FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   >>  
y unto you, That ye resist not evil."--ST. MATTHEW V. 38, 39. It was in the time of serfdom--many years before Alexander II.'s liberation of the sixty million serfs in 1862. In those days the people were ruled by different kinds of lords. There were not a few who, remembering God, treated their slaves in a humane manner, and not as beasts of burden, while there were others who were seldom known to perform a kind or generous action; but the most barbarous and tyrannical of all were those former serfs who arose from the dirt and became princes. It was this latter class who made life literally a burden to those who were unfortunate enough to come under their rule. Many of them had arisen from the ranks of the peasantry to become superintendents of noblemen's estates. The peasants were obliged to work for their master a certain number of days each week. There was plenty of land and water and the soil was rich and fertile, while the meadows and forests were sufficient to supply the needs of both the peasants and their lord. There was a certain nobleman who had chosen a superintendent from the peasantry on one of his other estates. No sooner had the power to govern been vested in this newly-made official than he began to practice the most outrageous cruelties upon the poor serfs who had been placed under his control. Although this man had a wife and two married daughters, and was making so much money that he could have lived happily without transgressing in any way against either God or man, yet he was filled with envy and jealousy and deeply sunk in sin. Michael Simeonovitch began his persecutions by compelling the peasants to perform more days of service on the estate every week than the laws obliged them to work. He established a brick-yard, in which he forced the men and women to do excessive labor, selling the bricks for his own profit. On one occasion the overworked serfs sent a delegation to Moscow to complain of their treatment to their lord, but they obtained no satisfaction. When the poor peasants returned disconsolate from the nobleman their superintendent determined to have revenge for their boldness in going above him for redress, and their life and that of their fellow-victims became worse than before. It happened that among the serfs there were some very treacherous people who would falsely accuse their fellows of wrong-doing and sow seeds of discord among the peasantry, whereupon Michael w
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   >>  



Top keywords:

peasants

 

peasantry

 

obliged

 

perform

 

burden

 

superintendent

 

nobleman

 

Michael

 
people
 

estates


service
 

compelling

 

estate

 
persecutions
 

Simeonovitch

 
happily
 
daughters
 

transgressing

 

married

 

making


jealousy

 

deeply

 
filled
 

selling

 
fellow
 

redress

 

victims

 

happened

 
determined
 

disconsolate


revenge

 

boldness

 

discord

 

treacherous

 

falsely

 

accuse

 

fellows

 

returned

 
excessive
 
bricks

established

 

forced

 

profit

 

treatment

 

obtained

 

satisfaction

 

complain

 

Moscow

 

occasion

 

overworked