Domestic Scenes in Russia, in a series of letters, describing a year's residence in that country, chiefly in the interior

Front matter

DOMESTIC SCENES IN RUSSIA: IN A SERIES OF LETTERS describing A YEAR'S RESIDENCE IN THAT COUNTRY, CHIEFLY IN THE INTERIOR. BT THE REV. R. LISTER VENABLES, M.A. SECOND EDITION. REVISED. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1856. The right of Translation is reserved. LONDON : PRINTED EY W, CLOWES AND EONS, STAMFORD STREET, AND CHARING CBOSS. TO THOSE TO WHOM THE ORIGINALS OF THESE LETTERS WERE ADDRESSED, <Lbx$ Bahxm IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THEIR SON. a PEEFACE TO SECOND EDITION. The republication of the following series of Letters has been suggested by the interest in all questions connected with Russia to which the events of the present time have given rise. The Letters were written many years ago, but in the interim little change can have taken place in the manners and customs they describe.

The character of the people, the principles of the government, the institutions of the country, and the relative positions of the different classes in the community remain unaltered. The book, therefore, in its descriptions of Russian life, its sketches of Russian habits and ideas, and its general picture of the social condi tion of the people, will convey no incorrect impression of the existing state of things. The peculiar circumstances under which the author visited the country, his position of intimacy in private families, and his constant opportunities of unreserved intercourse with Russians of the highest cha racter and intelligence, afforded him unusual advantages in acquiring authentic information. But when he proceeded to publish his Letters he found it a matter of some little difficulty and delicacy to speak of Russia with truth, and yet without committing any breach of confidence, and with out making an ill requital for the unbounded kindness and hospitality for which he was indebted to his friends in that country.

VI The object of the book is not to discuss the strength or the weakness of Russia, but to relate such incidents as may entertain or interest the reader, and to delineate such national and social characteristics as fell under the author's observation. At the present moment perhaps the relative positions of the landed noble and the serf may be deemed worthy of some attention. And with reference to this subject especial notice will naturally be directed to the oppressive system of the conscription — hateful to the nobles as a burthensome tax, and dreaded by the peasants as the worst of evils. Looking to the conscription and its effects, we must indeed give both those classes credit for the sternest principles of self-denying patriotism if we suppose war in the abstract to be popular with them.

Preface

TO FIRST EDITION. I cannot venture to add another to the numerous books on Russia which have already appeared, without pleading as my apology that I visited that country under circumstances affording opportunities, not usually within a stranger's reach, of observing the habits and character of the people. I am therefore induced to publish the following Letters, under an impression that some account of domestic life in the Interior may be, to a certain degree, interesting from its novelty. Being nearly connected by marriage with several Russian families, I accompanied my wife into that country in the summer of 1837, for the purpose of visiting her relatives, among whom we spent twelve months, either in private houses in the Interior, or in habits of constant intercourse at St. Petersburg. In the Letters now offered to the public I have given a simple detail of our sojourn in Russia, interspersed by a few general remarks and observations.

The court, the capital, the army, and the public institu tions of the country, together with its political position and views, have occupied the pens of far abler travellers. My object has been to give some description of private life, national customs, and domestic habits in Russia. January, 1839. CONTENTS. Preface to Second and First Editions Pages v, xi

Letter I. Letter

V. Account of voyage — Custom-house — Arrival at Petersburg — Passport regulations . . . Page 1 The Blessing of the Waters — Visit to Grouzine — Visit to Velmogie — Greyhounds and harriers — Wolf - hunting — Hare - hunt — Russian sporting — Varieties of

Letter II

the hare — Overturn in a gig — Intended mode of travelling — Russian dinner — Practice of bathing horses — Kazan church — Pavements in Petersburg — English church — Difference of calendar in Russia — Comparison between London and Petersburg — Equipages — Droschkas — Summer garden — The islands — The Hermitage — The Winter Palace — Military uniforms — Public buildings 6 Hay harvest — Corn harvest — Agricultural implements — Anecdotes of Souvaroff .... 34

LETTER VI.

