第135章 CHAPTER XX(7)

If the term is to be used at all， it must be applied to a group of families which cluster around the Court and form the highest ranks of the Noblesse. This social aristocracy contains many old families， but its real basis is official rank and general culture rather than pedigree or blood. The feudal conceptions of noble birth， good family， and the like have been adopted by some of its members， but do not form one of its conspicuous features. Though habitually practising a certain exclusiveness， it has none of those characteristics of a caste which we find in the German Adel， and is utterly unable to understand such institutions as Tafelf鋒igkeit， by which a man who has not a pedigree of a certain length is considered unworthy to sit down at a royal table. It takes rather the English aristocracy as its model， and harbours the secret hope of one day obtaining a social and political position similar to that of the nobility and gentry of England. Though it has no peculiar legal privileges， its actual position in the Administration and at Court gives its members great facilities for advancement in the public service. On the other hand， its semi-

bureaucratic character， together with the law and custom of dividing landed property among the children at the death of their parents， deprives it of stability. New men force their way into it by official distinction， whilst many of the old families are compelled by poverty to retire from its ranks. The son of a small proprietor， or even of a parish priest， may rise to the highest offices of State， whilst the descendants of the half-mythical Rurik may descend to the position of peasants. It is said that not very long ago a certain Prince Krapotkin gained his living as a cabman in St. Petersburg！

It is evident， then， that this social aristocracy must not be confounded with the titled families. Titles do not possess the same value in Russia as in Western Europe. They are very common--

because the titled families are numerous， and all the children bear the titles of the parents even while the parents are still alive--

and they are by no means always associated with official rank， wealth， social position， or distinction of any kind. There are hundreds of princes and princesses who have not the right to appear at Court， and who would not be admitted into what is called in St.

Petersburg la societe， or indeed into refined society in any country.

The only genuine Russian title is Knyaz， commonly translated "Prince." It is borne by the descendants of Rurik， of the Lithuanian Prince Ghedimin， and of the Tartar Khans and Murzi officially recognised by the Tsars. Besides these， there are fourteen families who have adopted it by Imperial command during the last two centuries. The titles of count and baron are modern importations， beginning with the time of Peter the Great. From Peter and his successors about seventy families have received the title of count and ten that of baron. The latter are all， with two exceptions， of foreign extraction， and are mostly descended from Court bankers.*

Besides these， there are of course the German counts and barons of the Baltic Provinces， who are Russian subjects.

There is a very common idea that Russian nobles are as a rule enormously rich. This is a mistake. The majority of them are poor. At the time of the Emancipation， in 1861， there were 100，247