J
PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
The Church of the Resurrection of Christ. Built on the spot
where Alexander II, the "Tsar Emancipator," was assassinated
PETROGRAD
PAST AND PRESENT
BY
WILLIAM BARNES STEVENI
V
WITH THIRTY ILLUSTRATIONS
436646
LONDON
GRANT RICHARDS LTD.
ST martin's street
LEICESTER SQUARE
MDCCCCXV
(h
PRINTED BY THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED
EDINBURGH
CONTENTS
I. ARRIVAL IN PETROGRAD AND THE NECESSITY FOR PASSPORTS 1
II. CRONSTADT, THE KEY OF PETROGRAD, AND SOME MEMORIES . 10
III. A ZEALOT OF CRONSTADT . . . . .22
IV. SOME CRONSTADT CHARACTERS . . . .29
V. THE FOUNDING OF PETROGRAD . . . 34 —
VI. THE YOUTH AND GROWTH OF PETROGRAD, WITH SOME
HISTORICAL NOTES . . . . .41 ^
VII. THE RIVER NEVA AND THE GREAT FLOODS . . 49
VIII. THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1 777 ', THE DEATH OF PRINCESS
TARAKANOFFVA . . . . 57
IX. PETROGRAD DURING THE REIGN OF ITS FOUNDER J AND
AN ACCOUNT OF PETER'S COURT AS SEEN BY PRINCESS
WILHELMINA OF PRUSSIA . . . .65
X. STATUES AND MONUMENTS, HISTORICAL MEMORIES AND
SOME SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE CAPITAL . . 76
XI. A TRIP UP THE NEVA ..... 85
XII. THE FORTRESS OF PETER AND PAUL . . .91
XIII. THE MODERN CITY AND THE PEOPLE . . .101
XIV. THE POLICE OF PETROGRAD . . . .119
XV. OFFICIALDOM IN RUSSIA . . . . .126
XVI. THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES . . .136
XVII. THE TSAR, HIS HOUSEHOLD AND HIS LABOURS . . 155
XVIII. HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS . . . . 163
XIX. THEATRES, CONCERTS AND PLEASURE GARDENS . . 174
XX. CONCERNING THE BALLET . . . . .187
XXI. THE HERMITAGE AND ITS MEMORIES CATHERINE'S
FAVOURITE RETREAT . . . . .196
V
vi CONTENTS
PAGE
XXII. THE ANITCHKOFF PALACE AND A NARROW ESCAPE . 206
XXIII. THE TAURIDA PALACE AND THE WINTER PALACE . . 218
XXIV. THE ALEXANDER NEVSKY MONASTERY . . . 227
XXV. THE KAZAN CATHEDRAL, THE RIOTS, AND ST ISAAC'S
CATHEDRAL ...... 232
XXVI. TWO TSARS : PAUL, THE u MAD TSAR " ; NICHOLAS I., HIS
CHARACTER AND AMBITION .... 242
XXVII. SIR ROBERT MORIER AND THE BRITISH EMBASSY . .251
XXVIII. COUNT SERGIUS DE WITTE . . . .257
XXIX. THE RUSSIAN PRESS ..... 263
XXX. FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS AND THE CENSORS . . 272
XXXI. THE BRITISH COLONY ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT . 280
XXXII. KRASNOE SELO AND THE MILITARY MANOEUVRES . . 290
XXXIII. ALEXANDER III., HIS "MUSEUM," AND THE LATE GRAND
DUKE CONSTANTINE . . . . .294
XXXIV. THE ENVIRONS OF THE CITY .... 299
THE GRAND DUKE MICHAEL, THE TSAR's BROTHER, AT THE FRONT 305
A NOTE ON THE GROWTH OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE SINCE THE
DAYS OF PETER THE GREAT . . . . .311
SOME AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK 314
INDEX ........ 315
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Church of the Resurrection of Christ .
Two very Important Personages
The Steamer Yermak breaking its way through
the Ice .....
Father John of Cronstadt
The Cousins : the Tsar and King George .
Building Ships for Russia's Commercial Marine in
the Days of Peter the Great
Petrograd in the Days of Catherine II.
The deep and rapid Neva, with View of the
Nicholai Bridge ....
A Crowd on the Nevsky Prospect : " Praznek "
The Catherine Canal ....
The Last Days of the beautiful Princess Tarakanoffva
in the Fortress ....
A Masquerade in the Days of Peter the Great (1722)
The old Winter Palace
The Admiralty with its Gilded Spire
The Fortress Church of SS. Peter and Paul
Russian Railway Guard
Typical Russian Coachman
A typical Russian Moujik in the Rough State
Russian Peasant begging for Alms for the Village
Church .....
The Facade of the Imperial Hermitage
"Babooshka" Ekaterina II. .
The Mechailoff Palace, now converted into the
Museum of Alexander III.
The Anitchkoff Palace on the Nevsky
The Kazan Cathedral ....
The Gosteny Dvor (Guest Bazaar) on the Nevsky
The Cathedral of St Isaac of Dalmatia
The old Mechailoff Palace
Russian Standard Bearers of the Guards
The Tsar Alexander III. — called the "Peace-lover"
The Palace and wonderful Fountains of Peterhoff
Frontispiece
To face page 8
j> »>
)» »
5) If
55
55
55
55
55
'5
55
55
>}
55
55
18
24
24
34
42
5o
5o
54
58
66
74
86
94
102
102
150
150
196
204
206
206
232
240
240
244
292
294
300
vn
THE ARRIVAL IN PETROGRAD AND THE NECESSITY
FOR PASSPORTS
It was a lovely morning in May when our diminutive
steamer the Viking first entered the swift stream of
the Neva, by which river the confined and pent-up
waters of Lake Ladoga find their way to the Gulf
of Finland. As our little boat — which had once done
service as a canal boat in England — entered the river,
I was charmed by the beautiful spectacle of Peter'^
City, now Petrograd. On the right, past the massive
Nicholas Bridge, named in honour of St Nicholas, one
of Russia's patron saints, stood the beautiful Cathedral
of St Isaac, with its five cupolas of gilded copper
shining in the morning sky like balls of molten gold
against a background of azure. On the left, fronting
the granite quays, were a number of splendid build-
ings, beginning with the palace of the Grand Duke
Paul and ending with that classic structure, the Holy
Synod, for many years the scene of Pobjedonodzeff's
fanatical activity. On the opposite side of the river
was the Vasilii Ostoff (Basil Island), with its miles of
shipping and its stately front of offices and palatial
buildings, many of which were inhabited by the
merchant princes of the capital. Past the Nicholas
Bridge was that stately block, the Academy of Arts,
which owed its origin to Catherine the Great.
After a stormy passage in our little canal boat, now
bravely doing service as a sea-going vessel, I was
delighted to arrive at my destination in safety, and
still more so to watch the scene before me — the great
and wondrous creation of Peter awaking to life and
2 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
activity, and the scene of my future joys, sorrows and
labours for a quarter of a century. Suddenly I was
awakened from my day-dreams by a gruff, hearty
voice asking for my passport. " Passport ! " I ex-
claimed in astonishment. " What do I want with a
passport ? Surely such a thing was never heard of
since the days of the great Napoleon and the Con-
tinental system ! " for even at that early age I was a
" demon for history," as my literary friends called me.
The captain was thunderstruck at my ignorance and
my reply ; I had but the haziest conception of Russia.
" Napoleon be hanged," he replied. " I know nothing
about the Continental system, but I know this, that
unless you can produce a passport at once you will be
arrested and the ship will be fined." As he spoke he
pointed to a boat with two gendarme officers on board
and also several dosmoschiks (searchers) rowing swiftly
towards us. There was not a moment to lose, and the
captain, evidently a man of resource, immediately
rigged me out in a suit of oilskins and entered my
name on the manifest as " cabin-boy." I was then
told to go and range myself in line with others on the
after-deck while the gendarmes keenly inspected each
one of us and compared us with the names on the mani-
fest. When it came to my turn they looked very
suspiciously at the pale, girlish face and white hands
of the little cabin-boy, whom they evidently sus-
pected of sailing under false colours. After exchang-
ing a few words with the captain and signing various
documents in the cabin, the gendarmes and customs
officers withdrew, leaving a wretched dosmoschik on
board to watch the vessel. I could not help but think
that he had been left behind to watch the author of
this work, and therefore I confided my suspicions to
that dear old sea-dog, the captain, who again came to
my rescue. He invited the eager, brown-eyed dosmos-
chik into the cabin to have a drink of Swedish punch,
THE ARRIVAL IN PETROGRAD 3
a brew which has a peculiar power of robbing a man of
the use of his legs before he is aware of it. After the
unsuspecting searcher had taken three glasses of this
golden liquid we were joined by the mate, who invited
our amiable guest to partake of kummel and other
liqueurs. Presently both the captain and mate were
called on deck to their duties, whilst I, the pale,
innocent-looking cabin-boy, was left to do the honours
as host. I listened while the dosmoschik's broken
English grew more and more incoherent, until finally
he dozed peacefully in the corner of the cabin, oblivious
to the ship, the foreigners, the pale-faced youth and
everything around him.
In this condition I left the man, probably dreaming
of the lonely steppes and villages of Little Russia (for
he was evidently a South Russian, judging from his
appearance). The captain in the meantime had not
been idle. Without losing any time he got out the long-
boat, and after placing my box under the seat, beneath
the folds of a large flag, ordered his men to row up the
river and land me. This order was carried out, and
in twenty minutes or so I found myself somewhere
near the Baltic works, far away from the prying eyes
of the customs officers. The mate, who accompanied
us, chartered a droshky for me to the Cronstadt pier on
the Vasilii Ostroff . Here I took a ticket by the Cron-
stadt steamer — an old English river boat dating from
the days of Queen Victoria — and in one and a half
hours I arrived in Cronstadt and was safe with my
friends, who had long expected me. But I was not
to be at rest for long, for as soon as my friends knew
that I had no passport their anxiety on my account
deprived me of all the pleasure I was experiencing in
my new surroundings. It would never have done to
tell the authorities how I had smuggled myself into
"Holy Russia," so, after keeping me indoors nearly
a fortnight, they decided to take the risk of getting
4 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
a passport from a friend in England. This was duly
signed, and in this irregular way, at sixteen years of
age, I entered Russia — the country where I was to
have so many interesting experiences and adventures
during my twenty-seven years' sojourn.
As for the erring dosmoschik, I frequently used to
meet him in the large square near the Customs House,
but on seeing me he would drop his beady, brown
eyes, for, like myself, he was suffering from the pangs
of a guilty conscience — or perhaps from the effects
of that never-to-be-forgotten spree on the little
Viking, when he was so gloriously fuddled on punch,
kummel, vodka and port wine — an experience not
easily forgotten in his otherwise dull, uneventful
existence. These poor men have to endure a laborious
life on a paltry wage, which hardly serves to keep body
and soul together. All this happened nearly forty
years ago, in those unregenerate days when the
almighty rouble ruled Russia and vodka-drinking had
not been abolished by an Imperial ukase.
As for the old captain who saved me from the
dilemma, he has long since gone to his viking forbears,
whilst his little boat lies at the bottom of the Gulf of
Finland, beneath sixty fathoms of cold, blue water.
About a couple of voyages after my arrival the Viking
foundered, with all on board except the captain. A
terrible sea suddenly struck her, breaking open her
hatches and putting out her fires. Being laden with
Swedish iron and copper, she sank like a stone, with all
hands on board, including the kind old stewardess who
" mothered " me.
Before proceeding further with my narrative I must
not forget to say that I was unusually lucky in not
getting into serious trouble for not having a passport.
Not every one is so fortunate, as the following incident
will show. Shortly after my arrival an invalid clergy-
man, who had come out to Cronstadt for the good of his
THE ARRIVAL IN PETROGRAD 5
health, narrowly escaped imprisonment, for the gen-
darmes in Petrograd, hearing that he was on board an
English steamer without that most necessary docu-
ment, the passport, boarded the boat and arrested him.
He was not even given time to go down to the cabin
and get an overcoat, but was hurried into a boat and
taken to the capital, with dire visions of the fortress of
St Peter and St Paul as his only companions. Had
this unfortunate curate known more about Russia he
would have escaped arrest, but his very ignorance and
innocence were his undoing, for on being asked by the
gendarmes what he was, he replied : " A student."
" Skoobent," ejaculated the gendarmes; "then away
with him to the police station." In those days to be a
student was synonymous with being a revolutionary.
Almost every student was openly or secretly an
antagonist to the Government. After the "con-
spirator " had been landed at the police station the
English Vice-Consul was sent for, and it then trans-
pired that the pale young gentleman in the black coat
and white collar was " a student of theology " ! — to
the great disgust of his captors, who imagined that
they had caught a dangerous person hiding on the
steamboat prior to making his escape to the shores of
perfidious Albion. 1 Directly the mistake was cleared
up the unhappy curate was liberated, with apologies.
I have known many similar incidents — all arising from
the negligence of Englishmen in not taking the few
necessary precautions, either of procuring a passport
or of having it properly vised before their departure
for Russia.
On reaching the Gutaieffsky docks, which are a
1 It was a common practice in those days for fugitive students and
other " politicals ?l to escape in English and German steamers from
Russia. The good-natured captains, who sympathised with the
revolutionists, would frequently hide them among the cargo, at con-
siderable risk to themselves, for this was a serious offence in the eyes of
the authorities.
6 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
considerable distance from the capital, a traveller is
obliged to make the acquaintance of that curious class
of cabbies known in Russia as isovoschiks. Although
they are attired in long, oriental-looking gowns
reaching to their feet, and are crowned with a hat
resembling that of a beef-eater, one must not think
that these primitive-looking Jehus are half as simple
as they appear to be ; for inside the garb of childlike
simplicity and innocence there often lurks a cunning
and a ready wit which are really astonishing to anyone
who does not understand the Russian moujik, from
which class the Russian cabmen are generally re-
cruited. As a rule, it is wise to offer only half the fare
demanded, and even then to bargain until a figure is
arrived at which is not too exorbitant. In fact, if the
man is given what he originally asked, he will be sorry
that he did not ask twice as much from the unsuspect-
ing foreigner, while at the same time he will be dis-
appointed at being deprived of the pleasure of bargain-
ing, which to him is the salt of life. Should you by
any chance get the better of him, he will usually show
his displeasure by driving through the streets at a
snail's pace, leaving you to fume with anger at his
obstinacy, with the alternative of offering an extra tip
if he will hurry. Usually when my Jehu treated me
in this way, I would quietly get out of his droshky and
jump into another one, much to the astonishment of
the deeply offended driver of the first vehicle, whose
face, when he finally turned round, was a study. He
had lost both his " fare " and the money ! These
men, however, if treated well, are generally very kind-
hearted and willing to drive like a whirlwind if you
should be in a hurry to catch a train. On these
occasions I have sometimes had to catch hold of the
reins and pull the horse in, especially if there happened
to be another cab going in the same direction, for a
mad race would begin, when I was in constant danger
THE ARRIVAL IN PETROGRAD 7
of being thrown out on the hard cobbles and breaking
my neck. Should remonstrance be in vain, the driver,
if he has been promised a good fare, will turn round
with a grin and console his passenger with one of
numerous proverbs : " Life is a copeck," * " You can
only die once, so what does it matter," or something
in a similar vein.
A kindly smile and a gentle manner will go a long
way with these hardy, struggling, long-haired fellows.
As an example of this I can quote the case of an
English governess who always managed to drive at
half the proper fare, because she called her driver
golubbchik (little pigeon) and smiled on him very
sweetly. You might smile like the wonderful cat of
Alice in Wonderland without much effect on an English
or German driver's charges ; but in Russia these little
matters go a long way. The simple moujik looks
with wonder and astonishment on all foreigners, and
in his heart thinks them all beneath him, for are they
not heretics without the true faith, which is going to
ensure him a happy place hereafter, even if at present
he does not have his full share of the plums ?
On arriving at a hotel a traveller must hand his
passport to the proprietor or hall porter. It must be
" written in," as it is termed in Russia, otherwise a
person may find that he will have to pay a heavy fine,
or perhaps even be detained. I have known people
to be delayed weeks, simply because they did not
attend to small matters of this kind. The passport
system may have its disadvantages, but it also confers
some benefits on the country where it is in force ; it
gives a certain hold over the criminal population and
anyone who is dangerous to the Government. If
people do not pay their trades-people, the police are
informed, and the debtor may not leave the country
until the debt has been discharged. If a wife leaves
1 i copeck = i farthing ; ioo copecks = i rouble, about 2s.-
8 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
her husband she can easily be brought back, for she is
not allowed to have a separate passport such as an
unmarried woman possesses. If need be, she can be
brought back etapom (on foot) and sent under convoy
from one police station to another until she reaches
the place from whence she started. Russian husbands
have many privileges which are denied to married
men in England, where wives probably have more
liberties than the married women of any other Euro-
pean country. Providing a passport is in order, there
is no reason why an Englishman, visiting Russia,
should be caused any annoyance or inconvenience.
As long as he keeps to his own business and avoids
politics as one would the plague, a traveller is perfectly
safe. If engaged in business or trade, the local police-
man expects a certain sum for looking after the trades-
man's property. These men are paid a starvation
wage by the Government and look to " tips " to help
them to exist. The system is an old Tartar survival
and has much to do with the J corruption in official
circles. The Government evidently believe in paying
their officials the smallest possible salaries, believing
that those who are sensible will make up the deficiency
by taking from the Tsar's subjects podarke and nachais
(presents and tea money). So long as this practice does
not go too far, it is winked at by the authorities, but if
an official is found to be systematically taking advantage
of his position, some day he may find himself confronted
by a revisor (inspector), and a few days afterwards he
will be en route for Siberia at the Crown's expense.
With regard to the practice of bribing officials, in
the days of Catherine this pernicious system flourished
in all its glory. It is related that on one occasion,
when an official complained to the Empress that his
salary was too small, "the mother of her people," as
she delighted to call herself, and which she was in
more senses than one, replied : " The man's a fool ; he
H
THE ARRIVAL IN PETROGRAD 9
has been placed near the trough, but the ass won't
feed himself." Peter the Great, however, who had
imbibed some Western ideas on this subject, used to
whack his ministers without mercy when convicted of
corruption, unless by way of a change he took it into
his head to hang, draw and quarter them. Nicholas I., 1
who was much misrepresented by contemporary his-
torians, was extremely particular about his servants
taking bribes, and on one occasion, when he discovered
that his palace architect had been guilty of corruption
and deceit, struck him with his fist and killed him on
the spot. But as Russians come more into contact
with the people of the West, and as they receive better
remuneration for their services, the practice of bribing
and taking bribes will gradually die out, especially in
those portions of the Empire which are in close contact
with the seat of government.
1 John Maxwell, in his excellent and trustworthy work entitled The
Tsar, his Court and People, published by Bentley in 1854, gives the
following just estimate of the character of Nicholas I. : — " By nature
ardent and generous j possessing most noble and most generous qualities ;
gifted with very considerable mental ability and great personal beauty
and bodily strength ; his errors are to be regarded as those of position,
rather than those of inclination. The cruel death of his father, the
weakness and misfortunes of his brothers, and the bloody events attend-
ing his own succession to the throne, seem to have determined him to
pursue a course of policy more in keeping with a soldier's idea of
order and security, than one distinguished for prudence, wisdom and
moderation."
II
CRONSTADT, THE KEY OF PETROGRAD, AND SOME
MEMORIES
I resided in Cronstadt, the mighty citadel of Russia,
the fastness and fortress of the Tsar, for about seven
years, making the acquaintance of many of its most
important citizens, from the Governor down to the
most humble midshipmen. I also knew a number of
the merchants, captains of various nationalities, and
even became intimate with the peasants, for my
occupation then brought me into contact with almost
every class of the population — rich exporters and poor
moujiks labouring on the docks and timber yards.
On the whole, my stay was a pleasant one, though at
times I was unhappy in this " Little Siberia," as
Russian naval officers facetiously called it. The
English captains were even more severe in their criti-
cisms, saying that Cronstadt was "the last place God
made," and even then hinting that He forgot to finish
it. In this island of forts, barracks, shipyards and
cabbage gardens I made some of my best friends, who
stuck to me through life, and whose memory I shall
ever cherish.
But most of these near and dear ones are no more.
Among them was my kind-hearted, book-loving,
honest principal, S. K., by whom my taste for letters
was greatly encouraged. I can hardly say that this
passion for books was conducive to my business
success ; but inherited qualities, handed down from
a learned ancestor who " cared for learning more than
the plough," would not be gainsaid, and by a long,
slow, and sometimes painful process I became a
10
CRONSTADT, THE KEY OF PETROGRAD 11
scribe — much to the astonishment and vexation of
many friends, who would have preferred to see me a
wealthy merchant or butcher instead of the rolling
stone I appeared to be. My erratic career was a sur-
prise and sorrow to those who could not see whither
that same stone was rolling, until it eventually found
a suitable niche — even though much chipped and
broken.
Cronstadt to me was interesting, not only because
it is one of the world's great fortresses, but also be-
cause within its walls I had an excellent opportunity
of studying Russia in miniature. Here I came to
know the massive old Governor, Admiral K., a man
of iron, with a head like a Bismarck, a powerful frame,
and moustaches that gave him the appearance of a
venerable walrus, possibly due to the fact that he had
been a seafaring man and a dweller in the icy regions
of Eastern Siberia. There was also the Commandant,
grey, hardy Admiral B., the faithful servant of the
Tsar, to whom was entrusted this key of the island
fortress, which prevents all foes from breaking into
the capital and laying waste Peter's city. He was of
Swedish or Finnish origin, and a great favourite of
Alexander III. and the Empress, who when in Cron-
stadt would dine with him and show him many marks
of confidence. He was well worthy of these honours,
for all the forts, batteries, powder magazines and
dungeons, with their valuable military secrets, were
under his charge. The chief forts which guarded the
entrance of the narrow channel were those of Menshi-
koff, Alexander, Peter and Paul, Milutine and various
batteries dotting the horizon between here and the
capital, which would be brought into action against
any vessel which might manage to pass the defences
of this Northern Gibraltar. The most terrible fort, to
my imaginative mind, was that named Alexander,
fitted up as a huge laboratory, where poor, broken-
12 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
down horses, cats, rabbits, dogs and other animals
were inoculated with many of the germs and bacilli
that plague and decimate humanity.
More formidable than the forts, however, are the
hidden mines that strew the narrow waterways — to be
fired from the shore in case of need by the pressing of a
button ; the submarines and the torpedo-boats that
would dart from every corner, should a squadron ever
be so rash as to attempt a passage. Lord Napier did
this in the Crimean War, but when several of his ships
had been almost blown up by mines manufactured by
that great engineer and chemist, Ludwig Nobel, he
thought it wiser to beat a retreat, and in the circum-
stances discretion was certainly the better part of
valour. Had the English admiral known that there
was another passage, which had been carelessly left
open, owing to the venality of rascally contractors
whom Nicholas I. paid to block that very channel,
but who pocketed the money and scamped their work,
he would have tried again, and Petrograd might have
been laid in ruins, while the war, which dragged on for
three years, would have reached a sudden and dramatic
conclusion. When in Cronstadt I sometimes met old
soldiers who remembered Napier's attack on the forts
and on Sveaborg, and who told how shots were seen to
fly over the Island of Kotlin, on which the town of
Cronstadt is built. It thus seems that Peter's para-
dise, as he fondly called the beautiful city he had
erected on a swamp, narrowly escaped sharing the fate
of Sveaborg, which, during the terrific bombardment
by the English and French fleets, was almost a sea of
fire. Now, thanks to the Commandant and to my old
Irish friend, Fitzgerald, 1 who mounted some of the
heavy cannon on the defences at a cost of over a million
pounds, Cronstadt may fairly be considered impregnable.
1 The late Maurice Fitzgerald, a man of unusual talent, afterwards
Professor of Geology at King's College, Belfast.
CRONSTADT, THE KEY OF PETROGRAD 13
Before I left the place for good, the Commandant,
knowing that I could be trusted not to take advantage
of his hospitality, showed me the interior of Fort
Milutine, with its iron-clad turrets and immense revolv-
ing guns. On my expressing surprise that he should
show me, an Englishman, this favour, he jokingly
replied : " We have no Drey fuses here." The sly old
sea-dog, however, did not tell me that they had a
certain Captain Smith locked up in a dungeon in one
of the forts for selling plans of the batteries to a foreign
Governments — the name of which I need not mention
— and that others who had attempted to pry into
Russian secrets had met a similar fate or a worse one.
Nor did he allude to the marvellous defences he had
built, after years of labour, on an artificial island,
almost invisible at a distance. These low-lying, half-
submerged forts, fitted with enormous Krupp guns,
were far more effective than the grim, picturesque
granite forts around Cronstadt, which could be bom-
barded from the open sea almost a score of miles away,
if necessary, by a hostile fleet.
The three Russian naval officers with whom I
resided for several years in Cronstadt were, like the
majority in the Russian service, well-educated and
travelled men. One was of Hungarian origin, another
Swedish, the third German. The first was a fine
Japanese scholar, the second a polished gentleman of
high connections, and the last a hard-working, stolid
Teuton. Although of different nationalities, all were
thoroughly devoted to the Russian service. The
majority of the naval men I came across spoke English,
French and German fluently ; most of them came of
good families, and had passed through the cadet school
at Petrograd or Cronstadt. As a rule the navy officers
are more broad-minded and better men of the world
than the officers of the line, many of whom are exceed-
ingly rough customers, knowing no tongue or country
4
14 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
but their own. As Cronstadt was usually frozen up
for half the year, little experience of navigation or of
ocean voyages was to be obtained ; it was quite an
event for one of my friends to be sent for a cruise, and
any who had the good fortune to make a voyage round
the world were ever after spoken of with great admira-
tion ; one would think, indeed, that these favoured
individuals were so many Drakes or Frobishers, judg-
ing from the respect and awe they enjoyed among their
comrades. Under such conditions, it is not to be
wondered at that the Russian fleet came to grief at
Port Arthur and Tshushima. A sailor can hardly be-
come proficient in his calling when, for months together,
he has nothing to do but repair ships which, like their
crews, are rusting for want of use. But if the brave
fellows — many of whom I knew — fought unskilfully
owing to lack of practice, none can accuse them of
cowardice. Their ships were sunk without being able
to return the fire of the Japanese, at a range of six
miles. Among those who took part in this conflict
was one of my young pupils, who was afterwards saved,
the only survivor of his vessel's crew ; they all stuck
to their posts as long as there seemed the least prospect
of victory, or of effective retaliation. These mishaps,
and the general impressions left by a study of the naval
events at Sebastopol, Port Arthur, and also of the
happenings of the present war, when a portion of the
Russian navy was again bottled up in Cronstadt,
Libau and other ports, lead me to conclude that the
pure Russians are not a seafaring people ; like the old
Romans, they are at their best on terra firma. It is
difficult for a nation to be great both on land and sea,
and the desire of the Germans to excel in the two
totally different spheres has much to do with their
failures.
Even if Russia occupies Constantinople, the north
of Sweden and Norway — on which she casts longing
CRONSTADT, THE KEY OF PETROGRAD 15
eyes — I doubt whether she will ever become a first-
class maritime power, as long as the Finns and Lithu-
anians are not reconciled to her rule. Both these
races make excellent sailors, but the ordinary Russian
looks upon the ocean as an accursed element for any
sensible human being to adventure upon ; with him
more (sea) rhymes with gore (woe).
Although the Duma, after the Japanese War, voted
one hundred millions sterling towards rebuilding the
navy, that money has to a large extent been wasted ;
it might have been put to far better use in purchasing
more artillery and army equipment, and in the con-
struction of a better system of strategic railways.
Russia really requires a fleet in the Baltic for coast
defence, and a few battle cruisers for her high sea
fleet. At that time the Ministry of Marine was
severely criticised in the Duma. It was considered
that the nation ought to have possessed sufficiently
strong naval power to avoid the previous disasters,
had the money devoted to the navy been properly
applied, but it may not be too late for the lesson to
be learned.
I had many opportunities of observing the Russian
methods of navigation. When the General Admiral
came in his yacht to inspect the fleet and fortress, it
often happened that the officers on the bridge managed
to run the yacht ashore at the entrance of the harbour
opposite Fort Menshikoff, which seemed to look im-
passively and grimly down as the excited sailors ran
about the ship like so many worried ants in their
endeavours to float her off. As a rule they had to wait
until the wind veered round from the sea, deepening
the water at this particular spot. Great was the joy
on these occasions, and the good-natured Admiral —
the late Grand Duke Alexis — would show his grati-
tude to the captain by bestowing on him a cross.
There seemed to exist a tacit understanding that it was
16 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
quite natural in those days that an officer should run
his ship aground, but that it was a heroic feat to get
her afloat again ! The Imperial yacht was not the
only vessel continually misbehaving in this way ; a
large flagship named after the Grand Duke often
stuck fast, and the exertion of refloating her must have
been the crew's most exciting duty. On a visit from
one of these high officials, or from the Tsar, all work
in the inner and outer harbour had to cease — to the
disgust of English captains, who could not understand
that such an event should make it necessary to bring
all shipping activities to a standstill. But they did not
know the Russian proverb, " Go slowly and you will
get farther," which is tantamount to saying, " Time is
not money."
One of the saddest things I remember in connection
with Cronstadt was the execution of a talented, hand-
some young naval officer outside the city gates, for
taking part in a conspiracy against the Tsar Alex-
ander II. Although this monarch liberated the
peasants from serfdom, and carried out many reforms,
he fell by the hand of an assassin, Risakoff — who was,
after all, but a tool of some members of the nobility
who had been injured by the Tsar's advanced ideas.
Well do I remember the day the Tsar was carried
wounded to his palace to die, for two of my friends were
present when the bombs were thrown, and were almost
deafened by the explosion, while a third, an officer in
the Royal Bodyguard {Tsar shoe ochran) was struck
on the head by a splinter from one of the shells and
hurt for life. In the twenty-six years of my residence
in Russia I saw three Emperors on the throne ; of
these Alexander II., the Tsar Emancipator, appealed
most to my mind and heart. Never shall I forget the
mournful expression of his eyes, or his look of weariness
and pain. There were many attempts on his life ;
perhaps the most terrible was when the Nihilists tried
CRONSTADT, THE KEY OF PETROGRAD 17
to blow up the Imperial Palace at the moment its
occupants were expected to seat themselves for dinner.
The concussion was so violent that I heard it dis-
tinctly in Cronstadt, eighteen miles from the capital.
I was sitting at the table of a friend, when a muffled,
rolling report shook the glasses. The mine, which had
been laid beneath the palace, had detonated, and
about forty officers and men of the Imperial Guard
were killed. The Emperor, the Grand Dukes and
other members of the family would have shared the
same death had not their dinner, for some unknown
reason, been delayed ; on those few minutes hung
the fate of the Romanoffs, for practically the whole of
the family were assembled on that evening, except the
Grand Duke Constantine. By chance he, who was
always suspected of being a " Red " — that is, secretly
in favour of revolution or a more liberal regime — was
staying with the old Governor of Cronstadt, whom I
have already mentioned. Curiously enough, on this
night the Grand Duke's coachman died suddenly ;
ill-natured people say that he was aware of the plot
and committed suicide, fearing detection. Nothing
was proved against the Grand Duke, but for long after-
wards he remained under suspicion of sympathy with
the revolutionists. Eventually, being in disgrace on
account of his " advanced " opinions, he retired to his
beautiful palace at Pavlovsk, near Petrograd, where
he died. There are many strange and mysterious
enigmas in Russian history, and his attitude through-
out this political struggle is one of the most interesting.
In an important naval centre such as Cronstadt the
question of spies is naturally often to the front, and
for some reason or other the authorities seem to fear
women more than men in this connection. The
beautiful heroine of one of Mr Max Pemberton's tales
was a woman spy, who, in order to seal the hero's
mouth regarding the secrets she stole, was married to
<*
18 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the impressionable young officer ; he, of course, helped
her to escape and thus saved himself and his fiancee
from lifelong captivity. But this character was purely
imaginary, whereas I knew a lady, now living in
London, who narrowly missed becoming involved in
very serious trouble, owing to a perfectly harmless yet
suspicious curiosity. She had been invited by certain
officers to come on board their cruiser and look round,
and, accepting the courtesy with pleasure, was shown
the guns and their mechanism. When in one of the
huge turrets she innocently inquired if it " moved on
a pivot." " Pivot ! " exclaimed her escort, instantly
alert, " what do you know about pivots ? " Thinking
that she was undoubtedly a spy in the guise of a simple
English tourist, he immediately blew a whistle, and
my injudicious friend heard the tramp of armed men
hastening down the steps of the turret. Without
demanding any explanation, the officer called out :
" This woman is a spy ; arrest her at once." She was
being taken off to a cell, when she luckily saw the
captain, who, she knew, understood English. In great
indignation she informed him that his " fool of an
officer " had mistaken her for a spy and ordered her
arrest ; moreover, she said that she was a British
subject and that the man would pay dearly for the
insult unless she was set free at once. The captain,
an intelligent and travelled seaman, inquired into the
matter, and, seeing that a mistake had occurred, ordered
her to be set at liberty. Whether the officer had
received instructions to arrest all inquisitive persons,
or whether his imagination had been heated by read-
ing about the attractive lady spy of Cronstadt, I
cannot say, but this little incident shows how ex-
tremely dangerous it is to betray even a slight know-
ledge of technical matters in Russia, given certain
surroundings.
My first lessons in the Russian language were given
Pi h
PC C
„ <
o g
So
<5 C
5 E" 1
Q
<
P5
c
OS
It
CRONSTADT, THE KEY OF PETROGRAD 19
me by a handsome young artillery officer who hailed
from the Baltic Provinces. Although of German
blood, he was very hostile to the Germans, and looked
forward to the day when Russia and Prussia (as he
called Germany) should cross swords and pay off old
scores. His feelings, however, underwent a great
change after the Russianising of the University of
Dorpat and the closing of many ancient schools in the
Baltic Provinces — some of which dated from Han-
seatic times and the Middle Ages. These and other
attempts to Russianise the " Baiter," as the inhabit-
ants of the Provinces are called, so embittered him
that he informed me that should the Prussians march
into that district he and thousands of his countrymen
would welcome them with open arms.
The Admiral of the Fleet at Port Arthur, who com-
manded the ill-fated Petropavlovsk, which went down
with its brave captain and the gifted artist, Verest-
chagin, was another resident of Cronstadt. I never
met Admiral Makarieff, but shortly after his death I
encountered his handsome wife and daughter. It was
he who designed the remarkable ice-breaker Ermak,
which keeps Cronstadt, Libau, Reval and other Baltic
harbours open for a month longer each winter than
was possible before its construction. Those who
journey to Russia by sea in the spring will often see
this powerful vessel pounding her way through ice-
floes and cutting a navigable channel for the traffic.
Built by Armstrongs' of Newcastle, the Ermak is
capable of ploughing through ice eighteen inches
thick at a speed of eight knots. It is a fascinating
sight to watch the horses, sledges and men close to her,
perfectly safe on the firm surface, while she breaks a
passage for ships ; the ice, in fact, will bear a railway
train and its locomotive without giving, and by this
expedient of a temporary line the winter loading of
ships is frequently facilitated.
20 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
" Little Siberia " was not without its compensations
for English exiles, chilly though its surroundings may
seem to those familiar only with more temperate
realms. When harbours and roads and the Gulf of
Finland were frozen for hundreds of miles like a sheet
of solid glass, we young men would sally forth with
skates and cover immense distances in the utmost
exhilaration. So transparent is the ice that the fish,
and rocks at the bottom, fathoms deep, can be clearly
seen. At other times we would charter an ice-yacht
and skim along the smooth surface with arrowy speed
to some destination where a good supper and a cheery
samovar was ready to greet us. If the Gulf chance
to be covered with snow, sledging parties would be
arranged to Oranienbaum, the fine summer resort
opposite Cronstadt and the seat of the Grand Duchess
of Mecklenburg ; or we might sledge half the distance
to Petrograd, shooting podoroshnikee (snow-birds) on
the journey. At the half-way house the inner man
could be refreshed with koroschke, a kind of smelt,
almost straight from the fishing holes of the frozen
Gulf. Duck and snipe were plentiful in the marshes,
and in the season I have spent many a peaceful night
with my boatman, the faithful Ivan Ionoff, after these
birds, waiting until dawn flushed the sky. Then the
wild duck began to emerge from their reedy nooks,
where they lay during the hours of darkness, and with
the sharp report of the guns our long vigil was re-
warded with a brace or more of plump victims. I
have seen the snow-white ice, in early spring, blackened
with thousands of these birds. If it would seem that
the long waiting must be tedious, spent in our fragile
dug-out canoe (tchelnock) made from a single log, there
are the exquisite sunsets and sunrises to set off the
account. Tea from a simmering samovar at sunrise
on the marshes is an experience to be treasured in the
memory. On one occasion I nearly lost my life in a
CRONSTADT, THE KEY OF PETROGRAD 21
quicksand when tracking a bittern which I had winged,
but not killed. In my hurry to secure it I became half
submerged, and had it not been for the good Ivan, who
risked his life to save me, these reminiscences would
certainly not have been written. The bittern, which
I found at last, nearly pecked my eye out in its fury,
so the adventure on the whole was not one of my most
distinguished.
There were other dangers of a totally different
character. Sometimes while we were busy in the
marshes the spent bullets from the rifle-butts would
come whizzing past our heads, and it occurred to me
that many of the Russian soldiers must have been
shockingly bad shots !
In the evenings other pleasures were accessible —
those of the dance and masquerade, where the Polish
mazurka and the polka were given with the animation
and abandon which one can only find in Russia — the
home of the dance and the ballet.
Ill
A ZEALOT OF CRONSTADT
At that time the city of Cronstadt was the home of
a very remarkable man, whose fame spread over all
the land — Father Sergius, popularly known as Otetz
Johann, or Father John, as I shall call him. He was
born in the village of Sursk, Archangel, in 1829, and
completed his education at the Petersburg Ecclesi-
astical Seminary. In 1855 he was appointed as one
of the priests in the Cathedral of St Andrew, Cronstadt,
and it is now more than fifty years since the young
man turned to the people and expounded the great
commandment : " Love your neighbour." For about
half-a-century he consistently endeavoured to carry
out the precept by dedicating his whole life to the
doing of good to the thousands round him, no matter
how degraded their condition. At the beginning of
his ministry, when his means were of the scantiest,
this good man gave to the poor almost all his stipend,
contenting himself with bare necessaries, but after-
wards, when his fame had reached throughout the
Empire, money was sent to him from all parts to spend
as he thought fit. Year by year these contributions
increased in number and value, until " The Saint of
Cronstadt " was able to undertake works of charity
beyond his wildest expectations. I have known him
to receive in one day thousands of roubles, and to give
them all away by the evening. Such inordinate
charity naturally induced many sturdy vagabonds,
called Pasadsky, to settle in the town and exploit the
priest's generosity to a shameful extent. But this
was not for long, and when Father John established
22
A ZEALOT OF CRONSTADT 23
his workhouses, or homes for M lovers of labour " — as
he termed the lazy incompetents — they did not trouble
him so much.
The unbounded veneration of the people for this
good man arose from the fact that he was not only a
priest, but a teacher, a preacher, a benefactor and a
clever organiser and stimulator of labour among the
lowest dregs of humanity, many of whom he lifted
to their feet when all hope of redemption had been
abandoned. Many would consider his charity beyond
reason. With an income amounting to many thou-
sands of pounds a year, Father John seldom had a
spare rouble in his pocket for the needs of to-morrow.
I have been told that he had been known to give away
entire bucketfuls of roubles, the contents uncounted,
to the consternation of the donors and the horror of
his wife, who could not soar to such heights of altruism.
In every village he was spoken of, and rich and poor,
nobles and peasants travelled hundreds of miles to see
him. His portrait was in scores and hundreds of
dwellings, by those of the Emperor and Empress.
Hardly a minute passed when he was not pestered
on all sides, and he continually received letters and
telegrams from those who believed in him. In these
all kinds of requests were made — he was asked to
administer the Sacrament, to heal the sick, to visit
the hospitals and to perform many duties of similar
character. On his arrival at the pier in Petrograd
by the Cronstadt steamer I used to see Father John
surrounded by swarms of droshky-drivers, each one
anxious that the holy man should honour him by
riding in his conveyance. In Cronstadt he could
scarcely go into the street without being followed by
crowds, and whenever he attended service he was the
centre of a throng, some of whom begged alms, while
others strove to kiss his hands or seized the hem of his
long clerical robe. On these occasions he would make
24 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the sign of the cross, and take from his purse a few of
the coins with which his admirers so plentifully supplied
him. Many of the requests of the people no human
being could fulfil — it was a troublesome role, that of a
saint !
Father John had a great passion for observing
strictly the customs of the primitive Christian Church ;
he carried on divine service in the manner of the early
Christians, and all the congregation joined in the
singing — not a general practice in the Russian churches,
where it is usually confined to the choir.
Most of the common people believed that he could
perform miracles. This, however, he did not profess
to do ; he said his healings were by the power of
prayer. It may seem incredible to some, but there is
no doubt that many sick persons were cured by this
remarkable man ; whether it was the power of faith
— the mind working on the body for its benefit — is
not easy to say. The fact remains, and in consequence
his reputation grew by leaps and bounds. Whatever
opinions may be held as to his gifts, he was no ordinary
man, for had he been of average calibre he could never
have acquired such vast influence — not only over the
people, but even over their rulers. The Tsar Alex-
ander III. had a great opinion of this worthy priest,
and it is believed that he expired in Father John's
arms. The present Tsar also used frequently to send
for Father John and ask his advice on various questions
relating to the people, as he was gifted with strong
common-sense, and understood the simple moujik as
well as any man. Had the Tsar been more amenable
to this guidance, we should probably never have seen
a large portion of Russia ablaze with the fires of
revolution, for what Father John said was law to
millions of the Orthodox in all parts of the land.
The belief in " The Saint of Cronstadt " extended
even to other and foreign members of the community.
85 H
O 85
IS
o c
85 ^
p4
A ZEALOT OF CRONSTADT 25
I have known many instances of English and Germans,
when seriously ill, sending for him because ordinary
sources of help had failed.
Father John contributed towards the erection of
many beneficent institutions, but it can hardly be said
that his influence had in it anything of a progressive
tendency. With all his Orthodox Christianity he
could not overcome his inborn national antipathy for
the Jews, and when the horrible riots occurred at
Kisheneff he did not condemn these fanatical and
barbarous outrages as a follower of Christ should have
done. Naturally this attitude did not affect his
popularity with the lower classes, as, being sprung
from the peasantry, he thus showed that he was not
above their narrow prejudices. He and his followers
at last became a nuisance to the authorities. Many
flocked from the south of Russia, a thousand miles or
more away, to Cronstadt, in order to pay him divine
honours, believing him to be an incarnation of Christ,
who, according to the peasantry, comes upon earth at
stated intervals in the person of some good man. Of
course this was too much for the Government officials,
and often the credulous moujiks were locked up by the
unbelieving police of Cronstadt. On the latter inquir-
ing how the prisoners could be so wicked as to worship
a sinful man like themselves, they used to reply : " The
sin is not ours, but of the other people of Cronstadt."
" How could you live so many years with such a good
man in your midst and not worship him ? " Nothing
could be said in answer to these naive remonstrances ;
nothing could be done but send the superstitious ones
home to their own villages. But this did not help,
and the Father had to travel thousands of miles to put
an end to this new phase. Among the places he visited
on this mission was a village in the government of
Kostroma, where a peasant named Artamonoff conse-
crated a chapel to " the most glorious fellow-champion,
26 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Johann Elias Sergius in the Trinity " ! ! On hearing of
this, Father John hastened to convince the people of
their error, going from village to village, tearing down
the icons, images of himself, which the peasants were
worshipping. Arriving at one place, he went straight
to the church belonging to the sectarians, who were
adoring his own icon, and explained to them what a
great sin they committed by regarding him as a saint.
" I am just as sinful a man as all others," he said.
" Therefore pray to God to forgive you." He then
read texts from the Scriptures, besought them to give
up their heresy and to repent. For a long time the
sectarians listened to the oration in silence, then, after
a pause, one exclaimed : " Forgive us, Little Father —
forgive us, accursed ones ! " while others fell on their
knees, weeping, not daring to look up into his face.
The Russian correspondent who describes the incident
says : " Father John regarded these ignorant men long
and sorrowfully, who through ignorance had fallen into
error. On leaving them he exclaimed : ' Pray ardently
before the throne of the Almighty, that He forgive
your great sin before Him ! ' "
Many a time have I met the priest pacing the broad
streets of Cronstadt, surrounded by a throng of
wretched beggars and ne'er-do-wells, all hoping that
he would bring some happiness into their darkened
lives or at least temporarily relieve their wants by a
shower of copper coins. Finally, I became so inter-
ested in this mediaeval survival that I ventured to call
on the priest at his residence near the cathedral. I
found his ante-room full of religious humbugs and
parasites, busy extracting large fees from all who
wished to see him. They demanded two or three
roubles for each interview with the Father, whom I
could see if I would wait a quarter of an hour. I was
so disgusted at the mercenary spirit of these hangers-
on that I immediately quitted the house, and never
A ZEALOT OF CRONSTADT 27
entered it again. These unscrupulous wretches
eventually exploited Father John's adherents to such
an extent that the Government was compelled to inter-
fere and abolish some of the sects that were founded
in his honour. The Johannites, as they termed them-
selves, went into all sorts of absurdities, seriously
announcing that he was God's own Father, descended
from heaven in human shape ; one woman posed as
the Mother of God, and another person claimed to be
the Archangel Gabriel. According to their teachings,
only Johannites could be saved — other mortals were
possessed by evil spirits. Their principles were simple
and very practical — viz. in order to be saved people
should sell all their worldly possessions, but should not
give the proceeds to the poor, but to the monasteries
or religious houses of the sect. Evidently the inten-
tion of the leaders of this new movement was to gather
in as much earthly dross as possible ; they traded on
the good name of Father John, and on the various
" Mothers of God " and " Archangels " who now began
to spring up like mushrooms in this hotbed of super-
stition. Before the police suppressed this harmful
activity there were thirteen Johannite monasteries
in Petrograd alone. It was in the country, however,
among the millions of simple, illiterate peasants,
who still live under mediaeval conditions, that the
Johannites reaped their richest harvests. The most
devoted and fanatical teachers and preachers were
chosen and sent to the governments of the interior,
where they employed every art to capture the masses.
Their methods were as follows : — After they had con-
vinced their victims of the divine origin of the so-called
" Saint," and inspired in them a mysterious terror of
damnation and the wiles of the Evil One which
threatened all who were not of their faith, the preachers
began to occupy themselves in more practical ways.
The faithful were induced to sell all their land and
28 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
goods and to set out for Petrograd, together with
their families, and take up their abode in one of the
religious houses. Once immured thus, they came
under the domination of various impostors, "arch-
angels " and so on, who robbed them of their last
copeck. The only resource of the impoverished
victims, after this process of fleecing, was to remain
in the monastery, absolutely in the power of the prior
and prioress. Many shameful injustices and exactions
were thus inflicted on the deluded people, but Father
John, whose name was simply used as an attraction
and an excuse, cannot be held responsible. According
to his lights, he was an honest, consistent Christian,
whose simplicity was traded upon by wretches who
were incapable of understanding his goodness or his
faith.
Father John died as he had lived, striving to the last
for the people's welfare. As with all that is human,
he was not perfect, and he was steeped in the super-
stition of the class from which he rose ; but it is not
for us, who have advantages that were denied to him,
to criticise a man who usually did more good in a
month than most of us do ^in our lifetime.
IV
SOME CRONSTADT CHARACTERS
Some few years ago a talented English novelist
delighted his public by writing a story founded on an
imaginary Cronstadt, which existed only in his fertile
brain. Being no novelist, I can give no such soul-
harrowing picture of this gateway of the Russian
Empire. Whatever people may say of the town — and
some have said most unpleasant things — it will always
be associated in my mind with the saddest, and also
with some of the happiest, hours of my life. Here I
made the close friendship of one of the most lovable
principals — a fiery, happy, honourable man, of Welsh
descent, whose influence over me was for my good.
Here, in contrast, a severe chill nearly terminated my
career, and sent me wandering all over Russia and
Europe in search of health, or of relief from the malady
that remained.
The English chaplain, whose memory will always be
cherished by all who knew him, was one of my best
friends. In the comfortable, solidly built vicarage
of the Russian Company he used to keep open house,
dispensing hospitality " like a fine old English gentle-
man, all of the olden time," and in the whole English
colony it would have been hard to find a warmer-
hearted or more talented man. There seemed to be
nothing our chaplain could not do. Father O'Flynn
was not to be compared to him, although both
were genial Irishmen — genuine sons of Erin. Father
M'Swiney could take tea with the ladies, dance and
troll out a good song ; he was a splendid artist, and
the beautiful altar-piece of the Crucifixion in the
29
30 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
English chapel at Cronstadt is one of many worthy
products of his busy brush. As a linguist he was
extraordinary ; he spoke Russian, German, French
and his own native Irish tongue with equal facility,
and was an excellent Latin and Greek scholar. As a
former officer in the King's navy, and a fine sailor, he
dearly loved a fight, and sometimes would " let off
steam " by removing his black coat and thrashing
any of the hulking giant carters whom he caught ill-
treating their poor horses — for he had the courage of a
lion. When complaints of the strange proceedings of
the English pastor were made to the Governor, they
were dismissed with a chuckle, and the exclamation :
" Never mind him — he is an Englishman, and cannot
help being a bit mad ! " Occasionally our chaplain
would have arguments with the Governor, and once
told him that if any news of preparations against his
Majesty's navy came to his ears, he should consider it
his duty to report them. The Governor was not at
all disturbed by this outburst ; he knew that whatever
the excitable Irishman might say, he would never
abuse hospitality or act meanly in any way. His
two sons, who were descendants of one of Nelson's
admirals, were chips of the old block ; both died
high in the service of their country, one as a colonel,
the other as a major.
On his retirement, pensioned, he was succeeded by
a saintly scholar, an intimate friend and co-worker of
the great Canon Farrar, and collaborator in the Life
of St Paul. But as most readers are probably more
interested in sinners than in saints, I will not describe
this worthy man. Our last chaplain was the Rev.
Father R., who as a young " blood " had run through
a fortune of £20,000 at his university town ; he
then became a Cowley monk, and afterwards entered
another branch of the Church. In appearance he was
a typical Friar Tuck, tall, boisterous, with a head as
SOME CRONSTADT CHARACTERS 31
bare as a billiard-ball and a voice like a bull ; neither
saint nor scholar, he was yet thoroughly up in the
classics, and had a heart of gold. He could preach
like a Savonarola, when stirred by pity or indignation,
but his great delight seemed to be in hearty drinking
and the telling of yarns — some of which were perhaps
of a racy tendency ; his laughter shook the rafters of
the vicarage. This, of course, shocked many of the
" unco' guid " folk, who did not understand him. At
times, when his congregation consisted of a solitary
captain, he would slap his audience on the shoulder
and whisper : " Don't stay here listening to me —
come into the vicarage and have a glass of whisky ! "
The captain missed — or did not miss — an indifferent
sermon, but would be treated to an excellent supper
and some good liquor, and would *go home blessing the
chaplain of Cronstadt, who comprehended so well the
weaknesses and wants of a sailor-man ! All this may
not have been strictly clerical, but it pleased the old
salts who came from every part of the British Empire,
and was possibly more effective than the methods of
his predecessor, who, endeavouring to win our sailors
from their temptations of " wine, women and song,"
substituted for these attractions chess, draughts,
books and tea 1 The proclivities of the old sea-dogs
could not be changed by such mild relaxations, and
our Friar Tuck, who would have given his last coin
to help anyone in distress, was perhaps the more
acceptable exponent of religion in this peculiar sphere.
These remarks concerning the last man who held this
position in Cronstadt may not be out of place, as the
chaplaincy has been done away with, and the church and
vicarage, which I knew so intimately, have been sold to
the followers of Father John, the Saint of Cronstadt. 1
1 The Rev. Father R. is now no more, and died, missed by hundreds
who remember his kind heart and generous nature. He has left a family-
far from well provided for.
32 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Our population of 50,000 included the garrison of
40,000, and among these artillerymen, infantry,
marines and sailors there were many characters who
would have adorned the pages of Gogol's notable satire
on Russian official life, Revisor. The sudden reform-
ing zeal of the police-master, who shortly after his
appointment became a strong supporter of the temper-
ance movement, was therefore hardly appreciated by
these devotees of Mars, Venus and Bacchus. Most of
all was he unpopular with the publicans and sinners,
who in Russia keep the trakters (tea-shops), beer and
wine shops and hotels. In order to impress upon
them the excellence and beauty of temperance, he
would make unexpected raids, declaring that it was a
sin that there should be so many public-houses, and
that it was sacrilege that wine-shops should exist so
near the cathedral and holy buildings ; they must
be closed. The proprietors were privately informed,
however, that if they would give two or three thousand
roubles to the new temperance movement they would
be forgiven, and their establishments would be re-
opened ! In this manner the wily police-master soon
amassed a large fortune. But his career came to an
abrupt end. As Cronstadt is in constant communica-
tion with Petrograd, close at hand, news of his
activity reached the authorities. An inspector was
sent from the Department of State Control, and in due
course our energetic police -master disappeared into
the wilds of Siberia. His successor was no better.
This upholder of law and order not only fleeced
merchants and publicans, but actually robbed the
police and fire brigade men of their beds, and sold
their clothes to enrich his own pockets. Under his
rule I saw men, when arrested, call to the crowd :
" Take my money, comrades — I have fallen into the
hands of the police ! " Whereupon the victim would
throw his cash among the people in the hope that some
SOME CRONSTADT CHARACTERS 33
honest soul would retain a portion of it, being also
aware that once it was secured by the guardians of
the law he was not likely to see it again. This all
happened, however, when vodka reigned supreme,
and the State monopoly on the spirit had not been
abolished.
Our bank director was another person of original
views on morals. After robbing the bank and feather-
ing his own nest, he also was transported to Siberia,
where he managed to pass a very comfortable exist-
ence on his "savings" and "investments," although
he was never allowed to return to Russia. As the
crimes of both these officials were non-political, they
had comparative freedom in their new homes, being
permitted to live much as they pleased. In Russia
the punishment for civil offences is light, but political
offenders are treated with the utmost severity. It
is thus far safer to rob a bank, or even to kill a man,
than to plot against the Government or to belong to
the revolutionary party. Truly " Holy Russia " is a
strange, incomprehensible land !
THE FOUNDING OF PETROGRAD
The capital of Russia was founded by that barbaric
genius, Peter the Great, in honour of his patron saint.
In a comparatively short span of time — a little over
two hundred years — in spite of a mortality that has
often reached thirty-five per thousand, it has become
one of the largest and most important cities of Europe,
capital of an Empire stretching from the Gulf of
Finland to the Pacific Ocean.
Long before Peter took it in hand, it was the site of
a thriving colony of the merchants of Novgorod the
Great, and a place of considerable commerce. Even
before the conquest the Roos and Gothland vikings
from Varjag (Sweden) used to come down the Neva
and enter Lake Ladoga, from thence finding their way
to Novgorod — the old name of which was Holmgard.
In course of time the connection of the Varangians
on the eastern shores of the Baltic with their kindred
in the west was broken off, and Novgorod became a
powerful independent state, with territories extending
from Lake Ilman to the White Sea and eastward to the
Ural Mountains. The southern shore of the Finnish
Gulf was also a part of the great possessions of this
free republic, and the very spot on which Petrograd
now stands was a portion of ancient Russia, inhabited
by heathen Finns and a few Swedish and later on
Hanseatic merchants. Even in the tenth century the
shippers of Novgorod, who were mostly Norsemen,
carried on, with the aid of the Gothlanders, and subse-
quently with the help of the Hanseatic traders, a lively
intercourse with the rest of Europe. In fact it was
34
o
r ,
-<
z
■<-'
^
?«
<
•5
A,
e
<
5
r )
§i
«*
pi
<<,
<,
O
e.x>
X
THE FOUNDING OF PETROGRAD 35
by the Volga-Ilman-Ladogo-Neva route that the wares
of Central Asia were brought to England, long before
the Conquest. Peter, although a descendant of those
Muscovite rulers who had destroyed the prosperity of
that great republic, was such an admirer of Alexander
Nevsky, the heroic Grand Duke of Novgorod, that
he transferred his bones with ceremony to Petrograd,
and erected a splendid monastery on the spot where
they finally rested. The remains of the quondam
enemy of Muscovy now rest beneath a shrine of silver
about two tons in weight, at the monastery at the
end of the Nevsky Prospekt, named after him.
Petrograd did not pass into the hands of the
Russians without many a sanguinary struggle on the
banks of the swift Neva. In one of these crusades
against the heretics, by order of the Pope, the Swedes,
under their famous General Berger Jarl, were surprised
by Alexander Nevsky and defeated with great loss.
This battle, which took place on the banks of the River
Ishora, a tributary of the Neva, occurred in 1240. In
1300 the Swedes again managed to establish them-
selves and to build a fort on the spot where the Nevsky
Monastery now stands. The name of this fortress
was Landskrona, but before long it was destroyed by
the Novgorodians, who would not on any account give
up this most important strategic point. In the
seventeenth century, after the destruction of Nov-
gorod the Great by Ivan the Terrible, the Tsar and
Grand Duke of Moscow, the Swedes once more for a
short period gained possession of the banks of the
river, and built another defence at Ochta, a pretty
spot higher up the stream opposite the Smolna
Monastery, which I have frequently visited. The
name of this new fort was Ny-skantze. It soon be-
came the centre of a flourishing town, and towards the
end of the century owned more than a hundred ships.
In order to defend the source of the river the Swedes
36 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
built still another powerful fortress at Schlusselberg,
called Noteborg and by the Novgorodians Oreshka
(walnut) — a suitable name, for it was a very hard nut
to crack for any who essayed to capture it. Schlussel-
berg was given its present title by Peter the Great,
who delighted in calling the different places he built
by German and Dutch names, to the scandal of his
Muscovite subjects, who even in those days detested
everything German or foreign.
After a struggle with Sweden, which lasted for
twenty years, Peter captured Noteborg, Ny-skantze
and other strongholds, but not until Sweden was quite
exhausted and only her old men and boys were left to
continue the unequal war against Russia and her Allies
— Poland, Prussia, Saxony, Denmark and Norway.
In 1703 Peter firmly established himself on the Neva,
and from that time Sweden's energies waned, until she
could hardly maintain her position as a second-class
power.
On 29th June 1703 Peter laid the foundation of the
new capital of his Empire, to the disgust of the Musco-
vites, who regarded Petrograd as the gateway of the
infernal regions, if not Hades itself. As for Peter,
he was charmed with his fresh project, and often
referred to the place as his paradise, though if heaven
be such a place as this was when he founded it, many
sinners would perhaps prefer to be condemned to the
lower spheres. He termed it the " window looking
into Europe," and worked at his capital with that
ferocious energy and zeal peculiar to his nature.
Nothing was allowed to stand in his way now that his
mind was finally centred ; not the forces of nature, or
the lives of thousands of " ordinary mortals," could
prevent him from making his great city. The Moscow
party might rave, the priests might excommunicate
him and fulminate curses against him as Antichrist,
but he replied by putting them into dungeons or
THE FOUNDING OF PETROGRAD 37
cutting off their heads. When his only son, Alexis,
the tool of the party of reaction, stood in his way, he
also was sacrificed for the future good of the State, just
as Brutus sacrificed his two sons for the sake of Rome.
The stones of the city were laid with great ceremony.
According to a legend, which has perhaps been
borrowed from Roman history for the occasion, Peter
cut out of the island two pieces of earth, and placed
on them a cross, saying : " Here shall be a town " —
which, with a man of his character, was tantamount to
saying that the town was already there. At that very
moment, relates the legend, an eagle appeared in the
heavens. Peter then dug a trench, in which was
deposited a stone box with some saintly relics. This
was covered with a slab bearing an inscription relating
to the founding of the city. The eagle, in the mean-
time, interested in the proceedings, circled round, and
at last settled on two small birch-trees ; it was then
shot, and Peter took it with him to his camp at
Schlxisselberg. The Russian Messenger, the first
Russian paper, writing about this event, says that
" his Imperial Highness on reaching Petersburg
ordered a new and more convenient fortress to be
built. In it were six bastions, on which worked
20,000 men. This fortress was that known as the
Peter and Paul, so situated that it commands both
sides of the city." Thus Peter sat, as he expressed it,
"with a firm foot in the sea." His city soon rose
from the forests and marshes that surrounded it, to
the astonishment of the neighbouring states and of his
own orthodox, conservative subjects, who regarded
the Tsar as a madman and as Antichrist, whose coming
had been foretold in the Bible.
