other immunities, enjoy an exemption from military service, upon condition of contracting with the government for the regular supply of horses for its couriers, and for post-office duty. They frequent, when in the cities, places called "postoyalee droree," or post-yards, situate in the principal streets entering the town. To these the traveller goes, they assemble round him in great numbers, he states the distance he wishes to be conveyed, and inquires the sum for which they will contract to take him ;-a consultation follows, and a price is named, generally as much again as they intend to take;-he offers what he thinks a fair sum;-another and another eager consultation,--and at last, after long bargaining, the contract is made. He starts, and is driven two or three stages by the individual with whom he contracted, who then disposes of his bargain on the best terms he can to another, reserving to himself the difference, the amount of which alone the traveller pays him. The same transfer is made at intervals upon the journey. Sometimes several may wish to take the contract: the question is then decided by lot, in a very singular way; one throws his whip into the air, another seizes it in falling, and the two then grasp it alternately, hand over hand, till they reach the end, when he who last has hold of it is declared the winner. The Yémshtchikee are a fine race of fellows; some of them, with their dark clustering hair, their ample beards, their sun-burnt features, and their brawny necks, would form studies for a Salvator Rosa,-there is an air of bold frankness about them which is highly pleasing. They have several melodies peculiar to themselves, which they sing almost without intermission the whole stage. (We shall hereafter furnish our readers with a few of these, accompanying them with a translation of the words.) In fine weather, and over good roads, there is something delightfully exhilarating in sledge travelling: snugly enveloped in furs, whilst The vault is blue Without a cloud; and white without a speck, The dazzling splendour of the scenes below, the traveller glides swiftly along the level snow, enlivened by the tinkling of the sonorous bell, attached to an arch that rises over the head of the centre horse, and cheered or soothed, as his mood may be, by the wild, yet plaintive song of his Yémshtchik driver. Cheerless as may be imagined The deserts tost in snow, of this frigid climate, yet are they not without their charms. In clear frosty weather, day-break, on a vast plain, is pre-eminently beautiful. The sober gray of dawn, first faintly streaked in the east, with a pale red tinge that gradually deepens into crimson, till the sun, lifting his broad-glowing disc above the horizon, pours his level beams on the unsullied purity of the snowy scene, that blushes and sparkles in his glance, as, gttering like gems upon its surface, countless icy crystals catch and refract his rays. In peculiar states of the atmosphere, the air is charged with innumerable atomic congelations, that dance and glisten in the sun-beams like minutest diamonds, tinged faintly of all the prismatic colours. They might almost be fancied stray particles of frozen light, so brilliantly vivid, yet so impalpably delicate are they, the reader cannot fail to have remarked, that when a stream of sun-light is permitted to fall into a darkened room, it appears filled with motelike particles incessantly in movement; let him then imagine the whole circumambient air filled with these, all glittering like little gems, and he will have some conception of this beautiful atmospheric phenomenon. The forest, too, has its attractions. The snow, hanging in heavy masses on the pine-tree, and weighing down its branches, presents a striking contrast to the gloomy verdure of its dark foliage. The elegant weeping birch-tree is another object of interest, assuming the appearance of a delicate petrifaction, as the gracefully-slender fibres terminating its branches, droop to the very ground beneath the weight of their lucid covering. With the approach of Spring, the scene changes. Beneath the increased power of the sun, the snow loses its resplendant whiteness-the gem-like icy crystals are dissolved-the fir is stript of its snowy mantle-the birch of its glossy covering. The great roads, becoming almost impracticable, are deserted, and sinuous bye-tracks are made over the adjacent plains, or through the forests that skirt the road; these, in a short time, are intersected by furrows, as regular as those of a ploughed field, but much deeper; their torturing monotony is, indeed, sometimes varied by the succession of deep holes, filled with half-melted snow, through which the unhappy traveller is whirled, plunging and splashing at every step. Fancy, reader, for a moment, the luxury of being driven in a taxed-cart, or dragged on a hurdle, over the frozen ridges of a ploughed field for the space of some five or six hours, and you will have some slight notion of the pleasures of travelling in Russia in the Spring of the year. All this might be endured with complacency, if the cleanly comforts of a decent inn could be calculated upon at the end of the stage,-no such thing is to be found in the whole empire, out of the principal cities. The only substitute is the peasant's, or yémshtchik's house, or the post-house; the latter is perhaps preferable, as there the traveller may probably get a leathern sofa, on which to rest his aching and almost dislocated bones; beds are quite out of the question, and refreshments of any kind almost equally so. The Russian nobility in travelling, take with them