The Press. — London, England, 1854-10-07 00:00:00

OCTOBER 7, 1854. his Imperial Highness corrected her, as he is perfectly ao quintet' with the language, which, he informed me, was taught to him and the Imperial Family by Dr. Law, respect ing whose health he made some inquiries, and expressed a great esteem for that gentleman. It was now late (past eleven), and her Imperial High ness doubtless thought it time fur our interview to close. She went round and said something to the Grand Duke, ou which he used the word Stoppi, which, as I have ex plained, signifies "proceed," i.e., let us alone. Her inperbal Highness then left us. I observed that she was now in a different costume: she wore a large Leghorn straw hat, a rich crimson velvet bodice fitting quite close, and a white skirt. Soon after her departure the Grand Duke rose, and, shaking hands, dismissed me, saying he was afraid I must be fatigued. His interview with the Emperor was much shorter. He was summoned to the palace on the 25th of June : While waiting in the ante-room two fine young men, evidently very tall for their age, and dressed in generals' uniform, accosted me in excellent English. As I wee talking to them, answering their questions, Prince Dolgorouki summoned me to the Emperor's presence; nor did I know till afterwards that they were the two youngest of the Grand Dukes, Nicholas and Michael, who had honoured me with their attention. Their questions were such as a kind interest dictated, and merely referred to my stay in Russia, how I liked what I had seen, etc. I followed the Prince into a small, rather dark apartment; he there introduced me to his Imperial Majesty, and then retired a little distance behind. The Emperor was standing in the middle of the room, dressed in the plain (lark blue uniform of a general in chief, and wore a simple white enamelled cross at the button-hole on his chest. This, I believe. was the cross of the Order of St. George, an honour conferred only upon persons who have rendered important services to their country. 1 imagine that his Imperial Majesty has not yet assumed the decoration of the highest class of the order, which is worn by such men as Paskiewitch, Womn soli, etc., and which was described to me as different in size from that worn by the Emperor. I expected to see a fine tall man, but was not prepared to find his Imperial Majesty so much superior to the generality of men in height and appearance. He certainly did not look more than fifty ; nor were there any particular signs of care on his countenance, at least not more than one sees in every man of his age. His features were fine and regular, his head bald in the centre, and his eye expressive of mildness, quite in accordance with his words. I was aware that his Majesty spoke both English and French, and hoped that he would address me in my native tongue. As I bowed and stepped forward, he addressed me as " Monsieur le Lieutenant," and inquired after my health, whether I had got rid of my fever, snd how and where I had caught it. lie asked me about the loss of the Tig•r, and inquired why we had not anchored, being so near the land. I replied that the fog was very thick, and that by our reckoning we were some distance from land when the vessel struck. He asked if I was married, made some kind inquiries respecting the family of my late captain, and informed me that Mrs. Giffard was gone to Odessa to join her husband, not having heard of his death. His Imperial Majesty then said, that it had been his intention to grant the captain his liberty ; but as that was now impossible, he would extend that grace to me as the next in command, and asked me how I should like to go home. I was quite taken aback by this announcement, as, although I had been told at Odessa that I should have my liberty, still I did not anticipate that it would be granted so soon and so freely. I was therefore unprepared to answer the question as to my intended route, and said that I really had not thought of it ; upon which his Imperial Majesty burst into a fit of laughter, much amused at my surprise and embarrassment, and said, " Allez done, pensez-y (go and think about it), and let me know this evening, through the Minister of War, what road you would like to take." He then bowed me out of the room, turning to the Prince, to whom he made some remark in Russian, and the latter followed me. When we were in the outer room the Prince shook hands with me, congratulating me on my release, and said, " I suppose we shall not again see you against us?" and on joining the other officers in the hall I received their con gratulations also, one of them telling me that they knew very well a week previously that I was to have my release; still it had not transpired, to my knowledge. I gladly ac cepted the offer of Prince Dolgorouki to fall in with the cortege of his Imperial Majesty, who was preparing to attend divine service in the chapel of the palace. As we were conversing, the