THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE FAR EAST. Five Volumes. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3.00 each. The volumes sold separately. Each volume complete in itself.

THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN SOUTH AMERICA. Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentine Republic, and Chili; with Descriptions of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, and Voyages upon the Amazon and La Plata Rivers. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3.00.

THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey in European and Asiatic Russia, with Accounts of a Tour across Siberia, Voyages on the Amoor, Volga, and other Rivers, a Visit to Central Asia, Travels Among the Exiles, and a Historical Sketch of the Empire from its Foundation to the Present Time. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3.00.

THE VOYAGE OF THE "VIVIAN" TO THE NORTH POLE AND BEYOND. Adventures of Two Youths in the Open Polar Sea. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $2.50.

HUNTING ADVENTURES ON LAND AND SEA. Two Volumes. Copiously Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $2.50 each. The volumes sold separately. Each volume complete in itself.

☞ Any of the above volumes sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt of the price.

Copyright, 1886, by Harper & Brothers.—All rights reserved.

[Pg 5]

In preparing this volume for the press, the author has followed very closely the plan adopted for "The Boy Travellers in the Far East," and also for his more recent work, "The Boy Travellers in South America." Accompanied by their versatile and accomplished mentor, Dr. Bronson, our young friends, Frank Bassett and Fred Bronson, journeyed from Vienna to Warsaw and St. Petersburg, and after an interesting sojourn in the latter city, proceeded to Moscow, the ancient capital of the Czars. From Moscow they went to Nijni Novgorod, to attend the great fair for which that city is famous, and thence descended the Volga to the Caspian Sea. On their way down the great river they visited the principal towns and cities along its banks, saw many strange people, and listened to numerous tales and legends concerning the races which make up the population of the great Muscovite Empire.

They visited the recently developed petroleum fields of the Caspian, and, after crossing that inland sea, made a journey in Central Asia to study certain phases of the "Eastern Question," and learn something about the difficulties that have arisen between England and Russia. Afterwards they travelled in the Caucasus, visited the Crimea, and bade farewell to the Empire as they steamed away from Odessa. Concerning the parts of Russia that they were unable to visit they gathered much information, and altogether their notes, letters, and memoranda would make a portly volume.

The author has been three times in the Russian Empire, and much of the country described by "The Boy Travellers" was seen and traversed by him. In his first journey he entered the Czar's dominions at Petropavlovsk in Kamtchatka, ascended the Amoor River through its entire navigable length, traversed Siberia from the Pacific Ocean to the Ural Mountains, and continuing thence to Kazan, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Warsaw, left the protection of the Russian flag eleven thousand miles from where he first went beneath it. His second visit included the Crimea[Pg 6] and other regions bordering the Black Sea, and his third was confined to Finland and other Baltic provinces.

In addition to his personal observations in Russia, the author has drawn upon the works of others. Many books of Russian travel and history have been examined; some of them have been mentioned in the text of the narrative, but it has not been practicable to refer to all. Indebtedness is hereby acknowledged to the following books: "Free Russia," by Hepworth Dixon; "Turkestan" and "Life of Peter the Great," by Hon. Eugene Schuyler; "A Ride to Khiva," by Col. Fred Burnaby; "Campaigning on the Oxus, and the Fall of Khiva," by J. A. Macgahan; "Life of Peter the Great" and "Life of Genghis Khan," by Jacob Abbott; "The Siberian Overland Route," by Alexander Michie; "Tent-life in Siberia," by George Kennan; "Reindeer, Dogs, and Snow-shoes," by Richard J. Bush; "The Invasion of the Crimea," by A. W. Kinglake; "Fred Markham in Russia," by W. H. G. Kingston; "The Knout and the Russians," by G. De Lagny; "The Russians at the Gates of Herat" and "The Region of the Eternal Fire," by Charles Marvin; "Travels in the Regions of the Upper and Lower Amoor" and "Oriental and Western Siberia," by Thomas W. Atkinson; and "The Russians at Home," by Sutherland Edwards. The author has also drawn upon several articles in Harper's Magazine, including his own series describing his journey through Siberia.

The publishers have kindly permitted the use of illustrations from their previous publications on the Russian Empire, in addition to those specially prepared for this book. As a result of their courtesy, the author has been able to present a "copiously illustrated" book, which is always a delight to the youthful eye.

T.W.K.

[Pg 7]

[Pg 11]

[Pg 15]

"Here are the passports at last."

"Are you sure they are quite in order for our journey?"

"Yes, entirely so," was the reply; "the Secretary of Legation examined them carefully, and said we should have no trouble at the frontier."

"Well, then," a cheery voice responded, "we have nothing more to do until the departure of the train. Five minutes will complete the packing of our baggage, and the hotel bill is all settled. I am going for a walk through the Graben, and will be back in an hour."

So saying, our old acquaintance, Doctor Bronson, left his room in the Grand Hotel in Vienna and disappeared down the stairway. He was followed, a few minutes later, by his nephew, Fred Bronson, who had just returned from a promenade, during which he had visited the American Legation to obtain the passports which were the subject of the dialogue just recorded.

At the door of the hotel he was joined by his cousin, Frank Bassett. The latter proposed a farewell visit to the Church of St. Stephen, and[Pg 16] also a short stroll in the Graben, where he wished to make a trifling purchase. Fred assented, and they started at once.

They had not gone far before Fred perceived at a window the face of a girl busily engaged in writing. He paused a moment, and then suggested to Frank that he wished to return to the hotel in time to write a letter to his sister before the closing of the mail. "I really believe," said he, "that I should have neglected Mary this week if I had not been reminded by that girl in the window and her occupation."

Frank laughed as he rejoined that he had never yet known his cousin to forget his duty, and it[Pg 17] would have been pretty sure to occur to him that he owed his sister a letter before it was too late for writing it.

They made a hasty visit to the church, which is by far the finest religious edifice in Vienna, and may be said to stand in the very heart of the city. Fred had previously made a note of the fact that the church is more than seven hundred years old, and has been rebuilt, altered, and enlarged so many times that not much of the original structure remains. On the first day of their stay in Vienna the youths had climbed to the top of the building and ascended the spire, from which they had a magnificent view of the city and the country which surrounds it. The windings of the Danube are visible for many miles, and there are guides ready at hand to point out the battle-fields of Wagram, Lobau, and Essling. Our young friends had a good-natured discussion about the height of the spire of St. Stephen's; Frank claimed that his guide-book gave the distance from the ground to the top of the cross four hundred and fifty-three feet, while Fred contended, on the authority of another guide-book, that it was four hundred and sixty-five feet. Authorities differ considerably as to the[Pg 18] exact height of this famous spire, which does not appear to have received a careful measurement for a good many years.

From the church the youths went to the Graben, the famous street where idlers love to congregate on pleasant afternoons, and then they returned to the hotel. Fred devoted himself to the promised letter to his sister. With his permission we will look over his shoulder as he writes, and from the closing paragraph learn the present destination of our old friends with whom we have travelled in other lands.[1]

"We have been here a week, and like Vienna very much, but are quite willing to leave the city for the interesting tour we have planned. We start this evening by the Northern Railway for a journey to and through Russia; our first stopping-place will be at the nearest point on the railway for reaching the famous salt-mines of Wieliczka. You must pronounce it We-litch-ka, with the accent on the second syllable. I'll write you from there; or, if I don't have time to do so at the mines, will send you a letter from the first city where we stop for more than a single day. We have just had our passports indorsed by the Russian minister for Austria—a very necessary proceeding, as it is impossible to get into Russia without these documents. Until I next write you, good-by."

The travellers arrived at the great Northern Railway station of Vienna in ample season to take their tickets and attend to the registration of their baggage. The train carried them swiftly to Cracow—a city which has had a prominent place in Polish annals. It was the scene of several battles, and was for a long time the capital of the ancient kingdom of Poland. Frank made the following memoranda in his note-book:

"Cracow is a city of about fifty thousand inhabitants, of whom nearly[Pg 19] one-third are Israelites. It stands on the left bank of the Vistula, on a beautiful plain surrounded by hills which rise in the form of an amphitheatre. In the old part of the city the streets are narrow and dark, and cannot be praised for their cleanliness; but the new part, which lies outside the ancient defences, is quite attractive. The palace is on the bank of the river, and was once very pretty. The Austrians have converted it into a military barrack, after stripping it of all its ornaments, so that it is now hardly worth seeing. There are many fine churches in Cracow, but we have only had time to visit one of them—the cathedral.

"In the cathedral we saw the tombs of many of the men whose names are famous in Polish history. Polish kings and queens almost by the dozen are buried here, and there is a fine monument to the memory of St. Stanislaus. His remains are preserved in a silver coffin, and are the object of reverence on the part of those who still dream of the ultimate liberation of Poland, and its restoration to its old place among the kingdoms of the world.

"We drove around the principal streets of Cracow, and then out to the tumulus erected to the memory of the Polish patriot, Kosciusko. You remember the lines in our school reader,

"'Hope for a season bade the world farewell,
And freedom shrieked as Kosciusko fell.'

"We were particularly desirous to see this mound. It was made of earth brought from all the patriotic battle-fields of Poland at an enormous expense, which was largely borne by the people of Cracow. The monument is altogether one hundred and fifty feet high, and is just inside the line of fortifications which have been erected around the city. The Austrians say these fortifications are intended to keep out the Russians; but[Pg 20] it is just as likely that they are intended to keep the Poles from making one of the insurrections for which they have shown so great an inclination during the past two or three centuries.

"As we contemplated the monument to the famous soldier of Poland, we remembered his services during our Revolutionary war. Kosciusko entered the American army in 1776 as an officer of engineers, and remained with General Washington until the close of the war. He planned the fortified camp near Saratoga, and also the works at West Point. When our independence was achieved he returned to Poland, and after fighting for several years in the cause of his country, he made a brief visit to America, where he received much distinction. Then he returned again to Europe, lived for a time in France, and afterwards in Switzerland, where he died in 1817. The monument we have just visited does not cover his grave, as he was buried with much ceremony in the Cathedral of Cracow."

"Why don't you say something about the Jewish quarter of Cracow," said Fred, when Frank read what he had written, and which we have given above.

"I'll leave that for you," was the reply. "You may write the description while I make some sketches."

[Pg 21]

"I'm agreed," responded Fred. "Let's go over the ground together and pick out what is the most interesting."

Away they went, leaving Doctor Bronson with a gentleman with whom he had formed an acquaintance during their ride from the railway to the hotel. The Doctor was not partial to a walk in the Jews' quarter, and said he was willing to take his knowledge of it at second-hand.

On their way thither the youths stopped a few minutes to look at the Church of St. Mary, which was built in 1276, and is regarded as a fine specimen of Gothic architecture. It is at one side of the market-place, and presents a picturesque appearance as the beholder stands in front of it.

The Jews' quarter is on the opposite side of the river from the principal part of the city, and is reached by a bridge over the Vistula. At every step the youths were beset by beggars. They had taken a guide from the hotel, under the stipulation that he should not permit the beggars to annoy them, but they soon found it would be impossible to secure immunity from attack without a cordon of at least a dozen guides. Frank pronounced the beggars of Cracow the most forlorn he had ever seen, and Fred thought they were more numerous in proportion to the population than in any other city, with the possible exception of Naples. Their ragged and starved condition indicated that their distress was real, and more than once our young friends regretted having brought themselves face to face with so much misery that they were powerless to relieve.

Frank remarked that there was a similarity of dress among the Jews of Cracow, as they all wore long caftans, or robes, reaching nearly to the heels. The wealthy Jews wear robes of silk, with fur caps or turbans, while the poorer ones must content themselves with cheaper material, according to their ability. The guide told the youths that the men of[Pg 22] rank would not surround their waists with girdles as did the humbler Jews, and that sometimes the robes of the rich were lined with sable, at a cost of many hundreds of dollars.

Fred carefully noted the information obtained while Frank made the sketches he had promised to produce. They are by no means unlike the sketches that were made by another American traveller (Mr. J. Ross Browne), who visited Cracow several years before the journey of our friends.

"But there's one thing we can't sketch, and can't describe in writing," said Fred, "and that's the dirt in the streets of this Jews' quarter of Cracow. If Doctor Bronson knew of it I don't wonder he declined to come[Pg 23] with us. No attempt is made to keep the place clean, and it seems a pity that the authorities do not force the people into better ways. It's as bad as any part of Canton or Peking, and that's saying a great deal. I wonder they don't die of cholera, and leave the place without inhabitants."

In spite of all sorts of oppression, the Jews of Cracow preserve their distinctiveness, and there are no more devout religionists in the world than this people. The greater part of the commerce of the city is in their hands, and they are said to have a vast amount of wealth in their possession. That they have a large share of business was noticed by Fred, who said that from the moment they alighted from the train at the railway-station they were pestered by peddlers, guides, money-changers, runners for shops, beggars, and all sorts of importunate people from the quarter of the city over the Vistula. An hour in the Jews' quarter gratified their curiosity, and they returned to the hotel.

There is a line of railway to the salt-mines, but our friends preferred to go in a carriage, as it would afford a better view of the country, and enable them to arrange the time to suit themselves. The distance is about nine miles, and the road is well kept, so that they reached the mines in little more than an hour from the time of leaving the hotel. The road is through an undulating country, which is prettily dotted with farms, together with the summer residences of some of the wealthier inhabitants of Cracow.

On reaching the mines they went immediately to the offices, where it was necessary to obtain permission to descend into the earth. These offices are in an old castle formerly belonging to one of the native princes, but long ago turned into its present practical uses. Our friends were accompanied by a commissioner from the hotel where they were lodged in Cracow; he was a dignified individual, who claimed descent from one of the noble families of Poland, and the solemnity of his visage was increased[Pg 24] by a huge pair of spectacles that spanned his nose. Frank remarked that spectacles were in fashion at Wieliczka, as at least half the officials connected with the management of the salt-mines were ornamented with these aids to vision.

A spectacled clerk entered the names of the visitors in a register kept for the purpose, and issued the tickets permitting them to enter the mines. Armed with their tickets, they were conducted to a building close to the entrance of one of the mines, and ushered into the presence of the inspector-general of the works. He was also a wearer of spectacles, and the rotundity of his figure indicated that the air and food of the place had not injured him.

"The inspector-general received us politely—in fact everybody about the place was polite enough for the most fastidious taste," said Frank in his note-book—"and after a short conversation he called our attention to the robes which had been worn by imperial and royal visitors to the mines. The robes are richly embroidered, and every one bears a label telling when and by whom it was worn. The inspector-general treated the garments with almost as much reverence as he would have shown to the personages named on the labels. We realized that it was proper to regard them with respect, if we wished to have the good-will of this important official, and therefore we appeared to be dumb with amazement as he went through the list. When the examination was ended we were provided with garments for the descent. Evidently we were not regarded with the same awe as were the kings and emperors that had preceded us, as our robes were of a very common sort. They were like dressing-gowns, and reached nearly to our heels, and our heads were covered with small woollen caps. I do not believe they were labelled with our names and kept in glass cases after our departure.

"I made a sketch of our guide after he was arrayed in his underground[Pg 25] costume and ready to start. Fred sketched the inspector-general while the latter was talking to the Doctor. The portrait isn't a bad one, but I think he has exaggerated somewhat the rotund figure of the affable official.

"From the office we went to the entrance of one of the shafts. It is in a large building, which contains the hoisting apparatus, and is also used as a storehouse. Sacks and barrels of salt were piled there awaiting transportation to market, and in front of the building there were half a dozen wagons receiving the loads which they were to take to the railway-station. The hoisting apparatus is an enormous wheel turned by horse-power; the horses walk around in a circle, as in the old-fashioned cider-mill of the Northern States, or the primitive cotton-gin of the South. Our guide said there were more than twenty of these shafts, and there was also a stairway, cut in the solid earth and salt, extending to the bottom of the mine. We had proposed to descend by the stairway, but the commissioner strenuously advised against our doing so. He said the way was dark and the steps were slippery, as they were wet in many places from the water trickling through the earth. His arguments appeared reasonable, and so we went by the shaft.

"The rope winds around a drum on the shaft supporting the wheel, and then passes through a pulley directly over the place where we were to descend. The rope is fully two inches in diameter, and was said to be capable of bearing ten times the weight that can ever be placed upon it in ordinary use. It is examined every morning, and at least once a week it is tested with a load of at least four times that which it ordinarily carries. When it shows any sign of wear it is renewed; and judging from all we could see, the managers take every precaution against accidents.

"Smaller ropes attached to the main one have seats at the ends. There are two clusters of these ropes, about twenty feet apart, the lower one being intended for the guides and lamp-bearers, and the upper for visitors and officials. Six of us were seated in the upper group. It included our party of four and two subordinate officials, who accompanied us on our journey and received fees on our return; but I suppose they would scorn to be called guides.

"There is a heavy trap-door over the mouth of the shaft, and the rope plays freely through it. The guides and lamp-bearers took their places at the end of the rope; then the door was opened and they were lowered down, and the door closed above them. This brought the upper cluster of ropes in position for us to take our places, which we did under[Pg 26] the direction of the officials who accompanied us. When all was ready the signal was given, the trap-door was opened once more, and we began our downward journey into the earth.

"As the trap-door closed above us, I confess to a rather uncanny feeling. Below us gleamed the lights in the hands of the lamp-bearers, but above there was a darkness that seemed as though it might be felt, or sliced off with a knife. Nobody spoke, and the attention of all seemed to be directed to hanging on to the rope. Of course the uppermost question in everybody's mind was, 'What if the rope should break?' It doesn't take long to answer it; the individuals hanging in that cluster below the gloomy trap-door would be of very little consequence in a terrestrial way after the snapping of the rope.

"We compared notes afterwards, and found that our sensations were pretty much alike. The general feeling was one of uncertainty, and each one asked himself several times whether he was asleep or awake. Fred said a part of the journey was like a nightmare, and the Doctor said he had the same idea, especially after the noise of the machinery was lost in the distance and everything was in utter silence. For the first few moments we could hear the whirring of the wheel and the jar of the machinery; but very soon these sounds disappeared, and[Pg 27] we glided gently downward, without the least sensation of being in motion. It seemed to me not that we were descending, but that the walls of the shaft were rising around us, while our position was stationary.

"Contrary to expectation, we found the air quite agreeable. The official who accompanied us said it was peculiarly conducive to health; and many of the employés of the mines had been at work there forty or fifty years, and had never lost a day from illness. We had supposed it would be damp and cold, but, on the contrary, found it dry and of an agreeable temperature, which remains nearly the same all through the year. No doubt the salt has much to do with this healthy condition. Occasionally[Pg 28] hydrogen gas collects in some of the shafts which are not properly ventilated, and there have been explosions of fire-damp which destroyed a good many lives. These accidents were the result of carelessness either of the miners or their superintendents, and since their occurrence a more rigid system of inspection has been established.

"We stopped at the bottom of the shaft, which is about three hundred feet deep; there we were released from our fastenings and allowed to use our feet again. Then we were guided through a perfect labyrinth of passages, up and down ladders, along narrow paths, into halls spacious enough for the reception of an emperor, and again into little nooks where men[Pg 29] were occupied in excavating the salt. For several hours we wandered there, losing all knowledge of the points of compass, and if we had been left to ourselves our chances of emerging again into daylight would have been utterly hopeless.

"And here let me give you a few figures about the salt-mines of Wieliczka. I cannot promise that they are entirely accurate, but they are drawn from the best sources within our reach. Some were obtained from the under-officials of the mines who accompanied us, and others are taken from the work of previous writers on this subject.

"The salt-mine may be fairly regarded as a city under the surface of the earth, as it shelters about a thousand workmen, and contains chapels, churches, railways, stables, and other appurtenances of a place where men dwell. In fact it is a series of cities, one above the other, as there are four tiers of excavations, the first being about two hundred feet below the surface, and the lowest nearly two thousand. The subterranean passages and halls are named after various kings and emperors who have visited them, or who were famous at the time the passages were opened, and altogether they cover an area of several square miles. In a general way the salt-mines of Wieliczka may be said to be nearly two miles square; but the ends of some of the passages are more than two miles from the entrance of the nearest shaft. The entire town of Wieliczka lies above the mines which give occupation to its inhabitants.

"There is probably more timber beneath the surface at Wieliczka than above it, as the roofs of the numerous passages are supported by heavy beams; and the same is the case with the smaller halls. In the larger halls such support would be insufficient, and immense columns of salt are left in position. In several instances these pillars of salt have been replaced by columns of brick or stone, as they would be[Pg 30] liable to be melted away during any accidental flooding of the mine, and allow the entire upper strata to tumble in. This has actually happened on one occasion, when a part of the mine was flooded and serious damage resulted.

"Our guide said the length of the passages, galleries, and halls was nearly four hundred English miles, and the greatest depth reached was two thousand four hundred feet. If we should visit all the galleries and passages, and examine every object of interest in the mines, we should be detained there at least three weeks. Not a single one of all the workmen had been in every part of all the galleries of the mine, and he doubted if there was any officer attached to the concern who would not be liable to be lost if left to himself.

"Nobody knows when these mines were discovered; they were worked in the eleventh century, when they belonged to the kingdom of Poland, and an important revenue was derived from them. In the fourteenth century Casimir the Great established elaborate regulations for working the mines, and his regulations are the basis of those which are still in force, in spite of numerous changes. In 1656 they were pledged to Austria, but were redeemed by John Sobieski in 1683. When the first partition of Poland took place, in 1772, they were handed over to Austria, which has had possession of them ever since, with the exception of the short period from 1809 to 1815.

"While the mines belonged to Poland the kings of that country obtained a large revenue from them. For two or three centuries this revenue was sufficiently large to serve for the endowment of convents and the dowries of the members of the royal family. The Austrian Government has obtained a considerable revenue from these mines, but owing to the modern competition with salt from other sources, it does not equal the profit of the Polish kings.

"Except when reduced by accidents or other causes, the annual production of salt in these mines is about two hundred millions of pounds, or one hundred thousand tons. The deposit is known to extend a long distance, and the Government might, if it wished, increase the production to any desired amount. But it does not consider it judicious to do so, and is content to keep the figures about where they have been since the beginning of the century. The salt supplies a considerable area of country; a large amount, usually of the lower grades, is sent into Russia, and the finer qualities are shipped to various parts of the Austrian Empire.

"We asked if the workmen lived in the mines, as was currently reported, and were told they did not. 'They would not be allowed to do[Pg 31] so, even if they wished it,' said our guide. 'By the rules of the direction the men are divided into gangs, working eight hours each, and all are required to go to the surface when not on duty. In ancient times it was doubtless the case that men lived here with their families. At one time the mines were worked by prisoners, who did not see daylight for months together, but nothing of the kind has occurred for more than a century at least.'

"Several times in our walk we came upon little groups of men working in the galleries; and certainly they were not to be envied. Sometimes they were cutting with picks against perpendicular walls, and at others they were lying flat on their backs, digging away at the roof not[Pg 32] more than a foot or two above their heads. The shaggy lamp-bearers—generally old men unable to perform heavy work—stood close at hand, and the glare of the light falling upon the flashing crystals of salt that flew in the air, and covered the half-naked bodies of the perspiring workmen, made a picture which I cannot adequately describe. I do not know that I ever looked upon a spectacle more weird than this.

"We had expected to see the men in large gangs, but found that they were nearly always divided into little groups. One would think they would prefer any other kind of occupation than this, but our guide told us that the laborers were perfectly free to leave at any time, just as though they were in the employ of a private establishment. There were plenty of men who would gladly fill their places, and frequently they had applications for years in advance. As prices go in Austria, the pay is very good, the men averaging from twenty to fifty cents a day. As far as possible they are paid by the piece, and not by time—the same as in the great majority of mines all over the world.

"But the horses which draw the cars on the subterranean railways are[Pg 33] not regarded with the same care as the men. They never return to the light of day after once being lowered into the mine. In a few weeks after arriving there a cataract covers their eyes and the sight disappears. By some this result is attributed to the perpetual darkness, and by others to the effect of the salt. It is probably due to the former, as the workmen do not appear to suffer in the same way. Whether they would become blind if continually kept there is not known, and it is to be hoped that no cruel overseer will endeavor to ascertain by a practical trial.

"Every time we came upon a group of workmen they paused in their labors and begged for money. We had provided ourselves with an abundance of copper coins before descending into the mine, and it was well we did so, as they generally became clamorous until obtaining what they wanted. Fortunately they were satisfied with a small coin, and did not annoy us after once being paid.

"I cannot begin to give the names of all the halls, galleries, and passages we went through, and if I did, it would be tedious. We wandered up and down, down and up, forward and backward, until it seemed as if there was no end to the journey. And to think we might have been there three weeks without once repeating our steps! I will mention at random some of the most interesting of the things we saw. To tell the whole story and give a full description of this most wonderful salt-mine in the world would require a volume.

"The chamber of Michelwic was the first of the large halls that we entered, and was reached after a long journey through winding passages and along foot-paths that sometimes overhung places where it was impossible for the eye, aided only by the light of the lamps, to ascertain the[Pg 34] depth of the openings below. In some of the dangerous places there was a rail to prevent one from falling over; but this was not always the case, and you may be sure we kept on the safe side and close to the wall.

"In the hall we were treated to a song by one of the mining over-seers, an old soldier who had lost an arm in some way that was not explained to us. He had an excellent voice that ought to have secured him a good place in the chorus of an opera troupe. He sang a mining song in quite a melodramatic style; and as he did so the notes echoed and re-echoed through the hall till it seemed they would never cease. In the centre of the hall is a chandelier cut from the solid salt, and on grand occasions this chandelier is lighted and a band of music is stationed at one end of the vast space. Its effect is said to be something beyond description, and, judging from the effect of the overseer's voice, I can well believe it.

"From this hall we went through a series of chambers and galleries named after the royal and imperial families of Poland and Austria, passing chapels, shrines, altars, and other things indicating the religious character of the people employed in the mines or controlling them, together[Pg 35] with many niches containing statues of kings, saints, and martyrs, all hewn from the solid salt. Some of the statues are rudely made, but the most of them are well designed and executed. In some of the chapels worshippers were kneeling before the altars, and it was difficult to realize that we were hundreds of feet below the surface of the earth.

"By-and-by our guide said we were coming to the Infernal Lake. The lamp-bearers held their lights high in the air, and we could see the reflection from a sheet of water, but how great might be its extent was impossible to guess. As we approached the edge of the water a boat emerged from the gloom and came towards us. It was a sort of rope ferry, and we immediately thought of the ferry-boat which the ancients believed was employed to carry departed spirits across the river Styx. Certainly the darkness all around was Stygian, and the men on the boat might have been Charon's attendants.

"We passed down a few steps, entered the boat, and were pulled away from shore. In less than a minute nothing but the little circle of water around us was visible; the sides of the cavern echoed our voices and every other sound that came from our boat. In the middle of the lake we paused to observe the effect of the sound caused by the waves created by the rocking of the boat. It reverberated through the cavern and away into the galleries, and seemed as though it would last forever. When this sensation was exhausted we moved on again. Doctor Bronson asked the guide how far it was to the other end of the lake, but before the answer was spoken we had a fresh surprise.

"There was a flash of light from a point high above us, and almost at the same instant another, a little distance ahead. The latter assumed the form of an arch in red fire, displaying the greeting 'Glück-auf!' or 'Good-luck!' though this is not the literal translation. We passed under this[Pg 36] arch of red fire, and as we did so the words 'Glück-auf! Glück-auf!' were shouted from all around, and at the same time flashes of fire burst from a dozen places above the lake. We shouted 'Glück-auf!' in reply, and then the voices from the mysterious recesses seemed to be quadrupled in number and volume. The air was filled with flashes of light, and was everywhere resonant with the words of the miners' welcome.

"At the other end of the lake there was a considerable party waiting to receive us, and of course there was a liberal distribution of coin to everybody. I ought to have said at the outset that we arranged to pay for[Pg 37] the illumination of the lake and also of certain specified halls, in addition to the compensation of the guides. The illuminations are entirely proportioned to the amount that the visitors are willing to give for them. It is a good plan to unite with other visitors, and then the individual cost will not be heavy. Twenty dollars will pay for a very good illumination, and fifty dollars will secure something worthy of a prince, though not a first-class one.

"They showed us next through more winding passages, and came at length to the Grand Saloon of Entertainment; which is of immense extent, and has no less than six large chandeliers hanging from the roof. It is lighted on the occasion of the visit of a king or emperor (of course he[Pg 38] has to pay the bill), and the effect is said to be wonderful. There is an alcove at one end, with a throne of green and ruby-colored salt, whereon the emperor is seated. A blaze of light all through the hall is reflected from the myriad crystals of salt which form the roof and sides; the floor is strewn with sparkling salt; the columns are decorated with evergreens; festoons of flags abound through the place; and a band of music plays the airs appropriate to the hall and the guest.

"The workmen and their families assemble in their holiday dress, and when the music begins the whole party indulges in the Polish national dance. It is a strange spectacle, this scene of revelry five hundred feet below the surface of the earth, and probably among the sights that do not come often before the Imperial eyes. These spectacles must be arranged to order, and for weeks before an Imperial or Royal visit a great many hands are engaged in making the necessary preparations. From all I heard of these festivals, I would willingly travel many hundred miles to see one of them.

"By means of the illuminating materials that we brought with us, we were able to get an approximate idea of the character of one of these gala spectacles. After our last Bengal-light had been burned, we continued our journey, descending to the third story by many devious ways, and finally halting in a chamber whose roof was not less than a hundred feet above us.

"'Do you know where you are?' said our guide.

"Of course we answered that we did not.

"'Well,' said he, 'you are directly beneath the lake which we sailed over in a boat a little while ago. If it should break through we should all be drowned, dead.'

"We shuddered to think what might be our fate if the lake should[Pg 39] spring a leak. It did break out at one time and flooded many of the galleries, and for a long while work in all the lower part of the mine was suspended. There have been several fires, some of them causing the loss of many lives; but, on the whole, considering the long time the mine has been opened and the extent of the works, the accidents have been few.

"The deepest excavation in the mine is nearly seven hundred feet below the level of the sea. We did not go there, in fact we did not go below the third story, as we had seen quite enough for our purposes, and besides we had only a limited time to stay in the mine. As we came up again to daylight, hoisted in the same sort of chairs as those by which we descended, we made a final inspection of the salt which comes from the mine.

"'There are three kinds of salt,' said the guide. 'One that is called green salt contains five or six per cent. of clay, and has no transparency; it is cut into blocks and sent to Russia exactly as it comes from the mine. The second quality is called spiza, and is crystalline and mixed with sand; and the third is in large masses, perfectly transparent, having no earthy matter mingled with it. The salt is found in compact tertiary clays that contain a good many fossils; the finest salt is at the lowest levels, and the poorest at the higher ones.'

"Well, here we are at the top of the shaft, tired and hungry, and excited with the wonderful things we have seen. The visit to the salt-mines of Wieliczka is something to be long remembered."

Since the visit herein described, the manner of working the salt-mines of Wieliczka has undergone a decided change. Owing to the influx of a stream the lower levels of the mines were flooded, and for some time remained full of water. In order to free them it was necessary to introduce powerful pumping machinery of the latest designs, and also to replace the old hoisting apparatus with new. Horse-power was abandoned in favor of steam, both for hoisting and pumping; new precautions were taken against fire; all improved systems of mine-working were tested, and those which proved useful were adopted; and to-day the mines of Wieliczka may be considered, in every respect, the foremost salt-mines in the world.

[Pg 40]

The sun was setting as our friends reached Cracow, on their return from Wieliczka. The walls of the city were gilded by the rays of light that streamed over the hills which formed the western horizon. In all its features the scene was well calculated to impress the youthful travellers. Frank wished to make a sketch of the gate-way through which they passed on their entrance within the walls, but the hour was late and[Pg 41] delay inadvisable. The commissioner said he would bring them a photograph of the spot, and with this consolation the young man dismissed from his mind the idea of the sketch.

All retired early, as they intended taking the morning train for the Russian frontier, and thence to Warsaw. They were up in good season, and at the appointed time the train carried them out of the ancient capital of Poland.

At Granitsa, the frontier station, they had a halt of nearly two hours. Their passports were carefully examined by the Russian officials, while their trunks underwent a vigorous overhauling. The passports proved to be entirely in order, and there was no trouble with them. The officials were particularly polite to the American trio, and said they were always pleased to welcome Americans to the Empire. They were less courteous to an Englishman who arrived by the same train, and the Doctor said it was evident that the Crimean war had not been entirely forgotten. Several passengers had neglected the precautions which our friends observed at Vienna, in securing the proper indorsement to their passports, and were told that they could not pass the frontier. They were compelled to wait until the passports could be sent to Cracow for approval by the Russian consul at that point, or else to Vienna. A commissioner attached to the railway-station offered to attend to the matter for all who required his aid; formerly it was necessary for the careless traveller to return in person to the point designated, but of late years this has not been required.

"This passport business is an outrageous humbug," said the Englishman with whom our friends had fallen into conversation while they were waiting in the anteroom of the passport office. "Its object is to keep improper persons out of Russia; but it does nothing of the kind. Any Nihilist, Revolutionist, or other objectionable individual can always obtain[Pg 42] a passport under a fictitious name, and secure the necessary approval of consuls or ambassadors. Ivan Carlovitch, for whom the police are on the watch, comes here with a passport in the name of Joseph Cassini, a native of Malta, and subject of Great Britain. His English passport is obtained easily enough by a little false swearing; it is approved by the Russian minister at Vienna, and the fellow enters Russia with perfect ease. The honest traveller who has neglected the formality through ignorance is detained, while the Revolutionist goes on his way contented. The Revolutionist always knows the technicalities of the law, and is careful to observe them; and it is safe to say that the passport system never prevented any political offender from getting into Russia when he wanted to go there.

"I have been in Russia before," he continued, "and know what I am saying. The first time I went there was from Berlin, and on reaching the frontier I was stopped because my passport was not properly indorsed. I supposed I would have to go back to Berlin, but the station-master said I need not take that trouble; I could stop at the hotel, and he would arrange the whole matter, so that I might proceed exactly twenty-four hours later. I did as he told me, and it was all right."

"How was it accomplished?"

"Why, he took my passport and a dozen others whose owners were in the same fix as myself, and sent them by the conductor of the train to Kœnigsburg, where there is a Russian consul. For a fee of two English shillings (fifty cents of your money) the consul approved each passport; another fee of fifty cents paid the conductor for his trouble, and he brought back the passports on his return run to the frontier. Then the station-master wanted four shillings (one dollar) for his share of the work, and we were all en regle to enter the Russian Empire. We got our baggage ready, and were at the station when the train arrived; the station-master delivered our passports, and collected his fee along with the fees of the conductor and consul, and that ended the whole business. The consul knew nothing about any of the persons named in the passports, and we might have been conspirators or anything else that was objectionable, and nobody would have been the wiser. Russia is the only country[Pg 43] in Europe that keeps up the passport system with any severity, and it only results in putting honest people to trouble and expense, and never stops those whom it is intended to reach. There, they've opened the door, and we can now go before the representatives of the autocrat of all the Russias."

One by one they approached the desk, with the result already stated. At the examination of the baggage in the custom-house the clothing and personal effects of our friends were passed without question, but there was some difficulty over a few books which the boys had bought before leaving Vienna. One volume, pronounced objectionable, was seized as contraband, but the others were not taken. Every book written by a foreigner[Pg 44] about Russia is carefully examined by the official censor as soon as it is published, and upon his decision depends the question of its circulation being allowed in the Empire. Anything calculated to throw disrespect upon the Imperial family, or upon the Government in general, is prohibited, as well as everything which can be considered to have a revolutionary tendency.

