The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1851-10-09

The Russian character for fortilude and
cheertulness, aud for power of endurance
is fairly delinea.ed in The following sketch
| Observe yonder stately, six foot high
comfortably fuli-bodied man, with his roun,
! face and sill rounder beard, i'm the kaitar
of fine green cloth, and the square cap q
red velvet trimmed with fur. The man,
habtual mode of lite is the most comiorta
BILE imaginable. The dolce far niente is hi.
profession, and only from tune to time ha.
he tu make certain superbuman exertions
This Ia the ernperor's body eoacAnlan! OF
duty, he lives like lord of the land. You
probably Imagine that the coachnan's nat.
ural residence is The stable; hut--to err i.
human Our charioIeer has never seen the
stable since he received his last appout-
'nent. Whether the carriages he III good
condition, the horses fat or lean, the har-
ness suitable-he troubles not bis head -
Even as a chamberlain approaches the EN-
Is at The door!' SO does a coachman of the
second class present himself before the great
chief of the stable department and say
"Alexei lwanowitsch, the horses are put
top Then the comely man with the beard
rises from his chair, emptes his glass, and
deecends deliberately into the courtyard.
There groom offers him his arm, leaning
upon which, he gently attains the coach
box, seats himself comfortably, and mods.
AT that nod the reins are handed to him, he
winds them round his hands, stretches out
both arms straight before him, settles him
self firmly against the box he neither can
nor will sit--and. proud as the emperor on
sh. III 1, a .a' l.
be said that he does his work without NOV
ing hands or feet. The latter he hardly
can move, for he is firmly planted upon
them, and of the motion OF the former you
are not aware, for he guides the fiery hor-
ses with the pressure of his little finger
II is only out of affeclation that, when he
suddenly pulls up, he throws his body back
wards, clasping both arms to his breast, like
person swimming. After half hours
drive, he returns home; the emperor alights
and he drives to the court yard. A groom
runs To The horses heads, another helps
him off The box, he throws the reins to a
coachman, and walks away. His days
work is done. He has driven the emper-
or, that is the whole of his duty. For that
he has officers rank, several thousand ru-
bles of salary, aud lives i'm clover. But the
medal has lis reverse-for it may happen
that the emperor, on getting into his car
riage, instead of bidding him drive to Ka-
NINA Ostrow, gives the word 'to Moscow
and, just as he would have driven seven
versrS, in the one case, so he drives 726 1-2
versts in the other, without pause or re-
frcshment, without closing an eye or leav-
ing his box. AT certain distances along the
whole road, there are little houses built as
haIring-places for the Emperor Alexander;
but Nicholas does not use them. He sell
dom alights ill he reaches Moscow, and
the changes OF horses being effected with
Neutrality-suspicious., the coachman has hard
ly time To toss off "a glass of arodka A,
every post fresh position gets upon the
box with hun; but the most the po>lillon is
allowed TO do, Is To urge on the horses
The reIns never leave the coachnan'- hand,
and thus he gets over the one hundred and
four German miles, standing, with out
stretched arms, without food, his attention
upon the strain, exposed to ey-
cry possible variety of temperature---On the
box ot the carriage with twenty-four de-
grees of heat, and on that of the sledgt
with as many of cold. 1t has happened
that, on his arrival in Moscow, he WAS un-
able TO leave his box. Four men lifted hlm
OH, ne was perfectly slitf, his eyes were
starting from his head, aud he had To be
bled and put IN a bath, before his stiffened
limbs aud strained nerves resumed life and
No German could endure such
enormous fatigue, The Russian endures
it with ease, when he must, he who would
do nothing his whole life long if he might.
A Strange Fable Concerning Fur.
One of the queerest traditions that was
ever prOniulg gated, is embodied in what fol-
lows:
A sort Of fur that is much priced in Rus