provision is made for them in times of scarcity or disaster. On the other hand they may be drafted to labor on the public works, or summoned to military service at any time. It is said here, however, that the soldier is always free under his country's colors. You will see by this what a Russian's idea of freedom is; to me it would seem rather a questionable exchange from one kind of slavery to another; but after eight years in the army, the serf returns home a free man, that is, what is left of him.

seize any situation which will free them from the continual vexations which they are subjected to by the aristocracy. The number of offices must be multiplied to meet this demand, and the salaries must be proportionally diminished. The employé cannot live without means, and consequently he helps himself to a sufficiency. Whatever contradictions may be found in writers regarding this country, one uniform testimony will be borne on the corruption and venality in every department of the administration. It is said that the Czar declares himself to be the only person throughout his empire who does not steal! The traveler, De Lagny, says :—

"The existence of this man of genius has, ever since his accession to the throne, been one continual struggle with the venality and corruption which crush his empire; for his penetration discerned the evil long before it was pointed out to him. On one occasion, he resolved to probe this evil with all the energy of an honest heart. He charged two intelligent men belonging to his staff of secretaries-two Germans from Courland, in whom he placed implicit confidence to investigate most thor

One of the first movements of the present emperor was to issue an ukase, which empowered the serf with the right of making contracts: this made liberty attainable for by the purchase of the land from which he pays his annual tribute to his owner, he becomes a freeman, that is, as free as any one can be in Russia, who is not a serf. The imperial treasury even furnishes the loans for this purpose; for which three per cent. interest, and three per cent. of the capital is annually required. Though about thirty years' time is generally necessary for the entire pay-oughly all the branches of the public adminisment, many serfs have, even at this price, become possessors of the very limited liberty attainable under the absolute government of Russia. A woman only becomes free by marriage with a free man.

tration; to observe, to see, to judge everything
for themselves, and boldly to take the soundings
of this ocean of corruption, however deep it
might be. The will of the Czar is law, and is
often attended with beneficial results. The
task was no easy one; thousands of obstacles
were shattered to pieces and overcome.
work was long; and, contrary to his expecta-
tions, conscientious. It is true, that it would
not have been easy to disguise the evil. The

The

Russian aristocracy has one peculiarity which distinguishes it from that of other European countries: nobility is not exclusively an accident of birth; any free-portrait was not flattered. Instances of bribery,

man may possess its privileges by entering the civil or military service of the government. There is, however, a distinction which clings to even this apparently republican idea of rank: the nobleman's son may obtain the highest honors in a few months after entering upon his duties, while the commoner's promotion is attained only at the end of twelve years; unless, indeed, he has an opportunity of distinguishing himself. Such occasions are not unfrequent for those who are seeking them, or are rich enough to buy them. Any free-born citizen may become a member of the fourteenth or lowest order of the Tchinn, or privileged class, by entering the service of the state in any capacity. This facility of obtaining the privileges of nobility has created a kind of subaltern aristocracy odious in itself, and terrible in its effects upon the character of the people. Great numbers stand ready to

shuffling and venality were pointed out to the Czar without any respect for persons. Names were written in full, and proofs were abundant. The sore gaped as wide as a gulf. Punishment was out of the question, for it would have been necessary to let the knout fall upon the noblest shoulders in his empire, and his vengeance almost everywhere-to open the gates of Siberia to the majority of those who surrounded himfor, figuratively speaking, the very doors of his

palace threatened to fall, eaten away with corruption! The Czar threw the report into the fire.

"The very same evening, weighed down with grief, he went, according to his usual enstom, to the house of one of his favorite ministers, Count The sombre, discontented air of the autocrat, completely stupefied the mind of the favorite, who, in a stammering voice, plucked up sufficient courage to ask his august master what had occurred to affect his mind to

such a degree, and stamp upon his face the marks of such profound sadness. The Czar, with that sharp, abrupt tone, for which he is celebrated, related to his minister-general all he had just learned, told him the revelations recently made, and exclaimed with concentrated indignation:

"Every one robs throughout the empire! The Every one around me robs! In whatever direc-ital, tion I choose to glance, I behold pilferers and robbers! There is only one person, a single oue, who can walk proudly with head erect. Of this person, at least, I am sure,' he added, looking at his favorite very fixedly and very strangely.

"Count, imagining that the emperor was alluding to him, bowed and bent himself almost to the ground, in order to thank his most august master for having had the goodness

to think him an honest servant.

"But the Czar, striking his breast, added the following words :

"And that person who does not rob is my self! I am the only person throughout the empire who does not steal!" "

Merchants and private citizens are held in the lowest contempt by the nobility, and every opportunity is seized for heaping insult and injustice upon them. They are divided into three classes, or guilds, regulated by the amount of capital they possess. The limits and privileges of each guild are defined with the strictest exactness. Imagine one of the merchant princes of your country subjected to a tax of more than two thousand dollars for the right of driving a carriage like the aristocracy! The emperor has made many efforts to revolutionize public opinion in regard to the commercial interests. He has even granted them many of the pre

rogatives which belong to the nobility alone; but he has been unsuccessful. The only way of conferring proper consideration upon them is, by opening to merchants the privileged orders upon fixed conditions, without subjecting them to the service of government. It is certainly very difficult to comprehend why an individual who develops the commerce and industry of his country has not as much right to its titles and privileges as the chancery secretary, whose life is spent in deceiving his superiors, and robbing all who have any business connections with him.

But let the autocrat of all the Russias find his own way out of the difficulties surrounding and accumulating about him. My present occupation of sight-seeing is much more to my taste.

On the morning of the third day, with the first rays of the rising sun, Moscow, with its walls, towers, and churches, was seen in the distance. first impression of this ancient capshining in the vast solitude which surrounds it, is not easily forgotten. It is the only object animating the barren and ocean-like waste of country in which it is situated. The peculiarity of the picture is heightened by the dim poetical associations which hang over it, and by the singularity of its architecture, which has no designation and no known model.

The allegorical ideas associated with the appearance of the Greek churches, give interest to the spectacle. Their summits are invariably composed of several towers, varying in form and height, but never less than five in number, and often much more numerous. The belltower is in the center, and it is always the highest, the four smaller ones surrounding it with respectful deference. Their forms sometimes remind you of a head surmounted with a pointed cap; some of the gilded and painted belfries are like a bishop's miter; others are like a geinmed tiara, or a Chinese pagoda, or a minaret. Frequently they are little round cupolas terminating in a point. They are all surmounted with a large gilded cross, wrought in such complicated designs, that it is quite like filigree work. The number and arrangement of the bel