VISITING THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. PETERSBURG.--EDUCATION IN
RUSSIA.--PRIMARY AND OTHER SCHOOLS.--THE SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION.--RECENT
PROGRESS IN EDUCATIONAL MATTERS.--UNIVERSITIES IN THE EMPIRE; THEIR
NUMBER AND LOCATION.--RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.--TREATMENT OF THE JEWS.--THE
ISLANDS OF THE NEVA, AND WHAT WAS SEEN THERE.--IN A _TRAKTIR_.--BRIBERY
AMONG RUSSIAN OFFICIALS.
Next morning the party was out in good season. It had an appointment
with a professor attached to the University of St. Petersburg for a
visit to that institution. He was to take breakfast with them, and
afterwards would escort them through the library and other rooms of the
establishment. While they were at breakfast the professor entertained
the youths with an account of the educational condition of Russia, which
we will endeavor to repeat as nearly as it was remembered by Frank and
Fred.
"On behalf of my country," said the professor, "I am sorry to say that
we are behind England, Germany, Austria, and most other nations of
Europe in the matter of general education, but not nearly as backward as
we were in past years. We have no system of common-schools such as you
have in the United States, and the mass of the population is practically
without instruction beyond what they receive from the village priests.
Down to the time of Alexander II. the village schools were controlled by
the priests, and no one else could be a teacher in them. That
progressive monarch issued an order requiring the schools to be given to
the most capable applicants, whether priests or not. This was a great
step in advance, as the priests were not unfrequently nearly as
illiterate as the people they were set to instruct.
"To show how we are progressing, let me say that in 1860 only two out of
every hundred recruits levied for the army were able to read and write;
in 1870 the proportion had increased to eleven in a hundred, and in 1882
to nineteen in a hundred. In 1880 there were 22,770 primary-schools in
the villages, with 1,140,915 pupils: 904,918 boys and 235,997 girls. The
teachers were 19,511 men and 4878 women. Some of the primary-schools
are entirely supported by the Government, and others partly by the
Government and partly by a small tax upon the parents of each pupil. The
latter plan is not satisfactory, as it discourages poor people with many
children from sending them to school, and it is probable that in a few
years all the schools will be free."
[Illustration: LITTLE FOLKS AT SCHOOL.]
One of the youths asked what was taught in the village schools of
Russia.
"Reading and writing," the professor answered, "are the first things, as
a matter of course; and then come arithmetic, grammar, and geography, in
the order I have named them. Church and State are so closely connected
in Russia that the primary education includes the form of prayer; it is
a part of the daily exercise of the schools, except for those who
profess other than the orthodox faith, and in former times children of
dissenters were not allowed to attend the schools. Catholics, Lutherans,
and others were instructed by their own teachers, and, failing this,
they had no instruction whatever. At present children of any faith can
attend the village schools, and where there is a mixed population the
schools are divided.
"In 1850," the professor continued, "there were less than three
thousand village schools in the Empire; the increase to more than
twenty-two thousand in thirty years shows how rapid has been our
progress. We have great hopes for the future, and at the end of another
thirty years I trust you will find us not much behind the other
countries of Europe."
[Illustration: LEARNING TO WEAVE.]
Doctor Bronson asked about the higher instruction in Russia, and how it
compared with that of other lands.
"One of the drawbacks to higher education in its broad sense," said the
professor, "was the custom that prevailed, and still prevails to a great
extent, for rich people to educate their children at home. Every
nobleman who could afford it had a tutor for his boys and a governess
for his girls. There is no country where tutors and governesses were
more certain of employment than in Russia, and I have the assurances
from them, a hundred times repeated, that they were better treated here
than anywhere else. A tutor or governess is almost invariably made a
member of the family, sits with them at table, is presented to visitors,
forms a part of their social circle, and is made to feel thoroughly at
home. Governesses are usually English or French, while tutors are
generally French or Germans. The education of these home taught children
begins at a very early age, and they naturally speak with fluency the
language of their instructors; hence it follows that the Russians of the
higher classes have, justly, the reputation of being the best linguists
of Europe."
As the professor paused, Frank remarked that he had observed how almost
every Russian officer spoke French or German, and many of them spoke
French, German, and English. "French seems to be almost universal among
them," he added, "at least as far as I have been able to learn."
"That is true," said the professor, "and there are many Russians who
speak French better than they do their own language. With French nurses
in their infancy, French governesses or tutors as their years advance,
and with their parents speaking French, it is not to be wondered at.
"The system of home education discouraged the education of the schools
among the nobility, and it was only during the reign of Nicholas that a
change was made. Count Ouvaroff, Minister of Public Instruction under
the Iron Czar, set the example by sending his own son to the University
of St. Petersburg. The example was followed, and the attendance at the
universities and normal schools increased rapidly. Nicholas gave the
system a military character by decreeing that the students should wear
cocked hats and swords, but this was abandoned by Alexander II. The
policy of Nicholas was shown in the words of his instruction to Count
Ouvaroff, 'Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality.'"
Fred asked how many universities and high-schools there were in the
Empire.
[Illustration: MINERAL CABINET IN THE UNIVERSITY.]
"There are nine universities," the professor answered, "situated at St.
Petersburg, Moscow, Kief, Kazan, Wilna, Dorpat, Kharkov, Odessa, and
Warsaw.[2] The professors are paid by the Government, and the poor
students have an allowance for their support. To be admitted to the
universities, they must pass an examination in the course of instruction
in the gymnasia or high-schools, which are in the provincial towns,
about four hundred in all, or must have received equivalent instruction
at home. The high-schools or gymnasia correspond to your academies or
high-schools in America, and hold the same relation to the universities.
[2] Recently the Government decided to establish a Siberian university.
It was to be opened at Tomsk in 1886, but there was great opposition to
it by a large and influential party, who claim that a Siberian
university would be a great peril to autocracy in Russia. They look upon
Siberia as the source of many liberal, and therefore dangerous, ideas,
and say the new university will greatly facilitate their development.
"Besides the universities, which confer degrees in law, medicine,
mathematics, natural history, philology, and the Oriental languages,
there are distinct schools of medicine and law, like the medical and law
schools of other countries. There are four free high-schools for the
education of women, and the applicants for admission are constantly in
excess of the facilities for their instruction. There was a medical
school for women, but it was closed in 1884 on account of its use as a
means of disseminating revolutionary ideas."
Frank and Fred wished to obtain further information about the reason for
closing this medical school, but they remembered that the professor
would probably dislike to discuss the subject, as it had a political
bearing, and so no question about it was asked.
Breakfast was over, and the party entered the carriage, which was
waiting at the door, and were driven to the university.
"One thing I forgot to say," said the professor, as soon as they were
seated in the vehicle, "and that was about education in Finland. The
grand-duchy has a system of public instruction distinct from that of the
rest of the Empire. It has a university at Helsingfors, high-schools in
all principal towns, and elementary schools in the villages. Almost the
entire population can read, and nearly every youth can write during his
school-days, though he often forgets this accomplishment in later years.
[Illustration: PARLOR IN A HIGH-SCHOOL FOR WOMEN.]
"To return to Russia, all through the Empire there are agricultural,
mining, engineering, and other industrial schools, and there are also
numerous military schools, which have a separate system of instruction.
The cadets are transferred from the military gymnasia to the 'military
schools,' in which they are educated to qualify them for commissions as
officers. There are three academies--for the staff, engineers, and
artillery--and in these academies the higher branches of military
science are taught. The religious schools are attached to the Church,
and the instruction is managed by the clergy. Here we are at the
university just as my impromptu lecture upon education in Russia has
reached its end."
Our friends were introduced by their companion to several others of the
faculty, and passed an hour at the university very pleasantly. They
learned that the usual attendance was about four hundred, and the
professors and lecturers numbered nearly thirty. In addition to what is
usually taught in universities there were lecturers upon the Oriental
languages. A goodly number of students give their attention to the
Asiatic tongues, with a view to qualifying themselves for future
usefulness in that direction. The Professor of Chinese was among those
to whom our friends were introduced.
"He is an accomplished gentleman," said Frank in his note-book; "he
speaks French and Russian as fluently as he does his native language,
and his questions about America showed that he was well acquainted with
the history of our country. The rest of the Oriental professors were in
European dress, but the Chinese one was not. He was in the same garments
he would wear at Shanghai or Peking, and his hair was plaited into an
irreproachable pigtail.
[Illustration: PRIVATE ROOM OF A WEALTHY STUDENT.]
"The halls were pleasant and spacious," continued Frank, "and the
students that we saw had intelligent faces; they appeared much like the
students at an English university, but we thought there was an
expression of more earnestness in their faces. The professor told us
that the young men who attended the university gave very little trouble
in the matter of discipline, and the disgraceful pranks of students at
Oxford and Cambridge were practically unknown in Russia. It is so
recently that education has been in the reach of everybody in this
country that its value is more appreciated than elsewhere.
