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The condition of the Russian peasants would afford to the mildest traveller an ample subject for reprobation: but Dr. C. carries the matter too far:

The wealth of the nobles is really enormous. We have not in England individuals possessing equal property, whatsoever may be their rank or situation. Some of them have seventy and even an hundred thousand peasants. Their fortunes are estimated by the number of their peasants, as West India merchants reckon their income by the number of their hogsheads. These peasants pay them, upon the average, ten roubles annually, in specie. If the peasant has been required by his lord to give him three days of labour during each week, the annual tax is said to be proportionally diminished. But, in despite of all the pretended regulations made in favour of the peasant, the tax he is called upon to pay, or the labour he is compelled to bestow, depends wholly on the caprice or the wants of his tyrant. Labour is not exacted from males only. Women, and children from the age of ten and upwards, are obliged to perform their equal share. Tithes are moreover demanded of whatever may remain in their hands; of linen, poultry, eggs, butter, pigs, sheep, lambs, and every product of the land, or of domestic manual labour. Should a peasant by any misfortune be deprived of the tribute expected by his lord, he must beg, borrow, or steal, to make up the deficiency.

ment.

Other nations speak of Russian indolence; which is remarkable, as no people are naturally more lively, or more disposed to employWe may assign a cause for their inactivity: it is necessity. Can there exist incitement to labour, when it is certain that a tyrant will bereave industry of all its fruits? The only property a Russian nobleman allows his peasant to possess, is the food he cannot, or will not, eat himself; the bark of trees, chaff, and other refuse; quass, water, and fish oil. If the slave has sufficient ingenuity to gain money without his knowledge, it becomes a dangerous pos session; and, when once discovered, falls instantly into the hands of his lord.

Traversing the provinces south of Moscow, the land is as the garden of Eden: a fine soil, covered with corn, and apparently smiling in plenty. Enter the cottage of the poor labourer, surrounded by all these riches, and you will find him dying of hunger, or pining from bad food, and in want of the common necessaries of life. Extensive pastures covered with cattle afford no milk to him. In autumn, the harvest yields no bread for his children. The lord claims all the produce.'

Let us contrast this high colouring with a part of the plain delineation of the Rev. Reginald Heber, who travelled through Russia several years after Dr. Clarke, and the notes of whose MS. Journal form a valuable addition to this volume:

"No slave can quit his village, or his master's family, without a passport. 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

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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. He also selects the recruits he sends to Government.

"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. 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. 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."

It is whimsical enough that this counter-representation should be given by Dr. C. as a note to his own text, and still more whimsical that these notes should often have been introduced, as declared by the author (p. 4.), for the sake of the discrepancy. This may, in truth, be termed nova forma libri. We had occasion, some years ago, to animadvert on a singular edition of the "Wealth of Nations," containing a string of notes for the purpose of invalidating the text: but Dr. Clarke far outstrips that prototype, since he affords an example of an author inserting contradictions to himself.

After having paid so much attention to the inhabitants of Russia, it is time to bestow a few thoughts on the climate:

Having observed a very rare Siberian plant, (Purple-flowered Henbane,) growing wild in the garden of our friend and banker, Mr. Doughty, we thought the season sufficiently advanced to go, on the twenty-ninth of May, upon a botanical excursion to Sparrow Hill, an eminence near Moscow. From this eminence we perceived the land round Moscow to be low and swampy, abounding with pools of stagnant water, and of course unhealthy. The climate is also dangerous, from sudden transitions. The rapidity of vegetation was here very striking. The Ranunculus ficaria, or English Pilewort,

was

was already losing its blossom. Many other later flowers, by their forward state, gave us notice that it was time to bid adieu to cities and the busy haunts of men," if we wished to behold Nature in more southern latitudes, before she became divested of her smiling

countenance.'

Accordingly, on the 31st May they left Moscow. That capital is nearly in the latitude of Edinburgh, and a few days travelling brought them as far south as that of London:

We were now traversing the southern latitude of our beloved country, in a direct line towards the south; and, as we approached Woronetz, observed many of our indigenous plants; the large thistle, the kilk-weed, dandelion, white clover, wood-strawberry, plantain, and the dock-weed. Sudden and loud thunder-storms, with hail and rain, majestic rolling clouds, temporary gusts of wind, and transitory sunbeams, often reminded us of an English Spring. Such natural resemblance is by no means the necessary accompaniment of similar latitude. Naples and Constantinople are, with respect to each other, nearly on the same line of latitude, but the climate of the latter is many degrees colder. The mild aspect of the Plain of Woronetz may be. attributed to the want of forests, the removal of which in all countries heightens the temperature of their climate. Horace describes the mountain Soracte white with snow; but the climate of Italy is now só altered, that such a sight is hardly ever observed.' –

