HASZARD’S GAzF.'r'rE. MARCH 10.

From l)iclicu's llouaoliold \Vui-ds. AT HOME ‘WITH THE RUSSIANS.

AN Eiiglisli la iy who. for ten ycai's, was do- mesticiitctl ainu:i;_; the .lill“Sl:tllF, :in:.l did not quit tlr-ir coziiitry until s-»x:ii- limo :;l'ter the coiiiivmicciiiciit of the pr--sent war, luvs just pii'=)l§s’:::(l-—iiiid 3!‘ the .i.lc of .\n l-}u_-;lisli- woiuan in lit!‘-.~'-l".~ fir.-c liuu-.l:'cd run! tilt‘; piigcs of l.Ili>l‘I:'.:1ll.\?l upon the ac. .;.'. r.‘;i:i, Ill society in that cinlirc. 'l'lic l».iol~: i-.>n.‘ii'iii.~« ideas fat-iili:ii' io inaiiy people; lviit. in-as nu.-h as it does tliiv in the most s:iti.<l.iMoi'y way. \_vliol_v by illii.-=ti'.-itioiiri drauii front pcrs.ui:il exp.-rieiri-c or lYlli)l'III:lll')ll of ii. t:‘liSt\\'ol'tliy kind. its ialtie is equal to its interest. llavii ,, read it we lay it down. and here make note of sclme of the iniprcssioiis it has left upon us.

Unless, from one who has been for ll. long time an l~Inglish resident, and who can Speak without passion, it is not easy to get clear views of the internal state ol'Russiu. Despotisin has cslthlished there so strict it censorship, that even the Russian scliolar only learns as ifiucli of his own country as the emperor shal please, and ii learned traveller assured our countr ‘woman that,of an account written by him o hisjourneys in the north of Asia, onl those arts were allowed to be published w,liercin iiotliiiig was said tcndiii to ex the desolation of the land. There ions of the barren north were no more to e confessed than a defeat in arms. The great historian of Russiii—-!{tiramsin—was obliged to read his pages to the emperor before he was allowed to publish thciu. Not only a certain class of sets, but also ii. certain class of thoughts, are rigidly kept from the public mind.

One of the best living Russian authors com- plained to the l'lnglisliwoinan that all those

rts of his works that lie valued most ha

eon cut out by the censor. Ho wrotea play containing, as he thought, some adinirnble spccchcs ; it came back to him froiu the ccnsor's ollice with every one of them erased, and oiil the light conversation left as ﬁt for the amuse- ment of the public. Sliakespcare is honoured gr-c;itl_y by the trading class, and translations of King Lear and lfiimlot are frequently yer- formod; but all those of Sliakespcaies pays wlﬁch contain sentiments of liberty. suei as Jtilius-1‘:nsar,zirc excluded by the censor. i Rllsslalll writer Wislivtl to roduce a play, on some subject in English history; upon which he coiisulted with our countr rwoinun. Every topic was found dan erous. The story of Elfridu, daughter of the Earl of Devonshire, was suggested. The Russian shook his head. lt would not be allowed. -‘ Why not? It is :1. legend ofa thousand years ugo."—“WlIy. they would never let l".lfrida’s husband client the king."—“ But he was not a Czar.”—“ No matter. The act is the same, and the asi- bility ofo. crowned head‘: beingdcceived would never be admitted by the Czar.”

The (‘rear ofltussiu [practically stands before the greater number 0 the subyccts as a little more than (_.'m1_ °*’l‘he Czar is neiir,—God is

roll',’‘' is a. common Russian sit in . “God and the Czar know it,” is the Russian for our “Heaven knows!” A gentleiiiamdescribing one evening the emperor‘: reception 9n the route to Moscow, said, “ [ assure you, it was gratifying in the extreme: for the peasants

