Establishments for Public Education.--Institute of Saint Catherine.
We went to see the cabinet of natural history, which is remarkable
by the productions of Siberia which it contains. The furs of that
country have excited the cupidity of the Russians, as the Mexican
gold mines did that of the Spaniards. There was a time in Russia,
when the current money consisted of sable and squirrel skins, so
universal was the desire of being provided with the means of
guarding against the cold. The most curious thing in the museum at
Petersburg, is a rich collection of bones of antediluvian animals,
and particularly the remains of a gigantic Mammoth, which have been
found almost whole among the ices of Siberia. It appears from
geological observations, that the world has a much older history
than that which we know: infinity is fearful in all things. At
present, the inhabitants, and even the animals of this extremity of
the inhabited globe are almost penetrated with the cold, which makes
nature expire, a few leagues beyond their country; the color of the
animals is confounded with that of the snow, and the Dearth seems to
be lost in the ices and fogs which terminate this lower creation. I
was struck with the countenances of the inhabitants of Kamstchatka,
which are perfectly imitated in the museum at Petersburg. The
priests of that country, called Shamanes, are a kind of
improvisators; they wear, over their tunick of bark, a sort of steel
net, to which some pieces of iron are attached, the noise of which
is very great when the improvisator is agitated; he has moments of
inspiration which a good deal resemble nervous attacks, and it is
rather by sorcery, than talent, that he makes an impression on the
people. The imagination, in such dreary countries, is scarcely
remarkable but by fear, and the earth herself appears to repel man
by the terror with which she inspires him. I afterwards saw the
citadel, in the circumference of which is the church where the
coffins of all the sovereigns, from the time of Peter the Great,
are deposited: these coffins are not shut up in monuments; they are
exposed in the same way as they were on the day of their funeral,
and one might fancy one's self quite close to these corpses, from
which a single board appears to separate us. When Paul I. came to
the throne, he caused the remains of his father, Peter I. to be
crowned, who not having received that honor during his life, could
not be placed in the citadel. By the orders of Paul I. the
ceremonial of interment for both his father and mother was
recommenced. Both were exposed afresh: four chamberlains once more
kept guard over the bodies, as if they had only died the day before;
and the two coffins are now placed by the side of each other,
compelled to live in peace under the empire of death. Among the
sovereigns who have stayed the despotic power transmitted to them by
Peter I. there are several whom a bloody conspiracy has cast from
the throne. The same courtiers, who have not the strength to tell
their master the least truth, know how to conspire against him, and
the deepest dissimulation necessarily accompanies this kind of
political revolution; for they must load, with the appearance of
respect, the person whom they wish to assassinate. And yet, what
would become of a country governed despotically, if a lawless tyrant
had not to dread the edge of the poniard? Horrible alternative, and
which is sufficient to show the nature of the institutions where
crime must be reckoned as the balance of power.
I paid homage to Catherine II. by going to her country residence,
Czarskozelo. This palace and garden are arranged with great art and
magnificence; but the air was already very cold, although we Were
only at the first of September, and it was a singular contrast to
see the flowers of the South agitated by the winds of the North. All
the traits which have been collected of Catherine II. penetrate one
with admiration for her as a sovereign; and I know not whether the
Russians are not more indebted to her than to Peter I. for that
fortunate persuasion of their invincibility which has so much
contributed to their victories, The charm of a female tempered the
action of power, and mingled chivalrous gallantry with the
successes, the homage of which was paid to her. Catherine II. had,
in the highest degree, the good sense of government; a brilliant
understanding than hers would have less resembled genius, and her lofty
reason inspired profound respect in the Russians, who distrust their
own imagination, and wish to have it directed with wisdom. Close to
Czarskozelo is the palace of Paul I., a charming residence, as the
empress dowager and her daughters have there placed the
chefs-d'oeuvrefc of their talents and good taste. This place reminds
us of that admirable mother and her daughters, whom nothing has been
able to turn aside from their domestic virtues.
I allowed myself to indulge in the pleasure excited by the novel
objects of my daily visits, and I know not how, I had quite
forgotten the war on which the fate of Europe depended; the pleasure
I had in hearing expressed by all the world the sentiments which I
had so long stifled in my soul, was so strong, that it appeared to
me there was nothing more to dread, and that such truths were
omnipotent as soon as they were known. Nevertheless a succession of
reverses had taken place, without the public being informed of them.
A man of wit said that all was mystery at Petersburg, although
nothing was a secret; and in fact the truth is discovered in the
end; but the habit of silence is such among the Russian courtiers,
that they dissemble the day before what will be notorious the next,
and are always unwilling to reveal what they know. A stranger told
me that Smolensk was taken and Moscow in the greatest danger.
Discouragement immediately seized me. I fancied that I already saw a
repetition of the deplorable history of the Austrian and Prussian
treaties of peace, the result of the conquest of their capitals.
