506 



RUSSIA. 



Russia. sums of money promised or given, in order to pervert 

 ^y-**' justice and gain one's cause : by corruption, the act of 

 being unjustly influenced by bribes. In Russia, though 

 the same definitions be frequently applicable, yet the 

 more general intention and utility of bribes, genteelly 

 called presents, is to excite & person to do his mere 

 duty, and to recompense him for his time and trouble. 

 In fact, these presents may be said to form the receiv- 

 er's chief salary. Wherever such an execrable system 

 is once generally established, though despised by every 

 generous mind, yet it is fair to regard the infamy at- 

 tached to it, as infinitely less than that of accepting 

 bribes in courts of justice, where nothing of the kind is 

 expected or recognised ; because, in the one case, both 

 parties in a cause have the same channel of procedure 

 open from the commencement ; in the other, the pro- 

 cess may be finished, and the detection of corruption 

 on one side be too late for the other party to counter- 

 balance his antagonist by the same weapons. 



The cabinet statesman will easily find a cure for the 

 evils spoken of, by increasing the taxes ; giving ade- 

 quate salaries to the officers of the crown ; issuing 

 severe edicts ; and punishing delinquents with rigour. 

 But he who contemplates the great machine, and the 

 thousands and millions of dependent wheels in full 

 mdlion, and who knows the genius of the natives of 

 Russia, will speak more rationally. He will see, that 

 though immense sums be paid indirectly by a part of 

 ike population who have affairs in the courts of justice, 

 yet that the sovereign, who would attempt to impose 

 the same sums in direct annual taxes upon the general 

 population, would run the risk of causing a speedy re- 

 volution, and of being hurled from his throne. Every 

 enlightened sovereign who wishes to improve his peo- 

 ple will carefully remark their constitution, equally 

 with respect to religion, civil administration, and poli- 

 tical economy, and will reflect well before he takes 

 new measures. Beyond all doubt the present monarch 

 of Russia is well acquainted with the state of his nation 

 under all these points of view ; but like a wise poli- 

 tician, who is familiar with the genius of his people, 

 who has the good of the realm at heart, and who, from 

 the history of the world, perceives the madness of at- 

 tempting to effect, in one reign, what must be the 

 effect of scores of years, probably of centuries, he pro- 

 ceeds with a cautious, steady, and determined pace. 

 He is paving the way for the emancipation of future 

 generations from vassalage, he has lately made exten- 

 sive changes, and it is to be hoped improvements, in 

 the administration of justice in Siberia, and according 

 to the public press, he is now occupied in the reform 

 of the tribunals throughout his wide-spreading domi- 

 nions. He has begun a reform which will reflect hon- 

 our upon his memory, and which his successors may 

 complete, though centuries hence. But it were to be 

 wished still that his Imperial Majesty's attention were 

 more devoted to this subject, and that he were more 

 ardent with respect to civil affairs in general. We 

 anxiously hope that the time will soon pass away when 

 princes of the blood will cease to repeat, within the 

 walls of the imperial palace, such sayings as the follow- 

 ing : " Qiiandje vois un (fficier civil il me donne malau 

 coeur ; a sentence which but too truly portrays the 

 taste for military pursuits. Fide Lyall's Travels. , 



Eussia. 



LANGUAGE. 



language. The Russian language, as well as the Polish, Bohe- 

 mian, &c. is a dialect of the Sclavonic. The latter has 

 forty-two letters, while the former, at present, only 



admits thirty-five letters. The Russian language has 

 seme letters peculiar to the Sclavonic dialects, and of v **^y-^ 

 course, many singular sounds and combinations of 

 sounds in syllables and words. Others of the letters 

 are familiar to us in the Greek and Latin alphabets. 

 The Russian language is very little known beyond the 

 districts in which it is spoken. Its structure and 

 modes of expression are characteristic, and sometimes 

 obscure, which render it no easy task, even for fo- 

 reigners who have spent the greatest part of their lives 

 in Russia, to acquire a moderately good pronunciation, 

 or to speak with general correctness. These difficul- 

 ties overcome, it is found that this language, so far from 

 being harsh, irregular, and barbarous, as has been re- 

 presented by some, is regular and copious, smooth and 

 harmonious, varied and elegant. Its acquisition, be- 

 sides, opens a new field for those of a literary taste, 

 which has been little examined by British writers ; 

 though the Germans have reaped a copious harvest 

 from it. Of late, however, it has been brought into 

 considerable notice by the publication of Bowring'a 

 Russian Anthology, and Lyall's Preliminary Disserta- 

 tion on the Russian language in the " Character of the 

 Russians/' &c. 



LITERATURE. 



Innumerable facts sufficiently demonstrate the lack of literature, 

 knowledge, and the necessity of instruction among mil- 

 lions of the Russians. Yet the account which Dr. Lyall 

 gives of the present state of literature among the nobi- 

 lity, and even among a few of the merchants, is highly 

 gratifying. The time is not very distant, when half a 

 dozen book-shops were not to be found in either of the 

 Russian capitals ; but this number is now much aug- 

 mented ; and all the government towns, and even some 

 of the district towns of the empire, can boast of one or 

 more. Indeed, at the present moment, the jealousy, 

 the activity, and the emulation of the native booksel- 

 lers, are as remarkable at Petersburgh and Moscow as 

 among those at London and Edinburgh ; and the pages 

 of the Gazettes are continually filled with advertise- 

 ments of new publications. Among the foreign book* 

 sellers there is less rivalship. No doubt, many of the 

 works which issue from the press are of little or no va- 

 lue, and a greater number are translations. One im- 

 portant inference, however, may be drawn from these 

 facts, viz. that a reading public is formed, and is aug- 

 menting ; for if books did not sell, the Russians, more 

 than others, would not persevere in printing them. 

 Of late, the native poets, and the native historians, have 

 contributed much to the literature of their country ; 

 but still much valuable information, especially with re- 

 gard to history, lies buried in Scythian and Sclavonic 

 manuscripts, and within the walls of those abodes of 

 sloth, the monasteries. 



Russian literature was never so flourishing as at the 

 present day, a fact which is completely proved by the 

 number of periodical publications which issue from the 

 press. At Moscow are published two newspapers, the 

 Moscow Gazette, and the Senate Advertiser, and seven 

 journals, besides the Journal of the Imperial Society of 

 Agriculture, and the Memoirs of the Society of Belles 

 Lettres, of the Imperial Society of Natural History, 

 and of the Physico-Medical Society. At Petersburgh 

 the following newspapers are published : the Peters- 

 burgh Gazette, in Russ and in German, (separate) ; 

 the Russian Invalid, in Russ and in German, (separate) ; 

 the Senate Gazette ; the Senate Advertiser ; the Price 

 Current ; and Le Conservateur Impartial, and eleven 



