The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-13 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

gussia and the War. By Captain Jesse. Long-
man and Co.
A• compact little volume, descriptive of the Rus-
bau Empire, in reference to the war now raging
has it and the chief powers of Christendom,
us's here been given to the world by the author of
hurray's Handbook to Russia, Captain William
most
of Maisonette, Ingatestone. It is among the
glOs
t comprehensive in design, as it is also, without
4euht, among the most authentic in particulars,
rslidst all the scarcely numerable works lately pub-
hed of a similar character. It certainly begins
al,
" the beginning—chapter one pertinently inquir-
ing, " Who caused the war ?"—the answer to that
tiquiry being, of course, "Nicholas." Then fol-
°ws a fragment of Muscovite History, having re-
ference to a few of the Autocrats, spelt by Captain
Jesse, not Czars, but Tzars. Among those poten-
tates are the following—lvan 111., Ivan I V., Peter
the
1:,.r Great, Catherine 1., Peter 11., Anne, Ivan
1,1, Elizabeth, Peter 111., Catherine the Great,
4'll, and so down in regular succession to his two
i IT'Perial sons, Alexander and Nicholas. Our
author having brought us gradually down to the
memorable reign of the Czar immediately contem-
r,,,rrY, next traces in a keen outline the narrow
e„-u'ts of Russian civilisation. His account of the
11-`s,elishment of the Imperial Despotism of the
13rthern Autocrat leads him naturally enough to a
(oe3cription of the manner in which the vast armies
th Russia are organised. The Russian serfs and
the Russian nobility are respectively delineated, and
~„e Contrast presented to the mind's eye is, of
h'urse, sufficiently extraordinary. The subjoined
48sage will be found on perusal to have been well
°llll3, of quotation. It comprises first of all a
efftleraan's and then a lady's description of
nts EMPEROR NICHOLAS.
41" 'The boast of the Russians, that among a thousand
You would not fail to recognise the Emperor, is
Ilr,teel3' exaggerated. His figure is commanding, and
e°llntenance striking ; his height is nearly six feet
0, and his frame unites symmetry with strength ; his
ile is peculiarly fascinating ; but the high forehead,
rather small
and curved upper lip, and the expression of a
ii."uer small mouth, impart somewhat of sternness to
ra features when in repose ; his naturally fair corn-
rion is bronzed by exposure to the sun, but the fore-
le:l, where the cap has she:tered it, is white as marble.
tat, n
adds blue eye
to is
his. soldierlike quick and exprappearance. essive, and a sm
Sullha miseus-
a
~li' c
)1
el'itiBll officer's sketch of the Emperor Nicholas. A
er and romantic lady, at about the same period,
es the following His figure, to which there is no
I'eend in Russia, if in the world itself, is of the grandest
the3Sty, expression, dimension, and carriage, uniting all
tte Majesties and graces of all the heathen gods—the
.141 e god of Love alone perhaps excepted. Had these
eoI Pie and symmetrical proportions, this nobility of per-
'll, belonged to a common mujik, instead of to the
rlteerat of all the Russias, admiration could not be
ti:el4, nor scarcely the feeling of moral awe. It was not
tl Monarch who was so magnificent a man, but the
4n who was so truly imperial. His person is that of
eclossal man, in the full prime of life and health, forty-
°° Yeare of age, about six feet two inches high, and
lZell filled out, without any approach to corpulency, the
ead very magnificently carried, a splendid breadth of
Ivi?;llder and chest, great length and symmetry of limb,
'n finely-fOrmed hands and feet. His face is strictly
l'eoian, forehead and nose in one grand line, the eyes
oeielY lined, large, open, and blue, with a calmness and
Ineiri, a freezing dignity, which can equally quell an
l'ilrrection, daunt an assassin, or paralyse a petitioner ;
the mouth regular, teeth fine, chin prominent, with dark
°llstache ~and small whisker,, but not a sympathy on
he 'ace ! His month sometimes smiles, his eyes never.
kgere is that in his look which no monarch's subject can
cafe His eye seeks every one's gaze, but none can
dont
in hsufficientis.' This
detail ; the is very graphi
similarity of the two
t:Beriptions is evidence of their accuracy. ' Like a
4:.'tl d Saul,' says another writer, he soars above his
leets, " from the shoulders upwards," or like his
etter prototype, Agamemnon,
Majestically tall,
Towers o'er his armies, and outshines them all;'
'chile
his strength appears to be of an equally colossal
4andard. His majesty can sleep anywhere and eat
ill thing ; or he can watch, and he can fast, if needful,
measuring the powers of others by his own, the
health of the officers immediatsly under him is frequently
'se •
Ilficed to their over exertions ; at the same time Indi-
a.,
instances have occurred of gentlemen of highly
jel)°Plectic dications whose lives had been considerably
egthenedin by the anti-plethoric requirements of the
41Peror's service, and their forced attendance in his
ejtjage, or kibitka (a kind of britseka), when making
wine of his whirlwind expeditions from Tobolsk to
4rsaw, or from Finland to the Black Sea. As to the
th
aracter of the individual who now represents the
majesty of Russia, it is one that will repay care-
dtillnvestigation. His firmness is unalterable, his in-
latrY unfailing, his justice, as it emanates from him-
self' strict, his preferences steady, his consistency rigid,
letild his perseverance undaunted through all obstacles.
nt he bas neither the cultivation of mind that should
i4(l to clear views and sound judgment, nor the native
tilbt'lligence that should supply its place ; and both
a 58e qualities being wanting, those we have enumerated
je as often seen violently impelled in a wrong direction
i 1,4 in a right, as often expending their strength in the
the
of mere nonsenses, the length of a spur or
breadth of a button, as in wrestling with deep-rooted •
i!Tors. As was said of him by one of the most en-
;ghtened, and, moreover, loyal of his own nobility,
powe'Po do good, tree esential qualities are necessary,—
good wihll, ands knowledge : he possesses the two
N‘'tp but not the last—in a word, he is ignorant.'
icholas is the ideal type of his people, the most faith-
representative of their characters and their vices.
The Same love of show which characterises the Russian
4hti
their
.en is nowhere seen stronger than in the person of
elr Emperor, and while he astounds all strangers, and
ii4iPtivates most of them by the dazzling splendour of
th 4 Court, they little suspect what filthy rags compose
tt' garments of the stat B
y the foreging d
iescrip-
ns it will be seen that the preset Autocrat of all the
118sias is a perfect specimen of the human race—ex-
Oting in two rather important points, the intellect
the heart ; he was born for the feudal times, not for
the Civilized ones of this century."
t is the present chief of that wonderful and
ilossal despotistn which was wittily described by
411eyrand as " Une monarchie absolue limitee
Aar l'assassinat"—an absolute monarchy limited by
assassination. In the very able chapter (xiii.)
hc'sjug Captain Jesse's volume, tie events of the
"'st few years are brought down from 1848 to the
Prita' declaration of war against Russia by the
eue ll'and English GOvernments.
21te By

