The modern growth of Russia is greater than that of any other European country. Its fairs have done much to facilitate that growth. It seems as if its people were passing through those stages of commercial building up which the other nationalities have long left in the dim vista of the past. The greatest fair held in Europe at the present time is that of _Nijni Novgorod_; yet that is not greater, relatively, than was Sturbridge in England, or those of Lyons, or of Bari (Italy), or of Bruges, in Flanders. There are several other large fairs, of which I shall also give the best details available. They are chiefly in southern Russia. The fair of Riga is an exception. The fair of Kiakhta is in Asiatic Russia, as are also those of Irbit and Yekaterinburg. I shall first notice the smaller fairs, and finally that of Nijni. BERDICHEFF (in the government of Volhynia, southern Russia).—This town has long been famous for its fairs. King Stanislaus Augustus permitted the holding of ten in the year. Five either now are or recently were held, viz. in January, March, June, August, and November. Those of June and August are the most considerable. These fairs have given rise to the commercial importance of the town. The chief trade of the fairs is in grain, wine, honey, wax, leather, and horses and cattle; while cotton and silk goods, glass-ware, hardware, salt, fish, and beetroot sugar are becoming of increasing importance. The value of the goods sold is estimated at £800,000; the Jews are the chief purchasers. At the principal horse fair there is sometimes a show of 40,000 horses. The nobles of the country with their families attend the fairs, and remain encamped in the neighbourhood of the town during the three weeks they last. At the January fair, 1883, a circus was burned, and about three hundred lives were lost. ELIZAVETGRAD (southern Russia).—This town, formerly designated “Fortress of St. Elizabeth,” with its “Great Perspective,” and boulevard of white acacias, has four annual fairs, the most important of which is that of St. George, held on 23rd April (old style). The value of the goods brought into the fair in 1863 was over £300,000. The chief commodities of the district are tallow and grain. The goods brought into it are those manufactured at Odessa, Wilna, and Berdicheff. There is also a daily market held here, with transactions of considerable magnitude, especially after harvest. JITOMIR (or Zytomiers), chief town in the province of Volhynia, western Russia, has two annual fairs—one in July, the other in August. Apart from the trade at these, which is considerable, the ordinary commerce of the town is small. There are three markets weekly.