CHAPTER II.
THE ENTRANCE INTO PETERSBURG.--A RENCONTRE WITH AN INQUISITIVE ANDMYSTERIOUS STRANGER.--NOTHING LIKE TRAVEL.
IT was certainly like entering a new world when I had the frigidfelicity of entering Russia. I expected to have found Petersburg awonderful city, and I was disappointed; it was a wonderful beginningof a city, and that was all I ought to leave expected. But never,I believe, was there a place which there was so much difficultyin arriving at: such winds, such climate, such policearrangements,--arranged, too, by such fellows! six feet high, withnothing human about them but their uncleanness and ferocity! Suchvexatious delays, difficulties, ordeals, through which it was necessaryto pass, and to pass, too, with an air of the most perfect satisfactionand content. By the Lord! one would have imagined, at all events, itmust be an earthly paradise, to be so arduous of access, instead ofa Dutch-looking town, with comfortless canals, and the most terribleclimate in which a civilized creature was ever frozen to death. "Itis just the city a nation of bears would build, if bears ever becamearchitects," said I to myself, as I entered the northern capital, withmy teeth chattering and my limbs in a state of perfect insensibility.
My vehicle stopped, at last, at an hotel to which I had been directed.It was a circumstance, I believe, peculiar to Petersburg, that, at thetime I speak of, none of its streets had a name; and if one wantedto find out a house, one was forced to do so by oral description. Apleasant thing it was, too, to stop in the middle of a street, to listento such description at full length, and find one's self rapidly becomingice as the detail progressed. After I was lodged, thawed, and fed, Ifell fast asleep, and slept for eighteen hours, without waking once; tomy mind, it was a miracle that I ever woke again.
I then dressed myself, and taking my interpreter,--who was a Livonian,a great rascal, but clever, who washed twice a week, and did not wear abeard above eight inches long,--I put myself into my carriage, and wentto deliver my letters of introduction. I had one in particular to theAdmiral Apraxin; and it was with him that I was directed to confer,previous to seeking an interview with the Emperor. Accordingly Irepaired to his hotel, which was situated on a sort of quay, and wasreally, for Petersburg, very magnificent. In this quarter, then or alittle later, lived about thirty other officers of the court, GeneralJagoyinsky, General Cyernichoff, etc.; and, appropriately enough,the most remarkable public building in the vicinity is the greatslaughter-house,--a fine specimen that of practical satire!
On endeavouring to pass through the Admiral's hall I had themortification of finding myself rejected by his domestics. As two menin military attire were instantly admitted, I thought this a littlehard upon a man who had travelled so far to see his admiralship, and,accordingly, hinted my indignation to Mr. Muscotofsky, my interpreter.
"You are not so richly dressed as those gentlemen," said he.
"That is the reason, is it?"
"If it so please Saint Nicholas, it is; and, besides, those gentlemenhave two men running before them to cry, 'Clear the way!'"
"I had better, then, dress myself better, and take two _avantcouriers_."
"If it so please Saint Nicholas." Upon this I returned, robed myselfin scarlet and gold, took a couple of lacqueys, returned to AdmiralApraxin's, and was admitted in an instant. Who would have thought thesesavages so like us? Appearances, you see, produce realities all over theworld!
The Admiral, who was a very great man at court--though he narrowlyescaped Siberia, or the knout, some time after--was civil enough to me:but I soon saw that, favourite as he was with the Czar, that great manleft but petty moves in the grand chessboard of politics to be played byany but himself; and my proper plan in this court appeared evidentlyto be unlike that pursued in most others, where it is better to win thefavourite than the prince. Accordingly, I lost no time in seeking aninterview with the Czar himself, and readily obtained an appointment tothat effect.
On the day before the interview took place, I amused myself withwalking over the city, gazing upon its growing grandeur, and casting, inespecial, a wistful eye upon the fortress or citadel, which is situatedin an island, surrounded by the city, and upon the building of whichmore than one hundred thousand men are supposed to have perished. Sogreat a sacrifice does it require to conquer Nature!
While I was thus amusing myself, I observed a man in a small chaise withone horse pass me twice, and look at me very earnestly. Like most of mycountrymen, I do not love to be stared at; however, I thought it betterin that unknown country to change my intended frown for a good-naturedexpression of countenance, and turned away. A singular sight now struckmy attention: a couple of men with beards that would have hidden acassowary, were walking slowly along in their curious long garments, andcertainly (I say it reverently) disgracing the semblance of humanity,when, just as they came by a gate, two other men of astonishing heightstarted forth, each armed with a pair of shears. Before a second wasover, off went the beards of the first two passengers; and beforeanother second expired, off went the skirts of their garments too: Inever saw excrescences so expeditiously lopped. The two operators, whopreserved a profound silence during this brief affair, then retired alittle, and the mutilated wanderers pursued their way with an air ofextreme discomfiture.
"Nothing like travel, certainly!" said I, unconsciously aloud.
"True!" said a voice in English behind me. I turned, and saw the manwho had noticed me so earnestly in the one horse chaise. He was a tall,robust man, dressed very plainly, and even shabbily, in a green uniform,with a narrow tarnished gold lace; and I judged him to be a foreigner,like myself, though his accent and pronunciation evidently showed thathe was not a native of the country in the language of which he accostedme.
"It is very true," said he again; "there is nothing like travel!"
"And travel," I rejoined courteously, "in those places where travelseldom extends. I have only been six days at Petersburg, and till I camehither, I knew nothing of the variety of human nature or the powerof human genius. But will you allow me to ask the meaning of the verysingular occurrence we have just witnessed?"
