Page images
PDF
EPUB

visit each other; thirty and fifteen only salute. This boundary, which is sufficiently ridiculous, has one moral advantage: it shews that money cannot do every thing; a man of ambition and capacity, therefore, is not tempted to use all methods of raising himself to a class, from which he is thus absolutely debarred; and, making a proper use of his talents, he aims rather at solid respect, than at a brilliant reputation.

With regard to unequal marriages, the author makes a very sensible observation: vanity, he says, is the only subordinate motive for their prevention.

The great places of the empire are the chaptral dignities, which are the exclusive patrimony of the most illustrious families. A rich heiress, who has twelve quarterings less than her husband, would not be so advantageous a match as a young lady of very small fortune, of a chaptral family. She opens to all her children the way to solid dignities; and their number, which is a ruinous burden to the fa ther of a family in France, is an additional support in Germany.'

In the seventh letter, the author indulges in a theory of conversation, worthy of Sterne: he supposes that the distinctions of dress, which are appropriated to certain ranks and professions in Germany, restrict the wearers to the discussion of particular subjects. The liberty of dress, he thinks, has produced liberty of speech. This is a curious subject, and would afford much amusing research in the hands of a man of genius. Buffon asserted that our clothes formed a part of ourselves. They seem, indeed, to have occupied the attention of legislators, in modern times: for particular modes of dress have been proscribed as seditious. Perhaps some curious ob server may inform us, how the philosophy and politics of the age were affected by the variation of vests and pantaloons; out of what dimensions of the hat, proceeded the new chemistry; and what barriers of the understanding were opened by the disuse of buckles at the knees and shoes.

In the eighth letter, we have a rapid but instructive account of the Austrian army, which has acted so signal a part in the eventful tragedy that has appeared since the date of these travels. The author dwells particularly, in his description of the arsenal at Vienna, on the spoils of Gustavus Adolphus, taken from his body at the battle of Lutzen in 1632.

Can we see, without sympathy, the surtout of buff, fastened with buttons of white thread, pierced through and through? Half of the hat, which is black, and not turned up, has been shot away at the crown. This simple dress is all that the Imperialists could take from him. It is impossible to turn from these interesting objects

It is erroneously printed Hutzen, in the book.

without

without regretting the memory of a Prince, who possessed such ext cellent and brilliant qualities; and who said, a short time before his death, on seeing the people crowd around him, that he feared lest God, offended by their acclamations, might soon teach them that he whom they seemed to revere as a deity was a mere mortal.'

The author seems to have lived in the best society at Vienna, and he has offered many entertaining traits of it to his readers. The mansion of the Prince de L is described, with some humour, as extremely irregular: the Prince himself, it is said, termed it a charade. Of the emperor Joseph II. then living, we are told that his heart was better than his understanding. All innovations pleased him. His passion was for change, when he had nothing new to produce. Active, and accessible, he had an energy and an independence of human passions, which under happier circumstances would have been' reckoned heroic Posterity will probably rank this Prince among those who have possessed more philanthropy than political wisdom; and who would have been more happy and useful in a private station f.-Several anecdotes are related of his condescension and familiarity on different occasions: but the public have been made acquainted with so many of a similar cast, that we shall only trauslate one. On visiting the hospital which he was building for lunatics, he remarked a staircase, which a madman could not pass without danger. The keeper replied that, when a lunatic was brought up, the attendant went before, he himself came behind, and the madman was in the middle. This was precisely the situation of the emperor: he took no notice of the expression: but, on returning from his visit, he said to the keeper, at the top of the staircase, "I have played the madman long enough; it is your turn to be in the middle."

It was during one of his visits to this house, we recollect, that an unmerciful pasquinade was put up against the wall, by some adherent of the monks;

"Josephus, alibi secundus, hic primus.

Prince Kaunitz is treated with very little ceremony by this writer. Even the praise bestowed on him by the great Fre deric, that he never committed any mistakes, is defeated by a sarcastic remark, that the wily monarch always spoke well of the Generals whom he had beaten; and that he ordered maps to be published, which were calculated to deceive an enemy. --Prince.

Lichtenstein, we presume.

+ Compare this with the remarks which occur relative to Joseph, near the close of the preceding article, p. 547-

See the account of this statesman, at the close of the preceding article, p. 548.

Pp4

K. we

K. we are told, did not condescend to know the names of the guests who dined at his table; and, if a stranger went from this house, where his excellency never talked, to that of Count Sa-, the difference was, that Count Sa-, did not return his bow. This nobleman, who had been minister under the Empress Maria Theresa, had contracted such an immobility of the spine, from habits of pride, that it became at last physically impossible for him to stoop. It is said that he one day let fall a paper in the Empress's closet. She was too great to bend; and the minister could not command his muscles: it was ne cessary, therefore, to ring for an attendant.

In passing through Hungary, the author describes the coronation of the Archduke Frederick (the late Emperor) at Presburg. It affords a fine picture of feudal magnificence. To give an idea of the costly dresses of the nobles, we are informed that the Count C, Captain of the Hungarian guards, presented his spurs to his daughter on her marriage, as a set of diamonds. The disputes of Joseph II, with the Hungarians seem to have originated in the same manner as our unfortunate dispute with America. They wished to retain the power of taxing themselves: he insisted on imposing such a contribution as he pleased, One cause of offence seems to have been wantonly given: Joseph, instead of going to be crowned at Presburg, sent for the regalia, and the mantle of St. Stephen, by the post. An insult of this nature excites deeper resentment than a real injury.

