RIFLEMEN OF THE ALPS. 165 



important. It is flexible, harmonious, majestic abundant in rhythmes, 

 rich in compounds possessing all the elements of poetry, and may with 

 ease be adapted to every species of versification. In fact, it is equally 

 fitted, by the peculiar elegance of its diction, to become the language of 

 the court; and by its copiousness and happy construction, to be the 

 interpreter of philosophy and belles-lettres. The Russian Academy 

 has published two dictionaries, an etymological and an alphabetical. 

 The latter forms six volumes. 



Compared to those of other states, the intellectual resources of Russia 

 are without doubt slender ; still as an integral and essential part of the 

 European system, co-heiress of a long experience, acquired by other 

 nations more advanced than herself, this northern empire is much more 

 advanced in cultivation than is generally supposed. Thus do we find 

 at Petersburg, Moscow, Riga, and Odessa, all that science, art, industry 

 and luxury have produced in the different countries of Europe ; and 

 even Asia offers, at the fairs of Orenbourg, Astrakan, and Nivgni Novo- 

 gorod, its most costly productions. 



If, however, we may say that the two capitals are on a level with the 

 spirit of the age, it must be confessed that civilization is unequally dif- 

 fused over this vast country. It is to be met with in every degree, from 

 the elaborate cultivation of the court, to the absolute barbarism of the 

 steppes of Tartary. Yet, when we consider the rapid progress which 

 Russia has made in so short a time, we cannot help having better hopes, 

 for her and for all Europe, than her present position under the sw r ay of 

 the " miscreant-monarch," Nicholas, might lead us to entertain. If the 

 people were as ignorant, as depraved, and as despicable as the govern- 

 ment, the star of Polish independence might be said to be dimmed for 

 ever ; as it is, the evil is but of a day. Liberty must grow up hand in 

 hand with enlightenment ; and Russia must go on, reaping the liberal 

 harvest which the seeds of literature and education are gradually pro- 

 ducing among her people. 



RIFLEMEN OF THE ALPS. 



THE lofty, and almost inaccessible mountains of Switzerland and the 

 Tyrol, their narrow, crooked defiles, tremendous precipices, and craggy 

 rocks, covered for the most part with the yew and the fir-tree, afford 

 secure and favorable positions for the unerring riflemen who inhabit 

 these wild and awful scenes. The wife, too, partaking of the fierce 

 spirit of patriotism which animates her husband, accompanies him to the 

 battle-field ; armed, like himself, with a rifle, she charges and presents 

 it to her husband, thus enabling him to keep up a constant and destruc- 

 tive fire upon the bewildered foe, equally afraid to advance or to retreat. 



Before I proceed to describe the trial of skill to which I was an eye 

 witness, it may be as well to say a few words respecting the weapon 

 itself. The barrels, which are manufactured at St. Etienne, near Lyons, 

 in the south of France, and also at Liege, in the north, towns long cele- 

 brated for the excellence of their fire-arms, are about three feet in length, 

 and of great solidity, weighing each, independently of the stock and 

 lock, about seven pounds. They are rifled with great accuracy from 

 muzzle to breech, and carry a ball, of two-and-twenty to the Swiss 

 pound of eighteen ounces. The stock is formed in a peculiar manner, 



