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LETTERS FROM RUSSIA 
 
J' -. ; /, \U)0 i^l 
 
 FIELD-MARSHAL 
 
 COUNT MOLTKE'S 
 
 %t\in% frnm Russia 
 
 Translated by 
 
 RoBiNA Napier 
 
 
 LONDON 
 C. KEGAN PAUL & CO., 1, PATERNOSTER SQUARE 
 
 1878 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 
 
 At the beginning of the year 1866, the German 
 people were unaware that it had in its army the 
 greatest military genius of the age. 
 
 The silent, retiring officer who was at that 
 time Chief of the Staff at Berlin, had reached 
 the age of sixty-six years without doing much 
 to attract the notice of the world. The King 
 knew him, and the army had instinctive con- 
 fidence in him from the first, but not till 
 Königgrätz did Germany know what she pos- 
 sessed in General Von Moltke. Placed by 
 that brilliant success on the summit of military 
 fame, he became an object of interest to the 
 whole German people. His portrait was in 
 every shop window, and a history of his life in 
 
vi 3|tttrDtiuctorj i^otitt. 
 
 every magazine. Photography ensured a certain 
 accuracy in the portraits, which was too often 
 wanting in the biographies. The man, however, 
 who had gained the popular epithet of " T/ie 
 Silenf'' was not Ukely to speak of himself; and 
 war and misfortune had left him the sole repre- 
 sentative of an ancient house. That nothing 
 was known of his history did not prevent a 
 great deal being written. 
 
 It was, therefore, a bold and happy thought 
 which prompted a correspondent of the popular 
 journal called " Daheim^'' to wait upon the great 
 man himself and beg for information. 
 
 Moltke is no longer merely German, he has 
 grown to be one of those of whom the world is 
 proud, though we in England know him now 
 no more than Germany did then. It will, 
 therefore, probably be acceptable to give some 
 account of an interview which brought out so 
 much that was interesting, and to collect also a 
 few further particulars. 
 
 The " Visit to General Von Moltke'' is described 
 
in the October number of " Daheim " for 1866. 
 The correspondent, who merely signs himself 
 "J/".," relates that "friendly introductions having 
 preceded him," he went, in some trepidation at 
 the boldness of the step he had taken, to present 
 himself at the house of the General of the Staff, 
 No. 66 Behren Strasse, in Berlin. He was 
 immediately admitted, and conducted to the 
 General's private room or study. The first 
 impression made by Moltke is that of extreme 
 gravity; his tall, upright figure seems born to 
 command j the expression of his features is 
 that of iron firmness, the wrinkles on his face 
 appeared to be chiselled on a block of marble. 
 
 General von Moltke received his visitor with 
 great politeness, and to his request to furnish 
 him with some details of his history, he replied 
 — " You are very much mistaken in coming to 
 me if you think that my life will furnish any of 
 those brilliant descriptions dear to poets and to 
 the general public. My life is so poor in 
 episodes that it would be considered quite 
 
viii gintrotiuctorp iflotfct. 
 
 tedious, and I do not see how my biography 
 should contain anything but dates." 
 
 Herr Dr. M. repHed that a man's Ufe is some- 
 times more interesting to a stranger than to 
 himself; to which Moltke assented, and after 
 a time proceeded, " I will tell you exactly what 
 I feel : I have an antipathy for praise-mojtgermg, 
 such as some persons have for certain animals. 
 It puts me out of tune for a whole day to hear 
 anything of the kind. The Bohemian cam- 
 paign is, indeed, a grand undying page in the 
 history of the world, an event the consequences 
 of which no one — 7to one can now foresee. 
 I have done my duty and filled my position 
 honourably, like all my comrades — nothing 
 more. God's almighty power has guided the 
 victorious flight of the Prussian eagle. The 
 bravery of our army, the caution of their leaders, 
 as well as my plans, are only the instruments 
 of His will; and when I hear the boundless 
 laudations which the public heap on me, the 
 thought always recurs, How would it have 
 
Introtiuctorp iPotice* ix 
 
 been if success, this unparalleled success, had 
 not crowned our efforts ? would not the un- 
 merited praises of so many ignorant critics 
 have become just so much unmerited blame ? 
 However," he continued, after a time, "I shall 
 willingly give you the particulars you desire for 
 your journal, and you can rectify a mistake 
 which has been made as to the place of my 
 birth." 
 
 The conversation was continued for an hour 
 and a half; then his visitor, feeling that he 
 ought to go, rose to take leave. 
 
 " And now, poor man, are you going to sit 
 down after you leave me and write down all 
 our conversation ? " to which his visitor replied 
 " Yes, your Excellency ; and I only wish that I 
 could give this memorable conversation word 
 for word." 
 
 " But how is that possible ? How can you 
 give all the dates and details I have told you ? " 
 to which Dr. M. replied that he could but do 
 his best, and that readers must pardon any 
 
X 
 
 9IntrotiuctDrp ü^otfce. 
 
 trivial errors he might fall into. The General 
 then said abruptly, but in a pleasant tone of 
 voice, "Do you know, I like the boldness of the 
 step you have taken, — it was right, and deserves 
 the approbation of your readers ; you will 
 write of me de visu, and what you say of me 
 will not be a mere fancy portrait. But I am 
 really sorry for you when I consider that the 
 slightest error in your work, the least failure of 
 memory, will be judged as harshly as if you had 
 written merely from hearsay ! But what is to 
 be done?" Then, seeing his visitor silent and 
 confused, he continued with a pleasant smile, 
 " I will try and help you myself." 
 
 And so he did ! for a few days after, when 
 Dr. J/"., though full of the general impression 
 of the great man, was beginning to despair of 
 reproducing the conversation with anything like 
 accuracy, a small packet was placed in his 
 hands containing notes in the handwriting of 
 Moltke himself ! Many of these notes referred 
 to strictly military details, but in the following 
 
 IlifiHgjl 
 
gjntrotiuctorp H^otitt. 
 
 XI 
 
 sketch we shall reproduce all that is of a per- 
 sonal character or of general interest. 
 
 " I am the third of the seven sons of my 
 father, who was a Lieutenant-General in the 
 Danish army. My mother was Henrietta Pas- 
 chen, the daughter of the Finanz - Rath of 
 Hamburg. Although my parents resided first 
 in Priegnitz and then in Mecklenburg, I was 
 born at Parchim, October 26, 1800, when they 
 were visiting my uncle Helmuth von Moltke„ 
 I was baptised Helmuth Karl Bernhardt. I 
 went with my parents to Lübeck, where, in 
 1806, our house was plundered by the French. 
 My earliest recollections are connected with 
 that old city and its gates and towers, and I 
 recognised our house in the 'Sc/trangen' after 
 many long years, in spite of its altered sur- 
 roundings, 
 
 " In the meantime my father had bought a 
 country house in Holstein, which, the year 
 after, was burnt down just after the grain had 
 been gathered in. Soon after this my grand- 
 
xii gintrotJuctorp jl^otice. 
 
 father died. By his will he left many very large 
 legacies, and owing to the heavy and unforeseen 
 losses caused by the war, my mother, who was 
 his heiress, was left so burdened that the 
 property had to be sold. Meanwhile my eldest 
 brother and I were sent to the Cadet School at 
 Copenhagen. There we passed a joyless boy- 
 hood. At eighteen I became an officer. The 
 small prospect which the Danish service offered 
 led me to wish to enter the Prussian service, 
 in which my father and his brothers had served. 
 I therefore went to Berlin, taking with me good 
 recommendations from the Duke of Holstein- 
 Beck, the father of the present King of Den- 
 mark. I passed the examination and entered 
 the infantry regiment No. 8. There began my 
 military career, the course of which is sufficiently 
 known." 
 
 In the year 1 8 1 1 Helmuth von Moltke and 
 his brother Fritz were placed under the care of 
 Pastor Knickbein at Hohenfield near Horst. 
 In this quiet country place, under the kindly 
 
care of a good and amiable man, the boys grew 
 in health and vigour. Their favourite amuse- 
 ment was the ^' Kriegspiel" or mimic warfare, in 
 which they were great proficients. 
 
 On one occasion the two brothers put them- 
 selves at the head of a number of peasant 
 boys, the battlefield being a stubble enclosed 
 by a high fence. Helmuth's troop was put to 
 flight, and some were made prisoners in getting 
 over the hedge, but quickly rallying his men he 
 marched them straight to a pond in the pastor's 
 garden, where he pointed out a Uttle island, ac- 
 cessible only by a drawbridge made of a single 
 plank. The embryo field-marshal then turned 
 on the enemy with a few of his strongest men, 
 and kept him at bay while the rest of his forces 
 made their way into the fortress. When all had 
 entered, he himself being the last, the draw- 
 bridge was raised and the victory was complete. 
 The pastor and the boys' father came up just 
 in time to enjoy the scene. The island in the 
 pond had been made by Helmuth with great 
 
xiv 3[ntrDtiuctorp il^otict^ 
 
 labour, out of materials collected from all direc- 
 tions, but whether it was done merely for the 
 amusement of the time, or with the intention of 
 using it for military purposes, is not known. 
 
 This '"'' Moltke Island^'' became a favourite 
 resort of Pastor Knickbein, who had it planted 
 in honour of the quiet and clever pupil, who has 
 since become so famous. Nor did the scholar 
 forget his master, for when, thirty years after- 
 wards, he published his first work, ^^ Letters from 
 Turkey^^ he sent a copy to the pastor with this 
 inscription, " To my dear Friend and Teacher, to 
 zvhom I owe so ??itich, I send this, my first pro- 
 ductioii, as a slight token of respect T 
 
 To these happy years in Höhenfeld suc- 
 ceeded some very unhappy ones in Copenhagen, 
 where the boys went in 1812 to attend the 
 school for Cadets. Their father placed them 
 under the charge of General Lorenz, who 
 was a bachelor, and left all the management of 
 the house to his old housekeeper, seeing the 
 boys only at meal times. In due time they 
 
gintroDuctor^ ijiiotitt^ xv 
 
 were removed to the Cadet school-house ; but 
 although they escaped from the ill-natured old 
 housekeeper, their position was far from pleasant, 
 as Moltke himself thus describes it : — 
 
 " Our boyhood, in a foreign city without 
 relations or friends, was truly miserable. The 
 discipline was strict, even severe; and now, when 
 my judgment of it is quite impartial, I must 
 say that it was too strict, too severe. The 
 only good which this treatment did for us, was 
 that we were early obliged to accustom our- 
 selves to privations of every kind. Yet this 
 discipHne had perhaps its good side, if it were 
 only that it filled me with perpetual thankful- 
 ness to a family in Copenhagen who were most 
 kind and friendly to us. General Hegermann 
 Lindencrone had a beautiful country house near 
 the town, which was the scene of our boyish 
 games, when we went there on Sunday with his 
 three sons, who afterwards entered the Danish 
 army. The intercourse with the refined and 
 cultivated members of this family had, I assure 
 
you, a most salutary effect on my whole 
 after-life. Parents sending their sons into 
 such a school cannot be too strongly urged to 
 recommend them to the notice of some culti- 
 vated family. I know the effect in myself." 
 
 The boys remained under this strict discipline 
 for six years, and indeed the course would have 
 been longer, but for their great diligence and 
 talent. Helmuth particularly distinguished him- 
 self, especially in all the literary and scientific 
 branches of military study. At the final exami- 
 nation he took a first class, and gained the rank 
 of lieutenant. One who was his comrade at 
 this school thus describes him as he was then : 
 — " He was a slender young fellow with a 
 quantity of fair hair, good-natured blue eyes, 
 very quiet, of pleasing and engaging manners ; 
 his countenance was open and genial, but there 
 was occasionally an expression of deep melan- 
 choly. His unwearied diligence and energetic 
 determination shrank from no task, and his firm 
 will carried him successfully through everything 
 
3IntrotiuctDr^ Ü^otice. xvü 
 
 which he attempted. His comrades had a great 
 respect for him, but though he was aware of it he 
 never asserted himself in the least : in conver- 
 sation he was communicative and animated, 
 on duty or at work he was quiet and unobtrusive. 
 His zeal for duty was untiring, and his power 
 of attaining knowledge quite unequalled." 
 
 On leaving the Cadet School the brothers were 
 pages at the court for a year, and at the end of 
 that time, in 1819, Helmuth was appointed 
 lieutenant in a regiment stationed at Rendsburg. 
 
 But after the separation of Denmark from 
 Norway, the reduction of the army condemned 
 nearly all the officers to remain in attendance at 
 court, and every regiment being over-officered, 
 there was no hope of promotion for the younger 
 men. Young Moltke, however, was ambitious, 
 and he saw that" promotion was only possible 
 in a large army, and as the Prussian army had 
 gained a great reputation in the War of Libera- 
 tion, he determined to retire from the Danish 
 and enter the Prussian service. Although he 
 
xviii 3|nttotiuctorg Jl^Dtice* 
 
 knew that by so doing he would lose the 
 benefit of the four years he had served in the 
 Danish army, and also have to undergo another 
 examination ; this done, he entered a Prussian 
 regiment stationed at Frankfort. The following 
 year he went to the great military academy at 
 Berlin, and remained there till 1826. 
 
 "The first part of my career was destitute 
 of the joys of life. I left the Kriegs-Schule in 
 Berlin at a time when my parents had lost 
 almost the whole of their property from war 
 and misfortune. Not one penny could they 
 give me, and you can hardly imagine how 
 pinched I was. In spite of this, however, I 
 contrived to spare enough to get instruction in 
 foreign languages — but this was a very difficult 
 operation. . . . The lot of a poor lieutenant 
 indeed is unenviable !" 
 
 "While I was at Frankfort I became ac- 
 quainted with the family of General von der 
 Marwitz, whose wife was a distant relation of 
 ours. I found in this house not only a friendly 
 
^ntvoWttov^ fflotitz. xix 
 
 reception, but enjoyed also the most beneficial 
 intellectual intercourse. I think I see before me 
 the excellent General — he was the most polite 
 man in the world ; when any one came in, 
 he immediately took off his little cap and laid 
 it on the paper just before him. Yes ! the 
 politest man in the world — and he once gave 
 the young Lieutenant — I mean myself — a 
 severe lesson which he has never forgotten. 
 You cannot imagine how deep two words sank 
 into my mind, driving all the blood into my 
 face ! I went to see him one day, and as I 
 have said, he took off his little cap and put it 
 on the sheet of paper before him, and with a 
 pleasant smile invited me to come in. With 
 the greatest good humour I laid my shako 
 do\vn on a chair, and taking off my sword I 
 was just about to set it up in the nearest corner, 
 when the General said quietly but very sharply, 
 ' In the ante-room, Iferr Lieutenant ; may I 
 beg you, sir, in the ante-room !' Do not laugh, 
 but I assure you that I still feel myself grow 
 
XX 3ii^trotiuctorp iflotice* 
 
 quite red whenever I think of this well-deserved 
 reprimand." 
 
 In 1832, Moltke was appointed to the staff, 
 and continued in that service for three years, 
 during which time his extraordinary powers 
 of combination and organisation were deve- 
 loped by the scientific and exact nature of 
 his studies. At the end of three years he 
 obtained leave to travel, in order to satisfy 
 his craving to see something of foreign lands. 
 He bent his step first to Turkey, setting out 
 in October 1835, but did not arrive in Con- 
 stantinople till December, the journey being 
 at that time one of considerable difficulty. 
 Mahmoud II., who was then Sultan, had just 
 undertaken the work of reconstructing the 
 Turkish army after the European models. He 
 had tried in vain to induce either English or 
 French officers to help him to do this, and as 
 Moltke arrived at the very moment, he was 
 gladly welcomed and entrusted with the task. 
 During his residence in Constantinople he made 
 
3!ntrDtmctor^ 0otitt. 
 
 XXI 
 
 surveys for a general plan of that city, and when 
 this work was finished in 1837, he visited 
 several places on the Asiatic coast. In his 
 capacity of military adviser also he accom- 
 panied the Sultan on a visit to Bulgaria and 
 Roumelia. 
 
 During the next two years he was not only 
 employed in the reorganisation of the Turkish 
 army, but he actually accompanied an expedi- 
 tion against the Pasha of Egypt. The Turkish 
 commander, however, refused to be advised by 
 Moltke, and in consequence he met with a 
 disastrous defeat at Nisib. Moltke and two 
 Russian officers who were with him, escaped 
 with difficulty to a port on the Black Sea, 
 whence he made his way back to Constanti- 
 nople, where, however, he only remained long 
 enough to explain the disaster to the Sultan, 
 and exculpate himself from all share in it. He 
 then, in October 1839, returned to his old 
 position in BerHn. 
 
 While Moltke was in Turkey, he described 
 
xxii 3littrotiuctorp il^otice. 
 
 everything he saw, and all that happened to 
 him, in letters to his sister. This lady had 
 married an Englishman who resided in Holstein, 
 Mr. Burt, a widower, with one daughter. The 
 letters, interesting as they are to ordinary 
 readers, even at this distance of time, must 
 have been fascinating indeed to the little house- 
 hold which received them, and it is not sur- 
 prising that the interest they excited in this 
 young lady, the stepdaughter of his sister, just 
 then growing into womanhood, should have 
 prepared her to take a still warmer interest in 
 the writer himself. 
 
 Shortly after his return to Berlin, Major 
 von Moltke obtained leave to visit his sister, 
 and under her roof formed the acquaintance 
 which ended in Mary Burt becoming his wife. 
 They were married in 1845, and the next year 
 Moltke was appointed Adjutant-in-Attendance 
 on Prince Henry of Prussia, the king's uncle, a 
 constant invalid, who lived in Rome. Here he 
 remained with his wife for two years, employing 
 
^IntroDuctorp iflotitt. xxiü 
 
 his abundant leisure in making plans and maps 
 of the city and neighbourhood, as well as 
 sketches, of which he himself says, " My Co7z- 
 torni di Roma''' were engraved, and I have re- 
 ceived many commendations of them from high 
 quarters." 
 
 After the Prince's death, in 1847, ^^ returned 
 to Berlin, and was soon afterwards made Chief 
 of the Staff of the 8th division of the army, 
 then at Coblentz. In the summer of 1856 he 
 visited Russia in attendance on the Crown 
 Prince, and it was then that he wrote the 
 letters to his wife which form the present 
 volume. In the same year, still in attendance 
 on the Crown Prince, he was present at the 
 betrothal of that Prince to the Princess Royal 
 of England at Balmoral ; in fact, he has visited 
 England with the Prince three or four times. 
 
 In the year 1858 Moltke was made Chief 
 of the General Staff in Berlin, and forthwith 
 began with von Roon, the war minister, the 
 reorganisation of the Prussian army, a labour, 
 
the results of which astonished the world eight 
 years afterwards. He elaborated plans also for 
 the defence of the German coasts and the crea- 
 tion of a German navy. 
 
 Though General von Moltke served with 
 distinction in the war with Denmark in 1864, 
 he had no opportunity of showing his great 
 powers till the war between Prussia and Austria 
 in 1866. The course of that war and its 
 splendid success is too well known to need 
 repetition. He himself calls it "a campaign 
 which for Prussia, for Germany, and for the 
 whole world, has an importance which it is 
 impossible to measure." 
 
 But this brilliant success was shortly followed 
 by the great sorrow of his life. On Christmas 
 Eve, 1868, his wife died, leaving him, after 
 twenty-three years of happy married life, without 
 any child. 
 
 Sorrow, however, did not prevent Moltke 
 from fulfilling the duties of his high position. 
 Every political observer in Germany felt that 
 
3|ntrotiuctDrp jl^otice* xxv 
 
 sooner or later war with France was inevitable, 
 and he quietly worked out the plans for a cam- 
 paign against France. It was not long before 
 these were wanted, and the great soldier was 
 soon drawn from the retirement of Kreisau in 
 Silesia, where he lingered by the grave of his 
 wife, to sterner duties. At the first news of the 
 coming storm Moltke and Bismarck hastened 
 to Berlin, and then begun that terrible conflict 
 which ended in a German Empire victorious 
 and united. True and memorable are the 
 words which the noble King spoke at the great 
 banquet, held after the battle of Sedan, in 
 drinking to his brave army : " You, von Roon, 
 have sharpened my sword ; you, General von 
 Moltke, have wielded it; and you, Count von 
 Bismarck have guided the policy of Prussia for 
 years towards the height which it has this day 
 attained." 
 
 The close relations which existed between 
 the King and his faithful servants, Moltke the 
 great soldier, and Bismarck the great statesman, 
 
xxvi 3!^trotiuctorp if^otitt^ 
 
 are exemplified by a circumstance which is said 
 to have occurred at the end of the terrible con- 
 flict at Gravelotte, is very characteristic. The 
 Pomeranians having come up just at the right 
 time, as arranged by Moltke, the French were 
 defeated and driven into Metz. It was late in 
 the evening when the victory was decided, and 
 as it was impossible for them to return to the 
 headquarters at Pont ä Mousson, so the King 
 and his immediate followers were obliged to 
 seek shelter in Rezonville, or spend the night 
 in the open air. All the houses were filled 
 with the wounded ; only one small room was 
 found for the King, and here a camp-bed was 
 brought for his Majesty. "And where is Moltke, 
 where is Bismarck to be quartered?" asked the 
 King. "Nowhere at present," said the adjutant. 
 "Fetch them here," said the King, sending away 
 the camp-bed for the use of the wounded, and 
 ordered some straw to be brought, of which a 
 bed was made, on which the King, Moltke, and 
 Bismarck slept all three together. 
 
3IntrotiuctDr^ il^lotice. xxvn 
 
 He took the motto, " march separately^ stiike 
 together^'' and this rule, carried out with his 
 marvellous power of combination and organisa- 
 tion, produced the greatest results. Not only 
 has he a wonderfully clear intellect, seizing the 
 point of everything before him, but he has the 
 power of making others understand his plans, 
 and see the probability of his presuppositions, 
 and the justice of his conclusions. Reticence 
 and modesty are among his notorious charac- 
 teristics, and while the popular idea of him, at 
 least in England, is much more stern than the 
 letters warrant us in accepting, he bears well 
 the ancient Latin motto of the Moltke family, 
 " Caute et cafidide^ 
 
 This slight sketch of a great man's life may 
 well be concluded with his own words — true 
 words — when they were uttered in 1866, how 
 much more so in 1877 ! 
 
 " Yes, indeed ! it is beautiful when God lights 
 up the evening of a man's life as he has done 
 that of King William and many of his generals. 
 
xxviii %ntvo^nttov^ Notice. 
 
 I, too, am sixty-six years, and I have received a 
 reward for my life's labours sueh as very few 
 attain. . . . However hard may have been 
 the struggles of our early life, yet verily after 
 this campaign we old people may boast ourselves 
 the darlings of Fortune." 
 
 But Count von Moltke is also an author. 
 T/ie ZeUers/rom Tttrkey published in 1835 was 
 his first and is the most popular of his works. 
 The Litroduction is written by Karl Ritter, the 
 well-known geographer. A German critic has 
 said, in speaking of the descriptions contained 
 in these letters, " His language is so vivid in 
 its colouring and his style so elevated, that we 
 are tempted to say, if Moltke had not become 
 Moltke, he would certainly have been a 
 poet ! " 
 
 In the same year he published an historical 
 account of The Campaig7i in Turkey^ of which 
 he said to the correspondent of ^^Daheim^^ " I 
 daresay you have never heard of it. It ap- 
 peared anonymously, like all my books, and it 
 
3|ntrDtiuctor^ 0otitt. xxix 
 
 must have been what you call a literary ^^j^^, 
 for I have never heard any but professional 
 men speak of it." 
 
 His book on the Italian Campaign of iS^g, 
 published in 1863, made a great sensation in 
 Austria, especially on account of the high estima- 
 tion in which he holds the character of General 
 Benedek. 
 
 The history of the German and French 
 War of 1870-71, published by the General 
 Staff in Berlin in 1874, was of course written 
 entirely under his direction, and it is said 
 that the greater part of it is actually from his 
 pen. 
 
 The Lette7's from Russia which form the 
 present volume were written by Count von 
 Moltke to his wife, then residing in Copen- 
 hagen, when he attended Prince Friedrich 
 Wilhelm, now Crown Prince of Germany, at 
 the coronation of the Emperor of Russia. 
 By an unexplained, but happy accident, they 
 found their way, in a Danish dress, into the 
 
 d 
 
XXX gintroöuctorp ij^otitt^ 
 
 pages of a Copenhagen journal " Dagens 
 Myhede7%" and were translated into Danish and 
 pubHshed. Though read with great interest in' 
 Denmark, they were little noticed in Germany 
 till February 1877, when they were retranslated^ 
 from the Danish and published in the " Deutsche 
 Rimdshau.^'' They necessarily suffered in these 
 transfusions, and Count von Moltke was asked to 
 allow the publication of the originals. The per- 
 mission was granted with' the proviso that the 
 profits of the sale were to be applied to the 
 fund for the wounded soldiers in the war of 
 1870-71. The little volume was well received, 
 and a second edition soon called for, from which 
 the present translation has been made. 
 
