number of the Russians in their intercourse with the men of other lands.
The Muscovite character is in many respects the very opposite of the German. On this account it is that the Russians say they resemble the French; but the analogy is only apparent: in the inner character there is a great difference. You may, if you choose, admire in Russia pomp and oriental grandeur; you may study there Greek astuteness; but you must not seek for the Gallic naivcto, the sociability and the amiabil ity of the French when they are natural; though I admit that you will find still less of the good faith, the sound intelligence, and the cordial feeling of the German. In Russia you may meet with good temper, because it is to be met with wherever there are men; but good nature is never seen.
Every Russian is born an imitator; he is, by consequence, a great observer.
This talent, which is proper to a people in its infancy, often degenerates into a mean system of espionage. It produces questions often importunate and impolite, and which appear intolerable, coming from people always impenetrable themselves, and whose answers are seldom more than evasions. One would say that friendship itself had here some private understanding with the police. How is it possible to be at ease with people so guarded and circumspect respecting all which concerns themselves, and so inquisitive about others? If they see you assume, in your intercourse with them, manners more natural than those which they show towards you, they fancy you their dupe. Beware then of letting them see you off your guard, beware of giving them your confi-
RUSSIAN HONESTY.
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dence: to men who are without feeling themselves, it is an amusement to observe the emotions of others, an amusement to which I, for one, do not like to administer. To observe our manner of life is the greatest pleasure of the Russians ; if we allowed them, they would amuse themselves by striving to read our hearts and analyse our sentiments, just as people study dramatic representations at the theatre.
The extreme mistrust of all classes here with whom you have any business, warns you to be circumspect; the fear that you inspire discloses the danger that you run.
The other day at Peterhoff, a victualler would not permit my servant to provide me with a miserable supper in my actor's box, without being previously paid for it, although the shop of this prudent man is but two steps from the theatre. What you put to your lips with one hand, must be paid for with the other; if you were to give a commission to a merchant without presenting him with money in advance, he would believe you were in jest, and would not undertake your business.
No one can leave Russia until he has forewarned all his creditors of his intention, that is to say, until he has announced his departure three times in the gazettes at an interval of eight days between each publication.
This is strictly enforced, unless at least you pay the police to shorten the prescribed time, and even then you must make the insertion once or twice. No one can obtain post horses without a document from the authorities certifying that he owes nothing.
So much precaution shows the bad faith that exists H 6
156THE ONLY SINCERE RUSSIAN.
in the country; for as, hitherto, the Russians have had little personal intercourse with foreigners, they must have taken lessons in wariness from themselves alone.
Their experience is only such as their position with regard to each other can teach them. These men will not allow us to forget the saying of their favourite sovereign, Peter the Great, ' It takes three Jews to cheat a Russian.'
At each step you take in the land, you recognise the polities of Constantinople as described by the historians of the crusades, and as discovered by the Emperor Napoleon in the Emperor Alexander, of whom he often said, ' He is a Greek of the Lower Empire.' Transactions with people whose founders and instructors have always been the sworn foes of chivalry, should be avoided as much as possible. Such people are slaves to their interest, and lords of their word. Hitherto, I have found in the whole empire of Russia but one person who appears to me to be sincere, and that one, I take pleasure in repeating, is the Emperor.
I own it costs less to an autocrat to be candid than it does to his subjects. For the czar to speak without disguise, is the performance of an act of authority. An absolute monarch who flatters and prevaricates must abdicate.
But how many have there not been who, on this point, have forgotten their power and their dignity ! Base minds never think themselves above falsehood: we may therefore admire the sincerity even of a powerful ruler. The Emperor Nicholas unites frankness with politeness, and in him these two qualities, which are never seen combined in the vulgar, wonderfully act and re-act upon each other.
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Among the nobles, those who do possess good manners, possess them in perfection. The proof of thifr may be seen daily at Paris and elsewhere; but a drawing-room Russian who has not attained true politeness, that is to say, the facile expression of a real amenity of character, has a coarseness of mind, which is rendered doubly shocking by the false elegance of his language and manners. Such ill-bred and yet well-informed, well-dressed, clever, and self-confident Russians, tread in the steps of European elegance, without knowing that refinement of habits has no value except as it announces the existence of something better in the heart of its possessor. These apprentices of fashion, who confound the appearance with the reality, are trained bears, the sight of which inclines me to regret the wild ones: they have not yet become polished men, although they are spoiled savages.
As there is such a place as Siberia, and as it is appropriated to the uses that are so well known, I could wish it were peopled with fastidious young officers and nervous fair ladies:
In this manner I would recommend the Emperor to check the rage for travelling, which is making fearful progress in Russia, among imaginative sublieutenants and fanciful women.
If, at the same time, he were to take back the seat of his empire to Moscow, he would repair the evil caused by Peter the Great, as far as one man may atone for the errors of generations.
Petersburg, a city built rather against Sweden than for Russia, ought to be nothing more than a sea-
158ERRORS OF PETER THE GREAT.
port, a Russian Dantzie. Instead of this, Peter the First made it a box, from whence his chained boyards might contemplate, with envy, the stage on which is enacted the civilisation of Europe; a civilisation which, in forcing them to copy, he forbade them to emulate !
Peter the Great, in all his works, acted without any regard to humanity, time, or nature. The more we examine Russia, the more strongly shall we be confirmed in the opinion that that prince has been too highly extolled, both at home and abroad. Had he been as superior a character as is pretended, he would have perceived and shunned the wrong road into which he drove his people ; he would have foreseen and detested the frivolity of
