Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-10-05
nnu.uNr Sl,TE OF RUSSIA.

some clue to tho startling impulses Oh d po.e' e'
great. go active, and sometimes 80 iASohseneua, ~,
day excluding travellers, mere recen''y noo"-
them: lately beaten at Sehastupol, now buY'hr =
mort in the Wsstern half OF the Mediterranean! We
might obtain ouch a clue If We couio uhuele'a"u )"
thing of Russia's motives, and We commonly go"
the motives OF a man when we know avs W.L
his former acts, his b,inging IN, ana Ms o,,W'E
Wanted, a history Of Russia, and as FRINGE Doeo
rouky has supplied the want, why ID ttbat we canho'
get hold of the work. A smaller WORK oy 'he game
writer perhaps gives an insight INTO tne REASON: i
the Priuce's handbook Of the princ'psi iamilies ID
Russia a small octave volume OF barely 2oo pages
which ia the first approach towards soue'"'ng
like q Russian peerage, ana very curious on"
interesting 1t is. 1t was no SOONER oul III u
Russian language, however, than IL WAC suppressed
and its author is said 10 have incurred the temporary
displeasure Of the Emperor by publishing toe oooK
Strange country, in which the puoiicauoh q peer
age becomes an offence against the S'ate: 1etih
this little volume we have, besides a glance al The
uatrlcisn orders of Russia. q certain insight into the
reasons why, al the present moment hussls does hot
desire the publication OF her own history, or even
her Peerage-neiiher her Libro y nor her Golden
Bull. The very aspect OF Russian names retninns Us
how alien stands that Eastern Empire from the Wee
Of Europe; her names can scarcely be converted I'M"
Western alpha6ets, and 1t IL almost as ohhcuI 10
classify her mobiles according TO Western IDEAS. Inc
alphabet IL 40 different from that of the Roman or
German that it is impossible to convey a correct iaea
Of its power, or to spell names In such q manner H.
10 give any certain approximation oil their souno Tor
the Western reader. Take the house OF " CEerny-
shef," the spelling Of which, even by TINS oIok' =
half Polish, half EDgiish. According to whole Po'iet.
it would be, says the English editor "Czsrnys
ssv;' English, "Cheruyshei;" German, "Tachernis-
chew" French, "Tchernicheh; Italian, "Cerniscef:'
Broadly considered, Russia may be regarded as d.
vlded into three social divislons the MOBILES the mer'
chsn,s aud the prasan,s-the last until now slaves.
out having certain considerations which the STU
dent OF English base tenure may understand. Tue
merchant appears 10 be only now beginning, II no
e. A. ok,..,, IN b aFa ntst
hss begun, to acquire a hrm footing IN tue o'atei e''i
the mobiles, 40 We shall see. are as heterogeneo.a "
class az We could find almost in any part OF the L1e-
want. To explain the utterly worthless nature Oh Tie
title of Baron in Russia, Prince Dolgorouky exp.slns
that il ia owing to ths custom OF comforting the lille
on the Court bank els in q country where the indus
trious class enjoy no consideration whatever ana Il
note adds tina. ;Es merchants assist this degradation
OF their own u. 1er by constantly aiding heir sous 10
escape from it into the lower rank OF oooies, whiie
| tho persons raised from the rabble OF trade TO tht
| order OF Barons equally try to escape upward into tn"
| tolsrsble grade OF Counts. In Russia ostensibly there
are ave orders of mobiles: l. Princes OF the Empire;
2. Counts of the Empire; s. Barons OF the Empirsi
A.. Gentlemen without title, ennobled before Peter i;
5. Gentlenen without title, ennobled after that reign
The English have almost Loot the power OF defining
a class of untitled MOBILES, or gentry but we may
| remember thai, in the Hsraid's dialect, every man Is
| no,i- ar .pobiiis'' who ia khopd6te, that is, who has
a riyht 70 bear arms By which his family may be
knowp; and In all countries o: modern Europe the
| Sovereign Prince whele such there 10, has had a pow
or G! giving nobility aud arms. But II We nave III
sv great a degree lost the distinction between the no
BILE and the nou-noble classes, in Russia noble and
ignoble have been completely fused by the very mode
in which the patricIan orders have been com
posed. There is every conceivable variety OF
origin aud of characteristic, some OF the most anomn.
| lous Incidents being among the most recent and me-
| morable. A BsgratiOne traces bis liueage, Ikea Va
! ne,ian nobleman, or n Cour'enay, straight up into the
very miste of the middle ages, or beyond; a Dolgo
| rouky is descended from the house ofRurlk. the ehrli
| eat general moparch Of anything like a "Russia." y
IAtrty one houses or families OF "Prlnces" are thus
descended, and three more by the female lime; while
Eve more. the rstiechef, ferapklne, k]evskl' roibou
zine and Liapoupof, represent direct descendants cl
Rurik, who threw up the princely title in proud NOR
LITIGATION on being reduced 10 The condition OF Boysrs
Of Muscovy. In the same peeregd with these scinn-
Il an imperial house, We have Circasslans called
"Prince" by courtesy; the Couuis kutaissoif, descend
I'D rom JobniK outsissoff. the Grand Duke Paul's but.
