The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-13 00:00:00

THE COUNT NESSELRODE.

The Count Nesselrode, who has just arrived on a
visit to this country, is of a Hanoverian family, which
has been settled in Livonia for nearly a century,
and a half. His father had been Minister Plenipo-
tentiary of the Empress Catherine 11. to the Dukes
of Wurtemberg, and was entrusted by the Czarina
with the business of negotiating the marriage of the
Grand Duke Paul with a Princess of the house of
Wurtemberg. To such of our readers as have
travelled in the north of Europe, it is unneces-
sary to say that a Livonian differs as much from
a Russian, as a Russian from an Englishman. Al-
though the provinces of Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria,
and Carelia, have been Russian for more than 130
years, yet they have ever clung with tenacity
to their national language and customs, and are
as much, probably more German now, than they
were before the battle of Pultava, in 1709. It is true
that all public officers and all clergymen are obliged
to be acquainted with the Russian language ; but
when not under surveillance, or civil or military
parade (for civil life in Russia may be said to have its
parades as well as military), these worthy, primitive
people relapse into the language and habits of their
fathers, and cultivate their corn and hemp as their
ancestors did in the time of Charles XII. Since the
time of Peter the First the Livonian nobility have
always been patronised at the Court of Petersburgh.
Though speaking the language, and professing the
religion of Luther, they have nevertheless, since the
time of Gustavus Adolphus, been in a measure dis-
sociated from Germany, and have always looked
either to Sweden or to Russia for favour or employ-
ment. Not being in heart and soul entirely Ger-
man, they were not anti-Russian ; and not being
entirely Russian, they were untainted with that old
leaven of Moscow Muscovite discontent, so occasion-
ally formidable to the Emperor. It is, therefore, no
marvel that the Czars have more than encouraged
this plastic race in whatever career, whether of arms
or of diplomacy, to which they dedicate themselves.
The present Prime Minister of Russia was born in
1770, and is now in his 74th year. His earliest
studies were at the college of the Gardes Nobles, at
Petersburgh. He did not, however, enter the military
service till after the death of Catherine. On the
accession of the Emperor Paul, who was partial
to his father, the young Nesselrode received an
officer's commission in the regiment of Guards, and
was immediately chosen one of the Emperor's
aides-de-camp. At the end of a few years, either dis-
liking the monotony or the unsettled wandering
nature of a soldier's life, he left the army to follow
the profession of his father—the career of diplomacy.
We are not aware whether Count Nesselrode accom-
panied the Russian army, commanded by Suwarrow,
in the expedition to Italy or Switzerland. We think
it probable that he did not ; but that, aware from his
position of aid de-camp that the first extravagant
hatred of the Czar, his master, against France and
her revolution had changed into a passionate admi-
ration for the great military genius who was conduct-
ing the French people from victory to victory, and a
desire to entertain intimate relations with him, he
concluded the peace about to be signed would be of
long duration, and that the career of diplomacy pre-
sented a fairer field to his ambition than the career of
arms. Be this as it may, no sooner was peace signed
than the young Nesselrode was dispatched to Paris
as an attache to the embassy of Marcow. He had
previously been employed at the Chancellerie of
Foreign Affairs at Petersburgh, and had not been
long in Paris before his diligence and spirit of
routine caused him to be appointed conseiller d'am-
bassade. In that day Russian ambassadors were fre-
quently remarkable for ignorance of diplomatic forms,
and though Marcow and Besborodkow had acquired
in Russia reputations for a certain species of clever-
ness, yet placed by the side of European statesmen,
they were not only pigmies in mind, but deficient in
education and the knowledge of the commonest rou-
tine. In this respect the defects of the chief of the
embassy were supplied by the conseiller d'ambassade,
and his knowledge of routine and business-like habits
were of the greatest use. Marcow soon fell under
the displeasure of the eccentric Emperor. He was
recalled, fell into disgrace, and was, as a matter of
course, banished, and by a refinement of cruelty
peculiarly Russian, the Czar would not allow the
tragic actress Hus, who had partaken of the ex-
Minister's good fortune, to share his sorrows and his
exile. _ _ .

