than his description of their characters, and of the hours he past in their society. "The greatest treasure to me was the society of the Polignacs, with whom I dined always three or four times a week, and spent the whole day. It is truly a rare thing to see women who have lived so much in the great world, and on its pinnacle, and who while they appeared made only for that, so highly possessed of every thing which gives a charm and a relish to private life. The Duchesse de Guiche and the Comtesse de Polignac are among the few women whom I could live with for ever; with every grace of person and manners they unite more solid accomplishments; and so attached to each other, not a sentiment of rivalry ever entering into the imagination of either, I shall see them once more in passing to the Crimea, and then, perhaps, never more; this is, I assure you, a serious regret." P. 147. We cannot forbear quoting the first paragraph of the 12th letter in this collection, written to his mother on the anniversary of her birth-day, as it thoroughly shews the state of his mind at this period, as well as the excellence of his heart and the soundness of his principles. "This is a day which I do not recollect ever to have let pass without commemorating by the expression of my sincere duty and affection. I am still less likely to omit that welcome office at this moment, when rendered naturally more thoughtful by the accession of time, and sobered by a disappointment, the effects of which will never be effaced, I am better enabled to estimate the value of so great a blessing as that of the most affectionate friend in the person of the kindest parent. At this moment, when both pleasure and pain are to me of a very temperate cast, and sometimes approaching almost to indifference; when I am no longer a prey to very piercing sorrow, nor capable of being acted upon by the delirious follies of an earlier age, from which I dare not say that I have quite been free; I find that my attachments become concen trated by degrees, and that I prize more highly those which are most deserving. Certainly, therefore, I have every reason to look at my own family with comfort and with consolation, with gratitude for their goodness, and with hope to convince every branch of it, one day or other, that the sense which I retain of it is accurate and just. You, my dear mother, will easily believe the sincerity of that homage which I render to your early cares of my infancy, and your continued protection and kindness to my youth. I hope that you will long enjoy a portion of health and other human blessings, sufficient to make it desirable that you should stay among us, for our and your own happiness; deferring to reap, so long as it may please Providence to spare you, that reward which awaits your many and great virtues elsewhere. This wish comes from my heart: it is expressed only because it is felt." P.75. The insertion of this admirable woman's answer required no apology from the editor: did the limits of our work permit, we could gladly lay the whole of it before our readers, as a fine specimen of genuine feeling, true philosophy, and christian resignation. On the 15th of June, Tweddell left Vienna, and proceeded by way of Saltzburg and Munich, entering Switzerland in the canton of Zurich. It appears that he made a more extensive and accurate investigation of this interesting country than any other English traveller had done, and the loss of his journals relating to this part of his tour is a subject of the greatest regret. The fatigue, however, which he suffered in these Alpine excursions, brought on a complaint in his breast, from which he never thoroughly recovered: he informs his sister, that in each of the cantons through which he passed, he left nothing unseen behind him; that he travelled where neither carriage nor horse could have followed his route, and that his course was considered by the best informed people of the country as the most complete that ever had been pursued: in one place he observes," whereever I go, I always wait upon the men of information most celebrated in the place." This we apprehend is the true method of profiting by foreign travel: accordingly this excursion procured him the acquaintance of the learned and amiable Professor Wyttenbach, the humane Mr. Fellenburg, the patriotic Count Rumford, &c. and introduced him to the society of the ex-minister Necker, and his accomplished daughter Madame de Stael, was their guest for nearly a fortnight, during which time he contributed so much to the amusement of Necker in his retirement, that Madame de Stael observed, she had never seen her father for many years so interested and abstracted from his own thoughts. Our traveller, whilst he was resident in Switzerland, had full opportunity for investigating the character and deploring the effect produced by the multitude of French agents, who at this time were busily employed in disseminating the baneful principles of the Revolution, and poisoning the sources of morality, religion, and legal government. Hence we may trace the reason of his altered tone and subdued sentiments with regard to the conduct of the Gallican revolutionists. His mind, now enlightened by experience and matured by reflection, easily saw through the views of a set of men, who aimed at the subversion of all civil order and social rights, for the gratification of their own evil passions and the satisfaction of their base and infuriated ambition. From Switzerland he returned to Vienna, from whence we have but one letter during this his second sojourn in that city. We next hear of him (January 8, 1797) in the Ukraine, at Tulczyn, a chateau belonging to the Countess Potozka, about half an hour's drive from the residence of his friend the Duke de Polignac. The Countess had here a very princely establishment, about 150 persons daily in family; a wing of the palace was occupied by Marshal Suvarrow and a great number of his officers. During a visit which Tweddell was one day making to the Duke de Polignac, this nobleman received a letter from the late Emperor Paul of Russia, couched in the following terms. "I have this day made a grant to the Duke of Polignac of an estate in Lithuania, containing a thousand peasants; and I have the pleasure of signifying it to him with my own hand. (Signed) PAUL." P. 133. We quote the following passage in his second letter from the Ukraine, as it is interesting, both from the character which he draws of Suvarrow as well as of the Emperor Paul, and his prognostications of the fatal event which so soon followed his predictions. "At present we are reduced to about sixteen persons, and our society is somewhat select and pleasant. Among these is the Marshal Suvarrow, the hero of Ismäel. He is a most extraordinary character. He dines every morning about nine, o'clock. He sleeps almost