THE GREAT THEATRE OF MOSCOW.--OPERATIC PERFORMANCES.--THE KITAI GOROD
AND GOSTINNA DVOR.--ROMANOFF HOUSE AND THE ROMANOFF FAMILY.--SKETCH OF
THE RULERS OF RUSSIA.--ANECDOTES OF PETER THE GREAT AND OTHERS.--CHURCH
OF THE SAVIOUR.--MOSQUES AND PAGODAS.--THE
MUSEUM.--RIDING-SCHOOL.--SUHAREFF TOWER.--TRAKTIRS.--OLD BELIEVERS.--THE
SPARROW HILLS AND THE SIMONOFF MONASTERY.
The best part of a day was consumed in the Kremlin and in the Church of
St. Basil. Further investigation of old Moscow was postponed to the
morrow.
In the evening our friends went to the Opera-house to listen to some
national music, but more particularly to see the house, which is one of
the curiosities of the city. The "_Bolshoi Teatre_" or "Great Theatre,"
is one of the finest opera-houses in the world. It was built in 1855-56,
to replace the smaller opera-house which had been destroyed by fire
about two years before. A few months after it was opened there was a
performance in the theatre, entitled "1756 and 1856," to celebrate the
hundredth anniversary of the establishment of government theatres in
Russia.
From the material in the possession of the youths, and by a careful use
of eyes and note-books, Fred wrote the following account of the Moscow
Opera-house, and added to the information about theatrical matters which
appears in a previous chapter.
"The first recorded representation of a theatrical character in Russia
is assigned to the reign of Alexis Michailovitch, father of Peter the
Great. It was given in the house of the father-in-law of Alexis, but
very little is known of its character. Russian writers say their first
regular dramas were in the time of Feodor Alexeivitch (half-brother and
predecessor of Peter the Great), and were written by the Czar's tutor.
They were produced in one of the suburban palaces, and had a religious
character, as we infer from the titles 'Prodigal Son,' 'King
Nebuchadnezzar,' 'Three Men in the Fiery Furnace,' and 'The Golden
Calf.' The Czar's tutor was a monk, and the plays were performed by the
students attached to the monastery.
[Illustration: DRESS OF PEASANTS--SCENE FROM A RUSSIAN OPERA.]
"Peter the Great determined to develop the drama, and engaged a
Hungarian actor, who happened to be at Moscow, to look after the matter.
This actor went to Germany and engaged a troupe, and among them was a
man who divided his time between theatrical affairs and ship-building.
When he was not ship-building he was writing plays and managing Peter's
theatre at Moscow, and he seems to have engaged in the two occupations
with equal facility. Peter attended the performances accompanied by his
officers. In order to encourage the drama there was no admission fee,
the company being supported by the Government.
"At first the performances took place in a large hall of the Suhareff
Tower. After a time a wooden theatre was built near the Kremlin, and
performances were given regularly. The City of Yaroslav established a
theatre of its own under the direction of Feodor Volkhoff, an actor who
afterwards became famous in Russia. In 1752 he was summoned to St.
Petersburg by the Empress Elizabeth, to direct performances at the court
theatre, and in 1756 the Empress issued an Imperial order establishing
a government theatre in the capital. The centennial of this event was
the celebration referred to.
[Illustration: A DRESSING-ROOM OF THE OPERA-HOUSE.]
"The Moscow Opera-house stands in a square by itself not far from the
Kremlin. Carriages can be driven all around it, and there are three
entrances for spectators besides the one reserved to the actors. The
theatre is never crowded, as only as many tickets are sold as there are
seats, and no money is taken at the doors. There are five rows of boxes
besides the parquette, or ground-floor, and the gallery, which occupies
the whole of the upper tier. We had our places in the parquette, and
found them very comfortable. Each seat is a separate arm-chair, with
plenty of space around it, so that one may walk about between the acts
without disturbing his neighbors.
[Illustration: WORKING THE SHIP IN "L'AFRICAINE."]
