Travels In Siberia Book

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.
This is an OCR edition with typos.
Excerpt from book:
CHAP. IV. NIJUNI NOVGOROD. Dinner at the Government House.— The Prince in honourable Banishment.—Trait of Manners at Court at St. Petersburg.— Admiral Ricord.— Ceremonies of the Russian Table.— Saloon.— Coffee-Conversation. When I came to the government house, at the appointed hour, I approached the door of the saloon, iu some doubt about the manner in which I ought to bear myself after my application. It does not occur to all of us, during the course of our lives, to be applicants for a favour, and at the same time, guests at the table of the party to whom our petition has been addressed. Such, however, was to be the traveller's position at the government house at Nijhni Novgorod on this occasion. All my doubts, however, not only concerning the management of myself, but also concerning the prosecution of my journey, were set aside as soon as the door of the saloon opened, by my reception, and the manner of my introduction to the princess and such of the guests as were already assembled. But before making any further remarks concerning the host and hostess of the government house, and such of their friends as I met there, I must mention an occurrence which I subsequently heard was the cause which brought the prince and the princess to this government. I shall refer to the circumstance merely as a current report at the fair, the very credit given to which, whether the repjrt were well or ill founded, being sufficiently characteristic of the spirit of the age in Russia, to render it worth our notice. DINNER AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE. 33 I was informed, that the prince and princess Urasoff, whose united ages could not at this time have exceeded fifty, were, about two years since, among the greatest ornaments at the emperor's court, where many of those little whimsical occ...