 In these letters the writer's wonderful talent 
 for observation is seen in the description of the 
 most minute details, which gives them a charm- 
 ing frehsness and vivacity. They also contain 
 some remarkable reflections on the- life of the 
 Russian people, both public and private, which 
 are applicable to the Russia of the present- 
 
gintroöuctor^ if^otitt. xxxi 
 
 day, notwithstanding the great reforms intro- 
 duced by the Emperor. They are, however, 
 chiefly interesting for the pleasing side-hghts 
 they throw on the character of this great 
 man. 
 
 R. N. 
 
 HoLKHAM Vicarage, 
 /an. I, 1878. 
 
i 
 
 Count ^oltlie's Letters from 
 iRussia. 
 
 F 
 
 Peterhof, Friday, August 15, 1856. 
 
 ROM the weather in which we left Berhn 
 we had reason to expect a very bad pas- 
 sage ; but, in reahty, we made an excellent one. 
 You would, I hope, receive my pencil note from 
 Swinemiinde early on Wednesday. Even by 
 the time we arrived at that port the wind had 
 somewhat abated, and when I saw the two great 
 war-steamers which were to convey us, I thought 
 to myself that very big waves indeed would be 
 required to disturb theh: dignified calm. 
 
 The Empress was some time in bidding fare- 
 well to her sisters, and we took advantage of 
 the interval to settle ourselves on board the 
 cor\^ette " Grämeschtschik " (the " Thunderer"). 
 About seven o'clock the king embarked in the 
 
lLmtt0 from IRu^^ia^ 
 
 " Nagler," which then shot past us to her posi- 
 tion in front. The Russian sailors manned the 
 yards, the band struck up, and the moment of 
 our departure had arrived. The first thing 
 necessary was to turn the bows of the two 
 leviathans towards Russia. The channel was 
 so narrow that this could not be accomplished 
 with their own paddles, and the little tug had to 
 take out first one and then the other of these 
 monsters. But as soon as they were once in 
 the right position they paddled away between 
 the moles, more than a thousand feet long, to 
 the open sea. 
 
 I had then to give myself up to my fate, and 
 determined to fortify myself against all accidents 
 by eating a very good dinner before I retired to 
 my cabin. 
 
 " Faites un peu amari'e?' vos effetsj'' was the 
 excellent advice which was given me. My 
 '•' hoteV^ had a front window; but this did little 
 to throw light into my miserable cabin, for it 
 was merely a small square of thick green glass. 
 The furniture was simple indeed, and might 
 be said to consist of the chain belonging to 
 the rudder, which was in constant movement. 
 
creaking perpetually in the most frightful 
 manner. 
 
 Bedclothes were not to be thought of, so I 
 wrapped myself up in my cloak, as if I had been 
 camping out, threw myself on the ^^ coiichette^^ and 
 slept in sound and unbroken sleep till day- 
 break. 
 
 My awaking in the cold grey morning was 
 not very agreeable. "y^ siäs fache de voics 
 ■dire quHl y ait de moutons,^^ was the salutation of 
 General Philosophof, who did the honours of 
 the " Thunderer " in the most polite manner 
 possible. These ^' mouto?ts'' are in fact the 
 great waves crested with foam which are the 
 precursors of heavy gales. 
 
 I gave myself up to melancholy reflections, 
 and in three times four-and-twenty hours one 
 has time for a great many. From both sides 
 came the most mournful sounds, through the 
 thin wooden partitions which separated me from 
 my companions in misery. I was incapable of 
 taking even a cup of coffee, and in order to 
 escape from the disagreeable atmosphere of the 
 cabin, I dragged myself up on deck. 
 
 Frederick had lain since yesterday in the last 
 
%mzv0 from Eu00ia. 
 
 extremity, and I summoned up all my linguistic 
 powers with the addition of an expressive panto- 
 mime, to interest Murawief, the ship boy, in my 
 helpless condition. They brought me a mat- 
 tress on deck, and I took the only means of 
 overcoming sea-sickness, namely, to lie still and 
 bear it. 
 
 With every hour I got better. The wind,, 
 too, went down, and the vessel was so broad, 
 that the roll was but little felt. By mid-day I 
 had read half of a French novel, which the bene- 
 volent Prince Trubetzkoi had brought me from 
 Paris. Towards evening I made some feeble 
 attempts at walking, having fasted the whole day. 
 I slept well this second night, in spite of the 
 smell of tallow and the constant movement of 
 the ship. 
 
 In the morning I took my coffee with fear 
 and trembling, and at eleven o'clock, with some 
 qualms, I ventured on herring, cold meat, and 
 red wine ; then with more boldness attacked an 
 excellent dinner. Old Malaga, good Lafitte, 
 and champagne frappe helped down the cote- 
 lettes truffees and artichokes, which might other- 
 wise have been too much for me. 
 
%tmv0 from lR.u00ia* 
 
 In the evening it was impossible to refuse 
 the incomparable caravan tea, from Kiachta, 
 and all this succeeded so well, that I even 
 risked a supper, at which I drank your health 
 in champagne, saying to myself at the same 
 time, that you might be thinking anxiously of 
 me, at that very moment when I was so elegantly 
 emptying my glass. So contentment is often 
 found where we do not expect it, even in a 
 rolling vessel, whilst despair and bitter sorrow 
 sometimes waltz beneath the brilliant chande- 
 liers of the ball room. 
 
 This vendredi gras was also rich in many 
 interesting occurrences. Before noon we ap- 
 proached the " Olaf " so closely that we were 
 able to exchange salutations with the other 
 members of the suite. 
 
 The Empress caused inquiries to be made 
 after our health, to which we answered, of 
 course, that our health was most excellent, 
 and we begged to be informed of the health of 
 Her Majesty. The answer was, " to-day, thank 
 God, very well j" from which we concluded 
 that yesterday her Majesty had been ill. 
 
 This little correspondence was carried on 
 
nettere from lBlu00ia^ 
 
 by means of thirty or forty flags of different 
 colours run up to the mainmast. By and by 
 we passed a great Russian man-of-war from 
 the coast of Finland, which saluted the 
 Imperial flag by a rolling fire from both her 
 decks. The " Thunderer " returned thanks for 
 the " Olaf" in thirty-one mighty words which 
 issued from her brazen mouths. The whole 
 made a very pretty picture. 
 
 As soon as the sun set, the wind subsided,- 
 the full moon shone through streaky clouds, the 
 air became mild and soft, and the waves mur- 
 mured gently. 
 
 Every half-hour the " Olaf" burned a Bengal 
 light, to which our vessel replied by a signal of 
 the same kind. This was done to make sure 
 that the little " Gremäschtschik " was neither, 
 too near nor too far away from the " Olaf." 
 I remained on deck till two o'clock. 
 
 This has been a most beautiful sunshiny- 
 day. On either side islands surmounted with- 
 their lighthouses, and then the narrowing ^ 
 shores, broke on our sight. The farther we 
 advanced into the Bay of Finland the smoother 
 was the sea, but as we were afraid of arriving. 
 
%ztttv^ from 1&u00ia. 
 
 before the Emperor expected us, we steamed 
 for the greater part of the time at half speed. 
 
 At noon I counted more than two hundred 
 sail, the light breeze from the north enabling 
 vessels to leave the port of Cronstadt. Soon 
 afterw^ards the northern Venice rose above the 
 sea. Enormous fortifications of freestone with 
 three lines of casemates and fortified platforms 
 are placed on many little islands, and there is 
 quite a forest of masts in the harbour of the 
 merchantmen. Behind towered the masts of 
 the great men-of-war, which even " fighting 
 Charlie" could not entice from their immovable 
 calm, though he lay right opposite to them, 
 almost within the range of their guns. 
 
 It was very easy for us to form an accurate 
 idea of the reception he and his " hearts of oak " 
 would have met with, if they had approached a 
 little nearer, for as soon as the " Olaf " was 
 about two thousand feet from the fortress, thick 
 white clouds issued from every tower, casemate, 
 and battery, and then a roll of thunder which 
 quite overpowered the sound of our own 
 cannonade, although that was severe enough to 
 make our vessel tremble under it. An English 
 
eighty gun-ship, which was lying at anchor, 
 joined merrily in the concert. This ship had 
 made use of the sunshine to have a great wash, 
 and the shirts and trousers of her crew, in every 
 shade of colour were hung out to dry. As the 
 arrival of the Empress was undoubtedly known, 
 this was a proof of " Johnny Bull's" careless ease. 
 
 An extremely small steam vessel with two 
 funnels now shot past us, having on board the 
 High Admiral, the Prince Constantine,* and 
 the Emperor,t who hastened to meet his mother. 
 
 It had been thought hardly possible that this 
 noble lady's delicate health would allow her to 
 return from Wildbad Gastein in Tyrol to the 
 Neva ; but she had determined to bestow her 
 blessing on her son at his coronation, according 
 to the beautiful old custom of this country, even 
 if she should die in consequence. And what 
 this lady wills, she wills decidedly. 
 
 Of course we were all on deck in full dress, 
 and immediately afterwards boarded the small 
 
 * Brother of Emperor Alexander II. of Russia, bom 
 1827. 
 
 + Alexander II., born 18 18, crowned September J7 
 1856. 
 
vessel of the Russian Admiral, the " St. Peters- 
 burg." 
 
 Fancy if all this grand reception had taken 
 place in different circumstances, on a rainy 
 day, with a high sea, with fits of sea-sickness, 
 and you will acknowledge that our situation 
 would have been horrible ! But the reality 
 was beautiful, and we glided swiftly over a 
 mirror-like sea, to the adjacent coast. On the 
 horizon, to the left, shone something, which, if 
 it were not the middle of the day, might have 
 been taken for a star. It was the gilded cupola 
 of the Isaac Church in Petersburg. 
 
 We soon landed on the fine broad steps of 
 Peterhof ; the Empress had already passed on 
 between the lines of troops, surrounded by an 
 epauletted crowd, blazing with stars and gorgeous 
 uniforms. We were, however, presently seized 
 upon by a liveried servant who placed us in a 
 cab, which carried us past a row of fountains 
 to the palace, and thence to our apartment, 
 where a swarm of servants and equipages stood 
 at our disposal. 
 
 And now that I have come happily to land, 
 and it is ten o'clock, I will conclude for 
 
lO 
 
 1lemr0 from IRu^^ia^ 
 
 to-day, wishing you heartily good night. My 
 letter will not go much before mid-day, so 
 that I can continue my account in the morning 
 before my land impressions have overcome my 
 maritime reminiscences. After having passed 
 three nights without taking off my clothes, an 
 elegant bed with good mattresses and silken 
 quilt, smiles upon me most pleasantly. 
 
%ttttv0 from 1Ru00ia^ n 
 
 Saturday, August i6. 
 
 ' I ^HE grand palace of Peterhof, built by Peter 
 I. and enlarged by his daughter Elizabeth, 
 is, like St. James's Palace, used only for recep- 
 tions. In the extensive park which surrounds 
 it, lie villas and mansions now occupied by 
 the Imperial family and their guests. Prince 
 Hohenzollern, Heinz, Katte, and I, lodge in 
 one of these houses for the present. 
 
 I have a large and pretty room, with a very 
 pleasant green outlook, and, which is priceless 
 in this damp cold region, on the sunny side of 
 the house. Yet spite of this, I was glad of 
 my cloak during the night. 
 
 Immediately on our arrrival I received visits 
 from Count Münster, and Adjutant Von Mirbach, 
 who has been appointed to attend the Prince.* 
 The dinner was undress (frock coats without 
 swords). I found there our ambassador Werther, 
 the young Count Werther-Beuchlingen, whom 
 you know, and after dinner there was a general 
 presentation and introduction. 
 
 * Frederick William, present Crown Prince of Ger- 
 many. 
 
12 
 
 %ttttv0 from B.u00ia. 
 
 We took our coffee on the balcony in front of 
 the castle, from which can be seen the beautiful 
 fountains, which play before all the more im- 
 portant parts of the building, and which have 
 the great merit of rising from natural springs 
 instead of being made to play artificially by 
 steam power. 
 
 After dinner, I had only to Hft my finger, 
 and up jumped the Iswoschtschik to his seat, 
 seized the single rein with out-stretched hands, 
 threw back his body, and off we went in the 
 open droschke at a sharp trot through the 
 extensive grounds of Peterhof. 
 
 Archimedes sought for a J>oinf d'appui beyond 
 the earth, by which to move the earth out of its 
 orbit. Peter the Great made a point (Tappui 
 for his reforms beyond his kingdom, in the 
 Swedish provinces conquered by him. There 
 he built his European capital, and when it was 
 finished he constructed Peterhof, from whence 
 he could see how Petersburg looked. 
 
 The palace is a rather large three -storeyed 
 building, in the French style. It is connected 
 by galleries with two pavilions. The colour, 
 yellow and white, harmonises with the leadening 
 
Hetter^ from IRuööia. 13 
 
 of the roofs and the exceedingly rich gilding of 
 the cupolas. The building stands on a terrace 
 about forty feet high, formed by the natural 
 slope of the mainland towards the Bay of Fin- 
 land. There is a space between the castle and 
 the sea of about one thousand feet, which is 
 occupied by the park. In a direct line from 
 the middle of the palace there is a large basin, 
 made of stone-work, and leading to the steps 
 which form the landing-place from the sea. On 
 both sides of this basin is a row of fountains, 
 thus forming an alley of jets d'eaic — in the 
 highest degree singular. The drives run along 
 the side of these fountains, surrounded with 
 tall dark fir-trees, between which one looks over 
 this foreground towards the sea, with the coast 
 of Finland appearing quite on the horizon. 
 The whole makes a most surprising and 
 charming impression. 
 
 The park also is very beautiful, and takes 
 its peculiar character from its countless water- 
 works. The highest jets, those which are be- 
 fore the grotto in the middle of the castle^ are, 
 however, not more than fifty or sixty feet high, 
 and are not thicker than one's arm, so that they 
 
14 %tmv^ from IBlu^^ia^ 
 
 are not to be compared to those of Wilhelms- 
 höhe or Sans-Souci, but their number is endless. 
 Everywhere under the shade of the trees, among 
 temples and statues, the splashing and murmur- 
 ing of the water in cascades and basins is heard. 
 The turf is certainly not like the natural 
 velvet of Windsor, or the artificial velvet of 
 Glienicke,"^ but still it is fresh and green. 
 Among the trees we find poplars, willows, pines, 
 and above all the birch with its white stem. 
 Oaks are scarce, and limes and elms need care 
 and culture. The mountain-ash, with its bright 
 red berries, supplies the place of : flowering 
 shrubs. Mallows, hollyhocks, and valerians, 
 the melancholy heralds of autumn, even before 
 summer has arrived, give a few glimpses of 
 colour amongst the prevailing green. Every- 
 thing else is exotic. Indeed the vegetation 
 constantly reminds us that we are much nearer 
 the pole than the equator. 
 
 What pleased and surprised me most in the 
 
 park was a brook, a real German brook, with 
 
 its crystal clear water rushing over blocks of 
 
 granite. I could not have believed there was 
 
 * Near Potsdam, the residence of Prince Karl, 
 
1Lemr0 from IRu^^ia. 15 
 
 so great a fall in flat Russia from the Valdai 
 Hills to the sea level. 
 
 It is always perfectly unaccountable to me, 
 why landscape gardeners in flat countries will 
 contrive waterfalls instead of turning their atten- 
 tion to the making of, at least for a short dis- 
 tance, a splashing murmuring brook. The 
 artistically tortured water is sent over a plank 
 into a chasm six feet deep, whence it seems to 
 creep away ashamed, not knowing where to go. 
 To make the thing complete, the cataract should 
 only be set off when the spectator is standing 
 in anxious expectation, ready to be astonished ! 
 
 The brook at Peterhof is natural^ and if the 
 trout can ever make a home for itself in the 
 sixtieth degree of north latitude, it must surely 
 find one here. 
 
 Higher up the abundance of water has been 
 used to make large lakes, surrounded with trees 
 and very pretty country houses. 
 
 In building these every one has followed his 
 own taste. There are Italian villas with the 
 characteristic four-cornered towers, flat roofs, 
 open stairs, terraces and statues ; then comes 
 a manor-house in Saxon-Norman style, with 
 
heavy gables, projecting balconies, and broad 
 windows, or in the midst of a birch wood, 
 lies a Swiss cottage with its white gable and 
 carved balcony. The greater part of the houses 
 are built of wood, roofed with sheet iron, some- 
 times painted red, but generally green ; and all 
 are constructed more or less for the enjoyment of 
 summer, which, however, does not always come, 
 and this year seems not to be forthcoming at 
 all. The day of our arrival was the only really 
 fine day we have had. 
 
 In Russia no one goes out without his cloak, 
 and the climate is such that one quickly learns 
 to follow this rule ; for let the weather be bad 
 or good the invaluable cloak protects alike 
 from rain or dust. 
 
 Though I was comfortably wrapped up, I 
 had now a mind to return, and called out 
 " domoi " (home) to my Iswoschtschik, who, 
 otherwise would have driven on to Peters- 
 burg. 
 
 To-day is Saturday, August 1 6, that is in the 
 dog-days, yet the thermometer hardly rose to 
 fifty-five degrees. Up to this time we have had 
 fires in all the rooms, but as I cannot make up 
 
JLmtv^ from 1R.u00ia. 
 
 17 
 
 my mind to have my stove lighted, I have put 
 on my winter clothes. General Schreckenstein, 
 who occupies the ground floor, has had his 
 heated. The sky is grey, rain is falling, and 
 there is wind enough to make us congratulate 
 ourselves that we are on land. 
 
 The day was passed in visits to the Imperial 
 family, which involved real journeys, for Strelna, 
 where the Grand Duke Constantine lives, is 
 about six miles from Peterhof, in the direction 
 of Petersburg, whilst the palace of Sergmosch, 
 belonging to the Grand Duchess Mary,"^ lies 
 several miles off in a contrary direction, on the 
 way to Oranienbaum. 
 
 As soon as the prince's suite was assembled, 
 accompanied by General Mansouroff and Colonel 
 Mirback, the two Russian officers appointed to 
 attend him, we went first to be presented to the 
 Emperor, who lives in a very simple cottage. 
 The ministers Dolgorouchi, Perofsky, and 
 Schuwalof, came down the little stairs with their 
 portfolios under their arms, and then the Em- 
 peror himself appeared. 
 
 ** Sister of the Emperor of Russia, widow of the Duke 
 of Leuchtenberg. 
 
He made a most pleasant impression on 
 me. He has not the statuesque beauty, nor the 
 marble rigidity of his father, but he is an ex- 
 tremely handsome man of majestic bearing. 
 He appeared somewhat worn, and one could 
 imagine that events had impressed that gravity 
 on his noble features, which contrasts so strongly 
 with the kindly expression of his large eyes. In 
 no country is the person of the monarch of 
 greater importance than in Russia, because 
 nowhere else is his power so unlimited. 
 
 On his accession to the throne,* Alexander 
 found Europe in arms against him, and he has 
 to carry out reforms in his own vast kingdom, 
 which require a firm hand. It is no wonder 
 that he encounters his tremendous task with 
 seriousness. 
 
 The prince presented each of us, and the 
 Emperor knew how to say to every one the 
 right thing with perfect ease. He speaks Ger- 
 man and French very fluently, and has an ex- 
 tremely dignified, but at the same time, agreeable 
 manner. 
 
 After this we went to Alexandra, a pretty 
 * March 2, 1855. 
 
%ztttv0 from 1Elu00ia. 19 
 
 little country house, in which, notwithstanding 
 its small size, the Emperor Nicolas used to live 
 with all his large family. The children now 
 have establishments of their own, and only the 
 widow and her youngest son* still make it their 
 home. Prince Frederick William is now staying 
 there with his aunt. The Empress - Mother 
 is perfectly charming. " Let each one of them 
 come here to me separately for I cannot see 
 them so far off," said she, as she sat up in her 
 chair to receive us. She gave us her hand to 
 kiss, and had something friendly to say to each. 
 We were received as her dear fellow-countrymen. 
 Before leaving she inquired which of us liked 
 dancing, for she much liked to see cheerful 
 people about her. She laughed and joked and 
 seemed quite pleased. 
 
 * Grand Duke Michael, bom 1832. 
 
20 
 
 TLttttv^ from Euööfa* 
 
 Sunday, August 17. 
 
 n^O-DAY mass was celebrated in the Pavilion 
 ^ of Peterhof, at which the whole court was 
 present. In the saloons where we assembled 
 I found Severin,^ ^^ Jcii ^?^ Madame de Moltke ä 
 Berlin, plus belle et plus gf^adetise que jamais, et 
 sa belle-mere, qui avail Pair d^ etre sa soeur" 
 
 At twelve o'clock the court arrived. The 
 Emperor, who wore a general's uniform — green, 
 with a red collar, ornamented with gold lace — 
 led the way with his aunt, the Grand Duchess 
 of Mecklenburg, who wore a dress of white lace 
 and veiy beautiful diamonds. On his left hand 
 walked the Empress Marie,t dressed in bright 
 blue with broad point lace. 
 
 Then came the four sons of the Emperor, 
 the two eldest in the uniform of the guards, the 
 third in the uniform of the infantry, and the 
 youngest in the blue dress of the navy; after 
 
 " A distinguished Russian diplomatist, born 1792, 
 died 1865.— Tr. 
 
 t Maria Alexandrowna, born 1824, daughter of the 
 late Grand Duke of Hesse, Ludwig II., married to the 
 Emperor in 1841. 
 
%ttttv0 from 1K.u00ia. 
 
 21 
 
 them the Grand Duchess Michael — Nicolas, 
 and Prince Peter of Oldenburg and his two 
 sons. All stood during the whole mass, which 
 lasted more than an hour, even the aged Grand 
 Duchess ; the reigning Empress alone sat down 
 from time to time. 
 
 The chapel is white, richly gilded ; the holy 
 of holies, with the altar, is separated from the 
 nave, in all Greek churches, by the Ikonos- 
 tasis covered with pictures. This has three 
 doors, of which the middle one is called the 
 Emperor's door, the Czar alone having the 
 right of entering it. It is almost always closed, 
 but a kind of lattice-work permits one to see 
 something of what passes behind it. 
 
 The Greek Church allows the use of paintings 
 of the saints, and of singing in the service, 
 but forbids all sculpture and instrumental music. 
 They have the most wonderful old hymns, 
 mostly brought from the west, although now 
 forgotten there. Rome has furnished many. 
 
 Of course these compositions without instru- 
 mental accompaniment are extremely difficult 
 to sing, and require endless practice. The 
 Emperor's choir is now celebrated through- 
 
2 2 %mzv^ front 1S.u00ia. 
 
 out the world, and I was quite impatient to 
 hear it. 
 
 It is composed of about thirty voices, from 
 a bass which makes the windows shake, to the 
 softest soprano of children. The choristers are 
 ranged near the Ikonostasis, and are dressed 
 in crimson frocks and trousers, ornamented 
 with gold lace ; and wear swords. 
 
 The first part of the service consists of 
 prayers, and in the course of these is repeated 
 in various manners, sung by many voices, 
 " Gospodi Pomilui — Loi'd have meixy upon usT 
 The priests, in green satin robes embroidered with 
 gold crosses, hold up an enormously big Evan- 
 gelium ornamented with gold and precious stones. 
 
 Baratof, the confessor of the late Emperor, 
 said mass. He had a bass voice, of really in- 
 credible depth. The front of his head was close 
 shaven, but behind the hair hung half way 
 down his back. He went about incensing, 
 making the sign of the cross, and saying 
 prayers. When the second part of the mass 
 began, the bread and wine was lifted high 
 above their heads, and the priests retired behind 
 the middle door, and whilst the transubstantia- 
 
%tmv0 from l&u^^ia* 23 
 
 tion, the turning of the bread and wine into 
 flesh and blood, was going on, the choir sang a 
 truly overpowering melody with the most perfect 
 execution. Nothing can be heard more beauti- 
 ful than the composition, but nothing also more 
 beautiful than the rendering. To my great 
 despair an old " Excellency " was standing just 
 behind me, who joined in with the choir, of 
 course considerably out of time ; it is true that 
 he sang soUo voce, but quite loud enough to 
 spoil my enjoyment. The third part of the 
 service consisted of the administration of the 
 consecrated bread, to which the Imperial family 
 alone remained. 
 
