e good
influence which they exercise on the peasants of their neighbourhood
and the assistance they give them; and it must be admitted that their
patience is often sorely tried, for the peasants have the obstinacy of
ignorance, and possess other qualities which are not sympathetic. I know
one excellent proprietor who began his civilising efforts by giving
to the Mir of the nearest village an iron plough as a model and a fine
pedigree ram as a producer, and who found, on returning from a tour
abroad, that during his absence the plough had been sold for vodka,
and the pedigree ram had been eaten before it had time to produce
any descendants! In spite of this he continues his efforts, and not
altogether without success.

It need hardly be said that the progress of the peasantry is not so
rapid as could be wished. The muzhik is naturally conservative, and is
ever inclined to regard novelties with suspicion. Even when he is half
convinced of the utility of some change, he has still to think about it
for a long time and talk it over again and again with his friends and
neighbours, and this preparatory stage of progress may last for years.
Unless he happens to be a man of unusual intelligence and energy, it is
only when he sees with his own eyes that some humble individual of his
own condition in life has actually gained by abandoning the old routine
and taking to new courses, that he makes up his mind to take the plunge
himself. Still, he is beginning to jog on. E pur si muove! A spirit of
progress is beginning to move on the face of the long-stagnant waters,
and progress once begun is pretty sure to continue with increasing
rapidity. With starvation hovering in the rear, even the most
conservative are not likely to stop or turn back.

CHAPTER XXXII

THE ZEMSTVO AND THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

Necessity of Reorganising the Provincial Administration--Zemstvo Created
in 1864--My First Acquaintance with the Institution--District and
Provincial Assemblies--The Leading Members--Great Expectations Created
by the Institution--These Expectations Not Realised--Suspicions and
Hostility of the Bureaucracy--Zemstvo Brought More Under Control of the
Centralised Administration--What It Has Really Done--Why It Has Not
Done More---Rapid Increase of the Rates--How Far the Expenditure
Is Judicious--Why the Impoverishment of the Peasantry Was
Neglected--Unpractical, Pedantic Spirit--Evil Consequences--Chinese and
Russian Formalism--Lo