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And now a few words upon the istvostchik's other, if not better half, his horse :—

right-don't look about you-straight on-Hur- down, is liable to "flogging and fine." Whora! Juch!"'—Ibid. p. 89. ever drives over him, even without hurting These istvostchiks scarcely ever enter a him, is liable to "flogging, confiscation of house. Their own few wants are supplied the whole equipage, and Siberia." " A peby the bread, kvass, and tea sellers in the destrian, consequently, if he possess the restreets; hay for their horses is furnished bun. quisite nerve, will insolently cross the street dle-wise in the markets and shops; and the at a leisurely pace, through the most crowded nearest canal gives water. Speaking of the whirl of carriages. Take care,' shouts a great gaiety of this class, he says, that wher- driver, coming at full speed 'Take care of ever a number meet together, generally at yourself-Siberia, Istvostchik!' retorts the the corner of a street, all kinds of play, snow- pedestrian. balling, wrestling, and practical jokes go forward, till the 'Davai' of the pedestrian converts them in a moment into the most zealous rivals. It has a singular effect, he says, to hear the istvostchiks singing the songs which they learned in their native woods and steppes unconcernedly beneath the windows of the St. Petersburg palaces; and it is worthy of remark that on great public occasions, and in presence of the emperor and his untiring in the course, and playful and frisky nobles, the jokes, songs, and witticisms of the lower classes are indulged in with greater freedom than they would be with us. There can be no doubt that the Petersburg police is strict, annoying, and despotic; but in the first place it is not so in the degree, and secondly not in the manner, which we suppose.'

Nothing, he says, is more striking to a foreigner who at all mingles with the lower classes, than the delicate, biting, and ready wit they display on all occasions:

"The Russian horse, of which thousands may be seen in the Petersburg horse-market, is the truest representative of the nation. Like his master, neither very tall nor slender, but pliable and dexterous in his movements-wearing a long mane, as his master does a long beard-like him, tough in constitution, though delicate in formlazy in the stable, but active and willing in harness

with the hardest work-hardy as possible-caring neither for wind nor weather, heat nor cold, hunger nor thirst, and happier upon mouldy straw than his German brother upon golden oats: it must at the same time be admitted that, like his master also, he puts but little real ener gy into his labour, overcomes no difficulties which he cannot carry by storm, and sticks fast in the mud if the hill cannot be mounted at full

gallop. No one can say that a Russian uses his his temper, and spends more persuasions and cahorse cruelly: on the contrary, he rarely loses resses than menaces and blows upon him; but he tends him little, and indulges him less-just as little as he himself is tended and indulged by those under whose rein and curb he stands.'-Ib. p. 143.

"The merest boy and the lowest peasant is never at a loss for an answer; and in this respect offers a striking contrast to the awkward, embarrassed, and boorish manners of the GerSpeaking of the enormous consumption of man peasantry. The Russian detects in a brandy among the Russians, from the sturdy moment the weak side of another, and no one old fellow of a century's standing down to can with fewer words turn it to ridicule. If, on the one hand, there is no country where fewer his great-great-grandchild in the cradle, M. bons-mots are perpetrated than in our good Ger- Kohl remarks, that so entirely does it seem many, there is certainly none where they occur adapted to the constitution of the people that more frequently than in Russia. In the streets in no country does less drunkenness appearand market-places, no less than in the highest in no country are men healthier, stronger, society, a number of bons-mots, old and new, and with fewer bodily deformities-and in of Russian origin, are perpetually circulating.'no country do the inhabitants attain to such an Ibid. p. 167. enormous age with fewer attendant infirmiBut to return to the istvostchik. In spite ties. He then gives the following striking of the freedom of his life, he is subjected, like table of longevity. In the whole Russian every other being who mounts the box, pub-empire there die annually 20,000 men above lic or private, in the empire, to severe laws. 80 years of age (i. e. the third part of the In consequence of the universal rage for yearly obituary), 900 above 100 years of driving, and the reckless rate at which they age, 50 to 55 above 120 years old, 20 above indulge it, all the laws of the street and 130, 8 above 135; while, upon the average, chaussée tend to favour the pedestrian. two or three may be annually reckoned to "Whoever touches a foot-passenger with car-attain the age of 145 to 155, and upwards!' riage or horse, even without throwing him In this calculation only men are included,

The late Emperor Paul, and his son the present Grand Duke Michael, are celebrated for their

puns,

but the ladies appear to be no less tough. This extraordinary longevity he ascribes not so much to the simplicity of their diet and healthiness of their climate, as to the inher

ent strength and durability of the Russian- ART. V.-1. An Account of the ImproveSclavonic race.