During the construction of the town the Tsar lived
close to the Peter and Paul Fort, in a little house,
which I believe is still intact. Wherever he went,
Peter erected these small houses, for though a giant
38 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
in stature, he preferred to live in a small, stuffy
cottage rather than in a palace. An enterprising
man soon opened a Hosteria, as he called it, near by,
and there Peter used to refresh himself with brandy
and cayenne pepper, one of his favourite beverages.
He had also another kabak (" pub ") opposite the
Admiralty, where I have spent many an hour reading
the Russian papers and endeavouring to learn from
them what was happening in this country.
Nothing seemed to check Peter's enthusiasm or to
damp his energy, not even a terrible inundation which
in August, 1703, converted his camp into a marsh and
undermined the walls of his newly constructed fortress.
His disappointment was more than compensated for
by the arrival of the first Dutch vessel in " Sankt-
Peterboorgh," as he termed his town, in honour of the
Dutch, whom he so greatly admired. To impress his
people with the importance of the event, he himself
steered the ship up the Neva, and afterwards gave
the captain several hundred ducats, treating him to
cayenne brandy, schnapps and all the dainties he
could think of, in his little dwelling.
The work did not proceed, however, with sufficient
speed to suit the Tsar's ambition. He ordered
merchants, tradesmen, landowners and masons to come
forward, under heavy penalties if they disobeyed.
They came — cursing Peter and his outlandish heretical
ideas, which they were convinced boded no good to
Holy Russia. Peter promulgated a decree in 1714
that all building in stone should be forbidden through-
out Russia, the punishment of disobedience being
ruin and exile to Siberia. He also wrote to Prince
Romanodoffsky to send him 2000 thieves and robbers,
and to collect all who were deported to Vologda and
Siberia ; thus he obtained a horde of workers. The
historian who quotes the letter adds that this is not a
joke, for many of the buildings of the city were erected
THE FOUNDING OF PETROGRAD 39
by criminals. By such heroic methods the capital
began to grow. In 1704 there vere 15 houses ; in
1709, 150 ; in 1714, 485. It is estimated that on the
death of its founder the city contained about 100,000
inhabitants. The idea of placing his beautiful capital
on this marshy, unhealthy spot of quagmires and floods
was only finally decided upon after the battle of
Pultava, when Charles XII., wounded and with half
his army lost through frost and cold, was defeated.
After the death of Peter there was a regular stampede
of all those who did not wish to reside in the " earthly
paradise." But when Catherine II. succeeded to the
throne Petrograd again began to flourish, for she was
a great admirer of Peter, and erected a splendid statue
in his honour, which is still to be seen facing the
Neva, near the Isaac Square.
The older portion of the city is the Petersburg
Storona, or Petersburg Side, behind the fortress, low-
lying and damp. Formerly this part was inhabited
by the poorer classes, but it has now become quite a
fashionable quarter, with many handsome streets and
fine houses built in that solid style only to be found to
perfection in northern lands. The southern portion
of the Neva bank, now populous, has been enlarged
only within recent years. Catherine II. probably did
more for the beautifying of the " Northern Palmyra,"
as she poetically called it, than any other monarch
since the days of Peter. Many of the noblest palaces
owe their origin to her liberality and love of archi-
tecture. It was she who began to confine the unruly
waters of the Neva, ever striving to burst their bounds,
with those miles of massive granite quays, lacking
which the river would lose half its beauty and dignity.
At the present time this vast city of magnificent
distances occupies an area of over 300 square kilo-
metres.
The whole place is arranged in a manner reminis-
40
PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
\rt\
cent of New York, especially the Vasilii Ostroff (Basil
Island), which Peter originally intended to lay out
like Amsterdam, with canals and lines of trees along
their banks. This plan was subsequently abandoned ;
the canals were filled up and converted into boulevards
and streets.
Petrograd of to-day is not only a residential town
and the seat of Government ; it is also an immense
industrial centre. In its immediate neighbourhood
are many mills, shipyards, breweries and glass works,
giving employment to some hundreds of thousands of
men. These in their turn give a good deal of work to
the police and to the secret police, who are constantly
on the watch to put down any revolutionary or
socialistic tendencies in this huge population, whose
members, since the influx of so many English, German
and French workmen, have become " tainted with the
advanced ideas of the Rotten West," as the officials
picturesquely express it.
v
VI
THE YOUTH AND GROWTH OF PETROGRAD, WITH SOME
HISTORICAL NOTES
Petrograd, to use the words of Oostrajloff, "arose
under the cannon-shots of the Swedes," who were con-
stantly attacking the fortifications while the town
gradually grew amid the marshes. One of the hottest
of the engagements took place at the entrance of the
river. The Swedish ships, taken by surprise, were
boarded and captured by Peter, with the aid of a
number of boats and galleys under his own command,
and he was very proud of this achievement. The
place where the war galleys were kept is near a low-
lying street behind the English church, called the
Galernaja, and one of these strange craft — which I
believe are simply a copy of the old Venetian war
galleys — is exhibited every year on the Neva, when
this victory is celebrated with great ceremony.
According to Russian historians, it was never Peter's
original intention to build so near the mouth of the
river. All his energies were at first centred on the
construction of a fortress commanding the outlet, and
a port, the remains of which are still to be seen, known
now as the " Gavan " (The Haven). Peter III., the
grandson of the founder, was one of those backsliders
who fled from the city at the death of Peter the Great ;
he returned to the Kremlin, the home of his Romanoff
forefathers, whose mediaeval house still exists inside
the walls. The Empress Elizabeth, Peter's grand-
daughter, who secretly married Count Razumoffsky,
was no more faithful, and little by little Petrograd
became emptier and emptier. But although Elizabeth
4i
42 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
preferred to live outside the city, she took great pride
in its improvement and enlargement, and it was
during her reign that the architect Rastrelli not only
began the Winter Palace — probably the finest Imperial
residence in Europe — but completed many important
public buildings, much to the benefit of the new
capital.
When at length Catherine II. brought back her
Court in all its splendour, and summoned to her side
many of the brilliant men of the Continent, the old-
fashioned Muscovites and some of the pleasure-loving
nobles, vegetating on their estates in the lonely
provinces, began to realise Petrograd's attractions.
It was no longer necessary to compel the nobility to
reside in the place where a second Zenobia reigned.
Many of their own free will flocked thither, and soon it
became one of the gayest and most popular cities in
Russia. At this time the population numbered about
300,000. Catherine carried out Peter's ideas on a
scale of grandeur that even his colossal mind might
have shrunk from, for, with all his ambition, Peter
was practical, while with Catherine extravagance and
vanity were the ruling passions. Under her, Petro-
grad assumed symmetry and beauty. She planted
trees along the banks of canals, and fell in love with
her own work, and, intent upon her delightful task,
induced many eminent men to settle there by costly
presents of money, jewellery and watches. Petro-
grad, during her reign, was divided into Police
Quarters, in the manner of Paris. She built a marble
palace for her favourite, Gregory Orloff, who obliged
her by strangling her husband and thus removing the
most formidable obstacle to her ambition — which was
to become the ruler of the Russian Empire, from the
Baltic to the Pacific. It was no longer necessary to
issue edicts threatening heavy penalties to those who
refused to live in the city. It grew rapidly, and,
<
O t^
H >
i— i ^
YOUTH AND GROWTH OF PETROGRAD 43
though far from healthy, was a centre for such as
cared for gaiety, intrigue, dissipation and extrava-
gance — all of which Catherine sedulously encouraged,
both by precept and example.
Her son, Paul, who had been brought up under
Prussian ideals, spent most of his time in erecting
barracks, drilling halls, hospitals, churches and other
buildings ; to him is due the once beautiful Michael
Palace, now called the Castle of the Engineers. The
costly work of encasing in granite the river's banks,
the River Fontanka and the Catherine Canal was also
carried out regardless of labour and expense.
Alexander I., the son of Paul, who, with the help of
the Allies, broke the power of Napoleon, directed his
energies to the outskirts of the town. He improved
the sanitary arrangements, a reform which was sadly
needed. In 1814, on the centenary of the founding,
he formed a committee to consider the question of new
hydraulic works. He also in the same year invited
Daniel Wheeler, a well-known Quaker, to come from
England, and entrusted him with the arduous task of
preparing about 5000 acres of land for agricultural
purposes. Thanks to this practical old Quaker, Petro-
grad is now well provided with market gardens and
cabbage-fields — seen at their full extent on entering
the town by rail. Victoria strawberries are grown
in abundance at Pargolo, Shoovalofva and other
environs, and in the summer months are very cheap ;
apples, pears, raspberries and other fruit to which we
are accustomed, however, do not seem to thrive in the
northern climate and uncongenial soil.
Nicholas I. also did much for the city. During his
government the principal streets were paved — more or
less badly — and the divisions of the place were fixed.
Official records give the population as 150,000 in 1759,
308,000 in 1812, and 580,000 in 1864 ; at the present
time it is about 2,000,000.
44 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Petrograd retains even now its reputation for un-
healthiness, but by the enterprise of certain members
of the municipal council this reproach is gradually
being removed. It used to be so unhealthy that it
was said that if the country people refrained from
coming to the town for a period of fifty or sixty years
the place would be deserted completely ; also that it
was only due to the " unmarried mothers " that there
was any increase at all. Perhaps it is for this reason
that Petrograd is so plentifully supplied with foundling
hospitals, without which probably the population
would never have attained its present proportions,
for in Russia, as in France, the " unmarried mother "
is often a benefactor to her country, even though
she may be considered a nuisance by " respectable "
society.
For administrative purposes the city is divided into
twelve parts and thirty -eight subdivisions (oocha-
stocks), each small portion being under the control
of a police officer called a Nadzeratel. The chief
quarters are : the Vasileffskaja — the favourite re-
sidences of the English, German, Dutch and foreign
merchant classes are here ; the Wiborg side, on the
right of the Neva ; the Great Nevke, inhabited
principally by Finns ; the Kazan quarter, lying
between the Moika, Catherine and Krukoff canals,
devoted mainly to business and shopping ; the
Kolomna quarter, between the Neva, Fontanka and
Moika canals ; the Letenaja ; the Moscow quarter ;
the Narvsky quarter ; the Petersburg side ; the
Roshdestvenskaja and the Spasskaja quarters. There
are also four others, favourite residential resorts owing
to their salubrity and numerous gardens and parks —
the Ljesnaja, the Peterhoff, the Polustroff and the
Schliisselberg quarter, stretching along the river banks.
The Polustroff quarter, once famous for iron springs,
is part of the old Swedish town of Nyshants. It is
YOUTH AND GROWTH OF PETROGRAD 45
situated on high ground and is a healthy district.
Here I spent many pleasant days wandering round the
grand parks or drinking the waters of the neighbouring
iron springs.
Notes on the House of Romanoff
In this work such frequent reference is made to the
Romanoff dynasty that the following table of those
who have reigned since the founding of Petrograd will
be useful and convenient. The emperors and em-
presses of this house, since the city's inception, are :
Peter the Great (son of the
sjevitch) ruled from .
Catherine I., his widow .
Peter II., Alexsjevitch .
Anna I., Johanovna
Johan VI., Antonovitch (who
in Schliisselberg)
Elizabeth I., Petrofna
Peter III., Theodorovitch
Catherine II., of Anhalt Zerbst
Paul I., Petrovitch
Alexander I., Pavlovitch .
Nicholas I., Pavlovitch .
Alexander II., Nicholaivitch
Alexander III., Alexandrovitch
Nicholas II., Alexandrovitch
Tsar Alex-
. 1721-1725
. 1725-1727
. 1727-1730
. 1730-1740
perished
. 1740-1741
. 1741-1761
. 1761-1762
. 1762-1796
. 1796-1801
. 1801-1825
. 1825-1855
. 1855-1881
. 1881-1894
20th Oct. 1894
Peter the Great, the founder of Petersburg — now
called Petrograd — reigned from 1682 to 1725. Many
of the palaces, gardens, canals and chief buildings were
planned and finished in his time. Among these may
be mentioned the fortress, built in 1703, the Summer
Palace, 1711, the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, 1715,
and the college or university, 1722.
46 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Peter was succeeded by his wife and former mistress,
Catherine L, who is said to have died through her
fondness for confectionery, some which she took being
probably poisoned.
The next ruler was Peter II., who died in 1730, after
an uneventful reign. He was followed by the pleasure-
loving Empress Anna, Duchess of Courland, whose
Court became noted for licentiousness and dissipation.
The Admiralty and the third Winter Palace were
erected in her period. Under her the secret chancel-
lery, a court resembling our notorious Star Chamber,
was installed, governed by the cruel Biron, her hand-
some favourite. It is said that both the Empress and
he took a great personal interest in watching the effect
of the various tortures inflicted in this hated institu-
tion. This Empress, whose policy was influenced by
the unscrupulous Duke of Courland, died in 1740 ;
the Empress Elizabeth then reigned until the year
1762. She was secretly married to Count Razumoff-
sky, and is said to have had several children by this
courtier. In her reign the present Winter Palace was
built by Rastrelli, the Summer and the Anitchkoff
palaces, and the Cathedral of the Smolna Monastery.
The unfortunate Peter III. followed, husband of
Catherine II., the ambitious German Princess Sophia
Augusta Frederica of Anhalt Zerbst, who, after the
death of her husband, ruled Russia for about thirty
years. In her reign many extensive works were
carried out : the granite embankments of the Neva,
by Rinaldi ; the Academy of Arts, built by Felton ;
the Courts of Justice on the Letennaja, by Delamot ;
the Armenian church, by Basheneff ; the State Bank
on the Fontanka, by Staroff ; the Taurida Palace,
and the Mechail Palace ; also the railings of the
Summer Gardens. These railings used to be thought
so beautiful in design that an eccentric Englishman
once travelled all the way to Petrograd merely to see
YOUTH AND GROWTH OF PETROGRAD 47
them, returning immediately his wish was gratified !
The Kazan cathedral, on the model of St Peter's at
Rome, built by Gvorenge, also dates from this period,
during which Russia extended her domains in all
directions. The capital of Mingrelia in the Caucasus,
Kutais, was taken in 1771 ; the whole of White Russia
was torn from Poland in 1772 ; the Crimea and the
Kuban province were annexed in 1783 ; New Russia
in 1774 ; the whole northern shore of the Black Sea
in 1791 ; Volynia, Podolia and the province of Minsk
in 1793 ; Lithuania in 1784, and Courland in 1795.
In fact Catherine, although a German by birth, did
more to extend the area of Russia than any monarch
except Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great, both of
whom added large stretches of territory to the Empire.
The half-mad Paul I., assassinated at the Mechail
Palace (now the School of Engineers), succeeded
Catherine, and reigned from 1796 to 1801. Paul, who
admired everything Prussian, built the old Mechail
Palace, also many barracks and riding schools of huge
proportions and massive architecture.
The magnanimous, gentle Alexander I. then reigned
from 1801 to 1825. In this period the Smolna Insti-
tute, the Admiralty and the Imperial stables were all
completed.
Nicholas, the " Iron Emperor," ascended the throne,
and during his reign the Alexander Theatre, built in
the purest classical style, came into being. Like Paul,
he had a mania for everything military. He also
originated many of the barracks now to be seen in
Petrograd, Sebastopol and other centres, and some of
the fortresses. He was much aggrieved at his inability
to capture Constantinople and make himself head of
the Balkan Christians. He died suddenly, in 1855.
Alexander II., who reigned until 1881, was assassi-
nated by Risakoff on the banks of the Catherine Canal.
His period saw many beautiful buildings added to the
48 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
city. Since, in recent years, the French and English
have lent Russia so many millions of capital, the
hotels and public buildings have been erected in far
better material. When I first arrived in Russia even
the palaces were of brick, stone, or stucco, but now
one sees many fine palaces entirely of stone, faced with
granite or marble. As the wealth flows in from
abroad, Petrograd becomes more and more magnifi-
cent, and will eventually be, at its present rate of
growth and adornment, one of the grandest cities
of the Continent.
VII
THE RIVER NEVA AND THE GREAT FLOODS
The Neva, which carries a greater volume of water
than any other river of its size in Europe, is Petrograd's
peculiar charm; without this stream the city would
lose half its beauty. Probably through no other
capital do so many waterways flow — the Big Neva, the
Little and Middle Neva, and numerous broad canals
which were once small rivers meet the eye continually.
The Fontanka, the Catherine and the Oboocheff are
the most noticeable, and in the summer these are busy
with shipping of every description, from the long
barge as big as a schooner to the modest lighter. In
spring, when the ice begins to move, many of the barges
are torn away and ground to pieces, until they are little
better than matchwood. The Neva is then unsafe for
foot traffic, and many a careless moujik loses his life
at this period, and disappears, carried by the ice-cold
stream beneath far into the Finnish Gulf, where the
battered and bruised body of the victim of the river
god at last finds a rest. In order to render the ice less
dangerous the municipal authorities have, in recent
years, constructed electric tramways from shore to
shore, illuminating the route brilliantly, and the effect
at night is exceedingly beautiful.
The total length of the river, which rises at Schlussel-
berg, is only sixty-three versts. 1 In some parts, how-
ever, especially opposite the Smolna Monastery, it is
as much as 2100 feet across, and so deep that the
largest steamers can load and unload in safety. The
1 i verst = £ of a mile.
d 49
50 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
stream is very rapid and treacherous, with a number
of eddies and cross-currents, particularly near the
Nicholai Palace bridge. If a man slips in he is gener-
ally drowned, unless he is an exceptionally good
swimmer, for he is sucked under with such force that
he seldom rises more than once. I have seen several
drowned in the Neva, and in every case the unfortun-
ate one vanished just as a boat seemed on the point
of rescuing him. On one occasion a would-be suicide
threw himself from the Nicholai Bridge and was saved
with extreme difficulty — to the great indignation of
the peasants round me, who expressed the decided
opinion that " the police had no right to rescue him ;
he was tired of life, and wanted to die in the arms of
Matooshka (mother) Neva. It was his own affair, and
no one need interfere in his private arrangements."
The Russian peasantry have a quaint way of looking
at these matters, and their peculiar philosophy much
impressed Tolstoi, Dostoievsky and other famous
thinkers.
Besides the canals already mentioned, there are
thirteen small ones, more than twenty lesser streams,
and various branches. Naturally many islands are
formed, and these are connected by about 150 bridges,
some of which are of considerable size ; of them
twenty-two are stone, thirteen are of iron and five are
suspension. In fact Petrograd is a city of islands,
rivers, canals and bridges; so much so that one of
Gogol's comical characters is made to affirm that the
bridges were built in such a devilish manner one would
imagine they were hung without any attachments !
But this discovery was probably made on some moon-
lit night when returning from a carouse, so cannot be
taken very seriously. When I was last in the place,
one of these structures suddenly collapsed and pre-
cipitated many persons into the river. It was very
shaky, and the wonder is that it stood so long or was
5££
Photograph by //'. /.'. Steveni
The deep and rapid Neva, with view of the Nicholai Bridge
Photograph by II'. B. Stereiii
A CROWD ON THE NEVSKY PROSPECT: A " PRAZNEK "
RIVER NEVA AND THE GREAT FLOODS 51
allowed to remain so long before strengthening. But
in Russia no one is ever in a hurry, and that the bridge
should at last break was doubtless vola Boshe (the
will of God) and not due to the fact that it had
rusted through. It was built in the ancient Egyptian
style, of cast iron ; the approaches were adorned with
huge sphinxes and the sides decorated with bas-reliefs
copied from an Egyptian temple.
Owing to its low-lying position and its proximity
to the Gulf of Finland, Petrograd has suffered ter-
ribly from inundations from the very beginning of
its existence. Pushkin, the Shakespeare of Russia,
describes vividly the flood that swept over the city in
November, 1824, comparing the havoc wrought to the
violence of a band of robbers :
" O'er darkened Petersburg
November breathed with Autumn blast ;
Splashing in noisy tide
Within the confines of her ordered sway
The Neva tossed in her restless bed
Like one who is sick
Or like a bandit,
Who, with his fierce robber crew
Breaks into a village, pursuing, killing, wrecking,
With shrieks, violence, and alarms ;
Then, with plunder laden,
And fearing pursuit, hastens homeward
Dropping his booty on the way."
Since then the city has witnessed many similar scenes.
Such a catastrophe is a sublime spectacle, especially if
it happens at night. Often, instead of retiring to rest,
I have spent a good portion of the night in wandering
along the banks of the Neva and its inky-black canals,
listening to the moaning of the wind, the shouts of the
people, the booming of the guns from the Peter and
Paul Fortress. The pannon give timely warning to
the townsfolk that their old enemy is again laying
52 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
siege to their city, as though endeavouring to reconquer
the territory snatched away.
The indefatigable genius who dared thus to build
on a delta of low and swampy ground did not hesitate
at the most heroic efforts ; he spared neither himself
nor his men, and eventually lost his own life from the
effects of a chill, caught while rescuing some soldiers
from drowning. A splendid bronze group, represent-
ing Peter saving the men near the mouth of the river,
has been erected on the Admiralty Quay, near the
Panieff Theatre. It is said that many thousands of
men succumbed to marsh fever before his beloved
work rose like Tyre from the midst of the waters.
But although Peter could bend his unwilling subjects
to his stubborn will, he failed to tame the elements.
He and his successors constructed costly canals to
carry off the floods, yet a large portion of the city is
submerged whenever a gale from the Gulf forces the
sea-waters into the Neva. The cellars of the house
in which I resided have often been swamped for days
together at such times, and the flood is of an icy cold-
ness always, explained by the theory that the ice at
the bottom of the river, carried down from Lake
Ladoga, never completely melts, even in the summer.
In 1706 Peter wrote that the water, during a flood,
covered the entire floor of his palace. A greater
inundation, however, occurred in 1824, when most of
the city was under water. Very many persons were
drowned, and property worth millions of roubles was
destroyed. Autumn is the worst time, shortly before
the closing of navigation. At the first sign of danger
the gun-fire begins — though it is often unheard in the
clamour of the storm — and red lights are shown from
the Admiralty. The inhabitants in the lower quarters
then gather up their goods and chattels and seek the
more elevated parts of the town, or mount to upper
rooms. In one flood, not many years ago, the
RIVER NEVA AND THE GREAT FLOODS 53
Botanical and Zoological Gardens were for some time
quite under water. The result of this enforced icy
bath was that a large number of valuable animals
from tropical or warmer climes perished miserably,
either by drowning or through the intense cold.
Lions, tigers, leopards, monkeys shivered and made
pathetic struggles for liberty, the keepers striving to
assist, with the water up to their waists or even to their
shoulders. Thinking that some might escape, the
cages were carefully opened, but this was of no avail —
the helpless creatures were carried by the current into
wide spaces of the gardens, and lost. Among them
were four bears, three Indian oxen, two antelopes, an
ostrich, four eagles and many other exhibits which had
been collected from all quarters of the globe. Of
course numbers of domestic animals also perished.
Still more tragic scenes were in progress at other parts
of the city. Workmen, endeavouring to save their
wives and little ones, were swept off their feet and
drowned. In the night shelters the water reached the
ceilings. The wretched inmates scrambled to the top
of the stoves and on any high place for safety. The
confusion was indescribable. Cries of " We are
drowning — save us ! " and screams for assistance were
heard on all sides. Towards morning boats came to
the aid of the panic-stricken people, who, wet and
frozen, threw themselves into the arms of their res-
cuers. In the cellar basements (notwithstanding many
Imperial ukases, these are the homes of thousands)
heartrending events took place. Boats approached
the windows of these subterranean domiciles, if we
may so call them, and removed through the windows
half -frozen, terrified children, who were immediately
conveyed to the tea-houses, or to the homes of friendly
folk, who warmed and fed them as quickly as possible.
In this good work soldiers, sailors, students and ladies
emulated one another with that self-forgetfulness so
54 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
peculiar to the Russian temperament when it is once
stirred to sympathy. Other poor wretches fared
worse, having to pass the whole night, starved, under
the bitter November skies — which to many simply
meant death. The district bordering the Galernaya
Harbour suffered the worst, but the 9th Line on the
Vasilii Island, where for many years I lived, was con-
verted into a second Venice. The wish of Peter, who
desired his city to be " another Venice," was for once
fulfilled, but not precisely in the way he had imagined.
On the Petersburg Side, the oldest neighbourhood,
and the first to be built, water seemed to be every-
where. Some of the streets were barricaded by
enormous barges, which had been lifted bodily out of
the river by the flood, to drift helplessly at the will of
the waters and to settle thus awkwardly, where they
remained until broken up by their owners. On the
Viborg Side, still inhabited to a great extent by Finns
and aliens, many were awake all night in fear. Float-
ing craft of all kinds were torn from their moorings
and hurled by the raging torrent against the massive
granite buttresses of the iron bridges, which shook and
vibrated under the unusual strain. Later on they
broke loose and whirled down like so many chips, until
at last thrown on the banks damaged beyond recogni-
tion, or sunk, holed and wrecked.
The beautiful islands formed by the ramifications
of the stream, summer resorts of the citizens, were
entirely cut off, and their inhabitants were unable to
leave the houses. Most of all the Island of Elagen
suffered, for the dams which kept out the sea were
invaded, while the canal sluices, supposed to protect
the islanders from inundations, were rendered useless.
In addition to this, all the Government buildings
belonging to the Department of the Court were flooded.
What this means only those] who have lived in
Petrograd can tell. The loss to tradesmen and shop-
«fe
< I
< b
« ^
RIVER NEVA AND THE GREAT FLOODS 55
keepers was tremendous, for the shops on the Grand
Moskaja, Vosnesenskaja, Ismailoffskaja and other im-
portant streets were flooded with dirty water, and tea,
sugar, flour and other provisions were ruined to the
tune of thousands of roubles.
In the Gavan, or low-lying part of the town, the
water reached the ceilings, and furniture floated about
the streets. By midnight measurements proved the
flood to be three feet above the ordinary level. From
one o'clock it rose rapidly, until by nine in the morning
it stood nine feet above the normal level of the Neva.
For sixty years such a disaster had not occurred.
A few persons still living remember the year 1824,
when hundreds were drowned and immense amounts
of property were destroyed. This flood occurred in
the reign of the Emperor Alexander I. The Winter
Palace stood like a rock amid the stormy sea, the waves
dashing against its strong walls, the spray washing the
windows of the upper storeys. Many vessels were
lost, and the shores of the river were encumbered with
all kinds of wreckage and rubbish. The Vasilii
Island was a remarkable sight. On all sides heaps of
ruins, bodies of men and women and domestic animals.
After the waters subsided the carcasses of 3600 head
of cattle were taken outside the bounds of the city
and destroyed. Sheets of iron from roofs were blown'
about like feathers ; in the streets floated coffins and
crosses, uprooted from the graveyards — it is even
related that the waters brought to an Englishman the
coffin of a friend he had buried but two days before.
One old merchant, living on the Viborg Side, heard,
on the morning after, the cry of a child. He found
a poor infant which had safely weathered the storm
and flood in a sugar-box ! Needless to say the good-
natured merchant adopted this modern edition of
Moses, as one might expect an Orthodox Christian
to do.
56 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
The Emperor showed his sympathy for the victims
by giving a million roubles (£100,000) out of his own
private fortune towards the relief of the dire distress,
and nobles and merchants vied with one another in
making princely donations to the same worthy object.
VIII
THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1777 ; THE DEATH OF PRINCESS
TARAKANOFFVA
The most terrible inundation of all took place on 8th
September 1777, although the water rose only ten
feet seven inches — i.e. not to such a level as in 1828,
when a small merchantman floated over the granite
quays right past the Winter Palace, whilst another,
laden with apples, was carried seventy feet from the
shore into a forest. The Empress Catherine wrote
an account of this inundation to Grimm, a German
writer. Among other interesting incidents she men-
tions that a three-masted vessel was thrown up on
the quay, whilst the waters of the Neva washed the
grand staircase of the palace. " Oh, my God," she
wrote, "the Exchange has changed its place, and
Count Munich will have to build the Custom House on
the site of the Hermitage Theatre. . . . How many
broken window-panes ! How many pots have been
upset with flowers ! This morning not a single hair-
dresser will visit any lady. . . . The big window has
fallen down on the ground alongside the table where
the dessert was standing, but the dessert is left in-
tact." Further, the Empress writes : " I am dining
at home. The water is going down and you know I
am not drowned. . . . But enough of the water; we
will talk of the wine. My cellar is full of water and
God knows what will happen to it." Such are
extracts from one of the letters a great ruler wrote at
this critical moment. Window-panes, flower-pots, hair-
dressers, her wine cellar — these all seem uppermost in
her mind ; not a word about the hundreds of poor
57
58 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
wretches that were being drowned in the neighbour-
hood. But she apparently thought of them afterwards,
when her flower-pots, her hair, her wine cellar and
other grave matters of state were attended to. At
that very moment, opposite her palace, the beautiful
Princess Tarakanoffva, who claimed the throne, was
probably struggling for dear life against the rising
waters that threatened to drown her in one of the cold
and damp casemates of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
For a time it was believed, and naturally so, that
this beautiful and accomplished woman was actually
drowned thus, but historical archives subsequently
revealed the fact that she succumbed to consumption,
increased by living in the dungeon, which must have
been flooded whenever the river overflowed its banks.
According to Danileffsky, the celebrated historical
novelist, the Princess, after undergoing a mock
marriage to the unscrupulous Count Orloff, one of
Catherine's favourites, was enticed by him on board a
Russian man-of-war at Leghorn and conveyed by force
to Petrograd, when she was thrown into the fortress
where she met her end. As her story is one of the
saddest tragedies that was ever penned, and as her
death was at least partly due to one of these terrible
inundations which practically rendered her prison
uninhabitable, a brief account of this remarkable
woman will not be amiss. In the words of the
historian, Solovieff :
"A young girl of very humble origin, a native
of Prague or Niirnberg, endowed with the most
marvellous beauty, clever and enterprising, but of
extremely equivocal conduct, shone from the end of
the year 1760 till the beginning of 1770 at Berlin,
London and Paris, lavishly spending on her dress and
pleasure the money she levied from her admirers.
We are bound to believe that her charms were extra-
The last days of the beautiful Princess Tarakanofra in the Fortress.
Believed to be the granddaughter of Peter the Great
THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1777 59
ordinary, for, notwithstanding her conduct, several
highly placed personages, both in France and Germany,
sought her hand. In the summer of 1774 the Princess
Radziwill, 1 accompanied by a numerous suite, set sail
for Constantinople. But they stopped at Ragusa,
wishing to ascertain beforehand what kind of reception
they were likely to meet with at the hands of the
Sultan. Count Orloff was, as is well known, in Italy
at the time ; he lost no time in writing full particulars
concerning the ' false ' Tarakanoffva to Catherine,
from whom he received orders to ' steal ' the pre-
tender and so cut off the intrigue at the very outset.
Orloff surrounded the Princess with spies, and,
through his emissaries, tried to inspire her with con-
fidence in himself. He persuaded her to come to a
rendezvous at Pisa. Here he paid her all possible
homage ; balls and fetes succeeded each other in
swift succession. He pretended to fall in with her
plans, and eventually offered her his hand. All this
time he was only waiting for an opportunity to arrest
her without causing any scandal. He had not long to
wait. One day the Countess Zelinski, as she called
herself, expressed a wish to visit the Russian squadron
then stationed at Livorno. Orloff gave orders for
preparations to be made for a magnificent reception,
and arranged some splendid naval manoeuvres. He
himself, with his suite, accompanied her on board ;
the manoeuvres began ; the cannon fired ; sails were
unfurled, and the ships sailed out into the open sea.
The unfortunate pretender eventually found herself
shut up in the fortress of Petrograd. Here it is said
she languished until 1776, when she was drowned by
the rushing of the waters into her prison ; but this is
not true. Documents prove that she died of the same
illness from which she was suffering when she came
1 A descendant of the celebrated Princess was imprisoned at the Cape
on a charge of forgery, which she indignantly denied.
60 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
to Russia, and which of course made rapid strides
during her confinement in the damp dungeon."
With all due deference to Solovieff, who was more
or less an " official historian," there is very good reason
to believe that the unfortunate Princess met her death
indirectly owing to the inundation, and, what is still
more sad, she was probably no pretender at all, but
had a better right to the throne than Catherine —
which would explain the anxiety of the Empress to
get rid of her. She claimed to be the daughter of the
Empress Elizabeth and the granddaughter of Peter
the Great. As regards her claim to the throne, the
Danish writer Wahl, in his work, The Land of the
Tsar, says that " Catherine, who had not scrupled to
sacrifice her husband to her ambition, also knew how
to get rid of other possible pretenders to the throne.
Ivan was assassinated in his wretched prison. In
1763 a daughter of the Empress Elizabeth and
Rasumoffsky, the master of the Imperial hunt
(secretly married to Elizabeth), who had been quietly
living at Pisa, was carried off and disappeared at
Cronstadt." x
Whether the Princess disappeared at Cronstadt or
at Petrograd is immaterial. The fact remains that
she was kidnapped by the orders of Catherine, and
perished in the fortress, whilst her child by the un-
scrupulous Count Orloff was taken away from her.
Her sad end, after such a brilliant career, has been
made the theme of both painter and novelist, but
who thinks of the thousands of poor wretches whose
dwellings are flooded every autumn by the rising of
the Neva, or filled with the foul sewage proceeding
from the drains and cesspools of the town ? " When
1 Those who are interested in the tragedy of this unfortunate Princess
should read Princess Tarakanoffva : a Dark Chapter in Russian History >
published in 1891.
THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1777 61
the waters abated," writes one correspondent con-
cerning the last inundation, " it was possible to form
some idea of the extent of the damage. One-third of
the population of the inundated part of the city had
caught severe colds and were laid up. Medical help
there was none ; all the lower basements were soaked,
and gave out an insupportable, horrible smell. It was,
of course, impossible to live in the damp rooms, and
the inhabitants had, where possible, to seek other
lodgings." The misfortune is that lodgings and flats
are so scarce and so dear in Petrograd that the
majority of the poor wretches had to pass the winter
in these filthy, damp and poisoned dwellings, where
doubtless many of them succumbed to typhus,
diphtheria, or, what is worse, to the slow and painful
death by consumption, and other complaints be-
gotten from living in dwellings not fit for dogs. No
wonder Petrograd is one of the most unhealthy cities
in Europe.
Owing to the great misery and misfortune caused
by these periodical inundations, the Petrograd Town
Council created in the vicinity of the harbour a house
of refuge, where the inhabitants of the low-lying dis-
tricts can take shelter every autumn when the Neva
overflows and the angry Baltic comes rushing over the
dwellings. They can remain in this warm and com-
fortable asylum until the floods abate and things are
normal again. The house is built on an elevated piece
of ground, so that all who flee from the devastating
waters can remain there, dry amidst the most terrible
floods.
The soil of a large portion of the city consists of
artificial hillocks, under which there is a thin layer of
sand and grey clay ; water is revealed by boring a few
feet under the surface. The drinking-water is very
unwholesome and has a very deleterious effect on the
health of all who are not accustomed to it. As it
62 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
contains a considerable quantity of magnesia, it is
extremely harmful to the teeth, and causes the hair
to fall off rapidly. Owing to these peculiar qualities
it is to be expected that dentists and hair specialists
do an excellent business in the city. In the space of
three or four years I have known people to become
quite bald through drinking the Neva water, and also
many people to die from the same cause.
The water, which is exceedingly soft, is excellent,
however, for making tea in the Russian manner. This
was so much the case that the Emperor Alexander II.
is said to have carried several casks of it with him for
this purpose when he travelled in the country. The
ignorant lower classes have the most primitive ideas
about sanitary laws, and the death-rate is exceedingly
high. The greatest number of deaths are owing to
diseases of the stomach and intestines. These com-
plaints carry off thousands annually. Notices are
usually posted up in the principal hotels, warning
strangers not to drink water from the Neva, but as
these warnings are generally in the Russian tongue,
they are of little use. When the American fleet came
to Cronstadt a great many officers who visited Petro-
grad were laid up several days through drinking the
water taken from the Neva, which they found in
their bedrooms. I also knew an English captain who
lost his wife in twenty-four hours through drinking
the water at Cronstadt, which is even worse than that
of Petrograd, owing to its often being brackish.
Attempts have been made in recent years to bring
the beautiful spring water from Duderhoff, a group of
low-lying hills in the vicinity of the city. The water
of this place was so much prized that when I was a
resident in the capital it was sold at one shilling a
bottle. Owing to the extensive system of drainage
that is now being carried on and the improved water-
works, Petrograd is gradually becoming more healthy,
THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1777 63
but it will take many years before it is as salubrious
as London, Paris or Berlin. The sudden changes of
temperature, the damp and inclement climate, especi-
ally in the autumn and winter, are exceedingly trying
to the health of delicate people. In order to with-
stand all these disadvantages one must have a con-
stitution of iron and internal parts as tough as leather ;
when these are lacking, sooner or later there will be a
general breakdown of the whole system.
London is not the only city that has a monopoly of
foggy weather, for there are whole days, especially in
spring, autumn and winter, when Peter's paradise is
enveloped in thick fog; at others the broad streets
and great empty squares are swept by piercing winds.
In general the climatic conditions are nothing to
boast about, but the city has many attractions, and
in some respects is so fascinating that I have often
heard its citizens state that they would not exchange
it for any other town in Europe. Of what the attrac-
tions consist I will explain in another chapter, but
probably Petrograd will always be notorious for its
damp climate and cold winds. This is not astonishing,
considering that it is not only built on a marsh, but is
close to the sea and surrounded almost on all sides
either by rivers and canals or morasses. Water seems
to be everywhere — above, below and around. This is
so much the case that within the confines of the city
there are at least forty rivers, canals and streams.
An Italian ambassador once said of this city that it
was always winter — in summer there was a green
winter and in winter a white winter; that was the
only difference. Some people predict that sooner or
later the river will sweep the city out of existence, but
so many canals have been constructed to take off the
surplus water and to prevent the Neva overflowing
its banks that I think the terrible catastrophe will be
averted. All the public buildings and the palaces are
64 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
built in a very solid manner on enormous blocks of
granite. They are so strong that not even the great
floods can move them, but should it ever happen that
the S.S.W. winds from the Baltic continue to blow for
a week at a time, it is quite possible that a considerable
part of Petrograd would be demolished.
IX
PETROGRAD DURING THE REIGN OF ITS FOUNDER;
AND AN ACCOUNT OF PETER'S COUI
PRINCESS WILHELMINA OF PRUSSIA
AND AN ACCOUNT OF PETER'S COURT AS SEEN BY
Peter, in gaining a firm footing on the shores of the
Neva, was following the traditions of the rulers of
Novgorod and his Roos-Varangian forbears, who, to-
gether with the Arabs, seem to have been pioneers
of commerce in Russia. The great number of Anglo-
Saxon and Arabic coins that have been found near the
upper and lower reaches of the Volga give mute witness
to the interchanges of former years, and though the
subject is hardly within the scope of this work, it is
a fascinating trail to follow. Most of the coins dis-
covered on the banks of the Neva and in the Galernaya
Harbour of Petrograd date from the eighth and ninth
centuries. Many of the Arabic ones belong to the
reign of Haroun-al-Raschid, the popular ruler whose
adventures as set forth in The Arabian Nights are still
a source of enjoyment to lovers of Eastern life and
literature. Among the finds was a kettle in the
Gutaieffsky Island, in 1797, containing silver coins
dating from a.d. 780, minted during the reign of Megda,
the third Khalif of the Abbassides dynasty. A still
more important discovery was made on the shores of
Lake Ladoga, which was a place of transhipment for
goods brought from ancient Bulgaria, Itel (the old
name of Astrachan) and the lands beyond the Caspian.
Twelve versts from the mouth of the Volchoff, in 1766,
a peasant found a barrel of Arabic (Cufic) money,
weighing several poods, and of great value ; these
were minted at Cufa, a town on the Tigris. Thousands
e 6s
66 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
of similar coins have been found in Gothland and round
Lake Maelar in Sweden, brought by the vikings who
traded with Russia before the old routes became
neglected.
The long struggle between the Novgorodians and
the Swedes, and afterwards between the Muscovite
Tsars, for the outlet of the Neva is an evidence of the
importance of this waterway and of the land on which
Petrograd has been built. For centuries the blood of
Novgorodians, Muscovites, Finns and Swedes reddened
the limpid river, until Peter, with the aid of Saxony,
Poland, Prussia, Denmark and Norway finally broke
the power of Sweden and added the Ishora to his
already extensive Empire.
In the sixteenth century idolatry of the most revolt-
ing character prevailed in this region ; the worship of
forests, hills, rivers and the offering of human sacrifices
were common. Even the children were immolated,
and traces of these horrible customs still exist among
the Finnish tribes of the Volga. Tree-worship and
the belief in forest spirits were common, and round the
capital spots are still to be found where the accom-
panying rites were practised. Most of the sacred
groves, where on Midsummer Day the superstitious
people sang, wept and danced round immense fires
(bale), were cut down by Markarie, Archbishop of
Novgorod. The human sacrifices have been for-
bidden, but on that day the Finns even now dance
round their sacred fires in the remoter parts of
Scandinavia.
The little islet on which Peter built his fortress was
called Elesaree, Finnish for "Hare's Island " ; another
was named Hervasaari, or "Elk Island," as it was a
favourite haunt of the elk, which still survive in con-
siderable numbers in Finland and the interior of
Russia. This place is now occupied by the Petrograd
<
I*
^
<
PETROGRAD DURING REIGN OF FOUNDER 67
Exchange, a classical building on the model of an
ancient Greek temple. Opposite are two triumphal
columns to commemorate a naval victory over the
Swedes. It was not till 1711 that the city began to
be populated by Russian merchants and noblemen, but
some of these were compelled by Imperial decree to
reside in the capital, under threat of heavy penalties
for disobedience. At first the houses were generally
one storey high, and built in a fashion similar to one
which Peter erected with his own hands. This he
termed " a model after the Prussian manner," for
he was obsessed by Prussian ideas and ideals. His
subjects at last became so indignant, hating, as they
did, everything Njemetsky (German), that serious
riots broke out in Moscow, Kazan, Astrachan and
many other parts of " Holy Russia." The inhabitants
were scandalised at such heretical and anti-Christian
innovations, and among the first to suffer was the
unfortunate Tsarevitch Alexis, who put himself at the
head of the Old Moscow party, and was imprisoned,
with death to follow. The Streltzee, Peter's own
bodyguard, who revolted, and whose only crime was
their ignorance, conservative ideas and superstition,
were brought in thousands to Moscow, to be executed
in the Red Square of the Kremlin before the Cathedral
of St Basil, round a low circular enclosure known as
the Lobnoe Mjesto — the Place of Execution. Here
Peter, who had hurried all the way from Holland
to quell the uprising, superintended the slaughter.
" Seated on a throne, he witnessed the dying agonies
of two thousand Streltzee, and when tired of the rack
he compelled his nobles to complete the destruction
with the sword. With a wine-cup in one hand, a
scimitar in the other, he swallowed twenty bumpers
and cut off twenty heads in a single hour, and, as if
proud of the achievement, invited the ambassador
of Prussia to try his skill. Eighty of the guilty
68 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Janissaries were subsequently held up by the hair
before the crowd and decapitated by the hand of the
infuriated Tsar " (Maxwell : The Tsar, his Court and
People, page 143).
When news of these atrocities reached the rest of
Europe many of the admirers of Peter were greatly
shocked at his severity. He was very indignant at
their criticisms, and replied : " The honest, industrious
and the obedient I will exalt, but the evil-doers I will
correct whenever it is necessary. Let malice defame
me — my conscience is clear. God is my judge."
This strange faith in the righteousness of his actions
seemed to support him through everything. Nartoff,
a Russian, writing to defend him, says : " Alas — if
many could but know what is known to us, they would
be astonished at his clemency. If the Imperial
archives are ever read, with their secret histories,
people would turn pale with horror at the thought
of the crimes that were contemplated against this
monarch." These archives are now being searched,
and the more they are studied the more it becomes
evident on what treacherous soil Peter ventured when
carrying out his reforms. Everyone round him was
complaining, and these murmurs spread from his own
family and Court to the outlying parts of Russia. His
own son said that his father was surrounded by evil
persons, that he was cruel and did not spare human
lives, that he desired his father's death, and that the
priests had forgiven him for this sinful thought. His
sister, the Tsareva Maria, wept bitterly on account of
the endless wars — which had lasted twenty years —
with Sweden, the constant taxes and the ruin of the
people. Yet Petrograd, despite all these troubles,
began to grow at a great rate.
Quantities of wine, vodka, beer and tobacco were
consumed ; nolens volens, people resorted to strong
liquors to prevent poisoning by the vile fluid miscalled
PETROGRAD DURING REIGN OF FOUNDER 69
water, which was too plentiful. Peter's special
beverage, cognac and cayenne pepper, possibly saved
him from fatal chills, but it played sad havoc with
his constitution, for after his death his condition was
found to be abnormal, his body being very inflamed.
Like the Russian peasant whom I once heard, he pre-
ferred "to be burnt up with vodka rather than rot
with the water," and of the two evils chose that which
appeared the least — for which those who have tasted
the water of the Neva will hardly blame him. His
unfortunate workmen, who could not afford such
luxuries, perished in thousands, and the marshes
became sprinkled with the bones of those who died at
their labours for the beautiful city.
Other instances of Peter's rigid rule were not lack-
ing. He erected gallows and pillars in the principal
squares, on which he could immediately hang anyone
who refused to obey his orders or resisted his modem
ideas. One of the pillars, with iron spikes on which
the heads of criminals — and there were many — used
to be impaled, stood in the Troitsk (Trinity) Square.
These measures, however, must have been in some
degree necessary, for there were many convicts,
rogues and doers of evil among the men whom Peter
had imported from the interior to help in the work.
The pillars were afterwards destroyed by Peter II.,
the husband of Catherine II. Golckoff, a Russian
chronicler, relates that on the day when Mens, the
lover of Catherine, Peter's wife, was executed, the
Tsar took her for a walk and showed her the head
exhibited on one of the pillars. She was not in the
least confused, however, on seeing it, and calmly
exclaimed that it was "a pity that the vice of the
courtiers should reach such limits." Peter must have
been very much in love with this clever woman to
permit her to flirt with the young Englishman, who, it
is said, was the brother of Catherine's lady companion.
70 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Although she was only a peasant girl, the illegitimate
daughter of a Swedish officer, she seemed to possess a
remarkable power over this man of primitive passions
and barbaric instincts. When his wrath was fearful
to behold, and nobody else dared approach him, she
could soothe the anger of the autocrat's soul effectively.
About this time (1717) Peter and the Empress
visited the King of Prussia, and an amusing account
of the Tsar, his consort and the strange Court he
gathered round him on his travels is found in
the Memoirs of Princess Wilhelmina, the precocious
daughter of King Frederick of Prussia ; it is of peculiar
interest and at times borders on the scandalous.
" The Tsar, with his consort and suite," she writes,
"were on their homeward journey from Holland,
when suddenly the Tsarina had a miscarriage, which
obliged her to remain at Cleve." As the Tsar did not
care to have many people about him, and disliked all
ceremonies and formalities, he asked the King's per-
mission to reside in a little summer villa in the environs
of Berlin, belonging to the Queen (Sophia of Hanover).
It was a beautiful building, fitted up by the Queen
with great taste and at considerable expense ; the
porcelain gallery was especially fine, and all the rooms
were adorned by mirrors ; the house, in fact, was a
regular jewel, known by the name of " Mon Bijou."
In order to prevent Messieurs les Russes from causing
the disorder they had done in previous places where
they had lived, the Queen removed all the most costly
things.
A few days after the Tsar and his retinue arrived by
river. On the shore the royal couple received them,
the King helping the Tsarina out of the boat. The
Tsar gave the King his hand, exclaiming : " It is
pleasant to meet you, brother Frederick ! " He then
went to the Queen and was about to embrace her,
but she pushed him away. The Empress kissed the
PETROGRAD DURING REIGN OF FOUNDER 71
Queen's hand several times, and afterwards was pre-
sented to the Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg. The
Queen was also introduced to four hundred ladies who
formed the suite — chiefly German young women, serving
as ladies of the Court, chambermaids, cooks or laundry-
women. Most of them carried a gaudily dressed infant
in their arms, and when anyone inquired if the child
was hers, the girl curtsied according to the custom
and replied : " I have received this child by the favour
of the Tsar." As the Queen considered it beneath her
dignity to recognise such people, the Tsarina in revenge
met the princesses of the blood royal coldly ; in fact
the King had great difficulty in persuading her even to
pay them a visit.
" This strange Court I saw on the following day,
when the Tsar and his consort called upon the Queen,
who went out into the ante-chamber of the banqueting-
hall to welcome them. Taking the Tsarina's hand, she
led her into the audience chamber ; the King and the
Tsar followed. As soon as the Tsar caught sight of
me " — Princess Wilhelmina at this time was only
eight years of age — "he remembered me at once, for
he had seen me five years previously ; he took me in
his arms and kissed me so much that he almost rubbed
the skin off my face. I struggled with all my strength,
and boxed his ears again and again, and said that I
would not permit such liberties, which disgraced me,
but the Tsar Peter only laughed heartily, and after-
wards conversed with me for a long time. I had been
taught what I should say beforehand, and I spoke
about his navy and his victories, with the result that
he was delighted, and repeatedly told his wife that he
would willingly give up one of his provinces if he could
only have such a child as I. The Queen and she each
sat in her own fauteuil under the canopy, and I stood
beside the Queen while the princesses stood opposite.
72 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
The Empress was little and fat and of a dark com-
plexion ; she was nothing to look at, and behaved
badly ; you had only to look at her to see that she was
of low origin. Judging from her ridiculous apparel
you might have taken her for a German comedienne.
Her old-fashioned, dirty, silver-bedecked dress must
certainly have been bought in an old-clothes shop.
Her waist in front was adorned with a double-headed
eagle of precious stones ; she also wore a dozen orders ;
round the hem of her petticoat reliques and sacred
pictures were attached, which jingled when she
walked, so that one might imagine it was a mule
trotting. The Tsar, on the contrary, was tall and
stately and handsome ; but there was something brutal
in his countenance which instilled fear. He was
dressed as a simple sailor.
" The Tsarina, who spoke German badly, and had
great difficulty in understanding the Queen, called
her Court fool. This poor creature, a Princess Galitzin,
had assumed the post of fool to save her life, for she
had been mixed up in a conspiracy against the Tsar,
and had been beaten with the knout.
" At last we sat down to the table. The Tsar's
place was next to the Queen. As is well known, this
monarch in his youth had been well-nigh poisoned ;
this had so affected his nerves that he subsequently
had convulsions, and often could not control himself.
While at table he was seized with such grimaces, and
brandished his knife so close to the Queen that she
became terrified and several times wished to leave.
But he begged her to be calm, assuring her that he
would do her no injury ; yet almost in the same instant
he took hold of her hand and grasped it so hard that
she screamed. He laughed heartily, and said that she
had much finer bones than his Catherine. A ball was
to have been held after the dinner, but the Tsar stole
away, and walked alone to Mon Bijou.
PETROGRAD DURING REIGN OF FOUNDER 73
" On the next day the guests were shown the sights
of Berlin, among them a collection of coins and
antique statues. One of the latter, I afterwards
heard, represented a heathen divinity posed in a very
immodest attitude — a rarity, a kind of symbol used
by the Romans to adorn bridal chambers. It roused
the Tsar's especial admiration, and he ordered the
Empress to kiss it ; when she objected, he grew very
angry, and in broken German exclaimed : ' If you do
not obey, I will take your head off ! ' The Empress
was so terrified that she immediately obeyed. He
begged the statue from the King, with several others,
without any shame, and the King could not say no."
(At the same time he took away with him a unique
cupboard inlaid with amber, which had cost Frederick
an enormous sum — to the sorrow of everyone it was
now fated to find a home in Petersburg.)
" Two days after, this barbaric Court departed.
The Queen immediately hastened to Mon Bijou ; it
reminded one of the destruction of Jerusalem. Every-
thing was so spoiled that the whole place had to be
restored from top to bottom ! "
If the reader consults Evelyn's Diary he will find
that Peter left the house he occupied at Greenwich
in a similar state, and chopped a hole through a fine
hedge in the grounds in order to reach his work at
the shipyards more quickly. His threat to take off
Catherine's head was probably no empty one. Had
she resisted him, she might have shared the fate of
many others who had suffered this penalty for in-
curring his uncurbed anger.
On his return from Prussia, Peter introduced many
German reforms in his army, which increased his
unpopularity. To maintain discipline among the
soldiers, he arranged in the square of the fortress a
wooden horse with a sharp back, on which refractory
74 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
soldiers of his Guard were placed ; round it pointed
stakes were set. Chains fastened the hands of the
culprit, who was forced to stand with his feet on the
upturned edges. By the aid of this and other diabolical
punishments the Tsar managed to control his troops.
While in England on a visit he was much interested
in our Parliament and in the speeches he heard there.
He remarked to his courtiers : " It is pleasant to listen
when the sons of the Fatherland speak to the King the
actual truth ; this we can learn of the English." On
his return he founded the Imperial Senate — probably
in the hope of hearing some truth from his councillors
and asking their advice on affairs of state, even if he
did not always intend to follow it. It was about this
time that he instituted his " assemblies," as he called
them, which the ladies of the Court, who still clung
to the old Muscovite ideas of Oriental seclusion, were
obliged to attend. At these receptions they were
treated to tea, mead, preserves, chocolates and lemon-
ade, while the men indulged in more potent drinks.
Soldiers were sent to bring along any ladies who
declined Peter's hospitality, or who despised these
Western fashions.
Petrograd was then in such a chaotic condition that
it was difficult to find the houses of the various citizens,
numbering being non-existent. The streets were so
unsafe that they had to be barricaded at night for fear
of thieves. At each barrier stood a watchman armed,
and, in addition to this, many houses were protected
by palisades against the wolves that prowled during
the hours of darkness. What with the quagmires,
ditches, robbers and frequent floods, it may be im-
agined that Peter's capital was far from popular with
his Muscovite subjects. They regarded Moscow and
Kieff as their sacred cities — not this foreign, heretical
town built by a sovereign whom all true Russians
regarded as Antichrist.
The old Winter Palace, where Peter the Great died
From an engraving of iyi6
PETROGRAD DURING REIGN OF FOUNDER 75
Many beautiful buildings came into existence at this
period, most of them being the work of French and
Italian architects, attracted by the enormous salaries
offered. The names of Count Rastrelli the elder,
Homan, Forster, Herbl, Van-Svetin, Pemone, Mater-
nov and Trezine are thus associated at this stage with
Petrograd, the University or House of the Twelve
Colleges being by the last- mentioned designer. Men-
shikoff, Peter's favourite minister, who began life as
a pie-boy, ordered the facade of the college to front
the Tsar's house ; towards the Neva only four narrow
windows looked out. When the Tsar returned from
abroad and saw this incongruity he was furious, and,
according to his custom, belaboured the back of the
" child of his heart," as he termed Menshikoff, with his
oaken cudgel, which he invariably carried. A well-
known French architect who displeased him is said to
have died from one of Peter's beatings.
In 1713 Peter built his Summer Palace near the
Fontanka Canal, in a garden which formerly belonged
to a Swedish landowner. He was fond of designing, and
drew the plans for many houses himself. On the spot
where the Hermitage Theatre now stands the Winter
Palace was built, and here Peter died, after contracting a
severe chill in saving the lives of some drowning sailors.
Thus ended the career of the strange Emperor who
did not hesitate to sacrifice thousands of lives for the
good, as he supposed, of his country — even his only
son. It is not for us to judge harshly this savage
genius. As he said when criticised : " Let God be my
judge." If Peter did not spare others, he certainly
did not spare himself. The evil that men do lives
after them. If he did evil in building his city in this
unhealthy spot, it will become evident as time advances,
but if it was for the good of his people and country the
benefits that will be derived from his colossal sacrifices
and energy will be his truest justification.
X
STATUES AND MONUMENTS, HISTORICAL MEMORIES AND
SOME SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE CAPITAL
Starting from the Isaac Square, on the left-hand side
of the huge statue of the Tsar Nicholas I., the Grand
Moskaya is approached — a street only about a quarter
of a mile in length, but it contains excellent shops and
many fine buildings. It terminates with a beautiful
arch, surmounted by a chariot and horses, built on
the purest classical lines. This spot has been the scene
of sanguinary encounters between the people and the
Cossacks. The arch connects the wings of an enormous
block which comprises the Foreign Office, the Ministry
of Finance and the Imperial Staff. A curious incident
once happened to me while standing in the doorway
of the building of the Grand Staff chatting with the
secretary of the American ambassador. He was an
Englishman, and used to collect anecdotes for his chief,
which he duly entered in a special book. One of his
stories so tickled my fancy that I burst into a hearty
laugh, to the immense amusement of the bystanders.
People in Russia rarely laugh and sing in the streets
as they often do in London. A police officer near by
was evidently puzzled, and approached me, inquiring
why I behaved so boisterously. I told him that I was
enjoying a joke, and added : " Surely it is not for-
bidden to laugh in Russia ? " The policeman, who
had a great idea of outward decorum, replied, to my
astonishment : " Moshno smejatsja no ne tak gromko "
(You may laugh, but not so loudly) ! After that little
lesson I moderated my expression of amusement when
76
STATUES AND MONUMENTS 77
out of doors, in order not to shock the susceptibilities
of the law.
Opposite the archway is the immense granite monu-
ment erected to the memory of the Emperor Alex-
ander L, who is said to have died in Siberia as a monk.
It is about 100 feet high, and is made from a single
block. No other monolith in the world can be com-
pared to this gigantic column, save perhaps Pompey's
Pillar. On the top stands a bronze angel, one hand
holding a cross, the other pointing to the sky.
On the accession of the Tsar Nicholas the square
jontaining this monument was the scene of a conflict
between the adherents of the Grand Duke Constantine
and those of Nicholas, who was the younger brother.
Part of the Guard was in favour of the Duke, the
remainder stood for Nicholas. The soldiers who were
in favour of Constantine were told to shout " Kons-
tetootzija ! " (A Constitution !) — which they believed
to be the name of the Polish wife of the Grand Duke.
As soon as Nicholas heard this treasonable outcry he
ordered his Guards to fire on the adherents of his
brother. They obeyed, with terrible effect — many of
the opponents were killed — but they did not understand
why they had to shoot. This story, which has a ring
of truth about it, was told to me by the adopted
daughter of the famous General Diebitch, who captured
Constantinople, and who about this time mysteriously
died. This old lady taught me what little German I
know. She was of Polish and German extraction.
The dents made by bullets fired on this occasion in
the surrounding houses can still be seen. Many of
Constantine 's followers, who had become imbued with
progressive and liberal ideas during the long campaign
against Napoleon, were sent to Siberia ; others were
executed. Among these was Colonel Pestal, author of
a beautiful hymn which some of us used to sing in our
childhood, when the unhappy fate of Poland stirred
78 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
every heart. One of Tolstoi's novels, The Decern-
brists, commemorates the many brave officers who fell,
victims to the wrath of Nicholas, for daring to dream
of establishing a constitutional form of government.
But these dark days have passed ; the people are wiser
and know that " Konstetootzija " is not the name of a
woman, but of an ideal form of government which in
course of time they hope to attain. In my opinion,
however, they would be better suited by a series of
republics or grand duchies, based on the model of
ancient Novgorod, Pskoff or Tver, under the control
of a Grand Duke or President. As yet it seems they
are not ready for such a change.
The Emperor Nicholas, who firmly believed in the
divine right of kings, has been so long misunderstood
in England that I trust the reader will forgive me
for stepping aside to give John Maxwell's opinion.
Maxwell, who visited Russia in the fifties, and com-
prehended the " Iron Tsar " more thoroughly than any
other writer I have come across, says :
" Nicholas triumphed, but never could forgive or for-
get this attempt at revolution. A prince by birth and
soldier by education, he was accustomed to command
and be obeyed ; and now he was called to exercise
despotic power the slightest check to his authority,
the slightest murmur of suspicion, awakened his
indignation and called forth all the severity of his
character. . . . The fears of political innovations, of
new political systems and ideas, are constantly forcing
themselves upon him, and to combat these he employs
the most extraordinary measures and exhibits the
most remarkable energy. The military and naval
forces of the Empire surpass in number anything ever
seen before his time in days of peace in Europe.
Ignorant of the causes of this martial spirit and dis-
play, the nations look with apprehension upon the war-
STATUES AND MONUMENTS 79
like preparations of the Tsar. The Police, counting its
thousands and tens of thousands of public and private,
open and secret agents, form another mysterious
element of the Government, while suspicions of all
kinds rest upon the motives and intrigues of Russian
diplomacy in every quarter of the globe. Europe,
however, has been deceived as to this important array
of the military, constabulary and diplomatic regiments
of the autocrat. They are not intended for the final
invasion or final subjugation of the nations. On the
contrary, they are designed to protect Russia from the
attacks of those principles of liberation which seek to
penetrate her borders ; they are employed to arrest
at the threshold those ideas and innovations which
could dispute with the despotism of Nicholas. Europe
has nothing to fear from the armies of the Emperor of
Russia."
