Swedes. His character,' says our author, may be summed up in a few words. To the most unbending integrity and honourable bearing, he unites a truly amiable and warm-hearted disposition; and besides possessing a highly cultivated mind, he is quite master of his profession in all its details: and, withal, his appearance is noble, and his manners those of a perfect gentleman. Mr. Alexander then proceeds to sketch the condition and discipline of Russian sailors afloat, which he does in a manner that shews him to be as well versed with the technicalities of the sea service as, by education and study, he is with that of the land.

On board the Paris there were sixty officers and about 1000 men; 500 of these belonged to the equipage of the guard, under the command of Rear-Amiral Belingshausen. The ship was in the highest order, and built after the model of the Royal Charlotte, Lord Collingwood's vessel; but if an English tar had been dropped suddenly on board, he would have rubbed his eyes, looked round, and asked where the sailors were, for every man on board was dressed as a soldier; in full dress, with chako and tuft, green jacket, black cross-belts, and firelock; and in undress, a foragecap, a shell jacket, white trowsers, and boots. Part of the equipage was daily drilled in the waist, and occasionally inspected in marching order, with knapsacks on.

It

It is quite astonishing to think of the docility of the Russian. frequently happens that not till the age of five-and-twenty is he taken, a rough peasant with a bushy red beard, from his village, and put on board ship, to which and the sea he has hitherto been an entire stranger. immediately made to go aloft, and in six months is as good a sailor as needs be.

He is

'The messes consist of five-and-twenty men each; and after a glass of grog, they stand round a wooden vessel, hung by cords from the beams, and sup with their wooden spoons casha (millet) and butter, on alternate days, with soup and meat. This food, so superior to what the soldiers get, and which the Admiral by his exertions obtained for his sailors, showed itself in their appearance, and also made them more forward in action. Every evening a party of the men used to assemble at the gangway, to sing their national airs; and two excellent bands played by turns at the Admiral's table. Sundays were distinguished by the lamps being lighted before a silver screen, on which were paintings of the Virgin and Saints. The priests and their congregations were as devout as their brethren on shore still it was singular to see hundreds of sailors between decks, kneeling behind one another, and amongst the engines of death, and crossing themselves and praying before their Iconas. I shall now give a connected narrative of the naval operations of 1829.'-vol. ii. pp. 20 -- 22.

Many desultory anecdotes are related by Mr. Alexander of the Russian campaign. Having arrived at Adrianople towards its close, he was suspected by the authorities to be an English spy. His letters of recommendation, however, procured him, not merely an interview, but an invitation to dinner from General Diebitch the Commander-in-Chief of the campaign. Mr. Alexander's account of the interview is lively and interesting.

'After making myself as smart as the uniform of the 16th would enable me, I proceeded to the residence of Diebitch, who occupied a suite of apartments in the same house to which I had been conducted in the morning. On mounting the staircase I was shown into a large hall, open on one side; in this about a dozen officers were promenading, dressed in their green surtouts and epaulets, and wearing their swords. Several came up and spoke to me, and examined my regimentals with great minuteness. In a few minutes a side-door opened, and a personage advanced towards us; on seeing whom all the officers fell back to attention, and saluted him with repeated bows. The object of their respect was a little man with an aquiline nose and florid complexion; his hair was dishevelled, and streamed from his head like a meteor. He also was dressed in a green doublebreasted surtout and trousers, and wore round his neck the cross of St. Andrew, and at his button-hole, the black and yellow riband of St. George. Advancing towards me, bowing, he said he was happy to see me in camp. This was Diebitch Zabalkansky.

We then adjourned to the dining-hall: it was a comfortable room, with a divan round three sides, the walls painted with flowers, and the roof of trellice-work; in the centre a fountain poured out a gurgling rill into a marble basin. The Field-marshal seated himself at the head of a long table, and his guests took their places on chairs of every shape and size. Two general officers were on Diebitch's right and left, and I was placed next to my examiner Danileffsky. The Russian dishes which were handed round, were dressed with an overabundance of rich sauce. Not a word was spoken for some time. At last the Field-marshal, after satisfying his appetite, addressed himself to those on either hand.

