80 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE -XII 



which draws tears, one can hardly tell why. It was more 

 and more evident, as he lingered before this and other 

 pictures embodying similar ideas, that sympathy for those 

 struggling through poverty and want toward a better life 

 is his master passion. 



Among the pictures, not to be classed as religious, be 

 fore which he thus lingered were those representing the 

 arrest of a nihilist and the return of an exile from Si 

 beria. Both were well painted, and both revealed the 

 same characteristic sympathy with the poor, even with 

 criminals. 



Some of the more famous historical pictures in the col 

 lection he thought exaggerated; especially those repre 

 senting the fury of the Grand Duchess Sophia in her mon 

 astery prison, and the remorse of Ivan the Terrible after 

 murdering his son. 



To my surprise, he agreed with me, and even went be 

 yond me, in rating landscape infinitely below religious and 

 historical painting, saying that he cared for landscape- 

 painting only as accessory to pictures revealing human 

 life. 



Among genre pictures, we halted before one represent 

 ing a peasant family grouped about the mother, who, with 

 a sacred picture laid upon her breast, after the Russian 

 manner, was dying of famine. This also seemed deeply 

 to impress him. 



We stopped next before a picture of a lady of high birth 

 brought before the authorities in order to be sent, evi 

 dently against her will, to a convent. I cited the similar 

 story from Manzoni s &quot;Promessi Sposi&quot;; but, to my 

 surprise, he seemed to know little of that most fascinating 

 of historical romances. This led to a discussion in which 

 he said he had once liked Walter Scott, but had not read 

 anything of his for many years ; and he seemed interested 

 in my statement that although always an especial admirer 

 of Scott, I had found it almost impossible to induce the 

 younger generation to read him. 



Stopping before a picture of Peter the Great s fatal 



