Excursions in the Interior of Russia; including sketches of the character and policy of the Emperor Nicholas, scenes in St. Petersburg, &c

Preface

. These volumes chiefly consist of the narrative of a short visit to Russia, during the autumn of 1836, in the course of a general tour through Europe. Much of what they contain, however, is the fruit of the author's occasional intercourse with Russians in other parts of the continent. Having (on two different occasions) spent in all upwards of five years abroad, he has had it in his power to become acquainted with the manners and sentiments of Russians, under circumstances wdiich enabled them to throw off the mask which, in their own country, few of them can dare to dispense with. To all who know what Russia really is, it is un necessary to say that it is not in Russia that the true state of opinion among the higher classes of that country can be best learned. To his long residence abroad, during which he paid considerable attention to the various political questions* connected with Russia, the author is also indebted for many of the facts given in support of the remarks which he hazards on the policy and character of the present emperor. a

PREFACE.

. Fully aware, however, that neither his visit to Russia, nor his opportunities of becoming ac quainted with the opinions of Russians in other countries, can qualify him for doing justice to such an ample theme as that comprised in the present work, he begs of those who may cast their eye on the following pages, that they will regard their contents rather as scraps by the way, than as the complete and well-matured production of the study. In fact the title, — " Excursions" and " Sketches," — will at once warn the reader that he is here to find only snatches caught by the passing eye, not the full landscape itself — the mere glean ings of a vast and fertile field, not the rich harvest which abler hands w7ould have reaped. It is also necessary to state that the work was be gun on a foreign shore, under circumstances which rendered it impossible to obtain access to books of any value, and has been completed in a beautiful but remote part of Scotland, where it was equally impossible to obtain the aid of any extensive library.

It has been entirely written, therefore, from hurried notes kept wdiile travelling, and does not even contain that array of learned names which might have atoned for the want of learning in the author himself. In fact, conscious as he is of its many defects, he would not have presumed to lay his work

PREFACE.

. V before the public, had he not felt that at a moment like the present, when the most overwhelming interest exists in regard to Russia, it is the duty of every one, who has made that country his study, and endeavoured to obtain correct information concerning it, to give to the world whatever may be calculated to throw light on its actual condition, its prospects, or its resources. This duty is doubly incumbent on those who are anxious, as the author is, to counteract the tendency of some works which have recently appeared on the same subject. The presses of the continent now teem with publications containing the most fulsome praises of Russia, and giving the most overcharged statements of her power and resources ; and unfortunately, the presses of England are not altogether ignorant of books written in the same spirit.

Were we to take these for our guides, the government of Russia w7ould appear to be the most liberal of all governments, and the people of Russia the happiest of all people. Her strength is held up to us as boundless, irresistible, — as the most formidable, and best consolidated, that ever threatened the liberties and the rights of man. In short, the praises of Russia, which now ring on every side, are of the most exaggerated description. It would not, perhaps, be difficult to discover the source from which many of these representa tions proceed ; or, at least, to account for the tone VI

PREFACE.

. which they assume. Suffice it, however, to say, that truth will never be written on Russia, except by those who repair to it untrammelled by con nexion with the government, and who leave it unbought by the favours of the emperor. That the author was in this impartial position, will at once be evident, when he states that he and the friend included in the " we" which is employed throughout the following pages, visited Russia as private individuals, with no object in view but to make themselves acquainted w7ith the manners, condition, and prospects of the people ; in short, to obtain as much information as could be acquired during so short a visit, about a country which is daily becoming more and more interesting to the other nations of Europe. They had neither government protection, nor a single tie of interest to bias their views.

But though they had no higher patronage than that which good introductions procured for them, they enjoyed many oppor tunities for acquiring information, and can honestly say, that they endeavoured to turn them to the best account, by associating with those, who from their talents and position, were best qualified to give them useful and accurate intelligence ; by min gling freely in the various scenes of interest with which both the capital and the interior abound ; by leaving no sight unvisited that was likely to yield instruction ; and by sparing no pains in their endea-

PREFACE.

. VII vour to arrive at the truth on all important sub jects connected with the country or its prospects. These excursions, therefore, should they possess no other value, may at least serve as specimens of wdiat travellers, anxious to make the best use of their time, may see and learn during even a brief stay in a strange land ; and the author has been encouraged in his undertaking, by the conviction which he entertains that many defects will be pardoned in a writer who is anxious to correct misrepresentation, to remove prejudice, to impart truth ; and especially when he treats of subjects which, it will be universally allowed, are of vital moment to England at the present crisis. So little has of late been written on the interior of Russia, that the author trusts the portions of his work which relate to it, will possess con siderable interest for all who may be anxious to become acquainted with the actual state of that vast region.