 After mass we were presented to the reigning 
 Empress. She has a tall slender figure, and a 
 pleasant expression. 
 
 Then we paid our respects to the Grand 
 Duchess of Weimar,* and afterwards began our 
 series of visits. In order to get through my 
 task, I gave the list to the groom, and made 
 him go on first in his droschke, while we all 
 
 * Sophia Louisa, born 1824, a Netherland princess. 
 Her mother, Anna Paulina, wife of WilHam II., King of 
 the Netherlands, was sister of the Emperor Nicolas I. 
 
24 %tmv0 from 1^u00ia. 
 
 scampered after him, so that we got through 
 twenty-six visits in the course of an hour. 
 
 At four o'clock the Emperor gave a grand 
 dinner in honour of the French ambassador, 
 Count Momy, who had brought to the Emperor 
 the ribbon of the Legion of Honour. The Em- 
 press-Mother was also present at the dinner. 
 She wore a white muslin dress and a jacket of 
 the same material, trimmed with blue ribbon, 
 about an inch wide, without any other ornament, 
 and a white cap with white feathers, which 
 looked extremely well. The tall, slender figure 
 of the Empress made her look, at a distance, 
 like a young lady. 
 
 I sat at table next to Severin. After dinner 
 we were presented to the other Grand Duchesses. 
 The Grand Duchess Marie still looks very well. 
 She wore a rose-coloured dress of Moire, with a 
 green trimming of long pendulous stalks of grass. 
 But the wife of the Grand Duke Constantine, 
 born princess of Altenburg, is dazzlingly beauti- 
 ful. She has a tall, elegant figure, a lovely face, 
 and dark brown hair. She wore dark blue and 
 white. 
 
 After dinner I walked through the English 
 
%tmt0 from Eu00ia> 25 
 
 garden towards Mont Plaisir, a little pleasure- 
 house close by the sea, which was built by Peter 
 the Great. The situation is very pretty. There 
 are many fine shady trees, and it commands a 
 view of Petersburg. But without sun or warmth 
 there can be no poetry in any landscape. 
 
 We were to drink tea here, but I slipped 
 away, in order to write my letter in peace. 
 
 The cooking is particularly good, and I wish 
 I could secretly direct Henry to eat of all that 
 is brought to me. At half-past eight o'clock 
 they bring my coffee, which is here always 
 taken in glasses, and no end of excellent 
 pastry. At twelve o'clock they serve for me 
 four different dishes, a bottle of red wine, and 
 a small one of liqueur. Of this I only eat 
 a crust of bread, with a little caviar, and 
 half a glass of wine. The rest disappears 
 in some other way. At four o'clock we have 
 an excellent dinner. At eight I have tea in my 
 room, and yet, after all, up comes the wretch of 
 a footman, and inquires when I will have 
 supper. They carry off the wax lights, when 
 they have hardly burned at all ; servants are 
 much the same everywhere. 
 
2 6 netter^ from ieiu00ia. 
 
 Monday, August i8. 
 
 nPHIS morning we made an excursion, driving 
 in carriages round the neighbourhood. 
 The Emperor Nicolas has done a great deal 
 for Peterhof. First, he had forty miles of roads 
 made in all directions, then he had great basins 
 excavated for water, which are not only beau- 
 tiful, but which have in some measure dried 
 the soil, and lastly, on the most beautiful points, 
 he had very pretty villas built. One of these 
 villas, named Oserki, much resembles Char- 
 lottenhof, near Potsdam. 
 
 One of the most important buildings is 
 Babigon, on the top of a hill, from which there 
 is an extensive view over land and sea as far 
 as Petersburg and Cronstadt. But in truth one 
 does not here wish for an extensive view. The 
 land, whenever one leaves the park roads, is 
 wet, spongy marshland, with low brushwood 
 here and there. The sea is grey and mono- 
 tonous, at any rate under the gloomy sky we 
 have to-day. 
 
 The paviHon itself is splendid, entirely built 
 of granite, marble, and sandstone. On a base- 
 
ILtmv^ from Eu^^ia. 27 
 
 ment of granite blocks somewhat in the Egyp- 
 tian style, two storeys are built, each sur- 
 rounded with pillars, the monoliths made of 
 fine dark granite cut and beautifully polished. 
 The capitals of white marble are in the lower 
 storey Corinthian, in the upper Doric, which is 
 indeed unusual, though not more than an Attic 
 Temple in two storeys. In front of this building 
 stand the famous statues of the two horse- 
 tamers by Baron Klodt, which we have also in 
 Berlin, and which the popular wit has baptized 
 by the name gehemmten Foiischritt und den be- 
 fÖ7'dei'ten Rikkschi'itt (arrested progress, and 
 advanced retreat). The whole is built with a 
 solidity unusual in Russia, as if for eternity. 
 It makes a very pleasing impression. 
 
 In the afternoon the Prince took us for a 
 walk in the opposite direction, that is, towards 
 Oranienbaum. The road which leads to it is 
 wonderfully beautiful. On the left lies a chain of 
 low hills, with an unbroken series of villas and 
 gardens almost like the road from Altona to 
 Blankenese. Among these the villa of the 
 Grand Duchess Marie, called Sergiewsk, is most 
 remarkable. 
 
2 8 %mzv9i from Eu^öia. 
 
 Oranienbaum was originally the residence of 
 Admiral MentschikofF, but belongs now to the 
 Grand Duchess Helen/^ who, however, is not 
 residing there at present. The grounds which 
 surround the palace are very much like those 
 of Peterhof. The principal building is white 
 and yellow, and is surmounted by a kind of 
 cupola, which supports a crown quite twenty 
 feet high. Two pavilions are joined to the 
 main building by galleries. In front is a long 
 terrace, from which the descent is made by fine 
 granite steps. Here also is a canal to the sea, 
 but the fountains are wanting. On the other 
 hand, the view is much richer here than at Peter- 
 hof, for Cronstadt, with its cupolas, its fortified 
 islands, and its forest of masts, makes a most 
 picturesque background. The surface of the 
 water is so smooth that it reminds me of the 
 Lagunes, and if one could take a very tall and 
 large factory chimney for the tower of St. Mark's, 
 we might imagine we were looking at Venice in 
 her pride. The palace is besides very habitable 
 
 * Daughter of Prince Paul of Wurtemburg. Married 
 the Grand Duke Michael. She was born 1807, and 
 died 1873. 
 
%tmv0 from IRu^^ia. 29 
 
 and comfortably furnished. Low rooms and 
 narrow windows were formerly used everywhere, 
 and they correspond with the climate. The 
 great panes of plate glass, making us fancy 
 ourselves out of doors, belong to a later and 
 more luxurious age. 
 
30 %tmv0 from IRuö^ia^ 
 
 Tuesday, Atigiist 19. 
 
 'T^O-DAYwewentto Cronstadt,the Grand Duke 
 Constantine himself being our guide, which 
 made it excessively interesting and instructive, 
 for, in the first place, he understands the 
 matter, and then he is uncommonly frank. 
 Indeed, there is no mystery made about this 
 fortress. Admiral Napier lately remained there 
 for eight whole days, and they showed him every- 
 thing. They are right in this, for these imposing 
 tower-like works can easily be seen so well from 
 a distance, and besides they gain by a nearer ac- 
 quaintance. Much has been said _: of plastered 
 walls, and of casemates which collapse with 
 the firing of their own guns. How far this may 
 have been true in Sebastopol I do not know. 
 Here I found walls ten feet thick of pure granite, 
 from Lake Onega, which contains less mica 
 than the Finland granite, and is much harder. 
 The vaults were of brick, very well built. The 
 navigable channel in the Bay of Finland be- 
 comes ever narrower as it approaches Peters- 
 burg. Near the island of Cronstadt it is only 
 
%zmv0 from Eu00ia. 31 
 
 about a thousand feet broad, and on both sides 
 of it rise enormous fortifications ; on the right 
 Kronslot, and Risbank, and on the left the 
 Alexander, Peter the Great, Mentschikoff, and 
 other smaller forts. They are casemated up 
 to the third storey and above the platforms, 
 and turn to the side of the entrance alone fifty or 
 sixty cannon, each of the heaviest calibre. There 
 lie the immense Paixhan guns, which discharge 
 hollow balls of over a foot in diameter with the 
 greatest precision, making holes which can 
 hardly ever be stopped, and which, if they burst 
 in the middle of a ship, would cause endless de- 
 vastation. 
 
 To reach Petersburg or return from it, be- 
 tween these fortifications, is quite impossible. 
 There are besides, two ships of the line lying 
 across the channel, with floating batteries be- 
 tween them. 
 
 However imposing these high, gigantic fort- 
 resses look, it would undoubtedly have been 
 better to place the same number of guns on 
 low batteries ; but some of the buildings were al- 
 ready there. There was a very extended line to 
 defend. The work would have been extraordi- 
 
32 %tmv0 from lK.u00ia. 
 
 narily laborious and costly, as the foundations 
 must have been laid in a shifting soil, at the 
 depth of nineteen feet of water. Of course 
 the high, broad walls present an unfailing aim 
 to the guns of a ship, and it is a question 
 whether it may not be possible to make a 
 breach in them from a great distance. The 
 Grand Duke Constantine had fired against 
 Risbank with very heavy shot from a small dis- 
 tance (three hundred yards). The long six- 
 and-thirty pound gun penetrated the farthest, 
 but not more than eight inches. The ball 
 fell in splinters. Clearly, one must fire a long 
 time before even one part of the fortifications 
 could be made useless. The Russians, too, have 
 not failed to make use of their experience at 
 Sweaborg. I found a great number of sixty 
 pound guns of such a strength of metal, that 
 they can carry a charge of eighteen to twenty 
 pounds of powder, and have the enormous 
 range of over four versts, or more than three 
 miles. 
 
 In earlier times they attempted to make it im- 
 possible for vessels of even small draught to get 
 round the fortress, by sinking a row of blocks of 
 
 IHBBI 
 
TLtmv0 from 1R.u00ia. 33 
 
 stone to within three feet of the surface of the 
 water, between Cronstadt and the coast of 
 Finland. But these Hnes were laid too far back, 
 and it was possible, in spite of them, to bombard 
 the city by means of flat-bottomed vessels. 
 The Russians, therefore, have not shunned the 
 labour of laying down a new line in advance of 
 the other, and have even carried it on also in a 
 southerly direction towards Oranienbaum, on the 
 Ingermanland coast. This long barrier extends 
 for more than twelve miles, and is, for the 
 breadth of a verst (about a mile) barricaded 
 with posts, so that no vessel, even the smallest, 
 can pass through. A landing on the west point 
 of the island itself could only be effected under 
 the fire of the great forts, and the enemy would 
 then be met by two lines of field works, and 
 lastly by the exceedingly strong casemated front 
 of the fortress of Cronstadt. 
 
 When the united efforts of the greatest mari- 
 time powers, by enormous sacrifices, destroyed 
 Sebastopol, Russia felt it bitterly, but more in 
 a moral than in a material respect. But it 
 would be a deadly blow if a fleet should pass 
 Cronstadt and burn Petersburg. Enormous 
 
 D 
 
34 %ttm0 front Eu^^ia. 
 
 wealth, and the whole commerce of the country, 
 would be destroyed, and it is conceivable that 
 the seat of government might be once more 
 transferred to Moscow. No efforts to obviate 
 this danger can be too costly. 
 
lLtmv0 from Ku^^ia. 35 
 
 Petersburg, Wednesday, Atigust 20. 
 
 TT was a very cold, windy, rainy day, and our 
 steamboat took two hours to reach the mouth 
 of the Neva, passing between the countless 
 black and white barrels which mark out the 
 narrow winding channel. The east wind had 
 driven back the water out of the Bay of Finland, 
 so that to the right and left great sandbanks 
 and reaches of mud were visible. There is 
 nothing beautiful in the entrance to the great 
 river until one approaches the Isaak Bridge, 
 where the steam-boat stops, and whence, en- 
 tering the carriages which await us there, we 
 drove through the finest part of the city across 
 the Admiralty place to the Winter Palace, along 
 the English quays, to the so-called Franzuski 
 Dwor, which is set apart for the reception of 
 the prince and his suite. 
 
 That the first sight of Petersburg fell far below 
 my somewhat high-flown expectations might 
 well be caused by the dreadful weather. When 
 laying the foundations of the city, a perfect 
 superfluity of space was found, so that they 
 -went to work with the greatest prodigality. 
 
36 %tmv^ from B.u00ia. 
 
 Indeed at that time it was a happy thing 
 when any one could be found who would build 
 houses on these miserable marshes, where 
 afterwards, in the great thoroughfares or near 
 the court, they fetched enormous prices. The 
 squares and streets were all marked out and 
 planned of the most gigantic dimensions ; 
 the city was to grow into them. The streets 
 are twice as wide as those in Berlin ; they there- 
 fore appear empty, and although the houses are 
 mostly of three storeys, they have the appearance 
 of being low. This would not be remedied, 
 even if another storey were added to each house, 
 which is never likely to be done, because there 
 is such an unlimited power of extension in 
 length and breadth. Another consequence of the 
 width of the streets is that they are badly lighted 
 and paved. The swampy condition of the subsoil 
 gives no firm hold to the paving-stones, and 
 therefore, even in the most important parts of 
 the city, the pavement is as bad as it is in the 
 smallest provincial towns of other countries. 
 This gives the city a most deserted appear- 
 ance, but no one troubles himself about it ; 
 because for more than half the year winter paves 
 
%tttzv0 from 3Ru00ia. 37 
 
 the streets in first-rate style. Besides, here, every- 
 one drives ; as many droschkies as men are to 
 be seen in the streets. According to statistical 
 accounts, there is in Petersburg one horse to 
 every eight men, which certainly cannot be said 
 •of any other great city in the world. People only 
 walk on the broad pathways of Newski Prospect 
 .and on the quays, which are made of granite. 
 
 And lastly, the building material does not 
 strike me as good, for although in the re- 
 mote parts of the city many a house is built of 
 wood, yet brickv/ork is very generally used. 
 The Russians have a predilection for balconies, 
 and above all for columns — -both of which 
 are quite absurd in this horrible climate. A 
 round column of brickwork rubbed over with 
 lime is in itself an unhappy idea. The 
 frequent damp places on the houses show 
 how constant is the necessity for repair. The 
 windows are narrow, and next to attic colonnades 
 and low-pitched roofs come buildings in the 
 purest barrack style. 
 
 On this sombre canvas I will now touch up 
 my picture with the bright colours for which 
 there is here warrant enough. 
 
38 %mtv^ from 1Elu00fa. 
 
 Before the Prince alighted at his hotel he 
 went to the Imperial burial-place in Paul's 
 fortress, to visit the grave of his uncle, the Em- 
 peror Nicolas, and meanwhile I took the oppor- 
 tunity of settling myself in my rooms, which, 
 being at some height, enjoy a beautiful view 
 over the Neva and its islands. Sunshine and 
 a background alone are wanting. After break- 
 fast we drove to the Isaak Church, of which 
 we had already seen the rich gilded cupola 
 from Peterhof and Cronstadt. This is indeed 
 a splendid edifice. In contrast with all that 
 I have just described, this church is built of 
 the most solid and costly materials which can be 
 found in the whole world, not excepting Rome 
 and Egypt, namely, of granite, marble, and brass. 
 
 The Isaak Church is placed in the finest 
 and most open space of the city, and whole 
 forests of piles are rammed into the ground^ 
 in order to make a firm foundation for it. 
 Great blocks of granite follow, till the platform 
 is reached on which the church is built. The 
 form of the ground-plan is a cross, whose arms 
 from east to west are twice as long as those 
 from south to north, where the principal entrance- 
 
%zmv0 from ieiu00ia> 39 
 
 is placed. The altar is in the long eastern arm, 
 and is separated from the rest of the church 
 by the Ikonostasis. 
 
 The entrances on the north and south are 
 formed by two peristyles on pillars, which 
 exactly resemble those of the Pantheon, and 
 certainly are not of smaller size; for these 
 pillars are fifty-six feet high, seven feet in dia- 
 meter, and each made out of one single block of 
 granite. They are the same size as the famous 
 pillars at Baalbec in Syria, only those are made 
 in three pieces, whilst the Finland marshes 
 have supplied such unbroken masses of rock 
 as are only found elsewhere in upper Egypt. 
 I have seen something of the same kind in 
 the church of St^ Maria degli Angeli, where 
 the four pillars were brought from the baths 
 of Diocletian. Enormous doors of the same 
 material, sculptured most beautifully, lead into 
 the interior of the church, where the whole ar- 
 rangement brings St. Peter's to mind. There 
 are the same great square pillars which support 
 the dome, but here the dome is only sixty feet in 
 diameter, whilst that of the Pantheon, St. Peter's, 
 the cathedral at Florence, St. Sophia, and even 
 
40 %tmv^ from IBlu^^ia* 
 
 of St. Paul's in London, are more than double 
 the width. For this reason the interior of Isaak's 
 Church does not make the overwhelmingly- 
 beautiful impression which is made by the 
 Pantheon, where at a glance is seen two thou- 
 sand square feet of space roofed over by a 
 single vault. The byzantine domes are all 
 narrow and high, often like towers, as in the 
 Mainz Cathedral, and that of the Isaak Church 
 has besides on the outside four-and-twenty 
 columns, like the dome of the Johannes Church 
 in Potsdam. These pillars are also of granite 
 with bronze capitals, and therefore the richly 
 gilded roof appears like a semi-circle instead of 
 the segment of a circle. The whole is sur- 
 mounted by the lantern, which is also gilded, 
 and is the repetition, in a small size, of the 
 dome ; while on the summit is placed a cross. 
 The interior is only lighted by the windows 
 in the dome, thus producing the mystic twilight 
 desired in Russian churches, which, however, 
 prevents appreciation of the great splendour 
 and richness of the materials employed. In 
 the Ikonostasis there are, near the Emperor's 
 door, two colossal pillars entirely of /aj>is lazuli, 
 
then six of the same size, of malachite. Of 
 course the outside only is covered with these 
 precious marbles, which are never found in 
 large pieces. Between these pillars are pictures 
 of the saints ; several of them in mosaic, as in 
 Rome. The pavement and all the walls are 
 covered with the most beautiful designs, exe- 
 cuted in the finest marble and porphyry. It 
 is inconceivably grand, and the whole build- 
 ing a marvel of splendour. The height of the 
 cupola is more than three hundred feet, to the 
 top of the cross three hundred and forty feet, 
 or about the height of the spire of Magdeburg. 
 With the Russian Greek form of Church 
 nothing grander could possibly be attained. 
 She has debarred herself from the brighter 
 splendour the Roman Catholic Church re- 
 ceived from heathen antiquity, as well as from 
 the long naves and heavenward pointing 
 towers of the German style. The absolute 
 necessity of shutting off the Holy of Holies 
 by the Ikonostasis hinders a clear view of the 
 whole. The heavy pillars take up a very 
 great space, and do not seem to be required by 
 the small side pressure of the narrow cupola. 
 
42 %tmv0 from lBlu0«2(ia. 
 
 All that can be done under these circum- 
 stances has been done in the Isaak Church, 
 and no one can leave it without admiration. 
 For myself two things in it disturb me. Sculp- 
 ture is in general so strictly excluded that even 
 the carved work on the great bronze doors is an 
 exception. But here, between the windows 
 and the cupola, there stand colossal figures of 
 angels, made of brass and gilded, which to my 
 feelings make the whole look more confined 
 and smaller than it really is. Through the 
 Emperor's door in the Ikonostasis, may be 
 seen the window behind, which is filled in with 
 a Christ in painted glass. This work of art 
 is from Munich, and is in itself wonder- 
 fully beautiful ; but the colours of the glass- 
 painting are so intense that they are not in 
 harmony with the paler colouring of the cupola, 
 but rather kill it. If the church were lighted 
 by side windows, it might perhaps be more har- 
 monious. But in the faint twilight of the cupola, 
 which makes even lapis lazuli and malachite 
 look pale, the glass-painting seems too bright. 
 
 The whole of this immense and magnificent 
 edifice was made by the Emperor Nicolas, who 
 
%ttuv^ from 1ßlu00ia* 43 
 
 has done more than all his predecessors for the 
 beautifying of Petersburg. He did not see it 
 finished : indeed, they are still at work on the 
 interior. 
 
 I drove with the Prince to Kamennoi Ostrow, 
 to pay a visit to the Grand Duchess Helena, a 
 lovely and pleasant lady, and then to dinner 
 with the Grand Duchess of Weimar at the Island 
 of Jelagin. This is a very beautiful Imperial re- 
 sidence on another island, with splendid oak 
 trees and the best turf that I have seen here. 
 Unhappily it rained without ceasing. After 
 dinner we returned to our hotel, and then went 
 for a drive to Newski Prospect. Peter the 
 Great did not take the palace for the middle 
 point of his city, but the high gilded point of 
 the admiralty tower, because it was through 
 the maritime greatness of the city that it was to 
 be united with the continent of Europe. From 
 this point radiate the three chief streets of 
 the city, Newski Prospect, Erbsen Street, and 
 Wosnesensk Street, which runs south and 
 south-east, and the other streets were regulated 
 accordingly. 
 
 The Prospect is now the street of fine shops. 
 
44 %tmv0 from 1£lu00ia* 
 
 The gutter is generally in the middle, and on 
 each side a causeway paved with wood for the 
 innumerable carriages ; then come broad path- 
 ways in front of the shops, whose magnificence 
 is far famed, but which I found in reality to be 
 quite insignificant. They are not to be com- 
 pared to those of Paris, London, or Berlin, 
 whether in outward show, or still more particu- 
 larly, in the value of their contents. We visited 
 the Annitschkoffschen Palace, where the Em- 
 peror Nicolas lived before he ascended the 
 throne. It is nothing but an ornamented barrack 
 — white walls with gilding and chandeliers — 
 nothing more. 
 
 I afterwards went to see Countess Münster, 
 and then to Severin, whom I did not find at 
 home. It was now nine o'clock, and we took 
 tea with the prince, when Count Redern gave 
 us some music. We played a game of billiards 
 and then went home, thoroughly tired with sight- 
 seeing. 
 
%tmv0 from Mm^ia. 45 
 
 Thursday, August 21. 
 
 nPHIS morning the wind blew strongly from 
 the east, and it was very cold, but the sun 
 shone clear and bright, which made the view 
 from my windows very beautiful and lively. The 
 Neva is a fine, majestic, calmly-flowing stream. 
 Its waters collect in Lake Onega, a great basin 
 of a hundred square miles, away from all im- 
 purities ; they are perfectly clear, but that they 
 are as green as the Rhine water I have not yet 
 been able to discover. That is the case, so far 
 as I have found, only in rivers which flow from 
 chalk hills. The water of the granite formation 
 is quite colourless, and that from slate mountains 
 is grey. Since there is here no want of space, 
 even the merchant vessels do not anchor 
 very close to one another, but at some consider- 
 able distance, and it is but seldom that a 
 small steam-vessel passes beyond Isaak's Bridge. 
 Different indeed it looks from the muddy Thames, 
 with its tidal flux and reflux, on which there 
 are just as many steam-vessels as there are 
 here droschkies in the street. The Neva is 
 about as broad as the Rhine at Cologne, but 
 
46 lLttttv0 from 1K.u00m^ 
 
 in the city it divides into several branches. 
 People long doubted whether it were pos- 
 sible to make a bridge over the river. The 
 late Emperor accomplished this work also. 
 The Nicolas' or Isaak's Bridge leads from the 
 Platz before the Isaak's Church to the Wasi- 
 lewskoj Islands, and consists of sixteen stone 
 pillars with arches of iron. It remains to be 
 seen whether it will stand the tremendous pres- 
 sure of the ice. At one end of this fine bridge, 
 which is about seven hundred feet in length, 
 there is a block of granite thirty-five feet long, 
 twenty feet broad, and fourteen high, on which 
 stands Peter the Great on horseback. He is 
 restraining his horse, which is in full gallop, with 
 both fore-feet in the air. The tail of the animal 
 touches a serpent trodden on by the horse, and 
 is important, as it makes the third support for 
 this colossus, of which the fore-part was made 
 light, while behind it is weighted with lead, 
 in order to preserve its equilibrium. The Em- 
 peror stretches out his hand towards the land 
 and sea he had just conquered. The inscription 
 "To Peter the First, Katharine the Second," 
 shows the proud self-assertion of the Empress. 
 
