The picture of Russian manners varies little with reference to the prince or the peasant. The first nobleman in the empire, when dismissed by his sovereign from attendance upon his person, or withdrawing to his estate in consequence of dissipation and debt, betakes himself to a mode of life little superior to that of brutes. You will then find him throughout the day, with his neck bare, his beard lengthened, his body wrapped in a sheep’s hide, eating raw turnips, and drinking quass, sleeping one half of the day, and growling at his wife and family the other. The same feelings, the same wants, wishes, and gratifications, then characterise the nobleman and the peasant; and the same system of tyranny, which extends from the throne downwards, through all the bearings and ramifications of society, even to the cottage of the lowest boor, has entirely extinguished every spark of liberality in the breasts of a people who are all slaves. They are all, high and low, rich and poor, alike servile to superiors; haughty and cruel to their dependents; ignorant, superstitious, cunning, brutal, barbarous, dirty, mean.
The emperor canes the first of his grandees; princes and nobles cane their slaves; and the slaves their wives and daughters. Ere the sun dawns hi Rtissia, flagellation begins; and throughout its vast empire cudgels are going, in every department of its immense population, from morning until night.
How forcibly opposed to these characteristics are the manners of the Swedes! In the pleasing recollection of the honesty, the benevolence, the bravery, and all the manly virtues that adorn the breasts of the inhabitants of Sweden, the contrast is, indeed, painfully striking.
When I reflect on the long track over which I have passed, and the many examples of human excellence which it has been my lot to witness, I almost repent that I have begun with the journey among the Russians; lest from the statement I am compelled to make, it should be supposed that I have been actuated by other motives than a love of truth.” – wrote Dr. Edward Clarke in his bestselling book ‘Travels in Russia‘ published around 1810.
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