The conduct of the negotiations for bringing
about that armed neutrality of the northern Powers
which provoked the battle of Copenhagen, were en-
trusted to Nesselrode. But Paul, who had been
the soul of the coalition, did not live to witness the
appearance of the triumphant fleet of Nelson before
the mole of Cronstadt. His son Alexander succeeded,
and a complete change took place in the foreign
policy of Russia. The intimacy between Russia and
France suddenly cooled, and Nesselrode and the
whole of the Russian legation were speedily recalled
from Paris. On his return to Petersburgh he was
attached to the private chancellerie of the Emperor.
Alexander soon discovered in his secretary great
aptitude for labour, considerable acquired knowledge,
suppleness, intelligence, and a seriousness and gravity
which are often found more useful than more brilliant
qualities. In a word, he was a most useful instru-
ment, ready with thought, pen, or sword to obey the
will of an imperial master. Nesselrode accompanied
the Emperor in the campaign of 1805, and was pre-
sent at the interview at Erfurt in 1807. At this pe-
riod the Court, the Nobility, and the Russian nation,
were divided into three parties. The first, exclusively
Russian, was for rejecting the friendly advances of
Napoleon, without going the length of open war.
At the head of this party was the Empress Mother.
The second party was called the Oriental party.
It aspired to the occupation of Constantinople, to the
enfranchisement of Greece, and to the extension
of the Russian frontiers towards Persia and India. At
the head of this party was Capo d'lstria, and Napo-
leon had shown himself partial to it at Erfurt. The
third party was in some sort the work of Count Nes-
selrode, and it was a sort of juste milieu between both.
For a long while the struggle between these ideas
continued, and Capo d'lstria, who to much grace of
manner and a ready eloquence, joined a mysticism
which pleased and gratified Alexander—himself a
pupil of Madame de Krudener, and, if report speak
truly, something more and dearer than a pupil—was
thought to be a favourite and in the rscendant till the
French armies passed the Niemen ; but then, and
from that epoch, the names of Nesselrode and Pozzo
di Borgo became more "familiar in men's mouths,"
and it was plain that circumstances had given the
Livonian and the Corsican the vantage ground over
the Greek. Nesselrode now played the part which
Maret Duke de Bassano enacted with the " man of
destiny," for he treated directly, in the name of his
Sovereign, with the Plenipotentiaries of European
Cabinets. It was he who, at Rheichenbach, on the
15th of June, 1813, concluded with the Prince llar-
denberg and Baron de Stein the intimate alli-
ance between Pruissia and Russia. On the
same day he signed, with Lord Cathcart, the con-
vention between Russia and England, by which
•
him
we agreed to pay the Russian subsidies during the
first six months of 1813. But that which fixed
in the favour of his master, and crowned his reputa-
tion in Russia was the negotiation which preceded
the alliance of Alexander and of Francis I. In the
and after-
as invested
negotiations which subsequently took place at Prague,
he but appeared as plenip_o,tennti.ary for M. D'Anstell
i rnt hu,s
Prussia
a tr eri
Dresden),
ehs
dseunb)j,e
ct,
with plenary powers, but it was well-known that
after-
wards Cls Alsatian
Alin i Minister ebryo birth,
Nesselrode possessed at this period the entire confi-
dence of Alexander, and really directed the negotia-
tions. During the years 1813 and 1814 he never
quitted the side of the Emperor Alexander and to
him and to Pozzo di Borgo are, in R •
Russia at least,
attributed the greatest portion of
the successes of
those campaigns. But out of Russia it is well known
that the military science of Moreau, of Bernadotte,
and the veteran Dumouriez (who furnished the Eng-
lish and Russian Cabinets with many excellent
plans), were of more importance than the plodding
labours of any Livonian, or the cunning devices of
any Corsican.
It was Nesselrode who, on the Ist of March, 1814,
signed the treaty of the quadruple alliance of Chau-
mont, which decided the fortunes of the empire. In
entering Paris the conduct of Alexander and his
Minister were marked by nioderatien and reserve.