"They are not so rigid as they used to be," growled the Englishman, as he closed and locked his trunk after the examination was completed. "In the time of the Emperor Nicholas they would not allow anything that indicated there was any other government in the world which amounted to anything, and they were particularly severe upon all kinds of school-books. Now they rarely object to school-books, unless they contain too many teachings of liberty; and they are getting over their squeamishness about criticisms, even if they are abusive and untruthful. The worst case I ever heard of was of an inspector at one of the frontier stations, who seized a book on astronomy because it contained a chapter on 'The Revolutions of the Earth.' He said nothing revolutionary could be allowed to enter the Empire, and confiscated the volume in spite of its owner's explanations.

"Under Nicholas," continued the Englishman, "Macaulay's 'History of England' was prohibited, though it could be bought without much trouble. After Alexander II. ascended the throne the rigors of the censorship were greatly reduced, and papers and books were freely admitted into Russia which were prohibited in France under Louis Napoleon. All the Tauchnitz editions of English works were permitted, even including Carlyle's 'French Revolution.' It is possible that the last-named book had escaped notice, as you would hardly expect it to be allowed free circulation in Russia. Books and newspapers addressed to the professors of the universities, to officers above the rank of colonel, and to the legations of foreign countries are not subjected to the censorship, or at least they were not so examined a few years ago. Since the rise of Nihilism the authorities have become more rigid again, and books and papers are stopped which would not have been suppressed at all before the death of Alexander II.

"If you want to know the exact functions of the censor," said the gentleman, turning to Frank and Fred, "here is an extract from his instructions."

With these words he gave to one of the youths a printed slip which stated that it was the censor's duty to prohibit and suppress "all works written in a spirit hostile to the orthodox Greek Church, or containing[Pg 45] anything that is contrary to the truths of the Christian religion, or subversive of good manners or morality; all publications tending to assail the inviolability of autocratical monarchical power and the fundamental laws of the Empire, or to diminish the respect due to the Imperial family; all productions containing attacks on the honor or reputation of any one, by improper expressions, by the publication of circumstances relating to domestic life, or by calumny of any kind whatever."

The boys thanked the gentleman for the information he had given them on a subject about which they were curious; and as the examination of the custom-house was completed, they proceeded to the restaurant, which was in a large hall at the end of the station.

Near the door of the restaurant was the office of a money-changer, its character being indicated by signs in at least half a dozen languages. Passengers were exchanging their Austrian money for Russian, and the office seemed to be doing an active business.

"That fellow has about as good a trade as one could wish," said the Englishman, as he nodded in the direction of the man at the little window. "Two trains arrive here daily each way; for people going north he changes Austrian into Russian money, and for those going south he[Pg 46] changes Russian into Austrian. He receives one per cent. commission on each transaction, which amounts to four per cent. daily, as he handles the money four times. I have often envied these frontier bankers, who run no risk whatever, provided they are not swindled with counterfeits, and can make twelve hundred per cent. annually on their capital. But perhaps they have to pay so dearly for the privilege that they are unable to get rich by their business. By-the-way," said he, changing the subject abruptly, "did you observe the stout lady that stood near us in the anteroom of the passport office?"

"Yes," answered the Doctor, "and she seemed quite uneasy, as though she feared trouble."

"Doubtless she did," was the reply, "but it was not on account of her passport. She was probably laden with goods which she intended smuggling into Russia, and feared detection. I noticed that she was called aside by the custom-house officials, and ushered into the room devoted to suspected persons. She isn't here yet, and perhaps they'll keep her till the train has gone. Ah! here she comes."

Frank and Fred looked in the direction indicated, but could not see any stout lady; neither could the Doctor, but he thought he recognized a face he had seen before. It belonged to a woman who was comparatively slight in figure, and who took her seat very demurely at one of the tables near the door.

"That is the stout lady of the anteroom," said the Englishman, "and her form has been reduced more rapidly than any advocate of the Banting or any other anti-fat system ever dreamed of. She was probably detected by her uneasy manner, and consequently was subjected to an examination at the hands of the female searchers. They've removed dry goods enough from her to set up a small shop, and she won't undertake smuggling again in a hurry. Import duties are high in Russia, and the temptation to smuggle is great. She was an inexperienced smuggler, or she would[Pg 47] not have been caught so easily. Probably she is of some other nationality than Russian, or they would not have liberated her after confiscating her contraband goods."

The incident led to a conversation upon the Russian tariff system, which is based upon the most emphatic ideas in favor of protection to home industries. As it is no part of our intention to discuss the tariff in this volume, we will omit what was said upon the subject, particularly as no notes were taken by either Frank or Fred.

In due time the train on the Russian side of the station was ready to receive the travellers, and they took their places in one of the carriages. It needed only a glance to show they had crossed the frontier. The Austrian uniform disappeared, and the Russian took its place; the Russian language was spoken instead of German; the carriages were lettered in Russian; posts painted in alternate stripes of white and black (the invention of the Emperor Paul about the beginning of the present century), denoted the sovereignty of the Czar; and the dress of many of the passengers indicated a change of nationality.

The train rolled away from Granitsa in the direction of Warsaw, which was the next point of destination of our friends. The country through which they travelled was not particularly interesting; it was fairly though not thickly settled, and contained no important towns on the line of the railway, or any other object of especial interest. Their English acquaintance said there were mines of coal, iron, and zinc in the neighborhood of Zombkowitse, where the railway from Austria unites with that from eastern Germany. It is about one hundred and eighty miles from Warsaw; about forty miles farther on there was a town with an unpronounceable name, with about ten thousand inhabitants, and a convent, which is an object of pilgrimage to many pious Catholics of Poland and Silesia. A hundred miles from Warsaw they[Pg 48] passed Petrikau, which was the seat of the ancient tribunals of Poland; and then, if the truth must be told, they slept for the greater part of the way till the train stopped at the station in the Praga suburb of Warsaw, on the opposite bank of the Vistula.

As they neared the station they had a good view of Warsaw, on the heights above the river, and commanded by a fortress which occupies the centre of the city itself. Alighting from the train, they surrendered their passports to an official, who said the documents would be returned to them at the Hôtel de l'Europe, where they proposed to stop during their sojourn within the gates of Warsaw. Tickets permitting them to go into the city were given in exchange for the passports, and then they entered a rickety omnibus and were driven to the hotel.

It was late in the afternoon when they climbed the sloping road leading into Warsaw, and looked down upon the Vistula and the stretch of low land on the Praga side. Fred repeated the lines of the old verse from which we have already quoted, and observed how well the scene is described in a single couplet:

"Warsaw's last champion from her heights surveyed,
Wide o'er the fields a waste of ruin laid."

Laid desolate by many wars and subjected to despotic rule, the country around Warsaw bears little evidence of prosperity. Many houses are[Pg 49] without tenants, and many farms are either half tilled or wholly without cultivation. The spirit of revolution springs eternal in the Polish breast, and the spirit of suppression must be equally enduring in the breast of the Russian. It is only by the severest measures that the Russians can maintain their control of Poland. A Polish writer has well described the situation when he says, "Under a cruel government, it is Poland's duty to rebel against oppression; under a liberal government, it is her duty to rebel because she has the opportunity."

After dinner at the hotel our friends started for a walk through the principal streets; but they did not go very far. The streets were poorly lighted, few people were about, and altogether the stroll was not particularly interesting. They returned to the hotel, and devoted an hour or so to a chat about Poland and her sad history.

"Walls are said to have ears," the Doctor remarked, "but we have little cause to be disturbed about them, as we are only discussing among ourselves the known facts of history. Poland and Russia were at war for centuries, and at one time Poland had the best of the fight. How many of those who sympathize so deeply with the wrongs of Poland are aware of the fact that in 1610 the Poles held Moscow as the Russians now hold Warsaw, and that the Russian Czar was taken prisoner, and died the next year in a Polish prison? Moscow was burned by the Poles in 1611, and thousands of its inhabitants were slaughtered; in 1612 the Poles were[Pg 50] driven out, and from that time to the present their wars with Russia have not been successful."

"I didn't know that," said Frank, "until I read it to-day in one of our books."

"Nor did I," echoed Fred; "and probably not one person in a hundred is aware of it."

"Understand," said the Doctor, with emphasis—"understand that I do not say this to justify in any way the wrongs that Russia may have visited on Poland, but simply to show that all the wrong has not been on one side. Russia and Poland have been hostile to each other for centuries; they are antagonistic in everything—language, religion, customs, and national ambitions—and there could be no permanent peace between[Pg 51] them until one had completely absorbed the other. Twice in this century (in 1830 and 1863) the Poles have rebelled against Russia, because they had the opportunity in consequence of the leniency of the Government. From present appearances they are not likely to have the opportunity again for a long time, if ever."

One of the youths asked how the revolution of 1830 was brought about.

"Poland had been, as you know, divided at three different times, by Russia, Austria, and Prussia," said the Doctor, "the third partition taking place in 1795. At the great settlement among the Powers of Europe, in 1815, after the end of the Napoleonic wars, the Emperor of Russia proposed to form ancient Poland into a constitutional monarchy under the Russian crown. His plan was adopted, with some modifications, and from 1815 to 1830 the country had its national Diet or Parliament, its national administration, and its national army of thirty thousand men. The Russian Emperor was the King of Poland, and this the Poles resented; they rebelled, and were defeated. After the defeat the constitution was withdrawn and the national army abolished; the Polish universities were[Pg 52] closed, the Polish language was proscribed in the public offices, and every attempt was made to Russianize the country. It was harshly punished for its rebellion until Alexander II. ascended the throne.

"Alexander tried to conciliate the people by granting concessions. The schools and universities were reopened; the language was restored; Poles were appointed to nearly all official positions; elective district and municipal councils were formed, and also a Polish Council of State. But nothing short of independence would satisfy the inhabitants, and then came the revolution of 1863. It was suppressed, like its predecessor, and from that time the Russians have maintained such an iron rule in Poland that a revolt of any importance is next to impossible. All the oppression of which Russia is capable cannot destroy the spirit of independence among the Poles. They are as patriotic as the Irish, and will continue to hope for liberty as long as their blood flows in human veins."

A knock on the door brought the Doctor's discourse to an abrupt end. It was made by the commissioner, who came to arrange for their excursion on the following day.

We will see in due course where they went and what they saw. It is now their bedtime, and they are retiring for the night.

The next morning they secured a carriage, and drove through the principal streets and squares, visiting the Royal Palace and other buildings of importance, and also the parks and gardens outside the city limits. Concerning their excursion in Warsaw the youths made the following notes:

"We went first to the Royal Castle, which we were not permitted to enter, as it is occupied by the Viceroy of Poland, or 'the Emperor's Lieutenant,' as he is more commonly called. It is a very old building, which has been several times altered and restored. There were many pictures and other objects of art in the castle until 1831, when they were removed to St. Petersburg. In the square in front of the castle is a statue of one of the kings of Poland, and we were told that the square was the scene of some of the uprisings of the Poles against their Russian masters.

"From the castle we went to the cathedral, which was built in the thirteenth century, and contains monuments to the memory of several of the kings and other great men of the country. It is proper to say here[Pg 53] that the Catholic is the prevailing religion of Poland, and no doubt much of the hatred of Russians and Poles for each other is in consequence of their religious differences. By the latest figures of the population that we have at hand, Russian Poland contains about 3,800,000 Catholics, 300,000 Protestants, 700,000 Jews, and 250,000 members of the Greek Church and adherents of other religions, or a little more than 5,000,000 of inhabitants in all. Like all people who have been oppressed, the Catholics and Jews are exceedingly devout, and adhere unflinchingly to their religious faith. Churches and synagogues are numerous in Warsaw, as in the other Polish cities. In our ride through Warsaw we passed many[Pg 54] shrines, and at nearly all of them the faithful were kneeling to repeat the prayers prescribed by their religious teachers.

"From the cathedral we went to the citadel, which is on a hill in the centre of the city, and was built after the revolution of 1830. The expense of its construction was placed upon the people as a punishment for the revolution, and for the purpose of bombarding the city in case of another rebellion. From the walls of the citadel there is a fine view of considerable extent; but there is nothing in the place of special interest. The fort is constantly occupied by a garrison of Russian soldiers. It contains a prison for political offenders and a military court-house, where they are tried for their alleged offences.

"There are ten or twelve squares, or open places, in Warsaw, of which the finest is said to be the Saxon Square. It contains a handsome monument to the Poles who adhered to the Russian cause in the revolution of 1830. Some writers say it was all a mistake, and that the Poles whose memory is here preserved were really on their way to join the regiments which had declared in favor of the insurrection.

"There are several handsome streets and avenues; and as for the public palaces and fine residences which once belonged to noble families of Poland, but are now mostly in Government hands, the list alone would be long and tedious. One of the finest palaces is in the Lazienki Park, and was built by King Stanislaus Poniatowski. It is the residence of the Emperor of Russia when he comes to Warsaw; but as his visits are rare, it is almost always accessible to travellers. We stopped a few minutes in front of the statue of King John Sobieski. There is an anecdote about this statue which the students of Russian and Polish history will appreciate. During a visit in 1850 the Emperor Nicholas paused in front of the statue, and remarked to those around him, 'The two kings of Poland who committed the greatest errors were John Sobieski and myself, for we both saved the Austrian monarchy.'

[Pg 55]

"Inside the palace there are many fine paintings and other works of art. There are portraits of Polish kings and queens, and other rare pictures, but not as many as in the Castle of Villanov, which we afterwards visited. In the latter, which was the residence of John Sobieski, and now belongs to Count Potocki, there are paintings by Rubens and other celebrated masters, and there is a fine collection of armor, including the suit which was presented to Sobieski by the Pope, after the former had driven the Turks away from Vienna. It is beautifully inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl, and covered with arabesques of astonishing delicacy. We could have spent hours in studying it, and you may be sure we left it with great reluctance.

"Warsaw has a population of nearly three hundred thousand, and there are a good many factories for the manufacture of carriages, pianos, cloth, carpets, and machines of various kinds. The city is the centre of a[Pg 56] large trade in grain, cattle, horses, and wool, and altogether it may be considered prosperous. Much of the business is in the hands of the Jews, who have managed to have and hold a great deal of wealth in spite of the oppression they have undergone by both Poles and Russians.

"The women of Warsaw are famous for their beauty, and we are all agreed that we have seen more pretty faces here than in any other city of Europe in the same time. The Jews of Warsaw are nearly all blonds; the men have red beards, and the hair of the women is of the shade that used to be the fashion among American and English actresses, and is not yet entirely forgotten. We bought some photographs in one of the shops, and are sure they will be excellent adornments for our albums at home.

"In the evening we went to the opera in the hope of seeing the national costumes of the Poles, but in this we were disappointed. The operas are sung in Italian; the principal singers are French, Italian, English, or any other nationality, like those of opera companies elsewhere, and only the members of the chorus and ballet are Poles. Russian uniforms are in the boxes and elsewhere in the house, and every officer is required to wear his sword, and be ready at any moment to be summoned to fight. The men not in uniform are in evening dress, and the ladies are like those[Pg 57] of an audience in Vienna or Naples, so far as their dress is concerned. The opera closed at half-past eleven; our guide met us outside the door, and when we proposed a stroll he said we must be at the hotel by midnight, under penalty of being arrested. Any one out-of-doors between midnight and daylight will be taken in by the police and locked up, unless he has a pass from the authorities. In troubled times the city is declared in a state of siege, and then everybody on the streets after dusk must carry a lantern.

"As we had no fancy for passing the night in a Russian station-house, we returned straight to the hotel. Probably we would have been there by midnight in any event, as we were tired enough to make a long walk objectionable."

The next day our friends visited some of the battle-fields near Warsaw, and on the third took the train for St. Petersburg, six hundred and twenty-five miles away. There was little of interest along the line of railway, as the country is almost entirely a plain, and one mile is so much like another that the difference is scarcely perceptible. The principal towns or cities through which they passed were Bialystok and Grodno, the latter famous for having been the residence of several Polish kings, and containing the royal castle where they lived. At Wilna, four hundred and forty-one miles from St. Petersburg, the railway unites with that from Berlin. The change of train and transfer of baggage detained the party half an hour or more, but not long enough to allow them to inspect this ancient capital of the independent duchy of Lithuania. At Pskof they had another halt, but only sufficient for patronizing the restaurant. The town is two miles from the station, and contains an old castle and several other buildings of note; it has a prominent place in Poland's war history, but is not often visited by travellers.

At Gatchina, famous for its trout and containing an Imperial palace, an official collected the passports of the travellers, which were afterwards returned to them on arriving at the St. Petersburg station. As they approached the Imperial city the first object to catch the eye was a great ball of gold outlined against the sky. Frank said it must be the dome of St. Isaac's Church, and the Doctor nodded assent to the suggestion. The dome of St. Isaac's is to the capital of Russia what the dome of St. Peter's is to Rome—the first object on which the gaze of the approaching traveller is fixed.

[Pg 58]

A commissioner from the Hôtel de l'Europe was at the station. Doctor Bronson gave him the receipts for their trunks, and after securing their passports, which had been examined on the train during the ride from Gatchina, the party entered a carriage and rode to the hotel. Frank and Fred were impatient to try a drosky, and wondered why the Doctor had not secured one of the vehicles characteristic of the country.

"You'll have abundant opportunities for drosky-riding," said Doctor Bronson, in reply to Fred's query on the subject. "For the present the vehicle is not suited to our purposes, as we have our hand-baggage and other trifles; besides, we are three individuals, while the drosky is only large enough for two."

The youths confirmed with their eyes the correctness of the Doctor's assertion as the little vehicles were whizzing around them in every direction. The drosky is a stout carriage on low wheels, somewhat resembling the victoria of Western Europe, and is drawn by a single horse. The isvoshchik, or driver, is seated on a high box in front, and somehow he manages to get an astonishing speed out of the shaggy animal that forms his team. Frank afterwards wrote as follows concerning droskies and isvoshchiks:

"It is astonishing to contemplate the swarm of droskies with which St. Petersburg and every other Russian city abounds. They are to be found everywhere and at all hours. No matter where you may be, or at what hour of the day or night, you have only to call out 'Isvoshchik!' or 'Drosky!' and one of the little carriages appears as if by magic. Not only one, but half a dozen will be pretty sure to come forward. The drivers contend, and not always very politely, for the honor of your patronage;[Pg 59] but as soon as you have made your selection the rejected ones drop away and leave you undisturbed.

"There is something interesting in the manner of the isvoshchik, especially in the marked contrast before and after he has made a bargain with you. Until the transaction is closed, he is as independent as the hackman of New York or the cabby of London. The moment the bargain is settled and he has accepted your offer, he is your willing slave. Offer him forty copecks an hour, and he refuses, while demanding fifty or sixty; you walk on, and he pretends to go away, and if your offer is unreasonably low he will not trouble you again. Suddenly he reins up his horse close to the sidewalk, springs from his seat, and with the word 'Poshowltz' ('If you please') he motions you to enter the carriage. He is now at your service, and will drive just as you desire; your slightest wish will be his law.

"Doctor Bronson told us we must learn how to count in Russian, and also acquire a few phrases in common use; the more of them we could learn the better. While on the train from Warsaw to St. Petersburg we learned to count. I think we did it in about two hours, as it was really[Pg 60] very simple after we had gone through the numerals up to ten and fixed them in mind. Perhaps you would like to know how it is done; well, here it is:

"The numerals from one to twelve are o-deen, dva, tree, che-tee-ri, pyat, shayst, sem, vocem, de-vee-at, de-ci-at, odeen-nat-zat, dva-nat-zat. For thirteen, fourteen, and so on, you add 'nat-zat' to the single numerals till you get to twenty, which is 'dva-deciat,' or two tens. Twenty-one is 'dva-deciat-odeen,' or two tens and one, and so on. You go up to thirty, which is 'tree-deciat,' or three tens, but generally shortened in pronunciation to 'treetsat' or 'tritsat.' All the other tens up to ninety are formed in the same way, with the exception of forty, which is 'sorok.' Ninety is 'deviat-na-sto' ('ten taken from hundred'), and one hundred is 'sto;' two hundred[Pg 61] is 'dva-sto.' The other hundreds are formed in the same way to five hundred, which is 'pyat sot;' six hundred is 'shayst sot,' and the other hundreds go on the same way; one thousand is 'tis-syat-sha.' You can now go ahead with tens and hundreds of thousands up to a million, which is 'meel-yon'—very much like our own word for the same number.

"It helps us greatly in getting around among the people without a guide. We can bargain with the drivers, make purchases in the shops, and do lots and lots of things which we could not if we didn't know how to count. Any boy or man who comes to Russia should learn to count while he is riding from the frontier to St. Petersburg, and if he takes our advice he will do so. He can find it all in Murray's or any other good guide-book, and he will also find there the most useful phrases for travelling purposes.

"In driving with the isvoshchiks, we have found them very obliging, and both Fred and I have been many times surprised at their intelligence when we remembered that very few of them were able to read or write their own language. When they find we are foreigners, and do not speak Russian, they do not jabber away like French or German drivers, or London cabbies, but confine themselves to a very few words. Take one we had to-day, for example: as he drove along he called our attention to the churches and other public buildings that we passed by, pronouncing the name of the building and nothing more. In this way we understood him; but if he had involved the name with a dozen or twenty other words we should have been in a perfect fog about it.

"In winter the drosky makes way for the sledge, which is the tiniest vehicle of the kind you can imagine. Two persons can crowd into a sledge, though there is really room for only one. Whether you are one or two, you sit with your face within ten or twelve inches of the driver's back, which forms almost the entire feature of your landscape. The sledges in winter are even more numerous than are the droskies in summer, as many persons ride then who do not do so when the weather is warm.

"Everybody rides in a Russian city in winter—at least everybody who claims to have much respect for himself; and in fact riding is so cheap that it must be a very shallow purse that cannot afford it. For a drive of a mile or less you pay eight or ten copecks (ten copecks equal eight cents), and you can ride a couple of miles for fifteen copecks, and sometimes for ten. By the hour you pay forty or fifty copecks; and if you make a bargain you can have the vehicle all to yourself a whole day for a dollar and a half, and sometimes less. They go very fast; and if your time is[Pg 62] limited, and you want to see a good deal in a little while, it is the best kind of economy to hire an isvoshchik to take you about."

We left our friends on the way to the hotel when we wandered off to hear what Frank had to say about the droskies and their drivers. The ride along the streets was full of interest to the youths, to whom it was all new; but it was less so to Doctor Bronson, who had been in St. Petersburg before. They drove up the Vosnesenski Prospect, a broad avenue which carried them past the Church of the Holy Trinity, one of the interesting churches out of the many in the city, and then by a cross street passed into the Nevski Prospect, which may be called the Broadway of the Russian capital. We shall hear more of the Nevski Prospect later on.

At the hotel they surrendered their passports to the clerk as soon as they had selected their rooms; the Doctor told the youths they would not again see those important documents until they had settled their bill and prepared to leave. Frank and Fred were surprised at this announcement, and the Doctor explained:

"The passports must go at once to the Central Bureau of the Police, and we shall be registered as stopping in this hotel. When the register has been made the passports will be returned to the hotel and locked up in the manager's safe, according to the custom of the country."

"Why doesn't he give them back to us instead of locking them in the safe?" one of the youths inquired.

"It has long been the custom for the house-owner to keep the passport of any one lodging with him, as he is in a certain sense responsible for his conduct. Besides, it enables him to be sure that nobody leaves without paying his bill, for the simple reason that he can't get away. When we are ready to go we must give a few hours' notice; the passports will be sent to the police-office again, with a statement as to our destination; after we have paid our bills and are ready to go, the passports will be handed to us along with the receipt for our money."

"That makes hotel-keeping a great deal more certain than it is in American cities, does it not?" said Fred.

"And you never hear in Russia of a man running away from a hotel where he has contracted a large bill, and leaving nothing but a trunk filled with straw and stove-wood as security, do you?" Frank inquired.

"Such a thing is unknown," the Doctor answered. "I once told some Russian acquaintances about the way hotel-keepers were defrauded in America by unprincipled persons. One of them exclaimed, 'What a happy country! and how cheaply a man could live there, with no police officers to stop his enterprise!'"

[Pg 63]
[Pg 64]

"When you go from one city to another," said the Doctor, "the formality to be observed is slight, and the hotel people will attend to it for you without charge. When you are going to leave Russia, a few days' notice must be given at the police-office; and if any creditors have filed their claims against you with the police, you must settle them before you can have your passport. If any one owes you money, and you have reason to believe he intends leaving the country, you can stop him or get your money by leaving your account with the police for collection. Absconding debtors are nearly as rare in Russia as absconding hotel-patrons, for the simple reason that the law restricts their movements. In spite of what our English friend said of the passport system, there are some excellent features about it. Another thing is—"

They were interrupted by a servant, who came to ask if there were any friends in St. Petersburg whom they wished to find. The commissioner was going to the Police Bureau with the passports, and would make any inquiries they desired.

The Doctor answered in the negative, and the servant went away.

"That is what I was about to mention," said Doctor Bronson, as soon as the door was closed. "The first time I came to St. Petersburg I was riding along the Nevski Prospect, and saw an old acquaintance going in the other direction. He did not see me, and before I could turn to follow him he was lost in the crowd of vehicles. But in two hours I found him, and we had a delightful afternoon together. How do you suppose I did it?

"Why, I sent to the Police Bureau, paid two cents, and obtained a memorandum of his address. For a fee of two cents you can get the address of any one you name, and for two cents each any number of addresses. In numerous instances I found it a great convenience, and so have other travellers. If you wanted to find a friend in New York or London, and didn't know his address, you would have a nice time about it; but in Moscow or St. Petersburg there would be no trouble whatever."

As soon as they had removed the dust of the journey our friends went out for a stroll before dinner. The Hôtel de l'Europe is on the corner of the Nevski Prospect and one of the smaller streets, and only a short distance from the Kazanski Sobor, or Church of Kazan. But before they enter this celebrated edifice we will look with them at the grand avenue, the Nevski Prospect.

"It is straight as a sunbeam for three miles," said Fred in his note-book, "with the Admiralty Buildings at one end, and the Church of St. Alexander Nevski at the other, though the latter is a little way from the[Pg 65] line. It is perfectly level from end to end, like a street of New Orleans or Sacramento. St. Petersburg is built on a marsh, and through its whole extent there isn't a hill other than an artificial one. It is a broad avenue (one hundred and thirty feet in width), reminding us of the boulevards of Paris, and the crowd of vehicles coming and going at all hours of the day and far into the night makes the scene a picturesque one.

"All classes and kinds of Russians are to be seen here, from the mujik, with his rough coat of sheepskin, up to the officer of the army, whose breast is covered with decorations by the dozen or even more. The vehicles are of many kinds, the drosky being the most frequent, and there is hardly one of them without the duga, or yoke, over the horse between the shafts. The horses are driven furiously, but they are completely under[Pg 66] the control of their drivers, and accidents are said to be very rare. Perhaps this is owing to the fact that a driver is liable to severe punishment if he causes any injury to a pedestrian.

"Somebody has remarked that the Nevski Prospect ought to be called Toleration Avenue, for the reason that it contains churches of so many different faiths. There are of course the Russo-Greek churches, representing the religion of the country, and there are Catholic, Lutheran, Dutch, and Armenian churches, standing peacefully in the same line. It is a pity[Pg 67] that the adherents of these diverse religions do not always agree as well as do the inanimate edifices that represent them.

"The buildings are very substantial in appearance, and many of them are literally palaces. The military headquarters are on the Nevski, and so is the palace of one of the grand-dukes; then there are several palaces belonging to noble families. There is the Institution of St. Catherine, and the Gostinna Dvor, or Great Market-place, with ten thousand merchants, more or less, transacting business there. We'll go there to make some purchases and tell you about it; at present we will cross the Nevski to the Church of Kazan.

"It reminds us of the Church of St. Peter at Rome, as it has a colonnade in imitation of the one which attracts the eye of every visitor to the Eternal City, and takes its name from "Our Lady of Kazan," to whom it is dedicated. Kazan was once a Tartar city, and the capital of the Tartar kingdom of the same name. It was fortified, and stoutly defended, and gave the Russians a great deal of trouble. In the sixteenth century John the Terrible conquered the kingdom and annexed it to Russia. The last act in the war was the capture of the city of Kazan. The Russians were several times repulsed, but finally the Kremlin was carried, and the Tartar power came to an end. A picture of the Virgin was carried in front of the attacking column, and this picture, all devout Russians believe, gave the victory over the Moslem. The church was built in memory of the event, and the sacred picture from Kazan is preserved and worshipped here.

"It is a beautiful church, in the form of a cross, two hundred and thirty-eight feet long and one hundred and eighty-two feet wide. From the ground to the top of the cross above the cupola is more than two hundred and thirty feet, and the cupola is so large that it is visible from a long distance. As we entered the church we were struck by the absence of seats. We were told by the Doctor that Russian churches contain no seats, and all worshippers must stand or kneel while at their devotions. To this there are no exceptions; the same requirement being made of the Emperor as of the most obscure peasant.

"There is no instrumental music in the Greek Church, and church choirs composed of male and female voices are unknown here. All the singers in the churches are men; the prayers are mostly intoned, and all the congregation joins in the responses. There are no pews, or reserved places of any kind, except a standing-place for the Emperor, all worshippers being considered equal; neither are there any fees to be paid by those who come to worship.

[Pg 68]

"The picture of Our Lady of Kazan, which has such a miraculous legend connected with it, is richly covered with precious stones, said to be worth nearly a hundred thousand dollars. There are other costly pictures in the church, but none to equal this one. There are a good many flags, and other trophies of war, along the walls and around the pillars; and, to tell the truth, it has almost as much the appearance of a military museum as of a cathedral. There are the keys of Hamburg, Leipsic, and other cities which at various times have been captured by Russia, and the church contains the tombs of several Russian generals who were killed in the war with France in 1812.

"We observed a curious effect in the pictures in this church which we found afterwards in a great many holy pictures in Russia. The hands and face, and any other flesh, are painted on a flat surface, but the dress and ornaments are often raised in gold, silver, or other metal, and studded with precious stones, according to the will or financial ability of the owner. The Church rejects all massive images of the Saviour or saints as idolatrous, and says they violate the commandment "Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image." It does not exclude mosaics, and anything produced in low relief, but the rule that flesh shall be represented by a flat surface is imperative.

"We afterwards attended service in the Kazan church, and were impressed with its solemnity and simplicity. The vocal music had an admirable effect as it resounded through the vast building, and we have never anywhere seen a congregation more devout than this. Nearly every one held a candle, and carefully guarded the flame from the draughts that occasionally swept over the congregation. Illuminations have a very important place in all church ceremonies, and there are no weddings, betrothals, funerals, or any other sacred services, without candles or tapers.

[Pg 69]

"Lights are kept burning in front of the principal pictures in the churches. Throughout the Empire there is an Eikon, or sacred picture, in the principal room of every house whose owner is an adherent of the Church of the country, and often in every room of consequence. On entering a room where there is such a picture, every devout Russian crosses himself; and so great is the respect shown to it, that when Russian thieves enter a room for the purpose of stealing, they spread a handkerchief over the picture so that the saint who is represented upon it cannot see them.

"Religion has a more important part in the practical life of the Russians than in that of any other people of Europe. The blessing of the Church is invoked upon every undertaking. Steamboats, ships, and all other craft are blessed by the priest at their launching or before being put into service; the locomotives and carriages of a railway are similarly treated; and the same may be said of every vehicle, machine, or other thing of consequence. So with cattle, horses, sheep, and other live-stock; and so, also, with the furniture and adornments of the house.

"In the theatres the Government does not allow the representation of any kind of religious ceremonial as part of a performance, lest it might bring religion into ridicule, and under no circumstances can an actor be dressed to personate a priest. The Czar, or Emperor, is the recognized head of the Church, and among the common people he is regarded as only a little less than a divinity.

"Those who have lived long among the Russians, and ought to know them, say the venerative feeling among the common people is very great, and more so among the higher classes than in the Latin countries of Europe. They are devout church-goers, and the feasts and fasts of the Church are carefully observed. They form a serious drawback to business matters, as there are certain days when no man or woman can be induced to work at any price. The owners of establishments which require to be kept constantly in operation manage to get around this custom by keeping their employés constantly in debt, as the Russian law and custom compel a man to work steadily to discharge such indebtedness.

"Pilgrimages to monasteries and shrines are more common among the Russians than any other Christian people, and the poorer classes often go on long and painful journeys through their religious zeal. A large number of Russian pilgrims can be found in Jerusalem every year at Easter, as well as at other times. So important is this pilgrimage that the Russian Government maintains a convent at Jerusalem for lodging its subjects; and the Crimean war practically grew out of a quarrel which was brought about with reference to the holy places of the famous city.

[Pg 70]

"Great numbers of pilgrims go every year from all parts of Russia to the Convent of Solovetsk in the Frozen Sea, seven or eight hundred miles to the north-east of the capital.

"We may have more to say on religious matters before leaving Russia, but for the present we will drop the subject and continue our walk on the Nevski."

As they strolled in the direction of the Neva, the river that gives its name to the long avenue, Fred asked how it happened that St. Petersburg was built on a marsh instead of upon elevated ground.

"It was because Peter the Great wanted a capital city that could be a seaport, and this was the best site that could be found. Moscow was inland (it is four hundred miles from here to that city), and Peter realized that no country could be great and important without communication over the sea to other lands. So he came here and founded the city which bears his name. It was a forbidding place, but his will was law, and the city grew and lived though a hundred thousand men perished in the first year of its construction. The first house was built in 1703. In 1712 Peter declared it his capital, and the Imperial court was moved here from Moscow. For a long time the place was very unhealthy, and even down to the present day it is not by any means the best location in the world for a city. The drainage is defective, the drinking-water is not good, especially in the summer season, and the city has several times suffered from inundations.

"For many years every vessel coming to the port, and every cart entering the city, was required to bring a certain number of stones for filling the marsh and paving the streets. Where the large buildings stand, fabulous amounts have been expended in making foundations, and many of them have cost more than the buildings that stand upon them. The foundations of the Church of St. Isaac are said to have cost four millions of dollars, and twenty-five years were spent in their construction."

Frank asked about the inundations mentioned by the Doctor.

"There have been some eight or ten of them," the Doctor answered. "The most serious inundation of this century was in 1824, when the water of the Neva rose thirteen feet and four inches above its ordinary level. Observe that line," said he, as he pointed to a mark upon a building: "that is the point to which the waters rose in the inundation of 1824."

The mark was nearly four feet above the level of the sidewalk where they stood. Frank and Fred regarded it with astonishment, while the Doctor continued:

"In a single night (November 17th) property to the value of twenty[Pg 71]
[Pg 72] millions of dollars was destroyed, and it was estimated that not less than eight thousand people lost their lives. The flood was caused by a strong westerly wind which combined with the tide and forced the waters in from the Gulf of Finland, which is here formed like a funnel. Now suppose the flood had occurred in April, at the time when Lake Ladoga breaks up and pours its accumulated ice and water through the Neva, what would have been the result?"

"Would the city have been destroyed?" queried one of the youths.

"So it is said, by many who have studied its position. They aver that[Pg 73] when a high tide, a westerly wind, and the breaking up of the ice in Lake Ladoga shall all come together, the streets of St. Petersburg will be not less than twenty feet under water, and Russia will be obliged to select another site for her capital. But as it is not likely that all these things will happen during our visit, we won't borrow any trouble about the matter."

