RUSSIA. 



RUSSIA. 



liege to Siliatria, were moat signally repulsed, and in June they re- 

 treated across the Danube ; the Aland islands in the Baltic were taken 

 in August, all the Russian ports in that sea blockaded, and Cron- 

 stadt, the port of St. Petersburg, watched and threatened. On the 

 14th, 15th, and 16th of September the allied armies landed in the 

 Crimea near Eupatoria. On the 20th was fought the battle of the 

 Alma, in which the passage of the river was forced against great ad van- 

 tagea of position and numerical superiority, and the Russians were 

 forced to retreat ; Sebastopol was then passed, and the siege begun 

 from the southern side ; repeated conflicts have taken place, the most 

 brilliant was that called the battle of Inkermann on November 5, 1354, 

 which ended in the repulse of the Russians. 



Oovermmatl, Jec. The emperor is an absolute monarch. Several 

 classes of the inhabitant! enjoy certain privileges and immunities, 

 under no other guarantee however than the pleasure of the monarch, 

 who may abolish them just as he granted them. No one has of right 

 any rank unless such aa he obtains by filling a civil or military office. 

 The inhabitants of Russia, are divided into the following classes : the 

 clergy, the nobility, the merchants and burghers, and peasants. 



The clergy is composed of the monastic or regular clergy, and the 

 secular clergy. All the higher preferments of the church are held 

 exclusively by the first; the secular clergy (the members of which 

 must be married) have no higher preferment than the superintendence 

 of a certain number of parishes. The children of the clergy generally 

 follow the vocation of their parents ; some of them enter the civil 



The nobility is the privileged class. They may enter the service of 

 foreign powers not at war with Russia, A noble cannot be judged 

 except by a judge belonging to his condition, and sentence passed 

 against him cannot be carried into execution without having been 

 previously examined by the senate and confirmed by the emperor 

 himself. A noble is exempt from corporal punUhment The nobility 

 may establish any kind of manufacture and engage in commerce, but in 

 the latter ease they most inscribe themselves in one of the merchants' 

 guilds, and pay the taxes attached to it All the minerals found on 

 their estates an their property, and they an the almost exclusive 

 landholders of the country. All Russian subjects, except those em- 

 ployed on diplomatic service, an prohibited from educating their 

 children from tea to eighteen yean of age abroad. All children 

 educated in contravention to the ukase an incapable of holding office 

 in Russia. 



The nobles have meetings for the election of certain magistrates, 

 and they may send deputations to the emperor after permission 

 obtained. They may abo deliberate at those meetings on several local 

 affairs. Those nobles only who enjoy a grade in the military or civil 

 service sn capable of voting. There an two rlssus of nobles, here- 

 ditary and personal. To the first class belong all nobles who have 

 inherited their rank or risen in service to the eighth grade, that of 

 major in the army, captain-lieutenant in the navy, or assessor of a 

 college. The personal nobles an those who have acquired by their 

 service* a grade inferior to the eighth. Thee* latter enjoy the privi- 

 lege* of the order without transmitting them to their children, and 

 they cannot be elected to certain offices. The titled nobility, or 

 princes, counts, snd barons, have no privilege* beyond those of the 

 other nobles. The titles an derived from Russian and foreign grants. 

 The princes an chiefly descendants of the ancient petty prince* of 

 Russia, and some of the Lithuanian dynasty; many an of Tartar, 

 some of Georgian or Iroeritian descent 



The second order of the inhabitants of Russia is composed of the 

 MII or townsmen, who an subdivided into many Hisses Hono- 

 rary citiiens, who are exempt from the capitation tax, military con- 

 scription, and corporal punishment, and have the right of being elsetsd 

 to municipal offices, consist of free non-nobles who have obtained 

 academical honours, distinguished artists, and heads of manufacturing 

 setsMiahsnssits Academical honours entitle the individual who has 

 obtained them to receive a corresponding grade on entering the civil 

 service. The children of the personal nobles sn hereditary honorary 

 citizens. The privilege* of that order an forfeited either in conse- 

 quence of a criminal sentence, or by engaging in some mean trade, 

 and entering into domestic service. 



The merchant* an divided into three clissis or guilds. The first 

 guild which pays annual taxes of 1001, has a right to engage in any 

 commercial or manufacturing enterprise without any limitation a* to 

 the amount of capital employed in it The members of the second 

 guild pay an annual tax of 401., and cannot enter into any contract 

 for more than 200<)i, nor can they keep a banking or insurance office. 

 Both the first and second ols*ses enjoy an exemption from the 

 capitation-tax, military conscription, and corporal punishment They 

 may possess estates with serfs employed in manufactories. The 

 merchants of the third guild pay an annual tax of 102., and are 

 retail dealers and small manufacturers. Nobles may enter one of 

 these three guilds. 



Foreign merchants trading in Russia most pay the same taxes a* 

 the Rnssian merchants. They may acquire real property in places 

 when they an settled. 



