Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia
Page 35
■ This suffering is sometimes the effect of a discontented or over-wrought self-love. A man who fears that he stands alone in his opinion of himself, becomes timid through vanity: but more often, timidity is purely physical; — it is a disease.
There are men who cannot, without an inexplicable sense of uneasiness, be conscious that the human eye rests upon them. That eye paralyses them ; fetters their thoughts, their speech, and more especially their movements. This is so true, that I have often suffered from physical thnidity, in villages where, as a stranger, I attracted all eyes, much more than in the most stately saloons where nobody paid any attention to me. I could write a treatise on the different kinds of shyness, for I am the accomplished model of them all. Ко one has suffered more than I have, from my infancy, under the attacks of this incurable disease, scarcely known to the rising generation ; which proves that, over and above physical predisposition, timidity is peculiarly the result of education. Familiarity with the world enables us to dissimulate the infirmity, and that is all. The most timid men are often the most eminent in birth, in dignity, and even in merit. I long believed that timidity was modesty combined with an exaggerated respect for social distinctions, or for the gifts of mind; but how then could be explained the timidity of great writers, or of princes ? Happily, the princes of the imperial Russian family are by no means timid — they belong to their age; neither in their
48 ТПЕ PRINCE AND THE YOUNG LADY.
manners nor language can be perceived any vestiges of that embarrassment, which for a long period tormented the august inmates of Versailles, and their courtiers also ; for what can be more embarrassing than a timid prince ?
Whatever may have been the cause, I felt relieved when I saw the Grand-duke depart; I thanked him inwardly for having so well guessed my wish, and for having so politely gratified it. A man but half-polished would scarcely have taken it into his head to leave people alone with the view of making himself agreeable to them : nevertheless, it is sometimes the greatest kindness that ean be accorded. To know how to leave a guest without wounding his feelings, is the height of urbanity — the chef-d`œuvre of hospitality. This facility is in the fashionable world what liberty without disorder would be in the political — a problem constantly proposed, and never solved.
At the moment when the Grand-duke left us,
Mademoisellewas standing behind her mother.
The prince, as he passed her, stopped, and in a very grave but rather humorous manner, made her a profound reverence, without speaking a word. The young lady, perceiving that this salutation was ironical, remained in a respectful attitude, but without returning the obeisance. I admired this little expression of feeling, which appeared to me to exhibit an exqiiisite delicacy. I doubt whether at the Russian court, any woman of twenty-five would have distinguished herself by an act of so much courage ; it was dictated only by that innocence, which to the regard due to social prerogatives knows how to join a just sentiment
the emperor's cabinet.49
of its own dignity. The exhibition of tact did not pass unperceived.
" Always the same ! " said the Grand-duke, as he turned away.
They had been children together; a difference of five years in age had not prevented them from often playing at the same games. Such familiarity is not forgotten, even at court. The silent scene which they now enacted together much amused me.
My peep into the interior of the imperial familv has interested me extremely. These princes must be nearly approached in order to be appreciated. They are made to be at the head of their country ; for they are in every respect superior to their people. The imperial family is the object the most worthy of exciting the admiration and the envy of foreigners that I have seen in Russia.
At the top of the house we found the cabinet of the emperor. It is a tolerably large and very simply ornamented library, opening on a balcony which overlooks the sea. Without leaving this watch-tower, the Emperor can give his orders to his fleet. For this purpose he has a spy-glass, a speaking-trumpet, and a little telegraph which he can work himself.
I should have liked to examine this room and all it contains in detail, and to have asked many questions, but I feared lest my curiosity might seem indiscreet, and I preferred making an imperfect survey, to appearing as if I had come to take an inventory.
Besides, I am more curious about the general appearance of things than about their minute details. I travel to observe, and to form an opinion of objects, but not to measure, catalogue, or sketch them. It ia
VOL. II.D
50CASTLE OF ORANIENBAUM.
a favour to be admitted into this cottage thus, as it were, in the presence of its occupants;—a favour the more rarely conceded as the house really offers no other interest beyond the curiosity which attaches to their habits and their private life. I therefore felt as though I ought to show myself worthy of the privilege by avoiding too minute an investigation.
