decision contrary to the law, this general assembly is liable to a fine of one hundred and fifty dollars."

Each government is administered by a civil or a military governor, or both, appointed by the Emperor. The civil governor has certain specified powers; the military acts at discretion, rendering the former a mere cipher at his pleasure. Besides these officers, there is a senate composed of an unlimited number of senators, appointed by the Emperor; this is divided into eleven departments. "In general assembly it has power to inquire into the conduct of the employees of the government, and report to the ministers. These are twelve in number, and at the head of the various departments of state, from the interior to that of finance. Each ministry is divided into many sections, and every section into many bureaus. There is a bureau devoted to every description of business, from that of commerce and manufactures to that on theatres and stables. Besides the ministers, there is a council of the empire, of which the Emperor is president, and which is also divided into various departments and sections, having various powers. Legions of functionaries are attached to all these branches of the administration. The labor is immense from the very nature of the government, and is rendered still more so because of the inefficiency and the corruption of its agents."

which teaches that the Czar is the representative of divine authority on earth.

Recent events, the news of which have reached us since Mr. Maxwell's book appeared, confirm the justice of these views. Whether Russia is to remain an anxious and watchful spectator of the great drama that is opening upon Europe, or is destined to repel or be broken up by another invasion, or in the end to extend her cold grasp over a few more provinces, are questions that time alone can answer.

From Moscow our traveller went in a talega, or common rough wagon of the country, towards the south-east, until he entered the province of Vladimir, the centre of Weliki or Great Russia, and the nucleus of the empire. Here the woodlands almost entirely disappeared, and the road was bordered on every side by cultivated fields and numerous villages. The population in Great Russia increases beyond all former precedent in Europe, and thousands and tens of thousands flow from it every year to all the borders of the empire. This is the peculiar national Russian family whose traits give character to the whole nation. The people have red or yellow hair, coarse features, fine teeth, small gray eyes, low, narrow foreheads, and badly proportioned figures. They are avaricious, sensual, capable of great endurance, but deficient in elasticity. Wherever they spread among the other tribes of the empire, they are felt as rulers. They are indefatigable, stubborn, firm in the belief that Russia is to be the universal empire, and that its government is the only true one. It is from this powerful and prolific race, increasing, with all its vast emigration, at the rate of a million every year, that most danger is to be apprehended by civ

Besides these there are, in Central Russia, forty millions of serfs attached to the soil, and bought and sold with it. These are in absolute slavery. The value of estates is reckoned more by their numbers than by acres. The serf has generally the privilege of a house and a cow. The steward of the estate assigns him his daily task, which is not a heavy one, and he generally has nearly half his time to himself. He can do nothing without permission, and may be compelled to do everything but marry against his inclina

tion. He cannot accuse his master. If he dies within three days from the effects of flogging, the master is fined; if after that time, he is not liable. If any one kills him by accident, he must pay the master three hundred and eight dollars. Sometimes he obtains permission to go into a large town and trade, paying his owner a share of his profits. Instances have been known where serfs thus became rich and offered large sums for their freedom. But, in general, they are apathetic, and though they acquire a certain skill in arts and trades with great facility, they never exert their full strength, and all their work is rude and slovenly. Their houses are log huts, where, generally, the whole family live in one room. In winter they all sleep together on the stove, which is built of brick and mortar like a baker's oven, and has a broad, flat surface. With this they make their favorite vapor bath, which they generally indulge in once a week. Pouring water on the stove, they fill the room with hot steam, and then, when streaming with perspiration, rush out and roll in the snow, or dash pails of cold water over each other. This practice is regarded as the sovereign preventive of all diseases.

In all the Russian cities there are public baths, frequented by the lower orders. The price of admission is about four cents. Notwithstanding this salutary custom, the people are very uncleanly in their habits. Every article of furniture, even in their best inns, is so infested that no Englishman or American can enjoy a tolerable degree of comfort, and for the state of things in the common cabins and houses of the inferior and middle classes, we shall refer the reader to Mr. Maxwell. The sheepskin is the costume of the country, and is worn by both men and women almost all the year. It is put on like a coat, descends below the knee, and is fastened by a girdle. Pieces of cloth wrapped around the legs serve for stockings, and shoes are made of linden bark. The neck is always left exposed, and a wolfskin cap covers the head and ears. The sheepskin is worn with the wool inside, and a single one lasts nearly a lifetime for daily and nightly wear. Still the Russian peasant enjoys more bodily comfort than thousands in England, and far more than the Irish cottar. He is al

ways sufficiently protected from cold and hunger.