The agriculture and manufactures of the principal districts — the condition of the serfs — and, especially, the internal resources of the empire, are subjects which at this moment possess the very highest interest for the statesman and the publicist ; and all of these, accordingly, have been touched upon at considerable length. Passing pictures of scenery and manners, and notices of such other subjects as are likely to interest the

PREFACE.

. general reader, have also been introduced ; and they may be more acceptable to the public, from the fact that, while so much has recently been published on the manners and scenery of the more frequented portions of Europe, comparatively little of the same description has appeared on Russia. This is, doubtless, attributable to the circumstance that few of our travellers visit that country ; for, even in .the present day, when the passion for travel has become so universal, and thousands of miles are thought as little of as hundreds were some years ago, the number of Englishmen who venture to the south of Moscow, seldom exceeds one or two every year. This paucity of foreign visiters to Russia may be partly owing to the want of information regard ing the method of travelling in that country.

For, strange to say, while there are hundreds of guide books to every other country, there is not a single work that gives any really available advice to the traveller intending to visit the dominions ofthe au tocrat. In order to supply this want, and in answer to the many applications which friends have made to him for advice about travelling in Russia, the author here publishes all that his notes contain on this subject. Judging by the difficulty which he him self had in procuring information of this kind when about to visit Russia, he trusts that, while not

PREFACE.

. IX devoid of interest to the general reader, the notices he has given on the best way of proceeding to St. Petersburg — the customs and police for malities on entering and leaving it ; the more common words of the language ; hotels and post ing ; and particularly on the best method of accom plishing a journey in the interior, will be of the greatest use to those ivho intend to travel in Russia. A full enumeration of all the topics of this nature, xvith references to the pages ivhere they occur, is given under the head of Hints to Travellers, at the end of the Table of Contents to the present volume. That some of the questions discussed in these pages are handled with a freedom which may be far from agreeable to the admirers of Russia, is what the author is fully prepared to hear. But he is persuaded that the enlightened sovereign who now sways the destinies of that mighty empire, would rather hear the -strictures of an impartial censor, than the praises of an uncompromising eulogist.

The commendations here bestowed on some of his measures will be less liable to suspicion, when they come from one who has felt himself con strai' ed to speak in very different terms of other part of his policy. L'hroughout the narrative, the author has en- X

PREFACE.

. deavoured to avoid thrusting himself unnecessarily forward on the reader's attention. His object has been to give information about the people and the country, not to write a brilliant romance, of which he himself should be the hero. Deeming all de tails of a merely personal nature, to be nothing but impertinencies in a book of travels, he has seldom alluded to affairs which, however interesting to him self, can possess no interest for the public. Facts in themselves trifling, are indeed occasionally men tioned, but it is only when they tend to throw light on the manners or customs of the country. After what has been already mentioned, it is unnecessary to add that it is neither with a view to give additional importance to the statements, nor to ward off responsibility for them, that the pompous "we" has been made use of in these volumes.

In fact, the original party of two was latterly in creased to four individuals ; but the author does not feel himself entitled to publish the names of those in whose society he performed his happy and improving rambles through Russia, as he alone is accountable for all the statements and opinions advanced in the work which he now respectfully recommends to the indulgence ofthe public. London, January 25, 1839. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Chapter I. Summer Hours In The Baltic

Our sailing from Stockholm — Reasons for avoiding the route through Findland — The Johanna Sophia — Scanty berth on board — Sketch of a Swedish captain and his crew — Dropping down Channel — Contrast with the Thames — Weæhohn — Romantic scenery — Sandham — Gulf of Bothnia — Islands of Aland — Their importance to Russia — Sunrise — " Land !" — Dago Island — Revel — Sveaborg 1

Chapter II. Cruise Through The Russian Feeet The Emperor At Sea

Surprise — First impression on meeting so many ships of war — Great strength of the Russian marine — The emperor on board — Anecdotes — The sea-sick courtier — Energy ofthe emperor — His general character — Beloved by the people — His anxiety to astonish them — Activity on land — Exposes himself at sea . . 20

Chapter III. Cronstadt, Its Fortifications And Commerce

Unkind reception of strangers — Duke of Wellington in Russia — Castles — Military and commercial harbours — Trade and way of doing business — Heavy duties on British goods — First specimens of Russian manners — Beards — Sheepskins — Paying of wages — Great number of English — The man of languages — Ships detained by the ice — Remssiness of the governor — Drunkenness — Few women — Handsome public buildings — Lamps of the Virgin — Superstition of the Greek Church . . . .28

Chapter IV. The Custom-house

; OR, THE DELIGHTS OF VISITING THE AUTOCRAT. Delays on arriving — Compared with those of other countries — Searchers — Luggage sealed — Captivity — Guardian — Annoyance to ship-captains — Danger of letters, and of Russian money — Passports — Disadvantages of being a "gentleman" — Books detained — Tyranny of underlings — Advice about steamers, &c. . CONTENTS.