Emperor, leading the Em press, and followed by the rest of the Imperial Family and their suite, passed on their way to the. chapel, and we closed in the procession. I should have felt s delicacy is thrusting myself forward had not Prince Dolgoronki kindly taken me by the arm and led me into the chapel, in which the Imperial Family had taken their places, so that I was within twenty yards of the altar; the rest of the officers in attendance were outside, in a room that opens into the chapel by a small door, and where, as I was informed, I should have been unable to hear the music. The Empress occupied a seat to my left ; the rest of the aksembly standing during the service. Her Majesty was evidently suffering from ill-health, and only rose occasion ally during particular parts : the ladies of the Court were behind her and the Emperor. That this graciousness was not wholly with out nn objeet may be inferred from his fare well with Prince Dolgorouki : On leaving the palace grounds we returned to our rooms ad dined; soon after I received a message from the THE PRESS. Minister of War expressing a desire to see me. 1 pro ceeded at once into his presence. He again congratulated me on my release, and added, that his Imperial Majesty had ordered him to present me with a sword, which he trusted would not be unwelcome from its being Russian, as they had not an English one to give me in place of mine. He hoped it would serve as a memorial of the treatment I had met with in Russia; and concluded by observing that he had no doubt I should speak well of them and assure my countrymen that they were not suck barbarians as the papers had represented them. He shook bands with me, making use of some kind and complimentary expressions, in which " mutual esteem and regard " predominated, and said that I should be duly informed of the Emperor's decision as to the route by which I should return to England. If only for the sake of appearances, the Emperor might have carried his magnanimity farther. it is pitiful to retain a few of the Tiger crew still in captivity, on the plea that Euxine and Baltic prisoners cannot be ex changed against each other. We are obliged to Lieutenant Royer for his narrative. It will amply satisfy curiosity on one unhappy incident of the war, but we are afraid it will create an impression that the "first lieute- nant " has more of the unsuspicious Jack Tar in his nature than of the shrewdness requisite to pierce through the deception with which, for intelligible purposes, it was the object of the Russian Government to surround him. The volume is neatly produced, at a low price, and will no doubt meet with an exten sive sale. 1. Tke Pride of Life. By Lady Scott. 2. Leweli Pastures. By the Author of " Sir Frederick Dement." Routledge and Co. WE class these novels together, as, though very different in style and Eubject, they are the most agreeable and natural domestic tales we have lately met with, and, in point of merit, the best original fictions of their kind which Mr. Routledge has issued. They arc both stories of the day, and reflect modern society and manners ; but the first is principally occu pied with the gay life of town, and the second with country scenes and incidents. We are not aware who Lady Scott may be, but she writes with taste and ease : her portraiture of cha racter, if not very decisive, is skilfully indi cated and perfectly free from exaggeration ; and her story, except in instances to be pre sently noticed, flows on with the natural current of truth itself. In the principal male figures she has taken an opposite view of character to that generally supported by novelists. The light-hearted, gay, careless Felix Wynn, though not equal to great sacrifices, or to defy conventiona 1 usage, proves himself to be disinterested, tender, generous, capable of cherishing a last ing attachment, but not sufficiently sus ceptible to suffer from the excess of violent passion, in this respect resembling the John Smith of a recent novel, whose name, person, age, and character seemed to typify mediocrity of the best class. Mordaunt Evelyn, on the other hand, is sensitive, passionate, and proud; reserved, but ungovernable ; with most of the faults and few of the virtues of that thin-skinned nature which, without high in tellect or great feeling, is apt to degenerate into mere selfishness. These young men are friends. They are struck at the same moment with the exquisite beauty of a young girl who is studying as an artist. She is poor, and her family distressed. One gentleman buys her works at a handsome price, and thus relieves her family, and gains for her patronage; the other toys with her till his passion passes self control. Felix Wynn flies temptation, Mor daunt Evelyn ields to it. His family is ex cessively proud and high: it is necessary that he should make a wealthy alliance to maintain his station, but his passion is too strong fur resistance, and the young girl becomes his wife. In