Part 44

I can say more: About two millions of peasants were entirely liberated with regard to the proprietors, thanks to an immediate payment of the redeeming rent. In such cases their annual rent (redevance) was capitalized, and the Government gave the proprietor an obligation for the amount of the capital, which bore five per cent, interest, and was to be redeemed in the course of forty-nine years by annual drawings (tirages); the peasants then to pay their redeeming rent to Government, and thus become free and independent proprietors. For some time both peasants and proprietors seemed to find this proceeding the most profitable, and agreements of this kind became more and more frequent every day.

I can hardly say how happy I was when I saw for the first time my dear, beloved, and deeply respected Russian peasants free at last, and proprietors of the land they had till then cultivated as serfs! What a change! The same creatures, serfs yesterday, became men, conscious of their human dignity; their aspect, their language, are those of free men. In the mean while, in getting rid of their serfdom, they preserved their usual good sense, wisdom, and bonhomie; no impertinence, no arrogance whatever can be detected in them; they are full of self-respect, yet polite. I saw them discussing with the authorities some business of theirs. They maintained their new rights, and, when wrong, never hesitated to acknowledge it.

Every district and every chef-lieu had every year an assembly of deputies who named a permanent committee for three years. This committee was charged with the municipal administration, under the control of the assembly. Everyone was called by law to the election of the deputies. It happened in many places that the peasants were the more numerous and could therefore dispose of all the places in the administrative committee. They were so informed. "No," was their answer; "we want one or two members of the committee taken from among ourselves; they will watch over our interests. As for defending them, as for action, the nobles we name will do it better than we, for they are more learned than we are." In one of the assemblies the nobles, moved by the tact and moderation of the peasants, insisted and almost forced a peasant to become president of the administrative committee of the district. When the salary of the members of the committee had to be decided, the peasants usually considered it too high for them, and, letting the nobles and the merchants have it, got it diminished by one-half for themselves.

All the district assemblies, after voting for the formation of the administrative committee, named the deputies for the larger assembly in the chief town in the province, which in its turn chose among its own members the members for the provincial administrative committee. The central committee seemed to interest the peasants less than those of the districts, and this too is owing to their modesty and moderation.

Another field was offered by the new law to the activity of the peasants in the local or municipal tribunals. The law united several rural communes in one canton (volost). Each canton, each commune, chose an ancient, assisted by a conseil In every canton was a tribunal to judge the peasants' affairs. Ancients and judges were elected by peasants; noblemen were not submitted to these tribunals, but it has happened that some of them preferred having their difficulties with peasants settled by municipal judges rather than by the usual tribunals. This jurisdiction, established merely for peasants, had great importance, owing chiefly to the privilege of deciding not only according to general law, but also according to local customs. Opportunities were not wanting for the good sense of the peasants to show itself in these municipal tribunals and councils, and the success of the institution was clear to everyone.

(1844-1861) CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY, Embracing the period covered in this volume, Daniel Edwin Wheeler

Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals following give volume and page.

Separate chronologies or the various nations, and of the careers of famous persons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with references showing where the several events are fully treated.

1844 - "INVENTION OF THE TELEGRAPH."

1845 - Florida and Texas admitted to the United States; beginning of President Folk's Administration.

- Sir John Franklin sails on his last search for the Northwest Passage.

- England and France war on the Argentine Confederation.

1846 - War between the United States and Mexico; General Taylor captures Monterey; California and New Mexico occupied by United States troops. See "THE ACQUISITION OF CALIFORNIA."

- Treaty with England arranges the Oregon boundary.

- Elias Howe patents the sewing-machine.

- "THE DISCOVERY OF NEPTUNE."

- Great Famine begins in Ireland. Corn-Law agitation at its height in England, "REPEAL OF THE ENGLISH CORN LAWS."

- Unsuccessful uprising of the Poles. Cracow annexed to Austria. Election of Pope Pius IX; his reforms. See "THE REFORMS OF Pius IX."

1847 - General Taylor conquers Northern Mexico; Battle of Buena Vista. General Scott captures Vera Cruz, marches on the city of Mexico, wins repeated battles, and enters the capital in triumph, September 14th. See "THE MEXICAN WAR."

- "FAMINE IN IRELAND."

- Tumult occasioned in Italy by the papal reforms; civil war of the Sonderbund in Switzerland; France finally subjugates Morocco. See "THE FALL OF ABD-EL-KADER."

1848 - Peace signed between Mexico and the United States; cession of large territory by Mexico.

- "DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA."

- The Mormons settle in Utah. See "MIGRATIONS OF THE MORMONS."

- Italian uprisings in Milan and Sicily; Sardinia grants a constitution to its subjects. See "THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY IN FRANCE." Gathering of a workingmen's convention in Paris.

- Outbreak of revolution in Vienna (March 13th) and in Berlin (March 18th). See "REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS IN GERMANY."

- Meeting of the German Parliament at Frankfort.

- Venice declares itself a republic. Sardinia begins war for the "liberation of Italy"; Battle of Custozza. Bloody outbreak of communists in Paris. Unsuccessful revolts in Poland and Bohemia.