s spirit and
institutions. Of his own country, he expressed himself with candour. "I
feel," said he, "that I have a great trust laid on me, and I am
determined to fulfil it. I shall not make the throne a bed of roses.
There is still much to be done, and I shall do what I can. I have the
advantage of a fine material in the people. No being is at once more
susceptible of improvement, and more grateful for it, than the Russian.
He has quick faculties and an honest heart. If the common hazards of
empire should come, I know that he will not desert me. In the last
extremity of human fortunes, I shall not desert him."

Those generous declarations were gallantly realized on both sides within
a few years. I was not then aware that the Imperial prediction would be
soon brought to the test. But it was gloriously fulfilled at Moscow, and
proudly registered in the fragments of the throne of Napoleon.

Impatient as I was to reach England, I left St Petersburg with regret.
Clotilde left it with those feelings which belong to the finer fancy of
woman. She remembered it as the scene where she had enjoyed the most
dazzling portion of her life; where every countenance had met her with
smiles, and every tongue was prodigal of praise; where the day rose on
the promise of new enjoyments, and the night descended in royal
festivity. As we drove along the banks of the Neva, she more than once
stopped the carriage, to give herself a parting glance at the long vista
of stately buildings, which she was then to look upon, perhaps, for the
last time. The scene was certainly of the most striking order; for we
had commenced our journey on the evening of one of the national
festivals; and we thus had the whole population, in all their holiday
dresses, to give animation to the general aspect of the massive and
gigantic architecture. The Neva was covered with barges of the most
graceful form; the fronts of the citizens' houses were hung with
decorations; music sounded from a vast orchestra in front of the palace;
and the air re-echoed with the voices of thousands and tens of
thousands, all evidently determined to be happy for the time. We both
gazed in silence and admiration. The carriage had accidentally drawn up
in view of the little hut which is preserved in the Neva as the dwelling
of Peter. I saw a tear glistening on the long eyelash of my lovely
fellow traveller.

"If I wanted a proof," said she, "of the intellectual greatness of man,
I should f