· ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION OF PART THE FIRST. N 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 Kelsal, 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 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 In addition to their testimony, the unpublished obser (1) See Appendix, No VIII. a observations of the late Lord ROYSTON' may be adduced, to shew that, subsequent 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 accomplished friend, who was snatched from the pursuit of worldly honours, by a fate as untimely although not so sudden as his own, thus briefly, but emphatically, characterizes the state of refinement in the two great cities of the Russian Empire 3. "A journey from Petersburg to Moscow is a journey from Europe to (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 heard, in his native language, showing "her dark speech," and thus pourtraying his melancholy end. "Ye cliffs of Zarax, and ye waves which wash Ye plains, where Phorcyn broods upon the deep, And founds his floating palaces, what sobs Of dying men shall ye not hear? what groans Of masts and wrecks, all crashing in the wind? Viscount Royston's Cassandra, p. 28. (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. 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 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 rein-deer, 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, (4) So marked in the original. Russia, remains still 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 Letter to Mr. Whittington, from Casan, dated May 16, 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, I although," to use his own words in the Fourth Chapter of the the present Volume, "it was considered dangerous at that time to have the character of hospitality towards Englishmen." He also cites a passage in the Notes, from a French Work of celebrity, to prove, with reference to Moscow, that "l'hospitalité des Russes paroît ici dans tout son jour." Another extract from Lord Royston's Letters will shew that the same characteristic of the inhabitants was observed by his Lordship; although, as he expressly declares, it did not alter his " general opinion" of the people. It is taken from a Letter to the Right Honourable Charles Yorke, dated Moscow, May 5th, 1807. Notwithstanding all the pleasure I promise myself from my tour, I shall be sorry to leave Moscow: the hospitality of the people is very great, and it is unpleasant to be always forming new and agreeable acquaintance,, with the expectation of shortly leaving them, and the probability of never seeing them again. On leaving Petersburg, notwithstanding my general opinion, I felt very strongly how painful it is to quit for ever a place in which we have resided for some time; and believe it was solely that feeling which caused me to return thither from Moscow." 66 Indeed it may be urged, that even those Authors, who endeavour to present a favourable view of the Russian people, and who strain every effort to accomplish the undertaking, are continually betraying the hidden reality. Their pages, like embroidered vestments upon the Priests of Moscow, disclose, with every gust that that separates them, the rags and wretchedness they |