3.

ments on the Estates of the Marquess of Stafford in the Counties of Stafford and Salop, and on the Estate of Sutherland; with Remarks. By James Loch, Esq. 8vo. London. 1820.

The New Statistical Account of Scotland. No. XXX. 8vo. Edinburgh and London. 1841.

Report from the Select Committee of Salmon Fisheries, Scotland; together with the Minutes of Evidence, Appendix, and Index. 1836.

The reader has by this time observed that M. Kohl is peculiarly fond of backing his assertions by incontrovertible figures, and accordingly we generally find his quaint little calculations introduced at the close of 2. some lively scene, like the painter's monogram at the corner of a picture. In this spirit he demonstrates that, reckoning the whole area of St. Petersburg, inclusive of the second stories of the houses, (few have more than two), at 600,000,000 square feet, there remains for each of its 500,000 inhabitantsman, woman, and child-no less a space WE resume, according to promise, a subthan 1200 square feet, or a square of 36 feet. ject which, dry as it may seem in some of Speaking also of the great manual dexter- its details, is one of paramount importity which characterizes the commonest Rus-ance, affecting most materially the gensian, he proposes, by way of experiment, to eral prosperity of the kingdom, and the take so many Russian peasants, and as many comfort of all classes. German, and give them each the contents of a glass shop to pack up and transport to a distance, in order, from the mean difference of breakage, to give to a fraction (as Captain Jesse would say) the respective dexterity of either nation.

Either from his not recognising in them any national qualities, or from the conviction that rogues are peculiar to no country, M. Kohl has devoted no particular attention to the Chinovniks: nevertheless, one little fable among a few he translates from Kruilloffdeservedly called the Esop of Russia-excellently illustrates their system of magnifying trifles and overlooking essentials:

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A Chinovnik, who had been looking through a museum of natural history, was giving a friend an account of what he had seen. "Such wonderful things!" he exclaimed; "birds of the most exquisite colours-foreign butterflies moths, gnats, and beetles of every possible colour-but so small! so small! you can hardly see them with the naked eye." "But what did you think of the great elephant and the enormous mammoth ?" asked his friend. phant ! mammoth! why, bless my heart, I nevEleer observed them at all!"'-Ibid. p. 168.

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The success of any scheme for enlarg ing the sphere of our fisheries must depend, as we observed, upon the steady demand for the article to be supplied, so as to secure the flow of skill and capital into the channels through which the supply is to be increased. And there is reason to believe that the demand for fish is becoming more general. During the past winter a very great portion of the food of the poorer classes of the metropolis was furnished from the sea. Sprats were never finer nor in greater abundance, and they were often sold in the streets at the rate of a halfpenny for as many as would fill a plate. Devonshire pilchards, cured dry, and looking most invitingly plump and silvery, were to be seen in the shops ticketed, four-pence a dozen.' Nor has the supply of other sorts been wanting. Haddocks, in particular, never were larger, better-fed, nor more plentiful. In our early walks through the by-ways of this great modern Babel-for he who would study the annals must go and see-we have not seldom of the poor with anything like success during this last season observed really good fresh fish, especially plaice, skate, and soles-better than falls to the lot of those who are rash enough to order fish humble dwellings, and there sold at very at some of the clubs-brought to very low prices; and few sights could have

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If the thing were not a national impossibility, one would say that the sharpest arrow of this sarcasm was levelled at the highest head in the empire, who, though quick enough to detect a straw's-breadth error, too often lets the gaunt form of public corruption stalk past him unperceived. But the given us more satisfaction. diadem of Russia is a galling crown—who shall envy it him?

With this parting thrust at the Chinovniks we must draw to a close-an extent of forbearance which none, without having read M. Kohl's book, can appreciate.