Chapter V. Landing At St

PETERSBURG. Approach by sea — Distant view — Disappointment — Unfavourable site — Contrast with other capitals — Strange adventures — Deserted streets — First attempt in a droschky — " Pady ! Pady .'" — A word to the stranger .... 53

Chapter VI. First Impressions Among The

SPLENDOUR-* OF THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL. Hospitality — Letters of introduction — Danger of giving names in books on Russia — Numerous sights— The palaces — Hermitage, &c. — Peter's cottage — Magnificence of the principal streets — Stvle of architecture — How the city has been raised — Proprietors compelled to build — Buildings-board — Foot-pavements — Effects on the ladies — Italian architects — Reflections — Perishable splendour — Critical situation of the houses — Inundations . 61

Chapter VII. The

NtVA ; AND GENERAL VIEW FROM ISAAC'S BRIDGE. Attractions of the river — Compared with the Thames — The great bridge — Magnificent prospect — General sketch of the city from this point — The public buildings within view — Divisions of the city — Its progress — The islands — The quays — Want of trees 77

Chapter VIII. Glance At The Monuments, Churches, And Statistics Of St

PETERSBURG. Adexander's Coli mn, the finest monument in the world — Singulaar anecdote of Russian obedience — Equestrian statue of Peter the Great — Passion of the Russians for monuments of this kind — Russian churches — General description — Feelings excited by their splendour — Trophies from the 1 rench and Turks preserved in them — Too much gilding — Pictures — Reverence for them — New cathedral of St. Isaac — Convent of St. Alexander Nefsky — Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul — Tombs of Peter and the Tzars — Cathedral of our Lady of Kasau — Foreign churches — Other public buildings — Size and population — Manufactures — Exports and Imports — Great Manufactory at Alexandrofsky — General Wilson — Porcelain and glass manufactories . . 86

Chapter IX. Scenes Among The People Beards, Dress, And Manners

Singular appearance of the Russian crowd — Unlike every other European nation — Oriental character — Plainness ofthe women — CONTENTS. XIII Smallpox — The men — Intermarriages with Germans, &c. — Long beards esteemed by the people — Want of cleanliness — Washing process — Sheepskins — Clean shirts — General costume — Not always suited to the climate — Inconsistency of the Russians — Heated rooms — Cold — Sobriety — Drunkenness in the streets — Tlie Russian peasant contrasted with the Frenchman — The Eng lishman — The dram-shop — Natural gaiety . . . 105

Chapter X. Lounge In The Fashionable Nefskoi Russian

EQUIP1GES FOREIGN POPULATION. Scenes among the lone streets and silent canals — Policemen — The gay quarters — The Nefskoi Prospekht — New kind of pavement — Crowds and carriages — Equipages of the Nobility — Russian idea of horses — Bad steeds — Long traces — Bearded coachmen — Young postilion — Three-hoise droschkies — Foreign quarter — French — Swedes — Italians — English — Few soldiers seen in the crowds — Profusion of medals . . . . .118

Chapter XI. The Peasant In Church

; STGN OF THE CROSS; BELLS; SUPERSTITIONS. Popular devotions — Priests — Chanting — Genuflexions — Melancholy sight — Ignorance of true religion — Crossing themselves from morn to night — Their respect for bells — Pleasant associations — Superstitions — Fortune-telling — (>ipsies — Lucky days — Thirteen at table — Upsetting the salt — Meeting a monk, &c. — Fatalism — Opposed to insurances, &c. — Russians very charitable to the poor . ..... 129

Chapter XII. Cruelty With Which The Lower Orders Are Treated Their Food

Meekness under the harshest usage — The scourge — Beatings — Severity of masters — Ladies and their servants — Family executioner — The butler punished — Brutality of government underlings — Scene with the poliepman — With the post-office clerk — " Off hats " — Spitting when angry — Peasants kind and happy with each other — Their general character — Honesty — Easily contented — Their food — Cucumbers, cabbage, sours — Wages — In general, better provided in regard to food and lodging than the Irish and some of the Scotch peasantry . .141

