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

THE PRESS,

of favourably. It is from end to end written
with great smartness; some of its scenes dis-
play Ms comica of great power; it is studded
with bons-mots and biting sarcasms ; and every
here and there it is lighted up with flashes of
true wit. But it is as a picture of French
society that the play will chiefly interest the
English reader. In a scheming and unscru•
pulous politician—in an impudent stockjobber
who by means of bubble companies swindles
the public on a grand scale, but keeps on the
safe side of the law—in a wretched newspaper
scribe who writes for any party that will pay
him—in a popular novel-writer who to fill
his purse puts his name to works which he
never wrote and never read—in a foolish
middle-aged widow who burns to dabble in
politics, and to be another Princess Lieven—
in each and all of these individuals we rind
people that are to be met with in Parisian
society every day. Some of these even are
drawn so accurately from the life that every
one who knows Paris could say, " That is
M— !" and " That M— !" .

But let us see what these people are. It is
thus that the author describes them, or makes
them describe themselves :

The Stoelrjobber.—" I began without a farthing in the
world, and now I have a house in town, and a country
seat—everything on credit! 1 keep a dancing•woman too,
but not on credit. For example, at this moment I am get-
ting up a gigantic joint•stock company for fishing up from
the ocean the millions and the treasures it has kept for
years !" " Take care—you will drown your shareholders !"
" What do I care? I shall not be amongst them !" " lint
how can you think of ruining so many people—so many
fathers of families ?" "Ah! my dear fellow, if you respect
the fortune of other people you will never make your own !
110 as I do. Get rich !"

The Politician.—" You are a deputy in the chamber and
yet you count for nothing? Do you wish to be anything?
If so, follow my counsel! Create a party !" " A party !
With whom, or what ?" " With nobody—put yourself at
the head of it. Be a shepherd, 1 tell you—the sheep will
come afterwards. First of all take a splendid house—give
parties—invite frequently twenty of your colleagues to
dinner." " Whom shall I invite?" " The discontented,
and the great eaters. You will always find enough of
both. Add to these three or four newspaper writers. Tell
these people not to repeat what you say—and next day all
Madrid will know it. People will talk of your party—and
you will be at the head of one ! Then we must get a news-
paper—two newspapers to be on your side. Whenever you
make a speech one newspaper must call you witty, the
other profound. Both must constantly designate you that
statesman, and you will be a statesman !"
The Widow.—" J shall be initiated into political secrets,
and into affairs of state ! Everybody will talk of my credit,
my influence—my name will be in every mouth, and I
shall be compared to Madame de Maintenon and Madame
des Ursine. And why not after all? Is it so difficult to
govern ? To give places to those who please us, and dis-
miss those who displease us—that is the sum and impor-
tance of politics, and I am capable of being a minister !"
The Newspaper-writer.—" And so you and your news-
paper pass over, arms and baggage, to the new ministry?"
"To he sure ! lam for all ministers ! The ministers are
the government, and I am governmental !" " Perhaps
there is another motive ?" "Yes ; and I confess it frankly,
for I am not a hypocrite. I confess that I can't write
gratis-1 can only write well when my hands are full.
And besides, the trade as I practise it is very amusing.
My pen flatters the ministers, it is true, but I ridicule
them in so doing, and they perceive it not !"
As to the illustrious romance-writer, ho
avows with the coolest impudence that, finding
himself in the possession of popularity, he
determined to make the most money he could
by it; and that accordingly he employed
young men of talent to write works for him,
which he palmed off on the public as his own,
though he never even read what he published.
In this personage even the English reader will
have no difficulty in recognising an author
who has made considerable noise in the
world. But the man falls into a scrape :
" Since I have •the honour of speaking to you," says a
foolish bourgeois, his profound admirer, " tell me how it is
that in one of your most interesting works, ' Princes and
Convicts,' in the third volume—"
" The third ! The deuce! I never read more than the
first! "
" You make a personage appear who was killed in the
second."
" Surely that can't be—you mistake !"
" Nay, my wife and I read the work with the greatest
attention ; and I assure you that the death of the terrible
guerillero is detailed in chapter vii. of the second vo-
lume, and yet he is alive again in the third volume."
"It was Felipe who sold me that work. Has he com-
mitted any blunder? But, my dear air, I recollect now;
the guerillero was not dead—only in a lethargy!"
" Not at all—his head was cut off!"
" So it was ; but, you understand, when one writes so
many works, one forgets ! Here, Felipe! "
Felipe appears, and an amusing scene ensues.
He cannot, for the life of him, explain how it