The Count talked a good deal about the Turkish artillery, and their superiority of practice by land over that by sea. He then turned to me, and asked regarding the Burman and Persian warfare; then touching the pay of officers in India, the amount of which was hardly credited; for a Russian Colonel in command of a regiment receives about 1507. per annum, whereas many subalterns on the staff in the East receive between 6007. and 8007. The Count then said, that though the Russian military system was considered one of the most perfect in the world, yet that in one point the English was preferable, viz. a senior department at the Military College, of which officers of the cavalry, and of the line, could become students; and his Excellency intimated, that when he was at the head of the état major, he had intended to have formed a similar establishment in Russia, and thereby introduce more science in the army, by selecting an officer from each division, and making him study the higher branches of his profession." But," continued the Field-marshal, "there was one obstacle to this scheme of mine: those officers who would be inclined to study, would be such as could not live apart from their regiments, owing to their limited incomes; for it is not likely that young men who were independent of the service would be much inclined to advance their knowledge of their profession.'

'At this entertainment, as at similar ones at which I had been present in Russia, there was hardly a word spoken, except by the chief. No man held social communing with his neighbour, but every eye was turned to the Count: his remarks were listened to with the greatest attention; and his jokes laughed at, as if by fugle. I made several attempts to draw my neighbours into conversation, but it was unavailing; for it was contrary to

etiquette to take of attention from the Field-marshal: so, like the rest, I listened to him arrectis auribus.

Finally we rose from table, and coffee was introduced: after which Diebitch came up to me, and said he hoped to see me frequently; and in the mean time consigned me to the care of General Danileffsky, who, wishing to do away with the unfavourable impression which the morning's investigation might have occasioned, shook me warmly by the hand, and said, "I have a great regard for your nation; as a proof of which, I have taught all my children English; and I received, only yesterday, an English letter from one of my little boys, which I wish I could read. I am well pleased to have made your acquaintance; and, as you have been placed under my charge, I beg you will apply to me for any thing you want." I bowed, and replied, Votre Excellence me fait trop d'honneur:" and forthwith we were excellent friends.

"Field-marshal Diebitch is a Silesian by birth, and distinguished himself in the service of Russia, in the division of Wittgenstein, during the campaign of 1812. He subsequently became the head of the état-major, or staff, and succeeded to the command of the second army, at the commencement of the campaign of 1829. His rewards last year have been promotion to the rank of Field-marshal, of which there are only four or five in Russia; the title of Count; the orders of St. Andrew and St. George; a million of rubles, or forty thousand pounds sterling; six cannon taken from the enemy; a regiment called after his name; the appellation of Zabalkansky, or Passe rof the Balkan, &c.'—pp. 119—123.

The suspicion that our traveller was "6 no better than he should be," so far from declining in consequence of the notice taken of him by Diebitch, seemed to have increased, and he was put to very serious inconvenience by it. But he was finally released and proceeded back to St. Petersburgh, which (it being now winter) presented a very different aspect from that which it had assumed in summer, at which time he had visited it before. With respect to Russian literature, Mr. Alexander remarks ::

The cause of our ignorance of the great advancement of Russian literature is owing to their language being only known in the country. The fame of their authors is therefore contracted, though they commonly move in the best classes of society. Many of the literati of Russia occupy themselves with translations; but the original works by Russian authors are both numerous and (many of them) highly meritorious. Karamsin is the great historian of the North, and his principal work has been translated into French I had the pleasure of frequently seeing the poets Joukoffsky and Pouskin. The former is entrusted with the education of the heirapparent, now twelve years of age. His original pieces are remarkable for sprightliness of imagination with intense feeling, and he has made admirable translations of Gray's Elegy, and some of Moore's and Schiller's works. Pouskin has been equally successful with Lord Byron's vigorous strains, and many of his original pieces have a satirical vein pervading them. Besides these, Batuchkoff is celebrated for his beautiful descriptions of the face of nature; Nouchkin for his delineations of the passions; and Dmitrieff and Kriloff are the Hypoborean Fontaines or fabulists. Kneguine and Ozcroff are the best tragic authors, and Prince Schichosky's comedies are

redolent of wit and humour. The satirical novel of Ivan Vouzigin attracts considerable attention at this time: it is descriptive of Russian manners, and highly interesting.

'I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of some of the first Oriental scholars in Russia; among others the Baron Schilling, (who has paid great attention to Chinese literature, and is now on a mission to Pekin,) and Professor Fraehn, well known for his translations from the Persian and Arabic, and his numismatical knowledge. He lately prepared a Catalogue Raisonné of the libraries, taken from the Mosques of Sheikh Sufee at Ardebil in Persia, and of Ahmed at Akhalchick, which are now systematically arranged in the Imperial Library St. Petersburgh, and open for the inspection of those interested in Oriental literature. There are works on theology, history, philosophy, poetry, the belles lettres, medicine, mathematics, &c., and many of them illustrated with splendid and highly curious drawings.'—pp. 249-251.

