Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

was all done out of devout feelings of loyalty towards CHAP. himself.

VIII.

1826. 121.

In contemplation of these changes, the greatest efforts had been made for several days past to gain the regi- Continued. ments of the guards, upon whose decision the success of all previous revolutions had depended; and they had succeeded in gaining many officers in several of the most distinguished regiments, particularly those of Preobrazinsky, Simoneffsky, the regiments of Moscow, the bodyguard grenadiers, and the corps of marines. Information, though in a very obscure way, had been conveyed to Nicholas, of a great conspiracy in which the household troops were deeply implicated, and in consequence of that the guard had not been called together; but it was determined that, on the morning of the 26th, the oath of allegiance should be administered to each regiment in their barracks. The Winter Palace, where the emperor dwelt, was intrusted to the regiment of Finland and the sappers of the guard, instead of the grenadiers-du-corps, to whom that charge was usually confided, and all the posts were doubled. But for that precaution, incalculable evils must have arisen. In truth, the danger was much greater, and more instant, than was apprehended. Prince Troubetzkoi, Ryleif, and Prince Obolonsky, the chiefs of the conspiracy, had gained adherents in almost every regiment of the guards, especially among the young men who were highest in rank, most ardent in disposition, and most cultivated in education; and the privates could easily be won, by holding out that Constantine, who had 1 Schnitzler, already been proclaimed, was the real Czar, and that i. 201, 202; their duty required them to shed their blood in his ix. 385, 386. defence.1

Ann. Hist.

122.

decided on

Matters were brought to a crisis by the return of the Grand-duke Michael from Livonia with the intelligence A revolt is of the final refusal of the throne by Constantine. It by the conwas then determined to act at once; and Troubetzkoi spirators. was named dictator-a post he proved ill qualified to fill,

VIII.

1826.

[ocr errors]

CHAP. by his want of resolution at the decisive moment. The emperor published a proclamation on the 24th December, in which he recounted the circumstances which had compelled him to accept the empire, and called on the troops and people to obey him; and on the same day a general meeting of the conspirators was held, at which it was determined to commence the insurrection without delay. It was agreed to assassinate the emperor. "Dear friend," said Ryleif to Kakhofski, "you are alone on the earth; you are bound to sacrifice yourself for society; disembarrass us of the emperor. Jakoubovitch proposed to force the jails, liberate the prisoners, and rouse the refuse of the population by gorging them with spirits; but these extreme measures were not adopted. Orders were sent to the army of the south, where they reckoned on a hundred thousand adherents, to raise the standard of revolt. On the following evening, very alarming intelligence was received, in consequence of which it was agreed immediately to adopt the most desperate measures. They learned that they had been betrayed, and information sent to government of what was in agitation : thus their only hope now was in the boldness of their resolutions. "Una spes victis nullam sperare salutem." "We have passed the Rubicon," said Alexander Bestoujif, “and now we must cut down all who oppose us." "You see," said Ryleif, "we are betrayed; the court is partly aware of our designs, but they do not know the whole. Our forces are sufficient; our scabbards are broken; we can no longer conceal our sabres. Have we not an admirable chief in Troubetzkoi ?" Yes," answered j. 213, 216; Jakoubovitch, " in height "-alluding to his lofty stature. ix. 385,386. At length all agreed upon an insurrection on the day when the oath should be tendered to the troops.1

1 Schnitzler,

Ann. Hist.

123.

[ocr errors]

On the morning of the 26th, the oath was taken Commence without difficulty in several of the first regiments of the Dec. 26. guards, especially the horse-guards, the chevalier guards, and the famous regiments Preobrazinsky, Simoneffsky,

ment of it.

VIII.

1826.

Imailoffsky, Pauloffsky, and the chasseurs of the guard. CHAP. But the case was very different with the regiment of Moscow, the grenadiers of the body-guard, and the marines of the guard. They were for the most part at the devotion of the conspirators. The troops were informed that Constantine had not resigned, but was in irons, as well as the Grand-duke Michael; that he loved their regiments, and, if reinstated in authority, would double their pay. Such was the effect of these representations, enforced as they were by the ardent military eloquence of the many gifted and generous young men who were engaged in the conspiracy from patriotic motives,* that the men tumultuously broke their ranks, and, with loud hurrahs, “Constantine for ever!" rushed into their barracks for ammunition, from whence they immediately returned with their muskets loaded with ball. They were just coming out when an aide-de-camp arrived with orders for the officers to repair forthwith to the headquarters of the general (Frederick) and the Grand-duke Michael. "I do not acknowledge the authority of your general," cried Prince Tchechipine, who commanded one of the revolted companies, and immediately he ordered the soldiers to load their pieces. At the same instant Alexander Bestoujif discharged a pistol at General Frederick himself, who was coming up, and wounded him on the head. He fell insensible on the pavement, while Tchechipine attacked General Chenchine, who commanded the brigade of the guard of which the regiment of Moscow formed a part, and stretched him on the ground by repeated blows

