" The baron, without replying, arose and gently closed the door of the tutor's chamber. The stranger continued —' If I speak to you thus freely, it is not because I intend to ruin you, I only wish to prove to yoti that you are in my power. Restore to me my cargo and my ship; which, damaged as it is, will still convey me to St. Petersburgh, and I promise secrecy; which promise I am ready to confirm with my oath. If the desire of revenge had influenced me I should have landed on the opposite coast, and proclaimed you in the first village. The proposal I make, proves my willingness to save you in thus apprising you of the danger to which you are exposed by your crimes.'
BARON DE STERNBERG.101
î¢ The baron alì this tune maintained a profound silence. The expression of his countenance was grave but not sinister. He requested a little time to reflect upon the course he should take, and withdrew, saying that in a quarter of an hour he would give his answer.
" Some minutes before the expiration of the stipulated time, he suddenly burst into the saloon tlmough a secret door, threw himself upon the too adventurous stranger, and stabbed him to the heart.
" Orders had been meantime given to destroy the last man of the boat's crew. Silence, for a moment disturbed by so many murders, again reigned in this den of robbers. The tutor of the child had, however, overheard all that had passed: he continued to listen, but could at length only hear the step of the baron, and the deep snore of the Corsairs as, wrapped in their sheep-skins, they slept on the stairs of the tower.
" The baron, uneasy and siispicious, entered the chamber of this man; and examined his features with scrupulous attention. Standing near the bed, with the still bloody poniard in his hand, he watched a long time for the least signs which could betray a feigned slumber. At length, convinced that he was in a deep sleep, he resolved to let him live.
" Perfection in crime is as rare as in anything
else," said the Prince К, interrupting his narra
tion.
We made no answer, for we were impatient to know the end of the history. He continued: —
" The suspicions of the tutor had been roused for some time past. As soon as the first words of the Dutch captain had met his ear he rose up, and wit-F 3
102
BARON DE STERNBERG.
nessed through the chinks of the door, which the baron had locked upon him, all the circumstances of the murder. The instant afterwards he acted with the presence of mind before related, which deceived the assassin, and saved his life. After the baron had retired he rose, dressed, and, in spite of the fever that was upon him, let himself down from the window by cords, detached a skiff which he found fastened at the foot of the rampart, and pushed out to sea, steering towards the mainland, which he reached without accident, and where he immediately proclaimed the crime that he had witnessed.
" The absence of the sick man was soon noticed in the castle of Dago. The baron, blinded by the infatuation of crime, imagined at first that he had cast himself into the sea while under the delirium of fever. Entirely occupied in searching for his body, he thought not of flight, although the cord attached to the window and the disappearance of the skiff were irrefragable proofs of the real fact.
" Convinced, at length, by these evidences, he was beginning to prepare for escape, when he found his castle surrounded by troops which had been instantly despatched against him. For one moment he thought of defence, but his people all forsook him. He was taken and sentenced by the Emperor Paul to hard labour for life in Siberia.
" It was there he died, and such was the end of a man who once shone alike by the powers of his mind, and the elegance of his manners, in the most polished circles of Europe. Our mothers can yet recollect him as having been everything that was agreeable.
" I should not have related to you this romantic
SIR W. SCOTT AND LORD BYRON.103
tale if the circumstances of its occurrence, which would have been so appropriate to the middle-ages, had not belonged as it were to our own times. In everything, Russia is four centuries behind the world."
When Prince Кhad ceased speaking, we all
exclaimed that the Baron de Sternberg was the type of Byron's Manfreds and Laras.
" It is unquestionable," said Prince К, who
had no fear of paradox, " that it is because Byron has drawn his models from real existences, that they appear to us to possess so few of the attributes of the probable. In poetry reality is never natural.
" That is so true," I replied, " that the fictions of Walter Scott produce a more perfect illusion than the exact copyings of Byron."
" Possibly, but yon must look to yet other causes for this difference; Scott describes, Byron creates: the latter cares little for the reality, even in recounting it; the former is imbued with its instinct, even when inventing."
" Do not you think, prince," I replied, c< that this instinct of reality, which you ascribe to the great romance-writer, is connected with liis often being common-place? What masses of superfluous detail, and vulgar dialogue!—and, after all, it is in describing the dress and the apartments of his personages that he is most exact."
" Stay! I shall defend my favourite, Walter Scott,"
cried Prince К, " I cannot permit so amusing a
writer to be insulted."
" That he is amusing is just the species of merit which I deny him," I responded. " A romance writer F 4
104HISTORICAL ROMANCE.
who needs a volume to prepare a scene is anything but amusing. Walter Scott was very fortunate m appearing at an epoch when people no longer knew what amusement meant."
" How he describes the human heart," said Prince
D: for every body was against юе.