Emperors Alexander and Nicholas.
Robert Lee, M.D. Richard Bentley.
An old bundle of manuscripts, in other words a
,011rnal kept by Dr. Lee between the winter of
4.821 and 1827, has been " overhauled" by its
triter and out of a selection from among its motley
materials has grown up the present happily-timed
and very-readable compilation. The author speaks
Ith the authority—seeing that he was neither
bhuhd nor deaf—of an eye-witness aid an ear-wit-
ness to many of the incidents described in -his ani-
-4
,qted narrative. That narrative, as the title-page
fives promise of its doing, comprises a recordof "the
ast days" of Alexander, and of " the first days " of
Nicholas—Emperors ofßussia. It opens with the
"al of November, 1824, when the writer landed at
Cologne on his way to Odessa, there to join the
fpriliry of Count Woronzow in the capacity of
hYsician to his Excellency. It closes with the
th of January, 1827, when Dr. Lee arrived once
more
in London after his return from the Russian
territories. Here is our author's brief but touching
memento of

THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER.
The scene was most affecting when the Emperor,
the 19th, expired. The Empress had been kneeling
Y his bed-side, with her eyes fixed upon him, as he
radually became weaker and weaker, until all signs of
l'e Were gone. Then, risinsf, she closed his eyes, and
?vitt). a handkerchief bound up his head, to support the
lower jaw. After this, she folded his arms over his
breast, kissed his hand, and then knelt down by the side
;„11 the dead body for half-an-hour in prayer to God.
Throughout thwthole, of his Majesty's illness, she
.11'4nifeeted the cilitangei# . attachment to her husband ;
"d at his death yyss-inconsolable."
Altogether the litho volume, scarcely extending to
core than 200 pt es, will be found to abound with
curious and iutereeting information.

The Year-Book of .Facts for 1854. By John

Timbs. Bogue.
Sixteen volumes of this remarkable serial have
'°w been published—sixteen volumes recording the
most important discoveries and improvements made
etween 1839 and 1854, Facts in Mechanics and
tL© -Useful Arts, in Natural Philosophy, in Elec—
,Y,ieity, in Chemistry, in Zoology and Botany, in
i4eology and Geography, in Astronomy and M-
eteorology. The sixteenth, the volume before us,
is among them all very far indeed from being the
least remarkable. As its vignette, it contains on
jtA title-page a glimpse of the building of the " Cry-
rltlti Palace at Sydenharn." As its frontispiece, it
glues us a portrait taken from a daguerreotype by
Eatidet, of Arago, one of the illustrious deceased
uf the past twelve months.

txousn GLEE AND MADRIGAL UNION.--The first 15
"ineert of this talented company of vocalists was given 20
4t Willis's Rooms yesterday, in presence of a crowded ; 20
20
4n`l fashionable audience. The English Glee and Ma-
tight Union cmisists, as before, of Mrs. Enderssohn, 10
I,'rs• Lockey, Messrs. Lockey, Hobbs, and H. Phillips 2
but they are this season further a,,sisted by a chorus of
aizteen voices, including four sopranos, four contraltos,
three tenors, and five basses. The concert yesterday
eluded compositions by S. Smith, Webbe, Cooke,
Srl3'vett, S. Webbe, Ravenscroft, Paxton, Benet, and
t Henry Bishop. The selection was excellent, and
° Pieces in general were admirably given. Between
thef parts Mr. J. L. Hatton, who presided at the piano-
0r,..,te, performed Handers "Harmonious Blacksmith."
‘-'oLossi7int.—His Mjesty the King of Portugal
and his Royal Highness the Duke of Oporto, attended
lesY theredayirs.uite, honoured this establishment with a visit