Queen of the Confederacy: The Innocent Deceits of Lucy Holcombe Pickens

CHAPTER TWELVE: “It was very marked and not known to happen before to a foreigner.” Francis Wilkinson Pickens (1858)

92 It was very marked and not known H aving arrived at St. Petersburg in the summer, they saw the city built by Peter the Great at its best, its construction a marvel of engineering. Thousands of serfs from Russia’s vast regions had driven piles deep under the marshy ground and laid on them great slabs of granite to form the city’s foundation. On these slabs rose magnificent palaces and churches with walls three and four feet thick as protection against the six months of severe winter weather. The problem of flooding was avoided by a system of canals, dividing the city into numerous islands. Two principal landmarks sat on these islands—the Winter Palace, on the Neva River, and not far away, St. Isaac’s Church with its magnificent gold dome. At that time, St. Isaac’s Church was the third largest in size compared to St. Paul’s in London and Notre Dame in Paris. CHAPTER TWELVE 1858 “It was very marked and not known to happen before to a foreigner.” Francis Wilkinson Pickens 93 1858 On Lucy’s first visit to St. Isaacs, her carriage rolled along streets paved with smooth blocks of granite, yet the driver stopped the carriage frequently to avoid hitting the numerous pigeons feeding in the streets. Irritated by the jerky ride, Lucy ordered him to keep the horses going. The driver turned and gravely informed his passenger that Russians love the pigeons for they are considered the “bird of the Holy Ghost.”1 From a distance she saw St. Isaac’s immense gold dome gleaming in the sunlight and from its pinnacle a large gold cross pointing to a cloudless blue sky. The four porticoes, supported by highly polished columns of granite, dominated the vast St.Isaac’s Place. Lucy found the interior of the church to be even more breathtaking, with its sparkling jewels and the mysterious scent of incense. Pillars of dark green malachite, red, yellow, and brown jasper, and the reddish-purple porphyry stone lined the white marble interior walls and supported the vaulted ceiling. Paintings of the Virgin and saints, their frames sparkling with diamonds, pearls, emeralds, and other gems, hung above the side altars. Silver and gold bars and precious gems made up the central altar. Lucy saw no seats or pews or cushions to rest on and no organ was visible, yet she heard the “most heavenly” music ever listened to and described her experience in letters to her family.2 “All kneel or stand and come and go as they please. Priests walk through the church, swinging their incense filled censors, mumbling prayers and blessing all who approach but no sermons are preached . . . They profess not to worship images yet you see a prince of the blood and the poorest serf prostrate themselves, side by side, before the Virgin or some saint, rise, light their offering of wax candle at the altar, drop some coins in the alms-box, and go out, crossing themselves devoutly.”3 This was unlike anything she had ever witnessed in her Presbyterian background. In Russia the Tsar was the head of the church. Its support came from extensive land holdings as well as voluntary contributions . The wealth so blatantly apparent within the church contrasted sharply with the abject poverty and ignorance of the masses. This appalled both Lucy and Francis. “Little regard is felt for the great masses,” Francis wrote to his friend, Milledge Bonham. “God 94 It was very marked and not known grant that our beloved country and free institutions may long be preserved . . .”4 Neither Francis nor Lucy recognized, or wished to recognize, the parallel between the masses, of whom serfs were in the majority, and the slaves in America. Possibly they reasoned that ideally, slaves in the United States were housed, fed, clothed, and cared for by their masters . This, unfortunately, was not always the case. Serfs, however, were accepted as chattel and had to take care of themselves as best they could. Francis was also alarmed to see thousands of Russian soldiers being drilled or passed in review before the equestrian statue of Peter the Great in the center of Admiralty Place. It did not seem in keeping with the present emperor’s advocacy of freedom.5 When Alexander II succeeded his father in 1855, Russia was reeling from the embarrassment of a failed war in the Crimea. Although Alexander often...