From St. Petersburgh Mr. Alexander went to Stockholm, and at the palace of that capital he had the opportunity of seeing the Swedish military. He says

'The soldiers were tall fair-haired men, and their uniform very peculiar : the Hussars on guard wore black caps and feathers, white pelisses and grey overalls in summer their costume is as in the plate. The Horse Artillery wore a bear-skin cap, similar to the British, and the jacket and trousers blue. The infantry of the Guards had a high felt cap with brass ornaments and a bear-skin set diagonally from front to rear; the jacket was also blue. The Norwegian Rifles, who are exercised in winter on skates, were dressed in green and black. There were no heavy Dragoons at the capital, and in fact the standing army of Sweden consists now of a few regiments for it is the aim of the Government to economise the public money as much as possible, and to emancipate Sweden from the pecuniary difficulties she so long struggled under, after years of expensive warfare. The Militia, horse and foot, are called out annually to drill and quite wonderful is the aptitude of the Swedes for military exercises; for, after a few weeks' training, men and horses cut a very soldier-like figure. The actual standing army of Sweden amounts, I believe, to thirty-five thousand men; and every landed proprietor furnishes a certain number of soldiers, each of whom has a house and a portion of land allotted for his maintenance. The Swedish navy consists of few large vessels, but a considerable fleet of gun-boats.

'When I left England, I had no intention of visiting Sweden, and consequently had not provided myself with an introduction to our minister at Stockholm: but none was required: and during my short stay there I received such attention from this nobleman, that, if I had had the honour of being a connexion, I could not have experienced more civility. I will not offend by fulsome eulogium, but merely say, that no foreigner at Stockholm is held in such high estimation, by Prince and people, as Lord Bloomfield.'-pp. 267, 268.

Mr. Alexander returned to England by Copenhagen, and the civility which he met with from the various Russian ministers, on his homeward journey, was such as to wipe away the memory of the injustice which he had suffered from their countrymen,

VOL. XV.

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ART. XII.-The Death of Ugolino. By George William Featherstonhaugh, Esq. 8vo. pp. 116. Philadelphia: Carey and Lea. 1830. WE but share with every man of right feeling in this empire, a deep interest in the social improvement of our trans-atlantic brethren. Neither the laws of nature, nor the regulations of men, can interrupt that fraternity of mind which binds the inhabitants of the remotest corners of the earth in one hond of sympathy, and which engages, in still more endearing ties, the dispersed adherents of one common language. In letters, therefore, we no longer regard the Americans as a distinct people. The intellectual republic, to which we all belong, acknowledges neither a William nor a Jackson, neither a parliament nor a congress. If, then, we watch, with tender vigilance, the growth of any branch of literature in the newly-cultivated soil of the United States, it is, we must confess, very much with the view that no detriment shall come to our own. We are not aware that America has, as yet, produced a poet who has raised any sure foundation of immortality for himself. The feverish days of revolution have passed by in that country, without producing any of those extraordinary intellectual achievements, which usually accompany seasons of great mental excitement. But if, in originality and energy of passion, the American bards cannot cope even with cotemporary poets of Great Britain, they must still be allowed to have vindicated the integrity, purity, and beauty of the language in which they wrote. They sought not to strike and confound, by novelty in their measures; or by recalling the obsolete manner and restoring the phrases of antient times. Neither did they propose to remedy, by the choice of a harrowing plot, the deficiencies which they might have allowed to exist in the execution of their performances. But in all their poetical undertakings, they adhered to legitimate expressions, and developed their ideas with a degree of simplicity and order, that required neither trouble nor acuteness in the reader to cause them to be understood. Hence, then, in reading the effusions of the American poets, we are struck with the absence of many of those—we should call them-faults, to which we are so much accustomed in perusing even the best of our own poets. We encounter no ambiguous relations between the different parts of speech which are connected with each other; no labyrinths in which the mind is called on to fatigue itself, to find out a clue to the syntax. In their descriptive poetry, the Americans observe a great fidelity; they do not allow their fancies to mystify or confuse their pictures; and they seem rather to desire to be intelligibly minute, than to aim at imaginative splendour which conveys no definite impression.

Of the justice of these remarks we have, in the well-printed Tragedy before us, a very fair example. We do not think that it would be serving any useful purpose, to examine this drama accord