Journey to Yaroslav — Tver — Avant-courier — Cross-roads — Passing a fen-y — Kashine and Ouglitch — Russian travelling — Navodka and Nachai — Arrival at Yaroslav — View from Government-house — Volga — Military church — Regiment of Cantonists — Officer tak-

Letter III

ing the oaths of allegiance — Journey to Krasnoe — Diligence — Koad — Bridges — Inns — Istvostchiks — Peasants' dress — Dreary landscape — Novogorod — Russian village — Military colonies — Torjok — Arrival at Kr__noe — Description of the place — Russian farming — Peasants' houses — Hospital and bath . . . 10 Horse-fair — Dinner — Frost — Society — Card-playing — Mode of marking — Nobility — Rank and title — Military grades given to civilians 46

LETTER VII.

Exhibition of fire-engines — Fire establishments in the hands of Go-

Letter IV

vernment — Account of the svs- Mode of life in the country ■ — Language — Russian patronymics — System of country visiting — Guests — A dinner visit — Village fete — Russian swing — Intense heat — An enthusiast — A runaway serf 26 tem — Village regulations — Frequent occurrence of rural fires — Visit to a monastery — Ex-archbishop — A Te Deum — Convent treasures — Origin of the use of images in the Greek church — Visit to Riepinsk — Going to bed CONTEXTS. — Mayor of Riepinsk — Towing barge — Project of establishing steam on the Volga — A name's day — Performance of mass by the archbishop — Mode of com municating the death of the Em peror Alexander to his mother — Treasures of the monastery at Yaroslav — Conclusion of visit at

LETTER XI.

Country life in Russia — Scarcity of books — Censorship — Want of country amusements — Want of independence — Law of inheritance — Relative position of master and serf — Description of a country place — Furniture and interior arrangements — Nature of property — Management of peasants — Their characters and habits — Fasts — Manufactories established by landed proprietors — Versatility of the Russians — Apprenticing children — Household industry — Domestic discipline — Anecdote 95 Yaroslav — Post-horse system — Feldt-yagers .... Page 61

LETTER VIII.

Journey to Moscow — Bad roads — River Medveditza — Origin of its name — Arrival at Moscow — The Kremlin — Condition of the city — Ivan Veliki — The imperial palace — Ancient apartments of the Russian princesses — The great bell — The holy gate — The Exercise - house — Intention of proceeding southwards . . 74

LETTER XII.

Frost — White hares — Russian game-laws — A wolf in a house — The mode in which these animals catch dogs — Anecdotes of wolves — Their haunts — Modes of destroying them — By poison, pitfalls, traps, shooting — A man besieged by wolves — Bears — Good sport — Bear-shooting — Mode in Novogorod of getting rid of bears — Singular notions with respect to these animals — Lynxes — Elks

LETTER IX.

Russian autumn — Journey from Moscow to Tamboff — Accident on the road — Eclipse of the moon — A coach-and-nine — Character of the country near Tamboff — Game — Georgian horses 81 107

LETTER XIII. LETTER

X. A peasant's wedding — Lawful periods for marriage — Etiquette of marriages — Mariages de convenance — Parental authority — Anecdote of a Moscow merchant and his son-in-law 115 Fair at Tamboff — Fire-engines to assist the police — Tartar purchasers of horse-flesh — Don Cossacks — Mode of backing a colt — Trotting -matches — Town of Tamboff — Hall of Assembly — Constitution of the Assembly of the Nobles — Office of marshal of the nobility — 'Mode of transacting business — Functions of the Assembly — Accident to the emperor near Tiflis — His proceedings in Georgia — Anecdote of the Grand Duchess Marie ... 86

LETTER XIV.

Winter quarters — Commencement of sledging — Arbozes — Projected railway — The conscription — Managed by a board — How consti- CONTENTS. XV tuted — Account of the system — What being enlisted means in Russia — Standard of height — How the conscripts are selected — On the estates of private individuals — 'On the estates of the Crown — Oppressive circumstances occasionally arising — Age of con scripts — Substitutes — Penalty on the Board for enlisting an unfit man — Bribery — A sitting of the Board — Description of their pro ceedings — Examination of a con script from a private estate — Meaning of lop and zatillac — A Crown peasant — Character of the scene — Attachment Of the Rus sian to his family — Anecdote — Disposal of the recruits Page 120 Emperor and Empress — Anec dote — Washerwomen in winter — Sentinels — Christmas gaieties — Mode of issuing invitations — Morning calls — Ladies' dress — Evening parties — Room for im provement — Separation of the sexes in society — Secret police — Count Benkendorf — National reserve — Remarkable occurrence at a masquerade 146

LETTER XVIII.

