登陆注册
5382300000132

第132章 CHAPTER XX(4)

In the West the Noblesse was a free and privileged class, proud of its liberty, its rights, and its culture; whereas in Russia the nobles were servants of the State, without privileges, without dignity, subject to corporal punishment, and burdened with onerous duties from which there was no escape. Thus arose in that section of the Noblesse which had some acquaintance with Western civilisation a feeling of discontent, and a desire to gain a social position similar to that of the nobles in France and Germany.

These aspirations were in part realised by Peter III., who in 1762

abolished the principle of obligatory service. His consort, Catherine II., went much farther in the same direction, and inaugurated a new epoch in the history of the Dvoryanstvo, a period in which its duties and obligations fell into the background, and its rights and privileges came to the front.

Catherine had good reason to favour the Noblesse. As a foreigner and a usurper, raised to the throne by a Court conspiracy, she could not awaken in the masses that semi-religious veneration which the legitimate Tsars have always enjoyed, and consequently she had to seek support in the upper classes, who were less rigid and uncompromising in their conceptions of legitimacy. She confirmed, therefore, the ukaz which abolished obligatory service of the nobles, and sought to gain their voluntary service by honours and rewards. In her manifestoes she always spoke of them in the most flattering terms; and tried to convince them that the welfare of the country depended on their loyalty and devotion. Though she had no intention of ceding any of her political power, she formed the nobles of each province into a corporation, with periodical assemblies, which were supposed to resemble the French Provincial Parliaments, and entrusted to each of these corporations a large part of the local administration. By these and similar means, aided by her masculine energy and feminine tact, she made herself very popular, and completely changed the old conceptions about the public service. Formerly service had been looked on as a burden;

now it came to be looked on as a privilege. Thousands who had retired to their estates after the publication of the liberation edict now flocked back and sought appointments, and this tendency was greatly increased by the brilliant campaigns against the Turks, which excited the patriotic feelings and gave plentiful opportunities of promotion. "Not only landed proprietors," it is said in a comedy of the time,"but all men, even shopkeepers and cobblers, aim at becoming officers, and the man who has passed his whole life without official rank seems to be not a human being."

Knyazhnina, "Khvastun."

And Catherine did more than this. She shared the idea--generally accepted throughout Europe since the brilliant reign of Louis XIV.--

that a refined, pomp-loving, pleasure-seeking Court Noblesse was not only the best bulwark of Monarchy, but also a necessary ornament of every highly civilised State; and as she ardently desired that her country should have the reputation of being highly civilised, she strove to create this national ornament. The love of French civilisation, which already existed among the upper classes of her subjects, here came to her aid, and her efforts in this direction were singularly successful. The Court of St.

Petersburg became almost as brilliant, as galant, and as frivolous as the Court of Versailles. All who aimed at high honours adopted French fashions, spoke the French language, and affected an unqualified admiration for French classical literature. The Courtiers talked of the point d'honneur, discussed the question as to what was consistent with the dignity of a noble, sought to display "that chivalrous spirit which constitutes the pride and ornament of France"; and looked back with horror on the humiliating position of their fathers and grandfathers. "Peter the Great,"

writes one of them, "beat all who surrounded him, without distinction of family or rank; but now, many of us would certainly prefer capital punishment to being beaten or flogged, even though the castigation were applied by the sacred hands of the Lord's Anointed."

The tone which reigned in the Court circle of St. Petersburg spread gradually towards the lower ranks of the Dvoryanstvo, and it seemed to superficial observers that a very fair imitation of the French Noblesse had been produced; but in reality the copy was very unlike the model. The Russian Dvoryanin easily learned the language and assumed the manners of the French gentilhomme, and succeeded in changing his physical and intellectual exterior; but all those deeper and more delicate parts of human nature which are formed by the accumulated experience of past generations could not be so easily and rapidly changed. The French gentilhomme of the eighteenth century was the direct descendant of the feudal baron, with the fundamental conceptions of his ancestors deeply embedded in his nature. He had not, indeed, the old haughty bearing towards the Sovereign, and his language was tinged with the fashionable democratic philosophy of the time; but he possessed a large intellectual and moral inheritance that had come down to him directly from the palmy days of feudalism--an inheritance which even the Great Revolution, which was then preparing, could not annihilate. The Russian noble, on the contrary, had received from his ancestors entirely different traditions. His father and grandfather had been conscious of the burdens rather than the privileges of the class to which they belonged. They had considered it no disgrace to receive corporal punishment, and had been jealous of their honour, not as gentlemen or descendants of Boyars, but as Brigadiers, College Assessors, or Privy Counsellors.