But in this paper we would beg the attention of our readers to the Scotch fish

eries, to the union of agriculture with fishing, and to the removal of the people from the inland to the maritime districts, where circumstances make such removal necessary. This last experiment has been

made on the northern estates of the Duke | felt for its inhabitants of all orders, as of Sutherland upon a great scale. was natural after a connection lost in the

That the coast of Sutherland abounded night of ages, during which her house with fish of different species, not only had enjoyed the support of their clanssufficient for the home consumption, but men and vassals in many a struggle and ready to yield a supply to any extent for danger. She had the spirit and heart of a more distant markets, or even for export- genuine chieftainess; and the name of the ation in a cured state, had long been Ban Mhoir-fhear Chattaibh-the Great known. Sir Robert Gordon, in his 'His- Lady of the Country of the Clan-Chattan tory of the Earldom of Sutherland,' thus-will be proudly and affectionately rewrites in 1630:

membered in the Highlands of Scotland, many a year after the graceful Countess and Duchess is forgotten in the courts and palaces of which she was for a long period one of the most brilliant ornaments. To her English alliance, however, her lasting fame in her own district will be mainly due. Her lord inherited one very great fortune in this part of the kingdom, and ultimately wielded the resources of another not less productive; and though, as Mr. Loch's book records, no English nobleman ever did more for the improvement of his English estates, he also entered with the warmest zeal into his lady's feelings as to her ancient heritage: he added to it, by purchase, various conside rable adjoining estates, which fell from time to time into the market, and finally, in 1829, one neighbouring mass of land, the whole estate or country of Lord Reay, which alone comprised not much less than 500,000 acres. It appears that from 1829 the whole northern territory of the Duke must have amounted to nearly, if not quite, 1,500,000 acres a single estate certainly not in these days equalled in the British empire, and this in the hands of the same peer who enjoyed also the English estates of the Gowers and the Levesons, with the canal property of the Bridgewaters. It was in consequence of the Scotch estates being connected with. this command of English capital, that those northern regions have been, within living memory, advanced in productiveness beyond, we may safely say, any other example that could be pointed out in the history of British territorial administraThe estate attached to the earldom of tion; but no command of capital could Sutherland (one of the oldest dignities in have insured results so beneficial to this empire) was supposed, at the time the Sutherland family without inflicting when the late Countess married Lord terrible evils on the mass of the popula Gower, afterwards Marquis of Stafford, tion, unless there had been a most rare and finally created Duke of Sutherland, to combination of prudence and courage, comprise no less than 800,000 acres-a with generosity and tenderness, in the vast possession, but from which its own conduct of the affair. No woman, in all ers had never derived more than a very likelihood, could ever have had nerves for small revenue. The Countess, a woman the deliberate adherence to a fixed purof remarkable talents, was enthusiastically pose, in spite of clamour and prejudice attached to her ancestral district; and from without, such as alone sufficed for

The country is fitter for pasturage and store than for cornes, by reason there is little manured land there. The principal commodities of Strathnaver are cattle and fishing, not only salmond (whereof they have great store) but also they have abundance of other kynd of fishes in the ocean, that they apprehend great numbers of all sorts at their verie doores; yea, in the winter seasone, among the rocks, without much trouble, they take and apprehend every day so much fish onlie as will suffice them for the tyme, and do care for no great provision or store. If the inhabitants were industrious, they might gane much by these fishes, but the people of that country are so far naturallie given to idleness, that they cannot applie themselves to labour, which they esteem a disparagement and derogation unto their gentilitie. There is no doubt but that country might be much bettered by laborious and painfull inhabitants.'

The candid manager and historian of the recent experiment states that though these observations are applied by Sir Robert exclusively to the inhabitants of Strathnaver, they are equally true of the whole country, except that the people on the Moray Firth never made any exertion of any sort to avail themselves of those supplies which the ocean conveyed to their very thresholds. (Loch, p. 72.)

