SOCIETY IN RUSSIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5292, 12 March 1878, Page 3

SOCIETY IN RUSSIA.

1 i (From the 'Pall Mall Gazette.)*, ■■ n 1 Russians are 'extrbmely- sensitive to ■ tlie ’ opinion of; foreigners ; and l this renders them amiable to" la I point’which.quite'charms aStranger ! dh histfirst arrival' 'in' the country. ! The' stranger’s S “Cohd impression! • formed ' at the end of a week or' two, is 1 that-there >is ’ a good 1 deal !of acting! inthe 1 society-mainfiers of 1 his hosts; ■■ his third; -which begins’ l to /shape itself tovlards the close 6t a 1 month; ;is f that s he haa heard'an uncommon /number ofuntruths. The humility with I which Russians'; affect to; speak of-the l backwardness. lot I their 'country covers! a'deep feeling of pride'in its strength; and, while they seem to.'invite criticism, they really resent’: it. This appears when a Ru’ssiamhas befcb'me sufficiently intimate with you to throw off the mask aind i challenge oompari- 1 sons i between ryour > country and his; then fhe brags of his 1 superiority with brutal bhintness. | His Czar is /popular ;' his .country- wonderfully - advanced; :i! considering " the : 1 drawbacks 1 of climate ; his army‘ is the largest and finest going; and the people-are religious ’and contented,! which' is more'than can-be said of those in other States which he has visited. - A 1 Russian’s - dislike f 6r! desjpotism, as expressed in; drawing-room’ conversations, comes chiefly fromithe fact that 1 despotism is unfashionable' abroad ; so that the advocacy of it ! seems ridiculous to dultavated'forCigriers. A'Russiania alsodfraid' that ■-hny- apology for autocracy 1 coming from his lip* might be construed into a . servile fear of his 1 masters ;- so that lie forces his'liberal uttferanoes'tfa’a f itch which is often extravagant. • In jiursuaheehf tlie : same spirit he T dabbles in conspiracies,! and would Join in a revolution without having- any clear end iu belief that he was discharging his duties as ah enlightened’ being according to Western notions. Fashion is the upper-brafi'Russian’sgedi and all hid efforts tend toshowstrangerstbatbeisoh alevelwith the latesttheories inpolitics, religion, and social ethics. He is the most difficult creature to instruct, because he professes to know everything; and, he 1 is hard to learn .from, because’he invents with unblushing effrontery.: A visitor in Russia must believe a tenth what be hears, and keep'his eyes about' him; then he soon comes to the conclusion that if Russians were what they affect to be their country would not be what it is. All that has been written for politico-sentimental purposes as to the llussiaa’s love of fair play is pleasant nonsense; for’ chivalry of conduct is . not compatible with the total absence of moral rectitude and. entire scepticism: rts' to the value of truth. - A Russian will talk ’ like a. Bayard, because he has learned to do so in books, and he will out of vanity do splendidly ostentatious things ; but he is impact with, the treachery of the Gi'eek and Tartar races ; and both in love and war will compass by stratagem what ha cannot win,by, might. ; As to humanitarianism, the kindness of, a : people may be pretty accurately gauged-by its treat-; ment of political, offenders ; and it'is, enough to say ou this head that no Russian seems to have any notion that punishment should be proportioned to. an offence. , , Tell, a boyard that you have seen prisoners who, have lain for, a couple of years in a foul gaol awaiting trial, and he will answer na(yely, that • they were “ accused of conspiracy,” as if the mere fact of their being under suspicion was a sufficient excuse for any indignity. ■or hardship that could be inflicted ou them,; There are plenty , of Russians who, in:-Nicholas’ reign, have seen women knouted . to‘death for seditious words ; but the recollection has left no such shocking impression on rtheir minds as it must have done if the sympathy which they claim to feel for the “ oppressed: Christians” were anything better than a mockery. ; Russian hospitality is dazzling. The entertainments which are given by the richest nobles in St, Petersburg excel anything, that can be seen elsewhere, because nowhere else can people afford to spend:so-mueh.upon show. The rich in Western States, have claims upon their fortunes, and;spend a good deal in improving their estates ; but a Russian draws all he can from his land, and gives back little or nothing. He disburses prodigally for wines, music, diamonds, and rich’dresses f° r his :wife; he keeps an immense , retinue of, servants ; gambles largely, /whatever may be his age or profession ; and,the surplus of his income goes to defrays journeys to Paris, Nice, and the German watering-places, where he seems to set his ambition 0,.u enriching hotelkeepers. Art' is but little patronised, : and it; may even be doubted whether Russians are so fond of music as they seem to be, for - the music one hears at concert?, and operas is always the newest, and for old there is no demand. •Gounod and Lococq are mentioned in the same breath, as if .they,, were composers of equal excellence ; and, during the ephemeral: craze for Wagner, Meyerbeer, and Mozart were alluded to as though their reign had I definitively vanished. No man catches the cant of passing Western fashion so fast as a Russian ; but he can seldom attune himself to foreign thought, so that all his tact in observing strangers does not save him from occasionally committing amusing blunders when he- talks of things about which ihe affects: to know much more than he really does. -In this respect the faultless accent of Russians in speaking foreign languages (which-comes from the multitude of consonances which/they have to ■ master in learning their owu) is apt to blind one to their ‘ ignorance Of the i spirit of ■ the tongues-which they prattle so well.: It Is their own fault if one remarks this; for if they were content to be and to seem Russians they might still claim 1 credit for being the best linguists in the world :’ it iis only because' they aspire to be thought “Parisiansof the North" that one is forced to! see that they have only’the outer varnish of their models. - However, Russians of the upper! classes are in general Very Well educated/ and if they; continued to instruct after leaving their! private tutors’they would bo; the most accomplished aristocracy in Europe. Unfortunately'; the young :boyard/ whose- attainments r at twentyexoite surprise and admiration, has learned nothing more at I thirty, and at forty has unlearned much, and settled into the grooves of official thought.' ..... * y’.a.y.

