The Express.
London, England, 1856-10-01 00:00:00

sent decorations, in which the elegance

the Renaissance, and the curious conceits of
the Byzantine styles ere so strangely,yet so artistically
mingled. Bat the dominating sentiment of every-
thing in Russia is Byzantine, and from a Byzantine
basis the artist must start, no matter what may be the
work in hand, whether a church, a palace, or a public
institution. In the Kremlin Palace the fusion has
been a complete succem. In the exterior, the vast
Italian façade is pierced with Byzantine windows,
and the apparent harmony with which the two styles
mingle go far to prove the common eastern origin of
both. In the interior, the twisted 0011101:111 of gold
blend magnificently with the Renaissance details, and
gilding and colour, gay arabesque, and burnished
cornice, meet the eye in direction. At eight
o'clock yesterday evening, these sumptuous halls pre-
sented a strange but most characteristic spectacle. In
the costliest palace of his imperial home, the Czar held
high festival with the " black people," and twenty.five
thousand mojiks, male and female, assembled to take
one passing glance at the splendour, in the creation of
which they are the humblest but most effective in-
struments. Unlike the " Fantle' of the previous
day, no pitiless pelting rain was present to soak their
rusty caftans, or mar their rare moment of enjoy-
ment. It was a strange but most suggestive sight,
to stand at the top of the grand 'scalier, and, by the
illumination of a thousand wax lights, to watch the
dark, dingy-looking column as, impeded by its own
numbers, it slowly ascended and streamed utteb.
structtd through the gilded taboos. There were
hugs bearded men in the genuine sheepskin of the
steppes ; others were in the rusty monotonous use.
tome of the town, their great boots splashed
with the mud through which they had
waded to the hall ; and the universal mujik
hat, which looks like a Wand upon their heads, and

as they shuffled along over the parqueterie floors they
displayed as much coolness and nonchalance as if they
were American Indians, or high-bred English gen-
tlemen. This nil admirari deportment of the Russian
peasant is a thing that strikes the inquiring stranger
as much as anything else he sees in this country of
wonders and contradiction. Buil, or Ivan, or
Yermoloff, as the case may be, is certainly either the
dellest fellow in the world or else has acquired the
art of concealing his emotions in wonderful perfection.
He goes to review, or ball, or any other
rand sight most pertinaciously, and, as if
It were a sort of moral or loyal duty,
bat except in such uses as the " Festint
where there are whole sheep to be torn limb from
limb, roast chickens to be pocketed, or pails of beer
to be swilled, he " assists " at the most magnificent
eatertainment with a stoical apathy that shows his
organ of wonder to be very slightly developed, or at all
events to be under the moat efficient control. In the
gilded halls of the Kremlin yesterday evening, he
neither turned to the right or left, nor looked upwards
or dowawuds, as he marched slowly from the seller
blanche to the hall of St. Andrew, penetrated the
imperial bed-chamber of Catherine, or plunged into
the gloomy, vaulted, rooms of the Tarim*. And his
faithful wife faithfully imitated her liege lord's
well simulated composure. With a handkerchief tied
over her head and her nondescriptdress swelling out in
bundles like the sails of a ship, or the badly com-
pressed stomach of a deputy-lieutenant, she trudged
along with the calm dignity of a judge, and took all
the magnificence that surrounded her as calmly as it
"to the manner born." Only at the buffets that
plentifully studded the recesses of each saloon wee
any redundancy of mojik vitality exhibited, either
by male or female. There, indeed, you might see the
"black people" "lathing themselves like a surge"
against the tables, and bewildering the imperial ser-
vants in their vociferous demands for refreshment.
Venni supped " Tschei" with a spoon of silver gilt,
out of Dresden cups worth five guineas apiece, and
Katrine munched by the dozen peaches every one of
which had cost a ruble. Champagne was the
favourite beverage, but even humble beer
was not disdained, and the tables would soon have
been sabers as the tables of the " Festio," but for the
assiduous are with which they were constantly re-
plenished by the imperial lacqueys. Here and there,
like stars in a stormy sky, the diamonds of the hie no-
blesse, or the rich uniforms of officers might be seem to
glisten; but they were few and far between; and, as
a general rule, the crowd was as decidedly mujik in
its character as if it had been gathered in the
Kraanaja Plucked, or the Kadinka plain. The
occasion was a masquerade, and there were no masque'
beyond what a religious abstinence of soap had pro-
vided. It was a ball, and there was no dancing,
although three military bands, placed in the principal
saloons, played waltzes and pile's splendidly all
night. Neither could it be called a promenade,
foe the twenty-five thousand guests had barely
room to elbow and hustle each other, which
they did with a vigour that would have done honone
to the Surrey gallery. The Emperor entered the
mu at nine o'clock in a manner that at
men shewed his Imperial Majesty's con.
fidenee in the loyal affection of his people. On
grand occasions when none but haute noblesse and
"distinguished strangers" are admitted, the Czar is
preceded by fifty chamberlains to clear the way,
their velvet coats heavy with gold embroidery, and
the dignity of their motions sorely impeded by the
tightness of their shoes. Bat on this occasion his
Majesty, with the Empress leaning on one arm, and
the Empress mother on the other, plunged good-
humouredly into the crowd, and nodded and
smiled good-naturedly in recognition of the
almost oriental reverences of his subjects. There
could be no mistaking the warm affection that
lighted up the rough countenances of the mojilcs as
they crowded round their sovereign, nor was it re-
eible to avoid the cono:usion that if the Russian
government be a despotism, it is at least, in as far as
the Emperor and the great mass of the people are
concerned, a despotism of the heart quite as much
as of the strong arm. The Emperor proceeded
slowly through the room, with difficuby making hie
way through the dense mass that surrounded him,
and some said that he walked a mazourka, taking the
bands successively of the great ladies as he passed
along. I cannot, however, vouch for the fact, se
the crowd was too great, and the people were too tall
for any one not in the front to get a satisfactory
glimpse at the imperial movements. At ten there
was a supper, of which a select portion of the com-
pany partook; and shortly afterwards the im-
biyl greatl
twelver. The
favouriteock
rom
the mujike kept pouring in to a much later hour.
tilitdehFarratlool4itnetisictreotanpdePoetmidafpeltOtweyrhh;toshbdeiustclearedoff, while
all
I believe they were much better pleased than with
the festin of the previous day, ss they were pro-
tected from the pitiless pelting of the storm, and of
if report speaks truly, had s much better quality of
provisions. It is said that at the festin much of the
meat was tainted, and that a peasant took the liberty
of hinting ss much to: his Majesty in answer to •
condescending inquiry. It this be true, the con-
tractors,' or the weather--anything bat the Emperor
—was to blame, as it is well known that his Ms-
jasty's orders were of the most liberal character.
However," all's well that ends well;" and it is astir
(=tary to be able to say, in conclusion, that the whole
off without a single accident or the slightest
confusion or irregularity.
I think there will be a dramatic fitness in closing
my series of letters from MOSCOW with these two groat
entertainments for the people. There remain on the
programme but the ball:of the noblesse, the ambassa-
dors ball, and the fireworks. For the last-named
the damp weather augurs but an uncertain snorers,
and the balls will be only fresh gatherings of people
who have been meeting every night since the com-
mencement of the festivities. I think I may fairly
Hew that the interest has worn itself out, as the
1 people are hurrying away, sad oven the Empress
Mother goes on Tuesday next. The Emperor and
court will leave on the 191 (Russian time), and then
the memorable coronation pageant of Alexander
Nioolaivitch will have become matter of history.
of