File:The two journals. Joul 1 (BM 1866,0407.279).jpg

English: A companion plate to No. 12291, with the same imprint. A sequence of eight scenes, arranged in two rows, each with an inscription below it. They represent a day spent by the Tsar while in London. [1] Alexander stands by a combined wash-stand and dressing-table (left) in a simply furnished bedroom. A valet helps him to put on his coat. Below:

'With gratefull recollections blest
I thank'd my God and sank to rest.—
Slept like a top—at six arose
Shaved in a trice—slipt on my clothes,'
[2] The Tsar walks rapidly (left to right), looking toward his sister the Grand Duchess of Oldenburg who takes his right arm. Her head is concealed by her bonnet. He holds the right hand of a little boy. He wears plain riding dress with cocked hat. Behind are trees and grass, with a low circular railing. Below:
'Call'd up my sister and her son
And walk'd with them to Kensington—
Walking betimes the system hardens
So trudg'd quite round the ring and gardens'
[3] He stands under a tree writing in a notebook beside his sister who is talking to her son. In the middle distance soldiers are being drilled. Below:
'Saw Soldiers drilling in the Parks,
And stopp'd to make my own remarks
Wether the tactics of this nation
Where worthy Russian imitation.'
[4] The Tsar and his sister stand together in a plainly furnished breakfast parlour. She unties her bonnet-strings, he takes off a glove. On a round table is a tray with coffee-pot, &c. Below:
'Return'd as hungry as a fox.
Off after breakfast to the docks,
Will—introduce at home whatever
Seems in their conduct new and clever.'
[5] The pair, dressed as before, except that she holds a (closed) parasol, walk arm-in-arm (right to left) with the stern of a large ship in the dock immediately behind them. The bows of another ship are on the extreme left. They are accompanied or followed by a naval officer and two other men; a third addresses them, hat in hand. Below:
'Surprised and pleas'd, the docks survey'd
Those mighty monuments of trade,
Where the proud God of commerce is
Throned in his hundred palaces,'
(A network of docks was built below London Bridge during the war.)
[6] Well-dressed spectators in the foreground cheer a departing carriage in which is the tiny figure of the Tsar, bowing hat in hand to a cheering crowd. Next him his sister's bonnet appears over the lowered roof of the carriage. Two officers sit on the back seat. There are no footmen. Below:
'Took notes—set off—and thought to jog
Home to my own abode incog
But was discover'd on my rout
And follow'd with a general shout.'
[7] The Tsar sits at a plain round table, writing. An open door shows an adjacent room where the Grand Duchess, reading some letter or document, sits beside a round table, laid for a meal. Below:
'Wrote to my Wife—sate down to dine
At two, and drank one glass of wine—
(Engaged to dine again at night
Which I call supping out in state.)'
[8] The Tsar sits in a plain arm-chair beside a simple curtained bed (left); an attendant wearing a ribbon and holding a lighted candle is about to leave the small room. He wears uniform with ribbon and stars. Below:
'Transacted business till seven;
Dress'd—supp'd—got home about eleven.
On a straw mattress laid me down,
And slept till morn like any clown.'
After the title:
'"Look here upon this picture—and on this,
"The counterfiet presentment of two brothers. Hamlet'
Plate numbered 335.
July 1814

Hand-coloured etching