Appearanee of Moscow-Churches-Religious Impressions- Houses Nunneries-Divisions of the City-Kremlin- Khitaigorod-Bielgorod-Semlainogorod-Sloboda-Re- flections on the Fall of Moscow. CHAPTER VIII. Divisions of the Russian Empire-Its Productions—Internal Commerce-Junction of the Rivers-Trade with Persia- China-Commercial Suggestions, &c.-Character of the Russians-Influence of Climate, and Soil, on his moral and CHAPTER IX. Departure from Moscow to. Smolensko-Road to Mojaisk-Bo- CHAPTER X. Journey from Smolensko to Grodno-Sta of Posting-Korit- nia-Krasnoi-Pass the Boundary or Ancient Russia- Lithuania-Doubrovna-Orcha - Dnieper-Jews; their Habits and Character-Borisoff-Minsk-Mir-Novogo- CHAPTER XI. Departure from Grodno to Warsaw-Aspect of the Country- Change of Dress and Manners-Marshes-Plains of Sand CHAPTER XII. Journey through Poland, from Warsaw to Berlin-Reflections 283 PREFACE. 1040 If we inquire into the history of European nations, even as far back as Charlemagne, never shall we find, perhaps, an æra of more universal interest than the present, both to those nations in general, and to Great Britain in particular. The constitution of governments, like the constitution of man, must have its periods of vigour, and decline; it must rise and fall, flourish and decay; and, although it abound in physical, it may fail in moral strength, and thus perish. From this failure in the moral constitution of their governments, more than from any other source, has flowed that vast and mighty stream of desolation, which, like a torrent swept along the face of modern nations and nearly overwhelm them in its gloomy tide; from this has the recent map of Europe presented so melancholy and so degenerate a picture. The iniquities of civilized man and the corruption of Courts had ope 1 a wide and yawning abyss; nations were on the brink; the light life and liberty had fled; the storm was gathering; the angry ey Heaven looked down, formed a being for the scourge of man, and s him abroad to desolate the land. What scene then did continental map of Europe present? Its nations chained, as if by one common spell of thraldom; their governments, their laws, their religion tramp ed on; the ties of society torn asunder; the rights of thrones trodden down; their Kings degraded, and upstart vassals polluting, with their vile touch, the sacred sceptres of royalty. No longer did the age of chivalry throw its light around; that of blood, rapine, and desolation was at its zenith: a long and dreary night of Vandalism overshadowed the earth: the only light it shed was caught from the burning pile where nations lay expiring, and gleamed on the gore-spotted arena, where the common gladiators of despotism were mangling their warworn frames. These times are past-the sad picture is no more—a new light bursts in the spell is broken, and that being, whom it pleased the Almighty ruler of nations to send as a scourge to mankind, is hurled into his original den of darkness. How changed is the scene, a new order of things succeeds-the rights of thrones and nations are respected, and peace is restored to a suffering world! No blood-stained star shoots its troubled ray o'er the horizon, and sheds its horrid gleam on ruined cities and desolated lands-all is calm, tranquil and serene. To inquire even slightly into the causes, remote or proximate of so grand and universal a change, is a task of no small labour: it is not our business here however, it is not the business of the traveller -his only aim is to pourtray the principal features in the character and country of those who have been most instrumental in its agency, and, to add to that interest, which we must all feel in the fate of those who have so largely contributed to put an end to the sufferings of mankind. When we look to our own country, what just cause of pride and dignity do we behold! Never did her eagle-wing soar higher-never did she beam in brighter splendour! Amid the ruin and wreck of demoralized nations she has stood out the firm and generous pilotwhen others slept and were worn with their woe she ever watched at the oft giddy helm; her greatness grew with the madness of the gale; her swiftness hung on the wings of the storm; her proud pendants floated aloft o'er the majesty of the Heavens; her course was steady; her track was secure, and she still pointed to that beacon, where peace and salvation shewed their hallowed, but expiring flame. But it is not to Great Britain alone that we are to look in the glorious struggle. The nations of the north have poured down their legions to these we are to turn our eyes. The flames of Moscow have burst a new light on man; the falling towers of the Kremlin have chimed the tyrant's parting knell, and proclaimed aloud that Europe is free! And never did his towering genius soar to such a flight as when first these ill-fated towers caught its glance; never did his blood-stained pinions dart on a more hapless victim. If the memory of future ages had but this alone of his mighty conquests to dwell on-if the giant strides of his vast career had ceased to be remembered, and been swept down the common stream of time, this alone