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

27GТПЕ FRIEND OF THE EMPRESS.

at this magnificent ball in the garden of her cousin. In Russia every body pursues his career to the limits of his powers. The duty of an empress is to amuse herself to death.

This German princess, the victim of a frivolity which must surely press as heavily as chains upon captives, enjoys in Russia a happiness rarely enjoyed in any land, or in any rank, and unexampled in the life of an empress—she has a friend. Of this lady,

the Baroness de , I have already spoken. She

and the empress, since the marriage of the latter, have scarcely ever been separated. The baroness, whose character is sincere, and whose heart is devoted, has not profited by her position. The man whom she has married is one of the officers in the army to whom the emperor is most indebted ; for the Baron

saved his life on the day of the revolt that

attended the accession to the throne, by exposing his own with a devotedness unprompted by interest. Nothing could be sufficient reward for such an act of courage, it has, consecpjently, gone unrewarded.

As the garden became dark, a distant music-answered to the orchestra of the ball, and harmoniously chased away the gloom of the night, a gloom too natural to these monotonous shades. The desert recommences on the Islands, where the pines and morasses of Finland adjoin the prettiest parks. An arm of the Neva flows slowly — for here all water appears stagnant — before the windows of the little princely house of the Duchess of Oldenburg. On this evening the water was covered with boats full of spectators, and the road also swarmed with pedestrians. A mixed crowd of citizens, who are as much, slaves