AT THE 
 
 RUSSIAN 

 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 SIX YEARS AT THE RUSSIAN 
 COURT
 
 The Czarina with the Czarovitch. 
 
 [Frontispiece.
 
 Six Years at the 
 Russian Court 
 
 BY 
 
 M. EAGAR 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 CHARLES L, BOWMAN & COMPANY
 
 Printed in Great Britain
 
 Collega 
 Library 
 
 JDK 
 
 Ells 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IN a book recently published the author 
 describes at length a visit to the house of 
 the Governor of Moscow, and speaks of his 
 family and governess. Now for fourteen 
 years before his death the Grand Duke 
 Serge was Governor of Moscow and he had 
 no children. 
 
 A well-known magazine spoke of us travel- 
 ling with a cow ! Now I can safely aver that 
 I never took a cow on a journey. She would 
 have been very much in our way, and the 
 poor beast would have had a sad time in the 
 Baltic or Black Sea ! 
 
 Again and again have I seen allusions to 
 the Empress's love of caricatures, and her 
 cleverness in drawing them. As a matter of 
 fact, the Empress never drew such a thing 
 in her life ; nor can she see the fun of them 
 when they are drawn by other people. 
 
 1181162
 
 viii Preface. 
 
 The author of a book which had consider- 
 able success describes Tsarskoe Selo as being 
 surrounded by double walls of granite. As 
 a matter of fact, Tsarskoe Selo is separated 
 from the road only by iron railings. 
 
 The English daily papers described the 
 Emperor and his family as having fled in 
 their yacht, at a time when the yacht was 
 deeply embedded in ice outside Kronstadt. 
 
 I could multiply such stories ad lib., but 
 merely wish to draw attention to the fact 
 that so much that is written regarding Russia 
 and the Imperial family is absolutely untrue, 
 so little is really known about the Court life, 
 that I am emboldened to offer my slight 
 sketches of life in the Palaces. It would be 
 very easy for me to " pile on the agony;" 
 to represent the Emperor as a " much- 
 ridden " man ; to picture plots and counter 
 plots ; to speak of hairbreadth escapes from 
 death; of hidden bombs; of life made 
 horrible by fears ; but no such things have 
 occurred in my six years at the Russian 
 Court, and I am a truthful person, and have 
 not started forth to write fiction, but plain, 
 unvarnished truth. 
 
 To the courtesy of the editor of the
 
 Preface. ix 
 
 Leisure Hour I am indebted for permission 
 to reprint those parts of this work which 
 have already appeared in print. But the 
 book has been considerably enlarged. 
 
 M. EAGAR. 
 London, 1906.
 
 NOTE. 
 
 SHORTLY after the birth of the Czarevitch 
 I said to the Empress that I often had 
 thought of writing my memoirs. She en- 
 couraged me to do so, saying so many 
 untruths had been published that it would 
 be a relief to have an account of the Rus- 
 sian Court which was absolutely true. 
 Hence this book.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. CONCERNING MY JOURNEY i 
 
 II. CONCERNING THE WINTER PALACE . 8 
 
 III. CONCERNING ST. PETERSBURG . . 16 
 
 IV. CONCERNING TSARSKOE SELO ... 20 
 
 V. CONCERNING EASTER . . . -29 
 
 VI. CONCERNING PETERHOFF ... 43 
 
 VII. CONCERNING FATHER JOHN ... 58 
 
 VIII. A GLIMPSE OF POLAND .... 67 
 
 IX. ROUGH LIFE OF RUSSIAN PEASANTRY . 72 
 
 X. SEARCHING FOR THE MAGIC BLOOM . 78 
 
 XI. A RUSSIAN CHRISTMAS .... 84 
 
 XII. LIFE IN THE KREMLIN .... 89 
 
 XIII. IN BELOVEGE 109 
 
 XIV. THE YOUNG OFFICER AND THE DOLLS . 116 
 
 XV. THE LITTLE PRISON OPENER. . . 131 
 
 XVI. MY FIRST MEETING WITH THE KING . 144 
 
 XVII. LOST IN THE FOREST .... 148 
 
 XVIII. CONCERNING THE CHILDREN . . .157
 
 xiv Contents. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XIX. CHERSONESE 162 
 
 XX. THE PRIEST 
 
 XXI. PRINCESS ELLA 
 
 XXII. THE OUTBREAK OF WAR 
 XXIII. THE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS .... 
 XXIV. ATTACKS ON THE CZAR'S LIFE 
 XXV. SOCIAL LIFE IN RUSSIA .... 
 XXVI. POST OFFICE VAGARIES IN RUSSIA. 
 XXVII. THE TRUE STORY OF KISHINEFF . 
 XXVIIL THE RUSSIAN CLERGY .... 
 XXIX. MORE ABOUT THE CHILDREN . 
 XXX. EDUCATION IN RUSSIA .... 
 XXXI. THE BIRTH OF AN HEIR
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Czarina with the Czarevitch . . . Frontispiece 
 The Grand Duchess Olga, at three years of 
 
 age ....... Facing page 2 
 
 The Czarina ...... 4 
 
 The Grand Duchess Tatiana, at 18 months 
 
 of age. .... 6 
 
 The Czarina's room in the Winter Palace 8 
 The Nicholas Bridge over the Neva, St. 
 
 Petersburg . . . . . . ,, ,, 16 
 
 The Neva in winter, St. Petersburg . . ,, ,, 16 
 
 Czar, Czarina, and their four daughters . 32 
 
 The fountains at Peterhoff . . . 38 
 
 Fountain at Peterhoff ....,, 38 
 
 The Grand Duchess Olga . . . 46 
 
 The three eldest children of the Czar . 68 
 
 The Kremlin, Moscow .... 88 
 
 Another view of the Kremlin, Moscow . ,, 88 
 The Czar and Czarina leading a pro- 
 cessional entrance into the church of 
 
 the Kremlin at Easter. . . ,, ,,94 
 
 The Czar and Czarina in old - world 
 
 Muscovite garments ....,,,, 98 
 The two youngest daughters of the Czar 
 
 and Czarina . . . . . ,,114
 
 XVI 
 
 List of Illustrations. 
 
 View of Yalta ...... 
 
 The Imperial Palace, Livadia . 
 
 A Sketch by the Grand Duchess Olga 
 
 A drawing of the Czarina by the Grand 
 Duchess Olga. A picture of unique 
 interest ...... 
 
 A Sketch by the Grand Duchess Olga 
 
 The English Cemetery, Sevastopol . 
 
 A royal driving party. The children are 
 the two eldest daughters of the Czar, 
 with the late Princess Ella, their cousin, 
 between them ..... 
 
 A royal hunting party. The Grand Duke 
 Vladimir, the Czarina, and the Czar are 
 seated together ..... 
 
 A comely Russian matron dressed in fite 
 costume 
 
 The four eldest children of the Czar and 
 Czarina 
 
 Czarina on horseback in the uniform of 
 the Royal Uhlan Bodyguard 
 
 Czar and Czarina driving to a review. 
 The Czarina is wearing her uniform as 
 Colonel of the Uhlans .... 
 
 The two eldest children of the Czar in 
 the robes they wore at the christening 
 of the Czarovitch .... 
 
 Reduced facsimile of a portion of a 
 letter from the Grand Duchess Olga, the 
 eldest child of the Czar and Czarina, 
 to the writer of these articles 
 
 Facing page 118 
 "8 
 ,i IS 8 
 
 160 
 162 
 166 
 
 186 
 
 1 88 
 
 200 
 
 202 
 
 204 
 
 280 
 
 282
 
 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CONCERNING MY JOURNEY. 
 
 IT was late in 1898 that I was chosen to 
 take charge of the little Grand Duchesses 
 of Russia, and early the following year I set 
 off for the land of the Czar. 
 
 It had been arranged that a Royal mes- 
 senger should meet me in Berlin, and I was 
 to have travelled under his escort to St. 
 Petersburg. But in case of any failure of 
 the plan, the friend who had kindly under- 
 taken to smooth all difficulties in the travel- 
 ling gave me a telegram for the Empress's 
 Chancellor to be sent off from the frontier. 
 
 On arriving in Berlin I was met by a 
 servant from the Embassy, armed with an 
 immense white linen bag, tied round with 
 
 i
 
 2 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 red tape and sealed with several great seals. 
 To my dismay I was asked to take charge 
 of the bag and deliver it safely to a messenger 
 from the Embassy in St. Petersburg, who 
 should meet me at the station there. 
 
 The ambassador sent me a letter telling 
 me that I should in no wise lose sight of the 
 bag on the journey, and that I should not 
 allow it to be examined by the Custom 
 House officials, nor by the Police. 
 
 Before leaving England I had been told 
 that the Empress would send a servant to 
 the frontier to meet me, who would look 
 after my luggage and help me generally on 
 the rest of the journey; so, feeling sure that 
 my troubles would end there, I undertook 
 the charge of the bag. I fear that had I 
 known the trouble it would be to me before 
 the end of the journey, I should have de- 
 clined to be burdened with it. 
 
 I had been given a passport for the bag, 
 and on arriving at the frontier, I walked up 
 to a gentleman in uniform, presented the 
 passport, and asked if there was anyone to 
 meet me. There was no one, but the gentle- 
 man gave me into the charge of a porter and 
 told him to help me, so I followed him about
 
 Concerning My Journey. 3 
 
 like a pet dog, only refusing to part with my 
 precious bag. 
 
 I sent off a telegram to the Winter Palace ; 
 and had my luggage examined. Oh ! What 
 an examination it was ! Everything I 
 possessed was turned out of my trunks, and 
 they even put their hands into my boots 
 and gloves. I then had to pay sixpence for 
 the examination of each trunk. Finally, I 
 heard my name called by an official, so 
 made my way to him and received my pass- 
 port, which had been taken up for examina- 
 tion. All being in order, I was at last 
 released from durance vile ; so I took my 
 precious bag in my arms, and seated myself 
 in the train. I had lunched at the frontier, 
 as in Russia the trains have no dining-cars ; 
 travellers have difficulty in securing refresh- 
 ment on the way. 
 
 The bag weighed heavily on my mind, 
 and I dared not leave it unprotected in the 
 train. I could not carry it in my arms to 
 the refreshment-rooms, so I made up my 
 mind that I should have to go without food. 
 
 Fortunately a lady in the train took com- 
 passion upon me, and with the help of a 
 friend procured me a cup of tea and a sand-
 
 4 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 wich. I may say here that the Russians are 
 sympathetic and kind to a degree, and they 
 are always willing to help a stranger in any 
 way in their power. 
 
 My kind friend soon left. I then met 
 with a rather unpleasant experience. The 
 guard, on looking at my ticket, compelled 
 me to change my carriage, as I had been 
 travelling second-class with a first-class 
 ticket. The compartment was very warm 
 and the night very cold, so the difference 
 of temperature was very trying, and I felt 
 nervous and frightened. In solitary gran- 
 deur I continued my journey to St. Peters- 
 burg, where my precious bag and I safely 
 arrived. I was met by a lady from the 
 Winter Palace. 
 
 In vain I looked for someone to relieve 
 me of the bag. On arriving at the Winter 
 Palace, according to the Empress's orders I 
 had lunched and retired. I had not long 
 been asleep when I was roused by knocking 
 at the door, and I, believing it to be 
 Madame G., called out, " Come in." To 
 my surprise a young man entered the room, 
 saying, " I've come for that bag." 
 
 I begged him to leave the room until I
 
 The C/iirina. 
 
 /''aciiig page 4.
 
 Concerning My Journey. 5 
 
 rose and dressed. I felt doubtful at first 
 about giving him the bag, but finally did 
 so. His reason for coming to my room him- 
 self for it was that a servant in the Palace 
 told him, when inquiring for me, that an 
 English lunatic had arrived, carrying a great 
 bag which she would not give up to anyone, 
 so his only chance of getting it was to come 
 up for it himself ! 
 
 Hardly was he gone when Madame G. 
 returned to conduct me to the Empress. I 
 thought her then, and think her now, the 
 handsomest woman I had ever seen. She is 
 tall, statuesque in appearance, with very 
 regular features and a high complexion. 
 She was wearing a mauve dress, as the 
 mourning for the Queen of Denmark was 
 not over. It was also the 2nd of February, 
 the Purification of the Virgin, and a great 
 feast in Russia, and Russians never wear 
 black during a festival. 
 
 The Empress received me in her boudoir 
 a lovely room, upholstered in mauve and 
 silver brocade ; the walls were hung with 
 the same fabric, with a frieze of white wood 
 decorated with trails and wreaths of 
 wysteria painted on the wood. Wreaths of
 
 6 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 the same graceful plant adorned the ceiling. 
 The furniture was made of Russian white 
 wood. 
 
 She herself conducted me to the nurseries, 
 where I saw my future charges, who were 
 beautifully dressed, in honour of the fes- 
 tival, in transparent white muslin dresses 
 trimmed with Brussels lace, and worn over 
 pale-blue satin slips. Pale-blue sashes and 
 shoulder ribbons completed their costumes. 
 The little Grand Duchess Olga was at this 
 time over three years of age. She was a 
 very fine child, and had large blue-grey eyes 
 and long golden curls. The Grand Duchess 
 Tatiana was a year and a half ; a very pretty 
 child, remarkably like her mother, but deli- 
 cate in appearance. 
 
 The Winter Palace is the largest building 
 in Europe. It was begun by Peter the 
 Great and finished by Catherine II., and is 
 built in red sandstone. On one side there 
 is a little enclosed garden, where in fine 
 weather the children played and snowballed 
 one another. The snow in the north of 
 Russia does not cling together ; it is too dry 
 and powdery. 
 
 This garden is now enclosed by a red stone
 
 Concerning the Winter Palace. 9 
 
 with a yellow brocade, and here are kept the 
 children's various toys. From this room 
 the principal living-room is entered, which 
 overlooks the quay and Neva, also the 
 garden. It is very sunny and bright, and 
 is furnished in blue. A plain velvet pile 
 blue carpet covers the floor. The walls are 
 covered with cornflower patterned chintz. 
 Very sweet and charming it is. From this 
 two bedrooms are entered. Both are up- 
 holstered with pink and green chintz, and 
 have plain velvet pile carpets in green. In 
 one of them hangs a copy of Josephine 
 Swaboda's beautiful Madonna and Child. 
 
 Over the children's rooms are those of the 
 Empress. I have spoken of her boudoir. 
 On one side of it is the Emperor's study, 
 the most used room in the Palace. Here 
 the Emperor spends hours each day working 
 hard for the advancement of the great 
 Empire committed to his charge. This room 
 is plainly and solidly furnished. It over- 
 looks the garden. 
 
 On the other side of the boudoir is the 
 
 Empress's bedroom. It is also furnished in 
 
 pink and green, and adjoining it is a dressing- 
 
 oom. One corner is hung with scarlet
 
 io Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 cloth from ceiling to floor. On this are dis- 
 played the holy images, and here hangs the 
 sacred lamp which is always kept burning 
 before the icons. Many of these pictures 
 are illuminated in gold, and ornamented 
 with precious stones. Some have the face 
 simply painted and the garments all com- 
 posed of precious stones. They are beau- 
 tiful specimens of the goldsmiths' work, but 
 are hardly artistic. 
 
 In this room are kept the Empress's 
 jewels in glass cases. Many of her jewels 
 are unique. On one occasion the Emperor 
 gave her an ornament in the shape of a spray 
 of tea-roses all executed in yellow diamonds. 
 The spray consists of a full-blown rose, with 
 four or five buds and leaves, ah 1 life-size. 
 Her rubies and emeralds are very fine, and, 
 of course, her diamonds are famous. The 
 Grand Duchess Serge, sister to the Empress, 
 is possessed of what are considered the 
 finest sapphires in the world. Very splendid 
 they are, both in colour and size, but the 
 Empress has some which run them very 
 closely. 
 
 From the bedroom we enter the yellow- 
 room. This room is crowded with lovely
 
 Concerning the Winter Palace. n 
 
 and artistic objects, and here are exhibited 
 the famous Easter eggs which were at the 
 Paris Exhibition. These are the work of 
 Faberge, the most renowned goldsmith in 
 Europe. Beyond this are two other recep- 
 tion-rooms looking on to the quay and Neva, 
 and then comes the jdining-room, with its 
 treasures of Bohemian and cut engraved 
 glass. Beyond the dining-room is the Mala- 
 chite room, about forty feet long. The 
 walls have beautifully painted panels, divided 
 by Malachite pillars ; the furniture is Mala- 
 chite and gilt, upholstered in crimson bro- 
 cade, the floor parquet and polished like a 
 mirror. These rooms are never shown to 
 the public. 
 
 Then come the state rooms great lofty 
 halls lighted by electricity. The great 
 while ballroom holds five thousand guests 
 easily, allowing a place for the musicians 
 and also space for dancing ; but of course 
 at these great functions there is little dancing. 
 
 The walls of these halls are covered with 
 gold plates and dishes, many of them with 
 the monograms of dead and gone Emperors 
 and the double-headed Eagle in precious 
 stones. Upon these dishes were presented
 
 12 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 formerly the bread and salt with which 
 members of the Imperial family are greeted 
 on entering a town. When an Imperial 
 train stops at a station, a deputation of the 
 principal persons, headed by one called the 
 Stavosta or Elder, presents the Emperor 
 with bread and salt. Shortly after the 
 accession of Nicholas II., he found that the 
 poorer villages and communities were unable 
 to afford the expense of the gold plate, and 
 yet could not bear to be outdone by the 
 richer villages. He therefore issued a decree 
 that henceforth bread and salt should be 
 presented only on wooden or china dishes. 
 This is very characteristic of his thought 
 for his poorer subjects. 
 
 But to return to the Winter Palace. 
 Another room has eight pairs of doors of 
 tortoiseshell embellished with gold. At the 
 end of all these great rooms is the theatre. 
 My little charges would sit for half an hour 
 at a time seriously looking while the attend- 
 ants changed the drop scenes, and turned on 
 the various coloured electric lights for their 
 entertainment. This they called " going to 
 the theatre." Beyond the theatre are the 
 suites assigned to the various ministers
 
 Concerning the Winter Palace. 13 
 
 and officers and their families. Returning 
 from the theatre, but going round the other 
 side of the Palace, we come to the Hermitage, 
 with all its art treasures. 
 
 In the picture gallery here is the finest 
 collection of Rembrandts extant. One of 
 these represents the visit of the Trinity to 
 Abraham. I was one day looking at it, 
 trying to make out what it meant, when the 
 little Grand Duchess Olga ran up to me, 
 and, putting her hand in mine, asked me 
 what I was looking at. I told her ; she 
 then looked at it earnestly, and suddenly 
 burst out laughing, exclaimed : " Oh ! 
 What a very funny picture a man holding 
 a leg of mutton in his hand, and carving it 
 with a knife, and a bird sitting at the table." 
 The bird, needless to say, was one of the 
 angels. He is represented with his back 
 out, and has neatly folded his blue-and-white 
 feather wings. There are very many beau- 
 tiful pictures, but I always thought the 
 arrangement bad. They are arranged ac 
 cording to schools, Dutch school, etc., all 
 together. So one gets sacred subjects mixed 
 up with many very different pictures. 
 
 There is a great collection of Rubens'
 
 14 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 pictures, but I cannot say that I admire 
 them much. 
 
 In the museum are many relics of Peter 
 the Great. His turning lathe, a great deal 
 of his carving, presses, chests, etc. ; also 
 the horse he used to ride stuffed in company 
 with his dogs. There is a long staff showing 
 his height. He must have been about six 
 feet six inches. Therefore, in many re- 
 spects he deserved the title of " Great," 
 but he was exceedingly cruel. There is a 
 goblet so constructed as to appear much less 
 than it really is. Whenever he wished to 
 " remove " any person he sent for him, 
 flattered him with many kind words, and 
 then, filling this goblet with strong wine, 
 commanded the obnoxious person to drink 
 it off to his health. When he had finished 
 the contents of the goblet the victim fell 
 dead upon the floor. 
 
 The museum also contains a splendid col- 
 lection of jewelled snuff-boxes, presented 
 to former Emperors by monarchs, am- 
 bassadors, and other great personages, 
 jewelled watches, swords, harness, uniforms, 
 etc. There are also some very extraordinary 
 portraits in mosaic work, mechanical
 
 Concerning the Winter Palace. 15 
 
 animals and birds in silver and gold. The 
 little children loved to ramble through this 
 museum. When the Grand Duchess Olga 
 was quite a little child she used to wish she 
 could live there altogether. Here and there 
 amongst the state-rooms are pretty winter 
 gardens. In one of them is an aviary with 
 hundreds of canaries, which are allowed to 
 flit amongst the palms. There are also 
 fountains with goldfish. Catherine II. loved 
 musical surprises in various forms, and 
 there are writing-tables and presses, which, 
 on being opened, play various tunes. These 
 were a great joy to my little charges.
 
 i6 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CONCERNING ST. PETERSBURG. 
 
 ST. PETERSBURG itself is both interesting 
 and beautiful. Essentially modern it is 
 only about two hundred years since it was 
 built it somehow conveys the impression 
 of antiquity, and this in spite of the fact 
 that the streets are wide and handsome, 
 there are great open spaces, town gardens 
 and boulevards. 
 
 The idea of a town of the Middle Ages 
 may be conveyed by means of the sign- 
 boards ; for each shop hangs out pictures 
 illustrative of what may be found within. 
 Thus a military tailor has pictures of uni- 
 forms, a greengrocer displays paintings of 
 cauliflowers, etc. Vegetables, by the way, 
 are exceedingly dear in the winter in St. 
 Petersburg ; cabbages are grown in hot-
 
 Concerning St. Petersburg. 17 
 
 houses. The peasants, however, use salted 
 cabbage for their beloved soup. 
 
 The Russians tell you that the signboards 
 are for the benefit of foreigners who cannot 
 read Russian. It may be so; in this case 
 St. Petersburg owes much of her picturesque- 
 ness to the stranger within her gates. She 
 owes more than that, however, to strangers, 
 for most of her commerce is in the hands 
 of foreigners. The Russians themselves seem 
 to have little aptitude or care for business. 
 
 I sometimes think that St. Petersburg 
 owes more of her beauty to the climate, 
 and peculiar costumes than to her signboards. 
 The air is very clear, and for the greater part 
 of the winter clear blue skies prevail, and 
 there is a great deal of sunshine. Cold 
 sunshine it is, but even so, it is better than 
 the fogs of London. 
 
 The Russian coachman wears a great 
 fur-lined robe, reaching to his feet and 
 belted in with a bright galon, a flat velvet 
 cap, in blue, yellow, or red, according to 
 the rank of his employer, finishes his costume. 
 The sledge itself is picturesque. Usually 
 drawn by a pair, or three horses, almost 
 covered with a fine network of blue or red 
 
 2
 
 1 8 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 lined with silk to keep the frozen snow from 
 being dashed back into the occupant's face. 
 Skimming along over the frozen snow, it 
 is indeed a pretty object. 
 
 Then the Russian priests, with their 
 soutanes, low-brimmed hats, and long 
 flowing hair, though not always so clean 
 as fastidious mortals might wish, are dis- 
 tinctly picturesque, as also are the peasant 
 women, clad in national costume, bright 
 red, blue, mauve or yellow sarafams, with 
 paletots to match, trimmed with silver or 
 gold braid, and wearing the Kokoshnik, or 
 crescent-shaped head-dress. 
 
 St. Petersburg is, however, the most un- 
 sanitary town in Europe. The drainage is 
 defective, and the habits of life are not 
 healthy. A prince will live on the ground 
 or first floor of his mansion, and the rest of 
 the house will be let out. In the cellars 
 poor families are crowded together ; some- 
 times as many as twenty people live in one 
 room. If any epidemic breaks out among 
 them they say " It is the will of God." 
 Small-pox is rife, and there is generally 
 a good deal of typhoid fever. The water 
 of the Neva is absolutely poisonous, and yet
 
 Concerning St. Petersburg. 19 
 
 from the Neva St. Petersburg depends for 
 the most part for her water supply. A 
 good trade is done by selling drinking water 
 from the Duderhoff hills, or from Tsarskoe 
 Selo, which is situated about twenty miles 
 from the capital, and where there is good 
 spring water. I must say Peter the Great 
 chose the site for his city with very little 
 regard for the health of the residents.
 
 20 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CONCERNING TSARSKOE SELO. 
 
 A FEW weeks after my arrival in Russia 
 we went to Tsarskoe Selo the name means 
 " The Tsar's borough." It is a pretty little 
 town, surrounded by great forests, and has 
 a population of a couple of thousand souls. 
 The forests are for the most part evergreen, 
 though there are also silver birch, oak, 
 and ash trees. There are two palaces in 
 this little town. The Great, or Catherine's 
 Palace, and the Little, or Alexander's Palace, 
 which she built for her grandson, Alexander I. 
 We resided in the latter. It is a white 
 Grecian building with a green roof. It is 
 situated in a pretty park, and stands quite 
 close to the road. It has two wings and the 
 main body. In one wing live the Emperor, 
 Empress, and the children, with their house-
 
 Concerning Tsar shoe Selo. 21 
 
 holds. When I first went to Russia the 
 children's suite was small, though pretty, 
 but now the nurseries at Tsarskoe Selo are 
 very fine, consisting of about eleven rooms. 
 In the bathroom is a stationary bath of 
 solid silver, used for the bigger children. 
 There is a small silver bath for the use of 
 whatever baby reigns. Each child's name 
 is engraved upon it, so it forms a historical 
 record. It was apparently bought for 
 Nicholas L, and bears his name and those 
 of his family. We also find the names of 
 Alexander II., and of Marie, afterwards 
 Duchess of Edinburgh. The last name 
 added was that of Alexis, the little baby 
 who was born in August, 1904. 
 
 The walls of all the new rooms are painted 
 in oil with beautifully executed friezes of 
 the same flowers as appear in the chintz, 
 interspaced with golden butterflies or birds. 
 The bathroom has sea-gulls painted on the 
 frieze. At the end of this suite is the play 
 room. It has eight windows overlooking 
 the park and gardens. It is all yellow and 
 green, like a bunch of daffodils, and has a 
 frieze of peacocks strutting about amidst 
 greenery, The carpet is a pale sage green,
 
 22 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 unpatterned. Over each window is a panel, 
 in painted poker work, each representing 
 some scene in animal or bird life. There 
 are two fireplaces in this great room, but 
 as the rooms are all heated with hot air, 
 the fires are not required excepting for 
 ventilation. 
 
 Catherine II. must have loved lilac, for 
 the parks at Tsarskoe Selo are full of it. 
 There are as many as eight different varieties, 
 and in the summer evenings the perfume is 
 delicious. I have been told that she sent 
 into all countries and paid fabulous prices 
 for some of the specimens. However, they 
 have repaid the trouble she took. In some 
 places the bushes look like great bouquets, 
 so full and round are they, and there are 
 several avenues lined on each side with 
 it. 
 
 The park is fourteen miles in circum- 
 ference. Catherine had very good ideas 
 about laying out a park or gardens, also 
 the building of a palace. There are great 
 halls and state-rooms lined with marble. 
 There is a great deal of pale-blue marble 
 which is so exceedingly rare ; also pink 
 and yellow marble. The person who
 
 Concerning Tsarskoe Selo. 23 
 
 " Dreamt that she dwelt in marble halls " 
 might awaken there and find her dream 
 realised. 
 
 The great palace contains the far famed 
 Amber-room. All the walls are inlaid with 
 mosaic work of amber in different shades. 
 Chairs, tables, and ornaments are carved 
 in it. This room was prepared by her 
 father for one of the former Empresses of 
 Russia. President Loubet had a suite of 
 rooms in this palace. There are many fine 
 pictures. There is a great banqueting hall 
 with twenty-eight windows in it, and here 
 is the church which the Imperial family 
 attend. 
 
 Between the two parks are the Little 
 Caprice and the Great Caprice. The story 
 goes that on one occasion Catherine II., 
 walking with a favourite and trusted Minister 
 in the park, complained of the flatness of 
 the country, saying that it would give her 
 great pleasure to come out the following 
 morning and find a hill just where she stood. 
 To hear was to obey. The minister started 
 work immediately. The entire population 
 of the country side was impressed. The 
 work was carried on throughout the night,
 
 24 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 an arched way of stone was raised across the 
 road, by excavating and digging, and a hill 
 actually appeared before morning. This hill 
 was afterwards covered with trees and 
 shrubs. 
 
 Catherine II. was an autocrat. She had 
 a great objection to members of her house- 
 hold getting married. On one occasion a 
 lady and gentleman belonging to her suite 
 became engaged. For a long time Catherine 
 refused her consent to their marriage, but 
 finally agreed on the express condition that 
 she was allowed to make all arrangements 
 for the wedding. To this proposition they 
 gladly consented. The ceremony concluded, 
 she led the way down to the frozen Neva, 
 where she had caused an ice house to be 
 built. In this terrible abode she incar- 
 cerated them. Months after, when the Neva 
 was in flood, their dead bodies were recovered 
 and buried. 
 
 The Great Caprice is crowned by a Chinese 
 pagoda, and in the park are Chinese bridges, 
 a model of a Chinese village, and a theatre 
 in the Chinese style. Even in Catherine's 
 reign the Far East seemed to have attrac- 
 tions for the Russian mind. It is more than
 
 Concerning Tsarskoe Selo. 25 
 
 a hundred years since she died, and the 
 cost of producing and bringing all these 
 things from China must have been enormous. 
 
 In Gat china, the Dowager Empress's place 
 in the Duderhoff hills, there is a Chinese 
 gallery, all the contents of which were 
 collected by Paul I., Catherine's most un- 
 happy son. 
 
 Paul was a curious mixture. Some of his 
 laws only came into force within the past 
 ten years, and are wise and good. He 
 ordained that only the children and grand- 
 children of Emperors should bear the title 
 of Grand Duke, and have an allowance from 
 the country. After that they should be 
 known as Prince and Princess, with the 
 Christian name ; they should then have 
 no allowance from the country and should 
 be free to marry amongst the nobility. On 
 the other hand, he had so exalted an opinion 
 of his own importance that he commanded 
 that when his carriage or sleigh passed all 
 other carriages they should be brought 
 to a standstill and the occupants should 
 kneel on the road, without regard to age, sex, 
 or infirmity. 
 
 Koskiusko, the Polish rebel, lived in his
 
 26 Si* Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 reign. He was arrested and imprisoned, 
 and we find Paul liberating him on his 
 promise never again to take up arms against 
 him. Koskiusko loyally kept his word- and 
 refused to join in any plot for the liberation 
 of his country. 
 
 A man of such an extraordinary character 
 as Paul could hardly have been an unmixed 
 blessing in the domestic circle. He was 
 twice married and had a large family. Two 
 of his sons, Alexander and Constantine, 
 formed a resolution to force him to resign. 
 With this object in view the sons entered 
 the palace one night, each at the head of 
 his regiment. They stationed themselves in 
 the rooms at either side of Paul's bedroom, 
 and sent in a deputation to try to prevail 
 upon him to resign the crown in favour of 
 his eldest son Alexander. It is probable 
 that he could not see the rights of his eldest 
 son so clearly as Alexander did, so the 
 deputation, being unsuccessful, found a pillow 
 a handy argument, and smothered him. 
 When they left the room they gave orders 
 that Alexander was forthwith to be pro- 
 claimed Emperor as the old Emperor was 
 dead.
 
 Concerning Tsarskoe Selo. 27 
 
 Alexander I. had no children. His end 
 is uncertain ; he died suddenly on a voyage. 
 For some unknown reason there was no lying 
 in state, nor was the body embalmed, so 
 the peasants throughout Russia believed 
 that he did not die but went on a pilgrimage 
 to Siberia, that his life has been miraculously 
 lengthened out, and at some time when 
 Russia has need of him he will come forth 
 and vanquish his enemies, as he defeated 
 Napoleon Bonaparte. There is reason to 
 believe that he committed suicide and his 
 face was too much disfigured to be seen. 
 
 He was succeeded by his younger brother 
 Nicholas, against whom England fought in 
 the Crimean War. Constantine should have 
 succeeded Alexander, but he had fallen in 
 love with and married a Polish countess, 
 therefore renounced his claim to the 
 throne. 
 
 Peter the Great, and all his successors 
 with one exception, lie in the Fortress Church 
 of St. Peter and St. Paul in St. Petersburg. 
 This church is kept in most beautiful order. 
 Fresh flowers are always there, and the holy 
 lamps are kept burning continually on the 
 tombs. The church itself is very pretty
 
 28 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 and contains many specimens of Peter the 
 Great's work. Indeed, we find so much 
 work attributed to him that the question 
 arises, " How did he find time for so much 
 handicraft?"
 
 2 9 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CONCERNING EASTER. 
 
 THAT year spring came unusually early and 
 when we returned to St. Petersburg for 
 Easter the river was already open for navi- 
 gation, so we did not see the ceremony. 
 
 Easter is the great feast of the year in 
 Holy Russia. The long severe fast of seven 
 weeks is over. Many people in Russia eat 
 no meat, butter, eggs, or milk, all through 
 Lent. In the palace, however, we only 
 observed three weeks the first, fourth, and 
 last. Many of the suite also fasted every 
 Wednesday and Friday. The week before 
 Lent begins is called " Butter week." 
 
 Russian pancakes are served twice a day. 
 The Russians begin their lunch or dinner 
 with pancakes, and they are eaten with 
 caviare and sour cream. During the sixth 
 week the great fair called Verba is held.
 
 3O Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 The word means willow, and the fair is so 
 called because great bunches of willow wands 
 covered with catkins are sold. These wands 
 are carried into the churches on Palm 
 Sunday and are blessed by the priests ; they 
 are then carried home and carefully placed 
 in jars of water in the windows of the houses. 
 They soon begin to bud and throw out roots. 
 They are allowed to remain until Whitsun- 
 tide, when they are taken into the country 
 and planted. These wands are supposed to 
 be typical of the palms spread before our 
 Saviour. 
 
 At the Verba one finds many pretty and 
 curious things Russian lace and needle- 
 work may be picked up at very moderate 
 prices ; there are also quaint Russian toys 
 and all manner of wooden articles. They 
 also sell little figures in small bottles ; these 
 figures jump up and down in the funniest 
 fashion when the piece of skin on the top 
 of the bottles is pressed down. They are 
 called American devils, but last year the 
 name was changed to Japanese devils. There 
 are also thousands of the coloured eggs 
 which are indispensable to a Russian Easter. 
 We used to colour a couple of hundred every
 
 Concerning Easter. 31 
 
 Good Friday, in the nurseries. It was a 
 great pleasure to the children, but rather 
 dirty work. However, Easter, like Christmas, 
 comes but once a year. 
 
 On Thursday in Passion Week the children 
 went to Holy Communion. This yearly 
 Communion is always a great festival and 
 holiday in Russia, for the Russian church 
 administers the Sacrament only once a year. 
 In preparation for it the candidate fasts 
 for a week, going to church both morning 
 and evening for the seven days. He then 
 confesses his sins to the priest, receives 
 absolution and asks pardon of all in the 
 house who might have been offended during 
 the past year. On the morning of the day 
 a special costume is donned, married women 
 generally keep their wedding dress for those 
 occasions ; they also wear a cap, while the 
 unmarried women go bare-headed to the 
 Sacrament. 
 
 The bread is broken into the wine and 
 water and is administered with a spoon, a 
 napkin having been tied round the neck of 
 the communicant. On returning from the 
 church all the friends come forward and 
 present their congratulations, flowers and
 
 32 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 bonbons are sometimes given, and the rest 
 of the day is observed as a holiday. The 
 rite of Confirmation is administered imme- 
 diately after baptism, and children up to the 
 age of seven years can receive the Communion 
 as often as every month. After that age 
 confession and church-going are essential, 
 before receiving the Communion. 
 
 The little Grand Duchess Olga made her 
 first confession in Moscow, during Lent, 
 1903, and she received a gift from the 
 children of Moscow, of an icon of the Virgin 
 Mary. Face and hands are painted, all 
 draperies, etc., are executed in pearls. 
 