951

is that the dead man becomes resuscitated,
and, after a good deal of shuffling, ends by
confessing that he did not write the work, but
bought the manuscript from one Zea. Zea is
summoned, but he cannot clear up the mys-
tery, and lie also ends by confessing that he
was not the author of the work, but purchased
it at a low price from somebody else. Perhaps,
as this sort of traffic is not known in England,
the scene may not strike the English reader so
much as it would a French one ; but in the
literary circles of Paris it must be considered
one of the richest comedy. The manner iu
which the aoi-disant author puts an end to it
is also exceedingly good, and perfectly charac-
teristic of the man :

What is most surprising to me in all this is, that the
romance appeared more than a year ago, and yet this is
the first time 1 received information of this terrible blun-
der! This proves with what attention people read in the
present century !

Such, then, are the persons who are to be
met with in Parisian society—such the lan-
guage that is to be heard from them every day
in every salon and every club—such the prin-
ciples on which they boast of acting. Doubt-
less Parisian society is not entirely composed
of such scamps; but the scamps are unfortu-
nately so numerous, and the indulgence with
which they are tolerated is so great, that they
give a tone to the whole community. And
this it is which causes the stranger in Paris to
proclaim that society is fearfully corrupt.
Let us not, however, cast stones at our
neighbours, and forget that we live in a glass
house. Even in virtuous England we have
people who are not one whit better than those
in the French comedy. At St. Stephen's we
could point to more than one whom the
description of the politician would suit to a
hair. My Lord Aberdeen will not venture to
deny that the old woman's notions of polities
may be entertained by a prime minister ;
and as to the newspaper writer, is not what he
says true of you, 0 editor of the —?

The English Prisoners in Russia. A Personal
Narrative of Alfred Royer, First Lieutenant
of H.M.S. Tiger. London: Chapman and
Hall.

LIEUTENANT ROYER, who was restored to liberty
by the Emperor Nicholas, in an interview ho
had with his Majesty, has here given a narra-
tive of his adventures, from the grounding of
the Tiger on the Odessan coast, 12th of May
last, to his arrival at Dover on the Oth of July.
Thus he was on Russian ground nearly three
months, and travelled from Odessa to St.
Petersburg, and from thence, via Warsaw and
Berlin, home. He was treated handsomely
during his short term of imprisonment, and
hence is disposed to view his captors kindly.
Very likely his reception at St. Petersburg
and magnanimous liberation were designed to
make an impression on our public ; but no
such motive can ho alleged for the uniform
kindness manifested, not towards him only,
but towards the whole ship's crew, by Russian
people of all ranks ; and, at all events, we
may safely accept his narrative as a record of
facts, and need not too closely scrutinise the
intent of acts which were good in themselves
and show respect for English opinion.
The Tiger grounded in the morning at half-
past five, and four hours later eight 24-pounders
brought from Odessa opened fire ou the ves-
sel, whose guns had been nearly all thrown
overboard, with the hope of lightening her.
Stranded as the ship was, she of course
offered a capital mark to the enemy's fire .
The firing of the Russians, before it obtained the proper
range, was chiefly in the rigging, which was much cut up
by it. Soon, however, it began to tell upon the hull of the
ship with terrible effect, each discharge either lodging the
balls in her, or passing clearly through into the sea. If tin
vessel had not been already resting upon the ground, she
must have sunk by reason of the many shot-holes, which
we could not have plugged up fast enough to counteract the
effects of the enemy's fire.
Red hot shot now began-to be thrown into the hull, and
we soon discovered that the vessel was on fire in two place.
—in the pinnace, which was in the centre of the ship, ant
had not been let down ; also in a very dangerous positive
below.
The ball that took effect had entered through the
starboard or right-hand law of the fillip, and lodged in th-
store rooms, leaving a cheer round orifice, through whit
we could see the laud as through a port-hole.
As the store-rooms adjoined the fore part of the powde
magazine, it was necessary to make every possible ezertic

