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THE CANDLE.
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not
evil."--ST. MATTHEW V. 38, 39.
It was in the time of serfdom--many years before Alexander II.'s
liberation of the sixty million serfs in 1862. In those days the people
were ruled by different kinds of lords. There were not a few who,
remembering God, treated their slaves in a humane manner, and not as
beasts of burden, while there were others who were seldom known to
perform a kind or generous action; but the most barbarous and tyrannical
of all were those former serfs who arose from the dirt and became
princes.
It was this latter class who made life literally a burden to those
who were unfortunate enough to come under their rule. Many of them had
arisen from the ranks of the peasantry to become superintendents of
noblemen's estates.
The peasants were obliged to work for their master a certain number of
days each week. There was plenty of land and water and the soil was rich
and fertile, while the meadows and forests were sufficient to supply the
needs of both the peasants and their lord.
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