of the Indies shall be your recompense," failing
to state how these treasures were to be obtained without disturbing the
Sovereign Princes.

It is known that Napoleon had plans of an empire in the East, and it is
also known that some compact of this kind did exist between him and the
Emperor Paul. In 1801 eleven regiments of Cossacks, the vanguard of
the army which was to follow, had started upon the great undertaking,
when news was received that the Emperor Paul I. was dead.

The unbalanced course pursued by the Tsar, his unwise reforms, and his
capricious policy had not only alienated everyone, but caused serious
apprehensions for the safety of the empire. He had arrayed himself
against his wife and his children; had threatened to disinherit
Alexander, his oldest son and heir, whom he especially hated. A plot
was formed to compel his abdication. To that extent his sons Alexander
and Constantine were aware of and party to it.

On the night of the 23d of March, 1801, the conspirators entered Paul's
sleeping apartment after he had retired, and, sword in hand, presented
the abdication for him to sign. There was a struggle in which the lamp
was overturned, and in the darkness the Tsar, who had fallen upon the
floor, was strangled with an officer's scarf.

On the 24th of March, 1801, Alexander, who was entirely innocent of
complicity in this crime, was proclaimed Emperor of Russia.

It is said that when Bonaparte saw the downfall of his vast design, he
could not contain his rage; and pointing to England as the instigator
of the deed, he said in the _Moniteur_: "It is for history to clear up
the secret of this tragedy, and to say what national policy was
interested in such a catastrophe!"

The Emperor Paul had an acute, although narrow, intelligence, and was
not without generous impulses. But although he sometimes made
impetuous reparation for injury, although he recalled exiles from
Siberia and gave to Kosciusko and other patriots their freedom, unless
his kindness was properly met the reaction toward severity was
excessive. A little leaven of good with much that is evil sometimes
creates a very explosive mixture, and converts what would be a mild,
even tyranny into a vindictive and revengeful one. When we behold the
traits exhibited during this brief reign of five years, we are not
surprised at Catherine's unwillingness to resign to her son the empire
for which she had done so much; and we are inclined to be