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article (in which the censor in Moscow found nothing to
strike out), eulogized the deceased with warm words, they
at once seized upon the opportunity to give him a blow.
They found — Heaven knows how — disobedience towards
the Tsar in the said article, and on “the command
of the highest of all” he was thrown into prison
in St. Petersburg. Among his letters is to be found a
communication which he wrote to the heir-apparent
(Alexander) to prove his innocence. After having
passed a month in prison, which the delicate condition
of his health made doubly painful to him, he was exiled
to his estate Spasskoye, where he was obliged to remain
for several years. It is plainly enough this event which
after his pardon led him to take up his permanent
residence outside of his native land.
The acquaintance with Mme. Viardot imprisoned the
author near to her for all the rest of his life — far more
than half. She was born in Paris in 1821 and had made
extensive artistic tours in America and Europe with her
parents, first as a pianist and then as a vocalist. Her
first appearance in Paris, which happened at the same
time as Rachel’s, is commemorated in verse by Alfred
de Musset. From 1840 she was the wife of the author
Louis Viardot. As early as 1847, Turgenief accompanied
the married couple to Berlin and then to Paris. From
1856 he is to be regarded as a member of the Viardot
family, and the influence which the mistress of the
house exerted upon the author was great, and, so far as
can be perceived, only for good. In 1847, when his
despotic mother refused to send him any money for his
support, Mme. Viardot assisted him out of her own
purse, and it was therefore only just that Turgenief in
his will should have made her his residuary legatee, —
which, however, has given rise to many fiendish
comments on the part of Russians.
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