The Press.
London, England, 1856-09-13 00:00:00

PRE SS:

cloud of plumes, flashing steel. gold and silver, and
hazy dust, all down the line, the troops presenting
arms, the standards and eagles being lowered, and
each regiment cheering as the Emperor passed.
Turning up to the left again the brilliant staff rode
at an equally rapid pace along the second line, and
in like manner passed the front of all the divisions.
The cheers were measured, and the sound of so
many voices crying out " Long live the Czar,"
mingled with the strains of the national anthem, had
a very fine effect.
The review was magnificent, and the several regi-
ments of the Guard did credit to Russia. One
regiment, the Pavlofsky, or the regiment of Paul,
presents an appearance which would be grotesque if
it were not imposing. "All the men," says a corre-
spondent, " have cocked noses. Every soldier with a
nez retroussie, who is of the proper height, is sent to
this regiment, which was formed by Paul in one of
his eccentric freaks, and a very determined pug is
eligible if it be aocompanied by sunken eyes and
high cheek-bones. But more than this. The men,
clean shaven, like all Russian soldiers, except on the
lip, wear their moustaches brushed upwards towards
the ears, which gives them a strange and savage as-
spect. This bizarre and ferocious appearance is in-
creased by the shape of their bead-dress, which is
like a sugar loaf with ono side cut away—an angular
sedition of a cone, with the round side to the front."

The piece de resistance of the review was the
grand cavalry charge :
The Chevalier Guard of the Emperor came up at the
head of the twelve regiments of cavalry of the Imperial
Guard and of the line. It is impossible to exaggerate the
beauty and condition of some of those regiments, and
more particularly was one struck with the appearance
of the horses and men of the Hussar regiment of Grodno.
When the squadrons had dressed into a splendid line,
a certain nntnber of the officers slowly rode out in front,
and came toward the line of spectators till they were
within about fifty paces, when they halted, and took up
points in a parallel to that of the cavalry, who were dis-
tant from them about 650 yards. Then at a given signal
the whole of this tremendous body of cavalry, uttering
loud cheers, and flourishing sabres or couching lances,
burst into a gallop, and charged full speed towards the
people and the Emperor's cortege. The effect was over-
whelming : the earth, indeed, shook under the tramp of
15,000 war horses—their foree seemed sufficient to anni•
hilate whole armies—they sweep over the ground like
some prodigious wave or a roller of the great Atlantic—in
a second they were close at hand, and it seemed as if
nothing mortal could check that glittering flood. The
women shrieked and fled, and some of the ruder sex
turned tail and sought refuge in the rear of the lines.
The alarm was groundless. The horses were well in
hand, notwithstanding the great speed at which they ad-
vanced, and on arriving at the line of officers the billow of
Centaurs was arrested as if by magic, and the front sud-
denly halted in wonderful order amid the tremendous
cheering of the people.

Several English officers, among whom was Colonel
Maude, of the Artillery, were on the ground, and
were mounted on the Emperor's horses, in order
that they might follow in his suite. Every country
in Europe and many out of it contributed their
share of uniforms and representatives on the occa-
sion of this magnificent review.
The ceremony of proclaiming the Emperor's coro-
nation was performed on the 4th inst. for the first
time. At nine o'clock in the morning the procession
was formed in the square before the Senate House,
inside the Kremlin. The general in command,
Osten Sacken, on horseback, halted in the centre of
the open space ; cn his right hand, a little in the
rear, a squadron of the Garde-a-Cht.val were drawn
up in parade order ; the trumpeters of each squadron
were posted on the flanks, and six led horses, with
rich caparisons, were stationed in a line on each side
of the trumpets. In front of the general were the
two Secretaries of the Senate. An aide-de-camp-
general, a grand master of the ceremonies, and
heralds, fantastically attired, completed the cortege.
Shortly after the assistants had taken their places,
the !general raised his hand and gave an order in
Russian, whereupon the trumpets burst out into a
wild and startling flourish, the heralds raised their
maces in the air, and all having uncovered their heads
one of the secretaries read the proclamation, of
which the following is a translation into English :
Our very august, very high, and very puissant Lord,
the Emperor Alexander Nicolaievitch, being mounted on
the throne of his ancestors, which is that of all the
Hussies, as well as upon those of the kingdom of Poland
and of the Grand Duchy of Finland, which are insepara-
ble from it, has deigned to order that the coronation of
his Imperial Majesty and his oath shall take place on the
26th of the month of August, his august sponse the Em-
press Marie Mexandrovna partioipating in this sacred
ceremony. This solemn act is announced by the present
proclamation to all faithful subjects, to the end that on
this happy day they may redouble their fervour in their
prayers to the King of Kings, that He may spread by His
Almighty power His blessings and favours on the reign of
his Majesty, and that throughout its duration He may
maintain peace and tranquillity to the glory of His holy
name, and for the unalterable prosperity of the empire.
The same evening the rooms of the Graziani
Palace were thrown open to the beau monde of
Moscow, and about 350 or 400 people flocked into a

