3. Social structure.

With the conception of nationality is associated the idea of certain rights and duties. But by virtue of the historical conditions and development of Russia, as in other states, the rights and duties of subjects are not identical. Russian subjects are therefore divided into groups. Thus, in the first place, the so called inorodsy, or heterogeneous races, on account of their origin, are separated from the general mass into a special category, and include several eastern races, the Jews, and the inhabitants of Finland, who enjoy special rights. All the remainder are termed natural subjects, who in respect of their rights, are divided into classes. The law recognizes four such classes: 1) nobles, 2) clergy, 3) inhabitants of towns, and 4) rural population.

But before considering the rights of these classes, it will not be superfluous to point out briefly the origin in Russia of class distinctions.

Ancient Russia, prior to the formation of the State of Moscow, scarcely knew any classes, seeing that there did not even exist subjects in the proper sense of the word, i. e. persons, having permanent connection with certain territory. Even the Princes themselves were not settled, but moved from place to place. Their servants and attendants were bound to them by personal agreement or contract and could at any time quit their service.

Under these conditions it was impossible to form corporations or classes of persons in service. The remaining portion of the population did not in general owe any subjection, and all enjoyed the right of passing from one principality to another. Although slaves and so called servitors existed in ancient Russia as well as freemen, slavery and bondage were not state institutions.

Every free citizen was liable, on account of debt, to become dependent on his creditors. The present idea of subjection and of class distinctions dates from the accession to power of the Tsars of Moscow, who, for the unification of the Russian territories, stood in need of the permanent services of the Boyars, and of regular payment of taxes and dues. In consequence of this, the Moscovj Princes, commencing with Ivan III (1462 1505), began to prohibit persons in service from removing to another principality, under penalty of criminal punishment. At the same time the maintenance of serving people underwent a change. At first the Prince himself clothed and fed his military company, or droojina. In the Moscow era they were allotted a certain extent of land. Each serving man received a property, for which he had to render service; and consequently he had no right of quitting the land.

The remainder of the population had to provide the State with material means, by paying taxes and dues on land, trade and industries. The land, on which taxes were charged, was called taxable land. In the towns were taxable houses. A Government, standing in need of the regular payment of taxes, was bound to see that each taxable ward, and each domicile, had its tax payer.

This was why residents in towns and the rural population gradually lost the right of removing from place to place. At first terms or periods were fixed for removal. In the year 1497 all these terms were transferred to lurief day (26^th November), and subsequently, in the year 1598, the lurief day term was abolished. In this manner was established from the XVII century a strict delimitation of the three classes, according to the character of their duties. The highest duty was that of service and, consequently, the serving class occupied the first place. It rendered service on a special kind of property; on estates and patrimonial land, and soon acquired the exclusive right of owning such property, in order that the land should not go out of the service. The proprietor of each estate was bound to furnish a certain number of men from among the local peasants, who in consequence of this became his serfs. Lastly, in fulfilling this service the land proprietor, by virtue thereof, was exempted from all other taxes and dues.

The inhabitants of towns paid taxes: a) on town domiciles and b) on trading enterprises. This inaugurated the regulation, that town domiciles and trading enterprises in towns could only be owned by persons, who paid town dues, i. e. by townsmen.

The third class consisted of peasants, who were bound to the soil. There were also in Moscovite Russia bondsmen servitors, who possessed no personal or proprietary rights.

Altogether apart from the other classes stood the clergy. On the adoption of Christianity the church appeared in Russia with special privileges, which it enjoyed in the West and in Byzantium. Its mission was to convert a heathen community into a Christian one, and therefore it had to gain influence over all classes, not excepting the Princes, and to take up a privileged position. In this manner there was formed a class of churchmen, who were placed under the jurisdiction of an exclusively ecclesiastical court. This class of churchmen included 1stly, clergy in the strict sense of the word and 2ndly, laymen, who were placed under the protection of the church, as, for instance, physicians, the blind, lame, widows &c. It must not be thought however, that the clergy formed in the very beginning an exclusively hereditary class. Priests and psalmsters were selected by the parishioners or appointed by the landowners and confirmed in their post by the bishop. But hereditary succession in this calling became established of itself.

A certain training was required for the clerical office which could only be imparted to their children by clergymen themselves.

Such was the position of class distinctions in Russia prior to the accession of Peter.