nolt as he passed, just as if it w r _ Almighty himsell'." And who shall contradict this deity’! (lur eountrywoman was once at the opera when the emperor was graciously disposed to applaud Madame Castellaii by the c appiiig o" his liitnds. _ lllS:.-'.".l. ilc [‘('p=':t2ctl his npplausc;—tlie hiss was l'4.‘1‘v‘fIl(‘tl. llis ina_)csty stood up-looked roiiud the house with dignit_v—:inil, for the third time, solcniiily clapped his hands. The birs f-ill )WCtl again. '1‘hen a trcuiendous B(‘}llll0 over-licanl. The police li-ad caught tllc.llnl‘»l0ll8 oll'endcr.—.-\ii example of another kind _w made by a young lady whose brother was killed at Kalaliit, and who, on receiving news 0 his death, smiled. and said, “ She was rcyoiccd to hear it, as he had died for the em cror. Im rial munificence rewarded ' splendid dowry, and the assurance that her future fortune should be care . There is need now to encourage ii. show of patriotism. The Englishwoman who, on her return, found London streets as full of eace as when she quitted them ;-hadlcft St. Peters- burgh wearing a far diﬁbrent aspect. Long lines of cannon an ammunition-waggons drawn u here and there; parks of artillery continually dragged about: outworks being con- structed; regiments marching in and out; whole armies submitting to inspection and de arting on their mission, told of the deadly strugg e to which the Czsr’s ambition had committed him. There was no hour in which wretched recruits might not be seen trsmping_in wearily by hundreds and by thousands, to receive the emperor's approval. It is hard for us in this country to_ conceive the misery attending the terrible conscriptions which Elsguo the _sabjocs of the ussisn . empire. xcept recruits. hardly I young man is to be Icon in any of the villages; the post _rosds are being all mended by women and girls. _ taken from their homes and families leave behind, among the women, broken tics and the foiinilstinn on 1'-esdfol mus or vice and immortality. It ll fslrful enough under ordinary circumstsncogl

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“ True congmunism.” said a Russian noble, “ is to be found only in Russia.”

(lwr iiiurniiig a poor wumtui went crviiig h'.«:rl_v loilic lCu&_vlisliwoiii'.iii, saying lllllllltvl two in.-plicws h:;d ju-it l)L"('Il ll-icml faoiu llt‘l‘ liuu~~~ lu ._v.> i: to the ariiiy. " I tiii‘il"— we leave- ihu: r«l;l!<Ir olilirsc lliiugs to $pL‘:|i\' in her 0-an iiiipivs-i\.': \\-.i;il.s —“ l lliid to ('IllI:Iiii3l;g-f_ 5;ni,,._3 Ilia‘. th--y would r-':inrn \\ hen the war was ..\,.,- , but this only made her more ili.~ti't'-s~~'cil. ‘ ,\o, no '." i.-.\:cl:iiii'.cd ‘:llO. in the deepest .-om.-\~.~, ‘ they will iicver conic back any more; the Ru:-sians are lli,‘€|lL’ll in every place.’ 'iitil lately the lower r-l;i.-.'~es were rilwnvs convinced that the cnip< rur‘s timrps were invincible; but it seems, by what she said. that even they have got to know something of the truth. A fore-i,cncr in St. Petcrsburgh inlortiied me that he had ‘ gone to see the recruits that morning, but there did not seem to be much pitiiuti.-zin among them: there \.:is nothing but s ll)5 and tears to be seen among those who were pronounced fit for service, whilst the rejected ones were frantic with delight, and bowed crossed themselves with the greatest gratitude.’ ” Reviews were being held almost daily when the Englisliwoinan left, and she was told that, on one occasion, when reviewing troops destined for the South, the emperor was struck with the forlorn and dejected air of the poor sheep whom he was sending to the slaughter.

“ Hold your head up! ” he exclaimed angrily. “ Why do you look so miserable! There is ootliin to cause you to s so?” There is something to cause him to be so, we are very much disposed to think.