In the time of Peter the Great, when that monarch came to Woronetz, to build his first ship of war, there were scarcely an hundred wooden huts in the place. It is now a very handsome town, and its commerce entitles it to considerable distinction. By means of the Don, it possesses an easy intercourse with the Black Sea; and, from its remarkable situation, it is particularly qualified to become a great capital. It is placed so as to enjoy the advantages both of warm and of cold climates, and holds an intercourse with all parts of the empire. Nature is so bountiful here in the summer, that plants found in very southern latitudes grow almost spontane ously. The Water Melon, so rarely in perfection any where, is as common at Woronetz as the cucumber in England, and flourishes in the open air, with spicy and aromatic herbs. Yet the inhabitants experience very great extremes of temperature; having sometimes, ac cording to the thermometer of Réaumur, thirty degrees of cold in the winter, and twenty-eight degrees of heat (95 of Fahr.) in the summer. They use the precaution of double casements to their windows, as at Moscow and Petersburg, and have very large stoves in all their apart. ments. The immediate soil below the town of Woronetz is sand; on a steep mound or bank of which it has been built. It lies in the fifty-fourth degree of northern latitude. The vineyards of Europe terminate many degrees nearer to the equator, and yet the vine flourishes at Woronetz. The inhabitants neglect to cultivate it for the purpose of making wine; importing it, at great expence, from the Don Cossacks, the Greeks, Turks, and people of the Crimea.

The change of season, as at Moscow, does not take place at Woronetz with that uncertainty which characterizes our climate.

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Winter

Winter regularly begins in December and ends in the middle of March. According to Gmelin, the autumn resembles a moderate summer. Vegetation is so rapid during spring, that upon the ninth of June we saw a pear-tree which had put forth a strong scion above a yard in length. We found the climate so different from the temperature to which we had been lately accustomed, that we were compelled to alter our clothing altogether. The beams of the sun were intolerable; while a south-east wind, like a Sirocco, blew frequently and even tempestuously; causing insufferable heat, during the time we remained. The only method we had of cooling our apartments was, by shutting the windows, and drawing curtains over them.'

South of Woronetz we found the country perfectly level, and the roads (if a fine turf lawn may be so denominated) the finest, at this season, in the whole world. The turf whereon we travelled was smooth and firm, without a stone or pebble, or even the mark of wheels, and we experienced little or no dust. Nothing could be more delightful than this part of our journey. The whole of these immense plains were enamelled with the greatest variety of flowers imaginable. The earth, seemed covered with the richest and most beautiful blossoms, fragrant, aromatic, and, in many instances, entirely new to the eye of a British traveller. Even during the heat of the day, refreshing breezes wafted a thousand odours, and all the air was perfumed. The sky-lark was in full song; various insects, with painted wings, either filled the air, or were seen couched within the blossoms. Advancing nearer to the Don, turtle-doves, as tame as domestic pigeons, flew around our carriage. The pools were filled with wild-fowl; dogs, like those of the Abruzzo Mountains, guarded the numerous herds and flocks passing or grazing. Melons of different sorts flourished in the cultivated although uninclosed grounds near the villages, covering several acres of land.'

The severity of the winter here is hardly reconcileable with the appearance of a country abounding in plants which are found in warm climates. Yet the snow annually affords a sledge-road the whole way from the Gulph of Finland to the Sea of Azof.'

We conclude these observations on the climate with an extract from a diary of our traveller, compared with a corresponding record of the weather in London:

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If Dr. Clarke acts the part of an ill-humoured traveller while he is in Russia, it must be allowed that he embraces the first opportunity of assuming a more engaging character; for no sooner does he approach the Don, than he pronounces that he is among a very worthy class of people. The Malo-Russians, inhabiting the country between the Dnieper and the Donetsk, (called in the maps, Little Russia) are, in his opinion, a race much superior to the Russians. They are not only better looking, but 'more industrious, more courageous, and more polite.' Such is the contrast, he adds, in regard to cleanliness, that a traveller might fancy himself transported from Russia to Holland. In their features, the Malo-Russians resembled Cossacks; and the similitude which both bear to the Poles appears to imply a descent from some common origin. In one point, however, viz. the love of liquor, the Malo-Russians are unfortunately as gross delinquents as their neighbours to the eastward.

From the Malo-Russians, Dr. Clarke proceeded to the Cossacks of the Don, among whom he experienced the most hospitable reception. Not only were the Atamans, or local commanders, extremely attentive, but the General in chief himself invited the travellers to his house, where they imagined themselves transported to the enjoyment of all the comforts and elegancies of polished society. After having premised this display of kindness on the part of the Cossack chiefs, and leaving our readers to make allowance for its influence on the feelings and representations of a traveller, we proceed to extract the author's report of the habits and character of this remarkable people:

There is something extremely martial, and even intimidating, in the first appearance of a Cossack. His dignified and majestic look; his elevated brows, and dark mustachoes; his tall helmet of black wool, terminated by a crimson sack, with its plume, laced festoon, and white cockade; his upright posture; the ease and elegance of his gait, give him an air of great importance. The sabre is not worn,

except

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