The serfs in private hands now numbered more
than twenty millions; above them stood more than a hundred thousand
owners. The princely strength of the largest owners was best represented
by a few men possessing over a hundred thousand serfs each, and, above
all, by Count Scheremetieff, who boasted three hundred thousand. The
luxury of the large owners was best represented by about four thousand
men possessing more than a thousand serfs each. The pinching
propensities of the small owners were best represented by fifty thousand
men possessing fewer than twenty serfs each.
The serfs might be divided into two great classes. The first comprised
those working under the old or _corvee_ system, giving usually three
days in the week to the tillage of the owner's domain; the second
comprised those working under the new or _obrok_ system, receiving a
payment fixed by the owner and assessed by the community to which the
serfs belonged. The character of the serfs had been moulded by the serf
system.
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