V 

 
 SECRET MEMOIRS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COURT OF PETERSBURG 
 
 PARTICULARLY TOWARDS THE END OF THE 
 
 REIGN OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 AND THE COMMENCEMENT OF THAT OF 
 
 PAUL I. 
 
 SERVING AS 
 
 A SUPPLEMENT 
 
 TO 
 
 THE LIFE OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. 
 
 3>Ecani Edition. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY C. WIIITTINGUAM, 
 Dean Street^ Fetter Lane, 
 
 FOR T. N. 1ONGMAN AND O. REES, PATERNOSTER-ROW, 
 
 1801.

 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 r T^HE Publishers of the following Transla- 
 tion have been induced, by a sense of 
 decency and propriety, to suppress or soften 
 a few anecdotes contained in the original, the 
 grossness of which would undoubtedly out- 
 rage the public and private feelings of En- 
 glishmen. In all other respects, the grand 
 design and the true colouring and shade of 
 
 o o 
 
 this interesting picture of the court of St. Pe- 
 tersburg have been faithfully retained. The 
 lovers of biography will, it is hoped, now 
 receive an unqualified gratification from the 
 perusal of the following sheets; in which, 
 not only the portraits of the principal per- 
 sonages are drawn by the hand of a master, 
 but the delineations of the various characters 
 connected with the historical period of which 
 they treat, will be found marked by a supe- 
 rior degree of accuracy and judgment. The 
 writer was well acquainted with the court, 
 living in the residence, and near the person 
 
 20521-
 
 IV ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 of the empress, during the last ten years of 
 her reign. In this work are developed 
 much of the private biography of a princess 
 whose public character cannot perhaps be 
 too much exalted : who, in spite of her 
 failings as a woman, was, as a great and be- 
 nign sovereign, revered and beloved by the 
 millions whom she governed by her gentle 
 sceptre, the achievements of whose reign 
 excited the astonishment and rendered her 
 the arbitress of Europe, and whose memory 
 will claim the admiration, and in numerous 
 instances the gratitude, of posterity.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 
 
 Anecdotes respecting the marriage projected between him and 
 the grand-duchess Alexandra Portrait of the king, and 
 of the young princess Remarks on the failure of this 
 match German princesses sent for to Russia Marriage 
 of the grand-dukes, account of their brides, and pomp of 
 the court at that period 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 CATHARINE II. 
 
 Particulars of the sickness and death of Catharine Her 
 portrait Her character Observations on her court, 
 courtiers, and ministers Influence of the french revo- 
 lution on her mind Question examined, how far she was 
 the patron of letters Her literary works Manners and 
 monuments of her reign 4O 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 Their office made a distinct place at court The Empress's 
 generosity in this point Installation of ZubofList of 
 the twelve who enjoyed in succession the title of favourite 
 Little Hermitage Little Society 94.
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 PAGE, 
 
 Conduct and projects of Catharine with regard to her son- 
 He is proclaimed -His first steps as Emperor Funeral 
 honours paid to his father and mothei Rigorous proceed- 
 ings towards the guards The wacht-parade Graces 
 and disgraces His occupations Proscription of round 
 hats and russian harness Ke-establishmcnl of etiquette 
 Its ridiculous or cruel consequences Alterations in the 
 army, and in the civil department Peasants Sotdato- 
 mania Office of punishment Finances A valet-de- 
 chumbre becomes favourite 120 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 HAS PACt REASON TO FEAR THE FATE OF PETER III ? 
 
 Parallel betzceen Paul and his father Portrait of the pre- 
 sent empress The grand-duke Alexander The grand-duke 
 Const yntine Zubof Nicholas Salt ikof Ma rkof Ar- 
 karof Kepnin Surarof and Valerian Zitbof Traits of 
 the character of Paul, and his principal courtiers or mi" 
 nisters His portrait Anecdotes of his conduct when 
 grand-duke 172 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 WHAT REVOLUTIONS MAY BE EXPECTED TO TAKE PLACE 
 IN RUSSIA. 
 
 Attitude and strength of the sovereign power in that coun- 
 try Two ukases of Paul favourable to a revolution 
 Delasement of the people Other local obstacles The 
 sovereign power becoming more absolute The nobility
 
 CONTENTS. vil 
 
 FACE. 
 
 offended These alone can change the government How, 
 and why Probability of a dismemberment of that vast 
 territory, and of a change in the manners of the people 
 and form of government 240 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 Of the nobleman, the courtier, the peasant, the artificer, 
 and the soldier of Russia 264 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 RELIGION. 
 
 The Greek Church Priests Festivals Fasts Images 291 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 ON FEMALE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 I is influence on the women of Russia. Their character . 
 immodesty manners baths talents charms Princess 
 Dashkof 305 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 Anecdotes of the education of the grand-dukes their go- 
 vernors and preceptors Education of the Russians in 
 general Of the utshiteli, or tutors, their injluence Of 
 the young Russians Proceedings of the present emperor 
 unfriendly to civilisation The Gazettes Radischef- 
 Fable of the oicl and the glow-worm 330 

 
 ri|l CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 SUPPLEME-NT. 
 
 fAGE. 
 
 French and Swiss in Russia Persecutions they undergo 
 Proscription of some Oath required of them Billet of 
 absolution Additional traits of the present emperor Re- 
 flexions 361 
 
 PESCRIPTION OF THE TAURIDAN PALACE, and of the 
 
 entertainment which prince Potemkin gave there to Ca- 
 tharine II. 384 
 
 Additional Note concerning Korsakof 39O 

 
 SECRET MEMOIRS, 
 
 8Cc. Xc. Xc. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S VISIT TO 
 PETERSBURG. 
 
 Anecdotes respecting the marriage projected between him and the 
 grand-duchess Alexandra Portrait of the king, and of the 
 young princess Remarks on the failure of this match Ger- 
 man princesses sent for to Russia Marriage of the grand- 
 dukes, account of their brides, and pomp of the court at that 
 period. 
 
 P TPHE peace of Varela having reconciled Ca- 
 * tharine and Gustavus, their conduct and 
 attention towards each other formed a singular 
 contrast with the hatred, animosity, and invec- 
 tives in which they had so profusely indulged 
 during the war. The officers of the two nations 
 were equally eager to display the esteem with 
 which they had mutually inspired each other; 
 for, the kozakeries of* Denisof excepted, that 
 
 * A kozak general, who distinguished himself by his bar- 
 barity and his ravages in the war in Finland. It is the same, 
 or his nephew, who commanded the corps of Don Kozaks 
 that marched into Germany. He is an ignorant man, but an 
 intrepid soldier and a desperate gamester. 
 
 B
 
 2 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 war had been carried on in a manner very differ- 
 ent from what was usual with the Russians : in 
 the Swedes they found enemies, whose urbanity 
 was equal to their valour ; and the well-educated 
 Russian, while he piques himself on the posses- 
 sion of these qualities, esteems them in others. 
 
 Count Stackelberg, so famous for his embassy, 
 or rather his reign in Poland, was sent into Swe- 
 den ; and Catharine, who could not live in peace 
 with her neighbours but in proportion as they 
 were 'submissive or devoted to her, was seeking 
 new means of re-establishing her interest in that 
 country, which the talents and resolution of Gus- 
 tavus had destroyed. To marry one of the young 
 grand-duchesses to the prince-royal now became 
 her favourite project ; and it is even said that this 
 matrimonial alliance was a secret article in the 
 treaty of peace. This at least is certain, that the 
 grand-duchess Alexandra was educated and grew 
 up in the expectation of being one day queen of 
 Sweden ; while every person about her confirmed 
 her in the idea, and entertained her with the 
 charms and the premature accomplishments of 
 the young Gustavus. Even the empress herself 
 would often jocularly discourse with her on the 
 subject. One day opening a port-folio contain- 
 ing portraits of several unmarried princes, she 
 pressed her to point out which of them she should 
 like best for a husband. The child, blushing, 
 t
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 
 
 pointed to the portrait of him of whom she had 
 heard so many fine things, and who was already 
 the lover of her rising imagination. The good 
 old lady, not considering that her grand-daughter 
 could read, and knew the prince of Sweden by 
 his name at the bottom of the picture, persuaded 
 herself that sympathy had decided in his favour, 
 and pursued her scheme with additional plea- 
 sure. 
 
 [t is equally certain, that several persons about 
 the young Gustavus endeavoured to inspire his 
 heart -with similar sentiments; but I know not 
 whether the king his father, absolute and despotic 
 as he was, would have given his consent to the 
 match, as being suitable to the young lovers, though 
 ther everse to the two countries. Be this as it 
 may, the violent and sudden death of Gustavus 
 frustrated the schemes of Catharine ; which were 
 nothing less than to send him at the head of his 
 Swedes into Ffance, there to act the same part as 
 Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII. had done 
 in Germany and Poland, in hopes that he would 
 there meet with a similar fate : while she pre- 
 pared for herself that of regent over the minority 
 of an orphan king in Sweden; whom, together 
 with his kingdom, she would have taken under her 
 maternal care. 
 
 But the duke of Sudermania, having seized the 
 reins of government during the minority of his 
 
 B 2
 
 4 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 nephew, set himself directly to oppose the russian 
 system. Not so gallant a cavalier as his brother, 
 he did not feel himself disposed to sacrifice his 
 country for the ladies ; but hastened to repay 
 the hatred which Catharine had conceived for 
 him during the war, when the noise of his cannon 
 had reached the inmost recesses of the palace of 
 the tzars. This naval war, in which however he 
 had little reason to boast of his success, had irri- 
 tated him against the Russians: and he was not 
 ignorant of the raillery and invective which were 
 liberally bestowed on him at the court of Peters- 
 burg, or that plays were even acted at the Her- 
 mitage, in which he was held up as an object of 
 ridicule. 
 
 The vilest corruption, the basest and most 
 cowardly intrigues, had been employed against 
 him. Europe even saw, with renovated horror, 
 her, who pretended to be an image of God adored 
 on the throne, exciting revolt in a kingdom, buy- 
 ing traitors, and hiring assassins. To remove 
 the regent, to substitute a council of her crea- 
 tures in his stead, and harness Sweden side by 
 side with Poland to her car, were the objects at 
 which she aimed, and which she sought to attain 
 by all the means she could devise. Stackelberg, 
 whose wit and urbanity had captivated the king *, 
 
 * Of all the ministers employed by Catharine, count 
 Stackelberg has the most wit and the most pride ; and this
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 5 
 
 and who, to use his own words, found in that 
 prince a true and worthy knight of his immortal so- 
 vereign, applied for his recall. His pride could 
 not stoop to act so insignificant a part with the 
 regent of a young king, after having himself been 
 so long regent of an old king of Poland. 
 
 Count Romanzof, brother of him who was so 
 well known and esteemed in Germany, succeeded 
 him ; but, notwithstanding his ingenuity, his in- 
 structions were too treacherous and too compli- 
 
 he displayed particularly in Poland. Baron Thugut being 
 sent to that country by the emperor, when he was to have 
 his audience of Poniatofski, was introduced into a saloon, 
 where, seeing a man gravely seated, and surrounded by polish 
 lords respectfully standing before him, he took him for the 
 king, and began his complimentary speech. It was Stackel- 
 berg, who was in no hurry to set him right. Thugut, in- 
 formed of his mistake, was vexed and ashamed. In the even- 
 ing, being at cards with the king and Stackelberg, he played 
 a card, saying, " The king of clubs." " You are wrong," 
 said the king, " it is the knave." The austrian ambassador, 
 pretending to have been mistaken, answered, slapping his 
 forehead, " Ah, sire, pardon me ; this is the second time to- 
 " day I have taken a knave for a king." Stackelberg, ready 
 as he was at repartee, could only bite his lips. When he 
 returned from Sweden, he loitered away his time in the anti- 
 chambers of Zubof ; but he was always one in Catharine's 
 little parties, and was thus reduced to amuse, after having 
 served her. His greatest humiliation no doubt was that of 
 being named by Paul lord of the bed chamber in Waiting to 
 the very king of Poland who had frequenth danced attend- 
 ance in his anti-chamber at Warsaw. In this sarcastic ap- 
 pointment the emperor shewed something ingenious and noble 
 that does him honour.
 
 6 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 cated for him to acquire similar respect in Swe- 
 den. The plots and intrigues of which the regent 
 complained, soon made it necessary for him to be 
 recalled. Who has not felt indignation at the 
 impudence with which Armfeldt was set on, pro- 
 tected, and defended by Russia, in spite of the 
 obvious proofs of his outrages, and the most 
 forcible protestations against his proceedings? 
 At the very time when all the kings in, Europe 
 seemed to make common cause in hunting down 
 and prosecuting in concert every man who was 
 barely suspected of rebellion, a regent of Sweden 
 in vain demanded, from court to court, a man 
 who had conspired against his life and the go- 
 vernment of his country, which he would have 
 sold and delivered to a foreign potentate. From 
 court to court his demands were evaded in an 
 insulting manner ; and Armfeldt at length re- 
 tired to Russia to set him at defiance, being al- 
 lowed to appear at court, receiving a pension, 
 and living there even during the visit of the king 
 and the regent *. 
 
 I shall -not trace this plot, which so long ha- 
 rassed the court of Sweden, through all its rami- 
 fications, or name all the agents who were still 
 employed to carry it on ; but Catharine by no 
 means relinquished her design of ruling there, of 
 
 * In 179S he was at Carlsbad, worn out with infirmities, 
 and despised by all [hat knew him.
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 7 
 
 acting the part of prote&ress to the young king, 
 and of exhibiting the regent as a tyrant who 
 abused the minority of his nephew, or as a jaco- 
 bin who intended to imitate the duke of Orleans. 
 She even sent the king an invitation to come and 
 put himself under her protection, or at least to 
 pay her a visit ; and nothing was left untried to 
 get him to Petersburg without his uncle. It is 
 surprising that the regent was not driven to ex- 
 tremities. Among the papers of the accom- 
 plices of Armfeldt were found several which 
 would have made Catharine appear despicable 
 in the eyes of all Europe ; but whether from fear, 
 from weakness, or from moderation, he forebore 
 to make them public. 
 
 He was on the point, however, of entering into 
 an alliance with France, which to him seemed 
 the most effectual step towards securing the inde- 
 pendence of Sweden against the atrocious po- 
 licy, the unbounded ambition, and the unprin- 
 cipled administration of a powerful neighbour ; 
 concluding, that whatever connections might be 
 formed between Sweden and Russia, by the inter 
 ference of private passions or temporary interests, 
 they would ever prove injurious to the former. 
 
 To strike at the root of Catharine's hopes, the 
 regent took another step, which was still more 
 sensibly felt. He demanded in marriage for his 
 young pupil one of the princesses of Meckleiv
 
 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 burg, who was solemnly betrothed to him ; and 
 announced the match in form to all the courts of 
 Europe. Count Schverin, who had already been 
 in Russia, where his personal figure had gained 
 him many friends among the ladies, was dis- 
 patched to Petersburg with this commission ; but 
 at Vyborg he found an order from the empress, 
 which forbad him to make his appearance at 
 court. This was certainly strange conduct, shew- 
 ing rather the pique of an irritated woman than 
 the discretion of a sovereign. What . because 
 the king of Sweden had espoused another prin- 
 cess instead of her grand-daughter, she refused to 
 receive the notification conformably to established 
 custom ! A forsaken mistress, who paid no re- 
 gard to decorum, and was destitute of true pride, 
 could have done no more. The respect she 
 owed herself, her sex, and above all her amiable 
 grand-daughter, should at least have saved her 
 from the humiliation of thus publishing her cha- 
 grin. On this occasion she ceased to act the 
 part of the great Catharine *. 
 
 To account for this step, no less insulting than 
 indelicate, she directed her charge d'affaires, or 
 rather d'intrigues, at Stockholm, to deliver to the 
 regent that note which has been read with asto- 
 
 * The Russians have aggrandized even her name; they 
 say, in their language, Yekalarina, which can only be trans- 
 lated Arcli-Caiharine.
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 
 
 nishment in some of the public papers, where 
 she not onlv makes the duke of Sudermania's 
 
 j 
 
 maintaining the connexion between Sweden and 
 France a crime of treason to her imperial majesty, 
 but even seems to insinuate, that he was privy to 
 the assassination of the king his brother, the 
 avenging whereof she claims to herself. The 
 vexation of Catharine, and folly of her ministers, 
 proceeded still further. Every thing announced, 
 that the king of Sweden was to be treated like 
 Sganarelle*, by obliging him at the cannon's 
 mouth to break his engagement to the princess 
 of Mecklenburg, and marry the grand-duchess 
 Alexandra f. The amiable qualities of this prin- 
 cess would have justified a young king in fighting 
 to obtain her hand rather than to escape it. A 
 report was also spread, that the king was al- 
 ready enamoured of her ; that his uncle had 
 done violence to his inclinations ; and that he 
 wished for nothing more than to defer his mar- 
 
 * In L' Amour Medicin of Moliere. 
 
 f Some planks were laid at that time with great noise and 
 preparation on the ice of the Neva, though strong enough 
 then to bear castles, to facilitate, as was said, the passage of 
 the artillery to be sent into Finland. The ministers and ge- 
 nerals talked publicly of the approaching war; a proof, that 
 it was all a deception : but whether baron Steding were a 
 dupe to it or not, I do not pretend to say. Prince George 
 Dolgoruky, a general too honest and too little of a courtier to 
 be employed by the favourites, was even sent to the frontiers 
 by way of scarecrow.
 
 10 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 riage with the princess of Mecklenburg till he 
 became of age, that he might then declare in 
 favour of the other lady who aspired to his 
 hand. 
 
 There is no doubt, that several Swedes, gained 
 over by the promises of Catharine, and by the 
 hopes they had formed from the munificence of 
 that ostentatious princess, endeavoured to inspire 
 the young king with such resolutions, and to 
 excite in his heart the same passion as had been 
 raised in that of the amiable Alexandra. A re- 
 gular correspondence was even kept up between 
 Schverin, Steinbach, and some persons who had 
 access to the grand-duchesses j and several of the 
 letters were shewn to the empress through the 
 medium of madame Lievven, chief governess to 
 the princesses. 
 
 After such violent proceedings against the 
 regent, who would have expected to see him 
 bend and submit ? This, however, he did : at 
 least he suffered himself to be either frightened 
 or bribed *. M. Budberg, who had just made 
 
 * A Genevan, named Christin, formerly the right hand 
 and secretary to Cakmne, being at Stockholm, introduced 
 himself to the regent by means of a fable, which he composed 
 in his praise. As he had been at Petersburg, he talked to 
 him a great deal of Catharine, of the young princesses, of the 
 esteem in which he was held at that court, and of the advan- 
 tage of an alliance with Russia, by marrying the king to the 
 grand-duchess. Being persuaded from the duke's answers, that
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. II 
 
 the tour of Germany to find a wife for the grand- 
 duke Constantine, having brought with him the 
 princess of Cobourg and her three daughters, 
 was deemed capable of surmounting the difficul- 
 ties experienced in obtaining a husband for the 
 young grand-duchess. At first he repaired to 
 Mecklenburg, to negotiate a renunciation ; and 
 was then sent to Stockholm as an ambassador. 
 Threats, promises, and money at length pre- 
 vailed : Catharine obtained the delay of the king's 
 marriage till he should be of age ; and the re- 
 gent, willing, no doubt, to shew that his pupil 
 was free in his choice and in his conduct, at 
 length consented to his journey to Petersburg, 
 whither he was so kindly invited. The affair 
 of the marriage, which was the true motive of 
 this invitation, was touched on but slightly, sen- 
 timentally. If, as it has been said, the two children 
 have a mutual affection already ; should they, on seeing 
 each other, still prove agreeable, means may be thought 
 of for rendering them happy. Such was the lan- 
 guage of the empress. If she could get the king 
 to her court, Catharine thought she should have 
 the game in her own hands. Reckoning on the 
 
 he was not very averse to a reconciliation with Catharine, he 
 sent information of it to madame Huss, MarkoPs mistress; and 
 upon these grounds the negotiations which had been broken 
 off were renewed. Christin returned to Petersburg, to reap 
 the rewards of his address; but the death of the empress de- 
 prived him of the recompcnce he expected.
 
 12 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 charms of the princess, and the kindnesses which 
 she herself should lavish on the king, the regent, 
 and their suite, she doubted not but the young 
 Gustavus, after having seen her whom he had 
 ventured to refuse for reasons of state, would 
 give both the kingdom and the glory of Charles 
 XII. to possess such a bride. 
 
 On the 25th of August 1796, he arrived at 
 Petersburg with his uncle and a numerous suite, 
 and alighted at the house of baron Steding, his 
 ambassador. All the city was anxious to see 
 the young monarch. The empress, who was at 
 her Tauridan palace *, came to that of the Her- 
 mitage to receive him, and give him entertain- 
 ments. At their first interview she appeared 
 enchanted, and almost in love with him herself^. 
 He would have kissed her hand; but she would 
 not allow it, saying, " No, I cannot forget that 
 " the count Haga is a king." " If your majesty," 
 answered he, " will not give me permission as 
 
 * The empress had purchased the principal palace of Po- 
 temkin, the Tauridan ; and in honour to the memory of this 
 celebrated favourite, whom she regretted, she gave it his sur- 
 name, where she resided in the spring and autumn. It is at 
 Petersburg, a short league (a mile and two thirds) from the 
 winter palace, and like it situated on the banks of the Neva. 
 It was in this superb edifice that Potemkin gave his sove- 
 reign that magnificent and so much celebrated entertainment 
 in 1791. 
 
 f These were her very words.
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 13 
 
 " empress, at least allow me as a lady, to whom 
 " I owe so much respect and admiration." 
 
 The interview with the young princess was 
 still more interesting. Both were extremely em- 
 barrassed ; and the eyes of all the court being 
 turned towards them, their confusion increased. 
 No doubt each found the other worthy of the 
 sentiments with which they had been inspired 
 from infancy ; and there is reason to believe, 
 that, if motives of state on the part of the king 
 of Sweden, or the whims of the present emperor, 
 prevent not the match from being brought to a 
 conclusion, the most charming of princesses will 
 be likewise the most unhappy. 
 
 No one, however, has more claims to happi- 
 ness than Alexandra Pavlovna. At fourteen she 
 was already tall and womanly : her figure was 
 noble and majestic, softened by all the graces of 
 her sex and age : her features were regular, and 
 her complexion fair as alabaster : innocence, 
 candour, and serenity, stamped their divine im- 
 pressions on her brow; and light flaxen hair, 
 which seemed always arranged by fairy hands, 
 fell in ringlets on her well-turned neck. Her 
 heart, her talents, and her intellect, were in unison 
 with her exterior appearance. Miss Willamof, 
 her private governess, had cultivated the noblest 
 and purest sentiments in her mind. Exquisite 
 sensibility, judgment; and understanding, distin-
 
 14 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 guished her infancy, and excited the admiration 
 of all who came near her. 
 
 It would have been difficult to find, I will not 
 say a king, but a young man, more interesting, 
 better educated, and of so great promise as the 
 king of Sweden. He was seventeen years of 
 age, tall and finely shaped, with an air of dignity, 
 intelligence, and mildness: yet there was some- 
 thing of grandeur and stateliness about him, that 
 attracted respect, notwithstanding his age ; and 
 he had all the graces of youth, without the awk- 
 wardness that usually attends it. His manners 
 were simple, though courteous and polite. What- 
 ever he said was spoken with reflection. To se- 
 rious things he paid an attention not expected 
 from youth : he displayed knowledge, that an- 
 nounced a very careful education : and a certain 
 gravity, that bespoke his rank, never forsook 
 him. All the pomp of the russian empire, 
 which was sedulously exhibited to his view, 
 seemed in nowise to dazzle him. In that brilliant 
 and numerous court, he soon appeared more at 
 ease than the grand-dukes themselves, who had 
 not the art of entertaining any body ; so that 
 both court and city soon drew comparisons be- 
 tween them very flattering to the young stranger. 
 The empress herself could not conceal the pain 
 she felt at the disparity between him and the 
 second of her grand-children, whose brutal and
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 45 
 
 rude boyish tricks offended her to such a degree, 
 that she put him under arrest once or twice dur- 
 ing the stay of the king of Sweden *. 
 
 All the great men of the empire were eager to 
 participate in the joy of Catharine, who selected 
 such as should give entertainments to her young 
 guest, and fixed the days. Counts Stroganof, 
 Ostermann, Besborodko, and Samoilof, distin- 
 guished themselves by the sums they expended, 
 and the magnificence they displayed. The cour- 
 tiers sought to surpass each other in the richness 
 of their dress, and the generals in the military 
 spectacles which they exerted themselves in ex- 
 hibiting to the king. The old general Melissino 
 particularly distinguished himself by the manoeu- 
 vres and artificial fireworks executed and played 
 off under his direction. Gustavus was in a state 
 of continual enchantment; yet he wisely em- 
 
 * On. several occasions, when the king appeared in public 
 \\ ith the grand-dukes, foreigners were shocked, and the honest 
 Russians humbled, at the courtly demeanour ot" the former, 
 contracted with the rustic behaviour of the latter. At a re- 
 view of the corps of cadets of the artillery, where the young 
 Gustavus appeared attentive to every tiling most worthy of 
 notice, conversing with the generals around him, and with 
 the grand-duke Alexander, who was appointed to do the ho- 
 nours of the empire, the grand-duke Constantine was run- 
 ning and bawling behind the soldiers, imitating them in a bur- 
 lesque manner, threatening them, and even beating them. It 
 is certain, that the king of Sweden left Petersburg as well ac- 
 quainted with the city, as with those who were one day to 
 reign there.
 
 16 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 ployed bis mornings in traversing the city on foot 
 with the regent, and seeing every thing that 
 could be interesting or instructive : every where 
 putting such questions, or giving such answers, 
 as shewed the understanding he possessed, and 
 the education he had received. 
 
 The regent, who appeared to enjoy the fruits 
 of his own work in the approbation bestowed on 
 his pupil, is a very little man. His manners are 
 easy and polished ; he has an air of acuteness 
 and observation ; his eyes are sparkling and full 
 of fire ; every thing he says displays the man of 
 understanding, and excites reflection in those 
 who hear him. 
 
 It may readily be supposed, that during this 
 succession of entertainments, the two lovers had 
 frequent opportunities of seeing each other, con- 
 versing and dancing together they became fa- 
 miliar, and appeared mutually enchanted. The 
 aged Catharine assumed an appearance of youth, 
 and again indulged in those scenes of joy and 
 pleasure which she had long since renounced. 
 The approaching marriage was no longer a se- 
 cret; it was the common topic of conversation. 
 The empress already addressed the young king 
 and her grand-daughter as betrothed lovers, and 
 encouraged them to mutual affection. One day 
 she made them give the first kiss of love in her 
 presence : the first, no doubt, that the virgin lips
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 17 
 
 of the young princess ever received ; and which 
 may have left a pleasing and cherished impres- 
 sion, that will long render her unhappy, 
 
 In the meantime steps were taking to bring 
 this desired match to a conclusion. The only 
 difficulty which presented itself, was that of reli- 
 gion. Catharine had felt the pulse of her court 
 on this subject ; and even consulted the arch- 
 bishop, to know, whether her grand-daughter 
 might abjure the orthodox faith. Instead of an- 
 swering as she flattered herself he would have 
 done, he merely replied : " Your majesty is all 
 powerful." The metropolitan of Russia, not 
 rinding himself supported by the opinions of his 
 clergy, whom he expected would be more tract- 
 able, was then desirous of appearing more rus- 
 sian than the Russians themselves ; and, to flatter 
 the national pride, rather than from respect to the 
 greek church, resolved to make a queen of Swe- 
 den of the greek religion. In proportion as this 
 appeared new and humiliating to the Swedish 
 nation in the eyes of the metropolitan, the more 
 flattering was it to his vanity, and that of his mi- 
 nisters : besides, the popes, chaplains, and others, 
 whom it would place about the young queen, 
 would be trusty persons, and well calculated to 
 keep the princess in the .interests of Russia. The 
 king was enamoured, dazzled : the regent ap- 
 peared to be completely gained over : could it
 
 18 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 then be supposed that they would reject this ar- 
 rangement, after such decisive steps had been 
 taken ? In the private conversations that had 
 passed, this delicate subject had been but slightly 
 touched upon : it was scarcely expected that 
 Catharine would have any scruples ; and the 
 king had hinted, that, from respect to the russian 
 nation and the prejudices of the people, the prin- 
 cess should not be obliged to abjure the greek 
 religion in form. The empress, persuaded that 
 there was no room for retreat, left to her favourite 
 ministers Zubof and Markof the care of drawing 
 up the contract conformably to her views. On 
 the other hand, the Swedish ambassador de- 
 manded the princess in marriage, at an audience 
 which was given him for the purpose of making 
 the demand in form ; and the day and hour on 
 which the parties were to be publicly be- 
 trothed, were fixed. 
 
 This day, which was the 21st of September, 
 exposed the happy and imperious Catharine to the 
 greatest chagrin and humiliation she had ever ex- 
 perienced. The whole court received orders to 
 assemble in full dress in the apartment of the 
 throne. The young princess, habited as a bride, 
 and attended by her sisters, the grand-dukes and 
 their wives, and all the ladies and gentlemen, with 
 the grand -duke, father to the princess, and the 
 grand-duchess, who came' from Gatshina to be
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 19 
 
 present at the ceremony of betrothing their daugh- 
 ter, were assembled by seven o'clock in the even- 
 ing. The empress herself arrived in all her 
 pomp. No one was wanting but the young 
 bridegroom, whose tardiness at first excited asto- 
 nishment. The repeated exits and entrances of 
 prince Zubof, and the impatience discovered 
 by the empress, soon excited the curiosity and 
 whisperings of the ladies. " What is the 
 fc matter ? is the king taken ill ? He is not very 
 " gallant, however. How could he dare thus to 
 (t make the sovereign wait, in the apartment of 
 " her very throne, and with all her court assem- 
 " bled!" The king, however, expected like the 
 spouse of the eleven thousand virgins, did not 
 appear. 
 
 The following was the occasion of this strange 
 delay. The king was to have been at court at 
 seven in the evening. At six, the minister Markof 
 brought him the contract and the articles of alli- 
 ance, which he had just drawn up with Zubof. 
 Gustavus having read them over, appeared greatly 
 astonished at rinding them to contain particulars 
 on which he had not agreed with the empress ; 
 and asked, whether it were from her that they 
 were brought him to sign * ? 
 
 * These articles were, that the princess should have her 
 private chapel and clergy in the royal palace, besides certain 
 engagements into which the Swedes were to enter against 
 France, which have been kept very secret, 
 c 2
 
 20 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 Markof answering in the affirmative, the king 
 replied,' that he could not poffibly comply. He 
 observed, that he would lay no restraint on the 
 conscience of the princess ; that she might pro- 
 fess her own religion in private, but he could not 
 allow her either a chapel or priests in the palace : 
 on the contrary, in public, and in all outward ce- 
 remonies, she must profess the religion of the 
 country. The reader may conceive the surprise 
 and embarrassment of the insipid Markof: he 
 was obliged to take up his papers, and make re- 
 port to Zubof, that the king refused his signa- 
 ture. He soon after returned in the greatest agi- 
 tation, to say, that the empress was already in the 
 apartment of the throne, surrounded by all her 
 court ; that it was no longer possible to speak to 
 her ; that she waited for the king ; and that he 
 flattered himself he would not bring the affair to 
 an open rupture, which would be an unheard of 
 insult to his sovereign, to the young princess, and 
 to the whole empire. Besborodko, and several 
 others, arrived in succession-, exhorting, urging, 
 praying the king to yield. All the Swedes who 
 were called in were disposed to submit. The re- 
 gent contented himself with saying, that it de- 
 pended entirely on the king ; drew him aside, and 
 took a turn round the room with him, appearing 
 himself to press him, while speaking to him in 
 a low voice. The king answered aloud, " No,
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 21 
 
 " no, I will not ; I cannot j I will never sign 
 " them !" He withstood all the remonstrances, 
 all the importunities of the russian ministers ; and 
 at length, vexed at the pertinacity with which 
 they beset him, he retired to his chamber, and 
 fastened the door, after giving again a clear and 
 peremptory refusal to sign anything inconsistent 
 with the laws of his country. The russian minis- 
 ters remained stupified at the audacity of a boy, 
 who dared thus to resist their sovereign, and con- 
 sulted how to break the catastrophe to her. 
 
 If the firmness displayed by the young Gus- 
 tavus on this occasion were his own ; if the soli- 
 citations which his counsellors appeared to make, 
 were not feigned, he has given his nation a proof 
 of the greatest firmness of character, which cannot 
 be too highly admired in a young prince of feven- 
 teen, whom, it might be expected, love alone 
 would have been sufficient to subdue. It is to 
 be presumed, however, for the honour of the re- 
 gent, that the entreaties which he appeared to 
 use with his nephew were insincere ; and that he 
 wished only to charge the obstinacy of the king 
 with a resistance which would probably have 
 drawn upon himself the immediate vengeance of 
 Catharine. Most of the Swedes who attended 
 Gustavus were actually bribed er seduced : being 
 young courtiers, their expectations were highly 
 raised on the wedding gifts, and they were much
 
 22 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 mortified at the disappointment. Steding, the 
 ambassador, had a difficult part to act : but 
 M. Flemming publicly declared his sentiments, 
 by saying, that he would never advise the king to 
 act contrary to the laws of his realm. 
 
 These debates between the ministers of the 
 empress and the king continued till near ten 
 o'clock. Catharine and her court were still 
 waiting : but at last it was necessary to inform 
 her, that the affair was broken off. Prince Zu- 
 bof went cautiously up to her, and whispered 
 something in her ear : she rose, attempted to 
 speak, but her tongue faltered ; was like to faint; 
 and even had a slight fit, the precursor of that 
 which carried her off a few weeks after. The 
 empress withdrew, and the court was dismissed, 
 under pretence of a sudden indisposition of the 
 king. However, the true reasons soon came 
 out. Some were offended at the audacity of a 
 petty king of Sweden : others blamed the im- 
 prudence of the wise Catharine, who had so 
 lightly exposed herself to such a scene ; but the 
 presumption of Zubof and Markof, who had at- 
 tempted to impose on the Swedes by their arti- 
 fice, in procuring a matrimonial contract to be 
 signed without being read, was particularly cen- 
 sured. 
 
 The most interesting victim to this foolish stra- 
 tagem was the amiable Alexandra. She had
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 23 
 
 scarcely strength to enter her apartment ; and 
 there, no longer able to restrain her tears, she 
 gave herself up, before her governesses and maids 
 of honour, to a grief that affected all about her, 
 and rendered her really ill. The next day but 
 one after this unexpected explanation being the 
 birth-day of the grand-duchess Anna Feodo- 
 rovna*, the etiquette of the court prescribed a 
 ball ; but nobody was inclined to dance. The 
 king went to it however, and the empress also 
 made her appearance for a moment, but did not 
 speak to him. Zubof even visibly behaved with 
 sullenness to the young monarch. Embarrass- 
 ment was legible on every countenance. Alex- 
 andra, being ill, was not present. The king 
 danced with the other princesses, con versed a mo- 
 ment with the grand-duke Alexander, and re- 
 tired early, saluting every person with still greater 
 politeness than usual. This was the last time of 
 his appearance at court. 
 
 These public days of pomp and festivity were 
 suddenly changed into those of retirement and 
 irksomeness : and never did a king spend any so 
 melancholy and unpleasant at a foreign court. 
 Every one was ill, or pretended to be so. The 
 interest that Alexandra had inspired, and Gus- 
 tavus merited, softened every heart in their favour. 
 
 * The wife of the grand-duke Constantino, daughter of the, 
 prince of Saxe Coburg.
 
 24 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 She was pitied, as the victim of vanity and folly ; 
 he, for being obliged to make a sacrifice that 
 must have cost him so dear *. Execrations were 
 openly bestowed on Zubof and Markof ; whilst 
 the conduct of the empress, who gave herself up 
 to the most poignant chagrin, appeared inexpli- 
 cable. It is said, that her favourites felt them- 
 selves so humiliated that they took the liberty of 
 suggesting violent measures with the young prince, 
 who was in her power. She went and shut her- 
 self up a whole day, almost alone, in her tauridan 
 palace, under pretence of celebrating the foun- 
 dation of her chapel, but in fact to conceal from 
 the eyes of her court the uneasiness of her mind, 
 and to consult with her clergy and favourites on 
 the embarrassing situation in which she fancied 
 herself placed. 
 
 Endeavours were made to bring the affair a little 
 in train again. The king saw her still in private, 
 and the ministers held several conferences. Gus- 
 tavus at length eluded the business, by declaring, 
 that as he could not grant what the empress de- 
 sired according to the laws of Sweden, he would 
 
 * He has since married the young princess Frederica of 
 Ba,den, sister of the grand-duchess Elizabeth. Notwithstand- 
 ing the charms of his young bride, it is supposed that he is 
 not happy with her ; and it is to be feared that Alexandra, 
 who, it is said, is to be married to an arch-duke of Austria, 
 will not be more so.
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 25 
 
 refer the matter to the estates of the kingdom 
 
 o 
 
 that would be assembled at his coming of age ; 
 and if the estates consented to have a queen of 
 the greek religion, he would then send for the 
 princess. The russian despotism hearing with 
 indignation a king hold such language, attempted 
 in vain to excite him to set the estates at de 
 fiance, and offered him the forces necessary to 
 punish them in case they should revolt. The 
 king, however, would assent to no other terms. 
 
 Such was the result of this journey, of which 
 the public papers scarcely ventured to speak. 
 The king quitted Petersburg the very day on 
 which the anniversary of the birth of the grand- 
 duke Paul * was celebrated, one week after the 
 breach 5 leaving with the empress much ill-hu- 
 mour and resentment ; and much grief and affec- 
 tion in the heart of the young princess, who be- 
 came sick and melancholy from it, and a general 
 regret and esteem. Notwithstanding this unfore- 
 seen catastrophe, in order to avoid scandalous re- 
 ports, presents were made on both sides ; and the 
 Russians were so much the more surprised at 
 the splendor and taste displayed in those of the 
 king of Sweden, as they had affected always to 
 speak of him by the epithet of the poor little 
 boy. 
 
 * The present emperor : it is the 20th of September, old 
 style, or the 1 st of October, new style.
 
 26 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 If, throughout this transaction, so little has 
 been said of the grand-duke Paul, it is because 
 he had no more to do in what concerned his 
 children than in the affairs of government. He 
 was at his seat of Gatshina, and was seen at 
 Petersburg only once or twice during the whole 
 time of the king's stay, which was about six 
 weeks. The grand-duchess, his wife, on the 
 contrary, made that irksome and fatiguing jour- 
 ney three or four times a week, to be present at 
 the entertainments given, and assert, in appear- 
 ance at least, the rights and duties of a mother. 
 This worthy princess said, " If all my daughters 
 " cost me so much pains to provide them hus- 
 " bands, I shall die on the road." Once, for 
 form's sake, the king was at Gatshina and at 
 Pavlofsky. Paul and the regent seemed by no 
 means congenial to each other ; and on this oc- 
 casion he appeared for the first time to be of his 
 mother's opinion, and even to surpass her in his 
 scruples and devotion to the orthodox greek re- 
 ligion. It is not improbable, however, but the 
 whims of Paul may throw as many obstacles in 
 the way of his daughter's happiness, as the va- 
 nity of Catharine, and the unskilfulness of her 
 ministers * : the dress of the Swedes, their short 
 
 * Some time after his accession to the throne, Paul, going 
 into the apartment of his daughters, began to joke with one 
 of their maids of honour on the subject of her approaching
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 27 
 
 coats, cloaks, ribands, and round hats, are suffi- 
 cient to beget in him an incurable aversion. 
 
 This frustrated comedy of the Forced-marriage 
 completely overwhelmed with ridicule the rus- 
 sian ministers ; and it must have been very humi- 
 liating to the old empress to have suffered such 
 wretched means to have been employed. Does 
 it not appear much beneath the russian empire 
 to show itself so embarrassed about . the settle- 
 ment of its amiable princesses, and to play off so 
 many great and little tricks to provide them 
 husbands? It is true, that the unbounded ambi- 
 tion of Catharine seems to have made it a point 
 to render their marriage difficult : like mademoi- 
 selle Montpensier formerly, she has killed their 
 husbands with cannon-balls. A king of Poland, 
 a duke of Courland, or even a hospodar of Mol- 
 davia : these were the husbands she might have 
 left them. 
 
 marriage. " As to my daughter Alexandra," added he, "she 
 " cannot be married, for her lover has not yet learned to 
 " write." The fact was, he had just received a letter from 
 the king of Sweden, whose secretary had omitted in the ad- 
 dress some of the emperor's titles ; among others, the per- 
 fectly new one, duke of Courland, &c. That none in future 
 might be guilty of this criminal neglect, Paul issued a parti- 
 cular ukase, in which he prescribed at full length the manner 
 in which he chose to be styled ; and, as if the vast russian em- 
 pire stood in need of Spanish amplifications to make it appear 
 great and powerful, he took the titles of all the ancient prin- 
 cipalities: those, by which it is his pleasure to be addressed 
 even in a petition, are sufficient to fill -a good page.
 
 28 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 Let the destiny reserved for the grand-duchesses, 
 however, be what it may, they will undoubtedly 
 be happier than the german princesses married 
 in Russia, most of whom have experienced the 
 most wretched fate. The horrid lot of Sophia 
 of Brunswick, the wife of the miserable tzare- 
 vitch Alexius, is well known. That of the re- 
 gent Anne, the unfortunate mother of the no less 
 deplorable Ivan III. was still more melancholy. 
 Did not the grand-duchess Natalia Alexievna, 
 the former wife of Paul, come to a miserable 
 end ? Who does not lament the vexations expe- 
 rienced by Mary of Wurtemberg, the present 
 empress ?. and who does not pity the young prin- 
 cess of Saxe Coburg for falling to the lot of the 
 grand duke Constantine ? Even the great Catha- 
 rine herself, I hope, will not be urged as an ex- 
 ception : for though surrounded with all the 
 splendor of her court, yet the violent death of 
 her husband secretly preyed on her mind. The 
 only exception that can be made to this series 
 of unfortunate brides, is Elizabeth of Baden- 
 Durlach, whose character, and particularly that 
 of her husband, the grand-duke Alexander, seem 
 to promise her a more happy life *. 
 
 * Even this exception seems now to have ceased : as, in 
 consequence of the king of Sweden's intermarriage with her 
 sister, a restraint, if not a total prohibition, is put upon her 
 correspondence with her family.
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 29 
 
 Young and affecting victims, whom Germany 
 seems to send by way of tribute to Russia,, as 
 formerly Greece sent her daughters to be de- 
 voured by the minotaur, how often do ye bedew 
 in secret with your tears the gilded apartments 
 in which ye dwell ! How often are your thoughts 
 cast with regret on the loved abodes where you 
 spent your infant years ! Would not those you 
 might have passed in the arms of a husband in 
 your own country, in a climate favoured by hea- 
 ven, amid a people more polished and more 
 happy, at a court less pompous and less corrupt, 
 have been far preferable ? Those chains you wear 
 are but the more heavy for being of gold : the 
 pomp that surrounds you, the riches with which 
 you are decked, are not yours, for you enjoy 
 them not. If love embellish not by his illusions 
 the abode of wearisomeness and constraint in 
 which you dwell, it will soon become to you a 
 gloomy prison. Your lot unquestionably merits 
 the compassion of those who envy it : as the title, 
 so brilliant and so contended for, of grand-duchess 
 of all the Russias, has hitherto been a title to be 
 excluded from happiness. 
 
 What may not be said of the want of pride in 
 those german princes who send their daughters 
 to Russia, to undergo the almost equal hazard of 
 being chosen or rejected ? She that is approved 
 is unhappy, and they who are sent back are in- 
 7
 
 30 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 suited ; for the dowry given them, and the riband 
 with which they are decorated, are but proofs 
 that they have been offered, examined, and re- 
 jected. The mother of these princesses usually 
 accompanies her daughters on this distant jour- 
 ney, thus to dispose of one of them by exposing 
 them all to a degrading choice. The times are 
 certainly much changed. When the tyrant Ivan 
 Vasilievitch (Basilides), as cruel and less capri- 
 cious than Paul, desirous of forming an alliance 
 with the princes of Europe, sent to Augustus 
 Sigismond, king of Poland, to demand his sister 
 in marriage, his ambassador was dismissed with 
 a grey mare dressed like a woman. This coarse 
 piece of raillery was worthy of the age, and, no 
 doubt, of the idea then entertained of a veliki- 
 kmaz, or grand prince of Russia. Now, at the 
 first beck of a russian autocrate, the german 
 princes hasten to send their amiable daughters, 
 with their mothers, that the veliki-kniaz may 
 choose such as they like, and send back the rest 
 covered with a confusion, which neither their 
 ribands, nor jewels, nor rubles, can conceal. The 
 autocrates behave at present to the german prin- 
 cesses exactly as they used formerly to the daugh- 
 ters of their slaves whom they convened to their 
 palace for the purpose of selecting the hand- 
 somest. How, let me repeat it, can the princes 
 of Germany submit to this dastardly tribute, pay
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 31 
 
 so little respect to decorum, and so wound the 
 delicacy of their children ! 
 
 Of all the victims thus led into * Russia, the 
 two young princesses of Baden-Durlach ap- 
 peared to be the handsomest and most interesting. . 
 Their mother, by birth princess of Darmstadt, had 
 already been sent thither in her youth with her 
 sisters, one of whom had the misfortune to be- 
 come the first wife of Paul. This princess, an 
 amiable woman, and the worthy mother of a 
 charming family, would not appear again with 
 her daughters on a stage on which she herself 
 had been exposed, but entrusted them to the 
 care of the countess Schuvalof, widow of the 
 author of the Epistle to Ninon, who was charged 
 with the negotiation, together with one Streka- 
 lof, who behaved like a kozak sent to Georgia 
 to carry off maidens for the seraglio of the 
 sultan. 
 
 These princesses, after a long and toilsome 
 
 * Catharine has sent for eleven german princesses to pro- 
 vide wives for her sons or grandsons : three princesses oi 
 Darmstadt, brought by their mother ; three princesses of 
 Wurtemburg, but these came no farther than Prussia, Frede- 
 ric the unique insisting that the grand-duke should be gallant 
 enough to meet them half way ; two princesses of Baden ; 
 and three princesses of Coburg, conducted also by their mo- 
 ther. The young king of Sweden has made three journies out 
 of his kingdom to choose himself a wife, while three princesses 
 have been sent from the farther part of Germany for a 
 junior grand-duke of Russia !
 
 32 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 journey, arrived at night, towards the end of au- 
 tumn 1792, and in terrible weather, which 
 seemed materially to affect them. They were 
 made to alight at the palace in which Potemkin 
 had resided, where they were received by the 
 empress, accompanied by madame Branicka, her 
 favourite. At first the young princesses took 
 the latter for the empress ; but the coun- 
 tess Schuvalof having undeceived them, they 
 threw themselves at her majesty's feet, and with 
 tears kissed her robe and her hand, till she raised 
 them up and embraced them : they were then 
 left to sup in full liberty. 
 
 The next day Catharine came to see them, 
 while they were yet at their toilette, and presented 
 them the riband of the order of St. Catharine, 
 jewels, and stuffs ; then shewing them their 
 wardrobe, looking at it, she said, " My young 
 " friends, when I arrived in Russia I was not so 
 " rich as you*." 
 
 The young grand-dukes were introduced to 
 them the same day. The eldest, who already 
 suspected the motive of their arrival, had a pen- 
 sive and embarrassed air, and said nothing. Ca- 
 tharine told them, that knowing the mother of 
 
 * Catharine often said, toward the end of her life, " I ar- 
 " rived in Russia poor, but I shall not die in debt to the em- 
 " pire, since I shall leave her Taurida and Poland as a join- 
 " lure."
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 33 
 
 these princesses, and their country being taken 
 by the French *, she had sent for them to have 
 them educated at her court. On their return from 
 the palace, the two young princes talked much 
 about them, and Alexander said, that he thought 
 the eldest very pretty f. " O, not in the least," 
 <Tied the younger, " neither of them ; they should 
 " be sent to Riga to the princes of Courland : 
 " they are only fit for them J." 
 
 What Alexander had said, however, was re- 
 ported to his grandmother, who was delighted to 
 rind that the lady she designed for him, and with 
 whom she herself seemed enchanted, appeared 
 handsome in his eyes. Catharine pretended that 
 she resembled Louisa of Baden when she arrived 
 in Russia ; and ordered the picture taken of her 
 at that time to be brought, that she might com- 
 pare it with the princess : when, as may be sup- 
 posed, every one present declared that two drops 
 
 * It was at the time of Custine's expedition into Ger- 
 many. 
 
 f She was in reality charming : the grand-duchess Alexan- 
 dra is the only beauty in the court of Russia that can be com- 
 pared with her. Her sister was but a child, being only thir- 
 teen, but she had something still more striking and sprightly. 
 
 I These princes were educated there at that time, as being 
 one day to succeed their uncle in the throne. The elder wa$ 
 intended for the second grand-duchess Helena Pavlovna. But 
 the scene is much changed with them : they are now subal- 
 terns in the army, and the elder has even been banished to a 
 garrison of invalids.
 
 34 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 of water could not be more alike. From that 
 moment she became singularly attached to 
 Louisa, redoubled her tenderness towards Alex- 
 ander, and engaged with more pleasure in the 
 scheme of leaving the throne to them as her im- 
 mediate successors. 
 
 The young strangers made their first appear- 
 ance at court on the day when the deputies of 
 Poland were admitted to thank Catharine for 
 the honour she had done the republic by keeping 
 three-fourths of it for herself*. The princesses 
 were as much dazzled with the magnificence 
 that surrounded them, as others were with 
 their opening charms ; but the elder met with 
 an accident, which led the superstitious Russians 
 
 * At this period, part of the kingdom or republic of Poland 
 was left. The deputies, however, were received only as 
 those of a subject province: they stood uncovered, the em- 
 press sitting ; and she saluted them only by a slight motion of 
 the head, after they had prostrated themselves before her. 
 Count Branicki, husband of the empress's favourite, was the 
 orator of this humliating embassy, who resolved, however, to 
 deliver his harangue in the polish language. Among much 
 other nonsense, he said: " The groat Catharine deigned to 
 " speak a word, and give the signal; and despotism, ready 
 " to seize on the throne of Poland, fell like an idol." This 
 word of Catharine was a pamphlet composed by Altesti, in 
 which all the nobles of Poland were treated as jacobins, and 
 the king as the partisan of a faction : this signal was, the send- 
 ing of two armies into the country, who burnt and destroyed 
 whatever they could not pillage, and the idol of despotism was 
 the constitution of the 3d of May !
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 35 
 
 to say that she would be unfortunate in their 
 country. As she approached the throne of Ca- 
 tharine, she struck her foot against the corner of 
 one of the steps, and fell flat on the ground be- 
 fore the throne. May the sad presage never be 
 realised 1 
 
 While the young sister spent her days sorrow- 
 fully in tears for her absence from her country 
 and relations, which all the pomp of the court 
 could not obliterate from her mind, and was at 
 length sent away loaded with presents, which 
 afforded her less pleasure than the expectation of 
 soon beholding again the banks of the Rhine *, 
 
 * Besides several diamonds which she received, a pension 
 was given her, which was to be exchanged for a marriage 
 portion. As she is become a queen of Sweden, I know not 
 whether she has received her russian dower. Among the 
 presents made her was a riband of the order of St. Andrew 
 for her father: this was the first order in Russia, and Catha- 
 rine did not even know the number of its knights ; as it ap- 
 peared that the prince of Baden was one of them already. 
 The empress, however, would not allow the riband to be 
 sent back, but permitted the prince to bestow it on his son, 
 then a child. It frequently happened that officers were pre- 
 sented with the insignia of orders, which had been given to 
 them before: one of these, having solicited some other recom- 
 pence in vain, wore his two similar crosses at once. Catha- 
 rine, it must be added, so magnificent on some occasions, dis- 
 played a ridiculous parsimony in bestowing on the governess 
 of the princesses of Baden, who had educated them, and con- 
 ducted them into Russia, a paltry pension of two hundred 
 rubles (CO/.), at which even the court of Carlsruhe was of- 
 fended. Similar acts of meanness frequently disgraced rh 
 
 D 2
 
 36 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 the princess Louisa appeared to smile at the 
 destiny that awaited her. An unknown com- 
 forter had entered her heart, and dried her tears. 
 The sight of the young prince, who was to be 
 her husband, and who equalled herself in beauty 
 of person and gentleness of mind, had inspired 
 her with love. She submitted gracefully to 
 everything required of her, learned the russian 
 language, was instructed in the greek religion, 
 and was soon in a capacity of making public pro- 
 fession of her new faith, and receiving on her 
 arms and bare delicate feet the unetions admini- 
 stered by a bishop, who proclaimed her grand- 
 duchess under the name of Elizabeth Alexievna. 
 Catharine chose rather to give her her own sur- 
 name than leaveher that of her father, as is cus- 
 tomary *. 
 
 liberalities of Catharine. She never gave willingly, except to 
 those who had already too much : she liked better to gratify 
 than to recompense. Towards the end of her life she grew 
 niggardly, in particular towards the imperial family, who were 
 sometimes in want of necessaries, while the favourite and his 
 creatures wallowed in profusion. 
 
 * The patronymic names of the Russians have something 
 antique and respectable. A Russian might call the empress, 
 even when speaking to her, Ekaterina Akxietnu, Catharine 
 daughter of Alexius. The princess of Baden, therefore, 
 should have called herself Elitabetha Carlorna, as she was 
 the daughter of pxinqe Charles. The Greeks had the same 
 custom; and we, elegantly translating the russian termina-
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 37 
 
 In the month of May following, the ceremony 
 of betrothing was performed with extraordinary 
 pomp and entertainments. Russia had just 
 finished three wars, almost equally triumphant. 
 A multitude of generals and other officers, co- 
 vered with the laurels they had gathered in battle, 
 added to the number of the court. A great many 
 Swedes, admirers of Catharine ; almost all the 
 polish magnats who had submitted or were de- 
 voted to her ; tartarian khans ; envoys from Great 
 Bukharia ; turkish pashas; greek and moldavian 
 deputies; sophis of Persia; w r ith french emi- 
 grants, demanding at once protection and ven- 
 geance * ; increased at this juncture the crowd 
 of courtiers attending the proud autocratrix of the 
 north. No court ever exhibited so brilliant and 
 variegated a fpectacle. Thefe were the last re- 
 splendent days that Catharine enjoyed. She 
 dined on a throne raised in the midst of different 
 
 tions by the greek, might say Ivan Basilides, Alexander Ni- 
 colaides, &c. in like manner as Alcides, Seleucides, Hera- 
 elides. 
 
 * One day the young Richelieu, a persian envoy, some 
 kalmuk deputies, and an old russian ideot, whom Catharine 
 created a knight, at the recommendation of j\ichoias Solti- 
 kof, for having prayed for her, \vere presented to the em- 
 press at the same time. Riehelieu kissed her hand with all 
 the ease of a Frenchman ; the Persian, with the ceremonies 
 of the orientals ; the Kalmuks, prostrating themselves on the 
 ground; and the old Russian, kneeling down, and raising hl< 
 eyes to heaven.
 
 S8 THE KING OF SWEDEN'S 
 
 tables. Crowned and covered with gold and 
 diamonds, her eye carelessly wandered over the 
 immense assembly, composed of persons of all 
 nations, whom she seemed to behold at her feet. 
 Surrounded by her numerous and brilliant family, 
 a poet would have taken her for Juno feated 
 amidst the gods *. 
 
 The arrival of the princess of Saxe-Coburg 
 with her three daughters, one of whom became 
 the wife of the grand-duke Constantine, was less 
 striking. The Russians even indulged in witty 
 remarks on these princesses, and on the antiquity 
 and bad taste of their dress. They were not pre- 
 sented till their wardrobe had been renewed. 
 Constantine did not like either of them : he faid 
 
 * This in fact took place, particularly in the following 
 strophe of the epithalaraium : 
 
 Ni la reine de Thebe au milieu de ses fille.-:, 
 Ni Louis de ses fils assemblant les families, 
 Ne formerent jamais un cercle si pompeux. 
 Trois generations vout fleurir devant elle, 
 Et c'est elle toujours qui charmera nos yeux : 
 Fiere, d'etre leur mere, & non d'etre immortelle, 
 Telle est Junon parmi les dieux. 
 
 TheTheban queen amid her daughters fair, 
 The sons of Lewis, an illustrious race, 
 Ne'er form'd a circle proudly born to grace 
 
 The wond 'ring world with majesty so rare ! 
 
 Three glorious sprigs shall deck the reverend tree, 
 Whose stem immortal parentage shall claim, 
 nd still the peerless origin shall be 
 Like Juno, first in splendor as in fame
 
 VISIT TO PETERSBURG. 39 
 
 they had a german air ; fo russian was his taste. 
 It was found necessary to inflame his imagination 
 to induce him to make a choice j and this fell on 
 the youngest, a little brunette, who displayed 
 marks of wit, which excited interest in her behalf, 
 and who was deserving of more happiness than the 
 temper of her husband promised ; of which we 
 shall have occasion to speak more hereafter.
 
 40 SICKNESS AND 0KATK 
 
 nROi-iy*i. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 CATHARINE II. 
 
 Particulars of the sickness and death of Catharine Her par- 
 trait-~-Her character Observations on her court, courtiers* 
 and ministers Influence of the french revolution on her 
 mind Question examined, how far she was the patron of 
 letters Her literary works Manners and monuments of her 
 reign. 
 
 THE visit of the king of Sweden to Peters- 
 burg, the entertainments to which it gave 
 rise, and the mortifying circumstances in which 
 it terminated, hastened, no doubt, the death of 
 Catharine. For six weeks she had given herself 
 up to one continued round of amusements and 
 fatigue : for to her, the going up and down the 
 stairs of the palace, the business of dressing, and 
 appearing in public, had long been a wearisome 
 task ; and the more so, as she was still desirous 
 of looking young and healthful, and was always 
 averse to the use of a sedan. Aware of the first 
 of these difficulties, fevera! of her courtiers, upon 
 occasion of the balls and entertainments that were 
 given by them in honour of the king, transformed 
 for her eafe the stairs of their houses into gentle 
 afcents, which were richly carpeted. A gal-
 
 OF CATHARINE THE SECOND. 41 
 
 lantry of this kind cost Besborodko no less a sum 
 than three thoufand rubles (300/.), which he ex- 
 pended to render his lioufe commodious for her 
 reception *.. . 
 
 Towards the close of her life, Catharine had so 
 increased in size, as to be an object almost of de- 
 formity. Her legs, which were always swolleri 
 and often ulcerated, had entirely lost their shape, 
 and she could no longer boast that handsome foot 
 which had formerly been so much admired. The 
 noted pirate Lambro Canziani, whom admiral 
 Ribas, through the favour of Zubof, had intro- 
 duced to the empress, and who acted in quality 
 of buffoon, after having previously served her as 
 corsair in the Archipelago, was desirous also of 
 prescribing as her physician. He accordingly 
 persuaded her that, he had an infallible remedy 
 for her legs ; and he himself was even at the 
 pains of fetching water from the sea for the pur- 
 pose of a cold bath, to be used once a day for her 
 
 * Let not the russian highnesses and excellencies, who 
 may happen to read my book, be scandalized at seeing them- 
 selves here called bv their simple appellatives : I would 
 gladly wrap them up in their titles as a pill is enveloped in 
 its tinsel ; but it often happens, that, while I am writing, 
 the monsieur becomes count, the count prince, and the 
 prince knarz, the counsellor general, and the valet-de-cham- 
 bre excellence. Under the creative hand of Paul every 
 thing changes with such rapidity that I am obliged to confine 
 myself to the bare name of the personages.
 
 42 SICKNESS AND DEATH 
 
 feet. The application succeeded at first, and she 
 joined with Lambro in ridiculing the prescrip- 
 tions of her physicians : but the swellings soon 
 returned, and from late hours and much motion 
 her disorder greatly increased. When the king's 
 refusal was announced to her, and she was ob- 
 liged to dismiss her court after having fummoned 
 it to celebrate the betrothing of her grand-daugh- 
 ter, she experienced a slight stroke of apoplexy. 
 From the constraint which for several days after 
 she imposed on herself, that she might appear 
 with her wonted ferenity, and betray no symp- 
 tom of the v.exation she felt at the refractorinefs 
 of the little king *, the blood and humours rushed 
 still more to the head j her face, which was be- 
 fore highly inflamed, became at this period addi- 
 tionally red and livid, and her indispositions re- 
 turned with greater frequency. 
 
 I should not perhaps have mentioned here the 
 signs and prognostics of her death : but, miracles 
 being still in vogue in Russia, it may not be 
 amiss to observe, that on the evening of her visit 
 
 * This was the derisory epithet which she gave him. The 
 young prince was ambitious from his infancy of the title of 
 grown man, which he strove by his actions to merit. Walking 
 one day in a park, two women cried, " Let us run into the 
 " road to see our little king." Gustavus, hearing them, re- 
 plied, somewhat piqued : " Little king ! pray, ladies, have 
 ** you then a greater ?"
 
 OF CATHARINE THE SECOND. 43 
 
 with the king at the houfe of Samoilof, a bright 
 star shot from the sky over her head, and fell into 
 the Neva j and for the honour of truth and fune- 
 real omens, I must add, that this fact was the 
 common talk of the whole city. Some would 
 have it, that this beautiful star was a prognostic 
 of the young queen's journey into Sweden ; 
 while others, remarking that it made its descent 
 near the spot where the citadel and tombs of the 
 sovereigns were situated, tremblingly whispered 
 that it was the harbinger of the approaching dis- 
 solution of the empress. I say, tremblingly wJm- 
 pered\ because in Russia death and empress are 
 two words that cannot be coupled together with- 
 out danger of being charged with blasphemy. 
 
 But, to return, it is certain, that on the 4th of 
 November 1796, Catharine, having what was 
 called her little hermitage (small party), displayed 
 an uncommon share of spirits. By a vess'el from 
 Lubeck, she had received the news of the French 
 under Moreau having been obliged to repass the 
 Rhine, and she wrote, upon this occasion, to the 
 Austrian minister Cobenzel a very humorous 
 note*. She amused herself greatly with Leof 
 Narishkin, her grand ecuyer and first buffoon, 
 
 * The note, which was in everybody's hands, was this : 
 " I hasten to inform your excellent excellence, that the ex- 
 " cellent troops of the excellent court have given the French 
 " an excellent drubbing."
 
 44 SICKNESS AND DEATH 
 
 trafficking with him for all sorts of bawbles, 
 which he usually carried in his pockets to sell to 
 her, like an itinerant pedlar, whose character he 
 attempted to personate. She rallied him with 
 great pleasantry upon the terrors to which he was 
 subject upon hearing of any obituary intelligence, 
 by informing him of the death of the king of Sar- 
 dinia, which she had also just learned ; and she 
 spoke of this event in a free and jocular manner. 
 She retired, however, somewhat earlier than 
 usual, assigning as a reason, that too much laugh- 
 ing had given her slight symptoms of colic. 
 
 The next morning she arose at her accus- 
 tomed hour, and sending for her favourite, gave 
 him a short audience. She afterwards transacted 
 business with her secretaries, but dismissed the 
 last that came, bidding him wait in the anti- 
 chamber, and she would presently call for him to 
 finish what he was about. The valet, Zachary 
 Constantinovitch, waited for awhile ; but, uneasy 
 at not being called, and hearing no noise in the 
 apartment, he at last opened the door, when he 
 saw, to his surprise and terror, the empress pro- 
 strate on the floor between the two doors leading 
 from the alcove to her water-closet. She was 
 already without sense or motion. The valet ran 
 for the favourite, whose apartment was above ; 
 physicians were sent for ; and consternation and 
 tumult prevailed about the empress. A mattrass
 
 OF CATHARINE THE SECOND. 4 
 
 was spread near the window j she was laid upon 
 it ; bleeding, clysters, and all the means usually 
 resorted to upon such occasions, were employed, 
 which produced their ordinary effect. She was 
 still alive : her heart was found to beat ; but there 
 was no other perceptible sign of motion. The 
 favourite, seeing her in this alarming state, sent 
 to the counts Soltikof and Bezborodko, and some 
 others. Every one was eager to dispatch, on 
 his own part, a messenger to the grand-duke 
 Paul ; and the person employed in this service by 
 Zubof was his own brother. Meanwhile the im- 
 perial family, and the rest of the household, were 
 ignorant of the situation of the empress, which 
 was kept secret. Till eleven o'clock, her accus- 
 tomed hour of summoning the grand-dukes, it 
 was not known that she was at all indisposed ; 
 the circumstance of her being seriously ill did 
 not transpire till one ; and was then mentioned 
 with a timid and mysterious caution, through fear 
 of the consequences of mistake. You might see 
 two courtiers meet each other, both perfectly ac- 
 quainted with the circumstance of the apoplexy, 
 yet questioning one another, answering in turn, 
 watching each other's looks, and cautiously ad- 
 vancing step by step, that they might arrive both 
 together at the terrible point, and be able to talk 
 of what both already knew. A man must have 
 frequented a court, and especially the court of 
 7
 
 46 SICKNESS AtfD DEATH 
 
 Russia, for being able to judge of the importance 
 of these things, and for exculpating the historian 
 from the charge of absurdity in relating such par- 
 ticulars as actually occurred. 
 
 In the meantime, those whom chance, or their 
 connexion with office, placed in the way of being 
 early informed of the truth, hastened to commu- 
 nicate it to their families and friends ; for the 
 death of the empress was looked to as the epoch 
 of some extraordinary revolution in the state, as 
 well from the character of Paul as from the pro- 
 jects and dispositions of which Catharine was 
 suspected. It was, therefore, of importance to 
 be able to take precautions in time ; and the 
 court first, and presently the city, were in an 
 alarming state of agitation and anxiety. 
 
 Five or fix couriers arrived nearly at the same 
 instant at Gatshina, but the grand-duke was- ab- 
 sent. He was gone to the distance of a few 
 versts with his court to inspect a mill, which he had 
 ordered to be constructed. Upon receiving the 
 intelligence, he appeared affected, either with great 
 joy or great grief, as extremes so nearly approach 
 and resemble each other that it is sometimes dif- 
 ficult to distinguish their effects. He soon, how- 
 ever, recovered from his emotion, asked a thou- 
 sand questions of the messengers, and gave orders 
 for his journey, which he performed with such ex- 
 pedition, that in less than three hours he was at
 
 OF CATHARINE THE SECOND. 47 
 
 Petersburg, which is twelve leagues from his re- 
 sidence at Gatshina. He arrived at eight in the 
 evening with his wife, and found the palace in the 
 greatest confusion. 
 
 His presence attracted about him some cour- 
 tiers and ministers, while others disappeared. 
 The favourite, a prey to grief and consternation, 
 had relinquished the reins of empire : the great, 
 occupied with the consequences of this event, 
 arranged their affairs in private : all the intrigues 
 of the court were disconcerted in a moment, and, 
 like the spokes of a wheel when the stock is de- 
 stroyed, were without point of union. 
 
 Paul, accompanied by his whole family, re- 
 paired to the chamber of his mother, who gave, 
 however, no sign of recognition at the appearance 
 f her assembled children. She was lying on the 
 mattrass, perfectly still, and without any appear- 
 ance of life. The grand-duke Alexander, his 
 wife, and the young princesses, burst into tears, 
 and formed round her a most affecting groupe. 
 The grand-duchesses, the gentlemen and ladies 
 of the court, were up all night waiting the last 
 sigh of the empress. The grand-duke and his 
 sons were frequently by her side to witness this 
 event ; and the next day passed in the same 
 anxiety and expectation. 
 
 Paul, whose grief for the loss of a mother by 
 whom he had been so little beloved, could not be
 
 48 SICKNESS AND DEATH 
 
 expected to be extremely overwhelming, was oc- 
 cupied in giving directions and preparing every 
 thing for his accession : and he bestowed on this 
 grand event of his life the same care and atten- 
 tion as the director of a pantomime bestows on 
 his scenes and machinery previous to the rising 
 of the curtain. In fact the death of a sovereign 
 seemed in this instance to be scarcely anything 
 more than an interlude between the acts of a 
 play; so little was the person of Catharine re- 
 garded by those about her, and even by her chil- 
 dren. She still breathed, although nothing was 
 thought of but the changes that were about to 
 take place, and the individual who was on the 
 point of succeeding her. 
 
