y word of the
conversation. But he felt at ease in another moment; it only needed one
glance at the prince to see that in that quarter there was nothing to
fear.

"Oh!" cried the general, catching sight of the prince's specimen of
caligraphy, which the latter had now handed him for inspection. "Why,
this is simply beautiful; look at that, Gania, there's real talent
there!"

On a sheet of thick writing-paper the prince had written in medieval
characters the legend:

"The gentle Abbot Pafnute signed this."

"There," explained the prince, with great delight and animation, "there,
that's the abbot's real signature--from a manuscript of the fourteenth
century. All these old abbots and bishops used to write most
beautifully, with such taste and so much care and diligence. Have you no
copy of Pogodin, general? If you had one I could show you another type.
Stop a bit--here you have the large round writing common in France
during the eighteenth century. Some of the letters are shaped quite
differently from those now in use. It was the writing current then, and
employed by public writers generally. I copied this from one of them,
and you can see how good it is. Look at the well-rounded a and d. I
have tried to translate the French character into the Russian letters--a
difficult thing to do, but I think I have succeeded fairly. Here is a
fine sentence, written in a good, original hand--'Zeal triumphs over
all.' That is the script of the Russian War Office. That is how official
documents addressed to important personages should be written. The
letters are round, the type black, and the style somewhat remarkable. A
stylist would not allow these ornaments, or attempts at flourishes--just
look at these unfinished tails!--but it has distinction and really
depicts the soul of the writer. He would like to give play to his
imagination, and follow the inspiration of his genius, but a soldier is
only at ease in the guard-room, and the pen stops half-way, a slave
to discipline. How delightful! The first time I met an example of this
handwriting, I was positively astonished, and where do you think I
chanced to find it? In Switzerland, of all places! Now that is an
ordinary English hand. It can hardly be improved, it is so refined and
exquisite--almost perfection. This is an example of another kind,
a mixture of styles. The copy was given me by a French commercial
traveller. It is founded on the English, but the downstrokes are a
little