. it was this Minister ,
held the diplomatic pen of Russia. He lent a helping
hand to the creation of the Germanic Confederation,
demanded the partition of Poland, and the cession of
Saxony to Prussia. To the credit of Talleyrand and
Castlereagh be it spoken, they stood up manfully for
Poland; and that country was only united to Russia
by the link of her constitution—a constitution after-
wards shamefully violated, not by rebel subjects, but
by regal and imperial rebels to solemn sworn oaths
and imperious duties which they owed their subjects,
and which they violated and left, and leave to this
day, unfulfilled. On the 31st of December, 1814,
the Plenipotentiaries at Vienna, and. Nesselrode
among the rest, signed the famous declaration which
placed Napoleon under the ban of Europe. It was
he, too, who after the battle of Waterloo, while the
Anglo-Russian army were under the walls of Paris,
sided with the Duke of Wellington in counselling mea-
sures of moderation and mercy, when Blucher and the
Prussians were calling out for plunder, and Austria was
throwing out dark hints of a partition, and intimating
how gladly she would resume possession of Alsace
with the three bishoprics—or Trineveckes, as they
were anciently called—of Metz, Toul, and Verdau.
Nor were the counsels of Nesselrode less humane, in
suggesting that a moderate contribution only should
be levied on the people of France. It is a mistake to
suppose that the Holy Alliance was a state inspira-
tion, proceeding from the brain of the Russian Prime
Minister, for the idea was altogether the conception
of the Emperor Alexander himself, whose mystical
tendencies we have before alluded to. The tendency
of this Emperor's political views had been originally
Oriental, but the unsettled state of Europe induced
him to think that he had a mission to fill in Western
Europe, and he was accordingly present at the Con-
greiSes of Troppau, Laybach, and Verona. Nesselrode
accompanied his sovereign on these occasions, and
daily rendered himself more useful to his imperial
master. The disgrace of Capo d'lstria, in 1821,
left him undisputably without a rival. From that
period he has alone remained charged with the di-
rection of the department of Foreign Affairs.
When the present Emperor ascended. the throne, he
showed more than a disposition for the Oriental
system. Nesselrode pliantly yielded to the imperial
volition, and by so doing probably preserved his
place, The influence which he has since acquired
over the mind of the Emperor, notwithstanding his
advancing age and feeble health, he owes, in a great
degree, to his experience and knowledge of affairs, to
his passionless and persevering character, but in the
greatest degree of all, to his being the faithful inter-
preter, the systematic transcriber, of the mandates of
the royal will. To compare great things with small,
that which Murat was to Napoleon has Nesselrode
been to Alexander, and is to Nicholas. The name
of Nesselrode is certainly mixed up in all the
great diplomatic transactions of the last quarter
of a century ; but it is mixed up as a mere name
—a long one, certainly, consisting of no less than
ten letters—but after all but a name, without a
system—without a spirit to vivify it—without a
device, or a motto, or a free independent thought
belonging to it. The names of Chatham and Pitt,
and Fox, and Canning, and Grey, represent
great principles ; the names of Tnagut and liaunitz,
Metternich and Hardenberg, and Stein and
Stadion, represent large, continuous, and consis-
tent systems, well followed out from generation to
generation ; the names of Danton, Marat, Robes-
pierre, Legendre, and Lebeau, represent the fearful
and ferocious energy of revolutionists, as the names
of Thurgot, Necker, Chaptal, Carnot, and Moreau
represent sects and systems and schools; but what
does the name of Nesselrode represent but the fiat of
a czar, the whole amount of the wisdom and reason of
which is summed up in four words, stet pro ratione
voluntas?

We hear much, from the ignorant and unintiated,
of the great address of the Russian diplomatists, and
of the successful issue of their negotiations. The ad-
dress is little more, after all, than cunning and deceit,
which often in the long run overshoot the mark ; and
the successes, such as they are, are attributable, not
to the talents or genius of the negotiators, but to
the knowledge that they were always supported by
a large force, by a command unlimited of money, by
the most unprincipled means, and by unblushing
perfidy. We have only to look to the treaties made
in the reign of Alexander, to see how easily and
readily he could give up the claims of an ally when-
ever his own private interests and that of his own
kingdom merely were at stake.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs in Russia is the
mere automaton—the plenipo puppet in the hands of
an Imperial Autocrat—unless under some extraordi-
nary conjuncture of circumstances. Such a conjunc-
ture has not arisen in the time of Nesselrode ; and it
is, therefore, impossible to say what he might have
been if left to himself, or had he been placed in cir-
cumstances of urgency, with unlimited power. But
viewing him as he actually is, we can only say that
he is a well-trained, moderately well-informed, cool,
calm judging, passionless man, of 74, who implicitly
obeys the commands of his master. There are hun-
dreds of thousands of such men in England, France,
Germany, Spain, and Portugal ; and to such common-
place characters we cannot accord the high rank of
statesmen—neither can we place them in the foremost
rank, nor even in the second or third classes of re-
spectable politioians.—Chronicle.

