who had
known no law except the arbitrary will of their masters, were
transformed suddenly into a class of free and independent citizens! Next
came the reorganization of the judicial administration, by which a
similar beneficent change was effected. In the old times the civil and
criminal tribunals had been hotbeds of bribery and corruption to such an
extent that a satirical author had once ventured to write a comedy with
the significant title, "An Unheard-of Wonder; or, The Honest Clerk of
Court!" Now they were thoroughly cleansed, and during some half a dozen
years, when I traveled about the country in search of information, I
never heard of a Judge suspected of taking bribes. The lawsuits, which
were previously liable to be prolonged for a lifetime, were curtailed by
simplifying the procedure; trial by jury was introduced for criminal
cases; and the condition of the prisoners was greatly improved both
materially and morally. Some of the new prisons were quite excellent. A
big reformatory, for example, founded by a benevolent society in Moscow
and largely supported by voluntary contributions, seemed to me the best
institution of the kind I had ever seen.

Regarding the new system of local self-government, I may say briefly
that I was very favorably impressed by the results. The first time I
followed, as an attentive spectator, the proceedings of a Provincial
Assembly, I was fairly astonished. It was in 1870--only nine years after
the beginning of the great reforms--and already the local affairs were
being discussed, on a footing of perfect equality, by noble landed
proprietors in fashionable European costume and emancipated serfs in
sheepskins. Some of the peasants were very able, unpretentious speakers,
and in one respect they had an advantage over some of their former
masters--they knew thoroughly what they were talking about. While the
frock-coated young gentlemen who had finished their education in a
university or agricultural college were often inclined to deal in
scientific abstractions, their humble colleagues, who had come direct
from the plow, confined themselves to thoroughly practical remarks, and
usually exercised a very beneficial influence on the discussions.

The favorable impressions which I received from this Provincial Assembly
were subsequently confirmed by wider experience, especially when I
worked regularly during a Winter in the head office of the local
administration of the Novgorod province.