"I have read," said Fred, "that in that inundation the prisoners in the fort were drowned in their cells. The lower part of the fort was flooded, was it not?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered; "but so many romances have been written on the subject that it is difficult to get at the exact truth. It is very likely that the prisoners in the lower cells of the fort were drowned, and I believe the authorities admit that such was the case. In the Paris Exhibition of 1867 there was a startling picture representing the death of a Russian princess who was imprisoned there at the time. She is represented standing on her little bed surrounded by rats that have been driven from their holes by the flood. The water is nearly up to the level of the bed, and is pouring in at the grated window. The picture haunted[Pg 74] me for years after I saw it, and even now it occasionally comes up in my dreams. I haven't thought of it for some time, but this question of yours has revived it."

They continued their walk towards the Neva, with an occasional glance at the needle-like spire that rises above the Admiralty buildings. They came out into Admiralty Square, a large open space, which gave them a view of the Admiralty buildings, the Church of St. Isaac, the equestrian statue of Peter the Great, and the Winter Palace, together with one of the bridges spanning the Neva to the islands opposite.

"Which shall we see first?" queried the Doctor of his young companions.

"Whichever you think best," answered Frank, to which Fred nodded approval.

"Our time just now is limited," said the Doctor, "and perhaps we will satisfy ourselves with the statue of Peter the Great. But as we walk about we must not fail to take in the general view, which is of unusual interest."

The statue is well known through its frequent representation in engravings, and is one of the most remarkable monuments of the Imperial city. It was ordered by the Empress Catherine, and was cast by Falconet, a Frenchman. The inscription upon it reads—

Evidently Catherine had a sufficient idea of her consequence, as the letters which make her name are considerably larger than those of her illustrious sire's.

"The horse," said Fred, in his note-book, "is on the brink of a precipice, where he is being reined in by his rider. Peter's face is towards the Neva, while his right hand is directed to the city which he built. Under the horse's feet is a serpent, which typifies the difficulties the Czar has overcome. The horse is balanced on his hind legs and tail, his forefeet being clear from the rock. It is said that the weight of the statue is about ten thousand pounds.

"The statue stands on a block of granite that originally weighed fifteen hundred tons, and was brought from Finland. The block is fourteen feet high, twenty feet broad, and forty-three feet long. It consists of two pieces that have been carefully joined together, and the operation of moving it was a triumph of engineering skill.

"I have read a good story apropos of this monument—about two boys[Pg 75] who belonged to an English ship that was lying at the quay beyond the statue. They had wandered off into the city and lost their way, and in order to get back they engaged a carriage. But after engaging it they were in trouble, as they could not tell the driver where to go.

"Two sailors from the same ship happened along, and to them the boys told the story of their perplexity. The sailors were in the same predicament, as they wanted to get back to the ship, and didn't know which way to go.

"'If we only knew what the Russian is for that statue,' said one of the boys, 'we could make him understand.'

"They tried all the words they knew, but to no purpose. Suddenly an idea occurred to one of the sailors. He asked the other to get down on all-fours, which he did, wondering what was the matter with his comrade. Jack mounted his friend's back as though he were a steed, and took the attitude of Peter the Great as nearly as he could remember it. The other sailor caught at the idea, and reared slightly on his feet in the position of Peter's horse. The isvoshchiks comprehended what was wanted, and roared with delight; the two sailors jumped into a drosky, which followed the carriage containing the boys, and in due time the party arrived safely at its destination."

[Pg 76]

Instead of returning to the hotel for dinner, our friends went to a traktir, or Russian restaurant, in a little street running out of Admiralty Square. The youths were anxious to try the national dishes of the country, and consequently they accepted with pleasure Doctor Bronson's suggestion relative to their dining-place.

"The finest and most characteristic restaurants of Russia are in Moscow rather than in St. Petersburg," said the Doctor, as he led the way to the establishment they had decided to patronize. "St. Petersburg has a great many French and German features that you do not find in Moscow, and when we get to the latter city we must not fail to go to the 'Moskovski Traktir,' which is one of the most celebrated feeding-places of the old capital. There the waiters are clad in silk shirts, or frocks, extending nearly to the knee, over loose trousers of the same material. At the establishment where we are now going the dress is that of the ordinary French restaurant, and we shall have no difficulty in finding some one who speaks either French or German."

They found the lower room of the restaurant filled with men solacing themselves with tea, which they drank from glasses filled and refilled from pots standing before them. On each table was a steaming samovar to supply boiling water to the teapots as fast as they were emptied. The boys had seen the samovar at railway-stations and other places since their entrance into the Empire, but had not thus far enjoyed the opportunity of examining it.

"We will have a samovar to ourselves," said the Doctor, as they mounted the stairs to an upper room, "and then you can study it as closely as you like."

The Russian bill of fare was too much for the reading abilities of any one of the trio. The Doctor could spell out some of the words, but found[Pg 77] they would get along better by appealing to one of the waiters. Under his guidance they succeeded very well, as we learn from Frank's account of the dinner.

"Doctor Bronson told us that cabbage soup was the national dish of the country, and so we ordered it, under the mysterious name of tschee e karsha. The cabbage is chopped, and then boiled till it falls into shreds; a piece of meat is cooked with it; the soup is seasoned with pepper and salt; and altogether the tschee (soup) is decidedly palatable. Karsha, is barley thoroughly boiled, and then dried over the fire until the grains fall apart. A saucerful of this cooked barley is supplied to you along with the soup, and you eat them together. You may mingle the karsha with the tschee as you would mix rice with milk, but the orthodox way of eating is to take a small quantity of the karsha into your spoon each time before dipping it into the soup. A substantial meal can be made of these articles alone, and there are millions of the subjects of his Imperial Majesty the Czar who dine to-day and many other days in the year on nothing else. The Emperor eats tschee, and so does the peasant—probably the[Pg 78] Emperor has it less often in the year than does his poor subject; but the soup is of the same kind, except that very often the peasant cannot afford the important addition of meat."

"Don't forget," Fred interposed, when the foregoing description was read to him—"don't forget to say that they served us a little cup or mug of sour cream along with the tschee."

"Yes, that's so," responded Frank; "but I didn't like it particularly, and therefore came near forgetting it. We remember best the things that please us."

"Then perhaps you didn't like the zakushka, or appetizer, before dinner," said the Doctor, "as I see you haven't mentioned it."

"I hadn't forgotten it," said the youth, "but was going to say something about it at the end. You know the preface of a book is always written after the rest of the volume has been completed, but as you've called attention to it, I'll dispose of it now. Here it is:

"There was a side-table, on which were several plates containing relishes of different kinds, such as caviare, raw herring, dried beef, smoked[Pg 79] salmon cut in little strips or squares, radishes, cheese, butter, and tiny sandwiches about the size of a half-dollar. A glass of cordial, of which several kinds were offered, goes with the zakushka for those who like it; the cordial and a few morsels of the solid things are supposed to sharpen the appetite and prepare it for the dinner which is to be eaten at the table.

"The zakushka is inseparable from a dinner in Russia, and belongs to it just as much as do any of the dishes that are served after the seats are taken. While we were standing around the side-table where it was served at our first dinner in St. Petersburg, Doctor Bronson told us a story that is too good to be lost. I'll try to give it in his words:

"There was once a Russian soldier who had a phenomenal appetite; he could eat an incredible quantity of food at a sitting, and the officers of his regiment used to make wagers with strangers about his feeding abilities. They generally won; and as the soldier always received a present when he had gained a bet, he exerted himself to the best of his ability.

"One day the colonel made a wager for a large amount that his man could eat an entire sheep at a sitting. The sheep was selected, slaughtered, and sent to a restaurant, and at the appointed time the colonel appeared with the soldier. In order to help the man along, the keeper of the restaurant had cooked the different parts of the sheep in various ways;[Pg 80] there were broiled and fried cutlets, roasted and boiled quarters, and some stews and hashes made from the rest. Dish after dish disappeared. When almost the entire sheep had been devoured, the soldier turned to the colonel and said,

"'If you give me so much zakushka I'm afraid I sha'n't be able to eat all of the sheep when they bring it.'"

"But to return to soups. In addition to tschee, the Russians have ukha, or fish soup, made of any kind of fish that is in season. The most expensive is made from sterlet, a fish that is found only in the Volga, and sometimes sells for its weight in silver. We tried it one day, and liked it very much, but it costs too much for frequent eating except by the wealthy. A very good fish soup is made from trout, and another from perch.

"After the soup we had a pirog, or pie made of the spinal cord of the sturgeon cut into little pieces about half as large as a pea. It resembles isinglass in appearance and is very toothsome. The pie is baked in a deep dish, with two crusts, an upper and an under one. Doctor Bronson says the Russians make all kinds of fish into pies and patties, very much as we make meat pies at home. They sometimes put raisins in these pies—a practice which seems very incongruous to Americans and English. They also make solianka, a dish composed of fish and cabbage, and not at all bad when one is hungry; red or black pepper liberally applied is an improvement.

"What do you think of okroshka—a soup made of cold beer, with pieces of meat, cucumber, and red herrings floating in it along with bits of ice to keep it cool? Don't want any. Neither do we; but the Russians of the lower classes like it, and I have heard Russian gentlemen praise it. Many of them are fond of batvenia, which is a cold soup made in much the same way as okroshka, and about as unpalatable to us. We ordered a portion of okroshka just to see how it looked and tasted. One teaspoonful was enough for each of us, and batvenia we didn't try.

"After the pirog we had cutlets of chicken, and then roast mutton stuffed with buckwheat, both of them very good. They offered us some boiled pig served cold, with horseradish sauce, but we didn't try it; and then they brought roast grouse, with salted cucumbers for salad. We wound up with Nesselrode pudding, made of plum-pudding and ices, and not unknown in other countries. Then we had the samovar, which had been made ready for us, and drank some delicious tea which we prepared ourselves. Now for the samovar.

"Its name comes from two words which mean 'self-boiling;' and the[Pg 81] samovar is nothing but an urn of brass or copper, with a cylinder in the centre, where a fire is made with charcoal. The water surrounds the cylinder, and is thus kept at the boiling-point, which the Russians claim is indispensable to the making of good tea. The beverage is drank not from cups, but from glasses, and the number of glasses it will contain is the measure of a samovar. The Russians rarely put milk with their tea; the common people never do so, and the upper classes only when they have acquired the habit while abroad. They rarely dissolve sugar in their tea, but nibble from a lump after taking a swallow of the liquid. A peasant will make a single lump serve for four or five glasses of tea, and it is said to be an odd sensation for a stranger to hear the nibbling[Pg 82] and grating of lumps of sugar when a party of Russians is engaged in tea-drinking.

"We sat late over the samovar, and then paid our bill and returned to the Square. Doctor Bronson told us that an enormous quantity of tea is consumed in Russia, but very little coffee. Formerly all the tea used in the Empire was brought overland from China by way of Siberia, and the business enabled the importers of tea to accumulate great fortunes. Down to 1860 only one cargo of tea annually was brought into Russia by sea, all the rest of the importation being through the town of Kiachta, on the frontier of Mongolia. Since 1860 the ports of the Empire have been opened to tea brought from China by water, and the trade of Kiachta has greatly diminished. But it is still very large, and long trains of sledges come every winter through Siberia laden with the tea which has been brought to Kiachta on the backs of camels from the districts where it is grown.

"There is one kind of the Chinese herb, called joltai chai (yellow tea), which is worth at retail about fifteen dollars a pound. It is said to be made from the blossom of the tea-plant, and is very difficult to find out of Russia, as all that is produced comes here for a market. We each had a cup of this tea to finish our dinner with, and nothing more delicious was ever served from a teapot. The infusion is a pale yellow, or straw-color, and to look at appears weak enough, but it is unsafe to take more than one cup if you do not wish to be kept awake all night. Its aroma fills the room when it is poured out. All the pens in the world cannot describe the song of the birds or the perfume of the flowers, and so my pen is unable to tell you about the aroma and taste[Pg 83] of joltai chai. We'll get a small box of the best and send it home for you to try."

It was so late in the day when our friends had finished their dinner and returned to the Square, that there was not much time left for sight-seeing. They were in front of the Winter Palace and St. Isaac's Church, but decided to leave them until another day. Fred's attention was drawn to a tall column between the Winter Palace and a crescent of lofty buildings called the État-major, or staff headquarters, and he asked the Doctor what it was.

"That is the Alexander Column," was the reply to the question. "It is one of the largest monoliths or single shafts of modern times, and was erected in 1832 in memory of Alexander I."

"What a splendid column!" said Frank. "I wonder how high it is."

Thereupon the youths fell to guessing at the height of the column. After they had made their estimates—neither of them near the mark but considerably below it—Doctor Bronson gave them its dimensions.

[Pg 84]

"The shaft, without pedestal or capital, is fourteen feet in diameter and eighty-four feet high; it was originally one hundred and two feet high, but was reduced through fear that its length was out of proportion to its diameter. The base and pedestal are one single block of red granite about twenty-five feet high, and the capital is sixteen feet high. The angel above the capital is fourteen feet tall, and the cross in the hands of the angel is seven feet above it. With the platform on which it rests, the whole structure rises one hundred and fifty-four feet from the level of the ground."

"They must have had a hard time to make the foundations in this marshy ground," one of the boys remarked.

"They drove six rows of piling there, one after the other, before getting a foundation to suit them," said the Doctor. "The shaft alone, which was put up in the rough and finished afterwards, is thought to weigh about four hundred tons, and the pedestal and base nearly as much more. Unfortunately the shaft has suffered from the effects of the severe climate, and may be destroyed at no distant day. Several cracks have been made by the frost, and though they have been carefully cemented, they continue to increase in size. Pieces have fallen from the surface of the stone in the same way that they have fallen from the Egyptian obelisk in New York, and it is very evident that the climate of St. Petersburg is unfriendly to monuments of granite."

The bronze on the pedestal and capital is from Turkish cannon which were melted down for the purpose. The only inscription is in the few words,

Frank made a sketch of the monument together with the buildings of the État-major and a company of soldiers that marched past the foot of the column. Doctor Bronson said the soldiers belonged to the guard of the palace, where they had been on duty through the day, and had just been relieved.

From the column and the buildings surrounding it the trio of strangers walked to the bank of the river and watched the boats on the water, where the setting sun slanted in long rays and filled the air with the mellow light peculiar to high latitudes near the close of day. It was early in September, and already the evening air had a touch of coolness about it. St. Petersburg is in latitude 60° North, and consequently is quite near the Arctic Circle. Doctor Bronson told the youths that if they had come there in July they would have found very little night, the sun setting[Pg 85] not far from ten o'clock and rising about two. In the four hours of night there is almost continuous twilight; and by mounting to the top of a high building at midnight one can see the position of the sun below the northern horizon. Any one who goes to bed after sunset and rises before sunrise would have very little sleep in St. Petersburg in summer.

"On the other hand," said the Doctor, "the nights of winter are very long. Winter is the gay season here, as the city is deserted by fashionable people in summer, and one is not expected to make visits. The Imperial court goes away; the Emperor has a palace at Yalta in the Crimea, and there he passes the autumn months, unless kept in St. Petersburg or Moscow by the affairs of the nation. They have some public festivities[Pg 86] here in summer, but not generally, most of the matters of this kind being reserved for the winter."

Boats were moving in all directions on the placid waters of the river, darting beneath the magnificent bridge that stretches across the stream, and carrying little parties, who sought recreation or were on errands of business. On the opposite side of the Neva, and beyond the Winter Palace, was the grim fortress of Sts. Peter and Paul, with whose history many tales of horror are connected, and where numerous prisoners of greater or less note have been confined. "It was there," said Doctor Bronson, "that Peter the Great caused his son Alexis to be put to death."

"Caused his son to be put to death!" exclaimed the youths together.

"Yes, it is generally believed that such was the case," the Doctor answered, "though the fact is not actually known. Alexis, the son of Peter the Great, was opposed to his father's reforms, and devotedly attached to the old superstitions and customs of Russia. Peter decided to exclude him from the throne; the son consented, and announced his desire to enter a monastery, from which he managed to escape to Austria, where he sought the protection of the Emperor of that country. Peter sent one of his generals in pursuit of Alexis; by a combination of threats and promises he was induced to return to St. Petersburg, where he was thrown into prison, and afterwards tried for high-treason and condemned to death. Peter pardoned but did not release him. On the 7th of July, 1718, he died suddenly, and it was and is now generally believed that he was poisoned or beheaded by his father's order."

"And was he really guilty of high-treason?" Fred asked.

"According to Russian law and custom, and particularly according to the law and custom of Peter the Great, he certainly was," Doctor Bronson replied. "Remember, the Emperor is autocratic in his power, at least in theory, and in Peter's time he was so actually. The will of the founder of the Russian Empire was law; Alexis was opposed to that will, and consequently opposed to the Imperial law. The progress of Russia was more in the eyes of Peter than the life of any human being, not even excepting his own son, and the legitimate heir to the throne. The proceedings of the trial were published by Peter as a justification of his act.

"Peter II., the son of Alexis and grandson of the great Peter, died suddenly, at the age of fifteen; Peter III., grandchild of Peter the Great through his daughter Anna, was the husband of the Empress Catherine II.; but his reign was very short. His life with Catherine was not the happiest in the world, and in less than eight months after he became Emperor she usurped the throne, deposed her husband, and caused him to[Pg 87] be strangled. Catherine was a German princess, but declared herself thoroughly Russian when she came to reside in the Empire. If history is correct, she made a better ruler than the man she put aside, but this can be no justification of her means of attaining power.

"Her son, Paul I., followed the fate of his father in being assassinated, but it was not by her orders. She brought him up in complete ignorance of public affairs, and compelled him to live away from the Imperial court. Until her death, in 1796, she kept him in retirement, although she had his sons taken to court and educated under her immediate supervision. Treatment like this was calculated to make him whimsical and revengeful, and when he became emperor he tried to undo every act of his mother and those about her. He disbanded her armies, made peace with the countries with which she was at war, reversed her policy in everything, and became a most bitter tyrant towards his own people. He issued absurd orders, and at length his acts bordered on insanity.

"A conspiracy was formed among some of the noblemen, who represented[Pg 88] to his son Alexander that it was necessary to secure the abdication of his father on the ground of incapacity. Late at night, March 23d, 1801, they went to his bedroom and presented a paper for him to sign. He refused, and was then strangled by the conspirators. Alexander I. was proclaimed emperor, and the announcement of Paul's death was hailed with delight by his oppressed subjects. Among the foolish edicts he issued was one which forbade the wearing of round hats. Within an hour after his death became known, great numbers of round hats were to be seen on the streets.

"You've had enough of the history of the Imperial family of Russia for the present," said the Doctor, after a pause, "and now we'll look at the people on the streets. It is getting late, and we'll go to the hotel, making our observations on the way.

"Here are distinct types of the inhabitants of the Empire," the Doctor remarked, as they passed two men who seemed to be in animated conversation. "The man with the round cap and long coat is a Russian peasant, while the one with the hood over his head and falling down to his shoulders is a Finn, or native of Finland."

"How far is it from here to Finland?" Frank asked.

"Only over the river," the Doctor replied. "You cross the Neva to[Pg 89] its opposite bank, and you are in what was once the independent duchy of Finland, but has long been incorporated with Russia. When Peter the Great came here he did not like to be so near a foreign country, and so made up his mind to convert Finland into Russian territory. The independence of the duchy was maintained for some time, but in the early part of the present century Russia defeated the armies of Finland, and the country was permanently occupied. Finland has its constitution, which is based on that of Sweden, and when it was united with Russia the constitutional rights of the people were guaranteed. The country is ruled by a governor-general, who is appointed by Russia; it has a parliament for presenting the grievances and wishes of the people, but all acts must receive the approval of the Imperial Government before they can become the law of the land."

"What are those men standing in front of a building?" said Fred, as he pointed to a fellow with a broom talking with another in uniform.

"The one in uniform is a postman," was the reply, "and the other is a dvornik, or house guardian. The dvornik sweeps the sidewalk in front of[Pg 90] a house and looks after the entrance; he corresponds to the porter, or portier, of other countries, and is supposed to know the names of all the tenants of the building. The postman is reading an address on a letter, and the dvornik is probably pointing in the direction of the room occupied by the person to whom the missive belongs."

"I have read that letters in Russia are examined by the police before they are delivered," said one of the boys. "Is that really the case?"

"Formerly it was, or at least they were liable to examination, and it probably happens often enough at the present time. If a man is suspected of treasonable practices his correspondence is liable to be seized; unless there is a serious charge against him, it is not detained after examination, provided it contains nothing objectionable. The Post-office, like everything else in Russia, is a part of the military system, and if the Government wishes to do anything with the letters of its subjects it generally does it. The correspondence of foreigners is rarely meddled with. Writers for the foreign newspapers sometimes complain that their letters are lost in the mails, or show signs of having been opened, but I fancy that these cases are rare. For one, I haven't the least fear that our letters will be troubled, as we have no designs upon Russia other than to see it. If we were plotting treason, or had communications with Russian and Polish revolutionists in France or Switzerland, it is probable that the Government would not be long in finding it out."

"What would happen to us, supposing that to be the case?" Frank inquired.

"Supposing it to be so for the sake of argument," the Doctor answered, "our treatment would depend much upon the circumstances. If we were Russians, we should probably be arrested and imprisoned; but as[Pg 91] we are foreigners, we should be asked to leave the country. Unless the matter is very serious, the authorities do not like to meddle with foreigners in any way that will lead to a dispute with another government, and their quickest way out of the difficulty is to expel the obnoxious visitor."

"How would they go to work to expel us?"

"An officer would call at our lodgings and tell us our passports were ready for our departure. He would probably say that the train for the frontier leaves at 11 a.m. to-morrow, and he would expect us to go by that train. If the case was urgent, he would probably tell us we must go by that train, and he would be at the hotel at ten o'clock to escort us to it. He would take us to the train and accompany us to the frontier, where he would gracefully say good-by, and wish us a pleasant journey to our homes. If matters were less serious, he would allow us two or three days, perhaps a week, to close our affairs; all would depend upon his orders, and whatever they were they would be carried out.

"Before the days of the railways objectionable parties were taken to the frontier in carriages or sleighs, the Government paying the expense of the posting; and no matter what the hour of arrival at the boundary, they were set down and left to take care of themselves. An Englishman who had got himself into trouble with the Government in the time of the Emperor[Pg 92] Nicholas, tells how he was dropped just over the boundary in Prussia in the middle of a dark and rainy night, and left standing in the road with his baggage, fully a mile from any house. The officer who accompanied him was ordered to escort him over the frontier, and did it exactly. Probably his passenger was a trifle obstinate, or he would not have been left in such a plight. A little politeness, and possibly a few shillings in money, would have induced the officer to bring him to the boundary in the daytime, and in the neighborhood of a habitation.

"Expelled foreigners have rarely any cause to complain of the incivility of their escorts. I know a Frenchman who was thus taken to the frontier after a notice of two days, and he told me that he could not have received greater civility if he had been the guest of the Emperor, and going to St. Petersburg instead of from it. He added that he tried to outdo his guardians in politeness, and further admitted that he richly deserved expulsion, as he had gone to the Empire on a revolutionary mission. On the whole, he considered himself fortunate to have escaped so easily."

The conversation led to anecdotes about the police system of Russia, and at their termination our friends found themselves at the door of the hotel. Naturally, they shifted to other topics as soon as they were in the presence of others. It was an invariable rule of our friends not to discuss in the hearing of any one else the politics of the countries they were visiting.

[Pg 93]

When the subject of the police was dropped by our friends, Frank asked a question about the Russian people and their origin. The Doctor answered that the topic was a broad one, as the Empire contained more than a hundred different nations and tribes of people, and that they spoke forty distinct languages. Many of the smaller tribes were assimilating with the Russians and losing their distinctiveness, even though they preserved their language; but this was by no means the case throughout the Empire.

"Not in Poland, I think," said Frank, "judging by what we saw and heard, and probably not in Finland."

"Quite right," added Doctor Bronson; "and the same is the case with the German population in the Baltic provinces. Though they have long been an integral part of the Empire, there are thousands of the inhabitants who cannot speak Russian, and refuse to teach it to their children. They are less revolutionary in their ways than the Poles, but none the less desirous of preserving their national characteristics.

"The population of Russia is about one hundred millions," he continued, "and it is spread over an area of nearly if not quite seven million square miles of land. Russia occupies about one-eighth of the land surface of the globe, but is very thinly inhabited. European Russia, including Poland, Finland, and other provinces, covers two millions of square miles, while Siberia, or European Asia, extends over at least five millions. This does not include the disputed territory of the last few years in Central Asia. It is pretty certain to come under the rule of the Emperor, and will add another half-million, if not more, to his dominions.

"The inhabitants are very unevenly distributed, as they average one[Pg 94] hundred and twenty-seven to the square mile in Poland, and less than two to the mile in Asiatic Russia. About sixty millions belong to the Slavic race, which includes the Russians and Poles, and also a few colonies of Servians and Bulgarians, which amount in all to less than one hundred thousand. The identity of the Servians and Bulgarians with the Slavic race has been the excuse, if not the reason, for the repeated attempts of Russia to unite Servia, Bulgaria, and the other Danubian principalities[Pg 95] with the grand Empire. The union of the Slavic people under one government has been the dream of the emperors of Russia for a long time, and what could be a better union, they argue, than their absorption into our own nation?"

Fred asked who the Slavs were, and whence they came.

"According to those who have studied the subject," Doctor Bronson answered, "they were anciently known as Scythians or Sarmatians. Their early history is much obscured, but they seem to have had their centre around the Carpathian Mountains, whence they spread to the four points of the compass. On the north they reached to the Baltic; westward, they went to the banks of the Elbe; southward, beyond the Danube; and eastward, their progress was impeded by the Tartar hordes of Asia, and[Pg 96] they did not penetrate far into Siberia until comparatively recent times. With their extension they split up into numerous tribes and independent organizations; thus their unity was lost, and they took the form in which we find them to-day. Poles and Russians are both of the same race, and their languages have a common origin; but nowhere in the world can be found two people who hate each other more heartily. However much the Russians have favored a Pan-Slavist union, you may be sure the Poles look on it with disfavor.

"The ancient Slavonic language has given way to the modern forms in the same way that Latin has made way for French, Italian, Spanish, and other tongues and dialects with a Latin origin. In fact those languages hold the same relation to Latin that Polish, Russian, Servian, and Bulgarian hold towards ancient Slavonic. The Romish Church uses Latin in its service, and the Russo-Greek Church uses the old Slavonic; the Poles, Bohemians, and others have adopted the Roman alphabet, but the Russians use the Slavonic characters in a modified form. The Russian alphabet has thirty-six letters, some being Roman, others Greek, and others Slavonic. After you have learned the alphabet and can spell out the[Pg 97] signs on the shops and street corners, I'll tell you more about the language."

It was getting late, and the party broke up a few minutes after the foregoing conversation. Before they separated, Doctor Bronson suggested to the youths that he should expect them to read up the history of Russia, and not forget the Romanoff family. "The Romanoffs," said he, "are the reigning family of Russia, just as the Guelphs are of England and the Hapsburgs of Austria."

It was speedily arranged that Frank would devote special attention to the first-named subject, while Fred would assume the responsibilities of the latter. "And while you are on the subject," the Doctor added, turning to Fred, "see if you can find about the origin of the Orloff family, which is one of the most interesting traditions that has been handed down."

Fred promised, and the party separated for the night.

They were all up in good season the next morning, and after a substantial breakfast, in which the samovar had a prominent place, they set out for a round of sight-seeing in the modern capital of Russia.

Returning to Admiralty Square, they visited the Church of St. Isaac, accompanied by the guide they had engaged at the hotel. The man was of Russian birth, and spoke English with considerable fluency. Evidently he understood his business, as he told the history of the sacred edifice with a careful adherence to dates.

"Peter the Great built a wooden church on this very spot," said the guide, "in 1710, but it was destroyed by fire. Afterwards the great Catherine erected another, which was finished in 1801; but it only remained eighteen years. The present building was begun in 1819, and its completion took nearly forty years. It was consecrated in 1858, and is considered the finest church in the Empire."

"The last statement might be disputed by some of the citizens of Moscow," said the Doctor to the youths, "but there is no question about the church being the finest in St. Petersburg. Observe its admirable proportions," he continued. "It is in the form of a Greek cross, with its four sides of equal length, and the architect who planned it certainly had a correct eye for his work."

"You observe," said the guide, "that each of the four entrances is approached by three flights of stone steps, leading up from the level of the square. Each of these flights of steps is cut from a single block of Finland granite."

The youths made note of this fact as they wondered how the huge[Pg 98] masses of stone were brought from their quarries; and they also noted that the four entrances of the church were between pillars of granite sixty feet high and seven feet in diameter, polished to the smoothness of a mirror. An immense dome forms the centre of the edifice. It is of iron, covered on the outside with copper, and this copper is heavily plated with pure gold. It is the dome which first caught the eyes of the travellers as they approached the city, and forms an important landmark from every direction. The cupola rests on thirty granite pillars, which look small enough when seen from below, but are really of great size.

In the inside of the church are paintings by Russian artists, and there are two columns of malachite fifty feet high, and of proportionate diameter—the largest columns of this costly mineral anywhere in the world. Immense quantities of malachite, lapis-lazuli, and other valuable stones are used in the decoration of the church, and our friends thought that if there was anything to criticise it was the great amount of ornamentation and gilding in the interior. "But I have no doubt," wrote Fred in his note-book, "that this display has its effect upon the worshippers in the church,[Pg 99] and particularly among the poor peasants and all others of the humbler classes. In all the countries we have visited, whether of the Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, or other faith, we have found the religious edifices adorned in the most costly manner, and there is no reason why Russia should form an exception to the general rule. Many of the paintings, columns, and other decorations of this church were the gift of wealthy Russians, while others were paid for by the contributions of the people, or from the funds in Government hands."

From the Church of St. Isaac our friends went to the Hermitage and the Winter Palace, the latter being named in contradistinction to the Summer Palace, which is at Tsarskoe-Selo, a few miles from the capital. We will see what the youths had to say of their visit to these edifices. Fred will tell the story.

"To describe all we saw there would take a fair-sized volume," said Fred, "and we will only tell what impressed us most. The palace was built in a great hurry, to take the place of the one that was burned in 1837. It was ready for occupation in 1839; and when you know that it is four hundred and fifty feet long by three hundred and fifty wide, and rises to a height of eighty feet, you will agree with us that the Russians are to be praised for their energy. Our guide had procured the necessary ticket for admittance, and we passed in through an enormous gate-way opposite the Column of Alexander. Two servants in livery showed us through the halls and galleries, and for hours we wandered among pictures which represent the victories of Russia over its enemies, and amid costly furniture and adornments, till our feet and eyes were weary. The Throne-room of Peter the Great is one of the finest of the apartments, and the Hall of St. George is the largest. It measures one hundred and forty feet by sixty, and is the scene of the grand balls and receptions which the Emperor gives on state occasions. There is a beautiful apartment, known as the drawing-room of the Empress. Its walls and ceiling are gilded, and[Pg 100] the whole work about it seems to have been done without regard to expense.

"One of the halls contains portraits of the rulers of Russia from Peter the Great down to the present time; another, the portraits of the generals who fought against the French in 1812; another, the portraits of all the field-marshals of the armies by which Napoleon was conquered; and others, the battle-scenes before mentioned. I observed that Russia was not unlike France, Germany, and other countries in representing very prominently the battles where she triumphed, and ignoring those where she was defeated. The guide told us that at the state balls in the palace sit-down suppers are provided for all the guests, even if there are two or three thousand of them. Sometimes the supper-hall is converted into a garden by means of trees brought from greenhouses. The guests sit at table beneath the foliage, and can easily forget that they are in the middle of a Russian winter.

"Doctor Bronson says the Russians are very fond of plants in their dwellings, the wealthy expending large sums on greenhouses and conservatories, and the poorer people indulging in flower-pots, which they place in all available spots. The wealthy frequently pay enormous prices for rare exotics. We have seen a good many flower-stores along the Nevski Prospect and in other streets, and are ready to believe that the Russians are great admirers of floral products. Their long, cold, and cheerless winters lead them to prize anything that can remind them of the summer season.

"At the entrance of one of the halls there is a tablet on which are the rules which Catherine II. established for the informal parties she used to have at the Hermitage. Catherine had literary aspirations, and her parties were in imitation of the salons of Paris, which have a wide celebrity. Here is a translation of the rules, which I take from Murray's 'Hand-book:'

"The 'Telemachiade' which is prescribed as a penance was the work of a Russian poet of Catherine's time, who does not seem to have enjoyed the Imperial favor. It is said that invitations to these parties were much sought; but, in spite of all her efforts, the Empress could not induce her guests to forget entirely that she was their sovereign. However, she managed to make her parties much less formal than anything ever known before at the Imperial Palace, and this was a great deal to accomplish in such a time and in such a country.

"I may remark, by-the-way, that the Empress Catherine was the first sovereign of Russia to invite an American officer into the Imperial service. That officer was the celebrated John Paul Jones, a Scotchman by birth but an American citizen at the time of the Revolutionary war. The havoc he wrought upon the British fleets attracted the attention of the Russian Government, and after our war was over he received an intimation that he could find employment with the armies of the Empress. He went to St. Petersburg, was received by Catherine at a special audience, and accorded the rank of admiral in the Imperial Navy. Russia was then at war with Turkey. Admiral Jones was sent to command the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, and operate against the Turkish fleet, which he did in his old way.

"The Russians were besieging a town which was held by the Turks, who had a fleet of ships supporting their land-forces. Jones dashed in among the Turkish vessels with a boarding-party in small boats, backed by the guns of his ships and those of the besieging army. He captured two of the Turkish galleys, one of them belonging to the commander of the fleet, and made such havoc among the enemy that the latter was thoroughly frightened. Unfortunately, Jones incurred the displeasure of Potemkin, the Prime-minister, and favorite of the Empress, and shortly after the defeat of the fleet he was removed from command and sent to the Baltic, where there was no enemy to operate against.

"But I am neglecting the palace in following the career of an American in the service of Russia.

[Pg 103]

"We asked to see the crown jewels of Russia, and the guide took us to the room where they are kept. One of the most famous diamonds of the world, the Orloff, is among them, and its history is mixed up with a good deal of fable. The most authentic story about this diamond seems to be that it formed the eye of an idol in a temple in India, whence it was stolen by a French soldier, who sold it for two thousand guineas. It then came to Europe, and after changing hands several times was bought by Prince Orloff, who presented it to the Empress Catherine. The Prince is[Pg 104] said to have given for the diamond four hundred and fifty thousand rubles (about four hundred thousand dollars), a life annuity of two thousand rubles, and a patent of nobility. It weighs more than the famous Koh-i-noor of England, but is not as fine a stone. There is a faint tinge of yellow that depreciates it considerably, and there is also a flaw in the interior of the stone, though only perceptible on a careful examination.

"The Imperial crown of Russia is the most interesting crown we have anywhere seen. The guide told us how much it was worth in money, but I've forgotten, the figures being so large that my head wouldn't contain them. There are rubies, diamonds, and pearls in great profusion, the diamonds alone being among the most beautiful in the world. There are nearly, if not quite, a hundred large diamonds in the crown, not to mention the smaller ones that fill the spaces where large ones could not go. The coronet of the Empress is another mass of precious stones worth a long journey to see. There are other jewels here of great value, among them a plume or aigrette, which was presented to General Suwarroff by the Sultan of Turkey. It is covered with diamonds mounted on wires that bend with each movement of the wearer. What a sensation Suwarroff must have made when he walked or rode with this plume in his hat!

