Photo by Gilbert H. Grosvenor 



A porti<;r at thu railway station, nizhni-novgorod 



This big- fellow, over 6 feet 2 inches in height, with his long flaxen beard and blue 

 eyes, is a good specimen of the Russian peasant. His father was a serf. Perhaps the 

 greatest single act of any ruler in all history was that of Tsar Alexander II in freeing the 

 50 million serfs of Russia in 1861. He released from bondage more than half the people 

 of his empire, nearly as many persons as are now living in the 12 most populous States 

 of the Union. Lincoln's proclamation affected less than four million (see text, page 449). 



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