Departure of Exiles for Siberia--The Russian Howard--Vast Exercise
House--Tartar Mosque--The Sparrow Hills--Burning of Moscow--
Magnificent View of the City--Ennobling of Merchants--The Schoolmaster
in Russia--Decay of the Old Nobility--The Donskoy Convent--Russian
Monks--Their Interpreter--Palace of Petrofsky--Encampment near
Moscow--Preparations for the Coronation Fete--Public Gardens--Zingari
Singers.
Early on Sunday morning our travellers left then hotel to witness a
painful though interesting sight, the departure of the convicts
condemned to exile in Siberia from the Ragoshky Gate of the city, where
they bid farewell to their relatives and friends. They are first
collected from all parts of the neighbouring country in a large prison
near the city, till they amount to a sufficient number to form a
caravan. Our friends met the melancholy band; clanking their chains,
they moved along at a slow pace through the city. Numbers of people,
chiefly of the lower orders, rushed out of their houses, and presented
them with loaves of bread, biscuits, tobacco, sugar, money, and other
things likely to comfort them on their dreary pilgrimage. After they
had been thus exhibited to the public, they stopped at a wooden shed,
where they were to rest before taking their final departure. There were
about fifty of them, old men and youths, and even women, some of them
young, poor creatures, looking miserable, heart-broken, and forlorn.
The men were dressed in coarse linen shirts and trousers, and the high
boots generally worn by peasants. Half the head was shaved, and few
wore hat or cap to conceal the sign of their disgrace. Most of them
were heavily manacled, some few only being free of irons.
In the centre of the building was a platform, on which were piled up the
prisoners' knapsacks and bags of provisions. Round it the gang stood
grouped. While they were there, many persons entered to bring them
offerings of money and food. At one end of the platform was spread out
a large handkerchief, on which the gifts were placed. As each person,
after bowing to the saint which hung in front of the doorway, deposited
his or her piece of money or loaf of bread on the handkerchief, one of
the prisoners, who seemed to take the lead, cried out with a loud voice,
"Unhappy ones, thank the donors!" The whole party then bent their heads
at the same time, and replied, "Thanks be to you, kind and benevolent
sir," or "mother" if a matron was their benefactor. After this, the
visitors being requested to leave the shed, the gang was marshalled by
the man in command, who spoke in a savage voice to the prisoners, and by
his significant gestures was evidently in the habit of striking them.
The escort consisted of six mounted lancers and about thirty
foot-soldiers. At a sign they stepped out together, and, while many a
sob and groan was heard from the crowd, they commenced their six months'
dreary march towards Siberia at the rate of about twenty versts a day.
Russia has not been without its Howard; indeed, perhaps that great man
infused his spirit into the bosom of the benevolent Dr Haaz. He, like
Howard, devoted his means, his talents, and energies to ameliorating the
condition of the unhappy prisoners. He had frequently urged on the
authorities that the manacles employed were too heavy for persons of
ordinary strength, but they would not listen to him. At length, the
better to be able to explain the suffering inflicted on the poor
wretches, he had them put on his own limbs, and trudged the whole of the
first day's march alongside the party of exiles. The state to which
even this one day's march reduced him was so strong an argument in
favour of his assertion, that he won his cause; and after that the
chains, except of the greater criminals, were much lightened.
A few carts, containing stores and some prisoners who were unable to
walk, followed the melancholy cortege.
"In England many guilty ones escape punishment, but in this country many
innocent ones suffer, I fear," observed Cousin Giles as they returned to
their hotel, very tired after their morning's walk.
The travellers were told, that persons of rank condemned for political
offences are carried off secretly by the police in closed carriages,
without the power of communicating with their friends; that frequently
they thus disappear, and no one knows whither they are gone. A small
dark carriage, with thick blinds, may be seen, strongly guarded by
horse-soldiers, proceeding towards Siberia, but no one knows whom it
contains.
The travellers attended the service in the British chapel, where Mr
Gray officiates, and they were surprised to find it so well filled.
There were several persons in Russian uniforms--Englishmen, or the sons
of Englishmen, in either the military or civil service of the Czar, who
are allowed to worship God after the mode of their fathers. By the laws
of Russia no Russian may change his religious profession, but any
stranger entering the country may worship according to his belief--as
may his descendants, although they become naturalised Russians. If,
however, a stranger marries a Russian woman, the children of the
marriage must belong to the Greek Church. Laws, however, cannot change
the mind; and not only has the Greek Church been split into numerous
bodies of sectarians, but there are many who totally dissent from it, an
account of whom our friends afterwards heard.
