C46 My Accfiaintance tvitJi Karamzin. [Dec. 



endeavoured to shew his huportance by the noise he would have made, 

 and instead of being contented with the first seat that was vacant, would 

 have sought one in that situation to which he might consider himself 

 entitled. I could not help looking at the stranger v.'ith more than ordi- 

 nary curiosity and interest ; neither could I help thinking that his fea- 

 tures were not quite new to me, although I could not then recollect 

 when or where I had seen him before. His face was rather long, with 

 a high forehead, and a Roman nose. There was something particularly 

 agreeable in the expression of the mouth and lips, which, if I may so 

 express myself, appeared to breathe forth benignity ; while the eyes, 

 notwithstanding that they were small, and a little closed, beamed with 

 intelligence and liveliness. His hair, in which there was a mixture of 

 gray, was combed up from the sides to the crown of the head. His face 

 was strongly marked by two deep wrinkles, extending from the lower 

 part of the cheeks beyond the mouth ; yet his whole physiognomy 

 plainly indicated no ordinary degree of benevolence, accompanied by 

 equal penetration of mind. 



His attention was immediately given to the subject of the piece, and 

 his animated countenance visibly reflected all the varying impressions 

 it made upon his mind. Not a single point, ingenious thought, or 

 happy trait of character, appeared to escape his attention ; on the other 

 hand, his dissatisfaction was equally marked, whenever the reader 

 arrived at any of those insipid or trivial expressions which, in com-i 

 pliance with the taste of his contemporaries, Moliere introduced into his 

 comedies. 



At length the turn came to my article, which was read by M. Saint 

 Maure, who had also corrected the style, as I do not pique myself upon 

 an intimate acquaintance with all the niceties of French idiom. It had 

 been composed by me shortly after my controversy witli the French as 

 to the merits of German tragedy, and consisted of a short examination 

 of Schiller's dramas. On former occasions of this kind, I had submitted 

 my literary essays Avithout any anxiety as to the sentence they might 

 receive, being well aware that I had not to encounter any very for- 

 midable critics ; but now I felt some trepidation, as I could not but 

 know that, in the stranger of Avhom I have been speaking, I should 

 meet with an experienced judge. Whilst, therefore. Saint Maure was 

 reading my pi'oduction, I anxiously watched the countenance of the 

 Unknown, that I might ascertain my sentence ; and, to my great joy, I 

 could perceive that he was not dissatisfied. 



As soon as the reading was concluded, and the company had began to 

 disperse themselves about the room, I took an opportunity of inquiring 

 of my host, what was the name of the stranger Avho had so much 

 interested me. " It is Karamzin," replied he, at the same time going 

 up to him to thank him for the honour of his visit. 



" Karamzin !" exclaimed I, in so loud a tone, that he turned his head 

 and looked at me. The name vibrated through my whole system ; and 

 at the very sound of it, all the recollections of my youth were instantly 

 awakened. Is there a single individual throughout the whole of Rus- 

 sia, at all capable of reading, who is unacquainted with the name of 

 Karamzin ? It is equally familiar in the palace aiid the cottage — in 

 Kamtschatka and on the banks of the Vistula, Nay, is there even 

 among foreigners a man of letters who does not associate with this name 

 the idea of our intellectual progress } Having seen an engraving of 



