The Press. — London, England, 1855-01-06 00:00:00

16 Nittraturt. The Englidtwoman in Russia. By a Lady, Ten Yearti Resident in that Country. London : Murray. Russian Life in the Interior. By Ivan Tourghe nieff, of Moscow. Edinburgh: Black. WE have read the Englishwoman's volume on Russia attentively, and yet find it difficult to gather any distinct impressions from it. There are numerous contradictions in it, but of that kind which tend to establish the truth of the narrativW, as they are such contradic tions as must appear in every society. One family is amiable and benevolent, another is morose and cruel, just according to what is found all over the world. At page 32 we read:— It is now ten years since I first went to Russia, and I have resided there until the last three months, not living like a stranger in the land, but in the closest intimacy with Russian families, and I willingly bear witness to their general hospitality and kindness of heart, not towards the rich alone ; for a well-educated person, let his circum stances be what they may, is always well received. The ladies are most amiable and polite; they are, however, often accused of want of sincerity, but in my opinion un justly so. And on the opposite page, 33, we read : The immoral conduct and the inconceivable want of delicacy of many of the ladies of rank cannot fail to have a very unfavourable influence on others below them, espe cially as the Court is regarded as the criterion of what is right. Were I to relate the almost incredible actions of many of the titled dames, I fear I should be accused of falsehood, but I am happy to say there are some noble exceptions. This contradiction of tone prevails through out the book. It will not be thought satis factory by those who would fain find Russia one thing or the other, very admirable or very detestable, but we are inclined to think it faithfully reflects that light and shade which exists in all countries; and which in Russia, • from the great power possessed by the pro prietors, is likely to be flung in broader masses over the land, than in States where individual action is under greater restraint. Of the hospitality of the Russian people the Lady speaks uniformly well. " They are justly " celebrated for this virtue," she says, and she gives many instances iu support of her assertion : As far as it has been possible for a lady to remark, 1 have exery reason to feel respect for the country lathes and gentlemen of the interior of Russia. Their hospitality is unbounded ; they are for the most part humane to the serfs, are kind. hearted in the true sense of the word, and exceedingly amiable and polite to foreigners.—The Engliehu;oman in Retain, p. 172. Speaking of such times of festivity as Christmas, New Year's-day, and. Easter, the Englishwoman relates : On all these occasions of public rejoicing the stranger may remark how kind and hospitable, how friendly and sociable, the Russian people are. Their hospitality is un bounded ; they will give what they can atiord.—/b. p. 222. Wild though the country be, it is no inhospitable shore, and the warmheartedness of the people richly compen sates for the coldness of its clime. It is that which throws a kind of charm over the remembrance of Russia in the mind of one who has long resided on its snow-clad plains, and gives an interest to everything connected with them.— lb. 888. Having often visited at country houses in the interior, her sketches of what she terms the genre de vie chez eux—a needless Galli cism, as our " home life " is both shorter and more expressive—are very animated. " Nothing," she says, " is more pleasant than " life at a country house," and we have many passages descriptive of the amusements of the peasantry : The peasants have their own recreations, and very often on Sunday afternoon they assemble before their proprie• tore house, all dressed in their best, and dance and sing, not only for their own amusement, but because they think it agreeable to their master and mistress, who, with their family and guests, come out in the balcony to see them, and to scatter apples, sweetmeats, bon-bons, and small coin among them, which they are quite as eager to scramble for as AO many children. Some of their dances are extremely pretty, and others are monotonous. I remember at one of the village fetes a handsome young girl and a fine-looking man of about twenty-two stepped out from a group of their companions and performed a pas-de-deux, the national dance par excel knee. ---- The girl had on the peculiar head-dress, her long hair hanging in a thick plait down the middle of her back ; a crimson silk sarafane trimmed with gold lace and gilt but ens up the front ; her white chemise gathered into a band THE PRESS. round her shoulders and fastened before, the full sleeves tied up with sky-blue ribbon: gold-embroidered shoes from. Tajock completed her costume. Her partner wore a crim son shirt confined with a narrow silver band round the waist (the peasants wear the shirt outside) over very full black velvet inexpressibles, the lower ends thrust into black leather boots. The dance was descriptive of courtship. At first the advances were treated with disdain; the suitor was not discouraged, he still hoped; he again made ad vances ; she began to relent, then seemed pleased; he in spired her with love, but resolved to punish her former contempt with coldness. They at last become reconciled, and, after demonstrating their mutual happiness, the per. formance finished.