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flatterers, flattered by its sovereign? Instead of elevating them to his level, he lowers himself to theirs.
If the politeness of the court can influence the outward manners even of the lowest classes, is it not reasonable to suppose that an example of clemency given by an absolute prince, would inspire with the sentiments of humanity the hearts of his entire people ?
Exercise severity against those who do evil, and, at the same time, gentleness towards those who suffer, and you will change your herd into a nation — a change difficult to effect no doubt, but is it not to execute things that would be impossible to others that you are declared and recognised all-powerful here below ? The man who occupies the place of God upon earth ought to acknowledge no other possibility but that of doing evil. He is constrained to resemble Providence, in order to legitimate the power which he ascribes to himself.
You wish to govern the earth, as in the times of old, by conquest : you seek to possess by force of arms the countries which you can conveniently thus attack, and you strive to oppress the rest of the world by overawing it. The extension of power of which you dream is no more rational, than it is moral; and if God accords it to you it will be for the misfortune of the world.
I know too well, the earth is not the scene on which unmixed justice is to triumph. Nevertheless the principle remains immutable: evil is evil in itself, without regard to its results; whether it ministers to the loss or the aggrandisement of a people, to the for-
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tune or misfortune of a man, it has always the same weight in the eternal balance. Neither the perversity of an individual nor the crimes of a government can ever coincide with the will of Providence. God can no more excuse the offences of a prince and his people than He can those of a captain of banditti and his troop. But if he has not willed guilty actions, the results of occurrences ever accord with the views of his justice ; for this justice has willed the consequences, though it has not willed the crime. God is carrying on the education of the human race, and all education consists of a series of trials.
The conquests of the Roman empire have not shaken the Christian faith; the oppressive power of Russia will not prevent the same faith from subsisting in the hearts of the just. Faith will remain upon earth as long as will the inexplicable and the incomprehensible.
In a world where every thing is mystery, from the rise and fall of nations to the production and the disappearance of a leaf (in which leaf the microscope shows us as much of the intervention of God, as the telescope does in the heavens, or as great events do in history), faith strengthens herself by the experience of each day, for faith is the only light that comports with the necessities of a being surrounded with clouds, and who, in his own nature, cannot rise above doubt.
If we were destined to suffer the ignominy of a new invasion, the triumph of the conquerors would only prove to me the faults of the vanquished. In the eyes of a man who thinks, success is indicative of nothing, unless it be that the life of earth is not the
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first * nor the last mode of human existence. Let us leave to the Jews their interested belief, and let us remember the words of Jesus Christ:
These words, whieh so shock the feelings of the worldly man, we are obliged to repeat to ourselves at every step we take in Russia. At the sight of so many inevitable sufferings, of so many necessary cruelties, of so many unwiped tears, of so many iniquities, voluntary and involuntary, for here injustice pervades the very air; before the spectacle of these calamities spread, not over a family or a city, but over a race, a people inhabiting the third part of the globe, the mind, dismayed, is constrained to turn from earth, and to exclaim, ?? My God! it is true, thy kingdom is not of this world.'
Alas ! why have my words so little power ? Why can they not equal in their energy the excess of a misery of which we ean only show our sense by an excess of pity ? The spectacle of this community, all of whose springs are stretched like the lock of a fire-arm whose trigger is about to be drawn, inspires me with a feeling of oppression that almost makes me dizzy.
Since I have lived in this country, and especially since I have known the heart of the man who governs it, I have felt a fever whieh I glory in; for if the air of tyranny suffocates me, if falsehood disgusts me, I must be born for something better, and the wants of my nature, too elevated to be satisfied in such societies as I contemplate here, predict for me and my
* Ni le premier ni le dernier mode de la vie L·umaine.
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fellows a purer happiness. God has not endowed us with faculties intending them to remain unemployed; His decree has assigned to each his place from all eternity ; our part is, not to render ourselves unworthy of the glory he reserves for us. All that is best in us has its end in Him.
The reader will wonder what it can be that has condemned him to the perusal of these reflections. An accident has happened to my carriage, which gives me leisure to record my thoughts.
Some leagues from this place 1 met a Russian of my acquaintance, who had been to visit one of his estates, and was returning to Petersburg.
?? No farther even than Moscow.'
' The Russians told me that it was the best road in all Europe; I took them at their word.'
' There are bridges yet wanting: the road in many parts requires mending ; the highway has frequently to be left in order to cross temporary bridges of rude construction, and, owing to the carelessness of our drivers, the carriages of foreigners always break in these awkward places.'
?? My carriage is an English one, and its goodness has already been well tested by long journeys.'
' They drive no where so fast as in Russia; the
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carriages, under this rapid motion, go through all the movements of a vessel in a storm, the pitching and the rolling combined. To resist such strains on a road like this, even, but whose foundation is hard, it is necessary, I
