Chapter I: Preface

Without troubling the reader with any account of a sea voyage from England to Archangel, as all travels on the “vasty deep” present pretty much the same features which have been so frequently and so well described by others, I will only observe that circumstances induced me to reside for more than ten years in Russia, which I have only recently quitted.

The following pages contain a simple account of the manners, customs, and _genre de vie chez eux_ of a people whose domestic habits are comparatively but little known to the English nation.

Of the truth of many of the anecdotes I can assure the reader; others I have had from good authority, and I have every reason to believe that they are veracious.

The names of persons that are inserted in the text are not those of Russian families: the Russians, like the ancient Greeks, have a termination denoting parentage; the syllables _vitch_ for the masculine, and _ovna_ for the feminine, are merely equivalent to the classic _ides_. Thus, Dmitri Ivanovitch, means Demetrius the son of Ivan; Cleopatra Ivanovna, Cleopatra the daughter of Ivan, &c. I have therefore betrayed none, because the surname is omitted; I have also taken the further precaution to change _one_ of the names in every instance, lest my friends should incur any evil consequences from their government, which is at the present time so exceedingly suspicious, that, for the most harmless expression, the offender who made use of it would be liable to be banished to Siberia.

I trust that I have done full justice to all the amiable and _social_ excellences of the Russians. Of their other qualities I beg the reader to form his own judgment. “Une nation de barbares polis,” said a French gentleman, in speaking of them; but one cannot deny that they possess the _good_ qualities of savages, as well as their _bad_ ones. Perhaps the Muscovite character is the most difficult of any to understand; and after living for years in Russia, it is very possible not to know the Russians. They seem indeed to possess two characters, each distinguished by traits diametrically opposed to those of the other. One may be considered as their private, and the other as their public character; and I cannot pretend to the power of defining them. I have seen a Russian colonel, known for his excessive severity, who would witness unmoved the terrible infliction of the knout, perfectly unable to control his tears at the mimic sorrows of a French actress. He that is mean and despicable in public life, is often kind, amiable, and liberal at home. He who would be merciless and oppressive to his inferiors, is frequently affectionate to his family and sincere to his friend. The lady who would be shocked to say a petulant word to an acquaintance, would not hesitate to strike her maid; and though she would be overwhelmed with grief at the distress she could _see_, she would, by her reckless extravagance, cause the severest sufferings to her serfs, and reduce them to the extremity of want, without feeling remorse.

This slight sketch of Muscovite manners having no pretension whatever to literary excellence, the writer trusts that its manner of delineation will escape criticism, and that its truthfulness will counterbalance the many faults it undoubtedly contains.

The interest at present excited by a nation with whom the English are at war has induced her to listen to several friends who have recommended her to present these written observations to the public.

_London, October, 1854._

CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER I.

Aspect of the Dwina—Crosses erected by the peasants—Sunset
in the North—Russian boats and barks—Boatmen—Their
cargoes—Solombol—Shallowness of the river—Archangel—Samoïdes—Their
mode of living—A visit to their Tchume, or encampment—Reindeer
and sledges—Samoïde bridegroom—A wedding-feast—The Samoïde
costume—Their ideas of the Supreme Being—A keepsake—Catching a
reindeer—Manner of eating—Strange custom 1

CHAPTER II.

Wedding of a Starosta’s daughter—Politeness of the host—The
guests—The bride—Bridal etiquette—Description of the bride’s
dress—The bridegroom—The hospitality shown—The amusements of
the guests—Improvised songs—The bridegroom’s riches—Demeanour
of the company—Dance of the peasant-women—Dance of the
men—National songs 14

CHAPTER III.

Travellers in Russia—False impressions—Civilization in the
Czar’s dominions—Public roads—Morasses and forests—The Vologda
road—Wretched horses—Rough roads—The crown peasants—Aspect
of the villages—Civilization of the _people_—Vanity of the
Russians—Provincial towns—The churches—The postmasters—The
yemstchicks or drivers—Personal appearance of the
peasantry—Their costumes—Crossing the Dwina—Pleasing
scene—Village burying-ground 19

CHAPTER IV.

