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

empire are, unquestionably, the men who least need pity in Russia.

The elegant costume of the peasants became him admirably. His light hair, gracefully parted, fell in silky ringlets on either side of the face, the form of which was a perfect oval. His large and powerful neck remained bare, owing to the locks being cut oft'

* The use of images is always forbidden to a certain point in the Greek church, in which, the true believers admit only those of a particular conventional style, covered with various gold and silver ornaments, under which the merit of the woik is entirely lost. — Note by the Author of the Travels.

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close behind; whilst a band, in the form of a diadem, was fastened across the white forehead of the young labourer, keeping his hair close and smooth on the crown of his head, which shone, in the sun, like a Christ of Guido.

He wore a species of shirt of finely-striped coloured stuif, cut close to the neck, with an opening at the side, only just large enough for the head to pass through, and which was fastened by two buttons, between the shoulder and collar-bone. This garb of the Russian peasant, which reminds one of the Greek tunic, falls outside the pantaloon, and conceals it above the knee. It wTould somewhat resemble the French blouse, if it were not so infinitely more graceful, both as regards the manner in which it is cut, and the unstudied taste with which it is worn. Fedor possessed a naturally-elegant figure, his movements were easy, his head, finely placed on shoulders modelled like those of ancient statues, would have naturally assumed the most noble bearing, but the young man held it almost always sunk upon his breast. A secret mental dejection was painted on his beautiful countenance. With a Grecian profile, eyes of a bright blue, but sparkling with youth and natural intelligence, a curled and haughty mouth (like those seen on ancient medals) surmounted with a small brightly-golden moustache; with a youth-fid beard of the same colour, short curled, silky, and already thick, though scarcely changed from the down of boyhood ; with the muscular power of the gladiator combined with the agility of the Spanish matador and the fair complexion of the north — with all these and every other external endowment that could render a man proud and self-confident, Fedor, humbled by an

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education superior to the rank he occupied in his country, and perhaps also by the instinct of his natural dignity, which contrasted with his abject condition, maintained almost always the posture of a condemned man, about to receive sentence.

He had adopted tins doleful attitude when nineteen years old, on the day that he underwent the punishment commanded by Thelenef, under the pretext that the young man—the foster-brother of his daughter, and hitherto his favourite, his spoiled child, had neglected to obey I know not what unimportant order. The real and serious motive for the barbarity, which was not the effect of a simple caprice, will be seen hereafter. Xenie imagined she had guessed the nature of the fault which had become so fatal to her brother. She imagined that Fedor was in love with Catharine, a young and handsome peasant girl who lived in the neighbourhood; and, as soon as the unfortunate young man had been cured of his wounds, which was not until after some weeks, for the punishment had been cruelly severe, she busied herself with repairing the evil, so far as lay in her power. She thought that the only means to achieve this would be to marry him to the young girl with whom she believed him smitten. No sooner had the project been announced by Xenie, than the hatred of Thelenef appeared to diminish. The marriage was brought about and celebrated in all haste, to the great satisfaction of Xenie, who believed that Fedor would lose in the happiness of the heart, his feelings of profound grief and resentment. She deceived herself; nothing could console her brother. She alone was aware of the bitter sense of shame with which he was overwhelmed;

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she was his confidant, although he had confided nothing to her, for he never once complained. Indeed, the treatment of which he had been the victim was a matter of such ordinary occurrence, that no one attached any importance to it: except himself and Xenie no one thought any thing about it.

He avoided, with an admirable instinct of pride, every tiling that could remind him of the degradation he had suffered; but he fled, involuntarily and with a shudder, whenever any of his comrades were about to be beaten; and he grew pale at the sight of a reed or a wand in a man's hand.

It should be repeated that he had commenced life too happily. Favoured by the steward, and, therefore, indulgently treated by all his superiors, envied by his comrades ; talked of as the most fortunate, as well as the most handsome among the men born

on the estate of Prince; idolised by his mother,

ennobled in his own estimation by the delicate and ingenuous friendship of the lovely Xenie, an angel who called him her brother, he had not been duly prepared for the hardships of his lot; and in one day he discovered all his misery. Thenceforward he viewed the obligations of his condition as unjust: lowered in the eyes of men, and yet more in his own, from the most happy he became in a moment the most wretched of beings. What should console him for so much happiness vanished for ever under the rod of the Russian lictor! Affection for a wife ! — could that restore the peace of this haughty slave ? — No ! his past happiness pursued him everywhere, and rendered Iris sense of shame the more insupportable. His sister Xenie believed she should render him again

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happy by procuring his marriage: he obeyed, but this compliance only served to increase his wretchedness; for the man who seeks to become virtuous by taking upon himself additional duties, does but lay open new sources of i·emorse.

The unhappy Fedor felt when it was too late, that, notwithstanding her friendship, Xenie had done nothing for him. Unable to bear life in the scenes that had witnessed his degradation, he abandoned his native village, his wife, and his guardian angel.

His wife felt herself humbled, but from another cause. A wife blushes for shame when her husband is not happy. Under this feeling she forebore telling him that she was enceinte. She did not wish to employ such a means for retaining near her, a husband to whose happiness she could not minister,

At length, after a year's absence, he returned. He

again beheld his mother and his wife, and found also

an infant in the cradle, a little angel who resembled

him, but who could not cure the sorrow which preyed

upon his heart. He remained motionless and silent

even before his sister Xenie, whom now he only

dared to call mademoiselle. **

Their noble forms, which, according to the saying of the nurse, had, as well as their characters, some traits of resemblance, shone in the morning sun among the scattered groups of animals, of whom they schemed the sovereigns. One might have imagined the picture, an Adam and Eve, painted by Albert Durer. Xenie was calm, though joyful; but the countenance of the young man betrayed violent emotions, ill-disguised under an affected impassibility.

Xenie, in spite „of her unerring womanly instinct,

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