would remain on its banks an imperishable monument of lawless ambition. The traveller, however, must not confine himself to political views-it is not for the diplomatist or statesman he writes; for al though he has traced war's ruthless paths, and trodden on the yet smoaking ruins of a bleeding country, yet its theatre is too vast to present more than a mere outline. He is well aware that his province is a very peculiar one, his views of man and country must be rapid and hurried; the impressions made on his senses, by these views, must necessarily be rapid also; although perhaps vivid in colouring, they must be light and delicate; they must present all those lights and shades which were passing across the mind of the author when writing, and which, by a correspondent transition, must throw their tints over that of the reader, and thus keep his attention constantly excited. He knows that it is out of the nature of his pages to be heavy and prolix; they must not be impressed with the stamp of lucubration, they must not be tinged with the gloom of the closet. He must bid adieu both to theory and to contemplation, and, as he mingles with new scenes, his mind expands and illumines, his pages catch the kindred spark; they grow, as it were, with the subject, and the sacred light of truth marks them with its unerring stamp. His works are not to be judged by the standard of schoolmen. His facts are collected under many disadvantages. He has "to look that he may learn," not "to learn that he may look." He must draw his information from uncertain sources; the answers he may receive to his questions may be as different and incongruous as the people from whom he asks them. He has no alternative: he must adopt the one, explode the other, or draw conclusions from both. He must think for himself and himself solely. Opinions and characters of man and country must be taken on the spot, and according to the exact stamp of the moment. They must not go before the moment, because it shews a reference to other authorities, and thus weakens that spirit of originality, which ought to be the very essence of his pages: they must not come behind the moment, or it will be loading the memory uselessly. Each individual spot, which the traveller traces, has its peculiar character; the very nature and disposition of the rocks and mountains, the shape of the lakes, the surface of the soil, the numerous errors of the maps, as well as the manners of the people, ought to be particular objects of his remarks. Amidst all that vast mass of observation which these northern regions stretch out to him, none can be more interesting than the influence of climate on the physical, and its corresponding influence on the moral constitution of their natives. In a political point of view, never perhaps was there a period in which the affairs of the North, and particularly Russia, could be of more interest than the present. Every Briton must feel a conscious glow of pride in looking at the glorious alliance of Russia with his country; long have they been joined in the bands of a holy and sacred war, and long may they be kindred in the spirit of peace! There is no æra, in the history of nations, more, interesting to inquire into, nor more difficult to delineate, than that which intervenes between their ruin and their restoration; between their subjugation and that new existence, which they derive from a recovery of their rights, &c. At this critical period, their character, with that of its people, undergoes various changes; it assimilates with the nature of the existing revolution. Their moral existence becomes tied down by their political creed, and vibrates with its fluctuations. All is in a state of uncertainty, and there is no fixed standard, by which to judge of its identity as a nation. Most particularly has this been the case, at least in many respects, in those countries in which the author has travelled, and most precisely has this been the period at which his observations were made. The time when he travelled was indeed critical and embarassing both to the countries and to himself. Scarcely had they begun to heal from their wounds, scarcely had the storm of war ceased to thunder through them, and scarcely had that pivot rested, on which their fate had been so long vacillating. To these points therefore he lays principal claims for the interest of the following pages. Let it not be supposed, however, that their character will be merely political: his chief object is to develope the principal and prominent features of that vast line of country along which he travelled; to point out their present state, and notice those objects most worthy the attention of their rational visitor. He treads lightly and rapidly. His views, characters and impressions were taken on the spot, at the moment, and under many disadvantages. His Jabours and privations were many, his paths were dark, dreary and intricate; but the bright star of enthusiasm, like the clue of Ariadne, has carried him along, and if even one gleam of its sacred light can dawn on him who turns over these pages, their labour will be forgotten, and the author rewarded. |