ey seem always to have been united; no one knows
where they came from. In respect to popular tunes and songs, the
answer which the Ashantees gave to Mr. Bowditch has often occurred to
us: "They were made when the country was made." The Russian tunes are
richer and more varied than are popular airs in general. Of most of
the songs only the first two verses are set to the melody; all the
following being repeated in the same tune. But there are some which
extend further. Some of these airs include more than a whole octave in
their notes; while the national melodies of most other nations move in
general among a few notes.

To account for the melancholy character of the Russian music and
poetry, and to reconcile it with the well-known cheerful disposition
of the nation, has been attempted by several Russian critics. "The
peculiarities of a nation," Karamzin remarks, "may always be explained
by the circumstances which have operated on it; although the
grandchildren may have some of the virtues and some of the vices of
their ancestry, even if they are differently situated. Perhaps the
present character of the Russians may exhibit faults, which it
contracted during the barbarism of the Mongolian subjugation." The
pensiveness which pervades the Russian songs has also been considered
as a remnant of that gloom, necessarily impressed on the Russian
character during two centuries of the most cruel oppression. There is
no doubt that the Russians before, during, and after their subjugation
by the Mongols, had a thousand causes of discouragement and disasters;
bloody civil wars, the most barbarian despotism, the plague,
slavery,[23] and the like. But it is just as certain, that
notwithstanding all the causes of sorrow, the Russians are still the
most cheerful and light-hearted people on earth; with all their hearts
and senses enjoying the scanty pleasures of life; though deprived of
all civil privileges, and even of many social rights. The truth is,
that it is with nations as with individuals. Neither in the one case
nor in the other must we expect always to see them deposit their
_habitual_ feelings in their poetry. It is a well-known fact that
Moliere was a man of a most serious disposition. Cowper, immediately
before writing his "John Gilpin," was in a mood bordering on despair.
Young, while composing his melancholy Night Thoughts, enjoyed his life
as well as any man. The Russians do not sing their every-day
sentiments, but their