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    S56 THE L.E AD E R. [Saturday,

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    A BATCH OF BOOKS.* DuBiwa the course of ...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Memoires D'Un Seigneur Russe. Memoires C...

    danger their title to govern in their own country—nothing which can convict their aristocracy out of their ovra mouths of permitting the exercise of the most infamous oppression and cruelty towards those who are placed under them . If we want to nave the simplest and most incontrovertible evidence of the insensibility of Kussian society to its own corruption and barbarism , the permitted publication 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 ofier here any abstract of its contents , couched in our own language , but will offer to our readers , instead , one extract from the boob , translated from the pa ^ es before us . In order to insure the full understanding of the scene which we are about to present , it may be necessary to premise , that the " . Seigneur Russe" writes in the autobiographical form . He is supposed to be out on one of his sporting expeditions , when he beholds the scene which we are about to extract . Having spent the night at the house of a- j | reat Russian landholder , nanaed Arcadi Pavlytch , he goes out the next morning with his host , with his host ' s submissive and highly > favoured Bailiff , " Sqphron , " amd with tyro of _ Soplron ' s underlings , to view the property , and to make his own observations iipon the condition of the serfs who cultivate iti The scene then proceeds in the following manner : —

    . "On oar return to the village , the haiUff took us to see a Winiii > Wing Millrecently brought from Moscow . This Mill ^ as set at % or & / with great facility uader our owa eyes . Ho-w-; 6 yer , « Sophroncouia have' foreseen the -unpleasant exposurewhich awaited him and Ws ¦ tfiaster - at . this spot , he would Certainly have deprived us of a" sight -bf the wiiiiioiwihg niill . " i ,. ? 'v * W . ' ^^ t ? :- -t » 0 fc ; . 'pla »! e :- 'vvlien \> 7 e ; left the shed / inwhich the machine -was placed ; - A few ; spacesi from the door , near iaVt > 6 \ inwhichsomeducks ; were enjoying themselves ; - stood i ^^ a sante-rrone an old rnaii of seventy the other , a Jad oSFtwebty-r-both clothed inpatchmrtc slwts , wittrpges for giiaies , aiid having their feet naked . * ' * * ' Arcadi Pavlyt ch ^ R ** * '• ¦ Dr 6 ws ; b | t his lip- ; and walked straight up ; to them / The" two peasants threw thetn-• BelveS-atlris . feet . ' .-V- • • ¦• • . ¦ ¦ ¦ - ¦ ¦ ¦ - . . '¦¦ " ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦ . : *• . ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦; ¦ .. ¦ •¦ ¦ : ¦ - .. '

    ' •¦'* ! ' vUy ^* ° y ° uVWant ? ¦' . { 3 peafc ; P , ' said he , in a severe voice . 1 ., . jr ^^^ J ^ op ^ e ^ changed glances , and could not utter a V ? ord | . Their eyelids quivered , - as if their sight -trere dazzled ; and their breathing ixiickeYied . - "' -Well ,: what is it ? ' cbaimuedArca . 4 ij turning towards Sophron , « H = iiat fainily are ^ tneyP' •' . ¦• . . - ¦/ ¦ ¦¦¦¦ - ¦ . ' . ¦ •' - ¦ . - ¦ ¦ ¦ . . ¦ ¦ " ¦¦• •¦ ¦ ¦ . '••¦ ¦ ., ¦¦ ¦ .. ¦ ¦ . •'¦ ¦ ¦ - ¦ v ' . " . ¦ ' ¦ ¦ ¦ . ; \ •¦ . ¦ ¦ : .. .... "" i- % The Toboleief family , * replied tie bailiff , composedly . / ' ' - ?; v ;¦ ' * What do you want ? . Have you lost your tongues ? Speak , you who are the oldest of J-. > > ' . -continued Arcadi , turning towards the aged peasant . ' Don't be ¦ afraid , you r " f ' Tlxejdid'iin ' ' 'bent \ f 6 ry ^ d'his : bi ^ iized > iid m ^ nkled neck ; his thick , Hialsh ' lips parfed , . ' . atid he ' begfn , in , " a" tremulous voice :- — ' Help us , mylord !' . " ' d ¦/ : . lt He" dropped bnhis knees ,. and laid liis forehead on the earth ; The young man imitated " . nun . .. Arcadi lddked down " on them , and iepeated : —;* What do vdtt want ? What' have you ; , ^ ; to cbmpldn of ? ' \ . ;¦ .. r . ' . . ¦ ¦'¦ ' /¦ ' ¦>¦ ¦ . •; . - . ;¦ ¦ . ; * . f ' . Pity us , my lord 1 giye us time to bieathe ! We are so hardly treated 5 -we——' r ; ^ 'Who treatsybu hardly ? J ? : ¦ tl' « Sophrbnj the Bailiffi ? ' ;; "I Ybur . names ?' said ^ Arcadi , aftera moment ' s silence .