[Illustration: LOWER RECITATION-ROOM.]
"The library contains more than sixty thousand volumes, and there is a
good scientific collection in the museum. The students have the
privilege of visiting the Academy of Sciences, under certain
restrictions, where they have access to a library of one hundred and
fifty thousand volumes and an extensive museum. The latter has an
Asiatic department, which contains many objects of great interest to
students of matters pertaining to Asia. We went to the museum after
seeing the university and looked at the remains of the Siberian
mammoths, which were found embedded in the ice where they had lain for
thousands of years.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE PROFESSORS.]
"Another educational institution of St. Petersburg is the School of
Mines, which is supported by the Government and has about three hundred
students. Its collection of minerals is said to be the finest in the
world. There are single nuggets of gold worth thousands of dollars,
great masses of solid silver, platinum, copper, and other metals,
together with topaz, beryl, aquamarine, quartz, and other crystals in
great variety and of unusual size and beauty. One crystal of beryl
weighs five pounds and is valued at twenty-five thousand dollars.
[Illustration: DESCENDING A SHAFT.]
"In the halls devoted to instruction there are models of mines, with the
veins of ore, and the machinery for working them; the workmen are
represented by little figures like dolls, and the whole is admirably
executed. After looking at these models we were taken to the garden,
where there is a section of a mine, through which we were guided by
means of candles and torches. It required very little imagination for us
to believe we were actually in a mine far below the surface of the
earth, and that the veins of ore were real rather than fictitious. It
must be of great advantage for the education of the students, and
certainly we found it very instructive in the little time we were in it.
[Illustration: GALLERIES IN A MINE.]
"What would you say if I told you that the richest public library of
Europe is in St. Petersburg? Well, the Imperial Library may not be
superior to all others, but those who ought to know say it is not
inferior in any respect. It occupies a very large building on the Nevsky
Prospect, and is open to the public like the great libraries of London,
Paris, Vienna, and other cities. The custodian who accompanied us
through the building said it contained nearly a million printed volumes,
in all the languages of the world, and about thirty thousand
manuscripts, some of them very old.
[Illustration: IN THE LIBRARY.]
The foundation of this immense library was one of the spoils of war
between Russia and Poland. It belonged to Count Zalewski, a Polish
bishop, and contained three hundred thousand volumes. After the capture
of Warsaw, in 1796, the library was removed to St. Petersburg, and since
that time yearly additions have been made, until it has reached its
present condition. Among other things there is a collection of books
relating to Russia in other languages than Russian. They number forty
thousand, and cover all dates from the invention of the art of printing
down to the present time. Then there are nearly one hundred thousand
books in the Russian language, beginning with a volume of the 'Acts of
the Apostles,' printed at Moscow in 1538.
"There is a prayer-book which belonged to Mary Queen of Scots, and which
contains many notes in her handwriting. There are autographs of kings,
queens, emperors, princes, and other persons of blue blood--so many that
I can't begin to enumerate them. In fact there are so many things here
that one might spend weeks in the library, and find something new and
interesting every few minutes. The reading-room is well arranged, and
has all the leading papers of Europe. To show its growth in popularity,
let me say that it was visited by twenty thousand persons in 1854, and
by seventy-three thousand in 1864. In more recent times as many as one
hundred and fifty thousand persons have visited the reading-room in a
single year.
[Illustration: A COLLEGE DORMITORY.]
"Well, we have had enough for one day of schools, libraries, museums,
and the like--so many of them that our heads are fairly swimming. Let us
go home and think over what we have seen; if we remember a tenth part of
it we shall be fortunate."
Naturally the conversation, after their return, related to what they had
seen; and in this connection the Doctor gave the youths some interesting
information.
"The university we have seen to-day," said he, "is not by any means the
oldest in Russia, nor is it the largest. The honor of age and extent
belongs to the University of Moscow, which was founded in 1755, while
that of St. Petersburg was founded in 1818. The Moscow University has
one thousand eight hundred students, and seventy-two professors and
lecturers, and there are one hundred and fifty thousand volumes in its
library. The Government gives about three hundred thousand dollars
annually in aid of the Moscow University, and many of Russia's most
celebrated men have been educated there.
