The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-11 00:00:00

THE] GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE.

(From, the Morniv Post.)
Our readers are aware that for the last sixteen or
eighteen days the brother of the Emperor of all the
Russias has been received as a guest on the French
soil, and that for the last eight or ten days he has
been alternately sojourning at Fontaiuebleau and
Paris. The young admiral has been received at
Toulon and Marseilles, at Lyons and at St. Etienne
aud, indeed, on the whole line of route, from the
department of the Var to Paris, with manifesta-
tions of civility and interest. At Toulon, the most
important and extensive military port of France on,
the Mediterranean, the Grand Admiral of Russia
experienced more cordiality than in the provinces
or in the capital, for his former visit to the part a
few years ago was remembered by many officials as
a pleasing souvenir. In the dockyard and arsenal
of Toulon the Grand Duke Constantine took the
greatest interest. He inspected the basins and sills
d'armes, viewed all the vessels in construction or
on the stocks, examined the magazines and loftsl
where sails were made and fitted ; a9.d inspected
the rope-walk, careening dock, and naval hospital,
asking pertinent questions, and taking accurate
measurements as he went along. A second day was
devoted to the ships of war in harbour ; and, as
though this were not sufficient, the forts Lamalgue,
S. Catherine, and Faron, where Napoleon Bona-
parte first distingu;shed himself in 1793, were mi-
nutely inspected, and inquiries made which proved
to the officials that the Grand Duke was not a mere
dilettante traveller. While these naval perquisi-
tions were being made the time had arrived for
certain civil formalities at the Maritime Prefecture.
But these were speedily hurried over by the Grand
Duke, who impatiently hastened back to the port
and dockyard. Thii shows a true sailor's instinct ;
and as sailorship is the profession of the Duke, it is
laudable in him to le trn everything concerning the
.practice of nautical affairs that can be useful to his
country.
. _

In Paris, notwithstanding its many attractions,
it is understood that the Russian visitor is like a
fish out of water. Attentions without number
have been lavished upon him by the highest person
in the State, and the most eminent functionaries ;
but, notwithstanding these courtesies, he hungers
and thirsts to visit some of the other Ports Miii-
tafres of France. The consequence is that the Im-
perial steam-yacht, the Reine Hortense, has been
placed at his disposal, and after having visited Bor-
deaux, Indre, Rochefort, and Cherbourg, which
latter town is within a few hours' sail of the British
coasts, it is understood that the Grand Duke, ac-
cepting the invitation of her Majesty, will, in a few
days, pay a visit to this country. He has not been
the first of his family who has done us this honour.
His great ancestor, the man, indeed, who may be
said to have been the founder of- hia house—Peter
the Great—visited these shores in 1698. During the
period of his sojourn, habited as au English sailor,
he continued to work in the dockyard at Deptford,
and declared to his attendants that if he had not
been born Czar of Russia his ambition would be to
live and die an English admiral. _ _ _

The first residence of Peter was in a "hand-bme
house provided for him at the bottom of York-
buildings, near the waterside ;" but as a residence

"above bridge, as it was then called, was neither
agreeable to his humour nor the design of his
coming, "a neat residence," belonging to Evelyn'
"with a bai& door into the King's-yard, at Dept-
ford, was provided." Here the Czar used h's
tools, conversed with the shipbuilders, who showed
him their draughts and plans, and expressed himself
tit the time he had spent in Holland was lost, and
that he would never have learned his trade if he had
not come to England. During Peter's stay in this
country he visited thq University of Oxford, was
once to pay a visit to the Archbi-ihop of Canter-
bury, and went many times to cathedrals and
churches, and also to the Quakers' and Dissenters'
meeting-houses. Bishop Burnett, who waited on
die Czar often by command of the King, tells us
that "he was a man of a very hot temper, soon
inflamed, and very brutal in his passion." "Ho
raises his natural heat," says the bishop in his
graphic way, "by drinking much brandy, which
he rectifies himself with great application. N" He
is subject," says the same acute observer, "to con-
vulsive motions all over his body, and his 'head
seems to be affected with these. He has a larger
miss-are of knowledge than might be expected from
his education, which was very indifferent. He is
mechanically turned, and seems designed by nature
rather to be a ship carpenter than a great Prince."
_ . . .

