nicated it to the emperor, that generous monarch (who makes his favour, like the sun, shine on the worthy of all degrees) ordered him a purse of a hundred ducats, and promoted him to the rank of a subaltern officer.

Bagration and Kutauzoff are now on the frontiers. The brave Alexander is also gone thither; but whether to take the command or not, we are ignorant. However, at any rate, the presence of so beloved a sovereign must impart new animation to his troops. He was set out before my arrival; hence I have not yet had the happiness of paying my personal obeisances to so much true imperial dignity. In the course of a few days, I hope to be in presence with the fair of his illustrious family; and then you shall hear again from your friend.

LETTER XIII.

St. Petersburgh, November, 1805.

I HAVE been at court. It was at the anniversary of St. Nicholas; a day held sacred by the Russians; as they often wait for its return in order to fight a battle, storm a city, or commence any other momentous enterprise.

We arrived at the Winter Palace about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and followed the gentleman who introduced us, into a large saloon where numbers of officers and nobility were assembled, waiting the imperial family's arrival. Not many minutes elapsed before a bustle at the lower end of the apartment announced the entrance of the court. The expecting crowd then opened to right and left. Thirty gentlemen in rich embroidered suits passed along: these were what they term is chamberlains actuel; each having a golden key and blue fibbon, the insignia of their rank, attached to his frock. The young empress, dressed in white sattin and gold, then followed.

Her person is not tall, yet it is graceful and elegantly proportioned; and the air of it is tender and interesting. Her eyes

are soft and blue; her complexion touchingly delicate. I wished that hideous thing called a hoop devoutly at the devil, as it hid the lower part of her figure, and cruelly lengthened the confinement of her waist: this barbarous remnant of Gothic taste always destroys those graces inseparable from the female form in its natural state. However, notwithstanding these dis advantages, the shape of the young empress was charming.

There was an air of melancholy about her which added ten thousand beauties to a countenance already sufficiently lovely. This gentle sadness is easily accounted for. It is known to arise from the present absence of the emperor, who is gone to meet danger, and perhaps death; and the recollection of a sweet infant, of whom that inexorable ravager of our earthly happiness has lately deprived her, and whose loss she still deeply regrets.

As she passed through the long line of military nobles, she honoured us on each side with the most smiling affability; and her small regular features expressed a soft urbanity, almost approaching timidity. Her voice is peculiarly melodious.

After the empress, a long retinue of ladies of honour, noblemen, &c. followed: we fell into the train (for two of our countrymen accompanied me), and entered the chapel. This con secrated apartment is not very large; and does not differ materially in form from those I have already mentioned, except that its decorations are of a more gorgeous kind and a finer taste. Gold, paintings, and bronze, form the skreen. A huge chandelier of massive silver hangs from the ceiling, and is always lighted. Numerous choristers, habited in scarlet robes richly embroidered, were ranged in opposite lines. Her majesty (for she was the only one of the imperial family present, the rest being indisposed), was advanced several paces before her attendants, and stood the whole of the service, which lasted above an hour.

When the religious rites were over, the metropolitan bishop, surrounded by other ecclesiastics, came from the interior to salute the empress. She presented them her hand which they pressed to their lips, while she at the same moment put her right cheek to theirs (the usual mode of friendly salutation

here). The contrast of this group was strikingly picturesque. The young empress's lovely lilylike form, and splendid attire, opposed to the solemn grandeur of the father's robes (whose long and silver beard swept his bosom); the equally venerable appearance of the other divines; and the gay habits and martial uniforms of the surrounding young noblemen, formed altogether a scene of interesting and brilliant effect. Foreign officers, Cossacks, Georgians, and princes from the interior provinces, completed this romantic picture.

No sooner was the ceremony of salutation past, than all returned in the former order. I did not linger behind, for my heart loitered not with any of the courtly damsels who had passed: and yet they were passing fair; very fair, had not the superior charms of the empress, like those of the radiant Diana, cast all her sparkling attendants into shade.

