A few days after Fodor's appointment in the regiment of Semonowski he presented himself to take leave of the count, being under immediate orders for Italy, in the division of the army commanded by Field-marshal Suvarow, in that memorable campaign. Fodor quitted in the firm determination of meeting death, or of rendering himself worthy of the patronage of his father's earliest friend, who was now a second father to him.

On paying his adieus to Alexandrina, the beauty of his person, the exaltation of his hopes, the enthusiasm of his feelings, heightened by the elegance of his uniform, seemed to make an unusual impression on her. When at her father's command she extended her hand and wished him health and honour, Fodor received it kneeling, and gently touched it with his lips, his face suffused with scarlet blushes. It was quickly withdrawn; but Fodor imagined,—could it be more than a dream, that a slight pressure indicated more interest in the parting than common-place politeness. Stimulated by this feeling, he quitted St. Petersburg. An honourable grave, far from it,-or a glorious return to it, being his fixed determination.

The army to which this young officer was attached, traversed Germany debouched into Italy by the mountains of the Tyrol, and entered Vienna, on the 14th April, 1799. Suvarow formed a junction with General Melas, and took the command of the whole of the corps d'armée. The following day General Chasteler proposed his making a reconnoissance; but Suvarow, looking at him with astonishment, replied in these remarkable words: 66 I know no other way of discovering the enemies' strength, but that of making against them, and beating them."

In fact, Suvarow, habituated to rapid movements, could not brook the old-fashioned tactics of war. He had vanquished the Turks at Folschany, and at Ismaïloff; he had conquered Poland, after a few days' campaign; and he had taken Prague, in less than four hours. To reward these feats of arms, the Empress Catherine sent him a golden wreath, studded with precious stones in the form of oak and laurel leaves, of the value of ten thousand roubles; a massive gold baton of field-marshal, enriched with diamonds of immense value; and assigned to him a rich domain, including eight thousand serfs inhabiting it. What an example for Fodor! Suvarow was no more than a Russian officer's son, brought up in the school of cadets, and commenced his glorious career like himself, as a sub-lieutenant of cavalry. Why might there not be two Suvarows in the same century?

Suvarow arrived in Italy, preceded by a brilliant reputation; he was a religious-indefatigable-ardent-courageous man, living with the simplicity of a Tartar, and fighting with the vivacity of the Cossack; a lamb in peacea lion in war. He was exactly the man required to continue the success of

THE KNOUT:

General Melas, whose soldiers were discouraged by his prudential delays, and the want of military promptness displayed by General Sherer, the second in command. Moreover, the Austro-Russian army greatly outnumbered the troops of the Republic. As it is not our present purpose to give a detailed account of the campaign, it may be sufficient to add, that after a severe contest, Suvarow finally beat General Moreau, took General Beker prisoner' and entered Milan a conqueror, on the 28th April. At night, while supping with his staff officers and General Beker, Suvarow inquired by whom he had been taken prisoner. The general answered, by a young officer of the first regiment that entered Pozzo. On further inquiry, it was found that this was Semenowski's regiment. The field marshall instantly desired the attendance of the officers of that regiment, among whom Fodor Romayloff was pointed out by General Beker as the person by whom he was captured, and who refused to take his sword, saying no man of honour would use it, after giving his parole to the contrary. Suvarow detained Fodor to supper, and making many inquiries respecting his family and prospects, stated that his gallant and modest conduct should not pass unnoticed. The next day Fodor wrote to Count Tchermayloff, that the field-marshall Suvarow had given him a company, and also had asked the emperor to confer upon him the order of St. Vladimir.

Fodor, after receiving several wounds, during the series of battles that succeeded the above-mentioned period, at length obtained some repose. An army originally eighty thousand strong, was now reduced to less than thirty thousand. Suvarow, furious at being beaten by Massena and the republicans, whose extermination he had announced, attached the whole blame to the Austrian allies, and wrote to St. Petersburg for further orders. Paul's reply ordered the return of the army to Russia, and that Suvarow should precede it, with every convenient haste. Notwithstanding this reverse, a splendid triumph awaited his arrival. An ukase was promulgated, stating that the field-marshal was to be henceforth lodged for life in the imperial palace, and a statue raised to him on one of the public squares of St. Petersburg. Suvarow, who had taken a great liking to Fedor, from the invincible courage his conduct exhibited, attached him as an extra aide-de-camp to his staff, and desired his attendance in that capacity to St. Petersburg.

Fodor well merited these honours. Everywhere danger presented itself, he was the first to brave it, either in the plains of Italy, the rocky gorges of the Tyrol, or the icy mountains of Pragel. He did then return worthy of his noble protector's interests; and perhaps, no longer disdained by one for whose smile he would again and again woo honour at the cannon's mouth So fickle, however, is the favour of princes, that to the horror of Suvarow, on

arriving at Riga, a letter was given him, stating that by command of the emperor, all his honours were taken from him, and he was prohibited from appearing at court.

Paul was a man upon whom no one could rely; his character was a compound of opposite extremes. Thus, without any reason being given, or without any fault that could be assigned as a cause, Suvarow, the hero of a hundred fights, suddenly found himself precipitated from the pinnacle of his human greatness, and degraded to the level of a guilty traitor.

This fatal news was a death-blow to the old hero; his heart, already ulcerated by the reverses he had experienced, which came upon him like the sudden storm after a sunny summer's day, could no longer bear up against the cruel injustice of a capricious master. He assembled together all the officers of his army on the Grand Square of Riga, took leave of them with streaming eyes as a father does his children, then having embraced the generals and colonels, and squeezed the hands of all who flocked around him, once more bade them adieu in faltering accents, then threw himself into a sledge, and travelling night and day, arrived incognito in that capital into which a triumphal entry had but a few days previously been prepared for him. He sought the residence of one of his nieces, in a distant quarter of the city; and in fifteen days after, died broken-hearted. The annals of history scarcely furnish a more striking example of the mutability of human affairs, and the caprice of royal favour.