"The waits between the acts were very long, according to our American
ideas, but there was a reason for this. We found an attendant who spoke
French, and through his assistance and his expectation of a fee we
visited an unoccupied box on one of the principal tiers. The box had
plenty of seating-room for half a dozen persons; the attendant said ten
or twelve were frequently packed into it, but it was only unfashionable
people who ever thought of thus crowding a box. Each box has a little
cabinet or parlor back of it, where one may receive friends, and a great
deal of visiting goes on between the acts. The arrangement is an Italian
one, and the same feature exists in opera-houses in other parts of
Europe.
"To give you an idea of the size of the house, let me quote a few
figures comparing it with the principal theatres of Milan, Naples, and
London. The measurements are in English feet:
Diameter of ceiling, La Scala, Milan 70
Diameter of ceiling, San Carlo, Naples 73
Diameter of ceiling, Covent Garden, London 65
Diameter of ceiling, Moscow Opera-house =98=
Opening of proscenium, La Scala, Milan 51
Opening of proscenium, San Carlo, Naples 58
Opening of proscenium, Covent Garden, London 50
Opening of proscenium, Moscow Opera-house =70=
"The stage of the Moscow Opera-house is 126 feet wide and 112 feet deep.
At Covent Garden Theatre the respective figures are 88 and 90 feet.
"We had a great deal of curiosity to see the famous drop-scene, which
represents the triumphal entry of Minin and Pojarsky into the Kremlin,
after the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow in 1612. It is a
magnificent picture, painted by Duzi, a Venetian artist, and represents
the two liberators on horseback near the Holy Gate of the Kremlin,
surrounded by citizens of all classes and conditions. Prince Pojarsky
looks like an Oriental, as he is dressed in the costume which was worn
by the boyards or noblemen down to the time of Peter the Great. The
peasant class are in their holiday dress; the women wear _sarafans_ and
_kokoshniks_ which are quite like those worn by many of them at the
present time, while the men are mostly in girdled _caftans_, just as we
see thousands of them daily. French fashions have taken a hold among the
nobility and wealthy people of Russia generally, but have no effect on
the peasantry. The common people will probably adhere to their present
costume until ordered by Imperial decree to adopt a new one.
[Illustration: MININ-POJARSKY MONUMENT.]
"We spent nearly the whole time of the wait between the first and second
acts in contemplating this picture, and found plenty to occupy us. We
have already mentioned the Minin-Pojarsky Monument, which stands near
the gate of the Kremlin, and reminds the people of an important event in
their national history. Between the monument and the painting, the
Russians are not likely to forget the patriotism of the cattle-dealer
and the Prince."
From the theatre our friends went straight to the hotel and to bed,
tired enough with their day's exertions, but amply repaid for all their
fatigue.
Next morning they were off in good season, or rather Frank and Fred
were, as the Doctor decided to remain at the hotel, while the youths
devoted the forenoon to sights that he did not especially care for.
Having been in Moscow before, he was willing to leave some of the stock
sights out of his programme.
Their first visit was to the bazaar, which bears the name of "_Kitai
Gorod_" or "Chinese Town." The bazaar is often said to be so called
because of the great number of Tartars doing business there--the
descendants of the Mongols, who so long held Moscow in their hands.
According to some writers this belief is erroneous. They assert that,
originally, all of Moscow was inside the Kremlin; but as the necessity
came for extending the city, an order was given by Helena (mother of
John the Terrible, and Regent during his minority) for enclosing a large
space outside the Kremlin, which was to be named after her birthplace,
Kitaigrod, in Podolia. Its walls were begun in 1535 by an Italian
architect.
"We went," said Frank, "through the Gostinna Dvor of Moscow, which fills
an enormous building in the Kitai Gorod, and is in some respects more
interesting than that of St. Petersburg, though practically of the same
character. The display of Russian goods is about like that in the
capital city, though there is possibly a greater quantity of silver
work, Circassian goods, and similar curiosities peculiar to the country.