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952

to extinguish the flames ; so that we had to call off all the
men that could be spared from other duties to man the
pumps. Four of these were worked without intermission,
and succeeded in partially subduing the fire; three of the
pumps were then turned to play into the powder-mag,a-
zinc ; and these continued to the last a work which is not
so easy as may be imagined.
A shell striking the bow-port close to the
only gun that could be worked did fearful
execution as it exploded. It carried off a leg
of Captain Giffard, both legs of a midshipman,
a leg of the captain of the gun, and severely
wounded two others. Further resistance
could only have resulted in useless sacrifice of
life, so the union-jack was hauled down, and
the prisoners landed with all speed, lest they
should be rescued by other ships. The
first appearance of Osten-Sacken inspires
more respect for his circumspection than
his courage. When the " first lieutenant "
landed to speak to the general he was "closely
"attended by two foot soldiers and one quaran-
" tine guard, who was provided with a brace
"of pistols to prevent contact." The officer
who was sent to board the vessel returned
more quickly than he set out :

This booted and spurred field officer, who was not a
young man, was very awkward in executing the order ; he,
however, contrived, somehow or other, to get into one of
the two boats, which stood rather too high on the beach for
one to stride into with straps to his nether clothing. When
he had cleared the shore, with a crew of about forty or fifty
Russian infantry, and was "well at sea," and whilst they
were e( unting the men that had been landed, the fog
cleared up a little, and two dark objects were seen ap•
proaching the scene of action at a distance of about half a
mile. The consternation may be imagined; the boat was
immediately hailed to return, and the prisoners were
marched off with a strong guard towards Odessa.
The invasion of quarantine rules seems
dreaded even more than the invasion of an
enemy. When the lieutenant requested that
the prisoners might be allowed " libre pra-
tique, ' the general could with difficulty com-
prehend that such a request could be seriously
meant, and he kept " knitting his brows as if
" he wished to summon his faculties to the
" comprehension of the phrase which had no
" place in his understanding." At length he
informed the lieutenant that the quarantine
laws were more despotic than the Emperor
himself ; that his Majesty would have to sub-
mit to them ; and seemed, in short, to consider
that Russia was made for the quarantine, not
the quarantine for Russia. Perhaps these
rules against infection may be due to a con-
sciousness of the elements which, amidst the
filth of a Russian population, exist ready to
spread it, just as the wooden houses of towns
and villages in danger of igniting with a spark
are furnished on their roofs with tubs of water
to extinguish the conflagration there is so
much reason to expect.

The private property of the prisoners was
ordered to be scrupulously respected ; but the
dexterity of Russian thieves proved more than
a match for the vigilance of the police and of
military guards. The captain's plate-chest
vanished never to reappear, and desks and
chests were thoroughly plundered before
being restored to their owners. It is greatly
to the credit of the crew that many of the men,
having to choose what they would take with
them in hurriedly leaving the vessel, made
sure of bibles and prayer-books in preference
to property more intrinsically valuable. The
regulation allowance was liberally increased in
their favour ; both the general and his amiable
wife paid every attention to the prisoners,
and especially to the sick ; and this kind
treatment leads our lieutenant into some
rather injudicious reflections on the contrast
between Russian enmity and Turkish friendli-
ness :
At first, unacquainted with the Thissian character, and
apprehensive of ill-treatment in case we were removed to
some out-of-the-way place in the interior of the country,
the officers resorted to various ingenious contrivances to
secrete the spare money they possessed. Some sewed it in
the stiff collars of their jackets ; others wore the coin in
belts round their waists, etc. But that such precautions
were perfectly needless will he seen in the sequel. The
ant lieutenant traversed the whole of Russia, often leaving
Ms portmanteau in the carriage upon the highroad, while
Q the night, without losing the
sympathy everywhere shown
qndlict of our civilised
to that of our barbarous
. country has generously pro-
Constantinople w•e were often
Turkish children, who
an abhorrence of us if
by their parents, who no

THE PRESS.

doubt expressed in private the feelings which were thus
aped and reflected by their little counterparts.

What is related, however, by the "first lieute-
nant," on his route from Odessa to St. Pe-
tersburg, of the sentiments of some Turkish
prisoners, is scarcely credible. Surely some
dust must have been thrown in his eyes by
his good-natured Russian protectors before
he could have believed what he here relates :

At Tonle, which we reached at four o'clock p.m., and
where we merely remained to dine before proceeding on our
way, we were visited by four Turkish officers, who had
been taken prisoners in one of the packet•steamers on the
Black Sea, between Trebizond and Constantinople : this
was the place appointed for their residence.
The report soon reached them that the first English
prisoner of war had arrived, and they naturally thought it
their duty to call and pay their respects to their ally in
misfortune. One of them spoke a kind of broken English,
which he may have picked up when acting as clerk to the
embassy in England. They had been about three months
in this place, and evinced no desire to return to their
country, expressing themselves quite satisfied with the
friendly treatment they experienced at the hands of their
enemies. Indeed I have since been assured that one of
these men, at St. Petersburg, actually burst into tears when
his release was announced to him