 By degrees the apartments of the palace were 
 filled with officers who had come with expedition 
 from Gatshina, and were dressed in a manner so 
 novel and grotesque that they seemed the appari- 
 tions of a former century, or ghosts from another 
 world. In the pale and haggard countenances of 
 the old courtiers, wherever they were seen, mor- 
 tification, terror, and grief, were depicted ; and 
 they successively retired, to give place to the new 
 comers. The palace was surrounded with car- 
 riages, obstructing the streets that led to it ; and 
 he who could claim the ilightest acquaintance 
 passed the day there, waiting the effect of this 
 sudden event. Orders were given, that no per-
 
 OF CATHARINE THE SECOND. 49 
 
 son should quit the city, and no courier was suf- 
 fered to pass the gates. 
 
 It was generally believed that Catharine had 
 expired the preceding evening, but that her 
 death, for reasons of state, was still concealed. 
 The fact however is, that she was all this time in 
 a kind of lethargy. The remedies which were 
 administered produced their natural effect, and 
 she had even moved one of her feet, and pressed 
 the hand of a waiting woman : but> hap.pily for 
 Pau/ } the/iozver of s/ieech was gone for ever. About 
 ten in the evening she appeared suddenly to re- 
 vive, and began to rattle in the throat in a most 
 terrible manner. The imperial family hastened 
 to her , but this new and shocking spectacle was 
 too much for the princesses, who were obliged 
 to withdraw. At last she gave a lamentable 
 shriek, which was heard in the neighbouring 
 apartments, and died, after having continued for 
 thirty-seven hours in a state of insensibility. Dur- 
 ing this period she gave no indication of pain, 
 till the moment before she expired, and her death 
 appears to have been as happy as her reign. 
 
 If the love that monarchs have deserved from 
 their subjects has been sometimes estimated by 
 the impression produced by their death, Russia 
 is not the country to which we can apply the ob- 
 servation, unless indeed the court be taken for the 
 \vhole empire. The individual who was the 
 
 E
 
 SO SICKNESS AND DEATH 
 
 greatest loser by the death of the empress, and 
 whom it hurled at once from the pinnacle of 
 greatness and power into the obscurity from which 
 favour had raised him, was also the individual who 
 was most afflicted at the event ; and there was 
 something in the expression of his grief that was 
 truly affecting. The young grand-duchesses, who 
 had a tender regard for their grand-mother, with 
 whom they had lived on terms of greater fami- 
 liarity than with their own parents, paid her also 
 the unfeigned tribute of their tears ; they consi- 
 dered her as their provident patroness, and as the 
 source from which flowed all their enjoyments 
 and felicity. Those ladies and courtiers too, who 
 had experienced the kindness of her disposition 
 and enjoyed the pleasure of her private society, 
 where she displayed a most captivating amenity, 
 in like manner lamented her death. Even the 
 young persons of her court, both male and fe- 
 male, regretted the happy evenings of the Her- 
 mitage, and that cheerful ease and pleasure which 
 Catharine so well knew how to inspire, and con- 
 / trasted with them the military constraint and eti- 
 quette that were likely to succeed. The wits 
 and banterers of Petersburg lamented in secret, 
 that they must now respect the very persons whom 
 they had so long been accustomed to ridicule and 
 despise, and submit to a course of life that had 
 been the constant and inexhaustible topic of their
 
 OF CATHARINE THE SECOND. 51 
 
 sarcasms and jests. The menial servants of Ca- 
 tharine sincerely bewailed a good and generous 
 mistress, whose mild and even temper, and noble 
 and dignified character, were above those daily 
 bickerings, those gusts of petty passion, which 
 are the poison of domestic life. In truth, if we 
 judge of Catharine as of the mother of a family, 
 consider her palace as her house, her courtiers as. 
 her children, she was entitled to lamentations and 
 tears. 
 
 There were other personages on this disastrous 
 occasion of a pale and woeful aspect ; but these 
 were incapable of weeping. In them it was an 
 air of guilt rather than of sadness, and their grief 
 would bear no construction favourable to Catha- 
 rine. I refer to those creatures of the favourite, 
 those hypocritical ministers, those dastardly cour- 
 tiers, that crowd of wretches of all states and con- 
 ditions, whose fortunes and hopes were derived 
 from the easy disposition of Catharine, and the 
 abuses of her reign. In this desponding train must 
 also be included those who had a share in the revo- 
 lution of 1762 : these men appeared to awake as 
 from a long dream, which had suspended reflec- 
 tion, to be delivered up to the influence of terror, 
 and perhaps of remorse. 
 
 As to the opinion of the people, that pretended 
 touchstone of the merit of sovereigns, and which 
 in Russia is no better than the clod of the high- 
 E 2
 
 52 PORTRAIT OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 way, trampled under foot like the pavement of 
 the streets, nothing could equal their indifference 
 as to what was going on in the palace. It was 
 rumoured, indeed, that provisions would be 
 cheaper, and the power of masters over their 
 slaves be restrained and limited ; but it will pre- 
 sently be seen how this popular report was be- 
 lied by Paul. The principal inhabitants of the 
 city were in a state of silent consternation ; and 
 the horror inspired by the character of the grand- 
 duke seemed at this moment to call forth the love 
 and respect that were due to Catharine. 
 
 In so brilliant a capital, and especially in so gay 
 and polite a court, some extraordinary changes 
 were quickly visible. The air of freedom, of ease, 
 and of gallantry, which had so lately prevailed, 
 was succeeded by an intolerable constraint. In 
 the apartments in which Catharine had just fallen 
 into the sleep of death, the word of command, 
 the clattering of swords and of soldiers, and the 
 stamping of enormous boots, already resounded. 
 From the sombre garb of the ladies, the gro- 
 tesque habiliments of the men, the strange phra- 
 seology which all were eager to adopt, and the 
 general contrasts with what had .existed before, 
 those who had been acquainted with each other 
 met without being known, spoke without being 
 understood, and asked questions without receiv- 
 ing an answ r er. The day of St. Catharine, hi-
 
 PORTRAIT OF CATHARINE II. 53 
 
 therto celebrated with so much pomp and re- 
 joicings, arrived at this interval, as if to depict 
 with greater horror the desolation of this fairy 
 lace, which, lately the scene of so many pleasures 
 and entertainments, was becoming that of as 
 many absurdities. 
 
 Though seventy years of age, Catharine still 
 retained some remains of beauty. Her hair was 
 always dressed in an antique simplicity, and in a 
 peculiar taste, and never did a crown sit better on 
 any head than hers. She was of the middle sta- 
 ture, and corpulent ; few women, however, with 
 her corpulence, would have attained the graceful 
 and dignified carnage for which she was conspi- 
 cuous. In her private life, the good-humour and 
 confidence with which she inspired all about her, 
 seemed to keep her in perpetual youth, playful- 
 ness, and gaiety. Her engaging conversation and 
 familiar manners placed all those who had con- 
 stant access to her, or assisted at her toilette, per- 
 fectly, at their ease ; but the moment she had 
 put on her gloves to make her appearance in the 
 neighbouring apartments, she assumed a sedate 
 demeanour and a very different countenance. 
 From an agreeable and facetious woman, she ap- 
 peared all at once the reserved and majestic em-. 
 press. Whoever had seen her then for the first 
 time would have found her not below the idea 
 he had previously formed, and would have said,,
 
 54 PORTRAIT OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 " This is indeed the Semiramis of the north !" 
 The maxim, Prxsentia minuit famam^ could no 
 more be applied to her than to the great Frederic. 
 I saw her once or twice a week for ten years, and 
 every time with renewed admiration. My ea- 
 gerness to examine her person caused me suc- 
 cessively to neglect prostrating myself before her 
 with the crowd ; but the homage I paid by gaz- 
 ing at her, was surely more flattering. She walked 
 slowly, and with short steps ; her majestic front 
 lofty and serene, her look tranquil, and frequently 
 cast downwards. Her mode of saluting was by 
 a slight inclination of the body, not without grace; 
 but with a smile at command, that came and va- 
 nished with the bow. If, upon the introduction 
 of a stranger, she presented her hand to him to 
 kiss, she did it with great courtesy, and commonly 
 addressed a few words to him on the subject of 
 his journey and his visit : but then all the har- 
 mony of her countenance was instantly discom- 
 posed, and for a moment the great Catharine was 
 forgotten in the sight of the old woman ; as, on 
 opening her mouth, it was apparent that she had 
 lost her teeth, and her voice was broken, and her 
 inarticulation bad. The lower part of her face 
 was rather rude and coaise ; her grey eyes, though 
 clear and penetrating, evinced something of hy- 
 pocrisy, and a certain wrinkle at the base of the 
 nose gave her somewhat of a sneering look. The
 
 PORTRAIT OF CATHARINE II. 55 
 
 celebrated Lampi had lately painted a striking 
 likeness of her, though extremely flattering : Ca- 
 tharine, however, remarking that he had not en- 
 tirely omitted that unfortunate wrinkle which 
 characterized her physiognomy, was greatly dis- 
 satisfied at it, and said that Lampi had made her 
 too serious and too roguish. He was accordingly 
 obliged to retouch and spoil the picture, which 
 appeared now like the portrait of a young nymph ; 
 though the throne, the sceptre, the crown, and 
 some other attributes, sufficiently indicate that it 
 i's the picture of an empress. In other respects, 
 the performance well deserves the attention of 
 the amateur, as also does a portrait of the present 
 empress by the same hand *. 
 
 As to the character of Catharine, in my opi- 
 nion, it can only be estimated from her actions. 
 Her reign, for herself and her court, had been 
 brilliant and happy ; but the last years of it were 
 particularly disastrous for the people and the 
 
 h The celebrated Le Brun, who was at Petersburg, and 
 who could not obtain the honour of taking her likeness when 
 living, saw her after she was dead, and drew it from his me- 
 mory and fancy. I saw the rough draught of this portrait, 
 which was extremely like. The following humorous advice 
 was given to M. le Brun to render the resemblance perfect : 
 Take a map of the russian empire for the canvas ; the dark- 
 ness of ignorance, for the ground ; the spoils of Poland for the 
 drapery ; human blood, for the colouring ; the monuments of 
 her reign, for the outlines ; and for the shading, six months of 
 the reign of her successor.
 
 56 , COURTIER'S OF CATHARINE ir. 
 
 empire. All the springs of government became 
 debilitated and impaired. Every general, go- 
 vernor, chief of department, was become a petty 
 despot. Rank, justice, impunity, were sold to 
 the highest bidder. An oligarchy of about a 
 score of knaves partitioned Russia, pillaged, by 
 themselves or others, the finances, and contended 
 for the spoils of the unfortunate. Their lowest va- 
 lets, and even their slaves, obtained in a short 
 time offices of considerable importance and emo- 
 lument. One had a salary of from three to four 
 hundred rubles a year (30 or 4O/.), which could 
 not possibly be increased by any honest dealing, 
 yet was he sufficiently rich to build round the 
 palace houses valued at fifty thousand crowns 
 (12,5007.) Catharine, so far from inquiring into 
 the impure source of such sudden wealth, re- 
 joiced to see her capital thus embellished under 
 her eyes, and applauded the inordinate luxury of 
 these rascals, which she erroneously considered 
 as a proof of the prosperity of her reign. In the 
 worst days of France, pillage was never so gene- 
 ral, and never so easy. Whoever received a sum 
 of money from the crown for any undertaking, 
 had the impudence to retain half, and afterwards 
 complained of its. insufficiency, for the purpose 
 of obtaining more ; and either an additional sum 
 was granted, or the enterprise abandoned. The 
 great plunderers even divided the booty of the
 
 MINISTERS OF CATHARINE II. 57 
 
 little ones, and thus became accomplices in their 
 thefts. A minister knew almost to a ruble what 
 his signature would procure to his secretary ; and 
 a colonel felt no embarrassment in talking with a 
 general of the profits of the army, and the extor- 
 tions he made upon the soldiers*. Everv one, 
 from the peculiar favourite to the lowest m en- 
 ploy, considered the property ot the state as ari 
 harvest to be reaped, and grasped at it with as 
 much avidity as the populace at an ox given up 
 to be devoured. The Orlofs, as well as Potem- 
 kin and Panin, filled their places with some dig- 
 nity. The first displayed talents, and an inordi- 
 nate ambition : Panin had besides, a considerable 
 share of knowledge, patriotism, and many vir- 
 
 * The colonel was the despot of his regiment, of which 
 he had the exclusive management, in the whole and in the 
 detail. The russian army, wherever it may he situated, whe- 
 ther in a subjected territory, the territory of an ally, or that 
 of an enemy, always living at free quarters, the colonels regu- 
 larly take to themselves nearly the whole of the money des- 
 tined for its support. By way of indemnification, they turn 
 the horses into the fields, and the men into trie houses of the 
 peasants, there to live free of expence. Tne pay of a colonel 
 is from seven to eight hundred rubles {70/. or 80/.) only a 
 year; but the profit he derives from a regiment amounts to 
 rilleen or twenty thousand (1500/. or 2000/.) A minister 
 asking one day softie favour of the empn^s for a poor officer, 
 she replied, " if he be poor, it is his own lault; he has long 
 " had a regiment." Thus robbery was privileged, and pro- 
 bity ridiculed and despised.
 
 58 MINISTERS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 tues *. In genera], during the last years of Ca- 
 tharine, none were so little as the great. With- 
 out knowledge, without penetration, without 
 pride, without probity, they could not even boast 
 of that false honour which is to loyalty what hy- 
 pocrisy is to virtue : unfeeling as bashaws, rapa- 
 cious as tax-gatherers, pilfering as lacqueys, and 
 venal as the meanest abigails of a play, they might 
 truly be called the rabble of the empire. Their 
 creatures, their hirelings, their valets, and even 
 their relations, did not accumulate wealth by the 
 gifts of their bounty, but by the extortions com- 
 mitted in their name, and the traffic made of 
 their authority: they also were robbed them- 
 selves, as they robbed the crown. The meanest 
 services rendered to these men were paid by the 
 state ; and the wages of their buffoons, servants, 
 
 * He did one act of generosity in particular, which has 
 found no imitators. The education of the grand-duke Paul, 
 to whom he was first governor, being finished, the empress, 
 among other rewards for this service, gave him seven thou- 
 sand peasants, while the aides de camp, secretaries, and others 
 employed by count Pan in as his assistants, were totally unno- 
 ticed by her. Panin immediately divided among them the 
 seven thousand peasants; and I have seen several officers 
 who are still rich with the boon. This generous action should 
 not, however, lead us to forget, that the t\vo principal mea- 
 sures of his administration were marked with misfortune: the 
 exchange of Holstein for six ships, which Denmark never 
 gave ; and the first division of Poland, which excited a crav- 
 ing for the remainder.
 
 MINISTERS OF CATHARINE II. 59 
 
 musicians, private secretaries, and even tutors of 
 their children, defrayed out of some public fund, of 
 which they had the management. Some few among 
 them sought out men of talents, and appeared to 
 esteem merit : but neither talents nor merit ac- 
 quired a fortune under their protection, or par- 
 took of their wealth ; partly from the avarice of 
 those patrons, but still more from their total want 
 of beneficence. The only way of gaining their 
 favour was by becoming their buffoon, -and the 
 only method of profiting by it was by turning 
 knave. 
 
 Thus, during this reign, almost all the people 
 in office and authority were lucky adventurers. 
 At the galas given by the empress, swarms of 
 new-created counts and princes made their ap- 
 pearance, and that at a time when in France all 
 titles were about to be abolished. If we except 
 the Soltikofs, we shall find at this period no fa- 
 mily of distinction in favour. To any other 
 country this would have been no evil ; but in 
 Russia, where the rich nobility is the only class 
 that has any education, and generally speaking 
 any principles of honour, it was a serious cala- 
 mity to the empire. Besides, all these upstarts 
 were so many hungry leeches, who must be fed 
 with the best blood of the state, and fattened 
 with the hard earnings of the people. A fre- 
 quent change of kings is often not burthensome 
 
 t
 
 60 MINISTERS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 to a state, which continues to be their heir; but 
 an incessant change of favourites and ministers, 
 who must aJl fill their coffers and carry off their 
 treasures, is enough to ruin any country except 
 Russia. Ho\v many millions must it. have cost 
 to fill successively the rapacious maws of about 
 a dozen peculiar favourites ? how many, to ren- 
 der rich and noble the Besborodkos, the Zavadof- 
 skys, the Markofs, and the vast number of others 
 who might be named? Have not the Orlofs, 
 the Potemkins, the Zubofs, acquired revenues 
 greater than those of kings; and their underlings, 
 agents in the sale of their signatures, and ma- 
 nagers of their petty traffic, become more wealthy 
 than the most successful merchants*? 
 
 With respect to the government of Catharine, 
 it was as mild and moderate, within the imme- 
 diate circle of her influence, as it was arbitrary 
 and terrible at a distance. Whoever, directly or 
 indirectly, enjoyed the protection of the favou- 
 rite, exercised, wherever he was situated, the 
 
 * A work has fallen into my hands, intitled, " La Vie de 
 " Catherine Seconds," [a wretched translation whereof into 
 english was published by Dr. Hunter.] in which the author 
 gives a statement of the sums obtained by the favourites. But 
 how very defective is this estimate, and how far below the 
 truth !' How is it possible, indeed, to calculate the immense 
 sums which have enriched the Orlofs, the Potemkins, and the 
 Zubofs, favourites who had the same access to the treasury of 
 the state, as to their own private coifers ?
 
 MINISTERS OF CATHARINE II. 61 
 
 most undisguised tyranny, He insulted his su- 
 periors, trampled on his inferiors, and violated 
 justice, order, and the ukases*, with impunity. 
 
 It is to the policy first, and next to the weak- 
 ness of Catharine, to which in part must be at- 
 tributed the relaxed and disorganized state of her 
 internal government : though the principal cause 
 will be found in the depraved manners and cha- 
 racter of the nation, and especially of her court. 
 How was a woman to effect that which the 
 active discipline of the cane, and the sanguinary 
 axe of Peter I. were inadequate to accomplish ? 
 Having usurped a throne, which she was desi- 
 rous to retain, she was under the necessity of 
 treating her accomplices with kindness. Being 
 a foreigner in the empire over which she reigned, 
 she strove to identify herself with the nation, by- 
 adopting and even flattering its tastes and its pre- 
 judices. She often knew how to reward, but 
 never could resolve to punish ; and it was solely 
 by suffering her power to be abused, that she 
 succeeded in preserving it. 
 
 She had two passions, which never left her 
 but with her last breath: the love of the other 
 sex, which degenerated into licentiousness ; and 
 the love of glory, which sunk into vanity. By 
 
 * Edicts of the monarch, which in Russia -hold the place of 
 laws.
 
 62 MINISTERS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 the former of these passions, she was never so 
 far governed as to become a Messalina, but she 
 often disgraced both her rank and her sex ; and 
 continued to be by habit what she had been 
 from constitution : by the second, she was led to 
 undertake many laudable projects, which were 
 seldom completed, and to engage in unjust wars, 
 from which she derived at least that kind of fame 
 which never fails to accompany success. 
 
 The generosity of Catharine, the splendor of 
 her reign, the magnificence of her court, her in- 
 stitutions, her monuments, her wars, were pre- 
 cisely to Russia what the age of Louis XIV. 
 was to Europe ; but, considered individually, 
 Catharine was greater tlian that prince. The 
 French formed the glory of Louis, Catharine 
 formed that of the Russians. She had not, like 
 him, the advantage of reigning over a polished 
 people ; nor was she surrounded from infancy by 
 great and accomplished characters. She had 
 some subtle ambassadors, not unskilled in the 
 diplomatic art, and some fortunate generals ; but 
 Romanzof, Panin, and Potemkin excepted, she 
 could not boast a single man of genius : for the 
 wit, cunning, and dexterity of certain of her mi- 
 nisters, the ferocious valour of a Suvarof, the duc- 
 tile capacity of a Repnin, the favour of a Zubof, 
 the readiness of a Besborodko, and the assiduity 
 of a Nicholas Soltikof, are not worthy of being
 
 MINISTERS OF CATHARINE II. 63 
 
 mentioned as exceptions. It was not that Russia 
 did not produc s e men of merit ; but Catharine 
 feared such men, and they kept at a distance 
 from her. We may conclude, therefore, that all 
 her measures were her own, and particularly all 
 the good she did. 
 
 Let not the misfortunes and abuses of her 
 reign give to the private character of this prin- 
 cess too dark and repulsive a shade ! She ap- 
 peared to be thoroughly humane and generous, 
 as all \vho approached her experienced : all who 
 were admitted to her intimacy were delighted 
 with the good-humoured sallies of her wit : all 
 who lived with her were happy. Her manners 
 were gay and licentious, but she still preserved 
 an exterior decorum, and even her favourites al- 
 ways treated her with respect *. Her love ne- 
 ver excited disgust, nor her familiarity contempt. 
 She might be deceived, won, seduced, but she 
 would never suffer herself to be governed. Her 
 active and regular life, her moderation, firmness, 
 fortitude, and even her temperance, are moral 
 qualities which it would be highly unjust to 
 ascribe to hypocrisy. How great might she not 
 have been, had her heart been as well governed 
 as her mind ! She reigned over the Russians less 
 
 * The reports circulated in Europe concerning her intem- 
 perance in champagne and brandj, and a number of other ex- 
 Lavagancies, are down-right calumnies.
 
 G4 MINISTERS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 despotic than over herself; she was never hur- 
 ried away by anger, never a prey to dejection, 
 and never indulged in transports of immoderate 
 joy. Caprice, ill-humour., and petulance, as they 
 formed no part of her character, were never per- 
 ceived in her conduct. I will not deside, whe- 
 ther she were truly great, but she was certainly 
 beloved *. 
 
 Imbued, from her youth, with the corrupt 
 maxims by which courts are infected ; enveloped, 
 
 * A variety of quatrains have been composed, either to 
 serve as an epitaph, or be placed under the portrait of Cutha- 
 rine, but none have been struck off so happily, or describe her 
 so truly, as the following. They are from the pens of two 
 young Russians, the agreeable qualities of whose mind are 
 enhanced by those of an admirable character, and a gene- 
 rous heart. 
 
 Elle fit oublicr, par un esprit sublime, 
 
 D'un pouvoir odieux les enormes abus, 
 
 Elle so maintint par ses vertus 
 
 Sur un trone acquis par le crime 
 
 " Bless'd in her sway, her subjects might disown 
 
 " Th' unnumber'd evils of despotic rule ; 
 " And tho' a crime had fixed her on the throne, 
 
 " She reign'd by precepts drawn from Virtue's school." 
 
 The next is more flattering, but inferior in merit : 
 
 Dans le sein de la paix, au milieu de la guerre, 
 A tous scs ennemis elle dicta la loi : 
 Par ses talens divers elle etonna la terre, 
 Ecrivit comme un sage, & regna comme tin roi. 
 " Amid the train of Peace, or din of War, 
 
 " Kach foe appall'd her sov'reign will obey'd j 
 " Her mighty genius held the world in awe ; 
 
 " Like sages wrote, like Jove the sceptre sway'd."
 
 MINISTERS OF CATHARINE II. 65 
 
 on her throne, in a cloud of incense, through 
 which it was hardly possible for her to see 
 clearly, it would be too severe to apply at once 
 the searching torch of reason to her character, 
 and try its defects by so strict an inquest. Let 
 us judge her now as we should have done some 
 twenty years ago, and consider that Russia, as 
 to the people, is still in the age of Charlemagne. 
 The friends of liberty ought to render to Catha- 
 rine the same justice as is rendered by all rational 
 theologians to those great and wise men who 
 did not enjoy the light of revelation. Her 
 crimes were the crimes of her station, not of her 
 heart : the terrible butcheries of Ismail and of 
 Praga appeared to her court to be humanity 
 itself. All she wanted was to have once known 
 misfortune, and she would perhaps have posses- 
 sed the purest virtues ; but she was spoilt by the 
 unvaried prosperity of her arms. Vanity, that 
 fatal rock to women, was so to Catharine ; and- 
 her reign will ever bear the distinguishing cha- 
 racteristic of her sex. 
 
 Meanwhile, in whatever light she is consi- 
 dered, she will ever be placed in the first rank 
 among those who, by their genius, their talents, 
 and especially their success, have attracted the 
 admiration of mankind. Her sex, giving a bolder 
 relief to the great qualities she displayed on the 
 throne, will place her above all comparison in 
 
 F
 
 66 MINISTERS OF CATHARINE 1,1. 
 
 history ; and the fabulous ages of an Isis and a 
 Semiramis must be resorted to, to find a woman 
 who has executed, or rather undertaken, such 
 daring projects. 
 
 The ten last years of her reign carried her 
 power, her glory, and perhaps her political 
 crimes, to their height. The great Frederic, 
 dictator of the kings of Europe, dying, she was 
 left the foremost of the crowned heads j and if we 
 except perhaps Joseph and Gustavus, all those 
 heads taken together were not equal to her's : 
 for she surpassed them as much in understanding, 
 as she exceeded them in the extent of her terri- 
 tories ; and, if Frederic was the dictator of these 
 kings, Catharine became their tyrant. It was 
 then that the end of that political thread, by 
 which poor Europe had been moved like a pup- 
 pet, and which had slipt from France to Berlin, 
 and from Berlin to Vienna and to London, be- 
 came fixed in the hands of a wortian who drew 
 it as she pleased. The immense empire, an em- 
 pire almost of romance, which she had subjected 
 to her sway j the inexhaustible resources she de- 
 rived from a country and a people as yet in a 
 state of infancy ; the extreme luxury of her 
 court, the barbaric pomp of her nobility, the 
 wealth and princely grandeur of her favourites, 
 the glorious exploits of her armies, and the gi- 
 gantic views of her ambition, threw Europe into 
 
 7
 
 EFFECT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 67 
 
 a stupefying admiration ; and those monarchs, 
 who had been too proud to pay each other even 
 the slightest deference, felt no humiliation in 
 making a lady the arbitress of their interests, and 
 the regulatrix of their measures. 
 
 But the French revolution, so unfriendly to so- 
 vereigns in general, was particularly so to Catha- 
 rine. The blaze, which suddenly darted from 
 the centre of France as from the crater of a burn- 
 ing volcano, threw a stream of light upon Russia 
 vivid as that of lightning ; and injustice, crimes, 
 and blood were seen, where before all was gran- 
 deur, glory, and virtue. Catharine shuddered 
 with horror and indignation. The French, those 
 trumpeters of fame, those flattering and brilliant 
 historians, who were one day to transmit to poste- 
 rity the wonders of her reign, were suddenly 
 transformed into so many inexorable judges, at 
 whose aspect she trembled. The phantoms of 
 her imagination were dispelled. That empire of 
 Greece she was so desirous of reviving, thofe 
 laws she would have established, that philosophy 
 she intended to inculcate, and those arts which 
 she had patronised, became odious in her sight. 
 Like many other crowned philosophers, Cathe- 
 rine valued the sciences so far only as they ap- 
 peared the instruments for disseminating her 
 glory. She wished to hold them as a dark lan- 
 tern in her hand j to make use of their light as 
 
 F 2
 
 68 EFFECT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 
 
 should suit her convenience ; to see without being- 
 seen : but when they dazzled her all at once with 
 their bright emanations, she wished to extinguish 
 them. She, who had been the friend of Vol- 
 taire, the admirer of BufTon, and the disciple of 
 Diderot *, now wished to be re-enveloped in the 
 ages of barbarism : but her wishes were vain ; 
 the light was not to be resisted : she had fallen 
 asleep on laurels, she awoke on the carcases of 
 the dead : that glory, which in illusion she em- 
 braced, was changed in her arms into one of the 
 furies : and the legislatrix of the north, forgetting 
 her own maxims and philosophy, was no longer 
 any thing more than an old sybil. Her dastardly 
 favourites, everywhere pointing out to her Bru- 
 tuses, jacobins, and incendiaries, succeeded in in- 
 spiring her with suspicions and terrors. Her de- 
 lirium was even carried so far, that in her mani- 
 festos she bestowed the epithets of rebels and 
 traitors on a king, who was actually extending 
 his regal prerogatives, and a nobility meliorating 
 
 * Upon the breaking out of the revolution, Catharine or- 
 dered the bust of Voltaire to be taken from her gallery, and 
 thrown among the lumber. She had requested a bust of Mr. 
 Fox at the period when that eloquent senator, at the head 
 of the british opposition, prevented by his exertions the 
 government of his country from declaring war against Russia. 
 When the same senator, however, opposed with equal strenu- 
 ousness a war with France, his bust also, which a year be- 
 fore she had so highly honoured, was served in the same man- 
 ner as Voltaire's,
 
 EFFECT.OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 69 
 
 its government : the Poles were treated as jaco- 
 bins, because they had not the misfortune to be 
 Russians*. 
 
 Had Catharine been asked, in an interval of 
 calmness, if she had not herself considerably ad- 
 vanced and helped to strengthen this revolution 
 now so odious to her, what would she have an- 
 swered ? Yet such is the fact : since, if she had 
 not been so eager to seize upon the unfortunate 
 country of the Poles, and afterwards to raise dis- 
 sensions in Prussia and Sweden, she would not 
 have disgusted, as she did;, all Europe and 
 the combination of princes; Prussia would not 
 have been induced so speedily to make peace, 
 that he might be at leisure to watch her proceed- 
 ings ; nor would she have excited the indignation 
 of Spain, by employing against a catholic king 
 and a catholic nobility the same arms and the 
 same insults as were employed against the 
 French. In this view, France may erect a statue 
 to her memory ; for she has rendered the system 
 of the enemies of that country odious and alisurd 
 even to monarchs themselves; and has done the 
 
 * Even the Americans, at this period, became hateful to 
 Catharine. She condemned a revolution which she had for- 
 merly pretended to admire, called Washington a rebel, and 
 said publicly, that a man of honour could not wear the order 
 of Cincinnatus. Accordingly Langeron, and some other 
 emigrants, who had been invested with this order, immedi- 
 ately renounced it and wore it no longer.
 
 70 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 republic the same service as demagogues have 
 by their enormities, and Mr. Pitt by his in- 
 trigues. 
 
 Catharine never effectually patronised letters in 
 her country. It was the reign of Elizabeth that 
 had encouraged them ; which was distinguished 
 by many productions capable of proving to Eu- 
 rope that the Russians may lay fair claim to every 
 species of excellence *. Catharine, indeed, pur- 
 chased libraries and collections of pictures, pen- 
 sioned flatterers, flattered such celebrated men 
 as might be instrumental in spreading her fame, 
 and readily sent a medal or a snuff-box to a ger- 
 inan author who dedicated some encomiastic 
 work to her : but it must have come from afar to 
 please her, and have already acquired a great 
 name to be entitled to her suffrage, and particu- 
 larly to obtain any recompense. Genius might 
 be born at her feet without being noticed f, and 
 
 * The author of these Memoirs may perhaps one day ob- 
 tain both the materials and the leisure for exhibiting to his 
 countrymen a view of russian literature. They will be asto- 
 nished to find how nearly, in delicacy of wit, as well as in 
 sentiment, sprightliness and taste, it resembles their own. 
 The russian theatre is particularly formed upon that of the 
 french. Government, manners, and language, alone have 
 stamped some difference on the character of the t\vo nations. 
 
 f Many architects, painters, sculptors, mechanics, and 
 other artists of great talents, have lived and died in obscurity 
 and wretchedness, merely because they were Russians.
 
 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 71 
 
 still more without being encouraged ; yet, jealous 
 of every kind of fame, and especially of that 
 which Frederic the unique had obtained by his 
 writings, she was desirous of becoming an author, 
 that she might share in it. She accordingly wrote 
 her celebrated Instructions for a Code of Laws ; se- 
 veral moral tales and allegories for the education 
 of her grand-children; and a number of dramatic- 
 pieces and proverbs, which were acted and ad- 
 mired at the Hermitage. Her grand and futile 
 undertaking, of collecting a number of words 
 from three hundred different languages, and form- 
 ing them into a dictionary, was never executed. 
 
 Of all her writings, her letters to Voltaire are 
 certainly the best. They are even more interest- 
 ing than those of the old philosophical courtier 
 himself, who sold her watches and knitted stock- 
 ings for her * ; and who repeats in his letters the 
 same ideas and compliments in a hundred diffe- 
 rent forms, and excites her continually to drive 
 the Turks out of Europe, instead of advising her 
 to render her own subjects free and happy. If 
 the code of laws drawn up by Catharine bespeak 
 a mind capable of enlarged views and a sound po- 
 licy, her letters announce the wit, graces, and ta- 
 
 Their names can only be found in certain topographical de- 
 scriptions, or the accounts of foreign travellers, by whom 
 more justice has been done them than by their own country, 
 
 * This he says himself in one of his letters to her.
 
 72 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 lents of a, woman of still greater merit, and lead 
 us to regret that she was an autocrate and an. 
 usurper. 
 
 When she published her Instructions *, all 
 Europe resounded with her applause, and styled 
 her by anticipation the legislatrix of the north. 
 Catharine convened deputies from the different 
 nations of her vast empire ; but it was only that 
 they might hear this celebrated performance 
 read, and that she might receive their compli- 
 ments : for as soon as this was done, they were all 
 sent back to their distant homes, some in disgrace 
 for their firmness, others decorated with medals 
 for their servility. The manuscript was depo- 
 sited in a magnificent casket, to be exhibited to 
 the curiosity of strangers. A sort of committee 
 was appointed to compile these laws ; and if a 
 favourite or minister had any dependent for 
 whom he wished to provide, or any buffoon 
 whom he wanted to maintain free of expense, he 
 was appointed a member of this committee, in 
 
 * It is known, that her Instruction for a Code was put 
 into the index expurgatorius, and was prohibited in France : 
 Catharine and Voltaire were witty on die occasion. Who 
 would have thought that, twenty years after, all french pub- 
 lications whatever would be proscribed in Russia, and that 
 a lieutenant of police of the very same Catharine would con- 
 fiscate at Petersburg, in the shop of Gay, the bookseller, 
 L'Avis an Peuple par Tissot, " Tissot's Advice to the People ;" 
 alleging that the people wanted no advice, and that it was a 
 dangerous book.
 
 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 7S 
 
 prder to give him a salary *. Yet all Europe vo- 
 ciferated that Russia had laws, because Catha- 
 rine had written a preface to a code, and had re- 
 duced a hundred different nations to the same 
 system of bondage f. 
 
 Among the dramatical pieces of her compo- 
 sition J, and w;hich she caused to be acted in the 
 theatres of Petersburg, one was of a novel spe- 
 cies : it being neither tragedy, nor comedy, 
 nor opera, nor play, but a miscellany of all 
 sorts of scenes, and intitled: OLEG, an histori* 
 cal representation. Upon the celebration of the 
 last peace with the Turks, it was got up by her 
 
 * The author of these Memoirs knew, among other per- 
 sonages, one Mitrophane Popof, a buffoon, bigot, and inter- 
 preter of dreams to a lady of the court, who was a member 
 of this committee: jie had never heard of the Instruction for 
 a Code, and was unable to read it. 
 
 f The Instruction for a Code is so literally taken from 
 Montes'quieu and Beccaria, that Mr. F. de B. who undertook 
 to translate it, thought he could not do better than copy the 
 text of these celebrated writers. The curious may be satis- 
 fied of this fact by examining the translation, which was 
 printed for Grasset, at Lausanne. I had my information 
 from this respectable man himself. 
 
 t They are written in russ. M. Derjavin, secretary to 
 the empress, and known by some other works, was consi- 
 dered as the maker, or at least the mender, of them. It is. 
 certain, however, that she ne\ 7 er had about her a man capable 
 of writing her letters to Voltaire in french. Odart and Au- 
 bri, her secretaries at the time, did not write so well as her- 
 self: she is unquestionably the author of them.
 
 74 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 direction with extraordinary pomp and the most 
 magnificent decorations : upwards of seven hun- 
 dred performers appearing on the stage. The 
 subject is entirely drawn from russian history, and 
 comprises an entire epocha of it. In the first act, 
 O/^lays the foundation of Mosco: in the second, 
 he is at Kief, where he marries his pupil Igor, and 
 settles him on the throne. The ancient ceremo- 
 nies observed upon the marriage of the tzars fur- 
 nish an opportunity for introducing some striking 
 scenes, and the national dances and fports, which 
 are exhibited, produce a number of pleasing pic- 
 tures. Oleg then sets out upon an expedition 
 against the Greeks: he is seen filing off with his 
 army, and embarking. In the third act, he is at 
 Constantinople. The emperor Leo, obliged to 
 sign a truce, receives the barbarian hero with the 
 greatest magnificence. He is seen feasting at his 
 table, while various companies of young Greeks, 
 boys and girls, sing in choirs to his praise, and ex- 
 hibit before him the ancient dances of Greece. 
 The next scenic decoration represents the hippo- 
 drome, where Oleg is entertained with the spec- 
 tacle of the Olympic games. Another theatre 
 then rises at the far end of the stage, and some 
 scenes from Euripides are played before the 
 court. At length Oleg takes leave of the empe- 
 ror, fastening his shield to a pillar in testimony
 
 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 75 
 
 of his visit, and to invite his successors to return 
 one day to Constantinople. 
 
 The piece is truly russian, and particularly em- 
 blematical of the character of Catharine : her fa- 
 vourite projects are represented in it, and the de- 
 sign of subjugating Turkey is alluded to, even 
 when celebrating a peace with that country. Pro- 
 perly speaking, the performance is nothing more 
 than a magic lantern, exhibiting different objects 
 in succession to the eyes of the spectator: but to 
 me such exhibitions, in which the great events 
 of history are introduced as in a picture on the 
 stage, are more interesting than the strainings of 
 the throat of our opera singers, and the amorous 
 intrigues of our tragedies. 
 
 Catharine was neither fond of poetry nor of 
 music ; and she often confessed it. She could 
 not even endure the noise of the orchestra between 
 the acts of a play, and therefore commonly si- 
 lenced it. This defect of taste and feeling in a 
 woman, who appeared in other respects so hap- 
 pily constituted, is astonishing, yet may serve to 
 explain how, with so extraordinary a capacity 
 and genius, she could become so impassible and 
 so sanguinary. At her tauridan palace, she con- 
 stantly dined with the two pictures of the sacking 
 of Otchakof and Ismail before her eyes, in which 
 Cazanova has represented, with hideous accu-
 
 76 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 racy, the blood flowing in streams, the limbs torn 
 from the bodies and still palpitating, the demoniac 
 fury of the slaughterers, and the convulsive ago- 
 nies of the slaughtered. It was upon these scenes 
 of horror that her attention and imagination were 
 fixed, while Gasparini and Mandini were dis- 
 playing their vocal powers, or Sarti was conduct- 
 ing a concert in her presence. 
 
 This same empress, who wrote plays herself; 
 who admired Segur for his wit, and heard him 
 sometimes repeat his verses ; who had the most 
 ridiculous farces played before her by her old cour- 
 tiers, and particularly by count Stackelberg *, and 
 
 * In the small parties of Catharine, all sorts of frolics and 
 games of questions and answers, cross purposes, with forfeits, 
 &c. were played. The old gouty courtiers were seen making 
 their whimsical efforts to frisk and caper; and the grand- duke 
 Constantine one day actually broke the arm of the feeble count 
 Stackelberg, by rudely jostling against him, and throwing him 
 down. Heretofore Segur had acted a part in those societies 
 more worthy of his rank and understanding. Among the 
 verses he wrote in compliment to the empress, the following, 
 which are the epitaph on a dog, have often been cited, and 
 are worth preserving. They arc in the true spirit of french 
 gallantry : 
 
 Pour prix de sa fidelite, 
 
 Le ciel, temoin de sa tendresse, 
 
 Lui devoit 1'immortalite, 
 
 Pour qti'elle fut toujours aupres de sa maitresse. 
 
 " Her fond fidelity Heav'n saw, and priz'd, 
 " And to reward her tenderness bcstow'd 
 
 " The precious gift to live immortali/'d, 
 " Enjoying still her mistress's abode."
 
 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE n. 77 
 
 the austrian minister*, recalled and disgraced 
 one of her own ministers, because he wrote his 
 dispatches facetiously, made pretty french verses, 
 had composed a tragedy, and was desirous of illus- 
 trating the genius of his country by publishing 
 the historical eulogies of the great men of Russia. 
 This was prince Beloselsky, envoy at the court 
 of Turin, a man of taste and merit, who had 
 expended a fortune in patronising the arts, 
 
 * No ambassador, perhaps, was evef so long at a court, 
 and upon such good terms, as Cobenzel at the court of Russia. 
 He had been sent originally by Maria Theresa, and was after- 
 wards confirmed in his office by all her successors. He was 
 of a mean and clumsy figure, but had a considerable share of 
 wit, and of that peculiar sort in particular that is amusing to 
 women. He was for ten years the assiduous admirer of the 
 handsome princess Dolgoruka, and Catharine was fond of his 
 company. He took great pleasure in theatricals, and accord- 
 ingly plays were often got up at his house, in which he acted 
 a part, and acquitted himself well. At the age nearly of sixty, 
 he was absurd enough to take regular lessons in singing ; and 
 often, when a courier arrived with some important intelligence 
 from Vienna, some defeat perhaps, he was found before his 
 mirror, practising his part, disguised as the countess of Es- 
 carbagnas, of Croupillac, &c. The unfavourable dispatches 
 which he was continually receiving during the war, never in- 
 terrupted the entertainments, balls, and plays that were regu- 
 larly given at his house. When news arrived of a-french vic- 
 tory, it was jestingly said, ' ' Well, well, we shall have a ball 
 " on Saturday at the ambassador's." Catharine, offended at 
 this dramatic mania, one day said, " You will find that he re- 
 " serves his best piece for the news of the entrance of the 
 " French into Vienna."
 
 78 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 and much of his time in cultivating them him- 
 self*. 
 
 If we except the travels of the celebrated Pal- 
 las, the historical researches of the laborious Miil- 
 ler, and some other works upon natural history, 
 no literary production worthy of notice has dis- 
 tinguished Russia during the reign of Catha- 
 rine f. Natural history and mathematics are the 
 only sciences which the Russians have contri- 
 buted in some measure to advance, by the help 
 of Germans J ; yet no country is so fortunately 
 
 * He is known by several poetical productions, and parti- 
 cularly by an Epistle to the French, in which he seems to be 
 a Frenchman himself; and Voltaire wrote him a very flatter- 
 ing letter, paying him the same compliment which he had 
 paid before to the celebrated author of the Epistle to Ninon. 
 
 t It is the same Miiller who wrote so judicious a critique 
 of the pretended history of Peter I. and of whom Voltaire 
 said, tf He is a German : I wish him more wit, and fewer 
 " consonants." Voltaire was astonished that the Russians 
 should pretend to know their own names, and the names of 
 their towns, better than the dictionary of Martiniere, and 
 should complain at seeing them mutilated. He persisted in 
 writing Roumanow, Schouvalow, &c. instead ofRomanof and 
 Schuvalof; as if the termination ofphilosophe were more bar- 
 barous than that of Chanteloup. He would never write the 
 russiah names as they were pronounced ; yet, to shew us that 
 he was acquainted with a single Chinese appellative, he had 
 often the affectation to write Confutzee, where we should 
 say Confucius. 
 
 J Many celebrated men of letters in Germany, as Klingcr, 
 for instance, who has a bold and caustic mind, and Kotzebue,
 
 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE It. 79 
 
 situated for rendering the sciences more essen- 
 tial services. Natural and ancient history have 
 a right to expect from her the most astonishing 
 discoveries. The ruins of a score of cities attest 
 that Tartary and Mongolia were once inhabited 
 by polished nations, and the monuments which 
 are still discovering realise the sublime concep- 
 tions of Buffon and Bailli. Whole libraries have 
 been discovered under the ruins of Ablai-Kitt, 
 and amid the ruinous heaps that skirt the Irtish. 
 Thousands of manuscripts in unknown languages, 
 and many others in Chinese, in kalmuc, and in 
 mantschou, are mouldering in the deserted cabi- 
 nets of the academy : had they remained under 
 the rubbish till a government or people less bar- 
 barous had brought them to light, they would 
 have been better preserved. 
 
 The best history of Russia, in french, is cer- 
 tainly that of Leveque. Catharine detested this 
 work as much as she did that of the abbe Chappe; 
 and she bestowed extraordinary pains in scruti- 
 
 a dramatic author, whose plagiarisms often disgrace his ta- 
 lents, wrote in Russia ; but they took care, particularly the 
 former, not to publish their works in that country. Kotze- 
 bue, however, deserved to be pardoned for his good per- 
 formances, for the sake of his Langhans, A bad imitation of 
 Candide, and his translation of the works of Derjavin, and his 
 Flight to Paris. The topographical and statistical works of 
 the elegant Storch would also have merited an exception, had 
 he dared to print as he wrote.
 
 80 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE IT. 
 
 nising the ancient chronicles, that she might 'dis- 
 cover in this estimable historian some blunders 
 and mistakes : because he had the courage (it is 
 now twenty years ago) to glance at the murderer 
 of Peter III. and of Ivan. In other respects, 
 Leveque has merited the thanks of the russian 
 nation ; as, by his talents, industry, and perseve- 
 rance, he succeeded in rendering a history, so dis- 
 gusting and detached as that of Russia till the 
 reign of Peter I. in some degree interesting to fo- 
 reigners *. But who will hereafter worthily write 
 the history of Catharine f ? To the present day 
 histpry has been only a collection of selected 
 events, artfully wrought up so as to render pro- 
 
 * In order to surpass him, instead of badly criticising his 
 work, as Le Clerc has done, a man should reside ten years in 
 Russia, learning the language, studying the manners, con- 
 sulting the ancient annals of the country, the histories of Ta- 
 iischtschef, of prince Scherbatof, and especially the immense 
 materials left by Miiller, Bachmeister, &c. 
 
 f This will be some Russian, and I know one or two com- 
 petent to the task : but he must quit his country to write it. 
 Meanwhile some foreigner, unacquainted with persons, man- 
 ners, and places, may collect .together some historical facts, 
 give them a form half real, half fabulous, and call his work 
 Histoire de Catharine II. But this will be no history. Were 
 the emperor of China the subject, such accounts might pass. 
 However, the anonymous author to whom I allude, lias ob- 
 tained, respecting certain epochs, some good materials ; but 
 if those from whom he received them had read the work before 
 it was printed, fewer errors, as to persons, place?, and dates r 
 would be found in it.
 
 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 81 
 
 minent a few individuals, and to form a striking 
 picture. Facts ascertained are pearls and gar- 
 nets, which the historian selects at his pleasure, 
 and threads on a black string or a white, as shall 
 best suit the complexion of his work : truth never 
 appears but when it is convenient. Even the 
 author of the History of Charles XII. of Peter I. 
 and of the Age of Louis XIV. was of opinion, 
 that it was of greater importance to say what is 
 useful than what is true ; as if what was false 
 could ever be useful ! And in a letter to count 
 Schuvalof, he says, " Till I have leisure to metho- 
 " disc the terrible event of the death of the tzare- 
 " vitch, I have begun another work." Is this 
 the language of a philosophic historian ? Alas ! 
 if you have not the courage to assert the truth, 
 why not abandon the pen of history ? It is only 
 in a tragedy, or an epic poem, that the licence 
 can be pardoned, of arranging a terrible event. The 
 true end of history is not to celebrate an indivi- 
 dual, but to instruct the governed, and give a 
 lesson to governors. 
 
 Previous to the death of Catharine, the monu- 
 ments of her reign resembled already so many 
 wrecks and dilapidations : codes, colonies, edu- 
 cation, establishments, manufactories, edifices, 
 hospitals, canals, towns, fortresses, everything 
 had been begun, and everything given up before 
 it was finished. As soon as a project entered her 
 
 G
 
 82 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 head, all preceding ones gave place, and her 
 thoughts were fixed on that alone, till a new idea 
 arose to draw off her attention. She abandoned 
 her code, to drive the Turks out of Europe. 
 After the glorious peace of Kainardgi, she ap- 
 peared for awhile to attend to the interior admi- 
 nistration of her affairs ; but all was presently for- 
 gotten, that she might be queen of Tauris. Her 
 next project was the re-establishment of the throne 
 of Constantine : to which succeeded that of hum- 
 bling and punishing the king of Sweden. After- 
 wards the invasion of Poland became her ruling 
 passion ; and then a second Pugatshef might have 
 arrived at the gates of Petersburg without forcing 
 her to relinquish her hold. She died, again me- 
 ditating the destruction of Sweden, the ruin of 
 Prussia, and mortified at the successes of France 
 and republicanism. Thus was she incessantly 
 led away by some new passion still stronger in 
 its influence than the preceding, so as to neglect 
 her government both in its whole and its parts. 
 
 Medals are in being that were struck in honour 
 of numerous edifices that have never yet been 
 built ; and, among others, the marble church, 
 which, undertaken some twenty years ago, is still 
 on the stocks *. The shells of other edifices, 
 which have never been completed are falling into 
 
 * The emperor Paul lias since caused it to be finished of 
 brick.
 
 WRITINGS OF CATHARINE II. 
 
 ruins; and Petersburg is encumbered with the 
 rubbish of a variety of large mansions fallen to 
 decay before they have been inhabited. The 
 projectors and architects pocketed the money ; 
 and Catharine, having the plan or medal in her 
 cabinet, concluded the undertaking to be finished, 
 and thought of it no more. 
 
 The Petersburg almanac gives a list of upwards 
 of two hundred and forty towns founded by Ca- 
 tharine, a number inferior, perhaps, to what 
 have been destroyed by her armies ; but these 
 towns are merely so many paltry hamlets, that 
 have changed their name and quality by an z'm- 
 mennoi ukase*, the supreme order of her imperial 
 majesty ; somewhat like that by which Paul has 
 since ordered a yacht to be promoted to the rank 
 of a frigate f. Several of these towns are even 
 nothing more than stakes driven into the ground, 
 containing their name, and delineating their scite ; 
 yet, without waiting till they shall be finished, 
 and particularly till they shall be peopled, they 
 figure in the map as if they were the capitals of 
 so many provinces J. 
 
 * An edict under the sign manual. 
 
 f This is a well-known fact. 
 
 j Catharine built, at an enormous expence, near Tzarko- 
 selo, the town of Sophia, the circumference of which is im- 
 mense ; but the houses are already tumbling down, and have 
 never been inhabited. If such be the lot of a town imme- 
 diately under her eyes, what must be the fate of those cities 
 
 G 2
 
 84 MONUMENTS OF THE 
 
 Prince Potemkin did actually build some towns, 
 and construct some ports in the Krimea : which 
 are very fine cages, but contain no birds ; and 
 such as might be allured thither would shortly 
 mope and pine to death, if they had not the 
 power of flying away. The russian government 
 is subjugating and oppressive ; the russian cha- 
 racter, warlike and desolating. Taurida, since it 
 was conquered, has become a desert *. 
 
 founded by her in remote deserts ? But the most ridiculous 1 
 town in being is unquestionably that of Gatshina, of which 
 Paul has the honor to be founder. These personages look 
 upon mankind as storks, who are caught by placing a wheel 
 on the top of a house, or on a steeple. But all these forced 
 erections, from the superb Potsdam to the contemptible Gat- 
 shina, prove that the real founders of cities are cultivation, 
 commerce, and freedom : despots are only the destroyers of 
 them ; they know nothing of building and peopling anything 
 except prisons and barracks. 
 
 * A friend of mine, a man of learning, was travelling in 
 Taurida under the protection of government, for the purpose 
 of investigating the country. One day coming to the habita- 
 tion of a Tartar, who led a patriarchal life, and treated him 
 with becoming hospitality, my friend, perceiving that his host 
 was dejected, asked him the cause of his sadness : " Alas ! 
 " I have great reason," said he. " May I not be permitted 
 " to know it ?" " The russian soldiers, who are in the neigh- 
 " bourhood, come every day and cut down my fruit-trees, 
 " that serve me both for shade and nourishment, to burn them ; 
 '' and shortly my bald head will be exposed to the parching 
 " heat of the sun."" Why do you not complain of this 
 " treatment to their commander ?" " I have done so." 
 " Well !"- " He told me that I should be paid two rubles 
 a foot for such as they had already cut down, and the same
 
 REIGN OF CATHARINE II. 85 
 
 This mania of Catharine, of planning every- 
 thing and completing nothing, drew from Jo- 
 seph II. a very shrewd and satirical remark. Dur- 
 ing his travels in Taurida, he was invited by her 
 to place the second stone of the town of Ekata- 
 rinoslaf, of which she had herself, with great pa- 
 rade, laid the first. On his return, he said, " I 
 " have finished in a single day a very important 
 " business with the empress of Russia : she has 
 " laid the first stone of a city, and I have laid 
 " the last." 
 
 Of all the monuments erected bv her at Pe- 
 
 4 
 
 tersburg that will remain as long as they shall 
 not be swallowed up by the swamps, are the su- 
 perb quay of the Neva, and the equestrian statue 
 of Peter I *. The last, however beautiful, is greatl v 
 
 ' O 4 
 
 " for as many as they may cut down hereafter. But I am not 
 " in want of their money. Only let me die in peace unJer 
 " the shadow of the trees which my fathers have planted ! or 
 ff I must follow my unhappy brethren, and flee my counh v, 
 " as they have been forced to do." As he spoke the tears 
 trickled down the beard of this venerable patriarch. 
 
 * D'Orbeil addressed some verses to Catharine, in which 
 was the following handsome quatrain : 
 
 C'est par tes soins que le bronze respire 
 Sur ce rocher de Thetis apergu, 
 Et que le tzar decouvre son empire 
 Plus vaste encore qu'il ne 1'avoit con^u. 
 
 " 'Twas thou that bid yon rock-built statue's pride 
 " In breathing bronze o'erlook the distant main ; 
 
 <' Surveying hence his realms extended wide, 
 M The tzar still wonders at his vast domain."
 
 86 MONUMENTS OF THE 
 
 inferior to the accounts which hyperbolical tra- 
 vellers have given of it. The following verses 
 from Delille may be applied to it : 
 
 Du haut d'un vrai rocher, sa demeure sauvage, 
 La nature se rit de ces rocs contrefaits. 
 
 " On a wild rock nature contemptuous sits, 
 " And laughs to scorn these idle, counterfeits." 
 
 The idea of placing the great tzar upon a stu- 
 pendous and rugged rock, over which he had 
 climbed, was certainly new and sublime ; but it 
 has been badly executed. The rock, which was 
 brought from Finland to the bank of the Neva 
 with infinite labour, was twenty-one feet in height, 
 forty in length, and covered with moss several 
 inches thick, which must have been ages in accu- 
 mulating. It was deprived of its wild and pri- 
 mitive form to give it a more regular appearance ; 
 and, what with hewing and polishing, was at last 
 reduced in size nearly one half ; so that it is now 
 a little rock beneath a great horse ; and the tzar, 
 who ought to be surveying from it his empire, 
 more vast even than he had conceived, is hardly 
 able to peep into the first floor of the neighbour- 
 ing houses. By another absurdity, Peter appears 
 in the long russian caftan, which he obliged his 
 subjects to quit by cutting them round at the 
 knees. If this statue had a pedestal propor- 
 tionate to its size, it would be an admirable per- 
 formance. '
 
 REIGN OF CATHARINE II. 87 
 
 A picture of Petersburg and its manners un- 
 der the reign of Catharine, written in the spirit 
 of the Picture of Paris by the penetrating Mer- 
 cier, would be an interesting performance. But 
 this, like all works of genius, has produced none 
 but bad imitations, from the description of Ber- 
 lin, conceived and executed by Nicolai, to that 
 which a professor Georgi has given of Peter- 
 sburg : they are all as poor in ideas, and as des- 
 titute of utility, as they are replete with minute 
 details. Count Anhalt has given in the same 
 way a description of the imperial house of the 
 Cadets, of which he was director-general ; where- 
 in he tells us how many stair-cases, stairs, win- 
 dows, doors, and chimnies there are in this im- 
 mense building : which may do very well for a 
 person intending to contract for the sweeping of 
 them ; but what instruction does it convey to 
 the public * ? 
 
 M. Storch, an industrious and well-informed 
 young Livonian, has published a work under the 
 title of a Picture of Petersburg, which ought not 
 
 * This description of Petersburg is even not exact in its 
 details. The author of these memoirs has the honour of be- 
 ing mentioned in it among the literary characters then resi- 
 dent in the city; but, by a strange confusion of names, titles, 
 and works, he makes but one person of general Melissino, 
 
 major M , and his brother; yet the writer was actually 
 
 at Petersburg, and knew these men. After this, what faith 
 can be placed in descriptions?
 
 88 MONUMENTS OF THE 
 
 to be confounded with that I have been speak- 
 ing of; but this picture resembles Petersburg as 
 the portrait of Lampi resembles Catharine : it is 
 too much a la chinoise, and without shadings, as 
 the author himself foresaw. Storch, however, 
 only wanted one thing to render it perfect, an 
 opportunity for writing it any where but in 
 Russia. He dedicated it to Catharine, who re- 
 warded'the author for his flattering delineations; 
 but she afterwards expressed her dissatisfaction 
 at his having adopted the roman characters, for 
 printing in german his Statistical Tables, another 
 work which gives very accurate information con- 
 cerning the political state of Russia. 
 
 Petersburg, some parts of which are singularly 
 magnificent and beautiful, is not unlike the 
 sketch of a grand picture, in which are already 
 delineated a face resembling that of the Apollo 
 Belvedere, with such an eye as would be given 
 to Genius, while the rest is faintly chalked out 
 in confused touches or dotted lines. 
 
 Petersburg being inhabited by colonies of dif- 
 ferent nations, nothing can be more heteroge- 
 neous than its manners and customs ; and, in 
 general, it is difficult to ascertain what is the 
 prevailing taste or fashion. The french tongue 
 serves as the connecting tie between these various 
 people, but many other languages are equally 
 spoken. In a company by no means numerous,
 
 REIGN OF CATHARINE II. 89 
 
 you will find in turn three languages used, the 
 russian, the trench, and the german ; and it is 
 not uncommon, in the same society, to hear 
 Greeks, Italians, English, Dutchmen, and Asia- 
 tics, all conversing in their peculiar tongues. 
 
 In Petersburg, the Germans are artists and 
 mechanics, particularly taylors and shoemakers ; 
 the English, saddlers and merchants; the Italians, 
 architects, singers, and venders of images ; but it 
 is difficult to say what the French are. The 
 greater part change their occupation every year : 
 one arrives a lacquey, is made utschitel (a tutor), 
 and becomes a counsellor; others have been seen 
 alternately actors, managers, shopkeepers, musi- 
 cians, and officers. There is no place so conve- 
 nient as Petersburg for observing how much the 
 Frenchman is inconstant, enterprising, ingenious, 
 and adapted for every thing. 
 
 For discerning the manners and customs of 
 each nation distinctly, you must see them in their 
 houses in the street they all appear like Rus- 
 sians. The French play off their witticisms, sup 
 gaily, and sing some of the vaudevilles, which 
 they have not forgotten : the English dine at five 
 o'clock, drink punch, and talk of commerce: the 
 Italians practise music, dance, make grimaces 
 and gestures, and the subjects of their conversa- 
 tion are the theatres and the arts ; in the houses 
 pf the Germans, .the discourse turns on science,
 
 90 MANNERS OF PEtERSBURG, 
 
 they smoke, dispute, eat heartily, and make 
 abundance of compliments : in the russian 
 houses you have everything indiscrimately, and 
 especially gaming, which is the soul of their 
 parties and pleasures ; but it does not exclude 
 any of the other amusements. A foreigner, and 
 particularly a Frenchman, after winding along 
 the inhospitable shores of Prussia, and traversing 
 the wild and uncultivated plains of Livonia, is' 
 struck with astonishment and rapture at rinding 
 again, in the midst of a vast desert, a large and 
 magnificent city, abounding in the sociality and 
 amusements, the arts and the luxury, which he 
 had supposed to exist no where but in Paris. 
 
 In a climate like that of Petersburg, where 
 the fine weather of the whole year scarcely lasts 
 above a few weeks, and under a government like 
 that of Russia, where politics, morals, and lite- 
 rature are excluded from conversation, the plea- 
 sures of society must be very contracted, and the 
 enjoyments of domestic life proportionably in- 
 creased. The luxury, however, and studied 
 conveniences, the splendor and good taste of the 
 apartments, the profusion and delicacies of the 
 table, the cheerfulness and frivolity of the con- 
 versation, repay the man of pleasure for the con- 
 straint in which nature and the government hold 
 both his body and his mind. Balls and enter- 
 tainments are given in infinite succession ; every
 
 PALACE OF TZARSKO-SELO. 91 
 
 day may be a festival to him ; and he finds col- 
 lected in one great house chefs d'ceuvres of all 
 the arts, and the productions of every country ; 
 and frequently even, in the midst of winter, the 
 gardens, the fruits and the flowers of spring. 
 
 Tzarsko-selo is an immense and dreary palace, 
 begun by Anne, finished by Elizabeth, inhabited 
 by Catharine, and forsaken by Paul. Its situa- 
 tion is a swamp, the country round it a desert, 
 and the gardens are uniformly dull. The mo- 
 numents with which it has been adorned by Ca- 
 tharine, like the buildings at Petersburg, are so 
 many emblems of her character. By the side of 
 obelisks, rostral columns and triumphal arches 
 erected to the Orlofs, Romanzofs, and the russian 
 warriors who subjected the Archipelago, and for 
 a moment reconquered Lacedemon, are seen 
 tombs consecrated to some of her favourite 
 dogs ; and not far from these is the mausoleum 
 erected to the amiable Lanskoi, the most be- 
 loved of her favourites, and the only one whom 
 death tore from her embraces. Monuments cer- 
 tainly of very different services, most familiarly 
 placed together. Are we from this to imagine 
 that a dog, a lover, and a hero, are of equal im- 
 portance in the eyes of an autocrat ? These mo- 
 numents, however, from the neglect to which 
 they are doomed, will shortly disappear in the
 
 92 PALACE OF TJSARSKO-SELO. 
 
 dreary swamps which serve for their founda- 
 tion. 
 
 The ./Egyptians, who set the people they con- 
 quered to labour, and the Romans, who stripped 
 every nation to embellish Rome, executed im- 
 mense works. The Greeks while free distin- 
 guished themselves by the taste and elegance, 
 rather than the magnitude of their buildings ; and 
 Russia was lately the only state that could un- 
 dertake those astonishing edifices which we so 
 much admire in antiquity; because in Russia 
 men are slaves, and, as in ./Egypt, cost only a 
 few onions. It is for this reason we see in 
 Mosco and Petersburg such gigantic edifices. 
 At the same time there is not so much as] a pro- 
 per highway to unite these two capitals, which 
 are only about two hundred leagues asunder. 
 This also was one of the abortive projects of 
 Catharine ; for the road she begun is only an in- 
 cumbrance, and renders travelling still more tire- 
 some and impracticable than before. But Ca- 
 tharine preferred expending two or three millions 
 of rubles in building a gloomy marble palace 
 for her favourite, to the forming of a road: this 
 latter was too common an undertaking for her 
 genius *. 
 
 * Paul, so far from finishing the most useful of those works 
 begun by his mother, as the quays, canals, and high roads^
 
 PALACE OP TZARSKO-SELO. 93 
 
 O Catharine ! dazzled by thy greatness, of which 
 I have had an intimate view ; charmed with thy 
 beneficence, which rendered so many individuals 
 happy 5 seduced by the thousand amiable quali- 
 ties that have been admired in thee, I would fain 
 have erected a monument to thy glory : but the 
 torrents of blood thou hast shed rush in and over- 
 throw it : the chains of thirty millions of slaves 
 ring in my ears, and deafen me j and the crimes 
 which were perpetrated in thy name call forth 
 my indignation. I throw away my pen, and 
 exclaim, " Let there be henceforth no glory 
 " without virtue ! Let injustice and depravity be 
 " transmitted with no other wreath to posterity 
 " than the snakes of Nemesis !" 
 
 has built, in his turn, churches and palaces, though there were 
 already of both in Petersburg more than enough for all the, 
 imperial highnesses in the world, and all the saints of para- 
 dise. But the monuments he has erected in greatest number, 
 are houses for military exercise, barracks, guard-houses, and 
 particularly centry boxes. Happily, however, all these con- 
 structions are of wood, and will hardly outlast their founder.
 
 CHAR III. 
 
 OF THE FAVOURITES, 
 
 Their office made a distinct place at court The Empress's gene- 
 rosity in this point Installation of Zubof List of the twelve 
 who enjoyed in succession the title of favourite Little Hermi- 
 tage Little Society. 
 
 LIZABETH of England, Mary of Scotland, 
 Christina of Sweden, all the empresses of 
 Russia, and most women who have been their 
 own mistresses, have had favourites or lovers. 
 To consider this as a crime might be thought 
 too rigid and ungallant. Catharine II. alone, 
 however, availed herself of her power to exhibit 
 to the world an example, of which there is to be 
 found no model, by making the office of favou- 
 rite a place at court, with an apartment, salary, 
 honours, prerogatives, and, above all, its peculiar 
 functions ; and of all places there \vas not one, 
 the duties of which were so scrupulously ful- 
 filled : a short absence, a temporary sickness of 
 the person by whom it was occupied, was some- 
 times sufficient to occasion his removal. Nor 
 perhaps was there any post, in which the august 
 sovereign displayed more choice and discern- 
 ment : 1 believe no instance occurred of its hav-
 
 OF THE FAVOURITES. 95 
 
 ing been filled by a person incapable of it j and, 
 except the interregnum between Lanskoi and 
 Yermolof, it was never twenty-four hours va- 
 cant. 
 
 Twelve favourites succeeded each other in 
 this post, which became the first of the state. Se- 
 veral of these favourites, confining themselves to 
 the principal duty it prescribed, and having little 
 merit, except the performing that duty well, had 
 scarcely any influence beyond the immediate 
 sphere of their peculiar department. Some, 
 however, displaying ambition, audacity, and, 
 above all, self-sufficiency, obtained vast influence, 
 and preserved an ascendancy over the mind of 
 Catharine after having lost her heart ; while 
 others continued to retain her friendship and gra- 
 titude, and when dismissed from their personal 
 attendance on the empress, were thought worthy 
 of serving the empire in public offices. 
 
 It is a very remarkable feature in the character 
 of Catharine, that none of her favourites incurred 
 her hatred or her vengeance, though several of 
 them offended her, and their quitting their office 
 did not depend on herself. No one was ever 
 punished, no one ever persecuted. Those whom 
 she discarded went into foreign countries, to dis- 
 play her presents, and dissipate her treasures, 
 after which they returned, to enjoy her liberalities 
 with tranquillity in the bosom of their countrv. 
 7
 
 96 OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 though their formidable mistress could have 
 crushed them in a moment. In this res'pect Ca- 
 tharine certainly appears superior to all other 
 women. Was it from greatness of mind, or from 
 defect of passion ? Perhaps she never knew what 
 it was to be in love ; perhaps she still respected 
 in her lovers the favours with which she had ho- 
 noured them. 
 
 Soltikof, Orlof, and Lanskoi, were all of whom 
 she was deprived by death ; the rest surviving her 
 love, though they might have exposed her weak- 
 nesses, still possessed quietly such places or 
 wealth as rendered them objects of envy to the 
 whole empire. She contented herself with dis- 
 missing Korsakof, whom she surprised even in 
 her own apartments with one of her maids of 
 honour ; and she resigned Momonof to a young 
 rival. Assuredly these are very extraordinary 
 features, and very rare, in a woman, a lover, an 
 empress. This great and generous conduct is 
 very distant from that of an Elizabeth of Eng- 
 land, who cut off the heads of her favourites and 
 her rivals ; and from that of a Christina of Swe- 
 den, who caused one of her lovers to be assassi- 
 nated in her presence. 
 
 But Catharine, with all that superior sense and 
 understanding which she evinced, notwithstand- 
 ing the exterior decency she affected, must have 
 thoroughly known and despised the Russians,
 
 PLATO ZUBOF. 97 
 
 since she ventured so frequently *to place beside 
 her young men taken from the crowd, and hold 
 them up to receive the respect and homage of 
 the whole nation, without any other title to this 
 distinction than one for which she ought to have 
 blushed. 
 