After having explained this feeling to Madame
, who perfectly understood my delicacy, I
hastened to take leave of the empress and the grand-duke. We found them in the garden, where, after some further gracious words, they left me, satisfied with everytliing I had seen ; but, above all, grateful for their kindness, and charmed with the singular grace of their accessible manners.
After leaving the cottage, I proceeded to pay a hasty visit to Oranienbaum, the celebrated residence of Catherine II., built by Menzikoff. This unfortunate man was sent to Siberia before he had completed the wonders of a palace deemed too royal for a minister.
It now belongs to the Grand-duchess Helena, sister-in-law of the present emperor. Situated two or three leagues from Peterhoff, in sight of the sea, and on a continuation of the same ridge on which is built the imperial palace, the eastle of Oranienbaum, although constructed of wood, is an imposing edifice. Notwithstanding the imprudent luxury of the builder, and the greatness of the personages who have, after him, inhabited it, it is not remarkable for its extent. Terraces, flights of steps, and balconies covered with orange trees and flowering plants, connect the house with the park, and embellish both the one and the other; but the architecture itself is anything but
FORTRESS OF PETER THE THIRD.51
magnificent. The Grand-duchess Helena has shown here the taste which presides throughout all her arrangements, and which has made Oranienbaum a charming residence, notwithstanding the dulness of the landscape, and the besetting memories of the scenes formerly enacted there.
On leaving the palace, I asked permission to see the remains of the small but strong fortress, from whence they obliged Peter III. to come forth, and carried him to Ropscha, where he was assassinated. I was conducted to a retired hamlet, where are to be seen dry ditches, broken mounds, and heaps of stones, a modern ruin, in the production of which policy has had more to do than time. But the enforced silence, the purposely-created solitude which reigns around these accursed remains, summon up before the mind precisely that which is sought to be concealed; the official lie is annulled by the historic fact. History is a magical mirror, in which the people see, after the death of men who were influential in public affairs, the real, unmasked reflection of their faces. Those faces have passed away, but their images remain engraved on this inexorable crystal. Truth cannot be buried with the dead. It rises triumphant over the fear of princes and the flattery of people, always powerless when they endeavour to stifle the cry of blood ; and it finds its way through prisons, and even through the tomb, especially the tomb of the great, for obscure persons succeed better than princes in concealing the crimes which stain their memory. If I had not known that the fortress of Peter III. had been demolished, I should have guessed it; but what astonishes me, in seeing the wish here exhibited to D 2
52
ASSASSINATION OF
create oblivion of the past, is that anything connected with it should be preserved. The names ought to be destroyed, as well as the Avails. It was not sufficient to demolish the fortress, they should have also
razed the palace, which is only a quarter of a league distant. Whoever visits Oranienbaum inquires with anxiety for the vestiges of the prison where Peter III. was compelled to sign his voluntary abdication, which became also his death-warrant, —for, the sacrifice once obtained, it was necessary to prevent his revoking it.
The following is the account of the assassination of this prince at Ropseha, taken from M. de Rulhière's " History of Poland."
" The soldiers were astonished at their own deed. They could not conceive by what wicked enchantment they could have been induced to dethrone the grandson of Peter the Great, in order to place his crown upon a German. The greater number, without object or idea of their own, had been led on by others; and. each, after the pleasure of disposing of a crown had vanished, felt only remorse. The seamen, who had not been associated in the insurrection, publicly accused the guards in the taverns of having sold their emperor for beer. Pity, which excuses even the greatest criminals, began to plead in all hearts. One evening a troop of soldiers attached to the empress created much disturbance under a vague fear that their ' mother ' was in danger. She had to be roused up in order that they might see her. On the following night a new and more dangerous disturbance took place. So long as the life of the emperor left a pretext for disquietude, it was thought that there would be no tranquillity.