"The oldest university in the Empire was at Abo, in Finland, but the
buildings were destroyed in a great fire in 1827, and afterwards the
university was established at Helsingfors. It was originally founded in
1630, eleven years before printing was introduced into Finland.
Anciently there were some curious customs connected with the reception
of a student at the University of Abo. He was required to prostrate
himself on the floor in front of one of the professors, who gave him a
certain number of blows with a stick. The blows were more imaginary than
real, and after they were given the student was ordered to rise, and to
so conduct himself in future that he would never need a repetition of
the indignity.
"The other universities of Russia are about like that of St. Petersburg,
and do not need a special description. In all of them there is a
department of study for those who wish to enter the service of the
Church. At Dorpat there is a course of study for those of the Lutheran
faith, and at Kazan, which has a considerable population of Tartars,
Moslem students are admitted, and no interference is made with their
religious belief. Some of the professors of the Oriental languages are
Tartars, and I have been told that one of the rooms of the university is
fitted up as a mosque.
"This is a good place to say," continued the Doctor, "that while the
Russian Government makes an earnest effort to convert all its subjects
to the faith of the Orthodox Greek Church, it rarely allows that effort
to take the form of oppression. Sometimes it happens that an
over-zealous priest goes beyond the limit; but as soon as his conduct is
known to the proper authorities he is reprimanded, and replaced by one
who is more cautious. The Polish exiles in Siberia are nearly all
Catholics; the Government builds churches for them, and allows their
priests (generally exiles like their co-religionists) to travel from
place to place in the performance of their religious duties; and as long
as they do not join in any political plots, or make other trouble for
the authorities, they are allowed the greatest freedom. Among the
peasant inhabitants of Siberia a Catholic church is called 'Polish,'
while a Lutheran one is known as 'German.'
"The Moslem and Pagan inhabitants of Asiatic Russia have the most
complete religious freedom; but sometimes, in their zeal to be on good
terms with their rulers, they adopt the new religion without laying
aside the old. I have heard of the chief of a tribe of Yakouts, a savage
and idolatrous people in Northern Siberia, who joined the Russian Church
and was baptized. He attended faithfully to all its observances, and at
the same time did not neglect anything pertaining to his old belief.
When about to make a journey, or to undertake any other enterprise, he
offered prayers in the church, and then summoned the _shaman_, or Pagan
priest of his tribe, to perform incantations and bribe the evil spirits
not to molest him. On being questioned as to his action, he said he was
not certain which belief was the right one, and he wanted to make sure
by professing both."
One of the youths asked the Doctor about the treatment of the Jews in
Russia. He had read that they were greatly oppressed in some parts of
the Empire, and that many of them had been killed for no other reason
than that they were Jews.
"That is quite true," the Doctor answered; "but the outrages were the
work of excited mobs, rather than acts authorized by the Government.
There is much fanaticism among the lower orders of Russians, and they
were roused to what they did by stories which the priests had
circulated. In some of the riots the police and soldiers are accused of
making no effort to restrain the mob; and as they and the rioters are of
the same religion, there is doubtless good ground for the accusation.
[Illustration: JEWISH BURIAL-GROUND.]
"The Jews were first admitted to Russia by Peter the Great, but they
were expelled by his daughter, the Empress Elizabeth. They were
readmitted by Catherine II., and the privileges she had given them were
increased by Alexander I., who, in 1808 and 1809, issued decrees giving
them full liberty of trade and commerce. The grant was revoked by
Nicholas I., and during his time the Jews were subjected to much
oppression. Alexander II. came to their relief, and restored some of
their privileges. During and since his reign they have been fairly
treated in matters of trade, but have been kept down in other ways. Only
a certain number are allowed to practise medicine or keep drug-stores,
and only a specified proportion of Jewish students is allowed at the
schools and colleges.
[Illustration: CLOTHES-DEALER OF MOSCOW.]
"A great deal of the trade of the country is in their hands, and they
are noted, as everywhere else in the world, for their industry and
frugality. They do not meddle with the politics of Russia, and the
instances are exceedingly rare of a Jew being convicted of offences of
a political character. In the army they make the best of soldiers, both
for discipline and on the battle-field, where they are noted for their
bravery. They are more numerous in Poland than in any other part of the
Empire, but there is not a province of the whole country ruled by the
Czar where they cannot be found. In their financial transactions they
are not behind their brethren in other parts of the world; and wherever
they are permitted to engage in mechanical pursuits they distance all
their competitors."
