13 JULY 1861, Page 1

The first effects of the emancipation of the serfs in

Russia are far from satisfactory. The peasants very naturally want their liberty at once, and are persuaded that it has been granted by the Czar, and kept them from by the nobles. They accordingly declare their deter- mination to perish rather than labour any longer for their lords. No less than three hundred inieutes are acknowledged by the official journals, and many more are supposed to have been suppressed. Some of these are serious, and in one place, Penza, in Little Russia, seven thousand of the peasants, headed by a man who, says the Journal de St. Ptitersbourg, "had such influence, that he might have raised taxes if he pleased," fought the Imperial troops for an entire day. In all cases the same plan is adopted by the Government. An officer is sent off from St. Petersburg to assist, or perhaps control, the local nobility ; and the ukase is carefully explained. If the people return to their work, all is overlooked. If not, an effort is made to seize the ringleaders, which is resisted, and then the troops commence firing. The peasantry who, though submissive, are very dogged, are shot down in great numbers, and the aide-de-camp or other delegate of the Emperor, reports that order has been restored. The greatest difficulty will probably arise at the next levy for the army, which cannot be long delayed. It has been postponed for six years, and although Russian soldiers are enlisted practically for life, the ranks are becoming thin, and the supply of active men below the necessities of the State. It must be noted that in all the emeutes yet recorded there are traces of religious feeling, as if secret dissent had made great progress, and that they are not directed against the Czar. A decree, making emancipation immediate, would at any moment relieve the State of disturbance.