But we did not mean tolell about the war. The vast empire over which the Czar has rule is ' it half civilised—it would be almost more correct to ssy--in an unciviliscd stoic. Great navigable rivers roll useless through extensive wilds. Except the excellent roads that connect St. Petersburg with Moscow and ' arsnw, and a few fragments of road serving as drives in the immediate vicinity ofthese towns, there are no roads at all in Russia that are roads in any civilised sense. The post-roads of the empire nre clearings through wood, with ouglis of trees laid here and there, tracks over steppcs and through morasses. There is everywhere the grandeur of nature; but it is the grandeur of its solilndes. A few huts surround government post stations, and small brick houses at intervals of ﬁfteen or twenty miles along the routes'are the halting places ot' gangs destined for Siberia. few log huts. many of them no better than the wigwains of Red Indians, some of them adorned with elegant wood trscery, a line of dwellings, and commonly also a row of willows by the wayside, indicates Russian village. A number of churches and monasteries with domes and cupolas, green gilt, or dark blue, studded with golden stars, and surmounted each by in cross standing on a crescent; barracks, a govern- ment school and a post-oﬂice; a few good houses, and a great number of huts——-constitute a Russian provincial town, and the surrounding wastes or forests shut it in. The rapid traveller who follows one of the two good lines of road, and sees only the show-places of Russian civilisation, may be much deceived. Yet even here _he is deceived only by a show. The great buildings that appear so massive are of stuccoed brick, a even the massive grandeur of the quays, like that of inﬁnitely greater works, the l’yrsmi s, is allied closely to the barbarous. They were constructed at enormous sacriﬁce of life. 'l‘he foundations of St. Pstersburg were laid by levies of men who perished by hundreds of thousands in the work, One hundred thousand died of famine

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'l‘liccivilis:ition of the Russian capital is not more llizin skin-deep. One may see this any day l’! the streets. The pavements are aliziiiiinablo. Only two or three streets are lighted Will] gas ; in the rest oil glimmers. The oil lamps are the dimmer for being subject to the speculation of officials. Three wicks are charged for, and two only are burnt: the dillercnce is pocketed by the police. All the best shops are kept by foreigners. the native Russian shops being mostly collected in accntral bazaar, Gostinoi Dwor. 'l‘li3 slio - keepers appeal to the ignorance of a _half-bar- barous nation by putting pictures of llie.r trades over their doors; and in his shop a Russian strives to cheat with oriental recklessness. Every shop in St. Petersburg contains a mirror for the use of the customers. “Mirrors,” says the Englishwoman, “hold the same‘;-ositien in Russia as clocks do in England. With us time is valuable; with them appearance. 'l‘lmy care not though it be mainly false app! :iv.:incc." They even paint their faces. 'l‘lic l~m-or class-s on women use a great deal of u-li;u- paint. ::u-l, as it contains mercury, it injures -'llll(l’ boziliu and skin. A young man paying his court to ‘.1 g1'a'.;; n._~r:.ll_v presents her with a box of red and \‘-'l:llC punt to improve her looks; Ind in the upper classes ladies are often to be seen by rim‘ ant>llH'|'o M they arrive at a house, opmly l"‘ll,"lIiLr their faces before entering the tlt‘iI\\ill'I‘N‘-llll-

Then are small things, llIill('.:ll\’-3 of an extensive rinciple. Peter the Ur:-ni undo.-took to civilisc ussin by a coup «lo In? :'I- A Mlk Is shown It St. Potorsburg nloryz ‘ '-i 3= he made

women march unveiled bctm I‘ . ' chllary to accustom them to go unvcn... . .v . 'l‘.llll0il is not to be introduced into a n. " _~ -ye i J edict, and ever ‘since Peter the *1 ﬁne the

Russian empire has been laboairén; to .;l:.nd for

l what it is not, namely, the equivali-nt to ll:iti()na lthzit have llC(',(|lllH civilised in the slow lapse of Em“.-_ It can only support, or ntlcinpt to support, ,tlii.s i'cpul:iIiuii hy (li‘(.'t‘ll. ll tniist lii«?e_.‘or all-“nip! ill» ll‘.-ll,‘ —aud it has lil.'l'li‘ll lruui lll’\.'l\' e_vv.s with 'll.lll'll .~i:i-v-.-5.. its ii'.:i-5; of bzrl-’..n in, while by i-It-wt and iirsi-lii<:i..< Il!Ill'l‘l'Il'., as well as by p.-ii‘,-mi.-itis vuiiuingli.‘ >11.-' i-:i .l_ it liiuav pm 1.u'\\:ml a .~liuw of ll.l\ll:£, \vh.~.t it only in mint: 1.».-ii iliri-(-tioizs t‘\'l’l: slzivi 5 ti 5