NOTTINGHAM CATASTROPHE.
The inquest on the bodies of the unfortunate persons
who perished in so melancholy a manner at the Notting-
ham execution, concluded in the following verdict :
" The jury are of opinion, that the deceased indivi-
duals were accidentally thrown down in and by a crowd
of people who had been attending a public execution in
the town of Nottingham, and were then and there
trampled to death, or suffocated."
It was then unanimously added, that " the jury are of
opinion, that the front of the County-hall is a most im-
proper place for a public execution, and they trust the
persons who have the authority to fix upon a place for
that purpose will not allow another execution to take
place there."
_ _ _

The matter would have speedily been settled, had not
a desire been expressed by several of the jury to add
something in the way of censure upon the magistrates.
Mr. Page, as foreman, declared he would not sign the
verdict if a resolution of censure were not passed, and
expressed his determination to hold out until the follow-
ing day. The coroner at length explained, that although
the verdict must be unanimous, any subsequent opinion
of a majority of the jury might be appended. An ex-
pression of censure was then persisted in, and was car-
ried by a majority of two, in the following terms :
" A majority of the jury at the same time expresstheir opinion that, considering the extensive excitement
which prevailed, sufficient precaution was not taken by
the proper authorities to prevent accident."

THE STATE TRIALS (IRELAND) APPEAL.—The
cause of the houses of Parliament having adjourned—
the Lords to the 2d, and the Commons to the sth of next
month—is generally understood by the public to be, that
judgment may be pronounced by the highest court of
appeal in the writ of error, " 0 Connell and others v.
the Queen," previously to Parliament being prorogued.
The public, however, are not aware that any specific ar-
rangement was entered into, and a motion submitted
upon the subject, and adopted by the House of Lords, on
Friday night, just before their Lordships rose. From
the official document of that House it appears, that
almost immediately previous to the adjournment on that
evening the 13th report from the Committee on Appeals
was brought up, read, agreed to, and " ordered accord-
ingly." Then follows the last entry on their Lordships'
minutes of proceedings, and which has reference to the
appeal arising out of the late Irish State trials. The
form of that entry is as follows :—" Gray v. the Queen"
(writ of error) ; and " O'Connell and others v. the
Queen" (writs of error). To be considered on Mon-
day, the 2d of September next, at ten o'clock ; the
judges then to attend, to deliver their opiuions upon the
questions of law propounded to them. The House then
accordingly " adjourned to Monday, the 2d of Septem-
ber next, at ten o'clock."
DOVER AND OSTEND.—BRUSSELS, AUG. 7.—The
new communication between Ostend and Dover com-
menced yesterday (Tuesday), under the happiest aus-
pices. Travellers seem to be sensible how advantageous
it is for them to be able to leave Ostend in tho morning,
and reach London at six o'clock in the afternoon ; and
consequently the first steam-boat had above forty pat_
sengers. Letters from Rio Janeiro were received to-day
by the ship Le Belge.
ns-al sef a cstpioenechto oalnl
Lord Minto's able angdivsetnatgersenalat
rotopearnmuaninptreenceadneenetoefd tho awt
blt‘heleei(nlsttamaitcoeesoatfnutinlniNetNeinrseeaslsy'ty
ireduced
p
l
right arm of our national strength. That the navy has
state, at a time when the political horizon presents a
cloudy and troubled aspect, is evinced by the fact,
as stated by his Lordship, that at the present moment
we have only nine line-4-battle ships in commission,
three of which are small seventy-two's employed upon
distant stations. His Lordship also might have added
the astounding fact, that should the services of the St.
Vincent be required in the Mediterranean, the whole
coast of England from Sheerness to Falmouth will be
left in a totally defenceless and unprotected state, there
not being a single man-of war ready for sea in any
port throughout Great Britain ! We would ask Lord
Haddington is this being prepared for any emergency?
—Hampshire Independent.
STUNG TO DEATII.—On Wednesday last, an eX-
traordinary and fatal occurrence took place in the village
of Haddenham. About one o'clock in the afternoon, a
horse belonging,. to Mr. Uppinden, farmer, strayed from
his yard into the garden of Mrs. Cox, adjoining. Hero
the animal kicked down a hive of bees, which instantly
surrounded and attacked him with great fierceness. The
poor horse kicked and plunged violently, and a man
named Blunt, a shepherd, who happened to be in Mrs.
Cox's house, went to its rescue. He succeeded in get-
ting hold of the horse, but had scarcely done so, when
the bees attacked him, covering his head, face, and every
exposed part of his body. It was in vain he strove to
beat them off. Wet cloths were flung over him, and
every other appliances resorted to, but it was a long time
before the enemy left him. The unfortunate man was
conveyed to his home, but died on his way thither, within
ten minutes of the attack. The horse died the next
evening. An inquest was held on the body of Blunt, on
Friday, and a verdict returned according to the circum-
stance. The deceased has left several children to lament
his untimely end,--Cambridge Independent.

