The passport regulations oppress all classes. The well-to-do Russian who would go abroad must pay for the privilege; the tax is at present ten roubles (about thirty shillings), but in the days of Nicholas I. it was five hundred roubles, and some are in favour of reviving this costly tariff. When the police are stirred up by some Nihilist outrage, a high price must be paid to obtain a travelling passport, but it can be got, as can almost anything in Russia, for money. The burden, however, weighs heaviest on the poorer classes, who are constantly liable to be bullied by the police to produce passports, and imposed upon by the communal authorities when renewal is sought. Passports are often lost by their holders, more often stolen from them. When this happens, the loser, if he is a stranger from a rural district residing in a city on sufferance, may find himself in sore straits. It is an expensive and tedious business to obtain another passport, and to be without one is to run perpetual risk of trouble with the police. The man without a passport is thus often thrown into the arms of the revolutionary party, who, if he will accept their tenets, readily obtain him a false passport, and find him the work he could not get without its production. Again, it is known that many peasants residing in towns suffer from the dilatoriness or unconcern of the authorities whose duty it is to renew their passports. Cases are on record where the fear of police persecution while passportless has driven men to suicide. A village girl killed herself in 1879 because she could not get her papers renewed and the family in which she was working would not re-engage her. The passport arrangements appear to be more stringent in connection with natives than with visitors, but the latter are denied the comparative freedom they once enjoyed. At one time a visitor might remain a month in the country without inquiry or interference; now it is necessary to register the passport for a stay of anything over three days; the document is lodged at the police office, and the hotel-keeper, landlord, or host becomes responsible for the traveller. It is the same with any driver of a post-chaise in the country districts, who has to produce his passenger at every station. Letters are only delivered after registration of the passport, and then on a certificate filled in by the chief of police of the district. Passports are taxed, and bring in a considerable revenue to the Government; at one time a visitor paid £12 for registration, but the fee has been considerably reduced. During the reign of Nicholas I. it rose as high as £40. [Illustration: LEG IRONS WORN BY RUSSIAN CONVICTS. (_In Possession of H. de Windt, Esq._)] CHAPTER XI. MODERN POLICE (_continued_): INDIA.