Selected essays; with a memoir

Contents

PAGE

Eugene Schuyler i

Count Leo Tolstoy Twenty Years Ago . . 205 The Minnesota Heir of a Serbian King . . 301

II

After his graduation, in 1859, he remained in New Haven for two years, pursuing his studies, and was the first to receive the degree of Doctor of Philosophy there in 1861. During this time he wrote a long and elaborate review of Wedgwood's " English Etymology," and was gratified and amused at receiving from Professor Wedgwood a letter discussing certain points, and assuming that the youthful (and severe) critic was a venerable professor. He had also begun working on the revision of Webster's " Dictionary," which appeared in July, 1864 — his particular duty being the revision of Dr. Mahn's etymological contributions.

He studied law at Columbia College (LL.B. in 1863), n °t because the profession especially attracted him, but rather because he had not as yet found anything that seemed to him more desirable. In December, 1862, he wrote to a friend :

" I like the law much better than I did at first. One reason is that I know more about it, and another that I am so constantly occupied with it that I can't help getting interested in it. . . . Somehow or other, writing essays and reviews is just now a mania with me, and I sketch out plenty of them in my head, none of which I shall ever finish, such is my accustomed procrastination."

Some months later he wrote to the same person:

" I understand that Mr. is astonished at

my eagerness to see sights. I do not think that I have anything more than a laudable curiosity. I seldom go out of my way to see anything, but if anything comes along I consider it a duty which I owe to my general education, as well as a reasonable source of pleasure to know what is to be known."

After graduating he went for a time into the office of Messrs. Weeks, De Forest & Forster, and afterwards into that of Messrs. Lewis & Cox. Later he opened an office with Mr. James Bruyn Andrews. During these years he was writing for the Round Table and the New Path, besides occasional contributions to the New Englander, the North American Review, and other periodicals, and was a contributor to the Nation from the time of its first appearance to the end of his life.

His summer vacations were spent in Ithaca,

where his arrival was the signal for a series of festivities. Those at his father's house were always arranged by him, and were distinguished by some novelty; it might be a morning dance and luncheon (an unheard-of thing at that time), or it might be a supper with an odd menu — whatever it was, it brought variety into the small circle whose interest had become somewhat jaded.

In the summer of 1864 he had had a flattering request from Professor Norton (at that time editor of the North American Review), for a forty-page article, to which he expected to devote the vacation. Accordingly, having told me, a girl in my teens, that I was to write stories and become in time a distinguished author, he took me with him every morning into the large, cool dining-room, seated me at a table, and bade me write. His own place was at an old mahogany desk, where he had a great array of writing materials. Once there he was seized by the horreur de la plume and wouldn't write a word. I, however, was not allowed to be idle, and wrote Heaven knows what nonsense, he supplying the names of the characters and telling me to put in " plenty of conversation and incident." He wrote letters, talked to me, spread out his serious sheets of paper, and then rushed out into the garden and brought in flowers to arrange, and so on, until it was time for the table to be laid for the midday meal; and the forty-page article did not get written that summer.

His interest in Russia began in 1863, when he made the acquaintance of a number of the officers of the Russian flagship which was for a time stationed off New York. The opportunity to learn a new language was too great a temptation to be resisted, and he secured a teacher in the person of a priest connected with the Greek Church in New York. In the summer of 1867 he published a translation of Turguenief's " Fathers and Sons."

About the end of the year 1866 he was asked to edit a translation of selections from the " Kalevala," made just before his death by the late Professor John A. Porter, of Yale College. This involved an Introduction and Analysis, and with his usual thoroughness he prepared himself by a careful study of the poem in the original, learning the Finnish language for the purpose. His introduction is dated July 26, 1867.