This was the third time the same game had been played, and it might
again succeed. I did not perceive the public spirit; the apparent
inconstancy of the impressions of the Russians prevented me from
observing it. Despondency had frozen all minds, and I was ignorant,
that with these men of vehement impressions, this despondency is the
forerunner of a dreadful awakening. In the same way, you remark in
the common people, an inconceivable idleness up to the very moment
when their activity is roused; then it knows no obstacle, dreads no
danger, and seems to triumph equally over the elements and men.
I had understood that the internal administration, that of war as
well as of justice, frequently fell into the most venal hands, and
that by the dilapidations which the subaltern agents allowed
themselves, it was impossible to form any just idea either of the
number of troops, or of the measures taken to provision them; for
lying and theft are inseparable, and in a country of such recent
civilization the intermediate class have neither the simplicity of
the peasantry, nor the grandeur of the boyars; and no public opinion
yet exists to keep in check this third class, whose existence is so
recent, and which has lost the naivete of popular faith without
having acquired the point of honor. A display of jealous feeling was
also remarked between the military commanders. It is in the very
nature of a despotic government to create, even in spite of itself,
jealousy in those who surround it: the will of one man being able to
change entirely the fortune of every individual, fear and hope have
too much scope not to be constantly agitating this jealousy, which
is also very much excited by another feeling, the hatred of
foreigners. The general who commanded the Russian army, General
Barclay de Tolly, although born on the territories of the empire,
was not of the pure Sclavonian race, and that was enough to make him
be considered incapable of leading the Russians to victory: he had,
besides, turned his distinguished talents towards systems of
encampment, positions, and manoeuvres, while the military art, which
best suits the Russians, is attack. To make them fall back, even
from a wise and well reasoned calculation, is to cool in them that
impetuosity from which they derive all their strength. The prospects
of the campaign were therefore the most inauspicious possible, and
the silence which was maintained on that account was still more
alarming. The English give in their public papers the most exact
account, man by man, of the wounded, prisoners and killed in each
action; noble candour of a government which is equally sincere
towards the nation and its monarch, recognizing in both the same
right to have a knowledge of what concerns the nation. I walked
about with deep melancholy in that beautiful city of Petersburg
which might become the prey of the conqueror. When I returned in the
evening from the islands, and saw the gilded point of the citadel
which seemed to spout out in the air like a ray of fire, while the
Neva reflected the marble quays and the palaces which surround it, I
represented to myself all these wonders faded by the arrogance of a
man who would come to say, like Satan on the top of a mountain, "The
kingdoms of the earth are mine." All that was beautiful and good at
Petersburg appeared to me in the presence of approaching
destruction, and I could not enjoy them without having these painful
ideas constantly pursuing me.
I went to see the establishments for education, founded by the
empress, and there, even more than in the palaces, my anxiety was
redoubled; for the breath of Bonaparte's tyranny is sufficient, if
it approach institutions tending to the improvement of the human
race, to alter their purity. The institute of St. Catherine is
formed of two houses, each containing two hundred and fifty young
ladies of the nobility and citizens; they are educated under the
inspection of the empress, with a degree of care that even exceeds
what a rich family would pay to its own children. Order and elegance
are remarkable in the most minute details of this institute, and the
sentiment of the purest religion and morality there presides over
all that the fine arts can develope. The Russian females have so
much natural grace, that on entering the hall where all the young
ladies saluted us, I did not observe one who did not give to this
simple action all the politeness and modesty which it was capable of
expressing. They were invited to exhibit us the different kinds of
talent which distinguished them, and one of them, who knew by heart
pieces of the best French authors, repeated to me several of the
most eloquent pages of my father's Course of Religious Morals. This
delicate attention probably came from the empress herself. I felt
the most lively emotion in hearing that language uttered, which for
so many years had had no asylum but in my heart. Beyond the empire
of Bonaparte, in all countries posterity commences, and justice is
shown towards those who even in the tomb, have felt the attack of
his imperial calumnies. The young ladies of the institute of St.
Catherine, before sitting down to table, sung psalms in chorus: this
great number of voices, so pure and sweet, occasioned me an emotion
of tender feeling mingled with bitterness. What would war do, in the
midst of such peaceable establishments? Where could these doves fly
to, from the arms of the conqueror? After this meal, the young
ladies assembled in a superb hall, where they all danced together.
There was nothing striking in their features as to beauty, but their
gracefulness was extraordinary; these were daughters of the East,
with all the decency which Christian manners have introduced among
women. They first executed an old dance to the tune of Long live
Henry the Fourth, Long live this valiant King! What a distance there
was between the times which this tune reminded one of, and the
present period! Two little chubby girls of ten years old finished
the ballet by the Russian step: this dance sometimes assumes the
voluptuous character of love, but executed by children, the
innocence of that age was mingled with the national originality. It
is impossible to paint: the interest inspired by these amiable
talents, cultivated by the delicate and generous hand of a female
and a sovereign.