"Oh, nothing," rejoined the man, with a broad strong smile, "nothingbut an attempt to make men out of brutes. This custom of shaving is not,thank Heaven, much wanted now: some years ago it was requisite to haveseveral stations for barbers and tailors to perform their duties in. Nowthis is very seldom necessary; those gentlemen were especially markedout for the operation. By------" (and here the man swore a heartyEnglish and somewhat seafaring oath, which a little astonished me inthe streets of Petersburg), "I wish it were as easy to lop off all oldcustoms! that it were as easy to clip the _beard of the mind_, Sir! Ha!ha!"
"But the Czar must have found a little difficulty in effecting even thisoutward amendment; and to say truth, I see so many beards about stillthat I think the reform has been more partial than universal."
"Ah, those are the beards of the common people: the Czar leaves thosefor the present. Have you seen the docks yet?"
"No, I am not sufficiently a sailor to take much interest in them."
"Humph! humph! you are a soldier, perhaps?"
"I hope to be so one day or other: I am not yet!"
"Not yet! humph! there are opportunities in plenty for those who wishit; what is your profession, then, and what do you know best?"
I was certainly not charmed with the honest inquisitiveness of thestranger. "Sir," said I, "Sir, my profession is to answer no questions;and what I know best is--to hold my tongue!"
The stranger laughed out. "Well, well, that is what all Englishmen knowbest!" said he; "but don't be offended: if you will come home with me Iwill give you a glass of brandy!"
"I am very much obliged for the offer, but business obliges me todecline it; good morning, Sir."
"Good morning!" answered the man, slightly moving his hat, in answer tomy salutation.
We separated, as I thought; but I was mistaken. As ill-luck wouldhave it, I lost my way in endeavouring to return home. While I wasinterrogating a French artisan, who
seemed in a prodigious hurry, upcomes my inquisitive friend in green again. "Ha! you have lost your way:I can put you into it better than any man in Petersburg!"
I thought it right to accept the offer; and we moved on side by side. Inow looked pretty attentively at my gentleman. I have said that he wastall and stout; he was also remarkably well-built, and had a kind ofseaman's ease and freedom of gait and manner. His countenance was verypeculiar; short, firm, and strongly marked; a small, but thick mustachiocovered his upper lip; the rest of his face was shaved. His mouth waswide, but closed, when silent, with that expression of iron resolutionwhich no feature _but_ the mouth can convey. His eyes were large,well-opened, and rather stern; and when, which was often in the courseof conversation, he pushed back his hat from his forehead, the motiondeveloped two strong deep wrinkles between the eyebrows, which might beindicative either of thought or of irascibility,--perhaps of both. Hespoke quickly, and with a little occasional embarrassment of voice,which, however, never communicated itself to his manner. He seemed,indeed, to have a perfect acquaintance with the mazes of the growingcity; and, every now and then, stopped to say when such a house wasbuilt, whither such a street was to lead, etc. As each of these detailsbetrayed some great triumph over natural obstacles and sometimesover national prejudice, I could not help dropping a few enthusiasticexpressions in praise of the genius of the Czar. The man's eyes sparkledas he heard them.
"It is easy to see," said I, "that you sympathize with me, and that theadmiration of this great man is not confined to Englishmen. How littlein comparison seem all other monarchs!--they ruin kingdoms; the Czarcreates one. The whole history of the world does not afford an instanceof triumphs so vast, so important, so glorious as his have been. How hissubjects should adore him!"
"No," said the stranger, with an altered and thoughtful manner, "itis not his subjects, but _their posterity_, that will appreciate hismotives, and forgive him for wishing Russia to be an empire of MEN. Thepresent generation may sometimes be laughed, sometimes forced, out oftheir more barbarous habits and brute-like customs, but they cannot bereasoned out of them; and they don't love the man who attempts to doit. Why, Sir, I question whether Ivan IV., who used to butcher the dogsbetween prayers for an occupation, and between meals for an appetite,I question whether his memory is not to the full as much loved as theliving Czar. I know, at least, that whenever the latter attempts areform, the good Muscovites shrug up their shoulders, and mutter, 'Wedid not do these things in the good old days of Ivan IV.'"
"Ah! the people of all nations are wonderfully attached to their ancientcustoms; and it is not unfrequently that the most stubborn enemies toliving men are their own ancestors."
"Ha! ha!--true--good!" cried the stranger; and then, after a shortpause, he said in a tone of deep feeling which had not hitherto seemedat all a part of his character, "We should do that which is good to thehuman race, from some principle within, and should not therefore abateour efforts for the opposition, the rancour, or the ingratitude that weexperience without. It will be enough reward for Peter I., if hereafter,when (in that circulation of knowledge throughout the world which I cancompare to nothing better than the circulation of the blood in thehuman body) the glory of Russia shall rest, not upon the extent ofher dominions, but that of her civilization,--not upon the number ofinhabitants, embruted and besotted, but the number of enlightened,prosperous, and free men; it will be enough for him, if he be consideredto have laid the first stone of that great change,--if his labours befairly weighed against the obstacles which opposed them,--if, forhis honest and unceasing endeavour to improve millions, he be not tooseverely judged for offences in a more limited circle,--and if,in consideration of having fought the great battle against custom,circumstances, and opposing nature, he be sometimes forgiven for nothaving invariably conquered himself."
As the stranger broke off abruptly, I could not but feel a littleimpressed by his words and the energy with which they were spoken. Wewere now in sight of my lodging. I asked my guide to enter it; but thechange in our conversation seemed to have unfitted him a little for mycompanionship.
"No," said he, "I have business now; we shall meet again; what's yourname?"
"Certainly," thought I, "no man ever scrupled so little to ask plainquestions:" however, I answered him truly and freely.
"Devereux!" said he, as if surprised. "Ha!--well--we shall meet again.Good day."