848 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



leaving school was prevented by the burden of cares that fell upon the man 

 going into business for profit, in the new society the state assumes that bur- 

 den, and the man can keep on learning all the time. By a constant and 

 immediate referendum the people are able to keep their legislatures under 

 direct and instant control. War no longer exists. The new patriotism looks 

 to the character and purity of the people. Foreign trade is diminished and 

 foreign travel for knowledge increased. Hygienic development has im- 

 proved doctors out of their occupation. Meat is no longer eaten. Population 

 is distributed out of the cities over the country. The forests have been 

 restored. Farming is done by machinery. The last chapters comprise the 

 history of the supposed revolution, which is assumed to have begun in a 

 revolt against the corruption and monopolies of the nineteenth century and 

 of the solution of the problems it raised. 



We wake from the reading of the book to find that we are still in the 

 nineteenth century, suffering from all its faults. 



The popular idea of Russia is that of a country inhabited by two classes: 

 first, the military and civil minions of the Czar, who carry out the op- 

 pressive edicts of their master with fierce satisfaction; and, second, the 

 people, who submit to this tyranny in constant sullen fear, the brightest 

 among them being generally occupied with plots of assassination. A mo- 

 ment's reflection ought to convince any intelligent person that there is 

 another side to the shield, but everybody does not stop to reflect. The book 

 before us shows the other side.* Mr. Logan had a good time in Russia, 

 and he saw many thousands of Russians having a good time. He attended 

 the coronation ceremonies as one of the diplomatic party from the United 

 States, and, although this brought him in contact only with the official and 

 noble class, who have reason to be contented, one could not go about as 

 much as he did at a time when the common people thronged to the splen- 

 did ceremonials without seeing a great deal that throws light upon the real 

 condition of ''Ivan," the peasant. Mr. Logan recounts the incidents of 

 travel, and describes the stores, streets, conveyances, and other things that 

 one sees in passing with a humor and unconventional ity that are delight- 

 ful. He has grouped many of his observations by subjects. Thus, in a 

 chapter on The Breaking of Russian Bread, he describes the diet and the 

 dishes of both nobles and peasants, with digressions on hunting and fishing. 

 There is much French cookery in Russia, and there are also many dis- 

 tinctively native dishes, some of which Mr. Logan is able to praise en- 

 thusiastically. Other chapters describe a village of peasants, Russian horses, 

 the Russian church, Slavic art and literature, and tell " How we kept house " 

 and u How we washed in Russia." The bath-tub of America is a stranger 

 to Russian domiciles, but there are public establishments where the real 

 Russian bath is enjoyed by all classes of the population. In every village 

 there is a bath-house in which the peasants steam themselves at least once 

 a week. But the chief subject of the volume is the coronation ceremonies. 

 Mr. Logan portrays for us the splendid processions, the impressive cere- 

 monies, and the magnificent banquets, balls, and performances. He and 



his friend k ' G " were blest with a courier who was constantly making 



mistakes that brought them into better positions than they were entitled to. 



* In Joyful Russia. By John A. Logan, Jr. New York: D. Appleton and Company. Pp. 275, 

 12mo. Price, $3.50. 



