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

20GTHE DUKE OF LEUCIITENBERG.

`\Vhen the officiating bishop presented the married pair to their august parents, the latter embraced them with a warmth that was aífecting. The moment afterwards the Empress threw herself into the arms of her husband — an effusion of tenderness which would have better suited a chamber than a chapel: but in Kussia the sovereigns are at home every where, not excepting the house of God. The tender emotion, however, of the Empress appeared altogether involuntary, and therefore did not shock the feelings. Woe to those who could find any thing to ridicule in the emotions produced by true and natural feeling ! Such exhibitions of sensibility are sympathetic. German kindheartedness is never lost; there must indeed be soul when feeling is allowed to betray itself even upon the throne.

Before the benediction, two doves were, according to custom, let loose in the chapel; they quickly settled on a gilded cornice which jutted out directly over the heads of the wedded pair; and there they never ceased billing and cooing during the whole mass. Pigeons are well off in Russia: they are revered as the sacred symbol of the Holy Ghost, and it is forbidden to kill them: fortunately the flavour of their flesh is not liked by the Russians.

The Duke de Leuchtenberg is a tall, well-made young man, but there is nothing distingue in his features. His eyes are handsome, but his mouth projects and is not well formed. His figure is good without being noble: a uniform becomes him, and supplies that want of grace that may be observed in his person. He looks more like a smart sub-lieutenant