The pleasures of sledging rather exaggerated — A vasok ; a kibitka — Cheapness of travelling — A fellow-countryman; an adventure which befel him at Moscow — Character of sledge-drivers — A general and a jeweller — A Polish swindler of the fah' sex . . 155

LETTER XV.

Effects of charcoal vapour — The Russian stove — Warmth of houses — Fire-places — Death from charcoal vapour — Convicts on their way to Siberia — Rural police — Punishment of a peasant — Of a noble — The knout — Martial law — Running the gauntlet — Erroneous penal system — A General degraded to the ranks — Prevalence of bribery — A lucrative Post — Want of public opinion — Inadequacy of legitimate emoluments 130

LETTER XIX.

The Carnival — Bleenies — Ice-hills — A sledge promenade — A masquerade — A Russian dance — A public dinner 164

LETTER XX.

Intention of leaving Tamboff — State of the weather — Expedition to Bonderry — Ouchabas — Night-travelling on a steppe — Losing the way — A cloth manufactory in a lady's hands — Return to Tamboff 168

LETTER XVI.

Belief in powers of images and saints — Madame B. — A maigre dinner — The Archbishop of Tamboff — Variety of dishes — A toast — Dinner visits — Anecdote . 139

LETTER XXI.

Arrival at St. Petersburg — Appearance of thaw at Tamboff — Departure — Increase of cold — The first halt — Motion of kibitka — A long stage — Journeying along rivers — Arrival at Moscow — A winter scene — Stay at Moscow — Character of the hotels —

LETTER XVIL

Severity of frost — Frost-bites — Snow-storms in the Steppes — Panic — Destruction of the Winter Palace by fire — Conduct of the CONTENTS. XVI ception of his Majesty, in accord ance with Russian ideas of eti- A winter - diligence — A snow storm — Slow progress — Deep holes in the snow — Small quantity of snow further north — Prince Serge Galitzin — Visitors not announced in Russia — A quette — Number of holidays injurious to Russia — Why not abolished 186

LETTER XXIV.

Breaking up of the ice - — Ice from the Ladoga — Placing a pillar in the church of St. Isaac — Grand parade — Arrival of the Emperor ; of the Empress — Review of the troops — Departure of the Court from St. Petersburg — Interview with the Empress .... 19-'

LETTER XXV.

Opening of the navigation — Departure of Mr. Law — The factory library — Visit to the Academy of Fine Arts — The President — The destruction of Pompeii, by Brilloff — Young Kotzebue — Manufactory of tapestry — Malachite temple — Public library — The MSS. — Writing of Mary Queen of Scots — Autographs — Letter from Henrietta, Queen of Charles I. — Expedition to Tzarsko Celo by the railroad — Conclusion of the letters 197 party at Prince Serge's — The Prince of Georgia — The Cheremetieff and Galitzin hospitals at Moscow — Scanty population of that city Page 172

LETTER XXII.

Thaw — Cold in April — Alexandrovsky — General Wilson — The Imperial Manufactory — Foundlings — English artisans — Mr. Law 183

LETTER XXIII.

Conclusion of Lent — The Metropolitan washing the feet of twelve priests — Want of decorum in a Russian congregation — Commencement of Easter Sunday — Ceremony at the Kazan church — Christos voscress — The Emperor and a Mahometan sentry — The katchellies — Coaches and six — Grand promenade — The Emperor and Empress — Silent re- Concludinij II emarks os Russia. Acknowledgment of Russian kindness and hospitality. — System of educating bovs — In public institutions — At home — Nature of their studies — Foreign preceptors — Amusements — Treatment of children — Military discipline — Village quarters — The young ladies — Results of early marriages — Servants — The Greek Church — The clergy — The fasts — Religious tolerance — Children must always be Greeks if either parent is of that church. — Petersburg not Russia — Cha racter of the peasant; of the tradesman — Commercial spirit pervading all classes. — Prospects of Russia — Probable effects of a political change — Want of inde pendent classes — Light in which the Emperor is viewed by his subjects — Public functionaries — Their motives of action — Sus picions of Government — Tend to deter Russia from foreign aggression — Opinions of four distinguished generals on the power of CONTENTS.