This disdain of labour, exquisitely portrayed in Rob Roy's dignified contempt for weavers and spinners, presented a formidable obstacle to those who felt that it was become a matter of necessity to bring the people to industrious habits. But let as take a glance at the theatre of the experiment.

the successful accomplishment of the Sutherland experiment; for it involved the alteration of the whole business and habits of a great Highland population, removing them from their accustomed hills in the interior, and converting them into agriculturists and fishermen, or both com bined, upon the coast; and there was no region of the North in which, down to the date of this experiment, the old feelings and customs seemed to be more firmly rooted, than throughout this then savage and poverty-stricken wilderness of mountain, lake, and morass.

was, in the first place, to render this mountainous district contributory, as far as it was possi ble, to the general wealth and industry of the country, and in the manner most suitable to its situation and peculiar circumstances; this was to be effected by making it produce a large supply of wool for the staple manufactory of England, while, at the same time, it would support as numerous and a far more laborious and useful population than it hitherto had done at inhabitants of those districts to habits of regular home: and, in the second place, to convert the and continued industry, and to enable them to bring to market a very considerable surplus quantity of provisions for the supply of the large towns in the southern parts of the island, or for the purpose of exportation. A policy well calculated to raise the importance and increase the happiness of the individuals themselves who were the objects of the change, to benefit those to whom these extensive but hitherto unproductive possessions belonged, and to promote the general prosperity of the nation. Such was the system which was adopted. In carrying it into effect, every care was taken to explain the object proposed to be accomplished to those them the ultimate advantages that would ne who were to be removed, and to point out to cessarily accrue to them from their completion.

Those who had to temper the perfervidum ingenium of such a race, and to lead it to arts of industry and peace, had no easy task to perform. Perversion and misrepresentation eagerly availed themselves of the interest with which the most popular author of our time had invested the Highlanders-a people whose alteration of condition and manners could not indeed be viewed without natural regret even by those who felt that the change was for the advantage of the individual and the general prosperity of the country. The most unfounded and unwarrantable statements were put forth to create a prejudice against the improvements in this district, and in some small degree they succeeded. These efforts, however, were wisely left to time, for though the people are liable to be led away for a period by artful and designing agitators, who thrive upon their gullibility, and leave them to bear the consequences of any outbreak, the said people have, in the main, a shrewd notion of their own interest; and fortunately for society, the spread of edu- If, upon one occasion, in the earlier years of cation and the diffusion of sound know- these arrangements, a momentary feeling of a ledge is rendering the demagogue's contrary nature was exhibited, it arose entirely noisy hate' more powerless every day. from the misconduct of persons whose duty it The improvements went on, through evil was to have recommended and enforced obe dience to the laws, in place of infusing into the report and good report, guided by Mr. minds of the people feelings of a contrary Loch, and supported by the calm, cool description. As soon, however, as the interjudgment and unflinching justice of the ference of these persons was withdrawn, the late Duke of Sutherland; and the result poor people returned to their usual state of quiethas been a large addition not only to the ness and repose. All the statements giving a revenues of the noble family, but to the different account of their conduct are absolutely sum of human comfort and happiness. false, and a libel upon their conduct and charac ter.'-Loch, p. 75.

'It was distinctly admitted, that it was not to be expected that the people would be immediately reconciled to them. Such was to expect But it more than it was possible to hope for. was represented that, if this was so fully felt, have been strongly and conscientiously impressand so clearly admitted, the landlords must ed with the necessity and propriety of the measures adopted, as tending directly to the happiness of those placed under their protection. These representations had the desired effect, and nothing can deserve more to be applauded original habitations; for, although they left than the conduct of the people on quitting their them with much regret, they did so in the most quiet, orderly and peaceable manner.

'It seemed,' said Mr. Loch, as if it had been pointed out by nature, that the system for this remote district, in order that it might bear its suitable importance in contributing its share to the general stock of the country, was to convert the mountainous districts into sheep-walks, and to remove the inhabitants to the coast or to the valleys near the sea.

It will be seen that the object to be obtained by this arrangement was two-fold: it

This is great praise. Nowhere is the love of country more ardent than in a Scotchman's bosom; his heart warms at the sight of the tartan. Is it to be wondered at that the Highlander should have felt this uprooting severely, or that when the plough-share passed over the site of the cottage of his sires, the iron entered into his soul-that he, with all his manhood,

'Every pleasure past, Hung round the bowers, and fondly look'd his last, And shudd'ring still to face the distant deep, Return'd and wept, and still return'd to weep? But, in truth, the misery to which the old system led was hideous-and would soon have become intolerable.

