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

148OPPOSITE OPINIONS ON THE

to draw the rough drafts of things, but also it prevents their proceeding far in any effort: genius is, in its nature, hardy as heroism ; it lives on liberty ; whilst fear and slavery have a reign and a sphere limited as mediocrity, of which they are the arms. The Russians, though good soldiers, are bad seamen ; in general, they are more resigned than reflective, more religious than philosophical; they have more instinct of obedience than will of their own; their thoughts lack a spring as their souls lack liberty. The task which is to them most difficult, and least natural, is seriously to occupy their minds and to fix their imaginations upon useful exercises. Ever children, they might nevertheless for a moment be conquerors in the realm of the sword; but they would never be so in that of thought: and a people who cannot teach any thing to those they conquer, cannot long be the most powerful.

" Even physically, the French and English are more robust than the Russians; the latter are more agile than muscular, more savage than energetic, more cunning than enterprising; they possess passive courage, but they want daring and perseverance. The army, so remarkable for its discipline and its appearance on days of parade, is composed, with the exception of a few elites corps, of men well clad when they show themselves in public, but slovenly and dirty so long as they remain in their barracks. The cadaverous complexions of the soldiers betray hunger and disease : the two campaigns in Turkey have sufficiently demonstrated the weakness of the giant. Finally, a community that has not tasted liberty at its birth, and in which all the great political crises have been