Such was the opinion of one of the keenest and most
judicial students of Russian history, and it is worth
considering attentively.
We all know how Nicholas quarrelled with Louis
Napoleon, refusing to recognise him as a brother
sovereign, and afterwards with Lord Stratford de
Ratcliffe, the English ambassador at Constantinople,
who had a personal grudge against the Tsar. The
proposal that Russia should occupy Constantinople
and take over the protection of the Balkan Christians,
and that England should occupy Egypt by way of
compensation, was rejected with scorn, and the
Crimean War, with all its horrors, was the result.
Although that put Russia back fifty years, almost
everything Nicholas strove for has been attained :
the Balkan Christians have been liberated from the
Turkish yoke, Russia's rights and interests in the holy
places of Palestine have been respected, while at this
very moment her army is preparing to set foot in
80 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the long- coveted city. Whether or no this is for the
welfare of the east of Europe is a very important
question which cannot be discussed here.
There are other interesting monuments in Petro-
grad, all with their historical associations — the statue
erected by the town to the Tsar Emancipator on the
Fontanka, the statue of Alexander III. on the Ochta,
in front of the barracks of the Novo-Tcherkask
Regiment, the statue of Baron Wylie, favourite
physician of Nicholas L, with its inscribed pedestal :
" E. V. Wylie (1765-1854), who rendered great service
to the medical profession in Russia, and placed medical
education on a sound footing." A large hospital,
bearing the name of this philanthropic Scotch doctor,
stands on the opposite bank, near the Alexander
Bridge, and several members of this family still live
in the city, Richard Wylie being for some years a well-
known member of the British colony. An excellent
figure of Gogol, the Dickens of Russia, adorns the
Alexander Garden, also one of Kryloff, whose Fables
are held by some critics to equal those of ^Esop.
Catherine has her monument in the large garden to
the right of the Nevsky Prospekt. She is represented
as standing erect, and at her feet her admirers
and favourites are grouped — Roumantzoff, Potemkin,
Souvoroff, Dashkoff and others. This was set up in
1873, as the inscription tells. We must not omit the
fine full-length figure of Admiral Krusenstjerna, on the
Vasilii Ostrpff. For me this has associations, which
need not be detailed, with the name of John Henry
Harrison, an old friend of mine who translated several
Russian classics into English. He and the late Charles
Heath once astonished Nicholas I. by jumping from
the Palace Bridge and swimming down- stream for
a wager. Thinking that both men had committed
suicide, the Emperor sent police to arrest them if
found alive. Discovering that it was merely an
STATUES AND MONUMENTS 81
escapade, he laughed, and repeated the popular saying
to the effect that " all the English are mad ! "
A remarkable institution peculiar to Petrograd is
the " Addresny Stol " (address table), on the Sadovaja,
open almost every day from nine in the morning to
eight o'clock p.m. Here the address of almost any-
body in the city can be obtained for the moderate out-
lay of three copecks — a halfpenny. People who have
been missing for years, but who are known to be
residing in the place, can be found without the least
difficulty. Of course this passport and registry
system is liable to abuse, but it has many advantages,
among them being the facility with which the move-
ments of criminals or suspected persons can be traced
all over the Empire. On the other hand, it has draw-
backs ; it can easily be employed by unscrupulous
people for base purposes. For example : I once
refused to give the address of a handsome young
English girl, a governess, to an inquisitive official
whose sudden interest in my countrywoman aroused
my suspicions. But, in spite of my curt refusal, he
traced her by means of the "Addresny Stol " and the
police, who furnished full particulars of her movements
from the day she left the city to settle in some distant
village.
The town hospitals, I have been informed by medical
men, are in some respects the most up-to-date in
Europe. These vast buildings are supported by a tax
levied on every peasant, working man and woman in
the capital — an equitable system of taxation secured
by simply affixing a stamp to the passport of every
member of the working class once a year, when he or
she goes to the police office to have it vised or renewed.
The expense of the host of officials required to admin-
ister, for instance, the English National Insurance
Act is thus saved. Had the municipal authorities
to support an army of clerks for the collecting and
82 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
tabulating of the tax, there would be very little left
for the hospitals themselves. There is a difference, in
this respect, between the English and Russians. The
English are long-suffering, and as long as a thing is
" the law " you can do what you will with them —
even tax them to their last penny. The Russians are
also patient, but they have no respect for the law, and
evade it whenever they can. Like the Irish, they are
" agin the law," unless it is one made by themselves.
In the country, where every little village makes its
own, the peasants are exceedingly zealous in carrying
out the regulations of the commune ; but I cannot say
that they care much for the rules promulgated by the
tchenoviks (officials).
Although the hospitals are so fine and so well
managed, the people for whose benefit they mainly
exist have a holy terror of using them unless absolutely
compelled to. The moujik dreads the hospital just
as much as our own poor folk dread the workhouse,
but for quite another reason. Ivan Ivanovitch
imagines that in these places they " cut up people "
(lude zarjezoot). Having some vague idea that
doctors often perform post-mortem examinations of
the body — an action which to him is sacrilege — he
believes that they also cut up the living for the
sake of making experiments. Rather than enter such
an " unclean house " (netchesty dom), or undergo the
simplest operation, he prefers death, and many in
consequence do die sooner than risk these unknown
terrors. Notwithstanding these prejudices, there is
no doubt that the municipal hospitals of Petrograd
are worthy of all praise, and should be visited by those
interested in medical science.
In all the town hospitals — the Alexander, Oboo-
cheff, Peter-Paul and St Maria Magdalena — everyone
who has paid the tax, which amounts to one rouble
(2s. Id.) a year, is attended free of charge. Persons
STATUES AND MONUMENTS 83
who have not paid contribute for the first ten days,
Rl.72 (3s. 6d.) ; from ten to twenty days, R3.43
(7s.), and for one month, R5.15 (10s. 3d.). There are
several special hospitals, such as those for women, etc.,
and one is built in memory of Dr Botkin, the late
Emperor's physician, whom I once consulted for a
broken finger. This eminent surgeon, true to his
reputation, wished to amputate it. To this I would
not consent, with the result that I saved the finger,
which still does good service. The Russian doctors
have a world-wide fame. Tarnoffsky, Menshikoff,
Botkin and many more earned for themselves a
reputation over the whole Continent which speaks
well for the future prominence of the country's medical
science.
The apothecaries' and chemists' shops are all under
the supervision of the Crown, and by experts are said
to be unrivalled, both in the quality of drugs supplied
and the care taken in making up prescriptions. Each
quarter of the city has its own special apothecary,
carrying on his business under Government inspec-
tion. Should there be any serious complaints, the
Imperial privilege, or licence for dispensing, is taken
away and bestowed on someone more worthy of
confidence.
The chief clubs of the city are : the English Club, the
Assembly of the Nobles, the Railway Club, the Com-
mercial, the Pedagogue's, the New, the Merchants' and
the "Yacht" Club — the last a very fashionable one,
which used to be much frequented by the grand dukes
and the wealthiest nobles. Large sums of money were
lost and won every night in the big Hunting Club, but
whether this gambling still goes on I do not know.
Dances, masquerades and suppers are often given.
The gaiety begins about ten o'clock and continues
until the small hours. Nothing is omitted to make
these assemblies enjoyable. The tired guests usually
84 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
return between three and four in the morning, but, as
the men have not to be at their offices before ten or
eleven, this turning of night into day does not greatly
interfere with their various vocations. Many of the
leisured classes do not get up until midday.
XI
A TRIP UP THE NEVA
The river may be explored easily by motor boat from
the Admiralty works, or by the small ferry steamers
that ply up and down during the summer. Ascending
the stream, from its mouth, the first object of interest
is the Admiralty building yard, where some of the
navy's largest cruisers have been constructed. Many
a fine vessel, now at the bottom of the ocean, have I
seen leave the stocks here. One, the Hangudd, I saw
launched in the presence of Alexander III. It sank
in the Finnish Gulf during heavy gun practice. Owing
to faulty construction great fissures appeared in the
hull directly the guns were fired, and she foundered. I
fear she is not the only Russian battleship to meet an
untimely end — not in actual fight, but through errors
in design, and also through the peculation which for a
long time played sad havoc with the efficiency of the
navy. Lower down the river, on the opposite bank,
are the Baltic works, near which I first set foot on
Russian soil. Here I was introduced to the -talented
Mr Kaze, the first naval architect to design large armed
merchant cruisers which could go almost round the
world without coaling. He did not disguise from me
that these would be used as commerce destroyers
should England and Russia ever come to blows — a
contingency which then was continually spoken of.
Had it not been for the late Sir Robert Morier this
calamity would have befallen without doubt.
As the Gulf is shallow, it was the custom when I lived
in the capital to float the men-of-war when ready to
the harbour of Cronstadt, where they were fitted with
85
86 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
masts and ordnance; but with the opening of the
Marine Canal, that gigantic work contemplated by-
Peter the Great, this process will become unnecessary.
This canal runs from the left shore of the Gulf from the
river's mouth for a distance of about eighteen miles.
It is about three hundred feet broad and twenty-two
feet deep. At the embouchure a dock has been
excavated to hold as many as forty large steamers.
Here are many huge timber yards, which on the
occasions of the frequent fires present a grand spectacle
— though not a very pleasant one to the English and
Russian shippers. Conflagrations are so prevalent
that it is estimated that the whole of Russia's wooden
buildings burn down every twenty-five or thirty years.
The beautiful drive of the English Quay comes next.
On this are many mansions belonging to the merchants
and the nobility. One of the finest is that of the late
William Clerk, who amassed a large fortune in com-
merce. Before reaching " Dom Clerk," as it is called,
we pass the facade of the English church, surmounted
by a carved angel. This church, which belongs to the
famous Russian Company, is outwardly not much to
boast of, but the interior, with rich decorations and
stained-glass windows, is well worth seeing. Passing
the Koopetchsky Club, the favourite resort of business
men of various nationalities, and several banks, we
arrive at the enormous block occupied by the Holy
Synod, which forms the Isaac Square, in the centre
of which stands the immense cathedral of that name.
Fronting the Neva is the splendid equestrian statue
of Peter, by Falconet. Farther on are the Admiralty
buildings, where formerly was a yard for the building
of Peter's war galleys, also a wharf with ten slips
surrounded by walls and bastions like a fortress,
probably with the object of resisting the attacks of the
Swedes, who had then not given up hope of recovering
the Neva and its outlets into the Baltic. The present
<
ft/r&ferfei
A TRIP UP THE NEVA 87
towering blocks were erected during the reign of
Alexander I.
After the Admiralty, whose gilded spire and classical
frontage can be seen from most parts of the city, comes
the Panaieff Theatre, built by General Panaieff for his
handsome daughter. Close by is the palace of the
Grand Duke Michael the younger (Count Torby), who,
rather than abandon the woman he loved (the Baroness
Torby), quitted Russia and relinquished his rank, title
and privileges.
Opposite the left wing of the Admiralty is the Winter
Palace, facing the fortress of Peter and Paul, and next
to this is one end of the Hermitage, separated from
the main building by a bridge spanning a canal,
not unlike the Bridge of Sighs at Venice. Between
the Winter Palace and the marble palace, built by
Catherine for Orloff, come a number of mansions
occupied by nobles and ambassadors. This part of
the quay is called the Dvortzovaja Nabereshnaja,
and is perhaps the most expensive quarter of the city
as regards rent. On the left, a little past the marble
palace (now used by the Grand Duke Constantine, a
noted patron of the arts and literature), is the Champ
de Mars, at the end of which stands a statue of Souvo-
roff, whose victories in Poland, Prussia, Italy and
Switzerland ranked him as one of the leading soldiers
of his age ; the figure is quite in tune with the simple
and stern character of the man. On its right is the
large red block of the English Embassy. Here many
of our greatest ambassadors have resided, and upheld
the name and fame of their land amid difficulties of
which few people have any conception. Those who
made the greatest impression on me were Lord
Dufferin, Sir Robert Morier and Sir Francis Lascelles ;
their successors I seldom met either in public or
privately. Past this spot, where the fate of England
has more than once trembled in the balance, are the
88 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
beautiful Summer Gardens. By the entrance facing
the river is a votive chapel commemorating the escape
of Alexander II. from the bullet of an angry Pole.
Like other rulers, this monarch suffered for the mis-
deeds of his predecessors.
The Fontanka Canal, once the River Fontanka, is
now seen, spanned by a short arched bridge ; at the
end of the embankment is the Alexander Bridge, one
of Petrograd's finest ; across it lies the Finnish Side,
where dwell thousands of workmen employed by the
big breweries and factories. From the Finnish rail-
way station, near here, excursions can be made to
Ozerke, Lanskaja, Schouvalofva, Pargolova, Terrioki
and many other delightful places on the Finnish State
Line ; also to Wiborg, which for many years was the
frontier between Sweden and Finland and Russia.
The banks of the river are here flanked by mills and
ironworks, the majority facing the stream, which is
usually crowded with barges, heavily laden, from the
interior via the Mariensky and other canals. This
part of Petrograd is known as the Great Ochta, and
used to be a healthy district. It has lost much of its
beauty through the development of the industrial
aspect of the city and the consequent crowding of the
population. Here Count Koosheleva Bezborodkina,
a man of letters and a favourite of Catherine, had his
palace and park. In its glades I have spent many
pleasant hours with Matthew Edwardes, a genial,
hospitable Irishman, son of the late Colonel Edwardes
of Cleethorpe and Grimsby. A considerable portion
of the park was purchased by Caesar Cavos ; he be-
queathed it to his niece, Camille, who married Matthew
Edwardes, my old schoolfellow. Here I often met
Lancere, the famous Russian sculptor, also Alexander
Benois, a noted painter and cousin of the owner. The
exquisite colonnades and fountains that once graced
the grounds have disappeared, and only a classical
A TRIP UP THE NEVA 89
alcove and a small relic or two attest their former
splendour. Opposite this park one gets a sight of the
Smolna Monastery. So many of Petrograd's hand-
some edifices owe their origin to the taste of Italian
artists and architects that it might almost be termed
an Italian city, from some points of view. Wherever
one goes signs of the activity of these descendants of
the ancient Greeks and Romans are visible, but un-
fortunately the stone of which their works are built is
perishable, and the peeling surfaces betray the effect
of the fogs and winds of the north.
The river here is broad and deep and its current
flows strongly. This neighbourhood has seen many
boating mishaps, often fatal. Farther on is the Little
Ochta, once occupied by the Swedish town and the
fortress of Nyshants, which Peter besieged and
captured after its defenders had made a gallant
resistance against overpowering odds — of no avail,
for the Russian troops, encouraged by the presence of
the Tsar in person, forced a capitulation. The rest
of the journey can be made by the Schliisselberg
steamer, the pier of which is not far away.
I once made a charming excursion up the river with
the young Countess Z , accompanied by the sister
of a naval commander who went down with the ill-
fated Petropavlovsk outside Port Arthur. The day
was scorching hot, with hardly a breath of wind
stirring, and hundreds of men, women and children
lined the banks in a state of nature, cooling at intervals
their heated bodies in the cool waters. It was mixed
bathing with a vengeance, and I, not being accustomed
to such a natural state of affairs, did not know which
way to look ; but my fair companions did not seem in
the least disturbed, and regarded the whole panorama
of happy humanity that opened to our view as the
most natural thing in the world. I tried to escape
into the cabin to hide my embarrassment — for I was
90 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
still full of stupid English conventionality. Mention-
ing my feelings to a Russian officer standing near, he
laughed heartily at my insular prejudices, and said I
should take no notice. " Are not the Russian lower
classes veritable Adam's kinder ? " he asked. " Adam's
children " they are, without a doubt !
Before reaching Schliisselberg comes the chateau of
Prince Potemkin, now desolate and forlorn, as though
lamenting the fall of its ambitious owner. This is
an excellent spot for a picnic, or the centre of an
excursion.
\
XII
THE FORTRESS OF PETER AND PAUL
The fortress of the city, a low-lying structure built by
Trezine, and one of the oldest landmarks, has ever
since its foundation been the scene of tragic events in
Russia's history. Here Alexis, Peter's misguided son,
was done to death, it is said, by order of his father.
In one of the lower cells the lovely Princess Tara-
kanoffva, Peter's granddaughter, whom I have already
mentioned, was imprisoned. Prince Kropotkine and
many famous Nihilists have been incarcerated here,
but of recent years it has lost its importance as a
State prison, for as a rule the more dangerous persons
are confined at Schliisselberg or exiled to Siberia.
Although designed and built by Trezine, Peter's lead-
ing ministers and advisers — Menshikoff, Narishkin
and Troubetskoi — assisted, and in their honour several
of the principal bastions received their present names.
At first the walls were simply earthworks, but as soon
as possible these were faced with granite and brick.
The cannon mounted upon them can be fired by
electricity.
Situated exactly opposite the Winter Palace, its
guns command this and nearly all the palaces on the
other shore. During the " blessing of the waters,"
a ceremony which takes place every Easter, the guns
are discharged in celebration. On one of these
occasions a " mistake " was made and a ball cartridge
was used from a certain point, with the result that
a shot fell in the midst of the Imperial procession;
a bystander was killed, and the Tsar himself had a
narrow escape. Whether this happened by design or
9*
92 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
accident I have never discovered, but it was quite
likely to have been one of the many Nihilist attempts
which disturbed the beginning of the present Tsar's
reign.
Schliisselberg, which is under the department of
State Police and the Minister of Justice, is now the
Bastille of the Russian Empire ; here political
offenders are imprisoned by Imperial order, and only
set free by Imperial consent. How many are now
confined I cannot say ; in my capacity of foreign
correspondent I was naturally not allowed to inspect
such matters too closely. Several professors who
taught in the same school as myself were imprisoned,
and afterwards deported to Archangel and Vologda,
for taking part in the social revolution and supporting
a journal called The Will of the People (Narodny Void).
One of them seemed a most harmless individual, and
had become noted by his writings on geology. Both
his sisters, who shared his political views, were arrested
at the same time, but I believe were soon liberated.
A Russian journalist whom I knew very well suffered
arrest on suspicion of belonging to the Nihilistic
revolutionary party. He, however, was exceedingly
well treated by his gaolers, being allowed wine and
cigars — most unusual luxuries ; possibly, as he was
only a suspect, an exception was made in his case.
On being set free, my friend was so pleased with his
experience that he joined the " Tsarsky Ochran," a
body of special secret police whose duty is to protect
the Tsar's person whenever he leaves the palace or
travels from home.
There are many branches of the Secret Police in
Russia. I am informed that in all its members number
about 30,000. In time, by dint of close observation,
I used to be able to recognise one when I met him —
though this was not always possible, for they turn
up in most unexpected places and upon all sorts of
THE FORTRESS OF PETER AND PAUL 93
occasions. At Domenico's, an Italian restaurant
opposite the Kazan cathedral, they often drank tea
and read the newspapers, at the same time keeping a
sharp eye on students and others who haunted this
favourite cafe.
The Petrograd fortress was built chiefly by Swedish
prisoners and Russian workmen, and in some respects
is reminiscent of the Kremlin at Moscow, for it con-
tains within its walls the Mausoleum of the Tsars, the
Mint and many national treasures. One of these is
called " The Grandfather of the Russian Navy " — a
boat which was found by Peter in 1691 at a small
village near Moscow. On the model of this little craft,
I believe, many of Peter's first vessels were constructed
at the Admiralty wharves.
There are three gateways, over which the double-
headed eagle sprawls in all its magnificence : the
Peter Gate (adorned by a leaden eagle over a ton in
weight), and the Nevsky and Nekolsk gateways. At
the rear is one other, called the Johannoffsky Vorot,
after Johann IV., whose tragic end I will allude to
later.
One of the most curious duties of the Commandant
is the opening of the navigation of the Neva, every
year, with a certain fixed ceremonial i He first rows
across the river in his galley, delivers a report to the
Tsar, and hands to his Majesty a tankard of Neva
water — which it is to be hoped he is not rash enough
to drink. The Tsar returns the compliment by filling
the tankard with good wine, and this part of the
ritual we may suppose the Commandant thoroughly
appreciates.
The church of the fortress of Petrograd, built by
Peter in 1714, raises its fine copper spire 122 feet
above the frowning bastions, and is the last resting-
place of all the tsars from the time of its founder — the
Muscovite rulers who preceded him being, with a few
94 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
exceptions, buried within the sacred precincts of the
Kremlin. Over each grave of the Romanoff tsars
and grand dukes in this Petro-Pavlovsk church is a
massive slab of plain marble, surmounted by a golden
eagle. They are all extremely simple, as though in
death these high-born ones sought the peace which in
life was often denied to them. Some of the tombs —
there are fifteen emperors and empresses and twenty-
two members of the royal family — bear the favourite
icons of the departed, or some other significant object.
On the grave of Peter the Great, for instance, lies
the flag of Kapoodan Pasha, the commander of the
Turkish fleet at the battle of Tchesma. This trophy
was placed here by Catherine II. as a recognition of
Peter's work in founding the Russian fleet. She was
his great admirer, and did her best to follow in his foot-
steps? — when it was consistent with her comfort and
safety. Other parts of this cathedral are decorated
with silver and gold wreaths, formerly deposited on
the tombs. Many of them were originally placed on
that of the popular but unfortunate Tsar Alexander II.,
who will always be held in grateful remembrance by
the people. The last time I visited this historic
edifice I witnessed a touching sight. I saw the
Princess Dolgorouki entering, to pray at the grave
of the man she loved and worshipped. Many have
blamed Alexander II. for marrying the Princess ;
they forget that she was descended from one of the
first Grand Dukes of Moscow, and from Vladimir
Monamach, who wedded Guida, the daughter of the
brave King Harold of England, killed at Hastings.
The Princess came of the old Varangian Dynasty that
governed Russia before the Tartar invasions, and long
before the Romanoffs — who are said, by the way, to
be of either German or Scottish origin. 1
1 According to the most trustworthy Russian histories, the Romanoffs
are descended from an old German family of merchants, who were called
Romanoff after they had been ennobledi
■
The Fortress Church of
SS. Peter and Paul
r
THE FORTRESS OF PETER AND PAUL 95
Close to the fortress is the "Cathedral of the Life-
giving Trinity," built by Peter in 1703, to commemo-
rate the founding of the city. It was here that the
Tsar sang and assisted in the divine service on the
anniversary of the battle of Pultava, also on the day
of his angel (his name-day) — which all Russians
consider as important as their birthday. Near the
Troitska Church is the famous " palace," or rather
hut, of Peter. In honour of his rank it is dignified
with the former name. It is difficult to see in this
little house, about sixty-three feet by twenty-one, con-
sisting of only two rooms, a palatial residence for such
a monarch ; but, as I have said, this man of volcanic
passions and sudden impulses loved small apartments
and tiny cottages, although he was of goodly stature
and a giant in strength. In Cronstadt, at the end of
the island, stands an old villa, which I have often visited,
which Peter inhabited, and in which he had a sleeping-
room of even smaller dimensions than the one in his
" palace." During the reign of Catherine the hut was
enclosed in a stone casing with a view to its preserva-
tion. Nicholas L, in order to show his respect for his
great predecessor, constructed a small chapel which
contains the miracle-working icon of Peter, which he
took with him on all his campaigns. This relic is held
in great respect by the people, and on almost any day
poor peasants may be seen crossing themselves and
praying before it.
The second room was Peter's working cabinet, and
the various objects in it — cupboards, chairs, etc. —
were all made by his own hands. Near the cottage is
a boat, with oars, also made by him. He was not only
a skilled carpenter, shipwright and blacksmith, but an
expert turner and wood-carver. It is a wonder to all
who study his career how he ever found the time to
rule his enormous Empire and yet to do all these things
so well.
96 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
In the immediate neighbourhood of the fortress
is the extensive Alexander Park, containing the Zoo-
logical Gardens and other places of amusement, but
of these resorts, which are crowded with pleasure-
seekers in the summer, I must speak in another
chapter.
The Fortresses of Schlusselberg
Schliisselberg, called by the Swedes Noteburg and
by the Novgorodians Oraycha, was taken by Count
Sheremeteff from Sweden in the days of Charles XII.
For centuries it has been regarded as important, for it
commands the Ladoga entrance of the Neva, and the
canals. Ever since Prince Kropotkine escaped from
the fortress of Peter and Paul, this stronghold has been
used for the confinement of " politicals " of note, who
are sent here by the Tsar's especial command. It is
said that there are dungeons or casemates in the
former which only the Tsar, the Chief of Police and
the Minister of the Interior have the right to enter.
Schlusselberg, however, is under the direct control of
the Minister and the Department of State Police.
This place was the scene of the murder of Johan
Antonovitch by the adherents of Catherine, who also
murdered her husband at the palace of Ropcha. It
is said that this crime was committed by the brothers
Orloff and a Count Barjatinsky. I have often seen the
spot where Catherine sat when the news was brought
to her of her husband's death " from apoplexy." In
Russia many eminent men have come to a sudden
end through this mysterious complaint, when those in
power thought they would be better out of the way.
More than one novelist has described the history
of the unhappy Tsar, who was imprisoned by the
followers of the Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of
Peter the Great. Entirely forgotten by the Empress
THE FORTRESS OF PETER AND PAUL 97
and her callous suite, he wasted slowly away in a dark
dungeon. Peter III., however, her successor, was
desirous of seeing his rival, who had already spent
twenty-four years in prison, and, impelled more by
curiosity than by pity, ordered the door of the cell to
be opened. The strange object thus exposed for the
first time for many years to the light of day, " that
had once been a man," was so weakened and wasted
that one would imagine there could be no possible
danger in setting it at liberty. Those who were
present on this curious occasion state that the two
Emperors for a long time regarded one another fixedly,
but what speech they exchanged has not been set on
record. No mercy, at any rate, was shown to the
unfortunate sufferer ; orders were immediately given
that the guards should be increased, that his conduct
should be minutely watched, and that everything
should be at once reported to the Tsar if he showed
any signs of liveliness. Three months after this his-
toric event Peter III. himself was assassinated. The
prisoner of Schliisselberg soon followed him into the
next world. Two months after an attempt was made
by a Polish officer named Merovitch to rescue the un-
happy man, whose only crime was that he had a better
right to the throne than the usurpers. Merovitch
and his soldiers managed to break through, but when
they entered the cell they found him lying dead on the
floor. All the dangers they had risked in vain, for it
transpired afterwards that a standing order existed
to the effect that the imprisoned Tsar should be killed
directly any rescue was attempted. In 1875 an inter-
esting novel describing this event was published, but
at once suppressed. In English, however, there exists
a similar novel, founded on the diary of a Scottish
officer who witnessed the affair and commemorated
Merovitch's unselfish exploit. Russian history is full
of such tragedies.
98 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
More than once I have walked the broad, dusty
streets of Schliisselberg, but naturally have never been
able to see the interior of the dread fortress. How
many prisoners it still contains I do not know ; they
say that even the Commandant himself does not hear
the names of those in his keeping — they are only known
to the Minister of the Interior.
As a rule these State prisoners never leave the place
alive ; frequently they go mad through solitary con-
finement. Political misdemeanants, in Russia gener-
ally termed arrestantes, except when the country is
under martial law (which is more often the case than
is supposed), are sent to the governments of Arch-
angel, Vologda, Yakutsk, or to the terrible island of
Saghalien, which was inhabited by three thousand
murderers of both sexes. C. H. Hames, in a lecture
before the Anglo-Russian Society in 1903, stated that
he met on this hopeless island " a highly educated
lady, who as a girl student was arrested at the time
of the assassination of Alexander II. After spending
ten years in the dungeons of the Peter and Paul Fort-
ress, she was deported to Saghalien for twenty years."
The most desperate criminals of the Empire are sent
there, at ordinary times. In Russia the death penalty
is seldom inflicted, save for political offences directly
against the Government — which in official eyes are
unpardonable. Even members of the Duma are not
exempt from chains and exile to Siberia, and if the
representative of the people can be treated so harshly,
what can the ordinary citizen expect ? We must
remember that Russia is two hundred years behind the
rest of Europe. In the days of the Stuarts we treated
political offenders just as cruelly, and decapitated a
man for an offence which now would hardly be con-
sidered worthy of imprisonment.
Life in this exile is rendered more awful by the
intense cold, and the absence of any civilising influence
THE FORTRESS OF PETER AND PAUL 99
in the bleak, desolate wastes, often a thousand miles
from the nearest town or station. Most of these spots
have terrible climates, and if a prisoner is not so for-
tunate as to succumb to the frost and hardship, the
monotony and dreariness often drive him insane.
Very few people escape, when once exiled, unless
assisted by the settlers, who sometimes sympathise.
What with the marshy tundras, the dense taigas (virgin
forests) and their wild wolves, tigers and bears, the
biting winds, broad rivers and endless plains, it is
almost impossible to escape and live.
In spite of the Department of State Control and its
inspectors, who travel up and down the country in-
vestigating abuses, it is easy for the officers of a prison
to maltreat the men in their charge. In view of the
shocking behaviour of certain brutal governors and
officials in the distant provinces, the Emperor a few
years ago ordered one of his Ministers, General Popoff,
to make an inspection of one of the mines where
prisoners work in chains, and while there to note how
they were treated by the warders. The Tsar's com-
mission also was that a society should be formed to
look after the children of persons transported. The
most interesting fact connected with this general's
duties is that he had to send in his report to Madame
Narishkine, lady-in-waiting to the Empress. Had it
gone through the hands of officials probably it would
never have reached the Tsar. Many documents of
this nature get mysteriously lost or delayed in Russia !
The procedure of sending " politicals " and criminals
to Siberia, where many of the latter live among the
colonists and contaminate these people with their
ideas, seems a serious mistake of judgment. As the
Siberian colonists become more enlightened and more
moral, they will resent the presence of so many
desperate characters — just as the settlers in Botany
Bay did — and will probably refuse ultimately to suffer
100 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
this indignity. The criminal classes should be segregated
in Saghalien or some other large island, so that they need
not come in contact with the rest of the population.
Another island or district should be set apart for " politi-
cals " of the most rabid and unreasonable type, where
they might be allowed to carry out their ideals — some
of which are, of course, quixotic and impracticable —
without upsetting the rest of the community. In this
way everyone could be satisfied — even the evil-doers,
who could get rid of one another if they wished, and
thus be prevented from perpetuating their species.
The last time I visited Schliisselberg was on a hot
summer's day — so hot that there seemed hardly any
life in the long, straggling village called courteously a
town. Only the boys in the streets seemed alive ;
they all played at babkee with the vertebrae of
sheep — a minor sport resembling ninepins. Pigs lay
fast asleep by the roadside, and on. barges tired men
stretched like logs, taking the universal siesta. This
midday rest is common throughout the land in the
summer months, when the heat and dust are almost
tropical. One or two drunken moujiks, singing,
wandered aimlessly about, and a few women, un-
occupied with household tasks, retailed to each other
the latest village gossip, or told of some wonderful
miracle, or of the mysterious appearance of the Evil
One in some neighbouring hamlet. The few persons
I could see thus seemed happy, each in his or her own
way — drowsy men, intoxicated peasants, chattering
women and even the sleeping pigs and the children.
How many of them ever gave a thought to the life
of long-drawn-out misery of those deep in the huge
fortress just over the water ! They did not think ;
therefore they were happy. Those imprisoned so close
by did nothing but think, and therefore suffered
terribly. If you would be happy in Russia, it is best
not to think overmuch.
XIII
THE MODERN CITY AND THE PEOPLE
Of all the streets in Petrograd the Nevsky is the most
important and interesting. It is like the Strand of
London in one sense. If you wish to meet a friend,
you stroll up and down the Nevsky, and sooner or later
you will probably see him doing the same saunter in
the broad, animated, pleasant thoroughfare. In the
winter, when the merchants and the nobility are in
town, this highway is at its best. Officers gallop along
the fine " prospekt " at a furious speed that would not
be permitted in England ; but Russian riders and
drivers are expert, invariably surprising strangers
with the dexterity of their handling of the spirited
steeds — which are frequently stallions. They drive
standing upright on the shafts, holding in the three
horses they guide like ancient Roman charioteers
racing round the arena. Even mere boys are clever
drivers, learning the art in their villages almost as soon
as they are able to stand alone. The finest carriage
horses in Russia are the beautiful black Orloff steeds,
which were introduced into Petrograd by the cele-
brated favourite of Catherine. The majority of the
equipages are harnessed in the troika fashion — three
horses abreast ; sometimes four are attached to a
sledge, with splendid effect. The Imperial coachmen
are generally attired in fine blue or crimson uniforms,
richly decorated with gold and silver braid. Before
the revolutions the Tsar and Tsarina often drove
through the streets with an unusually brilliant turn-
out, and since the war began the Tsar has regained his
popularity, venturing out as of old among his subjects.
IOI
102 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
In olden times the Emperor Nicholas was frequently
seen on the Nevsky coolly smoking a cigar. I have
never seen the present Tsar on foot in the main
thoroughfares, but have often met the Grand Dukes,
although they appeared thus in public at the risk of
their lives. When our own King George visited
Petrograd he strolled many a time along the Nevsky
Prospekt and other streets, to the great surprise of the
people, who took him for their own ruler, and could
not understand what this sudden publicity meant.
That they should make this mistake is not a cause for
wonder, when we remember the astonishing resem-
blance between the two royal cousins. I am told that
on one occasion of the Tsar's stay at Windsor the
citizens there made a similar error, presenting, with
their Mayor, a petition to the Tsar as he walked in the
Castle grounds. When the visitor discovered that he
had been taken for the King, he was much amused,
and no doubt envied our monarch his freedom.
A building to be especially noted on the Nevsky is
the Gosteny Dvor, an enormous two-storeyed bazaar
containing innumerable shops, in which almost every
imaginable fabric or ware can be bought. When I
first arrived in Russia most purchases here were pre-
ceded by a system of bargaining common to all Oriental
lands. You began by offering half the price demanded,
and then leaving the shop in apparent disdain. The
shopman or his assistant would probably follow you
several hundred paces down the bazaar, imploring you
to take the goods, as he was selling them at a third of
their value for your own sweet sake. After another
talk the man, if he thought you were likely to be
obdurate, would suddenly haul down the flag by saying
that he would let it go at a loss in the hope that you
would patronise his establishment on some future
occasion. The comedy progressing, he would return
with you to the counter, sell you the article at the
u*
C
^
^
r-
2*.
C/J
y
25
<
<
t*.
~
<
<
:_/
Q,
c
y
_:
-•"
>_!
C
V.
-
1—-
C/5
^
X
£
<
a
THE MODERN CITY AND THE PEOPLE 103
reduced figure, and, when you had gone, cross himself
before his favourite icon, thanking his patron saint for
a profit of twenty or thirty per cent., and praying that
some more foolish foreigners (Njemtzee) who had no
idea of value might be sent his way. In Cracow, I
recollect, the process was still more complicated and
exciting, for as I passed along the shopping district I
was hailed by a dozen pretty Cracovian Jewesses, who
ran after me, holding me by the coat-tails, beseeching
me not to be hard-hearted, but to buy their goods.
As these ladies and the Poles are famous for their
beauty of form and feature, I had no objection to their
plaints, or even to being called hard-hearted, especi-
ally as I knew the accusation was a libel on my
character. As the Russians become more Westernised
this practice of bargaining is dying out. In many
shops one sees the notice " Prix Fixe," which effectively
puts an end to all such amusing adventures.
I used at one time to visit the Gosteny Dvor
(" Guests' Yard " is the real meaning of the words)
every week, in the hope of picking up rare old pictures,
silver, coins or drinking vessels. Occasionally a
shock-headed Cossack from the Don, having spent all
his roubles in cards and vodka, would sell his family
treasures — drinking cups dating from the days of
Catherine, old French snuff-boxes jewelled with pearls
and diamonds, captured from officers and generals
of the Grand Army, or similar items of tempting value.
Once I was just on the point of securing some of these
things, but while I was absent to fetch the needful
cash a French lady came and gathered in the plunder
— to my immense disappointment, for I had not been
long away. On my return, inquiring for the treasures,
she joyfully exclaimed : " Plus tard, Monsieur, plus
tard ! " and remarked that I was not the only one who
understood the value of bric-a-brac. She was right.
As soon as it became known in London and Berlin that
104 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
such lucky finds were to be made in Petrograd the
antiquity dealers sent their agents and bought up
everything worth having. These agents are now
always on the look out, and it seldom happens that
a stranger chances on anything of real value. Before
the bazaar-keepers became so wise one of my country-
men used to make an income of at least £500 a year
by purchasing in this way old pictures, plate and other
things at these centres.
It is estimated that the Gosteny Dvor contains
about a thousand shops, filled with all kinds of
merchandise, and the Alexander Rinok, a resort of the
Jews, as many more. Here beautiful lace made by
the peasants of the interior may be purchased, linen
from Kostroma, Orenburg shawls of lovely design,
lacquer-work, the manufacture of which is still a
secret, and fine gold and silver enamel- work, believed
to have been introduced by the Varangians or taken
from Byzantium. Icons, too, of every description [are
sold. Many of these are exceedingly beautiful, and
their hanging lamps make them an ornament fit for
any room — though they are put, one thinks, to better
use by the devout, whose erring thoughts turn to
heavenly things when they look on the representations
of Christ and the saints.
This huge bazaar is divided into " Lines," which are
named after the class of goods formerly sold in each
part — sometimes even now peculiar to each row of
shops ; thus the row or line opposite the Nevsky
Prospekt is called the " Clock Line." That looking
toward the Sadovaja (Garden Street) is known as the
" Glass " or " Mirror " Line, and so on. This, how-
ever, is now chiefly given over to jewellers and their
exquisite stocks. It seems that most of these Russian
bazaars are arranged in the same manner as were
the old bazaars in the days of the Hanseatic League,
when from all over Europe the merchants of the Hansa
THE MODERN CITY AND THE PEOPLE 105
came to make their purchases at Novgorod the Great,
the forerunner of Petrograd and the commercial rival
of Moscow. This town was so prosperous that when
Ivan the Terrible conquered it he spent many days in
destroying the shops, torturing and killing the citizens.
Its wealth may be imagined from the fact that in 1478,
when the National Council was dissolved, three hundred
cartloads of gold, silver and precious stones were con-
veyed to Moscow. Its population was about 400,000.
Pskoff, its sister city, shared the same fate, being
almost equally prosperous. The world-famed bazaars
of Novgorod and Pskoff are no more ; the wealth has
gone to other cities ; but we can gather an idea of what
they were from the busy centres of Petrograd and
Moscow. Merchants come from all parts of Europe
to buy furs, cloth, precious stones, spices and goods
for which the land of Russ has been famous for
centuries.
The best time to see the Gosteny Dvor is just
before the prazniks, or holidays. There are many in
Russia, for the people do not believe in too much work
— keeping saints' days and " name-days " is far more
important, for by due observance of the ordinances
of the Church one not only does good to one's soul,
but makes sure of an everlasting habitation in the next
world. So argues the simple-minded Russian. With
all his devotion he does not, as a rule, grow any richer.
He observes so many holidays, in fact, that with his
poor pay I wonder sometimes that he manages to exist
at all. The Christmas holiday is an especially lively
time. The whole space in front of the Nevsky is
covered with a small forest of fir-trees, from the tiny
sapling, a few inches in height, to Christmas trees of
the real old-fashioned style. Toys, presents and deco-
rations for these can all be obtained. The peasants
of the interior spend a large part of their time in
making such trifles. They continue the ancient
106 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
handicrafts which in England unfortunately are dying
out, owing to the competition of factories, whose
articles are neither original in design nor lasting.
At other seasons of the year I have seen peasants
bring numberless cages of tiny birds to the town to sell.
Aware of the tender spot in every Russian heart for
the "little brethren," as they term dumb creatures,
they well know that the majority of their customers
set the little songsters at liberty directly, regarding it
as a sin to treat God's creatures thus. At all holiday
times the noise in front of the Gosteny Dvor is deafen-
ing ; the proprietors spare neither their own voices
nor the ears of their customers in extolling their wares
and shouting down competitors. The droshky-drivers
join in, beseeching you, cap in hand, calling you any
title — High-born or General are favourites — by which
they think to please, at the same time making dis-
paraging remarks about the horses of their rivals and
entering into unnecessary details concerning the sex
and qualities of their own steeds in the most natural
manner in the world. If this does not secure the desired
effect — your valuable patronage — they will give still
further particulars, which Englishwomen who chance
to hear will happily not understand. If they could,
the colour would rush to their cheeks at such unwonted
familiarity from that child of nature — the Russian
moujik.
Opposite this famous emporium, on the Sadovaja
Street, is the Imperial Library, built about the be-
ginning of this century. It contains more than
million books, among them many of priceless value.
Enriched by the plunder of old cities, its manuscripts
are unique. It has the Codex Sinaticus, one of the very
earliest Biblical MSS., discovered by Tischendorff in
the monastery of Mount Sinai. Documents throwing
much light on the Varangian invasion and colonisation
of ancient Russia are also in this collection. With the
THE MODERN CITY AND THE PEOPLE 107
increasing knowledge of the Russian tongue it will be
made more accessible to foreign nations, who will find
in it many records elucidating their own olden customs.
It contains the collection of the Polish republic,
brought to Petrograd by Souvoroff, who at the
same time secured many of the hideous statues now
" decorating " the Summer Gardens. A copy of every
book printed in Russia is deposited here, in accordance
with the regulations of the censors, who make it their
especial care to see that the people are not allowed to
read any work which they consider might be injurious
to the interests of the State or of society. A letter of
Jean Jacques Rousseau is one of the rarities, acquired,
I believe, by Catherine II. The Koran of Mahomet
and the Prayer Book of Mary Stuart, which she used
on the scaffold, are two others, though how the latter
came here is a problem to me, seeing that this book is
claimed to be in the possession of the Fathers of Stony-
hurst College, Lancashire, where I saw it with my own
eyes in the winter of 1914.
There are other notable collections in the city.
Among them may be mentioned the libraries of the
Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Arts, the
Artillery Museum, the Military-Medical Academy,
the Conservatoire of Music, the Naval Museum in
the Admiralty buildings, and the Pedagogic Museum.
Besides these, various learned societies possess libraries
open to the public on certain days.
Many of the treasures of the Imperial Library came
from Catherine's famous Hermitage. Maxwell, in his
excellent work on Russia, which holds good in most
respects at the present time, says : " The MSS. from
Persia and every part of Asia are exceedingly valuable
and interesting. Some of the Latin writings of the
fifth, sixth and seventh centuries are richly illumin-
ated and adorned with arabesques. A Codex con-
taining the four evangelists on purple vellum, in letters
108 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
of gold, with marginal notes in silver characters, is
said to be the work of the Empress Theodora; this
precious document was taken by the Russians during
their campaign in Asia Minor in 1829. There is an
extraordinary collection of Romances, of the original
correspondence and love letters of the kings and
queens of France and Scotland, for centuries before
the Revolution ; these were saved from destruction
and purchased for a trifle by Dabroffsky, after the
taking of the Bastille, and transferred by him to the
Imperial Academy. Among the curiosities of this
assortment of royal penmanship is a writing exercise
of Louis XIV., copied by him many times ; it runs as
follows : c Le Rois font ce qu'ils veulent ; il feaut leur
obeir ! ' "
It is said that Ivan the Terrible had a fine library,
the contents of which were derived from the various
cities he sacked — Novgorod, Tver, Pskoff, Kazan, etc.
What has become of the Greek and Roman MSS. that
he undoubtedly owned nobody has yet discovered;
perhaps some day they will be found in the archives
of one of the monasteries or churches he built as
expiation for his numberless crimes. The Russians
are supposed to have carried away many literary
treasures after their occupation of Mukden in the
Russo-Japanese War. It was stated in the Press at
the time that among these were several Greek and
Roman parchments taken by Attila after he sacked
Rome and other cities of the Empire. If this report is
correct, it is to be hoped that the MSS. will soon be
made public.
I have been tempted into a digression from the
Nevsky Prospekt, which deserves a chapter to itself.
It begins opposite the Admiralty, and continues in an
almost unbroken straight line for three miles to the
Alexander Nevsky Monastery, the broadest, longest
and liveliest highway of the city. It passes through
THE MODERN CITY AND THE PEOPLE 109
seven different quarters, and is adorned by the most
sumptuous shops and emporiums. The majority of
Petrograd's streets are still paved with rough, primitive
cobbles, which cause all vehicles to shake and rattle
loudly, to the joy of their drivers, who imagine that
the more noise and clatter they make the more they
are exerting themselves. The Nevsky and the Grand
Moskaja, however, are set with neat octagonal wood
blocks, forming a smooth and level surface, over which
driving or riding is a pleasure.
At one time the Nevsky was the favourite residential
quarter for the well-to-do classes, but they have now
migrated to more quiet neighbourhoods, for the life
of the city is concentrated in and round this fine
promenade. In the morning thousands of officials
hastening to their posts give it the first signs of
activity ; about one o'clock, in the lunch-hour, it
becomes comparatively silent. Between four and
five it wakens for the evening. The officials, after
consuming innumerable cigarettes and much tea
flavoured with lemon, during the discussion of the
latest ballet or the last rubber of " vint," hasten
homeward to their dinner. As night approaches, the
youth of the town and the ladies of the pavement
stroll about — gay young officers, students from the
university, clerks from the banks, and a sprinkling
of greybeards who ought to know better, throng the
pavements. The butterflies, who are the chief cause of
this promenading, are not gaily dressed as in England
or Germany, nor do they powder and paint ; they are
noted for their unassuming demeanour and quiet
costumes. They never sink to the low level of
degradation of the prostitutes of other large Western
cities, partly because drink rarely coarsens them,
partly because they have always a chance of regaining
their lost social position by marriage or by reform.
In Russian eyes they are merely " unfortunate," not
110 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
"fallen." The teachings of Christ and his compassion
to Mary of Magdala are ever in the mind of the true
Russian when he is prone to condemn. Thanks to
this spirit of sympathy, many a woman of this class is
rescued and married by some broadminded or warm-
hearted merchant or officer. In most European
countries this would, of course, be impossible. On
once expressing my surprise to a Russian merchant, he
replied : " Why not ? What are we men that we should
cast a stone at a poor weak woman ? " The answer
silenced me, for I felt that he was in the right.
Although Petrograd cannot be called a moral city, one
never sees the street parades that are so terrible, yet
so familiar, in London ; the excellent police regula-
tions tend to segregate to certain quarters this portion
of the population. Owing to the amative nature of
the Russian people and the presence of the Guard,
numbering 250,000 men, in and around the capital,
prostitution is very prevalent. In 1899 about 5000
women were registered as belonging to the unfortunate
class, and the number now must be far greater.
Probably double the registered number are secretly
engaged in prostitution, but escape the vigilance of
the authorities. The majority, however, are relegated
to the houses of ill fame, for which Petrograd is
notorious. These are under the supervision of the
police and the medical committees. Were it not so,
disease would be rife, for the ignorance and careless-
ness of consequences of the lower classes is astounding.
In Russia it is realised that as long as human beings
congregate in cities this evil will never be eradicated ;
measures are therefore taken to keep it within limits
and reduce it to a minimum, thus protecting the more
moral section of the population. The prohibition of
vodka and the rapid spread of the temperance move-
ment is accomplishing more toward this desirable end
than all the laws and regulations can do.
THE MODERN CITY AND THE PEOPLE 111
As to other forms of immorality, robbery, swindling
and even murder are sadly prevalent, especially in the
manufacturing districts of the capital. Manslaughter
is common in the Finnish quarter, for the Finns are
hot-tempered, revengeful and fond of fighting with
their sheath-knives (pukkies) whenever the police are
absent ; they resent an insult and will draw blood for
it, when the good-natured moujik would simply get
rid of his anger in a torrent of denunciations and oaths
— relieving his feelings and harming no one in particular.
Not so the Finn, when the wild Turanian temper of his
forefathers is roused ; the sharp, swift weapon is out
in a moment, and so many deaths have resulted from
its use that they are now forbidden to carry the knife,
under threat of heavy penalties.
Suicide is admittedly frequent in Petrograd, and
the number of people who make away with themselves
is surprising. Among all classes it is common, and
even school-children will destroy themselves some-
times if they fail in an examination. The reasons are
often political. Persons suspected by the police, or
wishing to escape the wrath of the secret revolutionary
committees when failing to carry out some order, will
take this way out of their troubles. I shall not easily
forget the loss of one of my pupils, a handsome young
cadet, who committed suicide because he could not
get into the Lyceum, the first educational academy of
the country. The youth who can pass with honour
the Government examinations often has the prospect
of an easy or brilliant future ; but as this is impossible
without a diploma or distinction in certain preliminary
tests, the failure to secure this has marred many a
man's entire career.
Crimes of passion are frequent. Young men and
women I have known well have sought death when
their union has been forbidden by parents, or when
their means were insufficient to marry. The tragedy
112 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
of Romeo and Juliet is continually being enacted in
some portion of the Russian Empire, especially in the
south, where the people are more passionate, romantic,
poetical and given to moods of alternate elation and
despair. About ten years ago, after the collapse of
the revolution, there occurred a regular epidemic of
suicide in Petrograd and Moscow, and the tendency
took many strange forms — swallowing the tops of
phosphorous matches, drinking vitriol, or self-immola-
tion after saturating the clothes with petroleum.
The commonest practice was for the would-be suicide
to throw himself or herself from a lofty bridge into the
river, or from a high window to the pavement beneath.
The moujik will often look on at these tragedies with-
out attempting to render assistance — an attitude
which arises, not from callousness, but from the
general feeling that life is of little value, and that if a
man falls into the water it is " the will of God " that
he should die, therefore it is almost sinful to interfere.
Near the part of the Nevsky which forms the
favourite haunts of the gay promenaders the Vladi-
mirsky Prospekt intersects it, deriving its name from
the Church of Vladimir, built during the reign of
the Empress Elizabeth and finished by Catherine II.
After the Nevsky the finest thoroughfare is the Letay-
naja Street, so called from the cannon foundries at
one end of it. This is flanked by splendid houses and
public buildings, and, as it stands on rather high
ground, is free from the intermittent inundations
which trouble the lower parts. Near here is the
Nicholai Railway Station, erected during the reign of
Nicholas I., who planned the line connecting Petro-
grad and Moscow, the old capital. When the
engineers showed that monarch their designs for the
route, with many curves and twists, he objected
strongly, and, taking a ruler, drew a straight pen-line
between the two places. " Bwitj po semoo I " (Thus it
THE MODERN CITY AND THE PEOPLE 113
shall be !) he said, and the engineers had to follow his
instructions, constructing the railway over marshes,
morasses and through dense forests. In the end this
plan proved the best, and it is possible, thanks to his
arbitrary methods, to travel speedily at this day from
one city to the other. Odessa and the Caucasus can
be reached from this station. Owing to the " zone
tariff," fares are absurdly cheap, and the fact that the
principal lines are State property also reduces them.
But the existence of these extremely low rates is not
an unmixed good. The consequent influx of people
from the country to the capital has raised the rents of
flats to about twice the price they used to be twenty
years ago, and food and provisions are proportionately
dearer.
I have lived so long in Russia that I resent all the
modern hurry and confusion, and the changes in the
aspect and very atmosphere of the place. Many of
the streets have been widened, and paved with wooden
blocks or granite squares instead of the old, primitive
cobbles. This does not help the picturesqueness of
the city, though naturally an advantage for traffic.
Many new churches have sprung up, for the true
Orthodox Russian is nothing if not religious, according
to his lights. If crossing himself, fasting on special
occasions, church-building and praying are ways and
means to salvation, he is sure of it. Yet the people
are extravagant and reckless, spendthrift by nature,
and their hospitality is proverbial. The author of The
Land of the Tsar writes of this quality as follows : —
" While in Russia visitors are welcomed with a joy as
sincere as it is touching, in Germany they never escape
a certain formality. Instead of giving him a hearty
welcome to homely ' pot luck,' the German host con-
ducts his visitor to the table d'hote of a restaurant, and
if he is admitted to the family mahogany, every care
H
114 PETROGRAJ) PAST AND PRESENT
will be taken to conceal the daily and intimate family-
habits. In Russia the case is precisely the reverse.
The whole family, even the domestics, are gratified by
the presence of visitors. All endeavour to make them
feel at home ; and without causing any change in the
ordinary routine of the house they are made to per-
ceive by a thousand little attentions that they are
welcome, and could not better repay the kindness
shown them than by a speedy repetition of their visit.
One must witness the thrill of joy vibrating through
every nerve of the household at the near prospect
of visitors to conceive the hospitable sentiment of
the Russian. With a peculiar sound of satisfaction
they say to each other : ' Sevodnja gosti boodut '
(There will be visitors to-day) ! "
I have lived in almost every country in Europe, but
nowhere have I met such kindness to strangers as in
Russia. Sweden, perhaps, comes the nearest to it in
this respect. In palace, mansion or cottage it was
ever the same — the hearty welcome awaited me, and
the feeling of being "at home" set one at ease
directly.
The Russian is exceedingly fond of his bath, and the
heat he can stand is astounding. In Petrograd an
excellent hot vapour bath can be obtained for ten-
pence, for which in London eighteenpence or two
shillings would be charged. Many of the public baths
in the capital would do credit to Imperial Rome ; if
not on such a large scale, they are very comfortable,
and often luxurious. The attendance is good, and
prices are reasonable. The masseurs, or banchiks, as
they are called, are specially trained for their work,
and form an artel, or co-operative guild.
The Russians are a most sociable race. In the upper
classes the gregarious instinct — and the extravagance
of which I wrote — is shown by a constant round of
THE MODERN CITY AND THE PEOPLE 115
pleasure. A genuine Russ loves to see a huge con-
course of guests round him — the more the merrier.
Whether he can afford it or not does not matter; if
he is likely to end in the bankruptcy court it is a minor
consideration. Whatever happens, he will have had
a good time, and that is the main thing in his opinion.
If you glance at any newspaper * — the Novoe Vremya,
for instance — you will be astonished at the number of
fine estates for sale in the interior, or mortgaged owing
to their owners' recklessness in pleasure-taking.
With all this geniality goes a certain unreliability
in the character of the people ; they are prone to yield
to sudden impulses or to unexpected temptations.
As a rule they trust neither themselves nor other
people, not so much from intent to deceive as from
inherent weakness. One of my pupils used to amuse
me by always paying for his lessons in advance.
When I remonstrated, saying that I fully trusted him,
he replied with a laugh : "I know you do ; but I do not
trust myself ! " " How's that ? " I asked. " Well,"
he answered, "after leaving you to-night, I might
meet one of my companions and spend the money.
It would then be gone. Is it not far better to pay
you now rather than run the risk ? " I could not
help smiling at his frankness and his method, for the
reply was so typically Russian.
If the folk are not saints, they are seldom hypo-
crites. I came across only one real hypocrite, but he
was so transparent that he was not at all dangerous.
Whenever I met this queer character he was on the
point of going to pray before the Kazan Mother of God,
or the image of the holy St Nicholas. This ruse greatly
impressed his simple peasant customers, who were lost
in awe at the sight of such a God-fearing man, but his
saintliness did not move me to the least admiration — I
had met many whose methods were far more cunning,
though they hardly came under the name of hypocrite.
116 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Prince Valerian Galitzin, discussing the appearance
and effect of the capital during the summer months,
writes rather depressingly :
" The heat, dust, and smell ! Petersburg is horrible
in the summer. The shops exhale the smell of sour
cabbage, and from the houses that are being built
comes the smell of damp and of lavatories. Masons
are at work, and there is dirt. The lomovie (carters)
are carrying iron hoops, making a deafening din.
From the scaffolding round the houses drop white
lime and chalk, and the blue sky is like melted copper.
One wanders about the streets as if in a dream. Some-
times I gasp for breath, and do not know where I am
going or from whence I am coming. My head whirls,
my legs shake, and I almost fall. I have just seen a
drunken painter hanging in a basket at the end of a
rope, busily painting a wall and singing some merry
ditty ; whenever he lets the basket down it rocks, and
he spins round and round as if he were dancing. I
look at him and laugh so heartily that the pedestrians
gaze at me in surprise ; in truth, I almost laugh myself
into a white fever."
Petrograd in July, its streets up, its drains open, its
miles of stucco walls undergoing the process of being
replastered and " whitewashed " in red, white, blue,
green, according to the fancy of the owners, is not
easily forgotten. The heat and humidity cause the
stucco to peel off in large flakes and patches, and the
result is very unsightly; but after the thousands of
masons, painters and plasterers have done their work,
the dilapidated aspect of the city is cured ; once more
rejuvenated and rendered respectable, it begins to
look really superb.
While this annual clean-up is in progress, all who
have the means leave the place, recuperating their
THE MODERN CITY AND THE PEOPLE 117
strength among the pine forests and lakes of Finland,
and preparing for the gaieties of the long and trying
winter. Some go to Oranienbaum, Peterhoff, Strelma
and other beautiful spots on the Russian side of the
Gulf, or retire to their estates in the interior. Wher-
ever they go, however, the heat is almost intolerable.
For those who cannot get away the outlook is bad.
Sickness is rife, and many die from fevers caused by
impure air and still more impure water. At the end
of the summer the poor workers who have stayed in the
dusty squares and streets are as pale as parchment.
The last time I was in Petrograd, in order to escape
the smells and the stifling heat, I took a trip in one of
the small steamers that ply up and down the Fontanka
Canal, intending also to visit an old friend, a general
who had served three emperors in the capacity of
adjutant. To my great regret I found he was no
more ; he and his stories of Court life had gone for
ever. This serious loss reminded me that the Petro-
gradians are not a long-lived community. A few
years ago, notwithstanding all the efforts that had
been made to render the city healthy, the birth-rate
and the death-rate were equal.
Moscow in summer is hardly any better than Petro-
grad, although it is built, like ancient Rome, on seven
hills. The primitive sanitary arrangements make it
very unhealthy, and its mortality sometimes rises to
fifty per thousand.
In the evenings of July and August, when the heat
reaches its climax, the pleasure gardens are thronged,
and the splendid military bands of the regiments of
the Guards, stationed in and round the capital, play
for the entertainment of the people. One of these, the
finest I ever heard, was at the Krestoffsky Gardens.
The musicians were Lesgians from the Caucasus, an
exceedingly musical race, and they wore their neat,
close-fitting native costumes, which are both practical
118 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
and effective. All who cannot spare the time to drive
through the environs, or to visit the islands at the delta,
frequent the Summer Gardens. Here they indulge in a
mild form of excitement called gooljanee (not entirely
unknown to Londoners), which consists in parading
up and down for an astonishing number of times and
staring at one another with the most unblushing
curiosity. From what I have seen, Russian women
do not resent this scrutiny ; they accept it as a com-
pliment, and as proof that their coquetry or their
charms have attracted attention. The Summer Gar-
dens, containing some almost indecent statues brought
by Souvoroff from Warsaw as a present for Catherine II.,
are a favourite haunt of young lovers. In former
times, I am told, couples became acquainted by means
of a svacha — a kind of go-between, generally an old
dame, who not only introduced the two desirous ones,
but subsequently, if matters went well, arranged with
the parents of the " parties " the terms of a marriage.
But I believe this custom, with many other quaint
practices, is now dying out.
XIV
THE POLICE OF PETROGRAD
The Prefect of Petrograd during a recent period of
unrest was General Clayhills, a handsome, portly man,
descended from a Scottish family long settled in Riga.
Seldom does an Englishman or a Frenchman become a
Russian subject ; but when Peter the Great annexed
the Baltic Provinces, with their sprinkling of Scottish
soldiers of fortune, many of these were forced to
change their nationality, and others followed in the reign
of Catherine. The Russian people have a peculiar
facility in absorbing foreign elements. Many Germans,
Scotch, Italians and other aliens have in two or three
generations become quite Russian in thought and
language. Yet I have known English families, settled
in the cities for over a hundred years, as thoroughly
English in sentiment as their friends at home.
General Gresser, perhaps a more interesting figure
than Clayhills, was another Chief, a typical bureaucrat
and a Prussian type, straight as an arrow, tall, wiry,
with a commanding address. For a long time he was
practically Dictator of Petrograd and the terror of the
working classes. At a word from him almost anyone
whom he considered obnoxious or dangerous had to
leave the city; few nobles, officials or merchants
did not fear him. Once, when he interfered with the
grand dukes and their amusements — which happened
to shock his German susceptibilities — the old martinet
suffered a severe rap on the knuckles, which he never
forgot. It was left to the celebrated clown, Vladimir
Duroff, of the Circus Cincinelli, to " take a rise " out
of the energetic Gresser ; true, by doing so he got into
119
120 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
very hot water himself. Duroff was exhibiting his
famous performing pigs, and made the audience roar
with laughter by a stinging pun on the Chief's name,
asserting that one of his pigs was called " gross " and
the other " gresser " (greater). The people, who at once
saw the point, were immensely pleased, but Gresser
was not ; he had the clown imprisoned and expelled
from Petrograd. On his arrival at the German frontier
Duroff again got into trouble. He sent a telegram to
some friend in Berlin which reflected on the Kaiser.
