The  Kussian  merchant's  love  of  ostentation  is  of  a  peculiar  kind —
something  entirely  different  from  English  snobbery.  He  may  de-
light in  gaudy  reception-rooms,  magnificent  dinners,  fast  trotters,
costly  furs;  or  he  may  display  his  riches  by  princely  donations  to
churches,  monasteries,  or  benevolent  institutions :  but  in  all  this  he
never  affects  to  be  other  than  he  really  is.  He  habitually  wears  a
costume  which  designates  plainly  his  social  position;  he  makes  no
attempt  to  adopt  fine  manners  or  elegant  tastes ;  and  he  never  seeks
to  gain  admission  to  what  is  called  in  Eussia  la  societe.  Having  no
desire  to  seem  what  he  is  not,  he  has  a  plain,  unaffected  manner,  and
sometimes  a  quiet  dignity  which  contrasts  favourably  with  the
affected  manner  of  those  nobles  of  the  lower  ranks  who  make
pretensions  to  being  highly  educated  and  strive  to  adopt  the  outward
forms  of  French  culture.  At  his  great  dinners,  it  is  true,  the  mer-
chant likes  to  see  among  his  guests  as  many  "  generals  " — that  is  to
say,  official  personages — as  possible,  and  especially  those  who  happen
to  have  a  grand  cordon;  but  he  never  dreams  of  thereby  establishing
an  intimacy  with  these  personages,  or  of  being  invited  by  them  in
return.  It  is  perfectly  understood  by  both  parties  that  nothing  of
the  kind  is  meant.  The  invitation  is  given  and  accepted  from  quite
different  motives.  The  merchant  has  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  at
his  table  men  of  high  official  rank,  and  feels  that  the  consideration
which  he  enjoys  among  people  of  his  own  class  is  thereby  aug-
mented. If  he  succeeds  in  obtaining  the  presence  of  three  generals,
he  obtains  a  victory  over  a  rival  who  cannot  obtain  more  than  two.
