Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

CHAR XXXVII. *

RETURN TO EMS. — AUTUMN IN THE VICINITY OF THE RHINE. — COMPARISON BETWEEN RUSSIAN AND GERMAN SCENERY.—THE YOUTH OF THE SOUL.—DEFINITION OF MISANTHROPY. — MISTAKE OF THE TRAVELLER REGARDING RUSSIA. — RESUME OF THE JOURNEY. — A LAST PORTRAIT OF RUSSIA AND THE RUSSIANS. —

6ECRET OF THEIR POLICY. A GLANCE AT THE CHRISTIAN

CHURCHES. — THE TASK OF THE AUTHOR. DANGER OF SPEAK

ING OF THE GREEK RELIGION IN RUSSIA. — PARALLEL BETWEEN

SPAIN AND RUSSIA.

I left Ems for Russia five months ago, and return to this elegant village after having made a tour of some thousand leagues. My stay here during the previous spring was disagreeable to me by reason of the erowd of bathers and drinkers : I find it delicious now that I am literally alone, with nothing to do but to enjoy a beautiful autumn sky in the midst of mountains, the solitude of which I admire; and to review my recollections, while I at the same time seek the repose I need after the rapid journey just completed.

With what a contrast am I presented! In Russia, I was deprived of all the scenes of nature; for I cannot give the name of nature to solitudes without one picturesque object, — to seas, lakes, and rivers, whose banks are on a level with the water; to marshes without bounds, and steppes without vegetation, under a sky without light. Those plains are not, in-

* Written at Ems, October, 1839.