This rule is universal: there are scarcely any exceptions to it. Many a' young Russian who ;'has7heeh; admirably . brought.. up' ,af. home .by., ’ifreufch and German starts in life with; ardent hopes'iiud generous desires to aid in righting some of the. abuses which he sees ; but he is enrolled in tire Tschinn as an officer ,or civil servant, and soon learns that origi,‘njality of thought is'dangerous. If .he persist in airing crotchets of reform after his relatives have all .adjured him to keep quiet, St. Petersburg will become too hot to hold him, and his ultimate fate will be exile to the Caucasus, if not something worse. A man may be a frondeur in 'Russia so long as he confines himself to talking ; the instant he shows himself bent upon action, there is an end of him, socially speaking. . ! The strength of the German element in Russian government has much to do with the perpetuation ef this state of things; far’ if the genuine Muscovites had their country to themselves they 'could hardly command energy enough to rule it with an iron hand and prevent it from going to pieces. The Russian lias Oriental qualities as well as vices. He is good-humored 1 and indolent; he will not op- , press as a system, but only if he have an 'immediate interest in doing so; his vanity makes him dignified, and he will not brook much'snubbing; so that he .abandons all the posts .of official drudgery to the more patient plodding Germans, who will submit to anything, provided they can only force their way up slowly and surely. The number of Germans iu the Tschinn is .enormous, and, while they leave the brilliant show appointments to the - Russians, they fill all the situations where power in wielded covertly. The Ministers of State, ‘governors of provinces, and generals of division mre. Russians.;-, hut the permanent clerks of departments, the . governors’ secretaries, and the officers of the military staffs are mostly Germans ; consequently a man cannot assail an abuse without attacking a German, and .'bringing up. a. host of:the latter’s countrymen to the rescue. The consciousness of this induces many .Russians to speak of their Government as if it were a thing in which they had no part or parcel, .and it accounts for the number. of. conspiracies fomented by men ijvho profess loyalty to the Ozar, but declare themselves. to .be aiming, at the overthrow of fhe; official clique by, whom, their, monarch is held in bondage. .Of course these conspira- . Cies fail miserably, audit is only very guileless ' enthusiastawho could .expect them to succeed, considering. the power of...the police system which rests in German hands. The cautious old-stock Russians hold aloof from such things, and ,resign themselves to a trust in‘Providence, for the remedying, of,, such evils as they may individually deplore. Meanwhile the depravity of Russian society proceeds from . the enforced- idleness, of: its richest members. Being allowed no initiative in any matter of reform, political or social —afraid to act, afraid to disturb .anybody, confined, to intrigue or frivolous Courtduties— they . are. consumed with ennui, and seek in extravagance, licentiousness, and sensationalism a relief from the overpowering monotony of existence. - Nature has endowed many.;of them; with brilliant gifts, but Government compression dwarfs their moral growth, and, causes them to remain big children, whose >. only object is .toiamuse and be amused, to.,pose, and to evoke from foreigners, if not real admiration, at least wonder and benevolent flattery. ■ ; '