 The Midnight Mass is celebrated the night 
 between Easter Saturday and Sunday. It 
 lasts for about three hours, beginning at 
 eleven o'clock at night. A bier, containing 
 a figure representing the dead body of our 
 Lord, is carried into the church. The bier 
 in St. Isaak's Cathedral is of solid silver, 
 weighs a couple of tons, and was presented 
 by the Cossacks. It is moved on wheels. 
 Each person on coming into the church 
 kisses the painted hands and feet and kneels 
 and prays for a few seconds. The Mass 
 has begun, the church is dimly lighted.
 
 Concerning Easter. 33 
 
 Just at midnight the priest chants " Christ 
 is risen/' the choir answers " He is risen 
 indeed." Each kisses his neighbour, and in 
 a moment the scene is changed from sorrow 
 and mourning to joy and gladness. The 
 dead Christ is carried out of the church. 
 Chandeliers are all fitted with a piece of 
 prepared cord running round them ; this 
 cord is fired and in a moment all the candles 
 are alight. Lighted tapers are put into the 
 hands of the worshippers, a Te Deum is 
 sung, after which all return home and eat a 
 heavy supper. 
 
 All the food must be bought on Easter 
 Saturday, as nothing which has been in the 
 house during Lent can be eaten. A priest 
 visits the houses of well-to-do parishioners 
 and blesses all food, receiving a fee for so 
 doing. He then goes into the markets and 
 blesses everything which is for sale. 
 
 The supper generally consists of cold roast 
 veal, ham, chickens, hard-boiled eggs, various 
 kinds of cakes all decorated with bunches 
 of paper flowers bought at the Verba, and 
 wine, and quass, which is a kind of cider. 
 They say that blessed food cannot do one any 
 harm, so it may be their faith which keeps 
 
 3
 
 34 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 the people from indigestion, certainly I have 
 seen dyspeptic people eat heartily of this 
 supper and suffer no inconvenience. It seems 
 that the mind has great influence over the 
 body, and the meal is eaten with much joy 
 and laughter. In workshops the proprietor 
 prepares the supper and offers it to his 
 employees. 
 
 The Greek Church orders that no service 
 should be held on Easter Sunday ; however, 
 the church bells ring all day. Many Russian 
 people go on Easter Sunday to the English 
 and Lutheran churches. 
 
 During Easter week the Russian never 
 goes out without a hard-boiled and coloured 
 egg in his pocket. On meeting an acquaint- 
 ance he says " Christ is risen " ; the answer 
 comes, they then kiss each other three 
 times and exchange eggs. The shops are 
 all closed for that week except for a couple 
 of hours in the morning, and every one 
 makes holiday. On Easter Monday the 
 ceremony of greeting the troops is held in 
 the Winter Palace. In one of the great halls 
 the soldiers, numbering about five thousand, 
 are drawn up. The Emperor advances, 
 shakes hands, and says, " Christ is risen,"
 
 Concerning Easter. 35 
 
 the soldier replies ; the Emperor kisses him 
 three times, and the man then advances 
 to the Empress, kisses her hand, presents 
 a hard-boiled egg and receives from her a 
 painted porcelain one. He then files out of 
 the room, and another takes his place. 
 So it goes on until they have all personally 
 saluted the Emperor and Empress. It is 
 very wearisome. On Easter Sunday the 
 Emperor kisses all the men of his house- 
 hold, and the Empress kisses all the women. 
 One day during Eastertide we were out 
 driving on the Nevski Prospect, and the little 
 Grand Duchess Olga was not good. I was 
 speaking to her, trying to induce her to sit 
 down quietly, when suddenly she did so, 
 folding her hands in front of her. In a few 
 seconds she said to me, " Did you see that 
 Policeman ? " I told her that was nothing 
 extraordinary, and that the police would 
 not touch her. She replied, " but this one 
 was writing something ; I was afraid he 
 might have been writing ' I saw Olga, and 
 she was very naughty.' ' I explained that 
 this was very unlikely, and she reminded 
 me, rather reproachfully, that one day, some 
 time before, she had seen a drunken woman 
 
 3*
 
 36 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 arrested in the street, and had wished me 
 to tell the police not to hurt her. I had 
 refused to interfere, saying that the woman 
 was naughty and the police quite right in 
 taking her. I now explained that one had 
 to be quite big and very naughty indeed 
 before the police would take one to prison. 
 On returning home she made particular 
 inquiries as to whether a policeman had 
 come while she was out. When she went to 
 see her parents that afternoon she recounted 
 the whole story to her father, telling him that 
 I said it was quite possible to live without 
 going to prison. She then asked her father 
 if he had ever been a prisoner ; the Emperor 
 answered that he had never been quite 
 naughty enough to go to prison. Her remark 
 then was : " Oh ! how very good you must 
 have been, too." 
 
 We stayed about two days in St. Peters- 
 burg and then returned to Tsarskoe Selo. 
 Spring comes on so quickly in Russia that 
 on our return the whole country was 
 green and lovely, the birds were singing 
 and every place was glorious with the beauty 
 of spring time. 
 
 The wife of Alexander II. loved cowslips.
 
 Concerning Easter. 37 
 
 She imported some from Germany and had 
 them planted in the park at Tsarskoe Selo. 
 They throve very well and are now found 
 as far away as Peterhoff, which is about 
 thirty miles on the other side of St. Peters- 
 burg. The French call them the cuckoo 
 flower, and both French and Swiss have a 
 great love for the pretty, fragrant, yellow 
 flower. A Swiss told me once that he 
 considered it the most poetic flower that 
 blows. There are no primroses in Russia. 
 The climate is too dry for them. Attempts 
 have been made to naturalise them, but 
 without success. 
 
 We stayed at Tsarskoe Selo till early in 
 May, when we went to Peterhoff , the summer 
 residence in the Gulf of Finland. Here 
 there are many Imperial residences and a 
 great palace used for state occasions. The 
 park is bounded on one side by the tideless 
 Baltic. On the horizon is Kronstadt, sur- 
 rounded by its forts. There is a little church 
 of England, and a chaplain lived there during 
 the summer months and worked among the 
 sailors. Kronstadt is the second strongest 
 place in the world, and until quite lately 
 was considered impregnable for six months
 
 38 Six Years at the Russian-^Court. 
 
 of the year on account of the ice. However, 
 the ice breakers have altered all that. The 
 strongest place in the world is, of course, 
 Gibraltar. 
 
 The little Grand Duchesses went to church 
 regularly from the time they were babies. 
 It was during this year that the Grand 
 Duchess Olga began to notice what was said 
 there. She came home one day and told 
 me " the priest prayed for mama and papa, 
 and Tatiana and me, the soldiers and the 
 sailors, the poor sick people, and the apples 
 and pears, and Madame G." I exclaimed 
 at this last, so she said : " But I heard them 
 say ' Marie Feodorovna.' ' I said I thought 
 they meant her grandmama. She said, 
 " No, Amama is called Amama, and your 
 Majesty, but not Marie Feodorovna." I 
 said " and also Marie Feodorovna," but she 
 now replied " no one has more than two 
 names, and I am quite sure Madame G. 
 would be very much pleased if she knew 
 that the priests prayed for her in church." 
 
 In Peterhoff during the hot June weather 
 the little Grand Duchess Marie was born. 
 She was born good, I often think, with the 
 very smallest trace of original sin possible.
 
 Concerning Easter. 39 
 
 The Grand Duke Vladimir called her " The 
 Amiable Baby," for she was always so good 
 and smiling and gay. She is a very fine 
 and pretty child, with great, dark-blue eyes 
 and the fine level dark brows of the Romanoff 
 family. Lately speaking of the child, a 
 gentleman said that she had the face of one 
 of Botticelli's angels. But good and sweet- 
 tempered as she is, she is also very human, 
 as the following stories will show. When 
 she was a very little child, she was one 
 day with her sister in the Empress's boudoir, 
 where the Emperor and Empress were at tea. 
 The Empress had tiny vanilla-flavoured 
 wafers called biblichen, of which the children 
 were particularly fond, but they were not 
 allowed to ask for anything from the tea- 
 table. The Empress sent for me, and when 
 I went down little Marie was standing in 
 the middle of the room, her eyes drowned 
 in tears and something was swallowed 
 hastily. " Dere ! I've eaten it all up," 
 said she, " you tant det it now." I was 
 properly shocked, and suggested bed at once 
 as a suitable punishment. The Empress 
 said, " Very well, take her," but the 
 Emperor intervened, and begged that she
 
 40 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 might be allowed to remain, saying, I 
 was always afraid of the wings growing, 
 and I am glad to see she is only a human 
 child." She was constantly held up as an 
 example to her elder sisters. They declared 
 she was a step-sister. Vainly I pointed out 
 that in all fairy tales it was the elder sisters 
 who were step-sisters and the third was 
 the real sister. They would not listen, and 
 shut her out from all their plays. I told 
 them that they could not expect her to stand 
 that kind of treatment, and that some day 
 they would be punished. One day they 
 made a house with chairs at one end of the 
 nursery and shut out poor Marie, telling her 
 she might be the footman, but that she 
 should stay outside. I made another house 
 at the other end for baby, then a few months 
 old, and her, but her eyes always kept 
 travelling to the other end of the room 
 and the attractive play going on there. 
 She suddenly dashed across the room, rushed 
 into the house, dealt each sister a slap in 
 the face, and ran into the next room, coming 
 back dressed in a doll's cloak and hat, and 
 with her hands full of small toys. " I won't 
 be a footman, I'll be the kind, good aunt,
 
 Concerning Easter. 41 
 
 who brings presents," she said. She then 
 distributed her gifts, kissed her " nieces/' 
 and sat down. The other children looked 
 shamefacedly from one to the other, and 
 then Tatiana said, " We were too cruel to 
 poor little Marie, and she really couldn't 
 help beating us." They had learned their 
 lesson from that hour they respected her 
 rights in the family. 
 
 From her earliest age her love for her 
 father has been most marked. When she 
 was barely able to toddle she would always 
 try to escape from the nurseries to go to 
 papa, and whenever she saw him in the 
 garden or park she would call after him. If 
 he heard or saw her, he always waited for 
 her, and would carry her for a little. 
 
 When he was ill in the Crimea her grief 
 at not seeing him was excessive. I had to 
 keep the door of the day nursery locked or 
 she would have escaped into the corridor 
 and disturbed him with her efforts to get to 
 him. Every evening after tea she sat on 
 the floor just inside the nursery door listening 
 intently for any sounds from his room. If 
 she heard his voice by any chance she would 
 stretch out her little arms, and call "Papa,
 
 42 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Papa," and her rapture when she was allowed 
 to see him was great. When the Empress 
 came to see the children on the first evening 
 after the illness had been pronounced 
 typhoid fever, she happened to be wearing 
 a miniature of the Emperor set as a brooch. 
 In the midst of her sobs and tears little Marie 
 caught sight of this ; she climbed on the 
 Empress's knee, and covered the pictured 
 face with kisses, and on no evening all through 
 his illness would she go to bed without kissing 
 this miniature. 
 
 Peterhoff is exceedingly pretty, but its 
 beauty is chiefly man's work. There are 
 well laid out parks and gardens, and the 
 famous fountains, which equal, if not, as the 
 Russians affirm, surpass in beauty those 
 of Versailles. The Baltic is tideless and 
 just there it is too landlocked to be any- 
 thing more than a great lake ; the place 
 itself is relaxing and damp, therefore it is 
 not satisfactory as a seaside resort.
 
 43 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONCERNING PETERHOFF. 
 
 PETERHOFF has also historical interests. 
 Peter the Great loved the place, and built 
 there two residences for himself. His ideas 
 on this subject were very humble and the 
 houses which contented him were very small 
 and plain. One of these little cottages in 
 Peterhoff is built in the Dutch style. The 
 walls are tiled in blue and white ; the 
 kitchen contains a dresser with blue and 
 white china, and there are many brass 
 cooking utensils, all kept shining and bright. 
 There are many specimens of his carving 
 and other work. In front of the door is a 
 fish pond in which are numbers of carp. 
 These fish are so tamed and trained that at 
 the sound of a bell they come swimming up 
 to be fed. 
 
 Lately one of the rooms in this house
 
 44 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 was burned down. Two gentlemen went to 
 the place, one of them lit a cigarette and 
 threw away the still burning match. The 
 woodwork of the house is naturally very 
 old and thoroughly impregnated with turpen- 
 tine, and, of course, highly inflammable ; a 
 great deal of damage was done before the fire 
 could be got under. 
 
 The second of Peter the Great's houses is 
 called " The Hermitage." It has a moat 
 all round it and a drawbridge. 
 
 He disliked servants waiting in the room 
 during meals, so he designed a large round 
 table with an ingenious arrangement of 
 pulleys by which each plate and dish could 
 be removed and changed from downstairs. 
 The table would seat about twenty people, 
 and each place was furnished with a bell 
 which the guest was supposed to ring when 
 the plates required changing. The worst of 
 the arrangement was that no table-cloth 
 could be used, but I should think that matter 
 would trouble Peter the Great very little ; he 
 was, after all, very much of a barbarian. 
 
 In the large park is " Mon Plaisir," the 
 summer residence of Catherine the Great. 
 In her days the park was a wood and here
 
 Concerning Peterhoff. 45 
 
 she used to chase the deer. On one occasion 
 a poor hunted deer took refuge in the house 
 and with his antler knocked a piece of the 
 gilt moulding off the wall. The place is still 
 shown to visitors. There is a very pretty 
 little garden in front of the house with several 
 fountains. The custodian asks the visitors 
 most politely to sit down on a certain bench. 
 Should you be so unwary as to do so you 
 find yourself immediately surrounded by a 
 shower of water. The wicked man has 
 touched a spring and turned on a fountain 
 which plays all round the seat, and there 
 you must stop until he turns it off again. 
 It was at Peterhoff that Catherine awaited 
 the news of her husband's murder. She 
 had been separated from him for some time ; 
 he was a weak, dissolute young man, and 
 the country was on the verge of a revolution. 
 She was unscrupulous, and she arranged 
 for his death. Opportunity was found in a 
 drunken brawl, and he was stabbed by one 
 of his friends, who immediately rode to 
 Peterhoff, where he arrived early in the 
 morning. Catherine took horse and rode to 
 St. Petersburg, announced the death of the 
 Emperor, and that she herself would hence-
 
 46 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 forth reign. She settled the grievances of 
 the soldiers, quelled all mutiny and re- 
 bellion, and ruled with a strong hand. 
 
 About four or five miles from Peterhoff 
 is Subswina Datcha (my own villa), a little 
 rococo house built and furnished in the 
 First Empire style. The furniture alone 
 would realise a very considerable fortune 
 if sold in London. It is most beautiful ; 
 there are many very valuable pictures, and 
 much really lovely china, including some 
 great vases of beautiful old Dresden china. 
 The house is surrounded by well wooded and 
 excellently kept parks and gardens, among 
 which is a pretty rose garden. It was built 
 by order of Nicholas I., a ball was given there 
 for his son's twenty-first birthday ; they 
 danced on a broad wooden bridge which 
 spans the road. 
 
 One of the delights of the children was to 
 go there to spend the afternoon and take 
 tea, especially during hay-making time, when 
 they would have rides in the hay-cocks, 
 and run up and down the grassy slopes. 
 Another great delight was to visit the farm, 
 see the cows milked, feed the fowls, collect 
 eggs, and fill baskets with apples. Two
 
 Concerning Peterhoff. 47 
 
 years ago the farmer's wife, a most amiable 
 woman, was bringing up by hand four kittens 
 whose mother had been killed. When the 
 little Grand Duchesses went over in the 
 morning on their Shetland ponies or bicycles, 
 the kittens were always brought out, four 
 bottles of milk were produced and each 
 child, bottle of milk in one hand and a kitten 
 comfortably tucked under her arm, would 
 quietly take a place in the milk-cart and go 
 for a drive round the farm-yards, feeding 
 the kittens in the meantime. 
 
 When the Grand Duchess Marie was a baby 
 we went to spend a day at Robshai. There 
 were manoeuvres going on at that time to 
 which the Emperor and Empress went, and 
 one day we drove off in a carriage drawn 
 by four horses abreast, and after two hours 
 fast driving we reached Robshai. The palace 
 is large but is seldom occupied, and there 
 are nice gardens. A short time afterwards 
 we spent a few days at Krasnoe Selo, where 
 there were also manoeuvres. Krasnoe Selo 
 means " The Pretty Village " a misnomer, 
 if ever there was one. It is a miserable 
 collection of dirty wooden huts, each standing 
 a little way back from the road and with a
 
 48 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 pool of stagnant water standing before it. 
 No trace of a garden, not even a cabbage to 
 be seen. There is a rather pretty little park 
 with numbers of rowan trees, and here we 
 used to walk every morning. 
 
 When Marie was a fortnight old she was 
 baptised in the church in the Great Palace 
 in Peterhoff. The ceremony, which is a 
 most imposing one, lasted for a couple of 
 hours, or rather more. The Empress had 
 made arrangements for me to go into the 
 church by a particular door and to return 
 by the same. Accordingly, on the appointed 
 day, clad in a white silk dress, I took my 
 place in the carriage and was driven to the 
 church. The Cossack who was on guard 
 would not allow the carriage to pass ; I 
 spoke no Russian, and I thought that perhaps 
 I might be allowed to pass in on foot. I 
 therefore got out of the carriage. But no ! 
 he lowered his bayonet and blocked the 
 way. There I stood in my white dress in 
 the road, with the assembled crowd gazing 
 at me. I did not know my way round to 
 any other door, but at last I saw an officer 
 whose face I knew, having seen him on guard 
 at the palace. I made my way to him,
 
 Concerning Peterhoff. 49 
 
 addressed him in French and told him my 
 dilemma. The officer was exceedingly kind 
 and took me through the guards, and into 
 the church itself, where the priests and 
 bishops were assembled. They were engaged 
 in combing out their long locks. One of them 
 came to me and in a wonderful mixture of 
 tongues asked me how hot the water should 
 be. I answered him in French and English, 
 but he did not seem to understand. I 
 then showed him on my fingers the number 
 of degrees, and a group of interested and 
 excited priests prepared the font for the child. 
 Presently in came all the invited guests 
 ambassadors and their wives, all in the 
 dresses of their various courts. The little 
 Chinese lady looked very sweet and bright. 
 She wore a gorgeous blue-figured silk Kimono, 
 and had a little round blue cap on her head, 
 a red flower over one ear and a white one over 
 the other. The Roman Catholic church was 
 represented by a cardinal with his red hat 
 and soutane, and the head of the Lutheran 
 Church in Russia was also present, wearing 
 a black gown with white ruffles. The Poles 
 are for the most part Roman Catholic, and 
 the Finns Lutheran or Reformed church.
 
 5o Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 There were also present the suites of the 
 various courts. The Dowager and young 
 Empress have five hundred ladies belonging 
 to their court " Demoiselles d'honneur " 
 as they are called. These ladies all dress 
 alike on such occasions, in scarlet velvet 
 trains embroidered in gold, with petticoats 
 of white satin. While the elder ladies, " Les 
 dames de la cour," wear dark green, em- 
 broidered in gold. 
 
 When all were assembled, the small heroine 
 was carried into the church by Princess 
 Galitzin, the senior lady of the Court. 
 She carried a pillow of cloth of gold, on which 
 reposed the little Marie Nicolaivna in the 
 full glory of her lace robes lined with pink 
 silk, and wearing a little close-fitting cap or 
 bonnet. The Emperor, the Dowager 
 Empress, the other god-parents and all 
 the Grand Dukes and Duchesses and foreign 
 royalties followed. According to the law 
 of the Russian Church the parents are not 
 allowed to remain in the church during 
 the baptism, so the Emperor, having re- 
 ceived the congratulations of his relations, 
 withdrew from the church, returning after- 
 wards for the Confirmation, and to bestow
 
 Concerning Peter ho ff. 51 
 
 the Order of St. Anne upon his little daughter. 
 The baby was then undressed to her little 
 shirt, which was the same that the Emperor 
 had worn at his baptism. It was, alas ! 
 stolen from the church that day and never 
 recovered. She was then dipped three times 
 in the font, the hair was cut in four places, 
 in the form of a cross. What was cut off 
 was rolled in wax and thrown into the font. 
 According to Russian superstition the good 
 or evil future of the child's life depends on 
 whether the hair sinks or swims. Little 
 Marie's hair behaved in an orthodox fashion 
 and all sank at once, so there is no need 
 for alarm concerning her future. The child 
 was then brought behind the screen, where 
 she was dressed in entirely fresh clothing, 
 and the robe of cloth of silver was put on 
 her and the Mass proceeded. She was again 
 carried into the church and anointed with 
 oil. Her face, eyes, ears, hands and feet, 
 were touched with a fine brush dipped in 
 oil. She was now carried round the church 
 three times by the Dowager Empress, sup- 
 ported on each side by the god- fathers. 
 Two pages held up the Empress's train. 
 The Emperor, who had re-entered the church 
 
 4*
 
 52 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 when the baptismal ceremony was over, 
 came forward and invested her with her 
 Order in diamonds, after which the procession 
 retired in the same order that it had entered 
 the church. The baby was brought to the 
 church in a gilt and glass coach drawn by 
 six snow-white horses, each horse led by a 
 groom in white and scarlet livery with 
 powdered wig, and she was escorted by a 
 guard of Cossacks. 
 
 When I wished to return by the same 
 route I had come the soldiers would not 
 allow me to pass, I was therefore obliged 
 to return into the church. I could not 
 remain there, so I passed along the way 
 I had seen the procession go, through the 
 great state-rooms, and presently was fortunate 
 enough to find some one from the palace. 
 I explained my dilemma, and was left in 
 charge of an elderly respectable woman, 
 who I afterwards found was one of the 
 servants of the palace, and my guide said 
 he would telephone for a carriage. The 
 carriage, however, did not arrive, and to 
 return on foot was out of the question, for 
 one thing the distance was too great, and I 
 was not at all sure of the way, and did not
 
 Concerning Peterhoff. 53 
 
 know enough Russian to ask a policeman. 
 At about half-past three the woman went off 
 to find someone to help me ; she soon 
 returned with a man who said, " I no speak- 
 ing English, I speaking German." I ex- 
 plained that I spoke neither German nor 
 Russian. The question of language, however, 
 did not trouble my Good Samaritan. He 
 called an izvochik, as the street carriages 
 are called in Russian, put me into it and 
 sent me home, as he imagined. I was taken 
 to the Dowager Empress's palace by mistake 
 at first, and when at last I arrived home I 
 had been away in all seven hours, and now 
 felt rather tired and hungry. 
 
 The next morning the news reached Peter- 
 hoff of the death of the Czarovitch, George 
 Alexandrovitch. This poor young fellow had 
 suffered from consumption for many years. 
 He had lived for some time in Egypt, and 
 had tried many other climates, but only at 
 Abbas Tuman, in the Caucasus, could he 
 breathe. His life there was lonely and sad. 
 His mother and sisters, the Grand Duchesses 
 Olga and Xenia, with the latter' s children, 
 used to visit him every year, going after 
 Easter and staying until the weather got
 
 54 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 too hot for them. For the climate is hot, 
 and the journey long and difficult, especially 
 for children. That year, on account of little 
 Marie's birth, the journey had been postponed 
 till later than usual, and the poor young 
 Grand Duke was awaiting their arrival with 
 impatience. In a letter written just before 
 his death he said he longed for the sound of 
 a woman's voice, the touch of a woman's 
 hand, and begged his mother to come as 
 soon as possible after the baptism. He was 
 keenly disappointed that Marie was not a 
 boy, as he felt the burden of his heirship 
 almost intolerable. 
 
 Through a mistake the Emperor had named 
 him Czarovitch, instead of Heir Apparent. 
 In Russia this title can never be withdrawn, 
 excepting when the bearer of it becomes 
 Emperor. After his death the Emperor 
 named his young brother Michael Heir 
 Apparent. He has borne his title with 
 great dignity and honour, but he was very 
 glad to be relieved of it by the birth of the 
 tiny heir, the Grand Duke Alexis, on August 
 I2th, 1904. 
 
 On the morning following the baptism the 
 Czarovitch had got up earlier than usual.
 
 Concerning Peter ho ff. 55 
 
 He felt better and brighter, and, notwith- 
 standing the remonstrances of his valet, 
 took a ride on his bicycle. He rode down 
 a hill, and on reaching the bottom of it 
 suddenly fell from his bicycle. An old 
 peasant woman going to his villa with milk, 
 accompanied by her grandson, were the 
 sole witnesses of the accident. She ran to 
 his assistance, and found blood pouring 
 from his mouth. She despatched her grand- 
 son to the villa for help, and sitting on the 
 ground took the young Grand Duke's head 
 in her lap, but in a few minutes he was 
 dead. Thus on the roadside, attended 
 by an old peasant woman, died the heir 
 to the Russian throne. He fulfilled the 
 saying regarding the Romanoffs, that none 
 of them will ever die in their beds. So far 
 as I know Nicholas I. was the only one who 
 did die in his bed. He died of pneumonia, 
 a few days after the fall of Sevastopol. 
 Though Alexander III. died a natural death, 
 he was sitting in a chair in the balcony when 
 it took place. 
 
 A church has been erected over the spot 
 where George Alexandrovitch breathed his 
 last. The Dowager Empress with all her
 
 56 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 family went to the Crimea to meet his body, 
 which they conveyed to St. Petersburg and 
 laid in the Fortress Church of St. Peter and 
 St. Paul. His tomb is attended to with 
 loving hands, fresh flowers and plants always 
 appear on it, and every year there is held 
 a memorial service. This service will be 
 held so long as any of the children of his 
 family are alive. Such is the custom of 
 the Russian Church. It has been said that 
 the Grand Duke George was married to a 
 telegraph girl. The story is absolutely un- 
 true. He lived alone in his house in the 
 Caucasus with his servants, except when 
 visited by his mother and family. 
 
 A few days after his funeral the battle- 
 ship Alexander III. was christened. The 
 Emperor, Empress, Dowager Empress, and 
 other members of the family went to the 
 ceremony. According to Russian tradition 
 they wore white mourning, for no one 
 attends any ceremony in Russia in black. 
 A sudden thunderstorm came on, and the 
 lightning struck the flagstaff. It fell on the 
 heads of some officers standing on deck, 
 killing three of them, and wounding seven 
 or eight. The ship bore the name of the
 
 Concerning Peterhoff. 57 
 
 Dowager Empress's husband, and she was 
 terribly upset over it. She said it would 
 go down in its first engagement. There 
 was another curious prophecy, that from 
 the time it was put into action three years, 
 counting one year for each person killed, 
 would see the end of the Romanoff family.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONCERNING FATHER JOHN. 
 
 IN the autumn of that year we went abroad. 
 Starting from Peterhoff, we went in the 
 small yacht, the Alexandra, to Kronstadt, 
 where we got on board the Standard. Father 
 John, of Kronstadt, came on board to bless 
 the Emperor and Empress and the children ; 
 he also blessed me. Father John has a 
 most interesting personality ; he is a kind 
 of latter-day saint. He has written a book 
 called " My Life in Christ," which is rather 
 like " The Imitation of Christ." He has 
 worked many cures, especially in paralysis, 
 epilepsy, and other diseases of the nerves. 
 He knows his own limitations, however, 
 and if called upon to cure such diseases as 
 scarlatina, diphtheria, etc., says, " The 
 disease must run its course ; I can only 
 pray for the patient." He was once called
 
 Concerning Father John. 59 
 
 in to see a little child who was very ill with 
 pneumonia. He brought with him some 
 holy water, of which a little was spilt on the 
 floor. A sister of the little sufferer was 
 called and obliged to go on her knees, and 
 with her tongue lick up the spilt drops. In 
 this case Father John said he could only 
 pray. The child eventually did recover. 
 Some people, especially doctors, say that he 
 is a natural hypnotist ; others, that he is 
 a faith healer. In either case, he certainly 
 has great power over nerve diseases, and 
 these are often the most difficult to cure. 
 I once suggested to the Empress that he 
 was probably simply a natural hypnotist, 
 who had practised his powers ; however, 
 she was not pleased with the suggestion. 
 Both she and the Emperor look upon these 
 occult sciences with grave suspicion. The 
 Empress says if there is anything in them 
 at all, it is the work of the devil, and is the 
 witchcraft spoken of in the Bible. 
 
 A doctor told me the following story : 
 Princess B., a girl of fourteen years, the 
 daughter of wealthy parents, was staying in 
 the Crimea when she was suddenly struck 
 with paralysis. He was called, but could
 
 60 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 do nothing. Doctors were brought from 
 St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Paris, and many 
 treatments were adopted without success, 
 and all hope of a cure was abandoned. It 
 suddenly struck my friend that a hypnotic 
 suggestion might possibly be of service, so he 
 went to urge this new idea upon them. To 
 his surprise he found they had gone to 
 Kronstadt, taking their daughter with them. 
 Two days after he was invited to go to see 
 his former patient, and was delighted to 
 find her able to walk about. This was more 
 than fifteen years ago, and the cure has 
 proved permanent. She is now a married 
 woman with little children. The doctor 
 in question is a Lutheran, and he says that 
 Father John's power is only hypnotic. I 
 incline to the belief that he works by faith, 
 as did the Apostles of old. Many people 
 are afraid of Father John, and there are 
 many curious stories of him. It is said that 
 he has no sympathy, no feeling, for anyone 
 outside of the Greek Church. He is not 
 always beneficent, as the following story will 
 show. A young man fell into bad health, 
 and his doctor pronounced his illness heart 
 disease, which was incurable. He came a
 
 Concerning Father John. 61 
 
 long distance to see Father John, who told 
 him frankly that he must die. He said he 
 would give him a little present which he 
 was to open on a certain date. " On the 
 same morning," he continued, " you will 
 receive by post from me a small present." 
 Father John left the room and returned 
 with a parcel, which he handed to him with 
 strict injunctions to lay it on one side until 
 the stipulated date. Then he prayed with 
 the poor sufferer and sent him away. On 
 the morning of the appointed day the young 
 man opened the parcel, and found it con- 
 tained a shroud. He was much shocked, 
 and was still holding the ghastly present in 
 his hand, when the promised posted parcel 
 was handed to him. He opened it eagerly, 
 and found inside corpse candles as the 
 lights which burn round a dead body in 
 Russia are called. The unfortunate young 
 man dropped dead. This was surely a cruel 
 abuse of his powers, whatever they may be. 
 I never saw Father John again. 
 
 We started from Kronstadt in the beau- 
 tiful yacht Standard. It is as large as an 
 ocean liner, and carries a crew of five hundred 
 men. We were followed by an escort
 
 62 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 the Polar Star. It was in this yacht the 
 Emperor made his voyage round the world 
 when he was Czarevitch. 
 
 Orders had been given that in case of 
 fog, which is very common in the Baltic, 
 both vessels should steam at half speed. 
 A fog came on, and the Standard reduced 
 speed, but the Polar Star did not. She 
 quickly overtook us and was within a few 
 inches of our stern before she was perceived. 
 There was a great commotion on board both 
 vessels, and each was quickly turned a little 
 out of her course. The Polar Star passed 
 us so closely that we could have shaken 
 hands with those on her decks. The rest 
 of our voyage was accomplished without 
 incident. 
 
 On landing at Copenhagen we were met 
 by the old King of Denmark, the then 
 Princess of Wales, Princess Victoria, the 
 King of Greece, and many other royalties, 
 and drove to Bernstorff Castle, a short dis- 
 tance from Copenhagen. It is a very small 
 residence and was most uncomfortably 
 crowded. There is a tiny park and a rose 
 garden which the late queen had planted. 
 
 Princess Victoria took great delight in
 
 Concerning Father John. 63 
 
 her small cousins, and they, on their part, 
 manifested much affection for " Auntie 
 Toria," as they always called her. Indeed, 
 the three little girlies were objects of adora- 
 tion to all the family. The Princess of 
 Wales slept in the room adjoining mine. 
 
 Copenhagen manufactures really beau- 
 tiful china. Each piece is painted by artists, 
 and no two pieces are exactly alike. For 
 the most part it is white and blue, and one 
 wonders at the variety of designs which can 
 be executed in these colours. I saw no 
 poverty in Copenhagen, nor, indeed, any 
 great show of riches. The people, so far as 
 I could judge, are well educated and many 
 of them, even amongst the servants, spoke 
 Danish, and either English or German. They 
 do not seem to be ashamed or afraid of work, 
 and they are very good agriculturists and 
 gardeners. 
 
 We spent about sixteen days in Denmark, 
 then went on to Kiel to visit the Empress's 
 sister, Princess Henry of Kiel. She had at 
 this time two children. 
 
 Kiel is a rather dirty, very busy little 
 town, with a thriving port ; there are, how- 
 ever, nice shops. If you ask a Kiel person
 
 64 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 what you can buy as a souvenir, he will 
 always suggest smoked and cured fish. The 
 smoking and drying form quite an extensive 
 trade, and some hundreds of persons are 
 employed in a factory. The fish is greatly 
 prized all over Germany. 
 
 We stayed two days in Kiel, and then 
 went by train to Darmstadt, or rather 
 Wolfsgarten. On the way I noticed fields 
 of the saffron crocuses, and I am told that 
 saffron-growing forms quite an extensive 
 commerce in the south of Germany. We 
 were met at the station at Wolfsgarten by 
 the Grand Duke and Duchess of Hesse and 
 their little daughter, the Princess Ella, and the 
 Duchess's sister, the Crown Princess of 
 Roumania, a very beautiful woman. Little 
 Princess Ella was then four years old, 
 a sweet and pretty child, with wide grey- 
 blue eyes and a profusion of dark hair. 
 She was like her mother, not only in face, 
 but also in manner. She was very much 
 interested in her cousins, and had herself 
 put some of her toys in their room for them, 
 and they were soon great friends. She very 
 much wished she had a sister of her own, 
 and begged hard that the Grand Duchess
 
 Concerning Father John. 65 
 
 Tatiana might be adopted as her little sister. 
 She said we would not miss her so much as 
 we would Olga or the baby. That prospect 
 falling through, she made inquiries about 
 the baby, and came to the conclusion that 
 she and Miss W. could easily manage her. 
 With anxious eyes she followed all the 
 details of the baby's toilette till she thought 
 she had mastered them. She then asked 
 her aunt about giving it to her, and, of 
 course, was refused. She then tried diplo- 
 macy, and kept constantly assuring us that 
 it was a very ugly baby, and we would be 
 much better and happier without that stupid 
 little thing. At last she thought she had 
 attained her object, and suggested that as 
 the baby was so entirely horrible I should 
 throw it away ! 
 
 We spent about six or seven very happy 
 weeks at Wolfsgarten, and had many simple 
 pleasures, such as gipsy teas. We went 
 twice to Darmstadt, took tea at the Palace, 
 and went shopping with the children. 
 Darmstadt is a well-built town, with clean 
 open streets and nice shops. We took the 
 children to a toy shop, and they were told 
 that they might choose what they liked for 
 
 5
 
 66 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 themselves, and also for relations and friends 
 at home. Olga looked at the things, and 
 finally chose the very smallest she could 
 find, and said, politely, " Thank you very 
 much." Vainly the shop people showed her 
 more attractive toys ; she always replied : 
 " No, thank you ; I don't want to take it." 
 I took her on one side and asked her why she 
 would not buy the toys. I said that the 
 people would be very sad if she would not 
 take more, and that she could not leave 
 the shop without buying more. So she 
 said : " But the beautiful toys belong to 
 some other little girls, I am sure ; and think 
 how sad they would be if they came home 
 and found we had taken them while they 
 were out." I explained to her, and she and 
 Tatiana laid in a large stock.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A GLIMPSE OF POLAND. 
 
