Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

SPAIN AND RUSSIA.353

repose, that prison without leisure which is called Russia, to feel all the liberty enjoyed in the other European countries, whatever form of government they may have adopted. It cannot be too emphatically repeated: liberty is wanted in every thing Russian; unless it be in the commerce of Odessa. The emperor, who is endowed with prophetic tact, little loves the spirit of independence that pervades that city, the prosperity of which is due to the intelligence and integrity of a Frenchman * : it is, however, the only point in his vast dominions where men may with sincerity bless his reign.

If ever your sons should be discontented with France, try my receipt; tell them to go to Russia. It is a useful journey for every foreigner : whoever has well examined that country will be content to live anywhere else. It is always well to know that a society exists where no happiness is possible* because, by a law of his nature, man cannot be happy unless he is free.

Such a recollection renders the traveller less fastidious ; and, returning to his own hearth, he can say of his country what a man of mind once said of himself : e( When I estimate myself, I am modest; but when I compare myself, I am proud."

* The Duke de Richelieu, minister of Louis XVIII.