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

DEFINITION ОГ MISANTHROPY.303

An involuntary revelation — it bursts directly from the heart, and speaks directly to the hearts of others: art can but imperfectly supply it; it is born of emotion : in short, this music of speech reaches beyond the ideas that it conveys; it embodies also the indefinable, involuntary extension of those ideas. Herein lies the reason of Madame Sand's having so quickly obtained among us the reputation winch she deserves.

Sacred love of solitude, thou art no less than a real necessary of mental life ! The world is so false, that a mind imbued with a passionate love of truth must needs be disposed to shun society. Misanthropy is a calumniated sentiment; it is a hatred of lies. There are no misanthropes; but there are souls which would rather fly than feign.

Alone with God, and man becomes humble under the influence of internal sincerity; in his retreat he expiates, by silence and meditation, all the successful frauds of worldly spirits, their triumphant duplicities, their vanities, their hidden and too often rewarded treacheries : incapable of being duped, unwilling to dupe, he becomes a voluntary victim, and conceals himself with as much care as the courtiers of fashion take to display themselves. Such is undoubtedly the secret of the life of saints, — a secret easily penetrated, but a life difficult to imitate. t`\Vere I a saint I should no longer feel curiosity in travelling, nor yet a desire to relate my travels. I am seeking: the saints have found.

While thus seeking, I have surveyed the Russian empire. I wished to see a country where reigns the calm of a power assured of its own strength : but arrived there, I found only the reign of silence main-