    cc * Anthijppe , my lord ; and this is rny son 1 ' "' Well ! go on I Why don't you say how Sophron has treated you hardly ? ' continued Arcadi , twHng his mbustacliib . - ' - ' w , My l 6 rd ;|;^ ris ^ fered ihe old man , he has utterly despoiled and rained us . He Ijas . taken away , ^ against all rule , two of ni y sons for the army , and now he is going to deprive nie of my third . Only yestei'day lie took my last ci > w from me ; and his son has beaten , my ¦ vvif * . "Oh , my lord , don't let us be entirely , crushed down by him ! ' " 41 Arcadi looked embarrassed . He asked the bailiff , with a discontented air , what ho had to say ' to these allegations ,, f'The man is a drunkard , sir , ' replied the bailiff , with assurance ; ' a drunkard and a skullcer . He does no work , and he has not paid up his arrears of rent for the last iive yeap . ' - 4 ^ Sophron has taken the payment on . himself , my lord , ' said the old man j ' and in consequence he keeps me in pawn for it . I am his slave , his— -- ' *' . f That does not inform me whero tlie arrears of rent are to come from , ' said Arcadi , sharply . ^ ( The old man ' s head dropped . ) 'You ' ve taken to drinking an d hanging about the public-houses , have you ? ' ( The old man opened his mouth' to explain . ) 'I know

    yon I interrupted Arcadj ; ' you will dnnk and snore by the fireside all day long } and the industrious peasant has to make amends for your idleness— - ^— ' ... ¦ ; ? ' And , what ' s more , he is as brutally-behaved a . fellow as ever lived , ' added the bailiffpayung no attontion to his own behaviour in interrupting his master . "' jBrntal . of course , ' pursued Arcadi . 'Ihavo always observed it . Fellows who drink and skulk all the year round are invariably foremost in making complaints . ' '" ' For God ' s sake , sir , ' cried the old man in tones of the bittoregt despair , ¦ ' grant ua Borne help 1 I swear to you that our very meiins of living have been taken away from ua . Y " cmr liailiff here has got some grudge against 3 no—I can't toll what . He has persecuted , crushed me down , ruined me I Look at this lust son left to me , and for < 3 od ' s sake lielp us 1 ' , 41 We are not tho only poor people whom ho has ruined' , added the younger peasant , " Arcadi fired up at hearing these words from tho poor lad who had beon silent until this moment .

    ' Who asked you anything ? ' he said . ' How d « re you speak whon you nro not spoken to ? What do you mean by it ? Hold your tonguol hold your tongue directly I—Dammo J if I don't think you ' re trying to get up a rebellion among you ! I'll touch you to mutter and grumble hero ! I'll f • " Arcadi stopped speaking and advanced a stop or two thrcateningtyn-thon controllqd himself suddenly , apparently , remomboring that 1 was present all this time , in tho positum of one of his guests , Ho crammed his hands into , his pockets , and turning away said tome in French , ' I ought to apologiao for all this bothomtiort , my doav follow . However , it is only tho bad side of the picture which hns accidentally turned uppermost just nowl' Ho then continued in Russian , addressing tho two peasants , but not looking at them i— ' There ! that Will do . I ahall sottlo this business as I think right . Bo off with you ! ( Tho peasants did not movp . ) ' Did you hear mo siry that I should do as I pleased about this ?¦ —0 t > : no 1 Be off , both of you ?' " He tumod his buck on them , muttering ' Nothing but botheration with those pooplo 1 'then walked awny , followed by tho bailift . . . . Tlio ponsants , after a moment or two of bewilderment , turned olFto-wnrda their liut , without onco looking buck nftor their lord nnd master , Two liours later , I departed for Roabof ; and there , taking for my attendant a peasant whom 1 know , named Anpadiuto , I made up my mind to enjoy a good day ' s sporting At lust . . . .

