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

THE AUTHOR IN FAVOUR.277

as the peasants, and of work-people, all courtiers of courtiers, pressed among the carriages of the grandees to gaze on the livery of the master of their masters. The whole spectacle was striking and original. In Russia, the names are the same as elsewhere, but the tilings are altogether different. I often escaped from the throng of the ball to walk beneath the trees of the park, and muse on the melancholy that insinuates itself into the festivals of such a land. But my meditations were sho\`t, for on this day the emperor seemed as though determined to keep possession of my mind. Was it because he had discovered in the bottom of my heart some prejudices little favourable towards him, though the result only of what I had heard before being presented; or did he find it amusing to converse for a few moments with one who differed from those that daily came in his way, or

was it that Madame de had created an influence

in his mind in my favour? I could not explain to my own satisfaction the cause of receiving so much honour.

The emperor is not only accustomed to command actions, he knows how to reign over hearts : perhaps he wished to conquer mine ; perhaps the ices of my shyness served to stimulate his self-love. The desire of pleasing is natural to him : to compel adnm`ation would still be to make himself obeyed. Perhaps he had a desire of trying his power on a stranger; perhaps, in short, it was the instinct of a man who had long lived deprived of the truth, and who believed he had for once met with a sincere character. I repeat, I was ignorant of his motives; but on that evening í could not stand before him, nor even place