, 1877-07-13
Russian Social Life.


1t is naturally to be expected that in
a land so backward in modern civiliza-
ton as Russia, the social life of the peO-
pie should present to the stranger points
Of novelty and quaintness even beyond
what is usually met with in an unfamil-
lar land. In the primitive there is al
ways something of the picturesque, and
in the manners and customs of nation
whose habits have practically undergone
but little change for centuries.
Although serfdom is abolished in Rus
sia, traces of the old feudal system
which so long prevailed there are still
strongly marked, and the gulf between
the upper and the lower classes is almost
g wide as ever. Even now the peasant
has virtually no remedy at law against
the noble who wrongs him; for a small
grievence it is hopeless to proceed
against his superior in rank, while, if
the great men seriously injuries a poor
one, the matter can easily be settled by
the former paying few roubles to the
local magistrate. The result is that the
peasantry often take the law into their
own hands against their oppressors, by
acts of petty and secret malice, such as
rick-bufEing, which of late years has be-
come terribly prevalent in Russia.
Nevertheless, it cannot be said that
the lower classes Of Russia are an un-
happy people. The peasantry are in
dustrious and ingenious, and though
their services can no longer be command
ed gratuitously BY. the landowners, they
are always ready to work for the rich for
q small consideration. And the Rus
sian peasant can turn bis hand to many
things. One day be will be at the
plough, the next be is weaving cloth or
cotton, on the morrow he will help to
build house, and the following day he
will be ready to mount the box and
drive four horses with admirable dex-
terity, if some great man should need an
extra coachman.
He Is generally we'll fed and we'll
dressed, his costume consisting of a red
shirt, fastened round the waist with
. leather belt, a pair Of loose trous,
ers tucked into boots reaching half way
up the legs, the whole being covered in
winter with a warm overcoat of sheep
skin, worn with the wool inside. His
hair be wears parted at the top and down
the middle, aud cut evenly all round the
neck, to which it descends, though he
generally ties band round it, to prevent
It's falling into his eyes when he is at
work. Such is the appearance also pre-
sented by the iUostchfk or gemstiek, the
driver or position, with whom every
traveller In Russia soon makes acquaint-
ance. The iC0stchik is, for the most part,
good-humored, hght-hearted fellow
very civil, as q rule, but much given to
over-charging, like all his race. When,
however, you make your bargain with
him, be viii be we'll enough satisfied if
be only gets his 0Osssim grieunik, or eight
penny-piece, as n0sodka-that is, 'sdram
money" " called BY the more genteel class
Of drivers, naehai, {. e., ''tea-money,n y
though il comes to the same thing in the
end. Yet the crafty fellow will get more
money out Of you If be can. He ad-
dresses you affectionately as batuskka or
s'little father" and will sometimes in
sinuate that be is an old friend of your
family, the names Of whom he will
RCe1AJ Jaw 6ct houA yOuE Servant,
and, therefore, you might give him
trihe extra for the sake Of old times.
Another class Of hard bargainers are
the wandering TaTtArs one meets with in
most parts of Eastern and Southern Rus
sis. These usually malodorous gentle
men are great dealers in dressing-9ovns.
which they are constantly pressing the
traveller to buy, asking eight or ten
times as much as the articles are worth
to begin with. They are generally seen
going about with one of their dressing
gowns on IS a specimen, and with these
and their round skull-caps, ribbed with
red and yellow, they look not unpic-
turesque.
But by far the most slightly class of people
10 be met with in Russia are the famous
singing gypsies of Moscow. These peo-
pie, Who are generally well-to-do, and
are not accustomed to wander about like
others Of their race, dress with great
hnery, but yet with natural eve to artist
10 effect. Their songs, which nearly al
ways consist of an air with q chorus,
and are usually accompanied on the
bakalaika, a sort Of guitar, are greatly
admired by travellers. In fact, it has