The chief favourite of Peter during his sojourn was
the Lord President of the Council, the Marquis of
Carmarthen, afterwards Duke of Leeds. Like the
Czar, the Marquis of Carmarthen delighted in nif- ri-
time affairs, and he often rowed and sailed with
Peter ou the Thames, giving him all the informa-
tion possible as to maritime affairs. Nor was the
Russian ungrateful, for when he entered into a
treaty with Mr. Heathcote and other considerable
merchants of London for a free importation of
tobacco into his dotninions, he made it a condition
that the marquis should have five shillings a hogs-
head for *very hogshead exported, " as a return for
his obliging conversation."
The Emperor Alexander, the Duchess of Olden-
burgh, and the Grand Duke Michael also visited
England during the Regency and in the reign of
George IV. During the reign of her present
Majesty, both the 'ale Czar Nicholas and his
daughter, . the Grand Duchess Maria, also visited
this country • and now,. after a war waged during
the years 1854, 1855, and 1856, the son of the last,
and brother of the present, Czar will soon find
himself the guest of a Sovereign with whom Russia
was but very lately in open hostilities. With the
return of peace, however, all feeling of hostility has
died away in England ; and the chief objects of the
war being happily accomplished, there is now no
reason whatever why friendly relations should not
be resumed between the two countries. In fact, for
one hundred and sixty years, with the exception of
a few months between 1800 and 1801, during the
reign of the Emperor Pau!, of unhappy memory,
the friendliest arid' the best of relations have sub-
sisted between this country and Russia. Without
admiring the political or social system of the coun-
try, and at all times prepared to resist the 'asgres-
sive tendencies of its Government, every English
statesman of any repute must feel that a widely-
extended and profitable commerce may he carried
on between the merchants of the two countries, to
the common benefit of England and Russia, and to
the great advancement of civilisation. On this
ground it is that We hail the arrival of the Grand
Duke with the warmest pleasure as the guest of her
Majesty. The Russian admiral will, doubtless,
think himself bound to visit a capital where his great
ancestor dwelt for a. considerable time, and where
two of his uncles, and where his father and sister, .
temporarily sojourned. Peter the Great, and subse;
qnently Alexander, Michael, and Nicholas visited
the Tower, the Mint, and the Houses of Parliament,
and also the opera and the theatres. Peter the
Great went twice or thrice to the play, though one
of his biographers tells us it was a diversion he had
no taste for. Though not liking the entertainment,
however, Peter expressed great admiration for one
of the actresses of the day, a certain Miss Croft,
who, we are told by one of the chroniclers of the
time, 4i was once admitted into his company."
We presume the Grand Duke wilt come direct
from Cherbourg to Osborne. Thence, possibly, he
will proceed to visit Portsmouth,' a place which his
great ancestor visited before quitting these shores.
When Peter the Great was about to re-embark for
Holland, the politic William 111. sent Admiral
Mitchilil along with him to Portsmouth, "to put
the fleet which lay at Spithead out to sea, and to
entertain his Czarish Majesty with a mock engage-
ment." Peter had seen something of the kind in
Holland, but he expressed much greater satisfac-
tion at the English fight, and " declared he
thought an English admiral a happier man than
the Czar of Muscovy." He approved, indeed, so
well of our shipping that he took several English
shipbuilders and artificers into his service, and
among the rest, at the request of the Marquis of
Carmarthen, Captain John Perry, who has given
us an account of his experience in Russia.
Nor did the civilities of William end here. His
Britannic, Majesty presented the Czar -With a fine
yacht called the Roy al Transport then mnsidered the
best in England. This vessel mounted twenty-one
guns, and carried to Archangel " one Mr. Fergu-
son, a mathematician bred in the University of
Aberdeen," " two young mathematicians out of
Christ's Hospital," and a number of shipbuilders
and artificers, who obtained the permission of King
William 111. to enter the service of the Czar.
These details may interest the descendant of the
inspired barbarian, and suggest matter for reflection
to some of the statesmen and politicians of our own
day. In- the one hundred and sixty years since
1698 England has undergone many transformations, i
but not more than Russia.

ELECTION PETITIONS.—The time allowed for present-
ing petitions to the House of Commons complaining of
undue returns of members to Parliament is 14 clear days
after the meeting of the house. These days do not com-
mence on the election of the Speaker. They date from
the passing of the sessional orders, which were only
moved on Thursday last. • One of the standing orders
fixes the time for receiving petitions, which will not
close until the 21st inst.