Page:The Czar, A Tale of the Time of the First Napleon.djvu/319

Rh added he, "has done no more than another man's." As for fêtes, illuminations, and processions, he requested most earnestly that the money which would have been expended upon these should be used for the succour of the widows and orphans made by the war. To insure this as far as he could, he came back to his capital, unannounced and unattended, some days before he was expected. He went first to the Church of Kazan to pray, then to the Winter Palace to see his mother. That was all. Next day there was a solemn thanksgiving service in the cathedral. I trust that to many of us it was no empty ceremony, and that the words, "Not us! not us! but His name!" went up from our hearts as well as from our lips.

"'Yet I will own that at first I was disappointed and that bitterly—at the self-abnegation of my Czar. But now I am more than content; I am rejoiced that he has put aside the intoxicating cup that was borne to his lips. I am learning to see more honour in humility than in monuments, decorations, high-sounding titles.

"'He intends soon to hold a levee for the especial benefit of the officers who have been wounded during the war; and we are invited, each of us, to state his wants and desires directly to himself. I will not say that I long for this opportunity—nor perhaps could I say it with truth. For I trust. I leave with perfect confidence my future—our future, which is infinitely more—in the hands of my God and of my sovereign.

"'Yesterday I called upon General Soltikoff, who showed me so much kindness two years ago. He looks greatly aged and broken; indeed, I fear the days of mourning for the noble old man are at hand. But he was kind and thoughtful as ever. He told me he had just had the honour of presenting a memorial to the Czar upon a matter which nearly concerned me, but that at present he could say no more, as his Imperial Majesty had expressed a wish to be himself my informant. This has piqued my curiosity not a little, as you may readily