Much of the money-changing is in the hands of Tartars; where the
changers are not of the Tartar race, they are generally Jews. Russian
Tartars and Jews use the _abacus_ in counting, and they work it with
wonderful rapidity. We saw it in St. Petersburg, but it was not so much
employed there as in Moscow. The abacus has undergone very little change
in two or three thousand years. It was introduced by the Tartar
conquerors of Russia, and promises to remain permanently in the Empire.
"What a quantity of silks, embroideries, silverware, and the like are
piled in the bazaar! and what an array of clothing, household goods,
furniture, and other practical and unpractical things of every name and
kind! It was the Bazaar of St. Petersburg over again, with the absence
of certain features, that suggested Western Europe and the addition of
others belonging to the Orient. The second-hand market was encumbered
with old clothes, pots, pans, boots, furniture, and odds and ends of
everything, and we were so pestered by the peddlers that we went through
the place pretty quickly.
"The guide took us to Romanoff House, which was built near the end of
the sixteenth century, and was the birthplace of Michael, the first Czar
of the present reigning family. Of the original house only the walls
remain; the interior was destroyed by the French, who plundered the
building and then set it on fire, and only the great thickness and
solidity of the walls preserved them.
"Romanoff House, as we saw it to-day, is an excellent example of the
Russian house of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in this
respect it is very interesting. The last restoration was made in
1858-59, and the Government has spent quite an amount of money in
putting it in order.
"It is four stories high, and built around a court-yard from which the
rooms on the ground-floor are entered. In the basement are cellars for
storing provisions, and on the floor above it are the kitchens,
temporary store-rooms, and the like. In the next story are the rooms
where the prince lived; they include a reception-room, rooms for
servants, several smaller rooms, and also some secret recesses in the
walls where silver plate and other valuables were kept. The rooms are
adorned with utensils of former periods, together with many articles of
silver and other metals that belonged to the Romanoff family long ago.
"The upper story is called the _terem_, a word which is equivalent to
the Turkish _harem_. The terem was reserved to the women and children,
but not so rigidly as is the harem among the Moslems. Beds, bedsteads,
playthings, and articles of clothing are among the curiosities in the
terem of Romanoff House. Among them are the slippers of the Czar and the
night-gown of the Czarina, which are kept in a box at the foot of the
bed according to the old custom.
"Romanoff House is in the Kitai Gorod, and from it we went to the place
where Peter the Great witnessed the execution of many of his rebellious
_streltzi_, or guards. Perhaps you would like to hear the story?
[Illustration: PETER'S ESCAPE FROM ASSASSINATION.]
"I believe we have already mentioned something about the strained
relations between Peter and his sister Sophia, and how she plotted his
assassination, from which he escaped by riding away in the night. Peter
shut Sophia in a convent before going on his tour to Holland and England
to learn the art of ship-building and obtain other information to aid
him in the development of the Russian Empire. He distributed his troops
in the best way he could think of, and confided the administration of
affairs to his most trusted officers.
"But even then he was constantly fearful of trouble. He knew the
ambition of his sister, and the opposition that many of the old nobility
had to his reforms, and he was well aware that many officers of the army
did not favor his plans. Consequently, when news of the rebellion
reached him at Vienna he was not entirely unprepared, and hastened
homeward as fast as horses could carry him.
"The conspiracy included many nobles, officers, and others, together
with the immediate advisers of his sister. The clergy were on the side
of the conspiracy; they opposed the reforms, and preferred keeping
things as they had been, rather than adopt the ways of Western Europe.
It is said at present that the Russian Government would change the
calendar from old style to new style, and make it conform to the rest of
the civilized world, but for the opposition of the Church. The priests
assert that it would cause a great deal of confusion with the saints'
days, and therefore they refuse their approval of the measure.
"The streltzi had been distributed at points far removed from Moscow.
