The Press.
London, England, 1854-01-14 00:00:00

39

anywhere, these are the right materials to
work with. But what says Sir Arehibahl ?
" Before the light of knowledge," he remarks,
" the vast fabric would melt away, but with it
" would -disappear at the saute time the inter-
" nal solidity and external strength of the
empire." In other words, the existing state of
things will last no longer than while knowledge
can be forcibly excluded ;—a precarious tenure
for authority to build on ! But we go farther,
and believing that, while all information on
Russian affairs must come from official per-
sons, no such evidence can be relied upon
where there exists any inducement to falsify,
we utterly distrust the alleged efficiency of
the Russian Government even as regards its
present well-doing. Corruption prevails in
every department; public spirit is chilled by
the principle of blind subordination; the pea-
sant may be always loyal, but the noble is
often a conspirator; the mechanical excellence
of the army has not sufficed to inspire it with
that enthusiasm which decides the fate of
desperate battles. Here, however, Nature
steps in to remedy the defect which human
arrangements have produced. She has im-
planted in these northern races both the de-
sire, and to some degree the capacity, for con-
quest :
.1111anilliS Custine says, that in Russia we are perpetually
reminded of two things—the absence of the sun and the
presence of power. Both are equally important alike in
their social and external eft.ects; perhaps the last is the
necessary consequence of the first. A very simple reason
keg, and ever must make, the Russians desirous above
all things of escaping out of their own country : it is the
severity of its climate. Those who live in a yummy
where the snow covers the ground for eight months
in the year, and the long nights of winter ore illuminated
only by the cold light ;of the sinvira borealis. long with
inexpressible ardour for the genial warmth mid sonny
hills of the south, where the skies are ever blue, the sun
ever shines, and nature teems with the luxuriance of
tropical vegetation. The shores of the liosphorur, the
Golden Horn, the dome of St. Sophia, are not may thu
secret dream of ambition to every Russian, hut the um
doubted object of their expectation. " I do not wish
Constantinople," said Nicholas: "my empire is already
too large ; but I know that I or my successors must have
it : you might as well arrest a stream in its descent from
a mountain, as the Rnasians in their advance to the
Hellespont." The habits which necessity has given to
them fwnnanently fit, and ever must fit, them for foreign
conquest. Their life is a continual confliet with the
severity of nature; actual warfare, as to the Roman
soldiers, is f.-lt chiefly as a relaxation from the rude but
invigorating discipline of pelice. 11.1iat are the hardships
of a campaign to men who never knew the luxury of beds,
whose food is hijack bread and water, who sleep ever on
the hard bench or cold gmund, end know no pleasure
save the simple urea of nature, and the exciting ones of
conquest? ben the north ceases toeonauunicate vigour
to the flame, hardihood to the habits, and ambition to the
soul, Russia will cease to be a conquering country, but not
till then.

Differing from the historian's estimate of
Russian capabilities, both in esse and in posse,
as far too high, we nevertheless commend his
dissertation on this subject to the study of all
renders. It is elaborately compiled, well put
together, and neither meagre nor overlaid with
needless detail. It is worth notice that, al-
though he calculates the military force of
Russia for foreign service at more than half a
million of men, he acknowledges that not half
this power could be brought together within a
twelvemonth and that in no nation of the
orld does there exist so wide a discrepancy
between the real and the calculated numeriedd
military force. Nor, although undervaluing
its enfeebling effect on the Government, is he
blind to the great public vice of Russia :
Montesquieu long ago said that honour is the principle
of a monarchy, and virtue of a republic. Both are true,
in a certain sense, of society generally, though not of
every individual of which it is composed ; for though few
are willing to practise these virtues themselves, yet all
are ready to exact them of their neighbours. Public
opinion inclines to the right side, because it is founded
on our judgment of others ; private acne often to the
wrong, because they are Founded by our own inclina-
tions. if we are to form our ogoinhnn from the example
of Russia, we should be forced to conclude that the 'prin-
ciple of despotism is coRR rionoN. This arises from the
selfish desire of gain in individuals being unchecked by
the opinion of those who, as they do not participate in,
are not biassed by it; and fnpni the immensity of the
empire, and the table number of functionaries em-
ployed, rendering all the vigilance of the Emperor and of
the higher officers of state imulegnate to cheek the general
abuses which prevail. Doubtless there are Diem 110.11 in
the highest situations, both civil and military, in Russia
who are as pure and honourable as any in the work' ; but
they are the exceptions, not the rule. Deurrally aresk•
big, and as a national characteristic, the functionaries in
Retsina are corrupt. The taking of bribes is general ;
jna-
lice is too often venal; the chiefs of the police, on the