 WE were very sorry to leave Darmstadt. 
 On our way to Poland we paid a visit to 
 Potsdam, to the German Emperor and 
 Empress. On arriving we found the troops 
 drawn up in a line, and the Emperor himself 
 met us at the station. The band played the 
 Russian National Anthem, and the two 
 Emperors walked along and inspected the 
 regiments. The Emperor of Russia shook 
 hands with the officers and congratulated 
 them. He and the Empress then went off 
 to lunch at the palace, but we stayed in the 
 train till after lunch, when a carriage arrived 
 and took us up to the palace. 
 
 The German Emperor is very like his 
 portraits ; the Empress is a fine, handsome 
 woman ; she was plainly dressed in a green 
 cloth costume. Both of them admired my 
 little charges, and took particular notice of
 
 68 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 their costumes, which were new from London 
 for the occasion. They wore thick cream- 
 coloured silk coats trimmed with beaver, 
 and had hats to match, and they did look 
 very dainty and sweet. Underneath they 
 had cream-coloured guipure lace-frocks over 
 pink silk, and pink sashes. We were taken 
 upstairs by the little princess, only daughter 
 of the German Emperor, a very sweet and 
 nicely-mannered child. The nurseries were 
 all sea green and silver, very attractive 
 rooms. Here we had tea with the little 
 prince and princess. There was no servant 
 in the room, and the little prince himself 
 handed round bread and butter to everyone. 
 Tea over, they took little cousin Olga for a 
 drive in their pony-cart, and the English 
 nurse sent for a carriage and took the other 
 two children and me for a drive through the 
 famous Sans Souci grounds. We then re- 
 turned to the train and got our little charges 
 to bed. About ten o'clock the Emperor 
 and Empress came ; the train, which had 
 been put into a siding to wait, was brought 
 into the station ; the band played, and off 
 we started for Poland , 
 
 In Poland we stayed in a small palace
 
 A Glimpse of Poland. 69 
 
 called Skernivitsi. It is situated in what 
 I should suppose to be the dirtiest little 
 Jewish town in the world. Almost all the 
 inhabitants are Jews, handsome, melancholy 
 looking men ; the children and young girls are 
 lovely, while the older women are fat, coarse, 
 untidy looking creatures. It seemed to me 
 they wore wigs made of horse-hair, so coarse 
 and unnatural did their hair appear. The 
 country round was very flat and ugly, not even 
 a hedgerow to be seen, only here and there a 
 few trees. The Poles are for the most part 
 Roman Catholics ; at every cross road is a 
 little shrine or altar, fenced in with iron bars. 
 Here and there on a tree hangs a holy pic- 
 ture, very often much defaced with rain and 
 weather. Going along the roads every now 
 and again one came to a tall black cross, 
 with a tiny figure, perhaps five or six inches 
 long, of the Saviour of mankind hanging on 
 it. So far as I could judge on my three 
 visits to the country, the Poles are the most 
 dishonest, the most untruthful, and the 
 dirtiest people on the face of the earth. 
 Their thefts were very extraordinary ; they 
 even pilfered the Imperial luggage when it 
 was standing in the station.
 
 70 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Skernivitsi has a rather romantic history. 
 The Emperor Paul had three sons Alex- 
 ander I., Constantine, and Nicholas I. Con- 
 stantine was Viceroy of Poland ; he fell in 
 love with a Polish countess, who was, from 
 all accounts, both beautiful and amiable, 
 and who lived with her uncle, the Arch- 
 bishop of Poland, at Skernivitsi. In order 
 to marry her Constantine renounced his 
 claim to the throne, though he was heir- 
 apparent, as his brother, Alexander L, 
 though married, had no children. 
 
 On the death of her uncle it was found 
 that he had left his niece, Skernivitsi, with 
 its large estates and vast woods. Constan- 
 tine had no children, and on his death he 
 left the place to his brother Nicholas I. Con- 
 stantine was popular with the Poles, partly, 
 perhaps, on account of his Polish wife. Rus- 
 sian people will tell you that both Alexander I. 
 and Constantine were childless as a direct 
 punishment from God for the murder of 
 their father. A life use of Skernivitsi was 
 granted by Alexander II. to Prince Baratenski 
 in recognition of some service. On his death, 
 a short time before we went there, the place 
 returned to the Imperial family. The house
 
 A Glimpse of Poland. 71 
 
 was in bad repair, and the park a damp, 
 gloomy place, with low-lying ponds in it ; 
 the woods teemed with game. There were 
 lovely little black deer, with branching 
 antlers, roebucks and fallow deer ; also 
 quantities of pheasants and partridges, to 
 say nothing of foxes. Five or six thousand 
 head of game was a common enough bag 
 after one day's shooting ! Foxes are shot 
 in Russia ! They do not trouble to shoot 
 rabbits, nor do they eat them, and the people 
 look disgusted if you say they are nice. 
 When the game was brought home it was 
 arranged on the lawn, sometimes with the 
 interlaced monograms of the Emperor and 
 Empress, sometimes with the double-headed 
 eagle of Russia, or something distinctly 
 Polish would be chosen. Torches were then 
 lit and the foresters played their band. The 
 house party then came out to view the game 
 and talk over the incidents of the day's 
 sport. It was a very quaint and pretty 
 sight. 
 
 We stayed there a few days and then re- 
 turned to Tsarskoe Selo, back to the ice 
 and snow, where we remained until the 
 new year.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE ROUGH LIFE OF THE RUSSIAN 
 PEASANTRY. 
 
 I HAD now been about ten months in Russia, 
 and had seen and learned much regarding 
 the peasants. In most cases their marriages 
 are arranged by the parents, and the cere- 
 mony usually takes place before the man 
 is called upon for his military services. 
 Boys and girls, aged respectively sixteen 
 and fourteen years, will be married ; the 
 girl then lives with her mother-in-law and 
 helps with the farm work, etc. Housework 
 seems to be cut down to the lowest level. 
 The mother prepares the food and the warm 
 water for the weekly bath, for all peasants 
 take a bath every Saturday night. 
 A Russian cabin consists of about two
 
 Rough Life of Russian Peasantry. 73 
 
 rooms ; one has a stove, a table, a wooden 
 bench, and a couple of chairs, a lamp, or 
 not, according to their means. Failing a 
 lamp, home-made candles are burned. The 
 inner room is often destitute of furniture. 
 
 The father and mother sleep on the top 
 of the stove with as many of the children 
 as can be fitted there. The others take 
 pillows and lie on the floor in their 
 clothing. 
 
 The father and mother have supreme 
 power over sons and daughters, daughters- 
 in-law and grand-children, and they are all 
 brought up together. I have counted as 
 many as twenty-one little children all in 
 one cabin, and have been told that there 
 are often more. The Russian peasant re- 
 ceives from his proprietor a strip of land, 
 more or less according to the number of 
 sons in the family. In return he and his 
 family give so many days' work to the pro- 
 prietor. Boys are, therefore, very much 
 prized ; girls are less thought of, though the 
 latter do the hardest part of the work. I 
 have seen a woman yoked to a plough in 
 company with the family cow, and driven by 
 a man. In Russia women mow the rye and
 
 74 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 grass, and do many things which in this 
 country are considered man's work. 
 
 The overcrowding of the cabins is one 
 cause of the frightful mortality amongst 
 Russian children. In all classes taken to- 
 gether some 35 per cent, of the children 
 die. It often leads to many strange diseases 
 of which the doctors know little or nothing, 
 as their studies are carried on in St. Peters- 
 burg, or Moscow, where different conditions 
 prevail. But I must here say that as a 
 rule Russian doctors are very kind, and do 
 their best for the poor people ; but the 
 country is so under-populated that one 
 doctor has to do duty for three or four 
 villages. He lives in the largest village, 
 and can only visit the others at intervals of 
 a fortnight or so. Should an epidemic 
 break out, the doctor telegraphs to one of 
 the universities or hospitals for someone to 
 aid him. This help is not always forth- 
 coming as the " Lock-outs " in the univer- 
 sities are frequent. The doctor then goes 
 to the stricken village, organises a kind of 
 hospital with such assistance as he can get, 
 and fights the enemy, not always with suc- 
 cess. In a village lately there was an out-
 
 Rough Life of Russian Peasantry. 75 
 
 break of some infectious disease, such as 
 diphtheria. The doctor died, and 99 per 
 cent, of the children were swept away. 
 
 Children are the great want in Russia ; 
 the death-rate comes so close to the birth- 
 rate, and the victims are usually those of 
 the poorer classes. From this point of 
 view the war in the East, with the losses of 
 hundreds of thousands, is a terrible calamity 
 for Russia. 
 
 For want of population, or, perhaps, I 
 should say, for the want of the proper divi- 
 sion of the people, many of Russia's natural 
 advantages are untouched. There are great 
 tracts of country almost untilled ; mines in 
 the south almost unworked ; trackless forests, 
 where rove wild animals, but which contain 
 vast possibilities of wealth. Russian pea- 
 sants will not live in solitary farm-houses, 
 and sometimes live forty miles away from 
 their work. In summer they simply shut 
 up the cabin and camp on the farm, driving 
 the beasts before them. In the autumn, 
 when rye and oats are sown, down comes 
 the snow, and all is kept warm ; the peasant 
 then returns to his hut for the winter. 
 
 The women do most exquisite needlework.
 
 76 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Should there be a railway line anywhere near 
 the village, the men are employed for a few 
 hours each day keeping the line clear of 
 snow. Sometimes the younger men go into 
 the nearest town and work in the factories, 
 or in keeping the streets clean, but they live 
 very near starvation in many cases. 
 
 There are no shops in a Russian village ; 
 each household produces enough for its 
 own wants, with the exception of tea, sugar, 
 paraffin, etc. The people can make their 
 own shoes out of strips or bark plaited 
 together, and put on a wooden sole. Instead 
 of stockings they wear bandages, and they 
 are most skilful in arranging these. During 
 war time even the officers wear these ban- 
 dages ; they say they march better, and 
 should a hole come in the heel they have 
 only to move the bandage a little and it is 
 all right. 
 
 Such articles as cannot be produced at 
 home are provided at the annual fair which 
 is held in every village in spring and autumn. 
 Men come round to each village twice a year 
 to buy all the lace, drawn thread-work, etc., 
 which the women have done in the intervals 
 of farm- work. These are taken to St.
 
 Rough Life of Russian Peasantry. 77 
 
 Petersburg and Moscow, and sold at a large 
 profit. The Empress wished to establish 
 some time ago in London and other centres 
 work depots, which would give the workers 
 a better chance of realising good prices for 
 the products of their toil.
 
 7 8 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SEARCHING FOR THE MAGIC BLOOM. 
 
 No life is without its compensations, and 
 life in a Russian village has its bright side 
 also. During the long winter evenings a 
 professional story-teller comes round. He 
 is kept and fed at the expense of the vil- 
 lagers, and in return he tells them wonderful 
 tales about gnomes, pixies, and fairies in 
 general. Or he will relate some historical 
 tale, or even make and recite poetry to 
 them. Russian poetry is in blank verse, 
 and deals very often with heroic deeds. 
 
 The Russian fairy, like its Irish prototype, 
 is, as a general rule, a malignant being, 
 always ready to do some mean or nasty 
 trick ; but the traditions regarding them 
 differ in many respects. The Irish peasant 
 will tell you that after the great war in 
 heaven, when Satan was thrown out, there
 
 Searching for the Magic Bloom. 79 
 
 fell also with him many evil spirits. The 
 worst of these evil spirits fell at once into 
 hell, there to remain for evermore, but those 
 who were less guilty got another chance and 
 fell on the earth, where they may, by their 
 good or evil deeds, ultimately work out their 
 salvation or damnation. 
 
 Sometimes unaccountable bruises appear 
 on one's body, these they regard with great 
 horror ; they are supposed to be the work of 
 evil spirits who wish to get you out of the 
 house. In Ireland these bruises are called 
 " dead men's pinches." So in both countries 
 a mystical origin is given to them. One 
 class of Russian fairies inhabits the pools 
 and streams of fresh water, and are specially 
 to be found in wooded spots. The Russian 
 peasant, wandering near, hears the sound 
 of sweet singing ; should he try to distin- 
 guish the sounds his name will be called 
 aloud. If he is so unguarded as to answer, 
 the wicked fairies throw themselves upon 
 him and cry, " Thou art my beloved." He 
 is drawn down into the water and returns 
 no more. In both countries, should you be 
 so unfortunate as to sneeze three times, 
 unless someone calls out " God bless you,"
 
 80 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 you are indeed in a perilous situation, for the 
 fairies will surely have you then. 
 
 Twice a year the ferns blossom ; they 
 bear a large golden flower, gifted with the 
 power of making the fortunate finder wealthy 
 for life. One of these nights is midsummer 
 night ; the other, the Eve of the Feast of 
 the Assumption. All through those two 
 nights the peasants walk in the woods 
 searching for the magic bloom. No one has 
 succeeded in yet finding it, for the fairies are 
 always on the look-out, and either throw dust 
 into the eyes of the seekers, or divert their 
 attention to something else, and break down 
 the flower. 
 
 As might be supposed, fire plays an 
 important part in their superstitions. In a 
 peasant's house the fire is never allowed to 
 go out. Should it by chance do so, there 
 is great dismay, as the little old man who 
 lives behind the chimney might be offended, 
 or might even feel the cold and die. If the 
 family move to another home, some of the 
 fire is taken in a small saucepan or jar packed 
 into a basket, and is sent on by a special 
 messenger before the rest of the family 
 follow. When it is placed on the hearth-
 
 Searching for the Magic Bloom. 81 
 
 stone the fire genius is addressed somewhat 
 as follows : " There, grandfather, rest easy, 
 and be assured that your place will always 
 be the warmest in the cabin." Should the 
 fire go out, it shows that the spirit is dis- 
 pleased, and all sorts of dire calamities may 
 be expected. When the house is locked up 
 for the summer the fire is carried in the 
 cart in a saucepan and attended to most 
 assiduously. 
 
 Dreams are very much regarded, and in- 
 terpreters of them are held in great respect. 
 Many people will not take any important step 
 in life without consulting the cards ; fortune- 
 tellers must reap a large fortune. I very 
 often had my fortune told, and strange to 
 relate a part of what was said always came 
 true. At Christmas many are the chances 
 taken to see what your future will be. Some 
 of these I had already seen practised in 
 Ireland. On a table seven saucers are 
 arranged in a row. Under one is placed a 
 ring ; one is left without anything, a piece 
 of white cloth in another, earth in another, 
 a red cloth in another, a button, and a nut, 
 and so over all the saucers is placed a cloth. 
 These things signify marriage, no change, a 
 
 6
 
 82 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 parson, death, a soldier, an engagement, and a 
 long journey. You are sent out of the room 
 while the saucers are being arranged; then you 
 are blind-folded and led up to the table, told 
 to lift the cloth and put your hand into one. 
 According to what you find will your future 
 be. If you go into a room just at midnight 
 and sitting between two mirrors gaze steadily 
 into one, you are supposed to see gradually 
 forming on the face of the glass a picture, 
 significant of your fate for the coming year. 
 On midsummer night all unmarried girls 
 go into the fields and gather seven different 
 wild flowers. To sleep with these under 
 the pillow is to insure a vision of her future 
 husband. 
 
 There are many gipsies in Russia, and at 
 Peterhoff I often witnessed their most extra- 
 ordinary marriage ceremony. Sunday is 
 usually the day chosen for it. They choose 
 a spot where they can drive round in a 
 circuit. The bride and bridegroom the 
 bride gorgeously dressed in a new print or 
 muslin dress, a pair of white cotton gloves, 
 and a piece of lace shaped like a three- 
 cornered handkerchief with the corner hang- 
 ing down behind, tied over her head and
 
 Searching for the Magic Bloom. 83 
 
 crowned with a wreath of artificial flowers 
 take their places in a little pony-cart. After 
 them come the groomsmen and bridesmaids, 
 who are dressed like the bride, but without 
 the crowning glory of the wreath, two in each 
 cart ; then the elders of the camp, the grave 
 married people generally accompanied by 
 a few children, and, last of all, the bachelors 
 or widowers. This strange procession drives 
 round the chosen route three times and the 
 marriage is accomplished. It holds good 
 and is quite legal. I suppose the presence 
 of so many witnesses makes it so. 
 
 There are many ceremonies of blessings 
 observed by the Russians. I have already 
 spoken of blessing the food on Easter Satur- 
 day. On the first of July (old style) the 
 apples and orchards generally are blessed, 
 and the very worst boy in the village would 
 not steal an apple before it had been blessed. 
 After the blessing the fruit is offered for 
 sale in the streets and market-places. 
 
 After the ice has melted the fishing-boats 
 are all blessed before they go to sea.
 
 8 4 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A RUSSIAN CHRISTMAS. 
 
 WE generally spent Christmas at Tsarskoe 
 Selo. It is less observed than Easter in 
 general, but in the palace it is a great festival. 
 There were no fewer than eight Christmas 
 trees in various parts of the palace. The 
 Empress dressed them all herself, and per- 
 sonally chose the presents for each member 
 of her household, and for each officer, to the 
 number of about five hundred. A tree was 
 arrayed for the Cossacks in the riding-school. 
 The children and I had a tree for ourselves. 
 It was fixed into a musical-box which played 
 the German Christmas hymn, and turned 
 round and round. It was indeed a glitter- 
 ing object. All the presents were laid out 
 on white covered tables, and the tree stood 
 for several days an object of intense interest 
 and admiration to the children. They were
 
 A Russian Christmas. 85 
 
 very sad when it was dismantled just before 
 we went to St. Petersburg, but they were 
 consoled by being allowed to help, and to 
 divide the toys between the members of 
 their own household. 
 
 We went to St. Petersburg on the last day 
 of the old year (Russian counting). On New 
 Year's Day there was a great ceremony in 
 the palace cathedral. The Emperor and 
 Empress and the Dowager Empress went to 
 church in state, accompanied by their own 
 courts and all the grand ducal courts, all 
 wearing full court dress. We saw the Em- 
 press when she was dressed ; very magnifi- 
 cent she looked in her court dress of white 
 satin with its long train of brocade, seven 
 chains of diamonds round her neck, a girdle 
 of the same sparkling gems round her waist, 
 the ends falling to the hem of her dress. On 
 her head she wore the kokoshnik, the cres- 
 cent-shaped head-dress, in white brocade, 
 lavishly decorated with large single stone 
 diamonds. A rich lace veil depended from 
 it and hung at the back almost to her knees. 
 
 The little girlies were delighted to see 
 her so gorgeously attired ; they circled round 
 her in speechless admiration for some time,
 
 86 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 and suddenly the Grand Duchess Olga 
 clapped her hands, and exclaimed fervently, 
 " Oh ! Mama, you are just like a lovely 
 Christmas tree ! >j After divine service was 
 finished there was a drawing-room, at 
 which all the debutantes were presented. 
 
 The Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana 
 Nicholaivna were fond of listening to stories. 
 On one occasion Tatiana told Olga a story, 
 the end of which was as follows : "So my 
 little girl and my niece went into the wood 
 and a big wolf ate my little girl, so she went 
 to heaven." Olga was horrified at such 
 theology. " Oh no ! " she cried ; " she 
 could not have gone to heaven, because the 
 wolf ate her, and God does not allow wolves 
 to go to heaven. She is walking about the 
 wood inside the wolf." The other child 
 calmly accepted this wonderful correction. 
 I found I had to be very careful in telling 
 them stories. On one occasion I told Olga 
 the story of Joseph and his brethren. She 
 was deeply interested, and exclaimed, 
 " What a shame ! " I said, " Yes ; it was 
 indeed a terrible shame for them to be so 
 jealous and so cruel to their young brother." 
 She exclaimed, " I mean it was a shame of
 
 A Russian Christmas. 87 
 
 the father. Joseph was not the eldest, and 
 the beautiful coat should have, been given 
 to the eldest son ; the other brothers knew 
 that, and perhaps that was why they put 
 him in the pit." Explanations were use- 
 less ; all her sympathies were given to 
 Reuben. She was angry with King David 
 because he killed Goliath, and said, " David 
 was much younger and smaller, and poor 
 Goliath never expected him to throw stones 
 at him." " Jack the Giant Killer " gave her 
 no pleasure ; it upset her idea that might 
 was right. Once there was a cinematograph 
 exhibition for the children and some friends. 
 One picture showed two little girls playing 
 in a garden, each with a table before her 
 covered with toys. Suddenly the bigger girl 
 snatched a toy from the little one who, how- 
 ever, held on to it and refused to give it up. 
 Foiled in her attempts, the elder seized a 
 spoon and pounded the little one with it, 
 who quickly relinquished the toy and began 
 to cry. Tatiana wept to see the poor little 
 one so ill-treated, but Olga was very quiet. 
 After the exhibition was over she said, " I 
 can't think that we saw the whole of that 
 picture." I said I hoped the end of it was
 
 88 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 that the naughty big sister was well punished, 
 adding that I thought we had seen quite 
 enough as I had no wish to see anything 
 more of such a naughty girl. Olga then 
 said, " I am sure that the lamb belonged 
 at first to the big sister, and she was kind 
 and lent it to her sister ; then she wanted it 
 back, and the little sister would not give 
 it up, so she had to beat her."
 
 Another view of the Kremlin, Moscow. 
 
 />axe 88.
 
 8 9 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 LIFE IN THE KREMLIN. 
 
 QUITE early in January the opening ball of 
 the St. Petersburg season was given at the 
 Winter Palace. Over five thousand people 
 were present, and it was indeed a gay scene. 
 The Empress wore white chiffon embroidered 
 with chenille and sparkling sequins, and 
 many diamonds. The Grand Duchess Serge 
 wore mauve. She is sister to the Empress, 
 and the Grand Duke was the Emperor's 
 uncle ; they have no children. The Grand 
 Duchess Serge is a very beautiful woman ; 
 some people, indeed, even consider her hand- 
 somer than the Empress. The Imperial 
 family was still in mourning for the Grand 
 Duke George, so all wore either white or 
 mauve. 
 
 The ball was opened by a polonaise. The
 
 go Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 master of the ceremonies went before the 
 Emperor and Empress, walking backwards, 
 and cleared a way for them through the 
 crowd. After him came Princess Galitzin, 
 the senior lady of the Court, then came the 
 Emperor and Empress, grand dukes and 
 duchesses, Royal princes and princesses, 
 the ambassadors and their wives, all moving 
 slowly, in pairs. At the conclusion of the 
 polonaise general dancing began. The Em- 
 peror and Empress went amongst their 
 guests and spoke a few words to most of 
 them. The Japanese Ambassador and his 
 wife were there ; he wore European uniform, 
 and she was clad in a pink satin dress, made 
 high and with long sleeves. 
 
 The supper-rooms were beautifully ar- 
 ranged like gardens. There were groups of 
 palms, flowering lilacs, and laburnums, etc., 
 appearing out of grassy beds in which grew 
 crocuses, daffodils, and other flowering bulbs. 
 Walks covered with carpets to imitate sand 
 ran through the rooms in various directions ; 
 electric lamps hung in the trees and tables 
 were set out under their shade. For the 
 supper were provided three hundred and 
 fifty dishes of chicken, each dish containing
 
 Life in the Kremlin. 91 
 
 three chickens with salad and jelly ; three 
 hundred and fifty large lobsters, with mayon- 
 naise sauce, and three hundred and fifty 
 tongues and the same number of dishes of 
 cold assorted meats, also of ices, creams, 
 jellies, etc., besides cakes, biscuits, etc. 
 Also several hundred gallons of soup of 
 various kinds. Two thousand bundles of 
 asparagus were boiled for the salads ; there 
 were also quantities of fruit and wine. A 
 ball at the palace is good for trade in St. 
 Petersburg. I was invited to the kitchens 
 to see the preparations, and was greatly 
 amused and interested to see the people. 
 Counts, barons, hotel proprietors, etc., all 
 came in to see the chef and bargain with him 
 for the remains of these delicacies. The 
 chef is paid so much a head for the supper ; 
 he buys things in large quantities, and sends 
 abroad for some. He orders what he likes, 
 provides the supper, receives the money from 
 the Emperor, and pockets what he can make 
 out of the transaction. 
 
 Every season five or six balls are given, 
 beside many great dinners, and twice a 
 week there is a representation in the palace 
 theatre, either an opera or a play, followed
 
 92 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 by a supper. It may not be generally 
 known that the Emperor has an opera com- 
 pany and an acting company, which includes 
 a ballet. 
 
 On the 6th of January the ceremony of 
 blessing the waters is performed. A mass 
 at which all appear in full court costume 
 is celebrated in the Winter Palace Cathedral. 
 That finished, the priests, in their most gor- 
 geous vestments, followed by the Emperor 
 and grand dukes and the gentlemen of the 
 various courts, go to a pavilion erected over 
 the river, and there the priests solemnly bless 
 the waters, a hole being cut in the ice for the 
 purpose into which a cross is lowered. They 
 then go through the crowd which always 
 assembles and sprinkle them from a brush 
 dipped into the holy water. Some of the 
 water is then brought into the palace and 
 put into glasses reserved specially for it, 
 and it is then drunk after many prayers 
 and much blessing of themselves by the 
 Russians. 
 
 Formerly, when the hole was cut in the 
 ice, numbers of people plunged into the 
 water, and afterwards went from door to 
 door showing their frozen garments as a
 
 Life in the Kremlin. 93 
 
 proof of their holiness, and asking alms 
 from the charitably disposed. But from 
 time to time one of those self-made martyrs 
 was drowned and there were many abuses, 
 so the authorities put an end to the plunging. 
 The ladies of the Court used formerly to go 
 in the procession, but bare shoulders were 
 not exactly conducive to health with the 
 thermometer standing often at twenty degrees 
 below freezing point, and therefore the prac- 
 tice was discontinued. 
 
 We stayed at St. Petersburg until towards 
 the end of Lent. 
 
 On one occasion the Prince of Siam came 
 to visit the Empress, and the children were 
 in the room. Now I was interested to see 
 his dusky highness as I had met him before 
 at a little seaside resort in the west of 
 Ireland. He had been invited to spend the 
 summer holidays with a school-fellow, and 
 Kilkee was chosen by his family for their 
 holiday-resort. Some of the visitors there 
 got up a little entertainment for the benefit 
 of the poor, and he and his friends were 
 invited to help. The entertainment took 
 the form of tableaux, with a little music. 
 The young prince was deeply interested in
 
 94 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 all, and finally begged for a part for himself. 
 One excuse after another was offered to him, 
 but at last to our consternation he ex- 
 claimed, " I know why you will not have 
 me. It is because I am an Eastern. Well, 
 I'll make a tableau all for myself." He 
 went home and presently re-appeared with 
 an armful of curtains, table-cloths, etc. 
 Throwing these down in a corner of the hall, 
 he went out again, and presently returned 
 with all the false jewellery the village shops 
 could supply, and announced that he in- 
 tended to personate the Queen of Sheba 
 when she had seen Solomon's magnificence. 
 He quickly dressed the platform to repre- 
 sent an Eastern interior, and, draping himself 
 in a shawl, squatted, native fashion, in the 
 middle of the stage. It was wonderfully 
 effective. On the evening of the exhibition 
 the tableau was by far the finest, being so 
 much out of the common. The boy was 
 delighted with himself and his audience. 
 When I saw him in the Winter Palace he 
 was dressed in Russian uniform, and looked 
 about him with the same bright, interested 
 expression he had worn in Ireland. Natur- 
 ally he did not recognise me. My little
 
 Life in the Kremlin. 95 
 
 charges ran forward and examined him with 
 deep interest, walking slowly round him, 
 and regarding him with beaming smiles of 
 amusement. The Empress said to the Grand 
 Duchess Tatiana, " Come, shake hands 
 with this gentleman, Tatiana." She laughed, 
 and said, " That is not a gentleman, 
 mama ; that's only a monkey." The Em- 
 press, covered with confusion, said, " You 
 are a monkey yourself, Tatiana," but the 
 prince laughed heartily. They and the prince 
 afterwards became quite good friends. 
 
 We went that year to Moscow for Easter, 
 and stayed in the historic Kremlin. Moscow 
 is the most characteristic city I have seen ; 
 for the most part it is distinctly modern, but 
 conveys the impression of antiquity even 
 more successfully than St. Petersburg does. 
 The Kremlin and all that part are very 
 old ; there is a great room having a throne 
 draped with ermine. All round the walls 
 are painted frescoes. One set represents 
 the history of Joseph and his brethren. 
 They are dressed as Russian peasants in 
 shirts and top-boots ; Potiphar's wife is 
 attired in a bright blue dress, showing a 
 white petticoat. She evidently wore a crino-
 
 96 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 line, also a pair of boots with high heels and 
 white stockings. Another set represents the 
 wandering of the children of Israel in the wil- 
 derness ; Russian costume again prevails 
 amongst them. Another wall is taken up 
 with the judgment of Vladimir. He was 
 the first Christian Emperor of Russia. Tra- 
 dition says that a Jew had oppressed a 
 Christian woman, who called to Vladimir for 
 help. The verdict went against the Jew, 
 who straightway gave all his property to 
 wife and children, and then said he had 
 nothing to pay with. Vladimir ordered his 
 head to be shaved, and that he should be 
 mounted on a donkey and led through the 
 town with his hands tied. He was accord- 
 ingly brought out, but had not proceeded 
 very far when he offered to refund all that 
 he had unjustly extorted, and even more. 
 The flies and stinging insects which abound 
 in Russia had punished him by alighting on 
 his shaven head. 
 
 On the floor of this room is a carpet made 
 in a convent. It represents years of work, 
 and it is made of pieces of cloth stitched 
 together and bordered with fancy stitching 
 in gold-coloured thread. On each piece is
 
 Life in the Kremlin. 97 
 
 worked a regimental badge in the national 
 colours. I thought it ugly and confusing 
 to the eyes, but I have heard it very much 
 admired. At the top of this room, right up 
 under the ceiling and artfully arranged so as 
 to be invisible from below, is a window from 
 which the secluded women could look down 
 upon the festivities below. Here the poor 
 young grand duchesses used to get a peep 
 at their future husbands. The rooms where 
 they lived are still shown ; they were bare 
 and miserable, with the windows very high 
 up. Poor things ! their lives must have 
 been lamentable ; they occupied themselves 
 with needlework and much of their tapestry 
 and cross-stitch work still exists. In a 
 church in the Kremlin there is a carpet 
 worked by the ladies of one of the courts. 
 In the palace at Gatchina are tapestries re- 
 presenting the history of the world, begin- 
 ning with the Garden of Eden and ending 
 with Solomon's Court, also the work of the 
 ladies of the Court. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth gave Ivan the Terrible 
 some magnificent silver tankards and cups 
 of beautiful workmanship, far more beau- 
 tiful than any modern work, I think. This 
 
 7
 
 98 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 silver is all displayed in the great room I 
 have described. 
 
 The museum is well worth a visit. Here 
 are hung up in a circle all the crowns belong- 
 ing to the various Emperors and Empresses 
 now dead. Catherine the Great had all the 
 jewels of her crown picked out and made 
 into an ornament for her personal adorn- 
 ment, and there hangs her crown with its 
 jewelless holes, a lasting monument to her 
 character. Catherine I., who was a slave 
 girl unable to read, was far more noble in 
 character. 
 
 There are numbers of thrones, from a little 
 ivory chair which formerly belonged to 
 some of the Georgian kings, to the silver one 
 which was brought from Kieff. I sat in 
 most of them to the great horror of some of 
 the Russians. Some of the thrones have 
 cords stretched across the corners to prevent 
 such sacrilege. 
 
 Here are hung up in a glass case the robes 
 worn by the Emperor, Empress and Dowager 
 Empress on the occasion of their coronations. 
 All, even to the gloves and shoes, are dis- 
 played. I should like to have retained 
 something, if only a glove, in memory of such
 
 The C/.ar and C/arina in old-world Muscovite garment.-. 
 
 [Fating page 98.
 
 Life in the Kremlin. 99 
 
 a momentous ceremony. In presses round 
 the walls of another room are kept the coro- 
 nation robes of former sovereigns. 
 
 Li Hung Chang brought a carved eagle to 
 the Emperor and a screen to the Empress. 
 The eagle is about five feet high, and stands 
 on the carved trunk of a tree. Each feather 
 is carved separately and can be withdrawn 
 from the body of the bird, and the whole 
 thing packed in a small space. It is of 
 ivory and ebony, a most wonderful piece of 
 work. I thought at first that the screen 
 was painted, but it is not. It is executed 
 with the needle, is in four panels, each 
 representing the sea under a different aspect, 
 while on the reverse side gulls are embroidered 
 flying, feeding, and swimming a truly mar- 
 vellous piece of work, every part of the canvas 
 being covered with stitches. It took eight 
 of the most expert needlewomen in China 
 three years to execute. 
 
 There is a collection in the museum 
 of old state carriages wonderful erections, 
 all gilding and velvet, with delicately painted 
 panels. Catherine's travelling carriage is 
 there. There is a long table down the 
 middle of it, and how it could be turned I 
 
 7*
 
 ioo Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 know not ; it is rather larger than an ordi- 
 nary tramcar or 'bus. Indeed, I do not 
 believe that there is a street in Moscow in 
 which one of those carriages could be turned. 
 The little Grand Duchess Olga sat in each 
 carriage in turn ; finally she selected the 
 largest and handsomest, and said, "I'll 
 have this one." She then gave orders quite 
 seriously that the carriage should be sent to 
 Tsarskoe Selo for her. She was told that 
 could not be, so she ordered that it should 
 be prepared for her daily drive. I was very 
 pleased that her ideas on the subject of the 
 carriage were not carried out. 
 
 Moscow has many picture galleries and 
 places of interest, and the town itself is so 
 interesting that it is well worth a visit. 
 Moscow is particularly nice at Easter. 
 Something in the atmosphere of the place 
 makes it seem suitable for that festival. 
 They say that Holy Moscow contains seventy 
 times seven churches ; as a matter of fact, 
 there are many more, one out of every five 
 buildings being a church. What supports 
 them, and how the priests live, I have never 
 been able to find out. Many of these 
 churches are very beautiful and interesting.
 
 Life in the Kremlin. 101 
 
 As in St. Petersburg, there is a large 
 English colony and an English church. 
 The streets are for the most part paved with 
 cobble stones, so they are very noisy to 
 drive over. Some of the churches are very 
 old, as they escaped the fire. Many of the 
 holy icons have had almost miraculous 
 escapes from being destroyed. One of the 
 churches in the Kremlin contains a picture 
 with the mark of a sword-cut like a great 
 scar across it, but the canvas was not cut. 
 It has also the marks of something on the 
 back, and it is said that it was thrown out 
 of church by the French soldiers, was put 
 into the fire, but was miraculously pre- 
 served. 
 
 Ivan the Terrible, who was contemporary 
 with Queen Elizabeth, had a church built 
 which is very much admired. Seven little 
 churches open one after the other, each round 
 in form, six of them round a centre one. 
 They are very pretty and full of interest, but 
 exceedingly dark. Tradition says Ivan was 
 much pleased with this church, and sent 
 for the architect to reward him. When the 
 man came, the Emperor had him seized 
 and bound and his eyes were burned out in
 
 IO2 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 order that he might never be able to repro- 
 duce the church, nor to design one exceeding 
 it in beauty. But the story is open to 
 doubt. It is told of the designers of many 
 famous buildings, including the cathedral 
 at Strasburg. The church of the Assump- 
 tion is very fine and well worthy of a visit. 
 Within the walls of the Kremlin are seven 
 churches, many of them very interesting. 
 In one of these the Emperor was crowned. 
 The Emperor himself places the crown on 
 his head, he then crowns the Empress, who 
 kneels before him. One of the churches in 
 the Kremlin has the highest tower in Russia. 
 From this tower the great bell of Moscow 
 fell, and was broken. It stands on a pedestal 
 on the ground, at least forty men could 
 stand under it. Since that accident the 
 bells are fastened to the floor with padlocks 
 and chains. I went to the top of the tower 
 and was very glad to get down again. A 
 short time before our visit two so-called 
 gentlemen went up. On arriving at the 
 top one of them drew from his pocket a little 
 cat and threw it over the parapet. The 
 poor little animal turned round in the air 
 several times ; on alighting it lay still for
 
 Life in the Kremlin. 103 
 
 a few moments, then got up and ran away, 
 apparently quite unhurt. It was done for 
 a wager, of course, but it was a brutal act. 
 
