Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

by Astolphe De Custine

  STATUE OF PETER THE GREAT.13J

  If a spy, he was at least a useful one, speaking both French and Russian, and undertaking to procure me a drowsky; while, in the mean time, he himself aided my valet to transport in a cart to ]Coulon`s hotel such part of my baggage as had been given up.

  Coulon is a Frenchman, who is said to keep the best hotel in Petersburg, which is not saying much. In Russia, foreigners soon lose all trace of their national character, without, at the same time, ever assimilating with that of the natives.

  The obliging stranger found even a guide for me who could speak German, and who mounted behind in the drowsky, in order to answer my questions. This man acquainted me with the names of the buildings we passed in proceeding to the hotel, which occupied some tune, for the distances are great in Petersburg.

  The too celebrated statue of Peter the Great, placed on its rock by the Empress Catherine, first attracted my attention. The equestrian figure is neither antique nor modern; it is a Roman of the time of Louis XV. To aid in supporting the horse, an enormous serpent has been placed at his feet; which is an ill-conceived idea, serving only to betray the impotence of the artist.

  I stopped for one moment before the scaffolding of an edifice which, though not yet completed, is already famous in Europe, the church, namely, of St. Isaac. I also saw the facade of the new winter palace; another mighty result of human will applying human physical powers in a struggle with the laws of nature. The end has been attained, for in one year this palace has risen from its ashes; and it is the largest, I

  136

  THE WINTER PALACE.

  believe, which exists; equalling the Louvre and the TuiIIcries put together.

  In order to complete the work at the time appointed by the emperor, unheard-of efforts were necessary. The interior Avorks were continued during the great frosts; 6000 Avorkmen were continually employed; of these a considerable number died daily, but the victims were instantly replaced by other champions brought forward to perish, in their turn, in tliis inglorious breach. And the sole end of all these sacrifices was to gratify the caprice of one man !

  Among people naturally, that is to say, anciently civilised, the life of men is only exposed when common interests, the urgency of which is universally admitted, demand it. But how many generations of monarchs has not the example of Peter the Great corrupted!

  During frosts Avhen the thermometer Avas at 25 to 30 degrees below 0 of Reaumur, 6000 obscure martyrs — martyrs without merit, for their obedience was involuntary — Avere shut up in halls heated to 30 degrees of Reaumur, in order that the Avails might dry more quickly; in entering and leaving tliis abode of death, destined to beeome, by virtue of their sacrifice, the abode of vanity, magnificence, and pleasure. Thus these miserable beings Avould have to endure a difference of 50 to 60 degrees of temperature.

  The Avorks in the mines of the Uralian mountains are less inimical to life; and yet the Avorkmen employed at Petersburg Avere not malefactors. I Avas told that those who had to paint the interior of the

  MEANS EMPLOYED FOR ITS ERECTION. 137

  most highly heated halls were obliged to place on their heads a kind of bonnet of ice, in order to preserve the use of their senses under the burning temperature. Had there been a design to disgust the world with arts, elegance, luxury, and all the pomp of courts, could a more efficacious mode have been taken ? And yet the sovereign was called father, by the men immolated before his eyes in prosecuting an object of pure imperial vanity. They were neither spies nor Russian cynics who gave me these details, the authenticity of which I guarantee.

  The millions expended on Versailles supported as many families of French workmen as there were Slavonian serfs destroyed by these twelve months in the winter palace; but, by means of this sacrifice, the mandate of the emperor has realised a prodigy ; and the palace, completed to the general satisfaction, is going to be inaugurated by marriage fetes. A prince may be popular in Russia without attaching much value to human life. Nothing colossal is produced without effort; but when a man is in himself both the nation and the government, he ought to impose on himself a law, not to press the great springs of the machine he has the power of moving, except for some object worthy of the effort. To work miracles at the cost of the life of an army of slaves may be great; but it is too great, for both God and man will finally rise to wreak vengeance on these inhuman prodigies. Men have adored the light, the Russians worship the eclipse : when will their eyes be opened ?

  I do not say that their political system produces nothing good; I simply say that what it does produce is dearly bought.

