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

them to be, but as he actually sees them. And yet, notwithstanding all the independence on which I plume myself, I am often forced, for the sake of my personal safety, to sooth the rude self-love of this jealous nation, for all semi-barbarous people are suspicious. Let it not be supposed that my opinions on Russia and the Russians will surprise the diplomatic strangers who have had the leisure or the taste to study this empire: their opinions are the same as mine, though they will not confess it openly. Happy is the observer who is so situated that no one may have the right of reproaching him with an abuse of confidence ! At the same time, I do not disguise from myself the inconveniences of my liberty: to labour in the cause of truth, it is not sufficient that we perceive it; we must manifest it also to others. The fault of hermit minds is that they are too much influenced by their emotions while changing at each moment their point of view, for the solitude of the mind is favorable to the power of imagination, and this power causes it to be easily moved.

But there are readers who can and ought to extract advantage out of my apparent contradictions, by discerning, through my capricious and movable pictures, the exact shapes of persons and of things. Few writers are courageous enough to leave the reader to perform a part of their task; few dare brave the reproach of inconsistency rather than charge their conscience with an affected merit. When the experience of the day has falsified the conclusions of the previous evening, I do not fear to show it. With the sincerity which I profess, my travels become my confessions. The men whose opinions are formed in