In some cases more indulgence was shown
than could reasonably have been anticipated.
Among articles sent from friends in England
to young midshipmen on board were two
boxes containing a sword and revolvers, but
these articles, though they might have been
confiscated as contraband of war, were only
retained till the prisoners left. It is a curious
commentary on the policy of the Russian Go-
vernment that newspapers were much more
dreaded than implements of war. Colt's
revolvers might pass free, but not so copies of
the Times or Illustrated News.
The "first lieutenant" was summoned to
St. Petersburg, arrangements having been
made for the exchange or safe custody of the
other prisoners. He left Odessa at midnight
on the 6th of June, and arrived at Moscow
soon after midday on the 15th. This would
give between eight and nine days for the jour-
ney ; but, as he occasionally slept through the
night on the road, it is evident the distance
could, by Government couriers, be traversed
much more quickly. Five or six days, there-
fore, would seem a sufficient time for des-
patches from Prince Menschikoff in the Crimea
to reach Moscow, whence the railroad runs
uninterruptedly to St. Petersburg. The " first
lieutenant" was treated to excellent railway
accommodation :
The carriage allotted for my special use was about ten
feet square ; it was furnished with two sofas and chairs, a
small card-table, and two side-tables. On the sofas I could
have reclined at full length, a convenience very desirable
and generally denied us on English railways; the sofas
and chairs had air-cushions, and were very comfortable.
I looked into several first and second class carriages, and
they all appeared nicely fitted up, although not like the one
assigned to me : the second-class carriages had seats and
cushions superior to those of the first class on English
railways, and afforded plenty of room to each individual,
allowing of his sitting without cramping his knees upon
those of the person opposite to him.
The narrative becomes of more importance
as it proceeds. When at St. Petersburg,
where he was treated with positive distinction,
he was first summoned to the palace of the
Grand Duke Constantine at Strelna, and here
was graciously greeted by a lady. The inter-
view is pleasantly narrated :
I was shown into a drawing-room to await the arrival
of the Grand Duke Constantine,who had not returned from
Cronstadt. He fills the post of Commander-in-Chief of the
navy, lately occupied by Prince Menachikoff, who has teen
sent to command the fleet at Sevastopol, and who may there
one day pay the penalty, in his person, of the war of which
he was one of the principal instigators.
• • • • •
I was standing, leaning over a chair and looking out of
a window, with my back to the door, when I heard these
words, in a pleasing tone and in good English, with a slight
foreign accent :—" You are waiting for the Grand Duke, I
suppose 2" 1 turned round, and, a little to my confusion,
saw three ladies standing close by me. I bowed respect-
fully to the lady in advance, and replied that I had been
directed to meet his Imperial Highness at eight o'clock.
The Grand Duchess, for it was no other who now honoured
me with her conversation, was accompanied by two of her
ladies in waiting. Her Imperial Highness said she hal
heard of my having been very unwell, and expressed a hope
that I was better. I replied, that I had only risen from my
bed in obedience to the commands of the Grand Duke.
Her Imperial Highness then informed me that it was un-
certain when the Grand Duke would return ; and added,
in the most mare manner, that I might know who was
addressing me, " Even I do not know, and I am his wife !"
I again bowed, when she said that she should certainly hear if
he VMS detained, and would let me know ; she reeommende
' me, in the meanwhile, to wait, saying that she would sen
me some tea, and the last English newspaper, which had