Although his law-practice was improving and the prospect was brighter than for many young lawyers, yet it was a profession which never interested him sufficiently to gain his undivided attention. He yielded to his desire for travel and a larger knowledge of the world, and in the summer of 1867 obtained an appointment as Consul at Moscow. He sailed early in September, and, landing at Queenstown, went on slowly, seeing as much as possible by the way. He made the acquaintance of M. Taine and of Sainte- Beuve in Paris and of Turguenief at Baden. The latter gave him letters to friends in Moscow, among others one to Count Leo Tolstoy. After a short stop in St. Petersburg he went on to Moscow. There he found himself at the same time intensely interested and intensely lonely. He longed for letters and counted the days between mails. Meantime he drew for his mother a plan of his lodgings, with the location of chairs and tables, and told her about the Russian houses with plants growing in all the rooms, the poorer houses with artificial flowers stuck in the sand between the double windows. He described the appearance of the town with its green roofs and gilt domes, and the three hundred and sixtysix churches, each with a dozen bells, ringing nearly all the time, " fast, too, as if for a fire." To other friends he wrote detailed and enthusiastic descriptions of scenery, architecture, customs, and people. He lost no time in making acquaintances. All kinds of people interested and amused him, and here, as later in St. Petersburg, he was the enfant gate of every house which he frequented, from that of Prince Odoiefsky, the last survivor of the noblest family in Russia, to the rich merchants of various nationalities, and the Russianised German baroness who eked out her husband's income by keeping a shop for fancy-goods.

He wrote to his friend Russell Sturgis, October 29, 1867:

" Of course I have not yet made many acquaintances here. I dined last night with the Prince Vladimir Odoiefsky, en famille, his wife and one young man whose name I can't recall. The Prince is an agreeable old man of about sixtyfive, a bibliophile, with a splendid library which overflows every room except one salon, where plants in profusion take the place of books. . . . They live very simply and without affectation. To be sure there were three man-servants, but those here are a matter of course. The house is not furnished richly, and there was no attempt at show. The dinner was very good, though with only one dish peculiarly Russian. It is a kind of partridge, and with it are served salted — not pickled — cucumbers. They are very good — large, with sometimes a dash of caraway in them. We had any number of wines — all set on at once, and you take which you please. I was made to taste a Russian sherry and claret, one from the Crimea, the other from the Caucasus, and both very good — the sherry was from vines imported from Spain — also some Russian cordials. Before dinner we had also the sakuska, 1 salt-fish, bread, and brandy. After dinner it is the custom here for each guest to shake hands with and thank the hostess and host. After coffee and cigarettes we had a general conversation on books and other matters. The Prince is also a musician. He has an organ, two or three pianos and other instruments. Nothing would do but I must try a duet with him; so we played half a dozen, apparently to his satisfaction, for he complimented me a good deal, and then showed me, as a special favour, a piano which he had had made on mathematical principles. It is the only one in the world and is beautiful, as well as curious. In the ordinary piano the sharps and flats, being separated by only a very small interval, are run together and then all the keys equally regulated. It would be impossible for an ordinary man to play on or tune them otherwise. In this the sharps and flats were distinct, there being twenty instead of thirteen notes in the octave. The fourth is a perfect concord, as on the violin. The workmanship was exquisite and the effect splendid. Altogether it was the ideal piano. After this we had tea, in tumblers, and more talk. I pleased the old lady by showing her a new game of solitaire, and am invited to a salon on Friday evening, when I am to be introduced to the haute societe of Moscow. Some of the princesses are pretty, but none of them are said to be rich."

After the first really cold weather of the Russian winter, he wrote:

" Now I will tell you how it feels. Of course you find it difficult to keep the house as warm as usual. You wrap up and go out-doors. Your skin is shrivelled up and you feel smaller. I believe if it were not for your bones you would shrink up to half the size. There are not many people in the streets, and all of them are shapeless lumps of wrappings. The sun shines very brightly in a perfectly cloudless sky, but the breath of men and horses makes a vapour that immediately falls in minute snow-crystals. If you walk fast you can keep warm, but your legs feel heavy and you would like to sit down on a doorstep for awhile, or lean up against a fence. If you wink, your eyelashes freeze together. Then at night, the sky seems perfectly black and the stars shine very brightly, but don't give much light. The vapour from the gas has formed a coat of ice on the inside of the street-lamps and the lights are mere faintly glimmering

specks."

His esprit chercheur carried him far in his observations.

" The common people dress very lightly — thin trousers and shirt, without underclothing, and reserve their warm furs and skins for the street. In the Traktirs, or restaurants, the waiters have long, loose white linen trousers, with a white linen or coloured silk shirt, with a sash round it — nothing else. I pinched one of them to see."

