Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

RUSSIAN AVERSION TO INNOVATIONS. 237

innovations which he sought to make in the.culture of their lands.

The people of this country have an aversion for every thing that is not Russian. I often hear it repeated, that they will some day rise from one end of the empire to the other upon the men without a beard, and destroy them all. It is by the beard that the Russians know each other. In the eyes of the peasants, a Russian with a shaved chin is a traitor, who has sold himself to foreigners, and who deserves to share their fate. But what will be the punish-ment inflicted by the survivors iipon the aiithors of these Muscovite Vespers ? All Russia cannot be sent to Siberia. Villages may be transported, but it would be difficult to exile provinces. It is worthy of remark, that this kind of punishment strikes the peasants without hurting them. A Russian recognises his country wherever long winters reign : snow has always the same aspect; the winding-sheet of the earth is every where eqiially white, whether its thickness be six inches or six feet; so that, if they only allow him to re-construct his cabin and his sledge, the Russian finds himself at home to whatever spot he may be exiled. In the deserts of the north it eosts little to make a country. To the man who has never seen any thing but icy plains scattered with stunted trees, every cold and desert land represents his native soil. Besides, the inhabitants of these latitudes arc always inclined to quit the place of their birth.

Scenes of disorder are multiplying in the country: every day I hear of some new crime : but, by the time it is made public, it has already become ancient, which tends to weaken its impressiveness, especially