Sunday they made a day of rest.
Monday morning they again commenced sight-seeing. The first place they
visited was the building near the Kremlin having the most extensive roof
without arches in the world, and in which the Emperor is accustomed to
manoeuvre several regiments of cavalry and infantry together. People at
the farther end look like pigmies. The ground was now covered with
lamps, in preparation for the illumination. Their next excursion was to
the Tartar quarter of the city, where there is a Tartar mosque. The
Tartar dwellings are low cottages in wide courtyards. The mosque was of
much the same character, only there was a pigsty at one side of the
yard. In their search for the mosque they entered several courtyards,
where the women, old and young, in striped dressing-gown-looking robes,
hurried away to hide themselves from the strangers. At the usual early
hour the muezzin mounted to the roof of the mosque, and in a loud voice
summoned the faithful to prayer.
"It is sad," observed Fred, "to find people in the centre of what is
called a Christian land who are totally ignorant of a Saviour."
"Very sad indeed," replied Cousin Giles; "but if we look at home we
shall find sights still more sad. In London itself there exist
thousands of Englishmen who not only have never heard of the Saviour,
but do not know of the existence of a God. Every year is indeed working
a change, and diminishing their numbers, through the exertions of
christian and philanthropic men; but when you grow older it will be a
subject worthy of your attention, and you should not rest till all in
your native land have the gospel preached to them."
On their way back they bought some of the rush shoes worn by the
peasants. They are made of rushes which grow on the banks of the Volga.
They are more like sandals than shoes, being fastened on with thongs
round the ankles. Their cost is about twopence a pair.
After dinner they drove to the Sparrow Hills, about five miles west of
the city. The road was execrable, full of ruts and holes. They passed
the palace of the Empress-Mother, which has some handsome gardens. They
saw also an asylum for the widows and children of decayed merchants. It
is a wide, extended building, with a church in the centre. Russia
contains numerous charitable asylums, generally well conducted. They
are, however, not to be compared to the numberless ostentatious
charities of which our beloved country, with all her shortcomings, may
justly boast. Their carriage took the travellers to the top of the
Sparrow Hills, which are of no great elevation. They slope steeply down
to the Moscowa, which, after passing the city, takes a sharp bend close
to their base, and then runs back again towards the southern end of it.
The view was indeed superb. Below them, on the plain across the river,
was the Donskoy Convent, with its red walls and lofty towers, several
other convents being scattered about here and there. To the right, on
the wooded and sloping banks of the Moscowa, were the Emperor's villa
and many other handsome buildings; and before them the Holy City itself,
its numberless golden and silver domes glittering brightly in the
sunshine, like a mighty pile of precious jewels from the far-famed mines
of Gokonda. On the left, on a wide-extended down, were seen the white
tents of fifty thousand of the choicest troops of Russia, assembled to
do honour to the Emperor at his coronation, or to signify to the people
the power by which he rules.
"I should very much like to go and look through that camp," exclaimed
Fred; "I want to see if all they say about the Russian troops is true."
"We will make a point of going there to-morrow," replied Cousin Giles.
"I have no doubt the visit will be an interesting one; but, for my part,
I do not expect to be so interested as I am at present. The whole of
Russia cannot, perhaps, afford a sight more beautiful than the one
before us. Here it was that Napoleon, after marching across Europe,
first beheld the superb city which he hoped in a few hours to make his
own--the bourn he so eagerly sought--the prize of all his toils! How
grievously, yet how righteously, was he disappointed! As he, swelling
with pride and elated with triumph, was gazing at the city from the
west, the Russian army, having already devoted their beloved capital to
destruction, were marching out on the opposite side. In a short time
the city in which he trusted to find shelter for his troops during the
winter burst forth into flames, and a very few days saw him defeated and
a fugitive, and his magnificent army a prey to the rigours of the
climate and the remorseless Cossacks. History cannot afford a more
dreadful picture than the retreat of the French from Moscow, or a
clearer example of the retributive justice of Heaven. Not many years
afterwards the Russians, as allies of the English, paid a visit, as
conquerors, to Paris. The French, united with the English, were lately
on the point of returning the compliment, by looking in on Saint
Petersburg. Heaven grant that neither of them may ever come to London
in any guise but that of friends. To commemorate the retreat from
Moscow, the Russians are now building the Church of Saint Saviour, whose
golden domes we see so conspicuous not far from the towers of the
Kremlin," observed Cousin Giles, pointing it out with his stick.
