The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-31 00:00:00

PROGRESS OF RUSSIA.

Whilst yen'are talking of war in Paris, and making
fools of yourselves, with fanfaronnade and useless ex-
penditure for war, the Government here is doing every-
thing in its power for domestic improvement, and in
he encouragement of trade and manufactures in all
arts of the empire. You wit be surpr:sed, perhaps,
when I tell your that the Emperor Nicholas, whom you
are in the habit of representing as a cerveau brule, and
breathing nothing but ambition and war, passes two
hours every day in conference with the heads of the
commercial and manufacturinedepartments, on the
diffetent projects which are presented for the develop-
ment of these important sources of national weslth.
There is no country in the world in which more lil.esal
encouragement is given t) rational schemes of public
'amelioration than in this, so far at least as regards the
Govern= nt ;- but it is a lamentable fact, that there is
still so much chicanery in tl:e laws, and so mat h
corruption in those who administer them, that
foreigners dread embarking their cap't d in specu-
Minn here. A friend of mine, an Eng:idiman, who
established a large factory here in partoership with a
Russian nobleman, has had a law-suit with his part-
ser, which, after having been nearly six years be-
fore the Courts, is only just decided finally in his
f.eour. He has had preciously four verdicts in his
f.vour ; but the system of procrastin eion and ap-
peal is such that frequently even ten years may elapse
before the final decision is pronounced, ar.d, in the mean
rime, the fortune of the su for is swe bowed up by law
xpent es and bribes, for without bribes even justice.
cannot be obtained. The Minister of Justice has been
i'esired by the Emperor to present to him a report on
the present state of the civil law, with a view to its
being reformed ; and as Nicholas is tery cleterulined,
when he once takes the woi k of reform in hand, we
inay expect, a beneficial change. There are very
an cling accounts from most of the commercial ports
of Russia as to the improvement of the trade. This is
past'cularly the case with Odesia aid Archangel ;
and some of the I.trge towns of the interior have made
strides which surprise those who knew them only a
(ew years ago. I was at Moscow in the early part of
February, and was perfectly astonished at the dsvc-
lopemeut of that city. Manufactori.s are rising up in
every quarter, notwithstanding the difficulty of procur-
ing and the cost of fuel, fur the timber has been cut
down for a distance of 60 miles round Moscow, and the
Russians, with their usual imprudence, has e neglected to
plant other trees. There arc, however, immense peat
grounds in the neighbourhood, and the Emperor has
received an offer from a M. Ponteau, ef Moscow, to
turn them to profit, provided he has a privilege for ten
years, which there is no doubt will be granted. The
object is to compress the peat according to the plan of
Lord Willoughby de Eresby, but greatly itnprot ei ;
means having been discovered of compressing it one-
third more than by his Lordship's patent, and slo to
convert the peat into cake on the grounde, so that both
peat and peat-coke may be had in Moscow at a small
exfense of carriage. A Company is forming in antici-
pation of the privilege being granted, at.d capit:l is
offered to any extent. Should the Company go on,
one of its plans is to light Moscow with peat gas, a
speculation which promises great results. I saw same
experiments on this subject whiht 1 was in Moscow,
and they appeared to tee to be very conclusive. Peat
in its crude state is now extensively used in Moscow
for the burning of bricks, lime. &c , and also for a few
steam engines, but it doss not answer so well as might
be wished, owing to the bulk, which makes the carriage
come very dear."—Leiterfrom St. Petersburgh.