Under pretence of coming to get their pay, they marched to the city,
where they were met by General Gordon, an English officer who commanded
the Government troops at the time. Gordon defeated the streltzi, and
then by torturing some of the prisoners learned the history of the
conspiracy. It was to place Sophia on the throne in place of Peter, and
a great many persons were implicated in the scheme. News of the
occurrence was sent to Peter at Vienna, and hastened his return as
described.
[Illustration: PETER THE GREAT AS EXECUTIONER.]
"On arriving in Moscow, he made the most searching inquiry, and by
torturing some of those who had fallen into his hands he obtained the
names of many others. There is no doubt that innocent persons were
implicated, as the victims of torture are apt to tell anything, whether
true or false, in order to escape from their pain. Those implicated were
immediately arrested and put to death, many of them with torture.
Nobles, ladies of rank, officers and soldiers, comprised the list. On
the spot where we stood to-day hundreds of the streltzi were beheaded,
and altogether several thousands of people were killed. Peter himself
took part in the executions, if report is true. Once, at a banquet, he
ordered twenty of the prisoners to be brought in, and a block arranged
for the fearful ceremony. Then he called for a glass of wine. After
drinking it, he beheaded the victim, who had been placed on the block,
and then he called for another victim and another glass of wine. It is
said that he was just one hour in performing the twenty executions; and
after he had finished he went in person to the great square in front of
the Kremlin, where other executions were going on.
"While he was witnessing one of these executions, one of the prisoners
who was about to lose his head came forward as coolly as though he were
entering a dining-hall. 'Make way for us,' he said, as he kicked the
fallen heads from his path--'make way here, make way.'
"Just as the man lay down upon the block and the executioner raised his
axe, Peter ordered the prisoner to be liberated. He pardoned him on the
spot, remarking that there was good stuff in a man who could walk so
gallantly to his own execution. Peter's prediction was correct; and who
do you suppose the man was?
"His name was Orloff. He was a faithful adherent of Peter for the rest
of his life, and rose to the command of his armies. He was the founder
of the Orloff family, which has ever since been prominent in Russian
matters, and continues so down to the present day. Various members of
the family have been distinguished in land and naval warfare, and in
diplomacy and home affairs. One of them was the intimate friend and
adviser of Catherine II. He was a man of gigantic stature and great
personal courage, and is said to have strangled with his own hands the
unfortunate emperor Peter III., in order to place the disconsolate widow
Catherine on the throne.
[Illustration: CATHERINE I.]
"Catherine II. should not be confounded with Catherine I. It was
Catherine II., surnamed 'The Great,' to whom I have just referred, as
the conspirator who gained the throne by the murder of her husband.
Catherine I. was the widow of Peter the Great, and mother of the Empress
Elizabeth. She had great influence over the founder of the Empire, and
though not always controlling his violent temper, she did much towards
suppressing it on many occasions.
[Illustration: CATHERINE II.]
"While we are in sight of Romanoff House let us run over the list of
those who have held the throne since the first of this family ascended
it. Here they are:
"1. Michael Feodorovitch (first of the Romanoffs).
"2. Alexis Mikailovitch (son of Michael).
"3. Feodor Alexeivitch (son of Alexis).
"4. Ivan Alexeivitch (brother of No. 3).
"5. Peter Alexeivitch (Peter I., or, "The Great").
"6. Catherine I. (widow of Peter I.).
"7. Peter II. (grandson of Peter I.).
"8. Anna (niece of Peter I.).
"9. Ivan III. (imprisoned in his infancy, and afterwards assassinated).
"10. Elizabeth (daughter of Peter I.).
"11. Peter III. (great-grandson of Peter I.).
"12. Catherine II.
"13. Paul I. (son of Catherine II.).
"14. Alexander I. (son of Paul I.).
"15. Nicholas I. (brother of Alexander I.).
"16. Alexander II. (son of Nicholas I).
"17. Alexander III. (son of Alexander II.).