After gazing on the interesting scene for some time, the travellers
returned to their carriage.
In the evening a German gentleman, long resident in Russia, to whom they
had been introduced, gave them several important pieces of information.
"The late Emperor Nicholas was well aware," he told them, "that his
power rested on very precarious ground, and that, though a despot in
name, he knew that he was in the power of his own nobles. To liberate
himself, he endeavoured to weaken, if not to destroy, the old nobility--
first by leading them into all sorts of extravagance, and then by
creating a new order between nobles and peasants, who should feel that
they owed their elevation entirely to him.
"For this purpose he created what he called the Guild of Honourable
Merchants. Every merchant of the first guild who had paid a tax of 150
per annum for ten years without failure was eligible to belong to it.
The Honourable Merchants are free from all imposts, conscriptions,
etcetera, and pay no taxes. Another mode Nicholas took of ruining the
old nobility was to establish a pawn bank, where they could at all times
pledge then property. By encouraging their extravagance, many were
unable to redeem it, and, being put up for sale, it was bought up by the
Honourable Merchants and other members of the trading community. The
late Emperor also wished to encourage education. By an ukase he ordered
that all children throughout the country should be educated. To effect
this object every priest is bound to have a school attached to his
parish church. In consequence, a considerable number of children do
learn to read; but the ukase cannot make them go to school, and in many
instances the priests are so ignorant and careless that these schools
are of very little use. The present Emperor, it is said, wishes to
encourage liberal institutions. He has erected municipalities in the
towns. In the courts of law three officers are chosen by the Crown, and
three by the municipality, with a president who acts as judge. He is
anxious also to abolish serfdom; but to do so at once, without violence,
is dangerous. He is, however, effecting his object, which his father
also entertained, by slow degrees. When an estate is sold, all the
serfs become free, and in this way a considerable number have been
liberated. No serfs can now be sold: a person may inherit an estate and
the serfs on it. [See Note 1.] Many of the great nobles would willingly
get rid of their serfs if they could. On one of their estates, perhaps,
they are overcrowded, on another they have not a sufficient number to
till the ground or to work their mines; yet they have no power to remove
the serfs of one estate to another, while they must find means for their
support on the spot where they were born. If the peasants were free,
they could literally have more power over them, because they could then
turn them off their estates, and compel them to seek for employment
where it is to be found. Nicholas, by several of his enactments, has
enabled his son to rule with less difficulty than would otherwise have
been the case. By the ruin of some of the principal nobles he has saved
him from the worst enemies of his ancestors, who so frequently proved
their destroyers; and by the creation of a wealthy middle class, every
day improving in education and numbers, he has formed a strong body who
find that it is their interest to support him. When it is no longer
their interest so to do, the whole fabric of Russian government will
crumble to the dust."
The first excursion our friends made the next morning was to the Donskoy
Convent. It stands on a flat near the Moscowa, and is surrounded with
high brick walls, flanked by lofty towers, all of bright red-brick. It
has entirely the character of an ancient fortress, erected to withstand
the rapid incursions of an enemy's cavalry, though unfit to hold out
against a regular attack. The church, standing in the centre of a wide,
open space, is a lofty pile, with the usual gilt dome; but the
residences of the monks are low, unpretending buildings, on one floor.
A young monk, in a long dark robe, a broad-brimmed, low-crowned hat, and
dishevelled locks hanging over his shoulders, came forth, and politely
offered to guide the travellers about the convent. Cousin Giles had
engaged a young Englishman to act as their interpreter, and he very much
increased the interest of the scenes they visited, and their means of
acquiring information.
The monk led them into the interior of the church, which consisted of a
vaulted chamber divided into two parts by a large wooden screen. The
carpenters and gilders and painters were busily at work, painting and
furbishing up the ornaments; but the scene brought forcibly to the minds
of the travellers the preparations for a new play at a theatre. The
monk told them that the large church was so cold in winter that it was
shut up, and that there was a small one, well warmed with stoves, where
they could at that season worship in comfort. He then led them through
the burial-ground, which they found crowded with the tombs of noble
families, and other inhabitants of Moscow and its neighbourhood. This
is the most fashionable burying-place of that part of Russia, and
consequently people are very anxious to have the remains of their
friends placed there, so that, though they could not enjoy good company
when they were alive, they might at all events after their death have
such satisfaction as it might afford.