NEW HISTORICAL ROMANCE.
Just ready, in three vols. post Svo.
A R THUR ARUNDEL
A Tale of the English Revolution,
BY HORACE SMITH, ESQ.,
Author of " Brambletye House," &c.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

Now ready, in 2 vols. small Svo., price 245. bound,
REVELATIONS OF RUSSIA;
OR,
THE EMPEROR NICHOLAS AND HIS EMPIRE IN 1844.

B
" One who has seen
and describes."
" TOt ou tard tout se wait."—Maintenon.
These volumes proceed from the pen of one intimately conversant
with the subject, and an eye-witness to much that he describes.
They will lead the reader through startling disclosures regarding the
reign, acts, and character of the Emperor Nicholas—the nature of
his government—the secret police, or Russian inquisition—the op-
pression of the nobility—tke more than West Indian slavery of the
peasantry, and the unparalleled persecution of Roman Catholics,
United Greeks, and Jews. They will also be found to contain mi-
nute and ample details on the naval and military force of the Russian
empire ; together with a full account of the general conspiracy of the
Russian Nobility against the Imperial Government.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
LAST NIGHT BUT TWO OF THE SEASON.
THIS EVENING, AUG. 13,
Will be performed (by special desire) Donizetti's Opera of
DON PASQUALE.
Worina, Madame Grisi ' • Ernesto, Signor Mario; Dr. Malatesta,
Signor Fornasari ; and Don Pasquale, Signor Lablache.
To conclude with the revived admired Ballet, arranged by Mdlle.
Cerito, LE LAC DES FEES. The principal Characters by Mdlle.
Cerito, Mdllee. Ferdinand, Barville, Madame Copere, Gosselin,
and M. St. Leon. .

—Ricci's New Opera of Corado d'Altamura will b• repeated on Sa-
turday next.
Applicatiens for Boxes, Stalls, and Tickets to be made at the Box
Office, Opera Colonnade.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
LAST NIGHT BUT ONE OF THE SEASON.

Madame PERSIANI respectfully informs the Nobility, Subscribers
to the Opera, his Friends, and the Public, that HIS BENEFIT
will take place
ON THURSDAY NEXT, AUG. 15,
When will be performed Mozart's chef d'oeuvre
IL DON GIOVANNI,
Madame Grisi, Mdlle. Favanti, and Madame Persiani ; Signori
F winasari, Lablache, F. Lablache, Galli, and Mario.
After which, Selections from the new Divertissement, entitled LA
ANDIE, iiitrylucing the Redowa ; or Original Polka of
Bohemia, by Mdlle. Cerito and M. tit. Leon.
To Ye followed by the Last Sctne from Donizetti's Opera, LUCIA
DI LAMMERMOOR. Edgardo, Signor Moriani.
To conolude with (last time) LA ESMERALDA. La Esmeralda,
Mdlle. Fans, Elsaler Phoebus de Chateaupers, M. St. Leon;
Piarrspriwire, M Perrot. _ _ .

