The election of the Marshals is by ballot. In case of the Grand-Marshal being ill, or from any other cause incapacitated from attending to his duties, the Marshal of the district in which the government town is situated supplies his place ad interim. The functions of the Assembly are very narrowly limited, and the discussion in it of political questions is altogether prohibited. Its existence, nevertheless, may possibly hereafter prove the germ of freer institutions. Its powers may be developed, and the habit thus acquired of electing representatives and of discussing public questions may be extended to the purposes of legislation and government.

We have just received accounts of the Emperor having been in great danger from the overturning of his carriage, near Tifflis, in Georgia. Considering the pace at which he insists upon being driven, and the roads over which he travels, it is surprising he does not more frequently meet with accidents. Nor is this the first which has befallen him. Two years ago he was overturned, and broke his collar-bone. Indeed he is very generally blamed for the manner in which in his frequent journeys he risks his life, considering how valuable that life is to the preservation of internal peace and tranquillity in Russia. No one can foresee the result should any unfortunate accident place his successor, while as yet young and inexperienced, on the imperial throne; but Nicholas himself has a character and a prestige which smothers rebellion, and at least silences disaffection.

The accident which has just occurred happened as follows, At Tifflis, the master of police put the horses belonging to the fire-engines to the Emperor's carriage. These, being highcouraged animals, unlike the ordinary posters, were not easy to manage; and, unfortunately, an istvostchik who was not used to the horses was put on the box, in place of the man who usually had the charge of them, but whom it was contrary to certain regulations to employ on this occasion because he was a soldier.

In descending a steep mountain by a zigzag road overhanging a precipice, the wheel not having been locked, the horses refused to hold, and broke into a gallop; and at length, at a corner, the leaders, instead of taking the proper turn,

jumped over the low parapet, against which the calêche was dashed and was upset with violence, the front part of it being knocked to pieces. The Cossack soldiers who were escorting the Emperor immediately cut the traces, and the leaders fell down the precipice, the postilion fortunately escaping uninjured. Count Orloff, the Imperial aide-de-camp, was thrown out of the carriage, and had his shoulder dislocated. The Emperor fell over him, and was received in the arms of the ⚫ officer of Cossacks, to whom, seeing he was much alarmed, he said, "Don't be frightened, I am not hurt." He then shook himself to ascertain the fact, crossed himself, and thanked God for having preserved him, and presently mounted a horse, and rode fifteen miles to the next station, where he got another carriage, and proceeded on his journey. He travels at the rate of from fifteen to eighteen miles an hour, being preceded by an avant-courier, so that he finds horses always waiting, and the time which he allows for changing is but two minutes. It is said that the Emperor went into Georgia on the present occasion for the especial purpose of rectifying certain abuses and acts of tyranny which had been reported to him. The result of his visit was, that justice was done, and the delinquent officers were punished. Among others the colonel of a regiment and son-in-law to the Governor of Tifflis was convicted of numerous acts of cruelty and malversation. The Emperor ordered his epaulettes to be stripped off; and seeing that every one hesitated to obey his orders, he tore them off with his own hands, and then he presented them, as a symbol of promotion, to the governor's son, expressing a hope that the new colonel would do them credit. That the sovereign should thus with his own hand execute his own sentence is not quite in accordance with our ideas of dignity; but in Russian eyes such an act would doubtless tell; and we hear that the Emperor has acquired much popularity in Georgia by his prompt but just severity.

He has incurred perils by sea as well as by land during this autumn; for in one of his late excursions on the Black Sea, his steam-vessel was nearly driven on shore, and was in considerable danger in a storm. On landing, his Majesty was received by the Empress and his family; but he had hardly

stepped on shore before a girl in Tartar attire pressed forward, and, kneeling down, presented a petition to the Emperor. He was very angry at the intrusion, and bade the girl begone, and not interrupt him at the moment of his restoration to his wife and children. She lingered, however, and said, "But, Sire, the Tartars too are your children." Nicholas then looked at her more attentively, and saw that the petitioner was no other than his own daughter, the Grand Duchess Mary, who is said to be his favourite child.*

A portrait of the Grand Duchess, in the Tartar costume, was afterwards painted and presented by her to her father on his name-day.

LETTER XI.

Country life in Russia Scarcity of books-Want of country amusements -Want of independence - Law of inheritance Relative position of master and serf - Description of a country place - Furniture and interior arrangements Nature of property-Management of peasants - Their characters and habits-Fasts - Manufactories established by landed proprietors - Versatility of the Russians - Apprenticing children Household industry - Domestic discipline - Anecdote.

Rascazava, November 14th, 1837.

As we are now leading a life not very fertile in incidents, I may perhaps interest you by a few remarks and observations on the social habits and character of the Russians, and on the relative positions of various ranks and classes, beginning with the nobles or landed gentry.

Few Russians of this class spend the winter in the country if they can avoid it, for to be there when the ground is covered with snow, and all out-door occupations and amusements fail, implies absolute banishment from the civilized world; for society, which then becomes doubly requisite, becomes at the same time unattainable. To some the want of this enjoyment may perhaps be supplied by books, but in general the Russians are not a literary people, and those who have a taste for reading have but scanty means of gratifying it, especially at a distance from Petersburg. Russian literature is, I am assured, daily improving; but still it is admitted on all hands that those whose reading is limited to this language must be contented with a very moderate amount of general information. Although, however, this defect is in a great measure remedied by the universal knowledge of French possessed by the upper classes, added to a very general acquaintance with the German, and even to a certain extent with the English language, yet books are dear; and there are none of the arrangements which in England bring them more or less within the reach of all who are sufficiently educated to profit by them.

The censorship, moreover, presses with a dead weight upon literature, by the number of publications which it prohibits or mutilates; many of which are those which would tend most to open the minds of the people, but which the government for that very reason excludes. Newspapers, though they are not umerous, are indeed to be seen in every house; but all poitical speculations, all remarks on acts of the government, all discussions as to the qualifications of public officers, or as to the results and tendencies of public events, are rigidly prohibited; while a great deal of information as to what is actually passing in the world is carefully suppressed. These journals, herefore, contain little beyond a meagre summary of scanty news; a notification of officers who have received decorations, promotions, or appointments; an imperial ukase or ordinance; and an account of the movements of the Emperor or Empress.

It is not surprising, then, that a taste for reading should, in ordinary cases, be checked, since the field of literature is so much confined, and since a large class of subjects, including those of most general and exciting interest, are carefully excluded from discussion.

However, without dwelling further on this subject, solitude must have more than her ordinary charms to make any one voluntarily choose to spend in the country the long and dreary winter of this climate.

The Russian, therefore, considers his country-place merely as a summer residence, and even then he very commonly regards it as an absolute retirement, where he enjoys little society even among his neighbours, and into which a stranger can seldom be expected to penetrate. Town he looks upon as the scene of all pleasure and refinement, and he therefore takes comparatively few pains to render his country-house enjoyable or luxurious. He has no country amusements to tempt guests to his house, for few Russians have any taste for field-sports.. Neither has he any higher inducements to attach him to his estate. He has not many public duties to perform, he possesses little influence beyond his absolute authority over his serfs, and he feels little pride in his inheritance. The Russian has in truth no independent position of his own, being almost entirely what it pleases the Emperor to make him.