%ttuv0 from Eu00ia* 
 
 47 
 
 At the other end, but still on the bridge itself, 
 is a chapel to St. Nicolas, very elegantly- 
 built, with three of its sides made of glass. 
 
 Two hundred years ago no one in Europe 
 knew anything about the Neva. For thousands 
 of years the river had flowed through untrodden 
 forests. No vessel was borne on its bosom, 
 and only the Finland hunters occasionally passed 
 along its banks. Now the Neva is famed 
 throughout the world ; it is one of the arteries of 
 the Russian Empire ; it carries merchant fleets, 
 and supplies the daily needs of five hundred 
 thousand men. It alone gives clear, pure water, 
 where all the springs are brown and undrinkable ; 
 yet the city is constantly in danger from the 
 Neva. The Bay of Finland makes a triangle, 
 of which one of the points is towards Peters- 
 burg. A strong west wind drives the tide with 
 great force into this hole or funnel, turning the 
 current so that the Neva flows backwards. 
 Now if this happens at the same time as the 
 breaking up of the ice, the danger is much in- 
 creased. The islands are first overflowed, next 
 the quays, and then, as the highest point of the 
 city is only fifteen feet above the ordinary level 
 
48 %mzv0 from Eu00ia. 
 
 of the sea, all is soon under water. In many- 
 parts of the city the water-mark of 1824 is still 
 shown. In several places it rose to the second 
 storey. Many persons were drowned, and the 
 disease caused by the moisture it left behind 
 lasted for a long time. A city whose progress 
 and development had been more historical 
 would never have grown up in such a defence- 
 less situation. But the iron Czar willed it so, 
 and all later generations must accept the con- 
 sequences. 
 
 By nine o'clock we were all in motion to see 
 the Winter Palace. This building is in the 
 form of a square with additional courts, and is 
 about the same size as the Palace at Berlin, 
 but the outside is not nearly so imposing in 
 appearance, although it has one floor more, 
 besides the great cupola. The Winter Palace, 
 with its pillars standing half-way out from the 
 walls, is entirely covered with whitewash, and 
 then coloured over with a dirty brownish-yellow. 
 Near it, and joined to it by arches, is the house 
 of the Empress Catherine, to which she herself 
 gave the name of " the Hermitage," but which 
 is quite as large as the Winter Palace. Including 
 
%tttzv^ from 1ßlu00ia. 49 
 
 this palace and the French house in which we 
 are living, the Imperial residence has a front 
 along the Neva of eight hundred feet. It is 
 said that six thousand people live in it, and 
 there is even a legend that there are sheep and 
 cows kept under its roofs. 
 
 It is well known that the Winter Palace was 
 burned down with all the art treasures it con- 
 tained, and was rebuilt by the Emperor Nicolas 
 in one year. To accomplish this, the whole space 
 had to be heated during the winter in order to 
 keep the mortar in a fluid state. Then a great 
 hall fell in just as the Emperor had left it. 
 But here also the will of the Emperor sufficed, 
 and the palace was completed at the appointed 
 time. It has a very fine staircase, and is so far 
 magnificent, that it contains an incredible 
 number of very large saloons, one of them two 
 hundred feet long. The interior decoration 
 leaves much to be desired. It is almost all 
 white and gold : often the walls are only white- 
 washed, and adorned with immense and gener- 
 ally fine pictures of Russian victories. 
 
 The apartments, however, in which the Im- 
 perial family themselves live on the Neva and 
 
50 %tmv& from B^u^^ia^ 
 
 Admiralty Square are extremely pretty and 
 ■elegant, especially those of the Empress' mother. 
 It seems that her son had endeavoured to bring 
 together everything to make for her here in the 
 north a charming and agreeable residence. The 
 pictures and sculptures are the most costly 
 masterworks of all countries. The view through 
 the well-fitting windows with their great panes 
 of plate-glass, is the pleasantest one can have 
 here, for a winter-garden with splashing fountains 
 encloses the whole of this beautiful suite of 
 rooms. 
 
 Above these apartments are those of the Em- 
 peror, very comfortable, but without any great 
 beauty. Here are seen many reminiscences of 
 Berlin and of the late king, whom the Emperor 
 highly esteemed. Here hang the great pictures'^ 
 by Krüger of the Parade at Berlin, the city of 
 Kalisch, and many interesting portraits. Here 
 also was the telegraph by means of which the 
 autocrat's commands were flashed through the 
 wide expanse of his kingdom. A winding 
 
 * Franz Krüger, born 1796, died 1857", a German 
 painter celebrated for his portraits of men and horses. 
 — Tr. 
 
 Bl 
 
%ttm^ from Eu^^ia. 
 
 staircase leads up from the apartments of the 
 Empress. 
 
 Besides this, in another part of the palace, 
 in the north-western corner of it, there is a 
 vaulted room with but one window, which 
 was the favourite chamber of the great Em- 
 peror, the ruler of the tenth part of the human 
 race, for whose welfare pray Greek, Catholic, 
 and Protestant Christians, Mohammedans, Jews, 
 and Heathen in the four quarters of the world, 
 in whose territory the sun never sets, and in one 
 part of which for half a year it never rises. 
 Here lived the man whom his people loved and 
 whom Europe hated, because it feared him, 
 though it was compelled to respect him — the man 
 whose personal appearance subdued the wildest 
 uproar of the people ; at whose command in the 
 first cholera epidemic, the furious multitude 
 sank on their knees to supplicate the pardon of 
 God, at the same time delivering up their ring- 
 leader; the man, lastly, whose will involved 
 Europe in a war which broke his own heart. 
 Here, in this room, he died. 
 
 This room has been kept exactly as it was 
 when the Emperor last saw it. The iron camp- 
 
52 %ttttv0 from lBlu00ia^ 
 
 bed with the same bedclothes, the coarse Persian 
 shawl, and the cloak with which he covered 
 himself, the various little articles for the toilet, 
 the books and maps of Sebastopol and Cron- 
 stadt ; everything remains untouched, even the 
 thoroughly worn-out slippers, which he, I believe, 
 wore for twenty-eight years, and always would 
 insist on having mended again. The wall 
 kalendar, which was set daily, stands at the day 
 of his death. The bed stands across the middle 
 of the room, and the last glance of the monarch 
 through the large window fell, perhaps, on the 
 broad, proud Neva, which he had fettered with 
 his bridge, on the golden cupola of his Isaak's 
 Church, and on the sun sinking in the sea be- 
 hind the fortifications of Cronstadt. Grief at 
 the issue of the war was the disease which killed 
 the Emperor Nicolas. This antique character 
 could not bend his will — he must die. 
 
 We went to the Hermitage, which has lately 
 been made into a true temple of art. The 
 greatest treasures of art, the most celebrated 
 master-pieces of painting and sculpture from all 
 countries, twenty thousand gems, a mass of 
 manuscripts, antiques, mosaics, and jewels, are 
 
%zmv0 from IBlu^^ia. 
 
 here collected, and these are not exhibited as in 
 other museums, but dispersed among countless 
 rooms and halls, each of which is in itself a 
 beautiiful work of art. There is no celebrated 
 painter who is not represented here by one of 
 rthe finest creations of his genius. Raphael, 
 Correggio, Ruysdael, and Claude Lorraine fill 
 whole rooms, and the Titians seem to me par- 
 ticularly admirable. 
 
 There is a very curious collection from the 
 excavations near Kertch in the Crimea, where 
 Greek civilisation flourished four centuries 
 before Christ, till the country was devastated 
 by the Scythians, and then re-peopled by the 
 Golden Horde. There are sarcophagi with 
 golden ornaments of the finest workmanship. 
 Amongst other things they found the skeleton 
 of a man with a golden crown, the mouth of 
 which had all the teeth complete but one. The 
 wife of this man, who apparently had been im- 
 molated, was laid by him, and among the orna- 
 ments buried with them was found an elegant 
 golden urn, on which was beautifully worked in 
 relief a representation of the husband with a 
 ^Colchian dentist pulling out a tooth ! 
 
54 %mzv0 from lBlu00ia. 
 
 I spare you the description of all these 
 wonderful things. It would take many weeks- 
 to inspect them. 
 
 After luncheon we visited the arsenal and 
 powder manufactory, and towards evening the 
 prince drove back to Peterhof. I shall remain 
 here till we set out for Moscow. 
 
 At sunset I went with Prince Hohenzollern 
 up the Admiralty Tower, from whence we had 
 a splendid view over the whole city, and the 
 Neva with its various branches and islands. It 
 only wants a background, the country being 
 perfectly flat. Nothing is to be seen over the 
 enormous mass of houses but a dark strip of sea' 
 with countless steamboats sending up columns. 
 of smoke. The foreground, however, is bright 
 enough. After tea I shall write again till one 
 o'clock. 
 
Hernes from l&u00ia. 55 
 
 Friday, August 22. 
 
 'T^HANK God, it is fine once more ! though 
 cold and windy. 
 
 Just opposite to me, on the other side of the 
 stream, are the high walls and granite battle- 
 ments of Paul's fortress, which is built on a little 
 separate island. This fortress, being situated 
 quite in the middle of the city, cannot contri- 
 bute to the defence of Petersburg. But it plays 
 the same part with regard to the Winter Palace 
 as the Castle of St. Angelo does to the Vatican, 
 only here the communication is by water ; there 
 by a vaulted passage. The church is in the 
 middle of the fortress, in which all the Emperors 
 of Russia since Peter the Great are entombed, 
 as all Czars before his time were buried in 
 Moscow. The slender mast-like tower rises 
 three hundred feet above the church. It is 
 covered with the gold of ten thousand ducats, 
 but it has become so crooked that it has been 
 surrounded with an enormous scaffolding. 
 Everything in this boggy soil and dreadful 
 climate needs constant repair. 
 
 In this fortress is kept the enormous store of 
 
56 %nm0 from Eu^^ia* 
 
 bullion which constitutes the security for the 
 paper-money in circulation. However, I have 
 not counted it. In commerce notes only are 
 seen, rarely silver. Platina is no longer coined ; 
 its production has much decreased, and the 
 value of this metal is so uncertain that it cannot 
 serve as a standard. Platina is at this moment 
 four times as dear as it has been for twenty 
 years. On the contrary, the yield of gold 
 increases, and hence the enormous wealth of 
 the Government and of some private persons — 
 the Demidoffs for example. 
 
%tmv0 from Eu00ia. 57 
 
 Sahcrday, Augttst 23. 
 
 A RAINY day. In the forenoon I wrote, 
 and then went to Gostinoy Dwoi'^ a great 
 two-storied caravanserai, with vaulted passages 
 and vaults in which the shop people lay out 
 their wares and expose them for sale. No one 
 remains here at night \ fires are forbidden, only 
 a lamp is lighted under the saint's picture in 
 each cell. The saints themselves attend to 
 these, that no harm may happen. 
 
 I bought some leather stamped with gold, 
 and some tea which comes to Russia by land 
 through Siberia to Kiachta. This so-called 
 caravan tea preserves the fine flavour which is 
 always lost in long sea voyages. The price is 
 from three or four silver roubles up to thirty or 
 even fifty roubles a pound. How one tea can 
 be five-and-twenty times as valuable as another, 
 admitted to be good, I know not. At the 
 Court they do not give more than five roubles 
 a pound, and then they mix it with green tea 
 at four roubles. 
 
 Afterwards I went to see the new palace of 
 Michaelowski, which, to judge from the exterior, 
 
58 %ttm^ from 1Blu00ia. 
 
 is the most beautiful edifice in Petersburg. It 
 belongs now to the Grand Duchess'^ Katharine. 
 The interior is not to be seen, as they are putting 
 down new floors. 
 
 I then drove on to the old Michaelowski 
 Palace, which the Emperor Paul fortified, when 
 he began to fear his subjects. He lived there 
 only three months. It is now used as the 
 School of Engineers, and they showed me some 
 very fine models, among which those of Sebas- 
 topol, Cronstadt, Sweaborg, and Bomarsund, are 
 interesting. The model of Sebastopol shows 
 how this place was to have been fortified. They 
 assure me that at the moment of the advance of 
 the English and French, with forty thousand 
 men after the battle of the Alma, the naval 
 suburb was quite defenceless. Then the garrison 
 only numbered sixteen thousand men, so that 
 there is no doubt that if the allies had known 
 the real state of affairs they might easily have 
 taken the fortress. The great ramparts on the 
 north side too were not at all secure from assault. 
 
 I visited in passing the church of Notre-Dame 
 
 * Daughter of the Grand Duke Michael, bom 1827, 
 married George, Duke of Mecklenburg, Strelitz. 
 
de Kasan, celebrated for its immense treasures 
 of pure silver. The predilection of the Russians 
 for pillars has here been fully gratified ; not only- 
 have they imitated the great colonnade of St. 
 Peter's at Rome, but also in the interior there 
 are forty granite columns each made of one block. 
 As there is absolutely no space here for these 
 columns, which have nothing to support but the 
 weight of their own capitals^ they are placed in 
 two rows, a veritable embarras de richesse. 
 
 In the evening we visited the imperial library. 
 
 It was to-day just such weather as we have 
 in November, and it made me feel quite 
 melancholy. 
 
6o %zttn0 from 1R.u00ia^ 
 
 Sunday, August 24. 
 
 /~\UR expedition to-day was to the School of 
 ^-^ Mines, where we were shown the mining 
 models, arranged in very fine rooms 3 some 
 very beautiful minerals, precious stones, and 
 pearls ; amongst others the largest nugget of gold 
 which has yet been found, which is worth a 
 hundred and fifty thousand roubles," and a large 
 piece of aqua-marine a foot long and three 
 inches thick, which is worth a still larger sum. 
 
 From the School of Mines I drove to a 
 house which was the first that Peter the Great 
 built, when he was laying the foundations of 
 Petersburg, and in which he lived a long time. 
 It is quite a small tenement, with a balcony 
 painted red, and roofed with shingles. The 
 windows are set in lead. A sofa and various 
 utensils which were used by him are shown j 
 and especially the first boat with which the 
 Emperor crossed Lake Ladoga, and which is 
 called the grandfather of the Russian fleet. 
 There is a house built over it in order to pre- 
 serve it for all time. 
 
 Afterwards we went to see the handsome 
 
church of Smolnoi, which is better lighted and 
 more spacious than any of the others. The pic- 
 tures of the saints are ornamented with diamonds 
 and jewels of great price. Adjoining the church 
 are palatial buildings for the reception of noble 
 ladies. But as the youngest of them is and 
 must be forty years old, we did not linger there, 
 but hastened to see the summer-garden, in 
 which, on May-day, the marriageable Russian 
 girls display themselves, and are reviewed by 
 the candidates for the marriage state, and often 
 carried home at once. The finest thing in this 
 garden is the beautiful iron trellis, which shuts 
 it off from the quay, and a statue of the famous 
 poet Krylow,* on the pedestal of which all the 
 animals of his fables are represented in bronze 
 in the most humorous fashion. 
 
 Not quite to lose the power of walking, 
 we now made a promenade to the equestrian 
 statue of Peter the Great, through the Morskoi 
 
 * A most popular Russian poet, born 1768, died 
 1844. His fables, full of wit and genius as they are, 
 are simple enough to be used commoflly as the first 
 reading-book for children, and many sentences from them 
 have become proverbial expressions. — Tr. 
 
62 %tmv0 from IBlus^^ia. 
 
 and the Neva Prospect. The weather was very 
 fine for walking, but we had only nine degrees 
 of heat, and I had to dress in winter fashion. 
 
 To-morrow we are going a hundred miles 
 southwards, yet we shall not get farther south 
 than Memel, the most northerly point of our 
 Fatherland. Still I hope for a somewhat better 
 climate. 
 
 Before noon we drove to the celebrated 
 convent Alexander Newski, which, with the 
 many houses and chapels belonging to it, is 
 surrounded with moats and walls, so that it has 
 the appearance of a fortress. This convent is 
 called a Zawra, of which there are only three in 
 Russia — the convent of the Trinity in Moscow, 
 the convent of the Grottoes at Kiew, and this 
 one in Petersburg, which, although it holds only 
 the third rank, is the seat of the Metropolitan. 
 
 An Archimandrite was himself our guide. 
 They showed us the coffin of the Grand Duke 
 Alexander, who gained a victory over the 
 Swedes on the Neva. The coffin is made of 
 five thousand pounds' worth of silver. Prince 
 Hohenzollern and General Schreckenstein, as 
 good Catholics, kissed the relics. 
 
1Lemr0 from Eu^öfa. 63 
 
 Then we were taken into a chapel where 
 incredible treasures are gathered together. 
 Bishops' croziers covered with jewels, robes 
 and stoles of gold stuff ornamented with pearls, 
 in short, millions, in the form of jewels. 
 
 Lastly, we visited the churchyard, quite full 
 of tombstones, where we saw the tombs of 
 Tolstoi, Samoiloff, Demidoff, Bariatinski, and 
 in fact of all the most wealthy families, for to 
 rest in peace here costs three thousand roubles. 
 In one corner lies a simple stone with the 
 inscription " Here lies Suwaroff," which Prince 
 Italijski had placed there. It was, indeed, not 
 necessary to add a word more. 
 
 From Saint Alexander's we drove a long 
 way round the town, past the barracks of the 
 Cossacks of the line, to the only convent of 
 nuns which there is in Petersburg, but I do 
 not know its name. It contains, including the 
 novices, a hundred and twenty-five young girls, 
 who submit to a very strict discipline, and never 
 leave the convent. 
 
 The "Igumena," or abbess, received us herself 
 very graciously; men were excluded from the 
 service, but the nuns sang at the entrance. 
 
64 %zmv^ from B.u00ia* 
 
 Among these poor creatures, entirely clothed in 
 black, some were aged, almost all ugly, with 
 Tartar features, though now and then with 
 beautiful eyes. The novices wear a pointed, 
 the nuns a cylindrical, black hood, a black veil, 
 and long black garments. One of them directed 
 the choir with a little black stick. It is 
 impossible to describe the exquisite beauty of 
 the singing. There were most beautiful voices, 
 and among them some so deep that one might 
 take them for men's. I have never heard any- 
 thing so lovely as these old church melodies. 
 
 The nuns receive twenty paper roubles yearly 
 — less than a maid-servant gets with us. Every- 
 thing else they must earn by the work of their 
 own hands. They work with the needle and 
 paint, and the church contains many beautiful 
 specimens of their skill. 
 
 After breakfast I went with General Schreck- 
 enstein to pay visits to Count Liewen and Prince 
 Gortschakoff, and then once more to the Isaak's 
 Church. The more this church is seen, the 
 more splendid it appears. The colossal size of 
 the bronze reliefs in the gable windows was- made 
 very distinct to me. A man who was mending 
 
%tmv0 from B.u00ia. 65 
 
 something had put a rope round the neck of the 
 infant Christ, on which he took his unsteady 
 seat. The man appeared only half the size of 
 the infant on his mother's lap. The great 
 pictures of the saints on the Ikonostasis are mar- 
 vellously beautiful, and are besides all of mosaic. 
 On the left is a Madonna with the infant Christy 
 nothing more lovely than which can possibly be 
 seen. The fair child in his white shirt stretches 
 out his arms towards the spectator, and in his 
 dark eyes are seen all the gravity and mystery of 
 his great mission. Next to this picture is Alex- 
 ander Newski in full armour, then St. Katherine; 
 on the right is Christ bearing the globe, St. Isaac 
 Dalmaticus with the ground-plan of the church 
 in his hand, and then another saint. These 
 designs are true masterpieces of art. Between 
 each picture is a column of malachite forty feet 
 high, eight in number. The entrance to the 
 Emperor's door is formed by two priceless 
 columns of ,/apis lazuli, with capitals of gold. 
 The two side-chapels are very beautiful in 
 marble and malachite, white and green. The 
 steps are of rosso antico. The floor is made 
 of giallo, porphyry, and a kind of green. 
 
 F 
 
66 %tmv0 from Eu00ia* 
 
 Genoese marble, which very much resembles 
 ve7'de antic 0. 
 
 After dinner, at seven o'clock, we made a long 
 excursion. Indeed from morning to night six 
 or eight carriages stand ready at the door. It 
 is of no use to attempt to walk here, the dis- 
 tances are so great. 
 
 We drove to the islands north of the city, 
 Petrofski, Christofski, Jelagin and Kamennoi 
 Ostrow. The landscape was exceedingly lovely 
 in the light of the setting sun. The banks of 
 the wide branches of the stream are studded 
 with pretty wooden houses and gardens. Dark 
 firs and weeping birches predominate, but on 
 Jelagin there are also very fine oaks. We visited 
 a fine house belonging to Prince Bjeloserski, 
 and the Imperial Palace, and only returned 
 when it was quite dark. The days here are 
 still considerably longer than with us. The 
 view out of my window is also very beautiful at 
 night, when the quays are lighted with gas, and 
 the two bridges which I overlook are lighted 
 with innumerable lamps. But it is twelve 
 o'clock, and I must close. In the morning the 
 Prince will come to the city. 
 
 BfHlllllWlM 
 
%ttm^ from Euööfa. 67 
 
 Monday^ Atigiist 25. 
 
 A T a quarter to eleven this morning \ve 
 started by special train for Moscow. 
 The distance is six hundred and five versts, or 
 three hundred and forty-eight miles, which we 
 accomplished in twenty-two hours, so that the 
 pace is very moderate. The Emperor does it 
 in fourteen hours, or twenty-four miles an hour, 
 which is no great speed ; on the Great Western 
 we made forty-eight miles an hour ; but they 
 do well not to attempt such performances here, 
 and it is surely a fine thing to be able to travel 
 from one Russian capital to the other in a day j 
 a benefit appreciated in observing the country 
 traversed ! 
 
 The management of the railway, however, 
 seems to be very good. Along the whole distance 
 there are double lines of rail, the stations are 
 solid and well-built, with even a certain amount 
 of ornamentation : most of them having elegant 
 retiring rooms for the Emperor. The carriages 
 are convenient, but very heavy. The gradients 
 are very slight, as might be expected in this 
 ■country, being hardly more than i in 100, but 
 
68 %ttm^ from Eu^^ia. 
 
 very long-continued, for the ridge of the Waldai 
 Hills which the railway cuts, is 705 feet high. 
 The railways are made as much as possible in 
 direct lines, without troubling themselves with 
 the fact that, with the exception of the two 
 terminal stations, no town is directly touched 
 by them. Even Novgorod, a town historically 
 famous and still important, is left about eight 
 miles on one side. " Ze chemin de fer fera 
 naitre des villesT But must the old towns be 
 therefore allowed to perish ? Au reste Us rConf 
 naqiiis que des stations and sleepers. These and 
 the milestones are the only adornments of the 
 desolate country, houseless, flat, and uniform as 
 it becomes as soon as the last suburban houses 
 of Petersburg are left behind. Marshes and 
 alder-bushes as far as the eye can reach, occa- 
 sionally a few distorted pines, rarely a cultivated 
 field, still more rarely a village. The church 
 with its bright green cupola and white-washed 
 walls makes the villages look well from a distance,, 
 but the houses are all miserable wooden sheds,, 
 without gardens and without trees. 
 
 The villages are not enclosed ; no avenues, or 
 faniis, or vineyards, or smithies are to be seen. 
 
%tttzv9i from Mu^^ia^ 69 
 
 I am often reminded of the Oberharz, where 
 the httle wooden houses are scattered over the 
 meadows as if they had fallen from a sieve. 
 The eye hungers for some undulation of the 
 surface, and therefore the Wolchow stream 
 appears so surpassingly beautiful. It is crossed 
 at a considerable height by a latticed bridge 
 of great length. Large uncouth-looking boats 
 are seen coming from Lake Peipus and Nov- 
 gorod on this river, which is about as broad as 
 the Elbe, to Lake Onega and so to Petersburg, 
 laden with part of the firewood required by this 
 metropolis. 
 
 Still more astonishing in this endless plain is 
 the passage a little farther on of this insignificant 
 stream, which has hollowed out a narrow but 
 very deep valley. It is crossed by a viaduct 
 of quite i.ooo feet long, at the height of at least 
 120 feet. The enormous pillars are placed on 
 a foundation of brickwork, and then covered 
 with iron plating, apparently because they are 
 carved out of wood. They look like church 
 towers. I think this is very unsafe. We were 
 allowed to observe the bridge from below. The 
 ascent is made by 500 steps. As soon as 
 
70 %zmt^ from Eu00ia. 
 
 these two valleys are passed there is the old 
 uniformity again, and only the thought that these 
 little sleepy streams flow on to the Caspian Sea 
 makes them interesting to me. 
 
