The
sight of these wrongs roused him. He seized a cross, and swore that the
serf system should be abolished.
Straightway a great and good plan was prepared. Its main features were:
a period of transition from serfage to personal liberty, extending
through twelve or fourteen years; the arrival of the serf at personal
freedom, with ownership of his cabin and the bit of land attached to it;
the gradual reimbursement of masters by serfs; and after this advance to
personal liberty, an advance by easy steps to a sort of political
liberty. Favorable as was this plan to the serf-owners, they attacked it
in various ways; but they could not kill it utterly. Esthonia, Livonia,
and Courland became free. Having failed to arrest the growth of freedom,
the serf-holding caste made every effort to blast the good fruits of
freedom. In Courland they were thwarted; in Esthonia and Livonia they
succeeded during many years; but the eternal laws were too strong for
them, and the fruitage of liberty had grown richer and better.
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