minister of the King of Poland. In the early part of the year, the tenor
of our life was the same as in the previous winter; the same balls, the
same concerts, and the same coteries. Soon after our return to the city,
where I could observe things more closely, I perceived that M.
Brockdorf, with his intrigues, was making rapid progress in the good
graces of the Grand Duke. He was seconded in this by a considerable
number of Holstein officers whom he had encouraged his Highness to
retain this winter at St. Petersburg. The number amounted to at least
twenty, who were continually within the Grand Duke's circle, without
counting a couple of Holstein soldiers who did duty in his chamber as
messengers, valets-de-chambre--factotums, in a word. All these were, in
reality, so many spies in the service of Messrs. Brockdorf and Co. I
watched for a favourable moment during this winter to speak seriously to
the Grand Duke, and tell him exactly what I thought of those about him,
and of the intrigues which I saw going on. One presented itself, which I
did not neglect. The Grand Duke himself came one day into my cabinet, to
tell me that it had been represented to him as indispensably necessary
that he should send secret orders to Holstein for the arrest of a person
named Elendsheim, who, by his office and the personal consideration he
enjoyed, was one of the leading men of the country. He was of
_bourgeois_ extraction, but had risen by his learning and capacity to
his present post. I asked the Duke what complaints were made against
him, and what he had done to require his arrest. He replied, "Why, you
see, they tell me he is suspected of malversation." I inquired who were
his accusers. On this, he thought himself very reasonable in saying,
"Oh, as for accusers, there are none, for every one in the country fears
and respects him; and it is on this very account that I ought to have
him arrested, for as soon as this is done, there will be, I am assured,
accusers enough and to spare." I shuddered at this answer, and replied,
"But at this rate there will not be an innocent man in the world; it
will only be necessary for some envious person to set afloat any vague
rumour he pleases, and then any one whatever may be arrested on the
principle that accusations and crimes will come afterwards. It is, to
use the words of the song, '_à la façon de Barbari, mon ami_,' that
they are advising you to act, without regard to your reputation or your
sense of justice. Who is it that gives you such bad advice? if I may be
allowed to ask." My gentleman looked a little foolish at this question,
and said, "You are always wanting to know more than other people." I
replied, that it was not for the sake of knowing that I spoke, but
because I hated injustice, and could not believe that he wished to
commit such a wrong out of mere wantonness. Upon this he began to pace
up and down the room with hasty strides, and then went away more
agitated than displeased. A little while afterwards he came back,
saying, "Come to my room, Brockdorf will talk to you about the affair of
Elendsheim, and you will see and be convinced that I must have him
arrested." I replied, "Very well, I will follow you, and will hear what
he has to say, since you wish it." I did so, and as soon as we entered,
the Grand Duke said to Brockdorf, "Speak to the Grand Duchess."
Brockdorf, a little confused, bowed to the Duke, and said, "Since your
Highness commands me, I will speak to her Imperial Highness the Grand
Duchess." Here he paused, and then said, "This is an affair which
requires to be managed with much secrecy and prudence." I listened. "All
Holstein is full of rumours of the malversations and extortions of
Elendsheim. It is true he has no accusers, for he is feared; but when he
is arrested, there will be no difficulty in getting as many as may be
wished." I asked for some details of these malversations and extortions,
and learnt that as for embezzlement of the revenue, there could not be
any, since the Grand Duke had no money in hand there; but what was
looked upon as malversation was, that being at the head of the
administration of justice, whenever any cause was to be tried, there was
always some pleader or other who complained of injustice, and accused
the opposite party of having gained their cause by bribing the judges.
