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till preparations are made to receive them in England. I was immediately presented by the Comte de Damas. These interesting remains of the once splendid court of Versailles affected me much. I was received with affability and dignity; but as the interview was not a short one, the cold formalities of ceremony were most condescendingly waived by these august personages, (not the less royally great, in being heroically so, under misfortune:) the illustrious wife of Louis XVIII. conversed with cheerfulness and freedom; and the duke talked with me on every popular subject, in the most engaging manner. The dutchess, the lovely daughter of the beautiful and unhappy Antoinette, is extremely interesting. She is fair, and very like the Bourbons. Her eyes are mild; and, in their slow and gentle turns, carry such an expression of tender melancholy, that it is impossible to look on her without partaking her feelings. Her whole air breathes the same sentiments; the very tones of her voice, all tell of the woes she has suffered; that she is the daughter, the last of the offspring of the murdered king and queen of France.

As I frequently repeated my visit by the desire of his royal highness, I saw this interesting princess in a thousand charming lights, and perceived, that though she was sad, she was not gloomy; that her melancholy was of a temper rather to endear than to distress: and it seems to have had its full effect upon her amiable husband. She conversed with me as he did, making me sit by them as a friend; and during these conferences with which they honoured me, I had every opportunity of appreciating the value of her really fine understanding and ange. lic heart. Cruel as has been her lot, she has found sweet are the uses of adversity; for in no rank of life did I ever meet with more intelligence, sound judgment, and dignified piety, than in the dutchess d'Angoulême.

The duke is in every respect worthy of so inestimable a treasure. His mind is as excellent as it is amiable; and while I took from him the commands with which he honoured me for England, I was happy thus to unite my respect for the prince, with the devoted affection of a friend.

I have just received a most flattering invitation from the Swedish commander in chief on the frontiers of Norway, to join him there, where every attention will be shown me, and my military passion fully gratified: but my duty calls me to the Spanish shores; I have declined the honour with gratitude; and to-morrow I sail for England! May heaven's propitious gales soon bring to the bosom of his family, their, and your, ever faithful friend!

LETTER L.

Harwich, August, 1808.

AFTER an exactly three years' absence, I again revisit my native country! I am just landed. In twenty-four hours, before you and the dear circle have read through these tidings, please God, all I love in England will be clasped in the arms of your friend.

FINIS.

INDEX.

A.

ABERFORCE, the last Russian possession, and the boundary of
the Russian empire, on the side of Sweden, page 299.
Abo, the capital of Swedish Finland, 301.

its harbour, academy, and court of judicature, 301.

a metropolitan see-the church large, built of brick, with one
of the best organs in Europe-monuments, 301.

its uncomely streets, and trade, 302.

Admiralty, one of the most extensive edifices in St. Petersburgh,

244.

planned by Peter I. 244.

docks, large, and sufficient to contain four first-rate

1

ships one of 130 guns, nearly completed, 244.
grand improvements to be made on the Admiralty, 246.
the author's pictures to cover the walls of the great
council chamber, 246.

description of some of them, 247.

the ceiling emblematic of Peter calling the empire into
existence, 247.

other subjects will relate to the most eminent acts of his
glorious life, 247.

these pictures finished and deposited in the hermitage,
till the council chamber be ready, 296.

Adventures of a young Frenchman, cast away in an English vessel,
on one of the Friendly Islands, where he married the
daughter of the king, and was most happily domesticat-
ed; when a Russian ship barbarously carried him away,
and landed him at Kamtschatka, whence he travelled to
Mosco, in hopes of regaining his adopted country, and
again embracing his beloved family, 270.

Air, performed at Mosco, in honour of Prince Bagration, 155.

434

Aland, an island in the gulf of Finland, page 321.—See Journey.
a peasant of this island, and the pastor, their gallant be-
haviour against the Russians, and the king's noble treat-
ment towards the peasant, 423.

Alexander I. promenades formed by him at St. Petersburgh, for
public recreation, 32.

his amiable character, 57, 119.

contrasted with that of his predecessor, 57, 119, 291.
his reward of the cool intrepidity of a Russian grena-
dier, 105.

his return from the army, Jan. 1806, 119.

his elegant figure, engaging manners, and good heart,

119.

his again joining the army, March 1807, 290.

the author takes leave of his majesty, 296.

Amaranth, Swedish order of, conferred on the author, 408.

Ambassador. See English ambassador, French ambassador, and
Russian ambassador.

Amusements at St. Petersburgh, at the beginning of the year,
previous to a great fast, 124.

excesses of the lower classes on these occasions, 124.
the ice hill described, 125.

at Mosco. See Mosco.

at Stockholm.-See Stockholm.

Anecdote of Lord Nelson, 11.

of an aged Russian seaman, his behaviour on the presen-
tation of the statue of Peter the Great at St. Peters-
burgh, 30.

of an affecting case of the severity of the English criminal

law,

212.

of Peter the Great, when travelling incognito, 269.

of the cool intrepidity of a Russian grenadier, 105.

of Gustavus III. his heroic act to raise the siege of Got-
tenburgh, 347.

of the exertions that occasioned the death of Peter I. 416.
of Paul I. making a calker a lieutenant-general, and con-
ferring on him various military orders, 291.

Anecdotes of Prince Bagration. 103.-See Bagration.

of boors and slaves, 176.

Angoulême, the duke and dutchess of, their arrival at Gotten-
burgh, and their most amiable and interesting character, 429.

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