同类推荐
  • 客杭日记

    客杭日记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 漆园指通

    漆园指通

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 共城从政录

    共城从政录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 祝由十三科

    祝由十三科

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说赖吒和罗所问德光太子经

    佛说赖吒和罗所问德光太子经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 时代边缘的沈从文

    时代边缘的沈从文

    《时代边缘的沈从文》沈从文在批评和创作的领域都和时代保持着相当的距离,这种边缘性本质上是种批判性。《时代边缘的沈从文》论述他不同时期的批评重点、批评方式、相关文学作品和由此反映出的作家心态。他在时代的种种风浪中寻找着文学和知识分子自我的位置和价值。在变动的时代背景下,沈从文及其创作经历了起伏极大的命运,但终于是:从边缘走向了中心。
  • 安迪密恩

    安迪密恩

    在霸主陨落247年后,圣神教会在当年的朝圣者“牧师”的领导下,成为了人类世界的新一代独裁者。而在海伯利安上,一个名叫安迪密恩的死刑犯则从传说中的“诗人”手中接过了一项任务——保护赛博人济慈与“侦探”的女儿,因为这个200多年前消失在光阴冢中的孩子将成为全人类的救世主。
  • 阿弥陀经通赞疏

    阿弥陀经通赞疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 徐兆玮日记

    徐兆玮日记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 步摇与长剑

    步摇与长剑

    就是关于一个女的一个男的的故事。在虚构的一个古代世界发生的事情。
  • 用制度管人

    用制度管人

    本书正是站在企业管理者的角度,充分考虑企业管理的方方面面,聚焦在企业管理最为关键的环节,借鉴国际通用的管理制度和文案,详细论述了企业管理中普遍涉及的工作标准化、流程化、工具化,并提供了具体工作的相关理论知识、执行方法或流程、实用工具表格,使之具有可操作性,可在实践的层面上提高企业效率。当然每个企业都有其自身的特点,所以对于我们提供的制度范本、流程、实用表格,读者可以根据所在企业的具体情况适当修改或者重新设计,使之更适用于自己的企业。同一个企业随着技术的创新,产品的更新,制度也需要创新,它并不是一成不变的,因此读者要在实践过程中不断改进已经形成的制度,以期达到高效管理、高效工作的目的。
  • 龙妃凤舞:龙王,你好坏

    龙妃凤舞:龙王,你好坏

    “母后,我的头上为什么会有小角?”宝宝睁着好奇可爱的大眼睛奶声奶气的盯着她问。她傻眼了,顿时哑口无言。“母后,为什么我会有尾巴?”宝宝摸着可爱的小尾巴瓷声瓷气的询问她。她看着他摇摆的小龙尾,再次无语。“母后,我的身上有好多片片喔,为什么母后没有?”正在洗澡中的宝宝摸着身上的金黄色小粼片,睁着迷惘的圆溜溜的眼睛问道。她怔住了,因为她是人,他是龙。天啊,她怎么能告诉宝宝,她和他不一样,就因为他是一条龙,是她珠胎暗结,怀胎十月生下来的小龙人。她灵魂出窍,然后在海边被好色又邪恶的龙王纠缠,在海面上欢爱数夜后。没料到,她已经珠胎暗结,身怀龙种,十月怀胎,她生下了小龙人,却不知道宝宝他爹是哪一个海的龙王。
  • 左手哈佛校训,右手西点军规

    左手哈佛校训,右手西点军规

    哈佛大学和西点军校:不仅是两所大学的名字,更是精神和智慧的象征。众多哈佛学子的成功,是哈佛大学人生哲学教育的硕果、素质教育的结晶。哈佛教育的一大核心理念,正是让每个学生都能塑造卓越的自我,学会创造自己的卓越人生。在西点军校的百年校庆上,罗斯福总统曾经对西点给予了极高的评价:“在这整整一个世纪中,我们国家其他任何学校都没有像她这样在刻有我们民族最伟大公民的光荣册上写下如此众多的名字。”
  • 戊戌追杀令

    戊戌追杀令

    章京杨锐在军机处当值,太监阿昌突然匆匆赶来,在他耳边小声说道:“皇上宣你觐见!”杨锐听了,不禁打了个愣惊,皇上要见我?他从窗口看了看天色,估计已近申刻了。凭直觉,他觉得这个时候召见,肯定是皇上有重要的事!……本书由中国作家协会会员刘敬堂、湖北省作家协会会员黄汉昌先生共同编著,讲述了清末戊戌变法时的故事。
  • 韩警官

    韩警官

    重活1996,记忆支离破碎,宛如庄周梦蝶。挤牙膏似的想起一点是一点,处处抢占先机。同样的起点,不一样的经历,且看韩博的警路人生。新书《韩四当官》上传,恳请各位书友支持!书友群:457372140(欢迎加入)VIP书友群:580094506(订阅书友验证加入)