XVII Russia, offensive and defensive — Reasons why disturbances should be apprehended in Russia — Ele ments of revolution — The con scription — ■ Natural results of a revolution — Bloodshed and vio lence — Domestic servants — The revolt of the military colonies — Intrepid behaviour of the Em peror — Famine — The present system bad — A change likely to be worse — Character of the Emperor Page 204 Details of Russian Husbandry, __c. Origin of Mr. Sabouroff's letter — Mode of reckoning property — Whence derived — Rights of the serfs — Their customary privileges — Then" appellation — Character of the peasant — His habits of life — His conduct to the priest — Anecdote — Description of an estate — System of cultivation — Allotments to peasants — Nature of produce — Mode of using the straw — Oxen used for transporting goods — Whence imported — Distempers which they introduce — Difficulty of naturalizingforeign breeds — Success of Merino sheep — Horses ; belonging to the nobles — Pains bestowed in breeding — Peasant's horse utterly neglected — Breed deteriorated — Why — Prospect of improvement — Peasant's live-stock — His improvidence in abundant years — Annual course of husbandry — Produce of the land per Russian acre — Occasional superabundance of produce — Reasons for continuing to produce — Want of money on the part of landlords — Causes of famine — general — or partial — Natural advantages of Tamboff — Port of Morscha — Price of rye — Taxes — Personal — Nominally small — Really burdensome — How — Comparison between the Crown peasants and those on private estates — Taxes on salt and spirits — Average consumption of spirits by a peasant — Reasons why he has unjustly gained the character of a drunkard — Partition of the land as yet incomplete. — Observations on the concluding part of M. Sabouroff's letter 217 Prices of provisions, &c, at Tamboff 228 Census of the Russian Empire DOMESTIC SCENES IN RUSSIA.

LETTEE I. Account of voyage — Custom-house ■ — Arrival at Petersburg — Passport regulations. St. Petersburg, June 22nd, 1837. I lose no time in sending you, according to promise, an account of our safe arrival here, after a pleasant and pros perous voyage of a week. We sailed from London on Wed nesday morning the 14th, and we landed on the English Quay at Petersburg on Wednesday the 21st. We crossed the North Sea to Hamburg in the Countess of Lonsdale, a voyage not very fertile of incidents. Most of the time we were enveloped in a fog which would have done credit to London itself in November, and which only left us, to our great joy, when we were preparing off Heligoland to anchor for the night, as the captain would not venture to enter the Elbe without seeing his way. The banks of the Elbe present no objects of interest until -seven or eight miles below Hamburg, when the ground on the right or Danish side of the river rises into bold slopes beautifully clothed with gardens and studded with villas, while the air was fragrant from the pro fusion of lilacs, now in that northern region in full luxuriance.

Having spent a few hours in the picturesque old city of Hamburg, which I hope we shall have more leisure to visit on our homeward journey, we hired a carriage, the ordinary lohnkutsclie of Germany, the sight of which would collect a crowd in England, and at half past five on Friday afternoon we started for Lubeck, a distance of thirty-five miles. We travelled till after midnight, when we reached, not Lubeck, but a place called Schonberg, a sort of half-way house, .only B [Let. I. ■2 THE VOYAGE. twenty miles from Hamburg. Having no time to spare, we were in motion again at five in the morning, and we reached Lubeck at ten. This road, connecting two important cities, is probably the worst great highway in Europe. In one place we saw a waggon, and that not a very heavy one, sticking fast, in spito of the efforts of ten horses ; and, as you will infer from the time we spent over thirty-five miles, we performed most of the journey at a foot's pace.

