Fatal to the royalists, in letting loose on them armies of prisoners, who, bound by oaths not to fight against the coalesced kings, were placed under no tie which was to hinder them from carrying fire and sword into the heart of those provinces which had remained faithful to their own king. They will also have to relate the painful truth, that the best of causes, and the assemblage of prodigious means to ensure its success, must inevitably fail, while the general interest remains too weak to silence the passions of individuals, and to arrest the intrigues to which they give rise.'

Many original traits of the revolution, and ingenious reflections on its progress, occur in the course of these volumes, of which our limits will not allow us to take notice, but which cannot fail highly to interest the intelligent reader.

ART. IX. The Costume of the Russian Empire, illustrated by a Series of Seventy-three Engravings. With Descriptions in English and French. Imperial 4to. 81. 8s. Boards. Miller.

Jo.

O'
F the splendid and very expensive publications, to the series
of which this volume belongs, we have already noticed
the Costume of China, and the Costume of Turkey *; and as this
is exactly on the same plan, we shall pursue the method
which we formerly adopted, in preparing an account of it. In
one respect, this collection of engravings has an advantage
over its predecessors; since the numerous nations and tribes,
of which the vast Russian empire is composed, present a wider
field of variety both in character and costume than Turkey or
even China. We have seen the original Russian publication
brought to this country by Mr. Hatchett, from which the
plates before us are professedly copied; and having attentively
compared them, we can bear testimony to the general fidelity
of the artist employed by the publisher: but we regret that the
landscape in the Russian plates was not also introduced, because
it served to relieve the nakedness of the figures. We re-
marked, moreover, that a sufficient attention had not always
been paid to the attitudes and countenances of the originals:
since some of these characters, in their face and air, more re
semble individuals whom we may meet in the streets of Lon-
don, than such as must be encountered among the rude and
savage barbarians of the Czar's dominions. The Russian
work contains 95 plates, of which only 73 are here copied :
but, as it is intimated in the preface, none of any consequence
are omitted, excepting those of an Armenian and his wife, (for
which a sufficient reason is assigned,) the others being merely
duplicates of the same figures in different attitudes. No de

See M. R. Vols. xxxiii. N. S. p. 354. and xxxix. p. 276.

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scriptions

scriptions accompanied the plates as they were published at Petersburgh, but the title of each is briefly given at the bot tom in Russian, German and French. To whom the English public is indebted for the present elucidations, we are not informed: but we are assured that they have been derived from the most authentic sources, more particularly from Professor Müller's Description de toutes les Nations de l'Empire de RussieVoyage en Siberie, par D'Auteroche-Description de Kamtshatka, par M. Kracheninnikow-Pleschüf's Survey of the Russian Empire-Saür's Account of Commodore Billing's Expedition to the northern parts of Russia, &c. &c. as well as from information procured from several gentlemen, who have been resident for some time in different parts of that empire.' If the names of these several gentlemen had been subjoined, they would probably have given a sanction to this department of the publication.

An observation is made with relation to the vastness of the region, over which the different characters here exhibited are scattered; and, as it forms a proper introduction, we shall

transcribe it:

The Russian Empire is of an extent unknown to other modern nations, and hardly equalled by that of the Romans in the summit of their power. It embraces within its limits, nations the most various, with countries and climates the most opposite. Its extent from North to South is fifty degrees of latitude, if we reckon to the North pole, while its length from west to east is more than one hundred and seventy degrees of longitude. It touches the Frozen Ocean of the north, and borders on the warm climates of Persia, Japan and China, on the south. It occupies more than a seventh part of the known continent, and almost a twenty-sixth part of the whole globe.'

In mere extent, the Russian Empire makes a great figure: but of what frozen and uninhabited wastes does a great portion of it consist? and of what moment is it to reckon territory extending to the North Pole? The fact is that the population of this empire is small, compared with its geographical surface, and is composed of materials which are incapable of being amalgamated and formed into one whole. A list of the plates, which we shall- in part copy, will serve to impress the reader with this conviction. A Laplander-A Peasant of Finland-A Woman of Esthonia-A female Peasant of IngriaA Tcheremhisian Woman-A Tchouvashian Female-A female Mordvine-A Votiakian Woman An Ostiak in his

*They were begun in 1776 and finished in 1779, under the care and at the expence of C. W. Müller, at the desire of the late Empress, and were to be illustrated by the separate work hereafter mentioned, which the Professor did not live to complete.

