CHAPTER XII.
THE TOWNS AND THE MERCANTILE CLASSES General Character of Russian Towns--Scarcity of Towns in Russia--Why the Urban Element in the Population is so Small--History of Russian Municipal Institutions--Unsuccessful Efforts to Create a Tiers-etat--Merchants, Burghers, and Artisans--Town Council--A Rich Merchant--His House--His Love of Ostentation--His Conception of Aristocracy--Official Decorations--Ignorance and Dishonesty of the Commercial Classes--Symptoms of Change.
Those who wish to enjoy the illusions produced by scene painting and stage decorations should never go behind the scenes.

In like manner he who wishes to preserve the delusion that Russian provincial towns are picturesque should never enter them, but content himself with viewing them from a distance.
However imposing they may look when seen from the outside, they will be found on closer inspection, with very few exceptions, to be little more than villages in disguise.

If they have not a positively rustic, they have at least a suburban, appearance.

The streets are straight and wide, and are either miserably paved or not paved at all.

Trottoirs are not considered indispensable.