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.
There was a certain nobleman who had chosen a superintendent from the peasantry on one of his other estates.