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

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 faded 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

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