Chapter XIII. The Russian Peasant Asleep

; AND AT WORK. Sleeping in the streets — Fearless workmen — Giddy ladders — The CONTENTS. man and the weathercock — Using the hatchet — Ingenious in copying any thing — Rustic pianoforte — Dexterous employmeut of their tools ....... 157

Chapter XIV. Popular Amusements On The Islands

Dances — Songs — Tales of a droschky — Russians fond of music — Summer -evening amusements — Dancing scene — Singing — Droschky journey — Anecdotes ofthe Isvoshtchiks — Merry scenes on the islands — Boating — More singing — Gay gardens — Noble villas — Mineral waters, &c. ..... 164

Chapter XV. Scenes In The Fish-barges Baths Bazaars, And Marriage Market

Live fish — Tethered sturgeon, and winter fare — Betting — Hawkers of lemonade — Russian baths — The effect of bathing on the habits, &c. — Scenes in the Gostinoi' Dvor — Importunate merchants — ■ Bargaining — The old-clothes mart — Old iron — Visit to the Summer garden— How to get married . . . 181

Chapter XVI. The Higher Classes

; THEIR INCOMES AND MUNIFICENCE; EMPEROR'S TREATMENT OF TRAVELLING BEAUTIES; ABUSE OF SOME TITLES. Witty account of the Russian capital — Difference between the Russian and English nobility — A man valued by the number of his serfs — Sources of income in Russia — Land — Manufactures — Mines — Flocks — Large fortunes — The Cheremetieffs — Demidoffs, &c. — The Countess R and her sheep — Extent of Russian properties — Compared with that of a Scottish estate — The wealthy Count W7oronzoff — His munificence — Anecdote of him — Nobles not allowed to spend too much of their fortunes abroad — Russian ladies marrying foreigners — Intimacy between Russian and English gentlemen — Style of dressing — Abuse of the title of " Prince" — Hundreds bearing it — Abundance of "Generals" — The apothecary made a general — Privileges of a uniform — Use of epaulettes — Edinburgh Archer — Disputes about precedence rendered impossible . . . . . .198

Chapter XVII. Amusements Of The Nobles Passion For Travel Taste For Languages

Russians seldom ride — Rural sports unknown — Fond of gambling — The theatre — The emperor and his dancers — Passion for CONTENTS. XV travel — Difference between English and Russian travellers — English travelling inconsistencies — Russians not devoid of pa triotism — Their quickness in acquiring languages — Apathy ofthe English in this study — The Englishman and his Italian master — His German professor — Russians very attentive to their native tongue . . . . . . .2 15

Chapter XVIII. Style Of Living Among The Nobles

Splendid mansions — Style of entertaining — March of French cookery — Arrangements of the table — Simplicity — Feast of flowers — Names of guests — Domestic unhappiness — Mercenary marriages — Russian love-making — Costly feasts . . 228

Chapter XIX. National Dishes

Expensive fish — The sterlet — Foreign wines — Russian wines of the Don, the Crimea, &c. — Kvass, the national beverage — Vodki — Delicious tea — The horrors of eating Batinia — Buckwheat pudding — Russian broth — Hospitable matrons — Mushrooms — Their abundance and safety — Our poisonous kinds eaten in Russia — Mode of cooking — Suggestions — Is tallow eaten by the Russians ? — Tschi, or cabbage-soup — Sniatky ..... 236

Chapter XX. The English In St

PETERSBURG J WITH NOTICES OF THE EXPENSE OF LIVING IN IT, AND HINTS ON THE HOTELS, &C. English mercantile houses — Style of living among the British — Nature of their business — Large capitals — Tallow trade — Residences ofthe English — The English quay — English Back Line — The factory — Church — Library — Clubs — Horse-races — Fox-hounds— Bear-shooting — English and Russian merchants contrasted — No Jews merchants — Scotch land-stewards — Englisli tutors and governesses — Mr. Baird, the engineer — Total number of English — Warning to people not to be rash in going to Russia — Capricious treatment from the authorities — Englishman sent to Siberia — Grooms from England — English physicians in St. Petersburg — Country cottages of the English — Of the Russian nobles — Hard names of the nobility — Short summer — Compared with that of England — Living here very cheap for the poor — Expensive for the rich — Costly furniture — House rent — Bad hotels — Excellent English houses — Tables d'hote — Coffee-houses — Travellers' purchases — Velvets— Leather — Slippers — Furs . CONTENTS. XVI