But M. Brockdorf displayed his eloquence and skill in vain; he did not
convince me. I still maintained to him, in presence of the Grand Duke,
that they were pushing on his Imperial Highness to commit an act of
crying injustice, by persuading him to despatch an order for the arrest
of a man against whom there existed no formal complaint or accusation. I
said to M. Brockdorf that after that fashion the Grand Duke might have
him locked up at any hour, and say that the crimes and accusations would
come afterwards; and that, as to lawsuits, it was easy to conceive that
he who lost his cause would always complain of having been wronged. I
added, too, that the Grand Duke, more than any other person, ought to be
on his guard against such things, as experience had already taught him,
to his cost, what persecution and party-spirit could do; for it was not
more than two or three years, at the utmost, since his Imperial
Highness, at my intercession, had ordered the release of M. de Holmer,
who had been kept in prison for six or eight years, in order to compel
him to give an account of affairs transacted during the Grand Duke's
minority, and under the administration of his guardian, the Prince Royal
of Sweden, to whom M. de Holmer had been attached, and whom he followed
to Sweden; whence he did not return until the Grand Duke had signed and
sent him a testimonial of approval, and a formal discharge for all that
had been done during his minority. And yet in spite of all this, the
Grand Duke had been induced to have M. de Holmer arrested, and a
commission of inquiry appointed, to examine into things which occurred
under the administration of the Prince Royal of Sweden. This
commission, after acting at first with much vigour, and offering a
clear stage to all informers, had, nevertheless, been able to discover
nothing, and had fallen into lethargy for want of aliment. Yet all this
time, M. de Holmer languished in close confinement, being allowed to see
neither wife, nor children, nor friends, nor relatives; until at last
the whole country cried out against the injustice and tyranny of this
business, which was in truth outrageous, and which would not even then
have been so soon brought to an end had I not advised the Grand Duke to
cut this Gordian knot by despatching an order for the release of M. de
Holmer, and the abolition of the commission, which, besides, cost no
trifling sum to the already nearly exhausted exchequer of the Grand
Duke's hereditary duchy. But it was to no purpose that I quoted this
striking example; the Grand Duke listened to me, thinking all the while,
I fancy, of something else, while M. Brockdorf, hardened in wickedness,
narrow in mind, and obstinate as a block, allowed me to talk on, having
no more reasons to produce. And when I was gone away, he told the Grand
Duke that all I had urged sprung from no other motive than the desire of
ruling; that I disapproved of every measure which I had not myself
advised; that I knew nothing of business; that women always liked to be
meddling in everything, and always spoilt whatever they did meddle with;
and that all vigorous measures especially were beyond their capacity; in
short, he managed to overrule my advice, and the Grand Duke, at his
persuasion, had an order for the arrest of Elendsheim drawn up, signed,
and immediately despatched. A person of the name of Zeitz, secretary to
the Grand Duke, who was in the interest of Pechlin, and was son-in-law
of the midwife who attended me, informed me of all this. The party of
Pechlin, generally, disapproved of this violent and unreasonable
measure, with which M. Brockdorf alarmed both them and the whole country
of Holstein. As soon as I learnt that the wiles of M. Brockdorf had
prevailed over my advice and earnest representations, in a case of such
crying injustice, I resolved to make M. Brockdorf feel my indignation to
the utmost. I told Zeitz, and I had Pechlin informed, that from that
moment I regarded M. Brockdorf as a pest, to be shunned and driven away
from the Grand Duke, if it could in any manner be accomplished; as for
myself, I would employ every means in my power for that end. And, in
fact, I made it a point to manifest, on every occasion, the disgust and
the horror with which the conduct of this man had inspired me. There was
no sort of ridicule with which he was not covered, and I did not allow
any one, whenever an occasion offered, to remain ignorant of what I
thought of him. Leon Narichkine, and other young people, amused
themselves in seconding me in this. Whenever M. Brockdorf passed through
the apartments, everyone cried out after him, Pelican--such was the
nickname we had given him. This bird was the most hideous that we knew
of, and as a man, M. Brockdorf was quite as hideous, both externally and
internally. He was tall, with a long neck, and a broad, flat head, and
withal red-haired. He wore a wire wig; his eyes were small, dull and
sunk in his head, and almost destitute of eyelashes and eyebrows, while
the corners of his month hung down towards his chin, giving him a
miserable as well as an evil look. As to his character I may refer to
what I have just said; but I will further add that he was so corrupt
that he took money from all who were willing to give it him, and in
order that his august master might not at some future time be able to
blame these extortions, and seeing him always in need of money, he
persuaded him to do the same, and in this way he procured him all he
could, as well by selling Holstein orders and titles to any one who
would pay for them, as by inducing him to solicit, and intrigue for, in
the different bureaux of the empire, as well as in the senate, all sorts
of things, many of them unjust, some even burdensome to the state, such
as monopolies and other privileges which could not otherwise be allowed,
since they were contrary to the laws of Peter I. Besides this, M.
Brockdorf led the Duke more than ever into drink and debauchery, having
surrounded him with a mob of adventurers, drawn from the barracks and
taverns, both of Germany and St. Petersburg, who had neither faith nor
principle, and did nothing but drink, eat, smoke, and talk disgusting
nonsense.
As I saw that, in spite of all I did and said to lessen the credit of M.