"It is a circumstance worthy of note that in the thirty-seven years
between the death of Peter the Great and the accession of Catherine the
Great, Russia had three emperors and three empresses; the emperors
reigned, but cannot be said to have ruled, only three and a half years
altogether, while the empresses held the throne for the rest of the
time. Catherine was Empress from 1762 till 1796; so that during the
eighteenth century the Russian crown was worn by women for nearly
seventy years.
[Illustration: GRAND-DUKE NICHOLAS ALEXANDROVITCH.]
"The heir to the throne at present is too young to have made his mark in
any way; and besides, he has had no opportunity, even if he were of age.
His name is Nicholas; he is the eldest son of Alexander III., and when
he ascends the throne he will be known as Nicholas II. He was born in
1868, and is said to be a young man of great promise.
"Four at least of the seventeen rulers named above were murdered, and
there were suspicions of poisoning in the cases of two others.
Consequently the description of the Government of Russia as 'despotism
tempered by assassination' is not so very far from the truth.
"It is sometimes said that the Romanoff family is more German than
Russian, in consequence of the marriages of the emperors with German
princesses. Peter the Great was pure Russian; his son Alexis, father of
Peter II., married a German princess, and their daughter Anne married a
German duke. Anne and the German duke were the parents of Peter III.,
the husband of Catherine II.; Peter III. and Catherine were the parents
of Paul, who married a German princess, and the example has been
followed by all the emperors. The Russian poet Pushkin used to represent
in an amusing way the Germanizing of the Imperial family, which was as
follows:
"He placed in a goblet a spoonful of wine for the Czarevitch Alexis and
a spoonful of water for his German wife. Then he added a spoonful of
water for Anne's German husband, a third for Catherine II., and a
fourth, fifth, and sixth for the German wives of Paul, Nicholas, and
Alexander II. Were the poet alive to-day, he would add a seventh for
the Danish wife of Alexander III., and an eighth for the wife of the
young Nicholas, whoever she may be.
"However little Russian blood may be running at present in the veins of
the Romanoff family, there is no question about the thoroughly Russian
character of the persons most concerned. Born and bred in Russia, it
would be strange if the men were otherwise than national in their
feelings; and as for the women who have been married into the Imperial
family, they seem to have left everything behind them when they came to
make their homes in Muscovy. There was never a more thorough Russian
than Catherine II. When she came to the Imperial court at the age of
fifteen she immediately went to work to learn the language, and in
after-life she used to say that if she knew of a drop of blood in her
veins that had not become Russian she would have it drawn out.
"Before becoming the wives of the men of the Imperial family, all
foreign princesses must be baptized and taken into the Russian Church.
The ceremony is a very elaborate one, and is made a state affair. The
members of the Imperial family are present, together with many high
officials, who appear as witnesses, and there can be no exceptions to
the rule that requires the Emperor's bride to be of his religion.
Family, home, religion, everything must be given up by the woman who is
to become an Empress of Russia.
"Well, we will leave Romanoff House and the Kitai Gorod, and go to see
something else. Our guide suggests the Church of the Saviour, which has
only recently been completed. It was built to commemorate the retreat of
the French from Moscow. Our guide, whose arithmetic is a good deal at
fault, says they have been working at it for more than a hundred years.
"Though not so quaint as the churches we have seen, it is certainly the
finest in the city. It is in the form of a Greek cross, and the central
cupola, eighty-four feet in diameter, rises three hundred and
forty-three feet above the ground. In front of the church there are
statues of the Russian generals of the early part of the century; the
outside is adorned with bronze reliefs, which are strangely divided
between Scriptural subjects and the war of 1812. The interior of the
building is finished with highly polished porphyry, lapis-lazuli, and
other costly stones, and there is a profusion of paintings ornamenting
the walls. We spent half an hour or more at the church, and were loath
to leave it.
"In addition to its many churches of the Greek faith, Moscow is like St.
Petersburg in containing churches representing all the religions of a
Christian city, together with synagogues for the Jews and mosques for
the Tartars. Some Chinese who once lived in Moscow had a pagoda, where
they worshipped idols as in their own country, but our guide says there
are no Chinese here at present. Of course we had not sufficient time for
visiting all the churches of Moscow, and told the guide to take us only
to those which were really remarkable. We saw perhaps a dozen in
addition to those I have named. They were interesting to us who saw
them, but I omit a description lest it might prove tedious.
