In this part of Russia the landed proprietors nearly all become Government officials in the Capital and, if they retain their estates, it is only for the sake of having some place wherein to rest in the summer-time. They do this because it would be impossible for them to live on the income they get from the land ("It wouldn't keep us in cigarettes" one of them said to me.) and, besides, life in so remote, lonely, and. well-nigh inaccessible a country would be unbearable to one fond of music, of society, and of the theatre. One lady who lived on her estate all the year round was pointed out to me a wonder. It is easy to blame Absenteeism, but I think that in this case (I am thinking of th good deal can be said in favour of it. How, for instance, can children be educated in such a place? At the same time this Absenteeism shows that the Rassian landlord is, like his Irish confrere, unsuited to his environment and that, consequently, hi ance is only a question of time.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.