RUSSIA THEN AND NOW 103 



the home without first washing them thoroughly with 

 carbolic and water. We feed them on milk, bread, 

 and various farinaceous foods, and find that they 

 flourish so well on this diet that it will be necessary 

 for us, before we send them back to their parents, 

 gradually to accustom them to the harder fare which 

 will be their lot. A sudden change of diet would be 

 sure to produce disastrous results. ' 



I am glad to say that the Bobrinskoys practice 

 what they preach. They are all staunch teetotalers. 

 I was not, therefore, surprised to find that they were 

 held in high esteem by the peasantry. To find this 

 good feeling existing between a Russian noble and his 

 former serfs gave me the greatest pleasure, especially 

 as my preconceived notion of the Russian aristocracy 

 was that that body was an idle, worthless set. My 

 experiences during my journey have convinced me 

 that this view was erroneous. The present crisis, I am 

 glad to say, has proved that there exist in Russia 

 many nobles of whom any country might be proud. 

 That so little change should have taken place in the 

 relations between the Bobrinskoys and the peasantry 

 since Alexander II. issued his edict of emancipation is 

 greatly to the credit of this family. It was with much 

 regret that I left the hospitable roof of the Bobrin- 

 skoys. I shall never forget the unceasing kindness 

 which they showed to the distressed around them, and 

 to me, not only a complete stranger to them, but a 

 foreigner as well. Such noble-minded people fully 

 deserve the high position which they hold amongst 

 the principal families of this country. 