PETER THE THIRD.
53
" One of the Counts Orloff (for, on the first day of the troubles this title had been given them), the same soldier, surnamed le òalafré*, who had abstracted the note from the Princess d'Asehekof, and one Teplof, a person who had risen from the lowest employs by the singular art with which he had ruined his rivals, went together to the unhappy prince, and announced to him, on entering, that they had eome to dine with him. Before the repast, they caused glasses of brandy to be brought, according to the Russian custom. In that of the emperor was poison. But, whether rendered precipitate by their haste to carry the news of their success, or by the horror with which their action inspired them, they wished the moment after to make him take a second glass. His already burning stomach, and the horrible expression of their faces, rendered him, however, suspicious, and he refused the glass. To make him drink it, they resorted to force, and the emperor resisted. In this terrible strife, in order to stifle his cries, which could be heard at a distance, they threw themselves upon him. As he defended himself with all the energy of despah`, and as it was necessary to avoid marking his body with wounds, fear for themselves at length induced them to call to their aid the two officers who had been appointed to guard his person, and who were waiting outside at the door of his prison. These were the youngest of the princes Baratinski, and one Potemkin, a youth of seventeen. They had shown so much zeal in the conspiracy, that, notwithstanding their extreme youth, this guard had
* One whose visage is marked with the scar of a wound.—Trans. D 3
54SUMMER HOUSES OF CATHERINE.
been entrusted to them. They immediately appeared, and three of these murderers having closely tied a napkin round the neck of the unhappy emperor, OrloíF pressed his knees upon his breast until he lay lifeless in their hands.
<¢ It is not known with certainty what part the empress took in the event; but it is known, that on the day that it took place this princess was sitting down to dinner in a very good humour, when the same OrlofF, covered with sweat and dust, his hair dishevelled, his clothes torn, his countenance agitated and full of horror, appeared before her. On entering, his anxious eyes sought those of the empress. She rose without speaking, entered a cabinet, into which he followed her, and some minutes after she called Count Panin, already appointed her minister, and informed him that the emperor was dead. Panin advised her to let the evening pass in silence, and to spread the news in the morning, as though it had been received during the night. This counsel being agreed upon, the empress returned to the table with the same unperturbed countenance, and continued her dinner in the good humour with which it had been commenced. On the morrow, when it was spread abroad that Peter had died of a hemorrhoidal colic, she appeared bathed in tears, and published her grief by an edict."
In looking over the park of Oranienbaum, which is large and beautiful, I visited several of the summer-houses, which were the scenes of the Empress's amorous assignations. Some of them were splendid pavilions, others exhibited bad taste. In general their architecture lacked purity of style, though
CAMP OP KRASNACSELO.55
certainly pure enough for the uses to which the goddess of the place destined them.
I returned to Peterhoíf, and slept, for the third night, in the theatre. This morning, in returning to Petersburg, I took the road by Krasnacselo, where a large camp is formed. Forty thousand men of the imperial guard are, it is said, lodged there under tents, or dispersed in the neighbouring villages. Others say the number is seventy thousand. In Russia every one imposes upon me his own estimate, to which I pay little attention, for nothing is more deceptive than these statements. They serve to show, however, the importance that is attached to leading people astray. Nations rise above such childish stratagems when they pass from infancy to a state of manhood.
I was much amused with viewing the variety of uniforms, and with comparing the expressive and savage faces of these soldiers, who are brought from every part of the empire. Long lines of white tents glistened in the sun, on a surface broken into small undulations in a manner that produced a picturesque effect.
I am constantly regretting the insufficiency of words to describe certain scenes in the north, and, above all, certain effects of light. A few strokes of the pencil would give a better idea of the original aspect of this melancholy and singular land, than whole volumes of description.
D 4
56RESPONSIBILITY OF
CHAP. XVII.
