more grievous than the most instantaneous public execution. They walked in the procession as chief mourners; a situation neither of them expected, after a lapse of so many years, to fill. There is something extraordinary and great in the mode of punishment; and also much to be admired in so strong a testimony of Paul's affection for the memory of his father. But there are many who do not give his heart any credit for this transaction; considering it rather as an act of hostility against the name of his mother. If they be right, the complexion of the affair is totally changed; and what before stood as an act of filial piety, is now abhorred as the violent caprice of an undutiful son. What supports this opinion, are the proofs he gave at different times of hatred to her memory, in the total disregard of all her public plans, and the disgrace in which he involved her best ministers.

This Prince's actions are too well known, and have sufficiently marked his extravagant character, to require my enlarging on them here. The people groaned beneath his yoke; and few, if any tears followed him to his grave. How different is the aspect of the nation and its Sovereign at this moment! Individual safety and comfort are seen on every side. The real good of the subject in the Monarch's breast, and the firmest confidence in him on the part of the people, form the peace and security of all. A heart like that of the amiable Alexander, when guided by wise counsels, cannot fail to render himself and the millions under his rule, prosperous and happy. He is now absent from his capital; but not on a party of summer pleasure. He is gone to front the enemy of Europe; and we have little doubt but that, if he be properly supported by his allies; he will make that far-stretching conqueror confess the might that lies in a righteous cause. Did we live in the days of superstition, we should suppose, from the wonderful fortune which attends this

scourge, that he fought under an enchanted banner; but there is a period when success must fail the man who makes his glory the desolation of mankind. Interest and self-preservation are strong incitements; they will be generally felt, and ere long he must be destroyed by those very evils recoiling on himself with which his rapacity and ambition have sought to overwhelm the world. But, as he is, men look on him with wonder; and his most mortal foes must declare that were he as good as he is great, he would be irresistible. Doubly great must he be who ever makes this extraordinary victor lower his crest, and acknowledge an equal, if not a superior. Alas! that talents cannot see the noblest crown is virtue!

LETTER VIII.

MY DEAR FRIEND.

St. Petersburgh, September, 1805.

HAVING detained you so long amongst the aisles and cloisters of the

church, it is just that I should lead you to the rest within; and having placed you at the foot of the altar, open the book containing its holy ordinances.

The religion of Russia is that of the Eastern or Greek Church. It allows the most liberal toleration; no person being excluded from any office under government on account of his religious tenets. The only restrictions are, that the imperial family must profess the Greek faith ; and all Russians who have once entered its pale cannot lawfully depart from it. As the church in question is of higher antiquity than any other distinction amongst Christians, so its doctrines prevail over some of the widest tracks in Christendom. They are professed through the greatest part of Greece, the Grecian Isles, Moldavia, Wallachia, Egypt, Nubia, Lybia, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Cilicia, and Palestine, the whole of the Russian empire in Europe, Siberia in Asia, Astracan, Casan, Georgia, and several other countries.

The Princess Olga, grandmother to Vladimir the Great, was the first person of distinction in Russia who was converted to Christianity. She went to Constantinople to be baptised; and was led to the font by the eastern Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenneta, who gave her the name of Helen; and sent her back to her country laden with relics and costly