 Call our different repasts what you will, this 
 much is certain, that we have dined three times 
 in due form, and the last time was at nine 
 o'clock in the evening. 
 
 General Schreckenstein, Count Redem, Ear- 
 ner, and I, had a coupe between us, and were able 
 to make ourselves very comfortable. And here, 
 I must confess to my shame, that I neither saw 
 Tver nor the Volga, because I was fast asleep. 
 
 The next morning, Tuesday, the sun rose 
 beautifully behind the tops of some fir-trees, but 
 the country appeared to be of much the same 
 character as what we saw yesterday, only the trees 
 are better gro\^Ti, and there are a few really pretty 
 villages ; then we came to a fine oak-wood, and 
 suddenly countless towers and cupolas immerged 
 from the plain. We were in Moscow. 
 
 I have not yet digested the impression this 
 city has made upon me. I walk about continu- 
 ally in silent astonishment. I try to arrange my 
 thoughts, and to make some comparisons between. 
 
%zmvö from l^uööia. 71 
 
 what strikes me as so strange and wondrous, 
 with what I have seen before in other regions. 
 When I stand on the high terrace of the 
 KremHn and look down on this enormous city, 
 the white houses with bright green roofs, sur- 
 rounded with dark trees, the high towers and 
 countless churches with golden cupolas, I am 
 reminded sometimes of the view of Prague from 
 the Hradschin, sometimes of that of Pesth from 
 Buda, and again of that of Palermo from Monte 
 Reale. Still, everything here is different, and 
 the centre of the whole, the Kremlin, cannot 
 be compared to anything in the world. These 
 walls, fifty or sixty feet high, white with pointed 
 battlements, the gigantic gate-towers, the huge 
 palace of the old czars, the residence of the 
 patriarchs, the bell-tower of Juan Weliki, the 
 peculiar old churches, form a whole which is 
 not to be found twice in the world. 
 
 The first day was taken up with visits and 
 looking at the vast exterior of the Kremlin. 
 They have set aside three houses for the 
 Prince. But I live quite close to him in the 
 palace of Princess Trubetzkoi, who is absent 
 at present visiting her estates. 
 
72 
 
 ILtmt^ from 1Ru00ia. 
 
 Thursday, Atigust 28. 
 
 nPHE city of Moscow assumes that the Em- 
 peror has not yet arrived. Some, indeed, 
 assert that he has been staying since yesterday, 
 at the Palace of Petrofskoi, which is some miles 
 from here, in order to hold a court and to 
 review 100,000 of the Guards : but he is there 
 incognito ; officially he has not arrived. 
 
 The holy city is preparing itself for the entry 
 which is to take place to-morrow. In all the 
 streets and open spaces a knocking and hammer- 
 ing is going on. Most of the houses here stand 
 singly in the midst of a garden or courtyard. 
 In these spaces between the houses great 
 platforms are erected for the spectators. On 
 one of them alone I counted three thousand 
 numbered seats. Before the houses too, small 
 stages are erected and filled with chairs — all 
 roofed over with canvas and ornamented with 
 coloured cloths, carpets, and flowers. . Seats 
 are thus easily provided for several hundred 
 thousand, by which all inconvenient crowding 
 is prevented. Only those who cannot pay the 
 few copeks, the Tschornoi narod, the "black 
 
TLtmv0 from Eu^gfia. 73 
 
 race," of the people, will form the movable 
 part of the spectators, and the police will be 
 there to keep them in order. 
 
 The churches and palaces have thin laths 
 nailed all along their architectural lines, on 
 which to fix the lamps for the illumination. 
 The immense church Iwan, which will speak 
 out with its five-and-twenty great bells, has a 
 crown made of lamps put round its golden 
 cupola, above which blazes the mighty cross, 
 which was pulled down with so much difficulty 
 and danger by the French, and which the 
 Russians triumphantly replaced. As an atone- 
 ment for this injury a thousand field-pieces taken 
 from the French are laid at the feet of Iwan, 
 where Count Momy may see them to-morrow. 
 
 Half the population of the city are walking 
 about the streets, and they are allowed to go 
 everywhere, even into the Kremlin, to see the 
 preparations which are still going on there. 
 
 Every day teams of horses are being sent 
 between Petrowskoj and the Kremlin ; they are 
 mostly dark grey or black, and are to draw the 
 state carriages of the Empress and Grand 
 Duchesses. The driver sits in a wonderful 
 
74 %mtv0 from IBlu^^ia. 
 
 fashion on the off-leader, and a man also walks 
 on foot by each horse, and leads it by the rein. 
 Yesterday their excellencies bore a frightfully 
 heavy baldaquin on thick staves of gold through 
 the halls and up the steps of the palace. The 
 Emperor's adjutants walked by the side, holding 
 it straight by golden ropes. 
 
 The state carriages, wonderful reminiscences 
 of a past age, are brought out of the twilight of 
 the arsenals, where they have stood for eight- 
 and-twenty years. The oldest of them are quite 
 without springs, and are hung by very long 
 straps on to a pole twenty feet long and of 
 great thickness, which is so much bent that 
 the coach almost touches the ground. Those 
 of the Empresses are ornamented with diamonds 
 and jewels. The most ancient can hardly be put 
 in motion. Among others there is a kind of 
 ambulating house of gold, velvet, and crystal, 
 which was given as a present to Peter the 
 Great from England, and compared with the 
 weight of this, a six-and-thirty pounder is mere 
 child's play. In short everything is full of life 
 and animation, in expectation of the roar of 
 artillery which in the morning will proclaim 
 
TLtmv^ from lRu00ia. 
 
 75 
 
 from the ancient gate-towers of the KremHn 
 the entrance of the Czar. 
 
 Yesterday the Emperor rode through the 
 camp of the guards, whom he has not seen 
 since he ascended the throne, because they 
 were away at the war in Lithuania and Poland, 
 and they have now pitched their tents in a 
 wide open plain close by the city. First 
 of all there was a solemn mass, at which the 
 Empress also was present. We drove to the 
 camp in grand style, amid thick clouds of 
 dust, while the Emperor and his suite rode. 
 He looks particularly well on horseback. At 
 this moment it began to rain, and came down 
 in torrents. Happily we were able to take 
 shelter under the tent in which the altar was 
 placed, and where mass was read or rather 
 sung. All further continuation of the fete was 
 countermanded, and we returned home. 
 
 In the evening I drove to Petrowskoj. It 
 lies in the midst of woods, and has a very 
 strange appearance. The palace itself is a 
 square building of two storys, with a green 
 cupola. The entrances are supported by most 
 peculiar bottle - shaped pillars, and the whole 
 
76 lLzmv0 from lBlu00ia^ 
 
 is surrounded by turreted walls, with battlements 
 and loop-holes. This red and white striped 
 fortress, from which the light streamed through 
 high windows out into the dark woods, seemed 
 like a scene in a fairy tale of the thousand and 
 one nights. Here all convents and palaces are 
 fortified. They were the only tenable spots 
 when the Yellow Hordes with twenty or thirty 
 thousand horses rushed through this flat country, 
 and devastated it completely. Long after their 
 yoke was broken, the Tartars of the Khanate of the 
 Crimea were still a formidable enemy. There used 
 to be watchmen constantly on the highest battle- 
 ments of the Kremlin, looking out over the great 
 plain stretching away to the south ; and when 
 they saw clouds of dust whirling up, the great bell 
 (Kolokol) of Iwan Weliki sounded out the call of 
 distress, and everyone fled for shelter to the 
 palace of the Czar or the convents, at whose 
 walls the troops of furious horsemen knocked 
 and hammered in vain. The Christianity, the 
 learning, and the civilisation of the Russian 
 people, all took refuge in the convents, and it 
 was from the convents that deliverance from the 
 yoke of the Mongolians and Poles came at last. 
 
%zttzv0 from flu^^ia. 
 
 77 
 
 To-day mass was said in the open air, and 
 five battalions received new colours, which had 
 been consecrated for this purpose. Then the 
 Metropolitan passed along the front and 
 sprinkled the troops vigorously with holy water, 
 so vigorously that some even dripped with it. 
 The Emperor and the two Empresses kissed not 
 only the cross, but the priest's hand. Then the 
 Emperor hastened to place himself in front of 
 the battalion, and spoke some words to the men 
 in military fashion, which were answered by 
 endless cheering. He sat a well-trained horse 
 very well ; afterwards he rode along the whole 
 length of the camp one and a half (German) 
 miles. Seventy-four battalions, eight hundred 
 strong, about sixty thousand men, tall and strong, 
 bearded, with dark brown faces, stood unarmed, 
 and with caps uplifted. 
 
 I will say nothing of the deafening hurrahs 
 which lasted for two hours, but I could see 
 how delighted these bearded men were to see 
 their Czar. 
 
 The Emperor spoke to several of them, who 
 repHed to their "Batuschka" (Father) without 
 any embarrassment. In Russia the family is 
 
78 Jittttv^ from IBluö^ia. 
 
 the microcosm of the State. All power rests 
 upon paternal authority. All theories of repre- 
 sentative government are, in Russia, simple 
 nonsense. " How can human decrees limit the 
 divine right of a father ? " says the Russian ; 
 and indeed the unlimited power of the Emperor 
 is a necessity and a benefit in a country where 
 nothing is done if it is not commanded by a 
 superior. 
 
 Any one who stands, as I did, on the top of 
 the Kremlin, and looks down for the first time 
 on the city of Moscow on a warm sunny day, 
 will with difficulty realise that he is in the same 
 latitude under which in Siberia the reindeer 
 roams, and in Kamschatka dogs draw sledges 
 over fields of ice. Moscow makes a most 
 decidedly southern impression, though at the 
 same time something strange and novel. I 
 fancied myself in Ispahan, Bagdad, or some 
 place in the Arabian Nights. 
 
 Although Moscow does not contain more 
 than 300,000 inhabitants, yet with its gardens, 
 houses, churches, and convents, it covers the 
 space of two square German miles. In this flat 
 country there is scarce any view beyond the 
 
%tmv0 from Euööia* 79 
 
 farthest suburbs, and houses and trees stretch as 
 far as the horizon. 
 
 No city in the world, not even excepting 
 Rome, contains so many churches as the holy 
 Stolitza of Russia. They say that Moscow has 
 forty times forty houses of God. Each of these 
 has five, some even as many as sixteen cupolas, 
 which are gaily painted and roofed with coloured 
 glazed tiles, or richly silvered and gilded, so 
 that they shine and glitter against the blue sky 
 like the sun when it has but half risen above 
 the horizon. Even the slender towers, which 
 here and there rise above the enormous mass 
 of houses and gardens to a considerable height, 
 are decked with this sparkling covering, and 
 the finest palaces are never without a cupola. 
 
 The houses are almost always surrounded with 
 gardens, and their flat roofs of bright green or 
 red and their white walls, stand out in very 
 marked outlines on the back-ground of dark 
 trees. Only the Chinese quarter, the oldest 
 part, close to the Kremlin, called Kitai-gorod, 
 forms anything like what we call a town, where 
 house joins to house, and this is carefully 
 enclosed with a finely-turreted wall, and of 
 
8o %tmv0 from lR.u00ia* 
 
 course painted white. All the rest of the city 
 has the appearance of a collection of country- 
 houses, between which the Moskwa flows in 
 great curves. 
 
 On the hill of the Kremlin, close to the 
 palaces of the Czar and the patriarchs, are the 
 arsenal of the army and the sacred places of 
 the church. There are enthroned the highest 
 secular and the highest spiritual power. The 
 convents, which are mostly in the outer parts 
 of the city, are fortresses in themselves. 
 
 The merchants, the Ktipzi^ settled themselves 
 in Kitai-gorod, in order to protect behind its 
 walls the treasures they brought from China, 
 Bucharest, Byzantium, and Novgorod. All else, 
 and by far the largest part of the city, was built 
 by the nobility, and long after the first Emperor 
 had erected a new capital on the enemy's 
 territory, these, the magnates of the kingdom 
 who still clung to the customs of their fathers, 
 disdained the new city. 
 
 And the venerable Moscow with its ancient 
 sanctuaries, relics, and historical reminiscences is 
 still for every Russian an object of reverence and 
 love, and as soon as he, even from the distance 
 
%tttzv0 from 1K.u00ia. 8i 
 
 of a hundred miles, catches sight of the golden 
 cross on the church of Ivan Weliki, he falls on 
 his knees with devotion and patriotism. Peters- 
 burg is his pride, but Moscow lies next his 
 heart. 
 
 Moscow has really no resemblance what- 
 ever to Petersburg. Here there is no Neva, 
 no sea and no steamboats, no regular street, 
 no great squares, no wooded islands. But as 
 little does Moscow resemble any other city. 
 The cupolas, flat roofs, and trees, might remind 
 us of the east, but in the east the cupolas 
 have flat arches, are roofed with grey lead, and 
 topped with slender minarets ; in the houses 
 there are no windows looking out on to the 
 streets, and the gardens are enclosed in mono- 
 tonous, high walls. Moscow has a character all 
 its own, and if it must be compared with any- 
 thing, we can only call it Byzantine-moorish. 
 
 Russia, indeed, received her Christianity and 
 her first civilisation from Byzantium. She has 
 been till quite recent times, absolutely without 
 communication with the west, and therefore 
 developed the elements of civilisation given her 
 by the east in a manner perfectly national. 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 ILttttv^ from lRu00ia. 
 
 The yoke of the Monguls and Tartars which 
 lasted three hundred years, long hindered all 
 further progress. Civilisation was quite confined 
 to the convents, and it was from the convents that 
 freedom came at last. The Tartar khans never 
 demanded that the vanquished foe should 
 embrace Islamism ; they contented themselves 
 with receiving the tribute-money, and in order 
 to raise it, authority within the country itself 
 was required. They therefore strengthened the 
 respect with which the great princes and the 
 clergy were surrounded, and however hardly the 
 domination of these hordes pressed on the 
 development of the country, they nevertheless 
 encouraged among the oppressed people faith 
 in their religion, fidelity to their rulers, and love 
 for their common fatherland. 
 
 These characteristics distinguish the Russian 
 people even to the present day ; and when we 
 reflect that the essence of this people, the great 
 Russian nation, thirty-six millions of men of one 
 race, one creed, one tongue, forms the greatest 
 homogeneous mass of men in the world, who 
 can doubt that Russia has a great future 
 before her ? 
 
%emr0 from EugJ^ia. 83 
 
 It has been said that with increasing popu- 
 lation, the enormous kingdom must fall to 
 pieces of itself; but no part can exist with- 
 out the other, the wooded north needs the 
 corn-growing south; the industrial midland 
 needs them both ; while the interior is nothing 
 without the sea-coasts and nothing without the 
 great waterways of the Volga, which is navig- 
 able for 1,600 miles. But still more powerful 
 than all these is the community of feeling which 
 binds together even the most distant part. 
 
 And of this feeUng, Moscow is the centre 
 point, not only in the European empire, but in 
 the old sacred realm of the Czars, in which the 
 historical memories of the people are rooted, 
 and out of which its future m.ay yet perhaps arise. 
 
 The foreign civihsation, imposed by force, 
 never penetrated the mass of the people. The 
 national peculiarities have been thoroughly main- 
 tained in the language, manners, and customs, 
 as well as in a most remarkable communal con- 
 stitution, the most free, the most independent 
 that ever existed, and lastly, even in their archi- 
 4;ecture. 
 
 With regard to this, however, it is only a ques- 
 
84 lLmtv0 from IBlu^^ia. 
 
 tion of the churches. In Russia nearly everything 
 is new. Here, whatever is over a hundred 
 years old is considered to belong to antiquity. 
 The Russian dweUing-house is made of wood, 
 and consequently does not last so long, unless 
 it is protected, like that of Peter the Great, by 
 one of stone placed over it. The Emperor's 
 palaces too are new, and in Moscow only are 
 there still some remains of the old Dworez of 
 the Czars. Churches of the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth centuries exist, a very great age for 
 Russia, and the strongly conservative spirit of 
 the priesthood has caused all the later buildings 
 to be made similar to these. 
 
 St. Sophia at Constantinople is the model after 
 which all Russian churches are built. It has 
 been imitated everywhere, but equalled nowhere, 
 not even by St. Mark's at Venice. The material 
 as well as the skill was wanting to vault with 
 one arch a breadth of a hundred and twenty-six 
 feet : therefore what could not be obtained in 
 width was sought in height, and the cupolas were 
 made narrow and high like towers. The unhewn 
 stone, joined without art, required exceedingly 
 strong pillars and thick walls, in which the 
 
%mtv^ from Eu00ia* S5 
 
 windows were cut small and deep like loop- 
 holes. The brightest light comes through the 
 windows in the thinner walls which support the 
 cupola. Most of the churches are higher than 
 they are long or broad. The thick square 
 pillars contract the space, already small. No 
 -clear view is to be obtained, and a mysterious 
 darkness reigns over the whole. The most 
 famous Russian churches have only the tenth 
 part of the height of a Gothic cathedral. Most 
 of them were built, it is true, by Italian masters, 
 but they were obliged to follow the established 
 rule as to form. 
 
 As the architectural proportions did not 
 make a grand whole possible, they strove after 
 beauty in the decoration of details and in 
 brilliancy and splendour. Not satisfied with 
 gilding the churches inside and outside, they 
 paved the floors with stones, more or less pre- 
 cious, and ornamented the pictures, which were 
 in themselves of no artistic value, with jewels, 
 diamonds, and pearls. Only the face and 
 hands show the painting; the garments, the 
 crown, and everything else, is covered with 
 ;gold and silver plating, and jewels. 
 
86 lima0 from 1Ru00ia* 
 
 Sculpture is quite excluded as far as the 
 human figure is concerned, but in painting they 
 do not hesitate to represent God himself. The 
 gold ground which is used so much, is very un- 
 favourable for the flesh tints of the picture, and 
 they have besides the long-drawn contours of the 
 Byzantine and old German schools, without the 
 intensity of expression of the last. Gigantic and 
 frightful pictures often look down from the 
 cupola, which are meant to represent Mary, 
 Christ, John, or God the Father. The Russian 
 buys no pictures of saints which are not either 
 quite black or faded away. A lovely Madonna 
 by Raphael, or a fine Sebastian by Correggio, 
 seems to him not genuine. His faith requires 
 the gloom of his church and the clouds of 
 incense which at every mass veil the mysterious 
 functions of the priest. 
 
 The Byzantine element in Russian architec- 
 ture is also historically easy to explain ; the 
 Moorish element arose from the necessity for' 
 the ornamentation of individual parts, and only 
 concerns itself with these. 
 
 The trellises of the Ikonostasis are interwoven, 
 with leaves, bunches of grapes, and the figures of 
 
animals : the smooth walls, that is where they 
 are not gilded, display leaf-work, rosettes, or 
 vine-tendrils. Where this is not hewn out of 
 stone it is painted, and where these sorts of 
 designs were impracticable, they called to their 
 aid a variety of the brightest colours. But they 
 are far behind the tasteful, artistic arabesques 
 of the Alhambra, and of the Alcazar. 
 
 The most absurd thing I have ever seen in 
 architecture is the Iwan Blajennoj, a church 
 on the square in front of the Kremlin. It is 
 really impossible to describe it. First of all, 
 this building stands on quite uneven ground, 
 although the beautiful smooth square lies straight 
 before it. It is as if it clung to the precipice 
 with its leg hanging down behind it. There 
 is not one trace of symmetry in the whole of it. 
 It has no centre, and no one part is like 
 another. One cupola looks like an onion, 
 another like a pine-apple, an artichoke, a melon, 
 or a Turkish turban. It contains nine separate 
 churches, each with its altar, Ikonostasis, and 
 shrine. In one of them you walk on even 
 ground, in another you go up several steps. 
 Then there is a perfect labyrinth of passages — 
 
some hardly broad enough for two men to pass 
 each other. Of course all these churches are 
 very small, and the one under the principal tower 
 holds hardly more than twenty or thirty people, 
 and yet the roof of it reaches quite up to the 
 top of the tower, so that it is over a hundred 
 feet high. This church is painted inside and 
 out with all the colours of the rainbow, and 
 silvered and gilded. The cupola glistens with 
 red, green, and blue glazed tiles, and the painter 
 has even illuminated the work of the stone- 
 mason with colours. 
 
 This monstrosity sprang from the head of 
 the monster Iwan Grosnoj — John the Terrible. 
 It is said that when he saw his plan really 
 executed by the skill of the architect, he was 
 enchanted, loaded him with praise, embraced 
 him, and then ordered his eyes to be put out in 
 order to prevent him from making elsewhere a 
 similar masterpiece. 
 
 Yet, monstrous as it is, this church does not 
 make an unpleasing impression. Its originality 
 cannot at any rate be denied. 
 
 In contrast with this, everything that remains 
 of the old Dworez of the Czars is really beauti- 
 
lLttuv0 from Eu00ia> 89 
 
 ful. It is a simple building of four storys, 
 which are each narrower than the one below it, 
 thus leaving a terrace open all round each story. 
 Besides the little house-chapel, which is of extra- 
 ordinary richness, the second story contains the 
 banqueting-hall, which is built like the Chapter 
 House in Marienburg, only there the whole roof is 
 borne by one slender column, while here the pillar 
 is much thicker. The entrance door is in one 
 corner ; the throne stands diagonally in the 
 opposite corner. The walls are now hung with 
 splendid tapestry, and the great throne with 
 cloth-of-gold, which is edged with the finest 
 ermine. These hangings cost forty thousand 
 roubles. The elegant little rooms on the third 
 story are quite charming. The fourth story 
 contains only one large room, which was the 
 Terima, the women's apartment, and in it Peter I. 
 grew up. 
 
 There was now an extremely pretty sight : 
 the commanding officers of all the regiments 
 assembled, those of the cavalry regiments being 
 on horseback, to receive the counter-sign, so 
 that we saw a sample of every one of these 
 brilliant uniforms. The cuirassiers with the 
 
90 ILtttzv^ from 1Ru00ia^ 
 
 Byzantine double eagle on the helmet, like our 
 Gardes du corps ^ but carrying lances ; the Uhlans 
 exactly like ours ; the hussars in white dolmans 
 with gold lace ; the line Cossacks with fur caps 
 and red caftans ; the Tschernamorskischen 
 Cossacks in dark blue coats with red scarves ; 
 the Ural Cossacks bright blue, all with lances, 
 on little horses with very high saddles. The 
 Tartars are generally heathens or Mussulmen. 
 The Tcherkesses appeared in helmets and coats- 
 of-mail. They went through their extraordinary 
 performances in riding, shooting from horseback 
 with their long guns, protecting themselves 
 against their pursuers with the kantschu, at one 
 time bending down on one side till they could 
 touch the ground with their hands, while at others 
 they stood upright in their saddles. All this at full 
 gallop and accompanied with loud cries. 
 
 One regiment particularly pleased me, that of 
 the Drushines, which is raised on the Imperial 
 estates. They wear a cap with the St. Andrew's 
 cross, bare neck, the caftan of the country people, 
 but without buttons, very wide trousers (the shirt 
 outside, like all common Russians), the legs of 
 the trousers tucked into the half-high boots. 
 
3Lemr0 from Eu^^fa* 91 
 
 This is the uniform of the Mushiks, and is a 
 national, becoming, and practical dress. The 
 man can wear his fur (which is here indis- 
 pensable) underneath, and I think I may predict 
 that the whole Russian infantry will adopt a 
 similar uniform. Les proverbes so fit V esprit des 
 peuples, and the national dress is the result of 
 the experience of centuries, as to what is suit- 
 able to the purpose, as well as becoming. The 
 Austrian uniform is white in Moravia, but brown 
 in Banat, according to the colour of the sheep 
 in those countries. The Spaniard wears the 
 tabarra, the colour of the goats which furnish 
 the material of which they are made ; the Arab 
 is white from head to foot, because the heat of 
 his climate requires it j and the caftan of the 
 Mushik is adopted not by chance or from 
 caprice, but because it is the best adapted to 
 those who wear it. 
 
 The co7'tege of the emperor is really imposing 
 — quite five hundred horses. 
 
 I only wish I had a better memory for persons 
 and names. I have come to know a number of 
 interesting men, — that is to say, I have been 
 introduced to them. Prince Gortschakoff, 
 
92 ?Lemr0 from lBlu00ia. 
 
 Lüders, Berg, and Osten-Sacken, who all had 
 commands in the late war ; Orloff, Mentschi- 
 koff, Adlerberg, Liewen, the Governor of 
 Siberia, and the commander of the army from 
 Caucasus, a host of officers, and the foreign 
 princes and their suites. 
 