 Ivan the Terrible was married six times. 
 The Russian Church allows only three mar- 
 riages, and in one of the churches a place 
 is shown just outside the consecrated part 
 where he was obliged to sit to hear divine 
 service with his last three wives. 
 
 I think it is in this church that the remains 
 of Demitri the Martyr lie. He was son of 
 Ivan the Terrible' s fourth wife, and became 
 Emperor at nine years of age. Ivan had 
 three sons ; the eldest he killed with a blow 
 from a bar of iron ; the second son became 
 epileptic, and was therefore, by Russian 
 law, unable to reign ; little Demitri was the 
 third son, son of the fourth wife. The 
 brother-in-law of Feodor, second son, 
 became Regent ; his name was Boris. 
 He found power very attractive, and 
 tried, first of all, to usurp the throne 
 by declaring that Demitri, being the son 
 of the fourth wife, was illegitimate ; but the 
 people were too much attached to the old 
 dynasty to render this possible. He accord- 
 ingly induced the child's attendants to
 
 104 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 leave him unguarded for half an hour in one 
 of the courtyards of the Kremlin. When 
 they returned all traces of the boy had dis- 
 appeared. Boris gave out that the child 
 was epileptic, and had been placed under 
 restraint, which seemed a probable enough 
 story, and there were no immediate heirs 
 to contradict it, as his sister was childless, 
 so he usurped the throne and assumed the 
 title of Emperor. 
 
 In later years a false Demitri arose, saying 
 he had escaped from prison. In person he 
 was very like the Imperial family, and his 
 cause was taken up with great warmth, 
 especially in Poland, to which country he 
 said he had escaped, and he found many 
 powerful supporters who provided him with 
 soldiers and money. He succeeded in 
 defeating Boris, whom he put to death, and 
 seized the throne. He ruled neither well 
 nor wisely, and was finally denounced by 
 someone who seems to have known him well. 
 The nobility took up arms against him, 
 and his army was defeated. He threw him- 
 self from a window in the Kremlin as the 
 nobles and their soldiers were entering to 
 take him prisoner. Boris had had the
 
 Life in the Kremlin. 105 
 
 remains of little Demitri exhumed and 
 re-interred in one of the churches of the 
 Kremlin. The Russian Church canonised 
 the little martyr to love of power. 
 
 Shortly after the death of Boris, the 
 soldier who had killed the child and a house- 
 maid who saw the wicked deed perpetrated, 
 both confessed the crime. Michael Romanoff, 
 then a boy of sixteen years, was elected by 
 the nobility as their Emperor. His father 
 had been viewed with suspicion and dislike 
 by Boris, who forced him into a monastery. 
 
 Michael was a wise ruler, and soon 
 brought order and tranquillity to reign where 
 all had been confusion and chaos. He had 
 also family claims upon the throne, as two 
 of the former Empresses had belonged to 
 the house of Romanoff. 
 
 Outside the gates of the Kremlin is a 
 little church or shrine in which is kept 
 the " miracle-working " image. It is guarded 
 day and night, and priests are set aside for 
 its sole service. Should anyone be ill and 
 send for this image, it is placed in a car- 
 riage and guarded by two priests and taken 
 to the house, where it is left for an hour or 
 two ; prayers are said and offerings are
 
 io6 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 made, and the patient sometimes recovers. 
 There is no specific charge made for the 
 use of the image, but those requiring its 
 intercession are supposed to give offerings 
 or a present, according to their means. 
 
 The Kremlin has five gates, each one 
 guarded by two copper-covered turrets. 
 The copper has turned green with age and 
 the influences of the weather, and looks very 
 picturesque. One of these gates is the far- 
 famed sacred gate. On it is hung a picture 
 of our Saviour, and all who pass beneath 
 it are bareheaded. The Russians are a very 
 religious people, and are not ashamed of out- 
 ward observances. In this they remind one 
 of the Roman Catholics of Ireland. 
 
 At some little distance from the town is 
 the palace in which Napoleon slept during 
 his occupation of Moscow. In one of the 
 yards of the Kremlin are hundreds of French 
 cannons abandoned during the calamitous 
 retreat from Moscow. Tolstoi says in his 
 great work, " War and Peace," that the 
 French were defeated not through human 
 agency, but as the direct will of God, and 
 laughs to scorn the idea that the general 
 who retreated, and got the Moscow folks to
 
 Life in the Kremlin. 107 
 
 fire their own residences, was actuated by 
 military motives ; he says it was all pure 
 fate. I do not know, but almost all Russians 
 give him credit for a far-seeing policy, and 
 certainly the results justified his actions. 
 
 Towards the south Moscow terminates in 
 a large red gate, known as " The Red Gate." 
 St. Petersburg also terminates with a gate, 
 beyond which is country. These are the 
 only two towns I know which do so. Some 
 way beyond the Red Gate is a pretty house 
 and park, belonging to the Emperor, called 
 Niskutchni ; it means " sans souci " ; liter- 
 ally, " no sadness." We often went there 
 and had tea in the house or garden, accord- 
 ing to weather. Snowdrops, and many 
 flowers, grow wild here all over the grass ; 
 cowslips have been introduced and flourish 
 well. 
 
 While we were in Moscow the Empress 
 thought she would like to have the children's 
 portraits painted, so an artist was engaged 
 to paint them. They were aged at this 
 time four years, two and a half years, and 
 two months. He began by taking innu- 
 merable photographs of the children, then 
 he made a collection of all existing like-
 
 io8 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 nesses, and then found he could not paint 
 from photographs. He explained to me that 
 it would not be artistic to do so. I begged 
 him to remember what babies they were, 
 and to work from photographs. But, no ! 
 even to paint their frocks he insisted upon 
 them sitting to him for three or four hours 
 each day. Of course the poor children got 
 very impatient, and one day the little Grand 
 Duchess Olga lost her temper, and said to 
 the artist, " You are a very ugly man, and 
 I don't like you a bit." To my amazement 
 he was exceedingly displeased, and replied, 
 " You are the first lady who has ever said I 
 was ugly, and moreover, I'm not a man 
 I'm a gentleman ! " He could not under- 
 stand why I laughed.
 
 log 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 IN BELOVEGE. 
 
 WE returned to Tsarskoe Selo from Moscow, 
 and stayed there until we went to Peter- 
 hoff. 
 
 The Imperial estate in Peterhoff belongs 
 to the reigning Empress. It is settled on 
 her for life, and she must hand it on to 
 the wife of the next Emperor. It belongs 
 at present to the Dowager Empress ; at her 
 death it will pass to the Empress Alexandra 
 Feodorovna. 
 
 The story of Peterhoff is as follows : 
 When Nicholas I. was a young man he paid 
 a visit to the German Court. A tournament 
 was arranged and the young Grand Duke 
 acquitted himself bravely. Afterwards all 
 who took part in the tournament rode up 
 under the balcony where the ladies of the 
 family were seated. The young princess
 
 no Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 of Prussia threw him a wreath of roses 
 which he caught on his sword. An attach- 
 ment speedily sprang up between the couple 
 and they were married. When he became 
 Emperor he bought what is now the private 
 park at Peterhoff, and built a residence 
 in it, which he named The Cottage. In 
 memory of his first meeting the Empress 
 said that everything in the house should 
 bear the device of a wreath of roses on a 
 sword. 
 
 The Dowager Empress is a very attractive 
 person. She has the full rich voice, and the 
 excessive tact which belong to the Danish 
 family, as well as their youthful looks. This 
 latter fact should not surprise us, as, 
 according to the old story, they have the 
 stone of youth. A Limerick man once went 
 to stay in Copenhagen, where he found him- 
 self very comfortable one person vied with 
 another to make him happy. When he was 
 going away he said to his kind entertainers, 
 "Tell me what I can do for you; I will 
 go to the ends of the earth to serve you." 
 They told him that in a certain spot in a 
 field in County Limerick a box of gold was 
 buried. If he would dig up the box he would
 
 In Beldvege. in 
 
 find a stone ring. This ring he was asked 
 to send to Copenhagen, but for his trouble 
 he could keep the gold. 
 
 On arriving in his own country the warm- 
 hearted Irishman at once repaired to the 
 field and quickly unearthed the treasure. 
 He started off to Copenhagen, bearing the 
 box of gold with him. He pressed his 
 kind friends to take the box, but they in- 
 sisted on retaining only the ring of stone, 
 which they put into a safe place. They 
 then addressed him thus : " Unfortunate 
 wretch ! you have betrayed and ruined 
 your country. All would have gone well 
 as long as the ring of youth remained in her, 
 but from henceforth all poverty will leave 
 Denmark, and her women will be always 
 young and beautiful, while Ireland will bear 
 a double burden of poverty, her children 
 will be forced to other countries, nothing 
 will thrive in Ireland." 
 
 From Peterhoff we went to Belovege, near 
 the borders of Poland, for shooting. There 
 is a great forest as large as the whole of 
 Ireland ; in parts it is trackless ; people 
 are often lost there, and wander round and 
 round in a circle, cutting notches in trees
 
 112 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 as they pass them, and dead bodies are 
 frequently found there. A few weeks before 
 we arrived, the dead body of a traveller was 
 found only a few minutes' walk from security. 
 
 The late Emperor had a clearing made of 
 almost three and a half square miles, and 
 built a small palace on a slight elevation. 
 There are prettily laid out gardens, and 
 the building itself is picturesque. Inside it 
 is much decorated, and one room would 
 delight a philatelist ; it is altogether 
 decorated with stamps walls, furniture, 
 everything are covered with old postage 
 stamps. It has the effect of curious looking 
 mosaic. I have been told that many of 
 the stamps are very valuable specimens. 
 The work of sticking them on alone must 
 have been tremendous. 
 
 In the forest roam elk, bisons, great red 
 deer, and wild boars. An elk is the gentlest 
 creature that lives, even if wounded he never 
 attempts to turn on his assailant ; the bison, 
 however, is ferocious, as is also the wild boar. 
 The elk is a very ugly animal, like a horned 
 donkey. We never went into the forest 
 without a guide, it being too dangerous. 
 Fires frequently occur, so a very strict watch
 
 In Beldvege. 113 
 
 is kept for remains of fires lighted by gipsies 
 and others passing through the forest. Forest 
 fires are put out by cutting down trees 
 and digging a ditch outside the fire, but 
 they sometimes rage for days. There are 
 many venomous snakes in the forest, there- 
 fore one must be cautious. I realised more 
 in Belovege than anywhere else how terrible 
 nature can be in her solitary places. The 
 forest frightened me with its unknown 
 possibilities of danger. I believe wild men 
 are more to be feared there, than wild 
 beasts. These are men who have been 
 deprived of their passports and sent into 
 the country. 
 
 Just before we went to Belovege there 
 had been an outbreak of smallpox in the 
 village and surrounding country. It was 
 treated in what is called the Swedish method. 
 Every patient was vaccinated seven times 
 on successive days. The treatment was most 
 successful ; there had been two hundred 
 and fifty cases and four of them were babies 
 under a year old. Not a single patient died, 
 nor were any of them disfigured by this 
 terrible disease. 
 
 From Belovege we went to Spala in Poland 
 
 8
 
 114 Si* Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 for shooting. Here there is little big game, 
 and the forest is much smaller than that of 
 Belovege, only being about as large as 
 Yorkshire. It is also more open ; a pretty 
 river in which boating may be had runs 
 through the estate. 
 
 Various surprises had been arranged for 
 the children. In a little orchard a tea-house 
 had been built and about a dozen tame deer 
 turned in, besides tame pheasants, hares, 
 etc. These creatures would all come and 
 eat from our hands, and the deer would 
 follow me about everywhere, lay their pretty 
 heads on my arm and, looking beseechingly 
 in my face, seem to beg for notice. The 
 Grand Duchess Tatiana named them " the 
 pretty creatures " and by this name they 
 were henceforth known. Outside the palings 
 enclosing this fairyland flowed a river in 
 which swam all manner of water-fowl which 
 would come to be fed ; so it was a regular 
 paradise for children. 
 
 A further surprise awaited them in the 
 shape of a little goat-carriage drawn by a 
 pair of goats, each led by a boy in Polish 
 costume, a long frock coat of white home- 
 spun decorated with black braid, and a high
 
 In Belovege. 115 
 
 crowned black felt hat trimmed gaily with 
 bands of black velvet ribbon, coloured paper 
 flowers and a rosette of different coloured 
 ribbons. The trimming was pinned on the 
 hat! 
 
 8*
 
 n6 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE YOUNG OFFICER AND THE DOLLS. 
 
 WE went to the Crimea on leaving Spala. 
 We arrived at Alma just at bedtime, and I 
 was disappointed not to see anything of 
 that famous battle ground. On waking in 
 the morning I was delighted to find we were 
 still in the station, so I had a good look at 
 it from the windows. We started about 
 eight o'clock and were soon going through 
 most beautiful country. High mountains 
 clothed with trees, most beautiful in their 
 autumn colouring ; I never saw such foliage. 
 Shortly afterwards we came to Inkermann. 
 Here is a wonderful monastery hewn in the 
 side of a great cliff. Nature made most of 
 the caves which are used as rooms, but the 
 monks themselves did much excavation. 
 The windows and doors are manufactured
 
 The Young Officer and the Dolls. 117 
 
 and the monastery is well furnished and 
 contains a very beautiful church. 
 
 Shortly after leaving Inkermann we 
 arrived in Sevastopol. The Russians pro- 
 nounce it Sevastopol, with the accent on 
 the third syllable. Here the yacht was 
 awaiting us and we went on board. I am 
 particularly fond of yachting as long as 
 we are at anchor, but when we begin to 
 move, it is quite a different story. 
 
 Sevastopol would appear quite impregnable, 
 situated as it is on high barren cliffs rising 
 straight out of the water ; one wonders 
 how the allied armies ever effected a landing. 
 I was looking at it, thinking of these things, 
 when Baron M., who is the general of a 
 Cossack regiment, asked me of what I was 
 thinking. I told him, and with a twinkle 
 in his eyes he told me the following yarn : 
 " You see," said he, " the poor Russians 
 were very hungry and the cook prepared 
 a particularly nice dinner. They all ran 
 off when they heard the dinner bell, and 
 the English calmly walked in, and when the 
 Russians returned the English were waiting 
 for their dinner inside the town. It was a 
 great shock to the Russians." I thanked
 
 u8 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 him politely for his addition to my know- 
 ledge of history, and he told me he would 
 always be very happy to supplement my 
 education, but that if what I heard from 
 him was different from what I had heard, I 
 could believe whichever I liked. 
 
 We only stayed one day at Sevastopol 
 that time, and proceeded by sea to Yalta. 
 The Black Sea is usually very rough and this 
 time was no exception. The journey from 
 Sevastopol to Yalta is about fourteen hours 
 long ; we had sailed in the night, so we 
 arrived early next day. It was a great 
 relief to be once more on terra firma. 
 
 Yalta is a pretty little town with a large 
 holiday population ; out of season there are 
 very few people. The shops are shut and 
 the owners of them start to the Caucasus 
 or to the more remote parts of Russia, 
 and buy or sell there. Many of the shop- 
 keepers are Jews ; some are Armenians. 
 One shop I knew was kept by a little 
 Armenian woman and her husband. She 
 had been rescued by some missionaries 
 and placed in an English mission school, 
 where she learnt to speak English. She 
 adored Mr. Gladstone, and quite believed
 
 View of Yalta. 
 
 The Imperial I'aluce, Livadia. 
 
 [Facing page 118.
 
 The Young Officer and the Dolls. 119 
 
 that he was inspired. She had a nice little 
 shop with all manner of Eastern articles- 
 Caucasian silver and pretty things suitable 
 for presents. Some of these fancy trifles 
 are very reasonable in price whilst others 
 are more expensive than in London. Silver 
 is, however, cheap and very quaint. 
 
 Livadia, as the Emperor's estate is called, 
 is half-way up a mountain, and is surrounded 
 by vast vineyards sloping down to the sea. 
 The grapes are delicious. The Black Sea, 
 like the Baltic, is tideless. At Livadia is a 
 stony beach where the children played every 
 morning. They would get on their paddling 
 drawers and shoes, and go wading in the 
 sun-warmed water, and gather pebbles. On 
 one occasion I was taking them home when 
 we met a young officer from the Standart. 
 He asked them what they had in their hands 
 and the children showed the little bits of 
 green stones they had picked up, and gravely 
 asked him to keep them if he would like 
 to. He took a little stone from each child 
 and when I afterwards saw them they were 
 mounted in gold and attached to his watch 
 chain. He said he would not part with them 
 for any earthly consideration, the children
 
 I2O Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 having found them themselves, and offered 
 them to him. Indeed, it was very amusing 
 to see the way in which people regarded these 
 little maidens. On one occasion we were 
 getting into the carriage at Peterhoff when 
 an officer came running over to say good- 
 morning. The little Grand Duchesses, who 
 were friendly creatures, began to talk to him, 
 and one of them took a little wooden toy 
 from her pocket and asked him if he would 
 like it. He was much pleased and afterwards 
 turned to me and said he was in trouble, 
 and seeing the children coming out, thought 
 that if he could reach the carriage in time 
 to bow to the children he would find a way 
 out of his troubles. " And see," said he, 
 " not only did I bow to them but I kissed 
 their hands and received a little toy from 
 one of them. I shall keep that toy as long 
 as I live." When next I met him he told 
 me the omen had been verified, and he 
 had found a way out of his trouble. 
 
 There was a tall young German officer in 
 the Guards, and he used to ask the Grand 
 Duchess Olga for a doll ; a little tiny one 
 that he could keep in his pocket and play 
 with while he was on guard would give
 
 The Young Officer and the Dolls. 121 
 
 him much pleasure, so he declared. Poor 
 little Olga Nicolaivna did not know if he 
 was joking or in earnest. I told her I was 
 sure the doll would give him much pleasure, 
 and that it should be a very small one. 
 She presently brought me a couple of very 
 tiny dolls dressed as boys, one minus a foot, 
 the other without an arm. I said I thought 
 it would be better to give unbroken dolls, 
 and she replied, " Yes, but these are boys 
 and he is a man, I am afraid he would not 
 like a little girl dollie." I then told her 
 to ask him when she saw him. 
 
 Next morning the doll was put into her 
 pocket and in the course of our walk we met 
 Captain S., who immediately began to re- 
 proach her for having forgotten how lonely 
 he was and what company a little doll would 
 be to him. She plunged her hand into her 
 pocket and produced the doll, holding it 
 behind her back. " Which would you rather 
 have/' she said seriously, " a boy or a girl 
 doll ? " He answered, quite seriously, " A 
 little girl doll would be like you, and I should 
 love it very much, but a boy would be very 
 companionable." She was quite delighted 
 and gave him the doll, saying, " I am glad,
 
 122 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 I was so afraid you would not like the girl." 
 He put the doll away most carefully. 
 
 Shortly afterwards the young officer went 
 for his holidays. When he returned, the first 
 day he saw the little Grand Duchess he began 
 as formerly to beg for a doll. She said 
 reproachfully, "Is it possible you have 
 already broken the nice little doll I gave 
 you ? " With great tact he explained that 
 the little doll was lonely all by itself, and 
 wanted a companion, and that it did not 
 matter if it was broken ; so another dollie 
 was carried about for several days till she 
 met him again and gave it to him. 
 
 The sun-warmed sea looked very tempting, 
 and I thought I should like to bathe in it, 
 but I had no bathing-dress. I accordingly 
 sent one of the under-nurses to Yalta to get 
 one, either a ready-made costume or stuff to 
 make one. When she returned she said 
 the only thing she could find was a Russian 
 peasant's red cotton shirt, and she supposed 
 I would not like that. I was quite of the 
 same opinion, but asked if she had been able 
 to get serge or galatea of which I could 
 make a costume. She told me she had 
 gone into a shop where they sold stuffs
 
 The Young Officer and the Dolls. 123 
 
 and asked for something to make a bathing- 
 dress. The woman asked her if it was for 
 herself, and she replied that it was for 
 another person. The shopkeeper turned 
 scornfully upon her and said: "Bathing- 
 dress, indeed ! French fashions ! Tell her 
 to go and bathe in her skin as her grand- 
 mother did before her." 
 
 At Massandra, half-way up a mountain 
 at the other side of Yalta, is a delightful 
 rose garden. The roses look like two walls, 
 one at each side of the path. At the back 
 are reve d'ors, trained on espaliers ; they 
 attain a height of seven or eight feet. In 
 front of them are dwarf specimens in all 
 colours and shades, down to tiny pink and 
 white trees not more than a foot in height. 
 All the ground at the foot of those rose trees 
 is carpeted with violets. In the background 
 stand cypresses like grave sentries. I got 
 to love the cypress, while it is green, but no 
 tree looks half so ghostly, when it is dead. 
 There are many tropical plants and trees 
 in this lovely garden. Deodars from the 
 Himalayas, monkey-puzzles as large as forest 
 trees, great mangolias, and many others 
 of which I did not know the names. Higher
 
 124 S* x Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 up the mountain is a second rose garden. 
 Here the roses are trained to grow along 
 wires stretched horizontally about a foot 
 from the ground. The effect is as of sheets 
 of flowers. There is a great bed of La 
 France roses, another of yellow roses in all 
 shades, and still another of mixed red, pink 
 and white roses. These beds were each at 
 least one hundred feet long by perhaps 
 seventy wide. This garden is also enclosed 
 by stately cypresses looking like sentries 
 mounting guard. 
 
 At Aloupka, on the Livadia side of Yalta, 
 is a beautiful residence. There is an avenue 
 of mangolias stretching for about a mile, a 
 lovely sight when the trees are covered with 
 white blossoms, the perfume of which is 
 delicious. 
 
 The entrance to the house is very imposing, 
 great flights of white marble steps with 
 beautifully sculptured lions on each landing. 
 The property round this fine house has fallen 
 into terrible decay. I never saw anything 
 like the neglected state of the fields. Nothing 
 one could see but weeds and stone though 
 all around are well cultivated fields and 
 tobacco farms, paying very well.
 
 The Young Officer and the Dolls. 125 
 
 It seems the proprietor of Aloupka is still 
 a minor ; he inherited when he was a baby. 
 His mother and trustees sold the farms 
 to the peasants, who certainly have neglected 
 their holdings. The young proprietor lives 
 abroad and I am told is unable to speak even 
 a word of Russian. 
 
 Both the inside of the house and gardens 
 are in habitable order. I have been told 
 that the boy possesses a great estate in the 
 Black Earth district, so when he is grown 
 he may return to Russia and make acquaint- 
 ance with his own people. 
 
 The next property to Livadia is Orianda. 
 It formerly belonged to the Grand Duke 
 Constantine, but the Emperor recently 
 bought it. Unfortunately the house was 
 burned down seven years ago and has never 
 been rebuilt. I expect it will be prepared 
 for the Czarovitch when he is grown up. 
 Little except the foundations remain. 
 
 There is a little church on the property 
 the belfry of which is a great oak tree. Here 
 the bells are suspended from the boughs, a 
 platform has been erected with a flight of 
 steps leading up to it. The great bell is 
 only rung in cases of fire.
 
 126 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 The grounds of Orianda are very pretty 
 and we frequently took tea there. There 
 are shallow basins in the grounds with gold- 
 fish. When we returned to the Crimea 
 two years after, the goldfish had dis- 
 appeared. I asked what had become of 
 them. The man said, " Alas ! we wanted 
 to clean out their little lakes, so with great 
 care we captured the goldfish and put 
 them into the large pond in which the swans 
 live, but we could not find them again." 
 " No," said I, " of course not, the swans 
 ate then." He held up his hands and ex- 
 claimed in horror : " Oh no, Miss, those 
 swans are particularly tame; his Majesty 
 takes great notice of them ; they would 
 never eat anything that belonged to the 
 Emperor." 
 
 Beyond Orianda is Ai Toder, or St. 
 Theodore's, the residence of the Grand Duke 
 Alexander who is married to the Emperor's 
 sister, the Grand Duchess Xenia Alex- 
 androvina. They have five sons and a 
 daughter, all pretty and interesting children. 
 Ai Toder is a very nice place, and they 
 spend a great deal of time in the Crimea. 
 
 In walking through Yalta one hears so
 
 The Young Officer and the Dolls. 127 
 
 many different tongues, and sees so many 
 nationalities that I was reminded of the 
 day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. 
 
 Here you meet a Turkish family, the 
 women all closely veiled with the exception 
 of one eye with which they closely scrutinise 
 you. It makes you uncomfortable to see 
 the one eye gazing at you and not to see 
 anything in return. Again you will meet 
 Tartars lively looking people, tall, and 
 generally slight and athletic looking. They 
 would need to be athletic, as they generally 
 perch their villages on the top of an almost 
 inaccessible cliff. They all dye their hair 
 a vivid red, and the married women blacken 
 their teeth and paint the palms of their 
 hands. They say the Tartar houses are 
 most beautifully clean. 
 
 The unmarried Tartar women only dye 
 the hair, they wear on their heads a little 
 round velvet cap with a veil hanging behind. 
 This veil is of a sort of canvas, and is em- 
 broidered with gold and silver. 
 
 There are many Greeks who seem to do 
 nothing but sleep in the sun. They manage 
 to live, however, and are, I believe, very 
 shrewd in business. They seem contented
 
 128 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 with things in general though they are both 
 ragged and dirty. Armenians, Greeks, full- 
 blooded Russians, all in native costumes, 
 make up a very pretty scene. 
 
 In Odessa and the Crimea the Karaites 
 are principally found. These are a race 
 of Tartars who embraced Judaism. They 
 are a small tribe, only about ten thousand in 
 all Russia. They are very good citizens, 
 quite the best among the alien races in Russia. 
 Their Judaism is of the Old Testament, and 
 they entirely reject the Talmud, but to 
 Western minds their ideas are peculiar and 
 very wrong. Their women are taught no 
 religion and can only hope to be saved 
 through the intervention of their husbands ; 
 consequently their girls are married very 
 young. 
 
 They are physically superior to the Jews, 
 but they do not seem to increase rapidly. 
 I met a Karaite family ; well educated, nicely 
 mannered people they were, some of them 
 very handsome. They speak, even in their 
 own houses, Russian, not the Tartar language, 
 and are considered in every respect, except 
 religion, as Russians. 
 
 It was while we were in the Crimea that
 
 The Young Officer and the Dolls. 129 
 
 the Emperor had typhoid fever. It was 
 raging all round us at the time. At Ai 
 Toder there were sixteen or seventeen cases. 
 It was very bad in various Tartar villages 
 higher up the mountains. 
 
 Those five weeks while he was lying ill 
 were a very anxious time for the house- 
 hold, and great were the rejoicings when 
 he recovered. 
 
 A little friend of the children, Paul, was 
 ill at the same time with pneumonia. The 
 doctors said recovery was doubtful. The 
 Empress told me to call round there with 
 the children in the carriage, and take poor 
 little Paul a few roses and anything likely 
 to tempt his appetite. Accordingly we got a 
 few roses, packed a basket with delicacies, 
 and went to inquire. The whole household 
 was in despair ; they had had a visit from 
 a specialist that day, and his verdict had 
 been unfavourable. We saw the children's 
 English governess and she gave me a very 
 sad account of poor little Paul. She took 
 up the roses and basket, and told him the 
 Imperial children had brought them to him, 
 and were down in the garden waiting to 
 know how he was. Paul sent his thanks to 
 
 9
 
 130 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 the children, and then said, " Send Daria 
 to me." The little sister was accordingly 
 sent for and came into the room in a very 
 subdued and meek manner to receive Paul's 
 parting charges. " Daria," said the supposed 
 dying child, " you see the Imperial children 
 think a great deal more of me than they 
 do of you ; when you had a cold they did 
 not even send to inquire by telephone. 
 They have come themselves, and have brought 
 me all these good things. I am going to eat 
 them and get well." Comforted with this 
 thought he fell asleep and eventually did 
 get well.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE LITTLE PRISON OPENER. 
 
 WE spent Christmas that year in the Crimea, 
 and brought in quantities of holly and ivy 
 to decorate the house. Holly does not grow 
 in the north of Russia at all ; the climate is 
 too severe for it. 
 
 The children were greatly charmed with 
 the decorations, and pulled each other under 
 the mistletoe for kissing purposes. A heavy 
 fall of snow had blocked up the railway 
 lines, and we were afraid there would be 
 no Christmas parcels from either England or 
 Gatchina. However, the special messengers 
 had taken sledges and come across the 
 mountains, so the gifts were all received on 
 Christmas Eve in time for the trees. We 
 had our Christmas tree as usual, and little 
 Marie was specially delighted with it, as 
 she could not remember anything of the 
 kind. She said to the Emperor, who was 
 
 9*
 
 132 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 just beginning to get about, " Papa, did 
 you ever see anything so beautiful ? " 
 
 It was late in January when we left the 
 Crimea. We were all in bed on board the 
 Standart when a special messenger came on 
 board bringing the news of the death of 
 Queen Victoria. The telegram was not 
 opened till next morning ; the Empress was 
 greatly grieved. There was much searching 
 for mourning, and fortunately everyone had 
 something black with them. 
 
 We arrived in St. Petersburg on Saturday, 
 and I had a rush to get a suitable hat to 
 wear at church on Sunday. The church was 
 crowded and everyone there was dressed in 
 mourning, some even wore crepe. I never 
 saw anything so melancholy in my life. 
 
 There were, of course, no balls given that 
 year on account of the heavy mourning. 
 The Crown Prince of Austria came on a 
 visit. He had a quiet time, but some 
 dinners were given in his honour. On one 
 occasion there was a large dinner party in 
 the Winter Palace. The Major Domo carried 
 in a dish of fish, and began to hand it round ; 
 suddenly he fell the fish was spilt on the 
 carpet and the Empress's dress. In great
 
 The Little Prison Opener. 133 
 
 confusion he got out of the room ; he then 
 came in with another dish ; some of the fish 
 must have remained on the carpet for the 
 unfortunate man again fell and gave the 
 Empress a liberal helping of whatever he 
 was carrying. The second time was too 
 much. All the company simply laughed 
 till they were tired. 
 
 Though there was no ball season, the 
 children began to go out a great deal, and to 
 give little parties at home. 
 
 One day the little Grand Duchess Marie 
 was looking out of the window at a regi- 
 ment of soldiers marching past, and ex- 
 claimed, " Oh ! I love these dear soldiers ; 
 I should like to kiss them all ! " I said, 
 " Marie, nice little girls don't kiss soldiers." 
 She made no remark. A few days afterwards 
 we had a children's party, and the Grand 
 Duke Constantine's children were amongst 
 the guests. One of them, having reached 
 twelve years of age, had been put into the 
 Corps de Cadets, and came in his uniform. 
 He wanted to kiss his little cousin Marie, 
 but she put her hand over her mouth and 
 drew back from the proffered embrace. 
 " Go away, soldier," said she, with great
 
 134 S Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 dignity. " I don't kiss soldiers." The boy 
 was greatly delighted at being taken for a 
 real soldier, and not a little amused at the 
 same time. 
 
 I saw a great deal of St. Petersburg that 
 year, and visited, amongst other places of 
 interest, the Mint. I believe it is the largest 
 in the world. When I went they were 
 minting gold. They do all the melting with 
 wood fires, great furnaces. I do not know 
 how the men can stand over them. They 
 have a piece of gold there which the Grand 
 Duke Vladimir himself refined. In com- 
 parison to it an English sovereign looks 
 like copper. One of the workmen invented 
 a table by which gold can be counted very 
 quickly. This table is all divided into little 
 squares ; one thousand ten-rouble pieces 
 exactly fills each square. They can count 
 them about twenty thousand pieces of money 
 in an incredibly short space of time. Some 
 of the machinery used is of a very fine and 
 delicate nature. They mint here for the 
 whole Russian Empire, and here, too, are 
 struck the medals and decorations in use 
 in Russia. 
 
 I also saw the cathedral of Notre Dame
 
 The Little Prison Opener. 135 
 
 de Kazan. There are always many wor- 
 shippers in the Russian churches. One poor 
 woman was walking down the church on her 
 knees. In the church itself were sellers of 
 holy pictures. A lady who was with me 
 suggested she would buy me one of these 
 and I should buy her one in memory of this 
 visit. I agreed, and she accordingly chose 
 for herself the Madonna and Child. I paid 
 for it forty kopecks, which is about tenpence 
 of our money. This included in the blessing, 
 so it was cheap enough. It was now my turn 
 to choose, and I liked one with a picture of 
 St. George and the Dragon. It struck me as 
 being such a beautiful thing for adoration. 
 I put it up in my sitting-room across one of 
 the corners. Later on, the old archbishop, 
 who gave the little Grand Duchess Olga 
 religious instruction, came to lunch with 
 me. He looked at this icon, and said, 
 ' But your name is not Georgette, is it ? " 
 I answered, " No, father ; but it was given 
 to me by a friend." " Oh ! " said he, " and 
 his name was George ! " and he nodded his 
 head in a most knowing way. It so happens 
 that my friend is called Lilian. But I let 
 it pass.
 
 136 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 We also visited the cathedral of St. Isaac. 
 This, of course, is not the Isaac of the Bible 
 but a more modern saint. With the excep- 
 tion of Westminster Abbey, I know of no 
 church which pleases more than St. Isaac. 
 There is a beautiful golden screen, and 
 pillars of malachite, lapis lazulias and Italian 
 marble. I particularly admired the bronze 
 doors ; the workmanship of them is very 
 beautiful. Personally, I seldom admire 
 icons ; they are curious, but not to my mind 
 beautiful ; but St. Isaac's contains some very 
 fine specimens. I stood under the dome, 
 and, looking up, saw a dove apparently life- 
 size. I was afterwards told it measured 
 twelve feet from the tip of one wing to the 
 tip of the other. 
 
 The nursery party went to Tsarskoe Selo 
 very early that year, the Emperor and Em- 
 press staying on in St. Petersburg. We 
 returned to town at Easter, going back to 
 Tsarskoe Selo until it was time to go to 
 PeterhofL Just before we went to Peterhoff 
 that year, the Grand Duchess Olga had 
 typhoid fever. She had been ailing for a 
 few days, but the weather was unusually 
 hot for the time of the year, and we thought
 
 The Little Prison Opener. 137 
 
 that might be the cause and that the cooler 
 air of the seaside would probably be bene- 
 ficial to her, so the journey was not post- 
 poned. But when we arrived at Peterhoff 
 she was very ill, and had to be put to bed 
 at once. She lay there through five long 
 weary weeks. I nursed her day and night, 
 and at one time she was so ill that I feared 
 she would not recover ; but thank God she 
 did. She wearied to see her sister Tatiana, 
 and was very pleased when the doctor said 
 Tatiana might pay her a visit for just five 
 minutes. I went down and fetched her to 
 see Olga. She stood by the side of the bed 
 and conversed in a most amiable manner to 
 the little sick sister. I was rather surprised 
 at her manner, and when the five minutes 
 were up, told her I must take her down to 
 the nursery again. When she got outside 
 of the door, she exclaimed : " You told me 
 you were bringing me to see Olga and I 
 have not seen her." I told her that the 
 little girl in bed was indeed her sister. She 
 cried with great grief. ' That little pale 
 thin child is my dear sister Olga ! Oh no, 
 no ! I cannot believe it ! " She wept bit- 
 terly at the change, and it was difficult to
 
 138 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 persuade her that Olga would soon be her- 
 self again. 
 
