The North-Carolinian., 1851-06-14

in full view Of the horses and carriages
whose use is denied to their despalring
| WEAKNESS.
'Fhe population Of Siberia is divided in
to three eclasses-peasants Of the crown,
trat9ers. and officials Of every kind.
| The peasant owns no master. and - tree
from forced labor. With little gift TO
the Car, he finds every thing easy. Cunn-
ing from the first. he throws himself eager
y into the stream Of trade. and SOON be-
comes false, as his business is governed
neither by religion nor morality. Even
when It is Of no personal advantage. be
lies for the love Of it. and with sly satistac-
ton despise> the detrauded victim, whom
he regards as his intellectual inferior.
The native is Russian through and
! through. and shares all the Russian virtues
and wees. He ha, no inspiring recollec
| tions at the past--nO national preindices
and sonss--and is the most prosaic man
upon Gods earth. lie is even inferior in
| these respects to the Tartars, whose des-
cendants are scattered about among the
Russians. like islands.
The Siberian Russian has no thought
for the past. There is no yesterday to
him-nothing but the present moment.
and that moment a combined enjoyment of
brandy, bathing, and tea. VainIy do you
speak to him VI Heaven for has heaven
is where he finds schnapps, tea. and a
vapor-bath. God he knows oaly as an i'm
age, o., more properly. a. a caricature,
before which lamp burns. and by which
he bends and crosses himself when he en-
ters the room. This ceremony is the
whole ritual Of the Siberian. aud quite
sut6ces for his spiritual needs. As long
as | have lived in Sberia.--and God knows
it is no short timc-I nave never heard a
mother teach her child to pray.
The merchant differs from the peasant
only in appearance. But he is quite as
false, and, as lie is OF more consideration
| in the world, lie goes more skilfully to
work.
Among the traders must he reckoned
the Russian priests--for they are mer-
| chants. too, and trade in objects Of religious
devotion. The priest advises the sick
Siberian peasant to have the Virgin Mary
| for him. and chaffers with him about the
pice of the visit. 1t depends upon the
amount whether he shall have large or
small image, and whether it shall come to
the patients house OH foot or in a carriage.
This last style of visit. as costing much
more, is held to be much more ethcacious
in its results to the invalid. The priest
accompanies the image to the house. at
tended by a retinue of people, apparelitd
according to the extravaganza ot the ex
pense. Not onl y is this profanity ndulgeu
in Siberia, but also through hnut Russia
When Siberian dies. the priest issues
a certificate for him. which, Of course. must
be paid for. This certificate the corpse
bears in his han4 I" open the gates Of
heaven and the heavenly police, who,
it seems. are as severely disciplined as
those on earth, permit him 10 pass. The
Emperor. as head OF the church, is obliged
to sanction such hlasphemy. and the gov
ernment takes no care to stop these prac-
tees or raise Tie people out uf such
| darkness.
! The faults which characterize the peasant
and trader belong also to the othcia!--ouIy
| he must be vet more sly and sktitul. for
he wears the imperial uniform and the
tokens ofimperial grace in the button hole.
| Among the Siberian curiOsities, how
| ever l must not fail to mention the bell
Of Uglitsch. which was bxnishcd by Boris
Godunow, the miserable brother, in law Of
the weak and inefficient Feodor list. be-
cause it opened its iron mouth and wildly
changed the news of the murder of the
Prince Demetrius. 1t hangs in Tobolsk,
| in the upper church. but s" near the
ground that the passenger can easily read
the reason and date Of its Punishment en-
graved upon it. The image Of Jcho, all in
the same church is striking. the face Of
which. several ellis long, seems intended to
impress the spectator with a sense of the
size Of God. But the most rema, kable Of
all. in my judgment, Is the Brojaga or
Vagabond--s genuine nations! produc ton,
| Of which must say something.
tie is either native or 8 condemned Of
one or the two lower grades. who has some
where committed an awful murder, and
has then escaped with the booty hundf eds
| Of Russian miles, in order to consume it at
| leisure. As the winter approaches. and
his gold gives out. lie betakes himself
stealthily to city in which he has never
| been, and where he is sure that no one
knows him. There he announces himself
to the local authorities, but in a very Pc
| cuIlar manner. He says. with seeming
| simplicity. that he is Brodjaga; that he
does not know where he was born, or what
his name Is. nor where be has hitherto
lived Or been doing. Such confession in
political cases would be quite sufficient to
insure a vigorous application "f the knout
to refresh the memory. But the question
is now Of something less than politics.
at most nothiag more than murder-sa
| Justice must have its way. What, thea.
does the judge dor He sends the della
qucnt to Jail, and endeavors to discover. or
rather allows chance to discover, If there
be any witness against the prisoner. The