 It is generally possible to feel happy enough 
 on a strange horse if we are tolerably confident of 
 getting off again without mischief to ourselves 
 or others. But here bad riders come up close 
 behind — horses turn up in the most unexpected 
 corners, plunging and kicking in every direction. 
 It is easy enough to ride alone, but in such a 
 crowd, at a sharp trot on a spirited animal, 
 it is indeed necessary to keep the eyes open. 
 Suddenly the Emperor stops, and all pull up ; 
 or he takes a turn, and then the confusion 
 is fearful ; or he gallops on, and everyone starts 
 forward, while his head jerks backward with the 
 sudden movement. Then the fluttering flags, 
 the braying of the trumpets, the rolling of the 
 drums, and the never-ceasing "Hurrahs" prepare 
 us to see something. I rode a small black horse 
 which I should have liked for my own : he went 
 just like an East - Prussian, only very eager, 
 
%ttm0 from 18.u00ia. 93 
 
 taking me more than once in front between the 
 grand-dukes. However, I soon got on very 
 well with him, especially after we came to 
 understand one another. He liked an easy 
 seat and light hand, which in such difficulties 
 was not always possible to give him. 
 
 This evening at sunset I went again to the 
 Kremlin. '•'■ Diem per didi !'''' I shall say of every 
 day during my stay here on which I do not 
 visit this wonderful place ! 
 
 Then I went down to the Moskwa again, and 
 from the very beautiful quay I had a view from 
 below the great white walls, the towers and 
 gates which surround the palace of the czars, 
 and a whole city of churches of the most extra- 
 ordinary style of architecture. This evening 
 there is to be a great festival in the city, from 
 which I shall excuse myself in order to write. 
 I received so many impressions that it is hardly 
 possible to work out and arrange all my thoughts. 
 
 I try to arrive at some understanding of the 
 buildings in this place. In Culm, in West 
 Prussia, I saw last year in the market-place 
 such a peculiar Rathhaii-s that I have never 
 been able to get it out of my head — now I 
 
94 %tmv0 from 1&u00ia* 
 
 comprehend that it is built after the Moscow 
 style of architecture. There were many relations 
 between the Livonian knights and the German 
 knights in Prussia, and one of their architects 
 may have repeated on the Vistula what he had 
 seen in Moscow. I was reminded here of the 
 East by the fountains, little, round, roofed-over 
 houses in the principal open places, round 
 which men and animals are continually lying, 
 brought there by the necessity for water. At 
 first they seem rude and clumsy when com- 
 pared with the beautiful architecture, the rich 
 sculpture, the golden lattice-work, and the 
 marble walls of those in the palaces at 
 Constantinople. There are here, just as in the 
 Mosques, enormous flocks of doves, which 
 are so tame that they hardly get out of 
 the way of the carriages and passers by. 
 They are often chased away from the shops 
 like a number of hens, and they are to be 
 seen everywhere picking up their food. No 
 one does them any harm, and to eat them 
 would seem to the Russian a sin. The Gos~ 
 tinoj-Dwor, the '" market-hall especially, is a 
 reproduction of the oriental Tschurchi ; but 
 
lLtmv0 from IRu^^ia^ 95 
 
 there the stalls stand farther apart from one 
 another. The little narrow passages which 
 separate them are roofed over ; there is the 
 same darkness, and almost the same smell of 
 leather and spices as in the Missir, or the Egyp- 
 tian market at Constantinople. Here, however, 
 there are almost entirely imported European 
 wares, which can be procured better and cheaper 
 at home, so that there is not much temptation to 
 buy. 
 
 If I had to choose, I would much rather live 
 in Moscow than in Petersburg. 
 
 Peter the Great found an inland country 
 entirely without sea-coast. He might have 
 chosen either the Black Sea or Baltic to bring 
 him into connection with the civilised world, 
 but whichever it might be, it had first to be 
 conquered. The hot-headed king of Sweden 
 drew him into a northern war, and besides, the 
 southern sea was then surrounded by barbarians. 
 It is said that he had originally intended to 
 found his new capital on the Black Sea, and 
 had even fixed on its site, but the one coast is 
 not much farther from the centre of the king- 
 dom than the other. 
 
96 1temr0 from 1Blu00ia. 
 
 What if he had built his Petersburg on the 
 splendid harbour of Sebastopol, never to be 
 blockaded by a winter's ice? or close to the 
 paradise of Tschadyr Dagh, where the vine grows 
 wild, and everything that is found in the conser- 
 vatories on the Neva flourishes in the open air, 
 where no floods bring destruction, and where 
 the fleet, instead of being frozen up for seven 
 months of the year, might keep up communica- 
 tion with the loveliest lands of Europe more 
 easily than from the Gulf of Finland ? 
 
 What a city would Petersburg have been, if 
 its wide streets had stretched down to Balaclava, 
 and the Winter Palace had looked on the deep 
 blue mirror of the Euxine ; if the Isaac's Church 
 had stood on the heights of Malakoff ; if Alushta 
 and Orianda had been the Peterhof and Gat- 
 schina of the Imperial family ! 
 
%tmv^ from 1R,u00ia. 97 
 
 Moscow, August 29. 
 
 nPHE entree joyeuse which obliges lords and 
 ladies to go in full dress for a mile on horse- 
 back or in glass coaches, while half a million of 
 spectators in the streets look on, while the priests 
 in gorgeous vestments bear aloft the sacred 
 vessels and crosses ; and a hundred thousand 
 soldiers are to be reviewed — such an entree 
 joyeuse requires of all things the fine sunny day 
 which we have surely a right to expect in the 
 dog-days. 
 
 To-day, however, the first day of the festival, 
 began with rain and gloom ; but towards noon 
 a bit of blue sky was visible, large enough for a 
 ^^ pair of marine trotisers,^^ and by and by the 
 weather cleared up and it remained fine, in 
 spite of heavy clouds, till the entree was over. 
 
 We were appointed to be at Petrowski by 
 one o'clock, fornt takes time to get such a pro- 
 cession into movement. I tried to pass the 
 time of waiting in looking at the monstrous 
 carriages. Thirty of these were drawn by 
 six grays, but that of the Empress by eight 
 dun-coloured horses, all of which were more 
 
 H 
 
98 %tmv^ from lBlu00ia. 
 
 than six feet high. The Russians drive four 
 or five horses abreast, so they have had a great 
 many coachmen from Prussia who are accus- 
 tomed to drive four horses from the box, 
 and who here get fifty roubles for doing so. 
 Imprecations in Russian, English, and German 
 were to be heard, as the animals, in spite of all 
 their training, and in spite of the efforts of a foot- 
 man covered with gold lace at the head of 
 each one, strongly object to move forward with 
 the ponderous vehicles behind them. At last, 
 however, they all moved off. 
 
 The harness and trappings are of silk and 
 gold, and the powdered coachman, the pages on 
 horseback, the imperial Jägers, the lords in 
 waiting — all are stiff with gold lace and em- 
 broidery. 
 
 Many more than a hundred generals, and as 
 many imperial adjutants, glittered in stars and 
 ribbons. The troops formed in line from 
 Petrowski quite to the Kremlin ; outside the 
 town the cavalry in regiments, and inside the 
 infantry in battalion columns en ligne, all dark 
 brown bearded faces. The regiment Paulowsk 
 (in which every man must have a turned up 
 
Tartar nose, because the Emperor Paul was 
 gifted with such a one), wears the pointed 
 metal grenadier cap, such as our first Regiment 
 of Guards wears, and quite a third of the 
 •caps showed one or two holes through which 
 bullets had passed. 
 
 All the windows and platforms were closely 
 .filled, and here the strangest sights were to be 
 seen. Peasants with long beards, merchants' 
 wives literally covered with real pearls, Tscher- 
 kessen in their fine national costume, Mingrelian 
 princes who had slings for their head covering, 
 Heathen Tartars, Budhist, Kalmucks, European 
 diplomatists, Mussulman, Swabian peasants, and 
 .fine gentlemen from Paris and London. 
 
 At three o'clock several cannon shots told 
 that the procession was on its way. First came 
 .a division of police in bright blue uniforms, then 
 the scarlet Tscherkesses in coats-of-mail. After 
 these the Marshal in his phaeton, then the 
 Lord Chamberlain in a glass coach and six. 
 Behind these rode two squadrons of cuirassiers 
 with glittering cuirasses, silver eagles on the 
 'helmets, and the first armed with lances. Now 
 .appeared the Emperor in general's uniform, on 
 
TOO %mzv9i from Eu^öia. 
 
 a beautiful dapple gray charger, with Prince 
 Friedrich Wilhelm ot Prussia on his right ; 
 behind him, Prince Friedrich of the Nether- 
 lands, the three eldest sons of the Emperor, all 
 the grand-dukes and the foreign princes, then 
 the whole multitude of the different retinues — 
 generals and adjutants. Then came the two 
 Empresses and their ladies in coaches. A 
 division of infantry closed the procession. 
 
 Owing to the endless hurrahs of the crowd, 
 the braying of trumpets, the bands of music, 
 the ringing of bells, and the thunder of cannon, 
 many horses were very restive, and every time 
 the Emperor stopped to take the bread and salt 
 from the magistrate, or to be sprinkled with 
 holy water in front of the church, when every 
 one uncovered, the confusion was indescribable. 
 
 But everything passed off wonderfully well, and 
 the good order which prevailed in the streets 
 was surprising, although no one hindered the 
 people from seeing their Batuschka, who on his 
 part was never tired of saluting, in a grave but 
 pleasant manner, the people who thronged every 
 window and platform and open space in the city,. 
 
 As we approached the Kremlin, the guns 
 
ILtmv^ from 3K.u00ia^ loi 
 
 thundered from every tower, and the great 
 ^'/o/zn'' expressed his joy by ringing all the 
 Xolokols, which hang around him. Then the 
 great Wetschewoi boomed which had once called 
 the warlike population to arms, in the time of 
 the great Republic of Novgorod, when the Mus- 
 covite grand-dukes threatened their freedom, 
 and then there was a booming, and a tinkling, 
 and a humming of all the bells, large and small, 
 far and near, with which Ivan keeps high festival. 
 
 Only one bell remains dumb, as in joy or 
 sorrow it has been dumb since the first day 
 of its existence. It stands on a layer of granite, 
 at the foot of the great tower, a house of brass 
 with walls two feet thick. A piece which came 
 out in the casting lies there before it, and leaves 
 :a free entrance through which the twenty or 
 thirty men can pass whom this ruined bell can 
 comfortably accommodate. 
 
 Before the outer gate of the Kremlin, in a 
 beautiful little chapel, is the image of the Iberian 
 ^'- Boshja mater ^' which is so much venerated 
 that hardly the busiest tradesman passes it by 
 without entering for a moment and crossing 
 himself. 
 
Here the Emperor descended from his horse, 
 and went in to pay his devotions. The whole 
 suite, however, rode through the gate, and 
 marched in front of the wall of the Kremlin 
 on to the great open space, Krasnoj Ploscht- 
 schad. The Czar quickly rejoined us, and 
 we all went through the Redeemer's door, the 
 sacred spass woroto^ into the inner court. 
 
 Through this door no Russian, and indeed no 
 stranger, passes without uncovering — the highest 
 personage and the lowest alike testify their 
 respect for this miraculous picture of the 
 Saviour. In time past, when the Tartars at- 
 tacked the Kremlin, such a mist came forth 
 from the picture, that they were unable to 
 find the entrance j and when the French wished 
 to destroy the gate with the arsenal, the tower 
 was cracked all the way down to the crystal 
 plate of the picture, which remained unhurt, and. 
 held the whole wall together. 
 
 On the other side of the door we dismounted, 
 very well pleased to get out of the crowd of 
 loose horses and stand quietly on the red 
 carpet to await the arrival of the Empresses and 
 the grand duchesses. First came the Empress'' 
 
mother, and then the reigning Empress in a 
 dress of gold brocade and ermine. The man- 
 teaux of the grand duchesses were of velvet or 
 lace with gold and pearls. All the ladies of the 
 court wore the national costume, which you 
 know is of scarlet velvet. 
 
 Their Majesties now went in solemn pro- 
 cession to Uspenski Sabor, the Church of the 
 Redemption, the veritable cathedral before 
 which the superior clergy awaited the Emperor. 
 This church, in which the coronation takes place, 
 and in which the Patriarchs are buried, is like 
 all Russian churches, extremely rich, but narrow 
 and dark. The great thick pillars take up half 
 the space ; the windows are small and deep ; the 
 cupolas high and narrow like towers. All the 
 walls and pillars are gilded from top to bottom, 
 and on this gold ground the peculiar, long 
 drawn, often quite distorted, pictures of the 
 saints are painted. Frightful mosaic pictures 
 look down from the cupola above, amongst 
 others one of an old man with a gray 
 beard, which can be no one else but God 
 the Father Himself I pass over the enormous 
 treasures of gold, silver, and jewels, with which 
 
I04 
 
 %ttm^ from lBlu00ia* 
 
 the pictures of the saints are covered, and only- 
 notice the book of the gospels of Natalie 
 Narischkin, which was presented by the mother 
 of Peter the Great. The binding is of gold, and 
 is worth a million of roubles. The book has to 
 be carried by two priests, because it is too heavy 
 for one. 
 
 The Emperor performed his devotions be- 
 fore the principal images of the saints. He 
 knelt down quite close to me, crossed him- 
 self, and kissed the relics. The Empress 
 followed with her long train carried by two 
 pages, and did the same. 
 
 The Court of the Redeemer is shut off by a 
 beautiful trellis, and is, except a part of the old 
 palace of the Czars, entirely surrounded by 
 churches, which contain the most sacred relics 
 of Russia. A shorter procession led their 
 Majesties and their whole retinue into Arch- 
 angelski Sabor, the Church of the Archangel 
 Michael, which contains the graves of all the 
 Czars till the first Emperor, then into Blagowest- 
 schenki, or the Church of the Annunciation, 
 which is narrower, more peculiar, and more 
 gorgeous than all the others. It is a perfect 
 
%tmv0 from Eu^^ia* 105 
 
 little jewel-box. The cross and cupola are of 
 pure gold, and the pavement is inlaid with 
 jasper, agate, and cornelian, from Siberia. 
 
 Everywhere the Emperor was received with 
 the wonderful Russian church-melodies, and 
 now that he had given glory to God, the whole 
 splendid procession passed down the open steps, 
 Krasnoi Kryltzo, which were covered with scarlet 
 cloth, to the old Palace of the Czars, which 
 directly communicates with the magnificent 
 rooms of the new palace built by the Emperor 
 Alexander. Then we went through the enor- 
 mous St. George's Hall, whose walls bear the 
 names of all the knights of St. George, to St. 
 Andrew's Hall, which is like the nave of an 
 old Gothic cathedral, and St. Nicolas' Hall, at 
 the end of which is the throne itself. In the 
 midst of the imperial escutcheons are to be 
 seen the family arms of the Romanow and 
 the Duke of Holstein, the two cross-beams of 
 Oldenburg, the lion of Norway, the nettle leaf 
 of Holstein, the lion of Schleswig, and others. 
 And so at last we came once more to the 
 Imperial residence, whose comfo7'table magni- 
 ficence we had already seen, and at six o'clock. 
 
io6 %ttttv0 from lBlu00ia^ 
 
 all the ceremonies being concluded, we hastened 
 home to our well-earned dinner in Princess 
 Trubetzkois' house. 
 
 Sahir day, August 30. 
 
 A GRAND parade in the courtyard of the 
 ^ Kremlin before the Emperor. After it 
 some equestrian performances took place. In 
 the evening we were at the French theatre. 
 
Sunday, August 31. 
 
 Tl TE drove to the convent of St. Dimitri 
 Donskoj, a complete fortress with battle- 
 mented walls and towers. The church is very- 
 beautiful, high, and unusually light ; the Ikono- 
 stasis, which is covered with gold and pictures 
 up to a hundred feet high, is of exceeding 
 splendour. We heard mass, and had enough 
 of the constant repetition oi ^^ gos_podi _poi?iüui" 
 as the priest raised the bread high above his 
 head and carried it through the Emperor's door ; 
 he shut this behind him and was seen through 
 the golden lattice in a cloud of incense, the spark- 
 ling jewels of his tiara flashing here and there as 
 he moved. Then there was a tinkling and some 
 mysterious movements, after which the voices 
 of the singers were heard as they began one of 
 those wonderful melodies which in Russia alone 
 can be heard in such perfection ! Who could 
 have expected to hear in this place such voices 
 and such execution ? We remained motionless 
 till the singing ceased, the doors opened, and 
 the priests displayed the miracle to the kneeling 
 multitude. 
 
io8 %tmv^ from lBlu0g^ia. 
 
 To-day it is bright and sunny, very much 
 Hke what we almost always have in Rome 
 in December, only somewhat colder. Every 
 one wears cloaks and furs, and if there came a 
 little snow no one would be much surprised. 
 We took advantage of this fine weather to drive 
 to Sparrowhill. The Moskwa makes a beauti- 
 ful bend here round another convent, the 
 Djewitschi Monastery. It lies on the open 
 " Maiden^ s Meadow ^^ where the Emperor feasts 
 all the " black people " after his coronation. On 
 the other side lay Moscow in the sunshine, 
 spread out in full beauty. So it must have 
 looked to the French when, after such dreadful 
 hardships, they expected this city to afford them 
 rest and peace, and comfortable quarters for the 
 winter. Three days later and all was covered 
 with a sea of flames, and Napoleon fled from 
 the Kremlin to Petrowskoi. 
 
 After breakfast we visited the strangest church 
 in Moscow, that of Ivan Blajennoj, and then 
 " Redee7ner''s Church^^ the most beautiful in all 
 Russia, which is still in process of building. 
 It is large and light, which can hardly be said 
 of any other. The cupola is eighty feet in 
 
nettere from B.u00ia. 109 
 
 diameter. In the evening I went by command 
 to visit the Empress-Mother at Alexandrinik. 
 This palace is on the Moskwa, and quite in the 
 city, though almost a mile from our quarter. 
 The Empress held a Court, and Prince Friedrich 
 Wilhelm, Prince Hohenzollern, Adlerberg, and I 
 were invited. Only the few persons who were 
 expressly invited to do so took seats in the pre- 
 sence of the Empress — the others all remained 
 in the saloon. Her Majesty, in white muslin, 
 dressed, as usual, very simply but elegantly, sat 
 in an arm-chair, with her feet on a little stool. 
 The conversation was quite unconstrained. It 
 was pleasant to see how the mamma rejoiced in 
 her youngest stripling son, the last who remained 
 under her roof Sometimes he had something 
 to ask, sometimes a little joke to make, and the 
 features of the Empress, though always grave, 
 were full of benevolence and goodness. Her 
 manner reminds one very much of her late 
 father. 
 
Monday^ September i. 
 
 T AST night it froze hard, and people were 
 "^ afraid for the orange-trees in the conser- 
 vatories. I had the gigantic stove in my room 
 heated a little, for the thermometer showed only- 
 seven degrees of heat, and you know how I 
 hate this temperature. 
 
 At twelve o'clock we drove towards Petrowskoi, 
 where there was a grand review of the army. 
 The troops stood in six lines and the Emperor 
 rode with his enormous retinue along the whole 
 front. At the march past there were present in 
 troops and regiments — 
 
 63,560 men Infantry. 
 9,740 „ Cavalry. 
 1,700 „ Artillery, with 136 guns. 
 
 75,000 men. 
 
 This is the body-guard and a division of grena- 
 diers. If these troops had been set out in one 
 line they would have extended one German mile 
 (four English), and though they stood in battal- 
 ions they reached a very considerable distance. 
 
%tmv^ from 1ßlu00ia* m 
 
 The Empress was in a tent in front of which 
 the march past took place ; the Infantry in 
 battalion columns, the Cavalry in squadrons, 
 and the Artillery in batteries. It lasted about 
 two hours and a half. There was a cutting 
 wind which covered us with dust, and which 
 must have been very injurious to the em- 
 broidered uniforms. After the march past the 
 columns of cavalry were placed close to one 
 another and then formed a line of about 2,000 
 feet long at a distance of about 800 feet from 
 the spectators. The Emperor rode forward, 
 and at his command this mass of quite 10,000 
 horse dashed forward at full gallop right down 
 in front of where we were standing, where the 
 halt was called. 
 
 That the troops should have returned from 
 such long marches in full war strength I should 
 have thought hardly possible. 
 
 There is now a Court dinner every day at 
 the Kremlin, and then we go to the Theatre. 
 The Opera House, which is just rebuilt, the 
 old one having been destroyed by fire, was re- 
 opened to-day. It is as broad as the one 
 at Berlin, but has not quite so much depth. 
 
112 ILzmv^i from 1K,u00ia. 
 
 It is, however, much more lofty, and has six 
 tiers of boxes, one over another. The whole 
 is white, with a great deal of gilding and red 
 draperies. The Imperial box is roomy and 
 richly decorated, but the ceiling, on the contrary, 
 is so poor that I believe it to be only provision- 
 ally finished. The stage is very roomy, but 
 the decorations and lighting only tolerable. 
 Moscow has at present no gas, as there is a 
 want of coal, of which, however, there are rich 
 fields within loo miles of the city. 
 
 They gave us Bellini's " Puritani " with La- 
 blache and Bosio. 
 
Tuesday, September 2. 
 
 nPHE whole day has been taken up with 
 •^ presentations. The entire diplomatic 
 corps presented themselves to the prince, 
 Count Morny, Prince Esterhazy, Lord Gran- 
 ville, Prince de Ligne as envoys, then the other 
 ambassadors, with all their attaches in court 
 dress and in splendid equipages, arrived. The 
 prince, attended by all his suite, received them 
 in great state. With the ease of manner 
 which is peculiar to him, and assisted by 
 his prodigious memory for persons and cir- 
 cumstances, he knew how to say something 
 suitable to each of them. As a refreshment, 
 we afterwards climbed up the great Hans, Ivan 
 Weliki, from whence there is a very extended 
 view. But we contented ourselves with stop- 
 ping half way up, where we could see over all 
 the churches and courts of the Kremlin. What 
 lies beyond the city, too, is not beautiful, 
 chiefly woods. I escaped from the dinner, and 
 took a delightful walk round the walls of the 
 Kitai-gorod. These walls are of enormous 
 strength, with very high machicolated battle- 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 ILtmv^ from Euö^ia* 
 
 merits, which command the very foot of the 
 walls. Great towers stand like bulwarks before 
 them. They are quite impregnable for Tartars. 
 In the evening we saw the wearisome "Gisela" 
 danced, then about ten o'clock we went to the 
 ball at the English ambassador's. In the morn- 
 ing by six o'clock we shall go to see the famous 
 Troitzki Convent, seventy versts from here. 
 
%txttv0 from Eu00ia. 115 
 
 Wednesday, Septetnber 3. 
 
 AT six o'clock this morning we had already- 
 started in five carriages-and-four. It was 
 the finest, warmest day we have yet had in Russia. 
 
 The country is tolerably pretty and culti- 
 vated. In some fields oats, rye, and buck- 
 wheat are still standing, in others the winter 
 seed is already a hand high. There is no time 
 to be lost here, for winter may come very sud- 
 denly. The villages consist of little wooden 
 houses, but they almost always have a fine 
 church with a green cupola, so that they look 
 pretty from a distance. There are generally 
 also the tall chimneys of the cloth or sugar 
 manufactories. 
 
 A newly-built rather important aqueduct sur- 
 prised me very much ; it brings drinking water 
 to Moscow from a distance of several miles. 
 The country is formed of low flat hills, and 
 the only variety is afforded by occasional 
 little valleys caused by streams. We made the 
 distance to Troitzka in little more than four 
 hours and a quarter, although it is ten miles off 
 {forty English miles). 
 
ii6 
 
 %ttm0 from Eu^^ia* 
 
 The Convent of Troitzka is of especial sanc- 
 tity and historical importance, for on two occa- 
 sions the deliverance of Russia from the Tartar 
 and the PoHsh yoke issued from this convent. 
 Neither these nations nor the French in 1812 
 entered it. It is true that it lay quite out of the 
 line of the operations of the Emperor Napoleon,, 
 but still the Russians ascribe its safety to the 
 wonder-working portrait of Saint Sergius, who is 
 buried here. This picture was, they told me, 
 removed to Sebastopol, but it was not able to 
 prevent the place from being taken. There is 
 not much to be seen in the way of architecture 
 here. The finest thing is the very thick, high 
 wall which, with its fortified towers, defends 
 this Httle fortress. It has withstood the Pohsh 
 guns in a siege. The Kolokol is something 
 like the tower of the CathoHc Church in Dresden,, 
 and contains very fine large bells. They took 
 us on two versts farther to visit the Convent of 
 Grottoes, 7nais V affaire 7ie valait pas la chandelle. 
 In returning, the carriage I was in ran into 
 one of the others; the four miserable little 
 horses which are harnessed to these carriages 
 are not very easy to stop, and are accustomed 
 
TLtmt^ from Eu00ia. 117 
 
 to set off at once in full gallop. Both the 
 Iswostschicks were ambitious to get first over 
 a small bridge which had no balustrade and was 
 ■only provided with a hand-rail, so we clashed 
 together exactly in the middle of the bridge. 
 Two of the horses fell into the ditch, some of 
 the harness was broken, and the axle of my 
 carriage was bent. But such things are of 
 common occurrence here. We tied up the 
 broken straps with string, and set off again at 
 full gallop. By seven o'clock in the evening we 
 got back^ dined, and I was in time to hear the 
 end of " I Puritani!^ 
 
ii8 TLtmv^ from IBlu^^ia. 
 