Brockdorf, he still maintained his position in the good opinion of the
Grand Duke, and was even more in favour than ever, I formed the
resolution of telling Count Schouvaloff what I thought of the man,
adding, that I looked upon him as one of the most dangerous persons it
was possible to have near a young prince, heir to a great empire, and
that I felt myself in conscience bound to speak to him in confidence, in
order that he might inform the Empress, or take what other measures he
might deem proper. He asked whether he might venture to mention my name.
I told him he might, and that if the Empress asked me about it I would
not mince the matter, but tell her what I knew and saw. Count Alexander
Schouvaloff winked his eye as he listened to me very seriously, but he
was not a person to act without the advice of his brother Peter and his
cousin Ivan. For a long time I heard nothing; at last he gave me to
understand that the Empress might speak to me on the subject. In the
interim, the Grand Duke bounced into my room one day, closely followed
by his secretary Zeitz, with a paper in his hand. The Duke, addressing
me, said, "Just look at this devil of a fellow! I drank too much
yesterday, and to-day my brain is still in a whirl, and he brings me a
whole sheet of paper, which, after all, is only a list of the matters
which he wishes me to finish; he follows me even into your room." Zeitz
said to me, "All that I have got here only requires a yes or a no, and
will not take up a quarter of an hour." "Well, let us see," I said,
"perhaps you will get through them easier than you think." Zeitz began
to read, and as he read on, I answered, 'yes' or 'no.' This pleased the
Grand Duke, and Zeitz said to him, "Look, my Lord, if you would only
consent to do thus twice a week, your affairs would not fall into
arrear. These things are but trifles, but they must be attended to, and
the Grand Duchess has finished the matter with six times 'yes,' and as
many times 'no.'" Thenceforward his Imperial Highness used to send Zeitz
to me whenever he had any "yeses" or "noes." After a time, I asked him
to give me a written order, stating what things I might settle, and what
I must not determine without his express direction, and this he did.
None but Pechlin, Zeitz, and myself were cognizant of this arrangement,
with which Pechlin and Zeitz were delighted. When a signature was
necessary, the Grand Duke signed what I had settled. The affair of
Elendsheim remained under the care of Brockdorf; but when once
Elendsheim was under arrest, M. Brockdorf was in no hurry to push the
business, for he had thus gained pretty nearly all he wanted, which was
to remove Elendsheim from public affairs, and to manifest in Holstein
his own influence with his master.
I seized, one day, a favourable opportunity for saying to the Grand
Duke, that since he found the affairs of Holstein so troublesome to
regulate, and regarded them as a sample of what he would have one day to
settle when the Empire of Russia fell to his lot, I thought he must look
forward to that charge as something more oppressive still; thereupon he
repeated what he had often said to me before--that he felt he was not
born for Russia; that he did not suit the Russians nor the Russians him;
and that he was persuaded he should perish in Russia. On this point I
said to him what I had also said to him many a time before, that he
ought not to allow himself to give way to so fatal an idea, but to do
his best to make himself liked by every one in Russia, and to ask the
Empress to allow him an opportunity of making himself acquainted with
the affairs of the empire. I induced him even to ask permission to be
present at the conferences which served as a council for the Empress. In
fact, he did speak of this to the Schouvaloffs, who induced the Empress
to admit him to these conferences whenever she was present at them
herself. This was pretty nearly the same thing as settling that he
should never be admitted, for after going with him once or twice,
neither of them again attended.
The advice which I gave to the Grand Duke was, in general, good and
salutary; but he who gives counsel can only do so in accordance with his
own cast of mind and turn of thought--his own mode of action and manner
of viewing things. But the great object of my counsels to the Grand Duke
consisted in the fact that his way of doing things was quite different
from mine, and the more we advanced in years the more marked did this
difference become. I made it a point, in all things, to keep as close to
truth as I possibly could, while he receded from it farther and farther
every day, until at last he became a determined liar. As the way in
which he became so is rather singular, I will state it, as it may
perhaps display the course of the human mind on this point, and so be
useful in showing how this vice may be prevented or corrected in those
who may evince a tendency towards it. The first falsehood invented by
the Grand Duke was told with a view of giving himself consequence in the
eyes of some young married woman or girl, on whose ignorance he could
count. He would tell her how, while still living with his father in
Holstein, his father had put him at the head of a detachment of his
guards and had sent him to seize a troop of gipsies who were prowling
about Kiel and committing, he said, frightful robberies. These he would
relate in detail, as also the several stratagems he had made use of to
surround them and to engage them in one or many battles, in which he
pretended to have performed prodigies of skill and valour, after which
he had taken them prisoners and carried them to Kiel. At first he took
care not to tell all this to any one but those who were ignorant of his
history. By degrees he grew bold enough to produce his composition
before those on whose discretion he could so far rely as not to fear a
contradiction from them; but when he ventured to relate this story to
me, I asked him how long before his father's death it had taken place.