* Alexander Bestoujif, brother of Michael Bestoujif, one of the leaders of the revolt, addressed the following prayer to the Almighty, as he rose on the eventful day: "Oh God! if our enterprise is just, vouchsafe to us thy support; if not, thy will be done to us." It is difficult to know whether to admire the courage and sincerity of the men who braved such dangers, as they conceived, for their country's good, or to lament the blindness and infatuation which led them to strive to obtain for it institutions wholly unsuited for the people, and which could terminate in nothing but temporary anarchy and lasting military despotism. SCHNITZLER, į. 221, note.

VIII.

1826.

CHAP. of his sabre. In a transport of enthusiasm at this success, he with his own hand snatched the standard of the regiment from the officer who bore it, and, waving it in the air, exclaimed aloud, "Constantine for ever!" The soldiers loudly answered with the same acclamation, and immediately the greater part of the regiments, disregarding the voice of their superior officers, Colonel Adlesberg and Count Lieven, who held out for Nicholas, moved in a body forward from the front of their barracks, and took up a position on the Grand Place behind the statue of Peter the Great. There they were soon joined by a battalion of the marines of the guard, who had been roused in a similar manner by Lieutenant Arbouzoff, and by several companies of the grenadiers of the bodyguard. By ten o'clock, eighteen hundred men were drawn up in battle array on the Place of the Senate, behind the statue, surrounded by a great crowd of civilians, most of whom were armed with pistols or sabres; i. 222, 223, and the air resounded with cries of "Constantine for ever!" 1

1 Schnitzler,

124.

The die was now cast, and the danger was so imminent that, if there had been the slightest indecision at headquarters, the insurrection would have proved successful, and on the oc- Russia have been delivered over to the horrors of military

Heroic conduct of Nicholas

casion.

license and servile revolt. But in that extremity Nicholas was not awanting to himself; he won the empire by proving he was worthy of it. He could no longer reckon on his guards, and without their support a Russian emperor is as weak as with it he is powerful. At eleven he received intelligence that the oath had been taken by the principal officers in the garrison, and it was hoped the danger was over; but in a quarter of an hour news of a very different import arrived-that an entire regiment of horse-artillery had been confined to their barracks, to prevent their joining the insurgents, and that a formidable body of the guards in open revolt were drawn up on the Place of the Senate. He instantly took his

VIII.

1826.

resolution, and in a spirit worthy of his race. Taking the CHAP. empress, in whom the spirit, if not the blood, of Frederick the Great still dwelt, by the hand, he repaired to the chapel of the palace, where, with her, he invoked the blessing of the Most High on their undertaking. Then, after addressing a few words of encouragement to his weeping but still courageous consort, he took his eldest son, a charming child of eight years of age, by the hand, and descended to the chief body of the yet faithful guards, stationed in front of the palace, and gave orders to them to load their pieces. Then presenting the young Grand-duke to the soldiers, he said, "I trust him to you; yours it is to defend him." The chasseurs of Finland, with loud acclamations, swore to die in his cause; and the child, terrified at their cheers, was passed in their arms from rank to rank, amidst the tears of the men. They put him, while still weeping, into the centre 1 Schnitzler, of their column, and such was the enthusiasm excited i. 224, 225; that they refused to give him back to his preceptor, ix. 387, 388. Colonel Moerder, who came to reclaim him. 1*

"God

* What a scene for poetry or painting!-realising on a still greater theatre all that the genius of Homer had prefigured of the parting of Hector and Andromache:

"Thus having spoke, the illustrious chief of Troy
Clasped his fond arms to clasp the lovely boy;
The babe clung crying to his nurse's breast,
Scared at the nodding plume and dazzling crest.
With secret pleasure each fond parent smiled,
And Hector hastened to relieve his child;
The glittering terrors from his brow unbound,
And placed the beaming helmet on the ground;
Then kissed the child, and, lifting high in air,
Thus to the gods preferred a father's prayer:
O Thou! whose glory fills the ethereal throne,
And all ye deathless powers, protect my son!
Grant him, like me, to purchase just renown,
To guard the Trojans, to defend the crown;
Against his country's foes the war to wage,
And rise the Hector of the future age.
So, when triumphant from successful toils,
Of heroes slain, he bears the recking spoils,
Whole hosts may hail him with deserved acclaim,
And say this chief transcends his father's fame;
While, pleased amidst the general shouts of Troy,
His mother's conscious heart o'erflows with joy."

-POPE'S Iliad, vi. 595, 610.

Ann. Hist.

« ForrigeFortsett »