their master can inflict on them such punishment as
he chooses, btst he is not permitted to kill, to starve to
death, or to main his serf. A serf cannot contract
marriage, without the permission of the master. The
prxdial serf cannot, as we have observed, be sold
without the ground to which he is attached, but the
domestic serf may be sold like any other chattel. An
ukase Of 1808, however, prohibits the sale of serfs at
fairs or by auction, or as substitutes for recruits. An
accusation of a serf against his master, except in
cases of high treason, is not admitted ; and he who
prefers such a charge is liable to punishment.
The serfs are indeed, by law, considered as things,
not as persons ; attached to the soil, they are incapable
of possessing any property in land ; they may be
bought, sold, or exchanged, with little more restric-
tions than are enacted in dealing for cattle ; they are
divided into agricultural, mining, and manufacturin,g
or domestic slaves, and have their condition only im-
proved when drawn for military service.
A clever writer- has attempted to show (see a
pamplet published by Hatchard, Piccadilly, en-
titled " Russia as it is, and not as it has been
represented," 1838, Bvo.—p. 7) that serfage in
Russia is not slavery, but is, properly, vassal-
age, and endeavours to support this view by show-
ing that there is no word in all the books. on
Russian legislation to signify a slave. Serf or pea-
sant is called in Russian, Krestianin, but when spoken
of in relation to the lord of the soil, he is named
Krapostnoe Chelovek, or bondsman; a name at once,
he observes, indicative of the contract existing be-
tween him and his lord. Otherwise, continues the
writer, he would have been styled Rab, or slave, a
word nowhere to be found in Russian legislative acts.
STATISTICS OF SERFAGE.—In 1782, the body of
the serfs amounted to 6,678,000 males.
From the tables published by the Imperial Aca-
demy of Sciences of St. Petersburgh, M. I'Veyde-
meyer states, as appears by the " Essai d'une Sta-
tisque Generale de l'Empire de Russie," by. Schnitz-
ler (See Appendices. No. 11, De la Population de
l'Empire, p. 410), that by the census of 1811, the
class of serfs amounted, in the aggregate, that year,
to 36,000,000 ; but this estimate has been since shown
to be altogether over-rated, and arose from an inju-
dicious calculation on that statistician's part.
A more accurate and official calculation sets down
the number for that year as follows :
The Crown peasants (Encyclopedia Americana,
vol. 2, p. 221) amounted to 6,398,279 serfs or
peasants ; belonging to individuals, 10,113,177 ; ap-
panage serfs, 1,077,636 ; making for that year a total
of 17,580,092 serfs.
From the official calculation of the year 1839, for
the whole empire, the result for the year 1836 set
down the Crown peasants and serfs of St. Petersburgh,
the metropolis alone, at 126,313 souls.
TYRANNY OF THE SERF LORDS.—Dr. Lyall com-
plains of the oppression under which these serfs, in
many cases, groan. He states that sometimes, when
exasperated, they sacrifice their tyrannising masters,
10, liu VIV
their overbearing stewards. The irritated boors march
in a body, the oppressor is murdered, and no single
individual is responsible.
At the time of Porter's residence in Russia, a
gentleman having by some severities incurred the
hatred of his slaves, who were employed in a dis-
tillery, they seized him one day, and threw him into a
large boiler of hot spirits. The murder was not dis-
ocfovtehreedpfeorrpestoramtoersdawyseraeftkenmoruatredds:
anTdenbaonir
shfiefdteetno
Siberia.

UNJUST EXACTIONS.—The calves, the hens, the
chickens, the eggs, the milk, and the vegetables of the
serf are not at all 'infrequently laid under unjust con-
tribution by the lords. They contrive that their
people shall make presents to them. Sometimes
little ceremony is used, and an order is sent to each
serf, to produce forty or fifty eggs for his master's
Easter feast. Even the coarse linen, which is made
by most of the women serfs in the village, is shame-
fully pillaged. The lot, however, of the serfs of the
richer and more benevolent nobles, as those of most of
the Sheremetefs, the Galitzins, the Dolgorukis, the
Orlofs, &c., is much envied by the common people.
SERF• TAX OF THE OBROK.—The law obliges every
proprietor of vassals to furnish them with a sufficient
quantity of land for their own use : they work three
days for the lords, and three for themselves. Others,
by their own desire, are put upon Obrok, as it is
termed ; that is, to pay the lord so much a head per
annum, instead of working for him. Those who
have been taught a trade of any sort pay him a higher
obrok than a mere cultivator, and he receives a pass-
port to go and reside where he pleases ; serfs who
become traders pay a very high obrok. This obrok
throughout Russia, generally speaking, is about 12
to 15 roubles per annum, and, even on the best lands,
rarely exceeds 25 roubles a head per annum, including
Government taxes.—(Russia as it is, 1833, p. 17.)
FARE AND HIRE OF TIIE SERFS.—Seven shillings
and sixpence a week is the general pay of the serf-
labourer in the field, and the best hands in the manu-
factories can only earn nine shillings and sixpence a
week.—(Excursions into Russia and its Interior,
passim.) From this it arises, that no people in
Europe are so coarsely fed as the Russians. Their
daily fare consists of pickled cucumbers, cabbages,