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

70SEDUCTIVE MANNERS OF

pletely, among those who have not travelled, but who, remaining in Russia, have nevertheless been in contact with distinguished foreigners.

These charms, these illusions, give them a sovereign power over hearts: so long as you remain in the presence of the privileged beings, you are under a spell; and the charm is double, for, such is their triumph, that you imagine yourself to be to them what they are to you. Time and the world, engagements and affairs, are forgotten ; the duties of society are abolished; one single interest remains — the interest of the moment; one single person survives— the person present, who is always the person liked. The desire of pleasing, carried to this excess, infallibly succeeds: it is the sublime of good taste ; it is eleganee the most refined, and yet as natural as an instinct. This supreme amiability is not assumed or artificial, it is a gift which needs only to be exercised : to prolong the illusion you have but to prolong your stay. The Russians are the best actors in the world: to produce an effect, they need none of the accompaniments of scenery.

Every traveller has reproached them with their versatility; the reproach is but too well founded: you feel yourself forgotten in bidding them adieu. I attribute this, not only to levity of character, to inconstancy of heart, but also to the want of solid and extended information. They like you to leave them ; for they fear lest they should be discovered when they allow themselves to be approached for too long a time uninterruptedly. Thence arises the fondness and the indifference which follow each other so rapidly among them. This apparent inconstancy is