The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-02-02

at Volhynia. Padolia and the Crimea, A
man of liberal culture, he had travelled
much, paying yearly visits either to Pales-
tine. Italy, Spain. the Caucasus or Sweden.
He had enjoyed the dignity of chamberlain
to the Emperor Alexander H., and was the
intimate friend of that monarch. His pal
ace at Odessa was. invariably, the en-
peror's stopping place when the court
passed through that place Ell route to the
Crimea. The meeting between the en-
occasions is said to have been marked bv
ELUSIVE demonstrations of friendship on
the part of the imperial guest. Opening
wide his arms he embraced his host, kissing
him upon the cheek, while he addressed
him as my dear, dear Tolstoi %
ing countenance that indicated
frmness, benevolence and frankness. the
counts personality was commanding and
dignltied. A lover of literature and the fine
arts, a generous patron of merit; exhibiting
paternal interest in his ~tenantry and the
servants of his household, his praise was on
the lips of the lower and middle classes,
while among his peers he was not supposed
to have had an enemy.
The Tolstoi palace at Odessa, where the
count and his family always spent the win
ter, was a building in the Corinthian style
of. architecture: 1t was of granite. and
stood amid spacious grounds on the magni-
ficent boulevard that runs along the edge of
the plateau, two hundred feet above the
sea, on which the city is built. 1t contained
twenty-six large rooms. and fourteen small
er rooms or dependencies. AS customary
in houses of the nobility, each room is des-
ignated by the color of its tapestry and fur
niture. Besides these apartments a
magnificent suite was reserved for
the occupancy of The emperor
Alexander when he deigned to honor his
loyal subject with his visits. The appoint
ments of the palace, it need not be said, to
the minutest detail, were luxurious and
complete. The external buildings were cor
~respondingly ample. On one side of the
court yard was a stable for twenty-four
horses. Opposite it was the carriage house.
The garden. in which a corps of gardeners
were constantly at work, had a celebrity
throughout the province for the excellence
End variety of it's fruits and flowers. In
this princsly home, with his wife and fam
lily, consisting of a daughter and three sons;
the count found his supreme enjoyment;
for, among his noble characteristics none
was more marked than his devotion az hus-
band and father. Here, 500, lie dispensed
a hospitality and charity so generous that
they gave rise to a proverb. The common
people were won't TO say that ''the lean who
passed into the Iolstoi palace came out
fat" Fstes were of frequent occurrence at
the counts home during the fashionable
season. The most notable, perhaps, that
had ever been given there tool place on the
10th of April. 1874. The event was proceed
ed by elaborate preparations. Odessa, q.
the intellectual and commercial capital OF
Novovossia, is the home in winter of many
noble families of southern Russia, and, on
the night Of tho day named, the salons OF
the Tolstoi palace shed their brilliant lights
on a magnificent a~ssemblage. Among thu
wearers Of glitterine toilets were the flower
OF Bessarahia, Padolia, Ekaterinoslaff and
the Crimea. The count and countess die
the honors Of the occasion with unclouded
hearts. Conscious of integrity and devo.
ton to his sovereign. the noble host knew
no just cause for alarm. But, unhappily
in Russia, the political lightnings fash at
vengsfully from a clear as from a clouded
sky; the bolt descends without warning; the