rivals, went together to the unhappy prince, and announced to him, on entering, that they had eome to dine with him. Before the repast, they caused glasses of brandy to be brought, according to the Russian custom. In that of the emperor was poison. But, whether rendered precipitate by their haste to carry the news of their success, or by the horror with which their action inspired them, they wished the moment after to make him take a second glass. His already burning stomach, and the horrible expression of their faces, rendered him, however, suspicious, and he refused the glass. To make him drink it, they resorted to force, and the emperor resisted. In this terrible strife, in order to stifle his cries, which could be heard at a distance, they threw themselves upon him. As he defended himself with all the energy of despah`, and as it was necessary to avoid marking his body with wounds, fear for themselves at length induced them to call to their aid the two officers who had been appointed to guard his person, and who were waiting outside at the door of his prison. These were the youngest of the princes Baratinski, and one Potemkin, a youth of seventeen. They had shown so much zeal in the conspiracy, that, notwithstanding their extreme youth, this guard had
* One whose visage is marked with the scar of a wound.—
54SUMMER HOUSES OF CATHERINE.
been entrusted to them. They immediately appeared, and three of these murderers having closely tied a napkin round the neck of the unhappy emperor, OrloiF pressed his knees upon his breast until he lay lifeless in their hands.
<? It is not known with certainty what part the empress took in the event; but it is known, that on the day that it took place this princess was sitting down to dinner in a very good humour, when the same OrlofF, covered with sweat and dust, his hair dishevelled, his clothes torn, his countenance agitated and full of horror, appeared before her. On entering, his anxious eyes sought those of the empress. She rose without speaking, entered a cabinet, into which he followed her, and some minutes after she called Count Panin, already appointed her minister, and informed him that the emperor was dead. Panin advised her to let the evening pass in silence, and to spread the news in the morning, as though it had been received during the night. This counsel being agreed upon, the empress returned to the table with the same unperturbed countenance, and continued her dinner in the good humour with which it had been commenced. On the morrow, when it was spread abroad that Peter had died of a hemorrhoidal colic, she appeared bathed in tears, and published her grief by an edict.'
In looking over the park of Oranienbaum, which is large and beautiful, I visited several of the summer-houses, which were the scenes of the Empress's amorous assignations. Some of them were splendid pavilions, others exhibited bad taste. In general their architecture lacked purity of style, though
CAMP OP KRASNACSELO.
certainly pure enough for the uses to which the goddess of the place destined them.
I returned to Peterhoif, and slept, for the third night, in the theatre. This morning, in returning to Petersburg, I took the road by Krasnacselo, where a large camp is formed. Forty thousand men of the imperial guard are, it is said, lodged there under tents, or dispersed in the neighbouring villages. Others say the number is seventy thousand. In Russia every one imposes upon me his own estimate, to which I pay little attention, for nothing is more deceptive than these statements. They serve to show, however, the importance that is attached to leading people astray. Nations rise above such childish stratagems when they pass from infancy to a state of manhood.
I was much amused with viewing the variety of uniforms, and with comparing the expressive and savage faces of these soldiers, who are brought from every part of the empire. Long lines of white tents glistened in the sun, on a surface broken into small undulations in a manner that produced a picturesque effect.
I am constantly regretting the insufficiency of words to describe certain scenes in the north, and, above all, certain effects of light. A few strokes of the pencil would give a better idea of the original aspect of this melancholy and singular land, than whole volumes of description.
56RESPONSIBILITY OF
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE EMPEROR. EFFECTS OF THE STORM AT
PETERHOFF. DEATH OF TWO ENGLISHMEN. THE MYSTERY
IN WHICH ALL OCCURRENCES ARE ENVELOPED. A STEAM-BOAT
SAVED ВТ AN ENGLISHMAN. THE RUSSIAN I>OLICE. — DISAP
PEARANCE OF A FEMME DE CHAMBRE. POLITENESS AND BRU
TALITY UNITED. CRUELTY OF A FELD JAGER. QUARREL
AMONG WORK-PEOPLE, AND THE REVOLTING CRUELTY OF THE
POLICE. THE EMPEROR A REFORMER.THE COLUMN OF ALEX
ANDER.REFORM IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE COURT. THE
CHURCH OF SAINT ISAAC. ITS IMMENSITY. — SPIRIT OF THE
GREEK RELIGION. ITS DEGRADATION. CONVERSATION WITH
A FRENCHMAN. A TRAVELLING PRISON. INSURRECTION
CAUSED BY A SPEECH OF THE EMPEROR'S. BLOODY SCENES ON
THE WOLGA. HISTORY OF THE POET POUSKINE. HIS DUEL
AND DEATH. FATE OF HIS AMBITIOUS SUCCESSOR. THE
POETRY OF POUSKINE.EFFECTS OF THE ADOPTION OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES IN RUSSIA. CONSEQUENCES OF THE RAGE FOR
ENGLISH NURSES AND GOVERNESSES IN FRANCE. — SUPERIORITY
OF THE CHINESE. THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES. ROUSSEAU.
— DECLINE OF FRENCH LITERATURE.
According to information that I have obtained this morning respecting the disaster of the fete of Peter-hoff, its extent has exceeded my expectations. But we shall never ascertain the exact circumstances of the event. Every accident here, is treated as an affair of state : it is Crod who has failed in his duty to the emperor.
Political superstition, which is the soul of the Muscovite community, exposes its chieftain to all the complaints that impotence may bring against power,
ГНЕ EMPEROK.57
that earth may urge against heaven. If my dog is hurt, it is to me that he comes for the cure of his wound; if God afflicts the Russians, they immediately call upon their czar. This prince, wTho is responsible for nothing in politics, must answer for every thing in Providence; a natural consequence of man's usurpation of the rights of God. A man who allows himself to be considered as more than a mortal, takes upon himself all the evil that heaven may send upon earth during his reign. There results from this species of political fanaticism, a susceptibility, and jealous delicacy of which no idea can be formed in other lands. Nevertheless, the secrecy which policy believes it necessary to maintain on the subject of misfortunes the least dependent upon human will, fails in its object, inasmuch as it leaves the field open to imagination. Every one relates the same transaction differently, according to his interest, his fears, his ambition, or his humour; according to his situation at court, or his position in the world. Hence it is, that truth, in Petersburg is an imaginary thing, just as it has become in France, although from different eauses. An arbitrary censorship and an unlimited liberty may lead to the same results, and render impossible the verification of the most simple fact.
Thus, some say that there Avere only tliirty persons who perished the day before yesterday, while others