The German police, who have little or no idea of a joke,
resented this as an insult, and the poor comedian once
again was placed under arrest. What happened to him
after this I do not know ; but probably he became
more careful in this hobby of poking fun at important
persons with a touchy disposition.
Another notable police master was General Trepoff,
under whose rule the terrible Sunday riots took place.
Trepoff, who was a regular soldier, was in no way
responsible for this catastrophe, and raised a large
sum of monev, from which relatives of the victims were
assisted. The late Grand Duke Sergius, who died
within the walls of the Kremlin at the hands of an
assassin, is said to have given orders to fire on the
demonstrators — rioters they could not be termed by
anyone with the least respect for truth and justice.
Both Gresser and Trepoff died most mysteriously,
and many people believe that they were poisoned. It
was said that Gresser's life was cut short by a potion
administered by a quack doctor. But Petrograd is
always full of similar rumours, and it is extremely
difficult to arrive at the truth of such matters, so
curious is the state of society there. It is usually the
priests, the secret police and the officials who terrorise
people, not the nobles, who for the most part are
enlightened and educated men, travelled, and versed
in many languages. They, however, are in the
THE POLICE OF PETROGRAD 121
minority, and as long as Russia is blessed with several
hundred thousand priests and a whole army of secret
police it will hardly adopt Western ideals, even though
Tsar and Grand Dukes may desire it. " The con-
servative spirit is very strong in Dahomey," said a
negro from that land to a middy who reproached him
for his country's custom of human torture and sacrifice.
We may say the same of " holy " Russia, where all
reforms must be introduced with extreme circum-
spection. Men of the type of Peter, who could with
a cudgel administer corporal punishment, or act as his
own executioner, are not born every day ; but there are
occasions when they are needed, to keep in check
characters even more unscrupulous and dangerous
than themselves if given a free hand.
Trepoff was the son of the famous General of that
name, shot by Vera Sasulitch for beating a political
prisoner contrary to the law. He was seriously wounded ,
and would have died had it not been for the skill of
Dr Duncan, of the Petrograd police. This eccentric
man, who received the title of General for his services,
extracted the bullet and saved Trepoff's life. The
criminal, after many dangers, escaped to Switzerland,
where I believe she died in exile.
Trepoff was a foundling, like many eminent Russians,
and is said to have obtained his name from a German
word meaning " a step." He was found on a step,
and was taken to one of the Government homes,
reared, educated and placed in a position to earn an
honest livelihood. In Russia no great stigma attaches
to illegitimacy ; it is rightly and justly considered
that the shortcomings of the parents should not be
visited on the innocent children. The Government
takes great care of children born thus, and thanks to
this humane spirit many a soldier, artist or actor has
been saved for the good of the State who in moral
England might have perished or gone to the bad
122 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
irretrievably. If the child is a girl, she is equally well
looked after, taught to become a capable and useful
servant, cook or dressmaker — in fact to earn an honest
living instead of being sent to the dogs by members of
an outraged community.
On the whole, the' order maintained by the police
of the capital is excellent, and I should say that the
streets are really safer than those of London, by night
or day. The arrangement of the houses, which are
built round a large courtyard with only one entrance
facing the street, makes it easy for the police to watch
and control suspicious persons. At the entrance of
every house is the dvormik (porter), whose duty it is
to notice all who go in. Porters are also stationed
before the doorways leading to the flats in which the
majority of the middle classes dwell. These men are
bound under heavy penalties to furnish all details
demanded by the police concerning the doings of every
person living there. Thus it is difficult for rowdy or
suspicious elements to enjoy the licence they have in
England, though it must be admitted that in Russia
the extra power granted to the police is sometimes
abused. This abuse, however, is usually by the
gendarmes and secret police, who are not responsible
to the municipal authority for their actions. As a
rule, I have found the Russian municipal police
exceedingly reliable men, very courteous and willing
to oblige the stranger in distress, even when the
stimulant of a tip is not in prospect. Since Gresser
and other chiefs instituted the practice of nominating
only good-conduct soldiers to the position of policemen
and sergeants, the Petrograd force has much improved
in every way, and is incomparably superior to the
local police, of whom I could relate many amusing
anecdotes did space permit.
Whatever we may think of the political ideals and
methods of the Russian police, we cannot help admir-
THE POLICE OF PETROGRAD 123
ing their bravery and contempt of death. Time after
time they faced certain death in their attempts to
track down desperate revolutionists and Nihilists.
An idea of this may be gained from the following para-
graph from a Russian paper : — " In a single fortnight
in February these deeds of violence were committed
by terrorists : Twelve high officials were murdered,
twenty-one wounded ; sixty-one private citizens were
attacked for political reasons, forty of whom were
killed and the remaining twenty-one wounded ; State
property to the value of half-a-million was seized by
the revolutionists." Such was the condition of affairs
the police had to cope with for several years.
As a rule the police of the suburbs and the interior
are neither so efficient nor so trustworthy as those of
the capital. Among them are still to be found such
types as Gogol's Stepan II j itch Oochovertoff and his
subordinates. The play in which these are leading
characters so pleased the Tsar Nicholas that he
ordered it to be played every year in the Imperial
theatres, and the author was taken under his especial
protection. This did not save Gogol, however, from
the wrath and spite of the corrupt officials, who,
angered at being thus satirised, gave him no peace
during his brief and chequered lifetime. That such
types still exist in the provinces there is not the least
doubt, and only the vigilance of the Department of
State Control, which sends its inspectors up and down
the land continually, prevents many abuses in this
body, which practically rules Russia. The revela-
tions of Nicholas Burtzeff, who was arrested and im-
prisoned on his return to Russia, gave an insight into
their questionable methods, as well as a glimpse of the
deliberate murder of the honest but severe Stolypin —
who, it appears, was done to death by the police when
they feared he would punish them for their corruption.
One of the most flagrant cases, the Shitormir scandal,
124 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
occurred while I was in Petrograd. It transpired
that the Chief of Police was actually in league with the
Chief of the Fire Brigade, with the object of setting
houses on fire and claiming the insurance money.
On being found out, the Chief of the Fire Brigade and
his wife committed suicide ; but I fear there are still
many such sinners in " holy " Russia. Perhaps the
principal reason for this criminality is that such
wretched salaries are paid that it is almost impossible
for men to live honestly on their proper earnings. The
more truthful are quite outspoken on this theme,
plainly intimating that they expect presents (podarkee)
from those they protect, as it is impossible for them
to exist on their pay. As a rule I have found the
so-called exactions of the police not extravagant or
unreasonable, considering the huge fortunes foreign
manufacturers and merchants make in Russia. Gener-
ally speaking, they do not touch aliens or British sub-
jects unless revolutionary or socialistic propaganda is
suspected. Occasionally they make mistakes. Once
one of my friends, an English farmer, disappeared on
the outskirts of the city in the evening ; a sack was
suddenly thrown over his head, while two other men
bound him so tightly that he could make no resistance.
His captors, after keeping him in a cell for several
weeks, discovered that they had caught the wrong
man, but, fearing to set him free so near the capital
— knowing that the British authorities would make
things very unpleasant for them — they took him
across the frontier to a small Prussian town and allowed
him to find his way home as best he could. No diffi-
culty arose over spiriting the poor man away, for
prior to the war the Russian and Prussian police used
to work hand in hand and oblige one another by often
giving up fugitives or revolutionaries.
It is something to be thankful for when I am able
to say that during my long residence in Russia, /
THE POLICE OF PETROGRAD 125
engaged in a trying and unpopular profession, I never
had cause to complain of the attentions of the police.
This was because I refrained from interfering in the
internal affairs of the country whose hospitality I
enjoyed, and stuck strictly to my own business of
foreign correspondent. Had I been so unwise as to
show any interest in Nihilism, this little work would
never have been written, for I was keenly watched —
the police strongly object to all gentlemen of the Press
and tolerated our presence unwillingly. Their most
dangerous assistants are the beautiful women employed
to wheedle secrets out of unsuspecting and impression-
able young men, and thus lure them into trouble.
Once I almost fell into the clutches of one of these
sirens, owing to my love of music. I was invited by a
young, handsome lady of German extraction to sing
some of the melodies for which Russia is famous.
My pleasure, however, came to an abrupt end when
my companion, a Petrograd Englishwoman, whispered
to me to be cautious, as our fair hostess was in the
pay of the secret police, while her two brothers and
the officer with whom I had just been playing cards
were all sitch-ke (agents-provocateurs) whose chief
duty was to frequent the cafes, entice guileless
students, and then have them arrested.
The Government has spent millions of roubles in
crushing revolutions by such means, but after the
war I fear they will break out with renewed violence.
XV
OFFICIALDOM IN RUSSIA
Every Government man is more or less afflicted by red
tape, but the Russian probably takes the palm in this
respect. It is said that Peter the Great copied the
Chinese " table of ranks " in creating his army of
officials, which is still the bane of the country. There
are hundreds who think more about their possible
decorations than about the welfare of the land, and
these, with the police, practically rule, rather than
the Duma, the Council, or the Cabinet of Ministers.
They are the mandarins of Europe, comparable in
many things to their Chinese prototypes. They seem
to live on red tape and sealing-wax, and to be part of a
huge machine, devoid of sense, sentiment and often of
intelligence ; to them the only point of importance
is to do everything according to rule, whether the
country suffers or not by their hide-bound prejudices.
During the great famine, for instance, I remember
that the officials declared that there was no famine,
only " a failure of the crops." Thousands perished,
but it did not matter, so long as their reports were not
contradicted. In the capital, and in Moscow, where
Western ideas have become prevalent, there are many
enlightened and even honest men among this class,
but in the interior, where Tartar and Oriental notions
still obtain, the olden type depicted by Gogol is often
found.
There are, of course, ways of circumventing these
authorities. One of my friends, a railway engineer,
did not even consult them ; he simply went on with
his railways and bridges as if they did not exist,
126
OFFICIALDOM IN RUSSIA 127
knowing well from experience that it might take years
to obtain permission from headquarters to carry out
any important work. So many petitions had to be
sent in, so many documents had to be stamped and
sealed, before the appeal finally reached the proper
person, that he quietly completed his work and said
nothing. The Government Revisor — for a con-
sideration — took no notice, and never mentioned the
matter in his reports ; only when it was all over would
he recognise its existence. Then a few awkward
questions were asked, and a few wheels had to be
greased ; but the method was generally attended with
success. There are many mysteries in Russia, but
the ways of the official world supply one of the most
puzzling. Yet, with all their failings, the result of
the system and not of the men, the Russian official is
slowly improving, thanks to foreign influence and the
advance of Western ideas. One may be thankful
for small mercies, for in truth there is much room for
improvement, as Sir Mackenzie Wallace shows in his
excellent chapter on this subject.
One man I used to visit, occupying a minor post in
the Government, frequently, for a small consideration,
supplied me with valuable information for the Press.
By way of supplementing his wretched salary, he
acted as intermediary for German, French, English
and American subjects, whenever they wished to
become Russianised, or to obtain permission to build
factories or business houses. When I first met him
he was in reduced circumstances, and could hardly
support himself and his family, but when I left Petro-
grad he was flourishing, and rushing about the city in
his own motor car. His enormous income was simply
made by obtaining concessions and privileges for
foreign merchants, who paid him large sums for
favours of this kind. He would sometimes receive
as much as £3000 for obtaining permission to erect a
128 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
mill, or for getting the tariff lowered on certain lines
over which the applicant's goods had to pass. I intro-
duced to him several merchants who had wasted
thousands of pounds in the endeavour to gain a foot-
ing. He knew exactly which officials were hard up
and could be bribed with impunity. In every depart-
ment there are men, however — nobles or country
gentlemen — who will not stoop to this, and with these
obstacles concession-hunters come into conflict when
they do not know the ropes. My friend knew every
man in his department whose influence was necessary,
and was often able to secure in a few weeks or months
privileges which others, who did not know the methods,
might not have gained for years of wasted time. This
prosperity, however, did not last. The old proverb,
" Lightly come, lightly go," held good, and before
long my smart friend was as poor as ever.
An interesting person I often met was Colonel L.,
attached to the Finance Department. He was a
learned man, and a great admirer of Charles Dickens,
whom he compared, as do many critics, to Gogol.
For wit, humour and pathos, perhaps Gogol was above
Dickens, but he burnt a good deal of his literary work
owing to his worries and the persecution he suffered
at the hands of those he stung by his satires. Nicholas,
honest but despotic, was so pleased with Gogol's
Revisor and Dead Souls that he took the author under
his protection, sending him to Italy to recover his
health. In the house of Colonel L. we had many dis-
cussions on literary matters, also on other affairs, for
I remember on one occasion we began a heated argu-
ment concerning England's Free Trade and Russia's
policy of Protection. I caused some consternation,
believing in " Fair Trade " or a policy of reciprocity,
by stating that we might some day place a duty on
Russian wheat and agricultural produce, in favour of
our own colonies, as soon as they were able to meet our
OFFICIALDOM IN RUSSIA 129
requirements, in case Russia did not soon reduce the
high protective tariff on our manufactured and other
goods.
My friend's wife, like himself, spoke English. She
was not only a first-class housekeeper, but was also
able to prepare a dinner which would have done credit
to a French chef. She could converse on any subject,
and with all these accomplishments was not in the
least a " blue stocking."
If my official acquaintances were badly paid, they
could not as a rule complain that they were over-
worked. Tea-drinking, cigarette-smoking and the re-
tailing of the gossip of the city seemed to account for
a considerable portion of their time, and the amours
and other delinquencies of the wives of other men
formed a frequent topic. Card-playing also occupied
much time. Foreign politics were eagerly discussed.
One man I knew was obsessed with two ideas : that
the English would some day bombard Cronstadt, and
that the Finns would rise and march on Petrograd
when nobody expected it. Others constantly feared
a German invasion of the Baltic Provinces, the
inhabitants of which, owing to the Russianising policy
of Pobjedonodtzeff, the Grand Duke Sergius, Ploeve
and other reactionaries, were none too loyal.
It is due to the system of officialism, which cannot
easily be eradicated, that Russia in time of peace or
war is never as strong as she might be, had she no
immense army of impecunious persons attached to the
Government in one way or another. More than one
has told me that it is quite impossible for him to live
on his salary, and openly admitted that the taking of
bribes was the only means by which his poor wage
could be reinforced.
The Tsar Nicholas used to say that were his teeth
loose they would be stolen out of his mouth ! He
endeavoured to remedy the prevalent corruption by
130 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the most drastic means. It is said that he once struck
an official dead who attempted to deceive him, and,
as he was a man of enormous strength and violent
temper, quite possibly this may be true. One of his
trusted favourites, with whose assistance he tried to
improve the state of affairs, was Count Peroffsky,
Minister of the Interior, whose son I knew intimately.
The following anecdote, which has probably never
been heard in England, throws much light on the
character of this Tsar and on the condition of Russia
during his reign.
One day the Count was plunged deep in thought
after an interview with the Tsar ; his musings were not
of the brightest, for to be Minister under Nicholas I.
was no sinecure. " There must be order in affairs,"
the Emperor had said, " and you must make yourself
thoroughly at home in the course of events. First of
all, you must introduce order among the police ; all
Petersburg is aware that the greatest rascals are to be
found in their ranks. Let me soon know that this
state of things has been remedied."
The Minister heaved a deep sigh. Every child knew
that the police took bribes, but old peccadilloes could not
be dragged up ; besides, proofs were needed. Where
on earth could he obtain proofs against the police ?
Colonel Baratoff, his cousin, a merry young bon-
vivant, entered the room. He evidently wished to
congratulate the Minister on his new position, and, if
possible, to derive some material advantage from his
visit, for he was always in want of .money.
" I have the honour ! " he exclaimed. " You are
now a powerful man "
" Yes — and may require friends, good, reliable
friends, who can give me their support," replied the
Minister. " I was just thinking of you ; you are a bold
fellow, and can do me a service." He then confided to
the young man what lay on his mind.
OFFICIALDOM IN RUSSIA 131
" Splendid ! " cried Baratoff. " To set a trap for
the police is just in my line. I will arrange it this
very evening. To-morrow you shall expel at least
half-a-dozen police officers, as sure as my name is
Baratoff ! "
A long private consultation ensued, and Baratoff
retired. An hour after the Chief of Police was ushered
into the presence of the Minister.
" I have summoned you here," said Peroffsky, " on
very important business. I have heard from a
dependable source that there is a gaming club on the
Nevsky Prospekt, where faro and other games of
chance are played for enormous sums. These people
ought to be arrested this very day ! "
" My Commissioner and some officers," answered the
Chief, bowing, " will even to-day arrest the offenders."
That same evening an intimate little company sat
round a green table in a building near the Nevsky.
On the table were heaps of silver, gold and notes.
Suddenly a noise was heard in the corridor ; a harsh
voice called : " Open, in the name of the law ! "
Before any of the gamblers could reach the door, it
burst open, and six policemen rushed in. The players
jumped up, horrified, while the Commissioner took
the money and put it in his pockets. Then, turning
to the company, he requested them to follow him to
the station.
M But is ecarte a forbidden game ? " asked one.
" No, ecarte is not forbidden," said the Commis-
sioner ; " but people do not play ecarte for such large
sums."
" Large sums ? No, Mr Commissioner — you have
seized only eight hundred or at the very most one
thousand roubles ! "
The Commissioner looked nonplussed, but a light
flashed across his brain. The amount was at least
twelve thousand roubles. For a moment a struggle
132 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
went on within him, then, with a meaning glance at
his comrades, he said :
" Well — if it was not more than that "
The next day the Commissioner called on Peroffsky
and gave a detailed account of the operation.
How much did you seize ? " asked the Minister.
About eight hundred and sixty roubles, your
Excellency."
" You lie, you scoundrel ! " shouted Peroffsky.
Opening a door, he showed the Commissioner the
company of card-players, among whom was young
Baratoff.
On that day the Minister had an audience with the
Tsar, and related his fortunate manoeuvre.
" Good," exclaimed the Tsar. " Was it Colonel
Baratoff who helped you ? "
"Yes, your Majesty."
" Then we will make him Chief of the Police."
" Baratoff ! " ejaculated Peroffsky, astounded.
Nicholas gave him a questioning glance. " I per-
ceive," he said, " you do not believe in Baratoff's
honesty. Good. Then we will find another." He
paced to and fro, presently standing in front of his
Minister.
" Do you know, Peroffsky," he said, with a certain
contempt in his tone, " I believe there is only one
honest man in Petersburg."
The Minister bowed, highly flattered.
" Understand me rightly, Peroffsky," rejoined the
Tsar. " I mean — myself ! "
This story may be partly invention, but anyone who
knows the methods of the Russian police, and the
revelations of Burzeff (who since his return to Russia
has been arrested and imprisoned), can but admit, si
non e vero, e ben trovato.
Count Peroffsky's son, a man of the strictest
integrity, was a General and Courier of the Tsar in
OFFICIALDOM IN RUSSIA 133
Siberia, and one of those fine types which Nicholas
loved to attach to his retinue. In later years he was
placed in charge of one of the Emperor's farms. He
married a beautiful woman of Berlin, and brought
up a large family, which he ruled with patriarchal
severity ; his will was law, and no one dared oppose his
wishes. In spite of this, he was well loved, for he had
qualities which compensated for his austere aspects.
He was handsome, honest, daring, a typical official,
in fact, of the old regime of Nicholas.
The card -playing to which I have alluded is almost
a passion. The officials, who are rarely overworked,
discuss the feats of the previous evening's play with
the greatest gravity. I have seen merchants on the
Exchange commenting on their last game before pro-
ceeding to business subjects. With many the intri-
cacies of " vint " seem of far more importance than
the tenets of their religion — revoking, or inattention
to the game, is a most serious offence, punishable, one
would think, with decapitation! In 1875, 110 tons'
weight of playing cards were conveyed into the
interior by the Moscow-Petersburg Railway, and the
quantity now is immensely larger. All these card
packs are made by the Government, and the proceeds
from their sale, which reach a very big sum, go towards
the support of various charitable institutions, such as
orphanages, etc., under the supervision of the Crown.
On my last visit to Petrograd I met a Russian
official whose acquaintance I made on the steamer
that conveyed us from Hull to Cronstadt. Of peasant
origin, like so many gifted men in the Russian Empire,
he yet was one of the best-read men I have ever known
in any country. He had travelled almost all over the
world and had collected an immense library of books
in various languages. During his stay in England he
had come to the conclusion that if Russia and England
did not soon become friends it would be so much the
134 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
worse for both of them. In his opinion Russia had
everything that England required in the way of raw
products, while England possessed all that Russia
most needed — capital, enterprise and experience in
the arts and sciences. He held that it was a great
misfortune for both countries that they could not
finally settle their various differences in Asia and
become firm allies. Both, he added, had the same
enemy, Germany, and both were concerned at the
growing power of that progressive, active neighbour.
Russia did not fear England so much. The worst
England could do if she attacked Russia was to
destroy the coast towns and fortresses, some of which
she might annihilate. This would not matter, for she
could never land troops in sufficient numbers to inflict
material damage. Russia had, it must be remembered,
6,000,000 men trained and armed, with about 4,000,000
Landsturm (Opolchina), many of whom were excellent
soldiers. Of these immense military resources only a
comparatively small part could be used in the Russo-
Japanese War, because of the enormous distance —
about 6000 miles — of the field of operations from
the main base. The necessity of keeping the best
men in the country to guard the German and
Austrian frontiers and to repress the revolutionists
also hampered Russia seriously in that conflict.
As to her natural resources, her wealth was beyond
belief. Annually from £20,000,000 to £30,000,000
sterling in gold was obtained from the mines and
washings of Siberia; but only about a third of this
amount found its way to the Crown ; the rest was
stolen by officials and miners, who illegally sold it to
the Chinese. But people cannot live on gold. Far
more important than this were the vast plains and
steppes, with their millions of acres of virgin soil, the
primeval forests stretching for hundreds of miles
without a break. Unfortunately the Russian people
OFFICIALDOM IN RUSSIA 135
are too torpid and backward to make use of this un-
bounded store, or to earn one-tenth of what the English,
Germans or Belgians would derive from it. If Russia
could but have more English capital, workmen and
men of commercial enterprise, both Empires would
benefit enormously. " She does not want India,"
continued my friend, who had visited the East. All
she required was more outlets to the oceans of the
world. And why should there be any strife between
the two countries when she did not covet an inch of
our territory ? The stupid talk about " marching
on India " originated with that irrepressible soldier,
Skobeleff, who was purely a military man, and
no statesman. The reason why Russian militarists
broached this scheme was because India was the only
vulnerable spot where pressure could be exercised on
England when she was continually opposing what
Russia held to be vital interests. If the two Empires
could but come to a lasting arrangement in Asia and
defend their respective spheres of influence, there
would be no need whatever to maintain the large
armies or to be perpetually at loggerheads with one
another.
As to Japan, this official said that our alliance with
that purely Asiatic power was one of the greatest mis-
takes ever made by English statesmen, as future
events would show, for the brilliant successes of Japan
had stirred into activity the slumbering races of that
huge continent, and the results would in the end be
disaster for the Western nations.
XVI
THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES
It must not be forgotten that Petrograd, besides being
a great port, is also an important manufacturing city.
Various kinds of industrial undertakings employ about
a third of the population ; more than 100,000 persons
are engaged in trade and commerce. In 1894 there
were more than five hundred mills and factories in the
city. I should say that now there are nearly double
that number. They earn, as a rule, enormous dividends,
owing to the existence of protective tariffs — 25 per cent.,
85 per cent, and even 40 per cent, being quite common.
The directors and managers receive liberal salaries,
comparable to those paid in England. The workmen
are generally very poorly paid ; but, as a Russian mill
hand can live on less than sixpence a day, the small
wages are generous compared with what they would
earn in the villages, where a day labourer receives only
from fivepence or sixpence to tenpence per day.
The majority of the men who toil in the factories
from early morn till evening for what would appear
to us such wretched pay are peasants, who come
from Kostroma, Tver and other governments of the
interior whenever they are dissatisfied with the scanty
remuneration obtainable in their villages. Almost
every workman is a landowner in a small way, or has
a share in the commune, which makes him in a measure
more independent than his fellow in England ; for if
he does not earn what he considers a fair wage in the
town, he returns to his native place to help the women
and old folk with the field work, which is often sadly
in need of his co-operation.
136
THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES 137
The new associations and surroundings found in the
cities strongly modify the character of the men. The
influence of English, German, French and Belgian
workers is permeating the industrial classes, and as
this increases, strikes, revolts and outbreaks of dis-
content are becoming more frequent ; but a long time
must elapse before the social and political ideas and
ideals of the proletariat are accepted, or even com-
prehended, by the millions of superstitious and
ignorant labourers and peasants.
In the governments of Tver, Novgorod and Pskoff,
which were once centres of freedom and intercourse
with the West, the percentage of illiterates is less than
in the interior, where the darkness of the people's
minds is almost beyond belief. In spite of this,
the Russian peasant can hold his own, especially
in making a bargain, and his stupidity is sometimes
affected for his own ends. The cunning, due to ages
of oppression, has been developed to such a degree
that a lawyer of the Volga told me that the peasant
will often outwit the cleverest attack of cross-question-
ing. Added to this, he has the obstinacy of a mule,
and a capacity for bearing discomfort and pain that
would do credit to a Red Indian. We hear much of
the Jews exploiting the poor moujik, but we rarely
hear of the instances when the Jew is himself outwitted
by the peasant. The Emperor Alexander had a keen
sense of their intelligence, and when advised to banish
the Jews, lest by their craftiness they should injure
his subjects, is reputed to have replied that he did
not fear that any Jew would be sharp enough to over-
reach a Russian.
The following notes, collected during the Japanese
War, will give the reader a better idea of the shrewd-
ness and character of the working classes than any-
thing I could write about at the moment. Not even
the most autocratic Tsar can afford to ignore the
138 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
moujik ; the throne really rests upon his broad
shoulders, and the moujiks furnish most of the fighting
men, who in times of stress — like the peasant patriot
Suzanin — stand faithful to the Emperor when perhaps
the nobles fail him.
When the war broke out, rumours of the wildest
description were circulated concerning its cause and
origin. The meagre information given in the news-
papers did not tend to enlighten to any great extent
even the minority who could read ; thus, left to their
own resources, the people fell back upon that fertile
imagination which seems to be bestowed in especial
abundance on the Slav races. As a result, the most
fantastic legends sprang into existence and were firmly
believed by very many. Most of these were childish
in the extreme, but at the same time valuable in giving,
as a Russian writer says, " the echo of the popular
voice, or, more truly, the soul of the people."
A Russian author who has been at considerable
trouble to collect and put into shape a number of these
stories relates this anecdote, which circulated through
the government of Pskoff, concerning the war and the
outbreak of a strange malady, " beri-beri," among the
Japanese troops :
"The village teacher who had first spoken to the
peasants about this disease was astonished, shortly
afterward, to hear in neighbouring villages this version
of his story : c Many Japanese nobles assembled in
council, to consider how they could get rid of the
Russian moujik, who, you know, is a terrible fellow.
He has little land and his plots are barren. He has
already beaten the Chinaman, and now he is trying
conclusions with the Japanese. The nobles debated
long and earnestly, but could come to no decision.
They decided to call into their councils the Japanese
priests, w T ho are wise men and have understanding
THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES 139
in business. They said to the priests : " If you will
solve this problem for us and show us how to get rid of
the Russian moujik, we will sew you new vestments."
The Japanese pope became thoughtful, and sat on the
ground with his head bent to his knees, pondering
deeply. " Now, what have you thought of ? " the
nobles asked. " Say — how shall we drive out the
Russians ? " "I do not know," was the answer ;
" they do not believe in our God, and, moreover, our
holy icons are not able to sweep them off the face of
the earth. Their God is stronger than ours, and,
besides, they pray far more than we do." Then the
nobles grew angry, drove out the pope, and again set
to work. They thought and thought, debated and
debated, but all in vain. Then one of them got up and
said : " I have found it out ; give me then a reward
in return. Let us summon our doctors and surgeons and
order them to spread the Japanese sickness amongst the
moujiks, for it will soon seize them." Forthwith this
was done, and the one who had hit on the idea was
presented with four cartloads of rice, " because the
nobles in these parts have nothing to eat ! " '
" The narrator proceeds to tell how the doctors ran
to the hospitals and collected c ingredients,' which
they poured into a kettle ; how they brought coal
and lighted a fire, and even appointed three old
women to preside (like the witches in Macbeth).
These were to feed the fire and to utter incantations
at the instigation of the Evil One. They boiled the
ingredients for twelve days, and on the thirteenth all
the medical men assembled. The cooled mixture was
then poured, laden with death, into jars ; the nobles
called the Japanese soldiers and gave each one a rusk
and a jar, with strict orders to throw to the moujiks,
whenever they should see one, a rusk. Opening the
jars, the soldiers were to call out in Russian, ' Bere,
bere ' (Take, take), when the moujiks would immedi-
140 PETROGRAD PAST AJSTD PRESENT
ately take the rusks and perish. Everything was
done as arranged. c When the Japanese saw our
moujiks they carried out their orders ; but our people
are not fools — they stood by and laughed, for they
did not believe the Japanese. " Oh, you Japanese
children," they exclaimed, " do you think we have
never before seen your rusks ? Why, in Russia we
do not give even our Orthodox brother beggars rusks,
but baked bread ; we will not take them ! " The
Japanese insisted and begged and implored, with
tearful voices, " Please take, take." But at that
moment the fatal odour arose from the jars, and such
a pestilence spread round that the Japanese fell dead,
despite their repeated cry of " Bere, bere." In conse-
quence of this, that kind of sickness is called " beri-
beri." ' "
This story shows the childish simplicity of the Russian
peasant, who believes that he is far better off than the
Japanese nobles, or even than the English; for the
former have " nothing to eat," and as for the latter,
does not the peasant feed them with his wheat and
other agricultural produce ?
The announcement that the Tsar had promised to
mitigate the sentence of those convicts on the terrible
Island of Saghalien who would volunteer to fight the
Japanese created a sensation throughout the Russian
Empire, and indeed through other parts of Europe.
The story of the Tsar's clemency spread from village
to village, and the absence of any reliable information
tended to give it increased interest, until vivid im-
aginations gave it the character of a popular legend.
Of the many different versions, the following is perhaps
the most interesting, as giving an idea of what the
peasants think about Saghalien, and showing the awe
still felt by millions of them for the Imperial authority.
The tale runs thus :
THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES 141
" Far away in the Japanese ocean, close to the Empire
of Japan, is the Island of Saghalien. God has cursed
the spot, so that on it grow neither trees nor grass.
They do not sow or reap there, for rocky boulders
encumber the paths, and all the year round it is icy
winter. All criminals who are guilty before God and
the Tsar are sent to the island ; they dwell in caves,
feeding on shell-fish, and the convicts work from day
to day doing penance and expiating their guilt. They
began to long for their families, and wept many bitter
tears, for although they were hardened criminals, they
were yet human beings. Then they heard that their
neighbour the Japanese Power was waging war on
Russian territory ; moreover, that it had collected
many big ships and warriors with guns and cavalry,
with which to conquer holy Russia. The poor
prisoners bethought them how they would send a
petition to their Tsar, saying : ' Great Tsar and Lord,
do not command punishment, but deign to listen. We
have committed many crimes ; we have killed and
robbed ; we have embezzled and defrauded and have
not paid the taxes, and have been forced to do convict
labour, as we justly deserve. We have heard that
Japan is warring against holy Russia, and that thou
wishest to send thy troops against her. Great
Master, do not order thy dear little soldiers to be
sent, for they are honest men, who have not killed or
robbed or defrauded, who have paid their taxes when
due and who do no wrong. Order only that old guns
shall be given to us, with balls of lead. We will then
take those guns and go and conquer the Japanese ;
thus will we atone for our evil deeds and thus do service
for our wickedness before God and thee. Give us,
then, a brave leader, and thou wilt see that even we,
who are lost men, will do our duty and lay down our
lives, should these be required. Hard indeed it is to
live in penal servitude and to satisfy our hunger with
142 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
naught but sea-fish. Bid us but go out and fight the
foe.'
"The Tsar received this petition, and was much
moved. Handing it to his War Minister, he said :
6 These men are not lost if they wish to atone for
their guilt by service. Inform them of my Imperial
gratitude, give them new guns, appoint a brave general
to command them, and bid them be zealous in the
cause of Russia. They are no longer convicts, but my
faithful servants.' And the convicts went out to
wage war and to execute the orders of the Tsar.
6 The Tsar has punished,' they cried, c but since he
announces to us his gratitude, we are forgiven. Let
us then shout hurrah, like honest soldiers and servants
of the Tsar.' And now the militia of Saghalien stood
ready, guarding their rocky caves, and frightening the
Japanese, who alone are to blame — not the Tsar."
As is well known, millions of Russians were firmly
convinced that we were the instigators of the Russo-
Japanese War. It was also part of their creed that we
were responsible for the disappearance of Skobeleff, the
popular idol. Formerly, when the Germans were in
the bad books of the Russians, it was they who had
made away with him. According to another account,
Skobeleff was alive and well, the ex- Viceroy Alexieff
being none other than the hero of the people. But
how did he come to be called Alexieff ? The fertile
brain of the moujik explains the transformation thus :
Skobeleff offended a certain Power (Anglia), and the
people forthwith demanded his head ; but the Tsar was
sorry to give up such a man, and said that he was dead.
Skobeleff then changed his name ; he had to do this,
because he spoke ill of the English Queen in the
presence of her ambassador. In order to avoid war,
the Russian Government informed England that he
was dead, and a soldier who resembled him was buried
THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES 143
in his stead. Another legend states that General
Linevitch, the experienced and popular soldier who
commanded the First Army Corps, was the real
Skobeleff. His reappearance was accounted for as
follows : —
"After the Turkish War, the Tsar Alexander de-
manded a contribution from the Turks ; but Osman Pasha
was obstinate, and said : c If you do not come down in
your demands we shall again declare war against you.'
The Tsar then reproached him with ingratitude, say-
ing : ' We have taken thee prisoner, Osman Pasha,
and again set thee at liberty, and thou thinkest of
again rising up against us. Begin, then, and I will let
Skobeleff loose on thee.' On hearing of these words
the Englishwoman (the Queen) said to the Tsar :
1 Why holdest thou in such high honour thy Skobeleff,
as if he were above all justice ? ' Michael, the son of
Dimitrieff (Skobeleff), who was present, boiled over
with anger and called her a bad name [as did Ivan
the Terrible to Queen Elizabeth in his letter to her.
He called her poshlaja djevetza (a spurious maiden)
on her refusal to marry him]. The Englishwoman
was, of course, greatly offended, and wished to have
him tried ; but the Tsar Alexander, before he died (in
consequence of the injury he received from Risakoff),
commanded in his will that Skobeleff should not be
given up to England. This is how he came to bear
another name and is now fighting in the Far East."
These amusing stories show not only the love the
peasants bear for the hero of Plevna, but the respect
they feel for our late Queen, who, in their simple
imaginations, must have been a very great personage
indeed to rule over such an enormous Empire, and to
dare to demand the punishment of the most popular
man in Russia. She appeared all the more wonderful
144 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
to them since they had not the faintest idea that there
existed so powerful a body as the British Parliament.
I well remember the awe and sorrow that was shown
when " Starooshka Koreljeva Victoria " (the old
Lady, Queen Victoria) died. For weeks the event
was the principal topic in thousands of villages, whose
inhabitants had been familiar with her name for nearly
half-a-century. " Your Queen is dead," they said to
me with sympathy, believing that every English
subject had sustained an irreparable loss. In fact,
the respect the peasants entertained for her was so
great that during the famine of 1891 and 1892 some of
the sufferers in the government of Samara threatened
to become subjects of Queen Victoria, as she was
giving them eighty pounds' weight of bread, while
their own Government only gave them half that
quantity !
In the villages, however, a new type of peasant is
springing up, who reads the daily papers. It is a
thousand pities that he is not supplied with more
healthy literature. A large section of the Russian
Press — we in England possess a corresponding section
■ — seems to think its chief duty is the sowing of hatred
between nations, which, though copecks and pence
may flow into their coffers, may eventually lead to
trouble. Before the present entente, as I have else-
where observed, millions of people, by the pernicious
teachings of the Svjet, the Peter sburgsky Listock, the
Novaya Vremya, and a few more of the same kidney,
came to regard the English as devils incarnate,
responsible for nearly all the ills that befell holy
Russia. Whether it was war, famine, epidemic or
earthquake — " Anglechanen oostroel " (it is the work
of the English) was the fervent belief of the peasantry.
Considering that this class forms so large a proportion
of the population, the absurd and malicious stories
thus fostered and circulated demanded more serious
THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES 145
attention. The masses are now becoming educated,
very slowly and gradually, and will in the future be a
force which no Government will dare to ignore.
Nowhere is the change more clearly seen than in the
soldier. During the Turkish War it was most unusual
to see a soldier reading a paper ; now it is a common
occurrence. In the many trains that are being
dispatched daily to Galicia one sees a few soldiers
singing and smoking, as is their wont, but the majority
read, having been instructed by their officers. A
correspondent says that books are seldom found ;
the sensational and impossible charms the mind of
the simple moujik more than any solid, sober fact. In
days gone by, the soldier used to beg for the paper, in
order to roll his cigarettes ; now, he asks for it with
the idea of posing as an authority on public questions
before his less-educated comrades.
There is little doubt that the bureaucracy will have
to abandon its present methods when the bulk of the
people have reached the level of education obtaining
in other civilised countries. Its members, therefore,
are not over eager to promote the enlightenment of
the masses. The terrible events now occurring in
Europe will, however, compel these gentlemen to give
more attention to the news supplied to the people of
all classes.
The charitable nature of the moujiks is shown by the
way in which they treated the Japanese prisoners in
the last war. Their arrival, as may be imagined,
caused immense excitement, and formed another
source for the weaving of legends. In the government
of Oofa, near the Urals, this event gave rise to the
following tale : —
" Many prisoners were brought from a Japanese town ;
they were two months on the way through our Siberia.
The soldiers were picked out and placed in barracks at
K
146 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the cost of the Crown. The women were also picked
out, and a guard was placed over them, so that the
women-folk should not be spoiled in a foreign country.
The little children were taken away, clothed, shod and
given sunflower seeds to eat, so that they should sit
quiet and not quarrel with one another. But the men
stood in the barracks and were sad at heart, thinking
of their wives and children, while the women sat cross-
legged and sighed for their husbands, because they
were not accustomed to live without them. The boys,
however, were always seeking to play at war with
the Russian boys. Then the authorities thought
how they should make the Japanese happy and rid
themselves of much trouble. At last they came to a
decision. They ordered the Japanese to settle on the
land, so that their wives and little ones should be
given back to them ; also horses to plough with, so
that they should earn their bread. They received
corn from the Crown, and thought to cultivate the
ground. But everything went amiss with them ;
they could not manage the harrow, it was too heavy
and painful. The women cried because their husbands
could not feed them with bread and beat them ; the
children were quite forgotten, and without sunflower
seeds life was indeed wretched. Then they all begged
that they should be placed in their former positions.
There was nothing else to be done ; the authorities
quartered the men in barracks, guarded the women
and bought the children sunflower seeds to eat. But
after a while it was the same old story over again ;
everybody was dissatisfied, and the authorities grew
angry. Then the Japanese considered the matter,
and finally said : ' Is there not some work we could
do, but not so hard ? ' ' What work is there for you
to do ? You are but dead cattle,' was the answer.
'But, look here,' they replied, 'we see you have
taken their horses for the war — permit us to go and
THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES 147
dwell among your moujiks. We will take the place
of the horses, for we have been used to that work
from our infancy.' At this the authorities laughed
heartily, and distributed the prisoners amongst various
households, instead of horses. The moujiks followed
the plough, as usual, while the Japanese drew it, and
all lived in peace and contentment."
This childish tale gives us an insight into the suffer-
ing caused by taking away the horses for military
purposes, and shows that the peasant is not always so
unpractical as he is supposed to be. The poor opinion
he has of womenkind is evidenced by the putting of the
Japanese women under a guard ; semi-Oriental as he
is, he still thinks this necessary, so that they shall not
commit folly. Like his own women, they generally
howl when they cannot get bread, and the Japanese
husband is erroneously supposed to maintain his
authority with the stick, as most moujiks unfortun-
ately do. Like the burly moujik, also, the Japanese
is made to weep when things go wrong, and it is the
Japanese boys who are anxious to wage war with the
Russian. The inability of the Japs to do the heavy
work filled Ivanovitch with pride, for, whatever we
may think of him, he believes that he is infinitely
superior, both physically and morally, to every other
Nyzemtze — a term meaning " dumb one," by which
he designates all who do not speak his tongue. That
the Japanese^ — who are really centuries ahead of him
in agricultural knowledge— were only fit to draw the
plough tickled his pride and confirmed his good
opinion of himself. His peace-loving temperament —
so opposed to that of Tartar and Cossack — is to be
seen in his anxiety that the children should not quarrel,
and in the satisfaction with which he winds up the
story, by stating that afterwards "all lived in peace
and contentment."
148 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
The moujik's ideals, on the whole, are those of the
Bible ; he thinks and speaks often in Biblical language ;
his mental development is slow in the extreme. Like
the Founder of Christianity, Ivan is a Communist and
a Socialist, but in his knowledge of life and history is
as simple as any child at its mother's knee. His faith
in his Sovereign, his Church and his superiors is only
equalled by his pitiable ignorance ; he fights and prays
with the same fervour — prays to all the saints in the
calendar. He maintains that Manchuria belongs to
Russia, and that the greedy, unbelieving Japanese were
striving to wrest it from her. Others of the peasantry,
residing in the most distant villages, thought that their
one-time enemies were little yellow men, half man,
half monkey, and that they lived in a land infested by
fierce dragons which belched forth fire and smoke on
the faithful soldiers of the Tsar and destroyed them,
unless a magic spell could be found to render the evil
powers harmless. The Japs were believed to be
subjects of the Tsar, who, as they would not sit at
home quietly, but revolted against their " Little
Father," had to suffer compulsion to restore order.
The legend that has grown up round the tragic end
of Admiral Makarieff is perhaps the most beautiful
of these remarkable imaginations of the Russian
peasant. The sad news of his death excited the
deepest sympathy, and the people expressed their
feelings in this delightful manner :
" It was on Easter Eve when the Admiral partook
of the Holy Communion, kissed the Holy Shroud,
and, having assembled his dear little sailors, spoke to
them sweetly and graciously. 4 To-morrow,' said he,
' Christ the Lord rises from the dead. Go ye all then
to the holy matin service and pray to God, for I shall
go to sea. My heart forewarns me that the Japanese
are going to pay us a visit. We must go out to meet
THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES 149
them.' ' Indeed,' said the little sailors to their kind
Admiral, c why shouldest thou go to sea ? Let thy
sailors carry out thy orders, meet the enemy with
powder and fire and shot ; but go thou to the church to
early service.' ' No,' the Admiral said, ' I will carry
out my duty myself ; go you and pray for me. When
you have confessed, come to me. Now let us cross
ourselves and embrace one another. Go then, my
dear little brothers.' The sailors stood still, however,
and said nothing, not wishing to leave their Com-
mander. Presently one of them exclaimed : * It is
evident, your Highborn, that the Japanese intend
to disturb your rest on holy Easter morn. Great
heavens, has the Japanese no God that he wishes to
take upon his soul the sin of interfering with divine
worship? Come, Admiral — come with us.' The
Admiral smiled when he heard these words, but,
clapping the man on the shoulder, he cried : ' No, go
ye, and when the morning service is finished, come and
kiss me and bring red eggs.' The sailors then left
him, much saddened.
11 Easter Eve arrived. The Admiral took with him a
companion, seized the oars and sat down in a wooden
boat. They sailed out to sea three miles, cast anchor
and looked through the telescope. But the night
was dark and the wind howled, so that one could not
hear the divine singing, the holy prayers, or the ringing
of the church bells. It was terrible on the water while
the Admiral sat and watched. ' Look,' said he to his
companion, • I have grown old and do not see any-
thing in the dark. Look thou through the telescope.
Dost thou see the Japanese ships ? Are they coming
against us or not ? My heart forewarns me of evil.'
His comrade looked through j the telescope and was
silent ; nothing was to be seen ahead — all was black,
above and below. ' The Japanese will never approach
us in such a darkness ; 'tis enough to blind one.'
150 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
The Admiral smiled a little, heaved a deep sigh and
again gazed into the distance, while the wind raged
and the storm moaned. All on a sudden, he sprang to
his feet and said : c Didst thou hear the bells ringing
in the town ? It is Christ that has risen. Let us
worship according to the true Orthodox faith.' He
had hardly kissed his friend thrice, as customary,
saluting him with the words, " Christos voskres "
(Christ is risen), when there rose from the depths of the
sea a mine, and struck the boat so that it flew into
splinters. The Admiral's body, wounded in many
engagements, floated on the waves, and drifted to the
place where the Russian soldiers were standing. They
had returned from morning service, and stood in a row,
ready to salute their Admiral and give him their
Easter eggs. But behold, the body floats towards
them ; it is washed ashore and lies on the sands at
their feet. The men weep bitterly. Everlasting
peace to his memory."
Thus the simple, God-fearing peasantry weave the
story of that tragedy into legendary lore, showing how
their beloved and kindly Admiral sped into eternity.
The anecdote illustrates well the democratic side of
the Russian character, and the amicable relations
which often exist between officers and men. " Gentle "
was the truest word to describe Makarieff ; he was
so adored by his sailors that he could lead them, like a
father does his children, to do whatever he desired.
We see clearly the reverence of the people for their
holy days, their horror of the enemy for daring to
fight on such a festival as Easter. We see, too, their
sublime ignorance of the true end of Makarieff.
Did the peasantry possess but a tithe of the advan-
tages enjoyed by other European nations, they would
not be behind in those sterling qualities which go to
form the true patriot, the worthy citizen and the
C x
u
<
THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES 151
honest supporter of the Throne. Strange doctrines
misled them at this period especially, and even now
the moujik falls an easy victim to the impossible
stories and reports that appear in the popular Press.
The more sensational the news, the more he believes
it — for is it not printed on paper with black ink, and
therefore correct ? His reverence for his halfpenny or
farthing rag is both comic and tragic. A workman
under me once came to me with tears in his eyes and
begged permission to go home to his native village, in
order that he might die in the bosom of his family,
because a certain Petrograd halfpenny paper had pre-
dicted that the world was coming to an end on a given
date ! We may laugh at the poor, credulous fellow
and at the paper which so befooled him, but are
there not in England specimens of journalism almost
as sensational, and thousands of people almost as
gullible ?
It will be seen that notwithstanding all that has
been done for the peasant, or rather one should say,
perhaps, all that has not been done, he retains in some
respects the darkest ignorance ; yet, if he knows not
the simplest elements of geography, history, or arith-
metic, he understands his farm, the weather, the crops,
the habits of birds and animals. His education is not
ours ; but one can hardly call him strictly uneducated,
for the open book of nature teaches him many things
which town -dwellers never learn, and in his folk-songs
these are embodied and preserved with wonderful
beauty and simple skill. Outwardly, he is as rough
and uncouth as any bear of his northern forests, but
often we find a tender heart beneath this unpromising
exterior, and a mind open to all that is inspiring in
nature. His craftiness and frequent dishonesty are
explained by the fact that his only weapon against his
oppressors was deceit and cunning. That he is tough
as leather and can endure any hardship is not surprising
152 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
when we remember that much of his life is spent on the
border-line of starvation. His credulity arises from
his vivid imagination. If you tell him of the ordinary
progress of events in Paris or London — the tubes,
underground railways, telephones — he will tell you
plainly that you are fooling him ; but if you asserted
that there were silver and gold scattered about the
streets he would believe every word, for he has heard
many stories of the wealth of the English. Fairy tales
and miracles are his native mental fare ; facts concern
him very little.
The average peasant, with all his church-going and
piety, holds very curious ideas on religion and the will
of the Almighty. I heard one amusing story which
illustrates this excellently. A droshky-driver once
conveyed a gentleman to a certain bank. His fare,
who had money and valuable papers with him, pushed
them under the cushions for safety while he did his
business, but, on returning, to his dismay the man
had driven off, taking with him the portfolio, which
contained, among other things, notes to the value of
several thousand roubles. The owner was, of course, in
a great state of perturbation, and informed the police,
who forthwith summoned every day a number of the
thousands of drivers in Petrograd to report them-
selves. At last the lost one was recognised, and
taxed with the theft ; but the poor fellow was astounded,
and stoutly denied having taken either the money or
the papers. Orders were given for the cab to be
searched — and there, sure enough, was the missing
portfolio, with its contents intact. The owner was
overjoyed, and gave the man a handsome reward.
But the droshky-driver was dumbfounded, and could
not understand the reason of his patron's generosity,
and when he at last learned that the little leathern
book had contained such a small fortune his sorrow
and disappointment knew no bounds ; he could not
THE MOUJIKS AND WORKING CLASSES 153
get over his astonishment, and finally hanged himself
in disgust at the thought that God had sent him all that
money and he had not taken it !
Nearly all these drivers are peasants from the
interior, and, as we have seen, possess their share of
mother wit. Tolstoi, in one of his works, says that
the wisest man he ever knew was a Russian peasant.
In their conversation with one another, every sentence
is characterised by some bon mot, proverb, or vivid
metaphor. So rich are they in this figurative mode of
expression that unless one has been brought up in the
country they are often very hard to follow and com-
prehend. It is especially difficult for the matter-of-
fact Englishman, German or Scandinavian, who do
not bother about metaphorical phrases, but as a rule
employ simple, concrete assertions. With them a
word generally means a fact ; with a Russian it is
frequently an image of something in his mind. Even
the smallest boy, almost smothered in his father's or
grandfather's huge cap, and his blue kaftan reaching
to his toes, is fully able to take care of himself; also
he is so skilled that he will drive you safely about the
most crowded streets, so courageous that he will drive
through miles of dense forests with dangerous animals
lurking in their depths.
The Marquis de Castine, speaking of their ready wit,
remarks : " The merest boy or the lowest peasant is
never at a loss for an answer, and in this respect offers
a striking contrast to the awkward, embarrassed and
boorish manners of the German peasantry. The
Russian detects in a moment the weak side of
another, and no one can with fewer words turn it
to ridicule. If, on the one hand, there is no country
where fewer bon mots are perpetrated than in our
good Germany, there is certainly none where they
occur more frequently than in Russia. In the streets
and market-places, as in the highest society, smart
154 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
sayings old and new of Russian origin are perpetually
circulating."
Saltikoff, the satirist, in his famous dialogue entitled
The Boy with Trousers and the Boy Without, shows the
remarkable difference in wit and character between the
Russian boy (without trousers) and the German boy
(with them). Even in early childhood this difference
is distinctly to be seen. But if the German boy is
clumsy and embarrassed, he is more reliable than his
brilliant, versatile Slavonic companion.
Bismarck used to say that as long as a moujik wore
his shirt outside his baggy trousers you could trust him ;
when he tucked it in, wore a top hat, and swaggered
about with an umbrella, it was time to beware. An
old Scottish resident whom I knew, used to swear at
the peasants energetically, and the more he raved, the
more he was respected, for they love a strict master
who knows how to abuse you properly." No malice
is ever borne for this sort of treatment by the peasant.
With the Finn or Calmuck it is a different matter. He
has great notions of his own dignity, and if you doubt
his word or swear at him too much you run a chance of
feeling a knife, even if it be a week after. You may
have forgotten the incident, but he will not forget !
XVII
THE TSAR, HIS HOUSEHOLD AND HIS LABOURS
The personality of the Tsar is a subject of general
interest. Much depends upon the personal influence
of a ruler, particularly if he is head of one of the world's
great empires.
In appearance, he strikingly resembles King George,
and I have elsewhere mentioned the amusing mis-
understandings and mistakes this strong likeness
caused. As to character, his favourite English tutor,
Mr Heath, told me that the Tsar had such a kind and
considerate nature that he would never ask even his
servants to do anything if he could do it himself. He
is a good sportsman, and could then run a fair dis-
tance without fatigue ; fond of cycling, he could hit a
target while riding his machine. The report that he
used to take more interest in his bicycle than in his
army must have originated maliciously. Anyone who
visits the manoeuvres at Krasnoe in peace time, as I
have often done, will see, as I saw, the Tsar toiling for
hours together, reviewing his troops and following the
long operations closely. His exertions and frequent
journeys to the Caucasus and the Austrian frontier
showed that he, like most of the Grand Dukes, is a
soldier at heart.
But it must be remembered that the Tsar of Russia
has much more important work than attending
military manoeuvres. He notes all agricultural and
social questions or suggested reforms, and spends
much time on the duties of the State. When he was
but a young man I expressed the opinion in my book,
Through Famine-stricken Russia, that he would make
i55
156 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
an excellent ruler if he could find good officials and
advisers, for in truth he is an upright gentleman, with
a fine sense of duty. But not even autocrats can do
as they please.
Despite the revolutionists, the Tsar has done much
good during his reign, and has introduced measures
which will have great influence on the country's
future development. If some of his deeds seem unjust
in our eyes — for instance, the policy pursued in Fin-
land and in the Baltic Provinces — we must blame his
advisers, for I am convinced that he wishes to do
justice to his subjects of every race. It is said that
he ascended the throne simply from a deep sense of
duty and to please his father ; he would have been far
happier in a less-exalted position ; therefore we should
not judge too severely one burdened with so difficult
a task. He is not responsible for a thousandth part
of the wrongs done in his name but without his
knowledge. When interviewed by Count Tolstoi the
Younger, with whom I worked in the government of
Samara during the Great Famine, he said that he felt
called by God to discharge certain difficult duties
towards the people, and that he was responsible before
God alone for the right fulfilment of his task. He was
inspired by love for the nation, and would not shrink
from any sacrifice in order to ensure its moral and
material prosperity. He added that he was also quite
willing to relinquish a portion of his prerogative, if by
so doing he really furthered the people's welfare — even
his rank ; he would look upon it as a pleasure, for
neither his character nor up-bringing had encouraged
in him the desire for power. His own wishes would
have been for a quiet family life, undisturbed by affairs
of State. He could not sanction a constitution, or
meet other radical demands as regarded a representa-
tive government ; not because he endeavoured to main-
tain his privileges, but because these demands did not
THE TSAR 157
proceed from the people, and their concession would
only mean fresh problems and possibly sufferings.
Such was the tenor of his converse with the Count.
Although I do not quite hold with the Tsar, I believe
he was perfectly sincere when he said that the agita-
tion for a new form of government did not originate
with the masses, and that such a change would bring
trouble. When one remembers that millions can
neither read nor write, are steeped in ignorance and
superstition, and that they have no conception of
liberty, it would certainly seem unwise to give these
moujiks the vote until some measure of education and
understanding has enlightened them to its possibilities.
This does not apply to the merchants, manufacturers,
nobles, professional classes, shopkeepers and thousands
of men in the towns, nor to a proportion of the peasant
class which has educated its members fairly well.
Something must be done for these, or in the future
troubles worse than those of 1905-1906 will arise. This
large section must be better represented in the Govern-
ment, even if universal suffrage is out of the question.
What Russia wants is reform, not revolution. The
old policy of sitting on the safety-valve must be
abandoned, otherwise another eruption of the sup-
pressed forces may come, the horrors of which only
those who have seen the lower classes break loose can
tell. Such a calamity means the destruction of the
innocent with the guilty, the despoiling of immense
properties in which Englishmen are interested, and
probably the repudiation of Russia's enormous foreign
debt, a large part of which is taken up by English and
French investors. And the evil might not stop there.
When order was restored, when the strong leader was
found, who knows but that the teeming population
would not use their newly gained strength to over-
run Europe. France, a hundred years ago, with only
14,000,000, caused havoc throughout the Continent.
158 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
If she could do so much, what could not awakened
Russia do ? We should not, then, make the position
of the Tsar more hard than it is. Our influence must
be on the side of judicious reforms gradually intro-
duced, and then we who have such great commercial
and industrial interests in Russia shall share in the
benefits resulting.
The young Count Tolstoi, with whom the Tsar dis-
cussed these matters, held the view that Russia is not
yet ripe for a Constitution, in the English sense of the
word. He considered that the form of government
most suitable would be a Council of the four estates,
sitting in the capital. Just as Russian society is
split into four distinct classes — nobles, ecclesiastics,
burghers and peasants — so should the people be repre-
sented. The popular delegates should be chosen by
freeholding peasants and members of the village com-
munes ; those of the clergy should be selected from
among their own members ; while those of the towns
should be in four groups, so that they might represent
the classes mentioned and the various interests of the
urban population. Tolstoi confessed that he obtained
his idea of the proposed parliament from the old
Swedish parliament of the four estates. He held that
Sweden, not Germany, was the best model for the
social and political reorganisation of Russia — as was
the case first under Rurik and afterwards under Peter
the Great, who copied from Sweden the idea of
ministries and colleges.
In this sketch of the Tsar's problems I have not
touched on the political side of his character. Owing
to our entente with Russia and the strict censorship in
the English Press — which obtained even prior to the
present war — outspoken comment on these themes
is impossible. Since, then, I cannot write from the
" desired direction," I prefer to remain silent on many
subjects familiar to me, leaving it to those who have
THE TSAR 159
no scruples or sense of responsibility to give such rosy
pictures of the internal condition of the country as
suits the authorities in power for the time being.
Some day the truth will be told, not only about
Russia, but concerning other European states with
whose destinies our own is closely knit.
The Tsarina was a Princess of Hesse, a grand-
daughter of Queen Victoria. She is a good, highly
educated lady, taking a great interest in the uplifting
of women and in works of charity. She is an excellent
mother and a devoted wife, and as beautiful as she is
good. She is too fine in character for many of the
corrupt courtiers round her, and when I lived in
Petrograd was not half as popular as she deserved to
be ; firstly, because she was of English and German
origin, and, secondly, because she did not countenance
the lax morality then prevalent in the Court circles.
She was derisively called " Anglechanka " and
" Puritanka " (Englishwoman and Puritan), but since
the two countries have become good friends her
English tastes no longer stand in her way. The fact
that she had no male offspring also seemed derogatory,
the superstitious people interpreting this as a sign that
God was displeased with her. In striving for a pure
Court, she takes after Queen Victoria, who, as we know,
would never tolerate loose living in her immediate
entourage. Were the Tsarina to emulate " babooshka
Ekaterina " (grandmother Catherine), her popularity
would increase at once, but a notoriety of that descrip-
tion she will never, fortunately, attain.
As a rule the royal couple lead a simple family life,
but the necessity of keeping up the traditional luxury
and ostentation of the Court compels them occasionally
to go against their private inclinations. For example,
the galas, ceremonials, receptions and parades are
carried on with a grandeur surpassing anything seen
in other capitals and with an astonishing attention to
160 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
detail. The grand banquets and balls at the Winter
Palace, at Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina and other places of
residence cost enormous sums of money. All that art
and taste can accomplish are there. The late Grand
Duke Mechail the Elder, the Tsar's grand-uncle,
inherited the simple tastes of so many of the Romanoffs.
At ordinary times he led a plain, almost Spartan life,
spending very little on his personal comfort, although
one of the wealthiest men in Europe. But on special
occasions he used to send for the finest Parisian chefs,
and would lay out thousands over his feasts. The
Imperial family have always employed French chefs,
and it is no wonder that some of these skilful artists
have returned with a fortune to their native land after
a few years in the Tsar's service.
The whole of the very extensive Imperial household
was under the control of Count Paul Benckendorff.
Next to him came an official in a gorgeous uniform,
his tunic sparkling with decorations presented by well-
nigh every monarch of significance. In olden days
this personage had to swear an oath of fealty, also, if
I am not mistaken, to taste each dish before it reached
the Tsar. Those serving under him have resplendent
uniforms, richly ornamented with gold broidery. All
who love to display their persons thus, and have any
influence, endeavour to obtain some position in con-
nection with the Court or household. An acquaint-
ance of mine, obsessed with this weakness, after a
great deal of effort at last secured one of these posts,
with the right of wearing the showy attire. The Tsar,
however, was puzzled at this addition to his already
extravagant suite, and seeing C B strolling
about like a jackdaw in borrowed plumes, called to his
adjutant brusquely : " Who is that cock strutting
about over there ? " When told, he said : " Tell him
to go to the devil and not show his face here any more,
for I do not want him." So ended the career of
THE TSAR 161
C B in the retinue of Alexander II. ! This
Tsar, like the great Peter, hated all show and cere-
mony. His room at Gatchina was very small, and he
delighted in going about dressed as plainly as possible.
