lied, with a shrug of the shoulders, "that the
police have suppressed the particulars. It is a scandalous occurrence
that may as well be kept from the public."

One thing was quite certain: if the police thought proper to conceal
the details of this affair, there was no likelihood of their
publication. In Russia the police exercise a power much greater than
in the United States. Those who have visited France and Austria can
form a pretty correct idea of the Russian system, the three countries
being nearly alike in this respect. The police has supervision over
the people in a variety of ways; controls the fire department, looks
after the general health, and provides for the well-being of society.
Every man, woman, and child is considered under its surveillance, and
accounted for by some member of the force. Passports are examined by
the police, and if _en regle_, the owners are not likely to be
troubled. Taxes are collected, quarrels adjusted, and debts paid
through its agency.

Almost everybody has heard of the secret police of Russia, and many
questions have been asked me about it. I cannot throw much light upon
it, and if I could it would not be a secret police. I never knowingly
came in contact with the shadow, neither did I have the slightest
reason to fear it. If my letters were opened and read, those familiar
with my manuscript will agree that the police had a hard time of it.
If anybody dogged my steps or drew me into conversation to report my
opinions at the _bureau secret_, I never knew it. The servants who
brought my cutlets and tea, the woman who washed my linen, or the
dvornik who guarded the door, may have been spies upon me; but, if so,
I didn't see it. Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.

People talk politics in Russia with apparent freedom, more so than I
expected to find. Men and women expressed their opinions with candor
(as I believe,) and criticised what they saw wrong in their
government. The Russian journals possess more freedom than those of
Paris, and the theatres can play pretty nearly what they like.
Official tyranny or dishonesty can be shown up by the press or
satirized on the stage more freely and safely than in the country of
Napoleon Third, with all its boasted freedom.

I once read a story in which an Englishman in Austria is represented
saying to his companion, "No gentleman meddles with the politics of
the countries he visits." I made it my rule in Russia never to start