Vologda: its inhabitants—A Polish lady—Treatment of
the Poles—Russian ladies: their politeness—Peter the
Great’s civilization—Slavery: its effects on the
character—Conversation—Card-playing—A princess—Poverty—Filthy
households—Equal division of property—Cause of poverty—An old
gambler 31

CHAPTER V.

Our journey—Kabitkas—Russian custom—Endless forests and
morasses—Desolation of the country—Musical yemstchick—Scarcity
of inhabitants—Criminals: their aspect—A bad mother—Monastery
of Seea—Visit to the abbot—The church—A saint’s
shrine—Peasants—Change in the scenery—Accidents—The driver—A
contented veteran—Love of country—Soldiers’ songs—Russian
melodies—Yemstchick’s gratitude—Another driver: his prospects
in life—Beautiful effect—Ladinapol—Schlusselberg—A village inn
in Russia 39

CHAPTER VI.

Appearance of the capital—The public buildings—The statue
of Peter—The quays—The lighting of the streets—The shops
and shopmen—A bargain—The dwornicks: their wretched
life—Tea-taverns: the company assembled—The itinerant
merchants—Cossacks—Circassians: their fidelity—The soldiers
of the line—Shameful treatment—The butitchnick—A sad
occurrence—Winter aspect—The Nevsky Perspective—Costumes—A
drowning man—Police regulations—Number of murders—A poor
man’s funeral—Funeral cortège of a prince—Effect of
twilight—Convicts—The metropolitan—The Emperor—Police
regulations on salutations—The Kazane church 51

CHAPTER VII.

Places worth visiting—Peter’s Museum—The Czar’s
works—Curious effigy—The war-horse—The Nevsky monastery—The
saint’s shrine—Magnificent tomb—Superstition—The
cemetery—Catherine—Imperial mausoleum—Description
of the sarcophagi—Prisoners—Political offenders—Spy
system—Bombardment of Odessa—Dumb spy—A spy of rank—Assemblée
de la noblesse—Masked balls—Russian civilization—Love of
money—Inebriety—Society in St. Petersburg 74

CHAPTER VIII.

Winter amusements—The opera and French theatre—Hamlet—A
true Russian play—Corruption of the police—Anecdotes—The
hermitage—The museum—Dinner parties—Russian hospitality—Want of
information—The censor’s office: its restrictions 87

CHAPTER IX.

Russian courtship—State of household
servants—Anecdotes—Trousseaux—The matrimonial
candidate—Matchmakers—Serfs’ weddings—Rich
dowry—Matchmakings—Curious custom—Russian marriages—Blessing
the threshold—Bridal parties—Statute-fair for wives in St.
Petersburg—Habit of painting—Lottery of marriage, &c. 103

CHAPTER X.

The abbess—The inmates of the convent—The wardrobe—A
young Russian priest and his bride—The archbishop—Ancient
manuscripts—Alexis, son of Peter the Great—Description of a
monastery—Prisoners—The church, cemetery, and garden—Monastic
serfs—The archimandrite—Superior and inferior class of
Russian clergy—Peter the Great’s policy—Political use of
religion—A modern miracle—General estimate of monastic
institutions—Proscribed sects—Russian hermits—Hermitage at
Kastroma 118

CHAPTER XI.

Aspect of the country—Sketch of the peasants—Forebodings
of evil—State of the serfs—Anecdotes of proprietors—The
French waiting-maid—Shameful treatment of serfs—State of
crime—Mutilations and murders—Revenge for a beating—Dreadful
vengeance of the serfs—Pleasing anecdote—Wealthy
serfs—Recklessness of the nobles—Selling slaves—The cook and
his sorrows—Anecdotes—Serf apprentices—The old gourmand—A good
bargain and a bad one—The gardener—A boorish audience—The
peasants—Superstitions and ignorance—Anecdotes 134

CHAPTER XII.

Landed proprietors—Sketch of the country—The wolves: dreadful
occurrence—A child lost—Winter amusements—Wolf-hunt—A
cunning animal—Summer sketch—Russian costumes—The national
dance—The peasants—Avarice of the landowners—Serfs and their
treatment—Cruel and unprincipled proprietors—Opinion of the
upper classes 171

CHAPTER XIII.