" Yes, provided he does not make it speak, for expression fails him whenever he attempts the passionate and the sublime : he draws characters by their actions admirably, for he has more skill and more power of observation than eloquence; his mind is methodical and calculating; he has appeared in a congenial age, and has marvellously revived and embodied the most vulgar and consequently the most popular ideas and images."
" He has been the first to solve, in a satisfactory
manner, the difficult problem of historical romance :
you cannot refuse him this merit," added Prince
К.
" Would that it were insolvable," I replied. " With what multitudes of false notions have the crowd of illiterate readers been imbued by the mixing of history with romance. This union is always mischievous, and, to me, scarcely appears amusing. I would prefer reading, even for aimisenient, M. Augustin Thierry, or any other equally grave author, to all the fables about real personages that have ever been invented."
" If it is a matter of taste," said Prince К,
smiling, " we will dispute no longer about it; " and, taking my arm, he begged me to assist him to his state-room, where, offering me a seat, he continued, in a low voice, " as we are alone, and you like historvj
MARRIAGE OP PETER THE GREAT. 105
I wiH relate to you a story of a higher order than the one you have just heard: it is to you alone that I relate it, because before Russians one must not talk of history.
" You know that Peter the Great, after much hesitation, destroyed the patriarchate of Moscow, in order to unite on the same head the crown and the tiara. The political autocracy thus openly usurped that unlimited spiritual power which it had coveted for so long —monstrous union, unknown before among the nations of modern Europe. The chimera entertained by the popes during the middle-ages is now actually realised in a nation of sixty millions of people, many of them Asiatics, whom nothing surprises, and who are by no means sorry to find a grand Lama in their Czar.
" The Emperor Peter sought to unite himself in marriage with Catherine, the sutler.
" To accomplish this supreme object of his heart it was necessary to begin by finding a family name for the future empress. This was obtained I believe in Lithuania, where an obscure private gentleman was f
irst converted into a great lord by birth, and afterwards discovered to be the brother of the empress elect.
" Russian despotism not only pays little respect to ideas and sentiments, it will also deny facts; it will ■struggle against evidence, and triumph in the struggle !!! for evidence, when it is inconvenient to power. has no more voice among us than has justice."
The bold language of the prince startled me. He had been educated at Rome, and, like all who possess any piety of feeling, and independence of mind, in г 5
106 MARRIAGE OF PETER THE GREAT.
Russia, he inclined to the Catholic religion. While various reflections, suggested by his discourse, were passing in my mind, he continued his philosophical observations.
" The people, and even the great men, are resigned spectators of this war against truth ; the lies of the despot, however palpable, are always flattering to the slave. The Russians, who bear so much, would bear no tyranny if the tyrant did not carefully act as though he believed them the dupes of his policy. Human dignity immersed and sinking in the gulf of absolute government, seizes hold of the smallest branch within reach, that may serve to keep it afloat. Human nature will bear much scorn and wrong ; but it will not bear to be told in direct terms that it is scorned and wronged. When outraged by deeds, it takes refuge in words. Falsehood is so abasing, that to degrade the tyrant into the hypocrite is a vengeance which consoles the victim. Miserable and last illusion of misfortune, which must yet be respected, lest the serf should become still more vile, and the despot still more outrageous.
" There existed an ancient custom for two of the greatest noblemen of the empire to walk by the side of the patriarch of Moscow in solemn public processions.
" On the occasion of his marriage, the Czarinian pontiff determined to choose for acolytes in the bridal procession, on one side a famous boyard*, and on the other the new brother-in-law that he had created ; for in Russia, sovereign power can do more than
* The title of a Russian noble.
PRINCE ROMODANOWSKI.107
create nobles, it can raise up relatives for those who are without any; with us, despotism is more powerful than nature; the emperor is not only the representative of God, he is himself the creative power; a power indeed greater than that of Deity, for it only extends its action to the future, whereas the emperor alters and amends the past: the law has no retroactive effect, the caprice of a despot has.
'cThe personage whom Peter wished to associate with the new brother of the empress was the highest noble in Moscow, and after the Czar, the greatest individual in the empire, his name was Prince Romodanowski. Peter notified him through liis first minister that he was to attend the ceremony in order to walk by the emperor's side — an honour which he would share with the brother of the empress."
" ' Very well,' replied the prince; ' but on which side of the Czar am I expeeted to place myself?'
" e My dear prince,' replied the courtier, i how can you ask sueh a question? Of course the brother-in-law of his majesty will take the right'
" e I shall not attend, then,' responded the haughty boyard.
" This answer reported to the Czar provoked a. second message.
"fYou shall attend!' was the mandate of the tyrant ; e you shall either attend, or I will hang you !'
" i Say to the Czar,' replied the indomitable Muscovite, ' that I entreat him first to execute the same sentence on my only son: this child is only fifteen years old; it is possible that, after having seen me perish, fear will make him consent to walk on the left hand of his sovereign ; but I can depend on myself, both f б
108
RUSSIAN AUTOCRACY.
before and after the execution of my child, never to do that which can disgrace the blood of Romodanowski.'"
