tated langh against our traveller. We deem it a duty to confess that we have misgivings as to the fact of Dr. Morton being fleeced and cheated. He is far too advanced in years for such a hoax as that, but that he was laughed at over and over again, we have as little doubt as if we had only just witnessed the ecstatic tear of the Muscovite peasant, as he stood in a convulsion of merriment at the door of the post-house, whilst the fantastic Doctor was waiting for his relay.

Mr. Morton shifts the scene, and we betake ourselves from St. Petersburgh to Odessa. Ere we get to our destination, the Doctor discovers something on the road-side to complain of. To find all things between Odessa and the metropolis perfectly convenient and satisfactory would have killed, we really believe, the physician outright. But his time was not come, and as he could not complain with any degree of justice of what was on his right or on his left, neither of the sky above nor of the road beneath, what, in the name of wonder, has he to remonstrate against? Why, the mile-stones! The verst-posts,' says he, 'I had observed were of red marble, an extravagance which appeared to me as misplaced as it is useless.'

his

Had these expensive registers of distance only the reasonable attribute of correctness, the Doctor would, perhaps, have forgiven at least the redness of the marble; but that was not the case; and yet it is wonderful how successful is the Doctor in recording the number of versts that he has travelled. We solemnly believe, that during the whole of his journey he never kept his eyes off the milestones; they were every thing to him; they were his scenery, lakes and rivers, and his personal adventures, and his moving accidents; and we can hardly discover, from St. Petersburgh to Odessa, whether or not the Doctor was conscious of any other company than that of the mile-stones, the whole way. The following passage is a very fair specimen of his descriptions, in which it cannot be denied, that the fine fancy of the Doctor is as conspicuous as the discrimination of his judgment.

The animals were immediately put to (at Sophia), and after a delay of only a few minutes we recommenced our journey at a gallop,'-(Gilpin's mode of travelling-but 'recommenced the journey' -no Doctor, you only continued it, for to "recommence," you must have gone back to St. Petersburgh,) which was kept up without intermission for three versts, when we passed a village consisting of not more than a dozen small miserable houses:' (and this is all he says.) Having proceeded a few versts further we entered a thick forest,'-(now for a grand and terrific touch of the deep shade,) which continued to bound the road on both sides' (any thing else?) without interruption-until the end of the stage.' (What a strange sight! but the eleventh verst discloses still more wonderful things.) At the eleventh verst there is a slight elevation of the road with' (what does the reader imagine?) a small

village; and at the twelfth, another village! Can such things be credible? Is the Doctor availing himself of his letters of marque to capture our weak understandings? But en avant, at the thirteenth verst nothing happened worthy of being recorded; but at the fourteenth, the Doctor was compensated for this deficiency. When passing the fourteenth, we observed a pretty chateau on our right; and just beyond the sixteenth,' (account for the two, Doctor,) according to the verst posts, which, by the way,' (the Doctor puns,) have not the distances correctly marked on them, we reached the Gatchiva barrier, consisting of a neat stone arch. At the eighteenth verst-' but enough of the Itinerary. We cannot, however, omit mentioning that one evening the party started so late that the Doctor had not light to continue making his notes, and, if we remember aright, it was upon this very evening too that a bottle of Sherry wine was frozen in the carriage, what a curious coincidence! Another singular occurrence took place at a post called Borovitchi, which we must borrow our author's language to describe:-'We took tea upon our arrival at the last-named place, and the majority of our party shortly after retired to rest!'

Such is the general character of the important events to which this memorable journey to Odessa gave rise; and arrived there, we are very happy to see the Doctor turned from the interesting topographer we have found him, into a still pleasanter historian. Since Count Vorontzof was Governor-general of Odessa, the Doctor thought it incumbent on him to collect materials for a complete history of a town so highly favoured by the Emperor of Russia. We must do the Doctor the justice to say that he describes the town with some ability.

