The Press. — London, England, 1856-08-09 00:00:00

AUGUST 9, 1856. cannot say that I eaperienced the agri somnia, for I never was in better health iu my life ; but every slight sound awoke me, and what sleep I had was disturbed. The first destination of Colonel Lake and bis companions, after leaving Kars, was Tiflis, where they were received with great kindness and civility by the Russian officials, though the inhabitants generally were leas hospitable that could have been wished. They were lodged in a handsome hotel, taken expressly for their accommodation by the Russian Government, at a cost of 1601. a month. The theatre at Tiflis was very passable, having been elegantly fitted up by Count Woronzoff, the acting above mediocrity, the music good, and the actresses pretty. Here the captives .consoled themselves as well as they could for the ungracious conduct of the inhabitants. Elsewhere, however, everything in this re spect was couleur du rose. They were welcomed everywhere with the greatest cordiality, and found the demeanour of the Russian ladies and gentlemen most affable and polished. We shall string together a few instances, without specially describing the circumstances of each 'case : Sn the evening we drank tea in the house of Madame Warpaehoffay. Her daughters—two very charming young ladies—sang with great taste and spirit ; and one of them very good-naturedly danced the Lesghian dance, which we had never seen before. It is very graceful and fantastic. The dansesse is in a stooping attitude; the right arm held jn front of the forehead, and the left behind the back, /while the feet slide, without being lifted, along the ground. 'lke movement is slow; the music original and pretty. irke eldest read aloud to us some lines of Byron with an *went that was quite endearing. Incited by curiosity, and swims to see all we could, we were ungallant enough to leave .this charming circle as early as nine for the sake of : gains to the theatre ; and I here record, by way of warning to all about to behave in a similar manner, that we were dreadfully disappointed, and subjected to the infliction of a sorry performance, which ill•requited us for the sacrifice we had made. We accompanied the Padre to his own house, which was a very prettily furnished and comfortable abode. We were then introduced to his wife, daughter, and several other ladies. None of this party spoke any language but Rus sian, and Polivanoff was, therefore, obliged to interpret fur us. We were most plentifully supplied with wine, biscuits, and vodki. Padre Aleisey, the father of the Major, was lunch affected at the idea of our being prisoners so far away from our homes. He insisted upon our accompanying him to his house, which was adjacent to the church of the pillage : here we were again invited and pressed to partake .of caviar, fish, biscuits, wine, and vodki. The Russians take no denial, and drink vodki (the spirit of the country) as if it were water. The scene here would have pre seined excellent points for the pencil of Leech or Cruik shank, •though the peculiar opinions of the latter would have been wady shocked. • • Fortunately at this conjuncture there entered another /dicer, who had heard of our arrival, and whose wine in• :spired mood had only reached the phase of hilarity. He informed us that there had been that day in the village as :marl as three weddings, and that grand rejoicings had inevailed. He at once ordered horses to be got ready for tus, and wa e anw bile invited us to proceed to his house, and partake of what cheer he could offer. Here we found his mite, daughierin•law (a pretty, interesting looking girl), .and other ladies. The everlasting vodki was copiously poured.out and handed round, and various toasts proposed. We were very kindly pressed to stay to supper, and we did mot leave the village until a late hour, when we proceeded a. few versts and halted on the high road. Oi Wednesday the 13th the Governor of Tamboff sent a message to us that he was obliged to start at noon for St. Petersburg. and hoped that we would breakfast with him, as be was very anxious to see us before he left. We accordingly waited upon him, and found a number •of persons who had assembled to bid him adieu. His house was on a grand scale, and handsomely fitted up. His wife and daughters were very charming people, and spoke English with fluency. We waited in the drawing- ,room while mass was being celebrated in the saloon. We then sat down to a sumptous entertainment, which was served in the breakfast hall. We receivtd the utmost hiaduess and attention. The Governor's wife, Madame Daneas, insisted upon our dining with them. As the youngest daughter had accompanied her father to St. Petersburg, our party was a smell but very pleasant one, and after dinner we were invited, with the ladies, to a soirée and dance at the house of Monsieur de Lion, the Marechal de la Noblesse. My friend Thompson, who was a good and indefatigable dancer, accompanied them; but I was somewhat fatigued and amide my apologies. The above circumstances all