One had hardly been accustomed to consider Russia as the most free state in Europe; but such is the weight of the yoke which the Emperor of France has imposed upon all the Continental states, that on arriving at last in a country where his tyranny can no longer make itself felt, you fancy yourself in a republic.  It was on the 14th of July that I made my entrance into Russia; this co-incidence with the anniversary of the first day of the Revolution particularly struck me; and thus closed for me the circle of the history of France which had commenced on the 14th of July 1789.* When the barrier which separates Austria from Russia was opened to let me pass, I made an oath never to set my foot in a country subjected in any degree to the emperor Napoleon.  Will this oath ever allow me to revisit beautiful France?

* (Note by the Editor) It was on the 14th of July, 1817, that my mother was taken from us, and received into the bosom of God.  What mind is there that would not be affected with religious emotion on meditating on the mysterious co-incidences which the destiny of the human race presents!  (End of Note by the Editor.)

The first person who received me in Russia was a Frenchman, who had formerly been a clerk in my father’s bureaux; he talked to me of him with tears in his eyes, and that name thus pronounced appeared to me of happy augury.  In fact, in that Russian empire, so falsely termed barbarous, I have experienced none but noble and delightful impressions:  may my gratitude draw down additional blessings on this people and their sovereign!  I entered Russia at the moment when the French army had already penetrated a considerable distance into the Russian territory, and yet no restraint or vexation of any kind impeded for a moment the progress of a foreign traveller; neither I, nor my companions, knew a syllable of Russian; we only spoke French, the language of the enemies who were ravaging the empire:  I had not even with me, by a succession of disagreeable chances, a single servant who could speak Russian, and had it not been for a German physician (Dr. Renner) who in the most handsome manner volunteered his services as our interpreter as far as Moscow, we should have justly merited the epithet of deaf and dumb, applied by the Russians to persons unacquainted with their language.  Well! even in this state, our journey would have been quite safe and easy, so great is the hospitality of the nobles and the people of Russia!  On our first entrance we learned that the direct road to Petersburg was already occupied by the armies, and that we must go to Moscow in order to get the means of conveyance there.  This was another round of 200 leagues; but we had already made 1500, and I now feel pleased at having seen Moscow.