    " While wo woro on tho road , I inquired if my companion know anything of Arcadi'a bailiff" , Sophrpn , " ' Know him ? ' nnswored my nttondtint . 'I know him only too well I Ho mannas his master ' s eatalo ns he pleaneH , and trouth the poaaunta on it just as ho likes , Ho has « ontrived to mnlco them run 111 dobt to him . Ho hold » thorn all at hit ) own disposal—m , \ kos thom work ns ho likes—grinds them down just as ho ploasqa . ' " Why don ' t tho peaaantu exposehia villany to thoir lord ? I uakod . u Aa long na thoir lord pots his rents paid punctuall y ^ ho onros for nothing olao . If they tlid complain to him-iio would only toll thorn tu hold thoir tongues , or they would gob tho "worst ot it , just na others liuvo aot tho worst of it before thom . ' 11 Hearing thi » , I mentioned tlio acoao which I liuil witnessed early that morning . " * Thoro is no hopo for tho old man , ' onid Anpiuliato ; ? Sopliron was ( lutoriniiiod to rnin him . Five or » Ss youra ngo they diunerood about some triflo , and had a fow worda togathor before aomo of tlio other sorfd . Tlio ba-llilF roinomborod thoao worda , and h » a been making tuo old man sufler for them ovor einco . Sophron knows his helplessness , and hns taker

    advantage of it . He began by persecuting the poor wretch about money—he will end by breaking his heart . His two eldest sons have been sent to the army , out of their turn but I suppose they told you all about that this morning . ' " We said no more , hut 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 dart colours . Sometimes the saddest portion of these revelations are dismissed briefly—sometimes they are treated with a grim irony in which 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 , yrho 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 midway 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 with perfect candour and fairness . But , however the treatment may vary , the subject matter remains throughout virtually always the same . Oppression on . the part of the rich , and suffering on the part of the poor , make up the staple' corAmodifry ^ variously enough presented to the reader—which , fills the four hundred : closely-printed pages of this hook . Peonle who choose to look at it criticallv . ' mav find it 'chinisilv

    constructed , and , in many places , ' tediously wtifcten : Pe 6 ple whb cad make allowances for literary defects , and ^ w ^ trustworthy eviiiehc ^ will find ' such evidence in these pages , and Tvill , we believe , ris 0 frbin . the perusal of them with as just an estimate ¦ as strangers , under present' cireutn-. statices , ^/ can . well hope to form from" books only , ' of the niisgpverned empire aind tfcfe miserable people with whom' We iire noV'at war . W & wish we could add , in cbhcliision , that an -English translation of ihese Memoiresd \ ri Seigneur Russe would be obtained , by any of our readers who may not h < $ accustomed to the French language . ~ y ^ But , so far as we know , -while some very Wretched ; Russian writing has been rendered-into English ,: this really sterling , useful * and remarkable book , has not hitheTto met with a translator in pur coiintry . ' ¦ ' ' . ¦/¦ . ¦ ' ' . ;' .. ; : : " " " ¦ . - ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ ' " V : .- ; ' ¦ - ... ¦¦' - ¦ . - '" ' : ; ¦/' ,: ' . ' ¦ ' ''¦ : " . _ ' : ' "

    S56 The L.E Ad E R. [Saturday,

    S 56 THE L E AD E R . [ Saturday ,

    A Batch Of Books.* Dubiwa The Course Of ...