He replied, without hesitation, "Three or four years." "Well," I said,
"you began very young to show your prowess; for, three or four years
before your father's death, you were not more than six or seven years
old, having been left, at the age of eleven, under the guardianship of
my uncle, the Prince Royal of Sweden. And what equally astonishes me," I
observed, "is that your father, of whom you were the only son, and one
too whose health, according to what I have been told, was always
delicate at that period, should have sent you to fight against brigands,
and that too at the early age of six or seven." The Grand Duke became
terribly angry at these remarks, saying that I disbelieved him and
wished to represent him as a liar in the eyes of the world. I told him
it was not I, but the almanac who threw discredit on his story; and that
I left it to himself to judge whether it was possible, in the nature of
things, that a child of six or seven, an only son, the heir-apparent of
a principality, and the only hope of his father, should be sent to catch
gipsies. He held his tongue, and I too; but he sulked with me for a long
while. When, however, he had forgotten my remonstrances, he still
continued to relate, even in my presence, this story, of which he gave
endless variations. He afterwards made up another far more disgraceful,
as well as more injurious to himself, which I will relate in its proper
place. It would be impossible for me at present to tell all the dreams
which he occasionally imagined and gave out as facts, but in which there
was not a shadow of truth. The illustration I have given, will, I think,
be sufficient for the present. One Thursday, towards the end of the
Carnival, there being a ball in our apartments, I was sitting between
the sister-in-law of Leon Narichkine and his sister, Madame Siniavine,
and we were looking at Marine Ossipovna Sakrefskaïa, Maid of Honour to
the Empress and niece of the Count Rasoumowsky, who was dancing a
minuet. She was at this time slight and active, and it was said that
Count Horn was very much in love with her. But as he was always in love
with three women at a time, he also paid his addresses to the Countess
Marie Romanovna Voronzoff and to Anne Alexievna Hitroff, who were
likewise Maids of Honour to her Imperial Majesty. We thought that the
first-mentioned danced well, and that she was rather pretty. She was
dancing with Leon Narichkine. While talking on this subject, his
sister-in-law and sister told me that his mother talked of marrying him
to Mademoiselle Hitroff, a niece of the Schouvaloffs, on the side of her
mother, who was the sister of Peter and Alexander Schouvaloff, and
married to the father of Mademoiselle Hitroff. This gentleman was often
at the Narichkines, and had so managed that Leon's mother had conceived
the idea of this marriage. Neither Madame Siniavine nor his
sister-in-law were at all anxious for a connection with the
Schouvaloffs, whom, as I have already said, they did not at all like,
and as for Leon, he was not even aware that his mother was thinking of
marrying him, while he was actually in love with the Countess Marie
Voronzoff just spoken of. On hearing this, I told Mesdames Siniavine and
Narichkine that we must not permit this marriage with Mademoiselle
Hitroff, who was a person very much disliked, was intriguing,
disagreeable, and boisterous, and that, to cut short all such ideas, we
ought to give Leon a wife of our own sort. For this purpose I suggested
the above-named niece of the Count Rasoumowsky, a lady of whom, besides,
they were both very fond, and who was always at their house. My two
friends greatly approved of my advice, and next day, as there was a
masquerade at court, I addressed myself to Marshal Rasoumowsky, who was
at that time Hetman of the Ukraine, and told him in plain terms that he
was doing very wrong to allow his niece to lose such a desirable husband
as Leon Narichkine; that his mother wished him to marry Mademoiselle
Hitroff, but that Madame Siniavine, his sister-in-law, and myself, were
agreed that his niece would be a more suitable person; and that
therefore he ought, without loss of time, to make the proposal to the
parties interested. The Marshal relished our project, spoke of it to his
then factotum, Teploff, who at once went and spoke of it to the elder
Count Rasoumowsky, who also gave his consent. The very next morning
Teploff went to the Bishop of St. Petersburg, and purchased for fifty
roubles the necessary dispensation. This being obtained, the Marshal and
his wife went to their aunt, the mother of Leon, and managed so well
that they gained her consent even against her own wishes. They were but
just in time, for that very day she was to give her decision to M.
