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Leader (1850-1860), 9th September 1854, Edition Town of 2, Page 856, Untitled Article

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      langer thejir title to govern in their own country—nothing which can convict their aristocracy out of their own mouths of permitting the exercise of ; he most infamous oppression and cruelty towards those who are placed under them . If-we-want to have the simplest and most incontrovertible evidence of the insensibility of Russian society to its own corruption and barbarism , the permitted p ublication of this one book in Russia would be amply sufficient to afford it . In order that there may be no suspicion that we are exaggerating the nature of the disclosures contained in the volume now under our notice , we will not offer here any abstract of its contents , couched in our own language , but will offer -to our readers , instead , one extract from the book , translated from the pages before us- In order to insure the full understanding of the , scene which we are about to present , i t may be necessary to premise , that the " Seigneur Kusse" writes in the autobiographical form . He is supposed to be out on one of his sporting expeditions , -when he beholds the scene which w / e are about to extract . Haying spent the night at the house of a ^ reat Russian landholder , named Arcadi Tavlytch , he goes out the next morning with his host , with his host ' s submissive and highly-favoured Bailiff , " Sophron , " and with two of Sophron ' s underlings , to view the property , and tp make Bis own observations upon the condition of the serfs who cultivate it . The scene then proceeds in , the following manner : —

      , " On our return , to the village , the bailiff took us to s « e a Winnowing Mill recently brought fcoia Moscow ; This Mill was set at work with great facility undei our own eyes . However ^ if Soj&ro ' n could have foreseen the unpleasant exposure which awaited him and his roaster at thisspot , he Wonld certainly haredeprived u § of a sight ofthe winnowing mill . ' * This is what took place when . y ? e left- the shed in which the machine -was placed . A * F ^^ . Tjaces-from the door , near a pool in wLlch ; someducks were enjoyingthemselves , stood tyro peasants--o > ne an old man pfseventV , tlie other , a lad of twenty- ^ -bi > th clothed in patch . , work _ snirts , with rp ^ es for gurdles , and having their feet naked . * - * * " ' Areadi Paylytch knitJns brows , lit his -lip , and -walked straight up to tKem . The tvro peasants tnr . e % ^ them'"'¦ : "' ' ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ " ~ ¦ '

      selves , athisftet . , . , . :.: . . - ^ U ,- ^ . . Ai . > : . ; •;• . : . . ; ; ^ ' . - . * ' 4 » ' " What do youwant ? , Speaki' said hej in a severe voice . ' . ' " ¦ 'VThe ^ poqr people exchanged glances , and could not utter a word . Their eyelids quivered , as . U , their sight ; ^ ere dazzled . ; and their Wea thing quickened . , ' Well , wha . t is it ? ' continued Areadi , turning towards Sopiirou . ' What fainily are luey . ? : . ¦ . ¦ : ¦' . ¦¦¦ , ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ' ¦ : ; '¦ " ¦ V '¦ . v- ' '¦¦ ¦ v . • " ¦ ¦ ¦ " . ' ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - \ ,. ^ 'The Toboleief family , * replied the bailing composedly . ¦ -. . " ^ Wfaat do you want ? ftave you lost your tongues ? Speak , you who are the oldest of the two , continued Areadi , turning towards the aged peasant . ' Don ' t he afraid , you * 001-i ¦ ¦ . . '"¦ ''¦ ¦'¦ - ¦ "' ¦ .-... '¦ ¦ . ' ¦ ¦"' . ¦ .- ' ' . . . ¦ . ' ¦ ' -- ¦ " ¦ ' . " " . ¦ ¦ ¦"¦ ¦ .. ¦¦'¦ . '

      •• . . / . ' * The old man bent forward Ms bronzed ? ind wrinkled neck ; his tliiclc , bluish , lips parted , £ an 4 ; bebega ¦ ^ , ^ uaa tre ¦ muloas .. > . picB ¦ : ^ Help ;• us , ¦ Ipy . lord ¦ ! 'J \ i 'tHe ^ r <» pjed 6 n . his kneeis , arid laid his forehead on the earth . The young man imitated : hiin .- Areadi looked down on them , and repeated : — ' What do yon want ? What have you ! gQfc , ta cpmplaini > of ?' . ' Pity ns , nny lord ! 'give ns time to breathe ! "We axe so hardly treated ; we——' ., ., ' *^ Who-treats you hardly ? ¦ ; -:. , ' ? VSophrOn ,-the Baflifi ; ' , , " * f « Your names ? ' said Areadi , after a moment's silence . ¦'; . < ¦ : * . '¦ AAnthippe . i ray . lord ; andthisismy sonl' . "AWelll g _ 6 on 1 Why do ^ 't you say how Sophron has treated you hardly ? ' continued Areadi , twirling his moustachio . , r :.. ^ . iH ^ y Ifixiyi answ . ered . the old . man , 1 he has , utterly despoilod and ruined us . He has . tt » ken away , against all mle , two . of my sons for the army ,, and now he is going to deprive , me of my third . ; Only yesterday he took my last cow fromme -, and his son has beaten my

