house was left in such a state that the Treasury quieted his
complaints with a considerable sum of money.

Towards the close of March the Czar visited Portsmouth, saw a
sham seafight at Spithead, watched every movement of the
contending fleets with intense interest, and expressed in warm
terms his gratitude to the hospitable government which had
provided so delightful a spectacle for his amusement and
instruction. After passing more than three months in England, he
departed in high good humour.10

His visit, his singular character, and what was rumoured of his
great designs, excited much curiosity here, but nothing more than
curiosity. England had as yet nothing to hope or to fear from his
vast empire. All her serious apprehensions were directed towards
a different quarter. None could say how soon France, so lately an
enemy, might be an enemy again.

The new diplomatic relations between the two great western powers
were widely different from those which had existed before the
war. During the eighteen years which had elapsed between the
signing of the Treaty of Dover and the Revolution, all the envoys
who had been sent from Whitehall to Versailles had been mere
sycophants of the great King. In England the French ambassador
had been the object of a degrading worship. The chiefs of both
the great parties had been his pensioners and his tools. The
ministers of the Crown had paid him open homage. The leaders of
the opposition had stolen into his house by the back door. Kings
had stooped to implore his good offices, had persecuted him for
money with the importunity of street beggars; and, when they had