'Odessa is built upon a regular plan, in the modern style of architecture: its streets are spacious, and its buildings large; and, as another author justly observes, it may be denominated "Petersburgh in miniature." Upon ascending the steep limestone rock on which the town is situated, the Strada Chersona* suddenly bursts upon the view. This is a handsome street, about half a mile in length and very broad, planted on each side the carriage-way with white acacias, and having pavements of soft stone (now worn into deep holes) on each side for foot passengers. In the Strada Chersona are several handsome buildings: to the left, on entering it, stands the town hospital, a large and rather elegant structure: higher up, on the right, is the house formerly occupied by Count Vorontzof, at present by Jusuph Pacha; and on either side are large magazines, built so as to resemble houses, and by no means destitute of architectural beauty. It terminates, finally, in a large irregular space, containing the cathedral, the guard-house, and a building lately erected by the recently established fire insurance company. Turning to the left, we find ourselves in the Strada Ribas, a street about two-thirds the length of the preceding, and which rises considerably from each extremity towards its centre: in this is

* The names of the streets are painted in Russ and in Italian.'

situated the entrance to the public garden and one façade of the Lyceum of Richelieu. Having proceeded about three-fourths of its length, the Strada Ribas is intersected at right angles, in both directions, by another street considerably longer than either of the preceding: this is called the Strada Richelieu, its direction being nearly from south-west to the opposite point of the compass. Inclining once more to the left, and entering that portion of the last-mentioned street which lies to the north-east of the Strada Ribas, we see the English magazine and the enormous house of the civil Governor on our right; and the Club, as it is called, on our left. This end of the Strata Richelieu terminates in an open space, about the centre of which is situated the theatre; whence there is a magnificent view of part of the Black Sea, with the quarantine port and the shipping below. Crossing this place diagonally, and bending again to the left, we reach the New Boulevard; the rising walls of the new Exchange being at its nearest extremity, and at its farthest the mansion of Count Vorontzof. The reader has thus been led through the court end of the town, and the streets chiefly worthy of notice have been enumerated;-the last-mentioned objects, however, require a few words in addition. The site of the New Boulevard was, a few years ago, occupied by some ruinous barracks, and paltry houses inhabited by the lowest classes of society; but its advantageous situation and the beauty of its prospect being duly appreciated, it was determined to convert the ground to its present destination. The Boulevard is about half a mile in length: it consists of a single row of houses facing the sea, most of them being on a large scale; and, had one regular plan of architecture been adhered to, the whole would have formed a magnificent pile of building; but every person who took ground has been allowed to build according to his own taste, and thus houses of all heights and descriptions are found in the same row; even a magazine for corn appearing among them! which, from the waggons constantly loading and unloading before it, must be a perpetual nuisance to the inhabitants in the immediate vicinity. In the centre of the Boulevard, upon a raised pedestal of red granite, is placed a bronze statue of the Duke de Richelieu; a wellmerited tribute from the inhabitants of Odessa to the memory of their departed Governor-general, but so badly executed, that it is said to bear no resemblance whatever to the Duke. A broad carriage-way runs close to the houses, the space from this to the edge of the cliff being planted with several rows of young acacias, and the walks between them covered with sand from the sea-shore. The New Boulevard is a great improvement to the town, and forms an agreeable promenade in the summer evenings. At its north-western extremity is situated the new house of Count Vorontzof before alluded to, which was, during the late imperial visit to Odessa, the residence of their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Russia. This is a large plain building, like all in Odessa, plastered over: it has one very great defect, namely, that of being placed so low that from the Boulevard only the upper part is visible, thus appearing as if it were sunk in a well: this completely destroys the effect of what might otherwise have been an imposing structure. It has very large stables built opposite to the grand entrance, and is surrounded by a garden said to be " à l' Anglaise," terminated towards the Boulevard by a handsome iron railing cast by Mr. Baird at St. Petersburgh, being the first and only railing of that material which has ever been put up in Odessa. Upon entering the house, the

state rooms are found on the ground floor; and above, the domestic apartments. The former are rendered remarkable by containing the identical doors, shutters, and chimney-piece, belonging to the Michailof Palace at St. Petersburgh, the residence of the unfortunate Emperor Paul, and the scene of his murder. They were sold, as I was informed, by the present Emperor, when Grand Duke, to Count Vorontzof; his Majesty being, at that time, owner of the palace in question, which has since been dismantled, and devoted to the purposes of a public establishment; the room wherein the murder was committed having been walled up, so as to prevent even the possibility of its situation being any longer distinguishable. The state apartments consist of the billiard, dining, and ante rooms, the grand saloon, the library, and the Turkish chamber. These rooms are splendid; the floors of all, except the Turkish chamber, are parquetted; and, what is rarely seen in the mansions of Russian noblemen, are well supplied with elegant furniture, the greater part of which was brought from England. On public days they are all thrown open to the visiters. The Turkish chamber is the most elegant, although the least, among them. It is very high, and has a light Gothic roof, painted pale green, with a great deal of beautiful gilding about it; and round the sides, for about six feet in height, Turkish or Persian shawls are tasefully suspended: several silken divans, and other articles of furniture, appear in convenient situations, and a Persian carpet covers the floor; nor are valuable and rare articles of ventù wanting in their appropriate places. Freely as I shall criticise other parts of this mansion, it is but justice to say that I never saw a more elegant or chastely decorated apartment than this Turkish chamber. But the greatest object of curiosity in the governor-general's house, during my stay at Odessa, was a Turkish talisman; the inefficacy of which, however, as a safeguard, had been sufficiently proved by the fate of its previous possessor, who was killed in one of the engagements between his countrymen and the Russians, when this badge of superstitious credulity, consisting of numerous Eastern characters inscribed upon a piece of parchment, being found on the neck of the fallen chief, and forwarded to the Emperor as a trophy, was graciously presented by his majesty to Count Vorontzof, as a memento of his esteem, with the request that it might be hereafter preserved in the Turkish chamber.'-pp. 198-203.