His strong common-sense and careful policy made
Russia so formidable that for a long time she had
only one ally — Montenegro. Of this isolation he was
proud, and once, at a banquet, proposed a toast to
" Our only Ally — King Nicholas of Montenegro,"
which was drunk with thunderous applause.
The affairs of the Imperial household are managed
by a special chancellery, comprising in its personnel
twelve secretaries, four butlers, twenty-four chief
waiters, thirty-four lackeys, with eighteen sub-
ordinates and fifty-four assistant lackeys. At the
head of the kitchen are two chefs, both Frenchmen,
whose annual salaries exceed that of any minister.
At their disposal are four under-chefs, thirty-eight
cooks, twenty apprentices and thirty-two kitchen-
boys. The sweetmeat section forms a separate depart-
ment, the chief of which is also a Frenchman, who has
under him two bakers, two confectioners and twenty
apprentices. All this luxury and state has to be kept
up more for the sake of visitors than for the Tsar's
own desires. It is well known that he dislikes artificial
foods, preferring the old simple national dishes, such
as borsch, a soup made from spinach, tchi, another
soup of sour cabbage with large lumps of beef floating
in it, and other concoctions which do not sound
particularly appetising to Western ideas. The piroks
(meat and cabbage pies), the various soups, the black
bread, sterlet, pickled mushrooms, gherkins, caviare,
a real Russian delights in before the artistic produc-
tions of French chefs, who can disguise a cabbage until
it appears as a cutlet, and cook potatoes in a hundred
different ways. One must possess a truly Russian
digestion, though, to stand the national menus.
162 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
At the Court only French champagne and Bordeaux
wines of the finest vintages are consumed. The
excellent Caucasian, Bessarabian, Crimean and other
wines grown in the south cannot as yet supplant
these, though they are probably purer and far more
nutritious. When the last Tsar was twitted with
preferring foreign champagne to the sweet but
dangerous brand brewed in his own country, he replied
in the words of Bismarck when his friends tried to
persuade him to drink only champagne : " The
stomach knows nothing about politics ! " The Tsar
is right, for some of the young Caucasian wines are
so raw and ill prepared that courage and a strong
stomach are required to swallow them. Possibly the
practice of keeping the wine in bullock-skins has
something to do with their harsh, peculiar taste.
Much fruit is consumed at the Imperial table, and
the pears, which are sent from Paris, cost at least a
shilling each. Large quantities of apples, grapes and
melons come from the Crimea to Petrograd, but I do
not know whether they reach the Court. The gold
and silver plate, richly enamelled by skilled artists, is
a wonderful sight, but there is no need to describe it in
detail or to do more than mention its very beautiful
and elaborate design.
XVIII
HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS
Considering the two million inhabitants of Petro-
grad, it cannot be said that the city is well provided
with first-class hotels. For this reason many visitors
prefer to stay at one of the numerous pensions —
Mebelorovanne komnate — which make good the de-
ficiency. A comfortable place, and one of the most
popular of the larger hotels, is the Angleterre (Gos-
tenetza Anglija), in the St Isaac Square, exactly
opposite the cathedral of that name. For many years
this favourite centre of the English colony of the
capital was under the direction of the good-natured,
hospitable Herr Kluge, brother of Professor Kluge of
the University of Jena. When almost a boy, this
worthy host ran away from home. He once told me
that he cared nothing for learning — his one ambition
in life was to become a noted chef and to manage a
hotel. In course of time this ambition was realised,
and under his expert control the Hotel d'Angleterre
became famous for its good dinners, moderate charges
and general comfort. So celebrated did these dinners
at last become that I have known Americans, to whom
distance and money were of no account, travel all the
way from Berlin simply to dine with " Old Kluge."
In time he grew so successful that he took over the
Hotel de FEurope in the Mechailoff Street, which in
those days was considered the best in the city. After
attaining this long-sought fame, Kluge made so many
friends that they actually shortened his useful, merry
career by treating him too well. He was killed by
kindness, and died comparatively young, missed by
163
164 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
all who knew his rotund, beaming countenance and
his good heart. He was married to a handsome
Englishwoman who came from Leicester, and he
had lived so long in England that to all intents and
purposes he was a typical John Bull of the olden
school, bluff, genial and generous.
Another house much frequented by the English
was the Hotel de la France, in the Grande Morskaja.
It is famous for its rouble and rouble-and-fifty
luncheons, and is now patronised greatly by Russian
officers, officials and tourists of various nationalities.
The Bolshaja Sjevernaja Gostenetza, opposite the
Nicholas Railway Station, is an imposing pile, but
somewhat too " Roosky " for my taste. Most of the
really Russian hotels are furnished with great mag-
nificence, but are often dirty and dusty beyond belief.
It is difficult to make pure Russians understand the
necessity of keeping their rooms spotlessly clean and
free from small unwelcome visitors. Nearly every
moujik, and many who are above the moujik class,
devoutly believes that these insect pests are necessary
parts of creation, and that the trifling amount of
nourishment they extract from their unwilling victims
is good for the general health, preventing them from
becoming too full-blooded and thus developing apo-
plexy. A charming belief, perhaps, but decidedly
inconvenient to cleanly Westerners !
There is a modest hotel on the Kazanskaja, but as it
is used chiefly by Germans from the Baltic Provinces,
I will not take the responsibility of recommending it
to my countrymen. The Hotel de l'Europe, in the
Mechailoffsky, is perhaps the best old-fashioned one
in Petrograd, but it is not particularly cheap or com-
fortable. The best hotel of all, however, is the
" Astora " Hotel, managed entirely on modern lines.
There are many second-class houses, among them
the Europa, the Palais Royal, " Regina " and the
HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS 165
Hermitage, but intending visitors should remember
the pensions on the Nevsky, Petit Morskaja and
the Ligoffskaja. Excellent boarding-houses exist for
those who are making a long stay, kept by English
ladies, on the Vasilii Ostroff. In one of these I
resided for many years.
The food in Petrograd is, on the whole, inexpensive
and nicely varied. In no city is it possible to obtain
excellent meat, game and fish at such reasonable
charges. In shopping, I have always found it wise to
send the servant or housekeeper. The Russian shop-
keeper has a habit of putting up his prices if he thinks
his customer can afford to pay well. " Kak pokoopa,
tel tak tsena " (As the buyer, so the price) is his
motto. This is so much the case that my old Finnish
servant, being a poor woman, could invariably purchase
the provisions required for my household at about half
what I paid whenever I essayed to do my own shopping.
Sometimes I did it, but was usually " done " myself
in the bargain, for immediately I appeared the cunning
salesman, seeing that I was a barin (gentleman), in his
opinion, doubled the legitimate cost. With me and
members of my class he threw conscience to the winds,
but with the poor he showed a less grasping turn of
mind.
As a rule beef, game and fresh-water fish can be
obtained at about half the English prices ; vegetables
and fruit, however, are dear, especially during the
winter months, when they are either brought from
the south or imported from abroad. In the summer
strawberries and raspberries are exceedingly cheap,
also grapes and melons, which come in plenty from the
south of Russia, Astrachan and Bessarabia. Then
the fruit stores along the Nevsky and the Grand
Morskaja are filled to overflowing with every kind of
grape — delicate ones from the Crimea, amber beauties
from the sunny south and Constantinople, and other
166 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
varieties that are never seen in this country. As a
rule they are about sixpence a pound, water-melons
about fourpence, fivepence and sixpence each, but in
the south, that land of plenty, grapes can be bought
for a penny a pound, and melons at a penny each.
Turkeys in this district cost about tenpence each, and
geese less than a shilling. Considering the transport
— the enormous distances — the prices charged in the
capital for meat, game, fruit and fish are most moder-
ate. Wine follows the same rule. For R.1.50 (3s.)
a large jar or puncheon of Crimean wine can be
obtained. There are many sorts of native wine —
Bessarabian, Crimean, South Russian, Caucasian,
Kjachitnskaja and others. Connoisseurs, who know
the vintages, can purchase wine cheaply, but the
uninitiated may find themselves drinking a concoction
of logwood, raw grape juice, spirit and vile chemicals
that will make them vow never to touch Russian wine
again. Russian champagne is a beverage which I
should advise strangers to beware of. It is generally
so sweet, and so carelessly prepared, that it cannot be
recommended. The material for the wine industry
in Russia is excellent, and vast quantities of raw wine
are exported to France to be made into claret ; but the
Russians have not yet learnt the secret of preparing
a first-class, palatable wine — with few exceptions.
In general, I found the wines from the vineyards of
the Emperor and the Grand Dukes superior in quality,
aroma and purity to those from the vineyards of
private firms.
Petrograd, like Moscow, has always been famous
for its restaurants. The people are exceedingly
partial to the delights of the table. From the earliest
times Russian chroniclers have noted that the old
Russian dearly loved merry-making and good living,
and these characteristics remain to the present day,
in spite of the constant invasions and vicissitudes
HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS 167
that have taken place. As might be expected with a
race so frequently conquered and often in contact
with many strange peoples, traces of Tartar, German,
French, Italian, Polish and even Caucasian influences
can be seen. The Zakooska, which resembles in some
respects the Swedish smorgas-bord, is peculiar to
Russia and the three kingdoms inhabited by the
Norsemen. These people attach much importance to
the mysteries of the side table. The shashlik, pieces
of stewed bacon sprinkled with herbs, is a common
dish; beefsteak a la Tartar (raw beef sprinkled with
condiments and salt) is of Tartar origin. But there
are also many distinctive and peculiarly Russian
dishes, among which may be included the tchi (cabbage
soup), the pirokee (cabbage pies), sturgeon cutlets,
caviare and many other delicacies which are only
obtainable in Russia.
In the better-class restaurants the traveller is free
to make acquaintance with all these, which also
include smoked reindeer tongues from Archangel,
smoked ox tongues from the Caucasus, smoked fish
from the Gulf of Finland, grapes and melons from
Astrachan, rosy apples from the Crimea, pickled mush-
rooms and many other edibles. In the French
restaurants and other favourite resorts of the well-
to-do excellent French cooking is to be found at a not
too expensive price, when everything is taken into
consideration — the high duty charged on imported
wines and other articles of luxury.
There is also a famous Milanese restaurant, the
Brothers Pivato, where all the delicacies of Italy are
to be found. Many restaurants of German origin cater
for those who can stand the peculiar cooking of the
Fatherland. The Russians believe in a good table,
and rich folk spend immense sums in gastronomical
pleasures. They are noted for their hospitality, and
in the houses of the rich merchants the tables groan
168 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
with quantities of fish, flesh, fowl, together with all
kinds of wines, spirits and liqueurs. When these do
not suffice, resort is made to the wines of Germany,
Italy and France, for which very high prices are
charged. The extravagance of the Petrogradian is
astonishing when the comparatively small incomes of
the officers and the gilded youth are taken into account.
The most costly champagne, brandy, liqueurs and
cigars find a ready market here ; the duties are so
high that it only pays to import the best. Often a
sovereign or more is given for a single bottle of cham-
pagne and three shillings for a bottle of English stout.
No matter what it costs, the " nuts " of Petrograd will
have the best, even if their expensive tastes land them
ultimately in prison, for in Russia debtors are still
punished with imprisonment.
It is owing to this extravagance that there are so
many lombards (pawnshops) in Petrograd, which
advance money on jewellery, expensive furs and other
valuables, thus helping these votaries of pleasure to
tide over the dangers pending the welcome date of
the 20th, when every Government employee receives
his salary and can redeem articles that have been
temporarily "popped." In Gogol we meet with an
amusing character in the person of Ivan Alexandro-
vitch Khlistakoff, who is always getting into debt and
trouble, and who in many respects is a typical repre-
sentative of the upper-class youth of the gay capital.
This type of citizen is always borrowing, without the
faintest possible hope of ever paying off his loans.
The escapades of these young " bloods " and some of
the members of the aristocracy and the ducal families
are a theme of continual wonder and gossip among the
busybodies. I remember one restaurant, the Mjedved,
noted for its excellent wines, which used to be a
favourite resort of the young Grand Dukes, whose
adventures were for a long time the talk of the town.
HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS 169
They were probably not an iota worse than thousands
of other young men in the city, but owing to their
exalted rank were picked out for special attention by
the " do-nothings."
Another restaurant, the Leiner, famous for its good
Munich beer, was for a long time frequented by a
swash-buckler officer, who was a dead shot and skilled
swordsman. He amused himself by challenging and
shooting anyone who was so unwise as to enter into an
argument with him. Let us hope that he, like many
others of his type, has long ago met the fate he so
heartlessly dealt out to others who had no chance
against his pistols. Duelling is still frequent in
Russia, especially among the young men and officers
from the Baltic Provinces, who imagine that their
honour can be satisfied in no other way than by killing
the man who has offended them, or by running him
through with a rapier. For instance, one of my
pupils wished to fight a duel with another student
for taking liberties with his servant maid, an ignorant
country girl, who had not the slightest conception of
what satisfying honour meant. It was only with the
greatest difficulty that I could persuade the young
men to abandon their fight. Many a handsome young
fellow I have known or heard of has met his death in
this manner, often on account of the most trifling
quarrel.
Duelling also exists in the army, but questions as
to the conditions of the encounter and whether it is
obligatory for an officer to fight are usually decided
by an officers' Court of Honour, and a man is not
called on to fight unless his superiors consider it
necessary. These mediaeval and barbarous ideas have
been imported from Germany and are really not
Russian at all, or in accordance with the Russian
character, which is easy-going and much more inclined
to forgive than to take revenge for an insult or slight.
170 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
The craze for satisfying an officer's honour was at one
time quite a nuisance in Petrograd, and as long as
Prussian influence obtained in the army many civilians
were shot to uphold the " honour of the regiment."
Even in the days of Gustav Adolphus these ridiculous
performances took place and were only stopped by
the wise and brave King ordering the survivor to
be decapitated immediately after he had killed his
antagonist. Were this method introduced into Russia
it would be an excellent thing, for as long as the
ordinary law exists it should be carried out and its
decisions respected by all classes of the population,
even including the military. Only when common law
is impossible and at an end should military law and
duelling be allowed.
Besides the numerous restaurants, there are the
kafene (coffee-houses), which attract a great number
of the middle classes. The majority of these establish-
ments are found in the Nevsky, the Letennaja and the
Sadovaja. Many of them are very luxurious, especi-
ally one in the Nevsky, much frequented by the
nymphs of the pavement, who here make appoint-
ments with their admirers. The remarkable choice
of cakes, muffins and pastry to be found in these places
is astounding and bears witness to the skill of the
Russians in the making of every variety of bread,
from the simple rye loaf, sold at a halfpenny per
pound, to the most luscious bread made from the very
finest wheat grown on the Volga. There is also an
excellent Italian restaurant and confectionery on the
Nevsky, called " Domenico's," one of the oldest in
Petrograd, made famous in many a Russian novel.
Here young officers, students, needy officials and
others stroll in to read the newspapers and sip coffee,
or still more frequently a glass of tea flavoured with
lemon. This place is also a favourite resort of the
secret police, who watch the unfortunate students
HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS 171
and suspected persons as they stroll incessantly up
and down the Nevsky. It was while taking a cup of
coffee in this restaurant, which is exactly opposite the
cathedral, that I witnessed the riots I have described
in a previous chapter.
There are many good restaurants frequented by
the upper and middle classes, and trakteers abound,
the favourite resorts of every genuine Russian, from the
rich Jcoopetz in his long kaftan and top-boots to the
humblest moujik, who has perhaps tramped hundreds
of miles into town from the country, either in search of
work or to pray before some wonderful, miraculous
icon, which he firmly believes has the mysterious
power of healing all the ills that flesh is heir to and
bringing him luck. I have often seen grey-coated
country yokels staring in awe and astonishment at the
wonders of Petre, as they familiarly call Petrograd.
In their villages they have heard about " iron horses "
that were propelled by steam, of enormous vessels
with the same motive power, of wonderful palaces,
churches and bridges " which hang in the air without
support," but they never imagined anything equal to
what now meets their astonished gaze. How different
from the long, dreary, straggling village with its
hundred wooden log-huts, the big central high-road in
which men and horses sink in mud to their middles,
the little church with its gilded cupolas and icons
covered with silver, tinsel and inlaid with precious
stones — made of coloured glass ! Here everything is
real — the dome of St Isaac's is covered with real gold,
the jewels are genuine and every vessel used in the
ceremonies is of solid gold and silver. Truly Petre is
a veritable earthly paradise, a fairy city to poor,
ignorant Ivan Ivanovitch when he first sets foot
in it, and before he has made the acquaintance
of the unhealthy cellar basements and wretched
habitations in which the poor have to dwell, owing
172 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
to the high rates charged by the owners of the
property.
What the club is to the officers and merchants, the
trakteer is to the peasant. It is here that he meets his
fellow-toilers and discusses with them the events of
the day, as criticism of home affairs is tabooed. The
illiterate moujiks knowingly talk over the policy of
England, France and Germany, although some of the
would-be politicians have the haziest ideas of where
these countries are or in whose hands the government
of each is vested. Their self-assurance is only equalled
by their ignorance ; they make the most astonishing
assertions. During the Japanese War the fear and
suspicion of England assumed marvellous proportions,
while during the Turkish War it was imagined that
Englishmen were the cause of all Russia's disasters,
both at home and abroad. If there was a defeat, a
plague, a pestilence, a famine, or if the crops failed, it
was all the work of Anglechanka, by which term the
moujiks meant Britannia. Where Britain was on the
map the majority had not the faintest idea. On
asking a peasant from Novgorod where England was
and what kind of people the English were, he gravely
informed me in a very positive manner that the English
lived on an island, that they were the same people as
the Turks, that they had many wives, and that they
fought Holy Russia with the aid of the unbelieving
Mohammedans, because they themselves were also
of the faith of Mohammed. This delusion, however,
existed when we were supposed to be assisting Turkey
with the aid of Beaconsfield, the " unbelieving Jew,"
as he was called.
Dozens of peasants may be seen at all hours of the
day in the tea-shops with a piece of sugar between
their teeth, for the price being sixpence a pound it is
far too much of a luxury to put into a cup. The
atmosphere of these places is very thick, what with
HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS 173
the strong smell of the tea-urns mingled with the
perspiration oozing from the bodies of the peasants
busy drinking. But the hotter, the more stuffy and
the more odoriferous the air, the more it is enjoyed by
the Russian moujik, whose sensibilities seem only to
be reached by the most awful of smells. Whilst the
tea-drinking is in full swing and argument is at its
highest, a large Swiss organ or musical-box discourses
sweet music to the ears of the assembled guests. This
music consists of folk-songs, dances, marches, with a
plentiful accompaniment of drums, bells, cymbals and
tambourines. These all make such an awful din that
the excitement of the debaters is cooled.
The peasant merchants frequent better-class tea-
shops, resplendent with gaudy pictures, damask
curtains and frescoes, but with dirty carpets contain-
ing all sorts of vermin. These pests do not trouble the
ordinary Russian at all, for he seems to possess a skin
as impervious as that of the hippopotamus. In these
trakteers business to the tune of millions of roubles is
carried on daily by merchants attired in long blue
gowns and top-boots. English, Germans and French-
men who have not considered it beneath their dignity
to fall in with the customs of this class have done
business with these Russians and laid the foundation
of a good trade.
In some of these tea-shops the organs are marvels
in ingenuity and cost enormous sums of money. The
poorer ones cannot afford expensive instruments, and
noise very often has to take the place of melody. The
trakteers are not only tea-shops ; wine, liqueurs and
various articles of food and drink can be obtained
there. The majority of them are too "Roosky" for
the ordinary traveller, whose skin has not been
hardened by years of residence in Russia and whose
olfactory organs are still susceptible.
XIX
THEATRES, CONCERTS AND PLEASURE GARDENS
Ever since the days of the Empress Catherine II.
Petrograd has been noted for its theatres. The
principal ones are the Mariensky, the home of ballet
and opera ; the Imperial Alexander Theatre on the
Nevsky ; the Mechail, where French dramas and
comedies are performed. There was formerly a
German theatre, under the management of the
talented impresario, Philip Bock, but since all pertain-
ing to that nation has become anathema in Russia,
German productions have been done away with.
Besides these Crown theatres, there are a number of
private houses — the Aquarium, the Vaseleostroffsky
on the island, the Little Theatre on the Fontanka, the
Panaieff on the Admiralty Quay, and the Pavloff on
the Troitskaja. There are also summer theatres,
where Shakespearean melodrama and French operettas
are given, in various gardens surrounding the city, for
the benefit of all who have not had their fill of such
amusements during the winter season, and an excel-
lent one attached to the Conservatoire, which is simply
the Great Theatre erected by Catherine II., converted
into an Academy of Music at an enormous outlay,
after the original building mysteriously caught fire
about twenty years ago and was completely gutted.
In this beautiful place some of the best works of
Russian composers are given before being performed
at the Crown theatres.
At the old Hermitage Theatre, erected by Catherine's
orders in the palace of that name, the Empress not
only encouraged the drama and the ballet, but staged
i74
THEATRES, CONCERTS, ETC 175
her own productions regardless of cost, for she was
ambitious to shine in literature as well as in statesman-
ship. It was in the form of a Roman circus, but on
a smaller scale. Walls and columns were of marble,
and the seats were covered with green velvet, ranged
tier on tier in a semicircle. The Empress had no
specially reserved place, but whenever she attended
an arm-chair was at her disposal. This comparatively
small theatre saw almost all the renowned artists of the
Continent, for Catherine paid huge sums to attract
foreign talent. Sarte, Galuppi, Paeziello performed
here, and among musicians Detz, Lolle, Tode and
many others graced the stage, besides all the famous
dancers of the time. Many of these artists were known
to all the world, but some of them achieved in Petro-
grad, at the dissolute Court, notoriety of quite another
kind. Maxwell, in his work on Russia, says that many
returned to their own country with fame and fortune,
and proceeds :
"The singular conduct of the Emperor Paul with
respect to the Allies (England, Austria and Prussia)
has been attributed to the influence of a French
actress. It appears that the secret agents of France
in Russia induced a very fascinating person named
Chevalier to visit Petrograd. This woman was skilled
in music, of which the monarch was passionately fond.
Watching for his presence, she sang, one evening, a
song celebrating his generosity and valour — the siren
song that led to his destruction. She became the idol
of the infatuated Paul, and, acting in accordance with
the directions of her subtle countrymen, she per-
suaded him to recall Souvoroff from Italy, and to
break off the Austrian alliance. She next received
bribes from Zooboff and others, the exiled favourites
of Catherine, and interceded successfully on behalf of
those who were to be the assassins of her Imperial
176 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
lover. When he was murdered she applied for per-
mission to leave the country ; this was granted on
condition that she returned a diamond cross that had
once been the property of Peter the Great. Madame
Chevalier was not at all disposed to give up this
precious relic, resisted stoutly the officer who was sent
to take it from her, and finally departed with a million
in jewellery and money."
This beautiful, unscrupulous adventuress was not the
only one who waxed rich on the foibles of the Romanoffs.
Cora Perl, who wrote an account of her life and ad-
ventures, is another type of this class of woman, who
put their personal charms to the worst uses for the
sake of money.
History shows that the ladies of the stage have had
a peculiar fascination for the Imperial house and the
aristocracy of Petrograd, several members of which
have contracted marriages with eminent dancers and
singers. At this we need not be surprised, for many
of the artists of the Imperial theatres are educated,
virtuous women. Some whom I have met are excel-
lent wives, others are faithful mistresses, loved and
respected by all who have the privilege of their
acquaintance. In Russia, for reasons which I need
not explain here, a mistress does not sink to that level
of degradation and contempt common in England,
Germany and other Protestant countries, which be-
have with especial severity to those whom they are
pleased to term " fallen women."
Catherine did her utmost to procure the services
of Gabrielle, a famous Italian danseuse, offering her
R. 12,000, an enormous wage in those days. On being
informed that a Field-Marshal did not receive such a
sum, the actress replied : " Your great Empress can
make as many Field-Marshals as she chooses, but
there is only one Gabrielle ! " Besides this star there
THEATRES, CONCERTS, ETC 177
was Markese, a eunuch with a woman's voice, who
played female parts ; Tode, noted for her voice and
loveliness, but later on more famous for her liaison
with Count Bezborodko — whose devastated palace
and park I have often visited ; Mondene, a handsome
Italian baritone, over whom the Russian ladies simply
raved, just as in later years they have over the de
Rezkes. Mondene, says one writer, drove them to
extremes of folly ; for his sake they argue, and " wear
badges which he distributed among them. Princess
Dolgorouki applauds him alone from her box, and is
quite beside herself, and the Princess Kuraken related
with ecstasy that Mondene passed the evening with
her in his dressing-gown, and wore a night-cap ! "
His wife, a flighty Parisian, was received everywhere
on account of his popularity. From what I have seen
of this aspect of Russian life, and the costly gifts
which ladies showered upon their favourites, both in
Moscow and Petrograd, I should say that the state-
ments of this observer, Count Rostopchin, are not in
the least exaggerated. All Russians love music, and
when roused to admiration by a really great artist
their generosity and enthusiasm know no bounds.
Once, when I lived in Moscow, Andrade received on
his benefit night not only expensive jewellery, but a
pair of white horses. Another artist — I believe it was
Savena — was presented with a large stone house by
her admirers on a similar occasion. The people are
extremists in all things. If they love, they love with
their whole soul; if they strike, it is with all their
strength ; if they give, they count no cost.
Long before the building of the Hermitage Theatre
the comedies of the versatile Empress were given on
the stage of the Little Theatre in the Winter Palace,
and on 20th January 1773, for the first time,
Catherine's comedy, O, Time (O, Vremya), was placed
on the boards. A fitting title, if it described the gay
M
178 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
doings of the Court, only a part of which I may hint at
in this volume. These pieces afterwards were staged
at the public theatres.
During Catherine's reign the utmost interest was
shown in the sayings and doings of actresses and
actors who came to the capital, and this tendency is
still to be observed in Petrograd, the escapades of
artists being chronicled and discussed with the greatest
seriousness. The scandal and tittle-tattle that centred
in Guitry, the French actor, would fill a book. Political
affairs being a forbidden topic, it is no wonder that
in a country where the leading members of society
become infected with this craze, it should run through
all classes.
In those days the staging of a play could not be
compared with the profusion and taste now lavished
upon good productions. It was comical to note the
poverty of the decorations, machinery and costumes.
There were, however, exceptions, as for instance in
1788, when the Empress presented an entire richly
fitted wardrobe of dresses for two presentations of her
historical play, Oleg, founded on the character of the
man who first conquered Constantinople, about one
thousand years ago. The Russians, of course, have
always cast longing eyes on that city since Olaf
Trygvarsen brought from there a Greek priest to
baptize the pagan subjects of Vladimir the Great, and
Catherine, knowing the popular ambition toward the
acquisition of Byzantium, did well to take this theme.
Count Bezborodko, who was a man of letters, had
recently acquired a precious MS., containing the
account of the campaign of Ivor (Igor) the Varangian
against the Polotzeff . The full title of the drama was :
The Beginning of the Rule of Olaf, in the manner of
Shakespeare, without "preserving the usual Rules of the
Stage: in Five Acts. The music was composed by
Sarto, with his own explanation, translated by Lvoff,
THEATRES, CONCERTS, ETC 179
1791. The play, richly bound, is extremely valuable,
and is much sought by bibliophiles, as only a few
hundred copies were printed, for the Empress's friends
and admirers. It is said that R. 15,000 were spent on
the staging.
Catherine's love for the theatre had much to do with
the growth and development of both the drama and
the ballet, and it must be attributed to her influence,
to a large extent, that the appreciation of these artistic
performances has spread down through the aristocracy
to the commercial magnates, who in Moscow some-
times show their enthusiasm by supporting a theatre
entirely at their own expense. In Russia there have
been many such patrons of the arts as Sir Joseph
Beecham, and this, with the steady assistance of the
State, has done much to place Russian opera and
dancing in the high position they now hold. Mamon-
toff and von Meek, the railway plutocrat of Moscow,
are two noted names in this connection, and Bjelaieff,
a wealthy timber merchant of Petrograd, printed and
produced the works of several composers at his own
cost. Of the latter, whom I often met, Mrs Rosa
Newmarch writes : " He was born in 1836, and was
an exception to the Russian commercial man of his
day, having studied the violin and piano in his youth,
and found time, amid the demands of a large business,
to occupy his leisure with chamber music. I recall
in him a brusque, energetic and somewhat choleric
personality of the ' rough diamond ' type ; a passion-
ate but rather indiscriminate enthusiast, and an
autocrat." Desiring to give some practical support
to national music, he founded in 1885 a publishing
house in Leipzig, where he brought out a number of
works by members of the then new school, including a
fine edition of Borodin's Prince Igor. He also began
the splendid symphony concerts, which I often used
to attend. Unfortunately for Russian art, Bjelaieff
180 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
met with an untimely death at the hand of a woman
whom he had once loved. In him Russian music lost
a friend who cannot soon be replaced. By the muni-
ficence of such men the nation, comparatively young
as a state, has been able to produce some of the best
ballet music in the world, and to bring into existence
a national opera which in the last few seasons has
excited the admiration of London, Paris and Berlin.
It is certain that there are now in Russia very many
talented artists, besides Glinka, Tchaikoffsky, Mous-
sorgsky, Korsakoff, the familiar names to music lovers,
whose work is as yet entirely unknown outside their
own land.
The folk-songs of Russia form one of the musician's
finest sources of inspiration. It needs but a slight
acquaintance with the nation's music to discover to
what an extent this has been exploited. Cavos, a
Venetian, whose grandson was one of my intimate
friends, was, strange to say, the first foreigner to show
the Russians the value of their own national melodies.
Before his advent composers had turned to Italy and
France, neglecting the rich wealth at their own doors.
His example was followed by Glinka, who in his
operas, Prince Holmsky and Ruslan and Ludmela,
used ancient songs of the people and bwilinas richly
expressive of Slavonic character and sentiment. After
his death Anton Rubinstein, who was of Jewish
origin, turned his attention to the same inexhaustible
field, writing a series of songs founded on the simple,
plaintive folk-music. He then veered to Biblical and
classical themes, and I was present when he produced
his great opera, The Tower of Babel. On this occasion
I sang in the chorus, and shall not soon forget the
composer, as he stood before us, his hair dishevelled,
his collar limp, his shirt-front like a crumpled news-
paper, perspiring from every pore ; nor his almost
superhuman efforts on that night in the Hall of the
THEATRES, CONCERTS, ETC. 181
Salle de Noblesse, where this work was first heard. I
remember that at the tragic moment, when the great
Tower was supposed to fall with a crash of drums and
loud cymbals, one of the musicians grew so excited
that he let the drumsticks fly from his hands among
the startled audience ! Again seeking the folk-songs,
he composed, later on, The Demon, a setting of a
Caucasian legend by Lermontoff, and The Merchant of
Kalaschnikoff, in which he exposed the diabolical
cruelty of Ivan the Terrible; but this, perhaps his
finest work, was forbidden in Moscow and Petrograd,
as it was considered to reflect unduly upon the auto-
cratic claims of the Tsars. Rubinstein was succeeded
by Balakarieff and other moderns, such as Tchaikoff-
sky. In order that Tchaikoffsky should be free to
follow his talent untroubled by pecuniary cares, the
Baroness von Meek, whom I have mentioned, made
him an allowance of about £600 a year from her private
purse, paid on the curious condition that he should
never show his face to the donor of the bounty, it is
said. Whether this is true I do not know ; but, though
I was a tutor of the von Mecks, I never met the
composer in their house. Afterwards I frequently
encountered him in Petrograd at the Lieder Tafel, of
which I was a member. He was a handsome, well-
knit little man, with fine features and a pleasing
manner.
It would take too long to give all the instances
in which Tchaikoffsky, Rachmaninoff, Kue and other
composers have drawn on Russian folk-songs for their
famous works. I can only assure all lovers of music
that in those songs and melodies there is a great and
scarcely tried field for all composers to explore — a
veritable realm of romance and poetry which will well
repay the closest attention.
There are in Russia many " People's Theatres " —
more popular places of dramatic entertainment. The
182 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
one in Petrograd (the Narodny Dom) owes its exist-
ence to the generosity of the present Tsar, and is close
to the Zoological Gardens. It is well worth a visit,
for in its way it is quite original. In Kharkoff and
several other provincial towns theatres have been
constructed after the same model. They generally
contain a spacious stage, a concert hall, a library and
reading-room, and a tea-room ; the different depart-
ments are looked after by various educational and
philanthropic societies. The Society for Popular
Education sees to the lectures and the library, other
bodies control the theatrical work and the choral
music ; the games are supervised by the Society for
the Protection of Children, while the buffets are in the
hands of the Committee for the encouragement of
temperance — this latter, which is doing good work,
has also a barge on the Neva fitted up as accommoda-
tion for such workmen as are teetotallers. Many of
the large mills round the capital and in the neighbour-
hood of Moscow, in order to encourage temperance
among the men, have built similar People's Houses,
with pleasure-gardens attached. It is a curious fact
that the peasants, the majority of whom can neither
read nor write, enjoy Shakespeare's plays, and seem
to understand his philosophy of the human heart.
Hamlet and Macbeth, the chief favourites in these
folk-theatres, are repeatedly given. The moujiks
look upon Hamlet as a weak man, who could not make
up his mind, but for Macbeth, who " dare do all that
becomes a man," they have the liveliest admiration.
The Russian language is exceedingly rich, and it is
easy to render the substance of Shakespeare's thought
and feeling into this tongue. In fact I often think
that Russian and German translations of the great
poet are the nearest to the original of any that I know.
French, Spanish and Italian do not seem capable of
giving a faithful interpretation of the true meaning,
THEATRES, CONCERTS, ETC. 183
and in some foreign renderings the speeches of the
heroes are made simply ridiculous. This difficulty I
have never found in Russia, and I have followed in
the folk-theatres many a Shakespearean play as inter-
preted by a popular Russian actor with the greatest
pleasure.
French comedies and choral open-air concerts are
also popular in these places, and I have listened to
them all, sometimes in the autumn until the damp
and chilly atmosphere sent me homeward shivering.
There are many side-shows, where the youth of Petro-
grad turn night into day, drinking tea or supping with
the gipsies and Little Russian dancers and singers.
These swarthy daughters of the steppes seem to exer-
cise a great fascination. During the short summer the
half-wild Zigana women, with their passionate love
songs and their Oriental dances, earn thousands of
roubles from their admirers. I once knew a merchant
who spent immense sums upon them, his delight being
to have about thirty of them round him dancing and
singing weird Southern and Caucasian melodies, to the
accompaniment of guitars and tambourines, and other
queer instruments peculiar to the older world. After
spending several million roubles in pleasure, he died
almost poor, " a short life and a merry one " being
his motto. As a rule I did not find these dark-
skinned women, with burning eyes and jet-black hair,
particularly beautiful. Their charms appeal more to
the primitive man than to those brought up amid
Western ideas. Their supple limbs, languorous move-
ments, their voices vibrant with emotion, have been
the ruin of many a man who in all things but where
women were concerned was a model of common-sense
and prudence. But all prudence flies to the winds
when they begin to rock their voluptuous bodies from
side to side and to sing an enchanting love song, and
young men — old ones too, very often — fall an easy
184 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
prey ; the hours speed on, and the roubles fly too, if
they are handy. Who thinks of roubles when he is
in Paradise ? Many a poor gipsy returns to her
home in Bessarabia, Galicia or Little Russia with
thousands, earned in a single season in the city. In
the summer she may wander through Europe with
her kinsfolk, obtaining a strange knowledge of life. I
have even met them in Surrey, mending pots and pans,
yet well-to-do with money earned in Russia. They
are generally splendid linguists. Not all of them are
mercenary, however ; many of these children of
nature are capable of great self-sacrifice, especially
when love comes to them. Some have married into
the most influential Russian families and are happy;
but it is a risky experiment. They are impatient of
the restraints of civilisation, and settle with difficulty,
as a rule, to the humdrum occupations of a city life,
even though wealth relieves the monotony as much as
is possible.
The pleasure gardens of the city are often intensely
dull, and in the evenings are liable to be damp. I
do not recommend them to visitors, a drive round
the parks or environs being much preferable. The
spectators have little or no protection from the heavy
dews which sweep across from the river like a misty
cloud as soon as the sun sets. To stand about for
hours needs a patience which none but Russians know.
About ten o'clock guests from all parts of the city begin
to arrive in taxis and other conveyances. This is early
for Petrograd, for the real life of the city only begins
towards eleven o'clock, by which time the people seem
thoroughly awakened. Occasionally, when I went to
these spots, the stuffy atmosphere grew quite over-
powering ; all I could do was to sit on a bench and
listen to the strains of a fine military band playing
folk-tunes to the delighted public. How bitter a cup
of suffering has been drained by the Russian people
THEATRES, CONCERTS, ETC 185
can only be realised by those who know their history,
with its long record of massacre, civil wars and in-
vasions, and the plaintive story is expressed in this
music of humanity. Had it not been for the solace of
music, one imagines that the people would be as the
beasts of the field. After an hour or two I would
sometimes return home on foot, to have an oppor-
tunity of studying the night life of the streets. At
midnight most of the highways, long and sombre, were
deserted save for some drunken moujik staggering slowly
along, singing, of course, a love ditty in honour of his
Marsha, Greesha or some other flame. The policeman
standing at each corner, or the porter watching before
each house door, took no notice, well knowing that if
every intoxicated labourer was arrested all the cells of
Petrograd would not suffice. The thought that the
reveller is a good citizen, bringing by his excesses
revenue to the Crown, might also have flashed through
his brain — it would hardly be fair to punish a man
whose custom, and that of his kind, brought in many
millions sterling to the authorities who employ the
police ! Now, as we know, the State monopoly on
vodka has been done away with. At first it will be
extremely difficult to make up for the loss of revenue,
but ultimately the wise action of the Tsar and his
advisers will bring its own reward. The increased
earning capacity of the people will more than com-
pensate for the temporary deficit ; millions of working
days will be saved, and it is not too much to say
millions of lives also, in the years to come, that other-
wise would have been irretrievably lost through the
curse that has so long afflicted the people.
Some of the gardens, illuminated with small lamps,
are simply a reproduction on a slightly smaller scale
of the mild festivities which used to enliven Earl's
Court and the " White City " in London. There are
the same "joy wheels," "flip-flaps," "toboggan
186 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
hills," and other absurd but ingenious devices for the
entertainment of the crowd. At one of these places I
saw a rehearsal of the play, " 1812 " — quite interesting,
but it was curious to see that many of the leading parts
were taken by women. The piece seemed spoiled by
the introduction of so much of the feminine element.
When old Koutosoff, the terrible Scythian leader,
gave his orders in a rough, deep, manly voice, one felt
the sense of reality and appreciated the dramatic
effect; but when the young officer who received the
commands answered in a squeaky, girlish tone, the
result was not at all congruous to the supposed
surroundings of battlefield or military camp. The
rounded, plump forms of the women squeezed into the
tight-fitting uniforms of men looked ridiculous, and
hardly decent. A more pleasant interlude came when
the water-nymphs, wood sprites and wild animals held
a conclave to inquire what the strange intrusion into
their domains could mean. The scene with the
roosalke (nymphs), probably introduced to break the
grim tragedy of the play, certainly suited the women
better than men, for it was full of grace, beauty,
romance and fantasy. This, however, was spoiled
again when the composer time after time stopped the
progress of the piece and made the lovely water-
nymphs begin their parts once more. One should not
attend rehearsals if one wishes to enjoy a play !
XX
CONCERNING THE BALLET
During the reign of Nicholas I. the Petrograd ballet
attained a very high level of excellence. Like his
father, Paul, the "Iron Tsar" was exceedingly fond
of this entertainment, and, if report be true, was not
wholly indifferent to the charms of the artists. These
were the days of Didlo, Taglione, Fanny Elser, Greze
and many other famous ones, and some assert that
the Russian ballet then reached its acme of efficiency
and perfection ; since that time, they say, the choreo-
graphic art has declined continuously.
Fanny Elser, the beautiful Viennese, who took the
capital by storm, and who is said to have been the ruin
of Napoleon's only son, the Duke of Reichstadt, was
the favourite of all. Her benefit nights in Moscow
and Petrograd were great events, bringing her fabulous
sums of money, and causing much scandal to centre in
the booking-offices of the Imperial Theatre. On one
of these occasions a duel almost occurred between two
ardent officer admirers who quarrelled over a ticket
of admission. Another balletomaniac, a wealthy gold-
mine proprietor, gave Fanny Elser one thousand
roubles (£100) for each box he took. " One might well
pay more — she is worth it," he observed. Other
enthusiasts went still further, and many men quite
lost their heads over the Viennese and paid dearly for
their folly. In Moscow her reception was tremendous,
but space will not permit an enumeration of her con-
quests or a description of the extravagance of her
devotees. They made themselves so notorious that
an order came from the authorities in the capital to
187
188 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the police of Moscow to draw up a report of the
eccentric actions of her admirers. Even in the days
after she had accomplished the downfall of the Duke
of Reichstadt the story goes that she was so interesting
that an Englishman travelled all the way by coach
from Paris to Vienna simply to see this remarkably
seductive woman, who played such havoc with the
impressionable hearts of men in every grade of society.
Charlotte Greze was another favourite, a splendid
classical dancer with a very finished technique. It
has been truly said by an authority on the subject that
the Russian dancers not only equalled their foreign
instructors, but in some directions surpassed them.
Had all the money lavished in Russia on this art been
expended in London, we should probably have had by
now the finest established ballet in the world, despite
the fact that the English are neither so musical nor so
fond of dancing. Money attracts talent, and in course
of time London, with its vast cosmopolitan population,
would have become fascinated. It is curious that the
love of dancing, once so strong in France and Italy,
should have been transported now to the colder lands
of the north. So passionately is it seated in the
Russian people that the greatest composers — Tchaik-
offsky, Glazoonoff and others — have not thought it
beneath their dignity to devote years of labour to the
composition of ballets and ballet music.
Until recently, the principal artist in this profes-
sion was Khesinskaja, who possesses great force, a fine
technique and striking vivacity. This lady, whom I
often met, is a great favourite in the highest circles,
both for her talent and her common-sense and agree-
able manner. Her palace on the Karmennyostroffsky
Prospekt, presented to her by the Tsar, is a model of
good taste and skilful arrangement, and is said to have
cost R.1,500,000. Her diamonds and other jewels are
of immense value, as I can attest.
CONCERNING THE BALLET 189
Preobrashenskaja was considered the finest lyrical
artist in Russia. She was only in London for a short
time, but is a highly educated and most amiable lady,
fitted to move in any society. Her charm, good
nature and natural grace made an impression on me
which I shall not soon forget. These two ladies, as a
rule, only dance now by special Imperial request.
Pavlova, who is much younger, is probably the greatest
ballerina of the coming age. Experts hold that she
has every chance of becoming the first dancer in the
world, jf she has not already attained that honour.
She is so well known in London that I need not enlarge
on her gifts or her appearance.
Two more famous artists are Sjedova and Karsa-
vina, the former better known in Paris than in this
country. All those I have mentioned have the right
to a decoration in diamonds, only permitted to be
worn by the cream of the profession. There are only
six, I believe, thus distinguished in the Imperial
ballet. Among the notable male dancers we have
Nijinsky, Andrianeff, the brothers Kozleff, Mordkin and
Leontieff. Some of them belong to Moscow, but most
have passed through the Petrograd School of the
Ballet. It is strange, when we think of the warm
welcomes these people have received in London and
their high remuneration on foreign tours, what a
permanent fascination Petrograd has for them. Prob-
ably the small importance attached to convention in
that easy-going city has a great deal to do with it.
The last time I saw Karsavina, who was then staying
in England, I asked her how she liked London after
Petrograd. She replied that with its fogs and narrow
streets it could not be compared with the northern
city. To tease her I said : " But there is no doubt
that London is the hub of the universe, and for its size
one of the healthiest places in the world, while Petro-
grad is only fit to be inhabited by frogs, snipe and wild
190 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
duck ! " " What do you know about wild duck ? "
she rejoined. " Ah, a good deal," I said ; " in my
time I have shot many." " Not wild duck, but
tchoochela" she mischievously retorted — tchoochela in
Russian meaning decoys. This little anecdote I give
merely to show how the Petrogradians love their city
in spite of all its drawbacks. It has a charm of its
own, very hard to explain or describe, which grows on
all who know it almost imperceptibly. The free-and-
easy life and the hospitality of its inhabitants have
much to do with this attraction, in my opinion, and the
comparative ease with which a fortune can be made
is another factor to its credit — notwithstanding the
numerous saints' days and holidays that sprinkle the
Russian calendar.
Some of the ballerinas become, as I have already
said, the mistresses of persons in high positions —
even the morganatic wives of the Grand Dukes, with
the knowledge and consent of their legal wives, who
in Russia are neither so jealous nor so exacting as
English partners. One of the most beautiful and
attractive women I ever met was the daughter of a
well-known Grand Duke and a celebrated danseuse.
She was fair, with golden hair and blue eyes,
voluptuously proportioned — a regular roosalka, or
water-nymph. Her mother's apartments were opposite
the Grand Duke's palace, near the English Quay.
An old professor who used to visit the palace and
dine there states that whenever the lady wished to
see her Imperial admirer she would place a small
lighted taper in her window. His adjutant had orders
that when this signal appeared he was to report a fire
— the Grand Duke taking a great interest in conflagra-
tions. One day the usual report was given ; the taper
burned steadily like a star in this naughty world, and
the lover was at dinner with the Grand Duchess.
" Your Highness, there is a fire I " said the adjutant,
CONCERNING THE BALLET 191
saluting. The Grand Duchess, however, who had
discovered the trick, laughingly remarked : " There is
no need to hurry — it is only a farthing candle in a
blaze I " We are not told the reply, but probably the
" flame," when next she desired the presence of her
admirer, resorted to some other stratagem.
It was in the Kononoff Theatre, on the Moika
(mainly devoted to the drama), that Laurence Irving,
who was then studying Russian with the object of
entering the diplomatic service, first displayed such
exceptional talent in David Garrick that he was advised
to abandon his intended career and take up the stage
seriously. The evidences of his gifts for drama were
clearly shown while he was attending the Shake-
spearean classes of the popular Professor Charles
Turner, Lector of English Literature at the University
of Petrograd. Young Irving, whom I often met at
these gatherings, always attracted my especial atten-
tion by the striking melancholy of his expression ;
his pallid cheeks and flashing eyes, heightened in
effect by his thick dark hair, seemed to suggest that
he was no ordinary personality, and I wondered what
part in life he was destined to play — little dreaming
that his end would be so sadly early and so tragic, in
the waters of the Atlantic. But how or when our
fate comes matters very little if we can meet it with
the spirit in which he passed to his death on the
Titanic.
The Mariensky, the most important though not the
largest theatre, is the home of opera and ballet. It
might be termed the Covent Garden of the capital, for
here the greatest singers, dancers and musicians have
made their debut. The boxes and seats cannot be
engaged ad libitum, as in the other theatres, for most
of them are in the hands of life-long subscribers, who
obtain them as a favour; either that, or they are
handed on from friend to friend. One of my
192 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
intimate relations, for instance, owed his loge to the
influence of a celebrated ballerina, whose receptions
are attended by Grand Dukes, Ministers and leading
men. If charm, a lively and engaging disposition,
strong common-sense and perfect naturalness are
commendable, I, who have spent many hours in this
lady's society, can well understand why her salon is
so frequented. Her jewels are worth a fortune, and
she owns a palace decorated with exquisite taste.
In order to raise money for charitable purposes, a
tax of two copecks (Jd.) is levied on every ticket up
to a shilling in value, and five copecks (about Id.) on
all over that price. This is common to all places of
amusement, and the large amount derived from this
source goes to institutes which support a great many
hospitals, schools and charitable bodies.
Enormous prices are paid for such loges as happen
to be free, especially when artists such as Mazini,
Andrade or de Reszke appear ; three or four pounds,
or even more, for a very poor position, is often given.
No expense is spared to make the theatres equal to
those of Paris, London or Berlin. The modern ballet
in Russia owes its success and prestige partly to the
millions that have been lavished on this enchanting
form of art, partly to the untiring energy of M. Petit
Pas, the great French maitre de ballet, whose sym-
pathetic and beautiful daughter was for years the
favourite of Petrograd society. M. Pas was Master
of the Imperial Ballet for sixty years, and during his
career staged 150 pieces, most of which had five or
six acts ; under his expert direction the ballet at-
tained almost to perfection, even eclipsing that of
Paris and Milan. The theatres, then as now, were
under the control of a prominent official called the
Director of the Imperial Theatres, a post generally
occupied by some person of the highest rank. Under
Prince Usupoff's rule in this capacity a ballerina
CONCERNING THE BALLET 193
received annually R.6500 (£650), others having sums
little less — pay which in those days was considered
magnificent, since the purchasing power of the rouble
was probably four times what it now is. Judging
from the enormous salaries paid to foreign talent,
theatres continued to prosper during the reign of
Alexander I. The danseuse Dupor from Paris, for
example, received for each repertoire £120, equivalent
to 100,000 francs a year. Thanks to the constant
encouragement of the Government and the wealthy
classes, the Russian ballet, instead of the most primi-
tive, became the finest in Europe, and Petrograd
finally shone as its chosen home. Has it not given us
Pavlova, Mordkin, Karsavina and many more whose
names are now familiar to all ? Of these beauteous
ones who have danced their way to fame, perhaps the
Polish artist, Lydia Kjasht (or Kyasht, as London
spells her), who married a Russian officer of the
Guards, was the real pioneer of the ballet in England.
It was, in fact, an English merchant of the capital, a
near relation of mine, who discovered this new star
and persuaded her to try her fortune in London.
Through his interest with the theatrical managers he
procured for her an engagement, besides making it
easy for many other Russian artists of merit to obtain
a trial in our own prosaic metropolis, and his efforts
as a patron are immensely appreciated by all who have
benefited. Lydia Kyasht, who in Russia was then a
rising dancer, but not yet " an artist of merit " (the
highest title to which a ballerina can aspire), became
so successful, as we know, that her example was soon
followed by others, to the surprise and delight of all
lovers of beauty and the poetry of motion.
For nearly two hundred years Petrograd has pos-
sessed a School of the Ballet, founded by the Empress
Anna in 1739, its first director being M. Lande, of
Paris, who was then celebrated. This institution,
N
194 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
continually supported and favoured by the Court, has
produced many splendid artists, and has promulgated
traditions and ideals which render its public exceed-
ingly difficult to please. Among this hypercritical,
spoilt audience Miss Maud Allan, it may easily be
imagined, found small appreciation when she thought
to gain fresh laurels. Judging from the critiques that
appeared in the Russian Press, the English "barefoot "
(bosonoshka), as she was called, would perhaps have
been wiser to stay at home. The Russian Press is not
lightly shocked, but the New Roos and other Petro-
grad productions made some most ungallant remarks
about our fair countrywoman, which I will not repeat
in extenso. The sum total of them was to the effect
that Miss Maud Allan stood then on the very threshold
of her career, and had a great deal to learn before she
attempted to educate the people of Petrograd. Since
then she has made much progress, possibly in part
owing to the exposure of her deficiencies by these
critics, who knew more about the intricacies of the
ballet than about their Bibles. The comparison may
stand, for one might almost think, from the awe in
which the ballet is held, that it was some form of
religion, whose exponents were priestesses of the
temple. Miss Duncan, who also astonished the city
by her capers, met with much more success, perhaps
because she was more original. For a long time, how-
ever, she was mercilessly caricatured, and formed a
source of merriment and satire for the citizens, who
give as much attention to a dancer as we in England
do to a noted sportsman or athlete.
The influence of famous danseuses and artists in
Russia has been immense in politics and diplomacy,
as I have suggested. The book, Woman in History ', has
yet to be written — it will be a large one, in several big
volumes, and Russia will take up much space in its
chronicles. The adventuresses of the land have often
CONCERNING THE BALLET 195
flown at dukes, princes, counts and nobles, but it is
seldom that they have aspired, as did Madame Cheva-
lier, to get an emperor into their power. While I was
in residence more than one ministerial career was
ruined by the intrigues of actresses and dancers,
generally of foreign origin.
Most of the actresses appearing at the Russian
Imperial Theatre pass through the Imperial School
already mentioned, or through the Theatrical School,
where they receive a first-class education, at the ex-
pense of the Government. Dancers, singers, actors,
musicians and even the chorus girls are in the regular
pay of the Government, and receive a pension on
retiring from the stage.
It seems that the Slavs were always musical. One
Byzantine historian records that they were so absorbed
in the delights of singing that their camp was once
easily surprised by the Greeks. This was in a.d. 592,
and this intense love of music is as strong to-day.
The father of Peter the Great, Alexis Mechailovitch,
was the first Tsar to encourage the arts. In 1660
he ordered an Englishman in his service to engage
"master glass-blowers and engravers, and master
makers of comedies." Later on, as we have seen,
other rulers encouraged the love of song that wells
up like a never-failing spring from the hearts of the
people.
XXI
THE HERMITAGE AND ITS MEMORIES — CATHERINE'S
FAVOURITE RETREAT
On the right-hand side of the Palace Square, adjoining
the Winter Palace, is the Imperial Hermitage, the
favourite retreat of Catherine II. — called by her
admirers Catherine the Great and by her enemies
Catherine the Bad. Whichever adjective we may
choose, there is little doubt that she was one of the
most remarkable women of the time. The daughter
of a Prussian general and a Princess of Anhalt
Zerbst, therefore certainly a pure German, she initi-
ated that great Panslavistic movement which will
doubtless contribute to the aggrandisement of Russia
and help to make her the first power in Europe.
Nicholas I. tried to follow in Catherine's footsteps and
to make himself the head of Balkan Christians, but
owing to the opposition of England, France and
Turkey, his plans came to grief, and this proud and
reserved monarch, who has been much misrepresented
in England, either committed suicide or died of grief
and mortification.
The Hermitage has the largest of all the numerous
art collections of Petrograd — in fact there is so much
to be seen that it is not possible to appreciate it all in
a single day. This beautiful store of pictures, marbles,
cameos and other works of art was begun by Catherine,
who laid its foundations of marble and granite, and
enriched it by securing the picture collections of Du
Chaillet, Bralja, Valona, de Conde, Robert Walpole
and many valuable specimens from the Flemish
Schools of Art. It is especially rich in Rembrandts,
196
CATHERINE'S FAVOURITE RETREAT 197
Teniers and the works of Paul Potter. The Italian
School is also well represented by the works of Guido
Reni, Carazze, Canaletto, Paul Veronese and other
masters. There are many Vandykes which Catherine
herself obtained from England, owing to her friend-
ship with an English duchess who had been tabooed
in English Court circles.
Here also are the portraits of Lord Philip Wharton,
Queen Henrietta Maria, Charles I. and the Holy
Family — purchased for £1600 ; also several rare
pictures by Sir Joshua Reynolds, with a fine portrait
of Oliver Cromwell.
Room 8 contains some splendid specimens from
Rafael's palette. Among these we may mention " The
Madonna with the Book," "The Madonna Alba"
— purchased for £14,000 — "St George," and several
other portraits by the great masters. Those who
would like to form an idea of the countless treasures
to be found in this temple erected to the glory of the
arts (and to satisfy Catherine's vanity) should turn to
their guide-books, where further particulars will be
found. I was much impressed with the rare armour
dating from the Middle Ages, and the Scythian and
Sarmatian jewellery found in the Crimea and in
Southern Russia. This district was formerly colonised
by the ancient Greeks, whose most skilled artisans
and craftsmen used to work for the old Scythian kings,
many of whom have been buried in the Chersonese.
Greek and Roman cameos are also very plentiful, and
beautiful statuary, which, to please Catherine's taste,
was made as near to nature as possible, also abounds.
I was particularly struck by the unusual quantity
of Varangian (Viking) arms, ornaments and ring
money, discovered by Russian archaeologists in the
old Rus Viking settlement around Lake Ladoga and
Novgorod. This collection is far more valuable and
rich than that to be found in the British Museum,
198 PETR0GRAJ3 PAST AND PRESENT
which is very poor in Viking remains, although
England, Scotland and Ireland were settled and
colonised by the Norsemen. On expressing my
surprise, the Public Curator, Mr Troinetsky, who
showed them to me, increased my astonishment by
stating "that it was nothing compared to the collec-
tion to be found in the cellars of the Hermitage."
The walls of this palace conceal many secrets. It
was here that Catherine had her famous Winter
Gardens, when she relieved the burdens of office by
amusing herself with masquerades, at which she ap-
peared in disguise and made herself known to many
who on other occasions would have been too bashful
to return her advances. Here it was that she gave
splendid banquets to her chosen friends and lovers —
Potemkin, Orloff and others, who were invited as long
as they were in favour. Many men of genius attended
her receptions and enjoyed her bounty. Wit, beauty
and genius could always gain admission, for although
Catherine loved pleasure, she was perhaps equally
devoted to the Muses. In order to show her interest
in the theatre, she wrote several plays on the found-
ing of Russia by Ruric, Sineus and Truvor, and the
exploits of Oleg (Norse, Olaf), who first conquered
Constantinople and hung his shield on its gates about
a thousand years ago. These plays were written " after
the manner of William Shakespeare," for whose works
Catherine evidently had the most profound admira-
tion. Here Catherine, when not occupied in looking
after State affairs, spent much of her leisure. She
superintended the collecting of gems, cameos and
pictures. At her receptions, which cost millions of
roubles, wine flowed like water, and all the young
nobles flocked to the gay Court of the Semiramis of
the North. Providing they were handsome and witty,
everything was placed at their disposal.
Married to a drunkard who kept a kennel of fox-
CATHERINE'S FAVOURITE RETREAT 199
hounds in her ante-chamber, and threatened her with
imprisonment in a nunnery for life (a fate peculiarly
terrible for a woman of Catherine's taste), it is not
surprising that she soon found someone to rescue her
from a dangerous and unenviable position. No matter
how bad or how good a beautiful woman may be, she
will always find someone to pity her, especially when
mated to a brutal husband. Catherine, who was
neither pre-eminently good nor bad, soon discovered a
means of deliverance from the society of her wretched
partner, who was eventually assassinated by her
admirers and sympathisers in the palace of Ropcha.
She then ascended the throne, with the help of a coterie
of brilliant and unscrupulous men, who committed
untold crimes in her name, for which she is unfortun-
ately too often held responsible by historians who were
not acquainted with her precarious and peculiar
position.
From that time she was ruled by a succession of
able and unscrupulous ministers who would have soon
treated the " German Usurper " as mercilessly as they
did her husband had she not propitiated them with
enormous largesses and carried out the policy they
dictated. The so-called comedy presents the great
Empress as she actually was. Henceforth she will
appear in the light of modern history as " more sinned
against than sinning," with all those intellectual and
spirituelle qualities which, in a more healthy atmos-
phere, would have made her not only one of the most
remarkable women of her time, but also one of the
best. Forbidden to marry the only man whom she
really loved, she endeavoured to find in the favours
of a score of lovers that satisfaction which a virtuous
woman should only find in one. Her life, when probed
to the core, is in reality one long-drawn-out tragedy,
and shows all the mischief that can ensue for misplaced
affection and wasted talent. Poor Catherine was not
200 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
even permitted to live respectably, and when she
wished to marry Alexis Orloff, the handsome guards-
man, she was informed by Panin, her Chancellor, that
"Madam Orloff could never become the Empress of
Russia ! " One of the members of the Senate was even
still more brutally outspoken, and voiced the general
opinion concerning her future conduct in the following
speech : — " We are delighted to see our Sovereign
selecting subjects on whom to confer the favour of
her affection, but we can never consent that men who
are socially no more than our equals should presume
to become our masters ! " Catherine was not long in
taking this hint, and since she was not permitted to
marry either Poniatowski, the King of Poland, or
Orloff, she endeavoured to drown her sorrow and
regrets in the wildest dissipation, giving full play to
her neurotic and passionate temperament, which, like
a mighty torrent diverted from its proper channel,
flowed in wasteful profusion in all directions. Potemkin,
who actually ruled Russia, continually discovered for
the Empress fresh admirers, and was rewarded with
palaces, estates, territories and millions of roubles in
this questionable metier.
The Orloff brothers, who, with the aid of the Guards,
had secured her nomination to the throne, were re-
warded for their " affection " and loyalty with seven-
teen millions of roubles (£3,400,000) ; also with estates
as large as provinces and thousands of serfs. Not-
withstanding her licentiousness, her extravagance and
fickleness, there is evidence to show that she not only
longed for a better life, but was to a great extent what
circumstances and her peculiar temperament made her.
