The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-09-06 00:00:00

APPROACH TO MADRID.

The lofty mountain crests glistened and sparkled in the
sun, like the skirt of a dancing-girl's robe under its
shower of silver spangles ; others, again, had their peaks
surrounded by clouds, and merged imperceptibly into the
sky, for nothing resembles a mountain so much as a cloud.
The whole view was composed of one succession of pre-
cipices and undulations. It is beyond the power of art,
whether of the pen or the pencil, to convey an adequate
idea of their different colours and forms ; mountains
realise all that the imagination can picture of them, and
this is no small praise. The only difference between the
reality and the idea we form of it, arises from the fact of
our fancying mountains look larger than they do. We
are only aware of their enormous size by comparison. On
gazing attentively, you perceive that what, at a distance,
you took for a blade of grass, is a fir-tree sixty feet high.
From time to time we met travelling rnaragatos in
their costume of the sixteenth century, which consists of
a tight-fitting leathern doublet, fastened with a buckle,
wide breeches, and broad-brimmed hat. We also met
several Valencianos, with their white linen drawers, like
the robes of the Klephts, their handkerchief twisted
about their head, their white gaiters bordered with blue,
and without feet, after the fashion of the antique Knemis,
and their long piece of cloth (capa de muestra), crossed
diagonally by bright-coloured stripes, and draped over
their shoulders in a very elegant manner. All that we
could perceive of their flesh was as tawny as Florentine
bronze. Then, again, we saw strings of mules, caparisoned
in the most charming fashion, with bells and party-.
coloured fringe and housings, while their arrieros were
armed with carbines. We were enchanted, for we had
fold an abundant supply of the picturesque of which
1011 were in search.
The higher we ascended, the thicker and broader
became the strips of snow ; but a single sunbeam made
the mountains stream with water, like a woman laughing
in the midst of her tears ; on every side little brooks,
scattered about like the disheVelled tresses of some Naiad,
and clearer than crystal, forced their way downwards.
Madrid, like Rome, is surrounded by a desert; it is
impossible to convey an idea of its aridity and desolation.
There is not a tree, a drop of water, a green plant, or the
least appearance of humidity ; nothing but yellow sand
iron-grey rocks; and when you leave the mountain, you
do not find even rocks, but large stones. From time to
time you perceive a dusty yenta, a cork-coloured spire,
just showing its nose on the horizon, large melancholy-
looking oxen dragging along one of the cars we have
already described ; a countryman on horseback, or on a
mule, with a fierce expression of face, a carbine at his
saddle-bow, and a sombrero slouched over his eyes, or
long strings of whity-brown asses, carrying chopped straw,
which is corded up with a net-work of small ropes, and
that is all. The ass which walks first, the coronel, has
always a small feather or rosette, indicating his superiority
in the hierarchy of the long-eared tribe.
In the course of his perigrinations M. Gautier
visited nearly all the towns of note, and inspected
most of the scenes of interest in Spain, all of
which he describes with a playful and appropriate
fancy. The volume is plentifully embellished with,
generally speaking, well-executed engravings of
remarkable edifices, or striking scenery, and both
the pen and the pencil have been cleverly, as well
as industriously, employed in recording the ex-
periences of the traveller.

Progress of Russia in the West, North, and
South. By David Urquhart. London : Triibner
and Co. Liverpool G. J. Keet.
The volume, of which the above is the title, is
one which at the present time is sure to, command
an attentive perusal by all who take an interest in
the vexed question of Russo-Turkish politics. Its
author is a gentleman whose familiarity with
numerous points involved in that complicated
dispute is undeniable, although there are, no doubt,
many well-informed individuals whose judicious
consideration of the subject, even as stated by Mr.
Urquhart, will ensure their rejection of some of his
conclusions. Notwithstanding this, however, the
labours of our author in collecting the information
contained in the volume before us, and in so con-
densing that information as to render it readily
available to the general student or politician, have
been such, and so well bestowed, as to entitle him
to a large meed of public approbation. His means
of acquiring information on the subject have been
extensive and peculiar, and he has availed himself
of those means with industry and no little skill.
In stating his various propositions, he aims at
perspicuity and terseness ; although it must be
admitted that in some instances at least, his
success in the latter aim is obtained at a conside-
rable sacrifice of the former. The work, which has
been prepared at different periods extending over a
considerable number of years, takes a comprehen-
sive, if not in every instance a sound or unpre-
bejudiced view of Russian aggression, as that has
been openly or covertly displayed in the various

FRE T

even IC

t to the first half
r so, Mr. Urquhart

More open demonstrations of Russian policy, as
these have been applied in the affairs of Spain,
Hungary, Norway and Finland, and Denmark ; on
the Danube, and on the Euxine; in the Levant, and
on the shores of the Red Sea. In all of which he
labours to show the existence of a consistent and
unceasing system of aggression on the part of
Russia. It would be unreasonable to demand an
indisputable demonstration on every point of belief
adduced by Mr. ITrquhart on so widely open a
subject of controversy as he has here chosen for
himself; but it is not too much to expect from him
some reasonable ground of presumption for the
various hypotheses he advances, and in this expec-
tation the candid reader will not be disappointed.
He states his cases broadly and with seeming
honesty and unreservedness ; and is at least suc-
cessful in showing that there are sufficient grounds
for a watchful, if not indeed a distrustful, vigilance
on our part, in regard to even the most innocent-
looking movements of Russian diplomacy. The
spirit of the book may, to a considerable extent, be
gathered from the following
KEY TO MR. 17RQUHART'S ANTI-RUSSIAN FAITH.

Treaties are to her [Russia] the scaffolds by which she
builds, as she ascends she knocks them down. That of
Vienna, in 1815, gave her Poland, but did not prevent her,
in,1846, from disposing of Cracow. That of Adrianople,
in 1829, gave her the mouths of the Danube on conditions,
but does not prevent her, in 1853, from blocking up the
entrance in violation of those conditions. That of Balta
Liman, in 1849, gave her a conjoint occupation, for seven
years, of the principalities, but does not prevent her, in
1853, from assuming and practising a separate and exclu-
sive occupation. So, too that of London, in 1841, gave
her the exclusion of foreign vessels of war from the Euxine,
on condition of respecting the integrity of the Ottoman
empire ; and so, also, it does not prevent her, in 1853,
from violating that integrity.
__

Wilful misinterpretation, or disingenuous misap-
plication of the provisions of treaties, when it suits
her own purposes, constitutes the gravamen of the
charges which Mr. Urquhart brings against the
policy of Russia, and it must be admitted that he
establishes a fair ground for questioning the good
faith of that power in many of her diplomatic
arrangements.

In an equally succinct and successful manner he
disposes of not a few of the fallacies which have found
currency and belief in this country relative to the
inadequacy of Russian resources. The following
will be found an interesting as well as a truthful
resume of