Ter, whom old Souvsruff, returning from the wars, held
I'D "a a model to his own butler; sud the Counts S'ro.
gonoff descended from Anika Strogonotf. an opu'-nt
merchant, a mine owner ia the Oursl Mountains, VII"
won over kosssck robbers TO be Instruments in con-
cueriny for the Gar his Siberian Provinces. The
Stroeopof's we're made mobiles and governors, and NV
made, by strokes oftlis imperial pen; and they end
by being Counts, with q sohd ancestral i6nns.
amid the representatives OF buffers, ancient prin
ces, slsves, Portuguese, Jews, and mnr6erers
otemkin rise is known. even in Western Flu
rope-the favorite OF a Princess, ssys the III
duIyeut Dolgorouki, "whose whimsical and nnlur-
inmate constitution CODQefnUtU y u uhlly cAtSSs z,
tho privation OF which would kill and which "it
would be criminal in n Russian mind mott IN forgive. fer
the cake Of the wise, lawful and JUS government s:r
introduced into the country" THIS reminds US OF
the mot of a mora.ist, who defended come one tor not
uracricipp what he preached: You cannot expect II
man to preach and practice toe; ii would violate The Law
of III. division of labor" The loyal Russian firmly
ayeris his asseu, from the explanations given Of the
,nvor shown 10 Anthony Vier, q cucin boy, son Of u
Portuguese Jew and %smGggler, bought and %painpered
- II A.. AID tnulA thu p IN a hnnal mt
Counts. But nost strangely does the English
reader alight upon euch passages as that IN the
article on the Priucees Bariatinsky. prince The
odore was one of the ;nurderers ct Peter Ill,
and Prince John This brother,l one of the most
distinguished and praiseworthy men in hs times,
married the Princess Catharine OF Holstein.Beck,
a near relation Of Peter ILL.," Or this under the head
of the Counts Orloff-"The Count AleKia, one Of the
murderers Of Peter Ill, who had the chief command
at The famous battle OF Cheslne," and looked on while
the Turkish f-et was beaten by the EngIshman. 81
phinstop, and the ScoIchman. G-eig. officers in the
Russian SERVICE" Or this OF tie Counts Zouonh-
1.-THE Count Nicholas, one OF the murderers OF Paul
struck that unfortunate Prince the lsst blow, which
split his temple" And the strangest traits in this
Libro d'Oro are recent. belonging TO strictly modern
times and 10 our own day. In the introduction the
translator remarks that of the four ages OF nhfIolla--
infancy, youth, manhood and Old rye, Russia has been
without The two fret "a well AZ the last. During four
great periods of Russian history, from S62 to l162,
.,there was no Russia AT all, - ouly the historical grogra
phy of the territories which she noe possesses exhibits
an unsettled scene of wars, like the middle ages ct the
rest of Europe. The commencement OF her lmperislex
isteuce, recent as it is, has been marked by vicissitudes
which almost belong to a prehistoric period-Consil
buttons made and forgotten; Princes murdered, their
own sons waiting in a neighboring chamber TOR for
nal notice OF tho: official proceeding. The translator
lkens Russia 10 France, the Russians are called "tbe
French Of the North, - and ne looks forward to Il
close alliance between France ard Russis. Mean
while the mobiles have becoina more civilized than
the peasau'ry or the court. a literature encouraged
and suuprcrsed by turns, makes i:self heard in tones
"A uncomprclnising ~ thoR OF Englieh Radicals
under a Georgian regime, or French philosophers
under q Capet rule one ct the most out-spokeii men
being Cicbsisdieff, an officer Of Hussars! And now
We zee a Court competing with q peernge for the
favor Of a pessantry, which re-rsys expressions with
loyal submission and emancipation with foreet fires.
II the peerage OF Dulgorouky throws 30 much llght
ON the police politics ot Russia, what singular dia
closurre m,ght We not await from his history: Gut
officially il seems 10 bs though; premature for Ruasia
to have Il history, and to write one is treated az an
&C, of poachiug.- lLondo GlO3c.
PRESENT CONDITION or S~EBASTOPOL.
A trust worthy correspondent, in a letter dated
"Constantinople, Aug. 20" thus oescribes the pre-
sent state Of Sebastoi'i !, regarding which 40 many
contradictory acco1 % have lately appeured:-
I'VE have acc"'1 rlish.d an excursion 10 The Cri
mea and were Inch %erstifed with it. SebaStop"l
was cur head quarters tor a week, no we had plenty
of tune fully TO examine the various places Of inter
81, in connection with the war. Everything at pre-
seq. remains ia very much the same sta'e "a nj TIE
conclusion Of the war. The town, which has been n
very tine ono, IL row but, a scene Of ruin and deso'a
lion The presen; population ~treduced from do,OW
IN 6, 1UUj mostly live in The weod'n huts left by the
British aud EreEch armies; soine lew stone houses
nave been rebuilt, bu, very few, and ola very COM
| mon so.t. The magnificent docks Remain in the state
of to,sl r,iu 10 which they were reduced daring the
occu patton of tho town by the aEi.s, and heaps OF
stones are the only Indication of tue positions Of the
forts on the south aide of The harbour. Bnt On The
north side the forts are in as Efficient a state as ever,
il being perfectly ladicrous to observe how little dam
, age they have received from tbs bombardment given
hem by Lord Lyons. The trenches. batteries, and
other .srthworks remain ~ they we're during the