The cultivation of flax and hemp, and the making of canvass, cordage, sheeting, table linen and linseed oil, are the chief employments and sources of profit in the central provinces. Large quantities of leather, soap, candles, tallow, glass, paper, copper and iron are also annually exported. But beyond the coarse fabrics of natural productions, few of the arts are much cultivated. Most of the manufacturing establishments owe their existence to the govern-. ment, and the success of any depends very much on the Imperial favor. The capital invested in legitimate trade at St. Petersburg is less than half that employed in the same way at Boston, the great nobles being unwilling to invest their capital where there is not almost a certainty of securing immense returns.

The manufactures of Moscow produce annually 450,000 pieces of calico; 400,000 of kataika or nankeen; more than 2,000,000 of handkerchiefs and other articles, to the value in all of more than $6,000,000. The other provinces together manufacture to nearly that amount. These productions are mostly sent to the fair of Nischnei Novogorod, and are sold for transportation to China or Central Asia. Many silk and cotton factories have lately sprung up and flourish under a protective system. Some German or Englishman is employed to direct the works, and is named a general and permitted to wear the dress of an officer of engineers.

The export trade of the United States to Russia is not of much importance. Fifty or sixty American ships arrive annually at Cronstadt from Boston, New York, and New Orleans, and cotton, rice, and lead are the principal shipments. Some come by way of Rio and the Havana with coffee or sugar. American cotton, to a large amount, reaches St. Petersburg in British bottoms, it being preferred there, it is said, after being assorted by the Liverpool dealer. A high tariff on American tobacco prevents its importation to a great extent. Large quantities of segars, made from American leaf at Antwerp and Bremen, are, however, imported, and sell for enormous prices.

None but natives are permitted to engage in internal trade. Produce is brought

to the dépôts on the canals and rivers during the fine travelling of winter, and floated down with the high water at the opening of navigation. But the summer is so short that the iron of Siberia and the teas of China are three years in their transit to the shipboard. The land journey requires a year.

The Emperor shows a disposition to encourage trade and manufactures; and very many of his recent acts show a manifest desire to promote the welfare of his people. Thus he has introduced railroads; he has reduced the term of enlistment in the army; prohibited the punishment of soldiers without a court martial; granted to English suitors in civil suits before Russian tribunals the same privileges in relation to security for costs, &c., as are enjoyed by Russian suitors in British courts, &c.

Mr. Maxwell regrets, however, that manufactures in Russia are still protected by high tariffs, and thinks that the nation would advance faster in civilization were her ports and cities thrown open at once to traders of all nations-a course which would soon deprive her of her nationality. It was a prasnick, or holiday, (of which the Russian year contains a great many,) when our traveller left Vladimir for Nischnei Novogorod, and the villagers were enjoying themselves in the sunshine. The Women were clad in the saraphan,-a bright red gown with a yellow border, and a row of white buttons down in front. Beneath this is a white bodice fitting tightly about the neck and loosely about the arms. The bosom is pressed down by a broad band, which produces a waistless and heavy appearance, amounting almost to deformity. "A red band, resembling a tiara, or a crescent-shaped bonnet, adorned with beads, tinsel or mother-ofpearl, is worn upon the head; a string of less bends about the neck, and large drops of brass or silver in the ears. The hair, plaited in a long tail, falls upon the back. Red slippers cover the feet, and as red is synonymous with beauty among the Russians, the faces of the girls were beautified with a rouge, extracted from some vegetable of the country.'

The Great Russian peasant is seldom happy except when he is drunk. Then he is polite and gay, and a pattern of amiability in his household. The first

evidence he gives of returning sobriety is by administering is by administering a severe flogging to his wife, who receives it as a token of his sincere affection. They have a proverb that the husband must beat his wife as he would dust his sheepskin :

"Biou kak choubou, i loublou kak douchou."

"I beat you like my schube, I love you like my heart."

We confess it is not easy to discover the connection between these two propositions.