 It will be sufficient to relate how Zubof, her 
 last favourite, was installed, to shew my indig- 
 nant readers in what manner these affairs were 
 managed. 
 
 Plato * Zubof was a young lieutenant in the 
 horse-guards, patronised by Nicholas Soltikof, 
 to whom he was a distant relation, and to 
 whom my friend, who furnished me with part 
 of these memoirs, was at that time aide-de- 
 camp. In this post he frequently found him- 
 self by the side of Zubof, and even sought this 
 advantage at table. Zubof spoke french flu- 
 ently , he had some education, was of a polite 
 and pliant disposition, could converse a little 
 on literary subjects, and practised music. He 
 was of a middle size, but supple, muscular, 
 and well made. He had a high and intelligent 
 forehead, with fine eyes, and his countenance had 
 not that downcast, cold, and supercilious air, 
 which it afterwards assumed. When the em- 
 press went to Tzarsko-selo, in the spring of 1789, 
 
 * This name led the courtiers to say, that Catharine 
 with platonic love. 
 
 H
 
 98 OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 he solicited from his patron the favour of being 
 appointed to command the detachment that at- 
 tended her ; and, having obtained it, dined with 
 Catharine. The court had scarcely arrived, be- 
 fore the rupture with Momonof took place. This 
 favourite was married and dismissed. Zubof 
 was the only young officer in sight ; and it ap- 
 pears that he was indebted rather to this fortu- 
 nate circumstance, than to the deliberate choice 
 of Catharine, for the preference he obtained. Po- 
 temkin being absent, Nicholas Soltikof, at that 
 time in high credit, introduced and served the 
 young Zubof with so much the more zeal, as he 
 hoped to find in him a support against the haugh- 
 ty Potemkin, of whom he was the only contem- 
 ner at court. After some secret conferences in 
 presence of the Mentor *, Zubof was approved, 
 and sent for more ample information to Mademoi- 
 selle Protassof and the empress's physician f . 
 The account they gave must have been favour- 
 able, since he was named aide-de-camp to the 
 empress, received a present of an hundred thou- 
 sand rubles (20,0001.) to furnish himself with li- 
 nen, and was installed in the apartment of the 
 favourites with all the customary advantages. 
 
 * Ke v -us governor lo the grand-dukes, and minister at 
 war. 
 
 f Mademoiselle Protassof was commonly called Vcjtj 
 r,euse, from her functions.
 
 PLATO ZUBOF. 99 
 
 The next day, this young man was seen fami- 
 liarly offering his arm to his sovereign, equipped 
 in his new uniform, with a large hat and feather 
 on his head, attended by his patron and the great 
 men of the empire, who walked behind him with 
 their hats off, though the day before he had 
 danced attendance in their antichambers. 
 
 In the evening, after her card-party was over, 
 Catharine was seen to dismiss her court, and re- 
 tire, accompanied only with her favourite : some- 
 times her son and her grandsons were pre- 
 sent. 
 
 Next day the antichambers of the new idol 
 were filled with aged generals, and ministers of 
 long service, all bowing the knee before him. 
 He was a genius discerned by the piercing eye of 
 Catharine : the treasures of the empire were la- 
 vished on him, and the conduct of the empress 
 was sanctioned by the meanness and shameful 
 assiduities of her courtiers*. 
 
 Perhaps the reader may have some curiosity 
 to peruse a list of those who enjoyed the title of 
 favourite to Catharine, and who reigned over 
 
 * Zubof being one day hunting, stopped with his suite on 
 the road from Petersburg to Tzarsko-selo. The courtiers who 
 were going to court, the couriers, the post, all carriages, and 
 all the peasants, were stopped : no one daring to pass till the 
 young man thought proper to quit the road ; and he staid 
 there more than an hour, waiting for his game. 
 
 H 2
 
 100 OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 Russia with various degrees of authority in the 
 
 name of their august lover. 
 
 I. SERGIUS SOLTIKOF. 
 
 It is whispered that he received Catharine r s 
 first favours when she was only grand-duchess ; 
 a happiness said to have been denied by nature 
 to the unfortunate Peter III. Soltikof, beloved 
 and happy, grew indiscreet, and excited jea- 
 lousy. Elizabeth civilly banished him from court, 
 and he died in exile *. 
 
 2. STANISLAUS PONIATOFSKY 
 
 soon occasioned him to be forgotten. He was at 
 that time envoy from Poland at Petersburg. 
 Handsome, gallant, and lively, he engaged the 
 affections of the young Catharine. Peter III. 
 sometimes interrupted them, though he was 
 little addicted to jealousy, and preferred his pipe, 
 his bottle, his soldiers, and his mistress, to his 
 lovely wife. It is well known that Catharine, 
 when seated on the imperial throne, rewarded 
 
 * Soltikof had all the wit, the agreeable qualities, and the 
 vanity of a young russian nobleman. He was the only one 
 of Catharine's favourites selected from a powerful family. 
 Her heart was not at that time guided by her politics.
 
 STANISLAUS PONIATOFSKY. 101 
 
 her lover with the crown of Poland. His disas- 
 trous reign evinced, that love, in bestowing a 
 crown, is as blind, as favour in distributing 
 places and honours. Stanislaus was the most 
 amiable of men, but the weakest of kings. How 
 has it been possible that so pusillanimous a being 
 should for a moment have gained the esteem of 
 Europe ? Yet by whom was he not admired ? 
 What contradiction between his sentiments, his 
 language, and his conduct ! at the last diet, the 
 generous nuncio Kamar said to him publicly on 
 perceiving him waver, " What, sir ! are you no 
 " longer the same who said to us, when signing 
 " the constitution of the 3d of May, ' May my 
 " hand perish rather than subscribe anything 
 " contrary to this ?' All Europe charges you 
 " with being Catharine's king : justify her at 
 " least for having put the sceptre into your hand, 
 " by showing that you are capable of wielding 
 " it *." Yet, only a few days after, the un- 
 worthy Stanislaus signed that compact which 
 
 * This brave Pole was interrupted in the midst of this 
 spirited speech, and carried off by the russian satellites Ro- 
 thenfeld and Pistor, worthy counterparts of the barbarous 
 Kretschetnikof and Kakofsky. Heavens! what names ! yet 
 they who bore them were still more rugged : and these were 
 the two men who conquered Poland in one campaign, and 
 overturned tlie constitution of the 3d of May, which all the 
 nation seemed to defend ! Koschiusko ! where wert thou at 
 the time ?
 
 102 OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 dismembered Poland for the second time j and 
 by which he formally acknowledged himself 
 factious and rebellious, in establishing a rational 
 constitution, which gave him, as a king, more 
 authority, and promised his nation more happi- 
 ness and freedom*. If at this period he had at 
 least abdicated his dignity, he would have ex- 
 cited some concern. He had not the resolution 
 either to remain a king, or to cease from being 
 one : he had not even the wit and pride of Harle- 
 quin, who, when his pursuers are struggling to get 
 from him his wooden sword, and he can defend 
 it no longer, throws it on the ground, saying, 
 " There, take it !" Stanislaus chose rather to 
 drag on an old age of disgrace, and go and die 
 at Petersburg in a state of humiliation f. 
 
 * It was not, however, without reluctance, that he signed. 
 He said to Sievers, who conjured him to repair to Grodno to 
 head the confederates, " I will never be guilty of such base- 
 " ness. Let the empress take back her crown : let her send 
 " me to Siberia, or let me quit my kingdom on foot, with my 
 " staff in my hand but I will not sully my honour." He was 
 confined, kept fasting, threatened, and then placed himself at 
 the head of the confederacy. It was colonel Stackelberg, ne- 
 phew of Igelstroem, who finally brought him the treaty of par- 
 tition. Stanislaus, on reading it, burst into tears, and said, 
 " O sir, have mercy on me ! let me not be forced to sign my 
 " own disgrace !" Stackelberg told him, that alter this sa- 
 crifice he might enjoy a happy and tranquil old age. Wiping 
 his eyes, he replied, " Well, I will hope so;" but his niece 
 entering he again wept bitterly with her. 
 
 f At one of those court ceremonies in which Paul amuses 
 himself in strutting about with the sceptre in his hand, the
 
 GREGORY ORLOF. 103 
 
 Of all the favourites of Catharine, Stanislaus 
 was the only one whom she took pleasure in 
 humbling, after having exalted. Fidelity and 
 patriotism, which appeared for an instant to con- 
 tend with gratitude and submission in the heart 
 of the king, were crimes in the eye of the haughty 
 tzaritza. She was indulgent in love, but impla- 
 cable in politics : ambition was her ruling pas- 
 sion, yet she always made the lover subservient 
 to the empress. 
 
 3. GREGORY ORLOF, 
 
 who enjoyed such long and distinguished favour, 
 and whose history is so intimately connected 
 with that of Catharine, seemed to share in the 
 throne on which he had placed her *. He en- 
 crown on his head, and the imperial mantle on his back, 
 as the Jewish kings are represented in the old tapestry, 
 Stanislaus, who was in his train, bending under age and fa- 
 tigue, was obliged to sit down in a corner while three or four 
 hundred court-slaves were kissing the hand of Paul. The em- 
 peror perceiving that the old king had seated himself during 
 this august ceremony, sent an aide-de-camp to him, to order 
 him to keep on his legs, 
 
 * If no mention be made of the revolution of 1762 in these 
 Memoirs, it is because Europe is sufficiently acquainted with 
 it from the history left by Rhulieres, which agrees in every 
 point with what is universally known and believed at present. 
 I have repeatedly heard the particulars in Russia from per- 
 sons who were actors in the business, and they were very 
 nearly the same with those which I have since read in Rhu- 
 Jieres.
 
 104- OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 joyed all the power and honours united, which 
 were afterwards seen to adorn Potemkin and 
 burden Zubof. He had much of the haughtiness 
 and firmness of Potemkin. Though he was 
 young and robust, his brother Alexius, a Her- 
 cules in strength and a Goliath in stature *, was 
 associated with him in his office. The empress 
 was then in the bloom of life. She had an ac- 
 knowledged son by Gregory, who was named 
 Vasily Gregorievitch Bobrinsky, and educated in 
 the corps of cadets; admiral Ribas, then tutor to 
 that corps, being afterwards appointed his go- 
 vernor f. Two pretty maids of honour, whom 
 
 : It was this Alexius Orlof, who, with Passek and Bara- 
 tinsky, was concerned in strangling Peter III. He after- 
 wards made himself famous by his expedition to the Archipe- 
 lago, and particularly by the battle of Tchesme, from which 
 he received the surname of Tchesminsky. His infamy in car- 
 rying off from Italy a daughter of the empress Elizabeth*, 
 served to render him completely odious and execrable, in 
 spite of his surreptitious laurels. He is at present banished 
 to Germany, where he vainly endeavours to obtain conse- 
 quence by his luxury and expensive manner of living, and is 
 universally avoided and detested. 
 
 f This Bobrinsky strongly resembles his mother in the 
 face, and whoever sees the head of Catharine on a ruble, be- 
 holds the likeness of her son. He has distinguished himself 
 by his disorderly life, though he has sense, and is not void of 
 information. He was banished to Eslhonia, but Paul recalled 
 him at his accession, "and made him a major in the horse- 
 guards. Not long after, however, he fell into disgrace. 
 
 * See Life of Catharine II. vol. ii. p. 55, 56, 5762.
 
 GREGORY ORLOF. 105 
 
 madame Protassof, first lady of the bed-chamber, 
 educated as her nieces, are likewise reputed to 
 be Catharine's daughters by Orlof. It was for 
 this celebrated favourite she erected the gloomy 
 marble palace, the inscription on which informed 
 all the world that it was erected by grateful 
 friendship. In honour of him likewise she or- 
 dered a large medal to be struck, on occasion of 
 the journey he took to Mosco to re-establish 
 order, and being particularly instrumental in 
 stopping the dreadful ravages of the plague. On 
 this medal he is represented as Curtius, leaping 
 into the gulf, with this inscription : Russia too 
 can boast such sons. The palace of Gatshina, now 
 inhabited by Paul, is another monument to prince 
 Orlof. Twelve years intimacy, added to the 
 haughtiness of this lover, at length wearied his 
 sovereign, now firmly established on the throne ; 
 and, after a long contest, Potemkin bore away 
 the laurel. The triumph of his rival, and the 
 inconstancy of Catharine, whom he openly ac- 
 cused of ingratitude, had such an effect on him, 
 that his health was destroyed, his mind deranged, 
 and the once proud, powerful, and magnificent 
 Orlof died in the most horrible state of insanity 
 and human infirmity *. 
 
 * It is pretended by some that Potemkin poisoned him 
 with a herb, which possesses the quality of turning the brain, 
 and which the Russians call pianriia trara, "the intoxicating 
 " plant,"
 
 106 OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 4. VA9SILTSCHIKOF, 
 
 whom Panin introduced during an absence of 
 Orlof, filled up the interval that took place be- 
 tween the two haughty rivals. He was merely 
 the instrument of Catharine's pleasures. 
 
 5. POTEMKIN 
 
 came one day, and boldly took possession of the 
 apartments of his predecessor ; thus proclaiming 
 his victory, by making himself master of the field 
 of battle, so long disputed with him. His love, 
 his valour, and his colossal stature, had charmed 
 the heart of Catharine. He was the only one of 
 her favourites who dared become enamoured of 
 her, and to make the first advances. He seemed 
 to be truly and romantically captivated by her *. 
 
 * There is a russian song of his extant, beginning Kak 
 <skorayat<;bevidal,8c. which he composed when first in love. 
 It breathes sentiment, and deserves to be translated. The 
 following is the sense of what I recollect of it : " As soon as 
 " J beheld thee, I thought of thee alone : thy lovely eyes cap- 
 " tivated me, yet I trembled to say I loved. To thee, love 
 ** subjects every heart, and enchains them with the same 
 " flowers. But, O heavens ! what torment, to love one to 
 " whom I dare not declare it ! one who can never be mine ! 
 " Cruel fate ! why have you given her such charms ? or why 
 " did you exalt her so high ? Why did you destine me to. 
 " love her, and her alone ? her, whose sacred name will 
 " never pass my lips, whose charming image will never quit 
 " my heart !" &c.
 
 PRINCE POTEMKIN. 107 
 
 He first adored his sovereign as the object of his 
 passion, and then cherished her as that of his 
 glory. These two great characters seemed formed 
 for each other: their affection was mutual ; and 
 when they ceased to love, they still continued to 
 esteem each other : when emancipated by love, 
 they were still united by policy and ambi- 
 tion. 
 
 I leave to travellers the office of describing the 
 pomp of his entertainments, the laborious luxury 
 of his house, and the value of his diamonds ; and 
 to german scribblers, to relate how many bank- 
 notes he had bound up as books in his library, 
 and what he paid for the cherries, a plate of 
 which he was accustomed to present every new 
 year's day to his august sovereign ; or the cost of 
 his sterlet-soup, which was his favourite dish ; or 
 how many hundred miles he would send a cou- 
 rier for a melon, or a nosegay, to present to one 
 of his mistresses *. They who wish to see a cha- 
 
 * Potemkin had in his suite an officer of high rank, named 
 Bauer, whom he sent sometimes to Paris for a dancer, then to 
 Astrakhan for a water-melon; now to Poland, to carry orders 
 to his tenants ; to Petersburg, to deliver news to Catharine ; 
 or to the Krimea, to gather grapes. This officer, who thus 
 spent his life travelling post, requested an epitaph to be ready 
 for him in case he should break his neck, and one of his friends 
 gave him the following : 
 
 Cy git Bauer sous ce rocher: 
 
 Fouette, cocher ! 
 " Here Bauer lies, beneath this stone | 
 
 " Coachman, drive on !"
 
 108 OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 racteristic portrait of him, may find one drawn 
 in a superior manner in the work intitled Life of 
 Catharine II. * ; as to relate all the particulars of 
 Potemkin's life would carry me too far. 
 
 He created, destroyed, or confused, yet ani- 
 mated everything. When absent, he alone was 
 the subject of conversation j when present, he 
 engaged every eye. The nobles, who detested 
 him, and who made some figure when he was at 
 the army, seemed at his sight to sink into the 
 earth, and to be annihilated before him. The 
 prince de Ligne, who wrote flatteries and tales 
 to him f, said, " There is something gigantic, 
 " romantic, and barbaric, in his character :" and 
 it was true. His death left an immense vacuity 
 in the empire, and that death was as extraordi- 
 nary as his life. He had spent nearly a year at 
 Petersburg, noting in all kinds of pleasure and 
 even debauchery, negligent of his fame, and dis- 
 playing his wealth and influence with insulting 
 pomp. He received the greatest men of the em- 
 
 * In three volumes, 8vo. printed for Longman and Rccs, 
 Paternoster Row. 
 
 t He told him, in one of his letters, which the prince's 
 vanity induced him to make no secret : " Your august and 
 " amiable sovereign is indebted to you for more marks ofgal- 
 " lantry than Louis XIV. was to all his courtiers together/' 
 The duke de la Feuillade, however, erected a superb statue 
 to his master at his own expense. Potemkin never paid Ca- 
 tharine a compliment equal to this.
 
 PRINCE POTEMKIN. 
 
 pire as though they were his footmen, scarcely 
 deigned to notice the little Paul, and sometimes 
 entered Catharine's apartments with his legs bare, 
 his hair about his ears, and in a morning gown. 
 Old marshal Repnin availed himself of his ab- 
 sence from the army to beat the Turks, and 
 force them to sue for a peace, accomplishing 
 more in two months than Potemkin had done in 
 three years. The latter, who wished still to pro- 
 long the war, was roused at the news, and set 
 off*; but he carried death in his veins. Being 
 arrived at Yassy, where his head-quarters had 
 long been established, or, to speak more pro- 
 perly, his capital and his court, he became 
 gloomy, melancholy, a prey to vexation, and im- 
 patient under his disease. He determined to 
 struggle with it, and overcome it by his iron 
 constitution j laughing at his physicians, and 
 
 * His interview with Repuin was a curious scene: "You 
 *' little martinist priest (1)," said he, " how dared you un- 
 " dertake so many things in my absence ? Who gave lb.ee 
 " any such orders r" Repnin, enraged at this speech, and em- 
 boldened by success, dared for once to behave to him with 
 firmness. " I have served my country/' he answered: 
 " ray head is not at thy disposal, and thouart a devil whom I 
 " defy." Saying this, he flung out of the room in a rage, shut- 
 ting the door on Potemkin, who followed him with his clench- 
 ed fist. The two heroes of Russia were within an ace of go- 
 ing to loggerheads. 
 
 (1) Repnin is a zealous apostle of roartir.isjn.
 
 110 OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 eating salt meat and raw turnips. His disease 
 grew worse : he would be conveyed to Otcha- 
 kof, his beloved conquest ; but he had scarcely 
 advanced a few versts, before the air of his car- 
 nage seemed to stifle him. His cloak was spread 
 by the road-side ; he was laid on it, and there 
 expired in the arms of his niece Branicka, who 
 accompanied him. Catharine fainted three times 
 on hearing of his death : it was found necessary 
 to bleed her : she was thought to be dying ; and 
 she expressed almost as much grief as at the 
 death of Lanskoi. But it was not the lover she 
 regretted ; it was the friend, whose genius was 
 assimilated with her own, whom she considered 
 as the stay of her throne, and the executor of her 
 vast projects. Catharine, holding an usurped 
 'sceptre, and hated by her son, was a woman, and 
 consequently timid : she was accustomed to be- 
 hold in Potemkin a protector, whose fortune and 
 glory were closely allied with her own. She ap- 
 peared to feel herself again a stranger ; she be- 
 gan to dread her son, and now leant for support 
 on her grandson Alexander, who was just rising 
 out of infancy, and began to oppose him to his 
 father. 
 
 What a contrast, what a lesson, does the death 
 of the three greatest personages in Russia offer ! 
 Orlof, who reigned twelve years by the side of
 
 PRINCE POTEMKIN. Ill 
 
 Catharine, died in a state of deplorable insanity. 
 Potemkin, the powerful, the magnificent Potem- 
 kin, the founder of so many palaces and cities, 
 the conqueror of a kingdom, expired by the way- 
 side ; and Catharine herself fell down in her 
 water-closet, and died on the floor with a la- 
 mentable' shriek ! 
 
 The wealth of Potemkin has been exaggerated: 
 it was far short of that of Mentchikof, and still 
 farther of what the unworthy Biren amassed. 
 Even the last favourite is in possession of more. 
 It is true Potemkin drew immediately from the 
 imperial coffers ; but he also spent a great deal 
 for the empire, and shewed himself as much 
 grand-prince of Russia as the favourite of Catha- 
 rine. Zubof had equal command over the public 
 treasury, and never expended a ruble for the 
 public. 
 
 What distinguishes Potemkin from all his 
 colleagues is, that after losing the heart of 
 the empress, he still retained her entire confi- 
 dence. Ambition succeeded love in his breast, 
 and preserving the same unbounded influence, 
 every succeeding favourite was appointed by him. 
 and remained subordinate to him.
 
 112 OF THE FAVOURITES, 
 
 6. ZAVADOFSKY 
 
 was the man whom Potemkin presented to Ca- 
 tharine, to succeed in fulfilling the office of pri- 
 vate favourite. He was young, athletic, and well 
 made; but Catharine's inclination for him was 
 soon at an end. He had been secretary : his dis- 
 grace made no noise ; he continued to be em- 
 ployed in the affairs of the cabinet, and was ap- 
 pointed a privy counsellor. He is still living, 
 rich with the former bounties of his mistress. 
 
 7. ZORITCH, 
 
 on whom the inconstant Catharine next cast her 
 eye, is the only foreigner whom she ventured to 
 create favourite during her reign. He was a Ser- 
 vian, who had been taken prisoner by the Turks, 
 and made his escape from Constantinople, where 
 he was confined as a slave. He appeared at 
 court for the first time in the dress of a hussar. 
 His beauty dazzled every eye, and the old la- 
 dies in Russia still speak of him as an Adonis. 
 Protected at first by Potemkin, he wished to 
 shake off his yoke, quarrelled with him, and chal- 
 lenged him to a duel. His mind was not suf- 
 ficiently cultivated to captivate that of Catha- 
 rine, who dismissed him at the end of twelve 
 4
 
 ZORITCH AND KORSAKOF. 113 
 
 months loaded with favours. He obtained the 
 town of Schklof, which was erected into a kind 
 of sovereignty for him, the only instance of the 
 kind in Russia. There he lives as a prince, hold- 
 ing a court and receiving strangers. If he be en- 
 riched with the spoils of the country, he returns 
 part of them very nobly. He has founded at 
 Schklof a corps of cadets, where two hundred 
 young officers are educated at his expense. Not- 
 withstanding these occupations, his gaming, his 
 theatrical exhibitions, and other amusements 
 which he follows to his ruin, he is tireoTof his 
 principality. Some years ago he is said to have 
 solicited permission to make his appearance 
 at Petersburg : it was not granted. Paul, how- 
 ever, has just called him to court. 
 
 8. KORSAKOF, 
 
 a sort of russian fop, was raised to the rank of 
 favourite from that of serjeant of the guards at the 
 palace, where Catharine noticed him. He was 
 either faithless or ungrateful. Catharine herself 
 surprised him in the arms of the handsome coun- 
 tess Bruce, her maid of honour and confidant. 
 Struck with astonishment she withdrew, and 
 would never again see her lover or her friend. 
 This was all the revenge she took.
 
 OF THE FAVOURITES, 
 
 9. LANSKOI, 
 
 of the horse-guards, had already drawn some at- 
 tention*. He was soon the most beloved of Ca- 
 tharine's lovers, and seemed the most worthy of 
 being so. He was handsome, graceful, and ac- 
 complished, an admirer of the arts, a friend to ta- 
 lents, humane, and beneficent. Every one seemed 
 to take an interest in the sovereign's predilection 
 for him. Perhaps he might have acquired as 
 much influence by the qualities of his mind, as 
 those of his heart procured him partisans. Po- 
 temkin feared him ; and, from the circumstance 
 of his dying with horrible pains in his bowels, it 
 was pretended that he gave him poison. Catha- 
 rine in vain lavished on him the most tender cares: 
 her lips received his last breath. She shut her- 
 self up for several days, which she passed in all 
 the violence of grief. She accused heaven, would 
 die, would cease to reign, and swore never to 
 
 * All the officers who had, or thought they had, fine per- 
 sons, endeavoured on every occasion to throw themselves in 
 Catharine's way. Even at court, the nobles would sometimes 
 give place to a handsome man, knowing that nothing pleased 
 their sovereign so well as to traverse her apartments between 
 two rows of handsome youths. It was a situation which men 
 eagerly sought after, and exhibited themselves to the greatest 
 advantage; and, indeed, many families founded their hopes 
 on some young relation, whom they strove t.o bring forward 
 in this way.
 
 YERMOLOF AND MOMONOF. 115 
 
 love again. She really loved Lanskoi, and her 
 affliction turned into rage against the physician, 
 who could not save him, and who was obliged to 
 throw himself at his sovereign's feet, to implore 
 her pardon for the impotence of his art. A de- 
 cent and afflicted widow, she went into mourn- 
 ing for her lover, and, like another Artemisia, 
 erected for him a superb mausoleum in the gar- 
 dens of Tzarsko-selo. She suffered more than a 
 year to elapse before she rilled his place ; but, 
 like a second ephesian matron, she gave him an 
 unworthy successor. This was 
 
 10. YERMOLOF, 
 
 the least amiable, and least striking in figure of 
 all she had chosen, who at length consoled her 
 for the handsome, the tender Lanskoi. He dis- 
 pleased Potemkin, however, before he ceased to 
 please Catharine ; and the haughty prince de- 
 manded, and obtained, the dismissal of this favou- 
 rite, who was in office not quite two years. 
 
 11. MOMONOF, 
 
 who had disputed the place with Yermolof, suc- 
 ceeded to it. Momonof was amiable, and his bust 
 was a perfect model ; but downwards he was not 
 well made. Catharine approved and loved him, 
 
 I 2
 
 116 OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 and would have done so long ; but he was soon 
 disgusted with the faded charms of a mistress of 
 threescore. 
 
 He became enamoured of the young princess 
 Scherbatof, and had the courage to avow it, de- 
 manding permission to marry her. Catharine had 
 pride and generosity sufficient to grant his re- 
 quest, without any reproaches. She saw him 
 married at court to the object of his honourable 
 attachment, and sent him to Mosco loaded with 
 presents. 
 
 12. ZUBOF. 
 
 - The rise of this last favourite has been explained 
 at the beginning of thrs chapter. He was not 
 quite five and twenty, and the empress upwards 
 of sixty *. She finished by treating him as much 
 like a son as a lover, took upon herself the care 
 of his education, and grew more and more at- 
 tached to her own work, which became her idol. 
 Yet even at this advanced period of her life she 
 revived the orgies and lupercalia, which she had 
 
 * Catharine was two years older than the almanac ex- 
 pressed. As she was older than Peter III. Elizabeth gra- 
 ciously took off these two years when she sent for her into 
 Russia; and there are old german calendars, which prove 
 that she was born in 1727. This is but an opinion, however, 
 which several dispute, and which I have it not in my power 
 to ascertain.
 
 ZUBOF. 117 
 
 formerly celebrated with the brothers Orlof. Va- 
 lerian, a younger brother of Zubof, and Peter 
 Soltikof, their friend, were associated in office 
 with the favourite. With these three young li- 
 bertines did Catharine, the aged Catharine, spend 
 her days, while her armies were slaughtering the 
 Turks, cutting throats with the Swedes, and ra- 
 vaging Poland ; while her people were groaning 
 in wretchedness and famine, and devoured by 
 extortioners and tyrants. 
 
 It was at this juncture she formed a more in- 
 timate society, composed of her favourites, and 
 most trusty ladies and courtiers. This society 
 met two or three times a week, under the name 
 of the little hermitage. The parties were fre- 
 quently masqued, and the greatest privacy pre- 
 vailed. They danced, represented proverbs, 
 played at little games with forfeits, joked, 
 romped, and in short there was no kind of gaiety 
 which was not permitted. Leof Narishkin acted 
 the same part there as Roquelaure at the court 
 of Louis XIV ; and that egregious fool Matrona 
 Danilovna, seconded him. This was an old gos- 
 sip, whose wit entirely consisted in uttering the 
 most absurd vulgarities ; and as she enjoyed the 
 common right of fools, that of saying anything, 
 she was loaded with presents by the lower order 
 of courtiers. Such foreign ministers as were in 
 favour with the empress, were sometimes ad-
 
 118 OF THE FAVOURITES. 
 
 mitted to the little hermitage. Segur, Cobenzel, 
 Steding, and Nassau, chiefly enjoyed this distinc- 
 tion ; but Catharine afterwards formed another 
 assembly, more confined and more mysterious, 
 which was called the small party. The three fa- 
 vourites just mentioned, Madame Branicka, Ma- 
 dame Protassof, and some confidential women, 
 and valets-de-chambre, were its only members. 
 
 I might have enlarged this chapter with the 
 surnames, titles, and dignities of each favourite ; 
 but they would not be worth printing, as not de- 
 serving even to be mentioned. It is sufficiently 
 known that Catharine, after having heaped upon 
 her minions all the places, titles and orders of 
 knighthood in Russia, wrote to Vienna to obtain 
 for them successively patents of count and prince 
 of the holy roman empire. The orders of Po- 
 land and Prussia bedaubed also the favourites of 
 the favourites. Potemkin and Zubof, when they 
 displayed all their decorations, looked like the 
 hawkers of ribands and trinkets at a fair. 
 
 Paul is more russian than his mother : being of 
 opinion, that a count or prince of the holy greek 
 empire is superior to a count or prince of the holy 
 roman empire. Under Catharine, the russian 
 kniaz was made a german prince ; under Paul, 
 the german prince is raised to the dignity of a 
 russian kniaz. I shall not take upon me to de- 
 cide the question of precedence.
 
 SMALL PARTIES. 119 
 
 In like manner I shall pass over the gifts and 
 presents bestowed on the favourites. I could 
 mention only what they have received publicly 
 as recompenses ; and however enormous the sum 
 may appear *, it was not equal to the gifts la- 
 vished on them in secret. Who can calculate 
 what the Orlofs, Potemkin, and the Zubofs re- 
 ceived ? Had they not the imperial treasury at 
 command, without giving any account of the 
 sums they took out ? and were not places, rank, 
 justice, impunity, nay, even foreign alliances, 
 peace and war, purchased of them and of their 
 creatures j* ? 
 
 * I have a pretty accurate list : the sum is greater by one 
 third than that given in the Histoire de Catharine II. 
 
 f Valerian Zubof, a few months after he had shared with 
 his brother the favours of Catharine, staked thirty thousand 
 rubles (30001.) on a single card at faro; and this young man 
 possesses, as has been observed, part of the immense domains 
 of the dukes of Ccmrland.
 
 ( 120 ) 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 Conduct and projects of Catharine- with regard to her son He 
 is proclaimed His first steps as Emperor Funeral honours 
 paid to his father and mothet Rigorous proceedings towards 
 the guards The wacht-parade Graces and disgraces His 
 occupations Proscription of round hats 'and russian harness 
 Re-establishment of etiquette Its ridiculous or cruel conse- 
 quences Alterations in the army, and in the civil department 
 Peasants Soldato-mania Office of punishment Finances 
 A -calet-de-chambre becomes favourite. 
 
 ONE of the greatest crimes of which Catha- 
 rine was guilty, was her conduct to that 
 son in whose right she governed Russia five-and- 
 thirty years. In his infancy he evinced qualities 
 which were stifled by her ill treatment. He had 
 sense, activity, a disposition for the sciences, and 
 sentiments of order and justice : but all these pe- 
 rished for want of cultivation. Her dislike towards 
 him has been urged as a proof of his being the 
 son of Peter III. and this proof is of considerable 
 weight *. She could not bear him, kept him at 
 
 * It is an opinion generally adopted at the court of Russia, 
 that Paul is the son of count Soltikof, one of the earliest fa- 
 vourites of Catharine. He has no physical resemblance to 
 Peter III. and is still more unlike his mother. He had the 
 ill luck to be disowned by one and detested by the other.
 
 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 121 
 
 a distance from her, surrounded him with spies, 
 held him in restraint, exposed him to every kind 
 of humiliation ; and while her favourites, inferior 
 to her son in years, governed Russia and wallowed 
 in wealth, he was living retired, insignificant, and 
 in want of necessaries. Thus she soured his tem- 
 per, and rendered him capricious and mistrustful, 
 savage and cruel. Assuredly a mother must be 
 highly culpable who inspires her own child with 
 hatred and contempt. But what other sentiments 
 could he entertain ? Not satisfied with depriving 
 him of the affection and the prerogatives that he 
 ought to have enjoyed as a son, she resolved to 
 take from him likewise the rights and pleasures 
 of a father. His wife came almost every year to 
 lie in at Tzarsko-selo, and left her children there 
 in the hands of strangers. They were brought 
 up under Catharine j neither the father nor mother 
 having the least concern in their education, 
 or authority over their conduct. Latterly, they 
 were even whole months without seeing them. 
 Thus she strove to alienate the hearts of these 
 children from parents whom they scarcely knew. 
 Here, however, Paul ceases to inspire interest ; 
 here he no longer appears the timid and respect- 
 ful child, buf the fearful, imbecil father. What 
 man is base enough not to claim the sacred 
 rights of paternity ? Why had he not the spirit 
 fo say to his mother, " You have my crown ; 
 
 7
 
 122 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 " keep it ; but restore me my children : leave me 
 " at least an enjoyment which you do not deny to 
 " your meanest slaves." He who finds not in his 
 heart sufficient motives to hold such language, 
 and to act conformably to it, deserves not praise 
 as a respectful son, but rather blame as a con- 
 temptible, unfeeling father * : he is a slave ; and 
 on becoming master, cannot fail of being a ty- 
 rant. 
 
 Death took Catharine by surprise. It is evi- 
 dent to those who were acquainted with her 
 court, and the unfortunate estrangement between 
 the mother and son, that she entertained a wish 
 to have another successor. The dread of reflect- 
 ing on the period of her days, and on that of her 
 reign, which she feared still more, together with 
 the death of Potemkin f, prevented her from ac 
 complishing this project, while she had time for 
 it, or from confirming it by a will. The youth 
 of the grand-duke Alexander, and especially the 
 excellence of his head and heart, were afterwards 
 
 * The duke of Wurtemburg, brother to the present em- 
 press, ailed in a more becoming manner. Catharine being 
 desirous of taking charge of his children, he declared that he 
 would rather die than give them up. She durst not venture 
 to proceed to extremities, and he took them with him out of 
 the country. 
 
 f It is thought by many that she entertained a design of 
 making Potemkin king of Taurida, in order to have his sup- 
 port in disinheriting Paul, and proclaiming Alexander heir tq 
 the crown.
 
 CATHARINE'S CONDUCT TOWARDS HIM. 123 
 
 obstacles to the execution of her devsign. Her 
 predilection for the young prince, however, wor-r 
 thy no doubt of a purer source, was very striking; 
 and her private conferences with him began to be 
 frequent and mysterious. Perhaps she might in 
 time have succeeded in her endeavours to stifle in 
 him the voice of nature, have corrupted his under- 
 standing and his morals, and driven him imper- 
 ceptibly to act a detestable part towards his fa- 
 ther. After 1'Harpe had quitted him, after a 
 separate court was established for him, and some 
 persons of merit removed ; he was the worst at- 
 tended and least occupied of princes. His day? 
 were spent alone with his wife, or with his valets, 
 or in the society of his grandmother. He lived 
 more effeminate and obscure than the heir of a 
 sultan in the harams of the seraglio. This kind 
 of life would infallibly at length have stifled all 
 his excellent qualities. Had he been willing, or 
 had Catharine but been able to speak one word 
 before she died, Paul probably would never have 
 reigned. Who would have declared for him? 
 and to what rights could he have appealed * ? If 
 
 * I am aware that Paul was proclaimed heir to the throne 
 though his birth is so equivocal. Since his accession, he has 
 attempted to remove the confusion that prevails in the suc- 
 cession of the tzars, by an act which he promulgated at his 
 coronation, and which he had framed in concert with his wife, 
 in the form of a will, so early as the year 1788 ; consequently 
 when he was only grand-duke,, and of course could dispose of
 
 124 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 the russians have no fixed rights, still less have 
 their sovereigns. Since Peter I. who arrogated 
 to himself the power of nominating his successor, 
 the throne of the tzars has been occupied by 
 scarcely any other than usurpers, who have over- 
 turned each other with more barbarity and confu- 
 
 nothing. The year 1788 was the time when Potemkin was 
 in the zenith of his power. It appears that Paul, at that junc- 
 ture, apprehended some unhappy catastrophe, since he made 
 these arrangements : in fact, it was then in agitation to disin- 
 herit him, and divide the empire between his eldest son and 
 Potemkin. In this act, Paul, though merely grand-duke, 
 arrogates to himself the same right as Peter I. that of nomi- 
 nating his successor. Accordingly he bequeaths the empire 
 to his eldest son, and his male descendants ; on failure of 
 these his female descendant were to succeed in an order 
 which Paul laid down, endeavouring to prevent and adjust all 
 the inconveniences that may happen to the end of time. 
 That the son should be heir to his father is a natural right, 
 but there can be no right by which an emperor shall nomi- 
 nate his successor, and bequeath an empire like a field. Let 
 us suppose, however, that this power has been, by the grace 
 of God, conferred on the russian autocrates, how can one take 
 it from the rest, or restrict it, by nominating the successor of 
 his successor ? Is not Alexander or Constantino to enjoy the 
 same power as Paul ? Is it not treasonable to imagine the 
 contrary ? Such are the inconveniences in which they involve 
 themselves who build upon errors and prejudices, and con- 
 temn the laws of nature and nations. The laws which issue 
 from their brains having no support but the power that pro- 
 mulgates them, perish with it. A hundred years hence a 
 russian emperor will not tumble over the old papers of Paul, 
 to know how he shall act; for before that time, perhaps, events 
 may take place which will bring the Russians to adopt 
 ideas more clear and simple.
 
 CATHARINE'S CONDUCT TOWARDS HIM. 125 
 
 sion than the successors of Ottoman. Catha- 
 rine I. became empress, because Mentchikof had 
 the boldness to proclaim her * ; Peter II. reigned 
 by virtue of a will ; Anne was elected by a coun- 
 cil, the senate, and the army ; Ivan was made 
 emperor by an ukase ; Elizabeth said, in her ma- 
 nifesto, that she ascended the throne of her father 
 because the people willed it, and the guards were 
 revolting ; and on these grounds she condemned 
 a prince in the cradle to a perpetual prison ; and 
 his relations, as innocent as himself, experienced 
 the same fate. Peter III. reigned by favour of 
 Elizabeth ; and when he was dethroned by Ca- 
 tharine II. she, on mounting the throne of Russia, 
 declared, that it was God himself who called her 
 to it. A son supplanting his father would not 
 have added greatly to the horror excited by these 
 acts of despotism : but the sudden death of Ca- 
 tharine happily prevented that catastrophe. The 
 horrid shriek she gave as she expired, was the 
 dreadful sound that proclaimed Paul emperor of 
 all the Russias. His wife was the first who fell 
 at his feet, and paid him homage with all her 
 children : he raised her up, embracing her and 
 
 * It was pleasantly said on that occasion, that a journey- 
 man pastry-cook proclaimed a servant-maid empress of all the 
 Russias. See what it is to be proud of their birth ! Mary, 
 conceiving the houses of Holstein and Wurtemburg not good 
 enough, makes her daughters sign themselves Romano/.'
 
 1-26 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 them, and giving them assurance of his imperial 
 and paternal kindness. The court, the chief 
 officers of the different departments and of the 
 army, all who were on the spot, came next to 
 prostrate themselves, and take the oath of alle- 
 giance severally according to rank and seniority. 
 A detachment of guards conducted him into the 
 palace, and the officers and soldiers arriving in 
 haste from Pavlofsky and Gatshina, swore fealty 
 to him ; as did the heads of the different colleges. 
 The emperor repaired himself to the senate to 
 receive it, and that memorable night passed 
 without disturbance or confusion. 
 
 The next day, Paul was proclaimed emperor 
 everywhere, and the tzarevitch Alexander, heir 
 presumptive to the throne. Thus, after five-and- 
 thirty years spent under restraint, denials, injuries, 
 and contempt, the son of Catharine, at the age 
 of forty-three, found himself at length his own 
 master, and that of all the Russias. His first 
 steps seemed to contradict the reports of his stern 
 and capricious disposition. He had long suffered 
 by the abuses and disorders of the court : bred in 
 the school of misfortune, the crucible in which 
 great minds are refined, and little ones evaporate ; 
 a distant spectator of affairs, the scrutator of the 
 plans and conduct of his mother, he had had 
 rhirtv vears of leisure to regulate his own. Ac- 
 
 * v O
 
 HIS FIRST PROCEDURES. 127 
 
 cordingly he seemed to have in his pocket a mul- 
 titude of regulations ready drawn up, which he 
 only pulled out and put in execution with asto- 
 nishing rapidity *. 
 
 Far from imitating the conduct which his 
 mother had held with respect to him., he imme- 
 diately called his sons about him, entrusted each 
 with the command of one of the regiments of 
 guards, and made the elder military governor of 
 Petersburg, an important post, which chained 
 the young prince to his father's side. His first 
 behaviour towards the empress, who was pitied 
 for her lot and position, surprised and delighted 
 every one : suddenly changing his conduct to- 
 wards her, assigning her a considerable revenue, 
 increasing those of his children in proportion, and 
 loading his family with caresses and kindnesses. 
 
 His conduct towards the favourite likewise 
 wore every appearance of generosity. He seemed 
 moved at his affliction; and, approving the attach- 
 ment he shewed to his mother, continued him in 
 his offices in flattering terms ; saying, as he deli- 
 vered to him the cane of command, which is borne 
 by the general aide-de-camp upon duty : " Con- 
 " tinue to execute those functions about the 
 
 * His intimates had long been in possession of his military 
 regulations, which he put in execution at Gatshina and Pav- 
 lofsky, and which in a moment became those of all therjsssian 
 armies.
 
 128 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 " corpse of my mother : I hope you will serve 
 " me as faithfully as you have served her." 
 
 The ministers, and the heads of the several de- 
 partments, were likewise confirmed in their posts 
 in condescending terms ; and the most powerful 
 were even promoted, and loaded with additional 
 favours. 
 
 The first ukase he issued announced pacific 
 dispositions, and were particularly adapted to at- 
 tach the nobility to him. A levy of recruits re- 
 cently ordered by Catharine, which was to take 
 one peasant in every hundred, was suspended and 
 annulled by this ukase. This levy, however, was 
 a few months after renewed. 
 
 Every hour, every moment announced some 
 wise alteration, some just punishment, or some 
 merited favour ; insomuch that both court and 
 city were struck with astonishment. If the first 
 steps of Paul had not been dictated by policy, 
 fear, and joy, he would have appeared, for three 
 or four hours, to be born to repress abuses and to 
 restore order. People began to imagine that they 
 had all along mistaken his character, and that his 
 long and melancholy pupillage had not entirely 
 depraved it. All men thought themselves hap- 
 pily deceived in their expectations, and the con- 
 duct of the grand-duke was at once forgotten in 
 that of the emperor. He soon, however, brought 
 it back to their remembrance. But let us bestow
 
 HIS FIRST PROCEDURES. 129 
 
 a few minutes more on the too transient hopes 
 of happiness which he promised to his empire. 
 
 The first "two political steps taken by Paul in- 
 spired confidence, gained the nobility, and sus- 
 pended two horrible scourges which Catharine, 
 at her death, seemed to have bequeathed to Rus- 
 sia war, and a public bankruptcy. She had at 
 length resolved to act directly against France, by 
 succouring the emperor of Germany, and attack 
 ing Prussia * : and had actually issued orders for 
 raising near a hundred thousand recruits. The 
 coffers of the state being emptied, and assignats 
 multiplied to such a degree, that they were threat- 
 ened with the same fate as those of France f ; 
 she devised the method of doubling her current 
 coin, by giving every piece of money twice its 
 real value. Paul quashed these two disastrous 
 1 measures, which were already begun to be car- 
 ried into execution. At the same time he broke 
 off the treaty of subsidy with England which was 
 on the carpet ; not that it was his -intention, as 
 had been published abroad, to acknowledge the 
 odious French republic, but because his imperial 
 pride was, not without reason, above entering 
 
 * This scheme of Catharine is incontrovertible: she re- 
 solved to drive the king of Prussia back, to the borders of the 
 Rhine with her cannon. To make him feel the absolute ne- 
 cessity of returning to the coalition, she fomented revolts in 
 Prussia, at Dantzic, and in Silesia. 
 
 t At this juncture they fell sixty per cent. 
 K
 
 ISO ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 into the pay of England like a petty state, by 
 selling the blood of the Russians. 
 
 The brave Koschiusko, the l;ist of the Poles, 
 as Philopcemen was the last of the Greeks, was 
 made prisoner of war, as all the world knows, 
 when defending his country and her natural rights 
 against the attacks of foreign oppressors. He 
 was, however, in contempt of all laws and of 
 common sense, detained as a state criminal, 
 though he was always better treated * than Ig- 
 natius Pototski, and his other companions in 
 glory and misfortune, who were more rigorously 
 
 * He was in the house of the late count Anhalt. For a 
 guard he had a major, who sat at table with him. People 
 were permitted to see him; he had several rooms at his com- 
 mand, and he employed himself in reading, drawing and 
 turning. The colonel, to whom he was conducted as pri- 
 soner by the chasseurs, who found him wounded in a swamp, 
 is a young man, a friend of mine, equally brave and humane, 
 lie kept a pocket-book of Koschiusko's, which we looked 
 over together. We found in it several notes, in french and 
 Italian, taken during a (our in Italy, philosophical observa- 
 tions, extracts from authors, effusions in French verse, and 
 rough draught* of various small compositions. Every tiling 
 shewed that the pocket-book had belonged to a man of merit, 
 knowledge, tasti-, and ieding. There were in it likewise 
 several letters sealed, and addressed to ladies at Warsaw, in 
 the french and polish languages, with sketches of some of 
 the manifestoes he published, all in his own hand-writing. 
 My friend kept this pocket-book as a relic of a celebrated man 
 whom he had admired while forced to fight against him. 
 When he was set at liberty, I suggested to my friend the 
 idea of returning these papers to their owner, and I believe 
 he did so.
 
 HIS FIRST PROCEDURES. 131 
 
 confined in the fortress, and at Schlusselburg. 
 Paul was equitable enough to set them all at 
 liberty, and generous enough to go himself to 
 deliver Koschiusko. It was interesting to see 
 this brave man, still sick of his wounds and his 
 sufferings, carried t6 the palace, where he was 
 introduced to the emperor and empress, to testify 
 his gratitude. He is a little thin person, pale 
 and emaciated: his head was still surrounded 
 with bandages, and his forehead could not be 
 seen: but his mien, his eyes, still brought to re- 
 membrance what he dared attempt with such 
 feeble means. He refused the peasants that Paul 
 would have given him in Russia, but accepted a 
 sum of money to go and live independent in 
 another country.* 
 
 This circumstance made a <rreat and favourable 
 
 
 
 impression on the public. Unquestionably it did 
 honour to Paul; but, to appreciate his conduct 
 on this occasion, it must be remembered, that. 
 Koschiusko had not personally offended him, 
 though he had the empress Catharine. Her son 
 is certainly not more prompt to pardon than she 
 was: Koschiusko is indebted for his liberty only 
 
 * America was the place he chose fur his residence. 
 When he was in England, on his way thither, a model of 
 him was taken by Miss C. Andcus, which is said to be a 
 striking likeness, and from which an elegant whole length 
 engraving has been made by Sharpe.- 7>. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 to Paul's hatred of his mother, and his affectation 
 of acting contrary to her views in every respect. 
 The funeral honours to be paid to the empress, 
 were again a fortunate circumstance to engage 
 the mind of Paul; by suspending or interrupting 
 the torrent of new regulations and capricious 
 ordinances continually starting from his head; 
 but, what was not expected of him, he consi- 
 dered it as a filial duty to remove the ashes of 
 his unfortunate fainer. The name of Peter IIL 
 which no one had dared to pronounce for five- 
 and-thirty years, appeared on a sudden at the 
 t head of the ceremonial of mourning and inter- 
 ment; wherein the services and funeral honours 
 to be paid to Peter and Catharine, were pre- 
 scribed at the same time. On reading the pre- 
 kase, one would have supposed that the husband 
 and wife had just departed together. Paul re- 
 paired to the convent of Alexander Nefsky, 
 where the body of his father had been deposited. 
 Causing the old monks to shew him the private' 
 grave, and open the coffin in his presence, he 
 paid the sad remains that still presented them- 
 selves to his eyes, a tribute of respectful and af- 
 fecting tears : \ The coffin was placed on trcssels 
 
 * He took one of the gloves, that still covered the bones 
 of his father's hand, and kissed it several times with tears. 
 O Paul! thou hadst then the heart of a son ; sometimes thou 
 hast appeared a good father! What might not have been ex-
 
 FUNERAL HONOURS TO HIS PARENTS. 133 
 
 in the middle of the church, and the same ser- 
 vice was performed over it as over that of Catha- 
 rine, which was exposed to view on a bed of 
 state in the palace. 
 
 Paul then caused enquiry to be made after 
 those officers who were attached to his father at 
 the time of his unhappy catastrophe, and who 
 had since been living in disgrace or unknown at 
 court. Baron Ungern Sternberg, a respectable 
 old man, who had long lived in retirement amid 
 a small circle of friends, and who had not even a 
 wish to be brought forward again upon the stage 
 of the great world, was at once made general in 
 chief, and sent for to the emperor, who ordered 
 him to be ushered into his closet. After ac- 
 costing him in the most gracious manner, he 
 said, " Have you heard what I am doing for my 
 " father? " Yes, Sir," answered the old ge- 
 neral, " I have heard it^with astonishment." 
 " With astonishment! why? is it not a duty I 
 " had to fulfil? See," continued he, turning to 
 a picture of Peter III. which was already placed 
 in the cabinet*, " I will have him to witness my 
 
 pected fr'om thee, if them hadst had another mother, and a 
 different education! 
 
 * All the pictures of Peter III. had been proscribed, both 
 in the imperial palaces and private houses. How Paul con- 
 trived to conceal this I cannot tell. Happy, at this period, 
 ho who could find one of these portraits in a lumber-room, 
 to which it had been bajiished: it presently became the chief
 
 134- ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 " gratitude toward his faithful friends." Saying 
 these words he embraced general Ungern, and 
 invested him with the riband of St. Alexander. 
 The worthy old man, though above being daz- 
 zled with this vanity, could not resist so affecting 
 a scene, and retired with his eyes swimming in 
 tears. 
 
 Paul then directed him to do duty by his 
 father's body, enjoining him to provide for the 
 ceremony tha same uniform that he had worn 
 when aide-de-camp to Peter III. Ungern was 
 lucky enough to find such a one in the possession 
 of an old acquaintance. Paul wished to see and 
 to keep this relic himself, which likewise made 
 the fortune of him who had so well preserved it*. 
 
 ornament of his house. The painters of Petersburg could 
 not supply the demand for copies. 
 
 * General Ungern Steinberg is a Livonian, and was for- 
 merly the friend and comrade of general Melissino. The 
 writer of these memoirs was very intimate with him, which 
 he mentions here, to give more weight to what follows. 
 Ungern was one of those german officers who stood highest 
 in Peter's esteem, and was his aide-de-camp. It was he 
 whom he chose to accompany him in a secret visit to the un- 
 fortunate Ivan at Schlusselburg, where he had been con- 
 fined by Elizabeth, who dethroned him. They found this 
 wretched young man in a dungeon, the window of which 
 admitted but a faint gleam of day, the light being inter- 
 cepted by piles of wood heaped up in the court. He was in 
 a dirty white jacket with a pair of old shoes on his feet. 
 His hair was very light and cut short like that of a russian 
 slave. He was tolerably well made, and his complexion
 
 FUNERAL HONOURS TO HIS PARENTS. 135 
 
 Several other officers, and among them the only 
 one who had attempted to make any resistance 
 in favour of Peter III. at the revolution in 17 62, 
 
 had a paleness which shewed that die sun had never shone 
 on his face. He was then upwards of twenty, and had been 
 confined ever since he was fourteen months old; but he had 
 received some impressions and ideas which he still retained. 
 Peter III, affected at his condition, put several questions to 
 him, among the rest, " Who are your" " I am the em- 
 peror." " Who put you into prison, then?" " Vile, wicked 
 " people." (t Would you like to be emperor again?" " To 
 " be sure: why not? I should then have fine clothes, and 
 " servants to wait upon me." " But what would you do if 
 " ypu were emperor?" " I would cut ofF the heads of all 
 " those who have wronged me." Peter III. having then 
 asked whence he learned what he told him; he answered, 
 that he had it from the virgin and the angels, and began to 
 enter into long stories of these pretended visions. Though 
 alone, and confined from his infancy, he did not appear ter- 
 rified at the sight of the emperor and his officers. He ex- 
 amined his dress and weapons with much curiosity and plea- 
 sure, as a forward child would have done. The emperor 
 asked him again what he wished for, and he answered in his 
 vulgar russian dialect, " To have more air." Ungern was left 
 some time at Schlusselberg to gain his confidence, and find 
 out whether his apparent imbecility were real or only as- 
 sumed. He was soon convinced, however, that it was the 
 natural consequence of his mode of life. He gave him, from 
 the emperor, a silk morning gown. Ivan put it on with 
 transports of joy, running about the room, and admiring him- 
 self as a savage would have done who had never been 
 dressed before. As all his wishes centred in the requisition of 
 more air, Peter III. sent the plan of a little circular palace, 
 in the centre of which was to be a garden, with orders to 
 have it built for Ivan in the court of the fortress. It was 
 cruel that this act of humanity towards an innocent man
 
 136 ACCESSION Of PAUL. 
 
 were found out in their retirement, and recalled 
 to court to be loaded with favours. 
 
 These particulars are affe&ing, and do honour 
 to the heart of Paul ; but we see clearly from the 
 answer of Ungern, that they astonished every 
 one. They were attributed as much to Paul's 
 opposition to his mother as to his love for his 
 father ; and several ascribed this part of his con- 
 duct to a politic design of thus proclaiming him 
 for his father, who would not, when alive, ac- 
 knowledge him for his son. The parade and 
 ostentation with which he caused the sad remains 
 of Peter to be disinterred, and then held up to 
 the admiration of the public, were particularly 
 blamed. The cofiln that contained them was 
 crowned*, and removed in great pomp to the 
 palace, to be exhibited there, in a temple con- 
 structed for that purpose, by the side of the 
 corpse of Catharine, with w r hich it was after- 
 wards to be conveyed to the citadel. Never, till 
 then did the husband and wife rest together in 
 peace. People came with great respect to kiss 
 the coffin of the one, and the cold and livid hand 
 
 should have served as a pretext against the unfortunate Peter. 
 He was charged with having intended to build a prison for 
 his wile and son, and this was made a pretext for his own 
 assassination. 
 
 * Peter III. had never been crowned, and this was the 
 reason assigned for not burying him in the church of the for- 
 tress with the other russian emperors.
 
 FUNERAL HONOURS TO HIS PARENTS. 137 
 
 of the other; they made a genuflection, and 
 were obli rod to descend the steps backwards. 
 The empress, who had been badly embalmed, 
 soon appeared quite disfigured: her hands, eyes, 
 and lower part of her face, were black, blue, 
 and yellow. Those who had seen her only in 
 public, could not know her again; and all the 
 pomp with which she was still surrounded, all 
 the riches that covered her corpse, served only 
 to augment the horror it inspired. 
 
 If, by restoring the honours of his father, 
 Paul might be thought to throw disgrace on the 
 memory of his mother, in bringing to mind the 
 scenes which a silence of five-and-thirty years had 
 nearly consigned to oblivion, yet the vengeance 
 he took on some of the assassins of Peter III. 
 possessed a degree of sublimity which was ap- 
 proved by all. The celebrated Alexius Orlof, 
 the conqueror of Tchesme, once so powerful, 
 remarkable for his gigantic stature and antique 
 dress, and whose age and military honours would 
 have entitled him to respect, if such a man could 
 be respected, was obliged to follow the sad re- 
 mains of Peter. Every eye was turned upon 
 him, and the performance of this just, but cruel 
 task, must have awakened in him that remorse 
 which his long prosperity had doubtless lulled 
 asleep. As to prince Baratinsky, he durst not 
 appear before Paul, who could never bear his
 
 138 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 sight, but had fled from Petersburg. Passek, 
 who owed his fortune solely to the same crime, 
 and whose physiognomy, not less brutal than 
 that of Baratinsky, seemed to betray it, was 
 fortunately absent from court, and survived the 
 funeral but a few days. 
 
 Such was the good that Paul did in the first 
 days of his reign ; and I have collected the whole 
 of it together, lest these instances of reason, jus- 
 tice, and feeling, should be lost and forgotten in 
 the heap of violences, whims, and meannesses 
 with which they w^ere always offuscated, and 
 which I shall now proceed to relate. 
 
 The guards, that dangerous body who had 
 overturned the throne of the father, and who had 
 long considered the accession of the son as the 
 term of its military existence, was, from the 
 very first day, by a bold and vigorous step, ren- 
 dered incapable of injuring him, and treated 
 without the least management. Paul incorpo- 
 rated in the different regiments of guards his bat- 
 talions that arrived from Gatshina*, the officers 
 
 * Paul waited for these battalions with evident impatience 
 and anxiety. They inarched all night, and arrived in the 
 morning. Ratikof, a subaltern, who had no other merit 
 than the good fortune of announcing to him their wished-for 
 arrival, was instantly created a knight of St. Anne, and 
 made aide-de-camp to the grand-duke. It was not till Paul 
 saw himself surrounded with his little army, that he began to 
 act as he had done at Gatshina.
 
 TREATMENT OF THE GUARDS. 139 
 
 of which he distributed among the various com- 
 panies, promoting them at the same time two or 
 three steps; so that simple lieutenants or captains 
 in the army found themselves at once captains 
 in the guards, a place of importance, and hitherto 
 much honoured, and which gives the rank of 
 colonel, or even of brigadier. Some of those an- 
 cient captains, and they the first families in the 
 empire, found themselves under the command 
 of officers of no birth, who but a few years 
 before had left their companies as Serjeants or 
 corporals, to enter into the battalions of the 
 grand-duke. This bold and hasty change, which 
 at any other time would have been fatal to its 
 author, had no other effect than that of inducing 
 a few hundreds of officers, subalterns and others, 
 to retire. Most of these were such as had suf- 
 ficient to live upon beside their commissions, or 
 could neither digest the putting others over 
 their heads, nor support the harassing discipline 
 which the intruders were about to establish*. 
 
 * Of these obtruded officers, no one made his fortune so 
 rapidly as Araktscheief. Seven years before, the grand-duke, 
 \villing to have a company of artillery at Pavlofsky, asked 
 general Melissino for an officer capable of forming one. 
 Araktscheief, who had been brought up in the corps of cadets, 
 and who had gotten himself noticed by the progress he made 
 and particularly for the ardour and passionate zeal he dis- 
 played for the minutiae of discipline, was given him. In 
 spite of his indefatigable attentions, severity, and exactitude 
 jn the service, it was some time before he could establish 
 
 4
 
 1 10 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 Many of these young officers, however, felt no 
 other affront than that of being obliged to quit 
 
 himself thoroughly in the good opinion of Paul. Several 
 pretty fireworks, which he composed with the assistance of 
 hi* old master for the entertainments at Pavlofsky, but, 
 above all, the rage for exercising with which he burned, 
 and which induced him to harass the soldiers day and night, 
 at length gained him the favour of the grand-duke. At his 
 accession to the throne, Araktscheief was created a major 
 in the guards, with the rank of general, and appointed mili- 
 tary governor of Petersburg. He received the order of St. 
 Anne, with some thousands of peasants, and became the em- 
 peror's right-hand. Araktscheief, with whom major M. has 
 served in the corps of cadets, where he was serjeant, was 
 truly commendable for the talents, acquirements, and 
 zeal which he displayed at that time: but he is disgusting by 
 his brutality, which he exercised even towards the cadets. 
 Never wa$ pipduric poet more imperiously tormented by his 
 muse, than this man is possessed by his military demon. 
 His fury and his cane have already cost more than one unfor- 
 tunate soldier his life, even under the eye of Paul. This 
 wretch has revived a barbarity, which had long been a stran- 
 ger to ihe ru>sian service: he abuses and strikes the very 
 officers when exercising. However, while in favour, that 
 he might have the appearance of being grateful, he recom- 
 mended general Melissino, his former master, with whom 
 he was at variance. He was lately disgraced, but since re- 
 called, and baronized. It was he who reviewed the troops 
 sent into Germany. The history of another of these officers 
 deserves to be mentioned for its singularity. It will prove 
 how a man sometimes makes his way in the world. One of 
 the friends of major M. taking a walk on the quay, met with 
 a youth of sixteen, who appeared to have lately landed, and 
 walking in despair along the water-side as if intending to 
 throw himself in. lie went up, and spoke to him. The 
 young stranger said, that he was a Frenchman by descent,
 
 TREATMENT OF THE GUARDS. 141 
 
 their brilliant uniforms, and to alter their dress 
 according to the grotesque and fantastical 
 
 but born in Russia; that the grand-duke had been his god- 
 lather; that his father had sent him in his Infancy to France-, 
 to be educated in a seminary there, from which he elo'ped> 
 to return to Russia, where he could learn no news of his 
 father: that he was without money, without acquaintances, 
 and that he had no alternative but to make away \vit : i him- 
 self. The major's friend endeavoured to console him, look 
 him to his own house, and set on foot some enquiries. He 
 learned that his father, baron Bilistein, had in fact been pre- 
 ceptor to the grand-duke, but that he had since married in 
 Moldavia, where he died. Major M. and his friends ex- 
 erted themselves to get the young man admitted 'into the 
 guards as a subaltern officer. In the Swedish war, he went 
 with his regiment, and was made prisoner at the defeat of 
 the russian galleys. A year after he came back in a more de- 
 plorable condition than ever; and, to add to his misfortunes, 
 the major's friend and his other patrons being no longer at 
 Petersburg, he had no resource but major M. to whom lie 
 came every day to relate his misfortunes. One morning he 
 found him reading the life of Jamerai Duval, and his cor- 
 respondence with mademoiselle Sacalof, afterwards the wile 
 of admiral Ribas. M. knew that this lady was a friend of 
 .mademoiselle Nelidof, the mistress of the grand-duke, which 
 suggested to him the following thought. He dictated lo 
 'Bilistein a letter to madame Ribas, wherein he told her, thai 
 having accidentally been reading one of her charming letters 
 to Duval, it had given an interval to his despair, from con- 
 ceiving that a lady who could paint the sentiments of bene- 
 volence and humanity so well, must possess them in her 
 heart : he therefore proceeded to lay before her his sad situ- 
 ation, and solicited her influence to be recommended to the 
 grand-duke. Madame Ribas sent for him and recommended 
 him to mademoiselle Nelidof, who presented him to the 
 ijrand-duke. A few hundred rubles were given him to equip
 
 142 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 clothing of those battalions which had so long 
 excited their ridicule. 
 
 Paul, alarmed and enraged at this general de- 
 sertion, went to the barracks, flattered the sol- 
 diers, appeased the officers, and endeavoured to 
 retain them, by excluding from all employ, civil 
 and military, those who should retire in future, 
 and who besides were no longer to wear their 
 uniform. He afterwards issued the ridiculous 
 and cruel order, that every officer or subaltern 
 who had resigned, or should give in his resigna- 
 tion, should quit the capital within four-and- 
 twenty hours, and return to his own home. It 
 never entered the head of Paul, or of him who 
 drew up the ukase, that it contained an absurdity -, 
 as several of the officers were natives of Peters- 
 burg, and had families residing in the city. Ac- 
 cordingly some of them retired to their homes 
 without quitting the capital, not obeying the 
 first part of the order, lest they should be found 
 guilty of disobedience to the second. Arkarof, 
 who was to see it put in force, having informed 
 the emperor of this contradiction, he directed 
 that the injunction to quit Petersburg should alone 
 be obeyed. A number of young men were con- 
 
 himself, add through the means of count Soltikof he obtained 
 a lieutenant's commission in the battalions at Pavlofsky. From, 
 ihat time he has lived somewhat less wretchedly, and always 
 appeared extremely grateful. At the accession of the grand- 
 duke he was made a lieutenant-colonel in the guards.
 
 TREATMENT OF THE GUARDS. 143 
 
 sequently taken out of their houses as criminals, 
 conveyed out of the city, with orders not to re- 
 enter it, and left on the road without shelter, and 
 without pelisses, in a very intense frost. They 
 who belonged to remote provinces, for the most 
 part wanting money to carry them thither, wan- 
 dered about the neighbourhood of Petersburg, 
 where several perished of cold and want. 
 
 These measures were extended to all the offi- 
 cers of the army ; and those on the staff as ge- 
 nerals were equally obliged to join their regi- 
 ments, or resign, because these staffs were abo- 
 lished. And it was by this impolitic step that 
 he pretended to commence a reform, and gain 
 the goodwill of the army. But what soon 
 shewed that Paul, on becoming emperor by no 
 means renounced the military frivolities which 
 had entirely occupied him while grand-duke, was 
 his devoting all his attention, from the morning 
 of his ascending the throne, to the trifling changes 
 he was about to introduce into the dress and ex* 
 ercise of the soldiers. For a moment the palace 
 had the appearance of a place taken by assault 
 by foreign troops ; those who began to mount 
 guard there differing so much in dress and style 
 from those who had been seen there the day be- 
 fore. He went down into the court, where he 
 was manoeuvring his soldiers three or four hours, 
 to teach them to mount guard after his fashion.
 
 144- ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 and establish his wacJitparade (guard-parade)* 
 which became the most important institution 
 and the central point of his administration. Every 
 day since he has dedicated the same time to it, 
 however cold the weather. Here, in a plain 
 deep green uniform, great boots, and a large hat, 
 he spends his mornings in exercising his guards*: 
 here he gives his orders, receives reports, pub^ 
 lishes his favours, rewards, and punishments j and 
 here every officer must be presented to him. Sur-. 
 rounded by his sons and aides-de-camp, stamping 
 his heels on the pavement to keep himself warm, 
 his bald head bare, his snub nose cocked up to 
 the wind, one hand behind his back, and with 
 the other raising and falling his cane in due time, 
 and crying, raz, dva ; raz, dva ; one, two ; one, 
 two y he prides himself in braving a cold of fif- 
 teen or twenty degrees of Reaumur without furs. 
 Presently, none of the officers dared any longer to 
 appear in pelisses ; and the old generals, tor- 
 mented with coughs, gout and rheumatism, were 
 obliged to form a circle round Paul, dressed like 
 himself f. 
 
 * See the print of him, which though intended perhaps as 
 a caricature, is nevertheless a striking likeness, published in 
 St. JamesVstreet, having under it, " Our magnanimous ally. 
 " Painted at Petersburg." 
 
 i A Hogarth, who should see the emperor and hi, 
 younger son busy about a poor recruit, turning him to the 
 right and to tho left, marching him forward and backward,
 
 GRACES AND DISGRACES. 145 
 
 The first impressions of fear and joy being 
 deadened in the heart of Paul, punishments and 
 disgraces succeeded in the same rapidity and 
 profusion with which he had lavished his favours. 
 Several persons experienced the two extremes 
 within the space of a few days. It is true, that 
 most of these punishments at first appeared to be 
 just : then, however, it must be allowed, that Paul 
 could scarcely strike any where but on the guilty, 
 so corrupt were all who beset the throne. 
 
