MOSCOW. 
108 
CHAP, state of exiles in that country. To a Russian 
. j nobleman the sentence of exile can hardly imply 
punishment. The consequence of their journey 
is very often an amelioration of their under- 
standing and of their hearts. They have no 
particular attachment to their country ; none of 
that maladie du pays, which sickens the soul of 
an Englishman in banishment. They are bound 
by no strong ties of affection to their families ; 
neither have they any friendship worth pre- 
Tobohky. serving. Tobolshy, from the number and the 
rank of the exiled, is become a large and popu- 
lous city, full of shops, and containing theatres, 
besides other places of public amusement. 
Its inhabitants, above two thousand versts from 
Moscow, have booksellers, masquerades, I rench 
hotels, and French wines, with the porter and 
beer of England. Those who have resided 
there, either as officers on duty, as travellers, 
or as exiles, give the highest accounts of its 
gaiety and population. An officer of consi- 
derable rank in the Russian service told us, he 
would rather have the half of his pay and live 
at Tobolshy, than the whole of it in residence 
at Petersburg. Many, who have been ordered 
home, have wished and sought to return thither. 
This is no subject of wonder. Tobolshy is 
admirably adapted to the Russian taste. Ac- 
cording to Gmelin, it is a very temple of 