In the spring of 1868 he made his first journey to Orenburg, travelling in company with a Russian merchant. They went down the Volga by steamboat and thence by tarantass; fraternising with young Englishmen in the telegraphic service, with Russian families, with travellers of all nationalities; landing to pay visits with his merchant friend, and calling in addition on " the wife of one of the principal Ural Cossacks," where he found " a rather pretty daughter playing on a grand piano and not a bit like a Cossack," and "a very nice little girl named Tanya;" and alighting from the tarantass to pick wild lilies of the valley and other flowers. At Orenburg he saw much that was interesting and heard much talk of the hostilities in Asia and the depression of trade and uncertainties of caravans; attended prayers at the Bukharan mosque and made numerous acquaintances, including an American, who by some turn of fortune was living in Orenburg as Capellmeister. He dined with the Governor-General and also with a Bukharan who had the dinner served on " a little pink tablecloth laid on the Bukharan carpets which covered the floor." The pilof, for which each guest had a spoon, a concession to their foreign prejudices, but which all ate out of the same dish, " was truly delicious." He says in his diary that the Bukharans " seem to have supposed that America was a mere expression used to lower the price of their cotton, and are quite curious about me, thinking I am come to interfere with their trade."

He crossed the Ural, and as he drove over the steppe had the pleasure of feeling himself in Asia; took refuge from a storm in a Kirghiz kibitka and drank kumys for the first time in his life; and finally ended his visit by assisting at the festivities in honour of the Grand Duke Vladimir — a banquet and a camel-race — and got back to Moscow four weeks from the time he started.

Early in October of the same year he visited Count Leo Tolstoy at his estate of Yasnaya Polyana. The letters which he wrote from there were incorporated in the sketch of Tolstoy, written twenty years later.

All this time he was working indefatigably, studying Russian and French, reading extensively, and making himself familiar not only with the work of his office, but with Russian affairs. The character of his work is indicated in the following letter of good advice written about this time:

"My Dear Eva: ... I think you make a mistake in going to so many lectures. One can't have time to know everything. Take the subjects you are most interested in and let the others alone. You are like me, you can become easily interested in almost anything, and we are both tempted continually to study up some new thing. I try quite rigidly to confine myself to four connected subjects, but am continually running over. Mine are history, literature, language, and mythology — especially in the Teutonic and Slavonic peoples. Science I am extremely fond of and am sometimes sorry I did not devote myself to it, but it is now too late, and I must content myself with an occasional glance. Diplomacy and statistics — my present profession — I consider a part of history. Among other wild projects I seriously think of writing a ' Manual of the Diplomatic History of the Nineteenth Century.' "

With the change of administration in 1869, came the usual turning out of office. By this time Mr. Schuyler was used to his official work and had grown fond of it, and was making himself an authority on Russian affairs. His reports and despatches abounded in information. Moreover he was now making plans for literary work which would require a longer stay in Russia. He hoped that his proved fitness for his post would cause him to be retained, especially as it had not been generally considered a desirable one at the time of his appointment. For a time he heard nothing, either directly or indirectly. Then the London Times announced his removal and he awaited the event. Various newspapers contradicted the statement of the Times, and he wrote, May 14th:

" I am delighted to find that the news in the London Times of my removal is so far untrue, and that I shall have a chance to stay here a while longer. What especially pleases me is the interest some of my friends have taken in the matter. Some unknown friend inserted a letter (which I have heard of, but not seen) in a London paper, praising me and objecting to my removal; and Mr. Bancroft, the moment he heard the report, wrote to Washington to have me retained or transferred to Odessa."

Supposing that matters were settled for the time, he went for a few days to Kief, and on his return found that he had been superseded some weeks before, and that his pay had stopped at the same time. He says, in a letter of June 17th:

" If I had known that I was removed I should not have taken the journey which I shall here relate to you, but supposing that the report of my removal was an error, I went and enjoyed myself, without suspicion of the evil fate that was in store for me. On the whole, I can't say I am sorry I went, though I should like to have again the money it cost."

At Kief he saw, as usual, all that there was to see, and made many acquaintances (only one of whom he found fault with, a lady who was " fearfully talkative in several languages "), and happened, as usual, on a peasant wedding, where he " drank cherry vodka, danced the Kazatchek, and learned the Russian game of jackstraws of a little girl."

On his return to Moscow, wishing to remain in Russia, he expressed his willingness to accept the consulship at Revel, although it was not a desirable post; and in the meantime occupied himself in writing for various periodicals.

"August $, 1869, Moscow.