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE EMPEROR. EFFECTS OF THE STORM AT
PETERHOFF. DEATH OF TWO ENGLISHMEN. THE MYSTERY
IN WHICH ALL OCCURRENCES ARE ENVELOPED. A STEAM-BOAT
SAVED ВТ AN ENGLISHMAN. THE RUSSIAN I>OLICE. — DISAP
PEARANCE OF A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. POLITENESS AND BRU
TALITY UNITED. CRUELTY OF A FELD JAGER. QUARREL
AMONG WORK-PEOPLE, AND THE REVOLTING CRUELTY OF THE
POLICE. THE EMPEROR A REFORMER.THE COLUMN OF ALEX
ANDER.REFORM IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE COURT. THE
CHURCH OF SAINT ISAAC. ITS IMMENSITY. — SPIRIT OF THE
GREEK RELIGION. ITS DEGRADATION. CONVERSATION WITH
A FRENCHMAN. A TRAVELLING PRISON. INSURRECTION
CAUSED BY A SPEECH OF THE EMPEROR'S. BLOODY SCENES ON
THE WOLGA. HISTORY OF THE POET POUSKINE. HIS DUEL
AND DEATH. FATE OF HIS AMBITIOUS SUCCESSOR. THE
POETRY OF POUSKINE.EFFECTS OF THE ADOPTION OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES IN RUSSIA. CONSEQUENCES OF THE RAGE FOR
ENGLISH NURSES AND GOVERNESSES IN FRANCE. — SUPERIORITY
OF THE CHINESE. THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES. ROUSSEAU.
— DECLINE OF FRENCH LITERATURE.
According to information that I have obtained this morning respecting the disaster of the fete of Peter-hoff, its extent has exceeded my expectations. But we shall never ascertain the exact circumstances of the event. Every accident here, is treated as an affair of state : it is Crod who has failed in his duty to the emperor.
Political superstition, which is the soul of the Muscovite community, exposes its chieftain to all the complaints that impotence may bring against power,
ГНЕ EMPEROK.57
that earth may urge against heaven. If my dog is hurt, it is to me that he comes for the cure of his wound; if God afflicts the Russians, they immediately call upon their czar. This prince, wTho is responsible for nothing in politics, must answer for every thing in Providence; a natural consequence of man's usurpation of the rights of God. A man who allows himself to be considered as more than a mortal, takes upon himself all the evil that heaven may send upon earth during his reign. There results from
this species of political fanaticism, a susceptibility, and jealous delicacy of which no idea can be formed in other lands. Nevertheless, the secrecy which policy believes it necessary to maintain on the subject of misfortunes the least dependent upon human will, fails in its object, inasmuch as it leaves the field open to imagination. Every one relates the same transaction differently, according to his interest, his fears, his ambition, or his humour; according to his situation at court, or his position in the world. Hence it is, that truth, in Petersburg is an imaginary thing, just as it has become in France, although from different eauses. An arbitrary censorship and an unlimited liberty may lead to the same results, and render impossible the verification of the most simple fact.
Thus, some say that there Avere only tliirty persons who perished the day before yesterday, while others speak of twelve hundred, others of two thousand, and others again of one hundred and fifty. Imagine the uncertainty in which every thing must be involved, when the circumstances of an event that took place, as it were, under our eyes, will always remain D 5
58DEATH OF TWO ENGLISHMEN.
unknown, even to ourselves. I shall never cease to marvel at having seen a people exist, so thoughtless as readily and tranquilly to live and die in the twilight which the policy of its masters accords it. Hitherto I had been accustomed to believe that man could no more dispense with truth for his mind than with sun and air for his body; but my Russian journey has undeceived me. Truth is only needful to elevated minds or to advanced nations; the vulgar accommodate themselves to the falsehoods favourable to their passions and habits; here, to lie, is to protect society, to speak the truth is to overthrow the state. The twilight of politics is less transparent than the polar sky.