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Selections: Russia

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Parent Issue
Day
4
Month
July
Year
1842
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The Emperor ot Russia, says the London Sun of May 7. is cngaged in a contest with h8 nobles about the eniancipatiDn of the eerfs throughout his dominions. His Imperial Majesty is opposed to serfago, and since his accession has done all in his power to give freedom to the most oppressed and most deserving class of hie subjects. The Nobles, however. who are the owners oftheir serfs, and who regard them in ihe light of property, are so opposed lo ihe measitte that a revolution may be expectcd, should the Emperor persevere. iW.w, persevere he mil. 11 who know any thing of the character ol the Lmperor iNicholas must be awarë tJiat ho never swerves froni any puipose which he lias once undertaken. His obstinacy is eo great that nothing can remove u. It matters not whethcr the course pursued 3 riglit or wrong, the Czar never swervcs from it Formnately tlic course he is nowpursuing is the' right one. Serfage in Russié is but a modiíicaion of slavery ns itexistsin the Soutliern States of North America. Tho Eussian eerf cantmn liberty on no tcrms whatever. lf he ibllowa any trade or profession, he cannot remove five miles from his native village without the written permission of his inastor. which is ahvais obtaincd with d flieulty. His carnings, his wifc hischildren, nre the property of his master, and the instances are cxcccding rare in which serfs have been allowed to purchase their liberty Some oí the serfs engaged in trade especia! ly in the Baltic provinces, are rich, thcir families highly accomplished, and yet at ihe beek of thcir inasters they may at any monent see iheir daugliters torn from them,. and given to boors without thcir consent, and ihemselves reduced to the most abject slavery and misery. Tlie pride of a Russian Noble is to have as ma ny serfs, as possible, and the more he has the greatór is his consideration omong his compcers To diminish the power of the Nobles is the mairi object of the Emperor's attempis to emancípate theserfj. While serage exists hereins bv ;ho suiierance of the Nobles, and he wants to be absolute. Now next the aboliiion of the African slavc trade, the aboliiion of serfage in Russia is one ol the grwutcst boons that can be conferred on the human race. Bul it requires tobe donwiih greal cauTion. anc! to be accompanied with mcasures making the letting of land compulsory on the part of the proprietors. The omission of such mcasures, on the part of the Imperial Government, completcly neutralizod the benefits WJuch might have been expected from the abolition of serfage, a few years ago, in some ol tbe Baltic provincc3. The former maaiers of the emancipatcd serfs unitcd ui refusing to them land on any terms, in consequence of which tliey were rcduced to such niisery as to implore the nuthoritics to allow them to return to their former condition. Tht? fact was scized upon at the time by the Nobles, as dernonstrating how much Russiaus preierred serfage to frecdom, and for a time the resol tition of tlie Emperor scemed shaken bv it. Eut the actual circumstancea of the caso beingJcnöwn, the Lmporor more than ever determined to restrict a. power which was shown to be too great to h& controlled by an Imperial ukase.

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News