Hunting

Hunting-Dress (it should have been added, hunting the Ermine)
A Tartar of Kazan-A female Tartar of the Nagai Tribe-
A Kabardinian-A Boukharian of Siberia-A Bashkirian
Woman-A Mestcherakian Woman-A Barabinzian Girl-
A Kirghi, on horseback-A female Katchintzian Tartar-A
female Schaman-A female Tartar of the Tribe of Teleonti-
A Yakouti Tartar-A Samoyed-A Tungoose-An Inhabit-
ant of Kamtshatka, in his Winter-Dress-A Schaman of Kamt-
shatka-A Koriak-An Aleutian-A Kurilian-A Kalmuk-
A female Bratzkiye-A Mongole Priest or Lama-A Mer-
chant of Kalouga-A married Woman of Waldai-A Rus-
sian Peasant. Some of these tribes can scarcely be ranked in
the class of civilized beings; and the dominion of the Czar
over them is little more than nominal.

We shall transcribe some of the descriptions which accom
pany the plates, as we did in noticing the preceding works of
the same nature.

An Ostiak of the (river) Obe.-Before the Russians conquered Siberia, it was under the dominion of the Tartars, who gave the name of Ouschtaik, signifying savage, to the nations, who inhabit it, as a mark of their contempt; hence they were called Ostiaki. The Ostiaks are divided into two branches; those who live in the vicinity of the river Obe, and those who are established about the Obdor and Berezof. The Ostiaki are the most numerous nations of Siberia, where the population, on account of the rigour of the climate, is not very great. These people seldom exceed the middle size, and are not remarkable for their beauty; their complexion is yellowish, and their hair generally a deep red, yet they are not ill made. They are in a state of great barbarism, and get their living chiefly by hunting and Eshing, as none of them cultivate the soil. They have neither horses, beasts (oxen), nor sheep; their live stock consists of rein-deer, of which some have upwards of two hundred; they employ them in draught. Their dress is generally formed of the skins of different animals and furs. They wear short trowsers; their stockings are made of skin, which go all over the feet, and serve them for boots; which they strengthen, by placing the skin double for the sole. They have a sort of jacket next their skin, and over all they put a long coat, with close sleeves, which has a hood that entirely covers their head, and only leaves out the face; and in very cold weather they even wear another over this,'

A female Schaman.-The numerous Pagan nations who inhabit the vast extent of the Russian Empire, are distinguished by three distinct kinds of idolatry: those who profess Schamanism, those who

Yet in plate 20, representing a female Ostiak in a veil, which in the Russian plate completely obscures the features, the English copier has not only rendered the whole countenance visible, but has made it Fesemble a beautiful English female.-Rev.

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are

are followers of the Lama, and those under the government of the Brahmins. The first of these sects, with its various branches, is by far the most numerous, as well as the most ancient, and is in fact the foundation of the other two, and also the multitude of lesser sects, into which Paganism branches. Among the Russian nations, however, Schamanism, from various causes, is now become a mass of unin telligible contradictions, idolatrous absurdities, and the grossest superstitions. In every part of the empire, where Schamanism prevails, the women are regarded as an inferior race of beings; the men believe them to have been created merely for sensual gratification, for preserving the population of the earth, and for domestic duties; their treatment of them is consequently very severe, and their opinion of them made up of contempt and neglect. Notwithstanding all this, the women are admitted into the religious orders, and become priestesses, who are as much venerated as the priests themselves, and have equal power. The people suppose that particular individuals are ap. pointed by the Deity for this office; and if a new born child is subject to cramps, convulsions, and many other diseases, they consider it as peculiarly fitted for religious duties. Both the priests and priestesses are taken from the mass of the people, and are not distinguished from the rest, but by their singular mode of dress, and a more extended acquaintance with the tenets of their religion. They are neither en joined celibacy nor any peculiar mode of living; nor have they a sufficient income, on which to live, without following the occupations of the other inhabitants. The knowledge, however, which even the best instructed have of their religion, is not much; it is frequently obscure, imperfect, and contradictory. The different nations, where chamanism prevails, have different idolatrous ceremonies; and the Schamans, or priests, even among the same nations, sometimes differ in their various ceremonies. Of these ceremonies it is impossible, in a work of this nature, to enter into the detail.'