took place during the journey from Tiflis to Penza in Russia. At the latter town, where they were remaining, a perpetual round of gaiety was kept up; nor were his entertainers, says the Colonel, less conspicuous for their culture than their cour tesy : Surrounded as Russia is by civilisation, we are amis. taxed to consider that her borders only have caltun, THE PRESS. refinement, and education, whilst the people of the interior we graciously conceive to combine the ferocity of the Kaffir with the social cheerfulness of the Esquimaux. No greater mistake could be made. In the large towns through which I passed, there exists great culture. To the matter of languages, especially, the utmost attention is paid. Children, from their earliest infancy, are taught French and German; and it is most rare to meet with a lady who does not speak these two languages, at all events, with precision and fluency. They are, in fact, so accustomed to the French, that the ladies usually employ it for general conversation. English is not nearly so well known, owing in all probability to the very slight extent to which the interior of Russia is "done" by our autumnal travellers. But, nevertheless, it is by no means uncommon in the larger towns. It would really appear that the Russians have a special facility for lan guages. The men, who in that country as elsewhere will insist on reserving the best of everything, even in educa tion, to themselves, are highly cultivated, especially the large numbers who serve the Government. In addition to their practical acquaintance with several languages, they are usually fond of, and keep pace with, the literature of foreign countries. Domesticity is a great Russian institu tion : homes are almost invariably happy. Excellent wives and excellent husbands are the rule: everywhere there is a cheerfulness which is very fascinating. The taste—and I must also add, the talent—for music is very general, and there are few more pleasant performances than the Russian native airs played by the ladies. Na tional airs, when distinct from the encroachments of other countries, are always interesting; and those of which I speak have a peculiar vein of melody very unlike that of any others with which we are better acquainted. We should bear in mind that in countries governed by a system like the Russian, where every individual is obliged to contribute towards the policy of the State, and to honour those whom it is the sovereign's will to honour, we should be more cautious in our interpreta tion of the treatment experienced by strangers than we should be in Great Britain. Yet we can discover no point of view from which the conduct of the Russians towards our country men does not appear praiseworthy ; at all events, whatever we may consider to have been the cause, the effect remains—the fact that in the interior of Russia high civilisation exists, and that the lower orders are at least as much educated as our own. We think in this part of his work Colonel Lake might have been a little fuller than he has been, with advantage. Something more upon the Russian domestic system, servants, diet, costume, division of time, and all those little matters which compose daily life, would have rendered his narrative more complete. At present we have but a sketch, but we are truly obliged to Colonel Lake even for that, which is executed with considerable spirit, and has at all events the merit of novelty. Paraguay, Brazil, and the Plate. Letters written in 1852-3, by the late C B. Mans field, Esq. Edited by the Rev. C. Kingsley. Cambridge : Macmillan. THE tendency of these posthumous letters is to show the opportunity now existing in South America for successful colonisation on a large scale, though the author, from his early and lamentable death, had no opportunity to carry his views into practice. Mr. Mans field, on his return from South America in 1853, devoted himself with intense ardour to chemistry, and in February, 1855, achieved a discovery and perfected an invention for which he obtained a patent. One night, at his laboratory, near the Regent's-park, making some experiments connected with the patent, his assistant, by some error, ignited the naphtha; the machine exploded, killed the boy on the spot, and so frightfully injured Mr. Mansfield that he died after nine days' fearful agony, "in the very prime of life, and "on the very threshold of renown." This painful incident lends a peculiar interest to the volume. When he left England, in May, 1852, Mr. Mansfield appears to have had no settled plan of travel beyond ascertaining the resources and capabilities of Paraguay, so long cut off by Fran cia from all intercourse with the outer world. Having spent some ten months in Brazil and South America, he returned, but without learn• ing much of Paraguay, for, in reply to a friend in 1854, he writes that he knows little, has really " nothing to put into formal shape," that he believed the country to be truly an unspoiled Arcadia, and that it was " the most interesting, " the loveliest, and the pleasantest country