everything that is necessary for the roads; bedding, rugs, provisions, culinary utensils, wax tapers, &c., with pastiles for fumigation, the latter a very necessary precaution, where the olfactories have not altogether lost their sensitiveness. They are invariably accompanied by their cook,-as in the majority of places, actually nothing is procurable, excepting black bread of the coarsest description, eggs, and sometimes milk; unless, indeed, the traveller be content to partake the peasants' luxury-boiled grain, eaten with hempseedoil, as black and as thick as treacle, or a dish called shtchée, a kind of cabbage-soup in which float a few straggling strips of beef. It must be distinctly observed, however, that these remarks do not apply to the line of road between the two capitals, on which the inns are respectable, and not altogether destitute of the comforts of civilized life. H. F. To abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impossible if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish, if it were possible. Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses; whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings.-JOHNSON. THE enjoyment of travelling, like other pleasures, must be purchased at some little expense; and he whose good humour can be ruffled by every petty inconvenience he may chance to encounter, had unquestionably better remain at home.-T. H THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF WRITTEN CHARACTERS. THE original language of mankind is placed, by the lapse of time, if from no other cause, far beyond the reach of all our research. Many attempts have, however, been made by learned men to decide what this language was, and although the end proposed has never been attained, our knowledge of existing languages and written characters has been much extended by their efforts. The value of the written characters of some nations of antiquity, are utterly unknown to the present generation; as, for instance, the Babylonian, and a few others. Until within this few years, the hieroglyphic language of the ancient Egyptians was a sealed book to the modern student, but latterly much light has been thrown upon this subject by the labours of our own countryman, Dr. Young, and of M. Champollion; and as this language is perhaps the most ancient of which many remains exist, it is better adapted to the purpose of explaining the origin of written characters than any other. It is a fact which cannot well be disputed, that spoken language was in use long before any attempt was made to express, ideas and things, by visible signs, but the progress of civilization would naturally press on the mind of man the necessity of adopting some means, by which he could place on record the principal events of his time. A representation of the event itself would be the result of the first attempt, and we should have a rude historical picture; but the extreme labour of such a mode of proceeding would soon be apparent, and we may suppose that the next method employed would be more simple. Supposing the subject recorded to have been a battle. In the first instance we might have a representation of the battle-field and all its accompaniments; the next attempt would show the conqueror with several dead bodies on the ground around him: this would certainly not be a correct representation of the occurrence, but still it would stand as the sign of a battle. If the conqueror and several bodies answer the purpose, why casion the conquest of this country in particu.ar, and fresh hordes with different manners, were to spread through the land, the conventional meaning of these signs would be gradually lost, and the pictures would become unintelligible. These hieroglyphics would, therefore, be at an immense distance from a written language, in which signs should express sounds. But the resources of the mind of man naturally tend to the improvement of all the arts of life; and the invention of letters was the ultimate result of these rude pictorial representations of objects. We have already said that the remains of ancient Egyptian written language offers the best illustration of the origin and progress of alphabetical writing. The view taken of this language by Champollion will best elucidate the subject. According to this learned Frenchman, the characters of the language of the Egyptians may be divided into three kinds, which he calls the Hieroglyphic, the Hieratic, and the Demotic; the first being images of visible objects, the second outlines of the whole, or parts of the same objects, and the last still more imperfect representations,—a kind of running-hand. The meaning of these figures he considers to be threefold; that is, they are capable of being taken in three different senses,—figurative symbolic, and phonetic. First, figurative proper, when the figure, an eagle, for instance, simply means an eagle; and figurative conventional when the hieroglyphic is not a real, but an assumed likeness of the object; as, for instance, a curved line thus, * with several stars, is supposed to represent the sky. Symbolic, when the image is the symbol of a word or idea,-as, for instance, an eagle might mean swiftness; and phonetic when the object represents a sound or letter. In the case of the eagle, the sound of the letter A is implied; and the reason of this seems to be that the Egyptian word for an eagle is Ahòm, the first letter of which is A. In the same manner a lion stands for L, the Egyptian word being Laboi. From this practice of considering the image of an animal or object to represent its first letter, it arises, that the same