reciate such a deed. He at once abandoned the alliance, and with
his own hand wrote to Napoleon as follows:

"Citizen First Consul,--I do not write to you to discuss the rights of
men or of citizens. Every country governs itself as it pleases.
Whenever I see, at the head of a nation, a man who knows how to rule
and how to fight, my heart is attracted towards him. I write to
acquaint you with my dissatisfaction with England, who violates every
article of the law of nations and has no guide but her egotism and her
interest. I wish to unite with you to put an end to the unjust
proceedings of that government."

Friendly relations were immediately established between France and
Russia, and they exchanged embassadors. Paul had conferred an annual
pension of two hundred thousand rubles (about $150,000) upon the Count
of Provence, subsequently Louis XVIII., and had given him an asylum at
Mittau. He now withdrew that pension and protection. He induced the
King of Denmark to forbid the English fleet from passing the Sound,
which led into the Baltic Sea, engaging, should the English attempt to
force the passage, to send a fleet of twenty-one ships to assist the
Danes. The battle of Hohenlinden and the peace of Luneville detached
Austria from the coalition, and England was left to struggle alone
against the new opinions in France.

The nobles of Russia, harmonizing with the aristocracy of Europe,
were quite dissatisfied with this alliance between Russia and France.
Though the form of the republic was changed to that of the consulate,
they saw that the principles of popular liberty remained unchanged in
France. The wife of Paul and her children, victims of the inexplicable
caprice of the tzar, lived in constant constraint and fear. The
empress had three sons--Alexander, Constantine and Nicholas. The heir
apparent, Alexander, was watched with the most rigorous scrutiny, and
was exposed to a thousand mortifications. The suspicious father became
the jailer of his son, examining all his correspondence, and
superintending his mode of life in its minutest details. The most
whimsical and annoying orders were issued, which rendered life, in the
vicinity of the court, almost a burden. The army officers were
forbidden to attend evening parties lest they should be too weary for
morning parade. Every one who passed the imperial palace, even in the
most inclement weather, was compelled to go with head uncovered. The
enforcement of his arbitra