"From the crown jewels we went to a room whose history is connected with a scene of sadness—the death of the Emperor Nicholas. It is the smallest and plainest room of the palace, without any adornment, and containing an iron bedstead such as we find in a military barrack. His cloak, sword, and helmet are where he left them, and on the table is the report of the quartermaster of the household troops, which had been delivered to the Emperor on the morning of March 2, 1855, the date of his death. Everything is just as he left it, and a soldier of the Grenadier Guards is constantly on duty over the relics of the Iron Czar.

"If what we read of him is true, he possessed one characteristic of Peter the Great—that of having his own way, more than any other Emperor of modern times. He ascended the throne in the midst of a revolution which resulted in the defeat of the insurgents. They assembled in Admiralty Square, and after a brief resistance were fired upon by the loyal soldiers of the Empire. Five of the principal conspirators were hanged after a long and searching trial, during which Nicholas was concealed behind a screen in the court-room, and listened to all that was said.[Pg 105] Two hundred of the others were sent to Siberia for life, and the soldiers who had simply obeyed the orders of their leaders were distributed among other regiments than those in which they had served.

"Through his whole reign Nicholas was an enemy to free speech or free writing, and his rule was severe to the last degree. What he ordered it was necessary to perform, no matter what the difficulties were in the way, and a failure was, in his eyes, little short of a crime. He decided questions very rapidly, and often with a lack of common-sense. When the engineers showed him the plans of the Moscow and St. Petersburg Railway, and asked where the line should run, he took a ruler, drew on the map a line from one city to the other, and said that should be the route. As a consequence, the railway is very nearly straight for the whole four hundred miles of its course, and does not pass any large towns like the railways in other countries.

"A more sensible anecdote about him relates an incident of the Crimean war, when the Governor of Moscow ordered the pastor of the English Church in that city to omit the portion of the service which prays for the success of British arms. The pastor appealed the case to the Emperor, who asked if those words were in the regular service of the English Church. On being answered in the affirmative, he told the pastor to continue to read the service just as it was, and ordered the governor to make no further interference.

"His disappointment at the defeat of his armies in the Crimean war was the cause of his death, quite as much as the influenza to which it is attributed. On the morning of his last day he received news of the repulse of the Russians at Eupatoria, and he is said to have died while in a fit of anger over this reverse. Though opposed to the freedom of the Press and people, he advised the liberation of the serfs; and before he died he urged his son and successor to begin immediately the work of emancipation.

[Pg 106]

"The Hermitage is close to the palace, and is large enough of itself for the residence of an emperor of medium importance, and certainly for a good-sized king. The present building is the successor of one which was built for the Empress Catherine as a refuge from the cares of State, and hence was called the Hermitage. It is virtually a picture-gallery and museum, as the walls of the interior are covered with pictures, and there are collections of coins, gems, Egyptian antiquities, and other things distributed through the rooms.

"The room of greatest interest to us in the Hermitage was that containing the relics of Peter the Great. There were the turning-lathes whereon he worked, the knives and chisels with which he carved wood into various forms, together with specimens of his wood-carving. His telescopes, drawing-instruments, walking-stick, saddle, and other things are all here, and in the centre of the room is an effigy which shows him to have been a man of giant stature, as does also a wooden rod which is said to be the one with which he was actually measured. There is a carriage in which he drove about the city, the horse he rode at the battle of Pultowa, and several of his favorite dogs, all stuffed and preserved, but not in the highest style of the taxidermist. There are casts taken after Peter's death, several portraits in oil and one in mosaic, and a cast taken[Pg 107] during life, and presented by Peter to his friend Cardinal Valenti at Rome. It was missing for a long time, but was finally discovered about the middle of this century by a patriotic Russian, who bought it and presented it to the gallery.

"There is a clock in the same room which is said to have contained at one time the draft of a constitution which Catherine the Great intended giving to her people. Immediately after her death her son and successor, Paul, rushed to the clock in her bedroom, drew out the paper, and destroyed it. At least this is the tradition; and whether true or not, it is worth knowing, as it illustrates the character of Paul I."

Our friends imitated the course of many an Imperial favorite, not only in Russia, but in other countries, by going from a palace to a prison, but with the difference in their case that the step was voluntary.

As they crossed the bridge leading from the Winter Palace in the direction of the grim fortress of Sts. Peter and Paul, Doctor Bronson told the youths that Peter the Great shut up his sister in a convent and exiled her minister, Prince Galitzin. "Since his time," the Doctor continued, "his example has been followed by nearly every sovereign of Russia, and a great many persons, men and women, have ended their lives in prison or in exile who once stood high in favor at the Imperial court. Catherine was accustomed to dispose of the friends of whom she had wearied by sending them to live amid Siberian snows, and the Emperor Paul used to condemn people to prison or to exile on the merest caprice. Even at the present day the old custom is not unknown."

[Pg 108]

"We were not admitted to the cells of the fortress," said Frank, in his account of the visit to the place, "as it was 'contrary to orders,' according to the guide's explanation. But we were shown through the cathedral where the rulers of Russia from the time of Peter the Great have been buried, with the exception of Peter II., who was buried at Moscow, where he died. The tombs are less elaborate than we expected to find them, and the walls of the church are hung profusely with flags, weapons of war, and other trophies of battle. The tombs mark the positions of the graves, which are beneath the floor of the cathedral. Naturally the tombs that most attracted our attention were those of the rulers who have been most famous in the history of Russia.

"We looked first at the burial-place of the great Peter, then at that of Catherine II., and afterwards at the tomb of Nicholas I.; then we sought the tomb of Alexander II., who fell at the hands of Nihilist assassins, and after a brief stay in the church returned to the open air. The building is more interesting for its associations than for the artistic merit of its interior. Its spire is the tallest in the Empire, with the exception of the tower of the church at Revel, on the Baltic coast. From the level of the ground to the top of the cross is three hundred and eighty-seven feet, which is twenty-six feet higher than St. Paul's in London.

"The spire alone is one hundred and twenty-eight feet high, and very slender in shape. It was erected more than a hundred years ago, and the church itself dates almost from the time of the foundation of the city. Fifty or more years ago the angel and cross on the top of the spire threatened to fall, and a Russian peasant offered to repair them for two hundred rubles. By means of a rope and a few nails, he climbed to the[Pg 109] top of the spire and performed the work, and nobody will say he did not earn his money. A single misstep, or the slightest accident, would have dashed him to certain death.

"When we left the church and fortress," continued Frank, "we felt that we had had enough for the day of that kind of sight-seeing, so we drove through some of the principal streets and went to the Gostinna Dvor, where we wished to see the curiosities of the place and make a few purchases.

"Near St. Isaac's Church we passed the famous equestrian statue of the Emperor Nicholas, in which the sculptor succeeded in balancing the horse on his hind feet without utilizing the tail, as was done in the case of the statue of Peter the Great. The Emperor is in the uniform of the Horse Guards. The pedestal is formed of blocks of granite of different colors, and there are bronze reliefs on the four sides representing incidents in the Emperor's life and career. On the upper part of the pedestal at each of the corners are emblematical figures, and just beneath the forefeet of the horse is a fine representation of the Imperial eagle. The whole work is surrounded with an iron fence to preserve it from injury, and altogether the statue is one of which the city may well be proud."

While the party were looking at the Imperial arms just mentioned, Fred asked why the eagle of Russia is represented with two heads.

"It indicates the union of the Eastern and Western empires," the Doctor answered, "the same as does the double-headed eagle of Austria. The device was adopted about four centuries ago by Ivan III., after his marriage with Sophia, a princess of the Imperial blood of Constantinople.

"By-the-way," the Doctor continued, "there's a story of an Imperial grand-duke who went one day on a hunting excursion, the first of his life, and fired at a large bird which rose before him. The bird fell, and was brought by a courtier to the noble hunter.

"'Your Imperial Highness has killed an eagle,' said the courtier, bowing low and depositing the prey on the ground.

"The grand-duke looked the bird over carefully, and then turned away with disdain. 'That's no eagle,' said he, 'it has only one head.'"

What our young friends saw in the Gostinna Dvor will be told in the next chapter.

[Pg 110]

"Before I describe the Gostinna Dvor of St. Petersburg," said Fred in his note-book, "let me premise by saying that every Russian city or town has an establishment of the same kind. It is a good deal more than the market-place with us, and seems to combine the bazaars of the East with the shops of the West. In an ordinary town the Gostinna Dvor occupies a single large building at or near the centre of population; the larger the town or city the greater will be the commercial needs of the people, and consequently a city like Moscow or St. Petersburg will have a Gostinna Dvor that dwarfs all ordinary markets into insignificance.

"The one at St. Petersburg occupies an enormous building, which might almost be called a series of buildings, fronting on the Nevski Prospect, but entered also from other streets. There are said to be ten thousand merchants and their employés in the building, and certainly the number is little if any exaggerated. We walked among the rows of shops till our feet ached with weariness, and still there were many other rows of shops to be visited. Sometimes the shopmen were importunate, but usually they did not disturb us unless we stopped to look at something. The building is two stories high, the lower floor being used for retail purposes and the upper for the storage of goods. Owing to the danger of a conflagration and the great destruction that would ensue, we were told that no fire is allowed here in winter. Then the merchants and their clerks wear furs and thick clothing when at their business, and shoppers are not expected to lay aside their wraps while making purchases.

"'What do you buy in the Gostinna Dvor?' I hear some one asking.

"'Everything that one could wear or use in Russia,' I should reply, 'together with a great many things whose use it would be impossible to imagine.' Some one writing on this subject says you may come naked[Pg 111] into the Gostinna Dvor, bringing only a pocket-book stuffed with money, and leave it in an hour dressed in whatever garments you choose, wear all the jewellery your tastes may dictate, and ride away in a coach drawn by four horses, with driver and footmen in livery, all obtained in the building we are now visiting, or in one of its annexes. Nay, more; you can engage a residence of palatial character from accommodating house agents stationed here, and furnish it completely from the stock on hand in the Gostinna Dvor. Pictures, chairs, sofas, curtains, tapestry, kitchen utensils, library, anything and everything you want, are all ready for sale, and only await purchasers. Your wife and children, 'sisters, cousins, and aunts,' can here be provided with wardrobes, elaborate or economical, as your purse will justify, and so with all the servants of the household, regardless of their number.

"Officers of every grade, rank, and arm of the service can be uniformed here, and their garments may be brand-new, second-hand, or so old that they will subject the wearer to punishment on account of his shabbiness. Decorations are to be bought, at least the insignia thereof, and the[Pg 112] seller will ask no questions. The purchaser wears them at his peril if he does not possess the proper diplomas, since the unauthorized wearing of decorations is as serious a matter in Russia as in other Continental countries. The Emperor Nicholas was fond of visiting the Gostinna Dvor accompanied by a single orderly. One day he saw a young officer wistfully eying a decoration in one of the windows, and told the orderly to ascertain his name. Inquiry showed that the officer stood well with his superiors, was faithful in the performance of his duties, and the result was he received the coveted bauble directly from the hand of the Emperor.

"Perhaps you wonder why the Russian market is so extensive, and what must be the habits of the people to sustain such a commerce. This is the way it is explained:

"A Russian rarely buys anything till just as he wants it, and then he cannot wait to have it made. In England or America a man desiring to furnish a fine house would be weeks or months collecting his furniture, ordering some to be made, and buying the rest from time to time when he found what suited him. Under similar circumstances, a Russian drives to the Gostinna Dvor, and makes his selections from what he finds there.

"The Russians are said to be more capricious than people of other nationalities in the matter of their movements from place to place. A wealthy Russian will fit up a house at great expense, buying his furniture in the manner described. In a few months he decides to travel for his health, or go to the country, and the whole equipment is sent to the Gostinna Dvor and sold for what it will bring. It may be so little used that it can be sold again by the dealer as new, and of course the dealer makes a large profit on the transaction. When the man comes back to the city he furnishes anew, and thus the business of the bazaar is maintained. Fortunes come and go very quickly in Russia, and so the work of fitting and dismantling is continuous.

"The best goods are in the Gostinna Dvor proper, while the inferior ones are in the annexes. Some of the shops have fixed prices, but in most of them there is a system of bargaining which is not agreeable to the traveller from the Occident. He is never certain that he has paid the proper price, even when he has brought the merchant down to what appears to be his lowest figure.

"We bought a few articles of Russian manufacture to send home to our friends. Among them were samovars, inlaid goods from Tula, embroidered slippers and sashes from the Tartar provinces, malachite and lapis-lazuli jewellery, and some Circassian ornaments of silver. Many of the articles sold in the Gostinna Dvor are of English, German, and French[Pg 113] manufacture, which are largely increased in price owing to the duties placed upon them by the custom-house.

"Our guide directed us from the rear of the building along the Bolshoia Sadovaia, or Great Garden Street, which is a line of shops and bazaars, to the Sennaia Ploshad, or Hay-market. This is a large open place or square, which is less interesting now than in winter. In summer it is devoted to the sale of hay and live-stock, but in winter it is filled not only with the hay, grain, and live-stock of summer, but with frozen animals, which form the principal food of the inhabitants of the city. Here is what one traveller has written about the frozen market:

"'On one side you see a collection of frozen sheep—stiff, ghastly objects—some[Pg 114] poised on their hoofs like the wooden animals in a child's "Noah's Ark;" others on their sides, with their legs projecting at right angles to their bodies; others, again, on their backs, with their feet in the air like inverted tables. The oxen are only less grotesque from having been cleft down their backs—an operation which seems to take them out of the category of oxen and place them in that of beef. The pigs are drawn up in line against the wall, standing on their hind legs, with their forefeet extended above their heads, like trick-dogs going through their performances.

"'The partridges, quails, grouse, wood-hens, and other birds are lying together in a frozen mass, and by their side are ducks and geese with outstretched necks so straight and stiff that you might take one of these harmless creatures by the bill and, using it as a bludgeon, knock down your enemy with its body. The fowls have been plucked, plunged into water, and left to freeze; thus they are completely encased in ice, and in that condition will keep for any length of time as long as the weather continues cold.'

[Pg 115]

"Frozen fish are piled in heaps like stove-wood, and frozen cabbages are rolled around like cannon-shot. A calf stands in front of a butcher's stall in the attitude of walking away, but an examination shows that he is hard as a stone, and may have been standing there for weeks. Milk is sold in bricks, with a stick or string frozen into one corner; the purchaser may carry it home by means of this improvised handle, or he may wrap it in paper or his handkerchief. In fact everything that can be frozen yields to the frost, and the Russians find it a most convenient form of preservation. One of the odd sights of the frozen market is the itinerant vender of sucking-pigs, who carries these articles of trade hung around his neck or waist, as though they were ornaments rather than merchandise.

"There is a market for old clothes which reminded us of Chatham Street, in New York. The dealers had little stalls where the garments were exposed for sale, and there were a good many peddlers who walked about with the goods they desired to dispose of. The old-clothes market of St. Petersburg is said to be inferior to that of Moscow in the number and character of the Israelitish merchants in whose hands the business is concentrated. The one at Moscow is also called the Elbow-market, on account of the continued elbowing of those who go there. Though people were crowded closely together when we were in the market, we saw no indications of anything but good-nature. The Russians are polite to each other as well as to strangers, and it was amusing to see how the rough fellows, when meeting face to face, bowed as though they were great personages.

"And such flocks of pigeons as were flying all about! They tell us there are many more of them in winter than in summer, as the birds are then driven to the towns and cities to find their food. The Hay-market is their favorite resort, since grain as well as hay is sold there, and the pigeons manage to get off with all that is scattered on the ground.

"The pigeon or dove in Russia is a sacred bird. The Russians say that as the dove brought the olive-branch to the Ark, he should not be harmed, and it would be a great offence to kill one of these birds in the presence of an orthodox member of the Church. But all the grain that is scattered from the feed of the horses and in the market-place is not sufficient for the sustenance of the pigeons; many kind-hearted persons throw quantities of grain to them every morning, and not unfrequently it happens that a pious Russian will spend a considerable part of his income in this way. Kriloff, the Russian fable writer, is said to have supported all the pigeons of the Gostinna Dvor for some time at his own expense, or, more properly speaking, at that of his creditors.

[Pg 116]

"There are a great many magpies and crows mingling with the pigeons, and evidently considering themselves just as respectable. Pigeons, crows, and magpies fill the belfries of many of the churches, but not of all, and nobody seems able to say why they make the distinction. Some of the churches are fairly thronged with them, and they keep up a perpetual flutter around the roof from sunrise to sunset.

"There is a story that the magpies were driven out of Moscow by one of the priests under the following circumstances: The high-priest, or metropolitan, was about to lay the foundation of a new church, and when he reached the part of the ceremony where the mortar was to be placed on the stone, the golden trowel which had been brought for the occasion[Pg 117] could not be found. A workman standing near was accused of the theft, and as nobody else could have stolen the trowel, the man was sent to Siberia. Some weeks later the precious tool was found by the bell-ringers in the great tower in the Kremlin, where it had been carried by a thieving magpie. The man was pardoned, and compensated for his suffering; the metropolitan placed the curse of the Church on the magpie, and thereupon all the magpies in Moscow flew away, and have not since been near the city. The story is told by the author of 'The Russians at Home,' and he adds that the magpies really do keep at a respectful distance from the ancient capital of Russia, and thus vouch for the truth of the story."

From the Gostinna Dvor our friends drove to the church and monastery of St. Alexander Nevski, at the extreme end of the Nevski Prospect. It occupies a large area enclosed by high walls, and is said to be on the exact spot where the Grand-duke Alexander defeated the Swedes, about a.d. 1241. In due time he was canonized, and became St. Alexander. He was buried at Vladimir, where his remains rested until after the founding of St. Petersburg.

Peter the Great caused the bones of the saint to be transported to the new city on the banks of the Neva. St. Alexander became St. Alexander Nevski ("of the Neva"), and the church and monastery were established. One night the monks in charge of the church took the bones of the saint and started for Vladimir, declaring they had been told in a vision that the saint was not resting peacefully in the marshy soil of the new capital. Peter was not a man to be thwarted in his designs. He sent word to the monks that unless they returned immediately, bringing the bones with them, they would lose their heads. Knowing the man they had to deal with, they straightway had a new vision, which accorded with the wishes of the imperious Czar. They took the road back to St. Petersburg without delay, and sought and obtained the pardon of their august master.

Hear what Fred has to say about the church and its surroundings:

"The original church was of wood," writes Fred, "and was built about 1712; it was torn down a few years later, and replaced with a church of stone. The sovereigns of Russia each added something to the building and its surroundings, and the present cathedral was built by Catherine the Great. The work was done at great expense. Marble was brought from Italy for the interior decorations, and the malachite, lapis-lazuli, and other costly minerals were brought from Siberia and Persia. Some of the paintings are by Russian artists, and the rest by celebrated masters of Italy and other countries.

"An object of great interest is the shrine of St. Alexander Nevski.[Pg 118] The coffin is of solid silver, and, with the surrounding ornaments of the same pure metal, is estimated to weigh more than a ton and a half. The crown of the saint is preserved here, and also the bed on which Peter the Great died, and there are many interesting objects associated with the memory of nearly all the rulers of Russia.

"There is a library of ten or twelve thousand volumes, together with a large number of manuscripts relating to the history of the Empire. In the monastery are the cells of some fifty or sixty monks who reside here and have charge of a religious school which is open to students preparing[Pg 119] to enter the service of the Church. The chapel contains the tombs of Suwaroff and other generals, and also of many members of the Imperial family. There are tombs of several noble families of Russia; that of the Narishkins bears the inscription,

"An occurrence of comparatively recent times is associated with this church. Alexander Griboyedoff, born at Moscow about 1795, was a celebrated poet and dramatist, whose merits were acknowledged by his appointment as Minister to Persia in 1828. In February of the following year he and all the Russians who accompanied him were murdered in Teheran, in consequence of a riotous outbreak of the populace. The Russian Government demanded satisfaction, which was given in the shape of a long train of beasts of burden loaded with presents, and accompanied by a prince of the Shah's household. There were also many fine horses for saddle purposes, and a collection of wild animals peculiar to Asia. The train was months on its way, and reached St. Petersburg in the winter. A procession was made to this church, and certainly it was the most remarkable that this northern city had ever seen.

"Pearls, embroideries in gold and silver, shawls, and other costly fabrics, were carried on silver dishes in the hands of gorgeously dressed Persians; elephants bearing towers filled with Persian warriors, or laden with the gifts of the Persian court, were protected from the cold by boots and[Pg 120] wrappings of leather; and the cages of the lions, tigers, and leopards were shielded by double coverings of the skins of Arctic bears. The Persian prince rode in an Imperial carriage drawn by six horses, and was escorted by a regiment of Russian grenadiers. A portion of the presents was bestowed upon this church, and the remainder went to the families of Griboyedoff and his companions.

"The Emperor comes in person to attend the service of mass in this church at least once a year. The choir is one of the best in the city, and the church is largely attended by the fashionable inhabitants of the capital. A service was going on as we entered the building, and we remained near the door until it ended. It was an impressive ceremonial, made doubly so by the historic interest of the surroundings."

A drive to the Summer Gardens followed the visit to the Church of Saint Alexander Nevski. Several theatres and other public buildings were passed on the way, but they concluded not to stop to examine them. "One building is very much like another in St. Petersburg," said the Doctor; "and unless there is some special interest connected with it, or a peculiar feature of architecture, it is not worth while mixing it up with your recollections of the Winter Palace and the Hermitage."

It was a pleasant afternoon, and the Summer Gardens were filled with people enjoying the open air. There were nurse-maids with children, peasants alone or in couples, or groups, well-to-do persons of the middle classes, officers and soldiers—in fact a fair representation of the whole population. The Emperor sometimes comes here for a walk, but of late years his visits have been less frequent than formerly, on account of the fear of assassination. It is forbidden to speak to the Emperor while he is on the promenade, and any one violating the rule will be arrested immediately.

[Pg 121]

It is said that one day while the Emperor was walking in the Summer Gardens he met and recognized a French actor with whose performance he was greatly pleased. He spoke pleasantly to the actor, and the latter replied, expressing his satisfaction at this mark of the Imperial favor. The Emperor then went on his way. The police immediately pounced upon the performer, and carried him away to prison for violating the rule!

"But the Emperor spoke to me first," the man protested over and over again to no purpose.

"You spoke to the Emperor, which is contrary to the law," was all the explanation he could obtain.

Nicholas went that night to the theatre to hear his favorite, but the latter did not appear. No one could tell where he was, and his Majesty returned disappointed to the palace.

In the morning the unfortunate actor was released, and the story somehow reached the Imperial ears. Nicholas sent for the victim of the arrest, apologized for the action of the police, and asked what reparation he could make for the actor's night in prison.

"Never speak to me again in the public garden," was the reply. The Emperor laughed, and made the required promise. Next day he sent the equivalent of a month's salary to the actor, together with a diamond ring of no small value.

In one corner of the garden is a monument to the memory of Kriloff, the Russian fabulist. The youths asked the Doctor to tell them about Kriloff, which he did as follows:

"Kriloff was the most famous writer in Russia in the first half of the present century," said the Doctor, "and he is probably better known to-day among all classes of the population than any[Pg 122] other man of letters. Forty thousand copies of his works were sold between 1830 and 1840, in editions of various kinds, and went to all parts of the Empire. There was hardly a child of the educated classes who was not familiar with his stories, and they were circulated 'by word of mouth' among the peasantry, to whom reading was an unknown accomplishment; and before they were issued in books, his fables were published in newspapers and magazines, so that the aggregate circulation was very large."

Fred asked what was the nature of the stories told by the famous man whose statue they were regarding.

"They were fables," the Doctor answered, "after the manner of Æsop's and La Fontaine's. He had written editorials and literary essays for various publications, but never made a 'hit' until about his fortieth year, when he took some fables from La Fontaine and adapted them to the conditions of life in Russia. He showed them to a friend, who printed them in The Moscow Spectator, where they attracted much attention. Kriloff was encouraged to continue this style of writing. For the rest of his life his literary labors were almost wholly devoted to fables. He died in November, 1844, at the good old age of seventy-six.

"At his funeral the streets were crowded, and the Church of St. Isaac could not hold all who came to take part in the services. Soon after his death a popular subscription was started, and the children of all classes contributed to it. The money was expended for the erection of the statue[Pg 123]
[Pg 124] before us. You observe that the space around it is the favorite play-ground of the children, and no more appropriate spot could have been chosen."

The statue represents Kriloff in a dressing-gown, seated in an arm-chair, with his head slightly inclined forward, and looking pleasantly downward. The pedestal of the monument is adorned with reliefs of the animals that figured in his fables—oxen, horses, cows, sheep, donkeys, foxes, wolves, hens, lions, etc., and thereby hangs a story:

The Emperor Nicholas was fond of choosing as his ministers and advisers men who were not likely to oppose any of his measures. The incompetency of his ministry was notorious both in Russia and other countries. When his successor, Alexander II., ascended the throne, he was asked why he did not retain the ministry of Nicholas instead of choosing a new one. He replied, "My father was a man of such transcendent ability that he could afford to surround himself with incompetent men; I feel my weakness, and must have the best talent in the Empire to assist me."

When the equestrian monument to the memory of Nicholas was under consideration, it was proposed to adorn its pedestal with the portraits of his ministers, but the proposal was vetoed, when some one suggested that if the monument were so adorned it might be mistaken for that of Kriloff.

"Kriloff's fables," the Doctor continued, "were aimed at official and social abuses and absurdities. Many that he wrote were never produced, as all had to receive the approval of the censor before they could be issued. I told you that in ten years forty thousand copies of his works were sold, and it is probable that the present sale amounts to several thousand annually. Kriloff is read not only by Russian children but by people of all ages, and the fables have been translated into all the languages of Europe."

On the way back to the hotel our friends stopped at a book-store and bought a copy, in English, of the book in which their interest had been aroused. Some of the fables were incomprehensible to them, on account of their ignorance of Russian manners and customs, and of the system of government; but this was not the case with the greater number. They had a hearty laugh over several of the anecdotes, and voted the book to be well worth preserving.

Here are some of the fables with which they were amused. We will condense them, as they are sometimes rather long drawn out in the original.

A donkey meets a nightingale in the woods, and asks her to favor him[Pg 125] with a song. She complies, and sings her sweetest. The other birds come and listen, but the donkey shakes his head and says, "Your voice is very fair, but you should take lessons of the village cock." The moral may be thus rendered in English:

"What most the poet fears,
Is the critic with long ears."

Another fable tells how the swan, the crab, and the pike agreed to draw a load; but when the time came for the effort the pike dived into the water, the swan flew into the air, while the crab went backward after the manner of his kind. At the end Kriloff says,

"Which was right and which was wrong,
I really can't pretend to say;
But this I know, they labored long,
And the load stands still to the present day."

The fable of "The Two Boys" tells how two youths are trying to get at some nuts in a tree, but the limbs are beyond their reach. One suggests that he will climb up on the back of the other, and then can gather nuts for both; but as soon as he is seated among the limbs he falls to eating the nuts at his leisure, and throws only the shells to his companion. The moral is obvious, and Kriloff adds that he has known men thus raised to profitable positions who had not the grace to throw even the shells to those who had assisted them.

In the fable of "The Pike," that voracious fish has been killing his inoffensive neighbors in the pond. He is taken in a tub of water and carried before the court for judgment. The court is composed of two donkeys and two goats, who grazed on the banks of the pond; and in order to make their decision an intelligent one, a skilful lawyer, the fox, is added to the court. People said that the fox was always plentifully supplied with fish, the pike giving him all he wanted.

The proof was overwhelming, and the judges decided that the pike must be hanged. "Oh, hanging's too good for him," said the fox, "give him something more severe; let the wretch be drowned."

"Certainly," exclaimed the judges; and thereupon the pike was thrown into the pond again.

In "The Fox and the Marmot," the fox complains to the marmot that he has been driven out of a poultry-yard which he had undertaken to protect. "It was a wretched place," says the fox; "I was awake all night; and even in the daytime I had hardly time to eat a mouthful.[Pg 126] My health was suffering from my constant occupation, and, after all my trouble and fidelity, I am accused of stealing. What an infamous outrage! You know what I had to do there, and I ask if you could suspect me of the slightest act of dishonesty."

"Of course not," the marmot answers; "but I'm sorry to say that I've frequently seen feathers sticking in your mouth."

"Many an official," says Kriloff, "complains that his place is a hard one, and he is barely able to live upon his pay. Nevertheless in time he buys an estate and builds a house. You might have difficulty in proving that he accepted bribes or robbed the Government, but every one must admit that the feathers are quite visible around the gentleman's mouth."

Frank read this fable aloud, and then asked the Doctor if the moral would be understood by any office-holders in the United States. Doctor Bronson smiled as he answered that the fable was designed for Russia alone, but its circulation in New York and Washington could do no harm.

In the evening our friends went to one of the theatres to hear an opera that is a great favorite with the Russians. It is by Glinka, a Russian composer, and is entitled "Jizn za Tsarya" ("A Life for the Czar"). From "The Russians at Home" Fred learned that the opera was first produced in Moscow in 1843. The subject is the devotion of a Russian peasant to the Czar Michael, the first ruler of the Romanoff family. A band of Polish invaders are seeking the Czar with the intention of killing him; they meet a peasant, whom they question as to the Czar's place of concealment.[Pg 127] Suspecting their design, he offers to lead them to the spot; they follow, and he leads them to the centre of a forest from which they cannot find a way of escape. After getting them there, he announces that he has saved the life of the Czar at the sacrifice of his own. The invaders kill him on the spot, but the life of the Czar is saved. The story is a true one, and to this day the people of the village where the loyal peasant, Ivan Soussanin, lived, are exempt from taxes, and a monument has been erected to the memory of the man. The opera which chronicles his[Pg 128] devotion is given in three acts, and its melodies are all strictly national. Our friends were delighted with the performance, and both Frank and Fred declared that for days afterwards several of the airs in "Jizn za Tsarya" were literally "running through their heads."

Another evening they went to one of the cheaper theatres, where Russian comedies and farces were given. Of course they could not understand the dialogue, but were quite interested in the action of the piece, which was decidedly vigorous. Fred said he was reminded of certain local dramas in New York, where the actors receive a great deal of pounding and rough handling, and Frank thought a good actor in Russia ought to have the flexibility and agility of a circus performer.

[Pg 129]

As a type of the plays that amuse the lower order of Russians, the following is a fair representation:

A mujik makes love to his master's maid-servant, much against the old gentleman's will. One day the master enters the kitchen and finds the mujik there. The whole family is called, the bull-dog is let loose upon the lover and seizes him by the coat, while all the members of the household proceed to pound him with saucepans, broomsticks, tongs, and other utensils that can be used for hostile purposes.

Round and round goes the frightened mujik. The dog clings to the mujik's coat, the master seizes the dog by the tail, the mistress clutches the master by the coat, and so the whole trio is dragged by the victim. The rest of the party continue their pounding, which they alternate by throwing missiles in the shape of plates, potatoes, and anything else the kitchen affords.

The audience is wild with delight, especially as the blows fall quite as often on the other characters as on the mujik. Finally the maid-servant comes to her lover's relief by throwing a bunch of fire-crackers among his enemies and blowing them up; thereupon the lover dashes through the door, carrying with him the adhering bull-dog, and the curtain falls amid rounds of applause.

[Pg 130]

The conversation about Kriloff and the visit to the opera naturally turned the thoughts of the youths in the direction of Russian literature, journalism, and dramatic productions. Frank was curious to know about the newspapers of the country, while Fred's first inquiry referred to the works of its poets, historians, and dramatists.

"We will begin with the newspapers," said Doctor Bronson, "and first I will speak of those published in St. Petersburg. They are all printed in Russian, with the exception of a little sheet in German, for the exclusive use of the German residents, and Le Journal de St. Petersbourg, the organ of the ministry of foreign affairs, and chiefly filled with official notices interesting to foreigners. It is printed in French, as most of the foreigners visiting Russia understand that language. It contains very little local news, and not much from the outside world. In fact journalism, as we understand it in America, is practically unknown in Russia. The best of the Russian dailies could not stand a comparison with the leading journals of a dozen American cities, and a single copy of the Herald, Tribune, Times, or World, of New York, contains more 'news,' as we call it, than all the papers of Moscow and St. Petersburg together."

"I suppose the censorship is largely responsible for this state of affairs," Frank remarked.

"You are quite right," the Doctor replied; "if the censorship did not exist there is no doubt that the papers would be much more enterprising than they are. They must not offend the Government, or they are liable to suppression. Editorials are generally submitted to the censor before going into type, and if approved they may be printed. If printed without approval, the publishers run the risk of censure. For a first offence they are 'cautioned;' for a second they are cautioned and fined; and for[Pg 131] a third offence the publication is suspended for a month, three months, or perhaps entirely. Consequently the papers cannot discuss public matters with any freedom, and they are entirely prohibited from publishing personal scandals, which form such an important part of the 'news' of several American papers I could name. In addition to cautions and fines, the editors are liable to imprisonment; and, taking all things into consideration, the way of the journalist is hard in Russia."

Fred asked the Doctor what were the principal papers of the capital.

"They change so often," was the reply, "that an answer made this year will hardly answer for next. Each member of the ministry has his organ; that of the foreign ministry, as before stated, is Le Journal de St. Petersbourg; while that of the War Department is the Russki Invalid; known to the outer world as the Invalide Russe. The organ of the Naval Bureau is published at Cronstadt, the great naval port of the Empire, and not at the capital; but as Cronstadt is only a few miles away, the locality is of little consequence. The Golos is generally understood to be the organ of the Ministry of the Interior; and as this department has the supervision of the press, this paper is said to have more freedom than its rivals. But even the Golos does not escape the hand of the censor, and its freedom of speech has several times brought it into trouble.

"What would be called a small circulation in America is a large one in Russia. There is not a daily paper in the Empire that averages a circulation of twenty-five thousand copies, and the leading papers of the two great cities have to content themselves with ten or fifteen thousand. I have been told that the daily papers of St. Petersburg do not circulate altogether more than eighty thousand copies daily outside the capital,[Pg 132] and about fifty thousand in it. Remember, the mass of the population does not know how to read and write as in America, and consequently the circulation of the newspapers is confined to a small portion of the community.

"A paper of great influence, probably the greatest in the Empire, is the Moscow Gazette. It is supposed to be the organ of the Emperor, with whom its editor, Mr. Katkoff, is on terms of intimacy. Important edicts of the Government are frequently foreshadowed in the Gazette, and the national and international pulses are often felt through its columns. But, with all its influence, the Gazette does not circulate more than twenty thousand copies—at least according to the figures at my command. The Moscow Gazette is more frequently quoted by foreign writers than any other journal in Russia; and if it were published in French rather than in Russian, we should probably hear of it even more frequently than we do."

"It's a pity they don't give us a French edition of it," said Frank. "I would like very much to read the paper and know what it has to say,[Pg 133] but of course I can't as long as it is in Russian. French is the diplomatic language, and I wonder they don't make an edition for foreign circulation."

"Did you ever hear," remarked the Doctor, with a smile, "of the attempt of Prince Bismarck to have German take the place of French as the language of diplomacy?"