  138CITATION FROM IIEEBEESTEIN.

  It is not now for the first time that foreigners have been struck with astonislmient at contemplating the attachment of this people to their slavery. The following passage, which is an extract from the correspondence of the Baron Herberstein, ambassador from the Emperor Maximilian, father of Charles V., to the Czar Vassili Ivanowich, I have found in Karamsin.

  Did the Russians know all that an attentive reader may gather even from this flattering liistorian, in whom they glory, and whom foreigners consult with extreme distrust, on account of his partiality as a courtier, they would entreat the emperor to forbid the perusal of his, and of all other historical works, and thus be left in a darkness equally favourable to the repose of the despot and the felicity of Iris subjects, who believe themselves happy so long as others do not stigmatise them as victims.

  Herberstein, in characterising the Russian despotism, writes as follows: — " He (the czar) speaks, and it is done ; the life and fortunes of laity and clergy, nobles and burghers, all depend on his supreme will. He is unacquainted with contradiction, and all he does is deemed as equitable as though it were done by Deity ; for the Russians are persuaded that their prince is the executor of the Divine decrees. Thus, ( God and the prince have willed,'' ( God and the prince know] are common modes of speech among them. Nothing can equal their zeal for his service. One of his principal officers, a venerable gray-haired person, formerly ambassador in Spain, came to meet us on our entry into Moscow. He galloped his horse, and displayed all the activity of a young man, until

  KARAMSIN.

  139

  the sweat fell from his brow ; and when I expressed my surprise to him, (Ah, Monsieur le Baron,' he replied, e гее serve our sovereign in a manner altogether different from that in which you serve yours'

  " I cannot say whether it is the character of the Russian nation which has formed such autocrats, or whether it is the autocrats themselves who have given this character to the nation."

  This letter, written more than three centuries ago, describes the Russians precisely as I now see them. Like the ambassador of Maximilian, I still ask, is it the character of the Russian which has made the autocracy, or is it the autocracy which has made the Russian character ? and I can no more solve the question than could the German diplomatist.

  It appears to me, however, that the influence is reciprocal : the Russian government could never have been established elsewhere than in Russia; and the Russians would never have become what they are under a government differing from that which exists among them.

  I wTill add another citation from the same author, Karamsin. He repeats the observations of the travellers who visited Muscovy in the sixteenth century. " Is it surprising, say these strangers, that the grand prince is rich ? He neither gives money to his troops nor his ambassadors ; he even takes from these last all the costly things they bring back from foreign lands.* It was thus that the Prince Yaroslowsky, on his return from Spain, was obliged to place in the

  * Dickens, in his Travels through the United States, informs us that the same practice is at this day observed in America.

  140THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE

  treasury all the chains of gold, the collars, the coa‡ly stuffs, and the silver vessels, which the Emperor and the Areh-duke Ferdinand had given him. Nevertheless, these men do not complain ; they say, ' The great prince takes away, the g
reat prinee will give again.'" It was thus the Russians spoke of the czar in the sixteenth century.

  At the present day you will hear, both in Paris and in Petersburg, numbers of Russians dwelling with rapture on the prodigious effects of the word of the emperor; and, in magnifying these results, not one troubles himself with dwelling upon the means. ·¢ The word of the emperor can create," they say. Yes; it can animate stones, by destroying human beings. .Notwithstanding this little restrictive clause, every Russian is proud of being able to say to us, " You take three years to deliberate on the means of rebuilding a theatre, whilst our emperor raises again, in one year, the largest palace in the universe." And this puerile triumph does not appear to them too dearly bought by the death of a few thousand wretched artisans, sacrificed to that sovereign impatience, that imperial fantasy, which constitutes the national glory. Whilst I, though a Frenchman, see nothing but inhuman ostentation in tins achievement, not a single protestation is raised from one end of this immense empire to the other, against the orgies of absolute power.