—lb. 181, 1t42. The Lady adds, " if this appear too Arcadian a picture, it is at least a true one." The men indulge in amusements of a more exciting kind • There is something quite classic in the Russian dress, and we frequently stood to admire the people at their em ployment. The straight, half-moon-shaped head-dress of the girls is almost a copy of that on Diana's brow ; the narrow band confining the hair of the men could find its counterpart on many antique heads; the closely-fitting folds of the women's sarafane are very like those in Greek paintingsand on Etruscan vases ; the loose shirts tied round the waist worn by the men, their moustached and bearded faces, look very like the figures on the friezes of the Athenian temples. Perhaps the reader may smile at the idea of comparing the half-civilised boors of Russia with the pro ductions of the celebrated Phidias ; but let him see those people in their native villages, not wrapped up in their sheepskin-coats, but in their summer attire, and he will alter his opinion ;or let him witness a " chariot-race " be tween two peasants standing upright in their small country carts and driving at the top of their horses' speed, holding the reigns with outstretched arms, their heads uncovered, their fine figures clothed in the red or white shirt flutter ing in the wind, and their faces, if not classically hand some, not devoid of manly beauty, and say then whether it does not recal to his mind the Greek chariot-races such as were depicted when Greece was Greece.—/b. 180, 181. We take other passages descriptive of real enjoyment among the people. In the province of Archangel, on the banks of the Dw•ina : Nearly every house in the villages was furnished with a kind of settle outside, where in the evening we frequently saw groups of the peasants sitting to have a chat, or to sing together their national airs, of - .vhich they are very fond. In a bend of the river, at the confluence of several smaller streams that empty themselves into the Dwina, we sud denly came to a considerable elevation rising abruptly from the water. The sun had just set, but his parting rays still illumined the beautiful gilt cross surmounting a small church which crowned the height above us ; the lamps were already lighted and gleamed through its long narrow windows, and borne on the calm summer breeze came the voices of the monks and choristers singing the magnificent responses of the Greco-Russian Church. It was a saint's day, and the people from the neighbouring village, dressed in their gayest and best attire, were hastening up the path in groups of twos and threes ; others were crossing the stream in boats; but all were intent upon worshiping the heavenly Father of all in his holy place.—lb. 29,30. Wedding parties are often to be met in the villages. The yemstchicks, or post-drivers, are among the poorest of the rural population, and fare the hardest, but they can be merry enough at times : I remember near Twer encountering a curious cavalcade consisting of the wedding-guests of a yemstchick. He and his male companions were on horseback, carrying flags of different colours, or handkerchiefs tied to sticks • their hats were decorated with peacocks' feathers and fad ed artificial flowers, and their crimson shirts fluttered in the wind ; they had no saddles, and with difficulty could keep their seats on the rough-coated, wild-looking cattle they be strode : altogether they presented a rather picturesque appearance. They seemed very merry, for they were sing ing with all their might some of their national airs, which we heard at the distance of a verst before we saw the party. As fur the ladies, they followed behind, sitting a califour chcm , two on each droshsky, and appeared too much occu pied in eating gingerbread and cracking nuts to care much about the very ridiculous figure they made. —/b. 114. _ _ These post-drivers have some romance in their disposition. One of them who drove the Lady woke the forest echoes with his full deep toned tenor : The burthen of his song was concerning some country belle who danced so elegantly that even the Czat himself came to see her performance. According to all accounts, the hearts of the village swains were all sore with being so much in love with her; but she settled the matter by choosing a happy fellow named Ivan, whose felicity, we were assured, was inconceivable. This love does not ap• . _ pear to have been entirely disinterestell, for there followed a long list of the bride's trousseau. She had a crasnoi sarofane, or red gown, and was further endowed with some piliows and a counterpane ; added to which she was the richest bride in the whole village.—lb. 46, 47. Another gave a confidential account of his prospects in life : He began by informing us that he was going to be mar ried, and that he was so much in love he could get no rest night or day ; that his intended bride's name was Katrina; she was seventeen and he was twenty-one, and " Please God, they should soon be as happy as they need be."