y, 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 Tafelfaehigkeit, 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 importati