In the plays, poems, diaries and other literary memoirs
she has left, we can see the real Catherine better than
in the narratives of many historians. She not only
aspired to be a literary woman, but cultivated the
society of some of the most eminent literary men of
CATHERINE'S FAVOURITE RETREAT 201
her day, including Grimm, Diderot and Rousseau.
The costly manuscripts, books, cameos, statues and
pictures she collected around her in the Hermitage are
evidence of her innate love for all that was beautiful
and refining. With all her frailty, she was not so bad
as is generally believed. To Poniatowski, whom she
really loved, she wrote : "I feel the power over me of
the man whom I love ; may God preserve you for me,
I shall be a better woman." A woman who could
write thus could not be wholly bad. " Calumny,"
wrote the French Ambassador, " has not spared her
moral character, but it must be allowed that while not
entirely above reproach, she was far from the excesses
of which she was accused." Concerning Gregory
Orloff, the same Ambassador is far more scathing in
his remarks.
In Francis Gribble's Comedy of Catherine II. further
interesting particulars concerning Catherine will be
found.
After spending a week or more in revelry and
dancing, she used to have qualms of conscience.
Although brought up in strict Lutheran surroundings,
during her sojourn in Russia she had put off her early
creed and become a zealous Orthodox Christian and
a strong supporter of the Church and priesthood, on
which she lavished much treasure, in the shape of
costly jewels, icons and ecclesiastical ornaments,
probably as a kind of insurance premium against the
possibility of eternal fire, which she only very vaguely
believed in at all. In fact at heart Catherine was a
thorough heathen. She admired Voltaire, with whom
she corresponded regularly and quarrelled repeatedly.
On the other hand, Voltaire was not averse from friend-
ship with this beautiful and witty patron, and in
return received many marks of favour in the shape of
jewels, pearls and diamonds and pieces of gold coin.
Voltaire, however, could never be induced to reside
202 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
in Petrograd ; he said the city " would not suit his
health." In the end the two disagreed, and Catherine,
after amusing herself with the wit and brilliance of the
writer, grew T afraid of his liberal and progressive views
and forsook both him and his works. Voltaire, who
was a cynic, believed that nothing could absolve
Catherine from her sins or even ease her conscience
from them. She therefore appealed to her chaplain
for aid, and after confessing her many lapses from
virtue, wrote as follows to her confessor : — " Oh, Adam
Vasilovitch, pray for my sin, as I have received absolu-
tion." Every time she sinned she made a costly gift
to her confessor, so that the more she strayed from the
paths of virtue the fuller became the coffers of the
Church.
It was but natural that a ruler who spent such a vast
proportion of her time in dissipation and pleasure
should not be able to attend to serious affairs as much
as she ought to have done. The management of the
government was taken over by Potemkin and other
lovers, with the consequence that at her death it was
found that a huge amount of State business had been
left undone. As a result of her extravagance a large
portion of Russia was scourged by terrible famines,
which caused the death of many thousands of people of
the peasant class. Sedition and rebellion showed their
threatening heads all over the Empire, while, on the
Volga, Pugacheff raised the standard of revolt with
such success that he almost overthrew the throne of
the Tsars, and re-established the old form of govern-
ment, which consisted of a number of independent
republics or grand duchies, each ruled by a Hetman,
and in the north by a Grand Duke, whose powers were
exceedingly limited.
But after Pugacheff had captured many towns, and
had killed many officials and noblemen, he was finally
defeated by Colonel Michelsen and brought in a cage
CATHERINE'S FAVOURITE RETREAT 203
to Moscow, where he was executed. Catherine was
delighted at his defeat, and now wished to pass her
last days in peace. Although she had led a life of
excitement, she died at a ripe old age, beloved by many
kindred spirits and hated by millions of old-fashioned
Orthodox Russians, who regarded her as a kind of
Antichrist or the " Scarlet Woman " of Revelation.
In spite of all Catherine's weaknesses, however, she
had her good qualities. Millions were spent in beauti-
fying her two capitals — with palaces, churches and
public buildings. Yet the provinces were terribly
neglected, and many of her subjects heaved a sigh of
relief when she went to her last account. But in
judging her we must remember that for the greater
part of her reign she was under the influence of un-
scrupulous adventurers, or ambitious statesmen and
soldiers who would not have hesitated a moment in
putting her away, as they did her unfortunate and
half-mad husband, had she not fallen in with their
views. In return for their support Catherine erected
costly palaces for each of her lovers in turn, and in
addition to the palace she usually gave the courtier a
grant of several million roubles and several thousand
serfs, so that he should better be able to uphold the
dignity of his position. I have visited several of
these palaces in the interior, and was astonished at
Catherine's generosity; but then it is so easy to be
generous with other people's money, and " Catherine
the Bountiful " forgot all about her humble bringing-
up as Princess Anhalt Zerbst. It is estimated that
she spent about £80,000,000 over her various lovers,
who naturally extolled her beauty and her virtue to
the highest heaven.
The people of Petrograd seemed to enjoy themselves
just as much as the nobility, even if not in quite such
a refined and elegant manner. It is no wonder that
Catherine was popular among the classes and the
204 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
masses of the capital, who both benefited by her
bounty. The Empress was extremely kind to her
immediate entourage and very good to her servants.
Rising at six o'clock in the morning, when everyone else
was sound asleep, she dressed herself in order not to
disturb anyone ; she lit the candles and heated the
stoves. Like the present Emperor, she did not like
troubling the servants, and used to say : " We must
live and let live."
There are many anecdotes about her kindness to those
about her. Dumb animals were fond of her and used
to run and meet her without fear, which showed that
there must have been something good in this remarkable
woman, who unfortunately was seldom able to show
her true self to the world. Her courtiers, statesmen,
favourites and lovers, many of whom were most unscrup-
ulous men, undoubtedly instigated many of the crimes
committed and attributed to Catherine's influence.
This is the penalty of being a ruler ; but, on the other
hand, much of the glory which should go to the men of
genius around the Court often reverts to the sovereign.
A splendid statue of Catherine II., with her
councillors at her feet, is to be seen in the Great Square
on the Nevsky Prospekt in front of the Alexander
Dramatic Theatre.
She died on 6th November 1796. If we can believe
the rather superstitious chronicles of the time, she had
several premonitions of her approaching end some
months before. During a thunderstorm, lightning
damaged many ornaments in her favourite room, for
instance; and in some historical notes published in
Paris under the name of Louis XVIII. the author
states that she was once compelled by a curious im-
pulse to go to the throne-room, where she saw herself
seated on the throne. Once, when setting out to
attend a ball of Count Samoileff, she saw a bright
meteor fall behind her carriage. On the next day she
"Babooshka" Ekaterina II :
"Grandmother" Catherine in later years
CATHERINE'S FAVOURITE RETREAT 205
remarked to her companion, Countess Matushka :
" Just such an omen, the falling of a star, heralded the
death of the Empress Elizabeth, and this foretells my
end." A few days before the end she spoke much
about the death of other monarchs, and of her own
also, to Narishkin. " Was this not a premonition ? "
he asked. Subsequently Perekooseka and Zotoff,
gentlemen of the bed-chamber, stated that after rising
as usual about seven a.m. the Empress said : " Now
I am about to die," and added, pointing to the clock :
" See — for the first time it has stopped ! " A watch-
maker was summoned, and the clock had started again.
" Thou seest ! " exclaimed Catherine, and gave him
20,000 roubles, adding : " This is for thee ! " After
this she drank two large cups of strong coffee, joked
with Perekooseka and went into her cabinet, occupying
herself with her usual work. This was at eight o'clock.
At ten the attendants grew alarmed at her prolonged
absence, opened the door and saw her lying extended
on the floor. In horror Perekooseka and her lover,
Zotoff, lifted her and placed her on a mattress, summon-
ing Dr Richardson, her English physician, who bled
her and placed Spanish fly blisters on her feet ; but she
did not recover consciousness. He then twice applied
hot irons to her cheeks, but without avail. For thirty-
six hours she fought with death. Perekooseka would
not leave her, and the doctor kept changing the
bandages and wiping away the foam that gathered on
her lips. Only a slight movement betrayed that
she still lived. Towards nine o'clock the following day
her breathing became more feeble, and, with a last
sigh, the Empress expired at 9.55 p.m.
Thus ended the career of a woman whose life was more
astounding than many a fairy tale. Who could have
thought that the daughter of a petty German princess
and Prussian general would rule over the greatest
empire in the world, and add so greatly to its fame ?
XXII
THE ANITCHKOFF PALACE AND A NARROW ESCAPE
Of all the Petrograd palaces none is associated with
so many memories as this, the favourite residence of
the Tsar. Many a time have I entered its well-guarded
precincts to visit the late Charles Heath, the com-
panion of Alexander III., and tutor of the present
Emperor. Mr Heath was a burly Englishman, be-
loved by all who knew him. He was promoted to the
honorary rank of General and presented with many
Russian decorations for his long and faithful service
to the royal family — with whom he was intimate for
many years as a member of the household. An
Oxford man, he was a first-class sportsman, and used
to accompany the last Emperor in his excursions
among the Finnish skerries. All formality vanished,
and to their infinite relief the Imperial personages
became ordinary mortals on these occasions. They
would leave the yacht and picnic in the forests, or on
some little island where they were safe from intruders,
and from the perhaps more worrying attentions of
their retinue of servants and the endless etiquette of
the Court, which must have been simply maddening
to a man of Alexander's simple tastes. Each one
would perform some little duty contributing to the
general welfare. Often, I believe, Mr Heath cooked the
meat, while the Empress attended to the potatoes, and
the Tsar, if I remember rightly, like most men, was
fond of managing the fire. Probably these interludes
of boating, fishing and sport formed the happiest days
spent by the late Tsar and his intimates.
Mr Heath's water-colours of the district still fetch
206
^ccggaag la^i^asBBEa ^i&&&&\ \
The Mechailoff Palace, now converted into the Museum of
Alexander III
flpp
^M&t A
The Anitchkoff Palace on the Nevsky : the Tsar's favourite
residence
THE ANITCHKOFF PALACE 207
high prices. His wife and daughter were also talented
artists. For many years he had apartments within
the palace grounds, artistically furnished and full of
costly souvenirs and marks of the esteem in which he
was held by his friends at Court. His autograph-book
contained, among various distinguished signatures and
writings, this quotation written and signed by the
present Tsar : "To thine own self be true, and it must
follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be
false to any man." I knew that Catherine admired
Shakespeare, but that the Tsar had so felt his magic
was a revelation. In Russia, however, our greatest
poet is more read even than in England, especially by
the aristocracy and the middle classes. I have met
Russians who could recite whole pages from the plays,
but on this theme I may have more to say later on.
For years I used to visit the Anitchkoff Palace
regularly. On one of the last occasions the obtuse
sentry at the entrance — a raw moujik — on my asking
for General Heath, directed me to an underground
passage leading beneath the palace. Thanks to the
potent words, " General Hees," which was as near as
the soldiers could get to the name of the tutor, I passed
the first guard at the beginning of the passage; but
when I reached the middle of the central block I
was stopped by two sentries with fixed bayonets,
who demanded the password. My only resource,
" General Hees," did not suffice, and I seemed in
danger of being run through on suspicion of being a
Nihilist. Perceiving that I was no Pravoslavny —
Russian subject — but a foreigner of some kind, the
soldiers spared me the fate my carelessness deserved,
and told me not to move from the spot until a messenger
had fetched Mr Heath to prove my identity. That
gentleman, who at the very moment was engaged in
teaching two of the young Grand Dukes, hurried down
in a great state of agitation, and after he had ener-
/
208 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
getically blown me up for trying the forbidden entrance,
and let off steam in general, I inquired what he was
afraid of. When he observed that for all he knew it
might have been someone with a few pounds of
dynamite bent on sending them all sky-high, I laughed
hugely. Yet such a thought was quite natural to one
who constantly lived near the Tsar's person, in danger
of sharing a fate more than once intended for the last
two monarchs. This little adventure taught me to
have a great respect for sentries, especially those
posted at Imperial residences, fortifications or powder
magazines. The men on guard know only one word
— Prekazano (It is ordered) — and never reason for
themselves or allow that there may be circumstances
in which blind obedience can be as disastrous as down-
right disobedience. As the majority of them are
exceedingly ignorant, almost unable to read or write,
it is always best not to linger near any public building
that happens to be guarded, and when ordered by one
of those watch-dogs of the Tsar to move on, strangers
should do so immediately, without staying to argue
or explain.
Through neglecting this rule a near friend of mine
was almost killed. The incident occurred at Cron-
stadt, just before the outbreak of the Turkish War,
when feeling against England ran very high in Russia.
My friend, who had lived in the country for years, was
watching a burning building, when a sentry told him
to go away, raising his musket almost at once, as if to
strike. Mr X., as I will call my friend (who is still a
well-known man in Russia), having been taught box-
ing, lifted his hand to parry the expected blow. The
dense sentry, mistaking the action and imagining he
was about to be attacked, felled the trespasser to the
ground with the butt of his rifle. I was standing close
by with Colonel M'Swiney of the Indian army and
Maurice Fitzgerald, son of an Irish bishop.
THE ANITCHKOFF PALACE 209
We rushed to the rescue, and pulled our senseless
comrade from beneath a fire-cart. The Colonel, who
was a hot-blooded Irishman, immediately complained
to the commandant of the troops surrounding the
blazing building, who increased our dismay by inform-
ing us that the soldier would most likely be punished,
not for striking Mr X., but because he had not done his
work properly and used the bayonet ! — asserting that
as my friend had struck the sentry this was simply his
duty. This could have been only a surmise, for he
had not been present at the spot when the incident
occurred. As may be imagined, the answer did not
turn away wrath. When our large-hearted, impetu-
ous chaplain heard of the affair he was wildly indignant
and sent a formal complaint to the English consul, who
at once placed the account before Lord Dufferin, at
:he time our excellent ambassador. He, not one to
leave the wrongs of a British subject unredressed,
acquainted the Government at home with all details.
Then, as luck would have it, the Russo-Turkish War
broke out, and both irate Commandant and thick-
headed sentry were sent, with thousands of others,
. to fight the unbelievers.
For two years the war continued, and I and my
friends had almost forgotten the evening of the fire —
yet Mr X. was under supervision of the police for all
this time, not allowed to leave the country. At the
conclusion of the hostilities the Commandant and the
sentry returned to their quarters at Cronstadt, and,
as the English were still unpopular, this old case was
raked up. Mr X. was commanded to appear before
the Petrograd High Court of Justice on the grave
charge of "striking a sentry on one November night
before the war." Knowing he was innocent, my
friend at first did not mind ; but when he came to look
up his witnesses for the defence, he found that with
one exception — a little German from the Baltic
210 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Provinces — they were far away. Some were even in
India. The officer, evidently a revengeful character,
had drawn up a lengthy indictment, and things looked
decidedly black. The charges were supported by
half-a-dozen witnesses, who probably had been bribed
into giving false testimony. In Russia the penalty for
striking a sentry on duty is one of two terrible alter-
natives — death, or Siberia ; so the reader may imagine
qur trouble at this sudden crisis. All seemed lost,
when Maurice Fitzgerald, who was then a Professor
at King's College, Belfast, heard of the case, and,
generous as ever, hastened to Russia to save the situa-
tion. His ready wit and good humour worked
wonders. When asked where he was just before
coming to see the fire on that evening so long before,
he replied: "At church," and made an excellent
impression. The judge argued that these young men
must have been sober if, previous to the outbreak of
the conflagration, they had attended divine service,
not knowing that we had been on the church, watching
the fire from the summit of the tower ! " Do you
ever drink, Mr Fitzgerald ? " inquired the judge.
" Yes, your Excellency," replied the Irishman, with a
twinkle in his eye, " I drink ; but I never get drunk."
This reply greatly tickled the judge, and put him in a
more amiable frame of mind. When the counsel for
the defence began to cross-examine the poor soldier,
who was scared badly at the serious turn such a
trifling affair had taken, the man prevaricated, con-
tradicted himself and finally broke down. The old
Commandant, enraged at seeing his principal witness
fail thus, made an exhibition of himself when his turn
came, and in confusion said : " Kindly excuse me,
your High-born Excellency, for I received a contusion
in the war which caused me to forget the more
minute details not mentioned in the indictment."
This general collapse saved my friend Mr X., and he
THE ANITCHKOFF PALACE 211
left the assembly amid applause from the chief
members of the English colony, who had gathered to
hear this interesting trial — which was mentioned in
our Parliament. Mr X., cool as a cucumber, in spite
of his recent peril, went up to the judge and asked
what damages he might claim for wrongful arrest
and two years of police supervision. The judge was
thunderstruck at the " cheek " of the cold-blooded
Englishman, and replied severely : " Young man, your
acquittal is your indemnity ; be thankful for that* —
you have had a very narrow escape of being im-
prisoned or sent to Siberia ! " He was right. Had it
not been for Fitzgerald, who travelled from Ireland
without thought of compensation to stand by his
countryman in danger, the case would undoubtedly
have gone against us. Not every prisoner finds such
a friend, nor is there often at hand an ambassador
such as Lord Dufferin, who interested himself in our
dilemma, or such an able correspondent as Mr Charles
Dobson, who put matters before the public in The
Times. There is no doubt that England protects her
subjects better than any other nation, and only when
some unfortunate member of the British Empire gets
into a pickle abroad does he fully realise what it is
to be able to say the equivalent of the proud : " Civis
Romanus sumP
The Anitchkoff Palace is the Tsar's own personal
property and is situated on the right-hand side of
the Nevsky, close to the Anitchkoff Bridge. Formerly
the ground on which it stands was the quarters of the
Preobrashensky Regiment. The Empress Elizabeth
afterwards purchased this plot of ground and ordered
Rastrelli to build a sumptuous palace. On its com-
pletion, in 1751, the Empress, who was secretly
married to Count Razoomoffsky, presented it to this
nobleman. It is generally believed by Danileffsky and
other historians that the Princess Tarakanoffva, who
212 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
perished in the fortress of Peter and Paul, owing to the
perfidy and cruelty of Count Orloff, was the fruit of
this marriage. In his thrilling novel, The Princess
Tarakanoffva, this dramatic episode is treated with
great delicacy and with regard for the truth.
The palace was originally very large and three
storeys high, but it has been much altered. The side
towards the street is exceedingly simple in structure.
The garden and out-houses, however, occupied an
immense area and stretched from the Grand Sadovaja
Street to the Tchernishoff Bridge. On the spot now
occupied by the Alexander Theatre there once stood
a large pavilion, containing the picture gallery of the
Court, while opposite this was the concert-room, where
entertainments and masquerades were given. The
balustrade that now surrounds the palace is after the
design of the Prussian king, Frederick William III.,
who had an artistic bent.
Razoomoffsky, who died here in 1771, was of humble
origin. It is said that he began his career tending
sheep on the steppes of Little Russia. He was the son
of a simple Cossack and was born in the village of
Lemesbach in 1709, in the government of Tchernigoff.
His beautiful voice and handsome appearance attracted
the attention of the Empress when he was a singer
in the Court chapel. Although merely a man of the
people, she showered titles and honours on him, after-
wards entering into a morganatic marriage with her
favourite. He, being a man of great common-sense,
never lost his head or became proud or overbearing ;
he was one of Nature's gentlemen. When sober, his
mind was as beautiful as his body, and he was famous
for liberality.
It is a curious coincidence that Peter the Great, the
Empress's father, should have made a simple woman,
the illegitimate daughter of a servant girl, first his
mistress and then his wife, and that their daughter, the
THE ANITCHKOFF PALACE 213
Empress Elizabeth, should follow in her father's foot-
steps and marry the son of a poor Cossack, whose only
recommendation consisted of his voice and good looks.
But Russians, who are near to nature, do not look on
these misalliances as we do. I have known men of
the highest rank and position marry women of no
better social position than the wife of Peter the Great.
When we remember that William the Conqueror's
mother was the daughter of a tanner, and that many
of the Norman nobles were no more highly connected,
we need not be surprised at the action of Peter and
his daughter in thus choosing partners for life, and
as both were happy in their choice there is very little
about which we can complain.
As might be expected in a man of such humble
origin, the Count occasionally took too much to drink,
and when in this condition was often rough to his
subordinates. The Countess Schouvaloff always at-
tended service and sang the Te Deum whenever her
husband returned from hunting and had not been
beaten by the tipsy Razoomoffsky and his dependents.
Such actions as this would seem to be absolutely in-
credible in our days, but the authenticity of the story
is vouched for by the English ambassador in his letter
concerning Count Apraxin, whom he called a coward,
because Count Razoomoffsky always beat him at table
and he did not resent it. The Count, however, did not
reside in the Anitchkoff Palace ; in 1767 he sold it to
the Crown, and from this time it frequently changed
hands.
Catherine II., when she was reigning in Russia, pre-
sented the same palace to her minister, Potemkin.
He, being hard up, sold his gift to the merchant Shem-
jaken, who in 1759 amassed a fortune by transporting
provisions and stores from Petrograd to Pillau for
the Russian army when it was engaged in operations
against Prussia. Later the palace was partly rebuilt
214 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
and adapted to contain the Imperial cabinet or office
which has to do with managing the estates, more
especially the gold, copper, silver and other mines,
numbers of which belong to various members of the
Imperial family. The only time I visited this office
was to make inquiries concerning a gold mine which
an English company promoter asserted he had bought
and was taking over. In less than half-an-hour I found
that the great " company promoter " was only a very
small shareholder and not the owner of the mine at
all. I was thus the means of nipping another Stock
Exchange swindle in the bud.
On the accession of Catherine Pavlova (on the 12th
June 1816) and her second marriage to the King of
Wiirtemberg, the palace came under the Department
of the Imperial " Oodel," which has the control and
management of the Imperial estates in Russia,
Siberia, the Caucasus and other parts of the Empire.
Each member of the Imperial family owns a certain
number of mines, estates and patents, the proceeds of
which go to the person to whom they are apportioned.
If these estates, many of which consist of vineyards,
tobacco plantations and cotton-fields, are well managed
the recipient of the income is well-to-do, but should
there be any wastage the Imperial family suffers.
Some of the Grand Dukes appear to receive a much
greater revenue than others. For example, the late
Grand Duke Michael, the Tsar's grand-uncle, had
enormous properties in Russia as well as in the
Caucasus, from which he derived an income of several
millions annually. Other Grand Dukes, who were not
so thrifty — in fact were exceedingly extravagant —
have had to sell their lands. The latter, however,
cannot be disposed of in the same way as an entailed
estate in England. The Oodel or Imperial Appanage
Department is an old Norse institution and dates 1
1 The old name of Russia is Roos, or the land of the Roos or Rtis.
THE ANITCHKOFF PALACE 215
from the Varangian Grand Dukes of old Roos. Many
of these were " Oodel Knjazee," or Oodel princes.
The last Oodel prince of Russia was Demetry, the
youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, who is believed to
have been murdered by Boris Godounoff at Ooglitch
on the Volga. Whenever a province is conquered a
portion is set aside for the Imperial family. This is
called the Imperial appanage, and cannot easily be
disposed of.
In 1817 the Emperor Alexander I. presented this
palace to his brother, the Grand Duke Nicholai Pavlo-
vitch, who resided here until he ascended the throne in
1825, under the title of Nicholas I. This Emperor
w r as exceedingly fond of the palace, and in order to
differentiate it from others called it " his own palace."
He frequently said that in this building " he had spent
the happiest and best years of his life." Even after
removing to the Winter Palace, Nicholas every year
spent long intervals at the Anitchkoff Palace with the
Imperial family. During Passion Week he fasted in
the beautiful church with other members of his family.
Here he not infrequently was present at the baptism
of infants and at the marriage of friends whom he
desired to honour. In fact the Emperor was very
much attached to the services of the Church, and would
himself often take part in them by reading the Psalms
or by intoning the Litany. Further light is thrown
on the religious character of Nicholas in an excellent
work on the Tsar and his Court by John Maxwell
of Baltimore.
In 1859 this palace was occupied by the Grand Duke
Nicholas Nicholaivitch, whom I met at the military
manoeuvres shortly before his death. Here he lived
for many years, until the residence specially built for
this old soldier was ready. His two consuming
passions were his love for the ballet and for the army.
His talented son, who was also an expert cavalry
216 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
general, became Commander-in-Chief of the Russian
army in the present gigantic campaign in Poland,
where he has astonished most qualified critics by his
military knowledge.
The last-mentioned residence, which is exactly op-
posite the end of the Nicholai Bridge, leading to the
city from the Vasilii Ostroff, has now been converted
into an institution for orphans, under the patronage
of the Grand Duchess Xenia, the Tsar's sister. Many
of the palaces of the Grand Dukes are sharing a similar
fate, and, as the expense of living increases, are being
sold by the owners and converted into military schools,
orphanages and hospitals.
The gentle and peace-loving Alexander II., who
emancipated the serfs, spent most of his days in the
Winter Palace, where he was carried faint and bleeding
after the abominable attempt on his life, which un-
fortunately for the progressive and liberal party in
Russia was only too successful ; for his son and
successor, Alexander III., remembering the murder of
his father, not only stopped Russia on the road to
liberty and freedom, but also became a strong retro-
grade and reactionist, which can hardly be wondered
at. In the room where he expired are to be seen his
blood-stained uniform, his half-smoked cigarette and
other silent mementoes of the tragedy. His son hated
the place where his father died, and resided in the
Anitchkoff Palace, which seems to be the favourite
home of the later Romanoff tsars. Here the bluff
Alexander III., who was a typical Romanoff as regards
strength and sound common-sense, passed many happy
days in company with his beloved Danish wife, who
was so impressed by her husband's personality that
she became a strong upholder of his religion and his
political views. This made her extremely unpopular
with the revolutionary party, and several attempts
were made on her life. It is said that she and several
THE ANITCHKOFF PALACE 217
other members of the Imperial family were condemned
to death by the Revolutionary Committee, but as she
was not assassinated this rumour may be unfounded.
The present Tsar was partly educated there. In this
comfortable abode Alexander III. felt at ease, free to
live the life that was in accordance with his simple
tastes. Many a time he could be seen in the grounds
chopping firewood with a huge axe such as only a
strong man could wield.
As the Tsar found that the palace at Petrograd was
too large for his comfort, he had another built at
Alexandroffka, close to the palace of Peterhoff — in
reality only a one-storey house, which out of compli-
ment to the Tsar was called a palace. This building
was so small that it could be easily guarded by a few
soldiers or sentries. It was in the Anitchkoff Palace
that Alexander III. fell ill, and grave rumours were
circulated to the effect that he had been poisoned. A
noted specialist was summoned, but it was too late.
Disease had made too much headway for even this
excellent physician to cure, and Father John was sent
for to administer the consolation of religion to the
failing Emperor.
Mr Heath used to tell me that Alexander III.
possessed enormous bodily strength. Like Augustus,
King of Saxony, he was able to break a horseshoe in his
hand or bend a thick silver rouble between his finger
and thumb. At the banquets at the palace he would
sometimes show his strength by taking one of the
gold plates from the table and forming it into the
shape of a bouquet-holder, presenting it to one of
the ladies present whose appearance pleased him.
Unlike Augustus the Strong, the Tsar's private
life was exemplary, which cannot be said of all his
predecessors.
XXIII
THE TAURIDA PALACE AND THE WINTER PALACE
The Taurida Palace, now converted into the Duma,
a magnificent building with one of the most spacious
halls of the Continent, was for many years the resi-
dence of Potemkin, Catherine's favourite. In 1783 she
ordered Ivan Egorovitch Staroff, an eminent architect,
to build a palace " after the design of the Pantheon " ;
but this command was not very closely followed. The
outward appearance is not particularly interesting,
for the architect's taste was lavished on the interior
decorations, which are in pure Doric style. When
completed, it was presented to the glorious " Prince
of Taurida " — a title bestowed by the Empress on
Potemkin after his conquest of the Crimea. He, con-
tinually in want of funds owing to his extravagance
and dissipation, sold the palace to Catherine, who
promptly presented it once more to its original owner,
so that Potemkin again found himself rich. In 1791
the anniversary of Ismail, celebrated by Byron, was
commemorated here with notable splendour. Accord-
ing to accounts of contemporary writers, the buildings
in front of the palace facing the Neva were pulled
down. Potemkin drew up the programme of the
festivities, assisted by Dershaven the historian, who
composed special songs for the occasion, to be rendered
by several choirs of the best singers. Enormous sums
were spent. All the wax in the city was bought
up for illuminating purposes, and, this proving in-
sufficient, agents were sent to Moscow for more —
70,000 roubles went for this alone, equal at the current
value of the rouble to about £14,000. For weeks
218
THE TAURIDA AND WINTER PALACES 219
skilled artists worked on the decorations, and long
beforehand numbers of high-born folk assembled there
to practise their various parts, each repetition being
on so grand a scale that it seemed a special holiday.
In this way vanished much of the money Catherine
squandered on Potemkin in such profusion. Between
the palace and the river, the whole space was occupied
by booths, swings, and shops where clothes, boots,
caps, etc., were distributed gratis among the people.
On her arrival, accompanied by the Imperial family,
the Empress immediately ascended the dais prepared
for her, and the ballet, arranged by Le Picquet, a
famous maitre de ballet of the day, began at once.
Fairies to the number of twenty-four, recruited from
noted families, took part, dressed in costumes of
white enriched with diamonds. The Grand Dukes
Alexander and Constantine, who were to become so
well known in Russian history, directed the dancing,
assisted by the Prince of Wurtemberg, while Picquet
performed a remarkable solo act for Catherine's
delectation. Three thousand guests were invited, and
all appeared in costume. It is said that Potemkin's
hat was so heavy with jewels that he was compelled
to give it to his adjutant to carry !
The scene was reminiscent of The Arabian Nights.
Invisible musical-boxes discoursed selections from the
best composers, and the most noted musicians and
singers, to the number of three hundred, made harmony
when these were silent. Lustres of great value adorned
several pedestals round the walls. These were of black
crystal, and had been purchased from the Duchess of
Kingston — famed for her beauty, and for her lawsuit
against her husband. Besides these huge lustres,
there were in the salon fifty smaller ones, and 5000
lamps of various colours. It is estimated that on this
one evening 140,000 lamps and 20,000 wax candles
were burning.
220 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
The rooms set apart for the use of the Empress were
especially luxurious ; the walls displayed precious
Gobelin tapestry, representing the story of Mordecai
and Haman ; and in one room was a golden elephant
— really a clock — which in 1829 was presented by the
Tsar Nicholas I. to the Shah of Persia. The two ballets
were Les Faux Amants and The Merchant of Smyrna ;
in the second, people of all countries appeared as
slaves, with the exception of Russia. As the Empress,
who was passionately fond of dancing and masquerades,
entered the salon, the opening of the ball was announced
by the booming of guns and the strains of a patriotic
Polish song.
It would take volumes to describe in detail the
extravagance of that entertainment: — the beautiful
winter garden, a wonder of luxury and of taste, rival-
ling even that of the Hermitage ; the flirtation of the
gay ladies and courtiers ; the freedom of manners
which Catherine encouraged in order to hide her own
lapses. Such licence and vicious splendour had hardly
been known since the days of the Caesars. The kiosks,
fountains, statues, feasting, the alcoves where lovers
might meet undisturbed, called back the olden times
of Rome's hey-day.
At midnight supper was begun — the Russians love
to turn night into day and thus pass the long winter
in gaiety. The table of the Empress and the Court
was loaded with golden dishes, and Potemkin himself
waited on her. Behind her dais a place was. reserved
for those taking part in the ballet, and many other
tables were spread, over which glowed lamps with
globes of tinted glass. Naturally the viands and wine
were of the finest, for Potemkin, who had the reckless
tastes of a Roman proconsul, spared no expense in
obtaining the best. The Empress departed at two
in the morning — which, for Russia, is quite early. She
was highly pleased with it all, and expressed her hearty
THE TAURIDA AND WINTER PALACES 221
thanks. Potemkin, gallant courtier, knelt at her feet
and raised her hand to his lips ; it is said that tears
stood in his eyes, and that even Catherine wept.
Whether this emotion was genuine or not I will leave
to the student of history to decide; but, strange to
say, not a word of the whole affair was given in The
Government Messenger of those times. A reason is
to be found for this freezing silence in the elevation
of another lover, Prince Zooboff, to favour, who had
succeeded in supplanting the intellectual and physical
giant, Potemkin.
Potemkin never forgot the slight, although Catherine
once more visited him. Two months after this visit
he quitted the Taurida Palace, and did not set foot
within its precincts again. These months were quiet
ones, for, now that his mistress had fixed her heart on
another, carnivals could no more afford the courtier
any satisfaction. The fear of approaching death filled
this hardened and worldly man with terror and gloom.
When Catherine heard that he lay seriously ill, she
showed her sympathy and sorrow by attending the
Alexander Nevsky Monastery and presenting the
Church of the Annunciation with a large silver reliquary
and a golden lamp, also several vessels set with
precious stones. On news of his death arriving, she
wept, and for days seemed inconsolable. Speaking of
him, she said : " He possessed unusual wisdom, a hot
temperament, a good heart ; he looked like a wolf,
and therefore was not beloved, but he bestowed
favours even on his enemies. It is difficult to replace
him ; he was a thorough nobleman, and not to be
bought by money or favour." To Prince Eugene of
Nassau she wrote : " C'etait mon eleve ; il faisait le
bien a ses ennemis, et c'est pour cela qu'il les desarmait."
Potemkin expired on 5th October 1791, on the road
from Jassy to his beloved port of Nicholaieff. After
going about twenty miles, he ordered his coachman to
222 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
stop. " It will do now," he exclaimed ; " there is no
need to travel — I am dying. Take me out of the
carriage ; I wish to die in the open field." Thus this
giant, who practically ruled Russia, and for a while
held Catherine in the hollow of his hand, gave up his
saddened spirit. With all his faults, he w T as a true
patriot, living for the glory of his country, even
though he benefited thereby indirectly. There is
little doubt that he was a man of commanding ability,
and his work as statesman and soldier has left its mark
on history. In his later years he may well be regarded
rather as friend than as lover ; as long as he could enjoy
the sweets of office and the power of his position he was
content to leave the smiles and favours of the Empress
to men of smaller calibre and less ambition.
The Taurida Palace, bereft of those who filled its
halls with life and song, was like a body without a soul.
Slowly it fell into decay, and held only echoes of its
former glory. Every spring and autumn the Empress
visited this haunt of happy memories, but on her death
the Emperor Paul, who hated every place associated
with Potemkin, Orloff, Zooboff , and other lovers of his
mother, had all the beautiful statuary and ornaments
removed to the Mechailoff Castle, his own residence,
and the building itself was turned into barracks for the
soldiers of the Guard. In addition to this indignity,
Paul, to show his detestation of Potemkin, who had
injured him in his mother's estimation, gave orders
that the courtier's body should be taken from the spot
where it rested and be buried " without further pomp '
in a hole, with the earth flattened in such a manner as
to show no evidence that he had ever existed. What
an end to the man who ruled an empire, who spent
millions in the endeavour to please his Empress — to
to be buried in a hole like a dog, with the ground
levelled so that his very existence might be forgotten !
There is reason to believe, however, that this decree
THE TAURIDA AND WINTER PALACES 223
was not carried out, for some years later, in the Church
of St Catherine at Kherson, remains were found, with
a portrait of Catherine set in diamonds, and a coat and
slippers once belonging to Potemkin.
In 1802 the Taurida Palace was restored, and in
the following year the Emperor Alexander I. made it
his abode. In 1829 it became the residence of Hozrer
Mirza, the Persian heir-apparent. It has now been
given over to the Douma, Russia's first popular
representative assembly since the accession of Peter
the Great. It still contains many statues, pictures
and other relics of magnificence, also a winter garden
and an excellent orangery. I have not visited it since
its new character of the House of Parliament ; the
last time I was there was on the occasion of a " Ball
of Flowers " — one of the last this classic building
knew. Some of Petrograd's fairest danced with me
then, and for a short time music and revelry held
possession of the immense, beautiful halls ; but now
all that is past. Henceforth the Taurida will be
devoted to far more serious matters — the discussion of
ways and means of raising the Empire to the level of
other European nations, and of making Russia greater,
not only in wealth and resources, but in freedom,
refinement and progress ; in short, of placing her
in the forefront of civilisation.
The first Winter Palace, begun by Peter, was, com-
paratively speaking, a small building. The Empress
Anna Ivanovna, on her return from Moscow, where
she had been crowned, stayed in the old palace in
December, 1730. On this occasion the whole Court
travelled to the city in three days by sledge. From
this time the Winter Palace became the principal
centre of the Empire, the Kremlin, the ancient seat
of Muscovite power, being practically deserted. It
soon, however, proved too small for the requirements
of the Court, and in 1754 the Empress decided to lay
224 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the foundation of a new edifice. In July the work
began ; over 140,000 barrels of lime, chalk and other
materials were needed, and the building proceeded
slowly. There were so many labourers that housing
became a problem, and they had to live in earth
shelters in the meadows, or in distant parts of the
town. Owing to bad food and impure water, hundreds
of them died, and sometimes the work came to a stand-
still for want of funds. Money was so scarce that
the Crown often spent only from 40,000 to 70,000
roubles a year instead of 120,000. Rastrelli, the
Italian architect, took the suspension of operations
so much to heart that he sickened, and his place was
taken by Felten.
In 1761, in accordance with a promise made to
the Empress, the palace was ready. The following
November she gave orders that its great church should
be prepared for consecration on the 22nd April; but
the royal lady was not destined to behold the full
grandeur of the most beautiful architectural achieve-
ment of her reign, for she died suddenly on
25th December 1761. The work of adorning it and
adding it to the Hermitage was left to Catherine II.,
who spent a large part of her career in the two buildings.
They are connected by a number of passages.
For a short period the Winter Palace became the
residence of Peter III., although it was not complete —
the whole square in front was littered with timber,
bars, and all kinds of rubbish. General Baron Korf,
the prefect of the city, ultimately suggested to th(
Emperor that this waste material should be give]
to the citizens. The notion pleased the Tsar, wh(
assented immediately, and as soon as his generosity
was made known the people thronged the square,
picking up and carrying off whatever bits might come
in useful for their homes. The scene was greatl;
enjoyed by the Emperor from the windows.
THE TAURIDA AND WINTER PALACES 225
Peter then took up his quarters in the palace. He
was a Lutheran, and refused to witness the consecra-
tion of the new church ; disliking the Russian form
of worship, he could not be persuaded to attend the
service. He belonged to the Holstein dynasty, and his
unfortunate love for everything German eventually
led to his assassination ; for the Russian courtiers
still hated Prussian ideas, while Peter was bent on
forcing his military notions upon them. He also
shocked them by neglecting to observe the religious
fasts. His wife, Catherine, designing and ambitious,
pretended to be a zealous supporter of the Orthodox
Church, and so pleasing was her behaviour to the
officers of the Guard that when Peter was murdered
at Ropcha she was unanimously proclaimed Empress.
Paul I. for some reason never cared to live in the
Winter Palace, but built for himself a splendid home,
surrounding the boundary with a ditch, in which he
set cannon. The place resembled a fortress in the very
heart of the city. Here he lived almost alone, as
though in a state of siege ; but all his precautions
could not save the " mad Tsar," and he fell, assassi-
nated by courtiers whose amour propre he had offended
by his eccentricities and impossible conduct. This
palace was at the end of the Summer Garden ; it is
now converted into a School of Engineers. The new
one is at the end of the Mechaileffski, at right angles
to the Nevsky Prospekt.
The Emperors Alexander I., Nicholas I. and
Alexander II., successors to Paul I., passed much of
their lives in the Winter Palace ; but after the attempt
to blow up the Court, and the murder of Alexander II.,
who was brought there to die, the magnificent abode
was rarely inhabited by the Imperial family. After
the explosion — the sound of which, as I have mentioned,
I heard- — the whole of the enormous structure — it is
almost a mile in circumference — was searched by the
226 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
police, who made many astonishing discoveries.
Among other surprises, they found that mines had
been laid in the cellars, also that hundreds of persons
were in residence who had no right to be there. Cows
and other animals, it is said, were found even on the
roof I
One of my best friends, who was also intimate with
the late Laurence Irving, was present when the Tsar
met his doom. A colonel I knew had his head so
injured by flying fragments of the bomb that he was
never again any good for active service. As for the
Tsar, his lower limbs were shattered, and all he could
utter was the words : " To the palace to die." It can
hardly be wondered at that, with such terrible memories
as this palace harbours, the present rulers of Russia
prefer to reside in their less ostentatious home on the
Nevsky Prospekt.
XXIV
THE ALEXANDER NEVSKY MONASTERY
At the end of the Nevsky Prospekt — which seems
endless — is the Monastery of Alexander Nevsky, built
in honour of the brave Grand Duke, descendant of one
of those Varangian princes who in the ninth century
laid the foundations of the Russian Empire and made
Novgorod (Holmgard) their first capital. Although
Novgorod was the enemy of Muscovy, Alexander
Nevsky is now considered a saint, and his bones are
at rest in a shrine of solid silver about two tons in
weight, which has been further enriched by all the
Romanoff sovereigns since Peter the Great brought
the precious relics from Novgorod to his new capital.
Raymond Beazeley, Litt.D., in the introduction to
his Chronicles of Novgorod, published by the British
Historical Association in 1914, thus writes of Alexander :
" After the intoxicating victories of the Neva over the
Swedes (1240) and of Lake Chudskera over the German
knights (1242), it was hard to submit to the Mongol
taxes as in 1259. But Alexander realised that to defy
the Horde was to complete the desolation of Russia.
The hero of Novgorod at last persuades her of the
humiliating truth. He rides out with the Mongol
emissaries, whom he has guarded day and night from
mob violence, and under his protection the ' accursed
ones ' (the Mongols) go through the streets, marking
the houses of the Christians. To save the Russian
remnant Alexander journeys repeatedly to the western
Tartar army (the Golden Horde) upon the Volga.
Death overtakes him on his way home from the Golden
Horde in 1263. The news reaches Novgorod as the
227
228 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Eucharist is finishing ; turning to the people, the
Archbishop Cyril tells the disaster — 'The sun of the
Russian land has set, my children ! ' ' Grant, merciful
Lord,' exclaims the chronicler, ' that he may see Thy
face in the ages to come ; for he has laboured for
Novgorod and for the whole Russian land.'" Such
was the hero and saint whom Peter honoured. The
remains were conveyed by land from Novgorod, and
then placed on a small vessel on the River Volchoff,
whose waters Ivan the Terrible had reddened with the
blood of thousands of citizens of the once powerful
republic. Thus they floated to Lake Ladoga, and
thence to the Neva. At Oost-Ishora, the scene of
Alexander's victory, Peter met the procession, placed
the relics on his own boat, and himself took the rudder.
The Empress, the Court, the priests, and the whole
Guard, with crowds of the excited populace, assembled
to meet the Tsar, and with his attendants he carried
the burden into the Church of Alexander, which had
been especially consecrated on this day for the recep-
tion of the remains. Peter chose the 30th of August
1724 for this ceremony, the third anniversary of his
peace with the Swedes. At last he was happy ; his
" Paradise " was no longer accursed to all true
Russians — for did it not contain the relics of one of
Russia's greatest heroes and saints ? One who by
his wisdom and courage practically saved the nation
from extinction and ruin was thus brought to his final
rest.
The monastery is supposed to be one of the wealthi-
est religious houses in the country ; its present revenue
is over half-a-million pounds a year. During the
Crimean War the monks lent the Emperor Nicholas
several million pounds ; afterwards they laid out huge
sums in the construction of large granaries on the
Kalaschinkoff Quay, which now bring in a good income.
Incidentally I may mention that these granaries are
THE ALEXANDER NEVSKY MONASTERY 229
infested with thousands of enormous rats, which seek
the river at night, presumably to quench the thirst
induced by the feasts of the day. It is said that a
drunken moujik once tried to stop them in their march,
and was torn to pieces for his foolhardiness.
Six churches, an ecclesiastical academy, the house
of the metropolitan, a seminary for priests and a school
are embodied in the monastery, and in its beautiful
adjoining cemetery many famous statesmen and
writers are buried — among them Glinka, Dostoievsky,
Karamzin the historian, Rubinstein and Tchaikoffsky.
About one hundred monks are attached to the place,
and I have heard that some rich merchants of Petro-
grad give large sums to ensure the privilege of passing
their last days within the sacred precincts — also that
the life they lead there, surrounded by old friends and
good books, is not a particularly austere one ! An
interesting work could be written on this theme.
Russia to a great extent is still living in the Middle
Ages, and the existence of millions in the interior
reminds one more of the days of Chaucer than of the
period of Kipling and his contemporaries. The holy
friars, the ascetics, the merry monks, the drunken
village priests, who relate scandalous stories, all call
to mind The Canterbury Tales. Not all these ecclesi-
astical professors are above reproach. The story goes
that the monks and nuns in a very noted house near
Moscow were so famed for their piety that for a long
time they escaped all supervision. Unfortunately for
them, the bishop of their diocese happened to pay a
visit quite unexpectedly, and entered a section in
which they usually held devotions. In one room he
noticed an oily liquid trickling from the ceiling, and
this led him to make a thorough investigation of the
upper storeys. To his surprise he discovered on each
side of the upper chamber a secret corridor which
passed over the prayer cells. His suspicions still
230 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
further roused, he searched these, and found pigment-
boxes, face powders and fragrant pomades. It was
afterwards found that the trickling liquid originated
in a tub of prime butter whose contents had been
melted by the heat. The most remarkable discovery,
however, was a gramophone, which reproduced songs
of such a nature that the cheeks of the worthy bishop
blushed scarlet. He was so scandalised that he
summoned a special ecclesiastical conclave to discuss
the affair, and as a result of its deliberations sixty
nuns were expelled. If this particular story is fiction,
I have heard many to beat it during my wanderings
through Russia.
In the church of Blagovetchesk, belonging to this
monastery, are interred the bodies of Natalya, sister
of Peter the Great, and Field-Marshal Souvoroff, with
many another eminent personage. On Souvoroff s
grave is the simple inscription this hero of so many
fights desired : " Here lies Souvoroff." Many precious
relics, and a huge quantity of jewels, pictures and gems,
gifts from the faithful and the repentant to the church
and its patron saint, are contained here.
Farther up the river, past the Schliisselberg Gate,
is a cathedral which came into existence while I was
in Petrograd. Its origin was curious. One summer
day during a heavy thunderstorm the lightning, by
a strange freak, struck the metal dish containing a
quantity of coins which had been offered to an icon.
Several of the smaller ones were embedded in the metal
framework of the picture, which, of course, immedi-
ately became doubly sacred. The old monk attending
at the shrine ran out, crying that a wonderful miracle
had occurred — the Almighty, in order to show His
favour to this chosen icon, had scattered the money on
its frame. This story made a strong appeal to the
imaginative and superstitious people, and soon from
all parts came crowds to pray before the image.
THE ALEXANDER NEVSKY MONASTERY 231
Several real or imaginary cures took place, and soon the
little chapel where the event happened was too small
for the worshippers. It was found necessary to build
a church, which gradually developed into a cathedral
with its adjuncts. And so it stands, in all its glory,
and the wonder-working image which brought such
luck to the priests is still there, the innocent cause of
this unexpected flow of wealth and fortune. I believe
that a large number of the monasteries and churches
in Russia owe their origin to " miracles " of this kind.
In another religious house not far away, near which I
lived for a whole summer, the monks, according to the
boatmen, who used to ferry them across the river told
me, did not deny the flesh at all. After dark the ferry-
men take over wine, vodka and other delicacies more
exciting than sour cabbage, black bread and cucumbers.
All this, again, called to mind the days of Chaucer and
Langland, when the priests made merry and lived well,
to the scandal of those who imagined that fasting
and praying were their chief occupations. But each
monastery has its own code of conduct, and it is
perhaps better not to pry too closely into these
mysteries !
XXV
THE KAZAN CATHEDRAL, THE RIOTS, AND ST ISAAC'S
CATHEDRAL
Passing the Imperial Library, one arrives shortly at
the Corps de Pages (Pashesky Korpus), a splendid mili-
tary school which occupies a large area on the banks
of the Fontanka. This owes its origin to the Tsar
Paul, who was a Knight Commander of the Knights
of Malta, and a zealous freemason. He had many
good qualities, and still more excellent intentions;
but this is not the place to speak of him or them.
On the right hand is the " Cathedral of the Kazan
Mother of God," and in front, in the large square, are
the statues of Koutosoff, the Russian cunctator, and
Barclay de Toll, the two chief generals who helped to
defeat Napoleon in 1812, and to drive him, baffled,
over the frontier. Nowhere in Russia, save perhaps
in Moscow, does one see so many mementoes of this
disaster. In the cathedral alone there are one hundred
and twelve eagles captured from the French army in
its retreat, also a considerable portion of the plunder
from Moscow, rescued from the French soldiers when
they fled in disorder before the raging Cossacks and the
fanatical peasants — who regarded the French as the
Belgians now regard the Germans. The cathedral also
contains the keys of Memel, Berlin and many other
European cities occupied by the Russians after that
campaign. • One of its treasures is the " Iconostase,"
which divides the principal altar from the body of the
church. This beautiful ornament is of pure silver,
weighing about forty poods, and is chased in a most
intricate manner ; it is enriched with many icons
232
THE KAZAN CATHEDRAL, ETC. 233
glittering with rubies, sapphires and diamonds, and
was captured by the Don Cossacks and presented by
them to the church. The most valuable icon of all,
however, is the one from which the cathedral derives its
name. The frame alone, containing the image of the
Virgin, weighs ten poods (360 lb.), and is of pure gold,
inlaid with hundreds of gems. In 1812 Marshal
Koutosoff placed the image in his bosom after praying
in the church, and set off to take over the supreme
command of his country's forces against the " heretical
French." Many Russians, especially those of the lower
classes, believe that it was only due to the miraculous
aid given by the " Holy Mother of Kazan " that he
was able to conquer, when all other help had proved
vain. When Tochtemish, the Tartar invader, marched
against Moscow and the Kremlin, it is stated that by
the power of a holy icon borne in solemn procession by
the priest round the walls, the Tartars were compelled
to retreat. Russian history abounds with instances
of miracles and wonderful victories effected in this
manner through images of the Virgin Mary and the
innumerable saints, and whether or not we believe the
faith which millions of the poorer people still have in
their icons and sacred relics, it is a great power in the
hands of the priests and officials, whenever they make
use of it for their own ends. This power, however,
does not always avail, and I have myself seen, in a
house of one of my friends in the suburbs of London,
the very icon the merchants of Kharkoff presented
to General Krapotkine when he started on his dis-
astrous expedition against the " little yellow men of
the East."
The Kazan cathedral will always be associated in
my mind with the great riot that took place in the
square on 11th March 1901 — an event which I con-
sider as the real beginning of the terrible revolution
that for years cast a cloud of misery and despair over
234 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the whole Empire. On that day I was attending
service in the American church, and received warning
from a student that serious trouble was expected. I
immediately hurried to the Kazan Square, and took up
a position on the steps of the Domenico Cafe, exactly
opposite the cathedral. I saw no signs of the coming
storm, except a small crowd standing under the
colonnade, at first; but the square gradually filled
with a throng of excited people, as if by some pre-
arranged plan. Many students were there, gesticu-
lating wildly and talking volubly. Suddenly someone
began to sing the Marseillaise, which the workmen had
learned from sailors who had been in France, and this
stirring strain, which has inspired so many fighters all
over the world, at last roused the attention of the grey-
coated police as they paced slowly up and down the
broad street and kept order. Every moment the
crowd grew more and more excited. Then, without
the least warning, General Clayhills, the Prefect of the
city, entrusted with almost autocratic powers, drove
up in front of the cathedral. I observed that he was
also excited, and that he pointed now and then to the
people assembled on the steps under the colonnade.
He gave several orders to the adjutants standing
round him, and these officers immediately disappeared.
Seeing that affairs looked serious, I withdrew, and
sheltered in a doorway — as it happened, not a moment
too soon, for before one could count a hundred a large
company of Don Cossacks and mounted gendarmes
rushed up from all sides and rode down mercilessly
the crowd just in front of me. For twenty minutes
or more the air rang with the agonised screams of
women and the curses of infuriated men who had been
crushed by the wild horsemen of the steppes, or struck
down by the terrible nagaika — a loaded whip that tears
the flesh or cuts like a jagged sword.
Little by little the turmoil subsided. I saw young
THE KAZAN CATHEDRAL, ETC. 235
men and lady students carried off, bleeding and dis-
figured ; some were even killed outright, others were
severely injured by the hoofs of the horses. As soon
as I was able to pass the cordon of soldiers that shut
off all approaches to the square, I made for a small
underground shop in a side street, and there wrote
out a detailed description of the affair, which I posted
to my agent across the frontier. He at once tele-
graphed it to London. Thus, despite the vigilance of
the censors, who stopped all letters referring to this
riot, the incident was known directly afterwards all
over Europe.
On making further inquiries, I subsequently found
that some hundred persons had been arrested and
locked up in the barracks and prisons. Among these
were ladies, who had taken no part in the demonstra-
tion, but who had merely been guilty of idle curiosity.
It was fortunate that I was not with them, for I was
just as curious. Some of the people who took part
in the tumult — which was attended with loss of life
on both sides — were sent to Siberia ; others were
imprisoned. I remember how one muscular lady
student killed a police officer with a hammer ; another
official was badly wounded with one of the old
standards which hang round the walls of the cathedral.
One little dreamed that they would ever be put to so
novel an employment — as weapons of destruction 1
The women, being " politicals," were treated with
greater severity. As a rule the women demonstrators
and " emancipated " females who cause trouble —
especially students, who often wear short hair and
dress as men — are taken to a police station, where they
receive corporal punishment at the hands of women
warders, administered on the most sensitive parts of
the body.
After this eventful day similar scenes were enacted
in Nizhni-Novgorod, Moscow, Kieff, Rostoff and many
236 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
other centres. The social revolutionary movement
spread rapidly throughout the whole of Russia, and
thousands were killed and wounded in encounters with
the police, though the censors did their utmost to
conceal from the outside world what was happening.
After each outbreak the Government spared no efforts
or expense to crush the revolution; but it still pro-
gressed, until it culminated in the dramatic episodes
that followed the Russo-Japanese War in 1906, when
Moscow, and even Petrograd, seemed for a time at the
mercy of the revolutionists.
During this period all newspapers, books, songs and
pamphlets were carefully examined by the censors
before publication, and concerts or other entertain-
ments were prohibited unless the police first scrutinised
the proposed programme, or an officer was present.
Yet, in spite of all these precautions, the secret print-
ing presses managed to do their work. Thousands
of inflammatory pamphlets were smuggled over the
frontier and distributed broadcast. Gendarmes and
police were then armed with revolvers and allowed to
use their weapons on the slightest provocation, but
these repressive measures did not suffice ; and von
Ploeve, Minister of the Interior, who had himself been
a police officer, spent millions of money in increasing
the rural and secret police force. This soon became
the most important body in the Empire, with auto-
cratic powers exceeding those of any other State
department. Many laws were passed to improve the
condition of the manufacturing and agricultural classes,
but the disaffection and ill will of the revolting sec-
tion seemed undiminished, and the prisons became so
overcrowded that accommodation for criminals grew
scarce. This terrible internal rebellion brought about
the assassination of the dreaded von Ploeve, who was
blown to pieces by a bomb while driving along the
Ismaielsky Prospekt on his way to the station. The
THE KAZAN CATHEDRAL, ETC. 237
Generals Sacharoff, Bobrikoff, Stolypin and many
others in high positions shared a similar fate, but in
the end the Government, of course, gained the upper
hand. The rebellion, in my opinion, failed rather for
the want of capable leaders than for any other reason.
The Russian people, accustomed for so long to being
governed like children, have not yet developed qualities
which fit men to become leaders of their fellows.
The unsuccessful finale of the Japanese War had
much to do with kindling the slumbering fires of public
feeling against all who were believed responsible for
the disasters on land and sea. Should the present war
by any chance end badly for Russia, we may again see
an outburst of activity among the revolutionaries.
It is a mistake to think that there is no public opinion
in Russia corresponding to ours. The public voice
exists, but is slow in expression, for a variety of
reasons which cannot here be dwelt upon. But when
once awakened it is a force not to be ignored, as past
years have amply proved. Had there not been a
strong popular verdict in favour of the present war
against Germany, it would never have met with the
support it has among all classes of the Slavonic
people ; with them it is a racial struggle, but, more
than that, it is primarily a religious war.
Until the building of the Cathedral of the Saviour
in Moscow, the Cathedral of St Isaac was held to be
the most costly in the world. This beautiful temple
was begun by Catherine II., in honour of the saint of
Dalmatia. It stands in a capacious square opposite
the Alexander Gardens, close to the Hotel d'Angle-
terre, and, driving from the Gutaieffsky Harbour, or
along the fine Admiralty Quay, you cannot fail to see
this impressive edifice of granite, marble and bronze,
with its cupola of burnished gold that towers to a
height of forty feet above the cross of St Paul's.
The original structure erected by Catherine on this
238 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
spot proved unsatisfactory, and Alexander I. ordered
it to be rebuilt. The work was entrusted to Mont-
ferran, a celebrated architect of the day, whose bust,
by the way, I once saw for sale in the Gosteny Dvor —
so soon are our famous deeds forgotten. The founda-
tions were laid in 1819, but the task was not completed
until 1858. Before a safe soil could be found, it was
necessary to sink hundreds of thousands of piles into
the treacherous, moist ground, and many tons' weight
of granite blocks. Even now the foundations seem
unsatisfactory, subsidence occurs, and occasionally
alarming fissures make their appearance in the outer
walls. These have to be filled up with cement and
newly cut blocks of marble. The work of keeping St
Isaac's in thorough repair brings a quite respectable
revenue to the contractors, but unfortunately while it
proceeds an unsightly scaffolding mars the general
effect of beauty.
The cathedral is quadrilateral in shape, and has four
classical porticoes, supported by monoliths of porphyry
and jasper, each of which weighs about one hundred
and thirty tons. Round the principal dome are four
smaller ones, richly gilt, which shine like planets round
a central sun in the summer light. The entire build-
ing, within and without, is ornamented with marble of
many sorts and colours, and the bronze capitals of the
pillars are of great value. All visitors are impressed
with the grandeur of the interior. There are three
altars, and the principal iconostase, which resembles
the ancient presidium of the Roman and Greek
temples, has three rows of icons, some of which are by
Italian artists, others by Russian artists of the school
of mosaic work on the Vasilii Ostroff . The iconostase
is of white marble, with columns of malachite and
lapis lazuli brought from Siberia. The beautiful
stained-glass window behind it is over twenty-eight
feet high, and represents the Saviour. The gold and
THE KAZAN CATHEDRAL, ETC. 239
silver ornaments and vessels of the church, given, in
most cases, by the faithful worshippers, weigh collec-
tively more than four tons. Among its rare treasures
is a cross containing the relics of the apostle Andrew
Pervozvannavo (lit. " first-called "), and a miraculous
icon of the Techven Madonna. These, and many
other sacred things, are protected by iron bars, some-
times by an iron railing, for the precious stones they
contain are worth millions of roubles. Some such pre-
cautions are necessary. It has happened before now
that the " pious," under the pretext of kissing supposed
holy images, have extracted a valuable gem with their
teeth — to the real horror of true believers. When the
first church was being built some unfortunate wretch
attempted to destroy one of the icons, but was
detected, and by order of Peter the Great burned alive.
Peter, according to his own lights, was a religious and
devout man. During my residence in the city the son
of one of the officiating priests stole a large diamond
from an icon. The culprit, instead of being burned
to death, was sent either to Siberia or to a monastery,
where he would be compelled to undergo very severe
labour and penance. I can only explain the curious
fact that the most dangerous criminals and revolu-
tionists have been the sons of priests by supposing
that the pent-up evil passions, repressed sternly in
the parents, burst forth with tenfold energy in their
children when relieved from the restraints imposed by
the ordinances of the Church.
But what interested me more than images studded
with precious jewels was the glorious singing — the
grand old Gregorian chants which the Orthodox
Greek Church introduced from Byzantium when the
Varangian Grand Dukes of Kieff embraced Christi-
anity, bringing the new faith to Russia with sword
and fire. The methods used by them were certainly
drastic, but when we think of the human sacrifices,
240 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the diabolical practices, the superstitious rites, that
were common in the land of Roos before St Vladimir
broke down Perun and the other idols of the Slavs, we
can almost forgive these pioneers of Christianity for
their haste and zeal. As is well known, there is no
instrumental music in Russian churches or cathedrals,
and it may be added that it is really not necessary,
for the people are not only by nature intensely musical,
but are gifted with such sonorous, rich voices that an
organ would be superfluous. Some of the voices are
of surprising volume and depth, and none who have
attended Russian services would wonder at the vocal
feats of Chaliapine, the basso who made such a sensa-
tion at Co vent Garden and at the Grand Opera in Paris.