SATURDAY,

just come to hand. She then retired with her attendants, by
the door at which she had entered, and soon after returned
alone, with a copy of the Illustrated London News, which
she handed to me, saying, " See ! it has not yet been
opened, and is thelast number received." It was addressed
to the Grand Duke, and had not passed under the scrutiny
of the censor; its destination to a member of the Imperial
Family being a safeguard from the mutilating scissors of that
important functionary.
Her Imperial Highness then retired, and I soon saw her
in the garden, walking with her suite. She is a person of
very pleasing appearance, rather above the middle height,
of sweet and intellectual countenance, and decidedly pretty
and engaging. She appeared to be about three-and-twenty,
and was dressed with great simplicity in white, with
scarcely any ornament except a few tasteful flowers in her
white bonnet. The ladies who accompanied her were
older than herself ; and, although they were certainly
beautiful, served to set off her Imperial Highness to advan-
tage, by the gay colours of their dress, in contrast with the
simplicity and elegance of hers. They did not speak while
in the room, but as soon as they left I heard them say some
words in French, and therefore concluded (as I had been
assured) that this was the language of the Court.
Then came the übiquitous samovar with its
grateful refreshment, and after the " first
lieutenant" had partaken of tea the Grand
Duke Constantine appeared :
Presently the Grand Duke entered alone with his aide-
de-camp, and, coming up to me, held out his band to
shake hands; he addressed me in English, hoped I was
better, and regretted my having bad to wait so long. He
then motioned me to enter another apartment, the door of
which had just been opened by one of the servants. Here
we were left alone, and I was put quite at my ease by his
Imperial Highness's affability ; he requested me to sit
down, and ordered tea and wine, which were brought
and set on two separate tables placed by us : be took
some wine, and asked me to help myself, while he
smoked the amber-mouthed pipe presented to him by the
attendant.
The conversation first turned on the loss of the Tiger,
into the details of which he entered minutely ; he was well
acquainted with them, having read the official report that
I had addressed to the admiral from Odessa, a copy of
which had been forwarded to him : in addition to this, he
had the report of the authorities of that city relative to
the circumstances that succeeded. He put a number of
questions to me ; among others, be asked why we had not
taken to our boats. I replied, that no naval officer ever
thinks of abandoning his ship, and that we had defended
the Tiger, hoping to the last to get her off the beach, until
it was too late to escape in the boats.
His Imperial Highness spoke with earnestness of his
voyages to England and in the Mediterranean, and referred
to many naval officers whom he had met, naming them,
and mentioning them in connection with circumstances
that evinced his clear recollection of them.
Referring to Sir William Simonds (whom T think he
said he knew), his Imperial Highness remarked that he
believed the Russian three-decker the Twelve Apostles was
a superior vessel to the Queen, which that officer had built,
inasmuch as the defects said to exist in the latter had
been corrected in the former ; the stern, for instance,
although not so sightly, was more useful and effective, as
guns could be fired at it, while it is doubtful whether
the Queen could sustain the shock. lie also added that
the Twelve Apostles, on repeated trials, had worked to wind-
ward, and overtaken their swiftest frigates.
His Imperial Highness spoke of many of the ships in
both the English and French navies, comparing them with
each other, and appearing to be quite au fait on maritime
subjects.
I was much pleased with the ingenuous manner in which
the Grand Duke Constantine spoke of the exploits of the
Arrogant and Heela. lie said, " Have you heard what
your countryman has done ? " I replied that I had not
Well," said his Imperial Highness, "of all bold and
seaman-like operations, this of Captain Hall's—taking his
steamer seven miles up a creek of intricate navigation,
in an enemy's country—is the most daring I could have
imagined; I cannot but admire such gallantry, even in an
enemy."
His Imperial Highness wished to know how it was that
Sir Charles Napier carried a blue flag at the main ; " for,"
said he, " by the despatches, 1 see that be signs only as
vice-admiral; has he been promoted?" He infoimed me
that he had received that very day a report from Finland,
stating that the Duke of Wellington and some other ships
had stood in to the coast, whence the flag he named had
been seen at the main. I was not able to account for this
circumstance, and suggested that it might have been merely
a signal.
His Impenal Highness made a remark to which I could
give no reply : he said, " I am sorry the war is not of a
more equal character." He then proceeded to complain
of the English ships having approached the coast of Fin-
land, carrying the Russian flag, and thus deceiving the
land-officers commanding the fortresses, who could not be
expected to distinguish between the ships of the adverse
navies. I did not feel called upon to enter into a discus-
sion on the right of using such means for misleading en
enemy,—a practice which has so many precedents in war.
The Grand Duke will have learned by this time that,
when fighting, our gallant ships hoist their own flag,
under
which alone we condescend to fight, and never under false
colours. • • •While we were thus oonversing the Grand Duchess
entered, on which I ruse and bowed ; the Grand Duke
said, "You have already made the acquaintance of my
wife." She came forward and referred to the newspaper
she had given me, inquiring about its contents. She
always spoke to me in English, evincing a desire to ac-
quire that facility of expression which only practice can
give ; and, on her making a slight and very natural error,

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