VOL. III.M
242A MUSCOVITE WITCH.
without any effect; he, being determined to get to the bottom of so singular an affair, had recourse to the Russian remedy par excellence, and sentenced the possessed woman to be flogged. This treatment did not fail to produce its effect.
At the twenty-fifth stroke the sufferer asked for mercy, and swore to tell the truth; which truth was, that she had married a man whom she did not love; and that to avoid working for his benefit she had pretended to be possessed. The enactment of this comedy suited her indolence, and at the same time restored the health of a multitude of sick people, who repaired to her full of faith and hope, and returned cured.
Sorcerers are not scarce among the Russian peasants, with whom they supply the place of physicians: these rogues perform numerous and complete cures, as is corroborated even by the scientific practitioners ! TVbat a triumph for Molière ! and what a vortex of doubt for all the woi`ld! . , . Imagination! . . . who can tell if imagination is not a lever in the hands of God to raise creatures of limited ¡:>owers above themselves ? For my own part, I carry doubt to a point that brings me back to faith ; for I believe, against my reason, that the sorcerer can cure even unbelievers, by means of a power whose existence I cannot deny, and yet know not how to define. By recourse to the word imagination, our learned men dispense with explaining the phenomena which they can neither refute nor comprehend. Imagination is to certain metaphysicians what the nerves are to certain medical men.
An anecdote here occurs to me which will show
HALLUCINATIONS OF EANK.243
whether I am wrong in thinking that there are men who become dupes of the worship which the serf renders to the lord. Flattery has so much power over the human heart that, in the long run, the most elumsy of all flatterers, fear and interest, find a way of attaining their end: it is thus that many Russians suppose themselves to possess a different nature from the common orders.
A Russian, immensely rich, but who ought to have been enlightened as regards the miseries and infirmities of wealth and power—for the fortune of his family had been established for two generations—was travelling in Germany. He fell siek in a small town, and called in the first physician of the place: at first he submitted to every thing that was ordered ; but not finding himself at the end of a few days any better, he grew weary of obedience, rose up angrily, and throwing off the veil of civilisation in which he had deemed it advisable to muffle himself, he called the landlord, and, while rapidly marching up and down his chamber, thus addressed him : " I do not understand the manner in which I am treated: here I have been dosed for three days without being in the least benefited : what kind of a doctor have you sent me ? he cannot know who I can!"
As I have commenced my chapter with anecdotes, here is another, less piquant, but which will give an idea of the character and habits of the people in high life in Russia. It is only the fortunate who are liked here; and this exclusive preference sometimes produces very inconsistent scenes.
A young Frenchman had perfectly succeeded in gaining the good graces of a social circle met together M 2
244A MAX SICK AMONG HIS FRIENDS.
in the country. There was quite a contest who should do him most honour: dinners, balls, excursions, hunting matches—nothing was wanting, and the stranger was enchanted : he boasted to all comers of the hospitality and elegance of these calumniated barbarians of the North !
A short time after, the young enthusiast fell ill in the neighbouring town. So long as the malady continued, and grew worse, his most intimate friends were invisible and silent as the grave. Two months thus passed ; scarcely did any one during that time send to make an inquiry after him: at length youth triumphed, and, notwithstanding the doctor of the place, the traveller became convalescent. As soon as he was perfectly restored, every body resorted to him to celebrate his recovery, as though they had been thinking only of him during the whole time of his illness: to have seen the delight of his former hosts, you would have said it was they who had been raised again to life. He was loaded with protestations of friendship; he was overwhelmed with new projects of diversion; he was caressed with feline tenderness: capriciousness, egotism, and inconstancy are velvet paws: visitors came to play at cards by his armchair; they proposed to send him a sofa, sweetmeats, and wine ; — now that he had no longer need of any thing, every thing was at his disposal. However, he did not allow himself to be a second time caught by this bait; he profited by the lesson, and, rich in experience, entered his carriage in all haste, impatient, he said, to fly from a country which is hospitable onlv to those who are fortunate, useful, or amusing!
An intellectual, elderly French woman, an émigrée¡
RUSSIAN СИАШТГ.245
resided in a provincial town. One day she went to pay a visit to a Russian lady of her acquaintance. In many of the houses in the country, the staircases are covered by trap-doors. The French lady, who had not remarked one of these deceptive openings, in proceeding to descend, fell down about fifteen wooden steps. What course did the lady of the house take? The reader would not easily guess. Without even seeking to inform herself whether her unfortunate friend was dead or alive — without running to her aid, without sending for a surgeon, or even calling for help, she ran devoutly to shut herself up in her oratory, there to pray the holy Virgin to come to the succour of the poor dead, or wounded — either one or the other, as it might please God to ordain. Meantime the wounded—not the dead—had time to rise, and, there being no limb broken, to re-ascend into the antechamber, and to cause herself to be conveyed home before her pious friend had quitted her cuslùon of prayer. That individual could not, indeed, be brought out of her asylum, until she had been loudly assured, through the key-hole, that the accident was without serious consequences, and that her friend had returned home. Upon this, active charity again awoke in the breast of the good Russian devotee, who, recognising the efficacy of her prayers, hastened officiously to her friend's house, insisted on entering her apartment, and having reached her bedside, overwhelmed her with protestations of interest, which, for upwards of an hour, deprived her of the repose she so much required.
The above trait of childishness was related to me by the individual to whom the accident happened. ы 3
246A PASSION FOR TOMBS.
We need not be surprised, after this, to hear that people fall into the Neva and drown there, without any one running to their succour, or even daring to speak of their death !
"Whimsical sentiments of every species abound in Russia among the higher classes, because hearts and minds are the prey of exhaustion and satiety. A lady of high rank in Petersburg has been married several times : she passes the summers in a magnificent country house, some leagues from the city, and her garden is filled with the tombs of all her husbands, whom she begins to love passionately as soon as they are dead. She raises for them mausolea and chapels, weeps over their ashes, and covers their tombs with sentimental epitaphs ; in short, she renders to the dead an honour offensive to the living. The pleasure-grounds of this lady have thus become a real Père La Chaise, with very little gloom about them for whoever has not, like the noble widow, a love of tombs and deceased husbands.