corrective kind, including, as it does, cucumbers in vinegar.

On Easter Sunday, painted eggs are universally bestowed. Upon meeting an acquaintance, an egg must be put into his hands. It is estimated that in Moscow alone ten millions of eggs are thus used, some having upon them the words, "Christohs Vosskress" (Christ is risen!). The nobility often use glass eggs, which pass from hand to hand.

All Russians who die during Easter are supposed at once to enter heaven, without having to pass through any intermediate state; so that it is generally a cause for rejoicing rather than of grief.

But I will not dwell upon a Russian Easter. Like their brethren the Romanists, they have degraded it to the lowest sensuality.

Beyond all dispute, the most interesting ceremony is the Easter kiss. I will endeavour to give some idea of the enormous consumption of this saccharine article at this time of year.

"In the first place, all members of a family, without exception, kiss each other. If the family consist only of ten individuals, there are at once ninety kisses. Then all acquaintance meeting for the first time at Easter, even where the acquaintance is but slight, would think it a breach of politeness not to kiss and embrace each other with the greatest cordiality. The take you, Maxim!'

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I once heard an old woman exclaim to a young man, can't you say, "Christohs vosskress," and give me a kiss?'

"If we suppose, now, that every person in St. Petersburgh has, upon a very moderate average, a hundred acquaintances, more or less intimate, that calculation will give, for St. Petersburgh alone, with its halfmillion inhabitants, a sum total of fifty million Easter embraces. Let us consider only on how large a scale many individuals must carry on the business. In the army every general of a corps of sixty thousand men must embrace all the officers, every colonel those of his regiment, and a select number of soldiers into the bargain. The captain salutes all the soldiers of his company, who are mustered for the purpose. The same in the civil department; the chief embraces all his subordinates, who wait on him in their gala dresses. Herein, of course, as in all other cases, the largest share of business falls to the emperor's lot. Let us consider his numerous family, his enormous retinue, the countless numbers who come to salute him on Easter morning, those of the nobles whom he is more intimate with, and may meet by accident; and even then he has not done. On parade, the whole body of officers, and some of the privates picked out for the occasion, are honoured with an imperial embrace, which is not refused even to the meanest sentinel of his palace, as he passes him on Easter Sunday. Upon one occasion, on going out of the palace, the emperor met a private soldier, and, according to custom, saluted him, exclaiming, Christ is risen!' 'No,' replied the soldier, 'Christ is not risen!' What do you mean?' asked the emperor; 'who and what are you?' 'I

am a Jew, your majesty,' was the reply. Jews were formerly exempt from serving in the Russian army; but they have for some time been liable.

"As all these caresses are given and received with the greatest cheerfulness, and amidst smiles and hand-shakings, as if they saw each other for the first time after a long separation, or after some heavy and longendured misfortune, it may be easily imagined how many gay and amusing scenes are passing in the streets and houses. Christohs vosskress, Yefim Stephanovitsch!' (Christ is risen, Euphem Stephen's son) bawls one bearded fellow to another. Voyst venno vosskress? (Is he really risen ?) Then they seize each other's hand, embrace heartily, and finish with 'Padyom v'kabak brat' (Let us go to the public-house, brother); and to the public-house they go, where the brandy runs as freely as the clear water in Mahomet's paradise."-Gadsby's Trip to Sebastopol.

RUSSIAN MARRIAGES.

A

WHILE at Sebastopol, I witnessed a Russian marriage. We were sitting in the diningroom of the hotel, about seven p.m., when a waiter called out, "A wedding!" An officer in a droshkie galloped past, followed by three other droshkies, each containing two ladies. We hastily followed, and found two priests, in their richest vestments, going through certain prayers, and a choir, with some excellent bass and soprano voices, chanting. There were no women singers, only men and boys. The Russians have not yet learnt enough of Christianity to place the women on a level with the men. They are not on any account allowed to sing in the churches in presence of the men. dozen large and several smaller tapers were burning in front of the altar. The bride was by no means a bad-looking lady, and the bridegroom was an officer in the army. They had met at the church, as it is not usual in Russia for the bride and bridegroom to go there together. When we entered the church, we found them standing behind the head priest, each holding a lighted candle in his and her left hand. After a time, two silver or silvered crowns were brought, and the head priest held them to the bride and bridegroom to kiss. He then held them over their heads for a few moments, when he was relieved by their two attendants, or "companions,"-two officers who stood behind the bridal pair. The officers held the crowns over them for perhaps a quarter of an hour, until I pitied them, for their arms must have ached greatly. The prayers and chantings were continued during the whole time. The sacrament was then administered to the happy pair, each sipping the wine three times from a miniature dish. priest then held to them the Bible, which had been placed on a reading-desk before them, and this they kissed three times. He then joined their hands, holding them together with one of his own, but having a handkerchief wrapped round it, that he might not, with his warm bare hand, soil their white gloves, for both had gloves on. He then, thus holding their hands together,