. ' p NATtIiDAY,

"little dance" at the Countess of Granville's. The
attendance of generals, of statesmen, and of Ministers
was very large, and all the special embassies, with the
exception of that of France, were fully represented.
The Prince of Prussia, the ex-Minister and favorite
of the late Czar, Count Kleinmiohel, M. Nesselrode,
M. Von Seebsch, Prince Gagarin, Prince Galitzin,
and many other persons of distinction were present.

COLONEL PERCY HERBERT AT SHREWS-
BURY.
COLONEL PERCY HERBERT, the late Quartermaster-
General of the Crimean army, met with a warm
reception at Shrewsbury this week. The town
was gaily decorated with flags, banners, and ever-
greens. Cannon fired and bells were rung, and the
ancient metropolis of Wales put on a very gay and
animated appearance.
The gallant Colonel was met at Shelton, the en-
trance to the borough, by a squadron of South Salo-
pian Yeomanry, and escorted to the Lion-room, were
luncheon was partaken of.
After the repast the procession re-formed and pro•
ceeded to the Guildhall, where Colonel Herbert and
his brothers, the Earl of Powis, Hon. and Rev.
George Herbert, Hon. R. C. Herbert, and Captain
the Hon. William Herbert, were sworn in bur-
gesses.
The town-clerk then read the address of the
Mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the borough of
Shrewsbury, congratulating Colonel Herbert on his
safe return from the war, in which, " with untiring
zeal and courage worthy of his race, ho had taken a
most important part—a part so well deserving the
confidence of his Sovereign, which had been mani-
fested by the highly responsible and very arduous
trust confided to his care."

Colonel RERBEIIk, in his reply, said :

1 feel proud of being the representative of the officers
connected with this country that served in the Crimea, to
the seal and gallantry of many of whom I can personally
testify, and am sure that 1 express their sentiments as
well as my own in saying that the honours that have been
paid, and the welcome that has been given to the army of
the East upon its return home, have been most gratifying
to the officers and men of every rank, and will on
future occasions encourage both officers and soldiers to
endure with fortitude the hardships inseparable from war,
and to bear cheerfully those labours in the camp or in the
siege without which bravery alone cannot command suc-
cess. I thank you for the tribute of regret which you
have paid to the memory of those gallant men who have
fallen in the great struggle in which we have been engaged,
and deplore with you the losses that have fallen upon
many families in this immediate neighbourhood. I thank
you for the gratifying allusions you have made to the con-
nection which has so long existed between this ancient
borough and the families of Clive and Herbert, and trust
that our descendants on future occasions may be found
not wanting in the public service, and have the happiness
both to merit and obtain the praises of your successors.
In the evening a grand banquet took place in the
Music-hall under the presidency or Viscount New-
port, M.P.

A MILITARY EXECUTION took place last Monday at
Vincennes, in the presence of some 8,000 troops,
marched from different quarters of Paris. The
criminal had last May cruelly murdered and robbed
an old woman at St. Maude. He was caught, tried
by court-martial, and sentenced to death. A letter
from Paris says :

En route to the ground, Sweatt repeatedly warned his
comrades against " brandy and bad women," which, he said,
had brought him to that end. On descending from the
cellular waggon in which he was brought to the place of
execution he started greatly on seeing the firing party of
four soldiers, four corporals, and four sergeants drawn up
in readiness to shoot him. But he soon recovered his
courage. He twice refused a handkerchief offered to
bandage his eyes, but deliberately took off his waistcoat,
and placing his hand on his heart, he said, " My friends,
I am an old soldier, like yourselves; take good aim, and
fire here. Spare my head. " He repeated several times
the injunction to aim well at his heart. He said, "Fire
here ! do not miss ma!" He was then placed on the spot
indicated for him, and the judgment condemning him was
read aloud. As this was done he knelt, and the priest
with him. When the reading of the judgment was con-
cluded, one of the officers deputed by the court-martial
cried, " The judgment must now be executed !" The
priest, therefore, kissed the criminal on the forehead and
retired, and the man exclaimed, in a firm voice, " Aim
well! Do not miss me ! and take care not to hit my
head ! " at the same time folding his arms on his breast.
An adjutant who was in command of the platoon then
struck his hands together, and immediately the twelve
muskets of the men were levelled at the criminal. There
was a moment's pause. The officer again clapped his
hands, and at the same instant a report was heard, and
the man fell, pierced with twelve balls. It was taken for
granted that lie was killed, but the surgeon on going up
to him found that he was still alive, his frame being agi-
tated by spasmodic movements, and his eyes being wide
open and starting from their sockets. A sergeant who
had been placed in reserve with a loaded musket was ac-
cordingly summoned, and he gave the man the coup de
grace by discharging the musket in his ear. The troops
then filed off slowly before the body, which was left lying
on the ground till the proper troops removed it to the
cemetery.

