Road from Moscow to Petersburg.
I quitted Moscow with regret: I stopped a short time in a wood near
the city, where on holidays the inhabitants go to dance, and
celebrate the sun, whose splendor is of such short duration, even at
Moscow. What is it then I see, in advancing towards the North? Even
these eternal birch trees, which weary you with their monotony,
become very rare, it is said, as you approach Archangel; they are
preserved there, like orange trees in France. The country from
Moscow to Petersburg is at first sandy, and afterwards all marsh:
when it rains, the ground becomes black, and the high road becomes
undistinguishable. The houses of the peasants, however, every where
indicate a state of comfort; they are decorated with columns, and
the windows are surrounded with arabesques carved in wood. Although
it was summer when I passed through this country, I already felt the
threatening winter which seemed to conceal itself behind the clouds:
of the fruits which were offered to me, the flavor was bitter,
because their ripening had been too much hastened; a rose excited
emotion in me as a recollection of our fine countries, and the
flowers themselves appeared to carry their heads with less pride, as
if the icy hand of the North had been already prepared to pluck
them.
I passed through Novogorod, which was, six centuries ago, a republic
associated with the Hanse towns, and which has preserved for a long
period a spirit of republican independence. Persons have been
pleased to say that freedom was not reclaimed in Europe before the
last century; on the contrary, it is rather despotism, which is a
modern invention. Even in Russia the slavery of the peasants was
only introduced in the sixteenth century. Up to the reign of Peter
I. the form of all the ukases was: The boyars have advised, the czar
will decree. Peter I. although in many ways he has done infinite
good to Russia, humbled the grandees, and united in himself the
temporal and spiritual power, in order to remove all obstacles to
his designs. Richelieu acted in the same manner in France; Peter I.
was therefore a great admirer of his. It will be recollected that on
being shown his tomb at Paris, he exclaimed, "Great man! I would
give one half of my empire to learn from thee how to govern the
other." The czar on this occasion was a great deal too modest, for
he had the advantage over Richelieu of being a great warrior, and
what is more, the founder of the navy and commerce of his country;
while Richelieu has done nothing but govern tyrannically at home,
and craftily abroad. But to return to Novogorod. Ivan Vasilewitch
possessed himself of it in 1470, and destroyed its liberties; he
removed from it to the Kremlin at Moscow, the great bell called in
Russian, Wetchevoy kolokol, at the sound of which the citizens had
been accustomed to assemble at the market place, to deliberate on
public matters. With the loss of liberty, Novogorod had the
mortification to see the gradual disappearance of its population,
its commerce, and its wealth: so withering and destructive is the
breath of arbitrary power, says the best historian of Russia. Even
at the present day the city of Novogorod presents an aspect of
singular melancholy; a vast inclosure indicates that it was formerly
large and populous, and you see nothing in it but scattered houses,
the inhabitants of which seem to be placed there like figures
weeping over the tombs. The same spectacle is now probably offered
by the beautiful city of Moscow; but the public spirit will rebuild
it, as it has reconquered it.