The

marched them three times round the desk upon which was the Bible, the singing, of course, being proceeded with throughout the whole. A silver cross was then given to them by the priest to kiss. Everything was done three times, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The bridegroom then kissed the priest's hand, and the bride would do so also, though this is not required. And the ceremony concluded.

I confess it was the most imposing marriage ceremony I ever witnessed. The marriage took place in the principal church, at the head of the slope above the southern harbour. It is a fine building, and was very little damaged by the bombardment; and even the Zouaves appear to have respected it. There is a smaller church close by its side.

At

Expensive feasts are sometimes given at weddings. The people in some parts of the Russian territories try to outvie each other in their sumptuous entertainments. Mitau, in 1591, a law was made that, for the future," besides cheese and butter, only three dishes should be used at weddings; that at the wedding of a Rathsmann no more than sixty guests shall be present; at that of a citizen no more than forty; of a me. chanic no more than thirty; ; and at that of a serf no more than twenty.'

"The wedding customs of the Lettes, though they have much in common with other northern nations, have also much that is peculiar to themselves. After the suitor has made sure of the consent of his mistress and her relations, and has calculated exactly how many linen stockings, how many pounds of wool, and how many lambs his intended will bring him, and whether she has a cow or not, and whether she is an industrious housewifely maiden, he enters the house with various ceremonies and compliments, and addresses a poetical speech to the bride's father, or any person appointed to represent him. In his address he states that he wishes to find, for a friend of his, an industrious and virtuous maiden, who can bleach, wash, spin, weave, milk, sweep, knit, and sew. He has nowhere been able to find one to satisfy him, but is sure he shall be successful in so excellent and far-famed a household.

"The spokesman of the bride thanks him for the intended honour, and places before him all the girls of the house, except the wished-for one. The suitor praises them, but declares that she he seeks is not present. He has heard there dwelt in this house the tenderest virgin, the gentlest lamb, the fairest dove, in the world. After various speeches, apologies, questions, and compliments on both sides, the bride at length comes forward. Two torches are borne before her, and two behind.

"After she has given her consent, her father and suitor join hands, and drink a glass of brandy, beer, or mead together, and the bethrothment is finished. At the wedding, the bride's procession and that of the bridegroom come separately to the church, and they meet at the altar. As at the Russian weddings, crowns are placed on the

heads of the bride and bridegroom. They are made of silver, or silvered tin, and are formed into wreaths of flowers, leaves, or corn. On most estates there are several such crowns, which are borrowed by the peasants for their weddings. The weddings of the Lettes last three days. The first day passes at the bride's house. The handsomest unmarried wedding guest is usually chosen to conduct the bride to her husband's house, and is adorned with ribbons, handkerchiefs, gloves, and plumes of feathers. The bridegroom's house is decked out with branches of fir and birch, and with wreaths, plumes, and bunches of fantastically arranged corn and grass, and with rows and festoons of red, yellow, and black berries.

"The bride, decked out in all her finery, walks silent and sad amongst her guests, helping them to mead and beer, shedding tears, and imploring their compassion. Her grief at leaving her mother, her friends, and the scenes of her youth, overpowers all her joy. Her unmarried female friends surround her, and endeavour to console her by extolling the happiness of the marriage state. The married women raise one chorus, and the unmarried another, singing alternate verses, in which the one party praise the joys of youth and childhood, and lament the sorrows and pains of a matron's life; while the other side congratulate the bride, and enlarge upon the happiness and advantages of matrimony. They often become so zealous that their voices rise to an absolute scream. The male guests amuse themselves in the meantime with eating and drinking. Every guest as he enters is welcomed and complimented by the bride, and greeted with an extempore couplet by the singers and jesters. The bride presents every guest, when he departs, with a white handkerchief and a pair of gloves."

