he is pretty sure to show himself thoroughly democratic, with a strong
leaning to socialism.

The Prince belongs to the highest rank of the Russian Noblesse. If we
wish to get an idea of the lowest rank, we can find in the neighbourhood
a number of poor, uneducated men, who live in small, squalid houses, and
are not easily to be distinguished from peasants. They are nobles, like
his Highness; but, unlike him, they enjoy no social consideration,
and their landed property consists of a few acres of land which barely
supply them with the first necessaries of life. If we went to other
parts of the country we might find men in this condition bearing the
title of Prince! This is the natural result of the Russian law of
inheritance, which does not recognise the principle of primogeniture
with regard to titles and estates. All the sons of a Prince are Princes,
and at his death his property, movable and immovable, is divided amongst
them.

CHAPTER XXIII

SOCIAL CLASSES

Do Social Classes or Castes Exist in Russia?--Well-marked Social
Types--Classes Recognised by the Legislation and the Official
Statistics--Origin and Gradual Formation of these Classes--Peculiarity
in the Historical Development of Russia--Political Life and Political
Parties.

In the preceding pages I have repeatedly used the expression "social
classes," and probably more than once the reader has felt inclined to
ask, What are social classes in the Russian sense of the term? It may be
well, therefore, before going farther, to answer this question.

If the question were put to a Russian it is not at all unlikely that
he would reply somewhat in this fashion: "In Russia there are no social
classes, and there never have been any. That fact constitutes one of the
most striking peculiarities of her historical development, and one of
the surest foundations of her future greatness. We know nothing,
and have never known anything, of those class distinctions and class
enmities which in Western Europe have often rudely shaken society in
past times, and imperil its existence in the future."

This statement will not be readily accepted by the traveller who visits
Russia with no preconceived ideas and forms his opinions from his own
observations. To him it seems that class distinctions form one of the
most prominent characteristics of Russian society. In a few days he
learns to distinguish the various classes by their outward appearance.
He easily recognises