The most remarkable bass voice I remember was at
Vishny Volochock, a small town between Moscow and
Petrograd, where I once heard a priest intoning the
service on the opposite side of a tiny lake. Although
he must have been about half-a-mile away, I could dis-
tinguish his mellow tones above all the rest, carried
across the still water.
I have heard many splendid voices in Russia, but
very few good tenors. The extremes of the climate
seem to be fatal to the production of rich tenors of
delicate timbre and high range, such as one hears in
England or in France.
The most suitable time to gain an impression of the
grandeur of the service of St Isaac's, and of those of
the Orthodox Greek Church in general, is at Easter,
Christmas or other notable festivals. The visitor is
then struck with the beauty of the ritual of the
Orthodox Church — which, in the eyes of all good
moujiks, is the only true one ; in which sweet and
harmless belief we will leave them, if it gives them any
joy to think that they only will be saved in the next
world ! Their faith, if not very charitable, is certainly
exceedingly simple and comprehensible.
The Gosteny Dvor (Guest Bazaar) on the Nevsky
/ ' iiiinJWh i
The Cathedral ok St. Isaac of Dalmatia
THE KAZAN CATHEDRAL, ETC. 241
After seeing the cathedral, it would be well to stroll
along the Admiralty Quay fronting the river, and
inspect the beautiful statue of Peter the Great, erected
by Catherine at a cost of £30,000. It is the work of
the talented French sculptor Falconhet, and is one
of the finest equestrian statues in existence. On the
granite pedestal is the simple inscription : "To Peter
the First, from Catherine II." For once Catherine
was modest, and refrained from proclaiming herself
as Minerva, Venus, Zenobia or Cleopatra. The enor-
mous granite block forming the base was found at
Ljachta, about eight miles from the city, and was
dragged with great labour to its present site. Accord-
ing to tradition, Peter used to climb upon this very
stone and gaze round at the neighbouring country
while his " Paradise " was rising from the marshes.
This stone is called the " Thunder Stone," for it is
believed that it was once struck by lightning and
split in two. Considering its weight — 166 tons — we
can understand easily what tremendous efforts were
entailed in transporting it from its original position.
XXVI
TWO TSARS : PAUL, THE " MAD TSAR " ; NICHOLAS I.,
HIS CHARACTER AND AMBITION
The Inshenerny Zamok, otherwise the School of
Engineers, is an interesting building from an historical
point of view, since it was once the palace of the " Mad
Tsar " Paul, who erected it in the hope that he would
reside in it for many years. In fact its walls bear an
inscription to that effect ; but Paul did not allow for
the unscrupulous actions of his many enemies. His
palace, the work on which went on day and night,
and which was defended by moats and ramparts and
cannon, stands on the very spot once occupied by an
old fort of the republic of Novgorod, which in those
days recognised the importance of this territory,
centuries before Peter's town came into existence.
Peter, in building here, simply acted on the plans
of the Grand Dukes of Novgorod and the Tsars of
Muscovy in their ambition to possess this outlet to
the Varangian Sea (the Baltic) at any sacrifice.
According to a legend, a vision appeared to the
sentry in front of the Summer House built here by
Peter. An angel ordered the sentry to go to the Tsar
and say that a temple should be erected in the name
of the Archangel Mechail. When Paul heard of this
apparition he said : " The will of the Archangel is
already known to me ; his wish shall be carried out."
We are not told, however, what happened to the
sentry for taking his orders from an angel, or whether
he was beheaded for leaving his post (as would be
extremely likely), but only that in due time the
castle was built by Basheneff, according to the Tsar's
242
TWO TSARS 243
own plans and drawings. On 8th November 1800 it
was consecrated by the priests. Soldiers guarded it
continually, as though the city was in a state of siege.
The entrance was decorated tastefully, and traces of
its luxury can still be seen. The beautiful staircase
leading from the main approach gives an idea of its
former splendour. In the upper storey is the immense
chamber of the Tsar, now converted into a chapel.
In addition to this there is a chapel dedicated to the
Archangel Mechail, who so imperiously ordered the
palace to be built.
According to historians, Paul died of apoplexy ; but
if we can credit the memoirs and chronicles of those
who took part in the crime, he was murdered by Zoo-
boff and the favourites of Catherine, whom, through his
mistaken clemency, he had allowed to return from exile.
Mayne, in his Life of Nicholas I., says that the Grand
Duke Nicholas was little more than an infant at the
time of his father's murder. It is said that the
Empress, hearing a noise, took her two youngest sons,
Nicholas and Mechail, from their beds, and fled with
them for safety, as she thought, to the chamber where
the deed was done. The door was guarded by Count
Panen, who refused her admittance, telling her that
there was nothing to fear. Paul was strangled with
his own scarf, and the room is still to be seen where this
well-meaning autocrat was put to death.
How many Russian rulers have met a violent end is
only too well known to historians. We need not be
surprised, therefore, that Paul was no more fortunate
than many of his predecessors. Had he not been so
attached to his German relations, and to everything
German, his long-suffering subjects, who had been
used to far more cruel rulers, would probably have
tolerated his escapades until he died a natural death.
His mother, Catherine, knew the danger of leaning to
German ideas, and became, as it were, more Russian
244 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
than the Roos ; but Paul had neither the wit nor the
cunning to hide his true nature. Inheriting German
proclivities from his father, Peter III., he soon made
himself disliked by favouring German tastes, both in
the army and at Court. Like Panin, his instructor,
one might say of him that " the Prussian alliance was
the first article of his political creed ; Frederick II.
was his prophet and Berlin was his Mecca. This
infatuation was his bane, and ultimately ended in his
tragedy, for his Russian subjects could forgive their
Tsar for being half mad (among the Russian people
madmen are still considered sacred), but they could
never forgive his being German in blood and sym-
pathy." There is little doubt that the exercise of
supreme power turned his brain, just as it did the brain
of Nero and Caligula, though he had some excellent
qualities. His occasional flashes of sound common-
sense have always been an enigma to historians.
Walizeffsky is so interested in this strange mortal that
he has written a large volume on the life and character
of Paul. " If there are any doubts," he says, " as to
who was his father, there can be little doubt that
Catherine was the author of this curious creature's
existence. But in his ideals and character Paul was
so opposed to his mother that she did her utmost
to prevent him from succeeding to the throne. He
looked on the life and policy of his mother with the
strongest aversion, and for this reason, with his
extravagant temper, has been considered mad. If
he was, then many Russians who are usually thought
sane have the same failing, for I have met those in the
interior who were as violently opposed to the notions
of Catherine as was her unfortunate son." Paul's
peculiar conduct with regard to the burial of his
father has been cited as evidence of his insanity. The
body of the dead Tsar was opened, and Catherine,
his dear spouse, remarked that " his heart was
<
H
Q
<
X
II
TWO TSARS 245
exceedingly small ! " The Archbishop of Petrograd
(Benjamin ?) states that the corpse was brought to
the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in the early morning
from Ropcha, and for three days lay in state, so that
the nobles and simple folk could pay it their last
respects, according to the ancient custom. It was in
a white coffin, round which four candelabra constantly
burned. The body was in the uniform of his Holstein
Regiment, and on the hands, folded across his breast,
were white gloves — spotted with blood from the effects
of the careless autopsy. The Senators, fearing that the
nerves of the Empress, which must have been greatly
upset by the sudden change in her fortunes, due to the
" colic " from which he was supposed to have died,
would suffer, requested her not to take any part in the
burial service. Paul, who had method in his madness,
on his accession had the body removed from the grave
and brought to the Winter Palace, there to be placed
in a catafalque by the body of the wife. After it had
lain in state, he had it taken back to the monastery
and there buried in great pomp. All the regiments of
the Guard, as well as troops of the regular army, lined
the streets, and nothing was left undone to make
the ceremony as imposing and dramatic as possible.
Count Alexis Orloff, by a refinement of irony, was
ordered to carry the crown of the murdered Tsar, but
was so overcome that he leaned in a corner of the
church and wept. Whether the tears were false or
genuine is a mystery which we can make no attempt to
solve. Orloff was discovered with extreme difficulty,
and was hardly to be persuaded to join the procession.
The Emperor and the Grand Dukes followed on foot,
although the cold on the day was almost insupportable.
H. E. Gretch in his Memoirs says : "I saw the
cortege from the window, in the house of the Petro-
pavlovsk Cathedral. The Guards lined both sides of
the Nevsky Prospekt. Among the gigantic grenadiers
246 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
in their light green uniforms and their splendid
casques were to be seen the petty soldiers from the
Palace of Gatchina, in the ridiculous Prussian uniform
of the Seven Years' War. General attention was
centred on three men bearing the ends of the pall ;
these were Count Alex Gregorivitch Orloff, Prince
Barjatinsky and Passak." By an ingenious revenge
the men who were accused of causing the Tsar's death
were chosen to take a leading part in the ceremonial.
Paul was not so mad after all, if this was his idea of
retribution.
I have often wandered round the palace and gazed
on the equestrian statue of Paul before the entrance,
but I have never had occasion to enter this house of
terrible memories.
Close to the Summer Gardens is the Champ de Mars,
an immense plain where magnificent parades and
military reviews are held. On the left, looking to-
wards the Neva, are the enormous barracks of the
Pavlovski Regiment, built by Paul. All the men of
this regiment have snub noses. It is said that the
practice of enlisting men with this peculiar form of
nose was originated by Paul, who did not wish his
own nose " put out of joint " by having soldiers
around him continually with nice straight noses.
Paul was inclined to be a martinet in matters of
discipline. He once ordered a whole regiment to
wheel round and march right off to Siberia, because
something in their equipment did not please his
Prussian notions of neatness. The unhappy men
obeyed without a murmur, and had achieved a good
distance on their terrific journey when Paul was sent
to his last account — fortunately for them — by those
who could not stand his pranks and antics.
Another instance of this quality was shown when on
one occasion a droshky-driver ran over a pedestrian.
Paul ordered that every cabby in Petrograd should
TWO TSARS 247
leave the city pro tern. Of course this drastic remedy
was effectual, and as long as he reigned very few people
were run over by the careless drivers, who had learnt
their lesson.
Mayne, writing in 1854, in his Life of Nicholas I. 9
thus describes this Emperor * :
" The Tsar is now fifty-seven years of age ; in
person, tall and commanding, being about six feet
two inches in height, well made, but inclined to
corpulency. As yet, however, this is kept within due
bounds by tight lacing, said to be very injurious to his
health. His shoulders and chest are broad and full,
his limbs clean and well made, his hands and feet are
small and finely formed. The Emperor has a Grecian
profile, a high but receding forehead, that and the
nose being in one grand line ; the eyes are finely lined,
clear, large and blue ; the mouth is delicately cut, with
good teeth and a protruding chin ; the face is large,
and his whole air is military. As a young man, the
Tsar was cold, stern and dignified, even with his
youthful companions. He is unbending to all, both
in public and domestic intercourse, except to the
Empress, to whom he is said to be sincerely attached."
Although Nicholas admired and copied the Prussian
military organisation, he looked upon the Duke of
Wellington as the beau-ideal of a soldier, just as the
Emperor William regarded the late Field-Marshal
Lord Roberts in the same light. But both monarchs,
though admirers of England in many things, were
destined to fight against her.
The Marquis de Castine, who saw more of Nicholas
than any other foreigner, formed a by no means flatter-
ing opinion of this autocrat, whose ambitions in the
1 The Panslavists are now endeavouring to carry out the political
ideals of Catherine II. and Nicholas I. as far as possible.
248 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Balkans and in Asia Minor were to drench Europe in
blood, although Russia, even in his days, possessed far
more territory than she could develop, populate or
cultivate. The Russian writer Golovin describes him
as an unmitigated despot, and condemns him for his
harsh treatment of literary men, the majority of
whom, with the exception of Gogol, he either feared
or hated. For example : when Lermontoff, the poet,
died, Nicholas exclaimed : " He lived like a dog and
he has died like one." Rylieff, who wrote poems on
Varangian Russia, of times when the people were free,
he hanged. That was his way of treating native
talent. Another young poet of Liberal tendencies
Nicholas called and embraced, and all believed that
this poet, Polejaieff, was to be favoured ; but the Tsar
made him a soldier — a terrible punishment in those
days — and when he died, a friend, wishing to find the
body, was told to look among the boxes which are
used as coffins for the common soldiers. These are
but a few of the eminent men visited with the dis-
pleasure of Nicholas.
Most Russian literary men of talent have been
unfortunate, ending their lives in misery or exile.
Pushkin was exiled to the Caucasus ; Dostoievsky
to Siberia ; Tchedrin (Saltikoff) was disgraced, and
Skalkoffsky was thrown into a dungeon, where he
died. Even now it is a perilous thing to be reckoned
among the so-called intelligentsia (the educated
classes). Should you belong to them you will sooner or
later be suspected by the police and written down in
their books as neblaganadeshny (not to be trusted).
As a young man I often gave thanks that I was born a
British subject and could pursue my affairs and tastes
freely in Russia. Had I been a Russian this would
have been very risky. One easily understands, bear-
ing this in mind, why the works of Gogol, Pushkin,
Turgenieff, Tolstoi, Dostoieffsky, Gorki and other
TWO TSARS 249
Russians are tinged with such deep sadness, pessi-
mism and even despair. Speaking once with Rjepin,
the Russian painter, on this theme, he said to me :
" Ah, your Shakespeare, Byron, Burns, Dickens,
Fielding, and the rest, are all healthy men; but we
are all bolnie lude (sick men)." True, I thought — all
mentally sick ; not one with the healthy spirit and joy
of life found in our English writers. England's great
literary men are the product of centuries of liberty,
while Russia's are the outcome of conquest, oppres-
sion, suppression and persecution, which has been
going on ever since the country was invaded and
crushed by the Tartars.
It is not easy to explain the dislike of Nicholas
for the gentler arts. One would have thought that he
would simply ignore them, for, according to Mayne,
" the one overwhelming feature of the Tsar's character
was his ambition to be a great Emperor and to make
Russia the chief Empire of the world. This seems to
have been his aim from the moment he ascended the
throne, even if it was not the dream of his life from
a still earlier period. The partition of Poland with
others, his amenities to Austria, the assistance he
rendered during the civil war in Hungary, were all so
many present self-denials to smooth the way for the
conquest of the land on which he had set his heart —
Turkey. For long years, as witnessed by the diplo-
matic correspondence lately published, he had deter-
mined to own the keys of the Empire of the East,
which he thought, and probably truly, added to his
mighty Northern possessions, would give him supreme
domination. Very crafty, deep-laid and sagacious
have been his plans ; but the British feeling for pro-
tecting the weak, and the far-sighted policy of the
Emperor of the French, have unexpectedly come in
his way."
But now, with England, France, Serbia and Italy,
250 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the Allies of Russia in her endeavours to reach Con-
stantinople and to be the leader of the Slav states
of the Balkans, it seems that all that Napoleon and
England laboured to prevent in the Crimean War will
be attained. Russia's huge population, which doubles
every fifty years, will make her the first power in
Europe and Asia, now that the might of Germany is
being laid low under the hammer-like blows of the
Powers composing the Quadruple Entente. In fifty or
sixty years Russia, with the Slav provinces of Austria,
which she is resolved upon annexing, will have a
population of above four hundred millions — as many
as the Empire of China. The realisation of Nicholas's
dream may not then be an impossibility ; but all waits
upon the result of the present dreadful conflict.
XXVII
SIR ROBERT MORIER AND TH£ BRITISH EMBASSY
One of the oldest buildings on the Palace Quay is the
British Embassy, at the corner of the Field of Mars.
Here have laboured many famous men — Lord Loftus,
Sir Edward Thornton, Lord Dufferin, Lascelles, Sir
Charles Scott, Sir Nicholas O'Conor and others. Of
the notable men I met none made a greater impres-
sion upon me than the late Sir Robert Morier, our
ambassador while I lived in Petrograd, son of the
British ambassador in Teheran, and author of the
amusing Hadji Baba, a vivid picture of Oriental
life.
Only the Foreign Office, au courant with the political
and diplomatic activity of its representatives abroad,
knows how much the British people owe to this
champion of their interests and ideals. From those
who were behind the scenes, I learnt that Sir Robert
twice saved us from war with Russia, principally
through his personality and his great influence with
the Tsar Alexander III., who had an immense admira-
tion and respect for him. I remember, on the second
occasion when the Tsar and his Court had journeyed
to Livadia, preparatory to declaring war upon Bulgaria
and invading that country, Sir Robert, on his own
responsibility, went to the Crimea and managed to
dissuade the Tsar from his project. This was in 1894
or 1895, shortly before Stambouloff was cut to pieces
with yataghans in the street of Sophia. The troops
were mobilised in Odessa ; everything was ready,
when Sir Robert appeared and pointed out that the
placing of an army in Bulgaria was tantamount to a
251
252 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
war with England. The Tsar, who knew that he was
dealing with a man who meant what he said, took the
hint, and did not return to Moscow to proclaim war,
as he had intended. Thus Europe was saved from a
conflagration and much useless bloodshed.
The last occasion on which I saw Sir Robert Morier
was when he was leaving for Schwalbach, to die,
broken down by years of anxiety and by the deep
grief at the loss of his only son, a handsome, popular
Englishman in Petrograd's British colony. It was
the old story — a bright life and a promising career
cut short by infatuation for a beautiful woman, and
it practically brought the ambassador with sorrow to
his grave. The old lion, as I used to think him, was
about to depart for the station when I sent up my card
and informed his officials of my errand. Although he
had only a very short time to spare, and was busied
with many final arrangements, he received me will-
ingly. " Mr Steveni," he said, as I entered his private
rooms, " I am very ill, and shall perhaps never come
back here again ; but the business you come upon is of
such interest to me that I cannot refuse you an inter-
view." The business related to the opening out of
Siberia to British trade by means of the Kara Sea
route, to which Sir Robert, his son, and the famous
navigator, Captain Wiggins, had for years been giving
much attention. Through these three persons this
ancient trade route was again opened, and should the
vast wealth of Central and Eastern Siberia ever find
its way to the markets of London, it will be due to the
energy, public spirit and self-sacrifice of these pioneers
of commerce in the frozen North. It would take too
long to mention the half of the mineral and agri-
cultural possibilities held by this project. Sufficient
to say that I did my utmost to carry out what might
almost be called the dying request of our great
ambassador — to bring this route and the immense
SIR ROBERT MORIER 253
potentialities of Siberia before the English public by
means of many articles in the Press.
Sir Robert, as he predicted, never recovered from
the malady which, in poetic terms, might be called
a broken heart. Before he left,' he showed me a
beautiful bronze statuette of the Emperor Frederick,
given to him by that monarch as a mark of friendship
when he represented England at the Court of Hesse-
Darmstadt. His admiration for this Emperor and
the Empress brought on him the wrath and malice of
Bismarck, who endeavoured by guile and intrigue to
get him dismissed from office, on the charge of betray-
ing German secrets to the French. These attacks,
not only on Sir Robert, but on the memory of the
Emperor Frederick, our ambassador rebutted with
such energy that Bismarck, who was then striving to
embitter the relations between England and Russia,
was foiled, and had to retire discomfited. It was
not the only time the Iron Chancellor tried to under-
mine the influence of our Russian ambassador; but
on this occasion he met his match in a man who
fought with clean hands. More than once the
Government at home wished to recall Sir Robert, but
the Tsar was so pleased with him that his services
were retained.
His death was an irreparable blow to England.
Unlike many diplomatists, he was above stooping to
the tricks and deceptions that too often tarnish the
profession. I was told that he never lied in his
country's interests ; if he could not answer a question,
he kept silence. He used to swear, on occasion, like a
trooper, and a round British oath on his lips seemed to
carry great weight ! In his strong, firm hands, often
holding the balance between peace and war, our
honour was safe. Such giants of body and intellect
are not seen every day, and now that the Empire is
convulsed with battles we can better appreciate Sir
254 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Robert Morier's constant efforts for " peace on earth
and good will towards men."
The foreign affairs of England, for reasons some of
which I fail to comprehend, have been for generations
in the hands of the aristocracy and the leisured classes,
and not controlled by men who have risen by their own
ability, regardless of their origin ; and, as the repre-
sentative of a Liberal — I might almost say a Radical —
paper, I did not often visit the British Embassy.
Perhaps for this cause I was doubly welcomed at the
American Legation, where men of worth rather than birth
manage the affairs of the great republic which prefers
to bestow on its editors, publishers, its journalists and
men of letters these high positions. When Sir Andrew
White, the American Minister, was doubtful as to the
truth of any report, he would send for me, and say :
" I find it so difficult to learn the truth in this city that
before deciding what to believe I want your opinion."
When we remember all the tittle-tattle and scandal
constantly flying round in a city such as Petrograd,
and the Oriental imaginations of the Russians, who
delight in nebwliitza — literally, " things that never
happened " — we cannot wonder at any ambassador
being perplexed in such novel surroundings. Sir
Andrew White, who was President of Cornell University,
and a man of immense wealth, spent most of his time
in literary work. His books, the fruit of incessant
labour and large sums laid out in obtaining the best
material, will always be appreciated by those who
value thoroughness in literature. His works on
Modern Germany and The Conflict between Science and
Religion are perhaps his most familiar. In spite of his
talents, his wealth and his responsible position, he was
an exceedingly simple and unaffected man.
His successor, Emery Smith, with whom I co-
operated in the tremendous work of relieving the dis-
tress of the suffering peasants during the great famine
SIR ROBERT MORIER 255
of 1891-1892, was another remarkable character. 1 He
had formerly been editor of the Philadelphia Public
Ledger, and was a fine orator. His energy was un-
tiring, and on quitting Russia he was nominated to the
position of Minister of the Post in the United States.
The last American ambassador I knew was General
Brackenridge, who took a prominent part in the
Civil War.
The practice of electing smart men of ability, who
have risen through merit, to these honourable positions
should, I think, be imitated by our own Foreign Office.
They are, as a rule, more capable, more fitted to repre-
sent the ideals and desires of the people of a nation,
than men of birth, privilege and rank — men of one
particular class whose honours have been gained, not
by hard work, but generally by influence, and who
can but represent a small section of the community.
In Germany the Socialistic and Democratic parties
intend demanding that the people should, in future,
be consulted with regard to foreign affairs and making
treaties with foreign powers, as soon as this sanguinary
struggle is over.
I trust that, as we grow wiser from the bitter
teachings of experience, the people of England and
Russia will be brought into closer and more direct
contact with one another, and that they will be able to
exercise a greater and more direct influence on foreign
affairs than they do at present.
This was also the desire of the great writer and
thinker Leo Tolstoi, who before his death expressed
to me the hope that there would sooner or later be a
union of hearts and mind between the Russian and
English people ; for such a union would be more lasting
and beneficial than political ententes and alliances,
which are evanescent and as changeable as the wind.
1 For further details see Through Famine-stricken Russia, by W. B. Si
(Sampson Low, 1892)*
256 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
There is little doubt that, when the 112,000,000
Russian peasants become educated and more advanced,
they will exercise a great and lasting influence on the
destinies of Europe.
Sir Robert Morier foresaw this, and once in a speech
at the Anglo-American Chapel let fall the following
remarkable words : —
" Let us thank God that He has given the Russian
peasantry a kind and good heart ; for in future years
the destinies of Europe will so much depend on their
character and ideals ! "
XXVIII
COUNT SERGIUS DE WITTE
I have interviewed many eminent men in the course
of my duties as correspondent, and among them was
Count de Witte, Minister of Finance, and afterwards
Chancellor of the Empire and President of the Council
of Ministers. Like other men of talent who have left
their mark on history, he began in quite a humble
position — it is said as stationmaster on a private
railway. His extraordinary energy and organising
capacity, displayed during the Russo-Turkish War,
led him to an important post in the Government, and
he soon made himself felt in every department. For
years he was practically the ruler of Russia, so that
some called him jokingly " Sergius Witte the First."
The title was not wholly undeserved, for it is stated
that, had it not been for his efforts in conjunction with
the Tsar, Russia would have gone to war with us in
India and Afghanistan, about the time of the Tugela
disaster. This was then without doubt the aim of the
military party in Petrograd ; in fact an officer of high
position informed me that the War Office had already
drawn up a plan of campaign and carried out an
experimental mobilisation of troops on the Afghan
frontier. The Count, who wished to see Russia
prosperous, went dead against the war party, and
refused to grant the requisite funds, on the ground that
such a conflict would cripple the country for a hundred
years to come. Although he assumed this pacific
attitude, it was more from motives of finance than
any particular love for England. There is little doubt
that his sympathies were with his German neighbours
P 257
258 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
rather than with the people of our island Empire.
He was a typical Great Russian — great in body and
mind ; but his origin was German or Dutch. He
appeared to me more like a gigantic Boer farmer than
a German, and I should not be surprised if his ancestors
hailed from Holland, the home of another famous
statesman of the same name, Cornelius de Witte.
Never shall I forget my interview with this colossal
man with the pale face and stolid features ; so pre-
occupied did he seem with affairs of State that it
seemed as though his countenance could never relax
into a smile. His replies to my questions were very
guarded ; he evidently did not wish to commit himself
in any way, and repeatedly said that he desired to
cultivate " commercial relations with England, on an
economical basis." So much stress was laid on the
word " economical " that I plainly saw he had no
idea of entering into any friendly alliance, but simply
wanted to encourage closer business ties. He was
intent upon improving Russia's financial position, and
on giving her a gold currency — in which he succeeded.
After the Peace of Portsmouth Witte's influence
rapidly declined. It was currently reported at that
time that the Government and people never forgave
him for agreeing to give up half of Saghalien to the
Japanese. The Tsar's instructions were that not a
rouble should be paid to Japan as indemnity, not a
yard of territory yielded. Witte worked for peace in
order to carry out his industrial schemes for making
Russia one of the world's richest countries, and con-
sented to the Treaty of Portsmouth, owing to the
diplomatic pressure of America and other neutral
powers. Considering that on the whole the Japanese
were victors, Witte's efforts were deserving of more
gratitude than fell to his share ; but ingratitude is the
world's reward, and after a time, retired from high
office, he took a less important position in the Council,
COUNT SERGIUS DE WITTE 259
where his voice was frequently heard, but where his
power to carry through his pet projects was much
reduced.
I have been told that he maintained his power with
the Tsar by clever stratagem. The Tsar then resided
at his palace, Tsarskoe Selo, and every week the
Ministers travelled by a special train to place their
reports before him and to obtain his sanction. Witte,
knowing that the last man would have the best chance
of talking, usually managed to miss the special and
arrive by a later train, " owing to pressure of business "
or some such excuse. He would inquire what had
been decided upon with regard to the propositions of
the others ; then, with plenty of time before him, his
commanding personality would gain its own way, his
arguments being generally plausible enough to succeed.
It would take long to enumerate the financial,
industrial and other reforms Count de Witte carried
out during his term of office. Among his many
achievements, he was responsible for the buying up of
private railways and placing them under State control ;
the Government spirit monopoly ; the gold currency
and the construction of many new ports and harbours
on the Pacific, the Black Sea and the Baltic. He also
took an active part in planning the Trans-Siberian
line. Daring to a degree, his critics used to say that
he would either ruin Russia or make it the most
powerful country in the world ; but his removal from
office, and the Japanese War, prevented either of
these prophecies from fulfilment. His policy was
certainly not entirely beneficial, for his high tariff
helped to make the lives of millions of the wretched
peasantry a greater burden than before, when they
were serfs. Agricultural interests, which in Russia
ought to come before all others, were neglected and
starved in order to establish a great number of factories
and mills all over the land, which were supported by
260 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
a system of tariffs on foreign imports. Capital which
might have been spent in teaching the peasants to till
the fertile black soil, or in assisting them with advances
at low interest by means of agricultural banks (which
have now been established in many provinces), was to
a great extent wasted. The policy certainly succeeded
in making many manufacturers extremely wealthy,
but it brought into being a large proletariat which has
more than once proved a danger to the State. In
these operations, it must be admitted, Count de Witte,
statesman though he was, showed a lack of foresight.
The origin of his State monopoly on spirits, which
in truth was no reform at all, is interesting. Alex-
ander III., who was by no means an abstainer, during
his last incurable malady (kidney disease) became
afflicted with qualms of conscience because so large
a proportion of the population was being annually
destroyed, physically, mentally and morally, through
the ever-increasing consumption of vodka and other
fiery liquors. (Tolstoi was so incensed at this that
he designed a label for vodka bottles ; on it appeared
the word " Poison " and a skull and cross-bones.)
After a journey through Finland, a sober and well-
administered country, the Tsar came to the conclusion
that if the Finnish authorities could check this national
evil, his own advisers should be able to follow the
good example. He therefore consulted de Witte, who
in response proposed that the Crown should itself
take over the sale of all spirituous drinks, and that all
profits thus acquired should go to the Crown instead of
to the traktershiks (publicans). The Tsar jumped at
this grand idea. While encouraging sobriety and thrift,
the Government would benefit immensely. Like the
majority of Russian projects, very fine in theory, this
so-called reform proved a terrible failure. The net
result was that far more spirits were consumed than
before, despite the praiseworthy efforts of many
COUNT SERGIUS DE WITTE 261
temperance societies. Formerly, the working classes
assembled in the trakteers and drank there as much
as the tavern-keepers would allow them, but after the
change there was practically no control. Spirits were
sold by the bottle instead of by the glass, the smallest
being named a u Wittochke," in honour of the Minister.
For twenty-four copecks — our sixpence — a fairly large
bottle could be purchased. Usually this was drunk
straight off, on an empty stomach, and the poor
moujiks would collapse in some doorway, speechlessly
intoxicated. Again, the bottle would be taken home,
and the wives would join in a carouse, while the
children from their earliest years acquired a taste for
strong drink. Thus the curse spread and misery
haunted thousands of little homes — to a much greater
extent than in England ; for the Russian workpeople,
owing to the poor sustaining powers of their food,
cannot stand half the quantity of spirits that an
Englishman or Scotsman can carry. One glass will
often upset their ill-nourished bodies. The number
unfit for service in the army increased each year ;
physical degeneracy became a danger to the State.
The reform due to the present war came just in time,
and the sudden and drastic manner of it proved how
necessary it was.
In his well-known book on the Russian people,
Maurice Baring has some interesting remarks upon
Count de Witte :
" The war with Japan [he says] came about
owing to the sudden volte face in Russia's policy
with regard to the Far East, when the Govern-
ment decided to adopt the aggressive policy of Bezo-
brazeff instead of the peaceful policy of development
which had been initiated and followed by Witte. It
will be to Count Witte's lasting credit as a statesman
that he saw clearly on this matter. As far back as the
262 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
time of the Russo-China operations he stated, with
regard to the occupation of Manchuria, that Russia
was not in a fit state to carry on an aggressive policy.
In the beginning of 1903, five months before he retired
from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a year
before the war, he explained himself clearly on the
subject in a report on his journey to the Far East.
He argues thus : (a) That he did not consider a con-
flict with Japan to be inevitable, because owing to the
building of the Manchurian Railway it was possible
that Russia and Japan might come to an agreement
on the basis of commercial interests, which are the
chief factors in obviating international armed con-
flicts. There was, therefore, reason to think that a
peaceful solution of the questions at issue might be
arrived at, on a basis of this kind, in the near future.
(b) If such a hope were groundless, it was in any case
imperatively necessary to defer the conflict, and to
attempt to find at least a temporary solution, a com-
promise, which would satisfy Japan with regard to
Korea. An armed conflict with Japan, said Witte,
would, in his opinion, prove a great misfortune. It
was necessary, however, for Russia to get ready.
Even if it were a choice between a conflict and a total
cession of Korean interests to Japan, the latter would
be the lesser evil of the two."
XXIX
THE RUSSIAN PRESS
The war with Germany has changed the affairs of the
Press in Russia so greatly that I feel it advisable to
use the past tense in speaking of the papers I know so
well. Most of them were in existence at the outbreak
of hostilities, but if the struggle goes on for many more
months it is extremely likely that many of them will
close down.
The chief papers were : The Government Advertiser
(Pravetelstvenny Vjestrik), The Financial and Industrial
Gazette, the Journal de St Petersburg, the Petersburgsky
Vjedemost, the Novaya Vremya, the Grashdanin, the
Svjet, the Novosti, the Sin Otechestva, the Ootra, The
Exchange Gazette, the Roos, the Petersburg Zeitung,
the Herold and the Nedjely — the last one a weekly.
The Government Advertiser was a purely official
organ, and generally contented itself with making
known the opinions and decisions of the Government.
The Financial Gazette, though not a regular daily,
was an important publication, being the favourite
mouthpiece of the Minister of Finance. The Journal
de St Petersburg, semi-official, is simply an echo of the
leading Government organs, and a verbatim translation
into French of news that has already appeared in
other sheets, read principally by those who did not
understand Russian, or by the aristocracy — who for
the most part have a weaKness for conversing in the
elegant language of France, even when their hearers
are Russians like themselves.
The Vjedemosti was very much to the fore after the
Tsar's visit to India. Its editor, Prince Oochtemsky,
263
264 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
was believed to be a personal friend of the present Tsar ;
but it is a question whether this has anything to do
with its sentiments. One interesting fact concerning
it is that it annually received a large subsidy for pub-
lishing all the Government advertisements.
The Novaya Vremya, which is sometimes inspired, is
perhaps the most powerful paper in the country, and
still enjoys great popularity, though it was far from
scrupulous, or fair to its political opponents. Like
some of its contemporaries, it went with the times,
and was rewarded for its laxity by a circulation of
70,000 — a large number for a daily in Russia. Its
policy was worldly-wise, perhaps, since other papers
have been temporarily or wholly suppressed for ventur-
ing to express opinions in opposition to those prevailing
in official circles. The editor was a clever and able
journalist, who would have had more influence among
well-informed, educated people had he been more
particular and more careful of his facts. At one time
the Novaya Vremya was exceedingly hostile towards
England, losing no opportunity of abusing us. Being
wealthy, its correspondents were well paid, and it
was usually supplied with plenty of fresh telegraphic
news, which, however, often proved excessively biassed.
This hostility eventually assumed such an aggressive
form that one of our leading correspondents called
on its former celebrated editor, Souvorin, and asked
him what he meant by abusing England on every
possible and impossible occasion. Souvorin, whom
the French journalists described as a combination of
an old Russian boyar and Mephistopheles, was not a
whit abashed, and smilingly replied to our indignant
countryman : " You see, I have no other resource.
I must abuse some nation, for you know that suits the
taste of my readers. Now England is the only one
left for me to attack. I cannot go for our ally France,
obviously, nor can I insult Germany, as the ties
THE RUSSIAN PRESS 265
between our Imperial houses are so notable. What
else, then, can I do ? " It is well, perhaps, in the
light of such confessions, not to take too much notice
of all the leaders one reads in the influential Press of
modern nations !
The Grashdanin was another strong paper, but
latterly its power has waned in consequence of several
prohibitions and fines by the censors. Plus roi que
le roi, and more conservative than the Government,
the eccentric editor had an unlucky talent for not
pleasing anybody but himself. The Liberals cordially
detested him, while the official party thought him a
nuisance for his persistent advocacy of retrograde,
old-fashioned measures and his scorn of all who did
not happen to agree with him. He was a great
advocate of corporal punishment, and used to lament
the " good old times " when the nobles and boyars
could, if they chose, flog their serfs to death with
impunity. This editor, Prince Metchersky, frequently
got into serious trouble. He once was soundly horse-
whipped by two young men, whose father they im-
agined he had insulted in one of his leading articles.
More than once his paper was suppressed for publish-
ing articles attacking President Faure, the French
alliance, and the French army — which, according to
him, was good for nothing. Yet we could not help
respecting the editor of the Grashdanin, whether we
agreed with his diatribes or not, for he was one of
the few who had courage to speak their minds and to
abide by the consequences — which in Russia are often
disastrous for such as may follow his example. After
repeated stoppages the paper managed to appear as
a weekly, to be read by musty, retired officials,
country gentry and the older aristocracy. Metcher-
sky was a bitter enemy of the Jews, and wrote most
pungent leaders against this oppressed and unpopular
race. After the appearance of one of these philippics,
266 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
of singular virulence, I called on him to inquire why
he was so " down " on them. " Why ? " he answered
fiercely, rolling his big eyes, " why do we kill fleas and
other parasites ? " I retorted that Jews were by no
means vermin, and that we had no right to treat them
as such ; but he contradicted me, asserting that every
nation and every individual had the right to get rid
of parasites. Before his death, which took place last
year (1914), Metchersky changed his opinions like a
modern Saul, and instead of preaching persecution
and death to the Jews, advocated that they should no
longer be confined within the pale of settlements, but
should be distributed all over the Empire, so that
their commercial and business instincts might assist
in developing its vast resources. He had come to the
conclusion that his own countrymen were lacking in
enterprise and energy. This was a great surprise to
all who knew him. With all his prejudices, Metcher-
sky was a man of remarkable gifts and strong individu-
ality. He was brought up with the late Tsar, Alex-
ander III., and, on the whole, was held to be one of
Russia's most talented editors.
The Svjet must not be passed over in silence, although
the proportions of this paper were diminutive and its
contents merely a stale copy of news that had previ-
ously appeared — often a week before. As it was read
chiefly by country folk, and the majority of its sub-
scribers were never in a hurry for the latest informa-
tion, this peculiarity did not matter. Possibly its
cheapness — two copecks (^d.) — explains its circulation,
which equals that of the Novaya Vremya. In a land
where a good newspaper costs three halfpence or two-
pence, a halfpenny charge for the equivalent of a sheet
and a half of foolscap is considered very cheap indeed.
Next to the Novaya Vremya in political importance
we must rank the Novosti, although its circulation was
small — only about 17,000. It was known as a Jewish
THE RUSSIAN PRESS 267
organ, and had a Jewish editor, but was one of the
most moderate and reputable papers of the capital.
In politics it was inclined to the Liberal side, as far as
it dared go, standing for Western ideas and reform —
tendencies which excited the wrath of all good Pan-
slavists, Chauvinists and so-called " Kvass " patriots,
who fancy that Russia can only be saved by swallowing
their political prescriptions. (" Kvass " is the national
beverage, made from sour, fermented bread.) In
the days when it was the fashion to abuse England,
the Novosti spoke out pretty freely on our continued
occupation of Egypt, yet on the whole was very
friendly towards this country, and favoured an under-
standing between us and the Dual Alliance. Un-
fortunately it had little influence among the real
Russians — not only on account of its small circulation,
but because its editor was a Jew — an insurmountable
objection in Muscovite eyes, which see no possible
good in anything touched by an Israelite. The
editor, Mr Notovitch, dramatised The Pickwick Papers,
and had the piece staged in Petrograd at his own
expense. Eventually he was expelled from Russia
and his paper suppressed. 1
The Sin Otechestva has the qualities of age and
historical associations. Founded in 1812, in com-
memoration of the expulsion of the French from
Russia, by the irony of fate it subsequently became
a warm supporter of France and the Franco-Russian
Alliance. More than once it roused the anger of
Pushkin, the poet, who, in an outburst, playing on
its name, which means " Son of the Fatherland,"
exclaimed : " What son of the Fatherland art thou ?
Thou art simply the son of a dog ! " The original is
too strong to be literally translated; this is a mild
rendering.
The Petersburg Zeitung, seldom quoted in the English
1 M. Notovitch was a great advocate of the Triple Entente,
268 PETROGRAB PAST AND PRESENT
Press, was a paper of some standing, although it was
patronised solely by the German population of the
capital and the Baltic Provinces. As a rule it sup-
ported the feudal interests and privileges of the
German barons, and was devotedly hated by all good
Russians — first, because it was German ; secondly,
because it opposed as far as it dared the Russianising
policy of the Government among the Germans,
Livonians, Esthonians and other inhabitants of the
Baltic Provinces. The Herold, another German paper,
had a large circulation, but carried little weight politic-
ally. It was eagerly read by the German merchants,
shopkeepers and handicraftsmen of the city.
There were several other dailies, of small impor-
tance but very popular among the kooptzee (peasant
merchants) and lavotchniks (small business men).
The chief attraction of these precious prints was their
partiality for blackguarding everything and every-
body who did not happen to please the enterprising
journalists who ran them. Both the Listock and The
Gazette made it a cardinal part of their creed — if they
could be said to have one — to abuse some person or
nation every morning. The stronger the abuse, the
better the article, according to the opinion of the
edified readers. When neither Salisbury, Gladstone,
Bismarck, Balfour nor Caprivi had misconducted
himself, then some unfortunate country came in for
the wrath of these knights of the pen. One day
England might be the sinner, another day Germany,
a third perhaps Austria, and when these failed, Italy,
Switzerland or any other nation would do. England,
however, was always the favourite villain of the piece.
Had it not been for " perfidious Albion," the Russian
Press of those days would indeed have had a very dull
time of it. There was hardly a crime, intrigue or con-
spiracy in the world of politics which England had not
a hand in. She was charged with deliberately killing
THE RUSSIAN PRESS 269
off the aborigines of Africa with guns and rum ; poison-
ing the Chinese with opium ; with stirring up the
Armenians against Russia ; with intentionally bring-
ing the plague to Europe ! But when King Edward
went to Russia and inaugurated the Triple Entente,
the tune was soon changed.
With the exception of two or three Government
organs, almost all the journalists indulged in this
spleen against England, according to their lights,
and their misplaced industry certainly succeeded in
instilling a fervent antipathy, if not hatred, towards
our country for years. This was much to be regretted,
for England was formerly popular in Russia, and of
course now again is liked.
Every year a number of new papers spring into
precarious existence, only to achieve a tragic termina-
tion by the hands of the Damoclean censors, whose
all-powerful mandates are the terror of editors. The
papers are not long-lived unless they float with the
official tide. Their suppression is a pity, for some
of them were brought out with great taste, and
their printing and illustrations were excellent. The
Mirovoi Otogloski, said to have been a resurrection of
the once famous Golos, deserves special mention. It
might have succeeded had it not been so dear.
The Moscow Press merits little attention. With
the exception of the Moskovsky Vjedemesti and the
Russky Vjedemesti it is of small importance. The
first, since the death of its celebrated controller,
Katkoff, who made and unmade ministers at his
pleasure and pretty well led official and public opinion,
is no more what it used to be ; he gave it name and
fame beyond the limits of his own land. The second
was the favourite of the liberal professors and men of
letters in Moscow. It often received pressing atten-
tions from the censor, who intimated that its views
did not meet with the approval of the powers, and, as
270 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
might be anticipated, this progressive and enlightened
paper lived on the brink of disaster. It is probably
extinct by now. Moscow produced several other
curious sheets, which waxed fat by levying blackmail
on the rich merchants. It was wonderful what a
golden harvest this system brought in for the pro-
prietors of these publications. Their names I will not
give, but they are well known to everyone who has
lived in Moscow. It was but necessary to insinuate
that such and such a man had dealt in a certain kind
of goods, or was on the verge of bankruptcy, or was
addicted to dishonest practices, for the guilty party,
without being named, to rush to the editorial office
and make his peace-offering, sometimes to the tune
of hundreds of roubles. Great is the power of the
Press when wielded in a just cause ! I suspect that
most of these unprincipled papers, however, have now
succumbed to the strain of the present conflict, when
readers have something more urgent to do than the
perusal of scandal and ill-natured chatter about
personalities whose fame is but local.
It is remarkable to see the change that came over
the views of Souvorin, the former bitter Anglophobe
editor of the Novoe Vremya, before his death. He
actually laboured for a friendly alliance with England,
and in an interview with an Englishman spoke of the
literature of the two countries, and the possibility of
union, as follows : —
" The Russians, from the eighteenth century, have
always been fond of English novels, and still love them.
It must be remembered that the English were our
teachers, and Shakespeare, Byron, Thackeray and
Dickens are regarded as almost of our own country.
The Russians and the English both possess humour,
and humour is the evidence of a strong soul, capable
of enduring the greatest trials with the fortitude of
a martyr. If we have not loved the English in our
THE RUSSIAN PRESS 271
political life, it is because they have caused us quite
enough trouble. There are other similar traits in both
nations, and sometimes the Russian is the superior of
the Englishman. We, like England, have our aris-
tocracy of intelligence in Grebojedeff, Pushkin, Gogol,
Turgenieff, Tolstoi, Dostoieffsky, Glinka, Bruloff and
others, without reckoning our contemporaries." He
also added that diplomacy generally does not recog-
nise the most important influence on the fate of
peoples — their literature and art, believing that these
are quite unnecessary. In reality they are the very
soul of a nation, its strivings, its real thoughts. His
words as to the love of the Russians for English
literature are absolutely correct. It is wonderful
what a number of English classics have been and still
are being translated — how widely and willingly our
famous writers are read. Even Bunyan and Milton
find their public; but owing to their religious and
archaic style their readers, as a rule, are the peasant
classes, who delight in works where God, the devil,
angels and archangels take a prominent part. To the
Russian peasant these unseen beings and all the saints
of the calendar form real and living personalities,
which colour his daily existence. If the inhabitants
of the towns live in the twentieth century, the vast
majority of the peasants are mentally still in the
Middle Ages, taking more interest in miracles, icons,
pilgrimages, omens and witchcraft than in theatres,
picture palaces, newspapers and cheap literature.
XXX
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS AND THE CENSORS
The best-informed body of men in Petrograd, next
to the diplomatic corps, was without question the
little band of newspaper correspondents which the
Government tolerated in their midst. The journalistic
activity of its members was continually being cur-
tailed by the severity of the censors, who, with a
mighty pair of scissors, clipped and mutilated many a
message sent abroad, in order that the " Rotten West '
should not learn too much of what was going on in
" Holy Russia." This small group of English and
foreign writers was, as a rule, far better informed as
to events in Russia than were the ambassadors or
diplomats themselves, who usually sat in all their
glory at the embassies waiting for news, while we
unfortunate people " got busy " searching for items
all over the city — in the many Government depart-
ments, in the salons of the wealthy and influential, at
official receptions and in various other less reputable
places which need not be mentioned here. Then,
sooner or later, the embassies heard from us of the
changes that were in progress all round them.
There were many types of correspondents. Strictly
honourable men usually only represented one paper,
and were satisfied with the pay thus earned. The
English members of our community, with few excep-
tions, came under this category. They had, however,
a hard struggle to compete with another class, who
were not above working at one time for half-a-dozen
papers of different interests and nationalities, or even
receiving payment from banks abroad for sending off
272
CORRESPONDENTS AND THE CENSORS 273
telegrams calculated to influence stocks and shares
favourably. These men, who threw all scruples to
the winds, were most difficult to deal with, owing to
the high salary they received from their many em-
ployers. They came more to the front as the papers
became engrossed in the effort to please a sensation-
loving public, until finally the position of the old-
fashioned, straightforward correspondent was almost
intolerable. Editors found it necessary to supply the
demand, and, as this increased, our labours became
more onerous. Honest writers were constantly placed
on the horns of a dilemma. If they sent sensational
news off to please their papers, they came into conflict
with the police and the censors. If they refused to do
this, they were eventually dismissed for not contribut-
ing bright and chatty news, which the public at home
appreciated more than useful information and solid
facts. It was perhaps pleasant for those who read,
two thousand miles away, free from the attentions of
these busy officials, to hear every day that a minister
or a governor had been blown up by Nihilists, or that
an attempt had been made to assassinate some high
personage. In fact one English lady who subscribed
to a " weekly horror " confessed to me that she could
not enjoy her breakfast without a murder or two,
which she read greedily on Sunday mornings before
going to church. But there was no such mild enjoy-
ment for the unhappy correspondent supplying these
tit-bits, for he lived in fear of imprisonment or expul-
sion. This anxiety so told on one man I knew that he
went out of his mind, while others, after undergoing
the ordeal for a few months, either returned home or
tried commerce for a change of occupation.
The more adventurous spirits, who loved the excite-
ment, or wished to be of service to their country or to
humanity, stuck to their harassing work for years.
Some were finally expelled, others went back to their
274 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
native land, to be forgotten by those who had em-
ployed them, for whose sake they had neglected
hundreds of chances of enriching themselves. A friend
of mine suffered in this way, very sadly. After repre-
senting for thirty years one of the largest and wealthi-
est papers in England, he returned to London shattered
in health, to look for an appointment. Yet, in spite
of his brilliant career, and the benefits English trade,
diplomacy and commerce had gained by his unceasing
championship of his country's interests, and his con-
stant defence of Englishmen in trouble in Russia,
nothing worthy of his talent was offered him — not
even a living wage. He was by no means the only
one. In fact I know of few more ungrateful or
anxious callings than that of the foreign correspondent
in Russia, if bribes or opportunities of personal
advantages are honourably declined — his large circle
of friends gives him endless chances of making money
by speculation, or other easy means.
Not all our members belonged to the self-sacrificing
type of man who embraces the profession for the good
he can do rather than for material gain. One of the
successful men in the capital while I was there was
an Italian Jew, who reported for English, French,
Belgian and Italian papers ! Having no scruples,
and belonging to no especial nationality, he worked
for any country that would employ him, and a greater
cynic I never met. He looked upon the various
nations with their rivalries and jealousies as so many
opportunities for his own profit. Sometimes I used
to meet this worthy rushing off, and would ask him
what his hurry was. " I am going home to colour the
news," he would reply. " ' Colour the news ? ' What
do you mean ? " " Well," he would say, half apolo-
getic, knowing that I represented one paper only,
" you see I send to about six different papers, and must
colour the news according to the varied taste of my
CORRESPONDENTS AND THE CENSORS 275
readers." Although England and France were then
on the verge of war, my enterprising colleague managed
to tint his information suitably to his English and
French employers. Owing to his connection with so
many foreign banks and papers he was the best in-
formed of our little crowd, for the simple reason that
he could afford to pay more for news than we, who only
had one string to our bow, could manage. He has
long ago gone to his account, and is perhaps laughing
in another world at the folly of those who employed
him. He used to give brilliant receptions, to which
even highly placed officials came. At one of these I
met Mile , a voluptuous creature, sister-in-law of
a powerful Minister. To her charms I might easily
have succumbed had I not loved freedom rather than
wealth and comfort.
All the principal London dailies were represented
in Petrograd; The Times for many years by Mr
Dobson, a conscientious, lovable and energetic man,
in whose hands not only the interests of his paper, but
those of his country, were safe. The Standard had for
a long time a handsome Englishman named Baddeley
who, through connections among the Russian aris-
tocracy, was often able to gather very valuable items
of exclusive information. The Daily News was repre-
sented by Andrew Lydken, an able journalist from
Denmark, afterwards on the staff of the Politiken of
Copenhagen. He lost his life by the explosion of a
cannon while reporting some experiments with a new
type of artillery. Another conscientious member of
the fraternity was Mr Romanes, who eventually went
under owing to the strain and anxiety of the life.
One of our most amusing friends was Braily Hod-
getts, of The Daily Graphic, who actually "took a
rise " out of our dreaded Prefect, General Gresser, the
autocrat of Petrograd. The correspondence of this
Englishman did not quite please the General, and the
276 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
offender was summoned into his august presence.
Although mercilessly severe, General Gresser was
frequently extremely polite. " Mr Hodgetts," he
began, "it is very remarkable the change that comes
over your communications. When you are at home
in England you write the truth in your paper, but
when you come here you write nonsense. How do
you account for this paradox ? "
" Your Excellency," replied Mr Hodgetts, not at
all abashed, " I can only explain the phenomenon by
the suggestion that there must be something in the
political atmosphere of Petersburg which converts a
truthful man into a prevaricator."
This answer was quite enough for the Prefect ; from
that time he asked Mr Hodgetts no more questions.
Had he gone into the matter he would have perceived
that the strict censorship exercised on all news leaving
Russia made it absolutely impossible for any man to
tell the whole truth as he knew it to be.
Once, when I was attending the fencing school at the
Mechail Palace (now the Engineers' School), an officer
made a somewhat similar remark to me, saying in a
bantering tone : " What nonsense you correspondents
write about Russia ! " " If we wrote sense only," I
replied, untroubled, " we should not remain at our
posts twenty-four hours ! "
It did not pay, generally speaking, for a corres-
pondent to show too much zeal in his profession. I
remember one who arrived full of energy, but who
within six months had to leave the country. There
were others, and during my time I knew about half-
a-dozen who had to quit, often at twenty-four hours'
notice, through having said too much and offended the
authorities. Taking one consideration with another,
as Gilbert might have put it, a correspondent's life
is not a happy one. We had to choose between two
evils — if we sent too much news home wc annoyed the
CORRESPONDENTS AND THE CENSORS 277
censors and the officials, and if we sent too little our
editors grew fractious. I once sent news that the
Russian troops had violated the Afghan frontier in
pursuit of some natives of that land. This stirred up
the wrath of the entire Russian Press, but it could not
be helped, for after Komaroff' s exploits against the
Afghans it was needful to be on guard that they should
not be repeated. The affair came before Parliament,
and the militia were called out, every preparation
being made for war. But the Russian Government
apologised for the incident and the storm blew over.
One of our clref difficulties lay in getting our
missives across the frontier. If we posted it at the
usual post office, the enclosure would go to the chambre
noire, to be opened and read. If it was sent by wire,
half of it would be excised by the courteous but vigilant
telegraphic censor, whose scissors seemed a veritable
sword of Damocles ever suspended above our heads.
Sometimes I travelled several miles down the line to
post a letter, for the gendarmes at the main station
watched everybody, and, I was informed, were in the
habit of going to the post office and demanding any
parcel that had been posted by one of our group. We
were without doubt a troublesome thorn in thev side
of the Russian authorities ; they resented these men
of the pen who chronicled their peccadilloes and
published them abroad so annoyingly.
Yet I must admit that great courtesy was given to
me during my ten years in the city, both by police and
censors, the majority of whom were educated men who
mutilated our telegrams and blacked out our papers,
not from any feeling of personal spite, but simply
because it was their duty as ordered by the chief
officials of the Department.
After acting as correspondent for the London Press
for about ten years, my career came to a sudden end.
When the halfpenny papers began to compete with
278 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the more steady, old-fashioned journals, my easy-going,
non-sensational organ had not only to do away with its
foreign representatives, but to reduce its price to the
popular coin. To make up for the loss to my income
I agreed, in an evil hour, to write for one of the half-
penny sheets which, with " scare " headlines and
American methods, have taken the field almost to
themselves. For a time all went well. I supplied
all the exciting news I could gather ; but this proved
inadequate — they wanted news about "what never
happened," as the Russians say. When I refused to
manufacture sensations for their benefit, they printed
news either made " by our correspondent in Vienna "
or Berlin, or as a last resource concocted in Fleet Street
and published as coming from Petrograd. As I was
the accredited Petrograd correspondent, I was held
responsible by the officials for all these inventions.
For a time nothing was said, but one morning I was
summoned before the Chief Censor of the Telegraph
Department for having communicated something very
awful concerning the death of a Russian Minister of
Foreign Affairs — in fact, according to the authorities,
I had said that he was poisoned by the secretary of
the Chinese ambassador ! Other incriminating charges
were made against me, and, to my astonishment, I was
requested to leave the country within twenty-four
hours. Fortunately I had kept copies of all my tele-
grams sent across the frontier, where I had an agent,
and, thanks to this precaution and my past good
record, I was eventually allowed to remain — on con-
dition that I gave up my paper. This I was, of
course, compelled to do, and I then turned to the less-
exciting but safer occupation of teaching in the Govern-
ment gymnasiums and schools. In this profession I
remained until my return to England, after thirty
years' absence, twenty-seven of which were spent in
the " Holy Land of Roos."
CORRESPONDENTS AND THE CENSORS 279
On dismissing me, Gospoden Gretch (Mr Gretch), the
courteous Chief Censor, grandson of the celebrated
Russian historian, sajd : " I fear your new paper is
not a serious journal ! " To this I blushingly assented,
and vowed to have nothing more to do with sensational
sheets, for this was not the only pickle my enterprising
editors got me into abroad during the comparatively
short time I worked for them.
XXXI
THE BRITISH COLONY — ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
The British residents in Petrograd coalesced into what
may reasonably be termed a colony about the time of
Peter the Great. It is well known that he employed
many Englishmen and Scotsmen in his army and
navy, and to assist in various military undertakings,
reforms and public works. In the old church at
Spalding a tablet on one of the walls bears the following
inscription : —
" To the Memory of Iohn Perry, Esq r in 1693
Commander of His Maiesty King Will ms Ship the
Cignet ; second Son of Sam 1 Perry of Rodborough in
Gloucestershire Gent & of Sarah his Wife ; Daughter
of Sir Tho s Nott ; K fc . He was several Years
Comptroller of the Maritime works to Czar Peter in
Russia & on his Return home was Employed by
y e Parliament to stop Dagenham Breach which he
Effected and thereby Preserved the Navigation of the
River of Thames and Rescued many Private Familys
from Ruin."
This worthy is only one of the many Englishmen who,
by industry and energy, helped the Tsar to build up
his new Empire and to lay the foundations of the city
which bears his name. Long before his time, how-
ever, the English opened out commerce with Russia
by means of the merchants of Gothland, then known
as the Osterlings. These Baltic traders had their
headquarters at the ancient city of Wisby, where
subsequently all the money and treasures of the Goth-
280
THE BRITISH COLONY 281
landers were kept in the cellars of the Cathedral of St
Maria. Evidences of the trade with Russia, especially
with the regions round the Neva and the upper
reaches of the Volga, are constantly met with in the
shape of Anglo-Saxon coins minted in England before
the Conquest, and fragments of Anglo-Saxon pottery
discovered so far off as east of the government of
Orenburg. The Neva was the outlet for goods brought
from the East, up the Volga, and thence via Lake
Ladoga to the Baltic. Most of the trade was at first
in the hands of the Gothland and Swedish vikings
from Roos-lagen, the large district lying between
Vaxholm (near Stockholm) and Upsala, the old capital
of Sweden. Later, it was taken up by the Novgor-
odians, who for a long time owned both banks of the
Neva. But it was left to Alfred the Great to inaugur-
ate the first trading relations with the people of
Bjarmiland, on the shores of the White Sea, by send-
ing out his ships under the command of Norwegian
navigators, who supplied him with material for the
earliest description of these northern lands that we
have in the English tongue. He was really the first
Englishman of note to recognise the possibilities of
commerce with Northern Russia. There is little doubt
that international relations of this kind were estab-
lished long before the Conquest, and when, in 1553,
King Edward VI. sent Sir Hugh Willoughby, Captain
Richard Chancellor and other adventurers to traffic
in the White Sea ports, he was only reopening an inter-
course which, owing to Tartar invasions and political
upheavals, had been broken off and for a while for-
gotten.
According to Johnstone's work on this subject, the
young King Edward VI., who was dying of consump-
tion, watched the heroic mariners pass out to the great
unknown from the palace window at Greenwich. The
majority never returned, for they were overtaken by
282 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
an early winter — the entire crews of two of the three
vessels, with their commander, Sir Hugh, died of cold
and starvation. But the third, under Chancellor,
reached a safe bay, where it anchored. This " bay "
was the White Sea, and after sending a boat ashore the
voyagers learnt that " one Ivan Vasilevitch ruled far
and wide in these provinces." Now this was none
other than the dread Tsar Ivan the Terrible. With
all his cruelty and barbarity, he fully understood the
importance of cultivating friendly relations with that
great maritime nation, England, which was taking the
place of the old Hanseatic League and depriving it of
the ruinous monopoly and power which Ivan himself
had done so much to impair. Chancellor in his report
mentions the Emperor's " majestic appearance, his
rich robes covered with large and heavy stones," and
describes the pomp and ceremony with which a noble-
man (Nikita Romanoff, an ancestor of the present
Tsar) set out on an embassy to Lithuania. On his
return he averred that he had found another Indies.
This was scarcely an exaggeration, for wealth and
territory were Ivan's to an extent exceeding that of the
Indies, even though the climate in many parts of his
dominions was bleak, inhospitable and forbidding.
The result of the friendly intercourse between the
Tsar and Queen Elizabeth, who had succeeded her
invalid brother, was a treaty, by which the English
merchants were allowed to establish factories at
Archangel, Vologda, Narva, Moscow and later on at
Kazan. Afterwards came another at Holmnegore,
near Archangel, and a branch at Petrograd. This,
like the factory at Archangel and Moscow, had a
church supported by the ancient Russian Company, the
first charter of which was granted by Ivan during the
reign of Queen Mary, as can be seen by the seal of
the Company at its offices in London. This Company,
which was very exclusive, continued to receive various
THE BRITISH COLONY 283
charters from the successors of Ivan until it eventu-
ally became extremely rich and influential. In 1585
Queen Elizabeth wrote to the Emperor Theodora
begging for still further privileges. The latter replied
to the ambassador that the English residents con-
stantly broke the laws of the country ; that their
manner of living corrupted his subjects ; that they
already enjoyed far greater favours than other
foreigners in Russia, and that he could not exclude
all other traders simply for their benefit. The
" corrupt practices " mentioned probably referred to
the fact that the English did not keep the fasts of the
Greek Church, and ate meat during the season of Lent,
when all good Russians abstain rigidly. As to the
privileges, from the very first the English have been
treated as a favoured nation. In the international
agreements they are always termed " guests " and
regarded as such. For offences that would send a
native to Siberia they would only be imprisoned, or
requested to leave the country. The whole time of
my residence in the capital in the difficult position
of foreign correspondent (tolerated, not liked) I received
the finest courtesy from the censors, police and
officials — not because I happened to be on the Press,
but because I was a British subject. If I, whose
presence the authorities tacitly resented, was treated
so well, it is easy to see how pleasant is the lot of other
Englishmen not connected with papers or politics.