The ground was laid out with walks; the tombstones were of every
possible strange device, and crowded together in a way which would have
been far from pleasing to some of the more aristocratic inhabitants in
their lifetime; but the monkish sexton in his own graveyard read the
lesson to visitors, often uttered before, that death is a leveller of
all ranks, and no respecter of persons.
When the travellers thanked the young moppy-haired monk for his
attention, he replied that it was his duty, as it was his pleasure, to
show his convent, and seemed in no way to expect any remuneration. The
Imperial family, it is said, have no affection for the monkish orders;
indeed, the feeling of dislike is mutual. They predicted the overthrow
of the Russian armies in the Crimea, and the death of the Emperor--the
wish probably being the father of the prophecy.
In their way through the city the travellers entered an Armenian church.
It was ornamented with pictures of saints, like those of a Roman
Catholic place of worship; but the pulpit was in a conspicuous place, as
if preaching was not altogether neglected; and there were chairs inside
the altar railings for the Patriarch and other ecclesiastical
functionaries.
The style of ornaments about the church showed that the Armenian
community were either not wealthy or not disposed to spend much money on
the edifice. It, however, spoke of a purer faith than that of the Greek
Church.
After dining, our friends set out, and drove along the high road to
Saint Petersburg, towards the Petrofsky Palace. Every part of the way,
from the Kremlin to the Gate of Triumph at the entrance of the city, was
lined with scaffolding and seats, in preparation for the coronation, to
enable the lieges "to see great Caesar pass that way" from his palace of
Petrofsky, where he was to reside three days before entering the Holy
City to undergo the ceremony of his coronation.
The Gate of Triumph, which forms the northern entrance to the city, is
built of stone, after the model of one at Rome, but with a taste which
would make a Roman stare. All the statues and ornaments about it are
painted of every variety of colour, so that it has the appearance of a
wooden structure put up by the rustic inhabitants of some country
village to welcome the lord of the estate.
The Palace of Petrofsky is itself a curious sight. It is a huge pile,
of a bright red colour, intermingled with white, and covered with every
conceivable device in the way of ornament. It has circular walls
projecting out in front from the main building, in shape and colour very
like lobsters' claws, and there are the brightest green roofs, and
numberless domes, and cupolas, and minarets, and towers, and spires,
covered with burnished gold, which make one suppose that a very rich man
must live within. On a wide, open space in front of the palace,
wonderfully grand preparations were making for a fete which was to be
given to the people on the occasion of the coronation.
At a short distance before the palace stood a magnificent pavilion,
intended to hold the Imperial family. A little of the woodwork yet
unpainted showed that it was not a solid structure of stone. No people
can equal the Russians in making the false pass for the real. On either
side of the pavilion were others, each of a different style of
architecture, for the use of the chief nobility of the realm. Before
them, at some little distance, were two theatres, in comparison with
which the magnificence of the old fair-going booth of Richardson would
have grown dim. They might be called theatres, but they were only the
semi-part of the theatre; the open common, with the blue sky overhead,
was the space intended for the audience. Then there were several
Montagnes Russe, but, instead of being made of ice and snow, they were
built of wood. They consist of high elevations, facing each other, with
a slope between them; people ascend to the top by steps, where they find
cars of wood. They place themselves in the cars, and then are sent
sliding down one slope with such force that they are propelled up the
opposite slope.
But this was only a small part of the entertainment prepared for the
people. There were fountains which, instead of throwing up jets of
cold, insipid water, were to spout forth incessantly into huge tanks a
stream of the much-loved vodka, from which all around might draw forth
and drink to their hearts' content.
What more perfect idea of a terrestrial paradise would a thirsty mujick
seek for than did these preparations afford him? How munificent and
kind must he have considered the Emperor who could provide such an
entertainment for him, especially when near to the fountains of vodka
there were spread out long tables and benches, covering some acres of
ground, which it was said were to be loaded with provisions, of which
all-comers of humble rank might partake!
The travellers had to drive in and out among the tables, and they
pictured to themselves the jovial, happy crowd who would soon be
assembled around them, enjoying themselves, and drinking long life and
prosperity to their Czar--a perfect picture of an Arcadian banquet.
