of civil commotion endangering the public
safety. He must abolish the censorship of the colleges, universities,
and places of public amusement, and leave them to be regulated by the
municipal authorities. In short, he must cease to be a despot and
become a constitutional monarch. Will he do it? Can he do it? Does he
possess the moral courage to do it? Time alone can answer these
questions. I sincerely believe the emperor is a good man, actuated by
the best motives, but not always governed by the wisest counsels. I
believe he now has an opportunity of earning a name that enlightened
men will bless through all time to come. So far, it is to be regretted
that he has not pursued the most consistent course, but it is not yet
too late to retrieve his errors. One thing is certain--there can be
no half-way measures of reform in Russia. The spirit of the age--the
general increase of intelligence--requires a radical change. He can
not be autocrat and king at the same time. He must be one or the
other. If he tries both, the empire will be dismembered before many
years.

Whatever may be the extent and variety of those hidden restraints,
which doubtless exist, and must, from the very nature of the
government, be exempt from the scrutiny of a stranger as well as from
popular discussion, it is beyond question that in the principal
cities, at least, very little is visible in that respect which would
be considered objectionable in the municipal regulations of any city
in the United States. From this, of course, must be excepted the
presence in every public place and thoroughfare of vast numbers of
soldiers and officers; but that is a feature which St. Petersburg
shares in common with all the cities of Europe, and the traveler can
scarcely regard it as an indication of the depressed condition of
Russian civilization. I think I have seen in the streets of Pesth,
Vienna, Berlin, and Frankfort quite as many soldiers, according to the
population, as in St. Petersburg. I would say something about Paris,
but I expect to go there after a while, and would dislike very much to
be placed in the position of Mr. Dick Swiveller, who was blockaded at
his lodgings, and never could go out without calculating which of the
public ways was still left open. But if there be officers enough of
all kinds in Paris to keep the public peace and suppress objectionable
correspondence and pamphlets against members of the reigning family,
there are also enough in L