fiction, as in real life, the most charming histories are produced by the passion which, if selfish, yet subdues all baser selfishness, and makes great sacrifices to attain its object. When this love is justified by worth, and sustained with heart and energy, and when from resulting happiness and prospelity the world is forced to confess that what it re• garded as folly was in reality prudence, the 953 romance terminates exactly as we could wish. But more often, we fear, the passion proves transitory, and the sacrifice is regretted ; and it is this aspect of a love match which Lady Scott delineates. Mordaunt, however, does not treat his wife harshly : she is gentle and accomplished, and ho has no reason to be dis satisfied with her; but he dreads her rela tives, and he is exacting, and he frets at his straitened income. The trials of his wife's career at this time are represented with great fidelity to nature, yet with dramatic force and colouring. She has to submit to many mord ficatious from her husband's high family, who receive her with an ill grace ; and the little slights and wrongs by which she is made miserable, and her affection for Mordaunt weakened, are touchingly told. The social scenes and characters of this part of the book are very effective. But, after all, there is some obscurity about her birth, and the narrative suddenly drops from the reality of an estab lishment in Curzon-street into that maze of mystery in which novel-manufacturers delight. All this part of the story is, we think, a mis take ; and we like as little the contrivances by which she is turned into a lady of rank and noble fortune as we do the adventures which relieve her from her husband—now pitiably re duced in circumstances—and enable her, after a long widowhood, to wed into the peerage. The tale is worth a better conclusion, and we hope, when the authoress writes again, that she will have the good taste to rely more en tirely on her power to please by adhering to truthful incident. On the whole, we have been greatly pleased with "The Pride of Life," and are satisfied that novel-readers will thank us for bringing this one to their notice. 2. " Lewell Pastures " is in quite a different vein. The action is entirely in the country. A young gentleman retires in disgust front the gay world when the brilliant girl he adored forsook him for his elder brother, and devotes himself to the improvement of a small estate he possesses in a wild and sequestered dis. trict. The characters here, removed from social influences, assume decided and, in some cases, grotesque shapes of humanity. They are not like the ordinary personages one meets with in the country, but they have sit the appearance of real living men and women nevertheless. The incidents of the book par take of the same out-of-the-way character, resembling in this respect such fictions as "Wurthering Heights" rather than the exces sively commonplace portraiture of Miss Austin. Nothing can be more unpromising for ro mance than the commencement of this narra tive. The hero who tells his own tale is situated in a desolate house, with a barren country round, and has for his near neigh bours only a miserly, brutal, old landowner, with whom lie soon falls into dispute about right of way, and a couple of poor maiden sisters, who, through long seclusion, have quite lost sight of the world and its ways, and scream at the view of a man. But even these characters engage us. Sir Jasper Egremont has strongly-marked qualities, and the poor ladies, Pope and Pagan, with their queer ideas and habits, move equally to laughter and pity. Then, after a time, the scene opens, and the lovely, shy, nunlike Grace Egremont, the old man's granddaughter, whom he will never ac knowledge; the bewitching Edith Erskine, with her concealed love—guilty, yet pure ; the wealthy, vulgar widow, and her ever-careful maitre d'hotel; with men of ardent pessions and desperate nature, appear upon the stage. The mansion of Sir Jasper is burnt down, and the old man dies. The perplexity of his heir, as he fancies himself, who comes into posses sion of large property, but all involved iu various degrees of entanglement, is humo rously described : " I can't—no, really, believe that Sir Jasper has beau hi considerate enough to die without putting things in wipe for me. It is so horribly seltiab and inconvenient Id no conception what it wan to have one's house burned down. Yon don't know what a nuisance I have found it;" Malvern said, in a tone of great dissatisfaction. " Now r protest, Harry—you won't believe it-1 dare say you an envying me, and 1 do think the old fellow might have re membered you in some manner—but not happy. I am so hipped and bothered, yon can't think bow it worries rue, not knowing where the old sinner has locked up his nioney. There's monstrous little in the beak, this land's nothing superfine--at least, 1 don't think so. Ota the whole, I'm uncommonly disappointed. It is not at all R I 2