The Press. — London, England, 1853-11-19 00:00:00

NOVEMBER 19, 1853. ittraturt. n i e Russian Shores of the Black Sea in the Autumn of 1852. By Laurence Oliphant. London: Blackwood and Sons. Booxs,—that is, the great mtOority of them, — are written, not for all time, but for the mo ment ; wherefore a timely appearance is well understood by publishers to constitute the secret of success. In this respect Mr. Oliphant has been fortunate or skilful, perhaps both. People want to learn all they can about Rus sia; and he comes forward to teach us exactly at the right minute. How much of his infer illation is absolutely new, how much derived from earlier travellers, we neither know nor care to inquire. Enough that. it is served up in a readable form, illustrated by anecdote. and interspersed with that judiciously small admixture of personal ttarnttive which pro daces individuality without betraying ego tismu. _ _ Mr. Oliphant followed the usual track of travellers from St. Petersburg to Moscow, and thence to Nijni Novgorod, whenee he des cended the Volga in steamers, aintl, stopping short of Astrachan, visited Taganrog, Sevasto pol, and Odessa, traversing on his way the greater part of the Crimea. lie seems to have made this journey without danger or serious impediment, but at the cost of Considerable personal distomfort, from diti, bad living, and imperfect posting armaments. The details and minutiae of travel he has wisely avoided, " Murray " having made all mention of these superfluous. Corruption iu all ranks is the canker of Russian administration, produced partly by insufficient pay, partly by a low moral standard among the people at large, partly also, no doubt, by the total absence of anything resent Ming public opinion. A colonel's rank, and the command of a regiment, says Mr. Oliphant, are worth 8,0001. or 4,0001. yearly beyond the pay allowed, iu am army on active service. As this is plundered from the men, it may be easily conceived that these last are miserably fed, lodged, and clothed. Their decimation by disease matters little ; there are more where they came from ; at population of fifty millions, with at serf peasantry, eau be at no loss to furnish recruits. So also with the navy. At Sevastopol vast preparations are made to rival Portannouth or Toulon. The town is a fortress, bristling with artillery, and containing little else than troops, magazines. and stores. The sums expended on the Black Sea fleet are enormous ; the results dispropor tionate. Eight or ten years is the average duration of a Russian man-of-war of the first class, after which time she beet ames worst• eaten, and unfit for service. So at least say the Russian officials ; but it is shrewdly sus peeled that this worm which earn eat through copper-bottomed vessels is made answerable for destruction far beyond its powers. True, the Baltic fleet escapes better; but then the Baltic fleet lies near head quarters and is often inspe cted by the Czar. In the south the plun der system seems to be regularly or ganised : the contractor bribes the Naval Board authorised to reeeive tenders for ship building ; his agents in turn bribe him for a share of the profits ; green pines and firs are substituted for seasoned oak ; and another bribe to the inspecting fiftyr enables the fraud to pass, and closes the transaction. Of the thirteen ships of the line seen by our tra veller, only two were fit to undertake a voyage round the Cape ! But peculation in Russia is not always safe. Where an offender has only to deal with the regular tribunals he can generally manage to escape as regards his person, though not his purse—that is, supposing that his depreda tions have been extensive enough to purchase impunity. If he has stopped short of this point, Siberia looms before him. But occa sionally his Imperial Majesty dispenses jus tice with his own hands ; as witness the fol lowing:— When we returned to Sevastopol, not long oft.-rwarda, we heard that the Emperor had left the military portion of the community a reminiscence that was calculated to pm duce a deep impression. lie had scarcely ten ss iss ated his flying visit, sad the bravke of the steamer by which he re- THE PRESS. turned to I hlessit still hung upon the honzon when. in a smothered whisper, one toddler confided to anothe► that their ranks hail reeeiVeil 101 Addition lull We re turncil to st•vAstolsd it was •aid that the late go‘cruor. in a signitiraill nhite eositillle. Nits ellifililyed with the gang titsai the street. he had a fortnight 'whim rolled pronaly tlnNoigli. with all the pomp and eirennistanee Ist fitting his high position. No dilatory trial had It•ehae•e•el hull to the tsaidition in Milli+ he IIOW agga•ared la•1 • ore the ilihithitiotts of hi• late g.lteru un •ut. The tilt had gone fovik 1111,1 the general VS. 1111 l 1 1 1 . CUllie t h erilteriet Mlerltilig. I was tilt auali.