"My Dear Eva: Your letter from Cherry Valley came yesterday, to my great delight, as it was a very long time since I had heard from you. I have myself not written to anybody for the last two or three weeks, because I am often in a disagreeable state of mind, and because as I am trying to write for my living, I am so busy writing and reading every day that my head is about run out of ideas. This week I have written one letter to the World and three to the Evening Post, besides being busy on two articles and reading for another. I cannot do one thing at a time. It is not my nature. If I could only write ten such pages every day I should be quite content, but there are sure to be three days out of the week when I am either indisposed to write or am interrupted. For instance, yesterday I had promised to introduce the new consul to the dignitaries and other consuls, and that destroyed the whole day. . . .

" I have had a great misfortune; my little white and brown cat is dead — she was Belenka. I have two others, gray ones — Sasha and Masha. I had another Masha, a beautiful tiger-striped cat, that I had since it was a little kitten, but somebody stole it, so I got a second one as nearly like it as I could, but it is much more stupid. You see in my old age I have taken up again with the pets of my infancy. Sasha is very wise and sits on my shoulder, her favourite place, as I write this. . . ."

In the autumn he was appointed Consul at Revel; but in the meantime he had made the acquaintance of Mr. Curtin, the new Minister to Russia, who offered him the position of Secretary of Legation, left vacant by the resignation of Mr. Coffey, and he resigned the consulship.

Life in St. Petersburg was a great change from the simpler ways of Moscow. Here he first tasted the pleasures and excitements of diplomacy, at that time perhaps nowhere more interesting than in Russia, whose progress in Asia was arousing a jealous attention, while her form of government inevitably led to the impression that there were secrets in the air, and stimulated diplomatic acuteness. To this new sphere of action Mr. Schuyler brought special qualifications; for to an inquiring mind and marvellous quickness of observation he added winning manners and a knowledge of the Russian language. As a result he soon came to be looked upon as perhaps the best informed man in diplomatic circles. The extent and minuteness of his knowledge were only rivalled by its accuracy, and whatever news he chose to impart could be relied upon.

In January, 1870, he wrote:

" Most of my reading just now is very solid and practical, on Russian statistics and other subjects almost exclusively. I have to write here a great many letters which demand a thorough knowledge of Russian subjects, and though I suppose I know more about them than any diplomat here, except Michell, the English Secretary, I have to do a good deal of cramming. I have just finished a long report on Russian manufactures, with the prospect ahead of another on grain production and traffic. Then, too, I wrote not long ago a paper on the Treatment of the Jews in Russia for Mr. Curtin."

Curtin, the " War Governor " of Pennsylvania, had been an important figure at a time and in a place which had given scope for his qualities. He had gained a great reputation and deserved well of his country. To fill the mission in Russia was not an easy matter for a man who knew no language but his own. Naturally he had to depend much on his Secretary of Legation, and his frequent absences on leave left the latter in charge of the Legation during comparatively long periods. A situation of that sort is exceedingly difficult both for the Minister and for the Secretary.

One would think that with the business of the Legation, a keen interest in diplomatic and political affairs, and a habit of reading and writing, a man's time would be well filled. But this was only half of the story. At this period of his life the taste for amusement was equally strong. Practically all doors were open to him. Society was ready not only to receive him, but to make much of him, and he was on terms of intimacy in a very great variety of houses. Then there were the great spectacular festivities which formed part of the diplomatic life, and of which the letter quoted below gives a fair picture; there were the several intimate circles of young men, each in sympathy with a different side of a many-sided nature; and there were all the usual amusements of a city — a brilliant, extravagant, cosmopolitan city, where the pace was rapid. And to this menu he brought an appetite rendered keener by an extraordinary union of intellectual with physical ardour.

In the midst of all this, and although Court festivities soon became a twice-told tale, he found time to write to the sister left behind in the quiet of a country town, minute descriptions of what he knew would interest her. Vol. I.-3 33