"We went to the Museum, which has a library of one hundred and fifty
thousand volumes, a collection of minerals, and a great number of
paintings, engravings, and similar things. It did not impress us as much
as did the Museum of St. Petersburg, but perhaps this is due to the fact
that we were a good deal wearied after our long hours of sight-seeing,
and were more desirous of a rest than anything else.
[Illustration: SKINNED AND STUFFED MAN.]
"One of the curiosities of the place was a skinned and stuffed man in a
glass case. It reminded us of the cases in which the dress-makers
exhibit the latest styles of feminine apparel; and the figure, though
dead, was more 'life-like' than the wax models to which we are
accustomed. It is the real skin of a man who once lived and moved and
was of goodly stature.
"From the Museum we went to the _Manège_, or riding-school, which is
claimed to be the largest building in the world without any supporting
pillars. Look at the figures of its measurement: length, 560 feet;
width, 158 feet; height, 42 feet.
"Perhaps some of the great railway-stations of Europe or America can
surpass these measurements, but we certainly don't know of one that can.
The space is large enough for two regiments of cavalry to perform their
evolutions; and in the winter season, when the weather is too severe
for out-door exercise, this riding-school is in constant use. It is
heated by stoves ranged around the sides of the room, and is ornamented
with numerous trophies of war, and representations of men in armor. The
roof is low and rather flat, and even when the sun is shining the light
is poor.
"The Suhareff Tower, to which we next went, was chiefly interesting as a
reminder of Peter the Great. At present it is utilized as a reservoir
for supplying the city with water, and it performs its duty very well.
It was formerly the north-western gate of the city, and a regiment of
streltzi was kept here under command of Colonel Suhareff. When the
streltzi revolted, in 1682, Suhareff's regiment remained faithful, and
escorted Peter and his mother and brother to the Troitsa Monastery.
"In grateful remembrance for their devotion, Peter caused this tower to
be built and named after the colonel who commanded at the time. The
architect tried to make something resembling a ship, but did not succeed
very well. Peter used to have secret councils of state in this tower,
and it was here that comedies were performed in 1771 by the first troupe
of foreign actors that ever came to Russia. It is also said--"
Here the journal stopped rather abruptly. Frank and Fred were summoned
to go to the "_Troitska Traktir_" for dinner, and as they were both
hungry and curious the journal was laid aside.
We have had the description of a Russian dinner in the account of what
they saw in St. Petersburg. The dinner in Moscow was much like the one
already described, but the surroundings were different. The waiters
were in snowy frocks and trousers, and the establishment was so large
that it was said to employ one hundred and fifty waiters in the dining
and tea rooms alone.
[Illustration: RUSSIAN BEGGARS.]
Many of the patrons of the place were taking nothing but tea, and the
_samovar_ was everywhere. Frank and Fred thought they had never seen
waiters more attentive than at this traktir. They seemed to understand
beforehand what was wanted, and a single glance was sure to bring one of
them to the table. They did a great deal more than the waiters do in
Western Europe. They offered to cut up the food so that it could be
eaten with a fork, and they poured out the tea, instead of leaving the
patron to pour for himself. Frank observed that nearly every one who
entered the place said his prayers in front of the holy picture. There
is a picture in every room of the establishment, so that the devout
worshipper is never at a loss.
Another day they went to the "_Moskovski Traktir_" a large restaurant
similar to the Troitska, and containing an enormous organ which is said
to have cost more than fifty thousand dollars. The Russians are very
fond of music of the mechanical sort, and their country is one of the
best markets of the Swiss makers of organs and music-boxes. In the best
houses all through Russia expensive instruments of this kind can be
found, and sometimes the barrel-organs are large enough to fill a
respectably-sized room with machinery and fittings, and an entire house
with sound. Probably the most costly mechanical musical instruments are
made for Russians, and some of them give the effect of a whole
orchestra. While the instrument in the traktir was in operation, both
the youths said they could have easily believed the music to have been
produced by a dozen skilled performers.
