The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-04-18
The Serf Owners Son Who Was
Welded to the Daughter Of
4 Sort.
A Tyrant Who Whipped Els Beau
tiful Daughter-in In Law to
Death.
= Party Headed by tho Young
Widower.

When Alexander RI. in the year 1861
passed his celebrated decree nbolishinf
serfdom, there was considerable diversity
of opinion az to tho effect which emanoipa-
tion would have on the material INTEREST,"
In general. says a ut. Petersburg CORE
spondsnt. The peasants, using their lib.
erty and their now privileges to their own
detrimont, drank more, worked loss, and
INDUCED in politics to an extent which
fomented n steady and fast increasing dis.
satisfaction with the existing form of gov
eminent. Nevertheless. any violent or rad.
ical change in the present institutions, bad
asthsy may be, cannot but be followed by
misohicvoua consequences; and nlhilism,
which has boon growing apace during the
past thirty years, will find a fresh exous
for it's annihilating theories.
1 shall never forget . story told me by I
Russian noble, and which may serve to
emphasize what the moujiks may look for.
ward to should serfdom once more be re-
established. II occurred a few years before
liberty had been granted to Gear Alcxan-
doris subjects BY that most just and gener.
GUS Of monnrchs, and found it's cause in the
unlimited power which tho BARNES" OF
gerf owners welded over their peasants.
The scene Of the tragedy was.in 4 village not
many miles distant from Moscow, and
owned by a nobleman whom We will call
hera-the family being still in existence and
we'll known all over Europe-AndrO Lou
kitch. He was q cruel, unjust, hard hearted
man, and his peasants stood in mortal
dread Of him. His immortality had be
como a by-word in the whole province, and
his house was stunned By all decent peo-
pie. 1he consequence or all this was that
the inhabitants Of ths village Of Lou
kitcha had become soma OF the wildcat
end most embittsred creatures in the
had reduced his serfs to the direst Of pow
erty. the "isbas' were bare Of all but abso-
lnte necessaries, tho fields were neglected,
tho cattle lean, all the wratched peasants
leaner yet. They lived like wolves and de-
voured each other likewise. One winter,
w y the harvest had been even worse than
IN the preceding years, the serfs decided to
20 IN a body and implore Andre Loukitch,
their master, to grant them time in the
payment OF their ground rent. They had
but little hope Of success, still they plucked
up courage and presented themselves like q
pack Of frightened sheep before the ty-
rant. With a sarcastic smile the "barine''
listened to their imprisoned supplications,
then turning to them he said coldly: "You
can not ray what you justly owe me, say
you. Well, | will give you a week to find
the money ] need. If at the end Of that
time you have not acquitted your debt 7
shall. il necessary, sell every one Of your
daughters. in order to obtain my due"
Broken hearted md despairing the I'm
fortunate moujiks filed out Of the luxuri-
GUS apartment and with revenge in their
souls sought their own cheerless hresides.
AZ the end OF the week most Of girls. who
had been the only remaining sunrays Of
their miserable homes, were sold by the
barring and sent away to the governments
OF Olonetz, far up in the north, at the Bit
terest season of a morciless winter. The
arbitrary act came near causing a revolt
among the moujiks. but this was rapidly
quenched by Andre Loukitch, who caused
the ringleadors to receive publicly 200
laehes of the knout as a warning to all who
tried to oppose his authority. In the
meanwhile the '"barine's' oldest son, a
handsome boy of %, returned from a col
lege in Moscow, where he had been edu-
Gated. and took up his abode on his faith
ers estate. Nicholas Andreltoh in no way
resembled his father, and as soon as he
realized the prevailing state of affairs his
every effort WAS directed toward softening
and tightening the burdens of his future
vassals.
His interference, however. far from help
AAtl eIeIl, Ohly lHCTGabeu LuQlr sorry pl1GQb
and brought down on his own head the
malice of Andre Loukitch. 10 cap matters
the young man fell violently in love with
the beautiful daughter Of one of his fathers
PEASANTS, and too honest to take advantage
of the love she had given him in return
secretly married her, For three months the
young couple managed to conceal this fact
from the "barine," but one day they were
betrayed by Andre Loukitch's private Sec
rotary, who was his anne damnee. On the fol-
lowing Sunday the 'barine,'' during the
absence of his son, summoned the entire
POPULATION Of the village, and before the
eyes Of all present he had the beautiful
wife of his only son whipped to death.
When he came back the Young man almost
went insane with grief and horror, and leav-
ing his fathers house took refuge in the
forest which lay to the north of Loukitcha.
Twentr.four hours later a party Of men
headed by Nicholas Andreitch himself, en-
tered the "barine's'' house at the dead Of
night and murdered him in his sleep, set
ting the house on fire afterward to obliter-
ate all traces OF their crime. The governor
OF the province, who was a just man, when
acquainted with this terrible affair, hushed
it up and purposely closed his eyes to the
role played by the son and the peasants of
the victim, whose death was subseqently
ascribed to accident.
A Loader.