A man feels the approach of insanity when present at such horrors, and yet unable to succour the victims.
Afterwards, serfs and servants were brought by stewards, or sent by their masters, with the request that they might be punished : there was nothing, in short, but scenes of atrocious vengeance and frightful despair, all hidden from the public eye.* The unhappy prisoner longed for the obscurity of night, because the darkness brought with it silence ; and though his thoughts then terrified him, he preferred the evils of imagination to those of reality. This is always the case with real sufferers. It is
* See, in Dickens's American Journey, extracts from the United States' papers, concerning the treatment of the slaves ; presenting a remarkable resemblance between the excesses of despotism and the abuses of democracy.
A MOSCOW PRISON.
285
only the dreamers, who have comfortable beds and good tables, that pretend the evils we fancy exceed those that we feel.
At last, after four times twenty-four hours of a torment which would, I think, surpass all our efforts to picture, M. Pernet was taken from his dungeon, still without any explanation, and transferred to another part of the prison.
From thence he wrote to M. de Barante, by General,
on whose good offices he thought he could reckon.
The letter did not reach its address ; and when afterwards the writer demanded an explanation of this circumstance, the Cíe-neral excused himself by subterfuges, and concluded by swearing to M. Pernet, on the gospel, that the letter had not been put in the hands of the minister of police, and never would be! This was the utmost extent of devotion that the prisoner could obtain from his friend: and this is the fate of human affections when they pass under the yoke of despotism.
At the end of three weeks — which had been an eternity to M. Pernet — he was released without any form of process, and without even being able to learn the cause of his imprisonment.
His reiterated questions, addressed to the director of police in Moscow, procured for him no explanations : he was merely told that his ambassador had claimed him; and this was accompanied with an order to leave Russia. He asked, and obtained permission to take the route of Petersburg.
He wished to thank the French ambassador for the liberty which he owed to him ; and also to obtain some information as to the cause of the treatment he had undergone. M. deBarante endeavoured, but in vain, to divert him from the project of addressing M. de Benkendorf, the minister of the Imperial police. The liberated man demanded an audience : it was granted him. He said to the minister that, being ignorant of the cause of the punishment that he had received, he wished to know his crime before leaving Russia.
The statesman briefly answered, that he would do well to carry his inquiries on the subject no further, and dismissed him, repeating the order that he should, without delay, leave the empire.
Such is all the information that I could obtain from M. Pernet. This young man, like every one else who has lived some time in Russia, has acquired a mysterious and reserved
286
A VISIT
tone of language, to which foreigners are as liable as the native inhabitants. One would say that in that empire, a secret weighs. upon all minds.
On my continuing my inquiries, M. Pernet further stated, that on his first journey to the country, they had given him, in his passport, the title of merchant, and on the second, that of advocate. He added a more serious circumstance, namely, that before reaching Petersburg, while in a steam-boat on the Baltic, he had freely expressed his opinion of Russian despotism before several individuals whom he did not know.
He assured me, on leaving, that his memory could recall no other circumstance that could account for the treatment he had received at Moscow. I have never seen him since ; though, by a singular chance, I met, two years after, a member of his family, who said he knew of the services I had rendered to his young relative, and thanked me for them. This family, I repeat, are respected by all who know them in the kingdom of Sardinia.
The last moments of my stay in Petersburg were employed in inspecting various establishments that I had not seen on my visit to that city.
Princeshowed me, among other curiosities,
the immense works of Colpina, the arsenal of the Russian arsenals, which is situated some leagues from the capital. In this manufactory are prepared all the articles required for the Imperial marine. Colpina is reached by a road seven leagues in length, the last half of which is execrable. The establishment is directed by an Englishman, M. "Wilson, who is honoured with the rank of General (all Russia is converted into an army). He exhibited to us his machines, like a true Russian engineer, not permitting us to overlook a nail or a screw: under his escort we surveyed about twenty workshops, of enormous size. The extreme
TO COLPINA.
287
complaisance of the director deserved much gratitude, though I expressed but little, and that little was more than I felt: fatigue renders a man almost as ungrateful as ennui.
The object that we most admired in this tedious inspection was a machine of Bramah's, invented to prove the strength of the largest chain-cables : the enormous links that can resist the force of this machine may hold the mightiest vessels of war at anchor in the highest seas. An ingenious application of water-pressure, to measure the strength of iron, is the invention which appeared to me so marvellous.
We also examined sluices destined to serve in extraordinary floods of water. It is especially in springtime that they are useful. Without them, the stream which moves the various machines would cause incalculable damage. The canals of these sluices are lined with thick sheets of copper, because that metal is found to resist the winters better than granite. I was told that I should see nothing like them elsewhere.
When we entered the carriage to return to Petersburg, it was already night, and very cold. The length of the road was lightened by a charrning conversation, of which I have retained one anecdote. It will serve to prove to what extent the creative power of an absolute sovereign can be carried. Hitherto I had only seen it exercised upon buildings, upon the dead, upon historic facts, upon prisoners, — in short, upon all things that could not protest against an abuse of power : this time we shall see a Russian emperor imposing upon one of the most illustrious families of France, a relative of whom it knew nothing.
Under the reign of Paul I. a Frenchman of the
288ORIGIN OF THE LAVAL FAMILY.
name of Lovel, young and agreeable in person, gained the affections of a very wealthy and high-born maiden. Her family were hostile to the union, on account of the foreigner's possessing neither name nor fortune. The two lovers, reduced to despair, had recourse to a romantic expedient. They stood in wait for the emperor, in some street by which he was to pass, threw themselves at his feet, and besought his protection. Paul, who was good-natured when he was not mad, promised the consent of the family, which he doubtless procured by more than one means, and among others, by this : " Mademoiselle Kaminska shall marry," said the emperor, "M. the Count de Laval, a young French emigre of illustrious family, and the possessor of a considerable fortune."