•lls to tli , eot er what e•riule • had I.e•ell devilled Northy of so se%ere a punish lit. hilt 111.011 110 Iwo o'l'l4,lolls Mots the toilik. Mason assigned, 540 it Nils very clear that uol..ak knew and pr o b a bly ino our tieuu d it li►.•r. II 'Heidi thau the .ittircrer iliul.e•lf Io winoe out the particular inisdrineainair for which hr was disgraced. ltiit Slilll SlMMinty an►l signal visitations can be of little avail. It has I►asse►l into an anxiiim among us that in the certainty of punishment, not in its severity, lies the ►leter ring I►ower. Now, punishment is never eel.- Min in Russia, though it may be severe, for the Czar cannot lie everywhere ; and who among his lieutenants is trustworthy? Like government.. like people. Ilene is the history of a commercial company establishe►l by Englishmen to navigate the Volga • It was fitIIII4 that, %lido the affairs of Ihr eohi l pittly teere 11111.111.14.4 by !Witte ItllShiall 14141011WD et Nairn, there wits a heavy ooh ; Slut, notaith.puuluey the ecrtaiti prospect sot' remittieratioon which the spo.ootilatiout hail originally held soul, it appoirelit that, oink—. WI entire change took ',lace in the elfelllllNialliers of the t 4.1)4.6 Stenlll Company, that reopeetalole assoviatious %o d d.' .nun lw inevitably liankritpt. Some Englisl is were coonse 'Lucidly deputed to inquire into a state of matters is tremely unsatisfactory. 'Elul at once ilisconercil that a myatent of wholesale nolobery had been pillettSt.4l the l igelda4, (II /Web an extent that the ileticioltries were easily accounted fur. Among tither ingenious e m i rrica l ice, sorted to for approptiating the company's funds, the most highly appnoved was that. of sharing the . itge tub hulled by the owners sot eIINO UlOOll those htlEgi'S Whi4.ll were detained Iwyouil II certain a upon their ‘olyage. It was easily arranged between the merel ts, the captains of the steam-tugs, mid the ininingers st Ni iii, that these delays should frequently .worm ; and, 104 the Nlll4Olllll sit &- Moorage wows regulated loy the length of their &minion, the company woos inidetcol of largo sums, and thews, worthy 1.- s.willll•4 divided lilt. spoil. Since then the istlitim sit the el.lllplitls' are managed by Eitgliml who, me rapidly making sip the hisses stist • 41 ler the Ilussian admi nistration. The question of serfdom is briefly treated in this work—briefly. and with little novelty. Russians defend it on the ground that without serfs there could be no large estates, and with out large estates no agricultural improvement. But the first part of the argument is a i►etitio prineipii. Free labourers would work better, as having an interest in their labour. The serf is maintained by a patch of land, on which be raises crops when not employed for his master, like the West Indian 'legroom in slave tinu•s. But even this land is not his own, and, if he improves it, it may be taken from him and given to another, whereby all spontaneous industry is discouraged, as it were with de sign. Crown serfs are better off than those in private hands. lm►ying only a yearly tax of fif teen rubles (IcsA than three pounds English) for every male—doubled, says Mr. Oliphant, by the extortions of the tax-gatherer. A few nobles allow their serfs to purchase an annual freedom ; but as the rent, or tax, is not fixed, but varies according to the supposed value of the working-hand, the latter has no strong in centive to exertion. One of the characteristics 4.1 Russia is the Miscue° of anything like an urban population. All the towns of the empire put together do not eontain above live million of inhabitants. while nearly three millions are eongregatt9l within a ten-mile radius from St. Paul's. To put it otherwise, eleven parts out of twelve of the Russian people live scattered over mild districts, separated from one another by the very worst of roads. St. Petersburg. Mos cow, and Odessa alone exceed 1110,111141 inhabi tants ; four Oti 11•1' towns have between 101000 and '441,000 ; and about twenty more contain 2 ,000 each. This state of things Government affects to regret, but will do nothing to ob viate, fearing, most likely, the intellectual ex citement and energy which arises out of the gathering together of men in masses. Our author did not visit. the Caucasus; but his remarks on the war still being waged there are sensible. The reported victories of the Russian army he regards as fictitious:— Ace, to these veraeisms tee, wits, the Ittasttions have wou opus au avvragv atsaut tavlve battlos a year [yr thy 687 la‘t tweniy•two C , 11114, iu which the number .4 circamemns Amin st far exeregl what the total p.pulation the emtntry wits at the OMllllelleellield of