RUSSIA. 





llimia. 







rounded by chamber utensils, and other dj-agri-oab!e 

 trumpi rv, !< nncil a curious motley association. 



AnothiT and a curious nightly scene takes place in 

 tin- p;ilaces of tlu- nobles of IVteraburgh and Moscow, 

 as well as in those of the interior of the empire. The 

 enormous number of servants attached to tin* establish- 

 ment of the grandees, has excited the Mirpi i-c of all 

 Kuropean travellers ; but few of them, perhaps, en 

 quired, or had an opportunity of knowing, how these 

 servants are disposed of when the evening 1 parties 

 break up. So many of them retire to the wings and 

 the other numerous edifices, which are always the con- 

 comitants of a princely fortune in this country ; and 

 those who are inmates of the master's dwelling occupy 

 the lower story and the back rooms, and there they 

 sleep ; the rest make their beds upon the floors of the 

 anti-chambers, and even, at times, within the rooms. 

 Thus the whole range of the back apartments of a 

 large house or palace is every night covered with beds 

 laid upon the Moor, and a crowd of human beings 

 huddled together, under sheep-skins, shoobs, great 

 coats, bed- covers, or whatever comes most readily to 

 hand ; so that while the walls of the elegant suite of 

 apartments in the front are covered with paintings, 

 the floors of that in the back are covered with human 

 beings, like so many dogs. The bad air, and the filth 

 of such a den, on the following morning are inde- 

 scribable ; and the numerous kinds^of vermin which 

 have revelled the whole night, can only bear allusion. 

 Jn the morning, all hands are called to work, to re- 

 move the beds and other accoutrements, and clear the 

 floors for a few hours, when the same scene is re. 

 peated. 



Let us now turn to the virtues of the Russians. 

 Considerable apparent diversity of opinion has existed 

 with respect to the hospitality of the Russians. Dr. 

 Clarke not only spoke of their hospitality, but also of 

 their "prodigious hospitality," but at the same time he 

 assigned such motives for its practice, as rendered it 

 altogether a nugatory virtue in the north. From the 

 concurring testimony of writers and travellers, it may, 

 however, be concluded that the Russians are an hospi- 

 table people, and that no where in the autocratic domi- 

 nions is that virtue carried to a greater height, than in 

 the icy regions of Siberia. Russian hospitality is not 

 confined to civil life, but extends throughout the army 

 and the navy. " Wherever," says Dr. Lyall, " I have 

 met the Russians, whether in warm or frigid latitudes, 

 hospitality made a strong feature of their character, and 

 was so natural to them, that they practised it apparent- 

 ly without knowing it to be a virtue, or that it merited 

 applause." 



Every Briton who has not travelled much upon the 

 continent, or in other parts of the world, or who is 

 transported at once from his own country, charac- 

 terized by foreigners for punctilio and stiffness, to 

 the ease and freedom of Russian society, must be equal- 

 ly astonished and delighted with the invitations to the 

 open tables of the nobles, and the hospitable manner in 

 which he is generally treated without any ceremony. 

 As the Russians seem to acquire new life in having a 

 numerous retinue at their repasts and their fetes, it is 

 true, a motley crew both of males and females, of all 

 ranks, and character, and appearance, are associated to- 

 gether ; an association often the most incongruous and 

 the most disgusting to British feeling. There is much 

 truth in what Dr. Clarke says upon this subject, though 



?VII. PART II. 



written in lively and strong language. ' A swarm of 

 slaves, attendants, hirelings, and dependant sycophants," 

 says he, " is peculiarly characteristic of domestic eco- 

 nomy in Moscow," and he might have added, through- 

 (Hit the Russian empire. " The noble* consider the 

 honour of their families to materially implicated in 

 maintaining a numerous table, that should any of the 

 satellites which u-ually surround them, forsake hi* post 

 at dinner, and swell the train of any other person, the 

 offence i rarely forgiven ; they will afterward* perse* 

 cute the deserter by every means of revenge within 

 their power , and, not being burdened by scruples of 

 conscience, they generally find means of indulging their 

 vengeance. I have seen persons who were victims of 

 their own good nature, in having accepted invitations 

 which decoyed them from the table of their lord. Si- 

 milar motives gave rise to the prodigious hospitality 

 which has been described by traveller?. Before the 

 reign of Paul, a stranger no tooner arrived in Moscow, 

 than the most earnest solicitations were made for hit 

 regular attendance at the table of this or that noble- 

 man. If his visits were indiscriminate, jealousy and 

 quarrels were the inevitable consequence. During the 

 reign of Paul, Englishmen were guests who might 

 involve the host in difficulty and danger ; yet notwith- 

 standing the risk incurred, it is but justice to acknow- 

 ledge the nobles felt themselves so gratified by the pre- 

 sence of a stranger, that having requested his attend- 

 ance, they would close their portals upon his equipage, 

 lest it should be discovered by the officers of police." 

 Ever since the present sovereign held the sceptre, how- 

 ever, no such restraints have be en known, and strangers 

 have been openly and kindly received and treated by 

 all ranks with whom they could associate. As in other 

 countries, especially in the capitals, hospitality some- 

 times resolves itself into mere state and show, and the 

 exhibition of the master's superiority and vanity; 

 in short, into mere ostentation. But this virtue is so 

 general among the Russians that it has been reckoned 

 a remnant of barbarism, because it generally prevails 

 among savage and uncivilized nations and tribes. 

 Whatever be its origin, it is a virtue which reflects the 

 highest honour upon the natives of Russia; and the more 

 so, that in their country some of the other social ties of 

 civilized society, especially those of friendship, are so 

 unsteady and so feeble. Many of the imperfections of 

 Russia are, no doubt, those of an early period of civi- 

 lization ; and they, even in some ju-int>, remind us of 

 the barbarous days and the feudal times of Great Bri- 

 tain. At present, though less so than in times already 

 gone by, the cheapness of provisions, or rather the 

 stores in kind, which almost every nobleman has, ren* 

 ders it a very easy affair for him to make large en- 

 tertainments without spending almost any money, ex- 

 cept for wines and luxuries; and his possession of vas- 

 sals enables him to employ a great many servants in 

 all different capacities, without almost any decrease of 

 his revenues. In consequence of these facilities, many 

 of the nobles fit up private theatres, at which their own 

 servants are the actors ; so that tailors and shoemakers, 

 musicians and dancers, body-servants and lackeys, 

 sempstresses and chambermaids, &c. during day, in the 

 evening become kings and queens, lords and ladies, &c, 

 Bnt the advance in the price of provisions which has 

 followed, and promises to follow the footsteps of civi- 

 lization, has already narrowed, and will gradually nar- 

 row still more the sphere of hospitality, and Russia in 

 3 T 