Among the Esthonians the following customs are observed:-"On the wedding-day both processions go separately to church, and afterwards proceed together to the house of the bride. Some of the women, friends of the bride, pour a can of beer over the head of the bridegroom's horse, and scatter a handful of rye over the heads of the bridal couple.

"The marriage feast is then eaten, and masking, mumming, and other sports occupy the day. The next morning the bride, completely muffled up in sheets and quilts, perhaps the better to hide her tears, is taken home to her husband's house. Her brother acts as her coachman. On arriving at her husband's house, she seats herself in her brother's lap, and her mother, in due form, invests her with the hood and costume of a matron. The bridegroom's hat is then placed over her hood, which she three successive times throws off her head, and receives again, in token that she protests against the supremacy of man, but is willing not the less to tolerate it. A slight box on the ear is then given her, in token of the authority of her husband. Afterwards the bride deals out her presents to her guests, and receives from them promises of future presents, of sheep, horses, beehives, &c. In the evening she dances once with every guest, and re

ceives a small present in money in return. The day after the wedding-night, the young wife, attended by all the guests, makes a tour of the house, and sweeps up the hearth by way of initiation into her future duties." Sometimes the proprietor of an estate summonses all his unmarried male serfs, and orders them to find wives within a given time; and this they must do. The priest is sent for, and he marries them by the dozen.

When a Jewess marries, I am told she has to shave her head, unless she can pay for a dispensation. The Russian Jews are much oppressed, but all are very rich.

There are professional match-makers in Russia, as in Egypt, where they are called khatbehs; and these not only in the lower, but the higher ranks of society. An exact account must be given of what the wife will be expected to do, on the one hand, and, on the other, how much fortune the wife has. The marriage soon takes place when all the conditions have been agreed upon. The intended bridegroom presents his intended bride with two boxes of paint, one white and the other red, so that she may set herself off to the best advantage. The wife's friends are expected to find the money for the expenses of the wedding; and then, for the first time, the brides are free, as, prior to that time, they are watched as a cat watches a mouse. And this freedom is too often abused by them. Until comparatively recently, they were secluded in harems, as they still are in Turkey, and veiled to the

utmost.

One mode of choosing wives amongst the lower classes is very common in Russia. On Whit-Monday, young men and young women meet, and arrange themselves opposite to each other. "The young damsels, arrayed in all their finery, are marshalled in due order along the flower-beds, and their mammas are carefully stationed behind them. Every glittering ornament has been collected for the occasion, and not only their own wardrobes, but those of their grandmothers too, have been laid under contribution to collect decorations for the hair, the ears, the arms, the neck, the hands, the feet, the girdle,-in short, for any part of the person to which by hook or by crook anything in the shape of adornment can be fastened. Many of them are so laden with gold and jewellery that scarcely any part of their natural beauty remains uncovered. It is even said that, on one of these occasions, a Russian mother, not knowing what she should add to her daughter's toilet, contrived to make her a necklace of six dozen of gilt tea-spoons, a girdle of an equal number of table-spoons, and then fastened a couple of punch-ladles behind in the form of a cross.

"The young men meanwhile, with their flowing caftans and curled beards, are paraded by their papas up and down before these rows of young, mute, blushing beauties, who, in spite of bashful looks, are evidently ambitious to please, and seemed little disposed to resent the admiration of the swains. The papas and mammas endeavour here and there to engage their interesting charges in conversation with each other; and in the course of these little colloquies, certain looks

VOL. XV.

and emotions will betray an unsuspected inclination, or perhaps give birth to sentiments pregnant with future moment.

"Eight days after this first bride-show, the interviews take place at the houses of the parents, when, by means of family negociations, a marriage is all but concluded, and the young couple part all but betrothed to each other. Similar customs prevail among all the nations of the Slavonian races; but it is a singular fact that a usage of the kind should have maintained its ground so long in a place like St. Petersburgh, where a numerous part of the public has ever been disposed to make the brideshow an object of ridicule. Of late years, indeed, the fashion has been gradually dying away, and the description given above applies rather to former than to present times. Nevertheless, the lads and lasses of what may be termed the bourgeoisie of St. Petersburgh, still muster in the Summer Garden in great force on Whit-Monday, when the foundation is laid for many a matrimonial negociation; though the business is conducted with less form and stiffness than was wont to be the case some ten years ago."—Ibid.