[Illustration: A RUSSIAN TROIKA.]
Just as the sun was setting, our friends took a carriage and drove to
the Islands of the Neva, a favorite resort of the people in the warm
months of the year. Great numbers of fashionable carriages were on the
road, _troikas_ being more numerous than any other variety. A _troika_
is so called from the number of its horses, rather than from the form of
the vehicle. Three horses are harnessed abreast, the central one having
above his head the inevitable _duga_, or yoke. In a well-trained
_troika_ the central horse trots, while the two others gallop, with
their heads turned outward. It is a dashing and attractive team, and has
already made its way into other countries than Russia.
The first part of the drive carried Doctor Bronson and his young
companions through streets occupied by the poorer classes, but farther
on they passed great numbers of pretty villas, which are the summer
homes of the well-to-do inhabitants of the city.
[Illustration: A VILLA ON THE ISLAND.]
There is an Imperial villa on one of the islands, and occasionally the
Emperor gives a fête in honor of some event, or for the entertainment of
a foreign guest. At such times the trees are filled with Chinese
lanterns, and the entire building is a blaze of light. The people on the
line of the road follow the Imperial example, and illuminate their
houses, and the traveller who drives there might easily imagine that he
had dropped into a section of fairy-land. Doctor Bronson told the
youths that he was in St. Petersburg at the time of the marriage of the
Emperor's son, the Grand-duke Vladimir, and one of the sights of the
occasion was the illumination of the islands.
"We rode through three or four miles of illuminations," said the Doctor,
"and it seemed as though they would never come to an end. At the very
entrance of the islands we passed the summer residence of Count Gromoff,
one of the millionaires of St. Petersburg, and found it transformed into
a palace of fire. Not a tree or bush in the large garden in front of the
house was without its cluster of lanterns, and one of our party remarked
that it seemed as though half the stars in the sky had fallen and found
a lodgement there. In the centre of the scene were the monograms of the
Emperor and Empress, and of the newly-wedded pair, outlined in gas-jets;
above and behind them was an Imperial mantle surmounted with a crown,
and all made with the burning gas. Then the whole cottage was delineated
with thousands of lights, and we agreed that never in our lives had we
seen such a beautiful picture. Nothing ever produced on the stage of a
theatre could equal it.
"Occasionally we came near the water, and wherever we did so it was
covered with boats which were as freely illuminated as the trees and
houses on shore. Boat-houses and bath-houses were similarly lighted up,
and as they are numerous in this part of the Neva, they formed an almost
continuous line along the river's bank. We were compelled to go at a
walk, as the streets and roads were crowded with vehicles, and
consequently our drive through this city of lanterns occupied more than
an hour."
Doctor Bronson gave other details of the celebration which we have not
time to repeat, or, rather, they did not find a place in the note-books
of the youths. The time was passed pleasantly in a contemplation of the
scenes by the way-side--the pretty villas among the trees, the carriages
and their occupants, the people on foot, or gathered in front of the
houses or on the verandas, the crowds in the cafés and restaurants,
which are scattered here and there over the islands, together with other
sights that met their eyes. There was enough to make the fortune of an
artist if he could have placed all the pretty pictures of the evening
upon canvas, and preserved the glow of the northern sky and the twinkle
of the lights. A few houses were illuminated, probably in honor of a
patron saint, or to commemorate an event in the history of the owner of
the establishment. While looking at these illuminations Frank and Fred
tried to imagine the whole place lighted up as Doctor Bronson had
described it on the occasion of the Imperial fête.
[Illustration: A RUSSIAN FAMILY.]
After a ride of two hours or more, the party returned to the hotel,
stopping a few minutes on their way to drink some tea at a _traktir_.
Frank ventured to air the few Russian words he had acquired, and
acquitted himself in fine style.
"_Dai te chai, poshowltz_" ("Give us tea, please"), he said, as they
took their seats at the table.
"_Si chass_," replied the waiter, and in a few moments three glasses of
steaming tea were before them.
The traveller in Russia will hear "_Si chass_" pronounced a good many
times daily while he is in the Empire. It is like the French waiter's
"_Tout de suite_" or the English one's "Coming, sir." Practically they
mean the same thing. The literal translation of "_Si chass_" is "This
hour;" and perhaps this will account for the fact that it is often an
hour before a simple demand can be met. The waiter in Russia is no more
reliable than in other countries, and not generally as intelligent as
the man of the same occupation in a French café. Many of the servants in
the hotels of St. Petersburg are French or German, instead of Russian;
in the best hotels the Russian waiters almost invariably speak French or
German, in addition to their own language.