A female Schaman, shewing the back part of her Dress.-The Schamans dress themselves in the most fantastic and grotesque manner, under the idea, that they by these means make themselves agreeable to God, and formidable to men; and on this account, their whole endeavour is to surpass each other in singularity. Their dress also differs very much according to the nations they are of. The present plate, as well as the last, exhibits a female Schaman, or priestess, of the Katchintzi tribe, of the district of Kraynoyarsk. Their dress is distinguished by various idolatrous ornaments made of plates of iron, of the claws of birds, of stripes of different cloths and furs, and skins of animals; while their caps are generally bordered with the skin of the lynx, and a plume of owls' feathers. A sort of tamborine is the constant companion of the Schamans; it is made of wood and covered on one side with skin, on the other side a bar runs across, by which they hold it; this skin is frequently covered with hieroglyphic characters, sometimes with the forms of idols or different animals. The instrument with which they strike the tamborine is merely made of a piece of wood, and covered with the skin of a hare with the fur on, or of some other similar animal. To this magical instrument they attri bute very great power, and pretend that they can, by beating upon it,

cause

cause spirits (in which they believe) to appear or disappear at pleasure. The principles of Schamanism are chiefly as follow: they believe in one God, the creator of every thing, whom the different nations call by different names; a number of inferior gods govern the world, chiefly according to their own wills, although they are all subordinate to the Deity. All the celestial bodies are divinities as well as some terrestrial objects, such as fire, water, mountains, &c. There are also evil deities of whom there is a supreme, who is next to God in power these live in rivers, forests, mountains, &c. &c. Their sole delight is in tormenting mankind. The people are persuaded, that the gods appear to their Schamans under different shapes, but particularly in the form of a bear; for which animal they have a great respect. They believe in a state after death, but their ideas of it are strange and ridiculous. To the good deities, which are represented under various idolatrous forms, they offer sacrifices and ayers, which they are sure will be attended to. In spite, however, of all the absurdities in Schamanism, an attentive inquirer may perceive some similarity to the Mosaic religion. The sacred fires, the oblations, the adorations, the opinions concerning women, and many other tenets of the Schamans, have perhaps been borrowed from the religion of the Jews.'

An Aleutian.-From Cape Lopatka, the most southern point of Kamtshatka, there runs a chain of islands towards the north-east, which terminate near the coast of America: these are called the Aleutan isles, or by the Russians, Aleoutskie. They have each of them a different name, which it is not necessary to enumerate; the one most known to us, from the discoveries of Captain Cook, is Oonolashka, which lies almost close to the American continent. Not much is known of the manners and customs of the inhabitants of these islands. They are now almost all tributary to the Russians, of whose exactions and hard usage they sometimes complain very bitterly. Their external character and appearance differ very much from the inhabitants of the more southern islands, the Kurilians, nor are they so mild and civilized in their manners. These children of nature live in the most independent state with respect to each other; they acknowledge no chief or superior. Their whole attention is occupied with the present moment; they forget the past, and do not regard the future: nor in general have the different islands much connection, or intercourse with each other, but for the purpose of exchange of commodities. They must, however, be considered as ingenious, as appears from their bows and arrows, their canoes or baidars, and even their dress, which consists of one piece variously ornamented. Still they are not so clever as the Kurilians. When the heat of their short summers will allow of it, they frequently appear, men, women and children, entirely naked, having no idea of impropriety or shame attached to it; and this is much more frequently the case in their cabins, where they do not suffer from the cold.'

This very cheap and truly paradisaical Costume is not represented in the plate: but the Aleutian is decently habited quite down to his toes.