Boris Godounoff, the Tartar usurper, who was sus-
pected of having murdered at Ooglitch the Tsarevitch,
the younger son of Ivan the Terrible, also strove to
encourage trade with these islands, and rendered
valuable assistance to the Russian Company. Even
the weak-minded Theodor granted the English special
facilities in consideration of their being the first to try
the route to Archangel. The English cause, however,
suffered from the imprisonment and death of its chief
284 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
friend in the Imperial Council, Nikita Romanoff, who
was too powerful a rival to be permitted to remain.
His sons also were all executed or imprisoned, prob-
ably at the instigation of Godounoff, who desired to
seize the throne. He was full of craft, and in some
ways wise enough to act up to more generous methods.
He sent four young Russians to England to study, to
learn, in fact, all they could about the wonderful
island kingdom in which the people of Muscovy were
so interested. Three of them died of small-pox at
Oxford, but the survivor, Nicephorus Alfery, was
ordained into the Church in 1618 and appointed to
the living of Woolsey in Huntingdonshire. A direct
descendant of this man, who claimed the throne of
Muscovy, was for years governess to my own cousins
at Normanby Grange in Lincolnshire, and the history
of this offshoot of the Muscovite Tsars, who were
related to Ivan the Terrible by marriage, is still in
my possession.
Although Nicephorus Alfery was twice invited to
return to his native land, and was offered the rank of
an Imperial prince, he thought his head sat more
tightly on his shoulders in this country than it would
at the Court of Muscovy, and preferred to remain here
as a quiet parson. He seems to have filled this office
with credit, and died peacefully.
On the election of Mechail Romanoff to the throne
by the will of the clergy, the boyars and the people,
commerce with England via the White Sea ports was
fostered in every possible way. The old charters were
renewed and confirmed, and from that time Russia
became one of our principal markets. During the
Romanoff dynasty the two nations increased their
intimacy, and more than once the Russian Company
in London rendered the Russian Government signal
service, not only by loans, but also by supplying
cannon, arms and ammunition. When Peter the
THE BRITISH COLONY 285
Great began to be possessed by the idea of his new
city, he abolished the rights of the Company in Arch-
angel in order to attract trade to the fresh centre.
The British factory was then removed to Petrograd,
where its offices are still managed by a board of
directors sitting in London. The factory then built
the beautiful church on the English Quay, also another
church at Cronstadt, which I have already mentioned.
The one in the capital is also the church of the Em-
bassy, and the merchant classes support it with great
liberality. An excellent Congregational church is
built near the post office. For many years its pulpit
was occupied by the Rev. Alexander Francis, a man
of eloquence and energy. While the great famine of
1891-1892 raged, he was one of the leading members of
the English and American colony in Petrograd, whose
efforts were the means of saving many thousands of
lives in the interior. Close to this spot a young
English governess was murdered by the Horse Guards
one winter night, her body being hidden in the loft of
their barracks. As soon as the crime was discovered,
all the suspected men were shot. The Tsar (Alex-
ander III.) was so enraged that he returned his uniform
of the guilty regiment and refused ever to wear it
again.
Another English church, at Alexandroffka, on the
Schiisselberg road, was built chiefly for the convenience
of the mill population up the river. Here the Thorn-
tons, Hubbards, the Becks and the Nevsky Stearine
Company have several large mills and factories, their
managers and foremen being generally Englishmen.
The Russians have of late years become so skilled in
the manufacture of cloth and cotton goods, and in the
knowledge of machinery, that fewer Englishmen are
required in these duties than was the case some years
back. In the interior I have visited mills turning out
first-class stuff for the Central Asian markets that do
286 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
not employ a single foreigner — everything is Russian,
even the cotton, with the exception of a small quantity
imported from America. There remain still, however,
some English managers who earn princely salaries — men
from Yorkshire or Lancashire, sometimes mill-owners,
who have made large fortunes. The wealthiest
are the Hubbards, whose big mills are at Schlussel-
berg. The head of this firm, who has been made a
peer, has for long had much to do with the control of
the Russian Company in London. The Cazalets have
been in Russia ever since Peter the Great's reign. In
the timber industry, the largest export houses are
Oscar Steveni (formerly of Hull and Grimsby), Charles
Stewart and Edward Reynolds. The English and
Germans used to monopolise this trade, but every year
Russian names come more and more prominently into
it. Petrograd has also large breweries and oil-works,
belonging to the Millers, another old English house of
repute. On the Bolshoi Ochta one of the principal
factories is that of Matthew Edwardes, a native of
Lincolnshire, who came to Russia as a tutor, and now
owns an estate at Sieverska, with extensive glass-
works. He is typical of many of our countrymen
who went abroad with little beyond education and
character, to succeed and become wealthy. Shipping,
commerce and engineering naturally claim their pro-
portion of English. Among them may be mentioned
the Johnstones, Maxwells, Wylies, Wishaws, Ander-
sons, Hills, Howards, Merryweathers, the Tamplins
of Brighton, and there are many others.
Life in the English group, both in Petrograd and
Moscow, is, as a rule, very enjoyable. Most of
the members are fairly well off. They show more
hospitality and sociability in their daily intercourse
than do their compatriots at home. Freed from
the deadening effects of the strenuous existence, the
struggle for life, which too often spoils Londoners for
THE BRITISH COLONY 287
any enthusiasms when work is done, they uphold, as
do other Englishmen in our colonies, some of the best
traditions of the race. There are, however, many
English governesses and tutors, who generally find
their places very pleasant and satisfactory ; the
Russians treat them as one of the family. Especially
among the older nobility the aged governess or nurse
who has spent her best years in bringing up and
educating the younger generation is pensioned off
comfortably. The old nurse, in fact, occupies much
the same position as the nurse in Romeo and Juliet;
even when her charges have grown up she has her
place at the table, and is considered the adviser and
friend. Ivan the Terrible would listen to his nurse,
fearing her reproaches and curses, when his heart was
hard as adamant towards all other human appeals.
This democratic and Christian trait of character is not
confined to one class, but appears beautifully in all. I
witnessed a most touching example of it in the funeral
of the English nurse of the late Tsar, who had watched
over his youth and that of his brothers — the Grand
Dukes Alexis, Sergius, Vladimir and Paul. All these,
the Tsar at their head, tramped several miles through
the streets, following the coffin, which they helped to
bear to its resting-place in the cemetery outside the
city, and a beautiful marble monument, erected by her
illustrious charges, marks the spot.
So many of our countrymen have flocked to Petro-
grad in recent years that the profession of tutor is not
half so attractive as it used to be. In other towns,
however — Kharkoff, Kursk, Nizhni-Novgorod, Kazan
— a good field still remains.
The present war will tend to encourage commercial
relations between Russia and ourselves, but unless the
English merchants bestir themselves, studying more
than they have done the language and the require-
ments of the people, trade will again drift into the
288 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
hands of the Germans. At one time the English and
Dutch held practically all the foreign trade, but the
pushful Teuton ousted them with his capacity for
organisation.
The English folk in the capital, prior to the outbreak
of war, numbered about four thousand, most of them
living on the Vasilii Ostroff or in the mill districts,
some in stately houses in the suburbs. They have, of
course, their own club on the Grand Moskaya, their
own booksellers (Watkin & Sons), and they support
several schools, a fine library, the church and a gym-
nasium. They have also cricket and football clubs,
tennis grounds, rowing clubs, etc., and the natives
are becoming extremely interested in their sports, so
much so that in wrestling and games of strength they
are beginning to excel. We may expect in time from
this young and natural nation some of the best sports-
men in the world, particularly from the Cossacks,
North Russians and Siberjaks, many of whom are
men of huge stature and immense physical capacity.
Winter sports appeal strongly to the English. They
hold skating competitions and amuse themselves by
ice-yachting, ski-ing, tobogganing or hunting bears and
wolves in the forests of Novgorod and Finland ; also
by shooting foxes on skis. Foxes and hares being so
plentiful as to become almost a plague in some parts,
this is not considered unsportsmanlike. Once these
delights have been tasted, with the sense of enjoyment
which is such a feature of Russian life, not many
Englishmen care to return for good to their native
land. Many I have known who went back, but Russia
called them and they left the old home once more.
The real Russian does not love what we call sport,
and cannot understand why people should go to so
much exertion for no tangible gain. A Russian lady
who stood by me watching a football match on the
island suddenly said she would not look at it any
THE BRITISH COLONY 289
longer, for it was a " coarse and brutal and stupid
spectacle to see young men kicking one another and
hurting themselves for the sake of a leather ball."
When I tried to explain that it was " sport," and good
for their health, she turned on me indignantly and
said : "I call it brutality and barbarism ! " I was
thunderstruck; but then I remembered that many
of the people are, in their ideas, still half Oriental,
regarding all violent exercise, except when absolutely
necessary, as something to be avoided.
The English who have resided in the country for
many years are regarded almost as Russians by the
authorities, though they retain their nationality with
jealous care. When the French ambassador was
instructed by Napoleon to inform the Tsar that the
English should be dismissed, as those who remained in
France had all been imprisoned, Alexander replied :
" Their ancestors have been here for centuries, and I
certainly shall not ill use my old friends so much as to
treat them as enemies. If they choose to remain in
Russia, no one shall molest them ! "
XXXII
KRASNOE SELO AND THE MILITARY MANOEUVRES
Everyone who is interested in military matters should
visit the camp of the Guards at Krasnoe Selo (literally,
" beautiful village "), where the Tsar has one of his
numerous palaces. The journey is only about half-an-
hour from the capital by rail.
Ev^ery summer the Guards, numbering about 200,000
men, pitch their tents on the green hills overlooking
Krasnoe and carry out a great many military exer-
cises, at which the Tsar, the Grand Dukes and the
leading officers of the staff are always present. It was
at this centre for practical soldiering that the crack
regiments of the army became so proficient that they
were able in the early days of the present war to in-
flict some severe defeats on certain of the finest troops
of the German army, led by several of the most skilful
generals in the world. The Tsar is usually mounted
on a white charger, which, I believe, Alexander III.
acquired from England ; very carefully he reviews
the various battalions as they file past. They salute
their Emperor, with loud cries : " We wish your
Imperial Highness health ! " and in the distance the
hoarse shouts sound like the subdued roar of a stormy
sea beating on the shore.
The finest regiments in the Russian army take
part — the Ismail, the Pavlovsk, the Semenoff and
the Preobrashensk ; regiments which, under Peter the
Great, Souvoroff, Barclay de Toll and other leaders
covered the Russian arms with glory and victory.
The Preobrashensk Regiment was first formed by Peter
from among his dissolute companions, who were sent
290
KRASNOE SELO 291
to him by his unscrupulous sister with the object of
demoralising him and making him unfit to ascend the
throne. But she reckoned without her host in this
case, for Peter had a will of his own, and soon made
it felt, with the result that those who were supposed
to be able to mould his character were themselves
transformed into useful men.
After the military exercises in the camp are com-
pleted, the autumn manoeuvres begin in real earnest.
They are carried through with such thoroughness and
realism that the soldiers have to undergo privations
and hardships as severe as would occur to them in
actual warfare. It happens often that many of the
weaker ones succumb to the heat and fatigue ; others
are drowned in the broad rivers and streams they have
to cross. On more than one occasion, following these
operations as foreign correspondent, I narrowly
escaped being ridden down and possibly trampled
to death by the Cossacks, who charge like a human
avalanche, against which nothing can stand. Once
when I was there the field of operations extended from
Finland to Narva, a distance of several hundred miles.
The Grand Duke Nicholas the Elder was present —
father of the present Grand Duke of that name. He,
like his hardy son, was a man of great stature, but
then his face was ashen-grey, for the hand of Death
was evidently upon him.
These extensive manoeuvres were of the utmost
importance, for they were planned on the assumption
that an enemy from the south was marching through
the Baltic Provinces, with the object of capturing
Petrograd. Another force belonging to the same
hostile army had simultaneously landed in Finland,
and was also advancing on the capital by way of the
northern coast of the Gulf. It was no secret that
the supposed invader was Germany. After witnessing
these manoeuvres, and those in Western Finland, I
292 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
came to the conclusion that the Russian Government
had good reason to fear an attack from this quarter
by Germany, and was preparing beforehand to meet it.
When war really broke out, the Germans immediately
proved this true by seizing the Aland Islands, at-
tempting to carry out this very scheme, and march-
ing on the capital through the Baltic Provinces. They
were checked, however, in the western area of war by
the British army before Paris, and, having to look after
themselves pretty sharply in that direction, their well-
laid plans went wrong. Studying the whole situation
in the light of later events, I firmly believe that they
thought to conquer Paris by a sudden onslaught, and
then, after levying a heavy indemnity on France, to
throw all their weight against Russia by way of the
Baltic Provinces.
In Finland the supposed hostile army occupied the
road right up to Petrograd, but after landing near
Cronstadt, amid some very severe fighting, they were
driven off by the defending forces. The final battle
took place just outside the city, near Krasnoe, and
never shall I forget the dust, the din, the cannonade
and smoke of that last engagement. In this mimic
but strenuous warfare the enemy was defeated by the
Imperial Guards.
The Russian Government were so convinced that
this plan would be carried into effect that directly war
came, thousands of labouring men were drafted into
the city to dig trenches and build earthworks round it,
night and day, for extravagant wages. The forests
and trees near the city, which might afford cover, were
cut down, and an enormous force, estimated by some
at a million men, was sent to occupy Finland. But as
the Germans were compelled to retreat from the neigh-
bourhood of Paris, and the chances of serious invasion
via Finland became more remote, Russia removed a
great many of her best soldiers and sent them to
o
C/3
PS 3
rh O
H
-95
-
s.
KRASNOE SELO 293
reinforce the Austrian and lower German frontiers.
There is little doubt that for a time Petrograd was in
danger, and there was a lively possibility that Russia
would lose Finland and the command of the Baltic.
According to the German Press, Germany has not
completely abandoned all hope of this eastern opera-
tion, although she has already lost over 3,500,000
men in killed, wounded and prisoners. A Berlin
paper printed an article by Professor Chiemann on
7th June 1915, under the heading : " Where is Russia
vulnerable ? " The Professor says that the final blow
must be delivered against Petrograd, where every-
thing is centred that really represents the Russian
Government. "It is not sufficient to drive the
Russians out of Galicia ; one must take action with
the aim of threatening the capital and conquering
Finland." Professor Chiemann knows Russia as well
as anybody, and great value is attached to his opinions,
since he has been the Kaiser's instructor, and is still
his good friend. If Germany succeeded, the Provinces
would become a part of her Empire, and Petrograd
would once more be " Petersburg " — a German city not
only in name, but in reality. Lifland and Courland
would again, with their memories of the prosperous and
powerful Hanseatic League, become an autonomous
state, with their own laws and religion as before.
XXXIII
ALEXANDER III., HIS " MUSEUM," AND THE LATE
GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE
Across the Moika, at the end of the Champ de Mars,
are the precincts of the old Mechail Palace, now con-
verted into an engineering school. The new Mechail
Palace, now known as the Museum of Alexander III.,
is not for away, and near it is the French Theatre,
where Sarah Bernhardt, Guitry and other great
artists of France have triumphed. The study of the
French language and literature is encouraged in every
possible way. Although English is popular in the high-
est circles, French is the favourite among the officials.
A Russian hardly considers himself as properly
educated unless he can converse fluently in that
tongue. German is naturally unpopular, and I heard
recently that since the war began a German was fined
R.3000 for daring to speak his mother tongue in Petro-
grad. Even before the war the Germans were so dis-
liked that I have myself been asked not to speak the
language in Russian society ; but that was in Moscow,
where the Panslavists and old Russian ideals and ideas
are still very strong.
It was the Tsar Alexander III. who first set the
example of speaking Russian instead of French at
Court, and who opposed everything that tended to
weaken a national spirit among his subjects. Before
he ascended the throne it was quite usual to meet
Russian nobles who spoke English and French well,
but could hardly hold a passably correct conversation
in their own language. In order to encourage Russian
art, he acquired the beautiful Mechail Palace, and con-
294
The Tsar Alexander III— called the "Peace lover
ALEXANDER III. 295
verted it into this Museum, where only the works of
genuine native artists were exhibited. Many of those
which formerly adorned the walls of the Hermitage
and the Academy of Painters were hung here. About
four hundred statues and pictures were brought from
the Winter Palace and the palaces of Gatchina and
Tsarskoe Selo. The best things in the collection are :
The Last Days of Pompeii, by Bruloff; The Last
Supper, Peter I. and the Tsarevitch Alexis, The
Marriage Kiss, by Makoffsky; The Cossacks, by
Rjepin; ErmaJc, by Soorekoff; and Phryna, by
Semeradsky. There are also some splendid sculptures
by Anatolsky. The Museum cost Alexander III. a
fortune to found, and, as it is certainly one of the
finest in the city, it should be seen by all who wish to
form a good idea of what constitutes true Russian art.
Its originator, though rough and brusque, was
probably the most genuinely Russian monarch who
ever occupied the Romanoff throne. He loved the
people, and felt that the State could be built on a
firm foundation only by awakening and developing the
national spirit — not by following in the steps of former
rulers, who made England, France, Prussia and even
little Holland their models. For the first time was
heard the watchword, " Russia for the Russians," and
in his brief reign the people became proud of their
nationality and its own peculiar manifestations. That
he was a reactionary in some things cannot be denied ;
but when we remember the fate of his father after he
had emancipated millions of serfs and was on the point
of giving the people a constitutional form of govern-
ment, we can almost forgive him — though it seems
hard that one hundred and eighty millions should be
dragged back for the violent deed of a handful of mis-
guided enthusiasts, the ready tools of those who hated
his liberal ideas and reforms. It transpired, after the
assassination of Alexander II., that a section of the
296 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
nobility, ruined by the emancipation of the wretched
serfs, who by toil had supported them in idleness and
luxury, were the instigators of the crime for which
Risakoff paid the penalty with his life. Sophia
Peroffsky, a clever noblewoman, had some personal
animus against the Tsar. If I am not mistaken, she
was the great-granddaughter of Count Peroffsky, the
favourite Chancellor of Nicholas I., and a descendant
of Catherine II. (who, by the way, left so many
descendants that she has not without reason been
called "the mother of her people "). Sophia Peroffsky
employed her gifts very unwisely when she arranged
a plot to kill the ruler who had done more for the
people than any other since Vladimir sat on the Grand
Ducal throne at Kieff and converted them to Chris-
tianity. My friend, Professor Turner, of Petrograd
University, saw the terrible explosion, and a few years
afterwards I met another victim of it — Colonel K.,
known as " the Tsar's watch-dog," from the fact that
his duty was to accompany the Tsar wherever he went.
He was severely wounded in the head by a splinter
from the bomb, and for a long time hovered between
life and death, until his strong constitution came to
the rescue. Unfit for active military service, he was
then given a post in the Criminal Investigation Depart-
ment, but, as his frame was so shattered, he began to
study painting and sculpture. Though over forty, he
developed a most remarkable talent, and executed
several excellent statues of the Tsar. On the spot of
the tragedy a magnificent church, named the "Holy
Resurrection of Christ," has been erected. It seems,
however, sadly out of place among the classical
buildings of the more modern part of the city.
The Marble Palace, on the Palace Quay, was in-
habited by the Grand Duke Constantine, recently
deceased. It faces the Neva and the Champ de Mars,
occupying the very site where once stood Peter the
ALEXANDER III. 297
Great's old Coaching Yard. Unlike so many of the
palaces, it is of stone and marble, instead of brick and
stucco. It was built by the Italian architect Rinaldi,
to the order of Catherine II. in 1769. In 1789 it was
presented to Orloff, and the facade then bore the
inscription : " The Building of Gratitude " — by which
Catherine acknowledged the many favours received
at the hands of her herculean lover. He never lived
in it ; he did not even see it completed, for he died in
torment, at Moscow, from the result of his excesses.
The palace was then purchased by Catherine from
his heirs and given to the Polish king, Stanislaus
Poniateffsky. The Emperor Paul I. presented it to
his son, the Grand Duke Constantine, but he seldom
occupied the luxurious building. In 1832 the Marble
Palace passed into the hands of the next Grand Duke
Constantine, son of Nicholas I. Until quite recently
it was occupied by his son, whose death is announced
as this book is on the point of going to press. The late
Grand Duke was well known as a poet and man of
letters. He translated the plays of Shakespeare, and
himself acted in some of the leading parts. His
version is considered by scholars to be excellent,
showing a remarkably fine knowledge of English. He
formerly held a high position as commander of the
principal regiments of the Guards. At the manoeuvres
I have often seen him, busy and dusty, in company
with the late Grand Duke Michael.
At the time of his sudden death, on 15th June, he
was only fifty-six. He was the son of the Grand Duke
Constantine Nicholaivitch " the Red," and nephew
of the martyred Alexander II. During the Crimean
War his father commanded the Baltic Fleet, and in
1863, when Poland was in revolution, was the Imperial
Viceroy at Warsaw. Constantine Nicholaivitch made
himself exceedingly unpopular in Government and
bureaucratic circles by his liberal and progressive ideas.
298 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
He had, however, much influence over the humane,
philanthropic Alexander II., and it was greatly
owing to this that the Tsar was induced to liberate
the serfs. When Alexander III. ascended the throne,
and resolved to carry out a policy of reaction in all
departments, the Grand Duke was compelled to retire
from his various duties and to quit the capital. He
spent his last days in the Palace of Pavlovsk. During
the reign of Alexander II. I often saw this liberal-
minded member of the house of Romanoff in Cron-
stadt, where, owing to his intense interest in the navy,
he was constantly a guest of the Governor, Admiral
Kazekevitch.
The late Grand Duke, Constantine the Younger,
followed his father into comparative exile, devoting
himself to literature, science, art and his military
duties. Under the nom de guerre " K. Romanov " he
published a number of lyrics, chiefly relating to
military life, also translations. His drama, The King
of the Jews, was forbidden by the Holy Synod, as
might be anticipated, on account of its heterodox
tendencies. He was elected President of the Academy
of Science in 1892.
His sudden death is a great blow to Russia. Had he
lived, it is quite within the bounds of possibility that
he would eventually have taken the lead in the Liberal
movement, and under his wise guidance the people
would have had a chance of developing the great
intellectual and spiritual gifts with which Nature has
so bountifully provided them. In my opinion he was
one of the most talented and sympathetic of the house
of the Romanoffs, which for weal or woe has controlled
the destinies of the Russian nation for almost three
hundred years.
XXXIV
I
THE ENVIRONS OF THE CITY
This work would not be complete without some refer-
ence to the resorts near Petrograd, where the more
fortunate members of the population find amusement,
sport and relaxation. Every great city has its beauty-
spots, and Petrograd without its exceptionally at-
tractive surroundings would be at certain periods of
the year almost insupportable.
Gatchina, a favourite summer residence of the Tsar,
has a palace built by Rinaldi in 1770, in the old
German style. It contains seven hundred rooms,
decorated with especial simplicity. Behind it lies
an immense park, containing a number of so-called
" surprises " — a Roman bath, a fine pavilion, a
menagerie, an obelisk, a subterranean gallery and
a noted " echo."
Another easily accessible resort is Oranienbaum, a
small but very picturesque town opposite the fortress
of Cronstadt. I have often been glad to refresh and
rest at its comfortable station after crossing the frozen
Gulf — perhaps risking, as one does, being chilled to
death or blown down and stunned by the whirlwinds
and gales that prevail during the winter. Many
followers and admirers of Father John of Cronstadt
lost their lives in this way on the wild waste of snow
and ice, when coming to the town to worship or to see
their hero. In summer the scene is very different, and
I recall happy days spent in the villas of merchant
friends who make this spot their home in the hot
weather. Oranienbaum was founded by Prince Men-
shikoff in 1711. He beautified it at an enormous
299
300 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
expense. Here stands the palace of the Grand
Duchess of Mecklenburg, its park overlooking the
Gulf and the fortress. A most lovely walk may be
taken through these grounds. It was in this park
that a gigantic she-bear tore and mangled a forester
of the Duchess fatally. As a rule bears are good-
natured animals, seldom attacking strangers unless
irritated or famished, but when with cubs, as was this
one, they will show fight if approached. The tragedy
caused quite a sensation, I remember, in Cronstadt.
Very occasionally wolves are seen in the outskirts of
Petrograd, but never in the town itself. In the reigns
of Peter and Catherine II. the streets at night were
unsafe, both because of wild animals and men scarcely
less wild.
Pavlovsk calls the more fashionable section of
society at holiday-time. It also has a fine park, and
splendid bands play there in the hot season. The
palace, for a long time the residence of the Grand Duke
Constantine the Elder, contains a library of 30,000
volumes, also a very valuable collection of paintings
by Correggio, Guido Reni and other Italian masters.
Here I made the acquaintance of Colonel Kirjaieff,
brother of the famous Olga Novikoff, who in Glad-
stone's days made such a stir by championing Russia's
cause in England. The Colonel was then acting as
adjutant to one of the Grand Duchesses. He was a
most gifted soldier, a skilled swordsman and curiously
enough equally distinguished as a dialectician and
theologian ; a rare combination for a military man
in our days, but less uncommon among soldiers of
the past. Richelieu, Ignatius Loyola, Servetius and
others might be mentioned as men who were at the
same time soldiers and keen theologians.
At Peterhoff the Tsar usually spends a portion of
the sumr -er. The palace is said almost to rival
Versailles in its fountains and grounds. It was
PL,
THE ENVIRONS OF THE CITY 301
founded by Peter L, who, true to his German pro-
clivities, called it " Peterhoff " — a name now corrupted
to " Petergoff " in Russian. The Russian language,
like the Cockney, has no use for the troublesome
letter " h." On special occasions the grassy alleys,
the fountains and cascades are illuminated by thou-
sands of coloured lights. Here Peter used to pass
happy days with his miniature wife, whose tiny slipper
is still to be seen in the old Dutch house which he
made his home — small mansion indeed for so mighty
a man ! But we measure men by their characters,
not by their dwellings. Close to the house stands
a smaller palace, where the Empress Elizabeth used
to amuse herself with " feasts of love and dinners of
her own cooking" — a strange combination. Near it,
again, is the little palace of " Alexandria," built by
the bluff Alexander III., who, like Peter, preferred
small houses devoid of pomp and display. Only once
have I visited this place, for here the Tsar, surrounded
by triple cordons of sentries, dwelt in cherished
seclusion. The larger palace, with its gorgeous halls
and vestibules, I have often visited, especially when
my friend, Charles Heath, was there with the Tsar.
A day at Peterhoff among its flowers and more artificial
beauties is not easily forgotten ; but on its attractions
and historic associations, interesting though they are,
I must not enlarge. A whole volume might be written
on the palaces of Petrograd and its suburbs, so full are
they of memories, so suggestive of former glories.
Tsarskoe Selo (the Tsar's Village) is perhaps the
favourite summer residence of the royal family. This
town — for it can no longer be rightly termed a village
— grew from a small farm given by Peter to his charmer,
Catherine. The park and grounds could not, one
imagines, be surpassed anywhere in Europe. Millions
must have been lavished on the place by Catherine and
her successors, without reckoning the enormous cost of
302 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
the " accessories " — the Turkish baths, the " ruins,"
the marble gallery built by Cameron and the huge
column raised to commemorate the battle gained by
Orloff and the Allies at Tchesma. The magnificent
saloon, the apartments gilded and decorated with glass
and amber, the floors inlaid with ebony and mother-
of-pearl form a dazzling sight for the English visitor,
accustomed to more restrained evidences of wealth.
The last time I came here I was shown, in a small
alcove, the plain iron bedstead in which Alexander I.
used to sleep during his campaigns, also even in times
of peace. A craving for the simple life, indulged
whenever possible, seems to be a peculiar trait of the
Romanoffs. Since the olden days Tsarskoe Selo is
like an enchanted palace robbed of its fairy princess;
for such Catherine must have appeared to millions of
her subjects. It still retains many attractions, however,
one of the most striking being a work of art known as
" The Fountain of the Broken Pitcher," representing a
weeping girl standing on a rock, with a broken vessel
at her feet, from which flows a stream of water.
There are a few other curiosities in the grounds —
pyramids, columns, statues and even a Swiss dairy
farm, with some splendid cattle. The baths are of
the best, and are crowded in the summer. The well-
to-do classes are frequent visitors, for the bracing and
healthy climate suits those who cannot stand the
damp, marshy soil of the city. Some of them, in fact,
live at Tsarskoe all the year round.
Tsarskoe, like Peterhoff, Gatchina and Seversky,
is on the Russian side of the Gulf ; Strjelna is on the
Finnish shore. It is also a resort of the aristocracy.
I have always preferred the Finnish side, on account
of its pine forests, pretty little lakes and sandy
shores ; also because it is comparatively cheap.
Schouvalofva, Pargolova, Ozerki, Tcherny Rjetcka,
are other beauty-spots of this coast. Ozerki, noted
THE ENVIRONS OP THE CITY 303
for its lakes, is where Father Gapon was cruelly done
to death by the extreme revolutionists because of his
opposition to the members of the party who advocated
the reckless use of bombs to spread their propaganda.
His murder — he was of Italian origin — is one of the
darkest stains on the annals of the revolution, and
he will always be considered as a martyr by those
who are in favour of liberty and progress without re-
course to violence and terrorism. Tcherny Rjetchka
is another charming spot, pine-clad and sweet, where
are found many villas belonging to the richer members
of the English colony ; boating, tennis, fishing and
driving are in full swing here in the summer. Bathing
is a great amusement, and as the Russians are an
exceedingly natural people, bathing costumes are fre-
quently invisible, non-existent in fact, for both sexes.
Farther down the Gulf, where the inhabitants are
pure Finns, the folk, after half boiling themselves in
the bathing-houses attached to almost every cottage,
will sally out into the snow and roll over and over in
delight, apparently with no evil results. What Mrs
Grundy would do among these primitive people I
have no idea. Judging from her antics in England,
her home, she would perish of shock. When last in
Finland, on the way to Wiborg, I came to a cross-road
and was puzzled which direction to take. Pulling up
my sledge, I saw three Finnish girls, absolutely in the
costume of Eve, sitting on a gate — and this in mid-
winter — cooling off in the open before rushing back to
their beloved banja, or scalding hot bath. In reply to my
question, without a blush they showed me the road to
Wiborg by pointing with one hand over their shoulders,
hiding their breasts with the other. My companion, an
Englishman, was astounded at their "immodesty"
(of course it was nothing of the sort), or pretended to
be ; while even I, who knew the ways of the land, was
not a little surprised at the unexpected apparition.
304 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
Wiborg is a popular place with the Petrogradians,
many of whom have villas in the neighbourhood.
The more wealthy, however, pass much time at
Imatra. Before the River Wuoksonista, flowing from
Lake Saima to the Gulf, reaches the sea, it forms a
number of dangerous rapids. These are famous for
salmon-trout, and I have known a good angler to
catch as much as three poods' weight (120 lb.) in
one evening. Overlooking the falls, an enterprising
Finn has erected a fine hotel, where many of the
English and Russian merchants often stay. The late
Tsar, with Charles Heath, passed much of his summer
holidays fishing at this spot, and the Fishing Club has
many noted members of society.
Hunting elk, wolves, bears, foxes and other animals
takes some of the spare time of the leisured young
men of the capital ; but on the whole better sport is
found in the forests south of the city, though the woods
of the Grand Duchy are not to be despised.
It will be seen that although Petrograd has a poor
climate, with seven long months of winter, this fair
city on the banks of the Neva has many compensating
attractions for those who by choice or through business
reasons make it their habitation. I for one do not in
the least regret the years I spent in the place, and one
always remembers that it owes its wonderful existence
and history to the genius, foresight and indomitable
will of one man.
In saying farewell to Petrograd, let me in these last
words thank all who made my sojourn there so pleasant
and express the hope that those who are induced to
visit Russia's capital may have as happy and eventful
a time.
THE GRAND DUKE MICHAEL, THE TSAR'S
BROTHER, AT THE FRONT
CHARACTER SKETCH BY A RUSSIAN CORRESPONDENT
In view of the possibility that the Grand Duke Michael
may succeed to the throne of the Romanoffs, owing to
the delicate health of the present young Tsarevitch,
the following character sketch is of much interest,
the more so as it is written by one who knows him
intimately. Describing the Grand Duke's appearance
and activity at the front, this correspondent writes :
What a hearty, harmonious, even rhythmic precision
is observable in his movements. He is a truly muscular
figure — a sportsman of the real English type. There
is also something English in the cut of his light linen
jacket, ornamented with the epaulets of a general,
and bearing the Cross of St George. His soft, search-
ing eyes gleam from a pale, ivory-white face, but this
clean-shaven, striking countenance has the look of
perfect health.
The Grand Duke has a noble soul, as may easily be
seen in everything he does, in each phrase, glance or
gesture . He is a man of the most pronounced sincerity,
which is emphasised by his simplicity. Thus he is
especially alive to anything in the nature of a pose, to
hypocrisy and deception.
Bearing this in mind, it may be easily understood
that after several journeys to Germany his Imperial
Highness received from the inhabitants of that country
an impression of persistent egotism. " The Emperor
Alexander III., my father," he observed, "with deep
wisdom guessed and understood the hypocritical
u 305
306 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
tendencies of German policy, and once and for all
set it down at its true value. He gauged its worth,
and from that time consistently arranged his future
relations with the young Empire according to the
strongly denned impression it had made upon him."
The Grand Duke decided, therefore, to bring to naught
as far as might be the proud, aggressive plans of
Germany.
" She imagined," he said, " that in two or three
short months she would crush us and our Allies, and
then dictate Draconic terms of peace to the conquered.
But despite all her technique, her skill and prepared-
ness, she has made a cruel mistake. Of all her grand
schemes only fragments remain. Germany, until
recently so powerful, has suffered a wound that is
well-nigh fatal. The loss of her colonies, the ruin of
her commercial hegemony, her terrible sacrifices in
men — all these are injuries which cannot soon be
healed, and the successes of the combined Austro-
German armies will have little influence upon the
ever-threatening catastrophe that awaits her."
The words of the Grand Duke seem to be inspired.
His quiet, manly strength is supported by his faith in
the certain final victory of Russia and her Allies.
His Imperial Highness is beloved by all the com-
manding officers for his courage. He has covered
himself and his division with glory, in this respect
bearing a strong resemblance to the brave King of
the Belgians. He is nearly always in the most ad-
vanced positions, often being found in the firing line
not only of the heavy cannon, but of the machine
guns and rifles. He keeps perfectly calm, and heartens
the soldiers in the trenches with gentle and winning
words. The Caucasian mountaineers, who set great
value on personal courage, absolutely idealise their
leader, with unrestrained, purely Mohammedan fatal-
ism. Among themselves, he is affectionately called
THE GRAND DUKE MICHAEL 307
" Our Mechail." Enthusiastic letters are written
about him to their relatives in the far distant villages,
every letter reminding its recipient of the good fortune
of fighting under the command of the Tsar's own
brother ! All his leisure moments, when not engaged
in studying maps in his rooms, consulting with his
chiefs of the staff, or in the multifarious other duties
pertaining to his rank, the Grand Duke spends in the
military positions ; he knows all his officers even to
the young ensigns, by name. He has the soul of a
saint ; in fact he is called a saint by the officers of
his division, and each one is ready to follow him to
the death.
As regards our positions (continues this correspond-
ent), imagine to yourself the steep banks of a large
river. One shore is shrouded in twilight, its outlines
softened and dim, and silent figures in their Caucasian
uniforms pass to and fro. Lower down, on the slope,
is a labyrinth of wire entanglements, invisible in the
gloom, but nevertheless to be felt. On the other
higher, steeper shore, it is the same with the Austrians.
Suddenly a group of men appears. Picture the scene :
it is the Grand Duke in company with the command-
ant of the brigade and his adjutants. His Imperial
Highness politely questions the officers, listening at-
tentively as each in turn gives his impression of the
day's fighting and of the positions which he occupied
with his section. Gradually they form a merry,
animated bivouac. Being hungry, the Grand Duke
sits down on a felt coat and eagerly eats the shashlike
(pieces of meat roasted on skewers over a fire) which
has been prepared by one of our horsemen. His own
ensign, Volkoff, hero of many breakneck encounters
and reconnaissances, is there, and over the fragrant
samovar of tea Volkoff is asked to relate the details
of his last exploit, in which he earned the St George's
Cross. "Your Imperial Highness," says Volkoff,
308 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
" will you have a glass of tea ? " It is accepted.
The ensign beams with joy, and says : " Now I will
send this samovar and this glass to my home, as two
family treasures." So unaffectedly is this said that
none could be offended.
In the principal street of the little Galician town
behind the wire entanglements stands a small house
resembling a foreign villa. This is the headquarters
of the Grand Duke. Before it a sentry of the Imperial
Convoy paces to and fro with regular steps. The office
and the sleeping quarters are all in one room. It is
light and spacious, and in one corner stands a narrow
camp bedstead, with a small table bearing an icon of
an old design. The Grand Duke works at a large
writing-desk. Everything is of the simplest, severe,
giving almost the impression of a cell ; but it is the
cell of a warrior monk. The next apartment is the
dining-room, with open windows protected by muslin
screens from the flies. Through the screen ever and
anon appears the figure of the sentry on guard.
Breakfast consists of but two courses ; as a rule the
Grand Duke drinks only water, but sometimes when
toasting a friend's health he takes a little mead. He
is a merry host, lively and interesting. At table,
besides the ordinary suite, there is generally some
specially invited guest. Conversation does not flag ;
his Highness is a delightful raconteur, and capably
takes his part whatever subject is discussed. In giving
his views on the war, in his estimate of the latest
literary productions, in his recollections of many en-
counters and descriptions of episodes of various battles
— in everything he touches upon you may remark the
presence of a sharp, observant, witty mind, illumined
by artistry and humour. He is fond of a joke, and
made much fun of the attempt of the Prince of Wied
to occupy the throne of Albania. This penetrating
humour is seen also in the caricatures that decorate
THE GRAND DUKE MICHAEL 309
the walls and doors of his dining-room ;j the genre and
political sketches, the firmness of the lines, tell of
something more than the talent of the mere amateur.
En passant, we may mention that the Grand Duke
is a clever photographer. Among the hundreds of
splendid photographs he possesses, his choice of
themes shows the standpoint of the artist.
With modest and simple affection he loves every-
thing Russian, and the country itself — the retiring
villages, the wide plains radiant in the evening sun,
when the distant horizon grows dim, and the quail,
hidden in the meadows, utters his loud, shrill challenge.
On his religious side, the Grand Duke reminds one
of a mediaeval monk of Moscow — which city, it must
be said, always holds a warm place in his heart. One
may especially learn to know a man during his hours
of devotion. When campaigning, he never misses
a service, and the worship of God thus naturally
harmonises with his entire personality. The temple
may be a grass plot set in a field of waving rye. The
priest, in his sacerdotal golden vestments, serves
zealously amid the singing of the soldiers' choir, and
the congregation consists of a crowd of our grey-
coated heroes. In front is the tall figure of the
Grand Duke, absorbed in prayer.
In concluding these notes of this bright personality,
we must not omit to record his abilities as a sportsman.
With justice, the Grand Duke is considered one of the
best cavalrymen in the Russian army. A splendid
rider in the field, he knows his horse to perfection and
has an irreproachable seat. Active, and accomplished
in gymnastic exercises, he possesses surprising physical
strength, especially in the fingers. He can tear a
pack of cards into four parts, first in half, then again
across. This strength is inherited from his late father,
the Emperor Alexander III., who could roll up a silver
plate in his hands, and break a copper coin in two.
310 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
It should not be forgotten that many of the excellent
qualities and principles of the Grand Duke are due to
the fine training of his late English tutor, Mr Charles
Heath, M.A., of Oxford, who also acted as tutor to
the Tsar. The bluff and hearty Mr Heath was also a
good sportsman, honest and reliable, with an intense
love of art, and these tastes have without doubt had
much to do with moulding the character of the Grand
Duke Michael.
As there is a possibility of this member of the royal
house succeeding to the throne, should the Tsarevitch
not recover from his present state of ill health, the
people of Russia are fortunate in having such a prince
as this possible future Tsar ; the more so as a ruler
with such fine qualities cannot fail to be a source of
great happiness to the nation he may some day be
called upon to govern.
A NOTE ON THE GROWTH OF THE RUSSIAN
EMPIRE SINCE THE DAYS OF PETER THE
GREAT
In my work on The Russian Army from Within,
published this year, I have shown how important a
factor in war and politics is the fecundity of the
women, and in the East especially of the Slav
women. When Peter the Great visited England,
about two hundred years ago, the population of
the Empire of Muscovy was only 14,000,000 ; now,
owing to wars of conquest and the above factor
(too often lost sight of by historians), it stands at
185,000,000.
Should Russia during the present campaign lose
2,000,000 men killed, which is an improbably high
estimate, her population next year will be still about
186,000,000, since every year she has an increase of,
roughly, 3,000,000 souls. Every fifty years the popula-
tion of the Empire doubles, in spite of the enormous
death-rate, which in many governments is from 50 to
60 per 1000, and at the present rate of increase the
numbers by the year 1965 should be 370,000,000,
even if Russia does not annex the Slavonic states of
Austria and carry out the Panslavist programme —
which means that all Slavs should come under her
rule or influence, although the Muscovites are not
pure Slavs, but to a great extent are of Tartar
origin.
During the reign of Peter, the first census was taken
by his orders. The following table shows the growth
of the nation since his day, despite constant wars,
revolutions, epidemics, famines and other calamities,
3ii
312 PETROGRAD PAST AND PRESENT
none of which seem to affect seriously the marvellous
vigour, endurance and fertility of the people : —
1722, First Census, by order
of Peter the Great
1742
1762
1782
1796
1802
1812
1815
1832
1835
1851
1858
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
Probable result of Census in
the year 1920 .
Probable result of Census in
the year 1930 .
14,000,000
16,000,000
19,000,000
28,000,000
36,000,000
37,000,000
41,000,000
45,000,000
58,000,000
60,000,000
68,000,000
74,000,000
76,000,000
85,000,000
100,000,000
119,000,000
135,000,000
155,000,000
195,000,000
200,000,000
If we assume that Russia will neither lose nor gain in
possessions, but will continue to increase her numbers
in the same ratio, by 1985 her population will stand at
about 400,000,000. Should she succeed in obtaining
Galicia and Bukhovina, and the other Slav territories
of Austria, according to the desires of the Panslavists,
it will be more like 500,000,000, especially as the Slov-
jaks and many other Slav races, owing to their high
birth-rate and superior knowledge of hygiene, increase
even more rapidly than their Russian kinsmen. When
GROWTH OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE 313
we remember that the Germans only increase at the
rate of 900,000 per annum, the English at the rate of
350,000, and that the population of France is practic-
ally stationary, the future of Europe, it seems, must
depend on the Russian Empire and the Balkan States,
unless the various Germanic races — the English,
Scandinavians, Dutch, Germans, Austro-Germans —
forget their differences and unite before they are over-
whelmed by the rising wave of Slavonic fertility.
SOME AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO FOR
THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK
Russia, by Mackenzie Wallace.
The Writings of Catherine II.
Russian Opera, by Rosa Newmarch.
Russian Flashlights, by Joseph Prelooker.
Capitals of the Northland, by Ian C. Hannah.
The Works of Nicholas Gogol.
Around the Kremlin, by Lowth.
Istorecheske Otcherkee Razskaze, by Shoobensky.
Stary Peterbourg, by M. E. Pylaieff.
Paul the First of Russia, by K. Walizeffsky.
The Comedy of Catherine II., by Francis Gribble.
Rossija (Devrien's Edition), Petrograd, and other
works mentioned in the text.
314
INDEX
Academy of Arts, 46
Actresses and ballerinas, their great
importance, 178
Addresny Stol, 81
Agents-provocateurs, 125
Alexander Nevsky, his noble character,
227
Alexander Rinok (market), 104
Alexander III., his love of a simple
life, 206-216, 217
Alexander Park and Gardens, 96
Alexander's Column, 77
Alexander Nevsky Monastery, 226, 228,
229
" Alexandria " miniature palace, 301
Alexis' (Tsarevitch), death, 91
Alexis Mechailovitch, Tsar, and the
stage, 195
Alfery, Nicephorus, strange history of,
284
Alfred the Great, trade with Russia,
283
Allan, Maud, appears in Petrograd,
194
Anecdotes of Alexander III., 160
Anglechanka (Britannia), 172
Anglo-Russian understanding, 134
Anglo-Saxon trade, before the Con-
quest, 65 ; coins, 65
Anitchkoff Palace, the Tsar's favourite
residence, 206, 207, 208
Anna, Empress, 46 ; her infatuation
for Biron, 46
Antonovitch, Johan, his murder, 96
Arabic trade, 65
Archangel opened out to English trade,
284, 285
Architecture and architects, 75
Arrestantes and their fate, 98
Authorities quoted, 314
Ballerinas, their importance, 188,
190
Ballet, anecdotes of the, 190 ; famous
dancers, Pavlova, etc, 193 '• oi
Petrograd, 187
Balls and banquets, 160
Baltic Provinces, invasion of, 292 ;
discontent, 129 ; Russincation, 19
Banja (baths), 114
315
Baring, Maurice, on Witte, 261
Barjatinsky, Count, 96
Bartering in Russia, necessity of, 165
Benckendorff , Count, and Tsar's house-
hold, 160
Benois, Alexander, 88
Bezborodko, Count, his love of litera-
ture, 177
Bismarck, 162
Bismarck's conflict with Sir Robert
Morier, 254 ; opinion of the Russian
moujik, 154
Bjelaieff and Sir Joseph Beecham, 179
Borodin's Prince Igor, 179
British Colony in Petrograd, 282, 283
Burtzeff, 123
Canals, 49
Cards and card-playing, 133
Catherine, I., 46, 72
Catherine II., 42
Catherine, " the mother of her people,"
8
Catherine's monument, 80 ; plays, 178 ;
vanity, 242 ; admiration for Shake-
speare, 178 ; confessions, 202 ; mis-
rule, 203 ; good qualities, 204 ;
tragic end, 205
Cavos, Caesar, 88
Censors, highly educated men, 279 ;
courtesy of, 279 ; and foreign corre-
spondents, 272
Champ de Mars and the military re-
views, 247
Chief censors, my experience of, 279
Climate and temperature, 63
Clubs, principal, 83
Codex Sinaticus, 106
Coffee-houses, 170
Comedy of Catherine II., by Francis
Gribble, 201
Commandants' duties, 93
Constantine, Grand Duke, 17, 77
Constantine the Younger, 297
Constantinople, 79
Constitution and " Konstetootzija," 77
Correspondents and their difficulties,
279
Cossack charges, 291
Cossacks quell riots, 234
Cracow Jewesses, 103
Credulity of the peasantry, 139
Crimean War, how caused, 12, 79
316
INDEX
Cronstadt, 10, n, 33 ; memories, 11 ;
batteries, 13 ; officers, 13 ; and
Admiral Makarieff, 19 ; characters,
29 ; English chaplains, 30, 31 ; police,
Cronstadt, Max Pemberton's, 17
D
Dancing and its attractions, 21
Danileffsky, 58
Decembrists, The, by Tolstoi, 78
Department of State Control, necessity
for, 238
Dickens, love of, 128
Diebitch, von, General, his mysterious
death, 77
Doctors, Russian, 83
Dolgorouki, Princess, and Alexander
II., 94
Domenico's Restaurant, 93
Dosmoschiks (searchers), 2
Droshki drivers, how to manage, 7
Duelling, 169
Duncan, Miss (danseuse), 194
Duncan, Dr, 121
Dvormik, or house porter, 122
Easter and Christmas festivals, 241
Elizabeth, Empress, 41, 96 ; her in-
fatuation for Count Razoomoffsky,
212
"Emancipated" women, how
punished, 235
Empire, Russian, its growth since the
founding of Petrograd, 311
" England the Source of all Evil," 144
English colony in Petrograd, 288
English Embassy, 87, 253
English writers, Russian admiration
for, 273
English churches in Petrograd, 287
Englishmen in Russia, kindness of
Alexander I. to, 289
Environs of Petrograd, their charm, 299
Ermak, ice-breaker, 19
Evelyn's Diary, 73
Excursions, 88
Execution of Catherine's lover, 69 ; at
Cronstadt, 16
Executions under Peter I., 69
Factories, British, in Russia, 284
Fanaticism and ignorance of the people
and its danger, 157
Fecundity of Russian women, im-
portance of, 311
Fete, a, under Potemkin, 220
Finnish characteristics, 154 ; man-
oeuvres, 292-293
Finns and Finnish quarter, 1 1 1
Finns and superstition, 66 ; and their
natural habits, 303
Fires, 86 ; and peculation, 238
Floods, 51, 52, 53, 58, 59
Fontanka Canal, 49, 88
Food in Petrograd, 165
Foreign correspondents, their difficulty
in Russia, 279
Foreign influence on working classes,
J 37
Foreign Office reforms much needed,
256
Fortress, 59
Frederick of Prussia, 70
Frederick, Emperor, his respect for
Sir Robert Morier, 254
French comedies, 183
Gabrielle, the dancer (anecdote), 176
Galitzin, Princess, 72
Gardens, pleasure, 184
Gatchina Palace, by Rinaldi, 299
George, King of England, 102
Germanic races compared with Slavonic,
3*3
Gipsies, love of, 183
Godounoff, Tsar, sends young Russians
to England, 285
Gogol, the Dickens of Russia, 80
Gosteny Dvor (bazaar), 102
Gothland trade, 66, 283
Gregorian music and its grandeur, 240
Gresser, General, the Prefect and the
English Press, 278
Growth of Russia since 1722, 312
Guards at Krasnoe Selo, Russia's
crack regiment, 290
Guida, daughter of Harold, 94
Gutaieffsky docks, 6
H
Hanseatic League, 104
Haroun-al-Raschid, 65
Harrison, J. H., 80
Heath, Charles, M.A. (Tsar's tutor),
207, 304, 313
Hermitage built by Catherine, 197
Hospitality, Russian, 114
Hospitals, how supported, 81; peasants'
fear of, 82 ; taxes, 83
Hotel Angleterre and its memories, 164
Hotels and restaurants, 163, 164
Hunting elk, wolves, etc., near Petro-
grad, 304
INDEX
317
" Iconostase " of pure silver, 233
Ikons and their mystic powers, 233,
240
Illegitimacy, frequency of, 44 ; among
the Normans, 213
Imperial cabinet or office, 214
Imperial family, private life of, 159
Imperial Court, splendour of, 150
Insalubrity of Petrograd, 39
Inshenerny Zamok (Paul's old palace),
242
Insurance in Russia, 81
Irving, Laurence, his first appearance
in Petrograd, 191
Isaac of Dalmatia, Cathedral of St, 298
Islands, 54
Isovoschiks (cabbies), 6
Isovoschiks' cunning, 6
Ivan the Terrible's library, 108
Japanese, what the Russians think
of them, 141
Jews and the monjiks, 137
Johannites, the, 27
John of Cronstadt, Father, 23 ; his
generosity, 25
Joking, danger of, 76
K
Kara sea route and its importance, 253
Kazan Cathedral and its memories of
1812, 233
Kaze, naval architect, 85
Khesinskaja and her palace, 188
Kirjaieff, Colonel, and Olga Novikoff,
300
Kitchen, Tsar's, how managed, 161
Kjasht, Lydia, 193
Kotlin Island, 12
Koutosoff and 1 812, 233
Krasnoe Selo, the Russian Aldershot,
290
Krestoffsky, 118
Kropotkine, Prince, 91
Lan cere, sculptor, 88
Law, disregard of, 82
Libraries, 107
Library, Imperial, 106
Lombards (pawnshops), 168
Lyceum, in
M
Makarieff, Admiral, 19, 148
Manoeuvres, Imperial, their significa-
tion, 291, 294
Marble Palace, 297
Mariensky Theatre, 191
Marine Canal, 86
Marriage laws, 8
Mary of Magdala, no
Mary Stuart's Prayer Book, 107
Maxwell (author), 68
Mechail Palace (new), 295
Meek, Baroness von, 181
Merovitch at Schlusselberg, 97
Metchersky, Prince, and theGrashdanin,
266
Metchersky's hostility to the Jews, 268
Michael, Grand Duke, the Tsar's
brother, character sketch, 305
Michael the Elder, Grand Duke, his
wealth, 160, 214
Michelson, Colonel, defeats Pugacheff,
202
Midsummer Day and dances, 66
Milutine Fort, 13
Miracles and mysteries, 231
Monasteries and churches, strange
origin of, 230
Mon Bijou, palace, 73
Monks, merry, 231
Morier, Sir Robert, our great am-
bassador, 80, 251 ; last interview
with, 253
Moscow Press methods, 272
Moujiks and workmen, 136
Moujiks' deep religious feeling, 148
Moujiks' credulity and suspicions, etc.,
152
M'Swiney, the Rev., chaplain of Cron-
stadt, 29
" Museum " of Alexander III., 295
N
Napier, Lord, 12
Napoleon, Louis, 79
Narishkine, Madame, 99
" Narodny Dom,' ' " People's Theatre,"
181
Nartoff, 68
National Art Collection, 295
Neva, 49, 50, 5 1 »' tri P up river, 84
Nevsky Prospekt, 10 1
Newspapers in Russia, 266, 267
Nicholai Railway, 112
Nicholas I., his character by Maxwell,
9 ; his hatred of authors, 249 ;
his great ambition, 250
Nicholas the Elder, Grand Duke, 214
Nicholas' Palace, 216
318
INDEX
Nihilists' plots, 16, 17
Novaya Vremya, principal Russian
paper, 266
Novgorod the Great, 105 ; Chronicles,
227
Novosti, and its Anglophile editor, 267
Ny-skantze, 36
O
Ochta, 88 ; powder mills, 88
Official corruption, 124
Officialdom in Russia, 127
Oodel, Imperial Appanage, and its
origin, 214
Opening of navigation, 93
Oranienbaum Palace and its memories,
20, 299
Organs, Russian love of, 193
Orloff, Count, 58 ; his treachery, 59 ;
steeds, 102 ; brothers, Catherine's
extravagance, 200
Orloff, Alexis, the handsome Guards-
man, 200 ; Paul's revenge on, 246
Ozerki and its lakes (Father Gapon's
end), 303
" Palmyra," 39
Parliament, Peter's impressions of, 74
Passport difficulties, 5, 8
Paul I., 43, 225
Paul's love of the theatre, 176 ; hatred
of Potemkin, 222 ; madness and
end, 246
Pavlovsk Palace and its memories, 298
Peroffsky, Count, and the police, 296
Pestal, Colonel, 77
Peter the Great's appearance, 72 ;
statue, 241
Peter's strange faith, 68 ; numerous
offspring, 71
Peter visits Prussia, 70
Peter and Paul Fortress, 91
Peter III., 97 ; his admiration for
everything German, 67 ; his weird
funeral, 247
Peterhoff, the Russian Versailles, 300
Petit Pas and the ballet, 192
Petroffsky, Count (anecdote), 130
Petrograd, the founding of, 34, 37, 41 ;
in July, 116 ; environs, 117
Petropavlovsk, loss of, 19
Pickwick Papers, 269
Police, of Petrograd, 118 ; Secret, 125
Political crimes, 123
Politicals and their punishment, 98, 235
Poniatowski, King of Poland, Cather-
ine's love for, 200
Potemkin's extravagance, 219 ; death,
222
Prazniks or holidays, 105
Prefects, 120
Press in Russia, the, 266
Provisions, charges of, 166
Pskoff and its destruction, 105
Pugacheff's rebellion, 202
Pultava, anniversary of, 39, 95
Pushkin, the Shakespeare of Russia, 51 ;
the poet and the Sin Otechestva, 267
Q
Quarters of Petrograd, 44
Quay, English, 86 ; Admiralty, 87
Queen Elizabeth and Ivan the Terrible,
284
Queen Victoria and Skobeleff, 143
R
Rastrelli, 42
Razoomoffsky, 60 ; his humble origin,
212 ; secret marriage to Empress
Elizabeth, 213
Red Square, Moscow, 67
Reforms, German, 67
Regiments, crack Russian, 290
Revolutionary movement, its rapid
spread, 236 ; origin of, 237
Riots, student, 234, 235 ; provincial,
2 35
Romanoff, house of, 45 ; origin of, 94
Ropcha Palace tragedy, 96
Russia's huge population, 251 ; great
future, 251 ; vulnerable spot, 293
Russian naval officers, 13 ; navi-
gators, 15 ; drivers, 10 1 ; and
German peasantry compared, 154 ;
champagne and its dangers, 166 ;
love of music, 177 ; surprising voices,
241 ; writers and authors, their sad
fate, 249
Russians not good sailors, 15
Sacrifices, human, 66
Sadovaja Street, 104
Saghalien, 98
Salmon-trout fishing in Finland, 304
Sasulitch, Vera, 121
Schliisselberg, 36, 92 ; Fortress, 96
School of the Ballet, when founded, 193
Schouvaloff, 213
Schouvaloff, Countess, 213
Secret Police, 92, 296
Sensational Press, 275
Sentries', Russian, unreasoning obedi-
ence, 208
Sentry, a, narrow escape from, 210
INDEX
319
Sergius, Grand Duke, 120
Shakespeare translated by Grand Duke
Constantine, 298
Sheremeteff, 96
Siberian exiles, 99
Slavs, extremely musical, 195
Smolna Monastery, 89
Sociability, 115
Solovieff, 58
Sophia of Hanover, 70
Souvoroff, Marshal, 230
Spies, real and imaginary, 18
Sport, Russian ideas of, 289 ; near
Petrograd, 307
State Control Department, 99
State Monopoly on Spirits, its origin,
261
Statues and monuments, 76, 77
Stolypin's assassination, 123
Streltzee, execution of, 67
Strjelna Palace, 302
Students, suspicions of, 5
Suicide, ill, 112
Summer Gardens, 46 ; Palace, 75
Sveaborg, 12
Svjet, and Komoroff, 268
Swedes, Peter's fights with the, 41
Swedish punch and its dangers, 2
Taigas and tigers, Siberian, 99
Tarakanoffva Princess, 58, 212 ;
daughter of the Empress Elizabeth,
60
Taurida Palace, converted into the
Duma, 219, 223 ; and its memories,
219, 220, 221
Tchaikoffsky, 181
Tcherny Rjetcka's attractions, 303 ;
English visitors at, 303
Tea-drinking, 129, 173
Temperance reform, the necessity of,
262
Theatres, concerts, etc., 176
Tolstoi the Younger, his interview with
the Tsar, 156
Trade with Russia in Saxon times, 282,
283
Tragic end of Russian rulers, 244
Trakteers (tea-houses), 171
Tree worship, 66
Trepoff, 120
Tsar and his household, 155
Tsar's private character, 155 ; difficult
position, 159 ; only Ally (anecdote),
161
Tsarina, the, her high ideals and pure
life, 159
Tsarskoe Selo and its charms, 301
" Tsarsky Ochran," 92
Tshushima defeat, cause of, 14
Tundras, 99
U
Unconventionality, Russian, 90
Varangian arms, Hermitage Collec-
tion, 197
Varangians, 34, 35
Varjag, the old Russian name of
Sweden, 34
Vasilii Ostroff , 1 , 40
Vermin, 173
Vladimir Monamach, 94
Voltaire's " friendship " with Catherine
II., 201
W
Wars with Sweden, 68
Water, unhealthy drinking, 61, 62
White, Sir Andrew.celebrated American
Minister, 255
Wiborg and the attractions of Imatra,
304
Wiggins, the famous navigator, 253
Wilhelmina, memoirs of Princess, 70
Wines, Russian, 166
Winter Gardens, 198
Winter Palace, 17, 87 ; of Peter the
Great, 223 ; of Rastrelli, its magni-
ficence, 224
Witte, Count Sergius de, 259, 261
" Wittochke," 261
Woman in history, 195
Wylie, Baron, Physician of Nicholas I.,
80
Yellow Press in Russia, 270
Zakooska (side-table delicacies), 167
Zealot of Cronstadt, a, 23
a*
MAR 1 1 1993 ^
