against me do you think it necessary to take any precaution?" The Count, without betraying the least emotion, replied, " Sire, do not suffer such apprehensions to haunt your mind; if there were any combination forming against your Majesty's person, I am sure I should be acquainted with it." Then I am

It

satisfied," said the emperor, and the governor withdrew. Before Paul retired to rest, he unexpectedly expressed the most tender solicitude for the Empress and his children, kissed them with all the warmth of farewell fondness, and remained with them longer than usual; and after he had visited the sentinels at their different posts, he retired to his chamber, where he had not long remained, before, under some colourable pretext that satisfied the men, the guard was changed by the officers who had the command for the night, and were engaged in the confederacy. An hussar, whom the Emperor had particularly honoured by his notice and attention, always at night slept at his bed-room door in the antechamber. was impossible to remove this faithful soldier by any 'fair means. At this momentous period, silence reigned through the palace, except where it was disturbed by the pacing of the sentinels, or at a distance by the murmurs of the Neva; and only a few lights were to be seen distantly and irregularly gleaming_through the windows of this dark colossal abode. In the dead of the night, Z— and his friends, amounting to eight or nine persons, passed the drawbridge, easily ascended a private staircase, which led directly to the Emperor's chamber, and met with no resistance till they reached the anteroom, where the faithful hussar, awakened by the noise, challenged them, and presented his fusee. Much as they must have admired the brave fidelity of the guard, neither time nor circumstances would admit of an act of generosity, which might have en

dangered the whole plan. Z drew his sabre, and cut the poor fellow down. Paul, awakened by the noise, sprung from his sofa; at this moment the whole party rushed into the room: the unhappy sovereign, anticipating their design, at first endeavoured to entrench himself in the chairs and tables; then recovering, he assumed a high tone, told them they were his prisoners, and called on them to surrender. Finding that they fixed their eyes steadily and fiercely on him, and continued advancing towards him, he implored them to spare his life, declared his consent instantly to relinquish the sceptre, and to accept of any terms they would dictate. In nis raving he offered to make them princes, and to give them estates, and titles, and orders, without end. They now began to press upon him, when he made a convulsive effort to reach the window; in the attempt he failed, and indeed so high was it from the ground, that, had he succeeded, the attempt would only have put an end to his misery. In the effort, he very severely cut his hand with the glass; and as they drew him back, he grasped a chair, with which he felled one of the assailants, and a desperate resistance took place. So great was the noise that, notwithstanding the massy walls and double folding doors which divided the apartment, the Empress was disturbed, and began to cry for help, when a voice whispered in her ear, and imperatively told her to remain quiet, otherwise she would be put to instant death. While the Emperor was thus making a last struggle, the Prince Y-struck him on one of his temples with his fist, and laid him upon the floor: Paul, recovering from the blow, again implored his lue: at this moment the heart of Zrelented, and on being observed to tremble and hesitate, a young Hanoverian resolutely exclaimed, "We have passed the Rubicon: if we spare his life, before the setting of to-morrow's sun we shall be his victims." Upon which he took off

VOL. XI.

14*

his sash, turned it twice round the naked neck of the Emperor, and giving one end to Z and holding the other himself, they pulled for a considerable time with all their force until their miserable sovereign was no more: they then retired from the palace without the least molestation, and returned to their respective homes.'*

After the accession of the new emperor, Zoubow was ordered not to approach the court, and Count P— was transferred from the government of St Petersburgh to that of Riga. No other notice was taken of the actors in this tragedy. Whether this extraordinary lenity is to be ascribed to fear, or to a sense of the necessity of removing Paul from the throne (for the high personal character of Alexander places him above the suspicion of having been an accomplice), the late emperor would better have consulted justice, the interests of his throne, and his own reputation, if he had exacted a severer retribution for the murder of a father and a sovereign.†

*Carr's Northern Summer.

*This sketch of Paul's life is chiefly taken from Masson, Memoires Secrets sur la Russie. Several of the anecdotes rest on Dr Clarke's authority.

SDECRETO

MEDICE

SAWSO

PVBLIC

CHAPTER V.

Early changes in the Athenian constitution-Murder of Cylon-FatalismUsurpation of Pisistratus-His policy-Hippias and Hipparchus-Conspiracy of Harmodius and Aristogiton-Expulsion of Hippias-Cosmo de Medici, Lorenzo, and Giuliano de Medici--Conspiracy of the Pazzi.

For nearly four centuries subsequent to the age of Theseus, scarce any mention of Athens occurs in Grecian history: a circumstance honourable to that city as denoting a long course of tranquil prosperity, and indicative of candour and veracity in the writers, who were content to relate the few incidents preserved by tradition, without taxing their imaginations to cast a

fabulous splendour over an unknown period. The change of dynasty in the person of Melanthus, and the more celebrated devotion of his son Codrus,* with the alterations in the constitution subsequent to, and partly consequent upon, the death of the latter, constitute the only remarkable events during this long lapse of years; and when at length her authentic history commences, it is in consequence of the interruption of that happiness, which we are led to believe she so long enjoyed. Upon the death of Codrus it was resolved that no living person could be worthy to bear the title which he had borne, and his son Medon was appointed chief magistrate, with the title of Archon, or ruler. Twelve Archons followed in hereditary succession, when a further change took place, the office being made elective, and limited to the period of ten years; and at the end of the seventh decennial Archonship the duties of the office were divided between nine persons annually elected. After this change, the possession of political supremacy became an object of strife to the Eupatridæ, or nobles, in whom all power was vested: and the Alcmæonidæ, or descendants of Alcmæon, the last hereditary Archon, secured the prize. Cylon, a man eminent for rank and influence, bore their superiority impatiently, and endeavoured by force of arms to make himself master of the government. He seized the citadel; but the people rose against him, and being unprovided for a siege he sought safety in flight, abandoning his followers to the rage of the adverse faction. As their best hope they took refuge at the altars, where violence could not be offered to them without incurring the guilt of sacrilege. Megacles, the head of the Alemæonide, was then Archon; and by his partisans, some of the suppliants, induced to quit their refuge upon condition of personal safety, were

* Hist, of Greece, p. 18.