palaces, timber-yards, warehouses, and a refuse, as it were, of materi als sufficient to stock an empire with miserable towns and miserable villages. One might imagine all the states of Europe and Asia had sent a building, by way of representative, to Moscow and under this impression the eye is presented with deputies from all countries, holding congress: timber-huts from regions beyond the ARCTIC; plastered palaces from SWEDEN and DENMARK, not white-washed since their arrival; painted walls from the TYROL; mosques from CONSTANTINOPLE; Tartar temples from BUCHARIA; pagodas, pavilions, and virandas, from CHINA; cabarets from SPAIN: dungeons, prisons, and public offices, from FRANCE; architectural ruins from ROME; terraces and trelisses from NAPLES; and warehouses from WAPPING.

'Having heard accounts of its immense population, you wander through deserted streets. Passing suddenly towards the quarter where the shops are situated, you might walk upon the heads of thousands. The daily throng is there so immense, that unable to force a passage through it, or assign any motive that might convene such a multitude, you ask the cause; and are told that it is always the same. Nor is the costume less various than the aspect of the buildings: Greeks, Turks, Tartars, Cossacks, Chinese, Muscovites, English, French, Italians, Poles, Germans, all parade in the habits of their respective countries.' pp. 47, 48.

This description is equally correct and spirited. The circuit of Moscow (as we learn page 112, from Mr. Heber's Journal,) is about 26 English miles. Its area is nearly twelve times greater than that of Petersburg; and yet its population is estimated at no more than 250,000 fixed inhabitants. The servants, and other retainers, who accompany the nobles during their winter residence, may amount to about 30,000 more; and the internal trade of Russia may be supposed to supply, from the different provinces of this extensive empire, a periodical influx of occasional visitors sufficient to diversify the appearance, without much augmenting the numbers of the people.

The moment at which our travellers arrived at this singular metropolis was peculiarly fortunate. Lent is, in Russia, a period of severe abstinence, and its termination is instantly followed by an universal explosion of tumultuous joy and riot. In every part of the empire the approach of Easter is hailed with exultation; but it is at Moscow only that the ceremonies of the Greek church are attended by a full display of gorgeous magnificence. It is there only that a stranger can behold, to advantage, the splendid procession of Palm Sunday; the theatrical representation on Maunday Thursday, when the metropolitan washes the feet of twelve representatives of the apostles: and, above all, the imposing ceremony of the Resurrection on the night of Easter Sunday. Every house is then lighted up; every street is blazing with innumerable torches: every carriage is in motion; and the numerous churches, of a bold though barbarous ar

chitecture, are illuminated from their foundations to their summits. All are crowded; every hand bears a lighted taper; and in the cathedral where the archbishop officiates, sparkling with jewels, and attended by priests adorned with similar magnificence, the profusion of lights, the richness of the dresses, and the numbers of the congregation, form a spectacle of unequalled splendour. After distributing numerous benedictions, the Archbishop proclaims that 'Christ is risen;' and, on the conclusion of the ceremony, this exclamation, which is heard from every tongue, becomes the signal of the utmost excesses of noisy festivity.

As Moscow is the metropolis of an empire comprising many distinct nations, and even races of men, forcibly united, but not assimilated under a despotic government, its public amusements, its ancient and modern edifices, the dresses, manners, languages, occupations, and superstitions of its inhabitants, present innumerable subjects of inquiry to the intelligent traveller; and on all these subjects, Dr. Clarke has collected much amusing information. But we feel particularly indebted to him for the very valua ble instruction which he has communicated to us in a note in page 165. It is extracted from Mr. Heber's Journal.