      Wye . . Qh , hiyjord , don ' t let usbe entirely crushed down by him !' ¦ * ' Areadi looked embarrassed . He asked the bailiff , with a discontented air , what he had to say , to these allegations . -. -i } . SThe man is a drunkard , sir , ' replied the bailiff , with assurance ; ' a drunkard and a skulker . He does no work , and he has not paid up his arrears of rent for the last live { years . ' :. . .. ¦ .,. ; . .. ¦ . . , ' .. ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ " ' Sophron lias taken tlie payment on himself my lord , ' said the old man ; ' and in consequence he keeps me in pawn for it . I ana his slave , his ' ** ' That' does not inform' me where the arrears of rent are to-come from , said Areadi , sharply . ; fTtoo old man ' s head dropped . ) ' You ' ve taken to . drinking and hanging about ^ i « . pwbHo-houseis r have you ? ' ( The old man opened his month to explain . ) 'I know you ! ' interrupted Areadi ; ' you will drink and snore by the fireside all day long ; and the

      . jtfdustnous peasant has to make amends for your idleness- —r- ' ¦ "' And , what ' s more , he 5 s as brutally-behaved a fellow as ever lived , ' added the bailiffpaying no attention to hia own behaviou * in interrupting his master . . . i " t Brutal , of course , ' pursued Areadi . ' 1 have always observed it * . Follows who drin | t : and ; skulk all the . year roand are invariably foreinoat 4 n ^ wk'PS complaints . ' . '' ,. ' For QocL s sake , sir , ' cried the old man in tones of the bitterest despair , ' grant us some 'help ;! * I swepr to you that oiir very menus of living have been taken away from us . Your i fcaUiffh . ere had got some grudge against mo—I can't tell what . H « has persecuted , crushed me down , ' ruined mo !• ¦ Look at this last son loft to me , and for God'a sake help us !' i ¦ * M We ata wot the only poor people whom he has ruined ' , added the younger peasant . , . " Arcadifixcd up at hearing theso words from the poor lad who had been silent until this moment . .

      " Who aslced you anything P' ho said . ' How dare you spenlc wh ' on yon aro not spokon to ? What do you mean by it ? Hold your tonguo ! hold your ton ruo directly !—Damme \ ¦ if I don't think you'ro trying to get up a , rebellion among you I V 3 \ toacU ypu to mutter nnd grumble here ! I'll . ' . . , , . " Areadi Biopped speaking nnd advancod a etop or two threateningly—tticn controlled himself suddenly , apparently remembering tlmt 1 was proson ' t nil this time , 5 n tho position t > f bno of his guests . Ho crammed his hands into , his pockets , i \ u < 3 turning away said to me intrench , I ought to apologise for nil this botheration , my deav follow . However ,, it is only IJje baij Bido of" tho picture which lins accidentally turned upporanost just now I' Ho thon continued In Ruswitm , addressing the two ponsants . but nob looking at thorni —•• There I thnt ¦ will do . I tslmll settle this business aa I think right . Bo off with youj ( The peasant ^ did not movo , _) » Did you hear inq say that I should do as I plensed about tuia ?—Oorno 1 Do ofJF , y both of you ? 1 " Ho tuvn « d his back on them , muttering ' Nothing but bofchoration with those people I — then walked away , follo-woA by tho bailiff . . . . Tho peasants , « ftor n moment or two of