"St. Petersburg, January -rV, 1870. " My Dear Eva : . . . Last week we had a great ceremony here at the Palace. The Grand Duke Alexis arrived at majority and took the oath of allegiance. The Diplomatic people were all invited and all the ladies and gentlemen of the Court. The ladies were all in Russian costume and the men in uniform. Mr. Curtin happened to be ill and General Franklin was of course in uniform, so that I was the only one in the immense assemblage in black dress. Of course I felt very awkward. What a ridiculous, foolish law that is, to make us go in the costume of a waiter. Well, to go back — we arrived at one o'clock and were conducted through any quantity of salons hung with pictures and lined with detachments of all the various regiments of the guard, in beautiful uniforms, into the chapel. There we were placed on one side and the ladies on the other. Next to us were the Ministers and the Council of the Empire. Finally there came in a procession of officials who brought in the orb, the sceptre, containing the celebrated OrlorT diamond, and the crown. After that the Metropolitan and other archbishops went towards the door of the chapel to meet the Imperial family. First came the Emperor and Empress, who kissed the cross and were blessed, then the Tsesarevitch and Dagmar. looking very pretty in her Russian dress, and then all the other members of the Imperial family, and then the rest of the Court. When they had taken their places there was a short religious service with very fine music, then Alexis read aloud the oath in a loud, strong, fine voice, signed it and handed it to Gortchakoff. After that there was a Te Deum sung. The choir was magnificent, but right in the middle we were led out through rooms filled with soldiers to the Throne-room, where we were put on a platform to the right of the throne. There were selected specimens from all the regiments, with drums and banners, and one banner, that of the Moscow regiment, standing directly over a little readingdesk. The Imperial family again entered and took places on the throne platform. The Emperor led up Alexis to the desk and he took the military oath. Then he kissed his father, holding his cheek up to his for a long time. Then after a military salute, the Imperial family passed out, and we finally did the same and went home. The Empress stood during the ceremony on the throne steps, so that I saw her very well. She was dressed magnificently in white with lots of lace, and a train of dark red-purple velvet covered with gold embroidery. Her coronet and necklace were the finest diamonds I ever saw. The Emperor was in uniform. The effect of the gorgeous uniforms and the ladies' dresses was very beautiful. . . ."

" Saturday, January £§.

" We have had still more ceremonies. On Tuesday there was the blessing of the River Neva and a grand parade. We were invited to the palace, where we had a nice time. The ladies were in morning costume, and it was quite free and easy. We had good places and saw the religious ceremony on the ice very well, but the walls and windows were so thick that it was all dumb show, for we could not hear a sound. After that we sat down to a lunch, and, I must say, the Emperor either has a bad cook, or he did not exert himself much for us. Then we were taken to the other side of the palace, from which we saw the review of 47,000 troops. The Cavalry, Lancers, and Cossacks were splendid, and the whole was by far the best parade I ever saw. The Governor says the same, though he saw the great reviews at Paris of 1867. It, however, lost a little from the bands being inaudible.

" To-day we were all presented to the Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, 1 the only daughter of the Emperor. She is only sixteen and this is her first appearance in the world. She is to come out at a Grand Ball on Tuesday. Marie is rather pretty, though her nose and mouth are not good. She was a little embarrassed, though on the whole she did very well, and everybody was charmed with her. The ladies were taken to her one by one, and then the men of the Corps Diplomatique,

1 The Duchess of Edinburgh. 36 about sixty, were put in circle and she went the rounds, having quite a conversation with each one in French, English, or German, as the case might be. She was apparently crammed up beforehand, for she seemed to know something about each man's private history. It was a very trying ordeal for a young girl. She looks fully nineteen. She was dressed in rose-pink silk, much flounced, with white trimming, low-necked, with a pearl necklace, one pearl bracelet and one diamond one, and a rose in her hair. I go into particulars at the risk of being thought absurd, because I think they will interest you, and I know they will Aunt R. Tell me whether I sent you her photograph and if not I will do so.

" For more serious occupation I went on Wednesday to an ' Economic Society ' dinner, where I made the acquaintance of many economists and scientists, and heard a long discussion in Russian on the Suez Canal. I paid a flying visit to Pakoff on Thursday, but as I was only there a few hours, I have nothing to tell about it. I went down with General Franklin, who has at last gone, much to my regret. He is one of the few men with whom I have been in intimate relations for a month, and with whom, with all my criticalness, I can discover no possible fault.

" I think the length of this letter will excuse the length of time that has elapsed since my last. Write to me all that is going on. With much love to all, Yours, as ever, Eugene."

In all his letters the dominant note is friendliness. It is astonishing how well he liked people; and in the intimate letters of twenty-five years one could count on one's fingers the persons whom he mentioned with dislike. Even his dislikes were not bitter, and he could appreciate the good qualities of an enemy; though in a moment of irritation he might seem unable to tolerate the foibles of a friend.

In October, 1870, he visited Finland, a country which had interested him ever since his editorial work on the translation of the " Kalevala." He was enchanted with the scenery, with his night's stay at a farm called Liuxiala, which was " towards the end of the sixteenth century the abode of Queen Catherine of Sweden, after her husband, Erik XIV., was dethroned." From Helsingfors he wrote: