THE GREAT THEATRE OF MOSCOW.—OPERATIC PERFORMANCES.—THE KITAI GOROD AND GOSTINNA DVOR.—ROMANOFF HOUSE AND THE ROMANOFF FAMILY.—SKETCH OF THE RULERS OF RUSSIA.—ANECDOTES OF PETER THE GREAT AND OTHERS.—CHURCH OF THE SAVIOUR.—MOSQUES AND PAGODAS.—THE MUSEUM.—RIDING-SCHOOL.—SUHAREFF TOWER.—TRAKTIRS.—OLD BELIEVERS.—THE SPARROW HILLS AND THE SIMONOFF MONASTERY.  
The best part of a day was consumed in the Kremlin and in the Church of St. Basil. Further investigation of old Moscow was postponed to the morrow.
In the evening our friends went to the Opera-house to listen to some national music, but more particularly to see the house, which is one of the curiosities of the city. The "Bolshoi Teatre" or "Great Theatre," is one of the finest opera-houses in the world. It was built in 1855-56, to replace the smaller opera-house which had been destroyed by fire about two years before. A few months after it was opened there was a performance in the theatre, entitled "1756 and 1856," to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of government theatres in Russia.
From the material in the possession of the youths, and by a careful use of eyes and note-books, Fred wrote the following account of the Moscow Opera-house, and added to the information about theatrical matters which appears in a previous chapter.
"The first recorded representation of a theatrical character in Russia is assigned to the reign of Alexis Michailovitch, father of Peter the Great. It was given in the house of the father-in-law of Alexis, but very little is known of its character. Russian writers say their first regular dramas were in the time of Feodor Alexeivitch (half-brother and predecessor of Peter the Great), and were written by the Czar's tutor. They were produced in one of the suburban palaces, and had a religious character, as we infer from the titles 'Prodigal Son,' 'King Nebuchadnezzar,' 'Three Men in the Fiery Furnace,' and 'The Golden Calf.' The Czar's tutor was a monk, and the plays were performed by the students attached to the monastery.
[Pg 253]
 DRESS OF PEASANTS—SCENE FROM A RUSSIAN OPERA.
"Peter the Great determined to develop the drama, and engaged a Hungarian actor, who happened to be at Moscow, to look after the matter. This actor went to Germany and engaged a troupe, and among them was a man who divided his time between theatrical affairs and ship-building. When he was not ship-building he was writing plays and managing Peter's theatre at Moscow, and he seems to have engaged in the two occupations with equal facility. Peter attended the performances accompanied by his officers. In order to encourage the drama there was no admission fee, the company being supported by the Government.
"At first the performances took place in a large hall of the Suhareff Tower. After a time a wooden theatre was built near the Kremlin, and performances were given regularly. The City of Yaroslav established a theatre of its own under the direction of Feodor Volkhoff, an actor who afterwards became famous in Russia. In 1752 he was summoned to St. Petersburg by the Empress Elizabeth, to direct performances at the court theatre, and in 1756 the Empress issued an Imperial order establishing a[Pg 254] government theatre in the capital. The centennial of this event was the celebration referred to.
 A DRESSING-ROOM OF THE OPERA-HOUSE.
"The Moscow Opera-house stands in a square by itself not far from the Kremlin. Carriages can be driven all around it, and there are three entrances for spectators besides the one reserved to the actors. The theatre is never crowded, as only as many tickets are sold as there are seats, and no money is taken at the doors. There are five rows of boxes besides the parquette, or ground-floor, and the gallery, which occupies the whole of[Pg 255] the upper tier. We had our places in the parquette, and found them very comfortable. Each seat is a separate arm-chair, with plenty of space around it, so that one may walk about between the acts without disturbing his neighbors.
 WORKING THE SHIP IN "L'AFRICAINE."
"The waits between the acts were very long, according to our American ideas, but there was a reason for this. We found an attendant who spoke French, and through his assistance and his expectation of a fee we visited an unoccupied box on one of the principal tiers. The box had plenty of seating-room for half a dozen persons; the attendant said ten or[Pg 256] twelve were frequently packed into it, but it was only unfashionable people who ever thought of thus crowding a box. Each box has a little cabinet or parlor back of it, where one may receive friends, and a great deal of visiting goes on between the acts. The arrangement is an Italian one, and the same feature exists in opera-houses in other parts of Europe.
"To give you an idea of the size of the house, let me quote a few figures comparing it with the principal theatres of Milan, Naples, and London. The measurements are in English feet:
Diameter of ceiling, La Scala, Milan 70
Diameter of ceiling, San Carlo, Naples 73
Diameter of ceiling, Covent Garden, London 65
Diameter of ceiling, Moscow Opera-house 98
Opening of proscenium, La Scala, Milan 51
Opening of proscenium, San Carlo, Naples 58
Opening of proscenium, Covent Garden, London 50
Opening of proscenium, Moscow Opera-house 70
"The stage of the Moscow Opera-house is 126 feet wide and 112 feet deep. At Covent Garden Theatre the respective figures are 88 and 90 feet.
"We had a great deal of curiosity to see the famous drop-scene, which represents the triumphal entry of Minin and Pojarsky into the Kremlin, after the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow in 1612. It is a magnificent picture, painted by Duzi, a Venetian artist, and represents the two liberators on horseback near the Holy Gate of the Kremlin, surrounded by citizens of all classes and conditions. Prince Pojarsky looks like an Oriental, as he is dressed in the costume which was worn by the boyards or noblemen down to the time of Peter the Great. The peasant class are in their holiday dress; the women wear sarafans and kokoshniks which are quite like those worn by many of them at the present time, while the men are mostly in girdled caftans, just as we see thousands of them daily. French fashions have taken a hold among the nobility and wealthy people of Russia generally, but have no effect on the peasantry. The common people will probably adhere to their present costume until ordered by Imperial decree to adopt a new one.
 MININ-POJARSKY MONUMENT.
"We spent nearly the whole time of the wait between the first and second acts in contemplating this picture, and found plenty to occupy us. We have already mentioned the Minin-Pojarsky Monument, which stands near the gate of the Kremlin, and reminds the people of an important event in their national history. Between the monument and the painting, the[Pg 257] Russians are not likely to forget the patriotism of the cattle-dealer and the Prince."
From the theatre our friends went straight to the hotel and to bed, tired enough with their day's exertions, but amply repaid for all their fatigue.
Next morning they were off in good season, or rather Frank and Fred were, as the Doctor decided to remain at the hotel, while the youths devoted the forenoon to sights that he did not especially care for. Having been in Moscow before, he was willing to leave some of the stock sights out of his programme.
Their first visit was to the bazaar, which bears the name of "Kitai Gorod" or "Chinese Town." The bazaar is often said to be so called because of the great number of Tartars doing business there—the descendants of the Mongols, who so long held Moscow in their hands.
According to some writers this belief is erroneous. They assert that, originally, all of Moscow was inside the Kremlin; but as the necessity came for extending the city, an order was given by Helena (mother of John the Terrible, and Regent during his minority) for enclosing a large space outside the Kremlin, which was to be named after her birthplace, Kitaigrod, in Podolia. Its walls were begun in 1535 by an Italian architect.
"We went," said Frank, "through the Gostinna Dvor of Moscow, which fills an enormous building in the Kitai Gorod, and is in some respects more interesting than that of St. Petersburg, though practically of the same character. The display of Russian goods is about like that in the capital city, though there is possibly a greater quantity of silver work, Circassian goods, and similar curiosities peculiar to the country. Much of the money-changing is in the hands of Tartars; where the changers are not of the Tartar race, they are generally Jews. Russian Tartars and[Pg 258] Jews use the abacus in counting, and they work it with wonderful rapidity. We saw it in St. Petersburg, but it was not so much employed there as in Moscow. The abacus has undergone very little change in two or three thousand years. It was introduced by the Tartar conquerors of Russia, and promises to remain permanently in the Empire.
"What a quantity of silks, embroideries, silverware, and the like are piled in the bazaar! and what an array of clothing, household goods, furniture, and other practical and unpractical things of every name and kind! It was the Bazaar of St. Petersburg over again, with the absence of certain features, that suggested Western Europe and the addition of others belonging to the Orient. The second-hand market was encumbered with old clothes, pots, pans, boots, furniture, and odds and ends of everything, and we were so pestered by the peddlers that we went through the place pretty quickly.
"The guide took us to Romanoff House, which was built near the end of the sixteenth century, and was the birthplace of Michael, the first Czar of the present reigning family. Of the original house only the walls remain; the interior was destroyed by the French, who plundered the building and then set it on fire, and only the great thickness and solidity of the walls preserved them.
"Romanoff House, as we saw it to-day, is an excellent example of the[Pg 259] Russian house of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in this respect it is very interesting. The last restoration was made in 1858-59, and the Government has spent quite an amount of money in putting it in order.
"It is four stories high, and built around a court-yard from which the rooms on the ground-floor are entered. In the basement are cellars for storing provisions, and on the floor above it are the kitchens, temporary store-rooms, and the like. In the next story are the rooms where the prince lived; they include a reception-room, rooms for servants, several smaller rooms, and also some secret recesses in the walls where silver plate and other valuables were kept. The rooms are adorned with utensils of former periods, together with many articles of silver and other metals that belonged to the Romanoff family long ago.
"The upper story is called the terem, a word which is equivalent to the Turkish harem. The terem was reserved to the women and children, but not so rigidly as is the harem among the Moslems. Beds, bedsteads, playthings, and articles of clothing are among the curiosities in the terem of Romanoff House. Among them are the slippers of the Czar and the night-gown of the Czarina, which are kept in a box at the foot of the bed according to the old custom.
"Romanoff House is in the Kitai Gorod, and from it we went to the place where Peter the Great witnessed the execution of many of his rebellious streltzi, or guards. Perhaps you would like to hear the story?
 PETER'S ESCAPE FROM ASSASSINATION.
"I believe we have already mentioned something about the strained relations between Peter and his sister Sophia, and how she plotted his assassination, from which he escaped by riding away in the night. Peter shut Sophia in a convent before going on his tour to Holland and England to learn the art of ship-building and obtain other information to aid him in the development of the Russian Empire. He distributed his troops in the best way he could think of, and confided the administration of affairs to his most trusted officers.
"But even then he was constantly fearful of trouble. He knew the ambition of his sister, and the opposition that many of the old nobility had to his reforms, and he was well aware that many officers of the army did not favor his plans. Consequently, when news of the rebellion reached him at Vienna he was not entirely unprepared, and hastened homeward as fast as horses could carry him.
"The conspiracy included many nobles, officers, and others, together with the immediate advisers of his sister. The clergy were on the side of the conspiracy; they opposed the reforms, and preferred keeping things[Pg 260] as they had been, rather than adopt the ways of Western Europe. It is said at present that the Russian Government would change the calendar from old style to new style, and make it conform to the rest of the civilized world, but for the opposition of the Church. The priests assert that it would cause a great deal of confusion with the saints' days, and therefore they refuse their approval of the measure.
"The streltzi had been distributed at points far removed from Moscow. Under pretence of coming to get their pay, they marched to the city, where they were met by General Gordon, an English officer who commanded the Government troops at the time. Gordon defeated the streltzi, and then by torturing some of the prisoners learned the history of the conspiracy. It was to place Sophia on the throne in place of Peter, and a great many persons were implicated in the scheme. News of the occurrence was sent to Peter at Vienna, and hastened his return as described.
 PETER THE GREAT AS EXECUTIONER.
"On arriving in Moscow, he made the most searching inquiry, and by torturing some of those who had fallen into his hands he obtained the names of many others. There is no doubt that innocent persons were implicated, as the victims of torture are apt to tell anything, whether true or false, in order to escape from their pain. Those implicated were immediately arrested and put to death, many of them with torture. Nobles, ladies[Pg 261] of rank, officers and soldiers, comprised the list. On the spot where we stood to-day hundreds of the streltzi were beheaded, and altogether several thousands of people were killed. Peter himself took part in the executions, if report is true. Once, at a banquet, he ordered twenty of the prisoners to be brought in, and a block arranged for the fearful ceremony. Then he called for a glass of wine. After drinking it, he beheaded the victim, who had been placed on the block, and then he called for another victim and another glass of wine. It is said that he was just one hour in performing the twenty executions; and after he had finished he went in person to the great square in front of the Kremlin, where other executions were going on.
"While he was witnessing one of these executions, one of the prisoners who was about to lose his head came forward as coolly as though he were entering a dining-hall. 'Make way for us,' he said, as he kicked the fallen heads from his path—'make way here, make way.'
"Just as the man lay down upon the block and the executioner raised his axe, Peter ordered the prisoner to be liberated. He pardoned him on the spot, remarking that there was good stuff in a man who could walk so[Pg 262] gallantly to his own execution. Peter's prediction was correct; and who do you suppose the man was?
"His name was Orloff. He was a faithful adherent of Peter for the rest of his life, and rose to the command of his armies. He was the founder of the Orloff family, which has ever since been prominent in Russian matters, and continues so down to the present day.............