Neither of the boys had heard the anecdote, which the Doctor gave as follows:

"Shortly after the close of the Franco-German War, in 1870, Bismarck thought he would establish German as the diplomatic language, and with this object in view he made use of German instead of French in an official communication to Prince Gortchakoff, the foreign minister of Russia. Gortchakoff promptly replied to the communication, and wrote in Russian. Bismarck saw the joke, and desisted from further attempts to carry out his design."

"Returning to our subject," said the Doctor, "there are daily papers[Pg 134] in the large towns of Russia, and weekly or semi-monthly papers in the smaller ones; but with its population of one hundred millions, the Empire has less than one-tenth as many newspapers as we have in the United States, and probably not more than one-fiftieth, or even one-hundredth, of the circulation.

"The first printing-press in Russia was set up in 1564. The first newspaper was printed at Moscow in 1704, and the second at St. Petersburg, a year later. Peter the Great abolished the use of the old Slavic characters for printing purposes, and personally supervised the casting at Amsterdam of the types in the Russian common language as we now find it.

"In addition to the newspapers there are many magazines and reviews in Russia, and some of them have a very large circulation. They contain articles on the condition of the country, biographical sketches of distinguished Russians, historical notices of cities and towns, scientific reports, travels, anecdotes, and stories by Russian writers, together with translations of European or American works. 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' was published in one of the Russian magazines, and so were the stories of Dickens and other English authors. The magazines go to all parts of the Empire, and have a larger circulation, proportioned to that of the newspapers, than do periodicals elsewhere."

The conversation was brought to an end by the entrance of the guide, who said it was time to start for their proposed excursion to Peterhof. In a few minutes they were on the way to the station, and in due time were seated in the train which carried them to their destination.

Peterhof is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, not far from Cronstadt; in fact the excursion included a visit to Cronstadt before the party returned to the city. The palace was begun in 1720, under the direction of Peter the Great. Nearly every sovereign of Russia has made additions and alterations, but the original palace remains, and its general characteristics are preserved. Even the yellow paint which Peter adopted is still in use, and the palace contains several relics of the great Czar, which are regarded with reverence by Russian visitors, and with interest by others.

"It was here that Peter the Great died," wrote Fred in his journal. "They showed us the bed whereon he breathed his last, and it was in the same condition as when he left it. It is not in the palace, but in a small building in the grounds, and it is said that in the same building the Empress Elizabeth sometimes amused her courtiers by cooking her own dinner. From another building, called Marly, Peter used to watch his fleet of ships at anchor near Cronstadt; and in another, The Hermitage, there[Pg 135] is a curious arrangement, devised by Catherine II., so that a party at dinner did not need the aid of servants. You wonder how it was done?

"In front of each person at table there was a circular opening, through which a plate could be lowered to the kitchen or carving-room below, and replaced by another. Imagine, if you please, a miniature 'lift,' or elevator, for each place at table, and you will understand the arrangement. Thus a dinner of any number of courses could be served, and the party would be entirely by itself. Catherine used this dining-room when she wished to discuss State secrets with foreign ambassadors, and be sure that no listening servant could betray them.

"The palace contains many tapestries, articles of porcelain, malachite, and other costly things, and there are many pictures representing battles fought in the latter part of the last century. One room contains nearly four hundred portraits of girls in all parts of European Russia, which were painted by a French count who travelled through the Empire in Catherine's time. The wonderful thing about them is, that the artist who executed the pictures was able to represent the subjects in different attitudes, so that no two are alike.

[Pg 136]

"They showed us the tables and benches where several of the emperors played when they were children, and also the playthings that amused them.

"The grounds are quite as interesting as the palace. They are beautifully laid out in gardens, dotted with lakes, cascades, fountains, and little parks. No description in words could do justice to the spot, which must be seen in an elaborate picture to be appreciated. The water-works are nearly as fine as the celebrated one at Versailles, or St. Cloud in France, and of course the Russians claim that they are superior. Occasionally in summer there is a festival given by the Emperor to some of his foreign guests; the grounds and the lake are lighted up with Chinese lanterns, and the display closes with an exhibition of fireworks of no small importance. Sometimes the Emperor goes around the lake in a boat propelled by oars-men, but usually contents himself by looking on from a pavilion near the edge of the water.

"From Peterhof we drove to Oranienbaum, about six miles away, where we took the boat to Cronstadt. I can't begin to name all the palaces[Pg 137] and chateaux on the road, as I was too busy with looking at them to remember what they were called; and besides, if I made a list it might be too long to be interesting. We visited two or three of them, but had not time for all; some were not open to strangers, as they were then occupied by their owners, and these Russian grand-dukes and duchesses are very exclusive in their ways.

"At Oranienbaum we found the little steamer which was to convey us to Cronstadt, five miles away; she puffed, as though conscious of her importance, but did not make very good speed, and we had plenty of time to study Cronstadt as we approached it. The city is not very large, nor is it particularly interesting. The chief objects of attraction are the tremendous fortifications, which are among the strongest in the world, and very extensive. They were begun by Peter the Great, in 1703, and there has hardly been a year since that time when labor on them has entirely ceased. The harbor was filled with ships belonging to the war fleet of Russia, and certainly they have a fleet to be proud of. There is a smaller port, called the 'Merchants' Harbor,' where the commerce of the city is centred. It is an active place from May to November, when navigation is open, but when the Baltic is sealed with ice in the winter months, it must be the perfection of dreariness.

"Until quite recently ships drawing more than ten feet of water could not pass the bar of the Neva and ascend to St. Petersburg, but were compelled to anchor at Cronstadt. Recently a canal has been made, with a[Pg 138] depth of twenty feet, so that a great many vessels which were formerly excluded on account of their size can ascend to the capital. During the Crimean war Cronstadt was blockaded by a French and English fleet; an attack was made on the forts of Cronstadt, but it was easily repulsed; and after that time the allies did nothing more than regard the forts from a safe distance. At Oranienbaum is a palace, from whose top the Emperor Nicholas used to watch the movements of the hostile fleet; the telescope he employed is still in the position where he left it on his last trip to St. Petersburg."

While our friends were looking at the naval harbor of Cronstadt and the splendid fleet at anchor there, Doctor Bronson reminded the youths that when Peter the Great ascended the throne Russia had no navy, and none of her people knew anything about building ships.

"I have read about it," said Frank, "and it was to learn the art of ship-building that he went to England and Holland."

"That is what history tells us," the Doctor answered. "He realized the inferior condition of a country without a navy, and sent intelligent young Russians to study the art of building and navigating ships. Not satisfied with what they learned, he left Russia for about a year and a half, which he spent in acquiring useful knowledge. He worked in a ship-yard in Holland disguised as a common workman, though it is generally believed that the officers in charge of the yard knew who he was. Afterwards he spent three months in an English ship-yard; and when he[Pg 139] returned to his country he was accompanied by some five hundred shipwrights, riggers, sail-makers, and other laborers required in an establishment such as he wished to create. From this beginning came the navy of Russia. The foundation of the great fleet before us was laid by Peter the Great.

"The English and Dutch origin of Russian ship-building is shown in the English and Dutch names for the different parts of a ship. The deck, keel, mast, and many other nautical things are the same in Russian as in English; the Russians had no equivalent words, and naturally adopted the names from the country that supplied the things named.

"And I can tell you something still more curious," the Doctor continued, "as it was told to me by a Russian captain. While the ship-builders of Peter the Great were from England and Holland combined, the men to navigate the ships after they were built came almost wholly from the latter country. The result is that nearly all the evolutions of a ship, and the movements of the sailors to accomplish them, are in Dutch, or rather they have been adopted from Dutch into Russian. The Russian captain I have mentioned stated it to me in this way:

"'A Dutch pilot or captain could come on my ship, and his orders in his own language would be understood by my crew: I mean simply the words of command, without explanations. On the other hand, a Dutch crew could understand my orders without suspecting they were in Russian.'"

"It is no wonder," said Fred, "that the Russians honor the memory of the great Peter, and that their largest ship of war bears his name. Am I right in regard to the ship?"

"It is the largest at present," replied the Doctor, "but there are three ships—the Tchesme, Sinope, and Catherine II.—to be completed in 1887, which will be larger than the Peter the Great. The latter is an iron-clad turret-ship of 8285 horse-power and 10,000 tons displacement. She carries[Pg 140] eight guns, has two turrets, and her iron plating at the water-line is fourteen inches thick. She is three hundred and thirty feet long and sixty feet wide in her broadest part, and resembles the great mastless ships of the British navy, particularly those of the Dreadnought class. She was built at Cronstadt, in 1874; the other and larger ships I have named are on the ways at Sevastopol and Nicolaieff, on the Black Sea.

"Without going into details, I will say that the Russian navy consists of two great divisions: the fleet of the Baltic and the fleet of the Black Sea. Each of these great divisions is subdivided into sections: the Baltic fleet into three, and the Black Sea fleet into two. The sections carry flags of different colors, white, blue, and red; this arrangement was taken from the Dutch, like the system of ship-building in Peter's time.

"At the beginning of 1885 the Baltic fleet consisted of two hundred and nine vessels, including thirty-three armor-clad and belted ships, forty-nine unarmored frigates, corvettes, clippers, and cruisers, and ninety-five torpedo-boats. Gun-boats, transports, and various other craft completed the list. The Black Sea fleet included ninety-eight vessels, of which seven were armor-clad; then there are the vessels of the Caspian Sea and the Siberian flotillas; and altogether the Russian navy comprised at that time 358 vessels, armed with 671 guns, with a measurement of 196,575 tons, and engines of 191,976 horse-power.

"Before we drop the subject of Russia's navy," the Doctor continued, "perhaps you would like to hear about the Popovkas."

Neither of the youths had heard of these things, and wondered what[Pg 141] they could be. Doctor Bronson relieved their perplexity by explaining that the Popovkas were a new style of iron-clad ship intended for the defence of harbors, rather than for rapid cruising at sea.

"They were the invention of Admiral Popoff, of the Russian navy," he remarked, "and hence comes their name. The first of them was built in 1873, at Nicolaieff, on the Black Sea, and was called the Novgorod. She is circular, with a diameter of one hundred feet, and carries two eleven-inch guns in a revolving turret like that of the Monitor. She measures two thousand tons, and has engines which propel her about six miles an hour. The other ship of this class is the Admiral Popoff, one hundred and twenty feet in diameter, carrying two twelve-inch guns in a revolving turret, and capable of steaming eight miles an hour. There is a gentle slope of the sides from the water's edge to the base of the turret, so that any other shot than a plunging one would be glanced off. As the ships have not yet been tried in battle, their advantages are only theoretical."

Frank asked how many officers and men were employed in the navy of the Czar.

"From the latest reports at hand," the Doctor answered, "there are twenty-nine admirals, vice-admirals, and rear-admirals, four hundred and four captains, and nine hundred and thirty-four lieutenants and midshipmen. Seventy-six admirals, one hundred and forty captains, and fifty lieutenants are employed on shore duty, and there are thirty-five captains and thirty-nine lieutenants and midshipmen serving in lines of commercial steamers subsidized by the Government; one thousand and ninety-four pilots, engineers, artillerists, and others complete the official list, and the men before the mast number twenty-four thousand five hundred and twelve. The sailors are obtained by conscription or by voluntary enlistment—generally the former—and required to serve nine years. Seven years of this period are in active service, and two years in the reserve, whence the men may be called out in case of war."

"Please tell us something about the Russian army," said Fred, "as the army and navy are very closely related."

"I think you have had enough of statistics for one day," Doctor Bronson replied, "and if they are all in your journals your readers may be inclined[Pg 142] to skip them. But at the risk of being tedious you cannot omit saying something about the military and naval forces of a nation which is the most thoroughly military and naval power of modern times. There is no throne in Europe more dependent upon the weapons of war than is that of Russia. Take away the army and navy, and Russia would follow the fate of Poland, and be speedily dismembered by her neighbors. England, France, Germany, and Austria would have made an end of Russia long ago but for the resisting power of which she is capable."

Frank and Fred declared that they would like to hear then and there about the army, and so the Doctor continued:

"The army of Russia previous to 1874 was drawn entirely from the classes of artisans and peasants by means of a conscription and the enrolment of the sons of soldiers. In that year a new law was approved by the Emperor making all men who had completed their twenty-first year, and were not physically exempt, liable to service. The purchase of substitutes is not permitted by the new law; each man drawn by the conscription is required to pass six years in active service and nine years in the reserve, making a total of fifteen years in all. While in the reserve the men are liable to be called out only in case of war, and if so called out, the younger[Pg 143] are put into active service in the field, while the older ones are employed for garrisoning forts and other light work."

"Don't they have any exemption for the sons of rich men?" one of the youths inquired.

"Theoretically there is none," the Doctor answered; "but in order to cover such cases, and particularly to provide officers for the army, it is arranged that young men with a fair education may be enrolled as volunteers for short terms during and from their seventeenth year of age. When their volunteer service is completed they may pass into the reserve, or be subjected to an examination for commissions as officers either in the[Pg 144] active army or the reserve. In the reserve, whether as officers or privates, they are liable to be called for duty any time before their thirty-sixth year."

Fred asked what proportion of the male population was taken for the army every year by means of the conscription.

"As before stated, every able-bodied man is liable," was the reply; "but it is generally found that a conscription of four in a thousand will produce from ninety thousand to one hundred thousand men. On a peace[Pg 145] footing the active army contains about twenty thousand officers and five hundred and thirty thousand men; the reserve adds eight thousand and one hundred thousand to these figures respectively, so that the total peace footing is twenty-eight thousand officers and six hundred and thirty thousand men."

"And how much is the war footing?"

"The war footing, according to the latest figures, to give it exactly, is 41,551 officers and 1,176,353 men. Add to this the whole able-bodied militia liable to be called into service in case of necessity, and the available war forces of Russia amount to about 3,200,000. On the peace footing, the army has 129,736 horses and 1844 guns, which are increased in time of war to 366,354 horses and 3778 guns. In 1883 a census of the horses in fifty-eight provinces of European Russia showed that there were nearly fifteen millions of these animals fit for service in case of need."

One of the youths wished to know something about the Cossacks, and whether they formed a part of the army or not.

"The Cossack is an irregular soldier," the Doctor replied, "though in some cases he is not a soldier at all. The origin of the Cossacks is unknown, some claiming that they belong to the Tartar, and others to the Russian race. The probability is that they are a combination of the two. They were first heard of in the tenth century, in the valley of the Don River; in the wars of Russia with the Turks and Tartars, about the fifteenth century, they showed a great deal of bravery and an excellent organization of a semi-military character.

"They are more Russian than Tartar in their language, religion, and customs. The rulers of Russia have not always found affairs running smoothly between themselves and the Cossacks, and when the latter felt they had not been properly treated they were not slow to rebel. A revolt was generally followed by an emigration of the Cossacks into the Tartar country to the east, and in nearly every instance this emigration resulted in the addition of new territory to Russia."

"I believe I have read that the conquest of Siberia was accomplished in this way," said one of the youths.

"You are right," was the reply, "and the whole conquest hardly cost anything to the Government. About three hundred years ago a tribe of Don Cossacks rebelled, and under the guidance of Yermak, their hetman, or leader, crossed the Ural Mountains into Asia. They began a career of conquest, which was pushed so rapidly that in less than seventy years they and their descendants had carried their banner to the shores of the Okhotsk Sea. In the early part of their career they offered the conquered[Pg 146] territory to the Czar, and received in return a pardon for their misdeeds on the Don. History furnishes no parallel to this conquest, which was made by a few hundred outlaws, and carried to a successful end with little assistance from others and no support from the Government. But to return to the Cossacks of to-day:

"The Cossacks are a race of freemen. With only a few exceptions, none of them have ever been serfs. The whole land where they live belongs to them in common, and they have equal rights in hunting and fishing. They pay no taxes to Government, but in place of taxes are required[Pg 147] to give a certain number of days' service in each year. Every Cossack feeds and equips himself at his own expense, and provides and feeds his horse. If called to serve outside the boundaries of his own country, he receives rations for himself and horse and a small amount of pay; but this ceases when he returns to his own land. The Cossacks have their own officers, which were formerly chosen by themselves, but are now appointed by the Government, the latter usually being careful to send officers such as the Cossacks approve.

"The military organization of the Cossacks is in ten great divisions called 'woisskos,' that of the Don being the largest. Each woissko furnishes, according to its population, a certain number of regiments fully armed and equipped, and constantly under military discipline. These regiments must be prepared to march for active service ten days after being notified. Altogether in time of war the Cossacks of the various parts of the Empire, available for war service, are about one hundred and fifty thousand men.

"They are splendid horsemen, and their best service is as cavalry. They can endure hunger, cold, and fatigue beyond ordinary soldiers, and are very troublesome to an enemy. In the retreat of Napoleon's army from Moscow they made great havoc, and many thousands of French soldiers fell beneath the Cossack lance and sabre. They have an undeserved reputation for cruelty, as they are probably no worse, and certainly no better, than other kinds of soldiers. War at its best is a cruel business, and in no age of the world has it been the custom for armies to refrain from hurting their enemies when it was in their power to do so."

This conversation occupied most of the time while the boat was steaming from Cronstadt to St. Petersburg. Seated near our friends was an officer whose coat did not show any buttons. It was fastened with hooks like those on a lady's dress, and Frank called attention to its peculiarity.

Doctor Bronson explained that the officer was of the Cossack branch of the service, this being the distinguishing feature of the Cossack uniform. The Cossack soldier wears a sheepskin coat, fastened with a girdle at the waist. He abhors buttons, and the uniform of the officers is made to conform to their tastes.

On the lower deck of the boat was a squad of soldiers, under command of a sergeant, who had probably been to Cronstadt on some official duty, and were now returning. Fred called attention to the singular hats worn by the soldiers, each hat having a high plate of brass in front, and reminding the youths of the hats worn by the soldiers in the comic opera of the "Grand-duchess of Gerolstein."

[Pg 148]

"It is not unlike a coal-scuttle in shape," said Fred, "and must be an uncomfortable piece of head-gear."

"That is a regiment which was organized in the time of the Emperor Paul," said the Doctor, "and the design of the hat was made by him—at least that is what a Russian officer told me. Observe that there is a perforation in the brass of each hat, as though made by a bullet, and some of the hats have two or three holes.

"The tradition is," continued the Doctor, "that the regiment once showed cowardice when brought face to face with the French invaders during the war of 1812. In the next battle they were put in the front, and kept there; half their number were killed, and nearly every hat was perforated by a bullet. Since that time the helmets are preserved just as they were when the battle ended. When a new helmet is ordered to replace an old one, it is perforated just as was its predecessor. Hence the curious appearance of the soldiers of the grenadier regiment organized by Paul.

"The discipline of the Russian army is severe, and there are no better regiments, either for parade or fighting purposes, than those stationed in the neighborhood of the great cities. Reviews of the army are held frequently. When the Emperor goes in person to the grand review every year the sight is a magnificent one.

"The Russian Imperial family is full of soldierly qualities, which is[Pg 149] not at all strange when we remember their training. Sometimes it is pushed to an extreme degree. The Grand-duke Michael, brother of the Emperor Nicholas, is said to have been one of the most rigid disciplinarians ever known; and whenever he inspected a division, not a button, or even the point of a mustache, escaped his notice. Parades were his delight, and he could ride at full gallop along the front of a line and detect the least irregularity. He used to say,

"'I detest war; it interferes with parades, and soils the uniforms.'

"He disliked the Cossacks because they did not appear well at reviews; in his eyes their excellent fighting qualities were of minor importance.

"The Cossacks carry their cartridges in a row of pockets on the breasts of their coats, and not in cartridge-boxes, as do other soldiers. The Grand-duke thought a soldier's uniform was incomplete without a cartridge-box, probably for the reason that it gave him a certain amount of work to keep it clean and bright. This was another reason for his dislike of the irregular troops, which form such an effective arm of the service in time of war."

The steamer deposited its passengers at the quay near Admiralty Square, and our friends again trod the soil of St. Petersburg, after an interesting and instructive day in the environs of the city. Frank and Fred devoted the evening to writing out what they had learned during the trip to Peterhof and Cronstadt, and especially to making notes upon the army and navy of Russia. To refresh their memories, they referred to a copy of "The Statesman's Year-book," which happened to be in the room, and said they would cordially recommend it to others who might seek similar information.

[Pg 150]

Next morning the party was out in good season. It had an appointment with a professor attached to the University of St. Petersburg for a visit to that institution. He was to take breakfast with them, and afterwards would escort them through the library and other rooms of the establishment. While they were at breakfast the professor entertained the youths with an account of the educational condition of Russia, which we will endeavor to repeat as nearly as it was remembered by Frank and Fred.

"On behalf of my country," said the professor, "I am sorry to say that we are behind England, Germany, Austria, and most other nations of Europe in the matter of general education, but not nearly as backward as we were in past years. We have no system of common-schools such as you have in the United States, and the mass of the population is practically without instruction beyond what they receive from the village priests. Down to the time of Alexander II. the village schools were controlled by the priests, and no one else could be a teacher in them. That progressive monarch issued an order requiring the schools to be given to the most capable applicants, whether priests or not. This was a great step in advance, as the priests were not unfrequently nearly as illiterate as the people they were set to instruct.

"To show how we are progressing, let me say that in 1860 only two out of every hundred recruits levied for the army were able to read and write; in 1870 the proportion had increased to eleven in a hundred, and in 1882 to nineteen in a hundred. In 1880 there were 22,770 primary-schools in the villages, with 1,140,915 pupils: 904,918 boys and 235,997 girls. The teachers were 19,511 men and 4878 women. Some of the[Pg 151] primary-schools are entirely supported by the Government, and others partly by the Government and partly by a small tax upon the parents of each pupil. The latter plan is not satisfactory, as it discourages poor people with many children from sending them to school, and it is probable that in a few years all the schools will be free."

One of the youths asked what was taught in the village schools of Russia.

"Reading and writing," the professor answered, "are the first things, as a matter of course; and then come arithmetic, grammar, and geography, in the order I have named them. Church and State are so closely connected in Russia that the primary education includes the form of prayer; it is a part of the daily exercise of the schools, except for those who profess other than the orthodox faith, and in former times children of dissenters were not allowed to attend the schools. Catholics, Lutherans, and others were instructed by their own teachers, and, failing this, they had no instruction whatever. At present children of any faith can attend the village schools, and where there is a mixed population the schools are divided.

"In 1850," the professor continued, "there were less than three thousand[Pg 152] village schools in the Empire; the increase to more than twenty-two thousand in thirty years shows how rapid has been our progress. We have great hopes for the future, and at the end of another thirty years I trust you will find us not much behind the other countries of Europe."

Doctor Bronson asked about the higher instruction in Russia, and how it compared with that of other lands.

"One of the drawbacks to higher education in its broad sense," said the professor, "was the custom that prevailed, and still prevails to a great extent, for rich people to educate their children at home. Every nobleman who could afford it had a tutor for his boys and a governess for his girls. There is no country where tutors and governesses were more certain[Pg 153] of employment than in Russia, and I have the assurances from them, a hundred times repeated, that they were better treated here than anywhere else. A tutor or governess is almost invariably made a member of the family, sits with them at table, is presented to visitors, forms a part of their social circle, and is made to feel thoroughly at home. Governesses are usually English or French, while tutors are generally French or Germans. The education of these home taught children begins at a very early age, and they naturally speak with fluency the language of their instructors; hence it follows that the Russians of the higher classes have, justly, the reputation of being the best linguists of Europe."

As the professor paused, Frank remarked that he had observed how almost every Russian officer spoke French or German, and many of them spoke French, German, and English. "French seems to be almost universal among them," he added, "at least as far as I have been able to learn."

"That is true," said the professor, "and there are many Russians who speak French better than they do their own language. With French nurses in their infancy, French governesses or tutors as their years advance, and with their parents speaking French, it is not to be wondered at.

"The system of home education discouraged the education of the schools among the nobility, and it was only during the reign of Nicholas[Pg 154] that a change was made. Count Ouvaroff, Minister of Public Instruction under the Iron Czar, set the example by sending his own son to the University of St. Petersburg. The example was followed, and the attendance at the universities and normal schools increased rapidly. Nicholas gave the system a military character by decreeing that the students should wear cocked hats and swords, but this was abandoned by Alexander II. The policy of Nicholas was shown in the words of his instruction to Count Ouvaroff, 'Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality.'"

Fred asked how many universities and high-schools there were in the Empire.

"There are nine universities," the professor answered, "situated at St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kief, Kazan, Wilna, Dorpat, Kharkov, Odessa, and Warsaw.[2] The professors are paid by the Government, and the poor students have an allowance for their support. To be admitted to the universities, they must pass an examination in the course of instruction in the gymnasia or high-schools, which are in the provincial towns, about four hundred in all, or must have received equivalent instruction at home. The high-schools or gymnasia correspond to your academies or high-schools in America, and hold the same relation to the universities.

"Besides the universities, which confer degrees in law, medicine, mathematics, natural history, philology, and the Oriental languages, there are distinct schools of medicine and law, like the medical and law schools of other countries. There are four free high-schools for the education of women, and the applicants for admission are constantly in excess of the facilities for their instruction. There was a medical school for women, but it was closed in 1884 on account of its use as a means of disseminating revolutionary ideas."

Frank and Fred wished to obtain further information about the reason for closing this medical school, but they remembered that the professor would probably dislike to discuss the subject, as it had a political bearing, and so no question about it was asked.

Breakfast was over, and the party entered the carriage, which was waiting at the door, and were driven to the university.

"One thing I forgot to say," said the professor, as soon as they were seated in the vehicle, "and that was about education in Finland. The[Pg 155] grand-duchy has a system of public instruction distinct from that of the rest of the Empire. It has a university at Helsingfors, high-schools in all principal towns, and elementary schools in the villages. Almost the entire population can read, and nearly every youth can write during his school-days, though he often forgets this accomplishment in later years.

"To return to Russia, all through the Empire there are agricultural, mining, engineering, and other industrial schools, and there are also numerous military schools, which have a separate system of instruction. The cadets are transferred from the military gymnasia to the 'military schools,' in which they are educated to qualify them for commissions as officers. There are three academies—for the staff, engineers, and artillery—and in these academies the higher branches of military science are taught. The religious schools are attached to the Church, and the instruction is managed by the clergy. Here we are at the university just as my impromptu lecture upon education in Russia has reached its end."

Our friends were introduced by their companion to several others of the faculty, and passed an hour at the university very pleasantly. They learned that the usual attendance was about four hundred, and the professors and lecturers numbered nearly thirty. In addition to what is usually[Pg 156] taught in universities there were lecturers upon the Oriental languages. A goodly number of students give their attention to the Asiatic tongues, with a view to qualifying themselves for future usefulness in that direction. The Professor of Chinese was among those to whom our friends were introduced.

"He is an accomplished gentleman," said Frank in his note-book; "he speaks French and Russian as fluently as he does his native language, and his questions about America showed that he was well acquainted with the history of our country. The rest of the Oriental professors were in European dress, but the Chinese one was not. He was in the same garments he would wear at Shanghai or Peking, and his hair was plaited into an irreproachable pigtail.

"The halls were pleasant and spacious," continued Frank, "and the students that we saw had intelligent faces; they appeared much like the students at an English university, but we thought there was an expression of more earnestness in their faces. The professor told us that the young men who attended the university gave very little trouble in the matter of discipline, and the disgraceful pranks of students at Oxford and Cambridge[Pg 157] were practically unknown in Russia. It is so recently that education has been in the reach of everybody in this country that its value is more appreciated than elsewhere.

"The library contains more than sixty thousand volumes, and there is a good scientific collection in the museum. The students have the privilege of visiting the Academy of Sciences, under certain restrictions, where they have access to a library of one hundred and fifty thousand volumes and an extensive museum. The latter has an Asiatic department, which contains many objects of great interest to students of matters pertaining to Asia. We went to the museum after seeing the university and looked at the remains of the Siberian mammoths, which were found embedded in the ice where they had lain for thousands of years.

"Another educational institution of St. Petersburg is the School of Mines, which is supported by the Government and has about three hundred students. Its collection of minerals is said to be the finest in the world. There are single nuggets of gold worth thousands of dollars, great masses of solid silver, platinum, copper, and other metals, together with topaz, beryl, aquamarine, quartz, and other crystals in great variety and of unusual size and beauty. One crystal of beryl weighs five pounds and is valued at twenty-five thousand dollars.

[Pg 158]

"In the halls devoted to instruction there are models of mines, with the veins of ore, and the machinery for working them; the workmen are represented by little figures like dolls, and the whole is admirably executed. After looking at these models we were taken to the garden, where there is a section of a mine, through which we were guided by means of candles and torches. It required very little imagination for us to believe we were actually in a mine far below the surface of the earth, and that the veins of ore were real rather than fictitious. It must be of great advantage for the education of the students, and certainly we found it very instructive in the little time we were in it.

"What would you say if I told you that the richest public library of Europe is in St. Petersburg? Well, the Imperial Library may not be superior to all others, but those who ought to know say it is not inferior in any respect. It occupies a very large building on the Nevsky Prospect, and is open to the public like the great libraries of London, Paris, Vienna, and other cities. The custodian who accompanied us through the building said it contained nearly a million printed volumes, in all the languages of the world, and about thirty thousand manuscripts, some of them very old.

The foundation of this immense library was one of the spoils of war between Russia and Poland. It belonged to Count Zalewski, a Polish bishop, and contained three hundred thousand volumes. After the capture of Warsaw, in 1796, the library was removed to St. Petersburg, and since that time yearly additions have been made, until it has reached its present condition. Among other things there is a collection of books relating to Russia in other languages than Russian. They number forty thousand, and cover all dates from the invention of the art of printing[Pg 159] down to the present time. Then there are nearly one hundred thousand books in the Russian language, beginning with a volume of the 'Acts of the Apostles,' printed at Moscow in 1538.

"There is a prayer-book which belonged to Mary Queen of Scots, and which contains many notes in her handwriting. There are autographs of kings, queens, emperors, princes, and other persons of blue blood—so many that I can't begin to enumerate them. In fact there are so many things here that one might spend weeks in the library, and find something new and interesting every few minutes. The reading-room is well arranged, and has all the leading papers of Europe. To show its growth in popularity, let me say that it was visited by twenty thousand persons in 1854, and by seventy-three thousand in 1864. In more recent times as many as one hundred and fifty thousand persons have visited the reading-room in a single year.

"Well, we have had enough for one day of schools, libraries, museums, and the like—so many of them that our heads are fairly swimming. Let us go home and think over what we have seen; if we remember a tenth part of it we shall be fortunate."

Naturally the conversation, after their return, related to what they had seen; and in this connection the Doctor gave the youths some interesting information.

"The university we have seen to-day," said he, "is not by any means the oldest in Russia, nor is it the largest. The honor of age and extent belongs to the University of Moscow, which was founded in 1755, while that of St. Petersburg was founded in 1818. The Moscow University has one thousand eight hundred students, and seventy-two professors and lecturers, and there are one hundred and fifty thousand volumes in its library. The Government gives about three hundred thousand dollars annually in aid of the Moscow University, and many of Russia's most celebrated men have been educated there.

"The oldest university in the Empire was at Abo, in Finland, but the buildings were destroyed in a great fire in 1827, and afterwards the university was established at Helsingfors. It was originally founded in 1630,[Pg 160] eleven years before printing was introduced into Finland. Anciently there were some curious customs connected with the reception of a student at the University of Abo. He was required to prostrate himself on the floor in front of one of the professors, who gave him a certain number of blows with a stick. The blows were more imaginary than real, and after they were given the student was ordered to rise, and to so conduct himself in future that he would never need a repetition of the indignity.

"The other universities of Russia are about like that of St. Petersburg, and do not need a special description. In all of them there is a department of study for those who wish to enter the service of the Church. At Dorpat there is a course of study for those of the Lutheran faith, and at Kazan, which has a considerable population of Tartars, Moslem students[Pg 161] are admitted, and no interference is made with their religious belief. Some of the professors of the Oriental languages are Tartars, and I have been told that one of the rooms of the university is fitted up as a mosque.

"This is a good place to say," continued the Doctor, "that while the Russian Government makes an earnest effort to convert all its subjects to the faith of the Orthodox Greek Church, it rarely allows that effort to take the form of oppression. Sometimes it happens that an over-zealous priest goes beyond the limit; but as soon as his conduct is known to the proper authorities he is reprimanded, and replaced by one who is more cautious. The Polish exiles in Siberia are nearly all Catholics; the Government builds churches for them, and allows their priests (generally exiles like their co-religionists) to travel from place to place in the performance of their religious duties; and as long as they do not join in any political plots, or make other trouble for the authorities, they are allowed the greatest freedom. Among the peasant inhabitants of Siberia a Catholic church is called 'Polish,' while a Lutheran one is known as 'German.'

"The Moslem and Pagan inhabitants of Asiatic Russia have the most[Pg 162] complete religious freedom; but sometimes, in their zeal to be on good terms with their rulers, they adopt the new religion without laying aside the old. I have heard of the chief of a tribe of Yakouts, a savage and idolatrous people in Northern Siberia, who joined the Russian Church and was baptized. He attended faithfully to all its observances, and at the same time did not neglect anything pertaining to his old belief. When about to make a journey, or to undertake any other enterprise, he offered prayers in the church, and then summoned the shaman, or Pagan priest of his tribe, to perform incantations and bribe the evil spirits not to molest him. On being questioned as to his action, he said he was not certain which belief was the right one, and he wanted to make sure by professing both."

One of the youths asked the Doctor about the treatment of the Jews in Russia. He had read that they were greatly oppressed in some parts of the Empire, and that many of them had been killed for no other reason than that they were Jews.

"That is quite true," the Doctor answered; "but the outrages were the work of excited mobs, rather than acts authorized by the Government. There is much fanaticism among the lower orders of Russians, and they were roused to what they did by stories which the priests had[Pg 163] circulated. In some of the riots the police and soldiers are accused of making no effort to restrain the mob; and as they and the rioters are of the same religion, there is doubtless good ground for the accusation.

"The Jews were first admitted to Russia by Peter the Great, but they were expelled by his daughter, the Empress Elizabeth. They were readmitted by Catherine II., and the privileges she had given them were increased by Alexander I., who, in 1808 and 1809, issued decrees giving them full liberty of trade and commerce. The grant was revoked by Nicholas I., and during his time the Jews were subjected to much oppression. Alexander II. came to their relief, and restored some of their privileges. During and since his reign they have been fairly treated in matters of trade, but have been kept down in other ways. Only a certain number are allowed to practise medicine or keep drug-stores, and only a specified proportion of Jewish students is allowed at the schools and colleges.

"A great deal of the trade of the country is in their hands, and they are noted, as everywhere else in the world, for their industry and frugality. They do not meddle with the politics of Russia, and the instances are[Pg 164] exceedingly rare of a Jew being convicted of offences of a political character. In the army they make the best of soldiers, both for discipline and on the battle-field, where they are noted for their bravery. They are more numerous in Poland than in any other part of the Empire, but there is not a province of the whole country ruled by the Czar where they cannot be found. In their financial transactions they are not behind their brethren in other parts of the world; and wherever they are permitted to engage in mechanical pursuits they distance all their competitors."

Just as the sun was setting, our friends took a carriage and drove to the Islands of the Neva, a favorite resort of the people in the warm months of the year. Great numbers of fashionable carriages were on the road, troikas being more numerous than any other variety. A troika is so called from the number of its horses, rather than from the form of the vehicle. Three horses are harnessed abreast, the central one having above his head the inevitable duga, or yoke. In a well-trained troika the central horse trots, while the two others gallop, with their heads turned outward. It is a dashing and attractive team, and has already made its way into other countries than Russia.