      'oowildermont , turned off towards thoir hut , without onco looking back after their lord and . jrna 3 ter . Two hours later , 1 departed for Kenbof j % nd there , taking for my attendant a peasant whom I know , nrnmed AnptuHato , I made up my iniml to onjoy n good day ' s sporting at lust . . , . " WhJlo wo vvoro on tho road , 1 inquiro *! if my companion J-cnew anything of Arcadi ' a bailiff , Soplnon . M Know him ? ' annworcd my nttondnut . ' I know him only too well I Ho managoa Im xnaster ' s cstato as ho plensos , anil trotita tbo ponsunts on it juBt as ho Hkos . Ho baa eontriveil to nmko them run in dobt to him , Ho holds thorn nil at bin own disposal—makes thorn work an l » o likes—grinil- * them down jubt an lio pIohhuh . ' " ' Why don ' t tho poasnnts expose his viimny to their lord ? ' I asked . " Aa long n « thoir lord gcta bin rents paid punctually , ho euros for nothing olao . If they < lld complain to him Jio ¦ would only toll thorn to hold . tlieir tonga oh , or they would got thu Ararat of . it , just as others liuvo got tl » o wornt of it b ' ufuro them . ' , fl Hearing this , I nifiutionod tiiu scene wliiuh I Un « . l witnossad enrly that morning . " ' There la no hopo ^ or tho old jna n , «« id Anpndlsto : ' Soplwon lins dotcrminou to ruin him . Five or nix years ago they ditmgroed about aomo trifle , nnd had a few worda together Tiofore Bomu of tho othor uorfs . Tho bailiff romomborod thoso words , and h « s been making two old man , suffer for them oyor fllnco , gophron knowo hifl liclplosBtiitB » , an 4 lias ^ n |; p

      advantage of it . He began by persecuting the poor wretch aboi ; t money—lie will end by ) reaking his heart . -His two eldest sons have been sent to the army , out of fheir turn--but I suppose they told you all about that this morning . ' "We said no more , but loaded our guns , and looked out for game . " Such is one passage in this painful and striking book , taken from , it almost at random . We have abridged , or left out , certain redundancies in which the author is far too prone to indulge , but have not exaggerated a single word in making the translation presented above . There are other scenes in the volume which are not painted in such dark colours . Sometimes the saddest portion of these revelations are dismissed briefly— sometimes they atfe treated -with a grim irony in wMch the author excels . Occasionally the whimsical and grotesque aspects of the tyranny of the upper classes , and the dogged endurance of . the lower , are presented by way of variety . We

      have one chapter about a prudish old maid mistress , who forbids her serfs to marry on principle ; and another chapter about a female autocrat on a small scale , who promulgates all her orders in the form of ukases , and gets cheated systematically by the bailiff , secretaries , and other privileged " middle men " who are placed officially midwav between the lady , and the lady ' s serfs . Now and then the exceptional cases in -which the peasant is blessed with a moderate master ^ , and contrives to enjoy some little independence and happiness by his own fireside , are stated wi $ perfect candour and fairness . But , however the treatment may vary , the subject matter remains throughout virtually always the same . Oppressio !* on the part of the rich , and suffering on . the part of the poor , make up theistaple commodity— variousl y enough presented to the reader— ^ -wrhich fills the four hundred closely-printed pages of

      tftis book .. . People who choose to look at it critically nuay find % clumsily constructed ^ and , in many places , tediously writteni People who can make allowances for literary defects , and , whp are anxipus before all things ^ to get at ; tr , us | wprthy evidence qn the subject of tlie social secrets of Eussian life , will find such- evidence . in these pages , and will , we believe , risa from tbe perusal of '" .-the ' in . with as just an estiiaate ^^ as strangers , under present circi instahqes , can Well hope -to form from ^ ooks only , of the naisgoverrted empire ^ nd'the ^ miserable ^ peop ie'w CQXikl add , in conclusion ; that an English ^ tfanslatian of these Memoires Wim Seigneur Russe . would be obtained by any of our readers , who may not be accustomed , to tie French language . But . so far as we know , % yhile some very "wretched Bussian writing has been rendered into English , this really sterling , useful , and remarkable boob , has not hitherto met with a translator in our country . .. "; '" V

      Untitled Article

      A BATCH t » F BOOKS . * During the course of last session , -whenever Ministers found themselves in an otherAvise inextricable difficulty , tltey were ready with one excuse which eovered a multitude of sins and shortcomings . W ¦" are precisely in the same position- Week after week , we havetlived i . n hope that the morrow would usher into the field a liostof writers , jloung and old . Alas ! we have hoped in vain . We have no novelties io announce , and we are driven to conclude that our authors have been seized witi a maehomania , and are gone to fight their country ' s battles . And why not , indeed ? Did not iEscbylus fight at Salamis ; did not Tyrtaeus incite his coiuntrymen to daring deeds ; have not bishops led forth many an English host ? Meanwhile , critics are in a mournful case . Our pens are idle , our brajns grow rusty , and we dai'e not leave our desk , lest during our absence sonofe nvretched literary hack should steal a march upon us . However , we must pake the best of what we have got .