 Olga was still in bed when little Anastasie 
 was born. Anastasie means " the breaker 
 of chains/' or " the prison opener," and in 
 the icon sacred to her she is always repre- 
 sented with broken fetters behind her. The 
 little Grand Duchess was called by this 
 name because, in honour of her birth, the 
 Emperor pardoned and reinstated the stu- 
 dents who had been imprisoned for partici- 
 pating in the riots in St. Petersburg and 
 Moscow during the winter. Alas ! many of 
 them were soon after in a state of revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 I cannot tell why the students are so rest- 
 less in the Russian universities. They must 
 know that in no country is the Government 
 committed into the hands of young men 
 studying for their professions. We are told 
 that there is little or no entrance examination, 
 no age disqualifications, and the fees are very 
 low. Every professor has a certain number 
 of free students who are elected to the order 
 in which they apply. Many of these stu- 
 dents have been failures, more or less, in 
 other branches of life, and naturally enough
 
 The Little Prison Opener. 139 
 
 they are also failures in the universities. 
 When they fail in their examinations they 
 say the examiners favoured so-and-so be- 
 cause he is rich, quite regardless of the 
 fact that failure to pass an examination does 
 not affect these free scholarships at all. 
 
 The anarchists, of whom many are to be 
 found in the universities in the guise of 
 students, find these discontented men an 
 easy prey, but tell them they will always be 
 passed over in life till all men are equal, etc. 
 Sipiaguin and Plevhe were both murdered 
 by students. 
 
 Sipiaguin' s murderer was hanged, because 
 for the purpose of getting near his victim 
 he assumed the uniform of an officer, and 
 represented that he was aide-de-camp to the 
 Grand Duke Serge, who had sent him with 
 a letter to the university ; he refused to 
 give any account of himself, and was conse- 
 quently tried as an officer by the War 
 Council, who alone can pass sentence of 
 death in Russia. There is no capital punish- 
 ment except for military offences. 
 
 All university students wear uniform. 
 The constitution of the Russian universities 
 may be the cause of the frequent outbreaks
 
 140 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 among the students. It is sad to think of 
 the mischief done to the cause of education 
 and to the more serious students, and the 
 great loss of time and enforced idleness, 
 when, as so often happens, the universities 
 are closed for three or even six months. 
 
 Recently the students organised a meet- 
 ing of protest against something or other, 
 and held it in the Nevsky, the principal 
 street in St. Petersburg. They chose the 
 front of the cathedral of St. Kazan to make 
 their speeches. Divine service was going 
 on at the time, and naturally enough the 
 police ordered them to clear. They refused 
 to do so, so the Cossacks charged them, 
 using their whips pretty freely. One woman 
 student threw a smoothing iron and killed 
 a young Cossack officer on the spot. This 
 enraged the Cossacks, who pressed the stu- 
 dents more closely. The latter took refuge 
 in the church ; stones were thrown and 
 the officiating priest was struck on the head 
 and severely wounded. Some hundreds of 
 students, including many women, were ar- 
 rested. They protested that they had only 
 come out to walk just to amuse themselves, 
 and were hemmed in by the Cossacks, and
 
 The Little Prison Opener. 141 
 
 were only fighting to get clear of the 
 crowd. 
 
 The authorities thought it was best to 
 send them to the country for a while, and 
 the ringleaders were put in prison. 
 
 The Grand Duchess Anastasie Nicolaivna 
 was baptised when she was a fortnight old. 
 I was not present at the ceremony as the 
 Grand Duchess Olga had not yet quite re- 
 covered from the fever. But the ceremony 
 was exactly the same at that observed for 
 the baptism of the Grand Duchess Marie. 
 
 Many people have expressed surprise that 
 one of the little Grand Duchesses was not 
 called Victoria or Alexandra. The Russian 
 Church only allows names which exist in the 
 language. Victoria does not exist, though 
 Victor does ; Alexandra is considered very 
 unlutky for the Romanoff family. 
 
 The Emperor Paul had a daughter named 
 Alexandra. Her life was short, but troubled. 
 When she was about seventeen years of age 
 her grandmother, Catherine II., arranged a 
 marriage for her with the King of Sweden. 
 The wedding-day arrived, the bride was 
 dressed, the tables laid for the feast, the 
 guests assembled and the priests in waiting.
 
 142 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 The bridegroom suddenly declared to his 
 gentlemen that he could not and would not 
 go on with the marriage. Vainly they 
 implored him not to insult his chosen bride 
 and the great Russian nation. He was 
 obstinate. The bride and her family waited 
 for him. Presently a very frightened and 
 trembling courtier crept timidly into the 
 room, and throwing himself on the ground 
 before the august Catherine, broke the 
 terrible news to her. She was already angry 
 at the delay and her wrath was terrible to 
 witness. 
 
 The King of Sweden and his suite left 
 the Winter Palace as quickly as possible. 
 A marriage was speedily arranged for the 
 poor humiliated young Grand Duchess with 
 an Austrian Grand Duke, but she never 
 recovered the shock, and died broken-hearted 
 at nineteen years of age. 
 
 Nicholas I. had a very beautiful daughter 
 named Alexandra. She was married to the 
 step-son of Napoleon" Bonaparte. She died 
 of scarlatina before she was twenty years of 
 age. There is a beautiful statue to her 
 memory at Tsarskoe Selo, also a lovely little 
 memorial church.
 
 The Little Prison Opener. 143 
 
 Alexandra II. had a daughter of the 
 name ; she died in childhood ; a pretty 
 golden-haired child she was, judging by 
 her portrait. A little blue silk frock which 
 she used to wear is still shown in the Winter 
 Palace. 
 
 Other branches of the family had also 
 Alexandras, but in no case did they live to 
 be twenty-one years of age.
 
 144 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MY FIRST MEETING WITH THE KING. 
 
 WE went to Denmark that year. There 
 was a great gathering of Royalties there, 
 including the King and Queen of Eng- 
 land, Princess Victoria of England, and her 
 sister, Princess Charles of Denmark, the 
 Emperor and two Empresses of Russia, the 
 King of Greece with one of his sons, and 
 many other Royalties. 
 
 We stayed at Fredenburg that time. It 
 is a good way from Copenhagen, and is a 
 great deal bigger than Bernstorff. There 
 is a large park there. 
 
 King Edward VII. arrived after we did, 
 and the day he was expected Queen Alex- 
 andra came into the nurseries and told me 
 he was coming, and asked me to make the 
 children look very nice. I showed her the 
 dresses I had prepared for them, and she
 
 My First Meeting with the King. 145 
 
 admired them very much. She often said 
 they were always so nicely dressed and kept. 
 When we were leaving the Queen gave me a 
 photograph (signed) of herself, the King and 
 his little grand-children, with such kind and 
 gracious words as she only can speak. 
 
 The King frequently spoke to me, too, 
 and called me " My Irish subject." He has 
 very winning manners and great tact. He 
 has a marvellous memory. This year he 
 sent me, in memory of the birth of the 
 Czarovitch, a brooch, in green enamel, because 
 I am Irish. They say he never forgets any- 
 thing, and I know he never forgets to be 
 kind. 
 
 We saw a good deal of the Empress's 
 family that year, as her eldest sister, Prin- 
 cess Louis of Battenberg, her husband, and 
 all her family stayed with us in Peterhoff 
 during the summer. 
 
 Princess Louis of Battenberg has four 
 beautiful children. I think her two 
 daughters are about the handsomest of the 
 young grown-up princesses of Europe. The 
 eldest one, Princess Alice, was married to 
 the Prince Andre of Greece last year ; she 
 is very pretty, but I admire the younger 
 
 10
 
 146 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 sister more. They were both charming 
 young girls, and she has two fine boys. 
 
 Some years ago now Prince Louis's ship 
 was stationed in the Shannon. He went 
 over to Kilkee to spend one night and see 
 the place. . Quite close to the station is a 
 hotel, very nice and comfortable, but not 
 first-class. The Prince took a room in the 
 hotel, left his bag, and went for a stroll. 
 He had observed that the room con- 
 tained two beds. When he returned to the 
 hotel he was surprised to find one bed occu- 
 pied by a commercial traveller. He sent for 
 the manageress, and asked for a room for 
 himself. She was exceedingly angry and 
 scolded him violently, winding up with, "I'd 
 like to know who you are to object to anyone. 
 I'm sure you are no better than a little 
 commercial traveller yourself." The Prince 
 replied that all that might be very true, 
 still he would like a room to himself. Where- 
 upon the woman told him he might have a 
 room in a small cottage which she had taken 
 outside the hotel. The Prince accordingly 
 went to the little cottage and slept there. 
 
 Prince Louis signed his name in the 
 visitors' book in the morning, and the
 
 My First Meeting with the King. 147 
 
 woman's horror and consternation may 
 better be imagined than described. She 
 was absolutely sure that the Queen would 
 have her arrested for having been imper- 
 tinent to her son-in-law, as she called him. 
 
 I was in Kilkee at the time the incident 
 occurred, but could hardly believe the story, 
 but the Prince himself assured me that it 
 was absolutely true, and was greatly amused 
 at the idea of meeting anyone from that 
 remote spot in the Imperial Palace of 
 Peterhoff. 
 
 10'
 
 148 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 LOST IN THE FOREST. 
 
 BUT to return to Kiel and our journey to 
 Spala. As a general rule, when the hour 
 for departure was late, the children and I 
 went down to the train early in the evening 
 when they were putting in the luggage, and 
 we were then shunted into a siding, and I 
 got the children to bed in good time quietly 
 and comfortably and they slept till morning. 
 
 On this occasion there was no siding long 
 enough to hold the train, so orders had been 
 given that we were to move slowly up and 
 down, and arrangements had been made that 
 we should not disturb the general traffic. 
 
 We were hardly in the train when it went 
 off at a perfectly terrific rate eighty-five 
 miles an hour I was afterwards told. In a 
 few minutes we were all desperately sick
 
 Lost in the Forest. 149 
 
 from the rocking. The poor children were 
 terrified. I feared every moment the train 
 would topple over. The servants were on 
 their knees praying ; everyone was upset. 
 
 With great difficulty I made my way to 
 the engineer to beg him to reduce the speed. 
 He was very sorry, said he had not had any 
 idea that the results of going at such a pace 
 would be so frightful, but he could not now 
 reduce the speed, as the risk of running into 
 other traffic was too great. Our train was 
 too long and heavy, and he could not stop 
 it now, not even for five minutes. He wished 
 to try the engines, he said, and thought that 
 a good opportunity. For nearly four hours 
 we rushed up and down in the darkness, 
 through Germany, at this rate. Fortunately 
 I had got the children to bed, and they 
 slept, poor little mites, worn out by the 
 fright and crying. 
 
 Both my elbows were bruised and sore, 
 and my face suffered, too, from being dashed 
 against the furniture and falling on the floor. 
 The Emperor and Empress were greatly 
 shocked at our appearance, and the Em- 
 peror was really angry when he heard what 
 had happened. I felt sick and giddy for
 
 150 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 a week after ; it was more trying than a sea 
 voyage. 
 
 The Empress had given me a present of a 
 nice dressing-bag. I had it with me in the 
 wagon, and saw it put out on the station 
 at Spala; it, however, never arrived at the 
 house. It was stolen probably by one of 
 the carters, and though we offered rewards 
 we never heard of it. The priest even 
 spoke from the altar, and said if it was only 
 returned no questions would be asked, but 
 it was never found. I was very sorry, as I 
 had many little things in it which I valued 
 exceedingly, and also a diary which I had 
 kept concerning the children. The police 
 even instituted a search in the neighbouring 
 town, but all of no avail. 
 
 I have already spoken of the forest in 
 Spala, and while we were there a little child 
 born the same day as the Grand Duchess 
 Marie, and therefore about two years and 
 four months old, was lost in this forest. 
 She was the youngest child of one of the 
 keepers, and was playing near her mother 
 while the latter was preparing dinner. The 
 door was open, and the wee thing toddled 
 out and wandered away. The mother
 
 Lost in the Forest. 151 
 
 thought she was playing in the little garden, 
 and was quite easy about her. 
 
 When the father came home to dinner 
 the baby could not be found. Soon every 
 man about the place was hunting for the 
 lost child. The Emperor stayed at home 
 from shooting that day, and guards, police, 
 keepers, foresters and others all turned out 
 to seek for the lost child. The terrible fear 
 was that she had been carried off by some 
 wild beast. 
 
 A cordon was drawn round twenty miles 
 of the forest, and searched carefully. 
 Neighbours stayed with the poor distracted 
 mother, and a fire was kept up and hot 
 water and soup, etc., were always ready. 
 To add to the distress heavy snow fell. All 
 night and far into the next afternoon search 
 was continued, but without result, till a 
 soldier who had been out all night and was 
 returning saw something fluttering under a 
 bush. Drawing near he found the little one 
 on her hands and knees under the bush, 
 soaked through and perfectly unconscious. 
 He quickly carried her home ; she was un- 
 dressed and put to bed, and given restora- 
 tives. In the evening she was quite re-
 
 152 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 covered playing about the cottage home, 
 and she very speedily forgot the whole story. 
 It was a good thing she was so young, or the 
 effect on her mind might have been disastrous. 
 
 We used to go long drives about Spala in 
 a little pony carriage with just the coach- 
 man. I began to be afraid that it was not 
 quite safe as an accident might happen to 
 the ponies, and none of us spoke one word 
 of Polish, and it would have been impossible 
 to send for help if anything did occur, so I 
 asked that a Cossack might be sent after us 
 on horseback. 
 
 This was accordingly done. The first day 
 after the change was made we were driving 
 through a village when we saw a man 
 running down a hilly field towards us. He 
 was clad only in his night-shirt. I thought 
 he must have escaped from his bed, in 
 delirium, and that he might be suffering 
 from smallpox or typhoid, so was rather 
 frightened. However, as soon as he saw 
 the Cossack he turned and ran in another 
 direction without attacking us in any way. 
 
 Next day he was found, in the same cos- 
 tume, in a wood at some distance from the 
 village. The police asked him who he was,
 
 Lost in the Forest. 153 
 
 He professed to be amazed at their ignorance, 
 and proclaimed himself as the King of 
 Poland. One of the police asked him, 
 " Where is your passport ? " " What ! " 
 he said ; " you are a policeman, and don't 
 know that a king has no need of a passport." 
 He proved to be a dangerous lunatic much 
 addicted to stone throwing. 
 
 When we stayed in Poland we generally 
 took a certain number of local people into 
 the house as servants, not that we wanted 
 them, but just to give them employment. 
 
 I never saw such dirty people ; they ran 
 about the house in bare feet, often covered 
 with mud from the roads. Their costumes 
 consisted of a striped woollen petticoat, a 
 black cloth three-quarter length jacket, a 
 striped woollen apron tied over it, a similar 
 apron round their heads or tied by the strings 
 round the shoulders like a kind of shawl. They 
 would only speak Polish, and professed not 
 to understand when addressed in Russian, 
 though I afterwards found, when it came 
 to a question of getting money, that they 
 not only understood perfectly all that was 
 said, but could read and write Russian with 
 very few exceptions.
 
 154 S* x Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 The Russian who was paying them 
 laughed heartily at my amazement at hear- 
 ing them answer him in Russian and sign 
 their names in the book for the money they 
 received, but a golden key is very powerful 
 all the world over. 
 
 Some time ago in St. Petersburg a lady 
 whom I knew very slightly met me and said, 
 " I gave that person you sent me twelve 
 roubles, but I think it only right to tell you 
 that I fear she is an impostor." Greatly 
 amazed I asked her what she meant. 
 
 She told me a lady had called to see her ; 
 said she was a Pole and a great friend of 
 mine and knew me intimately in Tsarskoe 
 Selo ; that I had helped her as much as I 
 could, and then evidently sent her amongst 
 my friends and acquaintances to levy con- 
 tributions on them. Miss C. offered her 
 five roubles (about ten shillings), but she 
 said it would be useless to her ; she must 
 have twelve to pay her rent, or she and her 
 five children would be turned out in the 
 snowy streets. Had her case not been 
 urgent I would not have sent her, and so 
 forth. Needless to say I knew absolutely 
 nothing of the woman.
 
 Lost in the Forest. 155 
 
 A couple of days after this she visited the 
 Winter Palace, but not me ; she knew better 
 than that. She visited Madame G. and 
 asked her to give her a situation in any capa- 
 city in the nurseries under me. Vainly 
 Madame G. assured her there was no vacancy. 
 " We could easily make one," she declared. 
 She then begged for ten roubles and refused 
 to stir till one of the Polish ministers was 
 called upon. He sent for her to his room, 
 and her story of her five little children was so 
 sad that he gave her twenty roubles, and 
 promised to make inquiries and get her work. 
 
 She was not known at the address given. 
 
 She next was heard of at the Grand 
 Duchess Olga Alexandrovna's house, and 
 went away with money and a good deal of 
 work. The Grand Duchess was greatly in- 
 terested in her. 
 
 She turned up at the Grand Duke Serge's 
 house in Moscow, when she said she was 
 Madame G., and had been called suddenly 
 to the south of Russia, and was about thirty 
 roubles short for her journey. Would Made- 
 moiselle D. lend it to her, or should she apply 
 to the Governor ? 
 
 It so happened that a personal friend of
 
 156 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Madame G. was present, and was delighted 
 at the prospect of seeing her, and went 
 downstairs. To her amazement she was 
 confronted by a stranger who explained that 
 she was Madame G.'s servant. 
 
 Her mother was very ill in the south, and 
 she had got a telegram saying to go at once 
 if she wished to see her alive. Madame G. 
 had hurried her off, but had not sufficient 
 money to pay for the journey ; she had told 
 her to call at the Governor's house and 
 mademoiselle would give her the money. 
 
 She had been in Madame G.'s employ- 
 ment for ten years, knew all about her 
 rooms, and spoke so fluently that this 
 money was given. Needless to say, no one 
 belonging to any of the palaces ever saw 
 either the woman or the money again.
 
 157 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE CHILDREN. 
 
 WE returned to Tsarskoe Selo early in 
 November, and stayed there till after Christ- 
 mas, then as usual went to St. Petersburg for 
 New Year's Day. 
 
 There was a very gay season that year, 
 many balls and dinners and supper parties. 
 The year before there was no gaiety owing 
 to the Court being in mourning for Queen 
 Victoria. 
 
 The Crown Prince of Germany paid us a 
 visit, and became very intimate with his 
 little cousins. His visit was spoiled, how- 
 ever, by an attack of influenza. 
 
 The early part of the year passed just as 
 usual. The little Grand Duchess Tatiana now 
 began to learn English reading and writing ; 
 Olga's education was of course much further 
 advanced. She had masters for music and
 
 158 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Russian. Both children have a very marked 
 talent for music ; the Empress and some of 
 her sisters are very musical, but the Emperor 
 neither plays nor sings. He is, however, 
 very fond of music. He told me he could 
 not learn because his masters insisted on 
 his playing by note, and he preferred picking 
 up tunes he liked by ear. 
 
 One day the arithmetic master, a pro- 
 fessor of algebra from one of the universities, 
 wished Olga to write something ; she asked 
 his leave to go in to the Russian master, 
 who was teaching little Tatiana in the next 
 room. He said she could go, but asked her 
 what she wanted to say to him. She told 
 him she could not spell " arithmetic." He 
 told her how this difficult word was written, 
 and she exclaimed, with great admiration, 
 " How clever you are ! and how hard you 
 must have studied to be able, not only to 
 count so well, but to spell such very long 
 words ! " She thought me a marvel of 
 education, and confided in her music master 
 that no one in the whole world knew so much 
 as I did ; she thought I knew everything, 
 except music and Russian. 
 
 Though she is in some things advanced
 
 
 , 
 
 . - - - 
 
 A sketch by the (irund Duchess Olga. 
 
 [/'at ing page 158.
 
 Concerning the Children. 159 
 
 beyond most children of her age, in others 
 she is far behind them. This arises, of course, 
 from her very sheltered life. 
 
 On one occasion the milliner brought 
 them new hats, with which she was greatly 
 pleased ; she told me she thought Madame B. 
 was the very kindest woman in the world. 
 " She went all the way to Paris/' she said, 
 " and brought us a present of those beau- 
 tiful hats." I explained that it was 
 madame's business, and that the hats had 
 been bought, not given as a present. She 
 looked a little puzzled, and then said, " I 
 am afraid you are making a mistake ; you 
 did not give her any money, and I know she 
 did not go to mama for it." 
 
 Her only knowledge of shops and shop- 
 ping was derived from the toy and sweet 
 shops in Darmstadt. One day she asked 
 me why the Americans spoke English, not 
 American. I told her the story of the 
 Pilgrim Fathers, and described how they 
 built houses and shops, and so made towns. 
 She was exceedingly interested and inquired, 
 ' Where did they find the toys to sell in 
 the shops ? " 
 
 I was reading " Alice in Wonderland "
 
 160 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 and " Through the Looking-Glass " to them 
 lately, and she was horrified at the manners 
 of the queens. " No queens/' she said, 
 " would be so rude." When I read about 
 Alice's journey by railway she was exceed- 
 ingly amused, and thought it very funny that 
 she had not a compartment to herself. I 
 told her in travelling each person took one 
 ticket and occupied just one seat in the 
 train, and told her some tickets cost more 
 than others, and the highest-priced tickets 
 meant a better place in the train. 
 
 She listened and said, " And when you 
 travel can anyone with the same kind of 
 ticket you have get into the same carriage as 
 you do ? " I told her, " Yes." So she 
 said, " If I were you, I should take a whole 
 compartment for myself." I said, " But 
 you forget that these other people might 
 object to me, and say, ' I won't sit beside 
 that person.' ' " Oh no," said she. 
 " Everyone in the whole world would be 
 glad to sit beside you." 
 
 Lately she was reading some little stories 
 from English history ; she read about the 
 English cutting off the Welsh Prince 
 Llewellyn's head, and sending it to London.
 
 A drawing of the Czarina \>y the (".rand Duchess 
 Olga. A picture of unique interest. 
 
 [ /-'iii'inif fiw 1 60.
 
 Concerning the Children. 161 
 
 She was awfully shocked, and read the story 
 again. Then she exclaimed, " Well, it 
 was a good thing he was dead before they 
 cut off his head ; it would have hurt him 
 most awfully if he was alive." I said that 
 they were not always so kind, and some- 
 times cut the heads off living people, and 
 later she would read of them doing such 
 things. She said, " Well, I really think 
 people are much better now than they used 
 to be. I'm very glad I live now when people 
 are so kind." 
 
 ii
 
 162 
 
 CHERSONESE. 
 
 ON our way to the Crimea in the autumn 
 of 1902 we passed the spot where the Imperial 
 train was wrecked some sixteen or seventeen 
 years ago. 
 
 A church has been erected, and the 
 Emperor and Empress, with the little Grand 
 Duchess Olga, attended divine service there. 
 Many curious stories of hair-breadth escapes 
 from death have been told me concerning 
 this accident. 
 
 Electricity was used for the first time in 
 the Imperial train on this journey. The 
 train got most uncomfortably hot, and the 
 Empress thought there was something wrong 
 with the electrical engines, so she sent for 
 the engineer and asked him to see why the 
 train was so hot. 
 
 Taking his assistant with him he went
 
 ^-ari 
 
 - cr; 
 
 .. 
 --, 
 
 ^| 
 
 , 
 ** 
 
 - .;-. 
 ' --JS?'^*^"'' ' 
 
 -^*S 
 
 A sketch l)y the (inind Duchess ()I"U.
 
 Chersonese. 163 
 
 into the engine-room ; it was very hot there, 
 and both men soon laid aside their coats and 
 worked in their shirt-sleeves. 
 
 It was still too hot, and in spite of the 
 remonstrance of his assistant, the engineer 
 opened the window. In another moment 
 the first shock of the explosion, or whatever 
 wrecked the train was felt, and the two 
 men were sent flying out of the window 
 and down the slope. They fell about thirty 
 feet, and arrived unhurt in the snow. 
 
 But many were killed and wounded ; 
 in one compartment two officers had put 
 their swords in the netting over their heads. 
 The swords fell out of the sheathes and 
 struck them on the backs of their heads, 
 killing them outright. The Secretary was 
 precipitated through the window, and falling 
 on his head, turned over and broke his 
 neck. 
 
 The Imperial family were at luncheon when 
 it occurred. The servant was just handing 
 a dish of calves' brains to the Emperor 
 when suddenly the shock threw them all 
 to the ground. Most of them, including the 
 present Emperor, found themselves under the 
 table. 
 
 n*
 
 164 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 The Emperor was the first to recover ; 
 he was shocked to see the servant lying 
 apparently dead, his face covered with blood 
 and brains, and exclaimed with horror, 
 " Oh ! poor fellow ! his brains are dashed 
 out." The supposed corpse sat up and 
 began to speak ; he had cut his head in the 
 fall and the brains were not his, but those of 
 the calf. 
 
 The little Grand Duchess Olga Alex- 
 androvna was thrown, with her nurse, through 
 the window. They were both cut and 
 bruised and the nurse sustained internal 
 injuries, but nothing very serious ; it was a 
 wonderful escape. 
 
 In all, about thirty people lost their lives, 
 but none of the Imperial family were seriously 
 injured. 
 
 Some say it was the work of anarchists. 
 If so, they selected their spot with a care 
 and ingenuity worthy of a better cause, 
 as just in that place the ground dips and 
 falls about thirty feet downwards from the 
 railway. For miles on each side the track 
 is perfectly level. 
 
 Others say that the lines had spread and 
 so the train was turned over. Less than an
 
 Chersonese. 165 
 
 hour before the pilot train, carrying most of 
 the suite, had passed over in perfect 
 safety. 
 
 We lay at anchor several days in Sevastopol 
 harbour, and made several excursions to 
 the town and adjacent country. 
 
 A battleship for the Black Sea Squadron 
 was launched while we were there. 
 
 Every night the harbour and fleet were 
 illuminated and looked most beautiful. The 
 children were delighted with the appearance 
 of the ships and greatly puzzled as to how 
 it was done. 
 
 However, we got to Sevastopol safely. 
 The town is situated on high cliffs, and 
 looks inaccessible from the water side ; it 
 is very open at the rear. The town still 
 bears marks of the siege. It is all paved 
 with cobble stones and is the noisiest place 
 in the world for its area, I feel sure. It is 
 picturesque. We were there early in October 
 and the heat was intolerable. No rain falls 
 during the summer months, and everything 
 looks dried and choked with dust. 
 
 We passed through the famous quarries 
 where the English lay entrenched and so 
 much desperate fighting took place. Beyond
 
 1 66 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 these quarries are the graveyards where lie 
 the victims, or some of them, of the war. 
 
 To understand something of the horrors 
 of war we should visit, in cold blood the 
 battle-fields, and see the graves of the 
 fallen, and then count up as far as possible 
 profits and losses. I feel sure that the vote 
 would be given against the waste of human 
 lives. 
 
 We visited the English graveyard. The 
 piece of ground was bought from Russia 
 and is enclosed with a stone wall, the 
 entrance is handsome, and the whole place 
 is kept in beautiful order. There is a resi- 
 dent caretaker, a Russian, who keeps all 
 trim, and plants and tends flowers and 
 shrubs with great care. Parts of the walls 
 are festooned with clematis and plumbago, 
 which flourish exceedingly. In the spring 
 the Judas tree is a mass of purple blossoms. 
 Humbler flowers, such as snapdragon, 
 scabius, cornflowers, etc., grow on the graves. 
 But those graves ! The inscriptions on them 
 are sad beyond belief. 
 
 A black marble slab bore the name of a 
 young woman, and underneath that of a 
 three days old baby, evidently her son,
 
 The English Cemetery, Sevastopol. 
 
 f /-'tiling page \ 66.
 
 Chersonese. 167 
 
 but nothing more to tell whose daughter 
 and wife she had been, nor under what 
 circumstances she had come out to perish 
 at twenty-one years of age with her infant 
 son in a far land, amid the strain and stress 
 of war. 
 
 One stone covers the remains of four 
 youthful officers. The inscription sets out 
 that though unrelated, and in different 
 regiments, they were bound together by 
 their youth, heroism, and love of country. 
 They fell in one battle and were buried in 
 one grave. Their ages were from seventeen 
 to twenty-one years, united they would 
 not have been eighty. Poor boys ! Who 
 can tell how many hopes and fears, ambition, 
 and love lie buried with them. 
 
 In one grave lie the remains of over four 
 hundred men who fell together. 
 
 I found the grave of a hero of whom 
 I had read much in my youthful days, 
 Captain Headley Vicars. He lies with his 
 head to the wall ; his grave is well kept. 
 He was only twenty-seven years of age. 
 In so short a life we would have thought 
 there was little room for distinction, but his 
 name will long be remembered for his great
 
 1 68 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 piety. " He rests from his labours, and 
 his works do follow him." He was killed 
 in the quarries one night. 
 
 On the other side of Sevastopol lies 
 Chersonese, the lately excavated city. It 
 was founded in the fourth century and was 
 burned in the fourteenth by a horde of war- 
 like Tartars. Some years ago something was 
 dug up on the property of a local gentleman 
 which led him to believe that the buried city 
 lay under his property. Excavations were 
 began and were crowned with victory. They 
 found the remains of what was the chief 
 street of the city. Portions of the houses 
 remained and human remains lay about in 
 all directions. They gathered these ghastly 
 things and buried them. In many of the 
 houses cooking operations had evidently been 
 going on when sudden death overtook the 
 inhabitants. There were many burned and 
 charred loaves of bread taken from the 
 ovens. There are also five eggs quite intact 
 which were found in one of the houses. 
 Fancy eggs more than five hundred years 
 old! 
 
 There is a great deal of beautiful cut stone 
 work ; also various articles of pottery and
 
 Chersonese. 169 
 
 glass. Many of the specimens look like 
 old-fashioned silver lustre. Some of the 
 articles are very graceful in shape. 
 
 There is also gold and silver jewellery 
 set with precious stones and some precious 
 stones, chains, brooches, and long, heavy 
 ear-rings, also bracelets. Many of these were 
 set with turquoise which had kept their 
 colour wonderfully well. 
 
 The jawbone of a woman had each tooth 
 filed to a point. The owner of it must have 
 been a person of consideration in her own 
 circles, for though they found hundreds of 
 jawbones this was the only one with the 
 teeth so decorated. Or perhaps she was 
 the first to adopt a new fashion in teeth 
 and the other ladies of Chersonese were 
 waiting to see what their lords and masters 
 thought of it before taking to it. I should 
 suppose she would have suffered terribly from 
 toothache. One thing that struck me about 
 the jaw was its exceeding smallness. 
 
 In one of the houses papers were found 
 containing, amongst other valuable informa- 
 tion, a plan of the city, and of the church, 
 which had been excavated just before our 
 visit.
 
 170 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 The church was surrounded by four wells, 
 north, south, east, and west. The water 
 in three of them was brackish and bitter, 
 that in the fourth was sweet and good for 
 drinking. There were catacombs under- 
 neath the church and the mosaic on the 
 floor of the church was described at length. 
 
 A few days before we visited the place 
 the fourth well had been discovered. The 
 three others had been discovered some little 
 time before, and all three contained brackish 
 water, but the fourth was sweet and quite 
 good for use. There was great excitement 
 about it, but nothing on earth would induce 
 me to drink it, nor to allow the children 
 to do so ; I am not fond of trying experi- 
 ments, and should not like to drink water 
 which had been shut up for five hundred 
 years. 
 
 Some of our party went down to see the 
 catacombs, and one of them kicked over a 
 skull, but I preferred to remain in the sun- 
 light of the upper world. They found 
 quantities of human remains there. The 
 stairs leading down to them are in good 
 repair. 
 
 The walls of the church stand to about
 
 Chersonese. 171 
 
 the height of four feet, and have been 
 strongly cemented on the top to try to keep 
 them together. In one end of the church 
 there is built into the fabric a semi-circular 
 seat where the priests used to sit ; it would 
 hold twelve comfortably, but the floor is 
 in beautiful repair. The mosaics are most 
 extraordinary ; there are patterns of birds, 
 chalices, crosses, etc., all linked into a 
 harmonious whole and all executed with 
 the common pebbles from the sea- shore. 
 They were rubbed and polished by the feet 
 and knees of dead and gone worshippers. 
 
 The church is cruciform in shape. Tradi- 
 tion says it was built by Vladimir, the first 
 Christian ruler of Russia, to commemorate 
 his baptism which took place in a little chapel 
 which had been incorporated into a monastery 
 built on the top of a hill at a little distance 
 off. 
 
 In the Winter Palace is a picture of the 
 heads of Vladimir, Peter the Great, and 
 Alexander II., joined together in the one 
 painting, because they gave the three great 
 gifts of Christianity, civilisation, and freedom 
 to their country. 
 
 The gentleman who had carried out these
 
 172 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 most interesting excavations came down to 
 see the Imperial children, and showed them 
 all the Museum. He afterwards congratu- 
 lated me most earnestly ; he said he had 
 never seen such young children take so 
 intelligent an interest in antiquities, and he 
 was sure / must often have talked to them 
 on such subjects, etc. Had he only known 
 it was their good manners he also ought 
 to have admired, as the poor little ones 
 did not understand much of what they 
 heard. For one thing they were too young, 
 and for another, in deference to me, he spoke 
 in French. 
 
 That year in the Crimea we saw a great 
 deal of Princess Ellen, now of Servia. She 
 was a very sweet-faced though plain girl, 
 with beautiful dark eyes, very quiet and 
 amiable in manner. The little Grand 
 Duchess Olga was very fond of her, and 
 Princess Ellen would often come to tea in 
 the nurseries, her young aunt, Princess Vera 
 of Montenegro, and the young cousins with 
 whom she lived most of the time. Princess 
 Ellen was about seventeen years of age. 
 Her mother had been dead for many years 
 and she lived chiefly with one or other of
 
 Chersonese. 173 
 
 the aunts in Russia. What a change has 
 come into her life ! I often think of her with 
 deep pity and compassion. She can never 
 know an easy moment, surrounded as she is 
 by the assassins of the late king and queen. 
 Poor, gentle, amiable girl ! What will be her 
 fate ? 
 
 The Shah of Persia sent his conjuror over 
 to the Emperor that year, and he performed 
 for the children, who gave a large party 
 of their friends, including Princess Ellen, to 
 see him. He was really a most wonderful 
 performer and did many extraordinary tricks. 
 We had placed all the little ones in the front 
 row and when he produced a pair of live 
 pigeons from a pudding their joy knew 
 no bounds. He presently produced a guinea- 
 pig, passed his hand over it, and lo ! there 
 were two in his hands. In a moment three 
 little girls were on the platform, and eager 
 voices cried, " Oh ! please, Mr. Conjuror, 
 make me a guinea-pig for myself." My 
 three eldest charges attacked him with 
 beseeching eyes and hands. I verily believe 
 he would have given them his trained guinea- 
 pigs, but I ran and stopped him, telling 
 the children that the little animals were
 
 174 Si* Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 so fond of their master, and would be un- 
 happy if taken away, I managed to get them 
 into the hall again. 
 
 The nights in the Crimea are usually dark, 
 and the roads exceedingly bad, so when we 
 went out to tea our carriage was always 
 preceded by a common cart, in which were 
 tar barrels and torches to light us. The 
 roads, many of which went up frightful 
 mountains, are most unsafe. 
 
 The season of 1903 was exceptionally 
 brilliant ; the great event was the famous 
 costume ball which was given in the old part 
 of the palace, and at the request of the 
 various Embassies was repeated in the new 
 part. 
 
 All present were arrayed in the costumes 
 worn at the court of the Emperor Alexis, 
 father of Peter the Great. The Empress 
 went dressed as his first wife, and her ladies- 
 in-waiting copied their dresses from pictures 
 of costumes worn by the belles of his 
 court. The Empress's dress was indeed 
 magnificent. It was in cloth of gold em- 
 broidered in pearl beads. The whole front 
 of it was encrusted with precious stones, 
 and had ropes of pearls down the sides.
 
 Chersonese. 175 
 
 She wore her emeralds with it, and had a 
 crown made especially for the occasion, 
 decorated with emeralds. 
 