 Thursday, September 4. 
 
 A T the levee of the Austrian ambassador, 
 ^^^ Prince Esterhazy, who has fitted up his 
 house in very fine style. Such a house costs 
 here twenty thousand silver roubles for six weeks. 
 We met Prince Schwarzenberg, Apponyi, Chotek, 
 and many other Austrian gentlemen. 
 
 An excursion to the Convent of Simonofki 
 showed us another fortress at the edge of the city, 
 from which there is a splendid view. Then Von 
 Werther gave us a very elaborate dinner, Lord' 
 Granville, Count Kissileff, Prince Gortschakoff, 
 Adlerberg, Berg, Tolstoj, Woodhouse, Suworofi", 
 etc. The last is a noble, genial man ; he wears 
 the order of the Annunciata which he has in- 
 herited from his father, the celebrated Suworoff 
 whom this order raised to be cousin du rot. 
 
 We then drove to the Grand Duchess Helena's^, 
 and thence to a ball at Lord Granville's. 
 
TLttm^ from Eu00ia> 119 
 
 Friday y September 5. 
 
 A T nine o'clock we went to the spacious 
 market on the south side of the high walls 
 of the Kremlin, called the ''Rothen Platz;' or the 
 Red Square. It originally formed the glacis of 
 this fortress, and the battlements and towers of 
 the old Czar's palace frown down upon it. In 
 later times the merchants settled here, and the 
 view extends along the whole northern side o± 
 the beautiful fagade of the Gostinnoj Dwor and 
 the great bazaar in the Chinese quarter. On 
 the east side is the singular church, Blajennoj, 
 with its numerous cupolas and towers, and on 
 the west side there is the entrance through two 
 arches under the gate tower, in front of which 
 is the much-frequented chapel of the Iberian 
 Madonna. In the middle the statue of the 
 Burgher Minin is seated, and giving the sword 
 into the hand of Prince Posharski to deliver his 
 country from Polish rule. As soon as the 
 great Ivan struck the hour, two heralds richly 
 dressed, carrying gold staves, with shields and 
 helmets, passed through the Saint SaviouT^s 
 door (one of them unfortunately had his nose 
 
120 
 
 %tmt0 from IBlu^^ia* 
 
 ornamented with a pair of spectacles). They 
 were followed by twenty fine white horses 
 with heavy trappings of cloth-of-gold, on which 
 wxre embroidered the imperial eagles. The 
 horses were led by grooms magnificently dressed, 
 covered with gold lace, who bore printed pro- 
 clamations. Two squadrons of cuirassiers with 
 blaring trumpets closed the procession, which 
 marched to the bronze statue of Posharski. 
 The heralds proclaimed the approaching coro- 
 nation of the new Emperor of all the Russias, 
 scattered the proclamations amongst the people, 
 and went on their way through the city. 
 
 We rode into the camp of the infantry and 
 foot artillery; the cavalry is in cantonments. 
 This town under canvas, with its fifty thousand in- 
 habitants, has broad regular streets : it is placed 
 on a treeless plain, and is very well suited for 
 its purpose. Fourteen of these military monks 
 sleep in one cell ; they lie on wooden beds, 
 with a little straw, and cover themselves with 
 their long grey cloaks. Their knapsack is their 
 pillow, and their arms stand in the middle of 
 the tent, each of which is surrounded by a little 
 wall of earth ; the trench thus formed is very 
 
%tmv0 from Eu00ia* 
 
 121 
 
 useful, but in excessive rain the water finds 
 its way in from above. The month of July- 
 had been so cold that they had lighted enormous 
 fires, but they were continually put out by the 
 rain. Now, on the contrary, everything is 
 covered with dust. Every droschky whirls up 
 a cloud, as if a cavalry regiment were trotting 
 by, and yet this dreary waste is preferred to 
 the barracks. 
 
 The food is very good ; each man has three 
 pounds of good black bread a day, baked by 
 the companies themselves, and half a pound 
 of meat. Sauer-kraut soup and buck-wheat 
 groats are their favourite luxuries. Dinner 
 is eaten in the open air in companies, planks 
 being used for forms, and weather not being 
 taken into consideration. When asked, the 
 men answered loudly and all together, like 
 a battalion salvo, that they were doing very 
 well ; but they were very quiet, no singing or 
 joking as among our men. They like to get 
 behind the camp where their superiors, of whom 
 they stand in awe, do not come. Then they sit 
 down on the ground in their much-loved cloaks 
 and talk till the Cossacks drive them away. 
 
122 TLztm^ from lßlu00ia^ 
 
 Paternal authority is the basis of all legal power 
 in Russia. However unjust and hard a father 
 may be, his injustice and his hardness does not 
 overthrow his divine right. The Russian must 
 above all things have a master; if he has not one, 
 he seeks one for himself. The parish chooses 
 a starost from among the oldest men ; without 
 him it would be like a swarm of bees without 
 a queen. " Our country is good, but we have 
 no head ; come and reign over us," was the 
 message they sent to Ruric. And the Warägers 
 came from Norway and ruled for centuries till 
 the usurper Boris Godunow had the last de- 
 scendant of Ruric assassinated. The little 
 Dimitri, a boy of six years — the only real Dimitri, 
 and not one of the pretenders who were after- 
 wards brought forward, — is laid in a richly 
 ornamented coffin, in the church of Archangel 
 at the Kremlin. They open the coffin on fete 
 days. Every Russian who enters the church 
 kneels before the dried-up body of the child 
 who had been his little father; and although 
 this child had never exercised the power, he 
 none the less receives the homage of all Russia, 
 even to the present day. Boris, the powerful 
 
%ttttv^ from lElu00ia^ 123 
 
 ruler, the conqueror of the Tartars, the friend 
 of the clergy, who had filled the churches and 
 convents with gold and jewels, has not found a 
 place in this long series of the tombs of the 
 Czars. We saw his simple tomb at the Con- 
 vent of Troitzka : the clergy have buried their 
 benefactor outside their church. His likeness 
 even is not to be found in the long series of 
 Czars, on the gilded walls of Archangelski, 
 where Ivan the Terrible rests in peace beside 
 his murdered son, as if nothing had happened. 
 The Romanoffs are the alone surviving descend- 
 ants, by a daughter of the race of Ruric, and a 
 daughter of Romanoff brought the sceptre of 
 Russia to a prince of the house of Holstein. 
 
 And so "with the soldiers. They would be 
 in the greatest distress without their captain. 
 Who would look after them, lead them, punish 
 them ? They may, perhaps, think that he has 
 appropriated their property or ill-treated them 
 in anger, but they love him more even than 
 the Germans do, who are chastised with justice 
 and deliberation. If a European soldier saw 
 his officer in a state of drunkenness, there would 
 be an end of discipline ; but a Russian soldier 
 
124 ILttttv^ from lR.u00ia. 
 
 puts him to bed, wipes off the dust, and obeys 
 him in the morning when he has slept himself 
 sober, with the same devotion as before. 
 
 The Russian peasants are naturally good- 
 humoured and peaceable. I have never seen 
 the people fighting or wrestling. They have no 
 bull-fights or cock-fights. But their feeling for 
 their superiors makes them, much against their 
 inclination it is true, most submissive soldiers. 
 During the flood in Petersburg sentries were 
 drowned because they had not been discharged 
 from their posts. As the Winter Palace was 
 burning, a priest rescued the sacred vessels from 
 the chapel. In the corridor he found a sentinel 
 and told him the danger of remaining longer at 
 his post. " Prikass ! " (Orders) said the man ; 
 received absolution, and was burnt. 
 
 Historical portraits are always interesting. 
 Even when they have in themselves no value 
 as works of art, it seems possible to read the 
 fate and the deeds of great personages in their 
 features. Who can fail to be interested, if after 
 following the history of Charles the First of 
 England, he contemplates the noble, melan- 
 choly expression which Van Dyke knew how to 
 
Hetterö from Euööia. 125 
 
 depict in his portrait at Windsor. So Charles 
 looked whilst witnessing the execution of Straf- 
 ford, and there is the noble brow which daunted 
 his accusers when he demanded to be judged 
 by his peers. When we observe the statue of 
 the Emperor Maximilian at Innspruck, the 
 expressive countenance of Charles the Fifth, or 
 the pale, fair youth Philip II., we see that the 
 protruding underlip of the later Hapsburghers 
 is inherited, but it is strange that this peculiarity 
 passed over to the Lothringian family, although 
 the noble and beautiful Maria Theresa did not 
 share it. 
 
 Here in Djewuschka Convent we found a 
 portrait of Natalie Narischkin, the mother of 
 Peter the Great. She was of Tartar origin, 
 and there is a singular likeness to the Emperor 
 Paul, to whom she was but slightly related. 
 
 In this convent Peter the Great shut up his 
 step-sister and co-regent Sophia, because she 
 was continually exciting the Strelitzes and Old 
 Russians to resist his innovations. Here she 
 had her lover Chabauski nailed by his hands 
 to a window which is still pointed out, and here 
 she died in the greatest sanctity. As a sign 
 
126 ILtmv^ from IBlu^jsiia. 
 
 that she really was the legitimate ruler, her por- 
 trait bears the double eagle with St. George, 
 which specially indicates the Czars who con- 
 quered the Infidels. 
 
 " Foi'ld Rome tartai'e^'' cried Madame de Stael 
 as she looked on Moscow. If she had said Rome 
 russe it would have been less clever but more 
 true. Moscow and the Kremlin are exactly the 
 opposite of the Tartar spirit and the palpable 
 expression of the genuine and pure Russian 
 spirit. 
 
 As I walked to-day along the beautiful granite 
 quay by the side of the Moskwa, a discharged 
 soldier begged alms from me. He had been 
 crippled by a shot, perhaps at Sebastopol, and 
 now he was a free man, that is, his former feudal 
 lord had now no claim upon him, as he 
 was no longer a serf, and for the same reason 
 he had no longer a share in the property of 
 the commune. Had be been married at 
 the time when, amid the lamentations of his 
 relations, he was seized for military service, 
 when his hair was cut off, and he was carried 
 off, the State would put his children into the 
 foundling hospital, and after three years his wife 
 
%tmv0 from Eu^^ia. 127 
 
 could legally marry another man. If he were 
 now to return to his native village on the Ural 
 or on the White Sea, he would find in it, after 
 being away for fifteen years, no one who belonged 
 to him, but a new generation, and the graves 
 of his relations ; while he himself is a stranger 
 without rights, a beggar who not only cannot 
 work, but must not work. This is the freedom 
 of the discharged soldier. Russia was till lately 
 the only European state which had no prole- 
 tariate. In consequence of the most pecuHar 
 constitution of the communes in which com- 
 munism and socialism have actually existed for 
 centuries, and where private property and in- 
 heritance have no existence, there may be poor 
 communes but no very poor individuals. Every 
 Russian has a home somewhere, and there he 
 has a share in the soil of the commune. As 
 long as the law imposing twenty-five years' 
 military service was rigorously carried out, the 
 soldier, of course, generally remained with 
 his regiment till he died. The few who 
 were discharged perished unnoticed. But 
 when the period of service was reduced to 
 twelve or fifteen years, then it was a different 
 
128 %tmv0 from 1£lu00ia. 
 
 matter. In the first place, the army requires 
 almost double the amount of compensation that 
 it had before. The wealth of the nobles is 
 here reckoned by the number of " sou/s " they 
 possess ; each such " soul" is a valuable property 
 paying tribute to the feudal lord, who is a 
 greater loser now than he was formerly, be- 
 cause the distressing grievance of levying recruits 
 occurs much oftener, and is more extensive 
 than formerly. The large number of discharged 
 soldiers, amounting annually to 50,000 men, 
 helps to form a proletariate race, to which also 
 the rapid increase of the manufacturing interest 
 largely contributes. Dreading work, and inca- 
 pable of work, often addicted to drink, these dis- 
 charged soldiers are still of an age to marry. 
 No doubt the new ruler will endeavour to find 
 some remedy for this state of things, but it will 
 be no easy task, for it necessitates reforms every- 
 where, and that in a country which dislikes 
 everything new. 
 
 And now there stood a man who, not 
 many months before, had shed his blood for 
 his country, begging an alms, within sight of 
 the Kremlin, the very heart of the Empire 
 
%zmv0 from 1^u00ia. 129 
 
 which owes, and will always owe, its greatness 
 to its faithful, conscientious, brave, and long- 
 enduring soldiers. Truly, paradise must await 
 these patient ones ! 
 
 The newly made "free-man," in his long, grey 
 cloak, his cap humbly removed, went his way 
 into "holy" Russia, and we — we drove in im- 
 perial carriages to a grand dinner. 
 
 K 
 
I30 %tmt0 from T&n^^m 
 
 Saturday, September 6. 
 
 nnO-DAY the Prince received fifty or sixty 
 ■^ different princes from Grussia, Mingrelia, 
 Kurdistan, Caucasia, Tscherkessia etc. etc., all in 
 the national costume, with jewels and gold stuffs, 
 Persian caps and richly ornamented weapons. 
 
 They tell of one of the Tscherkesses, who 
 being asked at a ball if his pistols were loaded, 
 replied, "Why should I carry pistols if they 
 were not loaded?" A Kurd, with whom I 
 managed to have some conversation in Turkish, 
 had also a loaded pistol, but he showed me that 
 he had no powder in the pan. The company had 
 a very picturesque appearance, and formed a 
 great contrast to the assembly at the Sardinian 
 ambassador's, to which we drove immediately 
 afterwards. 
 
Stindayj September 7. 
 
 nPHE sky has favoured this festival with 
 splendid weather. By seven o'clock in the 
 morning the city looked quite deserted, for every- 
 one had hastened to the Kremlin, although the 
 doors were not to be openefi till eight o'clock. 
 
 In their Majesties' ante-chambers we found 
 a host of chamberlains covered with gold, and 
 the highest functionaries of the Court with 
 their staves of eight feet long, and all the ladies 
 in their national costume. The colours of 
 their robes depend on their different courts, 
 scarlet with gold, silver, blue, amaranth, etc. 
 €tc., so that, although there is an uniformity 
 of shape, there is a pleasant variety of colour. 
 The head-dress, too, is ornamented with gold, 
 diamonds, coloured stones, or pearls, according 
 to the taste and means of the individual. 
 
 One single chair was secretly used in turn 
 by some very old ladies ; they had certainly 
 been standing since seven, and probably they 
 had been working hard at their grand toilettes 
 since four o'clock in the morning. 
 
 At nine o'clock the doors of the imperial 
 
132 ILttm^ from Eu00ia. 
 
 began to move, and the Dowager Empress 
 appeared, supported by her two youngest sons. 
 She wore a crown entirely of diamonds, a mantle 
 of gold stuff and ermine, the train of which 
 was borne by six chamberlains, and which was 
 fastened by a splendid chain of diamonds. 
 Her slender figure, her cameo profile, her stately 
 bearing, and the sweet gravity of her expression, 
 excited the involuntary admiration of everyone. 
 The evening before, she had assembled all her 
 children to give them her blessing. After her 
 came the heir to the throne, the Grand Dukes 
 and Grand Duchesses, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, 
 Prince Friedrich of the Netherlands, Alexander 
 of Hesse, and the rest of the princes of royal 
 houses, then their suites, and behind us the 
 ladies. 
 
 The cortege passed through Alexander's Hall, 
 the Wladimir and George's halls, a length of 
 more than 500 feet. On the left were drawn 
 up some grenadiers, the guards, the cuirassiers 
 with glittering armour, deputations from the 
 cavalry regiments, and the infantry, all with 
 standards and colours and shining arms. On 
 the right stood all the officers. 
 
%tmv^ from Eu00ia* 133 
 
 The Empress passed down the great open 
 stairs into the court of the old Palace of 
 the Czars, and there a baldaquin of gold stuff 
 awaited her, which was borne over her by eight 
 of the chamberlains with the long staves. The 
 streaming out of the procession into the bright 
 sunshine was a splendid sight. 
 
 Behind the lines of troops stood the people, 
 bearded men, with heads uncovered, close 
 together, but without any confusion. The 
 open space is surrounded by three grand 
 churches of the Ascension, Archangel, and the 
 Annunciation, with the church of Ivan Weliki and 
 a high trellis work of iron. The platforms for 
 spectators, covered with red cloth, were half as 
 high as the buildings, and there sat lords and 
 ladies gaily dressed. Now clashed the countless 
 bells of Moscow, but deeper than them all 
 boomed the great Wetschewoj, the monster bell 
 from Novgorod, which was heard above all the 
 blaring of the trumpets and the continual cheer- 
 ing of the multitude. Only the artillery could 
 be heard above the din. 
 
 When I had reached the bottom of the stairs, 
 I succeeded in turning round to take a look at 
 
134 litmv^i from IBlu^^m^ 
 
 the magnificent procession of the ladies behind 
 us. The diplomatic corps had already arrived at 
 Uspenski Sabor, and we took our places by their 
 side on a platform without seats, which ran along 
 three sides of this great church. The fourth side 
 is formed by the Ikonostasis, behind which is the. 
 altar. The throne was placed opposite to this,, 
 and had two seats ; it was raised somewhat from 
 the ground, and had over it a splendid balda- 
 quin. The Dowager Empress had a seat on^ 
 the right of the throne, the princes stood behind 
 on the left. 
 
 The church, as I said before, is small, and 
 only holds a very limited number of spectators,, 
 but perfect order reigned throughout. The: 
 sun shone brightly, streaming through the- 
 windows, and reflecting itself in all the gilding 
 which covers walls and pillars to the highest 
 point of the cupola, and making it so bright 
 that, being very well placed, I had an excellent 
 view of all the proceedings. 
 
 First of all came the regalia, borne by the 
 highest civil and military officers, the imperial 
 banner with the double eagle, brought from 
 Byzantium, the imperial seal, a steel plate the. 
 
%ttttv0 from Äu00ia. 135 
 
 size of a hand, without engraving or ornament, 
 the sword of the Empire, the coronation 
 robes for their Majesties, the golden ball or 
 globe (Severin carried this ball on a cushion 
 of cloth-of-gold), the girdle of large diamonds, 
 the sceptre with the great diamond Lazaref — 
 one of the largest known diamonds, — and lastly 
 the two crowns. That of the Emperor is formed 
 of diamonds, with a row of the largest pearls, and 
 has a cross with a ruby of matchless value in it. 
 This stone is an inch long, about half an inch 
 wide, and a quarter of an inch thick, but irre- 
 gular in form, and uncut. When the sun fell 
 upon the cro\\Ti with all its diamonds, it was 
 reflected and sparkled with every colour. The 
 Empress's crown is like it but smaller, and it 
 seemed not to be easy to keep on the head, al- 
 though it was fastened on with diamond hairpins. 
 And now the cross was taken out of the 
 church to meet the Emperor, who was approach- 
 ing, and the Metropolitan of Moscow sprinkled 
 his path with holy water. Their Majesties 
 bowed three times at the door, and took their 
 seats on the throne, the priests stood between 
 the throne and the middle door of the Ikonos- 
 
136 %tmv^ from Eu^^ia. 
 
 tasis, and the choir chanted the Psalm "Mzseri- 
 cord/am." Of the touching beauty of the 
 Russian church melodies I have told you be- 
 fore j they were performed by men's voices only, 
 without any instrumental accompaniment. They 
 are all ancient melodies, mostly introduced 
 from the West, but are as far removed from 
 the meagre hymns of Protestantism as from the 
 operatic music of the Catholic Church. The 
 singers are extraordinarily well trained, and 
 incredibly fine bass voices are heard, which in 
 this limited space were re-echoed with marvel- 
 lous power from the walls and cupolas. 
 
 Since Peter the Great incorporated the patri- 
 archal with the imperial power, the Metropolitan 
 of Moscow is the principal ecclesiastic of this 
 vast Empire ; at the present time he is a fine- 
 looking but very aged man, Philaretes by name 
 — the same who crowned the Emperor Nicolas. 
 Much stress is laid on the fine bass voices of 
 the superior clergy ; the voice of the old Metro- 
 politan could hardly be heard as he requested the 
 Emperor to recite his belief. This being done, 
 the Emperor put on the coronation robes, which 
 are made of the richest gold stuff", lined with 
 
%zmv0 from Eu00ia^ 137 
 
 ermine. He bowed himself and remained in 
 that position, whilst the Metropolitan laid his 
 hand on his head and said two long blessings. 
 Then the crown was brought to the Emperor, 
 and he himself put it on his head, grasped the 
 sceptre with his right hand, the ball with his 
 left, and so sat down on the throne. Then the 
 Empress came and knelt before him. The 
 Emperor took the crown from his head and put 
 it on hers ; she was then dressed in the crown 
 and mantle, and seated herself on the throne 
 on the left hand of her husband. 
 
 It was impressive to see how the aged, 
 stately Empress-mother followed all these move- 
 ments with eager attention. Her youngest 
 son showed much anxiety to support her, and 
 to draw more closely her ermine furs, lest she 
 should feel the cold. The wife of an American 
 diplomatist, near me fainted away, and the 
 Princess Helena fell into her husband's arms, 
 but the Emperor's aged mother stood it all out 
 bravely. She rose and advanced with a firm 
 step to the foot of the throne, the sparkling 
 crown on her head and the mantle of gold 
 brocade trailing behind. Here, before all the 
 
138 ILtttm from 1Ru00ia. 
 
 world, she embraced her firstborn and blessed 
 him. The Emperor kissed her hands. Then 
 all the grand dukes and princes followed, 
 bowing low ; and the Emperor embraced them. 
 Whilst all this was going on, Domine salvum 
 fac Imperatorem was sung, the bells in all the 
 churches rang out, a hundred cannon shook the 
 windows, and all the spectators bowed three 
 times. 
 
 Next, the Emperor, divested of his imperial 
 robes, stepped down from, the throne and 
 knelt in prayer — all the company kneeling or 
 bending low in prayer for the welfare of their 
 new monarch. 
 
 In the hand of no mortal is such unlimited 
 power laid as in that of this man, who is the 
 absolute ruler of the tenth part of the inhabi- 
 tants of the earth, whose sceptre stretches over 
 four quarters of the world, and who lays his 
 commands on Christians and Jews, Mussulmans 
 and heathen. Who can fail to pray God, that 
 His grace may enlighten the man whose v/ill is 
 law to 60,000,000 people, whose word is obeyed 
 from the Wall of China to the Vistula, from 
 the Polar Sea to Mount Ararat, to whose call 
 
%mtv0 from Eu00ia> 139 
 
 half a million of soldiers are obedient, and who 
 even now (1856) has given peace to Europe? 
 May he be victorious in the peaceful conquests 
 he is about to attempt in the interior of his 
 vast kingdom, and remain a firm supporter of 
 law and order ! 
 
 After this came the " Te Demji " and the ex- 
 ceedingly long mass according to the Greek rites. 
 
 When it was ended the Emperor descended the 
 steps of the throne, laid aside his robes and arms, 
 and entered the holy of holies by the Emperor's 
 door, and kneeling before the altar received the 
 sacrament in both kinds as well as the priests. 
 The Empress partook of the same in the Greek 
 manner, in front of the door. Then followed 
 the anointing with oil on the forehead, eyelids, 
 lips, ears, breast, and hands, by the Metropolitan, 
 who used a costly vessel. The bishops of Nov- 
 gorod and Moscow wiped away the oil. Their 
 Majesties now re-seated themselves on the 
 throne, putting on again the crowns, robes, and 
 the great diamond chain of the order of Alex- 
 ander Newski. From this moment they are the 
 Lord's anointed, and the ceremony was con- 
 cluded. 
 