—lb. 47. SATURDAY, Continually through these pages we meet with such pictures of rustic enjoyment as this:— Towards the evening, if it be the eve of some saint's•day, or great national holiday, we shall see them lively and merry enough, all dressed in clean shirts of the brightest hues, and gay sarafanea, dancing in the space before their houses, singing their native airs to the tinkling of their triangular guitars, es if slavery were but a name and its burthens feathers.—lb. 135. Of the nature of the Russian people a favourable idea is given : The Russians are, generally speaking, a goodhearted people, and would eventually become a noble nation, under a freer and better government. —/b. 98. hi all cases of domestic misfortune and trouble the Rua. sians are unequalled in their display of kindness of heart and sympathy towards the sufferers, and unwearied in their endeavours to lighten the sorrows of their friends, a most estimable trait iu the national character.—lb. 201. The boatmen are like the peasants, with long beards and loose shirts, and generally civil and obliging : indeed, it must be acknowledged that the lower class of Russians are remarkably so, not only to their superiors, but to each other. The most unpolished boor in the country will always take off his hat when he meets a companion or acquaintance, and that with quite as much respect as to a person above him in rank.—lb. 249. The commercial classes, judging from what the Englishwoman witnessed, must be pros perous. At Archangel she went to a wedding party at the house of ono of the chief trades men, and thus describes the dress of the bride : Her casackan or jacket was of gold cloth, with a border pf pearl embroidery, the sleeves of cambric, short and very full, tied up with blue ribbon and finished by a lace trim ming ; the skirt of ber dress was of crimson flowered silk, having a gold border nearly a foot deep, with gold buttons up the front. This is the national costume, but it varies indifferent provinces, and is nut equally rich.—lb. lb, 16. The families of the shopkeepers at St. Petersburg made a much more splendid dis- PlaY _ . I went several times to balls given by merchants, gene rally, on the occasion of a daughter's marriage ; they were all in the same style. It seemed to me that the grand object in view with the shopkeeper's wives and daughters was not to dance, but to show off their finery. They sat in & straight line all round the room, dressed in a most splendid manner, with magnificent diamonds, rubies, and pearls, their hands folded over each other, loaded with valuable rings ; just as if they were so many portraits or waxen figures placed there for exhibition.-Ib. 230. At Moscow, females of the .shopkeeping class are still more profuse in the display of their finery : Some of the shops contain things of great value, although not displayed to view. That decent-looking woman is in specting real cashmere shawls. How much is this one?" she asks. " Seven hundred silver roubles" (1101.) ; and he adds, " not a copeck less." That young girl standing near her is her daughter ; she Is going to be married, and one of these expensive shawls must always form an item in the dowry of a shopkeeper's bride. Generally, the most extravagant furs, brocades, jewels, and satins are to be seen worn by the women of this class : they frequently have no bonnet, and wear merely a silk handkerchief tied tightly round the bead and fastened in the front with a diamond brooch. That splendid car riage with six horses, three postillions, coachman, and two footmen behind, all richly bedizened with gold lace, and having cocked hats trimmed with white ostrich-feathers, is one sent to fetch another bride of the merchant class : she is probably the destined wife of one of the shopkeepers in this Gostinoi Dwor. I remember once seeing the dowry of one of these people ; it was being carried by on the heads of about sixty men one after another. Such quanti ties of tine things, enough to raise the envy of all the dam sels in the city.—lb. 277. Trade must be prosperous in cities where such expenses are commonly incurred, nor can we discover that the trading class have arty other grievance to complain of than that arising from the occasional corruption of the agents of police. Thus far we have glanced only at the bright side of Russian life. The picture has its re verse. Proprietors often treat their serfs cruelly. A story is told here of one lady, who, having lost a large sum at cards which she could not find money to pay, had the hair cut from the head of her female serfs, that the necessary sum might be realised from the sale of their tresses. But it is added:— The person in question was a Pole, and, as far ea 1 have been able to judge, the Poles are infinitely more unfeeling and tyrannical to their serfs than the Itussiaus.—lb. 137. On one occasion. when the authoress was about to accompany a Polish lady to the Opera, she heard a scuffle, followed by ahe*vy fall in an adjoining room, and afterwards dis covered that the maid of the lady, not having pleased her mistress in her coiffure, had been knocked down with a chair, and had two of ■