Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S. 37

Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S. 37

CHAPTER V.

 

Travels in the North of Europe and Spain.

 

 

Having been very hard worked, and being in bad health, owing to my

still suffering from the effects of my fall into the cofferdam of

London Bridge, I felt the necessity for some relaxation. I therefore

made my arrangements for a short continental tour, resolving to visit

the north of Europe. Adhering to my original plan, I shall only mention

those places and occurrences which, for particular reasons, I think,

may possess some little interest, and shall pass over the ordinary

descriptions of places and things which are now so well known as to be

hackneyed. My journey, principally by sea, from London to St. Petersburg

passed without incident, except that off the Island of Bornholm we met

the Russian fleet, consisting of seven sail of the line. It was a fine

sight, and the ships seemed well handled; but one line-of-battle ship in

going about missed stays, and got into what the sailors term irons, that

is to say, she would move neither way. Our sailors laughed heartily, and

we could see by the signals made from the flag-ship that the admiral was

very much annoyed.

 

On board the steamer I made acquaintance with Lieutenant Conolly, who

intended to take the route from St. Petersburg overland to India--a

particularly difficult and dangerous journey; but Conolly was an

intelligent, ardent, and courageous person, anxious for information,

and ambitious to explore a route which had hardly ever been undertaken

before; but he unfortunately fell a victim to his ambition. He was a

little man, determined and energetic, capable of undergoing great

fatigue, and a very agreeable and sociable companion. He and I took to

each other and became great friends, and entertained the pleasing idea of

meeting again after his return from India; but this never took place, for

he was murdered with his companions.

 

Conolly and I got our luggage together as soon as possible after

landing, and drove to the Grand Hotel, which was then a sort of barrack

or caravanserai, near the Newski Prospect. Before seeing the city, I

presented the various letters of introduction with which I had been

provided; amongst others were several from my old friend, Chevalier

Benkausen, the Russian Consul-General in London.

 

I first called upon Lord Heytesbury, our ambassador, whom I had

previously known as Mr. Abbott, at Naples, by whom I was most cordially

welcomed. I also waited upon all the authorities, and was well received

by them; but the person to whom I was most indebted was my friend,

General Wilson, a sensible Scotchman, who had entered the Civil Service

of the Government, as engineer to the cotton, gun, and general iron

manufactures, for which he had erected a large establishment at Kolpnau,

about 13 or 14 miles from St. Petersburg. This place I visited with

him; it was very complete, for the Emperor Nicholas, who was at times

very fond of Englishmen and everything English, had taken Wilson and

his establishment under his especial protection, and had given him

authority to incur any reasonable expenditure to make it perfect. Wilson,

therefore, imported the newest and most improved machines and tools of

every kind from England, and obtained also the best of English workmen.

The cotton manufactories were upon a most extensive and imposing scale;

in fine buildings, with hosts of employés, they were conducted in the

true imperial style, that is, with great show, but little profit. Still,

they were not without their advantages; they were the means of training

a set of native workmen, who, although not inventive, are excellent

imitators, consequently after a time their services must have been

valuable. The same may be said of the iron manufactories, particularly as

Russia has some of the richest iron mines, and they only require skilled

workmen to develop them to their utmost; Wilson contributed materially

towards this; and it was impossible to have selected a better man for

this purpose. He possessed a calm even temper, firm, but just, and

conciliating, with a competent knowledge of what he undertook to perform,

without possessing any considerable amount of invention. He spoke the

Russian language like a native, besides French and German. He therefore

most justly possessed a good deal of influence, and was thoroughly liked

and respected, from the humblest workman under his orders up to the

Emperor, who was very fond of him. Lastly, he was thoroughly honest,

a rare thing in Russia in those days, where peculation was rife from

the highest to the lowest; and if Wilson had followed the universal

example, which he might have done with impunity, he would have made a

large fortune; but after many years’ service he died comparatively poor.

Although anything but a military man, he was a general in the Russian

service, and was decorated with several stars and orders. All persons

officially employed like Wilson had military rank; he concealed this as

much as he could; but in St. Petersburg he was always obliged to wear

uniform, and as there were guardhouses in almost every street, whenever

he passed the guard turned out to salute him, which annoyed him much.