 Notwithstanding the assurances he had just 
 given to Zubof, one of the first orders that fol- 
 lowed was, to seal up his chancery and that of 
 Markof, and to expel their officers and secreta- 
 ries from the court with disgrace. One Tersky, 
 master of requests, and reporter to the senate, 
 who publicly sold justice to the highest bidder, 
 and, with a shocking effrontery, was at first gra- 
 tified with an order of knighthood, and obtained 
 some lands, which he said the late empress had 
 promised him a few days before her decease ; 
 
 raising up his chin, tightening his belt, and placing his head 
 properly, with every now and then a blow, would have a fine 
 subject for a caricature. An emigrant named La'mi conceived 
 the humorous idea of dedicating to Paul a bad translation he 
 made of the explanation of Hogarth's prints. I know not 
 whether he did it out of simplicity, or as a stroke of satire ; 
 but the name of Paul is very happily placed at the head of 
 that work, which wanted only the ridicule of such a dedica- 
 tion to make it complete. Paul, however, suspected no joke 
 in it, for he sent abbe Lami a present of a snuff-box. 
 
 L
 
 146 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 xvas next morning dismissed from his offices. 
 This respect of Paul to the pretended will of his 
 mother, and his care farther to enrich a rascal be- 
 fore he discarded him, excited a stupid admira- 
 tion. Surely he ought rather to have brought to 
 trial this despoiler of the widow and orphan, and 
 made him an example of public justice ! 
 
 Samoilof, the procureur-general, whom like- 
 wise he had honourably confirmed in his office, 
 with a present of four thousand peasants, amount- 
 ing in value to more than twenty thousand ru- 
 bles (2000!.) a year, was displaced a few days 
 after, put under arrest, and his secretary was sent 
 to the fortress. In short all was reformed in this 
 manner, except Besborodko, Nicholas Soltikof, 
 and Arkarof *. 
 
 This uncertain and fluctuating conduct, which 
 characterised the first steps of Paul, clearly proves 
 that his favours were the effects of policy ; and 
 the disgraces that followed them were to be as- 
 cribed to passion rather than to justice. But what 
 confounded all who had admired him, was to see 
 him, at the very moment when he was entering such 
 an intricate labyrinth of business and abuses, and 
 the importance whereof to the ftate would have 
 found him work enough at least for some days, was, 
 I say, to see him applying the very morning of his 
 
 * See the next chapter.
 
 GRACES AND DISGRACES. 147 
 
 accession with the same eagerness to the most 
 trifling details of the military service. The shape 
 of a hat, the colour of a feather, the altitude of a 
 grenadier's cap, boots, spatterdashes, cockades, 
 queues, and sword-belts, became the affairs of 
 State that absorbed his astonishing activity. He 
 was surrounded by patterns of accoutrements and 
 uniforms of all kinds. If Louis XIV. was of all 
 the princes of Europe the most expert at making 
 a lock, verily Paul I. is the best hand at scouring 
 a button, and employs himself at it with the same 
 assiduity as formerly Potemkin did in brushing 
 up his diamonds. The greatest proof of zeal and 
 merit any one could give him during the first days 
 of his reign, was to appear before him in the 
 uniform he had last introduced. An officer, who 
 could give his tailor a hundred rubles to have a 
 dress of the new fashion made in a few hours, and 
 appear in it the 'next morning at ' the wacht- 
 parade, was almost certain of obtaining some post, 
 or at least a cross. Several had no other merit, 
 and employed no other means to gain the good 
 graces of their new emperor *. 
 
 * General Meyendorf being mentioned to him as a good 
 officer of horse, he dispatched a courier to him ; and Meyen- 
 dorf, in his eagerness to obey the command, presented him- 
 self at the parade in his ancient uniform. Paul, enraged, ut- 
 tered some severe reproaches to those who had recommended 
 such a man, called him one of Potcnikin's soldiers, and ba- 
 nishcd him to his estate. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 Another fancy, which caused no little surprise, 
 was the imperial prohibition of wearing round 
 hats, or rather the sudden order of taking them 
 away, or tearing them to pieces on the heads of 
 those who appeared in them 5 which occasioned 
 some scandalous scenes in the streets, and parti- 
 cularly near the palace. The kozaks and soldiers 
 of the police ran up to the passengers and snatch- 
 ed off their hats, beating those who, not knowing 
 the reason, attempted to defend themselves. An 
 english merchant, going through the street in a 
 sledge, was thus stopped, and his hat snatched 
 off. Supposing it a robbery, he leaped out of 
 his sledge, knocked down the soldier, and called 
 the guard. Instead of the guard, arrived an officer, 
 who overpowered and bound him ; but as they 
 were carrying him before the police he was for- 
 tunate enough to meet the coach of the english 
 minister, who was going to court, and claimed his 
 protection *. Sir Charles Whitworth made his 
 complaint to the emperor -, who, conjecturing 
 that a round hat might be the national dress of 
 the English, as it is of the Swedes f, said, that his 
 
 * Another Englishman was met by an officer of the police, 
 who took from him his round hat. The Englishman, folding 
 his arms, and surveying him from head to foot, said with a 
 look of compassion, " My friend ! how I pity thee for being 
 a Russian !" 
 
 f It is likewise the national hat of the Russians, a little dif- 
 ference iu the crown exempted, w hich it vs as well to be ap-
 
 PROSCRIPTION OF ROUND HATS. 149 
 
 order had been misconceived, and he would ex- 
 plain himself more fully to Arkarof. The next 
 day it was published in the streets and houses, 
 that strangers, who were not in the emperor's 
 service, or naturalized, were not comprised in 
 the prohibition. Round hats were now no longer 
 pulled off: but they who were met with this un- 
 lucky head-dress were conducted to the police to ' 
 ascertain their country. If they were found to 
 be Russians, they were sent to be soldiers ; and 
 woe to a Frenchman who had been met in this 
 dress, as he would have .been condemned as a ja- 
 cobin *. It was reported to Paul, that the charge 
 d'affaires of the king of Sardinia, in raillery at 
 this singular proscription of round hats, had said, 
 that such trifles had often been on the point of 
 occasioning seditions in Italy ; the charge d'af- 
 faires received orders, through Arkarof, to quit 
 the city in twenty-four hours. Thanks to the 
 distance and situation of the king of Sardinia, he 
 could not demand an explanation of such an inr 
 suit, otherwise round hats might have become 
 
 prised of, as it prevented the wearer from insult. The hat- 
 ters' shops being soon emptied of cocked hats, they who had 
 neither time nor means to procure one, cocked up their little 
 round hats with pins, that they might walk the streets with 
 safety. 
 
 * Perhaps the reader may suppose that these round hats 
 were considered as some party sign. By no means : it was 
 a singular aversion which Paul had for them ; and he had de- 
 clared war against them at Pavlofsk y four years before.
 
 150 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 the motive of a war between two monarchs: the 
 rights of the throne and the altar, the dignity of 
 the crown and the happiness of the people, 
 would doubtless have figured in the several ma- 
 nifestos *. 
 
 A regulation altogether as incomprehensible 
 was the sudden prohibition of putting to and 
 harnessing the horses after the russian mode. A 
 fortnight was allowed for procuring harness 
 in the german fashion ; after the expiration 
 of which, the police was enjoined to cut the 
 traces of every carriage to which the horses 
 were harnessed in the ancient manner. Al- 
 most as soon as it was made public, several 
 persons dared not venture abroad, still less ap- 
 pear in their carriages near the palace, for fear of 
 being insulted. The sadlers, availing themselves 
 of the occasion, asked as far as three hundred ru- 
 bles (3.01.) for a plain harness for a pair of horses. 
 To dress the isvoscktsckiki., or russian coachmen, 
 in the german fashion, was attended with another 
 inconvenience. The generality of them would 
 
 * It was fortunate that it did not happen to the Swedish 
 or prussian ambassador. The latter, however, fell into dis- 
 gjace with Paul for a motive equally noble. He gives out 
 that the hat, the tail, the bag, the spatterdashes, and the 
 sword behind the back, are in the prussian mode. M. van 
 Tauenzieha appeared to protest against the fidelity of the 
 translation, by coming to court in a more modern and more 
 degant uniform. This' was the crime for which Paul de- 
 pianded his recal.
 
 REFORMATIONS IN ETIQUETTE. 151 
 
 neither part with their long beards, their kaftans, 
 nor their round hats ; still less would they tie a 
 false tail to their short hair, which produced the 
 most ridiculous scenes and figures in the world. 
 At length the emperor had the mortification to 
 be obliged to change his rigorous order into a 
 a simple invitation to his subjects gradually to 
 adopt the gerrnan fashion of dress, if they wished 
 to merit his favour. 
 
 Another reform with respect to carriages : the 
 great number of splendid equipages that swarmed 
 in the streets of Petersburg, disappeared in an 
 instant. The officers, even the generals, came to 
 the parade on foot, or in little sledges, which also 
 was not without its dangers *. 
 
 It was anciently a point of etiquette for every 
 person who met a russian autocrate, his wife, or 
 son, to stop his horse or coach, alight, and pro- 
 strate himself in the snow, or in the mud f. This 
 barbarous homage, difficult to be paid in a large 
 
 * An officer, walking the streets in a large pelisse, had 
 given his servant his sword, which incommoded him, in- 
 tending to put it on again, and to take oft' his pelisse, when 
 he got near the palace. Unfortunately, before, this took 
 place, the emperor met him, and in consequence he was re- 
 duced to the ranks, and lu's servant made an officer in his 
 place. 
 
 t Peter I. ordered those who prostrated themselves be- 
 fore him in this manner to be caned, and even caned thorn 
 himself.
 
 152 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 city, where carriages pass in great numbers, and 
 always on the gallop, had been completely abo- 
 lished under the polished reign of Catharine. 
 One of the first cares of Paul was to re-establish 
 it in all its rigour. A general officer, whose 
 coachman passed on without observing the em- 
 peror riding by on 'horseback, was stopped, and 
 immediately put under arrest *. The same disa- 
 greeable circumstance occurred to several others j 
 so that nothing was so much dreaded, either on 
 foot or in a carriage, as to meet Paul. What 
 befel a lady of the name of Likarof, however, 
 deserves to be recorded, for the sake of inspir- 
 ing that horror which is due to tyrants. 
 
 This lady being in the country, at a small dis- 
 tance from Petersburg, with her husband briga- 
 dier Likarof, he happened to be taken ill j and, 
 from the tenderness of her affection, not caring to 
 trust to others, she set out herself to fetch a phy- 
 sician and the necessary assistance from town. 
 Her country servants, not knowing the new em- 
 peror, and still less his new regulations, and she, 
 
 * When his sword was returned him, he refused to take 
 it, saying, that it was a gold-hilled sword received from the 
 empress, with the privilege of its never being taken from 
 him. Paul sent for him, returned the sword to him himself, 
 and said, that he had resolved to make an example, and had 
 no particular ill-will towards him : at the same time he or- 
 dered him to repair immediately to the army.
 
 REFORMATION IN ETIQUETTE. 153 
 
 absorbed in the apprehensions of her husband's 
 danger, ordered them to drive to the physician's 
 house as.fast as possible. Unfortunately her car- 
 nage passed, without stopping, at some distance 
 from Paul, who was taking the air on horseback. 
 Enraged at this, he immediately dispatched an 
 aide-de-camp to stop the coach, commanded the 
 four servants to be sent off as soldiers, and the 
 lady to be conveyed, for her impertinence, to the 
 prison of the police. These orders were executed 
 on the spot, and the unfortunate lady of the bri- 
 gadier was kept in confinement four days. This 
 shocking treatment, with the condition in which 
 she had left her husband, wrought so forcibly on 
 her feelings as to throw her into a violent fever, 
 which brought on a delirium. She was at length 
 removed to an inn, that some care might be taken 
 of her ; but her reason she never recovered. Her 
 husband, deprived of his wife and servants, and 
 left without assistance, died in a state of the 
 deepest affliction, without ever seeing her more. 
 
 The etiquette established within the palace be- 
 came equally strict, and equally dreaded. Woe 
 to him, who, when permitted to kiss the rough 
 )iand of Paul, failed to make the floor resound by 
 striking it with his knee as loud as a soldier with 
 the butt-end of his firelock. It was requisite too, 
 that the smack of the lips on his hand should be 
 heard, to certify the reality of the kiss, as well as
 
 154 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 of the genuflexion. Prince George Gallitzin, the 
 chamberlain, was put under arrest on the spot by 
 his muscovite majesty himself, for having made the 
 bow and kissed the hand too negligently *. 
 
 Another of Paul's first regulations, was a strict 
 injunction to all tradesmen to efface from the 
 front of their shops the french word magazin, and 
 substitute the russian word lavka (shop) ; assign- 
 ing as a reason, that the emperor alone could 
 have magazines of wood, flour, corn, &c. while 
 a tradesman ought not to be above his condition, 
 but to stick to his shop. 
 
 To report all the ordinances of similar weight 
 and importance that succeeded each other in the 
 course of one week, would be descending into 
 particulars too tedious f. What can be said, 
 
 * Paul, when grand-duke, had a great predilection for 
 etiquette Being once at Monlbelliard, he suddenly took by 
 the arm a young officer of his suite, who was playing at cards, 
 and turning him out of the room, said to those who were 
 playing with the officer, " Gentlemen, that young coxcomb 
 " is not of a proper rank to make one of your party." At 
 the court balls, the dancers were obliged to twist themselves 
 every possible way, that they might not turn their backs upon 
 him when dancing, wherever he might happen to be. Paul 
 will a-llow none to turn their backs but his enemies. Whe- 
 ther they will avail themselves of the permission, if he should 
 give them an opportunity, I will not pretend to say. 
 
 f He has since issued different ukases, prohibiting the 
 wearing of frock coats, waistcoats without sleeves, and pan- 
 taloons. He has forbidden the academy to use the word 
 revolution when speaking of the course of the stars; and has
 
 REFORMATIONS IN ETIQUETTE. 
 
 what can be hoped, of a man, who, succeeding 
 Catharine, could consider the regulating such 
 things as his most urgent business ? Frequently 
 these new and important regulations contradicted 
 or frustrated one another, and what was ordained 
 one day was often obliged to be modified or an- 
 nulled the next. In a word, we may say that 
 Paul, when he wrapped himself in the imperial 
 mantle, let the grand-duke peep out ; that he 
 thought to govern a vast empire as he had go- 
 verned his Pavlofsky ; his capital, like his house ; 
 and thirty millions of men of all ranks and all na- 
 tions, like a score of lackeys. 
 
 Of all the unforeseen changes which he intro- 
 duced without any preparation, those which he 
 made in the army were the most extensive, and 
 the most impolitic. Unquestionably there was 
 room for great reforms and great amendments in 
 the military department. To improve the condi- 
 tion of the brave russian soldier ; to settle that 
 of the officer, which was still more wretched j 
 gradually to diminish the number of supernume- 
 raries ; to restore order and discipline, which the 
 reign of so many women and so many favourites 
 had destroyed j opened a fine field to the military 
 
 enjoined the players to employ the word permission instead of 
 liberty, which they had been accustomed to put in their bills. 
 fie has forbidden the manufacturers to fabricate any tricor 
 loured ribands or stuffs whatever.
 
 156 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 genius of Paul. All he was capable of doing was 
 to multiply irregular promotions, increase a staff 
 already too numerous, and alter uniforms, ranks, 
 terms, and titles. The russian army offered 
 a pattern to be followed, in the beauty, sim- 
 plicity, and convenience of its dress, equally 
 adapted to the climate, and to the genius of the 
 country *. A large charvari, or pair of panta- 
 loons of red cloth, the ends of which terminated 
 in boots of pliable leather, and which was fastened 
 by a girdle over a red and green jacket ; a little 
 helmet well adapted to a soldier, with the hair 
 cut short in the neck, but long enough to cover 
 the ears, and easily kept in order ; constituted 
 the whole of the military uniform. The soldier 
 was dressed in the twinkling of an eye, for he 
 had but two garments ; and their size was such, 
 as allowed him to defend himself from the cold 
 by additions underneath, without infringing upon 
 the uniformity of his external appearance. This 
 neat and warlike equipment is now changed for 
 the antiquated dress of Germany, which the rus- 
 sian soldier abominates : his flaxen locks, which 
 
 * Accordingly the soldier imagined himself much superior 
 to his neighbours, and not without reason. Payl deprived 
 him of this national pride, by compelling him servilely to 
 imitate the Germans "of the last century, whom the Russians 
 imagined they had far outstripped. Paul has acted like a pe- 
 dant, who should turn a scholar back to his a, b, c, for having 
 presumed to learn to read too rapidly.
 
 CHANGES IN THE MILITARY. 157 
 
 he loved to wash every morning, he must now 
 bedaub with grease and flour ; and must spend 
 an hour in buttoning his black spatterdashes, 
 which he curses for pinching his legs. He com- 
 plains so bitterly, that probably the false tail 
 which he is forced to suspend from his poll, will 
 occasion as many desertions as the catogans of 
 St. Germain *. That old original, marshal Suva- 
 rof, when he received orders to establish these 
 novelties, with little sticks for measures and mo- 
 dels of the soldiers tails and side-curls, said, 
 " Hair-powder is not gunpowder ; curls are not 
 <e cannons ; and tails are not bayonets." This 
 sarcasm, which is not destitute of wit, and forms 
 in the russian language a sort of apophthegm in 
 rhime, soon spread from mouth to mouth through 
 the army, and was the true reason that induced 
 Paul to recal Suvarof, and dismiss him from the 
 service. This old warrior was the 'idol of the 
 russian soldiery. 
 
 It was the same with the changes which he 
 made in civil affairs. His wish was to alter, not 
 to improve. For anything to have subsisted un- 
 
 * Before the reign of Paul, desertion was almost unknown 
 to the Russians : now they desert in parties, and repair to 
 Prussia, where whole regiments are formed of them. I asked 
 some of them, why (hey deserted. " Why, Sir," said they, 
 " we are forced to be at our exercise from morning till night 
 " without having anything to eat ; our cloaths are taken from 
 '* us, and we are beaten black and blue." 
 
 7
 
 158 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 der the reign of his mother, was a sufficient reasoft 
 why it should cease under him. A1J the tribunals, 
 all the governments of the empire, have been 
 fresh modelled, and their boundaries altered. 
 That which had been consecrated by its name 
 (Ekaterinoslaf) to the glory of Catharine was abo- 
 lished, and this public affront to the memory of 
 his mother is not less so to the heart of Paul *. 
 
 * There is nothing so trifling to which this microphilist 
 does not descend, to shew disrespect to his mother's memory. 
 The persons belonging to her wore rings, on which the date 
 of her decease was enamelled. The emperor expressed his 
 dissatisfaction at it ; and they were obliged to wear rings with 
 the motto of, Paul consoles me. He is indeed such a coin- 
 ibrter as to make all the world laugh at him. He carried his 
 want of filial regard so far, as to cheek, by his disapprobation, 
 a society of opulent Russians, who had united at Hamburg, 
 under the auspices of the russian minister, to erect a poetical 
 monument to the memory of Catharine. The situation in 
 which major M. stood at that time, and particularly what he 
 owed to two of his friends, induced him to exert his talents 
 on the occasion. The judges of the Lyceum at Hamburg 
 had the courage to adjudge the second prize to the piece he 
 sent, notwithstanding the proscribed sentiments that beamed 
 through the manner in which he spoke of Catharine, and his 
 silence respecting the comforter she left behind, or his allu- 
 sions to him (1). The secretary of the embassy, when he 
 
 (1) The motto of the piece was, Fait ilia et ingens gloria Russorum ; and 
 :: it \vt-re the following verses : 
 
 Mais j'entends retentir une voix gemissante ; 
 Je vois I'Humanite plaintive et menaj ante : 
 Barbares ! arretez : eh! pour qui cet autel ? 
 Voyez ces combattans, ces fers, ces feux, ces armes ; 
 
 Ah ! mon sang et mes larmes 
 Vont eteindre a vos yeux cet encens criminel !
 
 THE PEASANTS. 159 
 
 The reader may judge of the confusion, injustice, 
 wretchedness, and ruin, that such placing and 
 displacing must occasion in Russia : no revolu- 
 
 announced to him the success of his piece, informed him, that 
 they were going to send it to the emperor, and pay his ma- 
 jesty the compliment of this monument, which would be mag- 
 nificent, and cost vast sums of money. At the same time he 
 requested him to write an ode in honour of Paul, to be placed 
 at the head of the pieces that had been approved. M. posi- 
 tively refused this new tribute, which would have been a 
 piece of meanness in him, as he had just been torn from his 
 family, and unjustly proscribed by the emperor. Not receiv- 
 ing the medal, however, which had been adjudged to him, he 
 sent to the secretary to demand it, saying, he would other- 
 wise make a public protest in the newspapers against such an 
 unworthy proceeding. He knew that his piece had spread 
 through the court at Petersburg, where his name had been 
 discovered, though he had taken the precaution to disguise it 
 in an anagram j and this contributed not a little to bring Paul's 
 anathema upon the society at Hamburg. The threat of such 
 a public affront had its effect, and the medal was at length 
 sent, with some excuses for the delay of more than a year, 
 and a confession that the emperor, having disapproved of this 
 
 " But hark, a voice that wildly groans and shrieks ! 
 
 " Humanity bewailing, threat'ning speaks : 
 
 " ' Barbarians, halt! for whom those blood-stain'd fanes? 
 
 " ' Behold yon combatants, yon arms and chains ! 
 
 " ' My blood, my tears, e'en now shall quench the firr, 
 
 " ' And save each hero from the funeral pyre." 
 
 Likewise 
 
 L'aigle puissant dti nord, frappe dans sa carriere, 
 
 Se rabat sur la terre : 
 
 II erre dans la nuit; son astre s'est eteint. 
 " Behold the threat'ning eagle of the north, 
 
 " That soar'd exulting in resistless pow'r, 
 " Struck in his mid career, descends to earth, 
 
 " Wandering in night. His sun shall rise no more."
 
 16O ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 tion ever caused so much for the reforming of 
 every thing, as the accession-of Paul to render all 
 things worse. Upwards of twenty thousand gen- 
 tlemen were thrown out of employ. 
 
 If this new reign has been fatal to the army 
 and to the poor gentry, it has hitherto appeared 
 still more so to the unhappy peasantry, whose 
 chains it tends to rivet. If Paul were determined 
 to borrow an example from Prussia, assuredly it 
 should have been that of her treatment of the 
 Poles, whom treachery had subjected to her domi- 
 nion *. It would not be too much to say, that 
 
 monument to his mother, the illustrious society was afraid of 
 his indignation. Major M. himself communicated to me these 
 particulars, as well as the letters of the secretary. 
 
 * Let the reader compare the ukase of Paul, which enjoins 
 all his subjects to prostrate themselves at his sight, with the 
 order which the young king of Prussia has just given to his 
 ministers, on his return from Poland, where it was with in- 
 dignation he found a people debased almost to as low a de- 
 gree as the Russians. The following is a translation of some 
 fragments of this memorable order, as it appears in the Ja.hr- 
 bucher der Preussischen Monarchic, " Annals of the Prussian 
 " Monarchy," for January 1799 : 
 
 " My dear ministers of state von Voss and von Schroeter : 
 " Daring the tour I have lately made in the new provinces of 
 " Prussia, I have seen that the lowest class of my subjects in 
 " those countries is in a state of civilisation far beneath that 
 " of the other provinces. These miserable beings are de- 
 " gradingly distinguished by the dirtiness of their houses and 
 " clothes, but still more by their servile manners, and a pre- 
 
 " posterous humility In my eyes, and in those of the law, 
 
 " the lowest of my subjects possesses the dignity of a man<
 
 THE PEASANTS. 
 
 the prussian government grants the polish vassals 
 more liberty than Koschiusko could have be- 
 stowed on them, had he been victorious. The 
 king of Prussia, far from imitating Catharine, or 
 Paul, who distributes these slaves among his cour- 
 tiers, thus exposing them to more insupportable 
 private tyranny, has annexed them to his do- 
 mains, and they experience an infinitely m-ilder 
 lot than formerly *. 
 
 A report being spread, that Paul was about to 
 restrict the power of masters over their slaves, 
 
 " The people of these new provinces are still ignorant, of this 
 " dignity, for which they are indebted to the prussian sceptre, 
 " because the inferior officers of government are ignorant of 
 " their duty, and abuse their authority. It is become a pro- 
 " verb among them, that the Polanders must be governed by 
 " the whip ; and I have several times heard complaints of 
 '" such treatment being exercised towards my subjects, while 
 " changing horses," &c. This is the manner in which a king 
 expresses himself who, feeling as a man, is shocked at the 
 sight of a nation of slaves prostrating themselves at his feet. 
 He enjoins his ministers to raise up this degraded nation, by 
 instructing it> civilising it> and punishing abuses of power. 
 
 * All those princes who have wished to raise the people 
 and depress the great, the better to establish the authority of 
 government, have endeavoured to annex all seignorial rights 
 and estates to their own domains. The russian autocrates 
 take the opposite course: thy distribute the domains of the 
 crown among the nobility, to render them more zealous sup- 
 porters of a government more severe than ever was that of 
 the feudal system. By this ill-judged policy they render 
 themselves incapable of restoring liberty to their slaves at a 
 future period. 
 
 M
 
 16'2 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 and give the peasants of the lords the same advan- 
 tages as those of the crown, the people of the ca- 
 pital entertained great expectations from the 
 change. At that juncture an officer set off for 
 his regiment, which lay at Orenburg. On the 
 road he was asked about the new emperor, and 
 what new regulations he was making. He related 
 what he had seen, and what he had heard -, among 
 other things mentioned the ukase which was 
 soon to appear in behalf of the peasants. At this 
 news, those of Tver and of Novgorod indulged 
 in some tumultuous movements, which were con- 
 sidered as symptoms of rebellion. Their masters 
 were violently enraged with them ; and the cause 
 that had led them into the mistake was disco- 
 vered. Paul immediately dispatched old marshal 
 Repnin at the head of some troops against a few 
 villages, whose inhabitants had given scope to 
 their joy in a manner somewhat tumultuous on 
 bearing that their new emperor intended to alle- 
 viate their bondage ; and the officer, who had 
 unwittingly given rise to this false hope, by re- 
 tailing the news of the town on his road, was 
 soon brought back in custody as a criminal, the 
 promoter of rebellion, and a preacher of liberty. 
 The senate of Petersburg judged him deserving 
 of death, and condemned him to be cashiered, to 
 undergo the knoot, and, if he survived that punish- 
 ment, to labour in the mines : and this for having
 
 SOLDATOMANIA. 163 
 
 mentioned at a few post-houses on the road be- 
 tween Petersburg and Orenburg, that the new 
 emperor, from sentiments of humanity, was about 
 to restrict the authority of masters over their vas- 
 sals. The emperor confirmed this absurd and 
 atrocious sentence. This is the first criminal 
 trial that was laid before the public ; and assur- 
 edly it justifies but too well those remains of 
 shame which have hitherto kept secret similar 
 outrages. The senate had the effrontery to affix 
 the seal of justice and law to this sanguinary act, 
 which might no doubt have taken place under 
 the reign of Catharine, yet would have been ac- 
 companied with that silence and mystery in which 
 guilt envelopes itself. But let us quit the cruel- 
 ties of Paul, to return to his absurdities. 
 
 The most prominent of these is that mania 
 which, from his infancy, he has displayed for the 
 military dress and exercise, and which has ever 
 since been increasing. This passion in a prince 
 no more indicates the future general or hero than 
 a fondness for dressing and undressing her doll 
 forebodes the good mother in a girl, who passes 
 her days in those amusements. Frederic the Great, 
 the most accomplished soldier of his time, is well 
 known to have had from his infancy the most in- 
 superable repugnance to all those minutiae of a 
 corporal to which his father would have subjected 
 him : this was even the first source of that diV 
 
 M 2
 
 164 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 agreement which ever subsisted between the fa- 
 ther and son. It was only by stealth that the 
 young Frederic could indulge himself in studying 
 history and literature with his preceptor du Han. 
 Frederic William considered every book, except 
 the Psalms of David and his military regulations, 
 as useless or dangerous ; and when he saw the 
 young Frederic, not confining himself to the 
 guard's march, but wishing to exchange his little 
 drum for a harpsichord, and his fife for a german 
 flute, he forbad him music. This paternal ty- 
 ranny had the opposite effect to what his father 
 intended : it gave more energy to Frederic's re- 
 pressed desires. He acquired information ; he 
 became a hero : his father was never anything 
 more than a corporal *. 
 
 Peter III. carried likewise his soldatomania to 
 a ridiculous excess, fancying he had taken Fre- 
 deric for his model. He was fond of soldiers and 
 arms, as it is common to be fond of horses and 
 dogs. He knew nothing but how to exercise a 
 regiment, and never went abroad but in a cap- 
 tain's uniform. And, after all, this Peter III. at 
 the head of a regiment so well drilled by himself, 
 had not the courage to face a young woman, on 
 her march to meet him with a few companies of 
 
 * I know some young Russians, whose genius the same 
 causes have only served to display : thus a good bow springs 
 from under the hand that beaids it.
 
 SOLDATOMANIA. 165 
 
 the very same guards who were totally ignorant 
 of the prussian exercise. He lost both his crown 
 and his life, without daring to defend them. Cer- 
 tainly a more local, strong, and recent example 
 cannot be adduced against this mania, which 
 seems rather to exclude courage and military 
 talents than to be a sign of them. It is very easy 
 to put on a coarse surtout buttoned over the belly, 
 to wear a greasy hat *, and a sword behind the 
 back : a man may even spend the whole day on 
 the parade, caning the soldiers and abusing the 
 officers : but this would be a satirical caricature 
 of a great king; it would be to represent him as 
 a recruiting officer, affecting to give himself airs. 
 But, says Moliere : 
 
 Quand sur une personne on pretend se regler, 
 C'est par les beaux cotes qu'il lui faut ressembler : 
 Et ce n'est pas du tout la prendre pour modele 
 que de tousser et de cracher comme elle. 
 
 " When Admiration bids us mimic others, 
 
 " We in their virtues should the semblance hit, 
 
 " Nor will the sage and fool e'er pass for brothers, 
 " Because forsooth alike they cough or spit." 
 
 There is one part of this great king's conduct 
 of far more utility, and almost as easy to imitate, 
 
 * Paul affects to wear a dirty hat : but where lies the merit 
 of this? Since he will have every one do his duty, why not 
 make his valets-de-chambres do theirs, in beating and brushing 
 his old beaver ? and, by this important service give them an 
 opportunity of sooner meriting the rank of privy-counsel- 
 lors ?
 
 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 since it requires neither talents nor genius, but 
 merely good will, patience, and a love of justice; 
 this is for a sovereign to receive, like him, the pe- 
 titions and letters of his subjects, but particularly 
 to answer them. The perseverance and exact- 
 ness with which he always adhered to this reso- 
 lution, which he adopted at the commencement 
 of his reign, cannot be too much admired. Whe- 
 ther he granted or refused, whether he found the 
 petition reasonable or unreasonable, he answered 
 every man who addressed him. I have seen se- 
 veral of those answers, admirable for their preci- 
 sion and sagacity ; yet Frederic found time to do 
 and to write other things beside answering let- 
 ters. He did not rise earlier than Paul ; but he 
 staid only a quarter of an hour on the parade, and 
 often did not go to it at all. 
 
 Nothing could be more worthy of a russian au- 
 tocrate than to establish a similar correspondence 
 between himself and his subjects, since arbitrary 
 acts and public violences are nowhere so frequent 
 or so enormous. Hitherto, every man who had 
 the audacity to present a request immediately to 
 the sovereign, even under the reign of Catharine, 
 was sent to prison. Paul appeared to have abo- 
 lished this atrocious custom from the day of his 
 accession, and took some papers that were offered 
 him. He even ordered a sort of office to be con- 
 structed on the stairs of the palace, into which
 
 OFFICE FOR PETITIONS. 167 
 
 any one might put letters ; and gave public no- 
 tice, that he would read them all, make the neces- 
 sary inquiries, and then answer them. In conse- 
 quence, he forbad any one to disturb him in fu- 
 ture on the wacht-parade, and ordered those to be 
 arrested who should thenceforth approach him 
 with a paper in their hand. In the meantime, 
 the box of the letter-office W 7 as soon filled ; and 
 Paul, contrary to his expectation, finding more 
 petitions than accusations, became tired of enter- 
 ing into the merits of them - } and was frightened 
 at their number. He did not reflect that they 
 would necessarily diminish in proportion as he 
 employed more readiness and method in answer- 
 ing them *. Things returned to their former 
 chaotic state ; and the secretaries directed to .exa- 
 mine these pieces are, as before, arbiters of the 
 fate of those unfortunate persons who apply to 
 their master. 
 
 The finances of the empire, exhausted by the 
 prodigalities, and still more by the waste of Ca- 
 
 * Paul has sometimes given orders respecting the letters 
 he has received, but he does not answer them. I myself have 
 drawn up a few very brief, clear, and just requests, for some 
 oppressed persons, which remained unanswered. He now 
 causes his refusals to the petitions he receives to be printed 
 in the Petersburg gazettes. By this means the sovereign, 
 who ought to be in regard to his people what a confessor is 
 to his penitent, publishes himself the secrets of families, anc| 
 betrays the confidence of his subjects.
 
 168 ACCESSION OF PAUL. 
 
 tharine's reign, required a prompt remedy ; and 
 to this Paul seemed at first to turn his thoughts. 
 Partly from hope, partly from fear, the paper 
 money of the crown rose a little in value. It 
 was to be supposed, that the grand-duke of all 
 the Russias, who for thirty years had been obliged 
 to live on an income of a hundred thousand ru-. 
 bles (10,0007.) per annum, would at least have 
 learned economy perforce ; but he was soon seen 
 to heap wealth upon some, and lavish favours upon 
 others, with as much profusion as his mother, 
 and with still less discernment. The spoils of 
 unhappy Poland continued to add to the riches 
 of men already too wealthy *. A man must be 
 
 * I am informed that the emperor, on his coronation, among 
 other gratuities, distributed eighty-two thousand souls among 
 about a score of people ; that is to say, in the language 
 of mortals, that he has made presents of tracts of land inha- 
 bited and cultivated by eighty-two thousand male slaves; for 
 in Russia a woman is not a soul vet. By these donations 
 the emperor cedes the private rights which he claims qver 
 these wretched beings, and the lands they are obliged to cul- 
 tivate, reserving to himself only the sovereignty. Now if we 
 suppose the slave-soul, or peasant, to bring the body, or gen- 
 tleman who possesses it, only seven rubles clear per an- 
 num, which is a very moderate computation, it follows that 
 the emperor has given away so much of the domains of the 
 crown as would produce a neat income of five hundred and 
 seventy-four thousand rubles (37.400/.) which, considering 
 the nature of the property, is a capital beyond estimation. 
 Catharine, by her profusion in this way, had nearly disposed 
 of all her domains ; but the confiscated estates and starosties 
 in Poland constitute the fund to which the present emperor has
 
 FINANCES. 169 
 
 acquainted with the inexhaustible sources whence 
 a russian autocrate can draw his means, not to be 
 struck at the immense presents he bestowed on 
 his courtiers, and at the same time disgusted at 
 the little he has dedicated to the public, to jus- 
 tice, to merited rewards and true beneficence *. 
 
 The eagerness with which Paul seized the 
 reins of government, and the terror inspired by 
 his known rigor and activity, at first disappointed 
 the dark intrigues of the knaves and villains, who 
 had misapplied the treasures of the state to their 
 own profit. The prevention of the scandalous 
 dilapidations of these treasures would double the 
 amount of them; and it is to be presumed, that, 
 every thing being re-modeled, the robbers will 
 be obliged to suspend their operations for a time; 
 but, when once they are acquainted with the 
 emperor's course, they will regulate their own 
 accordingly; they will dig other mines, and con- 
 trive new channels; pillage and collusion will 
 revive, and be reduced to a system, as before. 
 
 recourse. It need not be mentioned, that a population of 
 eighty-two thousand males i Russia or Poland must occupy 
 an immense district. 
 
 * All that Paul's talents have enabled him to do for the 
 restoration of a sort of equilibrium between his receipts and 
 disbursements, is reduced at last to an exorbitant tax, which 
 he has just laid on all the classes of his slaves. The poll- 
 tax of the wretched vassals has been doubled, and a new tax 
 has been imposed upon the nobles, which however the vassal-; 
 must ultimately pay.
 
 170 ACCESSION OF PAUL, 
 
 Theft is a vice inherent in the russian govern- 
 ment, and springs from the character of the na- 
 tion, to which morals, probity, and public 
 spirit are strangers *. 
 
 It must be confessed that, morally speaking, 
 the people about Paul are better than those that 
 were about his mother, and that he will be more 
 culpable than she if he allow the same disorders 
 to prevail. It is true that Catharine pretended 
 to lead her cattle, and that Paul, on the con- 
 trary, will suffer himself to be led by footmen 
 rather than by statesmen; he would feel himself 
 humbled because of his vulgar self-love, in fol* 
 lowing the advice of a man who should seem 
 better informed than himself. The person who 
 has more immediate influence on his actions than 
 his ministers, or even his mistress will ever have, 
 is a valet-de-chambre, by birth a Turk, mace a 
 slave in his infancy, and brought up in his house. 
 It is to this Turk, named Ivan Pavlovitch Ko- 
 teitzof, the generals and great men are eager to 
 pay their court, as the real fountain of Paul's 
 private favour. Love is the strongest and most 
 excusable of passions: its excesses and 'abuses, 
 therefore, appear less odious, and the reign of 
 
 * The French author confesses, that while he was writing 
 this, he scarcely expected to find the same infamous conduct 
 triumphing under a republican form of government, and in a 
 regenerated nation.
 
 VALET DE CHAMBRE EECOME FAVOURITE. 171 
 
 favourites, or of mistresses, will never be so hu- 
 miliating as that of valets. Beside their bad 
 education, which gives a strong prepossession 
 against them, the influence a prince allows them 
 has always something mean and repulsive, and 
 savours strongly of the water-closet *. 
 
 * This Ivan Pavlovitch is at present counsellor of state, 
 and has the title of excellency. Many lackeys, Ilof, or Kam- 
 mer-fouriers, gentlemen of the bed-chamber, are every day 
 rising to the highest posts. Thus extremes meet each other : 
 the muscovite licentiousness leads to that equality of rights 
 which it considers with horror: but here it is a real calamity. 
 A great russian lord was accustomed to hold out his hand 
 familiarly to every scullion or shoe-black that he met at court, 
 styling them brat, or batiuschkq, brother or father. A gen- 
 tleman expressing surprise at this familiarity, the lord said, 
 " It is from policy, sir : between this and to-morrow, these 
 " fellows may become my colleagues." Such is russian 
 equality : it is that of Tarquin cutting off the heads of his 
 tallest poppies, or of a sultan creating his water-carrier prime 
 vizier. This is quite in order : the sultan and the turkish 
 water-carrier, the russian kniaz and estopnik(l) are gene- 
 rally on an equality in knowledge and merit. 
 
 (1) The menial servant that lights the fire? at court.
 
 172 PARALLEL BETWEEN PAUL 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 HAS PAUL REASON TO FEAR THE FATE 
 OF PETER III? 
 
 Parallel between Paul and his father Portrait of the present 
 empress The grand-duke Alexander 'The grand duke Con- 
 stantine Zubof Nicholas Soltikof Markof Arkarof 
 llepnin Suvarofand Valerian Zubof- Traits of the character 
 of Paul, and his principal courtiers or ministers His por- 
 trait Anecdotes of his conduct when grand-duke. 
 
 T)AUL, both in his mode of life while grand- 
 -* duke, and in his conduct since his accession, 
 so strongly resembles his father ; that, changing 
 names and dates, the history of the one might be 
 taken for the history of the other. Both were 
 educated in a perfect ignorance of business, re- 
 siding at a distance from court, where they were 
 treated as prisoners of state rather than as heirs 
 to the crown j making their appearance there 
 from time to time as ghosts or aliens. The aunt 
 of the father [Elizabeth] acted precisely as the 
 mother of the son has done since. The endea- 
 vours of each were directed, to prolong their in- 
 fancy and to perpetuate their insignificance, and 
 even to render them odious and contemptible to 
 the nobles and people. The young princes were
 
 AND HIS FATHER. 173 
 
 both distinguished by great vivacity of body and 
 a great apathy of mind, by an activity which, for 
 want of proper object and aliment, degenerated 
 into turbulence ; that of the father was sunk in 
 debauchery: that of the son, lost in the most in- 
 significant trifles. An unconquerable aversion to 
 study and reflection gave to both that singular 
 infatuation for military puerilities, which would 
 probably have displayed itself less forcibly in 
 Paul had he been a witness of the ridicule they 
 drew upon Peter*. The education of Paul, 
 however, was much more attended to than that 
 
 * A singular opposition may commonly be observed be- 
 tween father and son, if any striking feature exist in their 
 characters. A well-disposed son will frequently possess that 
 virtue which is directly opposite to his father's vice, particu- 
 larly if he has seen its folly, or fallen its victim. I could ad- 
 duce private instances particularly interesting to myself; but 
 those of three or four successive kings of Prussia are particu- 
 larly striking. Frederic I. was as remarkable for his polite- 
 ness and munificence as his son for his roughness and parsi- 
 mony. The great king of Prussia avoided both extremes. 
 The grandfather protected and honoured the sciences osten- 
 tatiously; the son persecuted them, and endeavoured to ren- 
 der them contemptible. The grandson cherished them, and 
 cultivated them himself. The first was a royal courtier; the 
 second, a royal corporal; the third, a royal hero. This con- 
 trast between father and son has not been observable for a 
 long time in Russia, as one has not been the other's suc- 
 cessor; but it is now about to appear in a very striking 
 manner. Catharine and Paul are the t\vo extremes, and the 
 grand-duke Alexander promises fair to be at some future dav 
 .the happy menu between both.
 
 174 PARALLEL BETWEEN PAUL 
 
 of his father. He was surrounded in his infancy 
 by persons of merit, and his youth promised a 
 capacity of no ordinary kind *. It is even pro- 
 bable that the eccentricities he has since con- 
 tracted are to be ascribed rather to the modes of 
 life which he has in a manner been obliged to 
 adopt, than to any natural defects. It must also 
 be allowed, that he is exempt from many of the 
 vices which disgraced Peter: temperance and re- 
 gularity of manners are prominent features of his 
 character; features the more commendable, as 
 having hitherto been rarely found in a russian au- 
 tocrate. To this education and his knowledge 
 of the language and character of the nation, it is 
 owing that he differs from his father in other va- 
 luable qualities. If he has the wisdom to profit 
 by these advantages, he will not fall into the 
 same errors and misfortunes. 
 
 The similarity which, in some instances, has 
 marked their conduct towards their wives, is still 
 more striking; and in their amours, a singular 
 coincidence of taste is observable. Catharine 
 and Mary were the finest women of the court, 
 yet both failed in gaining the affections of their 
 
 * Louis XIV. and Frederic the Great, loaded with 
 favours and honours (hose who had superintended their edu- 
 cation. The aged JEpinus, Paul's tutor, is threatened with' 
 the fate of Seneca and Burrhus. That of colonel L'Harp 
 and major Masson, who were tutors to his son, would be 
 still less mild, should they fall again into the hands of Paul-
 
 AND HIS FATHER. 175 
 
 husbands. Catharine had an ambitious soul, a 
 cultivated mind, and the most amiable and po- 
 lished manners. In a man, however, whose at- 
 tachments were confined to soldiers, to the plea- 
 sures of the bottle, and the fumes of tobacco, she 
 excited no other sentiment than disgust and 
 aversion. He was smitten with an object less 
 respectable and less difficult to please. The 
 countess Vorontzof, fat, ugly in her person, and 
 vulgar in her manners, was more suitable to his 
 low guard-house taste; and she became his 
 mistress*. 
 
 In like manner, the regular beauty of Mary, 
 the unalterable sweetness of her disposition, her 
 unwearied complaisance, her docility as a wife, 
 and her tenderness as a mother, have not been 
 sufficient to prevent Paul from attaching himself 
 to mademoiselle Nelidof, whose disposition and 
 qualities better accord with his own. She is a 
 little homely girl ; but seems desirous, by her wit 
 and address, to compensate for the disadvantages 
 of her person: for a woman to be in love with 
 Paul it is necessary she should resemble himf. 
 
 On their accession to the throne, neither the 
 
 * She got drunk with him, and swore like a trooper: she 
 squinted, and spat when she was talking. 
 
 * He has lately proved fickle. Mademoiselle Nelidof, 
 who lived on tolerable terms with the empress, is dismissed, 
 and a young lady of the name of Lapukhin is now the fa- 
 vourite.
 
 176 PARALLEL BETWEEN PAUL 
 
 father nor the son were favourites either of the 
 court or of the nation, yet both acquired momen^ 
 tary popularity and favour. The first steps of 
 Paul appeared to be modelled, but improved, on 
 those of Peter. The liberation of Koschiusko 
 and other prisoners brought to public recollection 
 the recal of Biren, Munich, and Lestocq, with 
 this difference, that Peter III. did not disgrace 
 those acts of clemency or justice, by ridi- 
 culous violences, or by odious and groundless 
 persecutions. Both issued ukases extremely fa- 
 vourable to the nobility, but from motives essen- 
 tially different, and little to the honour of the son. 
 The father granted to the russian gentry those 
 natural rights which every man ought to enjoy $ 
 while the object of the son was merely to revive 
 those distinctions which in the present day are 
 become obsolete and ridiculous *. In the con- 
 duct which he has observed towards the clergy, 
 Paul, however, has shewn himself a superior po- 
 litician: instead of insulting the priests, and 
 obliging them to shave their beards, he has be- 
 stowed the orders of the empire on the bishops, 
 
 * Paul has now taken it into his head to create an heraldic 
 nobility in Russia! Formerly this gothic institution was un- 
 known there. The tzar Fedor even ordered the patents, of 
 which some families would have availed themselves, to be 
 burned. Have the Russians but now reached the twelfth cen- 
 tury? They were the only nation in Europe, who, in tbeii 
 rapid progress to civilization, bounded over this folly-
 
 AND HIS FATHER. 177 
 
 to put them on a footing with the nobility, and 
 flattered the populace and the priesthood by 
 founding churches from divine inspiration*. 
 
 * A soldier in the guards having stood sentry at a door of 
 the summer palace (an old wooden house in which Elizabeth 
 resided), went to his captain, pretending he had a secret to 
 communicate. He informed him, that while he was on duty, 
 he saw a light in the uninhabited apartments of the palace, 
 and presently some person knocked at the door at which he 
 stood, and called him by name. He had the courage to 
 Jook through the chinks in the door, and there beheld St. 
 Michael. The saint ordered him to go to the emperor, and 
 tell him that he must build him a church on that spot. In 
 consequence, the soldier begged him to speak to the emperor> 
 or he must take the liberty to do it himself, in obedience to 
 his mission. The officer treated the visionary as a madman, 
 and sent him about his business; he, however, mentioned 
 the adventure to the major, who thought proper to relate it 
 to Paul. The soldier was called, and ordered to repeat the 
 account of his vision. The emperor told him, that St. Mi- 
 chael should be obeyed, for he had already been inspired 
 with the design of building him a church, and had even the 
 plan prepared. On this he sent for the model of a church, 
 which be had ready in his closet. Does not this sound like 
 a legend? yet this farce took place at the court of Russia in 
 the month of December 1796, and the author was, in part, 
 a witness to it. The palace is pulling down, and a church 
 and a new palace are begun, dedicated to monseigneur Mi- 
 chael. Gospodi pomiloi (1) ! The miracle is unravelled, 
 when it is known that a cousin of the soldier was one of 
 Paul's valets-de-chambres; and that the soldier, by way of 
 recompense, was promoted to the same post. We may ex- 
 pect soon to see him counsellor of state. 
 
 (1) The usual exclamation which the Russians make, crossing themselves 
 at the same time, when they see any thing extraordinary. It IN one of 
 the burden? of the liunie-, " Lurd have mercy !" 
 
 N
 
 178 PARALLEL BETWEEN PAUL, &C, 
 
 From all which it follows, that Peter had a 
 sounder mind and a better heart, but that he was 
 imprudent ; and that Paul has more subtlety and 
 prejudices, and that he is a hypocrite. 
 
 In his military operations, however, his grand 
 policy appears to have failed him, because here 
 he was hurried away by his ruling passion. The 
 quick and total change of discipline he has intro- 
 duced in his armies has created him nearly as 
 many enemies as there are officers and soldiers. 
 The preference he gives to. the old Germans in 
 his service may prove as fatal to him as it did 
 to his father. In the distrust and suspicions 
 which incessantly haunt him, his inferiority to 
 his father is also apparent. One of the first acts 
 of Peter III. was to abolish the political inqui- 
 sition established by Elizabeth; whereas Paul 
 has prosecuted no scheme with greater alacrity 
 than that of establishing a system of spies, and 
 devising means for the encouragement of in- 
 formers. The blind confidence of the father was 
 his ruin, but it flowed from a humanity of dis- 
 position always respectable. The distrust of the 
 son may not save him : it is the offspring of a 
 timorous mind, which by its suspicions is more 
 apt to provoke than to elude treason. 
 
 From the conformity of character observable,, 
 in so many particulars, between these two 
 princes, we might be led to conclude that the
 
 PORTRAIT OF THE EM'PRESS MARY. 179 
 
 Catastrophe of the one will be that of the other : 
 but this seems at present not at all probable; for 
 striking as the resemblance is between Peter and 
 Paul, the persons who compose their courts, 
 and the circumstances of the times, are no less 
 strikingly different. 
 
 In the first place, the character of Mary, as a 
 wife, is wholly opposite to that of Catharine : 
 sweetness of disposition is her chief character- 
 istic. Her mildness, patience and modesty, have 
 been severely proved by the most rigorous and 
 inconsistent treatment ; and, perhaps, by the per 
 severing exercise of these qualities, she may final- 
 ly triumph. Her time is employed in a succes* 
 sion of duties and occupations suitable to her sex 
 and her station. The education of her children, 
 from whom she has too long been reluctantly se- 
 parated, is at present a source of happiness to 
 her. Her attention to her husband has enabled 
 her to endure fatigues and exercises the least 
 suitable to her sex and her character. How 
 often has she been seen to attend him on horse- 
 back, at the wearisome reviews of Gatshina and 
 Pavlofsky ? Though exhausted with heat and fa- 
 tigue, sometimes drenched with rain, or covered 
 with snow, she has still, by her smiles, expressed 
 her acquiescence *. She is, perhaps, more care- 
 
 * He frequently posted the grand-duchess on an eminence, 
 to serve as a mark or point of attack to his troops, while he 
 
 N 2
 
 ISO PORTRAIT OF TI1L 
 
 ful of her time, and dedicates it to more useful 
 purposes, than any lady in Russia. Music, paint- 
 defended the approaches. One day, I remember, he placed 
 her thus in the ruinous balcony of an old wooden mansion, 
 round which he disposed his troops for defence. One party 
 of troops lie had given to major Lindcner, with orders to 
 make the attack according to his own plan. This plan was 
 to establish the reputation of the major, and Paul prepared 
 for the most able resistance. The princess, meanwhile, re- 
 mained fixed on the turret, exposed to a heavy rain. Paul 
 hastened to every point where he expected the enemy, and 
 pranced about amid the rain as proudly as Charles XII. in a 
 shower of musket-balls. One hour passed after another; the 
 rain redoubled its violence, and no enemy appeared. Paul, en- 
 tertaining a high opinion of his Prussian, presumed that he 
 had made a skilful march behind the wood, to surprise him 
 more effectually. Accordingly he visited, changed and rein- 
 forced his advanced posts every moment, and sent out parties 
 to reconnoitre and scour the country. Frequently a noble im- 
 patience getting the better oi him or his horse, he galloped a 
 considerable way to meet the enemy, with whose tardiness he 
 began to be dissatisfied. Presently his impatience was changed 
 into rage and vexation. Lindener had taken the field early, 
 and made a long round through the estate of Soltikof, to ar- 
 rive at the village : but he had gotten his column entangled 
 among the shrubberies of the gardens, which threw it into 
 confusion, and he knew not how to march out, as he had not 
 room to form his line. The aides-de-camp, who came from 
 Paul every moment to order him to make haste, completed his 
 perplexity ; and he could find no resource but to pretend he 
 was seized with a violent colic, hasten home, and leave his 
 troops to themselves. Paul, enraged at having made such 
 air excellent disposition of his forces in vain, spurred on his 
 horse as hard as he could gallop to the palace, there to digest 
 his rage ; leaving his wife, his army, and those whom he had 
 invited to see this famous manoeuvre, wet to the skin. They 
 had waited from five in the morning till one in the afternoon;
 
 EMPRESS MARY. 181 
 
 rng, etching, embroidery, arc the arts in which 
 she excels, and which have alleviated the soli- 
 tude in which she lived. Reading and study are 
 with her not so much a business as a recreation ; 
 and the management of domestic affairs, and the 
 distribution of charities, serve happily to occupy 
 her hours. Tall, well made, and still in the prime 
 of life, she is rather handsome than pretty ; she 
 has more majesty than grace, and less wit than 
 sentiment. She is a dutiful daughter and an af- 
 fectionate sister, as well as a faithful wife and an 
 excellent mother. Far from forgetting her coun- 
 try and her relations, the splendour which sur- 
 rounds her and the distance which separates 
 them, serve but to increase the warmth of her 
 affection and the vivacity of her remembrance. 
 Her numerous relations are always in her mind ; 
 her correspondence with them occupies many 
 hours of tranquil happiness, and her felicity is 
 doubled by making those whom she loves par- 
 takers of it. She has not, like the ambitious Ca- 
 tharine, flattered the Russians by adopting their 
 manners, their language and their prejudices : she 
 has not attempted to gain the esteem of that na- 
 tion by affecting to despise her own, and to be 
 
 and much in this manner did Mary spend all her mornings, 
 with one or two young ladies at most, one of whom too was 
 Paul's favourite, and received all the attention ofhim and his 
 courtiers.
 
 182 PORTRAIT OF THE 
 
 ashamed of her origin ; but has made herself be- 
 loved for her goodness and respected for her vir- 
 tues *. We might, perhaps, pity her as a wife, 
 were it not that the attachment of her charming 
 family will prove a source of sufficient happiness 
 to her, and Russia may not improbably one day 
 be indebted to her for national content. Her 
 fruitfulness ensures a. more tranquil and natu- 
 ral succession, and the generous blood which 
 she has transfused into the branch of Holstein 
 will mitigate, perhaps, the barbarity which re- 
 mains to it from the house of Romanoff. 
 
 It appears from this sketch, that Paul would 
 have nothing to apprehend from the empress, 
 even though the love of the nation for her, and 
 
 * Nothing can be more astonishing than that such a man 
 as Mirabeau could relate, in his Secret Correspondence, such 
 a silly anecdote of the grand-duchess of Russia. The young 
 man, who is represented as the hero and relater of the story, 
 was assuredly never in the company of that princess, or even 
 at the court of Russia; and there is no truth in the scenery of 
 this adventure, which would appear flat, ridiculous, and un- 
 deserving of notice, had it not been related by Mirabeau. 
 
 f What I say of this princess is a homage to truth : she 
 well knows, and I more strongly ieel, that it cannot be one to 
 gratitude. It must be confessed too, that her good qualities 
 are singularly obscured by a petty vanity, which makes her 
 think and act like a person raised from a low station. The 
 princess Dorothy of Wirtemberg, become M^ry of Holstein- 
 Romanof, might dispense with this gothic haughtiness; for 
 her children, grand-dukes as they are, are no longer chapitra- 
 ble in Germany,
 
 EMPRESS MARY. 183 
 
 its aversion to him, should increase. The guards 
 and the people would in vain entreat Mary to as- 
 cend her husband's throne ; she would reject the 
 invitation with horror. Paul, however, never 
 treated her with becoming respect except when 
 he seemed to stand in awe of her*. The court 
 then saw with astonishment this husband, hither- 
 to so harsh and untractable, change at once his 
 conduct towards her. " On his accession, he 
 granted her the sum of five hundred thousand 
 rubles (50,0001.) for her private expenses, pro- 
 mising her at the same time a more ample pro- 
 visiont. He solicited the return of madame 
 Benkendorf, whom he had some years before dis- 
 missed from the service of his wife with circum- 
 stances of great indignity. To furnish Mary 
 with occupations suitable to the benevolence 
 of her disposition and her sex, he appointed her 
 superior of the convent of young ladies. In 
 fhort he treated her with the respect and atten- 
 tion he ought always to have shewn her. A con- 
 duct, so unexpected from Paul, caused great 
 
 * This period was soon at an end. I am informed, that 
 Mary was put under arrest for twelve hours, for having given 
 one of her women some trifling order which Paul did not ap- 
 prove. It appears that this warlike emperor conducts every- 
 thing in a military style, even in his bed-chamber. 
 
 f As grand-duchess, she had only 60,000 rubles (GOOOl.) a 
 year; and with this sum was more generous, and did more 
 good, than at present.
 
 184 PORTRAIT OF THE 
 
 sensations, and the vulgar ascribed that to his 
 heart which was nothing but the effect of his 
 policy and his fear. I may perhaps be in the 
 wrong, but this at least is certain, that in his 
 treatment of his wife, Paul wisely differs from 
 his father ; who, after his accession to the throne, 
 behaved to Catharine with the same neglect and 
 disrespect as before*. 
 
 We have already seen, that Catharine was 
 prevented by death from executing another de- 
 sign, which would have proved more fatal to 
 Paul, but that the youth and natural good dis- 
 position of his eldest son defeated it; who by the 
 purity of his morals and his personal qualities in- 
 spires a high degree of admiration. That ideal 
 character which enchants us in Telemachus is 
 almost realised in him : however, though his mo- 
 ther may have the domestic virtues of a Penelope, 
 he is very far from having had a Ulysses for his 
 father, or a Mentor for his tutor. He may be re- 
 proached, too, with the same defects which Fe- 
 nelon has allowed in his imaginary pupil f; but 
 
 * It must be confessed, however, that Catharine, whose 
 amours with Stanislaus Poniatofsky were a scandal to the 
 whole court, gave her husband strong reasons for ill treating 
 her ; and that the conduct of Mary is irreproachable. 
 
 f " With a generous and well-disposed heart, he appeared 
 " neither obliging nor sensible to friendship, nor liberal nor 
 " grateful for the pains taken on his account : neither was he 
 " prompt to acknowledge merit/' &c. Telemachus, book 
 xvi.
 
 GRAND-DUKE ALEXANDER. 185 
 
 these are, perhaps, not so much failings as the ab- 
 sence of certain qualities not yet developed in 
 him, or which have been stifled in his heart by 
 the miserable companions that have been as- 
 signed him. He inherits from Catharine an ele- 
 
 o 
 
 vation of sentiment and an unalterable equality 
 of temper ; a mind just and penetrating and an 
 uncommon discretion ; but a reserve and circum- 
 spection unsuitable to his age, and which might 
 be taken for dissimulation, did it not evidently 
 proceed rather from the delicate situation in 
 which he was placed between his father and 
 grandmother, than from his heart, which is natu- 
 rally frank and ingenuous. He inherits his mo- 
 ther's stature and beauty, as well as her mildness 
 and benevolence, while in none of his features 
 does he resemble his father, and he must certain- 
 ly dread him more than love him. Paul, conjec- 
 turing the intentions of Catharine in favour of 
 this son, has always behaved coldly towards him; 
 since ne discovers in him no resemblance of cha- 
 racter, and no conformity of taste with himself: 
 for Alexander appears to do whtt his father re- 
 quires of him, from a principle of filial duty ra- 
 ther than compliance with his own inclinations. 
 His humanity has acquired him the hearts of the 
 soldiers, his good sense the admiration of the of- 
 ficers : he is the constant mediator between the 
 autocrat and those unhappy persons who, by some
 
 18(5 PORTRAIT OF THE 
 
 trifling neglect, may have provoked imperial 
 wrath and vengeance. This pupil ofL'Harpe 
 requires not the dignity of grand-duke of Russia 
 to inspire sentiments of love and interest; nature 
 has richly endowed him with the most amiable 
 qualities, and his character of heir to the greatest 
 empire in the world, cannot render them indiffe- 
 rent to humanity. Heaven, perhaps, may have 
 destined him to render thirty millions of people 
 more free than they are -at present, and more 
 worthy of being so. 
 
 His character, however, though amiable, is 
 passive. He wants the courage and confidence 
 to discover the man of merit, always modest and 
 unobtrusive - y and it is to be feared, that the most 
 importunate and impudent, who are generally 
 the most ignorant and vicious, will find least dif- 
 ficulty in procuring access to him. Yielding too 
 easily to the impulses of others, he does not suf- 
 ficiently consult his own heart and understand- 
 ing. He appears to have lost his relish for in- 
 struction, on losing his masters, and especially 
 colonel L'Harpe, his first preceptor, to whom he 
 owes all the knowledge he has acquired. A pre- 
 mature marriage may have contributed to di- 
 minish his energy and it is probable that, not- 
 withstanding his good qualities, he will become 
 in time the dupe of his courtiers, and even of his 
 valets.
 
 GRAND-DUKE ALEXANDER. 187 
 
 From this account of his character, it cannot 
 be supposed that he will ever undertake of him- 
 self the odious project with which Catharine 
 wished to inspire him. However, during the last 
 illness of the empress, and for several days after 
 her death, he was detained about the person of 
 his father with such marks of tenderness as seemed 
 to betray symptoms of distrust. Scarcely was he 
 allowed an hour in the day to visit his young du- 
 chess. The emperor surrounded him with offi- 
 cers on whom he thought he could rely, and re- 
 moved from their places all those who were not 
 his creatures and spies : he took from him his own 
 regiment to give him another, and appointed him 
 military governor of Petersburg, naming at the 
 same time, for his assistant or guardian, the fero- 
 cious Araktscheief. The revenue of the young 
 prince, which hitherto had not exceeded thirty 
 thousand rubles* -(30001.) was increased to two 
 hundred thousand (20,0001.) ; and his father, by 
 employing him in many trifling concerns, which 
 detained him about his person nearly the whole 
 
 * The great, the generous Catharine, whose magnificence 
 astonished the universe, and who gave rubles by millions to 
 her favourites, left her son and grandson in want of necessa- 
 ries. Thirty thousand rubles in paper for a grand-duke of 
 all the Russias ! equal to sixty thousand livres trench money 
 (25001.) Sometimes they were given in gold or silver: but 
 they who had the management of the revenues of the young 
 princes, took care to play the usurer, so that in their hands 
 thev were diminished nearly half.
 
 188 PORTRAIT OF THE 
 
 day long, was manifestly desirous of watching 
 over him himself. It is impossible not to praise 
 the emperor for having thus brought about by 
 means so mild and natural, the object of his un- 
 just suspicions ; and we are pleased with these 
 marks of affection for his children, after being- 
 fifteen years without having the resolution to give 
 them the least proof of his regard *. 
 
 The vulgar, who in general judge from the 
 most deceitful appearances, perceiving in the 
 grand-duke Alexander a reserve and circumspec- 
 tion of conduct, which they mistook for pride, 
 were at first charmed with his younger brother 
 Constantine. This prince docs not possess the 
 advantage of so agreeable and prepossessing a 
 person as his brother; grimace serves him for 
 wit, and buffoonery procures him popularity. He 
 exhibits more than one trait of resemblance to 
 the unhappy tzarovitch Alexius, especially in his 
 aversion for the sciences, and the rudeness of his 
 manners. He possessed, however, the germs of 
 a sound heart and understanding, which his first 
 masters neglected to cultivate, and which colonel 
 L'Harpe attempted in vain to improve, by extir- 
 
 * I am informed that the grand-duke Alexander has just 
 been placed by Paul in the office of Besborodko, as Frederic 
 the Great was by his father in the office of a minister, to 
 perform the functions of a simple clerk. Whether it be la 
 procure him instruction, or to humble and punish him, the 
 young prince will be one day the better for it.
 
 GRAND-DUKE CONSTANTINE. 189 
 
 pating the weeds that checked their growth. It 
 will be happy for Constantine, when he arrives 
 at an age of more discretion, should he revive and 
 cultivate them himself. 
 
 In other respects, he is a son worthy of his fa- 
 ther : the same eccentricities, the same passions, 
 the same severity, and the same turbulence. He 
 will never possess the information which his fa- 
 ther has acquired, nor his capacity, though he 
 promises in time to equal, and even to surpass 
 him, in the art of manoeuvring a dozen automa- 
 tons. Can it be believed, that a prince of se- 
 venteen, lively and vigorous, would, on the morn- 
 ing after his marriage to a young and beautiful 
 woman, leave his bride at five o'clock to ma- 
 noeuvre, by dint of blows, in the court of his pa- 
 lace a couple of soldiers, who were placed there as 
 centinels ? Yet such was the conduct of the grand- 
 duke Constantine. I know not whether this mi- 
 litary mania announces a good general, but 
 sure I am that it is a proof of a very bad hus- 
 band *. 
 
 * Some time before his marriage, he had a detachment of 
 soldiers given him for his amusement. After having -tor- 
 mented these poor wretches for some months, he went so i'ar 
 as to cane the major who commanded them. The major had 
 the courage to complain to count Soltikof, and the favourite 
 related the story to the empress. She ordered her grandson 
 under arrest, and took from him his soldiers, who were not
 
 190 
 
 Paul, though he found in his own family iio 
 cause to fear the misfortunes of his father, or any 
 attempt dangerous to his tranquillity, had not 
 equal reason to be satisfied on the part of the no- 
 bility. It is certain that he was disliked by them 
 all, and for ten years had been the object of their 
 ridicule at the court of his mother : but Potem- 
 kin was no more. A diminutiveness in virtue as 
 in vice, was the characteristic of all who ap- 
 proached the throne : no one possessed that 
 strength of capacity which is necessary to accom- 
 plish a revolution, and all wanted that energy 
 which great crimes demand. Catharine might^ 
 with more justice than the countess of Muralt, 
 have bestowed on her ministers the epithet which 
 she gave to her wits *. A slight sketch of each 
 of these personages will be sufficient to prove 
 the truth of what I have advanced. 
 
 returned to him till after his marriage. Many other stories 
 might be told of this young prince, but it would be only re- 
 peating the vulgar tricks of a boy without education. His 
 grandmother perceived it too late to remedy it. In his child- 
 hood he bit and struck his masters ; now he strikes the officers 
 at their exercise, and knocks out the teeth of the poor sol- 
 diers. The king of Sweden being with all the court at a ball 
 given by Samoilof, he said to him, " Do you know in whose 
 
 " house you are ? That of the greatest w in Peters- 
 
 " burg." His grandmother put him under arrest. 
 
 * It is well known that she called them mes betes.
 
