Constantine: or, The Rejected Throne, Concluded [pp. 721-725]

SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.
mildness, her unalterable sweetness of manner, could
calmrn his violence-as oil poured on the tumultuous
waves of the ocean, smooths its roughened surface.
Excess, or intemperance of any kind, produces a physical disorder, and a moral dissatisfaction, which sends
the votary of pleasure home from his dissolute haunts,
in a condition of all others the most difficult to please,
and the most prone to violence. Then is the auspicious
moment for virtue to exert her benignest influence, and
to display its peace and pleasantness, in contrast with
the turbulence and irritation of vice and licentiousness.
Then the cordial warmth of true and pure affection-its
tender cares and cheering accents, fall with healing
power on the perturbed feelings of the exhausted and
dissatisfied voluptuary; then, although his wandering
inclinations and affections may not be reclaimed, his
esteem and confidence will reward the generous woman
who thus palliates the errors, and patiently endures the
evils she cannot prevent. Friendship is more than an
equivalent for the capricious and inconstant impulses of
love; and, while a woman continues to be the trusted
and respected fiiend of her husband, she may be even
happier than when the idol of his fancy, or the object of
his raptures; and such was Sophia. Instead of meeting
him, on his return from scenes of disorder and dclebauchery, wvithl angry words and a frowning countenance,
and chilling coldness, she welcomed him with cheerful
kindness, if not with fond affection, administered soothing restoratives, and made him so sensibly feel the
difference between the enjoyments of virtue and vice,
that even amidst the excesses of vicious pleasure, home
and happiness were ideas inseparably connected in his
mind; or rather, happiness and Sophia, to whom, after
every wandering, he instinctively and eagerly returned.
The influence thus gained, the Countess turned to
the best account; she healed, by her gentleness, the
wounds his harshness too often inflicted on his dependants; she alleviated the sufferings, and sometimes redressed the wrongs endured by an oppressed people;
and whatever he might be abroad, made her husband
respected and beloved at home. Such were the results
of prudence and gentleness-qualities in a wife, which
often counteract the evils incident to married life; and
even where they fail in procuring happiness, at least
secure tranquillity and peace.
This state of negative enjoyment and domestic quiet,
was, however, soon interrupted by alarming rumors of
the illness of the Emperor, who, during the past year,
had been making a progress through the distant provinces of the empire; and was, vwhen news of his illness
arrived, on his return from the Crimea. The empressmother remitted to Constantine a letter she had received
from the Empress Elizabeth, who had accompanied her
husband, in hopes of relieving the mind of her son from
the alarm the exaggerations of rumor might have excited; he eagerly unfolded the letter.
"My dear mother," wrote the Empress, "I was not
in a state to write to you by the last courier. Today-a thousand and a thousand thanks to the Supreme
Being-there is decidedly a great improvement in the
health of the Emperor. For whom should God not
manifest his infinite mercy, if not for this angel of beneficence and goodness!
"Oh, my God! what moments of affliction have I
passed! and you, dear mother-I can picture to myself
your uneasiness; you have seen the bulletins, and
therefore know the despair to which we were yesterday
reduced, and still more so last night; but the physicians
to-day declare the state of our dear patient to be
greatly improved; he is, however, excessively weak.
"Dear mother, I confess to you I am not myself-I can
add no more; pray with nme-pray with fifty millions
of men, that God may deign to complete the cure of our
beloved patient. ELIZABETH."
This letter could not dissipate the extreme anxiety
of Constantine, notwithstanding the glimmering of
hope it contained. He sank into a gloomy reverie, from
which he was seldom roused, but by the hourly arrival
of couriers from St. Petersburgh. Independent of his
own interests-his own determinations-he felt a deep
and awful concern for his country-aware that the
approaching crisis was big with the fate of the empire.
To break the regular line of succession, was a daring,
and might be a fatal act-one to which the people might
not submit; and, in case of resistance, in what difficulties might not he-in what evils might not the nation
be involved! His mother had warned him of these
dangers-had predicted his repentance of his rash and
unprecedented act. Her prediction was not realizedhe did not repent the act of abdication-perhaps the
threatened consequences would prove equally ungrounded. This, only events could prove; and, in the
meantime, the thoughts of the Prince were gloomy
and perturbed. As for Sophia, tenderly as she sympathized with the affliction of Elizabeth, she could not
entirely suppress the risings of ambition, a passion inherent in her nature. She watched with restless anxiety
every expression that passed over the countenance of
her husband, and hoped that the deep thoughtfulness
and abstraction into which he had fiallen, was occasioned
by regret for the abdication of his right of succession,
and irresolution in adhering to it. In spite of her better
feelings, she could not but wish he would resume and
assert his birthright. The dazzling idea of ascending
the imperial throne, took possession of her fancy, and
bewildered her mind. Nor could she believe that one
so enterprising and intrepid as Constantine, could remain insensible to the charms-of absolute power, and
thought however indifferent he might have been when
the object was remote, and his feelings under the dominion of an unsatisfied passion-that now, when that
object was within his grasp, and his passion cooled by
possession, he would, oh yes, he certainly would resume
his abdicated right to the crown. When however,
under this persuasion, she ventured to hint at such a
possibility, he rebutted it with anger, and forbade her
indulgence of such a hope. This command she could
not entirely obey. The one idea of imperial greatness,
to the exclusion of almost every other, absorbed every
thought, until by dwelling on its possibility, she almost
persuaded herself of its certainty, and she anxiously
and impatiently counted the passing hours which were
to bring tidings of an event that she trusted would
realize her proud aspirings.
This state of suspense did not last long, however.
The fond prayers of the wife —tlae mother-the empire, could not prolong the days of Alexander. In the
meridian of his glory-the prime of manhood-in the
fullness of happiness-in the midst of a progress through
the nations that blessed his sway-in a remote part of
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