When we were on a visit on Count ——’s estate, the head servant found in the garden the corpse of a woman who had evidently been murdered; the act had not long been perpetrated, for the body was yet warm. In this case also it was never discovered either who she was or who was the assassin.
One of the trials that took place before my friend’s husband was that of a proprietress who had amused herself with shamefully cutting and maiming several children on her estates; when asked what could have induced her to commit acts of such demoniacal cruelty, her reply was, “C’était pour me distraire!” She was exiled to Siberia.
It cannot be expected of human beings, although they be born bondsmen and serfs, that they will always quietly submit to a tyrannical master, or that they will forego revenge when they cannot obtain justice. Many examples of the most dreadful vengeance have come under my knowledge in different parts of Russia. The first anecdote I will give is rather laughable than serious, and I mention it en passant, as it was one that occurred in my presence.
I was once dining at the house of a provincial governor; eighty people formed the party, including a vast number of officers, employés, and their ladies. The feast was given in honour of the anniversary of the Emperor’s coronation, so all the company were in full dress: his excellency was in his general’s uniform, resplendent with gold embroidery and stars. When the footman handed round the dish of roast meat as usual, he cleverly contrived to upset all the gravy over his master’s back, and in such a manner that epaulettes, facings, and all were covered with immense spots of grease: it was evidently done on purpose. The general rose in a great passion, but the man put on so contrite an expression, and so humbly begged pardon, that there was nothing to be done but to change the coat. I shall never forget the sly look of triumph the servant cast on his master’s back as he followed him officiously from the dining-hall, and the grin with which he returned to it with his excellency, who was obliged to make his reappearance in a plain black coat and civilian’s dress. I afterwards heard that the previous day the footman had been severely beaten, for which he had thus taken revenge.
The brother of a gentleman in a provincial town, with whom I was well acquainted, had caused a peasant belonging to his estate to be flogged; the man took the punishment quietly, and uttered no threats; but the next time he met with M. P——ski he raised his axe, and with one blow clave his skull from the forehead to the chin. It was not until two days after that the body was found. The man was taken into custody, and accused of the murder; he confessed it immediately, and was consequently banished to the Siberian mines.
Some years ago I met a lady and her daughter in society: they were in deep mourning, and, as I had seen them a short time before otherwise dressed, I asked a friend what near relative of theirs had lately died. “O, do you not know?” answered she; “I thought everybody was talking of it. Marie Ivanovna is now a widow; her husband met with his death in a shocking manner: he had ill-treated the daughter of a peasant belonging to his estate, which so raised the anger of the girl’s father, that, when he met him in the wood near his château, he attacked him with his axe and killed him on the spot. Marie Ivanovna, finding that her husband did not return home, went with her daughter into the wood to meet him, and, catching sight of some strange-looking object at a distance, approached it in order to see what it was. Her horror may well be conceived when she discovered that it was the body of her husband placed in a sitting posture, with his back leaning against a tree, and his hands on his knees, on which was laid the head that the peasant had severed from the trunk with his axe.” As it was well known that the man had had just cause for vengeance, there was no difficulty in discovering the murderer, and he was banished to Siberia. An instance was also related to me of the slaves burning their proprietors in their beds in revenge for their excessive cruelty.
A Swiss lady with whom I was slightly acquainted resided as governess in the interior of Russia, with a family who had a large estate and several villages. The three children slept in an inner room adjoining hers; they were all very young; the eldest was a boy of eight, the two others were little girls. One morning she arose; her young charge were dressed; and as they generally breakfasted alone, they were not surprised that they saw nothing of their mamma and papa; the servants attended to them as usual, and they had no reason for suspecting that anything extraordinary had occurred; but as the day advanced, they began to wonder that everything was so quiet in their parents’ room; the servants expressed the same surprise, and at last the Swiss lady determined upon knocking at the door, for she began now to fear that something serious had happened; obtaining no reply to her repeated knocks, she ventured upon looking in. To her inconceivable horror and dismay, she beheld the lady and gentleman lying in bed with their heads almost severed from their bodies. She had the admirable presence of mind to prevent the children, who had crowded to the door, from entering, and so mastered her emotion that she did not scream or utter any exclamation that would betray her agitation at the dreadful sight; but closing the door, she told them not to make a noise, for their parents were ill, and led them back to their apartments. She then summoned the household, to whom she communicated what she had seen, and sent off to the neighbouring town for the authorities. On the affair being examined into, it appeared that the murdered couple, although tolerably kind towards their household servants, were extremely oppressive and unjust in regard to the serfs on their estates; and these latter, in order to free themselves from such tyranny, had committed this fearful crime; yet in their revenge they still had some sense of justice; they would not slay the children for the evil their parents had done. So quietly had they executed their designs, that they had not disturbed any of the domestics. This may be the more easily understood when it is mentioned that all the rooms in the house were on the ground-floor; and it being the summer time, the lady and her husband slept with the windows open.
I heard of many more examples, but these will show that even the serfs of Russia, ground down to the dust as they are, will not always writhe like a trodden worm, but will turn and seek revenge.
I must not omit to relate an anecdote more pleasing than the foregoing, which will serve to illustrate another trait in the national character.
Count B——, a gentleman of very extensive landed property in the south of Russia, was left an orphan at about the age of seventeen, and, of course, until he was of age he was under the direction of his guardians. On his attaining his majority he determined upon visiting each of his estates in succession. It was night when he reached the largest one in Little Russia; he drove quietly to the house, as he thought unremarked by the villagers, but not so; early the next morning he was awakened by great noise and tumult; he looked out of the window, and to his dismay beheld the whole yard crowded with the peasantry. A momentary fear presented itself to his mind, that the serfs had risen and that they designed his destruction. He determined, however, to meet the danger boldly; he dressed, and hastened down amongst them. He was received with shouts that did not re-assure him, and then a sudden silence succeeded. This was broken by two or three of the oldest peasants, who advanced towards him, and with great respect begged to know if it were true that he was, as they had heard, deeply involved in debt. “Because,” said they, “we do not wish to be disgraced by having a proprietor who is in such embarrassment. We therefore hope that you will allow us to discharge your debts, that you may be freed from it; for that purpose we have collected together a million of roubles (assignats), which we have brought with us, and which we entreat you to accept.” Some of their companions then stepped forward, having in their hands heavy bags and rolls of bank-notes, showing that they had the means as well as the will to ensure the success of their plan. The Count was too much affected to answer them immediately, but when he had acquired sufficient composure he thanked them heartily, but assured them that they were mistaken. “It is true,” he said, “that on my father’s death some of the property was mortgaged, but my guardians, by a careful economy, have been enabled to free it from all liabilities; and now not a single copeck is owing to any one.”