 Her dress and jewels cost upwards of a 
 million roubles, more than a hundred 
 thousand pounds of our money. It was, 
 however, tremendously heavy and hot. The 
 married ladies all wore the hair covered 
 with a cloth resembling an embroidered 
 napkin ; the unmarried showed their hair. 
 A very busy man was the coiffeur who 
 dressed the hair, adding to the ladies' own 
 tresses, curls or plaits. 
 
 Men's dress must have been most gorgeous 
 in those days. Count Benkendorff, the 
 Mareshal de la Cour, wore white satin tunic 
 and knee-breeches trimmed with ermine, 
 surmounted by a black velvet cape with a 
 fur collar, and a small black velvet hat 
 bound with ermine. He looked very well 
 and exceedingly dignified. A couple of men 
 came as falconers in doublets and hose and 
 wearing yellow top-boots very much turned 
 up at the toes. They had falcons chained 
 to their wrists. Not a few were in chain 
 armour. It was the gayest scene I have 
 ever seen. They danced old-fashioned
 
 176 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Russian dances which tell by gestures a 
 story of courtship. The lady first pretends 
 not to see her humble adoring swain, coming 
 round by degrees, till finally they dance 
 together, and walk up and down the hall, 
 hand in hand, he evidently very pleased of 
 his victory over the coy maiden, and she 
 looking very demure and modest.
 
 177 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE PRIEST. 
 
 WE passed the year much as usual, only 
 going to Moscow for Easter. 
 
 On our return to Tsarskoe Selo the Empress 
 manifested symptoms of whooping cough. 
 It speedily spread to the nurseries and the 
 four children. The Russian nurse and I 
 contracted it. I had told the children they 
 were to be most careful not to cough on 
 anyone, or that person might take the disease 
 from them, and they were very obedient. 
 One day the little Grand Duchess Anastasie 
 was sitting in my lap, coughing and choking 
 away, when the Grand Duchess Marie came 
 to her and putting her face close up to her 
 said, " Baby, darling, cough on me." 
 
 Greatly amazed, I asked her what she 
 meant, and the dear child said, " I am so 
 sorry to see my dear little sister so ill, and 
 
 12
 
 178 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 I thought if I could take it from her she 
 would be better." Was it not touching ? 
 
 But all things come to an end, even 
 whooping cough, and one day when we 
 were all well I went up to town to do some 
 shopping. I was talking to the proprietor 
 when a priest came in. He asked for what 
 he wanted and then turned to me and said, 
 " I heard your voice when I came in, and am 
 sure you are a compatriot of mine. You are 
 Irish, are you not ? " 
 
 I answered his question in the affirmative, 
 and he said he knew, and asked my name 
 and from what part I came. He himself 
 came from the same part, and knew some of 
 my family. 
 
 He told me that though he was an Irish- 
 man his work lay in Glasgow, in the poorest 
 and worst part of that town, down by the 
 docks. From time to time poor Poles came 
 to live in his parish, and he was sometimes 
 called up to administer the sacraments to 
 them, but owing to their mutual inability 
 to understand each other, he could do little 
 for them. 
 
 Out of pity for them, thus cut off from 
 all religious comfort, he had undertaken
 
 The Priest. 179 
 
 to travel to Poland, and try to get into 
 communication with the priests there, to 
 get them a supply of prayer-books, cate- 
 chisms, and other religious books which 
 might be a help and solace to them in a far 
 country in times of distress. 
 
 When I returned I told the Empress of 
 his care over his flock. She begged me to 
 thank him in her name for his care of and 
 love for her poor Polish subjects, should 
 I ever see him again. I am sorry to say 
 I omitted to ask him his address. The 
 Empress's words might have encouraged him 
 in his task. 
 
 Should he by any chance see these words 
 I take the opportunity of giving him the 
 Empress's message, and of telling him that 
 I have so often thought of and prayed for 
 him, that God would bless him in his work. 
 He is a good man.
 
 i8o 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PRINCESS ELLA. 
 
 THERE was a great family gathering in 
 Darmstadt in September, 1903, to celebrate 
 the marriage of the Princess Alice of Batten- 
 berg (a daughter of the Empress's sister) 
 to Prince Andre of Greece (a nephew of 
 Queen Alexandra). 
 
 They had been engaged for quite two 
 years, but owing to the extreme youth of 
 both the marriage was postponed. The four 
 Hessian sisters were all in Darmstadt, and 
 at a ball given in their honour all looked 
 lovely. Amongst the other guests were the 
 Queen of England, who is closely related 
 to both bride and groom, and Princess 
 Victoria. 
 
 We stayed in the new palace. It was 
 built, I believe, for Princess Alice and is 
 a nice, roomy, comfortable residence, with
 
 Princess Ella. 181 
 
 a pretty garden and grounds, situated in 
 the town of Darmstadt. There are ponds 
 in the garden covered with lotus blossoms; 
 they are like pink water-lilies and the seed 
 pods are very pretty and decorative. I 
 have never seen them in England, but 
 they ought to do well enough, I should 
 think. 
 
 My children were delighted to see their 
 cousin Ella once more. This dear child 
 was then between eight and nine years old, 
 and very like her beautiful mother in 
 appearance. But the child's eyes had ever 
 a look of fate in them. Looking at her I 
 used to wonder what those wide grey-blue 
 eyes saw, to bring such a look of sadness 
 to the childish face. 
 
 There is a modern picture by Josephine 
 Swaboda, a Hungarian artist, of a Madonna 
 and Child, and the Virgin's eyes might have 
 been painted from that child's, so full of 
 pathos and future sorrow do they seem. 
 In spite of this look of intense sadness in 
 her eyes the little Princess herself was full 
 of life and happiness. I never saw so sunny 
 a nature ; I never saw the child out of 
 temper, nor cross, and should any little
 
 182 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 dispute arise amongst my four charges, she 
 would settle it with perfect amiability and 
 justice, making whoever was the most in 
 the wrong give in, and reproving with great 
 gentleness the others. Where Princess Ella 
 was, no angry disputes could exist. She was 
 so sweet and just that the other children 
 always gave in to her arbitration. Looking 
 back on her short life I often wonder why 
 we did not see that she was quite too good 
 for this world, her fit companions were the 
 angels. She was a regular little mother, 
 and was never so happy as with the " tiny 
 cousin," as she called Anastasie. 
 
 It was a pretty sight to see her riding 
 with the two eldest cousins in the riding- 
 school ; she mounted on a great white horse 
 and her cousins on little ponies. She rode 
 wonderfully well, and would take either of 
 the little ones before her on the saddle, 
 and give them a ride round the school. 
 
 The wedding for which we came took 
 place in the two churches, the Lutheran 
 and the Greek. 
 
 The bride wore crepe de chine over 
 liberty satin, trimmed with the beautiful 
 and now historic lace formerly belonging to
 
 Princess Ella. 183 
 
 her grandmother, Princess Alice. This lace 
 was worn by each of the Hessian Princesses 
 on their wedding-days. The Grand Duke 
 lent it to his niece for the occasion. 
 
 My little girls and their cousins were all 
 dressed in white Honiton lace frocks and 
 looked very sweet. 
 
 The ceremonies were very long, that in the 
 Russian Church lasting nearly two hours. 
 The chief feature of it is the holding of the 
 crown over the heads of bride and groom, 
 and their being led three times round the 
 church. 
 
 One of the little ones was terribly dis- 
 tressed at learning that cousin Alice would 
 have to leave her mother and go to live with 
 her husband. " I'll never marry," said the 
 little maid. " I couldn't leave my dear 
 mama." I told her that every one who 
 was married had to go to live with husband 
 or wife, and that cousin Andre would now 
 live with cousin Alice, but that both of them 
 would see their parents pretty often. She 
 began to wonder why people married, when 
 it meant separation, and I said, " Very few 
 people can stay always with their father 
 and mother, many people are obliged to go
 
 184 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 away and live with strangers without being 
 married at all." 
 
 She was surprised and wanted to know if 
 I had ever known anyone who did. I told 
 her of several people who had done so, whom 
 she knew, myself amongst the number, and 
 that we were perfectly happy. 
 
 She considered a little, and then with a 
 beaming smile said, " But that was different, 
 our mama called you." There was a mother 
 in it, in any case, she thought. 
 
 After the wedding was over and the 
 guests gone we went out to Wolfsgarten, 
 and were very happy there during the fine 
 autumn weather. The Empress bought 
 bicycles for her three eldest children and 
 they had grand rides with their cousin about 
 the place. They hunted the woods for mush- 
 rooms, of which many varieties are found in 
 Germany, and had various excursions. 
 
 While we were in Wolfsgarten a carriage 
 accident which might have had serious 
 results happened. The Empress and her 
 sister had just returned from a drive and 
 were preparing to alight when the horses 
 suddenly took fright and bolted. They 
 rushed round the sides of the narrow court-
 
 Princess Ella. 185 
 
 yard and suddenly headed for the stables, 
 the door of which was shut. The footman, 
 an old servant, thinking that a smash was 
 inevitable, threw himself from the box, 
 hoping to catch the horses by the heads 
 and bring them to a standstill. He however 
 fell and got kicked in the face by one of the 
 horses. His wounds were slight, and he 
 was quite recovered in a few days. 
 
 The Grand Duke of Hesse saw the occur- 
 rence and rushed up in time to catch one of 
 the horses by the bridle as they were heading 
 into the shut-up stable. 
 
 The Empress and her sister sat quite quietly 
 in the carriage, and did not appear at all 
 dismayed by the accident. The Grand Duke 
 acted with great pluck and presence of 
 mind. 
 
 The children were fortunately all in the 
 little cottage at the moment, so were out of 
 danger. But they witnessed the whole thing 
 from the windows, and were terribly 
 frightened. 
 
 Our pleasant days in Wolfsgarten drew 
 to a close, and we went to Skernivitsi, in 
 Poland, taking the Grand Duke of Hesse 
 and his little daughter with us.
 
 i86 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 She always enjoyed life so much, and 
 she ran and bicycled about the gloomy 
 old park, took the lead in all the games and 
 was like a sunbeam ; yet all the time she 
 was stricken with mortal illness, though 
 none suspected it. 
 
 I got some of the men to erect a swing 
 and a giant's stride for the children, and a 
 great surprise had been prepared for them in 
 the shape of a little carriage drawn by a 
 pair of tame deer, so their mornings were 
 passed pleasantly. In the afternoon we 
 drove. 
 
 Poland is a very ugly country, but the 
 child was deeply interested in all that she 
 saw. Like myself, she was horrified at 
 seeing the people kneel in the road whenever 
 the children's carriage approached. As for 
 me, I never got used to it, nor ever overcame 
 the feeling of horror mixed with pity that I 
 experienced on seeing this done for the first 
 time. The little Grand Duchess Olga, who 
 is very sensitive, used to look at them with 
 tears in her eyes and beg of me to tell them 
 not to do it. 
 
 The Russian Government had established 
 many schools in Poland, and the younger
 
 Princess Ella. 187 
 
 generation is growing up with better ideas 
 on such subjects. 
 
 The holy pictures hung upon the trees, 
 the little shrines at the cross roads, the 
 straw signs showing that men and horses 
 could find accommodation, and the poor, 
 dirty people themselves, all interested the 
 little Hessian Princess to a wonderful 
 extent. 
 
 One day she and Tatiana were wonder- 
 fully busy and mysterious, running in and 
 out of the rooms, and exploding into laughter 
 every now and then. In the evening after 
 they were in bed Tatiana took from under 
 her pillow a little box which dear cousin 
 Ella had prepared for her. This contained 
 some little coloured stones which they had 
 picked out of the gravel the day before, 
 some bits of matches, luminous ends, of course, 
 the sand-paper off a match-box and some 
 tissue paper. This was a toy which they 
 had prepared. After Tatiana was in bed, 
 if she felt lonely she was to sit up in bed, 
 light a match upon the sand-paper, set 
 fire to the tissue paper, and by its light to 
 play with the stones. Well, of course, that 
 could not be allowed, and the poor little
 
 1 88 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Princess was overwhelmed when I explained 
 to her that they might all have been burned 
 in their beds. 
 
 One evening when the game was laid 
 out, Miss W., Princess Ella's English nurse, 
 said to me, " I should so much like to 
 show my baby this, it would interest her." 
 We got blankets and shawls and prepared 
 a warm little nest for her in the window seat, 
 and brought her from her bed, wrapped in 
 a dressing-gown and shawl, to see the wonder- 
 ful sight. She was quite delighted, and 
 everyone came to the window and talked to 
 her through it for a minute. Next morning 
 the Grand Duchess Olga was disposed to 
 grumble at having been left in bed all night, 
 and said to me, " Ella is only eight months 
 older than I am, and Miss W. took her up 
 to see it all, and you left me in bed, like a 
 baby." The little Princess said so sweetly, 
 " Oh ! dear Olga, don't be angry, you will 
 often see it again, but I shall never again 
 see it." She so often made use of this 
 expression, " I shall never see it again," that 
 I sometimes wonder if she had any pre- 
 monition of approaching fate. 
 
 The shooting party went to Spala. The
 
 A royal hunting party. The Grand Duke Vladimir, the C/.arina, and the Czar 
 are seated together.
 
 Princess Ella. 189 
 
 whole game shot during the two days was 
 brought home earlier than usual on Saturday 
 afternoon, and was all laid out before the 
 children's bedtime, so Miss W. and I thought 
 we might indulge our little charges with a 
 sight of it all. We accordingly wrapped them 
 up, and took them out and they were 
 delighted. The little Princess was full of 
 life and fun. I never remember to have 
 seen her in higher spirits than she was on 
 Saturday evening. She prepared and carried 
 out an innocent little practical joke on her 
 father and the Empress. She asked me to 
 put her three eldest cousins in her bed, and 
 leave little Anastasie alone in her bedroom. 
 " When auntie Alix and papa come," said the 
 child, " auntie Alix will be looking every- 
 where for her children, and papa will not 
 know how he has got four." Accordingly 
 it was done, and I stepped into the corridor 
 to ask the Empress and the Grand Duke to 
 be very much surprised. They were, of 
 course, exceedingly surprised, and the 
 Empress pretended to be much frightened, 
 to the child's great delight. You could hear 
 her laughter all through the house, as one 
 by one the cousins were disclosed.
 
 i go Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 On Sunday morning Miss W. called out 
 to me that her little one had a sore throat. 
 It was then about half-past seven and she 
 had just awakened. I immediately sent off 
 for the court doctor, and we took her 
 temperature, which was normal, so we 
 thought she might be dressed. She had 
 only began to make her toilette when other 
 symptoms set in, and so she was put to 
 bed again. The doctor came, but the throat 
 was then better. He said it was possible 
 that the change of food might have disagreed 
 with her, but he was not in the least alarmed, 
 and neither were we. I kept my little ones 
 out as much as possible, to keep the nurseries 
 quiet for the ailing little one. At four 
 o'clock I returned from the drive with my 
 little charges. Miss W. looked up quickly 
 and said cheerfully, " Oh ! my baby is 
 ever so much better, she has had no return 
 of the sickness for a couple of hours, and is 
 sleeping quietly." She then went into the 
 room to the sick child. 
 
 I went to the doctor and congratulated 
 him on the improvement in his little patient. 
 " Improvement," he echoed, " the child is 
 dying of failure of the heart." I felt stunned
 
 Princess Ella. 191 
 
 for a moment, then utterly incredulous, and 
 reminded him that the child had been ill for 
 hours, and that children run down quickly 
 and recover quite as rapidly. He adhered to 
 his statement that the child's heart was 
 failing from hour to hour. 
 
 I had to tell the Empress and Grand 
 Duke that the child was very ill and weak, 
 and her temperature had risen rapidly till 
 it was 104 Fahrenheit. They both came 
 down to see her. Neither of them could see 
 that she was very ill, nor in any danger. 
 The doctor said the danger was from the 
 heart, the beatings of it were hardly per- 
 ceptible. The Grand Duke felt her pulse 
 and thought it strong enough. They were 
 in and out all through the evening and always 
 thought the doctor and I were needlessly 
 alarmed. So absolutely did they disbelieve 
 in the possibility of any danger to the child 
 that they went to the theatre that night. 
 
 After they had gone the doctor exclaimed 
 that he would like a second opinion. I got 
 him to send a message to the Empress, 
 asking if we might send to Warsaw for some 
 one. She sent back word to send a tele- 
 gram and a special train for the best advice
 
 192 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 which could be got, but added that she and 
 the child's father were both perfectly easy 
 and happy about her. We accordingly sent 
 off for a specialist. Before he came the 
 Imperial family returned from the theatre. 
 The Empress and the Grand Duke came in 
 to see the little one, who roused herself and 
 spoke brightly to them. The Empress told 
 me not to be nervous or frightened about 
 the child, that she would be all right in the 
 morning. They went to bed, and the child 
 speedily sank into a semi-stupor. I told Miss 
 Wilson I could not leave her alone with her 
 sufferer but would stay all night with 
 her. 
 
 Presently the two little Grand Duchesses, 
 Marie and Anastasie, began to scream, and 
 I ran into their room ; I found them both 
 standing in their beds looking terribly 
 alarmed. They told me there was a strange 
 man in their room who had frightened them. 
 Now the rooms were in a suite, and they 
 could be entered only from the dining- 
 room, or from the second bedroom, and 
 this bedroom in its turn could only be 
 entered from the room in which the little 
 Princess lay ill. It will therefore be seen
 
 Princess Ella. 193 
 
 that no one could have entered their room 
 without our knowledge. The doctor and 
 the little Princess's own faithful servant- 
 man had been in the dining-room all night. 
 I thought the night-light might have thrown 
 a shadow which frightened the children into 
 thinking there was someone in the room. 
 I therefore changed its position, but still 
 the children were afraid, and said he was 
 hiding over by the curtain. I lit a candle, 
 and taking little Anastasie in my arms, 
 carried her round the room to prove to her 
 that there was absolutely nothing to frighten 
 her. The doctor came in and tried to soothe 
 Marie, but it was useless ; she would not 
 be soothed and Anastasie refused to re- 
 turn to bed, so I took her in my arms and 
 sat down to try to comfort her. She buried 
 her face in my neck and clung to me trembling 
 and shaking. It was dreadful to me to see 
 her in such a fright. The doctor being obliged 
 to go I lighted a candle and left it on a little 
 table close to Marie's bed, and sat down 
 near it, that I might be beside both children. 
 Marie kept talking about the dreadful person, 
 and starting up in wild horror every now 
 and then. The doctor came in and out, 
 
 13
 
 194 S Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 and told me the strange doctor had come 
 and had given the little sufferer an injection 
 of caffeine ; her heart seemed stronger and 
 he began to have hope. 
 
 When next Marie began to talk about the 
 mysterious stranger I said, " A strange 
 doctor had come to help Dr. H. to make 
 cousin Ella quite well, and perhaps he 
 might have come to the door in mistake, 
 or you might have heard him speak, but there 
 is no one in the room now." 
 
 She assured me that the stranger was not 
 a doctor and had not come through that door 
 at all, and did not speak. Suddenly she 
 stood up and looked at something which I 
 could not see. " Oh ! " she said, "he is 
 gone into cousin Ella's room." Anastasie 
 sat up on my knee and said, " Oh ! poor 
 cousin Ella ; poor Princess Elizabeth ! " 
 
 She fell asleep almost immediately after, 
 but it was some time before I could loosen 
 the clasped arms, and little Marie slept also 
 quietly. As soon as possible I laid her in 
 her little bed and returned to the sick room. 
 
 The strange doctor said to me when I 
 entered the room, " The little child is no 
 better." I asked him what was wrong,
 
 Princess Ella. 195 
 
 and he said, " Paralysis of the heart." He 
 had given her many injections, both of 
 caffeine and camphor, but to no avail. 
 
 We gave her stimulants constantly, and 
 for a little she appeared to improve, and we 
 hoped we might save her. 
 
 Suddenly she sat up in her bed, and 
 looked from one to the other of us with 
 wide, frightened eyes. She cried out sud- 
 denly, "I'm dying! I'm dying!" Miss W. 
 coaxed her to lie down again. 
 
 The child turned to me, and said anxiously, 
 " Send a telegram to mama." I promised 
 it should be done, and she added, 
 " Immediately." 
 
 We sent upstairs and called the Grand 
 Duke and the Empress, who came down 
 without loss of time. The telegram was 
 sent to Coburg to the mother. Alas ! it was 
 too late ; when her answer was received 
 the child had already passed away. 
 
 We continued to fan the feeble spark of 
 life, but moment by moment it declined. 
 She began to talk to her cousins, and seemed 
 to imagine she was playing with them. 
 She asked for little Anastasie, and I brought 
 the wee thing into the room. The dying 
 
 13*
 
 196 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 eyes rested on her for a moment, and 
 Anastasie said, " Poor cousin Ella ! Poor 
 Princess Elizabeth ! " I took the baby out 
 of the room. 
 
 Miss W. was kneeling beside the bed. 
 The dying child turned and kissed her; 
 another minute and her race was accom- 
 plished ; the bright young life was ended. 
 
 There was an autopsy made on the body. 
 A German, and two Polish doctors, with the 
 court doctor, did what was necessary. 
 
 They found she had died of suppressed 
 typhoid, was twelve days ill, but it never 
 showed. 
 
 She had died in the children's rooms, and 
 it was thought better to remove them, in 
 order that the necessary fumigation and 
 disinfecting should be carried out. So we 
 left for Tsarskoe Selo that same evening. 
 The Emperor and Empress intended to go 
 to the funeral, but the Empress got cold in 
 the child's room, and inflammation of the 
 ear set in, so she lay in Skernivitsi for six 
 weeks, and we were in Tsarskoe Selo. It 
 was a sad and gloomy time, the Empress 
 lying ill in Poland, the children and their 
 household in Tsarskoe Selo. Even Christmas
 
 Princess Ella. 197 
 
 was overshadowed, as, though the Emperor 
 and Empress had returned, the latter was 
 laid up with influenza, and the festivities 
 without her were shorn of half their bright- 
 ness. The Empress was ill till towards the 
 middle of January. My children talked 
 much of cousin Ella and how God had taken 
 her spirit, and they understood that later 
 God would take her body also to heaven. 
 
 On Christmas morning when Olga awoke, 
 she exclaimed at once, " Did God send for 
 cousin Ella's body in the night ? " I felt 
 startled at such a question on Christmas 
 morning, but answered, " Oh no, dear, 
 not yet." She was greatly disappointed, 
 and said, " I thought He would have sent 
 for her to keep Christmas with Him." 
 
 One day Marie was looking at a picture of 
 Nydia, the blind girl of Pompeii ; she asked 
 me why she was blind. I replied that God 
 sometimes made people blind, but none 
 knew why. So she said, " I know someone 
 who knows." I said, " No, dear, I think 
 not ; no one knows." "Cousin Ella knows," 
 came the answer ; " she is in heaven, sitting 
 down and talking to God, and He is telling 
 her how He did it, and why."
 
 198 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE OUTBREAK OF WAR. 
 
 WE returned to St. Petersburg towards the 
 end of January, and the Court season began. 
 This year it was destined to be broken off 
 by the sudden outbreak of war in the East. 
 
 As usual about six large balls had been 
 arranged for, and some theatrical entertain- 
 ments, but it was all over in a very short 
 time. 
 
 In the nurseries we had a few children's 
 parties, but nothing very much. 
 
 Little Anastasie was delighted with the 
 stir and bustle of city life and deeply inte- 
 rested in all she saw. The children deve- 
 loped a love for those little toy balloons 
 which are sold in the streets. When they 
 were very good I used to send out and get 
 them one each. But Anastasie used some- 
 times to want me to stop the carriage and
 
 The Outbreak of War. 199 
 
 buy them from the men, and this, of course, 
 could not be allowed. So I always said 
 simply that I could not, without advancing 
 any reason. She evidently thought force 
 would have to be used to induce him to part 
 with them, for one day she saw some little 
 children walking on the Palace Quay, each 
 one with a balloon. She drew my atten- 
 tion to them. " Look, look ! " cried she ; 
 " little children with balloons ; get out, 
 take them from them and give them to me." 
 I explained why that would not do, so she 
 said, " Well, get out, and ask them nicely 
 and politely, and perhaps they will give 
 them to me." 
 
 After the war broke out the children, even 
 little Anastasie, worked at frame knitting. 
 They made scarves for the soldiers, and 
 Olga and Tatiana crocheted caps indefati- 
 gably. The Empress started working parties, 
 and had more than five thousand ladies 
 working for her. 
 
 Some of the work done was very peculiar : 
 one girl sewed the sleeves of a shirt she 
 was given to make, into the collar band ; 
 another had a pair of surgical trousers to 
 make, and gathering them along the top,
 
 2oo Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 put them into a twenty-inch waist-band. 
 It was very funny, but at the same time 
 I doubt whether the same class of girls in 
 any other country would have done better, 
 for all these people belonged to the Court 
 circles. 
 
 A band of girls came to the Empress and 
 petitioned her to send them out to the war 
 to nurse the wounded. Their request was 
 refused, but the Empress said to them, 
 " If you really wish to help you can go into 
 the hospitals in St. Petersburg and work 
 there, leaving the trained nurses free to 
 go to the front." Without exceptions they 
 all went and did what she suggested, and 
 most of them stuck to it also. One girl, 
 the belle of St. Petersburg, aged nineteen, 
 got on so well that she was soon placed in 
 charge of a ward for night- work. 
 
 One evening on coming to the hospital 
 she found a young woman of the peasant 
 class in charge of her work. She went to 
 see the matron, who said, " I had a vacancy 
 which I intended for my niece. You took 
 it, but as you are only taking up nursing for 
 a pastime, I sent for my niece and put her 
 there, for she will take it up as a profession.
 
 A comely Russian matron dressed \nj\"t costume. 
 
 [Facing page 200.
 
 The Outbreak of War. 201 
 
 You can do anything you like, but my niece 
 stays there." 
 
 The girl was vexed at such treatment, so 
 she walked away. She had only got to the 
 foot of the stairs when she thought of the 
 motive which led her into the hospital at 
 first, and saying to herself, " My love for 
 my country is a very poor thing if I cannot 
 stand a little snub," she returned, and worked 
 all night under the direction of this ignorant 
 peasant woman, who had usurped her place. 
 
 When the doctors found it out, they placed 
 the society girl in another and superior place, 
 where she acquitted herself with honour. 
 
 It was very sad to me to witness the 
 wrathful vindictive spirit that the war raised 
 in my little charges. One of the illustrated 
 papers had a picture of the baby children of 
 the Crown Prince of Japan. Marie and 
 Anastasie came running across to see the 
 picture, and wanted to know who those 
 queer little children were. I told them, 
 and with a look of hatred coming into her 
 sweet little face Marie slapped the picture 
 with her open hand. " Horrid little people," 
 said she ; " they came and destroyed our 
 poor ships and drowned our sailors." I
 
 2O2 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 explained to her that it was not these little 
 children, who were only babies younger than 
 Anastasie. So she said, " Yes ; those little 
 babies did it. Mama told me the Japs 
 were all only little people." 
 
 Olga was working very diligently one 
 day and said to me, " I hope the Russian 
 soldiers will kill all the Japanese; not leave 
 even one alive." 
 
 I told her there were many little children 
 and women in Japan, people who could not 
 fight, and asked her if she really thought 
 it would be good of the Russian soldiers to 
 kill them. She reflected for a moment, and 
 then asked, " Have they an Emperor in 
 Japan ? " I answered, " Certainly." She 
 asked various other questions which I an- 
 swered ; then she said slowly, " I did not 
 know that the Japs were people like our- 
 selves. I thought they were only like 
 monkeys." She never said again anything 
 about being pleased to hear of the deaths 
 of the Japanese. 
 
 Someone in speaking to me of the four 
 little girls lately said to me, " Olga has 
 grace, wit, and good looks ; Tatiana is a 
 regular beauty ; Marie is so sweet-natured,
 
 The Outbreak of War. 203 
 
 good and obliging, no one could help loving 
 her ; but little Anastasie has personal charm 
 beyond any child I ever saw." 
 
 It was a good, and so far as it went, a 
 true summary of the children as they would 
 appear to a stranger, but there is a great 
 deal more depth and strength of character 
 in all the children than appears at first 
 sight. I often wonder what use they will 
 make of all the talents God has entrusted 
 them with, and feel assured that as the apple 
 never falls very far from the tree, so with 
 such good parents my dear little charges 
 will never go astray.
 
 204 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS. 
 
 THE Russian soldier looms at present very 
 large on every horizon. Many a time have 
 I seen Russian soldiers marching along to 
 the regimental band, and when it stopped 
 playing, singing choruses as they marched 
 with vigour. 
 
 The Cossack regiments are most pic- 
 turesque ; they are magnificent horsemen 
 and can stoop from the saddle and pick up 
 any small article from the ground. Person- 
 ally, I have always thought them slightly 
 theatrical in costume, though their faces 
 look martial enough for anything. 
 
 On holidays they wear long scarlet coats 
 reaching nearly to the ankles, and top- 
 boots wrinkled at the legs. Their every-day 
 uniform is a dark blue coat lined with scarlet. 
 They are armed with silver-mounted swords,
 
 Czarina on horseback in the uniform of the Royal Uhlan 
 Bodyguard.
 
 The Russian Soldiers. 205 
 
 often heirlooms in their family, and wear a 
 silver-mounted dagger in their belts, and they 
 carry a rifle, the cartridges being slung across 
 the breast of the coat. When the men are 
 on horseback the rifle is carried across the 
 saddle. The Cossacks are expert marksmen 
 and can hit a target while going at full 
 gallop. They are devoted to the Imperial 
 family. 
 
 The Russian soldier receives board, 
 lodgings, uniform and washing, and pocket- 
 money at the rate of about one shilling per 
 month. Out of this he has to provide him- 
 self with threads. He can, of course, earn 
 a little more by doing odd jobs for his 
 superiors, or acting as servant in an officer's 
 family. I have frequently seen a private 
 taking the children of an officer out for a 
 walk. They are kindly handy creatures, 
 and always seemed devoted to the little ones 
 in their charge. The soldier receives his 
 pocket-money every week, and generally 
 puts by a little of it till he has saved about 
 sixpence or eightpence. When he has this 
 magnificent sum in his possession he indulges 
 in his favourite amusement i.e., he takes a 
 street carriage and goes for a drive. Very
 
 2o6 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 funny and solemn he looks driving up and 
 down the Nevsky. 
 
 No officer can live on his pay in Russia. 
 A captain receives about twenty pounds per 
 annum, which is not enough to dress him 
 even. I myself know a general on half-pay ; 
 his income was just thirty pounds per annum 
 and he had a wife and daughter to keep. In 
 his youth he had painted pictures in water- 
 colours. These he sold either in shops or 
 to his friends, but his pictures had little or 
 no merit, and became increasingly diffi- 
 cult to dispose of. When he rose to be a 
 colonel his rank forbade him to try to sell 
 his paintings, and so he bought a camera 
 and eked out a miserable livelihood by photo- 
 graphing all sorts of scenes and selling the 
 pictures. Amateur photographers were rare 
 then, and for a while he did well. He used 
 to be allowed to travel with the Imperial 
 family and sent his photographs for repro- 
 duction in the newspapers ; but he was 
 old, unable for the fatigue of such a life, and 
 was obliged to give it up. The Emperor 
 gave him a flat with wood and light, and 
 there this brave old soldier lives, with his 
 wife and one daughter, on his thirty pounds
 
 The Russian Soldiers. 207 
 
 per annum a miserable life, indeed ! He 
 chose the wrong profession, one would say, 
 but he still assures me that there is no life 
 like the soldier's one, even without private 
 means. 
 
 I once came into conflict with the mili- 
 tary in Tsarskoe Selo. A room had been 
 fitted up in the palace as a church, and the 
 Empress and children attended Mass there 
 on Sunday mornings. The Empress told me 
 to get into the church by a little side-door, 
 which would bring me just behind her 
 chair, as all her three children were in 
 church, and Marie Nicolaivna was so tiny a 
 child that she might get restless. I went and 
 found a soldier mounting guard outside the 
 door ; he refused to let me pass. I speak 
 Russian very badly, and I tried to explain, 
 but all to no purpose. So I waited and he 
 stood and looked at me. Presently one of 
 the Grand Dukes came along, and I explained 
 the situation to him. He turned to the sol- 
 dier, and he told him to let me pass. The 
 soldier again refused, and the Grand Duke 
 told him who he was. Of course, the man 
 did not know him, and replied, " I don't 
 care if you are the Emperor himself." The
 
 208 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Grand Duke then asked him who had sta- 
 tioned him there, and the soldier replied, 
 " My corporal, and without his permission 
 I shall not allow anyone to pass through this 
 door." 
 
 The Grand Duke then told me to wait for 
 a few minutes, and he went off and found the 
 corporal. The latter, when he came, was in 
 a terrible rage. He seized the unfortunate 
 soldier by the shoulders and began to shake 
 him, but the Grand Duke interposed, told 
 the corporal that the man was only doing 
 his duty in obeying orders, and turning to 
 the other complimented him highly, and 
 said he was pleased to find that the soldiers 
 were so obedient and so faithful to their 
 orders. The poor soldier had tears in his 
 eyes when the Grand Duke had finished 
 speaking. Orders were given that in future 
 I should be allowed to pass on giving my 
 name. 
 
 On one occasion the Grand Duke Paul's 
 children came to their own house at Tsarskoe 
 Selo. A sentry was placed in the garden, 
 but he did not know the children at all, and 
 probably mistook the hour at which they 
 were expected. He was dumbfounded when
 
 The Russian Soldiers. 209 
 
 the children came running up and began to 
 play in the sacred g3^mnasium and swing in 
 the holy swings. He approached and said 
 in his sternest tones, " What are you doing 
 there ? Don't you know that these gardens 
 and all in them belong to Demitri and Marie 
 Paulo vitch ? " Demitri mildly announced his 
 identity, and the soldier said with great 
 scorn, " Oh yes ; it is very easy to say, 
 ' I am the Grand Duke Demitri,' but thou 
 art a liar," using the familiar form of address. 
 His distress was very great when he found 
 that the children really belonged to the 
 Imperial family. 
 
 When the war in the East broke out, it 
 was very sad to see the soldiers marching 
 off. I had never seen such a sight before, 
 and to my eyes they looked so badly pro- 
 vided for such a long journey, but the trains 
 provided for their use were exceedingly 
 comfortable. The crossing of Lake Baikal 
 seems to have been the worst part of the 
 journey. The train moving across it broke 
 down, as the ice was not strong enough for 
 the traffic, so they went in sledges. Every 
 few miles shelters were erected. The sol- 
 diers got hot coffee or soup and could thaw
 
 2io Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 themselves at the fire before proceeding 
 another stage. But even with these pre- 
 cautions some were frozen to death. 
 
 The Emperor got many thousands of 
 letter-forms printed, and the children and I 
 folded them, put them in envelopes, and 
 stamped them or many of them. The form 
 of letter was something as follows : " My 
 
 dear parents, I am at In the battle 
 
 of ; I was wounded in (or) I am 
 
 ill in hospital ; (or) I am in good health. 
 
 How are ? Give my love to ." 
 
 The blanks were to be filled in by a com- 
 rade who could write, or by a nurse. Many 
 thousands of these letters were returned to 
 cheer the hearts of the anxious relatives. 
 
 I was given a good many presents for the 
 Empress's working party. A gentleman gave 
 me five thousand roubles for the Empress ; 
 a lady gave me five hundred pounds of soap, 
 and quantities of tow for the soldiers. There 
 was a corridor at the Winter Palace packed 
 with cases full of comforts for the soldiers. 
 These were sent off every week, and we had 
 the satisfaction of knowing that all we sent 
 out arrived safely. But many strange stories 
 were current as to the fate of the parcels
 
 The Russian Soldiers. 211 
 
 sent from other working parties. One of 
 the Grand Duchesses was head of the Red 
 Cross Society, and had an enormous working 
 party. She heard that when the boxes 
 reached their destination they were half- 
 filled with rubbish. So the story goes that 
 one evening, just before the train started for 
 the East, she and one of her ladies went up 
 to the station and insisted on examining the 
 boxes. She found that the cases were half- 
 filled with stones and rubbish, with a layer 
 of goods laid over them. I do not pretend 
 to vouch for the truth of this story, but it 
 was common talk in St. Petersburg and was 
 never contradicted. 
 