An establishment for the deaf and dumb, and another for the blind,
are equally under the inspection of the empress. The emperor, on his
side, pays great attention to the school of cadets, directed by a
man of very superior understanding, General Klinger. All these
establishments are truly useful, but they might be reproached with
being too splendid. At least it would be desirable to found in
different parts of the empire, not schools so superior, but
establishments which would communicate elementary instruction to the
people. Every thing has commenced in Russia by luxury, and the
building has, it may be said, preceded the foundation. There are
only two great cities in Russia, Petersburg and Moscow; the others
scarcely deserve to be mentioned; they are besides separated at very
great distances: even the chateaux of the nobility are at such
distances from each other, that it is with difficulty the
proprietors can communicate with each other. Finally, the
inhabitants are so dispersed in this empire, that the knowledge of
some can hardly be of use to others. The peasants can only reckon by
means of a calculating machine, and the clerks of the post
themselves follow the same method. The Greek popes have much less
knowledge than the Catholic curates, or the Protestant ministers; so
that the clergy in Russia are really not fit to instruct the people,
as in the other countries of Europe. The great bond of the nation is
in religion and patriotism; but there is in it no focus of
knowledge, the rays of which might spread over all parts of the
empire, and the two capitals have not yet learned to communicate to
the provinces what they have collected in literature and the fine
arts. If this country could have remained at peace, it would have
experienced all sorts of improvement under the beneficent reign of
Alexander. But who knows if the virtues which this war has
developed, may not be exactly those which are likely to regenerate
nations?
The Russians have not yet had, up to the present time, men of genius
but for the military career; in all other arts they are only
imitators; printing, however, has not been introduced among them
more than one hundred and twenty years. The other nations of Europe
have become civilized almost simultaneously, and have been able to
mingle their natural genius with acquired knowledge; with the
Russians this mixture has not yet operated. In the same manner as we
see two rivers after their junction, flow in the same channel
without confounding their waters, in the same manner nature and
civilization are united among the Russians without identifying the
one with the other: and according to circumstances the same man at
one time presents himself to you as a European who seems only to
exist in social forms, and at another time as a Sclavonian who only
listens to the most furious passions. Genius will come to them in
the fine arts, and particularly in literature, when they shall have
found out the means of infusing their real disposition into
language, as they show it in action.
I witnessed the performance of a Russian tragedy, the subject of
which was the deliverance of the Muscovites, when they drove back
the Tartars beyond Casan. The prince of Smolensko appeared in the
ancient costume of the boyars, and the Tartar army was called the
golden horde. This piece was written almost entirely according to
the rules of the French drama; the rhythm of the verses, the
declamation, and the division of the scenes, was entirely French;
one situation only was peculiar to Russian manners, and that was the
profound terror which the dread of her father's curse has inspired
in a young female. Paternal authority is almost as strong among the
Russians as among the Chinese, and it is always among the people
that we must seek for the germ of national character. The good
company of all countries resembles each other, and nothing is so
unfit as that elegant world to furnish subjects for tragedy. Among
all those which the history of Russia presents, there is one by
which I was particularly struck. Ivan the Terrible, already old, was
besieging Novorogod. The boyars seeing him very much enfeebled,
asked him if he would not give the command of the assault to his
son. His rage at this proposition was so great, that nothing could
appease him; his son prostrated himself at his feet, but he repulsed
him with a blow of such violence, that two days after the
unfortunate prince died of it. The father, then reduced to despair,
became equally indifferent to war and to power, and only survived
his son a few months. This revolt of an old despot against the
progress of time has in it something grand and solemn, and the
melting tenderness which succeeds to the paroxysm of rage in that
ferocious soul, represents man as he comes from the hand of nature,
now irritated by selfishness, and again restrained by affection.
A law of Russia inflicted the same punishment on the person who
lamed a man in the arm as on one who killed him. In fact, man in
Russia is principally valuable by his military strength; all other
kinds of energy are adapted to manners and institutions which the
present state of Russia has not yet developed. The females at
Petersburg, however, seemed to be penetrated with that patriotic
honor which constitutes the moral power of a state. The princess
Dolgoronki, the baroness Strogonoff, and several others equally of
the first rank, already knew that a part of their fortunes had
suffered greatly by the ravaging of the province of Smolensko, and
they appeared not to think of it otherwise than to encourage their
equals to sacrifice every thing like them. The princess Dolgorouki
related to me that an old long-bearded Russian, seated on an
eminence overlooking Smoleusko, thus, in tears, addressed his little
grandson, whom he held upon his knees: "Formerly, my child, the
Russians went to gain victories at the extremity of Europe; now,
strangers come to attack them in their own homes." The grief of this
old man was not vain, and we shall soon see how dearly his tears
have been purchased.