Chapter XXI. The University

AN» LIBRARIES; FINE ARTS AND LITERATURE. Great exertions of the Emperor Alexander in behalf of national education — Result doubtful — University of St. Petersburg — Its comparative inferiority — Number of students and professors — Compared with Dorpat — Academy of sciences — Fossil remains — Imperial library — Persian manuscripts — Academy of painting — Hermitage gallery — Murillo — Paul Potter — Periodical and general literature — Poets — Karamsin .... 270

Chapter XXII. The Hospitals And Public Prisons

; RUSSIAN PUNISH MENTS. Splendour of the hospitals — Treatment of patients compared with that in England — Crimes and criminals — Banishment to Siberia The knout — Visit to the public prisons — Debtors — Criminals — Boys — Women — Great order — Rooms too much crowded — Diet — Health — The emperor's vigilance .... 284

Chapter XXIII. The Emperor

Generally represented as cruel and tyrannical — Palliation of the charge — Great interest felt about his character throughout Europe — Importance ofthe subject — Circumstances under which he came to the throne — Meaning of the title Tzar, Autocrat, &c. — Miscellaneous anecdotes — Simplicity of his private habits — Happiness with his family — His opinion of the judgment which the English pass on him — The empress and the stranger — His restless activity — Love of military show — Commanding appearance of Nicholas — Fascinating manners — Especially towards foreigners — His desire to conciliate the foreign press — Attention to the French journalist, Monsieur L. VV — . — Flatteries of French and German writers— Heir Von D and his book — Attachment of some of the Russian officers — Popular with the soldiers and the people — Mode of saluting him in the streets — His exertions in any public calamity — His noble conduct when cholera appeared — His activity and hardy habits in travelling — His iron bed — His energy not always productive of good — Rogues in office — No sportsman — His style of eloquence — Argument with the French ambassador — His religion — Superstition — Toleration — Not so remarkable as is often stated — Why the Jews are tolerated — Torture — Only nominally abolished in Russia — Activity of his police — Spies — Anecdote of an Englishman at Kalisch — Emperor's conduct in regard to the admission of English and French newspapers — The Morning Post — Ga/ignani — Journal des Debuts, &c. — German CONTENTS. XVII papers — Censorship — Treatment of booksellers — Byron — Books of Travels, &c. — His restrictions "on the stage — A political play ........ 292

Chapter XXIV. Influence Of The Court

Great improvement in the morals of the Russian nobles — Chiefly attributable to the empress — Way in which she has produced the change — Splendour ofthe court entertainments — Banquets — Receptions — Most honoured guests — Effect which her example has had on the education of the daughters of the nobility — Great pains taken with her own family — The emperor's attention to the education of his sons — Its influence on that of the young nobles — Many Germans of princely rank visit the court — Prince Maximilian of Leuchtenbeig — Motives of the emperor in choosing him to be his son-in-law- — His character — The extravagance of the court injurious as an example to the nobles — Their burdens — Painful reflections on witnessing the splendour of the palaces ....... 330

Chapter XXV. The Emperor's Reforms Official Bribes Condition Of The Serfs

Shameful prevalence of bribery — Judges — Magistrates — Anecdotes of a police director — Nothing can be done without bribing — Difficulty of changing the system — Attempt to liberate the serfs — Their present degraded condition — Sold with the land — May be bought as servants — Extreme difficulty of arriving at the truth on these subjects in Russia — Injurious effects of slavery on masters as well as the sufferers themselves — Danger of keeping the people longer in slavery . . . . . . 344

Chapter XXVI. The Emperor And His Army

His longing for military fame — Love of reviews, &c. — Makes a plaything of his troops — Amount of the Russian army — How composed — Cannot be relied upon — Jew soldiers — The imperial guard — Finland sharpshooters — Russian compared with Prussian soldiers — The reviews at Kalisch — Pay — Length of service, &c. . . . . . . . .360