As they left the Moskovski Traktir the guide suggested that they would
go to the restaurant of the Old Believers. Fred thus describes the
visit:
"I must begin by saying that the Old Believers are a Russian sect who
prefer the version of the Bible as it was up to the time of Nikon,
rather than the one he introduced. The Government persecuted them
greatly in past times, and even at present they are subjected to many
restrictions. They are scattered through the Empire, and are said to
number several millions, but the exact statistics concerning them are
unattainable.
"In addition to their adhesion to the old form of the Scriptures they
abhor smoking, refuse to shave their beards, attach particular sanctity
to old ecclesiastical pictures, and are inveterate haters of everything
not thoroughly Russian. They despise the manners and customs of Western
Europe, which they consider the synonyme of vices, and associate as
little as possible with those who do not share their belief. In the
country they form communities and villages by themselves, and in the
cities they live in the same quarter as much as possible. They are an
honest, industrious people, and thoroughly loyal subjects of the
Emperor.
"In the traktir of the Old Believers we found the waiters wearing dark
caftans instead of white ones, and the room was filled with Russians of
noticeably long beards. Smoking is not allowed here under any
circumstances; and as nearly all Russians who are not Old Believers are
confirmed smokers, this curious sect has the place all to itself. We
were politely treated by the waiters, and, at the advice of the guide,
ventured to eat a _blinni_, for which the place is famous. It was so
good that we repeated the order. Of course we had the inevitable
_samovar_, and found the tea the best that any restaurant has thus far
supplied. This traktir has an excellent reputation for its tea and
cookery; the bill of fare is not large, but everything is of the best
kind.
"There is a Tartar restaurant where horse-flesh is said to be served
regularly; but whether this is true or not we did not try to find out.
The place is kept by a Russian, so that the assertion is open to some
doubt. Any one can go to the Tartar restaurant, but it is not frequented
by Russians. The Tartars do not associate freely with the Russians,
though there is no hostility between them. They seclude their wives
after the Moslem fashion, and a Russian gentleman tells me that he has
rarely had a glimpse of a Tartar woman, though he has lived near these
people ever since he was born."
[Illustration: TARTAR COFFEE-HOUSE IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA.]
For a general view of Moscow our friends took a drive to the Sparrow
Hills, the spot whence Napoleon took his first and also his last look
upon the city he came so far to conquer.
On the way thither they stopped at the Gardens, which are the property
of the Galitsin family, and also at a small palace or villa which is the
property of the Empress. These interruptions delayed them, so that it
was near sunset when they reached the Sparrow Hills and had the city in
full view. As they looked at the sunlight reflected from the hundreds of
gilded domes, and the great city spread over the undulating ground, they
realized what must have been the feelings of the French soldiers as they
gazed upon Moscow after their long and perilous journey to the heart of
Russia.
There is still higher ground from which to look upon the city at the
Simonoff Monastery, which has a belfry more than three hundred feet
high. The monastery dates from 1390. It was once the most important
church establishment in Russia, and possessed immense areas of land and
as many as twelve thousand serfs. It was earnestly defended against the
Poles in 1612, but was captured and plundered by them. It was a
quarantine hospital in the plague of 1771, and a military one from 1788
to 1795.
The French burned several of its buildings, but they were soon restored.
The extent of the place will be understood when it is known that there
are six churches inside the walls. Our friends passed some time there
looking at the antique silver, gold, and other ornaments, and the costly
vestments which have been handed down from ancient times. They climbed
to the top of the belfry, and had a view of the city which they are not
likely to forget immediately.
The visit to the Simonoff Monastery was a preliminary to an excursion to
the Troitska Monastery, which will be described in the next chapter.
[Illustration: GALLERY IN THE PALACE.]