The first part of the drive carried Doctor Bronson and his young companions through streets occupied by the poorer classes, but farther on they passed great numbers of pretty villas, which are the summer homes of the well-to-do inhabitants of the city.

There is an Imperial villa on one of the islands, and occasionally the Emperor gives a fête in honor of some event, or for the entertainment of a foreign guest. At such times the trees are filled with Chinese lanterns, and the entire building is a blaze of light. The people on the line of the road follow the Imperial example, and illuminate their houses, and the traveller who drives there might easily imagine that he had dropped into[Pg 165] a section of fairy-land. Doctor Bronson told the youths that he was in St. Petersburg at the time of the marriage of the Emperor's son, the Grand-duke Vladimir, and one of the sights of the occasion was the illumination of the islands.

"We rode through three or four miles of illuminations," said the Doctor, "and it seemed as though they would never come to an end. At the very entrance of the islands we passed the summer residence of Count Gromoff, one of the millionaires of St. Petersburg, and found it transformed into a palace of fire. Not a tree or bush in the large garden in front of the house was without its cluster of lanterns, and one of our party remarked that it seemed as though half the stars in the sky had fallen and found a lodgement there. In the centre of the scene were the monograms of the Emperor and Empress, and of the newly-wedded pair, outlined in gas-jets; above and behind them was an Imperial mantle surmounted with a crown, and all made with the burning gas. Then the whole cottage was delineated with thousands of lights, and we agreed that never in our lives had we seen such a[Pg 166] beautiful picture. Nothing ever produced on the stage of a theatre could equal it.

"Occasionally we came near the water, and wherever we did so it was covered with boats which were as freely illuminated as the trees and houses on shore. Boat-houses and bath-houses were similarly lighted up, and as they are numerous in this part of the Neva, they formed an almost continuous line along the river's bank. We were compelled to go at a walk, as the streets and roads were crowded with vehicles, and consequently our drive through this city of lanterns occupied more than an hour."

Doctor Bronson gave other details of the celebration which we have not time to repeat, or, rather, they did not find a place in the note-books of the youths. The time was passed pleasantly in a contemplation of the scenes by the way-side—the pretty villas among the trees, the carriages and their occupants, the people on foot, or gathered in front of the houses or on the verandas, the crowds in the cafés and restaurants, which are scattered here and there over the islands, together with other sights that met[Pg 167] their eyes. There was enough to make the fortune of an artist if he could have placed all the pretty pictures of the evening upon canvas, and preserved the glow of the northern sky and the twinkle of the lights. A few houses were illuminated, probably in honor of a patron saint, or to commemorate an event in the history of the owner of the establishment. While looking at these illuminations Frank and Fred tried to imagine the whole place lighted up as Doctor Bronson had described it on the occasion of the Imperial fête.

After a ride of two hours or more, the party returned to the hotel, stopping a few minutes on their way to drink some tea at a traktir. Frank ventured to air the few Russian words he had acquired, and acquitted himself in fine style.

[Pg 168]

"Dai te chai, poshowltz" ("Give us tea, please"), he said, as they took their seats at the table.

"Si chass," replied the waiter, and in a few moments three glasses of steaming tea were before them.

The traveller in Russia will hear "Si chass" pronounced a good many times daily while he is in the Empire. It is like the French waiter's "Tout de suite" or the English one's "Coming, sir." Practically they mean the same thing. The literal translation of "Si chass" is "This hour;" and perhaps this will account for the fact that it is often an hour before a simple demand can be met. The waiter in Russia is no more reliable than in other countries, and not generally as intelligent as the man of the same occupation in a French café. Many of the servants in the hotels of St. Petersburg are French or German, instead of Russian; in the best hotels the Russian waiters almost invariably speak French or German, in addition to their own language.

When the tea-drinking was ended, Frank beckoned the waiter, and addressed him with the inquiry, "Skolka stoit" ("How much does it cost?"). The waiter comprehended at once, and, somewhat to Frank's disappointment, placed on the table a written check on which was noted in figures the indebtedness of the party. The disappointment was not caused by the price of the tea (only five copecks the glass), but by the removal of the opportunity for the young man to make further airing of his Russian by displaying his knowledge of the spoken numerals. The printed or written figures of the Russian language are the same as those of other European nations, and a stranger can get along with them without the least trouble, even though he does not know a word of Russian.

Near the hotel they met a party consisting of two policemen and as many prisoners. The latter appeared to be under the influence of strong drink, and the policemen did not find it easy to make them move along. They were not quarrelsome or obstinate; in fact, their limbs were too weak to allow them to make any resistance.

"They'll have a job of street-sweeping to-morrow," said the Doctor, "unless the customs have changed since the first time I was here."

"Do they make prisoners sweep the streets?" one of the youths asked.

"They did at that time, and quite likely they do so now," the Doctor answered. "Every person arrested for intoxication was required to sweep the streets the next day for a given number of hours, and it is a strange sight when, as sometimes happens, the sweepers are in the garments in which they have been wending their devious ways homeward from a ball, or perhaps from a party where fancy costumes have been worn. Generally[Pg 169] speaking, you see few besides the mujiks, or lower classes, as the well-dressed people, with money enough in their pockets, can secure immunity by means of a bribe. A small donation to the proper officer will set them free; but if they have no money they must do their share of work with the rest."

"I have read that Russia is the land of bribes," said Fred—"bribes both great and small."

"It certainly has that reputation," was the reply, "and doubtless not without justice. The pay of the officials is very small, quite out of proportion to the expense of living, and the temptation is certainly great. A[Pg 170] Russian once said to me that an official must steal in order to make an honest living; he did not mean it as a joke, but in sober earnest, though his language did not exactly express his meaning. He wanted to say that a man must accept pay for showing zeal in the interest of any one whose affairs passed through his hands, and unless he did so he could not properly support himself and family.

"There is a story, of a German savant who was intimate with the Emperor Nicholas. The latter once asked him to point out any defects in the system of government, and the savant immediately suggested the universal system of bribery, which ought to be stopped. The Emperor shook his head, and said it was impossible to put an end to an evil which was so widely spread.

"'But your Majesty could issue an Imperial decree against bribery,' the savant replied, 'and that would prevent it.'

"'But I would have to begin,' said the Emperor, 'by bribing my Prime-minister to publish the decree, and then I would have to bribe everybody else to stop taking bribes.'

"I will tell you," the Doctor continued, "what I have been told by Russians; I do not vouch for the correctness of what they say, but have no doubt of their veracity. While I have had no business transactions that involved the payment of money to officials, I have some friends whose negotiations were altogether stopped, as they believe, by the fact that they would not give money to persons of influence.

"'If you have dealings with the Government,' so the Russians have told me, 'you must pay something to each and every man who has power to expedite or hinder your business. If you do not pay you will not prosper, and may be certain that your proposals will be rejected. But you should not offer the money directly to the official, as that would give great offence.'

"The question arises, 'What is the polite and proper way of doing such nefarious work?'

"The usual way is to make up your mind what you can afford to pay, and then put the money in a cigar-case along with two or three cigars.[Pg 171] Having stated the business, you invite the man to smoke (everybody smokes in Russia), and then you hand him the cigar-case and turn your back to the window, or look intently at something on the table. He helps himself to a cigar, and also to the money, and then the affair goes on easily.'"

"What a rascally business!" exclaimed both the youths in a breath. Doctor Bronson fully echoed their sentiment, and said he earnestly hoped the condition of things was not as bad as it is portrayed. "Alexander II. made a considerable improvement in many things during his reign," the Doctor continued, "and it is to be hoped that he reformed the official system of the Empire in this particular feature."

[Pg 172]

For the remainder of their stay in the capital Doctor Bronson and the youths were more leisurely in their movements than during the first few days. They dismissed the guide, as they felt that they could go around without his aid, though they occasionally re-engaged him for special trips when they thought their inexperience would be a bar to their progress.

In thus acting they followed out a plan adopted long before. On arriving in a strange city where time was limited, they engaged a guide, in order that they might "do" the stock sights of the place as quickly as possible. If they were to remain for some time they employed him during the first two or three days, and afterwards shifted for themselves. This is an excellent system, and is recommended to all readers of this volume who may have occasion to travel in foreign lands.

Having familiarized themselves with St. Petersburg, our friends usually spent the forenoon of each day at the hotel, and the afternoon and part of the evening in going about the streets, making calls, and otherwise improving their opportunities. The forenoon was by no means an idle time. Doctor Bronson was busy with his letters and other matters, while the youths were engaged in writing up their journals, preparing the histories which have been mentioned elsewhere, and making various notes and observations concerning what they saw or learned. In this way they accumulated much valuable material, and we are specially fortunate in being permitted to copy at will from what they wrote.

"We have found a great deal to interest us," said Frank in his journal, when he sat down to make a general commentary on what they had seen, "and I hardly know where to begin. Of course we have been much[Pg 173] impressed with the great number and variety of the uniforms of the officers and soldiers of the army; and though we have tried hard to recognize the different arms of the service at sight, we have not always succeeded. We wonder how the Emperor himself can know them all, but of course he must.

"We have looked for 'The Imperial Nosegay' which one traveller describes, but have failed thus far to find it. The story goes that one of the Emperors had a regiment composed of men whose noses were turned up at an angle of forty-five degrees; whenever a man was found anywhere in the Empire with that particular kind of nose he was at once drafted into the regiment. A good many of the peasants have the nose inclined[Pg 174] very much in the air, but facial ornaments of the kind described for the famous regiment are not strictly the fashion.

"Fred thinks a regiment composed in this way ought to be good soldiers, as they would be able to smell the smoke of battle a long way off, and before other regiments would be aware of it. Certainly they ought to breathe easily, and this ability was considered of great importance by the first Napoleon. 'Other things being equal,' he used to say, 'always choose an officer with a large nose. His respiration is more free than that of the small-nosed man; and with good breathing powers, his mind is clearer and his physical endurance greater.' Perhaps he realized on his retreat from Moscow that many of his pursuers were of the kind he describes.

"We have been much interested in the mujiks, or peasants—the lowest class of the population, and also the largest. Their condition has improved greatly in the last twenty or thirty years, if what we read and[Pg 175] hear is correct. We had read of the system of serfdom in Russia before we came here, but did not exactly understand it. Since our arrival in St. Petersburg we have tried to find out about the serfs, and here is what we have learned:

"To begin at the end, rather than at the beginning, there are no longer any serfs in Russia, and consequently we are talking about something that belongs to the past. Serfdom, or slavery, formerly existed throughout all Europe—in England, France, Germany, Spain, and other countries. It has been gradually extinguished, Russia being the last Christian country to maintain it. Slavery still exists in certain forms in Turkey; but as the Turks are Moslems, and not Christians, I don't see why we should expect anything better in that country.

"Serfdom began later in Russia than in any other European country, and perhaps that fact excuses the Russians for being the last to give it up. Down to the eleventh century the peasant could move about pretty much as he liked. The land was the property of all, and he could cultivate any part of it as long as he did not trespass upon any one else. In many of the villages the land is still held on this communistic principle, and is allotted every year, or every two or three years, by the elders. In some communities the land must be surrendered to the commune every nine years, while in others the peasant has a life tenancy, or what is called in law a fee-simple.

"I hear some one ask how it came about that serfdom was established.

"According to our authorities, it came from the state of the country, which was just a little better than a collection of independent principalities. The princes were cruel and despotic, and the people turbulent; murders of princes were very common; the princes could only protect themselves by organizing large body-guards, which gave each prince a small army of men around him. In course of time the officers of these body-guards became noblemen, and received grants of land. At first the peasants could move about on these estates with perfect freedom, but during the sixteenth century they were attached to the soil. In other words, they were to remain where they were when the decree was issued, and whenever the land was sold they were sold with it.

"It is said that the object of this decree was not so much in the interest of the land-owners as in that of the Government, which was unable to collect its taxes from men who were constantly moving about. Where the land belonged to the Government and not to individuals, the peasants living upon it became serfs of the Crown, or Crown peasants. Thus the[Pg 176] Russian serf might belong to a prince, nobleman, or other person, or he might belong to the Government. Private estates were often mortgaged to the Government; if the mortgage was unpaid and the property forfeited, the serfs became Crown peasants instead of private ones.

"There was a curious condition about serfdom in Russia, that while the man and his family belonged to the master, the land which he cultivated was his own, or at any rate could not be taken from him. The serf owed a certain amount of labor to his master (ordinarily three days out of every seven), and could not leave the place without permission. A serf might hire his time from his master, in the same way that slaves used to hire their time in America; but he was required to return to the estate whenever the master told him to do so. Many of the mechanics, isvoshchiks, and others in the large cities before the emancipation were serfs, who came to find employment, and regularly sent a part of their wages to their masters.

"Sometimes the masters were very severe upon the serfs, and treated them outrageously. A master could send a serf into exile in Siberia without giving any reason. The record said he was banished 'by the will of his master,' and that was all. A woman, a serf on an estate, who had a[Pg 177] fine voice, came to Moscow, and found a place in the chorus at the opera-house. She gradually rose to a high position, and was earning a large salary, half of which she sent to her master. Out of caprice he ordered her back to the estate, where she resumed the drudgery of a peasant life. He refused all offers of compensation, and said his serf should do what he wished.

"Another serf had established a successful business in Moscow, where he was employing two or three hundred workmen. The master allowed him to remain there for years, taking for his compensation a large part of the serf's earnings, and finally, in a fit of anger, ordered the man home again. The man offered to pay a hundred times as much as he could earn on the estate, but the master would not listen to it, and the business was broken up and ruined.

"Things went on in this way for two or three centuries. Various changes were made in the laws, and the condition of the serfs, especially of those belonging to the Crown, was improved from time to time. At last, in 1861, came the decree of emancipation from the hands of Alexander II., and the system of serfdom came to an end.

"It was not, as many people suppose, a system of sudden and universal freedom. The emancipation was gradual, as it covered a period of several years, and required a great deal of negotiation. The land-owners were compensated by the Government for their loss; the serfs received grants of land, varying from five to twenty-five acres, with a house and a small orchard, and the result was that every agricultural serf became a small land-owner. Private or Government serfs were treated alike in this respect, and the condition of the peasant class was greatly improved.

"Since they have been free to go where they like, the serfs have crowded to the cities in search of employment, and the owners of factories and shops say they can now obtain laborers much easier than before. Manufacturing interests have been materially advanced along with agriculture, and though many persons feared the results of the emancipation, it is now difficult to find one who would like to have the old state of things restored.

"Russian emancipation of the serfs and American abolition of slavery came within a short time of each other. Both the nations have been greatly benefited by the result, and to-day an advocate of serfdom is as rare in Russia as an advocate of slavery in the United States."

Frank read to his cousin the little essay we have just quoted; then he read it to the Doctor, and asked whether it would be well to insert it in his journal.

"By all means do so," the Doctor replied. "There are not many people[Pg 178] in America who understand exactly what serfdom was, and your essay will do much to enlighten them."

Accordingly Frank carefully copied what he had written. Impressed with Doctor Bronson's suggestion, we have reproduced it here, in the confidence that our youthful readers will find it interesting and instructive.

"You can add to your account of serfdom," said Doctor Bronson, "that when it was established by Boris Godounoff, in 1601, it was regarded by both peasant and noble as a great popular reform, and welcomed with delight. His decree went into force on Saint George's Day, in the year named, and its principal provision was that every peasant in the Empire should in future till and own forever the land which he then tilled and held. It was an act of great liberality on the part of the Czar, for by it he gave up millions of acres belonging to the Crown and made them the property of the peasants.

"The serf of the Crown was to till the land, build his house, pay his taxes, and serve as a soldier whenever wanted; the private serf existed under very nearly the same conditions, with the difference that his life[Pg 179] might be more oppressed under a cruel master, and more free under a kind one, than that of the serf of the Crown. This was what happened in many instances; and as the masters were more likely to be cruel than kind, and their tendency was to make as much as possible out of their possessions, the Crown serf was generally better off than the private one.

"In the beginning the system was really the reform which was intended, but very soon it was subject to many abuses. Year by year things[Pg 180] grew worse: owners violated the law by selling serfs away from their estates; the masters exacted from their serfs every copeck they could earn, flogged them if they lagged in their labor, and often caused them to be severely punished or exiled on the merest caprice. Peter the Great introduced some changes with the best intentions, but they only made matters worse. He stopped the sale of serfs from the estates, which was an excellent step; at the same time he ordered that all taxes should be collected in a lump from the master, who should have the power in turn to collect from the serfs. The evil of this enactment was very soon apparent; Peter's successors struggled with the problem, but none made much headway until Alexander II. came with his act of emancipation, which you have just mentioned.

"There were several conditions attached to the freedom of the serf under Alexander's decree," the Doctor continued, "which are not generally understood. To prevent the peasant resuming again the nomadic life which serfdom was intended to suppress, it was ordered that no peasant could leave his village without surrendering forever all right to the lands, and he was also required to be clear of all claims for rent, taxes, conscription, private debts, and the like. He was to provide for the support of any members of his family dependent upon him whom he left behind, and also present a certificate of membership in another commune, or exhibit the title-deeds to a plot of land of not less than a given area.

"These requirements were found an excellent restriction, as under them only the thrifty and enterprising serfs were able to clear off all demands upon them and pay the amount required for entering another community. Men of this class found their way to the cities and larger towns, where many of them have risen in wealth and influence, while the quiet, plodding peasants who remained on the estates and tilled their lands have generally prospered. A gentleman who has studied this question wrote recently as follows:

"'Opposite and extreme opinions prevail as to the results of emancipation; yet, on massing and balancing his observations on the whole, a stranger must perceive that under emancipation the peasant is better dressed, better lodged, and better fed; that his wife is healthier, his children cleaner, and his homestead tidier; that he and his belongings are improved by the gift which changed him from a chattel to a man. He builds his cabin of better wood, and in the eastern provinces, if not in all, you find improvements in the walls and roof. He paints the logs, and fills up the cracks with plaster, where he formerly left them bare and stuffed with moss. He sends his boys to school, and goes himself more frequently[Pg 181] to church.... The burgher class and the merchant class have been equally benefited by the change. A good many peasants have become burghers, and a good many burghers merchants. All the domestic and useful trades have been quickened into life. More shoes are worn, more carts are wanted, more cabins are built. Hats, coats, and cloaks are in higher demand; the bakeries and breweries find more to do; the teacher gets more pupils, and the banker has more customers on his books.'"[3]

With a few more words upon serfdom and its relation to other forms of slavery, the subject was dropped, and our friends went out for a walk. As they passed along the Nevski they were suddenly involved in a crowd, and half forced into the door of a shop which they had visited the day before. They were recognized by the proprietor, who invited them to enter and make themselves comfortable. "The Emperor is coming in a few minutes," he explained, "and the police are clearing the way for him."

[Pg 182]

One of the youths asked if it was always necessary to clear the streets in this way when the Emperor rode out.

"Not by any means," the shopkeeper replied, "as he often rides out in a drosky, with only a single attendant following him. He goes at full speed along the street, and his progress is so rapid that not one person in twenty can recognize him before he gets out of sight. If he goes less rapidly he is followed by several officers; and when he rides in a carriage with two or more horses, he is accompanied by his body-guard of Circassians, or by a company or section of Cossacks.

"Nicholas and Alexander II. used to drive about quite frequently in a drosky, which was much like the ordinary ones on the streets, except that it was neater and more costly, and drawn by the finest horse the Empire could produce. Since the assassination of Alexander II., and the plots of the Nihilists against the Imperial life, we rarely see the Emperor driving in this way, as it would afford too much opportunity for assassins. Alexander III. generally rides in a carriage, accompanied by some of his officers and surrounded by his body-guard. Ah! here they come."

As he spoke a squadron of cavalry came in sight, and soon passed the[Pg 183] shop. Behind the cavalry was a carriage, drawn by two spirited horses. The Emperor occupied the rear seat, while two officers faced him on the front seat, and another officer, or possibly an orderly, was on the box with the driver. The crowd applauded as their ruler rode slowly by them, and to hear the plaudits one could readily believe that the Emperor is thoroughly beloved by his subjects. He acknowledged the cheering by occasionally raising his hand in a military salute. Frank thought he saluted in rather a mechanical way, from force of long habit. The youths said they would have recognized him by his portraits, though they were hardly prepared for the care-worn look which was depicted on his features.

"After all," whispered Frank to Fred, "one can't be surprised at it, and I don't know who would want to change places with him. He must live in constant thought of assassination, and every step he takes must be carefully watched by those about him. So many plots have been made against his life, and so many persons of importance have been implicated in them, that he cannot know how soon a new one will be formed, and can never tell who about him is faithful. 'Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.'"

Behind the carriage was a company of body-guards in Circassian chain-armor, and with weapons that belonged apparently to a past age. Fred eagerly asked who and what these men were.

"They are Cherkass, or Circassians," replied the shopkeeper, "and were formerly at war with Russia. You have read of Schamyl, the Circassian general, who gave Russia a great deal of trouble for a long time, have you not?"

"Certainly," Fred answered, "I was reading about him only this morning. He was born about 1797, and from 1828 till 1859 he carried on a defensive war against the Russians, but was finally overpowered by greatly superior numbers. He used to avoid regular battles, and caused a great deal of damage to the Russians by ambuscades, surprises, and similar warfare."

"That was exactly the case," said their informant, "and the Russians always acknowledged that he was an accomplished leader both in a military and political sense. When he surrendered, in 1859, the Emperor invited him to St. Petersburg, and gave him a residence at Kalooga, with a handsome pension. He was made a regular guest at court, was treated with great distinction, and soon became as ardent in the support of Russia as he had formerly been in opposing her. He was placed in command of the Emperor's body-guard, which he organized from the warriors that had formerly served under him. Schamyl died in 1871, but the organization[Pg 184] of the guard was continued. It is whispered that the Circassians have been replaced by Russians who wear the old uniform; but certainly, to all outward appearances, the guard remains the same. At any rate it is picturesque, and that is an important consideration."

The crowd that lined the sidewalk was kept well in hand by the police. The shopkeeper said that any man who tried to break through the line would be arrested at once; and no doubt the knowledge of this rule served materially to preserve order. Russian policemen are not to be trifled with.

The route that the Emperor is to take when riding out is never known in these latter days, through fear of plots against his life. The precaution is a very proper one, but it requires a large police force to guard all the[Pg 185] avenues and streets by which he may pass. Orders are sent for the police to prepare three or four routes, one only being traversed, and the direction is not given to the leader of the escort until the Emperor is seated in the carriage. Sometimes none of the routes which have been guarded are taken, and the Emperor enjoys a ride with nothing but his escort for his protection. It is said the Czar is averse to all this precaution, but is guided by the wishes of the Imperial Council and the members of his household.

Our friends thanked the shopkeeper for his politeness and information, and, as the crowd had melted away, continued their walk. Frank observed that the police did not move away, and this fact led him to surmise that the Emperor intended returning by the same route.

"Of course that is quite possible," said the Doctor, in response to Frank's suggestion, "but it is not worth our while to remain on the chance of his doing so. It is more than likely he will return to the palace by another road; and even if he comes through the Nevski we could see no more than we have seen already. Besides, we might arouse suspicion in the minds of the police by remaining long on this spot, and suspicion, however groundless, is not desirable. When the Emperor goes[Pg 186] out the police have orders to arrest every one whose conduct is in the least degree questionable, and so we had better continue our walk."

They suited their actions to the Doctor's word, and did not tarry on the Nevski. Very soon they met another cortege, which they ascertained to be the escort of the Chief of Police.

They had a curiosity to see his face, but were disappointed, as he was closely surrounded by his officers and men. Doctor Bronson remarked that the Chief of Police was the most powerful man in Russia, next to the Emperor.

"How is that?" Fred asked. "I thought the most powerful man next to the Emperor was the commander-in-chief of the armies."

"There is this difference," the Doctor answered, "that the Chief of[Pg 187]
[Pg 188] Police is the only man in Russia who has the right to go into the Emperor's presence at any hour of the day or night. Not even the Field-marshal-in-chief of the Army or the Grand Admiral of the Navy can do that.

"The Ministers of War, Navy, and Foreign Affairs have a right to an audience with the Emperor every day, while the Ministers of Education, Railways and Telegraphs, Finance, and other home matters, can only see him once or twice a week. But at any hour of the day the Minister of Police can send his name, and immediately follows the messenger into the Emperor's office; at any hour of the night he may have the Emperor waked and told that the Minister of Police has an important communication to make."

"Do you suppose that is often done?" one of the youths inquired.

"Probably not very often," replied Doctor Bronson, "but how frequently the outside public cannot possibly know. In ordinary times it is not likely the minister would ever exercise his right, as it is not wise to wake an emperor from a sound sleep, especially when you have bad news for him. But when assassins are making plots all around the capital and palace, the Emperor's safety may easily require that he should have a personal warning. In such case the Minister of Police would not hesitate to perform his duty."

Their walk took them to the Summer Gardens, where they sat down on one of the benches and watched the groups of children and nurse-maids, together with other groups of old and young that comprised the visitors to the place. As they sat there the conversation recurred to their recent topic, the police.

"The public police is organized very much like the same service in other countries. There are some points of difference, but they are not great enough to be mentioned at length. One objection to the Russian public police is that in the cities and large towns the policemen are nearly all soldiers who have served their time in the army, and receive police appointments as rewards. Their long service in the army imbues them with the greatest deference to the uniform of an officer, no matter what its wearer may be. The result is the policemen salute every officer that passes, and thus their attention is drawn from their duties; furthermore, an officer can misbehave himself as much as he pleases, and run very little risk of being arrested like an ordinary offender."

"What can you tell us about the secret police?" one of the youths asked.

"I can't tell you much about it," was the reply; "and if I could it[Pg 189] would not be a secret police. It used to be a saying that where three men were together one was sure to be a spy, and one or both the others might be. The spies were in all classes of society, and paid by the police. They did not know each other, and it quite often happened that two of them would report against each other, doubtless to the amusement of the officials who compared their documents. If common gossip is true, the evil was greater in the time of Nicholas than under any other emperor, but many people say it is about as bad at one time as another.

"The clerk in the hotel, the waiter in the restaurant, the shopkeeper who was so polite to us, the tailor, hatter, boot-maker, milliner, or any other tradesman, any or all of them—women as well as men—may be in the employ of the Government, and report your movements and conversation. Nobody knows who is a spy, and nobody knows who is not. Consequently it is an excellent rule in Russia never to say anything in the hearing of any one else than ourselves that can be called in question. Mind, I don't know of my own knowledge that there is such a thing as a secret police, nor that such a person as a police spy exists in Russia. Having never said or done anything to which the[Pg 190] Emperor or his most zealous officer could object, I have no fear of being interfered with.

"Here are some of the stories which were current in the time of Nicholas:

"A retired officer of the English army lived for several years in St. Petersburg. His manners were genial, and he made many friends both among the foreigners living here and those who visited Russia. He died suddenly one day, and one of his countrymen who was present at the time took charge of his effects. His papers revealed the fact that he was a spy of the Government, and was specially employed to watch foreigners.

"Soon after the Revolution of 1848 a party of French gentlemen in St. Petersburg met at the house of one of their friends. They had songs and speeches, and a pleasant evening generally; and as all were intimate, and of the same nationality, they were not at all cautious about their conversation. The only servants present were Russians, and none of them was known to understand French. Next morning the host was summoned to the Police Bureau, where he was politely received. The official read off the list of persons present, and a very accurate report of the songs, toasts, and speeches of the evening. Then he asked the host if the account was correct. The latter tremblingly answered that it was, and was then told he had been very imprudent—an assertion he could not well deny. He was dismissed with a caution not to repeat the imprudence, and you may be sure he did not. He never gave another party, and never could he guess whether the spy was one of his guests and compatriots, or one of the servants who understood French while pretending to be ignorant of it.

"A great reform has taken place, and matters which were formerly in the control of the police are now managed by courts of law. Trial by jury has been established, and though there are many hinderances on account of the scarcity of lawyers and judges and the ignorance of jurors, the system is working well. The law-schools are filled with students, and in a few years the machinery of the courts will not be unlike that of other lands.

"But the police power is still too great for the safety of the people, and probably no persons are more aware of it than are the Emperor and his advisers. The police can imprison or exile a man for 'administrative purposes' without any trial whatever, and without even letting him know the nature of his offence. The police may, in certain cases, revise a sentence which has been decreed by a court, and punish a man who has been acquitted after trial, but they do not often exercise the right.

[Pg 191]

"The author of 'Free Russia' says that while he was staying at Archangel an actor and actress were brought there one day and set down in the public square, with orders to take care of themselves, but on no account to leave town without the governor's permission. They had been sent from the capital on a mere order of the police, without trial, without even having been heard in defence, and with no knowledge of the offence alleged against them. They had no means of support, but managed to eke out an existence by converting a barn into a theatre, and giving performances that hardly rose to the dignity of the name of plays.

"An agent of the police had driven up to their doors and told them to get ready to start for Archangel in three hours. That was all; in three hours they were on their way to exile.

"The same writer said there was also at Archangel a lady of middle age who had been banished from St. Petersburg on the mere suspicion that she had been concerned in advising some of the students at the university to send an appeal to the Emperor for certain reforms which they desired. There was no other charge against her, and those who made her acquaintance at Archangel were impressed with her entire innocence, as she did not possess in any way the qualities necessary for intrigue. Like the actor and actress just mentioned, she had had no trial, and no opportunity to be heard in defence.

"A young novelist named Gierst published some stories which evidently gave offence. He was called upon at midnight, and told to get ready to depart immediately. Away he went, not knowing whither, until the horses stopped at the town of Totma, six hundred miles from St. Petersburg. There he was told to stay until fresh orders came from the Ministry of Police. None of his friends knew where he had gone; his lodgings were empty, and all the information that could be obtained was from a servant who[Pg 192] had seen him start. His letters were seized, the newspapers were forbidden to say anything about him, and it was only by a ruse that he was able to let his friends know where he was.

"Any number of these incidents are narrated," the Doctor continued, "and they all show the dangerous power that is in the hands of the police. It is said that it would have been curtailed years ago but for the rise and spread of Nihilism, which has rendered it necessary to continue the privilege of the police to revise sentences, or imprison and exile without trial, 'for administrative purposes.' Let us hope that the better day will come very soon."

"I join heartily in that hope," said Frank. Fred echoed the words of his cousin, and they rose and continued their promenade.

[Pg 193]

While greatly enjoying their summer visit to St. Petersburg, Frank and Fred regretted that they did not have the opportunity of seeing the capital in winter. They heard much about the gayety of the winter season, and wondered if their journeyings would ever bring them there at the time when the snow covered the ground and the Neva was sealed with ice.

For their consolation Doctor Bronson told them of his winter experience of the city. His story was about as follows:

"I arrived here in the latter part of January, when the temperature was running very low. The ordinary mercury thermometer, which freezes at 39° below zero, was of no use, as the mercury would be frozen solid almost every day. Spirit thermometers are the only practicable ones for northern Russia, and during my stay here they marked -53° Fahrenheit. This is an unusual and extreme figure, the mean winter temperature being about 18° above zero. The average summer temperature is 62°, and the extreme summer figure 99°.

"Everybody wears furs or sheepskins in winter; they are donned when the frosts come, and not laid aside till the trees are budding. Furs are for the rich, or those who pretend to be so, and sheepskins for the lower classes. Both kinds of garments are worn with the fur or wool inside; the fur coat or cloak has a backing of cloth, while the sheepskin coat has only the skin of the animal without any cloth addition."

One of the boys asked what kinds of furs were most in use.

"Nearly everything that bears the name of fur," was the reply; "but fashion rules here as everywhere else, and it often happens that a fur will be in great demand at one time and quite neglected a few years later. Sable is the most expensive fur, and a coat or cloak lined with it is worth[Pg 194] all the way from five hundred to five thousand dollars, depending upon the excellence of the skins. Another fur, that of the black fox, is still more costly; but as it is worn only by the Imperial family and the highest nobility, it does not come into our category.

"Coats lined with astrachan (the soft wool of very young lambs) are fashionable, and bring high prices. I have known of coats of this kind selling for six or eight hundred dollars each. I took to America a cap of astrachan wool; it cost me about three dollars, and with my inexperienced eye I could not distinguish it from one that sold for ten times as much. My Russian friends could readily detect the difference; but as I was buying the cap for American and not for Russian use, I was quite content with my purchase."

"Why is this fur or wool called 'astrachan?'" one of the youths asked.

"It comes here from Astrachan, at the mouth of the Volga," said the Doctor. "Its preparation is one of the industries of Central Asia, for which Astrachan is the great market. This fur is black, and remarkably soft and silky. The lamb is killed immediately after he sees the light, and the younger he is at the time of his death the finer and more valuable is the skin. Persia supplies large quantities of this fur, and it varies from black to gray or white.

[Pg 195]

"I mentioned the black fox as a very costly fur. The Emperor has a cloak which is valued at ten thousand dollars; only an emperor or some one else with plenty of money at his command could afford such a garment. The fur of the black fox is rarely seen outside of Russia, as only a small quantity of it comes to market. Plenty of counterfeit fur of this kind can be found in England; it is made by dyeing the skin of the common fox, and the work is done so skilfully as to defy detection by any one not an expert in the fur trade.

"Sea-otter, mink, marten, beaver, fur-seal, lynx, and raccoon are the furs in general use for lining garments in Russia. Otter, seal, and mink furs are expensive, and so is that of another animal I had almost omitted from the list, the ermine. Ermine fur was formerly the badge of royalty, and in some countries it could be worn only by the members of the Royal or Imperial family, or by the judges in the high courts. In England you often hear the judges spoken of as 'wearers of the ermine;' the fur has been used for lining the robes of the judges, its snowy whiteness being considered an emblem of purity. The tip of the tail of the ermine is black, and in making robes the white surface is dotted at regular intervals with the black tips. Where they are not sufficient for the purpose, the paws of the Astrachan lamb are used instead.

"The fur you see most frequently in Russia in the winter season is that of the raccoon. I bought a coat lined with this fur when I arrived in St. Petersburg, and paid the equivalent of eighty dollars for it. I did not recognize the skin as that of a compatriot, and was only aware of its origin when informed by a Russian friend. A fur-dealer in New York afterwards told me that half a million raccoon-skins are sent annually to London, and nearly all of them find their way to Russia.

"Another animal whose fur comes from America to Russia is that odoriferous creature, the skunk. A friend of mine bought a coat of this[Pg 196] kind under the impression that the fur grew on the back of a young bear. In cold weather, and out-of-doors, it was all right, and no one could have known the difference; but when the weather grew warm, and a thaw made the atmosphere moist, my friend's coat was not a pleasant article of wear. I believe he sold it to the manager of a glue factory, whose nose had lost its sensitiveness through his peculiar occupation.

"So much for the materials, and now for the garment. A Russian shooba, or cloak, extends from the head to the heels of the wearer; the sleeves cover the finger-tips, or very nearly so, and the collar, when turned up, will completely encircle and conceal the head. The head-covering is a cap of the pattern you see often in pictures, and once called in America the 'pork-pie.' The coat is excellent for riding purposes. One can walk a short distance in such a garment, but it is really inconvenient for a promenade.

"But as everybody who can afford to ride does so, the awkwardness of the shooba is of little consequence. The streets abound in sledges, and you may be whisked here, there, and everywhere at a very rapid rate for a reasonable price. The streets are far gayer in winter than in summer, for the reason that there are so many more vehicles in motion, and I know of no more active spectacle than the Nevski on a clear day in January."

"The bells on the sleighs must make a merry tinkling," said one of the boys, with a smile.

