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

262THE LADIES OF THE COURT.

THE LADIES OF THE COURT. THE FINNS. ТПЕ OPERA. — THE

EMPEROR THERE. — IMPOSING PERSON OF THIS PRINCEHIS

ACCESSION TO THE THRONE. — COURAGE OF THE EMPRESS.

THE EMPEROR'S RECITAL OF THIS SCENE TO THE AUTHOR.

ANOTHER DESCRIPTION OF THE EMPEROR.CONTINUATION OF

HIS CONVERSATION. HIS POLITICAL OPINIONS. SINCERITY OF

HIS LANGUAGE.FETE AT THE DUCHESS OF OLDENBURG`S. —

BAL CHAMPÊTRE.FLOWERS IN RUSSIA. THE FRIEND OF THE

EMPRESS. SEVERAL CONVERSATIONS WITH THE EMPEROR.

HIS NOBLE SENTIMENTS. — CONFIDENCE WITH "WHICH HE IN

SPIRES THOSE WHO APPROACH HIMARISTOCRACY THE ONLY

RAMPART OF LIBERTY. PARALLEL BETWEEN AUTOCRACIES AND

DEMOCRACIES.THE ARTS IN PETERSBURG.ALL TRUE TALENT

IS NATIONAL.

Seveeal of the ladies of this court, but their number is not great, have a reputation for beauty which is deserved ; others have usurped this reputation by means of coquetries, contrivances, and affectations — all copied from the English; for the Russians in high life pass their time in searching for foreign models of fashion. They are deceived sometimes in their choice, when their mistake produces a singular kind of elegance — an elegance without taste. A Russian left to himself would spend his life in dreams of unsatisfied vauity: he would view himself as a barbarian. Nothing more injures the natural disposition, and consequently the mental powers, of a people, than this continual dwelling upon the social superiority of other nations. To feel humbled by