freedom of manners and speech should gain a footing at court, where will falsehood and politeness find a

*

refuge? Young is at Petersburg: we meet every where, and with pleasure; he is a type of the Frenchman of the present day, but truly well bred. He appears to be enchanted with every thing. This satisfaction is so natural that it becomes contagious,

* Some days after this was written, a little scene occurred at court which will give some idea of the manners of the most fashionable young people among the English in the present day: they have no right to reproach, nor yet any reason to envy, the least polite of our Parisian exquisites: - what a difference between this kind of blackguard elegance, and the politeness of the Buckinghams, the Lauzuns, and the Richelieus! The empress wished to give a private ball as a mark of attention to this family before their leaving Petersburg. She began by inviting the father, who dances so well with an artificial leg. "Madame," replied the old Marquis D, "I have been loaded with kindnesses at Petersburg; but so many pleasures surpass my powers: I hope that your majesty will permit me to take my leave this evening, that I may get on board my yacht tomorrow morning, in order to return to England; otherwise I shall die of pleasure in Russia." "Well, then, I must give you up," replied the empress, satisfied with this polite and manly answer, worthy of the times in which the old lord must have first entered the world; then turning towards the sons of the marquis, whose stay in Petersburg was to be prolonged : "At least I may depend on you?" she said to the eldest. 'Madame," replied this individual, "we are engaged to hunt the rein-deer to-day." The empress, who is said to be proud, was not discouraged, and, addressing herself to the younger brother, said, "You, at least, will remain with me?" The young man, at a loss for an excuse, and not knowing what to answer, in his vexation turned to his brother, murmuring, loudly enough to be overheard, "Am I then to be the victim?" This anecdote went the round of the whole court.

THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR.

259

and I doubt not the young man pleases as much as he is pleased. He travels to advantage, is well informed, and collects numerous facts, which he can number better than he can class; for at his age it is more easy to sum up than to arrange. But what a richly varied conversation is that of our ambassador ! and how much will literature regret the time which he gives to politics, unless the latter be only a study by which the former will profit hereafter! Never was a man more perfectly adapted to his place, or one who played his part with greater ability, united with more apparent ease and freedom from any assumption of importance. It is this combination which appears to me to constitute, in the present day, the condition of success for every Frenchman occupied with public affairs. No one, since the revolution of July, has fulfilled, so well as M. de Barante, the difficult charge of French ambassador at Petersburg.

In connection with the marriage fetês given in honour of the Grand Duchess Marie, a little incident occurred which will remind the reader of what often happened at the court of the Emperor Napoleon.

The grand chamberlain had died shortly before the marriage, and his office had been given to Count Golowkin, formerly Russian ambassador to China, to which country he could not obtain access. This nobleman, entering upon the functions of his office on the occasion of the marriage, had less experience than his predecessor. A young chamberlain, appointed by him, managed to incur the wrath of the emperor, and exposed his superior to a rather severe reprimand: it was at the ball of the Grand Duchess Helena.

The emperor was talking with the Austrian ambas

260

THE GRAND CHAMBERLAIN.

sador. The young chamberlain received from the Grand Duchess Marie an order to carry her invitation to this ambassador to dance with her. In his zeal the unfortunate débutant broke the circle of courtiers which I have before described as forming at a respectful distance around the emperor, and boldly approached his majesty's person, saying to the ambassador, “Monsieur le Comte, Madame la Duchesse de Leuchtenberg requests that you will dance with her the first polonaise."

The emperor, shocked with the ignorance of the new chamberlain, said to him, in an elevated tone of voice, "You have been appointed to a post, sir; learn, therefore, how to fulfil its duties: in the first place, my daughter is not the Duchess of Leuchtenberg -she is called the Grand Duchess Marie *; in the second place, you ought to know that no one interrupts me when I am conversing with any individual." †

The new chamberlain who received this harsh reprimand was, unfortunately, a poor Polish gentleman. The emperor, not content with what he had said, caused the grand chamberlain to be called, and recommended him to be, in future, more circumspect in his selection of deputies.

I left the ball of the Michael Palace at an early hour. I loitered on the staircase, and could have wished to remain there longer: it was a wood of

This title had been secured to her at her marriage.

† Did I not truly say that, at this court, life is passed in general rehearsals? An Emperor of Russia, from Peter the Great, downwards, never forgets that it is his office personally to instruct his people.

CABINET OF MINERALS.

261

orange trees in flower. Never have I seen any thing more magnificent or better directed than this fête; but there is nothing so fatiguing as admiration too greatly prolonged, especially if it does not relate to the phenomena of nature, or the works of the higher

arts.

,

I lay down my pen in order to dine with a Russian officer, the young Count who took me this morning to the cabinet of mineralogy, the finest I believe in Europe, for the Uralian mines are unequalled in the variety of their mineral wealth. Nothing can be seen here alone. A native of the country is always with you to do the honours of the public establishments and institutions, and there are not many days in the year favourable for seeing them. In summer they are repairing the edifices damaged by the frosts, in winter there is nothing but visiting: every one dances who does not freeze. It will be thought I am exaggerating when I say that Russia is scarcely better seen in Petersburg than in France. Strip the observation of its paradoxical form and it is strictly true. Most assuredly it is not sufficient to visit this country in order to know it. Without the aid of

others, it is not possible to obtain an idea of any thing, and often this aid tyrannises over its object, and imbues him with ideas only that are fallacious.*

* This is done designedly.

262

THE LADIES OF THE COURT.

CHAP. XIII.

HIS

THE LADIES OF THE COURT. -THE FINNS. -THE OPERA. - THE EMPEROR THERE. IMPOSING PERSON OF THIS PRINCE. ACCESSION TO THE THRONE. COURAGE OF THE EMPRESS. THE EMPEROR'S RECITAL OF THIS SCENE TO THE AUTHOR. ANOTHER DESCRIPTION OF THE EMPEROR. -CONTINUATION OF HIS CONVERSATION. HIS POLITICAL OPINIONS. SINCERITY OF HIS LANGUAGE. FÊTE AT THE DUCHESS OF OLDENBURG'S. BAL CHAMPÊTRE. - FLOWERS IN RUSSIA.

THE FRIEND OF THE EMPRESS. - SEVERAL CONVERSATIONS WITH THE EMPEROR. HIS NOBLE SENTIMENTS.

CONFIDENCE WITH WHICH HE INSPIRES THOSE WHO APPROACH HIM. ARISTOCRACY THE ONLY RAMPART OF LIBERTY. PARALLEL BETWEEN AUTOCRACIES AND DEMOCRACIES. THE ARTS IN PETERSBURG. — ALL TRUE TALENT IS NATIONAL.

SEVERAL of the ladies of this court, but their number is not great, have a reputation for beauty which is deserved; others have usurped this reputation by means of coquetries, contrivances, and affectations all copied from the English; for the Russians in high life pass their time in searching for foreign models of fashion. They are deceived sometimes in their choice, when their mistake produces a singular kind of elegance-an elegance without taste. Russian left to himself would spend his life in dreams of unsatisfied vanity: he would view himself as a barbarian. Nothing more injures the natural disposition, and consequently the mental powers, of a people, than this continual dwelling upon the social superiority of other nations. To feel humbled by

A