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tracts. He appeared frequently absorbed in thought; and at 545 those intervals he has been known to walk about the room for two successive hours, biting the nails of his fingers, while surrounded by twenty persons. Knowing that suspicions were entertained as to his personal courage, he, with the utmost composure, took several turns immediately under the cannon of Okzakow; on which occasion, a Major-General, attending him, had his thigh shot off, and uttered a piercing shriek. The prince, bluntly turning round to him, said, "Why do you scream?" This immediately silenced the wounded officer, who died on the next day.

As Potemkin had a thorough knowlege of his country, and of the character of its inhabitants, his behaviour towards a foreigner in the army, if only a subaltern, was totally different from that which Russian officers even of distinction experienced; the latter stood without doors, and did not touch the threshold, while a young French ensign sat down beside Potemkin, and was treated by him with the most captivating politeness. This important trait will furnish our readers with Occasion for reflections.

We could dwell longer on the singularities of a man whom we always judged to be one of the most extraordinary characters of the age. It were much to be wished that some philoso phic observer of human nature would collect and impartially weigh the particulars of Potemkin's life. Though his errors were considerable, the whole of his character, if strictly contrasted with several incontestible good qualities, would probably appear to have been much fairer than some writers, whe ther ill informed, or misled by the numerous enemies of that prince, are disposed to allow.

The details relating to the soldiery of the various countries, through which our travellers passed, appear to us not the least interesting portion of this work. As the Russian armies, in consequence of their recent successes in Italy, have engrossed a great share of the public attention at the present juncture, we may presume that the following observations will not be unacceptable to our readers.

The Russian soldier supports fatigue and endures hunger and thirst without ever murmuring. He is born a slave; and from the moment at which he is capable of reflection, he perceives that he has a master, whose will is a law to him. Familiarised as he is with this idea, which alone engrosses his attention, he submits to passive and absolute obedience. The order of the sovereign assembles thou sands of warriors under the Imperial banners,; those on whom the lot falls receive the farewell of their parents and friends, whom they do not expect ever to see again; and they cheerfully go to encounter death. They are placed before a battery, as, in time of peace, they APP. REY. VOL. XXIX.

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would mount guard; it is their post, to which the order of their commander fixes them, and they have no idea of abandoning it. To their intrepidity and resolution, religion adds its weight. Most of the Russian peasants believe in predestination; and with such a belief, what dangers will not a man encounter?

Frugality the soldier possesses from habit; being accustomed, from a child, to subsist on onions, (and even these he has not always,) bad bread, and vegetables that are frequently eaten raw. The military state produces no change in his mode of living. This abstemiousness does not extend to spirituous liquors, of which the inhabitant of the north reluctantly deprives himself, and which he steals wherever he finds any. The Russian soldier bears fatigue, cold, and heat, because his education has seasoned him to all: he passes from one extreme to the other without perceiving it; and thus whole regiments have not lost a single man during marches that would have proved the destruction of other troops. When a camp is destitute of provisions, a fast of two or three days is proclaimed, as having been ordered by the sovereign; and the army submit without murmurs, "because it is God's and the Tzar's will."

The mechanical obedience of the soldier causes him to stand immoveable before the enemy's fire, or to mount repeatedly to the assault of a battery or a breach, though death present itself to his eyes under various forms. The following anecdote will convey a farther idea of the nature of Russian obedience:

On the 22d of September 1777, there happened at Petersburgh a sudden inundation, of very considerable extent. The empress, seeing from her balcony that the water came within reach of the centinel placed before the palace, called out to him to retire within doors, which the soldier refused to do. The empress asked him whether he knew her; the man replied in the affirmative, and that, Ahough he knew her majesty, no one but his corporal was able to relieve him. The waters increased, and reached the centinel's midleg. The empress sent several messages to him, but all to no pur pose. It now became requisite to call the corporal, who was found asleep in the guardhouse, and he was obliged almost to swim to the relief of the honest private; who, by that time having only his head and shoulders above the water, would composedly have suffered him. self to be drowned, notwithstanding the formal and repeated orders of his sovereign.

To the motives already assigned, is to be added the hope of plunder, of which he never loses sight; and above all, the certainty of receiving his death from behind, if any thing should tempt him to fly from his duty. From the union of all these causes, proceeds the singular assemblage of those qualities which distinguish the Rus slan soldier. With such troops, no conquest is impossible.

*The four superior officers of every company, and the very numerous inferior officers, form a third rank behind, and have no other occupation, during an engagement, than that of preventing the mea from falling back, or putting the private to death, if he should be regardless of their orders."

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But, as human affairs are never perfect, the Russian armies are deficient in a very material point, having few or no officers who deserve that name. There are, however, among the General officers, some men of merit.

The manner in which the General officers behave to the subalterns, and that in proportion as their degrees descend, either contributes to their abasement or is the consequence of it; they address them in terms of degrading familiarity, and call the soldiers brothers. This, indeed, is the best method of making the Russians do what is desired. An officer who treats them in a confidential way, and, in appearance, takes an interest in their well-being, is sure of leading them whithersoever he pleases.'

All travellers concur in the complaint, urged by the present author, that no good faith is to be expected in Russian tradesmen. When the purchaser of an article leaves it on the counter for a few moments, and withdraws his eyes. in order to pay, it is instantly changed, and remonstrances produce no effect but a laugh, at the buyer's expence.

