The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1848-11-16
TWO CENTS.

Notwithstanding the interest which these countries
should naturally excite at the present time the attsn
dance was not so numerous as we expected.
The lecturer began by describing the geographical
boundaries Of Russia and Poland and the geological
nature of these countries lie then proceeded to give
an account Of the climate which exceedingly
we're in winter The poor serf In the villages protect
ed themselves however from its effects to degree be
yond our conception They had stoves in their homes
and clothed themselves very warmly. Their overooats
were lined with sheepskn and their legs they had
leather boots lined with bearskin The psor could
scarcely be recognised human beings In their various
churches, DO strange and their dress and
appearance With the rich, however, 1t was different
Not"nhrtand'ng the severity of their climate he
had heard Russians complaining Of cold in Rome and
Paris, when was owing doubt, their being 90
well prepared to Withstand it by their Dress and tbs
other pteventives which they would have adopted At
home. As to the middle and southern parts OF Russia
the winter much mider though the cold in Mosoov
was generally - severe as in ST. Petersburg. with
regard ths productions, they very vsrsd the
principal being wheat; Indian corn not much
cultivated as far "a he knew, except perhaps in the
south. They had abundance of pears plu MS peaches
and apricots, in the middle and southern parts OF
Russia He then noticed the modes Of travelling.
The public oonseyances on the prinoipsl roads were
nearly similar to the French digenoes and they went
aeDg with a great deal Of rapldny. There were but
three great public roads in Russia with which he WAS
acQuainted Of these led from ST. Petersburg along
the GUT OF Finland to Riga; another ndsd rom
st. Petersburg to Warsaw, and excellent road
and remarkably straight Diig. nces travelled ON 1t
every day There also u road from st. Petersburg
10 Moscow. When he was there in ls4O there was
but public conveyance 1t, and the journey was
not maze from one place to the ether In less than
three nights and two days. now there many dill
mostly by Germans, but the accommodations were
very Indifferent There was no public conveyance
to go there the journey must be performed by
posting, which very expensive Railroads,
however, were now being introduced, and ssvs,
raj American gentlemen were at present employed
there in tho construction Of the engines, car
riages, &c. When the Russians travel, they some
times take their conyeysnces with them, which
Of curious construction and they travel By day
and night never stopping at the hotels along the
road as they are very dirty and comfortess Their
conveyance 10 made in snch manner that they can
lie down or cit up in 1t, rs they please They also
take rs much provisions with them Is are sufficient
for the journey. In the large towns however there
beautiful and sple ndid carriages and
But there was one popularity with these Of which he
carriage drawn by four horses, as they generally
were the two leaders were placed at the distance Of
twelve fifteen feet from the wheesrs After giving
some further particulars the of travelling
he alluded to the streets Of st Petersburg The streets
of that city were very bad there not out Of
every Of them paved with wood generally be-
leved and driving along the 1t necessary
to hold the ladies to their drOWski vehicle to
prevent their being olted out This 1t may BE- ina
Improvement was at work. and will doubtless, effect
In short time great changes for the better He then
Russian empire. There were 500 600 mobiles with their
families In Russia proper, exclusive OF Poland the Baltic
however,
they might amount to 100000. Among these mobiles,
there not less than fourteen separate ranks
Some of them were called your highness, ''othersy
excele others your brightness, and others again
by titles for which there corresponding terms
in our language. Some Of these titles heredi-
tary, and created by the Emperor; of them
very rich, and others very poor If many the lat
ter not put upon the civil list, they would fnd
great difficulty in maintaining their rank. The high
est class of mobiles in Russia equal to any Of q
similar Glars in Europe They were very refined and
scoompn he'd, and spoke the English, French, and
slmo.t as we'll as the French themselves. Commerce
and manufactures were regarded rs entirely beneath
the great cities consisting of three millions Of pso-
ple IL upon these that the future hopes Of the
empire rested; They consisted Of mechanics, ira
d.rs, sc. The merchants incorporated themselves
into guilds and were ireemen. merchant worth
$4,000 of our money, belonged to the fret guild;
those worth S. 600, to the second guild and those
worth 0O0 to the third guild The merchants Of the
highest class live like the nobes-very mush we do
They get their fashions from Paris, as we do. The
class consisted OF the priests and the clerical
corps II was faid that there was half million of
people Of this class connected With the Greek church.
q separate class, under the Russians, the tribe of
Levi was among the Jews. They priests from
father to son. The Emperor endeavored to break
up this caste system. some time ago by forming
. regiment Of soldiers from the of priests;
but This gave great offence, and was considered
awful sacrilege The priests were extremely poor,
svsricious ana intemperste. They were not held in
much repute, and to BE- called the Of priest,'
was Il n,amount to being called worthless fellow
They were, generally speaking ignorant, but there
were doubtless great many worthy men among them
1t was an indispensable point of the discipline Of the
Greek church that the parish priests b. mar
rsd men and 6s only once o married and they could
their parish, but they did not lose their priesthood It
necessary, however that the bishops and higher
church dignitares should be unmarried men, and they
selected from the monks. The next class was the
most impo Of all-the serfs Different calcula-
tons had been made as to their number, but he be-
eved IT would come nearest the truth to state them
at forty eight milc ms. Twenty millions belonged to
the Emperor, VIZ, they settled the lands be-
longing to the government. There were 100000
who belopg ed to ths emperor's family and were also
appe sges the And there were twenty six
illions md half who belonged to the nobles II
man bong hit an estate of IL OOO acres OF land in Rus
sia be bought at the time, all the serfs upon t.
yearly tribute exscted by the mobiles each Of
the serfs. fany Of them got rich, it made alters
had s.Tf much richer than himself This serf had
often sought to purchase his freedom, but the noble
would allow it. from the paltry vanity Of being able
to fay. when he gave Dime party that he had the
richttt strf in Russia to wait his table The
has quently attempted to better the condition
Of the seifs to berate them, kuo wng as he
does that the empire be anything till the
msftes are liberated. He said, come time ago in q
desired their liberation. when the prince replied
that 1t was scarcsly tme-tha it too premature
and IL would bo better wait and leave their liberia
ton to his son The emperor replied that such might
be the but II he did not lbersts them himself,
his son would never have sufficient energy to do SO.
He also ssd that his other Alexander wished to lib
tTate them but he also lacked the requisite energy
No. continued the emperor, Z" l feel that the Al
mighty has gwen me the energy, and shall do It."
Should this ever be the IL would, In some
atone to humanity for the great crimes with which
he stands charged. The next point which he
wished to say word or two In CONCLUSION, was, the
Jews. The Jews in Russis and Poland amou uted to
100000. They mostly all lived In thu western part
Of Russia, and the old men generally walked with
slaves In tber hands They are poor, and inclined
10 engage in agriculture They were better educated
than the Russians and many Of them still cherish the
belief that they would yet be restored to their
country.
The lecturer announced that on next Friday even
ing his lee uIe would be the same ntrirs, and
treat CT their government religion, education, sc.
IL we might venture to hint fault, or hesitate
dishke 10 the style end matter Of the reverend gem
tnaps lectures, ~ far have yet had an oppor-
tunty ofjudging would venture TO suggest TO MIN
tie propfiety Of committing TO writing In future,
whatever he has to say the customs manners pro-
ductions, religion, government NO, OF the various
countries on which he intends TO lecture The con-
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