Hitroff. This being done, Marshal Rasoumowsky, Mesdames Siniavine and
Narichkine, broke the matter to Leon, and persuaded him to marry one of
whom he had not even had a thought, while he was actually in love with
another. She, however, was as good as promised to Count Boutourline. As
for Madame Hitroff, he did not care for her at all. This consent being
gained, the Marshal sent for his niece, and she felt that the match was
too good to be refused. The next day, which was Sunday, the two Counts
Rasoumowsky asked the Empress' consent to the match, which she gave at
once. The Schouvaloffs were astonished at the manner in which M. Hitroff
and themselves also had been outwitted, for it was not until the consent
of the Empress had been obtained that they even heard of the matter.
However, the affair being settled, there was no help for it, and thus
Leon, in love with one woman, and his mother wishing him to marry
another, married a third, of whom neither he nor any one else had
thought three days before. This marriage of Leon Narichkine united me
still more closely than ever in friendship with the Counts Rasoumowsky,
who were really grateful to me for having procured so excellent and so
high a match for their niece, nor were they at all sorry at having got
the better of the Schouvaloffs, who could not even complain, but were
obliged to conceal their mortification. It was, moreover, an additional
distinction which I had thus procured for them.
The amours of the Grand Duke with Madame Teploff were now in rather a
languishing condition. One of the greatest obstacles in their way was
the difficulty of seeing one another, and this vexed his Imperial
Highness, who was no fonder of difficulties than he was of answering
letters. At the end of the Carnival, his amours began to be a matter of
party. The Princess of Courland informed me one day that Count Roman
Voronzoff, the father of the two young ladies who were at the court, and
who by the way was the horror of the Grand Duke, as were also his five
children, was in the habit of speaking of the Grand Duke with very
little respect or reserve.
Among other things, he said that if he thought proper he could easily
convert the Duke's antipathy into favour, it being only necessary to
give a dinner to Brockdorf, let him have plenty of English beer to
drink, and when going away, put six bottles of it into his pocket for
his Imperial Highness, and then he and his youngest daughter would at
once take the highest places in the Grand Duke's favour. At the ball the
same evening, I observed a good deal of whispering between his Imperial
Highness and the Countess Marie Voronzoff, the eldest daughter of Count
Roman, for this family had really become very intimate with the
Schouvaloffs, with whom Brockdorf was always welcome. It would have
given me anything but pleasure to have seen Mademoiselle Elizabeth
Voronzoff come again into favour, and therefore, to put an additional
obstacle in the way, I told the Grand Duke what the father had said,
and what I have just related. He became almost furious, and demanded in
great anger from whom I had heard this. For a long while I was unwilling
to tell him, but he said that as I could not name any one, he should
believe that I had myself made up this story in order to damage the
character of both the father and daughters. It was in vain that I told
him I had never in my life made up any such tale; I was obliged at last
to name the Princess of Courland. He told me that he should instantly
write her a note to London whether I had spoken the truth, and that
should there be the least variation between our accounts, he would
complain to the Empress of my intrigues and lies; and with these remarks
he left the room. Fearing that the answer of the Princess might be in
some degree equivocal, I wrote her a note saying, "In Heaven's name,
tell the truth purely and simply on the matter which you are going to be
asked about." My note was instantly despatched, and reached her in time,
for it got before the Grand Duke's. The Princess of Courland gave a
truthful answer to his Imperial Highness, and he found that I had not
told him a falsehood. This withheld him for some time from his
"liaisons" with these two daughters of a man who had but little esteem
for him, and whom besides he himself disliked. But in order to put an
additional obstacle in the way, Leon Narichkine persuaded Count
Rasoumowsky to invite the Duke to his house one or two evenings each
week, quite in private. It was almost a _partie quarrée_, for no one was
present at it but the Marshal, Marie Paolovna Narichkine, the Grand
Duke, Madame Teploff, and Leon Narichkine. This went on for a good part
of Lent, and gave rise to another idea. The Marshal's house was at this
time of wood. He received company in his wife's apartments, and as they
were both fond of play, there was always play there. The Marshal used to
go backwards and forwards, and in his private apartments he had his own
coterie, when the Grand Duke was not there. But as the Marshal had often
been at my rooms in my little furtive parties, he wished our caterer to
come in turn to his home. With this view, what he called his hermitage,
which consisted of two or three rooms on the ground-floor, was destined
for us. Every one was carefully concealed, because, as I have already
said, we dared not go out without permission. By this arrangement there
were three or four parties in the house; the Marshal went from one to
the other, and mine was the only one that knew all that was going on in
the house, whereas none knew that we were there.