 

There was another remarkable Scotchman, of the name of Baird, with whom

I made acquaintance. He was, however, a totally different character--a

shrewd, intelligent, clever, active, indefatigable person, wholly

devoted to making money. He was in constant communication with England;

and as soon as a patent was taken out there for any new invention, if

it was applicable in Russia he at once imported and patented it, and

thus obtained a monopoly. He cultivated, with the greatest tact and

assiduity, all the officials, from the highest to the lowest, as well

as all persons of any influence, and had a thorough understanding with

them, particularly with the police and officers of customs; thus he

contrived to gain the greatest influence, and secured almost a monopoly

of everything worth having. If ever the Government was desirous of

contracting for any large work, Baird was almost sure of obtaining it,

at the best price. Whether his numerous friends were interested in the

profits resulting from these multifarious undertakings is best known

to himself; but according to the ordinary practice of human nature,

particularly in Russia at that time, everybody endeavoured to make the

most he could, and it is probable that there was no exception in this

case; but suffice to say that Baird made a very large fortune, with which

he retired to his native country; and we must not omit to mention that

Baird, whilst benefiting himself, was of the greatest service to Russia,

and tended materially to advance her prosperity by the numerous valuable

inventions he introduced, and by training the natives, and inciting them

and urging them to make all sorts of improvements, which, without such

a man, would never have been undertaken, so that nobody grudged his

wealth, and he left the country to which he had been a real benefactor

universally liked and esteemed. As to myself, personally, I feel much

indebted to him; through his kindness I had the opportunity of knowing

many persons and seeing many things which otherwise would have been out

of my power.

 

I frequently dined at the cafés and restaurants when not otherwise

engaged, and at some of the best of them met persons of the first class,

who were always very well bred and polite. One day I dined at one of the

best table d’hôtes, when several persons of high rank were present, and

amongst them a young naval officer of good family. Amongst other subjects

of conversation, the recent taking of Varna came forward, and the naval

officer seemed to speak rather disparagingly of it. I observed one of

the superior waiters looking at him and listening attentively for some

time, then he quietly went up to him and whispered a few words in his

ear, which my neighbour told me was an order to hold his tongue, for such

conversation would not be allowed. The fact was that all these waiters

were employed by, or in the pay of, the police, and all conversations

were reported. The young naval officer held his tongue immediately, and

the party broke up very shortly afterwards, and I was told that the

matter would not end there. I took the hint also, for nothing was more

dangerous than to talk politics, and I avoided them ever after.

 

In considering the position of St. Petersburg, it is, perhaps, difficult

to find a more inconvenient and unhealthy spot for a great seaport town

than that chosen for the Russian capital, at the mouth of the Neva, at

the head of the Gulf of Finland, where there is no tide, and where the

greatest depth over the bar is only seven feet, so that none but vessels

of a small class can ascend the river. Hence, though within the bar

there is ample depth of water at all times, large mercantile vessels are

obliged to stop at Cronstadt, seven miles distant, and there discharge

their cargoes, which are transferred to St. Petersburg in lighters;

in like manner they receive their cargoes from the capital; this, of

course, is attended with great delay and considerable expense. Moreover,

during the prevalence of strong westerly winds, the waters of the Gulf

of Finland are heaped up at the upper end, and those of the Neva are

driven back, so that it frequently happens that a large portion of the

city is inundated; and in November, in the year 1827, a terrible example

of this occurred. In many parts of the city the waters rose more than

fourteen feet, many thousand persons were drowned, and a vast amount of

valuable property was destroyed. These inundations might be avoided, and

the port improved to a considerable extent, although it would necessarily

require a very great expenditure. Still the object to be gained is of

such importance that every reasonable means should be adopted to effect

it, and compared with the enormous sums which have been expended in

establishing this capital, the cost of improving the port would appear

trifling.

 

Cronstadt is, properly speaking, the port of St. Petersburg. Here all

vessels, whether of war or merchandise, must stop; and the southern

side of the island, where there is the deepest water, from 24 to 27

feet, has been chosen as the site for the naval arsenal, as well as

the port for merchant vessels, where docks had been made when I was

there by enclosing a portion of the water space from the gulf; the two

basins or harbours were close together, separated only by a partition

wall. The accommodation for the mercantile vessels, although not small,

nevertheless was in a rude state, devoid of the usual mechanical

appliances which we have for many years been so accustomed to in England.

 

The naval arsenal, which was made in the time of Peter the Great, and

was considered perfect at the time it was made, consists of a long canal

leading from the outer to a small circular basin. Connected with this

there were four dry docks for the line-of-battle ships of that period.

From this the circular basin on the east side was connected with two

other dry docks; and around these canals, basin and docks, there were

several storehouses and magazines; but upon the whole they were badly arranged.