The houses are thus described:

The houses may be said, in general, to be of two stories; sometimes of three; and, in a very few instances, of four. They are constructed of stone formed by a congeries of small cockle shells, so soft, when first removed from the quarry, as to be easily cut with a hatchet; they are then plastered over, and painted either of a light green, blue, yellow, or pink colour; the cornices, architraves, pilasters, &c., being white. The roofs chiefly consist of iron plates, which are painted bright green; but tiles made in the Crimea, slates, and wood, are also thus employed. The magazines for corn are often of astonishing magnitude;-they are built so as to resemble houses, the windows being supplied either with jalousies or shutters painted green: the largest of these buildings is situated on the south-eastern extremity of the town, and (according to an admeasurement by pacing) appears to be about 140 yards long by 20 wide; its height may be possibly 60 feet: it contains three floors, besides cellars.'-pp. 206, 207.

All this, as in the case of St. Petersburgh, is mere show, for the Doctor assures us that, with very few exceptions, the interior of the houses'present little besides bare walls.' The roads in and about Odessa, it seems, are really execrable, being badly built and of bad materials. By an ingenious improvement they are all made concave, so as to secure as much water as possible on the surface. The Doctor is as indignant at this and other drawbacks to Odessa, as if the town was to be the established residence of the dynasty of the Mortons for the next century. The climate he describes as bad, and children, he says, cannot be reared at Odessa; so that as a resource for invalids Odessa is condemned. The details which the Doctor gives us in illustration of the present state of Odessa, are so ample, and have so much the appearance of accuracy, that we do not hesitate to consider them as forming a very useful guide to that town. They are, by far, the most valuable part of this book. The Doctor being strictly confined to facts and registers becomes at last rational and useful. What credit may be attached to his speculations on the Turkish war, we are not able to say; but, as a witness, he deserves at least to be heard.

'It appears to be a generally received opinion in England, that the late Turkish war was popular among the Russians: but from all I heard and saw, while resident within the autocratic dominions, I am inclined to doubt the correctness of this belief. That the war was agreeable to certain individuals, who reaped, or hoped to reap, important advantages from it, is perhaps true; but I by no means think that, even previously to its actual commencement, it was popular with the majority of the influential nobility of the country, or subsequently with the higher classes of military officers; more particularly, as I happen to know that much dissatisfaction was produced in many quarters from circumstances which took place during the early part of its progress. Previously to our leaving St. Petersburgh, it was well known in the court circle that the Emperor would be present at the future seat of operations, whenever the war might break out; and I was confidently assured that Count Vorontzof was to have the command in chief of the army, and that any difficulty which might arise from his being junior to other generals would be easily obviated by the omnipotence of the Emperor; scarcely, however, had we reached Odessa, before it be came evident that these anticipations were not to be realized, and that others had more influence with the source of power. That dissatisfaction prevailed among the officers of all ranks, after their imperial master joined the army, will scarcely be doubted, perhaps, when I mention that one of them, who had just returned from Varna, informed me that the Emperor's conduct on many occasions was most hasty and impetuous, and that he was continually interfering with the arrangements of the commander-inchief: while, he added, "it is well known that his majesty never had any opportunities himself of gaining practical experience in war, and therefore what could have induced him to imagine his own opinion more correct than that of an old general, who had previously been twice before the walls of that very fortress, is most unaccountable." Another officer observed, "the Emperor is so accustomed to issue an ukase at St Petersburg,