palaces, and palaces of the most gorgeous character. The display of
wealth in the palaces and churches is so great that the simple truth told
about them would incur to the narrator the suspicion of romancing.
England boasts of her regalia in the Tower, her crown jewels, her
Kohinoor diamond, etc. I can assure you that they fade into
insignificance, as a rush-light before the sun, when brought before the
wealth in jewels and gold seen here in such profusion. What think you of
nosegays, as large as those our young ladies take to parties, composed
entirely of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other precious
stones, chosen to represent accurately the colors of various flowers?--
The imperial crown, globular in shape, composed of diamonds, and
containing in the centre of the Greek cross which surmounts it an
unwrought ruby at least two inches in diameter? The sceptre has a diamond
very nearly as large as the Kohinoor. At the Arsenal at Tsarskoye Selo we
saw the trappings of a horse, bridle, saddle and all the harness, with an
immense saddle-cloth, set with tens of thousands of diamonds. On those
parts of the harness where we have rosettes, or knobs, or buckles, were
rosettes of diamonds an inch and a half to two inches in diameter, with a
diamond in the centre as large as the first joint of your thumb, or say
three quarters of an inch in diameter. Other trappings were as rich.
Indeed there seemed to be no end to the diamonds. All the churches are
decorated in the most costly manner with diamonds and pearls and precious
stones."

The following account of his reception by the czar is written in pencil:
"On the paper found in my room in Peterhoff." It differs somewhat from
the letter written to his children and introduced by Mr. Prime in his
book, but is, to my mind, rather more interesting.

"_August 14, 1856._ This day is one to be remembered by me. Yesterday I