When the tea-drinking was ended, Frank beckoned the waiter, and
addressed him with the inquiry, "_Skolka stoit_" ("How much does it
cost?"). The waiter comprehended at once, and, somewhat to Frank's
disappointment, placed on the table a written check on which was noted
in figures the indebtedness of the party. The disappointment was not
caused by the price of the tea (only five copecks the glass), but by the
removal of the opportunity for the young man to make further airing of
his Russian by displaying his knowledge of the spoken numerals. The
printed or written figures of the Russian language are the same as those
of other European nations, and a stranger can get along with them
without the least trouble, even though he does not know a word of
Russian.
Near the hotel they met a party consisting of two policemen and as many
prisoners. The latter appeared to be under the influence of strong
drink, and the policemen did not find it easy to make them move along.
They were not quarrelsome or obstinate; in fact, their limbs were too
weak to allow them to make any resistance.
"They'll have a job of street-sweeping to-morrow," said the Doctor,
"unless the customs have changed since the first time I was here."
"Do they make prisoners sweep the streets?" one of the youths asked.
[Illustration: CULPRIT STREET-SWEEPERS.]
"They did at that time, and quite likely they do so now," the Doctor
answered. "Every person arrested for intoxication was required to sweep
the streets the next day for a given number of hours, and it is a
strange sight when, as sometimes happens, the sweepers are in the
garments in which they have been wending their devious ways homeward
from a ball, or perhaps from a party where fancy costumes have been
worn. Generally speaking, you see few besides the mujiks, or lower
classes, as the well-dressed people, with money enough in their pockets,
can secure immunity by means of a bribe. A small donation to the proper
officer will set them free; but if they have no money they must do their
share of work with the rest."
"I have read that Russia is the land of bribes," said Fred--"bribes both
great and small."
"It certainly has that reputation," was the reply, "and doubtless not
without justice. The pay of the officials is very small, quite out of
proportion to the expense of living, and the temptation is certainly
great. A Russian once said to me that an official must steal in order
to make an honest living; he did not mean it as a joke, but in sober
earnest, though his language did not exactly express his meaning. He
wanted to say that a man must accept pay for showing zeal in the
interest of any one whose affairs passed through his hands, and unless
he did so he could not properly support himself and family.
[Illustration: A BUSINESS TRANSACTION.]
"There is a story, of a German savant who was intimate with the Emperor
Nicholas. The latter once asked him to point out any defects in the
system of government, and the savant immediately suggested the universal
system of bribery, which ought to be stopped. The Emperor shook his
head, and said it was impossible to put an end to an evil which was so
widely spread.
"'But your Majesty could issue an Imperial decree against bribery,' the
savant replied, 'and that would prevent it.'
"'But I would have to begin,' said the Emperor, 'by bribing my
Prime-minister to publish the decree, and then I would have to bribe
everybody else to stop taking bribes.'
"I will tell you," the Doctor continued, "what I have been told by
Russians; I do not vouch for the correctness of what they say, but have
no doubt of their veracity. While I have had no business transactions
that involved the payment of money to officials, I have some friends
whose negotiations were altogether stopped, as they believe, by the fact
that they would not give money to persons of influence.
"'If you have dealings with the Government,' so the Russians have told
me, 'you must pay something to each and every man who has power to
expedite or hinder your business. If you do not pay you will not
prosper, and may be certain that your proposals will be rejected. But
you should not offer the money directly to the official, as that would
give great offence.'
"The question arises, 'What is the polite and proper way of doing such
nefarious work?'
"The usual way is to make up your mind what you can afford to pay, and
then put the money in a cigar-case along with two or three cigars.
Having stated the business, you invite the man to smoke (everybody
smokes in Russia), and then you hand him the cigar-case and turn your
back to the window, or look intently at something on the table. He helps
himself to a cigar, and also to the money, and then the affair goes on
easily.'"
"What a rascally business!" exclaimed both the youths in a breath.
Doctor Bronson fully echoed their sentiment, and said he earnestly hoped
the condition of things was not as bad as it is portrayed. "Alexander
II. made a considerable improvement in many things during his reign,"
the Doctor continued, "and it is to be hoped that he reformed the
official system of the Empire in this particular feature."
[Illustration: PETER THE GREAT DRESSED FOR BATTLE.]