" The Czar, I say it in his praise, yielded ; but to revenge himself on the independent spirit of the Muscovite aristocracy, he built St. Petersburg.
"Nicholas," added prince К, "would not
have acted thus ; he would have sent the boyard and his son to the mines, and have declared by an ukase, conceived in legal terms, that neither the father nor the son соггк! have children ; perhaps he would have deci`eed that the father had never been married ; siieh things still often take place in Riissia, the best pi`oof of which is that Ave are foi`bidden to recount them."
Be this as it гпау, the pi*ide of the ]VIuscovite гюЫе gives a perfect idea of that singular combmation of which the acüial state of Russian society is the result. A monstrous compound of the petty ì`efineinents of Byzantium, and the ferocity of the desei`t horde, a striiggle between the etiqiiette of the Lower Empire, and the savage virtiies of Asia, have produced the mighty state which Europe now beholds, and the mfluence of which she will pi`obably feel hei`eafter, without being able to understand its operation.
We have just seen an instance of arbitrary power outbraved and humiliated by the aristoci`acy.
This fact, and many others, justify me in maintaining that it is an aristo«`acy which constitutes the gi`eatest check огг the despotism of агг individual, — on an autoci*acy ; the вогг! of aristocracy is pi`ide, the spirit of demo«`acy is envy. We will now see how easily an aiitocrat гпау be deceived.
This morning we passed Revel. The sight of that place, which has not long been Russian territory,
CORPSE OF PRINCE DE CROÏ.109
recalled to our memories the proud name of Charles XII., and the battle of Narva. In this battle was killed a Frenchman, the Prince de Croï, who fought under the king of Sweden. His body was carried to Revel, where he could not be buried, because during the campaign he had contracted debts in the province, and had left nothing to pay them. According to an ancient custom of the land, his body was placed in the church of Revel until his heirs should satisfy his creditors. This corpse is still in the same church where it was laid more than one hundred years ago. The amount of the original debt has become so greatly augmented by interest, and by the daily charge made for the keeping of the corpse, that there are few fortunes which would now suffice to acquit it.
In passing through Revel about twenty years since the Emperor Alexander visited the church, and was so shocked with the hideous spectacle presented by the corpse, that he commanded its immediate interment. On the morrow the Emperor departed, and the body of the Prince de Croï was duly carried to the eemetry. The day after it was brought back to the church, and placed in its former position. If there is not justice in Russia, there are, it would appear, customs more powerful even than the sovereign will.
What most amused me during this too short passage was to find myself constantly obliged, in obedience to my instinctive notions of equity, to justify
Russia against Prince К's observations. This
won me the good will of all the Russians who heard our conversation. The sincerity of the opinions which
110RUSSIAN SENSITIVENESS.
the amiable Prince pronounces on his country, at least proves to me that in Russia there are some who may speak their mind.
When I remarked this to him, he replied, that he was not a Russian !! Singular assertion ! However, Russian or stranger, he says what he thinks. He ha¾ filled the most important political posts, spent two fortunes, worn out the favour of several sovereigns, and is полу old, and infirm, but especially protected by a member of the imperial family, who loves wit too well to fear it. Besides, in order to escape Siberia, he pretends that he is writing memoirs, and that he has deposited the finished volumes in France. The Emperor dreads publicity as much as Russsia dreads the Emperor.
I am mueh struck by the extreme susceptibility of
the Russians as regards the judgment which strangers
may form respecting them. The impression which
their country may make on the minds of travellers
occupies their thoughts incessantly. "What would be
said of the Germans, the English, and the French if
they indulged themselves in such puerility ? If the
> satires of Prince Кarc disagreeable to his coun
trymen, it is not so much because their own sentiments
are wounded, as on account of the influence these
satires may have ггроп me, who am become an im
portant person in their eyes since they have heard
that I write my travels.
" Do not allow yourself to be prejudiced against Russia by this unpatriotic Russian; do not write under the influence of his statements; it is from a wish to display his French wit at our expense that he thus speaks, but in reality he has no such opinion."
RUSSIAN SENSITIVENESS.Ill
This is the kind of language that is addressed to me, privately, ten times a day. It appears to me as though the Russians would be content to become even yet worse and more barbarous than they are, provided they were thought better and more civilised. I do not admire minds which hold the truth thus cheaply; civilisation is not a fashion, nor an artificial device, it is a power which has its result, — a root which sends forth its stalk, produces its flowers, and bears its fruit.
" At least you will not call us the barbarians of the north, as your countrymen do." This is said to me every time I appear amused by some interesting recital, some national melody, or some noble or poetic sentiment ascribed to a Russian. I reply to these fears by some unimportant compliment, but I think in my own mind that I could better love the barbarians of the north than the apes who are ever imitating the south.
Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia Page 12
