As the popular excitement produced by the recent great victories of the
Russian arms had not yet faded in the public mind, the Emperor was received
with extraordinary public enthusiasm, and his progress from the railway
station to his palace was almost a modern imitation of an ancient triumph. I
herewith inclose a newspaper account of the incidents of the occasion,
which, after abating somewhat from the warmth of coloring due to the
official zeal of the writer, is sufficiently accurate in its statement of
facts.
The chancellor of the empire, Prince Gortchacoff, and the officials of the
ministry of foreign affairs who have been absent at Bucharest, returned to
St. Petersburg with His Majesty, and the first named has given official
information that he has again entered on the performance of the functions of
his office.
[Inclosure 1 in No.
242.—Translation.]
Return of the Emperor.
[From the Journal de St. Petersburg of December 10.]
The old and naive French expression “joyeuse
entrée” is that which best serves to characterize in a few words the
reception which the population of St. Petersburg gave to-day to their
august sovereign, returning to his capital after six months of absence
passed at the seat of war. The city is filled with gladness. Joy
unspeakable, and for which at the same time there is good reason, fills
all hearts at the idea that the Czar Liberetor is once more among us,
and that he returns happy and contented with the brilliant results
obtained by his admirable armies.
One ought to see the aspect of our city notwithstanding this dark and
somber day of December 10. All the streets are draped with flags of the
national colors; all the houses with balconies or street projections are
ornamented with draperies of brilliant colors, carpets, &c. Busts of
His Majesty, surrounded with evergreens and flowers, often crowned with
laurel, met the eye at every step. We have tried to improve on the
ordinary decorations of fete days, to show that the solemnity of to-day
is, in the eyes of all, an unusual solemnity, a historical event. The
streets by which His Majesty was to pass from the Warsaw Station, first
to the Cathedral of Kazan, and afterwards to the Winter Palace, had a
truly fairy-like aspect. Thousands of flags of bright colors floated on
the houses; the decorations of the balconies and of the porticos formed
almost a continuous chain. From the Warsaw Station to the Winter Palace,
the perspectives Ismailovsky and Voznessensky, the Grande Sadovaïa and
the perspective of Nevsky, were bordered with a compact crowd, in which
were indiscriminately mingled all classes of the population. The troops
of the garrison of St. Petersburg were drawn up without arms, as a
hedge, on one side of the chaussée, and military music filled the air
with its joyous notes.
At the platform of the station His Majesty was received by the
acclamation of the deputations of the police courts and of the noblesse
of the government of St. Petersburg, as well as of the municipal council
of the capital, while the members of the Council of the Empire and of
the Senate, in full numbers, were collected in one of the imperial
salons of the station to welcome the Emperor. In another room a great
number of ladies of position were assembled, and at the moment when the
Sovereign entered he was agreeably surprised by the chorus of warm
acclamations which came from this group, while at the same time from all
sides flowers and bouquets rained, and almost covered the august
traveler and strewed the floor of the room. The Emperor had a gracious
word for each of the numerous persons who surrounded him and pressed
forward better to catch sight of him. His Majesty gave to some, news of
their
[Page 755]
relatives remaining with
the army; from others he inquired the condition of wounded officers whom
he knew were with their families. Fresh acclamations rose from all sides
when the Emperor got into his sleigh.
On the semicircular place of the Cathedral of Kazan platforms had been
constructed for the public, in the shape of an amphitheater backed
against the colonnade of the temple. The pupils of all the civil schools
of St. Petersburg were massed in groups before the peristyle. On this
point of the route the crowd was particularly compact, for the imperial
cortège was to make a stop here, while His Majesty entered the church to
worship the sacred pictures and to hear a thanksgiving service for his
happy return. The clergy of the capital, the metropolitan at their head,
awaited His Majesty under the porch with cross and banners.
On the place of the Winter Palace, from the great arch of the Staff, the
troops were massed in a double hedge. The military schools of all
classes were grouped around the palace.
Loud acclamations of hundreds of thousands of voices reverberating like
the rolling of thunder announced on the whole route the approach of the
beloved Sovereign. Preceded by the prefect of the city, mounted and
followed by a numerous cortège of officers of every rank and every
grade, His Majesty the Emperor advanced in an open sleigh, at a slow
trot, accompanied by His Imperial Highness Monseigneur the Grand Duke
Serge Alexandrovitch. The two august travelers wore their field
uniforms, with caps.
It is impossible to describe the aspect of the crowd at the moment when
they caught sight of the Monarch so impatiently awaited. The enthusiasm
rose to delirium; caps and hats new into the air, handkerchiefs were
waved on all sides, and it needed all the traditional respect of the
Russians for their Sovereigns to prevent this human billow from breaking
its ranks and barring the passage of the cortège.
On the Place of Kazan the enthusiasm reached its apogee. As he came out
from the temple His Majesty was greeted with such hurrahs as have
perhaps never been heard in the streets and on the places of St.
Petersburg.
Behind the sleigh of His Majesty the Emperor came the carriage of Her
Imperial Highness Madame the Grand Duchess Césarevna. The august wife of
the heir to the throne was also very warmly acclaimed by the people.
His Majesty the Emperor arrived at the Winter Palace about eleven
o’clock. The crowds which had pressed upon his route collected again
before the palace, where an innumerable multitude remained for hours,
singing “God protect the Czar,” and making the air resound with loud
hurrahs. In the streets which the imperial cortege had followed, the
regular circulation was not resumed till toward noon.
The city has kept all day long its air of fête. The principal streets
appeared to be veritable forests of draperies. Toward evening all the
capital was brilliantly illuminated. The perspective Nevsky and the
Grande Morskaïa particularly presented a coup d’œil truly fairy-like.
Enthusiastic manifestations took place in all the theaters.
The day of the 10th of December will remain forever memorable in the
annals of St. Petersburg.