letter may assume different forms; and in spelling a person's name, for instance, advantage may be taken of these various forms to bestow a would not one be sufficient? both would be convencompliment, or pass a censure. A Lion introduced tional, not real, representations of the occurrence. as a letter L, in the name of a hero would be approWhy, indeed, need there be any figures at all? twopriate enough; but the implication on his valour swords crossed would convey the same meaning. By would be apparent, if, instead of this courageous this means a simple figure of some object peculiar to brute, a Lamb was introduced. As an illustration of the transaction would represent the event itself. The this subject, we subjoin a few of the letters of the figures of objects, as, for instance, a king, an eagle, Egyptian alphabet. a lion, an owl, a bunch of grapes, &c., would give an idea of the names by which each of these objects are known; but a simple catalogue of various creatures and things would form but a sorry language. The next improvement would most likely be, the employing certain animals, &c., as symbols of the qualities for which they are famous. Thus, for instance, a lion might stand for strength, an eagle for swiftness, a fox for cunning, &c.; and if these figures were added to the representation of a king, or of a crown, which might stand for a king, the picture would convey the idea of a king possessing these qualities. This method of expressing ideas by the images of things would open a wide field for the improvement of a written language; and many little conventional signs might be introduced to express number, sex, &c., and so long as the habits of a nation remained the same, this language would be tolerably intelligible. But supposing the reverses which overtake all communities of men, were to oc• Sound or meaning.' 1 1 Letter. Egyptian B Object. Ahòm. Berbe. ARKKR to 9 were expressed by short lines, thus,- 2 There are certain signs, even in modern languages, | inappropriate emblem, the egg being the produce of which are strictly hieroglyphic. The Germans, when the bird, and implying progeny. The word temple pressed for room, write thus, the + of, the cross is expressed by the outline of the ground-plan of a meaning death; and square miles is thus written, house, and a hatchet, which frequently accompanies miles. the representation of a God, so that a temple is, literally, the house of a Deity. The word God is an image and the hatchet; and Goddess is the same, with the exception of the image being without a beard, and accompanied by the half circle, the sign of the feminine gender. The Hebrew alphabet was, no doubt, originally derived from the figures of animals or other things, as the name of each letter refers to some visible object, as, for instance : English (Hebrew Letter. Letter. Hebrew Name. Aleph Meaning. ... An Ox. A House. A Camel. A Mouth. We shall now endeavour to illustrate the subject by a few examples, pointing out the various meanings attached to the Egyptian characters, under different circumstances. The names of the Gods were in general expressed by symbols and not by letters; "in the same manner, the Jews never wrote at full length the ineffable name of Jehovah, but always expressed it by a short mark, which they pronounced ADONAI." These representations were of two kinds, figurative, in which the name of the Deity is implied by the form in which he was represented in his statue, and symbolic, in which a part of the statue, or some object having a reference to the Deity, was employed, as for instance: Although these methods of expressing words by symbols are very frequent, still the true key to the hieroglyphics, rests in a knowledge of the Phonetic Alphabet, in which every figure represents a letter or sound. We have already pointed out to whom we are indebted for this discovery, we shall now endeavour to show in what manner this took place. The French, when digging the foundations of Fort St. Julian, at Rosetta, in Egypt, dug up a mutilated block of basalt, on which an inscription was sculptured in three different characters,-the Hieroglyphic, the Demotic, and the Greek. The Greek characters, although very ancient, and extremely difficult to decipher, were translated by several learned men, and particularly by Professor Porson, the eminent Greek scholar; the inscription was found to contain a decree in favour of Ptolemy Epiphanes. rea Cor K L E OP It had already been tolerably well ascertained, that hieroglyphics contained within a boundary, like those in the next engravings, were the representatives of a proper name; finding, then, how often a certain name, for instance, Cleopatra, occurred in the Greek text, and in what parts of the inscription this name was placed, it was sonable to expect that the same number of groups of characters resembling each other, would be found in similar parts of the hieroglyphic and demotic, portion of the inscription; the Greek method of spelling these names was also known; taking then, for instance, the hieroglyphics of the name Cleopatra, and arranging them as in the engraving, each figure would be supposed to represent the letter we have placed against it; but here we find there is one figure to spare, the half circle in front of the second eagle; this was afterwards discovered to be the feminine sign, and implied that the name was that of a female; this would be a great step towards the discovery of the alphabet, and if the value assigned to each figure held good in other cases, the interpretation might be considered correct. This test has been applied to the discovery in very