asks an arrogant General in one of the old Russian comedies.
I have no doubt that the Lord does know that remarkable Jacob's ladder
which conducts to the heaven of high public place and the good things of
life, and whose every rung is labeled with some appetizing title and
privilege. But a newly arrived foreigner cannot know it, or the
traditions of the three greater, distinct classes into which the people
are divided.

Russians have become so used to hearing and reading remarkable
statements about themselves that they only smile indulgently at each
fresh specimen of ill-will or ignorance. They keep themselves posted on
what is said of them, and frequently quote choice passages for the
amusement of foreigners who know better, but never when they would be
forced to condescend to explanation. Alexander Dumas, Senior, once wrote
a book on Russia, which is a fruitful source of hilarity in that country
yet, and a fair sample of such performances. To quote but one
illustration,--he described halting to rest under the shade of a great
_kliukva_ tree. The _kliukva_ is the tiny Russian cranberry,
and grows accordingly. Another French author quite recently contributed
an item of information which Russians have adopted as a characteristic
bit of ignorance and erected into a standard jest. He asserted that
every village in Russia has its own gallows, on which it hangs its own
criminals off-hand. As the death penalty is practically abolished in
Russia, except for high treason, which is not tried in villages, the
Russians are at a loss to explain what the writer can have mistaken for
a gallows. There are two "guesses" current as to his meaning: the two
uprights and cross-beam of the village swing; or the upright, surmounted
by a cross-board, on which is inscribed the number of inhabitants in the
village. Most people favor the former theory, but consider it a pity
that he has not distinctly pointed to the latter by stating that the
figures there inscribed represent the number of persons hanged. That
would have rendered the tale bloodthirsty, interesting, absolutely
perfect,--from a foreign point of view.

I have not attempted to analyze the "complicated" national character.
Indeed, I am not sure that it is complicated. Russians of all classes,
from the peasant up, possess a naturally simple, sympathetic disposition
and manner, as a rule, tinged with a friendly warmth whose influence is
felt as soon as one crosses the frontier. Shall