was sought, which succeeded in making the work solid; but, in its ornaments, the taste of the country has been followed.
I am ignorant of the rule prescribed by the Greek church relative to the worship of images : but in seeing this church entirely covered with paintings in fresco, betraying bad taste, and designed in the stiff, monotonous style, called the modern Greek, because its models were brought from Byzantium, I asked myself, what then are the figures, what can be the subjects, the representation of which is forbidden in the Greek church ? Apparently they banish nothing from these buildings except good pictures.
In passing before the Virgin of St. Luke, my Italian cicerone assured me that it was genuine : he added, with the faith of a mugic, ?i Signore, signore, o il paese dei miracoli!' 'It is the land of miracles !' I believe him, for fear is a potent thaumaturgist. What a singular journey is this, which in a fortnight conveys you into Europe as it was 400 years ago ! Nay, with us, even in the middle ages, man better felt his dignity than he does at the present day in Russia. Princes as false and crafty as the heroes of the Kremlin would never have been surnamed
The ichonostasis of this cathedral is magnificently painted and gilded from the pavement to the roof. The ichonostasis is a partition, or panel, raised in Greek churches between the sanctuary, which is always concealed by doors, and the nave, where the faithful congregate. The church is nearly square, very lofty, and so small that in walking in it you feci as if in a dungeon. The building contains the
TOWER OF JOHN THE GREAT.13
tombs of numerous patriarchs; it has also very rich shrines and famous relics brought from Asia. Viewed in detail, the cathedral is any thing but beautiful, yet, as a whole, there is something about it which is imposing. If we do not admire, we feel a sense of sadness : and this is something: for sadness disposes the mind to religious sentiments. But in the great structures of the Catholic church there is something more than Christian sadness ; there is the song of triumph and victorious faith.
The sacristy contains many curiosities ; but I do not pretend to give a list of the wonders of Moscow. I speak of every thing that strikes me, and for more complete accounts refer the reader to Laveau, Sehnitz-ler, and, above all, to my successors. Fresh travellers cannot fail soon to explore Russia; for this country will not long remain so little known as it is at present.
The steeple of John the Great, Ivan Velikoi, is contained within the walls of the Kremlin. It is the loftiest building in the city ; its cupola, according to Russian custom, is gilded with the gold of ducats. This singular tower is an object of veneration to the Muscovite peasants. Every thing is holy at Moscow, so strong is the sentiment of respect in the heart of the Russian people.
The church of Spassna Boron (the Saviour in the Garden), the most ancient in Moscow, was also shown to me ; and near to it a bell, a piece of which is broken off, the largest bell, I believe, in the world. It is placed on the ground, and is in itself a cupola. It was re-cnst after a fire which had caused it to fall, in the reign of the Empress Anne.
We likewise visited two convents within the
14CONVENT OF THE ASCENSION.
Kremlin, those of the Miracles and. the Ascension, in which latter are the tombs of several Czarinas ; among others that of Helena, the mother of Ivan the Terrible. She was worthy of her son : unmerciful like him, talent was her only recommendation. Some of the wives of the same tyrant are also buried here. The churches of the Convent of the Ascension astonish foreigners by their riches.
At last I summoned courage to face the Corinthian columns of the Treasury; so braving with closed eyes those dragons of bad taste, I entered the glorious arsenal, where are ranged, as in a cabinet of curiosities, the most interesting historical relics of Russia.
What a collection of armour, of vases, and of national jewels! What profusion of crowns and of thrones, all gathered into the same place ! The manner in which
The crowns are placed on cushions raised upon pedestals, and the thrones, ranged along the wall, are reared in separate alcoves. There is wanting only in this evocation of the past, the presence of the men for whom all these things were made. Their absence is equivalent to a sermon on the vanity of human life. The Kremlin without its Czars is like a theatre without lights or actors.
The most respect-worthy, if not the most imposing
CROWNS AND THRONES.15
of the crowns, is that of Monomachus ; it was brought from Byzantium to Kiew in 1116. Another crown is also said to have belonged to Monomachus, though many consider it yet more ancient than the reign of that prince. In this royal constellation of diadems, are crowns also of the kingdoms of Kazan, Astrachan, and Georgia. The view of these satellites of royalty, maintaining a respectful distance from the star that governs all—the imperial crown — is singularly imposing. Every thing is emblematic in Russia: it is a poetical land — poetical as sorrow ! What are more eloquent than the tears that fall internally and gather upon the heart ? The crown of Siberia is found among the rest. It is an imaginary insignia of Russian manufacture, deposited as though to point out a grand historical fact, accomplished by* commercial adventurers and soldiers under the reign of Ivan IV., an epoch from whence dates, not exactly the discovery, but the conquest of Siberia. All these crowns are covered with the most enormous and the most costly jewels in the world. The bowels of this land of desolation have been opened to furnish a food for the pride of that despotism of which it is the asylum !
The throne and crown of Poland help to enrich the superb imperial and royal galaxy. So many jewels, enclosed in a small space, blazed in my eyes like the train of a peacock. What sanguinary vanity ! I muttered to myself, at each new marvel before which my guides forced me to stop.
The crowns of Peter I., of Catherine I., and of Elizabeth, particularly struck me : — what gold ! — what diamonds ! — and what dust ! ! Imperial orbs, thrones, and sceptres — all brought together to attest the gran-
16TREASURES OF THE CZARS.
deur of things, the nothingness of men ! And when we think that this nothingness extends even to empires, we are at a loss to which of the branches to cling that hang over the torrent of time. HowT can we attach ourselves to a world made up of the forms of life, but where no forms last? If God had not revealed a paradise, it would be found by souls of a mould and temper strong enough to fill this void in creation. The platonic idea of an unchangeable and purely spiritual world — ideal type of all the universe — is equivalent in my eyes to the existence of such a world. How can we believe that God is less fertile in conception, less rich, less powerful, and less equitable than the brain of man ? Can our imagination surpass the works of the Creator, from whom that imagination is derived ?* The idea implies contradiction and impossibility. It has been said that it is man who creates God in his image : yes, as a child makes war with wooden soldiers ; but does not his game furnish a proof to history ? Without Turenne, Frederick II., or Napoleon having lived, would our children amuse themselves by
