• VENABIES' DONIESTIC SCENES IN RUSSIA.

sionally minute on m.,,tters in.:, Ling little save the perAmal eon. venienees of the t■.tivi.,t, this wm.rk adds consi:lerably to our know. ledge of' of being taken to the show-placee of t":e ie-et town e or along the hi:I:II-roads of the empire, 'Shire eve:.y thing is kept in allple-pie order, Imes intr)ducc' lilt- reader to the domestic life of the Russian Nobility (anal..t.:,:u.s to our landed cc': utry) in their country hmanes; shows thc working ''I' their local aml district municipalities, (!or even lItt.s.-ti;A, it scot ti. hat:; a IrUJIll stdr-troVerittllent after a lhshion); describes the op..i.ati4m of sertilrett. ant! the character of the serfs: besides giving frojeent glimpF.te, of the agricultural, manufacturing, and domestic econemy of the If ussien 18nd11rds. And though the author is delieient Literary art, he writes with the distinctness of a piell'essioeal scholer ; whilst, whatever may he his clerical or political prejudices, they ti not seem to have influenced his judgment. He :.1,pears to have taken it sound, sensilde. Englkh- like view of what passed before him : and the result of the whole is not very fitvonraidtt citing* to the strength and stability- of the Government, or to the general clwracter of the people. C'orruption is everywhere rife : the surf; are clearly, and part of the nobility are seemingly discontented, though on very different grounds; and the whole :-ystt•nt is only upheld by the personal energy of the

.

Sovereign tbr the time being. \I ith a toohsh, wedk, or cowardly Czar; ?Ir. VENABLE:" thinks that conspiracies amongst the nobility, and insurrections in the army and amongst the serfs, would most probably take place,—though without any well-defined object, or any means of erecting a new government on the ruins of the one they had overthrown. In such a state, he tbresces linnine follow- ing an anarchy or eNtensive misery and bloodshed. He therethre is fin• (.',■nerv;:rsnt in 1lttsr ia, perceiving; no m..ans of substituting a bt.tter state or things : nor. from his representation, do we, until aft,:r a very I mg period.

The pol-p,,,,e of (en- journey to Russitg was to pay some visits to the of his rate, who is it Russian. After reaching

St. Petersburg, in a vNo'.; from leaving London, and lingerintt. little in the capital, our t!'ri,t departed in July 1S:17 for krasnoc, a village al.;:nt .r'ttt South of S• t. Petersburg and I•50 miles short oc At this c.=tAt e or h• itt rather-ill-1W lie suijourited

FOlito limo; witoessiitg the daily economy of the house, observing the hal,its of the se its and their iwyle of life, and occasionally visit- ing the neighlywring gentry,--lifty, miles, over bad roads, being

the drive to a dinner-party. From Kra.S1100 VENAIII.ES and his Wire Went to l'ate,lav, where an uncle Wtlt; Governor, and where he saw a little of the pomp and etiquette of a provincial vice- ezar. His next visit, taking .Moscow in his way, was to a brother-in-law at liascazava, some 350 miles South of Moscow. Here he wintered ; cud saw the domestic life of a country gentle- man, and the gayeties of it provincial town. He also observed the was ill which county business (as we should call it) is trans- acted; tbr whieh he was favourably situated, his brother- in-law being a I\ larshal or representative of the nobility, and a member of the Board of t',z142ription—the great grievance of the serk Pere, from an elaborate account of the system, is a scene con- stantly occurring.

When the turn of the Crown peasants comes, three brothers perhaps enter

together, one of whom is to he selected. Thoy are accompanied by their Coker

and mother, nod their v. i ves and children, it' they have any ; tit 1,cing laid aside, for the three yoatc: men are stark The Board, after referring to the register, and Itearhes all that the men as Well as their father and mother have to outs' in their etteme, decide thrt it is justly the turn of this family to furnish a conscript. The three brothers are therelbre measured and examined, as in the ,e which 1 have describe]; mid the result we will suppose is, that

the eldest is tall ard altliy, but he has a wife and three or four children ; the

is *Ivrea on every side, for the members of the Board add their exhortations to the entreaties of his family, some bidding him be a good Christian and sacrifice binis,•If for his

relations, and others encouraging Inni with the promise of good. treatimmt ill the army. Att last, cotely overpowered, he musters up cott- Ta,e, bmself, ml cnsents toile tt soldier. 'The cm: frequently gives rise to most pitiable scenes, where married Iva or I t•,. AV:i1MVS or aged parents aro torn away from families of wbiek they ,:,-ere the:chief prop and stay. 'WORKING or co:7scntrrtox.

