ADVERTISEMENT ΤΟ THE SECOND QUARTO EDITION OF PART THE FIRST. In the present Edition, some verbal corrections will be found in various passages. Some additions have also been made; and it is hoped that they will add to the general interest excited by the work. The Notes, in certain instances, have been augmented, and the number of Inscriptions increased, by very valuable communications from Charles Kelsall, Esq. of Trinity College, Cambridge, who lately pursued a similar route to that of the author, in the South of Russia. Robert Corner, Esq. of Malta, has also obligingly added to the Appendix, an important article concerning the Internal Navigation of the Russian Empire'. After the fullest and most impartial consideration, the author is contented to rest the truth (1) See the Appendix to this Volume. and validity of his remarks, concerning the Russian character, upon the evidence afforded by almost every enlightened Traveller who has preceded him. In addition to their testimony, the unpublished observations of the late Lord ROYSTON' may be adduced, to shew that, subsequently to the author's travels, and under happier auspices of government in Russia, the state of society appeared to that gifted young Nobleman, as it has been described in the following pages. Lord ROYSTON, when writing to an (1) The kindness of the Earl of Hardwicke authorizes this allusion to his Son's Letters. Lord ROYSTON's name carries with it a claim to public consideration. Although the knowledge of his great acquirements had scarcely transpired beyond the circle of his Academical acquaintance, his erudition was regarded, even by a PoRSON, with wonder. The loss sustained by his death can never be retrieved; but some consolation is derived from the consciousness that all the fruits of his literary labours have not been annihilated. The sublime prophecy of his own Cassandra, uttering" a parable of other times," will yet be beard; in his native language, shewing "her dark speech," and thus pourtraying his melancholy end. "Ye cliffs of Zarax, and ye waves which wash Ye rocks of Trychas, Nedon's dangerous heights, Ye plains where Phorcyn broods upon the deep, And founds his floating palaces, what sobs Of dying men shall ye not hear? what groans Viscount Royston's Cassandra, p. 28. accomplished friend, who was snatched from the pursuit of worldly honours by a fate as untimely, although not so sudden as his own2, thus briefly, but emphatically, characterizes the state of refinement in the two great cities of the Russian Empire3. "A journey from Petersburg to Moscow is a journey from Europe to Asia. With respect to the society of the former city, I am almost ashamed to state my opinion, after the stubborn fact of my having twice returned thither, each time at the expense of a thousand miles but although I had not imagined it possible that any place could exist more devoid of the means of enjoying rational conversation, I am now, since my residence here, become of a different opinion. Not that I have not been excessively interested, both during this and my former visit to Moscow. The feudal magnificence of the nobility, the Asiatic dress and manners of the common people, the mixture of nations to be seen here, the immensity, the variety, and the singular architecture of the city, present, altogether, a most curious : (2) Rev. G. D. Whittington, author of an "Historical Survey of Gothic Architecture," published since his death by certain of his distinguished friends. See the elegant tribute to his memory, in a Preface to that work, by the Earl of Aberdeen. (3) This Letter is dated, Moscow, April 13th, 1809. and amusing assemblage." In a former part of the same Letter, the inattention of the superior Clergy to the religion of the lower orders, is forcibly illustrated. The words are as follow: "You have probably received some account of my journey to Archangel; of my movement thence, in a north-easterly direction, to Mezen; of the distinguished reception I received from the Mayor of that highly-civilized' city, who made me a speech in Russian, three-quarters of an hour long; of my procuring, there, twelve reindeer, and proceeding towards the Frozen Ocean, until I found a Samoied camp in the desert, between the rivers Mezen and Petchora; and of my ascertaining, that that nation, which extends over almost all the North of Russia, remains stilk in a state of Paganism; a circumstance, of which the Archbishop of the diocese was ignorant." The description, given in this work, of the miserable condition of the Russian peasants, and of the scarcity of provisions in the interior of the country, has been disputed. Let us now therefore see what Lord Royston has said upon this part of the subject. It is contained in a (1) So marked in the original. . Letter to Mr. Whittington, from Casan, dated May 16th, 1807. "I left Moscow on Tuesday the 5th of May; and the first town at which I arrived was Vladimir, formerly the capital of an independent sovereignty, and the residence of a Grand Duke. The accommodations are such as are alone to be met with all over Muscovy; one room, in which you sleep with the whole family, in the midst of a most suffocating heat and smell; no furniture to be found, but a bench and table; and an absolute dearth of provisions." In the Extracts, added to the Notes, from Mr. Heber's Journal, there are certain observations which are said to be at variance with the remarks in the Text; but it is hardly necessary to add, that they were introduced for this especial reason. Some persons have also insinuated, that the author has accused the Russians of want of hospitality; although the very reverse may be proved from his writings. In describing the reception which he experienced at Moscow, he lays particular stress upon the hospitality of the inhabitants; "although," to use his own words in the Fourth Chapter of the present Volume," it was considered dangerous at that time to have the character of hospitality towards Englishmen." |