Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1858-10-08
Present State of Russia.

would create .rore If there is subject nu which
we want enlightenment at the present moment winch ~
Russia. The movements of that power have boo ~ is
cratic that cannot calculate them and selc;h 50
makes desire some clue to the startling imnn
power so great so active, and sometimes so incon
ent, one day excluding Travellers more recently eoo
aging them lately beaten at Sebastopo now bnuin
port in the Western half of the Mediterranean Ia
might obtain such clue if we could understand we
thing of Russia's motives, and we commonly rpI ~
motives of man when we know his antecedont t I
former acts, his bringing up and his birth Wan. nS
history of Russia and as Prince Do on ron, "ou'
supplied the want, why is it that we cannot get h9d s
the work? smaller work by the same writer nerSa, VI
gives insight into the reason. 1t is the Pr;no
handbook of the principal families of Russia arooS
octave volume of barely 200 pages which is bp Sua
approach towards something like Russian peerooo s
very curious and interesting it is. 1t was no soonou
out in the Russian language, however, than it was om
pressed and its author is said to have incurred the
porary dispeasure of the Emperor by PUBLISHING tIn
book. Strange country, il which the publication If
peera9e becomes offence against the State! Yet IN
this little volume we have besides glance at the no
trician orders OF Russia, certain insight into the r
sons why, at the present moment, Russia does NOT do
sire the publication of her own history. or even w
Peerage-neher her Libro dOro nor her Golden RnH
The very aspect of Russian names reminds Us how Gu
stands that Eastern Empire from the West of Fnron
her can scarcely be converted into WeSPp,,,
alphabets, and it is almost as difficult to caCS;G-
0ODleS acCUTulIS 10 w eSIcfQ Ideas, Tho oIpbS
bet is so different from that Of the Roman or e.
man that it is impossible to convey correct ideo or
its power or to spell names in such manner aC 70
give any certain approximation of their sound for
the Western reader Take the house of CzernvSbof"
the spelling of which, even by this book, is half Polish
half English. According to whole Polish it would be-
says the English editor, Czernyszev p English uCbe
nyshef;' German /" 1achernischew :" French, aTcbor
nchef; = Italian, Cerniscef' Broadly considered
Russia may be regarded divided into three social d.
vsions-the mobiles, the merchants and the peasants
the last until now slaves but having certain consdera
tons which the students Of English base tenure NAV nm
derstand The merchant appears to be only now be-
ginning if he has began to acquire firm footing in tbp
State and the nobes as we shall see are as heteroge
neous class could find almost in any part of the
levant TO explain the utterly worthless nature of the
title OF Baron in Russia, Prince Dogorouky explains
that is owing to the custom of comforting the title On
the Court bankers IN country where the industrious
class enjoys consideration whatever and note adds
that the merchants assist this degradation of their own
order by constantly aiding their sons to escape from
into the lower rank of nobles while the persons raised
from the rabbe OF trade to the order of Barons equally
try to escape upwards into the toerable grade of Counts
In Russia ostensiby there are five orders of mobiles |
Princes of the Empire; 2. Counts of the Empire 8
BarOns OF the Empire 4. Gentlemen without title
ennobled before Peter [ 5. Gentlemen without title
enobed after that reign The English have almost lost
the power of defining class of untitled nobes or gen
Try UuG we may remember Ilat, IN the HeraldS dia-
lect every man is noble or nobiis who is knocqbe
that is who has right to bear arms by which his family
may be known and in all countries of modern Europe
the Sovereign Prince where such there is, has had
power of giving nobility and arms. But if we have in
great degree lost the distinction between the no
Bile and the non-nobe classes, in Russia noble and
ignObe have been completely fused by the very mode in
which the patrician orders have been composed There
is every conceivable variety of origin and of character
isc, of the most anomalous incidents being among
the most recent and memorable. A BagratOne traces
his lineage, like Venetian nobleman, Or Courtnay
straight up into the very midsts Of the middle ages or
beyond DolgorOuky is descended from the house Of
Rurik, the earliest general monarch of anything like
" Russia 1hlrlt0ne houses or families of Princes
thus descended, and three more by the female line
while five more, the Taschef, Yerapkine, Rjevski TO-
bouzine and LapounO represent direct descendants of
Rrlk, who threw up the princey title in proud mOrtf
cation On being reduced to the condition Of Boyars Of
Muscova In the same peerage with these actions ofan
imperial house. we have Crcasssians called Prince by
courtesy the Counts Kutaissof descended from John
Koutaissof, the Grand Duke Paul's butler, whom old
Sauvarof, returning from the wars, held up a model
to his own butler and the Counts Srog ono descended
from Anka Strogonof, an oppulent merchant, mine
owner in the Oura Mountains, who won over KOsSack
robbers to be instruments in conquerng for the Gar his
Siberian Provinces The Strogonofs were made mobiles
and governors and unmade by strokes of the imperial pn
and they end by being Counts, with solid ancestral
vi
ces, slaves, Portuguese, Jews, and muTdererS.-
Potemkin's rise is known, even in Western Europe
the avorte of Princess says the ndugent DogOrouky
whose whimsical and unfortunate constitution con-
demned her to daily excesses the plvation of which
would KILL and which it would be criminal in Rus
sian mind not to forgive for the sake of the wse lawful
and just government she introduced into the country
This reminds us of the mot of mOralis who defended
some one for not practicing what he preached: You
cannot expect man to preach and practice too; II
would violate the law of the division of labor" The
loyal Russian firmly avers his assent from the eXpana
lions given of the favor shown to Anthony Ver cabin
boy, son of Portuguese Jew and smuggler, bought
and pampered by Peter l. and made the first in house
of Counts But most strangely does the English reader
aght upon such passages as that in the article on the
Princess Bariatinsky. Prince Theodore was one Of
the murdererS of Peter ILL., and Prince John this broth
one of the most distinguished and praiseworhy mer
IN his times, married the Princess Catharne of Hosen
Beck, relation of Peter I'LL" Or this under the
head Of the Counts Orof-" The Count Alexis, one o.
the murderers of Peter ILL., who had the chief command
at the famous battle of Chesme," and looked while
the Turkish fleet beaten by the EDgishman, Ephn
ston, and the Scotchman, Greg, officers in the Russian
service" Or this of the Counts Zouboff-"T The Count
Nicholas one of the murercrs of Paul. struck that unor
tunate Prince the last blow, which split his temple" AnC
the srangest traits in this Lbro dOro recent belong
ing to strictly modern times and to our day. In the
Introduction the translator remarks that of the four age
ol natons- INFANCY youth, MANHOOD ana od age Nuo'
has been without the two first well as the last During
four great periods Of Russian history from 862 to l46Z
there Russia at ALL" only the historical Peog
raphy of the territories which she possesses exhibits
unsettled of wars like the middle ages OF the
rest of Europe The commencement of her imperial GX
stence recent as it is has been marked by ycSstude
which almost belong to prehistoric perlOd-COnStl
tutions made and forgotten Princes murdered thelI
own sons waiting in neghboring chamber for formal
notice of that official proceeding The translator kens
Russia to France, the Russians called :" the French
of the North and he looks forward to close alliance