    A BATCH OF BOOKS . * DuBiwa the course of last session , whenever Ministers found themselves in an otherwise inextricable difficulty , they were ready with one excuse which Covered a multitude of sins and shortcomings . We are precisely in the same position . Week after week ^ \ ve have lived in tope that the morrow would iis hei ^ 1 into the field a ^^ h ost of writers , young and old . Alas J we have hoped in vain . We Lave no novelties to announce , arid we are driven to conclude that pur authors have been seized with a macnomania , and are gone to fight their country ' s battles . And why not , indeed ? Did not iEschylus fight at Salarnis ; did not Tyrtaeus incite his countrymen : to daring deeds ; have not bishops led forth many an English host ? Mean-while ^ critics are in amburnful case ,. Our pens are idle , our brains grow rusty , and -we dare not leave

    our desk , lest during our absence sonia wretched literary hack should steal a . march . u £ on us . However , we must make the best of what we have got . We _ give precedence to The ' Pride of Li / a , by Lady Scott . This is a novel , in two volumes , neither very good nor very bad , but quite readable . The style , moreover , is graceful , and the descriptions of life and manners are such as you may expect from a lady mixing in society , not unobservant , and yet p ossessed of no peculiar powers of insight or heart knowledge . The point of the story is the marriage of Mordaunt Evelyn—eldest and only son of Mr . Evelyn , of Heron Court—with Saverell Anne Muggridge . In the earlier part of the story , this young lady appears as the daughter of Mr . Muggridge , a clerk in an insurance office , but mysteriously and remotely connected with the noble family of Kavanagh . Mordaunt had met Savorell on board a Rhine steamer , discovered her afterwards in the Dulwich Gallery , and finally married her , thereby creating no small amount of consternation in his own circle . Only think of " the daughter of a

    lodcinjr-housekeeper becoming mistress of Heron Court . " Be that as it may , Saverell Evelyn was a success , and , in the course of events , it came to pass that the Evelyns found themselves ruined , and were compelled to loavo Heron Court , to be reinstated , however , in their possessions by Saverell , who turns out to bo not the daughter of Mr . Muggmlge , but heiress to the estates of Kavanagh . Mordaunt , however , does not live to enjoy his restoration to wealth , He dies at the moment that fortune had begun to smile upon him , andStwcrcll , after five years of widowhood , becomes the wife of Mordaunt ' s dearest friend , Lord Arlington . Such is the story of the Pride of Life . It will amuse and interest the reader for a fow hours , and will share the usual fate of a novel of tho season . To make an honest confession , ivo have boon baflled ia every efibrt to get through Sabina , Perhaps the subject is not attractive—it is called " a talo of Sicilian Life in tho Thirteenth Century . " But we know that the style id wearisome , bombastic , and ofiensive in tho extreme . Is Saltina intended for a parody ? Hero and thore it reads like a fur-od ' imitation of a gentleman who is known as one of our most popular novelists . Tales and Lays for Sunshine and bhack is a , collection of u pieces in Prose * Tka Pride of Life . By Lady Scott . Routloilgo . —Sabina , a Sicilian Talo of tho Thirteenth Ccnhwy , By John Urumpton I'hilpot . Suunderri nnd OUoy . —Aquoa nrommjitw . A Snlira for the rimes , liy 0 . Hancock , hlaq . SiiumclorB mid Otfoy . — Tales and L « i / h . By J . A , Lnncford . Hushes . —Tho Last Days of Disarih , A Ponm , By W . Q , Starlmeh . Suuudora nnd Otley . — Tho Third Napoleon . An Oik . By Kobort Btory . Hoarno . — JDogsj their Manatjcmant . By Kdwnrd M ivy how . Houtledgo . —Fish , and Finking in tlio Lone Glens of Scotland . By Dr . Knox . Iloul lodge . — Sporting . By It . Blukoy . Uoutledin ) . —Famous Persons and Famous Ptaaos . By JN . *> . Willis . WArd nnd Lock . —Linyard ' a llistory of England , Dolinun . —Gibbon ' s liomdn Empire . EiUtml b y Dr . Smith . Murruy . —Pope ?* Work * , liy Dr . Oroloy . Adam Scott . —A dieux an Monde . Mamoircs do Cclimto Mogador . Vm *\ h : Loonrd-Duvi ot 1 )« Vrcsso . —History of /( ussia from the Foundation of the Empire by Jiourih to the close of the Hungarian Wyr . By AIpUowbo Kubbo and Jonuthun Duncuii , J 3 . A . 2 Tola . Ingram nnd Co ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 9, 1854, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09091854/page/16/