Besides the 22,000,000 of serfs belonging to private owners, there were, according to a census taken some years ago, 22,225,075 Crown peasants that is, 10,583,638 men, and 11,641,437 women. The emancipation of this class began previous to that of the private serfs, and was all but accomplished on September 1, 1863. By an imperial decree of July 8, 1863, land was granted to the peasants on the private and appanage estates of the Crown, and to the peasants who belonged to the imperial palaces, which they are to pay for in forty-nine years in instalments, each equal in amount to the 'obrok,' or poll-tax formerly yielded by them. The peasants on these Crown estates, about 2,000,000 in number, were thereby elevated to the rank of rent-paying peasants, a situation in which they will remain for forty-nine years, when they become freehold landowners.

An important, though not very numerous class of the population of Russia are the foreign settlers which the Government succeeded in attracting to the country at various periods. The enormous extent of excellent but waste land, and the small and thinly-scattered population in all parts of the empire, naturally suggested the idea to the Government of bringing these deserts into cultivation by inviting colonists from other countries. Ivan Vasilievitch invited Germans to Moscow, of which the German Sloboda' still affords evidence. Michael Fedorovitch, in 1617, brought several thousand inhabitants from Finland and Carelia, and established them between Tver and Moscow. Peter I. settled a great many Swedish prisoners, and in 1705, after the capture of Narva and Dorpat, carried away about 6,000 of the inhabitants, and planted them in scattered parties in various parts of the empire. But Catherine II., immediately after the commencement of her reign, conceived the idea of peopling with immigrant foreigners the desert and waste lands of the southern⚫ provinces of the empire, and through them of disseminating industry and agricultural science among her subjects,' as it is expressed in the ukase of 1763.*

The first colonists received from the Russian Government the necessary travelling expenses from their homes to their places of destination; they were allowed the importation, duty-free, of their effects, to the value of 300 silver roubles; they had houses built at the expense of the Crown; and they had provisions and money for the first year, and a large sum as a loan, without interest, for a certain number of years. These last privileges have not been granted to the same extent to all sub sequentcolonists.

A return made several years ago stated the number of colonies in the empire, inhabited by settlers who had not yet become quite nationalised, as follows:

* Haxthausen, Baron, The Russian Empire.

Besides the foregoing, the Russian empire possesses considerable colonies of the three peoples who seem to be adapted to the migratory or pedlar trade the Jews, Armenians, and Tartars, or rather Bokharians. The Jews, who number about a million and a half, are only found in the western provinces of the Russian empire, in the south, and a few in Siberia. In the former Polish provinces of the west they are more numerous than in any other part of the world, and occupy there a very important position. In the central provinces of the empire the Jews are not tolerated. The second people for the migratory trade are the Armenians. Their numbers are greater than those of the Jews, amounting to about two millions, and they are spread throughout all Asia and a part of Africa, and to be found even frequently in China. The third of these peoples are the Tartars, and especially the Bokharian part of them. The Bokharians are everywhere indefatigable and skilful merchants; many are settled in the Siberian towns, and by their means Russia has much intercourse with Bokhara and the commercial roads connected with it.

An important feature in the social life of Russia is that the right of primogeniture, as such, does not exist. Peter I. desired to introduce an inheritance in fee of the oldest son among the nobility by an ukase of March 13, 1713. This, however, was so much opposed to the customs and traditions of the people, that it was abandoned. Peter II. cancelled the former ukase by that of March 17, 1728. Primogeniture has only been established in a few great families by particular family statutes.

Trade and Commerce.

Trade and commerce have made immense progress in Russia within the last few generations. So late as 1788, almost all the

cloth required for the clothing of the army was imported from abroad; but it is now wholly manufactured at home. Cloth of a superior quality is also made at Moscow and its vicinity, at factories near St. Petersburg, Sarepta, and other places; but, in general, it is inferior to what might be imported, and much dearer. The manufacture of flax and hemp is by far the most extensive and prosperous. It is very widely diffused, there being few villages in which it is not carried on to some extent; but linen is principally manufactured in Vladimir, Kostroma, Moscow, and Kalouga; and sail-cloth and cordage in Archangel and Orel. The silk manufacture of Moscow is extensive, and it is carried on to a less extent in other towns. The glass manufacture has also made a rapid progress. The glassworks of Tula and Twer are celebrated. The manufacture of snuff and cigars, potash and soap, has rapidly increased. Paper, coarse and fine earthenware, jewellery, and similar articles, are produced at Moscow, Petersburg, and other places.

The following statement regarding the value of the manufactured goods annually produced in Russia, and the number of people employed in the different trades, is drawn from official sources:

The principal articles of export from Russia are tallow; grain, particularly wheat; hemp and flax; timber, potashes, bristles, linseed and hempseed, linseed and hempseed oils, wool, leather; fox, hare, and squirrel skins; canvass and coarse linen, cordage, caviar, wax, isinglass, furs, and tar. The principal imports are sugar; cotton, cotton stuffs, and yarn; machinery and mill-work; hardware and iron; coffee; indigo, and other dye-stuffs; woollens, oils, spices, wine, tea, lead, tin; coal and salt in large quantities; linens and silks.

The declared value of British and Irish produce imported into Russia in the three years 1861, 1862, and 1863, was as follows:

The chief trading ports are Petersburg and Riga, on the Baltic; Archangel, on the White Sea; Odessa, on the Black Sea; Taganrog, on the Sea of Azof; and Astrakhan and Baku, on the Caspian Sea. Moscow is the principal entrepôt of the interior commerce of the empire. The trade with China is mostly carried on through Kiachta; and the interior commerce is kept up by means of Nijni Novgorod. There are also very large fairs at Irbit, Kharkoff, Poltava, and other towns.

The total amount of shipping at the port of Riga, representing the Russian trade on the Baltic during the year 1861, is shown in the subjoined table ::

The trade of Riga, during the year 1861, showed a falling off, as compared with that of the preceding year. The total value of exports in 1861 amounted to 3,428,800l., showing a diminution of 952,8351., as compared with the preceding year. The total value of the export trade to Great Britain for the year 1861 amounted to 1,302,6201., showing a falling off of 1,051,3801., as compared with the year 1860. The principal articles of export during the year 1861, with their value in British sterling, were as follows:

The total amount of shipping at the port of Archangel, representing the Russian trade on the White Sea, during the last five years, is shown in the following table :

The value of the export trade of Archangel during the last five years was as follows: