as to how such a science ought to be constructed, and that he had himself made no serious attempt to use the method which he commended.  My objections had little or no effect:  the belief was too deep-rooted to be so easily eradicated.  In books, periodicals, newspapers, and professional lectures the name of Buckle was constantly cited—­often violently dragged in without the slightest reason—­and the cheap translations of his work were sold in enormous quantities.  It is not, then, so very wonderful after all that the book should have found its way to two villages in the province of Yaroslavl.

The enterprising, self-reliant, independent spirit which is often to be found among those peasants manifests itself occasionally in amusing forms among the young generation.  Often in this part of the country I have encountered boys who recalled young America rather than young Russia.  One of these young hopefuls I remember well.  I was waiting at a post-station for the horses to be changed, when he appeared before me in a sheep-skin, fur cap, and gigantic double-soled boots—­all of which articles had been made on a scale adapted to future rather than actual requirements.  He must have stood in his boots about three feet eight inches, and he could not have been more than twelve years of age; but he had already learned to look upon life as a serious business, wore a commanding air, and knitted his innocent little brows as if the cares of an empire weighed on his diminutive shoulders.  Though he was to act as yamstchik he had to leave the putting in of the horses to larger specimens of the human species, but he took care that all was done properly.  Putting one of his big boots a little in advance, and drawing himself up to his full shortness, he watched the operation attentively, as if the smallness of his stature had nothing to do with his inactivity.  When all was ready, he climbed up to his seat, and at a signal from the station-keeper, who watched with paternal pride all the movements of the little prodigy, we dashed off at a pace rarely attained by post-horses.  He had the faculty of emitting a peculiar sound—­something between a whirr and a whistle—­that appeared to have a magical effect on the team and every few minutes he employed this incentive.  The road was rough, and at every jolt he was shot upwards into the air, but he always fell back into his proper position, and never lost for a moment his self-possession or his balance.  At the end of the journey I found we had made nearly fourteen miles within the hour.

Unfortunately this energetic, enterprising spirit sometimes takes an illegitimate direction.  Not only whole villages, but even whole districts, have in this way acquired a bad reputation for robbery, the manufacture of paper-money, and similar offences against the criminal law.  In popular parlance, these localities are said to contain “people who play pranks” (narod shalit).  I must, however, remark that, if I may judge by my own experience,