SEPT. 13, 1856.

fittrature.

English Traits. By R. W. Emerson. London :

Routledge and Co.
WE do not share in the dissatisfaction which
some critics have expressed with this latest
production of Mr. Emerson. The little harm
he speaks of us is neutralised by his admis-
sion of counterbalancing advantages, and a
large surplus of unqualified eulogy remains,
sufficient we should have thought to satisfy
the most self-complacent worshippers of their
country. There are, indeed, one or two rather
serious mistakes which we shall notice ; for,
though Mr. Emerson has seen a great deal of
England, he has not lived here long enough
to penetrate far below the surface, and we
rather wonder, indeed, that he is as accurate
as he is. He takes a broad and general view
of our character and institutions, and under-
stands their operation and results in the
gross with sufficient clearness. But the
deeper springs of our conduct, and that inde-
finable essence which makes an Englishman
or any other man what he is, would appear to
lie beyond his reach.
In the chapter upon English ability Mr.
Emerson quotes a passage from Sir Kenelm
Digby, of which he says, " there spoke the
" genius of the English people." The passage
and the comment are as follows :

Sir Kenelm Digby wrote a book, " Of Bodies and of
Souls," in which he propounds, that " syllogisms do breed
or rather are all the variety of man's life. They are the
steps by which we walk in all our businesses. Man, as he
is man, doth nothing else but weave such chains. What-
soever he doth, swarving from this work, he doeth as defi-
cient from the nature of man : and, if he do aught beyond
this, by breaking out into divers sorts of exterior actions,
he findeth, nevertheless, in this linked sequel of simple
discourses, the art, the cause, the rale, the bounds, and
the model of it."

There spoke the genius of the English people. There
is a necessity on them to be logical. They would
hardly greet the gocd that did not logically fall—as if it
excluded their own merit or shook their understandings.
They are jealous of minds that have much facility of
association, from an instinctive fear that the seeing
many relations to their thought might impair this serial
continuity and lucrative concentration. They are im-
patient of genius, or of minds addicted to contemplation,
and cannot conceal their contempt for sallies of thought,
however lawful, whose steps they cannot count by their
wonted rule. Neither do they reckon better a syllogism
that ends in syllogism. For they have a supreme eye
to facts, and theirs is a logic that brings salt to soup,
hammer to nail, oar to boat, the logic of cooks, car•
penters, and chemists, following the sequence of nature,
and one on which words make no impression. Their
mind is not dazzled by its own means, but locked and
bolted to results. They love men, who, like Samuel
Johnson, a doctor in the schools, would jump out of
his syllogism the instant his major proposition was in
danger to save that at all hazards. Their practical
vision is spacious, and they can hold many threads
without entangling them. All the stens they orderly
take; but with the high logic of never confounding the
minor and major proposition; keeping their eye on their
aim, in all the complicity and delay incident to the
several series of means they employ. There is room in
their minds for this and that,—a science of degrees.

There is a little confusion of thought here.
To jump out of the syllogism the moment the
major proposition is in danger is exactly that
courageous and wise inconsistency for which
M. de Montalembert has praised us so much.
Yet the nation which does this systematically
scarcely deserves the title of the most logical
of peoples. In this particular chapter Mr.
Emerson is peculiarly complimentary to the
English. Of their fighting ability, he says :

But conscious that no race of better men exists, they
rely most on the simplest means, and do not like pon-
derous and difficult tactics, but delight to bring the affair
hand to hand, where the victory lies with the strength,
courage, and endurance of the individual combatants.
They adopt every improvement in rig, in motor, in wea-
pons, but they fundamentally believe that the best stra-
tagem in naval war is to lay your ship close alongside of
the enemy's ship, and bring all your guns to bear on him,
until you or he go to the bottom. This is the old fashion,
which never goes out of fashion, neither in nor out of
England.

Further on he says—" I supposo no people
" have such thoroughness ; from the highest
" to the lowest every man meaning to be
" master of his art."

In his description of the English character
there is nothing novel. He notices our perse-
verance, our taciturnity, and our boisterous
clergy and " turbulent sense," which we carry,
he says, into every nook and corner of the
earth, "leaving no lie uneontradieted, no pre-