the War. The Cireassiatts loatttattet ttre their own am munition. Twenty-years of constant fighting have trained the whole nth into all army : it is rumoured that the ili%isions among tho various tribes, mWA have hitherto hindered their success, lire on the point of being reeon tiled ; nor is military skill wanting. fOr their operations are directed 1•;% and as some say by English, officers. " The Caucasus." affirm Russian eulogists " is it nursery for the imperial troopr—a • tary penal settlement—a eonvenient place of " exile for disgraced Akers ; in a word, the war is useful tee ItlittKin, and therefilre Ile • signedly protracted." Unluckily for this hypo thesis, it appears that the slllll5 expended on Caueasian campaigns have well-nigh equalled the revenue. of Poland, not to Illehtioll the repeated overtures nook to. And always de dined by. the Circassian chiefs. Hui why is the re a m -6 m of this petty province so impor tant '."the answer bears on European poli tics. do long as Cireassia holds out, the power dd . Russia south of that country remains preett riollB. Perbhl, HMI Asiatic Turkey eannot be diperitted u po n until the communicatiena through the Caucasus are established k ind so . cure. Hut let that be done, and to the south eastward Russia lots no effectual burlier to stop her advance onwards, even to 'feint and Cabal. In this sense the cause of Cireassia is ulna of Europe and civilisation ugniuist the Czar. NI r. (giplimit, lii ever, carries hi:► appra !tensions of llussiiin aggression still fur ther. (thee possessed of the I birilimellem, anti mistress of the I)*nttl►ian principalities, she is, according to him, to exercise it dominant influence ill Europe : If tow 11•MI011111'1.$ ke., iu Estruite %I•n' available to I {twain, the A list rano umpire, in it istilit ;try point uf ww, would I wet tine 'milli ; wad, rwallxlq'd sit nu toasty heterogeneous and /Al'll Inl.ulr could mart wily as It &p•Illlent.) .f I:assist. And if, t bereft.' e, rho spirit uf freedom were Ist kindle afresh its A sist na ur II aly, Ii stabil' l's odd tll tll the settle 111 tin star tit desist' ism, an alas Lax absently it,suite, I Wll'lll4l for sl vr any spark af liberty still to tttttt Meting ies u s.s. , unhappy euuntrich. It *ern 1.514 y for Sill4lll 10 CIIII 111 hl the support of oppro'siln► a aim Haus force. The nett revolution in Frsiive would kee Italy toectipied by lIIINNUUI troops, reinforcing I hose . of iletsendent Allllll'lll •-.4.4111111111 tire tiurdmiN ertisll,Yl, unit the Russians amain (hiring the French engle • over the Alps. In et cry civil ClO 11011 111111 11144111 occur t h e sibs we% of the M edit ens. 1111111 V 14411141 15. as I pill tIl 111% sosi..ii 115 the hanks of the Willie, and rill would he lost. The mere knowleilga that the wh o le in lit lay awl tun al is of Itinusiii. Turkel. Kiel Aur.t 1114 141111/I be brought to henr in one united ono* 1115111 1111 Y point to which the will of rine 1111111 might direct it would cluing. • the whole relllliuns of port 111, in Froth, still iu et cr . % sit her el , and would giv c uu hie% it alrle prep. mile' once to thud part house rinse he 41011111 PA 14411144'. 1 . 1 . 11 , ,611. Llll4l 1114. 44l* /417111.01 Id ' I i glumly cool.' Iheo oiler no effect sisl rs.4i.tutive, either 111 the nrltiN or I Ise influence of the I .ssiis ; mid if the Irvoltltiuti, of Ow all. el of fot low - flu e lottery voll focal elianges—shoishl place a Cllllllll lif I{ol4hill I lir I of France, Eltr • hind • stone, of all I 111 . Mitt illll% of 1.:m . 11w, could hills, Is. nulinUun list In the practical mond deducible front these reasonings— namely, that the lhismiatis should be kept out of Turkey—we 1.111161111 y a gr ee ; lout the danger to Europe IN fir the rreseid.wi. emiellide, fivers-Medi. 'VIM mate or the Itumsjiiii FiCOllla alone sufficient to destroy the anny's effieieney for distant Nor can we readily believe that a nation whose morale is 140 low 4'llll establish a in European war. Seienee may do much fir'. the modern soldier--iliseipliiie is not to lie des pio.ell ; but there yet remains need of the mold part—the high spirit as well as the strong ann ; and this, if walling else, is want ing to the Muscovite serf. 4 )111' opposition to Itoissioin ambition rests on a broader basis. The itivasi,ln of the principalities, without shadow of reason or excuse, after a mission of which the °NM, seance disguised, was simply to pick a quarrel w its Turkey, is an net of ill • ternlltionall piracy—nothing !more, !nothing 1e! , 04. Snell arts 1111. 001111110 to public Inora- I ity, to the peace tif Europe, owl the pollee of tintiotim; mail their repression is n e t- ermitr y, lest Europe be govenied on an Asiatic pn . eye, justice being set aside. and lower nub• stauted for light.