however, unaccompanied by the spirit and keen enjoyment which the British soldier imports into mimic warfare. In point of fact, the rank and file in Russia are taught to look too exclusively to their officers for example and support, and self-reliance is not encouraged. In stubborn endurance they are as unsurpassed to-day as they were at Borodino, where the victorious legions of Napoleon found their match. But it is impossible to conceive the myriads of the Tsar winning a “soldier’s battle”--wrestling from the foe a victory imperilled by the incapacity of their chiefs. Reviews are more frequent in Russian than in English armies. On specially solemn occasions, such as the birthday of the sovereign, they are preceded by a Te Deum at the garrison church, which is attended by the chief military and civil officials. The connection between Church and State are far closer than with us. We have seen that the imperial power owes its evolution quite as much to priestly influence as to the ambition of the princes. The obligation has never been forgotten by the Tsars, who are, literally as well as figuratively, heads of the Church, and regard its hierarchy as the mainstay of the whole fabric of their Government. Brilliant is the display of uniforms at these official devotions. Combative officers are distinguished by gold lace, those of the scientific branches by silver; but all are gorgeously attired, while galaxies are frequent of fifteen or twenty medals and crosses on the same manly breast. The review which follows is a mere march-past; and as each company files before the general he exclaims, “Good day, my children,” a greeting which elicits the reply in chorus, “We are pleased to render you service.”[679] The Askabad Government House is a straggling one-storeyed edifice resembling an overgrown Indian bungalow, but it is well adapted for ceremonial. The other public buildings are a library with 12,000 volumes, a military printing-office, and that of the _Turkestan Gazette_--a daily paper edited by a member of the governor’s staff, which, unlike its Indian contemporary, is no dry catalogue of promotions, transfers, and official acts.