NATIONAL INDUSTRY.

It is natural to notice the transcendent art of printing, in connexion with the material imprinted, which gives employment to a large and intelligent portion of the population, and opens stores of instruction, sacred and secular, to the knowledge of all. Nearly four centuries have elapsed since Caxton set up his press, adjoining one of the chapels of Westminster Abbey, which led to the technical application of the word chapel to the internal regulations of a printing-office :"Each printer hence, howe'er unbless'd his walls, E'en to this day his house a chapel calls."

The art made little progress till the middle of the last century, when Baskerville, of Birmingham, turned his attention to it from the ordinary pursuits of the locality, and spent much of his fortune in producing types to his own satisfaction. Though he succeeded in the attempt, no benefit to himself accrued from success, as we find him writing in the following strain to Franklin: -"After having obtained the reputation of excelling in the most useful art known to mankind, of which I have your testimony, is it not to the last degree provoking, that I cannot get even bread by it?" The public taste, then in favour of bad printing, because it was cheaper, is now supplied with the finest typography at a much more reasonable rate, executed by means of steam-presses with a rapidity which would have appeared fabulous in the last century. Nor in England does the speed with which press-work is despatched, imperatively demanded by society, in any way interfere with correct production, which is in general remarkable, even in the immense daily newspapers. This result is attributed chiefly to the maintenance of the ancient custom of the printers, who require seven entire years' apprenticeship of every workman, whether destined to be a compositor or pressman, by means of which

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he becomes attached to his profession, and skilful in it. Attempts have been made to save time and labour in composing, by introducing the use of types bearing whole words or syllables instead of single letters, under the name of lolographic printing. The plan, though apparently eligible, was found to be practically the reverse, as it complicates the case of the compositor, and produces difficulties in the way of spacing.

In London, about three thousand works are annually published, including new editions, but independent of periodicals and newspapers. The binding is carried on with such expedition in the large bookbinding establishments, that a thousand volumes can be put in cloth boards, gilt, in six hours, provided the covers are previously prepared, and this can be done in less than two days. After the metropolis, the great centre of printing and the book trade, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Birkenhead, Dublin, and Glasgow, are the most important sites of production. Down to the year 1851, a single institution, the British and Foreign Bible Society, had produced more than twentyfour million copies of the "Book of books,' in one hundred and forty different languages, which have been distributed over the whole surface of the globe by the exertions of agents and missionaries. Such efforts as these are alike the strength and glory of the land; for neither armies nor fleets, nor a liberal political constitution, afford so strong a ground of confidence of security, as that which may be found in the fact of our continuing to a great extent a Bibleloving nation. It deserves remark, as one of the most distinctive features of progress in the art of printing and also in active benevolence, that by embossed typography books are now made available to the blind, to whom the sense of touch answers the purpose of vision. Thus a source of instruction, with an invaluable solace, is placed within the reach of numbers whose natural infirmity demands the warmest sympathy. It has been estimated that in European countries one person out of every 1,200 or 1,400 is deprived of sight, and in America one in every 2,000. The entire Bible, with numerous other works, has been printed for their benefit; and hence in an important sense, it is true of the present age, that "the blind see," while "the poor have the gospel preached unto them."

The industries are numerous, which, though relating to trifling objects, and relatively unimportant, would be considered of great consequence in many other parts of the globe. Thus, in blacking-making, fortunes of the largest class have been realized. In confectionery, it is certain that two or three tons of lozenges per week is no unusual quantity for a single house to produce, while at least 150 tons of sugar are every week converted into sweetmeats. In the production of parasols and umbrellas, the principal London maker prepares 2,500,000 ratans in the year, chiefly for the ribs, and several of the large city houses dispose of from 250 to 500 dozens of the finished articles in a week. In walking-sticks, which are extensively exported, a leading manufacturer will sell