 ZUBOF. 191 
 
 Count and prince Zubof, the last official fa- 
 vourite of Catharine, was thirty years of age and 
 upwards. He was far from possessing the ge- 
 nius and ambition of Orlof and Potemkin, though 
 at last he united in his person more power and 
 credit than those celebrated favourites had ever 
 enjoyed. Potemkin was indebted for his ele- 
 vation almost solely to himself. Zubof owed 
 his to the infirmities of Catharine. He increased 
 in power, in riches, and in credit, in proportion 
 as the activity of Catharine diminished, her 
 vigour abated, and her understanding declined. 
 During the last years of her life, this young man 
 found himself literally autocrat of all the Russias, 
 He had the folly to wish, or to appear, to direct 
 everything ; but, having no knowledge of the 
 routine of business, he was obliged to reply, to 
 those who asked him for instructions, Sdela'itc 
 kak pregede, " Do as before." Nothing equalled 
 his haughtiness but the servility of those who 
 eagerly prostrated themselves before him ; and it 
 must be acknowledged, that the meanness of the 
 russian courtiers has always surpassed the im- 
 pudence of the favourites of Catharine. All 
 crouched at the feet of Zubof: he stood erect, 
 and thought himself great. Every morning a 
 numerous court besieged his doors, and filled his 
 antichambers. Veteran generals and grandees of 
 the empire did not blush to caress the lowest of
 
 PORTRAIT OF ZUBOF. 
 
 his valets *. Stretched in the most indecent Un- 
 dress on a sofa, his little finger in his nose, his 
 eyes vacantly turned up to the cieling, this young 
 man, of a cold and vain physiognomy, scarcely 
 vouchsafed his attention to those who surrounded 
 him. He amused himself with the tricks of his 
 ape, leaping on the shoulders of his degraded 
 courtiers, or conversed with his buffoon ; while 
 the veterans, under some of whom he had been 
 a Serjeant, the Dolgorukys, the Gallitzins, the 
 Soltikofs, and all who were distinguished for 
 their exploits or their crimes, standing around 
 him, waited with profound silence till he conde- 
 scended to turn his eyes towards them, that they 
 might again prostrate themselves before hjm. 
 The name of Catharine figured in his conversa- 
 tion, but he scarcely deigned to pay the heir of 
 the crown that exterior respect which the eti- 
 quette of the court required ; and even Paul was 
 forced to humble himself before a petty officer 
 of the guards, who, but a short time before, had 
 begged his pardon for having offended one of 
 his dogs f. To obtain money or favours for his 
 
 * These vaiets have been frequently seen to beat back 
 the officers and generals who crowded round the doors, and 
 prevented them from being shut. 
 
 f Paul had a dog of which he was fond. This dog, roam- 
 ing- round the palace, attempted to snatch a piece of meat 
 from a trumpeter belonging to the guards. The soldier gave 
 him a blow over the head with his trumpet. The dog ran
 
 PORTRAIT OF ZUBOF. 193 
 
 dependants, the grand-duke Constantino paid 
 him the most assiduous court. Meanwhile, none 
 of the twelve favourites of Catharine appeared 
 so poorly endowed in person and mind as Zubof. 
 In his elevation, he displayed no genius, no vir- 
 tues, no passions, unless we account as such the 
 vanity and avarice which distinguished him; ac- 
 cordingly, when his power expired, his empti- 
 ness was apparent. The immense wealth of his 
 family, and the vast estates extorted by his fa* 
 ther from the landholders of his provinces, are 
 the monuments which he has left of his adminis- 
 tration *. The death of the empress reduced 
 
 howling and bloody to the apartments of Paul, who was in a 
 rage on hearing the story. " So !" cried he, " everything 
 " belonging to me, everything I love, is an object of persecu- 
 " tion. I have but one dog, and they want to kill it. Let 
 " the officer on guard be sent to me, and he shall be pu- 
 "' rushed !" The officer on guard at that time was Zubof, 
 who> informed of the rage of the grand-duke, went and threw 
 himself at the feet of Soltikof, his patron, to beg he would go 
 with him and solicit his pardon. It was with difficulty Solti- 
 koi" could obtain it; for Paul was persuaded that his dog had 
 been beaten out of hatred to him, and because he was detested 
 by the guards. The trumpeter maintained that he did not 
 know to whom the dog belonged ; and this Paul took for a 
 fresh insult, for which he would certainly have inflicted a se- 
 vere punishment, had it been in his power. 
 
 * ZuboPs father was made a senator; and, to enrich him- 
 self, he bought up all the old causes in the court, or made the 
 parties relinquish them to him, and then in the senate decided 
 them himself, or caused them to be decided in his favour.
 
 194 PORTRAIT OF ZUBOF. 
 
 him in a moment to the obscurity from which 
 she had drawn him ; as the ephemeron of a day, 
 produced by the sun, flutters in his cheering 
 beams, but cannot survive the passing breeze. 
 Zubof lamented Catharine, as a son bewails the 
 loss of his mother ; and this was the only mo- 
 ment of his life in which he appeared at all in- 
 teresting. It is also just to observe, that, min- 
 gling with the crowd, he discovered more readily 
 the station that was suitable to his insignificance, 
 than the courtiers did theirs, which ought to 
 have been still by his side. They shewed them- 
 selves yet more base than he was humbled ; and 
 though for the first days his antichambers were 
 deserted, for a long time afterwards, when he 
 appeared at court, the stupid courtiers made 
 way for him, and prostrated themselves before 
 him as before a sovereign; so difficult is it for 
 slaves to rise from their servility ! We must do 
 him the farther justice to acknowledge, that he 
 did not, like a Mentchikof and a Biren, people 
 the deserts of Siberia ; though, at the instigation 
 of Esterhazy and other trench emigrants, he com- 
 mitted acts of great injustice and inquisitorial 
 violence ; and the calamities of Poland may in 
 part be considered as his work. 
 
 The emperor, \vho, at the moment of his ac- 
 cession, had treated him with astonishing respect,.
 
 PORTRAIT OF ZUBOF. 195 
 
 confirmed him, in the most flattering terms, in 
 all his employments; bestowed on his brother 
 the first order of Russia, solely for having under- 
 taken a journey to Gatshina ; made him a pre- 
 sent of one of his military uniforms; the .em- 
 peror, I say, having measured his man, perceived 
 that he had nothing to fear from him ; accord- 
 ingly, the seal was suddenly put on his chancery, 
 and it wr.s the grand-duke Coustantine, lately 
 his most assiduous courtier, who executed this 
 commission, as officer of the police, with all the 
 brutality which is natural to him*. His secre- 
 taries were banished, or driven from the court f; 
 
 * It is to be observed, that Zubof, who had al! the places 
 in his hands, and the secretaries, who had all the business 
 in theirs, were sent off in four-and-twenty hours, without 
 making them give any account, or demanding any informa- 
 tion. The confusion this occasioned will appear in the sequel. 
 
 t The two most famous are Altesti and Gribofsky. The 
 former is a Ragusan, whom the russian minister Bolkunof 
 took from a merchant's compting-house in Constantinople to 
 employ him in his office. When war was declared, he came 
 to Petersburg to solicit employment, and got into the service 
 of Zubof, who was growing in favour. He understood 
 several languages, and was not destitute of sense. He soon 
 became the penman of Zubof, and even of the empress. A 
 pamphlet, which he wrote in french against the king and re- 
 volutionists of Poland, and in which he treated the former 
 as a factionary, the latter as jacobins, stuffing it with epithet^, 
 lies, stupidities, and flattery, established his reputation and 
 his fortune. This libel was spread abroad like a manifesto. 
 Titles, orders of knighthood, and slaves, were presently la- 
 vished on Altesti. Not contented with these gifts, he en- 
 
 O 2
 
 196 PORTRAIT OF ZUBO,. 
 
 his creatures exiled, or imprisoned * ; and all the 
 officers of his staff, or of his suite, upwards of two 
 hundred in number, were obliged to join imme- 
 
 riuhcd himself prodigiously by other means. The Polish 
 confederates, the governments, the Kozacks, &c. were 
 eager to purchase liis protection and services by hard ducats. 
 All the affairs of Poland were in his hands, and on him de- 
 pended wealth, liberty, and life ; since it was he who made 
 out the lists of the proscribed. He grew uncommonly 
 haughty and impudent; but an impertinent trick he played 
 count Golovin, who had the courage to complain of it, at 
 length ruined him. He had orders to retire to his estates; but 
 Zubof had obtained his recal, and he was on the point of re- 
 entering into office a few davs before the death of Catharine. 
 One of the first orders 6f Paul was an injunction to him to 
 depart in twenty-four hours. Altesti has talents, but is un- 
 grateful: he occasioned the disgrace of Bolkunof, his first 
 benefactor. Gribotsky, the other secretary, was a Russian. 
 He had not the understanding of his colleague, but perhaps 
 a better heart, and acquired nearly equal inlluence. He 
 was the son of a clergyman, and began his career as a co- 
 pyist in the office of Potemkin. In less than two years, 
 under Zubof, he attained the rank of colonel, and his luxury 
 and expensive mode of living astonished and disgusted all 
 Petersburg. The finest ladies admired his person, and he 
 \va> flattered by the greatest lords. He kept a band of 
 music, buffoons, mistresses, and horses. In the spring he 
 gave suppers, with desserts of fruit not to be equalled at the 
 empress's table; and I wa r , present at an entertainment 
 where every one paid his shot, the dessert of which, furnished 
 by him, was reckoned, on account of the season, at live 
 hundred rubles (,H>/.) 
 
 * Among others, Kapief, a young man, who would liave 
 deserved a better fate had his heart been equal to his head: 
 he was accused of having said (o one of his fiiends, whom he 
 met in Paul's new uniform, " Bon jour, beau masque!"
 
 PORTRAIT OF ZUBOF. 197 
 
 diately their respective corps, or give in their re- 
 signation. To remove him with less indignity 
 from the palace, a large mansion was given him 
 as a present, and all his offices were then with- 
 drawn. He did not himself give in his resig- 
 nation of thirty different employments till in re- 
 ality he no longer held them. The emperor 
 created Nicholas Soltikof field-marshal, and re- 
 stored to his office the administration of military 
 affairs, which had been taken from it by Zubof. 
 It was then that the disorders and abuses which 
 pervaded the service were discovered. The fa- 
 vourite, who, to enrich himself, carried on a 
 war in Persia, the conducting of which was en- 
 trusted to his brother*, had not condescended to 
 submit to the college of war the ordinary reports; 
 and the troops which he had marched towards 
 Gallicia were equally neglected: so that when 
 it became necessary to make a new arrange- 
 ment of the army, it was not known where 
 the greater part of the regiments were, and still 
 less in what condition they would be found. 
 Officers, who had to rejoin their corps, knew 
 not to what quarter of the world they should set 
 
 * At the empress's table, during the visit of the king of 
 Sweden, the conversation turned on some news just brought 
 by a courier. " It is nothing," said Zubof to a Swede : 
 " my brother sends us word, that he has gained a battle and 
 " conquered a province: that is nothing ne\v."
 
 198 PORTRAIT OF ZtfBOF. 
 
 off to find them, and in vain attended the offices 
 to obtain the necessary information*. 
 
 A few weeks after, Zubof obtained permis- 
 sion, or rather received orders, to quit Russia. 
 Like all his predecessors, he went into Germany 
 to exhibit the brilliant?, the orders, and the por- 
 traits which he had received from Catharine : but 
 of all the gifts of his old mistress, the rubles are 
 those which he has used with most discretion. 
 After having taken with him a girl disguised as 
 a valet, he fell in love at Tceplitz with a pretty 
 emigrant of the name of Roche-Aimon : but he 
 there soon became acquainted with the young 
 
 * This was frequently the case in Russia; but the fol- 
 lowing will excite more astonishment. A Frenchman, the 
 chevalier Roger, having solicited count Soltikof, through the 
 medium of major M. to give him the post of commandant of 
 some remote place, as he wished for such a retirement, 
 where he might live with his wife more cheaply, the minister 
 gave orders to see whether any such place was vacant. 
 Being informed that fort Peter and Paul in the government 
 of Orenberg was without a commandant, Roger was ap- 
 pointed to the post, and set off. Some months after, major 
 M. received a letter from Roger in the following words: 
 " I am arrived in the country where my fort was said to be j 
 " but judge of my surprise on being informed that it was 
 " destroyed by Pugatshef twenty years ago, and exists no 
 " longer. Finding myself in a desert with my family, with- 
 *' out an asylum, and without resource, I have been obliged 
 " to return to Orenburg." This letter was shewn to the mi- 
 nister, who gave Roger another post.
 
 PORTRAIT OF ZUBOF. 199 
 
 princesses of Courland, who, with the graces 
 and beauty they inherit from their mother, and 
 the immense fortunes which their father will 
 leave them, are the greatest fortunes in Europe. 
 He endeavoured, accordingly, to pay his court 
 to the old duke, whom a little before he had at- 
 tempted to strip of his sovereignty, and towards 
 whom he had assumed so much haughtiness at 
 Petersburg. The duke expressed to him his 
 resentment and contempt; but Zubof, unaccus- 
 tomed to meet with obstacles, conceived the 
 design of carrying off the eldest princess by force. 
 Whether, however, the duke complained to the 
 emperor, or Paul was actuated by other motives, 
 he dispatched an order to Zubof to return to 
 Russia ; and it is probable that the last favourite 
 of Catharine has, by this time, acted his last 
 part. 
 
 Count Nicholas Soltikof, field marshal, mi- 
 nister of war, and grand master to the young 
 grand-dukes * * * * 
 
 The old vice-chancellor Ostermann, whom 
 Paul eagerly advanced to the post of chancellor, 
 in order to get rid of him, burdened with old 
 age and infirmities, no longer appeared at court 
 but as a memorial of past times. He was far 
 from acting under Catharine the part which his 
 father played in the reign of Anne, and from de- 
 serving the same disgrace from Paul which his 
 father had merited from Elizabeth. He had the
 
 20O PORTRAIT OF OSTERMANN. 
 
 name only of vice-chancellor, and the dispatch 
 of some passports which were given him to sign. 
 Diplomatic and foreign affairs were divided in 
 the office of Zubof between Besborodko and 
 Markof, who were the actual authors of all the 
 ministerial papers ; and the first of whom parti- 
 cularly enjoyed an immense influence, which 
 even balanced that of the favourite. 
 
 Besborodko and Markof were perfect con- 
 trasts to each other. The one was aukward, 
 clownish, negligent, disorderly, with his stockings 
 about his heels, and had the gait of an elephant; 
 though richly habited, he appeared always as if 
 he had dressed himself at the conclusion of a de- 
 bauch, which still oppressed him with the stupi- 
 dity of drowsiness: the other was so minutely 
 attentive to dress, that he might pass for the 
 ridiculous marquis of some of our comedies ; and 
 so absurdly affected that he never entered a room 
 or bowed but according to the rules of a dancing- 
 master, never walked but on his toes, and never 
 took snuff without displaying the brilliants which 
 sparkled on his fingers. When he spoke too, it 
 was always in the ear of the person with whom 
 he discoursed : his conversation consisted of bon- 
 mots, his answers of points ; and the same study 
 and affectation were perceptible in his attempts 
 at wit as in his dress and manners. 
 
 Besborodko, notwithstanding the depravity of 
 his morals, is active, and occasionally laborious.
 
 PORTRAIT OF BESBORODKO. '201 
 
 Promoted from the situation of clerk in the chan- 
 cery to the rank of prime-minister*, he is well 
 acquainted with the routine of affairs, and writes 
 with facility; but the negligence and disorder 
 which characterise his person are equally percep-. 
 tible in all the offices under his administration, 
 and particularly in the management of posts, of 
 which he is director-general, and which is an 
 office open to the inspection of every one f . 
 
 Before his appointment, it was the best con- 
 ducted public institution in Russia : under his 
 administration it will soon become the worst. 
 His office is a devouring gulph, from which 
 nothing returns; and the advantages which prin- 
 cipally distinguish his house are the multitude of 
 
 * At first a writer in the office of Romanzof, he became 
 secretary to Catharine, and the following is said to have been 
 the making of his fortune. Having been ordered one clay to 
 draw up an ukase, he forgot it, and appeared before the em- 
 press without it. On her asking for it, Besborodko, without 
 being disconcerted, took from his pocket a sheet of blank 
 paper, in which he began to read, as if it contained the 
 ukase in question. Catharine, satisfied with the language, 
 asked for the paper, that she might sign it, and was much 
 astonished to find it blank. This facility of extemporaneous 
 composition struck her; and far irom reproaching the secre- 
 tary with his negligence or deceit, she made him minister of 
 state, for knowing the style of a ukase by heart, and having 
 had the boldness to impose it on her. 
 
 f Of all parts of the country, the estates of the director- 
 general of the post were those where horses were never to 
 be had, and where travellers were sure to be taken in.
 
 202 PORTRAIT OF MAJRKOF. 
 
 entrances and secret stair-cases by which he coiv 
 trives to escape, in quitting, or shun, in entering, 
 the unhappy expectants, who wait whole days 
 in the antichamber*. It is necessary to have 
 the clue of Ariadne to reach this Minotaur ; who, 
 without doubt, would be found at the extremity 
 of his labyrinth, engaged in preying upon some 
 young beauty. 
 
 If the morals of Markof are not edifying, it 
 must be admitted that he does not traverse tha 
 Metschansky -f like Besborodko. He is attached 
 to a tragic actress of the name of Hus, who has 
 great influence over him, and who at least endea- 
 vours to be respectable in the character of mo- 
 ther, which her admirer often succeeds in con- 
 ferring upon her J. On the talent which is 
 
 * It is said that an attorney, not being able to get sight 
 of him, at length contrived to slip into his carriage, and wait 
 for him there. Besborodko, astonished at the boldness of 
 the scheme, heard the man's tale, and promised to make his 
 business known to the empress : but the man would not quit 
 his post, and remained in the carriage till Besborodko came 
 out of the palace, that he might have an answer. Report 
 says it was a favourable one. 
 
 | The name of that quarter of Petersburg in which girls 
 of the town most abound. 
 
 J The emperor, by a refinement of vengeance, forbad la 
 Hus to accompany Markof in his exile; saying, she belonged 
 to the court, and not to him. This tragic actress, who pos- 
 sesses considerable talents, had converted the french theatre 
 into an aristocracy, over which she presided.
 
 PORTRAIT OF MARKOF. 203 
 
 ascribed to these two ministers, of being able, the 
 one to translate impromptu into russ, the other 
 into French, the ministerial papers, I set but little 
 value. All the compositions I have read of the 
 one or of the other, especially of Markof, have 
 neither been distinguished for elegance of style, 
 nor clearness of expression. I do not speak of lo- 
 gic, the details which they have had to give having 
 been generally too absurd to assort with it. Be- 
 sides, under Catharine II. russian diplomatics did 
 not require splendid talents. She employed two 
 means more persuasive than either argument or 
 eloquence threats and money, the effects of 
 which are always fear and corruption. 
 
 The prejudice of many parts of Europe, and 
 especially of Germany, in favour of Russia, is 
 astonishing. It is thought, that the cabinet of 
 Petersburg is composed of men of superior abi- 
 lities : the court of Vienna crouches beneath its 
 influence, and that of Berlin has not yet been able 
 to dismiss its fears and respect. Doubtless, if 
 the intelligent statesmen of Germany could have 
 a clear view of those men who seem to dazzle 
 their eyes, they would be ashamed of having so 
 long mistaken the false lustre of a piece of rotten 
 wood for the true radiance of genius, paper for 
 money, boastings for greatness, and presumption 
 for ability. 
 
 Besborodko, who had always worn shoes and 
 4
 
 ;X)4 PORTRAIT OF SAMOILOF. 
 
 buckles like Paul, and who was moreover ex~ 
 tremely rich and powerful, was at first treated 
 with respect *. Markof, who did not possess 
 these advantages to the same degree, was dis- 
 missed with indignity, and publicly disgraced, 
 He is the same person who was formerly sent 
 from Holland to Paris, where he is still remem- 
 bered by the appellation of the insipid Markof. 
 
 The present count Samojlof, procureur-general 
 of the empire, had no other merit than that of 
 being the nephew of Potemkin, and having a few 
 affected resemblances of his figure. His capa- 
 city was unequal to the duties of his functions, 
 by which he was grand-treasurer and president 
 of the senate, and of all the courts of the empire. 
 Jt was against his own inclination that he was 
 called from the army to fill these civil employ- 
 ments. He acknowledged that he did not pos- 
 sess the necessary talents j but his deficiency was 
 his chief recommendation, for a passive agent 
 was wanted, unable, from incapacity, to counter- 
 act the views of Catharine or her favourites. It 
 was at his house that the infamous inquisition re- 
 assembled which Ann erected under the name of 
 
 * He was made a prince, and was worthy of being one. 
 He continued Paul's prime-minister; and it was he who, in 
 the name of his master, declared war on the french republic; 
 citing as a motive decrees, which I believe were known only 
 to himself. He is since dead.
 
 PORTRAIT OF ARKAROF. 205 
 
 the Secret Chancery, which Peter III. thought i 
 his duty to abolish, which Catharine revived under 
 another form, and the worthy members of which 
 Paul carefully distributes in the antechambers of 
 particular houses. The palace of Samoilof, which 
 is one of the most elegant in Petersburg, con- 
 tains several prisons for the detention of accused 
 persons, where they were safely kept till other- 
 wise privately disposed of. It was apparently 
 on that account alone that many considered it as 
 a public building. In other respects, Samoilof 
 was insignificant and like the ass carrying reliques. 
 Paul, to reward him for the readiness with which 
 he caused the oath of fidelity to be taken by the 
 senate, bestowed on him four thousand peasants, 
 under pretence that his mother had already pro- 
 mised them. Some days after he was suddenly 
 removed from his place, and prince Kurakin ap- 
 poinfed his successor. 
 
 But the man against whom the blood and tears 
 of thousands of victims cried most loudly for ven- 
 geance, he who ought to have suffered first be- 
 neath the axe of justice, if the successor of Ca- 
 tharine had been endowed with firmness, equity, 
 and humanity, was Arkarof, governor-genefal of 
 Petersburg. This man, or rather this ferocious 
 savage, had distinguished himself for a long time 
 by a brutality worthy of an executioner in the 
 train of Attila. He was governor of Tver, where
 
 206 PORTRAIT OF ARKAROF. 
 
 he exercised a system of robbery, the particulars 
 of which would excite horror, and appear incre- 
 dible, when Catharine towards the end of her 
 life, placed him near her person. This is the 
 man whom she judged worthy to be the guardian 
 of her crown, when the french revolution, the 
 Zubofs, the Esterhazys, and perhaps her own 
 remorse, began to fill her with suspicions and 
 terror. He soon displayed, in a more extensive 
 field, those horrid qualities which had been the 
 scourge of the provinces of Mosco and Tver. 
 Upon the death of Catharine, the fall of Zubof, 
 and the accession of Paul, the punishment of this 
 monster was expected as an event that could not 
 fail to take place. Innumerable victims of his 
 tyrannies cast themselves at the feet of Paul, de- 
 manding justice and vengeance. The emperor, 
 however, granted no redress to complaints of 
 abuse of power or oppression, but contented him- 
 self with commanding Arkarof to pay some debts. 
 This vice-tyrant was too useful to the system 
 which Paul was about to introduce, to have any- 
 thing farther to dread. Of all those who en- 
 joyed the confidence of the mother, he was, by a 
 horrible exception in favour of his talents, the 
 only one who obtained the confidence of the son. 
 He was confirmed in all his former, and even 
 raised to new employments. Nevertheless, the 
 complaints of honest men, and the cries of the
 
 PORTRAIT OF ARKAROF. 207 
 
 people, increased against him. It is said, that 
 Paul, when on his way to Mosco to be crowned, 
 would find the road strewed with petitions which 
 the people would present against this new Se- 
 janus *. Wretched inhabitants of Tver and 
 Mosco, in vain will you run to meet your gos- 
 podar, in vain bow your heads to the dust, your 
 cries will never touch his heart ! 
 
 From this account of four or five persons, who 
 held the reigns of government at the death of 
 Catharine, it appears that Paul had nothing to 
 apprehend from them : all of them were rich, 
 their fortunes made, and none of them young. It 
 cannot, however, be too carefully observed, with 
 what eagerness Paul still loaded with wealth 
 these blood-suckers of the state, before he dis- 
 carded them. His motives are obvious : as soon 
 as he thought he had no longer anything to fear 
 from them, he disgraced them. The sudden 
 death of his mother prevented any other party 
 from forming at court, and there was no indi- 
 vidual at the head of the armies in a situation to 
 undertake anything. The three generals in chief, 
 who then commanded the principal armies of the 
 empire, were as remote from each other, by the 
 difference of their manners, views, and characters, 
 as by the immense distance which actually sepa- 
 rated them. 
 
 * He is now in disgrace, though not for his crimes.
 
 208 PORTRAIT OF 
 
 The most respectable was prince Nicholas 
 Repnin, whose name has so often resounded 
 through Europe in conjunction with that of the 
 celebrated Romanzof*. He, with this veteran 
 warrior, was the only general of signal merit in 
 the armies of Catharine, whose appearance and 
 person did not exhibit a perfect contrast to their 
 reputation. In the last war but one against the 
 Turks, he acted a brilliant part as a general, ,'ind 
 displayed great abilities as a negotiator at Con- 
 
 * I make no mention, likewise, of that old warrior, whom 
 the ingratitude of Catharine, who was indebted to him for 
 her first triumphs, will render for ever celebrated, no less 
 than his own exploits. He was himself dying at the time of 
 the empress's decease ; and, though he had the command of 
 an army, his debility rendered him inactive. Paul wore 
 mourning for him three days, and ordered all his army to do 
 the same. For twenty years he had left off visiting the court ; 
 and, whether in retirement or in the camp, led a life as selfish 
 as philosophic ; for he is less to be honoured as a husband or 
 a father, than as a general, lie parted from his wife, and 
 remained as much a stranger to his family as la Fontaine. 
 One of his sons having finished his studies, came to the army 
 to him to ask a commission. " Who are )our" said Ro- 
 manzof. " Your son." " O, very well! you are grown 
 " up, I see." After a few more questions tqnally paternal, 
 the young man asked, where he should take up his abode, 
 and what he was to do. " Why, to be sure, you are ac- 
 *' quainted with some officer or other in the camp !" said his 
 father. It is a fact no less singular, that his son, Scrgius Ro- 
 manzof, returning from his embassy to Sweden, asked Ni- 
 cholas Soltikof for a letter of recommendation to his lather, 
 that he might be well received by him.
 
 PORTRAIT OF REPNIN. 209 
 
 stantinople. He was afterwards distinguished 
 in Poland by as much politeness as arrogance. 
 He then submitted ignominiously to the ascen- 
 dency of Potemkin, who treated him as a re- 
 spectable character of past times. In his old 
 age he still further obscured his early reputation 
 by an attachment to the mysteries of martinism 
 and the illumines ; and we are at a loss to deter- 
 mine, whether it was the humility of a devotee, 
 the servility of a courtier, or the stoicism of a pa- 
 triotic hero, that enabled him to bear the inso- 
 lence of Potemkin and the hatred of Catharine, 
 who, while they availed themselves of his mili- 
 tary talents, loaded him with insults. He had 
 incurred the dislike of Catharine by declaring in 
 favour of Paul, and advising him to assert his 
 rights to the crown, of which his mother had only 
 been proclaimed guardian and regent. In the 
 last war against the Turks, Repnin acted a very 
 inferior part, yoking himself voluntarily to the car 
 of Potemkin, lest he should otherwise not be har- 
 nessed at all; for he was resolved to serve, whe- 
 ther it were allowed him or not. In *he anti- 
 chambers of the favourites he prostituted his lau- 
 rels and his hoary head more eagerly than a young 
 officer who had still his fortune to make. How 
 different was Repnin' here to Repnin when am- 
 bassador at Warsaw, giving audience to the king 
 
 p
 
 210 PORTRAIT OF REPNIN. 
 
 of Poland in his dressing-gown * ! or rather, It 
 was the same character ; for the haughtiest per- 
 sons will always be found to be the most ser- 
 vile. 
 
 While Potemkin, however, was detained from 
 the camp by the pleasures and festivities of Pe- 
 tersburg, as has been already mentioned, the old 
 marshal Repnin, to whom he had left the com- 
 mand of the army during his absence, so far eman- 
 cipated himself as to neglect the order he had re- 
 ceived to remain inactive. He suddenly passed 
 the Danube, and, by a skilful march, surprised 
 and defeated the grand army of the vizir Yussuf. 
 This gallant and successful action revived the 
 faded laurels of Repnin. The court resounded 
 with his praises : they compared this bold and 
 decisive campaign with those of Potemkin, who 
 was content every winter to attack a few for- 
 tresses, the capture of which cost torrents of blood, 
 and who had never found a turkish army to fight 
 
 * One day, the king coming to pay him a visit, he ran and 
 put on a morning-gown to receive him. Alter a trifling ex- 
 cuse, and a slight bo\v, he turned his back to the looking- 
 glass, making all manner of ridiculous and insulting gestures 
 to the king, who was facing the mirror. At Riga, he re- 
 ceived d'Artois almost as rudely, pretending not to know him, 
 and leaving him alone by the fire. He was piqued at the air 
 of superiority which the french prince assumed, ..and at his 
 jiot saluting the guard, which paid him military honours.
 
 PORTRAIT OF REPNIN. 211 
 
 \vlth. Roused from his lethargy by this blow, 
 which disgraced and threatened him, Potemkin 
 abandoned his pleasures, and entered Moldavia. 
 His interview with Repnin was a terrible explo- 
 sion, which the conqueror of the Turks sustained 
 with greater firmness than was expected of him. 
 But he was driven from the army, and obliged to 
 acquiesce in his dismissal, for having gained a 
 most decisive victory, and forced the Turks to 
 solicit an ignominious peace : such was still the 
 influence of Potemkin, and the condescension of 
 the ungrateful Catharine ! On the death of 
 Potemkin, which shortly after happened, Repnin 
 repaired to Petersburg, and degraded his old age 
 and his honours in the anti-chamber of Zubof ; 
 who, flattered to see the old warrior in the num- 
 ber of his assiduous retainers, appointed him go- 
 vernor-general of Livonia. In the consternation 
 and rage into which Catharine was thrown by 
 the massacre of the Russians in Warsaw, he re- 
 ceived orders to collect the regiments of his pro- 
 vince and to invade Poland, lie was at this pe- 
 riod the. only general of great reputation, and the 
 oldest in the army : he had the further satisfac- 
 tion of seeing his sovereign, contrary to her incli- 
 nation, obliged to employ him. The regular and 
 cautious march, however, of Repnin, through Li- 
 thuania, did not accord with the impatient ven- 
 geance of Catharine : she thirsted for blood, for 
 
 P 2
 
 212 PORTRAIT OF REPNlrf*. 
 
 the blood of all the inhabitants of Warsaw j and 
 she let loose from another quarter the furious Su- 
 varof, who strewed his route with carcases to the 
 very gates of Praga. Repnin then received the 
 severest insult he had ever swallowed, but he di- 
 gested it as readily as former ones. Suvarof was 
 created field-marshal, and appointed commander 
 over the man whose orders the day before he had 
 received, and by whom he was despised *. Ca- 
 tharine added even raillery to insult, by making 
 a present of a house to Repnin, for having been 
 passed over in this appointment. The whole 
 army resented this treatment of the veteran com- 
 mander ; several generals remonstrated, and count 
 Ivan Soltikof, with generous indignation, resigned 
 his commission. Repnin alone, Repnin, who 
 
 * S u varof caused the first report sent him by Repnin to 
 be read aloud to him two or three times over, in the presence 
 of" his stall", making a thousand antics, pretending to be deaf, 
 that the reader might raise his voice, and astonished at re- 
 ceiving a report from prince Repnin, whom he thus cruelly 
 rallied. Catharine was always very despotic, and always 
 made seniority give way to favour. At the death of Po- 
 temkin, Kamcnskoi, one of her best generals, took the com- 
 mand of the army as a matter of right, and sent his first report 
 accordingly. He said, " Having taken the command in conse- 
 " quence of my seniority, &c/' against which Catharine wrote 
 in the margin, " Who gave you orders :" He then spoke 
 of the disorder which he found prevailing among the troops, 
 and in the margin Catharine wrote, " He dared not say a 
 " word while the prince was alive." In answer to his re- 
 port, Kamenskoi received orders to quit the army.
 
 PORTRAIT OF REPNIN. 213 
 
 had most reason to be offended, and was most 
 capable of making it felt, who could with im- 
 punity shew that he was susceptible of resentment 
 and honour, like a stoic or a Christian, submitted 
 to this disgrace. 
 
 On his accession, Paul at length created him 
 field-marshal, and the last warlike exploit of Rep- 
 nin was the executing military vengeance on 
 some villages in the government of Novgorod, 
 who had. talked of affranchisement. 
 
 Repnin, who has shewn himself a great general, 
 as well as an imperious minister and a servile cour- 
 tier, possesses some personal qualities rarely to 
 be met with in russian generals. Not only his 
 figure, but his manners and carriage, are noble. 
 His heart is humane *, and he neither affects the 
 muscovite grossness of his colleagues towards 
 their inferiors f, nor is tainted with that rapa- 
 
 * Particularly towards the soldiers. Reviewing a regi- 
 ment of cavalry, he said, " I inquire only about the men : as 
 " to the horses, they are bought by the colonel, and therefore 
 " I know better care is taken of them." 
 
 f His behaviour to his officers, however, while at Berlin, 
 shocked the Prussians, to whom the haughtiness of the russian 
 generals was unknown. At this place, it was matter of asto- 
 nishment to see Repnin gravely stalking along, decorated 
 with the badges of all his orders of knighthood, while a kniaz 
 Volkonsky his nephew, several aides-de-camp, and Thiemann 
 the martinist, his secretary, followed him at some paces dis- 
 tance. Every time he turned about to utter a word, his at- 
 tendants halted and took off their hats. His political mission,
 
 214 PORTRAIT OF SUVAROF. 
 
 clous avarice which has always distinguished 
 them. On the contrary, he is compassionate and 
 generous; and Lithuania is under great obliga- 
 tions to him, as it was through him and prince 
 Gallitzin that it w-as saved from total ruin. 
 
 A stranger, who has heard the name of Suvarof, 
 wishes, on his arrival in Russia, .to see this hero. 
 He is shewn an old man of a w r eather-bcaten and 
 shrivelled figure, who traverses the apartments of 
 the palace, hopping on one foot, or is seen run- 
 ning and gamboling in the streets, followed by a 
 troop of boys, to whom he throws apples, to make 
 them scramble and fight, crying himself, " I am 
 " Suvarof! I am Suvarof!" If the stranger should 
 fail to discover in this old madman the conqueror 
 of the Turks and the Poles, he will at least, in his 
 haggard and ferocious eyes, his foaming and 
 horrid mouth, readily discern the butcher of the 
 
 however failed of success. This prince, a field-marshal, for- 
 merly ambassador triumphant at Constantinople, and omni- 
 potent at Warsaw, neither frightened nor cajoled the young 
 king of Prussia, whom Paul had ordered him to oblige to re- 
 join the coalition. Repnin, dismissed from Berlin, repaired 
 to Vienna, where the success of his negotiation is visible. 
 But one of his secretaries, said to be a Frenchman of the name 
 of Aubert, stole off with part of the papers and secrets of his 
 embassy. This enraged Paul, and he di.^niissed Repnin at 
 his return, ior not having succeeded at Berlin, and for having 
 employed a Frenchman in his service: however, as a mark of 
 singular clemency, he is allowed to wear the uniform of ar- 
 mies which he has commanded with glory for forty years.
 
 PORTRAIT OF SUVARQF. 2l 
 
 inhabitants of Praga. Suvarof would be consi- 
 dered as the most ridiculous buffoon, if he had 
 not shewn himself the most barbarous warrior. 
 He is a monster, with the body of an ape and the 
 soul of a bull-dog. Attila, his countryman, and 
 from whom he is perhaps descended, had neither 
 his good fortune nor his ferocity. His gross and 
 ridiculous manners have inspired his soldiers with 
 the blindest confidence, which serves him instead 
 of military talents, and has been the real cause of 
 all his successes. He is accounted a brave and 
 successful warrior ; that, educated in camps, is 
 unacquainted with the court, and could give no 
 offence to the favourites. After having distin- 
 guished himself as a subaltern, he advanced step 
 by step to the rank of commander in chief. He 
 is endowed with a natural ferocity, which serves 
 him for bravery, and spills blood, like a tiger, by 
 instinct. When at the army he lives in the camp 
 like a simple Kozak : he arrives at court like an 
 ancient Scythian ; and, during his stay, will ac- 
 cept no other lodging than the carriage which 
 brought him. To relate the details of his life 
 would be to record a series of extravagancies ; 
 and certainly if he be not mad, the ability to 
 counterfeit madness is among the first of his qua- 
 lifications, but his folly is that of a barbarian, 
 which has nothing amusing in it. 
 
 He has not, however, been always successful.
 
 216* PORTRAIT OF SUVAROF. 
 
 At the siege of Otchakof, the Turks having made 
 a feigned sortie, he chose, contrary to the orders 
 of Potemkin, to pursue them, hoping to enter the 
 city with the fugitives. A battery of mortars 
 was opened upon him, and his whole column de- 
 stroyed. He proceeded to the assault of Ismail 
 without having reconnoitred the place *, and his 
 exploits in Poland are those of a brigand. He 
 hastened his march thither to satisfy the ven- 
 geance of Catharine, and to massacre the remains 
 of an army already defeated by Fersen, and de- 
 prived of the brave Koschiusko, its principal 
 strength. Suvarof, embracing the inhabitants of 
 Warsaw, and granting them pardon on the bodies 
 of twenty thousand citizens of every age and sex, 
 resembles a satiated tiger that plays with his prey 
 on the bones of his charnel-house. 
 
 The singularity of his manners is as striking as 
 the eccentricity of his mind. He retires to rest 
 
 * He usually announced his successes in two or three 
 words, and frequently in a couple of bad burlesque russian 
 verses. Caesar wrote to the senate, Veni, vidi, i id. Suvarof 
 might with propriety be more concise by one-third than Cse- 
 sar, for he always conquered without seeing. He said him- 
 self: " Kamenskoi knows war, but war knows nothing- of 
 " him: I know her not, but she knows me: as to Ivan Sohikof, 
 " he neither knows her nor is known by her." A few such 
 traits, and some happy quotations from ancient history, have 
 given Suvarof reputation. His partisans reported that he 
 frequently shut himself up to study the dead languages, and 
 even Hebrew. French and german he speaks tolerably,
 
 PORTRAIT OF STJVAROF. 217 
 
 at six in the evening, and rises at two in the 
 morning, when he bathes himself in cold water, 
 or causes some pails of it to be thrown over his 
 naked body. He dines at eight, and his dinner, 
 like his breakfast, consists of the coarsest and 
 commonest food of the soldiers, and brandy: to 
 be invited to such a repast would make a man 
 shudder. Often, in the middle of the entertain- 
 ment, one of his aides-de-camp, rises ; and ap- 
 proaching him, forbids him to eat any more. 
 " By whose order am I forbidden ?" demands 
 Suvarof. " By order of marshal Suvarof him- 
 " self," answers the aide-de-camp. Suvarof, 
 rising, then says, " He must be obeyed." In 
 the same manner he causes himself to be com- 
 manded in his own name to go and take a walk, 
 or the like. 
 
 During his stay at Warsaw, a crowd of aus- 
 trian or prussian officers pressed to see this ori- 
 ginal. Before he made his appearance, he in- 
 quired of which of these officers there was the 
 greatest number; if Austrians, he decorated him- 
 self with a portrait of Joseph II. entered his anti- 
 chamber, leaping into the' middle of the circle, 
 and offered to each of them the picture to kiss, 
 repeating, " Your emperor knows me, and loves 
 " me too." If Prussians composed the majority, 
 he wore the order of the Black Eagle, and made 
 the same grimaces. At court, he was sometimes
 
 218 PORTRAIT OF SUVAROF, 
 
 seen running from lady to lady, and kissing the 
 portrait of Catharine which they wear at the 
 breast, crossing himself, and bowing. Catharine 
 told him one day to behave himself more de- 
 cently. 
 
 v He is a devotee, and superstitious. He obliges 
 his captains to pray aloud before their companies j 
 and abuses such of the foreign officers or Livoni- 
 
 o 
 
 ans as are unacquainted with the russian prayers. 
 Sometimes he visits the hospitals of the camp, 
 calling himself a physician. Those whom he 
 finds extremely ill he obliges to take rhubarb or 
 salts, and on those who are but slightly indisposed, 
 he bestows blows. He sometimes drives all the 
 sick from the hospital, saying, " It is not permit- 
 ie ted to the soldiers of Suvarof to be sick." In 
 his armies, all those manoeuvres are prohibited 
 which relate to a retreat, as he shall never, he 
 says, have occasion to adopt them. He exercises 
 his soldiers himself, and makes them charge with 
 the bayonet in three different ways. When he 
 says, " March against the Poles," the soldier 
 plunges his bayonet once; "March against the 
 " Prussians," the soldier strikes twice ; " March 
 " against the execrable French," the soldier then 
 makes two thrusts forward, and a third in the 
 ground, and there sticks and turns his bayonet 
 round. His hatred against the French was ex- 
 treme. His letter to Charettc has been seen in
 
 PORTRAIT OF SUVAROF. 
 
 various newspapers. He wrote to Catharine from 
 Warsaw, and frequently in these words : " Mo- 
 " ther, permit me to march against the French." 
 When the death of Catharine happened, he had 
 already advanced for that purpose into Gallicia at 
 the head of forty thousand men. 
 
 He frequently rides through his camp, stript to 
 his shirt., on the bare back of a kozak horse; and 
 at day-break, instead of causing the drums to beat 
 the reveille he comes out of his tent, and crows 
 three times like a cock, which is the signal for the 
 army to rise, sometimes to march, or even advance 
 to battle. 
 
 In the multiplicity of extravagances which he 
 commits, or of insipid things which he says, if 
 any singular or striking joke falls from him, every 
 one repeats and admires it as a burst of genius. 
 This man has nevertheless some virtues : he has 
 shewn occasionally an uncommon disinterested- 
 ness, and even generosity, as well in refusing the 
 gifts of Catharine as in distributing them about 
 him. He will slaughter the wretch who begs his 
 life, but will give money to him who begs for cha- 
 rity : because he sets no more value on money 
 than on human bjood. Almost'at the same mo- 
 ment he gnashes his teeth in rage like a madman, 
 laughs and grins like an ape, or weeps piteously 
 like an old woman. 
 
 Such is the too famous Suvarof. He quarrelled
 
 220 PORTRAIT OF SUVAROF. 
 
 with his wife, and would not acknowledge a 
 son whom he had by her ; preferring his nephews, 
 the princes Gortschakof: bat the empress hav- 
 ing made this son an officer in the guards, he said, 
 " As the empress chuses I shall have a son, be it 
 " so; but for myself, I know nothing of the mat- 
 " ter." He had also a daughter, maid of honour 
 to Catharine, who was distinguished at court for 
 idiotism. Her father, after an absence of several 
 years, appointed a meeting with her at the house 
 of a third person. " Ah, father," cried she, 
 " how big you are grown since I saw you last." 
 In French, this would have passed for a happy play 
 upon words, but in russ it was a blunder that ex- 
 cited universal laughter. 
 
 After the capture of Warsaw, he repaired to 
 Petersburg to enjoy the fruits of his triumphs; 
 and this Scythian, who had never before any other 
 lodging than his carriage, accepted apartments in 
 the Tauridan palace, and wore a superb marshal's 
 uniform, which was given him by Catharine. On 
 his receiving this dress, he played a thousand an- 
 tics, hugging it in his arms, kissing it, and making 
 signs of the cross ; and when he lifted it, he said, 
 " I am not surprised they do not give such a dress 
 " as this to little Nicholas Soltikof; it would be 
 " too heavy for him to wear*." 
 
 * Nicholas Soltikof was one of those most hurt by the pro- 
 motion of Suvarof.
 
 PORTRAIT OF VALERIAN ZUBOF. 221 
 
 We have seen the manner in which Paul dis- 
 missed him on his accession, and the motives 
 which instigated him. The murmurs of the army 
 afterwards obliged the emperor to recal him. It 
 was to make use of him as a scourge to chastise 
 the French. 
 
 Valerian Zubof, brother to the favourite, com- 
 manded the army which acted in Persia. Men- 
 tion has before been made of this young libertine, 
 who is naturally of a frank, honest, and courage- 
 ous disposition, but has been spoilt by indulgence. 
 He had lost a leg in Poland, and it was on 
 crutches that he went to conquer Asia*. One of 
 his couriers arrived at the moment of the death of 
 Catharine, with the account of a battle. Paul 
 sent him ribands of the order of St. Anne to dis- 
 tribute among his officers, and to each of the co- 
 lonels a private command to lead their regiments 
 to the frontiers. The general remained behind in 
 his camp, without knowing what he was to do. 
 He afterwards followed his army, and on his arri- 
 val at Petersburg gave iri his resignation. He re- 
 sides at present in Courland, where he possesses 
 almost the entire domains of the ancient dukes. 
 
 * At the news of his wound, Catharine sent him her own 
 surgeon, the riband of the order of St. Andrew, the rank of 
 general in chief, and 100,000 rubles" ( 3 0,000/.) to defray the 
 expense of his cure, He demanded 500,000 (jO,000/.) more, 
 to pay hii debts.
 
 PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 
 
 From generals of such character, and armies at 
 a distance from court, and ignorant of -what was 
 passing there, nothing could be apprehended. 
 The only corps which Paul had really to fear was 
 the guards : for a long time these four numerous 
 regiments, commanded by the first nobility in the 
 empire, had viewed with alarm the approaching 
 reign of the grand-duke, and regarded his acces- 
 sion as the term of their existence. Paul dicj not 
 even conceal his aversion for them ; and the se- 
 verest reproach which he could use to his officers, 
 and even to his soldiers, at the reviews of Gatshina 
 and Pavlofsky, was, " Thou art fit for nothing but 
 " to serve in the guards." These troops repaid 
 him in turn the contempt he affected ; and, by 
 way of ridicule, bestowed on his soldiers the epi- 
 thet of " Prussaki, or Prussians." It is beyond a 
 doubt, that with these dangerous successors of the 
 strelitzes, a slighter cause than the tears of an 
 Elizabeth or the caressing attentions of a Catha- 
 rine, would have served to excite them to muti- 
 ny : and Paul did not think himself in security 
 till he had distributed, as we have seen, his own 
 battalions in these formidable regiments, caressed 
 the soldiers, and deprived the old officers of their 
 commissions. But it was to little purpose that 
 he lavished on them rubles and brandy : these 
 acts of generosity gained only those who were
 
 PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 
 
 near his person, while the army complained and 
 murmured*. 
 
 Paul, as grand-duke, hated and despised by his 
 mother, mortified by the favourites, derided by the 
 courtiers, living in solitude and almost forgotten 
 under a brilliant reign, and preserving the most 
 regular and austere manners in the midst of a 
 corrupt and debauched courtf , required few ami- 
 able qualities or virtues to make his situation pi- 
 tied by men of understanding, and his reign wish- 
 ed for by the people, fie might have been ex- 
 pected as a deliverer: he was, however, generally 
 feared as a scourge : his domestics, his officers, 
 his courtiers, his favourites, and even his children, 
 dreadful to relate, participated more or less in 
 these horrid sentiments. The suspicion he en- 
 
 * Peter L. had abolished the strelitzy (archers), but their 
 spirit revived in the four regiments of guards, who supplied 
 their place. The guards, consisting of picked men, whose 
 officers were taken from the wealthiest families (1), formed 
 an army of near ten thousand men around the throne. The 
 influence of this body was sufticient'to effect a revolution, and 
 indeed alone accomplished all that have taken place since 
 Peter I. 
 
 f This is a piece of justice that must not be denied him ; 
 and if his attachment to the Nelidof have made him neglect 
 his wife, it has not made him offend against decency or deco- 
 rum in public, hitherto at least. The Nelidof, however, is 
 dismissed. 
 
 (1) To be an officer in the guard;, a man must prove that he ]>.-. 
 at least u hundred peasants or slaves.
 
 PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 
 
 tertained, that he inspired these sentiments, 
 doubtless exasperated him, and perhaps rendered 
 him incapable of correcting them; but with this 
 character, the traits of justice and goodness which 
 sometimes appear in him, are more striking, and 
 occasion a deeper regret for those qualities which 
 might have been expected in him. 
 
 Prior to his accession, his favour was dreaded : 
 besides that it often excited the resentment of the 
 empress and the favourite, it was considered as 
 the same sign of disgrace as fine weather is pro- 
 verbially regarded as the constant forerunner of 
 rain. Never did man shew more eccentricity and 
 fickleness in the choice of his friends. He began 
 by opening himself with unbounded confidence 
 and entire familiarity to the person who appeared 
 to enter into his views ; then, repenting this 
 frankness, he regarded his friend as a dangerous 
 character, perhaps the creature of his mother or 
 of the favourite, who had flattered him only to be- 
 tray him. Beside those on whom the slightest 
 attentions of his wife, or the kindnesses of Ben- 
 kendorf, caused the storms of his anger to fall, 
 the empire swarmed with his banished domestics, 
 disgraced favourites, and cashiered officers: it in- 
 variably happened, that he who had been nearest 
 his person had most reason to complain, and he 
 who had received most favours found himself in 
 the end most unfortunate.
 
 PORTRAIT OF KURAKIN. 225 
 
 Having given some account of the ministers of 
 his mother, it will not be improper to speak a 
 few words of the courtiers who were in favour 
 with Paul on his accession, and who will certainly 
 continue in favour for some time. It maybe said 
 with truth, in their praise and in his, that the ma- 
 jority of these ministers are more disinterested, 
 and abler statesmen, than those of the old court. 
 
 The two princes Kurakin, who alternately have 
 been in favour and disgrace with Paul*, are the 
 two men, next to the valet-de-chambre above 
 mentioned, who possess most influence, and per- 
 
 * Alexius Kurakin had frequently been in disgrace with 
 Paul on account of the attention and regard he always paid 
 the grand-duchess ; but the ill-humour of Paul on this score 
 must not be ascribed to jealousy, which his character and that 
 of his wife did not allow. Paul's ill-humour arose from politi- 
 cal suspicions, not from love. One day, observing his wife 
 speak low by the lire-side to prince Kurakin, he fell into a 
 passion, and said to her, " Madam, you want to make your- 
 " self friends, and prepare to act the part of Catharine^ but be 
 " assured you shall not find in me a Peter III." These incon- 
 siderate expressions, which escaped him in his rage, alarmed 
 every one, and Kurakin withdrew from court. From that pe- 
 riod the grand-duchess was more unhappy, and under still 
 greater restraint. The least message could not be sent to her 
 without permission of her husband. He named those who 
 were to offer her their arm for a walk, to make her evening 
 party, or even to converse with her in the course of the even- 
 ing. At length he found it more commodious to give her a 
 sort of cicUbeo, who was never to quit her. Prince Nesvit- 
 .-ky was the man whom he deemed insignificant enough for this 
 othVe.
 
 PORTRAIT OF R AST APTSCHIN. 
 
 haps they are persons most deserving of it. Pre- 
 vious to the death of Catharine, though powerful 
 and rich, their employments were insignificant : 
 one of them led a retired life, amusing himself 
 with the cultivation of the arts and sciences, or 
 the education of his children, and was generally 
 respected and esteemed. His manners and ha- 
 bits of life were very different from those of the 
 greater part of the russian nobility, who dissipate 
 their time and fortunes in vices of every kind, in 
 gaming, in luxury, and other follies. In a word, 
 he appeared worthy to be at the head of affairs, 
 and he now holds that station with his brother ; 
 the one being vice-chancellor of the empire, and 
 the other procureur-general : to them must be at- 
 tributed whatever is right in the conduct of affairs. 
 Two young chamberlains, who fortunately were 
 in the service of Paul when the couriers arrived 
 with tidings of the death of Catharine, were sud- 
 denly metamorphosed into generals of the army, 
 and became his first aides-de-camp. One is M. 
 Rastaptschin, who owes his favour to a very inge- 
 nious letter, and who, to preserve it, must re- 
 nounce three-fourths of his understanding, and 
 one-half of himself*. The other is a young count 
 Schuvalof, whom Paul had recently taken into fa- 
 vour, after having long neglected him ; and to 
 
 M lie has already been twice dismissed and recalled.
 
 PORTRAIT OF SCHUVALOF. 227 
 
 whom he presented one of his own dresses, to 
 serve as a model for the horse-guards, of which he 
 appointed him major. The young man appeared 
 at court in this habit, as if in a sack; and doubt- 
 less found himself much at his ease in it. No- 
 thing can be more singular than the equal favour 
 of these young persons, since it would appear that 
 the exaltation of the one were sufficient to cause 
 the disgrace of the other. M. Rastaptschin, some 
 years ago, was gentleman in waiting to the grand- 
 duke at Pavlofsky. His young associates, and, 
 among others, count Schuvalof and prince Bara- 
 tinsky, considering their employments as a difficult 
 and hazardous service, because a word spoken to 
 the grand-duchess, or a coat too fashionably cut, 
 was sufficient to ruin them, absented themselves 
 as often as possible, feigning sickness, or alleging 
 some other excuse. Rastaptschin, tired in his 
 turn with not being relieved, wrote a sharp letter 
 to the marshal of the court, in which he rallied 
 his associates on the true motives which detained 
 them at Pavlofsky; adding, at the conclusion, 
 " For my own part, who have no disease to cure, 
 " nor a fair Italian singer to maintain, I will cheer- 
 " fully continue to perform their duty to the 
 " grand-duke." These strokes of satire were 
 aimed at Schuvalof as well as at Baratinsky, whom 
 Paul, though his relation, could not bear. The 
 marshal shewed this letter to the empress, who at 
 
 Q2
 
 228 PORTRAIT OF PLESCHTSCHEIEF. 
 
 first laughed at it; but Schuvalof and Baratinsky, 
 thinking .they had reason to be offended, required 
 an explanation from Rastaptschin. The affair 
 made a noise : Baratinsky was sent to the army*, 
 and Rastaptschin was banished from the court for 
 a year. From that time the grand-duke regarded 
 him as his champion, and obstinately refused to 
 accept the attendance of the other gentlemen in 
 waiting, unless he was recalled ; and accordingly, 
 for more than a year, though they regularly came 
 to Pavlofsky or Gatshina to offer their services, 
 they were as regularly dismissed. 
 
 Among the favourites of the emperor, M. 
 Pleschtscheief is a real phenomenon : being the 
 only one who has always kept himself at the 
 same distance. It is true, he has never ranked in 
 the first class of favourites; but it is also true, 
 that he has always been exempt from storms. 
 He is a respectable and well-informed man: 
 speaks several languages, possesses some know- 
 ledge of geography and government, and cultivates 
 literature. He might even be of service to 
 Russia, if, among his good qualities, he could 
 reckon that of courage to speak the truth ; but 
 unfortunately his constant enjoyment of favour 
 seems almost a moral proof of the contrary*. 
 
 * He also has at last been disgraced, and with circum- 
 stances of great cruelty.
 
 PORTRAIT OF NIELEDINSKY. 229 
 
 M. Nieledinsky, who had been the companion 
 of the studies and amusements of Paul, was dis- 
 tinguished at Petersburg for great extent of capa- 
 city, and had acquired reputation by some love 
 sonnets not deficient in harmony and sentiment. 
 The emperor has appointed him his private se- 
 cretary, but on condition, no doubt, that he 
 strangles his muse, who has ferved him, however, 
 too well to deserve so cruel a death. It is at 
 least to be wished, that Nieledinsky may exhibit 
 and practise the sensibility which he displays in 
 his verses. His office is to give an account of 
 the letters and petitions that are addressed to 
 the emperor: the fate of numerous oppressed 
 individuals is accordingly in his hands. 
 
 M. Nicolai came into Russia as governor to 
 the young counts Razumofsky, who afterwards 
 were his patrons. On the recommendation of 
 madame Pretorius, his relation, waiting-maid to 
 the duchess of Wirtemburg, he was placed near 
 the grand-duchess in quality of secretary : he was 
 baronized in Germany during the travels of the 
 grand~duke, and became, on his accession, coun- 
 sellor of state, director of the emperor's cabi- 
 net *, knight of the order of St. Anne, and re- 
 
 * What is called the cabinet in Russia is not a council of 
 state ; it is the room which contains the treasures, jewel*, 
 and private curiosities of" the sovereign.
 
 2*0 PORTRAIT OF NICOLA1. 
 
 ceived some hundreds of peasants *.. He comes 
 from Strasburg, and is known in Germany by 
 some imitations of Ariosto, and other poems 
 agreeable enough, though extremely verbose. 
 He also has been obliged to sacrifice his muse on 
 the altar of fortune ; to which, ungrateful as he 
 is, she had herself conducted him. I know not 
 whether the political haughtinefs, which he thinks 
 himself obliged to maintain, render him more 
 happy, but it does not at least give him the ap- 
 pearance of it. 
 
 M. Danorof, late librarian to the prince of 
 Wirtemburg, and since aide-de-camp to Paul, is 
 also become an important personage : but I abi- 
 stain from speaking in detail of those with whom 
 I am not sufficiently acquainted to form an ade- 
 quate judgment of their merits. I shall only re- 
 mark, that in the list of preferments which the 
 
 * He had before an estate in Finland, a province ceded by 
 Sweden, where the peasants are not completely reduced to 
 the same mode of slavery as the Russians; and Nicola} fre- 
 quently complained of it, saying, " These wretches scarcely 
 " bring me in anything, and pretend to have rights." Those, 
 whom he has just received, are in Poland, where he may do 
 with them as he pleases, separate them, sell them, or make 
 them work, like domestic animals, to embellish his gardens. 
 From this anecdote the reader may judge what this Stras- 
 burger is become in Russia, who passes in Germany for a, 
 philosopher, and whom so many scribblers flatter as a Mecae- 
 r>as. If he read this, no doubt he will admire the moderation 
 with which he is mentioned,
 
 PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 231 
 
 emperor has since made, I observe a number of 
 persons deserving no other portion than the con- 
 tempt and vengeance of the public. 
 
 Meanwhile it is apparent, that the persons 
 that surround Paul are morally better than those 
 who were about his mother*. He is surrounded 
 
 * The following piece of pleasantry will shew the opinion 
 entertained of most of the persons in place and in favour at the 
 court of Catharine. It occurred in a company where twelfth- 
 day was kept in the french manner, and where the king of the 
 night was desired to dispose of the courtiers according to 
 their talents and capacity. 
 
 " Zubof has never rendered any service to the state, and is 
 " no longer of service to the empress, since the Sapphics, 
 " Branicka, and Protastof, execute the functions of his office. 
 " Let a few emetics be given to him, to make him bring up 
 " what he has swallowed; and then let him be sent to the 
 " baths of Baldona for the recovery of his health. 
 
 " Count Nicholas Soltikof, president of the college of war, 
 " and governor of the grand-dukes, is appointed president of 
 " the college of physicians and deacon ot the imperial chapel. 
 " He may likewise retain the water-closet of the young 
 " princes, provided he shut up his wife in a convent, or send 
 " her to Bedlam. 
 
 " Count Besborodko, chief counsellor of state, &c. shall 
 " be appointed cook to the court; unless he had rather bedi- 
 " rector to the Lock Hospital for females, in which he will 
 " find all his friends. 
 
 " Vice-chancellor Ostermann shall repair to St. Denis, to 
 " replace the sword of Charlemagne, which was as long and 
 " as flat as himself. 
 
 " Prince Baratinsky, marshal of the court, shall be ap- 
 " pointed Jack Ketch. A more gentle mode of putting to 
 ' death, than that by the knoot, is intended to be introduced;
 
 232 PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 
 
 by men of information and even of merit. I say 
 he , when perhaps I ought to say he was-, for 
 
 " and he shall have the office of smothering and strangling in 
 /' secret those that are intended to be dispatched, whether it 
 " be an emperor or his son : it is expected, however, that he 
 " do not let them cry out, as he did about thirty years ago. 
 
 " Marshal Suvarof shall have a patent for dealing as a 
 " butcher in human flesh; and the army shall be allowed to 
 " feed on it in Poland, where nothing but carcases are left. 
 
 " A committee of utshitdi (tutors) shall be appointed to 
 " examine whether prince Yussupofbe able to read; if he 
 " can, he shall be appointed prompter to the theatres, of 
 " which he is now manager. 
 
 " Markof shall be sent ambassador to Paris, where he has 
 *' been already so successful. It is hoped, that he will be the 
 " proper man to effect a reconciliation between Russia and 
 " the french republic, since he has been the scourge of the 
 lf russian and polish jacobins, against whom it also has de- 
 " clared war. 
 
 " Samoilof, procureur-general, shall be made one of the 
 " chevalier guards, he being a tolerably handsome man, which 
 " is a sufficient qualification. 
 
 " Kulusof, director of the corps of cadets in the room of 
 " the worthy count Anhalt, shall erect a monument to his 
 " predecessor, whom he studies to ridicule, and whom he 
 " makes us regret every day. His conduct, however, is the 
 " best panegyric on the memory of the worthy Anhalt. 
 
 " The corps of artillery shall remain with the old general 
 " Melissino, because he is the only general in that body who 
 ' understands his business : but on condition, that he shall 
 " not have the management of the chest, and do not expose 
 " his grey hair in the an tich amber of the valets of the court. 
 " He is requested likewise to employ less artifice in his con- 
 " duel, and less smoke in his artifices. 
 
 " Madame von Licven, governess to the princesses, shall 
 " retain her place, though she has somewhat the air of an
 
 PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 233 
 
 his versatility displays itself on everything about 
 him, not permitting merit to remain a sufficient 
 time at his court to be corrupted*. 
 
 The prince, whom Paul appears to have chosen 
 for the prototype of his reign and his ac-tions, is 
 Frederic William, father of the great king of 
 
 " Amazon ; but the time will come when it will not be amiss 
 " to give young princesses a little of a military air (1). 
 
 " Countess Shuvalof, grand-mistress to the grand-duchess 
 " Elizabeth, shall likewise be confirmed; but she shall be 
 (C enjoined not to let beasts only have permission to speak at 
 " the table of that young princess, unless they speak with 
 " sense, as they did in ./Esop's days. 
 
 " Prince Repnin, having opened the door one day when 
 " prince Potemkin called for a glass of water, that he might 
 " himself repeat this important order to the lackeys, shall re- 
 " ceive a patent for the place of first valet-de-chambre to the 
 " favourites ; a post which to him would be worth that of 
 " field-marshal. However, the crown of laurel which covered 
 " his grey hair shall be taken from him, because he suffered a 
 " buffoon to trample on him without saying a word, and be- 
 " cause the gift of a small house appeared suited to him, and 
 " to console him for the insult. 
 
 " M. Zavadofsky, director and plunderer of the bank, shall 
 " be sent into Siberia to catch sables, to replenish her ma- 
 " jesty's stock of furs, which it will not long be in her power 
 " to keep up by any other means. She is already unable to 
 " furnish her family with them, and Zavadofsky is well known 
 '' to be a better huntsman than financier," &c. 
 
 * This has taken place. The princes Kurakin, and most 
 of those whom I have named, are in disgrace at the moment 
 of my writing this. 
 
 (1) This time is arrived.
 
 234 PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 
 
 Prussia*. The same austerity of manners, and 
 the same passion for soldiers, are found in the 
 russian autocrate. For the rest, I have drawn, I 
 conceive, the character of Paul in relating his 
 actions 3 if not, the task, I confess, is beyond my 
 ability. It is well known, that nothing is so diffi- 
 cult to paint as an infant, whose physiognomy is 
 as yet unsettled; and it is the same with the cha- 
 racter of an eccentric man. The most favourable 
 plea we can make for him is, that the light of the 
 french revolution has touched his brain and disor- 
 dered his intellects. It had already disturbed the 
 much stronger head of his mother. It is said, that 
 the people of Paris, crouding to see Paul, then a 
 youth, cried, " My God, how ugly he is !" and 
 that he had the good sense to laugh at itf. He 
 is certainly not improved in his looks since he is 
 grown old, bald, and wrinkled. The empress ap- 
 
 * This he does not allow; for he said one day, " I will be 
 " Frederic II. in the morning, and Louis XIV. at night." 
 Well, well ! that will be an easy matter to you. 
 
 f He is greatly changed; or rather, he now dares shew 
 himself what perhaps he was already. A poor soldier, in the 
 agony of his sufferings under the cane by Paul's orders for a 
 trifling fault in his exercise, cried out in despair, "Cursed 
 " baldhead ! cursed baldhead !" The enraged autocrate 
 gave orders that he should expire under the knoot; and issued 
 a proclamation, prohibiting, under pain of the same punish- 
 ment, for any one to make use of the term bald, in speaking 
 of the head, or snubbed, in speaking of the nose.
 
 PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 235 
 
 pears by his side like one of those beautiful wo- 
 men who are painted with a little deformed 
 blackamoor near them, as a contrast to their shape 
 and beauty. The singularity which he affects in 
 his dress, and the severity of his manners, add 
 greatly to his deformity, Without excepting 
 even the Kalmuks and the Kirghises, Paul is the 
 ugliest man in his extensive dominions} and he 
 himself considers his countenance as so shocking, 
 that he does not presume to impress it on his 
 coin*. 
 
 I shall here subjoin a few particulars, which 
 will serve to complete the picture of Paul by his 
 own actions; and will prove, that when grand- 
 duke, he announced what we have seen of him 
 since his accession. 
 
 Near his palace of Pavlofsky he had a terrace, 
 from which he could see all the centinels, whom 
 he amused himself in stationing about him where- 
 
 * The new coins have not his effigy, but his cypher merely* 
 with the following words of scripture, which, in such a con- 
 nexion, have no meaning : " Not unto us, not unto us, but to 
 " thy name." Probably it is some device of marlinism, or of 
 obscurantism, which Paul patronises. It even appears, that he 
 intends to establish this order with that of Malta, of which, to 
 the astonishment of all Europe, he has just declared himself 
 grand-master, at the very instant of forming an alliance with 
 the Turks. O my friends, can you refrain from laughter.' 
 JBut, alas j 
 
 Quidquid delirant reges plectuntur Achivi.
 
 236' PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 
 
 ever there was room for a centry box. On this 
 covered terrace he spent a part of each day, in 
 observing with a spying-glass all that was passing 
 about him. He frequently sent a servant to a 
 centinel, to order him to button or unbutton a lit- 
 tle more of his coat, to keep his musket higher 
 or lower, to walk at a greater or less distance 
 from his centry box. Sometimes he would go 
 himself nearly half a mile to give these important 
 orders, and would cane the soldier, or put a ruble 
 into his pocket, according as he was angry or 
 pleased with him. 
 
 Pavlofsky was an open village, yet guards were 
 appointed, who wrote down the names of all who 
 entered it or went out of it, and who were obliged 
 to tell whence they came, whither they were 
 going, and what they wanted. Every evening 
 each house was visited, to learn if there were any 
 strangers there. Every man who wore a round 
 hat, or had a dog with him, was arrested. The 
 village, which had been much frequented on ac- 
 count of its beautiful situation, soon became a 
 desert; persons turned out of their way to avoid 
 it: and when Paul was perceived at a distance, 
 he was studiously shunned. These circumstances 
 increased his displeasure and suspicions, and he 
 often caused the persons, who thus sought to 
 avoid him, to be pursued and questioned. 
 
 One day he put all the officers of his battalion
 
 PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 237 
 
 under arrest, because they had saluted him auk- 
 wardly with the spontoon in filing off after their 
 drill, and he ordered them to be called out for 
 eight days successively to file off and salute before 
 him, sending them regularly back to the guard- 
 house till they were able to salute him according 
 to his fancy. 
 
 Exercising one day his regiment of cuirassiers, 
 the horse of an officer threw him. Paul ran furi- 
 ously towards him, crying, " Get up, rascal." 
 " Your highness, I cannot, I have broken my leg." 
 Paul spat upon him, and retired swearing. 
 
 Passing at another time unexpectedly and se- 
 cretly by one of his guard-houses, the officer, not 
 knowing him, did not order out his men: upon 
 which he instantly turned back, boxed the ears of 
 the officer, and ordered him to be disarmed, and 
 put under arrest. 
 
 One day, travelling from Tzarsko-selo to Gat- 
 shina, where the road runs through a marshy fo- 
 rest, he suddenly recollected something, and or- 
 dered the coachman to return. " Presently, your 
 " highness," said the coachman ; " the road is 
 " here too narrow." " How, rascal," cried Paul, 
 " turn immediately !" The coachman, instead of 
 answering, hastened to a spot where it was possi- 
 ble to comply : Paul, however, putting out his 
 head, called to his equerry, and ordered him to ar- 
 rest and punish the rebellious coachman. The 
 
 t
 
 238 PORTRAIT OF PAUL* 
 
 equerry assured him, that he would turn in a mo- 
 ment. Paul flew into a passion with the equerry 
 also: " You are a pitiful scoundrel like himself," 
 said he. " Let him overturn the carriage, let him 
 " break my neck, but let him obey me, and turn 
 " the instant I command him." During the dis- 
 pute the coachman succeeded in turning, but 
 Paul had him chastised on the spot. 
 
 Riding out, one day, his horse stumbled ; on 
 which he dismounted and ordered Markof, his 
 equerry, to shut the poor animal up in a stable, 
 and let him die of hunger. On the eighth day after, 
 Markof told him the horse was dead ; whereupon 
 Paul answered : C'est bon ! " That's well ! " Since 
 his accession, another of his horses stumbled with 
 him in one of the streets of Petersburg: he alighted 
 immediately, held a sort of council with his at- 
 tendants, and the horse was condemned to receive 
 fifty lashes with a whip. Paul caused them to 
 be given on the spot, before the populace, count- 
 ing himself the strokes, saying, " There, sir, that 
 " is for having stumbled under the emperor." 
 
 One day, when only grand-duke, he met in the 
 gardens a man with around hat, who endeavoured 
 to avoid him. Paul caused the man to be brought 
 before him, and found that he was the clock- 
 maker, coming to wind up the clocks of the pa- 
 lace. After preaching a long sermon to him on 
 the indecency of round hats, he asked his wife for
 
 PORTRAIT OF PAUL. 239 
 
 some pins, and raising the flaps of the hat, cocked 
 it himself, and then replaced it upon the head of 
 its owner. 
 