Amongst the many accomplishments boasted by the Russian ladies is one, on which the saucy prejudice against the sex might be very malapert: I mean their wonderful facility in learning languages. Almost all modern tongues are easy to them; and French is even so much more familiar than their own, that they speak and write it with fluency, when they can hardly spell a word in their native Russ. The neglect of the latter language is not surprising, as it is hardly ever spoken in polite circles; being totally confined to deeds of state, law, and ecclesiastical acts. But with the language of France, that strange perverted nation has not exported its systems of ethics, nor its superficial, glossing manners. The nobility of Russia are honest, frank, and hospitable. A something about them still exists which reminds you that Muscovy and England first shook hands in the days of our good queen Bess. There is a hardihood, at the same time a courtliness of demeanour, that recals to recollection the prowess of sir Francis Drake, the gallantry of sir Walter Raleigh. What Elizabeth was to England, Catherine the Second was to Russia: the effects remain: after the flower is cropt and laid in the tomb, its fragrance survives and embalms the surrounding atmosphere.

Owing to the peculiar constitution of this empire, the arts and sciences are, in general, but secondary objects in the

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minds of the natives. The nobles deem no profession honourable but that of arms. Ambition would be thought to stoop, if it sought any celebrity from excelling by the chissel, the pencil, or the pen: hence, the finest talents among the highborn are never directed towards any of these points. Military glory is all their aim: and, if it chances to be united with the spontaneous growth of any milder genius, it is well; the possessor is pleased, and his friends delighted; but no fame accrues from classical endowments. The study of the arts and sciences is left to slaves; or at best, to slaves made free: and they, unhappy men! from being descended from that contemned race, can never, by any exertions of their own, or by the conclusive appeal of appropriate actions, assert the inherent nobility of the heavenly gifted mind. Slavery is a taint that can never be erased and thus the generous ambition of genius is cankered at the very root.

The usual pastimes of the nobles, when they are not pursuing military exercises, or employed in offices of state, are the carriage or the sledge during the morning. They dine at half past two o'clock, and after that either sleep for a couple of hours (for they do not sit long at table), or play at games of cards, of which there are a great variety; billiards is also a frequent amusement; but the most favourite is a game called Boston, a sort of whist: it is not known with us; and yet, strange to tell, the Russians say it was invented by the British officers during the campaigns in America. The evening produces the theatre, or assemblies at their own houses, when, either cards are again resorted to, or a light dance exhilarates the scene, to which the company who prefer sitting, play on the pianoforte and harp. Various little pastimes, such as forfeits, the magic music, &c. &c. are brought forward. And thus wit and innocent mirth carry on the hours till supper is announced. This meal is generally too luxurious for the health and beauty of those who draw round the table. Soups, fish, roast and boiled meats, and savoury dishes, fill the groaning board. Good appetites are seldom wanting; and thus, both mentally and bodily recreated, or rather overbur thened, do the parties betake themselves to rest: their stomachs fevered with the richest food, they lie down in bed

rooms where an artificial heat, like that of a hothouse, ferments their digestion, leaving them at waking, pale, languid, and spiritless. This is the common mode: but where experience has opened the eyes of some, and travel informed others, such injurious customs are set aside; and we behold, as in England, the blooming cheek of a Hebe rising brightly with the morn; and the athletic form of manhood moving with all the freshness of health, all the elasticity of youthful vigour.

I am interrupted by a message from my friend at the ambassador's, that great news have arrived from England! I go to learn the tidings; and hope, before I finish this letter, to congratulate you on some glorious event for our country and for Europe.

Days have elapsed since I could return to this paper. An event indeed! great and momentous to the whole world! "How have the mighty fallen, and weapons of war perished!" Nelson, our brave, our invincible Nelson is no more! Heaven, then, in the moment of victory, took from England her never failing hope. Dear has our country paid for the glory of Trafalgar: but it is a glory that will cast the Corsican star into shadow: it must shine in every British heart for ever; and at the hour of danger, whether in the field or on the wave, go before them like a pillar of fire to light them to fame and victory. Yea, even though hosts oppose them, will not his last words rally their souls to stand?" England expects every man to do his duty!" What a war cry is that! What an arousing call to those who have been his compeers! What a summons to deeds of honour to generations yet unborn! To dwell on the bright name of a departed hero, how does it inspire the mind to emulate his example! To die like a Wolfe or a Nelson, is a destiny so great, that cold must be the heart which is not awakened to enthusiasm and patriotic zeal when it recals their life and death to remembrance. Who would not partake their bed with joy? Defending your country, opposing your breast as a shield between England and her enemies, let the balls come: if they strike, it is for thousands your life is given. VICTORY! safety to your country, the preservation of relations,