The Daughter of an Empress
Page 454All again hastened to the imperial palace; the great and the noble again
brought out their state coaches for the purpose of throwing themselves
at the feet of the new possessor of power and swearing a new allegiance;
again nothing was heard but the sound of universal rejoicing, nothing
seen but faces lighted up by ecstasy and eyes glistening with tears of
joy. And this was, in fourteen months, the third time that they had done
homage to a new ruler who had as regularly dethroned his predecessor,
and they had each time gone through the same ceremony with the same
evidences of joy, the same ecstasies, the same slavish humility, not
commiserating the defeated party, but professing love and devotion to
the victor!
And as the day dawned on St. Petersburg, as it gloriously beamed upon
the young empress, as she saw these thousands of worshipping slaves at
upon the masses of humble and devoted subjects, whose mistress she was,
she felt herself momentarily overcome by a deep and holy emotion.
"I will be a mother to this people," thought she; "I will love and spare
them; I will govern them with mildness; they shall not curse, but adore
me!"
Yielding to this first generous impulse of her heart, Elizabeth rose
from the throne, and with uplifted hands loudly and solemnly swore that
she would be a mother to her subjects--a mother who, when compelled to
punish, would never forget love and forbearance!
"No one, however great his crime," said she, with flashing eyes--"no
one shall be punished with death so long as I sit upon this throne! From
this day the punishment of death is abolished in my realm! I will punish
When Elizabeth had thus spoken, the large hall again resounded with the
rejoicing shouts of the great and noble--men breathed freer and deeper,
they raised their heads more proudly; for centuries the all-powerful
word of the czars had swept over the heads of Russians like the sword
of Damocles--it now seemed to be removed, and to promise to each one
a longer life, a longer unendangered existence. For where was there
a subject of the czars who might not at any time be convicted of a
crime--where an innocent person who might not at any moment be condemned
to death? A glance, a smile, an inconsiderate word, had often sufficed
to cause a head to fall! And now this eternally present danger seemed to
be removed! What wonder, then, that they raised shouts of joy, that
they embraced each other, that they loudly and solemnly called down the
During this time of general rejoicing among the great and noble of the
realm in the brilliant imperial halls above, the palace was surrounded
by dense masses of people looking up with curiosity at the bright
windows, and listening with astonishment to the joyful shouts that
reached their ears below. And when they heard the cause of the rejoicing
above, they shrugged their shoulders and murmured low: "The empress will
henceforth punish no one with death! What is that to us? That the great
shall no more be put to death by the empress, is no concern of ours, the
serfs of the great! The empress is powerful, but our lords and masters
have yet more power over us. They will still scourge us to death, and
the empress cannot hinder them!"