The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-27 00:00:00

THE SUN,

derness concealed by him under a grotesque and
almost repulsive bearing encircles him at last with
the halo of the rer,der's. sympathy and admiration.
Here and there the minuteness of description i car-
ried by our authoress to an extent but little short of
being ludicrous, as where she informs us very seriously
(Vol. 111., p. 326) of Anne's coxtume at her
marriage—she " wore a gown of violet co-
lour; d silk with a velvet trawle of the
same hue, trimmed with fur, and a rice straw bonnet,
with a white veil !!" Surely this is nothing less than
the pretty garrulity of a lady-ti.ritr ? Sometimes
again our fair novelist is guilty of little anachronisms,
as where, tnwe.rds the conclusion of the tale, she
says (Vol 111., p. 192)—" She found Mrs. Dysart's
carriage and a :-ervant waiting for her at the coach-
office—for I am writing of ten years ago, when tha.e
was no railway in bcotiand, except that between
Edinburgh and Glasgow"—and yet (forgetting that
she is still writing of " ten years ago") she says
shortly afterwards (Vol. 111., p. 202)—" In the
evening, although the guy season had long been over
and the town was almost empty, the latter, in concert
with her mother, generally contrived to assemble two
or three young persons to have a little music and a
polka." Ten yol.rs ago that bewitching dance was
not in existence. Apart, however, from a few inter-
mittent blemishes scattered through the volumes,

" Anne Dysart." appears to us to be a novel singu-
larly deserving Gr commendatior, auguring largely
for the future popularity of its intelligent and accom-
plished authoress.

THE TARAN TAS ; Travelling Impressions of
Young Russia. By Count Solliegub.
Vassilv lvanovitsch and Ivan Vassilievitsch, two
worthy Russian_ gentlemen, says the preliminary
advertisement to the " Tarantas," are anxious to avoid
all such inflammatory and dispute-provoking topics as
politics, either fo::eign or domestic ; but they believe
that the social system of that considerable member cf
the European family of nalions which is called
Russia, is as interesting as it is little known and un-
derstood in this country, end they further believe
that they are better able to act as interpreters or
showmen of their father-land, than are any of those
foreigners who have hitherto attempted to get behind
the scenes of that mighty and important theatre. The
" Tarantas," the:;.efore, professes to be a Russian's tra-
velling impressions of Russia, and bearing this in mind,
its readers will be continually astonished by the impar-
tial and even criqiell spirit by which it is animated.
The Tarantas it4elf is n huge, unwieldy, but very
commodious vehicle, which transports its owner
Vassily Ivanovitsch (an old.fashioned country gentle-
man), and Ivan Vassilievitsch (a member of Young
Russia returned from a European tour), from Moscow
to Konn. Ivan carries in his hand a blank volume,
to record his travelling impressions, but his journey,
full of hicidents as it i•.s, is, nevertheless, to him pro-
ductive of continual disappointment. The chief
fault we can find with the little volume is its
very light and superficial character ; but this
was, perhaps, acs writer's object when he en..
titled it "Travelling Impressions." Instead of
descriptions of seen and manners we find only
brief units and passing allusions, its pictures of social
life are shadowy glimpses or bare sketches. Tnis
peculiar style has, nevertheless, its advantages.
Vague and incidental as is its mode of affording in-
formation, infOrmation is, nevertheless, afforded.
Among the most effective descriptions of Russian
life is the following melancholy picture of
RUSSIAN LUXURY.

" I was compelled by a stupid presumption to imitate
the luxuries of others, not at all regulating them by my
means. This is as universal fault in St. Petirsburgh.
Lite there is like: fireworks, much brilliancy, much
smoke, and after a while nothing is left. Every one
dues his utmost to surpass his neighbcur ; every
ot:.e is a cop::istt : oi:e class copies the oth-r,
poor people copy the rich people. The one
who is not weissihy assumes the appearance of
wealth, and gets ruined; the one who is rich
offers co much to luxury that, he inevitably gets
ruined too. It i•emnii us if our nobility was seeking po-
verty; and, indeed, see what different things have ren-
dered themselves as it,clisFero Wile for us, as bread and
water; fur instince., the crowd cf our hou=e-serfs, the
legions of men in Everizo, a major-lomo, stewards, but-
lers, sortie thirty or' forty men in all; then our mansions,
with drawing-roc ms, dining-halls, studies, dancing
salons, our coaches-and-four, opera-boxes, dresses,
cards. In one word, I must say that, in S.
Peersburgh, luxury is the first necessary ot life. People
there think first of what is not necessary, and then
ot what is; tnere'ore you every dig see noblemen's es-
tates sold under the auctioneer's hammer. And then
what passions rise from a discordance between income
and expenditure; to what doleful scenes they lead in
families.; what a itumbeir of persons have for ever lost
both the quietude of their conscience and their self-
esteem and honour. Life in the capital, hke a deluge,
carries away with it every one, everything, without
giving you even time to see your position."
And here, by way of contrast, is a sweet glimpse of