The Russian maids were formerly married at thirteen, but by recent enactments this is not permitted till sixteen. A year or two of hard work and brutal treatment breaks them down. On the death of a peasant the priest writes a passport for heaven, which is signed by the bishop and put in the hand of the dead. After the funeral the friends meet to comfort each other, and the first toast is, "To the happiness of his soul, for he was a good fellow, and loved grog." In every village the church, built of brick and painted white or yellow, with a green dome and a belfry tower surmounted with a crescent and cross, is a conspicuous object. The service is in Slavonian, which few of the people understand, but they bow repeatedly and respond, "Gospodi pompiloui," "God have mercy upon us," which is their common ejaculation on any sudden occurrence, such as sneezing, and the like. The priests have no influence with the people. They have no dignity of character, and large numbers of them seem to consider it a part of their vocation to be publicly drunk on every festival occasion. In one respect they differ from ours-they cannot be ordained before they are married, a regulation which must tend very much to preserve tranquillity among the susceptible portion of their flocks. They can also marry but once, and hence the parson's wife is usually the happiest woman in the parish. The great majority of the priesthood are, however, persons of whom it may be said more truly than of any others in the world, that they are “wolves in sheep's clothing." There are many sects of dissenters from the established church, some of whom profess doctrines as extraordinary as Millerism and Mormon

ism. The present metropolitan is, however, a decided conservative, and has shown a disposition to prevent the circulation of the Bible among the people.

Our travellers passed on the road companies of soldiers belonging to regiments from the colonies of serfs which cultivate the crown lands. They marched in crowds without order, singing mournful and monotonous songs. The system of forming these colonies was established to enable the Emperor to call out, at any time, an immense force above the regular troops. The whole available forces of Russia are estimated at six hundred thousand men. But the troops in the interior of the country are in a miserable condition. Captains live on their companies, colonels on their regiments, generals on their brigades, and the whole is only a complicated system of tyranny and peculation. The common

soldiers in the interior are chiefly employed as laborers in making roads and bridges, &c. The Russians are not warlike, and the serf's greatest dread is the annual conscription, which levies five out of every thousand for the army. The Emperor has lately reduced the term of service from twenty-two to fifteen years in the guard, and from twenty-five to twenty-two in the line. When once enlisted, the serf resigns himself to his fate, and vows never to desert his colors. He preserves his precious beard after it has been cut off, that St. Nicholas may recognize him at the gate of heaven. In each regiment all the money or clothes the recruit brings with him, and the booty taken, go into a common stock, for a fund to relieve the sick and wounded. The pay of the soldier is about one cent per day.

Crossing the river Oka, the country, says Mr. Maxwell, "as we advanced, was broken with gentle undulations, and after the dead level of the plain appeared quite picturesque. The rolling land was covered with tall, ripe grain, which, waving and nodding in the breeze, resembled a sea of gold. For miles and miles, not a tree or hedge was to be seen; all was a broad and unbounded field of wheat; a prospect like which we had seen in no other country, and compared with which, the grainproducing districts of the South, extensive and beautiful as they appear, sink into utter insignificance."

Nischnei Novogorod, or Lower New City, the great central mart of Russia, is situated at the confluence of the Oka with the Volga. Its ordinary population is about nine thousand; but when Mr. Maxwell arrived there at the time of the great annual fair, nearly two hundred thousand, from all nations of Europe and Asia, were assembled for the purpose of trade. They came from Siberia and the frozen seas; from the foot of the Chinese Wall; from the confines of Persia; from beyond the Indus. The scene of the fair is a low flat, lying between the two rivers at their immediate junction. Upon this are erected streets of booths and temporary houses for the accommodation of the traders, each street being devoted to particular varieties of merchandise. Besides Russian productions, nearly all articles of foreign growth or manufacture were in the market. Indigo, drugs, dyewoods, wine, fruit and fine oils were in great demand, and sold to large amounts. Small quantities of American cotton and tobacco were offered. The principal article from the East was tea. Of this there were more than fifty thousand chests of various descriptions, chiefly of purer and finer qualities than those which reach the European and American markets. They are brought overland from Kiakhta. Among them are the Foutchanskoy, a fine green tea with a delicious bouquet, which sells at eleven dollars a pound. The best black teas sell for seven and eight dollars, the yellow as high as twenty.

Articles in bulk, as bales of cotton, flax and hemp, barrels of soap, wax and tallow, packages of hogs' bristles, horses' tails, dried fish, offered at the fair, were stored in temporary sheds. There was the hardware of England, Germany, and Russia; the tobacco of Turkey and Virginia; the cotton of Armenia and the Carolinas; the silks of France and Persia. From Bucharia were raw and spun cotton, and a hundred and fifty thousand pieces of a favorite cotton stuff called Bakhta; from Arabia perfumes and spices, and from Turkey damasks and velvets. The supply of furs and peltries from every region was very great. The sable, beaver, lynx, ermine, the Siberian squirrel and silver and black fox; splendid American black bear skins; raccoons and martens