We find many valuable remarks, but nothing particularly interesting, on the route from Buda to Constantinople; excepting the view of manners in Wallachia, which is rather of too free a cast.-A fit of home-sickness seized our author, at the sight of a pot of mustard from Paris, which he encountered at table. This stroke of sensibility is exceedingly charac teristic. At Cazanlik, at the foot of Mount Hamus, the author was more reasonably transported by the immense plantations of rose-bushes, from the flowers of which the essence of roses is prepared.

The character of the Turks is drawn with considerable spirit. The writer observes that their religion and their cus toms have prevented them from improving, but that they have also prevented their degeneracy. The Turks who lest Ismael were as brave, and as ignorant, as those who took Rhodes. They remain at the same point, but other nations have advanced. They are a people whose character can only be de scribed by Antithesis: brave and pusillanimous, kind and ferocious, firm and feeble, active and indolent, brutal and devout, sensual and unfeeling, &c. Such is our author's mode of delineation,

lineation, à peu près. All these qualities, of which the bad prevail over the good, in the bulk of the nation, are covered by a coating of ignorance and insensibility, which protects them from becoming miserable. Their gestures are tioble. ture, which places in the meadows of Kiathana the mournful foliage of the cypress, amid the tender verdure of the turf, seems to have imparted to the Turks, somewhat of the majesty and gravity of her smile.'

2

Na

The military spirit (it can hardly be called art) of the Turks is described in a very desultory, and consequently a suitable manner it much resembles the account of the Baron de Tott. The late siege of Acre will furnish a difficult problem for these supercilious observers of this singular people. It was reserved for these spoiled children, as the French travellers regard them, to defend an old line-wall (with English assistance, indeed,) against the utmost skill and fury of the first General, and the best troops

of France.

Our enterprizing author has also undertaken a sketch of the state of Russia; in which, according to his usual manner, he discovers all kinds of contradictions: luxury in the court, misery and ignorance in the rest of the country. He even repre sents the military power of Russia as illusory. Present events shew that he has rather mistaken this subject.

Nothing remarkable occurs in the description of the Greek islands, a subject which is completely exhausted; excepting the notice of a custom among the Maltese sailors, that has been supposed peculiar to the islands in the South-Sea:

All my sailors (he observes) were tatoorved. They have a rage for painting flower-pots, saints, and other figures, on their arms and legs. When they have undergone this operation, which swells the limb during a fortnight, they exhibit for the rest of their lives a handsome madonna, or a pretty little tree, on their legs or fore-arms.'

A visit to Mount Etna, and an account of Naples, Pompeit, &c. close the volume.

Though we have been much amused by this work, we cannot rank it above the class of light reading. The author sees every thing en François; and his philosophy lies no deeper than the study of Voltaire. He seems to have written, as be travelled, in great haste: but, as he manifests perfect gooch humour, on all occasions, we feel no inclination to quarrel with him because his information is not more solid, nor better dis gested. We cannot require from him that knowlege which he ever seems to have obtained for himself.

[ocr errors][ocr errors]

ART. XIV. Annales de Chimie, &c. i. e. Chemical Annals. By M. M. GUYTON, FOUR CROY, &c. &c.

T

[Article continued. See last App.]

HOSE numbers of this work, which have been last received, abound less than usual in important facts. The first paper that occurs, however, and which occupies a considerable portion of Numbers 89 and 90, will probably be found to have considerable local interest.-It is a memoir by M. LABADIE, in answer to questions proposed by M. CHAPTAL, concerning the grapes and wines in the district of Bourdeaux.

The sequel of the minutes of the sitting at the Institute of Cairo indicate some attempts towards throwing light on the natural history of Egypt, and the geography of the contiguous countries. Later events have probably put an end to these undertakings.

A Dissertation on Belet's Mercurial Syrup, by B. La GRANGE, gives a more certain process for the preparation of this syrup; which, after all, is precarious, and has no superiority over more common mercurials.

On the Acid of the Vetch. By M. DISPAN. To obtain this acid, the writer strikes the herb with fine linen, and washes it when it is sufficiently imbibed in distilled water. The acid has no remarkable property. It bears a great resemblance to the oxalic acid; from which it is not, perhaps, perfectly distinguished.

On the colouring Matter of Vegetable Juices, and its Alteration by Tin and other Metallic substances; with a method of making Lake, of a more brilliant and solid Colour. By M. GUYTON. From the experiments in this paper, the ingenious author concludes that the red colour of fruits is owing to the re-action of their own acid on their colouring matter:-that tin, in restoring the colour, only attracts from it the acid which had turned it red:-(lead, bismuth, antimony, and zinc, do the same; and iron the most quickly and completely of all); that the green, and part of the fruit, do not contain the colouring matter, but that the red part contains the portion of acid which is necessary to the production of that colour :-that if, in some vegetables, the colouring matter is so modified as to resist the acid or alkalis, it may be brought into a state to be affected by them; a fact which seems to prove them to be essentially thi

* At the conclusion of our last account of this work, Append to Vol. xxvII. p. 565, it was erroneously said, "We finish for the present with No. 86"-that article came down to the end of No. 88.

sane;

« PreviousContinue »