From Lubeck to Traavemunde, the port of the Baltic packets, is a stage of ten or twelve miles, with a good road, the luxury of which we fully appre ciated. We arrived there just in time to embark on board the Naslednik steamer, in which we sailed at three o'clock in the afternoon. We soon found that out of some twenty pas sengers we were the only English on board, with the exception of a king's messenger. Of the remainder, among natives of France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, and Persia, the Russians mustered in strongest force ; and sailing in their society in a Russian boat on the Baltic Sea, we almost felt that we had alreadjr reached the empire of the Czar. Some of our fellow voyagers spoke English, and all spoke French. The weather was all we could wish, and the arrangements and fare on board the packet were good.

The Russian ladies soon discovered that M — was by birth a countrywoman of their own, and one of them* proved to be well acquainted with her father and other members of her family. Under these circumstances our time passed rapidly and agreeably on board the Naslednik. We sailed, as I have said, on Saturday afternoon, and by nine o'clock on Monday night we were in the Gulf of Finland. The following morning we were off Revel, and the captain said we should be at Cronstadt before midnight. We scarcely lost sight of land during the whole of Tuesday, and both shores of the Gulf of Finland were often visible at the same time. Indeed, during the entire voyage we were seldom many hours without seeing land, and the successive islands * With this lady, Princess Ourousoff, and her son, a most agreeable and well-informed young man, who was also on board, we had the pleasure of renewing our acquaintance during our short stay in Moscow in the following March.

Let. I.] ARRIVAL AT CRONSTADT. 3 which marked our progress were never-failing objects of in terest. The number of ships, moreover, of which we could not unfrequently count one or two and twenty at a time around us, far and near, with their white sails set, helped to break the monotony of the passage ; while on one occasion we passed within five miles of a Russian squadron, consisting of ten or eleven men-of-war. Our eyes, therefore, when we were tired of reading, were never at a loss for occupation by day ; and in this latitude at midsummer one can hardly say that night comes at all. The sun, indeed, goes below the horizon for a couple of hours, but the sky does not lose its colouring, and the smallest print or the palest handwriting may be read with ease in the open air at midnight. On Tuesday night the approaching termination of our voyage drove away all idea of sleep, and no one thought of going below or of undressing.

Indeed, at twelve o'clock by our London time, the Naslednik dropped her anchor under the batteries of Cronstadt, and in a few minutes afterwards the firing of the morning gun fro» the fortress, and the hoist ing of the colours on the flagstaff, reminded us of our progress to the east ; it being already, by Petersburg time, two o'clock in the morning. On coming to anchor, we were immediately boarded by two or three boats full of custom-house officers and soldiers, who appeared to take possession of the ship. The passengers' luggage was brought upon deck, and ticketed with the word unexamined, a number being added to each article ; and in this manner no less than three weary hours were consumed. The deck was encumbered with luggage, and at every turn one met a soldier in a dingy grey great coat, while the cabin was full of custom-house officers examining the passports, so that it was difficult to find a seat or a corner of a table at liberty.

At length the custom-house officers departed, and allowed us to proceed up the Gulf, towards Petersburg, under the care of the soldiers, who were left on board. Our delays were, however, not yet over, for in crossing the bar of the Neva our boat ran aground, though she only drew about seven feet of water, and this accident detained us three hours. At last, b [Let. I. CUSTOM-HOUSE SCRUTINY. 4 by means of two anchors carried out a-head, we were warped once more into deep water, and soon afterwards we reached Petersburg, and came to our moorings at the English Quay about twelve o'clock. Several custom-house officers now came on board, and the passengers were allowed to step on shore on receiving their passports, which had been collected soon after we sailed from Traavemunde by the captain's book keeper.

We were allowed to take our cloaks and great-coats on shore with us, but nothing else. Thanks to a friend to whom we had written beforehand, we found a laquais-de-place awaiting our landing, with the agreeable information that lodgings were engaged for us. It was necessaiy, as the first thing, to superintend the examination of our luggage by the custom-house officers, which agreeable ceremony was per formed in a large room hard by, set apart for the accommodation of steamboat passengers. The examination, though strict, could hardly be called vexatious, except that a new silk gown of M — 's was very near being confiscated, all articles of dress unmade, or which have not been worn, being contraband. A little representation, however, to a superior officer who spoke French, conquered this difficulty.

