COUNT PLATOFF. 
27 
you,” lie said, “ the brother-in-law of Prince Alexander Scher- 
batoff, he, whose brave career I have so often witnessed, and 
now, with his country, must ever lament its early termination ! 
For his sake, did I not esteem you for yourself, you should 
claim my amplest services.” 
The venerable Attaman expatiated on a subject so dear to his 
heart, and to mine; but what I have quoted is sufficient to stamp 
its character : and, surely, an honest pride in the virtues of a 
relative now no more, may obtain pardon for thus recording 
their testimony from such a man as Count Platoffi 
No monument is so precious, as that which lives in the memory 
of the brave and good. And never did man more richly deserve 
that shrine than the gallant and amiable soldier whose early fate 
now called tears into the eyes of the veteran. His compatriots, 
indeed, must fall into the tomb; but while history remembers 
the glories of the campaigns of 1812, 1813, and 1814, the 
name of Scherbatoff can never be forgotten. 
I passed the remainder of the day with my venerable host; 
and on my return to the city found most comfortable quarters; 
to which, in my absence, my carriage, servants, &c., had been 
carefully transferred. All were placed under a guard of honour, 
which was to hold attendance there during my stay at Tcherkask. 
Next morning Count Platoffi called upon me to see how his 
hospitable orders had been fulfilled. The hurry of spirits which 
followed the meeting of the day before, having now subsided 
with us both, I observed him more calmly; and, while in dis¬ 
course, I could not but remark to myself, with foreboding regret, 
the difference between his present appearance, and the vigour 
of his frame, even so late as the year 1816, when he was my 
guest at St. Petersburg. The destroying effects of the campaign 
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