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

RUSSIAN CROWDS.241

the ball, this enclosure had been gradually filling with people. The light of the dawning day had become more distinct; and in looking on the multitude, mute with admiration, motionless, fascinated as it were by the splendours of its master's palace, and drinking in, with a sort of timid animal delight, the emanations of the royal festival, I experienced an impression of pleasure. At last, then, I had found a crowd in Russia : I saw nothing below me but men ; and so close was the press that not an inch of earth could be discovered. Nevertheless, in despotic lands, the diversions of the people, when they approach those of the prince, always appear to me suspicious. The fear and flattery of the low, and the pride and hypocritical generosity of the great, are the only sentiments which I can believe to be genuine among men who live under the regime of the Russian autocracy. In the midst of the fetes of Petersburg I cannot forget the journey of the Empress Catherine into the Crimea, and the facades of villages, made of planks or painted canvass, and set up in the distance at every quarter league of the route, in order to make the triumphant sovereign believe that the desert had become peopled under her reign. Л spirit similar to that which dictated these illusions still possesses the minds of the Russians; every one masks the evil, and obtrudes the good in the eyes of his imperial master. There is a permanent conspiracy of smiles, plotting against the truth, in favour of the mental satisfaction of him who is reputed to will and to act for the good of all. The emperor is the only man in the empire who lives; for eating and drinking is not living.

VOL, Г.M