in " the world." The cause of so poor a result after so inip4nous a beginning is to be traced, 763 we fear, to that " infirmity of purpose " which would seem to have affected Mr. Mansfield throughout life. With him there was but one step from satisfaction to satiety. He starte d to see Paraguay, ho reached it, propounded vast schemes for its benefit, did little, said less, came suddenly home, and devoted the remainder of his too brief life to scientific study. Yet the letters, collected from various friends to whom they were written during the tour, contain much novel matter, and on the whole some interesting information. The first place in Brazil touched at by the steamers is Pernambuco; and here Mr. Mans field, who in travelling never had a will of his own, stopped on the solicitation of some friends, and remained in the neighbourhood of the town for about a month. Pernambuco, on the north coast, is a fine, handsome town, massively built, and famous for its fruit, its filth, and its slaves. The raptures with which Mr. Mansfield exclaims in favour of this pic turesque town, full of life and bustle within, and without with gardens, orchards, and fields of maize and sugar-cane, and long green lanes hedged in with orange trees, and "fringed " with wonderful shapes of every kind of " vegetating beauty," will be perfectly appre ciated by all who have passed a tedious sea voyage (and what sea voyage is not, after forty-eight hours of the " blue above and the " blue below "?j and have landed at length on a semi-tropical shore. Even in the hands of these wretched undeveloped creatures, writes Mr. Mansfield, what an Eden of beauty ! What a paradise it would be made by Englishmen of this century ! what a heaven it will be made by the brother men of the age that is to come ! I need not pour nut my rapturous admiration of the works of the Great Poet• Father, as you have seen such, and have worshipped in similar scenes. The beauty is almost bewildering. The glorious cncoa•nut trees, bananas, and several kinds of palms, breadfruit, etc. etc., and the magnificent green oranges. . . . lam too giddy to write soberly about anything. I feel inclined to cut capers under the trees till I am tired, then sigh like a hippopotamus for some one to pour it all out upon, and then lie down and dream. As for studying the botany of the country, it is impossible. Nothing is possible but to photographise everybody and everything : cameras cannot get giddy with wonder. To another friend he writes, June 4:— How I wish you were here, with your head, and camera, and eves, and, better than any, your heart, to fall down and worship, and to sympathise with me in my admiration of the scene, even of the little glimpse I have had of it ! Yet I snppose there is scarcely any one here who values the glorious imagery of the Mighty Poet who has made all this. Negroes, Mulattoes, Portuguese, Brazilians, ali have pigs' eyes, I suppose, by virtue of Adam's fall, and the English for the same reason are all absorbed in the pursuit of wealth, and so cannot enjoy. The negroes are a remarkably fine race, and come in for their share of admiration : They are generally (writes Mr. Mansfield) splendid specimens of muscular development, at least about the chest and arms, with skins shining like velvet ; most of them are slaves. Now the first thing that strikes me about these slaves, so far as I have seen of them, is the dignity and independent look which they preserve. There is something Achilles like in the stride of the Nigger as he brings a dish to table; I only wish such cheeiliii faces were to be seen among our English poor. If what we see here is anything like a fair specimen of slavery, my opinion is that the cry against slavery, as raised in Eng land, is a vile sham, and lip worship ; for I do believe we English are fully as real slaveholders as these people. A visit to Rio Janeiro, a trip up the Organ Mountains, and to the coffee plantations in the interior, convince Mr. Mansfield that popula tion alone is the one thing wanted to make this country of Brazil productive and profit able. It possesses a fine soil and good rivers, and the climate, though hot in the valleys, is on the tablelands tolerably temperate. Since the stoppage of the importation of slaves there is no labour to be got in the interior—white men cannot work, at least they say so, and black men will not if they can help it; and so the coffee plantations are waning, and the story of Jamaica will soon he told in Brazil, th.rugh why Chinese labour , answering so admirably well in Australis, should not be tried both in the West Indies and Brazil, does not appear. In riding through the country the forests of Brazil, Mr. Mansfield says. are not only magnificent, but capable of being turned some day to great pro fit. The variety of valuable wood is incredible. " There is no property," he writes, "in " any wood for any purpose which is not to " be found in first-rate degree in some wood Jr " other of these forests ;" and then he bewails the melancholy reoklessness with which the