'|‘h._- cl» lI|t‘lIl8 of civil‘.-.21:-,ou lillrﬁiil has. in a

(‘.l)[)l‘.tliS lilll;1|l.'lﬂ(“, sol! and l..-av-vilul wiiliuiil llt'llll,’ olfcinin:ilc, trial a szomi lu Il'll".l p(‘Upli'. tliit would lI(’!'.0ll'I6 a noble popie ll‘(il.‘I' lu.-tlcr

govciiiencnt. 'l'li€ii' (flI1lI'ZI4".t.‘l' is stiiiiiml cluctly by igiiiirniicc and fr-:or, The best class of Rus- si:iiis——cspeciull_v those who are not ieiiipiul by poveriy to the ineanncss that in ussia is ulinrsi the only ms to wealth-—are boumllessly hos- pitable, kindly, amiable almost beyond the borders of sincerity. but not with tliri ClI)>lgn of being insincere. They are humane to their serfs; and although this class suﬂ'ers in Russia troubles that surpass those of the negro slaves, it is not from the proper gentlemen and ladies of the country that this suffciing directly cuinon. \\'Iieu the noble proprietor himself lives in the white house that peeps from among trees, side by side with the gilt dome of its church, the slaves on the estate are reasonably happy. It is not true lliatn Russian gentleman isfreqnr-ally intoxicated. A Russian lady never is so. Of the government functionaries, who form it large class u the factitious nobility and gentry of the empire, no good is to be said : they are tempted to pillage and extortion under a system that all radiates from a great centre of deceit. Ostcnation is the rule. A post-master, a colonel in rank, receiving forty pounds a year and without private estate, is to be seen keeping a carriage. four horses, two footmen, and s C0a(‘im:l!l. is wife goes ex- travagsully dressed: she has two or three children, a. maid and a cook to keep; but she can afford to payacostly visit every si~.isun lo the capital. This system of false prrtciisiuli ruins the cha- racter oflhotisniids upon tlioiisnnils. ll lllﬂl(“S of Russia what it is,—a land Lilli u up Will! lrand and lying. Living near :ui~'i :1 culo-ml pust- master, the l'lii::lisliwuin:in zuuihl Ull*72"l\'t‘ his mode of ivpvrtiliuii. ll(~ was 1.3.-nut to pay :i visit to St. Petersburg, llul u:n.tml nlont'_)'. liis expedient was to send tin «iioriiuuia order for iron, for the use of ,"|i\'i'l'lllIi(’l|l, in ii ri«_-li ima- master in the town. Til.‘ iron-iinsmr knrv: gold, not iron, was the nu~'.il \\..iIil(‘(l; and .~..- he dnred not expose himself to the zinger of ii ;_-ovcrn- merit oflieinl, he was glul lo cunipioinise the matter by the payment or a round sum of eulvcr roubles as I ﬁne for default in l‘X(.'('ltll-HI of the order. The habit oi Usltnlnllmi--liatllanills in itself, which destroys the usefulness and credit of the employee ofgoveruin.-ui——templs the poor nobles also to s lurfciturc of their own honour and self-respect.

