The portion of the earth over which the influence of the Russian government extends, and which it is sought to Russianize in every possible way, reaches from the frontiers of Germany, deep uito Mongolia, to China and Japan ; the children who now feel the rod of the Russian schoolmaster, are aheady counted in millions ; the discipline to which they are subjected, must, therefore, be an object of interest to the statesman. Our historians have been accustomed to assume, as admitted truths, that what has long endured must be good, what has slowly advanced will be slow in the retreat ; but on the other hand, a rapid rise forebodes as rapid a descent, and, thereupon, we Germans turn our backs upon Russian cultivation as a hotbouse plant, which, forced into unnatural maturity, will as quickly fade. These historical axioms, however, will not avail us in judging of Russia. So remarkable and peculiar a people have never before appeared in the page of history ; and those who know the interior of the country will admit with admiration, the long perspective of hope and futurity that is revealed in the spirit of the people, and acknowledge that the astounding resources and masses set in motion, promise a greater futme than we dare flatter ourselves with. The Russians, of all European nations, place most value on exterior show, and seem to place the least value on inward worth. The Russians swim like dolphins on the surface, and shun the deep waters. They stand, in this point of view, as in many others, alone in Europe ; and all other nations, even the French, Itahans, and Spaniards, form a striking contrast to the Russians, who touch only the surface of justice, truth, or science, but work most elaborately at the details of the outward casing. This makes itself felt in their tribunals, where the whole hierarchy of presidents, upper judges, lower judges, secretaries, &c., are in the best order, but where no justice is to be had ; in their army, where rank and the uniform are most rigidly exact, and the manoeuvres executed with brilliant precision, while tactics and military science, all that forms the very heart's core of an army, is wanting. It is the same thing in their commercial arrangements ; the outward appearance of their wares is extremely elegant, they are displayed in the most brilliant manner, but the goods themselves are worthless ; it is the same in their schools and educational institutions, where the building", the order, the examinations are all excellent, but where the pupil, even if he have collected some knowledge, has yet reaped no real harvest, acquired no animating impulses, nor has ever drank at the true fount of the muses. The exterior arrangements of aU the schools, public and private, not only in the two capitals, but even in many of the provincial cities, are extremely handsome. The rooms are spacious and well laid out, the food of the young people, taken on an average, much better than with us in similar institutions ; and as the government has an eye every where, it is impossible that such infamous dens should exist, as appear to have their being in England, if a hundredth part of the statement in ' Nicholas Nickleby" is to be believed.
In the public schools there is a fixed uniform for all the masters and pupils, one for week-day, and another for Sundays, and a state uniform for high festivals. No lesson is allowed to be given except in uniform ; and the continual reproofs and chastisements on account of those uniforms take up as much and more time than the correction of real faults. Those veiy paltry matters not only waste the time, but exhaust the powers of the teacher for more essential objects. The same spirit reigns in the private as in the public schools. There is a constant anxiety about outward appearance, an unceasing criticising and reproAdng for trifling faults of dress, walk, speech, demeanour, &c. &c.
This glaring contrast between the splendour of the apparatus, and the poverty of the result, has naturally excited a feehng of contempt among thinking persons, who, however, as before observed, woidd do better to examine carefully what has been done by the thousands of Russian schools, and not to be too severe on what those schools have omitted to do.