We observed a striking difference between the peasants of the Crown and those of individuals. The former are almost all in comparatively easy circumstances. Their abrock, or rent, is fixed at five roubles a year, all charges included; and as they are sure that it will never be raised, they are more industrious. The peasants belonging to the nobles have their abrock regulated by their means of getting money; at an average, throughout the empire, of eight or ten roubles. It then becomes not a rent for land, but a downright tax on their industry. Each male peasant is obliged by law to labour three days in each week for his proprietor. This law takes effect on his arriving at the age of fifteen. If the proprietor chooses to employ him the other days, he may; as for example, in a manufactory; but he then finds him in food and clothing. Mutual advantage, however, generally relaxes this law; and excepting such as are selected for domestic servants, or, as above, are employed in manufactories, the slave pays a certain abrock, or rent, to be allowed to work all the week on his own account. The master is bound to furnish him with a house and a certain portion of land. The allotment of land is generally settled by the Starosta (Elder of the village) and a meeting of the peasants themselves. In the same manner, when a master wants an increase of rent, he sends to the Starosta, who convenes the peasants; and by that assembly it is decided what proportion each individual must pay. If a slave exercises any trade which brings him in more money than agricultural labour, he pays a higher abrock. If by journeys to Petersburg, or other cities, he can still earn more, his master permits his absence, but his abrock is raised. The smallest earnings are subject to this oppression. The peasants employed as drivers, at the post-houses, pay an abrock out of the drink-money they receive, for being

permitted to drive; as, otherwise, the master might employ them in other less profitable labour on his own account. The aged and infirm are provided with food, and raiment, and lodging, at their owner's expense. Such as prefer casual charity to the miserable pittance they receive from their master, are frequently furnished with passports, and allowed to seek their fortune; but they sometimes pay an abrock even for this permission to beg. The number of beggars in Petersburg is very small; as when one is found, he is immediately sent back to his owner. In Moscow, and other towns, they are numerous; though I think less so than in London. They beg with great modesty, in a low and humble tone of voice, frequently crossing themselves, and are much less clamorous and importunate than a London beggar.

The master has the power of correcting his slaves, by blows or confinement; but if he is guilty of any great cruelty, he is amenable to the laws; which are, we are told, executed in this point with impartiality. In one of the towers of the Khitaigorod, at Moscow, there was a Countess Soltikof confined for many years with a most unrelenting severity, which she merited for cruelty to her slaves. Instances of barbarity are, however, by no means rare. At Kostroma, the sister of Mr. Kotchetof, the governor, gave me an instance of a nobleman who had nailed (if Í understood her right) his servant to a cross. The master was sent to a monastery, and the business hushed up. Domestic servants, and those employed in manufactories, as they are more exposed to cruelty, so they sometimes revenge themselves in a terrible manner. A Mr. Hetrof, brother to Mrs. Schepotef, who had a great distillery, disappeared suddenly, and was pretty easily guessed to have been thrown into a boiling copper by his slaves. We heard another instance, though not from equally good authority, of a lady, now in Moscow, who had been poisoned three several times by her servants.

'No slave can quit his village, or his master's family, without a passport. Any person arriving in a town or village, must produce his to the Starosta; and no one can harbour a stranger without one. If a person is found dead without a passport, his body is sent to the hospital for dissection; of which we saw an instance. The punishment of living runaways is imprisonment, and hard labour in the government works; and a master may send to the public workhouse any peasant he chooses. The prisons of Moscow and Kostroma were chiefly filled with such runaway slaves, who were for the most part in irons. On the frontier they often escape; but in the interior it is almost impossible: yet, during the summer, desertions are very common; and they sometimes lurk about for many months, living miserably in the woods. This particularly happens when there is a new levy of soldiers. The soldiers are levied, one from every certain number of peasants, at the same time all over the empire. But if a master is displeased with his slave, he may send him for a soldier at any time he pleases, and take a receipt from Government; so that he sends one man less the next levy. He also selects the recruits he sends to Government; with this restriction, that they are young men, free from disease, have sound teeth, and are five feet two inches high.

The Starosta, of whom mention has been so frequently made, is an officer resembling the ancient bailiff of an English village. He is chosen, we are told, (at least generally) by the peasants; sometimes annually, and sometimes for life. He is answerable for the abrocks to the lord; decides small disputes among the peasants; gives billets for quarters to soldiers, or to Governmennt officers on a journey, &c. Sometimes the proprietor claims the right of appointing the Starosta.

A slave can on no pretence be sold out of Russia, nor in Russia, to any but a person born noble, or, if not noble, having the rank of Lieutenant-colonel. This rank is not confined to the military; it may be obtained by them in civil situations. (Professor Pallas had the rank of Brigadier.) This law is however eluded, as roturiers (plebeians) frequently purchase slaves for hire, by making use of the name of some privileged person; and all nobles have the privilege of letting out their

slaves.

'Such is the political situation of the peasant. With regard to his comforts, or means of supporting existence, I do not think they are deficient. Their houses are in tolerable repair, moderately roomy, and well adapted to the habits of the people. They have the air of being sufficiently fed, and their clothing is warm and substantial Fuel, food, and the materials for building, are very cheap; but clothing is dear. In summer they generally wear Nantkin caftans, one of which costs thirteen roubles. The labkas (linden-bark sandals) cost nothing. They wear a blue Nantkin shirt, trimmed with red, which costs two or three roubles; linen drawers; and linen or hempen rags wrapped round their feet and legs, over which the richer sort draw their boots. The sheep-skin schaub costs eight roubles, but it lasts a long-time; as does a lamb-skin cap, which costs three roubles. The common red cap costs about the same. For a common cloth caftan, such as the peasants sometimes wear, we were asked thirty roubles. To clothe a Russian peasant or a soldier is, I apprehend, three times as chargeable as in England. Their clothing, however, is strong, and being made loose and wide, lasts longer. It is rare to see a Russian quite in rags. With regard to the idleness of the lower classes here, of which we had heard great complaints, it appears, that where they have an interest in exertion they by no means want industry, and have just the same wish for luxuries as other people. Great proprietors, who never raise their abrocks, such as Count Sheremetof, have very rich and prosperous peasants. The difference we noticed between peasants belonging to the Crown and those of the nobility has been already mentioned. The Crown peasants, indeed, it is reasonable to suppose, are more happy; living at their ease, paying a moderate quit rent, and choosing their own Starosta. They are however more exposed to vexation and oppression from the petty officers of the Crown.

'This account of the condition of the peasants in Russia is an abrégé of the different statements we procured in Moscow, and chiefly from Prince Theodore Nikolaiovitz Galtizin. The levies for the army are considered by the peasants as times of great terror. Baron Bode told me, they generally keep the levy as secret as possible, till they have

fixed on and secured a proper number of men. They are generally chained till they are sworn in the fore-part of the head is then shaved, and they are thus easily distinguished from other peasants. After this, desertion is very rare, and very difficult. The distress of one of their popular Dramas, which we saw acted at Yareslof, in the private theatre of the Governor Prince Galitzin, consisted in a young man being pressed for a soldier. In the short reign of Peter II. who, it is well known, transferred the seat of Government again to Moscow, no man pressed as a soldier; the army was recruited by volunteers; and slaves were permitted to enter.' pp. 165-168. (Heber's MS. Journal.)

was

We are rather surprised that Dr. Clarke, having transcribed this masterly note, should have neglected to avail himself of it for the purpose of modifying some passages in his own text, which appear to us to be no less at variance with each other than with Mr. Heber's rational and consistent statement. He tells us (p. 170) an anecdote of a Russian peasant who, for the purchase of his daughter's liberty, offered and paid to his lord no less than fifteen thousand roubles (above £3000). The tyrant, it seems, having taken the money, refused to emancipate the girl, upon which Dr. Clarke observes, It is thus we behold the subjects of a vast empire stripped of all they possess, and existing in the most abject servitude, victims of tyranny and torture; of sorrow and poverty; of sickness and famine.' Now we think that this sweeping inference cannot fairly be drawn from a story which, if correctly stated, only proves that a Russian peasant may sometimes attain a degree of opulence far exceeding the usual fruits of humble parsimony, and that a Russian nobleman may sometimes be wicked beyond the common bounds of human depravity. It is not easy to believe, on any authority, that when you enter the cottage of the poor labourer, you find him dying of hunger, or pining from bad food, and in want of the common necessaries of life; that extensive pastures afford no milk for him; that the harvest yields no bread for his children; that the Lord claims all the produce,' and so forth; because the productive classes in all countries must either be fed or cease to be productive; and we know that the population of Russia, far from diminishing with rapidity, is actually on the increase. It is true that in a country of slaves, where wealth is insecure, it cannot circulate freely or show itself in a general appearance of ease and comfort. What is not wasted by improvidence will probably be amassed and concealed. These little hoards are occasionally brought to light by unforeseen accidents, as appears from the anecdote just recited, as well as from the story told (p. 94) concerning the peasants of Count Golofkin; but we suspect that, in general, they silently contribute to the relief of the aged and the helpless, and that they render the interior of a Russian cottage less horrible to its owner than it appeared to Dr. Clarke's terrified imagination.

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