660 



Madame di S{<^Vs Ten Years' Ea>Ue. 



selves appeared to 00117 their hearls 

 with less pride, as if the icy hand of 

 the North had heen already prepared to 



Ijiluck them. 



■ ' I passed through Novogorod, which 

 was, six centuries asto, a republic as- 

 sociated with the Hanse towns, and 

 which has preserved for a long period 

 a spirit of republican independence. 

 With the loss of liberty, NovogoixMl 

 had the mortification to see tlie gradual 

 disappearance of its population, its 

 commerce, and its wealth : so wither- 

 ing and destructive is the breath of ai - 

 bitrary power, says the best Lis(orian 

 of Russia. Even at the present day the 

 city of NoTOgorod presents an aspect of 

 singular melanclioly ; avast inclosure 



■indicates that it was formerly large and 

 populous, and you see nothing in it but 

 scattered houses, the inhabitants of 

 which seem to be i)laced (here like 

 figures weeping over the tombs. 'J^he 

 same spectacle is now j)robal)ly offered 

 by the beautiful city of Moscow; but 

 the public spirit will rebuild it, as it 

 has reconquered it. 



ST. PETER.SBURG. 



From Novogorod to Petersburg, you 

 see scarcely any thing but mar.-^lics, 

 and 3'ou arrive in one of the finest cities 

 intiie world, as if, witli a magic wand, 

 an enchanter had made all the wonders 

 of Europe and Asia start up from the 

 middle of the deserts. The foundation 

 of Petersburg offers the greatest proof 

 of that ardour of Russian will, which 

 recognizes nothing as impossible; every 

 thing in (he environs is humble, the 

 city is built upon a marsh, and even 

 tlie marble rests on piles ; but you for- 

 get wlien looking at these su])erb edi- 

 fices, their frail foundations, and can- 

 not help meditating on the miracle of 

 so fine a city being built in so short a 

 time. 



On my arrival at Petersburg my first 

 'sentiment M'as to return thanks to 

 ' heaveu for being on the borders of the 

 ''<*ea. 



"* It is said, and properly, that you 

 cannot, at Petersburg, say of a woman, 

 that she is as old as the streets, the 

 streets themselves ate so modern. The 

 buildings still possess a dazzling white- 

 ness, and at niglit when they are light- 

 * ed by the moon, they look like large 

 " \Vhite phantoms regarding, immove- 

 able, the course of the Neva, I know 

 not what there is particularly beautiful 

 in this river, but the waves of no other 

 T had yet seen ever appeared to me so 

 limpid. A succession of granite quays, 



thirty rersts in length, borders its 

 course, and this magnificent labour of 

 man is wortliy of the transjiarent water 

 which it adorns. 



The Russian inhabitants of Peters- 

 burg have the look of a pef»ple of the 

 South, condc^mned to live in the North, 

 and making every effort to struggle 

 with a climate at variance with (heir 

 nature. The inhabitants of the North 

 are generally A^ery indolent, and dread 

 the cold, precisely because he is their 

 daily enemy. The lowrr classes of the 

 Russians have none of these habits; the 

 coachmen wait for ten hours at the gate, 

 during wiflter, without complaining; 

 they sleep upon tlie snow, under their 

 carriage, and transport the manners of 

 the Lazzaroni of Naples to the sixtieth • 

 degree of latitude. You may see them 

 laying on the steps of staircases, like 

 the Germans in their down ; sometimes 

 they sleep standing, with their head 

 reciined against the wall, liy turns 

 indolent and impetuous, they give 

 themselves up alternately to sleep, or 

 to tlie most fa(iguing employments. 

 Some of them get drunk, in which they 

 differ from the people of the South, 

 who are very sober; but the Russians 

 are so also, and to an extent hardly 

 credible, when the difficulties of war 

 require it. 



Tile day after my arrival I went lo 

 dine with one of the most considerable 

 merchants of the city, who exercised 

 lH)spitali(y (^ /« liiisse ; that is to say, 

 he placed a fiag on the top of his house 

 to signify (hat he dined at home, and 

 this invitation was sufficient for all his 

 friends. He made us dine in the open 

 air, so much pleasure was felt from 

 these poor days of summer, of which a 

 few yet remained, to which we should 

 have scarcely given the name in the 

 South of Europe, The garden was 

 very agreeable ; it was embellLshed 

 with trees and flowers; but at four 

 paces from the house tlie deserts and 

 the marshes Averc again to be seen. In 

 the enviions of Petersburg, nature has 

 the look of an enemy who resumes his 

 advantages, when man ceases for a 

 moment to struggle with him. 



THE IMPERIAL FAMILV. 



I had at last the pleasure of seeing 

 that monarch, equally absolute by law 

 and custom, and so moderate from his 

 own disposition. The Empress Eliza- 

 beth, to whom I was at first presented, 

 appeared to me the tutelary angel of 

 Russia. Her manners are extremeljr 

 resened, but what she says is full of 



life, 



