Part 8 (1/2)
The travellers were told, that persons of rank condemned for political offences are carried off secretly by the police in closed carriages, without the power of co with their friends; that frequently they thus disappear, and no one knohither they are gone A suarded by horse-soldiers, proceeding towards Siberia, but no one knohom it contains
The travellers attended the service in the British chapel, where Mr Gray officiates, and they were surprised to find it so well filled
There were several persons in Russian uniforlishmen, in either the military or civil service of the Czar, who are allowed to worshi+p God after the mode of their fathers By the laws of Russia no Russianthe countryto his belief--as h they becoer e e the mind; and not only has the Greek Church been split into numerous bodies of sectarians, but there are many who totally dissent from it, an account of whom our friends afterwards heard
Sunday they ain co The first place they visited was the building near the Kre the most extensive roof without arches in the world, and in which the Eiether People at the farther end look like piground was now covered with lamps, in preparation for the illumination Their next excursion was to the Tartar quarter of the city, where there is a Tartar es in wide courtyards The sty at one side of the yard In their search for the mosque they entered several courtyards, where the wo robes, hurried away to hide theers At the usual early hour the muezzin mounted to the roof of the mosque, and in a loud voice summoned the faithful to prayer
”It is sad,” observed Fred, ”to find people in the centre of what is called a Christian land who are totally ignorant of a Saviour”
”Very sad indeed,” replied Cousin Giles; ”but if we look at hohts still lishmen who not only have never heard of the Saviour, but do not know of the existence of a God Every year is indeed working a change, and dih the exertions of christian and philanthropic row older it will be a subject worthy of your attention, and you should not rest till all in your native land have the gospel preached to theht some of the rush shoes worn by the peasants They are a
They are s round the ankles Their cost is about twopence a pair
After dinner they drove to the Sparrow Hills, about five miles west of the city The road was execrable, full of ruts and holes They passed the palace of the Eardens They saw also an asylum for the s and children of decayed , with a church in the centre Russia contains nuenerally well conducted They are, however, not to be compared to the numberless ostentatious charities of which our beloved country, with all her shortcoe took the travellers to the top of the Sparrow Hills, which are of no great elevation They slope steeply down to the Moscohich, after passing the city, takes a sharp bend close to their base, and then runs back again towards the southern end of it
The vieas indeed superb Below them, on the plain across the river, was the Donskoy Convent, with its red walls and lofty towers, several other convents being scattered about here and there To the right, on the wooded and sloping banks of the Moscoere the Es; and before theolden and silver dohty pile of precious jewels from the far-famed mines of Gokonda On the left, on a wide-extended doere seen the white tents of fifty thousand of the choicest troops of Russia, assenify to the people the power by which he rules
”I should very h that camp,” exclaimed Fred; ”I want to see if all they say about the Russian troops is true”
”We willthere to-morrow,” replied Cousin Giles
”I have no doubt the visit will be an interesting one; but, for my part, I do not expect to be so interested as I am at present The whole of Russia cannot, perhaps, afford a sight more beautiful than the one before us Here it was that Napoleon, afteracross Europe, first beheld the superb city which he hoped in a few hours to ht--the prize of all his toils! How grievously, yet how righteously, was he disappointed! As he, swelling with pride and elated with triu at the city fro already devoted their beloved capital to destruction, wereout on the opposite side In a short time the city in which he trusted to find shelter for his troops during the winter burst forth into flaitive, and his ours of the climate and the remorseless Cossacks History cannot afford a more dreadful picture than the retreat of the French from Moscow, or a clearer example of the retributive justice of Heaven Not lish, paid a visit, as conquerors, to Paris The French, united with the English, were lately on the point of returning the corant that neither of theuise but that of friends To comme the Church of Saint Saviour, whose golden domes we see so conspicuous not far fro it out with his stick
After gazing on the interesting scene for soe
In the evening a Ger resident in Russia, to whoave them several important pieces of information
”The late Emperor Nicholas ell aware,” he told theround, and that, though a despot in name, he knew that he was in the power of his own nobles To liberate himself, he endeavoured to weaken, if not to destroy, the old nobility-- first by leading the a new order between nobles and peasants, who should feel that they owed their elevation entirely to him
”For this purpose he created what he called the Guild of Honourable Merchants Every uild who had paid a tax of 150 per annu to it