 Amidst this mass of absurdities, traces of huma- 
 nity often appear: the pensions which he has be- 
 stowed on the unfortunate, the hospitals which 
 he has founded for his soldiers, the provisions 
 which he distributes among his poor officers, and 
 other acts of benevolence and justice, attest that 
 he deserves the character rather of a capricious 
 than a bad man.
 
 [ 240 ] 
 
 CHAR VI. 
 
 WHAT REVOLUTIONS MAY BE EXPECTED 
 TO TAKE PLACE IN RUSSIA. 
 
 / 
 
 Altitude and strength of the sovereign paver in that country 
 
 Two ukases of Paul favourable to a revolution Debasement 
 of the people Other local obstacles The sovereign power be- 
 coming more absolute The nobility offended These alone can 
 change the government Hoiv, and v*hy Probability of a 
 dismemberment of that vast territory, and of a change in the 
 manners of the people and form of government. 
 
 IF, as some pretend, the French revolution be 
 destined to spread over the globe, Russia will 
 assuredly be the last place it will reach : it is on 
 the frontiers of this vast empire that the french 
 Hercules will erect his two pillars, and that li- 
 berty will long read, Ne plus ultra: it is there that 
 a new world is still hidden from her. Despotism, 
 standing on the forehead of a slave, and holding 
 to the sky by his guilty hand, insults and defies 
 her a contest may, however, ere long, take 
 place in the plains of Germany, which may de- 
 cide the fate of the world. He has already seized 
 unhappy Poland, and the principles which at 
 present prevail in the east and north, are de- 
 cidedly contrary to those which have of late distin-
 
 FORCE OF DESPOTISM. 241 
 
 guished the south and the west. Already the 
 continent seems to be wholly divided between two 
 preponderating empires, France and Russia, the 
 views and interests of which are diametrically 
 opposite : they seek an opportunity of jostling 
 each other, and will crush in the shock the 
 secondary powers by which they are still sepa- 
 rated. It will be the combat of Day against 
 Night, the last conflict of Philosophy and Reason 
 against Barbarism and Ignorance. The famous 
 wall raised by the Chinese against the incursions 
 of the Tartars, that masterpiece of labour and 
 cowardice, is neither so inaccessible nor so thick 
 as the dark atmosphere that secures Russia from 
 the approach of reason, and separates her from 
 other nations. Muscovitism, trembling at sight 
 of the danger, is incessantly occupied in forti- 
 fying this wall, and repairing the breaches made 
 in it by reason. That political monster is like 
 the salamander, which stifles the fire that sur- 
 rounds it under the filthy foam it emits from its 
 impure throat, and converts the flame into thick 
 clouds of smoke. 
 
 Not that light and truth may not be found in 
 Russia; but they who possess them, still more 
 prudent than Fontenelle*, are so far from darino- 
 to open their hands to spread them abroad, that 
 
 * He says somewhere, " If I had my hand full of truths, 
 I would take care not to open it." 
 
 R
 
 FUTURE REVOLUTIONS. 
 
 they strive only to stifle them; for they "Who 
 have knowledge are the only persons interested 
 in maintaining ignorance and reducing bondage 
 and tyranny to a rational system. Till there 
 shall be found in Russia a numerous body of en- 
 lightened men, suffering by that state of servi- 
 tude under which the people groan, a sponta^ 
 neous revolution must not be expected in that 
 country. 
 
 If anything at present could hasten the mo- 
 ment of attack, it is an ukase that Paul in his 
 wisdom has just published; which, by abolishing 
 the degrees of nobility attached to the posses- 
 sion of military rank and civil offices, has created 
 a true third estate, never before known in Russia; 
 a few emancipated vassals that have become 
 tradesmen, or foreign mechanics, not deserving 
 that name: there was scarcely any distinction of 
 persons except slaves and nobles. All who held 
 rank, civil or military, that is to say, all who 
 had a little money or education, acquired nobility 
 or its privileges, and eagerly affected its preju- 
 dices and spirit: but as soon as this enlightened 
 part of the nation shall lose its claim to a partici* 
 pation in the honours and advantages of tyranny, 
 and profit by the abuses of government and the 
 degradation of the people, it will turn to the side 
 of liberty. Thanks to the madness of despotism, 
 it has created enemies to itself, and dug its own
 
 UKASE OF THE THIRD ESTATE. 243 
 
 grave. The void heretofore caused by absolute 
 power between the slave or peasant, and the free 
 man or noble, is at last filled up. The third estate 
 will rise up as a giant ; with one powerful hand 
 it will exalt the slave, with the other it will strike 
 the noble; and perhaps before a century shall 
 pass away, it may have reduced them to a level 
 more happy for both than their present state. 
 
 Another proceeding of the emperor, as musco- 
 vitic in its principles, and as fortunate in the con- 
 trary effects it will produce, is the ordinance pro- 
 scribing printing-houses in his dominions. He 
 has permitted only three to subsist, for the pur- 
 pose of printing his ukases, and church books, or 
 such, as can stand the triple ordeal of govern- 
 ment, the schools, and the holy orthodox greek 
 church*. In thus attempting to suppress learn- 
 ing and knowledge, he has rendered them the 
 greatest service of which he was capable. The 
 moment liberty and philosophy possess one free 
 press, the greatest benefit that can be done them, 
 is to destroy all others. All the books that have 
 produced the revolution which the present age 
 has witnessed, are to be found in Russia in great 
 
 * He has since carried the proscription of books to great 
 perfection: he has even prohibited the importation of foreign 
 catalogues, and ordered the booksellers to put on such books 
 as can go through the triple examination, by imperial permis- 
 sion, instead of imperial liberty, which were the words used 
 before. 
 
 R 2
 
 244 FUTURE REVOLUTIONS. 
 
 numbers: such as may still be introduced into 
 that country from foreign parts, even from Vienna 
 itself, will be better than any that could be 
 printed there with permission * : I maintain, 
 therefore, that Paul has dene great service to 
 liberty and letters. Let his intention be pardoned 
 for the sake of the effect. 
 
 Russia, however, is still very far from enjoying 
 this benefit in its full extent. The Russian de- 
 graded by ages of slavery, resembles those dege- 
 nerate animals to whom the domestic state is 
 become a second nature. It must be gradually, 
 and by long and difficult paths, that he returns to 
 liberty : he is yet a stranger to the import of the 
 
 * If the reader wish for a specimen of the scrupulosity of 
 the russian censor, I will give him one or two prior to Paul's 
 tripling the office. In the reign of Catharine, one Legendre 
 was the censor for french books printed at Petersburg. From 
 a poem, in which the god of love was introduced, he struck 
 out the words ce d/'eu malin, observing, that it was indecent 
 to give the epithet of malicious to a deity. He allowed the 
 author, however, to substitute the word badin, " wanton," 
 for it. Another time he struck out of an ode in praise of 
 Catharine a verse, in which were the following lines : 
 
 Partout la foudre gronde et le glaive s'aiguise ; 
 Un roi tombe du tr6ne, et son sceptre se brise. 
 
 " Each sword is sharpen'd, heav'n with thunder shake?, 
 " A monarch falls, his pow'rless sceptre breaks." 
 
 This was an allusion to the preparations for war in 1790, 
 and the commencement of the revolution. At that time it 
 was a political heresy to dare surmise that Lewis XVI. would 
 fall from the throne.
 
 DEGRADATION OF THE PEOPLE. 245 
 
 word : to him, to be free signifies to be able to 
 quit the glebe to which he is chained, and* lead 
 an idle vagabond life. Work he detests, be- 
 cause he has never worked for himself: he has not 
 even an idea of property ; his fields, his goods, 
 his wife, his children, himself, belong to a mas- 
 ter who can dispose of them, and who does dis- 
 pose of them at pleasure. He is interested in 
 nothing, because he possesses nothing : his at- 
 tachment to his village is that of an ox to the 
 crib to which he is accustomed. He is without 
 country, without laws, without religion. Chris- 
 tianity, as taught and practised among the Rus- 
 sians, no more deserves the name of religion, 
 than the sound which the carman uses to direct 
 his horses, deserves the name of language j as 
 will be evinced in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 The despair of some of these wretched peasants 
 may occasionally, as heretofore, produce local 
 rebellion against their lords: but to expect a 
 general revolution in Russia would be chimerical. 
 Russia is too extensive, and too thinly inhabited, 
 for the people to rise in a mass; and a body so scat- 
 tered and spread abroad would soon be subdued. 
 Paltry towns, containing a few thousands of in- 
 habitants, are commonly at a distance of more 
 than a hundred miles from each other, without 
 any seeming connection but hamlets dispersed in 
 the woods every twelve or fifteen miles, and
 
 246 FUTURE REVOLUTIONS. 
 
 almost every one of which has its particular petty 
 tyrant. How can a people so scattered ever 
 combine ? A single regiment of Phanagoria, 
 under the command of a Suvarof, would be suf- 
 ficient to exterminate the population of a govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The natural obstacles, which muscovitism will 
 long oppose to all innovations, even the most 
 salutary, are every day reinforced by auxiliaries 
 arriving in Russia from foreign countries. Russia 
 is now the common asylum of the ignorance, the 
 barbarism, the superstitions, and the prejudices 
 that are persecuted in Europe. Nowhere do 
 men, imbued with such principles, meet with so 
 friendly a reception as in that empire. There 
 they find the infancy of their own country, the 
 golden age of the feudal system. On their ar- 
 rival, they are astonished at finding themselves 
 already too enlightened, too far advanced, for 
 this happy land : afraid of appearing dangerous, 
 they with joy replunge into the thick night of 
 barbarism in which they were born. Thus the 
 sluggard closes his eyes, and sinks again into that 
 slumber from which the sun-beams had roused 
 him in spite of himself. The man who carries 
 into those climes something of knowledge and 
 sentiment, finds it gradually obscured and extin- 
 guished in his heart; and if the despot makes 
 him a grant of a few hundred souls as the price
 
 LOCAL OBSTACLES, 
 
 of his own, he thinks it very just and very fortu- 
 nate that there should be slaves, and that he is 
 one himself*. Autocrats of Muscovy! why do 
 ye not oftener employ this infallible method, : 
 which has even something generous in it ? Have 
 you a foreigner in your empire, whose talents 
 may be useful while his probity may be dan- 
 gerous to you > give him an hundred peasants : 
 had he the soul of a Frenchman, he will take 
 that of a Russian. But have a care ;. these auxi- 
 liaries will at last betray you, if not by the lucid 
 seeds they bring, it will be by their very corrup- 
 tion. As the trunk of the beech, stripped of 
 its foliage and deprived of life,, still shines as it 
 rots. 
 
 Yet even in the court of Russia, and among the 
 nobility, there are some lofty and generous spi- 
 rits ; who, without being the dupes of a system 
 of perfect equality, are indignant at the degrad- 
 ing self-denial required of them : for absolute 
 power suits none but barbarians, and this the 
 russian gentry are no longer. Despotism, far 
 
 * Nothing is so fatal to humanity as men who have know- 
 ledge without principles, or who abjure those of which their 
 conscience reminds them. They resemble those worm-eaten 
 fruits, which are tempting to the eye, but prove nauseous to 
 the taste. These men are particularly dangerous, when 
 they have art enough to conceal errors, shocking in them- 
 selves, under specious sophisms..
 
 248 FUTURE REVOLUTIONS. 
 
 from softening, and assuming a less disgusting 
 mien in proportion as men's manners grow civi- 
 lised, becomes more and more stiff, and renders 
 its yoke more ridiculous and more odious ; it en- 
 deavours to return to barbarism, as the people 
 advance towards civilisation. In other european 
 countries power has descended a few steps from 
 its throne, in deference to reason and public opi- 
 nion * i but in Russia it mounts still higher, and 
 tramples even on common sense. Till the eight" 
 eenth century, it is true, the progress of the hu- 
 man mind in Russia was so far from running pa- 
 rallel with it in the rest of Europe, that the date 
 of the complete enslavement of the Russians, is 
 that of the establishment of commons and eman- 
 cipation of vassals everywhere else. It is some- 
 what remarkable, that the tzar who drove the 
 Tatars out of Russia, was the same that imposed 
 
 * The conduct of the young king of Prussia exhibits a strik- 
 ing contrast to that of Paul: one endeavours to exalt himself 
 to heaven ; the other, to descend to the level of his people, 
 and appear only the first servant of the state. In the same 
 paper, I read a russian proclamation, which condemns a do- 
 zen unfortunate Poles to have their noses and ears cut off, 
 aad to be sent to Siberia, for having been wanting in the re- 
 spect and fidelity sworn to his muscovite majesty (it is not said 
 in what) ; and a letter from the king of Prussia to a little 
 town, in which an insurrection had taken place, and in which 
 Frederic William speaks like a father to his children like a 
 good king, who is proud to be a man.
 
 LIBERAL PRINCIPLES. 249 
 
 on the Russians the servitude of the feudal system, 
 before unknown in that country * : so true it is, 
 that tyrants never work but for themselves. 
 
 This stubborn conduct must in the end prove 
 fatal to that pride and folly which it is meant to 
 protect : the present race of mankind requires 
 management. Autocracy, exhibiting itself in the 
 form of a graceful woman crowned with glory, 
 with ease received a homage, that had nothing 
 humiliating in it : the character of the warrior 
 
 o 
 
 had something in it of chivalry, and that of the 
 courtier of gallantry, which seemed to ennoble it ; 
 but to require personal adoration, without any of 
 the qualities that might justify it, must be revolt- 
 ing to every reflecting mind. Can a young man 
 of generous sentiments be every moment bowing 
 the knee and kissing the hand of a man who is 
 neither his father nor his benefactor, who inspires 
 him with neither love, nor esteem, nor gratitude, 
 and whom perhaps he despises at the bottom of 
 his heart, without feeling himself deeply degraded? 
 and when this homage, by an effrontery alto- 
 gether incredible, is rendered more disgusting by 
 ridiculous affectation and ceremony,, must it not 
 become yet more insupportable ? 
 
 Reason can never become extinct in minds 
 
 * This was the tzar Ivan Vasilievitch I. The russian his- 
 tory notwithstanding styles him the deliverer ; and prince Sch. 
 has written a tolerable epic poem in honour of* him.
 
 2'50- FUTURE REVOLUTIO.-N&. 
 
 which it has onee inhabited : like the lion in the 
 desert, it retires slowly at the sight of a numerous 
 and cowardly troop ; but if these have the auda- 
 city to pursue and harass him even in his lain, he 
 bursts through their weapons, and cooquers or, 
 dies.. Governours should dread and avoid such 
 actions as may drive reason, honour^ and good 
 sense to- extremities : the exaction of unnecessary 
 homage may accelerate some unexpected cata- 
 strophe -*. There is no likelihood that a revolu- 
 tion, after the french model, should break out in 
 Russia as yet ; but there may be one, for which 
 it- is already ripe that of a more enlightened 
 9-ristocracy. 
 
 It must be confessed, that the friend of liberty 
 a.-nd of Russia cannot wish for a change of any 
 other sort at present ; it is the only one of which 
 this vast empire is yet susceptible. The people,, 
 in the deplorable state in which we have seen 
 them, are unfit for liberty : they must be prepared 
 for it, they must be brought to desire it, before, 
 it be offered them : they would abuse it ; or, what 
 is more horrible, they would reject it. It may be 
 said with truth, however shocking as disgraceful 
 to humanity, that the russian government i$ less 
 inclined to tyranny than the people are prone to 
 
 * The french emigrants have proved, that the revolution 
 in France would never have taken place, had not the queen 
 been too negligent of etiquette, and the king too popular!
 
 LIBERAL PRINCIPLES. 251 
 
 slavery : so low are they debased, so much is their 
 nature changed by their tyrants I With them, 
 therefore, nothing can be done at present *. 
 
 Though the nobles still continue the habit of 
 bending before the despot, while they exact still 
 greater submission in their turn from their slaves, 
 yet are they becoming daily more and more en- 
 lightened. They have been corrupted rather than 
 civilised ; but they retain some virtues, which 
 the last thousand years of bondage or tyranny have 
 been unable to annihilate : worthy in future of a 
 government less barbarous, they will require laws 
 written elsewhere than in the crazy brains of 
 their autocrats. They begin to feel the weight 
 of their chains: some day they will burst them, 
 and then lighten those of their vassals f : and 
 perhaps that day is not very far distant. Many 
 
 * When I speak here of the russian people, I include not 
 the tatarian hordes, or the kozak tribes, who still retain some 
 remembrances of a sort of liberty ; but it is the liberty of bar- 
 barians, who employ it only to make slaves. 
 
 f Let not the term of nobles startle the reader: those of 
 Russia do not form, like those of France and Germany, that 
 feudal and chivalrous body which literally conceived itself 
 sprung from different blood from other mortals, and which 
 remained separate from them by its morals and prejudices, as 
 much as by its privileges. The word noble, both in french 
 and gcrman, marks this difference : denoting an innate quality 
 of the mind : dvoratmot, the term in russ for a nobleman, im- 
 plies only a. proprietor of land, because land can be possessed 
 bv none but a freeman.
 
 252 FUTURE-REVOLUTIONS. 
 
 young minds are warmed with the examples of 
 antiquity, and meditate in secret on modern 
 events : many, after having forgotten themselves 
 for a moment in the history of other nations, turn 
 their eyes with dissatisfaction on their own, 
 and on themselves. How in fact can such a go- 
 vernment exist at the end of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, in a country not surrounded with a triple 
 wall of brass, in a country where several can read, 
 and some can think ? Will Russians in future 
 suffer themselves to be treated like the people of 
 Morocco? In our age, and in Europe, justice, 
 glory, virtues, or benefits, can alone sanction the 
 possession of absolute power, and induce us to 
 pardon the possessor. Reason cannot be com- 
 pelled to silence, but by being dazzled with great 
 actions. Despotism is an idol, having arms of iron, 
 but feet of clay : its body is of gigantic size, but 
 it is hollow : its head is concealed in a thick cloud, 
 which slaves mistake for heaven : there are none 
 but fools, however, who continue to worship it j 
 none but cowards who pretend to pay it adora- 
 tion. 
 
 When I point out the nobility, as the only body 
 in Russia on which liberty can first rely on her 
 setting foot in this empire, I mean not the con- 
 temptible herd that attends the court, as a flight 
 of unclean ravens follows the camp, to devour
 
 LIBERAL PRINCIPLES. 253 
 
 the carcases. These are everywhere vile, and 
 upstart valets still more so than those who were 
 born courtiers. It is neither the throne, the al- 
 tar, nor the sacred person of the despot that pro- 
 duces their attachment , it is the most sordid 
 cowardice : the man in authority and power is 
 always the god they adore. They are seen creep- 
 ing from favourite to favourite, as a caterpillar 
 crawls from leaf to leaf, leaving his excrement 
 on the last he gnawed. There is not perhaps 
 one of these wretches who now devoutly kneels 
 to kiss the hand of Paul, that would not have cut 
 off that hand a few months ago, at the command 
 of a Potemkin. From such dastards nothing can 
 be expected but court intrigues or court revolu- 
 tions, already too frequent in Russia, as serving 
 only to prolong the reign of barbarism or misery. 
 But a few powerful families, in which knowledge 
 has taken its seat as a stranger beneath some hos- 
 pitable roof* ; a few young men of courage and 
 talents, desirous of a name, will perhaps avail 
 themselves of some lucky circumstances, to qua- 
 lify at least the oppressive forms of government, 
 till something better can be done; to secure a 
 
 * Many of these families have not less than twenty thou- 
 sand slaves, towns, cannons, immense wealth, and, above all, 
 relations, who are generals and commanders of" regiments. 
 This is more than enough : one battle would decide the busi- 
 ness in their favour.
 
 254 FUTURE REVOLUTIONS. 
 
 sovereign worthy of power upon the throne, and 
 give to a senate or council of some sort the influ- 
 ence now confined to unworthy favourites ; to 
 prescribe at least some bounds to abuses, which 
 at present have not any, What a Dolgoruky 
 could perform half a century ago, others may 
 effect more permanently now *. This project, 
 however, it must be confessed, can be conceived 
 only by the noblest ambition, totally divested of 
 petty interests : it can be executed only by great 
 courage, great reputation, and still greater perse- 
 verance. What may accelerate the fermentation 
 in some keen heads, is, that for a long time past 
 merit is a reason for exclusion from the court of 
 Russia. For arriving at posts and distinctions a 
 man must be servile beyond all power of expres- 
 sion, and have such an impotent self-denial as falls 
 not to the lot of every one. There is a great dif- 
 ference between the possession of talents to fill 
 an important station with dignity, and having the 
 little arts necessary to obtain or preserve it : 
 hence they, who are discontented and in disgrace, 
 are generally the choice of the nobility and of the 
 inhabitants of Mosco : if these unite, and once 
 
 * The families of Dolgoruky, Galitzin, Soltikof, &c. have 
 often deserved well of Russia. They were the principal 
 persons concerned in shaking off the infamous tyranny of a 
 Mentchikof and a Biren ; and who would have established a 
 less arbitrary government at the death of Peter II.
 
 LIBERAL PRINCIPLE'S. 255 
 
 agree on a plan, the reign of blockheads is over. 
 Of all dominations that of folly and ignorance over 
 reason and knowledge is the most absurd, and 
 most shameful to bear. In Russia every path to 
 glory is blocked against the ambitious youth, who 
 is conscious of the powers to reach it. Unfor- 
 tunately for despots, but happily for the rest of 
 mankind, not one autocrat, from their first ex- 
 istence, has ever been able to conceive, that the 
 man who is least forward to obtain their favours 
 by meannesses is always the most deserving of 
 them by his talents or his virtues. In Russia 
 every path to honour is shut against the ambitious 
 youth who possesses the means for arriving at 
 it. Would he find glory in vanquishing savages, 
 or conquering stoftfies *, under the orders of a fa- 
 vourite, a fool, or a barbarian ? Would he see 
 it in the antichamber of the court? Would he 
 place it in the pursuit of a servile routine, or in 
 forwarding plans, the impolicy or absurdity of 
 which he durst not blame, at some foreign court, 
 or in some ofHce at home ? No : for him the 
 only road to glory is in a new order of things, to 
 which every thing invites him. The courtiers 
 are the dregs of the nation j the favourites the 
 dregs of the courtiers: the despots take such pains 
 
 * Sieppesh the name given to the desert plains that sur- 
 round Russia. It is the best a russian general can do.
 
 256 FUTURE REVOLUTIONS. 
 
 to keep persons of real merit at a distance, that 
 they are obliged to put up with the rabble. 
 
 But a nearer and more unfortunate catastrophe, 
 which seems to threaten the tzars, is a dismem- 
 berment of their vast empire. For a century past, 
 the empire of Russia, under the iron rod of de- 
 spotism, like the paste under the rolling-pin of the 
 cook, has grown thin in proportion as it has been 
 extended. All the bulk of the centre has been 
 squeezed towards the circumference, to form a 
 border, deceptive in regard to its real strength : 
 these thickened borders will separate from the 
 centre, which will become unable to support 
 them. If we cast our eyes on the map, we shall 
 be surprised at the vast extent of this romantic 
 empire, reaching from the banks of the Vistula 
 to the farthest end of Asia, nay even to America, 
 and from the shores of the Pacific ocean to Lap- 
 land. It comprises almost a fourth of the inha- 
 bited continents. This superficies reckons at 
 most thirty millions of inhabitants ; and these of 
 twenty nations, differing in manners, language, 
 and religion. And this immense territory is au- 
 tocratically governed by the head of Paul, from 
 the centre of Petersburg, from the midst of the 
 court of his palace, where he has planted a piquet, 
 from the middle of a battalion drawn up in a 
 square, where five or six officers salute him with 
 their spontoons ! To me the russian empire ap-
 
 PROBABLE DISMEMBERMENT. 257 
 
 pears like that spider, which with a very small 
 body has long legs, that fall off at the least obstruc- 
 tion it meets in its gigantic march. Less than a 
 Potemkin would suffice to occasion this dis- 
 memberment j but Russia will not gain much 
 by it *. 
 
 The most flattering hope which Russia can en- 
 tertain, is, that she may one day see on the throne 
 an emperor sufficiently wise and great to give it 
 laws, to which he himself will submit j a prince 
 of such magnanimity, as to be ashamed to reign 
 inglorious over a people destitute of rights," and 
 who may be capable of forming from the summit 
 of his throne a gentle and easy descent, to arrive 
 at freedom without a fall. This is what a true 
 friend of Russia and humanity should wish for j 
 this alone can now immortalize an emperor 
 Peter I. himself lamented, that he was only the 
 despot of a nation of slaves. At an intervievvhe had 
 with the king of Prussia at Marienwerder, he pub- 
 licly congratulated him on the happiness of being 
 the king of a nation which he could govern bylaws, 
 while he could rule his only with the knoot ; 
 
 * From the turn affairs are taking, it is not hazarding too 
 much to predict, that the first crack in this huge piece ot" paste 
 will take place on that side towards which it seems inclined 
 stiH to extend itself; I mean, towards Turkey ; whether the 
 Greeks, regenerate and emancipated, at length repel the bar- 
 barous Mussulmans and Russians; or the French make their 
 way through the Hellespont. 
 
 s
 
 '258 FUTURE REVOLUTIONS. 
 
 and he promised to bestow on it a milder govern- 
 ment, as soon as it should be sufficiently civilised 
 to be susceptible of it *. This time is now ar- 
 rived : the Russians are well worthy to be per- 
 mitted by their sovereign to rise to the level of 
 the least enslaved people in Europe. Reason 
 and humanity would gain much, had they but a 
 mild government j even were it still absolute, 
 like that of Prussia, or mixed like that of Eng- 
 land : under this new system the Russians might 
 still figure a long lime in history, and prepare 
 themselves for that grand revolution of the hu- 
 man mind, of which some think them already 
 susceptible. This can only be the last step of 
 civilisation, and the return to simple and primi- 
 tive ideas, after having revolved the immense 
 circle of human errors and follies. Liberty and 
 equality cannot constitute the happiness of man- 
 kind, till the people shall be prepossessed only in 
 favour of sound principles of government : it is 
 
 * This circumstance was related by baron Poellnitz, ear- 
 witness of this conversation with the king. Another, which 
 does no less honour to this great character, and which shews 
 how much he was above the little imperial vanities of his pre- 
 tended descendants, is, that, being surrounded by the turkish 
 army, and despairing of escape, he wrote to the senate, like 
 a second Alexander : " Choose for my successor him who 
 " appears to you most worthy." The senate at that period 
 was very different from that of the present day : in it was a 
 Dolgoruky, who, like Sully, had the courage sometimes to 
 fear the edicts of the tzar.
 
 CHANGE TO BE WISHED. 259 
 
 to be feared that Russia is yet ages from prepos- 
 sessions of that nature. 
 
 Take heart, then, staro'ivertzi Russians (Rus- 
 sians of the old stamp), who have trembled at the 
 progress of the French revolution ; take heart ail 
 you, who still dread its success, and who tremble 
 at a truth, as the guilty at a flash of lightning: 
 the time is not yet come. Before you arrive at 
 that dreaded regeneration, you have still to pass 
 through all the stages of civilisation. A nation 
 must be polished before it can be informed ; yours 
 is yet in its infancy. Before it can come to a rea- 
 sonable government, it must have had kings; you 
 have yet had only autocrats: before it can dread 
 democrats, demagogues, and jacobins*, it must 
 
 * I know not what isnow understood inFranceand Germany 
 by this term Jacobin, which is become so dreaded and odious: 
 but it may gratify mv reader's curiosity, to inform him what it 
 implies in Russia, where it is as fatal to him to whom it. is 
 given, as that of Jew was formerly to an unfortunate Spaniard. 
 The present political inquisition has even more expeditious 
 modes of proceeding, than the religious ever had. 
 
 A man who can read and write, of whatever nation, is 
 strongly suspected. Ifhe be a Frenchman, he is undoubtedly 
 & Jacobin. 
 
 Whoever reads the gazettes is a dangerous man: whoever 
 talks of them, is a Jacobin. 
 
 He who seems to doubt that Suvarof, with fifty thousand 
 kozaks will conquer France in one campaign Jacobin. 
 
 He who dares say that the French are good soldiers, that 
 they have any great generals, and that the Austrian? have beer. 
 Jacobin.
 
 FUTURE REVOLUTIONS. 
 
 have had royalists, aristocrats, monarchists: you 
 have yet only slaves. Augment their chains, spill 
 their blood, drink their sweat in security ; tear the 
 
 He who ventures to entertain any doubt whether Poland 
 belongs to Russia, or whether it was allowable for the Poles 
 to defend themselves against the Russians Jacobin. 
 
 Every russian gentleman, who dares to say that a man may 
 still continue for some time a loyal subject, though h,e ceases 
 to be a vile slave Jacobin. 
 
 Every captain in the guards, and every russian officer, who 
 dares to murmur at his corporal's being made his commanding 
 officer Jacobin. 
 
 The man who imagines that the Russians should be treated 
 like men, and no longer sold or bartered like cattle Ja- 
 cobin. 
 
 A young nobleman, whose dancing-master has not taught 
 him to make a bow sufficiently low, and who, when he kisses 
 the emperor's hand, and does it not as tenderly as if it were 
 that of his mistress Jacobin. 
 
 He whose coachman, not knowing his tzarian majesty (who 
 to be sure is easy enough to be known), does not stop his car- 
 riage, in order to alight, and prostrate himself in the snow or 
 in the mud Jacobin. 
 
 In Catharine's days, he who wore a dark green coat, and 
 large boots, was strongly suspected by the favourites. Now, 
 the wearer of a light green coat, and half boots, is odious to 
 Puul. 
 
 Whoever is followed by a dog, wears a round hat, and has a 
 waistcoat without sleeves and flaps, is arrested, and treated 
 as a Jacobin. 
 
 This enumeration of particulars, which might have been 
 enlarged, may appear perhaps exaggerated: but it is too true, 
 that any one of these charges might prove fatal to the man 
 against whom it was brought, and that the ruin of several 
 persons has been owing to causes equally ridiculous, and not 
 more reasonable.
 
 PREMATURE ALARM. 261 
 
 infant from its mother's breast, to compel her to 
 suckle your puppies, that have lost theirs*: the 
 day of retribution will not yet dawn on Russia. 
 
 Do you fear a constitution? you have not yet 
 laws. Do you dread a national assembly? you 
 have not yet a parliament, not even a divan; for 
 your senate is far from meriting such a name. A 
 mufti, with the koran in his hand, has sometimes 
 repressed the tyrants of Byzantium; but who 
 can repress yours? Are your laws, your religion, 
 contained anywhere, but in the emperor's head? 
 Are not your souls his? is not his staff your scep- 
 tre? your meanness his greatness; and your nul- 
 lity the cipher that marks his value? Take 
 heart; your clock has not yet struck the hour of 
 liberty. 
 
 Before that hour, terrible to you, the sun will 
 long continue to rise on the same crimes. You 
 will still change sovereigns before you change 
 your government; you will still experience all the 
 horrors of court revolutions, before you see popu- 
 lar ones. 
 
 At last, however, this memorable epoch must 
 arrive, in Russia as elsewhere. The progress of 
 liberty is like that of time ; slow, but sure: and 
 some day will reach the north. Much has been 
 written on the influence of climate on man ; and 
 
 * An atrocity of this nature actually took place in Livonia.
 
 FUTURE REVOLUTIONS. 
 
 a political * philosopher maintains, that it has a 
 great deal on their laws and governments. With 
 regard to secondary circumstances, I believe it; 
 but principles are everywhere the same. Climate 
 cannot act on the morals of a people, but from 
 the want of law and religion, which are their pri- 
 mary regulators, and which may be transplanted 
 anywhere. I am well aware, that a desert and 
 uncultivated plain in Russia will spontaneously 
 produce some plants different from those of a field 
 left untilled in France ; but if one be ploughed up 
 like the other, and the same seed sown in both, 
 you will reap from them the same grain. Thus 
 the influence of climates cannot perceptibly take 
 place, except under the zones, where the human 
 race has physically degenerated: and besides, 
 does not Russia include at present all the climates 
 of Europe? What, shall the Russian, the de- 
 scendant of the free and valiant Slavi, be con- 
 demned to perpetual thraldom, while the Swede, 
 still farther north, boasts, his liberty? Shall Mos- 
 co, under the same latitude with London, be tor 
 ever a barbarian city, a stranger to arts and laws? 
 Under what climate then did the great Nov^o- 
 
 o O 
 
 rod flourish so early as the eighth century, that 
 powerful, free, and commercial city, at a time 
 v/hcn the people, who now boast most proudly 
 
 * Montesquieu.
 
 PREMATURE ALARM. 263 
 
 of their liberty, still crouched in ignorance be- 
 neath the feudal system*? The Slavi t, who 
 founded that republic, seem, like the Franks, to 
 bear their destiny and character imprinted on 
 their immortal names. A thousand years of bond- 
 age and tyranny have not been sufficient to efface 
 the noble impression. All the Russians have not 
 yet forgotten, that their fathers were more happy. 
 
 * Alexander Nefsky, whom the russian monks have cano- 
 nised as a saint and a hero, completed the destruction of this 
 illustrious city by a general massacre of all its inhabitants. 
 Far from uniting himself to the Novgorodians, who courage- 
 ously threw off the yoke of the Tatars, he took upon himself 
 the office of executioner of his own subjects to please these 
 robbers, and destroyed the cities that refused to pay tribute to 
 foreigners. Such was saint Alexander! 
 
 f Slara, in russ, signifies glory. The word slavoi, or slar- 
 not, which means the glorious, whereof foreigners have made 
 slavi, slaves, and Sclavonians, is strangely disfigured. Other 
 etymologists maintain, however, that all the Siavian or Scla- 
 vonian nations being known in Europe as subjugated, the ap- 
 pellation of slave was given in the west to the unfortunate 
 beings who had lost their liberty like them, and that from these 
 regions every species of servitude came into Europe.
 
 ( 264 ) 
 
 CHAP. Vlt 
 
 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 Of the nobleman, the courtier, the peasant, the artificer, and 
 soldier of Russia. 
 
 HTTHE character of the Russian, it has been 
 -*- said, is to have no character at all, but to 
 possess a wonderful capacity of assuming that of 
 other nations. If this be understood of the higher 
 class of Russians, there is much truth in the ob- 
 servation : but the same will equally apply to all 
 people, who are but half polished j and even to 
 the inhabitants of all great cities, whose physiog- 
 nomies are confounded together as well as their 
 manners, because they derive their institutions 
 and food from the same sources, because their 
 blood is mixed, and their way of life is the 
 same. 
 
 The noble Russian, the only one to be seen 
 in foreign countries, or well understood in his 
 own, has in fact a great aptitude for adopting the 
 opinions, manners, customs, and languages of 
 other nations. He can be as frivolous as a quon- 
 dam french petit maitre, as musically mad as an
 
 THE NOBLEMAN. 265 
 
 Italian, as reasonable as a German, as singular as 
 an Englishman, as mean as a slave, and as haugbty 
 as a republican. He will change his taste and 
 character as easily as the fashion of his dress: 
 surely, therefore, this suppleness of mind and 
 senses is a distinguishing feature. 
 
 This great pliability will not appear astonishing, 
 if it be remembered, that the Russians are a new 
 people, on whom all nations have had more or 
 less influence. From foreigners they have receiv- 
 ed arts, sciences, vices, and a few virtues. The 
 genius of the government, and the particular cha- 
 racter of the emperor, are imprinted on all the na- 
 tion, as on one single individual; and the greek 
 religion, the absurdest of all Christian sects, has 
 completed the alteration of its nature. It may 
 be said of the Russian, that his government de- 
 bases him, that his religion depraves him, and 
 that his pretended civilisation has corrupted- him. 
 
 Thus the primitive character of this great na- 
 tion can be traced only through all these vicious 
 institutions. A thousand years under the domi- 
 nion of the Varags^ the Tatars, and its own tzars, 
 have not been able to efface it : what then must 
 this people have been, which even now display 
 so many excellent qualities ! The russian peasant, 
 without property, without religion, without morals, 
 withouthonour 3 ishospitable,humane,obliging,gay, 
 faithful, and brave: the farther you penetrate into
 
 266 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 the country remote from cities, the better you 
 find him; the most savage is always the best, the 
 farthest from the tyrant is the nearest to virtue: 
 in a word, he has all those innate qualities, which 
 remind us of patriarchal manners ; his vices are 
 only those of the slave. The remains of barbarism, 
 still exhibited by the most enlightened part of the 
 nation, presents a disgusting contrast. This bar- 
 barism is displayed in vulgarity of manners, an in- 
 sulting contempt of mankind in general, disdain 
 of inferiors, and servile fear of superiors, indif- 
 ference for everything tending to improvement, 
 ignorance of the forms of society, insolent pride, 
 baseness, immodesty, want of patriotism and pub- 
 lic spirit, but above all, the want of that honour 
 which sometimes answers the end of probity, 
 and even of virtue. The half enlightened .Rus- 
 sian is the most abject of men ; he crawls like the 
 worm, which invites the foot of the oppressor 
 to crush him; he is more servile than his govern- 
 ment is despotic : it is impossible for his master 
 not to be his tyrant. 
 
 This semi-barbarian is peculiarly fit for the 
 
 trade of a courtier; being equally cruel, covetous, 
 
 cowardly, and artful: but, when speaking of a 
 
 Russian, we must not affix to the word courtier 
 
 , of urbanity, elegance of manners, and 
 
 acv of mind, with which the courtier is em- 
 
 beilislied in ot! -.. In Russia, he who
 
 A 
 THE COURTIER. 267 
 
 makes his way at court, particularly with the 
 great; is frequently the most impudent and in- 
 famous of men, who is ready to offer his back 
 to the king of the frogs, not lying in a marsh, but 
 swayed by an arm as vigorous as that of Peter I. 
 No man of sound judgment, no young man of a 
 noble mind or cultivated understanding, will 
 please at court; and if* his birth or circumstances 
 lead him thither, he will be in disgrace the mo~ 
 ment he is found out. 
 
 In general the Russians are fond of acquiring 
 knowledge, and have a respect for strangers : such 
 only as are totally destitute of education hate fo- 
 reigners, or are jealous of them, when they come 
 into competition with them. One thing, less to 
 their honour, likewise distinguishes the Russians : 
 this is a base and servile kind of politeness, which 
 evaporates in foolish flattering compliments. 
 Their cringing gestures, and humble and sub- 
 missive countenance before their superiors, re- 
 mind one of their oriental slavery. They know 
 not how to be polite without meanness, or to 
 flatter without falsehood : but at this we cannot 
 wonder; for, to be truly polite, a man must be 
 truly honest, and not do, from constraint or in- 
 terest, what ought to proceed from right feeling 
 and a proper sense of decorum. 
 
 In Russia the higher classes may be divided 
 into two casts, absolutely differing in manner.^
 
 268 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 and opinions. They appear like beings of dif- 
 ferent centuries ; and you would scarcely sup- 
 pose them to be of the same nation, though 
 they are frequently of the same family. The 
 one are those who reprobate all reform, instruc- 
 tion, and improvement, : they would carry the 
 nation back to a state of barbarism, and keep it 
 apart from all the rest of Europe : they consider 
 all civilisation as perversion, and deem Peter I. 
 the corrupter, not the legislator, of his empire : 
 they are made up of superstition, ignorance, and 
 prejudice. The political raskolnikis detest foreign- 
 ers more than the Turks or Chinese * : but they 
 frequently possess native morals and virtues, and 
 the excesses of the french revolution gave a 
 triumph to their system. The others, adopting 
 the manners and customs of Europe, endeavour 
 to keep pace with their contemporaries, and too 
 
 * Nothing can equal the stupidity and rudeness with which 
 they sometimes apostrophise foreigners. We have bread, 
 they say, and you are forced to come to us, otherwise yoiy 
 would be starved. Wretches, too barbarous lo blush at the 
 causes of that abundance of bread, which they boast. Yes, a 
 few thousand of their fellows eat wheaten bread, because 
 thirty millions of slaves browze on herbs, and gnaw birch bark, 
 on which they feed like the beavers, who surpass them in un- 
 derstanding. A few cities enjoy the pleasures of life, and 
 exhibit palaces, because whole provinces lie desolate, or con- 
 tain only wretched hovels, in which you would expect to find 
 bears rather than men. In the caves of robbers, too, you may 
 find abundance, and the benighted traveller has often found 
 hospitality in them.
 
 THE COURTIER. 269 
 
 often outdo them in corruption and absurdity. 
 They glory in despising, or being ignorant of the 
 ancient customs of their own country: they have 
 sense, are sociable, and possess knowledge and 
 talents. Among these you will find amiable men 
 and of great merit ; but for the most part they 
 have more politeness than honesty, more depra- 
 vity than information, more vanity than pride. 
 They are persecuted under the gloomy reign of 
 Paul, who is employing every effort to restore the 
 age of Ivan Vasilievitch ; and the gleams of the 
 french revolution have terrified several, who re- 
 turn with docility to the confines of barbarism. 
 
 Amid all these defects, the Russian nation has 
 remained exempt from three fatal errors, which 
 have tainted the rest of Europe with crimes and 
 abuses. The Russians have never established 
 among them the false point of honour, of aveng- 
 ing the lie by a murder* : their history men- 
 tions no war, no massacre, occasioned by reli- 
 
 * The Russians, as well as the Greeks and Romans, have 
 shewn thata warrior maybe brave without themadness of cut- 
 ting his comrade's throat in a duel. The officer, who return-* 
 with his cane a blow you have given him with your hand, 
 mounts to the assault the next instant like a hero. At the 
 same time it is true, that, in a society, where the affront of a 
 box on the ear may be wiped out by knocking a man down, 
 and where you raay spit in the face of him who insults you 
 with his tongue, that politeness and ceremonious respect, 
 which polished nations practise, are not to be expected : ac- 
 cordingly, the russian officers in general resemble a band cf
 
 270 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 gious fanaticism * ; and they have never consi- 
 dered birth as superior to merit f. Hitherto in 
 Russia the nobles have not been esteemed in the 
 inverse ratio of their factitious value, I mean, 
 their antiquity : but what is there called nobility 
 has an origin truly valuable and noble, that of li- 
 berty ; a noble signifying only a man who is tree 
 and possesses land, as already observed. 
 
 Next to drunkenness, the most prominent and 
 common vice of the Russians is theft. I doubt 
 whether any people upon earth be more inclined 
 naturally to appropriate to themselves the pro- 
 perty of others: from the first minister to the ge- 
 neral officer, from the lacquey to the soldier, all 
 are thieves, plunderers, and cheats. In Russia 
 theft does not inspire that degrading contempt 
 which stigmatizes a man with infamy, even 
 among the lowest of the populace. What the 
 
 footmen in uniform. A russian prince affirming something to 
 me " on the word of a man of honour/' I said to him : " How 
 " can you pledge me the word of another?" This repartee 
 might have been addressed with propriety to most of them : 
 but those who have education are inferior to none in point 
 of honour and politeness. 
 
 * The persecution of the raskohiikis by the liturgist Nicon 
 is scarcely an exception. This national toleration has more- 
 over been guaranteed by the happy ignorance of the popes, 
 whoj at all times, have been more addicted to drunkenness 
 and sleep than to dogmatizing. 
 
 f Paul is endeavouring to establish a gothic nobility, to 
 make out genealogical trees, and to introduce heraldry, UK-. 
 only science he allows to be cultivated.
 
 THE COURTIER. 271 
 
 thief dreads most is the being obliged to restore 
 his booty, as he reckons a cudgeling for nothing; 
 and if detected in the fact, he cries with a grin : 
 Vinavat, gospod'm ! vinavat : " I have done wrong. 
 " Sir :" returning what he had stolen, as if that 
 were a sufficient amends. This shameful vice, 
 pervading all classes, scarcely incurs blame. It 
 sometimes happens, that in apartments at court, 
 to which none but persons of quality a.nd supe- 
 rior officers are admitted, your pocket-book is 
 carried off as if you were in a fair *. A stranger, 
 who lodges with a Russian, even a kniaz, will 
 find to his cost, that he must leave nothing on 
 his dressing table or his writing desk : it is even 
 a russian maxim, that what is not locked up be- 
 longs to any one who has a mind to take it. The 
 same quality has been falsely ascribed to the 
 Spartans : but an Englishman, who has published 
 a book on the resemblance between the Russians 
 and Greeks, after having proved, that they eat, 
 sing, and sleep like them, has forgotten to add, 
 that in stealing they are still more expert. 
 
 Whence is it then that the Russians are more 
 addicted to theft than other half polished na- 
 
 * The king of Sweden, after the battle of the 9th of July 
 1790, invited a party of russian officers, who had been made 
 prisoners, to dine with him. One of them stole a plate ; upon 
 which the offended king ordered them all to be distributed 
 among the small towns, where they never again ate off silver.
 
 272 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 tions ? Is it because stealing is less severely pu- 
 nished in Russia than elsewhere ? No, it is 
 owing to the immorality of the greek religion *, 
 
 * One proof, that it is their religion particularly, which 
 leaves, or rather gives them this quality, is, that it is not 
 common among the people of other religions living under 
 the russian government. The mussulman Tatars are of tried 
 fidelity; even the pagan Siberians are of exemplary good 
 faith ; and the Livonians, Esthonians, and Fins, who are lu- 
 therans, ate neither knaves nor thieves. The worship of 
 images, however, has introduced one happy prejudice among 
 the Russians. He who would force open a strong box with- 
 out scruple, dares not break a seal. The following is a fact: 
 Having one day given a young soldier, my servant, two ru- 
 bles, to pay for two letters, which I bade him carry to the 
 post-office, I went out. On my return I discovered that my 
 trunk had been broke open, and robbed of ten rubles in cop- 
 per, which were in it : and I learned, that my soldier had 
 been gaming with the couriers of the chance"ry, to whom he 
 bad lost a good sum of money. He was sought after by my 
 orders, but in vain ; and I denounced him as a deserter. 
 Three days after he appeared, fell at my feet, and begged 
 forgiveness, confessing, that he had stolen the ten rubles, and 
 concealed himself in the depth of a wood, but hunger and 
 repentance had brought him back. Instead of delivering 
 him up as a thief and deserter, I satisfied myself with or- 
 dering a non-commissioned officer to give him twenty blows 
 with a rattan. At this order, he fell at my feet again, and 
 begged me with tears to punish him more severely, that no- 
 thing might lie on his conscience, he said, for having robbed 
 his master; that he deserved a hundred blows at least, and 
 that he should have more if I sent him to the regiment. He 
 persisted in his entreaties to obtain this singular favour. Sur- 
 prised at such a request, and moved by/ his penitence, I would 
 by no means consent to it, but said to him, " Now you have 
 " confessed the whole, telhne what YOU did with the letters, 
 
 7
 
 THE PEASANT. . 273 
 
 the want of laws and police, and more especially 
 the bad education of the nobles, who, from the 
 very cradle being surrounded by slaves, imbibe 
 from them the baseness of their sentiments. 
 
 If you are more exposed to pilfering in Russia 
 than in other countries, you are in less danger of 
 being assassinated than even in England. I tra- 
 versed the vacant spaces of Petersburg, and the 
 deserts of Russia, with more security than the 
 crowded streets of London, or the well-frequented 
 roads of France. Wherever I found a hut, I was 
 sure of meeting hospitality at the threshold; and, 
 if I wore a cockade in my hat, I was respected 
 and even feared by the ill-disposed *. 
 
 If stealing and drunkenness be the most pro- 
 minent vices of the Russians, hospitality and cou- 
 rage are the most striking qualities. 
 
 " as they were of importance." " I carried them to the post- 
 " office." " What! would you make me believe that you 
 " did not begin with gaming away the two rubles I gave 
 " you, before you broke open my trunk?" " Yes, Sir, God 
 " forbid that 1 should touch money belonging to anything 
 " sealed." In fact, after having lost ruble after ruble of 
 the money he had stolen, he had earned the letters and the 
 money for them to the post-office, arid I received the answers 
 in due course. 
 
 * A traveller, on entering the cottage of a peasant, first 
 salutes the image in the corner, by making the sign of the 
 cross, then his host, saying, " Bread and salt;" this done, he 
 sits down on the bench and eats with the family, ai if he were 
 a member of it.
 
 274 NATIONAL. CHARACTER. 
 
 From the extreme of wretchedness some good 
 arises, as germs from the bosom of corruption. 
 The countries where men are slaves or savages, 
 
 O ' 
 
 are thinly peopled, even if they be fertile : hence 
 in such countries men are strangers to want, and, 
 if allowed ever so little of their time and strength, 
 can procure the necessaries of life in abundance. 
 Having few wants, and their property being 
 insecure, they live from hand to mouth, and freely 
 bestow what they have. A vassal readily shares 
 his bread, his salt, and his hut with the traveller > 
 and the noble is equally prompt to admit the 
 stranger to partake of his table and his plea- 
 sures*. Every year the russian and the livonian 
 slave may set fire to a forest, and sow the virgin 
 earth, which will return him ten or fifteen fold; 
 this slave employs for his own use only so much 
 of his time and produce as is absolutely necessary 
 to prevent his dying with hunger or sinking un- 
 der fatigue; all the rest is destined to augment 
 the superfluities of his lord f. Now in Russia. 
 
 * In Russia parasites arc not yet despised. The general, 
 the wealthy merchant, every man in tolerably easy circum- 
 stances, keeps a sort of open house, so that his friends and 
 acquaintance, officers in the army, and the crowd of young 
 men and foreigners who have no house or home,- daily find 
 admission to his table. 
 
 f Many russian and livonian lords make their slaves work 
 Jive days in the week : some even leave these poor creatures 
 only the day of rest to cultivate the ground that must feed 
 their family. But I leave the task of exhibiting at large the
 
 THE PEASANT. 275 
 
 where there are thirty thousand slaves, there are 
 not a hundred thousand lords, who fatten on 
 their sweat and blood; and these alone compose 
 the consuming class of an immense and fertile em- 
 pire. It is not surprising therefore, to see the 
 russian lords display a luxury and profusion, 
 which impose upon the people, and which you 
 would seek in vain where good and ill are more 
 equally distributed. Many of these great lords, 
 it must be avowed, possess laudable qualities. 
 They are in general more inclined to enjoy what 
 they have, than to accumulate wealth: their 
 riches are constantly renewing, like the race of 
 men whence they flow, and frequently cost them 
 nothing to acquire. The munificence of their 
 tzar, and peculation of every kind, are commonly 
 their impure sources : but they know that they 
 may lose them as easily as they were procured ; 
 
 inconceivable evils which the Russians, and more especially 
 the wretched Livonians, suffer, to one of ray friends, who is 
 treating this subject and several others more minutely. Mer- 
 kel ( 1 ) has lately roused the indignation even of Germany, 
 by drawing a picture of their condition. Never did the 
 feudal system, or the black code, present such atrocities. 
 Paul, by destroying at the commencement of his reign all 
 that his mother had done in favour of the slaves, has replaced 
 them at the mercy of their private owners, as so many do- 
 mestic bipeds. And Livonians, Germans, dare thus to treat 
 human bo ings in the present century and in the face of Eu- 
 rope ! 
 
 4 
 
 (1) Author of a german work, intitled The Lettonians. 
 T 2
 
 276 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 and therefore they enjoy them while it is in their 
 power. This some of them do so nobly, that 
 they gain credit for haying virtue, or at least for 
 feeling remorse. 
 
 The genius of the russian people turns eagerly 
 to commerce, for which it appears to be parti- 
 cularly calculated. When a peasant can obtain 
 a passport from his master*, he hastens to quit 
 his ungrateful, furrows, and apply to some trade, 
 in hope of accumulating money enough to pur- 
 chase his liberty: but in this he is frequently de- 
 ceived f. The russian traders, for the most part 
 slaves, and fettered besides by the regulations of 
 government, can seldom rise to great specula- 
 tions, in spite of all their industry : they confine 
 themselves to inland traffic ; and instead of being 
 
 * For five and twenty rubles a year, a peasant sometimes 
 obtains a passport, or licence, from his master, in virtue 
 whereof he can exercise his ingenuity in the towns and cities; 
 but this tribute is increased in proportion to his industry. 
 
 f The russian slave, when he has contrived to make a 
 little purse, cannot always offer it for his ransom; since his 
 master sometimes appropriates his treasure to his own use 
 and increases 'his burdens. Many of these slaves becomi 
 very rich; but their master refuses to sell them their liberty, 
 considering their capitals and their industry as his property, 
 and as a last resource for himself. There are masters, who, 
 after they have ruined themselves by gambling, have searched 
 the houses of their slaves, to seize on all they could find in 
 them. This plundering is one of the reasons why the pea- 
 sants frequently bury their money, and die before they have 
 been able to discover it to their children.
 
 THE PEASANT. 277 
 
 merchants in their own country, are merely factors 
 to the English, and find themselves obliged to 
 be content like the Jews in other countries, with 
 the petty trade of retail dealers and pedlars. 
 
 It is truly astonishing, to see how strenuously 
 russian politics tend to ruin the subjects of that 
 empire. These cannot carry on trade to advan- 
 tage, but in proportion to the rivalry between 
 foreign nations, that are in want of the natural 
 productions of their country : yet the cabinet of 
 Petersburg has shut all its ports to the rivals of 
 England. The English are the sole purveyors of 
 Russia, and the arbiters of the price of its pro- 
 duce, as well as of the value of its rubles, since > 
 they alone fix the course of exchange. In short, 
 they carry on this trade to the same advantage as 
 is done with all barbarous nations, the govern- 
 ment of which, more barbarous still, sells exclu- 
 sive privileges to some particular company*. 
 
 * Whatever the people in Russia may say, the balance of 
 trade is always against them; the natural productions of that 
 immense empire not being sufficient to pay for the foreign 
 articles of luxury imported into the two capitals. One ship, 
 laden with english hardware, is equal in value to thirty laden 
 with iron, hemp, or timber. The English carry away leather 
 and bring back shoes; grain, for winch they return beer, &c. 
 The only nation with which Russia could carry on an imme- 
 diate exchange of produce, is France, from which it might 
 receive oil and wine; but these Russia chooses to purchase 
 at the third or fourth hand, and pay double the price for them. 
 The Russians, seeing their coin disappear, and nothing
 
 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 Mirabeau has said, that the Russians are the 
 most malleable of all people. A young peasant, 
 rough, savage, timid, torn from his hamlet, is 
 metamorphosed into an elegant and agile footman, 
 or a spruce and courageous soldier, in less than a 
 month. His master makes him in a short time 
 his tailor, his musician, or even his surgeon, or 
 counsellor at law. 
 
 I had been told a hundred times, that the best 
 way to teach them any thing was by blows. I 
 could not believe it; but I saw it was 'so. When 
 a few hundred recruits are delivered to an officer 
 to form a new battalion, the cloth and leather 
 necessary for equipping them are given him at 
 the same time. Having drawn the poor fellows 
 up in a rank, he says to one, " You shall be 
 " tailor to the company;" to another, " You 
 
 but paper left, notwithstanding the great quantity of gold 
 and silver they draw from Siberia, suppose it is carried away 
 by the foreigners who come to their country to seek their 
 fortunes, follow arts or trades, or serve in the army. This-, 
 however, is a great mistake. Soldiers, or men of letters, 
 seldom grow rich ; and in Russia less than anywhere : the 
 artist and the mechanic, too, more frequently meet poverty 
 than wealth ; and most of these strangers die or settle in the 
 country. All who arrive bring at least a lew ducats with 
 them ; and there is not one in twenty who goes away with 
 any property : if a calculation were made, the balance with 
 respect to these would be in favour of Russia. For a long 
 time none but musicians, milliners, pawnbrokers, and En- 
 glishmen, have enriched themselves in Russia. [With leave 
 efthefrench author, the fortunes made by the English there have 
 been extremely few indeed, Jr.J
 
 THE PEASANT*. 279 
 
 f< shall be shoemaker;" to a third, " You shall 
 ** be musician." If they grumble, they receive 
 some strokes of the cudgel, and a few bad im- 
 plements are given them, to go and practise at 
 their respective employments. The drubbing is 
 repeated occasionally, till they produce a boot or 
 garment tolerably well made, and can play the 
 march of the regiment. " But," . said I to a co- 
 lonel, who boasted of having thus formed the 
 Mosco grenadiers, " among those men there 
 " must have been several who had exercised in 
 " their own villages the trades you wanted: why, 
 " instead of choosing them yourself, did you not 
 " interrogate them on this head? he who could 
 *' play on the balakika* would' have made a good 
 " fifer ; and he would have been the best shoe- 
 ** maker, who had learned of himself to make 
 " Ia/ikis-\." " O," replied he, " you are a 
 " stranger; you know nothing of our Russians: 
 " among all those fellows, there was not one 
 " who would have confessed what he could do." 
 Strange and melancholy truth! but it is not so 
 with the Russian alone ; it is the same with the 
 slave of every country ; and always will be, 
 where a man is obliged to exert his corporal and 
 mental faculties by compulsion. 
 
 * A sort of lute with two strings, on which the Russian 
 peasants play. 
 
 f Shoes of linden bark, which the Russians wear.
 
 280 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 Tin's spirit of mechanical submission imposed 
 on the Russians, has an unfortunate influence on 
 all their imitative arts. They have a national 
 music of their own invention, which is extraor- 
 dinary, and bears the characteristic stamp of 
 their enslaved genius: it appears formed to be 
 executed by a machine, rather than by men. 
 About half a hundred musicians, as they are 
 called, have each a horn, differing in size in re- 
 gular gradation, like the pipes of an organ: each 
 of these horns gives but one tone, and each of 
 the players has before him only one note, the 
 greater or less length of which, and the longer 
 or shorter intervals between its repetitions, form 
 all the variation. Thus these musicians, each 
 repeating his own note, perform by common 
 accord the simplest and even the most compli- 
 cated airs. The bulk of these horns, and the 
 purity and depth of their tones, render their con- 
 cert sublime; and its effect is particularly grand 
 by night, and in the open fields. I doubt the 
 possibility, however, of forming a band of this 
 strange music anywhere but in Russia ; as it 
 would not be easy to muster fifty men, who 
 would consent to devote their lives to the sole 
 purpose of sounding one note on a horn, and wait 
 whole hours measuring rests, in expectation of 
 the moment f6r sounding this note, incapable of 
 being moved by the air they are employed in
 
 THE PEASANT. 231 
 
 playing, or by the art they profess. Nothing 
 but an automaton, an organ-pipe, or a slave, can 
 be brought to this exactness. The Greeks and 
 Romans had slaves likewise, but they had liberal 
 arts: in Russia there are none; all the arts there 
 are servile or foreign, and can be naturalized only 
 with freedom. 
 
 Whether he exercise arts, guide the life-sup- 
 porting plough, or handle the destructive musket, 
 the Russian is fettered, and trembles under the 
 lash of a master: all the qualities of his mind are 
 withered, and the tenderest feelings of his heart 
 are outraged*. How astonishing is it, that, with 
 these debased beings, torn by force from their 
 families as sheep from the fold, and of whom the 
 greater part die of grief and terrors before they 
 reach the army, to which they are driven by the 
 
 * What has disgusted me is, to see men with grey hair, 
 and patriarchal beards, lying on their faces, with their trow- 
 zers down, and flogged like children. Still more horrible ! 
 J blush to write it, there are masters, who sometimes force 
 the son to inflict this punishment on his father : and, most 
 abominable of all, there are sons who comply with such an 
 indignity. These and many other horrid acts are committed 
 especially in the country, where the lords, in their castles, 
 exercise the same authority over men as over animals. Even 
 women are subjected to the most indelicate insults. These 
 barbarities, however, become more rare, and inspire the 
 better kind of Russians with as much horror as> they do my 
 readers: but they are still committed, and attest to what a 
 pitch of degradation the human species may be reduced.
 
 282 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 switch, Russia should have gained so many vic- 
 tories over her neighbours? Reasons for such 
 apparent contradictions, however, may be as- 
 signed. The Russian, who can support the 
 wretched life necessary to complete the education 
 of a soldier, may be considered as an invulne- 
 rable, or at least an insensible being, immersed 
 in the waters of the Styx. Scarcely one in three 
 endures the trial, but he who does remains inde- 
 fatigable, and hard as the iron that has repeat- 
 edly passed under the hammer. From the proud 
 russian prince, who devours a raw turnip or cu- 
 cumber, after having gormandized on the most 
 exquisite dishes at a sumptuous table*, to the 
 filthy Siberian, who feeds' on stinking fish, all the 
 Russians seem to have iron constitutions, capable 
 of supporting equally the extremes of heat and 
 cold, of gluttony and abstinence. The veteran 
 soldiers are the hardest of men. Reeking from 
 the vapour bath, they roll themselves naked in 
 the snow, and sleep on a bed of ice. From the 
 severest toil they pass to the most indolent repose; 
 after the longest and mgst rigid abstinence they 
 gorge themselves with food with impunity; and 
 having a sukare (biscuit) and an onion in their 
 
 * Potemkin has often been seen to present himself in the 
 midst of his courtiers with his legs bare, and his hair about 
 his ears eating, like an Oran-outang, a raw carrot or turnip, 
 when just come from the empress's table. 
 
 4
 
 THE SOLDIER. 283 
 
 pocket, they will travel sixty versts a day, to 
 follow Suvarof. 
 
 Lassant la faim, la soif, et la fatigue, 
 Le soldat russe affronte les revers, 
 Brave la mort, et franchit les deserts. 
 Fier et soumis, de soi-meme prodigue, 
 Guidez son bras, il detruit 1'univers. 
 
 " The Russian hunger, thirst, fatigue subdues, 
 
 " His foe across each desert wild pursues, 
 
 " Dares adverse fortune, dares impending fate, 
 
 " And prodigal of life is bravely great. 
 
 " Humble, yet proud, his banners wide unfurl'd, 
 
 " Guide but his arm, he'll subjugate the world." 
 
 In short, if, as it has long been imagined, to be 
 a good soldier require nothing more than to be a 
 very exact machine, the Russian must certainly 
 be the best in the world. His valour is so me- 
 chanical and so docile *, that he dreads the cane 
 
 t- The russian soldier sometimes gives very laughable 
 proofs of this mechanical exactness. Peter I. had tssued or- 
 der?, that every man who went through the streets without a 
 a lantern after ten o'clock at night, should be stopped. A phy- 
 sician, returning from a visit to a patient, was preceded by 
 his servant with a lantern. The servant was suffered to pass, 
 but the physician, notwithstanding all he could say, was con- 
 ducted by the sentry to the guard-house. In a battle with 
 the Swedes, a galley was sunk, on board of which were se- 
 veral officers of the guards. The commander of the next gal- 
 ley cried out to his men : " Save the officers of the guards." 
 One poor fellow sinking held up his arm for assistance, and a 
 soldier caught hold of it ; but before he would pull him out, 
 asked, " Are you an officer of the guards ?" The poor fellow 
 being unable to answer, the soldier let him go, and he pe- 
 rished.
 
 284 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 of his officer more than the cannon of the enemy : 
 it may be said of him, that he is brave from cow- 
 ardice. Contrary to what is seen in many other 
 nations, the russian soldier is more intrepid than 
 his officer. His powerful incentives are, his fero- 
 cious disposition, the thirst of plunder, and his 
 desperate condition. The officer has not the same 
 stimulants, and is often destitute of that sense of 
 honour which supplies the place of courage and 
 patriotism. Catharine substituted for these a 
 lure of recompenses of all kinds, of which she was 
 prodigal on every occasion. The officer who had 
 been present at an engagement * was promoted a 
 step : such as were mentioned with honour by the 
 general in his report, received crosses, or gold- 
 hilted swords ; and they who were wounded, pea- 
 sants or pensions. I have seen officers, who, in 
 one campaign had received two crosses, a gold- 
 hiked sword, and two degrees of promotion. 
 There is a wide difference, however, between the 
 
 * The soldiers received a silver medal, and I have seen 
 whole regiments, where none but the recruits just arrived 
 were without them. The medal distributed to those who 
 were present at the expedition against Tschesme, or Clazo- 
 jnene, where the Turkish fleet was burned, has great subli- 
 mity in the inscription : Bouil, " I was there." Paul recom- 
 penses his soldiers by giving permission to a regiment, with 
 whose .services he is satisfied, to play the grenadier's march : 
 being sure at the same time that the musicians get a shower 
 of blows to make them learn it : This is Paul's Marseilloise. 
 
 t
 
 THE SOLDIER. 28f- 
 
 valour of these soldiers and that of those warriors, 
 whose heroic exploits were rewarded by a branch 
 of oak, or the simple approbation of their coun- 
 try. 
 
 The russian soldier h?is retained some virtues, 
 of which he frequently exhibits proofs amid the 
 excesses in which he too often indulges ; for, not- 
 withstanding the dread and horror which the pea- 
 sant feels for the life of a soldier, young men have 
 been seen to cast themselves at the feet of the 
 recruiting officers, and beg that they might be 
 taken instead of a brother, about to be torn from 
 his family *. The greatness of such a sacrifice 
 can only be properly estimated when we recol- 
 lect that a russian soldier is inlisted not for a cer- 
 tain number of years, but for his whole life. Once 
 dragged from his hut, and all that are dear to 
 
 * I was much interested for a young man, who had come 
 five hundred miles, to beg that he might be received into the 
 regiment instead of his brother, who had a large family; and 
 I spoke of it to the minister at war, relating the particulars of 
 a sacrifice, which in my opinion deserved to be rewarded by 
 setting the soldier at liberty, without detaining his generous 
 brother. A relation of the minister, who was present, said, 
 " We must dismiss all our soldiers, then ; for I have seen a 
 thousand times such things as these which seem to astonish 
 " you." This silenced me, not knowing which to admire 
 most, the general good nature of the russian slaves, or the 
 hard-heartedness of their lords. This man had been taken 
 by PugatsheC tied up in a bag, and was on the point of being 
 thrown into the river, when a russian party came up to his 
 rescue.
 
 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 him, he must grow old under the severest disci- 
 pline, if he do not fall by the sword of the enemy. 
 If he be married, scarcely will he have quitted his 
 wife before his master may give her to another* ; 
 and if he have children, he will never behold them 
 again f . He is lost, dead to his family for ever : 
 becomes a warrior, and at length is pleased with 
 the business of slaughter. 
 
 You then see him giving proofs of courage and 
 confidence in' his generals, which serve him in- 
 stead of patriotism J : so the well-trained dog 
 
 * This is forbidden ; but it is frequently done, that the 
 master's income may suffer no diminution : as he would be 
 obliged to support the wife and children ; but by marrying her 
 again, the same fields are cultivated by the husband's suc- 
 cessor, who pays the same tribute. Frequently a lord marries 
 a stout girl of twenty to a boy of ten or twelve, in order to 
 establish a fresh houshold. Sometimes a father of a numerous 
 young family, finding his task too severe, solicits a stout wife 
 for one of his boys, and supplies the place of a husband to his 
 daughter-in-law, till the child is grown up. Such disorderly 
 conduct is very common in the country. 
 
 f The soldier never obtains a furlough. 
 
 t At the siege of Otchakof, a piquet guard, going to an 
 advanced post, met an officer in the trenches, who said to 
 them : " The Turks have made a sally ; the post, to which 
 " you are going, is already in their hands ; turn back, or you 
 " will be cut to pieces." " What is that to us <" replied one 
 of the soldiers ; " prince Dolgoruky is answerable for us." 
 Notwithstanding the officer's representations, they went on, 
 and returned no more. At the attack which the Turks made 
 upon Kinburn, Suvarof went out drunk, at the head of his 
 garrison, to repulse the enemy. The Russians gave way at
 
 THE SOLDIER. 287 
 
 displays from obedience the same courage, as the 
 generous lion defending his life or liberty. In 
 his bravery, native hilarity, gait, and cleanliness, 
 the russian soldier is admirable. There are regi- 
 ments, which, for these sixty years, have been 
 almost always in sight of the enemy. These con- 
 tinual combats have rendered the Russians war- 
 like ; but the scenes at Otchakof, Ismail, and 
 Praga, and the devastations in unhappy Poland, 
 have stamped their valour with the most ferocious 
 barbarity. This, however, was the character of 
 the generals that commanded them, of Catharine 
 who excited them, rather than their own. Yet 
 amid that horde of savages which were let loose 
 upon that wretched nation,- by the side of the 
 Suvarofs, Denisofs, Kakofskies, and Kretschet- 
 nikofs, whose names are even less barbarous than 
 their characters, were seen the Repnins, Gallit- 
 zins, Buchshefdens, Fersens, the young Tolstoi, 
 and several superior officers, whose humanity and 
 even urbanity formed a complete contrast to the 
 
 the first charge, and several took to their heels. A 
 enraged, stopped the fugitives with his bayonet, obliged them 
 to turn back, and charged at their head, as if he had been 
 their officer. Catharine, being informed of this action, which 
 was the cause of the first victory in the last war, would have 
 given him a commission : but this he refused, saving that he 
 could neither read nor write, and would rather be n good sol- 
 dier than a bad officer. The empress then sent him a gold 
 medal, and conferred on him a pension of three hundred 
 rubles [30/.].
 