  People and government are here in unison. That a man brought up in the idolatry of self, a man revered as omnipotent by sixty millions of men, or at least of beings that resemble men, should not undertake to put an end to such a state of things — this

  AGREES WITH THAT OF THE GOVERNMENT. 141

  does not surprise me : the wonder is, that among the voices that relate these things to the glory of this individual, not one separates itself from the universal chorus, to protest in favour of humanity, against such autocratic miracles. It may be said of the Russians, great and small, that they arc drunk with slavery.

  142PETERSBURG IN ТПЕ MORNING.

  CHAP. IX.

  THE DROWSKA. — COSTUME OF THE LOWER ORDERS. — WOODEN

  PAVEMENTS. — PETERSBURG IN THE MORNING. RESEMBLANCE

  OF THE CITY TO A BARRACK. CONTRAST BETWEEN RUSSIA AND

  SPAIN.DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TYRANNY AND DESPOTISM. —

  THE TCHIN. — PECULIAR CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN GOVERN

  MENT.THE ARTS IN RUSSIA.A RUSSIAN HOTEL. THE EVILS

  TO BE ENCOUNTERED THERE.THE MICHAEL PALACES. — DEATH

  OF PAUL I. — THE SPY "BAFFLED.THE NEVA, ITS QUAYS AND

  BRIDGES. CABIN OF PETER I.THE CITADEL, ITS TOMBS AND

  DUNGEONS.CHURCH OF ST. ALEXANDER NEWSKI. RUSSIAN

  VETERANS. AUSTERITY OF THE CZAR. — RUSSIAN FAITH IN THE

  FUTURE, AND ITS REALISATION. MUNICH AND PETERSBURG

  COMPARED. INTERIOR OF THE FORTRESS. THE IMPERIAL

  TOMBS. SUBTERRANEAN PRISON.RUSSIAN PRISONERS.

  MORAL DEGRADATION OF THE HIGHER CLASSES. CATHOLIC

  CHURCH. PRECARIOUS TOLERATION. TOMB OF THE LAST

  KING OF POLAND AND OF MOREAU.

  It Avas on the day before yesterday, between nine and ten o'clock, that I obtained the liberty of entering Petei`sburg.

  The city, whose inhabitants are not early risers, gave me at that hour of day the idea of a yast solitude. Now and then I met a few drowskas. The drivers Ave re dressed in the costume of the country. The singular appearance of these men, their horses and carriages, struck me more than anything else on my first view of the city.

  The ordinary costume and general appearance of the lower classes of Petersburg, (not the porters, but) the workmen, coachmen, the small trades-

  COSTUME OF THE LOWER ORDERS.143

  people, &c. &c, is as follows: — on the head is worn either a cap, formed somewhat in the shape of a melon; or a narrow-brimmed hat, low crowned, and wider at the top than the bottom. This headdress slightly resembles a woman's turban or a Norman cap. It becomes the younger men. Both young and old wear beards. Those of the beaux are silken and carefully combed; those of the old and the careless appear dirty and matted. Their eyes have a peculiar expression, strongly resembling the deceitful glance of Asiatics — so strongly, that in casually observing them, you might fancy yourself in Persia.

  Their locks, worn long on each side, fall upon the cheeks and conceal the ears; but their hair is cut closely off from the nape of the neck upwards, which original mode of wearing it leaves the neck behind quite bare, for they have no cravat. The beard sometimes falls upon the breast, sometimes it is cut close round the chin. Much value is attached to this ornament, which accords with the tout ensemble of the costume better than with the stocks, the frock coats, and the wraistcoats of our young modern fops.

  The Russian people have a natural perception of the picturesque; their customs, furniture, utensils, costume and figure, would all furnish subject for the painter, and the corner of every street in Petersburg might suggest material for a picture graceful in its kind.

  But to complete the description of the national costume:—in place of our frock and great-coats, is substituted the cafetan, a long and loose Persian robe made of grey, olive, or yet more commonly, of blue

  144THE DROWSKA.

  cloth. The folds of this robe, which has no collar, but is c;it close to the neck, form an ample drapery, drawn together ro;ind the loins by a brightly coloured silken or woollen girdle. The boots are large, and take the form of the foot. On the legs the high leather falls down, or is doubled back over itself, in not ungraceful folds.