'These arrangements commenced in 1807, and have been carried on from that period, as the different tacks expired, and afforded an opportunity of doing so; bad years and the failure of crops continuing to produce the same miserable effects they had constantly occasioned to that portion of the population which still continued to reside among the mountains. This calamity fell with great severity upon them in the seasons of 1812-13 and 1816-17.

'1. The whole of the population of Strathnaver, from Altnaharrow to Invernaver, with a small exception, have been settled on the sea-shore, extending from the mouth of the Naver to the boundary of the estate near Bighouse. They are settled in small towns as near to the various creeks as it was possible to arrange. These people are in general of most excellent character, and have begun to cultivate their lots with much industry. Many of them, having been accustomed to the herring-fishery, have with great boldness taken to catch cod and ling, under the guidance of the fishermen of Armadale and Portskerra. These latter had been removed some years previous to this period, by the former proprietor of this estate, from whom it was purchased by Lord Stafford in 1812. They have become as expert boatmen as any in the world. This example tempted many young men who had never been before at sea to engage, with success, in this daring occupation.

'During the latter period they suffered the extreme of want and of human misery, notwithstanding every aid that could be given to them through the bounty of their landlords. Their 2. The people of the Strath of Kildonan, and wretchedness was so great, that after pawning of the other valleys connected with Strath everything to the fishermen on the coast, such Helmsdale, are settled on the coast near to the as had no cattle were reduced to come down thriving village of Helmsdale, with the exception from the hills in hundreds for the purpose of of those people who have emigrated from the gathering cockles on the shore. Those who heights into Caithness. lived in the more remote situations of the country 3. The people of Strathbrora, and such of were obliged to subsist upon broth made of those of the parish of Loth as were moved, have nettles, thickened with a little oatmeal. Those been fixed upon lots in the vicinity of Brora, who had cattle had recourse to the still more where a harbour with every convenience for wretched expedient of bleeding them and mix- carrying on an extensive fishery had been coning the blood with oatmeal, which they afterwards cut into slices and fried. Those who had a little money came down and slept all night upon the beach in order to watch the boats returning from the fishing, that they might be in time to obtain a part of what had been caught. . . . . In order to alleviate this misery every exertion was made by Lord Stafford. To those who had cattle he advanced money to the amount of above three thousand pounds. To supply those who had no cattle he sent meal into the country to the amount of nearly nine thousand pounds. Besides which Lady Stafford distributed money to each parish on the estate.'-p. 76.

This was princely; and we are happy to be able to add from the best authority, that no relief of the sort has since been required. Similar means were taken by Lord Reay to alleviate the distresses of his people. But now mark :- '

structed. From vicinity, besides, to the coal and salt works, and being in the centre of the great agricultural improvements, these people have the means of constant and immediate employment, whether they become fishermen or not.

4. In Assynt the lots for the removed people have been placed along the shores between Rhustore and Loch Inver, amidst a population brought up to fishing within the last fifteen years, and in one of the best situations for the prosecution of that occupation in the west Highlands of Scotland. This extensive barony has, with the exception of the small districts of Knockin and Elphin, been arranged.'—p. 99.

Mr. Loch's volume was published in 1820. Let us now see what the state of things is after the lapse of another score of years. That there should be partial failures in so widely spread an experiment was perhaps inevitable. 'While such was the distress of those who Thus, in Clyne, the people have taken less to still remained among the hills, it was hardly felt the sea than was expected, probably from being by those who had been settled upon the coast. rather too much up the firth: they annually Their new occupation as fishermen rendered send hands to Helmsdale and Caithness, and them not only independent of that which pro a few boats; but the deep-sea fishing they as duced the misery of their neighbours, but enabled them at the same time in some degree to become yet eschew. Their lots, however, are capitally contributors towards their support, both by the cultivated, and they have done wonders in fish they were able to sell to them and also by bringing the muirland into culture, largely takthe regular payment of their rents; while it ing advantage of the supply of sea-weed. But need hardly be stated that these wretched in Loth the experiment has succeeded to the sufferers not only required to be relieved, but utmost. Here all are herring fishers-many, failed entirely in the payment of what they owed the landlord.'-p. 78.

The result of the arrangements, down to 1820, is thus stated:

deep-sea fishers-and the Leith and Dundee curers have left, or are leaving, the thriving town of Helmsdale-their place being supplied by the sons of those brought from the hills, who,

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