many instances, and with perfect success: we subjoin two names as a further illustration. In It is to be understood that the characters are to be read from that side towards which the figures look. The first name is PTOLMEES, in Greek, Ptolemais, and in English, Ptolemy. The second is that of a female, as the egg and half circle imply, BRNEEKS, in Greek Berenice, and in English the same. both these instances, only those vowels which are necessary to assist in the sound of the word are retained; in some cases, the name of their Deities are expressed phonectically, the characters representing the letters of the name being placed before an image -the image meaning the word God. evening through some village engaged in the iron manufacture, where a thousand forges are feeding at once their dark-red fires, and clouding the air with their volumes of smoke, you might think yourself, for a moment, a little too near some drearier residence. The aspect of the cities is as various as that of the country. Oxford, in the silent, solemn grandeur of its numerous collegiate palaces, with their massy stone walls, and vast interior quadrangles, seems like the deserted capital of some departed race of giants. At Liverpool, on the contrary, all is bustle, brick and business. Everything breathes of modern times, every body is occupied with the concerns of the present moment, excepting one elegant scholar, who unites a singular resemblance to the Roman face and dignified person of our Washington, with the magnificent spirit and intellectual accomplishments of his own Italian hero*. It is in this manner that the key to the ancient At every change in the landscape, you fall upon writing of the Egyptians has been discovered; but it monuments of some new race of men, among the is one thing to read the letters of a word, and another number that have in their turn inhabited these to understand its meaning: this, however, it is hoped islands. The mysterious monument of Stonehenge t, time and study will ultimately develop, since the standing remote and alone upon a bare and boundless modern Coptic is but a dialect of the ancient Egyp-heath, as much unconnected with the events of past tian, and is spoken, it is said, with considerable purity, by some of the mountaineers of Abyssinia. IMPRESSIONS OF ENGLAND, No country in Europe, at the present day, probably none that ever flourished at any preceding period of ancient or of modern times, ever exhibited so strongly the outward marks or general industry, wealth, and prosperity. The misery that exists, whatever it may be, retires from public view; and the traveller sees no traces of it except in the beggars,—which are not more numerous than they are on the continent,-in the courts of justice, and in the newspapers. On the contrary, the impressions he receives from the obje ts that meet his view are almost uniformly agreeable. He is pleased with the great attention paid to his personal accommodation as a traveller; with the excellent roads, and the conveniences of the public carriages and inns. The country everywhere exhibits the appearance of high cultivation, or else of wild and picturesque beauty; and even the unimproved lands are disposed with taste and skill, so as to embellish the landscape very highly, if they do not contribute, as they might, to the substantial comfort of the people. From every eminence extensive parks and grounds, spreading far and wide over hill and vale, interspersed with dark woods, and variegated with bright waters, unroll themselves before the eye, like enchanted gardens. And while the elegant constructions of the modern proprietors fill the mind with images of ease and luxury, the mouldering ruins that remain of former ages, of the castles and churches of their feudal ancestors, increase the interest of the picture by contrast, and associate with it poetical and affecting recollections of other times and manners. Every village seems to be the chosen residence of Industry, and her handmaids, Neatness and Comfort; and, in the various parts of the island, her operations present themselves under the most amusing and agreeable variety of forms. Sometimes her votaries are mounting to the skies in manufactories of innumerable stories in height, and sometimes diving in mines into the bowels of the earth, or dragging up drowned treasures from the bottom of the sea. At one time the ornamented grounds of a wealthy proprietor seem to realize the fabled Elysium; and again, as you pass in the ages as it is with the uses of the present, carries you back, beyond all historical records, into the obscurity of a wholly unknown period. Perhaps the Druids raised it; but by what machinery could these halfbarbarians have wrought and moved such immense masses of rock? By what fatality is it, that, in every part of the globe, the most durable impressions that have been made upon its surface where the work of races now entirely extinct? Who were the builders of the pyramids, and the massy monuments of Egypt and India? Who constructed the Cyclopean walls of Italy and Greece, or elevated the innumerable and inexplicable mounds, which are seen in every part of Europe, Asia, and America; or the ancient forts upon the Ohio, on whose ruins the third growth of trees is now more than four hundred years old? All these constructions have existed through the whole period within the memory of man, and will continue, when all the architecture of the present generation, with its high civilization and improved machinery, shall have crumbled into dust. Stonehenge will probably remain unchanged, when the banks of the Thames shall be