. All the Russias: travels and studies in contemporary European Russia, Finland, Siberia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. en in another part of thegreat Russian wall. CHAPTER II THE TWO MOSCOWS, AND A FEW REFLECTIONS ST. PETERSBURG might be anywhere, and without turn-ing ones self into a guide-book (precisely what I wishto avoid) there is hardly anything in it to describe. My impres-sions of it have onlycovered a few pages;but it would be easyto write a volumeabout Moscow. Hereis Russia indeed—every side of her faith-fully represented. Themagnificent white rail-way station, with God save the T
. All the Russias: travels and studies in contemporary European Russia, Finland, Siberia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. en in another part of thegreat Russian wall. CHAPTER II THE TWO MOSCOWS, AND A FEW REFLECTIONS ST. PETERSBURG might be anywhere, and without turn-ing ones self into a guide-book (precisely what I wishto avoid) there is hardly anything in it to describe. My impres-sions of it have onlycovered a few pages;but it would be easyto write a volumeabout Moscow. Hereis Russia indeed—every side of her faith-fully represented. Themagnificent white rail-way station, with God save the Tsar in permanent gas-let-ters over the portal, iswhere the Great Si-berian train startsfor Vladivostok andPort Arthur. Thesestrange, dark-robedmen, sitting by themselves at the bourse, turbaned or fur-hatted,are Russian subjects from Central Asia. Russia is a great man-ufacturing country now; Moscow is one of the manufacturingcities of the world. Napoleon looms large in Russian history:from those low hills a few miles away he looked down upon the splendid prey he was about to seize; through this gate he entered 23. Gate and Chapel of the Old City, Moscow. 24 ALL THE RUSSIAS the citadel; in that church his horses were stabled. A RomanoffTsar rules Russia; this is the house where the first Romanoff tobecome a Tsar lived, as a simple seigneur; and here are the tombsof all the Ruriks and Romanoffs who ruled when St. Petersburgwas a swamp. Russia is a theocracy; Moscow is the holy city,consecrated and consecrating. Under whatever aspect Russia ofto-day presents herself to you, in Moscow you may find it em-bodied, for Russia sprang from Moscow and the Dukes of Mus-covy laid her foundation-stones. Since the Coronation of 1894 everybody has read of the won-derful churches of Moscow, of its brilliant colouring, of its his-toric interest, of the piety of its people. Yet I cannot refrain fromdwelling for a moment on this, for Moscow produces a uniqueand an ineffaceable impression. There
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