Farther on were large booths, containing the kitchens where the
provisions for the vast multitudes were to be cooked; and there were
also other sheds, where the bread, and meat, and grain of all sorts were
to be stored. All this feasting and amusement was to last three days,
and no one seemed to be able to estimate how many thousands of persons
would attend the rural banquet.
"Alas!" exclaimed Cousin Giles, "this may be a certain way of winning
the momentary applause of an ignorant mob, but it is a miserable way of
gaining the love of a people, of improving their character, of
instructing them in their duties, by thus pandering to their lowest
tastes. I suspect that it will not even secure the object desired.
What a contrast does it afford to the way our own enlightened sovereign
takes to win the affections of her people!"
"We had the fireworks at the peace," observed Fred; "they were only to
please the mob."
"Yes, to be sure," said Cousin Giles; "that was an old-fashioned way of
letting the people know that peace was concluded. They could in days of
yore, when newspapers were rare, have scarcely known it without; now
such a proceeding is quite unnecessary. A large sum was squandered
which would have been much better spent in enabling our artisans in the
dockyards, thrown out of employment by the peace, to emigrate; besides
which, it was said that numbers of people were kept working on several
Sundays to get them finished in time. If such was the case, a national
sin was added to a national folly."
Cousin Giles' conjectures with regard to the uselessness of the feast
prepared for the mujicks were realised. No sooner each day were the
tables covered, than the mob rushed forward and bore off whatever they
could lay hands on, so that the later comers had nothing to eat; while
fountains of vodka refused to supply sufficient liquid to quench the
thirst of the vast multitudes which thronged round them. There was,
therefore, far more complaint and grumbling, than love or gratitude
exhibited towards the supposed provider of the entertainment--the Czar.
About half a mile farther, in front of this scene of barbaric festivity,
across the plain, over fields which had been beaten down to supply an
open space of sufficient extent, was seen a sea of white tents, forming
an encampment which at that time contained fifty thousand men, to whom
many more were afterwards added.
Before them was a line of artillery, the muzzles of the guns turned
towards the spot where the mujicks were expected to assemble--
significant, as a cynical friend of Cousin Giles observed, of the way in
which people in the parts there are governed. He may, however, have
been wrong in his conjecture.
The travellers drove towards the tents, in front of which they found the
bands of all the regiments practising together. They made a great deal
of noise, but the music was not so good as they expected.
They got out of their carriage, and walked into the encampment without
let or hindrance. They felt a curious sensation as they found
themselves among the troops of those with whom their countrymen had so
lately been engaged in deadly strife. Not only were they secure from
receiving any insult, but they were treated everywhere with the greatest
courtesy.
One thing is certain, that although a large amount of barbarism remains
in Russia, the army, in certain respects, has attained a high state of
civilisation. The younger officers are invariably well educated, and
generally polished in their manners. The material comforts of the men
are much attended to in many regiments, though not perhaps in all, and
they have been brought into a good state of discipline.
The tents were arranged in long lines, with broad, well-gravelled roads
at intervals between them, with a drained footpath on either side. The
encampment, it must be confessed, looked very far neater and cleaner
than that at Aldershot. Why should we refuse to give our late enemies
their due, or to acknowledge our own shortcomings? It is far better
that the rising generation should know that Englishmen are not perfect,
and endeavour to correct the national faults, than to go on blindly
fancying that we are superior in all things to all other nations on
earth.
Our friends, with their guide, first walked into a sergeant's tent. He
and his comrade were very civil, and begged them to take a seat. His
regiment had not been in the Crimea, but they had heard what brave
people the English were. Even those who had been opposed to them felt
no enmity towards them; very much the contrary--they had learnt to
respect them.
The Russian officers who had been in the Crimea, it was said, whenever
they met with any English officers who had been there also, were more
than usually kind and attentive to them. The men's abodes, into which
the travellers went, contained sixteen persons, and very close packing
they must have found it in hot weather. In cold weather they are thus
kept warmer, and, if called to stand to their arms on a sudden attack, a
large body of men can be instantly brought together. The soldiers were
generally fine-looking, intelligent fellows; many of them as fair, and
quite as clean-looking, as Englishmen. Some of the regiments, raised in
northern latitudes, were composed of fine, dark-bearded men, while the
officers were generally good-looking and gentlemanly. These, however,
were crack troops, and were certainly very different from the slouching,
loutish-looking recruits to be seen when no public exhibition is
intended.