"Quite wrong," said the Doctor, returning the smile, "as there are no bells at all."

"No bells on the sleighs!" was the surprised reply. "Then the law is not like ours in America?"

"Exactly the reverse," answered the Doctor. "In the United States we require them, and in Russia they forbid them. We argue that unless bells are worn on the horses the approach of a sleigh could not be perceived; the Russians argue that in the confusion caused by the sound of bells one could not hear the warning shout of the driver, and would be[Pg 197] liable to be run over. Both are right; sleighs are not sufficiently numerous with us to cause confusion, while in Russia their great numbers would certainly bring about the result the Russians dread.

"But it is in the cities and towns only," the Doctor continued, "that the bell is forbidden. On the country roads any one travelling in a post-carriage carries bells on the duga—the yoke above the neck of the shaft-horse—but he must remove them before entering a town. Most of these bells are made at Valdai, a town on the road from St. Petersburg to Moscow, and the place of their origin is preserved in some of the sleighing songs of the country.

"Balls, parties, receptions, dances, dinners, theatricals, operas, anything and everything belonging to fashionable life, can be found in St. Petersburg in winter. Any one with introductions can be as gay as he wishes, and it is a wonder to a quiet and ease-loving man that the Russians can survive this sort of thing year after year. A fashionable Russian rarely gets to bed before two or three o'clock in the morning; it is true he may sleep late, but if he has any official engagements his hours of slumber will be few. A winter in St. Petersburg is a heavy drain on one's vital forces, and also upon the pocket. Living is dear, and it is well said that this city is the most costly capital of Europe, with the possible exception of Madrid.

"The Neva freezes near the end of October or early in November, and remains frozen until May. Nobody is allowed to venture on the ice until it has been officially declared that the river is frozen over; and in the spring, when the ice melts, the official declaration is necessary before a single boat can put out from shore, or even be launched. When the river is opened there is an elaborate ceremony, and a part of the performance includes taking a glass of water from the river and presenting it to the Emperor. His Majesty drinks the water and fills the glass with gold coin. It was observed that the size of the glass increased annually, until it assumed the proportions of a respectable flower-vase. The Imperial stomach could not hold so much water at once, and the Imperial purse objected to the price. A compromise was effected by fixing a certain sum to be paid, instead of filling the glass with gold.

"Skating and riding on the ice have a prominent place in the amusements of Russia in winter. Coasting on artificial ice-hills is also a standard sport, in which all classes of people take part. It is especially in order during 'Butter-week' and the Easter festivities, and is one of the winter sights of all cities in the Empire."

"How do they make these ice-hills?" Fred asked.

[Pg 198]

"A scaffold is raised to the height of thirty or forty feet, the posts being set in holes drilled in the frozen earth or pavement, and fixed in their places by pouring water around them. In a few minutes the water is converted into ice and the post is immovable. On one side of the[Pg 199] scaffold there are steps for ascending it, and generally there is a track at the side for drawing up the sleds. The other side slopes off very steeply at the start; then it becomes more gentle, and finally extends a considerable distance on a level.

"Blocks of ice are laid on the slope; water is poured over them to be converted into ice and make a smooth surface; and when the slide is completed and opened it is thronged by patrons. It takes away one's breath at first when he is pitched over the edge of the slope and finds himself rushing with a speed surpassing that of a railway-train. The impetus gained in the first part of the descent is sufficient to carry the sled a long distance on the level. I tried the slide two or three times, and think if I had been ten or twenty years younger I should have enjoyed it very much."

"Where do they put up these ice-hills?" Frank inquired.

"Several are erected in Admiralty Square," said the Doctor, "and others in various other squares and along the bank of the river. They are frequently arranged so that the level part of the slide is over the ice of the Neva, and care is taken that the track shall be smooth as glass. There are usually two of these hills side by side, the slides being in opposite directions.

[Pg 200]

"Those I speak of are for the general public. Smaller slides are in the court-yards of private houses, and there are imitations of them in many summer-houses, where polished wood takes the place of ice. One of the slides in the Imperial palace is of mahogany, which has been polished till it shines like a finely finished bureau or wardrobe.

"The time to see St. Petersburg in all its winter glory is during 'Maslinitza,' or 'Butter-week,' which ushers in the 'Great Fast' preceding Easter. The whole population is engaged in enjoying itself. Blinni, or pancakes, are the favorite articles of food, and thousands of digestions are upset by the enormous quantities of these things that are devoured. They are made of flour and butter, fried in butter, and eaten with butter-sauce. Butter and other fatty foods are in order through the week; and from a sanitary point of view this great consumption of grease, followed by seven weeks of fasting, leads to frightful results. Statistics show that the mortality rate is largely increased at this time of the year, and certainly it is not to be wondered at. Rich and poor alike give themselves up to butter, and the only difference is that the rich have the best qualities of the article, and sometimes a greater quantity.

"The rich people sometimes have blinni parties during the festive season. I once attended one of these affairs at the invitation of a Russian friend. When we met in the parlors I was surprised that so few were present, as I had dined there before and knew he could accommodate twice the number. But I saw the reason when the word was given that the pancakes were ready and our host led the way.

"We were not taken to the dining-room but to the kitchen, and then[Pg 201] it was explained that blinni parties are given in the kitchen, and no more people are invited than the place can accommodate. The blinni are eaten on the spot, as fast as they are cooked, and it is a prime object to have them hot from the griddle. We had a very jolly time there, but for several days my stomach was like an embryo Vesuvius in consequence of making a whole meal of this rich food. Think of an entire dinner of buckwheat-cakes or fried 'turnovers,' the stuff that dreams are made of."

One of the boys wished to know about the Easter kissing for which Russia is famous.

"Well, it is one of the sights of Russia, with agreeable and disagreeable features. It is not literally the case that everybody kisses everybody else, but that statement is not so very far out of the way after all. I passed through one Easter, and it was quite enough for a lifetime. I was kissed by men and women almost innumerable. If the kissing could have been confined to the young and pretty women, or even to the comely ones of middle or advanced life, I should have borne the infliction patiently; but when I was obliged to receive the salutation from men, of all ages and all conditions of cleanliness, or its reverse, it was too much for comfort. All Russia kisses all the rest of Russia at Easter, and any foreigner who may be here at the time is treated like a subject of the Czar. The old adage that 'Kissing goes by favor' is entirely set aside; custom makes it well-nigh universal."

"When does the ceremony begin, and how long is it kept up?" said one of the youths.

"It begins at midnight, as the clock sounds the hour of twelve and ushers in the Easter day. A little before midnight the whole of Russia[Pg 202] goes to church. The Emperor and all his family assemble in the Imperial chapel, and every church and chapel in the Empire is filled. As the clock begins striking the hour the whole congregation is wrapped in silence; at the last stroke of the bell the doors of the sanctuary of the church are thrown open and the waiting priests come forth.

"'Christus voskress' ('Christ is risen') is intoned by the priests, and the song is taken up by the choir, to be followed by the response, 'Christus voskress ihs mortvui' ('Christ is risen from the dead'). The priests walk through the congregation repeating the words and swinging their censers.

"The beginning of the chant is the signal for the kissing. Friends and acquaintances are generally standing together, and each kisses every other one of the group. Those who have the slightest possible acquaintance kiss each other, and at each and every kiss the two phrases I have given are repeated. At the same instant that the signal is given by the opening of the doors of the sanctuary, the churches are illuminated both inside and out, every bell is rung, and the pealing of cannon and the flashing of rockets show how much the festival is a national one.

"The kissing is continued through the night and all the next day, and even for several days all relatives, friends, and acquaintances salute each other with Chritus voskress and a kiss; every isvoshchik, porter, dustman—in fact every peasant of every name and kind kisses every other peasant he has ever known, and a great many whom he never saw before. Clerks in the public offices kiss each other, officers and soldiers of the army salute in the same way, the general kissing all his subordinate officers, the colonel of a regiment kissing all the officers beneath him, and also a deputation of the soldiers, while the captain and lieutenants kiss all the soldiers of their companies. The same order is observed in the navy and in all the official ranks, and the number of osculations in the Empire in that one day of the year is quite beyond the power of calculation."

"Are the Emperor and Empress subject to the same rule as other people?" was the very natural inquiry which followed.

"Certainly," was the reply; "the ceremony is closely connected with the religion of the country, and as the Emperor is the head of the Church, he could not possibly secure exemption from this ancient custom. The Emperor and Empress must salute all the members of the Imperial family as a matter of course, and also all the court officials and attendants; and after this ceremony is over the Empress must give her hand to be kissed by every officer above the rank of colonel who has the right of attendance at court. The Emperor kisses all his officers on parade, and also a delegation of soldiers selected as representatives of the army. The military[Pg 203] parades for the Imperial kiss last several days, as it would be impossible to go through the ceremonial with all the regiments around St. Petersburg in a single revolution of the earth.

"Easter makes an end of the long fast of seven weeks, which has been kept by all faithful members of the Church with great rigor. The lower classes refrain even from fish during the first and last weeks of the fast, and also on Wednesdays and Fridays of the other five. It is no wonder[Pg 204] that they precede it with the festivities of 'Butter-week,' so that the recollection of the good time they have had will be a consolation during the fast. With the kissing of Easter begins a period of feasting, both in eating and drinking, which is by no means famous for its moderation. Many of the mujiks are sadly intoxicated before the setting of the sun at Easter, and they are by no means the only persons who exhibit the effects of too liberal potations."

From Easter and its kisses the conversation wandered to other subjects. Fred asked how the houses were kept warm in the intense cold of a Russian winter.

"Some of the more modern buildings of St. Petersburg and Moscow," said the Doctor, "are warmed by furnaces not unlike those used in America. But the true peitchka, or Russian stove, is of brick, and is generally built so as to form the common centre of three or four rooms and warm them all at once. In the huts of the peasants the top of the stove is utilized as a bed, and it is usually large enough for three or four persons to lie there with comparative comfort."

"Do they keep the fire going there all the time during the winter?"

"Not exactly," was the reply, "though in a certain sense they do. Every morning the fire is kindled in the stove, which resembles an enormous[Pg 205] oven, and is kept burning for several hours. When it has burned down to a bed of coals, so that no more carbonic gas can be evolved, the chimney is closed, and port-holes near the top of the stove are opened into the room or rooms. The hot air comes out and warms the apartments, and there is enough of it to keep a good heat for twelve or fifteen hours.

"The port-holes must be carefully closed during the combustion of the wood, in order to prevent the escape of poisonous gas. Sometimes they are opened when there is still some flame burning. A Russian will instantly detect the presence of this gas, and open a window or rush into the open air, but strangers, in their ignorance, are occasionally overpowered by it.

"Several instances are on record of strangers losing their lives by ougar, as the Russians call this poisonous gas from the stove. Among them, some twenty years ago, was the son of a Persian ambassador, who was smothered in one of the principal hotels of Moscow. When a person is overpowered by ougar, and found insensible, he is carried out-of-doors and rolled in the snow—a severe but efficacious remedy.

"Then, too, the cold is excluded by means of double or triple windows, little cones of paper filled with salt being placed between the windows to absorb whatever moisture collects there. Russian houses are very poorly ventilated, and frequently, on entering from the open air, you are almost stifled by the foul atmosphere that seems to strike you in the face like a pugilist.

"It is probably the condition of the air in which they live, combined with late hours and the exactions of fashionable life, that gives such an aspect of paleness to nearly all the Russian women above the peasant class. A fresh, ruddy complexion, such as one sees almost universally throughout England, and quite generally in America, is almost unknown among Russian ladies. If the Emperor would issue a decree requiring the houses of the Empire to be properly ventilated, he would confer a blessing on his faithful subjects, and save or prolong thousands of lives.

"The peasants sometimes use their stoves for baths," said the Doctor, to the great surprise of his youthful auditors.

"How is that possible?" one of them asked. "Do they fill the stove with water the same as they would a bath-tub?"

"Not exactly," the Doctor answered, smilingly. "You know the character of the Russian bath as we find it in New York and other American cities?"

"Certainly," was the reply. "It is a room filled with steam, and with[Pg 206] a series of benches on which you lie and are heated, the highest bench being hottest of all."

"The Russian bath of the best class here," said Doctor Bronson, "is arranged in the same way. The more primitive bath is simply a room with benches, and a fire on a pile of hot stones. Water is thrown over the stones and converted into steam, and the finishing touch is to mount to the topmost bench while an attendant deluges the stones with water and raises a cloud that threatens to scald you. The most profuse perspiration is the result, and the bath is no doubt a great sanitary institution.[Pg 207] The Turkish bath is much like the Russian, hot, dry air taking the place of steam.

"Taken properly, the Russian bath has no bad effects, and is beneficial in rheumatism, gout, certain forms of neuralgia, and several other diseases. It is a wonderful restorative when you have been shaken up in carriages on Russian roads, and an excellent thing after a journey of any kind. Every good Russian considers it his duty to bathe once a week, but he does not always adhere to the rule.

"In every village there is a bath-house which is the general property of the villagers, and maintained by popular contribution. When a peasant has no bath-house he creeps into his stove, bakes himself on the hot ashes, and after perspiring freely crawls out and is drenched with water. Nearly every private house has its bath, which is generally in a small building in the yard, rather than in the dwelling-house. In all the large cities there are numerous bathing establishments, some of them fitted up in gorgeous style, while others are of the plainest and cheapest sort. The Russians are quite gregarious in their bathing habits, and think no more of taking a bath in the presence of each other than of dining in a restaurant."

"Is it true that the Russians finish a bath by having iced water poured over them, or by taking a plunge into it?"

"It is the custom to close the pores of the skin by means of cold, but not ice-cold water. The attendant begins the work of the bath by throwing water over you, first warm, then hot, then hotter, and then hottest. This drenching is followed by the steaming process and a gentle flogging with birchen rods or switches to stimulate perspiration. Then you are soaped and scrubbed, the scrubbing being performed usually with birchen shavings, which are thoroughly and vigorously applied.

"After this you are again drenched with buckets of water, beginning with warm and going on a descending scale to cold, so that there shall be no shock to the system. Men have rushed from the bath into a snow-bank, but this is not the custom; the peasants frequently leave the bath to take a swim in the river, but only in mild weather. No doubt there have been cases of bathing voluntarily through the ice or in iced water, but you must search far and wide to find them."

Frank remarked that he thought one should exercise great care in going into the open air in winter after taking a bath. Doctor Bronson explained that this was the reason of the drenching with cold water, so that the pores of the skin would be closed and the chances of taking cold greatly reduced.

[Pg 208]

"It is quite a shock to the system," said the Doctor, "to pass from in doors to out, or from out doors to in, during the Russian winter. The houses are generally heated to about 70° Fahrenheit; with the thermometer at zero, or possibly ten, twenty, or more degrees below, it is like stepping from a furnace to a refrigerator, or vice versa. But the natives do not seem to mind it. I have often seen a mujik rise from his couch on the top of the stove, and after tightening his belt and putting on his boots and cap, mount the box of a sleigh and drive for two or three hours in a temperature far below zero."

"I have read somewhere," said Fred, "about the danger of losing one's ears and nose by frost, and that it is the custom in St. Petersburg and Moscow to warn any one that he is being frozen. Did you ever see a case of the kind?"

"It is a strange circumstance," replied the Doctor, "that nearly every tourist who has been in Russia, even for only a week or so, claims to have seen a crowd running after a man or woman, calling out 'Noss! noss!'[Pg 209] and when the victim did not understand, seizing him or her and rubbing the nose violently with snow.

"One writer tells it as occurring to a French actress; another, to an English ambassador; another, to an American politician; and in each case the story is varied to give it a semblance of truth. I was in Moscow and St. Petersburg during January and February; and though constantly watching to see somebody's nose pulled, was doomed to disappointment. I asked my Russian friends about it, and none of them was wiser than I. One said it might happen once in a great while, but it was safe to conclude that everybody knew enough to take care of his own nose."

Frank asked how one could tell when his nose was freezing, or how observe the freezing of another's.

"The nose and ears become numb and turn white," was the reply, "and that indicates the beginning of the freezing. When this is the condition nothing but a vigorous rubbing to restore the circulation will prevent the loss of those organs. It is for protection from the frost that the Russians keep their faces wrapped in furs; and if a man has any doubt about the condition of his facial attachments he will touch them occasionally to make sure. When you pinch your nose and do not feel the pinch, it is time to rub with snow, promptly and with energy.

"Severe cold is very inconvenient for the wearer of a mustache, as he speedily gathers a great quantity of ice there by the congelation of the moisture of his breath. A man's beard becomes a frozen mass in a little while. Beard and furs frequently freeze together, and render a sudden turn of the head a matter of great annoyance. Ladies find their veils stiffening into something like wire gauze when the thermometer runs low. They disdain the bonnet of London or Paris, and sensibly enclose their head in hoods lined with fur, and having capes descending well into the neck.

"Horses become white in a short time, no matter what may be their real color, from the formation of frost all over their bodies. Their breath suggests steam more than anything else, and the long hairs around their noses are turned into icy spikes. In the severest weather pigeons have been seen to fall to the ground paralyzed with the cold, but it is quite likely that their flights were forced, and the birds were half frozen before taking wing."

Frank asked if it often happened that people were frozen to death in these Russian winters.

"Occurrences of this kind probably take place every year," was the reply, "but from all I have been able to learn I believe the number is[Pg 210] exaggerated. In many cases it is the fault of the frozen ones themselves; they have been rendered insensible or careless by stimulants, and gone to sleep in the open air. The tendency to sleep when one is exposed to severe cold should be resisted, as it is very likely to be the sleep of death.

"There is a story of two travellers who saw a third in trouble; one of them proposed to go to the relief of the man in distress, but the other refused, saying he would not stir out of their sleigh. The first went and relieved the sufferer; his exertions set the blood rushing through his veins and saved him from injury by the cold, while the one who refused to render aid was frozen to death.

"It is a curious fact," said the Doctor, in closing his remarks upon the Russian winter, "that foreigners coming here do not feel the cold at first. They walk the streets in the same clothing they would wear in London or Paris, and laugh at the Russians wrapping themselves in furs. At the same time the Russians laugh at them and predict that if they stay in the country for another season they will change their ways. A stranger does not feel the cold the first winter as sensibly as do the Russians, but in every succeeding season of frost he is fully sensitive to it, and vies with the natives in constant use of his furs."

[Pg 211]

A day was appointed for leaving St. Petersburg. Notice was given at the office of the hotel, and the passports of the three travellers received the necessary indorsements at the Police Bureau. Trunks were packed and bills settled, and at the proper time a carriage conveyed the party to the commodious station of the Imperial Railway from the new capital of Russia to the old. But they did not take their tickets direct for Moscow.

As before stated, the railway between the two great cities of the Czar's dominions is very nearly a straight line, and was laid out by the Emperor Nicholas with a ruler placed on the map and a pencil drawn along its edge. There is consequently no city of importance along the route, with the exception of Tver, where the line crosses the Volga. Novgorod, the oldest city of Russia, is about forty miles from the railway as originally laid out. Until within a few years it was reached by steamers in summer from Volkhova Station, seventy-five miles from St. Petersburg. In winter travellers were carried in sledges from Chudova Station (near Volkhova), and to novices in this kind of travel the ride was interesting.

Latterly a branch line has been completed to Novgorod, and one may leave St. Petersburg at 9 a.m. and reach Novgorod at 6 p.m. The pace of the trains is not dangerously fast, and accidents are of rare occurrence. Between Moscow and St. Petersburg (four hundred and three miles) the running time for express trains is twenty hours, and for way trains twenty-three to twenty-five hours. Nine hours from St. Petersburg to Novgorod (one hundred and twenty miles) should not startle the most timorous tourist.

Doctor Bronson had told the youths some days before their departure that they would visit Novgorod on their way to Moscow. He suggested[Pg 212] that he desired them to be informed about its history, and soon after the train started he referred to the subject.

"It is rather an odd circumstance," said Frank, "that the oldest city in Russia is called Novgorod, or 'New City.' Novo means 'new,' and Gorod is Russian for 'city.' It received its name when it was really the newest town in Russia, and has kept it ever since."

"It is also called Novgorod Veliki," said Fred, "which means Novgorod the Great. In the fifteenth century it had a population of four hundred thousand, and was really entitled to be called the great. At present it has less than twenty thousand inhabitants, and its industries are of little importance compared to what they used to be.

"It has a trade in flax, corn, and hemp," the youth continued, "and its manufactures are principally in tobacco, leather, sail-cloth, vinegar, and candles. In former times an important fair was held here, and merchants came to Novgorod from all parts of Europe and many countries of Asia. Afterwards the fair was removed to Nijni Novgorod, on the Volga, and[Pg 213] the ancient city became of little consequence except for its historical interest."

"The Slavs founded a town there in the fourth century," said Frank. "About the year 862 the Russian monarchy had its beginning at Novgorod; in 1862 there was a millennial celebration there, and a magnificent monument was erected to commemorate it."

"This is a good place for you to tell us about the early history of Russia," said the Doctor.

"I have been studying it," Frank replied, "and find that previous to the ninth century the country was occupied by the Slavs, who founded the towns of Novgorod and Kief. Each of these places was the capital of an independent Slavic principality. Very little is known of the history of the Slavs in those times. The Varangians, a northern people, made war upon them. The Slavs resisted, but finally invited Rurik, the Prince of[Pg 214] the Varangians, to come and rule over them. The Northmen, or Varangians, were called 'Russ' by the Slavs, and from them the new monarchy was called Russia. Rurik came with his two brothers, Sineus and Truvor, and at Novgorod laid the foundation of this empire that now covers one-eighth of the land surface of the globe.

"The story is admirably told in verse by Bayard Taylor. I have copied the lines from his poetical volume, and will read them to you."

In a full, clear voice the youth then read as follows, having previously explained that Mr. Taylor was present at the millennial celebration already mentioned:

Novgorod, Russia, Sept. 20, 1862.

"'A thousand years! Through storm and fire,
With varying fate, the work has grown,
Till Alexander crowns the spire,
Where Rurik laid the corner-stone.

"'The chieftain's sword, that could not rust,
But bright in constant battle grew,
Raised to the world a throne august—
A nation grander than he knew.

"'Nor he, alone; but those who have,
Through faith or deed, an equal part:
The subtle brain of Yaroslav,
Vladimir's arm and Nikon's heart;

"'The later hands, that built so well
The work sublime which these began,
And up from base to pinnacle
Wrought out the Empire's mighty plan.

"'All these, to-day, are crowned anew,
And rule in splendor where they trod,
While Russia's children throng to view
Her holy cradle, Novgorod.

"'From Volga's banks; from Dwina's side;
From pine-clad Ural, dark and long;
Or where the foaming Terek's tide
Leaps down from Kasbek, bright with song;

"'From Altai's chain of mountain-cones;
Mongolian deserts, far and free;
And lands that bind, through changing zones,
[Pg 215]The Eastern and the Western sea!

"'To every race she gives a home,
And creeds and laws enjoy her shade,
Till, far beyond the dreams of Rome,
Her Cæsar's mandate is obeyed.

"'She blends the virtues they impart,
And holds, within her life combined,
The patient faith of Asia's heart—
The force of Europe's restless mind.

"'She bids the nomad's wanderings cease;
She binds the wild marauder fast;
Her ploughshares turn to homes of peace
The battle-fields of ages past.

"'And, nobler yet, she dares to know
Her future's task, nor knows in vain,
But strikes at once the generous blow
That makes her millions men again!

"'So, firmer based, her power expands,
Nor yet has seen its crowning hour—
Still teaching to the struggling lands
That Peace the offspring is of Power.

"'Build, then, the storied bronze, to tell
The steps whereby this height she trod—
The thousand years that chronicle
The toil of Man, the help of God!

"'And may the thousand years to come—
The future ages, wise and free—
Still see her flag and hear her drum
Across the world, from sea to sea!—

"'Still find, a symbol stern and grand,
Her ancient eagle's wings unshorn;
One head to watch the Western land,
And one to guard the land of morn.'

"Bear in mind," said Frank, after pausing at the end of the lines, "that the millennial celebration took place not long after the edict of emancipation was issued by Alexander II. This is what Mr. Taylor refers to in the third line of his poem.

"To go on with the story, let me say that Rurik and his descendants ruled the country for more than two centuries. They made war upon their neighbors, and were generally victorious, and in their time the boundaries of Russia were very much enlarged. Rurik and his sons were[Pg 216] pagans. In the tenth century Christianity was introduced, and Olga, the widow of Igor, son of Rurik, was baptized at Constantinople. Her son remained a pagan. He was slain in battle, and left the monarchy to his three sons, who soon began to quarrel. One was killed in battle, and another was put to death by the third brother, Vladimir, who assumed entire control, and was surnamed 'The Great' on account of the benefits he conferred upon Russia."

Fred asked if Vladimir was a Christian.

"He was not," said Frank, "at least not in the beginning, but he subsequently became a convert to the principles of the Greek Church, married the sister of the Emperor of Constantinople, and was baptized on the day of his wedding, in the year 988. He ordered the introduction of Christianity into Russia, and established a great many churches and schools.

"Vladimir left the throne to his twelve sons, who quarrelled about it till several of them were murdered or slain in battle. The successful son was Yaroslav, who followed the example of his father by extending the boundaries of the country and introducing reforms. He caused many Greek books to be translated into Slavic, and ordered the compilation of the 'Russkaya Pravda,' which was the first law code of the country. Nikon, whom Mr. Taylor mentions in the same line with Vladimir, was a Russian scholar and theologian of a later time, to whom the religion of Russia is much indebted.

"After Yaroslav's death there were many internal and external wars, during which Russia lost a great deal of territory, and the history of the country for a long period is a history of calamities. The Tartars under Genghis Khan invaded Russia, plundering towns and cities, murdering[Pg 217] the inhabitants, and ravaging the whole country from the frontiers of Asia to the banks of the Vistula. Famine and pestilence accompanied war; in the year 1230 thirty thousand people died of the plague at Smolensk and forty-two thousand at Novgorod. Alexander Nevski defeated the Swedes and Livonians on the banks of the Neva. He was a prince of Novgorod, and one of the most enlightened of his time.

"Moscow was founded about 1147, and grew rapidly, although it was repeatedly sacked by the Mongol invaders, who slew on one occasion twenty-four thousand of its inhabitants. The capital was established there, and under various rulers the war with the Mongols was continued to a successful end. Ivan III., surnamed 'The Great,' drove them out, and successfully repelled their attempts to return. His son and successor, Ivan IV., was surnamed 'The Terrible,' and certainly he deserved the appellation. We have mentioned him already in our account of what we saw in St. Petersburg.

"He was an energetic warrior, encouraged commerce, made treaties with other nations, introduced the art of printing, and invited many foreigners to reside in Russia and give instruction to the people. On the other hand,[Pg 218] he was one of the most cruel rulers that ever governed a people, and seems to have rivalled the brutalities of the Mongols. Here are some of his cruelties that are recorded in history:

"He hated Novgorod on account of the independent spirit of its people, and for this reason he put more than sixty thousand of its inhabitants to death, many of them with torture. Novgorod had maintained an independent government, quite distinct from that of the Grand-duchy of Moscow. Ivan III. and his son, Vassili, made war upon Novgorod and the other independent principality of Pskov, and Ivan IV. ('The Terrible') brought them to complete submission. The slaughter of the people of Novgorod was the closing act of the conquest.

"We will change Ivan to its English equivalent, John, and henceforth speak of this monster as John the Terrible. He was only four years old when he became Czar. During his infancy the government was conducted by his mother, under the direction of the House of Boyards (noblemen). When he was thirteen years of age a political party which was opposed to the Boyards suggested that he could rule without any assistance, and he at once took the control of affairs. Very soon he terrified those who had placed him on the throne, and they would have been gladly rid of him if they could.

"An English ambassador came to Moscow bringing the answer to a letter in which John had proposed marriage to Queen Elizabeth. The Queen rejected his offer, but in such a diplomatic manner as not to offend the sanguinary Czar. Her ambassador incurred the monarch's ill-will by neglecting to uncover before him, and it was accordingly ordered that the envoy's hat should be nailed to his head. Foreigners were better treated than were the subjects of John, and the ambassador was not harmed, though he was afterwards imprisoned.

"For his amusement John the Terrible used to order a number of people to be sewed up in bear-skins, and then torn to death by bear-hounds. For tearing prisoners to pieces he ordered the tops of several trees to be bent down so that they came together; the limbs of the unfortunate victim were fastened to these tops, each limb to a different tree. When they were thus tied up, the release of the trees performed the work intended by the cruel Czar."

"Isn't John's name connected with the Church of St. Basil at Moscow?" Fred asked.

"Yes," answered Frank; "it was built in his reign, and is considered one of the finest in the city. When it was finished John sent for the architect and asked if he could build another like it.

[Pg 219]

"'Certainly I could,' the architect replied, with delight.

"Thereupon the monarch ordered the architect's eyes to be put out, to make sure that the Church of St. Basil should have no rival.

"Whether he was a kind husband or not we have no information, but he certainly was very much a husband. He had one Mohammedan and two Russian wives; and at the very time he sought the hand of Elizabeth, Queen of England, he proposed to marry the daughter of King Sigismund of Poland. What he intended doing if both offers were accepted we are not told, but it is not likely that bigamy would have had any terrors for a man of such ungovernable temper as he seems to have been.

"At his death his son and successor, Feodor, fell under the influence of Boris Godounoff, his brother-in-law, who assumed full power after a time, and renewed the relations with England which had been suspended for a while. Godounoff obtained the throne by poisoning or exiling several of his relatives who stood in his way or opposed his projects. Feodor is believed to have died of poison; he was the Czar from 1584 to 1598, but for the last ten years of this period he had practically no voice in State affairs. With his death the House of Rurik became extinct."

"Does the House of Romanoff, the present rulers of Russia, begin where that of Rurik ended?" the Doctor asked.

"Not exactly," was the reply, "as there was an interval of nineteen years, and a very important period in the history of the Empire. Several pretenders to the throne had appeared, among them Demetrius, who is known in history as the 'Impostor.' He married a Polish lady, and it was partly through her intrigues that Moscow fell into the hands of the Poles."

"And how were they driven out?"

[Pg 220]

"A butcher or cattle-dealer of Nijni Novgorod, named Minin, gathered a small army under the belief that he was ordered by Heaven to free his country from the invaders. He persuaded Prince Pojarsky to lead these soldiers to Moscow, and together they started. Their force increased as they advanced, and finally they expelled the Poles and redeemed the capital. The names of Minin and Pojarsky are very prominent in Russian history. Monuments at Moscow and Nijni Novgorod commemorate the action of these patriotic men, and tell the story of their work in behalf of their country.

"The incident on which Glinka's opera, 'A Life for the Czar,' is based belongs to this period, when the Poles overran Russia. The Czar who was saved was Michael Feodorovitch, the first of the Romanoffs, and he was elected to the throne by an assembly of nobles. The autocrat of all the Russias is descended from a man who was chosen to office by the form of government which is now much more in vogue in America than in the land of the Czar. Michael, the first of the Romanoffs, was the son of Feodor Romanoff, Archbishop of Rostov, and afterwards Patriarch of Moscow.

"There was nothing remarkable about the reign of Feodor, nor of that of his son Alexis. The latter was distinguished for being the father of Peter the Great, and for nothing else that I can find in history. Now we step from ancient to modern times. Peter the Great belongs to our day, and the Russia that we are visiting is the one that he developed. Under him the country became an Empire, where it was before nothing more than a kingdom. During his reign—"

They were interrupted by the stoppage of the train at a station, and the announcement that they must wait there an hour or more to[Pg 221] receive some of the Imperial foresters, who were arranging for a bear-hunt.

Russian history was dropped at once for a more practical and modern subject, the Emperor of Russia, and his pursuit of the bear.

The Doctor explained to the youths that the Czar is supposed to be fond of the chase, and whenever a bear is seen anywhere near the line of the Moscow and St. Petersburg Railway he is made the object of an Imperial hunt. The animal is driven into a forest and allowed to remain there undisturbed. In fact he is kept in the forest by a cordon of peasants hastily assembled from all the surrounding country. As soon as the party can be organized, the hunt takes place in grand style.

The Imperial train is prepared, and an extra train sent out in advance, with the necessary beaters, soldiers, and others, and also a plentiful supply of provisions. The Imperial train contains the Emperor's private carriage and several other fine vehicles. There are carriages for the Emperor's horses, unless they have gone in the advance train, and there are guns and ammunition sufficient to slaughter half the bears in the Empire.

When the ground is reached the locality of the bear is pointed out, and the Emperor rides fearlessly to the spot. He is accompanied by his staff and guests, if he happens to have any Royal or Imperial visitors at[Pg 222] the time; but unless the guests are invited to do the shooting, the honor of killing the beast is reserved for the Emperor. Exceptions are made in case the bear should endanger the life of his Majesty, which sometimes happens. Bears have little sense of Imperial dignity, and a Czar is of no more consequence to an untamed bruin than is the most ordinary peasant.

"A gentleman who was stopping on an estate in the interior of Russia," said Doctor Bronson, "happened to be a witness of an Imperial bear-hunt several years ago, and told me about it. He said not less than five hundred Cossacks and peasants were employed in watching the bear, to keep him from straying, and the brute had become so accustomed to their presence that he stood quite still when approached by the Emperor, so that the latter delivered his shot at a distance of not more than a dozen yards. The animal was killed instantly, the ball penetrating his forehead and crashing through his brain.

"After the hunt the party rode to the house of the owner of the estate where the bear had been found, and enjoyed a hearty supper, and after the supper they returned to the capital. The body of the slain animal was dressed for transportation to St. Petersburg, where it was to be served up at the Imperial table.

[Pg 223]

"I have heard of bears that did not run at the sight of man, but sometimes came altogether too near to be agreeable. One day a man who lay asleep on the ground was awakened by a bear licking his face. He sat up and was much terrified at the situation; the bear finally walked off, and left the man unharmed.

"When the Emperor treats his Royal or Imperial guests to a wolf or bear hunt, the masters of ceremonies take good care that there shall be game in the forest. On one occasion, when the Crown-prince of Germany was a guest at the Winter Palace, the Emperor ordered a wolf-hunt for his amusement. The chase was successful, and two of the animals were driven so that they were shot by the guest.

"During their return to St. Petersburg, so the story goes, the Prince commented on the wonderful race of wolves in Russia. 'One of those I killed to-day,' said he, 'had the hair rubbed from his neck as if by a chain, and the other wore a collar.'"

"Are there many bears in Russia?" one of the youths inquired.

"The bear is found all over Russia," the Doctor answered. "The most common varieties are the black and brown bears, which are in Asiatic as well as European Russia; in northern Asia is the Arctic bear, which belongs to the sea rather than to the land. He is the largest of the family, but not the most formidable. The champion bear of the world for fighting qualities is the grisly, found only in North America.

"In some parts of Russia," the Doctor continued, "bears are so numerous as to do a great deal of damage. They destroy cattle and sheep, and not unfrequently attack individuals. They cause much havoc among fruit-trees and in grain-fields, and in localities where inhabitants are few they have things pretty much their own way. They are hunted with dogs and guns; traps are set for them, and poison is scattered where they can find and eat it. But in spite of the efforts of man against them they do not diminish in numbers from year to year, and the Emperor is able to have a bear-hunt about as often as he wants one.

