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upon the head of the husband of Paul the First's grandchild ! The strange coincidence most probably occurred to no one except myself. It appears that tact and propriety are here necessary only for those who possess no power. Had the recollection of the fact which occupied my mind occurred to that of the Emperor, he woidd have commissioned some other individual to hold the crown over the head of his son-in-law. But in a country where they neither read nor speak of public affairs, nothing has less to do with the events of to-day, than the history of yesterday ; power consequently sometimes aets inadvertently, and commits oversights which prove that it sleeps in a security not always well advised. Russian policy is not shackled in its march either by opinions or actions ; the favour of the sovereign is every thing. So long as it lasts it supplies the want of merit, of virtue, and even of innocence in the man on whom it is lavished; and, in the same manner, when it is withdrawn, it deprives him of every thing.
Every one contemplated with a species of anxious interest the immovableness of the arms which sustained the two crowns. The scene lasted for a considerable time, and must have been very fatiguing fur the performers. The young bride is extremely graceful ; her eyes are blue, and her fair complexion has all the delicate freshness of early youth : openness and intelligence united form the predominant expression of her face. This princess and her sister, the Grand Duchess Olga, appear to me the two most beautiful persons at the Russian court:—happy unison of the advantages of rank and the gifts of nature.
20GTHE DUKE OF LEUCIITENBERG.
`Vhen the officiating bishop presented the married pair to their august parents, the latter embraced them with a warmth that was aifecting. The moment afterwards the Empress threw herself into the arms of her husband — an effusion of tenderness which would have better suited a chamber than a chapel: but in Kussia the sovereigns are at home every where, not excepting the house of God. The tender emotion, however, of the Empress appeared altogether involuntary, and therefore did not shock the feelings. Woe to those who could find any thing to ridicule in the emotions produced by true and natural feeling ! Such exhibitions of sensibility are sympathetic. German kindheartedness is never lost; there must indeed be soul when feeling is allowed to betray itself even upon the throne.
Before the benediction, two doves were, according to custom, let loose in the chapel; they quickly settled on a gilded cornice which jutted out directly over the heads of the wedded pair; and there they never ceased billing and cooing during the whole mass. Pigeons are well off in Russia: they are revered as the sacred symbol of the Holy Ghost, and it is forbidden to kill them: fortunately the flavour of their flesh is not liked by the Russians.
The Duke de Leuchtenberg is a tall, well-made young man, but there is nothing
IMPATIENCE OF THE DUKE.207
than a prince. Not one relation on his side had come to St. Petersburg to assist at the ceremony.
During the mass he appeared singularly impatient to be alone with his wife ; and the eyes of the whole assembly were directed, by a kind of spontaneous sympathy, towards the two pigeons perched above the altar.
I possess neither the cynicism nor the talent for description of St. Simon, nor yet the ingenious humour of the writers of the good old times; I must therefore here dispense with some details that might prove rather amusin¤; to the reader. In the аце of Louis XIV. they exercised a liberty of language, which was fostered by the certainty of there being no hearers, except those who all lived and spoke in the same manner: there was then plenty of society, but no public. In these times, there is a public, but no society. With our fathers, every narrator in his own circle could state facts without reference to consequences ; in the present day, all classes being mixed, there is a lack of benevolence, and therefore of security. Freedom of expression would appear
208AN INCIDENT.
convenient in proportion to the number of listeners. Such are the reasons which deter me from relating that which, this morning in the Imperial Chapel, brought a smile on the face of more than one grave personage, and, perhaps, more than one virtuous lady. But I could not pass over quite silently an incident which singularly contrasted with the majesty of the scene, and the necessity for gravity imposed upon the spectators.
At one part of the Greek marriage ceremony every one is obliged to kneel. Before prostrating himself with the others, the Emperor cast around the assembly a searching, and by no means pleasing glance. It appeared as though he woiud assure himself that no one remained standing—a superfluous precaution : for though there were among the foreigners present both Catholics and Protestants, it never, I am certain, entered into the thoughts of one not to conform, externally, to all the ceremonies of the Greek church. *
* The fear of the emperor, is in some measure explained- by an account sent me from Rome, in the month of January, 1843, by one of the most veracious individuals whom I know.
' The last day in December I was at the Church del Gesu ; it was decorated in a magnificent manner, the organs were playing beautiful symphonies, and all the most distinguished people in Rome were present. Two chairs were placed on the left of the superb altar for the Grand Duchess Marie daughter of the Emperor of Russia, and her husband the Duke of Leuchten-berg. They arrived attended by their suite and the Swiss guards, who formed their escort, and seated themselves on their chairs without previously kneeling on the cushions opposite, or paying any attention to the holy sacrament exposed before their eyes-The ladies of honour sat behind, which obliged the prince and
MUSIC OF THE IMPERIAL CIIAPEL.209
The possibility of a doubt oil such a point, justifies some of my previous observations, and authorises ni} repeating that a restless severity has become the habitual expression of the physiognomy of the Emperor.
In these times, when revolt pervades, as it were, the very air, perhaps autocracy itself begins to fear lest some insult should be offered to its power. This idea would clash disagreeably, and even terrifically, with the notions which it preserves of its rights. Absolute power is most to be feared when it is itself under the influence of fear. In noticing the nervous affection, the weakness, and the emaciated frame of the Empress, I called to mind what this interesting woman must have suffered during the revolt at the time of her accession to the throne. Heroism repays itself; it is by fortitude, but a fortitude that exhausts life.
I have already said that every body had fallen on their knees, and, last of all, the Emperor; the lovers were united; the imperial family and the crowd arose; the priests and choir chanted the
princess to turn their heads in order to carry on the conversation, which they continued to do as though they