Chapter XXVII. The Emperor's Naval Projects, And Their Danger To England

What is England doing ? — Naval statistics of Russia — The Baltic fleet— That of the Black Sea— Of the Caspian— Steamers— Dan- VOL. I. b CONTENTS. ger from the numerical strength of her marine — Otherwise no great cause for alarm — The Russian revenues not fit for such con tinued outlay — Rotten ships — Naval projects condemned by the emperor's ministers — Service not liked — Spirit of the sailors — Their bravery — Docility — Admiral Krusenstern — Officers in spurs — Russian sailors only bad soldiers — Their awkwardness — Ships run ashore — Officers mast-headed — Emperor's severity to them, and consequent unpopularity — Amusements of his young cadets at Peterhof — Childishness and cruelty of the system — Pa rade of Peter the Great's boat — More care now taken in building ships — The Russia — Visit to the College for Naval Cadets — Annual expenses of the whole Russian navy — Necessity for prepa rations in England — Efficacy of Lord Durham's remonstrances — Engagement with the Swedes — Reflections — England has nothing to fear in the event of a war with the emperor — His weakness — Folly and criminality of the present clamour for war . 372

Chapter XXVIII. The Emperor's Ambitious Policy His Views On Greece Turkey Persia

NORWAY. Reasons why Nicholas aims at the subjugation ofthe East— And of Greece in particular — The Greeks in the Turkish empire — Intends to restore Greece to the splendour of classic days — Sketch of the emperor's present territories — And of his energy in governing them — His revenues — Ministry, &c. — Treacherous conduct towards Persia — Has supplanted the English there — Miserable state of that country — Russian cunning — Th^ir deserters in Persia — Schemes against Norway . . . .414

Chapter XXIX. The Emperor's Diplomatic System Contrasted With That Of England His

PLANS FOR AMALGAMATING THE DIF- FERENT TARTS OF THE EMPIRE. Russian ambassadors selected for their talents — Great confidence reposed in them — High education for the diplomatic service required in Russia, and other parts ofthe continent — Laxity of our English system — Russian ministers at Constantinople— Boutanieff — Pozzo di Borgo — Maltitz — Matucevitz — D'Oubril — Devotion of his agents to the emperor — Russian spies in the houses of English ambassadors — Large bands of informers in Russian pay all over Europe — The emperor's spies in Paris, and at the German Universities — Their activity in Turkey — Alleged interference against England in Canada — Count Nesselrode — Talleyrand — Metternich — The emperor's care in educating young men from the distant provinces — Makes them his warm friends — Professors from strange lands . . . CONTENTS. XIX

Chapter XXX. Revolutionary Spirit In Russia

; DISCONTENT OF THE ARMY, AND LIBERAL OPINIONS OF THE NOBLES ; POLAND ; WAR IN THE CAUCASUS. Elements of discord in the empire itself — Causes of dissatisfaction felt by the nobles — Discontent among the officers of the army — The emperor's harsh and arbitrary conduct towards them — Insults them — Partiality to foreigners — Persecution of liberalism — Secret political associations among the nobility, especially in Moscow — Prosecutions — Restrictions on travelling— Spread of free opinions • — Rumours of plots — of a revolution — Its probable object — Republics to be established — State of Poland — Misrepresented by Russian writers — War in the Caucasus . . . 453

Chapter XXXI. The Emperor's Projects Against British India Con Sidered Alliance With

PRUSSIA. March through Persia to Hindustan — This conquest a favourite theme with French writers — -Actually planned and contemplated by Russia — Its absurdity and impracticability — Can be easily counteracted by England — Favourable stations for us in the Persian Gulf, &c. — Allies of the emperor — Doubtful friendship with Austria — Prussian aid — Views of that state on Hamburg . 471

Chapter XXXII. The Emperor's Partiality' To The English Influence And Services Of

LORD DURHAM. Russia nnobles unfavourable to a war with England — Nicholas himself fond of Englishmen — His attention to our travelling countrymen — Captain in the imperial palace — The emperor's anxiety to know the state of public opinion in England — Reads our newspapers, and debates in parliament — His respect for Lord Durham — Favours obtained by him for Englishmen — Has removed many of the emperor's prejudices regarding England — Mistakes about us on the continent .... HINTS TO TRAVELLERS IN RUSSIA Are given on the following subjects , at the pages indicated below. ON TRAVELLING THROUGH FINLAND . PAGE 4,5, VOL.1. DISADVANTAGES OF ENTERING RUSSIA IN A TRADING VESSEL. ANNOYANCE AT THE CUSTOM-HOUSE AT CRONSTADT, AND EXAMINATION OF BOOKS AT ST. PETERSBURG. ADVICE ABOUT THE LUBECK STEAMER . . . 42 52 I. HOTELS AND EXPENSE OF LIVING IN ST. PETERSBURG, 267—268 i. ACCOUNT OF THE POLICE REGULATIONS REGARDING TRAVEL- LERS, AND OF THE FORMS ON LEAVING RUSSIA, 2 5 II.