with which we are almost
always sure to agree, when we endeavour to deserve our own esteem,
and that of persons of integrity.

The following day, I was invited by Count Orloff to come and spend
the day in the island which bears his name, and which is the most
agreeable of all those formed by the Neva; oaks, a rare production
in this country, overshadow the garden. The Count and Countess
Orloff employ their fortune in receiving strangers with equal
facility and magnificence; you are at your ease with them, as in a
country retreat, and you enjoy there all the luxury of cities. Count
Orloff is one of the most learned noblemen to be met with in Russia,
and his love of his country bears a profound character, with which
it is impossible to help being affected. The first day I passed at
his house, peace had just been proclaimed with England; it was a
Sunday; and in his garden, which was on that day opened to all
comers, we saw a great number of these long-bearded merchants, who
keep up in Russia the costume of the Moujiks, that is to say of the
peasants. A number of them collected to hear the delightful band of
music of Count Orloff; it gave us the English air of God save the
King, which is the song of liberty in a country, of which the
monarch is its first guardian. We were all much affected, and
applauded this air, which is become national for all Europeans; for
there are no longer but two kinds of men in Europe, those who serve
tyranny, and those who have learned to hate it. Count Orloff went up
to the Russian merchants, and told them that the peace between
England and Russia was celebrating; they immediately made the sign
of the cross, and thanked heaven that the sea was once more open to
them.

The isle Orloff is in the centre of all those which the great
noblemen of Petersburg, and the emperor and empress themselves, have
selected for their residence during summer. Not far from it is the
isle Strogonoff, the rich owner of which has brought from Greece
antiquities of great value. His house was open every day during his
life, and whoever had once been presented might return when they
chose; he never invited any one to dinner or supper on a particular
day; it was understood that once admitted, you were always welcome;
he frequently knew not half the persons who dined at his table: but
this luxurious hospitality pleased him like any other kind of
magnificence. The same practice prevails in many other houses at
Petersburg