The establishments set apart for young ladies are under the surveillance of the authorities in an equal degree as those of the other sex. The principal colleges, or institutes as they are called, are—the Catherine, in which none but girls of noble birth are admitted; the Smolnoy, which is divided into two parts, one of which is for noble children and the other for the bourgeoisie; the Patriotic, for ladies of inferior rank; the Elizabeth, for the daughters of merchants, employés, &c.; the Foundling, for orphans and others; and the different Priouts, similar to those for the education of boys.
The branches of study are various. As usual, languages take the first rank, followed by geography, religion, ancient and modern history (à la Russe), physics, &c. &c.; for each of these there is a professor appointed by the crown. Music, drawing, dancing, and singing form the accomplishments, to which much time is devoted.
In the Catherine Institute there are nearly four hundred young ladies of rank, and it is an excellent establishment, admirably conducted, under the direction of a lady of high rank who is responsible to the Empress; she is assisted by three ladies who have the title of inspectresses, and surveillantes, called dames de classe. The directress is always designated Mamma by the pupils, which has a pleasing social sound. The ladies who conduct the establishment are obliged to wear an uniform, which consists of a dark blue dress and lace cap: the pupils, who are divided into two great classes, have also their uniform; the high class wear a puce-coloured stuff frock, the lower a dark green; but they all have white aprons, sleeves, and tippets, similar to those of our national schools.
The young ladies enter for six years, three of which are passed in the lower class, and the remainder of the term in the upper. During the whole of this period they are not allowed to be absent on any pretence whatever; they never go out for a walk, and only twice a year for a drive, and they live quite as retired from the exterior world as if they were buried in a convent. In the establishment there is a church, an hospital, and a splendid ball-room, and attached to it are a priest, a comptroller of the household, an architect and carpenters, a band of musicians, a guard of soldiers, and an immense number of servants, who have been educated for the purpose. The greatest order and regularity prevail; but the influence of a military government is felt even in a school for young ladies, which gives a kind of mannerism to those brought up under this system, as every action has its drilling before going on parade. One day when I was there I noticed an unusual shouting in the ball-room; one of the inspectresses was continually entering and quitting it; each time she did so I remarked the same simultaneous cheers as before. Curiosity led me to inquire what it meant. “Oh!” I was answered, “it is only the young ladies practising the salutation to the superior when she arrives, for she is to come the day after to-morrow from the country, and they are therefore rehearsing ‘We hope you are well, Mamma,’ so that they may all say it together.”
Notwithstanding the brilliant education that the young ladies receive by the aid of so many first-rate professors, and the care and trouble taken in their surveillance, it is still a question whether it is wise to have so many young people together; at least, it does not agree with the ideas usually entertained in England. There is another great defect in this plan; the pupils have so very little leisure that they can take neither exercise nor recreation; the only unoccupied time they have is one hour after dinner, which they spend in walking up and down the immense corridors which run the whole length of the building. The even tenor of their existence is varied by balls among themselves on the anniversary of an imperial birthday, that of the coronation, the saint’s day of the Institute, &c. On these occasions the invitations are restricted to female relatives of the young ladies. They have also a long recess during the summer; but they often used to tell me in confidence “that they would rather the masters came, for it made a little variety.” A sortie or breaking up takes place once in three years, when the whole of the upper class leave the school, and then the lower take their place and become the first. A public examination takes place on these occasions, at which most of the imperial family are present; prizes are awarded, the highest of which is le chiffre or the Empress’s initials in diamonds, and the others consist in gold and silver medals. The young lady who gains the first prize becomes immortalized by having her name inscribed in golden letters on an oval board, painted dark blue, which is suspended in the ball-room, which the others have the pleasure of reading every day, and which serves to incite them to obtain a like distinction. She is also honoured by a kiss from the Empress. At the sortie the friends and relations attend, when some excellent performances on the piano, beautiful singing by the pupils, and the examination of their drawings and embroidery, form a part of this interesting ceremony.
In addition to the studies and accomplishments before mentioned, there is a week at certain intervals in which the young ladies are taught to embroider, and attend in the kitchen to learn the culinary art. I have taken the Catherine Institute as an example, as it is the first in the empire, but the others are conducted nearly on the same plan. The Smolnoy Institute contains a greater number of pupils, because several classes of society are received: there are eight hundred in the two divisions. In the Patriotic there are three hundred and fifty, in the Elizabeth three hundred, in the Foundling six hundred. There are similar establishments in Moscow.
Everything is found for the use of the pupils by the crown: their dresses, linen, shoes, even their pocket-handkerchiefs. The surveillantes, or dames de classe, are “de service” every alternate day, the other is entirely at their own disposal.
Private education, that is education conducted under the parent’s roof, is in almost every instance directed by foreigners—French, English, or Germans. If the family be rich, generally an individual of each nation is resident in the house, by which means the practice of speaking the three languages is ensured. It is very rare that a Russian is engaged either as tutor or as governess. The Russians are extremely kind to those who undertake the education of their children. Certainly in respect, consideration, and manière d’être towards them, they set an excellent example which might with advantage be followed elsewhere; for they judge truly when they say “that, if they be wanting in these points themselves towards those intrusted with the care of their children, they could not expect those children to profit from their instruction or respect them as they ought to do.” In speaking of education in general I should say that in Russia there is a great deal too much restraint and watching, leaving the young person no time for reflection by which the mind may be strengthened, and by this means so much distrust is displayed in the conduct of a youth of either sex, that, as a natural consequence, lying, deceit, and cunning are produced, for no human being likes to know that his every action is the subject of an established espionage, and he will inevitably resort to meanness to avoid detection. Too much attention also is paid to exterior and showy accomplishments, such as dancing, music, &c.; if they make a good figure in these, peu importe le reste. In Russia there are few, it must be confessed, whom we should call well-informed people, among either the ladies or gentlemen.
The whole system of education in Russia seems to have been, indeed, expressly devised for stifling all feelings of independence in the heart of youth, so that they may submit without a struggle to the despotic government under which they have had the misfortune to be born. Their minds are formed to one pattern, just as their persons are by the military drill; their energies are made to contribute in every way towards the aggrandizement of the Czar’s power, and to render more solid the chains of their country. “We can have no great men,” said a Russian, “because they are all absorbed in the name of the Emperor:” meaning that individual glory could not exist. The Mussulman teaches his child—“There is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet.” The Russian as piously inculcates the precept that “Nicholas is his general.” “God and the Czar know it,” is often the reply of a Muscovite when he can give no direct answer to a question. A gentleman was one evening giving us an account of the Emperor’s journey to Moscow, and of the manner in which he had been received on the route. “I assure you,” continued he, “it was gratifying in the extreme; for the peasants knelt as he passed, just as if ‘c’était le bon Dieu lui-même.’” Whatever pleasure he might have felt on the occasion, I could not help regarding with astonishment and intense disgust a person who could thus exultingly speak of the moral degradation of his countrymen.