 The Empress wished each soldier to re- 
 ceive a separate bundle for Easter, each 
 containing one shirt, one handkerchief, one 
 pair of socks, a set of bandages for the legs, 
 one woollen cap, one parcel of tobacco with 
 cigarette papers, one piece of soap and tow 
 for washing, tea, coffee, sugar, notepaper 
 and stamped envelopes, and a printed letter- 
 form. 
 
 Nearly everyone in the palace sent at 
 least one such parcel, with the name and 
 address of the donor inside, and many
 
 212 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 grateful letters were received from the reci- 
 pients. 
 
 At the beginning of the war all nurses sent 
 to the front were thoroughly trained, but 
 later, when it became necessary to send 
 more nurses, the authorities took almost 
 all who volunteered, provided their health 
 was good, gave them a short training just 
 six weeks in a military hospital and sent 
 them out. I saw one of these girls when she 
 was ready to go out. She informed me that 
 she had learned to read Latin, and could 
 prescribe for patients as well as nurse them ! 
 All this in six weeks, and she had been a 
 servant girl. Well, a few days in the hos- 
 pital at the front would soon take that idea 
 out of her.
 
 213 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ATTACKS ON THE CZAR'S LIFE. 
 
 MANY false reports have been spread about 
 attempts on the Emperor's life, but, never- 
 theless, a number of such attempts have 
 been made. I have already spoken of one 
 of them the attempt to wreck the Imperial 
 train when he was Czarovitch. When he 
 was travelling in Japan a fanatic attacked 
 him with a bludgeon. Prince George of 
 Greece, his cousin, who was travelling with 
 him, arrested the blow, but the Emperor 
 got a nasty cut notwithstanding, and was 
 laid up for a few days afterwards. He 
 bears the mark on his forehead to this day. 
 On the anniversary of that day there are 
 thanksgiving services all through Russia, 
 and the day is kept as a holiday throughout 
 Russia.
 
 214 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 The first year we were in the Crimea a 
 diabolical plot against the Imperial family 
 was formed, which was happily frustrated 
 by the police. Had it been carried out the 
 whole Court would have been dead and 
 buried. 
 
 The grounds of Livadia are open to the 
 public while the Imperial family are away. 
 There was a priest in Yalta who used to 
 like to stroll about among the vineyards and 
 gardens, was exceedingly affable and kind, 
 and showed a great curiosity regarding the 
 daily life of the Emperor and family. He 
 asked about the water supply, and even 
 penetrated into the wood cellar. Before the 
 Imperial family go into any town a police 
 officer is sent to make enquiries regarding all 
 in the place. On this occasion all were 
 easily identified, with the exception of this 
 priest. The police officer telegraphed to the 
 town from which he said he came, and 
 received an answer saying that all the 
 priests belonging to the town were in charge 
 of their churches. No one was absent, nor 
 was anything known of him. One day when 
 he was walking about Livadia the police 
 entered his rooms. They found many in-
 
 Attacks on the Czar's Life. 215 
 
 criminating papers, explosives, and even 
 poisons. The explosives were destined for 
 the wood cellar, and the poison for the 
 water supply ! It was fortunate for us that 
 the springs in Livadia itself were dry that 
 year, and the water was brought from a 
 distance. The pseudo-priest was arrested 
 and severely punished. 
 
 Another attempt was made some time 
 before I went to Russia. The little church 
 in Tsarskoe Selo had been altered, and was 
 to be opened formally by Mass and a Te 
 Deum. Just before divine service began a 
 soldier discovered a bomb under a curtain 
 just behind the Emperor and Empress's 
 places in church. Had it exploded hundreds 
 of persons would have perished. 
 
 The author of this horrible crime was a 
 young man of university education. His 
 mother had been early left a widow with 
 this one child, a baby in arms. She was 
 almost penniless when a housemaid in the 
 palace heard of her, was moved with com- 
 passion towards her and her baby and gave 
 her some white sewing to do. She interested 
 others in the household in her sad case, and 
 she was generously paid and helped.
 
 216 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 She was shortly enabled to start a work- 
 room with apprentices and got on well. 
 When first she began, she used to carry her 
 baby in her arms in and out of the palaces, 
 and afterwards as he got bigger he used to 
 fetch and carry work for her. He thus got 
 to know all the palaces and the guards let 
 him pass without trouble. He was well 
 educated and entered the university. Here 
 he became entangled in a secret society, and, 
 owing to his intimate knowledge of the 
 palaces, was chosen for the dreadful deed. 
 He was arrested and confessed, but would 
 not give the names of his accomplices. He 
 was sent to Siberia for life. The shock of 
 the affair killed his poor mother. The day 
 he was arrested she died, as she said herself, 
 of a broken heart at her son's baseness and 
 ingratitude. 
 
 The last attempt on the Emperor was 
 most subtle. A parcel posted at Suez was 
 sent, marked " Private." He received it 
 while seated at tea with the Empress. On 
 being opened it was found to contain a piece 
 of dirty cloth, apparently cut from an old 
 pair of trousers. He exclaimed in wonder 
 at receiving such a curious thing. The
 
 Attacks on the Czar's Life. 217 
 
 Empress seized the tongs, and, taking the 
 dirty cloth in them, sent it from the room. 
 It was examined and found to be full of 
 plague germs ! 
 
 Much has lately been written regarding a 
 constitution for Russia. It has come, but so 
 far as I can judge, the people are not yet 
 ready for it ; not one in ten thousand under- 
 stands the meaning of the word. A person 
 fairly well educated was talking to me one 
 time about the want of liberty in Russia. 
 I told her that she could have very little more 
 liberty in England than she had in Russia, 
 being a woman and obliged to work for her 
 living. I told her that the only liberty 
 one could have was in keeping the laws and 
 following them. She was greatly amazed, and 
 asked me if we had laws in England ; I 
 replied, " Certainly ; and those who break 
 them speedily find themselves in prison." 
 " What/' she exclaimed, " prisons in free 
 England ! " She went on to ask what was 
 forbidden to people in England, and was 
 greatly amazed when I gave her a list. She 
 told me she would not go any more to see 
 those people who had been telling her she 
 was only a slave.
 
 2i 8 Si* Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Employers of labour in Russia are in 
 many instances obliged to hire workers from 
 day to day. The Russian workmen do not 
 like to continue to work for a whole week 
 right off ; no matter what the press of 
 business may be, they will suddenly an- 
 nounce that they are tired and want a 
 holiday, and go off for two or three days 
 without even finishing the job in hand. 
 
 The proprietor of some petroleum wells 
 in the Caucasus told me this story. He had 
 been called upon to settle a strike, and came 
 over from London for the purpose. He saw 
 the men, who submitted a list of claims. 
 vShorter hours, more pay, and a supply of 
 water for drinking purposes, being the chief 
 things. The last item in their list of grie- 
 vances was, " We do not like an autocratic 
 sovereign." He told them that the water 
 supply was being brought as quickly as 
 possible. He added five kopecks (about 
 one penny-farthing per day) to their wages, 
 and took an hour off the day's work. " And 
 as for the last thing, he said, ' It shall have 
 my most earnest consideration.' ' It was 
 rather puzzling to know what these poor 
 workers expected of their employer, or how
 
 Attacks on the Czar's Life. 219 
 
 they looked to be benefited by a constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 It is only a little more than forty years 
 since Alexander II. freed the slaves. It was 
 a noble action, but it might have been more 
 beneficial had it been done in a different 
 manner. It is, of course, very easy to be 
 wise after the event, and in this case no one 
 could foresee the event. 
 
 The poor peasants were slaves in the 
 morning and freed men in the evening. All 
 house servants were turned out, field 
 labourers and working men were let loose, 
 and committed the most awful excesses. 
 Many of the house servants returned to their 
 masters and begged to be taken back in their 
 homes. To this day in some households 
 there are old men and women slaves, not 
 receiving any wages, but working for their 
 keep, and receiving clothing from the hands 
 of their masters and mistresses. 
 
 In consequence of the extreme misery and 
 famine which fell on the country through 
 the madness of these poor freed slaves, laws 
 were passed, binding the peasant to the land 
 in which he was born. A peasant could 
 leave his district only after complying with
 
 22O Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 very stringent regulations, and paying a 
 sum of money to the Starosta, or Elder. 
 Two years ago the Emperor proclaimed 
 that these peasants were henceforth free to 
 leave their villages and go where they liked. 
 I do not know that many availed themselves 
 of this permission, however. 
 
 Russia has a kind of local government, 
 but until the people are better educated it 
 seems to me that a constitution cannot bene- 
 fit them much. They are not capable of 
 guiding themselves. The little nursery party 
 in Tsarskoe Selo would be just as well able 
 to arrange their daily life without the aid of 
 " grown-ups " as are the Russians in general. 
 
 What they do want, and want badly, is 
 clean hands in the executive. 
 
 During the past forty years Russia has 
 made gigantic strides towards civilisation. 
 In the matter of higher education for 
 women she is well abreast of the times. In 
 St. Petersburg and Moscow, and, in fact, all 
 the great centres, there are hundreds of 
 women working as doctors, chemists, den- 
 tists, and even finding employment in banks. 
 Russian industries are protected by a high 
 tariff. Buy an article in England and have
 
 Attacks on the Czar's Life. 221 
 
 it sent to you, and you will find that you pay 
 about as much again in Custom House 
 duties as the thing cost in England. 
 
 Under this system Russian industries are 
 advancing. Linen is almost as good as 
 that produced in Ireland, but cottons and 
 woollen materials fall very far behind our 
 own productions, which are, however, pro- 
 hibitory in prices to all with limited means. 
 I have myself seen ordinary English pique 
 sold in Russia for four and sixpence the 
 archine (about three-quarters of a yard), 
 while Russian pique can be had for about 
 tenpence.
 
 222 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 SOCIAL LIFE IN RUSSIA. 
 
 SOCIAL life is much simpler than in England. 
 At theatres and dinners in public places, 
 hotels, restaurants, and so forth, afternoon 
 dress is considered de rigueur. No one would 
 think of putting on a decolletee gown. It 
 would be considered very bad form. At 
 theatres, however, both in the morning and 
 evening, hats are removed as an act of 
 courtesy to those seated behind. At all 
 small parties, whether dinner, dancing, or 
 music, or small games, a light silk, muslin 
 or canvas dress, made high, is worn. 
 
 But at all big functions full dress is worn. 
 At a Court luncheon a low-necked dress and 
 a large picture hat is the costume. Men, 
 however, unless in uniform, wear evening 
 dress oftener than with us. A music master
 
 Social Life in Russia. 223 
 
 will give his lessons in the regulation evening 
 suit. It looks very funny. 
 
 On the first of January all men drive 
 round to their acquaintances in full evening 
 dress, congratulate the ladies, and are sup- 
 posed to drink to their health. For this 
 they put on evening dress. They start 
 about nine o'clock in the morning, so it 
 looks rather peculiar. Poor fellows ! they 
 come home in the evening generally worn 
 out, very hungry, and with a raging headache, 
 born of all the sips of vodki taken during 
 the day. 
 
 Nine o'clock in the evening is a favourite 
 time for paying visits. At this hour the 
 Russians drink tea ; the tray is brought in 
 and glasses of tea are dispensed without 
 cream or milk, but very sweet, and with 
 slices of lemon floating in each glass, or, if 
 preferred, a spoonful of jam is stirred into 
 the glass. They looked upon me as a 
 heathen, because I don't take sugar in tea. 
 
 A sister of mine was visiting on a farm- 
 house in the north of Ireland once, and said 
 to the hostess, " Please, no sugar for me." 
 She looked surprised, but answered encourag- 
 ingly, " Oh, Mrs. H., we have plenty
 
 224 S* x Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 of sugar in the house." Well, that did not 
 happen to me in Russia, but much surprise 
 was expressed at my want of taste. Rus- 
 sians will sometimes hold a lump of sugar in 
 their fingers and nibble a bit of it before 
 taking a mouthful of tea. They say it 
 tastes better so. 
 
 The tea-table is always well furnished 
 with cakes of various kinds, some of them 
 particularly nasty. I used to think they 
 were flavoured with hair-oil. Caraway and 
 poppy seeds are all largely used in con- 
 fectionery ; fruit and bonbons are also served 
 with tea. 
 
 The tea equipage is generally very dainty ; 
 the glasses are put into silver stands with 
 handles to enable them to be lifted with ease ; 
 pretty gilt or enamelled silver is used, and 
 the napery is of the finest, most dainty 
 description, for Russians love fine linen. 
 Every Russian has his or her own store of 
 linen, just as he has his own underclothing, 
 and I have heard much wonder expressed 
 at the bare idea of sleeping on the sheets 
 and pillow covers of other people. Even a 
 servant brings her own house-linen with her. 
 
 When a layette is prepared sheets and
 
 Social Life in Russia. 225 
 
 towels, etc., are always included, and kept 
 separate for each child's use, and it is counted 
 very careless to put the sheets of one child 
 in the bed of another. In going on a visit 
 anywhere, you take your own sheets, etc., 
 with you, and send them to the wash with 
 your own linen. English people, however, 
 are excused from this, on account of their 
 incomprehensible habit of using family linen. 
 But if a Russian governess or visitor's linen 
 is not up to the mark, she receives very 
 scornful looks from the servants. 
 
 In the trains, for a night journey one can 
 either bring sheets, blankets and a pillow, 
 or hire from the conductor for one rouble 
 about two shillings. But soap or towels are 
 never provided. 
 
 The following story is told of an English- 
 man travelling for the first time in Russia. 
 He met a Russian who spoke all languages, 
 and confided to him that he had brought no 
 towel, and was tired of wiping his face on 
 his sheet or pocket-handkerchief, and he 
 could not succeed in making the conductor 
 understand what he wanted. The Russian 
 told him he had only to say " Politiensa," 
 and his wants would be supplied. The 
 
 15
 
 226 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Englishman learned the word, and presently 
 called for the conductor, and, as he thought, 
 asked for a towel. 
 
 The conductor gesticulated and bowed, 
 but brought no towel, so the Englishman 
 gave it up. Later on he met his Russian 
 friend, and told him that though he had said 
 what he had been told he had got no towel. 
 " Stupid man ! " said he ; " can't even 
 understand his own language." The Russian 
 called the conductor and spoke to him. He 
 turned to the Englishman and asked him 
 what he had said. The latter replied, " Pala- 
 tinski, of course." Judge of his surprise 
 when he heard that he had actually asked 
 the poor conductor if he spoke Latin. The 
 latter had replied that he only spoke Russian 
 and German, and excused himself for not 
 knowing Latin by saying it was so seldom 
 called for. 
 
 Duelling is still a recognised institution 
 in the land of the Tsar. One of the officers 
 about the Court is said to have fought 
 three, and killed his man each time. I 
 always felt a horror of the man, but I believe, 
 notwithstanding his bloody record, he was 
 quite harmless and even good-natured.
 
 Social Life in Russia. 227 
 
 On one occasion a young officer of a Cossack 
 regiment took two girls from a cafe chantant 
 to spend a day in the country. In the 
 evening all three, being heated with wine, 
 made their way to the station ; the women 
 entered the train and the prince stood on 
 the platform talking to a friend. The 
 women had seated themselves opposite a 
 gentleman who had a terrible scar on his 
 face, the result of a sword-cut which had 
 laid open his visage from temple to chin. 
 
 The two women began to make impertinent 
 and offensive remarks about the man and 
 his appearance. They were French and 
 spoke in their own language. He at last 
 replied to them in French : ' Ladies, when 
 first you got into the train I thought you 
 were French ladies ; I now see I was mis- 
 taken. French ladies are too delicate in 
 sentiment, and too polite to mock at a scar 
 won in honourable warfare. I now perceive 
 that you are nothing but a pair of peasants." 
 He got up and went to another part of the 
 train, leaving the women speechless under his 
 well-merited rebuke. 
 
 When the prince got into the train the 
 women told him that they had been insulted,
 
 228 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 described the appearance of the gentleman, 
 and urged him to challenge him for a duel. 
 The prince accordingly sought him out and 
 gave him his card, saying, " You have 
 insulted mes dames and must fight a duel." 
 
 Now the other was a retired military man, 
 who had fought for the Boers against Eng- 
 land. He had also been through the Turkish 
 war, and had seventeen wounds on his 
 body. After the war in South Africa was 
 over he had returned to Russia and taken 
 up journalism as a profession. He had no 
 wish to fight a duel, and replied to the effect 
 that he had seen rivers of blood flow, had 
 the scars of seventeen wounds on his body, 
 and no one, therefore, could call his courage 
 into question. He would not fight, specially 
 for two such women as those. He was a 
 journalist, and only desired peace. 
 
 The prince returned to his companions. 
 When the train arrived in St. Petersburg 
 the journalist was the last person to alight, 
 but his enemies were waiting outside the 
 station for him. As he approached, one 
 woman pushed her companion against him 
 violently. He caught her by the arms 
 and steadied her or she would have fallen,
 
 Social Life in Russia. 229 
 
 and he then tried to pass on. But the 
 prince blocked his way. Forcing his card 
 on him he demanded his address and satis- 
 faction. In the course of the evening two 
 friends of the prince called upon the journalist. 
 The latter again refused to fight, but said 
 that the officer owed him an apology. This, 
 of course, was refused. Now an officer 
 cannot fight a duel without permission from 
 his general, and at the moment the latter 
 was in Krasnoe Selo in attendance on the 
 Emperor, who was there for manoeuvres. 
 
 When he returned he found himself unable 
 to come to any decision, and the matter was 
 referred to the Emperor, who gave per- 
 mission for the duel to take place. The 
 place of meeting was just outside Peterhoff, 
 where we were residing at the moment. 
 Lots were drawn, and the prince had the 
 first shot. He aimed for the scar in the 
 journalist's face but missed him by a hair's 
 breadth. The journalist, wishing to wound 
 his antagonist slightly, aimed low, intending 
 to inflict a flesh wound in the thigh ; but the 
 pistol carried too high, and the bullet entered 
 the abdomen, inflicting a mortal wound. 
 The journalist, full of horror, threw down
 
 230 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 his pistol, and going up to his foe asked his 
 forgiveness, saying, he had no intention of 
 inflicting so severe a punishment. The dying 
 man refused to shake hands, and cursed him 
 bitterly. Shortly afterwards he expired. 
 
 His younger brother took up the quarrel, 
 and sent a challenge to the journalist ; but 
 there was absolutely no ground for a second 
 duel, and permission was refused. 
 
 During the winter the journalist was picked 
 up in an unconscious state in the streets of 
 St. Petersburg, and was carried to the hos- 
 pital. He was terribly injured. He rallied 
 a little, and declared that the younger 
 brother of the man he had shot had entered 
 his flat after midnight, accompanied by 
 three friends, and had thrown him from the 
 window in revenge. He died a couple of 
 days after. The prince and his friends on 
 their part denied the truth of the whole 
 story, and said that the journalist had had 
 a card-party in his rooms on the evening in 
 question ; a dispute had arisen, and he was 
 thrown from the window by his own friends. 
 But no evidence on the point was forth- 
 coming, and the journalist's own servant 
 knew nothing about the card-party. The
 
 Social Life in Russia. 231 
 
 unfortunate man's rooms showed signs of a 
 terrible struggle. No inquiry into the truth 
 of either story was made ; the authorities 
 accepted the living man's story, and the 
 matter ended. 
 
 Another very terrible thing happened 
 while I was in Russia. A German oculist 
 settled in St. Petersburg. He was clever 
 and skilful, and speedily got a great prac- 
 tice. He was a bachelor, and his sister kept 
 house for him. At the time of my story 
 both were middle-aged, and enjoyed a very 
 good reputation. 
 
 He made the acquaintance of a rather fast 
 officer, who had a pretty wife. This ac- 
 quaintance soon ripened into a close inti- 
 macy, and visits were frequently exchanged 
 between the two families. One morning 
 during the doctor's reception hours the 
 officer came to his house and asked to see 
 him for a moment. The servant, knowing 
 him to be an intimate friend of his master, 
 arranged for him to slip in as soon as the 
 patient with whom the oculist was at that 
 moment engaged should be free. At the 
 moment the waiting-room was full of patients 
 who were speedily startled by the report
 
 232 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 of a revolver, quickly followed by another. 
 The servant rushed into the room and found 
 his master lying wounded on the floor. 
 
 The officer, saying calmly, " I have shot 
 your master, you will find me in my own 
 house should you want me," went out. The 
 police were speedily on the spot. Inquiries 
 were set on foot and the officer was placed 
 under arrest in his own house. 
 
 Though dying, the oculist was quite con- 
 scious, and told the following story : 
 
 When the officer came into the room he at 
 once accused his friend of being on too 
 intimate terms with his wife ; but, he added, 
 that if the oculist would promise to marry 
 her, and give him, the aggrieved husband, 
 a considerable sum of money, he would allow 
 his wife to divorce him, and offer no obstacle, 
 in order that she might be free to marry the 
 man of her choice. His wife's good name 
 and happiness were the most cherished 
 objects of his life. The oculist refused to 
 accept these terms. The officer then sug- 
 gested the money without the wife, who 
 was, he said, so dear to him that he would 
 forgive her anything. 
 
 The oculist declared that he was absolutely
 
 Social Life in Russia. 233 
 
 innocent of the offence, and proposed an 
 enquiry. 
 
 On this, without a word of warning, the 
 officer drew a revolver from his pocket and 
 shot the other across the table. He was 
 wounded in the thigh and fell to the ground ; 
 the officer just fired a second shot into the 
 prostrate body when the servant came into 
 the room. 
 
 The officer's story was that he challenged 
 the oculist to a duel which was refused, and 
 he then fired at him, that being duelling 
 etiquette in Russia. 
 
 The oculist lingered for two or three days, 
 but maintained to the last hour that he was 
 innocent of this charge. The St. Peters- 
 burg priests took up the matter warmly, and 
 said that the officer was justified in shooting 
 down the man who had desecrated his home, 
 so there was no enquiry into the matter and 
 the officer was set at liberty. 
 
 But the authorities thought the air of St. 
 Petersburg not good for the pretty wife, and 
 she went down to a country town, a good 
 long way from St. Petersburg. Here the 
 couple speedily made acquaintance with a 
 very wealthy young man, on whom they
 
 234 Si* Yews at the Russian Court. 
 
 showered invitations, and who was soon 
 established as " 1'ami de la maison." In 
 fact, so confiding was the officer that he 
 would invite him to the house to amuse his 
 wife while he was on duty, or at his club. 
 Madame was very fascinating. She liked 
 the things on sale in the local shops so much ; 
 their young friend knew the town so well, 
 could he not escort her and show her 
 shops ? Of course, he did so. Madame 
 was unlucky about her purses ; she lost 
 quite a number, and the young man gener- 
 ally settled up with a cheque. 
 
 One evening when the officer and his 
 wife were both at home and alone the police 
 paid them a visit and requested them to 
 move on, which they accordingly did, to the 
 great joy of all the decent inhabitants of 
 that town., They tried the same game in 
 another town to which they went, but were 
 pulled up in time by the police. 
 
 Throughout Russia the flat system pre- 
 vails. Some houses contain forty or fifty 
 sets of apartments, and you can get a flat 
 of any size you want, from two rooms to 
 fifteen or sixteen. The authorities put a 
 man called a " dvornik " into each house :
 
 Social Life in Russia. 235 
 
 he is a sort of inferior policeman. He keeps 
 the road and footpath in front of the house 
 swept and clean and the streets of St. Peters- 
 burg are beautifully kept knows all who 
 pass in and out of the house, tells the 
 police should anyone come into the house 
 on a visit, and is responsible for the safety 
 of all in the house. 
 
 Should a burglary or a murder be com- 
 mitted, he is punished, generally by being 
 sent to the country in disgrace. I must say 
 they do their duty very well, and one seldom 
 hears of burglaries or murders being com- 
 mitted in St. Petersburg, and such crimes as 
 one hears of in London, such as mysterious 
 disappearances, murders in common lodging- 
 houses, girls decoyed into low houses, etc., 
 are never heard of in Russia. 
 
 During the six years I lived in the Russian 
 capital there was one double murder com- 
 mitted. In broad daylight, in one of the 
 very best parts of the town quite close to 
 the Winter Palace, an old lady and her 
 servant were murdered and the flat was 
 rifled. The authors of the terrible crime 
 were never discovered.
 
 236 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 POST OFFICE VAGARIES IN RUSSIA. 
 
 PUBLIC offices in Russia seem to me to be 
 in sore need of reform. 
 
 In a little country post office which in 
 this country would be managed and well 
 looked after by a postmistress, one finds 
 three great men in charge. Of course they 
 have a great deal more to do there than here 
 and give themselves a lot of perfectly un- 
 necessary trouble in reading the letters en- 
 trusted to the care of the government. 
 
 I write a very illegible hand and used to 
 pity them trying to decipher my writing, 
 hampered in addition with a foreign language. 
 Last autumn a lady belonging to the Court 
 wrote a letter to the Empress while she was 
 in Poland. She sealed it and even wrote 
 her name outside the envelope, which is 
 supposed to ensure the letter going through 
 without examination.
 
 Post Office Vagaries in Russia. 237 
 
 A couple of days afterwards the letter 
 was returned to her from the post office 
 with an intimation that it had opened of 
 itself in the post office. The seal was 
 intact but had been detached probably by 
 means of a knife. It was, of course, the 
 merest curiosity which led them to open 
 this letter. As a general rule the police 
 open one letter in every fifteen passing 
 through the post office. Should they injure 
 the envelope they at once put the letter into 
 the fire and it is done with. In times of 
 national danger a much larger proportion 
 of letters are opened and read. Again, 
 judging by stories one hears, the postmen 
 themselves cannot be depended upon. A 
 friend of mine told me that on one occasion 
 she saw a postman open the stove in an 
 entrance hall and calmly burn a number of 
 letters. I wanted to know why she did 
 not report him and she said it could not 
 have done any good. Till the people have 
 a keener sense of right and wrong she seemed 
 to think a mere report would do no good, 
 but I think I should have tried it all the 
 same. 
 
 This year an old friend of mine sent me
 
 238 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 through the post some Irish crotchet ; she 
 enclosed a note in her parcel. This note 
 was delivered to me minus stamp or post- 
 mark. I sent down at once to enquire 
 about the lace but was told that the letter 
 had come as I received it, straight from 
 County Cork without post-mark or stamp ; 
 but as I did not seem to be satisfied they 
 would not make any charge for it ! The 
 envelope was not marked in any way. Some- 
 body in the post office evidently admired 
 the lace and kept it. Gloves or any small 
 thing sent through post were never delivered 
 to me unless the sender took the precaution 
 of registering the letter. 
 
 On an average I lost about twenty letters 
 in the year. I was told that all letters coming 
 from the palace were opened, so I found it 
 better if possible to get mine posted in a 
 pillar box in the street. In the country, 
 of course, I could not do this, but used 
 sometimes to send my letters to St. Peters- 
 burg to be posted. On one occasion I 
 registered a letter to an address in Corn- 
 wall ; it took me at least a week to get that 
 letter posted, as the officials in the country 
 post office were absolutely certain that
 
 Post Office Vagaries in Russia. 239 
 
 Cornwall was in America and would not take 
 the letter because I had written England on 
 it. At last I sent the letter to St. Petersburg 
 and told the messenger simply to hand it 
 in and say nothing about its destination 
 unless asked, when he could ask the official 
 to write London across it and register it as 
 far as London and then let it take its 
 chance. 
 
 The letter was refused ; so then my 
 messenger made my proposal to have it 
 registered to London and said I was certain 
 that Cornwall was in England ; the official 
 thereupon took the letter and registered 
 it but he said if it went astray he would 
 not be accountable for it. They had pro- 
 tested against it but the sender would not 
 heed. Some ten or twelve days afterwards 
 they sent me word that the letter had been 
 received. The postal guide must have been 
 wrong in locating Cornwall in America. 
 
 On one occasion a London firm sent a 
 parcel by post to the Grand Duchesses ; 
 it was not received. I had all enquiries 
 made but it was lost. I accordingly told 
 the Empress and she made enquiries about 
 it.
 
 240 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 An official was sent up to the palace. He 
 saw the Empress, who sent him to me. He 
 began by assuring me that he was an English- 
 man and giving me his solemn word of 
 honour which I might believe, as an English- 
 man never lies. He then proceeded to tell 
 me that I had made an enemy in the Berlin 
 post office and that this monster of iniquity 
 stole my letters in Berlin. Now it so happens 
 that I never stayed even a night in Berlin 
 and have no acquaintance whatsoever with 
 the town or people. I told him so, where- 
 upon he offered to swear to me that the 
 letters were not lost in Russia ; as he was an 
 Englishman I might believe him ! 
 
 I noticed that many English people 
 used to bribe officials in the post office 
 to deliver their letters without letting the 
 police see them, or at least they said they did 
 and would talk quite openly about its being 
 impossible to get on in Russia without 
 bribing. Somehow in Russia it is looked 
 on in quite a different light from what 
 it is in England, and I used to be laughed 
 at because I always maintained that morality 
 was the same for all countries, that if it was 
 wrong to try to buy justice and right in one
 
 Post Office Vagaries in Russia. 241 
 
 country it surely was equally wrong in 
 another. But the fact of its being punish- 
 able in one country and not in another 
 made no difference in such a matter as 
 that. 
 
 I told this particular Englishman that he 
 might read my letters, if he chose, so long 
 as he gave them to me afterwards, there 
 never was anything in them but family news 
 of no interest to anyone but myself. He 
 was horrified at this suggestion of mine and 
 exclaimed, " God forbid and the Emperor 
 has forbidden that we should touch your 
 letters," so I said, " God may forbid and 
 the Emperor has forbidden you to touch 
 my letters, still they are lost all the same," 
 and went on to play a game of bluff with 
 him by telling him that most of my letters 
 came from England and Ireland and were 
 therefore under the International Postal Law, 
 and that I very much doubted if he had any 
 legal right to touch them at all. He told 
 me I had opened a very interesting legal 
 point which would have his consideration 
 and took his leave ; but the letters continued 
 to be lost all the same. If I was really anxious 
 about a letter I used to post it open or only 
 
 16
 
 242 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 just closed, which I found was a very good 
 plan. 
 
 On one occasion I ordered a copy of 
 Morfill's History of Russia, as I felt interested 
 in it. Judge of my amazement at hearing 
 that it was forbidden to circulate it in 
 Russia. I however asked special permission 
 for it and so got it after a little delay without 
 further trouble. The censor's office keeps 
 books sometimes for months. A friend of 
 mine sent me a book he had written as a 
 Christmas present ; it was Easter before I 
 got it and then it had evidently been given 
 to a child to play with, for it was scribbled 
 over in red and blue pencil. 
 
 State censorship of the press is a very 
 good thing and in my opinion the English 
 press would benefit greatly by it as would 
 also the American, but one can have too 
 much of a good thing. It is not the law 
 to which one objects but the methods in 
 which it is carried out. This is equally 
 true of both the free press and the censored 
 one. 
 
 Some time ago in St. Petersburg the 
 censor discovered that post-cards were sold 
 openly in the capital with such wicked
 
 Post Office Vagaries in Russia. 243 
 
 devices as pictures of St. Isaac's Cathedral, 
 the Nevski Perspective, or the Winter Palace, 
 but without the magic words " Censor's 
 Permit " in the corner of each card ; he 
 immediately prohibited the sale of these 
 awful cards and for about ten days none 
 were permitted to be sold. Now it so 
 happened that I wanted some of these cards 
 and went into a shop to get them. The 
 proprietor politely told me he could not 
 sell them. Greatly amazed, I exclaimed, 
 " But why ! they are in your window." 
 He was exceedingly angry and told me of 
 the censor's prohibition. I thought, naturally 
 enough, that there was some suspicion attach- 
 ing to the man himself and left the shop. I 
 went to another, only to meet with the same 
 story, and to a third, where they offered to 
 sell them to me sub rosd and begged me to 
 send them under cover as the sale had been 
 prohibited. I however refused to buy under 
 these circumstances and never again entered 
 the shop. The strange part of this censor- 
 ship is that with it frightfully indecent 
 pictures and cards are openly shown in the 
 windows and shops, and one has to be care- 
 ful as to what theatre one goes to, for some 
 
 16*
 
 244 Si* Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 of the plays are absolutely repulsive, violating 
 every canon of good taste, decency and 
 modesty. 
 
 But with a little time these things will 
 all right themselves ; when education has 
 spread more amongst the people and they 
 are more elevated they will see for them- 
 selves that these things do not become 
 a great Christian people, and they will be 
 relegated to oblivion with many other things 
 which all lovers of the country must 
 deplore.
 
 245 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE TRUE STORY OF KISHINEFF. ' 
 
 MUCH has been written concerning the out- 
 rages at Kishineff which is absolutely untrue. 
 It is far from my intention to deny the facts 
 of the matter. 
 
 Atrocities which could not have been 
 surpassed by the Spanish Inquisition were 
 committed on a defenceless and unarmed 
 population, but neither the Emperor nor 
 the Russian government was to blame in 
 the matter. 
 
 The first intimation I had of it was from 
 the London Times. I read the accounts 
 with deep horror and asked some Russian 
 friends of mine if it could possibly be true, 
 but no one seemed to know anything about 
 it, though one of them searched the Russian 
 papers. She could find no mention of it in
 
 246 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 them. A few days later accounts of the 
 horrible outrage were published in the Russian 
 papers ; an inquiry was made and those 
 upon whom guilt rested were severely 
 punished. 
 
 Two Russians in the town of Kishineff 
 were guardians to their orphan nephew, 
 a lad of about fourteen years of age. He 
 was rich, his father having made a fortune ; his 
 uncles, who were his heirs at law, having got 
 into financial difficulties, hit upon the abomin- 
 able project of murdering the poor boy and 
 annexing his wealth. The lad returned 
 from school one day and was never seen 
 alive again. It was just at the time of the 
 Jewish Passover and the uncles informed 
 the police of the disappearance of the 
 nephew, adding their belief that the Jews 
 had taken his blood for ritual purposes, for 
 that old myth is largely believed in Russia. 
 
 The police instituted a search in the Jewish 
 quarters for the unfortunate lad and with 
 the assistance of the uncles soon found 
 the body, which had been quite drained 
 of blood, in the garden of a Jew. 
 
 The Christian population was much in- 
 flamed against the unhappy Jews, who were,
 
 The True Story of Kishineff. 247 
 
 of course, unable to give proofs of their 
 absolute innocency in the matter. 
 
 Jew baiting is a form of sport only too 
 common in Russia ; so a terrible vengenace 
 was planned; word was sent to all the Jews 
 in the neighbourhood that as they had 
 for their Passover Feast taken the blood of 
 a Christian so would the Christians pour 
 out to their God on Easter the blood of the 
 Jews. The rich Jews in the town went 
 to the governor and besought his protection. 
 They paid for it too with all their possessions. 
 
 On Easter Sunday morning a guard was 
 placed outside their houses and they were 
 warned not to stir out, but no help or pro- 
 tection was given to the poor Jews whose 
 houses were entered ; their children were 
 thrown from the windows and dashed to 
 pieces against the walls and pavements. 
 One young man was nailed to a rude cross 
 in the streets and had all his limbs sawn 
 off ; the horrors of hell were let loose upon 
 the most unhappy people. The very worst 
 barbarities committed in the Middle Ages 
 were exceeded. 
 
