Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1900-12-03

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| With the introduction Of NO.,
the public service, new a, into
noble was created. Each o fr@'S Of
the army, each civil servant WI q
noble by virtue OF his Office. and -
reached a certain rank his child. ne
herited his nobility. This Iavtoa IL
the reign Of Alexander |, well inta r4t'
18th century. This monarch sow ,us
admission into the noble caste VIC. 'I 20
too easy an affair, and that tba o,.
as a whole was in CONSEQUENCE ~ ,1''
ger of losing its dignity. So ba oros s%-
or rather distinguished betwaon AZ
two classes Of mobiles, the personal ~ wy
bility and the inherited The norao-',
noble was only such by virtue of H.
Office, his titles and privileges co,,ia-
with his death. The noble by inboris
ance transferred his rank and digrits
to his descendants. Alexander OIL.
raised the standard of personal %,
vice by virtue of which pubHo 50,
want became noble. He limited fl.
privilege to the four highest ranks il
the service-in the civil service r..
ranks above a state councillor, in tbal
army to ranks above a brigadier-ga,.
eral, in the navy to ranks above i,
captain. Alexander, and after him
Nicholas l, succeeded in confning in.
herited nobility within these narrower
limits, permitting to the lower rank,
the title of personal nobility.
In Russia nobility as an institution
is fairly democratic one. Tbars
exists no difference between old and
new families, either in popular estims
ton or among the mobiles themselves
Russia is unique in this. In other
countries the great court officials BE-
long exclusively to the old nobility. In
Russia a high chamberlain is as often
as not man Of yesterday, and occu,
pies an office open to every capable Or
gifted young official. There is at The
present time one of the great chamber
lains Of the car, whose father came
from Germany as a poor tutor. The
Skobelofs, Lamsdorffs and Murayiefs
OF whom we have heard so much in
recent years, were simple peasant
folks generation or two ago The
present minister of war, Gen Kuropat
kim, is tailor's son; the present min.
lister of finance, NJ. White, was
humble railway official on a southern
railroad.
The special privileges accorded to
the noble class in Russia are still very
great, and it is the intention OF the
car to curtail them. Until quite re
Gently they were the only class in the
exempt from corporal punish.
ment. Until quite recently they were
also exempted from military service
Every one must now serve in the army,
and except in rare cases, where VII
lage communities have still the right
logging has been abolished throughOat
the empire. The exclusive right of the
noble to his own serfs has also been
abolished. But one far-reaching priv
ilege they still pOssess-their entrance
into the service of the state ie easier
than that of the merchant or peasant
class, their advancement is more Ger
tain and rapid. 1t tells it's own tale
also when one sees in nearly every
town within the empire an institution
with the signboard, Institution for
the education of noble-born girls" or
School for mobiles sons"
What I have written explains the
ludicrous extent to which the class
Of mobiles in Russia has grown, and
the comparatively little regard in
which they are held, and the low ebb
to which the fortunes of many Russian
mobiles have sunk. In European Rus
STA there are over 100000 mobiles by
and over 100000 by virtue
of the Office they hold in the service Of
the state. The consequence OF this is
that the noble is found in all ranks OIL
in all professions and CLASSES
Of business, and not the least in the
very lowest ranks of the masses OF the
l once knew a Russian
noble of ancient descent who drove
iacre, and who borrowed five ruDleS
10 help buy a better morse. 1t was
his forgetfulness to return the money
that / did not like. In judging Rus
sian mobiles, we must not measure
with western standards. They are ser
dom aristocrats.
In Russia there is only one NATIVE
title of nobility-kniaz. 1t is AKIN
the German furst, rather than tl'
English prince. A Russian knlSz
usually descended from Ruirk's nopieS'
in not a few cases his tl'''
comes to him from some Tartar aI
cestor. After Peter the Greats Iin'
when Russia came into more intllnS"
relations with the west, Europe@D
titles chiefly German, were lmp0I'0u.