Applications fin' Boxes, Stalls, and Tickets to be made at the Box.
office, Opera-colonnade. Doors open at Seven; the Opera will com-
mence at Half-past Seven.

THEATRE ROYAL LYCEUM, LATE ENGLISH OPERA.

HOUSE.
Under the Management of Mrs. KEELEY.
Another great Achievement I Successfully Triumphant l!
To attempt to eulogise the gorgeous splendour of the New Extrava
genre of " Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, or New Lamps for
Old Ones," would be a work of supererogation ; the Manage-
ment, therefore, contents itself by simply stating that it will be
repeated every Evening!
THIS EVENING, AUG. It.
Will be repeated a New Drama, entitled MARTIN CHUZZLE.
WIT. Principal characters by Messrs. R. Younge, F. Vining,
Emery, F. Mathews, A. Wigan, Meadows, Kinloch, Turner,
Stanton, J. W. Collier, Yarnuld, Sanders, and Keeley ; Miss For-
escue, Miss Woolgar, Mrs. A. Wigan, Mrs. Woollidge, Miss
Groves, Mrs. Usher. Miss Turner, and Mrs. Keeley.
To conclude with an entirely Original, and much better than
New, Grand Operatic, Remantic, Melo-Dramatic, Burlesque Extra.
vaganza' founded on the celebrated Eastern Tale, in the Arabiin
Nights' Entertainment, entitled ALADDIN AND THE WON-
DERFUL LAMP; or, New Lamps for Old Ones. With very
extensive New Scenery, Machinery, Dresses, kc. Principal cha-
racters by Mrs. Keeley, Messrs. F. Matthews, Turner, A. Wigan,
J. W. Collier, and Keeley; Miss Woolgar, Mrs. Woolli I ge, Miss
E. Chaplin, Mrs. A. Wigan, Miss Turner, MI s James, Miss Carson,
Mira Hunt, Miss Reede, &c., &c.
PRICES OF ADMISSION.—BaIcony Boxes, 41.; Upper
)ilexes, 95.; Pit 2s.'; Gallery, 6d. Second Price—Balcony Boxes, 2s. ;
Upper R'xes, Is. 6d.; Pit, Is. Private Boxes on the 11,1 cony Tier
(holding eight persons), Two Guineas. Private Boxes on the Second
'tier (holding eight persons), One Guinea and a-Half. Private
Boxes on the Pit I'ler (holding six persons), One Guirea.
The Box-office is open from Ten to Four o'Clock, under the di rec.
tion of Mr. Grogan, late of Covent-garden Theatre.

Under the especial Patronage of h.r Majesty the Queen and Prince
Araert, and honourd be the presence of His Royal Highness the
Duke of Cambridge, Prince Mecklenburgh Strelitz, and distin—
guished assemblage of Nobility.
Triumphant Success of
ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE OF ARTS.
Proprietor and Manager, Mr. BATTY.
THIS EVENING, AUG. 13,
Will be repeated an entire new Eruestrian, Military and Naval
Spectacle, entitled THE CHINESE WAR; or. The Conquests of
Amoy by British Arms. New Scenery, Dresses, Appointments, kc.,
to realise the recent triumphs of England's Army and Navy. Feast
of 2SO Lanterns.
Splendid acts of Horsemanship.—The Dance of the Polka.
To conclude with THE GREAT STEEPLE-CHASE; or, Eng-
land's H irvest Home.
Mr. BATTY respectfully acquaints the Nobility, Gentry, and the
Public, that having just returned from the Continent ; and, notwith-
standing his present unprecedented success and overflowing houses,
he is ever anxious to produce novelty, to render this Establishment
pre-ensinent, and the first in Europe for its unequalled and extra-
ordinary productions, he has succeeded in forming arrangements with
the following first-rate French Artistes, in addition to his present
Talented Corps of British and Foreign Equestrians :—Madame
Lezette, Madame Heline, Madame Philipe, M. Pierre, M. Georges,
and M. Ferdinand Sc;nidt, from the Circle Olymp'que, Parts, Ham.
burgh, &c , and who will appear in their various and novel Scenes of
Equitation.
Acting and stage manager, Mr. W. D. Broadfoot.
1