The divers administrations which constitute the vast Russian empire, and which all tend to one common centre, under the hand of the Emperor, are, as a whole, very remarkable. Ever since the constituent assembly established an unity of administration in France, our system of government has no longer cause to dread that, in a homogeneous whole, one province or one district will be opposed to another; their strength has been blended in a manner very convenient to those in power. But it is far otherwise in Russia: the cabinet of St. Petersburg has to command thousands of different races--Tartars, Mahometans, Poles, and Cossacks; each of these people has its laws, its customs, its power, and its recollections, and it is necessary to maintain this individuality without detracting from the unity of the system. There is neither one general rule observed in the mode of levying the taxes, nor even, in a great measure, is there any undeviating rule for the military conscription. Some pay tribute, others are subject to contributions of arms and horses; in some places the recruits are furnished by the nobles, in others they are obtained by means of _levées en masse_; some people are still subject to feudal government under the Czar, and others, again, depend on the regular and immediate authority of the princes. In France the administrative clockwork is so simple that nothing but a will and a hand for business are required to set it in motion; nothing can be easier than the situation of a prefect, or even of a minister for the home department; interests, rights, and customs, are all sacrificed to the strength of the government.