 288 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 barbarity of their companions. The Russians, 
 who became so ferocious under the reign of Ca- 
 tharine, were much less so under that of the mild 
 Elizabeth. Their memory is still respected in 
 Prussia : the conduct and discipline which they 
 observed there during two years, were acknow- 
 ledged with gratitude by the inhabitants. The 
 irregular Kozaks, the Bashkirs, the Kirghises, 
 and the Calmucs, who compose their light troops, 
 are the only barbarians without discipline. 
 
 The genius of Catharine required a nation so 
 new, so malleable, and of which she might say, as 
 the statuary in La Fontaine says of his block of 
 marble : " Shall I make of it a god, a table, or a 
 " trough r" Of the Russian she could not make 
 a god, but she might have made a man : her 
 greatest crime is in not having made it her glory 
 to do so *. By submitting to the reign of Catha- 
 
 * Catharine, the disciple and. idol of our philosophers, the 
 legislatrix of the north, has rivetted the chains of the unhappy 
 Russians. By what fatality was it, that she, who in her youth 
 was not afraid to have the question discussed, whether it 
 would not be proper to emancipate the peasants, should 
 finish by reducing to similar slavery those provinces which 
 had retained some franchises ? Vcesernsky, whom Momonof 
 punningly called Falter re (the land-stealer), with a single stroke 
 of the pen reduced the Kozaks, Tatars, and Fins to the state 
 of slaves, in order to augment the capitation ; notwithstanding 
 Catharine had acknowledged and guaranteed their rights ! 
 This Vaesemky, whose knavery was equal to the stupidity 
 of his successor, was procureur-general and treasurer of the
 
 THE SOLDIER. 
 
 rine and her twelve favourites, Russia proved her- 
 self the most degraded of nations. 
 
 Peter I. having employed a monk to translate 
 Puffendorffs Political History of Europe into 
 russ, the monk, from a sentiment of mean and 
 false delicacy, softened all the expressions he 
 found relating to slavery and Russia : he even took 
 the liberty to omit altogether the chapter where 
 that author treats of the national character of the 
 Muscovites. Peter, turning over the book, pre- 
 sently discovered the omission, gave the monk a 
 severe reprimand, and ordered him immediately 
 to correct the whole of the translation, and ren- 
 der it perfectly faithful. This noble frankness 
 demands our esteem : but what will the reader 
 say, when he is informed, that, under the reign 
 of Catharine, a new translation of Puffendorff ap- 
 peared, with all those omissions which the monk 
 had formerly made ? 
 
 Russia, brave, powerful, amiable, and hospi- 
 table nation ! where I found friends and* protec- 
 tors, forgive the frankness of a stranger, who ven- 
 tures to depict you as you appeared to him ; and 
 who, if he had been speaking of his own country- 
 empire ; and, according to the russian expression, was the 
 sovereign's eye. Count Panin, speaking of him, said to Ca- 
 tharine : " You have a purblind eye there:" to which she 
 answered : " For that reason I will have the senate obey 
 " it." 
 
 tr
 
 290 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 men, could not always have spoken of them with 
 praise. In painting your good qualities, I have 
 displayed your heart : in painting your vices, I 
 have shewn only the marks of your chains. May 
 freedom efface them at some future day !
 
 I 
 
 ( 291 ) 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 RELIGION. 
 The Crock ChurchPriests Festivals Fasts Image*. 
 
 T has often been made matter of reproach to 
 religion, that her most zealous defenders are 
 not always the best of men in their own charac- 
 ters Russia in particular affords matter in sup- 
 port of this sarcasm. It is there that the most 
 illiterate or most degenerate sect of Christianity, 
 still substitutes dogmas in the place of morals, 
 miracles instead of reason, the performance of 
 ceremonies instead of the practice of virtue, and 
 expiations of guilt instead of repentance or pu- 
 nishment. There, the devotee is assuredly a knave, 
 and the hypocrite a villain *. I have already 
 asserted, that the principal cause of the vices of 
 the people is the immorality of their religion ; 
 and he who considers, that in the russo-greek 
 
 * A foreign officer having picked out a servant from his 
 soldiers, was taking him home ; when, passing opposite to a 
 church, the soldier stopped, bowed, and crossed himself. Oh ! 
 my friend, said the officer, thou art a rogue, I will have no- 
 thing to do with thee. The last man I had did the same ; 
 and he robbed me. Accordingly, he sent back th's. devotee, 
 and changed his choice till he found a man that went by the 
 church without stopping. Him he, kept, and he proved an 
 honest fellow. 
 
 u 2
 
 292 RELIGION. 
 
 church there are neither sermons, nor exhorta- 
 tions, nor catechism, will at once be of my opi- 
 nion. A sort of auricular confession, but very 
 different from that of the catholics, is the only 
 act which reminds the Russian of a few of his 
 duties : but all that the confessor enjoins him 
 consists in fasting, in repeating litanies and mak- 
 ing the sign of the cross. It is true, the arch- 
 bishop or metropolitan, sometimes preaches a 
 sermon in the chapel of the palace : but this ser- 
 mon used to be nothing more than a flattering ora- 
 tion to Catharine, who heard it with downcast 
 eyes, and kissed the hand of the preacher by way 
 of acknowledgment. It is true, likewise, that 
 Plato, archbishop of Mosco, who is really a man 
 of merit, has composed some very sensible and 
 eloquent homilies ; and that he has enjoined the 
 parish priests to make similar ones, or at least to 
 read his on Sundays and festivals. But the coun- 
 try popes are not always capable even of per- 
 forming the latter injunction ; the rest are still 
 less equal to the former ; and they who are able 
 never mind it. 
 
 Beside the fifty"two Sundays in the year, the 
 Russians celebrate sixty-three festivals, twenty- 
 five of which were dedicated to Catharine and 
 her family*. At court these were days of Te 
 
 * Five of these festivals were exclusively in honour of Ca- 
 tharine : 1st, her birth-day, the 21st of April, old style j 2dly,
 
 PRIESTS. 293 
 
 Deum, or rather Te Deam, pomp, balls, distribu- 
 tion of favours, and feasting : in the towns, of 
 drunkenness and disorder. In the country they 
 might have been days of rest for the wretched ; 
 but if their masters did not send them to their 
 usual tasks after mass, they dedicated those mo- 
 ments to the hasty gathering in of their own har- 
 vest : in this respect, therefore, the festivals were 
 a benefit to them. 
 
 The most despicable and most despised of all 
 persons in Russia are the priests. Many of them 
 cannot even read ; yet they are more despicable 
 for their drunkenness and intemperance than for 
 their gross ignorance. There are seminaries for 
 their tuition, indeed ; but it is not always neces- 
 sary for a man to have been educated in them, in 
 order to become a priest. A father bequeaths 
 to his son his living, his church, and his flock : 
 for this he wants nothing but the consent of his 
 lord, who easily obtains that of the bishop. If 
 the son be able, as his father was before him, to 
 read a little in the Slavonian language, say mass, 
 
 her accession to the throne, the 28th of June ; 3dly, her coro- 
 nation, the '22d of September ; 4thly, her inoculation for the 
 small-pox, the 21st of November ; and 5thly, her name-day, 
 the 2 tth of the same month. For these solemn days each of 
 her generals were anxious to send her the news of some im- 
 portant victory, which she preferred to any other homage. 
 It was necessary for the enemies of the Russians to be parti- 
 cularly on their guard some days preceding these festivals, 
 for they were sure to be attacked
 
 RELIGION. 
 
 and chaunt vespers, he is master of his trade, anc! 
 follows it. He often gets drunk, and fights with 
 his parishioners ; who notwithstanding kiss his 
 hand, and ask his blessing, after they have given 
 him a drubbing*. It is not uncommon in the 
 streets of Mosco and Petersburg, to meet drunken 
 priests and monks, reeling along, swearing, sing- 
 ing, and insulting the passengers, male and fe- 
 male. One of the chief causes of the vices and 
 ignorance of the russian priests, however, is to be 
 ascribed to the greek religion itself, by prohibit- 
 ing them to read any book except their breviary, 
 to employ themselves in any occupation, to do 
 any work, or to play on any instrument of 
 music. 
 
 The indecency with which these priests offi- 
 ciate, renders extremely ridiculous the ceremo- 
 nies, which would be much less so in them- 
 selves f- 
 
 * On certain days in the year these popes make the tour 
 of their parishes, demanding from hut to hut eggs, butter, 
 flax, fowls, &c. On their return they are seen either lying 
 dead drunk in a cart among these provisions, or merrily sing- 
 ing from this moving pulpit. 
 
 -j- A russian general, having a child of one of his domestics 
 baptized in his antichamber, conducted thither the company 
 who had dined with him to amuse them with the sight. The 
 priest having officiated with an ease and dignity which were 
 not expected, the general applauded his performance by 
 clapping, and crying " Bravo ! Bravo !" These russian bap- 
 tisms by immersion are always extremely indelicate when the
 
 PRIESTS. 295 
 
 Many lords keep private chaplains to say mass, 
 in their own houses : but they commonly live 
 with the footmen, and are not admitted to their 
 master's table. The condition of these priests, 
 however, is free *. 
 
 The superior clergy are more respectable, and 
 certainly much more respected. Nothing can 
 be more pompous than a solemn mass celebrated 
 by an archbishop, who is arrayed in his robes by 
 his clergy in the midst of the temple, as the high 
 priest formerly was f. Plato and Gabriel, arch- 
 person is a Turk or a Calmuc of five and twenty. Their 
 marriages, too, have many ridiculous ceremonies. I saw a 
 lady, at the marriage of her waiting woman in her own pri- 
 vate chapel, smartly scold her chaplain for not knowing the 
 proper ceremonies, and take the direction and ordering of 
 them upon herself. The bride on this occasion was an Eng- 
 lish woman, and the clergyman of her own nation gave her 
 away. His grave deportment formed a singular contrast to 
 that of the officiating pope, and shewed that it is not always 
 the beard that gives a respectable^ air. 
 
 * During the war with Sweden, as there was a pressing 
 want of men, several thousands of priests' sons were notwith- 
 standing taken away, and some battalions of artillery formed 
 of them. Several of them had already commenced their sa- 
 cerdotal functions : yet they were dragged, like slaves, from 
 their altars and their wives, to go and handle the cannons of 
 general Melissino's camp. 
 
 f Count d'Artois, during his stay at Petersburg, happened 
 to be at such a ceremony, when Catharine sent an officer 
 to him with the news that Dumouriez had been defeated at 
 Nerwinden. The Russians, imagining that it was his de- 
 votion to their St. Alexander which had procured him such
 
 296 RELIGION. 
 
 bishops of Mosco and Petersburg, are men vefne- 
 rable for their character and conduct, and parti- 1 
 cularly tor the pains they have taken to reform the 
 manners of their brethren. M. Samborsky, chap- 
 lain to the grand-dukes, is a man who does ho- 
 nour to his cloth and country. He is the only 
 russian priest to be seen without a beard While 
 in London, he obtained permission, though with 
 difficulty, to shave himself; and he has had the 
 courage to persevere in the practice since his re- 
 turn; But if he left his beard in England, he 
 brought thence taste and knowledge, from which 
 his country may reap advantage. He applies 
 himself to the improvement of agriculture in the 
 environs of Tzarskoselo, where he has cleared de- 
 serts and drained marshes, to form fertile fields or 
 english gardens *. This is the only revenge he 
 
 n. happy message, the prince was willing to pay the archbi- 
 shop a compliment on the occasion; but he very impolitely 
 answered, that he had prayed only for true believers. Per- 
 haps the reader will be surprised to hear that Catharine, who 
 so much ridiculed the consecrated sword which the pope 
 sent to the austrian general Daun, herself ordered a sword to 
 be blessed by the metropolitan of St. Alexander Nefsky, 
 which she designed as a present to count d'Artois. Its hilt 
 was of gold, ornamented with brilliants, and on the guard 
 were these words: " God and the king:" it has not per- 
 formed more miracles, however, than marshal Daun's. 
 
 * Those of the grand-duke Alexander, of which he formed 
 the plan, and was not unfrequently its executor, were 
 founded on a very ingenious idea'. Catharine had written a
 
 PRIESTS. 297 
 
 takes on his bigoted brethren, for their contempt 
 of one whom they consider as a heretic. He has 
 obtained another dispensation equally extraor- 
 dinary. His wife being dead, he is permitted to 
 continue in the exercise of his clerical functions as 
 a widower, which is contrary to the canons of the 
 greek hierarchy. According to these, a man can- 
 not act as a parish priest without being married : 
 and, as a priest can marry but once, if he lose his 
 wife he must shut himself up in a convent. For 
 this reason the wives of the popes are the most 
 tenderly treated, and the happiest women in 
 Russia. 
 
 The ignorance and sottishness which characte- 
 rise the russian clergy, are perhaps, as I have ob- 
 served, the chief causes of the happy exception 
 their church affords in the annals of christianitv. 
 
 f 
 
 Their disputes and mistaken zeal have not, as 
 elsewhere, occasioned wars, massacres, and per- 
 
 tale for her grand-children, intitlcd, The Tzarevitch Ciilore. 
 The little Chlore undertakes a journey, to reach the top of a 
 mountain, where blooms a rose without a thorn, an'! garhen 
 it after a thousand dangers and a thousand toils. M. Sam- 
 horsky has exhibited all the scones and adventure- <;i this 
 tale in the field of nature. The centre of the garden i- a. 
 mountain, on the summit of which stands the temple of the 
 thornless rose, and the path leading to it presents all the in- 
 structive allegories that Catharine had invented for the 
 young princes. An adopted son of the worthy Sarnbor-ky 
 has written a description of these gardens in %x-rse, which the 
 author of the present work has translated into franch.
 
 298 RELIGION. 
 
 seditions. If we except the violent acts of 
 Peter I. in reforming their beards and long gar- 
 ments ; and those of Nicon, in establishing his 
 new liturgy ; the russian history exhibits none of 
 those religious contests which have deluged the 
 earth with blood. Archbishop Nicon was no 
 doubt right in endeavouring to render the form 
 of worship more pure and simple; but he was 
 wrong in exhorting the tzar Alexius to employ 
 violence. They who would not make the sign 
 of the cross with three fingers, had their hand 
 cut off: hence arose a schism. These schisma- 
 tics refused to admit either the translation of the 
 sacred books by Nicon, or his new litanies j and 
 even now they would rather lose their hand than 
 not make the sign of the cross with two fingers, 
 as a symbol that the Holy Ghost proceeds from 
 the Father alone. These are called by others 
 raskolniki*) but they style themselves stardi-vertsi 
 (of the old faith). They were prohibited from 
 celebrating worship in public, but they held pri- 
 vate meetings, and under prince Potemkin they 
 obtained permission to build themselves several 
 churches. His plan was, to support himself on 
 this powerful and fanatic sect at some future pe- 
 riod. There are some wealthy merchants and 
 great lords who are attached to it, and it is 
 
 * Schismatic's.
 
 FASTS. 299 
 
 widely diffused among the peasants. However, 
 the raskolmki are no longer persecuted, and the 
 Russians in general display the greatest indiffe- 
 rence about the faith of others. 
 
 The common people observe with the most 
 scrupulous exactitude the four grand lents which 
 are enjoined them : at which times their fuper- 
 stition carries them so far, that they abstain even 
 from their wives and their snuff-boxes. The con- 
 science of a Russian would not be so much af- 
 fected by a theft or a murder, from which he 
 might obtain absolution, as by having eaten meat, 
 milk, or an egg, during lent. Linseed oil, fish, 
 herbs, roots, and mushrooms, are then his sole 
 nourishment ; and such an abstinence for six 
 weeks reduces him to a skeleton. The rich have 
 sumptuous tables, well provided with fish and 
 exquisite fruits ; and on some of them cyen flesh 
 is served for strangers or the sick : but I hnv\. 
 seen a devotee refuse to touch his fish-soup, be- 
 cause he was helped with a spoon that had been 
 in soup-gras. Thefe rigid fasts made some one 
 say, that the Russians knew not how to lake 
 heaven but by famine, 
 
 Every Russian, beside the consecrated amulet 
 he wears about his neck, which he receives at his 
 baptism, and which he never after lays aside, 
 commonly carries in his pocket a figure of St. 
 Nicholas, or some other patron saint, stamped on 
 4
 
 300 RELIGION. 
 
 brass. This be carries with him everywhere as 
 devoutly as yEneas did his lares and penates. It 
 is frequently the only thing that a peasant, or a 
 soldier on his march, has about him : nothing 
 can be more common than to see him occasionally 
 take this figure out of his pocket, spit upon it, 
 and rub it with his hand to clean it ; then place 
 it opposite to him, and on a sudden prostrate 
 himself, making the sign of the cross a thousand 
 times, fetch a thousand sighs, and recite his 
 * forty gospodi pomilot ! " Lord have mercy upon 
 " me 1" Having finished his prayer, he shuts his 
 box, and returns the figure into his pocket. The 
 ./Egyptians had their gods in their gardens or in 
 their stables ; the Africans carry them in their 
 arms, and the Russians frequently in their trou- 
 sers. 
 
 A ruffian nobleman is a little more ceremo- 
 nious. His god likewise accompanies him on 
 his journies ; but he is dressed in gold or silver : 
 and, on his arrival at a place where he means to 
 put up, the first business of his servant is to take 
 him from his case, and place him in his master's 
 room, who immediately honours him with his 
 prostrations. 
 
 I knew a russian princess who had always a 
 
 * The number forty has something sacred in it among the 
 russian clergy.
 
 IMAGES. 301 
 
 large silver crucifix following her in a feparate 
 carriage, and which she usually placed in her 
 bedchamber. When anything fortunate had 
 happened to her in the course of the day, and she 
 was satisfied with her admirers, she had lighted 
 candles placed about the crucifix, and said to it, 
 in a familiar style : " See, now, as you have 
 (( been very good to-day, you shall be treated 
 " well; you shall have candles all night; I will 
 <c love you, I will pray to you." If, on the con- 
 trary, any thing occurred to vex the lady, she had 
 the candles put out, forbad her servants to pay 
 any homage to the poor image, and loaded it 
 with reproaches and revilings. 
 
 Even Catharine affected to have great devotion 
 towards images. She was frequently seen to 
 prostrate herself before the door of her chapel, 
 take up the dust from the ground, and scatter it 
 over the diamond crown on her head. Once an 
 image of the virgin, covered with diamonds, of 
 which the empress Elizabeth had made her a 
 present at her confirmation, and which she had 
 placed in this chapel, was stolen away. All the 
 officers of the police were set in motion to disco- 
 ver the perpetrator of so daring a theft, but in 
 vain. " Alas !" said Catharine, " it is not the 
 " loss of the diamonds, but of the holy image, I 
 " regret : I would give double its value to reco- 
 " ver it." Her prayers were heard : after great
 
 302 RELIGION. 
 
 search bad been made, and several persons had 
 been imprisoned, the image was found in the 
 course of a few days, stripped of all its valuable 
 ornaments, in the snow near the admiralty. Ca- 
 tharine, delighted at her good fortune, rewarded 
 him who brought it, directed the image to be ar- 
 rayed more richly than before, and replaced with 
 great ceremony on her altar. 
 
 The girls of the town, too, in Russia, are very 
 devout to the saints. When they have a visitor, 
 before they grant him any favours, they always 
 veil their images, and extinguish the candles 
 placed before them. 
 
 . I shall not particularife all the superstitions 
 >vith which such a religion, if it deserves that 
 name, must necessarily inspire an ignorant and 
 enslaved people. It is the coarse policy of the 
 present tzar to thicken the cloud of errors and 
 follies which the genius of Peter, the humanity 
 of Elizabeth, and the philofophy of Catharine 
 ought in some degree to attenuate *. A toad 
 
 * It may be amusing to see how saints are still made in 
 Russia; an edifying article, translated from the imperial ga- 
 zette of Petersburg, will shew the process. I translate it 
 verbally : 
 
 " Petersburg, 17 December, 1798. 
 
 " fn 1796 a coffin was found at the convent of Sumorin, in 
 " the city of Trotma, in the eparchy of Vologda, containing 
 " a corpse in the habit of a monk. It had been interred in 
 " 1568, yet was in a state of perfect preservation, as were
 
 IMAGES. 303 
 
 ever keeps raising the mud of bis slough in order 
 to conceal himself the better. While we pity 
 
 " also the garments. From the letters embroidered on these, 
 " it was found to be the body of the most venerable Feodose 
 " Sumorin, founder and superior of the convent, and who 
 " had been acknowledged as a saint during his life for the 
 " miracles he had performed." 
 
 It is then staled, that the directing synod had made a very 
 humble report on this occasion to his imperial majesty: after 
 which follows this sublime ukase of Paul. 
 
 " We Paul, &c. having been certified, by a special report 
 " of the most holy synod, of the discovery that has been made 
 tc in the convent of Spasso Sumorin, of the miraculous re- 
 " mains of the most venerable Feodose; which miraculous 
 " remains distinguish themselves by the happy cure of all 
 " those who have recourse to them with entire confidence ; 
 " we take the discovery of these holy remains as a visible 
 " sign that the Lord has cast his most gracious eye, in the 
 ." most distinguished manner, on our reign. For this reason 
 " we offer our fervent prayers, and our gratitude, to the su- 
 " preme disposer of all things, and charge our most holy sy- 
 " nod to proclaim this memorable discovery throughout all 
 " our empire, according to the forms prescribed by the holy 
 " church, and by the holy fathers, &c. The 23th of Sep- 
 " tember 1798." 
 
 Whatever I might add to a fact of this nature, could only 
 tend to enervate the ridicule and indignation that it provokes. 
 Paul has enriched the russian calendar with <i few festivals, 
 in addition to those already mentioned : among others, those 
 of this saint lately dug up, and of the Madonna of Kazan, 
 which he has ordered to be kept holy. Every child, too, that 
 he has, gives rise to two new festivals, his birth-day and his 
 name-day : and Paul has nine children already ! He has 
 also very lately added the commemoration of the transmission 
 of the picture of the virgin Mary, painted by St. Luke, and
 
 304 RELIGION. 
 
 the state of degradation under which a great 
 people crouches, we should do justice to the en- 
 lightened Russians, by whom it is lamented: 
 but they are enchained by prejudices, as the giant 
 Gulliver was by the Lilliputians ; his bonds were 
 weak and imperceptible, like his enemies; but 
 each of his hairs being separately fastened to the 
 ground, he was unable to raise his head. 
 
 three/fingers of St. John the baptist, from Malta to St. Peters- 
 burg, as may be seen in the Almanac of that city for the year 
 1801.
 
 { 305 ) 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 G YNECOCRACY, OR FEMALE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Its influence on the women of Russia. Their character immo* 
 ' desty manners baths talents charms Princess Dashkof. 
 
 RUSSIA presents an example truly singular 
 in the annals of history. The same cen- 
 tury has seen five or six women reign * despoti- 
 cally over an empire, where the women were be- 
 fore slaves to men who were themselves enslaved; 
 where Peter I. was obliged to employ f force to 
 raise them out of this barbarous state of debase- 
 ment, and give the m a place in society ; w r here 
 even now the code of slavery does not allow them 
 a soul J, or count them among human creatures. 
 
 * Sophia/sister to Peter I. Catharine I. Anne I. the re- 
 gent Anne, Elizabeth, and Catharine II. 
 
 f Before Peter I. women never appeared at court or in 
 company, or even at their husband's tables. Peter issued an 
 ukase directing their husbands to let their wives appear in 
 public, very wisely deeming the society of women necessary 
 to civilise the nation: but he was often obliged to employ 
 the officers of the police to conduct the ladies to the balls. 
 
 t In the russian language the word soul is employed to de- 
 signate male slaves. Instead of asking how much such an 
 one has a year, the question is, how many souls he has : and a 
 man has frequently ten or twenty thousand, without reckon- 
 ing those of the women or his own, which certainly some 
 may think least deserves to be taken into the account. 
 
 X
 
 306 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 The reigns of these females afford a strong argu- 
 ment in favour of those nations, who have never 
 suffered the sceptre to be placed in hands that were 
 formed for the distaff; since it would be difficult 
 to find six reigns more prolific in wars, revolutions, 
 crimes, disorders, and calamities of every kind. 
 That the manners of the court were softened, I 
 am ready to admit: but then they were cor- 
 rupted - 3 and wretchedness increased in equal 
 pace with luxury and disorder. Abuses of every 
 kind, tyranny and licentiousness, became the very 
 essence of government. 
 
 The old proverb, " when women reign, men 
 " rule," is false, or unmeaning. When women 
 reign, their lovers tyrannize over the people, and 
 all in power plunder them. But, without enter- 
 ing into the political effects of petticoat govern- 
 ment, which may well be considered as the ex- 
 treme of baseness or extravagance in mankind *, 
 I shall notice onlv the influence it has had on 
 
 4 
 
 society and the female sex in Russia. 
 
 * From what inconsistency have the oflices of empress, 
 and of queen, which require vigour both of mind and body, 
 and knowledge or talents of every kind, been so frequently 
 given to women? An army of five hundred thousand men 
 was at the disposal of Catharine, yet she would not entrust 
 another woman with a single company ! She directed the po- 
 litics of Europe/ and gave it peace or war; though a woman 
 could not enjoy the most trifling office in it ! Is there not 
 great inconsistency in this conduct?
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 307 
 
 The existence of the Amazons appeared to me 
 ho longer a fable, after I had beheld the russian 
 Vvomen. Had the succession of empresses con- 
 tinued, we might perhaps have seen that nation 
 of female warriors locally reproduced, and in the 
 same clime where they formerly flourished*. 
 Great energy is still observable in the women of 
 the Slavonian nations, of which their history fur- 
 nishes many proofs. That feminine activity, 
 which love, tenderness, and domestic cares ab*- 
 sorb in other countries, the women of the north, 
 who are born with more cold and robust consti- 
 tutions, employ in the lust of dominion and poli- 
 tical intrigue. They frequently experience a 
 physical necessity of inspiring love, but their 
 hearts seldom feel the necessity of loving. 
 
 Under the reign of Catharine the women had 
 assumed a pre-eminence at courr> which they car- 
 ried with them into company, and displayed at 
 home. Princess Dashkof, that " Tomyris talk- 
 <f ing French," as she was called by Voltaire; 
 
 * It is singular enough, that in the same countries which 
 were said to have been inhabited by a society of women, who 
 proscribed all men, a society of Zaporogian kozaks has since 
 dwelt, who would not suffer a single woman among them, re- 
 cruiting their force solely by carrying away youths from the 
 neighbouring territories. This barbarous republic was de- 
 stroyed by Potemkin, and they who composed it distributed 
 in the different armies, or among the other kozaks. 
 
 X 2
 
 308 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 masculine in her tastes, her gait and her exploits, 
 was still more so in her titles and functions of 
 director of the academy of sciences, and president 
 of the russian academy. It is well known that 
 she long solicited Catharine to appoint her colo- 
 nel of the guards ; a post in which she would 
 undoubtedly have acquitted herself better than 
 most of those by whom it was held. Catharine, 
 however, had too much distrust of one who 
 boasted that she had seated her on the throne, to 
 confide such a place in her hands. One more 
 female reign, and we might have seen a woman 
 general of an army, or minister of state. 
 
 Many russian generals, of some reputation 
 abroad, were at that period governed by their 
 wives. Count Poushkin, who commanded in 
 Finland, durst not make a movement till he 
 had dispatched a courier to his, to consult her. 
 Count Ivan Soltikofwas as inferior to his wife 
 in moral qualifications as in physical strength, 
 and the minister at war trembled before the 
 wrath of his better half. The reader must not 
 suppose that this submission, which became al- 
 most general, was that gallant and chivalrous 
 deference which has sometimes been paid to the 
 ladies ; as those whom I have cited as examples 
 were old, ugly, and ill tempered: it was literally 
 the submission of weaknefs to strength, of cow-
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 09 
 
 ardice to courage, of imbecility to understand- 
 ing. All the sex seemed to participate in the 
 respect and fear which were paid to Catharine 
 by her courtiers. 
 
 The same effects were frequently perceived 
 at a distance from the court. The wives of 
 several colonels received the reports of the re- 
 giment, gave orders to the officers, employed 
 them in particular services, dismissed them, and 
 sometimes appointed them. Madame Mellin, 
 coloneless of the regiment of Tobolsk, commanded 
 it with a truly martial dignity, received the re- 
 ports at her toilette, and regulated the mounting 
 of the guard at Narva, while her good-natured 
 husband was employed elsewhere. In an attempt 
 made by the Swedes to surprise the place, she 
 came out of the tent in regimentals, and marched 
 against the enemy at the head of a battalion. 
 Several women accompanied the army against 
 the Turks. Potemkin's seraglio was always 
 composed of handsome Amazons, who delighted 
 in visiting the fields of battle, and admiring the 
 handsome corpses of the Turks, as they lay 
 stretched on their backs, their scymetars in their 
 hands, and with an air of defiance even in death, 
 as the Argante of Tasso appeared to the gentle 
 Herminia*. 
 
 * After the storming of Otchakof, heaps of dead bodies 
 were piled up on the Liman, then frozen over, and remained
 
 S10 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 The manliness of the women is still more ob^- 
 servable in the country. Something of this cha-* 
 racter no doubt may be remarked in all coun- 
 tries, where the men are slaves : for here wi- 
 dows, or daughters come of age, are often 
 obliged to take on themselves the government 
 of their estates, the people whereof are their 
 wealth, their property, like beasts of the field ; 
 and are thus engaged in businesses by no means 
 suitable to their sex. To buy, sell, and exchange 
 slaves, assign them their tasks, and order them to 
 be stripped and flogged in their presence, would 
 be as repugnant to the feelings as to the mo- 
 desty of a woman in a country where men are 
 not degraded to the level of domestic animals, 
 and treated with the same indifference*; but 
 these are offices to which the russian women are 
 often obliged to submit, and they not unfrequent- 
 ]y perform them with pleasure. 
 
 The habit of treating men thus, and that 
 which both sexes have of mixing together in 
 
 there till the thaw, Rouncl these pyramids the russian ladies 
 used to take the air in their sledges, to make their observa- 
 tions. 
 
 * A french woman from St. Domingo informed me, that 
 some creolian ladies are not more scrupulous than those of 
 Russia. Some of them go themselves on board the slave ships, 
 to select and purchase slaves, who are exhibited to them quite 
 naked. A well-made negro of twenty-five is called un negre 
 tonics pieces, " a negro at all points."
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 311 
 
 I'bcir public baths, deaden, at a very early age, 
 that modesty which is natural to women, and I 
 have seen some as bold as the most shameless of 
 our sex*. 
 
 That effrontery conspicuous in some russian 
 women must not be ascribed to libertinism, 
 or gross voluptuousness. They live from their 
 childhood in the greatest familiarity with their 
 herd of vassals: a thousand private and even se- 
 cret services are performed for them by male 
 slaves, whom they scarcely consider as men. 
 Their domestic manners afford them daily op,- 
 portunities of satisfying, and even anticipating, 
 their curiosity respecting all the mysteries of na- 
 ture, and stifling in the birth the irritability of 
 their nerves. Only an equal can put them to the 
 blush ; to them a slave is not a being of the same 
 species, 
 
 have already mentioned the shocking manner 
 in which men are treated in Russia. Sensibility 
 must be deadened, and the heart already har- 
 dened by spectacles of cruelty, ere a man can 
 behold, for a single moment, without indigna- 
 tion and horror, the punishments sometimes in- 
 
 * Being once at the house ofa ladv in the country, she was 
 desirous of amusing herself with fishing. She sent for nets, 
 and ordered some of her servants to strip and go into the 
 water. They immediately stripped themselves in the pre- 
 sence of (heir mistress, and she gave them directions in their 
 fishing with all the unconcern imaginable.
 
 312 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 fiicted on slaves. But, it must be confessed, it 
 is still more revolting, to see women present, 
 and even presiding at them, or sometimes inflict- 
 ing the punishments themselves. I have been at 
 tables, where, for some trifling fault, the master 
 has coolly ordered a footman a hundred blows 
 with a stick, as a mere matter of course; on 
 which he has been immediately conducted into 
 the court, or into the antichamber only, in pre- 
 sence of the ladies, married and unmarried, who 
 continued to eat and laugh while they heard the 
 cries of the poor fellow undergoing the cudgel *. 
 
 * The little reflection with which a man is ordered to be 
 bastinadoed produced a strange blunder a few years ago. 
 Count Bruce, governor-general of Petersburg, had a slave for 
 his cook, who ran away. At court he saw KleYef, the master 
 of the pplice, and gave him orders to make the necessary 
 search in order to recover his cook. This was done, but in 
 vain. Just at this period a french cook arrived from War- 
 saw, who was come to seek employment in Russia, and had 
 been recommended to Kleief by one of his friends in Poland. 
 KleVef, thinking to provide the man a place at once, sent him 
 immediately to count Bruce, telling the Frenchman, that he 
 need only say he came from him. Accordingly count Bruce 
 was informed by his servant, that a cook was come, sent by 
 the master of the police. " O," said he, " my fellow is 
 " come, is he? Let him have two hundred stripes immedi- 
 " ately, and then conduct him to the kitchen." The servants 
 of the governour immediately seized the poor devil, and con- 
 dueled him to the riding-house. There, in spite of his cries 
 and protestations, he received the punishment ordered. His 
 surprise and .terror may easily be conceived. He was left half 
 dead, and scarcely able to crawl to the ambassador, to whom
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. S13 
 
 I am not the first person by whom it has been 
 observed, that in Russia the women are usual]/ 
 more malicious, more cruel, and more barbarous 
 than the men: it is because they are still far 
 more ignorant and more superstitious. They 
 scarcely ever travel, are taught very little, and 
 do nothing. Constantly surrounded by slaves, to 
 gratify or prevent their wishes, the russian ladies 
 spend their time either lolling on a sofa, or sitting 
 at a card table. They are very seldom seen with 
 a book in their hands, still seldomer with any 
 kind of work, or attending to their domestic 
 affairs. They, who have not been humanised 
 by a foreign education, are still actual barba- 
 rians. Among- them you may find such women 
 as that mentioned by Juvenal, who, to a per- 
 son that entreated her to spare a slave she had 
 ordered to be punished, conjuring her to take 
 pity on the man, answered : " Blockhead! is a 
 slave a man*?" and another, that said to her 
 friends, frightened at the screams they heard 
 while she was shewing them her jewels and trin- 
 kets, " It is nothing at all, it is only a man I 
 " have ordered to be flogged." 
 
 If there were such women at Rome, what 
 
 he made his complaint. Brace, informed of his mistake, hush- 
 ed up the affair for a few hundred ruble", which he gave the 
 unlucky french cook. 
 
 * O demens, ita servus homo est !
 
 314 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 may be expected at Petersburg and Mosco? 
 Some horrible instances might be mentioned, 
 were they not too dreadful and too indelicate 
 to detail they proceeded from monsters in their 
 kind ; and ought not even to be alluded to, but 
 to shew how far the ferociousness of a woman 
 can carry her, when she seems authorized by the 
 government., the religion, the laws, and the cus- 
 toms of the country. Are we to be surprised, 
 if slavery and tyranny pervert the hearts of men, 
 when they can transform the gentler and more 
 susceptible sex into furious beasts. One who 
 bears the title of princess, though she deserves 
 
 not that of woman, by name K ky, exhibits a 
 
 picture of such crimes, such excesses, and so 
 great turpitude, that the reader would shudder 
 at the bare recital of particulars. 
 
 The outrages which she perpetrated on her 
 slaves at Mosco, obliged the brother of this Tisi- 
 phone to send her to Petersburg, to save her 
 from the vengeance of the people. He was at 
 length compelled to forbid her to employ her 
 own slaves as domestics, and she was fain to hire 
 free persons, who never staid more than a day 
 with her ; till at last she was attended wholly by 
 soldiers, who were sent to her house as to task 
 service. 
 
 This monster of cruelty is forty years of age, 
 immensely tall, and of huge bulk; resembling
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 315 
 
 one of those sphinxes found among the gigantic 
 monuments of ^Egypt. She is still living; and I 
 would give her address to any that were desirous 
 of seeing her. 
 
 I knew another lady of the court, who had in 
 her bedchamber a sort of dark cage, in which she 
 kept a slave, who dressed her hair. She took 
 him out herself every day, as you would take a 
 comb out of its case, in order to dress her head, 
 and immediately shut him up again, though sel- 
 dom without his having had his ears boxed while 
 she was at her toilette. The poor fellow had a 
 bit of bread, a pitcher of water, a little stool, and 
 a chamberpot in his box. He never saw day- 
 light but while he was dressing the perriwig on 
 the bald pate of his antiquated jailor. This port- 
 able prison was kept close at her bed's head, and 
 carried with her into the country. And her hus- 
 band permitted this abomination ! How he could 
 sleep undisturbed at the sighs of the poor wretch, 
 lying thus shut up by his side, is inconceivable. 
 He spent three whole years in this gehenna \ and 
 on making his re-appearance he was frightful to 
 look at, pale, bent double, and withered like an 
 old man. The chief motive of this strange bar- 
 barity was the wish of the old baggage to conceal 
 from the world that she wore false hair : and for 
 this she sequestered a man of eighteen from all
 
 316 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 human society, that he might renovate in secret 
 her faded charms. The fasting and ill treatment 
 which she made him endure besides, were to pu- 
 nish him for having attempted to escape, and be- 
 cause in spite of all his art and care, she grew 
 every day more old and ugly. 
 
 Again I repeat it, that these infamous acts, not 
 more incredible than they are true, are not men- 
 tioned here as general and characteristic of the 
 russian ladies : they are the crimes of indivi- 
 duals ; but these crimes could not have been com- 
 mitted, except in Russia. In any other country, 
 the relations, the friends, the acquaintance of the 
 furies by whom they were perpetrated, would not 
 have looked upon them as singularities of their 
 humour ; and the relations of the young man 
 would have had a right to prefer a complaint 
 against his mistress, and to demand justice*. 
 
 It is not at court and in domestic affairs only, 
 that the women assume a superiority over the 
 men. Nowhere do so many women arrogate to 
 themselves the right of making the first advances, 
 and being the active party, in affairs of love. The 
 example of Catharine was but too well calcu- 
 lated to give them those bold and masculine tastes 
 
 * During the reign of Elizabeth, a grandmother of these 
 furies had already distinguished herself by similar atrocities, 
 and her relations were obliged to confine her,
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 317 
 
 and manners. More than one Maria Pavlovna 
 are well-known instances of female licentious- 
 ness. 
 
 Almost all the ladies of the court kept men 
 with the title and office of favourites : I say not 
 lovers, as that would imply sentiment ; while 
 theirs was merely gross sensuality, or frequently 
 a wish to follow the fashion. This taste was be- 
 come as common as eating and drinking, or danc- 
 ing and music. No tender intrigues, and much 
 less any strong passions *. Debauchery and am- 
 bition had banished love. Marriage was merely 
 an association, in which convenience alone was 
 considered : it was fortunate if friendship some- 
 times came unsought, to lighten the chains which 
 
 * The young princess Shakofsky, who was married to 
 count Aremberg, lately furnished a very tragical exception. 
 At the period of the revolution in Brabant, in which her hus- 
 band took an active part, Catharine ordered her to leave the 
 seditious count, and return to Russia, under pain of confis- 
 cation of all her property. She returned, under the care ot 
 her old mother, and Catharine declared her marriage null. 
 One of her cousins ran away with her to Mosco, to marry 
 her there, that he might the more easily obtain a dispensation 
 afterwards. However, he possessed not the heart of la's 
 young wife, or at least not entirely. She loved an otlker in 
 the guards, of the name of Kamasofsky. The jealousy o' 
 her husband hvaing traced her assignations, and complained 
 of them, the princess poisoned herself, and died in dreadful 
 convulsions. Her husband, a man of a melancholy cast, lost 
 his reason for a time, and his happiness for ever.
 
 318 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 the interest of parents, or vanity alone, hdd 
 formed. 
 
 The discovery of a society, called the Physical 
 Club, made a few years ago at Mosco, completely 
 proves the depravity of tastes and manners under* 
 the reign of Catharine. This Was a kind of order 
 surpassing in turpitude every thing related of the 
 most immodest institutions and mysteries. The 
 men and women, who were initiated, assembled 
 on certain days, to indulge promiscuously in the 
 most infamous debaucheries. Husbands intro- 
 duced their wives ; and brothers, their sisters. 
 The novices were not admitted, till they had been 
 examined, and gone through their probations : 
 the women being admitted by the men j the men, 
 by the women. After a sumptuous feast the 
 company were paired by lot. When the french 
 revolution took place, the russian police was' 
 directed to examine and dissolve all kinds of or- 
 ders and assemblies ; and on this occasion the 
 Physical Club was examined, and its members 
 were obliged to disclose its mysteries. As the 
 members of both sexes were of the most wealthy 
 and powerful families, and their assemblies had 
 no concern with politics, nothing more was done 
 than to shut up and prohibit this scandalous 
 lodge. 
 
 Accounts of the russian baths have been given 
 by various travellers -, but, as they have a great
 
 CHARACTER of THE WOMEN. 319 
 
 influence on the character and manners of the 
 women of the lower class in particular, it may 
 not be amiss to speak of them here in that regard. 
 At my arrival in Russia, one of my first objects 
 was to examine them. I figured in my mind the 
 voluptuous baths of Diana, and thought of nothing 
 less than surprising the nymphs like another Ac- 
 taeon. Accordingly one day I descended the 
 banks of the Neva with a friend, towards a public 
 bath ; but I had no occasion to go far, to be con- 
 vinced that the russian belles were accustomed to 
 expose their charms to the eye of the passenger, 
 A party of women of all ages, tempted by the 
 heat of the month of June, had not thought it ne- 
 cessary to go so far as the precincts of the baths. 
 They had stripped themselves, and were swim- 
 ming and sporting near the banks of the river. 
 This spectacle, to which I was not accustom- 
 ed, making a strong impression on me, I stopped 
 and leaned over the quay, and my presence 
 proved no interruption at all to the sports of the 
 bathers. 
 
 I afterwards went several times into the baths, 
 and I have seen similar sights on the banks of the 
 islands of the Neva * : but, after what I have 
 
 * On one of these occasions, an old woman seeing some men 
 of her acquaintance bathing a little way off, swam up to them, 
 and began a conflict with one of them. The young man not 
 being a swimmer, his antagonist had the advantage, and seu-
 
 320 CHARACTER Of TE WOMEN. 
 
 said, more ample accounts are quite unnecessary. 
 It is true, there exists an ukase of Catharine, which 
 enjoins the proprietors of public baths in the 
 cities to construct separate rooms for the two 
 sexes ; and not to allow any men to enter into 
 that of the women, except the necessary attend- 
 ants, or painters and physicians, who should come 
 to prosecute their studies. Accordingly an ama- 
 teur assumes one or other of these titles to obtain 
 admission. At Petersburg both sexes now have 
 their rooms and enclosures separated by a parti- 
 tion 5 but many old women still prefer mixing 
 with the men : and moreover, both men and wo- 
 men, after having taken the vapour bath, run 
 out perfectly naked to plunge together into the 
 river that runs behind it. In the country, the 
 baths are still on the old footing ; that is to say, 
 persons of all ages and both sexes use them pro- 
 miscuously, and a family consisting of a father of 
 forty, a mother of thirty-five, a son of twenty, and 
 a daughter of fifteen, appear together in a state 
 of innocence, and mutually rub each other down. 
 These customs, which appear to us so shock- 
 ing, and which are so to all people who wear 
 
 ing him by the beard, ducked him repeatedly, to the great 
 amusement of both parties, as well as the spectators, who 
 laughed heartily at the scene. This transaction look place 
 near a part of the shore, where persons of all ages and sexes 
 were walking, and the young ladies in the neighbouring 
 houses might enjoy it from their windows. 
 4
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 321 
 
 clothes and are no longer savage, are yet by no 
 means either the effect of corrupt hearts, or in- 
 dications of libertinism. It is not even these baths, 
 so conducive to the health of the Russians, that 
 dispose them to debauchery. On the contrary, 
 these free interviews becoming habitual from an 
 early age, deaden the senses and cools the ima- 
 gination. A russian youth will never feel his 
 blood boil, and his heart palpitate, at the idea of 
 a rising bosom. He never sighs after secret charms, 
 at which he scarcely dares to guess ; since from 
 his infancy he has seen and examined every thing. 
 The russian maiden will never have her cheek 
 suffused with an involuntary blush at an indis- 
 crete idea or curiosity, and her husband will have 
 nothing new to communicate to her,- nor will 
 marriage have any novelty for her. Love is here 
 a stranger to those delicate and exquisite ap- 
 proaches which constitute its real charms, and to 
 those preludes to pleasure more delightful than 
 pleasure itself. Where poignant sentiments do 
 not ennoble the happiest of human passioijs, it 
 becomes a mere momentary impulse, too easily 
 gratified to be highly prized. 
 
 I am at a loss to conceive how Rousseau came 
 to give his Wolmar such a country. The land 
 of slavery is not that of the generous passions ; it 
 would be difficult to find in it the materials for a 
 romance. Yet the Russian is sensible, gay, sings 
 
 Y
 
 3'22 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 and dances willingly, and the collection of popular 
 ballads bears witness that he formerly felt the 
 inspiration of love. In these an exquisite sensi- 
 bility and affecting melancholy frequently appear, 
 which interest and delight the reader *. 
 
 What I have said of the russian ladies, among 
 whom there are so many amiable and charming f , 
 will tend, I fear, to excite too unfavourable an 
 idea of them. Almost all of them are naturally 
 witty, and by no means destitute of grace -, their 
 eyes, feet, and hands, are every thing that could 
 be wished ; and there is an ease in their manners, 
 a taste in their dress, and a charm in their con- 
 versation, which are peculiarly agreeable. 
 
 These sprightly and amiable russian ladies have 
 a taste for the arts. They laugh at the represen- 
 tation of a good comedy, readily perceive a sati- 
 rical stroke, perfectly understand an equivoque, 
 and applaud a brilliant line : but expressions of 
 
 * If a change of circumstances should take place, and I 
 can revive my acquaintance with some of the men of letters 
 in Russia, I shall some day give a few pieces of this kind to 
 the public. 
 
 f Perhaps the unfortunate chance which gave me a close 
 view of the most malignant and contemptible of the sex, has 
 mixed some gall with my ink in spite of myself. It must be 
 confessed, likewise, that the girls appear as reserved and mo- 
 dest as the women are impudent. They are born suscep- 
 tible of the most profound and gentle sentiments : it is with 
 difficulty, that examples and the general corruption render 
 them depraved.
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 323 
 
 sensibility appear lost on them, and I never saw 
 one weep at a tragedy. Mothers, daughters, and 
 lovers behold with dry eyes the moving scenes of 
 Merope, Antigone and Zaire, though exhibited 
 at the trench theatre of Petersburg by those ex- 
 cellent performers, Floridor, Aufrene and la Hus. 
 
 The domestic virtues, and that spirit of order 
 and economy so necessary to a moderate fortune, 
 are rarely to be found among the russian women. 
 They aim at being the delight of society, rather 
 than careful managers of their family affairs ; and 
 are more calculated to give pleasure to many, than 
 to confer happiness on one. But all the charms 
 that luxury sets off, all the enchanting talents 
 that ease of circumstances affords opportunity for 
 cultivating, commonly heighten the beauty of the 
 young russian ladies. They particularly excel in 
 speaking foreign languages, and numbers of them 
 converse in three or four with equal elegance and 
 perfection *. 
 
 Those who have had a good education, whom 
 the manners of their families, and the care of a 
 prudent governess, or a respectable mother, have 
 
 * A livonian lady, who has received a tc 'arable education, 
 speaks german, which is her native language ; russian, with 
 which she cannot dispense ; and French, which is the lan- 
 guage of fashion : to these several add Italian, on account of 
 music ; and some, english. They speak, besides, the livonian, 
 or the esthonian, which are the peculiar and originaHan- 
 guages of their provinces. The livonian women, however, 
 are of a different character from the Russians. 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 formed to the graces, without moulding to vice; 
 those in particular,, whom reading, or some tra- 
 velling, has improved ; deserve a foremost place 
 among the amiable women of Europe*. But 
 these are flowers thinly sown, and blooming in 
 obscurity. Superstition, envy, and calumny are in 
 arms against them; and if they cannot support the 
 tortures of the gossiping conversation of the place, 
 they are obliged to form a circle of select females, 
 and especially foreigners f, which redoublest he- 
 hatred and persecution raised against them. 
 
 It will not be amiss to finish this delineation of 
 the. russian women with some particulars of the 
 princess Dashkof, who of all the women of 
 Russia next to Catharine, has been most the 
 subject of conversation, and whose portrait would 
 form a proper companion for that of Potemkin, 
 were it drawn by the hand of the same master J. 
 
 * I could easily mention some of these respectable women, 
 as I have the despicable; but I shall not be blamed for 
 sparing the modesty of those, more than the impudence of 
 these. 
 
 f M. Kapief has written a tolerable comedy, in which he 
 has endeavoured to display the ridiculousness of these gossips. 
 The gaiety and mask of Thalia herself were requisite, to ren- 
 der what is most stupid and insipid in life entertaining ; but 
 he dared not copy the originals with fidelity. 
 " t It may be found in a book entitled Vie de Catltarinf II. 
 The author or compiler of this history, however, has been 
 led into mistakes respecting a number of facts and persons. 
 The princess Dashkof was already in disgrace, and had left
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 325 
 
 I shall neither refute nor repeat what has been 
 said a hundred times in print of this virago, the 
 real heroine of the revolution of 1762. For some 
 years the friendship between her and her royal 
 mistress had singularly altered, and the following 
 is the true cause of the last quarrel, which was 
 never made up. 
 
 In hopes of gaining a few rubles, in 1794, the 
 princess directed a posthumous tragedy of the poet 
 Knajginin* to be printed at the expense of the 
 academy. At any other period no notice would 
 have been taken of this piece, the merit of which 
 was trifling. But from the time of the french 
 revolution, and particularly after the death of 
 Potemkin, Catharine had become fearful and 
 suspicious: surrounded by weak and timid be- 
 ings, their characters had infected hers. This 
 tragedy was mentioned to her as a seditious piece. 
 It was prohibited; all the copies were seized, 
 and search actually made for those that had been 
 already sold. As the work had been printed by 
 the express orders of madame le president Dash- 
 kof f, she was sent for by the empress. " Good 
 
 Petersburg, when he speaks of her as still there; and the 
 outlines of the work are as false as they are improbable. 
 
 * A Russian author of considerable repute. 
 
 f The reader will pardon me this spleeisrn, which is em- 
 ployed in the russ. She was appointed by an ukase president 
 and director, in the masculine gender, and she was addressed 
 by the title of madame le preside/it . 
 
 4
 
 326 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 " heaven, what have I done to you, that you 
 " should print such an infamous and dangerous 
 " work?" said Catharine, with great emotion: 
 " if it be so great a crime to reign, was it not 
 " you who made me commit it ?" The princess, 
 surprised at this pointed attack, said in excuse, 
 that she had no ill design, and had not even read 
 the piece, but relied entirely on the censor. To 
 this Catharine sharply replied, that in such cri- 
 tical times people should rely on no person, but 
 do their duty themselves. Madame Dashkof, 
 mortified at this reprimand, procured her nephew, 
 Bakunin, to be vice-president, -to supply her 
 place, and asked permission to retire to Mosco; 
 which was granted her. The censor was punish- 
 edj and it was happy for the author that he was 
 dead *. 
 
 The princess had long rendered herself odious 
 and contemptible by her sordid avarice. This 
 celebrated conspirator, who boasted of having 
 
 * The scene of this piece, intitled Vadime, is laid at Nov- 
 gorod the Great, at that time a republic, but oppressed by 
 the princes of Moscovy, from whose yoke it was attempting 
 emancipation. This Vadime is the hero of the story ; and 
 the following passages which are all that I preserved, are, I 
 believe, the most alarming in the work. Vadime, conspiring 
 to restore liberty to his country, says: 
 
 " A king unites the weaknesses oi a man with the power 
 " of a God." 
 
 " To wear a crown is sufficient soon to render a man cor- 
 " rupt and wicked."
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 327 
 
 conferred a crown, sent to all the officers or aides- 
 de-camp of her acquaintance, to beg tarnished 
 epaulettes and old lace. To untwist and sell 
 these was become her chief employment; and 
 persons, who were interested in obtaining her 
 favour, began by sending her old gold or silver 
 ]ace. She made no fires in winter in the apart- 
 ments of the academy, and yet expected that the 
 academicians should regularly attend the meet- 
 ings. Many chose rather to expose themselves 
 to her vulgar abuse, and lose their medals, than 
 shiver in an ice-house : but the princess never 
 failed to be there, muffled up in rich furs; and 
 it was a singular spectacle to see this lady only, 
 seated in the midst of bearded popes and russian 
 professors, trembling and submissive before her; 
 for she treated these academicians with a haugh- 
 tiness and even brutality worthy of Peter I. She 
 took men of letters for soldiers, and the sciences 
 for slaves. 
 
 Her adventure with count Gregory Razumofsky 
 made all Petersburg laugh, and rendered her 
 contemptible in the eyes of every man of sense. 
 She had sent him an academician's diploma un- 
 solicited. Some time after she consigned to him 
 a bale of russian books, to the value of about 
 600 rubles (60/.). Razumofsky refused to take 
 them, saying that he had the originals of these
 
 328 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 russian translations already in his library*. The 
 princess replied, that she had created him an 
 academician only on condition of his purchasing 
 these books; and in consequence Razumofsky 
 sent back his diploma. The princess wished to 
 persuade the world, that he was not in his senses 5 
 but the ridicule fell upon herself. Thus she 
 prostituted her academy: as to herself, it was 
 what no longer remained to be done f. 
 
 What rendered her completely ridiculous, both 
 at court and in the city, was her lawsuit with 
 Alexander Narishkin, who had a country seat in 
 the neighbourhood of Petersburg, adjoining to 
 hers. One day Narishkin's pigs got into the 
 grounds of the princess, and devoured some of 
 her cabbages. The heroine ordered them all to 
 be massacred. Narishkin, seeing her at court, 
 said " There she is, still red with the blood 
 " of 1 my pigs." 
 
 * When I began to understand a little of the russian lan- 
 guage, I wished to read some of their original works: but I was 
 astonished to find, that what were given me for such was 
 frequently a translation of some well known work, but which 
 was never mentioned in the title page. 
 
 f One day having lost thirty rubies at cards to S , she 
 sent him the next morning thirty of the academy's almanacs 
 by way of payment. I speak here only of her ridiculous 
 meanness : the turpitude of her manners would carry me too 
 far. 
 
 | This marked pause brought to the hearer's mind Peter 
 ill. and the crimson face of the princess was singularly suited 
 to the expression used.
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WOMEN. 329 
 
 Such was this celebrated woman, who prided 
 herself on the share that she had in the revolu- 
 tion of 1762, who went to fisty-cuffs with her 
 landlady in Holland, who at Paris wanted to 
 blow out the brains of poor abbe Chappe, whom 
 Voltaire pretended to admire, whom german 
 authors, on whom she never bestowed a farthing, 
 treated in vain as a genius, and who at last be- 
 came a laughing-stock to all Russia. 

 
 330 EDUCATION OF 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 Anecdotes of the education of the grand-dukes their governors 
 and preceptors Education of the Rrissiaus in general Of the 
 utshiteli, or tutors, their influence Of the young Russians- 
 Proceedings of the present emperor unfriendlj/ to civilisation- 
 The Gazettes Radischef- Fable of the on-l and the glow- 
 worm. 
 
 /CATHARINE drew up a plan of education 
 ^^ for her grand children*, as she had com- 
 posed instructions for the legislation of her people. 
 This plan, compiled from Locke and Rousseau, 
 as the instructions had been from Montesquieu, 
 Mably, and Beccaria, does honour to the em- 
 press's head; and had she possessed no other 
 merit than that of adopting the ideas and maxims 
 contained in those performances, it would not 
 have been small. If this plan had been followed, 
 Alexander and Constantine Pavlovitch would 
 certainly have been the best educated princes in 
 Europe. But it happened to Catharine's plan of 
 
 * This has never been printed. Catharine sent copies of 
 it to the chief preceptors as a rule to go by. It is in the 
 form of instructions, and addressed to count Nicholas Sol- 
 tikof.
 
 THE GRAND-DUKES. 331 
 
 education, as it did to the instructions for her 
 code. The compiling of the laws ended, as has 
 been observed, with being abandoned to the 
 management of a committee of dunces, bigots, 
 and buffoons, which happily never assembled ; 
 and the education of the young princes was en- 
 trusted to people, scarcely capable of reading 
 the plan, whereof they were to follow the letter, 
 and to study the spirit*. The only rule they 
 seemed to comprehend was the following, pro- 
 bably because it was negative. " The grand- 
 ^ dukes are not to be taught either poetry or 
 " music; because it would occupy too much of 
 " their time to become expert in either." This 
 rule they carefully extended to all the sciences f . 
 
 * This bad choice of Catharine is somewhat similar to that 
 of Peter I. That illustrious instructor of his people was a 
 very bad one for his only son. After having allowed him to 
 spend his infancy with monks, priests, and servants, he gave 
 him for a governor Mentchikof, who, it is notorious, was 
 never able to read. It is true, that he appointed for his sub- 
 governor a Dutchman, a man of knowledge, but who soon 
 experienced the same fate as 1'Harpe, under a similar chief. 
 
 f This has certainly the least merit of any rule in the in- 
 strucjions. Not that a prince should be made a fidler, or a 
 poet ; but it is impossible to give them too much taste for 
 those arts which inspire and cherish sensibility of mind. The 
 accurate sciences, which are said to render the judgment 
 more exact, deaden the feelings. History is the proper 
 study of princes and rulers. Without the belles lettres, the 
 great Frederic would have been nothing but a tyrant : with 
 them Peter I would have ceased to be a ferocious barbarian.
 
 EDUCATION OP, 
 
 It was the intention of Catharine, however, 
 that her grandchildren should be instructed in 
 every science capable of enlightening their reason 
 or adorning their minds. Luckily for the young 
 princes, a man of superior talents, 1'Harpe, was 
 chosen for their first preceptor. He had inces- 
 santly to contend against the interested flattery 
 and base adulation which surrounded them from 
 the cradle. The ill will and ineptitude of the 
 principal persons concerned in their education 
 were a still greater restraint upon him. But the 
 esteem and confidence with which he was ho- 
 noured by Catharine, encouraged him; and the 
 idea, that he was rendering an important service 
 to mankind, by instilling useful truths into the 
 minds of princes called to decide the fate of so 
 many millions, supported him in the arduous 
 task. Inflexible in his course, he rendered him- 
 self beloved >by one of his pupils, feared by the 
 other, respected by those under him, and 
 esteemed by his superiors: insomuch that he 
 effected almost as much good as the corrupt per- 
 sons about the princes did harm. He was se- 
 conded by some of the persons of honour that 
 
 God preserve all monarchies from having geometricians or 
 mathematicians for their kings : they measure men by the 
 yard, and reckon them as they would their money. The 
 most important matter is, to be humane, good, and just; but 
 with that justice, which arises from a sense of truth, not that 
 wliiclr is proved by a+b.
 
 THE GRAND-DUKES. 333 
 
 were appointed them*: and hereafter, perhaps, 
 Russia will be more indebted to 1'Harpe, than 
 to his countryman le Fort; for, if Peter I. re- 
 formed and civilised his people, Alexander gives 
 hopes of rendering them some day more free and 
 more happy. 
 
 The frankness with which 1'Harpe professed 
 republican sentiments in Russia exposed him to 
 the shafts of the envious. The Bernese, having 
 seised his letters to his cousin, general 1'Harpe, 
 sent them to Catharine. The Prince of Nassau, 
 and Estherhazy, whose wife is a native of Berne, 
 were his accusers, and endeavoured to represent 
 him as a very dangerous man in the confidential 
 post he occupied. Catharine one day sent for 
 him into her closet; and the following particu- 
 lars of the interview will shew at once the esteem 
 with which the preceptor was honoured and the 
 magnanimity of Catharine. 
 
 Catharine. Come, sit down, Mr. Jacobin ; 1 
 have something to say to you. 
 
 UHarfie. I must protest against the title 
 which your majesty thinks proper to give me, not 
 knowing how I have deserved it. 
 
 The empress then shewed him the letters she 
 
 * Particularly the two Moraviefs, who cultivated litera- 
 ture, and possessed considerable merit and talents, and Tu- 
 tulmin, a man of sense and good breeding.
 
 334 EDUCATION OF 
 
 had received, and informed him of th,e charges 
 brought against him. 
 
 To this 1'Harpe replied nearly in the following 
 words : Your majesty knew, before you entrusted 
 me with the education of the grand-dukes, that 
 I was a Swiss, and consequently a republican. I 
 have not altered my sentiments ; and you are too 
 equitable, madam, to consider that as a crime in 
 me now, which did not appear so then. My 
 countrymen are oppressed by the Bernese ; I ex- 
 hort them to claim, by lawful means, our antient 
 rights : this is not being factious. For the rest, 
 madam, 1 admire your great qualities, I respect 
 your administration, and I faithfully discharge 
 the duties devolving on me, when I devoted my- 
 self to the education of the grand-dukes. I shall 
 always endeavour to render myself worthy of the 
 confidence with which you have honoured me, 
 by inspiring them with sentiments suitable to 
 their birth and station, and by endeavouring to 
 render them capable of imitating hereafter the. 
 example you set before them. This, madam, is 
 my defence: it remains with your majesty to pass 
 judgment on me, after examining into my con- 
 duct in the post with which you have deigned 
 to entrust me. 
 
 Catharine, struck with this open behaviour 
 replied: " Sir, be" a jacobin, a republican, or
 
 THE GRAND-DUKES. 335 
 
 " what you please : I believe you to be an honest 
 " man, and that is sufficient for me. Stay with 
 " my grandchildren, retain my entire confidence, 
 *' and instruct them with your wonted zeal*." 
 
 Such was Catharine. Her conduct as well as 
 that of 1'Harpe will be better appreciated, when 
 it is considered, that this happened at the very 
 period when the Austrians were flying before 
 Dumouriez, soon after the death of Lewis XVI. 
 when Gustavus was dying from the wound in- 
 flicted by the assassin Ankerstroem, when Leo- 
 pold was said to have been taken off by poison, 
 and when every king in Europe was trembling on 
 his throne. His accusers, however, though re- 
 buffed, were not silenced ; but the marriage of 
 the grand-duke Alexander, putting a period to 
 the term of his education, 1'Harpe took his leave, 
 and thus preserved himself from the dire catas- 
 trophe he had reason to dread on the accession of 
 the successor of his generous mistress. 
 
 Nicholas Soltikof I have mentioned in ano- 
 ther place. Being chief governor of the young 
 princes> his principal occupations were to preserve 
 
 * It was in a similar conversation, that 1'Harpe one day 
 made Catharine sensible of the danger of sending a russian 
 army against the French. The open language of a man that 
 she esteemed made more impression on her than all the argu- 
 ments of Mr. Pitt and the importunities of the coalition.
 
 336 EDUCATION Otf 
 
 them from currents of air, and to keep their bo- 
 dies open. Protassof, the governor of the elder 
 would have been more in his place had he been 
 appointed his apothecary. He came every day 
 to make a circumstantial report to Soltikof of the 
 most insipid particulars, carefully specifying the 
 number of stools the prince had had. Though a 
 narrow-minded-man, bigotted, and pusillanimous, 
 he had not a bad heart ; but he rendered himself 
 ridiculous in the eyes of every one, except his 
 pupil; who saw in him nothing but his attach- 
 ment to himself, for which he expressed his gra- 
 titude. 
 
 Baron Sacken had the misfortune of being go- 
 vernor to the younger prince, after having been 
 preceptor to Paul. He was superior in every 
 respect to his colleague; but his easy and com- 
 plying character rendered him the sport of his 
 pupil*, whose petulance and want of application, 
 as well as his unconquerable obstinacy, required 
 constantly about him a man resolute as 1'Harpe, 
 the only one who was able to keep him in any 
 
 * Saclcen was incessantly preaching to the prince, and ex- 
 horting him to read. " 1 won't read," said Constantine to 
 him one day, " for I see you always reading, and you only 
 " prove the greater blockhead lor it." This sarcasm pro- 
 duced a laugh. He would strike and bite his governors, his 
 chevaliers, and his masters. L'Harpe was the only person 
 who had the spirit to complain, and to require him to be 
 corrected.
 
 THE GRAND-DUKES. 337 
 
 degree of awe, and might have softened his na- 
 tural ferocity, had he been properly seconded. 
 
 Among the masters of the grand-dukes, profes- 
 sor Kraft, who gave them lessons in experimental 
 philosophy, was distinguished for his good-nature, 
 perspicuity, and immoveable formality. Alex- 
 ander Pavlovitch made some progress under him; 
 being attentive, and desirous of learning, as he 
 was in all his studies. Kraft, speaking one day 
 of the hypotheses of some philosophers on the 
 nature of light, said, that Newton supposed it 
 to be a constant emanation from the sun. Alex- 
 ander, then twelve years of age, answered: " I 
 " do not believe it: for if it were, the sun must 
 " grow less every day." This objection, made 
 with equal simplicity and acuteness, is in fact the 
 strongest that has been brought against the im- 
 mortal Newton, and proves the early sagacity of 
 the young grand-duke. 
 
 The celebrated Pallas was giving the princes a 
 short course of botany in their garden near Pav- 
 lofsky: but the explanation of Linnaeus's system 
 of the sexes gave them the first ideas of those of 
 human nature, and led them to put a number of 
 very laughable questions with great simplicity. 
 This highly alarmed their governors; Pallas was 
 requested to avoid entering into further particu- 
 lars concerning pistils and staminas ; and the 
 course of botany was even broken off. Catharine 
 
 z
 
 338 EDUCATION OF 
 
 had particularly enjoined, that her pupils should 
 be kept in the most perfect ignorance as to what 
 related to tbe intercourse of the sexes. Her 
 great modesty in this respect appears strikingly 
 contrasted with other parts of her character. But 
 it is well known, that the regent of France, who 
 was the most debauched of men, caused Lewis 
 XV< to be brought up in such complete igno- 
 rance of things, which he afterxvards so exten- 
 sively practised, that on the eve of his marriage, 
 he was obliged to be taught his part, by being 
 shewn prints in which it was displayed. Catha- 
 rine thought it better, that her grandchildren 
 should receive their first lessons in nature. At 
 
 least, a lady of the name of T kof was chosen 
 
 to initiate the grand-duke Constantine; from 
 which she reaped the pleasure, as her husband 
 did honour and promotion. 
 
 One of Catharine's most ardent wishes was, 
 like Lewis XIV, to see her great grandchildren. 
 That a moment might not be lost, she ordered 
 the instant of their puberty to be watched ; but 
 her hope was frustrated by the very impatience 
 with which she sought its accomplishment. 
 These premature marriages appear only to have 
 ruined their constitutions. Neither of the young 
 princes have as yet had any children, and it is to 
 be feared they never will*. 
 
 * Their marriugcs have been mentioned in the first chapter.
 
