yal lady in Europe, not even excepting that remarkable
equestrienne the Empress of Austria. She remained with her
lady-companions and the princes to witness the races, while the
Emperor with his military suite retired to the Imperial Palace half a
mile away. The ladies in the Empress's immediate company were very
refined in appearance, possessing strong intellectual faces and much
grace of manners; but as to personal beauty among the Russian ladies
generally, one must look for it in vain, the few vivid exceptions
only serving to emphasize the rule. While the men have fine regular
features and are generally remarkable for their good looks, their
mothers, sisters, and wives are apt to be positively homely; indeed,
it has passed into an axiom that nowhere are the old women so ugly
and the old men so handsome as in this country.

It will be remembered that Alexander III. succeeded to the throne on
the assassination of his father, March 13, 1881; and that he is far
more liberal and progressive than any of his predecessors is
universally admitted. We were told by influential Russians that a
constitutional form of government even may be established under his
rule, if his life is spared for a series of years. Though a true
soldier and an able one, he has not the ardent love for military
affairs which absorbed Nicholas I. While he is sensitive to national
honor as regards his relations with other countries, his home policy
is eminently liberal and peaceful. He has ably seconded his father's
efforts for the improvement of the judicial system, the mitigation of
the censorship of the press, the abolishment of corporal punishment
in the army and navy, and the improvement of primary educational
facilities. In such a country as Russia, progress in these directions
must be gradual; any over-zealousness to promote great reforms would
defeat the object.

CHAPTER XIV.

Power of the Greek Church. -- Freeing the Serfs. -- Education
Needed. -- Mammoth Russia. -- Religion and Superstition. --
Memorial Structures. -- Church Fasts. -- Theatres and Public
Amusements. -- Night Revels. -- A Russian Bazaar. -- Children's
Nurses in Costume. -- The one Vehicle of Russia. -- Dress of the
People. -- Fire Brigade. -- Red Tape. -- Personal Surveillance.
-- Passports. -- Annoyances. -- Spying Upon Strangers. -- The
Author's Experience. -- Censorship of the Press.

It is not alone her military organization, colossal and complet