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RUSSIA 483 general, who have all the powers of imperial lieutenants. The division of the empire into governments is purely administrative. The officials at the head of them are called civil governors, but many of them are military men. They all have above them general governors, who are invariably military men. These gen- eral governors are not dependent on the min- ister of the interior, but make their reports di- rectly to the senate and the war office, and can be appointed and dismissed only by the empe- ror. There are 14 military general governor- ships of this description, viz. : those of St. Pe- tersburg, Finland, Wilna, Warsaw, Kiev, Odes- sa, Kharkov, Moscow, Kazan, the Caucasus, Orenburg, West Siberia, East Siberia, and Tur- kistan. The judiciary system of Russia was entirely reorganized by a ukase of 1864. The courts are divided into two classes, courts of justices of the peace, with jurisdiction of civil cases not involving more than 500 rubles, and the general courts, consisting of the district courts and the courts of appeal. The decision of a justice of the peace can be appealed from to the assembly of all the justices of a given district, the senate remaining in all cases the highest court of cassation. The trial of crim- inal causes by jury was introduced in 1866. No empire of the world contains so great a variety of nations and tribes as Russia ; their number exceeds 100, and they speak more than 40 different languages. The smaller and the uncivilized tribes are rapidly being amalga- mated with the ruling race, the Russians ; but the Poles, the Lithuanians, the German ele- ment in the Baltic provinces, the Finns, and a few minor nationalities, do not yet give any indications of losing their distinct national character. The immense majority of the pop- ulation are Slavs, in two principal divisions, Russians (56,600,000) and Poles (4,800,000), to which, as a third, though much smaller divi- sion, the Serbs and Slavic Bulgarians must be added, counting together about 70,000 souls, and mostly living in settlements on the Dnie- per and the Inguletz. The Russians form al- most the sole population of Great and Little Russia, and also preponderate in influence, if not in number, in South and West Russia and in the Volga and Ural provinces. The Rus- sians are again subdivided into Great and Lit- tle Russians. The latter, also called Red Rus- sians, Ruthenians, or Russins, include a large portion of the Cossacks, and inhabit Little Russia and South Russia, and, mixed with Poles, some districts of West Russia. The Great Russians are the predominant race, and their language is used throughout the empire by the government and the majority of the nation. The common people are vigorous and hardy, accustomed to the rigors of a severe and varying climate, and the hardships en- tailed by oppression, a merciless conscription, and occasional famines. They are of a cheer- ful temper, fond of song and frolic, and ad- dicted to excessive drinking. Though slavish, resigned, and generally good-natured, they are not unapt to fly into passion and commit acts of revenge, and both murder and arson are frequent. Theft is very common. They are both gregarious and migratory in their habits, easily adapting themselves to changed circumstances, and are possessed of unusual mechanical skill. As soldiers they are re- markable for endurance and blind obedience rather than for personal courage. The use of vapor baths is general, though cleanliness is far from being a national virtue. Gross super- stition prevails among the lower classes, and among the higher alternates with radical un- belief and subversive notions. The houses are adorned with painted images of saints, on whom various forms of adoration are lav- ished. The churches in the towns, consisting chiefly of frame houses, are striking by their gaudy domes and spires and lofty double cross- es, which from a distance attract the eye of the traveller, and relieve the monotony of the vast plains. The mass of the Great Rus- sians are agriculturists, mechanics, laborers in towns, or itinerant traders; the Little Rus- sians are largely engaged in rearing cattle and horses. Among the non-Slavic nations the following fire the most important : 1. The Letts have maintained themselves almost pure in the Baltic provinces, especially in Courland; while, as Lithuanians, in the governments of Wilna, Grodno, and Kovno, they have largely amalgamated with Poles. 2. The Germans are, though not a majority, the predominant race in the Baltic provinces. They also have flourishing settlements throughout southern Russia, and large numbers of German scholars, physicians and druggists, artisans, mechanics, miners, military men, &c., are found in the large cities. 3. The Finns have from the oldest times occupied the northern part of European Russia and a portion of Siberia. To them belong the Finns strictly so called and the Lapps in Finland, the Tchuds, the Vots, the Livs, and the Esths (in Courland, Li- vonia, Esthonia, Vitebsk, Pskov, St. Peters- burg, Archangel, and Olonetz), and a number of tribes on the Volga and in the adjoining territories. (See FINKS.) 4. The Tartar race is represented by the Tartars proper in the Crimea, Transcaucasia, Astrakhan, and West Siberia; the Nogais on the Kuban and Don, and in Taurida; the Meshtcheriaks in Oren- burg; the Bashkirs in Orenburg, Ufa, and Perm ; the Kirghiz between the Ural and Ir- tish rivers ; and Yakuts in Yakutsk and Yeni- seisk. 5. The Mongolian race in the wider sense, which embraces the two preceding races, is further represented by the Buriats, Tnngu- sians, Ainos, and other tribes in East Siberia ; the Calmucks in Astrakhan, the Don Cossack country, Caucasia, and Siberia; the Samoyeds and Ostiaks on both sides of the Obi ; and Uz- becks, Turkomans, and Tajiks in the recently annexed territories of central Asia. 6. Among the numerous Caucasian tribes, the Circassians,