The dread tvIdelt the linssian peasant has of the cott..ript ion is not surpris- iw., \Olen the severity of Military service mud of nil i try 11vyipliae in tbis eo.untry is borne in mind ; and IvIten we remember how con pletely. every tie of fr.uay or adeetion ,....,Nored, every pro-hats hope and prospect destroyed, or the victims of this iron system. 10 fact, to make but a ,soldier is the 1111,t alarming and elf, et ual It ::ear ;;Ilielt a litH,11111 can hold out to the most Vivi nts and refry:1,1y t•i. it:us:outs; and the intlietIon this; dreaded punishment is Mid. tie 111C-4 iPrI•rri:"il/le characters.

reserved Mr t

i;libery :ye-roils to t; great extent in the business of the I.: afruitment !,:tve 41,1 characters, %rho are malt for soldiers. r.. rived; and ee;It•tipt, t, I„, , ptlying to be r,le.tted. Clerks art somelitin.s td•t,cted in 11 oot to a httinired roubles from poor fillt,ws for lion whirl' they li•tve to pow. r to givv; ir ,■Ver tailistir0. by SM:lierS t11,111,..1Ve,. The tiiiet or, t••,1, iu examittir, the c-olscript,,,, pot unfix•qtiontly 1%heli he 1 at their W.':n sik.r hat a „aattli,, • 0,1-, lie. of course, is lin ern to.. ,.:!u :n.: Ilo.• iron tit,.t, :•i. 110th. I-, not ttlw:iy, ,c !.,• p;;;,1, in th,o,:o!:,. and I!, the :,:t:•••,•,,ps to the Ilottul. t is said that the 111:e,•:I of. if he mar. •,:,,., (..!Car, 11.!, thl• UP.'

I• • Z.M1 ',it'll IN' " the c, e••••.• e,„ -.- eeive tli :1' : !:. are qui: ; t1 u••• I f•oitt tlie • tht: c, ,:t 1 t IL, 1,, •,1 the 1.••,•-or. '••• • ,v1 of I eing publicly Ittil en the t.,Itle of :.■ ■IH l'\'■• of a l'retddent kno•tot 1,, be i,teorrup• Id•••,,e1,1 to overlook the delinquencies and peculation:: of others.

There are some curious anecdotes of wolves and beers ; several descriptions of parties ; 0111 Various stories shotviml; the r...ettlittri- ties of Lucian soeiety,—wit the lcIra of which is its rt..st..rve nod want of conversation. All these, however, with a pretty full,. account of the serfs, we must pa's ; reserving the spae,..., at ou disposal for it subject of immediate interest, though only of an analogous bellying. upon the Corn-laws.

AtatICICLTERAL ECONO3IT IN RESSIA.

The f ot.otA day of our 1111111.011111e1:■: it 1110 Ire:tidier ; and I bad II driV.: With tit.' C.. :lent: iinCr I•r....II.titst in a low plot . Ion, to see a little of his es hit,. whiett l'.'••ristS govd lflul.citi,dv arable.

The :puss land Ill not Louse comparison n.ith crops of hay ob.,' rr.: fight, tilt-ugh thee are here considered p•rticularly laud this Vcar. T111` s11.11i, horlicit cattle, the live stock, aro :mall anti of a very inierior kind; but I. ant told that the expense of improving them by a mixture of foreign breeds, is Very mualt disproport haled to the profit Ileweby derived. The animals of every kihd. are net•essarily housed

at night.. VcIl ill SMIMter, on account of the or. very munerotts

and tri.ub:,•-•omy in this neighbourhood. In the the v.hote rock. goes out to fee I. :UM ronlaing during the day under the rote. ;or of a herd-num, whose badge of Ake is a whip, which Ii carries over his shotthito.. with a short ItaittlIe :mil II long hcayc las!, trailing f' r several f.. t alloys, t he gixtund lt, hind Vt'itit this...implement be soon reduces to ',JILT, :!•,.! t• A to t!...• held, any refi.oetory animal tvIdell is inclined to str,,y : th.. v :into- reit - 11ev, Lis ,••••:::nt tit temlamso . ... . ssory. There is no w...tet. and Hull. and sznatch and spruce tit., 'loth tint fuel and or,l'oiley OIL the which also contains lime and hrick.-earth.

rEry 11.11ZVE5T.

'Flue hay harvet:t. which 1.,..gan the :..i hIlc of July. r,) ond r: con: 1..:IrVCSt is nuov pr, reeding act ively. 'l he his bar- v, st ,o11,,,:s, tit, .:rums surface, in prorortioll It) .11, 1■1.0,111v, over wit:A I, 10 14,s,. 111.111!.;11 I am told !hut the tv•op, :L I, year were la !i.c.: I hoes, tie: :.• . Th, have It fl•W of hard dry ground, swept clean as a thrashing-floor. They dry their corn by fires in large open sheds built on purpose; but sad calamities are, as might be expected, the frequent result of this dangerous practice. All the agricultural implements in general use are rude in the extreme ; thepeasant's spade is mere paddle of wood, sometimes shod with iron, but more often not ; his plough is an ineffective instrument drawn by a weak pony, and his harrow merely con- sists of boughs fastened. together with the thin 'branches cut off a few inches from the base so as to form projecting teeth; his waggon does not contain three barrows' load, but it is certainly as much as his imserahle horse can draw. Every peasant is a petty farmer; and the uTetelted state of agriculture which exists is, I conceive, the nattual consequence of the system.