Fodor, deeply affected by these events, hastily proceeded to St. Petersburg, without sending any previous information of his intention. As he had no relative or friend in the capital, his course was directed towards the Perspective of Newski, at one angle of which, on the banks of Catharine's Canal, stood the house of Count Tchermayloff. On arriving, without being announced, he rushed through the entrance-hall, and suite of apartments on the ground-floor, eagerly inquiring of the astounded servants where the general was? They conducted him to the dining-room, in which he was at breakfast with his daughter. Fodor entered with a palpitating heart.”

"What, Fodor!" exclaimed the general; "I am sincerely glad to see you;" and the count warmly shook him by both hands :-" Alexandrina, give your brother a sister's welcome; and you, Fodor, give her a brother's kiss." Fodor stood blushing like a guilty child. Alexandrina rose, and extended her hands ;--neither party made the first step towards a nearer meeting. "Come, Alexandrina,-no prudery, at this moment, if you

please."

“Father, I only wait Captain Romayloff's leisure.”

Fodor at length sprung forward, seized the young countess's extended hand, and slightly kissed her proffered cheek. This time it certainly was

no illusion of his senses. Alexandrina did return the gentle pressure of his hand.

"I will not annoy you, Fodor, with requiring just now a detailed account of your hair-breadth escapes in the late unfortunate Italian campaign. I truly rejoice that your valour has been properly distinguished by the honours now conferred upon you; and I grieve that my old friend, poor Suvarow, should have met the sad disgrace he is overwhelmed with. I raised my humble voice in his behalf, but it was too feeble to save him. A cabal, headed by the Austrian princes, poisoned the emperor's mind; and his downfall was decided in one of those hasty moods which are so much to be pitied in the emperor's character. Of course, Fodor, I say this in confidence to you."

The breakfast was long, and during it, Fodor modestly, though frankly, related many circumstances totally unknown to the general. The newspapers of Russia being published under the emperor's immediate censorship, never contained more of the truth than he pleased to have made known; consequently, the defeat of an immense army, headed by an able general, though known to the public, was merely treated as a slight check to future operations; and attributed to the great insubordination permitted in the army during its campaign in Italy.

Count Tchermayloff, delighted with Fodor's account of the scenes he had witnessed, and of the modest mention he made of his own prowess, determined to solicit some honourable post for him; and he had the happiness of seeing Fodor kiss hands on being appointed one of the emperor's aides-de camp; with the promise of the next vacant regiment of the guards. But the highest reward Fodor experienced was that of being assigned apartments in Count Tchermayloff's house, and meeting his lovely daughter repeatedly during each day.

On her part, Alexandrina, haughty as she was, experienced a deep interest in Fœdor. The glory he had acquired made up for the disparity of fortune, and she daily experienced that her beating heart was not inaccessible to the tender passion of love. Pride, however obstinate, must bend to that mighty master of nature. Accustomed to command, Alexandrina would have thought it no derogation of her consequence to declare at once that she loved Fodor, and demanded a return; but she was better pleased to see the workings of his mind, and longed to give him an opportunity of speaking the ob vious sentiments of his heart, before she gave him any reason to hope his love reciprocated. Several months thus passed away, when, one day, being alone with Fodor, Alexandrina "observing the fruitless efforts he made to conceal the love he entertained for her, boldly took his hand." You love me, Fodor ?"

"Most devotedly, Alexandrina,-most purely do I love you; and the more so, because it is without hope."

"Why without hope? My father loves you already like a son,-you are of a noble family. You have no private inheritance, it is true; but you have a brilliant career in view, and my fortune is more than enough for both of us."

"Am I not then indifferent to you, dear Alexandrina ?”

"I am above affectation, Fodor ;-I do prefer you to all other men I yet have seen, and I authorise you to ask my father's consent to our union, under certain conditions. These are, that whatever may be his reply, he shall never know you came to him at my request,-that no soul breathing shall know you follow my instructions,-that all the world shall remain ignorant of the confession I have made to you, and that happen what may, you will not ask me to second your views of obtaining my hand, beyond my wishes for your success.

We may imagine Fodor's delight, 'more easily than it can be described. He promised strict obedience to her wishes, and the same day requested an interview with the count. At this meeting, the general candidly confessed that he would have willingly given his consent to his daughter's union with Fodor, but that he was pledged by word to the emperor, to give her hand to a noble he had named, and that the only delay he could obtain was the few months that would elapse prior to her becoming of age. Fodor could not contain his anguish, but burst into a torrent of tears. He well knew the wish of the emperor was a command it would be death or banishment to oppose. The general questioned him respecting Alexandrina's being privy to the demand he had just made; but Fodor, true to his promise, denied her having any knowledge of it.

Fodor passed a day of inconceivable mental agony, from which no hope presented any prospect of relief. Towards night, Annouschka, the fostersister and confidant of Alexandrina, announced the countess's wish to see him immediately. He met her, but his downcast, wretched looks, did not alter a muscle of her habitual appearance. "Well, Fodor, I need scarcely ask you what reception my father has given you. I read it in your eyes that it is unfortunate to our wishes. Let me, however, hear what has transpired. I can bear to learn it better now than hereafter." She listened to the details given by Fodor, with apparent composure. "What do you propose doing?" was her reply.

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What, indeed? dearest Alexandrina! Without repaying your father's paternal affection to me by a base act of ingratitude, I have but one course left me to pursue; that is, to fly from St. Petersburgh, and seek death at the Pannen's mouth, wherever war yet offers that honourable grave."