All our books were set aside to be examined by the censor, even a map in a case being subjected to this scrutiny. They were made up into a parcel and sealed with lead, and were then delivered to me tipon my signing a paper, in which I undertook to send them to the censor. The penalty for breaking or losing the lead seal is a hundred roubles (about four guineas). I was after wards required to sign one or two other papers, and at last I received a permit for my luggage to pass. The introduction of poisonous drugs into the country is strictly pro hibited, and a small medicine chest which we had was still detained for further examination, but it was afterwards very civilly given up to me unopened. We were now conducted to our lodgings, and after our sleepless night and wearisome morning we were exceedingly glad to find ourselves by two o'clock in a place where we could sit down and rest at our ease.

I have this morning been to write down my name at the Alien Office, the only personal trouble given to a foreigner Let. I.] PETERSBURG ALIEN OFFICE. 5 on his arrival by the police regulations. Our passport has been given to our landlord, whose duty it is to forward it to the proper authorities, by whom it is detained ; a ticket of residence, as it is called, or a permission to remain in the country, which must be renewed on the 1st of January every year, being sent in its place. Our books have been already returned from the censor's office, with a certificate that they have been examined, and are permitted; so that all the troubles of a first arrival are over, and we may consider our selves as fairly established in Petersburg. We do not mean, however, to remain here more than a few days, as the town is very empty, and we wish to lose as little as possible of the short Russian summer before we proceed into the interior, reserving the sights of Petersburg to be visited as we pass through on our way home.

On attending at the Alien Office I encountered some of our French and German fellow-passengers. As they one after another completed the necessary forms and signed their names, I perceived that a demand of five roubles was made from each, and therefore when my turn came I laid down five roubles, like the rest, before the clerk. Somewhat to my surprise he waved his hand, and intimated that I had nothing to pay. I looked to my attendant for an explanation, and he said, " Oh, they are merchants, and you are noble." "How, noble?" was my reply. "Why," said he, "you are in the English service; you are a clergyman." On quitting the custom-house, after the examination of our luggage, we noticed the first characteristic specimen we had seen of a Russian equipage, in the shape of an open carriage drawn by four horses abreast.

It was proceeding slowly along, and a lady was walking on the foot-pavement by its side. Rather to my surprise, the lady accosted M — and em braced her, proving, when the unexpected salutation was explained, to be an aunt, who had very kindly driven in from her villa near Petersburg to greet us on our arrival. This agreeable little incident was no unfavourable omen of our reception by M — 's family ; and it has been followed up by a similar occurrence in our walk this morning, so that I have already begun to make acquaintance with our Russian relatives. [Let. II. INTENDED MODE OF TRAVELLING. 6

LETTER II.

Intended mode of travelling — Russian dinner — Practice of bathing horses — Kazan church — Pavements in Petersburg — English church — Difference of calendar in Russia — Comparison between London and Petersburg — Equipages — Drosehkas — Summer garden — The islands — The Hermitage — The Winter Palace — Military uniforms— Public buildings. St. Petersburg, June 28th, 1837. We are on the point of leaving Petersburg, and we only await a conveyance to take us southwards, which, strange to say, in this great capital, is at this moment difficult to meet with. The plan which we mean to pursue, and which is the most comfortable of any that could be devised for strangers, is to hire a small diligence, which will be at our disposal for the journey. It will contain four people, besides the driver and conductor, who will manage everything upon the road, we paying a fixed sum for the journey before we start.

We have engaged a man and a maid, the former of whom speaks Eng lish, and both speak German and Russian more or less. Most people are now in the country, but we have dined twice with M — 's relatives since we have been here ; once in town, and once at a villa in the immediate neighbourhood. The dinners were served in the style usual on the Continent; nothing but the dessert being put on the table, and the dishes being brought in and handed round successively. The chief peculiarity to be remarked here was the custom of handing round liqueurs, with cheese, caviare, &c, before we went into the dining-room. We had also some national dishes, such as mushrooms of various kinds and of all colours, which, if they are to be found, no one would venture to eat in England. The principal novelty was an iced soup called Batvinia, of which the Russians appeared very fond, and without which they declared that a dinner in hot weather could not be called complete.