 THE GRAND-DUKES. 339 
 
 The birth of the two grand-dukes had filled the 
 empress with joy. Her vast projects and hopes 
 now took a wider range, of which the very names 
 of the princes gave intimation. In their behalf 
 she resolved to partition the world into two em- 
 pires : she had the children every where painted, 
 one cutting the gordian knot, the other bearing 
 the cross of Constantine. Their education seemed 
 at first to be merely the developement of these 
 grand ideas. Constantine had grecian nurses, 
 and was surrounded by Greeks: in his infancy 
 he spoke no other language j but he forgot it, 
 as soon as masters were appointed to teach it him 
 more fully. The persons about Alexander were 
 Englishmen, and endeavours were made to in- 
 spire him with a predilection for that nation, 
 which he may, perhaps, some day discard, as his 
 brother became disgusted with Greece. 
 
 I have already observed, that Paul had neither 
 authority nor influence over the education of his 
 children. He was obliged to solicit Soltikof's 
 permission to see them j or to gain their valets-de- 
 chambre, to know what was doing with respect 
 to them. During the summer they had permis- 
 sion to spend an hour or two with their parents 
 once or twice a week ; and the fantastical Paul 
 deprived himself of this pleasure for one whole 
 year, because he would not see the countess 
 Shuvalof by whom they were latterly attended, 
 
 22
 
 840 EDUCATION OF 
 
 To conclude, the following is one of the humane 
 lessons which this tender parent was heard to 
 give his sons. News had just been received of 
 some of the bloody scenes in the french revolu- 
 tion: you see, children, said Paul on this occa- 
 sion, mankind must be treated like dogs. He 
 seems hitherto to have been faithful to his maxim. 
 
 The Russians in general, following the exam- 
 ple of their latter sovereigns, had for some time 
 endeavoured to emerge from barbarism, by care- 
 fully attending to the education of their children. 
 To bestow on them knowledge and talents, was 
 formerly the happy means of bringing them into 
 notice, and procuring them advancement. Nei- 
 ther pains nor expense were spared to cultivate 
 the arts and sciences in a country where they 
 were exotic, as fruits are forced to ripen in their 
 winter gardens and hot-houses. Elizabeth and 
 Catharine founded several institutions in favour 
 of youth, some of which, as the normal schools, 
 and particularly the three different corps of ca- 
 dets, presented the interesting sight of several 
 thousand young men educated at the expense of 
 the state, and taught morality, languages, sci- 
 ences, and arts. Paul has abolished the schools, 
 and the corps de cadets are now nothing more 
 than barracks and houses of military exercise. 
 
 The convent of young ladies, though the senti- 
 ments from which it was founded were worthy of
 
 THE RUSSIANS. 341 
 
 the generosity of a great princess, has completely 
 failed of its end, like most of the other institu- 
 tions. Two or three hundred young women of 
 no fortune receive here an excellent education ; 
 but, as soon as they reach the age of eighteen, 
 they are turned out of doors. They enter into a 
 world from which they have lived secluded since 
 their infancy: seldom find either relations, or ac- 
 quaintances; and are ignorant what course of 
 life to chuse. Accordingly they generally fall 
 victims to the officers of the guards, whose bar- 
 racks surround the convent, and who watch every 
 term of dismission to ensnare the prettiest. Some 
 part of the immense cost of their education might 
 be spared for portioning them out, or at least to 
 maintain them till they gained an establishment. 
 
 The education of young Russians, who have 
 some fortune, is commonly entrusted to private 
 governors, known and decried in Russia by the 
 name of utshiteli, " teachers." Most of them are 
 foreigners, chiefly French or Swiss. The Ger- 
 mans, notwithstanding their good qualities and 
 pedagogical erudition, are too incompatible with 
 the character of the Russians, to rival them , and 
 the trials which some have wished to make of 
 their own countrymen from the university of 
 Mosco, or from the schools- of Petersburg, have 
 not given satisfaction. The famous answer of the 
 grecian philosopher is applicable in this place.
 
 342 EDUCATION OF 
 
 To a man, who said to him : " With what you 
 " ask for the education of my son I could pur- 
 " chase a good slave, who would educate him in 
 "my own house;" he replied: "Purchase a 
 " slave: he and your son will make two." 
 
 The ittshiteli, whom coxcombs endeavour to ri- 
 dicule, and the old ladies consider as dangerous, 
 have contributed more than any others to polish 
 Russia; as they have given instruction in detail, 
 man by man. They are the only people whose 
 office has been to preach philosophy, virtue, and 
 morals, while diffusing knowledge: for we have 
 seen that the orthodox greek religion is far above 
 meddling with such matters ; and a colonel, the 
 only preceptor the young Russians afterwards 
 have, is not more addicted to them. From the 
 celebrated leFort, who inspired Peter I. with the 
 desire of gaining knowledge, to the petty clerk 
 of some french attorney, who teaches his pupils 
 to conjugate a few verbs in his own tongue, the 
 utshiteli have been the persons who have commu- 
 nicated to the Russians that taste, those acquire- 
 ments, and those talents, for which many of them 
 are admired in foreign countries. No doubt it is 
 to be lamented, that among the number of those 
 who devote themselves to private tuition, and 
 make it their trade to'form men, there are so many 
 unworthy of the employment, whose ignorance 
 and immorality bring ridicule and odium on their
 
 THE RUSSIANS. 34b 
 
 colleagues. But such tutors begin to find it diffi- 
 cult to obtain situations, except in remote country 
 places, where some honest Russians of the old 
 stamp fancy they have bestowed a good education 
 on their children, when they hear them speak a 
 foreign language. At Petersburg people were 
 become more difficult in the choice of tutors, and 
 among them were to be found persons of real 
 merit. They were the only class of men in Rus- 
 sia, without excepting the academicians, who 
 cultivated in some degree literature and the sci- 
 ences. A Bruckner, at prince Kurakin's; a 
 Granmont, at princess Dolgoruka's; a Lindquist, 
 an abbe Nicole, and several others, without hav- 
 ing places equally advantageous *, were worthy 
 of the profession to which they devoted them- 
 selves, and were distinguished for their success as 
 much as for their merit. 
 
 The great men of Russia, who have much 
 wealth and high posts, are too ignorant, or too 
 much engaged in gaming and intrigue, tq inter- 
 fere with the education of their children ; and as 
 colleges and universities are wanting in that coun- 
 try, they pursue a very prudent plan. As soon 
 
 * Mr. Bruckner received thirty-five thousandjrubles(3500/.) 
 for the fourteen years he engaged to devote to the education 
 of the young princes Kurakin; and Granmont received twenty- 
 five thousand ('25001.) for the education of the princes Dolgo- 
 ruky.
 
 >14 EDUCATION OF 
 
 as they have made choice of the man as their 
 substitute in the duties of a father, they give him 
 great confidence and authority : the most intelli- 
 gent could not do better, were they but discreet 
 in their choice. It is seldom that a governor is 
 so destitute of sense, erudition, and honour, as to 
 abuse his functions ; he feels himself most happily 
 disposed towards his pupil : to instruct him, form 
 him, acquire his attachment, and gain his love, 
 are the wishes of his heart. If he be in a worthy, 
 opulent family, he has no occasion to regret the 
 sacrifice of ten or twelve years to gain a provision 
 for life*. In his pupil he often finds a real friend, 
 and always a patron. His own interest prompts 
 him to inspire his pupil with just and noble senti- 
 ments, and to give him a taste for the sciences ; 
 which is far more important, and far more diffi- 
 cult, than to teach him the elements of them. 
 Thus, most of the young Russians pass their early- 
 days with a foreigner, who becomes their second 
 father, and for whom they retain a due sense of 
 gratitude, at least if they are naturally of good 
 dispositions. 
 
 * The great french lords sometimes gave rich abbess to 
 their tutors : the wealthy English act still more generously 
 The Russians frequently follow their example : their gover- 
 nours receiving annuities at their departure, or places and 
 rank if they settle in Russia. Thus at least those act who 
 consider the tutors of their children as something more than 
 their head servants.
 
 THE RUSSIANS. 345 
 
 This education by means of foreigners has one 
 inconvenience ; but it is by no means injurious 
 to the Russians. Almost all of them, being edu- 
 cated by Frenchmen, contract from their infancy 
 a decided predilection for France. With its lan- 
 guage and history they are better acquainted than 
 with their own ; and as, in fact, they have no 
 country, France becomes that of their heart and 
 imagination. Such was the scythian Anacharsis 
 educated by the grecian Theagenes : such were 
 the Romans formed by the Greeks ; but the Ro- 
 mans had virtues to lose, which is scarcely the 
 case with, the Russians. Besides, they get a 
 knowledge of France only on the fair side, as it 
 appears at a distance, and to such as regret it 
 They consider it as the native soil of taste, polite- 
 ness, arts, delicate pleasures, and amiable people : 
 as t]ie asylum of liberty, as the hearth of that 
 sacred fire at which the torch may one day be 
 kindled to illumine their benighted country. The 
 french emigrants, driven to the territories of the 
 modern Cimmerians, were astonished to find men 
 better acquainted than themselves with the affairs 
 of their own country : since there are young 
 Russians who reflect with Rousseau and study the 
 harangues of Mirabeau; whereas the emigrants 
 have read nothing, and bring nothing with them 
 their prejudices. They found many young
 
 S46 EDUCATION OF 
 
 Russians better acquainted with Paris, than those 
 who had been tramping the pavement of it all 
 their lives *. It has in general been remarked, 
 that the Russians have the most happy disposir 
 tions, and a surprising facility of conception; 
 whence they make a very rapid progress in what- 
 ever is taught them. No children are more ami- 
 able or more interesting : many, on completing 
 their domestic education, have acquired more 
 select and extensive knowledge, than other young 
 men who have frequented the german univer- 
 sities; and they have particularly a wonderful 
 readiness at displaying their knowledge on all 
 fit occasions. Too frequently however, these 
 blossoms are premature, and produce no fruit : 
 they seldom travel like an Anacharsis ; and their 
 return to their own country usually puts an end 
 to their studies, and even to their taste for science 
 and literature, 
 
 Telle on voit s'e"lever 1'alouette legere; 
 
 FJle charme un instant par son chant matinal, 
 
 Puis retombe et se tait sur le gazon natal f. 
 
 * Count Butturlin had carried this local knowledge so far 
 that he could converse with a Parisian on the most minute 
 details of the theatres, streets, hotels, and public buildings of 
 Paris. The Frenchman was struck dumb with astonishment 
 when the Russian confessed at last that he had never been in 
 France. 
 
 f From an epistle to a young Russian.
 
 THE RUSSIANS. 317 
 
 I 
 
 <c So the gay lark, with light ascending wing, 
 '* Soars high in air to charm the meads around, 
 " Till ceasing thus in strain sublime to sing, 
 " Silent he sinks upon his natal ground." 
 
 lu 'ike manner a Swiss, after having $pent his 
 youth in the service of France, and contracted 
 splendid vices, leaves them on returning to his 
 own country, to resume the simplicity of his an- 
 cestors. He returns to virtue, but the Russian 
 returns to barbarism. Strong minds alone, com- 
 pletely taken with the charms of philosophy or 
 the attractions of true glory, are able to resist the 
 torrent : for those talents, which the autocrats 
 pretended to encourage, became at length a mo- 
 tive for exclusion from the posts and honours of 
 the court. Thus the manners of Europe, and 
 even the character of Catharine, were in perpe- 
 tual contradiction with the barbarous forms and 
 impulse once given to the russian government, 
 which destroyed by its re-actjon all that huma- 
 nity and philosophy strove to establish. Despo- 
 tism exacts a continued self-denial, and that even 
 of the improvements it once encouraged. The 
 influence of foreign preceptors over the character 
 and morality of the Russians is therefore combated 
 by prejudices and obstacles almost invincible : 
 but this influence is constant and continual: it 
 operates in secret on the mind ; and its progress, 
 slow as the foot of time, is but the more certain,
 
 348 EDUCATION OF 
 
 Perhaps the young russian nobility are the best 
 informed and most philosophical in Europe, but 
 a complete counter-revolution has just taken 
 place in their education: since the progress of 
 the french revolution, especially since the com- 
 mencement of the gloomy reign of Paul and the 
 arrival .of the emigrants, the human mind has 
 taken a retrograde course in Russia. Most of the 
 utshiteli at present are chevaliers, counts, mar- 
 quises, or priests; for the same thing has taken 
 place with the emigrants as did formerly with 
 the colonists whom Catharine imported to culti- 
 vate her deserts j all who could read and write 
 left their fields to become tutors. But the effects 
 of this will be transient : the new trade adopted 
 by these gentlemen will teach them to think, or 
 they will not pursue it long. It is almost impos- 
 sible to be an vtshitel, without becoming in some 
 degree rational: what is heard, seen, and felt, 
 every day, in these territories, operates more in 
 favour of liberty than all the victories and the 
 eloquence of the French. A Montmorenci in the 
 office of utshitel infallibly becomes a democrat. 
 
 In the Voyage de deux Francais en Ritssie, " Tour 
 " of two Frenchmen in Russia," are some strange 
 reflections on these utshiteli. The travellers are asto- 
 nished that they are almost all democrats, though 
 enjoying an easy and agreeable life in the house 
 of some great lord ; and rally them for not quit-
 
 THE RUSSIANS. 349 
 
 ting it, to devote their lives to the cause which 
 they espouse. You say that they are acting pro- 
 perly in France ; why, then, do you not go thi- 
 ther ? this is the dilemma proposed by these gen- 
 tlemen. But, were any one to praise the custom 
 in China for the emperor to plough a field him- 
 self, would they in the same manner say^to^hirn, 
 Why do you not repair thither and hold the 
 plough ? Such is the inconsistency of people ! 
 May not a man acknowledge the truth of a prin- 
 ciple, all the consequences of which he cannot 
 carry into practice ? May not a Frenchman in 
 Petersburg rejoice at the victories of his coun- 
 trymen, because he could contribute nothing to 
 them but his secret prayers ? May he not re- 
 joice to see liberty, order, and happiness re- 
 established in his country, though he cannot re- 
 turn thither ? Such is the language of little 
 minds, who dare not avow a truth when they are 
 in a place where it is dangerous not to abjure it. 
 
 The progress of the human mind in Russia, 
 however, has lately been stopped, or at least fet- 
 tered, by the ridiculous and arbitrary measures, 
 though consistent enough, adopted by his mus- 
 covite majesty to break off all communication be- 
 tween the rest of Europe and his blessed domi- 
 nions. Peter I. never took such pains and care 
 to reform and polish his empire as Paul now takes
 
 350 EDUCATION OF 
 
 precautions to prevent light from penetrating 
 among his Cimmerians. 
 
 A more, completely ridiculous code of laws 
 could not be exhibited to Europe than a collec- 
 tion of the ukases promulgated by Paul since he 
 came to the throne. He has lately forbidden 
 all his subjects, the Livonians and Courlanders 
 in particular, to send their children to study in 
 Germany, because corrupt principles prevail 
 there. He recals, under penalty of confiscation 
 of their property, all who are at present at any 
 foreign university * : but he promises to permit 
 the establishment of an university in his german 
 provinces, where young men may be instructed 
 in such sciences as are more immediately neces- 
 sary. Till this university is founded under his 
 auspices, and the disciples of Kant quit Germany, 
 to visit it in quest of a more luminous philo- 
 sophy, the Finlanders and Courlanders, Estho- 
 nians and Livonians, must remain without any 
 means of instruction; since there are not even any 
 public schools throughout their vast provinces. 
 Paul, as the utmost effort of his wisdom, has also 
 forbidden the employment of foreigners in their 
 courts of justice, and the giving them ecclesi- 
 
 * There were thirty-six students at Leipsic, and sixty-five 
 at Jena, subjects of the tzar, who hastily returned home in 
 pursuance of this ukase.
 
 THE RUSSIANS. 351 
 
 astical benefices. He has even outgone himself: 
 by another ukase he prohibits all foreigners from 
 entering his dominions without a special permis- 
 sion from his muscovito-chinese majesty ; and, as 
 the ultimate proof of barbarism, this immenno'i- 
 ukase * has not been published. Merchants, fo- 
 reigners who have possessions in Russia, and 
 young men who have been invited thither, au 
 stopped at the frontiers, or on board the vessels 
 in which they arrive, and sent back, after the ex- 
 pense they have been at, and the dangers they have 
 incurred by a tedious voyage. 
 
 Another ukase prohibits the reading of french 
 newspapers. No paper can enter Russia, with- 
 out having been examined and stamped by a 
 committee of censure ; and every man who re- 
 ceives by the post, by a courier, or from a tra- 
 veller, any newspaper, or printed book of any 
 kind, is enjoined to "carry them immediately to 
 the committee, under penalty of being punished 
 as a rebel ! 
 
 The people of Germany are more happy, as 
 the Russian newspapers are admitted into that 
 country; and the following advertisements ex- 
 tracted from them, must be highly edifying to 
 readers of sensibility. 
 
 " Any person wanting to purchase a whole 
 
 * An ukase under the sign-manual.
 
 S52 ORDINANCES OF PAUL. 
 
 " family, or a young man and a girl separately, 
 " may apply to the silk-scourer, facing the Ka- 
 " zanskoi church. The young man, named Ivan, 
 " is. one and twenty years of age ; healthy, robust, 
 " and knows how to dress ladies' hair. The girl, 
 " well made, and in good hea 'h, named Marpha, 
 " aged fifteen, understands sewing and embroi- 
 " dery. They may be examined and had at a 
 " reasonable price *. 
 
 " At the same house a stallion from Holstein 
 " to be sold. For viewing him apply to the 
 " coachman." 
 
 " At the printing office of the academy, the few 
 u remaining copies of the Instruction for the 
 " Code of Laws, by Catharine II. are selling 
 " offf, &c." 
 
 And these advertisements appear in Europe ! 
 in a Christian country j in an empire that Peter 
 civilized, where Elizabeth, where Catharine 
 reigned and excited admiration ! Surely, if Paul 
 had any sense of decorum, he would much rather 
 prohibit the exportation of russian gazettes than 
 the entrance of foreigners, 
 
 * The ordinary price for a girl or woman is from fifty to 
 two hundred rubles : varying according to age, comeliness, 
 or talents. That of a man likewise varies from three hun- 
 dred to five hundred, or even a thousand rubles. Sometimes 
 a slave is bartered against a dog or a horse, and occasionally 
 sported away on a card at the gaming table. 
 
 t Anhang zu der Petersburger Zeitung, No. 56, 179S.
 
 CONCERNING EDUCATION. 353 
 
 It is to be observed, that, under the reign of 
 Catharine, Russia was for a time the only coun- 
 try in Europe in which french papers were not 
 prohibited. The Moniteur having spoken se- 
 veral times of the empress, and particularly of 
 Paul and his court, Catharine gave orders that the 
 Moniteur should not be distributed till she had 
 looked it over. A few weeks after she found a 
 paragraph, in which she was styled the Messalina 
 of the north, &c. Having read it, she said : " As 
 " this concerns only myself, let it be distributed." 
 At a time when french gazettes, cockades, and 
 songs were proscribed in nations farthest from 
 barbarism : when at Turin, they who sung g a ira 
 were imprisoned, when birds that repeated those 
 words had their necks wrung in England, and at 
 Vienna french was not allowed to be spoken, 
 the russian government appeared to be above 
 these little inquisitorial acts, and the pupils of 
 colonel 1'Harpe were allowed to chaunt french 
 revolutionary airs in the palace of the tzars. One 
 of them carried a national cockade in his pocket, 
 which he displayed with an air of triumph and de- 
 fiance to the most timid courtiers. It was not 
 till after the death of Lewis XVI. and the assas- 
 sination of Gustavus III. that Catharine, struck 
 with consternation, began to yield to the sugges- 
 tions of her base favourites, and the emigrants by 
 whom she was beset : it was only then that she 
 
 A A
 
 354- ORDINANCES OF PAUL. 
 
 began to take precautions which betrayed her 
 fear *. 
 
 Still there was always more to be apprehended 
 , from the zeal of the subordinate tools of govern- 
 ment, than from the disposition of Catharine. 
 With abler ministers, more honest courtiers and 
 less pusillanimous favourites, she would not have 
 finished like the syrens of Virgil, who are fine 
 women terminating in fish-tails. Among the nu- 
 merous victims of the political inquisition Radis- 
 chef deserves particularly to be regretted by the 
 friends of reason. It is well known that Catha- 
 rine frequently sent young Russians to travel and 
 improve themselves at her expense. Several of 
 these were happily chosen, became men of merit, 
 and brought back to their country a store of know- 
 ledge, with notions of philosophy and humanity. 
 1 he most distinguished and most unfortunate of 
 these pupils of Catharine was Radischef. On 
 his return he was made director of the customs ; 
 
 * One fact will farther prove the dignified security of Ca- 
 tharine. A brother of the famous Marat was at Peters- 
 burg, as tutor in the house of Soltikof the chamberlain. This 
 Marat, while he condemned the excesses of his brother, did 
 not conceal from his friends his own republican sentiments, 
 yet he lived in peace, and sometimes attended his pupil to 
 court. However, as his name might have exposed him to 
 some danger, at the time of the king's death he requested Ca- 
 tharine's permission to change it, and called himself Boudri, 
 from the placci ef his birth.
 
 CONCERNING EDUCATION. 355 
 
 and in this office of a publican, his probity, the 
 amenity of his manners, and his agreeable com- 
 pany, rendered him esteemed and courted. He 
 cultivated literature, and had already published 
 a work, intitled Potshta Dukof, " the Post of 
 *' Wits j" a periodical work the most philoso- 
 phical and poignant that ever ventured to appear 
 in Russia. Yet he was not molested on account 
 of it : but after the revolution, he had the cou- 
 rage to print a little pamphlet, in which he scru- 
 pled not to avow his hatred of despotism, his in- 
 dignation against the favourites, and his esteem 
 for the French. It was singular, that several co- 
 pies of it are with the approbation of the police- 
 Kleief, master of the police, as famous in Russia 
 for his blunders, as a d'Argenson> a la Noir, and 
 a Sartine were in France for their address, was 
 cited to answer for this approbation. He knew 
 not what to say, not having read the work ; 
 which indeed would have been above his com- 
 prehension. But Radischef, who was also cited, 
 honestly confessed, that the boldest passages were 
 not in the manuscript, when he submitted it to 
 the censure, but that he had printed them at his 
 own house *. To have pardoned him would 
 
 * Radischefs work is intitled a Journey to Mosco. Rus- 
 sian merchants have been known to give five and twenty 
 rubles (2/. 105.) to have it for a single hour to read in pri- 
 vate. I have read only a few fragments of it, among which 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 ORDINANCES OF PAUL. 
 
 have been worthy of the character which Catha- 
 rine displayed on other occasions : but Radischef 
 was sent off to Siberia. He begged permission 
 to embrace his wife and children once more ; 
 and on being taken out of prison to be sent off, 
 he was allowed to wait for them a moment on 
 the bank of the Neva : but it was night ; the 
 drawbridge had just been raised to let a vessel 
 through, and at this instant his unfortunate wife 
 arrived on the opposite bank. Radischef en- 
 treated that his departure might be deferred till 
 the vessel had passed, or his wife could get a 
 boat ; but in vain : his pitiless guard made him 
 remount, and shut him into his tumbrel again in 
 sight of his distracted wife, who stretched out 
 her arms to him across the river with loud cries 
 of distress. Thus he departed, his heart torn by 
 despair. If he be still living in the vast deserts 
 to which he is confined, or if he draw breath in 
 the mines of Kolhivan, may his virtue be his com- 
 forter ! his courage has not been useless to his 
 country : in spite of the domiciliary scrutinies of 
 
 was an allegory, in which he exposes the pride and foolish 
 grandeur of a despot surrounded by dastardly flatterers. The 
 following words particularly enraged Catharine, as being 
 directly pointed : " I enter the palace of Tzarsko-selo : I am 
 " struck with the awful silence that reigns : every one hold? 
 " his peace, every one trembles : it is the abode of despo- 
 " tisro." These words procured Radischef a residence iu 
 Siberia.
 
 CONCERNING EDUCATION. 357 
 
 despotism, his work subsists in the hands of 
 several of his countrymen, and his memory is dear 
 to all men of honour and sensibility. 
 
 The proscription of every one who dared to 
 think, suggested the following apologue. It was 
 written when the present emperor was grand- 
 duke ; and it will not be amiss to conclude this 
 chapter with it, as it is but too well justified by 
 his conduct since. 
 
 LE GRAND-DUG* 
 
 ET 
 
 LE VER LUISANT. 
 
 FABLE. 
 
 DANS une sombre nuit d'6t6 
 Un ver luisant cach6 sous 1'herbe 
 Jetoit une douce clart^. 
 
 e n'etoit point un phare eclatant et superbe, 
 II n'eclairoit qu'un pas a 1'environ ; 
 C'etoit la son horison; 
 Mais pourtant 1'insecte lucide 
 
 Servoit de guide 
 Aux petits h6tes du gazon. 
 
 * A nocturnal bird, found particularly in Russia. See Buffon. 
 Due, in French, signifies both a duke and a horned owl : le grand-due i . 
 the great horned-owl in natural history.
 
 358 THE OWL AND THE GLOW WORM, 
 
 A sa lueur douce et tranquille, 
 La fourmi retardee atteignoit son azile, 
 Le papillon le"ger s'dgayoit a 1'entour : 
 
 En un mot, cet astre reptile 
 Embellissoit les nuits de son humble sejour. 
 
 Non loin de la, dans une vieille tour, 
 
 Prison de sa triste famille, 
 
 Un vieux hibou tenoit sa cour. 
 Un hibou hait les -cers qui lui montrent le jour. 
 " Audacieux !" dit il a Tinsecte qui brille, 
 tf Qui t'a fait si hardi que d'approcher de nous ? 
 " Tu mourras." " Monseigneur," lui rdpond, 
 
 " 1'humble insecte, 
 tf Je suis indigne, helas ! d'un si noble courroux, 
 
 " Je vous honore, vous respecte ; 
 
 " Je tremble d'approcher de vous : 
 " A sucerla rose"e ici je me d^lecte; 
 " Mais d'aucun bruit pourtant je ne trouble vos 
 
 " nuits. 
 " Comment un animal foible comme je suis 
 
 " Peut-il offenser Votre Altesse ?" 
 
 *' Insecte dangereux \ tu luis ; 
 
 " P^ris, la lumiere me blesse." 
 
 Cela dit, le nocturne oiseau. 
 En 6crasant le ver, ^teignit son flambeau 
 
 Sans rendre la nuit plus epaisse. 
 
 

 
 { 359 ) 
 
 THE 
 
 OWL AND THE GLOW-WORM. 
 
 A FABLE. 
 
 'TWAS on a sombre summer night, 
 
 A glow-worm, sheltered by a flow'r, 
 Spread round its mildly glimm'ring light, 
 
 To decorate the silent hour : 
 No brilliant beam, no gaudy glare, 
 
 Diffus'd afar its lustrous ray, 
 JBut thro' the softly breathing air / 
 
 The insect shed its mimic day. 
 
 While pleas'd its harmless life to pass 
 ' vOn hillock green of dewy grass, 
 Attracted by its azure gleam, 
 
 The butterfly, with sportive wing, 
 Would form the gay fantastic ring, 
 (As in the burning noontide beam,) 
 Where, 'mid the gloom, this insect star display'd 
 Its cheerful lamp, spangling the realms of shade! 
 
 Near, on a mould'ring antique tow'r. 
 
 The prison of its moping race, 
 An owl had chose its murky bow'r, 
 
 And hating day's effulgent light, 
 
 Its joy the sullen frown of night, 
 
 Its blank domain the silent space ! 
 
 There, prompt to spread its shad'wy wings 
 
 Imperious, o'er less daring things, 
 
 Soon on the glow-worm's peaceful state 
 
 J^ix'd his dull eyes t in envious hate.
 
 360 THE OWL AND THE GLOW-WORM. 
 
 " Bold worm !" exclaim'd the tyrant vain, 
 
 " Thou, who with sparkling light art seen 
 
 " Peering the lonely shades between, 
 
 " How dar'st thou mock my gloomy reign ? 
 
 " Thou shall -expire !" The glow-worm meek > 
 
 (Its trembling light more faint and pale>) 
 
 In humble accents, low and weak, 
 
 Thus told its true, but artless tale: 
 
 " I own that, of the insect race, 
 
 " I boast no gaudy splendid grace; 
 
 " I light with feeble lamp the way 
 
 " Where prouder, loftier beings stray ; 
 
 " I sjp the balmy dews around 
 
 te But ne'er am heard with busy sound ; 
 
 " Ne'er on your calm repose obtrude 
 
 ' With counsel vain, or clamour rude; 
 
 " Can / offend superior things, 
 
 " Or cope with birds of pow'rful wings . ?>i 
 
 The owl, indignant, bold, and base, 
 
 Exulting o'er the insect race, 
 
 Replied " You shine ! detested thing ! 
 
 " To me, offensive light you bring " 
 
 Then, pouncing on his humble prey, 
 
 Darken'd, in death, its little ray ; 
 
 But found, tho' quench'd the quiv'ring flame* 
 
 His sombre hour was still the same /
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 SUPPLEMENT*. 
 
 French and Szuiss in Russia Persecutions they undergo 
 scription of some Oath required of them Billet of absolu, 
 tion Additional traits of the present emperor Reflexions. 
 
 UNFORTUNATE young men, whom false 
 accounts and fallacious hopes attract from 
 various countries to the stormy banks of the 
 frigid Neva, may you be at length undeceived by 
 the sketches I have drawn, and those I am about 
 to trace f. Of a thousand, who quit their coun- 
 try to seek wealth and happiness at a distance 
 from it, few find the former in Russia ; the latter, 
 none. The rest sigh out their lives in penury 
 and regret, or vegetate under the rigours of an 
 
 * This article is partly compiled by the editor from frag- 
 ments and notes left by the author, and oral but indisputable 
 information. (Note ofthefrench editor). 
 
 f It is no longer possible for a Frenchman or Swiss to 
 enter Russia. An artist, and two demoiselles de Montbe"- 
 liurd, having been sent for to fill particular places, could not 
 obtain leave to disembark, notwithstanding the strongest re- 
 commendations, and were ordered to depart immediately. 
 Russia is now shut up from Europe, like Japan. The Paul 
 of that country requires foreigners to trample on the cross; 
 he of Russia insists on their giving up thoif understanding.
 
 362 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA, 
 
 inclement sky. The remembrance of 
 youthful sports, and the manners of their coun- 
 try, is the only pure pleasure which the most 
 worthy taste. Amid the abundance and dis- 
 sipation in which many pass their monotonous 
 days, they experience a vague anxiety, that keeps 
 them in perpetual alarm: the oppressive air of 
 Russia seems a weight on their brows, that bends 
 them towards the earth : they rapidly decline 
 into a premature old age; their blood grows 
 thick and grumousj and their soul becomes mere 
 matter. As Ovid depicts the gradual metamor- 
 phosis of Daphne : the rude, unyielding bark 
 envelopes her heart, which, though it still beats, 
 has no longer any feeling. She loses the faculty 
 of thought before she loses existence} and 
 ceasing to live begins to vegetate. 
 
 Happy, however, he, who attains this animal 
 vegetation ! He is at least insensible to the 
 shocking scenes that pass around him, and to his 
 own degradation j while the man, who retains 
 his sensibility, is incessantly tormented by the 
 indignation which bare-faced despotism, vile 
 servitude, and degraded humanity inspire. O 
 you, whose spirits are exhausted by contemplajt- 
 ing the storms of liberty, who perceive its sacred 
 fire expiring in your hearts; go to the courts of 
 tyrants to recreate the temper of your minds! 
 There you will see despotism trampling with his
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 363 
 
 niuddy foot on every spark of reason that falls 
 around him. Woe to him who suffers a single 
 ray of light to escape him. The frightful deserts 
 of Siberia, the subterranean regions of Kolhiy^n, 
 and the bastilles of the north, keep pace \54th the 
 deportations and other enormities committed in 
 the name of liberty. 
 
 Of all the foreigners who happened to be in 
 Russia during the revolution, the French and 
 Swiss were most exposed to inquisitorial vexa- 
 tions. The very name of Frenchman was an 
 affront; and the russian populace, who were in 
 themselves peaceful, tolerant, and hospitable, 
 were stirred up against them Men who had be- 
 fore rendered themselves distinguished by their 
 capacity, knowledge, and talents; many of whom 
 held important posts at court or in the army, or 
 confidential situations in private families; cour- 
 tiers, officers, tutors, artists, players, chamber- 
 lains, cooks*, &c. instantly became objects of 
 hatred, distrust, and proscription. Catharine, 
 \vho had herself accustomed the Russians to some 
 
 * One le Boeuf, French cook to the late king of Prussia, 
 having been sent for by Catharine, did not arrive till after 
 her death. Paul, thinking he was sent to poison him, clapped 
 him into prison. There he remained six months before he 
 obtained his liberty, and then was ordered to depart imme- 
 diately, without the slightest indemnification. 
 
 7
 
 364 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 liberal opinions, on a sudden adopted the oppo- 
 site principles. The death of Lewis XVI. and the 
 arrival of the emigrants, were the signals of pro- 
 scription. The emigrants particularly sought to 
 accuseNand supplant such of their countrymen as 
 did not participate their opinions; and the an- 
 cient Frencn> who beheld the light of the revo- 
 lution from afar, without seeing the firebrand 
 whence it issued, who embraced its principles 
 with the more candour, because men of worth 
 and letters had long borne them in their hearts, 
 were the first attacked: cowards, knaves, hypo- 
 crites, and valets, who began loudly to exclaim 
 against innovation alone were spared. 
 
 One of the first victims was Cuinet d'Orbeil, 
 who was known to all Petersburg, and even in 
 other parts, by his poetical pieces in the Alma- 
 nacks des Mttses. He was a Frenchman of a warm 
 heart and lively expression; a poet in the 
 common acceptation of the word, but incapable 
 of undertaking anything, or plotting anything, 
 at which the government could have reason to be 
 alarmed. The court was at Peterhof, celebrating 
 the festival of St. Peter and St. Paul. The foun- 
 tains played, a ball was given, and the palace 
 and gardens were illuminated. These rejoicings 
 attracted the more company, because the em- 
 press had not visited Peterhof for several years,
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 365 
 
 having an aversion for that palace, which must 
 have inspired her with gloomy thoughts*. In 
 the midst of the festivity a courier arrived with 
 the news of the escape of Lewis XVI. The 
 rumour was great, the joy loud, and the dance in- 
 terrupted, while the news passed triumphantly 
 from ear to ear. Count T, who knew d'Orbeil, 
 met him coming out of the empress's saloon. 
 " Well, Mr. Democrat," said he to him, " have 
 " you heard the great news?" (s Yes," an- 
 swered d'Orbeil, who was just come from Peters- 
 burg, " I have heard some great news." " Do 
 *' you know that the king has escaped from 
 " Paris?" " Yes, count: -but do you know 
 if the still greater news, that he is re-taken ?" 
 These words were a clap of thunder to the 
 hearers. The fact was, two couriers had arrived 
 at Petersburg nearly at the same time; but he 
 who announced the fortunate escape of the king 
 having been dispatched immediately to the em- 
 press, to heighten the festivity of the day, no 
 haste was made to send off the second to disturb 
 it. The conversation of d'Orbeil with the count, 
 however, having formed a sort of smart and strik- 
 ing scene, he was from that time observed and 
 
 * Peterhof was the palace she inhabited at the period of 
 the revolution in 1762. Peter III. was arrested there, and 
 strangled in a small country seat at Ropsha, not manv mile 
 distant.
 
 366 FRENCH AND sWiss IN RUSSIA. 
 
 watched. A short time after, a few expressions 
 in favour of the revolution escaped him at la 
 Hus's, an actress kept by Markof, secretary of 
 state : in consequence of which he was taken in 
 the night, from the house of count Cherni- 
 chef, conveyed to a vessel in the harbour, 
 and put down into the hold* The surprise and 
 affright made him desperate; he contrived to get 
 on deck, and threw himself into the sea : this 
 state trick was played off by that cadaverous 
 reptile Markof. 
 
 Such events occurred towards the end of Ca- 
 tharine's reign, when insipid courtiers and emi- 
 grants were besieging her with fears and suspi- 
 cions ; yet she was frequently seen to resume her 
 wonted equity, and even her natural generosity, 
 whenever truth could force its way to her. At 
 the time this happened, Mioche, another French- 
 man, having been denounced as a patriot by the 
 emigrants, was likewise thrown into prison : but 
 Catharine soon ordered him to be set at liberty, 
 and indemnified' him for his sufferings by some 
 particular exemptions which she granted him in 
 the wine trade. 
 
 Paul, very different from his mother, makes 
 the principles of justice consist in his infallibility. 
 He cannot mistake j nobody can deceive him. 
 In consequence of this well known opinion of 
 his, they who wish to establish themselves in his
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 367 
 
 good graces begin by confessing themselves guilty 
 of some fault, even if they invent one for the 
 purpose. Woe to him who endeavours to prove 
 his innocence! it is not the fact that constitutes 
 guilt, but the opinion of Paul. 
 
 One of the most flagrant acts of injustice, 
 which excited most indignation in honest men of 
 all parties, was the proscription of colonel and 
 major Masson, which signalized the commence- 
 ment of his reign. 
 
 These two brothers, who were either Swiss or 
 Wirtembergers, had served in the russian army 
 from their youth, where they had acquired some 
 reputation. One of them, who had been aide-de- 
 camp to Potemkin, having made the campaigns 
 against the Turks with him, had obtained as 
 military rewards the cross and g-',M-hilted sword 
 which Catharine bestowed on such officers as had 
 displayed their courage in them. He had mar- 
 ried a niece of the celebrated general Melissino, 
 who died not long since as grand master of the 
 ordnance. The other, after having been some 
 time in the artillery, and then aide-de-camp to 
 count Soltikof, minister at war*, had been 
 placed about the person of the grand-duke Alex- 
 ander, after the departure of colonel 1'Harpe, 
 
 * He likewise finished the education of two other j-oung 
 noblemen, whose merit does great honour to him.
 
 368 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 He also married a russian lady, of a livonian fa- 
 mily of distinction. Both of them, having a turn 
 for science and literature^ led retired and tranquil 
 lives with their families ; beloved for the amenity 
 of their manners, and esteemed for their wit and 
 understanding. These two superior officers, who 
 had been in the service twelve years, both mar- 
 ried to russian women, allied to respectable 
 families, and possessing lands and slaves, were 
 torn from their wives and children by a private 
 order of the emperor, and carried away sepa- 
 rately, in covered sledges, under a strong guard, 
 without even knowing of what crime they were 
 accused. The wife of the younger, but just re- 
 covered from a lying-in, hurried on by despair, 
 went the next day to wait for the emperor under 
 the arches of the winter palace, and loudly de- 
 manded justice for her husband. " Your hus- 
 " band is guilty," answered Paul: " get out of 
 " the way, or you will be trampled on by my 
 " horse." The unfortunate lady fainted on the 
 ground, and the emperor's horse luckily passed 
 on one side, These acts and the indignation 
 excited by such despotic obduracy were even 
 recorded in a citation, which the friends and re- 
 lations of those oppressed persons ventured to 
 publish; and of which the following is a literal 
 translation.
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 369 
 
 " Earnest citation and petition to Messrs, de Masson, 
 " late officers in the russian service* ." 
 
 " These two brothers have served for several 
 " years the russian empire, and have acquired 
 " the reputation of being men of courage and 
 " understanding. The elder was colonel, che- 
 " valier, &c. the younger, major. Both were 
 " married; the former to the daughter of general 
 " Yhrmann, a brave and respectable soldier, 
 " lately dead, after having long and faithfully 
 " served the state f; the latter, to a baroness 
 " Rosen of a livonian family, well known and 
 " esteemed J. Both had lovely children, and 
 
 * See the journal intitled La Minerve, par M. d'Archcn- 
 holz, May 1797, p. 366. " Ernstliche aufforderung und 
 " bitte, an die, in russischen diensten gestandenen, Herren 
 " von Masson." 
 
 f The brave general Yhrmann was governor general of 
 Siberia, and director of the mines of Kolhyvan, for twenty 
 years. The sums he drew from them were greater than they 
 ever yielded before or since, as the registers attest. He aug- 
 mented the civilisation, population, commerce, and welfare 
 or" those vast provinces; and retired poor, after having long 
 superintended Che working of the richest gold and silver 
 mines on the continent. As a reward for his probity, the 
 crown did not even pay him 10,000 rubles^ 10001.) which 
 are still owing to him; and his only daughter, proscribed 
 with her husband, wanders far from the tomb of her worthy 
 father. She is likewise niece to the celebrated general Me- 
 lissino, who has rendered Russia such great services ; and 
 related* to the Dolgorukies and the SolUkofs. (Note of the 
 French Editor.} 
 
 J Catharine II. wishing to reduce Livonia to the same 
 B B
 
 370 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 " lived with their families as good husbands and 
 e fathers. The elder even possessed estates in 
 
 " Esthonia. 
 
 " One day last December [1796], the Iwobro- 
 ' thers were summoned before general Arkarof, 
 
 " director-general of the police. With him they 
 '' found a certain count de Plaisance, an officer 
 
 form of slavery as the other provinces, required, according 
 to her custom, that the Livonians themselves should come to 
 implore these new chains as a favour. The deputies were 
 accordingly sent for with those of the other nations : but ge- 
 neral Rosen, father of the person here mentioned, who was 
 at the head of the deputies, so far from subscribing what was 
 required of them, made some remonstrances to Catharine, 
 who said angrily: " Who gave you the audacity thus to op- 
 " pose my will'" " The name of Peter the Great, who 
 " signed our franchises; r.nd that of Catharine the Great, 
 " who has sworn to maintain them :" said the old man. Ca- 
 tharine the Great, however, displaced him, and ordered 
 other deputies to be appointed. Count Stackelberg was 
 found more complying; and, proud of what Rosen consi- 
 dered as a disgrace, sold his country (1). He was rewarded 
 by immense tracts of land, surrounding those of the old ge- 
 neral, which were taken from the states of the province. 
 Such was the origin of the fortune and influence of Stackel- 
 berg, who so long ruled Poland, embroiled Sweden, and 
 afterwards acted the buffoon in the antichambers of Zubof. 
 Beside her relations in Livonia, the wife of the younger 
 Masson is related to several russian families of considerable 
 weight, as the Sievers, Besborodkos, Tamaras, &c. who, 
 far from employing their influence in obtaining the restoration 
 of her property; deserted her in her distress as soon as her 
 husband was proscribed. (Note ofthefrench editor). 
 
 (1) The words country, liberties, &c. when usednf Russia or Livonia, 
 relate to the nobility only ; for the people are mere property. 
 
 tsfj
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA.. 371 
 
 " in the corps of cadets of the artillery, a man 
 " whose very existence seems to accuse nature 
 
 " of an illiberal joke. This man had written a 
 
 " letter to Mosco, in which he said to his 
 
 " friends, among other things, * Many jacobins* 
 
 " are sent to the frontiers, and I am much afraid 
 
 " Messrs. Masson will be served in the same 
 
 " manner.' This letter was opened at the post- 
 
 " office, no doubt by order from the sovereign, 
 
 " and gave occasion to this disagreeable rendez- 
 
 " vous. The count de Plaisance defended his 
 
 " expression by the terrible accusation, that 
 
 " Messrs. Masson, when they read the newspa- 
 
 " pers, had always taken the part of the French. 
 
 " Messrs, de Masson avowed the charge; but 
 
 " begged to know what inference could be drawn 
 
 " from it derogatory to their character, their 
 
 " honour, or even their duty as Russian officers. 
 
 " The result of this business, divulged to the 
 
 * { public, was, that the two brothers, without 
 
 " any farther information, were thrown into a 
 
 " kibitka f, and conveyed to the frontiers under a 
 
 " strong guard. 
 
 " The wife of the younger Mr. de Masson 
 
 " fell at the feet of the emperor in the public 
 
 " street, and loudly exclaimed: ( Justice! jus- 
 
 * What the term jacobin signifies in Russia has been 
 mentioned in a preceding chapter. 
 ! A covered sledge used in Russia. 
 
 B B 2
 
 372 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA, 
 
 " tice! and no favour!' "The emperor answered: 
 " c They are guilty; I love order in my country:' 
 " and would have passed on ; but the lady in a 
 " fit of despair seized the horse by the bridle; 
 " on which the emperor told her to take care 
 " she was not trampled under foot. 
 
 " ' I had rather die,' answered this courage- 
 " ous lady, f than be the wife of a man who has 
 
 " forfeited his honour.' It was in vain : the 
 
 " emperor spurred his horse, and went for- 
 " ward*. 
 
 " All Petersburg has just witnessed the trans- 
 " action. The emperor is just, and we presume, 
 " either that he has been deceived, or that 
 " Messrs de Masson have actually committed 
 " some crime, which at the time escaped noticef . 
 
 * The wives of the two brothers left their country to fol- 
 low them, and their property was confiscated. 
 
 -f As, to the great astonishment of their friends, Messrs. 
 de Masson have not yet answered this citation, they give 
 room for suspicion, that their proscription might have arisen 
 from more serious causes than those mentioned above. 
 Brought up on the heights of Mount Terrible, they there 
 perhaps imbibed some liberal ideas which Russia could not 
 stifle. The eider had been in the suite of Potemkin, and 
 that of Zubof: the younger was at court, about the grand 
 duke Alexander, and under the protection of the empress: 
 had they not some concern in the project formed or" placing 
 that prince on the throne instead of his father? a project 
 \vhich Catharine entertained, and which occasioned many 
 others to fall into disgrace at her death. Even Alexander 
 was watched, and all the officers in his suite dismissed. They 
 who know Russia, and remember, that a few officers of the.
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 373 
 
 " It is true the mystery in which the affair is in- 
 " volved cannot be unravelled : for if they be 
 " guilty, why are they spared? if they be inno- 
 " cent why are they punished? In the former 
 " case, we venture to observe, that his majesty 
 " the emperor owes it in some degree to his 
 " people to make known their crime; his people, 
 
 guards, with Leslocq, a French surgeon, were sufficient to 
 effect the revolution that placed Elizabeth on the throne, will 
 not think tins supposition improbable. It is known likewise, 
 that the two Massons were amorg the principal members of 
 a society named the Philadelphic, founded by their uncle, 
 general in chief Melissino, and into which several other ge- 
 nerals or courtieis were admitted. This society, which was 
 much talked of at Petersburg, appeared, it is true, to be 
 rather a convivial meeting- than a political assembly; and 
 Catharine, to whom it was denounced, laughed at it: but 
 the present emperor may have considered it in a different 
 light; for at the same period the son of Melissino, commander 
 of a regiment of grenadiers, and the chamberlain Mettlef, a 
 member of the same society, were also disgraced and exiled. 
 Be it as it may, no doubt it might appear astonishing to one, 
 unacquainted with the character of Paul, that two superior 
 officers should be thus taken away from their families, with- 
 out trial, and without cause. But he is known to have 
 treated the agent of Sardinia with less ceremony, because 
 Besborodko said of him, that he advised his court to remain 
 an ally of France. Paul exclaimed in a fury: "What! a 
 " jacobin at my court! let him depart instantly." The bava- 
 rian minister, Reglin, was likewise treated as a jacobin, put 
 into a covered sledge, and conveyed to the frontiers as a 
 criminal ; and this because his master would not immedi- 
 ately acknowledge Paul as grand-master of the order of 
 Malta.
 
 374- FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 " who adore him*, who repose all their confi- 
 fe dence in his justice, and who would be 
 " wretched if they had to dread every secret in- 
 " former. 
 
 " The undersigned, all of them relations or 
 " friends of Messrs, de Masson, to whom it is 
 " consequently of importance to develope this 
 " fatal secret, here solemnly require them to 
 " make their defence, if they be innocent : as 
 ** men of honour, they owe this step to those, 
 " whose esteem they have gained by their agree- 
 " able intercourse 3 they owe it even to the empe- 
 " ror, who has sufficient magnanimity perhaps to 
 " make reparation for the consequences of a pre- 
 " cipitate act, if some villains have deceived 
 " himf." 
 
 [Here follow the signatures of the friends and rela- 
 tions. ,] 
 
 * Poor Russians! how they are obliged to lie. 
 
 f It is said, that the empress attempted to speak in favour 
 of the younger Masson ; but the emperor ordered her 1o be 
 silent on the subject, threatening to punish her if she did not. 
 Some time after he ordered her to be put under arrest for 
 interceding on another occasion. Going his usual round 
 about' his palace of Pavlofsky, he caught a sentry asleep 
 near his wife's pavilion. The unfortunate soldier was or- 
 dered the bastinado on the spot. At his cries the empress 
 went to the window, and interceded for his pardon. 
 " What!" exclaimed Paul, " dare you interrupt me in au 
 " act of military duty ? Do you forget, madam, that I am 
 
 t
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 To form a proper estimation of their courage, 
 notwithstanding the caution employed in this 
 citation, the circumstance of place, and the cha- 
 racter of Paul must be fully known. 
 
 Another muscovitismof the magnanimous Paul 
 likewise excited the public indignation. The 
 french and sxviss protestants have a church at 
 Petersburg, in which they permitted the Germans 
 also to perform divine service in their language : 
 but as the original funds of the church were fur- 
 nished by the French, they retained the property 
 in it. The Germans pretended that they had a 
 common right, and commenced a lawsuit, which 
 they lost. On this they entreated the protection 
 of Paul, who ordered the senate to revise the sen- 
 tence j and the senate confirmed its former de- 
 cree. The Germans made a fresh appeal, and 
 Paul ordered sentence to be given in their favour. 
 Mannsbacndel of Mulhouse was the french pastor, 
 and count Gollofkin, a captain in the navy, was 
 one of the elders of the church *. These took 
 
 " your emperor also ? I will make you remember it, how- 
 " ever." At these words, lie ordered his aide-de-camp to 
 put the empress under arrest. The aide-de-camp hesitating, 
 Paul threatened to reduce lam to the ranks: accordingly the 
 on'lcer went to inform the empress that she was under arrest, 
 and placed a guard at her door. This was the second time 
 of her being so served. 
 
 * The family of the counts Gollofkin having been dis- 
 graced under the reign of Elizabeth, came into Holland,
 
 376 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 the liberty of making some remarks on the em- 
 peror's partiality. Mannsbaendel was thrown 
 into a dungeon, whence he was at length libe- 
 rated with injunctions to quit Russia : count Gol- 
 lofkin received orders to leave Petersburg imme- 
 diately ; and then fresh orders to repair on board 
 the ship he commanded, where on his arrival he 
 was immediately turned before the mast. 
 
 * 
 
 . On the news of the death of Lewis XVI. Ca- 
 tharine, seized with affright, took measures of 
 safety against the French in Russia. They were 
 enjoined to take the oath of allegiance to 
 Lewis XVII. and to their holy religion j and 
 swear hatred and execration to the principles 
 professed in France. According to the lists 
 printed by order of government, there were seven 
 or eight hundred Frenchmen in Petersburg, and 
 more in Mosco; all of whom were obliged ver- 
 bally to pronounce imprecations against their 
 country. A few only, who had been for some 
 time preparing to return to France, where their 
 property was, chose rather to depart within the 
 space of a week, as the ukase enjoined in case 
 of refusal. This ukase was as absurd and bar- 
 barous in its composition, as' it was ridiculous 
 and inconsistent in its execution. Not only the 
 
 and embraced the protestant religion. Being afterwards re- 
 called to Russia, they retained their religion, and it is the 
 only rasiian family that professes protestantism.
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 377 
 
 French were obliged to take the oath, but almost 
 all foreigners who spoke French, or who had their 
 passports written in that language; so that Bra- 
 banters, Piedmontese, Milanese, and natives of 
 Liege, were obliged to take the oath of allegi- 
 ance to the king of France. It seemed as if the 
 russian police had foreseen the grand redintegra- 
 tion, that was shortly to take place, and resolved 
 to sanction it beforehand. Several natives of the 
 thirteen cantons, Mcintbeliard, Neufchatel, and 
 Wirtemberg, found themselves under the same 
 necessity.- The grand-duke Paul exacted it from 
 all foreigners in his suite indiscriminately ; and 
 several officiously anticipated his wishes and 
 commands. A greater number, however, ex- 
 cused themselves, saying they were not born sub- 
 jects of France ; and prevailed on the police, not 
 on Paul, to hearken to reason. . 
 
 Paul, on becoming emperor, went much far- 
 ther than his mother had done; by ordering all 
 the foreigners in Russia to profess the religion in 
 which they had been brought up. Thus the ca- 
 tholics were enjoined a strict observance of the 
 rites of their sect and the commands of the 
 romish church. An ukase in all the different lan- 
 guages was posted up, enjoining every one of 
 them, under pain of being treated as rebels, to 
 take the holy sacrament of penance, and to pre- 
 pare themselves for receiving the body of Christ
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 at Easter: at the same time the priests were or- 
 dered to give absolution only to such as should 
 merit it. The catholic church, which had before 
 been empty, was now crowded : and the priests 
 belonging to it, French, Germans, Italians, and 
 Poles, assumed their seats in their confessionals. 
 Before every confessional a box was set up, into 
 which the penitent was obliged to throw a card, 
 containing his name, profession, and abode; 
 which cards were every evening carried to the 
 emperor. The person confessed then received 
 a ticket of absolution, signed by the priest, 
 which admitted him to the holy table. This 
 ticket was likewise a warrant of security to him, 
 which he produced, when requisite, before the 
 police. Innkeepers and housekeepers were di- 
 rected to see these orders carried into execution 
 with respect to persons lodging in their houses, 
 and to inform against such as did not frequent 
 the churches, or who wore pantaloons, round 
 hats, or lapelled waistcoats. The sick were cha- 
 ritably informed, that they might require the 
 confessor to attend them at home; and the poor, 
 that the host* should be carried to them gratis. 
 
 The reader may judge of the embarrassment of 
 most of the French, who before this had lived in 
 Russia as free as possible with regard to religious 
 
 * The bon dieu.
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 379 
 
 opinions, of which the government took no no- 
 tice. Let him figure to himself particularly the 
 indignation, the humiliation felt by all those who 
 entertained any rational and liberal sentiments. 
 No choice, however, but implicit submission: 
 the compella intrare was enforced with the 
 utmost rigour by the soldiers of the police. The 
 emigrants, who were depicted to Paul as liber- 
 tines, though they had taken arms for the throne 
 and the altar, were obliged to go to mass in form, 
 walking two by two, between a double row of 
 russian soldiers. 
 
 Such catholics as were in easy circumstances 
 soon found means of obtaining tickets of absolu- 
 tion, even without confessing. The priests sold 
 them at first for fifty rubles (5/.) then twenty-five 
 (2/. 10s.} and at last disposed of them for ten 
 rubles (I/.) apiece, agreeing to throw the cards 
 into the box themselves into the bargain. 
 
 A scene that passed near this catholic church 
 deserves notice here. Paul caused a service to 
 be celebrated in honour of the Duke of Wirtem- 
 berg,' father of the empress, who had just died at 
 Stutgard. As it w T as not in character for him, 
 the autocrat and russo-greek orthodox patriarch, 
 to be present at a schismatic mass, he resolved to 
 place himself at the head of the grenadiers drawn 
 up round the church, to maintain order and dig- 
 nity. It was extremely cold ; his horse, doubt-
 
 380 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 Jess, a native of some warmer climate, could not 
 remain motionless. Weary of bridling, wheel- 
 ing, and making useless efforts to keep him still, 
 he began to gallop through the street, passing 
 and repassing before the troops, and a great crowd 
 of people, whom the funeral ceremony and the 
 emperor's horsemanship had attracted together. 
 As often as Paul came galloping by on one side, 
 the crowd took off their hats, and made their re- 
 verences. A group assembled on the green 
 bridge, upwards of four hundred paces from the 
 spot where the emperor was prancing, at length 
 put on their hats, on account of the extreme 
 frost and the distance at which they stood. Paul 
 spied it, and ordered them immediately to be 
 surrounded by the troops, and sent to the house 
 of correction. There were fifty or sixty persons 
 of various conditions: they who were not nobles 
 were whipped three successive da.ys, the nobles 
 were degraded, and such as were officers were 
 turned into the ranks as common soldiers. 
 Among them was a Genevan named Martin, 
 who bribed an officer of the police to allow him 
 to write to some friends at court. In conse- 
 quence he was set at liberty, but, not brooking 
 the insult, he instantly left Russia*. 
 
 We have seen what happened to a maclamc Likarof for 
 not getting out of her carriage as Paul passed by. The wife 
 of Demuth, the wealthy keeper of a hdtel, met with the
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 381 
 
 Some time after, Paul ordered the corpse of 
 the unfortunate king of Poland to be interred in 
 the same church. He came himself to examine 
 the funeral decorations, and the preparations for 
 the ceremony. An upholsterer, employed in 
 putting up the hangings, was at the top of a 
 ladder, dressed in a jacket and pantaloons to fol- 
 low his work more commodiously. Paul, being 
 informed that he was a Frenchman, named Le- 
 roux, ordered him to come down, and immedi- 
 ately commanded him to be bastinadoed in the 
 midst of the church. 
 
 These are some of the vexations to which fo- 
 reigners, Frenchmen in particular, are exposed 
 in Russia. It is certain that their situation be- 
 came still more deplorable after Paul declared 
 war against France. What humiliations, what 
 outrages were they not forced to undergo at the 
 house of correction in Petersburg, as if it had 
 been the slave prison of Constantinople! 
 
 But this is not the worst. Frenchmen, after they 
 have suffered these evils, may in vain demand 
 an asylum even in their own country. They will 
 be driven from it like the bird, seeking shelter in 
 the tempest-beaten oak, which is forced away by 
 the agitated branches. Liberty herself is a cap- 
 same accident: but, as she was not noble, she was flogged 
 fjpr three days consecutively at the house of correction.
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 live, and insulted in France : she is Bradamante 
 fallen into the cave of Merlin. 
 
 Frenchmen' coming from Russia are refused 
 permission to re-enter France, under pretence, 
 that they must have taken an oath by which they 
 virtually renounce their country. Ah, French- 
 men ! do you forget how many contradictory 
 oaths you yourselves have taken within the space 
 of five or six years? Are those, which have 
 been forced upon your unfortunate countrymen 
 in foreign lands, alone to be religiously kept, at 
 the very moment when you make sport of vio- 
 lating those which you yourselves have taken by 
 acclamation in the face of heaven and of France? 
 At least recollect the moment when this oath 
 was exacted. It was when the head of Lewis 
 had just fallen, and every monarch trembled for 
 his own ; when Leopold died, as report said, by 
 poison; and Gustavus, as was asserted, by 
 your assassinating weapons* ; when Marat and 
 Robespierre bore sway. Judge of the dreadful 
 alarm such news must have produced in Russia. 
 The French at Petersburg shut themselves up in 
 their houses, and were afraid of being all massa- 
 cred. The leasf they expected was a general 
 
 * At the court of Russia it was asserted,, that the jacobins 
 had assassinated Gustavus, and poisoned Leopold. It would 
 have been dangerous there to seem to doubt it.
 
 FRENCH AND SWISS IN RUSSIA. 383 
 
 proscription. I say now, as I thought then, 
 Catharine, even at that juncture, displayed her 
 greatness and moderation. By the oath she re- 
 quired she placed the French under the protec- 
 tion of the government, and saved them from 
 the fury of the blinded nobles and people. None 
 of the allied powers, though reputed less barba~ 
 rous, adopted a measure so humane. At the 
 moment when the unfortunate French were mas- 
 sacred at Vienna, at Naples, and at Rome, a 
 brother of Marat appeared in security at the 
 court of Catharine,
 
 384 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TAURIDAN PALACE, 
 
 and of the entertainment which Prince Potemkin 
 gave there to Catharine II. * 
 
 THE Tauridan palace was the place made 
 choice of by prince Potemkin for the splen- 
 did entertainment that he gave to his sovereign, 
 and which was considered as a testimony of gra- 
 titude for the greatness to which she had raised 
 him. After the death of this favourite, Catha- 
 rine made it her autumnal residence. 
 
 The fa9ade of this building is composed of an 
 immense colonnade, supporting a cupola. It 
 opens into a grand vestibule, communicating with 
 the apartments to right and left ; having at the 
 farther end a portico, that leads to a second ves- 
 tibule of prodigious size, receiving light from the 
 top, and surrounded at a great height by a gal- 
 lery, intended for an orchestra, and containing an 
 organ. From this a double row of pillars leads 
 to the principal saloon, designed for grand enter- 
 tainments. It is impossible to describe the im- 
 
 * As this palace has been frequently mentioned in the work, 
 we have thought proper to add the following description of 
 it, and of the entertainment which Prince Potemkin gave there 
 to his sovereign. It is taken from Storch's " Picture of Pe- 
 " tersburg."
 
 THE TAURIDAN PALACE. 385 
 
 pression made by this gigantic temple : being up- 
 wards of a hundred paces long, wide in propor- 
 tion, and surrounded by a double row of colossal 
 pillars, between which, at mid-height, are boxes 
 ornamented -with festoons elegantly sculptured, 
 and furnished with silk , drapery. From the 
 vaulted roof are suspended globular lamps and 
 large lustres of cut-glass, from which the light is 
 infinitely reflected by great plates of looking-glass, 
 placed at all the extremities of this vast hall. It 
 has neither furniture nor ornaments, except two 
 superb vases of Carrara marble, astonishing for 
 their size and the beauty of their workmanship, 
 placed one at each of the semicircular ends of the 
 saloon. Adjoining to this saloon is the winter 
 garden, separated from it only by the grand co- 
 lonnade. The vault of this enormous edifice is 
 supported by pillars in the form of palm-trees ; 
 within the walls are flues, to conduct heat round 
 the building ; and tubes of metal, filled with hot 
 water, keep up an uniform temperature beneath 
 this delightful parterre. 
 
 The eye wanders with rapture over plants and 
 shrubs of every clime, rests with admiration on 
 an antique bust, or views with astonishment the 
 various fishes of all hues in crystal vases. A trans- 
 parent obelisk reproduces to the eye, under a 
 thousand different tints, these wonders of art and 
 nature ; and a grotto, hung with mirrors, reflects 
 c c
 
 386 DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 them in endless multiplication. The delicious 
 temperature, the intoxicating odour of the flow- 
 ers, and the voluptuous silence of this enchanting 
 spot, plunge the mind into a pleasing reverie, and 
 transport the imagination to the groves of Italy. 
 The illusion continues, till destroyed by the as- 
 pect of all the rudeness and severity of winter, 
 as the enchanted eye wanders through the win- 
 dows, and beholds the frost and snow surround- 
 ing this magnificent garden. In the midst of this 
 elysium rises the majestic statue of Catharine II. 
 in parian marble. 
 
 On this theatre of his grandeur Potemkin ar- 
 ranged the preparations for the entertainment he 
 gave his sovereign, before he departed for the 
 southern provinces, where death lay in ambush 
 for him. This favourite seemed to have a secret 
 presentiment of his approaching end ; and therefore 
 resolved once more to display the plenitude of 
 the magnificence he enjoyed by her favour. 
 
 The preparations for this entertainment were 
 immense, like everything to which his imagina- 
 tion gave birth ; artists of all kinds being em- 
 ployed in making them f6r several months: more 
 than a hundred persons assembled daily, to pre- 
 pare themselves for the parts he designed them 
 to perform j and every rehearsal was a kind of 
 festivity. 
 
 At length the appointed day arrived to gratify
 
 THE TAURIDAN PALACE. 387 
 
 the impatience of the whole capital. Besides 
 the empress and the imperial family, prince Po- 
 temkin had invited all the court, the foreign mi- 
 nisters, the russian nobility, and many individuals 
 of the first ranks in society. 
 
 At six in the evening the entertainment was 
 opened with a masked ball. When the carriage 
 of the empress approached, meat, drink, and 
 clothes, of all kinds, were distributed in profusion 
 among the assembled populace, The empress 
 entered the vestibule to the dulcet sounds of 
 sprightly music, executed by upwards of three 
 hundred performers. Thence she repaired to the 
 principal saloon, whither she was followed by the 
 crowd ; and ascended a platform, raised for her 
 in the centre, surrounded by transparent decora- 
 tions, with appropriate inscriptions. The com- 
 pany arranged themselves under the colonnade, 
 and in the boxes ; and then commenced the se- 
 cond act of this extraordinary spectacle. 
 
 The grand-dukes Alexander and Constantine, 
 at the head of the flower of all the young persons 
 about the court, performed a ballet. The dan- 
 cers, male and female, were forty-eight in num- 
 ber, all dressed in white, with magnificent scarves, 
 and covered with jewels, estimated to be worth 
 above ten millions of rubles (a million sterling). 
 The ballet was performed to select airs, suitable 
 to the occasion, and interspersed with songs. The
 
 388 
 
 celebrated Lepicq concluded it with afias 
 own composing. 
 
 The company then removed to another saloon, 
 adorned with the richest tapestry the Gobelins 
 could produce. In the centre was an artificial 
 elephant, covered with rubies and emeralds j and 
 his cornac was a Persian richly clad. On his 
 giving the signal, by striking on a bell, a curtain 
 rose, and a magnificent stage appeared at the end 
 of the apartment. On it were performed two 
 ballets of a novel species, and a lively comedy, 
 by which the company were much amused, con- 
 cluded the spectacle. This was followed by choral 
 songs, various dances, and an asiatic procession, 
 remarkable for its diversity of dresses; .ill repre- 
 senting the different nations subject to the scep- 
 tre of the russian monarch. 
 
 Presently after, all the apartments, magnifi- 
 cently illuminated with variegated lamps, were 
 thrown open to the eager curiosity of the crowd. 
 The whole palace seemed in a blaze : the garden 
 was covered with sparkling stones j crystal mir- 
 rors innumerable, in pyramidal and globular 
 forms, reflected the magic spectacle in all direc- 
 tions. A table was spread with six hundred 
 covers ; and the rest of the guests were served 
 standing. The table service was all of gold and 
 silver ; the most exquisite dainties were served 
 in vessels of the greatest richness j antique cups
 
 THE tAURIDAN PALACE. 389 
 
 Overflowed with the most costly liquors; and the 
 table was lighted by chandeliers of uncommon 
 magnificence. Officers and domestics in great 
 number, richly habited, were eager to anticipate 
 the wishes of the guests. 
 
 The empress, contrary to her custom, remained 
 till midnight : as if dreading that her departure 
 might interrupt the felicity of her favourite. As 
 she retired, numerous bands of singers, and har- 
 monious music, made the vaulted roofs of the 
 palace resound with a hymn to her praise. At 
 this she was so moved, that she turned towards 
 prince Potemkin to express her satisfaction : he, 
 overpowered by the sentiment of what he owed 
 his sovereign, fell at her feet reverently, took her 
 hand, and watered it with tears. This was the 
 last time he had an opportunity of testifying in 
 this place his gratitude to the august author of 
 his grandeur.
 
 ( 390 ) 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTE CONCERNING KORSAKOF. 
 
 ON occasion of the retreat of the Russians from Switzer- 
 land, the following anecdote, taken from M. de Caste"ra's 
 Life of Catharine, appeared in the public papers: 
 
 " Korsakof, the empress's favourite, was of a handsome 
 " stature, and a very elegant figure ; but, possessing neither 
 " understanding nor knowledge, he was as incapable as Zo- 
 " ritch of diminishing the influence of Potemkin. A single 
 " fact will display his character. On his obtaining the post of 
 " favourite, he conceived that a man like him ought of course 
 " to have a library. Accordingly he sent for the most cele- 
 " brated bookseller in Petersburg without delay, and in- 
 " formed him, that he wanted books for his house lately be- 
 " longing to Vasiltchikof^ of which the empress had just made 
 " him a present. The bookseller asked what books he 
 " wanted. ' You understand that better than I/ answered 
 " the favourite ; ' it is your business to know the proper 
 " assortments : but there must be great books at bottom, and 
 " little ones at top ; as they are at the empress's." 
 
 We are far from disputing the truth of this anecdote, which 
 has been confirmed to us by several credible persons to whom 
 the bookseller related the story at the time : but we must in- 
 form our readers, that the newspapers, when they took the 
 extract, confounded the favourite Korsakof with another of 
 the same name, who commanded the russian army in Switzer- 
 land. General Korsakof is a man of sense, and by no means 
 destitute of knowledge : he made the campaign in Flanders 
 under prince Cobourg, and well knows what a library is. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 C. WHITT1NGHAM, Printer, 
 Dean Street, t ctter Lane.
 
 
 
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 i T'TIEW OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE during the | 
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