"I have heard that in some parts of Siberia bears are caught and tamed, and then driven to market as one drives oxen or sheep. In a book of travels written by a Frenchman there is a picture of a dozen or more bears being driven to market, and the story is told in all soberness. French travellers are famous for a tendency to make their narratives interesting, even if veracity should suffer. There are exceptions, of course, as in everything else, but you may set it down as a good general rule, not to accept without question any extraordinary statement you find in a French book of travel."

[Pg 224]

In due time the journey was resumed, and the train reached Novgorod, where our travellers alighted. Novgorod stands on both sides of the Volkhov River, and is one hundred and three miles from St. Petersburg by the old post-road. It is not remarkable for its architecture, and is chiefly interesting for its historical associations and souvenirs.

"We visited several of the churches and monasteries which make up the attractions of Novgorod," said Frank, in his journal. "The principal church is the Cathedral of St. Sophia, which was called in ancient times 'The Heart and Soul of the Great Novgorod.' The first cathedral was built here in 989; the present one dates from about 1045, when it was erected by order of the grandson of St. Vladimir. It has been altered and repaired repeatedly, but the alterations have not materially changed it from its ancient form. It is one of the oldest churches in Russia, and is held in great reverence by the people.

"The church has suffered by repeated plunderings. It was robbed by John the Terrible, and afterwards by the Swedes; the latter, in 1611, killed two of the priests and destroyed the charter which had been granted to the cathedral more than fifty years before. In spite of these[Pg 225] depredations, the church contains many relics and images, some of them of great antiquity. There are shrines in memory of Yaroslav, Vladimir, and other of the ancient rulers of Russia; the shrine and tomb of St. Anne, daughter of King Olaf of Sweden, and wife of Prince Yaroslav I.; and the shrines or tombs of many other saints, princes, archbishops, patriarchs, and other dignitaries whose names have been connected with the history of the church and the city. So many tombs are here that there is little room for more.

"You would hardly expect one of the curious relics of a church to be the result of piracy, yet such appears to be the case in this sacred building.[Pg 226] The doors leading into the Chapel of the Nativity are said to have been stolen from a church in Sweden by pirates. Several men from Novgorod belonged to the freebooting band, and brought these doors home to enrich the cathedral of their native place. The doors are of oak, covered with metal plates half an inch thick; the plates bear several devices and scrolls which we could not understand, but our guide said they were the armorial bearings of Swedish noblemen. There is another door, which is also said to have been stolen from a church, but its exact origin is unknown.

"In the sacristy they showed us an ancient copy of the four gospels on vellum, and a printed copy which is said to have come from the first printing-press ever set up in Russia. There were several flags and standards which once belonged to the princes of Novgorod, one of them a present from Peter the Great in 1693. There was once an extensive library connected with the cathedral, but it was taken to St. Petersburg in 1859. They showed us a collection of letters from Peter the Great to Catherine I. and his son Alexis, but of course we could not read them.

"There is a kremlin, or fortress, in the centre of the city, but it is not of great consequence. Near it is a tower which bears the name of Yaroslav; in this tower hung the Vechie bell, which summoned the vechie, or assemblage of citizens, when any public circumstance required their attention. We tried to picture the gathering of the people on such occasions. In the day of its greatness Novgorod had four hundred thousand inhabitants, and its assemblages must have been well worth seeing. The vechie bell was carried off to Moscow by Ivan III., and many thousands of the inhabitants were compelled to move to other places. For a long time it hung in a tower of the Kremlin of Moscow, but its present whereabouts is unknown.

"I fear that a further account of our sight-seeing in Novgorod, so far as the churches and monasteries are concerned, might be wearisome, as it would be in some degree a repetition of the description of the cathedral; so we will drop these venerable buildings and come down to modern times and things. The most interesting of modern things in this old city is the Millennial Monument, which has been mentioned before.

"The monument is one of the finest in the Empire, and some of the Russians say it surpasses anything else of the kind in their country. We could not measure it, but judged it to be not less than fifty feet from the ground to the top of the cross which surmounts the dome, forming the upper part of the monument. There are a great many figures, statues, and high-reliefs, which represent periods of Russian history. The great[Pg 227] events from the days of Rurik to Alexander II. are shown on the monument, and there can be no doubt that the work is highly instructive to those who study it carefully.

"The monument was designed by a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and was chosen from a great number of sketches that were submitted for competition. The casting of the bronze was done by an English firm at St. Petersburg, and the expense was borne by the Government and a few wealthy citizens of Novgorod. As is usual in such cases, the Government contributed by far the greater part of the money."

After a day in Novgorod our friends continued their journey to Moscow. They returned to the main line of railway by the branch, and waited nearly two hours at the junction for the through train to the ancient capital.

At Valdai the youths bought some specimens of the famous Valdai bells; but it is safe to say that they were not equal to what could have been found at St. Petersburg or Moscow. Fred recalled their purchases of specimens of local manufactures in other parts of the world, and said the same rule would apply everywhere. The tourist who buys Toledo blades at the railway-station in Toledo, eau-de-cologne at the famous city of the Rhine, bog-oak jewellery at Dublin, and pâté de foie gras at Strasburg, may generally count on being victimized.

At Tver the railway crosses the Volga. Frank proposed that as Tver is the head of navigation on that great river they should leave the train and float with the current to Astrachan, two thousand one hundred and fifty miles away. Doctor Bronson said a steamer would be preferable to floating; besides, they would have quite enough of the Volga if they[Pg 228] started from Nijni Novgorod and avoided the navigation of the upper part of the stream.

"And while we are on the subject of navigation," the Doctor added, "please bear in mind that by means of a system of canals connecting the lakes and rivers between this point and St. Petersburg, there is unbroken water transit between the Volga and the Neva. Merchandise can be carried in boats from St. Petersburg to the Caspian Sea without breaking bulk, and there are canals connecting the Volga with the Don and the Dneiper rivers in the same way. Russia has an excellent system of internal communication by water, and it was doubtless due to this that the railways in the Empire are a matter of very recent date.

"The first railway line in the Empire was from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe-Selo, and was built in 1838. The St. Petersburg and Moscow Railway was begun in 1848, and down to the end of the reign of Nicholas less than three thousand miles of railway were completed in the whole Empire. Now there are nearly twenty thousand miles in operation, and the figures are increasing every year. Nearly fourteen thousand miles belong to private companies, and the remainder is the property of the Government. Some of the companies have a Government guarantee for the interest on their capital, while others are managed just like private railways in other countries."

[Pg 229]

At the last station before reaching Moscow passports were surrendered to the inspectors, and tickets were collected. The youths put their hand-bags and shawl-straps in readiness, and were ready to leave the carriage when the train rolled into the huge building which is the terminal station of the line. Our friends were in the ancient capital of Russia, and the home of many Czars.

[Pg 230]

From the railway-station the party went to a hotel which had been recommended as centrally situated and fairly well kept, but Frank and Fred said they should be cautious about praising it for fear that those who came after them might be disappointed. The hotels of Moscow are hardly equal to those of St. Petersburg. As the latter is the capital of the Empire, it naturally has a greater demand for hostelries of the highest class than does the more venerable but less fashionable city.

The first thing that impressed the youths was the undulating character of the ground on which Moscow is built, in pleasing contrast to the dead level of St. Petersburg. The streets are rarely straight for any great distance, and were it not for the inequalities one would not be able to see very far ahead of him at any time. But every few minutes a pretty view is afforded from the crest of one ridge to another; the depressions between the ridges are filled with buildings scattered somewhat irregularly, and there is a goodly number of shade-trees in the yards and gardens or lining the streets.

St. Petersburg has an air of great regularity both in the arrangement of its streets and the uniformity of the buildings. Moscow forms a marked contrast to the younger capital, as there is little attempt at uniformity and regularity. You see the hut of a peasant side by side with the palace of a nobleman; a stable rises close against a church, and there is a carpenter's shop, with its half-dozen workmen, abutting close against an immense factory where hundreds of hands are employed. Moscow is a city of contrasts; princes and beggars almost jostle each other in the streets; the houses of rich and poor are in juxtaposition, and it is only a few short steps from the palace of the Kremlin, with its treasures of gold and jewels, to the abodes of most abject poverty.

[Pg 231]

Frank and Fred were quick to observe this peculiarity of the ancient capital of the Czars, and at the first opportunity they questioned the Doctor concerning it.

"What is the cause of so many contrasts here which we did not see in St. Petersburg?" one of them inquired.

"That is the question I asked on my first visit," Doctor Bronson replied. "I was told that it was due to the burning of Moscow in 1812, at the time of its capture by Napoleon."

"How much of the city was burned?" Fred asked.

"The greater part of it was destroyed," was the reply, "but there were many buildings of stone and brick that escaped. Most of the churches were saved, as the Russians were reluctant to commit the sacrilege of burning edifices which had been consecrated to religious worship. Such of the churches as were consumed in the conflagration were set on fire by neighboring buildings rather than by the hands of the Russians."

"Then it was the Russians that burned Moscow, and not the French," said Fred. "I have read somewhere that it is all a falsehood that the Russians consigned their city to the flames."

"From all I can learn, both by reading and conversation," answered the Doctor, "I do not think there is any doubt of the truth of the generally[Pg 232] accepted story. Napoleon arrived here on the 15th of September, and intended to spend the winter in Moscow to prepare for a spring campaign against St. Petersburg. His advance under Murat came in one day earlier. As soon as Napoleon arrived he took up his quarters in the Kremlin, while his troops were mostly encamped on the hills which overlook the city on the west.

"On the night of the 16th the governor, Count Rostoptchin, ordered the city to be set on fire—at least such is the general belief, though the official order has never been produced. The fire broke out in many places at the same time; the French soldiers tried to suppress it, but found it impossible to do so. Nearly twelve thousand houses were burned, besides palaces and churches. The inhabitants fled to the country in all directions, and there was no stock of provisions for the support of the French army.

"Napoleon found that he must evacuate the city and return to France.[Pg 233] On the 19th of October he looked his last on Moscow from the Sparrow Hills on the west, and began his long and disastrous retreat. The winter came early, and was unusually severe. Hardly had he left the city before the ground was deep with snow, and from that time onward he was harassed by Cossacks, while his men perished of hunger and cold. Do you know how many men were lost in the Russian campaign of 1812?"

"Yes," said Fred; "I have just been reading the history of the campaign.

[Pg 234]

"According to the narrative of the Count de Segur," the youth continued, "the army with which Napoleon invaded Russia comprised four hundred and twenty thousand men. Very nearly half of these were French; the other half consisted of Poles, Italians, Austrians, Bavarians, Saxons, and other troops allied with the French. One hundred and eighty-seven thousand horses were employed for the cavalry, artillery, and baggage. There were eighty thousand cavalry and the artillery numbered one thousand three hundred and sixty-two pieces. There were great numbers of carts and wagons drawn by oxen, and immense herds of cattle driven along for supplying beef.

"Three hundred thousand Russians gathered on the banks of the Niemen River to oppose the French advance, but the river was crossed without opposition. There was a battle at Smolensk, and another at Borodino, both of them being won by the French. At the battle of Borodino the loss on both sides amounted to eighty thousand killed and wounded. After that the Russians made no serious resistance. Napoleon entered Moscow without difficulty, and established his headquarters in the Kremlin, as you have said. On the battle-field of Borodino is a monument with this inscription:

"So much for the advance," the Doctor remarked; "now tell us about the retreat."

"It was one of the most terrible retreats ever known in history. Out of all the Grand Army of nearly half a million men that crossed the Niemen in June, 1812, a little more than twelve thousand recrossed it in the following winter! It was estimated that one hundred and twenty thousand were killed in the various battles with the Russians, one hundred and thirty thousand died of disease, cold, and hunger, and not far from two hundred thousand were captured, or voluntarily left the army and remained with the Russians. Many of the latter died within the next few years, and others settled in the country and never reached their homes again. On the line of the march of the Grand Army their descendants may be found to-day living in the villages where their fathers died, and thoroughly Russian in their language and habits. The Russians are said to have treated their prisoners kindly, and doubtless they had orders from the Government to do so."

Frank asked if the French army made any attempt to reach St. Petersburg.

"As before stated, it was Napoleon's intention," the Doctor answered,[Pg 235] "to spend the winter in Moscow, and move upon St. Petersburg in the spring. But the burning of Moscow made it impossible for him to remain, and thus his plans were spoiled. Russia refused to make terms of peace with him, and some of his messages to the Emperor Alexander I. were not even answered. The Russians doubtless knew that cold and hunger would compel a retreat, and they could rely upon the winter and the Cossacks to make it disastrous.

"Russia had concluded a treaty of peace with Turkey, which would release a large army to fight against the French. She had also made a treaty with the King of Sweden, by which the troops of the latter would join the Russian army early in the spring, as soon as the weather and the roads would permit them to march. It was certain that Napoleon would be overwhelmed if he remained, and the only alternative was the retreat.

[Pg 236]

"The army that came to Moscow was about one hundred thousand strong; all the rest of the available forces of the Grand Army were left to garrison places on the road to the Niemen and to collect provisions. One hundred and sixty thousand men crossed the bridge at Smolensk in the march to Moscow; twenty thousand were killed on the road, and forty thousand were left to guard the magazines, hospitals, and stores at some four or five places. The terrible waste of war can be no better illustrated than in the story of Napoleon's campaign to Moscow. At Kovno, in Lithuania, is a monument with the inscription:

"And now," he continued, "I think you understand why Moscow presents so many irregularities in its architecture. In the spring of 1813 the people began to build again, and everything was done in a hurry. Those who could afford the time and money necessary to build good houses were the few rather than the many. Most of the Russians had been impoverished in the war, and could only afford the cheapest of dwellings, while those who had not lost everything were desirous of obtaining shelter as soon as possible. The custom of that day has continued in a certain measure to the present, as you can see by looking around you."

For a knowledge of what our friends saw in Moscow we will refer as heretofore to the journals kept by the youths, together with extracts from their letters to friends at home.

"The first thing we wanted to see," said Fred, in his journal, "was the Kremlin, or ancient fortress of Moscow, on the bank of the river Moskva, from which the city is named. We saw many other things on the way there, but had no interest in them, and will leave their description to a[Pg 237] later page. We were all eyes, ears, and thoughts for the Kremlin, and nothing else.

"Nobody can tell positively what the word 'kremlin' comes from, but it certainly means fortress or space enclosed with strong walls. The walls of the Kremlin of Moscow are about one mile and a half in circuit, and from fifty to sixty feet high; they are entered by five gates, of which the principal is the spaski, or 'Redeemer.' This gate was built in 1491, and over it there is a picture of the Redeemer of Smolensk. Our guide told us we must remove our hats as we passed through this gate-way, out of respect for the ways of the people. Formerly a failure to do so was severely punished, but now there is no compulsion about it. Not even the Emperor is exempt from the custom, and you may be sure we did not attract attention by our neglect.

"It was in front of this gate that executions formerly took place, and the victims offered their last prayers to the Redeemer of Smolensk. Happily there are now no signs of these executions, and everything has an air of peace and happiness. The gate of next importance is the Nikolsky, or Nicholas Gate, which is ornamented and made sacred in the eyes of orthodox Russians by the picture of St. Nicholas of Mojaisk. The gate was partly destroyed by order of Napoleon; a large quantity of gunpowder was placed under it and fired, but the explosion only split the tower in the middle and up to the frame of the picture. The glass over the picture and the lamp burning in front of it were not harmed. As the occurrence was considered in the light of a miracle, an inscription describing it was placed there by Alexander I.

"Another gate, called the Troitska, or Trinity, is memorable as the one by which the French entered and left the Kremlin in 1812. Several times it has been the passage-way of conquering armies. Besides the French in the nineteenth century, it admitted the Poles in the seventeenth, the Tartars in the sixteenth (1551), and the Lithuanians in the fourteenth centuries. Only a small part of the Kremlin was destroyed in the great fire of 1812; it was held by Napoleon's troops when the fire broke out, and when the invaders retired their attempts to blow up the walls and ignite the buildings did not succeed.

[Pg 238]

"After looking at the exterior of the walk and admiring the picturesque situation of the Kremlin, we passed through the gate, and went at once to the tower of Ivan Veliki (John the Great). We had been advised to see this tower first of all, as it was the best point from which to obtain a general view of the city.

"There is some doubt as to the antiquity of the tower, but it is generally believed to date from the year 1600, and to have been built by Boris Godounoff. It is in five stories, of which the upper is in the form of a cylinder, while the others are octagonal in shape. The top is two hundred and seventy feet from the ground, and is reached by a winding stairway.

"The guide called our attention to the bells in the tower; there are no less than thirty-four of them, and some are very large. In the second story hangs a bell known as the 'Assumption,' which weighs sixty-four tons; it is therefore four times as heavy as the great bell of Rouen, five times that of Erfurt, and eight times as heavy as the Great Tom of Oxford, the largest bell in England! The oldest of the other bells bears the date 1550; the vechie bell of Novgorod the Great once hung in this tower, but nobody knows where it is at present. The effect of the ringing of these bells at Easter is said to be very fine, as they are of different tones, and so arranged[Pg 239]
[Pg 240] that they make no discord. In the upper story are two silver bells, whose tones are said to be very sweet.

"We stopped a while at each of the stories to look at the bells and enjoy the view, and thus reached the top without much fatigue. But if we had been so weary as to be unable to stand, we should have been amply repaid for our fatigue. The view is certainly one of the finest we ever had from a height overlooking any city in Europe, with the possible exceptions of Paris and Constantinople.

"Moscow, with its undulating and irregular streets, with the Moskva winding through it in the shape of the letter S, with its four hundred churches and an immense variety of towers and domes and minarets, with the variations of palace and hovel already mentioned, and with the great buildings of the Kremlin forming the foreground of the scene, lay before and below us. It was Moscow (the Holy), the city of the Czars and beloved of every patriotic Russian; the city which has existed through Tartar, Polish, and French invasions; has risen from the ashes again and again; has been ravaged by famine, the plague, and the sword of the invader, but surviving all her calamities, welcomes the stranger within her walls, whose circuit is more than twenty miles. From the top of this tower we looked down upon seven centuries of historical associations.

"Listen to a fragment of the history of Moscow: It was plundered by the Tartars under Tamerlane, and many of its inhabitants were killed; again it fell into Tartar hands, and again was pillaged, and its inhabitants murdered. Twice under the Tartars (1536 and 1572) it was set on fire, and on both occasions many thousands of people perished by fire or sword. The Poles burned a large part of the city in 1611, and in 1771 the plague carried off half the population. Is it any wonder that the Russians love their ancient capital, after all that it has suffered and survived?

"We lingered for an hour or more in the tower, and then descended. Our next object of interest was the 'Czar Kolokol,' or Great Bell, which stands at the foot of the Ivan Veliki Tower, and near the place where for a long time it lay buried in the earth. It is literally the great bell not only of Moscow but of the world.

"It has a strange history. It is said to have been cast originally in[Pg 241] the time of Boris Godounoff, and a traveller in 1611 mentions a bell in Russia which required twenty-four men to swing the clapper. During a fire it fell to the ground and was broken; in 1654 it was recast, and weighed at that time 288,000 pounds. Twenty years later it was suspended from a wooden beam at the foot of the tower; the beam gave way during a fire in 1706, and the bell was again broken. The Empress Anne ordered it recast in 1733, but it only lasted four years. The falling of some rafters in 1737 broke the bell as we now see it, and it lay on the ground just ninety-nine years, or until 1836, when it was raised and placed in its present position by the Emperor Nicholas.

"And how large do you think it is?

"It is thought to weigh 444,000 pounds, or 220 tons; it is nineteen feet three inches in height, and sixty feet nine inches in circumference, or twenty feet three inches in diameter. Just stop and measure these figures with your eye in a barn or a large room of a house, and then realize what this great bell is.

"Look at the picture of the bell, and see the piece that is broken out of it. This piece is six feet high, and both of us walked through the place left by its removal without any difficulty. There is an inscription on the bell which gives its history, and it presents also several sacred figures and the portraits of the Czar Alexis and the Empress Anne.

"From the Great Bell we went to the Nicholas Palace, which occupies the site of the one destroyed by the French at the time of their retreat, and then to the Bolshoi Dvorets, or Great Palace.

"The state apartments are numerous and gorgeous; their number is absolutely bewildering, and so is the array of furniture, paintings, statuary, and other valuables that are gathered there. In the Emperor's cabinet there are pictures representing the battles of Borodino and Smolensk, and also of the French entering and leaving Moscow. There are halls[Pg 242] dedicated to St. George, St. Alexander Nevski, and St. Andrew, all of them hung with battle-flags, and the last—the Hall of St. Andrew—containing the Emperor's throne. In some of the halls are paintings representing scenes in the history of Poland. They were brought from Warsaw, where they once hung in the Royal castle.

"They showed us the 'Red Staircase,' which is used by the Emperor on state occasions, and was the spot where in former times the Czar allowed the people to see him. Napoleon and his marshals ascended these steps when they took possession of the Kremlin, and it was from the top of the staircase that John the Terrible saw the comet which caused him to tremble with fear.

"Then they took us to the banqueting-room, where the Emperor dines with his nobles immediately after the ceremony of coronation, and beyond it to the Terem, which was formerly occupied by the wife and children of the Czar. It is now filled with articles of historic interest: the seals of Russian sovereigns, the certificate of the election of Michael, first of the Romanoffs, to the Russian throne, and several copies of the Evangelists, on parchment, and said to be five hundred years old.

"Near the Great Palace is the Treasury, which reminded us of The Hermitage of St. Petersburg, or the more famous Tower of London. It is filled with all sorts of curious things, many of them of enormous value. It has been said that the national debt of Russia could be paid from the sale of the pearls, diamonds, and other precious things in the Treasury of Moscow. Perhaps this is not strictly true, but certainly they would go a long way towards doing so.

"What we saw in the Treasury would take too long to tell; and besides, it would be a catalogue filling many pages of our note-books. Armor[Pg 243] and weapons of all times and forms can be seen here. There are faded and tattered flags that tell of the glory of Russia; here is the flag carried by the soldiers of John the Terrible at the capture of Kazan; the flag under which Yermak conquered Siberia and added it to the Russian Empire; the flag which a little band of Cossacks carried to the shores of the Pacific Ocean more than two hundred years ago; and here are the flags which belonged to the Regiment of Streltsi, which rebelled against Peter the Great.

"Here are thrones and coronation chairs in goodly number. The first is that of the Empress Elizabeth, and near it are the coronation chairs of Paul I. and Alexander II. In the centre of the room where these chairs are standing is the baldachino, under which the Emperor and Empress walk at their coronation, and at the farther end is a stand of colors given by Alexander I. to his Polish regiment, and afterwards captured at the storming of Warsaw, in 1831. The royal throne of Poland is in another room, along with the throne of Kazan, which is studded with pearls, diamonds, rubies, and turquoises, as are several other thrones. One throne[Pg 244] contains over eight hundred diamonds and twice as many rubies, and it is by no means the most costly one in the collection. Near the thrones are the coronation robes worn by several of the emperors and empresses, and there is also a masquerade dress which belonged to Catherine the Great.

"We lingered over a glass case containing the decoration of the Order of the Garter and its diploma, which Queen Elizabeth sent to John the Terrible.

"Another gift from the good Queen to the cruel Czar was the state carriage which stands in one of the rooms of the Treasury, along with several other vehicles, all of the olden time. One is on runners, and large enough for a whole family; it has a table and benches covered with green cloth, and was used by the Empress Elizabeth in her journeys between St. Petersburg and Moscow.

"Enough of curiosities. We grew weary with seeing the relics of the rulers of Russia, though all were full of interest, and willingly followed our guide to the churches that stand within the walls of the Kremlin. The first is the Church of the Assumption, in which the emperors are crowned, and where the patriarchs formerly officiated. The church dates from 1475, and occupies the site of another which was erected one hundred and fifty years earlier. It has been altered and restored several times, but remains very much in shape and general appearance as it was four hundred years ago.

"In the church is a shrine of silver in memory of St. Philip, a patriarch of the Church, who had the temerity to rebuke John the Terrible for his misdeeds, and was imprisoned and put to death in consequence. The hand of St. Philip is exposed, and whenever the Emperor comes here he never fails to kiss the sacred relic.

"There are tombs and shrines in great number, and a large part of the religious history of Russia belongs to this building. Every Czar of the Empire, from John the Terrible to Alexander III., has been crowned here, and the most sacred pictures in the whole country are deposited along the altar screen.

"Dean Stanley says of the Imperial coronation in the Church of the Assumption:

"'The coronation, even at the present time, is not a mere ceremony, but an historical event and solemn consecration. It is preceded by fasting and seclusion, and takes place in the most sacred church in Russia, the Emperor, not as in the corresponding forms of European investiture, a passive recipient, but himself the principal figure in the whole scene; himself reciting aloud the confession of the orthodox faith; himself alone[Pg 245]
[Pg 246] on his knees, amid the assembled multitude, offering up the prayer of intercession for the Empire; himself placing his crown on his own head; himself entering through the sacred door of the innermost sanctuary, and taking from the altar the elements of the bread and the wine.'

"There are two other cathedrals in the Kremlin, that of the Archangel Michael and the Cathedral of the Annunciation. The three cathedrals, with the tower of Ivan Veliki, which has a chapel in its lower story, form a square, which is frequently called the Grand Square of the Kremlin. We visited the cathedrals in the order named, and it was quite appropriate that when we had finished with that of the Assumption, where the Czars are crowned, we should go to the Michael Cathedral, where, down to the time of Peter the Great, they were buried. The tombs are quite plain in appearance, a marked contrast to the elaborate decorations of the building, whose interior is covered with frescos which represent scenes in the lives of the Czars, together with their portraits.

"One of the tombs was covered with a black cloth, and we asked the guide what it meant.

"'That is the tomb of John the Terrible,' said he, 'and the black cloth is to show that he assumed the cowl of a monk an hour or so before he died. He wanted to atone for his many cruelties, and this is the way he did it.'

"The guide further told us that in ancient times when any one wished to present a petition to the Czar he came to this church and placed the paper on one of the tombs. By a long-established custom which had the force of law, no one but a Czar could remove it. In this way the ruler could be reached when all other means of approaching him were unavailable. What a pity the custom does not continue to the present time!

"The only emperor buried here is Peter II., son of Alexis and grandson of Peter the Great. As before stated, the Imperial burial-place has been at St. Petersburg since that city was founded.

[Pg 247]

"While the Czars were crowned in the Cathedral of the Assumption and buried in that of St. Michael, they were baptized and married in that of the Annunciation, which was the next we visited. Its floor is of jasper and agate, and it has nine cupolas, heavily covered with gilding. The cross on the centre cupola is said to be of solid gold—a statement open to a good deal of doubt, though by no means entirely improbable when we remember what treasures are stored in the Kremlin. The interior of this church is covered with frescos, and like the others is adorned with pictures set in precious stones.

"Mentioning the cupolas of this church reminds us that the cupolas of the Russian churches vary all the way from one up to thirteen, the number being nearly always odd. Usually they have five cupolas; the building is in the form of a Greek cross, and there is a cupola at each corner and another in the centre, the latter being the largest. The idea of the five cupolas came from Constantinople, whence the Russian Church derived its religion. The earliest church at Novgorod had five cupolas, and was copied from the Church of St. Sophia at Constantinople, which was converted into a mosque at the time of the Moslem conquest. The largest number on any of the churches of Moscow is on that of St. Basil, which has thirteen in all.

"There are other small churches and chapels in the Kremlin, but we had not sufficient time to examine them all. In the sacristy of the Holy Synod, which stands behind the Cathedral of the Assumption, we saw in glass cases the robes of the patriarchs of the Church, some of them dating back more than five hundred years. They are covered with pearls and all kinds of precious stones; one, which was presented by John the Terrible to the metropolitan Denys, is said to weigh fifty-four pounds in consequence of the great number of diamonds,[Pg 248] pearls, emeralds, garnets, and other jewels which are fastened to it.

"The attendant left us quite alone in the room with all these valuables; the guide said this was the custom, but that we were by no means out of sight. Through holes in the ceiling watchful eyes were said to be peering, and any attempt to open the cases and remove the valuables would result in serious consequences. How much truth there was in his statement we do not know. We looked at the ceiling, but could not see any peep-holes, but for all that they may have been there.

"You wonder how it happened that the French did not carry away the treasures of the Kremlin when they retreated from Moscow. The fact is, most of the treasures were removed to Nijni Novgorod as the French advanced, and when they arrived there was not a great deal to plunder. They carried off many things, which were afterwards recaptured by the Russians during the retreat and restored to their places, but it was not until the French were completely out of the country that the valuables and relics which had been carried to Nijni Novgorod were returned.

"The invaders hacked at some of the frames of the holy pictures in the Church of the Assumption, and the marks of their knives are still visible. In the Cathedral of the Annunciation the French stabled their horses, and the other churches were used as barracks by the troops. The Kremlin was mined in several places, but the explosions did very little damage. Probably the French officers who had charge of the mining were in a great hurry and did not attend properly to their work.

"Our guide was a Russian; and after he had told us about the use of the cathedral as a stable, he led the way to the spot where the cannon captured from the French in the retreat are exhibited. 'There,' said he, 'are eight hundred and seventy-five cannon which were captured in the retreat of the Grand Army; three hundred and sixty-five of them—one for every day in the year—are French, one hundred and eighty-nine are Austrian, and the rest are from the various troops allied with the French at that time. Altogether they weigh about three hundred and fifty tons. A Frenchman proposed that they should be melted down and cast into a memorial column, but the Russians think they are better just as they are.'

"We agreed with him that it was very natural a Frenchman should make such a proposal and the Russians reject it. An amusing thing is that some of the guns bear the names 'Invincible,' 'Eagle,' 'Conqueror,' 'Triumph,' and the like, quite in mockery of their captive condition.

"Doctor Bronson said he was reminded of an incident that is said to[Pg 249] have happened in an American navy-yard fifteen or twenty years after the war of 1812, between the United States and Great Britain.

"An Englishman was visiting the navy-yard, and while wandering among the cannon which lay peacefully in one of the parks, he found one which bore the British crown, with the stamp 'G. R.' beneath it. The stamp and crown told very plainly the history of the gun, but the Briton was doubtful. Turning to a sailor who was standing near, he remarked,

"'It's easy enough to put that stamp on a gun of Yankee make.'

"'How long do you think it would take?'

"'About half an hour.'

"'Well,' replied the sailor, 'we took forty-four of those guns, with the stamps already on, in just seventeen minutes."[4]

"The stranger had no more conundrums to propose.

"There are seven monster cannon in front of one of the arsenals in the Kremlin that have probably never enjoyed the honor of being fired; certainly some of them would be likely to burst if filled with an ordinary charge of powder. The smallest weighs four tons and the largest forty[Pg 250] tons. Some of them are unusually long in proportion to their diameter, and others are exactly the reverse. The largest was cast in 1586, if we may believe an inscription upon it, at the orders of the Czar Feodor; but whether it was intended for ornament or use is difficult to say. It is remarkable as a piece of casting; and the carriage is nearly as interesting as the gun. We enclose a photograph; and by comparing the cannon with[Pg 251] the figures of the soldiers seated below the muzzle, you can get an idea of the colossal size of this piece.

"As we came out through the 'Holy Gate' of the Kremlin we were in front of the Church of St. Basil, the one whose architect is said to have been blinded by order of John the Terrible, to make sure that the structure should not be duplicated. It stands on the site of an ancient church where St. Basil was buried, in 1552. It was begun in 1555, and is said to have occupied twenty years in building.

"There is not anywhere in the world a more fantastic church than this; none of its towers and domes resemble each other, and they present all the colors of the rainbow. One of the cupolas is striped like a melon, while another suggests a pineapple; another is like an onion in shape and general appearance; another suggests a turban covered with folds; and still another might readily have been copied from an artichoke. The stripes are as strange as the forms, and the irreverent could be forgiven for calling this the Harlequin Church in consequence of its peculiar architecture.

"Napoleon ordered his engineers to destroy 'The Mosque,' as he called the Church of St. Basil, but for some unexplained reason the order was not carried out. In the chapel below the church is the shrine of the saint, but it presents nothing remarkable; and altogether the building is more interesting from an external than from an internal view."

[Pg 252]

The best part of a day was consumed in the Kremlin and in the Church of St. Basil. Further investigation of old Moscow was postponed to the morrow.

In the evening our friends went to the Opera-house to listen to some national music, but more particularly to see the house, which is one of the curiosities of the city. The "Bolshoi Teatre" or "Great Theatre," is one of the finest opera-houses in the world. It was built in 1855-56, to replace the smaller opera-house which had been destroyed by fire about two years before. A few months after it was opened there was a performance in the theatre, entitled "1756 and 1856," to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of government theatres in Russia.

From the material in the possession of the youths, and by a careful use of eyes and note-books, Fred wrote the following account of the Moscow Opera-house, and added to the information about theatrical matters which appears in a previous chapter.

"The first recorded representation of a theatrical character in Russia is assigned to the reign of Alexis Michailovitch, father of Peter the Great. It was given in the house of the father-in-law of Alexis, but very little is known of its character. Russian writers say their first regular dramas were in the time of Feodor Alexeivitch (half-brother and predecessor of Peter the Great), and were written by the Czar's tutor. They were produced in one of the suburban palaces, and had a religious character, as we infer from the titles 'Prodigal Son,' 'King Nebuchadnezzar,' 'Three Men in the Fiery Furnace,' and 'The Golden Calf.' The Czar's tutor was a monk, and the plays were performed by the students attached to the monastery.

[Pg 253]

"Peter the Great determined to develop the drama, and engaged a Hungarian actor, who happened to be at Moscow, to look after the matter. This actor went to Germany and engaged a troupe, and among them was a man who divided his time between theatrical affairs and ship-building. When he was not ship-building he was writing plays and managing Peter's theatre at Moscow, and he seems to have engaged in the two occupations with equal facility. Peter attended the performances accompanied by his officers. In order to encourage the drama there was no admission fee, the company being supported by the Government.

"At first the performances took place in a large hall of the Suhareff Tower. After a time a wooden theatre was built near the Kremlin, and performances were given regularly. The City of Yaroslav established a theatre of its own under the direction of Feodor Volkhoff, an actor who afterwards became famous in Russia. In 1752 he was summoned to St. Petersburg by the Empress Elizabeth, to direct performances at the court theatre, and in 1756 the Empress issued an Imperial order establishing a[Pg 254] government theatre in the capital. The centennial of this event was the celebration referred to.

"The Moscow Opera-house stands in a square by itself not far from the Kremlin. Carriages can be driven all around it, and there are three entrances for spectators besides the one reserved to the actors. The theatre is never crowded, as only as many tickets are sold as there are seats, and no money is taken at the doors. There are five rows of boxes besides the parquette, or ground-floor, and the gallery, which occupies the whole of[Pg 255] the upper tier. We had our places in the parquette, and found them very comfortable. Each seat is a separate arm-chair, with plenty of space around it, so that one may walk about between the acts without disturbing his neighbors.

"The waits between the acts were very long, according to our American ideas, but there was a reason for this. We found an attendant who spoke French, and through his assistance and his expectation of a fee we visited an unoccupied box on one of the principal tiers. The box had plenty of seating-room for half a dozen persons; the attendant said ten or[Pg 256] twelve were frequently packed into it, but it was only unfashionable people who ever thought of thus crowding a box. Each box has a little cabinet or parlor back of it, where one may receive friends, and a great deal of visiting goes on between the acts. The arrangement is an Italian one, and the same feature exists in opera-houses in other parts of Europe.

"To give you an idea of the size of the house, let me quote a few figures comparing it with the principal theatres of Milan, Naples, and London. The measurements are in English feet: