seventy years of age, women during the last six months of pregnancy, and, in certain cases, persons intrusted with the care of young children. Imprisonment for debt, for sums less than one hundred roubles, is abolished, and no debtor can be imprisoned for a longer period than five years, whatever the amount may be. Crimes against the state, against religion, or committed by government officials in the exercise of their functions, are considered exceptions to the general criminal procedure, and special provisions are made for judging them in accordance with the spirit of the imperial government and the national church. The mode of procedure in these cases is so arranged that it will not only relieve the Emperor from the personal examination of them, but will also obviate the necessity of a system of espionage. The promulgation of this important measure has been hailed with the most unbounded satisfaction. I have heard but one opinion expressed in regard to it-that it is, in fact, the regeneration of Russia. The general conviction that it has made revolution impossible has diffused through all classes a feeling of peace and security, especially grateful after the recent feverish agitation of the public mind. You will observe that the whole course of judicial procedure approximates much more to that of England and the United States than to that of any other continental nation. The promptness with which the law will hereafter be administered is, perhaps, that feature of the reform which will be most welcome to the Russian people. Although to their oriental blood time is but of secondary importance, they fully appreciate the value of decision, and would prefer a short and somewhat arbitrary judgment to a prolonged investigation, even though the latter might insure more careful justice in the end. I add a few paragraphs from the principal Russian journals, which will serve to show you how the reform is regarded: "The ameliorations already realized, or in process of accomplishment during the present reign, have but a secondary significance beside these reforms, which open a new destiny to the nation."-Parole Contemporaine. "All Russia, all civilized humanity, will recognize that the judicial reform, as well as the grand decree for the emancipation of the serfs, constitutes the most brilliant labor of government which has ever been accomplished in our country. The laborers have already been affranchised from obligatory toil. Now all Russians, without distinction, will be liberated from the darkness of a fatal arbitration, and from the burden of the actual administration of our judicial courts."-Gazette de la Bourse. "When these measures shall have been put in force, five years will suffice to change Russia to such a degree that she can no longer be recognized."—Northern Bee. "The reform by which serfdom was suppressed has given the right of personal liberty to a Russian population of more than twenty millions of souls, and the judicial reform gives to the entire nation, as to each of the individuals of which it is composed, the means of legally defending the rights which belong to the universality of citizens. Each of the reforms invokes the other, and is its mutual complement."-Moscow Gazette. Some errors having occurred in printing, a corrected edition of the project is promised. I will forward a copy to the department as soon as it appears. Trusting that the interest and importance of the subject will justify the length of this despatch, I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. Mr. Taylor to Mr. Seward. [Extract] No. 16.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, St. Petersburg, October 29, 1862. SIR: I have the honor to report to you that immediately after the receipt of your despatch (No. 14) of September 26 I applied for an interview with Prince Gortchacow, for the purpose of delivering into his hands the letter of his excellency the President to his Imperial Majesty Alexander II. My request was at once granted, and an early hour the next day was appointed, but the prince having in the meantime been summoned to the town of Gatschinee, some thirty miles from here, to confer with the Emperor, the interview was postponed until to-day. After having received the President's letter, which he promised to present to his Imperial Majesty without delay, the prince entered upon a conversation concerning American affairs, which I deem so important that I hasten to report it while his expressions are yet fresh in my mind, and can be communicated to you with the greatest possible exactness. He commenced by stating in the strongest terms his concern at the course which events are taking in the United States. "Your situation," said he, "is getting worse and worse. The chances of preserving the Union are growing more and more desperate. Can nothing be done to stop this dreadful war? Can you find no basis of arrangement before your strength is so exhausted that you must lose for many years to come your position in the world?" I answered that the critical period in the fortunes of the war seemed now to be passed. Our arms were again victorious, and could the military strength of the rebellion be once fairly broken, it would be almost impossible for it to maintain itself longer. 66 It is not that alone," said he, "but the fury which seems to possess both sides the growth of enmities which are making the gulf continually wider between the two sections. The hope of their reunion is growing less and less, and I wish you to impress on your government that the separation which I fear must come, will be considered by Russia as one of the greatest possible misfortunes." "To loyal Americans," I answered, "separation seems nothing less than national ruin, and precisely for this reason there can be no negotiations at present with the rebel authorities. They would listen to no terms which did not include separation, and hence the war is still a terrible necessity. I have hopes, however, that a change may occur before the term of grace allowed by the President's proclamation expires. Have you noticed that the State of North Carolina is already taking some action on the subject ?" "Russia alone," said he "has stood by you from the first, and will continue to stand by you. We are very, very anxious that some means should be adopted; that any course should be pursued which will prevent the division that now seems inevitable. One separation will be followed by another; you will break into fragments." "We feel this," I replied. "The northern and southern States cannot peacefully exist, side by side, as separate republics. There is nothing the American people desire so much as peace. But peace on the basis of separation is equiv alent to continual war. We have only just called the whole strength of the nation into action. We believe the struggle now commencing will be final, and we cannot, without disgrace and ruin, accept the only terms upon which the rebels would treat, until our strength has been tried and has failed." "You know the sentiments of Russia!" the prince exclaimed with great earnestness. "We desire, above all things, the maintenance of the American Union as one indivisible nation. We cannot take any part more than we have done. We have no hostility to the southern people. Russia has declared her position, and will maintain it. There will be proposals for intervention. We believe that intervention could do no good at present. Proposals will be made to Russia to join in some plan of interference. She will refuse any invitation of the kind. Russia will occupy the same ground as at the beginning of the struggle. You may rely upon it, she will not change. But we entreat you to settle the difficulty. I cannot express to you how profound an anxiety we feel-how serious are our fears." We were standing face to face during the conversation, and the earnest, impassioned manner of the prince impressed me with the fact that he was speaking from his heart. At the close of the interview he seized my hand, gave it a strong pressure, and exclaimed "God bless you!" I felt that any further declaration of the grounds for encouragement which I see in the course of events at home, would be useless. His excellency had evidently been disappointed in his hopes, from the representations heretofore made to him. I thanked him for his frankness and for the renewed declaration of the attitude of Russia. I had purposely abstained in former interviews from referring to current rumors of intervention, in which Russia was to be invited to take part, because any such reference might have implied a doubt in the permanence of her friendship. The spontaneous expression of Prince Gortchacow in regard to the subject is thus all the more satisfactory. I fixed in my memory at the time, and have reproduced, almost word for word, the conversation which occurred between us. I judged it prudent to enter into no discussion concerning the impressions which the prince has derived from recent events. His manner convinced me he desired his words to be reported, and I was therefore anxious that he should express himself as fully as possible with no more interruption on my part than was necessary in order to justify the government of the United States. The proclamation of the President, which I forwarded to Prince Gortchacow as soon as it arrived, was translated and published the next day in the Journal de St. Petersbourg, together with your circular which accompanied it. Since then the same paper, which preserved a complete silence on American affairs during the period of our reverses, has contained several pungent paragraphs in the interest of the Union. The Journal of yesterday, for instance, has the following: "As to the democratic meeting which has been held in New York, for the purpose of condemning the emancipation proclamation of Mr. Lincoln, and declaring that the republicans violate the Constitution, it will suffice, to give a just measure of the value of this demonstration, to recall the fact that before the war commenced the friends of slavery in the United States were designated by the name of 'democrats,' while that of 'republicans' was given to the adversaries of the peculiar institution." The proclamation has not excited much surprise at this court. So far as I have been able to ascertain the impression which it has produced among intelligent Europeans, it is considered a justifiable measure. Some doubts have been expressed in the diplomatic circle here whether it can be enforced without a military occupation, which would insure submission in any case; but the general feeling is favorable to the step. Among the Americans whom I have met, those who formerly belonged to the "Breckinridge" wing of the democratic party have been strongest in their expressions of satisfaction. I shall do my best to promote the confidence of our friends-which term includes all Russians, and a large portion of the foreign residents here—although painfully conscious that arguments and representations, however just and telling, are beginning to lose much of their force. I am waiting in the most anxious expectation to be strengthened by deeds. The conversation recorded above is, in some respects, a type of much in which I must take a daily part. Speculations concerning the future are no longer received; apparent inaction is considered almost equivalent to defeat; and even that better knowledge of an American which supports his own hope and confidence is partly neutralized by the disappointments of this year. For my part, I can scarcely doubt the issue without doubting the justice of God; but I am forced to encounter à feeling in others which my own confidence cannot overcome. I have also to announce a change in the ministry, which may have some bearing on the interests of American citizens in Russia. A letter of the Emperor was published on Sunday last, allowing General Chefkin to retire from his post as chief director of the ways of communication. He is succeeded by General Melnikoff, of the engineers, a man of distinguished talents and acquirements, who has travelled in the United States, and is said to be anxious to enlist American enterprise in the great system of railroad communication which the imperial government has planned. As Mr. Collins's project of telegraphic connexion has been referred to this department, I anticipate a much more speedy and favorable report upon it than could have been expected during the direction of General Chefkin. The change, which has been rumored for a month past, has, no doubt, delayed action upon the project, but I hope soon to be able to announce to you its acceptance by the imperial government. I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, your obedient servant, BAYARD TAYLOR, SIR: Your very interesting despatch of October 29 (No. 16) has been submitted to the President. The explanations of the views of the Russian government made to you by Prince Gortchacow, and his assurances of its fidelity and constancy towards the United States, are deeply interesting and eminently gratifying. Circumstances and positions affect our views of every transaction. The profound apprehension concerning the present safety and future stability of the Union expressed by the prince was, at the time of your conversation with him, a very natural preoccupation of his mind. If I can accurately recall events, the latest information from this country which had then reached Russia left here an insurgent army, which had been only checked in its invasion of Missouri; another similar invading army arrested, but not driven back from its march upon Cincinnati; still another hovering on the borders of Pennsylvania and Maryland; and yet another in front of Corinth, protecting Vicksburg and threatening Memphis. The same information untruly represented the government levies as coming slowly into camp, the public credit declining, and its resources as well nigh exhausted. This was the sensation of the hour here in the early part of the month of October. The daily press is a political daguer reotype. It seizes the existing profile of affairs, fixes it stiffly and darkly upon the plate, and, at the very instant, scatters its impressions broadcast throughout the world. The same instrument is now giving a very different profile of American affairs to foreign countries. What is now seen is a picture of wasting rebellious armies retreating on every side, an empty treasury, a prostrate credit, sufferings indescribable, attended by alarms and fears of social revolution. General Burnside is on the advance to Richmond; an army and a fleet are descending the Mississippi; another army, with another fleet, is just moving * ; another army is advancing from Nashville towards East Tennessee, and an iron navy is nearly ready to reduce the last remaining insurrectionary ports into federal occupation. Of all the insurgent menaces which lowered upon us so thickly in September and October there is only one that now gives us anxiety, and that is the invasion by iron-clad vessels, which are being built for the insurgents by their sympathizers in England. In regard to that danger, we must believe that the preparations of this government, whose resources are as ample now as that of any nation, are at least equal to the emergency of defence at home against such steam naval forces as the insurrection can send across the Atlantic ocean. Naturally the first thought which, in a time of apparent danger to our country, occurs to a foreign friend, is the desirableness of an adjustment or arrangement of the strife. This suggestion is enforced by a contemplation of the calamities and sufferings which are wrought upon the battle-field. The generous mind, glowing with friendly zeal, refuses to admit the fact, however obvious, that composition of such troubles is impossible. This has been the case especially with the excellent Russian minister plenipotentiary here. He has for some time pressed upon us the same sentiments which were expressed to you by Prince Gortchacow. Mr. Adams has informed us that Baron Brunow, at London, has equally urged them, though with great delicacy, upon him. The Russian government need not doubt for a moment that the President will hail the first moment when any proposition of peace can be made which will arrest the strife without a sacrifice of the nation's constitution and life. That period cannot now be far off. Whatever the insurgent leaders may say of their determination, it is not possible for the masses they represent to persevere much longer without direct foreign aid. Much as we deprecate such aid, we have nevertheless had experience enough of war to know, what all the world sees, that to attack the United States, even in their present divided and distracted condition, is an attempt no one foreign nation is likely to undertake, while reason, nature, interest, and moral duty forbid an alliance for such a purpose. It is indeed a fearful drama which the almighty Ruler of nations has appointed us to enact. But it does not surpass the powers he has given us to sustain the performance. Not only friendly nations but human nature itself is interested in its success, and must not be disappointed. I am, sir, your obedient servant, BAYARD TAYLOR, Esq., Sr., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 6.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Taylor. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 24, 1862. SIR: Your despatch of October 25 (No. 15) has been submitted to the President. Whether we regard the decree of the Emperor which establishes an independent and impartial judiciary either in the aspect of a political measure |