R58 



Madame de StaeVa Ten Years'^ £xife. 



with t«ri-ets, which, by their odd shapes, 

 remind one of a Turkish miuaret ratlier 

 than a fortress like those of (he West 

 of Eorope. But although the external 

 character of the buildings of the city 

 Be oriental, the impression of Christi- 

 anity was found in that multih'ide of 

 churches so much venerated, and which 

 attracted your notice at every step. One 

 was reminded of Rome in seeing Mos- 

 cow ; certainly not from the monu- 

 ments being of the same style, but be- 

 cause the mixture of Solitary country 

 and magnificent palaces, the grandeur 

 of the city and the infinite niynber of 

 its churches give the Asiatic Rome 

 some points of resemblance to the Eu- 

 ropean Rome. 



It was aljout the beginning of Au- 

 gust, that I was allowe<l to see the 

 interior of the Kremlin ; I got there by 

 the same staircase which the Emperor 

 Alexander had ascended a few days 

 preceding, surrounded by an immense 

 people, who loaded him with their 

 blessings, and promised biin to defend 

 his empire at all hazards. Tins people 

 has kept it« word. The halls were first 

 throwni open to me in wliicli the arms 

 of the ancient Wtirriors of Russia are 

 contained ; the arsenals of this kind, 

 in other parts of Europe, are much 

 mure interesiiug. The Russians iiave 

 taken no part in the times of chival- 

 ry; they never mingled in the Cru- 

 sades, f'oustantly at war with the 

 Tartars, Poles, and Turks, the mili- 

 ■tary spirit has been formed among 

 them in the midst of the atrocities of 

 all kinds brought in the train of Asia- 

 tic nations, and of the tyrants who 

 governed Russia. It is not therefore 

 the generous bravery of the Bayards or 

 of the Percys, but the inti-epidity of a 

 fanatical courage which has been ex- 

 hibited in this country for several cen- 

 turies. The Russians, in the relations 

 of society, which are so new to them, 

 are not distinguished by the spirit of 

 chivali-y, such as the people of the 

 West conceive it ; but they have al- 

 ways shown themselves terrible to their 

 enemies. So many massacres have 

 taken place in the interior of Russia, 

 iipto the reign of Peter the Great, and 

 even later, that the morality of the 

 nation^ and jKirticularly that of the 

 great nobility, must have suffered se- 

 verely from them. These despotic go- 

 vernments, whose sole restraint is the 

 assassination of the despot, overthrow 

 all principles of honour and duty 

 iu the minds of men : but Ihe love of 



their co«inliy and an attachment to 

 tlieir religious cretMl have been main- 

 tained iu their full strength, amidiit 

 the wrecks of this bloody history, and 

 the nation which preserves sncli vir- 

 tues may yet astonisli the world. 



From the ancient arsenal I was con- 

 ducted into tile apartments formerly 

 occupied by the czars, and in which 

 the robes are preserved which thfcy 

 wore on the day of their coronation. 

 These apartmeiits have no -s^wt ef 

 bsauty, but they agreed very, well with 

 the hard life which (he czars Icfl and 

 Still lead. The greatest magnificence 

 reigns in tiie palace of Alexander ; Init 

 he himself sleeps on the floor, and tra- 

 vels like a Cossack officer. 



TRACE OF MOSCOW. 



The commercial establishments at 

 Moscow had quite an Asiatic charac- 

 ter : men in turbans, and others dress- 

 ed in the ditt'erent costumes of all the 

 people of the East, exhibited the rarest 

 merchandize : the furs of Siberia and 

 the muslins of India there offered all 

 the enjoyments of luxury to those 

 great noblemen whose imagination is 

 equally pleased with the sables of the 

 Samoiedes and with the rubies of the 

 Persians. " ■ 



FOUNDLINO HOSPITAL. 



Farther on was the Foundling House, 

 one of rhe most affecting institutions of 

 Europe ; hospitals for all classes of so- 

 ciety might be remarked in the dif- 

 ferent quarters of the city : finally, the 

 eye in its wanderings could rest up«m 

 nothing but wealth or benevolence, 

 u]wu edifices of luxuiy or of charity; 

 upon churches or on palaces, which 

 diffused happiness or distinction upon 

 a large portion of the human race. You 

 saw the windings of the Mosk^^-a, of 

 that river, which, since the last inva- 

 sion by the Tartars, had never rolled 

 with blood iu its waves : the day was 

 delightful, the sun seemed to take a 

 pleasure in shedding his rays upon 

 these glittering cupolas. I was re- 

 minded of the old Archbishop Plato, 

 who had just written a pastoral letter 

 to the Emperor Alexander, the orien- 

 tal style of which had extremely aflect- 

 ed me ; he sent the image of the Virgin 

 from the borders of Europe, to drive 

 far from Asia the man who wished to 

 bear down upon the Russians with the 

 whole weight of the nations chained to 

 his steps. — For a moment the thought 

 struck me that Napoleon might yet set 

 his foot upon this same tower from 

 which I was admiring the city» which 