Highly pleased with this visit to the camp, they drove back to the city.
On their way they stopped at some public gardens, where their guide
told them a celebrated band of gipsies were going to sing. Harry
declared that the place was called Waxhauloff. Certainly the name did
not sound unlike that word. There was a garden, brilliantly lighted up
with coloured lamps, and at one end there were scenic preparations,
probably for a desperate sea-fight on a pond, for there was a lighthouse
in the foreground and some ships in the distance; and the bills
signified that this was to be followed by a superb display of fireworks.
There was also a large music hall, where a number of people were
collected, listening to a very good instrumental band. The object of
the travellers, however, was to meet with the civilised specimens of the
race of Zingari or gipsies, whom they would find there. They were not
long in discovering them as they moved about among the crowd. There was
the same swarthy hue, black, burning eyes, and cunning, quick expression
of countenance which distinguish them in every part of the world. The
women were somewhat fancifully, but not fantastically dressed. This
costume varied little from that common in Europe. It is only on festive
occasions that they wear the dress of their people. The men had on
surtouts, with belts round their waists, and light-coloured trousers.
They were remarkable for their small well-formed heads and sharp Jewish
countenances. Cousin Giles said he should call them Arab Jews. One of
the women, who was fairer than the rest, and somewhat picturesquely
dressed in a red mantle, seemed to attract some attention, though when
her features were seen near they bore the gipsy characteristics.
After some time the interpreter succeeded in finding the chief of the
gipsies, and in drawing him aside to where Cousin Giles was standing.
The interpreter told the gipsy chief that Cousin Giles was an Englishman
who took great interest in the gipsies of all countries, and that he
would like to hear about his tribe. The gipsy replied that he was much
flattered; that he was the chief only of forty or fifty people, but that
they were all well off; that they lived in comfortable houses, and had
conformed to the religion of the country; that he had been offered a sum
equivalent to a thousand pounds to each of his band to go to Paris to
sing in public, but that they were well off in Russia, and did not wish
to move. Some of his people at times became very wealthy, and some of
the women, who had fine voices, went on the stage, while others married
men of rank. There were many tribes of gipsies in Russia who were
altogether of an inferior grade. They still lived in tents, and
wandered about the country, and were chiefly horse and cattle-dealers.
A few followed still less creditable occupations. His tribe, however,
held no communication whatever with them.
It occurred to Cousin Giles that the life of the wandering gipsy was
perhaps more creditable than that of his brethren in the city. The
conversation was brought to a close by the gipsy and his band being
summoned to the platform.
The band consisted of fifteen women and eight men. The women were
seated in a semicircle; the leader and another man, with guitars in
their hands, stood in front of them; the rest stood behind. Some of the
women had guitars. One of the girls sang a solo very well, the rest of
the band joining in an extravagantly wild, fantastic chorus; the leader,
meantime, skipping and turning and twisting about in the most absurd and
inelegant manner. They sang several songs in the same style, some more
wild and extraordinary than the first, certainly not suited to a refined
taste. Yet this place was evidently a fashionable resort; the
entrance-money was very high,--a silver rouble and a quarter,--and the
company were all well-dressed, well-behaved people, evidently ladies and
gentlemen, chiefly the residents of the neighbourhood, a fashionable
suburb of Moscow.
The houses in the neighbourhood were evidently built only for summer
use, for they were all, though differing in shape, of a Swiss-cottage
style. The travellers had been so busily engaged all day, that, having
satisfied their curiosity by seeing the gipsies, they had no inclination
to remain for the pyrotechnic display, and therefore, going in search of
their carriage, they drove back to Moscow.
They had now seen a good deal of the outside of the city--not all,
perhaps, that was to be seen, but enough to give them a very fair
general idea of it. There were many convents, and churches, and
colleges, and hospitals, and other public institutions, which they had
not had time to visit; and then there was the great event which was to
take place in a few weeks, the coronation of the Emperor, at which it
was expected that the representatives of all the nations of Europe would
attend; but our friends preferred seeing somewhat of the interior of the
country to waiting for it, and they therefore resolved on setting off at
once, and returning, if possible, in time for the occasion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since the period spoken of the serfs have been emancipated, and these
laws are no longer in force. The peasantry are, however, subject to the
fearful conscription, and are liable to be torn from their homes to
serve in the armies of the Emperor.