The burghers by paying an annual licence of li. to 32., may engage in 

 several kinds of retail trade, and have workshops with eight workmen, i 

 and by doubling the price of their licence 18 workmen. If they wish ' 



aioo. nrv. TOL. IT. 



to increase that number they must pass into the third guild of 

 merchants. The burghers are not exempted from the capitation-tax, 

 military conscription, or corporal punishment. 



The peasants constitute the lowest class of the inhabitants of 

 Russia. They pay the capitation-tax and are subject to military 

 conscription. Beside their agricultural pursuits, they are allowed to 

 engage in handicrafts and some minor trades. By purchasing licences 

 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. They are divided into crown peasants, 

 those of appanage estates, serfs of landowners, and free cultivators of 

 land ; the number of these hut is however very small. 



The crown peasants are those who live on the estates belonging to 

 the crown. They pay, besides the capitation-tax, a rent for their 

 grounds. Many villages are obliged to maintain post-horses for the 

 government couriers and private travellers. The crown peasants elect 

 some of their authorities. Each commune (500 male individuals 

 constitute a commune), elects every two years its chief, called head. 

 Each commune also sends a deputy for the election of assessors who 

 judge in causes arising among themselves, or between them and other 

 classes. These assessors may be chosen from among the peasants 

 themselves or other classes. Causes between crown peasants them- 

 selves are decided by the judge of the district with the above-mentioned 

 assessors ; but when other parties are concerned, the causes are 

 decided by the same judge with an assessor of the peasants and 

 another of the nobles. The crown peasants may pass into the class 

 of burghers and merchants. 



Recent official statements quoted in the ' Gothic Almanac' for 1855, 

 give the area of the crown domains of Russia at the end of 1350 at 

 80,393,601 dessjatineu or 340,000 square miles, or 140.000 square 

 miles more than the area of France. The population of the crown 

 domain in 1851 amounted to 18,975,416, of whom 16,005,294 (7,825,151 

 males, 8,180,140 females) were crown peasants. The capitation, excise, 

 and administrative taxes, together with contributions of various kinds, 

 and rent and forest produce, raised the receipts from the imperial 

 crown-lands throughout the empire to 45,300,097 silver rubles in 



'- 



Many estates peopled with crown peasants have been ceded to par- 

 ticular individuals on condition of establishing manufactories. These 

 peasants work in manufactories on certain fixed terms. The owners 

 of the manufaetoriea pay all taxes due from these peasants, who are 

 likewise exempted from military conscription. 



The landowner's peasants, or serfs, are complete slave*. Their 



can inflict on them such punishment as he chooses, but he is 

 not permitted to kill, to starve to death, or to maim his serf. A serf 

 cannot contract marriage without the permission of the master. The 

 predial serf cannot be sold without the ground to which he is 

 attached, bat the domestic serf may be sold like any other chattel. 

 A ukase of 1808 however prohibit* the sale of serfs at fair.? 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 ho 

 who proffers such a charge is liable to punishment 



The free peasants, a class whose existence began under the emperor 

 Alexander, are subject to the capitation-tax and military conscription, 

 but they are free in all other respect*. 



A great number of Qerman colonists have settled in Russia at 

 different times. They sre exempt from all taxes for ten years after 

 their settling, and from military conscription entirely. 



Adannutraticm. The principal authority is the council of the 

 empire, presided over either by the emperor or by a member spe- 

 cially appointed. It is divided into four department: legislative, 

 military (which comprises also the navy), civil and ecclesiastical, and 

 financial. Each of these departments bias a secretary of state, and 

 they deliberate either separately, or together, which is called the 

 general assembly of the council The affairs which are decided by a 

 majority of votes, an submitted to the approbation of the emperor. 



The Directing Senate, established by Peter the Great, ia the supreme 

 tribunal for all judicial cases. Its authority is limited only by that of 

 the monarch. It U presided over by the emperor in person. The 

 ukases of the senate an binding like those of the emperor, who alone 

 can prevent their execution. The senate U divided into eight depart- 

 ments, of which the first superintends the general affairs of the 

 country ; the second, third, and fourth try civil cases ; and the fifth, 

 criminal cases : these an all at St-Petersburg. The sixth, which -also 

 tries criminal cases, and the seventh and eighth, which try civil cases, 

 an at Moscow. Each of these departments has a number of govern- 

 ments or provinces, from the courts of which it hears appeals. Judg- 

 ment is given by a majority of votes, which must consist of two-thirds 

 of the whole number, or of the number present. In case the required 

 majority cannot be obtained, the cause is decided in the general 

 assembly of the senate, where all the departments vote together. 

 Causes an not publicly argued before the senate or before any other 

 Russian tribunal. A statement of the case of each party is made by 

 the secretary, and communicated to the party, who signs it as correct. 

 These statements an then read to the court, which pronounces judg- 

 ment. In the Polish provinces causes wero publicly argued by 

 advocates, but these laws have been abolished and those of Russia 

 introduced. 



So 