500,000 annually; and children's toys, while largely imported, are a very considerable item of home produce. Ordinary strong toys are generally of English manufacture, as dolls' houses, brewers' drays, wagons, common horses, spades, wheelbarrows, skippingropes, hoops, suckers, slings, tops, and kites. Wax or composition dolls are also entirely of English make; but wooden dolls are imported, as are also to some extent boys' marbles. In the year 1850, nearly fifteen tons of marbles were entered at the port of Hull. The common toys are largely made by the poorest of the poor, who work in the attics of the Metropolis, and hawk their goods from shop to shop. Having no leisure moments to devote to improvement or invention, the products remain the same in quality and kind in the days of the grandsons as they were in those of the grandsires; nor is there any reason to wish for change, unless it amended the condition of the artizan; for, as justly remarked by Dr. Faraday, the most eminent physical inquirer of the age, "boys' toys are the most philosophical things in the world." A child's kite, in the hands of Franklin, served to identify lightning with electricity, and convey an instructive lesson on the composition of mechanical forces. The pea-shooter not only affords evidence of the elastic force of gases, but also of their economical employment when used expansively. The sucker illustrates the weight of the atmosphere, and its equal pressure in all directions. Tops and hoops show the property of centrifugal force; and, when the top is in rapid motion, it imparts a good lesson in physiological optics, by converting, for the moment, every bruise or spot on its surface into an elegant zone. This adaptation to suggest instruction and illustrate facts ought not to be overlooked, though it is wise, at least for a time, for playthings to be simply used as playthings.

A better idea of our national industry cannot be given than by the statement that, in the year ending December 31, 1856, after supplying domestic wants, the declared value of the produce exported, consisting almost entirely of manufactures, amounted to upwards of £115,000,000 sterling. This is equal to nearly 80s. per head, estimating the population of the United Kingdom at 30,000,000; while the proportionate value of the exports of the French is only about 33s. per head.

Changes the most extraordinary, of a physical and social nature, have taken place in concurrence with the extension of manufactures, as the inevitable consequence of their expansion. Since cargoes of "vegetable wool" began to enter the Mersey, the whole face of that part of the kingdom has been wonderfully altered. It was once a region of desolate moors, with not a few thick woods, and quaking morasses. The Norman Conqueror, returning from his northern warlike expedition, with difficulty forced his way from Yorkshire into Cheshire, through the swamps and forest fastnesses of southern Lancashire; and the antiquary Camden, in the age of James I., approached its frontiers with dread, invoking the Divine protection upon entering its tangled wilds. Liverpool,

6,939

where, it will be observed, that in 1856 the collisions were nine times more numerous than in 1852. In 1856, the shipwrecks and collisions were divided monthly as follows:-January, 149; February, 154; March, 96; April, 74; May, 57; June, 52; July, 48; August, 51; September, 98; October, 99; November, 129; December, 166. The tonnage of these ships was 229,936 tons. The number of persons on board was 10,014; of whom 521 perished. Of these ships 314 were colliers. The locality of the shipwrecks was on the east coast, from Dungeness to Pentland Frith, 506; west, from Land's End to Greenock, 507 ; from the Land's End to Dungeness, 119; on the coast of Ireland, 155; on the Isle of Scilly, 12; on Sandy Isle, 11; on the Isle of Man, 5; on the Northern Islands, 36. The causes of shipwreck have in 148 cases arisen from storms; 17 abandonments as not seaworthy; 37 foundered; 10 for want of lights in the vessel; 33 from fogs and currents; 5 from derangement of the compasses; 3 by bad charts; 18 by mathematical errors; 7 by mistakes of pilots; 3 by want of pilots; 21 by neglecting to sound; 2 by intemperance; 9 by general negligence; 10 by being taken aback; 4 by burning, &c. Need a word more be said to stir up the soul of every reader sympathy with the poor sailor?

Total............... 15,282

Of this very large number of cases only 476 were of a class that would necessarily be the subject of a criminal prosecution, but in the open verdicts "found dead" and "injuries, causes unknown," no less than 3,607 cases remain subject to suspicion as to the real cause of death.

THERE is another species of wreck still, which though less hideous, is truly lamentable, going on among us. The Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police have issued a return of the number of persons taken into custody by the metropolitan police, and the results, in 1856. It appears from this return that the total number taken into custody amounted to not less than 73,240, of whom 45,941 were males. Of that number there were discharged by the magistrates 36,551, those summarily disposed of amounted to 33,451, and 3,238 were committed for trial. The proportion of male and female prisoners committed was 2,502 of the former, and 716 of the latter, and the total of both convicted was Of the 2,053 males and 534 females. prisoners taken into custody 12 were charged with murder, 79 with cutting and