sion to God.

General Swetchine was made military commandant and governor of St.
Petersburg. At the head of a splendid establishment, his young wife
found herself in the highest circle of the most brilliant society in
Europe; for at that time the Revolution had banished the noblest
families of France, and their headquarters were in the Russian
capital. Madame Swetchine always possessed, in remarkable union, an
earnest desire for action and companionship, and a strong taste for
solitude and meditation. She managed her life so skilfully, that both
these inclinations were largely gratified. With many of the most
high-toned and accomplished persons whom she met, both of the Russian
nobility and the French emigrants, she formed earnest and lasting
relations of mind and heart. The most refined, pronounced, and
impressive characters in St. Petersburg, between the years 1800 and
1815, were embraced in her friendships. Her leisure hours were
scrupulously and eagerly devoted to self-improvement. She engaged in
a wide range of literary, historic, and philosophical studies; making
copious extracts from the books she read, patiently reflecting on the
subjects, and setting down independent comments. The progress she
made was rapid, and soon rendered her a notable woman.

Paul, full of lugubrious visions and suspicions, one day disgraced
General Swetchine by removing him from office. But this official
dismission did not entail banishment, and was followed by no loss of
social caste. The general and his exemplary wife continued to live
amidst their numerous friends as happily as before. The interchange
of literary and philosophic ideas shared the hours in their
attractive parlor with the revolutionary and reactionary politics of
the time. The profound attachments, stamped with reverence and the
rarest truthfullness, which in those years united many admirable
persons with Madame Swetchine, were frequently reporting themselves,
under far other circumstances, in a distant land, half a century
later.

In 1833, the celebrated Count Joseph de Maistre was accredited from
France to the Russian court. He was then about fifty, a man of pure
life, rare genius, and fervent enthusiasm; familiar with the world,
with the human heart, and with the loftiest ranges of sentiment and
learning. His zeal for the Catholic Church was extreme. Madame
Swetchine, at this time, without being at all a devotee, was a
sincere member of the Greek Church. She was