The Fifth Volume of this work does not equal the others in interest and variety, though it presents many important remarks, and details which may prove very useful to travellers. We have read with pleasure the observations on the character of Joseph II. That great but disappointed prince has still to receive, from an unbiassed posterity, the justice which most of his contemporaries were indisposed to grant to him. His most ardent, though sometimes overstrained, zeal for the prosperity of his country, and his great humanity, form very amiable features in the character of that monarch. His accomplishments, also, were considerable. He possessed a thorough knowlege of five languages, and spoke several more with less fluency. He was affable, obliging, and well informed. His activity was indefatigable. The officers in the different departments of government, accustomed to frequent visits, of which they were never apprized, were obliged to be on their guard against any faults that might have exposed them to blame. The Emperor often arrived first at the public offices; and hence every thing went on with strict regularity. This activity was not limited to the labours of administration in the capital: he frequently departed for the provinces, sometimes attended only by a valet-de-chambre, on horseback, or riding in an indifferent vehicle, like the most obscure individual. Yet few persons have experienced greater mortifications than Joseph II. The insurrection of Brabant had made a profound impression on his mind. All things united to abridge the days of this unfortunate prince, and his very last moments were embittered with grief and disappointment.-Of his brother and successor, Leopold, the world had formed great expectations,

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founded on the character of that prince for every virtue which can render a nation happy. Leopold, however, was in his proper sphere in Florence: but the throne of the Cæsars required a more enlarged mind than he possessed. Having gained well-deserved laurels in Tuscany, he entertained the mistaken notion that the same laws, which had been well adapted to a diminutive peaceful state, would be equally suited to an extensive monarchy, surrounded by and almost ever at war with inveterate enemies. He was most obnoxious to the army; and his death is said to have been so joyful an event to the military, that the present emperor was obliged to punish several officers, for having evinced an improper satisfaction at his accession to the throne. It is understood, according to the work before us, that Leopold's days were terminated by the poison known under the name of Naples broth, which was administered to him by one of his mistresses. The author says that he has heard it affirmed by a physician, who was an eye-witness to the fact, that, two days after the emperor's demise, his hair dropt off, and his body was entirely covered with large spots; the sure indications of the manner in which he died. The writer entertains no doubt that the Jacobins were accessary to the death of both Gustavus of Sweden and Leopold.

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Prince Kaunitz, one of the greatest statesmen of whom our age can boast, and who died in 1794, has also found a place in this volume. His mode of life was somewhat singular. eight o'clock in the morning, his door was opened, he took chocolate, read his letters, dictated answers, and dispatched his ministerial business; all the while in bed. At two, he rose. At four o'clock, he went to his riding-house, adjoining his habitation in the suburbs, and, during an hour and a quarter, he exercised on horseback, after which he returned home to dress. At seven, he sat down to dinner. At half past eight, the foreign ministers assembled at his house till ten, when he retired. Nothing could alter this arrangement. When in 1790 the king and queen of Naples passed some time at Vienna, the queen went to see him in the course of the morning; he received her in bed; and when, at two o'clock, she did not seem inclined to terminate the visit, he gave her to understand that two was the hour fixed for his rising, and that he should be glad to be alone. Towards the end of dinner, continuing at table, he would call for a small box containing brushes and sponges, and begin to clean his teeth; which operation lasted about twenty minutes, without regarding his company. The presence of one of the English princes was not able to prevent him from pursuing his custom; whence we may conclude that it was invariable.

After

After he has perused these numerous extracts and remarks, the reader will probably be able to judge what degree of merit this work can claim. To lovers of miscellaneous reading and diversified information, it will doubtless prove very acceptable.

ART. XIII. Voyage à Constantinople, en Italie, &c. &c. i.
vels to Constantinople, in Italy, and to the Islands of the Archi-
e. Tra-
pelago, through Germany and Hungary. 8vo. pp. 331. Paris.
1799. Imported by De Boffe, London. Price 6s. sewed.

T

HIS tour is described in a series of letters, which display much vivacity, sometimes more levity than we could wish, but which evince at the same time a turn for observation, and considerable sagacity in appreciating national characters. The style is light and airy, and the author is rather too ambitious of saying good things; yet we have met with considerable amusement in his volume; and we shall endeavour to impart

some of it to our readers.

At Bonne, the author observes that the King of Bohemia and his seven castles are nothing compared to the Archduke Maxi milian, who has castles everywhere.. perial crosun, where the traveller lodged, he was amused by At the sign of the Imthe Teutonic simplicity of the person who took charge of the chambers, and who had written with chalk on the door of some former lodgers, "M. the Baron de Br, Madame de M- Madame the Countess de M M. the Bishop

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The society at Vienna, of the first class, is described as extremely formal and insipid. This, our author thinks, is chiefly owing to the exclusion of young men from mixed companies of both sexes. One would suppose (he says) that one lived here with the last age, for scarcely any but old men are to be seen in society. If there be any who are young, they are most illus trious princes; and wit is not more particularly attached here to that class, than elsewhere. Three-fourths of them accost a lady only to say, "Angelic creature, what heavenly weather+ Prince Ch- of Lich was sent to Paris to inform the +!" king of the coronation of the Emperor. He observed that Louis XVI had large napkins and small diamonds.'

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Etiquette is founded on such a basis as to be insurmountable at Vienna. Those who have thirty quarters in their arms

*It must be observed that these travels were performed from October 1790, to November 1791.

"Femme charmante, il fait un temps des Dieux.” (1)

(1) C'est un vers tiré d'une jolie pièce de vers, intitulée LA VIE DE VIENNE.

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