It runs into everything. lilven in the most cultivated classes, few Riissinns who have not gone out of Russia for thrir knnwlmlgc are really wcll-informed. Tlwy have learnt two or three modern l1lll;1|lﬂ‘}(‘?i, and little else. Yet they cultivate :1 Incl in convcrsing_v \'.'lll| an air of wisdom upon lopirs about \'.'lllCll they are almost wholly uninformed, and after an hour’s sustain- mcnt of a false assuiiipliun, show perhaps, by some senseless question, that they cannot. have understood properly a S_\'ll:ll)le upon the points under discussion. Their ciiiplincss of mind is :1 political institution. “lf Ilirec Riissians talk together, one is :i spy." slamls with lllOl1| as it social proverb. 'l'liey are lorlnzldcn to express tieir own ‘upiirious iipvn I“.I'7\l invivc-mrnts in the world; Ilmii (2\‘Ii.~‘iI!.~l‘ ;- liar.» ?l"‘.'\ l‘;-' noblest lili i':.l.i:i:'. 1.3..) I i...- -‘....iu.ui ;'l‘ﬁll|.-'l 0f('(‘!‘i\'(‘T.°T‘l"V!l lrlt ‘ -.: 'l.‘ 5.. l.'.~ (:I' :r'.i‘i:. :.v.l ziclrcsses, the pets ail fart": or ll'fY‘ll"

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'l‘." ‘i~l comedy, or ll'U stair if ll i a-;».~r:i.--in \\l:lI'll place. by-the-by, :u.-h opens as William Tell and l\l:iss:inie-llo am pei.'uii.icd with new librclti, from which all taint of a love of liberty has iccn expungcd. Feeling the \\‘(3ill\l‘.CS8 ofsll this, and in :1 great many cases secretly resenting it, the men shrug their shoulders and say, “ W hat would you have? We must play cards and talk of the odd trick. While our countrywoman was staying with a friendly Russian lady, an old gentleman called to borrow a few roubles, got them, and departed. “ Ali. poor man,” said ilie laily, when bu was gone, “ think how ur-.I'ortunate he has been. llo owco posse.-:<¢-il luurl.'-cu iltousiind slaves, and he hr-i lost them all at cards."

ldiiglisli visftor (‘.“[‘l'(‘3R(‘.(l regret that :1 man of his yizzrs .~lou' 2 prev of such a view.

i'l lb” iii’ “lion old do f.‘ u I‘ ..'-. l.iiu7” was hon asked. “Oh, siviy : t ll.ll h ..v."‘ " Sixty‘! He is past (.i;lIl‘,', only hr: -~. wit, paints his eye rows, and I ll} iv .~ in l“ il.-‘. .i.i;.. c.l look '.'oIiii'-_t‘r."

'l'h.: it......i-... i...:.-.. have ima-‘u. do nu: read (llS50llll0 l~‘rc:ich novels (wincli tle censorship I088 mt e.\i-lull-~), ilress and undress, tnlk slander, anal criticise the dresses of themselves and our-. .'llHllll(‘l. Their slaves do all that niiglit iesrefiilly om-t-_r~y their li:-mls, and they are left’ to llll(‘lW§32 ul ivh results in a horrible amount of imnioraluy. 'l'lm ll.'l(lln_'! classes and iiflicials tall." nlinuu! tI\'(‘lIY¥l\’l‘l_.' ofmonry. 'l'l:.- rash‘ '-l pt'fI'7."IIi5, lnvir (l lo “'0 .'-‘I'll, rt -9'4 -it '- l---'\ " -'

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are not i. n- l. i-i-...cu, .-'llf .v- r the \-.h..l. :- lhri" yl:~iviVi\u '-._-. .'l'..~y ::r.' all Fﬂl

minor key), ::.'.d cam mines till tile in his ,-i ..IL.,

for which the day may conic \'.'l:€"l l‘: .":~d.a ramble us.