naked. He affects a perfect indifference to heat and cold, and quits his chamber, which approaches to suffocation, in order to review his troops, in a thin linen jacket, while the thermometer of Réamur is at 10 degrees below freezing. His manners correspond with his humours. I dined with him this morning, or rather witnessed his dinner; he cried to me across the table, Tweddell!' (he generally addressed by the surname, without addition) the French have taken Portsmouth. I have just received a courier from England. The King is in the Tower; and Sheridan Protector. A great deal of this whimsical manner is affected. He finds that it suits his troops and the people he has to deal with. I asked him, if after the massacre at Ismaël, he was perfectly satisfied with the conduct of the day? He said, he went home and wept in his tent. The Russian soldiers are inhuman beyond conception. The Marshal has given in his resignation, and has written a very imprudent letter to the Emperor. The answer is arrived to night; but the result is yet secret. The reforms which the new Emperor is introducing in this empire, are, I fear, somewhat precipitate. I wish he may succeed in all his undertakings, for they are wisely aimed; but I have fears. Above 1500 officers have given in their resignation, the Emperor's edicts all militating against plunder, the hopes of which are the motive of entering into his service. I think there will be some great event soon in Ee the VOL. V. APRIL, 1816. the Russian empire. I dare not say more; but I fear it. The Emperor at the head of his guards, the other day, drew his sword, and said, that he drew it once for all against all peculation and all injustice; and that as soon as he departed in any shape from his own principles of equity, he cared not if any one did as much for him. It is not wise for Emperors to talk in this way in these times, particularly before Russians. The officers are ***** ******* in general. The Empress entreated the Emperor the other day to proceed more deliberately; he replied, that he was determined to perish or to introduce a spirit of justice and order in his dominions. If that be the alternative, .... Every part of Paul's conduct is firm and bold, but he has undertaken a fearful task." P. 135. By the way, we cannot help remarking the great similarity in Tweddell's portrait of the Russian character with that of one of the most enlightened travellers of the present day, whose opinions have been in some instances rejected by bigotry and attacked by impertinence. For our own parts, we have the best reasons for believing that slavery and oppression, united with a semi-barbarity, have not failed to produce in Russia the same effects which they have ever produced in all ages and in all countries; let us hope that the far-famed magnanimity (as it is called) of the present Emperor, will now find within his own realms a proper object for its exercise, and that he will not have visited the land where liberty has fixed her throne, without imbibing some portion of that divine influence, which brings to perfection the noblest qualities of the mind, which would soften even the rigour of climate, and make Siberian snows preferable to the luxurious gardens of the East. From Tulczyn he pursued the road to Moscow: let us take the account of his journey and the Russian character in his own words. "From Tulczyn hither, I was eighteen days and fifteen nights upon the road. Such a road! The roads of Brunswick and Wolfenbüttel are bowling-greens in comparison. I was overturned twice, and broke three axle-trees. Of all the scoundrels I have yet seen the first is a Russian peasant. I had the satisfaction of putting those into prison at Toula, who, after overturning my carriage, refused to assist to lift it up again. Mr. De Riviere, myself, and our servants, after many fruitless efforts, at length succeeded; and were then obliged to drive the horses ourselves to the end of the station, about fifteen miles. As soon as I arrived at Toula, I addressed myself to the Governor, who, by a wide deviation from the principles of Russian humanity, had the justice to afford us redress. In short, if we had not been well armed with sabres and pistols, we should never have arrived at all. Were I to recount to you one half of the difficulties we encountered from the the roads, the rivers, the boats, the snow, the ice, and the peasants, I should seem to be travelling again over the same ground, and I am content with one experience." P. 139. He was present at the coronation of Paul, whose character and deportment are sketched with great spirit in a letter to his friend Mr. Bigge. Here he became acquainted with the unfortunate Stanislaus, the deposed King of Poland, whom he thus notices. "I supped with the King of Poland last night. We had a very small party, about ten persons. His manners are very engaging, and his person very interesting; but he is much dejected. I am going there again to-night." P. 146. After having made an excursion to St. Petersburg and Stockholm, he continued his route to the Crimea, from whence we first hear of him as the guest of that distinguished ornament of literature and science, Professor Pallas, of whom he thus speaks: "J'ai passé une semaine chez le Professeur Pallas, qui s'est établi dans la Tauride a Simpheropol. J'ai peu vu de gens de lettres qui soient aussi doux et aussi aimables que lui.” Having been furnished with letters to all the Governors by Prince Kurakin, the comptroller-general, he made a complete tour of this delightful country, observing the manners of the people, copying antient inscriptions, and sketching the superb features of nature, with the costume of the different tribes. His journal relating to this part of his travels, which he had kept with unusual care, is among the other losses which posterity will have to regret. In January, 1798, we have a letter from him to his father, dated at Woitovka, the seat of his friend the Duke de Polignac, to whom he had returned after his tour in the Crimea, in which he gives the most satisfactory reasons for extending the time of his absence, having it now in contemplation to visit the classic scenes of Greece and Asia: previous to his departure from this hospitable mansion, he addresses a letter to his sister, (the 42d in this collection) which for genuine feeling, elegant diction, tender affection, and excellent advice, we have not often seen surpassed: we strongly recommend to the serious perusal of every young lady who is desirous of acquiring more solid claims to admiration than those of an elegant figure or a beautiful face. The 44th letter is dated May 28, 1798, from Pera, one of the suburbs of Constantinople, where he was received with the utmost attention by Mr. Spencer Smythe, the English envoy, to whose kindness and friendship he constantly E e 2 expresses |