  The singular form of the drowska is well known; imitations, more or less exact, are to be seen every where. It is the lowest and smallest carriage imaginable, being almost hid by the two or three persons that it carries. It consists of a stuffed seat, protected by four splash-boards of polished leather. This seat is supported on four extremely low wheels, by four little springs, and is placed lengthwise. The driver sits before, his feet almost touching the hocks of his horses, and close behind, astride the seat, his masters are jammed together, for two men sometimes mount the same drowska. I have not seen how the women manage. To these singular vehicles, small as they are, one, two, and sometimes three horses are attached. The shaft horse has his head fixed in a large and raised semi-circle of wood, which gives the idea of a moving triumphal arch. It is not a collar, for the neck of the horse is far below the wood ; it is rather a hoop, through which the animal seems to be proudly passing. The different parts of the harness are wrell adapted to correspond with this not ungraceful hoop, a bell attached to which announces the approach of the drowska.

  In observing this lowest of all equipages gliding swiftly between two lines of the lowest built of all

  WOODEN PAVEMENTS.145

  houses, one can scarcely realise the idea of being in Europe. The second horse, fastened on the near side of the former, is yet less confined ; his head is left free, and he is kept constantly on the gallop, when even his comrade in harness only trots.

  Originally the drowska was nothing more than a rough plank, placed between four little wheels, on axles almost touching the earth. This primitive coach has been greatly improved, but it still preserves its original lightness and its strange appearance. In striding the seat one feels as if mounting some tamed animal; but if this species of horseback is not liked, the party seats himself sideways, holding by the coachman, who always drives at a gallop.

  There is a new kind of drowska, in which the seat is not fixed lengthwise, and the body of which has the form of a tilbury. It is an approach to the carriages of other lands, and savours of the English modes; so much the worse, for among all people I love that which is national, and regret that it should ever become obsolete ! These scarcely perceptible coaches are rudely jolted over the uneven stones of the streets of Petersburg, though in certain quarters the pavement is improved by two lines of wooden blocks laid down on each side of the way. Over such pavements, which are found in the larger streets, the horses proceed with great rapidity, especially in dry weather, for the rain renders them slippery. These mosaics of the north are expensive by reason of the continual repairs which they require, but they are preferable to the stones.

  The movements of the men whom I met appeared stiff and constrained; every gesture expressed a

  vol. i.и

  146P
ETERSBURG IN THE MORNING.

  will which was not their own. The morning is the time for commissions and errands, and not one individual appeared to be walking on his own account. I observed few good looking women, and heard no girlish voices ; every thing was dull and regular as in a barrack. Military discipline reigns throughout Russia. The aspect of the country makes me regret Spain as much as though I had been born an Andalusian: it is not however the heat which I want, for that here is almost suffocating : it is light and light-heartedness. Love and liberty for the heart, brilliancy and variety of colour for the eye, are here unknown : in a word, Russia is in all respects the very opposite of Spain. Fancy can almost descry the shadow of death hovering over this portion of the globe.

  Now appears a cavalry officer passing at full gallop to bear an order to some commanding officer; then a chasseur carrying an order to some provincial governor, perhaps at the other extremity of the empire, whither he proceeds in a kibitka, a little Russian chariot, without springs or stuffed seat. This vehicle, driven by an old bearded coachman, rapidly conveys the courier, whose rank would prevent his using a more commodious equipage had he one at his disposal. Next are seen foot soldiers returning from exercise to their quarters, in order to receive orders from their captain. This automaton population resembles one side of a chess-board, where a single individual causes the movements of all the pieces, but where the adversary is invisible. One neither moves nor respires here except by an imperial order; consequently everything is dull, formal, and

  TYRANNY AND DESPOTISM.147

  spiritless. Silence presides oyer and paralyses life. Officers, coachmen, Cossacks, serfs, courtiers, all servants under the same master, blindly obey the orders which they do not understand; it is certainly the perfection of discipline; but the sight of such perfection does not gratify me; so much regularity can only be obtained by the entire absence of independence.