196 
LOMBARDS. — RUSSIANS. 
form of religion. The missionaries, indeed, tell us many tales con- 
cerning them, but they evidently bear the marks of forgery. Each 
nation was then an assembly of cottagers more or less numerous, all 
confederated by alliances, but without any chief. They were stran- 
gers even to filial obedience. No kind of dress was used by the men, 
but the women made use of some coverings, and were even fond of 
ornamenting themselves with pearls, and such trinkets as the country 
afforded. What mostly displayed their ingenuity was the construc- 
tion of their fishing-nets, which are said by the Jesuits to have even 
exceeded in goodness those made in Europe. They were made by the 
women, of a coarse kind of flax, procured from some plants which 
grow there. Their houses are built of branches and leaves of trees, 
nay, many of them were only enclosures of earth and stone, raised 
half a yard high, without any covering ; and even these were so small 
that they could not stretch themselves at length in them. In winter 
they dwelt in caves under ground. 
Lombards. 
The Lombards were at first a cruel and barbarous nation, but their 
natural fierceness gradually wore off, especially after they embraced 
the Christian religion, and they governed with such equity and mode- 
ration, that most other nations envied the happiness of those who 
lived under them. Under the government of the Lombards, says 
Paulus Diaconus, no violence was committed, no one unjustly dis- 
possessed of his property, none oppressed with taxes ; thefts, rob- 
beries, murder, and ad»dtery were seldom heard of ; every one went 
without apprehension wherever he pleased. Their laws were so just 
and equitable, that they were retainec in Italy, and observed there 
some ages after their kingdom was at an end. Their dress was loose, 
and for the most part linen, such as the Anglo-Saxons wore, being 
interwoven with various colours ; their shoes were open to the end 
of the foot, and they used to button or lace them. From some 
ancient paintings, it appears that they shaved the back part of their 
heads, but that their hair was long before, their locks being parted, 
and laid on each side their foreheads. 
Manners, Character, and Customs of the People of 
Russia. 
The native Russians are stigmatized by their neighbours as igno- 
rant and brutal, totally resigned to sloth, and addicted to drunkenness, 
even to the most beastly excess, nay, they are accused of being arbi- 
trary, perfidious, inhuman, and destitute of every social virtue. There 
is not in their language a phrase analogous to ours — the manners 
or the sentiments of a gentleman,” nor does gentleman with them 
express any thing moral ; they have no such distinction. Gaming 
is j)rofessed and gloried in by all ; and the nobleman who is detected 
telling a lie is vexed, but not in the least ashamed. In the whole 
regiment of the marine by Peter the Great, there is not one word 
addressed to the honour, or even to the probity, of his officers. Hopes 
of reward, and the constant fear of detection and punishment, are the 