At present, that day seems to be very distant. 'l'lir‘. ignuraiil lion;-e slaves, like llic necroes lioliiing the same rank (‘l:t.’\\‘ll(‘Yf', an: trente as rlliltlren. A nrw fvttii-:i=x, in ii lu-uscliohl wliich the l'lii;_-lisl:-n.i~i..n \'l:ll<.‘ll-—Ll ll an six feet two out (it his i~lim'.<——\. as fviinti to have an aptitude iorbrr-:ili:ig_i_=.. ll(' was told one day that when W V! lie lei 'lll‘ tl.iu_-1 fall he would be pnizi.-licil. (Jn lll-.. day l'ol.owi:.<,3 be dropped the f':.~h-' dle in li:ii‘«lirg lislt at the l)"gllllllllg of ilti-urr. He luokcil ilolilully at lils lilZlSl(’Y, expecting that lnlow.~; wm.ld ln- (':l'l(2!t.‘(l. His iii's'.rvs‘s—ptit him ‘in the coriiti! '."li 'ir igi.ur:iiice is lI|'lr(‘lIl(.|l)l8. A Russian gciiilciniiii returned from abroad, where he llall5t‘Cll better iliii.g_vs, dcicrinincd to devote his life and fortune to the enlightcniuent of his pe:isautr_v. Their priest tiiuglit them that he was destroying ancient customs, an that his llK'Hl_"l was tosuhvert the religion of their fore- fallicrs. “ The couseqiicnco was that the slaves furmcd aconspimcy against him, and shot him 0_ne.0V('nll|g as he was reading a book in his own sitting-room,

(To be continued.)

GUN Co'r'roiv.—It is said that this pow- erful agent is about to be made serviceable in the Eastern war, and guns adapted to its use are now in process of manufacture for the Austrian Government. A letter from Vienna has the following :—

“Thirty-two of the new guns (four but- teries) to be used with gun cotton are already ﬁnished, and it is believed that 168 more (16 batteries) are extremely reserved just at present, but still it has transpired that only twelve-poundcrs will in future be cast, ‘ as they need not be heavier in metal than the old six-pounder—if gun cotton is used—and almost all the Russian ﬁeld bat- teries are composed of twelve-poundors.’ The experiments with gun cotton still con- tinue, and one result is too remarkable not to be mentioned: A I2-lb. ball was tired from at gun charged with powder at some thick boards prepared for the ptirposc, and another ball of the some weight was ﬁred from one of the new guns charged with gun cotton; ‘although the new gun was 160 yards farther from the target than the old one, the hole made by the shot oftlic former was well defined and clean, ivliilc the oriﬁce made by the latter wasjagged and splintcry.”

How Anrznsiariiv cor l\himisn.—Il'avo I mentioned the recent death of the widow oftbc late John Abernctliy, the great sur- goon? She was well on to ciglity. There is a. story of the way in which Aberncthy got this woman to marry him. ncc up- on a time he went to church, and was shown into it pew where there were two ladies. He had no prayer-book, and the lady hand- ed him onc. They walked out of the pew together, and found, at the porch, that it was raining heavily. Abernathy olfcred to take them Iiomc in his carriage, which was waiting. They had some chat, in the course ofwliicli it cnnio out that they were mother and daughter, not very well elf, and widow and daugliter of an olliccr in the army. Abcrncthy snt them down at tlicir humble ilwelliiigr. As he stood at their table lie iiziudul his (‘and to the daitglilcr, am] said: “ Young lady, I am Mr. Abernctliy, the siii-gr-oii. l have never married, lor I ne- lver could spare the time. 1 should like to ‘ll)Zll'l'y yeti. lfyou would simply write me (1 line on Tiicsday, saying whether you will have me, I shall call the next day and take you to church.” He could only spare tiftecii minutes in the house; and, when he C.".liIc out, was the accepted ofa very pret ty woman. They were married on Tues- day, and he drove home with her to the stately mansion, of which she thus became the mistress. “ My dear,” said he, after he had introduced her to some ofliis friends assembled to receive her, “you must ex- cuse me until 3 o'clock, for I have to give my lecture at Bartliolomcw’s Hospital, which I cannot omit on any account.” They were a very happy couple; and when Abernethy died, in 1833], his widow came in for all his wealth, estimated at something like £100,000.

Intelligence from Persia is unfavourable. Russian inﬂuence at Tchcran predominates. The English ambassador and . Bourro were about to present an ultimatum to the Shah, «leiniinding an auxiliary corps of (hilly thousand men.

Queen Elizabeth, when she visited Wor- ‘sfio r, borrowed W01. of the Corporation, ‘which still stands as s " bad debt" on the ‘town boo .