      We give precedence to The Pridt of Life , by Lady Scott . Tins is a novel , in two volumes , neither very good nor very bad , hut -quite readable . The style , moreover , is graceful , ' and the descriptions of life and manners arc such as you may expect from a lady jnixing-in society , not unobservant , nnd yet possessed of no peculiar powers of insight or heart knowledge . The point of the story is the marriage ofMordaunt Evelyn—eldest and only son of Mr . Evelyn , of Heron Court— --vrith Saverell Anne Muggridge . In tiier earlier part of the story , tliis young lady appears as the daughter of Mr . Muggridgey a clerk in an insurance office , but mysteriously and remotely connected with the noble family of ilCavanagh . Mordauut had met Savoroll onboard a . Rhine steamer , discovened her afterwards in the I 3 ulwich

      Gallery , and finally married her , thereby creating no small amount : of consternation in his own circle . Only think of " the daughter of a lodging-housekeeper becoxning mistress of Heron . Court . " Be that as it nuiy , Saverell Evelyn was a success , and , in the , course of events , it caine to pass that tlie Evelyns found themselves ruined , and wore compelled to leave Ileron Court , to bo reinstated , however , in their possessions by Saverell , who turns out to be not the daughter of Mr . Muggridge , but heiress to tlie estates of Kavanagli . Mordatint , howevei * , does not live to enjoy his restoration to wealth , He die ^ at tho moment that fortune had begun to smile upon him , and Sayerell , after fivo years of widowhood , becomes the wife of Mordaunt ' s dearest friend , Lord Arlington . Such is the story of the Priifo of Life . It wilt arnuso and interest the reader for a few hours , and will share tho uaual futo of « novel of the season .

      -To make an honest confession , " wo have l > eeu battled in every effort to &"ct thx-ough Sabina . Peyhaps tho stibjoct in not attraotiv«—it is called " a tulo of Sicilian Life in the Thirteenth Century . " But wo know that this sty le is wearisome , bombastic , and ollbnsive in tlie extreme . Is Sabina in ' tendou for a parody ? Here and there it reads like a fur-off imitation of u gontleinft " who is known , as one of our most popular novelists . Talcs and Lpys for Sunshine * < xn < l Shade is a collection of " pieces in Prose

      Untitled Article

      • Tfta Frida of Li / is . By Uviy Scott . Boutloago . — Sabina . a Siqtflan Tah of the Thirteenth Century , By John Brainpton riiilnot . Siuimlerri and Olloy .-- / lr / M »« Momwjm . A Satin for the rimes , Tiy O . llaincoolc , Ksq . SiumUoi ' H niul Otloy . — Tides end Lays-By J A . jLiingford . lluchos . —7 Vw LanC JJags qf iSinerth . A I ' oom . Dy W . 0 . Slarbiw" - Siiuudort * una OUey , — Tho Third Napahon . An Ode . Uy Uobqrfc Story . Iluunio . — J ) oga ; thtiir MnnauemaU . By VA ward May how , Koutlodtfo , —Fink and Fin / ting in- <' " > Lone Qlcna of Scotland . By }> e . Knox . Houllodpje . —Sporting , By U . Wukoy . Ko » tk'il « e —Famous Faraona and Famous Places . \\ y N . 1 * . "NVilfis . Wi \ nl and Look . —Liiigard ' a History of England . DuliM \ n , ~ r-Gibl > on ' a Mo man Empire , Kdlutd by Dr . Sinitli . JRIurmj " —Pope's Works . By Dr . Ovoloy . A ( bim JScott . — ¦ A tUmiiv , < im Momlo . Mamoiirf «< Celesta ffloaador . VnrUn Locard-D « vl pt Do VroBno . —Mutiny of lluawi from tho I ' out * dation q /' tnc Empire by Itourih to the close of tho Jfungarum Wa \ : \) y Alplio | i ! jp 1 { mW "' mill JoiuUhan Duncun . lJ . Ai 2 vola , Incrnin nnd Co , ' ''

      Untitled Article

      856 THE LEADER . ' [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 9, 1854, page 856, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2055/page/16/