to the officer on guard that I was going on a message from the Czar, which he believing let me pass; I went to the house of a Mr. Kelderman, who had formerly been one of the Czar's tutors, and was still in great favour with him. Mr. Kelderman followed me very soon, but not before he had drank off his double-eagle, and coming into his own house, he complained that he was sick with drinking; and sitting down by the table, laid his head on it, appearing as if fallen asleep. This being a common custom with him, his wife and daughters took no notice of it; till after some time observing him neither to move nor breathe, and coming close up to him, we found he was dead, which threw the family into great confusion. Knowing the esteem in which he stood with the Czar, I went and informed him of the sudden death of Mr. Kelderman. His Majesty's concern at the event brought him immediately to the house, where he condoled with the widow for the loss of her husband, ordered an honourable burial of the deceased at his own expense, and settled on her an annuity for life."

This melancholy catastrophe, resulting from the enforced potations of the Czar, did not put an end to the strange system of compulsory entertainments and festivities; which, though so strange in our estimation, were probably by no means ill-adapted for accomplishing the ends that Peter had in view. In his anxiety to advance his people to such a state of civilization as should enable them to compete on

equal terms with the nations of western Europe, he had tried the influence of the fine arts, with little effect. Painting and architecture flourished under his own direct patronage, but without any visible effect on the education of the people; while the Italian opera, introduced by him, which more directly appealed to popular taste and gratification, proved a failure. The coarse jests of the mock patriarch's carnival, and the marriage of the royal jester, proved greatly more congenial to the rude Muscovite than the sweetest tones and most moving scenes of the opera.

One of the great points aimed at by the Czar was the bringing of the two sexes together in public, and thereby breaking down that system of Oriental seclusion of the females, which, so long as it lasted, he perceived must form an obstacle to progressive civilization, and a barrier to any perfect freedom of intercourse with foreigners. With this object in view, he specially ordained regulations for enforcing the practice of assembling together in each other's houses; though the method adopted by him seems somewhat curious when tested by our ideas of personal liberty and social intercourse. "The Emperor," says one of the biographers of Peter the Great, "had endeavoured to bring the two sexes more frequently and publicly together, and had in some degree succeeded. He now instituted a regulation by which he should more effectually ensure this intercourse, by soirees or conversaziones, which

he wisely judged was the first step to smooth down the roughness of, and give a polish to his untutored countrymen. The regulations themselves show, in some degree, what the state of society was at that time. 1. A public notice was to be hung out at the house of assembly. 2. The company to assemble not sooner than five, nor continue later than ten. 3. The master of the house to find chairs, candles, liquors, and all necessaries that might be required; materials, as cards, &c., for gaming; but not obliged to attend to or wait on his guests. 4. Every one to come and go when he pleases, within the prescribed hours. 5. Every one to sit, walk, play, or converse, just as it suits him; any breach of etiquette to be punished by the person committing it emptying the great eagle. 6. Noblemen, officers of state, of the army and navy, respectable merchants and ship-builders, with their wives and children, to have liberty to frequent these assemblies. 7. A particular place to be assigned to the servants.

These soirees are said to have been attended with the happiest effects, though the admission of such a mixed company was sometimes productive of rather awkward situations. The great propensity which the Russians generally had for strong liquors, the ladies as well as gentlemen, was occasionally indulged in to excess, and scenes occurred that would not be tolerated in civilized society. It required time to get rid of this gross indulgence, if it has yet been entirely eradicated; for it is stated, on very

competent authority, that "intoxication is not disgraceful, and, even among people of good condition, if a lady be overtaken in liquor, it is no subject of reproach;" the Russians are said to be "friendly, jovial, and courteous; boast of their friendship; and those that are not able to stand find ready assistance from those who can."

CHAPTER V.

EDUCATION OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE.

IT has already been made abundantly manifest by various of the anecdotes recorded of Peter the Great, that, like other distinguished popular reformers, nothing was too minute to be unworthy of his notice, or to seem undeserving of care. On his return from Holland and England, after he had suppressed the insurrection of the Strelitzes with the utmost rigour and cruelty, he set himself resolutely to effect the regeneration of the country. A reformer familiar only with the humanity and refinement of Western civilization would probably have despaired of a people who retained far more of the characteristics of the nomade Tartar than of the European. Peter, however, with all his fine natural genius and indomitable energy, was only himself emerging from the same condition, and therefore saw no insurmountable difficulties in

the attempt to lead his people in his own footsteps. The very first object which the intrepid reformer assailed, was the national dress. This was formed entirely on the Tartar model, and had undergone no modification from any intercourse with western Europe. The direct influence of government had hitherto fostered this Oriental costume, and the dress of the Russian soldier seemed to the rest of Europe equally barbarous and inconvenient. He wore a pair of loose and very wide drawers, presenting to the eye the appearance of a petticoat, and over this, a long coat reaching to the heels, and belted round the waist. Such a dress was manifestly equally unsoldier-like, and ill-adapted for the actual vicissitudes of war. The dress was completed by a conical cap or helmet on the head, and its effeminate character was somewhat awkwardly redeemed by a great bushy, untrimmed beard, nearly covering the face. The whole dress manifestly had its origin in the indolent and uncleanly customs of the wandering life among the Tartar hoards of Asia, and served as an easy cover for slothfulness and filth. It was, moreover, a most manifest and visible bar of separation between the native Russian and the civilized European.

The whole of these exterior emblems of barbarism were at once condemned by the Czar. The soldiers were required to shave, and compelled to adopt the European costume, with all the harassing attentions to order, uniformity, and tidiness of dress, which is now universally required of the soldier.