as bare as Salisbury Heath. But the Romans had something of the spirit of these primitive builders, and they left everywhere distinct traces of their passage. Half the castles in Great Britain were founded, according to tradition, by Julius Cæsar; and abundant vestiges remain, throughout the island, of their walls, and forts, and military roads. Most of their castles, have, however, been built upon, and augmented at a later period, and belong, with more propriety, to the brilliant period of Gothic architecture. Thus the keep of Warwick dates from the time of Cæsar, while the castle itself, with its lofty battlements, extensive walls, and large enclosures, bears witness to the age, when every Norman chief was a military despot within his own barony. To this period appertains the principal part of the magnificent Gothic monuments, castles, cathedrals, abbeys, priories, and churches, in various stages of preservation and of ruin; some, like Warwick and Alnwick castles, like Salisbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, in all their original perfection; others, like Kenilworth and Canterbury, little more than a rude mass of earth and rubbish; and others, again, in the intermediate stages of decay, borrowing a sort Mr. Roscoe, the accomplished individual here referred to, is + See Saturday Magazine, Vol. I., p. 185. since dead of charm from their very ruin, and putting on their dark-green robes of ivy to conceal the ravages of time, as if the luxuriant bounty of nature were purposely throwing a veil over the frailty and feebleness of art. What a beautiful and brilliant vision was this Gothic architecture, shining out as it did from the deepest darkness of feudal barbarism! And here, again, by what fatality has it happened that the moderns, with all their civilization and improved taste, have been as utterly unsuccessful in rivalling the divine simplicity of the Greeks, as the rude grandeur of the Cyclopeans and ancient Egyptians? Since the revival of art in Europe, the builders have confined themselves wholly to a graceless and unsuccessful imitation of ancient models. Strange, that the only new architectural conception of any value, subsequent to the time of Phidias, should have been struck out at the worst period of society that has since occurred! Sometimes the moderns, in their laborious poverty of invention, heap up small materials in large masses, and think that St. Peter's or St. Paul's will be as much more sublime than the Par thenon, as they are larger; at others, they condescend to a servile imitation of the wild and native graces of the Gothic; as the Chinese, in their stupid ignorance of perspective, can still copy, line by line, and point by point, an European picture. But the Norman castles and churches, with all their richness and sublimity, fell with the power of their owners at the rise of the Commonwealth. The Independents were levellers of substance as well as form; and the material traces they left of their ancestors, are the ruins of what their predecessors had built. The effects of the change in society that has since occurred, are seen in the cultivated fields, the populous and thriving cities the busy ports, and the general prosperous appearance of the country. All the various aspects that I have mentioned, present themselves in turns; and, having gradually succeeded to each other, their contrasts are never too rude, and they harmonise together so as to make up a most agreeable picture. Sometimes, as at Edinburgh, the creations of ancient and of modern days, the old and new towns, have placed themselves very amicably side by side, like Fitz James and Rhoderic Dhu reposing on the same plaid; while at London, the general emporium and central point of the whole system, every variety of origin and social existence is defaced, and all are coagulated in one uniform though heterogenous mass.—] -EVERETT. THE WEIGHT OF TESTIMONY. TALKING of persons who deny the truth of Christianity, Dr. Johnson said, "It is always easy to be on the negative side. If a man were now to deny that there is salt upon the table, you could not reduce him to an absurdity. Come, let us try this a little further. I deny that Canada is taken, and I can support my denial by pretty good arguments. The French are a much more numerous people than we, and it is not likely that they would allow us to take it. But the Ministry have assured us, in all the formalities of the Gazette, that it is taken.' Very true, but the Ministry have put us to an enormous expense by the war in America, and it is their interest to persuade us that we have got something for our money. But the fact is confirmed by thousands of men who were at the taking of it. Aye, but these men have still more interest in declaring it. They don't want that you should think that the French have beat them, but that they have beat the French. Now suppose that you should go over and find that it really is taken, that would only satisfy yourself, for when you come home we will not believe you ;—we will say you have been bribed. Yet, sir, notwithstanding all these plausible objections, we have no doubt that Canada is really ours. Such is the weight of common testimony. How much stronger are the evidences of the Christian religion!" -From BOSWELL's Life of Johnson, FEBRUARY. How wonderful the Laws assign'd In torpid slumber; why do these, Howe'er the process we pursue, And each, "according to its kind," To spring, to bloom, its "fruit to yield," 66 [BISHOP'S MANT's British Months.} THE guilt of eulogizing or apologizing for wicked actions is second only to that of committing them -SOUTHEY. |