I40 ILmzv^ from 1Blug(0ia^ 
 
 The Emperor and Empress next went to 
 the neighbouring churches, Archangel and 
 Blagowestchenski. From my place at the 
 top of the stairs I saw the young Emperor 
 as he came out of the church. He walked 
 in front of the baldaquin with the sceptre 
 and the imperial globe in his hands. The 
 crown blazed in the sunshine on his head, 
 the mantle of gold and ermine trailed far 
 behind, over the steps covered with crimson 
 cloth. After him followed an endless train of 
 lords and ladies, forming a most brilliant pro- 
 cession. He continually saluted the cheering 
 multitude on both sides, although the heavy 
 crown hardly permitted him to bend his head. 
 
 There were the representatives of twenty dif- 
 ferent peoples in their Oriental costumes, curious 
 travellers from every corner of Europe, and the 
 bearded Muschiks from "holy" Russia. Even 
 on the other side of the Moskwa the people 
 stood as close as possible. They could not see 
 anything which passed behind the walls of the 
 KremHn, but the shouts from within, the ring- 
 ing of the bells, the thunder of the guns, and 
 the fanfare of the music, told them that their 
 
%ttttv0 from 3Elu00ia* 141 
 
 Czar, their Batuschka, was now crowned and 
 anointed. 
 
 The Emperor looked grave but kindly : he 
 seemed to feel the whole significance of the 
 ceremony, not because of its extraordinary splen- 
 dour, but in spite of it. And it would not be 
 easy to see anything more brilliant than this 
 fairy-like city spread out in the sunshine, filled 
 with everything which is rich and grand, from 
 far and near, with the long procession winding 
 between ancient monuments and sacred edifices, 
 bearing the treasures of the church, the weapons 
 of the army, and the regalia of the state, to 
 greet the new Emperor. 
 
 Next came the banquet at Granowitaja 
 Palata, the ancient residence of the Czars. 
 Under a magnificent canopy of gold brocade 
 lined with ermine, stood three chairs and a table 
 for their Majesties, who seated themselves, still 
 wearing their crowns. The other tables were 
 laid as they are seen at the theatre, only on 
 one side, so that no one turned his back on 
 the throne. After the Emperor had laid aside 
 the regalia, he called for wine, and drank to 
 the health of his faithful subjects. The ambas- 
 
142 ILmtv^ from lElu^gfta^ 
 
 sadors retired backwards out at the door, only 
 the superior clergy and the highest functionaries 
 took their places at table, which groaned under 
 the weight of many hundred-weight of ancient 
 silver plate, gigantic goblets, vessels, ewers, and 
 dishes, rather rudely fashioned, but massive 
 and quaint. 
 
 The ceremony ended with this banquet, and 
 the solemn procession through the palaces 
 about four o'clock in the afternoon. We had 
 been eight hours on our legs without sitting 
 down for one moment. There were innumer- 
 able tables set out for us in tents erected for 
 the purpose, but we drove back and enjoyed 
 our dinner at home. 
 
 In the evening the city was illuminated. 
 I both drove and walked through the surging 
 crowd, and I could not but admire the intelli- 
 gence, docility, and quietness of the men; 
 indeed there cannot be a more harmless, good- 
 natured people than the common Russian 
 people. 
 
 In Russia the soil belongs to the people, 
 but the communes have the usufruct, and 
 they cannot alienate their fields or any part of 
 
%tmv0 from l&u^^ia. 143 
 
 them. No individual can be a proprietor, but 
 every member of the commune has an equal 
 right with all the others to the use of it. This 
 right is common for woods and pasturage, but 
 the fields, on the contrary, are divided into 
 exactly so many parcels as there are male 
 members of the commune ; and since this con- 
 dition changes, there is a new division every ten 
 or fifteen years. In the villages measuring-rods 
 are kept which are considered sacred, and they 
 are shorter in proportion, for good land, and 
 longer for bad. Each household receives a 
 share of the land proportionate to the number 
 of its male members ; waste pieces and corners 
 are held in reserve for any compensation or re- 
 adjustment required in the intervals. Disputes 
 are settled by the unlimited authority of the 
 starosts or elders, who are elected by the 
 communes themselves. 
 
 This very ancient but still existing state of 
 things has consequences which are most note- 
 worthy. Except the Pelowniks or Halbbauern, 
 who are of Tschudisch (Finnish) origin, there 
 is in Russia no private property in land, for any- 
 one. The free communes are the proprietors, 
 
144 %ttm0 from Eu00ia. 
 
 the crown communes are occupiers, the nobles 
 are tenants. Within the communes there 
 are only usufructuaries. There exists no such 
 thing as the inheritance of land. The son does 
 not inherit his father's fields ; he receives his 
 share not on the ground of inheritance, but 
 in virtue of his birth as a member of the 
 commune. Every Russian has a settlement 
 somewhere, and there are no poor people, no 
 proletariate. No one is quite poor. A father 
 may run through everything ; his children do not 
 inherit his poverty. The increase of the family, 
 which is with us such a source of anxiety, is, in 
 Russia, an increase of wealth. Everything 
 favours early marriages. The entrance into the 
 family of even the poorest daughter-in-law is 
 made a festival. She brings with her a pair of 
 laborious hands, and a parcel of land is laid 
 aside for her sons from the day of their birth. 
 
 On the other hand it must be confessed, that 
 by this division of the land, no part of it is 
 kept in a state of perfection. Who will make 
 improvements, plant trees, make drains on a 
 piece of land, which, after fifteen years will 
 perhaps belong to some one else ? 
 
%tttzv0 from lR.u00ia. ms 
 
 Personally the Russian Bauer was quite free. 
 Nobility is not an institution of Russian origin : 
 it is, as in England, of German origin ; the 
 Normans, who in 860 came over with Ruric, 
 brought it with them. Neither were they strictly 
 feudal lords of the land, but the peasants living 
 in a certain district were obliged to pay them 
 rent. This rent, called obrok, was very 
 moderate at first, and could not be increased, 
 lest the extreme poverty of the payer should 
 prevent him from paying anything at all. 
 Boris Godenow first raised this tax in 1580, 
 and in the Russian popular songs, lamentations 
 on this subject still exist. The bondage of the 
 peasants first appeared in the time of Peter the 
 Great : until his time only prisoners of war had 
 been made slaves or serfs. The peasant either 
 served the lord personally in the house, or he 
 paid the obrok and cultivated the fields. The 
 lord had to provide for his maintenance if he 
 became destitute or incapable of work. He 
 could, indeed, sell him, but not without the land : 
 his dependants who were annexed to it were 
 like an encumbrance. He could not sell the 
 land, he could sell only the rent paid by the 
 
people who lived on the land, and to whom the 
 usufruct belonged. The noble himself hardly 
 ever resided on the land. There are no castles 
 and fortified houses such as those in which 
 our knights took such firm root, and whose 
 names still survive. The Russian noble lived 
 and still lives mostly in the cities, either in 
 Moscow or Petersburg. " On dit que j'aye de 
 süperbes terres du cote de Tomsk!" one of 
 them was heard to say. An adjutant of the 
 Emperor, being sent on duty to the Volga, 
 and finding the country charming, waited some 
 time, and then inquired who was the owner of 
 that property ? The answer was his own name. 
 It is as if we had a hypothec on a property which 
 we have never seen, and with the management 
 of which we have nothing to do. Peter the 
 Great gave the real estate to the nobles, a bound- 
 less gift — half of all the cultivated land in 
 Russia ; while the usufruct remained with the 
 peasants. And further, he removed Russia 
 from the list of mere agricultural states, by 
 founding the first manufactories. To these 
 whole communes were assigned, which all 
 worked for the manufactory, and in return 
 
3lemr0 from Eu^iäia* 147 
 
 ■the manufactory was charged with their sup- 
 port. So first originated the idea that the 
 serf could be employed according to the will 
 of his owner. A serf received permission to 
 migrate, and might become a celebrated artist, 
 or merchant, or millionaire. But let the 
 noble raise the obrok to thousands of roubles, 
 he can forbid the man to marry, can order him 
 back to his property, etc. etc. The manufactories 
 have increased enormously since 1825. Their 
 business requires constant vigilance ; the pre- 
 sence of the proprietor is necessary; he must 
 live on his property, and therefore the obrok is 
 exchanged for personal service. The peasant 
 receives half or two-thirds of the fields, and 
 must moreover attend to the portion of his 
 lord, who perhaps is a parvenu^ and has no 
 patriarchal feelings at all. 
 
 Everyone feels that serfdom is in opposition 
 to the increase of civilisation, and cannot con- 
 tinue, but the great difficulty is how to alter 
 it. If liberty were suddenly given to four-and- 
 twenty millions of peasants, agriculture would 
 come to an end in the least fertile parts of 
 .the kingdom. There are at most only five 
 
148 nettere front Eu00ia. 
 
 months in which to plough, sow, and reap ; 
 by the 6th of August the winter seed must 
 already be sowed. Agriculture is then set 
 aside to some extent, since the man has the 
 other seven months in which to speculate, 
 trade, or work at some handiwork. The cul- 
 ture of the fields only produces corn, which in 
 good years is worth but little, whilst, on the 
 contrary, the wages paid in manufactories are 
 as high as those paid in England. A weaver 
 earns daily a bushel of corn in East Russia, in 
 Bielefield scarcely three-quarters of a bushel. 
 The more the manufactures increase, the more 
 difficult the case will become. Where they do 
 not exist, the obrok is insignificant, leaving 
 twenty times as large a sum to turn into capital. 
 But who can decide the right of a lord to the 
 obrok of a great singer, or merchant, or specu- 
 lator, or millionaire? Serfdom was abolished 
 with us, and it must disappear here where they 
 have to do with communes instead of with 
 individuals. For it must be taken for granted, 
 that the ancient institution of communes can- 
 not be altered ; in spite of its ill eff'ect on 
 agriculture it has inestimable advantages in its 
 
%mtv0 from 1Blu052fm> 149 
 
 social relations, and is capable of a wider 
 development. 
 
 The Russian commune arranges its own affairs 
 through officers elected from among themselves, 
 the Starosts, whom it obeys unhesitatingly. The 
 Imperial officials are unhappily often notori- 
 ously untrustworthy and corrupt. The young 
 Emperor has already endeavoured to put down 
 this evil with a strong hand, but it is very 
 deep-rooted. With them to be caught in a 
 fraud is a misfortune, not as with us a dis- 
 grace. Too many are interested in abuses. The 
 fewer, therefore, there are of such officials the 
 better. 
 
 The means of self-government is given not 
 only to the communes but also to the nobles, 
 who were constituted a corporate body, under 
 their " marschalls^^^ by Katharine II., but they 
 have at present made very little use of it. 
 
 No aristocracy less than the Russian answers 
 its real and proper purpose of asserting and 
 maintaining its own independence, both against 
 the imperial power and the power of the 
 commons. There is indeed a real and ancient 
 nobility j the Trubetzkoi, the Gagarin, etc. etc., 
 
who date their family from Ruric, even from Odin ! 
 But these hereditary nobles are quite swamped 
 by the official nobility : for whereas in all 
 other countries nobility proceeds from the will 
 of the monarch, in Russia it is attained accord- 
 ing to a certain law. The sons of certain 
 officials become ipso facto ennobled. Everyone 
 who reaches the rank of the fifth class attains at 
 once hereditary nobiUty ; and, what is more^ 
 the most ancient nobility is forfeited if the 
 possessor has not attained in three generations 
 some rank in the service of the State. For 
 this reason the nobles are entirely dependant 
 on the government, and it is not easy for 
 them to oppose it in any way. Not that this 
 should be their object, but with the possibility^, 
 disappears also their whole importance. Cer- 
 tainly the stronger, the healthier, and more in- 
 dependent the people are from their com- 
 munal constitution, and the more influential the 
 spiritual power is, the less can the Government 
 afford to let the nobility with their boundless 
 possessions in land withdraw from its influ- 
 ence. But in England there is both the self- 
 government of the commons and the power and 
 
%tmt0 from ieiu00ia* 151 
 
 wealth of the nobihty. An EngHsh " noble- 
 man" owes all his greatness to his birth, the 
 service of the State adds nothing to it. An Eng- 
 lish viscount, who may be Prime Minister or 
 Lieutenant-General is below an earl or duke 
 who may be only an ensign, or nothing at all. 
 Whether this would suit Russia I cannot decide, 
 but where it does not exist there is no aristo- 
 cracy in the political sense of the word. 
 
 Neither is there here any bourgeoisie. The 
 first class of merchants belongs to the rank of 
 nobles, those below them are " Mushiks," although 
 often millionaires, and belong to the same grade 
 of culture with the peasants whom they resemble 
 in dress and manners. The manufacturing 
 interest is also quite in the hands of those 
 nobles who are landholders. 
 
 The popes form a separate class : it is only 
 their children who become popes, and these 
 again marry (before ordination, and never a 
 second time) only the daughters of popes. Their 
 influence is very great, although they are quite 
 as uncultivated as the peasants, who kiss their 
 hands as being the bearers of the sacred 
 symbols. 
 
152 %tmv^ from T&uMa. 
 
 Russia falls, therefore, naturally into two 
 unequal parts, the cultivated class and the 
 tschorni narod, " the black race ; " the first of 
 these numbers at the most half a million of 
 men, while the last includes sixty millions. 
 
 Peter the Great could not wait to ennoble 
 his people from the root ; he grafted German 
 and Dutch, and Katharine, French twigs on 
 the topmost boughs. These bear now their 
 southern fruit on a strong and healthy stem, 
 and the wide-spreading branches have quite 
 driven out the old crab-apple. 
 
 The Civilisation of the West so suddenly and 
 violently introduced has never penetrated the 
 lower strata of society. A small number of 
 fashionable Russians in stars and uniforms, 
 educated in the French style, and brought up in 
 the greatest luxury, exist side by side, and with- 
 out any intermediate steps, with the mass of the 
 strong, bearded, ignorant, but pious and docile 
 people who exceed them in number a hundred- 
 fold. It can hardly be believed that the small, 
 refined, court gentleman, the elegant officer in 
 the Guards, who speaks French like his mother- 
 tongue, is of the same nation with the Iswoschts- 
 
ILnm^ from IBlu^^ia. 153 
 
 chik who drives his carriage, or the Mushik who 
 waits at his door. In England all classes look 
 much the same outwardly, and the peasants 
 even wear no different costume, so that a general 
 culture spreads through all classes, which com- 
 pensates for the intellectual differences. In 
 Russia all differences are brought into the most 
 violent contrast : palaces close to hovels ; 
 splendid cities in desolate wastes ; railways 
 which extend for hundreds of miles without 
 touching any towns but their termini ; prairies 
 where no corn will grow; over-refinement by 
 the side of coarseness. Art is everywhere in 
 conflict with Nature in the endeavour to wrest 
 violently from her that which is demanded by 
 the most exaggerated requirements. It must be 
 conceded that the Russian Emperors have done 
 wonders. One of the most splendid imperial 
 cities has been raised amid the swamps of the 
 Neva, although the stream itself threatens to 
 engulph it, there are mighty fleets on a sea 
 which is frozen for seven months of the year ; 
 an excellent army has been formed where each 
 man is interest-paying capital to his master; there 
 are museums containing the masterpieces of every 
 
154 %tmv^ from 3Ru00ta. 
 
 country, where the people for hundreds of miles 
 round only value the black pictures of saints ; 
 parqueted floors, but break-neck pavements in 
 the streets ; in short, rough contrasts everywhere. 
 
 It remains an important question whether they 
 will advance on the road taken by Peter I., that 
 is, propagate the civilisation of foreign lands and 
 other climes, or whether they will endeavour to 
 cultivate this docile and tractable people them- 
 selves from within. 
 
 The reaction against the direction which has 
 been followed for the last fifty years has always 
 existed, and is concentrated in Moscow. It was 
 displayed in the war which has just ended, and has 
 not been successful. It will be long before the 
 Russians can dispense with the help of foreigners, 
 that is, with the steadiness, the capacity, and the 
 loyalty of the Germans, for only long years and 
 an iron determination will make trustworthy 
 Russian officials. Above all, the clergy must 
 be won to educate themselves and to aid in the 
 enlightenment of the people. Nothing must be 
 done suddenly or violently, but the efforts of a 
 century would be a small price to pay for a 
 truly national Russian development. 
 
%ttttv^ from 1Blu00ia^ 155 
 
 Monday, Septe^nber 8. 
 
 A T ten o'clock there was parade of the 
 •^^ guard on the Kremlin, and in the evening 
 a Polonaise ball in the palace, which was 
 splendidly illuminated. The bands of music 
 were placed in the saloons, which are wide 
 enough to admit them without inconvenience. 
 The ladies all wore trains. There must have 
 been some thousand guests. Besides the rich 
 military uniforms, there were many Orientals 
 in their different national dresses, which gave 
 the fete a peculiar character of its own ; whereas 
 such balls are generally all exactly alike. 
 
 The regalia were placed in St. Andrew's Hall 
 on a table, and everyone could look at these 
 treasures as closely as they pleased. This is 
 not customary in a company so numerous and 
 and so varied. I saw several people who did 
 not hesitate to handle the different articles. 
 
 The Emperor opened the ball with his 
 mother, and he danced afterwards with the 
 Empress, the Grand Duchesses, the wives of the 
 ambassadors, etc. etc. He must really have 
 passed over a distance of several versts ! 
 
156 %zmv0 from 1R.u00ia. 
 
 By eleven o'clock everything was over, and 
 I was glad enough to find my carriage, and 
 drive home through the illuminated city. 
 
 In the absence of gas, the illuminations were 
 made entirely of candles. In London they 
 would have used nothing but gas, which would 
 have been laid on to each house provisionally. 
 Here, of course, the light is far less intense, 
 but very peculiar. In the little peep-shows, 
 such as children have, one sees pictures in 
 which the architectural lines are marked out by 
 pin-holes, through which the light shines. Just 
 so is it here with the houses and palaces. They 
 have naturally decorated first those houses 
 which the Emperor was to see. The court- 
 yards through which he had to pass were as 
 bright as day. The view was magnificent from 
 the great terrace of St. George's Hall. 
 
 The fine houses on the other side of the 
 Moskwa sparkled with countless lights, and in 
 the still farther distance rose the masses of 
 houses with their towers and cupolas. The 
 most singular effect was produced by the Wassili- 
 Blashen-noj, that strange church I have men- 
 tioned before, whose many cupolas being 
 
Hemrö from 1R.u00ia. 157 
 
 marked out in light, the wonderful outline fell 
 directly on the eyes. But the light of these 
 lamps is not strong enough to show the dif- 
 ferent colours from so great a distance ; if it 
 were lighted by Bengal lights this church would 
 look fabulously beautiful. The loveliest of all 
 was the Kremlin itself, seen from a distance. 
 The many high towers and well-lighted white 
 walls had a fairy-like effect. There was no 
 wind to spoil the illuminations ; the evening 
 was perfectly calm and therefore mild. Every- 
 thing so far has gone excellently well. 
 
158 lLttm0 from lBlu00ia. 
 
 Tuesday, September 9. 
 
 'T^O-DAY at eleven o'clock there was a mili- 
 tary court held; the great saloons were 
 quite filled with officers in full dress. 
 
 The Russian army contains, including those 
 who have retired, eight thousand generals, some 
 hundreds of whom were certainly present. The 
 Emperor alone had a hundred and eighty 
 adjutants. Each of the guests went forward 
 singly to make his bow, first to the Emperor, 
 then to the Empress. The Emperor shook 
 hands and said a few pleasant words to each 
 one, the Empress gave her hand to- each to kiss, 
 and then we went out at the other end of the 
 saloon, and so home. As there were certainly 
 some thousands of officers to follow us, I 
 thought of St. Peter at Rome, whose right toe 
 is half kissed away, though it is made of bronze. 
 
 In the afternoon we visited the arsenal and 
 the fine armour which is preserved there, as 
 well as a number of ancient thrones, crowns, 
 sceptres, and ornaments. 
 
%tmv^ from Eu00ia* 159 
 
 Wednesday, Se^ie ruber lo. 
 
 "piERCING cold wind and dust. The im- 
 perial church choir sang at Lwoff. 
 
 TJuirsday, September ii. 
 
 T^HE Emperor's name-day, therefore the lords 
 and ladies of the Court, and the officers all 
 assembled in the Kremlin in great state, walking 
 in procession through the saloons to the chapel 
 to hear mass. Afterwards we had an audience to 
 take leave of the Emperor, who bade us farewell 
 in the most friendly manner. 
 
 The Empress did not receive us, being pro- 
 bably tired out, but the Dowager Empress took 
 leave of us most kindly. She was in simple but 
 costly morning dress, consisting of a white 
 Indian shawl with a wide border ; she sat, or 
 rather lay on two arm-chairs. She chatted with 
 each of us, and gave every one her hand to kiss. 
 " I thought I should have died of joy and ex- 
 citement at the coronation ; " said she, " but I 
 prayed so earnestly that God has preserved me." 
 
i6o %tmv0 from IBluö^ia* 
 
 Then we had an audience to take leave of the 
 Grand Duchess of Weimar, the Grand Duchess 
 Helena, and the Grand Dukes. In the even- 
 ing there was a state opera. Besides the 
 enormous lustre in the middle of the house, 
 there were ninety-five crystal lustres, each of 
 several lights, in front of the five rows of boxes. 
 More than a thousand lights, and lords and 
 ladies in the gayest dresses made a splendid 
 sight. They gave us " Elisire d'amore " and a 
 tedious ballet ; the stage was dark and the 
 decorations meagre, but — Cerito danced. 
 
%ztm^ from 3Ru00ia. i6i 
 
 Friday^ September 12. 
 
 nPHE day of departure. It rained. At twelve 
 -*- o'clock the Emperor came to take the 
 Prince to see some infantry manoeuvres which 
 were to take place at Petrowskoj. The ther- 
 mometer was almost at freezing point ; a storm 
 of wind drove the rain right into our faces. 
 The troops waded in mire, and in the escort, 
 consisting of several hundred cavalry, the epau- 
 lettes, embroidered uniforms, and stars, were all 
 covered with mud. After four hours of this we 
 returned, wet to the skin and frozen with cold. 
 
 After dinner there were still some farewell 
 visits to make. The Emperor came to take 
 leave of the Prince ; he wore a general's uni- 
 form with the ribbon of the order of the black 
 eagle. We received him in full dress, and he 
 talked pleasantly to every one. Immediately 
 afterwards the Prince drove to the Emperor. 
 
 In the evening we went once more to the 
 theatre to take leave of some friends, and at 
 twelve o'clock we set off in four carriages-and- 
 four and a fourgon. 
 
 For the first two days it rained, and blew, 
 
 M 
 
1 62 lLzmt0 from W^u^^ia. 
 
 and was bitterly cold. The country ] is very 
 dreary and desolate, and hardly any dwelling- 
 houses were to be seen ; it was mostly wood and 
 uncultivated plains. There are provisions for 
 sleeping at the post-houses. 
 
 The courier who preceded us provided for 
 all our wants — coffee, tea, and dinner, which 
 last we did not take till seven o'clock in the 
 evening. The horses were always ready for us 
 and were harnessed in two or three minutes, 
 when we started again at full gallop. We gene- 
 rally accomplished about eight miles in the 
 hour, but often more. 
 
 On the third day my carriage was broken, 
 and had to be two hours in the smithy. I got 
 into the coz^J^e of the fourgon with Harry. In 
 order to overtake the prince two more horses 
 were put on in front, and we set off again at a 
 tearing gallop. But as we came to a cross 
 road the leader turned to go home to its native 
 village, the Jamschtschik not being able to hold 
 him, the carriage turned over and fell down the 
 sloping bank of a dam almost six feet high, 
 and lay there with its wheels uppermost. We all 
 escaped without any great hurt. " Semliaki " 
 
%zmv0 from Eu^^ia^ 163 
 
 (country people !) shouted the coachman, and 
 quickly appeared some bearded Russians, who 
 first turned the carriage over, and then with 
 poles and levers they got it up and loaded and 
 harnessed once more. The good fellows were 
 . surprised and delighted to find their services re- 
 warded by the gift of a few roubles. 
 
 We had altogether 2,000 horses in the course 
 of our journey to Warsaw, where we arrived at 
 three o'clock in the morning, and were received, 
 even at that inconvenient hour, by the autho- 
 rities in grand style. There we took the rail for 
 the remaining 480 miles. Altogether we were 
 five days and six nights on the road, with no 
 break but the two hours' sleep at Warsaw, and 
 \without taking off our clothes. 
 
Prbtted by R. & R. Clark, Edmhurgh. 
 
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University of 
 Connecticut 
 
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