The Honourable Merchants are free from all imposts, conscriptions, etcetera, and pay no taxes Anotherthe old nobility was to establish a pawn bank, where they could at all tiance,put up for sale, it was bought up by the Honourable Merchants and othercoe education By an ukase he ordered that all children throughout the country should be educated To effect this object every priest is bound to have a school attached to his parish church In consequence, a considerable number of children do learn to read; but the ukase cannot o to school, and in norant and careless that these schools are of very little use The present Ee liberal institutions He has erected municipalities in the towns In the courts of law three officers are chosen by the Crown, and three by the e He is anxious also to abolish serfdoerous He is, however, effecting his object, which his father also entertained, by slow degrees When an estate is sold, all the serfs become free, and in this way a considerable number have been liberated No serfs can now be sold: a person may inherit an estate and the serfs on it [See Note 1] Many of the great nobles would willingly get rid of their serfs if they could On one of their estates, perhaps, they are overcrowded, on another they have not a sufficient nuround or to work their mines; yet they have no power to remove the serfs of one estate to another, while they must find means for their support on the spot where they were born If the peasants were free, they could literally have more power over them, because they could then turn them off their estates, and compel them to seek for employment where it is to be found Nicholas, by several of his enactments, has enabled his son to rule with less difficulty than would otherwise have been the case By the ruin of some of the principal nobles he has saved him from the worst enemies of his ancestors, who so frequently proved their destroyers; and by the creation of a wealthyin education and nu body who find that it is their interest to support hier their interest so to do, the whole fabric of Russian government will crumble to the dust”
The first excursion our friendswas to the Donskoy Convent It stands on a flat near the Moscowa, and is surrounded with high brick walls, flanked by lofty towers, all of bright red-brick It has entirely the character of an ancient fortress, erected to withstand the rapid incursions of an eneular attack The church, standing in the centre of a wide, open space, is a lofty pile, with the usual gilt do buildings, on one floor
A youngdark robe, a broad-bri over his shoulders, cauide the travellers about the convent Cousin Giles had engaged a young Englishman to act as their interpreter, and he very much increased the interest of the scenes they visited, and theirinformation
The monk led them into the interior of the church, which consisted of a vaulted chae wooden screen The carpenters and gilders and painters were busily at work, painting and furbishi+ng up the ornaht forcibly to the minds of the travellers the preparations for a new play at a theatre The e church was so cold in winter that it was shut up, and that there was a small one, armed with stoves, where they could at that season worshi+p in coround, which they found croith the tombs of noble fahbourhood This is the -place of that part of Russia, and consequently people are very anxious to have the reh they could not enjoy good coht at all events after their death have such satisfaction as it round was laid out alks; the toe device, and crowded together in a hich would have been far fro to some of the more aristocratic inhabitants in their lifetiraveyard read the lesson to visitors, often uttered before, that death is a leveller of all ranks, and no respecter of persons
When the travellers thanked the young moppy-haired monk for his attention, he replied that it was his duty, as it was his pleasure, to show his convent, and seemed in no way to expect any remuneration The Imperial family, it is said, have no affection for theof dislike is mutual They predicted the overthrow of the Russian armies in the Cri the father of the prophecy
In their way through the city the travellers entered an Armenian church
It was ornamented with pictures of saints, like those of a Roman Catholic place of worshi+p; but the pulpit was in a conspicuous place, as if preaching was not altogether neglected; and there were chairs inside the altar railings for the Patriarch and other ecclesiastical functionaries
The style of ornaments about the church showed that the Armenian community were either not wealthy or not disposed to spend much money on the edifice It, however, spoke of a purer faith than that of the Greek Church
After dining, our friends set out, and drove along the high road to Saint Petersburg, towards the Petrofsky Palace Every part of the way, from the Kremlin to the Gate of Triu and seats, in preparation for the coronation, to enable the lieges ”to see great Caesar pass that way” from his palace of Petrofsky, where he was to reside three days before entering the Holy City to undergo the ceremony of his coronation
The Gate of Triumph, which forms the northern entrance to the city, is built of stone, after the model of one at Rome, but with a taste which would make a Roman stare All the statues and ornaments about it are painted of every variety of colour, so that it has the appearance of a wooden structure put up by the rustic inhabitants of soe to welcome the lord of the estate