Government _employés_, their servility—Baseness, and its
fruits—Duty of the senate—Dishonesty, bribery, and poverty—New
way to pay old debts—Mistrust—Conduct of the ladies—Duties of
those in office—The railway serfs—Police-masters in Russia—The
military officers and the soldiers—The wretched fare of the
army—Peculations of the colonel—Army regulation—A colonel in
the Caucasus—Why _the people_ are created 186

CHAPTER XIV.

Description of churches—A devotee—Saints’ portraits—The
lower class of worshippers—Infant communion—Administering
the sacrament—A funeral—Customs of oriental origin—Tartar
burying-ground—A wake—Prayers for the dead—Horror of death—A
baptism—Authenticity of Christ’s portraits—A procession
in Moscow—Miraculous portrait of the Virgin—Religious
processions—Aquatic procession—Pilgrims—A pilgrimage—The
miraculous image at Jaroslaf—Angelic artists—Monks and money—A
holy tradition—Religious ceremonies—Confession in the Greek
Church—Representation of Christ’s interment—High mass in the
Kazane church 197

CHAPTER XV.

The carnival—Amusements at the fair—Curious
procession—Palm fair—Whitsuntide—The Resurrection on
Easter-night—Easter-day—Easter privilege—Anecdote of
the Emperor—Bell-ringing—Kindness of heart among the
Russians—Household gods—Christmas—Midsummer-eve—Heathen
custom—New-year’s-eve—A Russian election—Unfortunate
orator—Russian maypole—Characteristic dance by a soldier, its
beautiful execution—Military picnics—Disagreeable traits of
character—Shopkeepers’ balls—Splendid festivals—The Kremlin
illuminated 214

CHAPTER XVI.

Travelling in Russia—Monotony of scene—Want of animation—Style
of dwellings of the nobles, the gentry, and the peasantry—Poor
gentry—Pride and poverty—Peasants’ isbas, the furniture they
contain—Vermin—The breaking up of the ice—The Dwina—Distressing
occurrences—The peasant and his dog—The aged peasant—The
commandant’s gold cup—Native barks: the peasants on board of
them—Neva boats—Concerts al fresco—Numerous imperial palaces 236

CHAPTER XVII.

Education—The highest studies—Russian history—Infallibility
of the Czar—Moral excellence—Devotedness of a young
lady—Profiting by instruction—Noble culprits—Education
of the serfs—The University—The students’ costume—Naval
school—School for the deaf and dumb—Academy of Fine
Arts—Priouts—Education of boys—Studies—Ladies’ institutes—Plan
of education—Uniforms—Private education—Remarks on education in
Russia 252

CHAPTER XVIII.

Moscow—Poushkin’s verses—The Moscowites—Dislike of
foreigners—Antipathy to the St. Petersburg people—Ancient
devotees—Places of amusement—General remarks—The Kremlin—The
churches—General view of the city—Napoleon—The miraculous
image—Ivan and his recompence for genius—The Gostinoi Dwor—The
shopkeepers’ brides—A wedding coach—The Tartar—The Persian—The
Metropolitan of Moscow—The Jews—The shopkeepers—Smoking—The
Tiramà, or ancient palace—The new palace—The Treasury—The
diadems—The Tartars of the present day—The church of Warsaw—The
last fight for freedom—Various curiosities—Spoils of the
_grande armée_—The officer’s widow—French refugees: their
gratitude—The model of the Kremlin 270

CHAPTER XIX.

English people in Russia—Sudden change of sentiment—Intolerant
feelings of the Russians towards them—Opinions of the
people—Ideas of the Russians on the English ministry—Their
hope of aid from the Americans—The lower classes—Losses of the
Russians—Disagreeable remarks—Their manner of speaking of the
French—Political ideas—The Americans in St. Petersburg—Invented
news—Odd ideas of a war-ship—The English in fault—Mr. Pim’s
designs—Russian disgust at the new warlike inventions—Dread
of the British—The serfs—The troops in the capital—Vanity
of the Russians—Their disappointment about Turkey—False
ideas—Evil effects of the conscription and slavery—The
recruits—Deserters—Dissatisfaction—The Czar’s ambition—Aspect
of St. Petersburg—Wretched recruits—Embarrassments of the
Russians—A bivouac—The dying officer—March of the army—The
future of Russia—A review—Anecdote of the Emperor 291