 It was, of course, the duty of the governor 
 to call out the military and protect the help-
 
 248 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 less, but he had been paid in advance, and 
 wished to earn his money ; therefore he 
 deliberately cut off all telephone com- 
 munication, shut himself up in his study, 
 and would give no answer to anyone. 
 
 The military authorities went several times 
 to his house for permission to suppress the 
 rioting, but could not get any answer. Like 
 the deaf adder he would not hear, neither 
 did he send any report of the matter to St. 
 Petersburg and the Russians absolutely 
 believed that they were fulfilling the 
 Emperor's desires. In the evening the 
 Russians returned to their houses satisfied 
 with themselves and their work ; their horror 
 may be imagined when they found they 
 were to be brought to justice for their terrible 
 doings, for they imagined they had been 
 doing the will of God and the Emperor's 
 orders. 
 
 The enquiry into the outrages lasted a 
 long time ; the police searched the house 
 of the uncles and found in a cellar plenty 
 of evidence to prove that the poor boy had 
 met his death in his own home ; the very 
 clothes which he had worn at school on the 
 last day of his life, the weapon with which
 
 The True Story of Kishineff. 249 
 
 the murder had been committed, and many 
 more mute witnesses being found. The 
 wretched uncles were justly punished by 
 being sent to Siberia for life. The ring- 
 leaders in the attack on the Jews were 
 sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment, 
 from two years to a few months, according 
 to their degree of guilt, but a terrible punish- 
 ment was reserved for the most guilty of 
 all, the governor. All his property was 
 confiscated and he was deprived of his pass- 
 port and sent to live in a village ; in other 
 words, he was outlawed and he is, in the 
 eyes of the law, dead. He can neither 
 write nor receive letters and to support his 
 miserable life he was obliged to take service 
 in a peasant's family and be the general 
 drudge. If they wish, they may beat, kick, 
 starve him and he has no redress. 
 
 This man has no land and no rights 
 from anyone. His master will give him 
 food, a sheep-skin coat for winter and a 
 corner of the floor to sleep on at night ; 
 he may not go beyond about a mile from 
 the village in any direction. Yet he was a 
 gentleman used to a soft, luxurious life. 
 Russia can inflict no worse punishment than
 
 250 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 this, but it is very seldom given ; I have 
 heard of men condemned to this sentence 
 of outlawry running away and hiding in the 
 woods and becoming " wild men " who 
 stick at no crime ; of course, wanting a 
 passport they cannot enter any other village 
 or town and so they will sometimes murder 
 a whole family in order to steal this precious 
 document which must often be utterly useless 
 to them, as a description of the personal 
 appearance of the owner is written in each 
 Russian passport.
 
 251 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE RUSSIAN CLERGY. 
 
 THE Greek Church, which is established in 
 Russia, is supposed to hold a place between 
 the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches ; 
 it is, however, in ritual and doctrine, more like 
 the latter than the former, though orthodox 
 Russians as a rule prefer Protestants to 
 Roman Catholics. The Greek Church denies 
 the supremacy of the Pope, its clergy are 
 married, Mass is sung in the vulgar tongue, 
 and it does not hold the doctrine of the 
 Immaculate conception. 
 
 Many of the priests are excellent men, 
 working hard for the good of their people 
 and leading self-sacrificing lives, true orna- 
 ments to the Christian profession ; on the 
 other hand, many of them seem to be devoid 
 of any sense of morality. In many respects 
 their lives are very sad, they are so cut off
 
 252 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 from all others. They are simply peasants 
 and to the level of peasants their younger 
 sons often sink, consequently they are not 
 received into any society. Their education, 
 training and priestly office lift them above 
 the level of the mere tiller of the fields who 
 looks upon the priests with a sort of super- 
 stitious awe on Sundays, but on whose life 
 they exercise no influence whatever. The 
 eldest son, or priest, is set apart for the 
 priesthood and no military service is required 
 of him, but the younger sons frequently 
 serve as common soldiers. The groom who 
 led little Anastasie Nicolaivna's donkey was 
 the son of a priest and no one considered 
 it at all an extraordinary thing that he 
 should serve in the stables ; in fact, he was 
 considered as being very lucky to have got 
 such a good position and so pleasant a life. 
 He had served as a private in the army and 
 could read and write. 
 
 A priest is obliged to marry before he 
 receives orders ; his wife is in many cases 
 chosen for him by the bishop ; should she 
 die he has to give up his charge, take leave 
 of his children, and go into a monastery, 
 a second marriage being absolutely forbidden
 
 The Russian Clergy. 253 
 
 to him and a priest without a wife is not 
 allowed to live in a parish. From the 
 monasteries promotion comes. What the 
 life is there I cannot tell but it must be 
 frightfully monotonous. The brothers do 
 a great deal of wood-carving, some of which 
 is very beautiful. In all the monasteries 
 one can buy for a few pence little wooden 
 spoons carved by the brothers ; these have 
 all got " A sign of the blessing " on the 
 top. The right hand is extended, the first 
 and second fingers joined to the thumb 
 and the other two fingers turned in. I 
 have several of these spoons in my possession ; 
 I always thought it such a pity to shut up 
 men of education, who might labour for the 
 welfare of their fellow-creatures in a 
 monastery, to eat out their lives carving 
 wooden spoons, but the Russian Church 
 moves very slowly. While I was in Russia 
 a conference was held to discuss the desira- 
 bility of altering the calendar, which is 
 thirteen days behind the rest of the world, 
 but the Church would not hear of it, alleging 
 that a Christian feast, such as Easter, should 
 not be kept on the same day as the Jewish 
 Passover !
 
 254 Si* Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Priests' daughters are educated at excellent 
 institutes set aside for themselves. 
 
 On the completion of the education of a 
 priest's daughter, should she not be already 
 engaged, her photograph is taken and sent 
 to all the theological schools to be inserted 
 in the public album. On the back are written 
 full particulars as to her height, age, parentage, 
 fortune, number of brothers and sisters, etc. 
 Should a man not have formed any previous 
 engagement, on the passing of his final 
 examination he goes to the album and looks 
 up two or three suitable candidates for 
 matrimonial bliss, writes to the fathers of 
 the chosen few and an interview is arranged 
 for. When suited, he writes to the fathers 
 of the others, and tells them on whom his 
 choice has fallen and no one is any the 
 worse. Should his wife's father die, he takes 
 his mother-in-law to live with him. 
 
 While I was in St. Petersburg a priest 
 died and left four unmarried daughters ; 
 in accordance with the usual custom the 
 bishop appointed to the vacant charge a 
 young man whose affections were free, and 
 it was supposed that he would marry one 
 of the daughters and provide for their
 
 The Russian Clergy. 255 
 
 mother. One after the other of these brave 
 girls refused his offer, not that they had 
 anything against the man, but they said they 
 wished to have some choice in the matter 
 and did not wish to marry where they did 
 not love. 
 
 They left their father's house and taking 
 their mother with them they started a 
 school where they are doing well. I sym- 
 pathised deeply with them and spoke to a 
 Russian lady of their courage in thus defying 
 convention and starting out in the world 
 for themselves. She, however, took quite 
 another view of the matter and said, " What 
 do they suppose they have been brought up 
 and educated for ; it was their plain duty 
 to marry priests and I have no patience 
 with people who will not perform their 
 duty. Where are priests to look for wives 
 if priests' daughters refuse to marry 
 them ? " 
 
 If a priest has daughters and no son, he 
 has to educate a young man for the sacred 
 office in order to marry him to one of his 
 daughters ; should he have no children at 
 all he is obliged to adopt a son. 
 
 The Empress is doing all in her power
 
 256 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 to raise the social standing of the priests and 
 to provide them with a settled income. 
 
 When a Russian family visits Holy Moscow 
 it is considered correct to hire a priest to 
 say matins, and accordingly a servant-man 
 is sent to the market-place to hire. The 
 priests stand there, each one with a little roll 
 of bread in his hand. The servant chooses 
 his man, and then begins the horrible bartering 
 without which it seems impossible to conclude 
 any bargain. The priest will ask perhaps 
 five or six roubles ; the servant will en- 
 deavour to get him cheaper. Should the 
 priest be getting the worst of the encounter 
 he will sometimes say something like this : 
 " If you won't give me my price I'll take 
 a bite of this bread, and then it will all 
 be done," for a priest cannot celebrate mass 
 unless he is fasting. Should the servant 
 be new to the business he will probably 
 give in and conclude the bargain ; but if 
 he is wide awake he will answer something 
 like this : " For that matter you may eat 
 it all. There are plenty more priests in the 
 market." But suppose the bargain con- 
 cluded ! On the conclusion of matins the 
 priest holds up the cross and all the wor-
 
 The Russian Clergy. 257 
 
 shippers press forward to kiss it and the 
 hand of the priest, who is then sent to the 
 kitchen to breakfast with the servants. 
 
 It is related of the late Emperor that 
 being in the country for military manoeuvres 
 he attended divine service in the village 
 church. On the conclusion of the Mass he 
 advanced to kiss the cross and the priest's 
 hand. The latter withdrew his hand, saying, 
 "It is not meet that your Majesty should 
 kiss the hand of his humble servant." The 
 Emperor reproved him in these words : 
 " Thou fool, it is not thy hand I kiss but 
 the holy office thou boldest. I do it not 
 for thee but for my people." 
 
 Holy pictures and relics hold a great 
 place in the Russian Church. In the cathe- 
 dral in the Winter Palace is a dried human 
 hand. It is very old. Tradition says that 
 it is the hand of John the Baptist ! 
 
 Holy pictures may be either painted or 
 carved, but are always hand-work, though 
 they may only cost a few kopecks each. 
 The Russian never speaks of buying or 
 selling these pictures. They are always ex- 
 changed. Exchanging for money is not the 
 same thing as buying, they say. 
 
 17
 
 258 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Some pictures are used something like 
 charms. There is one of three saints, Iger, 
 Saumon, and Ivava. With this image 
 engaged couples are usually blessed by their 
 parents before the marriage. If an un- 
 engaged person is given the image, he or she 
 is certain, so the fable goes, of being married 
 before the year is over. I gave a copy of 
 it to a girl three years ago but it had no 
 effect ; she is still living in single blessedness. 
 I told her she must have failed in faith. 
 As a matter of fact, moved by some feeling 
 of shyness, she shut up the picture in a box 
 and never put it in her little shrine at all. 
 She carried it about with her from place 
 to place, but I really do not think she gave 
 it very fair play. She was a little ashamed 
 of having locked it up, and never could make 
 out whether I had given it to her in jest or 
 seriousness. 
 
 One of the Russian nurses got engaged 
 while I was there. When we were last in 
 Moscow she came to me and told me that 
 she had dreamt that an angel came to her 
 and said, "If you wish to be happy in 
 your marriage you must get an icon of Iger, 
 Saumon, and Ivava." She told the angel
 
 The Russian Clergy. 259 
 
 that she had numbers of holy pictures, would 
 not one of the Madonna do instead ? " 
 
 But the angel was of a different opinion 
 and said nothing would do but what he 
 had pointed out. 
 
 Of course, I told her that if her married 
 happiness depended upon that, to go and 
 get as many as ever she wished ; so she 
 dressed and went. 
 
 Shortly afterwards the Empress came into 
 the nurseries and asked for her. I told her 
 she had gone out to buy something she 
 required. So the Empress asked me to 
 send the girl to her as soon as she returned. 
 She then showed me a copy of this picture, 
 saying, "It is supposed to bring luck 
 and happiness to brides, I saw it in a church 
 I was visiting and brought it home for her." 
 It was a curious coincidence. 
 
 In 1903 a new saint was added to the 
 Russian calendar St. Seraphim. He was 
 a monk, and was remarkable for the great 
 gentleness and piety of his character. He 
 lived in a monastery situated in a forest. 
 He is generally represented with a great 
 bear which he had tamed, and which followed 
 him about like a dog. He was deformed. 
 
 17*
 
 260 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 Wandering in the forest one day he was 
 attacked and beaten by a ruffian ; his back 
 was broken, but he recovered and lived for 
 some years. Many extraordinary stories are 
 related of him. He only died about seventy- 
 five years ago, but owing to his extraordinary 
 piety, he was canonized far sooner than is 
 usual. 
 
 The Emperor and Empress went to the 
 ceremony. They were lodged in the convent 
 there, their suite being accommodated either 
 in the stables, where beds were made up, 
 or in tents. But for the most part the 
 pilgrims, numbering about one and a half 
 millions, slept in the forest or in the grounds 
 of the monastery with the sky for a canopy. 
 The monks were not at all prepared for such 
 numbers, and there was not nearly sufficient 
 bread, or food of any kind, to go round. 
 Many apparently authentic cures are re- 
 corded ; the blind received their sight, the 
 lame walked, but I cannot say if the cures 
 were permanent. 
 
 Talking of them with a Russian doctor, 
 he said he had no doubt whatever of the 
 truth of certain of these cures, but he 
 believed they were all of the nervous system ;
 
 The Russian Clergy. 261 
 
 but then nervous diseases are the most 
 difficult of all to cure. One cure is reported 
 of a young girl suffering from typhoid whose 
 people had taken a cottage in the neighbour- 
 hood for the summer. One morning her 
 mother was horrified to find her bed empty. 
 Search was immediately made all over the 
 house and the garden, but she could not be 
 found. Suddenly she walked into the house, 
 quite well, and asked for breakfast. She 
 told the following story : 
 
 In the night a little old man appeared 
 to her, and told her to get up and go and bathe 
 in a spring of water, several miles distant 
 from the house. She protested, saying she 
 had been in bed for several weeks and had 
 not strength enough to walk downstairs, 
 but the apparition said, " Only obey, 
 strength will be given to thee, only have 
 faith." She got up, walked to the spring 
 and bathed, and was quite restored, nor 
 had she a relapse. 
 
 On these remarkable circumstances being 
 made known, it was resolved to canonize 
 St. Seraphim, and I am sure that he merited 
 the distinction, owing to the beauty of his 
 life and character.
 
 262 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 The Bible tells us that if we have faith 
 all things are possible to us, so I believe that 
 these miracles were worked in answer to 
 faith. Many people walked from Archangel 
 on the White Sea down to the monastery, 
 which is situated in the south of Russia, 
 starting, like the apostles of old, without 
 provision for the journey. Many people 
 were walking for six months. 
 
 Two brothers set out carrying their 
 paralysed sister in a stretcher between them 
 and made their way on foot to the shrine. 
 Their journey took them over five months. 
 They begged their way ; underwent in- 
 credible hardships. Starting on their long, 
 toilsome journey in March, when every place 
 was frozen hard, they travelled on through 
 snow, under the burning sun, still carrying 
 their helpless sister, sustained by the hope 
 of a blessing for her. Their faith was re- 
 warded. Their sister was restored. Charit- 
 able people helped them to return home by 
 train. They had the three greatest things 
 in the world, faith, hope and charity, and 
 they were rewarded.
 
 263 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 MORE ABOUT THE CHILDREN. 
 
 THE Russian peasants live principally on 
 rye. When this crop fails ruin and starva- 
 tion stare them in the face. 
 
 The following story was told me of the 
 effects of eating rye in a bad condition. 
 The scenes described took place in a village 
 not far from Moscow. The poorest people 
 ground the unripe, rotten grain, and made 
 it into a travesty of the black bread which 
 they usually use. This bread was rankly 
 intoxicating and the poor creatures who 
 ate it were absolutely insane for a while. 
 They danced naked through the villages, 
 attacked each other with knives, screaming 
 like savages the while. Even little children 
 were made drunk. Many died, falling down 
 suddenly in the midst of their frenzy. Gener- 
 ally speaking, after about two hours of this 
 excitement the poor creatures dropped off
 
 264 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 into a sudden and profound sleep, from which 
 they woke sober and in their right minds. 
 Many, alas ! awoke no more. 
 
 The Russian peasants dislike loneliness 
 very much, and always live in villages ; 
 sometimes their cabins may be forty miles 
 from their farms. During the summer they 
 generally camp out, shutting up the cabin, 
 the peasant, his wife and family travelling 
 in a rough cart, traverse the distance be- 
 tween house and farm. 
 
 They generally plough with a woman or 
 two and a cow, and the man drives this 
 extraordinary team. I often said if I were 
 those women I should strike. My nephew 
 says it is unscriptural, for it is forbidden 
 to yoke an ox and an ass ! I told a peasant 
 woman once that I considered it awful, and 
 she laughed and said, " Eta nichivo " 
 " It is no matter." 
 
 In harvest time they work far into the 
 night, for in the north of Russia daylight 
 lingers long. One can see to read up to 
 about ten o'clock at night without artificial 
 light, and they work even by moonlight 
 cutting grass, binding sheaves, etc. The 
 harvest is carried home and stored, the
 
 More About the Children. 265 
 
 cattle are driven back to the village, and the 
 long sad winter begins. The summer spent 
 out of doors is certainly good for the chil- 
 dren, who run about sturdy, brown, little, 
 half-naked savages. 
 
 One of the under-nurses in the Imperial 
 household had a friend who lived in a village 
 with her mother ; the friend did the Russian 
 drawn thread work most beautifully. I saw 
 some of it one day, and sent her an order. 
 I showed it to several people and got her 
 orders. I even sent a good deal of it to 
 England and Ireland, and got her better 
 prices than she had got from the shops for 
 articles she had worked. She was soon 
 enabled to take in a couple of girls as appren- 
 tices, and had a little establishment. Her 
 cottage was comfortable, and she and her 
 mother lived in a degree of comfort which 
 they had not before known. 
 
 One day the maid came to tell me that her 
 friend was married and could do no work. 
 I thought it rather a pity for her to give up 
 her work, as the Russian winters are long, 
 and I thought she would find time hang 
 heavily on her hands and said so. The 
 girl said she could not work at present, as
 
 266 Six Years at the Russian Court 
 
 she was too tired in the evening when she 
 was finished ploughing. I was amused, and 
 said I had never heard of a woman driving 
 the plough, and she then told me she was 
 not driving, but dragging it with a cow. 
 
 I said I supposed she must have been very 
 fond of the man to have given up so much 
 for his sake. I learned to my amazement 
 that he was a boy of seventeen ! The mar- 
 riage had been arranged by a " go-between." 
 He was the youngest of four brothers, who 
 were all married ; there were eleven adults 
 and about twenty-five children all living in 
 a little tiny cabin. The new wife had had 
 to give her own little house to her father-in- 
 law, who let it, and pocketed the rent, and 
 she had not even a candle to work by in the 
 winter evenings. I expressed surprise, but 
 was looked at with astonishment. " But she 
 was an old maid ; and no Russian likes to 
 be an old maid." 
 
 A peasant woman whom I knew wished 
 to arrange a marriage for me ! I am afraid 
 I should have been rather a disturbing 
 element in the cabin. 
 
 The maids in the nursery used always to 
 tell me if any man paid them attentions,
 
 More About the Children. 267 
 
 and just for all the world like an anxious 
 mother, I used to make enquiries about his 
 character, temper, position in life, and 
 whether the would-be suitor could give his 
 wife a home of her own. 
 
 If satisfied on these points I made no 
 objection, but allowed the wooing to con- 
 tinue, but I would never hear of allowing 
 any of them to go to live in the country with 
 her husband's relations, and be treated as a 
 beast of burden. 
 
 One of the under-nurses was married last 
 year. She had come to the palace straight 
 from her school, at seventeen years of age, 
 and was there for nearly seven years. She 
 was naturally very much attached to the 
 children, and when her last day came was in 
 floods of tears all through the day, and the 
 children were terribly distressed to see her 
 in such grief. The little Grand Duchess 
 Tatiana told her she could stay on if she 
 liked, she knew we all loved her and would 
 be sorry to part from her ; and then she 
 came running to me to beg me not to send 
 dear Tegla away. I answered that she 
 might stay if she liked, but that she had 
 promised to marry Vladislav ; it was her
 
 268 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 own wish, and I did not think she would like 
 to break her word. 
 
 The other girls gave a little party to 
 celebrate her leaving us, and the young man 
 was amongst the guests. When the girl 
 heard that he had arrived her grief broke 
 forth again. She realised that the time of 
 parting had come, and the children cried 
 most bitterly. Little Tatiana Nicolaivna 
 took a sheet of paper and a pencil, and wrote 
 with great difficulty a letter which I trans- 
 late : " Vladislav, Be good with Tegla. 
 Tatiana." She placed this letter in an 
 envelope and printed in large letters on the 
 envelope, Vladislav, and sent it to him by 
 the housemaid. I went in later to speak 
 to the man and wish him happiness. He 
 pulled this letter out of his pocket, and with 
 tears in his eyes begged me to thank the 
 little Grand Duchess, and assure her that he 
 would never forget to be good to Tegla. 
 All the more, because it was Tatiana Nico- 
 laivna' s wish. He always carries the letter 
 about with him. She came to visit us several 
 times after her marriage and was very happy. 
 Whenever she writes she always sends a 
 special message to Tatiana to say that
 
 More About the Children. 269 
 
 Vladislav is very good to her, and the little 
 one looks so pleased and says, " Well, I am 
 glad." 
 
 The children used to make their own 
 Christmas and birthday presents for their 
 parents, generally some needlework. Once 
 the little Grand Duchess Olga, in spite of 
 my remonstrances, worked a kettle-holder 
 for the Emperor. It had a little kettle 
 singing on a fire, and " Polly, put the kettle 
 on," worked on it, and she grounded it in 
 blue. I made it up for her with a ruche of 
 blue ribbon all round, and she admired it 
 immensely. 
 
 When Christmas came she presented it 
 to her father, saying, " Nana is afraid it 
 won't be much use to you, it is a kettle-holder, 
 but you can put it on your table for a mat, 
 or hang it on the wall for a picture. Just 
 see the pretty little frame round it." 
 
 One day the children and I were walking 
 in the garden of the Winter Palace. The 
 Emperor has some really beautiful collie 
 dogs, and these were taking exercise in the 
 garden at the same time. One of them, a 
 young untrained creature, jumped on Tatiana 
 Nicolaivna's back, and threw her down.
 
 270 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 The child was frightened and cried most 
 bitterly. I lifted her up and said : 
 
 " Poor Sheilka ! she did not mean to hurt 
 you ; she only wanted to say ' Good-morning ' 
 to you." 
 
 The child looked at me and said, " Was 
 that all ? I don't think she is very polite ; 
 she could have said it to my face, not to my 
 back." 
 
 Shortly after I first went to Russia the 
 little Grand Duchess Olga was very naughty. 
 I said to her, " I am afraid you got out of 
 bed with the wrong foot foremost this 
 morning." She looked a little puzzled, but 
 said nothing. Next morning, before getting 
 out of bed, she called me and asked which 
 was her right foot. 
 
 I showed her, and she most carefully 
 descended on it. " Now," said she, " that 
 bad left foot won't be able to make me 
 naughty to-day ; I got out on the right." 
 
 It was only necessary to remind her of 
 the fact all day to ensure perfect obedience. 
 
 I do not suppose that the world holds 
 anyone more unmusical than I am. My 
 singing might, without in any way violating 
 the second commandment, be worshipped,
 
 More About the Children. 271 
 
 for it is like nothing in the heavens above, 
 nor in the earth beneath, nor in the waters 
 under the earth. Gilbert might have had 
 some dim prophetic sense of its beauty 
 when he wrote : 
 
 " It was wild, it was fitful, as wild as the breeze ; 
 It wandered about into several keys ; 
 It was jerky and spasmodic, and harsh, I'm aware, 
 Yet still it distinctly suggested an air." 
 
 I have just a faint idea of two tunes. 
 One of them is " Rock of Ages " ; the other, 
 " Villikins and his Dinah." 
 
 The Grand Duchess Tatiana was ill one 
 time and slept badly. I was up a good deal 
 through the nights with her. She always 
 asked me to sing for her, and I sang " Rock 
 of Ages " till the poor little sufferer rebelled, 
 and flatly refused to listen to it any more, 
 so I fell back upon " Villikins." It interested 
 her very much, but she always asked, 
 " Why did poor Dinah drink the poison 
 cold ?" I used to say to her, " She had not 
 time to warm it, darling ; now go to sleep." 
 
 One night, however, her enquiries went 
 further, and " Why didn't she get her Nana 
 to warm it for her ? You would have warmed 
 it for me, wouldn't you ? "
 
 272 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 I had got from England a preparation for 
 the children's hair, and was rubbing it into 
 little Anastasie's head one evening. She 
 objected, and I said, " It will make your 
 hair grow nicely, darling," so she sub- 
 mitted. Next evening I went to get the 
 kappuka from the cupboard, and mademoi- 
 selle ran off into the next room. She re- 
 turned dragging by its leg an awful dolly, 
 a regular fetish, minus a wig, one eye, and 
 an arm. She gravely took a little piece of 
 sponge and began to rub the kappuka into 
 the creature's head. I remonstrated, telling 
 her I had to send to England for the stuff and 
 did not want it wasted. She looked at me 
 most reproachfully, and said, " My poor 
 Vera ! she has got no curls ; this will make 
 her hair grow." Of course, she got her way. 
 
 I have already spoken of the children's 
 education, and I reproduce here a copy of a 
 letter I had from the Grand Duchess Olga 
 during my summer holidays, which is nicely 
 written and expressed for a little girl of her 
 age. Her Russian is further advanced than 
 her English, as I had not much time to 
 devote to her lessons. I also print some of 
 her drawings.
 
 273 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 EDUCATION IN RUSSIA. 
 
 SECONDARY and the higher education are 
 very well provided for in Russia. 
 
 There are many universities, and the fees 
 for tuition, books, etc., are low, only about 
 twenty pounds per annum, nor is age any 
 barrier to entrance. I think it would add 
 to the usefulness of the universities if en- 
 trance were more difficult, for they get many 
 students who must of necessity fail. There 
 are very many free scholarships. 
 
 On one occasion I received a request from 
 a young woman to get her name placed in 
 the free list of a certain professor whom I 
 happened to know. She was thirty years of 
 age, and had left school at seventeen with very 
 good certificates. She learned dressmaking, 
 and was working in the country. She had 
 saved some hundreds of roubles and wished 
 to come to St. Petersburg to study medi- 
 
 18
 
 274 S* x Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 cine. I sent her word that for that a know- 
 ledge of Latin was necessary. She had 
 already left school thirteen years, and had 
 been living in the country where she had 
 little access to books. She seemed to have 
 been successful with the dressmaking, and 
 why not stick to it ? But she was ambi- 
 tious, and would not be persuaded. She 
 was perfectly certain she could learn all that 
 would be required, and was determined to 
 enter college. 
 
 I was very sorry for the girl coming up to 
 St. Petersburg to live, probably in an under- 
 ground cellar, and spend her little money 
 all to no avail. However, she entered the 
 university as a free pupil. Of course, she 
 did no good, and took the place which might 
 have been given to a younger pupil just left 
 school, lost her dressmaking connection, 
 tried the patience of her professors, and all 
 to no purpose. 
 
 There are many educational institutions 
 in St. Petersburg helped by the State ; in 
 these an excellent education is given, chiefly 
 in modern and scientific lines. Foreign lan- 
 guages are well taught, and it is the excep- 
 tion to find an educated Russian who does
 
 Education in Russia. 275 
 
 not speak three or four languages fluently. 
 Their own language is terribly difficult, and 
 I never knew a Russian to whom figures were 
 not a mighty stumbling-block. Even with 
 their decimal system, which is so simple that 
 we could master it in half an hour, they 
 have to use in shops beads and wires for 
 counting, and even with this help they go 
 astray. When they come over to this 
 country, how they get to understand our 
 complicated money system I do not know. 
 
 There are many free scholarships in these 
 schools. The Emperor and Empress have 
 the right of presenting free pupils. On pay- 
 ment of a small sum by parents or relations 
 a child can be received. One of the Russian 
 nurses in the palace lately got a peasant child 
 admitted into a school in this way. She was 
 twelve years of age and could read, but not 
 write. She was elected for eight years, was 
 to be lodged, fed, educated and clothed, 
 taught either housework or sewing, and 
 fitted out for the world. On the completion 
 of her eight years she might, should she so 
 desire, enter the university, and all that was 
 paid for her was about five pounds a year. 
 At twelve years old she was a little unkempt 
 
 18*
 
 276 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 peasant, with a handkerchief tied round her 
 head, her feet covered with bark shoes, and 
 wearing bandages instead of stockings. She 
 had never even seen a train, and the most 
 wonderful thing she ever saw in all her 
 life was a statue of one of the Emperors in 
 one of the streets of St. Petersburg. She 
 did not know the meaning of a shop, had 
 never heard of buying anything anywhere 
 but in a fair. 
 
 In the higher institutes scholarships are 
 given strictly according to the rank of the 
 father of the pupil. Thus in one, no one 
 under the rank of a major has a chance of 
 getting a daughter or son received, and 
 so on. In the highest of all, the daughters 
 of generals and foreign princesses are re- 
 ceived. The Queen of Italy and her sisters 
 were educated here. In all these institu- 
 tions the pupils and teachers wear uniforms. 
 Some of them don the very ugliest, most 
 unbecoming shade of blue one can imagine. 
 
 In Russia every man has military rank. 
 The little Grand Duchess Olga's tutors were 
 supposed to be generals, and were called 
 " Your Excellency." They wore the uni- 
 form of generals, but had a little button in
 
 Education in Russia. 277 
 
 front of the cap, placed in a different posi- 
 tion from that of the real live military 
 generals. 
 
 Many decorations are given for various 
 services entitling free education to a son or 
 daughter. 
 
 Foreigners are not given military rank. 
 They come to give lessons, even in the early 
 morning, dressed in evening clothes. The 
 tail-coat, etc., is taken as a sort of uniform. 
 
 In comparison with secondary schools, 
 primary schools are very few. There are 
 many in which the only means of education 
 for the poor is the village priest. The poor 
 man is supposed to instruct them, but life 
 is not long enough for that, and he has many 
 other duties to perform besides teaching his 
 own barbarians. He has to farm his own 
 little plot of ground, and to make bargains 
 with the people, so much for a wedding, so 
 much for a funeral, to baptise and confirm 
 their children, to bury the dead, to solemnise 
 marriages, etc. The poor man has really 
 not time for more than he does. 
 
 The Russians value education most highly, 
 and consider it an inestimable benefit. A 
 peasant woman once asked me if I could
 
 278 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 read and write ; I answered in the affir- 
 mative, but mentioned that I could not read 
 Russian, but only my own language and 
 French. She looked round my room and 
 at my books, and asked me in an awed tone 
 if I had read all those. I said I had. So she 
 exclaimed, " Oh ! What good parents you 
 have had. I also had very good parents, 
 who sent me to school every day for four 
 years, and I can read almost any book, and 
 even the newspapers, and write a letter quite 
 easily." 
 
 The following story was told me by the 
 Empress. One morning there arrived on the 
 train from the Caucasus a little girl aged 
 eleven. She went to a porter and asked to 
 be sent to the Minister of Education. He 
 made some demur ; the child said, with per- 
 fect gravity, " I have come from the 
 Caucasus, ten days' journey, to be put to 
 school ; you must please get me an izvochick 
 and send me to his house. The child took 
 herself so seriously that the porter took her 
 in the same manner, and putting her into 
 a street carriage, sent her off. Arriving at 
 the minister's house she had great difficulty 
 in persuading the servant to let her in.
 
 Education in Russia. 279 
 
 But she succeeded, and he promised to let 
 his master know that a little girl from the 
 Caucasus wanted to see him. 
 
 At the moment the minister was engaged 
 with the Empress's secretary, but he said 
 the child could be shown in. She stated her 
 case, and the minister, in much difficulty 
 and greatly amused over the whole business, 
 assured the child that he had no vacancy. 
 But the little one was not to be denied. 
 
 ' You are the Minister of Education," cried 
 she. " I have come from the Caucasus to 
 be put to school ; you must put me some- 
 where." The minister was terribly puzzled 
 as to what to do with her, and tried to ex- 
 plain things ; but she would hear nothing. 
 The secretary interposed, and offered to pay 
 for this anxious little scholar till a free 
 vacancy could be found for her. A note was 
 accordingly written to the mistress of a 
 school and the child was sent off under escort 
 of a footman to be put to school. Her joy 
 was unbounded. The secretary immediately 
 went down to Peterhoff, and asked to see 
 the Empress on pressing business. He told 
 her about the child and her ardent desire 
 to be educated. Inquiries were made, the
 
 280 Six Years at the Russian Court. 
 
 truth of the child's story established, and the 
 Empress gave her a vacancy in one of her 
 own schools. 
 
 It seemed that her two eldest sisters had 
 been received into a local school, but there 
 was no room for this little one. She took 
 the fact greatly to heart and fretted herself 
 ill. The priest and doctor did their best to 
 pacify her, but she would not be gainsaid. 
 In despair they had taken a quarter ticket 
 for her to St. Petersburg, thinking that if 
 she could only realise that it was impossible 
 she might be reconciled to the " Will of 
 God." Accordingly she came, but " God 
 helps those who help themselves " proved 
 true in her case, though, indeed, we may see 
 God's will in what happened. She is now 
 under the Empress's protection, and unless 
 I am much mistaken the world will hear of 
 her some day. She will not be easily dis- 
 couraged nor cast down. 
 
 The Emperor established many schools 
 and founded many scholarships in honour 
 of the birth of the Czarovitch, Alexis Nico- 
 lavitch. I do not think anyone could desire 
 a better endowment than a school founded 
 in his name.
 
 28l 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THE BIRTH OF AN HEIR. 
 
 ON the I2th August, 1904, the little Grand 
 Duke Czarevitch was born. It happened 
 to be my birthday, and when I went to see 
 the new-born prince and congratulate the 
 Empress she said to me, " You see what a 
 nice birthday present I have given you." 
 
 He was baptised when he was twelve days 
 old. I have described the baptismal cere- 
 mony for little Marie, and his was just 
 slightly more ceremonious. His gilt carriage 
 was drawn by eight horses instead of six, 
 and he was dressed in blue and white instead 
 of pink ; also, the decoration which he 
 received from the Emperor was of a higher 
 order. 
 
 The little sisters were delighted with the 
 new brother, and made many quaint and
 
 282 Six Years at the^Russian Court. 
 
 critical remarks about him. They were at 
 the baptism dressed in Russian Court costume 
 of blue satin, brocaded in silver and trimmed 
 with silver braid and buttons, and they 
 wore silver shoes. Their head-dresses were 
 of blue velvet embroidered with pearls ; 
 they looked very sweet and quaint. 
 
 The child had for his godfathers the 
 King of Denmark, the King of England, 
 the Emperor of Germany, the Grand Duke 
 Alexis, the Emperor's uncle, and many god- 
 mothers, including Princess Victoria of 
 Wales. He received the name of Alexis ; 
 he was the third born Czarovitch in the 
 Romanoff dynasty. Michael, the first Ro- 
 manoff's eldest son, was called Alexis ; Peter 
 the Great's eldest son, born Czarovitch, 
 received it also, and this one, of course, 
 had to get it. The name means " Bringer 
 of Peace." I hope it may prove true. 
 
 He is a very beautiful boy. In the middle 
 of the baptismal ceremony, when he was 
 being anointed for the first time, he raised 
 his hand and extended his fingers as though 
 pronouncing a blessing. Of course, every- 
 one said that it was a very good omen, and 
 that he would prove to be a father to his
 
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 The Birth of an Heir. 283 
 
 people. God grant it, but not for many 
 years to come. 
 
 When we came out of church it was 
 raining hard, which they said was a very 
 good omen, but it was not so nice for my 
 white satin dress. 
 
 The dress worn on this occasion by those 
 present far exceeded in beauty and grandeur 
 anything I had ever seen before. 
 
 It was the little girls' first great cere- 
 mony, and we can judge how delighted 
 they were with it all. 
 
 Shortly after the birth of the Czarovitch 
 I left Russia owing to private and personal 
 reasons. I was very sorry and grieved to 
 say good-bye to the dear children whom I 
 love so well.
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 THE CHAPEL RIVKR PRESS, 
 KINGSTON. SURREY. 
 
 A
 
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