OR, MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS ON THE PAST AND PRESENT STATE OF THAT COUNTRY AND ITS INHABITANTS. COMPILED FROM NOTES MADE ON THE SPOT, DURING TRAVELS, AT DIFFERENT TIMES, IN THE SERVICE OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY, AND A RESIDENCE OF MANY YEARS IN THAT COUNTRY. BY ROBERT PINKERTON, D.D. AUTHOR OF "THE PRESENT STATE OF THE GREEK CHURCH IN RUSSIA," AND LONDON: SEELEY & SONS, 169, FLEET STREET. HATCHARD & SON, PICCADILLY. M DCCC XXXIII. PREFACE. THE Author of this volume deems it quite unnecessary to introduce it to the reader by any lengthened prefatory remarks, as the work itself is altogether of a miscellaneous character. It is compiled, principally, from his journal notes and observations, made during his extensive tours in Russia, in the service of the British and Foreign Bible Society: upon these he has engrafted a considerable portion of information, derived from Russian authors and other authentic sources, illustrative of the character, and of the past and present condition of the Russian People, their ecclesiastical establishment, and the state of civilization among them. He has had peculiarly favourable opportunities for observing the usages and studying the character of the Russians, through his knowledge of their language, and his intimate relation, for many years, with the Clergy, Nobility, and other ranks. That portion of the volume which describes the condition of the Russian Serfs, the state of the Hospitals and Prisons, the labours of the Russian Bible Society, and the religious character of the late Emperor Alexander, will, he trusts, prove acceptable to A |